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China unveils plan to accelerate building up strength in agriculture

Xinhua) 08:02, April 08, 2025

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China has unveiled a plan to accelerate building up its strength in agriculture for the period from 2024 to 2035.

The plan, issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, sets the main goal of achieving notable progress in building up China's strength in agriculture by 2027.

It also aims for substantial advances in rural revitalization and a new stage of modernization in agriculture and rural areas by 2027.

By 2035, the plan envisions decisive progress in all-round rural revitalization, the basic realization of agricultural modernization, and the establishment of modern standards of living in rural areas.

According to the plan, China aims to fully establish its agricultural strength by the mid-century. The country seeks to ensure a stable and reliable supply, achieve self-reliance in scientific and technological innovation, build robust infrastructure, and develop efficient, well-integrated rural industrial chains.

The plan also envisions building beautiful countryside, improving farmers' well-being, enhancing the international competitiveness of agriculture, achieving full urban-rural integration and comprehensive rural revitalization, and fully modernizing agriculture and rural areas by mid-century.

To achieve these targets, the plan outlines key tasks such as ensuring a more stable and reliable supply, and promoting innovation in agricultural science, technology and equipment.

The plan calls for improving the modern agricultural business operating system, promoting better integration of smallholder farmers into modern agricultural practices, and upgrading the entire agricultural industry chain.

The tasks also include further deepening international cooperation in agriculture, promoting the building of a beautiful and harmonious countryside that is desirable to live and work in, and improving rural living standards.

In addition, the plan emphasizes promoting integrated urban-rural development and narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
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SIOUX CITY -- Several members of the public who spoke passionately Monday against a $140,000 reduction to the Sioux City Human Rights Commission's FY 2026 budget will have to wait another week to find out whether the City Council will keep that reduction in place or restore the funding.

"There's no excuse to delay this vote," an unidentified man said from his seat in the council chamber near the end of a roughly hour-long discussion.

Many of those who packed the chamber applauded loudly when Councilman Matthew O'Kane said he agreed with the man.

"It's either a priority or it's not," O'Kane said of adequately funding the commission, which is led by long-time Executive Director Karen Mackey.

The council ultimately voted to defer the matter until its April 14 meeting. Both O'Kane and Mayor Pro Tem Dan Moore voted against the deferral.

During a Feb. 26 city budget wrap up session, Mayor Bob Scott motioned to reduce the commission's budget by $140,000. The vote was 3-2, with Moore and O'Kane voting against the reduction.

O'Kane motioned on March 31 to reconsider the $140,000 budget reduction. His motion passed 4-0. Scott left the meeting early and did not vote.

Council members have pointed out that property tax relief measures passed by state lawmakers in recent years have led to lower local government revenues and the need to cut costs. However, the reduction to the commission's budget also comes at a time when Iowa is rolling back civil rights protections.

"I was a 'no' on this. I was a 'no' on new cops. I was a 'yes' on closing libraries. I've been pretty consistent. If you want me to vote today, I'm voting no," Scott said. "If you guys want to give us a week -- I know (Council members) Julie (Schoenherr) and Alex (Watters) have been working on this, then fine. I'll listen to what they have to say. But I want a week to think about it, now that we've heard all this stuff."

The Sioux City Human Rights Commission is a neutral fact-finding agency that investigates discrimination complaints in housing, employment, public accommodations, education and credit. The commission also partners with a dozen community organizations to educate the community about civil rights and sponsors or co-sponsors a number of events, including the Faces of Siouxland Multicultural Fair.

Mike Goodwin, a Sioux City resident who said he has 27 years' experience as an executive in human resources management with two major companies, said the commission has effectively worked with those companies and complainants "to resolve complaints at the lowest level as quickly as possible."

"My interactions with the Human Rights Commission were not frequent and the companies I worked with did not have a high volume of complaints," he said. "I was impressed with the professionalism and the expertise of Karen Mackey and her staff. She brought to any of these investigations a level of legal expertise, understanding of the law, as well as human relations skills, that really fostered, in many cases, opportunities for a mediated result that was satisfactory to both employer and employee."

With the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission being "gutted," Goodwin said it is "critical" for the city to offer "local support for the rights of our citizens."

"We're a diverse community. We value diversity, equity and inclusion, and I've got to say that," he said to thunderous clapping.

Manape LaMere, a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and Native American activist, said he's disappointed that funding for the commission is on the chopping block.

"It doesn't make sense to me. I think there are a lot of fears in this community with the current government administration and the higher ups. When those things fail people, we come together more locally. Sometimes, even grassroots, like when it flooded over in North Sioux. Those communities helped each other before our own EMTs got there. That's what naturally happens," he said.

Tito Parker, who chairs the commission, said he and others speaking against the budget reduction aren't implying that the council hates or doesn't like the commission. But, he said, they wonder why "the numbers are so skewed" when it comes to the commission's budget.

"There are so many other departments. But if something happens in those departments or someone's not treated right, you will come to this commission and you will need this commission," he said.

At the beginning of the discussion, Finance Director Teresa Fitch said adding $50,000 to the budget would increase the tax levy "a small amount." As the proposed budget currently stands, in the upcoming fiscal year, a residential property assessed at $100,000 would see a $42 increase.

"If we added $75,000, the increase to a resident would be $43 per $100,000 and it would continue to remain at the $43 up to a $125,000 add. And, then again, increase to $44 per $100,000 if there was an add of of $153,000 to the budget," she explained.

Resident Carter Smith said preventing someone from ending their life due to a situation with an employer is "worth every tax dollar."

In Iowa, municipal budgets are due by April 30 for the forthcoming fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30.
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I like to tell people I moved abroad for a dog. I came to Amsterdam for the first time in December 2022 to dog-sit an adorable Maltipoo named Pretzel. I fell in love with the city: amazed at how smooth public transit was, obsessed with the efficiency and how things just worked, and in awe of how international it was. I spent those first three weeks pretending I lived there. And when I returned in the fall of 2023 to watch Pretzel again, the feeling nagged at me that maybe I could.

With my German passport, I didnt need to get a visa. As a freelancer, my work was both remote and flexible. And I wanted to experience something different. Save for college, I had lived in D.C. for my entire life. Truth be told, I was sick of living in a city that revolved around politics, constantly being asked, What do you do? as if it were a badge of honor. And yes, while I know I could have moved somewhere else (anywhere else) stateside, I was keen for an adventure and a new way of life.

So, in February of 2024, I hopped on a plane to Amsterdam to try out living there for real. There were a lot of factors that determined whether and how long I would stay: if I could find housing (I got extremely lucky), if I could withstand the rain (you get used to it), and if working a nocturnal lifestyle was sustainable (as a night owl, I actually prefer it). But as the months moved on and I started to really build a life for myself, there was one thing that kept me from officially settling in: how the election would go.

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If Kamala Harris won, I knew I would be enticed to go back to the U.S. In my mind, her election would allow us to get back on track as a country. Not to mention, I wouldnt have to live in constant fear of an erratic president who would make my job a lot more fast-paced and depressing.

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But if she lost  I wasnt sure. I had lived through one Trump presidency already, and I couldnt help but worry about how much worse it could be this time around. Why would I return to such chaos when my life in Amsterdam was, for the most part, so stress-free?

When the election happened, I was devastatedand resolved. A decision had been made for me: I would stay in Amsterdam for another year, if not more. (I think we lost Hannah, my grandma likes to say.) But it felt like a shock, the realization that more than half of my country was willing to let a convicted felon be in a position of power again.

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This worsened around and after the inauguration. By then, Id come to terms with the fact that I wasnt moving back anytime soon. But even knowing that, I still felt like I was between two places. For one, my job as a homepage editor at Slate certainly requires me to be aptly tuned in to whats unfolding in America (many of my American friends, understandably, try to avoid the news). Being an ocean away, I know most of the policies wont affect me directly. But it really hit close to home, literally. Or at least, what had once been home.

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I grew up in D.C., and my mom works as an environmental lawyer for the federal government. From a young age, I knew about government shutdownsthough I was disappointed to learn they didnt mean school was canceled too. I went to high school downtown, just a few blocks from the White House. I knew all about how Congress works: how our city is unfairly treated in decision-making and taxed without adequate representation.

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Now, watching everything essentially get flushed down the toilet is upsetting, even from thousands of miles away. I know so many people who have devoted their lives to civil service, oftentimes committing to mundane tasks that make sure our government functions correctly. They know how to navigate the bureaucratic BS that keepsor maybe, keptour country running.

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Here, people treat America as a circus. So many of my European friends send memes poking fun at us. I get it because I joke about it too, but what Ive realized in the past few months is that I may not consider myself a patriot, but I still care about my countrys descent into chaos.

It also feels wrong to be catastrophizing America when things arent so perfect here either. In the Netherlandsand many places in Europetheres a general shift to conservativism too. There are also refugees from Ukraine, who are here because they dont really have a country to go back to. When I meet them, I feel the guilt of knowing I could go back, but they dont have a choice.

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And then theres the weird tension of why I can be here in the first place: My grandfather was born in Hamburg. He and his family left on his birthday, Aug. 5, 1938, just three months before the Nazis ransacked Jewish homes as part of Kristallnacht. My German passport is a reparation of sorts, allowing me to live my life here because he couldnt.

I wish I could be like some of the expats I meet who no longer care about the U.S. and are OK with it burning itself to the ground. But for me, it feels hard to fathom a world without Americaeven considering whatever it is now, it will also always be the country that saved my family.

People are constantly asking me how long Ill live abroad. I dont have an answer.

I was recently back in the States, seeing family and celebrating my (other) grandpas 90th birthday. Beyond some minor creature comforts that Ive gotten used to living without (dryers, ice water, air conditioning), being close to family is the main thing I miss the most about the U.S.

For those who are considering a move abroad: Leaving will provide relief. But even though you can run away from America, you cant run away from being American.
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On Monday night, the Supreme Court issued a 54 decision lifting Judge James Boasbergs temporary restraining order against the mass deportation of Venezuelan migrants under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The majority held that the migrants had filed the wrong kind of lawsuit in the wrong court, ordering them to file narrower claimscalled habeas petitionsin Texas, where theyre detained. The opinion also glancingly affirmed the migrants right to due process, while making it significantly harder for them to vindicate that right in court.

In a special Tuesday episode of Amicus for Slate Plus, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern discussed the courts shadow docket ruling and its bleak implications for the Supreme Courts broader response to Donald Trumps lawlessness. A preview of their conversation, below, has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Dahlia Lithwick: There are a couple of fascinating things about Mondays order. One is that it came down as an unsigned per curiam opinion on the shadow docket. So we dont know who wrote it. Another is that its boys versus girls, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the liberals in dissent. But Barrett didnt agree with everything Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent. What exactly was she on board with?

Mark Joseph Stern: Justice Barrett did not sign on to Justice Sotomayors extraordinary rhetoric about the Trump administrations violations of the rule of law. The one really substantive rebuttal that Barrett signed onto in full is the procedural aspect, where Sotomayor told the majority: Are you crazy? These are not habeas cases! Habeas petitions are a challenge to your detention by the government. But migrants arent asking to be released from detentiontheyre asking to stay in detention here rather than get sent abroad! The majority made up this brand new rule that these cases must be filed as habeas petitions anyway.

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Remember, Justice Barrett was a civil procedure professor at Notre Dame Law School for years. She is an expert in these topics. The fact that she signed onto this part of Sotomayors dissent is a very strong indication that the majority was indeed wrong on the law.

I think Barrett is worried about questions of the rule of law, but she was never going to sign off on Sotomayors soaring rhetoric here. Then theres the very different issue of John Roberts. A few short weeks ago, we had John Roberts, the magisterial institutionalist who stuck his neck out for Judge Boasberg after Trump said he needed to be impeached. Did he just throw Boasberg under the bus?

I think Roberts completely threw Judge Boasberg under the bus. I mean, this was a shadow docket case, where theres a bunch of fuzzy considerations that give the court a ton of latitude to consider extralegal questions: the balance of the equities, irreparable harm, whether the government has come to the court with clean hands. So even if Roberts agreed with the other men on this habeas issue, he could have said: You know what? In this compressed timeline and emergency posture, I dont think the government has earned the right for this extraordinary intervention. And he could have denied the governments request. He didnt have to say a thing.

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Instead, Roberts joined with the other male justices to make new law that cuts off the knees of Judge Boasbergs orders over the past few weeks, and gives the Trump administration the sweet vindication that it had been looking for. It essentially tells the world: The Justice Department was right about this all along, and Boasberg was wrong. So yes, the optics of this decision are profoundly unfortunate. The Trump administration has behaved so contemptuously toward Judge Boasberg from the beginning. It almost certainly defied his first restraining order, telling the government to turn around planes carrying the migrants. Ever since, it has lobbed these outrageous insults at him in filings. And it has rejected his authority to probe its misconduct throughout this case.

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If Roberts wanted to send a signal that the Justice Department has no right to treat judges this way, that it has to show respect for courts in the rule of law, this was the time to do it, this was the case. The chief justice could have sent a signal to these government officials who are dismissing the legitimacy of the federal judiciary that there will be consequences for their actions, that their treatment of the lower courts is unacceptable. And the chief didnt do it. Instead, he abandoned Judge Boasberg and delivered him this very painful loss.

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Im envisioning a goldfish who has no memory, just swimming round and round a little castle in his bowl, discovering it anew every time. Thats us, right? We love to think about this court as an arbiter of justice, and maybe this is the day when John Roberts meets the moment. The same guy who has screwed us over in case after case, including the immunity decision that helped make Trump president again. I guess Im curious why we keep acting surprised when a justice who has devoted his life to capacious theories of executive power, and who doesnt really care much about checks and balances, behaves so contemptuously toward the district court in this case. And takes such an utterly blinkered view toward the pervasive history of the administrations underhandedness through this litigation. Surprise: He did it again.

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Id love for you to unpack the fact that this happened on the shadow docket, at a high velocity with minimal briefing and no arguments. I guess the majority credited the governments allegation that it would suffer irreparable harm if the court didnt act, though it disregarded the irreparable harms of people whove been renditioned to an incredibly dangerous prison in El Salvador. I think it mattered to the dissenters that this happened out of plain sight, without even the transparency we saw in Korematsu.

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The majority is exploiting the shadow docket to smuggle through a dirty decision with little basis in law. Again, I think thats what irritated and alienated Justice Barrett: The habeas ruling does not make sense; it is not grounded in precedent. And in theory, the court is not supposed to make new law on the shadow docketit is only supposed to intervene when a lower court clearly erred and a party has a clear right to immediate redress. That was simply not the case here. The majority just treated this like any other dispute on the merits docket, which is especially inappropriate when the government comes with unclean hands and has acted with contempt toward the courts at every single turn.

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It is really clear that the amount of willful blindness in the majority opinion drives the dissenters round the bend. They cannot believe the degree to which the majority had to ignore the governments wrongdoing and systematic abuse of every single tool in its arsenal to evade judicial review.

This is just the opposite of a case where the government has secured the extraordinary right to premature intervention. You mentioned Korematsu, the notorious decision upholding the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. This is something Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson brought up in her separate dissent, writing: At least when the court went off base in the past, it left a record so posterity could see how it went wrong. With more and more of our most significant rulings taking place in the shadows of our emergency docket, todays court leaves less and less of a trace. But make no mistake: We are just as wrong now as we have been in the past, with similarly devastating consequences. It just seems we are now less willing to face it.

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My God, are those fighting words if I have ever seen them in a Supreme Court opinion. And my God, does that bode poorly for the other cases on the shadow docket. This is the kind of rhetoric that a justice does not whip out in dissent unless she is starting to feel that all hope is lost. I was disturbed to see it; I think its completely appropriate and spot-on. But the message seems to be, in both her and Sotomayors dissent, that the majority is biased toward the Trump administration. Its racing to give the president unearned winsand the problem is about to get worse.
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The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major victory on Monday night, lifting a restraining order that had prevented the mass deportation of migrants to an El Salvador prison under an 18th-century wartime law. By a 54 vote on the shadow docket, the justices crushed the migrants sweeping class action in D.C. and forced them to proceed with narrower suits through more hostile courts in Texas. The majoritys unsigned, thinly reasoned decision will make it significantly easier for the administration to illegally ship off innocent people to a Salvadoran prison, where all their constitutional rightsand quite possibly their liveswill be snuffed out. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a staggering dissent, we, as a nation and a court of law, should be better than this. But in the view of five justices, it seems that we, as a nation, are not.

Mondays order lends undeserved legitimacy to a program that has been brazenly illegal from the start. In mid-March, Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to justify summarily deporting Venezuelan migrants to the notorious CECOT megaprison in El Salvador. The act applies only to a foreign nation that conducts an invasion or predatory incursion into the United States during a declared war. Trump claimed that Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, constitutes a foreign nation that is invading U.S. territory, which is obviously untrue. Nonetheless, he immediately directed immigration officials to round up migrants, often on the basis of nonexistent evidence, and fly them to CECOT. On March 15, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found this plot to be unlawful and ordered the government to turn around two planes carrying migrants to El Salvador. The Trump administration refused, defying Boasbergs order, and contempt proceedings are ongoing.

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Boasberg also certified a class action lawsuit against the scheme and issued a temporary restraining order halting further removals under the Alien Enemies Act. An appeals court upheld his actions, prompting the Justice Department to ask SCOTUS for relief. Now the court, by the narrowest margin, has given the government what it asked for, clearing away Boasbergs restraining order and blowing up the entire class action suit. Chief Justice John Roberts joined with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh to make up the five-justice majority; in a notable defection, Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the three liberals in dissent.

The majority opinion purports to be modest, but it constitutes a painful defeat for the plaintiffs. According to the majority, the migrants cannot sue in D.C., where the president and his subordinates are planning and carrying out much of this program. Instead, they must file petitions for habeas corpus in the federal courts where they are being confined in south Texas.

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This requirement will sting for two reasons. First, most federal judges in Texas are extremely conservative and are far less likely to safeguard the migrants rights; even if they do, the government can appeal to the MAGA-aligned, far-right U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which is all but certain to rule for the government. Second, the plaintiffs will probably have to file individual habeas petitions, pressing their cases one by one, since the Supreme Court has never approved habeas class actions (and Texas judges surely wont do so). So the litigation will become far more laborious and time-consuming. (How they will gain access to a lawyer is another troubling question.) And in the related case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Justice Department has taken the position that migrants have no rights once locked up in CECOT. So if a conservative judge rubber-stamps a deportation, and officials whisk away the migrant to El Salvador before he can appeal, he will have no further access to justice in the view of the U.S. government.

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Moreover, it is also entirely unclear where migrants who have already been deported to El Salvador must now file their petitions. They had been represented by the classwide litigation in D.C. which is now defunct. But they cannot file in Texas because theyre being held in a foreign country. The Trump administration has taken the position that these individuals cant file habeas petitions at all; they are simply stuck in CECOT indefinitely with no recourse. If migrants can only file habeas petitions where theyre detained, and these individuals are detained in another countrys prison, does that mean they cannot file any petition at all? SCOTUS does not appear to have considered this problem.

There is one silver lining to Mondays intervention: The majority went out of its way to clarify that migrants targeted under the Alien Enemies Act do have due process rights to contest their removal. Detainees, the court wrote, must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act. 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.

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This is a key concession: Despite the majoritys claim that the government agrees migrants must receive judicial review, the Trump administration has asserted that it can deport them without due process. (Thats how it was able to whisk many off to CECOT in the first place.) Sotomayor lifted up this aspect of the decision in her dissent, noting that it means the government cannot usher any detainees, including plaintiffs, onto planes in a shroud of secrecy, as it did on March 15, 2025 or immediately resume removing individuals without notice. She then issued a direct warning to the administration not to defy this unanimous holding, writing: To the extent the Government removes even one individual without affording him notice and a meaningful opportunity to file and pursue habeas relief, it does so in direct contravention of an edict by the United States Supreme Court. Barrett only signed on to certain portions of Sotomayors dissent, but it was notable that she put her name on this section.

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In the rest of her dissent, Sotomayor did not disguise her contempt for the administrations actions throughout this case. The governments conduct in this litigation poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law, she wrote. Its position is that even United States citizens could be taken off the streets, forced onto planes, and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress if judicial review is denied unlawfully before removal. History is no stranger to such lawless regimes, but this nations system of laws is designed to prevent, not enable, their rise. (Barrett, unfortunately, did not sign on to this powerful section.) Sotomayor also detailed the administrations evident defiance of Boasbergs order, and wondered why the majority should rush to grant relief to the government after its egregious behavior in the courts below. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was equally blunt in a separate dissent, drawing a comparison between Mondays decision and the courts notorious ruling in favor of Japanese internment in 1944s notorious Korematsu v. U.S.

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At least when the court went off base in the past, it left a record so posterity could see how it went wrong, Jackson wrote, castigating her colleagues for smuggling through their dirty work on the shadow docket. With more and more of our most significant rulings taking place in the shadows of our emergency docket, todays court leaves less and less of a trace. But make no mistake: We are just as wrong now as we have been in the past, with similarly devastating consequences. It just seems we are now less willing to face it.

Sotomayor persuasively argued that the majority is wrong, as a matter of law, that the plaintiffs must bring their claims through habeas in Texas. (Barrett, a stickler for legal procedure, pointedly joined this section.) But Sotomayor lobbed another, less law-based critique that raises even more ominous questions: Why should the court race to reward the government with this victory given its lawless and contemptuous conduct from the start of this scheme? Trump himself said that Boasberg should be impeached over his order, drawing a rare rebuke from Roberts himself. Now, just a few weeks later, Roberts has overruled Boasberg, in a move that Trump will view as sweet vindication.

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The majority seems to be affording the president a strong presumption of regularityassuming good faith and respect for constitutional boundaries. But everything this administration has done since Jan. 20 rebuts that presumption (a reality that may be dawning on Barrett, but apparently not Roberts or Kavanaugh). As Boasberg has shown, and Sotomayor noted, the president invoked the Alien Enemies Act in secret so it could hustle migrants overseas before courts could intervene. Why should he now receive this extraordinary, undeserved assistance to continue operating what is so obviously an unlawful program, with a pinky promise that hell afford due process this time to those ensnared on the thinnest of pretenses? Roberts decision to bail Trump out is a deeply ominous sign that the chief justice wants to rein in lower courts standing in the way of the MAGA agenda. If he does, it wont just be Venezuelan migrants who pay the price.
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Last month, in an exceedingly rare act of bipartisanship, the Senate voted 7028 to approve a House resolution to repeal the DeFi Broker Rule. The decentralized financial broker rule, which was adopted by the Treasury last December, would have required certain facilitators of crypto-assets transactions on so-called decentralized exchanges to make information reports to the IRS and issue their clients 1099 formsjust like any other financial institution.

The rule targeted front-end service providers who are in a position to require customers to identify themselves, collect their information, and deliver such information to the IRS. No unsuspecting individual miners or stakerswho participate in the validation process of blockchain transactionswould have been subject to these rules.

In celebrating the repeal, Ways and Means Committee Republicans criticized the Biden administration for introducing this midnight reporting rule, claiming it was done last minute. This language is taken straight from the press releases issued by the Blockchain Association, a blockchain industry group, decrying the rules back in December. But the DeFi Broker Rule wasnt nearly as sensational as they made it seem.

These rules have been in development since 2021, when Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The act subjected brokers of crypto assets to tax reporting requirements similar to those applicable to any other broker of financial assets, leaving the Treasury to craft regulations on the matter. In crafting the regulations, the department demonstrated a commendable level of cooperation with affected industries: The Treasury published proposed regulations for public comments in August 2023, and extended the comment period twice, until April 2024. This elicited 44,000 responses from the public. The final regulations included a 107-page preamble responding to these comments, even incorporating some of them into the final rules.

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Importantly, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the DeFi Broker Rule under it would not have created any new tax obligations. Taxpayers have always been required to report their taxable gains from crypto-asset transactions and pay taxes on them. The DeFi Broker Rule would have simply required front-end service providers to collect information on crypto-asset transactions and provide it to the IRS and customers. This was intended to make it easier for customers to properly calculate their tax liabilities and for the IRS to catch tax cheats.

However, the crypto industry claimed the new compliance burden would stifle innovation and drive blockchain businesses overseas. The reason, they argued, is that it would be impossible for brokers to comply with the rules, because, well, they are decentralized. This argument makes no sense. If the brokers are indeed decentralized and controlled by no one, what business exactly would be driven overseas? The reality is that the facilitators of most DeFi transactions are very much centralized, profitable, and controlled by a few identifiable operators. These operators can require their clients to provide tax information, but they specifically choose not to do so.

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The argument about stifling innovation is also difficult to reconcile with the fact that the rest of the U.S. financial industry is subject to the same tax reporting requirements and seems to be doing just fine. The crypto industry is not vying for a level playing field, but for preferential treatment.

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Even if we accept the argument that compliance with tax reporting requirements is too burdensome (specifically for crypto assets), the issue is not with the tax system: If one cannot build a profitable business without platforming tax cheats as an integral part of the business model, then the problem is with the business model and not the regulatory framework.

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It is also worth noting that the threat to move overseas rings hollow given developments elsewhere in the world. Where exactly would these innovative (but decentralized!) businesses go? To the European Union, which has recently adopted a directive that subjects crypto-asset brokers to largely similar tax reporting requirements? Or to one of the 49 countries that recently signed on to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developments Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, which includes a binding multinational treaty imposing similar tax reporting requirements on crypto-asset brokers?

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The DeFi rules were simply adopted to ensure taxpayers pay what they are already required to pay under existing tax law. They would not have imposed any new taxes and would not have burdened crypto businesses any more significantly than they already burden traditional financial businesses. I see no reasonable explanation for the attempt to repeal this rule other than favoritism, which the crypto industry was able to win through lobbying. Repealing the rule will simply make tax cheating easier when trading in crypto assets compared to other financial assets. It may also make it easier to cheat when trading in crypto assets in the United States compared with many other developed countries.

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The United States is the worlds largest market for crypto investment. Congress may have just turned the United States into a destination of choice for those looking to evade taxes and other regulatory burdens on crypto transactions, potentially transforming it into one of the worlds worst, largest crypto tax havens. United States based crypto-assets services may now become a financial refuge not only for tax cheats, but also for others trying to secretly move their ill-gotten wealth, such as terrorists, drug lords, human traffickers, and dealers in child sexual abuse images.

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Importantly, the cost of turning the United States into a crypto tax haven is not expected to come with any discernible benefits to the economy as a whole. If we believe the crypto industry, the industry is decentralized, so we should not expect any centralized investment benefit to accrue in the United States of all places. If the industry is not decentralized, then the new rules, as stated, would not have changed any existing tax burdens. It was all about enforcing existing laws. The repeal of the rule offers no tax cut that could reasonably be expected to attract new business into the United States.

The DeFi rules were workable. They made sense. They were directed at tax cheats. All that Congress needed to do to prevent the United States from descending into this tax-haven status was: nothing. Congress just needed to let the IRS do its job.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20250408/eu-commission-eyeing-25-tariffs-on-us-goods---reports-1121836669.html

EU Commission Eyeing 25% Tariffs on US Goods - Reports

EU Commission Eyeing 25% Tariffs on US Goods - Reports

Sputnik International

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Commission is proposing to impose reciprocal tariffs of up to 25% on a number of goods from the United States, in particular on clothing, yachts, fruit juices, nuts and diamonds, the RMF FM radio reported.

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Bourbon was excluded from the preliminary list after protests from France and Italy, which feared that the United States would impose 200% duties on wine, prosecco and champagne, the report said on Monday. EU countries are expected to vote on this proposal on Wednesday, the report added. However, the commission is still counting on negotiations with Washington, and it has proposed reciprocal zero tariffs on industrial products, including cars, the report read. At the same time, French Minister Delegate for Europe Benjamin Haddad said that Paris is in favor of a tough response to the US tariffs and will support the European Commission's decision to impose 25% tariffs on some US imports. On April 2, US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on imports from other countries. For the UK the baseline rate of 10% was set. However for each country the tariff will be calibrated and will be half of what they charge companies importing US goods. Trump said this will be a "declaration of economic independence" for the United States. The EU is subject to 20% tariffs.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20250408/russian-forces-liberate-guevo-settlement-in-kursk-region---mod-1121837696.html

Russian Forces Liberate Guevo in Kursk Region, Opening Path to Strengthen Offensive Towards Sumy

Russian Forces Liberate Guevo in Kursk Region, Opening Path to Strengthen Offensive Towards Sumy

Sputnik International

The Russian armed forces have regained control of the settlement of Guevo in the Kursk Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

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"During the offensive, units of Battlegroup Sever have liberated the settlement of Guevo in the Kursk Region," the ministry said in a statement. Following the mop-up operations, Russia's 22nd motorized rifle regiment found a large number of NATO-made weapons and ammunition, an officer of the Sever group of forces told Sputnik. The Russian flag was hoisted over Guevo. The officer described the liberation of Guevo as an important step that will help drive the offensive deeper behind the enemy lines. On August 6, 2024, Ukrainian forces crossed the border into Russia and launched an offensive in the Kursk Region. Over the past weeks, the Russian military has intensified the counteroffensive and regained control of numerous settlements, including the border town of Sudzha.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20250408/trumps-tariff-war-escalates-us-slaps-104-tax-on-chinese-goods-report-1121840247.html

Trumps Tariff War Escalates: US Slaps 104% Tax on Chinese Goods - Report

Trumps Tariff War Escalates: US Slaps 104% Tax on Chinese Goods - Report

Sputnik International

The United States will begin collecting a 104% tariff on Chinese goods starting Wednesday after Beijing missed President Donald Trumps deadline to roll back retaliation measures, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday to Fox News.

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On Friday, the Chinese State Council announced that China would impose additional tariffs of 34% on all goods imported from the United States. In response, Trump stated on Monday that he would increase tariffs on Chinese imports by 50%, effective April 9, unless Beijing rescinds its retaliatory tariffs by Tuesday. On April 2, Trump signed an executive order imposing reciprocal tariffs on US trade partners, which includes a 34% tariff on China, a 20% tariff on the European Union, and 24% on Japanese imports. Trump also signed an executive order imposing 25% tariffs on foreign-made cars, light trucks, and auto parts, saying that such a measure was necessary to protect "national security."

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Decentro, Indias leading API banking and financial infrastructure platform, announced that it is deepening its presence in Southeast Asia by launching its advanced business credit and underwriting solution. Powered by a partnership with Singapore-headquartered DigiAlly, this initiative brings real-time business financial intelligence to the ASEAN regionan industry-first capability enabling more innovative lending, risk assessment, and cross-border financial operations.

As Southeast Asias digital economy accelerates, access to credit and intelligent underwriting has become vital for both SMEs and fintechs. The Asian Development Bank estimates the SME credit gap in Asia to be over $2.1 trillion, with ASEAN nations representing a significant portion of the total. Yet, despite rapid fintech innovation, many financial institutions still rely on outdated verification and underwriting models, exposing them to fraud and slowing credit access. With 1 in 5 fraud cases now involving synthetic identities (Experian, 2023), the urgency for real-time business intelligence is apparent. Without modern, data-driven infrastructure, institutions risk falling behindand missing out on the next wave of fintech-led growth.

Building on its robust consumer credit APIs and SaaS infrastructure, Decentros expanded stack now includes a comprehensive business credit infrastructure, supporting SME financing, invoice factoring, and cross-border trade. Through a single integration, fintech platforms and financial institutions across the ASEAN region can now access business financial reports, trade data, and verification insightsall in real time and also via a single, comprehensive PDF report.

Top Breaking News Of The Day

Commenting on the milestone, Rohit Taneja, Co-founder & CEO of Decentro, said, At Decentro, weve always believed that the future of fintech is borderless, intelligent, and deeply integrated. Our expansion into Southeast Asia with a strong partner like DigiAlly allows us to power the next generation of business underwriting and credit accessmaking real-time KYB and financial data accessible at scale. Whether a large unit in Jakarta or a cross-border lender in Manila, the infrastructure to assess risk and unlock growth is now just an API away.

With this move, Decentro introduces a unified business financial intelligence suitean industry first in the ASEAN regionbringing together financial reports, trade history, and verification data into a single, downloadable PDF. The offering is already enabling:

Insurance companies to underwrite SME risk faster

Lenders and banks to assess business creditworthiness more accurately

Neobanks to verify & offer a credit line on the fly

Payment service providers (PSPs) to verify businesses across borders with greater confidence

And here are the countries that are covered for this solution 

Singapore

India

Vietnam

South Korea

Australia

Philippines

Indonesia

DigiAlly, known for its deep credit and financial data intelligence solutions across Southeast Asia, will be a key data partner in this expansion. Its platform offers granular credit and financial analytics across company types, empowering lenders, PSPs, insurers, and trade platforms with faster, more accurate decision-making. This partnership will enhance Decentros product suite to meet the evolving demands of emerging markets and fast-scaling enterprises.

Our collaboration with Decentro brings together the best of infrastructure and intelligence. With our credit and trade data combined with Decentros platform-first approach, were making real-time, AI-powered business insights available to financial players across Southeast Asia. This is a step forward for financial inclusion, risk transparency, and smart credit enablement, Shrikant Patil, CEO of DigiAlly, said.

With this expansion, Decentro continues to simplify financial workflows across the globe, helping businesses of all sizes tap into local and international opportunities. The companys entry into Southeast Asia follows its strong momentum in India, which recorded over 150% year-on-year growth in FY24  25. Building on this foundation, Decentro aims to deepen its presence across ASEAN, enable deep credit underwriting for both global and regional platforms, and power the next wave of fintech infrastructure across borders.
SITA and NEC Corporation (NEC) have signed an agreement to accelerate the adoption of digital identity technology in the travel industry.

Through this collaboration, NEC joins SITAs Digital Travel Ecosystem, an open, interoperable framework that connects various systems for real-time digital identity verification. Developed in partnership with Indicio, SITAs ecosystem eliminates the need for direct integrations between issuers and verifiers, simplifying adoption for airports, airlines and governments.

At the core of the ecosystem is the Trust Network, which governs how digital credentials are shared securely around the world. Built with a privacy-by-design approach, it gives travelers control over their data, including when and with whom they share their credentials. Strong emphasis on data security and privacy means that personal information remains protected and in the hands of the traveler.

Top Breaking News Of The Day

With 28% of airlines and 43% of airports planning to implement biometric identity management solutions in the next 12 months (SITA Air Transport IT Insights 2024), demand for interoperable systems is growing. A lack of standardization has slowed widespread adoption, but the SITA-NEC collaboration addresses this challenge through a scalable framework for secure identity exchange.

After years of investment, aviation and other travel stakeholders are now seeing the full potential of digital identities, and the industry is gearing up to scale, said Jeremy Springall, Senior Vice President of Borders at SITA. With NECs biometric expertise and SITAs industry-leading footprint of biometric touchpoints around the world, were well-positioned to accelerate the transformation of Digital Travel worldwide.

NEC brings more than 125 years of innovation and a global track record in trusted identity technologies, said Nanaumi Nagamine, Senior Director of the DID Department at NEC. With SITA, weve delivered proven biometric solutions at airports around the world, creating secure and seamless travel experiences for thousands of passengers every day. This expanded collaboration will accelerate global adoption and set a new standard for trusted digital identity in travel.

By addressing longstanding interoperability challenges, the SITA and NEC collaboration will increase the adoption of digital identities by passengers, helping the industry reduce bottlenecks, improve security, and enhance the passenger experience at every touchpoint.
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In the study, participants were initially asked to evaluate the creativity of robots based only on still life drawings they had made. Credit: Matti Ahlgren / Aalto University

What makes people think an AI system is creative? New research shows that it depends on how much they see of the creative act. The findings have implications for how we research and design creative AI systems, and they also raise fundamental questions about how we perceive creativity in other people.

The work is published in the journal ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction.

"AI is playing an increasingly large role in creative practice. Whether that means we should call it creative or not is a different question," says Niki Pennanen, the study's lead author. Pennanen is researching AI systems at Aalto University and has a background in psychology. Together with other researchers at Aalto and the University of Helsinki, he did experiments to find out whether people think a robot is more creative if they see more of the creative act.

In the study, participants were initially asked to evaluate the creativity of robots based only on still life drawings they had made. They were told the robots were driven by AI, but in fact it had been programmed to reproduce drawings that the researchers had commissioned from an artist. This deception made it possible to measure people's perception of creativity without requiring the robot to be creative, which would have introduced too much variability between the drawings.

Next, the study participants evaluated how creative the drawings were when they saw not only the final product but also a video of the drawing processthe lines appearing on the page, but not the robot creating them. In the final stage, participants scored the drawings when they could see all three elements: the final product, the process, and the robot making the drawing.

The findings showed that the drawings were seen as more creative as more elements of the creative act were revealed.

"The more people saw, the more creative they judged it to be," says Christian Guckelsberger, assistant professor of creative technologies at Aalto and the study's senior author. "As far as I'm aware, we're the first to study the effects of perceiving product, process and producer in a separate and controlled manner, not only in the context of AI but also more generally."

The power of perception

Understanding how people assess the creativity of robots or other artificial systems is important in thinking about how to design thembut it's not entirely clear what the appropriate design choices would be.

"The study suggests that revealing more about the process and producer can be conducive to people's perception of the systems' creativity," says Guckelsberger. "But if we added elements to make AI systems seem more creative even though the system is in fact performing the same way, we could question whether that's actually a good thing."

In some cases, that could be helpfulfor example, it might be a way to help people stay engaged with a co-creative system. But in other contexts, it could give people a deceptive impression of how creative an artificial system really is.

"Our findings help address this conflict by giving us a better idea of our own human biases. This research makes them a bit more transparent, which is also important from the user's perspective, for us to understand how a system's design affects our perception of it," says Guckelsberger.

In addition to these social and design implications, the findings also have significance for research on creative AI systems. If our judgment of creativity depends on how a system is presented, then future studies should control for that factor. Likewise, existing research needs to be reevaluated in light of these findingscomparing the creativity of different systems without accounting for differences in their presentation could have led to false conclusions.

Another intriguing question posed by this research is what it tells us about ourselves.

"Now that we've found this about people's perception of AI creativity, does it also apply to people's perception of other people?" asks Guckelsberger.

Does shape matter?

The researchers also carried out the experiments with two different robot designs. Their goal was to test whether people scored the creativity differently depending on the robot's shape, because earlier work had suggested a link between shape and perceived creativity.

The team tested whether people saw different levels of creativity when a still life was drawn by a sleek arm-like robot or a more mechanistic plotter robot. Keeping the drawings consistent between the robots and from one participant to another was quite challenging.

"I think our biggest difficulty was the physical robots themselves. We did a lot of work with the robots and the drawing process to try to keep everything identical so we could do a scientifically rigorous comparison," says Pennanen.

The researchers were surprised to find no significant difference in how people scored the two robots. They're planning future work to look further into this counterintuitive result, as well as what other elements influence our perception of creativity.

"We're interested in doing more research about what kinds of biases affect our evaluation of creative and embodied AI systems and how those effects happen," says Pennanen.

The findings should also be confirmed for different artistic genres, as well as other forms of art and creative expression. To make it easier for others to replicate their work and build on it, the researchers followed strict open science practices. As artificial systems become commonplace, understanding the factors shaping our perception of their creativity is vital for effective designand it may also shed some light on how we recognize creativity in humans.

More information: Niki Pennanen et al, From Product to Producer: The Impact of Perceptual Evidence and Robot Embodiment on the Human Assessment of AI Creativity, ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (2025). DOI: 10.1145/3711939
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An example of a large language model. UTSA researchers recently completed one of the most comprehensive studies to date on the risks of using AI models to develop software. In a new paper, they demonstrate how a specific type of error could pose a serious threat to programmers that use AI to help write code. Credit: The University of Texas at San Antonio

UTSA researchers recently completed one of the most comprehensive studies to date on the risks of using AI models to develop software. In a new paper, they demonstrate how a specific type of error could pose a serious threat to programmers that use AI to help write code.

Joe Spracklen, a UTSA doctoral student in computer science, led the study on how large language models (LLMs) frequently generate insecure code.

His team's paper, published on the arXiv preprint server, has also been accepted for publication at the USENIX Security Symposium 2025, a cybersecurity and privacy conference.

The multi-institutional collaboration featured three additional researchers from UTSA: doctoral student A.H.M. Nazmus Sakib, postdoctoral researcher Raveen Wijewickrama, and Associate Professor Dr. Murtuza Jadliwala, director of the SPriTELab (Security, Privacy, Trust, and Ethics in Computing Research Lab).

Additional collaborators were Anindya Maita from the University of Oklahoma (a former UTSA postdoctoral researcher) and Bimal Viswanath from Virginia Tech.

Hallucinations in LLMs occur when the model produces content that is factually incorrect, nonsensical or completely unrelated to the input task. Most current research so far has focused mainly on hallucinations in classical natural language generation and prediction tasks such as machine translation, summarization and conversational AI.

The research team focused on the phenomenon of package hallucination, which occurs when an LLM generates or recommends the use of a third-party software library that does not actually exist.

What makes package hallucinations a fascinating area of research is how something so simplea single, everyday commandcan lead to serious security risks.

"It doesn't take a convoluted set of circumstances or some obscure thing to happen," Spracklen said. "It's just typing in one command that most people who work in those programming languages type every day. That's all it takes. It's very direct and very simple."

"It's also ubiquitous," he added. "You can do very little with your basic Python coding language. It would take you a long time to write the code yourself, so it is universal to rely on open-source software to extend the capabilities of your programming language to accomplish specific tasks."

LLMs are becoming increasingly popular among developers, who use the AI models to assist in assembling programs.

According to the study, up to 97% of software developers incorporate generative AI into their workflow, and 30% of code written today is AI-generated.

Additionally, many popular programming languages, like PyPI for Python and npm for JavaScript, rely on the use of a centralized package repository. Because the repositories are often open source, bad actors can upload malicious code disguised as legitimate packages.

For years, attackers have employed various tricks to get users to install their malware. Package hallucinations are the latest tactic.

"So, let's say I ask ChatGPT to help write some code for me and it writes it. Now, let's say in the generated code it includes a link to some package, and I trust it and run the code, but the package does not exist, it's some hallucinated package. An astute adversary/hacker could see this behavior (of the LLM) and realize that the LLM is telling people to use this non-existent package, this hallucinated package," Jadliwala explained.

"The adversary can then just trivially create a new package with the same name as the hallucinated package (being recommended by the LLM) and inject some bad code in it.

"Now, next time the LLM recommends the same package in the generated code and an unsuspecting user executes the code, this malicious package is now downloaded and executed on the user's machine."

The UTSA researchers evaluated the occurrence of package hallucinations across different programming languages, settings and parameters, exploring the likelihood of erroneous package recommendations and identifying root causes.

Across 30 different tests carried out by the UTSA researchers, 440,445 of 2.23 million code samples they generated in Python and JavaScript using LLM models referenced hallucinated packages.

Of the LLMs researchers tested, "GPT-series models were found four times less likely to generate hallucinated packages compared to open-source models, with a 5.2% hallucination rate compared to 21.7%," the study stated. Python code was less susceptible to hallucinations than JavaScript, researchers found.

These attacks often involve naming a malicious package to mimic a legitimate one, a tactic known as a package confusion attack. In a package hallucination attack, an unsuspecting LLM user would be recommended the package in their generated code, and trusting the LLM, would download the adversary-created malicious package, resulting in a compromise.

The insidious element of this vulnerability is that it exploits growing trust in LLMs. As they continue to get more proficient in coding tasks, users will be more likely to blindly trust their output and potentially fall victim to this attack.

"If you code a lot, it's not hard to see how this happens. We talked to a lot of people and almost everyone says they've noticed a package hallucination happen to them while they're coding, but they never considered how it could be used maliciously," Spracklen explained.

"You're placing a lot of implicit trust on the package publisher that the code they've shared is legitimate and not malicious. But every time you download a package, you're downloading potentially malicious code and giving it complete access to your machine."

While cross-referencing generated packages with a master list may help mitigate hallucinations, UTSA researchers said the best solution is to address the foundation of LLMs during its own development. The team has disclosed its findings to model providers, including OpenAI, Meta, DeepSeek and Mistral AI.

More information: Joseph Spracklen et al, We Have a Package for You! A Comprehensive Analysis of Package Hallucinations by Code Generating LLMs, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2406.10279 Journal information: arXiv
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Quantum computers are a specter for future data security because they might break many of today's encryption methods. Among other things, this will affect encrypted emails, messenger services, or online banking. Together with partners, researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a method that can reliably protect today's Internet communication from tomorrow's quantum technology threats.

The problem is that "the rapid progress in the development of quantum computers is a threat to data security and encrypted communication," says Laurent Schmalen, Professor at KIT's Communications Engineering Lab. "This is because the usual encryption methods are based on the fact that it is extremely difficult to break down large numbers into their prime factors, i.e., numbers that can only be divided by one and themselves."

The expert explains that this process is extremely cumbersome and time-consuming for conventional computers, but not for quantum computers. "And once you know the prime factors of a large number, you can break the encryption."

Traditional methods protect against future attacks

It is nevertheless possible to fend off quantum attacks with traditional cryptographyby using symmetric encryption. To do so, both sides need to exchange a virtual key before establishing the encrypted connection so that the transmitted data can be decrypted later on. This is a tap-proof method, but so far, it requires complex and expensive equipment.

The new method, however, works exclusively with conventional hardware. "We were able to perform the quantum key exchange with standard hardware as used in fiber-optic communication, such as the fiber-optic connections in homes and apartments, instead of relying on expensive special equipment," says Schmalen. On this basis, universal use of the technology should be possible within five years. "This way, we can make the global telecommunications network tap-proof."

Successful demonstration

The project team recently demonstrated the process in real time at the LMU Munich. A video transmission protected by the quantum key exchange was realized via an optical fiber connection on the campus. For this purpose, the KIT researchers developed innovative key matching algorithms. These ensure that both sides who want to establish an encrypted connection have an identical key, while the connection is still tap-proof.

"Our new algorithms for key matching are a decisive step towards ensuring tap-proof communication. They adapt dynamically to changing conditions and prevent attackers from obtaining information from the key exchange," explains Schmalen.

Tobias Fehenberger, R&D Director at ADVA Network Security, adds, "Our project is a significant milestone in the development of quantum-safe encryption. The successful validation of a modular, high-performance system proves that quantum security based on commercially available components and an open architecture is ready for use in practice."
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A schematic diagram of the proposed SmoothDetector model. The node dimensions correspond to the values specified as (input node and output node). Credit: IEEE Access (2025). DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3546876

Fake news across social media is becoming ever easier to spread and more difficult to detect. That's thanks to increasingly powerful artificial intelligence (AI) and cuts to fact-checking resources by major platforms.

This is especially concerning during elections, when local and international actors can use images, text, audio and video content to spread misinformation.

However, just as AI and algorithms can propagate fake news, they can be used to detect it. Researchers at Concordia's Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science have developed a new approach to identifying fake news. And they say it will be able to find hidden patterns that reveal whether a particular item is likely fake or not.

The model, called SmoothDetector, integrates a probabilistic algorithm with a deep neural network. It's designed to capture the uncertainties and key patterns in the shared latent representations of texts and images in a multimodal setting. The model uses annotated text and image data from the United Statesbased social media platform X and the China-based Weibo to learn. The researchers are currently looking into ways to eventually incorporate functionalities to detect fake audio and video content as well, leveraging every medium to counter misinformation.

"SmoothDetector is able to uncover complex patterns from annotated data, blending deep learning's expressive power with a probabilistic algorithm's ability to quantify uncertainty, ultimately delivering a confident prediction on an item's authenticity," says Ph.D. candidate Akinlolu Ojo. He describes the model in the journal IEEE Access.

One of the complexities the model learns is tone. Positional encoding gives the model the ability to learn the meaning of a certain word in relation to others in a sentence, providing it with a coherence to the sentence. The same technique is used on images.

"The innovation of our model lies in its probabilistic approach," Ojo says.

Learning possible ambiguity

SmoothDetector builds on existing though still relatively new multimodal models of fake news detection, Ojo explains. Earlier models could only examine one mode at a timetext or image or audio or videorather than all modes of a post simultaneously. That meant that a post with fake text but an accurate photo could be labeled as a false positive or negative.

This could create additional confusion, especially with regards to breaking news, when large amounts of information is generated quickly and can be contradictory.

"We wanted to capture these uncertainties to make sure we were not making a simple judgment on whether something was fake or real," Ojo says. "This is why we are working with a probabilistic model. It can monitor or control the judgment of the deep learning model. We don't just rely on the direct pattern in the information."

SmoothDetector gets its name from the smoothing of the probability distribution of an outcome: instead of directly deciding that a piece of content is fake or real, it assesses the inherent uncertainty in the data and quantifies the likelihood to smooth the probability, offering a more nuanced judgment of an item's authenticity.

"This makes it more versatile to capture both positive and negative information or correlation," he adds.

Ojo says that although more work is needed to make the model truly multimodal and able to analyze audio and visual data, it is transferable to other platforms besides X and Weibo.

Nizar Bouguila, a professor at the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering, contributed to this paper, along with assistant professor Fatma Najar, Ph.D. 22, at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, with assistant professors Nuha Zamzami, Ph.D. 20, and Hanen Himdi at the University of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

More information: Akinlolu Oluwabusayo Ojo et al, SmoothDectector: A Smoothed Dirichlet Multimodal Approach for Combating Fake News on Social Media, IEEE Access (2025). DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3546876 Journal information: IEEE Access
Buicks decision to produce only electric vehicles beginning in 2030 is having an impact on many dealerships nationwide, including Roe in Grand Island.

The Roe dealership is no longer selling new Buicks, ending a relationship that goes back 77 years.

Now known as Roe Automotive, the business will focus on getting high-quality, pre-owned vehicles for its customers, Jason Roe says.

Whether its a car, truck or SUV, We can find and get whatever people are looking for, he says.

The company will also provide service and parts.

Brand new Chevrolets will continue to be sold at Roe Chevrolet in Aurora, where there has been no change. Jason Roe is president of Roe Automotive and Roe Chevrolet.

The Grand Island dealership sold its last new Buick on March 29 and officially became Roe Automotive on April 1. It continues to operate at 3444 W. Stolley Park Road.

General Motors informed dealers in June of 2022 that Buick would strictly be an all-electric lineup by 2030.

We havent been given any indication that they were even going to keep internal combustion engines after that point, Roe said.

In 2023, GM began negotiations to purchase Buick franchises back from dealerships throughout the country.

At that time, nearly half the Buick dealers came to an agreement with GM to sell. The number has grown significantly after another round of buybacks took place before the end of 2024. Alongside the buybacks, there will not be any additional Buick dealerships added in the country going forward.

The market and conditions in this area, where driving distances are longer, dont necessarily support a fully electric lineup, Roe said.

With the direction of the strictly EV Buick brand, along with the market conditions and knowing our customers needs and demands in this part of the country, the extremely difficult and emotional decision to sell the Buick franchise back to GM was made, Roe says in a news release.

Jason Roe is a member of an automotive dealers association, which consists of 24 dealers from around the country.

All of those dealers had a Buick franchise at one point. Now only three of them do, and they operate in the larger markets of Phoenix, Akron, Ohio, and Madison, Wisconsin.

It was a difficult decision to make, he said. He kept thinking what his grandfather, the late E.N. Ev Roe, would think.

Its tough not to see the word Buick on the companys sign.

But in the long term, I think its probably the smart move for everyone, Roe says.

This does not mean Roe is going anywhere, he says in a news release. We will operate Roe Automotive Inc. at the Grand Island location and continue to provide the same excellent customer experience for preowned sales as well as ALL of your service and parts needs. You will still see the same experienced sales, finance, service and parts professionals going forward and (we) are always looking to grow our team. This decision will also help us expand our reach through potential new franchises and various opportunities going forward. One of those plans is to construct an addition to our Service Department at the Chevrolet dealership in Aurora.

Ev Roe started in the automobile business in 1948 in Norfolk after serving his country as a Marine lieutenant in World War II stationed at Iwo Jima, then working on the family farm in Canton, S.D.

In 1952, he and his wife, Merlene, moved the dealership to Grand Island and opened Roe Buick. Their son, Tim, in 1978 joined the dealership, where he is still active as dealer principal.

Jason, who is Tims son, began operating Roe Buick Inc. in 2009 after working for Gillman Automotive, a large dealership group in San Antonio, for three years.

In 2014, Roe Chevrolet was born in Aurora and continues to expand its reach in the area, says the news release.

The Roe family has partnered with many franchises throughout the years, including Opel, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Isuzu. The one thing that remained constant was the Buick brand.

The Grand Island business sold Oldsmobiles until about 2005 and Pontiac until 2009.

Its rare to find a dealership around the country that sells only Buick, he said.

Roe said the family business has been serving Grand Island and the central Nebraska area for more than 70 years and will continue to do so.

Born and raised in Grand Island, I am proud to call it home and raise my family here, he says in the news release. We truly value and appreciate all of our past, current and future customers. I am always at the dealerships and enjoy nothing more than visiting with all of you. Feel free to stop in and always say hello. We look forward to seeing you at Roe Automotive and Roe Chevrolet.
COLUMBIA  South Carolina's highest court on Monday rejected the last major appeal from Mikal Mahdi, who is scheduled to die by firing squad later this week for the ambush killing of an off-duty police officer.

Mahdi's lawyers said his original attorneys put on a shallow case trying to spare his life that didn't call on relatives, teachers or people who knew him and ignored the impact of weeks spent in solitary confinement in prison as a teen.

But the state Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, ruled that many of those arguments were made in earlier unsuccessful appeals and refused to stop Friday's scheduled execution so further hearings could be held.

Mahdi, who admitted killing an off-duty police officer in an ambush at the officer's Calhoun County shed, is the fifth person set to be executed in South Carolina in less than eight months. All made final appeals to the state Supreme Court but all were rejected.

Mahdi has one more opportunity to live, by asking Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to reduce his sentence to life in prison without parole just minutes before his scheduled execution time. He is to be put to death with three bullets to the heart at 6 p.m. on April 11 at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia.

But no South Carolina governor has offered clemency in the 47 executions carried out in the state since the death penalty resumed in the U.S. in 1976.

Mahdi, 41, was convicted of killing Orangeburg Public Safety officer James Myers in 2004, shooting him at least eight times, then burning his body. Myers' wife found him in the shed, which had been the backdrop to their wedding 15 months earlier.

Myers' shed was a short distance through the woods from a gas station where Mahdi tried but failed to buy gas with a stolen credit card and left behind a vehicle he had carjacked in Columbia. Mahdi was arrested afterward in Florida while driving Myers' unmarked police pickup truck.

Mahdi also admitted to the killing three days earlier of Christopher Biggs, a Winston-Salem, North Carolina, convenience store clerk who was shot twice in the head as he checked Mahdi's ID. Mahdi was sentenced to life in prison for that killing.

Mahdi pleaded guilty to killing Myers, leaving a judge under South Carolina law to decide if he would be sentenced to death or life without parole.

Prosecutors called 28 witnesses for Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman to hear. The defense called two, according to Mahdi's appeal.

The defense's case to spare Mahdi's life lasted only about 30 minutes. It "didn't even span the length of a Law & Order episode, and was just as superficial," Mahdi's lawyers wrote.

Prosecutors said Mahdi was able to present much more evidence during a 2011 appeal that had to be heard inside a prison because Mahdi had stabbed a death row guard during an escape attempt. A judge rejected the appeal.

"In Mahdi's vernacular, if his mitigation presentation before Judge Newman 'didn't even span the length of a Law & Order episode,' the review of any potential error is in its 24th season," the state Attorney General's Office wrote in court papers.

As a prisoner, Mahdi has been caught three times with tools he could have used to escape, including a piece of sharpened metal that could be used as a knife, according to prison records. While he was on death row, he stabbed a guard and hit another worker with a concrete block, the records show.

"The nature of the man is violence," prosecutors wrote.

Mahdi is to be the second inmate executed by South Carolina's new firing squad after Brad Sigmon chose that way to die last month.

The firing squad is an execution method with a long and violent history in the U.S. and around the world. Death in a hail of bullets has been used to punish mutinies and desertion in armies, as frontier justice in America's Old West and as a tool of terror and political repression in the former Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

Before Sigmon's execution last month, only three other prisoners in the U.S. had been executed by firing squad in the past 50 years. All were in Utah, most recently Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010.

Three prison employees who volunteer for the role will fire high-powered rifles at Mahdi from 15 feet (about 4.5 meters) away, aiming for a target on his heart.

Mahdi also could have chosen the electric chair or lethal injection.
Operating a water and sewer system is costly and difficult in the best of times. Last November was one of the worst of times for the Town of Bowman.

Get The Times and Democrat app today Local news has never been this personal. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access.

The big storm caused severe damage to our Tupelo wastewater pump station, Mayor Patsy Rhett told the town council on Tuesday, April 1.

Because of the overflow of water and debris, both of the motors quit. We replaced them with one motor we borrowed from the Homestead pump station.

Replacing both of the damaged motors  and the damaged fence at the Tupelo site  will cost more than $40,000, the mayor said.

BOWMAN TOWN COUNCIL: Audit discussed in private; festival proposal approved The Bowman Town Council reviewed the annual financial audit in executive session and discussed future community events and the need for a grocery store.

Whos going to pay for it? Generally, customer revenues are expected to pay for routine operations, while state and federal loans and grants help out with one-time emergency needs and long-term expansions.

Bowman is pursuing both revenue sources.

This week, Bowman utility customers are getting in the mail their first bills reflecting newly increased monthly rates.

We need to have the monies so we can operate effectively and efficiently, Mayor Rhett said. Were running a business, not a give-away.

As for the pump motors and fence, Rhett said, I was advised by Orangeburg County to contact FEMA  the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Hopefully, FEMA will take care of the expense, so we can get new motors for that pump station, Rhett told the council. Were filling out (claim) forms. I will keep you abreast of whats going on.

On March 10, NBC News published an article headlined How FEMA cuts are spreading far beyond Washington.

BOWMAN TOWN COUNCIL: Survey seeks to identify gaps in health-related services Tameka Hodges, Bowman resident and community health worker, initiated a survey to assess health-related needs, aiming to address gaps. Town Council meetings monthly.

It said Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency fired 200 FEMA employees in recent weeks, even though the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that FEMA had a 35 percent gap in necessary staffing in 2022, and a heavy workload was leading to burnout and retention issues.

President Donald Trump has suggested that more cuts are forthcoming.

During a visit to Asheville, North Carolina, he vowed to sign an executive order to begin the process of reforming FEMA or getting rid of FEMA, Politicos E&E News reported.

I think FEMAs not good, Trump told reporters. FEMA has turned out to be a disaster and a very big disappointment.

Al Jenkins, regional director for U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told The T&D that grant and loan applications already in the pipeline should not be affected by the evolving changes in Washington.

As of this writing, the FEMA website says the agency is still accepting new applications for financial assistance under a variety of programs.

But even if an application is approved, its unclear when the recipient might get the money.

Since January, the Trump administration has frozen trillions of federal dollars  money that was already allocated by Congress  for many different agencies, NPR reported.

On March 6, U.S. District Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ordered that the money start flowing again.

Weeks later, officials from 21 states returned to court, saying they had not gotten any money. The Trump administration acknowledged that the money had not been disbursed, but insisted they had complied with the judges order.

In other business, Rhett said were well aware of a glitch in the online system that credits utility bill payments to the Town of Bluffton instead of the Town of Bowman.

She said any customers who paid by credit card and received a receipt or statement referring to Bluffton should contact the Bowman town hall.

Otherwise, everything is in order with our water department, Rhett said.

County Councilman Johnny Ravenell  whose district includes the Bowman area  stopped by to say hello and to inform the audience that a businessman has proposed creating a gaming facility in Santee.

Im not soliciting the gaming facility, Ravenell said. Im not promoting it. And Im not calling it a casino. Im just informing you that its on a fast track.

Thats good, Rhett said. They need something there.

Bowman Councilman Ike Carter said he envisions a bright future for a growing and thriving Santee, which he attributes in large measure to its location on Interstate 95 and on the edge of Lake Marion.

Carter said he wishes Bowman had an amenity to draw tourists and new residents. Its only international claim to fame was the UFO Welcome Center, until it burned down last May.

Council member Deleasera Rogers reported that the police department responded to 19 calls for service and issued 33 citations in March.

The mayor received a visit from a representative of The Samaritan House. A fact sheet about Orangeburg Countys only homeless shelter and its clients and accomplishments can be picked up at the town hall.

Rhett said she received two letters from the South Carolina Department of Transportation. One referred to the proposed widening of Interstate 26 between mile markers 145 and 172.

The other referenced a street, adjacent to the Inner City Park, that has been removed from the state highway maintenance system. That road now belongs to the Town of Bowman, Rhett explained.

The mayor also received a letter from Bobby Gamble, outreach coordinator for the Alston Wilkes Society, a multi-state, nonprofit organization that offers rehabilitative and prevention services to offenders, the homeless, at-risk youths, veterans, and families in crisis.

Gamble has a particular focus on veterans and housing. He welcomes referrals and can be contacted at bgamble@aws1962.org or at 803-365-5358. More information can be picked up at the town hall.

The Bowman Town Councils next monthly meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, in the town hall, 131 Poplar St. Call 803-829-2666 for details.
The current 46 counties in South Carolina were created in the 1800s in horse and buggy days when horses walked 4 miles in an hour and it took a day or more to ride from the edges of counties to the county seats to attend county court and pay county taxes.

The first counties in colonial South Carolina were created in 1664 when only three counties were established for all of Carolina Colony which at the time included what is now all of North Carolina and South Carolina until 1712. After the American Revolution, the state government of South Carolina in 1785 divided the entire state into 34 counties. During the period 1664 to 1816, a total of sixteen counties were created in South Carolina but then later abolished, while four counties were only renamed.

Today, South Carolina has 46 counties which vary greatly in population but not so much in geographical size. Greenville County has the largest population of 548,000 and Allendale County has the smallest of only 7,579. Charleston County has the most square miles at 1,358 and McCormick County has the fewest square miles at 360.

Even so, regardless of size, each county comes complete with a costly county government officialdom including Sheriff, Treasurer, Coroner, Clerk of Court, Auditor and Probate Judge. Counties also have jails which are often expensive and troublesome.

The question is whether the 46 counties should be consolidated by merging some of the smallest counties into larger adjacent counties in order to create more efficient and less costly county governments.

Could Richland County, with a population of 416,000, be consolidated and merged with adjacent Fairfield County with a population of only 21,000 and adjacent Calhoun County with only 14,000, consolidating the functions and costs of the three county governments into one administrative unit with one sheriff and only one set of county administrators rather than three, saving multiple salaries and related costs.

The salaries of county officials amount to millions each year. The Richland County Sheriffs salary is $223,682 per year. The Richland County Administrators salary is $250,000. The Richland County Attorney is paid $220,000. Richland County has a total of 20 employees who are paid $147,117 or more per year.

Calhoun Countys highest paid employee is paid $139,632. The Sheriff of Calhoun County is paid $94,919, which is 18 percent lower than the average salary of sheriffs in South Carolina. And the highest salary paid to a county employee in Fairfield County, S.C. is $120,812. The Fairfield sheriff is paid $96,850.

The annual budget approved in Fairfield County, S.C. for 2024 is $44.6 million. The budget approved for Richland County, S.C. for 2024 is $1.4 billion. The budget for Calhoun County, S.C. for 2024 is $57 million.

Orangeburg County has a population of 84,000, Bamberg County has 13,000 and Calhoun County has 14,000. All three counties have the usual number of county departments, including sheriffs who are paid $93,576 in Orangeburg, $94,019 in Calhoun and $89,586 in Bamberg. Consolidating the three county governments would reduce the number of sheriffs to only one. The same is true for the consolidation of the other various county elected officers in the three counties.

County governments could be consolidated by the General Assembly which created them if the readers and voters of the various 46 counties wanted to consolidate two or more counties into a single, more efficient county with one set of county officials and employees.

A good place to start would be for the county council members, state legislators, local newspapers, and activist citizens to research the question of whether county consolidation would bring more efficient and less costly government to the counties where they live.

If so, then the big question is whether it is politically possible to consolidate counties or whether the county officials who benefit from the status quo would be able to stop consolidation to save their jobs.

John V. Crangle

Attorney at Law

S.C. Progressive Network
Gia xang dau trong nuoc hom nay (3/7) uoc du bao co the giam tu 6,8 - 7,5% so voi ky ieu hanh truoc o. Cu the, gia ban le xang E5 RON 92 co the giam 1.412 ong (6,9%) ve muc 19.118 ong/lit; xang RON 95-III co the giam 1.440 ong (6,8%) ve muc 19.670 ong/lit. Trong khi o, dau hoa co the giam 7,5% ve muc 17.631 ong/lit; dau mazut co the giam 7,2% ve muc 15.730 ong/kg; dau diesel co the giam 7,1% ve muc 17.977 ong/lit.
08/04/2025

Leeds Utd U18s 2- 4 Everton U18s

Everton U18s travel to Thorp Arch Grange to take on Leeds Utd this afternoon in the U18 Premier League (North): kick-off 2 pm BST.

Only 4 subs named and a new young goalkeeper in Forsyth on the bench. Two goals from Justin Clarke in the first half put the Young Blues in control of this game at half-time.

And Justin Clarke chalked up his hat-trick in the second half after the home side pulled one back. But he wasn't finished at Everton got a penalty after the hour mark that Justin Clarke dispatched, although the Blues did conceded another goal soon after.

Everton U18s: Seve, Finney, Van Schoor (71' Poland), Davis, Gardner, Foster, Stewart, Akarakiri, Clarke (85' Freedman), Olayiwola (76' Matos), Wren.



Subs not Used: Forsyth.

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer ()

How to get rid of these ads and support TW

 ToffeeWeb
Eavan Castaner, the teen who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Lenea Brown, was sentenced to 42-75 years in prison on Tuesday morning.

Castaner pleaded guilty to killing Lenea Brown by shooting her in the head just outside Buckboard Park on the night of May 13, 2024.

Castaner, who turned 16 about a week later, was 15 at the time of the offense.

Judge Daniel Forgey imposed the sentence, which closely aligned with the prosecutions recommendation.

Both the state and the defense gave lengthy presentations in favor of their sentencing recommendations  with the prosecution asking for 44-75 and the defense requesting 22-30  but District Attorney Dan Itzens request for a punitive sentence appeared to be favored by Forgey.

After the hearing, defense attorney Ryan Semerad told the Star-Tribune that he has filed a notice of appeal for the ruling on the grounds that it is both illegal and unconstitutional.

Both the state and defense called witnesses throughout the two-hour hearing, which included statements from Lenea Browns father, David Henrikson, and both of Castaners parents.

When I lost her, I lost a huge part of myself, Henrikson said in his testimony.

He also described Lenea as his first love and his first loss.

Lenea will never have a chance at life, and I believe Eavan should have a similar sentence, Henrikson said in his statement.

Castaners mother, Mikala, presented a statement of her own, asking the court to impose a sentence that allowed her son to have a second chance.

Facts of the case

Fact witnesses provided a timeline of events leading up to Browns death and largely relied on the testimony of Castaners mother and Detective Jonathan Schlager, who handled the investigation for Casper Police Department.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson was also present for the state and interviewed the witnesses for the prosecution.

In his examination of Schlager, Nelson referenced Snapchat and text messages sent by Castaner to present Castaner as lacking remorse for his actions. Castaners counselor, Jana Sisco, denied those claims when she took the stand under subpoena.

The mood of the courtroom was somber throughout the hearing. The sound of hushed tears regularly punctuated points made by both attorneys.

Henrikson himself struggled to finish his statement.

Castaners mother and grandmother both cried when asking for the court to give him a second chance.

In earlier interviews with the Star-Tribune, Henrikson said Brown made Castaner the focal point of the last year or so of her life, often forsaking her regular hobbies of dirt biking, fishing and camping with her family to spend time with her then-boyfriend.

In the hearing, attorneys established that Brown broke up with Castaner about 25 days before he killed her.

On May 13, when Brown was murdered, both of Castaners parents were out of town for work. His father, Christopher, was in Point of Rocks; his mother was in Bozeman. She said she planned to return the next day and was only away for the night.

In her closet, she left the gun Eavan Castaner used to kill Lenea Brown in an unlocked concealed carry case.

In pleading for a reduced sentence later on, defense attorney Ryan Semerad noted that Castaner had been placed under an involuntary hold multiple times for mental health crises.

Prior to the murder, Castaner sent messages to a friend saying that he still wasnt over his relationship with Brown and that he just want[ed] to kill someone to let out his anger.

He also sent text messages to Brown threatening her life, calling her a hoe and saying she deserves to die in the most painful way possible, among other things.

Brown sent screenshots of the text messages to Castaners mother on the night of the 13, but she stated on the stand that she was asleep when she received them.

Impending appeal

Due to the nature of Castaners plea deal, the defense cannot appeal the facts of the case. Castaners camp can, however, appeal the sentence itself if they feel its unjustly harsh.

In addition to the 42-75 year figure, Castaner was also sentenced for a misdemeanor stalking charge, for which he was credited time served. He was also ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution to Browns family to recoup funeral costs.

In a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, Semerad said Castaner has already filed a notice of appeal.

He told the Star-Tribune that state statute limits the maximum penalty for juvenile offenders at life with possibility for parole after 25 years, making the sentence illegal. He also said he believes it to be unconstitutional on the grounds that many teenagers convicted of greater offenses  namely murder in the first degree  were eligible for parole after fewer than 42 years.

Because the State of Wyoming argued for a purely punitive 44-year sentence, which exceeds the limit of the law, the release says, and the Court ultimately imposed a punishment, which exceeded the limits of the law by 17 years, Eavan will appeal the Courts sentence to the Supreme Court of Wyoming.

Our community needs a reckoning over kids, crime and safety. Imposing unconstitutional and illegal sentences sends exactly the wrong message sat this precarious time.
WASHINGTON  There is so much history between the walls of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, which has hosted funerals for Rosa Parks and Frederick Douglass and opened its pews to American presidents and civil rights icons.

It made history again this year: Thanks to a lawsuit, Metropolitan AME now controls the trademark to the Proud Boys, the far-right group that once vandalized the churchs property in Washington.

After a pro-Donald Trump rally in December 2020, Proud Boys destroyed Black Lives Matter signs at two historically Black churches during a violent night in the city.

The act of destroying these signs was not just alcohol-lubricated, infantile frat-boy stuff, said the Rev. William H. Lamar IV, Metropolitans pastor.

This is a softer version of cross-burning, designed to keep us quiet, he said.

It was political intimidation, according to Lamar. A judge awarded the church $2.8 million in damages in 2023, condemning the Proud Boys hateful and overtly racist conduct.

In February, after the Proud Boys didnt pay, the court gave the church use of the groups name and symbols  seen on its black-and-yellow gear and laurel wreath logo.

The church can seize money the Proud Boys make through merchandise sales. And the congregation has begun to sell lookalike shirts on its website with lines like Stay Proud, Stay Black. It plans to offer similar apparel for Pride Month and Juneteenth, with proceeds going to a community justice fund.

Lamar said its our way of leveraging something that was intended for evil.

Despite the humor and subversion, Lamar sees the lawsuit as part of a long line of civil rights activism that has relied on the courts, from Black women who successfully sued the Ku Klux Klan to lawsuits that pushed desegregation.

Metropolitan institutionally is doing what Black women and men have always done, he said, and that is to use the available means to fight.

In January, President Trump pardoned members of the Proud Boys who were convicted for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Included in that pardon was the groups former chairman, Enrique Tarrio, who had been serving a 22-year sentence and is a named a defendant in the churchs lawsuit.

Two weeks later, when church member Khaleelah Harris heard about the trademark win, her first response was to pray for the safety of Metropolitan, which at one point was paying $20,000 a month for increased security.

I just hope they dont touch the church. That was my main concern, said Harris, who is pursuing ordination within the AME.

As overwhelming as this all has been, in a sense, we have no choice, she said. Thats the legacy of our church.

Founded in 1838 and part of the nations first independent Black denomination, the congregation laid the buildings cornerstone in 1881. AME churches around the country, from Mississippi to Connecticut, paid for its construction as their national cathedral, positioned a half-mile from the White House.

Washingtons been a very interesting town, because Black people have been able to live lives here that they couldnt live elsewhere, Lamar said. It was not without segregation and racism, but they built their own spaces to preserve their own humanity, their own joy.

Growing up in Macon, Georgia, Lamar first learned about Metropolitan AME from a textbook his mother brought home. Almost 30 years later, he became its pastor.

The decision to sue the Proud Boys was made with a unanimous vote of church leaders, though Wayne Curtis, a Metropolitan member for nearly three decades, is still cautious about the victory, not wanting it to give the Proud Boys more attention. But he said before a Sunday service that its an opportunity to hopefully bring a little more humility to a pretty extreme organization.

The Proud Boys, though fractured as a movement, resurfaced at Trumps inauguration. Tarrio, who got five months in jail in part for burning the second churchs banner, suggested on the social platform X after the latest court decision that they change their name to the African Methodist Episcopal Boys. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Even if the Proud Boys change their name, the organization and some members are still indebted to the congregation, whose legal team plans to pursue the money. The Proud Boys have paid $1,500 so far of the judgment, which with interest is at least $3.1 million, according to the churchs attorneys.

We will be unrelenting in pursuing justice, Lamar said. And it is not just for Metropolitan. It is to send a clear signal to anyone who would intimidate any house of worship or any individual of any race, color, creed, or no creed at all.

Three blocks from the red-brick church, the city recently demolished its Black Lives Matter Plaza. In contrast, a bold Black Lives Matter sign still stands outside Metropolitan, which is sandwiched between two tall office buildings.

Inside the sanctuary on a recent afternoon, Lamar pointed to pieces of church history: the names inscribed in marble, the places marked in stained glass.

Lamar is working on a book about Black ancestors, whose presence he often feels spurring his church to fight for justice. He has felt them during the court case too.

The victory for me was ancestral in that it said, keep going. Youve won this, but its not over.
Former prime minister Stuart Young is leading the legal team representing former Central Bank Governor Dr Alvin Hilaire in his wrongful dismissal battle against the State.

On Wednesday, Hilaire told the Express that his attorneys issued a pre-action protocol letter to the Attorney General and the Cabinet Secretariat.

When asked by the Express to provide a copy of the pre-action letter and the names of his attorneys, Hilaire responded yesterday, declining to share the letter but confirming that Young is leading his legal team.
FULL BLOWNS music isnt made for one time of year. You can listen to it at the gym, the office, the bedroom, on rainy days, during break-ups, and as a pick-me-up.

In a genre driven by the cyclical rush to Carnival, the Hart brothers are among a growing group of deliberate outliers. Theyve always made music that lives beyond the season. That very philosophy inspired their latest single, Castaway.
A PRIVATE contractor is dead after an accident in Tobago.

Police have identified the victim as Darryl Figaro of Black Rock, Tobago. He died on Wednesday after falling from a ladder while working at a private villa.

An autopsy of Figaros body yesterday at the Scarborough Mortuary determined injuries were consistent with a fall, and it ruled out foul play. The body was previously identified by the victims daughter.
My wife and I are in our sunset years and have been trying to deal with the many issues of our health, so our doctors have been giving us prescriptions for medication which is needed to try to control our health issues.

We would normally go to distributors of the various medications that are prescribed, and purchase two months supply at any one time. Alas, we no longer can do this because of the recent ruling by the respective Government agencies, and now have to purchase these medications from registered pharmacies.
As the Easter season comes into full swing, here are a variety of festivities and programs for children, families and adults around Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Tucson EGGstravaganza

Hosted by Tucson Parks and Recreation, the 26th annual EGGstravaganza includes music, egg hunts, a visit from the Easter Bunny and a variety of food vendors.

When: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 12

Where: Doris J. Thompson Park, 2000 N. Fourth Ave.

Cost: Free to attend

Reid Park Easter ExtravaganZOO

Have a special breakfast with the Easter Bunny and hunt eggs throughout the zoo. Stay and explore the zoos offerings after the morning activities.

When: 7:30-9 a.m. Friday-Saturday, April 19-20

Where: Reid Park Zoo, 3400 E. Zoo Court

Cost: $42 for adults, $32 for children 2 to 14 years old

Cup Cafe Easter Brunch

This annual Easter brunch features a specialized three-course meal with a variety of options, including shrimp and grits, croque madame and mushroom asparagus crepes.

When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 20

Where: Hotel Congress Cup Cafe, 311 E. Congress St.

Cost: $65 per person

Maynards Easter High Tea

Enjoy an assortment of teas, entrees and desserts at this high tea event.

When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 20

Where: Maynards Kitchen & Bottle Shop, 400 N. Toole Ave.

Cost: $75 per person

Tanque Verde Swap Meet Easter Celebration

Join the Tanque Verde Swap Meet for live music from the band Mass of Sound, pictures with the Easter Bunny and face painting.

When: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 12

Where: Tanque Verde Swap Meet, 4100 S. Palo Verde Road

Cost: Free to Attend

Oro Valley Easter Eggstravaganza

Join Oro Valleys annual egg hunt with food, games and crafts.

When: 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 19

Where: James D. Kriegh Park, 23 W. Calle Concordia, Oro Valley

Cost: Free to Attend

Sierra Vista Easter Eggstravaganza

Kids can hunt for eggs, craft, play games and take a photo with the Easter Bunny.

When: 9-11 a.m. Saturday, April 19

Where: Veterans Memorial Park, 3105 E. Fry Blvd., Sierra Vista

Cost: Free to attend

Sahuarita Bunny Bonanza

Bring the family to this event to take pictures with the Easter Bunny and hunt for eggs.

When: 9-11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 19

Where: Quail Creek Veterans Municipal Park, 1905 S. Old Nogales Highway, Sahuarita

Cost: Free to attend

Info: sahuaritaparks
A woman shot and killed Friday during an altercation with a state trooper on Interstate 10 in Tucson has been identified.

Robin Rae Budelli, 41, of Tucson, was walking along the shoulder of I-10 near the Park Avenue exit about noon when a state trooper who had stopped to talk to her, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety. She was shot during an altercation with the trooper, the agency said.
A downtown Tucson bakery known for its baguettes, sweet buns, Japanese cream puffs and Korean shaved ice is opening a second location.

HeeMee Coffee & Pastries leased 2,828 square feet of retail space from the Marshal Foundation at Main Gate Square near the University of Arizona campus. Greg Furrier and Natalie Furrier, with Picor, represented the landlord.

HeeMees first bakery opened at 20 E. Congress St. in 2019. The new location will be located at 800 E. University Ave.

The shop is known here for its bingsoo, a Korean raspado with toppings such as red bean paste, green tea and cereal.

HeeMee offers grab-and-go baguettes, and its new location will have an extended lunch menu.

An opening date for the Main Gate Square location has not yet been announced.

Other local commercial activity includes:

UHS of Tucson LLC bought Palo Verde Behavioral Health, a 76,770-square-foot behavioral health hospital and medical office building at 2695 N. Craycroft Road, from TMC Holdings Inc. for $19 million. Richard M. Kleiner, with Picor, represented the seller.

HFE International LLC, which develops and manufactures high-end propulsion systems for UAVs and drones, leased 7,650 square feet of industrial space at 1800 S. Research Loop from Grace Pacifica Machining LLC. Stephen D. Cohen and Kameron Norwood, with Picor, represented both parties.

Body Central leased 4,940 square feet at Crossroads Festival, 4811 E. Grant Road. The landlord, Larsen Baker, was represented by its broker, Isaac Figueroa. Daulton Hoelbl, with Lee & Associates, represented the tenant.

Keller Interiors LLC, which does floor installations, leased 3,990 square feet of industrial space at 4001 S. Contractors Way from Paul E. and Jan S. Monson. Paul Hooker and Tara Kernen, with Picor, represented the landlord. Jackson Kraft, with CBRE, represented the tenant.

Serenity Urgent Care LLC leased 3,431 square feet of retail space at Sunrise Village Shopping Center, 4748 E. Sunrise Drive, from Sunrise Village Investors LLC. Dave Hammack, with Picor, represented the landlord and Christian Gile, with Gile Commercial Real Estate, represented the tenant.

Maple Leaf Hair Salon leased an additional 1,950 square feet at Crossroads Festival, 4811 E. Grant Road. The landlord, Larsen Baker, was represented by its broker, Isaac Figueroa.

Fletcher Home Improvement LLC, dba Fletcher Roofing, leased 1,200 square feet at Plaza Sonora Shopping Center, 2840 W. Ina Road. Ryan Wayne Shirley, with NAI Horizon, handled this transaction.

Kumon Math & Reading Center of Tucson leased 1,050 square feet at Silverado Plaza, 105 S. Houghton Road, from Tucson Silverado LP. Natalie Furrier and Greg Furrier, with Picor, represented the landlord. James McDonald, with Cresa LLC, represented the tenant.
The University of Arizonas next senior vice president for academic affairs and provost is Patricia Prelock, the school said Tuesday.

Dr. Prelock is a world-class academic leader and the ideal person to serve as our provost as we align the U of A around our strategic imperatives, University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella said in a written statement.

Prelock is a former interim president of the University of Vermont, the school Garimella left to become president here. Prelock is set to begin her new role as the UAs top academic official on May 19. The provost oversees the faculty and the universitys academic mission. She will be paid $550,000, the same as the previous provost.

Garimellas decision comes a week after Prelock, one of four finalists for the post, was in Tucson to visit the campus and to hold a public forum in which she discussed topics, including the current political climate as the Trump administration targets universities with orders to eliminate diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs and cuts federal funding; strategies for the UA administration to share governance with faculty; enrollment management and pushing for excellence and innovation in teaching.

It is important for universities to not be reactionary in this challenging time, Prelock said at the forum. She said schools need inclusive excellence for all students, and to make sure the DEIA services, such as cultural and resource centers are open to all students, not just the diverse communities they were created to serve.

My visit to the University of Arizona confirmed for me the extraordinary talent of the faculty, staff and students and their desire to increase academic success, their focus on research for the future, and their commitment to engagement with their community, Prelock said in UAs news release Tuesday. I appreciated the rigor and integrity of the search process and the thoughtfulness of the search committee, as well as the opportunity to connect with administrators, students, faculty, staff and governance leaders across the campus.

Prelock, who served as provost and senior vice president at UVM since 2019, has been at the school for 28 years.

While the open forum sessions for the four candidates were public, the university denied access for the Arizona Daily Star to the attendees feedback on the forums. The feedback included approximately 200 responses as of last week, and was said to be the search committees confidential final report to the president, out of respect for both the candidates and those who shared their input, according to UA spokesperson Mitch Zak. Zak said he also would not give the Star access to the input after Garimella named Prelock.

UA Chair of the Faculty Leila Hudson said she supports the choice of Prelock enthusiastically, calling her an experienced leader with an established working relationship with President Garimella. I and many in faculty governance were impressed with her calm, forthright, diplomatic style and look forward to working closely with her, said Hudson.

In her open forum, Prelock, an expert in the nature and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, cited experience across disciplines, tackling higher education challenges, and commitment to educate and innovate as the reasons for her interest in the UA post. She holds a doctorate in speech-language pathology.

Carol Brochin, a UA College of Education faculty senator, said stability is essential in times of uncertainty and that its great to finally have new leadership in place, especially after years of upheaval in the UAs provost position. Its reassuring to have a provost who comes from the faculty and who publicly affirms the importance of our institutions and core practices  like public service and shared governance, said Brochin.

In this political climate, we need courageous and principled leadership. I expect the new provost to meet this moment by boldly defending academic freedom, upholding the constitutional rights of all members of our campus community  including our queer and transgender students  and standing firm in support of our international students, who are facing the real and growing threat, Brochin wrote to the Star Tuesday. This is not a time for silence or neutrality. Our values as a public, land-grant research university demand visible, vocal leadership that protects the most vulnerable among us.

The provost position has seen multiple leadership changes in recent years. Liesl Folks, who had been provost since 2019, stepped down in May 2023. She was succeeded in the role by Joseph Glover  but he left the UA after serving only about six weeks in the $550,000 job. Ron Marx has since been serving as interim provost.

Matthew Abraham, a UA professor of English, noted that three of the four finalists in the provost search  Prelock and Eric Barker and Jenna Rickus, both of Purdue University  have very close connections to Garimella and hail from institutions he previously worked at. Even if these three candidates were miraculously the most qualified in the entire pool of applicants, the optics are problematic, Abraham said.

The fourth finalist was William Bernhard of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

A president for the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and a National Academies of Practice fellow in speech-language pathology, Prelock was described as an an unwavering champion of student success, developing and promoting academic success goals to track progress across a wide variety of areas by Vermont Business Magazine.
Saguaro National Park is back to its normal hours of operation, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum aims to keep it that way, regardless of ongoing cuts to the federal workforce.

Burgum issued an order Thursday requiring top officials from the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior to sign off on any proposed closures or reductions in hours that might impact visitor services at individual parks.

The intent of the so-called secretarial order is to keep all national parks and historic sites open and accessible for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people, Burgum wrote.

To ensure that the Park Service is providing the best customer service experience for all visitors, he wants any changes to a parks established amenities or hours of operation to be reviewed in advance by the Park Service director and the Interior Departments assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks.

But advocates for the parks and their employees question how already-understaffed park sites can comply with such an order in the midst of mass firings, retirement buyouts, a hiring freeze and whatever comes next.

The NPS has lost somewhere near 1,500 permanent employees since the beginning of this year, and the (agency) is bracing for another reduction in force expected in the very near future, said Rick Mossman, president of the Marana-based nonprofit Association of National Park Rangers.

Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Colorado-based conservation group Center for Western Priorities, called Burgums order a hollow and cynical attempt to save face amid the outrage from the public about the harm the Trump administration is inflicting to not only national parks, but the communities across the country that depend on them for economic survival.

She said the Interior secretary cant simply paper over the indiscriminate and cruel across-the-board cuts by Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency.

As a former businessman, Doug Burgum should know that the numbers on Americas balance sheet dont add up when it comes to mandating that parks and services remain operational without the personnel and resources to do so, Rokala said in a written statement. This order wouldnt even be necessary if Elon Musks DOGE personnel at Interior werent in the process of actively dismantling the agency from the inside out.

In late February, Saguaro National Park began closing its two visitor centers on Mondays, after the Trump administration fired more than 24,000 probationary government employees, including at least two at the Tucson park.

Those workers have since been reinstated by two federal court rulings. Saguaro resumed daily operations at its visitor centers on March 31, before Burgum issued his directive.

Park advocates said they still dont know how to interpret parts of the secretarys order, especially the section that says the Interior Department shall take action to ensure that NPS is properly staffed to support the operating hours and needs of each park unit.

We hope this means that park visitors will no longer experience some of the impacts from limited staffing that have been recently reported, Mossman said. However, we still suggest that visitors plan ahead and make every effort to determine what they can expect when they get to the parks, so they wont be surprised or disappointed.
PHOENIX  Two high-ranking members of the Trump administration are coming to Arizona Tuesday to promote their policies and support parallel legislative efforts here.

Tom Homan, tapped by the president to be his border czar, is set to address a joint session of the Arizona House and Senate.

That comes just a day after House Republicans approved a plan to require state and local agencies to cooperate with federal immigration officials. The future of that bill remains in doubt, however, as Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has repeatedly vetoed measures to have the state play a role in enforcing immigration laws.

And Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, will be addressing more immediate  and potentially more far-reaching  efforts to change state law in the name of public health.

His news conference scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the Arizona Capitol comes as lawmakers are set to give final approval Tuesday morning to banning some ultra-processed foods from schools, including cafeterias, snack bars and school vending machines.

Lake Havasu City Republican Rep. Leo Biasiucci, who wrote House Bill 2164, has a specific idea of what fits that definition. It includes everything from potassium bromate, which is used in making bread, to a host of food colorings including Blue #2 which is a synthetic version of indigo used on baked goods, cereals and candies, to Yellow #6, the dye that gives Cheetos its distinctive color.

HB 2164 is a small piece of what Kennedy is promoting at the national level to remove artificial dyes from the entire food supply. He has argued they create public health risks, including cancer and behavioral issues in children.

Federal health officials already took action earlier this year to ban Red #2, which has been linked to cancer  but not until 2027.

Kennedy, in his news conference here, also is expected to address House Bill 2165, which is set for a final vote Tuesday.

It deals with the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps. What can and cannot be purchased is governed by federal regulations.

This measure, also sponsored by Biasiucci, directs the Arizona Department of Economic Security to request a waiver from those rules to deny Arizonans getting SNAP benefits from using them to purchase sodas.

In an interview with Capitol Media Services, Biasiucci said SNAP was designed to provide those in need with an opportunity to put food on the table.

But it has turned into this free-for-all where, outside of alcohol and tobacco, you can buy whatever you want, he said. I dont think that was ever the intent of the program.

Biasiuccis original proposal also sought to ban the use of food stamps for candy, defined as a preparation of sugar, honey or other natural or artificial sweetener in combination with chocolate, fruit, nuts or other ingredients or flavorings that form bars, drops of pieces.

That ran into problems, however, as he was unable to draw a line between candy bars and nutrition bars. So now the measure focuses solely on sodas.

His measure also would bar the use of SNAP benefits for sugar-free sodas. We need to get back to these dollars going to foods that actually provide nutritional value, he said.

Kennedy has encouraged states to apply for waivers to disallow soda purchases. Only thing is, the program is administered not by his agency but instead by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And while that department legally can grant waivers, there is some belief that only Congress can amend the law to decide what can and cannot be purchased with food stamps.

Homans speech to the Legislature comes a day after the House gave preliminary approval Monday to Senate Bill 1164.

That measure would prohibit state and local officials and agencies from adopting or enforcing any policy or practice that prohibits cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It also requires the attorney general to investigate any time a state legislator files a complaint accusing any public entity of refusing to cooperate.

Another provision requires law enforcement agencies and the Arizona Department of Corrections to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they have someone in their custody whom the agency says is not in the country legally, and to hold that person for ICE. It permits any taxpayer to file suit if the attorney general fails to enforce provisions of the measure.

The voice vote came over the objections of Democrats who worried about effects of the proposal.

House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, who formerly taught English and social studies to sixth graders, spoke about the effect on students if schools are forced to cooperate with immigration officials.

I had students who were undocumented, the Laveen Democrat told colleagues.

Under SB 1164, those students would live in fear and terror coming to school every single day that an ICE agent could show up during English, detain them, and deport them, De Los Santos said. I dont think thats who we are as a state.

Rep. Alexander Kolodin said that misses the point. What about the fact that Congress made our federal immigration laws? asked the Scottsdale Republican. All this bill does is continue to strengthen our states enforcement of those laws.

House Speaker Steve Montenegro, a Goodyear Republican, said this isnt aimed at immigrants.

This bill is about public safety, he said. This bill is about making sure we continue to tell the rest of the world you cannot take advantage of our country, you cannot ignore our laws, you cannot ignore the rule of law that the United States of America stands for.

He chided foes who have raised questions about whether strict enforcement of immigration laws will curtail the number of workers needed to harvest crops and do housekeeping work.

Thats what you call labor, Montenegro said. Thats separate.

In a separate statement announcing Homans speech, the speaker praised him as a patriot who has dedicated his life to defending our nations sovereignty and keeping America safe.

His firsthand experience and no-nonsense leadership are exactly what our members need as we advance our majority plan to promote public safety, preserve the American dream, and protect the rights and liberties of every Arizonan, Montenegro said.

De Los Santos had a different take on Homan and ICE as flailing, incompetent and illegally deporting people who are lawfully present in the United States. He said a better approach is one taken by Hobbs, who has funded programs to seize fentanyl pills.
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Qingming holiday spending mirrors China's robust economic vitality

Xinhua) 08:17, April 08, 2025

Actors in traditional costumes perform for tourists at Zuidongfeng art village in Tancheng County, east China's Shandong Province, April 6, 2025. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. (Photo by Zhang Chunlei/Xinhua)

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- In Liba Village, about 1.5 hours' drive from downtown Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan Province, dozens of steaming hot pot tables dotted the fields, where tourists dined amid a golden sea of yellow blossoms, soaking in the vibrant colors and fragrant spring air.

"Eating hot pot in such a picturesque setting instantly lifted my mood and left me completely relaxed. Savoring spring with a hot pot feast surrounded by flowers was truly unforgettable," posted a blogger with the username Doufugui on "RedNote" or Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media platform.

The blogger is one of millions of Chinese who took advantage of the recent Qingming Festival holiday to revel in the joys of spring. With warmer weather and flowers in full bloom, the holiday sparked a wave of enthusiasm for domestic travel across the country.

During the three-day holiday, China recorded 126 million domestic trips, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. Tourism revenue also rose, reaching 57.55 billion yuan (about 8 billion U.S. dollars), marking a 6.7 percent year-on-year increase.

Data from online travel platforms showed that searches related to flower viewing during the holiday surged by 2.2 times compared to the same period last year, while searches for camping on the e-commerce platform Meituan skyrocketed by 132 percent.

Chinese train travel, meanwhile, shattered records as more people opted for outdoor getaways. On April 4 alone, China's railway operator handled 20.09 million passenger trips, the highest single-day figure so far this year.

The holiday also saw a rise in outbound travel, with many Chinese extending their time off by combining the break with annual leave or weekends.

According to Tongcheng Travel, hotel bookings on the platform surged during the holiday period, with Japan seeing a 120 percent year-on-year increase in reservations. European destinations like Spain and Britain experienced an even greater spike, with bookings rising by over 300 percent.

Experts have noted that this year's Qingming holiday underscores the immense potential in China's service consumption sector, a key driver of the country's economic growth.

"The Qingming holiday has traditionally not been a peak travel season, but the tourism market was notably more vibrant this year," said Xiao Peng, a researcher at Qunar's Big Data Research Institute.

Xiao noted that silver-haired travelers were among those taking trips this holiday, adding a new dimension to the tourism boom.

For those staying closer to home, the desire for springtime enjoyment was equally evident, with a growing willingness to spend on leisure and recreation.

"All tables for the festival were booked a week in advance," said the manager of a hotpot restaurant in Changzhou, located in east China's Jiangsu Province. In the Ronghui old commercial area of Jinan, eastern Shandong Province, even the outdoor dining areas of cafs and bars were bustling as people enjoyed leisurely experiences.

The surge in consumer activity, both in tourism and retail, is partly attributable to China's focus on boosting domestic consumption. The government has placed significant emphasis on consumption as a primary engine for the country's economy.

China will "place a stronger economic policy focus on improving living standards and boosting consumer spending," according to the 2025 government work report. In mid-March, the country released a special action plan outlining key strategies to support consumption.

During the Qingming holiday, various regions implemented measures such as distributing consumption vouchers and launching promotional activities to further stimulate spending, reinforcing the government's commitment to boosting domestic demand.

"China's consumer market remains resilient, vast in potential, and full of vitality," said Li Gang, an official with the Ministry of Commerce. "With sustained efforts to expand consumption policies, the domestic market will maintain stable growth."

An aerial drone photo taken on April 6, 2025 shows tourists taking a boat tour at Longnv Lake by Jialing River in Wusheng County, Guang'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. (Photo by Xia Junlin/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on April 5, 2025 shows tourists enjoying rapeseed flowers at Qianduo scenic area in Xinghua City, east China's Jiangsu Province. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. (Photo by Zhou Shegen/Xinhua)

Tourists fly a kite at Mafan scenic area in Yiwu City, east China's Zhejiang Province, April 5, 2025. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. (Photo by Gong Xianming/Xinhua)

Tourists enjoy camel rides at the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spot in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, April 5, 2025. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. (Photo by Zhang Xiaoliang/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Prior to being cast as Lesser Tom in Taskmaster Australia, comedian Tom Cashman had only met host Tom Gleeson once when both appeared on the same bill in 2017.

But Cashman had long been a fan from the cheap seats.

I used to come down to the Melbourne Comedy Festival with my family. My dad is a particularly big comedy fan, which is why I got into it. As a teenager wed go to stand-up shows a lot, he tells TV Tonight.

I remember being excited to do a gig with Tom and chatting afterwards. That was the only time Id ever interacted with him, I think.

An interaction he has absolutely no memory of! he laughs.

On the 10 series, based on the UK format created by Alex Horne, Cashman serves as the assistant to Gleeson as Taskmaster. 5 celebrities attempt to complete absurd tasks for points decreed by the Taskmaster.

Cashman was working in the UK when he was asked to visit Horne to learn about the role, a sure sign he had landed the gig.

But subsequently developing a rapport with Gleeson was not something that could be forced for the show.

Chemistry is something that kind of develops naturally rather than something that you figure out. I guess now Im quite familiar with his sense of humour, he continues.

He came to my live shows last year and we had some drinks after that. I think maybe that was an intro to my sense of humour.

But also, its a lucky thing that the dynamic that the show calls for between us is true, in that Im kind of newer and less confident and look up to him.

Then there are practical things like jumping at the right time and having a feel for what people are doing a performance-wise. Thats just a matter of practice.

Cashman head to New Zealand for each season to film the tasks, prior to the studio elements in Sydney where Gleeson awards points.

This season features comedians Dave Hughes, Tommy Little, Emma Holland, Takashi Wakasugi and actor Lisa McCune -the first non-comedian to participate in the Australian series.

Cashman says McCune brings variety to the show.

Its a bad task if everyone does the same thing. You want everyone doing different things and thats what Lisa brought.

One task was to lose the keys for as long as possible. Im hidden for four minutes and then I come out. A lot of people had different strategies, but Lisa put it down her top. After a few minutes of saying Can I have the keys please? she gives it to me.

So her loveliness is her Achilles heel.

Comedians are a bit more conniving and selfish, I guess. Watching her squirm in situations where comedians thrive was a lot of fun.

I do my best not to break while filming, but inevitably will find myself laughing when something ridiculous is happening. I think episode four with Lisa is the hardest Ive ever laughed on the show. Its an accidental, awkward series of events

Cashman insists his role as referee requires him to create fairness for the competition element, but it also works for the comedy.

Everyone should be privy to the same circumstances and then if they do different things, it should come from them. To the extent that I can, Im trying to be the same each time, to create a fair competition environment, I guess, he explains.

So thats the administration answer. But the comedic answer is I am the straight man so I need to be the straight man most of the time, depending on whats happening.

Sometimes people chuck a wig on and they want me to be their love interest, but generally speaking Im trying to be the straight man.

That was a decision I had to make in season one on how to approach the role.

Now at 4 seasons, with a 5th on the way, it hopefully means Lesser Tom has lived up to his fathers expectations of succeeding in comedy. His dad regularly attends his Live shows too.

Ive been very lucky that when Dads come along its been a pretty good night so he doesnt worry about me, I guess.

Taskmaster Australia screens 8:30pm Thursday on 10.
The Wild West is tonights episode of The Americas.

In snowbound Yellowstone, coyotes use skill and geothermal heat to survive. In Colorado, hundreds of rattlesnakes emerge after winter, while a pregnant female risks starvation to give birth. In California, acorn woodpeckers battle for the best food storage sites, using barns and trees to secure their winter supplies. In Arizonas desert, honeypot ants survive extreme heat by storing nectar inside their own bodies deep underground.

On the Great Plains, ageing bison face fierce rivals to win mates, while fires renew the grasslands. In Kansas, wild horses run through lightning-charged skies. On Nebraskas Platte River, half a million sandhill cranes converge, their courtship dances creating a rare natural spectacle, now captured from above.

The Wild West remains a place of extremes, where each creature must fight to endure its challenges.

7:30pm Tuesday on Seven.
Had it not been for a tornado warning and the hand of God, the story of what happened Friday at a church camp near Lone Star in Morris County could have ended differently.

As storms swept through East Texas that day, 126 women and five staffers who were gathered at the Lakeview Baptist Assembly near Lone Star took shelter in a hallway in one of the camps worship centers as a severe storm passed over the top of the building.







On Monday evening, the National Weather Service in Shreveport said an EF2 tornado was responsible for the damage  the fourth confirmed across East Texas on Friday.

At the camp, about 250 pine trees were twisted, uprooted and knocked down. Six cars in a parking lot were picked up and thrown about 100 yards or more, and dozens more were damaged. Roofs were ripped off buildings at the camp.

For the women who huddled in the hallway as the storm raged on, prayers for protection were answered. No one at the camp was injured.

The Lord provided protection for us, said camp administrator Collier Szyd Szydloski.

In the direct path

The sky was dark and cloudy Friday afternoon, but nothing seemed to indicate that the storm to come would be all that bad. Rain wasnt falling at the camp, said Susie Roberts of Longview, a camp volunteer. Camp leaders planned to drive the 131 people at the retreat from the main worship center to the dining hall at approximately 5:50 p.m. Dinner would begin at 6 p.m.

At 5:15 p.m., however, a tornado warning was issued for the area, and their plans changed. All the attendees went to the lower worship center, the safest place on campus because its built into a hill, Roberts said.

Camp administrators were watching the storm through the windows of the worship center. They turned on a local TV station and heard that a storm had gone through Gilmer and was heading their direction.

There was finally a lightning strike that lit up the sky enough that we could see the storm, Roberts said. It was still on the other side of Lone Star Lake. Then the meteorologist on TV said people near the lake and Dangerfield Lake should take cover immediately.

We were in the direct path, Roberts said. Then, lighting struck again, and camp leaders could see that the storm had moved exponentially closer to the camp. Administrators ordered everyone to get in the worship centers hallway.

Everyone was praying out loud, and we heard [the storm], felt it go over the top of us, Roberts said.

They felt a change in the air pressure like you were in an airplane, she said. We heard the debris flying.

The women were in the hallway for about an hour. They broke out into songs of praise and worship, and we were thankful to be alive, Roberts said.

A young woman, 37 weeks pregnant, began having contractions, which Szydloski attributed to the excitement. Roberts, a retired midwife, assured her that she would be fine.

Camp leaders called 911, and first responders began clearing a path to the camp. By the time an ambulance arrived, the womans contractions had eased.

It was significant

The women were released to go into other rooms of the building. They saw the devastation outside, Roberts said.

It was significant, she said. Vehicles were heavily damaged, some destroyed.

Roberts car was thrown about 100 yards. She took a photo beside it as it lay in a mess of downed trees. She smiled and gave two thumbs up in the picture.

At one point, the women were evacuated from the worship center to the dining hall and walked through the glass-covered parking lot. Part of the ceiling in the dining hall had caved in, but nothing in the building  papers, table decorations  was moved, Roberts said.

Women were evacuated from the camp during a several-hour period, and Roberts was one of the last there when another tornado warning was issued. She and several other women returned to the lower worship center, but the warning didnt last long.

They left the camp in a truck, but after they drove a ways down the road, they realized the back window had been shattered and had holes in it. It could blow out at any minute. They parked the truck and got in another vehicle and headed home.

At 6:30 a.m. Saturday, camp staff met to begin clean-up efforts. But before they lifted a finger, they had a devotional and prayed.

They put first things first, Roberts said.

Had the warning not been issued at 5:15 p.m. Friday, the women would have gone ahead with their plans to eat dinner at 6 p.m. They would have been driving vehicles between the worship center and dining hall  perhaps the worst place they could have been.

The tornado warning and Gods hand saved our lives, without a doubt, Roberts said. God protected us.

While numerous pine trees were toppled and all kinds of other damage was done, the steeple on top of the worship center is still standing.

Like a war zone

Lakeview is a Southern Baptist camp that hosts summer camps, church retreats and more on its 60-acre property. It has enough dormitories to house 450 people at a time. The camp sites beside Ellison Creek Reservoir, which is better known as Lone Star Lake.

It was a beautiful place, Szydloski said. It doesnt look too pretty now.

A tree fell on top of the camps main worship center, and the roof was ripped off another building. Five trees fell on top of another building, and half the roof was ripped off the gymnasium. Most of the camp will remain without power for a week of two.

It looks like a war zone out here now, he said. We had a beautiful canopy of trees, and theres nothing now.

Members of Texas on Mission, a storm recovery operation led by Baptist men, are in Lone Star to help community members recover. Then theyll assist at the camp, Szydloski said. About 60 men arrived Monday to help with the recovery efforts. Workers from insurance companies and electric cooperative workers are on the scene to begin restoration efforts.

Whatever comes, Szydloskis not worried.

The Lords provided everything we need so far, so Im not gonna complain, he said.
HA NOI  To tap into the growing Halal market, Viet Nam must develop a Halal product ecosystem meeting quality and certification standards, according to experts.

Ramlan Bin Osman, director of the National Halal Certification Center (HALCERT) under the Ministry of Science and Technology, highlighted that Viet Nam has an opportunity to tap into the global Halal market, which is valued at around US$3 trillion.

He pointed out that the country boasts a wealth of raw materials suitable for Halal production, including coffee, rice, seafood, aquaculture products, spices, nuts, vegetables and fruits. These raw materials hold significant promise for producing Halal-certified final products.

Additionally, Viet Nam has been recognised as one of the top international tourist destinations, a distinction earned in 2018. This has further strengthened the countrys accommodation and food service sectors, with Halal restaurants and catering services seeing a rise in demand.

Viet Nams GDP growth rate, averaging between 6 per cent and 7 per cent annually, further underscores the country's strong economic potential, making it a favourable market for Halal product development.

Osman emphasised that current supply has met just 10 per cent of demand in the potentially high value Halal market. This is a golden opportunity for Vietnamese products to find their place in this vast market.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan affirmed that penetrating the Halal market is a strategic move for Vietnamese businesses, especially amid the unpredictable global economic landscape.

He urged businesses to focus on strengthening their Halal product brands and diversify their market reach.

To achieve this, the Deputy Minister called for the establishment of networks to promote Vietnamese Halal products to key markets, with clear goals and actionable strategies.

However, a key obstacle to expanding Viet Nams Halal product offerings lies in certification. Tran Trong Kim, head of the Viet Nam Trade Office in Saudi Arabia, recommended that the Government implement clear guidelines on Halal certification procedures.

He highlighted that many countries do not directly recognise Halal products from businesses, but instead require third-party certification. Thus, creating a more efficient process for mutual recognition of Halal certification would aid in smoothening market entry for Vietnamese businesses.

Additionally, Kim suggested that Viet Nam should call for foreign investors to establish facilities in Viet Nam to produce Halal products meeting international standards.

Meanwhile, local businesses also need to invest in production lines tailored to Halal standards in collaboration with recognised Halal certification bodies, he said.

According to Truong Xuan Trung, head of the Viet Nam Trade Office in the UAE, there is a need to further develop the legal framework surrounding Halal products in Viet Nam.

He suggested that the newly signed Vietnam-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) could play a crucial role in facilitating trade between the two countries, especially for Halal-certified goods.

Tran Van Hiep, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Cashew Association, also highlighted that Halal certification is crucial for exporting high-quality products like cashews.

In 2024, Viet Nam exported 700,000 tonnes of cashew nuts, valued at $3.8 billion. With Halal certification, a large volume of Vietnamese cashews were exported to many key markets such as the US, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.

For cashew producers, ensuring all exported products have Halal certification is essential to meeting the demands of these regions.

The Halal market has significant demand, especially in countries with large Muslim populations, but certification standards can be challenging for businesses.

Le Phu Cuong, head of the Viet Nam Trade Office in Malaysia, pointed out that while Halal certification is not mandatory for imports into Malaysia, it is highly prioritised by importers and distributors to cater to the local Muslim population, which is 60 per cent.

In addition to technical barriers, Vietnamese goods also face fierce competition from countries in the region that have signed free trade agreements with Malaysia, such as China, Thailand and Indonesia. These countries have advantages in terms of a wide range of products, diverse designs, extensive distribution systems and, especially, a deep understanding of the Muslim consumer market.

Moreover, another challenge many Vietnamese businesses are facing is to research local tastes and consumer culture, aiming at having suitable products for local customers. This makes it difficult for Vietnamese products to reach the local consumers, particularly in modern retail channels.

Pham The Cuong, head of Viet Nam Trade Office in Indonesia, noted that Halal certification in Indonesia is often seen as a non-tariff barrier due to lengthy procedures, high costs and limited certification agencies.

This complex process presents challenges, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and can slow down the entry of Vietnamese products into the Indonesian market.  VNS
HA NOI  The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is drawing up contingency plans if efforts to negotiate a tariff reduction with the United States fall through, Minister o uc Duy has said.

While tariff negotiations remain the preferred outcome, the minister stressed the need to anticipate less favourable scenarios following the announcement by US President Donald Trump on April 3 of sweeping retaliatory tariffs, potentially including a 46 per cent rate on goods from Viet Nam.

The Government and the ministry acted swiftly after President Trumps announcement, Duy said, addressing ministry units, major exporters and industry associations on Monday.

Viet Nam remains hopeful for a negotiated reduction. But we must be prepared for the possibility that the United States enforces this policy without delay," he said.

The minister urged all stakeholders to jointly assess the situation and propose policy responses, including potential Government support packages.

Support could come in the form of tax relief, access to credit, or targeted financial mechanisms, he added.

One immediate response, proposed by the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, is to expedite all shipments to the US before April 9, the expected date the new tariff regime will take effect.

According to Department Director Ngo Hong Phong, Viet Nams exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products to the US have consistently exceeded US$13 billion annually in recent years, with a trade surplus of more than $10 billion.

In 2024, exports reached $14.31 billion, up 25 per cent from 2023, while imports from the US stood at $3.44 billion.

In the first quarter of 2025, Viet Nam recorded $3.21 billion in agricultural exports to the US, up 14.9 per cent year-on-year. Imports totalled $914 million, a 7.1 per cent increase.

Key export categories included wood and wood products, seafood, pepper, cashew nuts, coffee and fresh produce.

Phong warned that even a 10 per cent flat tariff on all imports would disrupt the bilateral trade balance and weigh heavily on the agricultural sectors performance in 2025.

Though a 46 per cent retaliatory tariff has been floated, actual rates may vary by product group, prompting urgent calls for a detailed sector-by-sector impact assessment.

In the short term, Phong called for close coordination between ministries, businesses and logistics providers to fast-track customs clearance and delivery of goods.

He also encouraged exporters to engage proactively with US importers to address existing contracts and consider how to distribute any tariff burden fairly.

Equally important, he said, would be reinforcing traceability standards to ensure Vietnamese products are not mischaracterised as re-routed Chinese goods, an issue likely to draw scrutiny from US customs authorities.

Phong said that having a clear and verifiable origin was essential to making the case for exemptions or reduced tariffs on specific product groups.

Over the longer term, Viet Nam must consider diversifying export markets, especially those with free trade agreements already in place. Markets in East Asia and the European Union offer viable alternatives based on demand and trade volume.

The department has outlined strategic market redirections for each product group, with wood and wood products targeted at Japan, China and the EU; seafood at China, Japan, the EU and South Korea; cashew nuts at the EU, China, the UAE and the United Kingdom; pepper at the EU, the UAE, India and China; fruits and vegetables at China, South Korea, the EU and ASEAN; and coffee at Germany, Italy and Japan.  VNS
HA NOI  Listening to consultations from businesses, reducing duties on certain groups of goods imported from the US, reviewing and removing technical barriers, combating origin fraud and illegal transhipment and increasing imports from the US, are among measures Viet Nam has taken in response to the new tariff policy from the US.

Prompt, proactive actions taken

Directly following President Donald Trumps announcement, Party and State leaders have engaged in various meetings, working sessions and phone calls to discuss and find solutions to remove the tariff barriers imposed by the US government, and ensure the harmonisation of interests for both sides.

On the morning of April 3, the Cabinet convened an urgent meeting to assess the situation and the impacts of the new tariff policy, and to propose solutions to adapt to the situation. Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien sent a diplomatic note to the US Trade Representative, calling for the postponement of the imposition to allow constructive dialogue to seek a solution acceptable for both sides. Dien also asked for a phone call at the earliest opportunity to discuss and address the issue.

A task force on strengthening cooperation and proactively adapting to the adjustments in the US economic and trade policies, led by Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son, was also established on the same day.

In a meeting with businesses exporting products to the US, relevant associations and agencies on April 4, Deputy Prime Minister Ho uc Phoc listened to valuable proposals aimed at solving difficulties and obstacles faced by exporters, promoting the implementation of US-invested projects in Viet Nam and adjusting certain tariff rates on imports from the US.

At night the same day, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee To Lam held phone talks with US President Donald Trump, during which he affirmed that Viet Nam was ready to negotiate with the US to reduce import tax to zero per cent for goods imported from the US, and proposed the US apply a similar rate to products imported from Viet Nam. He said Viet Nam would continue to buy more US goods that Viet Nam needs and encourage and create favourable conditions for US companies to expand investment in the Southeast Asian country.

On April 6, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son, head of the newly-established task force, hosted a reception for US Ambassador to Viet Nam, Marc E. Knapper, during which he shared that General Secretary To Lam had appointed Deputy PM Ho uc Phoc as a special envoy to pay a working visit to the US to concretise the contents that the two countries' leaders had agreed on during their phone talks. Son also proposed that the US President postpone the deadline for imposing the reciprocal tariff on Vietnamese goods during the negotiations between the two countries.

Viet Nam shared the US concern about balancing trade between the two countries, Son said, adding that Viet Nam regreted that the US decided to impose a very high reciprocal tariff rate of 46 per cent on Vietnamese imports, which would affect businesses of both countries and, in particular, millions of Vietnamese people.

He said that the tariff imposition decision did not match the reality of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and correctly reflected the spirit of the Viet Nam-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, while negatively impacting the flourishing bilateral economic and trade ties.

In a phone call with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim on the afternoon of April 6, PM Chinh informed him about Viet Nams efforts in engaging with the US regarding measures to remove obstacles, promote economic and trade cooperation, and work towards fair and sustainable trade that harmonises the interests of all parties.

During the regular Government meeting and the teleconference between the Government and localities held the same day, the leader also spoke about ongoing diplomatic efforts to address the legitimate demands of the US side, based on harmonised interests and shared risks.

Viet Nam deserves fair treatment

After his phone call with Viet Nams top leader, Trump posted on the Truth Social network, sharing that he just had a: very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, who told me that Viet Nam wants to cut their tariffs down to zero if they are able to make an agreement with the US. I thanked him on behalf of our country, and I said I look forward to a meeting in a near future.

Although Viet Nam is not the first country to negotiate with the US over reciprocal tariffs, it is the first for which President Trump shared the outcome of the phone call on his official page.

The nature of the phone call demonstrated the timely and proactive involvement of Viet Nam's leaders, while also reflecting the consistent spirit that Viet Nam always shows respect and openness in economic diplomacy and in its relationship with the US, said Pham Thi Ngoc Thuy, Director of the Office of the Private Economic Development Research Board (Board IV), in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency.

According to Thuy, many countries have been preparing for negotiations, but the fact that Trump posted news of his phone call with the top Vietnamese leader on his personal page is a very special detail, as it shows that in the diplomatic relationship and trade activities between the two countries, there is something unique here.

There is still much technical work to be done in the negotiations, but this detail has greatly motivated the business community.

With consistency in economic diplomacy, and a proactive and sincere approach to negotiations, Viet Nam hopes that the upcoming negotiations will see significant progress and meet the expectations of the business community.

The urgent and proactive actions of Party and State leaders have sent a message of Viet Nams goodwill, as well as its desire for the negotiations to yield positive results and contribute to strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, as affirmed by Deputy PM Phoc that Viet Nam has always been proactive, open and strongly coordinated with the US to negotiate tariffs fairly, combat the issue of goods transhipment, and promote bilateral trade in a mutually beneficial direction.

Not waiting until the US announced its tariff policy, but over the past two months, the Government had proactively and actively addressed trade concerns raised by President Donald Trumps administration. Party and State leaders, as well as leaders of various ministries and sectors, had engaged in meetings with the US and exchanged views through all political and diplomatic channels. In early March, PM Pham Minh Chinh spent over three hours listening to the opinions of major US corporations and businesses.

On the one hand, Viet Nam has basically addressed the concerns of the US side, particularly by proactively reducing 23 import tariff lines (many of which have a zero per cent tariff rate or are lower than those imposed by the US on Viet Nam), creating favourable conditions for US enterprises to invest and do business in Viet Nam.

On the other, the country is working hard to promote a balance in bilateral trade through contracts to purchase goods from the US. According to Deputy PM Phoc, Viet Nam is currently in the process of purchasing 250 Boeing aircraft and some military planes, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth US$6 billion, along with many other goods and equipment valued at over $90 billion.

Minister of Agriculture and Environment o uc Duy also shared that Viet Nam had been making great efforts to remove barriers for the import of US agricultural products into Viet Nam, such as maize, soybeans, fruit, beef, chicken and more recently genetically modified products used for animal feed and aquaculture. To date, the US had sent 61 dossiers regarding genetically modified products, of which 60 had been handled by the ministry and only one was waiting for additional information from the American partner.

Regarding the response to origin fraud and illegal transhipment combat, Deputy Minister of Finance Le Tan Can said that the ministry had instructed the Department of Customs to strengthen management of export and import activities, improve awareness and effectiveness in enforcing laws on trade defence, origin, customs and combating the circumvention of trade defence measures.

The recent economic diplomatic efforts of the Government leaders, along with the willingness to collaborate of industry associations and organisations such as the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Ha Noi and the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) give Viet Nam optimism and confidence about a successful, fair and harmonious negotiation outcome that benefits both countries  comprehensive strategic partners with 30 years of diplomatic relations.

The former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Office, Dr Nguyen Si Dung, has affirmed that Viet Nam has never sought to enrich itself through improper means. It does not manipulate but is simply doing what every progressive nation does - participating seriously in the global game, using its own labour force. And because of that, Viet Nam deserves to be treated fairly.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nams stock market endured another steep decline on Tuesday, with the VN-Index plunging nearly 80 points to fall below the 1,140-point mark. Liquidity dropped sharply compared to the last two sessions of the previous week, while foreign investors extended their strong net selling streak.

At the close of trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index plummeted by 77.88 points, or 6.43 per cent, to end at 1,132.79 points.

Market breadth was overwhelmingly negative, with only nine gainers compared to 349 losers. Market liquidity fell by 40 per cent from the previous session, totalling approximately VN25.3 trillion (US$974.1 million).

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 largest listed companies by market capitalisation, also declined sharply by 83.01 points, or 6.48 per cent, to close at 1,197.51 points. All 30 stocks in the basket ended in the red, with 24 hitting their floor prices.

Blue-chip stocks led the downturn. Vietcombank (VCB) posted the sharpest decline, falling by the maximum allowed 7 per cent and wiping more than 8.3 points off the VN-Index. The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) and VietinBank (CTG) also closed at their floor prices, losing 6.94 per cent and 6.98 per cent, respectively.

Other notable decliners included members of the Vin Group ecosystem. Vinhomes JSC (VHM) dropped 6.56 per cent, while Vingroup Joint Stock Company (VIC) fell 5.49 per cent. Combined, these stocks shaved over six points off the VN-Index.

According to analysts at Saigon  Hanoi Securities (SHS) In the near term, the market has been hit by a tariff shock that exceeded expectations. This has been a major and unexpected blow to both the economy and investors, resulting in historically sharp declines in both index points and liquidity. This may continue to trigger forced margin sales in upcoming sessions.

With current developments, we will update our assessment of the markets fundamental and macroeconomic factors in our April 2025 strategic report, to be released next week. On the topic of tariffs, we have also revised our views and included a detailed methodology for tariff calculations in the report, which we hope will provide investors with clear insights.

We recommend investors maintain a balanced portfolio allocation and prioritise risk management in this new environment. Investment should focus on fundamentally strong stocks, especially leading names in strategic sectors with outstanding growth potential.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also plunged 15.93 points, or 7.34 per cent, to close at 201.04 points.

Foreign investors extended their aggressive sell-off, with a net sell value of more than VN1.7 trillion recorded on the HoSE alone.  VNS
HA NOI  More than 50 Vietnamese enterprises are participating in FHA-Food & Beverage 2025, one of Asias leading industry exhibitions, which opened in Singapore on April 8.

They are showcasing their products at the Viet Nam Pavilion  HCM City space, featuring a wide array of signature goods including processed and dried agricultural products, coffee, dairy items, fruit juice, rice, noodles, and various spices.

Amid global economic uncertainties and new US tariff policies posing challenges for exporters, the Vietnamese delegation is leveraging the expo as a strategic platform to seek new export opportunities.

Participating enterprises are committed to sustainable, green production and export practices, meeting international standards such as ISO, HALAL, and GLOBAL GAP. Among the notable names are Vinamilk, Tan Nhat Huong, Binh Tay Food, Vianco, and Bidrico. In addition to showcasing their products, these companies are engaging visitors through coffee-making demonstrations and product tastings.

Ian Roberts, a member of the expos organising board and Vice President for Asia at Informa Markets, expressed his admiration for the Vietnamese booths. He praised the diversity of products on display and voiced confidence in Vietnamese enterprises potential to significantly expand their market presence.

A business-matching programme will be held on April 910, aiming to connect Vietnamese firms with major buyers, importers, and distributors from Singapore and other international markets.

Running until April 11, the expo features more than 1,500 exhibitors from over 50 countries and territories, including distributors, importers, manufacturers, and globally recognised brands. It is expected to attract over 65,000 visitors.  VNS
HA NOI  A Vietnamese-English bilingual book on slipper orchar in Viet Nam has been published by The Gioi (World) Publishing House.

The 500-page book, weighing nearly 3kg, provides essential information about all species of slipper orchids in Viet Nam, including descriptions of their biological characteristics and natural habitats, while calling on everyone to preserve their pristine environments.

Lan Hai Viet Nam-Ve ep Quyen Ru Cua Tu Nhien (Slipper orchids in Viet Nam  A Kaleidoscope of Beauty) is the result of a year-long journey across the country by researcher Chu Xuan Canh. In every locality he visited, he has observed, recorded, and photographed the flowers, creating a book that is distinctly different from any of those previous published in Viet Nam.

According to the author, Viet Nam is known as one of the countries with the richest orchid systems in the region, with 23 native species of slipper orchids and 118 naturally occurring hybrid species. However, the rampant exploitation and encroachment on forest land have put many species at risk of extinction.

For me, studying orchids is not only about nurturing a passion, but also about connecting people around the world to better understand and conserve orchids, as well as protect the ecological environment, Canh said.

I hope this book gives readers the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of slipper orchids and to join together in preserving the precious natural values we are fortunate to inherit.

Professor-Dr Tran Duy Quy, Director of the Asia-Pacific Science and Technology Cooperation Institute and Chairman of the Vietnam Orchid Business Association, praised the book for being so meticulous.

"Chu Xuan Canh possesses an extensive collection of data that no other author in Viet Nam studying slipper orchids has. The release of this book is a significant scientific event of 2025 and the author deserves to be recognised as an outstanding scientist in the field of Vietnamese slipper orchid research," he said.

The author Canh began his journey of biological research, not through formal education, but simply as an orchid enthusiast. His curiosity about the natural world, especially orchids, began in childhood and has since grown into a deep passion.

To date, he has had the opportunity to explore many forests in Viet Nam to study various orchid species, particularly slipper orchids.

A species which he discovered in 2009 has been named after him and was later described and published as a new species in the journal of the American Orchid Society in May 2010.

The 49-year-old is today renowned as one of the world's leading speakers on natural slipper orchids. He has been invited to present on the topic of Vietnamese slipper orchids at numerous international conferences and specialised workshops organised by slipper orchid societies in various countries, including the UK and the US. VNS
HA NOI  Vietnamese communities around the globe came together in heartfelt ceremonies to commemorate the Hung Kings, the legendary founders of Viet Nam, reaffirming the enduring national tradition of honouring ones roots and preserving cultural identity, no matter where life leads.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Israel, in collaboration with the Vietnamese community in the country, held an incense-offering ceremony on Monday in commemoration of the Hung Kings. In his remarks, Vietnamese Ambassador Ly uc Trung recounted the legacy of the Hung Kings and Viet Nams 4,000-year history of nation building and defending. He highlighted how this proud heritage continues to shape the vibrant, dynamic Viet Nam known and admired today.

The event also featured a cultural exchange with local friends, offering a glimpse into Viet Nams rich traditions. A highlight was the awarding of prizes in a mini photo contest that showcased stunning images of Viet Nam, captured by recent international visitors.

In Russia, the spirit of national pride resonated across the Vietnamese diaspora. A large turnout of Vietnamese expatriates from Moscow and neighbouring cities, alongside representatives from various associations and the embassy, gathered for a respectful ceremony in honour of their ancestors.

Representing the community, Nguyen Canh Hong Linh, Vice President of the Union of Vietnamese Associations in Russia, stressed that wherever Vietnamese people live, patriotism and filial piety always act as a powerful thread binding them together.

Meanwhile in Laos, a similar event drew an enthusiastic response from the Vietnamese community. Pham Van Hung, Chairman of the General Association of Vietnamese People in Laos, expressed that their deep-rooted love for Viet Nam and pride in their ancestry have helped the community stay united and supportive. Their strong bonds and collective efforts continue to fuel growth, enhance prosperity, and contribute to both the homelands development and the special friendship between Viet Nam and Laos.

The 2025 Hung Kings Commemoration Day in Laos was more than a ceremonial tribute. It became a moment of reflection, especially for younger generations, helping them better understand and embrace the cultural and historical treasures passed down through centuries. The celebration also helped further strengthen unity, foster compassion, and reinforce a deep emotional connection to Vietnam among expats. VNA/VNS




HA NOI  An online exhibition of old documents and photos will open next week to offer the public a unique perspective on ancient seaports of Viet Nam in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Entitled Ancient Seaports: From Indochina to the World, the exhibit will display about 200 documents, re-imagined images and diagrams, showing the planning process for seaports, lighthouses, as well as maritime transport activities in Indochina. Many of them are being published for the first time.

The exhibition consists of three parts: Hai Cang - Cua Ngo Giao Thuong va Tham Nhap (Seaport  Gateway for Trade and Penetration); Hai ang - Mat Than Canh Bien (Lighthouse - The Divine Eye of the Sea); and Hai Van - Ket Noi Nhung Chan Troi (Maritime Transport  Connecting Horizons).

The exhibition has been curated by the National Archives Centre I, who said that before the 19th century, foreign merchants arrived in Viet Nam by ship, driven by trade winds and wanting to explore commercial opportunities.

Also arriving at the seaports, foreign missionaries who came to evangelise, penetrating the interior to spread religion, paving the way for Western countries to intervene in Viet Nam.

After invading Viet Nam, the French expected to build a series of seaports along the East coast including at Sai Gon, a Nang, Hai Phong, Hon Gai-Cam Pha, Ben Thuy, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Cam Ranh and Ha Tien.

At the same time, a document management system to control the operation of seaports was also gradually established.

This bureaucratic archive shows how lighthouses also played a key role in guiding ships, warning them of hazards and helping them identify their location, especially at night or in poor visibility.

Official administrative papers detail how the Nguyen Dynasty paid attention to the construction and renovation of lighthouses to serve the ship activities.

During the French colonial period, many more lighthouses were built, contributing to the development of maritime infrastructure which created favourable conditions for their colonial exploitation.

The completion of a maritime infrastructure, with the network of seaports and lighthouses, fed by roads and railways, led to a huge expansion of trade by sea in what was then Indochina.

Many major French shipping companies, especially the Messageries Maritimes and Chargeur Reunis, flourished during this period thanks to such contracts, with a thriving commercial exchange of people and goods between Indochina and France, as well as other countries and territories.

The Ancient Seaports: From Indochina to the World will take viewers to many locations in the three regions of the North, Central and South to review the development process of international sea gateways, as well as the history of the lighthouses, the so-called 'eyes' of the blue ocean.

The documents and images will be available to the public from April 15 at archives.org.vn and facebook.com/luutruquocgia1. VNS
The Safe Food for Growth (SAFEGRO) project is funded by the Government of Canada through a non-refundable grant of CAD15.3 million (over US$10.8 million). The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, now known as the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, serves as the project's executing agency. SAFEGRO is being implemented from 2020 to 2026 in collaboration with the Ministries of Health, Industry and Trade, and other relevant food safety agencies in Viet Nam.

Nguyen Van Thuan, a member of the project coordination unit and head of the Quality and Organic Agriculture Division at the National Authority for Agro-Forestry-Fishery Quality, Processing, and Market Development, shares valuable practical experiences and approaches to food safety management in Canada, gained during a recent study tour.

1. Food safety management system

Canada's food safety management system is a system of shared responsibility among government bodies at the federal and provincial/territorial levels, including: the Federal Government; provincial/territorial governments; local/regional public health authorities; international partners; businesses and consumers. Responsibilities are clearly delineated among federal-level agencies.

Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food implements food safety programmes at the primary production level (farms).

Health Canada develops policies and standards, and conducts risk assessments related to food safety.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) establishes procedures and regulations, and carries out inspections concerning food safety, animal diseases, animal health and welfare protection, plant pests, and plant protection. Founded in 1997, the CFIA brought together federal food inspection, animal health, and plant protection activities into a single enforcement agency. Its headquarters are in Ottawa, with 18 regional offices, 160 local offices, and 13 laboratories.

The Public Health Agency of Canada serves as the federal government's lead in assessing and addressing the human health impacts of foodborne illness outbreaks. It conducts public health surveillance and oversees epidemiological investigations when outbreaks affect more than one province.

The division of management responsibility and licensing between federal and provincial/territorial levels is determined by product distribution. Businesses trading products between provinces are inspected and licensed by the CFIA, whereas products sold exclusively within a province are inspected and licensed by the respective provincial or territorial authority.

Canada assigns food safety management and control responsibilities based on specific functional areas. For example, agencies responsible for developing policies, laws, regulations, and conducting risk assessments operate independently from those tasked with inspection.

2. Building food safety policies and laws

Canada has several acts related to food safety, including the Food and Drugs Act, Health of Animals Act, Plant Protection Act, and Plant Breeders' Rights Act, among others. These legal regulations establish a robust framework for food safety enforcement, clarifying and strengthening responsibilities in the process. The system aims to enhance food safety by ensuring Codex compliancesuch as HACCP, preventive controls, and traceabilityfor imported, exported, and domestically consumed food. It promotes consistent, prevention-focused food safety requirements and adopts an outcome-based approach to encourage business innovation. Additionally, the use of incorporation by reference facilitates modernisation and efficiency, creating a level playing field for both domestic and imported food while improving market access.

Health Canada is responsible for establishing technical regulations, including Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs), which are issued as lists based on human health risk assessments. MRLs play a significant role in international trade; thus, Canada updates them periodicallyevery two years or as changes arise.

3. Implementation of food safety policies and laws

3.1. Food safety risk assessment

Health Canada leads this initiative by forming specialised risk assessment advisory groups and engaging a diverse range of scientific experts from research institutions, universities, and other organisations. The primary objectives of the risk assessment are to: develop comprehensive risk profiles to support information sharing and training programmes; create a robust database that serves as a foundation for effective risk management and control; and provide accurate data and insights to facilitate clear and impactful risk communication.

Risk assessment is seamlessly integrated with surveillance activities, facilitating the generation of risk profiles for information sharing and training, as well as the establishment of a database. This process defines the mandate for the CFIA. On such scientific bases, the agency performs the dedicated task of safeguarding food, animals, and plants, thereby enhancing the health and well-being of Canada's people, environment, and economy.

The risk assessment agency is recognised as a trusted partner and a global leader. It scientifically assesses food safety risks associated with all federally regulated domestic food establishments, characterizes these risks, considers their impact on consumer health in Canada, and operates transparently. Furthermore, resources are allocated and prioritized for implementation based on these assessments.

The risk assessment agency is recognised as a trusted partner and a global leader. It conducts rigorous scientific evaluations of food safety risks associated with all federally regulated domestic food establishments, characterises these risks, assesses their impact on consumer health in Canada, and ensures operational transparency.

3.2. Food safety risk communication

After the risk assessment results have been reviewed by appraisal committees/panels, risk communication is carried out publicly and transparently by Canadian authorities.

They compile all relevant risk assessment records to ensure comprehensive and accurate dissemination of information. This communication is carried out via official channels managed by the relevant authorities, as well as through credible, science-based press and media outlets.

3.3. Food safety risk management

The responsibility is managed by the CFIA. Canada's inspection system oversees not only food safety inspections but also matters concerning animal diseases, pests, and plant quarantine. Ensuring food safety involves a coordinated approach, integrating inspection data, surveillance, and the effective management of food safety concerns.

3.4. Food safety surveillance

Canadas Food Safety Surveillance system systematically collects, analyses, and interprets data (information). This data is essential for assessing the effectiveness of food safety management practices, planning verification activities, and ensuring the timely dissemination of information to support public health initiatives.

The CFIA operates a structured surveillance cycle comprising key stages: Design, Sampling and Testing, and Reporting. The design of sampling plans undergoes thorough review, stakeholder consultation, and regular adjustments. Sampling plans have clear objectives, including: Targeted sampling (intentional sampling focused on a specific hazard and source), food safety incident response samples, and research samples. All surveillance results are documented and reported, with non-compliance findings prioritised for swift communication and dissemination to relevant parties.

The field trip revealed that Canada's approach to food safety is highly comprehensive, scientific, and effective. This includes its system for assigning responsibilities, its management hierarchy and control mechanisms for food safety, its legal and regulatory framework, and the enforcement of food safety laws and regulations.

Canada's food safety management system is guided by risk management principles, incorporating scientifically-grounded and practical measures. The division of authority and responsibilities between policy-making and law enforcement bodies is clear and well-defined. Notably, functional agencies execute their tasks with independence and objectivity, while ensuring integration, collaboration, and shared responsibility among relevant organisations. All of this is supported by an exceptionally high level of legal awareness among businesses and citizens./.
TASHKENT  Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Tran Thanh Man met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent on Monday afternoon (local time), within the framework of his official visit to the Central Asian country and his attendance at the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-150).

Welcoming the top legislator of Viet Nam, President Mirziyoyev stressed the significance of the visit in promoting the two countries relations, and affirmed that Viet Nam is a traditional friend and an important partner of Uzbekistan in Southeast Asia.

He expressed his admiration for Viet Nam's remarkable achievements in economic development, social welfare, and international integration over the past nearly four decades, considering it a model of progress of a middle-power country from which Uzbekistan wishes to learn.

Chairman Man congratulated Uzbekistan on successfully hosting the IPU-150, noting Viet Nam's participation in the event reflects its spirit of solidarity, friendship, and desire to further promote the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation for both countries' development and prosperity.

Sharing Viet Nams notable achievements in socio-economic development, political stability, and major orientations toward a new era, he emphasised that Viet Nam always values its time-tested friendship with Uzbekistan and hopes to further strengthen it to live up to the potential of the two countries.

Discussing many issues on bilateral cooperation, the two leaders applauded the strides in relations between the countries in the recent past and attributed that progress partly to significant contributions by the two legislative bodies.

They agreed that in the coming time, it is necessary to increase extensive political dialogue at all levels, especially at the high level, between the Vietnamese and Uzbek parties, states, governments, and parliaments; maintain close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums; further reinforce cooperation between their legislative bodies and share experiences in supervising law enforcement and making decisions about nationally important issues; and review and sign cooperation documents to create a solid legal framework for bilateral relations to grow comprehensively.

Besides, the two leaders agreed to enhance oversight and monitoring to ensure that agreements and documents are implemented effectively and fully.

To further promote bilateral economic, trade, and investment cooperation to a new height, they agreed on the need to encourage businesses from both countries to connect with each other and explore cooperation opportunities in areas such as health care, energy, oil and gas, textile - garment, and agriculture.

President Mirziyoyev and Chairman Man shared the view that that there remains ample potential for the two countries to bolster cooperation in fields such as transport connectivity, tourism, culture, education and training, and locality-to-locality ties. Viet Nam and Uzbekistan should create favourable conditions for enhancing tourism links and people-to-people exchanges while considering the launch of more air routes, increasing the frequency of direct flights, and implementing favourable visa policies for each others' citizens.

On this occasion, Chairman Man conveyed an invitation from Party General Secretary To Lam and State President Luong Cuong to President Mirziyoyev to visit Viet Nam. The host leader expressed his readiness to visit Viet Nam at the earliest opportunity and expressed his wish to welcome General Secretary Lam and other Vietnamese leaders to Uzbekistan.  VNS
HA NOI  National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man on Tuesday held talks with Uzbekistan Speaker of the Legislative Chamber Nuriddinjon Ismailov, lauding the long-standing relations between the two countries.

The Vietnamese top legislator is in Tashkent for the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-150), as part of his official visit to the Central Asian country.

Thanking the hosts for their warm welcome, NA chairman Man congratulated Uzbekistan for the success of the IPU-150. He added that Viet Nams participation in the IPU-150 not only demonstrated the importance it attaches to the organisation, but also solidarity and friendship with Uzbekistan.

Praising the impressive development progress of each country, Man said that Viet Nam hoped to work with Uzbekistan to promote cooperation in every aspect, to benefit the people of both countries.

Ismailov gave high regard to Mans attendance at the IPU-150 and the visit to Uzbekistan, which is expected to open up new opportunities for bilateral cooperation and the positive development and construction of each country.

Uzbekistan attached great importance to its relations with Viet Nam and thanked the Southeast Asian nations support in multilateral forums, including the United Nations (UN), especially when Uzbekistan introduced its environmental protection initiative.

The two leaders also agreed to continue strengthening exchanges, especially at the highest level.

Viet Nam and Uzbekistan should also enhance direct connections between ministries, sectors and localities to advance cooperation in trade, economy, investment, culture, tourism, agriculture, green development, digital transformation, infrastructure and climate change, they added.

They also welcomed the launch of direct flights between Uzbekistans capital Tashkent and Cam Ranh (Khanh Hoa), and encouraged relevant agencies to consider establishing new flying routes to take advantage of the cooperation potential.

Developing favourable visa policies for citizens travelling between the two nations was also part of the discussion.

NA chairman Man also praised the Viet Nam-Uzbekistan Business Forum, a meeting held in the morning, which he said contributed to connecting markets and demonstrates the two countries determination to turn their partnership potential into substantial and effective cooperation.

The Vietnamese leader also urged both sides to make progress in legal frameworks, such as the visa waiver agreement, the double taxation avoidance agreement and the investment promotion and protection agreement to further trade, economic, investment and tourism ties between the two countries.

Both leaders also welcomed establishing representative offices in each country to facilitate and promote bilateral relations.

Man and Ismailov affirmed their support towards strengthening relations between the Vietnamese and Uzbekistan legislative bodies, through increasing exchanges and dialogues, as well as enhancing monitoring of the implementation of signed cooperation agreements.

During their meeting, the NA chairman Man requested that Uzbekistan continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Uzbekistan, who help serve as an important point of connection to promote strong ties between the two countries.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam will host the fourth Partnership for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit in 2025 from April 14-17 under the theme of "Sustainable and People-Centred Green Transition" in Ha Noi.

This year P4G will be the largest multilateral high-level summit on green growth that Viet Nam will host during the 2021-26 period, showcasing Viet Nam's role, responsibility and contributions to P4G and the collective efforts to promote green growth and sustainable development at national, regional, and global levels, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu said at the press conference held on Tuesday announcing the event.

The summit follows previous P4G events held in South Korea and Colombia.

"No country can address climate challenges alone. International and regional cooperation is essential," Vu said, adding that the summit aims to raise awareness about sustainable development while facilitating the sharing of experiences, resources, and public-private partnerships to advance green growth initiatives.

Through the summit, Viet Nam hopes to expand international cooperation, not only within the P4G group but also between group members and other countries and international organisations.

Approximately 600 international delegates from 40 countries and international organisations have confirmed their attendance, both in-person and virtually, including representatives from P4G member countries and partner organisations.

Participants will include government officials, investment fund representatives, businesses and start-ups in climate fields, and international organisations focused on sustainable development.

The summit will begin with sideline activities on April 15-16, organised by the P4G Secretariat, including a Global Advisory Forum and investment promotion events for startups.

The main summit activities on April 16-17 will feature seven key events chaired by Viet Nam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

On April 16, activities will include delegate registration, a welcome reception, the opening ceremony, and a high-level discussion session. The following day will feature five simultaneous ministerial-level thematic sessions on areas such as resource mobilisation, food system transformation, innovative solutions, human resource training, and efficient and sustainable energy transition.

The summit will hopefully conclude with the adoption of the "Ha Noi Declaration on P4G," which will affirm commitments to sustainable development centred on people and responsible action to address global challenges.

Viet Nam had been significantly affected by climate change and has taken progressive steps toward environmental protection and sustainable development, Deputy Foreign Minister Vu remarked. The country had committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and had implemented various policies to balance economic growth with environmental protection.

The current focus of P4G's cooperation includes: Reducing food loss and waste; climate-smart agriculture; sustainable water resources; renewable energy; and zero-emission transportation.

P4G currently has nine member countries, including Denmark, Viet Nam, South Korea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, the Netherlands, Indonesia, and South Africa, as well as five partner organisations.

A notable achievement of P4G is providing financial and technical support to small and micro enterprises in combating climate change.  VNS
HCM CITY  Vietnamese authorities are ramping up security measures in HCM City to ensure everyone enjoys a safe and festive atmosphere during the upcoming national holidays this month and next.

As Viet Nam is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30) and the 135th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19), starting April 1, the citys police have initiated a 50-day campaign focused on crime prevention and maintaining public order.

Major General Le Hong Nam, director of the HCM City Police, emphasised the importance of this period filled with major political and cultural events, underscoring the polices commitment to ensuring safety for Party leaders, state officials, international guests, and the general public.

The campaign will specifically target street crime, loan sharking, high-tech fraud, and drug-related offenses.

Plans for the anniversary celebration include a grand military parade featuring around 13,000 participants and the firing of 21 cannon shots accompanied by the national anthem.

The air force will also showcase various aircraft, including helicopters and fighter jets, to honour the occasion.

Duong Ngoc Hai, deputy chairman of the city Peoples Committee, said that these events will attract attention from national and international leaders, tourists, and local citizens.

This is a time to ensure heightened security measures and a united effort from all levels of government to keep everyone safe.

According to recent reports from the HCM City Police, there has been a notable decrease in social order crimes, down by nearly 28 per cent compared to the previous period and nearly 39 per cent compared to the same time frame last year.

The police have achieved an impressive investigation and resolution rate of 89.33 per cent, arresting over 1,100 suspects.

Excluding high-tech fraud cases, the resolution rate rises to 93.44 per cent.

In terms of organised crime, the police have successfully dismantled nine criminal gangs and arrested 42 individuals.

They also uncovered 2,581 people involved in drug-related activities, seizing almost 330kg of various drugs.

Earlier this month, 11 teams and 15 individuals from the Criminal Police Department were recognised for their outstanding contributions to public safety.  VNS
HA NOI  Vietnam Railways will operate special 'Reunification Trains' to mark the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South.

On April 29, Train SE1 will depart from Hanoi station, and Train SE4 from Sai Gon station. The two trains will meet in a Nang at noon the following day.

During the send-off ceremony on the evening of April 29, the company and its partners will distribute surprise gifts to passengers onboard.

The journey is designed not only as an ordinary train ride but as an opportunity to reflect on history and appreciate the peace we enjoy today.

Additionally, Vietnam Railways is offering a 40 per cent discount on tickets for individuals with meritorious contributions to the revolution, including war invalids, veterans, and families of revolutionary martyrs.

This special discount is available for travel from April 24 to May 9.

Tickets will be sold directly at railway stations, and passengers in the eligible categories must present the relevant documents when buying their tickets and when boarding the train.

From now until the end of Souths liberation day and May Day holiday, passengers will also have the opportunity to join the railway sector in creating the 'Reunification Train' in cyberspace.

A red-and-yellow flag will be displayed on the ticketing system for every successfully purchased ticket.

The railways have already sold many tickets early and added more trains on key routes to meet the increased demand for travel, ensuring that passengers can still easily head off on their holiday.

For the Ha Noi-HCM City route, in addition to the five daily pairs of Thong Nhat passenger trains, two additional SE9 trains will operate on April 29-30 from Ha Noi to Sai Gon station.

On the Ha Noi-Hai Phong route, in addition to the four daily train pairs, LP10 and HP4 trains will depart from Hai Phong and the HD2 train will depart from Hai Duong from May 2 to May 4.  VNS
HA NOI  The 80-member Vietnamese military rescue team deployed to Myanmar following a recent earthquake has recovered 21 bodies and rescued one man, demonstrating significant capabilities in challenging conditions.

The team, dispatched by Viet Nam's Ministry of National Defence on March 30, travelled over 500km by road from Yangon to the capital city Naypyidaw, immediately coordinating with local authorities to identify search areas, team leader Major General Pham Van Ty said.

Operating at three key sites in Naypyidaw  the Bala Tidi apartment complex, Ottara Thiri Hospital, and the Aye Chan Thar Hotel  the Vietnamese personnel deployed search dogs and specialised equipment to pinpoint 32 locations where victims were believed to be trapped and managed to retrieve 21 bodies.

In a notable achievement, they collaborated with rescue teams from Myanmar and Turkey to successfully pull a 26-year-old man alive from the debris. They also located and returned valuable assets worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars to Ottara Thiri Hospital and local individuals.

The search environment presented severe challenges, with temperatures often exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. The bodies recovered were usually heavily decomposed or submerged in water, creating unsanitary and hazardous conditions.

Collapsed structures also posed significant risks to the rescuers. Myanmar authorities noted that several other international rescue teams had previously surveyed these sites but had to withdraw due to the complexity and dangers.

The Head of Myanmar's Fire Service Department highly praised the Vietnamese team's efforts, stating they had recovered the highest number of bodies and conducted the most meaningful activities among all foreign rescue teams in Naypyidaw.

In addition to search and rescue, the team engaged in humanitarian activities, providing 40 tonnes of dry food and many tents to Myanmar. They also donated $5,000 to support victims' families and provided free medical check-ups and medicine to over 200 local people, as hospitals in Naypyidaw were damaged and faced shortages of supplies.

The mission also fostered international cooperation, with the team sharing their rescue expertise with counterparts from Myanmar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Viet Nam's deployment has been hailed as a demonstration of international solidarity, reflecting the country's traditions and the esteemed image of its military. It also holds significant importance for Viet Nam-Myanmar relations, offering support during a difficult time.

Myanmar authorities and international rescue teams lauded the professionalism, expertise, courage, intelligence, and creativity of the Vietnamese engineering and medical personnel, particularly in handling complex cases that local and other foreign teams were unable to resolve.

Major General Ty emphasised the valuable experience gained during the mission, suggesting it be documented for future international deployments and work in multinational environments.

The mission received strong support and guidance from Viet Nam's Central Military Commission, Ministry of National Defence, and other relevant agencies, as well as assistance from the Vietnamese Embassy, Defence Attache and Mytel, a joint venture of Viet Nam's military-run telecom group Viettel in Myanmar.

The entire team remains in good health and high spirits, expressing satisfaction in completing a meaningful mission that helped alleviate the suffering of the Myanmar people.

They also reported feeling proud of the warm welcome and support received from local communities, who offered water and heartfelt gratitude.

Minister of National Defence, General Phan Van Giang, sent a letter commending and encouraging the team. The mission command has proposed that the ministry recognise the outstanding contributions of participating units and individuals with appropriate awards.  VNS
HCM CITY  A Vietnamese beauty queen has been banned from leaving the country due to her alleged involvement in fraud related to the manufacturing and trading of counterfeit food or food additives and deceiving customers.

Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien, 27, from HCM City, will be prohibited from international travel until May 15 as confirmed by the ak Lak Provincial Police.

In addition, she has been fined VN25 million (US$980) for misleading customers by advertising a candy as a fibre-rich supplement.

Last Friday, five individuals, including two popular Vietnamese KOLs, were arrested for allegedly misleading consumers by promoting a candy product as a fibre-rich supplement.

Pham Quang Linh, known as Quang Linh Vlogs and a member of the board of directors at Chi Em Rot (CER) Group Joint Stock Company, and Nguyen Thi Thai Hang, known as Hang Du Muc, chairwoman of Chi Em Rot, are facing charges related to the manufacturing and trading of counterfeit food or food additives and deceiving customers, according to the police.

The other three individuals are Nguyen Phong, chairman of Asia Life JSC; Le Tuan Linh, director and legal representative of Chi Em Rot Group JSC; and Le Thanh Cong, also a board member of Chi Em Rot.

Prior to their arrests, Hang Du Muc, Quang Linh Vlogs, and Tien had promoted the Kera vegetable candy product through livestreams on social media, claiming it could serve as a substitute for vegetables.

The product, launched late last year by CER Group in HCM City, was manufactured by Asia Life JSC in the Central Highlands province of ak Lak.

Le Tuan Linh, CEO of CER, had previously asserted that all ingredients were sourced locally, ensuring high quality and clear origins.

However, the assertions made by influencers Linh, Hang, and Tien that one candy replaces a plate of vegetables were found to be false.

Tests conducted by authorities revealed that each box of 30 candies contained only 0.51 grams of fibre, which is significantly lower than the claims made in advertisements.

Before their arrests, both Linh and Hang had also been penalised with fines of VN70 million ($2,720) each for violations in advertising practices, and they were required to issue corrections regarding their misleading claims.

The company had already sold over 100,000 boxes of the product, pledging to provide refunds to customers. Each box, containing 30 candies, was marketed at prices ranging from VN150,000 to VN165,000 across various online platforms.

The company has announced that it will refund customers who purchased the product.

In response to public backlash, the Ministry of Public Security had initiated the investigation and concluded that the false claims regarding the candy have significantly undermined consumer rights, prompting further inquiries into additional violations by the involved parties.

All influencers have publicly acknowledged their misleading claims and have apologised to the public.

Authorities have urged individuals and organisations who have acquired any of the Kera candy boxes to contact the Ministrys Investigation Agency in Cau Giay District, Ha Noi, for guidance on legal recourse.

Experts have noted the rise of social media in recent years has blurred the lines between genuine expertise and self-promotion.

Influencers, many of whom lack professional qualifications, often gain public trust by portraying themselves as committed to charitable causes and acting as responsible brand ambassadors.

The situation has raised growing concerns regarding the influence of social media personalities and the potential risks associated with misleading advertising.  VNS
A NANG  The Japanese ambassador to Viet Nam Ito Naoki has paid a visit to two universities in the city  the ong A-a Nang University and Foreign Language University  aiming to encourage further Japanese language study.

Vice Rector of ong A University, Dr Ngo Quang Vinh said the visit by the Japanese diplomat would help in the promotion of the Japanese language at the university and the other education centres in a Nang.

Vinh, who has spent nearly 30 years working with the Japanese language, said the ambassador had been very supportive during his working visit to the university.

He said the ambassador also passed on messages on how to develop the Japanese language network in central Viet Nam from the Japanese Embassy, the Consulate General of Japan in a Nang and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Vinh asked that cultural exchanges between Japan and Viet Nam and in particular a Nang, needed to be expanded, along with increasing exposure to Japanese cinema and music to encourage students to learn the language.

The promotion of the Japanese language and an increasing number of learners would help create a stable pool of high-quality human resources for the two countries in the near future, Vinh said.

He added ong A University alone enrolls around 800 Japanese language students every year from a Nang and the Central Highlands.

Rector of a Nang Foreign Language University, Nguyen Van Long, strongly committed to increasing the number of students learning the Japanese language and post-graduate students studying in Japan.

The first Japanese language studies and culture research faculty in the central and Central Highlands region was established at the a Nang-ong A University in 2020.

At least nine cities in Japan and more than 80 businesses have signed agreements to recruit students from the university and the region to work or study in Japan.

a Nang has hosted an annual Japan-Viet Nam Cultural Festival since 2014.

More than 162,000 Vietnamese students currently study the Japanese language, while 40,000 students have joined training courses in Japan. VNS
Military personnel and sniffer dogs return to Ha Noi on April 8 evening.  VNA/VNS PhotoHA NOI  The Vietnamese armys rescue and relief force, which assisted Myanmar in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, returned home on the evening of April 8.

On March 30, the Ministry of Defence deployed a delegation of 80 military personnel to Myanmar. The team was equipped with essential tools, medical supplies, and relief goods, including six service dogs and several tonnes of equipment.

In Naypyidaw, they carried out search-and-rescue operations at three locations  the Bala Tidi apartment complex, Ottara Thiri hospital, and Aye Chan Thar hotel, recovering 21 bodies of victims. Notably, the team collaborated with rescue forces from Myanmar and Turkey to save a 26-year-old man. They also found valuable equipment and goods, which were handed over to Ottara Thiri hospital and the local community.

Moreover, the team provided free medical care and medicines to over 200 local people, as many hospitals in Naypyidaw were devastated by the earthquake and lacked medical supplies. They raised US$5,000 to support the families of the victims and donated 40 tonnes of dried food and tents to Myanmar.

The mission demonstrated the Vietnamese armys international solidarity, reinforcing the countrys standing, reputation, responsibility, and capabilities in global integration and defence diplomacy.

Major General Myat Thu, head of the Myanmar Fire Services Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs, praised the Vietnamese delegations spirit, dedication, and efforts, noting that they bravely worked in difficult and dangerous conditions, ultimately saving a life.  VNS
JAKARTA  The government has vowed to import more goods from the United States to gain leverage in bilateral negotiations and ease tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump as Jakarta seeks to avoid retaliatory measures.

Following a multi-stakeholder meeting on Monday, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said in a press conference that President Prabowo Subianto had instructed him to narrow Indonesias US$18 trillion surplus in trade with the US by importing more American products.

[The] President has given the instruction to [narrow the trade surplus by importing] more [US] products that we need, including wheat, cotton or even oil and gas products, said Airlangga.

He added that the government would probably push for importing more US goods in procurement for national strategic projects, including for refineries.

The senior minister said Jakarta would take the negotiation path and will not resort to imposing retaliatory measures, much like most ASEAN member states. He said government officials of ASEAN countries would meet on April 10 to calibrate their stance.

He went on to say that the US Trade Representative (USTR) is awaiting a concrete proposal from Indonesia.

Deputy Industry Minister Faisol Riza told reporters after the meeting that a high-ranking delegation from Jakarta would commence negotiations with White House officials by April 17 at the latest.

The head of the Finance Ministrys Fiscal Policy Agency, Febrio Nathan Kacaribu, revealed that Airlangga was leading the main negotiation team, which would also include Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Foreign Minister Sugiono.

Febrio, who attended Mondays meeting, told reporters that Airlangga and Sugiono would fly to the US next week.

Airlanggas office previously made it clear that Jakarta was seeking to prepare steps to respond to issues raised by the White House, particularly those addressed in the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers released by the USTR last week.

Read also: Indonesia prepares to respond to US tariffs

The report assesses Jakartas trade policy and lists a wide range of gripes in areas ranging from tariffs and taxes to nontariff barriers, including licensing requirements, market access restrictions and state trading.

Over the last decade, Indonesia has progressively increased its applied tariff rates on a variety of goods, particularly those competing with locally manufactured products, the report finds, before proceeding to detail issues such as complex and burdensome licensing regimes for the importation of horticultural products, animals and animal products.

Washington contends that Indonesias measures amount to the equivalent of a 64 percent tariff rate against US products when currency manipulation and trade barriers are accounted for.

Read also: Indonesian business groups urge talks with US on tariffs

In response, the US government imposed a tariff of 32 per cent against Indonesia in a second round of so-called reciprocal tariffs to become effective on April 9, going beyond the 10 percent baseline tariff Washington slapped on imports from all countries starting on April 5.

Apart from increasing imports from the US, the Industry Ministrys Faisol said reducing the minimum local content requirements (TKDN) exclusively for US products would be brought to the negotiation table, but he refused to specify the extent.

Moreover, the government is also offering administrative leniency in taxation, customs and excise, which would apply universally, not only for the US.

Deputy Finance Minister Anggito Abimanyu told reporters after the meeting that tariff cuts were on the menu too.  The Jakarta Post/ANN
KATHMANDU  The Supreme Court of Nepal and the Supreme Court of India on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop, promote and strengthen the judicial cooperation between the two countries.

The understanding was signed in the presence of Chief Justice of Nepal Prakash Man Singh Raut and Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna.

Inspired by the cordial and friendly relations existing between the two countries and their people, the MoU aims at developing, promoting and strengthening cooperation between the judiciaries of the two countries, read a statement issued by the Supreme Court of India after the signing event.

The MoU shall not only encourage mutual exchange of information on latest developments in the field of law and justice but also promote interaction among judges and officials at various levels of judiciaries through programmes such as exchange of visits, short- and long-term training and academic programmes.

Recognising the importance of use of technology in clearing backlogs, expediting court procedures and providing better services to stakeholders, the MoU provides for sharing information pertaining to technology employed in their respective courts and other institutions, it said.

As per the MoU a joint working group consisting of the officials of the two judiciaries shall be formed to work out plans and modalities for promoting and further strengthening judicial cooperation, the statement added.

Chief Justice Raut left for a five-day visit to India on Sunday at the invitation of Indian counterpart Khanna. The Kathmandu Post/ANN
MANILA  Only 966 out of more than 45,000 schools in the Philippines have a functioning Anti-Bullying Committee.

The Department of Education (DepEd) disclosed this data at a public hearing on the rising cases of bullying in the country on Tuesday.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate panel on basic education, was alarmed upon looking at the data and wondered why the number appeared to be so low.

In other words, this committee is tasked to prevent, detect, and address bullying in schools. But what youre saying now is only 966 schools out of 45,000 plus schools have a functioning Child Protection Committee (CPC) [or] Anti-Bullying committee? Gatchalian asked.

DepEd Assistant Secretary Dexter Galban said this was only based on the 3,210 schools in the country, adding that another 48,000 schools have yet to be evaluated.

Thats such a huge gap  966 out of 45,000? No wonder bullying still happens. Isnt it the responsibility of our principals to ensure they have a functioning CPC/Anti-Bullying Committee? Gatchalian asked.

Galban said it was the primary purpose of actually implementing the CPC Functioning Personality Test because, by policy, all schools should have a CPC.

This is why we created a mechanism to actually check whether or not there is an actual presence of a working CPC and if not, what aspects they are lacking, he explained in Filipino.

Gatchalian pointed out that the absence of a CPC in schools clearly violates the Anti-Bullying Law.

Thats a violation of the law because the law calls for the creation of the CPC in all public elementary and secondary schools. That is under the Anti-Bullying Law. What is the liability of the principals if they do not implement this? Its shocking that only 966 out of 45,000  thats only 2 percent of our total schools, he said in Filipino.

Responding to the senators queries, Galban said the DepEd would look into what administrative sanctions can be imposed on schools that are unable to operationalize their CPCs.

Data from DepEd showed that 79,819 cases of bullying  both physical and digital  were recorded from 2019 to 2022. INQUIRER.NET/ANN
A 46 per cent so-called reciprocal tariff on Vietnamese imports, to be enforced from April 9, has sent shockwaves through the business community, leaving many companies grappling with a sudden escalation in trade barriers.

With such a rate, the price of Vietnamese goods in the United States will skyrocket, reducing competitiveness compared to other countries such as China, India, and Mexico.

Key industries such as textiles, footwear, electronics, wood, and seafood will be affected, and it is estimated that exports to the US could decrease sharply, possibly 30 per cent or more, depending on the ability to redirect the market, according to VPBank Securities.

In response to the US move, which accounts for approximately 28-30 per cent of Vietnams total export turnover ($136.6 billion in 2024) and about 26 per cent of its GDP, leaders within Vietnams garment and textile industry have swiftly held meetings to assess the situation.

Pham Van Viet, chairman at Viet Thang Jean Co., Ltd., said that the substantial retaliatory tariffs imposed by the US on Southeast Asian nations are aimed at regulating Chinese goods entering the US. He suggested that an immediate solution involves clarifying and ensuring transparency regarding the origin of materials used in goods exported to the US, which could facilitate negotiations with American counterparts.

Additionally, the industry employs a large workforce. Therefore, the current concern is how to manage this. Transitioning markets in the sector could take 2-3 years for acceptance, he said.

The majority of clothing and footwear sold in American retailers such as Walmart and Target are produced abroad, with Bangladesh, Vietnam, and China being the top exporters.

Pham Thi Thanh Xuan, vice chairwoman and general secretary of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear, and Handbag Association (LEFASO), emphasised the gravity of the situation, noting that the sector was confronting an extremely significant challenge in the forthcoming period. The US market has been a cornerstone for Vietnams leather and footwear exports, with a value of more than $10 billion.

Despite the daunting scenario, Xuan advises against panic. Leather and footwear production has largely shifted away from the US, positioning Vietnam as a reliable supplier deeply integrated into the American supply chain, Xuan said. However, the increased costs necessitate that businesses devise strategies to sustain production and optimise processes to offset the impending tax burdens.

She underscored the importance of market diversity, saying that Vietnams engagement in free trade agreements offers avenues for diversification. Prioritising expansion into these markets is essential for businesses aiming to mitigate the adverse effects of tariffs, Xuan added.

The LEFASO is advocating for governmental interventions, including policy enhancements, administrative reforms, tax incentives, and expedited customs procedures. Such measures are intended to alleviate operational costs and facilitate smoother production workflows for enterprises.

Meanwhile, furniture and wood products rank fourth in the list of Vietnams main exports to the US. Ngo Sy Hoai, vice chairman and general secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association, described the tariff as terrible and expressed hope for negotiations to mitigate its adverse effects.

Industry leaders and government officials are actively seeking solutions to minimise the tariffs impact on the export sector. Efforts include diplomatic negotiations, policy adjustments, and industry-wide strategies to sustain the growth and competitiveness of Vietnams wood industry in the global market, he said.

Do Ngoc Hung, head of the Vietnam Trade Office in the US under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, stated that recent high-level dialogues between Vietnam and the US reflect Vietnams goodwill in encouraging fair trade policies.

Vietnam is seen as a responsible trading partner, and its recent actions have helped build trust and deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership, especially in the economic sector, Hung said. In the current context, Vietnam needs to effectively implement cooperation mechanisms and bilateral agreements with the US. At the same time, efforts should be made to concretely expand market access and import certain key US products that align with Vietnams domestic needs.

CEO opinions on unexpected reciprocal US tariffs The introduction of a 46 per cent reciprocal tariff on Vietnam could soon increase operational costs for leading companies exporting to the US.

US tariff policy: challenges ahead but door open for dialogue On April 2, President Trump announced a new reciprocal tariff policy, introducing sharp tariff hikes on several countries and potentially disrupting global trade. Anh Nguyen, manager of the Market Research and Consulting Department at FiinGroup, offers initial analysis on Vietnams current export-import dynamics with the United States and the country's options for response through diplomatic and strategic efforts.
This proverb aptly reflects South Koreas two-decade journey to position Seoul as a major financial hub in Northeast Asia. Although Seoul has not reached the global prominence of established centres like Singapore or Hong Kong, it has notably strengthened its domestic financial ecosystem, capital markets, and fintech industry, significantly enhancing the nations economic resilience.

Michael J. Chin, non-executive director, Vingroup

Ho Chi Minh City now aspires to become Southeast Asias next significant financial hub. By carefully studying the experiences of Seoul, along with smaller successful financial centres such as Dublin and Luxembourg, Ho Chi Minh City can strategically position itself to achieve sustainable success. Moreover, by emphasising green finance, Ho Chi Minh City can uniquely merge economic development with environmental sustainability, enhancing its appeal to global investors.

Seouls experience offers several valuable lessons for Ho Chi Minh City in its ambition to become a financial hub.

Firstly, strategic specialisation is crucial. South Korea initially aimed to compete broadly across various financial services. This broad approach presented challenges, as resources were spread thinly. Recognising this, Ho Chi Minh City should clearly define and cultivate its specific competitive advantages such as digital finance, IT outsourcing, administrative and back-office operations, and particularly green finance. Focusing on these specialised areas allows efficient resource allocation and fosters expertise.

Secondly, maintaining centralised governance is essential to an integrated financial ecosystem. Seoul saw the relocation of key financial institutions  including the Korea Development Bank, Korea Exchange, and National Pension Service  to regional cities. These decisions, while politically driven, impacted the coherence and potential synergy of the financial sector. Ho Chi Minh City can learn from this by ensuring key financial institutions remain centralised and decisions prioritise economic considerations.

Thirdly, a flexible regulatory environment greatly enhances attractiveness to international firms. Seouls stringent labour regulations and comprehensive financial rules sometimes posed challenges for foreign businesses. To attract international investment, Ho Chi Minh City can adopt streamlined licensing processes, liberalise foreign exchange regulations, and implement regulatory sandboxes designed specifically to encourage fintech innovation and simplify market entry.

Traditionally, Hong Kong and Singapore have dominated as Asias premier financial hubs, yet each faces distinct challenges that could benefit Ho Chi Minh City.

Hong Kong, historically stable and attractive, now contends with increasing geopolitical risks. These uncertainties have prompted many financial institutions and multinational corporations to seek alternative locations, searching for greater political stability and predictable operational environments.

Singapore, while politically stable and economically robust, faces escalating operational costs. High real estate prices, expensive office spaces, and rising general costs have become significant barriers, especially for small to medium-sized enterprises or cost-sensitive firms. This environment makes Singapore increasingly prohibitive for certain segments of the market.

Given these challenges, Ho Chi Minh City can position itself as a stable, cost-effective alternative within Southeast Asia. By providing competitive operational costs, affordable real estate, favourable regulatory conditions, and reliable infrastructure, Ho Chi Minh City can draw in firms deterred by the disadvantages of Singapore and Hong Kong.

Ho Chi Minh City can also enhance its potential by adopting strategies from smaller financial hubs such as Dublin and Luxembourg, which specialise and complement larger financial centres rather than directly competing with them.

Dublin successfully established itself as a European fintech and fund administration centre through competitive corporate taxation rates, a skilled English-speaking workforce, and agile regulatory practices. This strategic positioning allowed Dublin to complement established financial hubs like London and Frankfurt effectively.

Luxembourg similarly carved out a niche by becoming a global leader in sustainable finance and fund management. Through robust regulatory support and targeted specialisation in cross-border financial services, Luxembourg established itself as an indispensable player in international finance.

By following these examples, Ho Chi Minh City can strategically specialise in cost-effective IT outsourcing, digital compliance services, administrative support, and back-office operations, appealing to companies seeking operational efficiency and reliability.

Meanwhile, green finance represents a distinctive opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City to differentiate itself within the regional and global financial landscapes. Vietnams rapid growth in renewable energy infrastructure including solar, wind, hydroelectric, and electric vehicles, alongside its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, significantly enhances its global sustainability credentials.

Ho Chi Minh City can leverage this momentum by pursuing targeted green finance initiatives, such as issuing green bonds to finance renewable energy projects, sustainable transport, and eco-friendly housing.

It can position itself as Vietnams hub for voluntary carbon market transactions, meeting the private sectors rising demand for sustainability investments and carbon offsets.

The city can also collaborate internationally, particularly with partners like South Korea, on projects involving Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes, accelerating renewable energy deployment and emission reductions.

Ho Chi Minh City could develop dedicated industrial zones powered entirely by renewable energy, complemented by attractive incentives and streamlined regulatory approvals to engage companies that see environmental, social, and governance criteria as a priority.

The ambition to become a major financial hub encompasses much more than international prestige  it signifies substantial economic modernisation, high-quality employment generation, and meaningful global integration for Vietnam. Realising these objectives demands a clear strategic vision, disciplined execution, and practical planning.

Aiming high by drawing this strategic tiger, even if the immediate outcome is a highly capable cat, Ho Chi Minh City will meaningfully enhance Vietnams economic future, creating a resilient, globally integrated, and sustainable financial environment for generations to come.

Vietnam seeks UK expertise in financial centre development Vietnam is keen to draw on the United Kingdoms experience in structuring and managing financial centres as it moves forward with plans to establish international finance hubs in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh said.

Ho Chi Minh City International Financial Centre to be built in Thu Thiem New Urban Area Thu Thiem New Urban Area on the Saigon River has been allocated as the site for Vietnam's first International Financial Centre.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (right) receives Spanish Ambassador to Vietnam Carmen Cano De Lasala in April 2024. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi  Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchezs official visit to Vietnam from April 8 to 10, made at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh, is expected to create great momentum and serve as a launchpad for the two countries to elevate their relations to a new, more practical and effective level.

The trip is the first official visit to Vietnam by a Spanish PM since the countries established their diplomatic ties in 1977, and also the first by a high-ranking leader of the European country in 19 years, since the tour by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia in 2006. It demonstrates Spains strong commitment to deepening ties with Vietnam and also highlights Vietnams growing role and position in the region and the world. It is hoped to pave the way for a more dynamic and robust economic and trade partnership between the two countries in the coming years.

Strategic partnership grows stronger

Relations between Vietnam and Spain date back five centuries, beginning with trade ties when Spanish merchants first arrived at Hoi An Port to establish a thriving commercial presence in the region. The two countries officially established diplomatic relations on May 23, 1977.

Over the past 48 years, Vietnam and Spain have steadily expanded their friendship and cooperation across multiple fields. Bilateral ties has grew even stronger and more comprehensive since the establishment of the "strategic partnership towards the future" during President Nguyen Minh Triets visit to Spain in December 2009. Notably, Spain was the first EU country to become a strategic partner of Vietnam.

In recent years, the two sides have built up a close relationship and extensive cooperation based on mutual trust and understanding, fostered through regular mutual visits and cooperation at all levels.

Most recently, PM Chinh met with his Spanish counterpart Sanchez on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November 2024, during which the former affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to further intensify the strategic partnership with Spain. He proposed increasing delegation exchanges at all levels, expediting the signing of a new joint action programme for the new period between the two governments, and boosting collaboration in transport infrastructure, renewable energy, science and technology, and agriculture.

PM Sanchez agreed with Chinhs proposals and suggested enhancing cooperation in developing infrastructure, particularly metro systems, urban railways, and city planning. He also proposed practical activities be held to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2027.

The two countries currently maintain the political consultation at the deputy foreign minister level, as well as a joint committee on economic, trade, and investment cooperation chaired by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The two sides have also cooperated closely and supported each other at multilateral mechanisms, especially the UN and the ASEANEU relations.

Bright prospects for economic and trade cooperation

Since the establishment of the strategic partnership, economic and trade links have seen strong growth. Spain is currently Vietnams fifth-largest trading partner in the EU while Vietnam is Spains biggest in ASEAN. From 2019 to 2024, bilateral trade maintained solid growth, averaging 8.7 per cent annually.

In 2024, the two-way trade hit a record of 4.72 billion USD, marking a 20 per cent increase compared to 2023. The two countries' import-export structures are largely complementary to rather than directly compete with each other.

The countries have effectively implemented the EU  Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which took effect in August 2020. Spain was also among the first EU countries to ratify the EU  Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), in January 2022, which Vietnamese Ambassador to Spain Doan Thanh Song described as a demonstration of Spains growing interest in Vietnam as a promising market for Spanish businesses. The recent opening of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi is also a vivid example of the European nation's determination to strengthen economic relations with Vietnam.

As of January 2025, Spain had 97 investment projects worth 143.9 million USD in Vietnam, ranking 46th out of the 149 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian nation. Its investments are concentrated in the manufacturing and processing industry (56.1 per cent) and accommodation and food services (32.8 per cent). Ambasador Song said that notable recent Spanish investments focus on renewable energy and digitalisation, which are all priority sectors Vietnam is attracting high-tech foreign direct investment (FDI) to.

Meanwhile, Vietnam had invested 64.2 million USD in three projects in Spain, operating in the fields of science - technology research and processing - manufacturing. That gave Spain the 24th place among the 79 overseas investment destinations of Vietnam.

Regarding development cooperation, Vietnam has continually been one of the priorities in Spain's development cooperation policy. To date, the European nation has pledged over 1 billion USD in ODA loans and non-refundable aid for Vietnam through six cooperation programmes to support poverty reduction, gender equality, health care, and clean water supply, contributing significantly to local socio-economic development.

According to Ambassador Song, there remains huge room for the two countries to boost all-around cooperation in the coming time, from economics, renewable energy development, agriculture, education - training, culture, sports, and tourism, to people-to-people exchanges.

Strengthening Vietnam  Spain strategic partnership

The diplomat noted Vietnam and Spain are currently at the stage of sharing the most common interests to date, creating a strong stepping stone for further deepening their strategic partnership. Both sides are actively seeking to expand and diversify their markets and partners. Spain holds a strategic position and influence not only in Europe, but also in Spanish-speaking countries, Latin America, and North Africa. Strengthening ties with Spain will thus help Vietnam broaden its cooperation and enhance its role and reputation in these regions.

PM Sanchezs official visit to Vietnam holds great significance as it reflects Spains determination to enhance cooperation with Vietnam, Song said, adding that by bringing along a delegation of Spains leading corporations to Vietnam during the visit, the Spanish side demonstrates a concrete step toward expanding economic engagement between the two countries.

During the visit, the two sides are scheduled to discuss measures for bolstering cooperation, enhancing political trust, reinforcing the existing foundation of relations, and exploring new opportunities in potential areas, especially politics - diplomacy, trade - investment, science - technology, infrastructure, urban transport, sustainable development, and renewable energy. Several bilateral cooperation agreements are also expected to be inked on this occasion.

Ahead of his visit, PM Sanchez stressed that Vietnam has become a magnet for foreign investment, and affirmed that thanks to the EVFTA, Spanish companies, especially those operating in infrastructure and renewable energy, will be able to seize business opportunities in Vietnam.
This strategic collaboration marks a significant step in the latter (NAVICO)s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) transformation and affirms the former (UOB Vietnam)s role as a key financial enabler, helping businesses adapt to global sustainability standards and maintain long-term competitiveness.

Photo: UOB Vietnam

Sustainability as the next growth catalyst for Vietnams seafood industry

Vietnam is the worlds third-largest seafood exporter, with annual exports reaching $10 billion in 2024, up 12.7 per cent on-year. Among key export products, pangasius remains a cornerstone of the industry, contributing $2 billion and maintaining strong global demand.

Beyond its economic impact, the seafood sector is a major source of employment, supporting millions of workers, especially in rural and coastal areas. However, as global markets tighten sustainability requirements, businesses must rethink their growth strategies to align with ESG standards.

In this shift, green finance is emerging as a key enabler, empowering businesses to integrate sustainability into their operations while strengthening long-term resilience. The agreement between UOB Vietnam and NAVICO reinforces the integration of ESG principles in aquaculture while enabling NAVICO to advance its green production standards.

Lim Dyi Chang, country head of Commercial Banking, UOB Vietnam

Vietnam is positioning itself as a key player in the global sustainable food supply chain. We believe that businesses with a strong ESG vision will emerge as strong industry leaders in the years to come. This collaboration with NAVICO reflects our shared commitment to sustainability, said Lim Dyi Chang, country head of commercial banking, UOB Vietnam.

Green finance plays a critical role in building long-term resilience and supporting industry-wide transformation, ensuring that businesses can thrive in an increasingly ESG-driven market, he noted.

Through this facility, UOB Vietnam provides financial support while also enabling NAVICO to strengthen its ESG strategy, optimise supply chain efficiency, and accelerate its circular economy initiatives.

Moreover, the facility underpins NAVICOs five-year net zero carbon roadmap, developed in partnership with the Vietnam Fisheries Department, ensuring compliance with international sustainability requirements in key export markets such as the EU and the US, while reinforcing its position as a sustainability leader in the aquaculture industry.

ESG commitment and net zero roadmap

NAVICO has long embraced sustainability as a core business strategy, integrating responsible farming practices, renewable energy adoption, and a circular economy approach.

With over 1,100 hectares of farming area, including 600 ha of high-tech aquaculture, the company operates one of Vietnams largest integrated pangasius supply chains, ensuring full control over quality from hatchery to export-ready products.

To secure this green financing, NAVICO underwent a stringent ESG assessment, demonstrating full compliance with the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA) Green Loan Principles and maintaining internationally recognised sustainability certifications, including Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC)  both prerequisites for loan disbursement.

At NAVICO, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. This partnership with UOB Vietnam enables us to strengthen our ESG practices and pursue critical investments in renewable energy and green supply chain optimisation. By leveraging UOBs green finance expertise, we are accelerating our Net Zero roadmap and reinforcing our position as a leader in sustainable aquaculture, said Doan Toi, CEO of NAVICO.

Since 2021, UOB Vietnam has supported NAVICOs green transition, including financing rooftop solar projects to reduce costs and emissions.

With this partnership, NAVICO is expanding ESG-compliant market access while enhancing efficiency and competitiveness in global markets. NAVICO exports to more than 200 countries worldwide, supplying key markets across Asia, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and beyond.

Photo: NAVICO

The green financing for NAVICO is part of UOB Vietnams long-term commitment to expanding green finance solutions across industries with high sustainability potential, including aquaculture, agriculture, renewable energy, and sustainable manufacturing.

By the end of 2024, UOB Vietnam had successfully financed 19 green projects, further solidifying its position as a trusted financial partner for businesses committed to ESG excellence.

In 2025, the bank will focus on providing green finance support to businesses in the mid-sized customer segment, particularly local enterprises with a strong demand for a green transition, aiming to allocate at least 30 per cent of new credit facilities to this segment to fund sustainable development initiatives.

At the group level, UOBs sustainable financing portfolio had surpassed $41 billion by the end of 2024, reflecting the banks strong regional commitment to driving the sustainability agenda.

Beyond financing, UOB Vietnam works closely with businesses to integrate sustainable production practices, leveraging its deep sector expertise and regional capabilities to support long-term business resilience and sustainable growth.

A defining partnership for sustainable aquaculture

This agreement is a strategic collaboration reflecting a long-term commitment to advancing ESG excellence in Vietnams aquaculture sector. As Vietnam deepens its participation in the global sustainable supply chain, partnerships like this will be essential in shaping the industrys future.

With major export markets increasingly enforcing ESG requirements, the ability to demonstrate sustainability credentials is becoming a critical factor in global trade. UOB Vietnams green financing, combined with NAVICOs strong sustainability commitment, ensures that Vietnams seafood remains competitive on the world stage, setting a new benchmark for responsible aquaculture.

Green finance to be unlocked As Vietnam progresses towards sustainability, integrating green finance is key to balancing economic growth with environmental preservation. The countrys unique social, political, economic, and environmental context presents both pros and cons for leveraging green finance solutions that align with global best practices while addressing local realities.

UOB maintains positive outlook for Vietnam but risks lie ahead The United Overseas Bank (UOB) has maintained its full-year growth forecast for Vietnam at 7 per cent in 2025, assuming first quarter growth of 7.1 per cent.
Vietnam, with the US accounting for around 30 per cent of its exports, faces a proposed 46 per cent tariffposing a significant threat to its trade performance in the near term. While the policy reflects a more protectionist stance, the US has signalled openness to negotiation, offering Vietnam a possible route to ease the impact.

Anh Nguyen, manager of Market Research and Consulting Department, FiinGroup

The US has long been one of Vietnams most critical export markets, contributing 29.5 per cent to the countrys total export value in 2024.

Last year, Vietnam exported around $119.5 billion worth of goods to the US, with key items including electronics, machinery, textiles, garments, and mobile components. Vietnam now ranks among the top 10 exporters to the US, behind only Mexico, China, Canada, Germany, and Japan.

Figure 1: Top countries exporting to the US in 2024 ($bn), Source: FiinGroup from US Trade

Figure 2: Contribution of US market to total Vietnams export value, 2020-2024, Source: FiinGroup from Customs

Given this strong dependency, the proposed reciprocal tariff policy presents serious challenges. The US aims to equalise trade treatment with its partners, and although China and the EU are the primary targets, the ripple effects could severely impact other major exporters like Vietnam. With a trade surplus estimated at 90 per cent by the US government, Vietnam is among the countries most vulnerable to the new tariffs.

Although the US has stated that reciprocal tariffs will be based on each countrys import-export value and pricing, the actual rates appear largely tied to the size of the trade deficit.

Figure 3: Tariffs charged to the US and US discounted reciprocal tariffs for the Top 10 countries with the highest trade imbalance in 2024, Source: FiinGroup from Office of the United States Trade Representative

Using 2024 figures, Vietnam exported $119.5 billion worth of goods to the US and imported $13.1 billion in return. Based on this calculation, Vietnams new tariff rate lands around 45 per cent, close to the announced 46 per cent. This marks an increase of 1245 per cent over current levels, significantly affecting key sectors like seafood, textiles and garments, and furniture. These industries could see export value declines of up to 40 per cent.

Even though the policy was announced only days ago, early signs of impact have emerged. Some firms have postponed production, delayed recruitment, or prepared for layoffs. At an urgent meeting between AmCham and domestic exporters on April 3, concerns were raised over shipments already en route to the US that will arrive after the April 9 deadline, facing a sudden tariff hike from under 15 per cent to 46 per cent.

Many exporters noted that American importers are unlikely to accept price adjustments reflecting the new tariff. US companies operating in Vietnam are also affected, as their products face new export barriers.

What next for Vietnam?

Though the policy brings new challenges, it does not close the door to negotiation. President Trumps move appears to be a strategic effort to encourage more favourable trade terms rather than a hardline stance. His administration has indicated a willingness to discuss reciprocal agreements, creating an opening for Vietnam.

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc is visiting the US from April 614, with trade negotiations expected to top the agenda. The goal is to secure exemptions or adjustments and establish a more balanced tariff frameworkreinforcing Vietnams proactive approach to protecting its trade interests.

Direct engagement with US counterparts aims to limit the damage to key export sectors and ensure the long-term stability of bilateral trade. Offering improved conditions for US investors and imports into Vietnam could help ease tensions and foster a more constructive dialogue.

While awaiting the outcome of these talks, Vietnamese firms are advised to take immediate and strategic steps to reduce potential disruptions. In the short term, exporters should urgently renegotiate with US buyers to revise delivery timelines and pricing to reflect shared cost burdens.

At the same time, domestic enterprises are suggested to develop contingency plans for potential worst-case scenarios, including a freeze in trade flow to the US for a period. This may include rescheduling the production schedules, updating cash flow forecasts as well as preparing warehousing solutions to accommodate potential inventory demand increase.

In parallel, businesses should accelerate regional and bilateral trade efforts with other partners to build resilience. Market diversification will be vital to maintaining long-term growth and reducing overreliance on the US.

Vietnams seafood sector could tap into growing demand in China, Australia, Russia, Taiwan, and Brazil, which have each shown strong growth and import demand in recent years. Similarly, for textiles and garments, the Netherlands, Canada, Cambodia, Russia, Spain, and Australia have emerged as promising markets. These destinations have steadily increased imports from Vietnam over the past five years and offer valuable opportunities for diversification.

President Trumps tariff shift introduces serious risks to global trade flows and Vietnams export-driven economy. However, with negotiations on the table, the situation is not without hope. FiinGroup anticipates that the tariffs may be adjusted to more practical levels following diplomatic engagement.

In the meantime, Vietnamese businesses must remain flexible, preparing for a range of scenarios and adapting their strategies to weather this uncertain trade environment.

Reciprocal tax will drastically undermine competitiveness of Vietnamese products The implementation of 46 per cent reciprocal tax by the US on April 9 threatens to inflict severe damage on Vietnam's export-driven economy. Nguyen Chi Trung, CEO and managing partner of Grant Thornton Vietnam, shares his thoughts on the implications.

Vietnam voices concern over new US textile tariff Vietnams garment and textile industry enterprises are voicing growing concern over a newly announced 46 per cent US tariff, stressing that the industry plays a complementarynot competitiverole in the US market.
Ho Duc Phoc - Deputy Prime Minister The US economy is 60 times larger than Vietnams economy. Obviously, it is impossible to ensure balance, but it must be reasonable. Vietnam is always consistent in its policies on labour, currency, investment incentives, and environmental protection. The issuance of high tariffs will not only affect businesses and Vietnams economy, but also the US consumption when Americans have to pay higher prices. This also affects the comprehensive strategic partnership between two countries and the global value chain broadly. We hope businesses with exports to the US, associations, the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, the US Embassy, and diplomats will recommend solutions on how to negotiate with the US government to reduce the tariffs while promoting ties between the two countries. Vietnam has not only reduced tariffs for the US, but we have also signed and purchased hundreds of aircraft. We are negotiating to buy more, as well as import liquefied natural gas worth $6 billion, along with other equipment worth over $90 billion. The government has made great efforts to increase imports of goods from the US. Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien aims to arrange a phone call with his US counterpart, the United States Trade Representative, to resume negotiations on this matter. Although Minister Dien had previously visited the US for a working trip, during which several substantive issues were discussed, further preparation is needed for the upcoming dialogue. This includes addressing matters of US concern to better explain Vietnams trade policies, importexport management mechanisms, and tax-related issues. The ministry is now working with the Vietnamese Embassy and the Trade Office in Washington, encouraging them to actively engage with the US side. In light of the retaliatory tariffs, the governments priority is to focus on discussing countermeasures. Therefore, broader goals related to growth, foreign trade, and investment will not yet be adjusted, and Vietnams 2025 export growth target remains unchanged. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has studied, forecasted, and reported on the situation to the government in order to formulate an appropriate response. Pham Thu Hang - Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vietnam regrets the US decision to impose reciprocal tariffs on its exports to the United States. We believe that the decision is not in line with the reality of mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. It fails to reflect the spirit of the comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, stability, cooperation, and development. It will have negative impacts on bilateral economic and trade relations and the interests of individuals and businesses of the two countries if it is applied. In recent times, Vietnam has actively exchanged and discussed specific measures with the US to remove obstructions, and promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation, towards fair and sustainable trade and harmonisation of the interests of both sides. Vietnam will continue to coordinate with the US in a constructive and cooperative spirit to find practical solutions, contributing to the stable development of bilateral economic relations, meeting the interests of the individuals and businesses of the two countries. Adam Sitkoff - Executive director, American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi The high tariff imposition on Vietnamese exports will have great impacts on many sectors. However, the two countries have forged a comprehensive strategic partnership, and this will make it easier for them to negotiate. In the past few months, Vietnamese officials have said they would seek compromises with Washington on trade. This is likely to include promises of additional aeroplane purchases, boosting Vietnams imports of liquefied natural gas, and much more. US companies here account for billions of US dollars in foreign investment, tens of thousands of direct employees, hundreds of thousands of indirect employees, and a significant share of Vietnams exports and tax revenues. The US is one of the top foreign investors in Vietnam, with American companies investing in manufacturing and infrastructure, providing high-quality consumer, agricultural, and industrial goods. Policy changes can impact investment flows, but as long as Vietnam keeps working to create an investment climate that is fair and predictable, US investors will continue to show up here. Bui Quy Thuan - Deputy head of Research, Vietnam Industrial Park Finance Association Vietnam needs to speed up its market diversification strategy to mitigate the impact of the reciprocal US tariff policy. In particular, businesses should make better use of free trade agreements (FTAs) to expand into new markets. Under current conditions, Vietnams export tariffs to the US are 1020 per cent higher than those of key competitors, significantly undermining the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods. This places added pressure on a wide range of businesses. However, the challenge also presents an opportunity for the country to drive positive long-term reforms. Vietnam is already pursuing institutional restructuring and implementing forward-looking policies in economics, science, and technology and innovation. In a positive side, higher tariffs could serve as a catalyst for Vietnam to accelerate its export market diversification strategy, particularly by leveraging its 17 signed FTAs and exploring emerging markets including the Middle East, Northeast Asia, and Africa. Tyler McElhaney - Country head for Vietnam, Apex Group While much attention focuses on large-scale actors like manufacturers and exporters, the real human cost lies deeper in the value chain: Vietnamese farmers, especially those producing premium, export-grade goods. Vietnams export portfolio to the US includes some of the finest-quality products unavailable anywhere else, from Dak Laks coffee beans and Ben Tres organic coconuts, to An Giangs fragrant mangoes. These are not just commodities, they are the fruits of meticulous labour, cultivated with international standards in mind. The tariffs target some of the best products Vietnam has to offer. Many of these high-quality goods were destined for US consumers. When such substantial tariffs hit, demand is likely to drop or shift to cheaper alternatives. We remain sanguine that cooler heads will prevail and Vietnam will continue its upward trajectory, although slightly less than previously anticipated. During the last decade, Vietnams leadership has masterfully deployed bamboo diplomacy and maintained productive trade relations with Western and neighbouring markets alike. This harmonious approach has positioned Vietnam for steady growth, hand-in-hand with its trading partners. Dan Martin - International business advisor, Dezan Shira & Associates The proposed tariff on Vietnamese goods entering the US market has naturally caused concern. If implemented in full, it would present a serious challenge for key export sectors  particularly textiles, footwear, and furniture, which have long counted the US among their primary destinations. Margins would tighten, orders could slow, and the downstream effects would be felt across jobs, supply chains, and investment decisions. But context matters. Over the past decade, Vietnam has methodically expanded its trade architecture, signing free trade deals with most of the worlds largest economies. In fact, the US is one of the few markets where Vietnam lacks such a deal, yet trade still boomed. That should speak volumes about Vietnams broader appeal. Experience with US tariff initiatives suggests these proposals often shift, or are delayed or dropped altogether. Many in the business and policy world see this move not as a final position, but as a high-stakes opener, meant to bring key issues to the table. It is important not to overreact. Vietnams government has, in recent months, taken tangible steps to align with US interests. These were not reactions to this proposal, but part of a longer-term push to strengthen bilateral ties. To Quoc Hung - Country manager, ACCA Vietnam To overcome this challenge, Vietnamese businesses need to quickly adapt by diversifying markets and applying sustainable business models. Among them, Europe is also a potential market thanks to trade agreements that Vietnam has signed in recent times. However, to succeed, businesses need to meet the strict environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards of this region. Vietnam must stay committed to the green transition, engage in sustainable investment, and meet international standards on financial reporting and ESG, while diversifying its markets and global partners. This is a long-term development path that will help Vietnamese businesses strengthen internal capacity, maintain competitiveness, and reach further in the global market. Rather than merely reacting in the short term, Vietnamese enterprises should view these recent changes as motivation to restructure their business strategies. Enhancing financial transparency, standardising processes according to international standards, and accelerating innovation will be key for businesses to improve their internal capabilities, adapt to global fluctuations, and elevate their position in global supply chains. Phan Xuan Qui - Head of Tax, Frasers Law Company Vietnamese exports, particularly in electronics, textiles, footwear, and furniture, are expected to face significant challenges as a result of the imposition of the reciprocal tariffs. The increased tariffs may undermine Vietnams competitiveness in the US market. Existing investors may evaluate restructuring supply chains or adopting diversification strategies to mitigate tariff-related risks. As a result, strategic investments may slow or shift towards domestic or non-US dependent markets. To mitigate the impact of these tariffs, foreign manufacturers could adjust their supply chains by increasing the proportion of materials sourced from the US, thereby increasing the US origin content in their production in Vietnam. Another solution is to apply US customs law to their advantage by adjusting the products classification, country of origin, and valuation techniques. These mitigating measures warrant careful consideration and analysis. Regarding goods classification, companies might seek to identify a different, but still accurate, classification that carries a lower tariff. In addition, companies might explore legal ways to accurately declare a different country of origin if the production process involves multiple countries. Michael Kokalari - Chief economist, VinaCapital An implicit rationale for the US calculation of its new tariff regime matches with repeated rhetoric that countries with large trade surpluses with the US are ripping it off. In short, the US administration seems to have based its trade and tariff strategy  or at least its opening negotiation  on the numerical trade balances. Consequently, it is urgent for Vietnam to start importing a lot more from the US. We have heard from secondary sources that US officials appreciate the efforts Vietnam is making to reduce the trade balance between the two countries, but such officials will not be assuaged by promises for some future date. Intense negotiations between trade authorities on both sides are expected, but there is no consensus of what the final tariff on Vietnamese imports is likely to be. Given how high the initial negotiating position is, it is difficult to see a final figure of anything less than 25 per cent, which would represent a material hit to Vietnams GDP growth. We will continue to work with our research and investment teams to build the best risk-adjusted portfolios. It is likely that several strong companies will become oversold, so we will continue to invest with a disciplined approach.
A home inspector who moved to China Spring in 2018 will challenge a 9-month incumbent insurance broker with deep roots in Waco to represent District 5 on the Waco City Council in the May 3 municipal elections.

When Jim Holmes was elected Wacos mayor last year, he left the District 5 council seat vacant, and the council appointed George Chase to the seat from a pool of 15 applicants. Chase, who served on the Waco Parks and Recreation Commission before applying for the vacant council seat, is now running in his first election for the position.

After about nine months on the council, Chase said he is getting a good grip on the kinds of decisions the council makes and the types and amounts of information he needs to understand before he casts his votes.

Jack Zagunis, who also applied for the District 5 appointment last year, is challenging Chase in the May 3 election. It is the citys only contested race this year.

Council Member Darius Ewing is unopposed for reelection in District 4, which covers much of North Waco. Kendrick Elementary School Principal Isabel Lozano in unopposed in South Wacos District 2. Lozano will take over from Alice Rodriguez, the citys longest-serving council member, who is not seeking reelection.

Zagunis has not previously served on any city boards or commissions, raised any funds, bought any yard signs, held any town halls or done any advertising.

I just printed my first flyer and soon I plan to go to businesses in my neighborhood and tell them about my campaign and ask them to put up my flyer, Zagunis said Friday.

Chase said Friday that he had received about $3,000 in unsolicited contributions as of March 24 and used it to buy yard signs. He has received another $1,200 since then and plans to spend it on mailers to encourage residents of his district to vote in the municipal elections.

Chase had five donors who gave $250 each. William Lacy contributed $500, and Chases uncle, James Chase, gave $1,000. He also had a total of $300 in unitemized contributions.

The Chase family has lived in Waco at least as far back as Chases paternal grandmother, about 100 years. Chase is president of Insurers of Texas, which he and some partners bought from his father 12 years ago. Chases father bought the business from his uncle, who bought it from Chases great grandfather. It brokers commercial property and casualty insurance, along with homeowners insurance and other personal policies.

Chase himself grew up in Waco and graduated from Waco High School in 1988 before going to college at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and graduating there in 1992. After college, he worked in the insurance industry in Atlanta for a little more than a year before returning to Waco to work in his fathers business. One of his daughters graduated from Waco High and the other from Bishop Louis Reicher Catholic High School.

Active in the community for many years, Chase chaired the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce before he joined the city parks commission, and before that he served on local YMCA and Red Cross boards. He said his community and business experience give him an understanding of the city and what its people need.

Chase said the role of the city is first to keep people and their property safe, to make it a nice place to live and to keep the tax rate as affordable as possible.

The opportunity for growth is exciting, Chase said. We just need to make sure we know how to pay for it.

He said the biggest issue the city faces is protecting its water supply and the quality of that water.

If there was one thing I want to make sure is in good shape when my time on council is done, it would be the water, Chase said.

Zagunis said his focus is primarily on the China Spring area, which is part of District 5 along with West Waco and the western Highway 84 corridor.

Zagunis said his primary motivation to run for the city council is to finish a park for China Spring. The city bought 85 acres for the park at Flat Rock Road and Skeet Eason Road, and work on $3 million in park facilities is slated to start this year. Next he said would like to get a library and a grocery store for that part of town.

He moved to Waco about 9 years ago from Denver, a place he said was too expensive. He and his wife came to Waco with two children, and now their family has grown to 6, his oldest in middle school.

Zagunis holds three professional licenses, a real estate agents license, a home inspectors license and an insurance agents license.

In his work Zagunis gathers listings of foreclosures for a firm in Dallas that provides information to investors to get foreclosures sold, he does inspections of homes to support the sale and he sells insurance for homes.

Zagunis said cities should provide basic functions like parks, libraries, roads and sidewalks, but also believes strongly in private property rights and does not want the city to step across any of those boundaries.

One day China Spring will have enough population to have its own council district, he said. But until then if Im elected, I will represent the whole of the district as best I can.
Russian Defence Ministry reports on the progress of the special military operation (7 April 2025)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

In Belgorod direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted damage on units of two mechanised brigades, one assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), and one territorial defence brigade close to Miropolskoye, Prokhody, Veliky Prikol, and Osoyevka (Sumy region).

The enemy lost more than 85 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, and two motor vehicles.

As a result of the resolute actions the Zapad Group of Forces, Katerinovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic) has been liberated.

Russian troops hit manpower and military hardware of two mechanised brigades of the AFU and one territorial defence brigade near Kondrashovka, Kupyansk, Shiykovka (Kharkov region), Novoye, and Kirovsk (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The enemy lost up to 215 troops, three artillery guns, one electronic warfare station, and one ammunition depot.

The Yug Group of Forces improved the tactical position. Seven mechanised brigades of the AFU and one territorial defence brigade were engaged near Seversk, Minkovka, Chasov Yar, Konstantinovka, Artem, Kalinovo, and Tarasovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The enemy sustained losses of up to 300 troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, including one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, 22 motor vehicles, one electronic warfare station, two ammunition depots, and two materiel depots.

The Tsentr Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions. Losses were inflicted on manpower and hardware of three mechanised brigades, two infantry brigades, one airborne brigade, one assault brigade, one UAV brigade, one assault regiment, one regiment of unmanned aerial systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one marine brigade, and one National Guard brigade near Yelizavetovka, Dimitrov, Krasnoarmeysk, Zverevo, Kotlino, Udachnoye, Lenina, Novosergeyevka, Kotlyanovka, and Bogdanovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The Ukrainian armed formations sustained losses of up to 440 troops, one tank, and three armoured fighting vehicles, including one U.S.-made MaxxPro armoured vehicle. Seven motor vehicles, three field artillery guns, and one ammunition depot were also neutralised.

Elements of the Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing into the depth of enemy defences. They inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of two mechanised brigades, one mountain assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and a territorial defence brigade near Poddubnoye, Komar, Burlatskoye, and Volnoye Pole (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

AFU losses amounted to up to 140 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, two motor vehicles, and three field artillery guns, including one Polish-made 155-mm Krab self-propelled artillery system, and one U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzer.

The Dnepr Groups units improved the tactical situation. They hit units of one mechanised brigade, one mountain assault brigade, two coastal defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and one territorial defence brigade near Novodanilovka, Pavlovka (Zaporozhye region), Sadovoye, and Ponyatovka (Kherson region).

Up to 70 troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, and three motor vehicles of the enemy have been neutralised.

Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack drones, missile troops, and artillery of the Groups of Forces of the Russian Federation have hit command posts of unmanned aerial vehicles, missile and artillery depots, as well as clusters of AFU manpower and hardware in 137 areas.

Air defence systems shot down three U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles and 95 fixed-wing UAVs.

Since the beginning of the special military operation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have neutralised: 660 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 50,177 unmanned aerial vehicles, 601 anti-aircraft missile systems, 22,710 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,534 MLRS combat vehicles, 23,320 field artillery guns and mortars, 33,750 units of special military vehicles.

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A new generation of educators is pursuing a career in teaching, and Winona State University is working to help fill a teacher shortage that is felt in Winona and beyond.

Some of the ongoing shortages in the nation's K-12 workforce were expected based on demographic changes, while others were made more severe by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Winona State University College of Education Dean Scott Sorvaag.

The pandemic really disrupted a lot of people's careers, and a lot of people left during that time, Sorvaag said. And so it's left a vacuum for the next generation to fill.

High school students are actively preparing to fill some of the gaps.

Juniors and seniors interested in becoming teachers visited the university March 14 to tour its Education Village and learn about program offerings.

Ive always loved kids, said Emma Elsen of La Crescent.

Elsen, who grew up around children, said her comfort with children drove her to pursue a teaching career. She enjoys watching children become inspired and helping them learn new things.

Lauren Bongard of Minnetonka became interested in teaching after working at a summer camp.

She described the experience as perspective changing.

Both Elsen and Bongard have friends interested in becoming teachers, too.

Bongard said it is really exciting to see other people her age interested in going into the same field as her.

I think it's good that there's more people that want to do it, she said.

When we have events like today, I think it's really critically important just to be able to meet people where they are on their journey. Because I think many people who are considering teaching are sort of being talked out of it," Sorvaag said.

Research has revealed multiple reasons why more people may not be entering into the field, according to Sorvaag. Those reasons include perceptions about the jobs having low compensation, political division that may impact schools and concern about whether the workforce is respected.

The university hopes to increase its enrollment for its education programs.

Events like the one in March help draw more students to the field.

When students get on campus and they get a chance to hear from faculty and staff and students, we're almost certain to see them in the fall," Sorvaag said. We need to continue to find ways to get them to visit, to ask questions, to make sure we have good alignment with what their goals are.

Winona's location also impacts what the university can offer its future education students.

We need to think comprehensively about not only urban and suburban education, but also rural education," Sorvaag said.

More than teachers needed

Schools need more than teachers to fill out their workforce.

Dawn Lueck, Winona Area Public Schools' director of human resources, said the district and others like it have trouble finding educational assistants and school nurses.

At one time, educational assistants were in high demand, she said.

People really enjoyed those positions, especially like parents that had kids in school and could have the same schedule and that is just not the same anymore," Lueck said.

Competition in the marketplace has grown, as other private sector jobs compete with comparable or sometimes even higher wages.

Schools aren't able to adjust payroll and respond to market conditions as quickly.

That is making it difficult for us to attract those positions," Lueck said.

Pay is also an issue for school nurses, as they can often bring home larger paychecks in hospital or clinic settings.

While Winona schools has not recently had difficulty hiring licensed teachers, Lueck said it can be hard to find ones that work in special education.

To help find more employees for the district, Lueck has attended virtual job fairs, worked with Winona State, connected with people who are about to enter into the field, and encouraged present staff to consider seeking other open available roles.

Burnout

The issues faced in education right now don't just include finding new potential employees. They also include keeping the ones that are already in the field.

Winona State works to teach its education students important skills that will hopefully help prevent burnout that could lead to them to leave their teaching jobs.

Three of the things that we really focus on is making sure our candidates are prepared, professional and innovative," Sorvaag said. With our focus on those three things, the sort of hidden curriculum behind that is resilience and persistence, because we know the data on people staying in the field and a lot of people leave the field because they don't feel prepared. And so the best remedy for that is just really high quality preparation that's inclusive and that's inviting and that honors the capacities that each one of those teacher candidates brings to us.

Burnout is also a concern in the Winona school district, as it is across the nation.

Lueck believes burnout is happening due to factors such as the significant demands and training that are part of education jobs.

She especially worries about retaining young teachers in the field, as she's noticed they are more willing to change jobs and careers compared to older generations.

If it's not going well, they're going to look into some other kind of career," Lueck said.

To help retain staff and prevent burnout, the district is working to create a positive environment where people want to come to work each day and helping boost employee morale.
President Donald Trumps administration has canceled the legal student visas of six current UW-Madison students and seven alumni whose legal status had been extended to allow them to search for work, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said Monday.

The university first learned of the visa terminations Friday and played no role in them, Mnookin told the Faculty Senate. Cancellations of student visas are not out of the ordinary, but she said the high rate at which the university is seeing them is.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has attempted to force out international students across the country over myriad reasons, such as participating in pro-Palestinian protests and traffic infractions.

Its not clear why the visas of UW-Madison students or alumni were deleted, Mnookin said. UW-Madison is only learning of the visa cancellations as its staff reviews federal databases every few hours, every day, to see which of their students may be impacted.

The alumni and students visas have been effectively canceled after their records were found to be deleted from the federal student information database in which international students register as part of securing their visas. When entry visas are canceled, that leaves students open to deportation and they should leave the U.S. immediately, the university said.

We were not even directly notified of these actions, Mnookin said. And based on what we know, we have no reason to believe that the record terminations have had anything to do with political speech or protest activity.

UW-Madison has reached out to its impacted students and alumni visa holders to inform them of potential ramifications if they stay in the country and where to access legal resources, if requested. The university can advise them on where to find legal assistance, but its against state law for UW-Madison to hire lawyers on students behalf, the chancellor said.

Mnookin said she is hopeful that faculty and staff will help the impacted students finish their degrees despite their visa cancellations.

My understanding is that in emergency situations, faculty have discretion to offer certain kinds of accommodations to let somebody finish out a semester, she said. That is not something that I would have the power to make people do, but I would hope that those in our community and our faculty will be interested in trying to support our students.

To UW-Madisons knowledge, there has been no Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent activity on campus since the start of Trumps second administration, she said.

Trump campaigned on a promise to deport foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian protests, and federal agents started by detaining Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and Palestinian activist who was prominent in protests at Columbia last year. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently said students are being targeted for involvement in protests along with others tied to potential criminal activity.

In the past two weeks, the federal government seems to have widened its crackdown. Officials from colleges around the country discovered international students entry visas were revoked and, in many cases, their legal residency status terminated without notice  including students at Arizona State, Cornell, North Carolina State, the University of Oregon, the University of Texas and the University of Colorado.

Some of the students are working to leave the country on their own, but students at Tufts and the University of Alabama were detained by immigration authorities  in the Tufts case, even before the university knew the students legal status changed.

In the past, when international students had entry visas revoked, they generally were allowed to keep legal residency status. They could stay in the country to study but would need to renew their visa if they left the U.S. and wanted to return. Now, increasing numbers of students are having their legal status terminated, exposing them to the risk of being arrested.

Some students had visas revoked by the State Department under an obscure law barring noncitizens whose presence could have serious adverse foreign policy consequences. Trump invoked the law in a January order demanding action against campus antisemitism.
Cambria University Centre celebrates higher education achievements

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Apr 8th, 2025

Cambria University Centre celebrated the achievements of higher education learners at a glittering graduation ceremony.

The colleges Glanrafon conference centre at Coleg Cambria Yale in Wrexham hosted the event, attended by 33 students who had completed Higher National and professional qualifications.

They were joined by lecturers, friends and family, and welcomed by Emma Hurst, Dean of Higher Education and Access to Higher Education, alongside PGCE Programme Leader Gary Wyn Jones and Principal Sue Price.

Its my great pleasure to welcome you all here this afternoon to our Cambria University Centre Celebration event, said Mrs Price.

Congratulations to everyone on your success, and a big thank you to the family and friends who supported you on your journey.

This is the perfect way to help you celebrate your achievements, I hope you have a wonderful time.

Mrs Hurst added: Today must be a very proud day, and we share this pride with you all.

Wed like to thank all our staff who have supported our learners along the way and our governors too.

Among the courses and programmes represented were Animal Management; Diploma in People Management; Diploma in Management and Leadership; Diploma in Principles of Leadership and Management, and the Diploma in Professional Accounting.

The ceremony was followed by drinks and canapes at Ial Restaurant, and a photobooth proved very popular with visitors keen to capture memories of the day.

Earlier this year, the University Centre announced a new Higher Technical Skills Strategy aimed at enhancing access and participation, encouraging curriculum development and innovation, and forging partnerships within multiple industries to plug gaps in expertise and experience.

New subjects will begin from September  in collaboration with Pearson learning group  in addition to modular, unitised packages and blended delivery,

They will also promote Digital 2030, digital skills, confidence and innovation in teaching and learning; equipping learners as a future workforce capable of using rapidly evolving technologies to their full potential, including Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Our vision is to remove barriers to education and help upskill in areas of demand whilst targeting key policy areas including net zero and the Welsh language  this strategy is a foundation on which to achieve that, said Emma.

For more news and information from Coleg Cambria University Centre, visit www.cambria.ac.uk. Alternatively, call 01978 515477 or email he@cambria.ac.uk.
DOGE NEVADA, a third-party, independent watchdog organization, has launched a branch in Nevada.

The recently established independent watchdog group called DOGE NEVADA says it is working to improve Nevada's public institutions' efficiency, accountability, and transparency.

The organization says at a time when public confidence in government spending is at an all-time low, DOGE NEVADA is taking the initiative to look into and reveal abuse, fraud, and waste, regardless of the department or party.

Recently, the non-governmental organization appeared on Las Vegas' News Channel 3, where President Brandon Davis discussed the misuse of public monies and the need for immediate public accountability.

The organization says the coverage was a first step toward the group's expanding statewide presence.

DOGE NEVADA says that while speaking from the stage at a recent public gathering, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill demanded that DOGE NEVADA and Brandon Davis investigate the Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR), citing concerns about widespread fraud in the organization.

In addition to direct tips from insiders, DOGE NEVADA says it uses publicly available information from the Nevada State Controller's Office, Nevada's Open Finance Portal, and municipal government databases.

The group says it encourages Nevadans to use its anonymous whistleblower reporting tool on this page of its website, which it says provides a safe space for citizens and government workers to share information without worrying about reprisals.
Four Reno schools competed in the JROTC Drones Nationals in Batesville, Mississippi, over the weekend.

Reed, Wooster, Hug, and Damonte Ranch were the four schools that made it to the Nationals.

Students from across the country participated in the two-day competition.

Over the past year, the four schools' teachers and students have put in countless hours to reach this stage.

Reno schools received more prizes than any other city out of all those in attendance.

The competition was attended by the Damonte Ranch teams 98765X (Donkeystangs), 98765W (Suppostangs), and 98765Y (Flying Mustangs).

Damonte Ranches is competing in drones for the second year and has qualified for the Naval Academy's Regionals, JROTC Nationals, and Navy JROTC Nationals competitions in Annapolis, Maryland.

Damonte won the 2025 Navy Champions trophy, the first-place Airmanship Award, and the Communications Mission Champion award at Batesville.

Team 1962B (Skyward) from Earl Wooster High School participated in the tournament.

Wooster is participating in both the JROTC Nationals and the Army Bowl in Fort Benning for the first time this year.

Wooster won the Judges Award for first place in Batesville.

The following teams from Edward Reed competed in the competition: 19586B (Dollar Store Marines), 19586C (Pickles), 19586F (Curley Mustaches), and 19586A (Saturn). Reed has been competing in drones for three years and has qualified for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland's Regionals, JROTC Nationals, and Navy JROTC Nationals competitions.

The competition was attended by the Procter Hugh team's 3530A (007 Grey's Anatomy).

Hug's first year of competition has earned them a spot in both the JROTC Nationals and the Army Bowl in Fort Benning.
This time, the Handmaids are talkin' 'bout a revolution! In the highly anticipated sixth and concluding season debut of The Handmaids Tale, the 15-Emmy-winning adaptation of Margaret Atwood's 1985 bestseller, our heroine June (Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss), the formerly red-cloaked birth surrogate, returns to Gilead, the land of her oppression, to lead an uprising. Rise up and fight for your freedom! she yells. Enough! An apt rallying cry for what The Wrap calls "one of the angriest shows of the past decade."

"I think its what the fans have been waiting six seasons for," Madeline Brewer (who plays June's fellow Handmaid Janine) told Variety. "Theyve been waiting for revolution."

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Season 6 premieres April 8 on Hulu (a long wait after Season 5's 2022 end), with three episodes dropping at once, then weekly until the finale May 27. Heres how to catch up on whats happened so far and get a preview of whats to come in this final season of everyones favorite dystopian drama.

Praise be! Early critics rate Season 6 100% terrific

Critics are raving Season 6  for the first time since the series' 2017 debut, The Handmaid's Tale's new season earned a perfect 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. That score is apt to go down, since it's based on reactions from 11 respectable critics who got to see it early, more reviews will be out soon and it's unlikely every critic will be ecstatic. Still, even the smash-hit first season only got 94 percent acclaim. Both critics and audiences soured a bit on the show after its auspicious debut. The last few seasons tried viewers' patience by stretching out and complicating the story. But now, with a sequel (The Testaments) coming up, the drama is forced to wrap up the narrative strands, and it sounds like it's likely to conclude with a bang. "With a climax and resolution baked into its last 10 hours, this season has a propulsion and watchability reminiscent of the shows first year," wrote AV Club critic Tara Bennett.

What's happened so far on The Handmaid's Tale

In a near-future dystopia, after pollution and sexually transmitted disease caused a global fertility crisis and a second American Civil War, the patriarchal, totalitarian theocracy of Gilead overthrew the United States. Fertile women, known as Handmaids, were forced into sexual servitude to bear children for the ruling class. Moss's June was assigned to the home (and bed) of Gilead's top Commander, Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes, 54), whose wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) wrote a book called A Woman's Place. Serena helped hold June down as Fred impregnated her.


GR Engineering Awarded Black Swan Plant Engineering Study

Perth, April 8, 2025 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Horizon Minerals Limited ( ASX:HRZ ) is pleased to announce it has awarded GR Engineering Services Limited ( ASX:GNG ) ("GR Engineering") with the engineering studies work program to support the refurbishment and repurposing of the Black Swan processing plant for gold production.



The engineering studies will be overseen by Horizon Project Manager Dirk Richards and will provide capital and operating cost estimates to an accuracy of +/-20%. GR Engineering is a leading engineering firm with extensive studies and projects experience successfully working on a range of gold processing plants in the Western Australian Goldfields.



Commenting on the process engineering award, Managing Director and CEO Mr Grant Haywood said:



"We are very pleased to have awarded this work to GR Engineering. They are a very competent group capable of delivering a quality study to refurbish and repurpose our Black Swan processing plant into a gold plant. This is another significant milestone for the Company progressing Horizon towards our goal of becoming a mid-tier gold producer."





About Horizon Minerals Limited





Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed.

Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline.

Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage.

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Final Investment Decision Deferred for Tumas Project

Perth, April 8, 2025 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Deep Yellow Limited ( ASX:DYL ) ( JMI:FRA ) ( DYLLF:OTCMKTS ) is pleased to provide an update regarding its flagship Tumas Project (Tumas or the Project) and its progress toward a positive Final Investment Decision (FID) following the completion of the latest engineering and optimisation work.



The additional detailed engineering carried out in the past three months has confirmed Tumas as a robust, long-life project. However, as previously stated, the key element to delivering FID was always going to be the prevailing uranium market conditions that would justify development of a greenfield uranium project. Therefore, FID has been deferred in order to fully capitalise on the Project's upside potential and thereby protect shareholder value.



The Board has made the decision to provide staged approval for the project and is delaying construction of the processing plant which involves the majority of estimated capital expenditure. Deep Yellow will continue to move ahead with early works infrastructure development and detailed engineering, however full-scale project development will be delayed allowing for what the Board believes will be the inevitable improvements in global uranium prices due to increasing demand and the precarious nature of the supply outlook.



Deep Yellow Managing Director Mr. John Borshoff commented: "We are at an extraordinary stage in the uranium supply sector. We have a situation where the long-term uranium market is essentially broken. This is due to more than a decade of sector inactivity, persistently depressed uranium prices, and utility offtake contracting practices which are yet to support the development of greenfields uranium production. Although the Tumas Project is economic at current long-term uranium prices, these prices do not reflect or support the enormous amount of production that needs to be brought online to meet expected demand. Also, we can expect from experience that supply shortages will only be exacerbated by likely delays and underperformance of the sector generally.



"Deep Yellow is in an enviable position having one of the most rigorously evaluated greenfield projects in the world ready to hit the "go" button. The extended detailed engineering and associated studies that have been completed provide even greater confidence of what can be delivered and how. Water and power supply agreements have been completed as we push ahead with the off-site infrastructure needs, and project financing is proceeding well. Combine this with the strong stewardship offered by our fully proven technical teams and leadership, unique to the sector of emerging producers, and it is clear we have all the ingredients and capability to move ahead positively when justified.



"The Tumas Project is ready to take the next step but, as we have consistently stated, a healthy prevailing uranium market is a key prerequisite. The final project approval will therefore be delayed until uranium prices fully reflect a sustainable incentivisation environment essential to encourage development of new projects for much needed additional production.



"This is a deliberate strategic decision reflecting the Company's experience-based approach to sustainable uranium production aimed entirely at preserving the Company's precious resources and reserves to achieve better value for Deep Yellow and its shareholders and facilitate continued growth. We believe our shareholders are patient and would prefer that we maximise value rather than rush to market. We will continue to derisk the project through a staged development approach.



"Our unwavering view of the global uranium market and the long-term supply/demand equation remains clear. The demand outlook is undeniable, driven by decarbonisation efforts, forecasts of continued enormous energy demand growth, the prevailing structural supply shortages and now having to deal with the added, newly emerging requirements from the developers of energyhungry datacentres, give clear upside for the supply sector.



"The reality is there are limited greenfield uranium deposits available for start-up globally over the next 10 years to satisfy projected demand, and new uranium supply will be virtually impossible to achieve in the current price environment.



"Nuclear utilities cannot ignore the fact that unless uranium prices increase to appropriate levels and large amounts of capital become available to the supply sector, those greenfields projects will remain undeveloped.



"It is against this backdrop that we are comfortable with our decision to carefully progress areas of the project such as early works infrastructure and detailed engineering but not commit the capital to construct the process plant at this time."



Updated Ore Reserve Estimation (ORE)



The Company announced an upgraded Ore Reserve base (ASX release 18 December 2024) for the Tumas Project. The Mineral Resource for all Tumas deposits (1, 1E, 2 and 3) now includes a substantial proportion in the Measured JORC category and has proved sufficient to achieve the first key milestone of the Updated ORE, which is to establish sufficient Ore Reserves to support a 30-year Life-of-Mine (LOM).



Cube Consulting Pty Ltd (Cube) was engaged by the Company to undertake the Ore Reserve update and has completed pit optimisation studies on the Measured and Indicated portions of the deposit, pit designs and pit production scheduling. This work has resulted in the reporting of an updated ORE for the Tumas project (December 2024).



This updated ORE includes Proved and Probable Ore Reserves of 79.3 Mlb U3O8 at 298 ppm, using a 100 ppm U3O8 cut-off and a $100/lb uranium price for the Tumas deposits (refer Table 1), with an average waste to ore ratio of 2.2 to 1. The $100/lb pit shell was chosen for the final pit design work due to the relative insensitivity of the pit economics to uranium prices above $80/lb and the resulting ease of pit design. This substantial increase in Ore Reserves confirms that Tumas can support a 30-year LOM at production rates assumed for this 2025 DFS (a maximum of either 4.2 Mtpa ore processed or 3.6 Mlb U3O8 produced pa).



To view the revised Tumas Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS), please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/L1BM5QLU





About Deep Yellow Limited





Deep Yellow Limited (ASX:DYL) (OTCMKTS:DYLLF) is successfully progressing a dual-pillar growth strategy to establish a globally diversified, Tier-1 uranium company to produce 10+Mlb p.a.

The Company's portfolio contains the largest uranium resource base of any ASX-listed company and its projects provide geographic and development diversity. Deep Yellow is the only ASX company with two advanced projects - flagship Tumas, Namibia (Final Investment Decision expected in 1H/CY24) and MRP, Western Australia (advancing through revised DFS), both located in Tier-1 uranium jurisdictions.

Deep Yellow is well-positioned for further growth through development of its highly prospective exploration portfolio - ARP, Northern Territory and Omahola, Namibia with ongoing M&A focused on high-quality assets should opportunities arise that best fit the Company's strategy.

Led by a best-in-class team, who are proven uranium mine builders and operators, the Company is advancing its growth strategy at a time when the need for nuclear energy is becoming the only viable option in the mid-to-long term to provide baseload power supply and achieve zero emission targets.

Importantly, Deep Yellow is on track to becoming a reliable and long-term uranium producer, able to provide production optionality, security of supply and geographic diversity.

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Investor Presentation Morgan Stanley Alpha ex-100 Conference

Perth, April 8, 2025 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Proteomics International Laboratories Ltd ( ASX:PIQ ) ( PIQLF:OTCMKTS ), a pioneer in precision diagnostics, is pleased to announce its Managing Director Dr Richard Lipscombe and Chief Commercial Officer Mr Phillip Prather will give the attached investor briefing at the Alpha ex-100 Conference hosted by Morgan Stanley in Sydney today.



*To view the presentation, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/Y8JZ4PHE





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.

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100 billion a year could be made for the UK, by the government and employers through a package of proposals to unlock money from pensions, according to a new policy paper The Untapped Potential of Pensions launched today by Hymans Robertson. As the government makes plans for phase two of the Pensions Review, the paper outlines a raft of potential - costed - policy changes that could help the Treasury reap billions of pounds. It then outlines how these savings could be directed into investment in the UK, to finance growth and improve retirements for millions. The proposals outlined in the paper include unlocking 22bn annually through tax changes on pensions that do not impact take home pay or pension, the development of collective pension savings, the use of DB pension surplus to gain over 400bn for UK investment and ensuring sustainable state pensions. The leading pensions and financial services firm has calculated that the Treasury could gain as much as 28.5 bn a year if all these changes were implemented while employers would benefit by up to 14.2bn. Across 10 years, and with private capital crowded in, this could create an internationally competitive 1trn UK National Wealth Fund plus the financing needed for the UKs Net Zero Transition. It would also enable the enhancement of auto enrolment and pensions for the self-employed, while at the same time employees would gain better retirement incomes. Auto-enrolment has been successful in getting people saving into pensions, but the current default rates arent enough to give people adequate retirements. The industry knows this, but most savers dont yet; when the pension dashboards are launched this will be laid bare. Any government plans to get people on the path to adequate retirements will inevitably cost money. The papers bold proposals would make money for the Treasury, save money for employers and, if that money is channelled into a national wealth fund and used for pension reform, would enhance peoples financial wellbeing. Commenting on the papers proposals Calum Cooper, Head of Pension Policy Innovation, Hymans Robertson says: "The promised second phase of the pensions review presents an opportunity to make lasting changes to give people financial independence in later life for as long as they live. But its also an opportunity to meet other important aims, such as improving equity, unlocking tens of billions of pounds annually and investing in UK economic growth at a huge scale. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to align pensions policy with national prosperity. Our proposals outline how unlocking the untapped potential in pensions could save the Treasury and employers money, while stimulating investment in the UK. It could generate the 100bn a year that is needed for 3% economic growth and our Net Zero transition. A big change requires lots of work, and this would be a huge job for the pensions industry to implement. But the risk of inaction and the opportunity is also huge; to help current and future generations of workers, and the economy. It could lead to 1trn more investment in the UK, over 10 years, while delivering better pensions for workers. Our proposals are bold, but theyd deliver financial security for workers, cost savings for employers, and a massive boost for the UK economy. Key Proposals from the paper Reform Pension Taxation

Replace traditional tax relief with a flat-rate government top-up bonus paid into pension pots. All retirement income would then be tax-free. It would simplify the system and enable the Treasury to bring forward 22bn a year in revenue to be invested, for example, in a national wealth fund, without increasing overall tax burdens. Unlock DB Surpluses for Growth

UK Defined Benefit schemes hold an estimated 160bn in surplus capital. With modest regulatory reform, the papers analysis estimates this could unlock 3bn a year in tax receipts and channel over 400bn into productive UK assets like infrastructure, housing and green energy. Embrace Collective Pensions

Theres a need for a widespread rollout of Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) schemes, which pool risk and deliver 2050% more retirement income than existing DC pensions. To incentivise, with 20% take-up allowing a minimum contribution rate of 1% less than for DC could save employers 1.2bn a year and save the Treasury 500m a year. If it was also supported by a public whole of life CDC provider, via the Pension Protection Fund, CDC could become the default savings method for millions. Make the State Pension Sustainable

If the triple lock was phased out after the state pension reaches PLSA minimum retirement levels the government could save 3bn a year from the late 2030s. Invest where its needed

The money saved should be used to sustainably boost the economy by investing in UK productive finance and growth assets. Pensions could play a much bigger role in the governments investment ambitions than currently envisaged. With a national wealth fund targeting 3 of private investment for every 1 of public money, more than 1trn could be invested in the UK, for the benefit of current and future generations. The private capital could be raised from private-sector DB pension schemes, DC schemes, LGPS funds and other institutional or private investors. Supercharge Auto-Enrolment and Home Ownership

The paper proposes gradually increasing minimum AE contributions from 8% to 12%. It also suggests a side car for financial resilience and to avoid over saving, and removing the 10,000 earnings threshold, benefiting 1.5 million low-paid workers (mostly women). Home ownership helps reduce pensioner poverty; allowing pension pots to be used as collateral for first-time property purchases would reduce dependence on renting in retirement. Pensions for the Self-Employed

Only 18% of self-employed workers save for retirement. The paper suggests setting a default pension provider for self-employed workers and extending AE and the side car savings vehicle to them. If pension saving was default, the government could consider starting AE for self-employed workers through the self-assessment tax return. The Hymans Robertson policy paper can be found here


In a bold move that redefines its role in the lives of customers, Kotak Mahindra Bank has unveiled a transformative brand philosophy  one that sees the bank not merely as a financial institution, but as a catalyst for ambition. At the heart of this evolution is the powerful new campaign, Hausla Hai Toh Ho Jayega, a sentiment that captures the spirit of a rising India  confident, self-driven, and hungry for growth.

In conversation with Adgully, Kedar Ravangave, Executive Vice President  Marketing, Kotak Mahindra Bank, shares the inspiration behind this shift, how it is shaping products and services, and why the bank is committed to being more than just a place to park your moneyits here to fuel your dreams.

Kotaks new brand philosophy positions the bank as more than just a financial institution  it is fueling ambition. What inspired this shift, and how does Kotak plan to sustain this transformation over time?

The Hausla Hai Toh Ho Jayega campaign is the voice of an India that isnt waiting for permission to succeed. We traveled across the country, meeting customers from self-employed professionals to NRIs, from first-time employees to the affluent, to understand what Kotak means to them. What we found was clear: Kotak wasnt just a bank; it was a confidence booster. A financial enabler. A brand that spoke the language of ambition. But we also heard the challengesconcerns about transparency, accessibility, and reach. Instead of treating these as gaps, we saw them as an opportunity to evolve. India isnt waiting for a green signal. Its already in fifth gear. Our job isnt to launch ambitionit is to fuel it. Thats why Hausla Hai Toh Ho Jayega is not just an ad campaign  its a brand-wide commitment. A rallying cry backed by action. Were making banking simpler, smarter, and more intuitive for every ambition, big or small.

Hausla Hai Toh Ho Jayega emphasizes Kotaks evolution from a bank to a financial partner that fuels ambition. How will this philosophy translate into tangible offerings and services for customers?

This isnt just a repositioning  its a fundamental shift in how we design products and experiences. Were here to enable possibilities. Take Kotak 811  what started as a digital savings account has now become a full-scale financial powerhouse. Features like ActivMoney ensure idle savings dont just sit, but work harder. For businesses, Kotak Fyn is revolutionizing digital banking with a single, unified platform for trade, payments, and collections. And for those in need of quick liquidity, our gold loan services make credit instantly accessible with minimal paperwork. Saving shouldnt feel like hoarding. Investing shouldnt feel like a gamble. Borrowing shouldnt feel like a favour. Were making money and working smarter, so ambition doesnt have to wait. Every offering is designed with a customer-backwards approach, ensuring that if you have a dream, you have the financial tools to get there.

The campaign is being launched across multiple platforms, including digital, print, outdoor, TV, and social media. Could you share insights into the strategy behind this high-impact, multi-channel rollout?

This isnt just another campaign  it is a through-the-funnel, all-in, high-impact blitz. Designed for maximum presence, were live across TV, digital, print, outdoor, and social media. But its not about just being everywhere  its about being where ambition thrives. Ambition doesnt stand still  it scrolls, it swipes, it moves. So, were showing up where it lives. The creative signature  the infinity glasses  reimagines the Kotak K as an infinity symbol, a visual cue that represents boundless possibilities. And were going beyond traditional channels: dynamic digital out-of-home, hyper-personalized social storytelling, and an extensive branch network ensure deep penetration across urban centers and Tier 2/3 markets. The infinity glasses arent just a design  theyre a mindset. If youve got the drive, the opportunities are endless. Where theres ambition, Kotak is making sure were part of the journey.

Traditionally, BFSI marketing has been transactional and product-led. How does Kotaks customer-first, segment-driven approach reshape how financial services engage with consumers?

Were moving away from one-size-fits-all banking. Life isnt linear, neither is ambition  so why should banking be? Weve identified core segments:

The Common Man  Prioritizing financial security and stability The Arrived  Focused on wealth creation and leaving a legacy The Aspiring Indian  The dynamic, ambitious majority shaping Indias future

At the heart of this campaign is The Aspiring Indian  the self-starters, the dreamers, the relentless go-getters. You dont just wake up one day as affluent or mass market. People dont fit into banking segments, so why should banking?

By putting ambition first, were designing financial solutions that fit real lives  not just financial categories.

Storytelling plays a key role in this campaign. How is Kotak leveraging technology and personalization to create narratives that truly connect with aspirational Indians?

Gone are the days when banks simply broadcasted messages; today, engagement is the real game-changer. Were not just buying media, were earning attention. Our content doesnt interrupt  it integrates into ambition-driven moments across digital platforms. Good marketing doesnt interrupt your day  it fits into your ambition. And its not just about one-way storytelling. Through AI-driven personalization, were ensuring that whether youre a student, an entrepreneur, or an NRI, youre seeing content that speaks directly to you. Were not telling stories. Were amplifying the ones already being written by real people, every day.

With Hausla Hai Toh Ho Jayega marking the beginning of a new chapter for Kotak, what can we expect in terms of future innovations, offerings, or strategic shifts in the coming years?

The Hausla Hai Toh Ho Jayega campaign isnt the destination  its the ignition point. Ambition isnt seasonal. It doesnt peak during campaigns and vanish after. This isnt a sprint  it is Kotaks new DNA.

Going forward, expect deeper financial solutions tailored for entrepreneurs, more digital-first innovations, and stronger partnerships to fuel every kind of ambition. If Indias ambition has no ceiling, why should its bank? From metro cities to small towns, from startups to salaried professionals  Kotak is here to back every ambition, every step of the way.

Also Read: CVL Srinivas on how India is fuelling growth for global brands
Public Relations has entered a bold new era. No longer just a back-office function, it has transformed into a strategic powerhouse shaping brand reputation and influence. Companies and leaders now see PR not as an afterthought, but as an essential force driving credibility, trust, and long-term success.

The industry has undergone a radical shift with the rise of social media, fundamentally transforming PR strategies. Influencers now play a crucial role in shaping consumer perceptions and engagement. PR is no longer confined to securing media visibility; it has expanded into a dynamic, results-driven discipline focused on meaningful interactions and measurable outcomes.

With a younger, more digitally savvy audience emerging, PR professionals face new challenges. Brands and practitioners must be more agile, data-driven, and proactive in crafting business solutions that resonate with their audience. The future of PR lies in adaptability, authenticity, and strategic storytelling that build lasting trust and impact.

In our exclusive weekly column, PR Conversation, Adgully interacts with leading business leaders to gain their exclusive views and insights on various trends in the PR and communications industry.

In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Rajiv Banerjee, Head of Communication  India & South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank, shares insights on the evolving role of corporate communications. Drawing from his extensive experience across organizations like Standard Chartered Bank, Piramal Enterprises, and HDFC Bank, and his editorial roots at Brand Equity, The Economic Times, Banerjee discusses how digital transformation is reshaping communication strategies, the value of media storytelling, and the importance of humanizing financial brands, especially when addressing topics like financial inclusion and economic disparity.

As a corporate communication leader, what is the primary focus of the mandate?

As a corporate communication professional, I see myself as a communication and reputation counsel to the brand. In this context, it is important to follow and practise integrated communication, which is a combination of external communication, internal communication and social media. The overarching umbrella of integrated communication involves storytelling and narrative building, keeping in mind a 360-degree perspective. And it holds true for managing any potential reputation issues facing the brand.

With your extensive experience in corporate communications across leading organizations like Standard Chartered Bank, Piramal Enterprises, and HDFC Bank, how have you seen the role of corporate communications evolve over the years, especially in the context of digital transformation?

I believe, the core of communication remains unchanged and thats storytelling. What has evolved over years are the means or platforms to narrate the story of the brand. Over time, platforms have evolved, like for example, digital. Today, there are multiple platforms on digital and social media for owned and earned media that complement the conventional means of acquiring visibility for the brand. Right from social media to pod-casts, blogs to websites; there are numerous platforms available, both for brands as well as for the media industry. In this context, it is important for brands to choose the platforms that are most appropriate, to reach their target audience and enhance visibility. Spray and pray does not work. Precision targeting is more likely to fetch the desired results.

As a former Editor, you have a deep understanding of brand and media narratives. How has your journalistic background influenced your approach to corporate communications, particularly in terms of media relations and content strategy?

As a journalist my job entailed covering sectors and reporting on them. It involved storytelling. When I switched to corporate communication, the aspect of storytelling continued, albeit for the brand I represented. So, you can say, storytelling is the common thread that continues across journalism and corporate communication. Media relations and content go hand-in-hand. You cannot hope to get a particular media interest (no matter how good a relationship you have with him or her) if you dont have a compelling story to share.

Having worked in both editorial and corporate communications roles, how do you see the relationship between media and corporate communication teams evolving in the future?

As a former journalist and now a communication professional, I have seen both sides of the fence. The relationship between media and corporate communication, in my mind, is not adversarial but symbiotic. Both sides stand to benefit in this relationship. Corporate communication and PR professionals need to view this relationship not as a one-off transaction, but as a long-term strategic investment. Just like remaining invested in SIPs fetches returns in the long run, the same holds true when it comes to engaging and developing long term relationships with the media fraternity. For the media, sure, there could be some minor hiccups from the other side, but the endeavour from the communication fraternity is to always help value-add and enrich.

With the increasing role of digital and social media in shaping public perception, how do you manage crisis communications, particularly when dealing with real-time news and customer concerns on social platforms?

Reputation management today is very dynamic, particularly with real-time information dissemination platforms like social media and digital, playing a critical role. Customers also have impactful channels like social media to voice out both their praise for and grievances against brands. We have seen enough instances of a customer grievance amplifying into a full-blown reputation issue for brands. In my view, crisis communication involves real time monitoring of the conversations taking place on say, the social media, understanding the narrative thats shaping up in the mainstream media, updating key internal stakeholders and finally ensuring a clear articulation of a brand's perspective or point of view.

In your experience, how important is it for financial institutions to engage in storytelling and humanize the brand in their communications, especially when addressing sensitive topics like financial inclusion and economic disparity?

Irrespective of the sector or business segment, storytelling is central to brand building, be it through marketing or PR. Banks and financial institutions have used storytelling to educate, impart knowledge and create awareness among customers and society. Educating the public to remain vigilant and not fall prey to cyber frauds is a good example of how storytelling has been used by banks and financial institutions on an important subject like cyber-security. Likewise, financial inclusion is another area in which storytelling has played a pivotal role. Storytelling is an integral part of our lives, personnel and professionals. As long as there are stories, there will be storytelling. It has been so over many millennia and will continue in the coming time.
SOCIALEYEZ, the Middle Easts leading team of creative strategists,has announced its strategic partnership with Texas Chicken, a globally recognised name in the quick-service restaurant industry. This collaboration marks a significant step in SOCIALEYEZs continued expansion in the Food and Beverage (F&B) sector, bringing a fresh and dynamic approach to Texas Chickens digital presence across the UAE, KSA and Oman.

Having commenced this partnership on the 1st of March 2025, SOCIALEYEZ has been diligently working to implement an innovative and results-driven strategy aimed at enhancing audience engagement and brand visibility. The partnership includes always-on social media management, strategic planning, content creation, video production and branding initiatives tailored to resonate with Texas Chickens diverse customer base.

Known for its bold flavours and commitment to quality, Texas Chicken is set to leverage SOCIALEYEZs expertise in digital storytelling and audience engagement. Through data-driven insights and creative content strategies, SOCIALEYEZ will help amplify Texas Chickens brand identity and strengthen its connection with consumers in a competitive market.

Speaking about the partnership, Hajar Mahmoud, Head of Social at SOCIALEYEZ, commented, Texas Chicken has a strong legacy of delivering exceptional flavours and quality service. We are excited to bring this legacy to life in the digital space by creating meaningful and engaging content that strengthens brand affinity and drives customer loyalty. Our goal is to ensure Texas Chicken remains a top choice for food lovers across the UAE, KSA and Oman.

This partnership solidifies SOCIALEYEZs position as a leader in digital innovation within the F&B industry, reinforcing its commitment to crafting compelling brand narratives that captivate and engage audiences.
Sumeer Mathur has been appointed as Chief Strategy Director at MWG India, joining from Dentsu where he was Chief Strategy Officer. He will join MWG India by the end of April 2025.

During his time at Dentsu, Mathur led the growth vertical through integrated approaches (Creative, CX, Media, and tech), established Dentsu Creative's first strategy department, and promoted "Modern Creativity" combining culture, data, and technology.

The restructuring introduces a new cluster-based organizational model dividing business by geographical regions, strategic clusters led by National Planning Heads who will manage both clusters and client relationships, with immediate implementation as Strategy Heads are already in position.

According to Prasoon Joshi, this restructuring aims to deliver more focused and specialized strategic services to clients. The new structure is designed to deploy specialized expertise across market segments, enhance responsiveness to regional dynamics, provide dedicated strategic leadership, and foster collaboration between planning teams.

McCann has always paid special emphasis to its strategic planning function, with strategic insights being the key input to develop radical creative solutions. Strategy is one of the key strengths and pillars of the agency offering.

On his joining Sumeer Mathur said"I'm thrilled to be joining McCann Worldgroup, a powerhouse that has not only built some of the most iconic brands, but continues to set the bar for creative excellence and effectiveness. I'm particularly excited to work with a stalwart like Prasoon who is considered a torchbearer of creative excellence in the industry. The opportunity of taking forward the legacy of such a storied agency and working with such a stellar teamone that creates bold ideas with real impactis truly exciting. As platforms and touchpoints proliferate and attention spans diminish, the need for culture-first creativity that gives brands a competitive advantage is critical."
Van Heusen, a fashion brand under Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL), has unveiled its latest brand campaign, Born of Art, during Tata IPL 2025. The campaign marks a significant leap in the brands evolutionredefining power dressing through the lens of artistic inspiration and creative storytelling.

Set amidst the timeless beauty of Italys artistic heritage, the cinematic campaign film opens with a truck winding through historic streets, drawing curious glances. It halts for a dramatic reveala giant canvas is unveiled, and from it, models draped in Van Heusens latest collection emerge as living embodiments of art. This powerful visual captures the essence of the campaigns message: Van Heusens fashion is not just designedits born of art.

Van Heusen has always stood for ambition and power, said Aditya Menon, Assistant Vice President - Marketing, Van Heusen. With Born of Art, were venturing into a more expressive, artistic territory. Fashion is no longer just about clothesits a manifestation of individuality, creativity, and cultural nuance. This campaign is our boldest expression yet of what Van Heusen stands for in todays world.

Mithila Saraf, Chief Operating Officer at Famous Innovations, the agency behind the creative execution, added: Born of Art reflects Van Heusens deepening relationship with culture and creativity. Our narrative fuses high fashion with the emotional power of fine art to connect with a generation that craves both ambition and aesthetic expression.

The campaign is being rolled out across a powerful mix of platforms, including television, digital, outdoor, and special on-ground activations. As Tata IPL 2025 draws massive national attention, Born of Art leverages the excitement of the tournament to drive deeper brand engagement and visibility.
Drunk Jaipur Businessman Goes on 7-Km Killing Spree in SUV, 3 Dead, 6 Critically Injured 2

In a horrifying act of reckless driving, three people were killed and six others critically injured after a drunk driver allegedly went on a seven-kilometre rampage through the streets of Jaipur, mowing down pedestrians and smashing into vehicles along the way. The driver, identified as Usman Khan (62), a factory owner from Shastri Nagar, was heavily intoxicated when he carried out the deadly spree on Monday night, police confirmed.

The incident began near Santosh Mata Temple where Khans SUV first struck a scooty, before he continued down MI Road and into the narrow lanes under Nahargarh police station, running over fallen victims and crashing into multiple vehicles, including those parked outside the police station itself.

The chaos finally came to a halt when the vehicle got stuck in a narrow lane, allowing locals and police to detain the driver. Additional DCP Bajrang Singh Shekhawat said the SUV covered about 500 metres near the police station, where most of the victims were hit.

 Drunk driving turns deadly in Jaipur!



Over 10 people run over, 3 dead on the spot, including a child among the injured.



 Disturbing Visuals, Viewer Discretion Required.#Jaipur #DrunkDriving #Accident #Viral pic.twitter.com/pI98x0Cyhf  Afternoon Voice (@Afternoon_Voice) April 8, 2025

The injured include Virendra Singh (48), Mamta Kanwar (50), Monesh Soni (28), Mohammad Jalaluddin (44), Deepika Saini (17), Vijay Narayan (65), Jebunnisha (50), Anshika (24), and Awadhesh Pareek (37). They were rushed to Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital, where Mamta Kanwar and Awadhesh Pareek were declared dead. Virendra Singh succumbed to injuries on Tuesday morning. The remaining victims are in critical condition in the trauma ward.

Khan, who owns a metal bed manufacturing unit in the Vishwakarma Industrial Area, was medically tested and found to be intoxicated. An FIR has been filed based on a complaint by Mamta Kanwars father.

The gruesome accident sparked tension across the area, prompting deployment of police from four stations around Nahargarh Road to maintain order. Investigations are ongoing, and locals are demanding strict action against the accused.
Indian-Origin Man Accused of Sexually Assaulting Co-Passenger Mid-Flight in US 2

A 36-year-old Indian-origin man, Bhaveshkumar Dahyabhai Shukla, residing in New Jersey, has been charged with sexual assault on a domestic flight in the United States. The FBI is investigating the case, which involves allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with a fellow female passenger aboard a January 26 flight from Belgrade, Montana, to Dallas, Texas.

According to official reports, Shukla allegedly touched the womans thighs, lower back, buttocks, and private parts, despite her clearly objecting the first time. After returning from the restroom, the woman was reportedly assaulted again, with Shukla using his coat to conceal his actions. The woman messaged her husband mid-flight, who alerted authorities. Upon landing, airport police were waiting to detain the accused.

Shukla was later arrested in New Jersey, where he resides, and agreed to be transferred to Montana for prosecution. His court hearing is scheduled for April 17. FBI Special Agent Chad McNiven filed the affidavit, citing that another passenger witnessed and corroborated the victims version of events.

Interestingly, Shukla claimed he could not speak Englishdespite having conversed in English with the victim and her daughter during the flight. Nevertheless, a Gujarati interpreter was arranged for his court appearance in New Jersey. The case has drawn attention to the increasing concerns over mid-air misconduct and the role of federal law enforcement in addressing such incidents.
A former Alabama Department of Corrections sergeant was convicted Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in the 2021 beating of an inmate with a baton. (Jefferson County Jail)

A former state prison sergeant has been convicted in the assault of an inmate with a baton.

A Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff jury on Tuesday convicted 60-year-old Joe L. Binder of first-degree assault.

Binders trial began last week before Circuit Judge David Carpenter. The jury began deliberations of Friday, resumed those deliberations Monday and returned the guilty verdict just before noon today.

Binder will be sentenced on June 4. Following his conviction, he was booked into the Jefferson County Jail.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorneys Kaemi Calderon Velez and Brent Butler was represented by Birmingham attorney Scott Morro.

Morro said Binder was wrongly convicted, and said the defense proved that the inmate lied about what happened and also said there was no blood evidence.

He said is client is in danger by being in jail.

The assault happened Jan. 30, 2021, at William Donaldson Correctional Facility, sending two inmates  including Ephan Moore  to the hospital with injuries. The other inmate injured was well-known prison activist Robert Earl Council.

Binder and two other ADOC correctional officers  two of which were injured during the altercation  were immediately placed on leave and all three later charged with first-degree assault on Moore.

The other two officers charged Cordaro Melton, 38, and Daryl Brown, 40. They have not yet gone to trial.

Binder, who was their supervisor, was fired. Melton and Brown resigned.

Videos circulated on social media showing a large amount of blood on the prison floor and inmates coughing from lingering pepper spray, or another chemical agent, in the air, the Associated Press reported at the time.

The FBI was brought in to assist in the investigation.

The incident prompted officials to require ADOC supervisors to wear body cameras while on duty.

Moore, a 33-year-old from Mobile, pleaded guilty in 2013 to first-degree robbery in Dale County and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was incarcerated at Donaldson when the altercation erupted that Saturday.

Following the prison fight, Moore was charged with second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer for stabbing Brown with an inmate-knife. Moore last month pleaded guilty to that charge and was sentenced to 6  years in prison to run concurrent with his robbery sentence.

Moore, who testified last week during Binders trial, is now held in the Limestone Correctional Facility.
Nearly 37,000 Alabama students have signed up for the states newest school choice program, which would give families thousands of taxpayer dollars to use for private education.

But not every students family will get a check in July for private school tuition; current funding can support up to 14,000 students in the programs first year.

The CHOOSE Act provides families with up to $7,000 in education savings accounts to use on private school tuition or up to $2,000 per student for home education expenses. State leaders say the $100 million program, which closed its applications on April 7, saw a strong response from families across the state.

The CHOOSE Act, Alabamas education savings account program, will allow more taxpaying Alabama families the opportunity to choose a school that meets their childs individual needs, Gov. Kay Ivey said in a news release Tuesday, noting that families across Alabamas 67 counties applied for the program. Clearly, taxpaying Alabama families want school choice!

The Alabama Department of Revenue, which is overseeing the CHOOSE Act, received a total of 22,167 applications for 36,873 students by the application deadline.

Officials say they plan to prioritize applications from students with disabilities, military students and students who come from low-income households.

But ultimately, experts say, it will be up to schools to decide who theyll let in.

While it is still early to determine the full impact, we are closely monitoring how ESAs influence enrollment trends, school accessibility, and operational decisions, Michael McLendon, president of the Alabama Independent Schools Association, told AL.com in March. Some schools are exploring how the program aligns with their missions, while others are taking a wait-and-see approach.

So far, 232 schools and 227 other vendors  including tutors, textbook companies and therapeutic services  have signed up as CHOOSE Act providers. McLendon estimated about 75% of AISAs members are participating in the program.

Two public school districts, Dothan and Mobile, are also participants, along with University Charter School in Livingston and the Alabama School of Math and Science in Mobile.

State law prevents public schools from double-dipping, or allowing current students to use CHOOSE funds for non-tuition expenses. Several of those institutions told AL.com that they are still working to understand what services they can provide under the program.

(Cant see the table? View it here.)

Who applied for the CHOOSE Act?

The largest group of applicants are current private school students. Among the 36,873 students who have applied:

15,436 attend private school

10,287 attend public school

9,070 are homeschooled

1,593 are entering kindergarten

478 people who the state categorized as other.

(Cant see the chart? View it here.)

According to the governors office, 59% of applicants are white. A nearly even number of male and female students applied.

About 13% of applicants, 4,910 students, have disabilities and may qualify for priority registration. The law requires the first 500 approvals to go toward students with disabilities.

Special ed services, however, can vary by schools and providers. Some school officials told AL.com that the funding would make high-quality services more affordable for students with disabilities, but others said theres a limit to how much support they can provide.

There are some students that we cannot serve based on the special resource needs that they may have, said Justin Castanza, president of Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School, who noted that every student receives the same instruction. There are accommodations, but not modifications.

A smaller number of applicants, 124, have family members who are active-duty military and may also qualify for priority registration if they are currently attending a public school with low test scores. It is unclear how many of those students are enrolled in schools on the states priority list, meaning schools with a D- or F-grade on their most recent report card.

Castanza said as many as 12% to 20% of students have family members who work on a nearby military base. He said hed like to see the state drop current public school enrollment requirements so that the program can reach more families.

Id love to see that removed so that military families can move higher up in the pecking order, he said.
For more than 70 years, Alabama was home to a hot salt spring where patients with inflammatory rheumatism, arthritis, skin conditions, ulcerated stomach and other ailments go to get well, according to a 1930s advertisement in The Birmingham News.

For more photos, click through the gallery at the top of the story.

During those seven decades, the spa in Cottonwood, Ala., was a popular tourist attraction, the site of a lodge charging $2.50 per night, and home to a doctor later sued for quackery.

The lodge at Sealy Hot Springs Spa on a postcard from the 1950s or 1960s. Alabama Department of Archives and History

The beginning

In 1937, two brothers, J.R. Sealy and C.S. Sealy, were searching for oil in Houston County when calamity occurred.

After almost four years of drilling and expenditure of about $123,000, at a depth of 4,280 feet, just as it had almost reached the top, the drill dropped and the terrific impact of its fall for almost three-fourths of a mile, broke the strata and immediately a powerful stream of hot salt mineral water gushed out, columnist Percy Taylor wrote in The Birmingham News on Feb. 14, 1937.  from then until now the hot salt mineral water has been pouring out at a rate of over 10,000 gallons per hour.

The Sealy brothers realized theyd discovered a different kind of commodity. While Alabama was already home to several mineral springs, this one was different  the water was naturally heated to 112 degrees.

The spring bubbled up and formed a lake that had local residents lining up to see if it had curative powers, historian Dale Cox said. One man found relief from rheumatism after bathing in the water, Cox said. Not long after it was noticed that a dog with the mange cured itself by swimming in the lake. This led another to dig a hole deep enough for his ailing mule to enter and soak itself. The mule was cured of sores and lameness.

Ruins of Sealy Hot Springs Spa in Cottonwood, Ala. Dale Cox

In another flabbergasting example of the springs healing powers, Cox said a man avoided having his leg amputated. These early experiments  prompted a local man named Pete Lambert to see if the water could cure his broken leg. Lambert was driving a mule-team when his leg was broken in an accident. Doctors were preparing to amputate the unhealed limb, but he tried bathing in the lake for 27 straight days. The broken bones healed.

Sealy Spa opens

The Sealy brothers built a lodge that initially included 55 hotel rooms, cottages, apartments, a large assembly area, and dining rooms, Cox said. It also included 32 rooms where visitors could bathe in the spring water and a 50-by-100-foot swimming pool filled with the hot salt water.

More than 10,000 people came from across the South in the first year of operation, Cox said, adding that the entire town of Cottonwood was turned into a big rooming house to care for the overflow of people who came for bathing and treatment in the healing waters of the well. Cottonwood, an incorporated town near Dothan, has a population of 1,048.

The pool featured a hot box, an enclosed spot in the pool where water first emerges from the ground in a stream so hot that bathers cant stay longer than five or 10 minutes, according to a 2000 article in The Birmingham News.

A visitor relaxes in a hot box at Cottonwood Hot Springs Spa and Motel in 2000. Birmingham News

A newspaper ad from the 1950s said Hot Springs of the Southeast. Modern Lodge ideal place, good food, rest and relaxation, climate excellent, fishing and swimming. The spa had on-and-off booms through the 1970s but eventually, fewer people were coming to take the waters.

In the 1980s, the spa was sold to Dr. Ray Evers, who added a medical clinic to the property with a lab, pharmacy and nursing staff. It was called Evers Health Clinic and Sealy Springs Spa at Cottonwood.

The doctor said the clinic specialized in treatment of chronic degenerative diseases, such as cancer, muscular dystrophy, and cardiovascular illnesses. He also sold salves and other remedies.

Evers would later find himself in hot water for making false claims about his curative products, according to The Birmingham News. In 1985, a man from Texas sued Evers after his wife died. The man said she had third- and fourth-degree burns from the medication Evers gave her. The suit said Evers claimed the salve would pull cancerous tumors through the skin.

Evers had his medical license revoked in 1986 and, in 1988, ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Cottonwood, the News reported.

According to Evers 1990 obituary in The Birmingham News, the doctor had operated similar clinics as he moved around the country.

Bronner Brothers, a hair care company, bought the spa in 1990. It was open until 2001 when the lodge burned. No one was injured in the fire but the spa never re-opened.
Mercedes-Benz is taking several steps to deal with President Donald Trumps 25% tariffs impacting foreign automotive production.

According to Bloomberg, the German automaker is weighing whether to shift some manufacturing to the U.S. to avoid additional costs from the tariffs.

Meanwhile, there will be no increase in sticker price to 2025 model-year vehicles for U.S. customers.

Were still assessing the impacts of these tariffs, Jorg Burzer, the automakers production chief, said during a company event in Germany last week. We have made some plans, but flexibility is absolutely key.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported Mercedes could relocate its GLC SUV to the U.S., which is currently made in Bremen, Germany, but the move could cause political problems at home.

The companys GLE and GLS SUVs assembled in Tuscaloosa use engines and transmissions from Europe, which would be impacted by the tariffs.

Mercedes-Benz could see a total cost from tariffs of an estimated $1.7 billion this year, according to brokerage Bernstein, which is 14% of expected operating profit.

Parts account for about a third of the potential tariff impact.

Apart from production, Mercedes-Benz executives are saying the automaker will absorb the 25% tariff on 2025 model year units, according to a statement issued by the automaker to Automotive News.

We continue to monitor the situation closely, are evaluating all options, and will adjust to changing market conditions and the competitive landscape if needed, Mercedes-Benz spokesperson Michael Minielly said in Road & Track.

Mercedes manufactures the GLE-Class and GLS-Class sport-utility vehicles, and the electric EQE and EQS SUVs, in Alabama.

The GLE and GLS alone made up more than 96,000 of the brands 324,528 passenger vehicles sold domestically in 2024. The 25% tariff hit will affect a smaller portion of vehicles than other European automakers.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has a sizable advantage early in his bid for a third term as the Magic Citys mayor.

Hes currently sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars more in campaign cash than the only other person who has reported contributions in the race. And hes getting contributions from all over the country.

Woodfins campaign reported about $121,000 in cash contributions in March, bringing his total for cash raised in 2025 to about $350,000.

Woodfins campaign started the year with about $481,000, and has reportedly spent about $226,000 so far this cycle. That leaves him with about $685,000 in campaign cash.

His chief rival early on is State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who has reported just $54,000 in cash so far.

[Cant see the chart? Click here.]

Givan officially kicked off her campaign in March, and has time to make up ground before the August election.

Birmingham activist Kamau Afrika has also announced hes running, but hasnt reported any contributions to the Alabama Electronic Fair Campaign Practices Act Reporting System.

With several months left to go before the election, a lot could still change. But one notable takeaway so far is how much support Woodfin has garnered from sources outside Birmingham, and even outside Alabama.

In 2025 alone, Woodfin has earned donations from nearly every state in the nation, including 80 individual contributions from the state of California.

[Cant see the map? Click here.]

Woodfin has more cash from out-of-state sources than Givan has total.

Still, most of Woodfins contributions are in-state. About 58% of his total contributions, and a little over three quarters of his total cash raised in 2025 are from inside Alabama.

But its not all from Birmingham.

[Cant see the table? Click here.]

Roughly 40% of his total contributions came from the Magic City, and the majority of his cash so far this year.

Woodfin has earned plenty of donations from some of Birminghams nearest suburbs, including a few dozen from Hoover, Bessemer, Trussville and Irondale.

But he also reported 26 donations from Atlanta, the most from any city not named Birmingham. He also reported 13 from New York City.

Ramsey Archibald is an award winning data reporter and editor at al.com. To read more Alabama data stories, click here. Have an idea for an Alabama data story? Email rarchibald@al.com or follow him on Twitter and Bluesky.
Alabama shoppers may soon see hemp-derived THC-infused seltzer brand Herbal Oasis on shelves near them, unless a proposed law to regulate the sale of consumable hemp products prevents the companys expansion.

In a recent announcement, Herbal Oasis parent company cbdMD, Inc. said the product started appearing in convenience stores, grocery stores, and other locations throughout Alabama and the Florida panhandle starting in late March.

Were excited to expand distribution into Alabama and Florida-this is a major launchpad for our mission to make Oasis the go-to beverage for modern socializing, said Ronan Kennedy, CEO of cbdMD.

The release referenced recent Euromonitor International estimates that the adult hemp beverage market totaled approximately $230 million in 2023, tripled in 2024, and is on its way to over $4 billion by 2028.

Consumers are energized by and embracing the shift in the beverage landscape, and Oasis is perfectly positioned to lead the way, Kennedy said.

Herbal Oasis is branded as premium THC-infused social seltzer crafted for the sober-curious, health-conscious, and socially active in the release.

The seltzer is alcohol free, but each 12-ounce can is infused with:

Hemp-Derived Delta-9 THC + CBG

2,500mg of functional mushrooms including Lions Mane, Reishi, and Cordyceps

Nano-liposomal technology for fast onset (10-15 minutes)

The release adds that the drinks are naturally flavored, gluten-free, vegan, and free from artificial ingredients, making it a perfect choice for health-conscious consumers.

By this summer, Oasis will be available in grocery chains, convenience stores, boutique wellness shops, and hospitality venues across major Alabama cities like Birmingham, Mobile, Huntsville, and college towns like Tuscaloosa and Auburn, as well as resort destinations and nightlife hubs in the Florida Panhandle, according to the release.

This includes support for on-premise accounts such as bars, restaurants, and lounges.

But several state lawmakers are working to keep products like Herbal Oasis out of grocery stores, citing concerns about underage access.

Carmelo Parasiliti II, CEO and founder of Green Acres Organic Pharms, said he supports criminal penalties for those who sell to minors in a recent public hearing for one such regulation bill, HB445.

But he continued that punishing adults who choose to use these products legally and responsibly should not be the answer.

The House Committee on Health is scheduled to vote on HB445 today.

If passed, only existing liquor stores or other locations that minors cant access would be licensed by ABC to sell THC products, according to its text.
Listen to todays Down in Alabama podcast episode for a discussion of the Trump tariffs and what they could mean for Alabama:

The cost of home ownership

They keep telling us how cheap it is to own a home in Alabama. And by the numbers you can see, relatively speaking, that its true.

AL.coms Ramsey Archibald reports that the typical Alabama home is valued at $223,000. Thats based on data from Zillow.

That $223,000 placed us eighth least expensive in the U.S. Its cheaper to buy a home in Iowa, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi of course, and West Virginia.

That doesnt mean you and I havent been priced out of a few neighborhoods.

Ramsey found that Mountain Brook, the new home of Paul Finebaum (since I have to pick on somebody), can boast a typical single-family home value of around $936,000.

Thats what were calling the typical price in an entire city, not a high-end value.

Nobodys close to Mountain Brook. But in a distant second-place is Orange Beach at just over $685,000.

Thats followed by the Lake Martin town of Equality, Indian Springs Village in Shelby County, Jacksons Gap, Vestavia Hills and Homewood.

Those cities are all above the half-million-dollar mark.

Defense and space money

Another big U.S. Space Command contract has come down, and it means big work and big money for companies that are involved in highly sensitive rocket launches, reports AL.coms John R. Roby.

United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin are receiving shares of the $13.6 billion contract through 2029. Those two companies build rocket engines and assemble space vehicles in Huntsville and Decatur.

SpaceX also has a big part in the deal.

The program is called National Security Space Launch. It funds the launching of satellites for national-security purposes.

As we talked about when we had John on the show in February, U.S. Space Force is ramping up its operations, and it means big work for the big defense and space companies in North Alabama.

United Launch Alliance is a joint venture involving Boeing and Lockheed-Martin. It was awarded $5.3 billion for 19 flights. Blue Origin is receiving $2.4 billion for seven launches.

A chunk of Buffalo Rock

An iconic Birmingham brand has sold off part of its business, reports AL.coms William Thornton.

Buffalo Rock divested its full-line vending operations to Five Star Breaktime Solution and other Canteen franchises.

These vending operations are in 7,600 locations in 700 micro markets in Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.

Buffalo Rock still has its Pepsi and Keurig Dr Pepper bottling operations. Company leadership says the move lets them focus on their beverages.

Buffalo Rock was founded in 1901 and is the company that brought the popular Southern soft-drink brands Grapico and Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale.

More Alabama News

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A University of Alabama student was killed in a weekend camping accident.

Bama Catholic Campus Ministry said in a Monday night Facebook post that Malachi Crain died Saturday in a camping accident.

Crain was a senior at UA studying mathematics and computer science.

He was, according to the Facebook post, a beloved member of the Catholic community in Tuscaloosa.

He was the Vice President of Liturgy for 2024 and was known for his love of altar serving, the campus organization wrote.

He led a (Bible) study and was discipling other men in our community for over two years. He will be dearly missed by many.

On his webpage, Crain wrote that he looked forward to getting his Masters degree in May 2026.

According to the Fannin County Emergency Agency in Georgia, the accident happened about 2:12 a.m. Saturday in Panther Creek Falls, Cohutta Wilderness.

The Fannin County Fire Department Search and Rescue received a call of a life-threatening emergency involving four campers in a remote and difficult-to-access location.

Dozens of first responders work to recover a University of Alabama student who was killed in a camping accident in Georgia, and rescue three others survived. (Fannin County Emergency Management Agency)

The 911 caller reported that a large tree had fallen directly onto a campsite.

Four young men were sleeping in hammocks at the time of the incident.

One individual was reportedly trapped beneath the tree and was unresponsive.

A multi-agency response involving 23 emergency personnel from multiple agencies was initiated.

It took crews just over five hours to reach the remote campsite.

They found Crain dead and another camper with minor injuries.

A nearby group of two campers  a father and daughter  heard the tree fall and rushed to the site after hearing cries for help, according to Fannin County EMA. They provided immediate support to the injured group and remained with them throughout the incident."

After emergency teams arrived, the father and daughter later hiked out with the two uninjured campers and helped transport them back to their vehicle.

EMA officials said terrain surrounding Panther Creek Falls is rugged, marked by steep inclines, dense forest cover, and extremely limited access.

The campsite was located approximately 4.2 miles from the nearest trailhead, requiring teams to hike over a total of 8.4 miles.

Fannin County EMA shared more details about the rescue and recovery operation on its Facebook page.

Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the young men involved in this tragic and unforeseeable accident, EMA officials wrote.

Crains funeral is set for 1 p.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Rosary Catholic Church in Gnatt, South Carolina.
The prices of eggs could rise again under Trump's new tariff plan (AP Photo/Michael Probst) AP

Egg prices are starting to stabilize after months of record highs, but President Trumps new sweeping tariff plan may drive the prices back up.

The new tariffs could apply to eggs that are imported from other countries as the U.S. looks to shore up its supply, reports USA TODAY. The U.S. has increased imports of eggs from a number of countries including Turkey and South Korea to mitigate shortages and increase supplies caused by the avian flu thats decimating chicken flocks. Per Newsweek, products from both countries will face new tariffs of 10 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

Weve actually been importing eggs ... to help with our domestic shortage finance expert Michael Ryan told Newsweek in an interview. With new tariffs hitting those imports, were looking at a potential price boomerang effect.

Egg prices in the U.S. hit a record high in February, the biggest since the nations last bird flu outbreak in 2015. Several retailers, including Costco and Walmart, started limiting the number of eggs customers could buy.
The Huntsville area YMCA is searching for a new downtown location.

Weve been in the Huntsville Utilities building for somewhere between 15 and 20 years, but the utility company needs the space back because of their growth, Interim YMCA CEO Jeff Collen told AL.com on Monday.

Huntsville Utilities spokesperson Gary T. Whitley Jr., in a statement to AL.com, said, Huntsville Utilities has no additional comments to add - as the Express Downtown YMCA has shared to their members directly, that they will be relocating and we will be repurposing that space.

The Heart of the Valley YMCA is currently undergoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. In January, the court approved the sale of its lakeside property, Camp Cha-La-Kee in Guntersville, for $2.35 million.

Collen emphasized that the relocation is unrelated to the organizations bankruptcy filing in August after $15 million in loan repayments came due.

It was very clear that the Utilities needs the space back to grow, Collen said. The two are completely unrelated. Strictly, they need the space back.

Members visiting the downtown YMCA receive a letter from Collen stating that August 31 marks the last day at the leased property.

We want to assure you that we are actively seeking a new downtown location, one that will serve you just as well, if not better than before, Collen wrote in the letter.
An altercation outside a town courtroom between a woman and a magistrate escalated into an arrest for disorderly conduct and ended with the city magistrate brandishing a gun outside city hall.

The Tarrant Police Department is investigating a videotaped encounter where Tanilya Jackson, the city magistrate, pulled a gun from her handbag during an exchange with another woman outside city hall.

We are investigating the report of a firearm at city hall in violation of Alabama law, Tarrant Police Chief Wendell Major told AL.com. The law is the law. It applies to us equally.

The exchange on March 28 is the latest dramatic interaction caught on cameras from both inside and outside the building. The town of about 6,000 people is just northeast of Birmingham.

Efforts to reach Jackson were unsuccessful. Mayor Wayman Newton declined to comment on personnel matters.

Visitors and employees are prohibited from bringing firearms into public buildings in Tarrant. In 2021, Major issued a letter to notify employees about the policy and state law.

The altercation reportedly occurred March 28 after Jackson and Raven Shearer had an exchange outside city court. Shearer was in court for a traffic citation originally - although after the encounter, she was later arrested for disorderly conduct.

Jackson allegedly brandished her gun later that day when Shearer was released from jail and returned to city hall to retrieve her car.

Jackson, who was with her minor son, instructed him to go back into the building after taking a gun from her handbag. The other woman is not visible on camera.

Lets go, Jackson said standing alone while holding a gun and a cell phone.

The other person continued to yell at Jackson.

You think you got it going on with that gun, b****, the woman shouted on the video.

Surveillance cameras that are mounted in offices throughout the building have chronicled a series of political fights, personnel disputes, insults and even a punch lobbed by a longtime councilman against the mayor.

Shearer, 31, said the conflict began in the lobby as she waited for traffic court. Shearer said Jackson was rude to her as she stood nearby while calling her work supervisor. The argument then continued inside the courtroom, Shearer said.

Shearer said a police officer then grabbed her to take her out of the building. Shearer said the magistrate then came outside to antagonize her while she was being arrested.

Shes just standing there laughing like its funny, Shearer said.

Shearer admitted that she used foul language and spat at the magistrate. She was then thrown to the ground by a police officer.

Shearer was later bonded out of jail by her sister and encountered Jackson in the parking lot. Shearer said neither she nor her sister threatened Jackson, although she did point her out when she saw her.

I get that we have the right to bear arms, but she should not have walked out that court with her gun, Shearer said. Its just a messed up situation that was so small that didnt have to escalate.
Truckworx is expanding its corporate operations to a newly constructed, company-owned facility in Birmingham. Birmingham Business Alliance

Heavy and medium-duty truck dealer Truckworx plans to build a $6.8 million corporate headquarters in Birmingham.

The Birmingham Business Alliance Tuesday announced that 52 high-paying jobs will come from the project, which has a total economic impact estimated at nearly $3.5 million over 20 years.

The new headquarters will be located at 2224 24th Ave. N., directly across from the companys flagship dealership on Finley Boulevard, with room for growth. It will also house accounting, IT, HR, support services and executive leadership.

Dunn Construction will lead the buildout as general contractor.

The company, founded in 1978, operates 23 locations across Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida panhandle, and considered multiple potential locations for these headquarters before opting to stay in Birmingham.

Truckworx CEO & President Will Bruser said the company is building the new headquarters to deal with growth and to reunite its corporate team, which had been located in a Homewood office.

When we moved into our new building in 2004, our plan was to house our largest dealership and corporate office there, said Truckworx CEO & President Will Bruser. We are excited for our entire team to be back together in the city of Birmingham in a new corporate headquarters right across the street from our dealership.

The Truckworx project was supported by the BBA, the City of Birmingham and Jefferson County. Total incentives are $441,799, including sales tax abatements of $101,800 and property tax abatements of $238,821.

This is precisely the type of project that inspires community enthusiasm and reflects the growth that we strive to encourage, Jefferson County Commissioner Mike Bolin said.
More than two dozen employers will be on hand next week as the ReLaunch Job Fair returns to downtown Huntsville.

The event - a venture of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, Alabama Career Center and Alabama Community College System  will be held 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 15 at First Baptist Church of Huntsville, 600 Governors Drive. Use Entrance No. 7 on St. Clair Ave. across from the Huntsville/Madison County Public Library.

The event is open to job-seekers of all types, including those who are changing careers, who have not completed high school or who need a second career chance. Admission is free for job-seekers, who may register online in advance or at the door.

Also available at no cost to attendees will be:

ASL interpretation

English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English interpretation and translation

Visual impairment aides

Resume assistance and a copy/print station

Job-seekers may speak with employers about open positions, and many will have recruiters on site for interviews during the event, according to a Chamber news release.

The 25 registered employers represent such fields as aerospace, education, government, health care, hospitality and manufacturing, including BASF Corp., the city of Huntsville, Huntsville Hospital, L3Harris / Aerojet Rocketdyne, Madison County Schools and Titomic.
A bill to help independent pharmacies stay open in Alabama unanimously passed both the House and Senate on Tuesday, sending it to Gov. Kay Iveys desk.

SB252, known as The Community Pharmacy Relief Act, passed by a vote of 102-0 in the House and the Senate concurred by a vote of 33-0.

Whatever yall do today I want you to pass this bill out of the House, state Rep. Juandalynn Givan told her colleagues. I dont even want an amendment to it, I just want it to pass so my pharmacist will stop texting me essays, theses on why its important.

The bill prohibits Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs, from paying pharmacists less than Medicaid does and from charging miscellaneous fees. An amendment was also added on the House floor to allow private businesses to negotiate with PBMs on rebates.

PBMs are essentially middlemen that manage prescription benefits between insurance companies and employers. They decide which drugs are covered, how much a patients copay is, where you can get your prescription filled and how much pharmacies are paid for medications and clinical services, according to the Alabama Pharmacy Association.

Pharmacists said PBMs have been paying them so little that they dont even cover the cost of the drugs they are providing.

Pharmacies are struggling to keep their doors open as they are often reimbursed for medication at a price lower than their cost of dispensing the medication to the patient. We continue to lose pharmacies across Alabama every month, the Alabama Pharmacy Association said in February, when pharmacists staged a walkout to protest PBMs.

Since 2018, roughly 13% of pharmacies in the state have closed, according to the Alabama Independent Pharmacy Alliance.

Rep. Phillip Rigsby, who owns a pharmacy in Huntsville, cried after the legislation passed. He said it ensures access to healthcare for small communities.

Bob Herron, a pharmacist in Tallassee, told AL.com he closed his shop in November after more than three decades because of problems with PBMs.

After 35 years, the job became harder and harder because youre getting underpaid by insurance and actually losing money for doing your job, said Herron. Youre at their mercy and theyre pushing us out, which will be devastating to the state. Well lose jobs and money and access to healthcare.

Pharmacists and lawmakers sponsoring the bill said PBMs are pushing out independent pharmacies so the pharmacies they own, such as CVS and many mail order pharmacies, can be the only game in town.

The three largest PBMs are Fortune 50 companies that process over 80% of the prescriptions filled in the U.S. each year  CVS Caremark, Optum owned by United Healthcare and Express Scripts owned by Cigna, according to a lawsuit filed by Alabama pharmacists last year. Their profits rank them alongside  and sometimes above  companies like Microsoft and Exxon Mobil, according to the Fortune 500 list.

They are 100% steering people to their mail order pharmacies and charging an arm and leg to the independent pharmacists, said State Sen. Larry Stutts, a gynecologist who sponsored the bill.

Herron said this bill could have helped his pharmacy and will save independent pharmacies throughout the state.

Independent pharmacies have very little power and they dont want power, they just want it to be fair, Herron said.

The same bill was up last year but failed to make any progress because of pushback from organizations like the Alliance of Alabama Healthcare Consumers, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and the Business Council of Alabama, who opposed the bill again this year.

Last year, the bill included a requirement that PBMs pay a $10.64 dispensing fee for every script filled in the state. Opponents said the fee would be passed on to consumers. This year, the bill did not specifically include the $10.64 fee, but opponents argued that amount would be charged to employers who provide insurance to their employees.

Senate Bill 252 will add new costs to [small business] employers, reduce the value of a familys benefit plans and increase their overall cost of living, Robin Stone, the executive director of the Alliance of Alabama Healthcare Consumers, said during a public hearing on the bill last week.

Only two states in the country, West Virginia and Tennessee, have passed laws remotely similar to the legislation youre considering today. The proposed bill before you would be the most liberal law in the country and the most onerous to employees.

The West Virginia Bureau for Medical Services reported they saved $54.4 million in the first year after passing their law, which is similar to Alabamas.

Stutts said the 10.64 is nowhere in this bill...the only thing thats in this bill about any amount is it ties the amount the pharmacist is paid to Medicaid reimbursement level.

He added that the narrative that the bill would add costs to consumers and employers is just propaganda, its not true.

That narrative worked for them last year when they killed the bill that Rep. Rigsby had, and so they just tried the same narrative, Stutts said.

Tony Cochran, a board member for the Business Council of Alabama, said he was downright embarrassed by the groups decision to oppose a true solution that will save these pharmacists.

Ive watched Montgomery a lot, he told lawmakers. But Ive never seen a more unfair fight.

Cochran spoke of his friend Jim, an independent pharmacist in a rural Alabama community who tried to take his own life.

Under the enormous pressure of the PBMs, Jims hopelessness left him to believe the only way out of this crisis was to take his own life, Cochran told lawmakers. My friend Jim will never man the counter of his pharmacy again. My friend Jim will never serve his community as a pharmacist again. And Jim is the reason Im here today.

Cochran compared the pharmacists to David fighting Goliath.

Like David, these brave pharmacists, I cant tell you how amazed and encouraged I am at what theyre doing in the face of such adverse adversity. But unlike David, theyre not doing it by choice. They have to. They have to be in this fight, he said.

After the bill passed the House, Rep. AJ McCampbell echoed Cochrans sentiments.

We finally got a win for David, he said, and we need to consider the Davids of this world as were making laws.

This story was updated on Tuesday evening after the Senate passed the bill.
This is a guest opinion

Javelin missiles, To Kill A Mockingbird, and Conecuh Sausage are not just three of Alabamas greatest exports, but symbols of Alabama woven into the very fabric of the Black Belt. When I drive down I-65, south of Montgomery, and pass by Priesters Pecan Company and Bates House of Turkey, Im reminded of this regions charm and identity. But the recent announcement of Conecuh Sausages move from Evergreen to Andalusia is a stark reminder that even our beloved institutions are not immune to the forces of economic change and modernization.

The Conecuh Sausage brand, founded in this region in 1947, is an iconic pillar for our community. The news that the company is relocating its operations due to updated USDA regulations that necessitate upgrades at the Evergreen plant strikes a chord within many of us. As Plant Manager Martin Dahlke noted, the new $58 million facility in Andalusia will be twice as large and aims to meet growing market demand, but what about the impact on Evergreen? This decision is not just about a change of address; it represents a tangible loss of economic activity, local jobs, and community pride.

Persistently high poverty rates in the Black Belt amplify the emotional and economic disconnect many feel with this news. According to a recent report, 19 of the 24 Black Belt counties remain in whats termed persistent poverty, with systemic barriers affecting wealth accumulation that date back to the days of Jim Crow. The regions average poverty rate stands at 24%, significantly higher than the statewide average of 15%. The loss of Conecuh Sausage adds another layer to the existing struggle for economic viability in the Black Belt.

This situation resonates particularly when considering the larger picture. The report demonstrates the need for targeted, holistic approaches to tackle persistent poverty. Investing in local businesses, enhancing workforce development programs, and creating sustainable economic initiatives should be our foremost priority. The community deserves to keep its icons intact while fostering an environment conducive to growth and innovation.

The importance of businesses like Conecuh Sausage stretches beyond jobs; they carry with them a sense of identity and belonging. As President John Crum Sessions and his son expressed plans to create a gift shop akin to the one at the Evergreen facility, they clearly recognize the brands emotional connection with its patrons. Yet, theres a dissonance in celebrating growth while acknowledging the loss of community institutions with sentimental value.

We should not just mourn this move but respond with action. Local governmental agencies and community organizations must come together to develop strategies that reinforce existing businesses and attract new enterprises in our small towns. Governor Ivey has set a great example since entering office, investing in this underdeveloped region and, as a Wilcox County native, understanding that the Black Belts identity must be fiercely safeguarded, even as we adapt to changing economic landscapes.

As we digest this news, let us remember that the struggle against persistent poverty in the Black Belt is not merely a statistical reality; it is the story of real lives, families, and dreams. By bolstering our local economy and investing in our people, we can retain the soul of our community while pursuing a prosperous future. Instead of pushing an iconic brand away from its roots, lets rally together to ensure that Conecuh Sausageand others like itcontinues to thrive right here in the Black Belt.

Garrett Till is a research assistant at the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama working on his PhD in Political Science. He is from Greenville, Alabama.
Former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill speaks at a lunch in Birmingham hosted by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition on November 7, 2024 Roy S. Johnson

This is a guest opinion column

In todays fast-paced global economy, Alabamas future depends on more than just the strength of our local industries and the hard work of our people. It also depends on how effectively we engage with the world beyond our borders.

Throughout my career, I have championed the values that make our state great: hard work, independence, and a commitment to improving the lives of our people. It is crucial for Alabamians to understand the importance of smart, strategic international assistance.

President Trump is taking bold steps to establish a new network of foreign assistance programs designed to benefit the American people and strengthen our economy without the waste, fraud, or abuse that often affects traditional programs. This initiative will have a direct, positive impact on Alabama.

When implemented effectively, international assistance is more than charity, it is a strategic investment. It creates opportunities for Alabamas businesses, supports job creation, and protects our economic interests in a world where China and other adversaries are aggressively expanding their influence.

Whether by facilitating trade deals, fostering diplomatic relationships, or promoting American values abroad, international engagement is essential for keeping our states industries competitive on the global stage.

Investing in international assistance is investing in Alabamas future. By supporting global markets, we create a new demand for Alabama-made products and services, which fuels growth, opportunity, and prosperity in our state.

For instance, Alabamas aerospace and aviation industry has greatly benefited from foreign partnerships, with exports reaching a total of $6.4 billion between 2020 and 2023. Our state is home to leading aerospace facilities in Huntsville and Mobile, where major companies such as Boeing and Airbus operate. These partnerships provide not only trade but also high-quality jobs for Alabama residents.

Alabamas manufacturing and automotive industries also stand to benefit from increased international engagement. Companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Honda, and Hyundai rely on Alabamas skilled workforce for large-scale assembly, which has created more than 50,000 jobs and generated billions in economic output.

Similar to our aerospace industry, these companies depend on international markets to remain competitive. International assistance helps to secure trade deals, negotiate tariffs,

and establish favorable conditions for Alabama products to thrive abroad. By expanding our international reach, we can further develop these industries and ensure that Alabama remains a hub for innovation and excellence in automotive and aviation technology.

Additionally, Alabamas agricultural exports, including poultry and cotton, are vital to our economy. International assistance helps to open new markets for our farmers, providing them with a competitive edge in global trade. In 2024 alone, Alabamas exports totaled $26.8 billion, benefiting over 200 countries. Our partnerships with countries in Latin America, Asia, and Europe not only expand opportunities for our farmers and businesses but also strengthen our reputation as a leader in global trade.

However, without proactive foreign aid, Alabama risks losing its competitive edge to countries that do not share our values and priorities, which could jeopardize our economy.

The world is changing rapidly, and nations like China are not standing still. In fact, China has strategically increased its global influence by investing in infrastructure projects in Africa, Asia, and parts of Europe through its Belt and Road Initiative.

Chinas growing presence in the global market is not just a challenge  it is a threat to American leadership.

The bottom line is that we need precision-driven foreign aid programs that put America first. This is not about unchecked spending or wasteful handouts, it is about making smart, targeted investments in our future.

International assistance is a crucial tool for fostering the kind of global leadership that ensures Alabama remains competitive in a rapidly changing world. If we step back from the world stage, others, particularly China, will fill the void, leaving Alabama businesses and workers behind.

John Merrill served as Alabamas 53rd Secretary of State from 2015 to 2023. He is also a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives. A Cleburne County native, Merrill was raised in Heflin and worked in economic development and banking prior to his public office roles.
CULLMAN, ALABAMA - AUGUST 21: Former U.S. President Donald Trump (R) welcomes candidate for U.S. Senate and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) to the stage during a "Save America" rally at York Family Farms on August 21, 2021 in Cullman, Alabama. With the number of coronavirus cases rising rapidly and no more ICU beds available in Alabama, the host city of Cullman declared a COVID-19-related state of emergency two days before the Trump rally. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, 67.5% of the state's population has not been fully vaccinated. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Getty Images

This is an opinion column

White House Christmas Parties for Congressmen, Senators and their spouses are extravagant. The Christmas decor is spectacular. The food is plentiful and delicious.

But this story begins in 2016 with Senator Ted Cruz. Thats when I was Alabama Chairman for Senator Ted Cruzs presidential race. As Chairman, I advocated for and defended Senator Cruz. During the campaign, Trump personally attacked Cruz (Lyin Ted Cruz), his wife (a woman my wife Martha and I know, like and respect) and his father.

It was so bad Trump once dishonestly waved a National Enquirer photo depicting Ted Cruzs father, Rafael, as an acquaintance of President John Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, and proclaimed, I mean, what was he doing  what was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death? Before the shooting. Its horrible.

What Trump did not say was that the Trump Campaign had The National Enquirer create false hit pieces (articles and photos) which Trump then used to bludgeon Trump foes. Nor did Trump share that the Oswald/Cruz photo was photo-shopped to falsely add Rafael Cruz to the picture.

For emphasis, in 2024, The National Enquirers publisher testified that, We mashed the photos and the different picture with Lee Harvey Oswald. And mashed the two together. And thats how that story was prepared  created I would say." All so that Trump could dishonestly denigrate a good and honest man.

As Cruzs Alabama chairman and spokesman, I detested Trumps dishonest campaign tactics, rebutted them, and warned GOP voters that, even if Trump became the GOP nominee and won the general election, Trumps character flaws were so bad they would drag the GOP down and we would lose the House, Senate, and White House by the end of Trumps term. Which is exactly what happened.

Notwithstanding Trumps character flaws, voters wanted me to work with all presidents. So, I did. But Im pretty sure I was not on Trumps favorites list.

In 2017, Senator Jeff Sessions became U.S. Attorney General (despite my pleas that Sessions stay in the Senate), thus creating an open senate seat and special election to fill it.

Many conservatives encouraged me to run for the Senate. I replied a race would not be productive unless President Trump stayed out of the Republican Primary.

A few Congressmen who encouraged me to run and were friendly with Trump met with Trump to ascertain his Alabama Senate race druthers. These Congressmen told me Trump gave his word that he would not endorse anyone in the Republican Primary.

With that green light, and relying on Trumps word, I ran for the Senate.

The three principal GOP contenders were Roy Moore, Luther Strange and me, in that order.

We believed we had an excellent chance of winning the nomination if we made a run-off because Roy Moore voters did not like Establishment candidate Luther Strange and vice-versa. Hence, we would pick up the bulk of the third-place candidates votes in a run-off and win.

Close to Primary day, our tracking polls had us overtaking Luther Strange and in second place by a slender margin.

Then Trump reneged on his word and endorsed Luther Strange. Our balloon popped, our narrow lead evaporated, and Strange made the run-off. Strange then lost to Roy Moore, who lost to liberal Democrat Doug Jones (in large part because then-Senator Richard Shelby and now-Senator Katie Britt teamed up to actively help liberal Democrat Doug Jones win).

From a Republican perspective, the whole thing was a fiasco. Jeff Sessions was out of the Senate and later fired by Trump. I lost a tough race. Liberal Democrat Doug Jones won in Ruby Red Alabama, thereby destroying Trumps presidential momentum and reviving a despondent Democrat Party.

Which brings us back to the 2017 White House Christmas Party.

A Christmas Party tradition is getting a photograph with the president and first lady. You get in line, stand by the Trumps when it is your turn, take the photo, and move on. The photo part is a quick 30-60 seconds. In and out.

I asked my wife, Martha, if she wanted to do the photo thing, given our disdain for President Trump and his breaking his word. She replied, Of Course I do! Its the White House Christmas Party!

Being an obedient husband (sometimes, at least, and, like a lot of husbands, always somewhat fearful of provoking a wifes ire), I deferred to her request.

When we got in line, I quipped to Martha, You know, maybe we ought to ask President Trump why he broke his word, cost us the election, and helped elect liberal Democrat Doug Jones. What do you think?

Martha shook her finger at me and proclaimed, This is a Christmas Party! Its supposed to be fun! Dont you dare bring up the Senate race!

At that point, I decided to have some fun and rib my bride a little. So, as we waited in line, I kept wryly saying, I dont know. Maybe now is the best time to ask President Trump! You never know if you will get another chance. Each time Martha gave me her evil eye and said You better not!

When we reached the photograph room, an impressively dressed Marine Corps officer gave us instructions: President and Mrs. Trump have been standing for photos for a long time. When its your turn, quickly stand next to the Trumps, look at the camera, smile, take the photo, then leave. I will remind you to be fast with a move along motion with my hands (he demonstrates by swinging his arms from right to left, above the knees).

The Marine Corp officer escorts us. I continue to grin and rib Martha about asking Trump why he broke his word. I get the You better not! evil eye reply each time.

When we reach the lines end and face the Trumps (who are 10-15 to our left), the Marine Corps officer announces us in a loud, booming voice (just like on TV): Presenting the Honorable Congressman and Mrs. Mo Brooks.

Martha and I take one step towards Trump when protocol goes out the window.

Instead of waiting for us to reach him, President Trump leaves Melania in his shadow, beelines past Martha like shes not even there, grabs my right forearm with his left hand, and vigorously shakes my right hand as if we were long lost best buddies who hadnt seen each other in years!

As President Trump maintains his two-handed grip, he loudly asks, Mo! Mo! What happened? You were our guy! You were our guy! We would have won that Senate seat if you were our nominee!! What happened?

I was stunned almost speechless.

My initial reaction was to candidly tell Trump he created Alabamas Senate race debacle when he broke his word. But then I remembered Marthas stern warnings, that I lived with Martha, and I better not mess up the Christmas Party!

So, with my life flashing before my eyes, I replied, Mr. President, it was that dad-gum Mitch McConnell. He made this mess and cost us a Senate seat. While still vigorously shaking my hand, President Trump retorted, Yea, that Mitch McConnell. I hate he did that! (this is a cleaned-up version of Trumps actual words).

In the meantime, Melania Trump is standing alone, where President Trump left her, so, although Martha is also stunned and bewildered by Trump, she visits with Melania Trump as, for about five minutes, Trump persists in shaking my hand and talking about Alabamas Senate race and the poor Marine Corps officer continues waving his arms back and forth, giving the faster, faster signal, in hopes the photo will be taken and we will leave.

Eventually, after President Trump runs out of things to ask and say, we move to our places, get the photo taken, and move out.

Martha and I were still stunned as we headed home. We could not understand how Trump either did not know or would not admit to and apologize for causing Ruby Red Alabama to lose a gimme Senate race.

Later, I described to my fellow Congressmen and a White House staffer or two what happened and asked them what our bizarre interaction with the Trumps was all about. They all said the same thing. Thats how President Donald Trump apologizes for his screw-ups, and that Martha and I should consider Trumps conduct an apology and move on from there.

Donald Trumps apology was the most unusual I ever saw, but you take what you can get. So, we did.

Mo Brooks served on the House Armed Services Committee for 12 years and the Foreign Affairs Committee for 6 years. Brooks graduated from Duke University in 3 years with a double major in political science and economics (highest honors in economics).
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday,, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (Pool via AP) AP

President Donald Trump is considering the idea of deporting American citizens who are violent criminals to El Salvador, the White House press secretary confirmed Tuesday.

So the president has discussed this idea quite a few times publicly. Hes also discussed it privately, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during her daily briefing.

These would be heinous, violent criminals who have broken our nations laws repeatedly, and these are violent repeat offenders in American streets. Leavitt said.

The press secretary said the deportations would only go forward if the law allows, adding that Trump and his administration is doubtful it would pass legal scrutiny.

The president has said, if its legal, right? If there is a legal pathway to do that, hes not sure. We are not sure if there is, she said. Its an idea that he has simply floated and has discussed very publicly in the effort of transparency.

Over the weekend, Trump said he would love to send violent American citizens to El Salvador after President Nayib Bukele said he would accept them.

Well, I love that, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, according to the Hill. If we could take some of our 20-time wise guys that push people into subways and that hit people over the back of the head and that purposely run people over in cars  if he would take them, I would be honored to give them.

I dont know what the law says on that, but I cant imagine the law would say anything different, he said. If they can house these horrible criminals for a lot less money than it costs us, Im all for it, but I would only do according to the law.

I think if we could get El Salvador or somebody to take them Id be very happy with it. But I have to see what the law says, Trump said.

Earlier on Tuesday, a divided U.S. Supreme Court found that President Donald Trump can use the 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center prison in El Salvador, a finding Trump called a GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA! in a social media post, according to the Associated Press.

But the justices also decided people accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang have to get a chance to challenge their removals  a finding their lawyers called an important victory.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris shake hands before the start of an ABC News presidential debate at the National Constitution Center, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) AP

Following a six-day vacation in Hawaii and after returning to Washington for her final month as vice president, Kamala Harris came to a counterintuitive conclusion about her 2024 presidential election loss: She just needed more time.

She could have won, she told friends, if only the election was later in the calendar  or she got in earlier, writes Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes in Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House, a new book chronicling last years unorthodox presidential campaign. In other words, Joe Biden was to blame. If only he had not run.

While former President Bidens unpopularity surely weighed on Harris truncated 107-day candidacy, the idea that the Democratic ticket wouldve performed better with more time struck even some Harris allies as farcical.

Harris enjoyed her best polling in the wake of Augusts Democratic National Convention, when she leaped ahead of Donald Trump in some polling due to the new burst of energy stemming from Bidens late departure from the race.

The more straightforward analysis, Allen and Parnes write, is that more time was not in Harris favor.

That is (expletive) bonkers, one Harris friend is quoted telling the authors. If Election Day was October first, we might have actually somehow pulled it off. Shorter was actually better, not longer.

A Harris adviser said it wasnt time that was the campaigns problem, but rather ideas.

I dont think we needed more time. We needed more sand, the adviser is quoted saying. We needed more substance. And she did not have more substance.

A spokesperson for Harris did not respond to an inquiry seeking reaction to the books account.

After largely withdrawing from the public square since Trump was sworn into his second term, the former vice president appeared at a summit for Black women leaders in Dana Point, Calif., last week.

Im not going anywhere, Harris told the audience.

Will Harris run for governor?

Harris is weighing a run for governor to succeed Gavin Newsom, and Jen OMalley Dillon, the campaign chair for her presidential run, told her she could wait a full year to decide on a 2026 campaign, according to the book.

If the 60-year-old Harris launches a run for governor, she would begin as the favorite, even as a crowded field awaits her decision. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Congresswoman Katie Porter, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaragiosa are among the declared contenders.

But if Harris chooses the gubernatorial contest, it means shes likely shut the door on pursuing the 2028 presidential race, which will be an open-seat contest without an incumbent. Its an option that would be significantly tougher given the scars from her 2024 loss.

Allen and Parnes book detail the significant early reservations Democrats had about Harris as a national candidate, even as these same operatives, donors and politicians wanted Biden to step aside.

Of preferring Harris to Biden, one veteran Democratic operative is quoted saying, Well, at least she has a pulse.

Even as pressure ramped up for Biden to exit the race, his own top aides mobilized a behind-the-scenes campaign to undercut Harris potential.

They were aggressively saying that we would wind up with the vice president and that would be a mistake, one Democratic donor said.

Pelosis view of Harris

While she was instrumental in orchestrating Bidens eventual ouster, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also portrayed as being against Harris candidacy from the outset.

Pelosi didnt want Harris, didnt think the vice president would prevail in a competition for the nomination and didnt think she would beat Trump, the book says.

She doesnt like Harris, one Pelosi confidant told the authors.

One surprising anecdote revealed in Fight is how Trump handled Harris concession call the morning after the election.

You gave me a run for my money, Trump told her, demonstrating a flash of grace to an opponent he consistently disparaged privately as well as publicly. Youre tough. You ran a great campaign.

_____

2025 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.










English News Seeing China through its bridges: a tapestry of time and innovation

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 1 Avril 2025



From ancient stone bridges arching over quiet streams to modern steel spans that pierce the sky, from tangible roadways connecting cities to cultural bridges fostering deeper human connections, China's bridges are more than architectural marvels - they are expressions of a civilization in motion. Rooted in history yet reaching toward the future, they stand as invitations for the world to cross, to connect, and to journey forward together.

Zhou Shanshan, People's Daily A recent viral video of a foreign vlogger extolling the beauty of Chinese bridges has sparked widespread intrigue. "Bridges in China are like this," she observed, awed by the grandeur, exquisite craftsmanship, and refined elegance of these structures - a visual testament to the nation's modern development.



Today, China boasts over one million bridges - spanning rivers, crossing lakes and seas, stretching over deep valleys, and linking rugged mountains. From centuries-old masterpieces to cutting-edge engineering feats, they offer an unparalleled window into a civilization that blends reverence for its past with an unyielding drive for modernization.



Take, for example, the Luoyang Bridge in Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian province. Built in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), this ancient cross-sea bridge exemplifies the ingenuity of ancient Chinese engineers. It was one of the earliest Chinese bridges to utilize floating construction techniques, easing the burden of manual labor. Its oyster-based foundation was designed to withstand crashing waves - a critical innovation that helped connect Chinese inland regions with bustling maritime trade and transform regional commerce.



Contrast this with the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou province. Once completed, it is set to become the world's tallest and longest-span bridge in a mountainous region, constructed with high-strength steel cables that could encircle the equator twice. With the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System guiding its construction, this engineering marvel will cut travel time across the canyon from two hours to just two minutes, promising a transformative impact on regional connectivity and industrial vitalization.



China's bridges tell the story of relentless innovation and resolve, as generations of engineers have surmounted challenges to carve roads through mountains and build bridges over water.



The intricately carved stone lions on Beijing's Lugou Bridge, once hailed by Italian traveler Marco Polo in the 13th century as "one of a kind in the world," speak to the legacy of time-honored craftsmanship. Likewise, the ancient Zhaozhou Bridge in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei province, with its graceful open-spandrel arch, remains a masterclass in balancing form and function.



These bridges are more than feats of engineering; they are cultural artifacts - poetic bridges of the past and striking modern masterpieces that capture the human spirit. Bridge engineering in China combines mechanics with aesthetics, creating enduring structures that reflect the country's cultural values and artistic sensibilities.



Moreover, China's bridges extend far beyond its borders. The China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, for instance, has ended the Maldives' history without bridges, while the Chinese-built Peljesac Bridge in Croatia and the Maputo Bay Bridge in Mozambique have enhanced connectivity and driven economic growth. These projects underscore China's role in global infrastructure, where bridges serve not just as engineering triumphs, but as enduring symbols of connection, cooperation, and cultural exchanges.



Beyond their structural role, bridges in China have taken on a deeper cultural significance. Whether it is through the mythic narratives of animated films like "Ne Zha 2" and immersive experiences in video games such as "Black Myth: Wukong," or in the steady hum of innovation in new energy vehicles and home appliances, these modern "bridges" offer global audiences a glimpse into China's creative and technological vitality.



From ancient stone bridges arching over quiet streams to modern steel spans that pierce the sky, from tangible roadways connecting cities to cultural bridges fostering deeper human connections, China's bridges are more than architectural marvels - they are expressions of a civilization in motion. Rooted in history yet reaching toward the future, they stand as invitations for the world to cross, to connect, and to journey forward together.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > Low-altitude economy lifts off as Chinese automakers enter the eVTOL era China expands efforts to boost global e-commerce cooperation Legacy of Tea-Horse Road lives on at China-Laos border Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
I know. Youre tired of pundits opining on the unconstitutionality of various courts declaring that Trump cant fire people or that he must send USAID money, keep sex deniers in the military, and so on. In those cases, the judges often get outside their lanes, accepting cases that Congress assigned to other courts or not to the courts at all.

For example, Congress explicitly ordered that immigration cases have to go through immigration courts. The appeal from those courts is through the Circuit Court of Appeals, bypassing petty tyrants such as James Boasberg, who, if youve been listening, isnt on an Immigration court. Hes a judge in a District Court, the level that Congress said should never see an immigration case. Theres also good authority that, when it comes to alien enemies, the courts are out of the picture entirely. But the Supreme Court sits on its thumbs.

Its time to change gears. Once again, were in the Southern District of New York, based in Manhattan (like Judge Boasberg). But this time, the Judge is Edgardo Ramos, and the case is Calce v. City of N.Y. This should have been a really simple one. Calce (and several others) work in New York City. Co-plaintiff Kennedy lives in Connecticut. All of them would like to buy stun guns to carry for self-defense. The Supreme Court has made it clear that the mere threat of losing a constitutional right is enough to get them into court. They dont have to get arrested first. Thank heaven for small favors.

Image by Grok.

But thats all Calce gets. Shes in the communist court for New York, which has no regard for the law. I know you think Im overstating the case, but hear me out. New York Penal Law  265.01 bans possession of stun guns. Simply having one is enough to get you thrown in jail. The law is explicit. You dont have to have any kind of criminal intent. But this 1985 law is blatantly unconstitutional. Dont take my word for it. Well get there in a bit.

The problem isnt that the law is unconstitutional. Its that the judge doesnt care that its unconstitutional. And he gives the same degree of concern to his standing as a judge of an inferior court. No, that doesnt mean that the District Court isnt as good as others. It means that, as Hebrew National hot dog ads said, he answers to a higher power. Or at least hes supposed to.

Article III of the Constitution opens with The Judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. That means that the District Court is at the bottom of the food chain. Between it and the Supreme Court lies the Court of Appeals for its Circuit. The Circuit Court is the court designed to correct reversible error. If the District Judge screws up, its the Circuits job to fix it. Above the Circuit is the Supreme Court, which is designed to solve the tough cases and, in the words of John Marshall, affirmatively declare what the law is. In doing that, it establishes precedents for the lower courts to apply.

Once a precedent is established, the inferior courts, both Circuit and District, are obligated to follow it. As District Judge Hendrix said in U.S. v. Rahimi, he would rather rule differently, but he is constrained by the Fifth Circuits decision in McGinnis. This Court cannot depart from that precedent unless and until the Fifth Circuit or the Supreme Court directs otherwise.

Unfortunately, those lower courts in blue states love to ignore the plain language of Supreme Court decisions. On gun cases, as Mark W. Smith notes in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, some lower courts have seized upon a single sentence in Bruen that states that [w]hile the historical analogies here and in Heller are relatively simple to draw, other cases implicating unprecedented societal concerns or dramatic technological changes may require a more nuanced approach.

In other words, we can forget the clear statement by the Supreme Court that says that weapons in common use for peaceful purposes are fully protected. That ruling means you cant outlaw ARs, AKs, and their standard 30-round magazines. Instead, these courts allege that the development of semiautomatic firearms and their accessories constitutes an unprecedented societal concern or dramatic technological change.

Basic facts dont concern blue courts. They simply want to figure out a way to dress up their politics as law. But the Calce case takes the cake. When Heller became the law of the land in 2008, it wasnt clear if the Second Amendment applied to state-level actions. However, the McDonald decision in 2009 made it clear that all the rights in the Bill of Rights applied to citizens in every state. Then, on point for our discussion, the 2016 Caetano decision should have completely settled the stun gun question.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court had held that stun guns were not protected. They offered several reasons, all of which were rejected by the US Supreme Court. In short, stun guns are in common use for lawful purposes, per Heller, and are therefore protected in every state by the Second Amendment. We should note that Calce is even in the same Circuit as Caetano. An honest judge would say something similar to what Judge Hendrix said. Instead, in an act of blatant judicial disobedience, the court upheld New Yorks ban on stun guns.

This same sort of confabulation is found in the 9th Circus Court of Appeals ruling in Duncan v. Bonta. We can skip the shenanigans that this liberal Court pulled in getting past the Supreme Courts explicit directions in Heller and Bruen. California bans high capacity magazines that hold more than ten rounds. Somehow, like the stun gun in Calce, if you are in a specific communist state, your right to keep and bear arms doesnt exist.

The fact that literally billions of these magazines are used by citizens for lawful purposes doesnt matter to them. Somehow, they arent arms to be protected by the Second Amendment. But remember that the Amendment doesnt protect firearms. It protects arms, which is a much broader term. And while youre at it, watch Judge Lawrence VanDykes brilliant video dissent.

The Supreme Court clearly stated in Heller that the government must prove that an arm is not protected. As Stephen Halbrook notes, it is not the plaintiffs burden to establish common use but the governments burden to show an arm is not in common use. Calce and Duncan have courts turning that standard on its head. Leftist judges arent doing these gymnastics in just gun cases. Judge Boasberg is turning backflips in immigration cases where he doesnt even have the authority to rule. Welcome to NewSpeak, where up is down.

I cant yet support plans to impeach judges or eliminate billets, but I hope that the Supreme Court will promptly take appeals to the rulings by these subversive judges. SCOTUS has relisted Ocean State Tactical v. Rhode Island multiple times without granting cert. Its a clone of Duncan. Multiple other similar cases are in the pipeline. The great mystery is why SCOTUS is dawdling. Its time for a major league smackdown on insubordination by inferior courts.

Much of this could be fixed by Chief Justice Roberts, who is the ultimate supervisor of the lower courts. A few phone calls would clarify that hes p/o-ed at lower courts dissing the Supreme. Many of those cases will be dead on arrival at SCOTUS, so dont waste our time with your petty rebellion. America deserves better.

Unfortunately, I dont see Roberts having the spine to do his job.

Ted Noel is a retired physician who posts on social media as Doctor Ted.
China's top legislator holds talks with Finnish parliament speaker

Xinhua) 08:24, April 08, 2025

Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, holds talks with Jussi Halla-aho, speaker of the Finnish parliament, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, held talks with Jussi Halla-aho, speaker of the Finnish parliament, in Beijing on Monday, calling for the joint creation of a favorable and stable legal environment for practical cooperation.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Finland, Zhao said China stands ready to work with Finland to implement the important consensus reached between their heads of state to advance the future-oriented, new-type cooperative partnership between the two countries.

China hopes that Finland will continue to uphold the one-China principle, understand and support China's legitimate rights to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and consolidate the political foundation of mutual trust, he added.

He said that China is deepening its comprehensive reforms and expanding its high-level opening-up, which will bring new opportunities for bilateral cooperation. He highlighted China's willingness to deepen exchange between political parties, as well as exchange in the fields of culture and youth, to strengthen public support for bilateral relations.

China hopes that Finland will continue to play a positive role in promoting the development of China-Finland relations and China-Europe relations, Zhao said. He added that the NPC of China is willing to maintain its traditional friendship with the Finnish parliament, and stands ready to strengthen exchange and cooperation among legislative bodies at high levels and among specialized committees, bilateral friendship groups, and NPC deputies and parliamentarians.

He said that both China and Finland possess unique characteristics in areas such as national governance, development concepts and innovation systems. Their two legislative bodies can engage in mutual learning and exchange, fulfilling their legislative and supervisory functions to create a favorable, stable legal environment for practical cooperation, and enhancing coordination on multilateral platforms such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Zhao spoke about China's whole-process people's democracy, and expressed a willingness to strengthen exchange with the Finnish parliament in developing democracy and improving the rule of law.

Halla-aho said that as a historically significant country, China has achieved remarkable progress in areas such as science and technology, adding that Finland adheres to and will continue to implement the one-China policy, and recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government representing all of China.

He said that Finland is committed to advancing practical cooperation, maintaining free trade, and addressing shared challenges based on mutual respect and trust. The Finnish parliament, he added, looks forward to enhancing its engagement with the NPC of China to play a proactive role in deepening Finland-China relations.

Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, holds talks with Jussi Halla-aho, speaker of the Finnish parliament, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
I count myself as one of the lucky ones to have grown up without the distraction of cell phones, social media, and the lure of the internet. That is why I am glad to see the growing movement to ban cell phones from schools. This movement is reinforced by Trumps new Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Kennedy recently announced he is working with various states to remove all cell phones from schools in what many are dubbing the Bell to Bell initiative. Secretary Kennedy believes cell phones are not only detrimental to a childs mental health, but have also been shown to cause physical damage to the health of children and adults. In mid-March, Kennedy told Fox News:

Cell phones also produce electromagnetic radiation which has been shown to do neurological damage to kids when it's around them all day and to cause cellular damage and even cancer. So cell phone use and social media use on the cell phone has been directly connected with depression, with poor performance in schools, with suicidal ideation, with substance abuse. And you know, the other countries that have done this, and the states that are doing this have found that it is a much healthier environment when kids are not using cell phones in schools -- and the teachers love it!

Cell-phone bans are not a new concept, but they have gained renewed attention due to the increasing prevalence of smartphones in young people's lives. According to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center, nearly 95% of American teenagers have access to a smartphone (Pew Research Center, 2018). This widespread use has led educators to reassess the role of cell phones in the classroom, particularly with the growing concerns that smartphones may distract students from their academic work.

The primary reasons cited by schools for banning cell phone use include:

Distraction: Cell phones are often seen as a major distraction during class time. Studies show that students who use their phones in school tend to have lower academic performance compared to those who do not (Beland & Murphy, 2015). Texting, social media, and gaming are just a few examples of activities that can divert students attention away from lessons.

Cyberbullying: Smartphones can also facilitate bullying, especially through social media platforms. Research has shown that students who are victims of cyberbullying are more likely to experience depression and anxiety (Kowalski et al., 2014). By limiting phone use, schools hope to reduce the opportunities for such harmful behavior.

Mental Health: Concerns about the impact of social media on students' mental health have also led to increased calls for cell phone restrictions. Excessive screen time has been linked to various mental health issues, including sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression (Twenge, 2017).

Academic Integrity: Cell phones can also be used for cheating during tests and exams. Banning phones during assessments is one way to maintain academic integrity.

A study conducted by the London School of Economics in 2015 examined the effects of a cell phone ban in middle schools across the United Kingdom. The research found that student test scores improved by an average of 6.4% after the ban was enforced (Beland & Murphy, 2015). This suggests that limiting cell phone use during school hours can lead to better academic performance, particularly in subjects like mathematics and reading.

In addition, schools that enforce a strict no-phone policy have reported fewer instances of bullying and lower levels of anxiety among students (Kowalski et al., 2014). By reducing the temptation for students to engage with social media or use their phones for malicious purposes, these policies can contribute to a more positive school environment.

A renowned social psychologist at NYU, Jonathan Haidt, has been influential in fueling the Bell-to-Bell cell phone ban movement. He believes a phone-based childhood is causing an anxious generation of children. He promotes evidence showing that social media and cell phone use have rewired childhood and created an epidemic of mental illness in children.

Haidts research on the subject prompted him, in the spring of 2024, to ask parents and teachers to take action and recognize the fact that cell phone use before the age of 14 and social media use before the age of 16 is unhealthy and damaging to children. Haidt has therefore advocated aggressively for cell phone-free schools to foster a healthier environment for children.

Haidt cites published research showing that the period between 2010 and 2015 changed, childrens lives so rapidly that we call it the great rewiring of childhood' This is precisely the period in which teen mental health began to collapse in many countries around the world, he continued. Haidt believes the use of social media and cell phones is a disaster of epic proportions and we must roll it back.

Across the U.S., school districts are increasingly adopting strict cellphone policies. One notable example is the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which introduced one of the most stringent cell phone bans in the nation. Starting in 2024, LAUSD required that students lock their phones in pouches that can only be unlocked at the end of the school day.

California is not the only state pushing for stricter phone policies. According to a March 31 article written by Clare Morrell for Commonplace, schools and districts in at least 14 states have implemented bans on the use of cell phones during the school day. Axios reported in December, 2024, that at least 11 states were considering legislation to ban or restrict cell phone use in schools, and governors in Arkansas, New Hampshire, Iowa, Nebraska, and New York had either called for bans or indicated they would explore such policies in 2025. More and more states are looking at the practice of banning or restricting cell phone use during the school day.

In New York City, the nations largest school district, a 2015 ban on cellphone use in classrooms was reinforced to curb distractions. While the policy ended after Mayor Harold Bloombergs administration, the New York State legislature imposed a whole-day ban on cell phones on April 3 under a new budget agreement aimed at improving childrens mental health.

In Texas, several districts have followed suit by implementing similar policies, noting improvements in classroom behavior and focus. Virginia adopted a statewide bell-to-bell cell phone ban for K-12 public schools in September 2024. Governor Ron DeSantis restricted cell phone use in the classroom in 2023. He stated the ban has improved the school classroom experience for children and teachers. South Carolinas Department of Education (SCDE) drafted a policy in the summer of 2024 that would ban the use of cell phones and other electronic communication devices in classrooms by 2025. A provision in South Carolinas FY2024-25 budget stated that school districts must implement the policy or they risk losing state funding.

Other states are offering grants to encourage the practice of banning cell phones. Starting in September 2024, the state of Arkansas approved grants for school districts statewide to help implement cell phone restrictions in the classroom, recognizing that prohibiting or restricting the use of cell phone use by students is complex because they can be necessary for learning and doing research.

Image: Pexels/Mart Productions
Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny  Thomas Jefferson

With all due respect to Jefferson, sometimes that perversion happens quickly. Such is the case in America, where half our governments have launched a war on a quarter million years of biology in what seems like two weeks

Of course, sometimes biology sucks. My wife and I never had children. We tried but never could. Sometimes, Gods plan doesnt go the way you hope. We had a dog, however, Lady, a beautiful pointer we got when she was a puppy. One day, when she was about seven, she suddenly stopped eating. We took her to the vet, and it turned out she had pancreatic cancer.

The next day, while she was still recovering from exploratory surgery, he told us there was no hope. He said he could wake her up and send her home with us, but shed only last a couple of weeks and be in pain the whole time. We obviously couldnt do that, and said goodbye as he gave her the shot.

Image by Vince Coyner.

It was excruciating. We poured all our parental love into a puppy whose whole life was about having fun and being around us. It was almost unbearable to lose her. We cried for days. It was, and remains, the most painful thing Ive ever experienced, and Im old! I loved that dog more than almost anything on the planet. I certainly liked her more than most people I know.

To most people, this probably sounds crazy, and maybe it is. But heres the thing: At the end of the day, as much as we loved her, we knew Lady was a dog, not an actual person. We werent raising her to be a good person, to graduate from college, or to raise a family. But some people get that opportunity with actual children...and they abuse it.

In terms of people abusing their children, there are too many stories to tell, but here Im addressing only one aspect of that abuse: the government.

The government plays a role in the raising of children. I dont mean they are or should be raising Americas children. No, just the opposite. But the government does have a role to play in a functioning society, such as enforcing laws, providing a framework for resolving disputes, protecting the rights of citizens, etc.

But thats not the government Im talking about. No, Im talking about the government that not only facilitates parents abusing their children but actively participates in the abuse itself.

The whole point of biology is to perpetuate the species. The whole point of civilization is to strengthen and perpetuate culture. When the government undermines those things, it becomes illegitimate. Case in point. Colorado.

Last week, the Colorado House gave initial approval to a bill that would classify misgenderingthat is, referring to a person by their actual, biological sexas a crime if that person pretends theyre something else. Whats more, It would also consider misgendering by a parent coercive control and require courts to consider it when deciding child custody cases.

So, a Colorado father who recognizes that his son is actually male and refuses to refer to him as a girl just because his college-educated liberal Munchausen-by-proxy-addled wife wants to turn little Johnny into little Jane could actually lose custody. (Its almost always college-educated liberal Munchausen-by-proxy-addled women who do this.)

This is not hypothetical. A father actually lost his parental rights to his boys because the mother, who wanted to castrate one of them, left Texas and moved the boys to California. Once there, the state sided with her .

This is insanity. Humans have been on Earth for 250,000 years, and for all that time, there were two sexes, male and female. While you have a tiny fraction of people who genetically didnt fit in either camp, that doesnt make it normal, just as the existence of Siamese twins doesnt make having two heads normal for humans.

The reality is that the trans psychosis that has infected the United States is the result of grooming-obsessed LGBT activists seeking to normalize that which is not normal, politicians seeking to empower themselves by promoting victimization, and a hypocritical medical system , as opposed to a Hippocratic system (first, do no harm), that profits at the expense of childrens physical and mental health.

Biology tells us that humans are men or women. Theres nothing in between beyond genetic mutations. Throughout human history, across the planet, the dominant family structure was built around what wed call a nuclear family , with a mother and a father and their biological children at the core. Throughout history, the household structure might change (such as including grandparents or servants), but the core of a nuclear family persisted. Why? Because its demonstrably the most reliable organization for the perpetuation of culture and the species.

But somehow, in the last 20 years, weve decided that not only is the millennia-long definition of marriage as something between one man and one woman no longer valid, but also that the most basic element of human biology, the definition of men and women, is somehow fluid.

If that insanity only applied to adults, it might at least be arguable, but thats not whats happening. Were seeing governments embrace mental illness on an epic scale and use their police powers to help parents butcher their children, and often do so at the urging of hospitals that make money off the blood of those victims.

Somehow, this grooming cabal has convinced enough voters that this travesty is sufficiently normal that governments are now enforcing it.

The thing I dont understand is how some parents can be so disconnected from human nature that theyre willing to butcher their children or give them medicines with the potential to destroy their lives . Nor do I understand others who, even if they have straight kids, are willing to vote for a government that butchers other peoples children and allows tweens to make life-altering decisions before they can legally vote or drink beer. Hell, I hated clipping Ladys nails because I was scared Id hurt her!

If youd have told me 20 years ago that almost every state would have transgender clinics where they mutilate children and that half of the population would live in states where the government is complicit in this madness, I would have said youre crazy.

But thats where we are. In the best of circumstances, when adults transition (which is, of course, a fantasy), theyre 12 times more likely to be suicidal than those who dont get the operation. The consequences for children are likely far higher.

Its bad enough that parents sometimes abuse their children for their sick fantasies. That half of state governments help them do so is disgraceful. A government that refuses to protect children and enables their mutilation has lost all legitimacy. Donald Trump should threaten to withhold money going to any state that supports this  education, transportation, Medicare, Social Security, and every single dollar if the state doesnt outlaw this butchery. Sure, theyll whine, but thats a small price for saving the tens of thousands of children whose lives would be destroyed by this butchery every year.
But he hasn't got anything on, a little child said.  Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperors New Clothes

I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.  Attributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto after the Pearl Harbor attack.

One of the things you learn if you travel extensively, both at home and abroad, is that Americans are, for the most part, very nice people with a live-and-let-live attitude when it comes to those with different ideas. If youve seen Matt Walshs Am I Racist?, those moments when polite Americans listen to him spew woke race insanity are representative of Americans as a whole.

Thats a significant reason why leftists have made so many inroads into American culture: They portrayed their dysfunctional ideas (love all Muslims, no matter how violent; love all transgenders, no matter how manifestly insane) as nice. However, now that the leftist mask is off in a thousand different ways, Americans are awakening to the fundamental, ugly nakedness of leftist ideas, and they may, finally, stop being nice. In other words, we may finally be witnessing the sleeping giant filled with resolve to return to normal American values.

YouTube screen grab (cropped).

I say this because of a story out of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Its a giant university and, of course, really, really leftist. However, it turns out that, at least in one classroom, both faculty and students are fed up with the pro-Hamas cadre and are no longer willing to give it any quarter, something unimaginable at a public university just a year ago:

A pro-Palestine student group alleges that two students were violently assaulted on Wednesday by a professor for interrupting a class at the University of Colorado Boulder. A video posted on the Buffs for Palestine Instagram page shows edited footage of the incident, which the CU Boulder Police Department is investigating.

For those who have been tired of seeing campuses overtaken by keffiyeh-wearing radicals supporting Hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to the brutal murder of the Jewish people, the video is refreshing. In the video, you can see shrieking womenits always womenexpress shock that their antics are being checked. Indeed, one of those hysterical women, wearing her little COVID mask, speaks to a very sympathetic local CBS news show to describe the absolute horror of her experience.

If you ignore her drama, what the video actually shows is that terrorist supporters tried to interrupt an educational experience, a form of trespass, and, after repeatedly being asked to leave, were routed, an appropriate response to trespassing. You can see more fully how the whole event played out here, with it very clear that these women were not victims but were, instead, perpetrators:

The university, of course, offered the usual Were taking this seriously response, but its not entirely sympathetic to the protestors. Its worth noting in this regard that the organization behind this classroom appearance, the Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine, had already run afoul of CU Boulder in October, when Biden was still president. Think about thatits an organization too extreme even for an American college.

The comments to the CBS video are probably not the oozingly sympathetic responses the trespassing women or the female media personalities expected:

So much for we were going to just leave if asked. You were told to leave and did not. She needs to be expelled from the school. Stop supporting terrorism Trying to get it to stop? dont barge in to interrupt classes. protest in the public spaces provided at the school. she is not a victim. she caused the entire confrontation. Those 3 individuals had no business interrupting the class; then playing the victim card because the professor and students had the courage to stand up to terrorist sympathizers. Not understanding way those individuals faces are being blurred; that's what terrorists do. There are reasonable time & place restrictions on protests & speech for a reason. Just go to class and learn, stop being activists...we are all sick of activism you fools She should be arrested. I am disgusted by these activist students. They have no clue of reality. What is wrong with her? How mad is she had her parents that she has to demonstrate her daddy issues why is she covering her face? If shes so proud of being an activist this little brat needs to be arrested and suspended from see you immediately. Do not give her any publicity other than her jail time. Stop this now.

Yes, there were a few pro-protestor comments, but the overwhelming majority were fed up.

The responses to the Denver Post video without any color commentary were no more encouraging:

What did she expect was going to happen. Just like hamas ...starts a war and whines when they are dealt with. There are guidelines regarding protesting. Rights are granted to be able to protest (as they should), but you can't just disrupt a class, any more than you can block people from entering a store. so cringe

I know that this is only one incident, but I also know that courage is contagious, especially when people are allowed to acknowledge realitywhich is why I headed this essay with a quotation from The Emperors New Clothes. The American people want to be nice, but when they realize that the niceness thats been sold to them is actually the skinsuit of a vicious ideology (whether leftism or radical Islam)...well, maybe the sleeping giant awakes and leftists will find that their disruptive and often violent protests no longer receive a polite reception.
The one-party blue gang running Los Angeles better not make newly appointed U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli angry. They wouldn't like him when he's angry.

Essayli has a history of combativeness in the California statehouse towards thieves and wokesters over voter I.D. men using the little girls' restrooms, leftist spendathons, and other hot button issues. He cut his political teeth in the Lake Elsinore area of Riverside County, which is rock-solid conservative. That made him just right to President Trump for the job of U.S. Attorney General for Central California, which includes Los Angeles.

Now with him on the job, we see this:

 Wow - now that US Attorney @billessayli has joined forces with a very unhappy district judge Carter to investigate waste, fraud and criminal activity with LAs homeless $, I expect theyll find a lot of crime & not hesitate to lock people up.



If I were @MayorOfLA https://t.co/wHjs33XwEm  Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD (@houmanhemmati) April 7, 2025

That's a good start. But he's got quite an Augean stable of corruption to work with.

In Los Angeles, the homelessness czar has resigned her position suddenly, against a backdrop of $2 billion unaccounted for.

According to the Los Angeles Times late last week:

Va Lecia Adams Kellum, the head of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, announced her resignation Friday, just days after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to strip her agency of more than $300 million and hundreds of workers. In a letter delivered to the agencys board of commissioners Friday afternoon, Adams Kellum said that due to the boards decision to shift key responsibilities from LAHSA to the county, now is the right time for me to resign as CEO.

She leaves behind this:

It's time for the grift to end. $2.3 billion of our $2.8 billion spent on homelessness in LA is missing & unaccounted for. This is more than incompetence; this is corruption that warrants prosecution. Meanwhile, 7 homeless people die on LA streets nightly because of this fraud. pic.twitter.com/2kCIg66msj  Sam Yebri (@samyebri) March 28, 2025

Karen Bass cant account for 2 BILLION dollars in homeless funds and a federal judge is threatening to commandeer control of city homelessness spending. pic.twitter.com/uDywg8nbDV  Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) March 28, 2025

It's an absolute scandal that they have no idea where that cash went under this person's leadership.

The homeless are as numerous and miserable as ever, suggesting the cash probably didn't land their way.

Campaign coffers, luxury vacations, like state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has spent his tenure taking, or any of a number crony shovelouts may be likely places where it did, and Essayli is going to find it, DOGE-like in his doggedness.

It's telling that this person left office ahead of the time when she said she would, and right when Essayli took office.

It sounds like there may be fire where there's smoke in this festering corruption sump of a city.

It appears that Essayli, an unusual Republican who likes to fight leftists, and who has allied with Ric Grenell, has hit the ground running. Let's keep an eye on him, because he may rise to higher things if, like St. George, (his ancestral country of Lebanon's saint who's cherished by both Christians and Muslims,) he can take these monsters down.

Image: Official picture // public domain
Mississippi was the second-fastest growing state in the last quarter of 2024, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Output per person in the Magnolia state increased faster than any state besides Arkansas.



One set of data might be a fluke, but then the previous quarterly data told a similar growth story. We are starting to see a trend as Mississippi takes off economically.

Mississippis been stuck at 50th out of 50 for so long, some struggle to believe we could be anywhere else. But the truthis that our per capita GDP zipped past Britains in 2023 and is set to overtake Germanys this year. If the explosive growth from late 2024 keeps up, well leapfrog several U.S. states in the next decade. That last place label? Its starting to peel off.

Whats behind this turnaround? Free market reforms -- plain and simple. Mississippi was held back by high taxes, stifling regulations, and cartels -- especially the one under the Capitol dome in Jackson -- calling the shots.



A generation ago, Mississippis economic development strategy was to send long-serving politicians to Washington D.C. to hustle for handouts. If federal subsidies made a state rich, ours would have been the wealthiest state in the Union.



But today, were growing because bold leaders -- backed by the support of voters -- are pushing pro-growth policies:



Tax Cuts: Since we started trimming the income tax to a flat 4% in 2022, the Mississippi Development Agency estimates theres been a whopping $19 billion inward investment. Businesses are flocking here, confident that their payroll taxes will tumble. Flexible Labor Market: Already an at-will employment state, Mississippi passed a little-noticed law in 2021 to ease occupational licensing. Local boards are increasingly under pressure to reduce onerous red tape. Business-Friendly Planning: While other states drown companies in approval processes, Mississippi rolls out the welcome mat. Cheap Energy: Two new data centers are coming, and theyll need oodles of electricity. Good thing Mississippis natural gas and nuclear keep our electricity cheap -- around 13.43 cents per kWh versus Californias wallet-busting 34.26 cents. Affordable energy is turbocharging our growth.

Mississippi has only adopted pro-growth policies only because a handful of bold conservative leaders have been prepared to fight for them. Just three weeks ago, our Senates current leadership was maneuvering against income tax elimination.



Imagine what we could achieve if the Senate was on board with free-market reform? Were surrounded by states with school choice, but our Senate blocked even a modest public-to-public option. Healthcares tangled in certificate of need nonsense, and Senate leaders killed that fix too.



Mississippi is on the rise, but we need to double down on pro-growth reforms, especially school choice.

Douglas Carswell is the President and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

Image: Michael Rivera
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The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department is apparently, an institution held hostage. Yesterday, the New York Post revealed that law enforcement had recently released new information about Audrey Hales mindset before she went on a shooting rampage against elementary-aged school children, coming from her own writings:

Being white sucks, but being black is so cool. Black people should rule. White people should fall, every white person who lived and died. I hate you all, wrote Hale, who was white.

Now we already knew that Hale held a deep-rooted animosity toward white people, a fact we learned when some of her manifesto was published about eight months after the shooting, but the language above just wreaks of the leftist narrativein this case, the anti-white racism given new life by Barack Obama, and kindled into the raging fire its been since.

The same anti-white racism that seemingly just got Austin Metcalf killed at a high school track meetif you havent seen, the official report is out and it matched preliminary information. Karmelo Anthony, the young black man who stabbed Austin Metcalf through the heart, was sitting under a tent shade that was meant for athletes of the school Metcalf attended, and when Metcalf asked Anthony to move, Anthony immediately escalated the situation, daring Metcalf to make him move. When Metcalf did, Anthony plunged a knife into him. No one can convince me that Anthony genuinely believed he was in danger when Metcalf went to move himrather, Anthony has been told by progressive public school teachers, mainstream society, and Democrats politicians that white people are evil who owe everything they have to the blacks, even their lives.

And, Hales writings suggest that she was operating under the same set of beliefs: being white sucks and every white person should fall? Sounds like shes reading out of a Critical Race Theory textbook. She also wrote about her tremendous anger over not being able to access so-called trans care earlier in her life, and how much she hates the American people as its not the land of the free but of idiots. Again, shes speaking the leftist gospel.

But, according to the Nashville cops, Hales motivations were nothing more than notoriety, because as they claim, she simply wanted her writings published and featured in museums.

Give me a break; this is just another reminder that leftism always comes with the shedding of innocent blood, and leftists will always be right there to hide the connections.

As a side note: Im fully expecting (and therefore predicting) Karmelo Anthony to be the new Rosa Parks, with Anthonys refusal to move from under another schools sunshade to be compared to Parkss refusal to move to the back of the bus. I mean, hes already raised more than $200k via crowdfunding, so there seems to be a lot of support for himhes being rewarded for killing a white kid.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license.
The bodys immune system is a surveillance and attack force. It functions normally as a protective mechanism against such invaders as viruses, bacteria, and malignant cells. It is actuated by cellular and chemical mediators. In auto-immune disease, normal bodily structures functioning as nature intended are perceived as invaders, and are attacked by a population of abnormally reactive immune mediators.

The underlying causes of auto-immune diseases remain unknown. Their activation is loosely ascribed to genetic predisposition (many tend to be familial) or environmental events (triggered by viral infection). Nearly 100 auto-immune diseases have been described. In lupus, many structures and organ systems are attacked. In type 1 diabetes, its pancreatic islet cells. MS attacks the nervous system. A wide variety of tissues are targeted.

Similarly, the Progressive Movement arises from a population of abnormally reactive social justice warriors who relentlessly search out and respond aggressively to perceived threats arising from a society functioning in response to the realities of human nature and nature itself. If you dont agree with Obama, you are a racist and need to be neutralized.

The cause of progressivism is better defined than that of auto-immune disease. At its root are egomaniacal control freaks who need to wreak revenge on those elements of society they choose to blame for its perceived social injustices. They need to rework the social environment into one in which they both control and feel vindicatedand they grant themselves the moral obligation to do so! In order to accomplish this, they stoke the oppressed, aggrieved, discontent legions into a relentless attack on the existing social structure. The legions  activists, media pundits, academics, the victimized  function as the cellular and chemical mediators of a misdirected immune system.

The progressive mediators, as those in auto-immune diseases, attack a broad spectrum of targets: amelanotic skin, sex chromosomes, testosterone, merit, national borders, fossil fuels, closed ballot boxes, Christianity, cows, conservative speech, school choice, law enforcement, the rich, Trump, MAGAand Teslas.

Auto-immune diseases tend to be chronically debilitating. The Progressive Movement has similarly delivered us to a state of partisan paralysis.

There are no known cures for auto-immune diseases. And as long as feelings of persecution and a need to project blame for personal grievances onto others persists in the human psyche, so will progressivism, or its mutation, persist as a diagnostic code in the manual of social disorders.

Image from Grok.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas progressive, is at it again, opening her mouth to demonstrate for us again how empty her head is.

Here she is, in action:

Rep. Jasmine Crockett: So I had to go around the country and educate people about what immigrants do for this country The fact is ain't none of y'all trying to go and farm right now... We done picking cotton.



pic.twitter.com/cS7BwCvTnu  ALX  (@alx) April 8, 2025

What did I just watch?

According to Black Enterprise:

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett has landed in hot water again for her words. The congresswoman was called out for a cotton-picking comment she made while defending immigration. Crockett, who represents Texas 30th district, appeared at the Grace Baptist Church 125th anniversary program over the weekend to get real with her constituents. During her speech, she spoke about the necessity of migrants to the U.S. economy, despite Trumps ongoing deportation threats. Onsite reposted the footage of her controversial remarks. So I had to go around the country and educate people about what immigrants do for this country or the fact that we are a country of immigrants. The fact is, aint none of yall trying to go and farm right now, she said to attendees. Noticing the silence, Crockett emphasized her assertion that Black Americans were not trying to fill the agricultural jobs that many migrants perform. Okay so im lying, raise your hands, she jokingly questioned as the crowed began to laugh. Youre not. We done picking cotton. We are. You cant pay us enough to find a plantation.

Number one, the thought of Crockett 'educating' anyone about anything at all is nausea-inducing.

But more to the point, she seems to be calling for illegals to serve as slave labor in agriculture, or on "plantations," as she put it, which is pretty disgusting, given that many illegals do face that kind of fate, not in agriculture, but in food processing plants and other urban occupations. She seems to be calling for illegals to serve as slave labor as many black people did more than a century ago, which shouldn't endear her to black people, illegals, or anyone else.

She also indicates that she doesn't see any dignity in doing agricultural labor -- "picking cotton" as she put it, which as Black Enterprise noted, is pretty insulting to black farmers, of whom there are many. In her ignorant mind, agricultural work is just slavery affecting other non-black people now, so no worries.

But that silence she ran into from her black church audience is telling, too.

She seems ignorant or unaware of the reasons why illegals have long been a sore point in the black community.

Lesson one is that illeggals aren't looking for agricultural labor. Actually, they are looking for urban jobs in the same places black people are looking for them, driving down black wages and shutting black people out of the starting rungs of many occupations.

They are coming for black jobs -- in construction (you need to speak Spanish to get hired now, senor), manufacturing, day care, health care, groceries, and a host of other jobs found in cities.

Today's illegals generally don't even know how to perform farm labor, coming as they do from the third world's urban lower middle classes, many the descendents of conuco farmers who were kicked off their lands, moved to shantytowns ringing huge megacities, and making enough money for the trip to the states.

There are illegals in agriculture, of course, people who perform necessary specialized labor operating huge machinery which harvests cotton and other crops, but they aren't driving down anyone's wages. They are often longtime residents well known to farmers, having come to the U.S. years earlier owing to the need for seasonal labor. They are people who are overdue for guest-worker status and should be given it. The recent migrant surge is not about a quest for farm labor jobs picking cotton, as if anyone even did that by hand any more anyway.

It's about Crockett's idiocy and contempt for ordinary people, insulting black people, farmers, agricultural workers, even illegals -- calling on them to pick her cotton like she's the plantation owner now.

It's also about Crockett's essential phoniness, speaking to a black audience as if she knows what it's like to be a slave and pick cotton and they do, too, which isn't true of any of them, so she can talk to them this way. Everyone knows she went to elite private schools and doesn't speak in a down-home accent -- except around them.

Any questions as to why Democrats are performing so poorly in the polls?

Image: Screen shot from X video
Today was a sort of good day for Donald Trump at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court stayed U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xiniss insistence that Trump immediately return to America Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an illegal alien and MS-13 gang member, who is now in an El Salvadoran prison. That was a non-substantive ruling and the substantive issues will have to be addressed once the matter goes back to Xinis. The seemingly big win was the Courts saying that U.S. District Court James Boasberg lacked jurisdiction to override Trumps decision to deport 250 Tren de Aragua gang members. I maintain, though, that this was a Pyrrhic victory.

Heres a quick background to catch you up on things:

On March 15, 2025, Donald Trump, acting under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA), announced that Tren de Araguas presence here was a predatory incursion perpetrated against America by Venezuela and ordered that its members be immediately deported. Accordingly, 250 were put on a plane and flown to El Salvador. U.S. District Court James Boasberg issued an invalid minute order (no explanation for his ruling, despite the mandate of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure) in which he held that the deportation was illegal, and he ordered the plane turned around. The plane did not turn around. There are also detainees in Texas who were caught up in the same AEA net.

Since 1799, the courts have held that Congress intended to vest in the president all authority and discretion under the Act, including the right to make a mistake. After all, the president can be kicked out of office every four years; the judges cannot. The Supreme Court last affirmed this vast power in 1948s Ludecke v. Watkins.

This Supreme Court, while slapping down Judge Boasbergs ruling, concluded that the courts still have power to determine matters under the AEA but that the power must be exercised in the jurisdiction where the declared enemy is located.

In this particular case, Boasberg had no such jurisdiction over the detainees already on the plane, while those who havent yet been shipped out are in Texas, far from Boasbergs courtroom. So, those cases go to the Fifth Circuit courts, which are more conservative.

The real problem is that the Supreme Court emphasized that every person named as an alien enemy under the AEA is entitled to judicial review. This is insane because it means that the judiciary will, once again, take unto itself the power to control foreign policy.

While this standard currently applies to the 18-20 million ordinary illegals that Biden let in (something no legislator or judge ever contemplated when immigration laws were passed or reviewed), it cannot possibly apply to the AEA, which is a question of foreign policy solely under the executives purview. (Sadly, though, Bondis DOJ actually gave the Supremes this opening, so part of the responsibility for this ludicrous holding is on her.)

And keep in mind that the AEAs purpose is simply to send enemies back home, not to execute them or even imprison them. It just gives the president the power to repatriate people he, in his constitutional foreign policy discretion, believes are dangerous enemies. The only reason these Tren de Aragua guys are going to a prison in El Salvador is that Venezuela, as part of its predations against the U.S., is refusing to repatriate its own citizens.

The big fight now is going to be over detained Tren de Aragua members who claim to be younger than 14, the statutory limit in the Act. Since none have papers, theres no way to know their ages. And while the Fifth Circuit probably wont let this go by, its still an easy opening for leftist courts to say that bearded men with basso profundo voices are under 14 and must stay in Americaand every man gets his day in court.

Many are celebrating, but I believe this is a bad decision.

Image by Matt Popovich. Public domain.
Summary: Samsungs 5-year-old flagship smartphones have reached the end-of-life, they wont be getting any more updates. Were talking about the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and Galaxy S20 Ultra phones that have been launched in February 2020.

Samsungs 5-year-old flagship smartphones have reached end of life at this point. The devices in question are three Galaxy S20 flagships, the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and Galaxy S20 Ultra.

The Galaxy S20 series reached end-of-life, it will not longer be getting updates

The company has confirmed this by quietly removing all three phones from the list of supported devices. This happened following the April 2025 update announcement. As a reminder, the One UI 7 started rolling out yesterday, along with April 2025 security update.

With that being said, One UI 7 is still not rolling out to the US. It will start on April 10. The Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy Z Fold 6, Galaxy Z Flip 6, and the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition are the first phones getting this update.

Lets circle back to the devices in question here, the Galaxy S20 series. All three of these phones have been getting security updates up to this point. Theyve been announced in February 2020, so it has been over 5 years since that happened.

Samsung is offering even longer support for its flagships these days, but that practice was not in motion back then. All three of these phones will stop getting software support from this point.

The arrival of these devices was a milestone launch for Samsung

The Galaxy S20 series was actually a milestone launch for the company. It followed the Galaxy S10 series phones which arrived in 2019. The Galaxy S20 Ultra was, interestingly enough, the very first Ultra phone from Samsung.

Whats also interesting is that the Galaxy S20 series was not particularly popular for the company. Well, based on Samsungs Galaxy S series standards, of course. Still, itll remain remembered as being a milestone launch for Samsung.
Summary: Samsung will reportedly post a 21% drop in its operating profit for the first quarter of this year, largely due to the companys struggling chip business. Challenges in the foundry division and delays in kicking off production in its new US chip facility have made things worse for the company.

Samsung has been struggling with its chip business, which has been massively hurting its profitability in the last few quarters. Reports from the past month suggested that the company has even apologized to its shareholders regarding its financial situation. While the company assured that reverse the situation, things arent looking good just yet. Samsung will reportedly post a big drop in its first-quarter profit tomorrow, mainly due to struggles in its chip business.

Samsung to post 21% drop in its profit for Q1 2025 as chip business struggles

According to a report by LSEG SmartEstimate, Samsung could post a 21 percent drop in its operating profit for the first quarter of 2025. Samsungs operating profit for the January-March quarter was reportedly 5.2 trillion KRW ($3.62 billion). Thats a significant drop from 6.6 trillion KRW ($4.5 billion) reported in the same period last year.

The report further claims that Samsungs chip business is to blame for this massive drop. The company is experiencing sluggish sales of AI chips and has been facing losses in the contract-based chip manufacturing business.

To catch you up, Samsung has been struggling with falling chip profits since last year. The company has been lagging behind its direct rival, SK Hynix, when it comes to supplying advanced memory chips to AI chip giant NVIDIA.

Samsungs struggle in the high-end market has left it relying on Chinese customers, who are in search of low-end memory chips. Thats not all; prices of Samsungs other memory products have also dropped. The prices of DRAM and NAND flash chips are reportedly down by 25% and 50%, respectively. This also means the companys profit is also taking a hit elsewhere.

The foundry division is also making things difficult for the company

Not to mention, Samsung is having several problems with its foundry division. It hasnt been able to seal any big deals for advanced chips. The company might also delay the start of production at its new chip facility in the US. Although initially planned for next year, reports hint that the production might kick off in 2027.
Summary: Some Google AI employees are getting paid to do nothing. Google would rather pay them than lose them to competitors. Noncompete agreements are also an issue in the UK, it would seem.

A rather interesting new report has surfaced. Google is allegedly paying some AI employees while they dont do any work. The company doesnt want to risk losing them to rivals, which is why.

Some Google employees are getting paid to do well, nothing

The information is coming from Business Insider and is related to Googles AI division, DeepMind. The competition between Google, OpenAI, and other companies is seemingly so fierce, that Google is willing to do this in order to retain talent.

Its reported that DeepMind is actually resorting to Aggressive noncompete agreements for some of its AI staff in the UK. That basically prevents them from working for competitors.

Noncompete agreements are an issue for some Google employees in the UK

It is worth noting that in the US, FTC banned most noncompetes last year, but that doesnt apply to the UK. In this case, the report is related to DeepMinds London branch. Well, its the companys London headquarters, actually.

Another interesting detail comes from Microsofts VP of AI. The information was published last month, when he said that DeepMind staff are reaching out to him in despair. They find it difficult to expace their noncompete clauses.

TechCrunch has asked Google for a comment related to all this, but has not received it just yet. All in all, its very interesting, for several reasons.

The competition in the AI sector is fierce

The competition in the AI space really does seem to be that fierce. Google is willing to pay employees to do nothing just to retain them in the company. Losing them to rivals is basically the worst-case scenario.

Chances are that some other companies are doing the same, but we havent heard anything about that just yet. Many companies see AI as both the present and the future, and quality employees are hard to come by.
Summary: Two US senators have asked Google and Microsoft for information on their AI deals with Anthropic and OpenAI. They are concerned about these tech giants monopolizing their access to AI companies and gaining an unfair advantage.

Googles deal with Anthropic gives it an edge in the developing AI market, but it also raises some concerns. US senators are asking some pointed questions to Microsoft and Google over their deals with AI companies.

An emerging monopoly?

It is not an exaggeration to call AI the biggest thing in the tech industry right now. Every major player is trying to come up with the best AI model, and competition is fierce.

This cut-throat competition is good for innovation, as it forces companies to continuously improve their services. It is better for the industry at large too, since more useful solutions are likely to come out as a result.

But US senators have doubts over the deals Google and Microsoft have been striking with the AI frontrunners. Microsoft has partnered with OpenAI, while Google has invested in Anthropic. This raises some real concerns about the consolidation of power in this key field.

On the surface, their partnership is very natural. AI companies need immense computing power to train their models, which these cloud providers can offer.

The problem is that these cloud providers have very deep pockets, and can end up influencing or outright buying these AI companies. If that happens, can other organizations looking to use AI products expect a level playing field? Or will Microsoft and Google use their leverage to give themselves an advantage, stifling competition?

Lawmakers are waking up

Legislation has been slow to catch up with the quickly developing AI space. Things have been progressing very rapidly with little to no pushback from the administration. But finally, things are changing. Two Democratic US senators  Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon  are starting to ask the tough questions.

The senators inquiry is looking to address any potential issues arising from Microsoft and Googles AI deals. Specifically, they want to know whether these cloud providers get exclusive rights to any AI models and whether they have plans to acquire the AI companies.

There is a possibility that these deals might be in a violation of antitrust laws, which would invite punitive action. The government wants to ensure healthy competition in the AI space, preventing any monopoly from cornering the whole market. This is especially important for a tool as powerful as AI, which is quickly becoming an essential component in many industries.
Summary: The share value decreased this morning for several Japanese game companies due to US tariffs. Companies impacted by the tariffs include Sony, Nintendo, SEGA Sammy, Konami, and a few others.

The share value for several Japanese game companies is seeing a sharp decline due to tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, with values decreasing for the likes of Sony, SEGA, Bandai Namco, and many others.

It should be noted that the tariffs are going to impact more than just Japanese game companies. This means the share value is likely going to fall for other game companies as well, if they havent already. The decreasing value for companies like SEGA and other game publishers in Japan was spotted by Wccftech around 5AM Eastern Standard Time this morning. Which is 2AM Pacific Standard Time on the West Coast.

So its highly likely that values for shares of publishers in other parts of the world have already started showing signs of similar decline. With regards to the Japanese companies, Sony reportedly saw the biggest decline at the time of the original report, with a noted slightly higher than 10% decrease in share value. Sony is said to be followed by Nintendo at a decrease of around 7.85%.

The biggest Japanese game companies that are losing share value

While Sony and Nintendo appear to have been hit by the biggest decreases in share value, theyre far from the only two that are seeing the drop. Koei Tecmos value has seen a reported decrease of 7.63%, while Bandai Namco dropped by about 7.37%. SEGA Sammy and Capcom have seen a share value decline by 7.29% and 6.61%, respectively.

Square Enix and Konami round out the remaining companies that were mentioned. With a share value decrease for Square Enix sitting at 5.62%, and Konami sitting at 5.19%.

Will Nintendos drop in share value impact the Switch 2 price in the US?

This isnt a certainty. That being said, some US consumers are worried the price of the console will now go up. A large number of consumers were already unhappy with the listed price for the Switch 2. Nintendo announced the Switch 2 last week during the Switch 2 Direct. While it didnt announce the price during the livestream, prices went up on the Switch 2 landing page. The console will reportedly retail for $449.99. There will also be a bundle version for $499.99 that comes with Mario Kart World.

At these prices, an increase due to tariffs would potentially price some consumers out. Meaning it would be outside of the budget of certain consumers. The Nintendo Switch 2 was supposed to go up for pre-order on April 9. However, Nintendo has delayed pre-orders in the US. Prices are also going up for some Switch 2 games.
Summary: A complete Vivo X200 Ultra color lineup has been confirmed by the company. All three colors are shown, and theyre notably different, which is a good thing. Black, Red, and White/Silver colors are coming. The Vivo X200 Ultra is the companys flagship that will launch on April 21.

The Vivo X200 Ultra is right around the corner, and it will arrive in three color options. Vivo has decided to show us all of the phones colors prior to launch. Along with that, the companys Product Vice President, Huang Tao, also said that the Vivo X200 Ultra is a pocket smart camera that can make calls.

That actually does sound as an accurate description as this will likely be one of the best camera smartphones on the market. The Vivo X200 Pro is arguably up there, and this one will only amplify that.

The entire Vivo X200 Ultra color lineup has been shown/confirmed

In any case, lets get back to the phones colors. Its coming in three different shades, all of which you can see below. It will be available in Black, White/Silver, and Red colors options. We still dont know their official names, though.

It seems like Vivo will use glass on the back of all three of these models. The thing is, the White/Silver and Black models do have different patterns on the back. We wonder if theyre under the glass, or not. Chances are they are, though.

The Red model does not have a special pattern on the back, but its arguably the most eye-catching color out of the three shown here. These three are the only colors well get, almost certainly.

The device will become official later this month

The Vivo X200 Ultra will launch in China on April 21. The company confirmed that not long ago. It will launch alongside some other devices, like the Vivo X200s, for example.

If youre wondering about the phones global launch, well its likely we wont see that happen. Vivo did not confirm anything just yet, however. This phone is expected to feature two 50-megapixel cameras (Sonys LYT-818) on the back and a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto one (ISOCELL HP9).
Summary: Google is rolling out its advanced scam detection feature to the Pixel Watch family. It will only be available on the Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 3. This also wont work with every single phone or in every situation.

Scam detection is a feature that Google rolled out for the Pixel smartphones, and now the feature is making its way to Googles Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 3 smartwatches. Google officially rolled out scam detection for the Pixel 9 series back at the beginning of March.

Scam detection works with phone calls and messages, and allows either of them to pick up whether or not the call or message is likely a scam. Its capable of recognizing suspicious activity that may have otherwise snuck by, and is one of several protections Google has put in place to prevent users from being scammed. It works by analyzing common conversation patterns that are used by scammers.

As noted by Droid Life, the scam detection for Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 3 devices is part of a surprise update that Google started pushing out on April 7.

Scam detection on Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 3 requires a Pixel 9

While the Pixel Watch 2 and 3 will pair with just about any Android phone, including older Pixels, youll reportedly need a Pixel 9 for the scam detection feature. Google confirms that you will need a Pixel 9 or later for this feature to work on the watch.

Although scam detection is available on the Pixel 8, it uses on-device machine learning. The version thats on the Pixel 9 is powered by Gemini Nano. Although Google doesnt mention anything about the AI model in its community post, it seems like the Pixel 9s version of scam detection is needed for it to work on the watches.

This doesnt work on LTE

To be more clear, watches that have LTE support will have access to this feature. However, the scam detection will not support the LTE connection. It will only work if its connected to your Pixel 9 or later smartphone through Bluetooth. So this might limit some users. At the very least, itll limit when you can access the feature. Google says that for right now, its also limited to a US rollout. Only English is supported as well.

That being said, users can expect Google to expand on this. Likely adding support for more regions and languages in the near future. Scam detection will also need to be set up on your phone to work on the watch. You can access this from the settings menu in the Phone app.
Some 75 firefighters were involved in quelling a major wildfire in the Mourne Mountains in Co Down.

The blaze in the Bloody Bridge area, which raged across a two-mile front, was described as dealt with on Tuesday evening while the cause remained under investigation.

However, firefighters were tackling another blaze close to Bloody Bridge in the Slieve Bearnagh area, with three appliances at the scene late on Tuesday afternoon and operations expected to continue into the evening.

The wildfire in the Bloody Bridge area of the Mourne Mountains has now been dealt with. More than 75 Firefighters were involved in tackling a fire front of 2 miles.Read more here https://t.co/zgR4tHmrRM  Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (@NIFRSOFFICIAL) April 8, 2025

The continuing blazes came after a major incident was declared at the weekend when a large wildfire close to the Mournes led to homes being evacuated. That blaze is being treated as arson.

Firefighters have tackled almost 150 blazes in the area since Thursday night.

An amber wildfire warning is expected to remain in place until the end of the week, with the forecast for increasing temperatures in Northern Ireland heightening concerns of further ignitions.

Police said they were using air support and other specialist units to survey the area for potential suspects, to spot fires early, and alert those who may be at risk.

First Minister Michelle ONeill described the fires as devastating (Rebecca Black/PA)

First Minister Michelle ONeill described the destruction and devastating, and said there is no option but for ministers to work to prevent wildfires.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament Buildings in Belfast on Tuesday afternoon, Ms ONeill said: Something more must be done, whenever we look at what has happened over recent days, it is absolutely devastating to see these fires rage right across the Mournes.

There is no option for ministers to do anything other than action, and I think what has been called for in terms of plans are a necessity, and Ill work with the ministers responsible.

But its a time for everybody to put their heads together to ensure that this doesnt happen and where it can be prevented we need to do everything we can to ensure it is prevented.

Ms ONeill added she had been due to go hiking in the Mournes herself with the conservationist group the Hiking Hens at the weekend.

Its such a beautiful area, something that we very much value and cherish, she added.

Thats all in jeopardy because of what we see unfolding.

Starting fires deliberately is dangerous and can have extreme consequences. Fires can easily spread and can pose a serious risk to life, property and the environment.Info and advice: https://t.co/4v5JoU9fjF @NIFRSOfficial @healthdpt @daera_ni @PoliceServiceNI pic.twitter.com/EyQoNdg5Qj  nidirect (@nidirect) April 8, 2025

A Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) spokesperson said firefighters also tackled wildfires in other areas on Tuesday.

In Western Area Command, firefighters were called to gorse on fire in the White Bridge area of Ballygawley, Co Tyrone at 1.57pm, they said.

There are currently four fire appliances and over 20 firefighters battling a one-mile firefront.

Whilst firefighters have been in attendance at these wildfire incidents, NIFRS continues to respond to other emergencies in the community including a house fire in Newry and a fire in a flat in Belfast.

Firefighters were also called to a potential aircraft incident in Enniskillen earlier today, however, no action was required on arrival.

A yellow warning for wildfires is in place. Please follow our fire safety advice and stay area from these areas. If you see a fire please call 999 immediately.

Superintendent Norman Haslett, PSNI district commander for Newry, Mourne and Down, said wildfires pose a real threat to the homes, farms and lives of the people in the areas affected, as well as to the environment and wildlife.

He said officers believe some of the recent blazes were started deliberately.

We have implemented dedicated patrolling and are utilising all the capabilities of our air support and other specialist units to survey the Mournes to help us locate potential suspects, spot any fires early, and alert those who may be at risk or in any imminent danger, he said.

We are liaising with our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service to try to determine which fires have been maliciously started and people who are found to have deliberately set any of these fires should be under no illusion that they will face legal consequences for their reckless actions.

On Tuesday evening, Sinn Fein MLA Aisling Reilly said a fire was burning on Black Mountain in west Belfast.

She said: Black Mountain is an environmental treasure, and its absolutely shocking to see a fire burning on it tonight.

This threatens wildlife and natural habitat on the mountain, and the surrounding community.

I understand fire appliances are currently at the scene and I would encourage the community to allow them space while they deal with the fire.

If the fire was started deliberately, those responsible must face the full force of the law, and I would encourage anyone with information to bring it forward.
Anthony Albanese, out on the election campaign trail on Tuesday to pledge new mental health funding, recalled the confronting struggle of a friends niece who almost died due to an eating disorder. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Anthony Albanese became visibly emotional while recalling the mental health struggle of a family friend who nearly died, as he launched Labors $1bn pledge to boost access to treatment and counselling.

The prime minister recalled being shocked as a young man by the difficulties faced by his friends niece and said many Australians have issues that we need to talk about more.

[She] ended up in Royal Prince Alfred [hospital] with an eating disorder, Albanese told a Tuesday morning press conference in Sydney. I was still pretty young at the time. I hadnt seen anything like that.

She almost died. She is now well and has children of her own. But that was really confronting.

Albanese also recalled speaking to the parents of a young woman called Charlotte, who took her own life, and praised their bravery. He said her experience was one of the reasons his government sought to introduce age restrictions on social media platforms.

In general, it is quite clear that young men and young women have issues that we need to talk about more, Albanese said. When I was my sons age, no one talked about these issues. I went to school with people and you knew there was an issue, but it wasnt defined and wasnt acceptable.

Labor has pledged $500m for 20 youth specialist care centres, as well as $225m for 31 new and upgraded Medicare mental health centres, and $200m for expanding or starting 58 Headspace centres.

The youth centres will be focused on addressing the missing middle: complex needs that can be addressed outside hospitals, such as personality disorders, eating disorders and early psychosis.

Related: Alarming surge in mental ill health among young people in face of unprecedented challenges, experts warn

The health minister, Mark Butler, said the Coalitions previously announced competing policy of doubling the number of Medicare-backed mental health sessions would create a bottleneck that means tens of thousands of Australians get no help at all by piling more demand on private psychologists.

The shadow minister for health, Anne Ruston, welcomed the additional funding for Headspace centres but dismissed Butlers criticism as disappointing.

You would not ration a medical service in any other situation in the health sector, Ruston said. So I dont know why this government thinks that you should ration mental health services.

We have seen through the Productivity Commission that  the number of new people that are coming on, getting access to these sessions, has actually gone backwards to the lowest level in a decade.

The announcement was welcomed by mental health experts including Mental Health Australia, Headspace and Orygens Patrick McGorry, who called it a breakthrough. McGorry joined Peter Dutton in Melbourne last week when the Liberal leader announced new funding for a Headspace centre in Melton.

Asked on Tuesday if he thought the Coalition might take money out of the mental health budget, McGorry said: No, I dont think they will.

I think the prime minister already mentioned that this is, generally speaking, a bipartisan achievement of our country, McGorry said.

Im very proud of our country, that we built this system to the extent that we have already  This announcement is very strong from the government. Young people arent interested in politics, they just want to get services.
It's a boy! Disney Animal Kingdom announced the birth of a new prince, a Masai giraffe named Tucker. The 6-foot baby made his grand public debut at Disneys Animal Kingdom on Monday, April 7, and is the first giraffe born there since 2021.

As you'll see in this short and sweet video People Home shared on Monday morning, Tucker is already up and running about, exploring his new home. In the video, he is surrounded by his grandma Kenya, big sister Maple, and friends Willow and Aella. I love how the other giraffes are so protective of the sweet boy!

He's adorable! People shared in the video's caption that they shared more about Tucker on their site, so I headed over to learn more about the new arrival. Tucker is one of eight Masai giraffes on Disney property in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and the first giraffe born there since 2021.

Another thing that makes Tucker's birth special is that this year coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Disney Conservation Fund (DCF), and his big debut was made just in time for Earth Month!

Related: Memphis Zoo Shares a Day in the Life of Their Baby Giraffe and Its Precious

More about Tucker, Disney Animal Kingdom's Newest Baby Giraffe

Jenn Hernandez, a savanna manager for the west savanna team at Disney's Animal Kingdom described Tucker to People, "He is brave; he does want to investigate new things, but he's also very calm like his dad Twiga." Hernandez goes on to say. "He has this nice calm energy, even though he's experiencing new things - like today, he's being so brave out on the savanna!"

I thought it was cute when Hernandez added that the baby giraffe is figuring out his own body parts, "so his tongue is one of his favorite toys" at the moment!"

Tucker's proud parents, mom Mara and dad Twiga, will continue to live on the savanna with him. The two welcomed their new bundle of joy on February 13th. The first few months, Tucker remained hidden from the public, spending time with his mom eating, sleeping, and exploring their indoor and small outdoor enclosure. He's now since been introduced to the rest of the herd, and visitors can look for him on the savanna.

Tucker's birth is important not only to his Disney family but also in terms of their conservation efforts since Masai giraffes are endangered. There are only about 30,000 left in the wild, as a blog post from Disney Parks shared. Hopefully, he'll live a long and happy life and someday welcome his own children onto the savanna!
Baby girl makes history as first child born in the UK from a transplanted womb

A baby girl has made history as the first child in the UK to be born from a womb transplant.

Grace Davidson, 36, from north London, received the organ  also called the uterus  from her older sister, Amy, in the UKs first womb transplant in 2023.

Now, following the huge success of the procedure, she has given birth to baby Amy Isabel, named after her aunt and a surgeon who helped perfect the technique.

The news gives hope to thousands of women born without a womb or whose womb fails to function.

Mrs Davidson, an NHS dietitian, and her husband Angus, 37, who works in finance, are over the moon with their new arrival.

Baby Amy was born by planned NHS Caesarean section on February 27 at Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital in London.

Grace and Angus Davidson with Amy (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

Mrs Davidson said she felt shock when she first held her daughter, adding: We have been given the greatest gift we could ever have asked for.

She told the PA news agency: It was just hard to believe she was real. I knew she was ours, but its just hard to believe

Our family are just so happy for us. It sort of feels like theres a completeness now where there maybe wasnt before.

Mrs Davidson said she felt shock when she first held her daughter (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

Mrs Davidson was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH), a rare condition that affects around one in every 5,000 women, meaning they have an underdeveloped or missing womb.

However, the ovaries are intact and still function to produce eggs and female hormones, making conceiving via fertility treatment a possibility.

Before receiving the donated womb, Mrs Davidson and her husband underwent fertility treatment to create seven embryos, which were frozen for IVF in central London.

Grace Davidson was born with the rare condition Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

Mrs Davidson then had surgery in February 2023 to receive the womb from her sister Amy Purdie, 42, a former primary school teacher, who is mother to two girls aged 10 and six.

Several months later, one of the stored embryos was transferred via IVF to Mrs Davidson.

Amy, who weighed 4.5lb, was delivered several weeks early in the planned 90-minute Caesarean section, to ensure a safe, hospital-based delivery.

Mrs Davidson and her baby stayed in hospital for about a week to establish breastfeeding.

Amy Purdie, right, donated her womb to her sister, Grace, to enable the birth of the niece who shares her name (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

The new mother said: The first couple of weeks were tricky because she was so sleepy, and we were struggling to kind of keep her awake enough for her feed, but shes doing really well.

She had a bit of jaundice to start with, and she needed a bit of light therapy, but shes a stronger feeder now, and shes more alert.

She will kind of wake herself up when she wants a feed, which is nice.

Amy was born by Caesarean section at Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital in London in February (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

She added: Its lovely to be at this stage where we can get snuggles and its really special.

Mr Davidson said the moment his daughter arrived was very emotional.

She came out crying, and we were a bit worried she would be whisked off to an antenatal ward, but shes been with us every minute of her life so were so grateful for that, he said.

It had been such a long wait. Wed been intending to have a family somehow since we were married, and weve kind of been on this journey for such a long time.

Having waited such a long time, its kind of odd getting your head around that this is the moment where you are going to meet your daughter.

The room was full of people who have helped us on the journey to actually having Amy.

We had been kind of suppressing emotion, probably for 10 years, and you dont know how thats going to come out  ugly crying it turns out!

The room was just so full of love and joy and all these people that had a vested interest in Amy for incredible medical and science reasons.

Grace and Angus Davidson with the hospital teams who enabled Amys birth on February 27 (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

But the lines between that and the love for our family and for Amy are very much blurred  it felt like a room full of love.

The moment we saw her was incredible, and both of us just broke down in emotional tears  its hard to describe, it was elation.

Mrs Davidson said the couple always had a quiet hope the womb transplant would be a success.

It was quite a long run up to the transplant, maybe eight years or so, and we kept thinking it might get ruled out for various reasons, she said.

But once we had the transplant, I think we were hopeful that things were going to work out.

But it wasnt really until she arrived that the reality of it sunk in.

The couple said they definitely wanted another child (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

She added: Lots of womb transplants fail in the first two weeks so even just to get to that point was amazing, and having my first period was really amazing, because it showed it was working.

What helped us through the tough times was sort of thinking this is all going to be worth it

Im so grateful, its given us so much.

She said the couple definitely wanted to have another child.

Mrs Purdie, who lives in Scotland, was not at the birth but was only a phone call away.

Amy Purdie, right, said watching her sister and brother-in-law become parents has been an absolute joy (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

She said: Watching Grace and Angus become parents has been an absolute joy and worth every moment.

She added: Its been amazing, as it would be for any auntie, but this is particularly special.

Mrs Purdie said she did not hesitate to think about donating her womb to her younger sister once the living donor transplant programme became a possibility.

It was very natural, Mrs Purdie told PA.

Because we had followed Grace on the plan of a deceased donor, we had gone on the journey with her.

And then when she mentioned that there was this opportunity, immediately both me and my older sister, Laura, and our mum  we all said we would do it. There was no question about it.

Amy Purdie, right, said her mother and sister had also volunteered for the womb transplant (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

Mrs Davidson was diagnosed as having no womb when she was 19 and found out about womb transplants at the same time.

It was very much at the research stages, but the consultant said this might be available in my lifetime, she said.

The year before we got married, I just sort of Googled it and found out there was a research team, and there was an email address, so I emailed them.

We basically got recruited from 800 women down to 10, I think, and that was purely for the deceased donor trial.

We were on that for maybe three years, and then the living donors really took off as a possibility.

The team suggested to me that we might want to consider that. I think they thought wed probably have a family sooner if we went down that road.

Professor Richard Smith, holding Amy, has been working on womb transplant research for 25 years (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

Asked how having a diagnosis of MRKH has affected her life, Mrs Davidson said: I think its hard to know at the time of diagnosis, its hard to know how its going to affect you.

I probably already knew that I wanted to be a mum. There was never any question, and so it was just devastating, to be honest

I sort of just felt a huge sadness over me.

She said some situations would be upsetting, adding: I used to just get triggered by seeing a mum with a pushchair, its really ordinary stuff and it would kind of catch you by surprise.

Mrs Davidson said she hopes women in a similar situation will now have more options going forward.

Angus Davidson said the moment his daughter arrived was very emotional (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

Like heres this wonderful baby, and theres that real desire in me, like an innate desire, to be a mum, to carry my baby and to know them from the earliest moment.

So, I think just knowing that that is an option this is huge, when it wasnt there before.

During her pregnancy, Mrs Davidson took immunosuppressants to ensure her body did not reject the womb.

She said it was an easy pregnancy, adding: I was pretty lucky, I didnt really have much nausea at all.

I had a bit of bleeding early on, which was a concern, but actually it sort of self-resolved at about 14 weeks. And I was getting regular scans every two weeks.

I felt like I had energy right up to the point I delivered.

I was still very active and I loved the third trimester because youve got a bump, you can feel them kicking all the time. It was lovely.

Lead surgeons Isabel Quiroga and Richard Smith performed the UKs first womb transplant on Mrs Davidson in 2023 (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

The lead surgeons for the womb transplant were Professor Richard Smith, clinical lead at the charity Womb Transplant UK and consultant gynaecological surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and Isabel Quiroga, consultant surgeon at the Oxford Transplant Centre, part of Oxford University Hospitals.

Both surgeons were in the operating theatre when Amy was delivered, and her parents chose her middle name in honour of Miss Quiroga.

Prof Smith, who led the development of womb transplants in the UK, shed tears at the birth.

He said: I feel great joy actually, unbelievable  25 years down the line from starting this research, we finally have a baby, little Amy Isabel. Astonishing, really astonishing.

The surgical team at Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital at work during Amys delivery (Womb Transplant UK/PA)

Miss Quiroga said: For me, its total joy, delight. I couldnt be happier for Angus and Grace, what a wonderful couple.

It was overwhelming actually, it remains overwhelming. Its fantastic.

Womb Transplant UK has carried out four womb transplants in the UK  the first on Mrs Davidson and then three on women who received wombs from deceased donors.

It has enough cash for two further operations and is fundraising to carry out more.

Kate Brintworth, Englands chief midwifery officer, praised the NHS role in the delivery, adding: I am so delighted that Grace, Angus and their whole family have been able to welcome the miracle of Amy to the world.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told LBS Radio that the news was a medical breakthrough.

And he said that womb transplants could possibly be available on the NHS in the future.

Asked whether the procedure would ever be provided by the NHS, Mr Streeting told Times Radio: Well quite possibly.

He added: I mean, we have fertility treatment available and there are some people in our country and some aspiring parents who are not able to conceive.

And that can be a really difficult moment in peoples lives and relationships, and thats why novel medical research  IVF, for example  has been game-changing for people who otherwise would not have been able.
Northern Ireland gains from EU access under the Windsor Framework, but the whole of the UK will have to deal with the consequences of US tariffs, Hilary Benn has said.

Conservative former Northern Ireland secretary Sir Julian Smith said the Windsor Framework arrangements give the region a unique competitive advantage, while TUV leader Jim Allister claimed Northern Ireland may be used as a conduit by the EU to export goods to the US.

President Donald Trump implemented a 10% tariff on the UK and a 20% tariff on the European Union as part of a slate of international measures on what he deemed liberation day.

US President Donald Trump meeting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (PA)

The leaders of EU countries are due to vote on a package of counter-measures responding to US tariffs on steel and aluminium already in effect.

If the EU decides to impose retaliatory tariffs on goods imported from the US, they would apply in Northern Ireland as the region continues to follow the EUs rules in some areas of trading due to the Windsor Framework.

On Tuesday, the Northern Ireland Secretary said only 2% of imports to Northern Ireland come from the US, equivalent to about 800 million.

Mr Benn stated that businesses who lost out as a result would be able to claim the disparity in levy back from the duty reimbursement scheme  if the goods have not entered the EU first  and the custom duty waiver scheme.

In the House of Commons, he told MPs: Tariffs are not good news for anyone, and no-one wants a trade war.

The Government is doing everything possible to keep Britain secure during this new era of global instability, and it will always act in the best interests of businesses in Northern Ireland.

He added: HMRC is continuing to talk to and support any businesses that might be affected to help them understand how to use the duty reimbursement and customs duty waiver schemes.

Later in response to DUP MP Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann), he stated: Northern Ireland gains from the Windsor Framework because of its access  it does gain from its access to the EU market, other parts of Great Britain do not enjoy.

But there is a consequence, which is what were discussing in relation to the imposition of tariffs by the United States of America, which is a decision that the US administration has taken and all of us are going to have to deal with the consequences.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn (PA)

As Northern Ireland secretary from 2019 to 2020, Sir Julian helped negotiated the New Decade, New Approach that triggered the return of powersharing in after a three-year suspension.

He said the 2019 Brexit deal and the Windsor Framework give Northern Ireland a unique competitive advantage  10% exports and access to the single market, and asked for a rapid automatic reimbursement scheme for tariffs paid by NI businesses.

Mr Benn replied: Rapid automatic doesnt quite square with the need for the businesses in Northern Ireland that are importing American goods in the eventuality of EU retaliatory tariffs because they do have to demonstrate that theyre not then moving on to the European Union, and that does require them to provide evidence to HMRC in order to get the tariff reimbursed.

Mr Allister asked Mr Benn if he was embarrassed that he and his Government have no control over the tariffs in respect of goods imported into Northern Ireland.

He continued: Isnt the obvious and inevitable answer to repatriate to the United Kingdom control over trade laws?

And what happens if Northern Ireland is used as a conduit by the Republic of Ireland or the EU to export goods to the US? Who checks those goods and where?

Conservative former secretary of State for Northern Ireland Sir Julian Smith (PA)

DUP MP Jim Shannon (Strangford) said: The promise was made to Northern Ireland MPs that we would not be disadvantaged by any EU retentions. This is clearly not to be the case.

Mr Benn reiterated that the Windsor Framework brings benefits to businesses in Northern Ireland.

He added: The single most important reason for sticking with the implementation of the Windsor Framework is we want to negotiate closer economic relationships with the European Union, including a SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) and a veterinary agreement.

And members from Northern Ireland have on many occasions raised the consequences of the current arrangement. Things could be a lot easier if we get that agreement.

But as I have pointed out to the House many times before, if we do not honour the last agreement that the United Kingdom as a country signed by the last government with the European Union, how exactly do we expect to get a new agreement?
Concept art of the proposed Tempest fighter to be developed under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) - BAE Systems

Air power brings with it a level of complexity and agendas that makes warship planning look easy. But there is no getting away from the fact that here in the UK, we have a problem: the path we have from the fighter aircraft we have today to those we need is very, very unclear.

At the moment we have the now ageing fourth-generation Typhoon, manufactured by the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. The RAF finds that it can afford to keep 90+ of its Typhoons in a potentially flyable condition. It received 160, but 53 were the Tranche 1 model, never much good for ground attack and now basically obsolete and being got rid of. The Typhoon can at least carry lots of powerful weapons nowadays, including the long-ranging Meteor air-to-air missile and the well known Storm Shadow standoff cruise missile (though we have given away a lot of ours to Ukraine).

The only other jet we have is the F-35B, jointly operated by the Royal Navy and the RAF. It is Britains only modern, fifth-generation fighter. We have the B model, the vertical-thrust version, because this is the only one that can fly from our no-catapult carriers.

The problem with the B is that where you want to find weapons and fuel you instead find fans and flaps. Its combat radius and weapons load-out is forever limited compared to the other versions, and to add insult to injury it costs more to buy and fly as well. We also dont yet have many weapons we can put on it: just an American medium-range missile, a largely British smartbomb and a British short-range missile (but sadly this cant be carried in the internal weapons bays, so the plane is not stealthy if this is used). We dont have any gun option. At the moment we have just 34 F-35Bs, four of them test birds kept in America. We have ordered 48, for now.

f-35 B Lightning II fighter jet aircraft

Somewhat over a hundred jets, only 30 of them really up to date, is not the sort of air power that is going to deter Vladimir Putin. In particular, if we want to suppress his air defences so as to fight his army in Gulf or Libya style  that is by smashing his troops and armour unanswerably from the air, as opposed to a nasty drones-and-artillery bloodbath like Ukraine  we need fifth-gen stealth jets armed with a lot of powerful weapons and special kit.

At the moment the only plan we have for moving forward is the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a trilateral initiative between us, Italy and Japan. This is supposed to develop a sixth-generation manned fighter jet  named Tempest  to enter service in the mid 30s to replace our various existing fleets. Recently Canada and Saudi Arabia have shown interest and Australia has now been briefed.

Tempest promises to be a big beast with serious legs. It will supposedly have a wingspan of 16.5 metres and a combat radius of up to 1240 miles vs the Typhoons equivalent stats of 11.09 meters and 620 miles. So from what we know so far, its big and ambitious.

Now we get to the problems. I count three, and theyre serious.

First, where do you want it to fight? If its in Europe, then does it need to be that big? The range and size of it suggests there is an Indo-Pacific land based requirement being factored in  is that a fight we even want to get into?

Second, whilst all three lead countries have operated fifth-gen aircraft made in America  the F-35  none have yet built any themselves. Do we really think we can leapfrog from fourth to sixth generation technology in a decade? It took the US much longer and multiple aircraft types even to get to fifth generation. Clearly we are employing advanced design techniques and even built a ground-based testbed called Replica, but anyone who thinks we can do this by 2035 has not learned from history. Extrapolating from the example of Typhoon, early to mid 2040s even to achieve fifth-gen capability is more realistic. And a Typhoon style 75 per cent increase in price during the project would hike the UK investment from 25bn to almost 44bn. Thats now the same price as the four Dreadnought ballistic missile submarines, or seven times what the two aircraft carriers cost. Then, again considering the Typhoon history, all that money might produce 100 jets  if were lucky. At probably well over 400m per jet, will we even dare fly it?

2707 British-made kit that goes into making an F-35 jet

And now the final problem. What do we do now, given that we cant just sit here and do nothing until 2045?

One thing thats being suggested is buying more fourth-gen Typhoons. The unions and other advocates for British and Continental industry are obviously keen on this idea. But Typhoons are not going to do much harm to a Russian army operating under the footprint of S-300, S-400 and now S-500 anti-air missiles. Those who would have to do the fighting are not at all enthusiastic about getting more Typhoons.

Then there is the F-35 family. These are great jets according to most who fly them but rage-inducing to various armchair pilots. Im the latter but I do have some knowledge of air warfare  that was my field back in the day. And I cant help noticing that almost every nation in the Western world which has been permitted to buy the F-35 has taken the opportunity. It is clearly much more capable than fourth-gen planes. And the kill switch conspiracy theory is just that. For me, cool heads are needed just now on the US issue. I note the correlation between F-35 haters and those who believe we should immediately abandon weapons purchases from our most powerful ally, but whilst contingency planning is good, knee jerk reactions are less so.

The problem with the F-35B, as weve seen, is range and weapons. The problem with the F-35A is that it cant fly from our aircraft carriers  its strictly runway only.

That leaves us with the F-35C, the US Navy carrier version. Its pretty much the same as an A in terms of range and weapons, and a lot cheaper than the B to buy and fly. But it needs its aircraft carrier to have catapults and arrester wires.

We actually planned to fit cats and traps to our ships from 2010 until 2012  they were designed from the outset to have catapults and arrester gear fitted at any point in their lives, so this would not have been difficult. But it was then claimed that these additions would cost 2bn per carrier (about what it would have cost to just buy an entire new ship). It was also claimed that the savings from having cheaper F-35Cs instead of complicated Bs would be less than this.

That cats-and-traps price was later exposed as wildly inflated by the National Audit Office. Its fairly clear that we could fit our ships with cats and traps for no great cost, the more so as the US has now worked the bugs out of the necessary electric catapult technology.

So for me the dream ticket solution would be to do that and start buying a large fleet of F-35Cs, enough that we could send out a full carrier air wing and still have plenty of fifth-gen jets at home ready for any RAF tasks that came up. We could gradually transfer our F-35Bs to someone else who wanted them  various other nations are getting the B.

Catapults and traps would also solve several other issues within our carrier air wings. We could get fixed-wing radar aircraft instead of the poor solution that was using Crowsnest helicopters, and wed be able to operate air-to-air tankers too: probably uncrewed ones like the US Navys. Air tanking extends the carriers reach and makes air wing operations hugely more safe and flexible.

Project Ark Royal is already looking at options to catapult launch airborne early warning, tanking and electronic warfare drones but these will be lightweight compared to those required for the F-35C. Could we not do both?

If we did, both RAF and RN would be much more powerful at the end of it.

Sukhoi Checkmate fighter jet

But we may still be too corporately embarrassed by the flip-flopping on catapults 15 years ago to flip yet a third time. Or perhaps spending any amount of money just now is unacceptable. Given the recent announcement to pay off our amphibious ships, this seems the case. None of this feels very war footing to me.

So if we wont fit our ships with catapults so as to operate cheaper, better F-35C, we could get F-35As for the RAF, which is what they really want anyway, and keep operating F-35Bs off our carriers. That plan has fewer payoffs, and creates more fleets, but it would work.

There are other alternative systems coming together at roughly the same time. The Future Combat Air System (FCAS), a European sixth-generation fighter aircraft and air combat system programme led by France, Germany, and Spain is one. Likewise, the USs Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme. If there are serious conversations on joining either of those, Im not seeing them. Incidentally, all of these are optionally crewed aircraft. Pilots arent disappearing just yet.

Finally, of course, there is the multitude of drone and uncrewed options. These are developing fast and with better use of our many SMEs, could be faster still. Agreements are in train with Germany and Japan to what is now being called the Gen 6 small platform. For now, these are not a replacement but if you want cheap and mass they are the answer. Can they fill what looks like an emerging capability gap, no, but they can help. And they wont cost 400m a throw either.

But these are distractions. The fact is that we need something better than fourth-gen fighters and we need it now, not in a decade or two. The only thing that fits the bill is more F-35s: what version doesnt matter. The closer you look at the political, business and prosperity argument for GCAP/Tempest the more you sense the imperative to make it work but the more you look at the ambition and complexity of it, the more you realise it cant be our only plan beyond fourth-gen.

If we get F-35s and invest properly in their supporting infra and people, at least well still be here when the handful of billion-pound Tempests eventually arrive, assuming they havent been tinkered with so much during build they can still fly.

Or we can wring our hands, say its all too expensive and just accept a long running capability gap like we always do.

These are the choices.

Tom Sharpe OBE served for 27 years as a Royal Navy officer, commanding four different warships. He specialised first as a Fighter Controller and then as an Anti Air Warfare Officer
British BMX rider Kieran Reilly is determined to follow in the footsteps of his beloved Newcastle and lift silverware at Saturdays inaugural Red Bull Featured event in Manchester.

Reilly, who won Olympic silver in the BMX freestyle in Paris last July, had to miss the Magpies Carabao Cup success over Liverpool at Wembley last month due to a training block in Costa Rica.

The 23-year-old is no stranger to medals, having been crowned world and European champion in 2023, but has a different challenge on the horizon with Featured, a BMX competition in which 16 riders will perform major tricks without being penalised for a fall by judges.

I was absolutely buzzing to see Newcastle win the cup. Massive for the city and a moment weve all dreamed of for so many years, Reilly told the PA news agency.

I managed to catch the game at the airport in Costa Rica as Ive been training out here for Featured and I just couldnt believe it. Such a top performance from the boys.

Lets hope that I can bring another title to Newcastle when I go to Featured in April.

There was little respite for Reilly after his second place at the Olympics, with focus quickly shifting to Septembers European BMX Championships, where he won gold.

While the Gateshead rider feels he has been afforded more respect since the Paris Games, what has not changed is his trademark mullet and his determination to inspire more children to pick up a bike, especially ahead of the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Reilly said: To be honest, I cant see us getting rid of it (the mullet) any time soon. Ive typecast myself now. Everyone expects the hair out of the back of the helmet.

Kieran Reilly is ready to deliver at Red Bull Featured in Manchester (Red Bull Handout/PA)

Well see if it holds on (for LA).

The people in BMX love the sport and want it to grow. We understand how that happens and it is from targeting kids and the next generation.

I went to a skate park, saw the older kids do a lot smaller trickers than what will happen at Featured and then I decided I wanted to do this. I hope we get that at Featured and, with the content that comes from it, kids will see it and hopefully they pick up a bike.

A key feature of BMX competition is consistency and avoiding mistakes, which is why Reilly is thrilled about the concept of Featured, with riders encouraged to go all out without fear of missing the mark.

I have got some big plans, Reilly revealed. I am pretty much going in with a list of tricks that I know will win the event.

That kind of mentality I gained from Paris, where it is bittersweet when you dont go all in and dont get what you want, so this time I am laying it all out there.
Governments plan is modelled on a Labour campaign first launched by Rachel Reeves in 2021 while the party was in opposition - Bloomberg

Major public sector projects will be told to buy British under plans to protect UK industry from Donald Trumps tariffs.

Sir Keir Starmer is understood to be considering changing procurement rules to give an advantage to British firms bidding for government contracts.

It could apply to new transport infrastructure, offshore wind or defence investments that will be announced in this years industrial strategy and spending review.

The plan is modelled on Labours Buy, Make and Sell More in Britain campaign, launched by Rachel Reeves in 2021, when the party was in opposition.

Government sources said the plan had been revived amid concerns about the vulnerability of the UKs manufacturing base and the effect of Mr Trumps tariffs on British firms.

On Monday, Ms Reeves and Sir Keir told factory workers at a Jaguar Land Rover plant in Solihull that we have your back as the Government scrambled to assess the impact of mass market sell-offs.

Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves want public sector projects to buy British - Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA Wire

The FTSE opened more than six per cent down on Monday morning, mirroring similar slumps in Asia over the weekend.

The S&P 500, the main indicator of corporate Americas performance, swung wildly towards a bear market throughout the day.

In response, Downing Street sources said the public should expect more pro-growth moments in the coming days, emphasising the need for resilience in the British economy.

Sir Keir said he would work to reduce the time it took to set up a clinical trial from 250 days to 150 days by cutting red tape for the life sciences sector.

The biggest announcement of Labours latest growth drive came on Sunday night, when No 10 said it would reform targets for car manufacturers to produce more electric vehicles (EVs) by adding more flexibility and lowering fines.

Sir Keir has exempted small manufacturers, including most of the supercar sector, from the EV mandate completely, and allowed the continued sale of petrol and diesel vans until 2035  five years later than planned.

Asked by The Telegraph whether he would further water down other net zero plans, the Prime Minister said he would be pragmatic about green rules, adding: If there are flexibilities that help, which is what weve done today, then of course well take those steps.

But he doubled down on broader plans to decarbonise the economy, arguing that Britain must win the global race for net zero.

The plan to buy British in public sector procurement is being worked up by the Department for Business and Trade and stems from frustration by Labour ministers that most of the contracts for the construction of HS2 were awarded to foreign firms.

Sources said it was unlikely to be announced this week because it is tied to Labours full industrial strategy, which is expected later in the year and will name priority sectors for government intervention.

Under the plans, government departments or quangos will be told to give more weight to British firms that apply for contracts. That could be achieved by tweaking existing rules that require public bodies to consider social, environmental and labour issues when awarding contracts.

The pitches of British businesses could be given greater weight in the procurement process when departments or quangos are looking for vendors for major projects.

Energy projects, defence procurement and public infrastructure are three areas earmarked for greater involvement from British firms. However, The Telegraph understands that the design of the policy is still at an early stage.

Clauses that benefit British companies over foreign firms also face potential legal challenges on competition grounds.

It comes as Sir Keir warned that the world was changing and that voters would experience a new age of insecurity, which he did not attribute entirely to Mr Trump.

He said Britain must rebuild, in defiance of a volatile world, our industrial strength and called for the protection of British brilliance from external shocks.

Mr Trumps election has thrown Labours growth plans into disarray, as economists warn that Ms Reevess 9.9 billion in fiscal headroom may be wiped out entirely by tariffs.

Sir Keir did not directly commit to maintaining fiscal rules on public spending when asked about that on Monday, but a Downing Street source later said they were iron-clad and non-negotiable.

The Prime Minister is under mounting pressure to intervene and try to personally convince Mr Trump to reverse course on his tariffs, given that the leaders have not talked since the tariff announcements last week.

In the days following the announcement, the leaders of Japan, Argentina, Israel and Vietnam have had discussions with Mr Trump as the world puts pressure on him to reverse course.

Downing Street insiders have indicated that no major efforts were being made behind closed doors to arrange the call.

The two leaders spoke on two successive Sundays in the run-up to Mr Trumps unveiling of his tariffs agenda. No 10 concluded after the second call that getting a special exemption was unlikely in the short term.

Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, was among those calling for the Prime Minister to pick up the phone.

He told The Telegraph: However unreliable an ally Donald Trump is, of course it is right the Prime Minister negotiates with him. We must end this trade war as soon as we can, or we could lose free trade for a generation. That is why we need an economic coalition of the willing to stand up to Donald Trump.

Asked on Monday why he was not being firmer with Mr Trump over his tariffs agenda, Sir Keir said he had consistently argued against the changes.
A vehicle passes large potholes in a road in South Buckinghamshire. (Alamy) (Mark Kerrison)

Just 3% of Englands local road network received any form of maintenance in 2023/24 - with three local councils failing to resurface any of their roads last year, new figures have revealed.

Blackpool Unitary Authority and Tameside Council in the north west, along with the Tory-run London borough of Bexley, did not resurface or maintain a single mile of road last year, according to RAC data. Their analysis of Government data found 4,894 miles of council-run roads were strengthened, resurfaced or preserved in 2023/24, which is 3% out of the total of 183,054 miles.

The government has already been criticised after it told councils they must prove they are tackling potholes or face losing the money to fix them. All councils in England must publish annual progress reports on their plans to fix their roads or risk losing 25% of a 500m nationwide funding boost.

The government said this figure is enough to fill seven million potholes a year in England, but Cambridgeshire County Council leader Lucy Nethsingha said the shortfall to fix the roads in her local authority alone is 410m.

"I really don't think more red tape is going to help fix our roads," she previously told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "This press release is a way to try to make it look like government are giving us additional money when actually what they are announcing is stuff that was already announced several times over."

Some 36% of Englands 152 councils did not complete any preservation work to prevent potholes forming on B, C and unclassified roads, according to the research.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: Only a slither of Englands total road network is getting any maintenance attention whatsoever. This reinforces our belief that most councils are in a cycle of merely filling potholes, rather than looking after their roads properly."

Councils will have to outline their spend and how many potholes they have filled in reports published on their websites by 30 June.

Sir Keir Starmer said: British people are bored of seeing their politicians aimlessly pointing at potholes with no real plan to fix them. That ends with us. Weve done our part by handing councils the cash and certainty they need  now its up to them to get on with the job, put that money to use and prove theyre delivering for their communities.

Earlier this month, it was estimated that the cost of repairing pothole-riddled roads in England and Wales is almost 17bn.

What is a pothole and how do they form?

(Graphic: PA) (PA Wire)

A pothole is a depression in a road surface caused by wear or sinking. They start out as tiny cracks in the surface but can grow if not fixed.

The friction of vehicles' tyres on a road heats up the surface and causes it to expand.

Over a period of time, this expansion leads to cracks in the surface. Water can then seep into these cracks. Potholes are formed when the water in those cracks freezes and thaws.

Why does the UK have so many potholes?

The UK is more susceptible to potholes because of its climate.

Cold and wet weather, particularly during the winter months, means water can get into those cracks in the road and then freeze, eventually leading to potholes.

The heavy road use and traffic on the UK's roads is also a factor.

Councils also have tight budgets to fix potholes.

A report in March from the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) estimated that the cost of repairing roads in England and Wales that are riddled with potholes is nearly 16.8bn, a record high, and would take 12 years to complete.

It said one in six miles of the local road network has less than five years of structural life remaining, but roads are only surfaced once every 93 years on average.

How to report potholes?

Anyone who wishes to report a pothole can go to the government's dedicated website for the problem.

From there, they will be directed to their local council's pothole reporting service, where they can fill in an online form.

To report the pothole, they need the location of the pothole and details of its size. They must also upload any pictures of the pothole.

Councils vow to inspect the area identified within about three to five working days.

If the pothole is on a motorway or an A road then reports should be directed to Highways England.

In Wales, roads are managed by Traffic Wales, while potholes in Scotland can be reported at My Gov Scotland.

In Northern Ireland, potholes can be reported through the NI Direct website.

How to claim for pothole damage?

The government says motorists may be able to claim compensation if their vehicle is damaged by a road.

They should contact the organisation responsible to tell them about the damage, why they think they are responsible and details of where and when the damage was caused.

According to the AA, motorists should start by reporting the pothole to their local authority.

After having their car repaired, they may be able to claim compensation from the council.

Motorists should inform the council of the location of the pothole and include details of quotes, invoices and receipts for their repairs.

If the claim is rejected, motorists can appeal.
The King and Queen received a ceremonial welcome full of pomp and pageantry hosted by the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, as their state visit began in earnest.

Charles and Camilla were greeted by the statesman at his official residence, the Quirinale Palace in Rome, after their limousine was escorted into the palace quadrangle by mounted Corazzieri guards.

Mr Mattarella was joined by his daughter Laura Mattarella, who acts in a first lady role as the presidents wife died a number of years ago.

Charles and Camilla are received Sergio and Laura Mattarella (Victoria Jones/PA)

The foursome stood still as they observed the British and Italian national anthems played by a military band.

Nearby lined up along a red carpet stood a guard of honour formed of the Quirinale Band, troops from the Italian army, navy and air force, the Carabinieri and mounted Corazzieri guards.

Charles, accompanied by the president, walked along the line casting an eye over the service personnel stood in three ranks and at one point paused to bow his head when he reached Italys national flag held aloft.

Mr Mattarella, a constitutional court judge and veteran centre-left politician, is a respected figure for his sober statesman-like qualities performing a role that puts him at the centre of Italian national life.

The King is received by President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace (Victoria Jones/PA)

He has served as president since being elected by Italys parliament in 2015, succeeding Giorgio Napolitano.

The group went inside, and before the president and the king sat down for talks, a demonstration of UK and Italian military co-operation was staged.

From a balcony, they all watched a joint flypast over the capital by the Italian air forces aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, streaming Italys national colours, and the RAFs Red Arrows who left red, white and blue smoke in their wake.

Honours were later exchanged by the King and the president at the palace.

Charles and Camilla with Sergio and Laura Mattarella (Victoria Jones/PA)

The King was made a Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, and he presented Mr Mattarella with the insignia for a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.

It goes back quite a long way, said Charles Its just a token really of our appreciation, youve served for so long.

Im humbled, your majesty, Mr Mattarella replied.

The Queen was made a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, and told her host: Im very honoured and humbled.

While the King and president held talks, Camilla and Ms Mattarella viewed a selection of antique books on horsemanship in the Biblioteca del Piffetti and toured the State Rooms of the 16th century palace.
Declan Rice scored two sensational free-kicks to send Arsenal on their way to a remarkable 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash.

Rice delivered his first stunning set-piece with 58 minutes gone before striking again 12 minutes later. Mikel Merino grabbed a third to send the Emirates into dreamland ahead of next weeks return fixture at the Bernabeu.

The 15-time European Cup winners, who ended the game with 10 men after Eduardo Camavinga was dismissed for a second yellow in stoppage time, had no answer for a rampant Arsenal as Mikel Artetas men pulled off a statement win which sees them put one foot in the semi-finals as they bid to win the Champions League for the first time.

Speaking prior to Tuesdays match, Arteta said he was convinced his side could beat Real Madrid and write their own history, and so it proved on a truly one-sided night in north London that will possibly go down as the clubs finest on the European stage.

Bukayo Saka made his first start in 108 days following hamstring surgery and he was central to Arsenals success, winning both free-kicks that Rice so brilliantly converted.

Such is their pedigree in Europe, Real Madrid would have started the fixture as favourites, and Kylian Mbappe signalled the start of an electric opening period when he fired down the throat of goalkeeper David Raya with just 37 seconds gone.

Arsenal responded through Saka when his cross was thumped away by Antonio Rudiger only for the defenders clearance to cannon off team-mate Eduardo Camavinga and drop just inches wide of Thibaut Courtois far post.

Thomas Partey then called Courtois into action after 13 minutes when his low drive  following fine work in the build-up by Gabriel Martinelli  was saved by the Belgians toe.

Declan Rice applauds fans after the game (John Walton/PA)

On the half-hour mark, a good chance arrived for Mbappe. Jude Bellinghams finesse on the touchline and exquisite pass put Mbappe through but Raya was equal to his curled effort.

Saka fizzed two dangerous balls underneath the Real crossbar but failed to find a team-mate. Then, as half-time approached, Rices header from Jurrien Timbers cross was clawed away by Courtois before the former Chelsea man was equal to Martinellis follow-up.

In all, Arsenal had four shots on target in the first half  their most without scoring in the opening 45 minutes of a Champions League knockout game on record  and somehow it was goalless at the interval.

But Arsenal would get their rewards in a second half that will live long in the memory of the 60,000 fans inside the Emirates.

Saka, who the visitors failed to live with all night, was fouled and up stepped Rice to deliver his finest moment in an Arsenal shirt so far.

Mikel Merino celebrates scoring Arsenals third goal (John Walton/PA)

Both Saka and Rice stood over the set-piece but it was the latter who took the lead and his inch-perfect strike sailed round the outside of the five-man Madrid wall and past a helpless Courtois.

A rampant Arsenal came so close to extending their advantage 10 minutes later.

Myles Lewis-Skelly played in Martinelli who saw his strike saved by Courtois, with makeshift forward Merinos effort cleared off the line by David Alba before Courtois was up to punch Merinos rebound over the crossbar.

Rices strike from the following corner was then cleared off the line by Bellingham, but Rice would have his second just moments later.

Saka was running rings around the visitors and when he was hauled down on the edge of the area, Rice fancied his chances.

Incredibly, he delivered with a free-kick that was possibly even better than the first. Courtois, at full stretch, could do nothing to prevent the ball from sailing into his top corner. It was perfection personified.

A disbelieving Martin Odegaard put his hands on his head as Rice stood on the advertising hoardings to lap up the adulation. Carlo Ancelottis side were dumbstruck and less than five minutes later, Arsenal extended their lead to three.

Lewis-Skelly, displaying maturity way beyond his tender teenage years, pulled the ball back for Merino and the Spaniards pinpoint finish sent the Emirates into delirium, and possibly Arsenal into the last four.
The Associated Press has been denied access to certain press events since Feb 11 - Gripas Yuri/ABACA/Shutterstock

Donald Trump cannot shut the doors of the White House to certain journalists over their viewpoints, a federal judge has ruled.

Trevor N McFadden, a US district judge and an appointee of Mr Trump, ruled that the US president must restore The Associated Presss (AP) access to presidential events.

Mr Trump blocked the news agency from the press pool in retaliation for the outlets decision not to follow Mr Trumps executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico in its reporting.

Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists  be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere  it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints, Mr McFadden wrote. The Constitution requires no less.

Since Feb 11 the news agency has been denied access to press events at the White House Oval Office, in the East Room, or aboard Air Force One.

The AP asked Mr McFadden to rule that Mr Trump had violated the organisations constitutional right to free speech by instating the block.

The Trump administration had said it was up to its own discretion, and not White House correspondents or longstanding tradition, to determine who gets to question the president and when.

Mr McFadden had earlier declined APs request to reverse the changes through an injunction.

It was unclear whether the White House would move immediately to put Mr McFaddens ruling into effect. Mr McFadden held off on implementing his order for a week, giving the government time to respond or appeal.

The APs decisions on terminology are followed by journalists and other writers around the world through its internal stylebook.

The outlet said it would continue to use Gulf of Mexico, as the body of water has been known for hundreds of years, while also noting Trumps decision to rename it the Gulf of America.

Different outlets have used different approaches, some calling the body Gulf.

Mr Trump dismissed the AP, which was established in 1846, as a group of radical left lunatics and said: Were going to keep them out until such time as they agree its the Gulf of America.

The APs chief White House correspondent and photographer testified before Mr McFadden on the impact of the block on the news agency.

For anyone who thinks The Associated Press lawsuit against president Trumps White House is about the name of a body of water, think bigger, Julie Pace, the APs executive editor, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Its really about whether the government can control what you say.

APs lawyer, Charles Tobin, said the company had lost a $150,000 (117,000) advertising contract from a client concerned about the ban.

Brian Hudak, the governments lawyer, said AP has been able to use livestreams or photos from other agencies to get news out, and pointed out that AP regularly attends the daily briefings of Caroline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.

The decision handed the AP a major victory at a time the White House has been challenging the press on several levels.

Mr Trump has moved aggressively against the media on several fronts in his second administration.

The Federal Communications Commission has opened lawsuits against ABC, CBS and NBC News.

The administration has also sought to cut off funding for government-run news services like Voice of America and is threatening public funding for public broadcasters PBS and NPR.
Chinese stock market movements in Beijing on April 7 - WANG ZHAO

Trumps global trade war is a strategic gift to the Chinese president, the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal proclaimed at the end of last week. The paper believes that countries, upset at Americas new tariffs, will start aligning themselves with China against America. Beijing with its giant market is an alternative, it reminds us.

Globalists have been in a bad mood lately, especially since Donald Trumps Liberation Day tariffs. He imposed, with the stroke of a pen on April 2, elevated levies on much of the world, and an across-the-board 10 per cent duty on products from other countries. By executive order, Trump ignored Americas trade obligations and blew up the so-called rules-based trade system.

Many are now making predictions, some evoking the end of the world as we know it.

Take CNNs Fareed Zakaria, writing from his perch at the Washington Post: China will clearly be the big winner in this new world economy because it will position itself as the new centre of trade.

A mass desertion of Americas trade partners to the Peoples Republic of China, however, is not likely.

Why not?

For one thing, the Chinese internal market is not that attractive. China is not growing at the 5 per cent pace reported for last year. It may not be growing at all. For one thing, the country is in a deflationary spiral, a sure sign of overall contraction. China is certainly a giant, as the Wall Street Journal tells us, but its consumer market is not.

Xi Jinping has turned his back on consumer spending as the basis of the economy  consumption accounted for an abnormally low 38 per cent of Gross Domestic Product last yearand so must export his way out of his increasingly serious predicament. China, as a result, is not an attractive trade partner because its internal market is, at the very least, stagnant and may well be shrinking.

Countries for some time have been worried about China flooding their markets with its manufactures. The European Union, for instance, has imposed tariffs of up to 35 per cent on Chinese EVs. Even countries in what Beijing likes to call the Global South are erecting tariff barriers. For instance, Brazil, Indonesia, and Turkey have been slapping Chinese goods with tariffs recently.

Its unlikely, therefore, that trade blocs or individual countries will allow the Chinese to dump products they can no longer sell in America due to Trumps increased tariffs.

Thus far, Beijings response to Trump has been to absorb as much as possible the elevated tariffs. In 2018, the Chinese central government and exporters picked up at least 75 per cent of Trumps Section 301 tariffs, and Chinas economy is now more export-dependent than it was at that time.

Unfortunately for Xi, his regime is not as flush as it was then. Funding all his grand ambitions  from the modernisation of the Peoples Liberation Army to the globe-spanning Belt and Road Initiative to the erection of a near-total surveillance state  has taken its toll. Moreover, the costs of overdeveloping the manufacturing sector have strained Beijings finances. Xi cannot afford his ambitions  much less picking up the cost of increased tariffs for long.

China has been allowed to engage, largely without penalty, in predatory trade practices to pay for all of Xis projects. Trumps tariffs not only effectively close off the worlds biggest market to the Chinese  the levies now stand at least at 104 per cent and as high as 115 per cent  but they also are encouraging other countries to build their tariff walls too.

So just at the moment when China needs globalisation to continue, Trump is killing it off.

Yet Chinese leaders should not blame Trump for their woes. Hes just reacting to their actions in previous years: allowing Covid-19 to spread beyond Chinas borders and greenlighting Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put an end to the globalisation we have experienced over the last three decades, wrote Larry Fink in his March 24, 2022 letter to BlackRock shareholders. He suggested the Ukraine war killed globalisation because it had already been weakened by the Covid pandemic, which had lessened connectivity among nations, among companies, and among people.

Since then, trends have accelerated deglobalisation. In addition to the war in Ukraine, there are insurgencies in North Africa that resemble wars, wars in the Middle East, and belligerent acts all along Chinas borders. The seas and skies are no longer reliably safe for commerce.

As turbulence has spread, merchandise trade, Chinas lifeblood, is beginning to stutter. Global merchandise trade fell 1.2 per cent in 2023 and grew only 2 per cent last year. As a result, Chinas export-driven manufacturing model no longer looks viable.

In the medium to long run, countries will start trading around the United States, Zakaria writes, predicting that Trumps tariff walls will isolate the US Its more likely, however, that countries will come to terms with Trump to maintain access to the American market. That gives Trump extraordinary leverage.

If any country will be left out in the cold, it will be China.

Gordon G Chang is the author of Plan Red: Chinas Project to Destroy America and The Coming Collapse of China. Follow him on X @GordonGChang
American yachts are included in the EUs hit list of retaliatory tariffs after Trump put a 25 per cent levy on steel and aluminium - Photosvit/iStockphoto

Brussels is targeting American yachts, tobacco and orange juice for retaliatory tariffs after Donald Trump hit steel and aluminium exports with a 25 per cent tax.

Sweetcorn, rice, almonds, cranberries, iron, steel, aluminium, certain vehicles and clothes, including Harley Davidson motorcycles and jeans, are on the EU hit list.

Non-alcoholic beer, door and window frames, kitchenware, poultry and sausages are also in the firing line.

Giorgia Meloni, Italys prime minister, is expected to travel to Washington next week to discuss tariffs with Mr Trump in a move co-ordinated with the EU.

Our aim is to negotiate our way out of this and get rid of tariffs. If we have to impose tariffs to get there, so be it, an EU diplomat told The Telegraph.

These tariffs are our first step on this path and hopefully also our last.

Soybeans, which are used for animal feed, are a pointed inclusion on the list of US imports facing a 25 per cent tariff.

In 2017, the EU struck a deal with Mr Trump, who was then in his first term, to buy US soybeans in exchange for a pause in further tariffs.

Kentucky bourbon was not on the finalised list of countermeasures, after some member states moved to protect their lucrative drink exports.

Ireland, France and Italy successfully lobbied the European Commission to remove bourbon after Mr Trump warned he would retaliate with a 200 per cent tariff on all EU alcoholic drinks.

US dairy products were spared to protect Irish butter exports to the US, where Kerrygold is the second-largest butter brand.

The list was drawn up by European Commission officials, who handle trade on behalf of the blocs 27 member states.

The original list covered trade worth some 26 billion (22.2 billion) which was equivalent to the trade flows affected by the US tariffs on steel and aluminium.

No tit-for-tat tariffs

It was ultimately whittled down to a list worth about 21.9 billion (18.7 billion) in trade every year after intergovernmental negotiations in Brussels.

We are not in the business of tit-for-tat or penny for penny, said Maros Sefcovic, the EUs trade commissioner, before the finalised list was sent to governments.

EU governments will vote on the list on Wednesday, with the measures entering into force on April 15. Tariffs on some products will come into force later, with soybeans not being hit until December after farmers objected.

The Commission has been at pains to ensure the countermeasures are seen as proportionate and do not trigger a fresh wave of tit-for-tat tariffs.

The products on the hit list avoid the biggest US exports to the EU, which are oil, medicinal and pharmaceutical products.

Some of the goods were picked for their symbolic value as famous US products. Some products have been targeted because they were made in Republican-held states, which are widely thought to be vulnerable in the looming mid-term elections.

The hit list is the first in a two-step response to Mr Trumps global trade war.

The second step will be a different set of countermeasures in response to Mr Trumps Liberation Day tariffs of 20 per cent on all EU imports.

Trade surplus with the US

A US 25 per cent tariff on European cars is also in force despite Brussels offering Washington a zero-for-zero tariff agreement on vehicles.

There were divisions among member states on how to respond to the broader tariffs at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.

France and Germany are pushing for the EU to hit US tech giants in retaliation but that is opposed by Ireland, where many multinational companies have their European headquarters.

Mr Trump defends all his tariffs by pointing out that the EU ran a 215.5 billion (184.4 billion) trade surplus with the US in 2024, according to US government figures.

The Commission has pointed out that the US has a surplus in services with the EU, which has a services trade deficit of 109 billion (93.3 billion).

One idea is for the EU to promise to buy more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US in a similar way to its pledge to buy US soybeans in Mr Trumps first term.

On Monday, Mr Trump said the EU would need to buy US energy and that could reduce the trade deficit.

The US is already Europes largest LNG supplier, providing 45 per cent of EU LNG imports last year and Brussels is keen to further reduce its reliance on Russian energy.

Zygimantas Vaiciunas, Lithuanias energy minister, told Reuters the EU could incentivise the purchase of US LNG through demand aggregation.

The Commission would collate LNG demand from groups of EU countries or the entire bloc to present a bigger request for supplies.

He added the EU could also consider amending its green methane emissions rules that some US companies say they will struggle to comply with.
A protester at a demonstration in the US against the use of the death penalty in Iran, which executed at least 972 people last year. Photograph: Allison Bailey/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

More people were executed in 2024 than in any other year over the past decade, mainly reflecting a huge increase in executions in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, according to Amnesty Internationals annual report on the use of the death penalty.

The human rights NGO said that although the number of countries carrying out executions was the lowest on record, it had confirmed 1,518 executions globally in 2024, a 32% increase over the previous year and the highest since the 1,634 carried out in 2015.

The real total was far higher, Amnesty added, because its figure did not include thousands believed to have been executed in China, the worlds biggest executioner, or North Korea and Vietnam, also thought to use the death penalty extensively.

Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which accounted for 91% of executions worldwide, were responsible for the increase. Iraq almost quadrupled its executions from at least 16 to at least 63 and Saudi Arabia doubled its yearly total from 172 to at least 345.

Iran executed 119 more people than in 2023, raising its tally to at least 972  a figure that included 30 women and represented 64% of the global total. All known executions in Iraq were for terrorism offences, while about half of those in Iran were for drug-related offences.

Other countries where executions increased included Egypt (from eight in 2023 to 13 last year); Singapore, where executions nearly doubled (from five to nine); and Yemen, where the total more than doubled from at least 15 to at least 38.

The total of 25 executions in the US was one more than in 2023 and the most since 2018. The period studied covers Joe Bidens last year in office. His successor, Donald Trump, has said he aims to vigorously pursue the death penalty as a tool to protect people from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.

Only 15 countries were known to have executed people in 2024, the lowest on record for the second year running, Amnesty said, adding that 113 countries were now fully abolitionist and 145 had abolished the death penalty in law or in practice.

The campaign organisation also noted that several countries had legally limited their use of the death penalty, and that for the first time, more than two-thirds of all UN member states had voted in favour of a resolution on a moratorium.

Agnes Callamard, Amnesty Internationals secretary general, said it was clear that countries that retained the death penalty were an isolated minority. She added that the tide was turning against a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

But Callamard said the death penalty was still being weaponised in some countries under the false pretence it would improve public safety, and in others such as Iran and Saudi Arabia to silence political dissent from those brave enough to speak out.

Amnesty also noted that more than 40% of executions in 2024 were carried out for drug-related offences, which it said was not only unlawful under international human rights law and standards but had no proven effect in reducing drug trafficking.
Sexual harassment is still alarming common in the workplace - and something that one employment law firm Yahoo UK spoke to deals with on a daily basis. (Getty Images) (Giselleflissak via Getty Images)

It might be eight years since the MeToo movement but sexual harassment is still rife. People daily are subjected to catcalls while out walking and stats show that a whopping number of Brits admit to experiencing some form of sexual harassment in the workplace.

It's also still happening in public, and in front of colleagues, as Celebrity Big Brother proved last night. On the series' opening episode, host AJ Odudu was put in a very uncomfortable situation when actor Mickey Rourke, one of this year's contestants, touched her and commented on her appearance.

"Stop looking at me! Its time for you to get inside the house," Odudu told the 72-year-old star, before he added: "No, I want to stay with you."

The exchange prompted many viewers to voice their outrage at the incident on social media.

AJ Odudu, pictured with her co-host Will Best, was presenting Celebrity Big Brother when Mickey Rourke touched her waist and looked at her inappropriately. (ITV)

What is sexual harassment?

Harassment is legally defined under the Equality Act of 2010 as any unwanted conduct that violates someones dignity, which could be of a sexual nature or any intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive actions or language.

Back in October, the UK government announced a new duty to the act that requires employers to take "reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, including new guidance on how to protect staff and keep them safe.

It comes as the Government Equalities Office reported that almost 72% of the UK population has experienced sexual harassment at work in their lifetime. Their report also found that 7.2% of men experienced some form of harassment and 2.7% reported sexual harassment, but overall they are less likely to report sexual harassment incidences, according to Male Victims of Sexual Assault.

In 2023, the TUC found three in five women (58%) have experienced sexual harassment, bullying or verbal abuse at work, with younger women significantly more likely to experience it. Slightly less than half (43%) of women reported at least three instances of harassment.

The survey also found that less than one in three women (30%) would report sexual or physical harassment to their employer, while only 50% would report verbal abuse. Many of the participants felt as though they wouldnt be believed (39%) so wouldnt report it and it could negatively impact their professional relationships and career progression, especially if this person was senior to them.

Hannah Strawbridge, solicitor, CEO and founder of Han Law tells Yahoo UK and her firm deals with these kind of cases daily. "I think one of the problems with it is quite often it's pushed under the radar, so that where someone might have a complaint of sexual harassment, they're quite often then offered a settlement agreement as part of their exit to leave with a confidentiality clause in there," she says.

There was a small increase (7%) in tribunal cases for sexual harassment in the workplace in 2024, according to Irwin Mitchell, but its likely this figure is much higher. Strawbridge says the stats "often arent reflective of how many there are in reality" as the number of cases doesn't include settlements.

Under the new legislation, employers now have a legal obligation to protect their staff, which can also include providing the right training for their management to ensure they know what is and isnt appropriate.

"Employers have got a proactive duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace," Strawbridge explains. "Before, they had to try and prevent it, but now they've basically got to carry out a risk assessment as they would with anything on the health and safety side, to to look at whether there might be a risk of sexual harassment happening."

Neil Henderson CEO of Safeline adds: "Sexual harassment in the workplace has become normalised. Most employers/staff do not understand what constitutes sexual harassment or what action to take if it happens. Employees are reluctant to report for fear of not being taken seriously or how it might affect their relationship with colleagues or their career prospects. This gives people permission to abuse their position of power."

He continues: "Young people are most at risk, they tend to be more vulnerable/naive and do not understand how to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace due to inadequate induction or training."

Prevention could be as small as educating staff to cancel corporate away days or holidays that may involve alcohol or drugs and increase the risk of harassment occurring, as an employer can now be liable for creating an unsafe environment.

"Were also not always talking about something as extreme as physical assault or rape," Strawbridge continues, "Harassment in terms of the UK employment law definition can be a statement. It can be anything offensive, which upsets that person or degrades them such as commenting on someones body or their outfit."

What to do if youre being sexually harassed at work

It's important to speak to someone at work about the harassment you're experiencing so that action can be taken for your safety. (Getty Images) (praetorianphoto via Getty Images)

If you are being sexually harassed at work, Strawbridge's advice is to "first, try and deal with it by talking to your manager, if you don't feel you can talk to the person who has actually said or done that thing to them."

If that doesn't work, she advises you raise a formal grievance via their employer's grievance policy. "Most employers should have a grievance policy within a book of HR policies," she adds. "Raise that grievance to explain whats happened, why, when, where and ask them to investigate that. Then your employer should hold a meeting to discuss this with you and write out an outcome at the end of the meeting."

If you arent happy with how the outcome or how this complaint has been handled, then its time to look into taking your claim to the Employment Tribunals Commission. The Citizen's Advice Bureau can offer guidance.

Strawbridge stresses alongside new legislation and employers being more proactive in prioritising their employees safety, prevention of sexual harassment in the future also lies in educating the younger generation about whats appropriate and whats not both in and out of the workplace.

"I think it's really scary because on the one hand, I call myself a feminist, and things have improved for us, but there's also a nasty undercurrent of stuff happening at the moment from certain personalities on social media," Strawbridge says. "Their impact feels more of a cultural, societal thing, than anything specific to certain employers."

In cases of rape or physical sexual assault, it's important to take the grievances outside of the workplace and report it to the police and use support lines such as Rape Crisis.

Read more about sexual harassment:
The wolves were created from ancient DNA (Colossal Biosciences) (Colossal Biosciences)

This week, scientists famous for creating woolly mice claimed to have performed another genetic feat and de-extincted a giant wolf species from 10,000 years ago.

Genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences claims to have brought back the extinct dire wolf, in the form of three pups.

The company used cutting-edge gene-editing technology to create embryos based on ancient DNA.

The three "dire wolves" live at an undisclosed location monitored by security personnel and drones.

When did dire wolves go extinct and how big were they?

The dire wolf was a larger, white-furred version of the wolf which inspired the wolves in the series Game of Thrones.

The dire wolf (aeconon dirus) roamed in North America and could grow to up to six feet in length.

Dire wolves lived in America between 125,000 years ago and 10,000 years ago when they went extinct.

The first specimens were found in the 19th century and the 'new' wolves were cloned from DNA found in fossils.

The wolves now live in a compound at an undisclosed location (Colossal Biosciences)

What is de-extinction?

De-extinction, also known as resurrection biology, seeks to resurrect extinct species using techniques ranging from cloning to back-breeding.

In the case of the dire wolves, Colossal Biosciences extracted DNA from two dire wolf fossils, assembling two high-quality dire wolf genomes (sets of genetic information).

The scientists then compared those genomes with those of living animals to identify genetic variants specific to dire wolves.

The scientists used the information to alter grey wolf cells, editing 14 genes before cloning the cells and transferring them into donor eggs.

The work was achieved using CRISPR gene-editing technology.

The embryos were then carried by surrogates (large, mixed-breed hounds).

"Our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works, said Ben Lamm, Colossals co-founder and CEO. Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies.

Could de-extinction be used on other species?

Colossal Biosciences is already working to resurrect mammoths, dodos and Tasmanian tigers using its technology.

The company previously made woolly mice, edited with woolly mammoth genes, as part of an effort to bring back mammoths.

Harvard geneticist George Church of Colossal believes that bringing back woolly mammoths could prevent further global warming.

The creatures packed down snow, and removed trees, meaning soil is less likely to release greenhouse gases.

Colossal's scientists hope that editing the genome of the Asian elephant could resurrect the woolly mammoth.

Lamm said: This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples."

Why are some people sceptical?

While scientists are excited that it is possible to make creatures that resemble dire wolves, experts point out that the Colossal creations are not exactly the same.

Adam Boyko, a geneticist at Cornell University said: "It's exciting that we can make functional versions of extinct species."

But he said that the new dire wolves will not be brought up in dire wolf packs to truly learn their behaviour - and that there may be other genes which make dire wolves what they are.

"We don't know what that number is," he said. "It could be 20, or it could be 2,000."

Just 14 genes have been edited in the three pups out of the grey wolf's roughly 19,000 total genes.

Love Dalen, an advisor to Colossal and a genomics professor at Stockholm University told CNN, Theres no secret that across the genome, this is 99.9% grey wolf.

"There is going to be an argument in the scientific community regarding how many genes need to be changed to make a dire wolf, but this is really a philosophical question.

It carries dire wolf genes, and these genes make it look more like a dire wolf than anything weve seen in the last 13,000 years. And that is very cool.
Johannes Brandhuber works in Simbach am Inn in Lower Bavaria - Alamy

Its a nightmare that becomes reality for all too many newlyweds: an ill-fitting wedding ring that slips off the finger and vanishes while doing the dishes or taking a swim.

But for one German farmer, luck was on his side after he lost his ring while feeding his cows. Several months later, his local butcher retrieved it from the animals stomach.

Johannes Brandhuber, a recently married farmer in the small town of Simbach am Inn in Lower Bavaria, was distraught when he lost his ring in November while tending to his livestock.



Unbeknown to him at the time, the ring came off his finger and was swallowed by one of his cows, Herzal, while he was feeding her some silage.

Johannes Brandhuber was delighted to get his wedding ring back - Alamy

Four months after losing the ring, Mr Brandhuber received a surprise phone call from his local butcher, who revealed that one of his workers had found it inside Herzals stomach.

Ive never encountered anything like this before, its extraordinary, Josef Steinleitner, the 59-year-old butcher shop owner, told German news outlet Passauer Neue Presse.

It was a miraculous discovery by Mr Steinleitners employee, who only found the ring because the 135-year-old family business insists on carving up animals by hand.

It is a lucky coincidence to find such a thing, said Mr Steinleitner, who pointed out that metal fragments such as nuts or bolts are sometimes found in cow stomachs, and would not immediately be considered unusual.



Mr Brandhuber himself said he had already given up on finding the wedding ring. His wife, he said, was very happy as she had continued to believe the old ring would turn up eventually.

Herzal, which means little heart in Bavarian dialect, received his name because he had a small white heart mark on his head, Passauer Neue Presse reported.

While the rings return marked a happy ending for Herzals owner, the same cannot be said for the cow.

All that remains of Herzl now, German newspaper Die Stern reports, is some salami at the Steinleitner butcher shop.
A former Dundee University principal has been named as the chairman of a new taskforce set up to help the cash-strapped institution.

A group of experts from academia, industry and local and national government is being established to advise on the future success of the university  which announced last week that 700 people could lose their jobs as it struggles to deal with a 35 million deficit.

Sir Alan Langlands, a former principal and vice-chancellor of both Dundee and Leeds universities, who has also served as the chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the NHS in England, will chair the new University of Dundee Strategic Advisory Taskforce.

Sir Alan Langlands, left, a former principal of both Dundee and Leeds universities, will chair the new taskforce (Peter Byrne/PA)

The move was announced by Scottish Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, who said: We are establishing this taskforce to ensure the University of Dundee has all the important advice and expertise needed to recover and build a strong, secure and sustainable future.

The group will meet for the first time this month and will work to produce recommendations which will support the future of the university and its role in the wider city region.

It comes as Ms Gilruth insisted Scottish ministers are determined that Dundee University will thrive long into the future.

She said that the impact of the universitys teaching and world-leading research is profound, adding that its success is interwoven with the success of the Dundee city region.

Ms Gilruth continued: We will draw on the expertise of the taskforce to identify credible solutions and do everything possible to protect the interests of current and future students and staff.

We will take account of all potential sources of funding and support, and we will continue to carefully consider any further asks of Government.

The Scottish Government has already ensured an additional 22 million of emergency funding was made available to help Dundee University.

Sir Alan said it was a privilege to chair the new taskforce, adding: These are very challenging times for a great many universities.

At its core Dundee is a great university in a great city, transforming peoples lives and life chances through education, research and innovation, and contributing so much to the economic, social and cultural life of the city and beyond.

The Scottish Governments commitment to ensuring its long-term future and impact, and protecting the interests of students and staff provides a strong foundation for the work of the taskforce.

Maggie Chapman, the incoming rector at the university, urged the taskforce to put staff and students at the heart of the probe.

Many of the answers to the crisis at the university lie with the staff and students, she said.

They are the ones who make the university work and make it what it is. Their voices have been largely ignored until now.

The scale of cuts being talked about would be disastrous for the university and for the city.

While expert advice is welcome, and shows that the Scottish Government is taking the crisis seriously, we must see staff and students included in the process.

Their voices must be heard, their questions must be answered and their concerns must be addressed.

For the last five months we have seen a bunker mentality from senior management.

We have seen mismanagement, poor governance and very poor communications from the universitys executive group. That has to change if the university is to have a successful and prosperous future.

While Mary Senior, the Scotland official at the University and College Union (UCU), welcomed the move  which the Dundee branch of her body had previously called for.

Its vital that there is meaningful involvement from campus trade unions in this group, and that it works at speed to save jobs and education, and to ensure that the university moves forward as a successful institution for the future, she said.
A short-toed snake eagle flies near to wind turbine generators in Aumelas, west of Montpellier - Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty

EDF wind turbines on a farm in southern France have been ordered to shut down after a court ruled they were to blame for killing scores of protected birds and bats.

In what bird lovers are calling a landmark ruling, the Montpellier court held EDF Renouvelables and nine of its subsidiaries responsible for the deaths of 160 bats and birds, especially lesser kestrels, which regularly collide with the blades despite deterrents put in place by operators.

Their numbers have seen a recent worrying decline in Europe, as have those of Montagus harriers and bats.

The court ordered the shutdown of all 31 wind turbines on a plateau of garrigue, or scrubland, overlooking the Mediterranean for the four-month period over the summer when the birds remain in France after migrating from Africa.



The wind farm has been in operation since 2006 and generates the annual electricity needs of 60,000 people.

The Aumelas plateau was awarded the Natura 2000 label in 2016, which advocates the protection of areas that are representative of European biodiversity.

The wind farm in Aumelas, where birds regularly collide with the blades despite deterrents put in place - Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty

With these wind turbines at a standstill, there will be no further deaths this year, since lesser kestrels arrive in April from Africa to nest and leave at the end of the summer, said Simon Popy, president of France Nature Environnement (FNE) Occitanie Mediterranee, the association behind the complaint.



In the future, EDF should think twice before restarting operations or face further court action, warned FNE lawyer Olivier Gourbinot.



In the first such ruling in criminal proceedings against wind turbine operators, the court also fined each of the 10 companies 500,000 (430,000) and handed a six-month suspended prison sentence to Bruno Bensasson, the former chief executive of EDF Renewables, along with a 100,000 fine.



They will also have to publish at their own expense the ruling, which found them guilty of the destruction of 160 individual birds and bats, in particular lesser kestrels, in several national and local newspapers.



The 10 companies were also ordered to pay a total of 114,000 in damages respectively to both to France Nature Environnement Occitanie-Mediterranee and its parent group, France Nature Environnement.



Finally, as compensation for the environmental damage caused, they were ordered to pay the French state 74,087, which will go towards Frances national plan for the protection of the lesser kestrel.



EDF Renouvelables, the parent company, had pleaded not guilty, saying it had done its utmost to avoid deaths.

It cited in particular a system of cameras installed on masts and GPS beacons on 78 lesser kestrels.

Lesser kestrels arrive in southern France from Africa in April to nest and leave at the end of the summer - Alper Tuydes/Anadolu via Getty

It argued that overall the population of the birds of prey had risen despite the wind farms, going from around 35 pairs in 2006 to around 400 today.

Environmentalists say the number would be twice as high if the wind farms had not cut them down.

With wind farms scaling up across the world in the drive to net zero, concerns are growing about the impact on avian habitats and birds killed by colliding with turbines.

In the UK, a pilot programme has been launched to paint offshore wind turbines black in an effort to deter birds from flying into the spinning blades.

The scheme was launched after Donald Trump told Sir Keir Starmer he was concerned about windmills in the North Sea.

The US president has reportedly become fixated on the number of birds killed by wind turbines, and has signed an executive order pausing all wind energy projects in the US.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is in favour of wind farms, but in 2021 criticised a decision to expand a giant farm off the Yorkshire Coast, saying that kittiwakes would need to dodge the blades as they fly to their breeding grounds.

It was reported in 2009 that the RSPBs decision to support wind farms caused some members to leave in protest.



The lesser kestrel is a small migratory bird measuring around 60cm. Males have blue-grey upper parts while females are mottled brown.



It was categorised as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to a significant fall in numbers between the 1950s and 1990s.

Threats include habitat loss

The species has enjoyed least concern status from 2011 in the EU but a study released last year revealed a decline of 6 per cent per year in Spain since 2012. The country hosts around 40 per cent of the European breeding population.



Threats include habitat loss due to overgrazing and conversion of lands to agricultural fields, pesticide and rodenticide poisoning, human persecution and the destruction of old buildings which it uses to nest in.



In a similar case, the same court in Montpellier is due to hand down a ruling on another wind farm with seven turbines operated in Bernagues, also in the Herault department, over charges it caused the death of a male golden eagle, part of a breeding pair. Operators also face heavy fines.



There has been increasingly heated debate in France over the installation of wind farms and other types of renewable energy as the country seeks to honour its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050.

France plans to reduce the share of fossil fuels in final energy consumption in France from around 60 per cent in 2023 to 30 per cent in 2035.

The share of low-carbon electricity is slated to increase from 27 per cent to 39 per cent in that period.

Under pressure from farmers, the Right-leaning government has pledged to loosen environmental norms and restraints on pesticides and there have been even been calls to scrap the French Agency for Ecological Transition.
A friendship bench in Washington DC. In the past three years, the scheme has helped more than half a million people worldwide. Photograph: HelpAge USA

People in Sussex who are depressed, lonely or anxious are to be offered free, easily accessible support through the Friendship Bench, a pioneering pilot spreading around the world.

The Friendship Bench scheme, which involves a wooden park bench being placed in a public space, offers a listening ear, in the shape of so-called grandmothers and grandfathers to anyone passing.

These lay counsellors receive just two weeks of training. But analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the model resulted in an 80% reduction in depression and suicidal ideation, and a 60% increase in clients quality of life.

After six months, 80% of clients who had sat down to chat with a lay counsellor were still symptom-free.

Founded in Zimbabwe by Prof Dixon Chibanda in 2006, the model has spread to other cities and countries around the world, including New York, Washington, Qatar and Jordan.

In the past three years alone, with the support of the World Health Organization, more than half a million people have benefited.

Now Dr Nina Lockwood, a research fellow at Brighton and Sussex medical school and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is introducing the scheme to Sussex.

It is interesting to see a model founded in Africa travelling west but as with many countries across the globe, dedicated investment in mental health support provision in the UK is insufficient to satisfactorily address the mental health needs of our population, Lockwood said. We urgently need to adopt agile, alternative ways of working.

In deference to the British weather, the Sussex benches will be placed not outside, as in Zimbabwe, but in indoor areas such as libraries, church halls and community spaces.

Local people can make appointments to talk through their problems and explore possible solutions. They then go away, try the solution and report back.

The Sussex pilot will involve 10 lay mental-health workers who will hold weekly sessions for six to eight weeks.

Mebrak Ghebreweldi, a co-founder of the Sussex-based Diversity Resource International, which supports ethnically diverse and migrant communities, has been trained as one of the first Sussex grandmothers.

If someone comes to us with stress, we have the time to talk to them until they tell us theyre living in one room with their four children  so the problem is actually housing, and we help with that, she said. Or young people might come and say theyre depressed, but after weve gone deeper, it turns out theyre unemployed  so the problem is they havent found work, and we can help with that.

GPs dont have time for those long conversations, she said. Theyll just prescribe something for the headache and the depression. By unnecessarily medicalising them, the client is disempowered and that can actually make things worse.

Related: Urgent adult mental health crisis referrals in England double in a year

Chibanda said he had developed the model after realising that the answers to the global mental health crisis do not lie in more diagnoses of disorders or prescriptions for medications.

Most of us are aware that we are in the midst of an excruciating global mental health epidemic that has taken a harsh toll with respect to the sheer numbers of people living with depression, loneliness, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and suicidal ideation, he said.

I came to realise that while not everyone can see a mental health professional, most people have access to a vital untapped resource: the care, compassion, empathy, and wisdom of grandmothers  the unsung heroines of the world.

About one in six adults across the UK experienced moderate to severe depressive symptoms in 2022, and up to 10% of people in England will experience depression at some point in their life, according to the Mental Health Foundation.

Research suggests the total cost of mental ill health in England in 2022 was 300bn, with people who have depression at higher risk of developing certain chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, pain, osteoporosis and Alzheimers disease.

Stigma and denial can mean it takes years for people with mental health problems to ask for help. But even once they do, waiting times on the NHS can be 18 weeks, with some waiting even longer.

 This article was amended on 8 April 2025. People in Sussex can make an appointment to talk through their problems but they cannot just turn up as stated in an earlier version.
The latest stage of the Duke of Sussexs challenge over the level of security he is given when he is in the UK will start at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.

Harry took legal action against the Home Office over the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.

The High Court was told that the decision was made as a result of a change in the dukes status after he stopped being a full-time working member of the royal family.

The Duke of Sussex (Aaron Chown/PA)

In a judgment in February last year, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the dukes case and concluded Ravecs approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair.

Harrys appeal against the ruling is scheduled to be heard on April 8 and 9 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

His lawyers previously told the High Court that he was singled out and treated less favourably in Ravecs decision, arguing a failure to carry out a risk analysis and fully consider the impact of a successful attack on him meant the approach to his protection was unlawful and unfair.

The Government argued Ravec was entitled to conclude the dukes protection should be bespoke and considered on a case-by-case basis.

The judges hearing the appeal, Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean, and Lord Justice Edis said that the parties opening submissions and arguments related to non-confidential facts will be held in open court, which can be attended by the press and the public.

But parts of the hearing that concern confidential facts will be held in private, meaning the press and public cannot attend.

Giving reasons for the decision, they said: Some of the evidence in this case, which is being placed before the Court of Appeal, has been agreed between the parties to be highly confidential.

That evidence relates to security arrangements and threat levels, and assessments for the claimant and other public figures.

It is obvious that such material would be of interest to anyone wishing to harm a person within the scope of the security arrangements, and that publicising it would risk jeopardising the effectiveness of those arrangements.

The hearing, which will also be livestreamed, is due to begin at 10.30am.
The Duke of Sussex has been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment, the Court of Appeal has heard in the royals challenge over his level of security in the UK.

Harry is challenging the dismissal of his High Court legal action against the Home Office over the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.

The duke, 40, arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London on Tuesday morning and waved as he entered, but did not speak to reporters gathered outside.

The Duke of Sussex attended the first day of the hearing on Tuesday (Jonathan Brady/PA)

During the hearing he sat behind his barristers and next to his solicitor in a packed courtroom, with a notepad and pen in front of him, occasionally taking notes.

The appeal comes after retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane ruled last year that Ravecs decision, taken in early 2020 after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit as senior working royals, was lawful.

The Home Office, which has legal responsibility for the committees decisions, is opposing the appeal, with its lawyers previously telling the High Court that decisions were taken on a case-by-case basis.

At the start of the appeal, Shaheed Fatima KC, for the duke, said: When Ravec made its February 2020 decision about the appellants protective security, it did not apply its own terms of reference to that decision-making process.

Ravec has delegated responsibility from the Home Office over the provision of protective security arrangements for members of the royal family and others, with involvement from the Metropolitan Police, the Cabinet Office and the royal household.

Ms Fatima told the court that Ravec did not get an assessment from an expert specialist body called the risk management board, or the RMB and came up with a different and so-called bespoke process.

She said: The appellant does not accept that bespoke means better. In fact, in his submission, it means that he has been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment.

Not only does this bespoke process not involve the RMB, it also involves Ravec considering the reason why the appellant is attending a particular event, even though that is plainly irrelevant to the question of security.

Court artist sketch of Shaheed Fatima KC, watched by the Duke of Sussex, during the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Ms Fatima added: The appellants case is not that he should automatically be entitled to the same protection as he was previously given when he was a working member of the royal family.

The appellants case is that he should be considered under the terms of reference and subject to the same process as any other individual being considered for protective security by Ravec, unless there is a cogent reason to the contrary.

The barrister told the Court of Appeal that the failure to do a risk management board assessment for Harry meant that Ravec did not have the expert analysis that it needed to determine whether the duke should be treated like people in an other VIP category.

She continued: Ravec did not make a reasonable decision because the appellants position is analogous to those in that other VIP category.

Had the judge properly evaluated the evidence, he would have come to that conclusion.

Harry was seen in the courtroom at the London court (Andrew Matthews/PA).

The Home Office is defending the appeal and has asked judges to dismiss the challenge and award costs.

At the start of his oral arguments, Sir James Eadie KC, for the department, said: Its important to emphasise that the decision was not that personal security of the kind previously provided would under no circumstances be provided.

Rather it was simply that that security would not be provided on the same basis as before because of his (the dukes) change of status and because he was now going to live abroad for the majority of his time.

In written submissions, Sir James said the dukes appeal involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees, advancing propositions available only by reading small parts of the evidence, and now the judgment, out of context and ignoring the totality of the picture.

The barrister continued: The defendant recognises that the claimant disagrees vehemently with the decision and its subsequent application, including the particular protective security tactics which have and have not been authorised in his case from time to time.

As the judge noted, the claimant is entitled to hold and express those views. But they are legally irrelevant.

The Duke of Sussex leaving the Royal Courts of Justice following the start of his appeal (Ben Whitley/PA)

Sir James said it was contemporaneously identified by the then-chair of Ravec Sir Richard Mottram that an RMB assessment would be difficult to produce in an effective manner.

The barrister also said: The defendant has, and continues to, treat the claimant in a bespoke manner.

He is no longer a member of the cohort of individuals whose security position remains under regular review by Ravec.

Rather, he is brought back into the cohort in appropriate circumstances, and in light of consideration of any given context.

The barrister said that the previous judge could accept that the bespoke process was better suited to Harrys circumstances, continuing: The defendant implemented the bespoke process for the claimant.

Accordingly, the claimant is already treated exceptionally. The defendant was not rationally required to go still further.

Sir James added: This approach was at all times a matter for the expert judgment of Ravec and the judge was right to find that it was lawful.

The hearing before Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean, and Lord Justice Edis is due to conclude on Wednesday with a decision expected in writing at a later date.
Irans foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi; and Trumps special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. Photograph: AP

Iran, wrongfooted by Donald Trumps revelation that direct talks between the US and Iran on its nuclear programme are set to start in Oman on Saturday, insisted the talks would actually be in an indirect format, but added that the intentions of the negotiators were more important than the format.

Trump on Monday threw Tehran off guard by revealing the plan for the weekend talks and saying that if the talks failed Iran would be in great danger. There has been an unprecedented US military buildup across the Middle East in recent weeks, and Trumps decision to make the talks public looks designed to press Iran to negotiate with urgency.

The US delegation to the talks will be led by Steve Witkoff, Trumps special envoy to the Middle East, who has also been involved in talks with Russia over the Ukraine war; and the Iranian side by its foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. Witkoffs efforts to broker peace between Israel and Hamas and between Russia and Ukraine have so far failed.

Iran had in public been stalling about talks, saying simply that it was prepared for indirect talks with the US, but had not yet received a formal response from the US as to whether talks were going ahead. In a post on X issued some hours after Trump used an Oval Office press conference to reveal the agreement to stage weekend talks, Araghchi described the talks as an opportunity and a test. He insisted the ball was in the USs court.

Related: Trump says US having direct talks with Iran over nuclear deal

Speaking during a visit to Algiers, Araghchi elaborated that Iran wanted indirect talks. He said: The form of negotiations is not important, whether they are direct or indirect. In my opinion, what is important is whether the negotiations are effective or ineffective, whether the parties are serious or not in the negotiations, the intentions of the parties in the negotiations, and the will to reach a solution. These are the criteria for action in any dialogue.

He added Iran had not agreed on any formula that would allow indirect talks to convert into direct talks, but the US expects the talks to evolve into a direct negotiation. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Irans supreme leader, has vetoed direct talks in protest at US sanctions and in deference to hardliners that believe talks with the US over Tehrans nuclear programme are a political trap.

The former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani welcomed the news of the talks and said if the 2015 nuclear deal was conducted indirectly it would have taken 20 years and not two to conclude.

Trump pulled out of that deal  known as the joint comprehensive plan of action  during his first term. That deal had offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for limitations on its uranium enrichment activities.

Iran is waiting to see if Trump will be content if the talks focus on a new system of surveillance of its civil nuclear programme, not dissimilar to the treaty from which Trump withdrew the US in 2018; or instead the US will seek to dismantle Irans entire nuclear programme, a step that increasingly has been referred to as the Libya option. In December 2003, Libyas longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi renounced the countrys weapons of mass destruction programme and allowed international inspectors to verify that Tripoli would follow through on its commitment.

Speaking alongside Trump in the Oval House on Monday, Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, advocated the Libya option, but Iran insists it will not abandon its civil nuclear programme. Israel ultimately does not trust Iran and expects the talks to fail. It then favours a US-Israeli military strike to destroy Irans nuclear sites.

But Witkoff, in an interview with Tucker Carlson three weeks ago, suggested Trumps demands of Iran may be relatively modest. He said Trump, in his letter seeking talks with Iran, had said: We should clear up the misconceptions. We should create a verification programme so that nobody worries about weaponisation of your nuclear material. And Id like to get us to that place because the alternative is not a very good alternative. Thats a rough encapsulation of what was said.

But Trump is under pressure to reach an agreement that is more watertight than the agreement reached by Barack Obama in 2015.

Previewing Irans position in the talks, Araghchi said: Irans nuclear programme is completely peaceful and legitimate. UN security council resolution 2231 has just confirmed its legitimacy. There is no doubt about it internationally. If anyone has any questions or ambiguities, we are ready to clarify. We are confident that our nuclear programme is peaceful and we have no problem building more confidence into this unless it creates a limitation for us or is an obstacle to Irans goals.

Iran has always insisted a fatwa exists against building nuclear weapons, but senior Iranian politicians, faced by a series of military reversals, have increasingly challenged that.

Iran also faces the threat that Trump has set a two-month deadline  expiring in May  for the talks to achieve an outcome. Iran, being a consummate negotiator, may test Trumps patience, especially if Witkoff eventually demands its ballistic weapons programme and financial support for militant forces is also put on the agenda.

A February report by the International Atomic Energy Agency found that Irans stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity had increased sharply since December. Experts say that reaching 90% enrichment  the threshold for weapons-grade material  is relatively easy from that point. As of 8 February, Irans 60%-enriched uranium stockpile had grown by 92.5kg over the previous quarter, reaching 274.8kg. Iran says the stockpile is a response to US sanctions.
The allegations surrounding Jean-Claude Van Damme are said to have occurred in 2015 - Emma McIntyre/2020 WireImage

Jean-Claude Van Damme allegedly had sex with five women trafficked from Romania at a television series launch party in Cannes, according to legal documents obtained by The Telegraph.

The Belgian martial artist and Hollywood actor is facing a potential criminal investigation from Romanian authorities after a complaint was filed to police on April 2.

Excerpts of a deposition contained in the complaint claim the women were given to Van Damme, 64, at the event in south-east France in 2015.

The trafficking of the girls is said to have been organised by Morel Bolea, a Romanian suspected sex trafficker and former head of a modelling agency.

One woman who attended the event said in a written testimony: When we got there, we realised we werent participating in a film festival event, but rather at the launch of a TV series starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, which was held in a hotel event room.

She said one of the events organisers took five of his girls from the Fashion TV team and sent them to Van Damme.

It is not known if he knew the girls had been trafficked.

His agent Patrick Goavec told USA Today: Mr Van Damme does not wish to comment on or fuel this rumour, which is as absurd as it is unfounded.

Womens whereabouts unknown

The criminal complaint was submitted to the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) in Bucharest, the same organisation prosecuting the misogynist and alleged rapist Andrew Tate.

The current whereabouts of the women and their identities are not known.

Adrian Cuculis, the lawyer who filed the complaint, represents a separate woman allegedly groomed and trafficked by Mr Bolea when she was 15 years old.

Mr Cuculis told The Telegraph: They were basically offered to Van Damme  this is the allegation that Jean-Claude Van Damme used the services of one or more exploited girls.

He added: They were there for [sic] making sexual intercourse with this guy  if Jean-Claude Van Damme hooked up with them in the club and they went and engaged in six-person intercourse, its perfectly fine.

But if somebody comes to you keeping her hand in his hand and says OK off you go with him into the room this means something else.

Its a deposition stating out very clearly what happened there, and who offered the girls and what are the terms of them, the conditions.

Police investigation launched

Mr Cuculis said police had already begun investigating Van-Damme as part of a wider inquiry into Mr Boleas trafficking network.

He said: The [police] investigation has already been launched since Friday.

I received a note from the prosecutors office saying that they merged this file into the file that was opened in Morel Boleas case and they are conducting an investigation regarding our accusations.

A spokesman for DIICOT confirmed it had received the complaint on April 2 but made no further comment.

The complaint alleges that Mr Van Damme made use of services of an exploited person, an offence stipulated and punishable under Art. 216 of the criminal code, in conjunction with Art. 182 letters a), b), c) of the criminal code.

Mr Bolea was arrested in 2022 as the main suspect in a case surrounding the exploitation of minors, Romanian news media reported. He has not commented on the allegations.

According to the Romanian prosecutors office, from 2000 to 2016, he involved girls, including minors, in sexual exploitation through psychological pressure through his organisation.
R to L: Bruce Lehrmann, Lisa Wilkinson and Justice Michael Lee. Composite: AAP

Justice Michael Lee relied on an arguably archaic definition of consent when he found Bruce Lehrmann was reckless in his indifference to Brittany Higgins consent, Lisa Wilkinson has argued in fresh submissions in the Lehrmann defamation appeal.

Lehrmann, a former Liberal staffer, has appealed Lees April 2024 judgement that he was not defamed on four grounds by Network Ten and Wilkinson when they broadcast an interview with Higgins in 2021.

Related: Defamation law means the rape allegations you hear about in the media are just the tip of the iceberg. But we can limit that silencing effect | Jennifer Robinson

In the judgement Lee found that, on the balance of probabilities, Lehrmann raped Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.

On Monday Wilkinson and her former employer filed their submissions separately in response to Lehrmanns appeal.

Wilkinson argued in documents filed to the federal court that Lee should have found that an intentional rape had taken place, instead of finding that there was no evidence Lehrmann knew that Higgins did not consent to the sexual activity.

The primary judge proceeded on a legalistic and arguably archaic understanding of knowledge of consent given that he was not satisfied that Ms Higgins verbally or physically resisted, Wilkinson argued.

Having found Ms Higgins was significantly intoxicated, that the appellant was aware of her significant intoxication and that at the time of sexual intercourse Ms Higgins was passive like a log, his Honour should have found that the appellant had knowledge of Ms Higgins lack of consent at the time of intercourse.

Lee said he was satisfied a rape took place but he did not accept it had been established that Higgins was crying and telling Lehrmann to stop at least half a dozen times.

Wilkinsons counsel, Sue Chrysanthou SC and Barry Dean, have challenged various findings made by Lee.

Lee upheld the defence of truth, but found Wilkinson and Network Ten failed to establish the qualified privilege defence  that is, that the information broadcast was in the public interest and that they acted reasonably in airing the claims.

Wilkinson said although Lee concluded Lehrmann had no belief either way of Higgins consent, the ordinary person would consider that meant he had intentionally committed rape.

It was therefore unnecessary for the primary judge to decide the defence on the alternative basis of recklessness  on the facts found by [Justice Lee], an intentional rape had been proved by the respondents in so far as that word, rape, is understood by the ordinary person.

One of Lehrmanns four appeal grounds is that he was denied procedural fairness because the case which was found to be true was not put to him in cross-examination.

The rape described graphically by Ms Higgins included allegations of violence, an assault, [that she] called out no on multiple occasions and numerous references to an assault and trauma, Lehrmanns appeal lawyer, Zali Burrows, said.

Burrows said Higgins told The Project the incident involved forceful sexual intercourse but the case found by Lee involved no force.

In response, Wilkinson submitted this argument is misconceived because at trial Lehrmanns lawyers said it was unfair to ask him about consent because he had denied sexual intercourse.

Given his emphatic denials of sexual intercourse or any similar intimate interaction whatsoever, there was no lack of fairness in not putting to Mr Lehrmann that he was reckless to Ms Higgins consent when he had had sexual intercourse with her, the submission said.

At trial Mr Lehrmanns lawyers were of the view that it was unfair to ask him about consent because he had denied sexual intercourse.

Lehrmann also argued the definition of rape was misconstrued by Lee and was not the ordinary persons understanding of the word.

In reply, Wilkinson said all rape, including the rape that Lee found to involve non-consensual sexual intercourse, is a serious act of violence.

The submission that there is non-violent rape involving non-consensual sexual intercourse or that the primary judge found a non-violent rape is misconceived and should be rejected outright, Wilkinson said.

The third ground of Lehrmanns appeal, that it was open to Lee to simply say I just do not know who to believe, should be disregarded, Wilkinson said.

Lehrmann said Lee did not believe the account of either Lehrmann or Higgins.

This argument is based on adverse credit findings Lee made against both Higgins and Lehrmann because he did not think they had been entirely truthful, Lehrmanns appeal document said.

His Honour did not believe the account of either Mr Lehrmann or Ms Higgins, Lehrmann said.

Wilkinson responded that it was open to Lee to accept the part of Higgins evidence that he found credible, and more significantly was directly corroborated by the documented records of contemporaneous complaint.
Prince Harry (left) was in court while his father and stepmother toured Rome - Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire, Andrew Parsons/Parsons Media

On a Tuesday morning in Rome, the King and Queen stood by the president of Italy watching a spectacular military flypast, the colours of the Italian and British flags streaming across the blue sky overhead.

On the second day of their state visit to the country, held not long after the King was admitted to hospital for the side effects of his cancer treatment, they also enjoyed a trip to the Colosseum and celebrations for their 20th wedding anniversary to come.

British diplomats watched with satisfaction as the King embarked on his overseas duties, with soft power in action to smooth the path of defence partnerships, trade and that all-important European goodwill.

Meanwhile, in London, the Duke of Sussex arrived at court.

With a brief wave, suited and booted, he walked into the Court of Appeal to hear arguments from his legal team about how His Majestys Government and the palace alike had failed to protect his family sufficiently.

Father and son had not seen each other ahead of the hearing, despite the Duke landing in the UK on Sunday, and there are no signs of them planning to do so once the King is home.

The working King and Queen were on diplomatic duty; the Duke of Sussex hearing debates about his security aired in the court  which works under His Majestys name with lawyers holding the title Kings Counsel.

If that was not enough, the Duchess, at home in the US, topped it off with the launch of her new podcast on the same morning.

At one time, little irritated the palace more than a clash of diaries: one member of the Royal family overshadowing another on an important day.

Particularly overseas, where hundreds of people pour hours into perfecting a tour itinerary to suit hosts and guests alike, it was seen as the poorest form to steal the spotlight from a senior member of the Firm  blowing carefully planned photographs and news reports off newspaper pages and off air for newer, more gossipy drama.

When it comes to the Sussexes, that ship has sailed.

This time, palace aides were aware of the clash, but none felt moved to complain about it, less still alter the tour programme.

In some quarters, it is seen as nearly inevitable  an eye-roll rather than any real objection; irritation rather than anger.

Five years after the Sussexes left the working Royal family, it is telling that this is the only apparent way their lives overlap.

The Duke, for clarity, did not choose the date of his court hearing. He did choose to fly over to London from the US, despite not technically being required to contribute, in what has been interpreted as a sign of how much the outcome of the case means to him.

Credit: Reuters

The Duchesss podcast has been scheduled for release on April 8 for weeks.

As the Court of Appeal heard arguments that the Sussexes felt forced to step back from their royal roles because they were not being protected by the institution, the King and Queen kept calm and carried on.

After all, it is far from the first time that Sussex-related activities have threatened to knock the Royal family off course.

In Rome, the King and Queen enjoyed a morning with the president and his daughter, and walked arm-in-arm as they laid a wreath at the spectacular Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

They took some downtime for lunch  unusual for a King who likes to cram 10 or so engagements into a regular tour day, and a rare concession to his recent illness.

In the evening, the King and Queen were back at Villa Wolkonsky, the British ambassadors residence, where they joined members of the British-Italian community for canapes and conversation about all they had seen and done.

The coming days will see the King deliver speeches in the Italian Parliament  a rare honour  and a state banquet at which he will no doubt speak of the mutual love of the arts, food, fashion and culture in the language of his host nation.

Prince Harry has one more day in court. Meghan has seven more podcast episodes, which will air in the weeks to come.

The King and Queen have two more days on Italian soil, ploughing their way through the programme as planned.

Only then, when a British government plane flies them home, will they have a moment to sit back and assess the success of the trip.

Whether they have a claim to Veni, vidi, vici remains to be seen, but the activities of the Sussexes will have little bearing on it either way.
Yvette Cooper had said 5m would be offered to set up the inquiries but has been accused of watering down her commitment - Owen Humphreys/PA

Labour has dropped its plans for five local grooming gang inquiries.

In January, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, told MPs that the Government would provide 5 million to support up to five initial local inquiries modelled on the judge-led one into grooming gangs in Telford.

However, on Tuesday Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, announced that following feedback the Government would adopt a flexible approach where the money would be available for local councils to use as they wished to support grooming gang work.

She said that this could mean full independent local inquiries, but could also include more bespoke work, including local victims panels or locally led audits of the handling of historical cases.

The Conservatives accused Labour of watering down its response to the grooming gangs inquiry in an announcement just 45 minutes before Parliament broke for recess.

Home Office sources insisted that the change did not necessarily mean that the five inquiries would not go ahead but rather ministers had decided to not be prescriptive following the local consultation.

Not good enough

But Katie Lam, the shadow Home Office minister, said: Local inquiries are not good enough  they cant compel witnesses, they cant look at themes across the country, and they cant address national issues like deportation. Now the Government is watering them down even further. We wont let them get away with it.

A Home Office spokesman said it was patently false it was watering down its plans.

The 5 million funding announced in January is being made available to local authorities to help strengthen local responses to child sexual exploitation, and all local authorities will be able to apply for funding for local inquiries or other work in this area, the spokesman said.

The Home Secretary has written to every local authority on our plans to support local inquiries, and after listening to local authorities about what they need, we made the decision to implement the fund in a flexible way.

The Government announced the local inquiries in January after huge pressure for a new national inquiry, including from Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X.

Elon Musk was thanked by campaigners for victims of sexual abuse when he stepped in to criticise the Governments handling of grooming gangs - Anthony Devlin/Getty

Ministers said Tom Crowther, a barrister who chaired the Telford inquiry into grooming gangs, had agreed to work with the Government to develop a new framework for victim-centred locally led inquiries where they were needed.

As a first step, he will work with Oldham council and up to four other pilot areas, Ms Cooper told MPs.

But last week Mr Crowther told the home affairs committee that he had been left confused about his role and had even asked whether he was needed amid a lack of communication from the Home Office.

On Tuesday, Ms Phillips said the Home Office was developing a new best practice framework to support local authorities that want to undertake victim-centred local inquiries or related work.

She told MPs: Alongside that, we will set out the process through which local authorities can access the 5 million national fund to support locally-led work on grooming gangs.

Following feedback from local authorities, the fund will adopt a flexible approach to support both full independent local inquiries and more bespoke work, including local victims panels or locally led audits of the handling of historical cases.

Ms Phillips also announced that a new child protection authority will be created to address one of the central recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) led by Prof Alexis Jay.

Epidemic of abuse

Prof Jays seven-year probe made 20 recommendations in the final report published in 2022, as it described child sexual abuse as an epidemic across England and Wales.

The wait for the recommendations to be implemented hit the headlines in January after Mr Musk criticised the Prime Minister and Ms Phillips over the UKs handling of child grooming scandals.

Ms Phillips told MPs the publication of the report should have been a landmark moment, but victims and survivors were failed again when recommendations were not properly taken forward under the previous government.

She told the Commons: I can announce to the House that to prioritise the protection of children and to improve national oversight and consistency of child protection practice, this Government will establish a new child protection authority.

Building on the national child safeguarding review panel, the child protection authority will address one of IICSAs central recommendations for providing national leadership and learning on child protection and safeguarding.

Work to expand the role of the panel will begin immediately, and we will consult on developing the new authority this year.

A Home Office source said: The framework for local areas to be identified for inquiries will be set out shortly and will be informed by the Baroness Casey audit, which is looking at the scale, ethnicity and locations of grooming gangs exploitation across the country.

Arrests for child sexual exploitation and grooming have increased in the last nine months and following our action with police forces, cases where no further action was previously taken are now being looked at again.

This Government will leave no stone unturned for victims of child sexual abuse.
Sir Philip Green has lost his legal battle to use European courts to limit free speech in Parliament - CHRIS J RATCLIFFE

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg receives little praise in these pages, but we must commend it on its latest judgment. It has rejected a petition from the retailer Sir Philip Green to rule that the rights of parliamentarians to say what they wish in the Commons or Lords should be curtailed.

It would have been a gross travesty had the court found in favour of Sir Philip. Such a judgment would no doubt have been rejected by MPs and peers. Parliamentary privilege is enshrined in the Bill of Rights and is guarded jealously. The ECHR said it would be incompatible with the autonomy of the UK Parliament to find for Sir Philip.

He had objected to being named in the House of Lords after The Telegraph carried a story about an unidentified businessman accused of sexual harassment and bullying. He was said to have paid off his alleged victims and required them to sign non-disclosure agreements. An injunction prevented the newspaper from naming him, but Lord Hain, the former Labour cabinet minister, did so under privilege.

Sir Philip maintained that where a court had passed such a gagging order on the media this should apply to Parliament as well. Lord Hain called the billionaires application shameless and given the controversy involving his former companys pension scheme he would have been better off retiring to his Monaco home with a modicum of humility and silence.

The rights enjoyed by MPs and peers should not be misused but neither should the courts be complicit in keeping information that should be in the public domain a secret. Without these gagging orders this situation would not have arisen.
Hindu guru Nithyananda, pictured here in 2012, fled India in 2019 while facing charges of child abduction and rape of a follower. Photograph: Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images

Followers of a fugitive Indian Hindu guru on a mission to establish his own state are popping up across Latin America, offering hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy land in Ecuador, Paraguay and now Bolivia.

At the end of last year, a representative of the Baure Indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon signed a perpetual contract leasing 60,000 hectares (148,260 acres) of their vast rainforest for $108,000 (81,910) a year.

A representative of the Cayubaba Indigenous people signed a similar contract, leasing 31,000 hectares for $55,800 annually.

On the other end of the contracts, the profiteer was the United States of Kailasa, which, despite presenting itself to the Indigenous peoples as a nation, is not recognised by any country or the UN.

The fictional nation was created by Nithyananda  a self-anointed godman and the supreme pontiff of Hinduism  in 2019, after he fled India while facing charges of abducting children for his ashram and one of raping a follower.

After failed attempts to buy land in Ecuador and Paraguay  and even signing an agreement with the US city of Newark, which was later scrapped when officials realised Kailasa did not exist  the fake country turned to Bolivia.

Between September and November 2024, its representatives signed contracts with at least four Indigenous groups for the 1,000-year lease with automatic and perpetual renewal of their lands.

Everything seemed to go according to plan until the Bolivian newspaper El Deber exposed it last month.

When I first read the contracts, I thought, I must be imagining this. They were so irrational that it felt like magical realism, said Silvana Vicenti, the journalist who broke the story.

According to the contracts, seen by the Guardian, Kailasa would control vast swathes of land, with full sovereignty and autonomy within each Indigenous territory including rights over the airspace and all natural resources above or below the ground.

The Indigenous groups would be obliged to defend Kailasa in any legal proceedings and support its recognition as a sovereign and independent state, protect it against aggression, and back its admission to international organisations such as the UN.

For Vicenti, it seemed like a monarchy with Indigenous subjects.

Jhovana Morales, a lawyer from Fundacion Tierra, an NGO that works on Indigenous land issues, said the contracts were abusive and violated several Bolivian laws. One example was the perpetual lease clause, as the civil code sets a maximum term of 10 years.

The contracts are a total scam, said Morales. But the strangest part is that, to this day, no one knows exactly what happened. First, how did they get in?  How did they reach these places and start directly approaching sectors of Indigenous Amazonian territory?

The Bolivian government has yet to provide all the answers.

After the case broke, it issued a statement denying diplomatic ties with the fictitious country.

A photo of the Bolivian president, Luis Arce, smiling as he receives a book entitled United States of Kailasa from a woman wearing a saffron-coloured sari has begun circulating.

Although Arce has not commented, his national director of migration, Katherine Calderon, said the woman had requested a picture with the president during an event  hosted by an Indigenous confederation in October  as is common at any public gathering.

On 24 March, Calderon announced that Bolivia had expelled 20 foreigners linked to Kailasa  of different nationalities, including Indian, British, American and Chinese  who had entered the country as tourists but were seeking to obtain land in Indigenous territories.

Experts such as Morales have criticised the decision, saying the government should have completed its investigation before expelling those who may have been involved.

Bolivian journalist associations issued a joint statement denouncing threats reporters had received from representatives of the self-proclaimed state of Kailasa since they began covering the case.

Nithyananda, whose whereabouts remains unknown, gave a live presidential address on social media last Wednesday to dispel malicious rumours allegedly spread by anti-Hindu media outlets claiming he was dead.

He did not mention Bolivia directly, but his YouTube channel has published videos where his followers admit to signing the lease agreements and claim they sought to support environmental protection  and [provide] humanitarian aid to the Indigenous communities.

The Guardian sent a list of questions to the Bolivian government and Kailasas office of international relations but has not received a response.

The Multi-ethnic Indigenous Territory II organisation, which includes the Ese Ejja people who signed the contract, issued a statement that said Kailasa had manipulated some of its representatives and taken advantage of their vulnerability to extract a signature with the promise of easy money.

The group added: Our territory is not for sale, it is not for rent, and it is not subject to any kind of negotiation. Our land is the legacy of generations who have cared for and defended it with blood and resistance.
Donald Trump signed off on the deal after meeting with Sir Keir Starmer at the White House - Carl Court/via REUTERS

Mauritius has thanked Donald Trump for supporting Labours deal to give away the Chagos Islands.

Gavin Glover, the countrys advocate general, told The Telegraph that the talks over the agreement had entered their final phase and had been hastened along with the support of the US president.

The government lawyer, who is leading the Mauritian delegation of negotiators, said: We are working on the finer details to complete the deal to which both the UK and Mauritius are committed.

We are not going to have a running commentary on what is happening. Suffice to say that the support from the Trump administration has helped along the process, which is nearing completion.

Negotiators are battling over the details of Britains lease payments for the Diego Garcia air base, which is on the largest of the Chagos Islands and is shared with the US.

The Telegraph previously revealed that Mauritius had submitted fresh demands for higher lease payments for the base and additional development funding, beyond the reported 9 billion already on the table.

While the UK has ruled out raising the total cost of the deal, Britain has offered new options including front-loading more of the lease payments to meet Mauritiuss fiscal needs.

We wont sign the deal without getting clarity on the amount of money front-loaded, a Mauritian source close to the talks said earlier this week.

We are discussing the third option after dismissing the first two on legal grounds.

Asked about the talks, Mr Glover said: The financial part is a secret until it is signed.

Although there were early concerns in Whitehall that Mr Trump might block the deal, he surprised some observers by backing it in front of the worlds media at a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer in February.

Were going to have some discussions about that very soon, and I have a feeling its going to work out very well, he said.

The deal was sent to various intelligence agencies in Washington, before the final sign-off was given by Michael Waltz, the US national security adviser.

Prior to joining the Trump administration, Mr Waltz had opposed the agreement, arguing in December 2022 that should the UK cede control of the Chagos to Mauritius, I have no doubt that China will take advantage of the resulting vacuum.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has also backed the deal after opposing it while serving as a Florida senator.

Some in the UK Government argued that Mr Trump was always likely to back the deal after being given access to intelligence that showed there was a legal risk to the operation of the Diego Garcia base if Britain kept hold of the islands.

Mauritius has long argued that the islands should be under its control because they were once jointly administered as a British colony.

In 1967, when Mauritius was given independence from the UK, the Chagos Islands became a British Overseas Territory and hosted the military base.
British Gas lost its position as the UKs largest household energy supplier to Octopus Energy in January. Photograph: Simon Dack/Alamy

British Gas will take on 90,000 customers left without an energy supplier after Rebel Energy went bust earlier this month.

On Sunday, the industry regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, appointed British Gas to begin supplying gas and electricity to 84,000 household customers and 6,000 businesses.

British Gas saw off competition from other energy companies to inherit the customer base less than a week after Rebel Energy blamed a perfect storm of soaring wholesale prices and squeezed customers for the company going under.

Related: Zonal electricity pricing plan could add 3bn a year to GB bills, report finds

Dan Bates, the founder of Rebel, said in a social media post that it was regrettably not able to raise the required capital to secure its future, which, he said, ultimately means that Rebel Energy will be going out of business.

British Gas customers received the small boost to its customer numbers weeks after being toppled from its position as the UKs largest household energy supplier for the first time in almost 40 years by Octopus Energy.

An industry reportpublished in January by Cornwall Insight found that Octopus increased its share of the market to 23.7% of households in Great Britain by the end of last year, while British Gas held a 23.1% share of the market, or 320,000 fewer accounts than Octopus.

In February, Chris OShea, the chief executive of British Gass parent company, Centrica, said the market league table news should galvanise my wonderful colleagues at British Gas.

OShea said on Monday: Were looking forward to welcoming thousands of customers of Rebel Energy to British Gas, and well ensure the switchover is as smooth as possible. Were a brand trusted by millions, and our new customers will benefit from the range of advantages that come with being a British Gas customer, including access to exclusive offers on services like boiler cover, Hive products and PeakSave.

Tim Jarvis, a director at Ofgem, said: While I know customers may be concerned, they do not need to worry. All credit balances remain protected, and there will be no interruption to their energy supply while the switch is taking place.

Rebel Energy customers will be placed on to a competitive tariff, though should consider whats right for them once the transfer is complete. They will also face no exit fees if they choose to switch to another supplier.
VE Day is celebrated on May 8 every year to mark the day that Germany surrendered to Allied Forces in 1945 - David Rose

Sir Keir Starmer should create an extra bank holiday for the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the Liberal Democrats have said.

VE Day is marked on May 8, the day on which Allied Forces formally announced the surrender of Germany in 1945.

Downing Street ruled out an extra bank holiday at the end of last year but the Liberal Democrats are urging Sir Keir to reconsider.

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: The 80th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe is a huge milestone for our country.

Next month will be a moment to remember the sacrifices of all those who fought to defend our democracy and the freedoms we take for granted.

Its disappointing the Government has ruled out an extra bank holiday to commemorate this special moment in our nations history.

I hope ministers will think again and announce a one-off extra day of celebration to remember our history and honour our veterans.

At this time of global turmoil, we could all do with a chance to bring the country together and mark this special occasion.

The creation of a new bank holiday would mark the ninth this year. Two of the existing bank holidays already take place in May  on May 5 and May 26.

A van transports beer through Piccadilly Circus in London on VE Day in 1945 - Keystone/Hulton Archive

In November last year, the Daily Express reported that a new bank holiday was planned to commemorate VE Day and VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day).

VJ Day is celebrated on Aug 15 to mark the day of Japans surrender to the Allies, which brought the Second World War to its complete end.

But when asked about the proposals, Sir Keirs official spokesman said there were no plans for a day off.

Moments of huge significance

The spokesman said at the time: Obviously, the 80th anniversaries of VE and VJ day will be moments of huge significance for our country, where we will come together to honour the memory of those who served, the legacy left behind and what we owe them.

We are committed to commemorating these nationally important occasions appropriately, which is why we have announced more than 10 million for events to mark them. Well set out more detail on that shortly.

But the spokesman insisted the plans do not include an additional bank holiday, although commemorative elements were promised for May.

While in opposition, Sir Keir dropped a pledge by his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn to create four new bank holidays that Mr Corbyn said would celebrate Britains tradition of fairness, inclusivity and social justice.

These would have taken place on St Georges Day on April 23, St Davids Day on March 1, St Patricks Day on March 17 and St Andrews Day on November 30.

Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, also declined calls to make St Georges Day a bank holiday, despite saying it was an incredibly proud day.
File image of a member of Asda staff

Asda has launched facial recognition CCTV in some of its stores as part of attempts to tackle rising crime.

The retail giant has become the latest high street supermarket to implement new measures amid record-high levels of shoplifting and assaults on staff.

The technology, which will be trialled in a two-month pilot across five shops in the Manchester area, has been integrated into its existing CCTV network.

It works by scanning images of shoppers and comparing the results to a known list of people who have previously committed crimes in Asda branches.

The supermarket said if a match is found by the automated system, a member of its head office security team can then report a suspect to the store in a matter of seconds.

It is estimated there are more than 2,000 incidents of violence and abuse against shop workers every day  a threefold increase since 2020, according to the British Retail Consortium.

In Asda stores alone, there were 1,400 recorded assaults on employees last year, an average of four a day.

Liz Evans, Asdas chief commercial officer, said: The rise in shoplifting and threats and violence against shop workers in recent years is unacceptable and as a responsible retailer we have to look at all options to reduce the number of offences committed in our stores and protect our colleagues.

We consistently look for new ways to improve the security in our stores and this trial will help us understand if facial recognition technology can reduce the number of incidents and provide greater protection to everybody in our stores.

The results of the trial, at the chains Ashton, Chadderton, Eastlands, Harpurhey and Trafford Park branches, will be assessed after two months.

It comes after Co-op, another high street supermarket chain, introduced fortified kiosks with toughened screens to protect staff in hundreds of its stores.

Marks and Spencer, a fellow retailer, is also trialling new smart checkouts which can calculate the price of shoppers baskets with no need for scanning barcodes.

Meanwhile in Gateshead, Tesco has introduced scales to weigh trolleys to check that customers using its Scan as you Shop system pay the correct amount.

However, Asdas new pilot scheme has been criticised by Big Brother Watch, a privacy campaign group, which urged the chain to scrap its use of the invasive technology.

Madeleine Stone, a senior advocacy officer, said: Asda is adding customers to secret watchlists with no due process, meaning people could be blacklisted despite being innocent.

Facial recognition is dangerously out of control in the UK.

Asda insisted the trial fully complies with all data protection regulations.

A spokesman added: Store management will alert the authorities whenever they feel it is right to do so when an offence is being committed; that is true of all stores and not only those participating in the trial.

Only the mathematical data is stored of confirmed persons who have committed an offence, and this is for the two months of the trial.

It comes after The Telegraph revealed last week that police have been told to use facial recognition searches in every criminal investigation.

The independent police inspectorate has recommended that forces fully exploit the technology, which some are using more than others.

A search is conducted on the public every two minutes, with officers encouraged to obtain pictures of their targets  who include witnesses and victims  from sources including social media and doorbell footage.
The project seeks to fortify a 600-mile stretch of the Baltic borders

Some 1,000 concrete bunkers with trenches, anti-tank ditches, ammunition depots and supply shelters are part of a joint plan to fortify 600 miles of the Baltic states eastern borders.

But the 10-year project to shore up defences against Russia may come too late, according to officials in the region. They fear a peace deal in Ukraine could rapidly turn Moscows attention to the most exposed part of Natos eastern flank.

[Vladimir] Putin is not going to let us wait those 10 years, said Gabrielius Landsbergis, who served as Lithuanias foreign minister until November.

The most dangerous time for the Baltics will be immediately after a ceasefire in Ukraine, he told The Telegraph.

His comments followed similar warnings from leaders of the Baltic states that a ceasefire could have unintended consequences.

The Kremlin has already laid out plans to increase military production and redeploy troops to Natos north-eastern frontier if Donald Trump brokers a truce.

To bolster their tripwire force, the Baltic states, Poland and Finland announced recently that they would withdraw from an international treaty banning anti-personnel landmines.

Lithuania also recently quit a cluster bomb treaty. Regional leaders say they want freedom of choice to use new weapons systems due to the Russian threat.

Dragons teeth and anti-tank traps under the snow on Estonias border with Russia - David Rose/Telegraph

The strategic message, according to Dovile Sakaliene, Lithuanias defence minister, is that we are prepared to use absolutely everything to defend against invasion.

A recent Danish intelligence report stated that once the war stops or freezes in Ukraine, Russia will be able to rapidly re-arm, re-group and wage war on Nato.

It estimates that in six months, Moscow could fight a local war in a country bordering Russia. In two years, it will be ready for a regional war against several countries in the Baltic Sea region. In five, it will be able to fight a large-scale war in Europe (without US involvement).

Nato, stirred by the catastrophic destruction in Ukraine and atrocities committed on civilians in occupied cities, signed a plan in 2023 to defend every inch of the Baltics, with lines of reinforcement from Finland, Poland and Germany.

Currently, the alliance deploys battalion-sized multinational forces on a rotating basis in each Baltic state to act as a tripwire defence strategy to deter Russia.

0404 What could the Baltic Defence Line look like

Latvia is defended by a Canadian-led international force, a German brigade safeguards Lithuania and around 1,000 British troops protect Estonia.

But Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, who fear a lightning invasion, want more: the tripwire battle groups replaced with combat-ready brigades and a permanent Nato presence.

In the first months of full-scale war in Ukraine, Russia managed to occupy up to 54,000 square miles  over twice the territory of Lithuania. About 6.5 to seven million live in the Baltic states combined. By comparison, Ukraine had a pre-war population of 41 million.

We lack the strategic depth. Russians could move through the whole country in hours, if not days. This is why we defend from the first inch, said Mr Landsbergis. Look at Ukraine and at their reconquered cities, what they took back was a wasteland.

Put simply, the goal of the new defensive line is to prevent Baltic cities and towns from suffering the same fate as those razed to the ground in Ukraine.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will each spend 60 million, a huge chunk of their defence budgets, which, relative to GDP, are the highest in Europe after Poland.

Mr Landsbergis said the message received from Nato was: How much are you doing yourself before you ask for our help  when will you start digging trenches and mining your border?

We are there now. We are sending a message, he said. I hope that we use every minute that the Ukrainians are giving us in order to prepare.

0404 T Bunkers

Raimond Kaljulaid, the head of Estonias delegation to Nato, said good progress was being made on the defensive line.

The Baltic states are doing this together, there is no alternative, we need to build strong regional cooperation, he said.

Referring to the Baltic states decision to leave the 1997 Ottawa landmine treaty, Mr Kaljulaid added: We cannot fight Russia with one hand tied behind our backs.

We must be able to hold the line, make sure Russia does not get inside but we must also be able to take the fight to the enemy.

Pointing out how quickly Russia hardened its defensive positions, making counter-attacks near-impossible without a huge loss of life, Mr Kaljulaid added: It proves that war is not really about cyber, robots and drones, you need physical barriers, infrastructure on the ground.

In the event of an invasion, we will be able to fortify and man that line in a fast manner.

As part of stage one, Latvia and Lithuania have already installed fields of concrete pyramids known as dragons teeth to obstruct armoured vehicles along their borders.

In Estonia, its reinforced bunkers  which should withstand artillery strikes  have been tested and positions picked.

Lithuania has installed anti-tank obstacles on the bridge over the Neman river at the border with Russia - odessa-journal.com

By autumn, the first stretch of what its military calls defensive strongpoints will be completed, said the Estonia Centre for Defence Investments.

The country has also procured large quantities of different barrier wires, large 1.5-ton dragons teeth and two-ton concrete Lego blocks, as well as T-wall roadblocks.

This way, the defence forces, together with allies, can halt the adversary from the very first metres, a spokesman for the countrys defence ministry said.

A key lesson from the high-attrition warfare in Ukraine has been the importance of deep defences and countering enemy mobility.

The great advantage in modern warfare is defence, said Michael DiCianna, a research fellow at the Institute for World Politics.

New drones and satellite imagery have allowed persistent overhead surveillance in Ukraine. You always know the positions of the enemy, he said.

Manoeuvrable warfare is not dead, but has become drastically harder, so unmovable fortifications take on new importance.

But it would be wrong to compare the Baltics new defensive line to the Maginot Line, the solid defence barriers built by France in the 1930s that failed to prevent a German invasion.

It is not a wall or a solid line of fortifications, it is a more flexible, mobile and modern means of increasing defence and deterrence, said Marta Kepe, a senior defence analyst at the Rand think tank.

Anti-tank hedgehogs and concrete blocks near Latvias border with Russia - Gints Ivuskans/Getty

The aim is to shape the invasion by channelling enemy forces into streams that can be attacked.

It is another arrow in the quiver of Baltic defence that cannot operate passively on its own, Ms Kepe cautioned, saying it will need to be paired with military and artillery units, advanced reconnaissance capabilities and early-warning systems.

Poland last year also began construction of its 1.9 billion East Shield  a vast line of layered defence infrastructure and high-end surveillance systems along its border with Russia and Belarus. This month, its military said plans were underway to start mining its eastern frontier.

Nato is pivoting its posture of deterrence by punishment to deterrence by denial by stopping the enemy at the border, said Minna Alander, associate fellow at Chatham Houses defence and security programme.

Amid concerns of receding US interest in European security, Ms Alander said the future of Baltic defence is hinged on what is left of the alliance.

Despite concerns, Karolis Aleksa, Lithuanias vice-minister for defence, is cautiously optimistic that the Baltic region is ready to withstand a Russian assault.

We are ready right now to defend for the first centimetre, we have no other choice, he said, describing the Baltic Defence Line as an integral part of the countrys defence plans.

Narrow corridor

Lithuania has added vulnerability to the other Baltic states as its hostile border includes the Russian military stronghold of Kaliningrad to its south west, adding 171 miles to its defensive problem.

The country of 2.8 million is also the principal defender of the Suwaki Gap, a narrow corridor between Lithuania and Poland that forms the shortest landbridge between Belarus and Kaliningrad.

Both Kaliningrad and the Suwaki Gap are considered a major liability that Russia could use to cut the Baltic states off from the rest of Europe by land and then blockade them from the sea.

However, Mr Aleksa said Finland and Swedens joining Nato brought a better strategic picture to the region, helping to turn the Baltic Sea into a so-called Nato lake.

Our goal is to deter first of all, the more we build now, the stronger the signal we will send to Russia, he said. But we should be more ready. We need the defence strategy strengthened across Europe and Nato.

Key areas that Lithuania, and indeed the region, are focused on are procuring air-defence systems  which are in short supply across Europe  and increasing their long-range strike capabilities.

However, beyond the threat of a Russian invasion, the Baltics are facing intensifying hybrid attacks from Russia.

Amid the Ukraine war, one of the most attractive fields for Russia to play in is in the shadows, in the grey zone, Mr Aleksa said, citing acts of sabotage on undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, cyberattacks, and disinformation. We have to be resilient, we have to be better prepared.

But will they be ready?

It is a race against time, Mr Kaljulaid, of Estonias Nato delegation, said. One big question the Kremlin might ask is why give Europe time to re-arm, re-supply, organise their defence?

We cannot discount the possibility that Russia will make a catastrophic miscalculation.
A British woman accused of duping her own son to fund her champagne-sipping lifestyle has been charged with fraud in Singapore after gaining notoriety in the Netflix documentary Con Mum.

Dionne Marie Hanna, 84, faces five counts of fraud involving three men in Singapore and France.

She appeared before a district court on Saturday via video link, according to local media reports.

Her alleged victims claim she sought their sympathy by saying she was terminally ill and needed the money for legal fees and to open new bank accounts. She allegedly assured the men that she would reimburse them through inheritance, claiming to be a member of the Brunei royal family.

In exchange for the money, she also promised to donate millions of dollars to a mosque and a Muslim non-profit organisation in Singapore, a court heard.

The charges reportedly come after her alleged victims watched Con Mum on Netflix, which told the story of Hannas reunion with her son Graham Hornigold.

Hanna got in touch with Mr Hornigold, a London-based pastry chef back in 2020, claiming to be his long-lost mother.

DNA tests later proved she was Mr Hornigolds mother. However, he says after she got in touch, she scammed him out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Graham Hornigold on the Netflix documentary Con Mum (Netflix)

She is said to have portrayed herself as a wealthy, illegitimate daughter of the Sultan of Brunei, initially lavishing her son and his then-partner with extravagant gifts.

However, over time, she allegedly abandoned them, leaving him and his friends to bear the brunt of her ever-increasing bills. Mr Hornigold, in the film, revealed that he lost 300,000 during this period, while she vanished.

It is unclear how much money her alleged victims have lost, but Singapore police said preliminary investigations suggest it could amount to more than S$200,000 or 115,400.

Since the airing of the Netflix show, police said they had received several complaints from alleged victims.

If convicted of fraud, Ms Hanna faces up to 20 years in jail and a fine.
Scott Chilton has quit as chief constable of Hampshire Constabulary amid an investigation into his conduct - Hampshire Police/Solent News

The chief constable of Hampshire police has quit the force weeks after it emerged he was under investigation for a past relationship with a junior officer.

Scott Chilton, who led more than 5,600 police officers, staff and PCSOs in his county, has retired from the force after 33 years with immediate effect.

His departure comes amid the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) serving him notice he is under a new investigation into alleged gross misconduct.

The investigation was triggered after a former senior detective levelled an accusation of an affair during a recent misconduct hearing.

It is understood Mr Chilton was a senior officer when the woman involved was a sergeant at the time.

An internal email  seen by the Southampton Daily Echo  has confirmed Mr Chilton, a former counter-terror officer, retired on Monday with immediate effect.

Donna Jones, the police and crime commissioner (PCC), said: The chief constable has retired after 33 years of service. The IOPC investigation will continue notwithstanding his retirement. As commissioner, I will now start the process to recruit a new chief constable.

Sam de Reya, Mr Chilterns deputy, will replace him as interim chief.

Derrick Campbell, the IOPC director, said: This morning, we notified the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabularys chief constable, Scott Chilton, that he is under investigation for potential gross misconduct.

This follows indications that he may have potentially breached police standards of professional behaviour relating to honesty and integrity; duties and responsibilities; discreditable conduct; and orders and instructions.

Conflict of interest

He said the investigation involves allegations that he failed to disclose a conflict of interest relating to a workplace relationship before he was chief constable and the inquiry began following a conduct referral from the Hampshire PCC on Feb 27.

It was widened to include a further allegation, involving failing to disclose a conflict of interest relating to a further workplace relationship after becoming chief constable, following a second conduct referral from the PCCs office on March 31, he added.

We understand that the chief constable has today retired from the force with immediate effect. This will not impact our investigation, which remains ongoing. The serving of a gross misconduct notice does not mean that disciplinary proceedings will necessarily follow.

At the end of our investigation, we will decide whether Mr Chilton should face disciplinary proceedings. No criminal offences have currently been identified.

In a message sent out to officers and staff two weeks ago, the chief constable said he would continue to serve while under investigation, adding that it has had a personal impact on myself, my family, and my friends, but I have the full support of our police and crime commissioner, as well as colleagues in the force and my family.

Mr Chilton, a former detective who joined the police at age 18, started in the top job in February 2023, having transferred back to Hampshire after serving as chief constable in Dorset, a job he started in August 2021.

Roger Wood, a former DCI, said the chief constable had an affair - Portsmouth News/Solent News

Allegations were made against Mr Chilton by Roger Wood, a former DCI who himself was found to have committed gross misconduct after striking up sexual relationships with junior police staff.

Asked at his own hearing if having an affair was misconduct, it is understood Mr Wood  who quit while under investigation  said: Well, the chief constable had an affair.

That led to a mandatory referral to the police watchdog on Feb 27, around a week after Mr Woods hearing concluded with him being banned from serving again.

Part of the culture

In another recent Hampshire police misconduct hearing, Sgt Richard Heard referred to the chief constable and said that he had been aware of several relationships between senior officers and juniors.

The officer, who was dismissed from the force, said they were part of the fabric and culture in policing which has been brought about by the intense nature of the work.

Mr Chilton had previously taken a hard line on bad behaviour by his own officers and regularly dismissed them at misconduct hearings.

Last year, he dismissed a pair of constables who sent racist, homophobic and misogynistic messages.
Palestinians inspect the site hit by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip on Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)  Israel struck tents outside two major hospitals in the Gaza Strip overnight, killing at least two people, including a local reporter, and wounding another nine, including six reporters, medics said Monday.

Fifteen other people were killed in separate strikes across the territory, according to hospitals.

Israel has carried out waves of strikes across Gaza and ground forces have carved out new military zones since it ended its ceasefire with Hamas last month. Israel has barred the import of food, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid for well over a month as it seeks to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the truce agreement they reached in January.

A strike on a media tent outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis at around 2 a.m. set the tent ablaze, killing Yousef al-Faqawi, a reporter for the Palestine Today news website, and another man, according to the hospital. Six other reporters were also wounded in the strike.

The Israeli military said it hit a Hamas militant, without providing further information. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because it is deeply embedded in residential areas.

Israel also struck tents on the edge of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, wounding three people, according to the hospital.

Nasser Hospital said it received another 13 bodies, including six women and four children, from separate strikes overnight. Al-Aqsa Hospital said two people were killed and three wounded in a strike on a home in Deir al-Balah.

Thousands of people have sheltered in tents set up inside hospital compounds throughout the 18-month war, assuming Israel would be less likely to target them. Israel has raided hospitals on several occasions, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, allegations denied by hospital staff.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, rampaging through army bases and farming communities and killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They abducted 251 people, and are still holding 59 captives  24 of whom are believed to be alive  after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.

Israel has vowed to keep escalating military pressure until Hamas releases the remaining hostages, lays down its arms and leaves the territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will then implement U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to resettle much of Gaza's population to other countries through what the Israeli leader refers to as voluntary emigration.

Palestinians say they do not want to leave their homeland, and human rights experts have warned that implementing the Trump proposal would likely amount to mass expulsion in violation of international law.

Protests in Israel as Netanyahu meets Trump

Netanyahu will meet with Trump in Washington on Monday to discuss Gaza and other issues.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside Netanyahu's official residence in Jerusalem to call for an agreement to release the captives. Many fear that Netanyahu's decision to resume the fighting has put the remaining hostages in grave danger and hope Trump can help broker another deal.

Now the moment of truth has come," said Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, addressing Netanyahu. You are in the United States and you have to sit there with President Trump and close a deal so that everyone will be released home.

Israel's military offensive has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants or civilians. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and at its height displaced around 90% of its population.

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This story has been corrected to show that Palestine Today is a news website, not a TV station.

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Magdy reported from Cairo.

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Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
The King and Queen pose for a photo at Villa Wolkonsky in Rome - Chris Jackson

The King and Queen are spending their 20th wedding anniversary in Rome, posing for a photograph to mark the milestone.

The new photographs of King Charles III and Queen Camilla were taken at Villa Wolkonsky, the British Ambassadors residence.

They were photographed hours after landing on Monday evening, in the Villas grounds, next to the Neronian spur of the Aqua Claudia.

The Queen wore a white and beige coat dress by Anna Valentine and a Lily of the Valley brooch that once belonged to the Queen Mother. The flower symbolises love, and is often included in royal wedding bouquets.

In a message on social media signed Charles R & Camilla R, the couple said: As we begin our first visit to Italy as King and Queen, we are so looking forward to celebrating our twentieth wedding anniversary in such a special place  and with such wonderful people!

A presto, Roma e Ravenna!

Earlier in the day, the ambassador said he hoped the trip will create memories that will last a generation, and strengthen UK-Italian relations via a shared love of culture, food, heritage and ties that resonate very, very deeply.

The King and Queen are making their first state visit to the country since the Coronation, in which the King will become the first British monarch to address both houses of Italys parliament.

The visit will be celebrated by a joint military fly past including the Red Arrows, and the King will hold meetings with the countrys president and prime minister.

Unusually for a royal overseas visit in recent years, there are no planned protests by republicans or campaigners.

The couple will visit Dantes tomb and attend a slow food event - Chris Jackson/Chris Jackson Collection

Recent trips to the Commonwealth have regularly included calls for Britain to apologise for its colonial past, or been disrupted by republican campaigners or those wanting to make public points about causes including Gaza.

A local newspaper says the fever is growing for the arrival of the English Royals in Ravenna.

The route from the airport to the centre of Rome includes a balcony where residents have placed large cardboard cut outs of the King and Queen.

The King and Queen arrived on Monday evening, around 5.15pm, flying on a British government jet, accompanied by two F-35s from the Italian air force as they came in to land at Romes Ciampino 31st Wing Airport.

The arrival saw them greeted by a guard of honour and formally welcomed on the red carpet by British and Italian representatives including David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary.

The King and Queen will spend four days in Rome and Ravenna - Phil Noble/Reuters

The Queen, wearing a dark blue Fiona Clare dress, said she was delighted to be in Italy.

The King and Queen will spend four days in Rome and Ravenna, with a programme including a slow food event, a visit to Dantes tomb and the Byron museum.

They will spend their 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday at a state banquet, surrounded by 150 guests who will toast to them.

There are no plans to visit the Pope, who is recovering from a serious illness. A day-long state visit to the Holy See, including an audience with the Pope, has been postponed.

The King is said to be raring to go after a health scare in which he was hospitalised briefly with the side effects of cancer treatment.

Aides have spread the remainder of the engagements, originally planned over two days, to spread across three for a slightly lighter schedule.

The King will hold audiences with Sergio Mattarella, the president, and Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister.

The UK and Italys defence co-operation will be marked by a joint flypast over Rome by the Italian air forces aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, and the RAFs Red Arrows.

In Ravenna, near Bologna, Charles and Camilla will mark the 80th anniversary of the provinces liberation from Nazi occupation by allied forces, on April 10 1945, during a town hall reception.

They will celebrate literary culture by visiting Dantes tomb and the Queen will make a solo trip to the Byron museum.

The King and Queen acknowledge onlookers as a local newspaper remarks that a fever had been growing in Ravenna ahead of the visit - Aaron Chown/PA

Lord Llewellyn of Steep, British Ambassador to Italy, said today: Their Majesties will do something intangible but priceless.

Their visit will strengthen the closeness between our nations in a way that only they can, creating memories that will last a generation.

Their love for Italy and all things Italian, the things Italians cherish  culture, food, heritage  resonate very, very deeply.

So a lot to look forward to in the next few days. The state visit that brings together, quite simply, the best of Italy and the best of Britain, the closest of friends, allies and partners.

The visit to Rome and Ravenna will be the Kings 18th official trip to Italy and his first state visit as Monarch.

Lord Llewellyn added that such was the excitement about the visit, that staff in his local pizzeria had been asking about it every time he went in.
Virginia Giuffre said she had four days to live after being involved in a car crash in Australia. (AP) (Bebeto Matthews, Associated Press)

Virginia Giuffre has been discharged from hospital a week after being involved in a car crash and posting on social media that she only had days to live, local media has reported.

The Western Australian said Giuffre had been discharged on Monday from Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth after spending six nights there.

Since she said she only had four days to live on 30 March, Giuffre has been backed in the media spotlight.

Giuffre said in the post on 30 March that her car had been hit by a school bus. She uploaded a picture of herself with a bruised and battered face alongside the details of the crash, and said she had "renal kidney failure".

However, Western Australia Police raised questions about Giuffre's original post after issuing a statement casting the incident as a "minor crash" with "no reported injuries".

Towards the end of last week, Giuffre's brother said injuries described by his sister were not necessarily linked to a car crash.

Prince Andrew smiling as he stands with Virginia Giuffre (then Virginia Roberts), with Ghislaine Maxwell standing behind in a photo that was allegedly taken in 2001. (PA/supplied by Capital Pictures) (Capital Pictures, Capital Pictures)

In an interview with People magazine published on 5 April, her brother Sky said that Giuffre "never stated in the bus accident the cause of all her other injuries". He added: "Nobody ever said her liver issues and kidney failure were ever from that. We still don't know if it is, I'm not a medical professional. That's up to her doctor to determine."

Giuffre had been charged with breaching a family violence restraining order just days before the crash, with a hearing due on 9 April.

Giuffre, 41, is reported to have separated from her husband, Robert Giuffre, and posted pictures of her children on Instagram on 22 March, saying she was missing them.

Prince Andrew paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Giuffre, who he claimed never to have met.

She sued him for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after she said she was trafficked by paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew denied the claims.

What did Virginia Giuffre initially post on Instagram?

On 30 March, Giuffre posted on Instagram she had been critically injured in a crash near Perth, Western Australia.

Alongside a photo of herself bruised in a hospital bed, she wrote: Theyve given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology, alleging a school bus had smashed into her vehicle, causing kidney failure.

She wrote: "I think it's important to note that when a school bus driver comes at you driving 110kmh as we were slowing down for a turn, that no matter what your car is made of, it might as well be a tin can.

Giuffre added: "I'm ready to go, just not until I see my babies one last time."

Giuffre thanked her followers "for being the wonderful people of the world and for being a great part of my life".

Her spokeswoman Dini von Mueffling said on 1 April: "Virginia has been in a serious accident and is receiving medical care in the hospital. She greatly appreciates the support and well wishes people are sending." It is not clear when she was told she had days to live.

Giuffre has called Perth home since 2020, living in the Ocean Reef suburb with her family after years of global scrutiny following her accusations against Epstein and Prince Andrew.

She lived on a beachfront property with her husband, an Australian she met in Thailand in 2002, and their three children.

On 2 April, a statement from her family said she "looks forward to defending herself" over the restraining order.

"Virginia continues to be hospitalised in serious condition," it added.

Police describe incident as 'minor crash'

On 1 April, Western Australia Police characterised the incident on 24 March as a "minor crash" between a bus and a car, adding that the collision "was reported by the bus driver the following day".

Most notably, the force said that while there was damage to the car, "there were no reported injuries as a result of the crash".

The police further clarified that the car was driven by a 71-year-old woman, with a 41-year-old woman - matching Giuffre's age - as a passenger, though they did not confirm Giuffre's involvement.

Virginia Giuffre was believed to be a patient at Royal Perth Hospital in Australia. (Getty) (Anastasia Yakovleva via Getty Images)

Acting Western Australia police commissioner Kylie Whiteley also told reporters: "We have no report of any serious injuries."

A family statement from Giuffre appeared to respond to this that same day. It said: "Virginia was banged up and bruised and returned home. Virginia's condition worsened and she was admitted to the hospital."

The Western Australia Public Transport Authority told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that they were "unaware of any such bus crashes," and St John WA ambulance service reported to the ABC that they were not called to any bus-related crash in Neergabby - the location of the crash.

The East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS), which oversees Royal Perth Hospital, where Giuffre was believed to be a patient, told ABC that Giuffre "was not at any of their facilities".

On 2 April, the bus driver involved in the incident told MailOnline: "The driver basically pulled out in front of me. I made sure she was alright, and I went and did a police report."

Ross Munns said: "She was elderly and I asked if she was ok, and she said, 'Yes I'm ok'. I asked if she lived here and she said, 'No I'm a carer', and I told her she needs to put her indicator on when you have to turn.

"That's all the conversation was, and she asked how the kids were and I said, 'fine'. It wasn't a major crash."

Yahoo News UK has contacted Giuffre's representative and the East Metropolitan Health Service for comment.
Sudanese soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, at the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) base in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan - AFP

Sudan faces an all-out catastrophe if its rival factions do not make peace, David Lammy has warned.

He has also announced a foreign ministers summit to be held in London, aimed at tackling the countrys disastrous civil war.

The Foreign Secretary told The Telegraph he was inviting counterparts including Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, to try to find a pathway to peace for the two-year-long conflict.

The warring factions themselves are not invited, but several of their backers are expected to attend in an attempt to find international consensus to ending a war that analysts say has become a bloody free-for-all of competing regional powers.

The summit is being jointly organised with France, Germany and the African Union, and will be held next week on the second anniversary of a conflict which has tipped Africas third-largest country into a humanitarian crisis.

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is head of the Sudanese armed forces and currently the de facto leader of Sudan - Sudan Transitional Sovereignty Council/Reuters

Civil war erupted when rivalry between the de facto president, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, flared into open fighting.

Much of the country of 50 million people has since become a battlefield, as Gen Burhans Sudanese armed forces and Hemdetis Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia army have fought for territory.

Tens of thousands have died, the countrys health service has collapsed, some 12 million have fled their homes, and several states have fallen into famine.

Mr Lammy said: For far too long much of the world has turned a blind eye to Sudans suffering when over 30 million people are in urgent need of aid, when starvation is spreading and civilians including children are at risk of the most appalling sexual violence.

Im bringing foreign ministers to London to find a pathway to peace and send a clear signal that urgent action is needed.

The international community must act now to avoid the spread of instability and stop the crisis from becoming an all-out catastrophe. The UK will not let Sudan be forgotten.

Aid convoys have been held up for months by the countrys front lines and securing access is expected to be high on the agenda. Invitees include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Chad, Kenya and the European Union, as well as America.

The UAE and Chad are both accused of supporting the RSF, which they deny.

Russia and Iran, who are both accused of giving significant backing to the Sudanese army, are not invited.

The summit will be held as the Sudanese armed forces have made recent gains against the RSF and last month recaptured the capital, Khartoum.

However diplomats expect the war to grind on, and the country is still effectively divided in two.

Sudans army-aligned government has protested at being excluded from the summit and being put on an equal footing with the RSF.

The countrys foreign ministry said it had written to Mr Lammy and protested the organisation by his country of a conference on Sudan without inviting the Sudanese government.
Migrant who offended 27 times to fund drink and drugs can stay in UK - iStockphoto

A migrant who committed 27 offences to fund his drug and drink habit has avoided deportation under ECHR rules.

The persistent Colombian offender has amassed 12 convictions since arriving in Britain as a teenager in the 1990s and has also been jailed for breaching a restraining order against his former partner, an immigration tribunal was told.

Despite his offending, a lower-tier tribunal judge ruled that the 46-year-old migrant could remain in the UK as there would be very significant obstacles for him if he were to return to Colombia.

She said the man was fragile owing to mental ill health and his deportation would also be too harsh on his son, who has undiagnosed autism, breaching his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Article 8, which entitles people to a family life.

The Home Office criticised this ruling and has since successfully applied to have it reheard.

Human rights breaches

The case, disclosed in court papers, is the latest example exposed by The Telegraph where failed asylum seekers or convicted foreign criminals have attempted to halt their deportations, often by claiming breaches of their human rights.

There are a record 41,987 outstanding immigration appeals, largely on human rights grounds, which threaten to hamper Labours efforts to fast-track removal of illegal migrants.

The Colombian, who was granted anonymity, arrived in the UK when he was 16 years old. He was rejected for asylum but was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2007.

Judge Sandip Kudhail described him as a persistent offender. In 2016, he was convicted of breach of a restraining order over his former partner, with whom he shares a child, and was handed an eight-week prison sentence. This was extended by 11 weeks for three previous driving offences.

In February 2020, the man was detained pending removal under a deportation order, but after judicial review proceedings, the removal directions were deferred and further representations were lodged. Some three years later, the Home Secretary refused his leave to remain. But the man appealed this.

In October 2024, first-tier tribunal Judge Phull granted him permission to remain in the UK under Article 8 of the ECHR. She found he had lived in the UK lawfully for over half his life while his working, relationships, friendships and medical issues demonstrated he was socially and culturally integrated.

Judge Phull said there would be very significant obstacles for his reintegration if he were to return to Colombia, as he had lived in the UK since he was a teenager. She found there had been only a few short visits to his home country since leaving, and so he had no real ties to it anymore.

It was said that while he had family in the country, his mental health needs and support in the UK indicated he was fragile meaning he would not be able to re-integrate. Judge Phull also ruled it would be unduly harsh on his son if he were to leave the country.

She said the child has undiagnosed autism, which would make it difficult for him to understand why the relationship has been severed and he was unable to spend time with his father.

Error of law

The judge ultimately ruled that the very compelling circumstances outweighed the public interest in keeping him in the UK. But, the Home Office appealed this decision and said she had erred in the assessment of very significant obstacles.

It said the judge had given inadequate reasoning for why the man had no real ties in Colombia, when there was evidence that he had family there who could support him. They argued there was no evidence that his son would be adversely impacted and that the judge did not give weight to the mans repeat offending.

The Home Office said this was at odds with her finding that the offending is very much the exception, to feed his drinking and substance misuse, in what has otherwise been a law-abiding life.

It appealed the judges decision and took it to the upper tier tribunal. After hearing arguments made by the Home Office, Judge Kudhail ruled the case should be reheard. She said the previous judge failed to address the question of support from the mans family, with whom he was in contact.

Judge Kudhail said she failed to set out exactly how his leaving the country would affect his son. Judge Kudhail said the first judge to hear the case made an error of law, so ruled it should be remitted to the first-tier tribunal and heard by somebody else.
An MP denied entry and deported from Israel has accused the state of "control and censorship".

Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed told the House of Commons: "This act was not just a diplomatic affront, this wasn't about security.

"It was about control and censorship and the exposure of Israel. No state, however powerful, should be beyond criticism."

Ms Mohamed and fellow Labour MP Yuan Yang were denied entry to Israel when they arrived there on Saturday as part of a parliamentary delegation to visit humanitarian aid projects in the West Bank, they said.

The two women were then deported, sparking a political row in which the Israelis have accused them of being there to "provoke anti-Israel activities" following comments they have made in parliament.

Ms Mohamed said it had been "a challenging few days" and that the two MPs are not the only ones who have been "speaking about the atrocities" and calling for change. She said many Israelis and Israeli charities were also doing so.

Ms Yang, a former journalist, told the Commons she "understands deeply the significance of bearing witness" and understood the risks, "but I did not, however, anticipate the risks of detention and deportation from a British ally".

She said their deportation proves what MPs say in the Commons "matters", and she asked the Middle East minister what the government can do to ensure future delegations of MPs "can do so without having to censor their remarks".

Ms Yang revealed another delegation of MPs was set to visit the West Bank this weekend.

Middle East minister Hamish Falconer said he would encourage MPs to continue to speak out on Israel and Gaza and advised MPs going to Israel to talk to the Foreign Office in advance.

Government needs to make it clear this is 'unacceptable'

Earlier, the head of the group who organised the MPs' trip told Sky News the government needed to make it "very clear" to the Israelis it was "unacceptable" to have denied them entry.

Chris Doyle, director of Caabu, said he wanted the government to tell the Israelis the deportations "should be revoked".

On Sunday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he had spoken to his Israeli counterparts and made it clear "this is no way to treat British parliamentarians".

"It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities," he added.

Read more:

Who are the two MPs deported from Israel?

'Atrocious' killing of aid workers by Israel must be independently investigated

It is 'right' MPs visit West Bank

Mr Doyle has been Caabu's director for 23 years and said Ms Yang and Ms Mohamed were visiting as part of a "long-running programme" that has seen the organisation take MPs and peers from all parties to the occupied West Bank, and previously to Gaza, to "assess the situation on the ground".

Caabu has taken 161 politicians there since 1997, including party leaders and MPs now in the cabinet, Mr Doyle said.

He said the two MPs and their two aides had been set to meet Oxfam and UN representatives, which he said is the "right and proper thing" because the UK is a major donor to projects there, giving hundreds of millions of pounds over the years.

Israel: MPs promoted sanctions

Israel's UK embassy said the MPs were denied entry because they had "accused Israel of false claims, were actively involved in promoting sanctions against Israeli ministers, and supported campaigns aimed at boycotting the state of Israel".

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has caused consternation among many MPs after saying Israel "has a right to police its borders" and that the government's travel advice states if you have called for a boycott of Israel or Israeli settlements, or publicly criticised Israel, you can be refused entry.
The pothole makeover was described by one road user as an astonishing waste of money - James Joyce

A string of potholes received an unintentional makeover when road workers painted new white lines through the middle of them.

The blunder took place near Wakes Colne, Essex on the A1124, which runs between Halstead and Colchester.

Not only have the potholes been treated to a coat of fresh paint, but the newly-repainted road is due to be torn up and resurfaced  meaning the white lines will need to be painted again on the new tarmac.

James Joyce, who uses the A1124 to get to work, described the blunder as an astonishing waste of money.

I couldnt think of a suitable superlative for how shockingly dreadful it was, he told the BBC. It just amazes me that theyve done that, only for it to be pulled up again and redone.

Essex County Council resurfaced 6.6 miles of major roads - including A-roads such as the A1124 - over the last year, according to data analysis carried out by the RAC.

A further 8.5 miles of major roads in Essex received preservation treatment, meaning repair works to fix potholes and stop the road surface crumbling away.

The A1124 winds its way through rural Essex, linking the county town of Colchester with the one-time mill town of Halstead.

It is described as a back road by the Roaders Digest website, a repository of information about every single highway in Britain which is maintained by the Society for All British Road Enthusiasts (SABRE).

Notable tourism features along the A-road include the East Anglia Railway Museum and its collection of former Network South-East electric trains from the second half of the 20th Century.

A spokesman for Essex Highways said it was reviewing how the Wakes Colne pothole paint blunder happened.

We understand how this looks and why it has been pointed out, but there is a simple explanation - the lining works in this location progressed ahead of our planned patching works, he said.

The road defect is still scheduled for repair, and the markings will be refreshed afterwards.

We are reviewing how the scheduling was handled with our contractor to hopefully avoid similar issues in the future.
An argument erupted after a householder missed a delivery - ipm/Alamy

A postman who was sacked for punching a customer in the face has won almost 5,000 in compensation.

Andrew Drysdale got into a fight with the householder after he was accused of not trying to make a delivery and instead leaving his parcel with a neighbour, an employment tribunal was told.

The 60-year-old claimed he felt threatened by the man, who was 20 years his junior, and had acted in self-defence after the customer told him he should do his job properly.

He was fired without notice after the unnamed customer claimed that as well as striking him in the face, the postman threatened him by saying he would have his pals come to his home.

Mr Drysdale, who had worked as a postman in Scotland from 2008, has now successfully sued Royal Mail for wrongful dismissal and won 4,734.36 in damages after a judge found accounts of the incident appeared to be embellished.

In February 2024, a customer, who has not been named, complained that a delivery had not been attempted when he was at home and he saw the driver sitting in a van, the tribunal sitting in Glasgow was told.

Mr Drysdale said that the man was lying  he had attempted to deliver the parcel and posted a card when there was no response.

He said he spoke to a neighbour and left the parcel with him when there was no answer on the third attempt of delivery.

Had to protect himself

Later that month, the postman was on his rounds when he encountered the customer and asked why he had complained about him.

The hearing in Glasgow was told: The customer was annoyed and replied that [Mr Drysdale] should do his job properly. The customer punched [Mr Drysdale]. [Mr Drysdale] threw his hand up in defence, making contact with the customer.

[Mr Drysdale] slipped, suffering blows to the upper right arm, left upper thigh and hand.

The postman spoke to bosses and told them he had been assaulted, and although he was shaken, he carried on working.

Mr Drysdale said he did not want to call the police as the situation had calmed down and he wanted to put the incident behind him.

The customer contradicted the postmans version of events and said he retaliated after Mr Drysdale challenged him to a fight and punched him in the face.

Royal Mail contacted a neighbour who had called the police when he claimed he saw Mr Drysdale punch the customer twice on the head.

At a formal meeting about his conduct, Mr Drysdale said he only punched back because he was being punched and had to protect himself.

Mr Drysdale was found to be the instigator of the incident and was sacked for gross misconduct.

Unconvinced about reliability of statement

However, Employment Judge Shona MacLean was unconvinced about the reliability of the statements made by the customer and the neighbour and said the incident was more likely than not to have happened in the way [Mr Drysdale] described.

Mr Drysdale was subject to a statutory notice period of 12 weeks but he was summarily dismissed without pay for this period.

Judge Shona MacLean said: It was regrettable that [Mr Drysdale] punched the customer in self-defence.

While I appreciated that delivery workers are the face of [Royal Mails] business, acting in self-defence when attacked did not amount to a repudiatory breach of contract.

I therefore concluded that [Mr Drysdale]s conduct was so not serious as entitling the respondent to summarily dismiss him.

The wrongful dismissal claim was upheld.

Mr Drysdales claim for unfair dismissal was dismissed.
Brand is accused of sexually abusing four women in London and the Bournemouth area between 1999 and 2005 - James Manning/PA Wire

Russell Brand has said his promiscuous behaviour was considered normal in a diabolical culture after being charged with rape and sexual assault.

The comedian and actor insisted he was innocent of the allegations, but had nevertheless been captured by a kind of darkness in a society that celebrated the relentless pursuit of pleasure.

Brand, 50, was charged on Friday with two counts of sexual assault, one count of indecent assault, one count of rape and one count of oral rape over a six-year period.

In those giddy and hedonistic days, those ludicrous, dark days I must have been captured by a kind of darkness, he said in a two-minute clip posted on his social media accounts.

But remember, for 22-and-a-half years, Ive been drug and alcohol free, and I have a pretty good memory of accounts.

I also know that I am a person that very much respects the idea of consent. Also I do respect the rights of the complainants to total anonymity and total privacy.

I have complete respect for the system of justice and will be fully cooperative, knowing in my heart Im completely innocent of these allegations.

I don't believe in the Statute of Limitations; I believe that if somebody is guilty of doing something, no matter how long ago it was, justice must be served.



That is why I can confidently say that I am innocent in regards to the allegations made against me.



Christ be pic.twitter.com/SMrc3LVvbP  Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) April 7, 2025

Brand, who starred in St Trinians and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, claimed that his hedonism and promiscuity had been considered normal in a culture that celebrated a kind of casual godlessness and false gods.

I lived within jurisdiction of a broken and ultimately, Im not going to say evil, but somewhat diabolical culture that I participated in ways that were normal in that culture, in all manner of activity that amounts to hedonism and promiscuity, he said.

Calling himself a broken man and sinner, Brand admitted that his former lifestyle had been exploitative because people slept with him because of his fame.

Brand is accused of sexually abusing four women in London and the Bournemouth area between 1999 and 2005, and is expected to appear before Westminster Magistrates Court next month.

Detectives launched an 18-month investigation into the actor in 2023, after The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches published an investigation in which several woman accused him of sexual assault and emotional abuse. He denied the allegations.
They share their hot takes and thoughts into the ether, but are maybe not necessarily willing to hear what someone else might think (Cci/Shutterstock)

Have you heard the one about the yarn dye entrepreneur who allegedly faked her own death to avoid completing orders? I first heard it last year, shortly after taking up knitting. The story, which seems to be gleefully embroidered with every subsequent telling, goes a little like this: a woman in the US, whod become a superstar on a popular knitting site, was overwhelmed with orders for her products, so  via updates provided by her sister  pretended to be hospitalised, then pretended to have died. Orders went unfulfilled. Someone claimed to have spotted the woman post-death in a branch of Walmart. The phrase Zombie yarn dyers has since become an inside joke among the knitting community.

Scandals like these werent initially the reason I was drawn to knitting last year. I instead wanted a new form of distraction. TikTok had become a big part of my life, and I found myself mindlessly flicking through clip after clip any time I had a second to spare. I needed to break the cycle, and knitting was a good way to keep my hands busy and my eyes off screens. But nothing could have prepared me for how much drama underpins what many assume is a wholesome activity.

It seems inconceivable that knitting should be anything other than an innocent pastime. But not so! Just five months into my knitting journey, I had discovered a different side to the hobby. The algorithms of TikTok and Instagram quickly cottoned on to my newfound interest, so my social media feeds are now full of wonderful woolly creations  but also the never-ending conflict that seems to go on in the world of fibre arts.

In January, I was gripped as arguments erupted over the sharing of pirated knitting patterns through a Discord server. The revelation, uncovered by several knitting designers, caused a huge debate on social media. Designers were understandably angry that patterns they would normally have been paid for were being distributed for free, while knitters argued over whether patterns should always cost money or if more well-known designers could afford to take the hit.

Then, talk of size inclusivity  or the lack thereof  began to circulate, as knitters on TikTok complained about some designers not including plus size modifications in their patterns. Nordic designer Mette Wendelboe Okkels, who goes by her brand Petite Knit, unexpectedly found herself at the centre of this particular storm. Some TikTokkers were upset that the majority of Okkels patterns, which are popular on social media, dont extend beyond 5XL.

Complainants argued that Okkels should include more sizes  despite her largest sizes accommodating a maximum bust circumference of 56 inches, equivalent to about a US size 26 (UK size 30). Some knitters came to her defence, arguing that Okkels Nordic background may have influenced the number of sizes she could adjust her patterns for. Others  rather nonsensically  pointed out that her moniker is Petite Knit, and therefore larger women shouldnt expect her to provide sizes for them.

Knitters are quite analytical by nature, so if they spend all this time thinking about stuff in general, its no surprise that so many of these opinions are formed

Emma Zimmerman, knitter

Each week there seems to be something new for the online knitting community to debate. And each week I am surprised by my own response  who knew I had so many opinions about knitting? And that theyd prove to be so controversial? In discussions about whether to use acrylic yarn or natural fibres, I am firmly in the latter camp, my heightened awareness of microplastics being the deciding factor for me. But Ive since learnt that this has been branded yarn elitism because of how much more expensive materials become. See what I mean?

Accusations of pattern copying or using AI to generate them are also a hot topic of debate. Over Christmas, two crocheters got into digital fisticuffs over ownership of a blanket pattern, despite the original pattern having been modified and used hundreds of times over many years. More recently, a designer was accused of using AI to copy another designers goose-inspired pattern, but testers said this resulted in near-unreadable instructions riddled with mistakes.

Every time a new drama begins to unfold, I watch each video recap eagerly. I lap up all the resulting hot takes, the deep dives, the explanations or lack thereof. I secretly cast my own judgements on the knitters I disagree with or like the comments made by the knitters who share my thoughts. But Ive never posted anything myself, partly because I dont think anyone wants to hear my opinion, but also because I enjoy being a passive consumer of gossip.

Every time a new drama begins to unfold, I watch each video recap eagerly (Getty Images)

The idea that knitting is a pure, wholesome hobby that engineers meditative calm is idyllic but entirely false. Historically, knitting circles were spaces for women to practice the craft together and simultaneously exchange information about anything and everything. To gossip, in other words. Stitch n bitch is a common phrase among modern knitting communities, and despite the negative connotation, gossip is a hugely important form of communication, particularly among women. While the knitting guilds of the 14th and 15th centuries were reserved exclusively for male knitters, who regarded themselves as master craftsmen, women had their own unofficial spaces to practice their skills and speak freely about what mattered to them.

But the face of gossip has changed along with the advent of social media, and not necessarily for the better. Aleksandra Soowianiuk, a Nottingham-based knitwear designer, says that while she isnt surprised by the strong opinions shared by other knitters online, she finds there is a greater sense of entitlement now that fuels some of the drama. Soowianiuk was one of the many designers who found her patterns pirated on the aforementioned Discord server.

There are so many people online who want what they want now, they want it for free, and theyre not happy with the idea that some things should be paid for, she says. A recent TikTok trend that saw users posting videos of their knitting hot takes often included a gripe about having to pay for patterns. Some have even suggested that AI could design knitting patterns for free. By all means, go and get your AI knitting patterns, Soowianiuk says. But it really devalues the work and passion knitwear designers pour into the patterns they release. Soowianiuk says she spends anywhere between six to eight months designing, testing and releasing patterns, at a cost of potentially hundreds of pounds of yarn. For people to then just share it online really devalues the work knitting designers have put into creating it.

Whereas knitting circles used to provide space for intimate back-and-forth discussions, social media allows people to post their opinions and hot takes without really having to engage with others who might disagree with them. Anyone can film their opinion, upload it, and either ignore the comments or turn them off completely. Emma Zimmerman, a long-time knitter based in Atlanta, Georgia, says this one-way-street feature of social media makes it easy for drama to spread without anyone ever taking accountability.

Theres barely a week that goes by without the fibre arts community seeing some sort of drama play out, she says. But a lot of these issues tend to be flashes in the pan. This week, theyre talking about AI patterns, next week therell be something else. And nothing ever really gets done. Its important to have some of these conversations, especially around inclusivity and ownership, but I think we move on so quickly because thats how social media works.

Women historically had their own unofficial knitting spaces to practise their skills (Getty Images)

Perhaps a reason for knitters propensity to discuss and debate even the smallest things is to do with the fact that when youre knitting, you literally cant do anything other than think, Zimmerman says. Ive found this to be a plausible theory, as no other hobby has forced me to be as alone with my thoughts as knitting has. Even when Im listening to a podcast or audiobook, I find myself turning over my thoughts and ideas while I make loop after loop after loop. It has forced me to confront whatever challenge is ahead of me and to really think about what I want to do, rather than reacting impulsively, which can only be a good thing.

Knitters are quite analytical by nature, which is why the craft might appeal to them, Zimmerman proposes. So if they spend all this time thinking about stuff in general, its no surprise that so many of these opinions are formed. And, like almost anyone online, they share their hot takes and thoughts into the ether, but are maybe not necessarily willing to hear what someone else might think.

The irony hasnt escaped me that I began knitting to stop looking at my screen so much, yet Ive been drawn into the endless soap opera that is KnitTok. And its hard for me not to get sucked in, particularly as someone who loves gossip. But its also been sobering to come to terms with the fact that not even the crafts wholesome reputation can protect it from the claws of social media, where comparisons, accusations and unsolicited opinions are rife. This digital knitting circle can be petty and mean, but Ive grown so much as a knitter from the side of KnitTok that is kind and generous. Its also the side Ill continue to engage with moving forward. After all, thats what knitting circles ought to be about.
Scientists have found ways to remotely detect the sound of invasive Asian hornets hovering outside beehives in a move that could protect honeybees.

The Asian or yellow-legged hornet is a non-native predator that feeds on honeybees, hovering around the entrance of a hive for long periods until a bee is caught and eaten.

The presence of the hornet, which can kill 50 bees a day, also puts stress on the honeybees which leave the hive less to forage, reducing their food stores for winter and threatening the colonys survival.

But now scientists from Nottingham Trent University have identified and differentiated Asian hornet hovering flight sounds, using inexpensive microphones and an algorithm trained to discriminate between the flight of the predators, honeybee sounds and general background noise.

They also found the hornets reliably produced these sounds as they tend to hover continuously, while honeybees hover for much shorter periods as they are mostly flying straight in and out of the hives.

It is hoped the system could be left in apiaries to continuously distinguish between Asian hornets and honeybee flight sounds.

This could allow beekeepers to be immediately alerted to the presence of even just one hornet using their smartphone, so they can take swift action to tackle the threat before too much stress is caused to their bees, the researchers said.

Asian hornets are a major threat to native honeybees (Alamy/PA)

The researchers, working with scientists from the University of Coimbra in Portugal and Ghent University in Belgium, were able to detect the presence of Asian hornets at an apiary at the University of Coimbra with almost 100% accuracy over three seasons.

The Asian hornet is native to South East Asia and arrived in France in a cargo of pottery from China about 20 years ago, spreading rapidly across the continent, and devastating colonies in France and Italy.

It was first seen in the UK in 2016, and there have been regular sightings since, including 44 confirmed in 2024  largely in Kent and East Sussex, although a rapid response approach to destroy hornets and nests has stopped its spread in Britain.

Lead researcher Dr Harriet Hall said: Invasive species such as the Asian hornet are a serious threat to biodiversity.

Our native honeybee hasnt evolved alongside this predator and because of this its defences against the hornet are low.

Identifying Asian hornet presence at apiaries early on would be highly beneficial for beekeepers who could then take immediate action.

She said being able to discriminate between Asian hornet and honeybee sounds provided excellent potential for a remote alert system for hornets.

Dr Martin Bencsik, a physicist at Nottingham Trent University, added: Asian hornets are a significant threat to European honeybees and we need to find new ways to identify their presence quickly.

In spite of overlapping features of the sound spectra of honeybees and hornets, it is amazing to see that their hovering sound features are very different, and it is fortunate, for this detection technique, that hornets hover around hives far more than bees do.

The study was published in the journal Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.
An Israeli military patrol in Gaza photographed from across the border in January 2024. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

A war crimes complaint against 10 Britons who served with the Israeli military in Gaza is to be submitted to the Met police by one of the UKs leading human rights lawyers.

Michael Mansfield KC is one of a group of lawyers who will on Monday hand in a 240-page dossier to Scotland Yards war crimes unit alleging targeted killing of civilians and aid workers, including by sniper fire, and indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, including hospitals.

The report, which has been prepared by a team of UK lawyers and researchers in The Hague, also accuses suspects of coordinated attacks on protected sites including historic monuments and religious sites, and forced transfer and displacement of civilians.

For legal reasons, neither the names of suspects, who include officer-level individuals, nor the full report are being made public.

Israel has persistently denied that its political leaders or military have committed war crimes during its assault on Gaza, in which it has killed more than 50,000 people, most of them civilians. The military campaign was in response to Hamass 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people, also mostly civilian, were killed and a further 250 taken hostage.

Mansfield, who is known for his work on landmark cases such as the Grenfell Tower fire, Stephen Lawrence and the Birmingham Six, said: If one of our nationals is committing an offence, we ought to be doing something about it. Even if we cant stop the government of foreign countries behaving badly, we can at least stop our nationals from behaving badly.

British nationals are under a legal obligation not to collude with crimes committed in Palestine. No one is above the law.

The report, which has been submitted on behalf of the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the British-based Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), covers alleged offences committed in the territory from October 2023 to May 2024 and took six months to compile.

Each of the crimes attributed to the 10 suspects, some of whom are dual nationals, amounts to a war crime or crime against humanity, according to the report.

One witness, who was at a medical facility, saw corpses scattered on the ground, especially in the middle of the hospital courtyard, where many dead bodies were buried in a mass grave. A bulldozer ran over a dead body in a horrific and heart-wrenching scene desecrating the dead, the witness said. They also said a bulldozer demolished part of the hospital.

Sean Summerfield, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, who helped compile the dossier, said it was based on open-source evidence and witness testimony, which together presented a compelling case.

The public will be shocked, I would have thought, to hear that theres credible evidence that Brits have been directly involved in committing some of those atrocities, he said, adding that the team wanted to see individuals appearing at the Old Bailey to answer for atrocity crimes.

The report says Britain has a responsibility under international treaties to investigate and prosecute those who have committed core international crimes.

Section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001 states that it is an offence against the law of England and Wales for a person to commit genocide, a crime against humanity, or a war crime, even if it takes place in another country.

Raji Sourani, the director of the PCHR, said: This is illegal, this is inhuman and enough is enough. The government cannot say we didnt know; we are providing them with all the evidence.

Paul Heron, the legal director of the PILC, said: Were filing our report to make clear these war crimes are not in our name.

Scores of legal and human rights experts have signed a letter of support urging the war crimes team to investigate the complaints.
The bow of the Titanic digital twin, created by putting together 715,000 images from underwater scans - Magellan Ltd/Atlantic Productions

The Titanic sank with the lights still on as the ships crew remained at their posts to keep the electricity running, saving hundreds of lives, new images reveal.

A full-scale digital twin of the Titanic has been created by stitching together 715,000 images from underwater scans to recreate the stricken ship down to the last rivet.

It reveals a view of the boiler room showing that a steam valve was still open when the ship sank, proving for the first time that the engineers did not abandon ship but kept the power going to help passengers evacuate, and allow wireless distress signals to be sent.

This is a line that was taking the remaining steam from the boiler room to the emergency dynamos, said Captain Chris Hearne, a master mariner who has provided expert advice to the expedition.

A valve was spotted in the open position during scans of the wreck - Magellan Ltd/Atlantic Productions

New images of the ships boiler room prove that the engineers kept the power going to help passengers evacuate - instead of trying to save themselves - Magellan Ltd/Atlantic Productions

They provided life to the ship  the lighting, the heating and running the pumps.

You could see this steam valve is clearly open which means steam was continuously flowing through the emergency dynamos. This action to keep this open saved hundreds of lives.

The details have come to light in a National Geographic documentary which has spent two years analysing the data to reconstruct the ocean liners final moments.

The new model is so detailed that a video of it can be projected to life-size in a warehouse, so that researchers can walk inaccessible parts of the ship and observe individual features that are usually impossible to see.

The digital scan is giving analysts information to help them understand more about the collision - Magellan Ltd/Atlantic Productions

Parks Stephenson, a Titanic analyst who worked on the reconstruction, said: Ive been (to the Titanic) in a submersible but Ive only seen a little bit out of my viewport. When you are in a submersible, you can see maybe only a few metres in front of you.

Now I have a better view of the Titanic than I ever did at the Titanic. To have the wreck site at my command to see what happened to the ship, the possibilities are endless.

The Titanic struck an iceberg while making its maiden voyage just before midnight on April 14 1912, about 400 miles off Newfoundland, Canada, sinking a few hours later.

More than 1,500 of the 2,228 passengers and crew perished as the liner plunged into the deep.

An image clearly shows the remains of the stern engines - Magellan Ltd/Atlantic Productions

The ship sank to the seabed, two and a half miles beneath the ocean surface and lies broken in two pieces, with the bow and stern about 2,600ft apart.

Debris from the disaster is scattered over a three by five-mile wreck site, but the digital scanning has allowed experts to piece the scattered hull fragments back together. It is so detailed that even the serial number on one of the propellers is visible.

It shows that the Titanic did not split cleanly in two, but it was violently torn apart, ripping through first-class cabins where prominent passengers like JJ Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim may have sought refuge as the ship went down.

A line of holes, around the size of an A4 sheet of paper, can be seen punched into the side of the hull, where it scraped against the iceberg.

A smashed porthole seen in the images suggest that ice did come into some peoples cabins, as witnesses claimed.

State-of-the-art techniques allow even rivets to be seen - Magellan Ltd/Atlantic Productions

First class passenger Margaret Swift saw the ice that had come from that porthole, that tells us that the iceberg was at least 30ft above the waterline, said Dr Jennifer Hooper, materials scientist and author of What Really Sank the Titanic?

So the scan is telling us the size of the iceberg. Its definitely giving us information that will help us understand more about the collision that night.

Seeing the Titanic wreck site in full scale and finally understanding how small I am in comparison to everything that I am looking at, I was able to truly experience the sense of destruction.

The new images also exonerate William Murdoch, the Scottish first officer long accused of abandoning his post.

The upright position of a lifeboat davit  or crane  suggests his crew was preparing a launch moments before the Titanic dipped and the starboard side was engulfed, corroborating the testimony of Charles Lightoller, the second officer, that Murdoch was swept away by the sea while trying to help passengers escape.

The mystery of why the hull is still intact while the stern is shattered may also have finally been solved.

The team say scans suggest the back half of the ship spiralled down to the ocean floor where it disintegrated into pieces.

The Titanic has been extensively explored since the wreck was discovered in 1985 by oceanographer Robert Ballard but it has been difficult to get an overall picture because the deep ocean water is dark and cloudy so the whole site has never been seen until now.

In 2022, Magellan Ltd, a deep-sea mapping company joined forces with Atlantic Productions to use groundbreaking state-of-the-art techniques to finally see the whole picture.

Robotic submersibles, remotely controlled by a team on board a specialist ship, spent more than 200 hours surveying the length and breadth of the wreck.

As well as the ship itself, images of the 15-square-mile debris field have uncovered hundreds of personal artefacts, including pocket watches, purses, gold coins, hair combs, shoes and a sharks tooth charm.

Titanic: The Digital Resurrection premieres on Monday April 15 at 8pm on National Geographic.
Representatives for the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct extended diplomatic talks on Saturday, restarting a dialogue over the Iranian nuclear weapons program between the two nations.

Trump claimed that direct talks would occur Saturday between Washington and Tehran during a Monday Oval Office media availability alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following bilateral discussions between the two leaders.

Were having direct talks with Iran ... itll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we'll see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it. So we're going to see if we can avoid it, but it's getting to be very dangerous territory. And hopefully those talks will be successful, said Trump.

He added that it was in Tehrans best interest for the talks to be successful.

Asked to elaborate further on the announcement, Trump said American and Iranian representatives would have a very big meeting on Saturday and contrasted the talks with previous negotiations in which the U.S. went through intermediaries on account of the lack of diplomatic relations between Washington and Tehran, having been formally severed since April 1980.

Maybe a deal is going to be made that'd be great. That'd be ...really great for Iran, I can tell you that, Trump said. But hopefully we're not going to have to get into that  we're meeting, very importantly, on Saturday, at almost the highest level, and we'll see how it works out."

Donald Trump gestures during an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at which the US president announced upcoming direct talks with Iran. (Getty Images)

Trump declined to tell reporters where the talks would take place but described them as being top level while threatening great danger for Iran if the talks are unsuccessful because Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

If the talks arent successful, I actually think it'll be a very bad day for Iran, he said.

But Iranian officials contradicted the US president in a statement hours later. The talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tweeted, would take place in Oman and occur indirectly.

Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks. It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court, Araghchi said.

A direct meeting between US and Iranian principals or their respective deputies would mark the first negotiations of such kind between the US and Iran since the Obama era.

Iranian and American officials communicated through intermediaries, typically the Sultanate of Oman, throughout Trumps first term in office as well as during the four years of Joe Bidens presidency, as both presidents went their respective terms without achieving a formal agreement aimed at curbing Irans nuclear agenda.

The previous Trump presidency was marked by the departure of the United States from the JCPOA, a multi-lateral agreement between Washington, Tehran, and several European countries aimed at allowing Iran to continue enriching uranium for civilian energy programs while placing restrictions on Iranian facilities that would prevent the creation of weapons-grade nuclear material. The US, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, accused Iran repeatedly of violating the spirit of the deal before Trump pulled the US out entirely.

Just Sunday, Araghchi described such potential talks as meaningless in a statement carried by several news networks. The New York Timess Farnaz Fassihi quoted three Iranian officials as saying separately Monday afternoon that the first round of talks Saturday in Oman would be indirect, but with the possibility of reaching direct negotiations if the initial talks went well.

In an April 1 tweet, Araghchi also denied that there was any proof for alleged Iranian violations of the JCPOA. Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and others had previously signaled for months that direct US-Iran talks would not resume until Washington backed off from its maximum pressure sanctions campaign and ceased making threats.

Axios correspondent Barak Ravid quoted one unnamed senior Israeli official saying Monday that Netanyahu planned to press Trump on support for the Israeli line  a demand for a full dismantlement of Irans nuclear enrichment program, including for civilian energy purposes.

Mondays announcement follows a threat issued by the president one week ago, warning that the US would launch military strikes against Iranian forces unless a deal between the US and Iran were reached.

Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a White House visit on Monday. (AFP/Getty)

If they dont make a deal, there will be bombing, said the US president in an interview with NBCs Kristen Welker. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.

Trump has also ramped up pressure on Iran over the continued multinational conflict between the Houthis based in Yemen and a multinational coalition aimed at driving them out. US forces resumed airstrikes against Houthi targets this year, but it remains unclear how effective those attacks have been at militarily degrading Houthi forces, which resumed their own strikes earlier this year in solidarity with Hamas militants in Gaza after a ceasefire between Hamas and Israels government broke down.

In a social media post, Trump warned Irans government that responsibility for continued aggression against US vessels in the Red Sea by Houthi militants would be laid at Tehrans feet.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt put the total number of US airstrikes against Houthi targets at more than 200 this past week, as US forces once again carried out a strike that killed several people near the port city of Hodeida.

Iran is incredibly weakened as a result of these attacks, and we have seen they have taken out Houthi leaders, Leavitt said. Theyve taken out critical members who were launching strikes on naval ships and on commercial vessels and this operation will not stop until the freedom of navigation in this region is restored.
Most vehicles sales after 2030 will still be electric. (PA) (William Barton)

The government has relaxed its ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles after 2030 in an attempt to support the UK auto industry, which is set to be heavily impacted by the new import tariffs from the US.

Labour has reinstated the 2030 deadline for the end of sales of petrol and diesel in the UK when they came into power after the previous government led by Rishi Sunak pushed it back.

But alongside the long-predicted announcement about reinstating the ban, the government relaxed some of the measures.

Prime minister Keir Starmer said the new rules were just the first in a wave of announcements that the government would make in the wake of the Trump administration's tariffs.

The prime minister said over the weekend that the era of globalisation was over and that he would go further and faster to support businesses.

What are the new rules and why are they being changed?

Hybrid vehicles, that have both an electric and fuel engine, will be allowed to be sold until 2035. Petrol and diesel vans will be able to be sold until 2035, as well as all hybrid models.

Luxury supercar firms such as Aston Martin and McLaren will still be allowed to keep producing petrol cars beyond 2030 because they only manufacture a small number of vehicles per year.

The fines for missing the electric vehicle (EV) mandates have also been reduced from 15,000 to 12,000 per car for each manufacturer that misses the target.

The rules came as the electric car industry was already facing enormous struggles.

The government has mandated carmakers to ensure that EVs make up 28% of sales by 2025 but in 2024 they made up just 22%.

When Labour won the election they said they would reinstate the 2030 phase-out of petrol and diesel but also opened up a consultation with businesses about their concerns who pointed out the lacklustre sales.

The 2030 ban is a key part of the government's wider net-zero plans.

It was expected that miniters would loosen the ban, but with the US putting 25% tariffs on UK automotive imports, the industry is facing an even tougher time. In 2024, 27% of all UK automotive output was sent to the US.

Petrol and diesel cars still make up the majority of new sales in the UK. (PA) (Kyryl Gorlov)

The tariffs have sent businesses around the world spiralling, with the FTSE plunging on market open on Monday.

The panicked mood was felt across Europe, with Germanys Dax index recording a drop of about 6.5%, and Frances Cac 40 down around 5.3% in the morning. Stock markets in Asia also reacted in a similar manner.

The new easier rules will keep hybrid sales active until 2035 but the government said after 2030 any vehicle that uses petrol or diesel must emit 10% less than they did in 2021. The fines for missing the EV mandates have also been reduced from 15,000 to 12,000 per car for each manufacturer that misses the target.

Small producers are also getting an easier time and will be exempt altogether from the 2030 ban. The government says any firm producing less than 2,500 cars per year will still be able to sell petrol and diesel vehicles.

The vast majority of these firms will produce high-end luxury and supercars - often some of the worst emitters on the market.

The change was welcomed by Stellantis, the owner of Vauxhall and Peugeot. The head of the UK division, Eurig Druce, said: "Helps Stellantis in continuing to be compliant" given the "challenging geopolitical operating environment and increased intense pressure on automotive industry".

He added: "Whilst more people are moving to electric, its not yet at the pace of the ZEV Mandate. We welcome the flexibilities to allow our customers more freedom of choice."

New cars at Tilbury Port in Essex. (PA) (Jamie Lashmar, PA Images)

What has the government said?

Describing the car sector as "the engine room of British industry", Starmer wrote in The Times: "We want British car companies to be at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution at home and overseas."

In the same piece, he said that "in this new era of global instability we will go further and faster to support businesses and workers."

Starmer said that this will be "just the first in a series" of announcements from the government, designed to provide "certainty" and "support for industry".

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander told Sky News the tariffs were "bad news" and that the government would do everything it could "to shelter British businesses from these global economic headwinds."

But when asked whether the retention of a 2030 target for the phasing out of all new pure petrol and diesel cars would restrict free markets at a time when the car industry is on its knees, Alexander told Sky News: "It is an opportunity for the car industry to remain at the cutting edge of the transition to EVs, but its right that were pragmatic.

"Its right that we are looking at how we can be flexible in the way in which car manufacturers make this transition, because we want cheaper EVs to be available for consumers.

"We want people to be able to benefit from those lower running costs as well."
A woman has been sentenced for approaching Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon, grabbing her and then licking her on the neck.

Elspeth Wood, 57, of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, was given a community payback order with three years supervision and ordered to attend counselling after pleading guilty to threatening and abusive behaviour towards an elected official, Scotlands prosecution service said.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said she was also made the subject of a non-harassment order when sentenced at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Monday, banning her from contacting or attempting to contact Ms Lennon for three years and placed on the sex offenders register for the same time period.

The Scottish Labour MSP had been campaigning with a colleague for their party in Hamilton after then-prime minister Rishi Sunak called a general election last May.

Wood made a sexual remark to Ms Lennon, put her arms around her then repeatedly licked her on the neck.

Les Brown, procurator fiscal for South Strathclyde, said: Elspeth Wood has been held accountable for her unacceptable and disturbing behaviour following this prosecution.

Elected representatives and officials should not have to suffer any kind of abusive behaviour during election business or while supporting and engaging with constituents.

The Procurator Fiscal recognises the trauma that such behaviour can cause and is committed to taking appropriate action to address such offending and ensuring that women are protected.

Ms Lennon has previously spoken about her ordeal, telling the Daily Record newspaper she had major concerns about the safety of women in politics.

It was a fairly normal campaign session and everything changed when there was a disgusting encounter with an individual, she said.

It could have been a lot worse and that fear and anxiety lingers. It was a violation.
Companies did all they could to encourage their workers back to the office after the pandemic. There were free meals, unlimited snacks, pilates classes, social events, subsidised travel costs, and some offices even installed doggy daycare facilities for workers who got four-legged companions during lockdown.

But, despite such freebies, many workers continue to prefer to work from home at least some of the time  leading many executives to set aside the "carrots" of workplace incentives and reach for the "stick" to get workers back to the office.

Junior lawyers at London law firm A&O Shearman were recently warned that if they fail to comply with the companys hybrid working policy of spending at least 60% of their time in the office their bonus eligibility for bonuses would be affected.

A&O Shearman, formed from the merger of Londons Allen & Overy and New Yorks Shearman & Sterling, is the latest large company to tie office attendance to pay, promotions and bonuses. In some cases, workers have even been told if they dont turn up to the office regularly they wont have a job at all.

PwC has told its UK workers that they must spend at least 60% of their time in the office or at clients, and it would monitor their entry and exit to the office.

Read more: Are work coaches the answer to get people back into the workplace?

London law firm Slaughter & May has also warned staff that it is tracking their attendance and you should assume that if you are not in the office (or at a client, in court etc.) in line with the policy, this will be raised with you and you will be asked to comply.

Such moves come despite Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showing two in five UK workers enjoy a remote working arrangement, rising to two-thirds for people in management positions. Before COVID-19, just 4.7% of UK employees worked from home.

In the US, more than a quarter of workdays were done from home last year, up from one in 14 before the pandemic, according to WFH Research.

Former Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) CEO and ex-Asda chairman Lord Rose said that working from home was creating a generation "not doing proper work". "We have regressed in this country in terms of working practices, productivity and in terms of the country's wellbeing, I think, by 20 years in the last four, he told the BBC.

Some firms have warned that employees who do not spend enough time in the office will not be eligible for bonuses. (Hinterhaus Productions via Getty Images)

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L)  which owns Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland  earlier this year told senior managers that part of their bonuses would be withheld if they fail to work from the office at least two days a week. It cited the behaviour and leadership elements of its bonus plan to restrict the payment to those who failed to attend the office at least 40% of the time.

The history of bonuses

Bonuses are now embedded in the culture of not just banks and law firms, but across a vast range of industries. However, they were only introduced to the UK workforce relatively recently, compared to the US where JPMorgan (JPM) began giving employees a full-years pay as a Christmas present in 1902.

In the UK, bonuses boomed after the "big bang deregulation of financial markets in 1986, as US banks dangled the prospect of vast annual bonuses and generous golden hellos to tempt top London bankers to join them.

Read more: The damaging effect return-to-office mandates could have on workers

Bonuses had been limited by the EU's bonus cap which limited payouts to a maximum of 200% of base salary since 2014. But post-Brexit, the UK government has allowed banks to set their own bonus terms.

The 2025 bonus round will be the first year of unregulated bonuses for most UK banks, with Goldman Sachs (GS) London bankers able to collect a maximum of 25-times their base salary.

JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon has demanded that from the start of April all the banks worldwide staff return to the office five days a week. "Now is the right time to solidify our full-time in-office approach, we think it is the best way to run the company, he said in an official announcement.

When challenged by angry staff at a town hall meeting, Dimon  who was paid $39m last year, including a $37.5m bonus  replied: Ive had it with this stuff. Ive been working seven days a goddamn week since COVID, and I come in, and where is everybody else?

And dont give me this s**t that work-from-home Friday works. I call a lot of people on Fridays, and theres not a goddamn person you can get a hold of.

JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon has demanded that from the beginning of this month all the banks worldwide staff return to the office five days a week. (MICHEL EULER via Getty Images)

Amazon (AMZN) ordered all its 1.5 million staff back five days a week from January. The head of Amazon Web Services, its cloud computing division, told employees that if they "don't work well in that environment and don't want to, that's okay, there are other companies around.

David Solomon, the boss of Goldman Sachs, ordered staff back full-time in 2021 and called working from home during the pandemic an aberration.

Computing giant Dell (DELL) last year warned employees that if they failed to come into the office at least three days a week they would be barred from promotion. Choosing to be remote does indeed put career advancement at a standstill, the company said in an internal memo.

However, many rank and file workers complain that while they are being forced back to the office their bosses are sending the diktats from home  and still collecting mega bonuses.

Read more: The problem with forcing employees to list workplace achievements

Brian Niccol, the chief executive and chairman of Starbucks (SBUX), lives in California  over 1,000 miles away from Starbucks headquarters in Seattle. Starbucks is paying for a small remote office for him to work from near his home in Newport Beach, and when he commutes to the head office he does so in a private jet. Niccol was paid $96m for his first four months in the job, making him one of the US's highest-paid executives.

Mark Ma, a University of Pittsburgh business professor who studies the impact of working from home on company performance and employee welfare, said most workers recognise that there are benefits from being in the office environment. But many feel it is very top-down, he told Yahoo Finance.

The Starbucks CEO is demanding everyone be in the office, while he is working from California. Elon Musk has ordered all Tesla (TSLA) workers back to the office, but how often is he there? He seems to mostly be at the White House.

It can seem like the top [executives] are enjoying a privilege they are taking away from rank and file employees.

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is demanding his staff return to the office in Seattle  despite the fact that he himself lives some 1,000-plus miles away in California. (David Ryder via Getty Images)

Ma says companies are increasingly reaching for the sticks of punishment as the carrots of incentives havent worked as well as expected. Weve been seeing much more use of sticks since the third quarter of last year when Amazon started to call people back. It could be that leaders of other companies see what others are doing and think we should get our staff back too.

Companies are mandating five-days a week in the office because they say it improves cooperation, creativity and profits, Ma says. But the pandemic showed thats not necessarily true  people worked well remotely and companies kept hitting record profits. It proved it is possible to work from home and be just as, if not more, efficient.

'No significant changes' in company performance

Mas research examining the effect of S&P 500 (^GSPC) companies return to office (RTO) mandates did not find significant changes in firm performance in terms of profitability and stock market valuation.

It did find that managers were using return-to-work mandates to "reassert control over employees and blame employees as a scapegoat for bad firm performance, and that RTOs led to a significant decline in employee job satisfaction.

Ma warns that top executives, who often have spouses who dont work or have household staff to assist with day-to-day chores, are greatly underestimating the value of workplace flexibility for employees.

People have the experience from the pandemic that they can work just as effectively from home, and they really appreciate the flexibility.

The value of remote working was perhaps shown most starkly by US employees of Dell, when they were warned they would not be eligible for promotion if they refused to come into the office. Fifty per cent of them continued to work from home despite the threat, Ma says. That shows people really do value their flexibility, they are willing to give up career opportunities to maintain it.

Read more: How to tackle unconscious bias when making decisions at work

Separate research by Ma found that on average workers were willing to give up 20% of their wages to avoid a schedule set by an employer, and 8% for the option to work from home.

Sankalp Chaturvedi, professor of organisational behaviour and leadership at Imperial College Business School, says companies are trying to get back to the status quo before the pandemic that work took place in the office. But employees have got used to the flexibility the pandemic brought, and they dont want to forget about it. They want it to be the new normal.

He warned that threats and punishments are unlikely to achieve the outcomes that bosses want, and going too hard will lead companies to lose staff. And it will likely be the best ones who will leave if they feel like they're not being treated fairly and respectfully.

Professor Randall Peterson, director of the Leadership Institute at the London Business School, said: The threats are likely to get compliance, but without acceptance. Thats when staff will start thinking I can get the flexibility I want elsewhere so why would I stay here unless they are going to pay me a ridiculous amount to be in the office every day.

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Noor Abdalla has penned a letter in which she vowed to continue fighting for the release of her husband, Mahmoud Khalil. Composite: Courtesy Noor Abdalla's legal team, Anadolu via Getty Images, Reuters

In a letter marking one month since his detention by immigration authorities, Noor Abdalla vowed to continue to fight for the release of her husband, Mahmoud Khalil, and for the right to speak up on behalf of Palestinian rights.

We will not be silenced, she said. We will persist, with even greater resolve, and we will pass that strength on to our children and our childrens children  until Palestine is free.

Khalil, the recent Columbia graduate and Palestinian activist, was detained on 8 March and remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention in Louisiana. The Trump administration is seeking to deport him.

Exactly a month ago, you were taken from me, Abdalla, who is nine months pregnant with their first child, wrote in the letter addressed to her husband and published exclusively in the Guardian. As the days draw us closer to the arrival of our child, I am haunted by the uncertainty that looms over me  the possibility that you might not be there for this monumental moment.

Related: To my husband, Mahmoud Khalil: I cant wait to tell our son of his fathers bravery

Khalil helped lead Columbia Universitys pro-Palestinian protests last spring. His arrest was the first in what has become a mounting series of actions by the Trump administration to deport international students  some over their pro-Palestinian activism, others for reasons unclear to them.

Abdalla, a 28-year-old dentist residing in New York, is a US citizen who was born and raised in Michigan. Her parents immigrated to the US from Syria about 40 years ago. She was with him the evening of his arrest last month as they were returning from breaking their Ramadan fast with friends, and recorded the arrest.

Every kick, every cramp, every small flutter I feel inside me serves as an inescapable reminder of the family weve dreamed of building together, Abdallas letter said. Yet, I am left to navigate this profound journey alone, while you endure the cruel and unjust confines of a detention center.

Khalil has not been charged with any crimes and his lawyers contend that the Trump administration is unlawfully retaliating against him for his activism and constitutionally protected speech.

The administration has accused the recent graduate of leading activities aligned to Hamas and is seeking to deport him under a rarely invoked legal provision that allows the state department to deport non-citizens deemed to be a threat to US foreign policy.

Khalil and his lawyers are currently challenging the administrations deportation effort in court. An immigration hearing in the case is set to take place on Tuesday afternoon.

In the letter, Abdalla said that she could not be more proud of Khalil, adding that he embodied everything she ever hoped for in a partner and for the father of her children.

What more could I ask for as a role model for our children than a man who, with unwavering conviction, stands up for the liberation of his people, fully cognizant of the consequences of speaking truth to power? she asks. Your courage is boundless, and now more than ever, I am in awe of your strength and determination. Your voice, your belief in justice, and your refusal to be silenced are the very qualities that make you the man I love and admire.

The letter slams the administrations crackdown on pro-Palestinian speech in the name of fighting antisemitism, a campaign that has threatened billions of dollars in funding to American universities in addition to the immigration status of students who have not been accused of committing any crimes. It also critiques Columbias administrators, who Abdalla said failed to protect Khalil.

They sit in their ivory towers, scrambling to fabricate lies and distort the truth, throwing accusations like stones in the hope that something will stick, she said.

What they fail to realize is that their efforts are futile. Their wrongful detention of you is a testament to the fact that you have struck a nerve, she said. Youve disrupted the false narratives theyve worked so hard to maintain, and spoken a truth that they are too terrified to acknowledge.

In the letter, Abdalla said she eagerly awaited the day when she can tell their son the stories of his fathers bravery, of the courage that courses through his veins, and of the pride he should feel to carry Palestinian blood  your blood.

And, more than anything, I pray that he will not have to grow up fighting the same fight for our basic freedoms, she said.

We will be reunited soon, she said, but until then, I will continue to fight for you, for us and for our family.

I know your spirit is unwavering, that they cannot break you, and that you will emerge from this stronger than ever, she adds. I have no doubt that, when you are finally released, you will raise your hands in the air, chanting: Free Palestine.
Jason Clares emails referenced a Sky News forum in March, in which Peter Dutton said the federal government could condition the funding that it provides to state governments. Composite: Jono Searle/Dan Himbrechts/AAP

The education minister has written to the peak independent and Catholic school bodies, warning a Peter Dutton government will dictate what students are taught and promising private school funding will remain unchanged under Labor.

Jason Clares emails  sent to the executive director of the National Catholic Education Commission, Jacinta Collins, and the CEO of Independent Schools Australia, Graham Catt  warned Dutton had opened the doors to abolishing the Department of Education and cutting funding to schools.

The Coalition has made no election commitment to dismantle the department of education and on Monday Dutton walked back on a pledge to cut 41,000 public service jobs, if elected.

Related: High profile Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer who pitched herself as a renter admits she owns two properties

Questions have hovered over Dutton and education since comments he made at a Sky News forum on 31 March, when the opposition leader said the federal government could condition funding provided to state governments.

Responding to questions about a so-called woke agenda in curriculums, Dutton suggested students were being indoctrinated at school.

The commonwealth government doesnt own or run a school, which is why people ask, well, why have you got a department of thousands and thousands of people in Canberra called the education department if we dont have a school and dont employ a teacher? he said.

But we do provide funding to the state governments, and we can condition that funding. We should be saying to states that we want our kids to be taught the curriculum and not be guided by some sort of an agenda thats come out of universities.

At the time, Clare accused Dutton of a dangerous agenda reminiscent of Donald Trump, who recently signed an executive order ordering the US education department be dismantled.

One day after the Sky News forum, Dutton said the Coalition would commit to funding in the budget for education. But when asked by reporters, Dutton didnt deny he would look to cut the education department. We have said we want to take waste out of the federal budget and put back into frontline services, he said.

In his email to Collins and Catt, Clare wrote: Duttons comments that the states run schools fail to understand the reality that a longstanding and central responsibility of the commonwealth department of education is to provide funding for non-government schools.

Clare expressed concern that Duttons comments on Sky indicated he would attempt to dictate what was taught in schools if he did not agree with it.

Clare claimed the agendas Dutton was concerned about included reforms to teaching such as explicit instruction and small-group tutoring to help children catch up, which have been embedded in the latest national school agreement.

Given the commonwealths position as the majority funder of non-government schools, I am concerned about the potential for Peter Dutton to use funding as a lever to determine what students in non-government schools are taught, Clare wrote.

This shows an absolute abrogation of responsibility when it comes to the role of the majority government funder of the non-government school sector.

I would like to reaffirm Labors commitment to parent choice, and that school funding arrangements for non-government schools will remain unchanged under a returned Albanese Labor government.

Under the current funding system, the commonwealth provides 80% of government funding to non-government schools, with states and territories providing the remaining 20%.

Related: Fact check: are international students making it harder to find a place to rent as Dutton claims?

The funding figure is estimated at $10.4bn for Catholic schools and $8.7bn for independent schools in 2025.

Clare said the department of education also rolled out infrastructure grants to private schools and assisted with Naplan and the national curriculum and resources to support First Nations students and students with a disability.

About 69% of the departments ongoing workforce are women. Of its 1,581 employees, 1,223 are stationed in the ACT and 358 are based outside the capital.

The shadow education minister, Sarah Henderson, told reporters on Tuesday that claims a Coalition government could disband the department were absolutely false and her party had committed to school funding.

This  is another scare campaign from Labor, which has no foundation, she said. We are, frankly, sick of Labors lies.

Weve also committed to a health and education funding guarantee, one of the very first bills that will be passed under a Dutton government.

The Coalition has previously announced it would match dollar-for-dollar Labors commitment to fully fund public schools within the decade.
The King and Queen will watch a flypast of jets from the aerobatic teams of the UK and Italy when their state visit begins in earnest.

Charles and Camilla will be officially welcomed to Italy by the countrys president, Sergio Mattarella, and his daughter Laura Mattarella at his official residence the Quirinale Palace in Rome.

During the ceremonial greeting the UK and Italys defence co-operation will be marked by a joint flypast over the capital by the Italian air forces aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, and the RAFs Red Arrows.

The Red Arrows will take part in a joint flypast with the Italian are forces aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The president and the King will hold a private meeting while the statesmans daughter, who acts as the first lady, will show the Queen a selection of antique books on horsemanship in the Biblioteca del Piffetti and tour the state rooms.

Later the King and Queen, who are making a four-day state visit to Italy which began on Monday, will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Altare della Patria, Romes large national monument to Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy.

Charles and Camillas 20th wedding anniversary will be celebrated on April 9 and they have released three official photographs before their big day.

The couple will also visit a global attraction, the Colosseum that over the centuries has become a symbol of Rome and during their tour will hear about the ongoing restoration work on and around the monument.

The day will end with the head of state and his consort attending a reception with members of the British-Italian community, with representatives from business, arts and culture, military and defence, and education and youth sectors.
Rachel Reeves has said US tariffs will continue to have huge implications before insisting the Bank of England believes the UK banking system is resilient.

The Chancellor, in a message to families and businesses, said we have your backs as she made a statement to the House of Commons at the beginning of Treasury questions on Tuesday.

Ms Reeves also said all of the decisions made by the Government will be underpinned by the stability of our non-negotiable fiscal rules, which rule out borrowing to fund day-to-day spending.

Londons FTSE 100 share index rose in the first few minutes of trading on Tuesday, as a sense of optimism returned to the financial markets after several days of heavy losses.

The index, which tracks the UKs top 100 listed companies, was up more than 1% shortly after markets opened on Tuesday.

(PA Graphics)

It follows a more positive session for Asian markets, with some indexes making gains after suffering steep falls in previous days.

The next stage of US President Donald Trumps tariff programme comes into force in the early hours of Wednesday, with import taxes at 20% for goods from European Union nations and 24% from Japan.

The UK Government is pushing for a deal with the White House in the hope of easing the 10% tariff on US imports of British goods, along with a 25% tariff on cars and separate import taxes for steel and aluminium.

Ms Reeves told MPs: The United States decision to impose tariffs has had and will continue to have huge implications for the world economy.

These implications have been reflected in the reaction that weve seen in global markets in recent days, which the financial authorities have of course been monitoring closely.

This morning I spoke to the governor of the Bank of England, who has confirmed that markets are functioning effectively and that our banking system is resilient.

I know too that this is an anxious time for families who are worried about the cost of living  we have your backs.

And British businesses who are worried about what a changing world will mean for them  we have your backs too.

This Government is clear-eyed that our response to global change cannot not be to watch and wait, but instead to act decisively, to take the right decisions that are in our national interest, protecting working people.

All of the decisions that we make as a Government will be underpinned by the stability of our non-negotiable fiscal rules.

A trade war is in nobodys interest, it is why we must remain pragmatic, cool-headed and pursue the best deal with the United States that is in our national interest. This remains our priority.

Ms Reeves went on to say the UK is working with its international allies to reduce the barriers to trade right across the world, adding: Over recent days I have held discussions with my counterparts in Canada, Australia, Ireland, France, Spain, and with the European Commission.

We will pursue these talks in earnest. Tomorrow I will hold talks with the Indian government as part of our two nations economic and financial dialogue as we seek to secure a new trade deal with India.

For the Conservatives, shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: Free trade has been the bedrock of prosperity for our country and many countries around the world for decades. It has raised billions out of poverty.

Tariffs are the enemy of free trade, and we on this side of the House will do whatever we can to assist the Government in getting those tariffs down.

Having said that, of course, we will never cease becoming an effective Opposition, vigorously holding them to account not least on the disastrous decisions that they have taken already in respect of our economy, but we will be responsible when it comes to these matters, particularly where market sensitivities are engaged.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the steps the US has taken are unprecedented in terms of global trade and warned a global trade war could cause problems with the supply of medicines.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting warned a tariff war could impact on global medicine supplies (James Manning/PA)

We are constantly watching and acting on this situation to try and get medicines into the country, to make sure weve got availability, to show some flexibility in terms of how medicines are dispensed, to deal with shortages, he told Sky News.

But whether its medicines, whether its parts for manufacturing, whether its the ability of businesses in this country to turn a profit, this is an extremely turbulent situation.

Mr Streeting told the BBC the NHS is not for sale and our patients data is not for sale as part of any deal with the US.

The UK has not retaliated so far, but has drawn up a 417-page list of possible products which could face tariffs if Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer decides to put import taxes on US goods.

Sir Keir will appear before the Liaison Committee of senior MPs on the last day the Commons sits before it heads into the Easter break.

The impact of Mr Trumps tariffs is likely to be on the agenda for the Liaison Committee, where the Prime Minister may also be questioned about the war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, and the US presidents announcement that America will hold direct talks with Iran about its nuclear programme.
Two of the pups made using ancient DNA found in fossils - Colossal Biosciences

Scientists have disputed a bioscience firms claims to have resurrected the extinct dire wolf more than 10,000 years after the species disappeared from the Earth.

Colossal Bioscience, a $10billion private company, professes to have restored a once-eradicated species by genetically engineering three pups using ancient DNA found in fossils from between 11,500 and 72,000 years ago.

One of the animals, named Remus, featured on the cover of Time magazine this week alongside the words: hes a dire wolf.

But experts have questioned the firms claims, saying that while the birth of the three wolves is a significant achievement, it is not the same as bringing a species back to life.

Credit: Colossal Biosciences

Its not a direwolf, Vincent Lynch, professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Buffalo, told The Telegraph.

Direwolves went extinct, what theyve done is cloned a gray wolf and introduced some genetic changes that make it superficially resemble the dire wolf, he said.

He added: It is disingenuous. Theyre doing this to get public engagement. Theyre doing this to get free, friendly press... they wont get that kind of coverage, if theyre being intellectually honest, and say that weve made a cloned gray wolf that has some genetic changes that make it look like a dire wolf.

One of the dire wolf pups

Colossal, a Dallas-based firm, claims to be the worlds first and only de-extinction company, with its mission to bring back extinct animals including the woolly mammoth, the dodo and the Tasmanian tiger.

For its work on the dire wolf, the scientists made 20 edits in 14 genes of the common grey wolfs 19,000 genes. The edited embryos were implanted in surrogate dog mothers, with the wolves born by planned caesarean section to minimise the risk of complications.

The genetic tweaks gave the animals a white coat, larger, more powerful shoulders, larger teeth and a change in its howl and whine.

Colossal is keeping the pups, named Khaleesi, Romulus and Remus, on a private 2,000-acre facility at an undisclosed location in the northern US.

On October 1, 2024, for the first time in human history, Colossal successfully restored a once-eradicated species through the science of de-extinction, the firm said on its website, referring to the birth of Romulus.

After a 10,000+ year absence, our team is proud to return the dire wolf to its rightful place in the ecosystem. Colossals innovations in science, technology and conservation made it possible to accomplish something thats never been done before: the revival of a species from its longstanding population of zero.

The $10billion private company professed to have restored a once-eradicated species

But several scientists dispute the companys claims.

Theyre communicating this as de-extinction, that theyve brought the dire wolf back... but it was not de-extinction, what they did was animal engineering, Neil Shubin, professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago, told The Telegraph.

They didnt necessarily bring a creature back with its full genetic code. What they did was engineer living animals with particular traits inside them. And, and in that case, its actually a very different thing.

He added: Its more carnival bakerism than it is discussing what they actually did.

Mr Shubin also said scientists were unable to assess the technological achievements as they do not have access to the methodology behind the work.

You have a private company thats announcing major scientific results or major technological achievement... without a scientific paper behind it, or any preprint, or any paper trail of methods and anything that anybody can analyse and comment on in any constructive or critical way. So its all behind closed doors, black box, no publication, and that concerns me as well, he said.

Colossal claimed to have created a woolly mouse last month by editing seven genes in mice embryos to create mice with long, thick, woolly hair. The firm said the achievement vindicated their mission to bring back the woolly mammoth.

Colossal Biosciencess woolly mouse - Colossal Biosciences

This is another rather over-hyped story from Colossal, said Robin Lovell-Badge, a geneticist at the Francis Crick Institute in London, told The Telegraph.

Just as their recent one about cute hairy mice, which were a long way from having mammoth physiology, these white wolves are far off being dire wolves. There are many genomic differences between modern day grey wolves and dire wolves and Colossal only made a few genetic alterations to the former. They have white fur and perhaps larger skulls  but this doesnt make them dire wolves, just a product of rather dire thinking.

The Telegraph has contacted Colossal for comment.
Sir Keir Starmer will be questioned by senior MPs on Tuesday amid turmoil in global markets caused by US tariffs, which Donald Trump has insisted he will not pause.

The Prime Minister is expected to hold a Cabinet meeting of his most senior ministers in Downing Street on Tuesday morning, before he heads to Parliament, where he will appear before the Liaison Committee of senior parliamentarians on the last day the Commons sits before it heads into the Easter recess.

The global impact of Mr Trumps tariffs is likely to be on the agenda for the committee, where Sir Keir may also be questioned about the war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, and the US presidents announcement that America will hold direct talks with Iran about its nuclear programme.

A he spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Mr Trump indicated he was not open to the idea of pausing tariffs to allow for negotiations with other countries.

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Monday, April 7, 2025. (Pool via AP)

The UK is among the nations arguing its case for a carve out from the trade tax on goods going into the US.

The President has imposed a 10% tariff on US imports of British goods, along with the 25% tariff on cars and separate import taxes for steel and aluminium.

Mr Trump also suggested the tariffs could be both a negotiating tool to extract concessions out of other countries, as well as permanent levies aimed at raising cash for Americas coffers, amid contrasting views from members of his administration about their purpose.

Sir Keir warned the tariffs were not a passing phase as he visited Jaguar Land Rovers West Midlands plant on Monday, but urged workers at the car maker to remain calm.

This is a moment for cool heads, nobody wins from a trade war, you know that, he said.

The luxury car maker has been hit by the US tariffs, with the Prime Minister insisting moves to ease the transition towards phasing out petrol and diesel cars was a statement of intent in backing Britains automotive industry.

But the threat of a global trade war deepened as Mr Trump said he was willing to impose additional tariffs on China of 50% in response to Beijings retaliatory 34% rate.

Early on Tuesday, China called the USs imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs completely groundless and hinted more retaliatory tariffs may be coming.

A Commerce Ministry statement said: The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.

The EU, which is facing a 20% tariff rate from the US, has also warned it could retaliate.

Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, insisted the Prime Minister did not risk appearing timid if he chose not to follow suit.

He told the BBCs Newsnight: I think thats a total misreading of the situation. Being calm does not mean youre passive. Being calm is about making sure youre pursuing your own national interest, in this case, a deeper, fairer trader relationship between ourselves and the US.

Mr Reynolds added that he was not relaxed about the situation across the global economy, but would not be drawn into saying whether he thought the UK was at risk of slipping into recession.

As he welcomed Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House on Monday, Mr Trump also indicated that the USA will hold direct talks with Iran about its nuclear programme.

The talks with Tehran will begin on Saturday, he said, and warned that Iran will be in great danger if negotiators are unable to come to terms.

The US wants to prevent Iran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Britain could be in line for a swathe of new super-batteries in the coming years, under plans to boost investment into renewable energy storage.

Regulator Ofgem is launching a new funding scheme to make it less risky to develop and invest in large-scale storage projects, including so-called water batteries.

The projects, officially called pumped storage hydropower, are a way of storing energy using reservoirs.

The sites work by buying electricity when it is cheap  for example, when wind turbines are spinning  to pump water uphill from a river or lake, where it is then held at the top.

When electricity is more expensive or at times of higher demand, the hydropower sites release the water back downhill to generate more power for the grid.

The technology is not new and Britain has four such sites already in Scotland and Wales. One at Dinorwig in Snowdonia is nicknamed Electric Mountain.

But no new sites have been built for 40 years because they are expensive to develop, even though operating costs are comparatively low.

Several are in the works, including one at Loch Ness in the Highlands, but officials estimate Britain needs about five times more long duration energy storage capacity to hit net zero by 2050.

Akshay Kaul, director-general for infrastructure at Ofgem, said: Renewable energy is the key to securing Britains energy independence and driving down customer bills in the long term  so its vital that none of this precious resource goes to waste.

By creating the confidence for investors to support new projects such as super-batteries capable of storing the extra electricity created when the wind blows hard and the sun shines strong, we can reduce the need to turn to fossil-fuelled power as back-up when the weather changes.

Officials hope to make it easier to attract investment with the so-called cap-and-floor financing scheme.

The model guarantees a minimum income for companies that want to develop the projects  the floor  in return for a cap on how much revenue they can generate from the sites.

Now the first window for developers to apply for the scheme is open, and Ofgem expects the first batch of projects to be agreed in the first half of 2026.

Energy minister Michael Shanks said: Storing renewable electricity is the key to unlocking a clean power system, but its been over four decades since a major long duration storage project was built in Britain.

He said: This will benefit billpayers and reduce our reliance on dictator-driven fossil fuel markets, as well as creating jobs across the country.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, and his deputy, Angela Rayner, take a knee in solidarity with "anti-black racism"

What will it take for Britain to atone for the sins of its past? For our self-flagellating elites to accept we must draw a line under our history and act in the best interests of our own people? Im now certain they will accept nothing short of total, maniacal, self-imposed ruin. How else to explain Labours decision to kneecap our productive industries, doggedly pursue net zero regardless of the cost, or surrender our sovereign territories to foreign powers?

More than a century ago Rudyard Kipling warned that if you pay the Dane-geld, you never get rid of the Dane. Donald Trump may be trying to prove the Imperial bard wrong with his offer to buy Greenland. We will find out if it is possible to get rid of the Dane, but the old verities still apply with our cession of the Chagos Islands.

For those still unfamiliar with the deal of the century, Britain has agreed to pay an estimated 90 million a year over 99 years to cede control of the Indian Ocean territory, which is home to a joint British/American military base on its largest island. The UK only had 42 people on Diego Garcia at the most recent count, out of 2,500, yet still, we are the ones left paying for its lease. America, meanwhile, has just slapped 10 per cent tariffs on the atolls.

The gleeful recipient of this strategic asset is Mauritius, a country that considers China an ally and has about as much claim to Chagos as I have to being the Queen of Sheba. Its government, presumably sensing our penchant for self-sabotage, is now demanding more money to take the islands off us in a last-ditch effort to secure a better deal. Unlike Britain, it is behaving rationally. UK negotiators, if they can reasonably be described as such, are believed to have tabled new suggestions to bring forward the payments  meaning more of the rent for Diego Garcia is paid in advance.

This is what happens when salivating grifters sniff weakness  they take advantage of it. And others will spot an opportunity: its rumoured that Cyprus might now seek a Chagos-style deal and will want to be paid for the UK sovereign bases on the island, despite the impact on Cypriot security and the local economy. The strategic importance of these sites in the eastern Mediterranean, with intelligence posts that gather surveillance on the Middle East, is hard to overstate.

Yet when Starmer visited Cyprus before Christmas, it was amid growing demands on the island for the UK to hand back the crucial bases. Given he cannot see an international institution without taking the knee before it, and with many of his supporters viewing our overseas territories as pure imperial show, is it really so difficult to imagine?

How Britain came to acquire sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago is a second order concern. What matters is that they are an important strategic asset, and we shouldnt casually give them away. Claiming, as our Foreign Secretary has done, that the handover improves our international standing echoes Labours declarations that pay rises for public sector workers improve public services, or that more employment rights boost output. They might give self-righteous politicians a warm glow, but theyre also a fiction.

This cession wont strengthen Britains role in safeguarding global security (Lammy again) nor guarantee our long-term relationship with Mauritius (ibid). It will be costly, threaten our national security and set a damaging precedent. The only discernible benefits will be a favourable nod from The Guardian, smiles from north London lawyers and pats on the back from Starmers pals in the international legal circuit.

But the PM has taken it upon himself to sell Britain short at every turn  if not with the Danes then the Greeks, with reports that talks over our surrender of the Elgin Marbles are well-advanced. If not with the Greeks then with the ECHR: in 2023 France ignored Strasbourg and put an Uzbek exile with alleged links to Hizb-ut-Tahrir on a plane to Tashkent. In Britain, we allow an Albanian criminal to avoid deportation because his son has an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets. The tragedy for Starmer is that, though he may pompously believe he is improving our global standing, his Government is jeopardising it.

Before coming into power both the PM and Lammy spoke repeatedly of the horrors of slavery. The now-Foreign Secretary even entertained talk of reparations. But Ive yet to hear a convincing explanation as to how the repayments that some Labour MPs have clamoured for would work in practice: is it only Western countries that should cough up, or should the descendants of black Africans who sold their fellow Africans into bondage also fork out?

As with Chagos, elsewhere. Activists make a case to compromised international courts, while their fifth columnists in the UK legal profession, useful idiots on X and the virtue-signallers who run our museums and galleries lap it up. Were a rich country, they say, and riches only come from crime and exploitation, so we must be made to pay.

Then again, we wont be rich for much longer. Half the population doesnt work, growth imitates the condition of the snail, and our fiscal headroom is being spaffed on ceding valuable security assets. The Left may get their wish sooner than they hoped. What then for Britain?
Three people have pleaded not guilty in connection with a multimillion-pound fraud at a leading Welsh sixth form college.

Two men and a woman face a series of charges in connection with suspected financial irregularities at Cardiff Sixth Form College between 2012 and 2016.

Yasmin Anjum Sarwar, 43, from Cyncoed, Cardiff, Nadeem Sarwar, 48, from Pentwyn, Cardiff and Ragu Sivapalan, 39, from Penylan, Cardiff appeared before Cardiff Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Both Mr and Mrs Sarwar denied nine separate fraud and theft offences worth more than 5 million.

Sivapalan pleaded not guilty to false accounting between 2013 and 2016.

Wayne Mortimer, the head magistrate, sent the case to Cardiff Crown Court for a pre-trial hearing.

He said: The case between the three parties will be adjourned until May 6 at Cardiff Crown Court at 9am in the morning.

All three were released on bail, with a condition that Mr and Mrs Sarwar must not contact each other.

The college, a fee-paying school for 16 to 18-year-olds, regularly records some of the highest A-level results in the country.

In 2016, it was the subject of the BBC documentary Britains Brainiest School.

The college has changed ownership since the alleged fraud, with the charity that previously oversaw it now called the Cardiff Educational Endowment Trust, which operates as a grant making charity.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said for the first time Monday that Ukrainian forces were operating in Russias Belgorod region, where Moscow reported attacks in March. Belgorod is regularly the target of Ukrainian air attacks and is close to Russias Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have been desperately trying to hang on to territory since launching a surprise incursion last year. Zelenskyy said in his daily address that General Oleksandr Syrsky had reported on our presence in Kursk region and our presence in Belgorod region. He added: We continue to conduct active operations in the border areas on the enemys territory, and this is absolutely right  the war must return to where it came from. It is the first time since the full-scale invasion began that Zelenskyy has explicitly mentioned a Ukrainian presence in Belgorod, a border region with a population of about 1.5 million people. The Russian military acknowledged facing Ukrainian land attacks in the region in March. According to the DeepState military blog, which is considered close to Ukraines army, Ukrainian troops have occupied a 13 sq km (five square mile) area in the Russian region, near the border village of Demidovka. Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have said the incursion into Kursk and other Russian territory is to divert Russian forces attacking the Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Kharkiv.
Donald Trump

No other country in the EU fears Donald Trumps tariffs and the consequences of his global trade war more than Ireland.

Officials in Dublin face a perfect storm of threats to the economy and employment in a country that is particularly exposed to headwinds from Washington.

Ireland depends on the US for goods and services, with exports and tech making up a fifth of its GDP.

About 11 per cent of Irish workers are employed by mostly US-owned multinationals in the pharmaceutical and technology sectors, which were attracted by the low corporate tax rate.

In recent years Ireland has successfully navigated the choppy waters of the financial crisis, its bailout, Brexit and the Covid pandemic.

It has emerged with a record budget surplus and the healthiest public finances in Europe.

The five million-strong country has long punched above its weight thanks to a canny mix of soft power, a smooth diplomatic machine and influential friends in Washington and Brussels.

But this latest crisis threatens to leave Ireland and its people much poorer.

This is without question the most serious issue to face the Irish economy in a long time, taoiseach Micheal Martin told Irelands parliament.

It is, according to the Irish Times, a genuine, keep-people-awake-at-night, present-the-government-with-appalling-alternatives-crisis.

Irelands trade surplus

Dublin has traditionally enjoyed a close relationship with the White House.

However, its large trade surplus with the US, which reached a record 50 billion (41.8 billion) in 2024, put it firmly in the Trump administrations firing line.

Ireland had a much larger deficit of about 115 billion in services with the US in 2023.

This was because of US companies importing valuable intellectual property and royalties, but Mr Trumps trade wars are focused on goods deficits.

Apart from the EU, the US is Irelands largest export market.

Irish goods exports to the US were worth 62 billion in 2024, an increase of 9 per cent from 2023, and about a third of its overall total exports of 191.2 billion.

Many of those exports now face Mr Trumps 20 per cent tariff on the EU. This means American companies buying Irish products must pay more.

They can decide whether to absorb the cost or, more likely, pass them on to consumers, which will make Irish products more expensive and less competitive on the US market.

It is estimated that tariffs could cost more than 15 billion in lost trade.

Dairy and drink

Irish butter and whiskey will become more expensive in the US, which is Irelands second biggest agri-food market and where about 11 per cent of Irish food and drink exports goes across the Atlantic.

Every year, Ireland exports agri-food worth 1.67 billion to the US. About 709 million of that is dairy and 768.9 million is drinks, mostly whiskey.

Pig meat (about 19.7 million), beef (7.5 million) and seafood (3.25 million) make up the remaining 9 per cent of exports, according to the Irish Farmers Association .

Of the 59,000 tonnes of EU butter exported to the US, 51,000 tonnes of it was Irish.

Kerrygold is now the second best selling butter brand in the US. It began selling to the US in the 1990s but Irelands RTE broadcaster suggests the price of a standard 454g pack could jump above $10 (8) a pack once the tariffs kick in.

A pack costs $9.79 in Target but that could rise to $11.45 (8.94). A pack the same size costs about 4.69 in Ireland and a 250g pack costs 3 in Waitrose in the UK.

The Irish Whiskey Association warned that the impact of tariffs would be immediate.

The US has been the engine of growth for Irish whiskey and spirits, and now represents 41 per cent of Irish drinks exports every year, it said.

The total value of the US market for the Irish drinks sector is 865 million (740 million) per annum.

Irish whiskeys will also face more competition from Northern Irelands whiskeys, such as Bushmills, which will be subject to the lower UK tariff of 10 per cent.

Producers will also be nervous of Mr Trumps threat to slap EU exports of alcoholic drinks with a 200 per cent tax if Brussels targets Kentucky bourbon in its retaliatory tariffs.

After a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, it was reported that bourbon had been struck from a Brussels hit list of American products in a victory for Ireland, as well as France and Italy who were looking to protect wine exports.

Pharma

The worlds 10 largest drugmakers, including US companies Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Merck, all have large plants in Ireland and pharmaceuticals are a driver of Irish exports.

About 45,000 people are employed in the countrys pharmaceutical sector, with exports to the US worth about 50 billion a year.

Mr Trump wants to onshore those manufacturing jobs to the US.

There were unrealised fears he would bring forward a pharma-specific tariff of 25 per cent on Liberation Day. But Dublin is anxious that it is only a matter of time before that happens.

Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, this beautiful island of five million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasp, Mr Trump said when meeting with Mr Martin in March.

Micheal Martin, the Irish Taoiseach, presents Trump with a bowl of clover at the White House in March - Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Big tech and tax

US tech giants including Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook-owner Meta and Elon Musks X have their European headquarters in Ireland.

Large multinationals have onshored their valuable intellectual property assets to Ireland, and to take advantage of Irelands low corporate tax rate.

In 2024, Apple lost a legal battle against an EU order to pay Ireland almost 12 billion in back taxes. Dublin took Apples side in the court case, which followed an EU crackdown on sweetheart tax deals.

Irelands fiscal watchdog estimates that 75 per cent of all corporate tax is paid by large US multinationals, with three firms responsible for almost 40 per cent alone.

Mr Trump has pledged to cut the US corporate tax rate to the top Irish rate of 15 per cent, which could sap revenues in Ireland.

He wants to onshore tech jobs as well and could offer incentives for the tech giants to transfer back intellectual property, which would further hit tax revenue.

Tech appears likely to become another battleground between the US and EU. Mr Trump has railed against EU regulation of US tech titans, including large antitrust fines imposed by the European Commission for anti-competitive behaviour and measures to fight disinformation.

France and Germany have called on Brussels to target US tech firms in retaliation for the Trump tariffs.

Ireland, conscious of the risk that poses to a vital part of its economy, is lobbying against that.

EU members outsource trade matters to the European Commission but must agree by a qualified majority to any tariffs that are imposed in response.

Politics

Mr Trumps tariffs cause Irelands new coalition governments problems on the domestic, European and wider international level.

Internationally, the days when Dublin could rely on Joe Biden, the former US president, to have their backs in the face of challenges such as Brexit are over.

Mr Biden was fiercely proud of his Irish roots and a valuable ally, while Mr Trump has shown no inclination to show Dublin any special favours.

In fact, shortly after Mr Martin visited the White House for a St Patricks Day event, the White House effectively endorsed Conor McGregor to be Irelands next president.

The MMA fighter, who recently lost a civil rape case, is seen as preferable by some Republicans to Irish establishment politicians who are widely perceived to have gone woke.

In Europe, Ireland must balance defending its national interest in discussion over retaliatory tariffs with a need to show solidarity with other member states.

The government will be keenly aware the EU had its back over Brexit, and wont want to be seen to break ranks.

But at the same time it will press for negotiations with the US and tap the brakes on any EU efforts to target the American tech giants.

Dublin is arguing for a firm but proportionate response from Brussels.

Before elections in 2024, the two main parties in Irelands coalition government proposed a giveaway budget, partly funded by the Apple windfall, to head off the threat of Left-wing Sinn Fein and draw attention from an endemic housing and healthcare cost crisis.

They also set up a rainy day fund from the budget surplus in anticipation of the trade war and the multiple threats it posed to Irish prosperity and jobs.

Mr Martin has ruled out any immediate extra support for businesses and insists there is still time for negotiations with the US.

Any impact on corporate tax revenue will take time to filter down but will eventually force the Taoiseach to make tough and unpopular decisions on public spending.
Ukraine says two Chinese troops have been captured in eastern Ukraine

Credit: X/@ZelenskyyUa

Two Chinese citizens were captured fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian president claimed his forces had fought with and detained six Chinese soldiers in Donetsk and that there were many more in the Russian ranks.

He demanded an explanation from Beijing and said the discovery required a response from the United States, Europe and all those around the world who want peace.

Russias involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war. He is looking for ways to continue fighting, he said.

The US called the capture of Chinese citizens fighting for Russia disturbing.

Its disturbing with the Chinese soldiers having been captured, a state department spokeswoman said.

China is a major enabler of Russia in the war in Ukraine. China provides nearly 80 per cent of the dual use items Russia needs to sustain the war, she added.

However, Western intelligence sources said it was unlikely the soldiers were sent directly by China. Russia routinely recruits foreign nationals into its armed forces through irregular means.

Mr Zelensky published a video showing what he said was a captured Chinese soldier describing how his commander had been injured by a Ukrainian drone strike.

Vroom vroom boom boom boom boom boom and then my commander, he tells an unidentified Ukrainian interviewer, mimicking the drones that wounded him and his officer flying overhead.

China claims to take a neutral stance on the war but has grown closer to Russia since it broke out. Western officials have long accused China of sending weapon components and attack drones to Moscow, but there is no evidence Beijing has directly sent troops.

Andrii Sybiha, Ukraines foreign minister, said he had summoned Chinas charge daffaires in Ukraine to provide an explanation.

Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russias invasion army in Ukraine puts into question Chinas declared stance for peace and undermines Beijings credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council, he said.

Last month, a separate video emerged on social media purporting to show Chinese mercenaries fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

The soldiers have equipment and clothing consistent with what regular Russian troops have been seen wearing in recent months.

Volunteers and mercenaries

A patch on one soldiers right shoulder reads BARS, the acronym for Russias army reserve, which has become a network of irregular units since the February 2022 invasion. BARS fighters have an unclear legal status, remaining unofficial volunteers despite signing contracts with the Russian defence ministry.

Thousands of volunteers and mercenaries have been recruited by Russia to bolster its forces throughout the war.

But North Korea is the only other example of a state deploying soldiers, but the troops have not been allowed to fight inside Ukrainian territory.

Kyiv has said Pyongyangs troops have been deployed to fight Ukrainian forces in parts of Russias western Kursk region, where Ukraine staged a lightning incursion last summer.

Mr Zelensky claimed: The North Koreans fought against us in the Kursk region, the Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine.

And I think this is an important point that we need to discuss with our partners, I think urgently.

His comments come as Russia continues to gradually take territory in Ukraine while peace talks stall and international attention has been drawn towards Mr Trumps trade war and threats to Iran.

On Monday, Ukraine publicly confirmed its troops had advanced into Russias Belgorod region in the latest sign he was attempting to strengthen the countrys position in peace negotiations.

The Ukrainian president said his soldiers had broken through the enemys heavily fortified western border with a warning that war must return to where it came from.

He said the main objective of the attack, which follows a failed incursion into Belgorod last month, was to protect communities in Ukraines Kharkiv and Sumy border regions.

We continue to carry out active operations in the border areas on enemy territory, and this is just  war must return to where it came from, he said in a post on X.

It marks the first time Ukraine has publicly confirmed its troops presence in the western Russian stronghold.

08:05 PM BST

Thats it for today

Thanks for following our live coverage today. Here is a summary of the main events:

Two Chinese soldiers were captured in eastern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media

Ukrainian forces engaged with a total of six Chinese troops in Donetsk

Mr Zelensky has criticised Putins involvement of China and said the Russian leader wants to do anything but end the war

The Ukrainian president called on the United States, Europe and all those around the world who want peace to respond

Sir Keir Starmer said he is seeking advice from intelligence figures in light of the recent development

Ukraine publicly confirmed its troops had advanced into Russias Belgorod region for the first time

Russia has reportedly retaken Guyevo, one of the last important villages held by Ukraine in the Kursk region

You can read more of our Ukraine coverage here.

06:51 PM BST

Chinas stance for peace under question

Andrii Sybiha, Ukraines foreign minister, said the involvement of Chinese citizens in the war would bring into question Chinas declared stance for peace.

Mr Sybiha wrote on X: We have summoned Chinas charge daffaires in Ukraine to the Foreign Ministry to condemn this fact and demand an explanation.

Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russias invasion army in Ukraine puts into question Chinas declared stance for peace and undermines Beijings credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council.

06:08 PM BST

Ukraine thanks UK partners for fire convoy

Ukraine has thanked its partners in the UK for sending a convoy of fire and rescue vehicles to the country.

The Government, in conjunction with 18 fire and rescue services from across the UK, delivered over 15,000 pieces of life-saving equipment to the nation.

Some 30 fire and rescue vehicles, including 26 fire engines, made up the convoy, which was the largest of its kind.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said on X: Ukrainian rescuers are eagerly awaiting the 8th humanitarian convoy from Fire Aid UK, the National Fire Chiefs Council and the UK government, adding: Thank you to our partners!

Union Jacks hang alongside the Ukrainian flag on a convoy of fire and rescue vehicles sent by London to Kyiv

The UK has sent a convoy of fire and rescue vehicles to Ukraine - @SESU_UA / X

05:47 PM BST

Zelensky: Chinese are fighting on Ukrainian territory

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said China would be the third country to offer military support to Russia after Iran, which has supplied attack drones, and North Korea, which has supplied soldiers, according to American and South Korean officials.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Zelensky said: The North Koreans fought against us in the Kursk region, the Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine.

And I think this is an important point that we need to discuss with our partners, I think urgently.

05:31 PM BST

Russia recaptures important Kursk village

In more news from the battlefront, Russia has reportedly retaken one of the last important villages held by Ukraine in the Kursk region.

The Russian defence ministry said its troops had recaptured the village of Guyevo, near the Ukraine border and south of the regional hub of Sudzha.

Moscow has already reclaimed much of the border area lost to Kyiv during its shock August 2024 incursion, which marked the largest attack by a foreign army on Russian territory since the Second World War.

The Kremlin has in recent weeks praised its troops for carrying out a quick offensive in Kursk and pushing back against the Ukrainian troops still clinging to swaths of Russian territory won last year.

04:59 PM BST

Further Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil

More footage has emerged of Ukrainian drone strikes on Belgorod after the presence of Ukrainian troops in the western Russian region was confirmed for the first time.

Dramatic video released by Ukraines 47th mechanised brigade showed the moment a house used by Russian troops exploded in the village of Popovka after a drone entered through an open window, as well as a strike on a pipe running underneath a road.

Credit: 47th Mechanised Brigade

04:51 PM BST

A competition for Chinas affections

Kyiv had until this moment been seeking to deepen ties with Beijing.

Just this week, Mr Zelensky appointed a new ambassador to China and last year, Dmytro Kuleba, the then Ukrainian foreign minister, travelled to the country to meet his Chinese counterpart.

But Moscow and Beijing have in recent years boasted of their no limits partnership.

In a visit to Russia last month, Beijings foreign minister declared the two countries were friends forever, never enemies and said this served as a solid legal basis for advancing strategic cooperation at a higher level.

Beijing insisted, however, that it remained neutral in the ongoing conflict.

04:25 PM BST

Ukrainian drone strikes inside Russia

Footage released by Ukraines 47th mechanised brigade on Monday captured the moment drones struck Russian troops gathered inside a damaged building in the Belgorod village of Demidovka.

Russian media reported that the countrys air defence systems destroyed 23 Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod and Kursk regions overnight.

Credit: 47th Mechanised Brigade

04:22 PM BST

Ukraine advances into Russias Belgorod region

Volodymyr Zelenskys claim that Chinese nationals have been found fighting for the Kremlin comes as Ukraine publicly confirmed its troops had advanced into Russias Belgorod region.

Volodymyr Zelensky said last night that his soldiers had broken through the enemys heavily fortified western border with a warning that war must return to where it came from.

The Ukrainian president said the main objective of the attack, which follows a failed incursion into Belgorod last month, was to protect communities in Ukraines Kharkiv and Sumy border regions.

We continue to carry out active operations in the border areas on enemy territory, and this is just  war must return to where it came from, he said in a post on X.

It marks the first time Ukraine has publicly confirmed its troops presence in the western Russian stronghold.

04:16 PM BST

Chinese nationals were carrying ID

The two captured Chinese nationals were carrying identification documents, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

The pair were reportedly taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region.

Identification documents, bank cards, and personal data were found in their possession, the Ukrainian president said on X.

The captured Chinese citizens are now in the custody of the security service of Ukraine. Relevant investigative and operational actions are ongoing, he added.

03:57 PM BST

I am seeking British intelligence advice, says Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants to consult British intelligence figures before he comments on claims the Ukrainians have captured Chinese citizens fighting in the country.

The Prime Minister was asked about the developing news and his message to Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, during his appearance before the Commons Liaison Committee.

Sir Keir said: Ive only just seen the development of this. I havent had the opportunity to take advice from my own intelligence and security advisers. I havent had the opportunity to talk to President Zelensky about it.

So Id very happily provide you with an answer but, if youll forgive me, I just want to make sure that weve got to the bottom of what we actually think has happened here before giving a definitive answer here.

I will obviously be taking intelligence and security advice on it. We will obviously be talking to the Ukrainians about it.



03:54 PM BST

The Kremlins influence outside of Russia

Soldiers from several other nations, including Serbia, Belarus and some central Asian nations, have offered their services to the Kremlins cause in the past.

Many of those who volunteered to fight against Ukraine came from countries once within the Soviet sphere of influence.

In late 2023, Cuba uncovered a human trafficking ring that had allegedly coerced its citizens to fight for Russia in the war in Ukraine, its foreign ministry said at the time.

The statement noted the trafficking ring was operating both within the Caribbean island nation, thousands of miles from Moscow, and within Russia.

03:46 PM BST

Analysis: A battle for White House attention

The war in Ukraine is now partly a battle for the attention of the White House.

In such circumstances, the capture of Chinese citizens on the battlefield is a boost to Kyiv and to Volodymyr Zelensky.

Mr Zelensky wasted little time in casting the men as proof that one more nation, as in China, had entered the war against Ukraine.

The truth may be more mundane  that these men are part of ragtag mercenary forces hoovered up by Moscows meat-hungry armed forces.

Nevertheless, their presence should complicate the Trump administrations desire to look beyond Ukraine to what it sees as a looming, generational clash with Communist China.

At the end of last month, Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, distributed an internal memo reorienting the US military towards deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan  and preparing to win a potential conflict with Beijing.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has said that Vladimir Putin will only be a small chapter in the history of the 21st century, with the rest taken up by Americas titanic contest with China.

It is no wonder that Mr Zelensky, in trying to win back the fading support of America, will do everything he can to argue the two theatres cannot be so easily separated.

03:14 PM BST

Chinese mercenaries spotted in video from March

Last month, a separate video emerged on social media purporting to show Chinese mercenaries fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

In the unverified clip, allegedly shot in Selydove near Pokrovsk, East Asian troops graffiti the inside walls of a damaged house with what appear to be Chinese characters.

The soldiers have equipment and clothing consistent with what regular Russian troops have been seen wearing in recent months.

A patch on one soldiers right shoulder reads BARS, the acronym for Russias army reserve, which has become a network of irregular units since the February 2022 invasion.

According to independent Russian media, BARS fighters have an unclear legal status, remaining unofficial volunteers despite signing contracts with the Russian defence ministry.

The video appeared online over a month before Volodymyr Zelenksy posted a clip today showing one out of two Chinese soldiers captured by Ukraine.

Credit: @TGTM_Official

03:05 PM BST

Sanction Beijing if captured troops are part of Chinese army

Luke de Pulford, the executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said that Beijing must be sanctioned if the soldiers captured were part of the Chinese army.

Mr de Pulford told The Telegraph: This is the authoritarian axis in action: North Korea, China, and Russia.

If these were mercenaries its important to understand that this means China is tolerating nationals providing on-the-ground support for Putins illegal war, prolonging a conflict which is killing innocents and fracturing democratic alliances.

If these were Peoples Liberation Army soldiers, swift and meaningful coordinated sanctions must follow.

02:57 PM BST

Pictured: Zelensky speaks at press conference with Belgian PM

Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever - Shutterstock

02:53 PM BST

Analysis: What happens now?

Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine has captured two Chinese citizens fighting as part of the Russian army, and claims there are many more.

These fighters are now prisoners of war and are protected under the Geneva Conventions. That means they cannot be tortured, must be cared for, and if prosecuted  have the right to a proper trial.

What happens to China, if it has knowingly sent its citizens to Russia in order to fight against Ukraine, is less clearcut.

The collective Western response would likely begin with sanctions against individuals seen as key decision makers in Chinas military. They could target Dong Jun, the defence minister, for example.

North Korean generals faced similar targeted sanctions when troops from the Hermit state were sent to fight against Ukraine, as did the Iranian generals ultimately responsible for sending Shahed drones for use by Moscow.

Sectoral sanctions could also be applied  targeting security companies, or businesses run by people close to Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.

In 2024 the United States imposed sanctions on two Chinese drone suppliers and their alleged Russian partners for helping arm the Russian war effort.

02:44 PM BST

The Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine, says Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky emphasised that that China is another country, along with Iran and North Korea, that supports Russia in its war against Ukraine.

But there is a difference: the North Koreans fought against us in the Kursk direction, the Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine, the president said at a press conference along with Bart de Wever, Belgiums prime minister.

In Autumn, North Korea sent at least 12,000 troops to its western Kursk region, which Ukraine invaded in August, seizing swaths of Russian territory. Pyongyang sent another 3,000 soldiers to Russia this year, South Koreas military said in late March.

02:34 PM BST

Kyiv summons Chinese diplomat for explanation

Ukraine summoned Chinas charge daffaires after Kyivs troops took prisoner two Chinese citizens fighting in the eastern front.

Andrii Sybiha, Ukraines foreign minister, said: We strongly condemn Russias involvement of Chinese citizens in its war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as their participation in combat against Ukrainian forces.

He added: Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russias invasion army in Ukraine puts into question Chinas declared stance for peace and undermines Beijings credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council.

02:29 PM BST

Analysis: Chinese soldiers unlikely to have been sent by Beijing

At first glance this does not appear to be a state-sanctioned deployment of Chinese troops by Beijing.

Thousands of volunteers or alternatively paid mercenaries have been recruited by Russia to bolster its forces throughout the war.

North Korea is the only other example of a state deploying soldiers.

However, North Koreans fighting alongside Russian forces have only been allowed to do so on Russian territory.

Before they arrived in Kursk, Pyongyang had donated weapons first  clearly tracked by the West.

China, according to intelligence sources, has not even gone as far as sending lethal aid.

However, Beijing is accused of propping up Russias war-stricken defence industry by sending precision tools and sanctioned components for arms.

It would be an unprecedented leap by Beijing to send troops before it offers even the smallest consignment of artillery ammunition.

One that would likely lead to a furious response from Western backers of Ukraine that could end with severe sanctions.

02:21 PM BST

What Telegraph readers are saying...

02:19 PM BST

Chinas role in the war so far:

Moscow and Beijing have deepened political, military and economic co-operation since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

China presents itself as a neutral party in the conflict, claiming it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the US and Kyivs other Western allies. It has also been vocal in its support for peace efforts.

Nato members, however, have branded Beijing a decisive enabler of Moscows invasion, which it has never condemned.

Western officials have also claimed that China has been sending components of weapons and attack drones to help Russias war effort.

Volodymyr Zelensky did not say whether Ukraine believed the captured Chinese citizen were operating on Beijings orders.

02:08 PM BST

Captured Chinese soldier injured in drone strike

The captured Chinese troop, in the footage released by Volodymyr Zelensky, said he and his commander had been injured by a Ukrainian drone strike.

Vroom vroom boom boom boom boom boom and then my commander, he said in the interview footage, mimicking the drones that wounded him and his officer flying overhead.

The captured Chinese soldier explaining how he was wounded

01:50 PM BST

Watch: Video shows Chinese prisoner in custody

Our military has captured two Chinese citizens who were fighting as part of the Russian army. This happened on Ukrainian territoryin the Donetsk region. Identification documents, bank cards, and personal data were found in their possession.



We have information suggesting that pic.twitter.com/ekBr6hCkQL  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) April 8, 2025

01:50 PM BST

Zelensky: Putin will do anything but end the war

Volodymyr Zelensky said new evidence of Chinese citizens fighting in the Russian army shows Vladimir Putin does not want peace.

Russias involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war, he wrote on Telegram, after announcing the capture of two Chinese soldiers.

He is looking for ways to continue fighting. This definitely requires a response. A response from the United States, Europe, and all those around the world who want peace.

The captured Chinese soldiers, he said, are now being held by the Security Service of Ukraine.
San Juan County Adult Detention Center; Farmington Funeral Home Heather Fernandez-Hoefer; Robert Hoefer

A teacher in New Mexico who initially told police she'd found her husband stabbed to death in their home more than four years ago is now charged in connection with his death.

On April 1, Heather Fernandez-Hoefer, 51, was arrested on charges of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence, the Farmington Police Department announced in a Facebook post.

The charges are related to the 2020 death of her 49-year-old husband Robert Hoefer. Its unclear if Heather has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on her behalf.

On Nov. 29, 2020, officers responded to a Farmington, N.M. home on a report of an unresponsive person and found Robert dead with three stab wounds, per the post. Heather, who police said made the 911 call, allegedly provided conflicting statements during the initial investigation.

According to an affidavit obtained by local news station KRQE, Heather claimed to police at the time that her husband stabbed himself in the computer room while she was in another area of their home. She added that she helped clean him up and the two went to bed separately that night, police alleged.

The next morning, Heather claimed she found her husband face down on their bedroom floor, per the affidavit cited by the station. Authorities noted in the affidavit that most of the blood at the scene was found on the bed rather than the floor, and that no blood was found outside the bedroom, the outlet reports.

According to the affidavit cited by KRQE, authorities also referenced alleged text messages sent between the couple arguing about money and a previous relationship just hours before Roberts death.

"After a thorough and ongoing investigation by detectives and working with the district attorney's office, a thorough review of the case was conducted, and the decision to proceed with criminal charges was made, police said in the post.

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.

According to Roberts obituary, the couple met in 2019 and married in September 2020. Heather was described in Roberts obituary as the love of his life and a third-grade teacher.

Robert was remembered as a proud stepdad who served nine years in the Navy and loved reading, per the obituary.

Police said the investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Farmington Police Department at (505)-599-1068.



Read the original article on People
Five people were hospitalized after a small plane skidded off a runway into a body of water at the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport in North Bend on Monday.

An airport spokesperson, Stephanie Kilmer, told the Eugene Register-Guard that a small private aircraft skidded off Runway 23 at 6:12 a.m. The plane, a 2019 Honda HA-240 that departed from Utah, ended up approximately five feet into Coos Bay.

The aircraft was located about 100 feet off the east end of the runway and was secured by emergency response teams.

"We had aircraft rescue and firefighters on scene. There was actually a witness that witnessed the plane going off the end of the runway, so a call was made to emergency responders," Kilmer told local news station KEZI.

"This is where training and where our constant requirements, which afford us to have a mass casualty training, come into play. Everything worked smoothly like clockwork and those people were taken off the plane."

News: Remains found in JetBlue landing gear after landing in Florida identified as 2 teenagers

Crash under investigation

According to the airport, the plane was removed from the water per approval from the National Transportation Safety Board.

All four passengers and the pilot were rescued and taken to a hospital. They suffered from minor injuries but considered to be alert and in stable condition.

As of early Tuesday morning, only one remains hospitalized and another was transported to a different facility.

Commercial Air Traffic on the airport's main runway was shut down, however according to Southwest Oregon Regional Airport, "the quick authorization for its removal from the water assisted with reopening the airport's main runway to air traffic."

"The aircraft is currently being stored near the incident site until the NTSB can conduct and complete its evaluation," the airport continued.

The Federal Aviation Administration has also launched an investigation. The cause of the crash is unknown at this time.

Contributing: Haleigh Kochanski, Eugene Register-Guard

Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at tardrey@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Plane crashes into water at Southwest Oregon Regional Airport; 5 hurt
Ever thought about what a quick shopping trip in North Korea looks like? Spoiler: its nothing like what youre used to. The government controls whats sold, and plenty of everyday stuff is straight-up banned. Some of these make sense (well, to them), but others are completely random. Here are a few things you just cant buy there.

Say Goodbye to Your Favorite Jeans

Credit: flickr

If you love a good pair of blue jeans, tough luck. Denimespecially in blueis seen as a symbol of Western influence, and thats a big no-no. Black jeans sometimes slip through, but if someone catches you in blue, you could land in serious trouble.

No Coke, No Pepsi, No Nothing

Credit: flickr

Coca-Cola is everywhereexcept North Korea. American brands are not allowed in the country, so the worlds favorite soda is off-limits. Locals have to make do with North Korean knockoffs, but lets be honest its just not the same.

Forget Flipping Through a Magazine

Credit: pexels

North Korea bans all foreign media. Magazines, newspapers, and even travel brochures are illegal. The only news allowed is whatever the officials publish, and its very one-sided.

Hair Dye? Not Happening

Credit: flickr

Thinking about a bold new hair color? Not in North Korea. Strict grooming rules are enforced and dyeing your hair is seen as a rebellious Western trend. Everyones expected to keep their natural color, and only government-approved hairstyles are allowed.

That Fancy Lipstick? Better Hide It

Credit: pexels

Makeup from South Korea, Japan, or the U.S. is not permitted. Only cosmetics manufactured in North Korea are promoted. But smuggled brands still make their way in.

Tampons? Most Women Dont Even Know They Exist

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Pads? Yes. Tampons? Nowhere to be found. They arent on the official list but are simply not sold. Most North Korean women have never even heard of them. If you want them, youll need to find a way to smuggle them in from China.

Chocolate Bars? Dont Even Think About It

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Imported chocolate is also off-limits. If youre craving a Snickers, youre out of luck. Only the countrys elite or people visiting can get their hands on the good stuff. The locals have to settle for whatever sweets are produced within the countryif they can find any at all.

South Korean Instant Noodles? Nope.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

People love instant noodles here, but South Korean brands are totally disallowed. You cannot own any items or products that have come from the countrys southern neighbor. That doesnt stop people from smuggling them in, though. In fact, this product is one of the most sought-after black market items.

Watching an American Movie Could Land You in Prison

Credit: flickr

Forget Titanic or AvengersHollywood movies are illegal. The only films allowed are government-made propaganda. But people still risk watching external movies in secret. If caught, the punishments are brutal, sometimes even life-threatening.

K-Pop? Not a Chance

Credit: flickr

No BTS, no Blackpink, no Western pop either. If its not government-approved, its forbidden. Officials even check peoples devices for illegal music. Still, people find ways to listenusually with smuggled USBs.

Flash Drives Are Considered Weapons

Credit: pexels

USB drives might seem harmless, but in North Korea, theyre seen as dangerous tools. Thats because these devices are often used to smuggle in music, movies, and news from other countries. If authorities find one during a random search, you could end up in a labor camp.

Want a Drink? Stick to Local Booze

Credit: flickr

North Korea has its own liquor, but imported alcohol is a no-go for regular people. Only high-ranking officials and visitors get access to this whiskey or wine. Everyone else has to make do with local brewsif they can afford them.

Nike and Adidas? Not in Your Closet

Credit: pexels

Big-name sneaker brands are off-limits. The people in charge push their own locally made footwear instead. But if you really want a pair of Nikes, you might find them on the black marketjust be prepared to pay a lot.
American abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman. - MPI/Archive Photos/Getty Images

The National Park Service on Monday returned an image of and quote from Harriet Tubman to a webpage about the Underground Railroad, following backlash after her presence on the page was dramatically reduced.

The agency said the reduced mention of Tubman had been made without approval by top leadership.

Until mid-February, the top of the NPS What is the Underground Railroad? page featured a large photo of Tubman, the railroads most famous conductor, records from the Wayback Machine show. Next to it was a quote from Tubman about her experience coordinating the clandestine network for slaves seeking freedom.

But sometime in February it was changed, swapping the large image of Tubman for small commemorative stamps of five abolitionists  among them Tubman  a screen grab from the webpage on March 19 captured by the Wayback Machine shows. Text on the stamps touted Black/White Cooperation. Tubmans quote was removed and the text amended significantly in the updated version.

The Washington Post first reported on the change Sunday, which prompted backlash from historians and educators.

Asked about the restoration of Tubmans image and quote to the page, an NPS spokesperson told CNN, Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Services website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content.

The edited version  without Tubmans quote or image  had been live since at least February 21, the Wayback Machine shows.

The edited webpage featured revised text that did not mention slavery until the third paragraph and cut a reference to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 entirely. The edited article had swapped a description of enslaved peoples efforts to free themselves with two paragraphs that emphasized the American ideals of liberty and freedom.

The recent reduction of Tubmans presence on the webpage, coming after several other prominent changes to government websites as the administration enacts a sweeping anti-DEI agenda, incurred criticism from some who said the change minimized Tubmans crucial contributions to the Underground Railroad. The abolitionist is credited with helping free scores of enslaved people during the Civil War period.

One historian, Fergus Bordewich, had called the edits both offensive and absurd in an interview with CNN.

Before the page was reverted Monday afternoon, an NPS spokesperson defended the changes, telling CNN the idea that a couple web edits somehow invalidate the National Park Services commitment to telling complex and challenging historical narratives is completely false and belies the extensive websites, social media posts, and programs we offer about Harriet Tubman specifically and Black History as a whole.

The spokesperson highlighted the two national historical parks named for Tubman.

The National Park Service recognizes Harriet Tubman as the Underground Railroads best known conductor and we celebrate her as a deeply spiritual woman who lived her ideals and dedicated her life to freedom, the NPS said.

There is a separate National Park Service page dedicated to Tubman, who was born into slavery in Maryland before fleeing to Philadelphia. She returned to Maryland over a dozen times to help free other slaves, guiding them through the Underground Railroad, a secret network of routes and safe houses. The park service webpage on Tubman does not seem to have been changed since January 28, 2025.

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John Lennon and Paul McCartney were each others favorite audience. That was plainly clear as the besotted Beatles bantered, bickered and obsessed over the 23 years they were friends and rivals.

Ian Leslies new biography John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs (Celadon, 436 pp., out now) unpacks their intense and complicated relationship from their first meeting in 1957 to Lennons murder in 1980.

Along the way, theres psychoanalysis (Leslie specializes in writing about human psychology, communication and creativity) and the occasional hair-curling discovery.

Nothing here is entirely new: Leslie relies on previously published interviews and conducted just one himself for the book, with Let It Be director Michael Lindsay-Hogg. But Leslie does an extraordinary job of providing context for familiar anecdotes, and many will feel surprising.

Among the biggest revelations:

Four Beatles movies out in 2028: See who's cast to play music legends

Paul McCartney planned to pursue a solo career if The Beatles never made it big

The complex relationship between Beatles songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney is the focus of the new book "John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs."

When the Fab Four signed their contract with manager Brian Epstein in 1961, Paul requested a clause allowing Epstein to split up the artists so that they shall perform as separate individual performers. Epsteins assistant, Alistair Taylor, recalled Paul saying he would go solo if things didnt work out with the band.

John and Paul wrote songs together for years but kept that a secret until Brian Epstein became their manager

The two friends started collaborating on songs almost as soon as they met, scribbling lyrics and chords in a notebook with every entry emblazoned: ANOTHER LENNON-McCARTNEY ORIGINAL. However, their efforts remained private until they revealed they were songwriters at their second meeting with Epstein, who responded with enthusiasm. So, they introduced a few of their own compositions on stage at the Cavern Club to test the waters.

George Harrison contributed to many Lennon-McCartney compositions, but they decided to shut him out when legalizing their partnership

As the Beatles prepared to release their first single, with the original songs Love Me Do and P.S. I Love You, Epstein drew up a publishing agreement formalizing the Lennon-McCartney partnership.

It was an option to include George in the songwriting team, McCartney is quoted as saying. But Paul asked John,  Should three of us write or would it be better to keep it simple? We decided wed just keep to the two of us.

Its not clear that George and Ringo (Starr) were even told about this second contract, Leslie writes. But George certainly noticed its effect.

Paul McCartney suggested the title of John Lennons first book

Their collaborations werent limited to songs. When Lennon published 1964s In His Own Write, a nonsensical collection of short stories, poems and drawings, the books clever name was proposed by McCartney.

Yesterday, one of Paul McCartneys most beloved songs, was shrugged off as album filler in England

The Beatles hold their silver LP and EP discs presented to them by EMI records in London to mark the sales of "Please Please Me" and "Twist and Shout." Clockwise from back left: Ringo Starr, George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Beatles producer George Martin broached releasing Yesterday as a McCartney solo record, a recommendation shot down by Epstein. The song wasnt completed in time to appear in Help! so it was simply stuck on the movies soundtrack.

Then fate stepped in: Capitol Records decided to make the song the bands new single in America, where it sold a million copies the first week.

John felt rejected by Paul after India, and Yoko Ono speculated the reason might have been sexual

Yoko Ono (from left), John Lennon and Paul McCartney at the premiere of "Yellow Submarine" in 1968.

After The Beatles botched trip to India to seek enlightenment with the Maharishi in 1968, John returned home with the realization he was in love with artist Yoko Ono but also visibly angry with Paul. Lennon himself never spoke of a falling-out point in their relationship at that time, but Ono sensed he felt wounded.

Years later, in an interview with biographer Philip Norman, she controversially theorized that John might have been rejected sexually by Paul.

John said that no one ever hurt him the way Paul hurt him, Ono told Norman. There was something going on here, from his point of view, not from Pauls  I couldnt help wondering what it was really about.

In 2015, Ono said John found men attractive, but they would have to be not just physically attractive, but mentally very advanced, too. And you cant find people like that.

John Lennon wondered if Imagine was as good as Yesterday

After writing the song in 1971 on his grand piano at Tittenhurst Park, his home with Ono, Lennon played Imagine for DJ Howard Smith and asked what he thought. When Smith confirmed it was beautiful, John pressed, But is it as good as Yesterday?

John and Pauls friendship ran hot and cold until the end

They always found their way back to each other, but the missed opportunities are sickening: In 1977, a year after theyd last seen each other in person, Paul called John from a hotel not far from Lennons home at the Dakota to see if they could get together. What for? John replied with annoyance, and the conversation ultimately ended with McCartney abruptly hanging up on him.

Denny Laine, who was in the studio working with a devastated Paul the morning after Lennons death in 1980, remembered him vowing: Im never going to fall out with anybody again in my life.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biggest reveals about John Lennon, Paul McCartney in Beatles book
Photos Courtesy of Kelli Washington Dominic Morales and Melissa Clark

Single wedding guests were invited to "swipe right" in real life.

Melissa Clark and Dominic Morales tied the knot on April 4 in Sayulita, Mexico. Wanting to spread the love, their graphic designer friend, Katie Leppert, thought of an idea to help their single wedding guests couple up.

"We wanted to make the sheet because we had a good amount of singles at the wedding from different cities and wanted them to all mingle (which was a success)," the couple tells PEOPLE. "I think we had 25 sheets placed at every table, and there were about 135 guests total."

The laminated, double-sided sheets read "Swipe Right" at the top. The front side included the phrase "Business in the Front" because it displayed the professional LinkedIn profile photos of wedding guests who were not in a relationship, alongside their first and last names. The back side read "Party in the Back" and included the guests' more casual Instagram profile photos.

Twenty-two single guests were listed on the sheet.

"Unfortunately there were a couple of guests who were too fresh out of their relationships to make the cut for the sheet," Clark and Morales say.

One of the single guests, Kelli Washington, initially didn't realize what the sheet was, but once she did she found the romantic gesture to be "hilarious" and "thoughtful."

"At first I picked up the sheet and thought, 'Aww there I am, hey theres my friend too, and my other friend' and then it hit me, its all the single people!" Washington, 35, tells PEOPLE. "I thought it was absolutely hilarious."

"I also thought it was really thoughtful of them to do. Being single at a wedding can be hard for some people, so I think this made it easy and fun," she continues. "This was way better than a singles' table! I think the sheet was a success. There was a lot of mingling and there were a couple of matches; hopefully well get to add a couple more weddings to the calendar."

Photos Courtesy of Kelli Washington Dominic Morales and Melissa Clark

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Washington shared her reaction to the sheet on TikTok on April 7, three days after the wedding.

"When you discover a 'singles' sheet on every table at the wedding," she wrote in an onscreen caption of a video of herself and three other women eyeing the sheet. They suspiciously looked around before mouthing, "Wait, is this f------ play about us?" The viral TikTok audio is originally said by Maddy Perez (Alexa Demie) in season 2 of Euphoria.

Photos Courtesy of Kelli Washington Some of the wedding guests

Related: Couple Stuns Engagement Party Guests with Surprise Wedding: 'Too Shocked to Speak' (Exclusive)

The post quickly went viral, and amassed nearly 700,000 views and 70,000 likes within 24 hours. There were more than 300 comments, with the majority of TikTok users applauding the creative sheet, calling it "funny" and "genius."

"The bride and groom said our friends are too fine to be single ," one person commented, with another individual joking, "singles  menu ."

Read the original article on People
Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Police believed Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang for two reasons: He was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and an unnamed informant had told them so.

The two pieces of evidence were not enough to keep Abrego Garcia in federal immigration custody in 2019, when authorities in Maryland arrested him, according to a court filing last month.

Nearly six years later, they appear to be the basis for shipping him to a foreign megaprison with no legal recourse.

'Administrative error' leads to deportation

Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old father of three and protected legal resident who has lived in Maryland since 2011 and is originally from El Salvador, was deported to a high-security jail in El Salvador on March 15. The Trump administration admitted last week that his deportation was an administrative error due to his protected status, but refused to commit to bringing him home.

The administration challenged a judge's Friday ruling that the government bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. It argued that Garcia was a member of MS-13, citing the accusation from 2019, and said he posed a threat to national security.

"While there is no doubt a 'public interest in preventing aliens from being wrongfully removed,' there is an overwhelming public interest in not importing members of violent transnational gangs into this country," lawyers for the Justice Department wrote in a filing on Friday.

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, speaks in Hyattsville, Md., last Friday.

The argument echoed claims made repeatedly by some of the administration's highest-ranking officials in recent days, including Vice President JD Vance.

"What is it about congressional Democrats that get more angry at deporting violent gang members than they do at the victims of those violent gang members?" Vance said on Fox News last week. "I dont even understand where theyre coming from. Theyve gone off the deep end, and theyve got to come back to reality.

Reality appears to be more nuanced.

Arrest in 2019 based in part on Chicago Bulls hat

On March 28, 2019, Abrego Garcia and three other noncitizens were apprehended by local authorities while soliciting work outside of a Home Depot in Hyattsville, Maryland, according to Abrego Garcias initial petition filed last month.

The court document states that upon his arrest, authorities with the Prince George County Police Department accused Abrego Garcia of being affiliated with MS-13. After he repeatedly denied being affiliated with the notorious international crime group and did not provide officers with information about other gang members, authorities turned Abrego Garcia over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the petition states.

Prince George's County police officers then produced a Gang Field Interview Sheet for ICE that explained that the only reason to believe Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was a gang member was that he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie; and that a confidential informant advised that he was an active member of MS-13 with the Westerns clique, the court document states.

Abrego Garcia then made multiple attempts to obtain additional information from local authorities to support the allegation that he was a gang member but was denied several times, the court document states. He simultaneously applied for asylum, arguing that gang members would torture or kill him if he was sent back to his home country, according to the court document.

The Prince George's County Police Department declined to comment.

Judge issues protective order

While in custody, he married his wife, a U.S. citizen, at a Maryland immigration detention center, and was unable to be with her for the birth of their son, the court document states.

An immigration judge granted him a deportation protection order on Oct. 10, 2019, and he was released shortly afterward, according to the document. A more recent filing from Abrego Garcia's attorney quotes the judge as describing Abrego Garcia as "credible."

ICE never appealed the judges decision.

Nearly six years later, they apprehended Abrego Garcia in an IKEA parking lot while his 5-year-old son, who is autistic, was in the backseat of their car. ICE did not return a request for comment.

The Trump administration sent Abrego Garcia and nearly 300 others to a notorious megajail in El Salvador, defying a court order blocking the effort. The administration claimed the men were all Venezuelan gang members.

Guards lead a man Jennifer Vasquez Sura identified as her husband, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, through the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador.

Court documents show that immigration officials relied on tattoos and social media activity to justify the gang affiliations.

Judge calls government claims 'chatter'

Abrego Garcias attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said in a phone call that the administration's repeated accusations that his client is a gang member "endangers his life."

He argued that, regardless, the administration did not have the right to deport him.

A: We totally deny that it was true in 2019. B: Theres no allegation even from them that hes done anything since 2019," Sandoval-Moshenberg said. "And then C: Even if you believed that all of those things about him were true, they still concede that they cant do what they did.

At a hearing for Abrego Garcia's case in U.S. District Court on Friday, Judge Paula Xinis chalked up the governments claims to just chatter.

In a court of law, when someone is accused of membership in such a violent and predatory organization, it comes in form of indictment or criminal proceeding so we can assess facts, she said. I havent seen any of those.

Xinis then ruled in favor of Abrego Garcia, ordering the government to bring him back to the U.S.

Supreme Court intervenes

But on Monday, at the request of the Trump administration, the Supreme Court issued an administrative stay that temporarily paused the order.

The Supreme Court also tossed out a lower court's order blocking the Trump administration's deportation of the 300 men. The administration did so without any legal process, citing the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law that allows the government to detain noncitizens during a period of war or invasion.

"It is a bad day to be a terrorist and criminal alien in the United States of America," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X in the hours afterward.

In a post on his social media company Truth Social, President Donald Trump described the court's decisions as "a great day for justice in America!"

In similarly unprecedented fashion, the Trump administration has been apprehending foreign students en masse, most of whom are Muslim, arguing that they pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy.

In response the Supreme Court's ruling, Sandoval-Moshenberg again noted in a filing on Monday that Abrego Garcia has lived in the U.S. for years and has never been charged with a crime.

"The Governments contention that he has suddenly morphed into a dangerous threat to the republic is not credible," he wrote.
Updated at 12 p.m. on April 7, 2025

The current U.S. measles outbreak follows, in some ways, a classic pattern: The virus first found a foothold where childhood vaccination is lowamong Mennonites in Texas, in this casebefore rapidly spreading to other communities and states. It has sickened mostly children and has now killed a second child, whose death was reported this weekend. With cases still ticking up, experts expect the outbreak to persist for a year.

Look closely at the outbreaks edges, though, and the patterns are more unusual: Its not just children getting measles. Where Texass outbreak has spilled over into New Mexico, for example, half of the confirmed cases and one potential death involve adults, largely unvaccinated. Last year, too, adults older than 20 accounted for more than a quarter of U.S. measles cases. This is all in keeping with what experts have warned: Adults are now susceptible to this childhood disease.

Doctors tend to be unfamiliar with adult measles, because adults used to not get it. In the prevaccine era, the extremely contagious virus blazed through with such frequency that virtually all children were infected with measles before reaching adulthood. Today, vaccine coverage is widespread enough that unvaccinated children can easily live to adulthood without ever encountering the virus, but not uniformly high enough to prevent outbreaks altogether. Vaccinated adults can get occasional breakthrough cases, but the illness tends to be much milder. Unvaccinated adults, however, are a uniquely vulnerable group, because measles only becomes nastier and deadlier with age.

The risk from measles follows a U-shaped curve, Neal Halsey, a measles expert and professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins, told me. On the left are children under 5, whose still-maturing immune systems might struggle to fend off the virus. On the right are adults; the rise in mortality gets steeper and steeper over time, eventually surpassing the mortality in young children. When measles managed to reach isolated villages in the pastsuch as when a sick sailor brought it to a remote part of Greenland in 1951outbreaks on virgin soil proved especially deadly for adults. Of the 77 people who died in Greenland then, 59 were over the age of 35. Measles may be a classic childhood illness, but it mostly killed adults there.

This age gradient of measles severity persists today. Although the typical symptoms of rash, fever, and cough are the same, adultseven healthy adults in their 20s and 30sgrow more prone to the severe complications that might prove dangerous and even fatal. Pneumonia and encephalitis, or infections of the lungs and brain respectively, are more common. One in four adults with measles will need to be hospitalized, a rate that is roughly two to three times that of school-age children.

Matthew Goetz still has vivid memories of adult patients he treated as an infectious-disease doctor during a 198890 outbreak in Los Angeles. The first patient wasnt diagnosed until after a couple of days in the hospital, he recalls, because doctors had little reason to suspect that an adult would have measles. Several more soon showed up. Of the 33 patients eventually admitted to the public hospital where Goetz worked, nine had to be transferred to the ICU. Six developed respiratory failure so severe that they needed a ventilator.

When measles returned to Southern California with the Disneyland outbreak of 201415, adults made up more than half of those cases. The two sickest patients of the outbreak, who both needed to be ventilated for pneumonia, were also adults, Kathleen Harriman, an epidemiologist at the California Department of Public Health, told me.

Why measles gets deadlier with age of first contact is still not entirely understood; the adult immune system must somehow be less optimized to fight off the virus. Halsey points out that this pattern is not unique to measles: Chicken pox and hepatitis A are also milder in children than in adults. So is COVID, as weve recently seen.

The consequences of measles can linger long after infection too. Measles has a singular ability to induce immune amnesia, making survivors potentially susceptible to other diseases theyve already had or been vaccinated against. This is because the virus attacks immune cells, including memory B cells, which remember how to fight known pathogens through antibodies. A 2019 study found that a course of measles infection in unvaccinated children wrecked 11 to 73 percent of their antibody repertoire. This range suggests that immune amnesias impact may vary widely from person to person, but the overall trend explains some old and odd observations about postmeasles immune suppression. For example, measles can make autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system mistakenly attacks ones own body, go into remission. Immune amnesia also explains, at least in part, a long-standing pattern of children becoming more vulnerable to other illnesses after getting measles.

This effect has largely been studied in children, so scientists do not really know how it affects adults. I would anticipate that it would be very similarand it also might even be slightly worse, says Stephen Elledge, a biologist at Harvard and senior author on the 2019 immune-amnesia study. A course of measles tends to last longer and be more severe in adults, he reasons, so the disease may kill off more of their memory cells. He suggests that anyone who gets measles should get revaccinated for other diseases, just in case.

If the measles vaccination rate dips further, adult cases could become even more common. The U.S. eliminated measles in 2000, after many years of achieving a better than 95 percent vaccination rate among kindergartners. This number started slipping in 2020 and is now down to 92.7 percent, which is, importantly, edging toward the measles herd-immunity threshold of 92 to 94 percent. Under this threshold, herd immunity can no longer limit spread enough to protect the unvaccinated. A bigger pool of unvaccinated kindergartners means a greater potential for outbreaks that grow massive enough to threaten unvaccinated adults. And if those unvaccinated kids never get their shots later in life, they will become susceptible adults, growing more vulnerable to measles with age.

For now, the Texas outbreak is already so widespread that the U.S. is likely to lose its measles-elimination status. In the time it will take to get this outbreak under control, more children will certainly get infected, as will more adults.

Article originally published at The Atlantic
Arturo Holmes/Getty Claire Danes and Winnie Holzman at the NYU Tisch Gala 2025

Claire Danes praised Winnie Holzman at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts annual gala on Monday, April 7

The actress, 45, recalled being just 13 when she starred in My So-Called Life, as the gala honored the show's creator

Danes said the teen drama "rescued me from the punishing halls of actual high school"

Claire Danes feels indebted to Winnie Holzman after they worked together on My So-Called Life.

The actress, 45, reflected on starring in the '90s teen drama as she gave a speech at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts annual gala on Monday, April 7. During the ceremony, the 83-year-old, award-winning writer  who is best known for Wicked, ThirtySomething, and My So-Called Life  was honored.

Danes was catapulted to stardom after playing Angela Chase in the show, which centered around a freshman girls experiences at school.

Oh my God, how lucky was I? I was 13 when I shot that pilot, Danes said. When I met this genius woman, this Cyrano, who wrote one perfect diary entry after another for me, who rescued me from the punishing halls of actual high school and transported me to the halls of self-reflection and art, of poetry and music."

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Claire Danes and Winnie Holzman in 1994

Related: Billy Crudup Says Hi to Ex Claire Danes at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Gala  See Their Sweet Interaction

Who allowed me to be exactly as I felt I was not, who I was supposed to be, who I was supposed to see on TV, she added.

Danes praised Holzmans writing for being "so overwhelmingly intentional and coherent" that "no actor would have dared to riff on anything that was scripted."

Noting that there weren't any similar teen dramas at the time of My So-Called Lifes release, the actress admitted there were a few hurdles to overcome with the network before it debuted.

The very fact that we spent an hour every week peeking out at the world from the sensitive, probing eyes of a freshman girl at a public high school in Pittsburgh is in itself revolutionary, she said. It was in 1994. Maddeningly, it would be over 30 years later today."

Arturo Holmes/Getty Claire Danes at the NYU Tisch Gala 2025

Back then, it was literally the first of its kind, the first show to revolve around a girl, played by an actual girl, to explore the contours of female friendship, to expose the frailties of the marriage and Angela's midlife parents, she continued.

The actress added that "it's really an astonishing thing" that the show was the first to "feature an explicitly gay character. She said, The network wasn't psyched about Ricky applying eyeliner in the girls' bathroom with Rayanne, but Winnie won them over. She does that."

She wins us over with her wit, her warmth, and then subtly subverts our understanding of the status quo, the human experience, and shares the multitudinous layers of very real life in a so-called teenage girl, Danes shared.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Mark Seliger/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Claire Danes as Angela Chase in 1994

Related: My So-Called Life Cast: Where Are They Now?

Danes said that Holzmann has remained a deeply meaningful person to her years after the high school drama concluded.

I often call Winnie my fairy godmother because she's played such a pivotal role in my life as an artist and person, she explained. But it turns out she's everyone's fairy godmother. She basically defined the contemporary iteration of a fairy godmother for an entire generation.

Read the original article on People
President Donald Trump announces new tariffs in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, April 2. - Evan Vucci/AP

A version of this story appeared in CNNs What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.

President Donald Trump is imposing tariffs on the world at will, spooking markets and straining alliances. When China announced retaliatory tariffs on US products, Trump made the unilateral decision to double down. The White House now says tariffs will total over 100% on goods imported from China  starting Wednesday.

Whether these levies will kickstart an American manufacturing renaissance is yet to be seen. That process of rewiring the US and world economies will take some time after the tariffs go into effect at midnight on Wednesday. The tariffs will certainly make most of whats in your local box store more expensive if they are left in effect.

While Trump is claiming broad legal authority to remake the world economy, its not at all what the Constitutions authors envisioned. For the first time during Trumps second term there is some murmur of blowback from Republicans on Capitol Hill  some of whom want to take some authority away from the president. At least one conservative group is challenging Trumps authority in court.

Bipartisan bill would give Congress a say on tariffs. Congress may not yet want it

Seven Republican senators signed on to a bipartisan bill that would place a check on the tariff authority Congress has given to presidents over the course of decades, which Trump is now using in an unprecedented way.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, would require the White House to justify tariffs and then give lawmakers the opportunity to reject them within 60 days of enactment.

For too long, Congress has delegated its clear authority to regulate interstate and foreign commerce to the executive branch, Grassley said in a statement.

Joining Grassley are former Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and GOP Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Todd Young of Indiana and Susan Collins of Maine.

A similar bill is being introduced by Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, in the House of Representatives.

Its time that Congress restores its authorities here, Bacon said on CBS News over the weekend. We gave some of that power to the executive branch, and I think in hindsight, that was a mistake.

The likelihood of this bill becoming law is remote, at least for now

While there are enough Republican senators on board to work with Democrats on the bill and overcome a filibuster, there still isnt enough support to reach the 67 votes it would require to override a promised White House veto.

In the House, it might not even be possible to get a vote in the first place  a reality Senate Majority Leader John Thune referred to Monday when he said, dismissively, I dont think that has a future.

Its also not clear that the lawmakers remedy to end tariffs  votes in the House and Senate  would work.

Trump imposed both 10% across-the-board tariffs and more targeted reciprocal tariffs by declaring the trade imbalance to be a national emergency and citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), passed in 1977.

Hes using that 1977 emergencies law in conjunction with the 1974 Trade Act, which gave presidents the power to negotiate trade deals with the assent of Congress and to implement the tariffs for a limited time.

Challenging Trumps authority in court

Not everyone agrees that Trumps current interpretation of the law  in which he can impose tariffs by declaring a national emergency  is legitimate.

A libertarian legal group, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, challenged Trumps tariffs on behalf of Simplified, a Florida home goods company run by the social media influencer Emily Ley.

NCLA was also involved in the lawsuit, filed on behalf of New England fishermen, that led to the end of the Supreme Courts Chevron deference precedent, which chipped away at executive authority during the Biden administration.

The emergency law through which Trump is imposing tariffs is meant to impose sanctions or freeze assets to protect the US from foreign threats, according to the group.

It does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. In its nearly 50-year history, no other president  including President Trump in his first term  has ever tried to use the IEEPA to impose tariffs, according to a statement from NCLA announcing the lawsuit.

The Supreme Court has taken a friendly view, at least so far, of Trumps claims of executive authority. The high court allowed him, for now, to continue to deport people to El Salvador using an 18th-century law in a ruling Monday, although deportees must now be given an opportunity to challenge their deportation in court.

The authority Trump is claiming built up over time

The Constitution expressly grants Congress the power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises and also To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations .

But during World War I, Congress began to cede some of that authority when it gave the president power to regulate trade with enemies.

After the Smoot-Hawley tariff bill helped deepen the Great Depression, lawmakers in 1930 began the process of giving power over tariffs to presidents.

Decades later, after the passage of several more laws, Trump is now claiming essentially complete control to impose tariffs on the entire world at will.

Most taxes  except tariffs  must still go through Congress.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, said Tuesday on The Situation Room that Congress needs to reclaim the power and say to Trump, Youre not using this for emergency purposes; youre just using it as you see fit, and this is not why the White House was afforded this authority.

There is also a political argument for Republicans to begin to stand up to the president.

Business people think long-term, make long-term investments, Tillis told CNNs Manu Raju on Tuesday. The American people think every two years, and they generally reward an administration and Congress that gets us on the right track, Tillis said, referring to the midterms in 2026  when he will be up for reelection.

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As a child, Madison McGhee believed her father had died of a heart attack. It wasn't until she was 16 that she learned the truth: He was murdered. John Cornelius "J.C." McGhee had been shot and killed at his Ohio home on July 11, 2002.

Not long afterwards, McGhee learned that his killing had never been solved. Her father was a former drug dealer and a confidential informant, McGhee said, which provided possible motives for his death  but she also felt it made police less willing to investigate the case thoroughly.

The case is in the jurisdiction of the Belmont County Sheriff's Department in Ohio. An arrest has never been made. The sheriff's office declined to comment on the case or McGhee's allegations that it was not investigated appropriately.

In the late 2010s, McGhee began to notice cases, like that of the Golden State Killer, were going to trial after podcast investigations led to new answers. She started to wonder if something similar could help her solve her father's killing. McGhee would occasionally message family members on Facebook to ask if they knew anything about her dad or his death. In 2020, during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, she turned her attention to the project more fully.

"My dad was killed with a gunshot to the head, so only one person shot that gun, and that's what I need to figure out, is who that person was," McGhee told CBS News. "I believe there were multiple people there, so it's just a matter of who's capable of it and which person did it. That is a struggle. And then also there's the motive piece. Why did this happen? Were there strings being pulled behind the scenes? Was this a targeted thing, was this an accident?"

J.C. McGhee and Madison McGhee. / Credit: Madison McGhee

Chasing answers

McGhee, 29, used her background as an independent video producer to start "Ice Cold Case," a podcast where she would try to solve her father's killing. She said she was able to get access to the case files, and began interviewing people who were mentioned in those files. Soon, she started getting tips from people who had been around at the time.

This led to her belief that police did not investigate her father's killing thoroughly. McGhee claims police told her they had been searching for a witness, but had not been able to find her. She said after a few minutes of searching on social media, she was able to find the witness. McGhee said the witness still lives in the county, and she was able to interview her on the podcast. When asked about the witness, the Belmont County Sheriff's Office declined to comment.

McGhee said police have not been cooperative with the podcast or her investigation: While she has the case files, she has not been able to see any evidence from the crime scene, which she said she believed would help her solve the crime. When asked about the request, the Belmont County Sheriff's Office declined to comment. Now, her hope is that she will be able to learn enough from interviews that she can go to the sheriff's office and see if the details she learns corroborate the information in the police files. McGhee said that she believes she is close to identifying who was present when her father died. After that, she says she'll still need to identify who fired the shot that killed J.C. McGhee.

During the podcast's second season, McGhee interviewed a man who several witnesses and people who knew her father told her was the main suspect in the killing. A grand jury was convened, but charges were never brought. When asked about the grand jury and why charges were not brought, the Belmont County Sheriff's Office declined to comment. The office also declined to comment about whether the man was a suspect. McGhee interviewed him in a library in West Virginia, she said, and his comments later appeared on the podcast. She doesn't know if he is the one who pulled the trigger.

"We sat for two hours together, and he told me he didn't kill my dad, and it was really emotional," McGhee said. "If that's all true, great. I don't know. He could be lying. That interview doesn't prove his innocence by any means, but it was interesting for sure, and it taught me a lot."

Madison McGhee and her parents on the day she was born. / Credit: Madison McGhee

Finding closure

McGhee's hope is that the investigation will eventually encourage the sheriff's office to identify a suspect and file charges. If no charges are filed, she predicts the third season of "Ice Cold Case," which premieres on Wednesday, April 7, will be the last. The podcast is independently produced by McGhee, without a studio or company funding it. McGhee said she has spent over $100,000 on the podcast. It has burned through her savings, run up her credit card debt and led to strained relationships with some family members. If an arrest is made, McGhee said she will cover any legal proceedings.

Even if the podcast doesn't solve the case, McGhee said she hopes it will lead to enough interest in her father's killing to put pressure on police to keep investigating. She also said she hopes the podcast helps humanize her father in the public eye.

"I was trying to get people to see oh, wait, a lot of people like J.C. McGhee get killed, and we really don't give a s***, and maybe we should," she said. "I was really trying to get people to see my dad as the dynamic person he was: Yes, drug dealer, yes, confidential informant, yes, maybe a little bit of a shady business guy. But he was a hell of a dad ... He did everything he could for his family, and he made sure we were always provided for, and I think that should be discussed when talking about my dad."

"I don't know what will happen. I don't know if the Belmont County Sheriff's Department will decide that they are going to move with an arrest, or if they're going to do something," McGhee continued. "My hope for the next 12 months is you can't go anywhere without seeing J.C. McGhee."

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Beijing introduces measures to boost pharmaceutical innovation

Xinhua) 08:28, April 08, 2025

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Beijing has introduced the latest version of a comprehensive package comprising 32 new measures to support the development of the innovative pharmaceutical industry, local authorities announced on Monday.

The plan, co-issued by Beijing Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau and another eight authorities, include measures to slash the clinical trial start-up time to under 20 weeks, launch a fully automated biobank for key diseases, develop AI models for pathology and drug development, and launch a 50-billion-yuan (about 6.95 billion U.S. dollars) health care industry fund.

These measures will stimulate the overall vitality of innovative pharmaceutical enterprises further, boost research and development capabilities, and enhance health care services, the bureau said.

The 2025 policy package builds on last year's reforms, which drove 8.7 percent year-on-year growth in Beijing's health care sector, leading its total value to exceed 1 trillion yuan for the first time. Previous developments include accelerated clinical trials, streamlined rare disease drug approvals and fast-track channels for urgently needed imported medicines.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Spoiler alert: This story includes details of "The White Lotus" season finale.

Last night, the season finale episode of "The White Lotus" had everyone on edge.

After eight episodes of the action-packed HBO drama, viewers finally learned the fates of Thailand's White Lotus resort guests. And if the final episode's plot lines, motifs and even cinematography seem a little familiar, there's a reason why.

The fingerprints of English playwright William Shakespeare are all over "White Lotus" Season 3's dramatic end. While the Ratliff family has a run-in with poison that could be seen as a callback to "Romeo and Juliet," there are other parallels involving couple Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) as well as a nod to "King Lear" in the show's closing moments.

Not familiar with the Bard of Avon's work? We'll break down how the show may have drawn inspiration from the 16th-century writer's works.

'White Lotus' finale recap: Rick's tragic blunder, one blender and a $5M payout

Rick Hatchett's arc parallels Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'

The most obvious Shakespearean reference in "White Lotus" is seen in Rick Hatchett's story.

The revenge-set Hatchett couldn't move past the bitterness he felt towards the man his mother told him murdered his father, so he travels to the White Lotus in Thailand to track down Jim Hollinger, the husband of the resort's owner, Sritala.

After confronting Jim, viewers think Rick has come to peace with the past. But Rick returns to the resort to his girlfriend, Chelsea, with whom he says he wants to spend the rest of his life.

Scott Glenn appears on the Season 3 finale of "White Lotus" as Jim Hollinger.

After Jim and Sritala return to the resort, another confrontation sets Rick off  again.

Though Chelsea urges Rick not to do anything stupid and to appreciate the love he has instead of the love he has lost, Rick can't handle his brewing anger and resentment, grabbing Jim's gun and killing him.

A gunfight commences, and after Jim and Sritala's bodyguards fire back, Chelsea is also shot in the chest.

Rick scoops Chelsea up in his arms before being shot himself and falling into the water with his lover, where the two die together. Rick's final words to Chelsea are: "We're gonna be together forever, okay? Just like you said."

Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood in Season 3 of "The White Lotus."

The fate of Rick and Chelsea echoes one of Shakespeare's most championed plays, "Hamlet."

In the story, Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is haunted by his father's death. After discovering his uncle Claudius killed his father and is set to become the new king, Hamlet spends the duration of the play tortured by grief and the need to avenge his father's "foul and most unnatural murder" by murdering Claudius.

In the process, Hamlet's drives his past lover, Ophelia, to the brink of sanity.

Like Chelsea towards Rick, Ophelia keeps compassion for Hamlet as he loses control: "O, help him, you sweet heavens!"

Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood appear on the "White Lotus" season 3 finale.

But still, Hamlet's actions cause Ophelia to spiral into madness and die by drowning.

While Hamlet carries out his revenge plot to fruition, he dies in a duel just like Rick, with both of them throwing away the love they had to avenge their father. Unlike the Hamlet plot, Sritala reveals to Rick that Jim was his real father all along.

Chelsea's death mirrors Ophelia's muddy demise

The final shot of Rick and Chelsea shows the two dead in the water among lily pads with Rick facing upwards and Chelsea downwards, nodding to Ophelia's fate.

"But long it could not be / Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, / Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay / To muddy death," a character in the play says of Ophelia's mermaid-like death.

ophelia by millais (1851-52) / the white lotus (2025) pic.twitter.com/1sLrmzFZ3R   (@pleasinglam) April 7, 2025

The drowning has become one of the most referenced and well-known deaths in literature, inspiring countless works of art. The 1851-52 painting by John Everett Millais is one of the most popular renderings of Ophelia's death, which depicts her lying, almost peacefully, among flowers in a brook.

In Rick and Chelsea's last shot together, the two undeniably echo Millais' "Ophelia," though it is Rick whose face is visible, emphasizing that his actions led to the pair's downfall.

'Nothing From Nothing' closes the show, a musical 'King Lear' nod

In the finale, Maui spa manager Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell) fares much better than Rick and Chelsea.

She receives a handsome payoff by extorting the late Tanya McQuoid's ex-husband, Greg Hunt (Jon Gries), the man behind her death.

At the end of the finale, Belinda is seen leaving the White Lotus resort on a boat with her son and $5 million richer. Belinda finally has the funds to fulfill her dream and open her spa, a dream that Tanya offered to bankroll in Season 1 of the show before backing out and dashing Belinda's hopes.

A professional and romantic relationship with Thailand White Lotus employee Pornchai has Belinda considering him a business partner. The two could open a spa together, Pornchai suggests.

But as soon as the extorted funds hit her bank account, Belinda decides to leave Thailand. "Can't I just be rich for five minutes?" she tells Zion after he asks about her relationship with Pornchai.

Belinda tells Pornchai she's leaving, dashing his dreams and making her the new Tanya figure.

Dom Hetrakul and Natasha Rothwell appear on the season 3 finale of "White Lotus."

As they jet away on the boat, Billy Preston's song "Nothing From Nothing" plays in the background, a cheery tune where Preston sings, "Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin' / You gotta have somethin' if you wanna be with me."

The song's title nods to another famous Shakespearean line from King Lear. "Nothing will come of nothing," the King tells his daughter.

It's a tale as old as time (or as old as the 1600s): if you have nothing to offer another person, they'll never share the wealth.

Audrey Gibbs is a music journalist with The Tennessean. You can reach her at agibbs@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How 'White Lotus' season finale recalls Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia
Lori Vallow Daybell at her sentencing hearing at the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho, in 2023. (Tony Blakeslee/AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho mom currently serving life sentences for murdering her two children, is back in court this week over the death of her estranged husband.

Vallow Daybell, 51, has pleaded not guilty and chosen to represent herself in the six-week trial in Arizona. If convicted, she will face another life sentence in addition to the three she is currently serving: two for the murders of her children and one for conspiring to murder the wife of her fifth husband, Chad Daybell.

During Mondays opening statements, the prosecution argued that Vallow Daybell worked with her brother Alex Cox to shoot her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, at his home in a suburb outside Phoenix in July 2019. Prosecutor Treena Kay argued the plan was that Vallow Daybell would cash in on Vallows life insurance policy and move forward with marrying Daybell, who was her boyfriend at the time.

Chad Daybell during his murder trial at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on May 30, 2024. (Kyle Green/AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Cox claimed the shooting was in self-defense and was not charged. He died of natural causes in December 2019.

This is the so-called doomsday moms third trial after being accused in the deaths of her two children and her husbands estranged wife in late 2019.

What to know about this trial

In her opening statement, Vallow Daybell said there is no evidence she and her brother planned to kill Vallow in 2019.

Instead, she argued that on July 11, 2019, Vallow had gotten into an argument with Vallow Daybells 16-year-old daughter, Tylee Ryan, and threatened her with a bat. According to a police report, Cox, fearing the argument would elevate into a physical altercation between Vallow and his estranged wife, said he intervened and shot Vallow.

Self-defense is not a crime. Family tragedy is not a crime, its a tragedy, Vallow Daybell told the court.

Prosecutor Kay argued that Vallow Daybell had conspired with her brother before July 11 and used religion to justify killing Vallow. Vallow Daybell and Daybell co-led a Mormon religious sect, with a focus on the end-times and an impending doomsday, and believed Vallow was possessed by an evil spirit.

Kay also brought up that Vallow had filed for divorce seven months prior and had told police his wife had threatened to kill him.

Vallow Daybells previous convictions

After Vallow was shot, Vallow Daybell took her daughter, Tylee, who shed had with her third husband, and her 7-year-old adopted son, Joshua JJ, to Idaho to live with Daybell. It was when the kids were deemed missing that Vallow Daybell became a prominent figure in the mainstream media, dubbed the doomsday mom.

A picture of Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow on a fence opposite the property where their bodies were found in 2020. (Natalie Behring/Getty Images) (Natalie Behring via Getty Images)

By November 2019, family members said they hadnt heard from the children in two months, so they requested a welfare check. Idaho police searched for the children for weeks and eventually arrested Vallow Daybell in Hawaii in February 2020, accusing her of desertion. The widely publicized search for the kids concluded when police found their remains on Daybells property in June 2020.

After the childrens remains were found, family members of Tammy Daybell, Daybells first wife, became suspicious about her October 2019 death  which happened three weeks before Vallow Daybell and Daybell got married in Idaho. It was initially believed Tammy died from natural causes, but after the childrens remains were found, her body underwent an autopsy and her cause of death was amended to be homicide.

In July 2023, Vallow Daybell was convicted of murdering her two children and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was also sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of conspiring to kill Tammy. The judge ordered Vallow Daybell to serve consecutive life sentences on the individual murder charges.

Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case, Vallow Daybell told the court at the time. Accidental deaths happen, suicides happen, fatal side effects from medications happen.

In September 2023, Vallow Daybell filed to appeal her convictions to the Idaho Supreme Court.

Vallow Daybell is scheduled to go on trial again in Arizona in late May on a charge of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux, her nieces estranged husband, to which she has also pleaded not guilty.
El Paso County Sheriffs Office

Authorities in Texas arrested a woman who was allegedly driving under the influence while a 5-month-old was in a car seat, unsecured, in her vehicle  but didn't appear to realize the baby was there, police said.

Ivana Dolores Salazar, 27, was arrested at around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 6, by officers conducting a traffic stop in El Paso, Texas, after they noticed a car failing to signal a lane change, El Paso County Sheriff Oscar Ugarte said in a statement.

As officers spoke with Salazar, they noticed a clear glass container with an unknown red liquid in it, leading them to believe she was driving while intoxicated, per Ugartes statement.

Salazar allegedly told police she was on her way to pick up her newborn after her work shift, and indicated she was alone in her vehicle. However, officers searching the car came across a five-month-old baby in a car seat that had not been secured appropriately, Ugartes statement said.

When authorities questioned her a second time about the child, she allegedly reiterated her previous statement  that she had just gotten off work and was headed to pick up her newborn.

Police then brought her to the backseat and showed her the child seated there, when she allegedly said she did not know the child was there, per Ugartes statement. She then stopped cooperating with police.

Related: 4 Young Girls Were Spending Time with Their Uncle. Then, 1 of Them Called 911 to Report a Stabbing

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The child was transported to a hospital for evaluation and was put in the care of a responsible party, Ugarte said, adding that Child Protective Services had been notified about the issue.

Salazar is being held at the El Paso County Jail on a charge of driving while intoxicated with a passenger under 15 years of age and endangering a child, per El Paso authorities.

Her bond was set at $23,000; it wasnt immediately clear if she has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on her behalf.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.



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Eric Yang/Getty Images Scenic views of Budapest and the Parliament Building from Fishermans Bastion in the Castle District.

As a soft evening rain began to coat the cobblestone streets of Budapests Buda Castle District, my husband and I ducked excitedly into Korona Kavehaz, a family-run confectionery and cafe, with dessert on the mind. The sweet we were after had been carefully considered and selected for me long before we set foot in the Pearl of the Danube. We came for a slice of Hungarys 2024 Cake of the Year.

Sable Massingill Martinez/Travel + Leisure Sable and her slice of Hungarys 2024 Cake of the Year.

Beaming with pride, our server brought to the table a towering piece of Makvirag (Poppy Flower) cake. Created by Alfred Kovacs, owner and pastry chef of the Edes Vonal confectionery in Vac, the cake is sweet yet delicately tart and fruit-forward. It consists of alternating layers of spongy almond-flour poppy seed, crunchy black sesame, and black currant, and it's topped with dense white chocolate icing. We would have voted for it twice.

Related: I'd Fly to Iceland Just to Eat the Pastries  Here's My Ultimate Bakery Crawl Through Reykjavik

Courtesy of The Hungarian Confectioners Association The Makvirag (Poppy Flower) cake created by Alfred Kovacs, owner and pastry chef of the Edes Vonal Confectionery.

Kovacs shared what an honor this achievement was, especially considering his pastry shop had opened only five months prior to winning the competition. The immediate surge in demand after winning was overwhelming. We worked day and night to serve all of our customers, but it was worth it, the chef told Travel + Leisure. This competition was a great opportunity to revive and refresh old, traditional flavors. My cake is not too sweet or overly heavy, as poppy seed cakes in Hungarian cuisine can be.

The nations reverence for cake is deeply ingrained in its history and culture, with classics like Esterhazy torte, characterized by its intricate spider-web icing, and the six-layer, chocolate cream-filled Stefania cake, named after a princess, dating back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Established in 2007, Hungarys Cake of the Year competition is overseen by the Hungarian Confectioners' Association, with the winner announced every year on St. Stephens Day. On Aug. 20, the national holiday, also known as Foundation Day, commemorates the foundation of the Hungarian state, and the Cake of the Year is considered a birthday cake for the country.

Related: You Can Find Some of the Worlds Best Croissants in This Country  and No, It's Not France

Sable Massingill Martinez/Travel + Leisure Exterior of Korona Kavehaz, the family-run confectionery and cafe in Budapests Grand Buda Castle District.

Over the years, Hungarys cake has become an integral part of the Aug. 20th celebrations, said Laszlo Selmeczi, the managing director of the association. The winning cake is unveiled each year at a press conference held in the Hunters Hall of the Hungarian Parliament as part of the official state celebrations.

One of these celebrations includes the Street of Hungarian Flavors, which honors Hungarys proud cultural history of gastronomy. During the event, 30,000 to 40,000 slices of the newly crowned Cake of the Year are sold over the course of two days. Leading up to the national holiday, many pastry shops also prepare cakes from previous years competitions.

When asked about some of his favorite and most memorable cakes over the years, Selmeczi shared the 2016 Cake of the YearOrseg Zold Aranya (Green Gold of Orseg)has remained popular, and is still widely available in most pastry shops. It's also my personal favorite because of its use of pumpkin seed oil in the sponge cake and the glazing, which pairs beautifully with raspberries and white chocolate.

The competition offers pastry chefs the opportunity to further the heritage of Hungarian desserts, while contributing their own creations to that illustrious history. A new school of chefs like Kovacs is committed to reinventing the classics of Hungarian pastry past, taking a more health-conscious, experimental approach. There's even a sugar-free division from which a separate winner is selected. In 2024, that winner was Zold Malna (Green Raspberry), a fruity, floral beauty made with pistachio, raspberry jelly, and rosewater, and decorated with dried rose petals.

Regardless of your taste preferences, Hungarys storied pastry- and cake-making tradition has a bright future. Chefs entering the 2025 competition will celebrate the 140th anniversary of Hungarys famed Dobosa layered, sponge cake with chocolate buttercream and a caramel toppingthat has been a staple of Hungarian desserts since Jozsef C. Dobos introduced it at the Budapest National General Exhibition in 1885. This year's competition requires chefs to use the key ingredients characteristic of the cake, along with other suggested ingredients such as spices, native fruits, palinka (a traditional Hungarian fruit brandy), or wines made from grape varieties indigenous to the Carpathian Basin.

Bookmark Aug. 20, 2025 on your calendar and prepare to celebrate one of the worlds sweetest traditions.

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
Florida on Tuesday executed a death row inmate described by one local detective as a "fledgling serial killer" for the murder of a beloved Miami Herald employee.

Michael Tanzi, 48, was executed by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison in Raiford and pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. ET, becoming the third inmate to be put to death by the state in 2025 and the 11th this year.

Tanzi was on death row for more than two decades for the 2000 murder of 49-year-old Janet Acosta, who was attacked in broad daylight on her lunch break, kidnapped, raped and strangled. The brutal crime came a few months after another woman's murder that Tanzi acknowledged committing in Massachusetts, that of 37-year-old Caroline Holder.

Just before Tanzi was executed, he used his last words to express his regret.

"I want to apologize to the family of Janet Acosta and Caroline Holder for taking their lives," he said, according to news media witnesses of the execution, including Newsweek and the Associated Press.

In the months leading up to the execution, Tanzi's lawyers argued that the death penalty should not have applied to him due to his developmental issues, as well as health problems from being morbidly obese. But prosecutors said Tanzi didnt deserve mercy and that Acosta's murder could only be described as horrific.

Heres what you need to know about Tanzis execution.

Mugshot of Michael Tanzi provided by the Florida Department of Corrections.

What was Michael Tanzi's last meal?

Tanzi's last meal was a fried pork chop, a baked potato, bacon, corn, ice cream, a candy bar and soda, corrections officials told Newsweek and AP.

Why was Michael Tanzi executed?

On April 25, 2000, Tanzi attacked Acosta while she was sitting in her car eating lunch, according to court records.

He raped her 30 miles south of Miami in Florida City before continuing to drive south, forcing Acosta to help him withdraw money using her ATM card, he confessed to police.

"I told her I'd slice her neck," he told police. "I told her that I'd cut her from ear to ear."

When they reached Cudjoe Key, about 20 miles shy of Key West, he strangled Acosta and buried her in a secluded place.

Tanzi spent the next two days shopping, buying a new wardrobe, marijuana and food. Police officers arrested Tanzi after seeing him get into Acostas van in downtown Key West.

Police recovered Acosta's body after Tanzi confessed to the murder and showed them where he buried her.

After Tanzi's arrest for Acosta's murder, police say he also confessed to killing Caroline Holder in the Boston suburb of Brockton just a few months earlier, according to court records.

Holder was stabbed to death and beaten while she was working at a laundromat, according to reporting from the Tampa Bay Times.

"What we have here is a fledgling serial killer," Miami police Detective Frank Casanovas said at the time, according to an archived story in the Miami Herald.

Tanzi never faced extradition for Holder's killing because of his death sentence for Acosta's murder.

Who was Janet Acosta?

Acosta was the middle of three sisters: Joanie, Janet and Julie. Because their parents were alcoholics, Acosta all but raised her younger sister, Julie Andrew, according to Andrew's testimony during Tanzi's trial.

When we were children, we used to be awakened at night because my parents would be arguing and fighting, she said. Janet would hug me and we would hold on to each other until either we fell asleep or they quit arguing.

All three sisters remained close as they became adults.

"Besides being my sister, she was my best friend," Andrew testified. "We were very close."

Andrew described Acosta as a gentle soul, typically giving her dog Murphy Brown half her lunch and volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, which allowed her to meet former President Jimmy Carter.

Andrew said that Acosta had a special bond with Andrew's daughter, Jennifer.

"She taught her how to fish. She encouraged her interest in art," Andrew said. "She told Jennifer it was OK to be a tomboy and to be whoever you wanted to be."

Who was Michael Tanzi?

Born in 1977 in the suburbs of Boston, Tanzi's attorneys describe his childhood as one full of loss, abuse and a lack of stability. They say he was sexually molested by a childhood friend and physically and emotionally abused by his father.

Tanzi's father became more violent toward his son as he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. According to Tanzi's mother, the abuse made Tanzi become more disruptive, angry and troublesome, according to court records.

One of Tanzi's friends said that Tanzis father once slammed the boy's head into the side of a truck, according to court records. Meanwhile, his mother was "not home that much," according to the friend.

When Tanzi was around 11, his mother tried to take him to a meeting for sexual abuse victims, something he was vehemently against.

He didnt want to face it," she said. "He didnt want to talk to people about anything that had happened to him."

When is the next execution in the US?

The next execution in the U.S. is set for Friday in South Carolina, which plans to execute Mikal Mahdi by the rare firing squad method.

Another two executions, both by lethal injection, are scheduled this month: Moises Sandoval Mendoza in Texas on April 23 and James Osgood in Alabama on April 24.

A lethal injection bed inside an execution chamber is pictured at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee.

So far, 25 inmates are set to be executed in the U.S. in 2025, but that number is likely to go up as states continue to approve more death warrants. Last year, 25 inmates were executed in the U.S.

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: Michael Tanzi executed in Florida for Miami woman's brutal murder
We cant take it. Its just so sad! Pepe is a German Shepherd at the South LA Animal Shelter in Los Angeles, California who was dumped by his humans when they got divorced. Its so infuriating. Who could do that to a pupper? Now the poor German Shepherd is looking for the right human to come along and adopt him. All he needs is someone to see his story and bring him home.

Pepe is a 4-year-old German Shepherd who deserves so much better. Hes a good boy, hes handsome  hes clearly the best. We cant imagine how both of his humans decided to surrender him. But its so obvious that he didnt deserve this one bit.

According to the rescue, Pepe has been with them since January. The German Shepherd has a lot going for him  just take a testimonial from one of the volunteers at the shelter.

A volunteer said he did great in play group, kept to himself and just wanted affection. I know his person is out there, the shelter wrote in the caption.

Related: Sweet German Shepherd Mix Sits by Shelter Kennel Door 'Hoping Someone Will Pet Her'

Sadly, Pepes spirit has been crushed in the time hes been at the shelter. Which means he needs someone to see his story and give him a new home soon.

Commenters were so angry for Pepe.

I don't like people, this baby didn't deserve this, wrote one person.

What a beautiful dog, I hope someone gives him the family he deserves, added someone else.

Poor baby, he will never understand why he was abandoned, one commenter pointed out.

While another person made a really important point: Poor Pepe deserves a second chance for a happy life, and you have the power to make that happen. Open your heart, and let a loving companion fill your days with unforgettable moment, they wrote.

Adopting From South LA Animal Shelter

If you or someone you know is looking to adopt Pepe, you can head to the South LA Animal Shelters website and fill out an adoption application. Remember, everyday you wait is another day that Pepe remains sad and alone. Change his world  be the person who adopts.



Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.
By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Harvard University plans to borrow $750 million from Wall Street as part of contingency preparations, it said on Monday, days after President Donald Trump's administration announced a review of $9 billion in federal grants and contracts to the Ivy League school in a crackdown on alleged antisemitism on campuses.

In a letter to Harvard last week, the government listed conditions that Harvard must meet to receive federal money, including a ban on protesters wearing masks to hide their identities and other restrictions.

Harvard acknowledged receiving the letter but did not comment further.

"As part of ongoing contingency planning for a range of financial circumstances, Harvard is evaluating resources needed to advance its academic and research priorities," Harvard University said in Monday's statement.

Harvard's plans come less than a week after Princeton University said in a notice dated April 1 that it was also considering the sale of about $320 million of taxable bonds later this month. Princeton said last week the U.S. government froze several dozen research grants to the school.

Harvard intends to issue up to $750 million of taxable bonds for "general corporate purposes," a spokesperson said. The university had $7.1 billion of debt outstanding at the end of fiscal year 2024, and anticipated about $8.2 billion after the proposed bond issuance.

The university most recently issued $434 million in tax-exempt bonds in March 2025 and $735 million in tax-exempt bonds in spring 2024, its spokesperson said, adding it also issued bonds in 2022.

Harvard has a $53 billion endowment, the largest of any U.S. university. Advocates, students and several faculty members have called on university leadership to resist the demands from the Trump administration.

Trump has threatened to slash federal funding for U.S. universities that his administration says have tolerated antisemitism on their campuses.

Such allegations have grown out of a wave of pro-Palestinian protests at Harvard and other schools against Israel's military assault on Gaza that has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, and led to genocide and war crimes allegations that Israel denies.

The Israeli onslaught followed an October 2023 attack inside Israel by Islamist group Hamas, which took over 250 hostages. The attack killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza and advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for Hamas.

But some Jewish students on some campuses have said they have felt threatened by protesters, and that some academic courses are biased against Israel.

Rights advocates have also raised concerns about Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias during the Israel-Gaza war. The Trump administration has not announced steps in response.

Last month, the government warned 60 universities that it could bring enforcement actions if a review determined the schools had failed to stop antisemitism.

Harvard's student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, recently reported that two leaders of Harvard University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Director Cemal Kafadar and Associate Director Rosie Bsheer, were dismissed from their positions.

TRUMP CRACKDOWN

The Trump administration also planned to freeze grants to Brown University.

Last month, it canceled $400 million in federal funding for Columbia University, the epicenter of last year's campus protests.

Columbia agreed to some significant changes that Trump's administration demanded as a precondition for talks about restoring the funding.

Federal agents have detained some foreign student protesters in recent weeks from different campuses and are working to deport them. The government has revoked the visas of many foreign students.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio and Christian Schmollinger)
Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Celebre D'Allen ridden by jockey Callum Pritchard at the Portek Limited Handicap Chase on Nov. 13, 2024.

Celebre DAllen, a horse competing in the Grand National, has died.

The 13-year-old horse died on Monday, April 7 after collapsing in the Grand National two days prior, according to the British Horseracing Authority.

"All of us at the BHA are saddened to learn of the death of Celebre DAllen following Saturdays Randox Grand National," the BHA wrote in a statement on Tuesday, April 8. "It has been clear to see since Saturday afternoon just how much the horse meant to his connections and we send our condolences to them today."

The authority emphasized that the horses competing in the race undergo a thorough health check.

Tim Goode/PA Images via Getty Celebre D'Allen ridden by Elizabeth Gale at the Jewson Vieux Lion Rouge Veterans' Handicap Chase on Oct. 29, 2023.

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.

DAllen received treatment on site after collapsing "towards the end of the race," per the BHA. The horse was "transported back to the first-class veterinary facilities at the racecourse stables" where it was kept overnight. The next day, he was taken to a "nearby stud" connected to its owners after "having shown improvement."

"The BHA and Aintree racecourse will analyze the race and this incident in detail, as is the case every year and with every fatal injury in any race. This will include the horse being sent for post-mortem," the authority said.

PEOPLE reached out to the British Horseracing Authority and Aintree Racecourse for additional information, but did not immediately hear back.

Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Jockey Micheal Nolan

Per BBC, jockey Michael Nolan, D'Allen's rider during the race, was been suspended for 10 days after Aintree ruled that Nolan had "continued in the race when the horse appeared to have no more to give and was clearly losing ground after the second-last fence."

BHA told BBC that the rider will not face further punishment on their behalf.

DAllen's trainers, Phillip Hobbs and Johnson White, said that they were "heartbroken" over the horse's death.

"He received the very best treatment by the veterinary teams and was improving. However, he deteriorated significantly last night and could not be saved," they said in a statement on X. "He was a wonderful horse and we will all miss him greatly."

Read the original article on People
Lumberton Mayor Gina LaPlaca Facebook Gina LaPlaca

Gina LaPlaca, 45, was arrested and charged with a DUI and other related offenses on March 17

LaPlaca was also charged with child neglect and endangerment after allegedly having a near-fatal crash while driving drunk with her 2-year-old son in the car

The mayor of Lumberton Township's husband, Jason Carty, is urging "everyone to leave her alone" amid her "path to recovery" from addiction

The husband of a New Jersey town mayor who admitted to driving under the influence is defending her amid backlash that her 2-year-old son was endangered when she had a near-fatal crash while he was in the car.

Gina LaPlaca, 45, the mayor of Lumberton Township was arrested and charged with several offenses, including a DUI, reckless driving, child neglect and endangerment, driving under the influence, and driving with an expired license, PEOPLE previously reported.

Her admission to police on March 17 that she had been drinking a little bit of vodka has garnered widespread anger. Body cam footage released by the Lumberton Police Department also showed LaPlaca appearing to stagger and slur her speech while being arrested in her driveway after she admitted to drinking before picking up her son from daycare, per PennLive, and local stations ABC6 and NBC 10.

Its not like shes the mayor of some big city, LaPlacas husband Jason Carty told The Philadelphia Inquirer. Lumberton has only 13,000 people. All I want is for my wife to get better and for everyone to leave her alone.

Lumberton Police Deptartment Police body cam footage of Gina LaPlaca

He added to the outlet that his wife is currently in an inpatient facility and on a path to recovery.

This is not the first time that Carty has spoken about his wifes addiction following her arrest, as he shared an update on her situation on March 18.

Millions of Americans struggle with addiction and never get help. Gina LaPlaca is someone who has struggled, and is now getting the help she needs, Carty wrote on Facebook. I ask that everyone keep her in their thoughts as she moves forward on her road to recovery."

Please ignore the exaggerated political hyperbole and keep in mind her passion for helping others, he added. This should not erase all the things she has accomplished for our community.

Gina LaPlaca Facebook Gina LaPlaca

Police arrived at LaPlacas home on March 17 after a witness saw a 2019 BMW driving erratically and nearly hitting a utility pole while a child sat in the rear car seat, PEOPLE previously reported.

She was made to perform field sobriety tests and a plastic water bottle that an officer said reeked of alcohol was found in the car as police investigated. Police also found a small bottle of what appeared to be alcohol.

LaPlaca is due to appear in court on April 28 to face charges related to the incident.

Lumberton Police Dept. Gina LaPlaca arrest footage

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She responded to requests for her to resign as mayor in an email saying, I will not be resigning my position, according to Fox 29. Our community needs to be more kind and understanding about people trying to better themselves. As we all know, there is a huge black eye and black cloud over our town right now."

She was elected to the Lumberton Township Committee in 2020 and reelected in 2023 while also holding a job as Neptune Township business administrator since January 2022.

Her arrest last month came a week after she resigned from the latter role, local outlet Asbury Park Press reported.



Read the original article on People
By Luc Cohen, Ted Hesson

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A U.S. judge canceled a hearing set for Tuesday over whether to impose a longer-lasting block on President Donald Trump's deportations of Venezuelans under a 1798 law historically used only in wartime after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted his temporary ban, but he did not immediately dismiss the case.

The Supreme Court on Monday night granted the administration's request to end Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's orders that had temporarily blocked the summary deportations under Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act while litigation in the case continues. The unsigned 5-4 decision was powered by the court's conservative justices.

In a filing after the Supreme Court decision, Justice Department lawyers told Boasberg that he no longer has jurisdiction in the matter, should drop the case and should deny the preliminary injunction request by the migrants.

In ending Boasberg's temporary restraining orders barring such deportations issued on March 15 and March 28 and lasting two weeks apiece, the Supreme Court said detainees should have contested their deportations in Texas, where they were confined, rather than in Washington.

In a brief written order on Tuesday, Boasberg asked lawyers for the detained Venezuelan migrants to tell him by April 16 whether they intend to move forward with their bid for a longer-lasting preliminary injunction.

Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union, who are representing the migrants who have filed a legal challenge to Trump's use of the 18th century law to justify the deportations, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday before Boasberg's postponement, Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Supreme Court's decision meant that "violent gang members" already deported would remain in El Salvador, where they are being held, and that she expects the case to move to Texas.

"The Supreme Court has spoken loud and clear - he has no jurisdiction," Bondi said, referring to Boasberg.

Despite siding with the administration, the court's majority placed limits on how deportations may occur, emphasizing that judicial review is required. The ruling did not address how individuals currently held in El Salvador could seek judicial review.

Lee Gelernt, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union representing a group of Venezuelan men in the custody of U.S. immigration authorities, on Monday framed the court's decision as a victory because it required people be given due process to challenge their removals.

Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act on March 15 to swiftly deport the alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, attempting to speed up removals with a law best known for its use to intern Japanese, Italian and German immigrants during World War Two.

The ACLU sued to block the deportations, arguing that Trump's order exceeded his powers because the Alien Enemies Act authorizes removals only when war has been declared or the United States has been invaded. The ACLU also said it were not given the opportunity to contest the administration's assertion that the Venezuelans were Tren de Aragua members.

Boasberg is separately weighing whether Trump administration officials should be held in contempt of court for failing to return two deportation flights that were in the air when he issued his March 15 ruling. In a hearing last week, the judge said there was a "fair likelihood" the administration violated the order.

The judge's order on Tuesday did not address the status of that probe.

Lawyers for the administration have said the deportations were well within a president's broad authority to conduct national security operations as he sees fit. The administration has classified Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham and Mark Porter)
Courtesy of High Up

The only thing Karl Lagerfeld loved as much as the house of Chanel was Choupette, the Burmese cat that belonged to the creative director until his death in 2019 at the age of 85.

Since then, Francoise Cacote, the designer's former housekeeper, has been looking after his precious pet. In a new interview with Hello! Cacote gave the fashion world (and Choupettes 265,000-plus followers) an update on Choupettes lavish lifestyle, which remains cushy for the cat named in Lagerfelds will who reportedly inherited $1.5 million.

After all, Choupette is a celebrity in her own right and, as such, is no stranger to the spotlight. Her impressive resume includes modeling alongside supermodels like Naomi Campbell and Gisele Bundchen, collaborating with the beauty brand Shu Umera and being the subject of a Rizzoli book featuring photographs taken by Largerfeld himself.

In a 2015 interview with The Cut, a proud Lagerfeld boasted that Choupette had already earned $3 million off of her modeling gigs  Choupette did a great job, he also told The Telegraph at the time. Just as I would expect from a star. When speaking to Numero in 2018, Lagerfeld continued to gush: "She has her own little fortune, she is an heiress. Adding, "She's a rich girl!"

Jared Leto Dresses in Full-Body Cat Costume as Karl Lagerfelds Pet Choupette for the 2023 Met Gala: Photos

As detailed in the newest issue of Hello! Choupette continues to live a life of unparalleled luxury, which is a testament to her late owner's deep affection. Last year, Choupettes 13th birthday was celebrated in grand style at the Palace of Versailles. As Cacote recently told the publication, the regal setting was perfectly befitting of Choupettes famously princess nature.

For the soiree, the pampered feline was queen for the day, receiving an array of gifts, including cat toys, a plush cushion and elegant porcelain bowls. Cherished remnants from her time with Lagerfeld include her original Chinese porcelain bowls, specifically chosen for their ideal nose-dipping diameter, and her mini Louis Vuitton travel bag.

Siana, a rescue cat adopted by Cacotes daughter, has added a new dynamic to Choupette's life. While initially apprehensive about introducing a companion, she said she believes Sianas youthful energy has been beneficial for the mature Choupette, making her more alert.

Otherwise, she still enjoys taking long leisurely naps on piles of Chanel clothes, just as she did when daddy Lagerfeld was alive. Her habits haven't changed, Cacote quipped. When she is on the go, Choupette is a pleasurable travel companion. "It's an advantage that she's been used to going from hotel to hotel with Mr. Lagerfeld, Cacote said of the jet-set pet. After all, Choupette grew up flying (by private plane) to St. Tropez, among other luxurious destinations.

Celebrities Who Are Obsessed With Their Cats: Taylor Swift, Kate Beckinsale and More

Cacote noted that shes become mindful of limiting Choupettes press and photo-ops, as the cat has grown older. We're very selective about the shoots we do," she said on set with Hello!

What [Lagerfeld] liked was that people talked about Choupette. It made him so happy, Cacote recalled, Sometimes he would even say: People talk about Choupette more than they talk about me.' I would reply: You're exaggerating a little.' He liked to say that when he went out, the first thing people asked him was not: How are you?' but: How's Choupette?'

No doubt the Kaiser would be proud that Choupette inherited his star power and continues to shine, from posing in the pages of magazines to taking snaps for social media and beyond.
The family of a 17-year-old student charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of another student at a high school track meet last week is "sincerely saddened" over the death, the teen's attorneys said in their first public statement since the incident while calling for the public to "refrain from rushing to judgment."

The incident occurred on April 2 at a Frisco Independent School District stadium in Frisco, Texas, during a track and field championship involving multiple schools in the district.

Austin Metcalf, 17, an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School, died after police said another student stabbed him during an altercation in the bleachers at the meet.

The suspect in the deadly stabbing -- Karmelo Anthony, a student at Frisco Centennial High School -- has been charged with first-degree murder, police said.

MORE: Family of teen stabbed to death at Texas track meet speaks out: 'He didn't deserve it'

His family has retained Dallas-Fort Worth-area defense attorneys Billy Clark of the Clark Law Firm and Kim Cole of K Cole Law in the case, according to a joint press release from their firms.

"Karmelo and the entire Anthony family are sincerely saddened that a life was lost and offer their condolences to the family of Austin Metcalf," the attorneys said in a statement on Monday.

"During this difficult time, we urge the public to refrain from rushing to judgment before all the facts and evidence are presented," they continued. "Karmelo, like all citizens of the United States, is entitled to a fair and impartial legal process; we are committed to ensuring that Karmelo's rights are indeed protected throughout each phase of the criminal justice system."

PHOTO: The booking photo for Karmelo Anthony. (Frisco Police Department)

Anthony is being held in the Collin County jail on $1 million bond.

The attorneys said they plan to work with the Collin County District Attorney's Office to seek a reduced bond and a "better determination of the filed charge."

"This will certainly be a long road ahead and during this challenging time, we ask for prayers for both families and we ask for your patience and respect for the legal process as we seek the truth," the attorneys said.

In the wake of the incident, Anthony's family has launched a fundraiser on the platform GiveSendGo, which as of early Tuesday afternoon has raised more than $236,000. The fundraising page did not detail how the funds will be used.

Anthony allegedly confessed to the killing and officers say he told them he was protecting himself, according to the arrest report.

One officer who responded to the scene said Anthony told him unprompted, without being asked any questions about the incident, "I was protecting myself," according to the arrest report.

When the officer advised another responding officer that he had "the alleged suspect," Anthony reportedly responded, "I'm not alleged, I did it," according to the arrest report.

PHOTO: Police respond to a fatal stabbing at David Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas, April 2, 2025. (WFAA)

MORE: Texas track meet stabbing: Suspect allegedly told police he was protecting himself

Anthony "made another spontaneous statement" and reportedly asked an officer if what happened "could be considered self-defense," according to the arrest report.

The stabbing occurred under the Memorial High School tent in the stadium bleachers at approximately 10 a.m. on April 2, according to the arrest report.

Responding officers said they spoke to multiple witnesses, including one who reported that the altercation began after Metcalf told Anthony to move out from under their team's tent, according to the arrest report.

The witness reported that Anthony allegedly reached inside his bag and said, "Touch me and see what happens," according to the arrest report.

Metcalf grabbed Anthony to move him, according to a witness, and Anthony allegedly pulled out what the witness described as a black knife and "stabbed Austin once in the chest and then ran away," the arrest report stated.

PHOTO: Austin Metcalf in handout photo. (Metcalf Family)

"Just doesn't make any sense," Metcalf's mother, Meghan Metcalf, told Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA in emotional remarks last week. "Just because the kid was mad, my son is not here anymore, and I don't understand it."

Frisco Police Chief David Shilson called the incident a "senseless act of violence" in a lengthy statement last week while offering his "deepest condolences to all the families involved especially the Metcalf family."

He also warned that false information related to the stabbing was being circulated on social media and "to only trust information that comes from official releases and verified sources."

Shilson said police are investigating a fake account created using his name that was "perpetuating misinformation" on the incident. A Frisco Police Department spokesperson told ABC News on Tuesday that detectives are "actively investigating the matter" and considering the charge of online impersonation.

Lawyers of teen charged with murder in track meet stabbing release 1st statement originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Google Maps Jamaica Medical Center in Queens

Kevin McMahon and Ross McMahon were born in Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, N.Y., on May 26, 1960

Carol Vignola took a DNA test and learned in October 2020 that her brother, Kevin McMahon, was not biologically related to her. Kevin confirmed his DNA in January 2021 and learned he and Ross were switched at birth

Kevin is now suing Jamaica Hospital Medical Center for alleged medical malpractice over the "preventable tragedy"

A New York man discovered his mother and father werent his biological parents over 60 years after his birth, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Kevin McMahon, 64, filed a lawsuit against Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, N.Y., in 2021, on a claim of medical malpractice for allegedly switching him at birth with Ross McMahon on May 26, 1960. Ross and Kevin were both tagged Baby McMahon and born within an hour and 45 minutes of each other, Kevin's attorney Jeremy Schiowitz told PEOPLE. They were then allegedly given to the incorrect set of parents.

Kevin learned his true identity after the woman he'd grown up with as his sister, Carol Vignola, 66, submitted their DNA to Ancestry.com in October 2020. Vignola learned of a biological brother, whom she was unaware of, per the court documents.

The test results confirmed Vignola and Kevins longtime suspicions that he was not biologically related to his family. Vignola began speculating whether Kevin was her biological brother when she was 7 years old, she told the New York Post.

Vignola then told her brother of the discovery, who was shocked by the revelation.

Related: Baby Girls Reportedly Switched at Birth Realize Mistake More Than 50 Years Later After DNA Test: Unique and Complex Case

In January 2021, Kevin took and submitted his own Ancestry.com test, which confirmed his identity. He also discovered that he had a biological brother, Keith. Later, Kevin, Keith, Vignola and Ross took additional tests to confirm their genetic relationships.

[It was] like a shock reaction. I literally couldnt come to terms with the information, Kevin told the Post. For a long time, Im like, Im not really Kevin McMahon. Im really Ross McMahon... I thought to myself, Im nobody... I dont exist. "

Isabel Pavia/Getty Stock Image Stock image of a newborn baby boy at hospital with identity tag on feet

Kevin told the outlet that throughout his childhood, he was tormented by family members who suspected he wasnt a blood relative. It was like the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle, Kevin said. [It] explained everything about why my childhood was the way that it was.

He told the Post that his paternal grandmother and his father suspected he wasnt related to them and treated him so. Due to Kevins olive skin and brown eyes, his grandmother suspected his mother had cheated on his father. She seemed to hate me, Kevin said. She believed that I was not my fathers child, and she was correct.

I had certain interactions with my grandmother that were abusive, physically abusive, and I learned to fear her and just stay away from her, really, to stay out of arms reach, Kevin said, adding that he feared his late father.

Related: Woman Switched at Birth Celebrates Christmas with Biological Mom: 'Nice Quality Time' (Exclusive)

I got hit a lot when I was a kid from my father, I did not look forward to him coming home, he said. I just thought my father didnt really care for me," Kevin added, saying that he was kept "at arms distance."

All four parents involved died before the discovery was made.

Kevin also confessed he has a little bit of jealousy" for Ross. They doted on him, Kevin said. My blood brother Keith tells me that my [biological] paternal father was Ross biggest fan, that he supported him, always had his back, was always there. I would have loved to have that.

gorodenkoff/Getty Stock Image Stock image of a baby lying in hospital bed

Kevin is suing for medical malpractice, claiming he sustained negligent infliction of emotional distress; severe mental distress and emotional shock; has been and continues to suffer great emotional pain and anguish; and has incurred and will continue to incur expenses for the care and treatment of his severe emotional injuries. Kevin and his legal team are seeking unspecified financial damages.

It makes them seem cold and heartless that theyre not even coming across and acknowledging that this took place, Kevin told the Post of Jamaica Hospital.

Related: Two Oklahoma Women Make Shocking DNA Discovery: 'We Were Switched at Birth'

Two babies. Same hospital. Same day. Same last name. Both tagged Baby McMahon,' " His attorney, Jeremy Schiowitz, told PEOPLE. "Their birth certificates are sequential. Its no mystery what happenedJamaica Hospital switched the babies. And the DNA proves it.

Schiowitz told the Post that the hospital failed to double-check its procedures," adding, This wasnt a fluke. This was a preventable tragedy.

Representatives for Jamaica Hospital Medical Center did not provide further comment when contacted on Monday.

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If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.



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Andrew Rainer/Facebook; Memphis Police Department Andrew Rainer; Rainess Holmes mugshot

At 5:40 a.m. on Oct. 3, 2021, four men kicked in the door of a home in Memphis, Tenn. where Andrew Rainer and other students lived, say police

The home invaders demanded their electronic devices

Rainer was shot when he failed to type in the passcode to his iPad, say police

A Tennessee man has learned his fate after admitting to the murder of a 22-year-old college student who refused to hand over his iPad passcode in a terrifying home invasion.

On Monday, April 7, Rainess Holmes, 40, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the 2021 shooting death of Andrew Rainer in Memphis, the Shelby County District Attorney said in a statement.

Holmes also pleaded guilty in three separate aggravated burglary cases, and was sentenced to three years in prison on each of those counts, to run concurrently.

Holmes was one of four men who broke into the off-campus home where Rainer lived with several other Rhodes College students, but was not the shooter, according to the district attorney.

The deadly incident unfolded at 5:40 a.m. on Oct. 3, 2021, when Holmes and three others kicked in the door of the home and demanded their electronic devices, according to a police affidavit obtained by Fox 13.

Google Maps 703 N Maclean Blvd, Memphis. House where Andrew Rainer was killed.

The intruders ordered the terrified students to keep their heads down and avoid looking at them, according to the affidavit.

Rainer was told to enter the passcode on his iPad and was shot when he "failed to do so," the arrest affidavit states, WREG reports.

Rainer's girlfriend was also shot in the hand as he attempted to wrestle the weapon away from the gunman, the affidavit says, per Fox 13.

The suspects made off with several phones, gaming systems, video games and other electronics belonging to the victims, police said, WREG reports. Police found Rainer dead from a gunshot wound at the bottom of a staircase.

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Authorities were able to locate Holmes after one of the students tracked his iPads location to a nearby hotel, the affidavit said, WFIN reports. Once they arrived, Holmes fled by jumping over a drainage ditch and escaping the area. He was arrested two days later.

Police are still searching for the other three suspects. Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to any additional arrests in the case.

A memorial fund created in Rainers name called Live Like Drew says he loved with great intensity, and showed enormous courage and self-sacrifice," according to WFIN.

An accomplished musician, Rainer played in an 80s rock band and was a member of the Rhodes Jazz Ensemble, was an Eagle Scout, and a devoted member of the Catholic Church, according to his obituary.

Drew was a loving son, brother, nephew, cousin and friend. He was a kind, cheerful, intelligent and outgoing young man, who was loved by his friends, his obituary said.



Holmes' attorney was not immediately available for comment.



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While the idea of attending a cannabis pairing dinner party curated by Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg might sound like a fever dream, it can become your reality, thanks to BIC EZ Reach and SWED. The companies are collaborating to host an intimate dinner party with cannabis-infused mocktails and delicious dishes on April 17th in West Hollywood, California. If this sounds like your cup of teaeh, cannabis, you can purchase tickets on a first come, first served basis on April 10 at BIC.com. (Set your alarms!)

Martha's plan for the the decor and menu

Ahead of the dinner, we chatted with Martha about the party planning process. While she and Snoop wanted the event to take place on 4/20 for obvious reasons, "It's Easter, so it's going to take place on the 17th so people can be with their children and the Easter Bunny," she says. Of course, Martha had a say on the decor and the dishes that will be served. "There will be white linen tablecloths with crystal and silver, and you'll probably be getting something like delicious baby lamb chops ... with brown butter polenta. And there will be cannabis-infused mocktails," she explains.

We asked Martha a few questions we'd love to ask her at a dinner party. Here's what she had to say about the smell of cannabis (she likes it!), putting her phone on "do not disturb" (she hates it!), and things she's learned from her friendship with Snoop (so many).

BIC EZ Reach x SWED

Martha's Wise Words On...

Cannabis

While Martha credits Snoop for all the cannabis-related trends, she says she uses her lighters for other things. "I'm not a traditional user of cannabis," she reveals. "I use my lighters for lighting my candlesnatural beeswax candles that smell deliciousand for the flambeing of the alcoholic beverages." But that doesn't mean she can't enjoy herself at a cannabis fete. "I like the smell, OK? I don't mind the smell of weed at all, and so I sort of enjoy it," she says.

What she's learned from Snoop

When I asked Martha what she's learned from her friendship with Snoop over the years, she had a lengthy list. "Oh, well, so much!" she shares. "Not only about music and being introduced to all the musicianslike, I wouldn't know who Lil Yachty was. And so I've gotten to learn a lot about the music, and I really like rap a lot," she adds.

Martha says that Snoop has also taught her about fashion. "Snoop fashion, which is extraordinary and very chic, actually," she says. And while Martha Stewart may be the original creator of "lifestyle" content, she's learned a more low-key approach from Snoop. "I learned just a kind of casual lifestyle that I would have never known otherwise, you know?" Martha says.

Her best-kept skincare secret

When it comes to her beauty routine, the 83-year-old credits washing her face in the morning and before bed for her great skin. "Use the very best products on your face that you can find that agree with your type of skin," she recommends. "I use sunscreen every single morning, all overI use a tinted moisturizer from Alastin."

Why she never puts her phone on "do not disturb"

"I'm a bad relaxer, I think," Martha says. "I'm still running a business. I have lots of obligations, so to get disconnected is pretty hard for me. I can get disconnected by about 9:00 at night, and probably till about 7 a.m.," she shares. But don't assume that she's putting her phone on do not disturb. "I have a family; what if my daughter had to reach me? I think it's kind of a weird thing that you're even able to disconnect like that. I don't like being disconnected. By the way, if I did use do not disturb, I wouldn't have gotten the phone call from Snoop Dogg the other night, at like, 1:00 in the morning." (Spoiler: she didn't pick up because it was a FaceTime and she had already washed her face.)



Her top dinner party hosting tip

The queen of hosting shared her best tip: "Don't try to be too clever with your guest list. If you're inviting somebody that you really think is very special, think of people who would get along with that very special person," she says.



And the #1 hosting mistake to avoid

"Also be very nice when the guests arrive, to make sure you include everybody in introductions. When you have to go and introduce yourself in somebody's house, I think that's really bad." We're taking notes for our next dinner party!

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A 74-year-old Michigan woman reported missing last week was found alive Sunday in a wooded area after having survived days of freezing temperatures that left her unable to seek help.

Authorities investigating a burned vehicle on a private road in Grant Township on Sunday afternoon called police after they recognized it as matching the description of one linked to a woman missing from the city of Norton Shores, authorities said.

Authorities launched an aerial search using a drone and soon located the missing woman, whom the Norton Shores Police Department identified as local resident Nancy Bloomquist, about 150 yards from the SUV.

She was last seen at the Little River Casino, about 95 miles north of Norton Shores, on Thursday a few hours before nightfall, the police department said in a statement. Police believe she was driving home in her 2024 GMC Terrain when she got lost on a private road and her vehicle became disabled.

Nancy Bloomquist.

Overnight Thursday into Friday, the area was hit with rain and freezing temperatures. In the stretch between Thursday and Sunday, a front produced rain and light snow, and temperatures dipped below 22 degrees, according to National Weather Service data.

The Mason County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook that Bloomquist fled the vehicle after it erupted in flames but tried to return because she had left her phone inside.

Mason County Sheriff Kim C. Cole told WZZM-TV of Grand Rapids that the SUV may have ignited after its engine was exhausted in an effort to gain traction off-road in weather he described as life-threatening. Cole did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

Bloomquist got lost as she was trying to return to her car and, amid the rain and debilitating cold, her body locked up, the sheriff's office said. She sought shelter next to a downed tree, where she apparently stayed for three days until she was discovered by a search team Sunday after a drone spotted her, the sheriff's office said in its statement.

The sheriffs office said Bloomquist was conscious and spoke to arriving deputies. She was taken to a hospital and treated for exposure, WZZM reported.

Norton Shores is on the eastern coast of Lake Michigan about 38 miles northwest of Grand Rapids.
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There is one person aside from Donald Trump who could definitely put an end to this economic chaos. His name is Mike Johnson. And the House Speaker would really, really like it if you could keep his name out your mouth.

As the President continues to goad a global meltdown unseen in decades, Speaker Johnson is trying to keep the MAGA meltdown away from his fellow House Republicans. Trump has triggered an utter circus that may haunt GOP lawmakers for a generation and retirees into their graves. Even Trump allies like Sens. Rand Paul and Chuck Grassleyfor different reasons, sureare sounding an alarm about the repercussions of these add-ons.

Rep. Don Bacon, an Omaha Republican, has legislation teed up in the House to make a move against Trumps unilateral emergency tariffs. His bill lacks sufficient public support from GOP colleagues for now, but the private frustrations among lawmakers are starting to pile up. For now, most are not willing to defy the President. A similar bill in the Senate has bipartisan backing, and would almost certainly draw more Republicans if they could be sure they werent walking the plank only to see Johnson toss it in a desk drawer to die.

If Johnson were to give the green light to a measure reasserting Congress authority over tariffs, things would change really quickly on Capitol Hill. There would likely be majorities in both chambers for such legislationperhaps even large enough to override the veto Trump promised on Monday to issue if such a bill reached his desk. But such a bold move could very well lead to Johnson getting a pink slip from his caucus, as his Speakership barely happened, and only then with Trumps intervention.

For his part, Trump seems utterly undeterred by this political quagmire.

Were going to get fair deals and good deals with everybody. And if we dont, were going to have nothing to do with them. Theyre not going to be allowed to participate in the United States, he said Monday.

It is, to be clear, an entirely avoidable cul-de-sac of chaos that Trump is steering the economy toward. And, if House members were willing to vote their conscience, this would end in short order. Also to be clear: they are not.

Access to international markets is the lifeblood for a lot of red districts economiesthink tractors, soy beans, medical devicesand making those products less appealing as exports is a first punch in a one-two combo that now includes higher costs in the aisles for imports that used to be cheaper goods from China, Singapore, and India.

The hit hasnt come at the check-out line just yet, but investors are seeing the trouble just around the corner and reacting with contempt. At the White House on Monday, Trump dismissed those playing the markets as stupid cowards who did not share his optimism that a golden age of American power is just off the horizon, if only they have the patience. Tariffs will make this country very rich, Trump said in a free-wheeling session in the Oval Office as the Israeli Prime Minister seemed to play the role of a potted plant.

As the White House continued to insist everything is fine and even floated a spin-up of tariffs on China to reach 130% penalties, Wall Street continued to slide into an open rebellion against a White House that not that long ago seemed like a natural ally. Even a European Union proposal to zero-out tariffs on some U.S. goods proved insufficient for Trump, who said the E.U. has been very tough over the years.

The fast-moving snowball stands to drive up prices on almost every single item in U.S. families cupboards. Some Trump officials continue to suggest this is merely the opening of a negotiation, while the President and others say the new tariff regime is irrevocable and righteous retaliation.

All the while, the House seems to be sitting in a passive crouch, watching the tariff crisis gaining speed and acting as if it has no offramp at its disposal.

The politics of this are entirely predictable and precarious. The House map has already proven frail. The Senate map is only slightly fungible. GOP holds in state races are fragile. If youre not catching the trend, there are a lot of F-based words on the offing when it comes to Republican dominance. And it isnt getting easier as markets flail.

Mondays developments were greeted with grimace around town. Goldman Sachs escalated the odds of a recession to 45% in a note to investors. K Street players have been warning lawmakers of problems in their districts on goods ranging from seed oil to auto components, airplanes to wheat thrashers. If all politics is local, then all tariffs are pitfalls.

For now, Johnson is maintaining his support of whatever Trump wants. But if the Speaker were to blink, there are very good odds that his team would shelve their red MAGA hats briefly enough to rollback Trumps tariffs. Yet any swerve away from Trumps blessed route risks ending with House Republicans pursuing a vote-of-no-confidence against Johnson, who has so far been impressively steady at the helm of a caucus that is unwieldy at best.

Thats why, among some Republicans on the Hillespecially in the upper ranks of senior aidesthere is a professed indifference to these rumblings.

Everything is garbage. That much was true last week. It is true this week. It will be true next week. Everyone needs to calm down, a top hand in House Republicans Leadership texted me early Monday. You can panic all you want. But President Trump is still the leader of the party. Speaker Johnson has the gavel. Leader [John] Thune runs the Senate. And the Supreme Court is our friend. As the kids say: STFU.

The bifurcated Rome-is-Burning/ Steady-as-she-Goes posture is what is driving the conservative movement in Congress at the moment. No one loves that Trump has a monopoly on the party, but its been a marriage of necessity since 2015. But that arrangement is being tested, as the phone lines on Capitol Hill burn up with constituents worried about their retirement accounts and the future of local businesses.

Which brings us back to Johnson, an accidental Speaker whose majority is on the cusp and his loyalty is at best marginal. His rank-and-file members on Monday were feeling the burn of a Trump stunt that has cost the economy trillions in less than a week. The fall-off on markets since Trumps Inauguration Day has been as steep as any in recent memory. And no one is credibly dismissing it as a blip any longer.

Put simply: the tariff crisis is Trumps doing, but its Johnson and his Republican hostage-takers who keep it alive.

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Write to Philip Elliott at philip.elliott@time.com.
A 74-year-old Michigan woman was found stranded in the woods three days after being reported missing, police have confirmed

Nancy Bloomquist was last known to have visited Little River Casino in Manistee on Thursday, April 3, before her car was found burned on April 6, and she was discovered by police "in a heavily wooded area" later that evening

Shes incredibly, incredibly lucky shes still alive ... I dont know her but shes a tough gal, Mason County Sheriff, Kim Cole, told a local media outlet

A 74-year-old Michigan woman who was missing for three days has been found alive after vanishing following a trip to the casino, police have confirmed.

On Sunday, April 6, Norton Shores Police Department put out a news release asking for the public's help in locating missing woman Nancy Bloomquist, who is a resident of the city.

Police said that the elderly woman had been "reported missing under concerning circumstances" and was "last known to have traveled to the Little River Casino [in Manistee] on April 3."

"Surveillance footage shows her leaving the casino at approximately 5:30 p.m. [local time] and driving southbound on US-31. She has not been seen or heard from since," police said in the post, adding that she was driving a white 2024 GMC Terrain.

Andre Jenny/Alamy Stock Photo The Little River Casino in Michigan

Related: Missing 76-Year-Old Woman with Dementia Found Alive After Spending 4 Days in Remote Part of Oregon

On Monday, April 7, the Mason County Sheriff's Office confirmed in a news release shared on Facebook that the missing Norton Shores person had been found alive after officers had been "called to a reported burned vehicle south of Countyline Road and west of Morton Road, in Mason Countys Grant Township" at around 1:57 p.m. that day.

The post, which didn't name Bloomquist, continued, "At 7:08 p.m., the missing person was located by a drone roughly 150 yards from her vehicle in a heavily wooded area, lying next to a downed tree. It was confirmed this person was the missing person from Norton Shores Michigan. She was found alive and was talking with deputies at the scene."

Northern Shores Police Department Nancy Bloomquist

"It was learned through interviews, surveillance video, and a trail camera near a seasonal home, that the victim left the Little River Casino on Thursday, presumably, to return to Norton Shores," police added, stating that the woman "became lost and ended up on a long driveway of a seasonal home."

"While attempting to get turned around the vehicle became disabled and caught fire. The victim left the vehicle, however, forgot her cell phone in the vehicle," police added, per the post.

Mason County MI Sheriff's Office/Facebook A Mason County Sheriff's Office patrol vehicle

Related: Woman Who Disappeared in 1972 Found Safe and Well Thanks to Grainy Photo, Police Say

"When she attempted to return to the car, she became lost. A trail cam captured the vehicle driving in and the victim walking out. Video evidence showed she did not return," police continued.

"She lay next to a downed tree, to seek shelter during the Thursday night rain. She became cold to the point that she could not get back to her feet Friday. She remained lying on the ground until found Sunday evening," officers added, sharing the release alongside video footage of the search and rescue mission.

Shes incredibly, incredibly lucky shes still alive ... I dont know her but shes a tough gal, Mason County Sheriff, Kim Cole, told local media outlet WZZM's 13 On Your Side.

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Cole told the outlet the distance from the casino to where Bloomquist was found was "probably 15 miles or so," stating that she had survived amid cold weather conditions.

The outlet reported that Bloomquist's brother said his sister had hit her head after falling out of her bed the day before she went missing, so he believes the disappearance may be linked to her having a concussion. He said she didn't want to be treated at the hospital at the time, and wanted to go to the casino instead.

The Mason County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.

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Getty Images police tape  stock image

A New York City mother is accused of helping her son and his father kill her boyfriend, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

Daniel Spencer, 47, and his son Khaeir Spencer, 20, allegedly shot and killed David Brown, 43, in the Harlem apartment he shared with Tetikwa Horace, 42, in December 2024. Spencer is Horace's ex-boyfriend and Spencer's mother, and was dating Brown at the time, per authorities.

On Monday, April 7, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. announced Horace was charged with two counts of hindering prosecution in the first degree and one count of tampering with physical evidence.

Related: Mom Killed Daughter's Boyfriend, Then Tried to Pin It on Her Teen Son Because He'd Face Lesser Sentence

As alleged, this father-son duo murdered David Brown in his own home, Bragg said in a statement. Disturbingly, Mr. Browns girlfriend  the mother of one of the accused  allegedly helped by tampering with evidence and hindering the prosecution of this case. We will seek full accountability for this terrible act of gun violence.

Citing court documents and statements made on the record in court, the district attorney said Horace walked into the apartment she shared with Brown at NYCHAs Polo Grounds on Dec. 14, with her son Khaeir and his father Daniel.

Horace allegedly let her son and her ex enter the residence with masks and head coverings to conceal their identity as she left and took the surveillance camera off her front door on the way out.

Related: Girlfriend Accused of Getting Coworker to Kill Boyfriend so They Could Start Relationship

Approximately two minutes later, Khaeir and Daniel ran out of the apartment, allegedly leaving Brown with three gunshot wounds to the torso and leg.

Officers with the New York Police Department arrived soon after and transported the victim to Harlem Hospital where he died as a result of his wounds, the press release said.

Daniel was arrested on Jan. 16. However, Horace allegedly helped Khaeir flee the city and he was arrested in Sullivan County on March 4. Horace was also arrested on March 17.

Related: Pregnant Fla. Mom Who Used to Be Radio Personality Is Killed, Boyfriend Is Suspect

Khaeir and Daniel were both charged with murder in the second degree, attempted assault in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and assault in the second degree. Horace was charged with two counts of hindering prosecution in the first degree and one count of tampering with physical evidence.

We never had something like that happen on our floor, so finding that out, it actually scared us and shocked us because we didnt know who it was, one of Horace and Browns neighbors told New York Daily News.

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The person recalled seeing investigators canvassing the scene in the hallway with areas sectioned off.

According to the Daily News, Khaeir and Daniel are being held without bail on Rikers Island while Horace has since been released.



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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington for a hastily organized White House visit bringing a long list of concerns: Iran's nuclear program. President Donald Trump's tariffs. The surging influence of rival Turkey in Syria. And the 18-month war in Gaza.

Netanyahu appeared to leave Monday's meeting largely empty-handed  a stark contrast with his triumphant visit two months ago. During an hourlong Oval Office appearance, Trump appeared to slap down, contradict or complicate each of Netanyahus policy prerogatives.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu declared the meeting a success, calling it a very good visit and claiming successes on all fronts. But privately, the Israeli delegation felt it was a tough meeting, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Netanyahu didnt hear exactly what he wanted to hear, so he returns back home with very little, said Nadav Eyal, a commentator with the Yediot Ahronot daily, who added that the visit was still friendly, despite the disagreements.

Netanyahu's second pilgrimage to Washington under Trump's second term was organized at short notice and billed as an attempt to address the new U.S. tariff regime. But it came at a pivotal time in Middle East geopolitics. Israel restarted the war in Gaza last month, ending a Trump-endorsed ceasefire, and tensions with Iran are rising over its nuclear program.

Netanyahu and his allies were thrilled with Trump's return to office given his strong support for Israel during his first term. This time around, Trump has not only nominated pro-Israel figures for key administration positions, he has abandoned the Biden administration's criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza and the West Bank, and of Netanyahu's steps to weaken Israeli courts.

Monday's meeting showed that while Trump remains sympathetic to Israel, Netanyahu's relationship with the president during his second term is more complicated and unpredictable than he may have expected.

Here is a look at where Trump and Netanyahu appear to have diverged.

Netanyahu has long pushed for military pressure against Iran

With Netanyahu's strong encouragement, Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program. That deal, negotiated by the Obama administration, put curbs on Iran's nuclear program. It was denigrated by Netanyahu because he said it did not go far enough to contain Iran or address Iran's support for regional militant groups.

Netanyahu has long maintained that military pressure was the best way to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Israel struck Iran last year in the countries' first direct conflict ever. But it did not target Iran's nuclear facilities, something Israel would likely need U.S. military assistance to do in order to strike targets buried deep underground.

Trump has suggested, including on Monday, that the U.S. could take military action if Iran doesnt agree to negotiate. But his announcement Monday that talks would take place between the U.S. and Iran this weekend flew in the face of Netanyahus hawkish views.

Netanyahu gave a tepid endorsement, noting that both leaders agree that Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. He said he would would favor a diplomatic agreement similar to Libya's deal in 2003 to destroy its nuclear facilities and allow inspectors unfettered access. However, it is not clear if Trump will set such strict conditions.

Eyal said the announcement with Netanyahu by Trump's side was meant to show the transparency between the countries' leadership.

Netanyahu hoped for tariff relief and appeared to be rebuffed

A day before Trump's so-called Liberation Day unleashed global tariffs on the world last week, Israel preemptively announced that it would eliminate all levies on U.S. goods. But that didn't spare Israeli products from being slapped with a 17% tariff by its largest trading partner.

Netanyahu was summoned to Washington ostensibly to make Israel's case against the levy. He was the first international leader to do so, in an encounter that may have set the stage for how other world leaders approach the tariffs.

While Trump repeatedly praised the Israeli leader, he did not appear to budge on Israel's share of the burden. Asked if he might change his mind, he said maybe not. He cited the billions of dollars the U.S. gives Israel in military assistance each year  money that is seen as the bedrock of the U.S.-Israel relationship and an insurance policy for U.S. interests in the region.

We give Israel $4 billion a year. Thats a lot, he said, as though to suggest Israel was already getting enough from the U.S., and congratulated Netanyahu on that achievement.

Netanyahu was told to be reasonable on Turkey

Since the fall of the Assad dynasty in Syria late last year, Israel and Turkey have been competing in the country over their separate interests there. Israel fears that Syria's new leadership, which has an Islamist past, will pose a new threat along its border. It has since taken over a buffer zone in Syrian territory and said it will remain there indefinitely until new security arrangements are made.

Turkey has emerged as a key player in Syria, prompting concerns in Israel over the possibility of Turkey expanding its military presence inside the country. Netanyahu said Tuesday that Turkish bases in Syria would be a danger to Israel.

Once strong regional partners, ties between Israel and Turkey have long been frosty and deteriorated further over the war in Gaza. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of the war, prompting angry reactions from Israeli officials.

Netanyahu sought to hear support from his stalwart ally Trump on a country Israel perceives as increasingly hostile. Instead, Trump lavished praise on Erdogan for taking over Syria, positioned himself as a possible mediator between the countries and urged Netanyahu to be reasonable in his dealings with the country.

Israel is not provided with a blank check here, said Udi Sommer, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Tel Aviv University. Theres no unconditional love here. It is contingent. It is contingent on Israel behaving a certain way.

Trump wants the war in Gaza to end

While both addressed the ongoing war in Gaza and the Israeli hostages who remain held there, the topic appeared to take a backseat to other issues.

Netanyahu spoke of the hostages' plight and an emerging deal to free them, as well as the need to end the evil tyranny of Hamas. Trump sympathized with the hostages and made another pitch for his plan to own Gaza and remove its Palestinian population, a once fringe idea in Israeli discourse that has now found acceptance among mainstream politicians, including Netanyahu.

However, there were signs of differences on the horizon.

Netanyahu broke the ceasefire last month and has been under major pressure from his governing allies to keep up the fighting until Hamas is crushed. He has appeared to be in no rush to end the war or bring home the remaining hostages.

Trump, however, made it clear that he'd like to see the hostages freed and for the war to end. And I think the war will stop at some point that wont be in the too distant future, he said.
The state of Maine filed a lawsuit Monday against the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeking injunctive relief after the department froze federal funds the state says it uses for food insecurity programs.

Maine has come into the national spotlight after Gov. Janet Mills clashed publicly with President Donald Trump over allowing transgender athletes to play sports.

Several federal agencies said they would investigate Maine as a result, but on April 2, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins notified the state it would freeze some funding that goes to schools. Rollins said the state was violating Title IX by refusing to follow Trump's ban on trans women in sports.

Maine's state law prohibits schools from denying students equal opportunity to sports based on gender identity. The lawsuit claimed that funds for programs to help pay for food for kids and vulnerable adults were not accessible as a result of the freeze. The lawsuit alleged that freezing the funds was done without proper procedure, calling it "arbitrary and capricious."

'Going to be a lot of hungry people': Food banks, farmers across US decry federal cuts

Exchange with Trump and Maine governor goes viral

In February, Mills and Trump clashed in a viral moment at the meeting of the National Governors Association at the White House.

"Is Maine here? The governor of Maine?" Trump said, looking around for Mills at the event after saying the NCAA complied with this executive order on sports. "Are you not going to comply with it?"

"I'm complying with state and federal law," she said.

"Well, we are the federal law," Trump responded. "You better do it because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't. And by the way, your population  even though it's somewhat liberal, although I did very well there  your population doesn't want men playing in women's sports."

"We're going to follow the law, sir," Mills said. "We'll see you in court."

"I look forward to that- that should be a real easy one," Trump spat back. "Enjoy your life after, governor, because I don't think you'll be in elected politics."

FILE PHOTO: Maine Governor Janet Mills sits as U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a business session with U.S. governors who are in town for the National Governors Association's (NGA) annual winter meeting, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 21, 2025.

USDA froze funds for Maine's schools, prompting lawsuit

After this spat, a few federal agencies targeted Maine with investigations, the lawsuit states, naming actions taken by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

On April 2, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins issued a letter to Mills notifying her that the department was freezing federal funds for certain things in Maine schools.

"In addition, USDA has launched a full review of grants awarded by the Biden Administration to the Maine Department of Education," Rollins said in a statement posted to social media when the letter was sent. "USDA will not stand for the Biden Administration's bloated bureaucracy and will instead focus on a Department that is farmer-first and without a leftist agenda."

The lawsuit claimed the freeze has threatened programs that reimburse organizations like schools, childcare centers and after-school programs that give healthy meals to kids. The day after the letter was sent, the state was unable to access some accounts for these programs, the lawsuit states.

"Without access to funds in the cash in lieu and administrative funds account, providers will have to cease operations and children (and vulnerable adults) will not be fed", it reads, adding that the state does not have funds to replace those that have been frozen.

USDA did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

Contributing: Joey Garrison; Reuters

Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maine sues USDA for freezing funds to feed kids after Title IX debate
England are looking to back up a big win against Belgium (PA Wire)

An injury-hit England travel to Leuven looking to build on a big win over Belgium as the two sides meet again.

Sarina Wiegmans Lionesses produced one of their best recent performances to dispatch the visitors 5-0 in Bristol on Friday night and further their chances of progressing from their Womens Nations League group.

The squad has since suffered significant injury news, though, with all of Chloe Kelly, Lauren James and Alessia Russo forced to return to their clubs for treatment and assessment.

A better showing will be expected from the hosts as they attempt to capitalise on Englands fitness woes.

Heres everything you need to know.

When is Belgium vs England?

Belgium vs England is due to kick off at 7.30pm BST on Tuesday 8 April at Den Dreef in Leuven.

How can I watch it?

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on ITV4, with coverage on the channel from 6.45pm BST. A live stream will be available via ITVX.

Team news

England XI: Hampton; Bronze, Williamson, Bright, Charles; Walsh, Clinton; Mead, Park, Parris; Beever-Jones.
By Philip Blenkinsop

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - The European Union said on Monday it would start collecting retaliatory duties on some imported U.S. goods next week, as EU trade ministers agreed they preferred negotiations to remove tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump over retaliation.

The 27-nation bloc faces 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars and "reciprocal" tariffs of 20% from Wednesday for almost all other goods under Trump's policy to hit countries he says impose high barriers to U.S. imports.

Ministers overseeing trade met in Luxembourg on Monday to debate the EU's response, as well as discuss relations with China. Many said the priority was to launch negotiations and avert an outright trade war.

"We need to remain calm and respond in a way that de-escalates. The stock markets right now show what will happen if we escalate straightaway. But we will be prepared to take countermeasures if needed to get the Americans at the table," Dutch Trade Minister Reinette Klever told reporters.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a press conference in Brussels that the EU stood ready to negotiate a "zero-for-zero" tariff pact for industrial goods.

"Sooner or later, we will sit at the negotiation table with the U.S. and find a mutually acceptable compromise," EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a news conference.

He also said the EU would start would start collecting a first tranche of targeted retaliatory duties on U.S. imports from April 15 and a second wave from May 15, in reaction to the U.S. tariffs on European steel and aluminium.

EU READY TO FIGHT BACK IF NEEDED

He also made clear that while preferring to negotiate the removal of the tariffs with the U.S., the EU was ready to step up its response. This could include the EU's Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), which would allow it to target U.S. services or to limit U.S. companies' access to public procurement tenders in the EU.

"We are prepared to use every tool to protect single market," he said, echoing the views of French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin.

But some EU countries, particularly exposed to trade with the United States, urged caution. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris described the ACI as "very much the nuclear option" and said he believed most EU countries were not ready to go near it, at least for now.

Outgoing German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the EU should realise it was in a strong position - if it was united.

"The stock markets are already collapsing and the damage could become even greater ... America is in a position of weakness," he said in Luxembourg. Habeck added that Trump lieutenant Elon Musk's hope of zero tariffs between Europe and the United States reflected this point.

The EU is likely to approve this week an initial set of countermeasures on up to $28 billion of U.S. imports ranging from dental floss to diamonds, in response to Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs rather than the broader reciprocal levies.

But even that move has proven fraught, with Trump threatening a 200% counter-tariff on EU alcoholic drinks if the bloc goes ahead with an earmarked 50% duty on U.S. bourbon. France and Italy, major exporters of wine and spirits, have expressed concern.

The 27-nation bloc is expected to produce a larger package of countermeasures by the end of April, as a response to U.S. car and "reciprocal" tariffs.

However, in a war of tariffs on goods, Brussels has less to target than Washington, given U.S. goods imports into the EU totalled 334 billion euros ($366.2 billion) in 2024, against 532 billion euros of EU exports. ($1 = 0.9121 euros)

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Bart Meier, Rachel More; writing by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Mark Heinrich)
A Roman Triumph, 1890. From Cassells Illustrated Universal History Vol. II - Rome, by Edmund Ollier (Getty)

Scientists have uncovered evidence that sheds light on a little-known ice age that may have contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire.

"Unusual rocks," discovered in Iceland, are believed to have been carried by icebergs travelling from Greenland sometime between 540 and 800 AD.

This period of intense, rapid cooling, known as the Late Antique Little Ice Age, coincided with the crumbling of Roman power.

Researchers suggest this climatic shift may have been the final blow to the already weakened empire.

The ice age is thought to have been triggered by three major volcanic eruptions, the resulting ash clouds blocking sunlight and causing a drop in global temperatures.

Professor Tom Gernon has led the research team (Dr Ross Mitchell/University of Southampton/PA Wire)

A University of Southampton spokeswoman said: Historians have long debated the role of climatic cooling in the fall of the Roman empire.

This new research strengthens the case that a brief but intense period of cooling may have kicked an already declining empire and played a key role in inciting the mass migrations that reshaped Europe in this period.

Tom Gernon, professor of earth science at the University of Southampton and co-author of the report, published in the journal Geology, said: When it comes to the fall of the Roman empire, this climate shift may have been the straw that broke the camels back.

Scientists have discovered evidence of the scale of a small ice age which could have been the straw that broke the camel's back and helped lead to the fall of the Roman empire (Dr Christopher Spencer/University of Southampton/PA Wire)

Dr Christopher Spencer, associate professor at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and lead author of the research, said that the team, which also involved the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, analysed the age and composition of the rocks found on a raised beach terrace on Icelands west coast

He said: We knew these rocks seemed somewhat out of place because the rock types are unlike anything found in Iceland today, but we didnt know where they came from.

The analysis involved examination of tiny mineral crystals called zircons, locked inside the rocks, which enabled the team to pinpoint their source.

The scientists were able to locate the source to specific regions of Greenland.

Dr Spencer said: This is the first direct evidence of icebergs carrying large Greenlandic cobbles to Iceland.

Prof Gernon added: The fact that the rocks come from nearly all geological regions of Greenland provides evidence of their glacial origins.

As glaciers move, they erode the landscape, breaking up rocks from different areas and carrying them along, creating a chaotic and diverse mixture, some of which ends up stuck inside the ice.

He said that the study showed that the ice-rafted rocks were likely deposited during the 7th century.

Prof Gernon said: This timing coincides with a known major episode of ice-rafting, where vast chunks of ice break away from glaciers, drift across the ocean, and eventually melt, scattering debris along distant shores.

Dr Spencer added: What were seeing is a powerful example of how interconnected the climate system is. When glaciers grow, icebergs calve, ocean currents shift, and landscapes change. Climate-driven iceberg activity may have been one of the many cascading effects of rapid cooling.
Is there a link between traumatic plane crashes and a surge in fears over flying? (Getty/iStock)

After the tragic Air India plane crash that killed at least 270 people last week, passengers have taken to social media to voice their concerns over flying having seen the events unfold in Ahmedabad.

All but one of the 242 passengers onboard the Air India plane bound for London Gatwick on 12 June lost their lives, while more were killed in the residential area the plane struck just minutes after it took off.

A surge of TikTok videos and social media posts in the aftermath of the crash shows that anxieties have been amplified over getting on a plane, with some stating they dread their next flight, while others are purposefully selecting exit row seats just in case.

However, voicing fears of flying right after a crash is not uncommon, and a string of incidents earlier this year and at the end of 2024 have also caused many to question aviation safety.

On Christmas Day, the worlds attention was held by the fatal incident when 38 people died on an Azerbaijan Airlines flight, then four days later, a crash killed almost all of the people onboard a Jeju Air flight in South Korea.

A month later, a devastating incident shocked the US and the rest of the world when a mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter killed 67, the deadliest crash in the country in over two decades.

While extreme traumatic incidents draw attention, aviation experts reassure travellers that flying is still safe. According to data from the US National Transportation Safety Board, there have been fewer than average air accidents in the country for the first two months of the year.

Nevertheless, some flyers are expressing that their anxiety levels increase every time a new plane crash makes headlines  but will this translate into a lasting fear of flying among travellers?

Professor Robert Bor, a clinical aviation and aerospace psychologist at the Centre for Aviation Psychology, who has written papers and books on the treatment for fear of flying, explains that there is not necessarily a long-lasting link between plane crashes and people developing a phobia of flying.

He says: There's no clear way to determine whether there's been an increase because it's not as though we have some kind of social barometer or thermometer that measures these things frequently.

However, Bor adds that we do know a fear of flying is in the top 10 phobias that people find themselves with, particularly in countries with access to frequent air travel.

Yet, the interesting difference between a fear of flying and other phobias is that it does not necessarily lead to avoidance.

Air travel is often essential to reach other countries, whether that's for a holiday, to visit friends and family abroad, or for work that requires travel. So, many of those who have a fear or dislike of flying may still board a plane to get to their destination, whether they enjoy the experience or not.

This is different from other fears that can be more easily avoided, such as someone who has a fear of clowns  they will simply not go to the circus, watch scary clown films, and maybe stay indoors at Halloween.

While there are people who will vow to never get on a plane, Bor explains that having a fear of flying does not necessarily lead to long-term avoidance  instead, their fear will materialise as an arousal.

He explains: By that, we mean people may feel stressed, they may get sweaty, they may do a lot of thinking.

They may do some bargaining with people around them, with themselves, with God or whoever it may be. But it doesn't necessarily mean it's an avoidance.

With flying, there will be people who don't want to be on the plane, but who are going to manage it.

It is not always a plane crash reported on the news that can trigger an onset of fear; there are multiple reasons why people may have stress or anxieties around getting on a plane.

Part of it may just be familiarity, how does all of that metal stay in the air?  Bor says.

The other is just the physical experience. As a species, we've not evolved to fly, we're best suited to being on the ground.

Fear may also be influenced by pre-existing stress, worry and anxiety in our day-to-day lives stemming from other events, as Bor explains: Rarely do people get on board an airplane completely free of any feelings.

You do sometimes get a slight surge increase [in fear] following an incident or accident, but we attribute that, obviously, to what's called the recency effect. Examples of this may be experiencing severe turbulence or going through another traumatic incident outside of flying, such as a car crash.

Mitigating factors can mean that our fears do get more aroused, but does this mean we will avoid getting on a plane? Bor says: The true answer to that is rarely.

Does it increase the number of people who are choosing not to fly? They may be more wary. They may check things out more. They may look up the weather. They may ponder, Am I on a safe airline? and maybe switch to a different airline. They may go back to their reservation and change the seat that they were on, but it doesn't necessarily lead to avoidance.

Long-term factors can also impact peoples levels of fear. For example, growing up travelling with a parent or family member who also had a fear of flying.

With so many contributing factors, it's hard to tell if there has been an increase in a fear of flying due to a recent awareness of fatal plane crashes, especially as people are continuing to travel by plane.

Bor says: Where the statistics are at the moment, they probably are no different and haven't been different in the last 15 to 20 years.

We have got used to hearing how unbelievably safe air travel is, and that actually hasn't changed, in spite of these headlines-grabbing incidents.

So air safety hasn't been compromised. We're not into some new era of it sliding away.

Bor adds that each aviation tragedy is unique, but the more we can relate it to ourselves, the more worrisome it becomes.

He explains: If it's an air crash in a distant country on an airline we might not have ever flown on, or may not have heard about, it tends to be that we're a little bit more distant from the whole experience emotionally  which is the same actually with all news.

However, if we see an incident that happened in a destination familiar to us, on a route that we travel or an airline on which we fly, the worry may well amplify.

Those who do opt to go on a plane may still worry about how their body will react, such as having a panic attack or becoming overwhelmed with stress.

At one level, this is human nature. The body is seeking to protect us from something that we perceive to be aversive, Bor explains.

If fearful flyers are looking to calm their anxieties about flying, Bor recommends trying therapy, whether that's reading books or talking to professionals such as counsellors, therapists or psychologists.

He says: The treatment is about understanding what it is about that situation, particularly being on an airplane, that causes us that stress, learning about how the body is reacting, and then learning ways to override it.

If you are flying with a fearful passenger, Bor says that the worst thing you can do is be dismissive. When people say to someone who's got a fear of anything, Oh, stop it. That could never happen, all it does is make the person feel bad about the problem that they're having.

What we need to do is figure out what reaction they're having and say that's a normal reaction that your body's having. Yes, it's a bit excessive, and here are the ways that we calm it down, through deeper breathing, through meditation, through distraction, or through reappraising of the risk in front of you.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast
Norway is deporting properly documented British tourists by misinterpreting Europe-wide rules on passport validity.

On 22 February 2025 a passenger arrived at Oslo airport aboard Norwegian flight DY1641 from Edinburgh, along with their partner and friends, for a one-week holiday.

The visitor had a British passport that was valid for travel to Norway and anywhere else in the Schengen area up to 25 March 2025 for a stay of up to 90 days. The passport expires on 26 November 2025.

All Schengen area nations  including almost all EU countries plus Switzerland, Iceland and Norway  are required to apply the same conditions for entry to the frontier-free zone.

The visitor was legally entitled to remain in Norway until late June. But police at Oslo airport claimed, incorrectly, that the holidaymaker had insufficient validity on their passport. They ignored the Schengen Borders Code and declared: Your passport is issued 26 March 2015 and is therefore considered valid only until the 26 March 2025.

After being detained, the passenger was put on a plane back to the UK with a notice saying they had been expelled from Norway.

As The Independent has repeatedly pointed out, the pretence that a UK passport expires on its 10th birthday has no basis in EU law.

Passports for third-country nationals such as UK citizens travelling to the Schengen area must be:

Issued within the last 10 years at the day of entry

Valid for at least three months after the traveller plans to leave

To emphasise that the two conditions are independent of each other, the EUs Practical Handbook for Border Guards specifies: The requirement that the travel document must have been issued within the previous 10 years must be fulfilled at the day of entry but not necessarily during the stay [our italics].

In other words, a British traveller could go to Norway the day before their passport reaches its 10th birthday, so long as they had at least three months before the expiry date printed on the document.

Despite this clear pan-European standard, the Norwegian authorities deported the British traveller, saying: Your planned departure from Norway and the Schengen area is 1 March 2025, and the passport is not valid for three months after the date of departure as the border regulation demands.

You are therefore expelled from Norway.

Expulsion order: the deportation notice served on a British holidaymaker in February 2025 (Norwegian Police)

The Independent has not been able to identify the traveller. It is highly likely that other British tourists have been deported from Norway by police applying a non-existent rule.

The issue came to light when The Independent began investigating a series of cases in which passengers booked on flights from the UK to Norway on the budget airline Norwegian were wrongly turned away.

On 31 March 2025, Rachel Bolger was denied boarding for her Norwegian flight from London Gatwick to Bergen. She said: We had checked in our bags and had our passports checked. When we got to the departure gate, a very stern lady told me I could not travel as my passport was invalid. She said the expiry date printed on the passport was irrelevant and that it expired 10 years exactly from the issue date.

We tried to reason with her, she implied we were stupid for not knowing the rules. She called a supervisor who told her she was correct  even though her colleague adjacent tried to query it.

She quickly and unsympathetically had our bags removed from the plane and we were escorted back through the airport.

Ms Bolgers passport, which The Independent has seen, entitled her to enter Norway up to 15 June 2025 and stay there until mid-September.

The airline explained its decision to turn her away by supplying details of the deportation case in February.

The Norwegian embassy in London referred The Independent to the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security. This ministry referred the enquiry to the National Police Directorate, which in turn directed The Independent to the st Police District, which has yet to respond.

Norway is not the only Nordic nation making up its own rule in contravention of the Schengen area policy. The deputy chief superintendent of the Danish police, which is responsible for border control in Denmark, repeated the mistake of his counterparts in Norway. He claimed British passports must not be older than nine years and nine months from the date of issue.

This has never been the case.

The legal position of anyone wrongly expelled by Norway or Denmark is confused. Normally airline passengers would be able to claim compensation for flight disarray. But if a nation chooses to apply non-existent rules to deny boarding or deport a visitor, the airline cannot be held responsible.

A spokesperson for the airline, Norwegian, said: We regret the disruption to our passengers due to inconsistent interpretation of Schengen passport rules by the Nordic countries.

As an airline, we must comply with local border control directives, which are currently unclear. We have urged the authorities to provide clear, unified guidance to airlines, in order to prevent further passenger issues and avoid penalties for our company.

The Independent maintains that the conditions for British travellers to the Schengen area as stated in the EUs Practical Handbook for Border Guards are perfectly clear, and has asked the European Commission to intervene to demand Norway and Denmark comply with the rules.
Semi-automatic firearms are behind a locked cabinet at a retailer in Springfield, Illinois, with a note to who can purchase such weapons. State senators in Colorado are considering a ban on the purchase or sale of semi-automatic firearms. Greg Bishop / The Center Square

(The Center Square)  The purgatory Illinois gun rights groups say gun owners have been in with a case challenging the states gun ban may be ending.

The state banned the sale and possession of more than 170 semi-automatic firearms and magazines over certain capacities in January 2023. Lawsuits were filed shortly thereafter.

The consolidated cases out of the Southern District of Illinois federal court ended last fall when the judge there ruled in a permanent injunction that the law was unconstitutional. The state immediately appealed and the district judges ruling was held pending appeal in December.

On Friday, plaintiffs asked the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to provide a briefing schedule for the case given its been four months since the appeals court ordered the district judges permanent injunction against the law held at bay pending the states appeal.

"The net effect of those orders has been to provide the State a grace period longer than the entire default period for appellate briefing, during which time the State has been able to enforce a law that Plaintiffs claim  and the district court agreed after a trial on remand from this Court  is unconstitutional, without having to defend the law on the merits," the plaintiffs said. "This case has sat in purgatory long enough."

Illinois State Rifle Associations Ed Sullivan said gun owners need finality.

We believe that the attorney general in the state has been dragging their feet, and we believe theyve been doing it for one specific purpose. We need to have this court case to go through the courts to get to the U.S. Supreme Court for a potential to be heard by October, Sullivan told The Center Square.

ISRA is one of the plaintiffs in the consolidated case.

Sullivan said plaintiffs had to request the case be sped up.

And so you know, finally they forced our hand and so we had to do something to move this along in light of the deadline that were seeing for anything to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, he said.

On Monday, the appeals court gave the state until May 7 to file their brief. Plaintiffs will then have to file their brief by June 6. The states reply brief is due June 27.

There was no oral argument schedule listed.
WLWT/YouTube Emily Nutley

A former counselor at a private all-boys school in Cincinnati admitted she had a sexual relationship with a student she was assigned to help in school

Emily Nutley, 43, a mother of three, continued to text the boy when he said he wanted to end their relationship, prosecutors said

Nutley's husband filed for divorce from her shortly after she was arrested in 2024

A former head counselor at an Ohio Catholic high schoo accused of having an unlawful sexual relationship with a teenage student and sending him nude photos has pleaded guilty to the crimes.

Emily Nutley, 43, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery, according to online court records, on Monday, April 7  the day her trial was supposed to start, WXIX reports.

She faces up to ten years in prison when she is sentenced. She will also be added to Ohio Sex Offender Registry, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutors Office.

This child was in need of help and guidance but instead found an adult looking to act out her perverted sexual desires, Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers said in a statement when Nutley was indicted in October 2024.

Nutley was the director of academic services at St. Xavier High School, a private all-boys college preparatory school in Cincinnati, prosecutors said, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. She said in court that she worked as a counselor for 18 years, according to the paper.

At the time of the crime, during the fall semester of 2023, she was the supervisor of a program that assisted students who were struggling with academics, according to a statement from the district attorney in 2024. The male victim was 17 at the time of the offense.

During this time, the DA says, Nutley began having "additional contact" with the victim outside school hours  which included her sending nude photographs and sexually explicit messages.

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.

By November 2023, the DA says, Nutley had begun a physical relationship with the student, engaging in oral sex with the student at least once on school grounds and once off campus and having sexual intercourse with him in her office.

When the victim attempted to stop the encounters, Nutley continued to contact the victim via text messages, the district attorney said.

Nutley was fired from her job in October 2024 after school administrators learned about the relationship and contacted police. Her husband filed for divorce from the mother of three shortly after the charges were announced, the Enquirer reports.

Her sentencing is scheduled for June 10.

Her attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.



Read the original article on People
(This story has been updated to include additional information.)

A substitute teacher at a Columbus, Ohio, high school has been accused of asking a student to kill her husband for $2,000, according to court records.

Stephanie Demetrius, 44, is charged with conspiracy, a first-degree felony.

Demetrius approached a student on March 26 at the Academy for Urban Scholars High School, located in the eastern part of the city, and asked the student to kill her husband in exchange for the cash bounty, Franklin County, Ohio, municipal court records say.

Court records say Demetrius gave the teen $250 as a "down payment."

Police got a copy of a recorded phone call between the student and Demetrius where the substitute teacher gave the student information about when her children would be out of the home so the murder could be committed, according to court records.

"When asked if the neighbors would hear the gunfire, she advised that they don't care about the neighbors," court records say.

The Ohio Department of Education's licensing system shows Demetrius has an active substitute teaching license.

During an appearance in Franklin County Municipal Court on Thursday, Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Parker Schwartz said Demetrius' estranged husband had obtained a protection order against her. Demetrius has previous mental health issues and had made homicidal threats in the past, Schwartz alleged.

A Franklin County Public Defender representing Demetrius at Thursday's hearing said the claims were fabricated, and Demetrius is looking forward to her day in court.

What we know about Stephanie Demetrius

Franklin County Domestic Relations Court records show Demetrius had filed for divorce in April 2024 from her husband. Those proceedings remain ongoing. The couple had previously started divorce proceedings in 2017 but later withdrew them, court records show.

A filing for emergency custody of the couple's children filed by Demetrius's husband in July 2024 included details about other allegations of violence by Demetrius. In the filing, her husband alleges that about three weeks earlier, Demetrius violated a stay-away order and broke into his home, taking a laptop and money.

On another occasion, Demetrius used a pair of scissors to "stab" her husband while one of their children was at home, the court filing claims.

The filing also alleges Demetrius had, at other times, set a fire in the home's basement, taken parts needed to fix the home's furnace while temperatures were below freezing, smashed garage doors and damaged other property while the children were present and taken the home's Wi-Fi devices to prevent internet access.

"She has physically assaulted two of the children and Defendant Father," the filing alleges. "The minor children are in danger of harm as their mother's (sic) continues to return to the Marital Residence and break windows and doors to force herself in."

"Defendant Father has made numerous attempts to resolve the situation with Mother, who appears to be escalating in her erratic and threatening behavior," the July 2024 filing says.

When reached by The Dispatch Thursday, the husband said that he was focused on his children and did not have any comment about the situation.

Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Jessica D'Varga issued a $150,000 bond and ordered Demetrius to abide by a protection order in the case that prevents her from having contact with her husband.

Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@gannett.com or on Bluesky at @bethanybruner.dispatch.com.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio teacher allegedly offered student $2,000 to kill her husband
Sea lions gather near the mouth of the Cowlitz River in March 2025. Photo by Rod Dayton

Last month it was mealtime on the Lower Columbia. We could hear the excited barking of sea lions across the city of Longview, where I live, as they hauled themselves onto the rocks near the mouth of the Cowlitz and waited for dinner to arrive. Now the smelt have passed and Herschel and his friends are quiet. We expect them back as the adult Chinook salmon begin to return to their spawning grounds. I do hope some of the fish manage to escape.

At a time when salmon survival has become such a concern that we are talking about tearing down dams to improve their chances, fast-rising predation from sea lions has become an environmental emergency. Protected by federal law and with no real predators to worry about, the sea lion population off our coast has quadrupled over the last 50 years. Today they swarm the Lower Columbia and its tributaries from January to March, when the smelt are making their way downriver. Last year the sea lions were so aggressive that they swam 70 miles up the Cowlitz River to meet them, farther than ever before. The National Marine Fisheries Service conducted a study to estimate survival rates of returning spring Chinook on the Columbia River downriver of Bonneville Dam. One year it estimated losses due to sea lion predation at 20 percent; another it was a whopping 45%.

Nearly half? Theres nothing natural about losses at this level. If we want our fish runs to survive, we are going to have to step up our efforts to control sea lions  and we cant be squeamish about it.

For the last five years, the states of Washington and Oregon have been operating under a federal permit allowing us to capture and euthanize sea lions on portions of the Lower Columbia and its tributaries. Working closely with treaty tribes at Bonneville Dam, Washington and Oregon wildlife agencies have removed 98 Steller sea lions and 84 California sea lions. The state of Oregon also has been active at Willamette Falls, removing three Steller and 14 California sea lions.

This intervention has helped improve salmon survival rates, and indirectly has aided the struggling southern resident orca population on Puget Sound, by boosting the Chinook runs on which they feed for part of the year.

Yet this is only about a quarter of the full program envisioned under the federal permit. For the last two years I have worked to get the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife the resources to carry this effort to the Lewis and Cowlitz rivers and other Lower Columbia tributaries. This year I sought a $300,000 appropriation in the capital budget for the special barges, traps and cages required on these shallower waterways. Unfortunately, I could not convince my fellow lawmakers of the urgency, and this will be another year of missed opportunity and unnatural losses.

I dont think its the money. Things may be tight this year, but in government terms, $300,000 is a pittance. Bonneville Power Administration customers alone are spending ten times that amount annually on salmon recovery. All told, the public has spent billions on hatcheries, habitat restoration, fish passage, culvert removal, scientific studies and more. This is an investment worth protecting.

The problem likely is a distaste for lethal intervention. We have learned through difficult experience over the last 35 years that this is the only way. We need to get over the idea that sea lions are cute, cuddly things and see them for the eating machines they are. Each one consumes about 40 pounds of fish daily, and they are so good at their job that even a handful of them can have a major impact on fish survival rates.

I keep thinking about the tragedy we saw at the Ballard Locks 30 years ago. This was our first real encounter with our gluttonous friends as their numbers began to rebound under federal protection. First came a sea lion the tourists nicknamed Herschel, gulping Lake Washington steelhead whole. Then his friends joined him and turned the locks into an all-you-can-eat buffet. Non-lethal deterrents proved futile. Relocation efforts couldnt keep them away. By the time federal and state officials got their act together and reached consensus that lethal measures were justified, the steelhead were extinct.

As we consider our next moves on the Columbia, we must remember this is the consequence of inaction, and tell ourselves never again. The time for debate is over and the time to protect our salmon resource is here.

Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, represents the 19th Legislative District.
We went on a day trip to Hallstatt but were so overwhelmed by tourists that we changed our plans after a few hours. Timothy Moore

We planned to spend a day in Hallstatt, a picturesque town in Austria, but left after a few hours.

In the last few decades, overtourism has become a rampant problem in the area and we felt it.

The town's beautiful, but I found the crowds too overwhelming and the tourists too rude to enjoy it.

Hallstatt, Austria, hugs the tight shores of an alpine lake against the backdrop of towering, snowcapped mountains.

For the few hundred people who live in this UNESCO World Heritage Site, it's a salt-mining village. However, for the millions of tourists who visit  sometimes up to 10,000 a day during busy season  it's a fairy-tale town with swan boats and picturesque views.

Before our trip, I'd read horror stories about tourism in Hallstatt, from visitors wielding selfie sticks and fighting for views to locals protesting against overtourism by blocking the main tunnel road into town.

Perhaps against our better judgment, my husband and I still wanted to see the town for ourselves. So, on a recent monthlong trip to Germany and Austria, we took a day trip from Salzburg to explore the village.

Hallstatt was beautiful, but our experience there was far from perfect.

We got there early, but crowds swelled shortly after

We could see Hallstatt from the parking area just outside the city. Timothy Moore

My husband and I had done our research, and we're early risers, so we were in our rental car by 7 a.m. and parked at Hallstatt by 8:15.

The parking lot outside the city center was mostly empty, as many of the cars belonged to overnight guests.

We hightailed it into the city center so we could experience the quiet streets of the lakeside town before it exploded with people. We watched swans and ducks play on the water, grabbed an espresso, and took our time enjoying the architecture.

By 9 a.m., though, the place looked entirely different. Bus after bus arrived, dropping off gobs of people who flooded the streets.

By the time we left, you could've told me we'd left Hallstatt and were in Fantasyland at Disney World during spring break  and I might've believed you.

Many tourists seemed to be on their worst behavior in Hallstatt

Hallstatt was pretty empty for a brief moment in the morning. Timothy Moore

During our short time in Hallstatt, we encountered rude tourists from around the world.

First of all, the streets in the city center are closed to traffic (and this is clearly marked). It creates a walkable area that's primarily just for pedestrians and hotel shuttles.

However, we watched many people driving down the narrow streets anyway  and pedestrians had to quickly walk out of the vehicles' paths each time.

Numerous signs on private residences asked tourists to be quiet and respectful since real people with real lives lived there. However, many visitors seemed to ignore these requests.

We saw dozens of tourists shouting in a range of languages and laughing as they snapped photos in town. Some even climbed up staircases to private homes to pose for pictures as if they lived there.

As we wandered, we frequently bumped into people who'd stopped in the middle of the walkway to snap photos. We often got stuck waiting for tourists to finish having photoshoots in front of buildings and fountains just so we could pass.

The famous viewpoint was filled wall-to-wall with tourists, but we found a better way to see the village

We ended up getting better views of Hallstatt from a boat. Timothy Moore

The panoramic viewpoint, also called Aussichtspunkt, offers stunning views of the lake, mountains, and village nestled in between.

Many famous pictures you've seen of Hallstatt were likely taken from this spot  but, in reality, it felt nearly impossible to truly enjoy this view.

This area was loud and packed with tourists swinging selfie sticks  this was not the peaceful, picturesque experience we'd imagined.

We fought our way to the front of the overlook, snapped a picture, and quickly moved out of the way to let another family have their moment.

Others didn't quite seem to understand the etiquette, as they'd stand there and take photos for five to 10 minutes, despite the swelling crowds behind them.

Eventually, we headed nearby to a rental place with motorized boats and took one out into the middle of the lake to escape the crowds.

We saw a castle during our boat ride. Timothy Moore

Here, we found peace and quiet  and stunning views not just of Hallstatt, but also of the castle across from it. It was the best, most peaceful hour we spent in town.

After, we found ourselves eating overpriced and underwhelming pizza in the town square. It felt outrageously expensive compared to what we ate in the other parts of Austria we'd toured.

Honestly, though, I couldn't be mad at the prices  if tourists are going to wreak havoc on their city, locals may as well charge them a premium.

After 4 hours, we'd had more than enough of the city

Lake Gosausee had far fewer crowds and was as pretty as Hallstatt. Timothy Moore

We originally intended to spend a whole day in Hallstatt. By the time we left, we'd been there four hours  and that felt like more than enough.

Luckily, we found a nearby hike around Lake Gosausee. The flat loop hike offered stunning views of the water and surrounding mountains. We even found a spout along the trail that spit out fresh mountain water to taste.

Looking back, I'm still glad we stopped at Hallstatt. The place is so stunningly beautiful that you need to see it to believe it.

I can't say I'd go back, but if anyone plans to visit, I suggest they arrive early, rent a boat to take in the views, and then, after a few hours, head to lesser-known alpine towns and mountain hikes nearby.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Remains found in a wooded area in North Carolina nearly 30 years ago have been identified as those of a woman last heard from in 1991, police announced Friday.

The remains of Betty Jean Benton, which sat unidentified for nearly 30 years, were found on July 18, 1996 near what's now called Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

Benton's family last heard from her in February 1991, when she said she was in North Carolina. Family members in 1992 reported her missing out of Louisiana, her home state, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said. Benton's remains were found four years later, when she would've been about 42 years old.

The remains were taken to the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiners Office, where officials determined the victim was female, police said in the news release. Officials ruled her death a homicide but detectives were unable to find out who she was. It wasnt until officials submitted remains for genetic testing in 2024 that Benton was identified soon after.

A 1969 yearbook photo of Betty Jean Benton. Her family last heard from her in February 1991, then reported her missing in 1992. Remains were found in North Carolina in July 1996. They went unidentified until genetic genealogy identified the remains as those of Benton.

Using DNA to identify slain woman

To identify Benton, detectives tried a new approach in 2022 and sent the womans remains to Raleigh for an osteological examination by a forensic anthropologist, police said in the news release. The team also sent bones to Othram Labs in Texas for advanced DNA testing.

The teams first attempt to get DNA wasnt successful due to the condition of the womans remains, police said. But in 2024, the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiners Office sent more bones to Othram Labs for another DNA extraction, police said.

Othram Labs was able to get a genetic profile this time around, police said. Investigators then loaded the womans profile into two consumer genealogy databases that work with law enforcement, GEDmatch and Family Tree DNA.

Authorities then worked with the Ramapo College of New Jersey, where genetic genealogy research allowed the center to identify the victim as Betty Benton.

Detectives were able to contact her family, who let them know she hadnt been heard from since the early 1990s. They compared the womans DNA to a DNA profile from a family member, confirming the remains belonged to Benton.

Who was Betty Jean Benton?

Benton was born in Louisiana on Feb. 27, 1954, police said. Although she spent most of her life in Chicago, she told family in February 1991 she was in North Carolina.

Despite searching, detectives weren't able to find any record of her being in North Carolina prior to the discovery of her remains.

The police departments next task is finding out what Benton was doing during the last few years of her life. Authorities ask that anyone who had contact with her in North Carolina contact detectives at (704) 432-8477.

According to Charlotte police, the departments cold case unit still has nine other victims to identify, with remains having been discovered as early as 1932.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia  the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Missing woman ID'ed decades after remains found near Charlotte stadium
Getty Stock image of a person getting a tattoo.

More people are getting tattoos under anesthesia, paying a premium to make the experience less painful

But as Dr. Ariel Jurmann, director of ambulatory anesthesia at North Shore University Hospital, tells PEOPLE, there are risks involved the procedure

He advises seriously vetting the anesthesiologist beforehand

In January, Brazilian car influencer Ricardo Godoi died at age 45 while getting a back tattoo. He went into cardiac arrest while under general anesthesia.

While his death was an anomaly, it's no surprise that he wanted to try and make the experience as painless as possible. Having your skin punctured by a needle over and over hurts  and larger body art can require several sittings.

That's why some tattoo shops have started offering clients anesthesia  sedation thats previously been reserved for surgery. While the trend might seem like a sensible way to get inked without the pain, there are risks involved, Dr. Ariel Jurmann, director of ambulatory anesthesia at North Shore University Hospital, tells PEOPLE.

"One has to go into it with the understanding that no matter how healthy you are, no matter where you have it done, no matter how good your anesthesiologist is, the risk of anesthesia is never zero, he says.

Getty Stock image of a person undergoing anesthesia.

Related: 3-Year-Old Dies After Complications During 'Normal' Dental Procedure: 'I Kissed Her on Her Head and That Was It,' Says Dad

There are two types offered: a general anesthetic and a sedation type. For a general anesthetic, someone would have to be intubated and placed on a ventilator, Dr. Jurmann says, where the greatest risk comes from the proper placement of that breathing tube, that endotracheal tube.

While sedation or lesser types of anesthesia dont require intubation or a ventilator, these can lead to breathing complications, such as "if breathing becomes obstructed by collapse of the soft tissues inside their upper airway and throat," he explains. That would need to be addressed urgently with rescue equipment because it could "lead to anything from a heart attack to stroke to death.

While the practice of anesthesia outside of the hospital setting has grown, Dr. Jurmann points out it really should be done in a facility that is accredited," rather than at a tattoo parlor.

If you decide to get a tattoo under anesthesia, Dr. Jurmann advises vetting the provider first. The first question would be, Who's providing the anesthesia? What type of practitioner is it? Is it a physician, anesthesiologist? Are they a board-certified anesthesiologist? 

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Getty Stock image of a person being intubated for anesthesia.

Related: Kansas Boy, 3, Dies After Being Anesthetized During Dental Procedure

Make sure they are board certified, licensed, obviously, and carrying malpractice insurance," he says. "Will that practitioner have all the necessary emergency medications in case of an airway problem, or allergy medications, or the skills and experience to solve any problem that could arise under anesthesia? 

In any case, youll pay for the painlessness: A back tattoo can cost up to $35,000 with anesthesia, according to one report from USA Today, while another company reportedly offers it for chest tattoos for $50,000.

But it might lose you some cred. As one moderator on the subreddit r/tattoo pointed out, Its not normal. People with disgusting amounts of money will pay for that.

Another user said, "It's a cop out as far as I'm concerned. A big part of the experience in my opinion is the artist interaction [and] slogging through the pain."

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.



Read the original article on People
Ahead of expected talks between the United States and Iran over the weekend, the State Department pushed back on the idea that the discussion would be a negotiation over Tehran's nuclear program.

"This is a meeting that's happening, right? On Saturday, there's a meeting. There's no negotiations," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Tuesday.

"This is a dynamic where the president has made very clear and certainly the secretary has made very clear that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon," she said. "It's touching base, yes. Again, it's not a negotiation. It's a meeting."

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during an event on energy production in the East Room of the White House, April 8, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP)

However, Bruce and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt both emphasized that President Donald Trump is seeking to cut a deal with Tehran.

"When it comes to Iran, the president has reimposed crippling sanctions on the Iranian regime, and he's made it very clear to Iran they have a choice to make: You can strike a deal with the president, you can negotiate, or there will be hell to pay," Leavitt said.

Bruce confirmed that Steve Witkoff, the special envoy to the Middle East, will represent the Trump administration during the session. But beyond that, both the White House and the State Department have been tight-lipped concerning details about the planned talks, which Trump announced during an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

PHOTO: Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy, speaks during a television interview outside the White House, Mar. 19, 2025, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

Trump also asserted that the U.S. was already conducting direct diplomacy with Iran for the first time since 2018, when he exited an Obama-era nuclear deal with the country.

"We're having direct talks with Iran, and they've started. It'll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we'll see what can happen," Trump said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later posted on X that the meeting Trump referenced would take place in Oman and that talks would be "indirect high-level talks."

"It is as much an opportunity as it is a test," Araghchi said.

PHOTO: Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his annual Nowruz speech in Tehran, Iran, Mar. 21, 2025. (Iran's Supreme Leader Office/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

On Tuesday, the White House and the State Department stood by the president's initial description of the forthcoming conversations and rejected Iran's characterization of the talks as indirect.

"That's nice for the Iranians," Bruce said of Araghchi's comments. "I would refer back to the president of the United States, President Donald John Trump."

State Department says talks with Iran are not a negotiation, will be direct originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
WASHINGTON  Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday announced the establishment of a task force charged with restoring transparency and accountability to the intelligence community that is already looking at declassifying information from the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Gabbards newly established Directors Initiatives Group, or DIG, aims to execute President Donald Trump's executive orders designed to rebuild trust in the nations 18 intelligence agencies, which Trump says was diminished through politically motivated investigations into his conduct.

In a news release, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the new initiative will start by investigating weaponization, rooting out deep-seeded politicization, exposing unauthorized disclosures of classified intelligence, and declassifying information that serves a public interest.

The task force will also lead assessments into the structure, resourcing and personnel of the intelligence community, including the CIA and National Security Agency, to improve efficiency and eliminate wasteful spending.

We are committed to executing the Presidents vision and focusing the Intelligence Community on its core mission: ensuring our security by providing the President and policymakers with timely, apolitical, objective, relevant intelligence to inform their decision-making to ensure the safety, security and freedom of the American people, Gabbard said in a statement.

According to Gabbards release, the work of the DIG is well underway and has already begun reviewing documents for potential declassification on a variety of topics.

One focuses on what the intelligence community knows about the origin of the COVID-19 coronavirus. In the past, U.S. intelligence agencies have come up with conflicting assessments of whether the virus originated in the wild or was the result of a lab leak by Chinese researchers in Wuhan, China.

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and U.S. Air Force Lt. General and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Jeffrey Kruse attend a House Intelligence Committee hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 26, 2025.

The task force is reviewing documents from Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI-led investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election and help Trump defeat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

The group is also looking into Anomalous Health Incidents, an intelligence community term for the illnesses commonly linked to what is known as Havana Syndrome. And it is reviewing documents regarding the Biden Administrations domestic surveillance and censorship actions against Americans, and more.

Media representatives for Gabbards office did not return an email seeking comment on the task force and what kinds of documents are being considered for declassification and why.

Trump and his allies sought to frame the entire Russia investigation as a hoax and a witch hunt against the president, seizing on some aspects of Crossfire Hurricane, the code name for the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into Russia's election meddling and possible ties to the Trump campaign.

A two-year investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller found that the Kremlin orchestrated a "sweeping and systematic" campaign to help Trump win the White House, and that the president and his aides were eager beneficiaries of the effort. The probe, however, did not find enough evidence that Trump or members of his campaign conspired with Russia.

Josh Meyer is USA TODAY's Domestic Security Correspondent. You can reach him by email at jmeyer@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @JoshMeyerDC and Bluesky at @joshmeyerdc.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Top spy Tulsi Gabbard launches task force to probe US intel community
The Trump administration warned Big Apple officials this month it was ready to grab back another $106 million in federal funds tied to migrant costs  but Mayor Eric Adams vowed Tuesday to fight the feds to keep the dough.

A top FEMA official told the city in an April 1 letter that the US government was axing a trio of already awarded grants totaling $188 million, including the roughly $80 million in migrant funding secretly taken back by the White House in February.

Cameron Hamilton, a senior official performing the duties of the administrator, wrote that retaking the massive haul is in line with the Department of Homeland Securitys crackdown on illegal immigration under President Trump.

President Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on April 7, 2025. REUTERS

The Department, consistent with President Trumps direction, is focused on advancing the essential mission of enforcing immigration laws and securing the border, Hamilton wrote in the letter obtained by The Post Tuesday.

Consequently, grant programs that support, or have the potential to support, illegal immigration through funding illegal activities or support illegal aliens that is not consistent with DHSs enforcement focus do not effectuate the agencys current practices.

The federal funding was first congressionally appropriated during the Biden presidency in response to New Yorks migrant crisis, in which more than 230,000 asylum seekers had descended on Gotham.

Adams called the federal plan unlawful and said the citys law department is currently determining the best legal recourse to take to ensure that this money remains in New York City, where it was allocated and belongs.

He added the grants from the feds are the bare minimum New York taxpayers deserve, and the federal dollars are to reimburse the city for money already spent on migrants.

Cameron Hamilton, a senior official performing the duties of the administrator, wrote that retaking the massive haul is in line with the Department of Homeland Securitys crackdown on illegal immigration under President Trump. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

As I have repeatedly said, New York City did not create this crisis  it was caused by decades of federal inaction and failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Yet, New Yorkers  and residents of other major cities across the country  have been forced to pay the price, Adams said in a statement.

With minimal help from the federal government, our administration has skillfully managed an unprecedented migrant crisis, during which more than 234,000 people have entered our city seeking shelter, costing taxpayers over $7.5 billion in just three years.

The city previously took legal action after the $80 million was pulled.

The Democrats fiery statement Tuesday comes as critics of the mayor argue hes been too soft on Trump in hopes his since-tossed criminal case would go away.

The federal funding was first congressionally appropriated during the Biden presidency in response to New Yorks migrant crisis, in which more than 230,000 asylum seekers had descended on Gotham. Getty Images

The possible legal showdown with Trump also comes a week after Adams announced he was forgoing the upcoming Democratic primary and instead was running for re-election on an independent line.

Hizzoner has been dogged by allegations that he and Trumps Department of Justice agreed to a deal in which federal prosecutors would drop the corruption charges against Adams if he helped with the White Houses immigration enforcement.

Both Adams, whose indictment was dismissed by a judge last week for good, and the DOJ have denied any quid pro quo.

Hamilton, the FEMA official, wrote that the city has 30 days to challenge the termination of the grants.

Federal officials also pulled back $100 million from unspent COVID-19 relief funds last month, leading the Adams administration to file a declaration in support of a lawsuit against the cuts earlier this month.
DENVER  The Trump administration has revoked hundreds of international student visas across the country, setting off a desperate scramble for them to leave the United States within days.

Universities have reported some students being forced to leave immediately, in many cases after discovering their visas were canceled in the federal Student Exchange and Visitor Information System or via an unexpected text or email. Multiple universities contacted by the USA TODAY Network regarding the visa cancellations declined to discuss specifics, citing student confidentiality.

Immigration experts said they've never seen the federal government make such sweeping changes to the ordinarily low-profile process of hosting international students. The National Immigration Project is challenging the visa cancellations, which have affected students in California, Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts and Florida, among others.

More: Trump targeted college students. Campuses went silent.

The cancellations reflect a small percentage of the estimated 1.5 million international students studying in the United States, but have sent shockwaves through the collegiate community. Some of the cancellations appear to be connected to things as minor as roommate disputes or as off-campus traffic tickets, university officials said, while others appear to be connected to pro-Palestinian protest participation.

"I've been doing this for 25 years and I've never seen 300 students lose their visas," said Len Saunders, a Washington state immigration attorney based near the Canadian border. "To hear that something like 300 visas were canceled out of the blue  it's all political. To read that there's hundreds of people having their visas canceled, you know exactly what it is."

President Donald Trump won back the White House after campaigning on tough new immigration controls, and some conservatives have accused other countries, particularly China, of sending students to study in the United States to steal intellectual property. International students are typically ineligible for financial aid and instead usually pay full tuition, subsidizing other students.

According to the federal government, California is home to the largest number of international students, and the most popular majors among international students are computer science, language, and business administration and management. People from India and China represent the largest proportion of international students, accounting for about half of the overall enrollment, according to federal officials.

There is no central accounting of how many students have had their visas revoked or where they came from. Many of the foreign students involved in campus protests were from the Middle East.

Saunders said he's seen a handful of students annually lose their visas over things like a drunken-driving arrest, but in many cases, students were allowed to finish out their studies.

This round of visa cancellations has prompted some students to leave immediately, including those who are close to graduating. At the University of Michigan, officials said they were trying to figure out how to help an international student finish his architectural master's degree work despite fleeing home.

The visa cancellations appear to be different than the targeted detentions of Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, largely because the students are not being detained but are instead being told to self-deport within seven days. The cancellations have sparked scattered protests, including at the University of Arizona.

People rally in support of a Tufts University student in Somerville, Mass. near Boston on March 26, 2025. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained 30-year-old Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, who was in the country on a valid F-1 visa, near her home on Tuesday as she was on her way to meet friends to break her Ramadan fast, said her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that he's revoked at least 300 visas of students he described as "lunatics," citing pro-Palestinian support or activism, activities that are normally considered protected First Amendment rights.

"It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas," Rubio said at a press conference.

Colorado State University officials said six students there lost their visas, and university officials escorted some of them to the airport to fly home. It's unclear whether the students have the right to appeal their visa revocations.

"To date, no specific justification for the visa revocations has been provided to the impacted individuals or CSU," Kathleen Fairfax, the university's vice provost for international affairs, said in a statement. "We are working proactively with the students to help them connect with appropriate legal resources and understand their options. CSU is providing this support based on students' personal decisions."

At the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Chancellor Javier Reyes said five international students lost their visas and urged other students to check their own status. He said affected students are being offered financial assistance through the university's "Angel Fund," which was created during the first Trump presidency to help students affected by changes in immigration laws.

Reyes, who first came to the United States from Mexico on a student visa himself, called the American higher education system "the envy of the world" and promised international students "unwavering support as we confront this new reality."

New York University professor Robert Cohen, who studies protest movements, said targeting students because they attended rallies or wrote pro-Palestinan letters is a thinly veiled attempt by Trump to clamp down on dissent.

"It speaks to the issue that Donald Trump and these right-wing people don't actually believe in free speech," Cohen said.

The American Council on Education and 15 other higher ed groups have requested a briefing from federal officials. The groups noted that Trump has the responsibility and right to safeguard national security but asked for an explanation of the decision-making process.

"Recent actions have contributed to uncertainty and impedes the ability of our institutions to best advise international students and scholars," the groups wrote in an April 4 letter to Rubio and other officials. "It is important institutions are in a position to reassure international students so they can continue to make exceptional contributions to their campuses, communities, and the nation."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump cancels hundreds of student visas
By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department on Monday repealed a Biden-era "zero tolerance" policy which called for revoking the licenses of gun dealers who willfully committed serious violations such as failing to conduct background checks, an FBI spokesperson said.

The reversal of the policy, which was touted by the conservative Gun Owners of America group before any official government announcement was made, follows President Donald Trump ordering the department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to conduct a wholesale review of all of the gun regulations implemented under his Democratic predecessor President Joe Biden.

Kash Patel, who is currently serving as both the FBI director and the acting ATF director, spoke to the members of the Gun Owners of America during their August meeting. He claimed falsely that the former head of the ATF during Biden's presidency wanted to take away people's Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The Gun Owners of America is one of the nation's most far-right gun-rights advocacy groups and has called for abolishing the ATF and purging gun sales records that law enforcement agents use to help solve crimes.

The zero-tolerance policy repealed on Monday called for the ATF, which regulates the firearms industry, to revoke the licenses of gun dealers if they willfully sold firearms to prohibited people such as convicted felons, failed to conduct background checks, falsified records or failed to respond to law enforcement requests to help trace firearms used to commit crimes.

Gun-control groups had supported the Biden-era policy, saying it served as an important tool toward cracking down on illegal straw purchasing and gun trafficking.

The firearms industry was largely critical of it, saying it was leading the government to shut down gun shops over minor infractions uncovered during inspections.

Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president of the NSSF, the Firearm Industry Trade Association, praised the decision to repeal the policy.

"This reckless policy throttled small businesses and drove many to shut down by threatening crippling administrative costs to fight against penalties for minor errors and infractions that were previously reconciled in good faith between ATF officials and law-abiding firearm retailers," Keane said in a statement.

Emma Brown, executive director for the gun-control advocacy group Giffords, said the repeal could lead to spikes in crime.

"Putting gun dealers who break the law back in business will increase crime," she said.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Stephen Coates)
However, Melonas was optimistic that the industry will survive given organisations survived and thrived during the global finical crisis.

It was the organisations that had correct operating models that were streamlined, that werent bloated and focusing on optimisations, he said.

Melonas told ARN that organisations that run a tight ship and evaluate their cost base and client base will fare better than some during these times.

If you have those things, as well as ways of work and engagement established and in place, I think youve probably got a better chance than organisations that are running paper-based processes, he said. I think fortune will favour the optimised.

For companies that deal with intangible products like SaaS, iasset.com CEO Scott Frew said he was waiting to see how things will unfold.

This is just a precedent in trade wars dating back to the 70s, he said to ARN. These changes will certainly affect the tech industry. That said, it seems the focus is mainly on hardware right now.

As for us  companies like ours that deal with intangible products like software or SaaS  were still figuring out if well be impacted, he said. It doesnt seem like we are at the moment, but we wont know for sure until we start testing it.

For instance, were running on Azure with sites all over the world, in different markets and regions. If tariffs affect this, it doesnt appear so now, but were only 24 hours into trying to understand the situation.

Dont just rely on force majeure

Ryan Solomons, dispute resolution partner at law firm RedeMont, explained to ARN that IT, like any other service, will see a price increase if its affected by the tariffs because the providers will have no choice.

However, for MSPs, its worth reviewing contracts to see if a price increase is allowable due to changes in the law.

If the law has changed, they may be able to adjust pricing with their customers accordingly, he said. Many people will be under contracts.

During COVID organisations frequently relied on force majeure clauses that were implemented into contracts.

In Australia, force majeure isnt governed by a specific standalone law or recognised by common law, however it is a critical component of many contracts.

Although within these contracts the wording of the clause is crucial, as courts will interpret it strictly based on its language and in the absence of a force majeure clause, the doctrine of frustration  which applies when unforeseen events take place which stop a contract from being completed as originally intended, according to legal research and data analytics vendor LexisNexis  may apply, but its scope is limited.

When drafted and negotiated properly, force majeure clauses can help mitigate risks and avoid disputes.

Australian Consumer Law (ACL) protects against unfair terms in contracts, including overly broad force majeure clauses.

When done right, these clauses can be implemented when a force majeure event is triggered, like government-imposed lockdowns, sanctions or restrictions that prevent contract fulfilment (restrictions on imports and exports).

As well as supply chain disruptions like the closure of key suppliers or transportation disruptions.

Change of law also applies

According to Solomons change of law should be considered instead, as these tariffs are triggered by virtue of a change of law.

This could potentially allow individuals to claim a change of law in their contracts, giving them the right to review pricing and in cases where a contract otherwise locks in costs, this could prevent an MSP from passing on the increase.

Change of law refers to a situation where a new law or regulation and or a change to existing law comes into effect making it hard to fulfill contractual obligations.

This includes trade restrictions like the introduction of tariffs, export bans or sanctions that restrict the movement of goods and services between countries.

According to the Australian Consumer Competition Commission, changes to the law on unfair contract terms came into effect on 9 November 2023.

From this date, proposing, using or relying on unfair contract terms in standard form contracts will be banned and penalties for breaches of the law will apply.

Other key changes relate to deciding whether a contract is a standard form contract and the definition of a small business contract.

The changes apply to a standard form contracts made or renewed on or after 9 November 2023 and a term of a contract that is varied or added on or after 9 November 2023.

Where a term of a contract is varied or added on or after 9 November 2023, the changes relevant to deciding whether a contract is a standard form contract apply to the whole contract.

When I was part of a [legal team] for a construction [project], at that time, supply chain issues were widespread and people were looking at force majeure, Solomons said.

Specifically, whether a pandemic counted as an act of God for legal purposes, not from a philosophical perspective.

This idea was inspired by the Billy Connolly movie The Man Who Sued God, which presents this idea really well, explained Solomon.

Where we landed was that the issue wasnt the pandemic itself, but rather the regulatory changes brought about by the pandemic, such as border closures, he said. These changes in law created the disruption.

Many contracts included change of law clauses that addressed rights if the law changed. I imagine a similar situation could arise with tariffs or any laws that impact contracts, depending on how the contract is drafted.
The supreme string quartet, for me, has long been Schuberts last, in G major  memorably performed last Friday night by the Danish Quartet at Carnegies Zankel Hall.

As one of the quartets violinists, Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen, was on parental leave, his place was taken by Yura Lee  introduced by violist Asbjorn Norgaard as a Korean-American musician from Los Angeles. Norgaard also pointed out that the groups cellist, Fredrik Schoyen Sjolin, happens to be not Danish, but Norwegian. He was making a point about music, the arts, and mutual understanding. The audience responded with a sustained ovation: a sign of the times.

In fact, the quality of attention throughout (the program also included a new work by Bent Sorensen inspired by the Schubert G major) was extraordinary. Experiencing this concert at this unhinged moment in our American odyssey nearly felt defiant. A breath of fresh air would be an under-statement. It was more like finding refuge in an oxygen tent.

Most of all, there was Schubert. Composed in 1826, his G major quartet wasnt premiered until 1850  22 years after Schuberts death  and first published somewhat later. Even today, its not much programmed. The most obvious reason is stamina. A performance can last nearly an hour. And the last movement, the most grueling of Schuberts perpetual motion finales, is relentless. If ever a string quartet took no prisoners, its the Schubert G major.

Exhaustion is here an actual motif. You cant listen to the slashing accents and hurtling velocity without absorbing the physical demands being inflicted on the performers.

Exhaustion is differently evoked by the quartets most unforgettable, most original inspiration. In a sonata form, the recapitulation  bringing back the opening material  is typically a refulgent moment. In the first movement of the Schubert G major, its a moment of fatigue and decomposition. The entire movement is a kaleidoscope of heaving chordal formations, dancing lyric effusions, and  most magically  anticipatory whiffs of Bruckners existential tremolos. So by the time the recapitulation occurs, all energy is spent: the opening gestures here fall limp. Schuberts pianissimo residue uncannily calibrates the exertion and argumentative density of everything that has gone before.

Through my wife Agnes, I enjoy a sporadic acquaintance with the violinist Gidon Kremer  who participated in a tremendous Schubert G major performance decades ago at New Yorks 92nd Street Y. (The other players were Daniel Philips, Yo-Yo Ma, and Kim Kashkashian.) That performance was released as a recording  can hear it here. Not long after the LP came out, Gidon happened to visit and asked to hear a portion of the first movement. What he wanted to know was whether the exposition repeat (which I dimly recall had not been performed) was inserted in the studio. It was  and Gidon needed to hear nothing more.

I have no strong feelings, in general, about exposition repeats. As often as not, I can do without them. But in the Schubert G major the first movement exposition repeat is vital  only then can Schuberts exhaustion fully register. Its an exhaustion that (as in Mahler) inspires fresh spiritual energies. The remainder of the movement is shaded by a newly acquired lyric pathos. Schubert tenderly smooths what had been the tremolo theme. (His sonata-form recapitulations can be surprisingly literal  but not here.) But the wrestling between major and minor modes remains pervasive  and will continue, relentlessly, in the movements to come.

No other composer understood exhaustion as Schubert did. I am thinking especially (of course) of the desperately fraught quietude of his song cycle Winterreise (which I have performed and also written about in this space)  ultimately, a glimpse of existential desolation whose finality somehow consoles. And there are Schuberts other perpetual motion machines, whose inexhaustion registers terrifying impersonal energies. Of the plunging chromatic scales streaking the finale of the C minor Piano Sonata, Claudio Arrau (in my book Conversations with Arrau) discovered something skeletal, macabre  without any flesh. Really the work of death. And there is the Andante of Schuberts Ninth Symphony, whose dire central juggernaut hurtles toward an abyss.

Anyway, the Danish Quartet omitted that exposition repeat. So their terrific reading of the first movement was shortchanged. Otherwise, I marveled at the quartets intensity of understanding. It was a highly personal interpretation  the opening tremolo theme, with its Brucknerian amplitude, was daringly slow  that at no point felt self-conscious. I could not help focusing on Fredrik Schoyen Sjolin, a cellist of exceptional subtlety who reminded me that Schubert has here gifted the cello the quartets peak lyric inspirations (in movements two and three both).

The players took a deep collective breath before launching the finale  the heaving triple-forte climax of which (Schubert could have marked four fortes, five fortes) summoned a sonorous anguish exceeding every previous expressive peak.

***

Further thoughts on the music of exhaustion:

In Beethovens Seventh Symphony, a perpetual-motion finale tests human stamina. In Schubert, with his heavenly length, perpetual-motion (as a music historian of my acquaintance once misguidedly argued) invariably persists too long: the stamina is inhuman.

Mahlers morendo endings to his Ninth Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde marry physical exhaustion to spiritual enlightenment. Gradually dissipated energy levitates the endings of Schuberts Piano Sonatas in D major and G major.

Wagner twice calibrated to exhaust his tenor  in the final acts of Tannhauser and Tristan und Isolde. A fresh-voiced tenorial rendering of either of these two acts (readily possible on recordings) is a false rendering. In a famous (to Wagnerites) exchange of letters, the composer implores his best tenor, the imperious Albert Niemann, not to abridge the finale of Tannhauser act two. So as to conserve his voice for the third and final act, Niemann insists on cutting an outburst  Erbarm dich mein, der, ach! so tief in Sunden  which Wagner (correctly) deems essential. Wagner wants Niemann to understand that Tannhauser needs to sound vocally exhausted in act three: Once more:  sing the second finale as if you were to end the evening with it  and rest assured  only then will you sing the third act entirely to my liking. In a word: I find you far too fresh in the third act, too physically powerful, and I have waited in vain so far for the nuances that I demand. . . . Everything here is calculated to produce a ghostly tonelessness which gradually rises to the level of a touching tenderness, but no further. There is too much physical strength in your rendering of the [act three] narration up to your arrival in Rome: that is not how a man would speak who had just been roused from madness to a few minutes lucidity, a being from whom others shy away when they meet him, who for months has gone almost entirely without food, and whose life is sustained only by the glimmer of an insane desire.

This desperate advice is not irrelevant to the Schubert G major String Quartet.

For a blog on Schubert and Alfred Brendel, click here.
Under pressure from Beijing, rebels left the capital of Shan State, northern Myanmar, although they will remain around the city. Meas fighting continues in the rest of the country, other rebel groups won some victories yesterday and today. Citing the earthquake, the regime suspends tourist visas.

Yangon (AsiaNews)  Under pressure from China, the National Democratic Alliance of Myanmar (MNDAA) has agreed to withdraw from Lashio, the capital of Shan State and a strategic military stronghold, which will also be partly controlled by Beijing.

However, MNDAA forces, which have been fighting against the junta since 2021, will remain stationed around the city and in the juntas main bases, de facto maintaining control over military movements in the area.

The regime is not allowed to fire a single artillery shell in Lashio, a source told The Irrawaddy. "If that happens, the MNDAA will immediately return" to the city, which had fallen to the resistance thanks to a joint offensive by ethnic militias in August last year.

Lashio was home to the juntas North-Eastern Command and its fall to rebel forces highlighted for the first time the militarys difficulties against advancing armed resistance groups.

Still, following the earthquake that hit the country on 28 March, the junta is tightening its control. After banning foreign media, the Ministry of Immigration and Population also suspended all visas for tourists, citing the earthquake as the main cause.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding during this time. A further announcement will be made once the service resumes, the ministry announced.

Foreign rescue teams need prior authorisation to operate independently in Myanmar, but this is granted if they cooperate with the authorities, the military said last week.

In Lashio, a MNDAA commander will remain to manage the local administrative committee, according to agreements brokered by Beijing, which also provides for a Chinese representative to monitor the situation.

The city's public hospital will also be jointly run by the Chinese government and the United Wa State Army (UWSA), an armed organisation close to Beijing.

Meanwhile, the MNDAA reported the transfer of medical equipment from the hospital in Lashio to the Hsenwi Hospital, which it controls.

China is interested in the city because it is a key trade hub with Myanmar. To put pressure on the MNDAA, it threatened to close all border crossings, on which part of the local population depends.

While Myanmar is facing increasing fragmentation, where each region is administered by a different ethnic militia, Beijing has an interest in stabilising only the border areas that are essential to ensure trade and the development of infrastructure projects.

Fears of reprisals against those who collaborated with the MNDAA administration or joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, the protest movement born after the 2021 military coup, are growing among Lashio residents.

Others fear being forcibly recruited by the military, which recently imposed mandatory military service to boost its ranks, weakened by more than four years of civil war.

Rumours of the MNDAA's forced withdrawal sparked a "silent protest" against Beijing last month, The Irrawaddy reported.

For their part, ethnic militias have scored new victories in Chin State. Yesterday, the Chin Brotherhood, which includes several armed groups, took full control of the city of Falam, after a siege that lasted five months.

According to local sources, rebel forces are still clearing the city, while junta drones and reconnaissance planes continue to fly over the area.

Falam also represents a fundamental strategic hub, located along the land link between the juntas regional operational command in Kale (Sagaing Region) and that in Hakha, capital of Chin State.

The seizure of Falam means Kale has been cut off from Hakha on the overland route, so that threatens both positions, said former captain Zin Yaw, a defector from the military.

After almost nine months of fighting, the Kachin Independence Army today took Indaw, a city in the north of the Sagaing Region (one of the areas most affected by the recent earthquake), on the border with Kachin State.

Junta fighter jets bombed from the air nonstop, so we resorted to a nighttime raid to seize the base. They (regime troops) suffered significant casualties, and we captured a large haul of weapons and ammunition, a member of the joint resistance force told a local media.
by Dario Salvi

According to Amnesty International's report, 91 per cent of known death sentences have been handed down in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. There is no reliable data for China, North Korea and Vietnam since the information is treated as a state secret. Iran has experienced a boom in executions, partly to crack down on protest. Governments have weaponised the death penalty under the pretext of improving security.

Milan (AsiaNews)  Amnesty International today released its annual global report on the death penalty, noting that Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia are responsible for 91 per cent of all known executions carried out worldwide in 2024, which saw the highest number since 2015, with the Middle East in the lead.

In the report, titled Death Sentences and Executions 2024, the human rights organisation points out that the death penalty has also been weaponised by governments to silence critical voices, repress dissent, crack down on protesters and target minorities and ethnic groups.

At a time when the rights of prisoners are often ignored if not violated, Amnesty International renews its call for a moratorium, in particular for people who are in prison for drug-related offences, in many cases detained for the possession of small quantities of drugs or on specious accusations.

Middle Eastern record

In 2024 executions numbered 1,518 in 15 different countries, the highest number since 2015 when at least 1,634 people were put to death. Conversely, for the second year in a row, the number of countries carrying out executions remained at the lowest point on record.

That said, the overall figure does not include the thousands of people believed to be killed each year in China, which is the most active user of the death penalty, as well as North Korea and Vietnam, which are also believed to make extensive use of the death penalty. In addition, the ongoing crises in Palestine and Syria have prevented Amnesty International from providing reliable data for both.

In total, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia carried out 1,380 executions, with Iraq doubling them (from 172 to at least 345), while Iran hanged 119 more people than the previous year (from at least 853 to 972), accounting for 64 per cent of all known executions.

The death penalty is an abhorrent crime with no place in todays world, said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty Internationals Secretary General.

While secrecy continued to shroud scrutiny in some countries that we believe are responsible for thousands of executions, its evident that states that retain the death penalty are an isolated minority, she explained.

With just 15 countries carrying out executions in 2024, the lowest number on record for the second consecutive year, this signals a move away from this cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia were responsible for the sharp spike in deaths last year, carrying out over 91 per cent of known executions, violating human rights and callously taking peoples lives for drug-related and terrorism charges.

Furthermore, looking at the five countries with the highest number of executions in 2024, Yemen comes in fifth position, but the highest number, albeit underreported, still belongs to China.

Iran, a boom in executions

The Islamic Republic is an emblematic case of the use of the death penalty by Middle Eastern regimes as a method of repression not only of violent or common crimes, especially drug trafficking, but also protests and dissent.

According to Iran Human Rights (IHR), a Norwegian-based NGO with sources inside the country, Iranian authorities carried out at least 59 death sentences in March alone, for a total of 230 in the first quarter of the year, including eight women, according to official sources.

The figure for the first quarter of 2025 is more than double the numbers recorded in the same period in 2024 when 110 death sentences were performed, a sign of an increasingly widespread use of the noose by the clerical regime.

Of last months 59 executions, only one (2 per cent) was reported by official sources. At least 31 people were on death row for drug offences and another 28 ended up in the hands of the executioner for convictions based on the principle of retributive justice (qisas).

Five women were hanged, as were seven men were from the Baloch minority and one Kurdish. As for foreigners, at least three Afghans swung from the gallows.

Only 11 of the 230 executions (less than 5%) were announced by official sources. One man was hanged from a public bridge.

Moreover, when tensions with a foreign country rise with threats of war, as in recent weeks with the United States, the number of executions goes up. In 2024 more than 70 per cent of the 975 executions were carried out after tensions between Iran and Israel rose.

IHR Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam warns that Iran could exploit the crisis with the United States over its nuclear programme to carry out more. The risk of a significant increase in executions in the coming weeks is serious, [. . .] including those of political prisoners," he said.

Weaponised by rulers

In its 2024 report, Amnesty International states that in several countries, leaders use the death penalty on the false pretext of improving public security or to instil fear in the population.

In the United States, which has seen a steady upward trend in executions since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, 25 people were executed in 2024 compared to 24 in 2023.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for the widespread use of the death penalty as a tool to protect people from violent rapists, murderers and monsters".

His dehumanising remarks have promoted a false narrative that capital punishment has a unique deterrent effect on crime.

In some countries in the Middle East, death sentences have been used to silence human rights defenders, dissidents, protesters, political opponents, activists and ethnic minorities.

Those who dare challenge authorities have faced the most cruel of punishments, particularly in Iran and Saudi Arabia, with the death penalty used to silence those brave enough to speak out, said Agnes Callamard.

Last year, the Islamic Republic, the expert continues, persisted in their use of the death penalty to punish individuals who had challenged the Islamic Republic establishment during the "Woman Life Freedom" uprising.

[T]wo of those people  including a youth with a mental disability were executed in connection with the uprising following unfair trials and torture-tainted confessions, proving how far the authorities are willing to go to tighten their grip on power.

Meanwhile, Saudi leaders have used the death penalty to silence political dissent and punish Shias who supported anti-government protests between 2011 and 2013.

In August, the authorities executed Abdulmajeed al-Nimr on charges related to terrorism and joining al-Qaeda, even though initial court documents referred to his participation in protests.

Despite the minority of leaders determined to weaponize the death penalty, the tide is turning, said Agnes Callamard. Its only a matter of time until the world is free from the shadows of the gallows.

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Paul Chambers, who teaches at Naresuan University, is accused of violating Article 112 of the Penal Code for publishing a controversial blurb. Anyone who defames the Thai monarchy risks three to 15 years. Until now few foreigners have been charged, but since 2020, the law has been used against 279 people, largely against participants in student-led protests.

Bangkok (AsiaNews)  An American academic has been indicted in Thailand for lese-majeste, an offence used in Thailand to crack down dissent.

Police said Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in Phitsanulok in northern Thailand, appeared in court in the northern province of Phitsanulok after an arrest warrant was issued last week following a complaint filed by the army.

Until now, legal proceedings against foreigners under Article 112 of the country's Penal Code had been rare. Anyone found guilty of defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, the heir apparent or the regent is punishable with imprisonment from three to 15 years.

The allegations stemmed from a blurb for an online academic seminar Chambers attended as a speaker last year. According to Chambers's attorney, Wannaphat Jenroumjit, the blurb was posted on the website of a research institute based outside Thailand.

He has denied all charges, said Wannaphat, who works with Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, adding that Chambers was not granted bail.

Since student-led anti-government protests in 2020, which called for the abolition of the law, 279 people have been charged with lese-majeste, according to data compiled by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group.

Several prominent student leaders who have called for the abolition of the law have been jailed.

Asked about Chamberss case, the US State Department said it was concerned about the arrest of a US citizen. "We regularly urge Thai authorities, both privately and publicly, to protect freedom of expression in accordance with Thailand's international obligations," a State Department spokesperson said.
Today's news: Beijing responds to Washington over the threat of further 50% tariffs; Seven dead in Myanmar in bombings despite the ceasefire announced after the earthquake; Seoul government confirms 3 June as election date and appoints new constitutional judge; Severe damage from hurricanes in Siberia.

IRAN-UNITED STATES

During a meeting at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump yesterday announced talks with Iran. We have a very important meeting on Saturday and we will be dealing with them directly, Trump said in the Oval Office, adding that if the talks are unsuccessful, Iran will be in grave danger. For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi replied this morning that the talks will be high-level indirect negotiations and will take place in Oman on Saturday 12 April.

CHINA-UNITED STATES

In the trade war between Washington and Beijing, in response to Trump's ultimatum threatening further tariffs of 50% if counter-tariffs are not revoked, the People's Republic of China has replied stating that it will never accept the blackmailing nature of the United States. The US threats were a mistake upon a mistake, said a spokesman for the Beijing Ministry of Trade, urging the US to properly resolve its differences with China through dialogue, with mutual respect and on an equal footing. Meanwhile, the Asian stock markets are recovering part of the losses of the past few days, with the exception of Taiwan and Singapore, which are still in sharp decline.

MYANMAR

In earthquake-stricken Myanmar, residents of the Magway, Sagaing and Mandalay regions, as well as the Shan State, reported heavy weapon attacks against communities, which killed seven people and injured seven others, despite ceasefire agreements made in words by both the junta authorities and insurgent groups.

TAIWAN-CHINA

Taipei accuses Beijing of also using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to divide Taiwanese public opinion. A report to parliament by the island's National Security Office, relayed by Reuters, talks about more than half a million controversial messages being spread on social media platforms such as Facebook and TikTok.

SOUTH KOREA

Seoul has officially confirmed the date of 3 June for the presidential elections after the verdict of the Constitutional Court that deposed the outgoing president Yoon Suk-yeol, following his attempt to impose martial law. Meanwhile, in another delicate institutional issue that has been open in the country for some time, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is temporarily acting as head of state, has also appointed Ma Eun-hyuk as the ninth judge of the Constitutional Court, at the same time appointing the successors of two outgoing judges.

RUSSIA

A very powerful hurricane hit Siberia between Saturday and Sunday, causing dozens of deaths in the regions of Khakasia, Priangarje, Irkutsk and Krasnojarsk, with many hospitalised, some in serious conditions, and hundreds of thousands of homes left without electricity, heating and even water.

TAJIKISTAN

The Tajikistan Parliament has introduced a new regulation into the penal code to increase the responsibility for the illegal use of electricity, as indicated by the President Emomali Rakhmon himself, who had expressed his concerns to the Council of Ministers for the anomalous losses due to tampering and bypassing of the meters.
8 April 2025 11:04 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry marked the 33rd anniversary of one of the most horrific crimes committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanisthe Agdaban massacrethrough a post on its social media accounts, Azernews reports.

The post reads:

"33 years have passed since the Agdaban massacre, one of the most atrocious crimes committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanis.

In 1992, the village of Agdaban, consisting of 130 houses, was completely destroyed and obliterated by Armenian armed forces. A total of 779 residents were subjected to torture, and 32 innocent civilians were mercilessly killed.

The Agdaban tragedy is yet another manifestation of the crimes perpetrated by Armenia and its armed groups against Azerbaijanis. Today, we mourn the victims of this horrific act with deep sorrow.

May their souls rest in peace!"
8 April 2025 20:23 (UTC+04:00)

By Farman Aydin | AzerNEWS

The wise do not use great words in vain, nor do those words turn into aphorisms in our language for no reason. There is meaning behind every word, and characters that reflect that meaning. For example, there is a saying, "empty vessels make the most noise", referring to those who appear to be ambitious in carrying a burden they cannot truly bear  but in practice, not in words...

France has recently tried to play an active role in international policy, which raises questions about its potential and capacity. Given the history of the world since the collapse of the Iron Curtain, one could suggest that it was Nicolas Sarkozy who let the genie out of the bottle by meddling in the turmoil in Libya in 2011, which paved the way for the toppling and killing of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi. As is known, an international coalition had formed against Gaddafi at that time, and France was at the forefront of this coalition. France was the first country to recognize the Libyan opposition (the National Transitional Council) as the legitimate government. On March 19, 2011, French fighter jets were the first to strike Gaddafi's forces, even before the full coalition launched broader airstrikes. President Nicolas Sarkozy was one of the most vocal proponents of military intervention on humanitarian grounds. This was considered a first for that period, as such operations were usually initiated by the United States, with other NATO or Western countries participating.

However, during Macron's presidency, Frances hardline international policy gained further momentum. The first years of Macron's presidency are remembered for bombing Syria in 2018 alongside the US and Britain, intervening in the Libyan civil war, and arming Armenia. With Trump ascending to power for a second term, Paris intensified its hardline foreign policy to such an extent that it began to challenge Washington.

Thus, at first, France demonstrated its readiness to fill the gap left by the United States in the Russia-Ukraine war. Considering Russia's assets in European banks, Frances stronger economy and industry compared to Russia, and the overall potential of the European Union, France's move can be understood to some extent. More precisely, Paris can prolong the Russia-Ukraine war to wear out Moscow by using Russian assets in European banks and the potential of the EU.

However, Macrons recent visit to Egypt and the statements made about it have left many scratching their heads in confusion. The visit can be interpreted as anti-American and anti-Israeli. This raises the question: 'Can France confront both Russia and the US simultaneously?' The answer is likely no. France can hardly cope with Russia, let alone the US, which is several times larger in terms of economy and military power. Moreover, one point should not be overlooked  during Macrons presidency, France endured several debacles in Africa. In addition, domestic unrest has escalated.

Honestly, one would wish that a third force would emerge to challenge the bipolar world order that arose after World War II. It doesnt matter which country that third power would be. The reality is that a multipolar world would foster stronger competition, from which everyone could benefit. However, with Frances ever-declining human potential and economic power, such a claim can only be seen as adventurism, and the one that would suffer most from this would be France itself. For instance, in 1990, France was the fourth-largest economy in the world, but today, it ranks seventh. Many technologies, once monopolized by the West (such as long-range missile production, aircraft manufacturing, etc.), have now moved beyond the monopoly of these countries.

Political turmoil inside France and anti-Macron sentiment

Although France tries to present itself on a global scale in world politics, protests against Macron's system of governance within the country have been steadily increasing. The day before yesterday, while Emmanuel Macron was on a visit to Egypt, a support rally for Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally Party and a radical right-wing politician, was taking place in Paris. In the rally, party representatives who criticized Macron's policies accused him of pressuring political parties. It was noted that, prior to this, the leader of the National Rally Partys parliamentary faction had been banned by the court from running for government. The protest was in response to the court's decision, which was regarded as a violation of democratic rights, and Le Pens supporters believe that this decision was intended to weaken her political position.

Additionally, due to France losing influence in African and colonial states, as well as in island nations, the French leadership, which has a harsh stance toward criticisms of the government, has increased its pressure on freedom of speech.

Despite the tense situation inside the country, France has attempted to assert itself as a key player in global politics, but its ability to challenge the established powers, particularly the United States and Russia, remains questionable. Its actions in Libya, Syria, and the Ukraine crisis demonstrate an ambition to fill leadership roles in global conflicts. However, Frances diminishing economic and military strength, coupled with increasing domestic unrest, suggests that its capacity to maintain such a position is limited. The shifting balance of power and emerging multipolar world further complicate France's aspirations, making its future influence uncertain. Ultimately, Frances pursuit of an active foreign policy could face significant challenges in the years to come.

Photo credit: Reuters
8 April 2025 17:05 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Armenia believes that the more they repeat something, the easier it will be to achieve it. But it hasnt worked for the past 30 years, and its not going to work in the future either. Still, they dont seem to get tired of repeating it.

For over 30 years, they recited fabricated stories about the so-called 'artsakh republic' and the brave, intelligent Armenians. Taking seriously the empty words of pro-Armenian Western politicians, Yerevan tried to drum into the minds of many that it was an important partner in the South Caucasus. In the end, it became clear that Armenian bravery and intelligence were nothing more than myths  and that no one in the world really has a dog in Armenias fight.

One might think that Armenia has learned its lesson and will not repeat the same mistakes. But that is in vain. Armenia continues to adhere to its old habits. Of course, the issue of the so-called artsakh republic and the perceived importance of Armenia is now a thing of the past. However, Armenia has now started to focus on the supposed "rights" of separatist leaders and their supporters, who have committed heinous crimes in Azerbaijan. To put it crudely, they spare no opportunity to speak about them on any platform available.

The most recent such event occurred just a few days ago. In this instance, Armen Gevorgyan, a member of parliament from the "Armenia" bloc, raised the issue with Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. Gevorgyan asked O'Flaherty about the matter, to which the Commissioner parried him by stating that he indeed wishes to visit Azerbaijan and address human rights issues there, but that it will take time to arrange.

Mr. O'Flaherty, as a prominent human rights advocate, may face questions regarding his awareness of Armenian crimes in Azerbaijan's territory, specifically in Garabagh. We believe that the Human Rights Commissioner has not fully comprehended the motives behind the Armenians speaking on his behalf. He has stated, in accordance with his responsibilities, that he will address the issue of war criminals detained in Azerbaijan. We are well aware of the Armenian lobby's nature (even if others do not fully grasp it). It is likely that the Armenians are attempting to use Mr. O'Flahertys position to influence public opinion in Armenia by leveraging his authority. In doing so, they aim to demonstrate to both Azerbaijani and Armenian societies that they have a kind of "influence". Perhaps they believe their strategy is not yet finished. Nevertheless, Baku remains prepared to clarify any questions that remain ambiguous for any official. We are also ready to expose the true intentions of those attempting to politicise this issue in the eyes of the true politicians abiding by law.

Nevertheless, do Armenians truly believe they can portray separatistswho killed hundreds and forcibly displaced dozens of peopleas political activists? Do they really think Azerbaijan will cave into statements from pro-Armenian politicians and release these killers?

Let us not forget that, due to these ambitions, over one million people were displaced from their homes and forced to live in tents. More than 15,000 Azerbaijanis lost their lives, and over 4,000 went missing.

Armenias persistence in repeating narratives that have failed for decades reflects a deeper issuean inability to adapt to the realities of the modern geopolitical landscape. While the rhetoric surrounding the so-called "artsakh republic" has faded, the shift to advocating for the "rights" of separatist leaders and their supporters demonstrates a continued reliance on strategies that lack credibility and international support. This approach not only undermines Armenias position but also perpetuates tensions in the region.

The consequences of these actions are profound. The atrocities committed by separatists in Azerbaijan have left scars that cannot be erased by political maneuvering or fabricated narratives. The displacement of over one million Azerbaijanis and the loss of thousands of lives are stark reminders of the human cost of these ambitions. By refusing to acknowledge these realities, Armenia risks isolating itself further on the global stage.

Finally, Armenias repetitive strategies and refusal to confront the truth hinder progress toward regional stability. True reconciliation and peace can only be achieved through genuine dialogue and the acknowledgment of past wrongs. Until Armenia abandons its reliance on empty rhetoric and embraces a more constructive approach, the path to lasting peace will remain elusive. The region deserves better than recycled narratives and unfulfilled promises.
8 April 2025 12:46 (UTC+04:00)

Nazrin Abdul Read more

A delegation led by Madina Abylkasimova, Chairwoman of the Financial Market Regulation and Development Agency of Kazakhstan, has visited Azerbaijan, Azernews reports, citing the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA).

During the visit, Central Bank Chairman Taleh Kazimov met with the Kazakh delegation.

Kazimov provided an overview of the 2024-2026 Financial Sector Development Strategy and its strategic initiatives. The discussions also covered Kazakhstan's approaches to ensuring financial stability, banking and insurance oversight, and the countrys experience in regulating financial markets. Additionally, a presentation was given on the digitalization projects and initiatives being implemented in Kazakhstan.

The meeting concluded with discussions on expanding cooperation between the two institutions and other mutually beneficial matters.
8 April 2025 16:56 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

During his visit to Islamabad on April 8, Azerbaijans Minister of Economy Mikayil Cabbarov engaged in high-level discussions with Pakistani officials on major investment projects and memorandums of understanding between the two countries, Azernews reports.

The talks were led by Pakistans Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, who met with Minister Jabbarov and his delegation.

The two sides focused on accelerating key initiatives and expediting the implementation of critical investment projects. Both Azerbaijan and Pakistan expressed their commitment to fast-tracking these endeavors, signaling a strengthened economic partnership between the two nations.

This meeting marks a significant step forward in enhancing bilateral relations, particularly in the areas of economic cooperation and investment, with both countries determined to bring their joint initiatives to fruition swiftly.
8 April 2025 12:03 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Qatar Culture Days will take place in Baku from April 10 to 13, according to Azernews reports.

The event will kick off on April 10 at 15:00 with an exhibition at Primorsky Boulevard, followed by the grand opening ceremony at 18:00.

Diplomatic ties between Azerbaijan and Qatar were established on September 14, 1994.

Subsequently, both nations opened their embassies in 2007.

A significant milestone was reached in 2016 with the establishment of a Joint Economic, Trade, and Technical Intergovernmental Commission, which held its inaugural meeting in Azerbaijan on January 31, 2017.

The second meeting of this commission occurred in Doha on February 20, 2019.

An "Agreement on cooperation in the field of culture and art between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the State of Qatar" was signed in Doha on November 30, 2004.

The first edition of Qatar Culture Days in Azerbaijan occurred from June 6 to 11, 2009, featuring a Qatari delegation of 58 members, including artists and cultural figures led by

Mubarak bin Nasser Al-Khalifa, the Secretary-General of Qatar's National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage.

In return, the inaugural Culture Days of Azerbaijan were celebrated in Qatar from June 1 to 4, 2010, with a delegation of approximately 150 Azerbaijani representatives.

During this event, the audience enjoyed performances by Azerbaijan's Group of Musical Instruments, the State Dancing Group, and an opera performance of "Leyli and Majnun" by the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater artists.
8 April 2025 18:05 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Khatai Arts Center has hosted a presentation of the book-catalog "Graphics" alongside the unveiling of the exhibition "Qara rngin zhmi" (Fear of Black), spotlighting the remarkable works of Bayram Gasimkhanli, Azernews reports.

A distinguished member of the Azerbaijan Artists' Union, Gasimkhanli is not only a senior lecturer at the Azerbaijan State University of Architecture and Construction (ASUAC) but also a celebrated graphic artist and caricaturist.

The event featured an impressive lineup of speakers, including Asad Guliyev, a noted art critic and leading specialist from the Azerbaijan National Art Museum, who served as the author of the compelling written text "Qara rngin zhmi."

Director of the Khatai Arts Center Zahid Avazov joined esteemed members of the Azerbaijan Artists' Union and educators from ASUAC, such as graphic designer Mais Aliyev, Ogtay Murtuzayev, Honored Teacher Yashar Samadov, and associate professor Dilara Vakhabova, each sharing their insightful perspectives on Gasimkhanli's artistic mastery.

Born in 1946 in Baku, Bayram Gasimkhanli is a proud alumnus of the Azerbaijan State Art School named after Azim Azimzade and the Tbilisi State Art Academy.

Since becoming a member of the Azerbaijan Artists' Union in 1978, he has dedicated his career to the arts, taking on the role of teacher-artist from 1982 and spearheading the Baku Ex Libris Club in 1984.

In 2006, Bayram Gasimkhanli joined the Azerbaijan FECO (International Federation of Cartoonists' Organizations) Group and the Azerbaijan Cartoonists' Association.

His passion for caricature ignited during his student years, finding its early expression in the pages of the Kirpi magazine in the 1970s, where he poignantly addressed issues such as the poor conditions of the roads in his native village of Balakhani. In recent years, his focus has primarily shifted to graphic art.

Gasimkhanli shared a profound reflection on the essence of caricature, asserting, "Art often grapples with the challenge of conveying myriad emotions and concepts onto canvas. While realism has its place, caricature possesses the unique ability to shine a light on serious issues, provoke thought, and even elicit laughter. Crafting a caricature is not as straightforward as it may appear; it demands an intricate blend of idea, design, and technique. It is essential for the message to resonate universally, allowing anyone, regardless of their background, to grasp its meaning. In todays world, caricatures often appear without titles or commentary, inviting viewers to interpret them independently. An artist's wit and sarcasm are crucial; these elements breathe life into their work, rendering it truly captivating. Inspiration for themes can be found everywhere -the key lies in cultivating the ability to recognize what moves us. My own work often reflects the issues that spark my concern or elicit my empathy at any given moment."

The event culminated in an autograph session, where attendees excitedly connected with the multifaceted artist and his compelling publication.
8 April 2025 17:46 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

During the occupation of Garabagh, Azerbaijan regularly heard from international politicians, especially from the United States, Canada, and the Czech Republic, suggesting that the country should come to terms with the reality of occupation. However, despite such external pressures, Azerbaijan successfully restored its territorial integrity, Azernews reports, citing Farid Shafiyev, Chairman of the Board at the Center for Analysis of International Relations, as he said at a panel on Geopolitical Changes and Their Impact on Regional Sovereignty, held as part of the 7th ADA Political Forum in Xankndi on April 8.

In his speech, Shafiyev reflected on the challenges Azerbaijan faced in restoring its territorial integrity, recounting discussions with foreign politicians.

Some of them advised us to accept the facts of occupation, suggesting that we should reconcile with the situation. We worked for over 30 years to restore our territorial integrity through diplomatic means. We held numerous negotiations with politicians from various countries, and two main messages stood out to me. One message was: You must come to terms with the reality of being there, and with the visual attempt at change. The other, from certain individuals, was: You can do whatever you like, nothing will come of it. Despite these messages, we succeeded. Azerbaijan returned its lands, he explained.

Shafiyev also addressed the present-day reactions of some foreign politicians, particularly from the West, who argue that the path taken to peace was flawed. He countered, saying, But when you visit Xankndi today, you can witness firsthand the effects of Armenian vandalism. The consequences of Armenian occupation are clear. Even in other areas where Armenians once lived, you can see the destruction. Although not all areas suffered the worst kind of vandalism, they remain in a dire state. The question arises: Why keep these territories under occupation when they were not even being used? Why claim these lands as yourssacred, historical landsif you were not genuinely invested in them?

In closing, Shafiyev addressed the issue of individuals who are currently being tried for war crimes and other offenses related to crimes committed against Azerbaijan and its people. He emphasized that while these individuals are being prosecuted according to Azerbaijani law, the global reaction to their trials has been far from unified. The former leadership of the military corps in Garabagh is being tried for various crimes, including crimes against humanity. Yet, sadly, there are calls for their release. Even the BBC has produced special reports on Ruben Vardanyan. These calls are unacceptable.

Shafiyevs words echo Azerbaijans firm stance on defending its territorial integrity and the challenges faced in overcoming international pressures, while also reaffirming the countrys commitment to justice and accountability.
8 April 2025 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

A significant achievement has been made in the pursuit of gaining international backing for the right of Western Azerbaijanis to return to their homeland, marking another milestone in the communitys efforts, Azernews reports, citing a statement issued by the Western Azerbaijan Community.

The statement stressed that this progress follows a declaration adopted at the Fourth Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Parliamentary Network, held in the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, on April 6, 2025.

The declaration expresses strong support for the efforts of the Western Azerbaijan Community to return to their ancestral lands in a peaceful, secure, and dignified manner. It highlights the NAM Parliamentary Networks commitment to the principles of Bandung, reinforcing the significance of this issue as one that serves international peace and justice.

The statement emphasizes that the decision made by the NAM Parliamentary Network reflects the networks continued dedication to the Bandung Principles, and recognizes the right of the Western Azerbaijanis to return as a key topic contributing to global peace and fairness.

The Western Azerbaijan Community expressed its gratitude for the support shown by the NAM Parliamentary Network and the Parliament of Azerbaijan, which holds the chairmanship of the network, for their commitment to this just cause.
8 April 2025 11:21 (UTC+04:00)

Nazrin Abdul Read more

On April 7, 2025, Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in Abu Dhabi, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The discussions focused on enhancing political, economic, trade, energy, and humanitarian cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UAE, as well as partnership within regional and international organizations. The progress in energy collaboration, particularly in alternative energy, was notably acknowledged.

The importance of political dialogue and consultations between the two countries was emphasized as a key driver for further cooperation. Both sides underscored the significance of mutual support and solidarity within regional and international organizations.

Minister Bayramov briefed his counterpart on Azerbaijans post-conflict regional recovery and peace agenda, highlighting challenges such as mine threats and ongoing territorial claims from Armenia, outlined in its constitution and various legal acts.

The UAEs support in demining and its assistance in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan were appreciated. Additionally, the meeting involved discussions on other bilateral and regional matters of mutual interest.
8 April 2025 11:45 (UTC+04:00)

Akbar Novruz Read more

The Baku Court Complex has commenced its review hearing on the criminal case against Ruben Vardanyan, who stands accused of a wide range of serious offenses including violations of the laws and customs of war, terrorism, and financing terrorism, Azernews reports.

The proceedings are being presided over by Judge Zeynal Agayev of the Baku Military Court.

In previous court sessions, over 20 victims testified regarding Vardanyans alleged actions.

The charges brought against Vardanyan under the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan include:

Article 100: Planning and waging a war of aggression

Article 107: Deportation or forcible transfer of the population

Article 109: Persecution

Article 112: Deprivation of liberty contrary to international law

Article 113: Torture

Article 114: Mercenary activities

Article 115: Violation of the laws and customs of war

Article 116: Violation of international humanitarian law during armed conflict

Article 214: Terrorism

Article 214-1: Financing terrorism

Additionally, Vardanyan is accused of:

Article 218: Creation of a criminal association (organization)

Article 228: Illegal handling of weapons and explosives

Article 270-1: Acts threatening aviation safety

Article 278: Forcible seizure and retention of power, and altering the constitutional order

Article 279: Creation of illegal armed groups

Article 318: Illegal crossing of Azerbaijans state border

The trial is expected to continue as the court reviews the extensive charges and testimonies against the former separatist figure.
8 April 2025 13:42 (UTC+04:00)

Akbar Novruz Read more

The Western Azerbaijan Community has strongly criticized Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe High Commissioner for Human Rights, for what it described as a lack of awareness and one-sided approach in his recent responses to Armenian deputies in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Azernews reports.

In a statement, the Community said:

It is unacceptable that the High Commissioner addresses the issue of the return of Armenians to Azerbaijan and does not mention the return of Western Azerbaijanis to their ancestral homeland in Armenia. We call on the High Commissioner not to be held hostage to the deeply rooted double standards policy in a number of Western institutions regarding human rights.

The Community further criticized O'Flaherty for remaining silent on justice for Azerbaijani victims, particularly in light of the trial currently underway in Baku. It urged the High Commissioner to instead call on Armenia to prosecute war criminals within its own territory, including those responsible for the Aghdaban massacre, which occurred exactly 33 years ago.

The statement also demanded accountability from former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan for his remarks boasting about the mass expulsion of Azerbaijanis, and called on the Commissioner to visit Armenia to observe the state of destroyed or neglected Azerbaijani cultural and religious heritage and investigate the prevailing anti-Azerbaijani sentiment in the countrys media and public discourse.
8 April 2025 14:44 (UTC+04:00)

Akbar Novruz Read more

The Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Israel, Jeyhun Bayramov and Gideon Saar, held a meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, to discuss the expansion of bilateral ties across multiple sectors, Azernews reports, citing a post by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on the "X" social network.

The ministers reviewed prospects for cooperation in the political, economic, trade, investment, and humanitarian spheres, underlining the role of the Joint Commission between the two governments in advancing this agenda. Particular emphasis was placed on strengthening collaboration in high technologies, healthcare, and education through enhanced exchange of expertise.

Bayramov reaffirmed Azerbaijans support for peace and stability in the Middle East, including a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in accordance with international law.

The Israeli side was also briefed on the current post-conflict realities in the South Caucasus region, including large-scale reconstruction efforts in Azerbaijans liberated territories, ongoing demining operations, and the status of the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process.

The two ministers also exchanged views on a range of other regional and international issues of mutual interest.
8 April 2025 22:00 (UTC+04:00)

On April 8, the Embassy of Pakistan in Azerbaijan hosted an official reception in Baku marking the 85th anniversary of Pakistans National Day, Azernews reports.

The event began with the playing of the national anthems of Azerbaijan and Pakistan.

Addressing the gathering, Pakistani Ambassador to Azerbaijan Qasim Mohiuddin highlighted the enduring and multifaceted nature of the two countries friendship. "Azerbaijan and Pakistan have long-standing relations based on mutual respect, cooperation and common interests," he said. "Over the years, our countries have stood by each other and have formed a partnership that goes beyond diplomatic relations and encompasses cultural, economic and strategic spheres."

The ambassador also pointed to "recent high-level mutual visits between the leaderships of both countries" as "a vivid example of the brotherly relations between our peoples."

In turn, Azerbaijani Minister of Defense Industry Vugar Mustafayev underlined that the bilateral ties rest on "mutual trust" and continue to strengthen across both economic and cultural dimensions. He noted that the "Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," signed in March 2015, "gave a significant impetus to the development of friendly and fraternal relations between our countries."

The minister also stressed the importance of Azerbaijans accession to the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation last year. "Last year, Azerbaijan became a member of the Economic Cooperation Organization (D-8), of which Pakistan is also a member, and thus gained the opportunity to further expand its economic relations within the framework of the organization," he stated. "Azerbaijan's membership in the D-8 opens up broad prospects for trade, investment and economic cooperation with other member states, including Pakistan."

Mustafayev also emphasized the value of joint participation in international events. He cited the recent bilateral meeting between President Ilham Aliyev and Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif at COP29 as "of great importance in the development of relations."

The event concluded with a video presentation showcasing Pakistans achievements, tourism potential, and historical heritage.
8 April 2025 18:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

Apple has sent five planes filled with Indian-made iPhones to the United States. This move is part of the company's strategy to replenish its stocks and temporarily protect itself from the new trade duties in the U.S, Azernews reports.

Starting from April 5, 2025, a 10% duty was imposed on all goods imported into the U.S., and from April 9, the duty rate on Indian goods is set to increase to 26%. Apples decision to airlift these iPhones helps fill warehouses across the U.S. in advance, mitigating the impact of these new trade barriers for several months.

Additionally, sources from The Wall Street Journal report that Apple plans to increase iPhone shipments from India to the U.S. in order to offset the 54% duties currently imposed on products from China. Former President Donald Trump also threatened to raise duties on Chinese goods by an additional 50% unless Beijing backs down from its retaliatory measures.

According to Bank of America analyst Uamsi Mohan, Apple is expected to produce approximately 25 million iPhones in India in 2025, of which around 10 million are typically sold in the local market. If Apple redirects all of its Indian-made devices to the U.S., it could cover nearly half of the country's smartphone demand.

Analysts agree that moving production to the U.S. is economically unfeasible for Apple. The cost of manufacturing in the U.S. could push the price of an iPhone up to $3,500, making it prohibitively expensive for most consumers.

Apple's strategy reflects a growing trend in global trade where companies are increasingly shifting production to avoid tariffs and trade barriers. However, despite these efforts, it remains to be seen how long this strategy can shield tech giants like Apple from the ongoing tensions in U.S.-China trade relations.
8 April 2025 19:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

The Japanese government has decided to extend sanctions against North Korea (DPRK) for another two years, which include, among other measures, a complete ban on bilateral trade, Azernews reports.

This was announced at a press conference in Tokyo by Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Secretary General of the Cabinet.

"We made this decision based on our intention to make every effort to comprehensively resolve unresolved issues, such as the abductions of Japanese citizens and North Korea's nuclear and missile program," he said.

Tokyo's restrictive measures also include a ban on North Korean ships entering Japanese ports, as well as ships that have previously docked in North Korean ports.

Japanese sanctions against the DPRK were first introduced in 2006, and with this extension, they will remain in place until April 2027. Pyongyang and Tokyo have no diplomatic relations, and there are no direct transport links between the two countries due to Japan's stance.

Japan's sanctions against North Korea are part of a broader international effort to press the DPRK to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Despite these sanctions, North Korea continues to engage in provocative actions, including missile tests, which have led to continued tensions in the region.
8 April 2025 19:35 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

The Kyrgyz authorities, in cooperation with the United Nations, plan to continue developing green energy and addressing environmental issues, Azernews reports.

This was stated by Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev during a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York.

"During his working visit to New York, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Jeenbek Kulubayev met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. During the meeting, Minister Kulubayev expressed support for the United Nations' efforts to ensure international peace and security, as well as address global socio-economic and climate challenges," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

During the meeting, Kulubayev "confirmed Kyrgyzstan's commitment to sustainable development goals" and highlighted the republic's key priorities, such as promoting the "mountain agenda," developing a green economy, and protecting the environment.

"In this regard, the Foreign Minister requested UN support in further advancing these issues on the international stage," the ministry added.

The head of Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry also informed Guterres about the "political transformations" occurring in Central Asia, as well as the joint efforts of regional countries to "strengthen peace and stability."

Kyrgyzstan is known for its vast mountainous landscapes, which make it especially vulnerable to climate change. As part of its green energy goals, the country is focusing on utilizing its natural resources, such as hydropower, to promote renewable energy. This commitment could play a significant role in both reducing regional energy dependence and tackling environmental challenges.
8 April 2025 20:10 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

Several large American MQ-4C Triton unmanned reconnaissance drones will be deployed indefinitely at the U.S. Air Force base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, Azernews reports.

This move is intended to enhance the ability to gather intelligence in the area surrounding Japan's remote islands in the East China Sea.

From May to October of last year, MQ-4C Triton drones were already deployed in Okinawa, where they primarily operated in the Taiwan Strait. They were also temporarily stationed at the U.S. Air Force Base Misawa in northern Japan.

The MQ-4C Triton drones, which are approximately 15 meters long with a wingspan of nearly 40 meters, can collect intelligence from an altitude of over 18,000 meters for up to 24 hours.

The MQ-4C Triton is a key part of the U.S. Navy's surveillance capabilities, offering advanced maritime reconnaissance. With its high-altitude, long-endurance capabilities, the Triton plays a crucial role in monitoring vast ocean areas, making it essential for strategic military operations and maintaining regional security. Its deployment in Okinawa highlights the growing focus on the East China Sea, a region that has seen increasing tensions in recent years.
8 April 2025 20:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

The total volume of investment commitments by private and foreign companies to inject capital into the U.S. economy has reached $1.9 trillion since the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency, Azernews reports.

Among the largest announced investments are $500 billion from Apple, $100 billion from telecommunications giant SoftBank, a similar amount from semiconductor manufacturer TSMC, $20 billion from shipping group CMA CGM, and $5 billion from automaker Stellantis.

However, a significant portion of these investments is at risk due to the escalating tariff conflict between the United States and several key trading partners, including China, India, the European Union, and South Korea.

According to estimates by the Capgemini Research Institute, American corporations plan to invest approximately $1.1 trillion in reshoring production facilities within the next three years, surpassing the 2024 target of $750 billion.

The trend of reshoring, where companies move manufacturing back to the U.S., has been gaining momentum in recent years. This shift is driven not only by tariffs and trade uncertainties but also by the desire for greater supply chain security and technological advancement. As a result, the U.S. is seeing a resurgence in domestic manufacturing, particularly in industries like semiconductors, which are crucial for modern technology and national security.
8 April 2025 21:45 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

In Turkiye, there has been a sharp rise in egg prices, which has resulted in a twofold increase in the price of eggs over the past four months, Azernews reports.

In December 2024, a pack of 30 eggs cost between 100 and 120 liras in stores, but today the same quantity can be purchased for up to 250 liras.

According to Turkiye newspaper, the primary reason for the price increase is the rise in exports.

The situation has been particularly influenced by a decision by U.S. authorities to import eggs due to the spread of avian influenza in the country.

In addition, the authorities in Brazil and South Korea have also ramped up egg imports from Turkiye in recent months.

To stabilize the domestic market, the Turkish government abandoned financial measures to promote egg exports to the United States at the end of March.

However, this move has only partially reduced shipments to the U.S., where egg prices are reaching record levels.

Turkiyes annual egg production exceeds 20 billion, of which 3.4 to 4 billion eggs are exported to 55 countries worldwide. The largest importers are the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, and Syria. Revenue from egg exports is expected to reach $500 million by the end of the year.

At the same time, according to new agreements with the U.S., Turkiye plans to supply 15,000 tons of eggs to the U.S. by July this year, which will bring the country an additional $26 million.

The egg market in Turkiye has become a key player in global food trade, partly due to Turkiye's strategic location and relatively low production costs. The country's booming egg exports are also influenced by changing demand in regions affected by avian flu outbreaks, where Turkiye is increasingly becoming a key supplier. This growing role in global trade underscores Turkiye's economic influence, particularly in agriculture.
Appling County football has been on the cusp of something great for a very long time. The Pirates have made it to the Final Four 3 out of the last
The US Supreme Court has stayed the orders of Obama Judge Boasberg on President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal alien gangsters from Tren de Aragua and MS13. In their ruling the SCOTUS found that Boasberg lacked jurisdiction for his orders.

The last time the SCOTUS ruled on the Alien Enemies Act was in 1948 when President Truman used it to deport a legal US resident alien to Germany after World War II was over. In that case, the SCOTUS ruled that the President had absolute discretion on deportation of foreign citizens it deemed covered by the act, US courts had no jurisdiction to intervene, and those deported had no right to any hearing on their deportation.

The SCOTUS now, however, indicated a possibility of having a hearing for someone deported under this act.

https://redstate.com/streiff/2025/04/07/scotus-hands-trump-a-major-win-on-use-of-alien-enemies-act-to-deport-some-illegals-n2187600

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/breaking-huge-win-supreme-court-vacates-judge-boasbergs/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14581771/Trump-Supreme-Court-deport-illegal-migrants-Alien-Enemies-Act.html

In another matter where another Obama judge ordered the Trump administration to return one specific MS13 gangster from El Salvador, Chief Justice Roberts indefinitely stayed that district court order as well.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/breaking-supreme-court-chief-justice-roberts-blocks-court/
Music and Gigs

Review: This is the best Oasis have been since 96  some might say better... a rock reunion to end them all
Everyones talking about: EMDR  but what is it and how does it work?

Emerging as a popular alternative to talk therapy, EMDR involves the use of guided eye movements, tapping and auditory tones to help patients process traumatic events and memories

EMDR involves a therapist guiding their clients eye movements. Photo: Getty

Emer Harrington Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 11:00

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is growing in popularity as an alternative to traditional talk therapy. Sandra Bullock has spoken about how EMDR helped her overcome Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after a stalker broke into her home.
A woman who was high on a cocktail of drugs when she led police on a 100mph cross-border pursuit, even when one of her tyres had blown out, was today ordered to complete a two-year probation program.
Witnesses claim man said he feared being sent back to jail after accident

A man said he didnt care that another man had been knocked down and killed on the M1 after he got out of the car they had been travelling in, witnesses have told an inquest.

Darryl Thompson (22) was a previously physically healthy man when he was struck by a car on the M1 road near Dungannon on Saturday 10, November 2018 and died as a result of head and neck injuries.

A key witness has been instructed to attend court in person on Wednesday in order to give their evidence.

Kellie Keenan was the front seat passenger in the car Mr Thompson was travelling in shortly before his death.

She said the victim of the motorway accident had been involved in an argument with Dominic Daly who was in the back seat. Ms Keenan had told the inquest the argument was verbal in nature, they werent fighting, hitting each other  there was no physical punching or anything.

However, Coroners Counsel Michael McCartan had told Ms Keenan that she and the driver, Tiernan Sutton, had confirmed to a police officer that Mr Thompson and Mr Daly had been in a fist fight and that their fight continued on the hard shoulder.

When he attempted to press the point to see if she had any recollection of a fist fight, Ms Keenans video link to the court cut off and an attempt was made to reconnect her.

Ms Keenan was told to attend via video link yesterday but the court was told she had not appeared.

There was said to be no response from Ms Keenan by the conclusion of the sitting.

The coroner made clear that Ms Keenan has been instructed to attend in person on Wednesday and the court will utilise powers available to it if that does not happen.

Yesterday, several witnesses who were driving on the motorway on the night Mr Thompson died appeared to give evidence. They all noted there was foggy weather, and that after the incident happened there was a build-up of cars as many people were travelling home from a drift car racing event at Tullyoan.

One witness noticed a person at the side of the road twisting and trying to get away from others. They noticed an argument on the hard shoulder, believed to be Mr Thompson and those he was travelling with.

A number of witnesses were basing their evidence off what they observed in seconds while driving past.

Another witness felt there was nothing malicious in terms of what theyd seen and believed individuals were trying to help like mates would by encouraging Mr Thompson to get into the car.

A female witness said that Mr Thompsons friend was acting suspicious and the woman had said we need to get out of here.

Witness Megan Newell said she came across a man in a blue hoodie on his hunkers at the side of the road who said his mate was dead.

She told the court there was a strong smell of alcohol off him. He spoke of a fight in the car.

A girl in a green coat then arrived along with a ginger-haired man who was very drunk and couldnt walk straight.

Ms Newell overheard a conversation between them where one of the males said: Look at what you have done.

The witness said the man responded: I dont care.

When the woman in the green coat said: Thats your mate, he responded: No, thats his mate.

The witness said the boy in the blue hoodie then said: I cant go back to the nick (prison).

Ms Newell went to retrieve items from her car and when she returned with friends the two men and woman were gone.

Chloe Brisbane shared similar evidence saying the ginger-haired male wasnt emotional and at one point said he didnt care what happened.

The ginger-haired male was said to be heavily intoxicated and stumbling.

Ms Brisbane was also suspicious that the main concern from the man in the blue hoodie appeared to be that he didnt want to go to the nick.

It was said that the female in a green coat was keen to move the car and distance herself.

The PSNI later asked Ms Brisbane which car the individuals were in that theyd spoken to and to identify those inside.

On Monday, bereaved mother Edwina Thompson-Clarke remembered with deep affection her bright-eyed boy who was knocked down on the M1 saying, I miss him every waking minute of each and every day.

She said the sparkle never left his eyes from the moment he was born until the night she saw him dead on the motorway when the light and sparkle had gone out from his eyes forever.

The inquest continues.
Firefighters deal with a serous blaze at a block of flats in the Carrigart Avenue area of west Belfast on April 7th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Firefighters deal with a serous blaze at a block of flats in the Carrigart Avenue area of west Belfast on April 7th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

A man has died following a serious fire at a block of flats in west Belfast.

Emergency services responded to the blaze which happened in the Carrigart Avenue area of west Belfast on Monday afternoon.

Yesterday a PSNI spokesperson said that on arrival at the scene a man was located inside the property.

He was taken to hospital for treatment to serious injuries.

It has now been confirmed that the man aged in his 30s later died in hospital.

Firefighters deal with a serous blaze at a block of flats in the Carrigart Avenue area of west Belfast on April 7th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Firefighters at the scene of serious west Belfast fire

A PSNI spokesperson said: Police were notified of the fire shortly before 12.30pm and attended alongside colleagues from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.

Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service extinguished the blaze but, sadly, the man died later in hospital."

The police spokesperson added that enquiries are ongoing.

A large cordon was put in place as firefighters in breathing apparatus dealt with the incident on Monday.

Firefighters deal with a serous blaze at a block of flats in the Carrigart Avenue area of west Belfast on April 7th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

In a statement issued on Monday a NIFRS spokesperson said: Two fire appliances from Cadogan Fire Station and two fire appliances from Springfield Fire Station attended the incident.

"Firefighters were called to reports of a fire in a residential property earlier this afternoon.

"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used two hose reels and one jet to extinguish the fire.

"Firefighters rescued one male from the property who was taken to hospital by NIAS.

"The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Firefighters battle a major gorse fire on the Black Mountain in Belfast on April 8th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Firefighters battle a major gorse fire on the Black Mountain in Belfast on April 8th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Firefighters battle a major gorse fire on the Black Mountain in Belfast on April 8th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Firefighters battle a major gorse fire on the Black Mountain in Belfast on April 8th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Firefighters battle a major gorse fire on the Black Mountain in Belfast on April 8th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Over 20 firefighters have managed to extinguish a fire on Black Mountain on Tuesday night  the latest of multiple wildfires that have been spreading throughout Northern Ireland in recent days.

Firefighters from Springfield, Whitla and Westland fire stations were in attendance after the service received over a hundred calls in relation to the blaze, including concerns from local MLAs.

They battled six-foot high trees alight with hoses that spanned over half a mile across the mountainous terrain.

One woman posted online that she could smell the smoke from the fire from as far as the Falls Road.

Sinn Fein MLA Aisling Reilly expressed her shock.

She said: Black Mountain is an environmental treasure, and its absolutely shocking to see a fire burning on it tonight.

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This threatens wildlife and natural habitat on the mountain, and the surrounding community.

"I understand fire appliances are currently at the scene and I would encourage the community to allow them space while they deal with the fire.

If the fire was started deliberately, those responsible must face the full force of the law, and I would encourage anyone with information to bring it forward.

Firefighters battle a major gorse fire on the Black Mountain in Belfast on April 8th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Firefighters continuing to tackle wildfires in the Mourne Mountains

Read more People starting wildfires risk being charged with manslaughter  Muir

Meanwhile, police are deploying specialist units to survey the Mourne Mountains to help them locate potential suspects of arson.

Firefighters in Northern Ireland received 240 calls on Monday with 27 of them involving wildfires, as they continue to battle a number of gorse fires.

In a new update on Tuesday, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said over 75 firefighters had been involved in tackling a fire front of two miles in the Bloody Bridge area of the Mourne Mountains, which has now been dealt with.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but police are currently treating it as arson.

Read more Watch: Newcastle locals and tourists react to continuing wildfires

Over 16 firefighters are now additionally at the scene of another wildfire close to Bloody Bridge on the Slieve Bearnagh area.

In the Western Area Command, firefighters were called to gorse on fire in the White Bridge area of Ballygawley, Co Tyrone today at 1.57pm.

There are currently four fire appliances and over 20 firefighters battling a one-mile fire front.

Read more Stormont votes to establish climate commissioner despite cost concern

NIFRS said they also continue to respond to other emergencies in the community, including a house fire in Newry and a fire in a flat in Belfast.

Firefighters were also called to a potential aircraft incident in Enniskillen earlier today, although no action was required on arrival.

A yellow weather warning for wildfires remains in place.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to do the right thing and order a public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown.

Northern Irelands First Minister Michelle ONeill said the Secretary of State has so far failed to do so, and she has written to Sir Keir to urge him to act.

She said Mr Browns family had waited far too long for truth, justice and accountability.

The 61-year-old, who was the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Londonderry, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.

Bridie Brown, the wife of Sean Brown with his daughters (Liam McBurney/PA)

Last week, three judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast said the Governments failure to order a public inquiry into the killing was unlawful.

Northern Irelands Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said the court would give Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn four weeks to reflect upon the judgment before another hearing.

The UK Government has said it will carefully consider the court judgment.

Last week outside court, Mr Browns elderly widow Bridie said that she should not have to go to London to pursue the case further with the Supreme Court.

It was the 58th time the 87-year-old had attended a court hearing as part of her long battle to secure answers about her husbands death.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament Buildings in Belfast on Tuesday, Ms ONeill said she felt the treatment of the Brown family has been horrible, horrific, retraumatising.

When you see Mrs Brown herself go to court at each turn to try to get what is right and proper, a public inquiry for her husband. I think it is absolutely disgraceful and a shame on the British Government that they are putting this woman through this time and time again, she said.

Five judges have told the British Government to do the right thing and call a public inquiry, five times the British Government have ignored that, that cannot continue.

Mrs Browns words were very clear, very emotional in calling on Keir Starmer to do the right thing, she was also clear in saying dont make her go to London, this is an 87-year-old woman, she shouldnt have to keep campaigning in the way she is.

There needs to be a full public inquiry, this is about the Brown family and their quest for truth and justice.

This is why I felt it important to speak directly to Keir Starmer. Hilary Benn has ignored and pleas from the family so it is now time for Keir Starmer to have the opportunity to do the right thing by the Brown family.

Conor Murphy raised the Sean Brown case during a meeting with the Council of Europes Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael OFlaherty (Liam McBurney/PA)

Sinn Fein senator Conor Murphy said he had raised the case during a meeting in Strasbourg with the Council of Europes commissioner for human rights, Michael OFlaherty.

He said: I highlighted the British Governments ongoing failure to establish an independent public inquiry into Mr Browns 1997 murder, despite a previous High Court ruling directing it to do so, which was upheld last week by the Court of Appeal in Belfast which declared this refusal unlawful and a breach of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan, delivering the courts judgment, confirmed that no effective, ECHR-compliant investigation has taken place in the 27 years since Mr Brown was killed, calling the delay a shocking state of affairs.

There can be no more delays. The courts have been clear.

The British Government must act decisively and immediately to establish a full, independent public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown.

This is a matter of human rights, truth and accountability, and I have urged the Council of Europe to ensure continued international oversight.

Last year, a coroner halted an inquest into the Brown killing, expressing concern that his ability to examine the case had been compromised by the extent of confidential state material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.

Preliminary inquest proceedings had already heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

It had also been alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.

Coroner Mr Justice Kinney called on the Government to establish a public inquiry into the loyalist murder.

Mr Benn decided against holding an inquiry, arguing that the case could instead be dealt with by a new Troubles investigatory body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

Mr Browns widow challenged Mr Benns decision not to order a public inquiry and High Court judge Mr Justice Humphreys found in her favour in December and ordered the Government to establish one.

The Government then appealed against that decision to the Court of Appeal, leading to last weeks judgment.
Officers were at the Voco Hotel on Monday, April 7 carrying out inquiries in relation to a report of a suspicious substance at a residential property. Photo taken by visuals editor Kevin Scott.

Police investigating reports of a suspicious substance found at a south Belfast residential property have said it has been deemed nothing untoward.

The PSNI said that they had received report of a suspicious substance in a residential property in the University Street area.

The report was received at around 8.10pm on Monday April.

A spokesperson for the PSNI has since confirmed that following examinations by the NI Fire and Rescue Service the substance has now been deemed nothing untoward.

It comes after a police vehicle and an ambulance were pictured at the doors of Voco Hotel on Cromac Place on Monday night.

Officers were at the Voco Hotel on Monday, April 7 carrying out inquiries in relation to a report of a suspicious substance at a residential property. Photo taken by visuals editor Kevin Scott.

Watch: Newcastle locals and tourists react to continuing wildfires

It is understood that officers from the PSNI were at the hotel conducting inquiries into that investigation and that the substance was not found at the hotel.

A spokesperson for IHG Hotels and Resorts, which owns the hotel, said: We are aware of an incident involving a guest which took place off-property. This is being investigated by the relevant authorities and we are unable to comment further."

A spokesperson for the the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said they had received a call at around 8:54pm of an incident in the Cromac Place area in Belfast.

They dispatched a team and no-one was taken from the scene.
Firefighters and other emergency services at Bloody Bridge carpark, outside Newcastle Co. Down, where they have been based as they continue to tackle the wildfires in the Mourne Mountains.

NIFRS responding to a fire in the Bloody Bridge area of the Mournes

Police are deploying specialist units to survey the Mourne Mountains in order to help them locate potential suspects of arson, as wildfires continue to spread.

Firefighters in Northern Ireland received 240 calls yesterday with 27 of them involving wildfires, as they continue to battle a number of gorse fires.

In a new update on Tuesday, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said over 75 firefighters had been involved in tackling a fire front of two miles in the Bloody Bridge area of the mountains, which has now been dealt with.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but police are currently treating it as arson.

Over 16 firefighters are now at the scene of another wildfire close to Bloody Bridge on the Slieve Bearnagh area.

Three appliances are currently at the scene and we expect firefighting operations to continue into the evening, said a NIFRS spokesperson.

Please stay away from the area where firefighting operations are taking place and avoid hillwalking close to Slieve Bearnagh.

In the Western Area Command, firefighters were called to gorse on fire in the White Bridge area of Ballygawley, Co Tyrone today at 1.57pm.

There are currently four fire appliances and over 20 firefighters battling a one-mile fire front.

NIFRS said they also continue to respond to other emergencies in the community, including a house fire in Newry and a fire in a flat in Belfast.

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Firefighters were also called to a potential aircraft incident in Enniskillen earlier today, although no action was required on arrival.

A yellow warning for wildfires remains in place.

NIFRS added: Please follow our fire safety advice and stay area from these areas. If you see a fire please call 999 immediately.

PSNI District Commander for Newry, Mourne and Down Superintendent Norman Haslett added: In recent days we have seen a number of significant gorse fires across the Mournes, some of which we believe have been started deliberately.

These wild fires pose a real and present threat to the homes, farms, and lives of the people in the areas affected, not to mention the widespread devastation they are causing to our environment, and the untold harm being done to native wildlife and habitats.

The unpredictability of these wild fire also means that those setting them are risking the lives of the fire service personnel and other emergency services tasked to deal with them, and they may be putting their own lives at risk as well.

We have implemented dedicated patrolling and are utilising all the capabilities of our Air Support and other specialist units to survey the Mournes to help us locate potential suspects, spot any fires early, and alert those who may be at risk or in any imminent danger.

We are liaising with our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service to try to determine which fires have been maliciously started and people who are found to have deliberately set any of these fires should be under no illusion that they will face legal consequences for their reckless actions.

Superintendent Haslett concluded: My admiration, respect and heartfelt thanks at this time must go to the fire crews and search, rescue personnel and local police officers, who are, and have been for many days, working tirelessly in their efforts to deal with the fires and ensure the safety of our whole community.

Firefighters have tackled almost 150 blazes in the area since Thursday night.

NIFRS responding to a fire in the Bloody Bridge area of the Mournes

Firefighters continuing to tackle wildfires in the Mourne Mountains

A number of fires reported yesterday in the Sperrins and other parts of Co Tyrone, including the Sawel Mountain area of Newtownstewart and on the Carncullagh Road in the Dervock area, have all been extinguished.

On Monday, Environment Minister Andrew Muir said those who are maliciously starting wildfires in Northern Ireland are risking being charged with manslaughter.

He said: Ive got a clear message to the people of Northern Ireland, if you know who is deliberately setting these malicious fires you must report it to the police. If that is difficult for you, anonymously to Crimestoppers.

To those that are thinking of going up the mountains to light fires  dont.

You are causing a catastrophic impact to our environment but also you are putting lives and peoples homes and farms at risk.

It needs to stop.

David Harbinson, area commander at Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, at Bloody Bridge near Newcastle in Co Down (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mr Muir added: People are coming into these mountains and they think its fun, it is not.

You could end up being charged with manslaughter.

This is the risk being put to lives in terms of this area.

But also the environment  air quality, water quality, our nature and biodiversity, it is being destroyed.

Firefighters deal with a gorse fire on the Mourne Mountains on the outskirts of Newcastle on Monday. Pic: Kevin Scott

First Minister Michelle O'Neill described the destruction and "devastating", and said there is "no option" but for ministers to work to prevent wildfires.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament Buildings in Belfast on Tuesday afternoon, Ms O'Neill said: "Something more must be done, whenever we look at what has happened over recent days, it is absolutely devastating to see these fires rage right across the Mournes.

"There is no option for ministers to do anything other than action, and I think what has been called for in terms of plans are a necessity, and I'll work with the ministers responsible.

"But it's a time for everybody to put their heads together to ensure that this doesn't happen and where it can be prevented we need to do everything we can to ensure it is prevented."

Ms O'Neill added she had been due to go hiking in the Mournes herself with the conservationist group the Hiking Hens at the weekend.

"It's such a beautiful area, something that we very much value and cherish," she added.

"That's all in jeopardy because of what we see unfolding."
A cross-border healthcare scheme will be reinstated to help relieve hospital waiting list pressures in Northern Ireland, Mike Nesbitt has said.

The Health Minister told MLAs he wanted to proceed at pace with work on getting the reimbursement scheme up and running.

Before Brexit, the European Unions Cross-Border Health Directive was used to reimburse patients in Northern Ireland who were diagnosed with a clinical need and received treatment in another EU country.

This was later replaced by a direct scheme with the Republic of Ireland, which closed in 2022 due to lack of funding.

Hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland are currently the worst in the UK.

Mr Nesbitt was allocated 215 million in the recently agreed 2025/26 budget to attempt to deal with waiting list pressures.

During ministerial question time at the Northern Ireland Assembly, Sinn Fein MLA Orlaithi Flynn asked Mr Nesbitt if he had given any consideration to re-introducing a cross-border scheme.

He said: I most certainly have, yes.

There is 215 million broken into three pots of money  85 million for red flag cancer and urgent, then 80 million which is to stop the waiting lists growing any larger effectively. That is 165 million of the 215 million.

That is coming out of my budget, it is being ring-fenced by the Executive.

Tackling waiting lists is an Executive priority, I have no difficulty with that because I agree with it.

And then I am getting another 50 million in June monitoring if I can provide the right plan and I accept I need to be able to justify that spend.

Mr Nesbitt said a cocktail of measures would be needed to tackle the waiting lists crisis.

He said: There will be work that will be carried out by the health and social care trusts within the HSC system

Secondly, we will have to look to independent providers.

Thirdly, we will look to reinstate a cross-border scheme.

And we will be doing all that at pace and I will be meeting officials in the coming days to look at an options paper they are preparing for me in that regard.

Mr Nesbitt reminded MLAs that through the scheme patients would have to pay for their treatments in advance and then be reimbursed by his department.

He said: There is an equity issue that I am concerned about and that I want to see what might be done, with no guarantees, to try and mitigate the fact that there might be those who actually cant afford or cant find the means to find the money for the up-front payment.

The health minister added: We want to proceed at pace.

The cross-border scheme, I am being told, if we start next week, it could be another six to eight weeks before we are putting it in place where we start the machinery rocking.

That is getting well into this financial year and, like people who are on a waiting list, I am pretty impatient to get this done.

Ms Flynn, a member of Stormonts Health Committee, said the minister should explore all options to ensure patients get the care they need.

She said: This scheme previously enabled many patients on long waiting lists to access vital procedures  particularly knee and hip operations  which not only reduced waiting times but significantly improved quality of life for those individuals.

Given the proven success of the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive, I am pleased that the minister is taking steps to reinstate it.

Colin McGrath, the SDLPs health spokesman, welcomed the ministers announcement (Oliver McVeigh/PA)

SDLP health spokesman Colin McGrath also welcomed Mr Nesbitts comments.

He said: The cross-border health scheme, first introduced by the EU, helped thousands of people from both sides of the border access timely care in locations that suited their needs.

It was deeply regrettable that the scheme was allowed to end in 2022 due to a lack of funding and the absence of an executive, depriving people of vital care as waiting lists continued to grow.

From the day and hour this scheme ended the SDLP has been campaigning for its return and I welcome the commitment from the minister today.

We also share concerns that under the previous scheme patients had to pay upfront for their treatment and were then reimbursed. Any new scheme must address this imbalance.

Mr McGrath added: Its welcome that the minister is focusing on a solution that can quickly help people on both sides of the border access care.
Michael McGrath, EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, during a press conference alongside Taoiseach Micheal Martin (PA)

Irelands EU commissioner Michael McGrath has said the blocs countries still stand ready to negotiate with the US.

The Commissioner for Justice, Rule of Law and Consumer Protection also said that the EU needed to respond and create an incentive for the US to get around the table with us.

The leaders of EU countries are due to vote on Tuesday on a package of counter measures responding to US tariffs on steel and aluminium already in effect.

A 20% import tax will be slapped on EU goods on Wednesday as part of a major tariff announcement by US President Donald Trump last week.

The announcement has caused turmoil in the global markets as trading norms built up over decades are disrupted.

Mr McGrath said that the value of EU goods being hit by additional US tariffs is 380 billion euro, generating 80 billion euro in revenue for the US, up from the normal value of seven billion euro.

Our strong preference is for negotiations with the US, we still stand ready to negotiate, he told Newstalk Breakfast on Tuesday.

We do wish to negotiate, it is our preference because we recognise that everyone loses when it comes to a trade war and the imposition of tariffs.

As part of the EUs counter measures, 26 billion euro worth of US goods would have been targeted to match the damage by US tariffs on steel and aluminium, Mr McGrath said.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin and his wife Mary OShea with US President Donald Trump during the St Patricks Day Reception and Shamrock Ceremony in the the East Room of the White House (Niall Carson/PA)

We have listened to member states so the figure will be somewhat less than that, but it is only the first response and there will be a further response in the event of negotiations failing.

He said he needed to defend the interests of the EU and there was a need to create an incentive to pursue negotiations.

The EU does need to respond in the absence of meaningful negotiations because the tariffs that have been imposed to date, and the 20% tariffs that kick in tomorrow, are wholly unjustified.

There is no rational basis for them.

The EU-US trade relationship is broadly balanced.

Yes the EU has a surplus in goods, that is almost matched by the US surplus in service exports to the EU.

So the net position is less than 50 billion euro of a trade surplus in favour of the EU in the context of an annual trade relationship of 1.6 trillion euro, so that is around 3% of the overall value of trade.

The EU has to respond to that and will respond in the event of negotiations failing.

But we really want to avoid that scenario, because everybody loses.
A container ship sails off from a container terminal in Qingdao in eastern Chinas Shandong province (Chinatopix/AP)

China said it would fight to the end and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

The Commerce Ministry said the USs imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs on China is completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.

China, the worlds second-largest economy, has announced retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming.

The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order.

They are completely legitimate, the ministry said on Tuesday.

An aerial view of a container terminal in Qingdao (Chiantopix/AP)

The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this.

If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end, it added.

Mr Trumps threat on Monday of additional tariffs on China raised fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war.

Stock markets from Tokyo to New York have become more unstable as the tariff war worsens.

Mr Trumps threat came after China said it would retaliate against US tariffs he announced last week.

If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose additional Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th, Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!

If Mr Trump implements his new tariffs on Chinese products, US tariffs on Chinese goods would reach a combined 104%.

The new taxes would be on top of the 20% tariffs announced as punishment for fentanyl trafficking and his separate 34% tariffs announced last week.

President Donald Trump has vowed new tariffs (AP)

Not only could that increase prices for American consumers, it could also give China an incentive to flood other countries with cheaper goods and seek deeper relationships with other trading partners, particularly the European Union.

On the streets of Beijing, people said they found it hard to keep track of all the announcements, but expressed belief in their countrys ability to weather the storm.

Trump says one thing today and another tomorrow.

Anyway, he just wants benefits, so he can say whatever he wants, said Wu Qi, 37, who works in construction.

Others were less sanguine.

Paul Wang, 30, who sells stainless accessories, including necklaces, bracelets, and tongue studs to Europe, said the European market was now more important after the extra US 50% tariffs and he would be watching to see which other firms in his field would be competing in that space.

Jessi Huang and Yang Aijia, whose companies import chemicals from the US, said the tariffs, including potential Chinese retribution, could force them to close up shop.

It would be very hard and very likely to have a layoff, maybe even closing, Huang said, I might not be able to find another job if I get laid off.

China still has a range of options to strike back at the Washington, experts said, including suspending cooperation on combating fentanyl, placing higher quotas on agricultural products and going after the US trade in services in China such as finance and law firms.

Containers pile up at Kwai Chung Container terminal in Hong Kong (Chan Long/Hei/AP)

US total goods trade with China was an estimated 582 billion US dollars in 2024, making it the top trader in goods with the US.

The 2024 deficit with China in goods and services trade was between 263 billion and 295 billion US dollars.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian appeared to give short shrift to talk of dialogue with the Trump administration.

I dont think what the US has done reflects a willingness for sincere dialogue.

If the US really wants to engage in dialogue, it should adopt an attitude of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, Mr Lin said.

In Hong Kong, where stocks were slightly higher Tuesday, chief executive John Lee blasted the latest US tariffs as bullying, saying the ruthless behaviour has damaged global and multilateral trade and brought great risks and uncertainties to the world.

Mr Lee said the city would link its economy closer to Chinas development, sign more free trade agreements, attract more foreign companies and capital to Hong Kong, and support local enterprises in coping with the impact of the tariffs.
Sothebys deputy chairwoman, Middle East and head of Sothebys UAE, Katia Noun Boueiz wears the Mediterranean Blue diamond during its worldwide debut in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (Altaf Qadri/AP)

A rare blue diamond was on display on Tuesday at an exhibition of 80 million pounds worth of the worlds rarest diamonds in the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi.

The eight diamonds on display at the Sothebys exhibition have a total weight of more than 700 carats.

Visitors focused on the 10-carat blue diamond from South Africa, considered one of the most important blue diamonds ever discovered.

Sothebys expects it to be auctioned off at 20 million dollars (15.6 million) in May.

Quig Bruning, the companys head of jewels in North America, Europe and the Middle East, said they chose Abu Dhabi for the current exhibition because of the Gulf nations high interest in diamonds.

We have great optimism about the region, he said. We feel very strongly that this is the kind of place where you have both traders and collectors of diamonds of this importance and of this rarity.
Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States peer through their plane windows as they arrive at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela (Ariana Cubillos/AP)

The US Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to use an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants, but said they must receive a court hearing before they are taken from the United States.

In a bitterly divided decision, the court said Venezuelans the administration claims are gang members must be given reasonable time to go to court.

But the conservative majority said the legal challenges must take place in Texas, instead of a Washington courtroom.

The courts action appears to bar the administration from immediately resuming the flights which last month carried hundreds of migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The flights came soon after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since the Second World War to justify the deportations under a presidential proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.

The majority said nothing about those flights, which took off without providing the hearing the justices say is necessary.

In dissent, the three liberal justices said the administration has sought to avoid judicial review in this case and the court now rewards the government for its behaviour. Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined portions of the dissent.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said it would be harder for people to challenge deportations individually, wherever they are being held, and noted that the administration has also said in another case before the court that it is unable to return people who have been deported to the El Salvador prison by mistake.

We, as a Nation and a court of law, should be better than this, she wrote.

The justices acted on the administrations emergency appeal after the federal appeals court in Washington left in place an order temporarily prohibiting deportations of the migrants accused of being gang members under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act (AEA).

For all the rhetoric of the dissents, the court wrote in an unsigned opinion, the high court order confirms that the detainees subject to removal orders under the AEA are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal.

President Donald Trump (Pool/AP)

The case has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension between the White House and the federal courts. It is the second time in less than a week that a majority of conservative justices has handed Mr Trump at least a partial victory in an emergency appeal after lower courts had blocked parts of his agenda.

Several other cases are pending, including over the presidents plan to deny citizenship to US-born children of parents who are in the country illegally.

Mr Trump praised the court for its action on Monday.

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. A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA! he wrote on his Truth Social site.

The original order blocking the deportations to El Salvador was issued by US District Judge James E Boasberg, the chief judge at the federal courthouse in Washington.

Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of five Venezuelan non-citizens who were being held in Texas, hours after the proclamation was made public and as immigration authorities were shepherding hundreds of migrants to waiting airplanes.

Judge Boasberg imposed a temporary halt on deportations and also ordered planeloads of Venezuelan immigrants to return to the US, which did not happen. The judge held a hearing last week over whether the government defied his order to turn the planes around.

The administration has invoked a state secrets privilege and refused to give the judge any additional information about the deportations.

Mr Trump and his allies have called for impeaching Mr Boasberg. In a rare statement, chief justice John Roberts said impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.

The Trump administration welcomed the latest ruling, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying an activist judge in Washington, DC does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trumps authority to conduct foreign policy.

Meanwhile, the administration is also looking to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13, Todd Lyons, acting Immigration and Customs enforcement director, told reporters on Tuesday during Border Security Expo, a trade show in Arizona.
An Iranian demonstrator holds up an anti-US placard and a poster of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Iran and the United States will hold talks in the sultanate of Oman on Saturday in an attempt to jump-start negotiations over Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear programme.

Even before the talks, however, there was a dispute over just how the negotiations would go.

President Donald Trump insists they will be direct negotiations, however Irans foreign minister said they will be indirect talks through a mediator.

The difference may seem small, but it matters.

The Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/AP)

Indirect talks have made no progress since Mr Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew the US from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.

Mr 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 emphasising he still believed a new deal could be reached by writing a letter to Irans 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mr Khamenei has warned Iran would respond to any attack with an attack of its own.

Here is what to know about the letter, Irans nuclear programme and the tensions that have stalked relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Why did Mr Trump write the letter?

Mr Trump dispatched the letter to Mr 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.

President Donald Trump (AP)

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 US could target Iranian nuclear sites.

A previous letter from Mr Trump during his first term drew an angry retort from the supreme leader.

But Mr 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 programme capable of reaching the continental US.

How has Iran reacted?

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected direct negotiations with the United States over Tehrans nuclear programme.

We dont avoid talks; its the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far, Mr Pezeshkian said in televised remarks during a Cabinet meeting.

They must prove that they can build trust.

Mr Khamenei seemingly reacted to comments by Mr 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.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman 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.

A member of the Iranian Basij paramilitary force attends the annual anti-Israeli Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day rally (Vahid Salemi/AP)

The state-owned Tehran Times newspaper, without citing a source, claimed that Iran had readied missiles with the capability to strike US-related positions.

That is as the US has stationed stealth B-2 bombers in Diego Garcia within striking distance of both Iran and Yemens Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, which America has been bombing intensely since March 15.

Why does Irans nuclear programme worry the West?

Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear programme 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 kilogrammes (661lb).

The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Irans programme put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilogrammes (18,286lb) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity.

US intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons programme, but has undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows six B-2 stealth bombers parked at Camp Thunder Cove in Diego Garcia (Planet Labs PBC/AP)

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 US or Israel were to attack Iran over the issue, the country would have no choice but to move toward nuclear weapon development.

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 US?

Iran was once one of the USs 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 neighbouring 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.

The then Shah of Iran sits with Queen Elizabeth II in an open carriage in 1959 as they drive with the Duke of Edinburgh to Buckingham Palace from Victoria Station, London (PA)

Later that year, university students overran the US Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shahs extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that saw diplomatic relations between Iran and the US severed.

The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s saw the US back Saddam Hussein.

The Tanker War during that conflict saw the US launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while the US later shot down an Iranian commercial airliner.

Iran and the US 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 Mr Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the accord, sparking tensions in the Mideast that persist today.
Colin Suttons Ulster Hall talk links notorious murderer to dozens more crimes

The ace detective who snared two of the most infamous criminals in recent decades is set to reveal how he has linked them to potentially dozens of further heinous crimes.
Protests against govt policies staged across US

China Daily) 08:31, April 08, 2025

Protests were held in dozens of cities across the United States on Saturday over the policies unveiled by US President Donald Trump's administration since January.

The protests came as the world has been hit by sweeping new US tariffs introduced last week, sending shock waves through global financial markets and upsetting nations around the globe.

The protesters in the US opposed the Trump administration's policies regarding the economy, immigration and human rights.

Organized by a coalition of more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions and veterans' associations, the coordinated move led to over 1,400 protests nationwide, according to organizers.

Demonstrators gathered at state capitols, federal buildings, congressional offices, Social Security Administration headquarters, city halls and public parks.

The demonstrations featured a wide array of protest signs and slogans, such as "End Oligarchy", "Let Gaza Live" and "Save Social Security".

Some elected officials joined as well. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she doesn't want her children and others to live in a world where threats and intimidation are the means of government and values such as diversity are under attack.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has faced criticism as well as support for sweeping policy changes, including mass layoffs in federal agencies, deportation of immigrants, steep budget cuts and the imposition of tariffs on multiple countries.

Similar protests also took place over the weekend in Canada and Mexico, and in European cities, including Berlin, Paris and London, as hundreds of people took to the streets, where demonstrators voiced opposition to US trade policies.

Widespread concerns

Besides domestic policies, the US's sweeping tariff measures have also triggered widespread concerns.

In its latest move, the White House announced on Wednesday a broad new set of so-called reciprocal tariffs, imposing a 10 percent "minimum baseline tariff" and higher rates on certain trading partners.

As US Customs agents began collecting the 10 percent tariff, higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners were due to begin.

Rasha Al Joundy, a senior researcher at the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre, told China Daily that the new US tariffs will have a significant impact on the global economy, and the ramifications could continue to unfold, due to either retaliatory measures or negotiations between the US and other countries.

Global trade will be influenced, as US tariffs will affect trading routes, energy demand and prices, and by extension, the budgets of oil-producing countries, Al Joundy said, adding that "if the world enters into a full-scale trade war, the global economy could face a recession".

The White House's tariff announcement on Wednesday shook global stock markets, wiping out $5 trillion in value for S&P 500 Index companies by Friday's close, a record two-day decline.

In the face of the new round of tariffs, some countries hoped to strike a deal with the US and avert economic fallout, while others weighed countermeasures.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was seeking a telephone conversation with Trump, according to media reports, as Japan faces a 24 percent levy.

Vietnam agreed on Friday to discuss a deal with the US after the US announced a 46 percent tariff on Vietnamese imports.

Meanwhile, European Union countries will seek to present a united front in the coming days against the tariffs, likely approving the first set of targeted countermeasures on up to $28 billion of US imports, ranging from dental floss to diamonds.

The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, is expected to propose to members late on Monday a list of US products to be hit with extra duties in response to the Trump administration's steel and aluminium tariffs, rather than the broader reciprocal levies. It is set to include US meat, cereals, wine, wood, and clothing as well as chewing gum, dental floss, vacuum cleaners, and toilet paper.

Cui Haipei in Dubai, UAE, and Shao Xinying in Beijing contributed to this story.

Agencies - Xinhua

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
Wikimedia Commons

When you think of the saints, what comes to mind? The first thing that most people think of is their deep, abiding love for God above all else. If they didnt have that quality, first and foremost, they probably wouldnt have been declared saints. But what other qualities do you associate with them?

When considering the men who are saints, you might contemplate their bravery, strength and endurance. For female saints, however, you might be more inclined to focus on their kindness, generosity and purity. And while those attributes can usually describe most women saints, many of them lived their lives with the same amount of courage as their male counterparts. And they can just as easily serve as our role models.

In a world where religious freedom is in jeopardy for all traditional religions, and violence, poverty, illness and disaster continuously impact our society, courage is desired and needed by many. During a 2013 homily, Pope Francis spoke about its value in maintaining our faith. He said, Let us ask for the grace of courage, for the courage to continue on in our Christian lives, amid the day to day, and also in extreme situations.

Although meditating on the lives of brave men who are now saints can help us find that courage, we can also look at the lives of the brave women who are now saints, and we can find that same inspiration. Here are eight such saints whom we can look to for encouragement in our pursuit of courage.

1. Saint Agnes

One of the bravest saints to have ever lived became a virgin-martyr when she was only 12 or 13 years old in Rome in 304 AD. Saint Agnes is the patron saint of young girls, as well as rape survivors, the Children of Mary and chastity. Her feast day is January 21, and it is honored in a special way by the Catholic Church.

Born to Christian parents at a time when pagans ruled Rome, St. Agnes was such a beautiful young girl that many powerful men wanted to marry her. But she told all of them that Jesus was her only Spouse, and she wanted to remain pure and holy for Him. The men whom she had rejected turned her over to the authorities for being a Christian. At first, she was promised expensive gifts if she would renounce God. When that didnt work, she was put in chains. When she still refused to deny God, she was forced to live in a brothel, but an angel protected her. Because her love of God and hatred of sin was so great, she remained faithful and pure and prayed just before she was brutally executed for being a Christian.

2. Saint Joan of Arc

Another brave female saint who became a virgin-martyr when she was still a teenager was Saint Joan of Arc. She was born in France in 1412 and was killed May 30, 1431. She is one of the patron saints of France. But shes also the patron saint of soldiers, military personnel, martyrs, captives, people who have been ridiculed for their faith and women who served in WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services) and in the Womens Army Corps.

Born a Christian peasant, the saint said she received visions of Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The saints requested that she actively support Charles VII in his quest to reclaim France from British power. Through her extraordinary bravery in helping and accompanying the relief army, she helped win battles that led to the coronation of King Charles VII and to France's ultimate victory at the end of the Hundred Years War. She was captured by French noblemen who supported the British, and she was falsely tried, convicted and burned at the stake. Even though she said early in her mission that she would rather be at home spinning wool with her mother, she wanted to do what she believed was Gods will.

3. Saint Josephine Bakhita

Although she lived a much longer life than St. Agnes and St. Joan of Arc, Saint Josephine Bakhitas youth was filled with tremendous suffering. St. Josephine Bakhita was born in the Darfur region in 1869. Now the patron saint of Sudan, the courageous woman who was once a slave, endured everything from torture to racism to become a free, much-loved and revered Canossian Sister and Daughter of Charity. She passed away on February 8, 1947.

Captured and enslaved in Sudan when she was only a child, the saint was severely abused and suffered at the hands of her first four owners. Although the last two families treated her like a trusted servant, when she and the child she took care of had to stay with Canossian Sisters in Venice, Italy, she realized it was where she was meant to be. To win her freedom and entrance into the religious order, she had to find the courage to fight racism and injustice. After everything she had endured, she finally became a Daughter of Charity in 1896. She became a beloved nun who brought kindness and compassion to many.

4. Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys

Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, the first female saint from the Catholic Church in Canada, was a Religious Sister who helped care for and educate many Native Americans and Canadian colonists. Her feast day is January 12. The trailblazer also founded one of the first uncloistered religious orders for women in the world. But her great accomplishments, which served God, couldnt have been achieved without courage.

In order to establish schools for immigrants and children in the 1600s, she faced grave dangers. In addition to making three voyages to France, where she was born, to recruit Sisters to minister in hospitals and teach, she endured stark poverty, attacks from Native Americans and the dangers of what was then the Canadian wilderness. She also had to peacefully stand her ground against the Churchs desire to make her order into a cloistered one, where they would not be able to go out and minister to the sick or teach.

5. Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Another saint who found the strength and courage to live in dangerous conditions among the poorest of the poor is Saint Teresa of Calcutta. The saint shared Gods mercy and compassion with people around the world. She has also inspired many to follow in the compassionate footsteps of Jesus  our ultimate Teacher. Her feast day is September 5.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta didnt shy away from people with contagious diseases, and she didnt fear the stress and sadness that can come from constantly living with and serving people who suffered because of extreme poverty. She found the bravery she needed in her faith. She once told her Missionaries of Charity, The cup of water you give to the poor, to the sick, the way you lift a dying man, the way you feed a baby, the way in which you teach an ignorant child, the way you give medicine to a leperyour attitude and manners toward them  all this is Gods love in the world today.

6. Saint Therese de Lisieux

Born Marie Francoise Therese Martin in 1873 to Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, Saint Therese de Lisieux (also referred to as St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face) is affectionately called the Little Flower. Her feast day is October 1. A Doctor of the Church, the saints little way of love and Christian spirituality encourages people to love and serve God with a childlike trust in His eternal goodness. It has been a big inspiration to many.

But although her little way of love is filled with light, she had to find the courage to deal with the darkness and obstacles that she encountered from the time she was a toddler until she passed away at age 24. Her amazing faith endured despite losing her mother when she was only four years old and also losing four of her nine siblings. Her infinite love of Jesus also helped her to bravely endure her long battle with tuberculosis. Her last words were, My God, I love you!

7. Saint Monica

Saint Monica is the patron saint of wives and mothers. But its not because she had a blissful Christian marriage or family life. On the contrary, she had to summon all the courage she could to continuously pray for God to turn things around. In the 4th Century, the devout Christian was married to an angry pagan who was unfaithful to her. Although he taunted and lied about the saint, she never stopped praying for his conversion and the conversion of their son, Augustine.

While her husband converted shortly before he passed away, she followed her son to Italy to try to get him to convert to Christianity. Along with seeking the help of Saint Ambrose, she spent 17 years sacrificing and praying for her son. Fortunately, she lived to see her son get baptized and live a Christian life. Although she only lived for less than a year after his conversion, her love and tireless devotion helped him to not only be a great Christian, but a great saint as well.

8. Saint Adelaide of Burgundy

Born a princess in Burgundy, Italy around 931, Saint Adelaide of Burgundys father passed away when she was only six-years-old, and she was married to Lothaire, the king of Italy when she was sixteen. But her life as a queen wasnt easy. She became a widow when she was only around eighteen years old, and her husbands enemy took over the kingdom and threw her into prison.

Despite suffering in prison, she found the courage and determination she needed to escape. While she was fleeing to Germany, the devout Christian met Emperor Otho I, who had been leading an army, at the popes request, to save her. He soon became her second husband and eventually took over the kingdom. As empress, she used her power and wealth to help people. After she was widowed a second time, she continued to help people, and she had many religious houses built. The brave, virtuous, kind-hearted saint is the patron saint of second marriages and widows.

Whether they stoically faced suffering due to illness, persecution or poverty, all of these great female saints can serve as our role models as we seek courage. As eight women among the multitudes of brave women and men who have been declared saints, they encourage us  by their example  to hold on to our faith, even when its not easy to do so. And they help us to seek refuge in Jesus, Our Lord and Savior.

More on religious women here:

6 Women Every Christian Should Know

Is the Bible Good For Women

Christine Galeone is a freelance writer who writes regularly for Beliefnet, The Catholic Free Press, Community Advocate and the Telegram & Gazette. She also writes screenplays.
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PORTLAND, MAINE  Portland is restaurant-obsessed.

I cant take credit for that line, no matter how true it is  its part of a headline the Portland Press Herald ran at the end of February (just ahead of the citys annual restaurant week). The chatty article details the old ports obsession with tracking the comings and goings of restaurants, a fact the author acknowledges isnt unique to Portland but because of the citys size, a disproportionate number of places to eat  driven by access to quality ingredients, accelerated by national accolades and buoyed by tourism  its more pronounced.

Portland is definitely a city with plenty of restaurants and options for every meal of the day. The Press Heralds recent Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland in 2025, barely scratches the surface of places to eat. Im sure even a hobbit would stay well-fed during a visit.

My husband, Rob, and I have been there twice in the past three years, first for a vacation in 2023, and most recently, at the end of March to attend the New England Newspaper & Press Association conference. Its the perfect spot for tourists like us, as the city ticks all the boxes on our vacation itinerary: great food, beer and art.

Portland does not disappoint in any of those departments, but it especially excels in food. So much, that when Portland failed to produce a James Beard finalist this year  the first time in 11 years  it was headline news. But don't worry, the city is full of James Beard winners, finalists, semi-finalists and nominees.

DINNER OPTIONS

One of our favorite places to eat dinner, Fore Street, is an 11-time semifinalist and two-time nominee for outstanding restaurant. Most recently, head chef Tony Pastor was a 2023 Best Chef: Northeast semi-finalist, while chef emeritus and restaurant co-founder, Sam F. Hayward, was named 2004 Best Chef: Northeast, in addition to being a five-time outstanding chef semi-finalist and two-time nominee for Best Chef: Northeast.

Founded in 1996, Fore Street, which came on the recommendation of colleague Sally Moak (her daughter Sarah is a sous-chef), features a unique brick and soapstone hearth, with a wood-burning oven, grill and turnspit that are visible from most tables. We've eaten there twice and on our second visit, had a full view of the chefs as they prepared the evening's orders. Its menu changes daily, as it's based on the products available from local farmers, fishermen and foragers. Sustainable practices have been a key part of the restaurant since it opened in 1996.

To dine at Fore Street is an experience. During our latest visit, three whole chickens roasted on the turnspit, as the line of chefs prepped and cooked various meals. This evening, our meal began with a Puntarella Alla Romana, a salad with pecorino Romana, spiced rusk crumb and an anchovy and lemon vinaigrette followed by a charcuterie board with a silky foie gras mousse, a veal and pistachio terrine, pork rillettes and smoke pork mortadella. For our main course, Rob enjoyed a pan seared Scottish Salmon Filet with lentils, shaved fennel and a mustard and tarragon cream sauce, while I, a big fan of game meat, dined on Ligurian Braised Rabbit with farro risotto, olives, pine nuts and lemon gremolata. We shared a side of wood oven roasted baby carrots with honey thyme butter and pistachios and a cornbread topped with maple pork butter, blueberry jam and corn streusel. By the end of the meal, we were too stuffed to order dessert, which we can attest, from our last visit in 2023, is just as divine as the rest of the restaurant's offerings.

In 2023, we dined at another James Beard-winning chef's restaurant. Chef Robert Evans, 2009 Best Chef: Northeast winner (and 2007 and 2008 nominee), and co-owner Nancy Pugh, retired and sold their restaurants, Duckfat and Duckfat Frites Shack, in 2024, but both remain and are said to be on par with the iteration we encountered. We visited the Duckfat Frites Shack during a trip to Oxbow Brewery, ordering fries with a flight of dipping sauces  truffle ketchup, garlic mayo, curry mayo, Thai chili and horseradish mayo  along with an order of Lemon Curry Wings. We had hoped to sample one of the Tourtiere Meat Pies, but alas they were sold out. The fries and chicken wings were extraordinary and had we had time to revisit the brewery and adjoining Frites Shack on our last visit, I would have insisted we stop again.

And what's a visit to the Old Port without a seafood stop? We have yet to try Scales, part of the Fore Street family of restaurants, but during out 2023 visit, we dined at the Old Port Sea Grill & Raw Bar. The ambiance was romantic  the lighting low  and the staff very attentive. I ordered a selection of delectable oysters from the Raw Bar portion of the menu and finished with the Chilled Maine Lobster, a shucked 1 1/4 pound lobster served with a side of drawn butter. It was worth the splurge.

BREAKFAST AND BRUNCH

Breakfast and brunch options abound in Portland. We've tried a few.

My favorite stop in 2023, again suggested by Sally, was Hot Suppa, a "Southern Kitchen & Bar" serving scratch-made brunch in an 1860s brick Victorian in Portland's West End. There's only on-street parking and it's first come, first served, so anticipate a wait if you ever choose to go. As a party of two, we were able to grab seats at the bar. I had a hard time choosing what to order, as the menu is packed with so many great choices  chicken and waffle, fried green tomato eggs Benedict, biscuit and sausage gravy, shrimp and grits and corned beef hash are just a few. I settled on the chicken and waffle and a mimosa. I'm a connoisseur of chicken and waffle  I eat it whenever the occasion arises (the best I've had was in Virginia)  and this meal did not disappoint.

On our most recent visit, we decided to stop by The Holy Donut, which I'd read about in Down East magazine on several occasions. This family-owned business opened its first location in Portland in 2012 and has expanded to a second location in Portland (the Commercial Street location we visited) as well as shops in Brunswick, Scarborough and Arundel. The doughnuts are made with 50 percent riced potatoes and 50 percent King Arthur Baking flour (there's gluten-free options too). My chocolate stout glazed doughnut was a heavenly treat. We highly recommend a visit.

LUNCH CHOICES

On our most recent trip, we stopped at Black Cow Burgers & Fries, a scratch kitchen that butchers and grinds all its meat, as well as peels, hand cuts and double blanches all its fries. Everything from the pickles and sauces to the bread and ice cream are made on-site. I enjoyed a mushroom Swiss smash burger with a Bordelaise sauce and a side of sour cream and onion fries. The fries were not covered in sour cream, but a fine powder mixture that reminiscent of Parmesan but with all the flavor of sour cream and onions. I highly recommend the fries.

On another afternoon, when I was on break from the conference, we choose to stop at a nearby tavern for a some afternoon fare. Mash Tun was everything it promised  35 taps with a small offering of burgers, tacos, lobster roll and local oysters. The ambiance was a mix of hipster hangout and dive bar, with seating at the bar or at giant wooden picnic table. I choose a trio of shrimp tacos and was not disappointed. Zesty and full of flavor, these tacos hit the spot and were served up in record time.

I'd also recommend grabbing a fish sandwich or burger at Bissel Brothers, a brewery with some great beer options. When you're done at the brewery you can pop into the International Cryptozoology Museum located right next door. The $10 admission is worth every penny and you'll not only get to see some really cool casts of Bigfoot prints, but you'll also learn about some cryptids local to Portland.
GREAT BARRINGTON  State fire officials say they have recently obtained new information in an ongoing investigation into whether a wildfire that spread across East Mountain last fall was started accidentally or intentionally.

Information recently provided to the Office of the State Fire Marshal about the cause of the Butternut Fire is the reason why Massachusetts State Police assigned to the marshals office is continuing its investigation, wrote Glenn M. Rooney, general counsel for the state Executive Office of Public Safety and the Department of Fire Services.

And it is for this reason that pending investigation reports cannot be released to the public yet, Rooney wrote in a response on Monday to a public records request last week from The Eagle.

It is the Departments position, Rooney said, that the disclosure of investigatory materials related to an ongoing investigation prior to its conclusion could harm ongoing investigation efforts by the Department and/or other investigative entities.

Reports will be released after the investigation is complete, he added.

The wildfire began to spread across the mountain on the night of Nov. 18, and took a week to contain. It consumed nearly 1,700 acres in mostly woodlands.

The Butternut Fire also threatened homes to the north and south and spread into Sheffield, threatening property there. There were no injuries reported or property damaged.

But the fire, which started amid a severe drought and a ban on outdoor fires, required 100 firefighters a day, as well as water drops from aircraft and constant monitoring.

Early on Great Barrington Fire Chief Scott Turner said he believed the fire started just below the steep area near Quarry Street. Police began a criminal investigation that week and continued to follow leads.

Turner also said that the size of the wildfire, and other factors, will make it difficult to pinpoint the exact cause.

The investigators didnt find obvious evidence of a campfire or other ignition source, Turner said last year, so we really cant give a definite answer, unfortunately.

As of late December, state fire officials said they still were not certain whether the fire was accidental or intentional.

We have not ruled out a suspicious fire, Office of the State Fire Marshal spokesman Jake Wark said at the time. But we have also not ruled out any potential factor.

Wark had noted that fire does destroy evidence. But it also leaves evidence. He also said that the point of greatest damage tends to be the place where it started.

Rooneys letter said that the new information given to the authorities may require them to interview or re-interview existing or new witnesses.

Therefore, the disclosure of certain information during the open investigation and before the statute of limitations has passed, Rooney wrote, could hinder the Department in its investigative efforts since, for example, additional witnesses or existing witnesses could be added to the investigation and the Department wants to ensure these parties are and/or remain candid.
LEE  In the past month, Henrys Electric has seen an uptick in home appliance orders from homeowners and contractors planning kitchen remodels. But these are not your average orders  many purchases are being made months or even a year before the home will be ready for installation.

There is a lot of panic regarding the tariffs, said Camryn LaBier, the sales and marketing manager for home appliances. There are people who are buying because they don't know what's going to happen. They dont want all these building costs to increase.

Its been less than a week since President Donald Trump announced his expansive reciprocal tariffs last Wednesday, including a 10 percent baseline tax on all imports and steeper levies on nations with trade surpluses with the U.S., such as China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

This means goods imported from these countries will be taxed at a much higher rate, which is expected to hike prices for everyday items. According to research from the Yale Budget Lab, the new tariffs could cost the average household $3,800 this year.

Potential price hikes have left many consumers fearful and uncertain, with some rushing to buy big-ticket items before they can feel the effects of the tariffs, and others just trying to figure out how to balance their budget.

Like most consumer electronics, household appliances are projected to see price increases as they rely on semiconductor chips produced abroad. Many of the most popular brands, such as LG, GE and Thermador, are manufactured in other countries.

Although Henrys Electric has not yet had to increase appliance prices, LaBier said several brands, including GE Appliances, LG and Whirlpool, have announced price surges ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent for the next couple of months.

We were told to expect pricing that was similar to 2020, LaBier said.

The store, located at 252 Main St. in Lee, is part of a national buying group, which LaBier said began buying more inventory than usual in January to prepare for the possible effects of tariffs.

So luckily, our prices aren't gonna go up right away, but, probably by mid summer we'll see most of that hit, LaBier said.

Tariffs are also expected to push already-rising grocery prices to climb even higher, as the U.S. receives 51 percent of its fresh fruit from Mexico, 69 percent and 20 percent of its fresh vegetables from Mexico and Canada respectively, and 85 percent of its seafood from other countries, according to the USDA.

Food industry analyst Phil Lempert told NPR that "probably almost half of the products in a supermarket  about 40,000 products  will be affected by these tariffs, whether it's the entire product or just an ingredient."

Liliana Hess, a BJs member services desk employee at the Pittsfield store, said she has noticed customers making larger purchases since the tariffs were announced.

Some people go out with carts full of stuff, she said of shoppers leaving the Hubbard Avenue store where members can buy items in bulk.

Now that they are a few dollars cheaper, Hess said many people have been stocking up on eggs.

However, Celina Matty, a Pittsfield resident, said she is still cutting back on eggs as she manages her familys expenses with rising prices.

Now were more on a budget, its really hard, Matty said on Monday outside of BJ's. We have a very big family so now everything is the food.

Matty said she now has to research stores ahead of time and see which has the cheapest option of what she needs, as opposed to going to the most convenient place like she used to.

To save money, Matty even traded in one of her beloved trucks, which was guzzling about $400 in gas a month, for a hybrid Toyota Camry about a year ago.

We loved our vehicles, but not for the price of gas and what it was costing us, Matty said. It was just becoming too much. Its stressful.

Many others in the Berkshires have also traded in or bought new cars. However, its not in hopes of offsetting gas costs, but offsetting expected tariff-related price increases.

Sales at Bachettis Auto at 1924 N Main St. in Sheffield have surged over the past month, especially for lower-priced models. Overall purchases have jumped at least 25 percent compared to this time last year, according to sales associate Art Davis.

They're nervous that prices are going to go higher and higher, so thats whats spurring [the increase], Davis said of customers.

Their concerns are not unfounded: Prices will go up, owner Greg Bachetti said, though he expects the increase to only last a couple of months.

Automobiles are high up on the list of goods expected to get pricier very soon with the Trump administrations 25 percent tariffs on vehicles and auto parts imported into the U.S.

However, rushing to trade in your car to beat the price hikes may not pay off, because just like new and used vehicle costs, the value of your trade in is also inflated, Bachetti explained.

So people think Oh, Im paying 22 grand for a car I could have bought six months ago for [$20,000], but you're getting three grand [for the trade-in car] instead of a thousand, it's the same difference, Bachetti said. If you dont have a trade, yeah, I get that.

Bachetti said he will not raise prices for the cars currently on the lot, but prices for cars as they come in will likely rise as the cost of getting more cars has gone up.
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Ruth Bass is an award-winning journalist. Her website is ruthbass.com . The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle.
Isaiah, noted as the Messianic prophet, wrote, The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me  to proclaim the year of the LORDs favor, and the day of vengeance of our God (Isaiah 61:1-2). This verse and its context gives us much to unpack. One of our questions is, what is the year of the Lord's favor"?

In the Old Testament, the year of the Lords favor was a time when the Israelites were forgiven their debts. Also known as the year of jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-13), this, the fiftieth year, was to be holy as unto the Lord. And in that year, each of Gods people was to return to their people and to their land. They could not sow nor reap, but they could eat of the produce of the land. The Lord promised to provide enough for three years sustenance before the year of jubilee began.

Author Hope Bollinger tells us, During the Day of Atonement (Numbers 36:4), the blowing of a rams horn would indicate the start of the year of Jubilee. The Israelites would dedicate this year of rest to God, acknowledging that God would provide for their needs.

What Does the Bible Say about the Year of Jubilee?

The Bible tells us, And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants (Leviticus 25:10). Later in the same chapter, Scripture says, You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly (Leviticus 25:45-26). And so, Gods people were freed from the debt of slavery.

The lessons for the people are: everything belongs to the Lord (Leviticus 25:23; Psalm 50:10), He will provide for our needs, and most importantly, the year of the Lords favor extends far beyond a release of physical debts.

Isaiah 61 is known as one of the Old Testaments Messianic prophecies, and Isaiah 61:1-3 illustrates the Lords earthly work. Modern Reformation writer Andrew Menkis cites J. Alec Motyer, an Old Testament scholar and pastor, who says the hope of a Messiah is one of five key elements unifying Isaiah's vision. Within the vision Motyer demonstrates that Isaiah paints three distinct portraits of the Messiah: the King (1-37), the Servant (38-55), and the Anointed Conqueror (56-66). Each unique portrait shares significant characteristics which will be fulfilled in one Messiah. For example, in each portrait, the Messiah has the Spirit and word of God and is characterized by righteousness. Each is of the line of David, includes the Gentiles as well as Jews in their mission, and has the Messianic enigma. In other words, each portrait hints at the human and divine nature of the Messiah.

For the afflicted ones in Isaiahs time, the prophecy of salvation and deliverance coming from the Messiah is their hope.

Various commentaries articulate this phrase (the year of the Lords favor) to mean the time when God was pleased to display His good favor to humanity. The Apostle Paul calls this the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4). As it always does, the Old Testament points to the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ  the Messiah.

What Did Jesus Mean When He Quoted Isaiah 61:2?

Here we find the meaning of Pauls quote from Galatians 4:4. Considering Isaiah 61, Christ is portrayed as the anointed Victor, for one of Isaiahs dominant themes is the coming Messiah and His glorious era.

In Luke 4:18-21, Jesus is speaking to the assemblage in the synagogue in Nazareth,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lords favor. And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And He began to say to them, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

The text tells us Jesus spoke with gracious words (v. 22) and the people spoke well of Him and marveled at His words. But Isaiahs prophecy said the anointed One had a double mission, that of salvation and vengeance (Isaiah 61:2b). Jesus then proclaimed salvation extends to the Gentiles by revisiting how Elijah and Elisha brought healing to people outside the Jews (Luke 4:25-27). When Jesus earlier said Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing, He refuted the Jews belief they were the only ones to have the Lords favor. After He spoke of the prophets, they were filled with wrath and drove Him out of town to throw Him down a cliff. But Jesus supernaturally passed through the midst of them and went away (vv. 28-30).

What the unbelievers understood and rebelled against is Jesus proclamation that He is the One who blesses and judges all peoples, that He is the long-awaited Messiah. They knew the scroll He read and they knew Isaiah 61:2b says the anointed One will bring the day of the Lords vengeance. As the righteous gospel, Jesus is the year of the Lords favor  the year of jubilee. The word, year as it is used here is not a specific time frame on the calendar; it specifies the age of grace until Jesus returns. (The age of grace is the time period between Christs first advent and His Second Coming.)

All who trust in Him as the Messiah will be saved, for He has indeed given us His favor and His promise to provide for our spiritual needs  salvation.

You will notice Jesus did not quote the last part of Isaiah 61:2, which also proclaims, the day of vengeance of our God. That day would find a twofold fulfillment, with 70 A.D. being the first part, and Jesus Second Coming comprising the second part. In 70 A.D., Rome destroyed Jerusalem, which Jesus said would happen in Matthew 24:1-28 (cf. Mark 13:1-23 and Luke 21:5-24). The Jewish nation was judged because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah (Mark 4:10-12; 12: 1-12; Luke 24:25-27; John 1:11; 5:38-47).

Because of the twofold fulfillment of Gods judgment of Israel and the nations, the year of the Lords favor is not relegated solely to the time of Christs second coming.

Why Does the New Testament Quote so Much of the Old Testament?

By quoting so much of the Old Testament, Jesus and His Apostles confirmed the Old Testament as authoritative and prophetic. Because the Bible is one continuous redemptive narrative, we see how God has centered everything on Christ, the promised Messiah.

For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authoritiesall things were created through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16).

The oft-quoted adage is true: The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. By quoting the Old Testament, Jesus and the writers of the New Testament (or Covenant), reveal a deeper expository meaning of the Old Testament. When quoting the Old Testament, the New Testament affirms Gods character and His redemptive purposes.

Further, the history written in the Old Testament adds affirmation to the claims of Christ. He is Who he says He is, the promised Messiah. The Old Testament confirms fulfilled prophecy.

Why Should Christians Study the Book of Isaiah?

We gain a better understanding of Gods sovereignty and how He ruled in the nations in times past when we study the book of Isaiah. We also see how Christ may exercise His rule and reign in todays nations.

Reading Isaiahs prophecies about Christ grows our faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Our hope in Gods sovereignty strengthens as we see how He fulfills His promises and prophecies. Finally, when we read Isaiah  and indeed the whole Bible  our love for the Lord grows.

Every jot and tittle of Scripture is presented for our benefit and for Gods glory. Even the long genealogies give us evidence of how the Lord God assured the lineage of Christ would never be broken. Gods promises and prophecies will always come to fruition. If youve been avoiding the Old Testament, read through it with a focus on Christ and the prophecies concerning Him. You will come away with a greater love for the Lord and a greater understanding of His redemptive plan.

Photo credit: Getty Images/Mint Images - Tim Robbins

Lisa Loraine Baker is the multiple award-winning author of Someplace to be Somebody. She writes fiction and nonfiction. In addition to writing for the Salem Web Network, Lisa serves as a Word Weavers mentor and is part of a critique group. Lisa and her husband, Stephen, a pastor, live in a small Ohio village with their crazy cat, Lewis.
Moses was a descendant of Jacob, and he was born in slavery in Egypt. Jacobs family had all moved to Egypt because of a great famine, and after their death, their descendants became so numerous those in power felt threatened by their size. So they oppressed the Israelites, also called the Hebrews, forcing them to do hard labor for the king of Egypt, called Pharoah.

Moses was supposed to have been killed along with other infant Hebrew boys, but instead he was adopted by the Pharoahs daughter.

As an adult, he became outraged by the Egyptian treatment of the Hebrews and, after witnessing an Egyptian beating one of his own people, he killed the Egyptian. But word of this spread, and Moses fled to the wilderness. Eventually, he settled down in Midian and married a Midianite woman. Meanwhile, God was moved by the groaning of his people, Israel, who were suffering under Pharoah.

There in the wilderness, God appeared to Moses, identifying himself as the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and revealing his name to be I am (Exodus 3:6-14). God then urged Moses to go to Pharoah and bring Gods people out of Egypt.

But, God said, I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go (Exodus 3:19-20).

Further, in Exodus 7:5, God promises, The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.

This is exactly what happens. God sends a plague of blood and of frogs, of gnats and of flies. He sends a plague on livestock and of boils and hail and locusts and darkness, and finally he sends a plague on the firstborn, rescuing only the Israelite firstborn sons but killing all Egyptian firstborn.

So Pharoah let the Israelites go. But God didnt stop there, for he intended for Egypt to see his full glory.

God then promises to harden Pharaohs heart, and that he will pursue the Israelites into the wilderness. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, God pledged in Exodus 14:4.

Indeed, the Egyptians pursued the Israelites to the Red Sea, where God enabled Moses to part the sea and the Israelites to escape to safety. When the Egyptians were halfway across, God sent the seawaters crashing over them, and none of the army survived.

The Bible tells us, And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant (Exodus 14:31).

God fulfilled his promise and enabled the people to escape slavery in Egypt. And eventually, God brought them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land.

Photo credit: Getty Images/kevron2001
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Oral semaglutide (14 mg) demonstrates superior reduction in cardiovascular events

April 08, 2025 | Tuesday | News

Oral Semaglutide is currently commercially marketed in 45 countries

Novo Nordisk recently presented the full results from the SOUL cardiovascular outcomes trial, demonstrating that oral semaglutide significantly reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and/or chronic kidney disease (CKD).

These new data from the phase 3b trial were featured during a late-breaking clinical trial session at the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) Annual Scientific Session and Expo in Chicago, US and simultaneously published in New England Journal of Medicine.

The SOUL trial achieved its primary endpoint, demonstrating a 14% reduction in risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in adults with type 2 diabetes and CVD and/or CKD when treated with oral semaglutide compared to placebo.

Each component of MACE, being nonfatal myocardial infarction (26%) and nonfatal stroke (12%), CV death (7%) contributed to the risk reduction. Notably, among trial participants from the Asian region, the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) reduction was even more pronounced at 27%.

Based on data from the SOUL clinical trial, Novo Nordisk submitted a label extension application for oral semaglutide, which has been accepted for review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A decision is anticipated in 2025.

Dr V. Mohan, Chairman, Dr. Mohans Diabetes Specialities Centre, said "This data reinforces oral semaglutides groundbreaking role as the first and only approved oral glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) to achieve a significant reduction in cardiovascular risk within this high-risk population. This achievement enhances the existing standards of care for managing both T2DM and CVD, offering patients an innovative and effective therapeutic intervention. The observed impact of oral semaglutide on cardiovascular outcomes underscore its potential to address a critical unmet need in type 2 diabetes and cardiometabolic disease management.
Kashiv BioSciences secures $150 M debt financing from GoldenTree Asset Management

April 08, 2025 | Tuesday | News

To support working capital requirements, R&D, and other business purposes

Kashiv BioSciences, a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company based in India and the US, has entered into a senior secured credit agreement with GoldenTree Asset Management as the sole lender. The $150 million credit facility supports Kashiv BioSciences in advancing its world-class infrastructure, enabling the company to pursue its research, development, and manufacturing strategy in both the US and India.

Kashiv is expanding its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Piscataway, New Jersey (8,500L capacity) and Pipan, India (37,000L capacity), dedicated to monoclonal antibody (mAb) drug substance manufacturing.

The new facility in Pipan, Ahmedabad, will be one of Indias largest single-use commercial manufacturing facilities of monoclonal antibodies, serving customers in the US, Europe, and rest-of-world markets. The new credit facility will also support working capital requirements, research and development (R&D), and other business purposes.

Dr Sandeep Athalye, Global CEO of Kashiv Biosciences said, The favourable structure of this debt facility will allow Kashiv to confidently expand its manufacturing capabilities in India and the U.S. and advance its pipeline of biosimilar candidates. This financing comes at a pivotal time of growth and will allow the company to have the financial flexibility to execute on our near- and long-term growth objectives.
Future of MedTech and Medical Services in India: A Transformational Leap

April 08, 2025 | Tuesday | Views | By Mahesh Makhija- Founder, Chairman, and Managing Director of QMS Medical Allied Services

Although India is still in the early stages of fully integrating medical technology into its healthcare system, the momentum is undeniable

The Indian MedTech and healthcare services industry stands at the brink of a groundbreaking transformation. Fuelled by rapid technological advancements, progressive government initiatives, and a substantial increase in healthcare expenditure, the MedTech sector is primed for unprecedented expansion.

The Union Budget 2025 laid a strong foundation for a more resilient and advanced healthcare ecosystem, thereby setting the stage for remarkable progress in Point-of-Care (PoC) technology, AI-driven diagnostics, and cutting-edge digital healthcare solutions in the coming years.

Union Budget 2025: A Boost for Healthcare

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamans announcement of an 11% increase in healthcare expenditure from the previous fiscal year signals the governments reinforced commitment to strengthening the sector. With rising healthcare demands and an evolving MedTech landscape, this boost in spending is both timely and necessary.

This budgetary allocation is designed to:

Strengthen healthcare infrastructure to provide better accessibility and quality of care across the country.

Promote medical tourism, thereby making India a preferred global destination for high-quality, affordable treatments.

Encourage research and development (R&D) in medical technology to develop cutting-edge solutions.

Boost public-private partnerships to ensure government policies and private sector capabilities work together for better healthcare services.

Although this is a step in the right direction, experts believe that there are gaps that require urgent attention. Industry professionals expected bigger incentives for R&D in medical technology, extensive tax benefits for private healthcare investments, and increased support for manufacturing medical devices in India under the 'Make in India' initiative. Without these, India's MedTech sector may struggle to keep pace with global counterparts, limiting its potential to become a true leader in healthcare innovation.

The Digital Healthcare Revolution

One of the most transformative changes in Indias healthcare sector is the adoption of digital healthcare technologies. AI-driven diagnostics and automation are reshaping how doctors identify and treat diseases, making healthcare more precise and efficient. By minimizing misdiagnoses, accelerating treatment decisions, and optimizing medical workflows, AI is alleviating the strain on Indias overburdened healthcare system. With rising patient loads, these intelligent solutions enable doctors to deliver faster and more accurate care, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

Another significant advancement is the growth of telemedicine and IoT-enabled (Internet of Things) medical devices. These technologies are bridging the gap between patients and healthcare providers, particularly in remote and underserved areas. Through virtual consultations, individuals can access expert medical advice without the need for long and costly travel. IoT-enabled medical devices further enhance patient monitoring, allowing real-time tracking of vital health parameters and early detection of potential health issues.

As digital healthcare platforms gain widespread adoption, Indias healthcare system is evolving into one that is more accessible, patient-centric, and cost-effective. By integrating these innovations, the country is not only addressing healthcare disparities but also paving the way for a future where high-quality medical care is within reach for all.

The Rise of Point-of-Care Technology and AI

PoC technology, combined with the IoT, is redefining modern healthcare. Patients can now track vital health parameters from the comfort of their homes, drastically reducing dependency on traditional lab visits. This paradigm shift, powered by AI and ML (Machine Learning) integration, is revolutionizing early detection, thus enabling faster interventions, and significantly improving patient outcomes.

The global PoC diagnostics market is projected to soar to $85.6 billion by 2027, with a robust CAGR of 9.4%. Meanwhile, AI-driven diagnostics have enhanced accuracy by 30-40%, slashing misdiagnoses rates and accelerating treatment decisions. The exponential rise in smart wearables and remote monitoring devices is paving the way for real-time health analytics and predictive care solutions, making proactive healthcare more accessible than ever before.

For Indias overburdened public healthcare system, AI-driven early screening through PoC technology presents a game-changing opportunity. By shifting the focus from reactive to preventive care, this advancement can ease pressure on hospitals, optimise resource utilization, and ensure swifter, more efficient treatment for millions.

India as a Global Medical Tourism Hub

India is rapidly establishing itself as a leading destination for medical tourists from around the world. With internationally accredited private hospitals, cutting-edge medical technology, and treatment costs that are significantly lower than those in Western countries, India is attracting a growing number of patients seeking high-quality healthcare at affordable prices. The countrys medical tourism industry is projected to reach $13 billion by 2026, driven by increasing global demand for advanced yet cost-effective medical treatments.

Several factors make India a preferred choice for international patients:

Highly qualified doctors and surgeons trained in globally recognized institutions, offering expertise in a wide range of medical specialties.

State-of-the-art hospitals equipped with world-class infrastructure and the latest innovations in medical technology, ensuring high success rates in complex procedures.

Affordable healthcare, with treatments costing 50-70% less than in countries like the U.S., U.K., and other Western nations, making it a cost-effective alternative for patients without insurance or those facing long wait times in their home countries.

Comprehensive alternative medicine options, including Ayurveda, naturopathy, and holistic therapies, which attract wellness-focused travellers looking for integrative treatment approaches.

Additionally, Indias private hospitals are making significant investments to improve patient care, infrastructure, and service quality. Over the next two years, private healthcare spending is expected to grow by 12-15%, further boosting the MedTech and pharmaceutical industries. Many hospitals are also enhancing their international patient services by offering visa assistance, language support, concierge services, and specialized medical tourism packages.

As India continues to refine its healthcare ecosystem with advanced medical procedures, cutting-edge research, and superior patient services, it is well on its way to becoming a global leader in medical tourism and a preferred destination for high-quality, affordable healthcare.

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission: A Game Changer

The Indian government is also taking major steps to digitize healthcare through the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). This initiative is transforming how medical records and patient data are managed. By using cloud computing and encrypted digital systems, ABDM will:

Enable seamless transfer of patient information between hospitals and clinics.

Improve transparency in medical records, allowing patients to access their data easily.

Reduce medical errors, unnecessary tests, and treatment duplications, making healthcare more efficient and precise.

By streamlining patient data management, ABDM is laying the foundation for a smarter, more efficient, and globally competitive healthcare system in India.

The Road Ahead for Indias MedTech Industry

Although India is still in the early stages of fully integrating medical technology into its healthcare system, the momentum is undeniable. With strong government backing, rapid technological advancements, and increasing private sector investments, the country is on track to become a global leader in healthcare innovation.

The widespread adoption of AI-driven diagnostics, Point-of-Care technology, and digital healthcare solutions is set to transform the industry. These advancements will enhance efficiency, improve accessibility, and lower costs, making high-quality healthcare more attainable for millions. Beyond serving its growing population, Indias progress in MedTech will also strengthen its position as a key player in the international healthcare market.

India is not just embracing a healthcare revolutionit is shaping the future of global medical innovation.

Mahesh Makhija- Founder, Chairman, and Managing Director of QMS Medical Allied Services


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Some 75 firefighters were involved in quelling a major wildfire in the Mourne Mountains in Co Down.

The blaze in the Bloody Bridge area, which raged across a two-mile front, was described as dealt with on Tuesday evening while the cause remained under investigation.

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However, firefighters were tackling another blaze close to Bloody Bridge in the Slieve Bearnagh area, with three appliances at the scene late on Tuesday afternoon and operations expected to continue into the evening.

The continuing blazes came after a major incident was declared at the weekend when a large wildfire close to the Mournes led to homes being evacuated. That blaze is being treated as arson.

Firefighters have tackled almost 150 blazes in the area since Thursday night.

An amber wildfire warning is expected to remain in place until the end of the week, with the forecast for increasing temperatures in Northern Ireland heightening concerns of further ignitions.

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Police said they were using air support and other specialist units to survey the area for potential suspects, to spot fires early, and alert those who may be at risk.

First Minister Michelle ONeill described the fires as devastating (Rebecca Black/PA)

First Minister Michelle ONeill described the destruction and devastating, and said there is no option but for ministers to work to prevent wildfires.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament Buildings in Belfast on Tuesday afternoon, Ms ONeill said: Something more must be done, whenever we look at what has happened over recent days, it is absolutely devastating to see these fires rage right across the Mournes.

There is no option for ministers to do anything other than action, and I think what has been called for in terms of plans are a necessity, and Ill work with the ministers responsible.

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But its a time for everybody to put their heads together to ensure that this doesnt happen and where it can be prevented we need to do everything we can to ensure it is prevented.

Ms ONeill added she had been due to go hiking in the Mournes herself with the conservationist group the Hiking Hens at the weekend.

Its such a beautiful area, something that we very much value and cherish, she added.

Thats all in jeopardy because of what we see unfolding.

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A Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) spokesperson said firefighters also tackled wildfires in other areas on Tuesday.

In Western Area Command, firefighters were called to gorse on fire in the White Bridge area of Ballygawley, Co Tyrone at 1.57pm, they said.

There are currently four fire appliances and over 20 firefighters battling a one-mile firefront.

Whilst firefighters have been in attendance at these wildfire incidents, NIFRS continues to respond to other emergencies in the community including a house fire in Newry and a fire in a flat in Belfast.

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Firefighters were also called to a potential aircraft incident in Enniskillen earlier today, however, no action was required on arrival.

A yellow warning for wildfires is in place. Please follow our fire safety advice and stay area from these areas. If you see a fire please call 999 immediately.

Superintendent Norman Haslett, PSNI district commander for Newry, Mourne and Down, said wildfires pose a real threat to the homes, farms and lives of the people in the areas affected, as well as to the environment and wildlife.

He said officers believe some of the recent blazes were started deliberately.

We have implemented dedicated patrolling and are utilising all the capabilities of our air support and other specialist units to survey the Mournes to help us locate potential suspects, spot any fires early, and alert those who may be at risk or in any imminent danger, he said.

We are liaising with our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service to try to determine which fires have been maliciously started and people who are found to have deliberately set any of these fires should be under no illusion that they will face legal consequences for their reckless actions.
The family of a cargo handler who fell to his death from an aircraft at Dublin Airport over six years ago have expressed outrage at details of the circumstances of his death revealed at an inquest.

Richard Gracey (64) a father of five from Balbriggan, Co Dublin fell headfirst to the ground from a height of five metres while unloading cargo from an Air France aircraft on the morning of November 24th, 2018.

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Mr Gracey, a native of Andersonstown, Belfast who had worked as a cargo handler with Swissport Ireland since April 2005, was rushed by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

A postmortem showed he suffered a fractured skull and died as a result of severe brain injuries consistent with a fall from a height.

In a statement following the hearing, the Gracey family said they were outraged over the failures of Swissport and Air France in maintaining and upholding a safe work environment".

They claimed they as well his work colleagues had to endure a traumatic and devastating six and a half years with no knowledge or closure.

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A verdict of a workplace-related fatality was returned by a jury of eight women and one man at an inquest into the death of Mr Gracey at Dublin District Coroners Court on Tuesday.

The jury also acknowledged and expressed satisfaction with changes made to operating procedures by Swissport since the fatal incident but recommended safety training for staff should be offered on a more frequent basis.

The inquest heard evidence from several other Swissport workers who were helping to unload the Boeing 777 aircraft which had arrived on a flight from Chicago at around 10.15am.

The driver of a loader, Alan Menton, outlined how he was waiting to manoeuvre his vehicle into place when Mr Gracey appeared to fall over the top part of a safety net and made a grab for it before falling forward onto the ground.

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Another colleague, Cian ONeill, said he saw Mr Gracey with one hand on the safety net and bending down just before he fell out through the cargo door.

Evidence

An inspector with the Health and Safety Authority, Brian Morris, gave evidence that an investigation had found that Swissports standard operating procedures had not been followed correctly on the day.

Mr Morris explained that the sills on the cargo door had been deployed from inside the aircraft before a loader had been manoeuvred into its final position for unloading the cargo, which was not in accordance with proper procedures.

The inquest heard the final position of the loader should only leave a safety gap of 8-10cm at a maximum between the vehicle and the aircraft before the sills were deployed.

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However, Mr Morris said there was a gap of 2.7 metres between them at the time of the fatal incident.

Questioned by counsel for the deceaseds family, Anthony Walker SC, Mr Morris said the HSA investigation had found that the risk of someone falling from the cargo door would have been reduced if the loader had been in its proper position.

Mr Morris agreed that a safety net across the cargo door was not designed to stop a human physically falling through it.

He said the use of a harness by workers unloading cargo from an aircraft was a non-industry standard".

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In March 2023, Swissport Ireland was convicted and fined 250,000 at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court over the circumstances of Mr Graceys death for breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

The company pleaded guilty to two charges including failing to provide adequate fall prevention measures in relation to the off-loading of the cargo plane.

Victim impact statement

In a victim impact statement, Mr Graceys wife, Therese, told the court that her husband had often come home from work describing his workplace situation as accidents waiting to happen".

The familys solicitor, Dermot McNamara, confirmed that they also subsequently reached an undisclosed settlement with Swissport Ireland, Boeing and Air France in related civil proceedings in the High Court.

A consultant engineer who assisted the HSA investigation, Damien Power, said he had identified two defects with the aircraft near the vicinity of the fatal incident which were possible contributory factors.

Mr Power said a broken pin had resulted in a guide shoe popping out on the floor of the sill which could create a trip hazard.

The witness also found that one of the four anchor points for the 1.2-metre-high safety net placed across the cargo door, while not defective, created the impression of being properly deployed when it could be released if some force had been applied to it.

The safety net, whose function is to act as a warning strap, had been put in place by ground handlers at OHare Airport in Chicago.

In reply to a suggestion by Mr Walker that the safety net was not capable of stopping someone from falling from the aircraft, Mr Power he had carried out tests which showed it could hold a weight of 107 kg.

Counsel for Swissport, Alison Foynes BL, pointed out that the loader was not linked to the cause of death and a nolle prosequi had been entered about it in the related criminal proceedings.

The inquest heard that the width of the loader did not match the width of the aircrafts cargo door and created a gap at one side of the opening.

Under cross-examination by Ms Fynes BL, however, Mr Power accepted that the width of the loader was not a factor in the fatal incident.

A senior representative of Swissport, Sinead Kelly, told the inquest that the company had a robust safety management system in place.

The family of the late Richard Gracey, from left, his children, Aaron, Laura, Nina, Sarah and Kevin and wife Therese (wife centre with blue scarf). Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins

Ms Kelly said its procedures had been changed since Mr Graceys death so that sills of cargo doors should now only be opened from outside an aircraft by the operator of a loader.

She also pointed out that there had been no near miss safety incidents of a similar nature in over 500,000 ground operations since January 2022.

At the opening of the inquest Ms Gracey, who formally identified her husbands body to gardai, told the hearing that he had not been due to work that day.

Ms Gracey said she had last seen her husband on the night before his death when he had been in good form.

Following the inquest, she said she did not believe the fine imposed by the court on Swissport reflected the seriousness of the companys failures to provide a safe work environment.

Ms Gracey said her family were determined to ensure her husbands death ultimately led to changes to prevent a similar event again but her family were disappointed that neither the coroner, Clare Keane, nor the jury had recommended that Boeing should introduce a safety net across all its cargo aircraft.

A Swissport spokesperson said the company hoped the proceedings had brought some level of closure for Mr Graceys family.

The spokesperson said ensuring the health and safety of its employees and aviation customers was its utmost priority and it worked continuously to improve its operating procedures.
The government has been accused of wasting more than seven years in an inquest into the death of a dissident republican.

Kieran Doherty, 31, was found dead on the Braehead Road in Derry, close to the border of the Republic, on February 24th, 2010. He had been kidnapped, stripped, bound and shot.

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He was reported to have been involved with the dissident republican group the Real IRA, which claimed responsibility for his death.

A number of preliminary hearings have taken place ahead of a full inquest into his death, however, those involved are waiting for information from An Garda Siochana and the Chief State Solicitors Office (CSSO).

Laganside Court complex in Belfast. (Liam McBurney/PA)

A preliminary hearing on Tuesday morning heard a letter dated April 7th had been received from the CSSO, which sets out a procedure under the 2019 International Co-operation Act around a request for witness evidence.

Ian Skelt KC, counsel to Coroner Brian Sherrard, described it as a matter of concern.

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It is not witnesses that you are seeking but material, and there has been quite a long history of your office corresponding and interacting with the CSSO, seeking material, and it may be something of a surprise that weve received this letter, framed as it is, as a request for witness evidence without specifically referring to material, and there had been ongoing correspondence about the supply of material, he said.

Mr Sherrard said it will be very difficult for the inquest to proceed without first knowing what material, if anything, gardai may hold concerning Mr Doherty and the circumstances around his death.

Stephen Toal KC, acting for the Doherty family, said they feel they are back to square one with the last seven-and-a-half years having been wasted.

He said the coroners office cannot be faulted, having first contacted the southern authorities about the case in 2017 and having done everything to bring it to this point.

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However, seven-and-a-half years have now been wasted, and after all that time, the Irish state is still silent on what information they hold, he told the hearing.

Its unfortunate to say this, but it is either incompetence or it is deliberate, and it follows a familiar pattern to all of us who deal with cases in this area.

Mr Toal said there were similar delays and years wasted in the inquest into the death of GAA official Sean Brown.

GAA official Sean Brown (Liam McBurney/PA)

There seems to be a fault in the system, and recent examples only make that worse. We have the Dublin Monaghan bombings case where the Irish government was asked by the Police Ombudsman to deliver relevant files, and just like this case seven years passed and nothing was done, and those victims had to bring judicial review proceedings down in Dublin to force this issue, he said.

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We also know that this Irish government have refused to establish a parallel inquiry into the Omagh bomb, and all of those things lead this Doherty family to conclude that this Irish government are simply not making any effort and trying to avoid accountability by whatever means, and that is a matter of grave concern to them.

As things stand, the Doherty family have now spent 15 years waiting for the truth. At one end, you have the British government and MI5, whose role as we all know in this inquest into this death is dealt with in a report by Lord Carlisle, and at the other end we have the Irish government who are being even more obstructive because theyre not even telling us what they possess.

It's really, really difficult to see how this matter is going to be progressed without genuine engagement from the Irish government and its state agencies.

Mr Sherrard pointed out the Irish government is not represented in the matter to answer to any criticisms.

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Mr Skelt said the coroner can invite representatives from the Irish government and An Garda Siochana to attend and engage.

Mr Toal said he would welcome the Irish governments attendance, but said the family remains sceptical.

The simple solution to this is they simply commit to writing what they are going to do to progress this inquest  just tell us what information you have and how long it will take you to provide that to this inquest, he said.

Mr Sherrard indicated he favoured inviting the Irish government to send a representative to attend a hearing, expressing concern about the considerable drift in the case.

Just as we thought that perhaps we may be able to make some progress, this has rather taken the rug from under my feet, he added.

I propose to write again to the Chief State Solicitors Office  and to alert them to the fact that a date has been placed for a further preliminary, and to invite them to respond in writing and also to extend an invitation should they wish to defend their position, or to assert their position at the inquest. I will certainly make room for them to be heard in terms of this preliminary step.

Another preliminary hearing has provisionally been planned to take place on May 7th.
Northern Irelands First Minister Michelle ONeill has written to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging his Government to grant a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown.

Ms ONeill said the family of the GAA official had waited far too long for truth, justice and accountability.

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Mr Brown, 61, the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Derry, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.

Last week, three judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast said the Governments failure to order a public inquiry into the killing was unlawful.

Bridie Brown, the wife of Sean Brown with his daughters Siobhan Brown (right), Claire Loughran (left) outside the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast last week (Liam McBurney/PA)

Northern Irelands Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said the court would give Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn four weeks to reflect upon the judgment before another hearing.

The UK Government has said it will carefully consider the court judgment.

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Ms ONeill said: Last week, outside court, Bridie Brown (Mr Browns widow) made a direct plea to the British government, and I want to echo her powerful and emotional words.

The Brown family has waited far too long for truth, justice and accountability.

They should not have to endure the indignity and insult of further delays or legal appeals.

I have written to the British prime minister, imploring him and his government to accept the unequivocal court ruling and grant a public inquiry without any further delay.

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Ms ONeill said anything less than a public inquiry would further compound the grief and trauma of the Brown family.

She added: There can be no more cynical moves or obstructionist tactics by the British government.

Its time to hold a public inquiry, and at last establish the full truth around Sean Browns murder.

As Bridie Brown said, five judges have told the British government to do the right thing. That is what the Brown family deserves.

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Last year a coroner halted an inquest into the Brown killing, expressing concern that his ability to examine the case had been compromised by the extent of confidential state material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.

Sean Brown was murdered by loyalists in 1997 (Liam McBurney/PA)

Preliminary inquest proceedings had already heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

It had also been alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.

Coroner Mr Justice Kinney called on the Government to establish a public inquiry into the loyalist murder.

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Mr Benn decided against holding an inquiry, arguing that the case could instead be dealt with by a new Troubles investigatory body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

Mr Browns widow Bridie challenged Mr Benns decision not to order a public inquiry and High Court judge Mr Justice Humphreys found in her favour in December and ordered the Government to establish one.

The Government then appealed against that decision to the Court of Appeal, leading to last weeks judgment.
A surgeon told a review team that the use of non-medical grade springs in child spine surgeries was bespoke and experimental, according to a report by the health watchdog that determined their use was wrong.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has published 19 recommendations after investigating the implantation of springs in three children during surgeries to treat scoliosis of their spines between 2020 and 2023.

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The surgeries were carried out by a surgeon at Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) at Temple Street hospital.

It found that the springs were made of a material called non-alloyed spring steel, which it said was different to the initial description of the springs provided by the surgeon during interview to HIQA.

Non-alloyed spring steel is not used for surgical implantation and is is known to corrode in the presence of moisture. There is very limited information available on its use or the risks of its use for implantation.

The springs were also not CE marked (Conformite Europeene), which indicates that they had been deemed to meet EU health and safety requirements.

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HIQA said the surgeon had initially described the product ordered as being made of medical grade stainless steel, a material sometimes used for surgical implants.

It found that use of the springs in these surgeries was an attempt to replicate an experimental surgical technique that was still under investigation.

The surgeon had attended an international conference on scoliosis in 2018, where a team from The Netherlands presented findings on an implantable spring-distraction system using medical-grade titanium springs.

That team told HIQA they were not contacted by the surgeon at any time to discuss the research.

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The HIQA reviewers are of the opinion that the use of the springs formed part of a well-intentioned but ill-considered effort to provide an alternative approach to surgical treatment involving a single operation for a number of children with life-limiting conditions at CHI at Temple Street, who had otherwise been facing multiple operations  each with its associated risks.

The inspectors found through this review that the use of the non CE-marked springs as surgical implants was wrong.

It found that ethical approval was not sought from any ethical research committee in CHI for the introduction of this new technique.

HIQA could not identify any evidence to demonstrate any written approval from any senior manager in CHI on the clinical use of the springs.

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It also said there was a lack of information provided to families on the new or experimental nature of the intended surgery, and therefore the request for consent from families was not in line with the HSEs National Consent Policy.

HIQA said: The use of the springs in this manner should not have happened.

Controls in place within CHI did not provide the necessary adequate safeguards at each stage of the process, including those required for the procurement, introduction, decontamination and use of the springs in surgeries.

As a result, children were not protected from the risk of harm.

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HIQA found that the orthopaedic service in CHI at Temple Street had been affected by long-standing issues with communications and team dynamics since 2019.

It believes this was a significant factor in the introduction of the springs as it impacted on important and relevant questions not being raised at various steps in the absence of a formal process also not being followed.

As a consequence, a number of key approval processes, policies or safety checks were not properly applied in treating these children, resulting in the springs being used inappropriately.

HIQAs director of healthcare regulation Sean Egan said: It is essential that key lessons are learned from this review at both CHI, and in other health services nationally, particularly with respect to the governance of clinical innovation and practice.

The safe introduction and use of medical devices and surgical implants requires specific governance arrangements across a number of departments and functions within a hospital.

In Ireland, the use of surgical implants in patients is governed by the EU and Irish legislation.

HIQA found there was a lack of formal documented procedures to be followed within CHI for the introduction and use of a non-CE marked medical device in any of the circumstances allowed for under regulatory frameworks.

CHI had no committee in place to approve and oversee the introduction of high risk class III medical devices like the implanted springs.

The report comes as hundreds of children remain on waiting lists for spinal surgery.
A shop owner has been jailed for a year for selling Romanian cigarettes and alcohol in his store to compete with other stores, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

Radu Budai (40) of Moy Glas Road, Lucan, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to revenue offences at his shop on Upper Dorset Street on March 7th, 2023.

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Revenue officer Marie Treacy told the court Budai owned a Romanian store and committed the offences to compete with other shops.

She told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that Revenue officers carrying out an investigation entered the shop in Upper Dorset Street, Dublin and met with a woman working there.

The woman showed officers a Romanian identity card and said she would call the owner.

During the search officers found bottles of wine with no Irish tax stamps on them and cautioned the female and conducted an interview with her.

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They also found boxes of brandy and wine as well as homemade alcohol in large plastic containers, the court was told.

Budai arrived while the search was continuing, but when he was questioned the court heard nothing of evidential value came of that interview.

Under cross-examination, Officer Treacy agreed with Simon Matthews BL, defending, that all the goods were seized.

In mitigation, Mr Matthews told the court Budai was trying to compete with other big shops selling the same type of produce.

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Mr Matthews said Budai came to Ireland in 2007 and has a wife and two children. He said Budai is coming to and from Romania caring for his sick father. Counsel said his client is not working in the store since the investigation.

Mr Matthews said his client struggles with health issues having had a gastric balloon surgery and he also has sleep apnoea.

He said Budai was trying to stay competitive with rival shops. He asked the court to take account that Budai is a family man, his early plea in district court, that he has health difficulties and is of assistance to his father. Mr Matthews also said the goods were seized and it was a stupid decision".

Judge Martin Nolan said he had no doubt Budai was a good family man but was doing this to make a profit.

Judge Nolan noted that Revenue lost 27,000 in all from the sale of cigarettes and alcohol. The judge noted Budai was cooperative but said he deserved a custodial term before jailing him for a year.
The local and global impacts of Donald Trump's tariffs are heavily featured on Irish front pages on Tuesday morning.

The Irish Times lead with a story about a new report issuing a sharp criticism of a surgeon over using unauthorised springs in spinal surgeries for children, a story about US President Donald Trump's tariffs, and a story about students missing out on college grants.

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The Irish Examiner lead with a story about the global stock markets plummeting amid Donald Trump's tariffs announcement, alongside a story about the rise in Irish house prices potentially slowing due to tariffs.

The Irish Independent lead with a story that says Donald Trump's tariffs will create a new threat to the Irish housing market, according to a report by MyHome and Bank of Ireland.

The Irish Daily Mirror also lead with a story about Donald Trump's tariffs as more than $10 trillion has been wiped from global markets since his announcement.

The Echo lead with a story about a surge in theft from retailers in Cork city, alongside a story about up to 450 million expecting to be allocated for the Cork to Ringaskiddy motorway.

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The Herald lead with a story about the brother of gangster Mr Flashy being jailed for five years for firing an assault rifle from a house in Finglas.

The Irish Daily Star lead with a story about a man who was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for the murder of his friend being told that no punishment he will receive "will ever compare to the grief, pain and loss you have inflicted on me and my family" by the victim's mother.

The Belfast Telegraph lead with a story claiming that Stormont spends over 1,000 (1,165) a week on photographers.

The Irish Daily Mail lead with a story claiming that a garda took possession of firearms at the force's headquarters that were earmarked for destruction to sell them for profit.
China said it would fight to the end and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

The Commerce Ministry said the USs imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs on China is completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.

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China, the worlds second-largest economy, has announced retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming.

The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order.

They are completely legitimate, the ministry said on Tuesday.



An aerial view of a container terminal in Qingdao (Chiantopix/AP)

The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this.

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If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end, it added.

Mr Trumps threat on Monday of additional tariffs on China raised fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war.

Stock markets from Tokyo to New York have become more unstable as the tariff war worsens.

Mr Trumps threat came after China said it would retaliate against US tariffs he announced last week.

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If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose additional Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th, Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!

If Mr Trump implements his new tariffs on Chinese products, US tariffs on Chinese goods would reach a combined 104%.

The new taxes would be on top of the 20% tariffs announced as punishment for fentanyl trafficking and his separate 34% tariffs announced last week.

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President Donald Trump has vowed new tariffs (AP)

Not only could that increase prices for American consumers, it could also give China an incentive to flood other countries with cheaper goods and seek deeper relationships with other trading partners, particularly the European Union.

On the streets of Beijing, people said they found it hard to keep track of all the announcements, but expressed belief in their countrys ability to weather the storm.

Trump says one thing today and another tomorrow.

Anyway, he just wants benefits, so he can say whatever he wants, said Wu Qi, 37, who works in construction.

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Others were less sanguine.

Paul Wang, 30, who sells stainless accessories, including necklaces, bracelets, and tongue studs to Europe, said the European market was now more important after the extra US 50% tariffs and he would be watching to see which other firms in his field would be competing in that space.

Jessi Huang and Yang Aijia, whose companies import chemicals from the US, said the tariffs, including potential Chinese retribution, could force them to close up shop.

It would be very hard and very likely to have a layoff, maybe even closing, Huang said, I might not be able to find another job if I get laid off.

China still has a range of options to strike back at the Washington, experts said, including suspending cooperation on combating fentanyl, placing higher quotas on agricultural products and going after the US trade in services in China such as finance and law firms.



Containers pile up at Kwai Chung Container terminal in Hong Kong (Chan Long/Hei/AP)

US total goods trade with China was an estimated 582 billion US dollars in 2024, making it the top trader in goods with the US.

The 2024 deficit with China in goods and services trade was between 263 billion and 295 billion US dollars.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian appeared to give short shrift to talk of dialogue with the Trump administration.

I dont think what the US has done reflects a willingness for sincere dialogue.

If the US really wants to engage in dialogue, it should adopt an attitude of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, Mr Lin said.

In Hong Kong, where stocks were slightly higher Tuesday, chief executive John Lee blasted the latest US tariffs as bullying, saying the ruthless behaviour has damaged global and multilateral trade and brought great risks and uncertainties to the world.

Mr Lee said the city would link its economy closer to Chinas development, sign more free trade agreements, attract more foreign companies and capital to Hong Kong, and support local enterprises in coping with the impact of the tariffs.
China threatened to resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests, in response to US President Donald Trumps threat of an additional 50 per cent tariff on Chinese imports.

The Commerce Ministry statement, issued early on Tuesday, said the USs imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs on China is completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.

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The ministry hinted more retaliatory tariffs may be coming.

The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate, the ministry said.

An aerial view of Xiasha Container Terminal on a canal in Hangzhou in east Chinas Zhejiang province (Chinatopix/AP)

The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.

Mr Trumps threat, which he delivered on social media, came after China said it would retaliate against US tariffs announced last week.

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If China does not withdraw its 34 per cent increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50 per cent, effective April 9th, he wrote on Truth Social.

Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!

If Mr Trump implements his plans, US tariffs on imports from China would reach a combined 104 per cent.

The new taxes would be on top of the 20 per cent tariffs announced as punishment for fentanyl trafficking and his separate 34 per cent tariffs announced last week.

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Not only could that increase prices for American consumers, it could give China an incentive to flood other countries with cheaper goods and seek deeper partnerships with other trading partners.

The Chinese Embassy in the US responded to Mr Trumps latest tariff threat by saying his bluster would not help him resolve any trade disputes.

We have stressed more than once that pressuring or threatening China is not a right way to engage with us, said Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesman. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

Mr Trump faces mounting pressure in the financial markets and from business leaders to backtrack on his tariff ambitions, yet he has shown no signs of reversing course or finding a message to calm panicked markets.

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The White House said on Monday that Mr Trump would veto a Senate bill that would mandate congressional approval for new tariffs, a bet that the critical mass of Republican members will loyally back his taxes on imports despite the economic and political chaos being created.
The Trump administration is having early discussions about a grand military parade in Washington during the summer, something that is a long-held dream of the president.

Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser said on Monday that the administration had reached out to the city about holding a parade on June 14 that would stretch from Arlington, Virginia, where the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery are located, across the Potomac River and into Washington.

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The army is in early discussions about adding a parade to its 250th birthday festival, which is being held on June 14, according to a defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are ongoing and no decisions have been made.

June 14 is also Donald Trumps 79th birthday.



District of Columbia mayor Muriel Bowser (AP)

The White House in a statement said that no military parade has been scheduled.

The army birthday festival, which has been in the planning stages for about two years, is to include an array of activities and displays on the National Mall, including Stryker armoured vehicles, Humvees, helicopters and other equipment.

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In a statement, army spokesman Colonel David Butler said its too early to say yet whether or not were having a parade but were working with the White House as well as several government agencies to make the celebration a national level event.

In his first term, Mr Trump proposed having a grand military parade in the US after watching one in France on Bastille Day in 2017. After watching the two-hour procession along the Champs-Elysees, he said he wanted a grander one in Washington on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The event never happened due to expected high costs, with one estimate of a 92 million dollar (71.76 million) price tag, and logistical issues.

Mr Trump in 2018 said in a post on the social media site then known as Twitter that he was cancelling the event over costs and accused local politicians of price gouging.

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When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it, he said in his post.

Ms Bowser, speaking at a news conference on Monday, said she did not know if the event was being characterised as a military parade but said military tanks rolling through the citys streets would not be good.

If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads, she said.

Takis Karantonis, the chairman of the Arlington County Board, said in a statement that Secret Service contacted the county on Friday regarding the possibility of a military parade to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the US Army, but no further details were offered.

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Mr Karantonis said it was not clear what the scope of the parade would be but said: I would hope the federal government remains sensitive to the pain and concerns of numerous active military and veteran residents, who have lost or might lose their jobs in recent federal decisions, as they reflect on how best to celebrate the armys anniversary.
Meghan Markle has said she suffered medical complications after childbirth, and had to cope with the world not knowing.

In the first episode of her new podcast, Confessions Of A Female Founder, Meghan said she had been diagnosed with post-partum pre-eclampsia following the birth of one of her children.

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The condition is similar to pre-eclampsia, which affects women during pregnancy  and involves high blood pressure, according to the Preeclampsia Foundation charity.

Describing the condition, Meghan said: Its so rare. And its so scary.

Youre still trying to juggle all these things and the world doesnt know what is happening, quietly and in the quiet you are still trying to show up for people, she added.

Youre still trying to show up, mostly for your children. But those things are huge medical scares.

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Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of dating platform Bumble and the first guest on Meghans podcast, added: Theyre life or death, truly.

I remember after you delivered Archie and the whole world was waiting for his debut, she added.

I was just becoming a new mum and I was like, oh my god, how is this woman doing this.

How is this woman putting on heels and going and debuting a child in this beautiful outfit in front of the entire world?

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I could barely face a doorbell delivery for takeout food. I was like, please dont look at me.

According to the NHS, symptoms for post-partum pre-eclampsia include severe headaches, vision problems, pain below the ribs, vomiting and sudden swelling of the feet, ankles, face and hands.

Without immediate treatment, it can lead to serious complications including in rare cases, convulsions, liver and blood clotting disorders and strokes.

Meghan also spoke on the podcast about coping with media attention after marrying into the royal family.

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There is going to be a point when you are going to have to decide if you are going to cower, if you are going to conquer, or if you are going to rise above it, she said.

The first episode was released on the same day Britain's Prince Harry appeared at the Royal Courts of Justice in London (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Ms Wolfe Herd added: What has happened to you is at such a magnitude that no one can understand.

I stopped in an airport in Ireland and I walked to a newsstand and my jaw hit the flaw. You were the cover of every single magazine and newspaper in Ireland.

And every single one said something different. You were the cover of every single one. I had this moment where I was like  what?

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I am in Ireland and shes back home in California with her kids, doing school drop-off, and shes the front page of every single one of these things.

What are they talking about? There is no content. There is nothing to say.

I know, Meghan replied.

Confessions Of A Female Founder is the latest in Meghans flurry of output after her much-criticised Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan and her new brand As Ever.

She has promised the series will feature girl talk and advise on how to create billion-dollar businesses.

The first episode was released on the same day Britain's Prince Harry appeared at the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the latest stage in his legal challenge over the level of security he is given when he is in the UK.
Britain's Prince Harry did not meet King Charles before Harrys High Court date, according to reports.

The pair are believed to have last met soon after Charles announced his cancer diagnosis in February 2024 and his son, who now lives with his family in California, rushed from the US to see him.

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Harry, 40, came to the UK to attend the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday morning for an appeal in his legal challenge over his security arrangements while visiting the UK.

Harry arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice (Jonathan Brady/PA)

He waved at journalists and did not reply as a reporter asked: Did you speak to your dad?

Harry is said to have arrived in London on Sunday, hours before Charles, 76, left with Queen Camilla on Monday for a state visit to Italy.

On Tuesday morning, the Charles and Camilla received a ceremonial welcome from the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella.

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Charles and Camilla were greeted by the statesman at his official residence, the Quirinale Palace in Rome, after their limousine was escorted into the palace quadrangle by mounted Corazzieri guards.

Harry also visited the UK without meeting his father in May last year, during a trip to celebrate his Invictus Games.

Harry leaves St Pauls Cathedral after a service of thanksgiving to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games last May (Yui Mok/PA)

He said at the time that he hoped to see his father soon after Charles' full programme meant a reunion was not then possible.

Harry and Charless relationship was strained during the period Harry stepped down as a working royal and moved to the US with wife Meghan and their family.

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Harry was in court to challenge the dismissal of his High Court legal action against the UK Home Office over the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the UK.

During the hearing he sat behind his barristers and next to his solicitor in a packed courtroom, with a notepad and pen in front of him, occasionally taking notes.

The appeal comes after retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane ruled last year that Ravecs decision, taken in early 2020 after Harry and Meghhan quit as senior working royals, was lawful.
Britain's Duke and Duchess of Sussex felt forced to step back from their roles as senior working royals as they felt they were not being protected by the institution, the UK Court of Appeal has been told.

Harry and his wife Meghan quit as senior working royals in January 2020 but wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the royal family, Harry's barristers told a hearing on Tuesday.

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Harry was at the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the latest stage of a legal battle with the British Home Office over the level of taxpayer-funded personal security he should receive when visiting the UK.

Court artist sketch of Shaheed Fatima KC, watched by the Duke of Sussex, during the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

In February 2020, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) decided he should receive a different degree of protection when in the country, and he is appealing against a High Court ruling dismissing his case against the Home Office over the decision last year.

In written submissions, Shaheed Fatima KC, for Harry, said: On 8 January 2020, (the duke) and his wife felt forced to step back from the role of full time official working members of the royal family as they considered they were not being protected by the institution, but they wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the royal family.

In her written submissions, parts of which were redacted for confidentiality reasons, Ms Fatima said Ravec ruled in 2020 that there is no basis for publicly funded security support for the duke and duchess within Great Britain.

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After the decision, al Qaida called for Harry to be murdered, and his security team was informed that the terrorist group had published a document which said his assassination would please the Muslim community, Ms Fatima said.

Harry is appealing against a High Court ruling dismissing his legal challenge against the Home Office over the level of security he receives while in the UK (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Harry and Meghan were also said to have been involved in a dangerous car pursuit with paparazzi in New York in May 2023, involving reckless disregard of vehicle and traffic laws.

Ms Fatima said Harry's security does not appear to have been discussed at any formal Ravec meeting, adding there were no official notes or detailed minutes recording the approach to be taken to his protection.

The court was told that a meeting took place at Buckingham Palace on January 27th, 2020, but in February 2020, Sir Richard Mottram  the then-chairman of Ravec  said a risk management board (RMB) assessment would not be carried out for Harry.

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In court on Tuesday, Ms Fatima said that by failing to undertake an RMB assessment, Ravec did not apply its own terms of reference to its decision-making process, and came up with a different and so-called bespoke process for Harry.

She continued in written submissions that the decision was made despite the existence of the other categories that only Ravec knew of at the time and which, as (the duke) now knows, do provide a basis for protective security.

This meant the duke was not in a position to make any informed representations to Ravec.

The Home Office, which is legally responsible for Ravecs decisions, is opposing the appeal.

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Its barrister Sir James Eadie KC said in written submissions that the appeal involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees.

He said: Whether by reference to rationality generally, or by reference to the absence of an RMB analysis, (the duke) cannot show that the judge was wrong to reject his claim that his circumstances were so exceptional as to justify not just the specific bespoke process focused on him, but to require general inclusion within the Ravec cohort.

The hearing before Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean and Lord Justice Edis is due to conclude on Wednesday with a decision expected in writing at a later date.
The Nato chief has raised concern about Chinas arms buildup and military drills near Taiwan and called on the organisations members and friendly nations to work together to keep free and open sea lanes in the region.

China is supporting Russias efforts. China is building up its armed forces, including its navy, at a rapid pace, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte told reporters as he wrapped up his visit to the Japanese navy port of Yokosuka.

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We cannot be naive, and we really have to work together, assess what is happening.

Mr Rutte said Nato is worried about Chinas military exercises near Taiwan and we follow them very closely.

Japan considers China as a threat in the region and has in recent years accelerated military buildup, including preparing to acquire strikeback capability with long-range cruise missiles.

Japan, in addition to the United States, has expanded its defence ties with other friendly nations in the Indo-Pacific and Europe, as well as Nato, saying Russias war on Ukraine underscores that security risks in Europe and Asia are inseparable.

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This photograph released by Taiwan Ministry of National Defense taken from a Taiwan Air Force F-16V, shows a Chinese CAIG Wing Loong II drone near Taiwan (AP)

The United States wants Nato members to be more involved in the Indo-Pacific region, Mr Rutte said.

He welcomed US secretary of defence Pete Hegseths recent trip to Japan to ensure Washingtons commitment to strengthen its alliance with Japan and presence in the region.

He stressed its importance, noting that Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven that is not in Nato.

Nato has also stepped up its ties with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, known as the IP4, in recent years, with their officials attending NATO ministerial and summit meetings.

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Mr Rutte, visiting Japan for the first time since becoming head of the Belgium-based military alliance in October, was set to hold talks with Japanese defence minister General Nakatani later Tuesday and prime minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday.

Mr Ishiba has advocated a Nato-like security framework in Asia, though he has not given details.

Countries with shared security concerns are strengthening ties as competition escalates between the United States and China.

Beijing has criticised Natos growing ties with the Indo-Pacific partners, worried that Washington may move to form a Nato-like alliance in the region.
Thousands of protesters rallied for the fourth week in Hungarys capital on Tuesday, denouncing a new law passed by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbans nationalist government banning LGBT+ Pride events.

The legislation, fast-tracked through parliament in March, prohibits events depicting homosexuality to those under the age of 18 and has drawn comparisons with Russias anti-LGBT+ policies.

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It comes as Mr Orbans administration is increasingly accused of democratic backsliding ahead of national elections next year.

The weekly protests in Budapest have persisted, and on Tuesday, demonstrators filled the Erzsebet Bridge over the Danube, demanding the withdrawal of the law.





Some planned to remain on the bridge throughout the night and said there were plans to shut down all five central Danube bridges.

No violence was immediately reported.

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The law makes it an offence to hold or attend events such as Pride, which some legal experts and human rights groups say is Mr Orbans latest crackdown on Hungarys LGBT+ community and an arbitrary restriction on the right to assembly.

Viktoria Vajda, one of the protesters, said the time for trying to find common ground with Mr Orbans government has passed.

If we dont stand up for the rights of minorities and for our own fundamental rights, then who will when they come for us? she said.

Weve reached the point where we have to stand up and say no more.

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The protests have defied police orders to disperse from bridges and main roads in Budapest. And in a rare instance of a street protest outside the Hungarian capital, several hundred demonstrators in the eastern city of Miskolc also protested on Tuesday against the law.

Mr Orban, who critics say has eroded Hungarys democracy and overseen widespread corruption, has in recent years taken aim at the countrys LGBT+ community, prohibiting same-sex adoption and, in a 2021 child protection law, banning any LGBT+ content including in television, films, advertisements and literature that is available to those under 18.

As part of the new law, authorities may use facial recognition tools to identify those who attend prohibited events  such as the popular Budapest Pride, which draws tens of thousands each year  and can issue fines for violators of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints (425).

Mr Orbans party is pushing for a constitutional amendment next week that will codify the ban on public LGBT+ events.

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The Hungarian leader has also pledged to introduce new legislation that will ban demonstrators from blocking traffic on bridges and busy roads, arguing the right of assembly and expression cannot override the rights of commuters.

Janos Stummer, a member of the opposition Momentum party who was at the protest, said that while the ban on Pride was harmful to members of the LGBT+ community, the law is also about Orban unilaterally, arbitrarily deciding which events can be held in this country and which cannot.

Mr Orbans government argues that it is protecting children from sexual propaganda.

But with Mr Orbans party lagging in polls, critics views the legislation as part of a broader effort to scapegoat sexual minorities and mobilise his conservative base.
Ryanair has confirmed that it has filed legal proceedings in the Polish courts, claiming over 3,000 in damages against a passenger who disrupted flight FR5474 from Berlin to Marrakesh on January 9th.

Ryanair said the passengers inexcusable behaviour forced the flight to divert to Seville, where the aircraft landed, and the passenger was offloaded, causing 170 passengers and six crew to face unnecessary disruption.

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The airline said it is "completely unacceptable" that passengers who work hard to enjoy a trip away with family/friends are robbed of the pleasure due to one passengers "failure to behave".

In addition, Ryanair has issued this passenger with a five-year travel ban and has reported him to the Guardia Civil.

Ryanair said it is committed to ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a safe and respectful environment, without unnecessary disruption caused by a "tiny number of unruly passengers".

A Ryanair spokesperson said: It is unacceptable that passengers are suffering unnecessary disruption as a result of one unruly passengers behaviour.

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"Yet this was regrettably the case for passengers on this flight from Berlin to Marrakesh in January last, which was forced to divert to Seville as a result of an individual passengers disruptive behaviour, causing 3,000 in damages. We have now filed civil proceedings to recover these costs from this passenger.

"This demonstrates just one of the many consequences that passengers who disrupt flights will face as part of Ryanairs zero tolerance policy, and we hope this action will deter further disruptive behaviour on flights so that passengers and crew can travel in a comfortable and respectful environment.
The Ukrainian military has captured two Chinese men fighting alongside the Russian army in the eastern Donetsk region and has information that significantly more are with Russian forces, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Tuesday.

There was no immediate comment from China. Beijing is not known to have provided Russia with weapons or military expertise, and it was not clear whether the Chinese had joined the fight on their own initiative.

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Russia allows foreigners to enlist in its military, as does Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky said he asked his top diplomat to immediately contact Beijing.



Belgiums Prime Minister Bart de Wever, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talking to Belgium and Ukrainian officials and businessmen in Kyiv on Tuesday (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

He said China would be the third country to offer military support to Russia after Iran, which has supplied attack drones, and North Korea, which has supplied soldiers, according to American and South Korean officials.

China has provided strong diplomatic support for Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

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Beijing has also offered an economic lifeline through the trade in energy and consumer goods.

Mr Zelensky said a clash with Chinese soldiers occurred near the villages of Tarasivka and Bilohorivka in Donetsk, where six Chinese military personnel engaged Ukrainian troops. Two Chinese were taken prisoner, Mr Zelensky said.

Ukraines Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, said his ministry summoned Chinas charge daffaires to demand an explanation, saying on X that Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russias invasion army in Ukraine puts into question Chinas declared stance for peace and undermines Beijings credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Russia has effectively rejected a US proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting in Ukraine, and both sides are believed to be readying a spring-summer campaign on the battlefield.

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I cannot see any indications that would lead to a ceasefire or even a peace, but I see many indications (for) the continuation of the war, Nico Lange, a senior fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis in Washington, said in an analysis on Monday.

Mr Zelensky spoke at a news conference in Kyiv alongside visiting Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who announced a one billion euro (0.78 billion) aid package for Ukraine this year.

Ukraines president said they discussed joint military manufacturing efforts and Belgian private investment in Ukraines defence sector.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian Foreign Ministry officials will take part in talks with the US in Istanbul planned for Thursday.

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He did not say what the talks would be about, but the foreign ministrys involvement suggests it is another round of talks about normalising their respective embassies operations and increasing staff numbers after years of expelling respective diplomats.
The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to use a 1798 wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act, to deport Venezuelan migrants it accuses of being gang members, ending the temporary halt on deportations ordered by a federal district judge.

But the court also ruled that the administration must give Venezuelans it claims are gang members the chance to legally fight any deportation orders.

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It also did not give an opinion on President Donald Trumps invocation of the Act.

The ruling came after the wartime law was used last month to fly more than 130 men accused of being members of the gang Tren de Aragua to El Salvador, where the US has paid to have the men held in a notorious prison.

The Trump administration argues that the gang has become an invading force.

The Venezuelans deported under the Act did not get a chance to challenge the orders, and lawyers for many of the men say there is no evidence they are gang members.

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Prisoners look out from their cell at the Terrorist Confinement Centre in Tecoluca, El Salvador (Salvador Melendez/AP)

American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt called it an important victory that people must now be given the right to challenge their removal orders.

The Trump administration welcomed the ruling, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying an activist judge in Washington, DC does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trumps authority to conduct foreign policy.

 What is the Alien Enemies Act?

In 1798, with the US preparing for what it believed would be a war with France, Congress passed a series of laws that increased the federal governments reach. The Alien Enemies Act was created to give the president wide powers to imprison and deport noncitizens in time of war.

Since then, the Act has been used just three times: during the War of 1812 and the two world wars.

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It was part of the Second World War Ilegal rationale for mass internments in the US of people of German, Italian and especially Japanese ancestry. An estimated 120,000 people with Japanese heritage, including those with US citizenship, were incarcerated.

 Can the US use a wartime law when it is not at war?

For years, Mr Trump and his allies have argued that the US is facing an invasion of people arriving in the country illegally.

Arrests on the US border with Mexico topped two million a year for two straight years for the first time under president Joe Biden, with many released into the US to pursue asylum.

After hitting an all-time monthly high of 250,000 in December 2023, they dropped sharply in 2024 and dramatically more after Mr Trump took office.

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The Trump administration has increasingly described the migrant issue as a war, most notably by designating eight Latin American criminal groups, including Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organisations.

Mr Trumps invocation of the act, which was publicly announced March 15, the same day as the deportations, said Tren de Aragua was attempting an invasion or predatory incursion of the United States.

Administration officials now regularly use military terminology to describe the situation, with Mr Trump telling reporters last month that this is a time of war.

Mr Trumps critics insist he is wrongly invoking an Act designed for use during declared wars.

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Trumps attempt to twist a centuries-old wartime law to sidestep immigration protections is an outrageous and unlawful power grab  and it threatens the core civil liberties of everyone, Scott Michelman, legal director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia, said in a statement after the Monday ruling.

 How has the legal case proceeded?

The ACLU and Democracy Forward pre-emptively sued Mr Trump hours before the March 15 deportations began, saying five Venezuelan men held at a Texas immigration detention centre were at imminent risk of removal under the Alien Enemies Act.

US District Judge James E Boasberg blocked their deportation, prompting an immediate Justice Department appeal.

Later that day, Judge Boasberg issued a new order to stop the deportations being carried out under the centuries-old law, and said any planes in the air needed to turn around.

By then though, two ICE Air planes were heading across the Gulf of Mexico and toward Central America. Neither came back.
A bloodbath on global sharemarkets sparked by US President Donald Trumps universal tariffs has so far wiped 4.5 per cent off Australians retirement savings, as economists predict equity prices will fall further.

Financial markets have been in turmoil since Trump unveiled last week his so-called Liberation Day policies that imposed taxes of between 10 per cent and 50 per cent on imports into the US from almost every single country, with the S&P/ASX 200 tumbling 7.5 per cent over the past three trading days.

Liberation Day, or should it be liquidation day? Donald Trumps sweeping tariffs have hit workers savings. Credit: AP

Australian workers superannuation balances are down 4.5 per cent since April 1, according to a SuperRatings analysis. AMP chief economist Shane Oliver, who also works closely with the financial services portfolio management team, said retirees and people close to retirement age would be feeling the biggest hit.

If sharemarket falls happen early on in their career, suddenly the dollar amount theyre putting in can buy them more shares, so it can turn out to be an OK thing [for younger people] from a longer-term perspective, Oliver said.
An Australian man and a local tour guide have been injured in the same stretch of water off Indonesias resort island of Bali where an Australian woman was killed in a snorkelling-boat accident last month.

Khalid Nassor and his Tanzanian wife, Fatma Khateb, were evacuated by helicopter from Kelingking Beach on the popular island of Nusa Penida on Monday after waves knocked them from the jet ski they were riding and into a cliff face.

This tour guide and an Australian man, along with his Tanzanian wife, were rescued by tourists from the surf of Kelingking Beach after a jet ski accident.

It is the same beach where survivors of the March 21 boat tragedy were dropped by rescuers. In that incident, there was no helicopter, and the survivors recounted a debacle from beginning until they eventually made it to the Bali mainland.

According to police spokesman Agus Widiono, the tourist pair on Monday had been trying to take a photo of the cliff but were drawn closer to the dangerous coastline by strong currents. He said the tour guide shouted at them to move back into open water but, according to the husband and wife, the jet ski lost power and was at the mercy of the waves.
How comparatively quaint the opening weeks of 2025 seem now. It was a time before the worlds two biggest economies had their tariff guns trained on each other, spraying retaliatory duties on their imports, melting down markets and taking the world to the brink of a global recession.

Long gone are the heady days of January, when Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on the phone, before the US president-elect had officially returned to the White House, with lofty rhetoric about solving the worlds problems together.

Talk of a meeting between the pair to strike a deal on trade has also evaporated.

Donald Trumps ultimatum demands Xi Jinpings surrender, an unfathomable option for the Chinese president. Credit: AP

We are faced with an all-out trade war, with Trump and Xi locked in a spiral of tariff brinkmanship.
The annual event, which celebrates the mortgage and finance industry's creme de la creme, includes five state-based events across South Australia and Northern Territory, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, and Queensland. The winners from each state go on to compete in the National Excellence Awards in July.
"Scammers will typically go after information that allows them to conduct the most damage," he said. "They'll look for credit card details, login information, access to transactional accounts. There are verbal scams where people will actually contact banks to get passwords reset, or to access critical information by pretending that they're the individuals. This is typically done through phishing, where they get someone to click on a link to fill in a form on a [fake] website that looks like the bank. Then they get access to critical information. And some of that information might be something like your CRN number. But it also could be information like, what is your mother's maiden name? What is your first pet's name? What is your first address? The types of security questions that banks typically ask as fallback methods for you if you want to reset your password.
GREENGATE Biogas has announced plans to build the countrys largest biomethane plant in Powerstown, Co Carlow, processing 700,000 tonnes of cattle and pig slurry, farmyard straw manure and poultry manure annually. This is the Irish companys first biomethane plant, which will process agricultural residues into biomethane, biogenic CO2 and fertiliser.

Established in 2024, Greengate Biogas highlights the contribution the Co Carlow plant will make to Irelands green energy transition, improving energy security and reducing reliance on imported natural gas.

As part of Greengate Biogass commitment to engage with the local community, interested parties are invited to attend a community consultation event this Thursday, 10 April, from 8am to 8pm in the Woodford Dolmen Hotel.

The Greengate Biogas team will be available during the community consultation event to share information and answer questions about the proposed biomethane plant.

The proposed biomethane plant in Powerstown represents a significant investment in Co Carlows local energy infrastructure and will generate long-term skilled jobs in the region, said Andrew Bernard, CEO, Greengate Biogas.

By processing agricultural residues to produce biomethane and fertiliser, the plant will create a circular economy, helping farmers to better manage their manure and contribute to Irelands energy security by reducing reliance on imported natural gas.

The proposed plant will process up to 700,000 tonnes of agricultural residues to produce approximately 250 GWh of biomethane and to capture 30,000 tonnes of biogenic CO2 a year. The biomethane will be injected into the local gas network, providing sustainable energy equivalent to the heat demand of about 22,700 households. Options are being explored for storing the captured biogenic CO2, or using it for industrial purposes.

Greengate Biogas says the plant will also support local farmers to improve their manure management and create a circular economy by returning the degassed agricultural residues to farmland, thereby contributing to a more sustainable future for Irish agriculture.

The company has indicated that the plant will create long-term local employment and over 100 jobs during construction.

Greengate Biogas has indicated that the plants design is based on best available technologies with anticipated planning application submission in the third quarter of 2025.

The proposed biomethane plant in Powerstown is the first of several projects planned by Greengate Biogas for Ireland.
James Cox

The family of a cargo handler who died after a fall at Dublin Airport in 2018 have expressed their hope that safety features will be improved.

Richard Gracey (64) of Balbriggan, Co Dublin, was unloading cargo from a plane on November 24th, 2018, when he fell headfirst five metres to the ground and suffered fatal injuries.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the main deck loader, a moving platform for unloading cargo, was 2.7 metres away from the aircraft door when Mr Gracey fell and that this gap should have been no more than three inches.

Swissport Ireland Limited was fined 250,000 in March 2023 after the company admitted to failing to ensure the safety and welfare of people at work on the morning in question.

Mr Gracey and six other employees had been unloading an Air France cargo Boeing 777, which had arrived from OHare International Airport in Chicago.

A verdict of a workplace-related fatality was returned by a jury of eight women and one man at an inquest into the death of Mr Gracey at Dublin District Coroners Court on Tuesday.

The family believe that there is a manufacturing/design flaw with Boeing 777 airplanes in that cargo handlers are placed at risk of falling from a height once the cargo door is opened.

In their view, the best way to protect cargo handlers from falling from a height is to have a strong safety net in place with at least 6-8 fixed points, with sufficient strength to hold the weight of a worker should they fall.

At present, all such aircraft just have a 'visibility strap' across the door, which is insufficient to prevent a worker from falling out the door should they lose their balance.

Richard's sons Kevin and Aaron, and nephew David, spoke to BreakingNews.ie the day before the inquest.

Aaron said: "The unexpected phone call that nobody wants to get. You assume your loved one, your husband, father, grandfather, can go to work and be safe, so it was just a normal Saturday when mum got a phone call that he had been in an accident, and to prepare herself.

"She rang me. I was on my way to the house, and we ended up going to Beaumont Hospital. It was there that we found out, talking to the ambulance men, that he was gone; that was a shock.

"My brother Kevin lives in New Zealand. Luckily the rest of us live in the country, but it was a case of how do we get everyone here without saying what had happened and how do we tell Kevin."

The family of the late Richard Gracey, from left, his children, Aaron, Laura, Nina, Sarah and Kevin and wife Therese (wife centre with blue scarf). Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Kevin is an aircraft engineer who works for Air New Zealand.

Recalling hearing the news of his father's death, he said: "For us as a family, it's the length of time this has been going on, and it's the lack of information that we can get about the accident. It's been six and a half years now and we're just getting the inquest.

"Because it was a work-related accident, the HSA [Health and Safety Authority] took over the investigation and took a criminal case against Swissport. We weren't privy to any information about the investigation, they couldn't tell us anything, so we were left in the dark until very recently.

"Three weeks ago, we actually got my dad's postmortem report. That hit my mum hard because there's always the thought of 'did he have a medical event? Did something happen?', but the autopsy came back, and there were no medical problems. It was the fall and landing on his head that killed him. Not knowing was hard."

He added: "Swissport said they have modified their standard operating procedures, but on the day, the platform wasn't in the position that is standard operating procedure. We got their SOP and Air France's from the HSA after the investigation, and it was fraught with errors.

"It was unbelievable that it was produced liked that and audited regularly, Air France did an audit about a month before the accident and found no issues.

"In my own experience, working in airports around the world, what happened that day was normal. I've multiple videos from YouTube that show the doors open, the sills deployed, then the loader comes into place. The loader may even be reversed to adjust into position after the sills are deployed."

He believes the accident occurred on a normal day, emphasising the need for additional safety measures.

'Visual warning strap'

"The aircraft came into service in 2009 and it had a net, called a 'personnel safety barrier'. This has happened numerous times around the world, with people falling from cargo decks on Boeing aircraft. Their 'fix' was they put a warning on this net and changed its name, calling it a 'visual warning strap'.

"Boeing changed the name of the net from personnel safety barrier, and now called it a visual warning strap without any additional features.

"If they don't call it a safety barrier, then it's not their responsibility if someone falls. It says in their own documents that people were falling out of the aircraft with this thing up, it's not as if it fell down like in my dad's situation.

"Air France modified their aircraft in 2011 to the warning strap.

"That's what we're trying to change. It is only attached at four points, and if one fails, it lies on the ground and is useless.

"I have pictures of Boeing aircraft, military versions, that have a proper safety net attached at six points so a single point of failures won't render the net useless, it will still have some restraining functionality.

"As a family, we just don't want this happening ever again. It's such a global practice that happens thousands of times a day around the world on these Boeing aircraft."

US Federal Aviation Authority

The family now plans to petition the US Federal Aviation Authority, the organisation which has jurisdiction over Boeing's manufacturing in the United States.

Aaron added: "Accidents do happen, human error occurs, but if there is a physical restraint put in by Boeing, that can stop it happening to someone else."

Richard's grandson David said: "We've been focused on trying to make sure grandpa's death wasn't meaningless, it didn't happen with nothing coming from it. We're aligned in our aim of a bringing a positive outcome from this."

In a statement after the inquest, the family said: "Richard was a loving husband, beloved father of five and a fantastic grandfather of nine, one of which he never got to meet. Richard had been working at the airport for 14 years, a job which he loved.

"It's been a very long 6 and a half years to reach the point of closure with this process. We have had numerous visits to solicitors and court rooms and only recently have we been privy to the details of Richards fatal accident. We were outraged to learn of the details that

led to Richards death, from the failures of Swissport and Air France in maintaining and upholding a safe work environment.

"His colleagues, his 'Ramp family', have also had to endure this traumatic and devastating time with no knowledge or closure. We feel this drawn out justice system is unfair and uncompassionate.

"We believe the fine imposed upon Swissport, who plead guilty, in the Criminal Court was minimal for a multinational global organisation. We do not feel the fine imposed was reflective of the seriousness of Swissports failures to ensure Richard, and all of his colleagues, worked in a safe environment, with appropriate procedures of work in place.

"From the very beginning of this process, our family has been determined to ensure that Richards death ultimately leads to change to prevent this from happening to another family. We are disappointed that the Coroner and Jury did not put forward any recommendations to Boeing to introduce a safety net on the Boeing triple 777F, and across all their cargo aircraft."
By Rebecca Black, PA

British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to do the right thing and order a public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown.

Northern Irelands First Minister, Michelle ONeill said the Secretary of State has so far failed to do so, and she has written to Sir Keir to urge him to act.

She said Mr Browns family had waited far too long for truth, justice and accountability.

The 61-year-old, who was the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Derry, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.

Bridie Brown, the wife of Sean Brown with his daughters. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA.

Last week, three judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast said the UK governments failure to order a public inquiry into the killing was unlawful.

Northern Irelands Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said the court would give Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn four weeks to reflect upon the judgment before another hearing.

The UK Government has said it will carefully consider the court judgment.

Last week outside court, Mr Browns elderly widow Bridie said that she should not have to go to London to pursue the case further with the Supreme Court.

It was the 58th time the 87-year-old had attended a court hearing as part of her long battle to secure answers about her husbands death.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament Buildings in Belfast on Tuesday, Ms ONeill said she felt the treatment of the Brown family has been horrible, horrific, retraumatising.

When you see Mrs Brown herself go to court at each turn to try to get what is right and proper, a public inquiry for her husband. I think it is absolutely disgraceful and a shame on the British Government that they are putting this woman through this time and time again, she said.

Five judges have told the British Government to do the right thing and call a public inquiry, five times the British Government have ignored that, that cannot continue.

Mrs Browns words were very clear, very emotional in calling on Keir Starmer to do the right thing, she was also clear in saying dont make her go to London, this is an 87-year-old woman, she shouldnt have to keep campaigning in the way she is.

There needs to be a full public inquiry, this is about the Brown family and their quest for truth and justice.

This is why I felt it important to speak directly to Keir Starmer. Hilary Benn has ignored and pleas from the family so it is now time for Keir Starmer to have the opportunity to do the right thing by the Brown family.

Last year, a coroner halted an inquest into the Brown killing, expressing concern that his ability to examine the case had been compromised by the extent of confidential state material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.

Preliminary inquest proceedings had already heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

It had also been alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.

Coroner Mr Justice Kinney called on the Government to establish a public inquiry into the loyalist murder.

Mr Benn decided against holding an inquiry, arguing that the case could instead be dealt with by a new Troubles investigatory body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

Mr Browns widow challenged Mr Benns decision not to order a public inquiry and High Court judge Mr Justice Humphreys found in her favour in December and ordered the Government to establish one.

The Government then appealed against that decision to the Court of Appeal, leading to last weeks judgment.
Sean McCarthaigh

The owner of a fast food restaurant in Limerick has been ordered to pay compensation of over 57,000 to a migrant worker who had to work up to 18-hour days across a number of his employers businesses without receiving the national minimum wage.

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the company which operates Mix Spice 3 in 1 in Davis Street, Limerick has breached the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 over its failure to pay the delivery driver the proper wage between August 2021 and October 2023.

The WRC directed that the name of the complainant, who was represented by Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, should not be published due to his vulnerability.

It heard he had been entirely dependent on his employer for accommodation, immigration status and livelihood in Ireland until his dismissal from the job.

Evidence

The man gave evidence that while he was listed as being employed as a chef de partie, he had actually worked as both a delivery driver and a phone shop assistant.

He told the WRC that he worked in a phone shop, Solo Mobile, in Limerick  where he also lived  from 8am to 5.30/6.00pm six days a week.

The complainant then continued working as a delivery driver for Mix Spice 3 in 1 in Limerick from 6pm until 2.30/3.00am seven days a week.

The driver said when not working or living at Solo Mobile, he worked in another of the companys mobile phone outlets, Tech More Gadgets, in Templemore, Co Tipperary between 9am and 7.30pm six days a week as a shop attendant and mobile phone technician.

On occasions, the complainant said he also worked at another of his employers businesses  Five Star Kebab and Pizza in Castleconnell, Co Limerick.

He told the WRC that he did not receive wages but was provided instead with accommodation, one free daily meal and a car with insurance.

'Beg for money'

The man said he had to beg for money from his employer and used to receive amounts ranging from 10 to 50 on an irregular basis.

The WRC heard that the company which operated the fast food restaurant, Broz Asset Private Limited, also sent an average of 410 per month directly to his family in Pakistan.

The complainant said he was extremely fearful for both himself and his family while working for the company because he felt intimidated by his employers connections to the police and politicians in his home city in Pakistan.

He recalled being given three cheques worth around 2,900 after begging for his wages when he visited Pakistan in 2023 to visit his ill father and to attend his own engagement.

Complaint

The man said he submitted a complaint to the WRC after he got no response from his employer to his request for a statement outlining his average hourly rate of pay.

The WRC heard he worked up to 115 hours per week in 2021 which had been reduced to 60 hours by 2023.

WRC adjudication officer, Una Glazier-Farmer ruled that the complainants evidence had not been disputed due to the failure of the company to attend a hearing of the case.

Ms Glazier-Farmer accepted the delivery drivers evidence over his working hours during a period when the National Minimum Wage ranged from 10.20 to 11.30 per hour.

She directed that the company pay him a sum of 56,504 in arrears for underpayment of the national minimum hourly wage.

The WRC also ordered it to pay the complainant an additional 1,000 towards reasonable expenses he had incurred for processing the claim.
High Court Reporter

The court has heard that over 40,000 has been seized from Enoch Burke's bank account as a result of High Court orders enforcing the payment of thousands of euros in fines owed by the schoolteacher.

Mr Justice David Nolan on Tuesday also ordered Mr Burke to pay legal costs incurred by Wilsons Hospital School and the Attorney General in the proceedings, though Mr Burke continually spoke over the judge as he gave his ruling.

Two of Mr Burkes family members  mother Martina and sister Ammi  were removed from the courtroom by gardai during the hearing.

Previously, following an application by the Attorney General, Mr Justice Nolan made an order appointing a receiver to receive Mr Burkes salary, and a garnishee order over his bank account for up to 79,100, the amount that was owed by the teacher over his continued failure to abide by court orders prohibiting him from attending at Wilsons Hospital School, in Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath.

The school dismissed him over his conduct when he protested about what he said was a requirement to address a transgender pupil with they/them pronouns. Mr Burke, who says he is standing up for his Christian beliefs, claims his constitutional right to religious freedom has been breached.

Mr Burke spent 512 days in prison for failing to comply with a court order prohibiting his attendance at Wilsons Hospital School. He was released from Mountjoy Prison last December without having purged his contempt, and returned to the school premises following the Christmas holidays.

The court heard on Tuesday that Mr Burke continues to attend at the school premises, with the school indicating that it would seek an attachment and committal order if he continued his protest at the school come the start of the next academic year.

On Tuesday, Brian Kennedy SC, for the Attorney General, told Mr Justice Nolan that following his garnishee order, Bank of Ireland transferred the entire credit balance  40,627.89  of Mr Burkes bank account to the Courts Services fines account.

Mr Kennedy added that Mr Burkes teachers salary is being transferred to the receiver appointed over his bank account. Almost 1,600 in salary payments has already been collected by the receiver, the court heard.

Rosemary Mallon BL, appearing for the board of management of Wilsons Hospital School and instructed by Mason Hayes & Curran, opened to the court a sworn statement provided by John Galligan, the schools acting principal, testifying to Mr Burkes continued attendance at the school premises.

Mr Galligan reiterates the significant disruption caused by Mr Burkes continued breach of court orders. He states that he was hopeful the enforcement of the fine would result in Mr Burkes compliance with the order, but he continues to flout the court directions.

Mr Galligan said that the schools board cannot countenance any escalation by Mr Burke in his behaviour nor any disruption of any kind to the State exams.

Mr Galligan said that if Mr Burke continues to breach the court order come the new academic year in September, the school will pursue whatever action may be necessary to protect the normal order of the school, including  though with great reluctance  seeking an attachment and committal order. Mr Galligan said he hoped that Mr Burke would end his protest at the school.

Mr Kennedy and Ms Mallon said they were both applying for their costs in the proceedings.

Asked by Mr Justice Nolan why he should not make an order against him for costs, Mr Burke began to make a submission on an aspect of the judges previous decision, granting the Attorney General liberty to apply for garnishee order.

Mr Justice Nolan repeatedly asked Mr Burke to deal with the issue of costs. This is not a soapbox, the judge told Mr Burke, before adding, youre acting like an unruly schoolboy. Will you just deal with the issue before the court?

Mr Burke continued his submission, stating that no judge has made a determination ... on the constitutionality of the principals demand, referencing the requirement to use the transgender pupils preferred pronouns.

At this point, Mr Burkes sister Ammi and mother Martina were both removed from the court by gardai on the instructions of Mr Justice Nolan for their disruption of the hearing. Another unidentified man was also removed from the court.

As Mr Justice Nolan gave his costs ruling, Mr Burke continuously spoke over the judge.

The judge made an order for the Attorney General and the schools costs against Mr Burke, and reserved his judgment on the costs of the receiver.

As Mr Justice Nolan left the bench, Mr Burke and his brother Isaac continued to speak, the latter shouting shame on you at the judge.
Fionnuala Walsh

A young man who produced an unopened Stanley Blade while trying to act as a peacekeeper in a fight on a Centra shop floor has had his six-month jail sentence overturned on appeal.

The District Court Appeals Court heard that Luke McKee (23), who completed his Leaving Certificate while living in a homeless hostel and is due to complete an apprenticeship, had the blade with him as part of his work.

McKee, with an address at St Catherines Foyer, Marrowbone Lane, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty in the District Court to producing a knife contrary to section 11 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990.

He received a sentence of nine months in custody with three months suspended.

Garda Cian OLongaigh told the District Court Appeals Court on Tuesday that McKee was one of three men who entered a Centra shop on Wicklow Street, Dublin 2 on December 1st, 2022.

McKee proceeded to buy a roll from the deli and leave the store. After he left, one of the other men got into a physical altercation with a shop assistant.

Garda OLongaigh said that McKee then reentered the shop in an attempt to break up the fight, getting between the two men. The shop assistant and McKee then got into an altercation, the witness said.

McKee then briefly produced a Stanley knife, which was later identified on CCTV.

Defence counsel for McKee, Daniel OConnell BL, said that McKee got between the two men to stop the fight from escalating and effectively got caught in the crossfire.

He said that McKee was backing out of the shop with the injured party pursuing him when the Stanley blade was produced. He said that he did not spring the retractable blade or wave it in front of the other man.

Mr OConnell said that McKee had the blade in his possession for lawful purposes as a construction worker and had made no threat to use the knife against anyone.

He said that the incident only lasted 30 seconds and the injured party only realised a knife had been produced when it was identified later on CCTV.

Mr OConnell said McKee had an overreaction from fear of an altercation which was a learned response from his experience of living in homeless hostels.

He said that McKee, who was 19 years old at the time, was discharged from work and let go from his accommodation, effectively making him homeless, as a result of the offence.

He said that McKee is an orphan who completed his Leaving Certificate while living in a homeless hostel and is due to complete an apprenticeship in the coming months. He said that the consequences of a custodial sentence would be overly punitive.

Judge Fiona OSullivan decided to fully suspend the nine-month sentence over a period of 18 months, on the condition that McKee maintains good behaviour and completes an anger management course.

A sum of 300 has already been paid to the injured party.

Judge OSullivan said that she took into account that McKee became involved to act as a peacemaker, the incident appeared to be a once off and that references from his employer were simply excellent.
By David Young, Rebecca Black and Jonathan McCambridge, PA

People who are maliciously starting wildfires in Northern Ireland are risking being charged with manslaughter, the North's environment minister Andrew Muir has said.

Firefighters in Northern Ireland are braced for further wildfires having already tackled almost 150 blazes in three days.

Commanders at the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) have said the majority of the fires were started deliberately.

Mr Muir visited the Mourne Mountains in Co Down on Monday evening to see the extent of the damage caused by some recent fires.

Environment Minister Andrew Muir visited the Mourne Mountains on Monday (Liam McBurney/PA)

He told the PA news agency: Ive got a clear message to the people of Northern Ireland, if you know who is deliberately setting these malicious fires you must report it to the police. If that is difficult for you, anonymously to Crimestoppers.

To those that are thinking of going up the mountains to light fires  dont.

You are causing a catastrophic impact to our environment but also you are putting lives and peoples homes and farms at risk.

It needs to stop.

Mr Muir added: People are coming into these mountains and they think its fun, it is not.

You could end up being charged with manslaughter.

This is the risk being put to lives in terms of this area.

But also the environment  air quality, water quality, our nature and biodiversity, it is being destroyed.

NIFRS area commander David Harbinson said an amber wildfire warning would remain in place until the end of the week, with the forecast for increasing temperatures in the region heightening concerns of further ignitions.

We are anticipating that we could be busy and thats down to the dry weather continuing, said Mr Harbinson.

I think later on in the week the temperatures are due to increase. With the temperature increases, then there is a greater risk. But what also happens with the temperature increase then is that makes the conditions for firefighters more arduous.

The NIFRS said on Monday evening it was continuing to deal with multiple wildfires burning across Northern Ireland.

Six fire appliances and 33 firefighters are tackling a 1.5km fire front in the Bloody Bridge area of the Mournes.

In the nearby Slievenaman Road area, six fire appliances and 30 firefighters are tackling a 1km blaze.

Six appliances and 33 firefighters are at the scene of a wildfire in the Sawel Mountain area of Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone, and 22 firefighters are continuing to deal with a blaze in the Carncullagh Road area of Dervock, Co Antrim.

Smoke over the Mourne Mountains in Co Down as wildfires continued to burn on Monday (Liam McBurney/PA)

The 146 wildfires responded to from Friday to Sunday included a huge blaze in the Hilltown area near the Mourne Mountains in Co Down, which fire commanders described as one of the most significant they have had to deal with for years.

A major incident was declared as firefighters tried to contain the fire.

At the height of operations, 15 fire appliances and more than 100 firefighters worked in difficult conditions and high winds throughout Saturday evening and into the early hours of Sunday to tackle the gorse fire.

As a precaution a number of residents were evacuated from their homes in the Sandbank and Kilbroney roads while the fire was brought under control.

A 25-year-old man arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the fire was later released on bail.

Across the weekend, significant wildfires also took hold in the Ben Crom and Silent Valley areas in the Mourne Mountains.

David Harbinson, area commander at Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, at Bloody Bridge near Newcastle in Co Down (Liam McBurney/PA)

On Monday, firefighters continued to tackle another gorse fire on the mountainside at Bloody Bridge outside Newcastle, Co Down.

Mr Harbinson warned that the fire could escalate.

The early indication is potentially that the incident may escalate in terms of our resourcing in order to deal with that, he told PA at the scene on Monday afternoon.

But its too early to forecast, but thats the early indications of where we may be going.
High Court Reporters

University Hospital Kerry has apologised for the deficiencies in the standard of care to a man who went to A&E with abdominal pain, was discharged after 10 hours and wasnt operated on until he returned in excruciating pain hours later.

Gearoid Ferris from Dingle, Co Kerry, who was operated on three times, died in the hospital ICU 13 days after he first attended the emergency department.

A letter of apology from the hospital was read to the High Court on Tuesday as his family settled for 300,000 an action over the death of Mr Ferris on his 58th birthday.

The familys counsel John OMahony SC, with Doireann OMahony BL told the High Court the apology is of crucial importance to the Ferris family, who he said had suffered enormously. He said it was a profoundly tragic case.

Counsel said a big opportunity for saving the mans life had been lost and his condition could simply have been dealt with when he first went to the hospital A&E on April 2nd 2021, Counsel said.

13 days later, on April 15th 2021 and after three operations, Mr Ferris died after telling his wife and sons he loved them, Dr OMahony said.

It was claimed on the Ferris side that had Gearoid Ferris received the appropriate care on April 2nd when he first attended the hospital A&E, he would not have suffered the catastrophic complications he did, and he would not have died.

The HSE admitted that the care of Mr Ferris fell below the appropriate standard of care.

The letter of apology, which was read to the High Court, said: We acknowledge and apologise unreservedly to you for the deficiencies in the standard of care provided to Mr Ferris and the ongoing distress and suffering this has caused you.

The letter, signed by the hospital general manager, Mary Fitzgerald, added: We wish to reassure you and your family that the hospital strives at all times to optimise patient care and we will continue to ensure that best practice is at the forefront of our clinical service to all patients.

Helen Ferris, Ballinvownig, Dingle Co Kerry, along with her two sons, Douglas and Bernard, had sued the HSE over the death of Gearoid four years ago.

Mr Ferris had been in good health before his death, apart from battling weight issues.

He had a gastric bypass surgery and other surgery and was very active, including participating in mountain climbing and was able to climb Mount Brandon and had registered to climb Kilimanjaro.

On April 2nd 2021, at around 7pm, he complained of indigestion, and his abdominal symptoms worsened. He was brought to the emergency department at University Hospital, Kerry, by ambulance.

However, it is claimed the decision was made to discharge him at about 5.30 am on April 3rd when it was claimed he was still symptomatic.

The same day he was brought back to the hospital before midday, and his pain was excruciating. It was claimed his son advised A&E staff of his previous discharge and expressed his concerns about the well-being of his father, who was begging for help as his pain was, by that time, unbearable.

It was claimed there was a delay managing Mr Ferris and his son was advised to go home. Later that evening, at around 7pm, his wife received a call advising that her husbands CT scan had been undertaken, which showed a bowel obstruction and that emergency surgery was needed within the hour.

She subsequently received another phone call advising her husband was in a critical condition.

Mr Ferris was admitted to the intensive care unit, and his family were asked to attend the hospital urgently. He remained in intensive care up to his death on April 15th 2021

It was claimed that but for the delayed diagnosis, Mr Ferris would have been operated on about 24 hours earlier than he was, which would have been sufficient.

Approving the settlement and the division of the 35,000 statutory mental distress payment Mr Justice Paul Coffey said it was a very sad and tragic case, and he extended his deepest sympathy to the family.
A 59-YEAR-OLD man who issued a threatening letter to Laois psychologist Dr Eddie Murphy was jailed for four months at Portlaoise District Court last week.

Sergeant JJ Kirby said that Dr Murphy, who was a psychologist with the RTE programme Operation Transformation was waiving his right to anonymity and was agreeing to lift reporting restrictions.

Paul Mangan, 25 The Green, Liffey Hall, Newbridge, Co Kildare pleaded guilty to a single charge under section 4 of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act, 2020.

Garda Rebecca Cleary said that on 31 October 2023, the accused entered Portarlington Enterprise Centre, Canal Road, Portarlington, where Dr Murphy has an office, and delivered a letter for his attention before leaving.

In a statement to gardai, she said that Dr Murphy initially thought the envelope contained a Mass card as his mother had died recently, but it transpired that an allegation was made that he was having an affair with the accuseds wife.

Garda Cleary said that a cautioned statement was taken from the accused and in it Mr Mangan admitted to delivering the letter.

In his statement, Mr Mangan said: The letter outlined that I knew that there was something going on with him and my wife. The gist of it was to stay away from my wife and my family. I did say that I would confront him. By that I meant I would speak to him about it. There was no physical threat, nor would I dream of it.

Defending solicitor Josephine Fitzpatrick said that her client provided full co-operation to gardai when he was contacted.

Dr Murphy took the stand and asked for permission to read into the court record his victim impact statement.

He said: This victim impact statement is provided by myself and my wife, as a couple who have been affected by a criminal action of an individual.

This person inflicted significant distress and fear through his targeted and deliberate harassment, including coming to my workplace and issuing threats, and attempted to damage my personal and professional reputation. It was deeply disturbing. It has shaken our personal security. He sent a direct communication containing threats warning of vengeance and severe consequences, saying I will destroy you. I will confront you at your office.

He specifically targeted my good name as a professional psychologist. He threatened to post it on specialised forums that would then go on to mainstream. That he would contact my colleagues and peers in my place of work. His threats were explicit, calculated and terrifying. He said that he was going to be utterly ruthless with the capacity for vengeance. He said that he would bring so much trouble into my world that it would bring Armageddon and so much trouble.

Dr Murphy said: These threats caused emotional harm to me. It terrified me. It affected my wife. She just had a significance cancer diagnosis as well. Our home, which is a place of safety, is now a fortress. We put in security cameras and alarms. We have no sense of peace. The ordeal came a week after the death of my mother. It was a time when my family was in a very vulnerable state. We were thrown into a nightmare of fear and distress. I couldnt grieve for my mother for over a year, because I was so anxious and depressed.

I was diagnosed with acute stress disorder and my GP advised that I take a month off work. I was always wondering whether he would follow through on the threats. Dr Murphy said that he had never met Mr Mangan.

Under questioning from the defendants solicitor, Dr Murphy said that Mr Mangans wife works in the psychology services, and he manages over 40 psychologists. He said that he had worked with the accuseds wife for over 20 years and had never socially met her.

Ms Fitzpatrick said that her client had written a letter of apology, which Dr Murphy refused to accept.

Referring to the letter that Dr Murphy had received at his place of work, Judge Andrew Cody said it was shocking, disgusting and despicable. It must have been terrifying.

Ms Fitzpatrick said that her client, who is originally from Co Mayo, had recently been separated, partly arising from the incident. She said that at the age of 24 he graduated with a qualification as a registered qualified nurse. In his early 30s he began as a staff nurse in St Patricks Mental University Hospital in Dublin and since 2017 has been in charge of a ward with a staff quota of 22 people.

She said that Mr Mangan firmly believed that his wife, who is a senior psychologist, was having an affair with Dr Murphy and she asserted that he was suffering with a delusional mental disorder. He felt that she was using the weight of her professional standing to categorise him as an individual with a mental disorder.

Ms Fitzpatrick said that Mr Mangan was offering 3,000 by way of compensation for the distress he caused to Dr Murphy. However, Dr Murphy said he was refusing to accept it and instead asked that it be given to the charity Lust For Life.

Before passing sentence, Judge Cody said that he was bemused and questioned why the DPP did not direct that the case be heard at circuit court level, where a higher sentence could be passed.

The judge said the letter was as bad as you can get in terms of the threats, the name-calling and the allegations.

He added: The fact that this would be sent by a mental health professional is equally shocking. Id hate to think that any relative of mine would be treated in any hospitals where Mr Mangan was working.

Sentencing Mr Mangan to four months in prison, Judge Cody, at the request of Ms Fitzpatrick, went on to set an own bail recognisance of 1,000 with a cash bond of 500 in the event he wished to appeal against the sentence, which he took up before close of court business.
Trump, Netanyahu discuss Gaza hostages, tariffs at White House

Xinhua) 08:35, April 08, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump (C) welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House on Monday, focusing on the Gaza hostage crisis and U.S. tariffs on Israeli goods.

In a brief Oval Office session open to reporters, Trump called the release of hostages held in Gaza a "top priority." He expressed optimism about ongoing negotiations but provided no specific details.

"We're making progress," Trump said. "I believe we'll see all the hostages home soon."

Netanyahu agreed, emphasizing Israel's commitment to securing the hostages' freedom.

They also addressed the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. While they announced no new agreements, both stressed the importance of reducing violence in the region.

Trump defended his recent 17 percent tariff on imports from Israel, part of his broader trade policy affecting many economies.

Netanyahu reportedly sought relief from these tariffs, highlighting Israel's efforts to strengthen trade ties with the United States.

In 2024, the total goods trade between the two countries was an estimated at 37.0 billion U.S. dollars, with U.S. exports to Israel at 14.8 billion dollars and imports from Israel at 22.2 billion dollars, resulting in a 7.4 billion dollars U.S. trade deficit.

Netanyahu's visit to the White House was arranged in a phone call last Thursday between the two leaders when Netanyahu raised the tariff issue, according to Israeli officials.

The White House had initially planned a joint press conference but canceled it without explanation. Instead, reporters asked questions during their brief access to the Oval Office meeting.

Trump did not discuss any long-term plans for Gaza's redevelopment during this meeting. His administration has previously proposed controversial ideas for the region, which have faced criticism from various groups.

The meeting highlighted the complex relationship between the United States and Israel, balancing security concerns with economic interests. Both leaders pledged to continue working closely on these issues.

U.S. President Donald Trump (C) welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)

U.S. President Donald Trump (C) welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)

U.S. President Donald Trump (C) welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)

U.S. President Donald Trump (3rd R) welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd R) at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Advertisement

Domestic cement dispatches in Peru advanced 4.6 per cent YoY to 0.942Mt in February 2025 when compared with the year-ago period, when dispatches reached 0.901Mt, according to the countrys cement association, ASOCEM. Compared with January 2025, the volume was down 5.1 per cent. Of the total, 0.847Mt were dispatches by association members.

Production from Perus cement plants increased by 6.6 per cent YoY and 0.6 per cent MoM to 0.872Mt in February 2025. Clinker production saw growth of 19 per cent YoY and 25 per cent MoM to 0.751Mt in the same period.

External trade: cement volumes up, clinker down

In terms of exports, 11,100t of cement was exported, up 7.3 per cent YoY and 8.4 per cent MoM. In February 2024 cement exports reached 10,300t. However, cement companies reported a 49 per cent contraction YoY (50 per cent MoM) in clinker exports, which fell to 36,500t in February 2025 from 71,000t in February 2025.

Cement imports saw a 1214 per cent surge in February 2025 to 53,000t from 4000t in February 2024. When compared with January 2025, there was a 5.7 per cent uptick. Cement was imported from mainly Vietnam, which accounted for 80 per cent, while imports from Chile and Bolivia accounted for 10 per cent each. The average CIF import price via the terminal of Tacna (taking imports from Chile) edged up by two per cent to US$128/t when compared with February 2024, while at the Desaguadero terminal, the price for Bolivian imports remained level at US$96/t. Imports from Vietnam, which were landed at the port of Callao, saw the average CIF import price fall by nine per cent to US$69/t, when compared with March 2024 (there were no cement imports at the port in February 2024).

Clinker imports saw a 44 per cent YoY fall to 36,000t in February 2025 from 64,000t in February 2024. When compared with January 2025, there was an 18 per cent decline. Clinker was imported from Ecuador via the port of Callao, where the average CIF import price was US$60/t, down 9.5 per cent YoY.
Southern Adventist University welcomes Jeremy Robinson, vice president of People Development for student-centric Western Governors University in Utah, to speak on Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work-Based Learning for the E.A. Anderson Lecture on Monday, April 21, beginning promptly at 6:50 p.m. in Room 3205 of Brock Hall on campus.

Robinsons expertise in large-scale people strategy, leadership development, and organizational transformation infuses his passion for inspiring current and future leaders to discover their purpose and passion. A certified expert in Change Management, Strengths Mastery, and Learning & Performance, Robinson is a sought-after keynote speaker on engagement and whole-person health, among other topics, for both individuals and organizations.

The E.A. Anderson Lecture Series is an annual feature of the Institute of Ethical Leadership housed within Southerns School of Business. The free series aims to develop and support leaders through education and experience while fostering ethical marketplace environments. Made possible by the generosity of the late E.A. Anderson of Atlanta, Georgia, the lectures promote expertise and perspectives from business leaders from across the country.

Business casual attire is required for all attendees, continuing education credit is offered, seating is limited, and doors close at 7 p.m.

What: Robinson Presents E.A. Anderson Lecture on AI and Work-based Learning

When: Monday, April 21, 6:50 p.m.

Where: Southern Adventist University

Brock Hall, Room 3205
Cleveland State Community College invites the community to a free lecture in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Project Gemini on Monday, April 21, 5 p.m. in the Mary T. Barker Humanities Building on the Cleveland campus.



In 1965, the first crewed missions of Project Gemini occurred and paved the way for the Moon

landings of Project Apollo. Dr. Neil Greenwood, Professor of History, will lead the lecture for students in his modern and United States history classes. He invites the public to join the class for this presentation.

Greenwood said, Project Gemini was important to the Project Apollo Moon landings because the Gemini mission crews developed techniques in spacecraft rendezvous, spacecraft docking and extravehicular activities (space walks). Such techniques for the rendezvousing and docking of two separate spacecraft had to be developed for the lunar and command modules of the Apollo spacecraft.



Greenwood has been teaching U.S. history, world history and Tennessee history at Cleveland State since 1992. He has a bachelors degree and masters degree in history from California State University, Fullerton and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); he holds a doctorate degree in history from UCLA.
Betty Jo Henderson Smith died peacefully surrounded by her family at Park West Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee, on April 2, 2025.

She was born in Chattanooga, on June 8, 1927, to the late Ellis and Anna Bogart Henderson. She was the great great-granddaughter of Jane Cozby Henderson, one of the 53 first citizens of Chattanooga. She attended Chattanooga High School, Mary Baldwin College and graduated from the University of Chattanooga with a B.A. in art. She was a member of the Chi Omega sorority.

Betty Jo married David B. Smith, and after his retirement, they traveled the world, often accompanied by friends. An avid watercolorist, she captured memories of each trip with a painting. Betty Jo was dedicated to her family and friends, had a deep love for chocolate, and served as a spiritual mentor to many, always praying without ceasing.

She was a member of Northside Presbyterian Church for many years and later joined First Centenary United Methodist where she was active in the United Methodist Women (serving as president), the Morgan Class and the Prayer Ministry. She was also a member of North Chattanooga Book Club, Association of Visual Artists and Hunter Museum of Art. She worked in the CONTACT Telephone Ministry for many years and was a member of Chattanooga-Lafayette Emmaus Community.

Betty Jo was preceded in death by her parents and husband, Dave.

She is survived by her daughter Joy (Don) Stokes, grandchildren, Virginia (Jordan) Knight and Marshall Stokes, great-granddaughter Hollis, of Knoxville, niece, Tonyia Johnston of Ringgold, Robert (Clara) OKelley, who is like a son, their children and grandchildren, of Rossville, and cousins, Lisa, Jocelyn and Rosa Smith of Signal Mountain.

Funeral services will be conducted from the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 12, with Rev. Michelle Hunter officiating. Interment will follow in Chattanooga Memorial Park. Betty Jos receiving of friends will be held at the Chattanooga Funeral Home North Chapel on Friday from 5-7 p.m..

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that all honorariums be made to the First-Centenary United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 208, Chattanooga, Tn. 37401.

Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory, and Florist, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson, Tn. 37343.

Please share your thoughts and memories at www.chattanooganorthchapel.com
Students and employees from Southern Adventist Universitys automotive program will be providing free vehicle inspections for the community on Sunday, April 13 from 1-4 p.m. in the Samaritan Center parking lot at 9231 Lee Hwy. in Ooltewah. This is the rain date from the originally planned event of this past Sunday.Technicians will check fluids, belts, hoses and other maintenance items on vehicles. While the team will not be doing any repairs on site, each inspection will be followed by an explanation of recommendations on anything that should be fixed.Donations to benefit the Samaritan Center are welcomed but not required.Southerns automotive program is ranked fourth in the nation by College Choice. This hands-on program was introduced at Southern nearly 30 years ago and has grown to include bachelors and associate degrees.For more information, contact Southerns Applied Technology team at 423-236-2863, or by emailing technology@southern.edu.
In this photo from July 29, 2015, a GNT employee deposits carrot extract on to a spoon at their offices in Tarrytown, N.Y.
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Home News Southern Baptist leaders urge compassion for immigrants as fear drives declining church attendance

Thirteen Southern Baptist ethnic groups representing 10,900 churches have issued a joint statement on immigration calling for the Trump administration in the United States to show compassion for migrants fleeing persecution.

The leaders warned that current immigration policies are fueling fear even among those in the U.S. legally, with many too afraid to attend worship services or seek spiritual care in their local churches.

Bruno Molina, executive director of the National Hispanic Baptist Network and a signatory, told the Baptist Press that Haitian, Hispanic, African American, Chinese, Filipino, Nigerian, Liberian, Ghanaian, Korean, Burmese, Thai and Vietnamese leaders signed the statement.

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Signatories shared the federal governments desire to protect citizens, promote legal immigration and refugee policies, and robustly safeguard the countrys borders, but enforcement must be accompanied with compassion that doesnt demonize those fleeing oppression, violence, and persecution, as quoted by the Baptist Press.

Threats of mass deportation by the Trump administration and its lack of assurance to churches that ICE agents will not enter churches to carry out immigration enforcement duties has caused fear to rise among both the guilty and the innocent, the leaders wrote in the statement.

Many immigrants and refugees who are in the U.S. legally are feeling confused and fearful about attending church services or seeking spiritual care, as reflected in a noticeable decline in church attendance nationwide, according to the group.

We are concerned about the current impact on religious freedom as worshippers decide not to attend worship services out of fear that federal agents will carry out law enforcement duties in non-exigent circumstances inside a church building," they said. "While we reject and oppose criminal activity or harboring criminals, all people should have the freedom to receive spiritual care from churches within a church building in America."

The leaders believe that immigration changes by Trumps government will impact Haitian and Hispanic congregations. This includes orders that stop humanitarian parole for 532,000 Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Cubans on April 24, and ending Temporary Protected Status for about 1.1 million more migrants in August.

On March 31, a federal judge reportedly blocked one of the orders, which would have forced 350,000 Venezuelans to leave on Monday.

We call on our Southern Baptist brothers and sisters to pray for the Trump administration, wrote the leaders. Please ask God to grant wisdom as they deal with this important and complex issue that will determine the course for many who have already experienced great atrocities in their native country and whose deportations will cause their American-born family members who reunite with them in a foreign country to experience the same dire conditions.

Signatories asked for a fine or other penalty be paid in lieu of deportation, making the appeal for mercy referring to Matthew 25:35-36: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Southern Baptist churches are called to pray for the immigrants and refugees facing significant fear and uncertainty in these days and to extend compassion to them when possible.

Many fear returning to their native country where they were persecuted and faced extreme violence, including kidnappings and physical and sexual assaults towards adults and children, as well as substantial challenges in meeting basic needs such as food, shelter, and medical care, added the signatories.

We call on our Southern Baptists leaders to stand firm for religious liberty and speak on behalf of the immigrant and refugee. We ask them to encourage government leaders to support religious liberty, guarantee due process, and provide clear guidance as they look to enforce the immigration laws.

As our greatest hope and courage can only be found in Jesus Christ, we also call on Southern Baptist pastors and church leaders to look for opportunities to share the gospel and care for immigrants and refugees.

Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, expressed his appreciation for the ethnic leaders statement.

I am grateful these pastors and leaders have put into words the experiences that so many of our fellow Southern Baptist brothers and sisters are living through right now. The Administrations efforts to secure Americas borders and cut illegal entry into our nation represents a serious attempt to restore order for a system that, for decades, has been overwhelmed, Leatherwood said in comments to Baptist Press.

Moreover, many of these moves are consistent with elements of a comprehensive approach to border security and immigration reform long called for by the Southern Baptist Convention.

Yet, as these pastors have indicated, some of these actions and public statements are raising alarm and fear among those who are here legally.

During his first term, Trump expressed support for legal immigration in the largest numbers ever, a point that Leatherwood highlighted and endorsed in his remarks.

Fostering an environment that creates uncertainty in those who are permitted to be here is at odds with that goal, he said.

Given that, as I have said previously, wed ask the Administration to provide more clarity in this area so that our pastors, churches, and compassion ministries will be free to minister and proclaim the Good News of Christs life, death, and resurrection to all.

Keny Felix, president of the SBC National Haitian Fellowship, emphasized the importance of collaboration among leaders in addressing the issue.

As leaders within the SBC, we believe we must work collaboratively in support of our brothers, sisters and vulnerable families. Its not just advocacy. Its fulfilling our biblical mandate, Felix told Baptist Press. To care for the most vulnerable with compassion is at the heart of Gods redemption story and also makes for strong and healthy communities.

This article was originally published by Christian Daily International.
Home News SC church gets historic marker for Civil War ministry among ex-slaves

A historic South Carolina church that has existed since the Civil War was recently bestowed the honor of a historical marker recognizing its roots of ministering to freed slaves.

First Zion Missionary Baptist Church of Bluffton, a predominantly African American church that traces its origins to 1862, received the historical marker last Saturday in which elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Bluffton Mayor Pro Tempore Dan Wood, were in attendance.

Originally known as First African Baptist Church, the founding pastor was a former slave from Georgia named Abraham Murchison, who also served as the first mayor of Mitchellville, a freed black community on Hilton Head Island.

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"This marker will stand as a testament to our commitment to God and our mission to share His love with all mankind, said the Rev. Bennie L. Jenkins Jr., pastor of First Zion MBC, according to ABC News affiliate WJCL.

These sacred spaces became more than just mere buildings. They were a sanctuary of worship, education and empowerment for once slaves now newly freed African Americans seeking solace, guidance and a sense of belonging.

The Christian Post reached out to First Zion Missionary Baptist Church for comment, and this article will be updated if a response is received.

The honor was given as part of the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Offices South Carolina Historical Marker Program, with the church being the sixth site in Bluffton to receive a marker.

According to the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, while the marker program has been state-managed it is locally driven.

SCDAH reviews and approves all new state historical markers, however the agency has never received regular state funding for new markers, stated SCDAH. Rather, it depends on the citizens of South Carolina to propose, document, fund, and maintain state historical markers.

Debbie Szpanka, spokesperson for the Town of Bluffton, provided a statement emailed to CP noting that the community is known for its Old Town Historic District, in which each building tells its stories of our past neighbors and how those buildings shaped peoples lived experiences since the1800s.

Collectively, the district tells a more expansive story of how the Bluffton community operated and negotiated through the Civil War, economic and weather challenges and still maintained the Bluffton State of Mind, the statement added.

Blufftons historic structures create a sense of place which gives it its own personality and distinguishes it from other cities and towns.
Home News Evangelical leaders from US visit Hamas atrocity sites on solidarity mission to Israel

REIM, ISRAEL  To walk the grounds where the Nova Music Festival was held on the weekend of Oct. 7, 2023, is to walk the site of the bloodiest and most deadly massacre of Jews in the history of modern Israel.

On that horrific day, 344 Israeli young people  those who had come to sing and dance and be with their friends  were murdered by upwards of 100 Hamas terrorists invading from Gaza.

Another 34 Israelis working security at the Festival were also slaughtered.

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Still another 44 Israelis were taken hostage that day by Hamas operatives and dragged from the festival into the terror dungeons underneath the Gaza Strip.









Bearing witness to 'sheer evil'

Yesterday  Day 548 since the massacre took place  four-dozen Evangelical Christian pastors, ministry leaders and their spouses came here to see and hear and try to understand the story first-hand.

They did so amidst experiencing the jarring booms of Israeli artillery being fired at Hamas terrorist positions just a few kilometers away.

This is a site where sheer evil happened, Pat Propster, a pastor from Nevada, told his colleagues at the Nova site as he shared from the scriptures and led a time of prayer.

Abhor what is evil and cling to what is good, he continued, citing key verses written by the Apostle Paul in chapter 12 of the New Testament letter to the Romans.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.

Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.

Fortunately, no rockets were fired from Gaza while we were touring the border.

But just after we left, sirens did start sounding as Palestinian terrorists fired 10 rockets at Israel, the largest salvo in months.

By Gods grace, no Israeli casualties were reported.

The Joshua Fund: Helping Educate Pastors about God's love for Israel and her neighbors

My wife, Lynn, and I and our team have been deeply honored to be hosting and leading this solidarity mission on behalf of The Joshua Fund.

Were especially touched that the group came even after we warned them that it was increasingly likely that the ceasefire would unravel and the IDF would have to go back to war in Gaza.

Thats exactly what happened, yet not a single member of the group canceled.

Lynn and I founded the non-profit Evangelical Christian organization in the summer of 2006 to educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, according to Genesis 12:1-3, widely known among Jews and Christians as the Abrahamic Covenant.

Over nearly two decades, The Joshua Fund has been able to invest more than $100 million in strengthening the Church in the Epicenter, helping local congregations care for the poor and needy with food and other humanitarian aid, and educating the global Church to better understand from the Bible Gods love and prophetic plan for Israel and those in the Arab/Muslim world.

Over the past two decades, weve brought thousands of Christians to tour Israel and organized Epicenter Conferences all over the world.

The war has made the education of the Church far more urgent.

But its also changed whats possible in terms of bringing leaders to the Land.

Nearly 50 Christian leaders from 11 states

The last solidarity mission we organized and led for The Joshua Fund and ALL ISRAEL NEWS, with Gov. Mike Huckabee, was in December 2023, not long after the Oct. 7 war began, and was smaller and more intimate, with just seven prominent Evangelical leaders.

This time, the group is larger  nearly 50  and consists of pastors, ministry leaders, and their wives from 11 different states.

They landed in Israel last Monday  many for their very first time  and immediately participated in a Joshua Fund humanitarian aid project with elderly Holocaust survivors.

The Evangelicals came eager to stand with Israel, study the scriptures, walk where Jesus, the apostles and the prophets walked, and bear witness to the atrocities that were committed here by Hamas.

They came to pray for the immediate release of all the remaining 59 hostages being held in Gaza  24 of whom are believed by Israeli intelligence to still be alive  and to pray for the full healing, recovery and redemption of all Israelis and Palestinians, with a heart of compassion for all those who have been traumatized by the events of Oct. 7 and the brutal war that continues raging to this day.

Many have told me they have also come seeking the Lords wisdom on how they and their churches can bless the people of the Epicenter in real and practical and eternal ways in the months and years ahead.

Walking through homes ravaged by Hamas

Before coming to the Nova site, Lynn and I brought them to Kibbutz Alumim for lunch and then to Kibbutz Beeri.

Both are Israeli communities close to the Gaza border that were invaded and ravaged by Hamas on Oct. 7.

As we toured the burned, bombed, bullet-ridden homes in Beeri, we were led and briefed by two of the kibbutz residents.

They shared their personal stories  and those of their families and neighbors  from that ghastly day.

They also shared the numbers, which by themselves help paint a chilling picture.

Of the 1,200 residents of the kibbutz:

102 were murdered by Hamas,

31 were kidnapped, some of whom have been released, but six are still in Gaza and are confirmed dead,

100 members have recently returned to the kibbutz to begin living again and begin rebuilding,

approximately 800 are still living in temporary government-built housing outside the kibbutz and dont expect to return for another two years or so.

Faith wins: Encouraging pastors to come to Israel, many for the first time

Its just staggering to really be here and see this horror with my own eyes, Chad Connelly, an Evangelical leader from South Carolina, told me after seeing the wreckage and carnage. Its hard to process but its so important.

The Joshua Fund is working hand-in-hand with Connelly, a former political strategist and grassroots operator, who is the founder and CEO of Faith Wins, a non-profit ministry dedicated to educating, activating and mobilizing faith leaders, helping them leverage their influence and impact within the governmental and political arena.

Since 2013, as his website notes, Connelly has traveled to 43 states and spoken to more than 82,000 pastors and faith leaders about the importance of pastoral leadership in the public arena.

Helping pastors understand the importance of standing with Israel and combatting antisemitism are core biblical values that Connelly, his wife, Dana, and their colleagues hold dear.

Faith Wins first allied with The Joshua Fund to organize and lead a pastors' tour of Israel in August 2023.

That went so well  and had such an impact on the pastors who came, many of them for their first time  that we had all planned to organize a second tour in 2024.

But when the war erupted, The Joshua Fund became consumed by meeting urgent day-to-day needs here in the Land while Faith Wins became increasingly focused on voter education and registration back in the States.

Lynn and I could not be more grateful that Faith Wins has now brought their second group.

In the days ahead, well publish more coverage of our travels throughout the country and meetings with Jewish, Christian and government leaders.

This article was originally published by All Israel News.
Home News IRS ends probe of Florida church that prayed for school board candidate during service

The Internal Revenue Service has ended its investigation of a Florida church accused of violating its tax-exempt status by praying for a local school board candidate during worship service.

Lawyers with the First Liberty Institute announced Monday that the IRS informed New Way Christian Fellowship, Inc. of Palm Coast in a letter last month that the church will remain exempt from federal income taxes under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3).

"First Amendment rights don't end when a pastor, church member or even a political candidate steps on the platform of a church," FLI Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys, who helped represent New Way, stated in a statement.

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"We are pleased that the IRS not only closed its investigation, but affirmed that this church's activities of praying for political candidates during its church service do not threaten its tax-exempt status."

In 2022, Jill Woolbright, a local school board candidate, visited New Way and addressed the congregation during a worship service, with a clergyman praying for the person following her remarks. Her visit to New Way and two other churches at the time gained local media attention. She was quoted as saying that she believes God put her on the school board and that she is fighting "satanic warfare."

The IRS sent a letter to New Way in June 2024 stating that the church was under investigation for possibly violating their tax-exempt status. Under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code, tax-exempt charitable organizations are not allowed to "influence legislation" or "participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates."

"Our concerns are based on information we are in possession of indicating that you may have conducted political campaign intervention activities which are prohibited," stated the June 2024 IRS letter to New Way.

Last August, FLI and the law firm Jones Day sent a letter to the IRS, arguing that the church was within its First Amendment rights to allow the school board candidate to speak at the service and that the agency's inquiry is "inappropriate."

"The IRS's inquiry into New Way thus runs headlong into the First Amendment," they stated. "If more were somehow needed, revoking a church's tax-exempt status, based solely upon a sermon or address to the congregation during a worship service or church gathering, appears to be unprecedented in American history."

In 1954, Congress approved an amendment by then Sen. Lyndon Johnson, D-Texas, to bar 501(c)(3) organizations  namely charities and churches  from political campaign activity.

Known as the Johnson Amendment, the measure has garnered much criticism from conservative Christians in recent years, with some arguing that it unfairly limits the speech of religious entities.

Although President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2017 calling on the IRS to relax enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, the measure has not been officially repealed by Congress.
Home News Muslim man stabs wife, mother of 6, to death for going to church, accepting Christ as her Savior Woman had attended her first church service

NAIROBI, Kenya  A mother of six children was stabbed to death by her Muslim husband in Uganda after she attended her first church service, sources said.

Nasiimu Mirembe, whose children range in age from 3 to 18, had put her faith in Christ on March 21 after hearing the Gospel from a friend in eastern Ugandas Busembatya town council. She was 41.

She and her friend were on their way to a church service on March 23 when a Muslim neighbor, Awudu Mbulalina, greeted them 218 yards (200 meters) from the worship site and continued on, said the friend, whose name is being withheld for security reasons.

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Mirembe feared Mbulalina would tell her husband she was heading toward a church service and that he would kill her, but the friend encouraged her to trust in God and persuaded her to continue on.

After the service, where Mirembe was introduced as a new Christian, they were returning home when they met her husband, Adamu Mukungu, about 200 meters from the church site, the friend said. Mukungu did not greet them.

I saw you come out of the church, Mukungu told his wife, according to the friend. What you have done is very bad, especially during this period of Ramadan.

Immediately he started slapping his wife, the friend said. I started screaming and shouting for help. Mukungu then removed a long knife and started cutting her with it.

When Mukungu saw several church members led by a church elder rushing over, he fled, the friend said.

They took Mirembe to a nearby clinic for medical treatment, but after two hours, her condition worsened and she was referred to a larger hospital in Bugiri, where doctors found extensive internal and external bleeding.

Doctors declared her dead at 3:45 a.m. on March 24.

Mukungu has absconded, and police were still looking for him, a church member said.

Mirembe was mother to two sons and four daughters ages 18, 15, 11, 9, 6 and 3.

The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

Ugandas constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate ones faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12% of Ugandas population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.

This article was originally published at Morning Star News
Home News Parents opposed to transing kids are as bad as the KKK: Colo. lawmaker

A Colorado state lawmaker is likening parental rights groups opposed to a bill that, if passed and signed into law, could lead to removing children from their parents' custody if they oppose trans medicalization. The lawmaker said such parents were akin to the KKK.

Colorado Republican state Rep. Jarvis Caldwell shared audio from an April 1 Colorado House of Representatives Judiciary Committee meeting where lawmakers were debating House Bill 25-1312. The bill has wide-ranging implications and is designed to give wide deference to several aspects of LGBT ideology, specifically by directing courts to take a parents willingness to embrace their childs chosen gender identity into consideration when determining custody agreements.

We heard from multiple witnesses that this bill has been worked on for over a year, said Caldwell, who raised concerns that even he had just found out about the bill a day earlier.

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I really am curious about how much stakeholdering went on both sides of the issue and if parent groups that are not a part of the LGBT community, if they were involved, Caldwell told his colleagues on the committee.

Democratic state Rep. Yara Zoakie responded by asserting, A well stakeholded bill does not need to be discussed with hate groups and we dont ask someone passing civil rights legislation to go ask the KKK their opinion.

Zoakies comments suggest that she views parental rights groups opposed to the sweeping legislation as akin to the Ku Klux Klan, the hate group known for terrorizing African Americans in the decades following the Civil War.

Democratic state Rep. Javier Maroney agreed with Zoakies perspective: I agree. Theres no reason to go to the table with people who are echoing the hateful rhetoric going around about the trans community.

House Bill 25-1312 ultimately passed the Democrat-controlled Colorado House in a 38-20 vote on Sunday. The vote for the legislation fell along party lines, with all but one Democrat backing the measure and all other opposition to it coming from Republicans. The bill now heads to the Democrat-controlled Colorado Senate.

Also known as the Kelly Loving Act, House Bill 25-1312 defines Coercive control as a pattern of threatening, humiliating, or intimidating actions, including assaults or other abuse, that is used to harm, punish, or frighten an individual. Examples of actions that constitute so-called coercive control include deadnaming or misgendering.

The legislation defines deadnaming as to purposefully, and with the intent to disregard the individuals gender identity or gender expression, refer to an individual by their birth name rather than their chosen name.

Likewise, the measure defines misgendering as to purposefully, and with the intent to disregard the individuals gender identity or gender expression, refer to an individual using an honorific or pronoun that conflicts with the individuals gender identity or gender expression.

The legislation directs courts in the state to determine the allocation of parental responsibilities, including parenting time and decision-making responsibilities, in accordance with the best interests of the child, giving paramount consideration to the childs safety and the physical, mental, and emotional conditions and needs of the child. The courts are asked to consider Any report related to domestic violence or coercive control when making such a decision.

The measure further declares: It is against the public policy of this state for the law of another state to authorize or require a state agency to remove a child from the childs parent or guardian because the parent or guardian assisted the child in obtaining gender-affirming health-care service.

The term gender-affirming health-care service refers to the body deforming procedures performed on individuals exhibiting gender confusion, known as gender dysphoria.

Examples of such trans procedures include: puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries involving the mutilation of healthy body parts, such as a double mastectomy, hysterectomy and castration. More than two dozen states have banned some or all types of these procedures due to concerns about their long-term impact on patients' mental, emotional and physical health.

Another section of the legislation establishes requirements for school dress codes, stating that any dress code or uniform requirement implemented by a school board must not create or enforce any rules based on gender, and must allow each student to abide by any variation of the dress code.

The measure also contains new requirements governing places of public accommodation, prohibiting it as a discriminatory practice and unlawful to, with specific intent to discriminate, publish materials that deadname or misgender an individual.
Home News Russell Brand declares his innocence amid sexual misconduct charges: 'I pray you can see that' 'I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord, but I never was a rapist'

Comedian Russell Brand is maintaining his innocence after he was charged with rape, indecent assault and sexual assault by the British government.

Brand shared his thoughts on the charges filed against him by the Crown Prosecution Service on Friday in a video posted on X later that same day. He began the video by asserting, Were very fortunate, in a way, to live at a time when theres so little trust in the British government.

Brand also expressed gratitude that this is happening at a time when we know that the law has become a kind of weapon to be used against people, institutions and sometimes entire nations that will not accept and tolerate levels of corruption that are unprecedented.

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After sharing his distaste for the U.K. government under the leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Labour Party), Brand addressed the allegations against him while acknowledging that he had behaved poorly before getting married and having children, but denied ever having non-consensual sex.

I was a fool, man, he recalled. I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, sex addict and an imbecile, but what I never was was a rapist.

Brand insisted that he has never engaged in non-consensual activity, adding: I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes. He also thanked his fans and supporters for standing by him, and concluded the video by noting that he would have the opportunity to defend these charges in court.

Im incredibly grateful for that, he said.

Brand, well-known for his career as a comedian and actor, has since transitioned into podcasting. He's also documented his conversion to Christianity, first reported by The Christian Post, which culminated in a baptism last year and continued with the comedian baptizing others.

The Crown Prosecution Service detailed the charges against Brand in a statement released last Friday, noting that the charges stem from claims involving four women and pertain to incidents that allegedly occurred between 1999 and 2005. Brand faces two counts of rape, indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault. He is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court for a first hearing on May 2.

The charges filed against Brand on Friday aren't the first time the comedian has faced allegations of sexual misconduct.

In 2023, an investigation carried out by The Times of London and Channel 4 found that five women had accused Brand of perpetrating sexual assault and emotional abuse against them in incidents that took place between 2006 and 2013. One allegation maintained that Brand committed a rape at his Los Angeles home in 2012. The investigation led to YouTube suspending Brands account.

Responding to the previous allegations by steadfastly denying them, Brand suggested that the claims against him amounted to coordinated media attacks as part of a serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces and these kind of voices. As he has in the most recent charges against him, Brand stressed that all sexual activity he has ever engaged in has been consensual.
Home News Supreme Court halts order to return deported El Salvadoran national

The United States Supreme Court has issued a stay on an order requiring that the government return an El Salvadoran man who was deported and sent to a prison in his native country.

In a miscellaneous order issued Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts stayed an order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland regarding the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Additionally, Roberts requested a response from plaintiffs by Tuesday night, to which lawyers for Garcia responded soon after the miscellaneous order was issued.

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"This case is one of one," his lawyers told the court, according to Fox News. "It presents the extraordinary circumstances of the Government conceding that it erred in removing Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to a foreign country for which he was not eligible for removal.'"

"Abrego Garcia has never been charged with a crime, in any country. He is not wanted by the Government of El Salvador," his lawyers further argued. "He sits in a foreign prison solely at the behest of the United States, as the product of a Kafka-esque mistake."

An El Salvadoran native who unlawfully entered the U.S. during the Obama administration and resided in Prince Georges County, Maryland, Abrego Garcia was deported last month under the allegation that he's an MS-13 gang member.

Abrego Garcia filed a lawsuit against several federal officials, including Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons, alleging that he was deprived of due process.

Abrego Garcia's lawyers also argued that in 2019, a judge had granted him federal protection from being deported.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed at a press briefing earlier this month that Abrego Garcia as had violated the United States immigration laws and is a leader in the brutal MS-13 gang, and he is involved in human trafficking.

However, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis rejected the claim that Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13, demanding in her order that he be returned to the U.S. She wrote in her opinion that the evidence against Abrego Garcia consisted of nothing more than his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and a vague, uncorroborated allegation from a confidential informant claiming he belonged to MS-13s Western clique in New Yorka place he has never lived.

However, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation that "intelligence reports" substantiate the government's belief that Abrego Garcia "is involved in human trafficking.

Whether he is in El Salvador or a detention facility in the U.S., he should be locked up, McLaughlin continued.

U.S. Solicitor General Dean John Sauer filed a request to vacate the lower court ruling, reiterating the claim that Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 member, but also saying that removing him to El Salvador was an administrative error.

Sauer argued that the Constitution charges the President, not federal district courts, with the conduct of foreign diplomacy and protecting the Nation against foreign terrorists, including by effectuating their removal.

The Constitution vests the President with control over foreign negotiations so that the United States speaks with one voice, not so that the Presidents central Article II prerogatives can give way to district-court diplomacy, Sauer argued.

If this precedent stands, other district courts could order the United States to successfully negotiate the return of other removed aliens anywhere in the world by close of business. Under that logic, district courts would effectively have extraterritorial jurisdiction over the United States diplomatic relations with the whole world.
Home News UMC, Global Methodists locked in legal battle over at least 7 Liberia properties: report

The United Methodist Church and the Global Methodist Church are locked in a legal battle over at least seven properties in the West African nation of Liberia.

Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr., head of the UMC Liberia Conference, confirmed to UM News that the church property cases are being litigated in the nation's courts, calling the process "very tedious and cost intensive."

"We're very hopeful that with God on our side and some financial support from our partners, we will overcome," Quire was quoted as saying.

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"While we were at our conference, a GMC surrogate filed an injunction in court for the sole purpose of disrupting and closing down of our conference. By the grace of God, this attempt was thwarted by our legal team."

Quire accused GMC members of trying "to seize some of our local churches by force, criminally removing our logos from the edifices and replacing them with GMC insignia."

"This has led The United Methodist Church to resort to the legal process," the bishop added.

The GMC in Liberia is led by the Rev. Jerry Kulah, who, along with other supporters, was arrested last month when demonstrating at one of the disputed church properties. He said he was released after two hours and claims no charges were filed against him.

"The police said they heard that there was rioting and stone throwing," said Kulah, as reported by UM News. "They could not answer when I asked who was rioting."

"When church members gather to worship in an open space were they rioting among themselves? They could not answer, and there was no video footage to back up their allegations."

Kulah has argued that Quire had previously agreed to have the regional body leave the UMC if the mainline denomination changed its rules on sexuality and LGBT issues, which it did at the UMC General Conference last year.

"Bishop and all of us agreed that the day the UMC worldwide passes this law, we will leave from there (UMC)," Kulah said in recent remarks, as quoted by the Monrovia-based Women Voices Newspaper.

"Bishop is on video, where he went from church to church, district to district, to inform the districts that when this happens, the UMC Liberia will leave.  We have chosen not to follow him."

At the General Conference last May, delegates voted to remove from the Book of Discipline a host of rules, including bans on same-sex marriage ceremonies, the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals and the funding of LGBT advocacy groups. UMC also removed a statement declaring homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching."

These changes occurred in large part because of the departure of around 7,500 mostly conservative congregations from the UMC in the last few years over disagreement with the refusal of many progressive leaders to enforce the rules in the Book of Discipline on LGBT issues.

Thousands of the departing churches joined the Global Methodist Church, which was launched in 2022 as a theologically conservative alternative to the UMC.

The government of Liberia does not legally recognize same-sex marriage and also criminally punishes homosexuality. Additionally, LGBT ideology is largely rejected by society.

In June 2024, shortly after the denomination approved the changes, Liberian Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr. issued a statement saying his conference would retain the traditional standards on marriage and ordination.

However, many argued that the regional body should still leave the UMC due to the General Conference vote and that the properties should go to the newly launched GMC of Liberia.

The Liberian Senate has since stepped in and organized an effort to mediate between the two Methodist denominations, holding the first official hearing on the issue last month.

"The Joint Committee was able to de-escalate tensions between the two parties and ensure the neutrality of the police in this matter," explained Sen. J. Gbleh-bo Brown of Maryland County, as quoted by The Liberian Investigator.

"Once both parties agree to this approach, we will formulate a plan of action to be submitted to the Plenary, with the hope that all involved will participate."

Tensions between UMC and GMC adherents vying for church properties have also boiled over in Nigeria, where violent attacks in Munga Dosa resulted in three United Methodists being killed and multiple houses being burned last December.

Last month, UMC Council of Bishops President Tracy Malone released a statement condemining "violence as a means of conflict resolution" after Nigeria Bishop Ande Emmanuel and other UMC members were attacked while doing ministry work.
Home Opinion The new mov't in Hollywood: Christian filmmakers

Let me tell you something the mainstream media doesnt want to admit: theres a new movement happening in Hollywood.

No, its not another superhero franchise or some painfully earnest Oscar-bait about moral ambiguity. Im talking about a wave of Christian filmmakers who are not only telling compelling stories  but actually reaching people.

And believe it or not  people are watching.

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Now, for contrast, lets look at what not to do. Exhibit A: Disneys latest faceplant  Snow White.

They spent over $240 million to dismantle a beloved classic and reconstruct it into a hollow, joyless, modernized version stripped of everything that once made it magical. What they gave us wasnt a fairy tale  it was a lecture.

The original Snow White was Walt Disneys first feature film. It was charming, wholesome, groundbreakingand wildly successful. You know why? Because Walt Disney understood what we seem to have forgotten:

The important thing is the family, Walt once said. If you can keep the family together  thats the backbone of our whole business.

Imagine that. A film company once thought their job was to strengthen families. Fun fact: Disneylands original blueprint included a church on Main Street. Today, if you ask for prayer in the Magic Kingdom, theyll probably point you to HR.

But now  look at whats quietly gaining momentum: House of David  a sweeping biblical series that just hit #1 on Amazon Prime Video, a platform available in over 240 countries and territories with more than 200 million subscribers.

"House of David" was directed by my friend Jon Erwin, who also directed Jesus Revolution  the story of my life and the Jesus Movement that changed millions of lives. The show tells the powerful story of Israels greatest king  David  and its reaching audiences hungry for truth. Season 2 is already in production.

My wife, Cathe, and I had the chance to go to Greece while they were filming, and we put together a companion documentary series called Beyond the House of David, also streaming on Amazon. In each short film, I share the Gospel and unpack the deeper spiritual meaning behind Davids life.

We even released a devotional, House of David: 30 Days with the Man After Gods Own Heart, which became the #1 Old Testament Biography on Amazon.

Then theres "The Chosen," directed by Dallas Jenkins, which has become a global phenomenon. It tells the story of Jesus with cinematic excellenceand best of all, it makes people want to read the Bible.

And thats the goal, isnt it?

Because while Hollywood stumbles over itself trying to stay relevant, believers are stepping in with eternal truth wrapped in excellent storytelling.

Now, dont get me wrong  Christian films didnt exactly start at the top. Some were a little too preachy, a little too low budget, and lets be honest  sometimes a little hard to sit through. But things have changed.

When we made Jesus Revolution, I told Jon Erwin, Lets surprise the audience. Lets make it gritty and real. Lets be artistic and unapologetically Gospel-focused.

And we did.

That baptism scene? Jonathan Roumie (who plays Jesus in The Chosen) leads Joel Courtney (playing me) in a version of the sinners prayer. Its one of those art imitates life moments  except in this case, life started imitating art.

People were praying that prayer in theaters. Some got baptized right outsidefountains, oceans, wherever they could find water.

It was like the 1970s all over again.

In fact, just a few months ago, we held the Jesus Revolution Baptism at Pirates Cove  the same place we baptized people 50 years ago. Over 20,000 people showed up. We baptized 4,500 in one day. It was the largest baptism in American history.

Why? Because people are starving.

Not for politics. Not for propaganda.

For truth.

For redemption.

For Jesus.

Now lets look at what Hollywood is celebrating. Best Picture: Anora  a sexually explicit drama about a Brooklyn stripper who marries the son of a Russian oligarch.

Critics called it brilliant. The audience responded with a yawn. It made around $40 million  less than Jesus Revolution.

Emilia Perez  a musical about a transgender drug cartel leader. Yes, you read that right. It made $15 million. A critical darling. A commercial dud.

Heres the thing: people arent looking for overly sexualized, ideological storytelling that scolds them for existing. They want stories that move them. That matter. That gives them hope.

And thats what we have to offer.

Mel Gibson is working on The Resurrection of the Christ, the long-anticipated sequel to The Passion. Kingdom Story Company is developing I Can Only Imagine 2 and other projects.

This is just the beginning.

Legendary director Steven Spielberg once said: "Film has the power to make you feel something deep  sometimes even to change you.

Hes right. And thats why film is the perfect tool for the Gospel.

Because Jesus still changes lives.

And now, the world is watching.
Home News Judge upholds mandate for pro-life pregnancy centers to refer patients for abortion

Illinois cannot require pro-life ministries to promote abortion but can require pro-life doctors to provide referrals for abortion because such a requirement doesn't "implicate speech," a federal judge ruled.

In an opinion published Friday, Judge Iain Johnston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois' Western Division sided with a pro-life ob-gyn and pro-life pregnancy care organization to rule that Section 6.1(1) of Illinois Public Act 099-0690 violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The relevant portion of the law requires healthcare facilities, physicians and healthcare personnel to "inform a patient of the patient's condition, prognosis, legal treatment options, and risks and benefits of the treatment options in a timely manner consistent with current standards of medical practice or care."

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The section of state law is part of an amendment to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act that seeks to ensure that healthcare facilities "adopt written access to care and information protocols that are designed to ensure that conscience-based objections do not cause impairment of patients' health" and detail how "conscience-based objections will be addressed ... to facilitate patient health care services."

Another challenged section of the law, Section 6.1(3), requires healthcare facilities, physicians and healthcare personnel to "(i) refer the patient to, or (ii) transfer the patient to, or (iii) provide in writing information to the patient about other health care providers who they reasonably believe may offer the health care service the health care facility, physician, or health personnel refuses to permit, perform, or participate in because of a conscience-based objection."

While Johnston, appointed to the bench by President Donald Trump, agreed with the plaintiffs that Section 6.1(1) violated the First Amendment because it amounted to compelled speech, he did not grant the plaintiffs' request to invalidate Section 6.1(3).

Section 6.1(3) regulated conduct, not speech, and therefore doesn't violate the free speech protections of the First Amendment, the judge contends.

"The Court ultimately concludes that Section 6.1(3) doesnt implicate speech, so it doesn't violate the Free Speech Clause, either facially or as applied to the Plaintiffs,' Johnston's memorandum states.

"Whereas Section 6.1(1) requires health care professionals to say something to obtain immunity from civil or criminal liability, Section 6.1(3) explains what covered people and entities must do to earn immunity after the triggering event occurs: refer, transfer, or provide written information. As discussed more below, those three options are all conduct; none of them cognizably implicate speech."

Plaintiffs in the case include the National Institute of Family Life, a nationwide network of faith-based pregnancy centers, and three additional pregnancy centers, Dr. Ronald Schroeder of 1st Way Pregnancy Support Services and Pregnancy Aid South Suburbs.

The Thomas More Society, which represents Schroeder and Pregnancy Aid South Suburbs in their litigation, offered a mixed reaction to the ruling.

"We welcome the court's ruling striking down Illinois' attempts to force our pro-life physicians and pregnancy centers to parrot pro-abortion talking points, in violation of their First Amendment rights  a victory we've fought for since this case began nearly a decade ago," Thomas More Society Executive Vice President Thomas Olp said in a statement Monday.

Olp, however, is not pleased Johnston upheld the abortion referral requirement.

"We are greatly concerned that the court did not fully protect conscience rights, leaving our clients forced to compromise their deepest beliefs," he said, vowing his organization will be "continuing this fight against the State of Illinois in the Seventh Circuit.'"

Judy Cocks, executive director of 1st Way Life Center, said the court's ruling will "permanently protect" pro-life pregnancy centers from the state's "attempt to force us into becoming mouthpieces for the abortion industry."

"To share so-called 'benefits of abortion' would go against the very foundation of our ministry and our First Amendment rights. I have yet to see what the so-called' benefits of abortion' are,'" Cocks said.

"What I see regularly at our centers, instead, is the pain and regret that comes with abortion," she continued, stressing that women "deserve options rooted in love, not mandates that harm our communities and the women and children we serve."

"At the same time, we are deeply troubled that the court's decision upholds Illinois' abortion referral mandate. We cannot, in good conscience, recommend or refer for abortion. That's not who we are, and it hurts our hearts to even contemplate being mandated to do so. We're grateful Thomas More Society is vowing to keep fighting against Illinois' abortion referral mandate."
Home News Netanyahu-Trump meeting disappoints with no change to tariffs, no new hostage deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday evening practically empty-handed.

Expectations in Israel were high that Netanyahu would be able to secure either a reduction in the 17% tariffs announced by President Trump last week, or a strong stance against Iran for resisting U.S. efforts at negotiations over the countrys nuclear ambitions, or possibly even positive developments in the issue of the hostages, after Netanyahu met with Trump and his special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

However, to the disappointment of many in Israel, Netanyahu left with little good news for Israel. Instead of announcing fresh sanctions on Iran or a possible date for a cooperative strike on Irans nuclear facilities, the U.S. president announced direct negotiations while Netanyahu sat next to him.

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The apparent urgency of the U.S. request for Netanyahu to visit Washington appears to have been behind the Israeli expectations for significant news. Netanyahu announced the surprise visit to the U.S. as he was departing from a four-day visit to Hungary.

Unlike his previous visit, when Trump stunned the world by declaring the U.S. intention to take control of the Gaza Strip, rebuild it and transform it into a Mediterranean Riviera, Netanyahu's reactions during this visit were notably more subdued.

Even President Trump seemed to minimize the importance of the visit, which had appeared urgent at first.

This is a quick stop  in and out, Trump said of Netanyahus visit, but we appreciate your being here.

Netanyahu again thanked Trump, calling him a remarkable friend to the State of Israel.

Regarding the tariffs, which appear to be based on trade deficits, Netanyahu quickly attempted to appease Trump, announcing that Israel would eliminate the trade deficit.

We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States, Netanyahu insisted, vowing to remove all trade barriers.

Israel can serve as a model for many countries that ought to do the same, Netanyahu said. Free trade has to be fair trade.

However, the gesture did not appear to be sufficient for Trump, who mentioned the nearly $4 billion in aid Israel receives each year.

The U.S. trade deficit with Israel stood at $7.4 billion in 2024, which represents an increase of 8.6% from the previous year.

Netanyahu and Trump only briefly mentioned the hostages, with many of their remarks coming in response to questions from reporters.

Netanyahu spoke of the hostages and the situation in Gaza in his comments before the question and answer period.

We spoke about not only the hostages, but about Gaza, Netanyahu stated. The hostages obviously is a human story of just unbearable agony.

Saying that he speaks with the hostage families, the prime minister said, The hostages are in agony, and we want to get them all out. Steve Witkoff, who is President Trump's very able representative, helped us get a deal that got 25 out. We're working now on another deal that we hope will succeed.

It is not clear if Netanyahu was referring to Witkoffs proposal, which Hamas rejected, or to the latest Egyptian attempt to renew the negotiations.

For his part, Trump praised Netanyahus work regarding the hostages, saying he is working very hard for their release.

We are trying very hard to get the hostages out. We're looking at another ceasefire. We'll see what happens. But we want to get the hostages out. The Israeli people want the hostages out. More than anything, they want the hostages out. This man was working very hard with us to do that, Trump said of Netanyahu.

Netanyahu also reiterated that Trumps Gaza proposal was still part of Israels plans.

"We're committed to getting all the hostages out, but also eliminating the evil tyranny of Hamas in Gaza and enabling the people of Gaza to freely make a choice to go wherever they want, he stated. "They should have that choice. And the president put forward a vision, a bold vision, which we discussed as well, including the countries that might be amenable and are amenable to accepting Palestinians of their free choice if they choose to go there.

Trump also seemed to reaffirm the United States' ongoing interest in assuming control of Gaza following the war.

Having a peace force like the United States there, controlling and owning the Gaza Strip, would be a good thing, Trump said.

In his comments, Trump also said he hopes to see the Gaza War end soon.

I'd like to see the war stop, and I think the war will stop at some point, that won't be in the too-distant future.

We also discussed the situation in Syria, Netanyahu stated. "We've had neighborly relations with Turkey that have deteriorated, and we don't want to see Syria being used by anyone, including Turkey, as a base for attack on Israel.

Netanyahu also praised Trumps potential role in preventing a further deterioration in relations with Turkey.

Turkey is a country that has a great relationship with the United States. The President has a relationship with the leader of Turkey, Netanyahu stated. We discussed how we can avoid this conflict in a variety of ways, and I think we can't have a better interlocutor than the President of the United States for this purpose.

Any problem that you have with Turkey, I think I can solve We have to be reasonable, Trump told Netanyahu.

This article was originally published by All Israel News.
Idaho Expands Ban On Trans Men, Georgia Religious Freedom Act, Immigrants At Risk Of Deportation Are Mostly Christian

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 08:20 08:20

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Top headlines for Tuesday, April 8, 2025

We delve into Idaho's latest measures to uphold women's-only spaces, examining the implications for transgender rights and safety. Next, we turn to Florida, where the IRS has concluded a high-profile investigation into a church accused of jeopardizing its tax-exempt status, shedding light on the intersection of religion and tax law. Plus, we discuss Georgia's newly enacted Religious Freedom Restoration Act, making it the 30th state to pass such legislation, and explore how this trend influences the broader conversation on religious liberty nationwide.

00:11 Idaho expands ban on trans-identified men in women's spaces

01:10 Texas AG sues San Antonio over funding abortion tourism

02:02 IRS ends probe of church that prayed for school board candidate

02:56 Sponsor Message WatersEdge

03:54 Georgia becomes 30th state with Religious Freedom Restoration Act

04:42 Most immigrants vulnerable to deportation are Christian: report

05:41 YWAM responds to allegations of spiritual abuse: 'deeply sorry'

06:32 'House of David,' 'The Chosen' among Amazon Prime's top 10 shows
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Last week, Yogita Limaye, a correspondent at the BBC, filed a dispatch from Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar, which had just been hit by a devastating earthquake. She reported from a Buddhist academy where dozens of monks had been taking an exam when the building pancaked and where, she said, the stench of decaying bodies was now overwhelming; the BBCs cameras captured relatives crowding around as rescue workers pulled a corpse from the rubble, but it was so disfigured as to be unidentifiable. Elsewhere, Limaye came across ruins where no official relief efforts had yet begun; at one home, local residents had used makeshift equipment to extract the bodies of an older couple, who were found in each others arms. Limaye also filmed at a hospital, where wounded people were lined up in rows outdoors. There were very few doctors and nurses around to cope with the demand for treatment, she wrote. Families are stepping in to do what medical staff should.

Limaye and her team couldnt stay long at the hospital for fear of being detained by the authorities; indeed, she conducted her whole visit to Mandalay undercover, taking care to dodge not only the countrys ruling military junta and its police force, but their networks of spies and informants among the population. Limaye was seemingly the first foreign journalist to get into the quake zone since it struck, with officials having warned the international press to stay away; they cited a lack of essential services and accommodation, but journalists who have covered the country saw this both as a flimsy pretext to control the narrative and a continuation of the juntas zero-tolerance attitude toward independent reporting. (By contrast, foreign journalists rushed to cover the effects in neighboring Thailand, which was not particularly close to the epicenter of the quake but where tremors did cause a building to collapse while under constructionthough this, too, was a story about Myanmar since many of the laborers on the project had migrated from the country, part of a much broader wave in recent years.) Unlike after previous disasters, including Cyclone Nargis in 2008, Myanmars military rulers did at least call for international help this time, and various countries stepped up to offer it: the relief workers Limaye observed at the Buddhist academy were from India; Chinese workers, too, have dragged survivors from ruins (and, apparently, filmed their exploits for the world to see). One country that would normally be on the front lines, however, has been conspicuous by its absence: the US, which pledged some financial assistance, but hasnt delivered much of anything else amid the sweeping recent cuts to its aid budget. According to press reports, only three US workers have entered Myanmar since the quakeand they were told they were being fired while they were on the ground.

The earthquake is the first big natural disaster to strike overseas since the new Trump administration started gutting USAID, and can thus be seen as the first real-time test of the policys effects. But the USAID cuts were already being felt in Myanmarnot least among the countrys remaining independent media outlets, which mostly now operate out of exile in Thailand and beyond, and have been increasingly dependent, in recent years, on an ever-dwindling pool of international donations. Indeed, that independent media landscape has recently been hit by a triple whammythe USAID cuts, the Trump administrations gutting of overseas US broadcasters, and, now, the quakethat has exacerbated a situation that was already hugely difficult, amid a war on press freedom waged by the junta.

If you look at the first day or two of coverage, everything was about what happened in Thailand and not what happened in Myanmar, just because it was so much harder to get the news out from the quake-affected areas in the latter country, Thin Lei Win, a journalist from Myanmar who covered the aftermath of Nargis in 2008 and went on to cofound the highly respected news site Myanmar Now, told me yesterday. Journalists in those areas were already operating in an extremely challenging environment. Now they also have to go around trying to gather news without giving themselves away. And, of course, some newsrooms suddenly find themselves without enough staff to cover it, because theyve had to let go of people because of the cuts. Its just one problem compounding the other.

In recent years, Ive done a lot of reporting on Myanmars media landscape for a book, What Is Journalism For? (The book is out today, though I wrapped up my reporting last summer, long before the Trump cuts and the earthquake.) In the book, I trace the rich history of press freedom in what is now Myanmarthe country is believed to be the first in its region to have enshrined the value into law without it being imposed by outsiders; indeed, it did so in the face of British colonial censorshipand how it first flowered, but then foundered after the country achieved independence after World War II, with military rulers imposing strict prepublication censorship amid other harshly repressive measures. Journalists in the country often probed these boundaries and continued to cover everyday problems and major events like Nargis alike, albeit in coded terms or undercover or, often, out of exile; by the early 2010s, the countrys media landscape was vibrant if significantly restricted, as the authors of the book Myanmar Media in Transition put it. Around that time, the countrys rulers began opening up, and conditions for the media improved in the following decade as Myanmar transitioned toward democracy. Even this period, however, was highly imperfect, with even champions of democracythe once-celebrated civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi chief among themoften failing to live up to lofty ideals as far as press freedom was concerned. Then, in 2021, the military seized power again and quickly crushed independent media, driving many outlets into exile and imprisoning many of the journalists left behind. (As of December, Myanmar was still the worlds third-worst jailer of journalists, by one count.) After a rise in the 2010s, Reporters Without Borders now once again ranks Myanmar as one of the ten worst places on earth for press freedom. Sources often fear talking to reporters for fear of punishment by the junta. Even reaching people inside the country can be hard due to widespread internet outages and an official crackdown on the open Web. And the country has descended into a dangerous civil war, with rebel groups fighting the junta, and the junta brutally hitting back.

Amid all this, many independent outletsfrom bigger broadcasters that sprang up in exile during the previous period of military rule to smaller outfits serving ethnic-minority communities in Myanmars borderlandshave, once again, continued to report. Toe Zaw Latt told me while I was reporting my book that his outlet, Mizzima, had adopted a one foot in, one foot out strategy since the coup, with reporters inside Myanmar sending information to staffers in Thailand for production. Meanwhile, a new generation of citizen journalists, known locally as CJs, joined the fray, driven by a desire to inform the world of the countrys plight under the junta; Aye Chan Naing, the chief editor of the major broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), said one year on from the coup that it was as if the whole country has become a journalist. And yet there have been sharp questions as to the sustainability of all this: over CJs journalistic professionalism, but also their meager pay and, sometimes, exploitation by bosses. I ended my book by writing about how the coup had hugely hampered a burgeoning, if again imperfect, process by which independent outlets were developing commercial strategies to stand on their own feet, driving up their reliance on donor funding from overseas. Over time, I heard repeatedly, this funding had begun to diminish, as Myanmars coup faded from global headlines and other global crises kicked off.

The USAID cuts earlier this year thus continued an existing trendand yet they nonetheless came as a shock, Thin Lei Win told me yesterday. People werent naive; they knew with the Trump administration that there could be changes, she said, but the cuts came down suddenly and at the end of a month, immediately affecting many newsrooms ability to pay their staff; since then, Thin Lei Win has spoken with more than a dozen newsrooms, and theyre all affected, in one form or another. (In addition to USAID, Myanmars media has received funding from the National Endowment for Democracy, whose funding has likewise been slashed by the new administration; NED is suing to get the funds flowing again.) In the immediate aftermath, Toe Zaw Latt predicted to The Guardian that two hundred or so journalists, who were already poorly paid, would be affected; since then, the impact seems to have ranged from tangible to crippling depending on the outlet, even if Thin Lei Win isnt aware of any that have yet shuttered outright. Aye Chan Naing, of DVB, told me last week that US funding made up 15 to 20 percent of the broadcasters budget, and that the cuts caused it to reduce staffing and scrap programs focused on countering Buddhist-extremist propaganda, mental health, and helping people to build bomb shelters, among other things. And yet were, in a way, lucky, he said. Thanks to funding from European countries, we wont fall apart.

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In addition to the US funding for domestic outlets in Myanmar, Americas own international broadcasters, namely the Burmese services of Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, have made a significant imprint on the countrys independent media sector. These broadcasters were a crucial source of independent news during Myanmars previous period under military rule, so much so that its rulers published regular newspaper notices and even books in an attempt to trash their reporting; since the 2021 coup, they have reprised something like this role, gaining a wide following on Facebookstill a crucial source of independent news, despite various junta efforts to curb internet accessbut also remaining available via shortwave radio, a particularly important resource for people in areas where the internet is unreliable or who dont have access to VPNs to circumvent Web blockages. Last month, however, the Trump administration turned its ax on overseas broadcasting; according to The Irrawaddy, VOAs Burmese service went dark while RFAs struggled on, but with greatly reduced programming and resources. (Ye Naing Moe, a senior journalist and journalism teacher from Myanmar, told me that a top editor at RFA was reduced to reading news bulletins.) A listener told The Irrawaddy that they feel incomplete without the broadcasters regular news updates. The junta, by contrast, is reportedly delighted, hailing an end to years of divisive foreign propaganda that fueled unrest and weakened national unity. (There has also been concern that the cuts to the broadcasters will further endanger their journalists who are in jail overseasincluding Sithu Aung Myint, a VOA contributor arrested in Myanmar in 2021.)

Late last month, Phil Thornton, a veteran journalist in the region, wrote in a blog post for the International Federation of Journalists that exiled independent journalists were working to support colleagues who had lost their jobs by, for example, donating dried fish, beans, and rice. Lynn Zay, a journalist coordinating the aid deliveries, told Thornton that now is the worst time to be a media worker that hes experienced in nineteen years in the profession; Thornton also reported a broad frustration that the international media is ignoring Myanmars struggles, despite their global significance. Two days after his post was published, the earthquake hit. Again, reporting has carried on; Nyein Nyein Naing, a journalist from Myanmar, told me that colleagues inside the country have gotten news out while working undercover, despite themselves being affected by the quake. But, as Thin Lei Win noted, all the recent problems have compounded. Ye Naing Moe told me that there are simply not enough experienced journalists left inside Myanmar to adequately cover all of the damage due to the juntas repression; Burmese journalists wishing to come back risk arrest or even, perhaps, conscription into the military; foreign media have struggled to get in; even though the BBC reached Mandalay, reports from more remote areas near the epicenter have been sparsenot least because, on top of everything else, the internet and electricity have gone down. The shortwave radio backup offered by VOA and RFA in those areas has been gutted. Without it, Aye Chan Naing said, people are kind of living in the dark.

The world is, at least, paying attention to Myanmar again because of the quakebut as Thin Lei Win told me yesterday, this has already started to taper off, with Trumps tariffs now dominating the global news agenda. When I asked her if the quake could at least trigger an uptick in international donations to Myanmars media sceneif not from the USshe allowed that it was possible, but didnt sound optimistic; the medium- to short-term focus is going to be on humanitarian aid, she said, and we will only really notice what happened to exile media once we stop getting news, and we realize we dont know whats going on in Myanmar. More generally, she doesnt see other countries rushing to pick up the slack left by the US, even though, she noted, it would be in their self-interest to do sofunding Myanmars independent media is a cost-effective way for foreign diplomats to keep tabs on whats happening there. Theres a risk of a vicious cycle, she said: no funding, no news, and therefore no interest.

News about the effects of the quake is, at least, continuing to trickle out of Myanmar, albeit below the toplines of the global news cycle. Those affected have sometimes been quoted anonymously in such reports, fearing reprisals from the junta should they speak openly, but several, including immediate family members of those missing or deceased, spoke on the record with Limaye, of the BBC; Nan Sin Hein, whose son was trapped in a collapsed building, for example, said that she wanted aid workers to do everything they can to find his body, even if he was already dead. Aye Chan Naing told me that DVBs reporters on the ground are being discreet, covering their own faces and not showing those of interviewees. But in general, people are speaking freely, because theyre angry and want to share their suffering, he said. They lost everything, right? They have nothing to lose anymore.



Other notable stories:

Yesterday, Israel struck a tent occupied by a number of members of the media in Gaza, killing two journalistsHilmi al-Faqaawi and Ahmed Mansourand injuring at least seven others. The Israel Defense Forces said on social media that the strike was targeted against one of those injured, Hassan Eslayeh, claiming that he is a terrorist operative with Hamas who documented and uploaded footage of looting, arson, and murder to social media when the militant group attacked Israel on October 7, 2023; the director of Gazas media office, which is controlled by Hamas, denied that Eslayeh is affiliated with the group. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) denounced the strike and called for the injured to be evacuated for treatment.

Trumps tariffs are continuing to cause chaos on the markets, and in increasingly farcical ways. Yesterday morning, Kevin Hassett, a Trump economic adviser, was asked on Fox News whether Trump would consider pausing most of the tariffs for ninety days; he gave a nonanswer, but accounts on Xincluding one anonymous user who goes by Walter Bloomberg on the platform, despite appearing to have no connection to the eponymous data provider and news outletsuggested that Hassett had previewed a pause, news that quickly made it onto CNBC, and via there to Reuters, apparently causing shares to spike. The White House then denied the story, and CNBC and Reuters disavowed it. CNN has the full ticktock.

Yesterday, tech staffers at the Washington Post announced their intention to form a union, mirroring a contentious push in recent years from counterparts at the New York Times; the fact that they werent unionized already is a quirk of the Posts past corporate structure, as Washingtonians Andrew Beaujon explains. In other media-labor news, the union representing staffers at CPJ tentatively agreed to a new contract with management, after a previous contract expired and members threatened to go on strike. And unionized journalists at Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit investigative site, secured their first contract after more than a year of bargaining.

In 2023, Phil Bryant, the former governor of Mississippi, sued Mississippi Today for defamation over public comments that people connected to the site made about its Pulitzer-winning reporting on a state welfare-spending scandal; Bryant didnt challenge the accuracy of the reporting itself, and yet at one point, a court ordered the publication to hand over reporting materials, drawing a national outcry from press-freedom watchers. Now a judge has dismissed Bryants suit, ruling that the outlets speech was constitutionally protected. Bryant has said he will appeal.



And Varietys Tatiana Siegel reports on tensions at the Wall Street Journal over dueling projects about the imprisonment in Russia of Evan Gershkovich, a reporter at the paper who was freed last year; two other Journal reporters, who covered Gershkovichs case in detail, are working on a book and documentary about it, but Gershkovich isnt participating and is instead working on a book and film of his own. Per Siegel, his relationship with the Journal has turned sour since his release.
Bayer said it was again petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to sharply limit legal claims that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, seeking to avoid potentially billions of dollars in damages.

Bayer said in its petition that consumers should not be able to sue it under state law for failing to warn that Roundup increases cancer risk because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found no such risk and requires no such warning. In fact, it argued, federal law does not allow it to add any warning to the product beyond the EPA-approved label.

The company tried to make that case to the Supreme Court and was rebuffed in 2022, but a federal appeals court has since agreed with the company in a split from other appeals courts. The Supreme Court is generally more likely to take cases where federal appeals courts are divided.

A Supreme Court victory for Bayer would likely make it much more difficult for the lawsuits to continue, though it is not clear whether it would eliminate them entirely.

Fridays petition came in the case of John Durnell, who in 2023 won a $1.25-million verdict in a St. Louis, Missouri state court. Bayer has been hit with much larger verdicts over Roundup, most recently a $2.1-billion award last month to a plaintiff in Georgia.

The company has paid about $10 billion to settle claims that Roundup, based on the herbicide glyphosate, causes cancer. About 67,000 further cases are pending, for which the group has set aside $5.9 billion in legal provisions.

CEO Bill Anderson has struggled to revive a share price that has plunged by more than 70% since Bayers $63-billion acquisition of Monsanto in 2018 that saddled it with costly litigation and debt.

The companys problems include the glyphosate litigation, a 2023 development setback for its most promising experimental medicine, weak agriculture markets and pressure from some investors to separate or sell businesses.Bayer plans to seek shareholder approval to raise equity capital worth close to 35% of its outstanding shares over the next three years to cover possible costs of U.S. litigation.

The company has warned U.S. lawmakers it could stop selling Roundup, which is widely used by U.S. farmers, unless they can strengthen legal protection against the litigation. It has already replaced glyphosate with other ingredients in the home consumer version of Roundup.

(Reporting by Burger and Pierson; Editing by Rod Nickel)
Irish authorities warned that warm and dry conditions, combined with dead vegetation, pose a high risk of wildfires across the country this week.

Irelands Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has issued an orange alert through April 14, saying fires could spread quickly, especially in areas where dead grasses and shrubs have accumulated. That alert comes as Aprils dry and unseasonably warm weather is set to continue, according to forecast data from Atmospheric G2.

While no equivalent warnings have been issued in the UK, similar conditions mean that fire risks are also very high, said Thomas Smith, a fire scientist and environmental geography professor at the London School of Economics.

As the planet heats up and weather whiplash spreads, compound weather events  such as heavy rainfall and drought that preceded the deadly wildfires in Southern California earlier this year  are raising risks across the world. Research suggests global warming is extending the UKs main wildfire season beyond spring into the summer and fall.

Condition Orange  High Fire Risk

Warning Effective From 12pm today to 12pm 14th April. Arising from current weather patterns a high fire risk is deemed to exist in all areas where hazardous fuels such as dead grasses and shrub fuels such as heather and gorse exist.

 Dept of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (@agriculture_ie) April 7, 2025

Several wildfires have been reported recently and appear concentrated in western and northwestern parts of Ireland, said Irish Farmers Association Farm Forestry Chair Padraig Stapleton.

The same mild weather thats made conditions potentially dangerous has also led to an up-tick in visitors across the Irish countryside, agriculture officials say. Most wildfires are sparked by human activity, research shows, and authorities are urging visitors to avoid lighting fires or barbecues in high-risk areas.

Most of the recent fires have ignited near active turf cutting and illegal waste dumps, agriculture officials say. Theyre also advising forest owners and rural residents to remove dry vegetation that could fuel fires, clear trails and roadways and patrol known hot spots so any fires are discovered and extinguished quickly.

The fire weather warning, issued Monday, extends an April 1 alert and is the fourth this year.

In the UK, the growth patterns of shrubs and other plants is compounding the risks, according to the LSEs Smith. Many shrubby areas are still in winter mode and have not yet greened up, while conditions around them have become warmer and drier.

Theres a lot of fuel available to burn, he said. And the conditions are likely to drive intense fire behavior.

A persistent high-pressure weather system has limited precipitation recently, according to the the Irish National Meteorological Service and the UK Met Office. Those conditions are expected to continue this week, but the forecast suggests a storm front could develop over the weekend, increasing the chance of rain.

It looks like high pressure will break down over the weekend with some rain likely in the west on Saturday, with more widespread showers possible on Sunday, said Brandon Creagh, a meteorologist with the Irish National Meteorological Service.

Top photo: Firefighters contain a wildfire in Sheffield in 2022.

Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.
Ohios solar power generation in 2024 was enough to supply electricity to approximately 390,000 homes, based on the states average household consumption. The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio  Ohio is among the top states for solar power generation, though its position is slipping amid restrictions enacted by the super-majority of Republicans in the statehouse.

In 2024, the state generated 4,021 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity from solar power, more than doubling its output from 2023, when it produced 1,382 GWh, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

To put that into perspective, Ohios solar power generation in 2024 was enough to supply electricity to approximately 390,000 homes, based on the states average household consumption.

Ohio has steadily increased its solar power generation in recent years. In 2020, the state produced just 164 GWh, a figure that jumped to 673 GWh in 2021. Growth slowed in the following year but output still increased, with 921 GWh generated in 2022.

In 2024, Ohio ranked 12th nationwide in solar power generation, leading all other Midwest states. The top 11 states are all much sunnier, and for the most part, further south than Ohio. They are California, Texas, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, Virginia, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.

But thanks in part to state policies and a push to deny solar projects, Ohio fell from fifth to 13th place from 2023 to 2024 in rankings from the Solar Energy Industries Association.

This is amid a growing demand for energy overall, to power data centers and other major developments.

Ohio is a really good state, frankly, to build more solar projects. There is a lot of flat, sunny land. It just needs to not get caught up on policy, said Gilbert Michaud, policy division chair for the American Solar Energy Society and an assistant professor of environmental policy at Loyola University Chicago.

Michaud pointed to Senate Bill 52, passed in 2021, as a key obstacle to more solar growth. The law allows local governments to restrict or ban large solar and wind projects, creating uncertainty for developers and resistance from rural communities, particularly in conservative-leaning areas less supportive of renewable energy.

Ohioans and their elected representatives have killed enough solar development to roughly power the states three largest cities in the three years the law, one of the nations most stringent restrictions on new solar development.

When a developer is trying to build a solar project in the Midwest, are they going to look to Ohio, which has a lot of debate over solar energy? Or will they maybe just build a project in central Illinois where there is support for things like clean energy? It seems like a pretty clear choice to me, Michaud said.

Other Republican-led states, like North Carolina, have made significant strides in solar energy.

North Carolina climbed from 31st to fifth in installed solar capacity during the same period between 2023 and 2024. The state also ranked fifth in solar power generation in 2024 and has steadily increased its solar use since 2020.

Legislative efforts such as North Carolinas House Bill 589, enacted in 2017, have reformed the states approach to renewable energy. In Raleigh alone, more than 1,500 solar installations were recorded by 2024, according to state data.

Large utility-scale projects have been the main driver of solar development in Ohio, but opposition from local governments has created a lot of challenges, Michaud said. When developers face the risk of not getting projects approved, theyre more likely to invest elsewhere.

That uncertainty has already led some developers to abandon projects in Ohio. Grange Solar, for example, withdrew its applications for projects in the state due to local opposition.

Michaud also highlighted the impact of Ohios Renewable Portfolio Standard, which was reduced from 12.5% to 8.5%. Under the reduction, Ohio now requires that 8.5% of electricity sold by Ohio utilities come from renewable sources by 2026, instead of the higher target.

He pointed to Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which prioritizes solar accessibility for low- and moderate-income communities, as a model Ohio could follow to expand its solar market -- if it had the political will.

Ohio also faces logistical hurdles in solar development, particularly regarding interconnection costs and grid infrastructure, he said.

In states like California, utility companies typically share the cost of connecting solar projects to the grid. In Ohio, however, developers often bear the full financial burden, leading to higher costs and delays.

California remains the nations leader in solar power generation. In 2024, the state produced 47,821 GWh of electricity, up from 41,001 GWh in 2023.

Despite the challenges, local advocates like Craig Ickler, energy democracy organizer at the Cleveland Solar Cooperative, continue pushing for more solar energy development in Ohio.

Ickler believes community solar is the future of renewable energy, especially in Ohio, where his organization is working on two community solar projects set to launch in 2026.

Community solar allows multiple people to share a larger solar farm, purchasing a portion of the energy it generates. Their share is credited to their utility bills, enabling them to benefit from solar power without installing panels on their own homes.

Its allowed thousands of people to legitimately own and benefit from solar energy without having to physically have it on their homes, and theyre able to see the benefits on their bill, Ickler said.

He said participants in community solar projects can expect to save between 5% and 20% on their utility bills.

Ickler also noted geographical factors that impact solar power potential. States like Washington, known for cloudy, rainy weather, generated just 436 GWh of solar power in 2024.

I think solar production in Ohio would be higher if we could move the state a couple hundred miles south. We might also enjoy a little bit nicer weather, he joked, adding that states with more year-round sunlight, like Texas, Florida and Arizona, are naturally more attractive to solar developers.

Asked to grade Ohios solar policy and development efforts, Ickler gave both a C.

I would also probably add a see me after class when grading Ohio on solar power generation, he said. There is a lot of good in what Ohio is doing with solar energy, but, just like a student who earns a C in class, theres a lot of progress to be made.

Below is a complete ranking that shows gigawatt-hours of electricity generated by solar power in each state in 2024. North Dakota did not have data available. The data comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in this handout image obtained March 16, 2025.

The decision lifts orders issued by Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who blocked the move on March 15, while litigation continues. The original lawsuit was filed by five Venezuelans, with Boasberg provisionally certifying it as a class action that applies to all Venezuelans in U.S. custody who are not U.S. citizens.

"AEA detainees must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act. 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 court wrote in its unsigned majority opinion.

The decision leaves various legal questions about the novel invocation of the Alien Enemies Act undecided, including whether the Trump administration can even invoke it against gang members.

The fast-moving case concerns Trump's aggressive and unprecedented use of presidential power in invoking the 18th century law, which has been used only when the country was at war.

The detainees must be given time to challenge their detentions via a habeas corpus claim and be able to challenge whether the act is being lawfully applied.

The ruling, in which the justices were divided 5-4 in part, means the Trump administration can try to resume deportations under the rarely used wartime law, so long as detainees are given due process.

The Supreme Court on Monday threw out a judge's decision to block the removal of men alleged to be members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to El Salvador without any legal process under the Alien Enemies Act.

James Boasberg, incoming chief judge of the US District Court, in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, March 13, 2023.

Five conservative justices were in the majority, while the three liberals dissented, joined in part by conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

"The Government's conduct in this litigation poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law," liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissenting opinion. "We, as a Nation and a court of law, should be better than this," she added.

Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson spoke to the historic nature of the ruling's being issued Monday before Boasberg has even held a hearing on a preliminary injunction. She complained about a recent rise in the court deciding major cases on the emergency "shadow docket" without having extensive briefing and hearing oral arguments.

"With more and more of our most significant rulings taking place in the shadows of our emergency docket, today's court leaves less and less of a trace. But make no mistake: We are just as wrong now as we have been in the past, with similarly devastating consequences. It just seems we are now less willing to face it," she wrote.

"At least when the court went off base in the past, it left a record so posterity could see how it went wrong," she added, citing the notorious ruling that allowed government confinement of Japanese Americans during World War II.

The government previously indicated in court that if Boasberg's order was lifted, it would immediately begin deportations.

Both sides claimed a level of victory.

"An activist judge in Washington, DC does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trump's authority to conduct foreign policy and keep the American people safe," Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X that the decision was a "victory for commonsense security."

Lee Gelernt, lead attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who argued on behalf of the plaintiffs who were deported, said overall the group was pleased with the court's ruling.

"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 court rejected the government's remarkable position that it does not even have to give individuals meaningful advance notice to challenge their removal under the Alien Enemies Act," he said in a statement. "That is a big victory."

The Trump administration announced in February that it had determined that Tren de Aragua was a terrorist organization and that its members had infiltrated the United States. The administration, in a move that has been contested, says the group is effectively an arm of the Venezuelan government, which is led by President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump then invoked the Alien Enemies Act, which can be used only when there are "invasions or predatory incursions."

By making those findings, the Trump administration concluded that Tren de Aragua members could be immediately detained and deported without an opportunity for judges to determine whether the Alien Enemies Act applied or whether the people involved were even members of the gang.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs say the government's points-based method for identifying whether people are members is seriously flawed, relying in part on whether they have tattoos, leading in some cases to non-gang members' being targeted.

The administration has argued that the Alien Enemies Act gives the president almost unfettered power to remove designated immigrants at short notice despite the constitutional protection of due process.

The Venezuelan plaintiffs argued in their own filing that the implications of the government's argument were "staggering" because it could allow officials to target a disfavored immigrant group on a whim.

Boasberg's decision did not require any currently detained immigrants to be released or prevent deportations under different legal authorities. In fact, the Trump administration has continued to deport other immigrants to El Salvador.

Boasberg's intervention prompted a barrage of hostile commentary from Trump and his allies, with Trump and others calling for the Boasberg to be impeached. That prompted a swift rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts.

On March 26, a federal appeals court voted 2-1 to decline an earlier request to block Boasberg's decision.

Concerns were also raised about whether the administration had violated a verbal order from Boasberg in court that planes carrying alleged gang members turn around and return to the United States. Two flights subsequently landed in Honduras and El Salvador.

Until Trump's announcement, the Alien Enemies Act had been invoked only during three major wars: the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.
China's Commerce Ministry said it "resolutely opposes" U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of escalating tariffs, and vowed to take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests.

The comments came after Trump said he would impose an additional 50% duty on U.S. imports from China on Wednesday, if Beijing does not withdraw the 34% tariff it imposed on American products last week.

"The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake," the statement said, according to a CNBC translation. "China will never accept it. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end."

Last Friday, China's Finance Ministry announced 34% in additional tariffs on all goods imported from the U.S., starting April 10, in retaliation for Trump imposing new levies of 34% on China.

The across-the-board tariffs followed two previous rounds of 10%-15% tariffs, targeting mostly agricultural and energy products imported from the U.S. The broadened tariff scope reflects the Chinese leadership's diminished hopes for a trade deal with the U.S., said Gabriel Wildau, managing director at Teneo.

Trump's 34% tariffs on China were on top of the 20% duties rolled out since February, bringing the total new tariffs this year on China to 54%. The additional levies have lifted the U.S. weighted average tariff rate on China to as high as 65%, and could dent China's economy by 1.5 to 2 percentage points this year, according to Morgan Stanley.
As the U.S. and China barrel head-long into Wednesday's tariff deadline set by President Donald Trump, Amazon might just be a secret weapon for America. "China, that's who an Amazon, a Walmart are fighting," Jim Cramer said during Tuesday's Morning Meeting. "So if you are Amazon, you step back and say, 'Listen, we're going to let your stuff stay at the dock. We'd rather be out of stock.' Then it's a game of chicken." Such a move, even on a segment of lower margin goods, won't be without pain for Club name Amazon but would send a signal to China. JPMorgan recently estimated that between 30% to 40% of the products sold on Amazon could come from China. The company's exact tariff exposure varies depending on whether the item is sold through Amazon's first-party business or a third-party seller operating on the marketplace, according to Wells Fargo. "The Chinese factories are very under-capitalized. That's because they don't have a consumption model in their own country. So, they'll have to be selling those goods somewhere else," Jim said. Consumption represented nearly 56% of China's gross domestic product in 2023, according to World Bank data, versus around 81% for the U.S. Selling those goods elsewhere would be no small feat. It's why Jim thinks there may be some wiggle room in the escalating tariff rhetoric between Washington and Beijing. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed that sentiment in a Wednesday morning interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box." He said, "What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us? We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them." The threat of a global trade war started in earnest last week when Trump announced a two-step approach to tariffs: 10% on nearly all imports into the U.S., and even higher country-specific ones, such as a 34% levy against China. The first went into effect Saturday. The second is set to go into effect Wednesday. Not surprisingly, China threatened its own 34% tariffs on imports from the U.S.  to which Trump threatened 50% levies against China for saying it would retaliate. China has vowed to "fight to the end" on trade. The stock market plunged on Thursday and Friday and whipsawed Monday because of all the uncertainty created by the tariffs, which the president unveiled last Wednesday after the closing bell on Wall Street. The market bounced Tuesday on hopes for tariff deals. While China might be tough, other countries appear willing to talk. Bessent said, "If they come to the table with solid proposals, I think we can end up with some good deals." Amazon did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Jim's remarks. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long AMZN. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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.
The U.S. Justice Department abruptly shut down its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, signaling a major shift in how the federal government will handle crypto-related crimes going forward, according to a memo sent Monday night by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

In it, Blanche outlines a decentralized approach in which U.S. attorney's offices will now take the lead on digital asset cases, focusing primarily on crimes involving terrorism.

Going forward, the document said efforts would now focus on "prosecuting individuals who victimize digital asset investors, or those who use digital assets in furtherance of criminal offenses such as terrorism, narcotics and human trafficking, organized crime, hacking, and cartel and gang financing."

The disbandment of the unit is the latest in a series of sweeping regulatory reversals under President Donald Trump, who made crypto-friendly policies a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign.

Established in 2022 under former President Joe Biden, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team was tasked with addressing the illicit use of cryptocurrencies.

The unit played a central role in high-profile cases, including the investigation into Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws, resulting in a $4.3 billion settlement.

Prosecutors have been instructed to close ongoing investigations that do not align with the new priorities, according to the memo.

The DOJ also explicitly states it will not pursue enforcement against crypto exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, or offline wallets for the actions of their users or "unwitting violations of regulations"  marking a major departure from prior policy. Prosecutors are instructed not to charge violations of financial laws, such as unlicensed money transmission and unregistered securities offerings unless they can prove the defendant knew of the rules and willfully broke them.
Emirates President Tim Clark warned that the aviation industry is in "uncharted territory" as U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs and trade disputes weigh on global growth and threaten to drive up costs for airlines worldwide.

"Right now, we are in troubled times," Clark told CNBC in an interview recorded March 20  ahead of Washington's announcement of its latest global levies.

"It's uncharted because it involves a measure of reset to a level that the global economy probably hasn't seen since the financial crisis of 2008-2009," Clark said, pointing to growing pressures on carriers and to the ripple effect across the aviation supply chain.

Clark, who has led Emirates for more than two decades, helped grow the Dubai-based carrier into the world's largest long haul airline, steering it through the post-9/11 downturn, the 2008 financial crisis and the collapse in travel demand during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"It's early days to see what effect the resetting of the terms of trade will have on the global economy and ergo discretionary demand for leisure travel," he said, adding that, despite the tariffs rattling global markets, both Emirates and the industry can weather the storm.

"Business models like Emirates, given the international scope of what it does, the strength of what it does, will be able to ride this particular wave," he said.
The Bank of England is unlikely to overreact and press the "panic button" toward aggressive monetary policy easing as a result of the British currency's underperformance amid U.S. tariffs, according to Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebury.

"While sterling has far from been among the worst performing majors (that mantle lies solely with the Australian dollar), the U.K. currency has tanked against the euro in the last few sessions (GBP/USD slumped below the 1.17 level yesterday from 1.20 on Wednesday)," Ryan said.

Sterling was up 0.4% against the dollar at 12:18 p.m. in London. It was also up almost 0.2% against the euro.

"The U.K. is pretty isolated from the tariffs given its low exposure to global demand (particularly the U.S. and China) and the fact that the direct tariffs themselves are low at just 10%. Yet, investors appear to be punishing GBP given its high-risk status and elevated interest rates, which allow room for aggressive easing under a scenario where the Bank of England presses the panic button on the growth outlook."

Ebury is "confident that this underperformance won't last for too much longer," Ryan noted.

"We don't expect the MPC to overreact to the tariffs, and the economic hit will probably transpire to be relatively minimal (troubles at home probably carry greater weight for Britain's economy in our view)," he added.

 Sawdah Bhaimiya
An image provided by Pindrop Security shows a fake job candidate the company dubbed "Ivan X," a scammer using deepfake AI technology to mask his face, according to Pindrop CEO Vijay Balasubramaniyan. Courtesy: Pindrop Security

When voice authentication startup Pindrop Security posted a recent job opening, one candidate stood out from hundreds of others. The applicant, a Russian coder named Ivan, seemed to have all the right qualifications for the senior engineering role. When he was interviewed over video last month, however, Pindrop's recruiter noticed that Ivan's facial expressions were slightly out of sync with his words. That's because the candidate, whom the firm has since dubbed "Ivan X," was a scammer using deepfake software and other generative AI tools in a bid to get hired by the tech company, said Pindrop CEO and co-founder Vijay Balasubramaniyan. "Gen AI has blurred the line between what it is to be human and what it means to be machine," Balasubramaniyan said. "What we're seeing is that individuals are using these fake identities and fake faces and fake voices to secure employment, even sometimes going so far as doing a face swap with another individual who shows up for the job." Companies have long fought off attacks from hackers hoping to exploit vulnerabilities in their software, employees or vendors. Now, another threat has emerged: Job candidates who aren't who they say they are, wielding AI tools to fabricate photo IDs, generate employment histories and provide answers during interviews. The rise of AI-generated profiles means that by 2028 globally 1 in 4 job candidates will be fake, according to research and advisory firm Gartner. The risk to a company from bringing on a fake job seeker can vary, depending on the person's intentions. Once hired, the impostor can install malware to demand ransom from a company, or steal its customer data, trade secrets or funds, according to Balasubramaniyan. In many cases, the deceitful employees are simply collecting a salary that they wouldn't otherwise be able to, he said.

'Massive' increase

Cybersecurity and cryptocurrency firms have seen a recent surge in fake job seekers, industry experts told CNBC. As the companies are often hiring for remote roles, they present valuable targets for bad actors, these people said. Ben Sesser, the CEO of BrightHire, said he first heard of the issue a year ago and that the number of fraudulent job candidates has "ramped up massively" this year. His company helps more than 300 corporate clients in finance, tech and health care assess prospective employees in video interviews. "Humans are generally the weak link in cybersecurity, and the hiring process is an inherently human process with a lot of hand-offs and a lot of different people involved," Sesser said. "It's become a weak point that folks are trying to expose." But the issue isn't confined to the tech industry. More than 300 U.S. firms inadvertently hired impostors with ties to North Korea for IT work, including a major national television network, a defense manufacturer, an automaker, and other Fortune 500 companies, the Justice Department alleged in May. The workers used stolen American identities to apply for remote jobs and deployed remote networks and other techniques to mask their true locations, the DOJ said. They ultimately sent millions of dollars in wages to North Korea to help fund the nation's weapons program, the Justice Department alleged. That case, involving a ring of alleged enablers including an American citizen, exposed a small part of what U.S. authorities have said is a sprawling overseas network of thousands of IT workers with North Korean ties. The DOJ has since filed more cases involving North Korean IT workers.

A growth industry

Fake job seekers aren't letting up, if the experience of Lili Infante, founder and chief executive of CAT Labs, is any indication. Her Florida-based startup sits at the intersection of cybersecurity and cryptocurrency, making it especially alluring to bad actors. "Every time we list a job posting, we get 100 North Korean spies applying to it," Infante said. "When you look at their resumes, they look amazing; they use all the keywords for what we're looking for." Infante said her firm leans on an identity-verification company to weed out fake candidates, part of an emerging sector that includes firms such as iDenfy, Jumio and Socure.

An FBI wanted poster shows suspects the agency said are IT workers from North Korea, officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Source: FBI

The fake employee industry has broadened beyond North Koreans in recent years to include criminal groups located in Russia, China, Malaysia and South Korea, according to Roger Grimes, a veteran computer security consultant. Ironically, some of these fraudulent workers would be considered top performers at most companies, he said. "Sometimes they'll do the role poorly, and then sometimes they perform it so well that I've actually had a few people tell me they were sorry they had to let them go," Grimes said. His employer, the cybersecurity firm KnowBe4, said in October that it inadvertently hired a North Korean software engineer. The worker used AI to alter a stock photo, combined with a valid but stolen U.S. identity, and got through background checks, including four video interviews, the firm said. He was only discovered after the company found suspicious activity coming from his account.

Fighting deepfakes

Despite the DOJ case and a few other publicized incidents, hiring managers at most companies are generally unaware of the risks of fake job candidates, according to BrightHire's Sesser. "They're responsible for talent strategy and other important things, but being on the front lines of security has historically not been one of them," he said. "Folks think they're not experiencing it, but I think it's probably more likely that they're just not realizing that it's going on." As the quality of deepfake technology improves, the issue will be harder to avoid, Sesser said. As for "Ivan X," Pindrop's Balasubramaniyan said the startup used a new video authentication program it created to confirm he was a deepfake fraud. While Ivan claimed to be located in western Ukraine, his IP address indicated he was actually from thousands of miles to the east, in a possible Russian military facility near the North Korean border, the company said. Pindrop, backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Citi Ventures, was founded more than a decade ago to detect fraud in voice interactions, but may soon pivot to video authentication. Clients include some of the biggest U.S. banks, insurers and health companies. "We are no longer able to trust our eyes and ears," Balasubramaniyan said. "Without technology, you're worse off than a monkey with a random coin toss."
Navigating the market's wild swings may be nerve-wracking, but certain dividend stocks can help smooth the ride, according to investor Jenny Harrington. Stocks rebounded on Tuesday after three sessions of steep declines. The market rout began after President Donald Trump announced his sweeping tariff policy last week. On Monday, the S & P 500 briefly entered bear market territory, but was up 3.8% on Tuesday. Harrington, CEO of Gilman Hill Asset Management, focuses on creating income that is not only attractive but keeps flowing even during difficult times. That can stop investors from selling when the market tumbles, she said. "The emotional comfort that this portfolio brings by reminding clients, 'Don't worry, your income's there. Don't worry your income is safe,' is a huge risk mitigating factor, because it mitigates the biggest risk of all  which is bad behavior at the wrong time" said Harrington, who is the author of the new book, " Dividend Investing: Dependable Income to Navigate All Market Environments ." Her strategy was shaped in part by her experiences growing up. Her father was a serial entrepreneur, so the family saw "very high highs and very low lows," she said. The family declared bankruptcy when Harrington was a teenager and things were rough until she left college and got a job at Goldman Sachs. "The financial swings were nauseating and severely anxiety inducing," Harrington recalled. "Somehow through all these weird twists and turns, I gravitated towards an investment strategy where even when there was financial volatility in the background  there's completely steady income throughout," she said. Harrington's approach is to create an indelible 5% or better income stream for clients. When searching for stocks, she wants those that have a dividend yield over 3.5% and a market capitalization of over $150 million. She then looks at the sector and industry, as well as historical earnings and dividend growth rates. To make sure the dividend is covered by earnings, she also pays attention to the earnings and dividend per share. Price-to-earning multiple, both current and forward, and leverage ratios are also useful. "Every company is fundamentally and individually researched with the eye towards  can we go through an environment like we're in right now and the income remains uninterrupted?" Harrington said. To help gauge that ability, she looks at whether they were able to maintain their dividend during the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. These days she sees opportunities in names that have the majority of their revenues come from the United States. This way, they have better tariff insensitivity than the broader market, she said. Here are her top picks. ConAgra has a 5.4% dividend yield and is undervalued, trading at 11 times earnings, Harrington said. After this year, earnings are expected to grow in the low single-digit range, she noted. The consumer packaged goods company, whose products include frozen food brands like Birds Eye, Marie Callender's and Healthy Choice, has about 91% of its revenues coming from the U.S., she pointed out. Most production is domestic, although it sources some ingredients outside the country, she said. "They have, on average, a bit healthier product line than most of their peers," Harrington said. "If the GLP-1s continue at the pace they're at, and if [Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] does make America healthy again, they should be relatively insulated." Shares are down about 7% year to date. Harrington finally got the opportunity to buy Ryman Hospitality Properties on Friday after it sank in the market rout. The real estate investment trust has a 5.7% dividend yield and is trading at 9.6 times forward funds from operations, she said. The FFO metric is used by REITs to measure cash flow generated from their operations. Ryman Hospitality Properties has 100% of its revenue in the U.S. While it is lumped in with hotel REITs, their dynamics are completely different, said Harrington, who was waiting for an entry point into the stock for months. The company has big non-gaming conference centers that get booked by large companies for annual meetings two to five years in advance, she said. It also has a big cancellation fee if things really went south with the economy. "The rest of the hotel REITs are highly leveraged, and they do have a problem if there is a recession," she said. "This one's just really [the] baby thrown out with the bath water." The stock has lost 20% so far this year. Another name Harrington likes is Bristol Myers Squibb , which yields 4.5%. The biopharmaceutical company is trading at 8.5 times earnings, she said. Some 71% of its sales come from within the U.S. In this case, it is difficult to assess the tariff situation , Harrington said. Pharmaceutical companies were exempt from the reciprocal levies announced last week, but may ultimately see sector-specific duties. BMY YTD mountain Bristol Myers Squibb Bristol Myers Squibb has a lot of drugs coming off patent and earnings look "terrible," she noted. However, there is an opportunity for the company to put its "significant" free cash flow generation to work. "They have enough cash and they can buy their way back to growth. They can just buy smaller biotech, they can buy other drugs, and use that cash constructively," she said. "This is truly a yield play with balloon potential at the end." Shares have slipped 2% year to date. Meanwhile, Kinder Morgan may be considered "kind of rich"  trading at 19 times earnings  but it has about 11% earnings growth ahead, Harrington said. The stock has a dividend yield of 4.5%. In addition, all of the midstream energy company's business is domestic. Kinder Morgan has an interest in or operates about 79,000 miles of pipelines that transport natural gas, crude oil and more. It also has 139 terminals that store and handle fuels and other products. "The biggest risk they have from tariffs is if the cost of steel for their pipes went up," Harrington said. "But most of the midstream energy companies really haven't been doing much development and rather just using the assets they have to transport fuel." The stock is down 4% so far this year. Lastly, investors can get a juicy 6.4% yield with Verizon . The stock is trading at nine times earnings, with low-single-digit earnings growth ahead, Harrington said. All of its revenues come from the U.S., she noted. Any potential tariff risk could come from a jump in iPhone costs, she said. "We don't know yet who is going to bear the brunt of an increase in iPhones, but there is no diminishment in the usage of cell service or in the use of Verizon service," Harrington said. Shares have gained nearly 8% year to date. Get Your Ticket to Pro LIVE Join us at the New York Stock Exchange! Uncertain markets? Gain an edge with CNBC Pro LIVE , an exclusive, inaugural event at the historic New York Stock Exchange. In today's dynamic financial landscape, access to expert insights is paramount. As a CNBC Pro subscriber, we invite you to join us for our first exclusive, in-person CNBC Pro LIVE event at the iconic NYSE on Thursday, June 12. Join interactive Pro clinics led by our Pros Carter Worth, Dan Niles, and Dan Ives, with a special edition of Pro Talks with Tom Lee. You'll also get the opportunity to network with CNBC experts, talent and other Pro subscribers during an exciting cocktail hour on the legendary trading floor. Tickets are limited!
Asian and European defense stocks have been outperforming their U.S. counterparts.

While stocks have generally sold off after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his plan for "reciprocal tariffs", European and Asian arms manufacturers are still posting respectable gains on a year-to-date basis, with some rising over 100%.

The rising tide of increased defense spending typically lifts all arms stocks, however European and Asian defense stocks have been outperforming their U.S. counterparts.

Following the Trump administration's rattling of long-held global alliances, countries have poured money into their own defense budgets, sending defense stocks higher.

A quote from the 2008 TV series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" goes: "Wars are not won with superior weapons, but with superior strategy." However, the strategy now in the markets, it seems, is investing in weapons  specifically, by makers that are not based in the United States.

Veteran investor and strategist at Quantum Strategy David Roche told CNBC the rise in defense stocks outside of the U.S is due to the reduction in trust of the U.S. as an ally.

He pointed out that U.S. President Donald Trump's realignment with Russia in the Russian-Ukraine war, as well as his "betrayal" of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy led some countries to assess that they can no longer rely on the U.S.



Roche's view is echoed by Trevor Taylor, director of the Defence, Industries & Society Programme at the Royal United Services Institute, a U.K. based think tank.

Taylor explained that historically, European governments have often been inclined to buy from the U.S. because it reinforced the perception that the world's largest economy would "feel better about carrying the responsibilities that it did as an ally.

"[Now] that the United States does not seem to want to carry the responsibilities that it has as an ally. Then some commentators are raising the question, well, why put money into their economy?" he added.



As such, European countries will be inclined to buy from European firms, or firm allies like South Korea, according to Roche, as they have the same strategic goals.

Roche pointed out that international arms transfers agreements basically allow the selling country, such as the U.S., to control the way a buyer uses the weapons they are sold, so with the U.S. questioning alliances, European and Asian countries would rather procure weapons from makers outside the U.S.

One such example is when Forbes reported in March that the U.S. had partially stopped support for its donated F-16 fighters in Ukraine, hampering its radar jammers built onto the aircraft.

"If you are going to have an autonomous defense policy, you have to have an autonomous military industrial complex. You have to make your own stuff, or get it from somebody who is on your side for the moment," he said.

In Germany, lawmakers passed a historic debt reform, paving the way for a huge splurge on defense. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also pledged to hike Britain's national spend on defense.

The European Union has also drawn up plans to mobilize up to 800 billion euros ($883 billion) to bolster regional security.

These plans are expanding order books in companies like marine systems maker ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, the warship division of parent company ThyssenKrupp.



CEO Oliver Burkhard told CNBC back in February that it expects its overall accessible customer base to triple by the end of the decade.

Burkhard said the move shows that "when it comes to the defense budget, there is more or less no limit anymore."

German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, which is known for manufacturing Leopard 2 main battle tanks, said in March that it expects its defense sales to jump by up to 40% this year, predicting "major high-volume orders from military customers."

The sales increase was expected even without any potential boost from greater regional defense spending, the firm said, although it noted that it was "in a promising position to play a significant role in the upcoming increase in defense capability."

These spending sprees are lifting Asian defense stocks too, because European arms makers cannot expand production capacity quickly enough to meet this sudden demand, said Taylor.

So they turn to Asian arms suppliers to fill this production capacity, resulting in orders from European countries to arms suppliers in Asia.

Since 2022, South Korean arms makers have received huge orders from European countries eager to expand their arsenals or replenish equipment donated to Ukraine.

For example, Korea Aerospace Industries supplied its FA-50 fighter jets to Poland after the country donated its Soviet-era fighters to Ukraine.

Hanwha Aerospace received orders from Poland and Romania for its K9 self-propelled howitzers in the past two years. In March, the South Korean company announced a rights offering worth 3.6 trillion South Korean won ($2.5 billion) to invest in overseas and domestic defense facilities, shipbuilding and drone engines.

The company, in its rights issue release, said it aims to become a "global player" in the aerospace, shipbuilding and defense space.

Singapore's ST Engineering , which manufactures military equipment for the city-state, secured contracts to produce 155-millimeter artillery shells for European countries in 2024.

According to a March 18 note from brokerage firm CGS International, STE is "entering a multi-year earnings upcycle," partly due to a large addressable market in international defense, particularly in Europe and the Middle East.
Siena, ITALY  Monte dei Paschi di Siena is holding firm on its plans to acquire Mediobanca for 13 billion euros ($14.3 billion) despite ongoing market turbulence, telling CNBC it will complete the deal in July.

The world's oldest bank still in operation, surprised investors in January by making an all-share offer for Mediobanca, a prestigious institution focused on wealth management and investment banking. Mediobanca has rejected the proposal, denouncing it as a "destructive" move that is devoid of financial rationale.

Monte dei Paschi has faced several challenges over the years, most notably when it was bailed out by the Italian government in 2017 after it failed to raise much-needed cash from private investors. The Italian government has sold its majority stake in Monte dei Paschi and it currently represents less than 12% of ownership.

The bank's CEO Luigi Lovaglio told CNBC on Monday that Monte dei Paschi "is back" and "in control of our destiny."

When asked if the ongoing market turbulence could be a problem for its expansion plans, Lovaglio said: "The [market] situation will not impact our deal."

"On the opposite, [the market situation] is confirming that size matters, [it] is confirming that you need to diversify on revenues," he said, adding that if they were already a combined entity, they would "be stronger" and "have capability to react much quicker."

The recent market volatility has led some companies to put some deals on hold. British private equity firm 3i Group Plc has reportedly postponed a sale of the maker of pet food MPM, while fintech company Klarna has put its IPO plans on hold.

Analysts have been divided over the benefits of the deal between Monte dei Paschi and Mediobanca. Deutsche Bank, for instance, said in mid-March the market was ignoring some potential opportunities for Monte dei Paschi, including a bigger distribution policy.

Other analysts warned about limited synergies in combining two different banks. Barclays, for example, said Monday that it was cutting its price target for Monte dei Paschi, taking a more skeptical view on the potential gains from a deal with Mediobanca. "Should Monte dei Paschi decide to spend more to convince majority of the Mediobanca institutional shareholders, the excess capital could reduce," Barclays said.

Speaking to CNBC, Lovaglio was adamant the offer for Mediobanca presents a "fair price" and did not comment on whether the company would sweeten the deal to make it more appealing for Mediobanca shareholders.

"Hopefully within July, we can complete the deal," he added.

Amid a pullback in global equity markets on Monday, Monte dei Paschi and Mediobanca shares both closed around 5% lower. Since Monte dei Paschi announced its intention to buy Mediobanca on January 24, the latter's shares have lost about 14% of their value and the former about 8.5%.
Wall Street is set for a big rebound rally Tuesday, but Tom Lee doesn't see new all-time highs on the horizon just yet. "I think there's a bounce underway" back toward 5,500, said the head of research at Fundstrat in a CNBC "Squawk Box" interview. "But I do think  the challenge is going to be, we don't have fundamental clarity and sort of the 'all clear' enough for us to say that's going to push us to new highs. So, we're kind of stuck in the near term." S & P 500 futures were up more than 2% on Tuesday, priming the benchmark index to claw back some of the steep declines seen in recent sessions. On Thursday and Friday, the S & P 500 fell a combined 10.5%  its biggest two-day drop since 2020. .SPX 5D mountain S & P 500 5-day chart Those moves came as investors dumped equities on escalating global trade tensions . The U.S. last week unveiled much steeper-than-expected tariffs on goods from other countries. President Donald Trump also threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports. China's Commerce Ministry said it will " fight to the end " as it retaliates against the U.S. "Markets are stretched to the downside," said Lee. "It's almost like the stock market and the economy were delivered a heart attack from the terms of those tariffs." "But I think markets overreacted to the downside, and yesterday, it does look like the messaging has shifted" to letting people know they're negotiating, he said. Indeed, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday that about 70 countries had reached out to the White House for tariff negotiations. Elsewhere Tuesday morning on Wall Street, AMD was downgraded by KeyBanc to sector weight from overweight. "While the stock is relatively inexpensive, trading at 13x our 2026 EPS estimate, semiconductor stocks rarely work with risk to [gross margins], which we are increasingly concerned about given the aggressive price cuts by INTC ," the firm said. Get Your Ticket to Pro LIVE Join us at the New York Stock Exchange! Uncertain markets? Gain an edge with CNBC Pro LIVE , an exclusive, inaugural event at the historic New York Stock Exchange. In today's dynamic financial landscape, access to expert insights is paramount. As a CNBC Pro subscriber, we invite you to join us for our first exclusive, in-person CNBC Pro LIVE event at the iconic NYSE on Thursday, June 12. Join interactive Pro clinics led by our Pros Carter Worth, Dan Niles and Dan Ives, with a special edition of Pro Talks with Tom Lee. You'll also get the opportunity to network with CNBC experts, talent and other Pro subscribers during an exciting cocktail hour on the legendary trading floor. Tickets are limited!
First Solar is one of the best-positioned companies in the clean technology space in the wake of President Donald Trump's tariffs, according to Morgan Stanley. First Solar will have some near-term exposure to Trump's taxes on imports, but the company "is a key beneficiary of tariffs over the long-term" because a significant portion of its solar panel manufacturing capacity is located in the U.S., analyst Andrew Percoco told clients in a Monday note. About 50% of First Solar's capacity is located in Malaysia, Vietnam and India, with the rest in the U.S., Percoco said. The company has about $500 million to $600 million of tariff exposure this year from its three factories in those countries, according to the analyst. FSLR 6M mountain First Solar shares over the past six months But First Solar is ramping up its domestic manufacturing capacity with 93% of the company's revenue already coming from the U.S. It could start to benefit from rising sale prices for solar modules in the U.S. due to tariffs starting in 2027, Percoco said. This could result in 10% to 15% upside from Morgan Stanley's base-case scenario for the company, according to the analyst. First Solar's stock is flat since Trump announced his tariffs last Wednesday. Shares have fallen about 26% so far this year, but were trading 3% higher in Tuesday's trading. Get Your Ticket to Pro LIVE Join us at the New York Stock Exchange! Uncertain markets? Gain an edge with CNBC Pro LIVE , an exclusive, inaugural event at the historic New York Stock Exchange. In today's dynamic financial landscape, access to expert insights is paramount. As a CNBC Pro subscriber, we invite you to join us for our first exclusive, in-person CNBC Pro LIVE event at the iconic NYSE on Thursday, June 12. Join interactive Pro clinics led by our Pros Carter Worth, Dan Niles and Dan Ives, with a special edition of Pro Talks with Tom Lee. You'll also get the opportunity to network with CNBC experts, talent and other Pro subscribers during an exciting cocktail hour on the legendary trading floor. Tickets are limited!
Han Duck-soo, South Korea's prime minister and acting president, speaks during a news conference after lawmakers passed a motion to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 14, 2024.

Leading contenders began to throw their hats in the ring on Tuesday as South Korea officially set June 3 for a snap presidential election triggered by last week's removal from office of impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeol.

The power vacuum at the top of government has impeded Seoul's efforts to negotiate with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump at a time of spiraling U.S. tariffs and slowing growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

Yoon was removed on Friday over his short-lived declaration of martial law in December that plunged the key U.S. ally into crisis, triggering a new election that could reshape its foreign and domestic policy.

"The government intends to designate June 3 as the 21st presidential election day," Acting President Han Duck-soo told a cabinet meeting, citing factors such as the time political parties need to prepare for the event.

Yoon's labor minister Kim Moon-soo is among a handful of hopefuls who have signaled their intention to run, resigning his post on Tuesday and saying he would launch his campaign.

While not officially a member of Yoon's People Power Party at the moment, Kim has been polling better than other conservative contenders.

"I tendered my resignation and decided to run because the people want it, people I know want it, and I feel a sense of responsibility to solve national difficulties," Kim told reporters.

Economic conditions during a "severe national crisis" are hurting people's livelihoods, he said.

"I thought that all politicians and people should unite to overcome the crisis and work together to help the country develop further," Kim said.

Ahn Cheol-soo, a PPP lawmaker who was its first to vote for Yoon's impeachment, also declared his intention to run on Tuesday, saying he was a "cleaner candidate than anyone else".

He also vowed to secure new economic growth engines including artificial intelligence, to counter Trump's trade policies.

Ahn fought the last three presidential elections, winning more than 21% of the popular vote in 2017, but dropping out and endorsing other candidates in the other two. He is not polling high enough to be included in most recent surveys.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday the U.S. holds a substantial advantage over China as the two nations exchange threats in a burgeoning trade war.

"I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation, because they're playing with a pair of twos," Bessent said during an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us? We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them."

The comments come a day ahead of the U.S. raising its duties on China and dozens of other nations as part of so-called reciprocal tariffs whose purpose, Bessent said, is to bring trading partners to the negotiating table and jobs back to the U.S.

So far, he said Japan has been at the forefront of countries eager to negotiate, and the White House expects a multitude of others.

"I think you are going to see some very large countries with large trade deficits come forward very quickly," Bessent said. "If they come to the table with solid proposals, I think we can end up with some good deals."

Ultimately, the hope would be to generate both jobs and revenue from the tariffs, he added.

"If we put up a tariff wall, the ultimate goal would be to bring jobs back to the U.S. But in the meantime, we will be collecting substantial tariffs," Bessent said. "If we're successful, tariffs would be a melting ice cube, in a way, because you're taking in the revenues as the manufacturing facilities are built in the U.S., and there should be some level of symmetry between the taxes we begin taking in with the new industry from the payroll taxes as the tariffs decline."

While he said some 70 countries have reached out to the White House to begin talks, China has vowed it will "fight to the end" and has imposed 34% tariffs on U.S. products.

In return, President Donald Trump said he will slap another 50% charge on Chinese imports if the tariff is not withdrawn. The U.S. in 2024 ran a nearly $300 billion trade deficit with China, or about one-third of the entire imbalance.

With the tariffs, Trump is hoping to open up more markets for American products and reshore manufacturing operations to the U.S. However, the administration is not simply focusing on absolute tariff levels from other nations but rather nontariff barriers such as currency manipulation, Europe's value-added tax and other methods the White House says undermine fair trade.

"Everything is on the table," Bessent said. "The academic literature shows that it's actually the nontariff barriers which are harder, both harder to quantify and ... they're more insidious because they're hidden, they're obfuscated."

Stock market futures, which already had been indicating a strong open on Wall Street, added to gains after Bessent spoke.
Among the top goals for President Donald Trump and his administration in hitting trading partners with steep tariffs is bringing manufacturing capacity back to the U.S., even if it comes at the price of short-term market and economic duress. But in Cambodia, the Asian country hit with the highest tariff rate of any in the new trade plan, that goal is highly unlikely.

While the 49% tariff rate that the Trump administration is placing on Cambodian goods will lead to an existential crisis for Cambodian factories and workers already at the low end of global income distribution, reshoring of its manufacturing to the U.S. is not going to happen, according to a trade group that represents U.S. interests in the retail manufacturing hub.

"They're absolutely not going to go back to the United States," said Casey Barnett, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, the trade association representing U.S. companies manufacturing in Cambodia. "I can't imagine that Americans want to sit down and sew a pair of sweatpants for long hours of the day," Barnett said.

Barnett said manufacturers in Cambodia are looking at other countries to mitigate the tariffs, but the U.S. is not among the options. Some companies are looking to move their supply chains to Egypt, sub-Saharan Africa, India and Indonesia. Other companies are moving more slowly, thinking there might be a reversal on the tariffs.

Factories in Cambodia are by no means in a good position for the moment, according to Barnett, looking for ways to survive for the next few months.

"The labor-intensive garment factories here in Cambodia simply cannot continue to operate with a 49% additional tariff. They can't survive and are looking for alternatives," he said.

For now, at least, no new orders are being placed. "There are orders being paused. Everyone's facing uncertainty and they want to wait a bit to see how the dust settles," Barnett added.

The Cambodian government is working on a number of steps to mitigate the pressure, such as fiscal policies, including tax credits.

Under Armour, Rawlings Sporting Goods, Lululemon, Black & Decker, Hugo Boss, Hearth & Home, Eddie Bauer, Dollar General, Diageo, Asics, Adidas and Bass Pro Shops are among the retail companies that import from Cambodia to North America, according to customs data from ImportGenius. There is an ever-wider list of items imported from garments to footwear, travel goods, bicycles, agriculture products, furniture, solar panels, tires and kitchen cabinets.

Expect a pause in executive decision making

Andrei Quinn-Barabanov, supply chain industry practice lead at Moody's, says that even if companies manufacture as cheaply as possible, relocating supply chains is a major investment.

"Supply chain investments are meant to be longer term and when you have tremendous uncertainty like this you are unlikely to make these decisions. Companies will wait to see what the tariff response will be from other countries, as well as nontariff restrictions they will put on U.S. companies. You will have very little executive decision-making."

The White House has claimed that Cambodia's tariffs on the U.S. reach as high as 97%, a claim disputed by the country, as well as by multiple sources of tariffs data, including the World Trade Organization. The Observatory of Economic Complexity, which also studies trade data, says some consumer products such as snacks, cosmetics and automobiles can see much higher tariffs than the average, as high as 35%, in Cambodia. The U.S. average tariff on Cambodian goods is 2.6%, compared to Cambodia's average tariff on U.S. goods of around 8%.

The administration has continued to argue that the return of manufacturing to the U.S. will ultimately lead to greater revenue for the U.S. "If we put up a tariff wall, the ultimate goal would be to bring jobs back to the U.S. But in the meantime, we will be collecting substantial tariffs," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday on CNBC. "If we're successful, tariffs would be a melting ice cube, in a way, because you're taking in the revenues as the manufacturing facilities are built in the U.S., and there should be some level of symmetry between the taxes we begin taking in with the new industry from the payroll taxes as the tariffs decline."

Andre C. Winters, founder and principal of supply chain consultancy and planning company HudsonWinters, recently told CNBC he is doubtful that companies will bring manufacturing back to the U.S. in a hurry. "This trade war is not an incentive to come back to the United States," said Winters. "Companies will look to other countries that are being hit with lower tariffs. If I'm paying 40% in Vietnam and I can get 20% tariff in another country, I'll go there, because in the end, it is still cheaper than coming back to America."
Associated Press members leave the U.S. District Court the day a judge hears arguments in the AP's bid to restore access for its journalists to cover press events aboard Air Force One and at the White House, after the Trump administration barred the news agency for not using his new name for the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage, in Washington, March 27, 2025.

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the White House cannot bar Associated Press reporters and photographers from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other tightly controlled spaces where a handful of other media outlets are admitted to cover President Donald Trump.

District Court Judge Trevor McFadden said the White House's blocking of AP journalists from those secure spaces after the wire service refused to wholeheartedly adopt his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico is "contrary to the First Amendment" of the U.S. Constitution.

McFadden, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, paused his preliminary injunction order requiring the White House to restore access to AP journalists from taking effect until Sunday.

The delay gives the White House time to appeal his ruling, which was issued in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., after the AP sued to regain its access.

The White House in mid-February "sharply curtailed" the wire service's access to media events with Trump after he summarily renamed the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America," and the AP did not adopt that change in covering stories related to that body of water, McFadden noted in his ruling.

The AP in January said it will refer to the Gulf of Mexico "by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences."

The AP Stylebook, which provides guidelines for editorial style, spelling and terminology, is used by many media outlets, including CNBC. The service's articles and photographs are used by many of those same outlets and others.

"The Court does not order the Government to grant the AP permanent access to the Oval Office, the East Room, or any other media event," McFadden wrote in his order.

"It does not bestow special treatment upon the AP. Indeed, the AP is not necessarily entitled to the 'first in line every time' permanent press pool access it enjoyed under the WHCA [White House Correspondents' Association]," the judge wrote.

"The Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists  be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere  it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints," McFadden wrote.

"The Constitution requires no less," the judge wrote.

The ruling comes almost five years after the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., upheld a lower court ruling that blocked the White House's then-press secretary from suspending the press credentials of Brian Karem, a Playboy magazine correspondent, for a confrontation with Trump ally Sebastian Gorka in 2019.

In 2018, a district court blocked the White House from revoking the press pass of then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta for refusing to immediately yield a microphone after asking questions of Trump and getting no answers.

The AP's reporters and photographers have long been part of the small and highly select press pool of journalists who attend most White House events in the Oval Office and other small spaces and travel with the president.

Julie Pace, the AP's executive editor, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published March 26, wrote, "For anyone who thinks The Associated Press' lawsuit against President Trump's White House is about the name of a body of water, think bigger."

"It's really about whether the government can control what you say," Pace wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment on McFadden's ruling.

AP spokesperson Lauren Easton, in a statement, said, "We are gratified by the court's decision."

"Today's ruling affirms the fundamental right of the press and public to speak freely without government retaliation," Easton said. "This is a freedom guaranteed for all Americans in the U.S. Constitution."

"We look forward to continuing to provide factual, nonpartisan and independent coverage of the White House for billions of people around the world," she said.

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed two legal briefs supporting the AP's lawsuit. The first brief argued that the ban on the AP violated the First Amendment because it discriminated against the wire service based on so-called viewpoint discrimination, which occurs when a government takes action against a speaker because of the views they express.

McFadden's order cited the Knight First Amendment Institute's second brief, which addresses the historical basis for the ban on viewpoint discrimination.

"This is an important decision," said Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the institute.

"The First Amendment means the White House can't ban news outlets from covering the president simply because they don't parrot his preferred language," Fallow said.
Plan aims to boost strength in agriculture

08:36, April 08, 2025 By Zhao Yimeng ( Chinadaily.com.cn

An aerial drone photo shows agricultural machines working in fields at a farm of Beidahuang Group in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, Oct 12, 2024. (Photo/Xinhua)

China released a sweeping new plan on Monday to accelerate building up its strength in agriculture by 2035, aiming to bolster national food security, modernize rural areas and enhance the country's global agricultural competitiveness.

The plan, which was jointly issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet, outlines a comprehensive road map for strengthening the foundation of the agricultural sector.

By 2027, China is expected to make noticeable progress in agricultural modernization, including enhanced food security, expanded high-standard farmland, and improved rural living conditions.

Grain production capacity is set to reach 700 million metric tons, with key breakthroughs in seed technology and agricultural machinery, according to the plan.

China seeks to achieve remarkable progress in all-around rural vitalization while realizing the basic modernization of agriculture and rural areas by 2035, significantly narrowing the urban-rural development gap. The country is expected to fully build a strong agricultural nation by the mid-21st century, the plan says.

Hu Xiangdong, head of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences' Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, said the plan clearly defines the relationship between building a strong agricultural nation, rural vitalization, and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. "Building an agricultural powerhouse is the overarching strategy guiding rural-related work," he said.

Rural vitalization is the key approach, and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas is the ultimate goal, Hu said, adding, "This is one of the most essential highlights of the plan."National food security has been given top priority in the plan, emphasizing the protection of 124 million hectares of arable land and the construction of high-standard farmland, particularly in regions such as Northeast China and the major plains.

China also plans to ramp up grain production capacity through technological innovation and crop optimization, which includes increasing the yields of rice, wheat, and oilseeds, while strengthening the livestock and dairy industries.

To support this effort, the government will enhance grain production support policies, such as improving subsidies, insurance, and price protection mechanisms for farmers, while grain storage and distribution systems will be reformed to better respond to market changes and emergencies, the plan says.

The plan highlights a major push for scientific innovation in agriculture, including breakthroughs in seed technology, precision farming, and digital agriculture. China will build world-class agricultural research institutions and promote closer collaboration between research hubs and major agricultural regions. A new wave of smart farming initiatives will integrate big data, artificial intelligence and satellite monitoring into modern farm operations, according to the plan.

To bridge the rural-urban divide, the plan supports the development of diverse rural industries, such as food processing, tourism, and e-commerce. Special attention will be given to strengthening the role of smallholder farmers through training and agricultural cooperatives. The plan also highlights increasing rural incomes and expanding employment opportunities.

According to the plan, the future of agriculture will be grounded in green, low-carbon development, with stricter environmental protection and expanded use of sustainable farming practices.

To further enhance China's global agricultural competitiveness, the plan emphasizes deepening international cooperation and cultivating new advantages in agricultural trade and innovation.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
It's no secret: Wells Fargo's $1.95 trillion asset cap has long weighed on the company's business growth and stock price. But new Wall Street research details how the landmark regulatory punishment might actually be protecting the bank during the recent stock market downturn. The news Piper Sandler on Monday upgraded its Wells Fargo rating to a buy-equivalent from hold, citing the stock's decline as an attractive entry point for investors. In particular, analysts said that the Federal Reserve-imposed asset cap serves as an advantage in navigating macroeconomic uncertainty while President Donald Trump 's tariffs escalate recession fears and threaten to disrupt global trade. That's because the 2018 asset cap  tied to past misdeeds at the bank that predated CEO Charlie Scharf's tenure  has caused Wells Fargo to take on less credit risk than its peers, according to Piper analysts. "If there is a silver lining to WFC's regulatory woes, it is that WFC has likely been less aggressive than others on the risk spectrum," the analysts, who maintained their $77 per share price target, wrote. "Thus, entering any potential downturn, we suspect that WFC could end up outperforming on credit simply by virtue of having been handcuffed along the way for all but the highest-quality credits." Piper Sandler praised Wells Fargo's "heightened pace of regulatory resolution" as more consent orders continue to be cleared, and the bank gets closer to the asset cap's expected removal. The analysts also cited management's "recent move from defense to offense," as seen in the bank's growing investment banking business . Big picture Club stock Wells Fargo jumped more than 5% Tuesday following the Piper call. While also gaining 5.4% on Monday, this week's bump was not enough to make up for its 15%, two-session slide during the tariff-driven market meltdown last Thursday and Friday. Heading into Wells Fargo's earnings report Friday morning, shares are still down around 9% year to date versus the S & P 500 's decline of 12.5% in 2025. Fellow Club name Goldman Sachs , which was down nearly 17% year to date, is set to release its quarterly results early Monday. When earnings start hitting the tape, Wall Street will be watching for signs of how these banks have weathered the first few months of Trump's second term in the White House. Coming into 2025, investors had high hopes that the new administration would bring in a softer regulatory environment and a more growth-focused mindset that would benefit financials. So far, that has not been the case. On March 26, Jefferies posted a lackluster quarter  dragged down by weakness in investment banking as fees from dealmaking remained subdued due to policy uncertainty. WFC YTD mountain Wells Fargo (WFC) year-to-date performance Bottom line Unlike Piper Sandler, we're not going to be buyers of Wells Fargo at these levels. While the Club has a buy-equivalent 1 rating on shares, we don't like chasing stocks higher when there's no substantial news. Plus, we already have a large position in Wells at a 2.78% weighting, which makes it our third-largest in the portfolio. "If someone [asked] me, 'Would you want to buy it here?' I'd say, 'Let's just wait. See if it can't come down a little,'" Jim Cramer said during Tuesday's Morning Meeting . It's great to hear, though, that Wells may be better positioned than peers in the short-term during times of extreme macro uncertainty due to its asset cap. We've long seen the removal of the cap as a key long-term tailwind. Free of the lid, Wells would be able to invest further into budding businesses  those that Piper Sandler praised  such as investment banking. This would further diversify the bank's revenue streams and allow it to rely less on interest-based incomes, which are largely at the mercy of the Fed's monetary policy decisions. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long WFC, GS. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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.
Lisbon rolled out the red carpet for President Droupadi Murmu on April 7, 2025, as she was conferred the City Key of Honour, making her an honorary citizen of Portugals capital. The symbolic gesture by Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas, accompanied by a warm Namaskar! Madam President. Apka Lisbon me Swagat hai, underscored the deepening friendship between India and Portugal. President Murmu , who is on a two-day state visit to Portugal, received a ceremonial Guard of Honour at the historic Camara Municipal de Lisboathe very building where the First Republic of Portugal was proclaimed in 1910. The key handover took place in the Noble Salon, a space steeped in history and brimming with Indian-origin residents, many of whom have made Portugal their home.In her address, which began with a cheerful Bom Dia, the President thanked the people of Lisbon for the honour and highlighted the citys openness, cultural warmth, and leadership in digital innovation. Lisbon is known for its open-mindedness, the warmth of its people and its culture, along with tolerance and respect for diversity, she said, noting the potential for deeper Indo-Portuguese cooperation in technology and digital infrastructure.Later in the evening, President Murmu attended a banquet hosted in her honour by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the grand Palacio da Ajuda. In her remarks, she touched upon the centuries-old cultural bonds that connect India and Portugalseen in shared architecture, languages, and cuisines.This year holds special significance as we celebrate 50 years of India-Portugal bilateral relations, she said. With our natural synergy and potential for cooperation in diverse fields, our historic ties are firmly on their way to becoming a dynamic and visionary partnership.The President noted the strengthening collaboration in areas such as science and technology, defence, IT, startups, research, education and culture. She emphasised Indias strides as a knowledge-based economy built on innovation, startups, and digital infrastructure. We consider Portugal as our partner in harnessing Indias strengths as a knowledge-based economy, she said.President Murmu also acknowledged Portugals significant role in advancing Indias ties with the European Union. She recalled the landmark India-EU Summit held under Portugals EU Presidency in 2000, and the historic India-EU Plus 27 Leadership Summit hosted again in Portugal in May 2021.Mayor Carlos Moedas, in his speech, echoed this spirit of cooperation. Quoting the Upanishadic principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) cited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit, he said, This is the way to avoid sectarianism, which the Upanishad warned us about. This is the lesson India still gives us today.Moedas praised India as an innovation powerhouse with more than 110 unicorn companiesmore than the entire European Union combinedand over 130,000 startups. Drawing a parallel with Lisbons own innovation journey, he highlighted the citys Unicorn Factory initiative, which has already brought in over 14 unicorns and created 16,000 jobs.India and Portugal not only share a history of revolution in science and navigation, but also a spiritual revolution inspired by our rich civilisations and traditions, he said. We all depend on each other and we all learn from each other.President Murmu also hailed the Indian diaspora in Portugalnow numbering around 1,25,000as the bedrock of bilateral relations. Many of them, with roots in Gujarat and Goa, have become integral to Portugals social and economic landscape, especially across Lisbon, Algarve, and Porto.As evidence of this strong cultural connect, one can see the widespread popularity of Indian art, culture, cuisine, yoga and ayurveda in Portugal, the President said.As the visit continues, both sides appear eager to build on their historical foundations and shape a future driven by innovation, inclusivity, and mutual respect.
Anthropic plans to add more than 100 roles across Europe, indicating a broader push to expand its global footprint amid rising demand for enterprise-ready AI tools.

The new roles will cover sales, engineering, research and business operations, with most hiring focused in Dublin and London, according to a Reuters report.

The company has also named former Stripe executive Guillaume Princen as its head of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.



Last month, Anthropic raised $3.5 billion in funding. In February, it launched Claude 3.7 Sonnet, its most advanced model to date and the first to feature hybrid reasoning capabilities.
There was a time when we best remembered movies by reciting quotes to each other. Luke, I am your father, we said, along with, Play it again, Sam. We said, Beam me up, Scotty, and, Elementary, my dear Watson.

None of those exact quotes appeared in the stories in question. But you can see why the real quotes mutated into the fake ones. Normal people arent great at doing impressions, so we erroneously inserted the name of someone the character was talking to, to give the quote context.

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Fine. But today, we best remember movies through memes, and through bits of trivia that we pass from person to person. And despite those being able to reproduce quotes perfectly, we still end up getting movies wrong. Resulting in fake memories like...

5 Morpheus Saying What If I Told You? If you want to present some information to the public, portraying it as a stunning truth, you can stick it on a meme of Morpheus from The Matrix. What if I told you, says the top text, while the bottom text contains that revelation of yours. Of course, since were all masters of irony, your stunning truth may also be something really obvious that youre just humorously pretending to share as something new. Know Your Meme In the decade or so since that style of meme was big, people now have various other ways to smugly present their perspectives (screenshots of other characters, mostly). But the Morpheus meme remains famous, so you should keep your eyes out for the what if I told you line the next time you watch the movie. But you wont see it. That shot of Morpheus comes from the scene where he tells Neo, Im telling you that when youre ready, you wont have to dodge bullets. He doesnt say, What if I told you, and this isnt the scene where he reveals the plot's big truths. An earlier version of the meme uses the scene right before he does explain the big truths, with Morpheus offering the red pill... Know Your Meme But that scene doesnt have him say any variation of what if I told you. You might imagine he says, What if I told you everything you believe is a lie? or What if I told you it wasnt 1999 but is closer to 2199? But he doesnt. The misquote was created by a Reddit user in 2012, who made a meme to say, What if I told you command + control + shift + 4 then space, then clicking a window, took a screenshot. It was a tip about using Macs. Advertisement The funny part here isnt just that we think this was a real line from the movie. Its that seemingly every one of Morpheus lines in the actual movie were designed to be a memorable quote, and yet this false one is better remembered than any of them.

4 Dedicated to the Brave Mujahideen Fighters of Afghanistan Rambo III comes off very differently today than it did in 1988. It ends with a screen saying the film is dedicated to the brave Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan, which made sense back when the United States backed the Mujahideen against the Soviet Union, but we know now that the Mujahideen would go on to form the Taliban. Tri-Star Pictures And the Taliban are bad, see. You might not watch Rambo III very often, but when this screenshot resurfaced a few years back, it became famous. Today, you can plop that message on a shot from any other movie, and you can count on people knowing its origin from Rambo III and appreciating your joke. Advertisement Except, the movie never did end with that message. That screen is fake. It ended with this message: This film is dedicated to the gallant people of Afghanistan. Rambo was helping the Mujahideen in that movie, which makes it a little weird to watch today, but the message didnt mention them by name. The general goodwill to the gallant people of Afghanistan works at any time, even including when Americas war in Afghanistan started 13 years after this movie. Tri-Star Pictures The word gallant looks weird when you stare at it long enough, but the message means well. In 2011, an internet hoax spread, claiming that the film originally contained the Mujahideen dedication and that this was changed retroactively after September 11, 2001. They werent crazily saying that someone had altered the time stream  the hoax claimed that studios had edited the film, and that the original was no longer accessible. All evidence people accessed seemingly supported this claim because when they saw the movie on TV now, or when they rented it, it contained the gallant people of Afghanistan message, exactly like the hoax claimed it now did. Advertisement Advertisement However, people do have their own untouched copies of Rambo III from back in the 20th century, and these contain the gallant message as well. We also have newspapers from when the movie first came out referring to the dedication, and they describe the gallant one, not the Mujahideen one. You might fear that hoaxes like this will become all the more common, now that its so easy to edit pictures and video. In reality, the opposite seems to be true. In 2011, people readily accepted that fake screen because replacing the real ones text seemed hard. Today, it would be easy (even in video form), so people would be more skeptical, erring on the side of assuming anything they see might be a joke edit. And today, internet speeds and pirate resources have advanced so much that anyone could dig out the original movie in just minutes and easily confirm the truth. Advertisement

3 Sure, Jan Its been so many decades since The Brady Bunch was popular that you probably dont reference the show that many times each day. But one shot of the show seems to have survived into a meme form: Marcia condescendingly saying, Sure, Jan. Paramount Pictures You dont need to know the context of the original episode to deploy this against someone and exit the conversation. But if you are curious about the context of the original episode, you might be surprised to learn that this clip isnt from The Brady Bunch at all. Its from The Brady Bunch Movie, the film that came out 26 years after the show debuted. Or, rather, it was from A Very Brady Sequel, the 1996 follow-up to that movie. Advertisement To someone growing up today, perhaps the 1990s and the 1970s are approximately as old as each other, but these movies werent just some revival of the show. They were spoofs, starring Gary Cole and Shelley Long. A Very Brady Sequel included such elements as the family singing on a plane and the entire plane telling them to shut up, the revelation that Carols first husband was the professor from Gilligans Island and Greg and Marcia falling in love (this last idea was bafflingly absent from the original series). Advertisement ABC There was also a 1990s take on The Brady Bunch premise called Step by Step, which ALSO featured no stepkids sleeping together. The past was crazy. The movies were not a revival of the show, but CBS had previously tried reviving the show, repeatedly. This included one sequel series called The Brady Brides and then another called The Bradys that was canceled after just six episodes. These starred the original cast, seemingly the key to capitalizing on nostalgia, so it was a surprise when they failed. It was an even bigger surprise when, just five years after The Bradys failed, A Brady Bunch Movie was a hit. Advertisement The lesson from this should be to stop reviving old shows and instead let people unconnected to the show mock them. Sadly, studios are ignoring that lesson and are even discussing yet another Brady revival starring the original cast, but if we stay strong, maybe the temptation can be overcome.

2 Thanos Punching Captain Marvel It can be a little hard to keep track of all the action during the final act of Avengers: Endgame. Hey, did you catch how Shuri, Pepper and the Wasp are able to easily send Thanos flying, raising several questions about just how strong everyone in this movie is? And did you catch how a hundred-foot Ant-Man is fighting in the background at the same time as a human-size Ant-Man is hotwiring a truck? Walt Disney Pictures This is technically possible, because of quantum. But some parts are more memorable than others. For example, you surely remember how Thanos punches Captain Marvel, and she doesnt even flinch. So, he has to grab one specific magic stone with his free hand for a power boost, which now lets him knock her right off the screen, but in that earlier moment, she was able to shrug off the sort of punch that winded Hulk. Advertisement Except, no. He doesnt punch her, that first time. Watch the scene again, and youll notice they never show the fist hitting her, as though theyre holding back on the action to keep this PG-13. Then watch it yet again, and youll see he doesnt even try to hit her. Instead, that shot of her standing her ground is merely her holding the guys right hand open, as he tries and fails to move forward. Advertisement Youd think hed now try swinging at her with his left hand. Fifteen seconds earlier, the two of them were throwing and dodging blows repeatedly, without him having yet put on that magic gauntlet, and he came out on top in that bout, successfully tossing her away. Advertisement The real takeaway here is that analyzing this sort of movie frame-by-frame might not the best way to enjoy it.
Ever since Pam Beesly drunkenly accepted her hard-earned Dundie award, saying, I can feel God in this Chilis tonight, many have wished to attain that seemingly incredible high at the American casual dining establishment where two  count em, two  episodes of The Office take place (The Dundies and The Client, both in Season Two). And yet, theres never been a Chilis in Scranton, Pennsylvania  until now.

The newly opened Chilis Scranton Branch (technically, its in Dickson City, four miles north of Scranton) went all-in on The Office themed-marketing, even wrangling a handful of stars from the show to help promote the opening. But just how Dunder-Mifflinified is this new location?

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I decided to venture to the grand opening of the Chilis Scranton Branch at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 7, 2025 to find out. Heres everything I witnessed

The Grand Opening When the doors opened, about 30 people were lined up outside the Chilis. As I entered, I noticed that Chilis Scranton Branch, despite its marketing, isnt so much The Office-themed as it is 2005 Chilis-themed, as its decorated as a Chilis was in 2005, as opposed to 2025. Now, I like Chilis well enough, but Ill admit I havent spent a lot of time paying close attention to its decor over the past two decades. Had I not been told this branch was in any way different from every other Chilis, I might not have noticed. As I was looking around the restaurant, I was directed to a handful of The Office-themed trinkets from the show, including Prison Mikes bandana and the medals awarded to the Dunder Mifflin staff in Office Olympics, which oddly doesnt take place at Chilis. They also have on display a watercolor painting resembling one that Pam made in the show, but instead of portraying the Dunder Mifflin building, it shows  you guessed it  Chilis. About half the waitstaff wore Chilis shirts with the Dunder Mifflin font, which was honestly a nice touch. Advertisement Overall, I was underwhelmed by the lack of The Office kitsch. When I heard there was going to be an Office-themed restaurant, my brain envisioned a place with The Office reruns on every TV screen, a signature Jell-O dish with a stapler inside on the dessert menu or maybe an animatronic Steve Carell in the corner who raps when you touch a button. But no, the experience, while courteous and efficient, wasnt nearly as immersive.

Cocktail: Scranton Marg Advertisement One of two exclusive menu items at Chilis Scranton Branch, the Scranton Marg, is a margarita with 1800, el Jimador, Jose Cuervo and mango. It was quite good. Not very Office-y, but good. Maybe they could have done a beet-flavored margarita, locally sourced from Schrute Farms? A martini from the Finer Things Club? Michael Scotts "One of Everything" cocktail? Im just spitballing here.

Appetizer: The Awesome Blossom The other exclusive item at the Scranton Branch is the Awesome Blossom, which Michael makes repeated references to in the episode The Client when he uses the appetizer, and a few cocktails, to woo a client. The Awesome Blossom  essentially a Blooming Onion  was a Chilis menu item that was discontinued in 2008 after Mens Health named it the "Worst Appetizer in America" for its high calorie and fat content. As a former underpaid Mens Health writer, let me just say that I welcome the appetizers return. It was delicious and paired perfectly with the Scranton Marg. Plus, bringing back Michael Scotts favorite app to only this location is probably the most inspired thing about the Chilis Scranton Branch so far. Advertisement

Entree: Baby Back Ribs Advertisement For my entree, I again looked to Michael Scott, who ordered baby back ribs in The Client. They were great, of course. Thats kind of the thing to get at Chilis, after all. Sure, it would have been great to see Kevins Homemade Chili on the menu next to Pretzel Day-style pretzels, but by this point in my dining experience, Id vastly lowered my Office-themed expectations.
The first episode of Kill Tony on Netflix is in the books. Even the die-hards wouldnt invite this one to the secret show.

When controversial comedian and disgraced Trump stumper Tony Hinchcliffe inked a massive four-special deal with Netflix late last year, the streamer likely thought that they struck gold in their rush to promote conservative-friendly comedy during this tumultuous political moment at the start of President Trumps second term. Netflix Comedy commissioned three total episodes of Hinchcliffes podcast, live show and amateur comedy showcase Kill Tony alongside a new hour of stand-up from the Austin, Texas kingmaker, but, now that theyre 25 percent through the mega-deal, it might be time for the streamer to re-evaluate the audience theyre attempting to court.

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Judging from the Kill Tony followings immediate reaction to both Hinchcliffe temporarily moving the free weekly show to a paid platform and the shows sloppy and awkward Netflix debut performance, the streamers latest attempt to stake a claim in the Manosphere is off to about as bad a start as Ric Flair's residency.

To start, many Kill Tony fans who cant be bothered to keep up with Netflixs constantly increasing subscription fees and dwindling content library hated the fact that Hinchcliffe would hide a show thats been free on YouTube for the last decade behind a paywall. The Kill Tony YouTube accounts inexplicably two-hour-long announcement video telling fans that this weeks show is a Netflix exclusive earned over 13,000 dislikes and counting in its first 17 hours online.

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But for the fans who either already had a Netflix subscription or were willing to shell out to see their favorite podcast take the next step, yesterdays presentation clearly wasnt worth the $18 per month. Huge kill Tony fan and I know we get shit episodes here n there but truly this one was probably the worst one to put on Netflix. Makin us look bad af. Congrats u kno but fawkkk #killtony, one such fan lamented on Twitter following the release.

In the Kill Tony subreddit, fans have spent the last day slamming both Netflix and Kill Tony for perceived production issues, constant dead air and the awkwardness that was the silent celebrity panel who largely couldnt be bothered to save the night. When will tony finally admit to himself he cant keep booking Rogan for these big ticket shows. The fans dont like him as a guest and new viewers will be deterred, one of the top posts of the last 24 hours reads.

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But Joe Rogan wasnt the only lightning rod for criticism, nor was he the quietest A-lister who sat onstage for two hours during the Kill Tony special without offering a single funny ad-lib. Another post in the subreddit simply reads, Petition to Ban Tom Segura, in which one Kill Tony fan argued, Can we all agree that Tom is quite literally the worst KT panel guest of all time now? I seriously cant comprehend why hes brought on for their biggest events. Make it make sense. Dude probably said like 8 words the whole Netflix special. Theres so many comics out there more deserving and would have made for a better show.

However, the consensus on Kill Tonys Netflix debut was far from unanimous. Many fans pushed back against the negativity surrounding the special as they claimed that the show is always this up-and-down, and anyone whining about last nights performance is missing the point of Kill Tony. So, while yesterdays special certainly wasnt any Kill Tony fans favorite episode, its still not as universally hated as Hinchcliffe's first time on Netflix.
STORY LINK Pound-to-Euro Rate News Today: Sterling Muted as Markets Turn Positive

Pound Euro Exchange Rate Rangebound despite Risk-On Flows

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The Pound traded mostly flat against the Euro on Tuesday despite the days upbeat market mood.At the time of writing, the GBP/EUR exchange rate was trading at around 1.1957, virtually unchanged from Tuesdays opening levels.On Tuesday, the Euro (EUR) weakened against most of its counterparts due to a lack of economic data from the Eurozone, leaving the currency's performance largely tied to market sentiment.As trading conditions turned more positive, the Euro, seen as a safe-haven asset, found it difficult to attract buyers, with investors favouring higher-risk currencies.Nonetheless, the Euro managed to starve off additional losses during the European trading session, thanks to its inverse relationship with the US Dollar (USD).Concerns over a potential US recession, fuelled by President Donald Trump's extensive tariffs, contributed to the USD's decline.Like the Euro, the Pound (GBP) also followed market risk sentiment on Tuesday, as there were no significant UK data releases to influence its movement.Sterling managed to maintain its position against most safe-haven currencies.However, despite its growing sensitivity to risk, the GBP fell sharply against its riskier counterparts amid the day's positive market conditions.Looking ahead to Wednesday, the primary factor influencing the Pound Euro exchange rate will likely remain market's reaction to Donald Trumps tariffs.These tariffs have been a significant source of economic uncertainty, affecting both currencies and investor sentiment.However, another key event to watch is the speech by European Central Bank (ECB) member Piero Cipollone. If Cipollone's remarks contain dovish forward guidance, it could weaken the Euro.Turning to the Pound, the UK data calendar for Wednesday is notably quiet, with no major economic releases scheduled.As a result, GBP exchange rates are likely to continue trading in line with overall market sentiment.

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TAGS: Pound Euro Forecasts
STORY LINK Pound Sterling Stabilises Against Euro and Dollar to Benefit on Risk Recovery

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The Pound to Euro rate is seen marginally in the green on Tuesday quoted at 1.16771, while Sterling rose around 0.27% against the US Dollar at 1.27678.Risk appetite has recovered on Tuesday with a rebound in equities from over-sold conditions while markets remain firmly focussed on tariff developments.There is a greater sense of optimism that the Administration will look to negotiate with countries which are threatened with additional reciprocal tariffs, especially Japan, but tensions with China have intensified.The Pound has not been able to capitalise on the recovery with the Pound to Euro exchange rate (GBP/EUR) sliding to 8-month lows below 1.1650 before a tentative recovery.According to ING; The euros high liquidity character continues to shield it from the much bigger volatility that has affected the likes of NOK, SEK and GBP in the past few sessions.The Pound to Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate slipped to fresh 1-month lows just above 1.2700 before a recovery to 1.2750.President Trump has threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese exports unless China removes the retaliatory 34% tariffs imposed on imports from the US.In response, Beijing warned that it would not back down or yield to blackmail.Tensions will remain extremely high, especially with the reciprocal tariffs due to kick in on April 9th.In this context, sentiment is likely to remain extremely fragile.The Chinese yuan has weakened sharply on Tuesday.MUFG commented; It follows the PBoCs decision to set the daily fixing rate above the 7.2000-level for the first time since September 2023 which has added to building speculation amongst market participants that China could allow a bigger devaluation of the renminbi to offset the negative impact on external demand form the worsening trade war with the US.European currencies will find it very difficult to make headway if the yuan continues to slide.There is further evidence that business confidence has taken a big hitAccording to the latest Moodys business confidence survey; Global business confidence collapsed last week under the weight of the mounting global trade war. There were more negative responses to the nine questions in the survey than positive ones. This is the weakest survey reading since the U.S. banking crisis two years ago and the most significant decline in the survey results since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago.It added; The percent of positive responses to the broad question regarding current overall business conditions fell to less than 20%a reading that is historically consistent with recession.It now considers the probability of a downturn at 60%.The crucial element will be whether the slide in business confidence is sustained and whether it translate into weaker activity.There are concerns that tariffs will further undermine the already fragile UK outlook and further complicate fiscal policy while there will be pressure for sharper Bank of England rate cuts.Former Bank of England Deputy Governor Charlie Bean called for the central bank to cut rates by 50 basis points at the May policy meeting.According to Bean; It is not just the tariffs that are the problem, it is the huge uncertainty these actions have created, delaying buying and investment decision by businesses and consumers.Berenberg bank expects the UK economy will be resilient; If Donald Trumps trade war and the equity market sell-off trigger a global recession, the UK would of course struggle. However, the UK is relatively well placed to weather the tariff shock. The additional 10% rate it faces is at the bottom end of the range imposed by the US. Healthy consumer finances, lower energy prices and a fall in interest-rate expectations will also help.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

TAGS: Pound Dollar Forecasts Pound Euro Forecasts
STORY LINK Pound Sterling Forecast: GBP Recovers vs EUR USD, Next US-China Moves Crucial

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Trade considerations have continued to dominate on Tuesday with a further net recovery in risk appetite.Markets overall are slightly more confident that there will be bilateral negotiations to ease the impact of US reciprocal tariffs, but there is still a very high degree of uncertainty.The next move is likely to be determined by the US-China trade war. Risk appetite will surge further if China or Trump blink, but there are likely to be fresh losses in equities if neither side back off.After sliding to 1-month lows near 1.2700, the Pound to Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate has recovered to 1.2785.The Pound to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate has recovered from 8-month lows below 1.1650 to trade around 1.1670.Reservations surrounding the UK economic outlook have also increased, limiting Pound recovery potential.Markets have also now fully priced in a rate cut at the May Bank of England meeting and there have been some calls for a 50 basis-point cut.According to Scotiabank; The loss of rate support adds to near-term downside risk for GBP.The 30-year UK bond yields edged higher again on Tuesday amid speculation that the government would eventually relax fiscal rules.Monex noted that this was; a notable concern for markets.According to Monex; "Our long-term view remains that UK fundamentals are better than markets currently price, now helped by tariff differentials, while the government will ultimately choose not to scrap their fiscal rules with the memory of Liz Truss still fresh in the mind.It did, however, add; For now, though, with sentiment still in the driving seat, sterling looks set to continue trading under pressure."There is still an important element of uncertainty surrounding Chinese tariffs ahead of the April 9th scheduled introduction of additional tariffs.China has not backed away from imposing its own tariffs while Trump has threatened even more aggressive tariffs if China refuses to bend.In comments on Tuesday, Trump stated that China was desperate for a deal and that they would relent.According to Scotiabank; Messaging from the administration on tariff policy remains confusing.It added; Markets may lack enough clarity on tariff policy end goals to form a solid base for now.US economic conditions will be a key element in the short term.The NFIB small business confidence index dipped to a 4-month low of 97.4 for April from 100.7 previously and below consensus forecasts of 98.9.Significantly, this has pushed the index below the long-term average.The net percent of owners expecting better business conditions posted a third consecutive monthly decline and the largest monthly dip since December 2020.According to the NFIB; This year will be one ruled by uncertainty. Global and domestic actions are generating insecurities in abundance, both political and economic. President Trumps administration is rearranging the deck chairs at a record pace. Is there an iceberg looming ahead or will we sail through to a restructured economy safely?The survey was conducted before the tariff increases came into effect and markets will be looking at data compiled after the tariff introduction for insight into the potential impact.

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On Saturday, April 5, 2025, the Cut Bank Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual Chamber Banquet. Held at the Joe Meagher Memorial Civic Center, the banquet once again this year was dedicated to recognizing the heart and soul of the community - its local businesses and the individuals who serve it. What makes these awards more meaningful is that the people of Cut Bank nominated the night's Best of Cut Bank award recipients. The top three nominees in each category were invited to the banquet where the winners were announced. Each award was a celebration of community trust, quality service, and a commitment to making Cut Bank a better place to live and work. From skilled baristas and compassionate healthcare providers to teachers and tradespeople, the night spotlighted the everyday heroes who keep Cut Bank thriving.

The winners of the 2025 Chamber Best of Cut Bank Awards are as follows:

Best Insurance Provider: Holly Peters  Farmers Insurance

Best Trade/Contractor: Karl Krapf  Construction

Best First Responder: Jason Luse  Cut Bank Volunteer Fire Department

Best Real Estate Agent: Shawn Christiaens  dtj real estate

Best in Retail: Collin Christiaens  Billman's Inc.

Best Teacher: Mary Kay Olson  Mrs. Olson's Preschool

Best in Health/Beauty/Wellness: Jess Waldner  The Chop Shop

Best Barista: Korey Nelson  Latte Da

Best in Auto Sales/Service: Josh Larson  Northern Ford

Best Religious Leader: Brian Suttle  Canvas Church

Best Server/Bartender: Krystal Loring  The Village

Best in Energy Services: Kerry Dosch  Cut Bank Gas Company

Best in Finance: Rhonda Aikins  First Interstate Bank

Best in Healthcare: Danielle Kennedy  Glacier Community Health Care Dental

In addition to the Best of Cut Bank awards, the Chamber also presented Glacier Community Health Care with the Business of the Year award for all they have done for the community.

Chamber Vice-President Larry Schwindt presented a tearful Val Vermulm with the Citizen of the Year award. Val gives in so many ways to this community and was highly deserving of this award.

In addition to the awards, the evening included a silent auction and a delicious meal prepared by The Little Cottage Catering from Shelby which was served by 4-H members.

The Chamber's annual banquet not only recognized individual and business excellence, but also reinforced the community spirit that makes this small town extraordinary.
The Cut Bank Community Foundation has officially launched, providing a new force for philanthropy and community-driven impact in Cut Bank. Dedicated to creating a healthy and vibrant community by responding to needs and opportunities, the Cut Bank Community Foundation aims to build a permanent endowment that will provide sustainable funding for organizations and projects in the area.

The Cut Bank Community Foundation is affiliated with the Montana Community Foundation, which manages more than $185 million in assets and administers more than 1,470 philanthropic funds and planned gifts. Through this partnership, the Cut Bank Community Foundation benefits from investment and administrative support that ensures that charitable resources will always be available for the community. Fundraising, grantmaking, and other projects will be spearheaded by an advisory board of community members, including Melody Karle, LeAnne Kavanagh, Adrienne Blackwell, Bess Hjartarson, Valerie Vermulm, Whitney Bugni, and Jim Woodring.

We are thrilled to launch the Cut Bank Community Foundation and look forward to building a lasting legacy for our community, said Melody Karle, a member of the advisory board. Our endowment will be like savings account for our community; it will allow us to support projects that improve the quality of life in Cut Bank today and for future generations. By building this now, were creating long-term impact that will help Cut Bank thrive for years to come.

To jumpstart its annual grantmaking, the Cut Bank Community Foundation has set an initial fundraising goal: if the community foundation raises $7,500 for its endowment by April 30, 2025, the Montana Community Foundation will contribute $5,000. This matching opportunity will help the community foundation award $5,000 in grants this year to local organizations and projects.

Community members can be a part of this exciting milestone by making a tax-deductible donation. Contributions can be made by mailing a check to Cut Bank Community Foundation, PO Box 111, Cut Bank, MT 59427, or by donating online at https://mtcf.org/local-cfs/cut-bank-community-foundation.

For more information about the Cut Bank Community Foundation, visit https://mtcf.org/local-cfs/cut-bank-community-foundation. For questions, please reach out to any advisory board member or email [email protected].

About Montana Community Foundation

The Montana Community Foundations mission is to cultivate a culture of giving so Montana communities can flourish. Founded in 1988, MCF manages more than $188.5 million in assets and administers more than 1,470 philanthropic funds and planned gifts. Since its founding, MCF has reinvested more than $100 million in Montana through scholarships, grants, and programs. Learn more at www.mtcf.org.
Easter is only a couple weeks away, falling on Sunday, April 20 this year, but the Easter Egg Hunts the younger Easter fans have been anticipating are happening a bit sooner than Easter Sunday, with Sunburst having its Community Easter Egg Adventure on Thursday, April 17, starting at 4 p.m. and the First Baptist Church Community Easter Egg Hunt happening on Saturday, April 19, starting at 11 a.m. in Aronow Park.

The Community Easter Egg Adventure gets underway at 4 p.m. on the 17th, beginning with a traditional Easter Egg Hunt on the Northern Telephone Coop lawn. More family fun follows as kids are encouraged to head out for a scavenger hunt at local businesses. Students and their families are invited to explore local businesses in search of a hidden Easter egg. Once the egg is found, take a selfie with each egg and share your photos on the Sunburst Neighborhood Buzz Facebook page. By participating in this event you could win $50 in Sunburst Bucks, good at any of the Sunburst local businesses! Participants have until 8 a.m., Friday morning, April 18, to have all their photos posted and the chance to win the drawing for the prize. Participating businesses include: Chops, the Sunburst Mercantile, Sunburst Vets Club, Northern Telephone Coop, The Mint and the Porcupine Emporium.

Volunteers and members of the First Baptist Church in Shelby have been working hard in preparing for this year's hunt taking place on Saturday, April 19, starting at 11 a.m. Throughout the year the plastic eggs have been sorted, cleaned and matched up, making it possible for the egg-stuffing to get underway for the big event. The most recent update boasts over 7,000 eggs have been stuffed so far!

The First Baptist Church Easter Egg Hunt has become a well-attended and much-loved community tradition, with literally thousands of eggs dotting the Aronow Park grass, or snow, depending on what the weather brings. Golden eggs containing a special prize will be hidden amongst the hundreds of eggs up for grabs in each age category. This hunt is made possible by the time and dedication of volunteers, mainly congregation members, and monetary donations from members of the church and community.

More information and updates on the Sunburst Community Easter Egg Adventure can be found on the Sunburst Neighborhood Buzz Facebook page. Updates on the First Baptist Church Easter Egg Hunt in Shelby can be found by following the First Baptist Church Shelby Facebook page or their website, fbcshelbymt.com.
In an annual fisheries and bear update meeting held Thursday, April 3 in the Valier Public Library, attendees were provided Montana, Fish, Wildlife and Parks 2023-24 fisheries data for Lake Frances and Tiber Reservoir and bear data for the same period in the Region 4 North area from Katie Vivian, FWP Fish Biologist, and and Dave Kemp, Grizzly Bear Management Specialist. Both Vivian and Kemp had news of job openings in their units.

According to Katie Vivian, Lake Frances continues to meet all management target goals despite the recent low water years. When the lake is full, it offers "tons" of good spawning habitat. Low water years, however, contribute to quick losses of smaller fish. Vivian credits the 2017 high water year for the current population, but those fish are beginning to age out. Fortunately, Lake Frances populations recover quickly when the lake is full.

The annual Lake Frances Walleye stocking and educational event for youth is expected to be the week of June 19, determinant on fingerling size. Watch for more information on this event.

Tiber Reservoir is dealing with additional water issues as the Bureau of Reclamation has determined to keep the reservoir about 6 feet lower than previous practices.

"It (Tiber Reservoir) is unlikely to reach good conditions for fish or recreationists this year," cautioned Vivian. She noted that boaters and anglers should plan to use the marina or VFW ramps during the 2025 season.

Yellow Perch numbers are below the 5-10 year average in Tiber. Pike numbers are healthy and Walleye are low, but within the target goal range.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks is working with the Bureau of Reclamation to agree to a higher water level. The Christmas Tree Project continues in an effort to provide better spawning habitat at Tiber. This project was scheduled for April 8.

Vivan also cautioned that Bynum Reservoir was completely drained last year and the fishery was virtually lost. If levels remain low, they may not be able to restock in 2025.

For information on the Statewide Fisheries Management Plan 2023-26 visit fwp.mt.gov/fish.

FWP is planning to hire a Summer Creel Clerk for Tiber Reservoir to work weekends from May 24 thru September 1. Interested parties may contact Dan Frazer ([email protected]) or Katie Vivian ([email protected]). The position is open until filled.

Grizzly Bear Management Specialist, Dave Kemp, had some good news to share regarding a signed agreement with BNSF Railroad and Amtrak. FWP Regions 1 & 4 and Blackfeet Nation Fish and Wildlife will be receiving monies from BNSF and Amtrak to compensate for bears being struck along the tracks in the Highway 2 corridor. Funding will be divided equally between the three parties. The funds will provide for an additional Region 4 Bear Specialist for 7 years. Kemp did not have an exact dollar amount but was confident there will be enough to cover the additional specialist along with other projects.

Valier Area Grizzly Bear Data for 2024 included 9 complaints, 8 conflicts, 0 captures, 2 mortalities and one observation. The Valier Area includes a 25 kilometer radius. The 2024 Region 4 numbers included 10 captures and 11 total mortalities occurring on railroad tracks, country roads, or by poaching and self-defense. The 2018-24 mortality rate has remained relatively flat.

Kemp stressed bear conflict avoidance measures to prioritize your safety. 1) Carry and know how to use a bear deterrent (bear spray), 2) Do not recreate alone in bear country, 3) Make noise by keeping up conversation. "Hiking bells are just dinner bells for bears," 4) Be vigilant and aware of your surroundings, 5) Report all bear conflicts. Unreported conflicts allow bears to become familiar and further invade your territory, 6) Avoid being fast, silent, or distracted. Trail running and wearing earbuds are discouraged, 7) Secure all attractants, and 8) have proper training and/or attend a Bear Aware workshop. Bear specialists are available to provide bear spray clinics.

Anyone interested in applying for the open bear specialist position in Region 4 should contact Dave Kemp at [email protected] or call 406-450-1097. The position includes $25/ hour and a pickup with all necessary gear. Kemp added that a thick skin is a needed quality for anyone managing conflicts between bears doing bear stuff and folks doing people stuff.
Climate change is on many people's minds as summer approaches, along with what may become a "fire season." In response, students from Browning High School and the Buffalo Hide Academy visited with experts from the University of Montana and the Blackfeet Environmental Office on April 2, exploring a series of exhibits featuring community preparedness and "resilience" as answers. Then the event was opened to the public so they, too, could learn about responses to changes in the environment.

"The Blackfeet Nation is one of three communities that we've partnered with," noted Robin Saha, program director and Associate Professor of environmental studies at UM. "The others are the Fort Belknap Indian Community, which like the Blackfeet Nation has a climate adaptation plan, and communities in the Bitterroot Valley.

"During the day about 80 students from Browning High School and 20 students from the Buffalo Hide Academy engaged with our Mobile Climate Resilience Exhibit comprised of seven interactive stations, including a stream table - 'Infiltrate It' - where students learned about river dynamics, ways to control flooding and erosion, the beneficial role of beavers on the landscape and more. Other stations included 'Cool It! Houses,' where students learn about building materials and designs to keep their home cool in the summer; 'Waldo's Fire Unready House,' where students try to find problems with a model house that put it at risk if wildfire comes through; a 'Smoke Box' that demonstrates the health risks of wildfire smoke and ways families can protect themselves; 'Chill City,' a game about strategies to make cities resilient to the urban heat island effect; and 'Nature's Superpowers,' which highlights ways that different Montana organisms are adapted to fire, drought, flooding and extreme heat."

Direct interaction between visitors and experts from the University of Montana and the Blackfeet Environmental Office made the experience both personal and memorable.

"Termaine Edmo, other BEO personnel and educators from UM's SpectrUM Discovery Area staffed the various stations," Saha explained. "Students from Browning were very enthusiastic, curious and engaged. They received stamps in their 'Stamp Booklets' as they talked with educators at each station, and earned a water bottle sticker for visiting and engaging with at least three stations."

Blackfeet country has the distinction of having instituted many adaptations to changing climate through efforts spearheaded by Blackfeet Community College, Browning Schools, the Blackfeet Environmental Office and other entities.

"The exhibits were developed through design workshops with our community partners and teachers" Saha said. "The exhibit included stories about some of the ways the Blackfeet are adapting to climate change, including using beaver dam analogs, getting Browning Tree City USA designation, building demonstration snow fences, and practices of regenerative grazing."

The event was collaboratively planned and led with the Blackfeet Environmental Office. More information is available on UM's NOAA-funded ReslienceMT project at https://www.umt.edu/spectrum/education/projects/resiliencemt/.

Future events are planned through June and may be found at https://www.montana.edu/communitydevelopment/youthclimateresiliencyseries2025.html.
Barbara Marie (Jacobsen) Han passed away unexpectedly on March 18, 2025, at the age of 77.

Born on June 1, 1947, Barb grew up on the family farm in Davenport, Washington and went to college at Washington State University where she studied elementary education. During her undergraduate studies, she met and married Allen Han, who was in veterinary school.

Barb and Al lived in several communities in Montana, eventually settling south of Inverness. Barb worked as a veterinary tech, pet groomer, and bookkeeper for the vet business. She taught elementary school (3rd grade) at Blue Sky in Rudyard for 17 years. She loved her students and was a playground icon in her ankle-length puffy coat that looked like a sleeping bag with arms.

Barb loved horses. Barb and her cherished horse, Pepper, showed competitively, English and Western, in college. She enjoyed O-Mok-See, barrel racing, training horses, working cows, and trail riding. She was an animal whisperer. She was a skilled seamstress and could sew anything from slippery satin doll clothes to leather western wear. She custom stitched four-wheeler seat covers and repaired the knees of jeans for every one of her children and grandchildren.

She loved riding her Spyder motorcycle, and she traveled over 100,000 miles. Sometimes she rode with Al on the annual Crop and Cow Tour or with her sisterhood of Tenacious Dames to destinations near or far and sometimes riding alone. She rode all over the US and Canada with various friends. She even figured out how to get groceries and haul home bags of cat food on her Spyder.

She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Al, her children Kristin (Andy) Burgoyne, Jake (Melissa) Han, and Cassidy (Jeff) Marn, and her cherished grandchildren Daniel, Jolee, Cameron, Colter, Jett, Presley, and Makenna. She is also survived by her siblings Jo (Bud) Whitney and Ken (Sara) Jacobsen and numerous nieces and nephews.

Barb is preceded in death by her parents Engman Weismann "Jake" Jacobsen and Joanne Ragnfrid (Dahle) Jacobsen and her infant daughter, Nicole Eileen (1975).

No services are planned at this time. Please hug your loved ones and call someone you are missing today in Barb's honor.

Condolences can be made to www.asperfh.com.
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The Book

Siblings a story of resilience, A story of healing, and the unbreakable bonds of family and love.

Family is supposed to be your safe place. But what happens when lies shatter all trust?

Emma has always longed for love and honesty, but her world has been built on betrayal. Her parents lied. Her partner deceived her. The people closest to her turned out to be strangers hiding secrets.

Through the chaos, Emmas sister, Holly, remains her only anchorher unwavering ally in a sea of distrust. Together, they seek to uncover the truth: about their family, their past, and themselves.

Can the bond between sisters heal the wounds inflicted by others? Or will the truth destroy what little they have left?

Poignant, gripping, and ultimately hopeful, Siblings: Emmas Story is a tale of heartbreak and resilience, exploring the depths of family bonds and the courage it takes to rebuild a broken life.

The Authors story

Hilary Coombes was born in Devon, England, and nine days later joined her new family in Bristol. Nearly fifty years on, she was reunited with her biological familya profound experience that inspired her Siblings trilogy, which explores the emotional impact of separation from ones roots. Hilary has worked as a librarian, teacher, and journalist. She is an award-winning author and writes gritty, romantic fiction.

How the book came about

Hilary explains: As an adoptee, my journey to find my birth family was anything but simple. It meant countless trips to archives across the UK, poring over records, and following fragile paper trails until I finally found my birth mother and, unexpectedly, three full siblings. That reunion changed my understanding of family, identity, and the ever-present debate of nature versus nurture.

Inspired by my own experience, this book delves into the intricate bonds of family, offering an authentic and nuanced perspective on adoption and reunion. The adoptee experience is often simplified or misunderstood, but using fiction, I aim to bring its emotional highs and lows to lifemoments of heartbreak, discovery, and the unexpected joy of seeing your own quirks reflected in someone else.

Though my birth mother has since passed, the connections I made endure, shaping both my life and this story. At its heart, this novel is about familyits complexities, its power, and the ties that never truly break.

What We Thought

A poignant and deeply thoughtful book that explores the true bonds of family in difficult circumstances. Can lies and deceit ever be overcome as the reasons behind them are exposed. This is a moving story that delves into the matter. Female First

RELEASE DATE: 28/06/2025 ISBN: 9781835742334 Price: 9.99

by Natalie key for www.femalefirst.co.uk


With the world in Trumpian turmoil, an economy self-combusting and rats as big as centaurs cantering through Birmingham, the aces of the Commons liaison committee had 90 minutes to interrogate the PM.

The burning question for a Scots Labour MP: why dont we have a secretary of state for outer space? That had Sir Keir Starmer blinking a bit. He confessed no one had previously suggested it. His brain slowly considered any advantages.

Perhaps this could be a job transfer for gibbering android Ed Miliband, provided oblong space helmets were a thing. The cabinets very own cyborg, Scary Bridget Phillipson, could be sent to Planet Mongo to give Ming the Merciless a taste of his own medicine. On the Moon, could the Clangers decipher the dribblings of Commons leader Lucy Powell? Few down here have a clue what the toothy pudding is on about.

The Commons liaison committee has seldom been much cop. Tony Blair was the first PM to submit to these interrogations. They did become interesting when MPs ganged up on Boris Johnson. Liz Truss never merited a session. Blair, Brown, Cameron, May (particularly gluey) and Sunak survived without incident. Sir Keir ditto. As ever these supposedly top-grade MPs fell prey to windbaggery and a format that prevents jaunty, open debate.

There are 31 members of the committee. Only 13 turned up and of these only one was a nominal Rightie. That was Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Con, N Cotswolds), genial but blunt as a butter knife. Why were none of the committees other seven Tories allocated questions? Layla Moran (Lib Dem, Oxford W & Abingdon) threw down a few hostile deliveries, on social care. Ms Moran has a nicely air of fraying fury to her. The rest of the MPs, all Labour, were passive. A couple plainly disagreed with Sir Keirs cuts to welfare and foreign aid but they lacked the zing to make their objections count.

Sir Keir Starmer was a 'nasal knight exchanging bland civilities' at a Parliamentary Liaison Hearing on Tuesday April 8

Liaison committee hearings are built up as great events. The biggest of Portcullis Houses rooms is always used. A special usher  that tall chap with the white tie  attends. The public seats yesterday were filled by saps who had possibly been told this sessions going to be mustard, just you wait. Before long these visitors were slack-jawed statues, paralysed by boredom.

Sir Keir was preceded by bodyguards who entered with beefy gaits and bulging jackets. Two Downing Street officials tip-toed in and took seats. The Herbert directly behind the PM was a bearded youth with a poetically sad expression.

Its a ridiculously long room, bawled the committees chairman, Dame Meg Hillier, from the far end of a U-shaped table. She may not even have been sitting in the Westminster constituency. More like Uxbridge. Sir Keir raised a scouting palm to his eyebrows and scanned the horizon. Espying a dame-shaped, bluey-green blob in the distance, the PM yodelled there you are!

And so the agony began: an aeon of burblings, nasal knight exchanging bland civilities with gummy grandees who had written screeds of questions. Sir Keir said these were obviously very chullenging times. Chullenge. That is how he pronounced it, time and again.

Other refrains: We have been very clear...all options are on the table...I want to be really clear on that...nothing is off the table...we have to be absolutely clear. The bearded official behind Sir Keir plunged only deeper into melancholy.

Let me unpack that, droned Sir Keir as he waded into another bog of waffle. Sarah Champion (Lab, Rotherham) flared for a few brief seconds on Israel, then fizzled into nothing. I was an international lawyer, replied Sir Keir, pulverising the room into apathy. At least he didnt say Ive got your back, the Americanism used earlier in the Commons by Rachel Reeves.

Right at the end he confirmed that he would give the vote to 16-year-olds and that he wanted schools  not unsinister, this  to give pupils more political education. With politicians like this, will any 16-year-old be remotely interested?
Bumpy sort of day for our political class. Stock markets were diving like guillemots and Net Zero sprang a leak  Labour was doing a reverse-ferret on electric car rules.

Ed Miliband, greenest of Martians, was nowhere to be seen. Someone said Red Ed had swallowed his own front teeth in rage at the sudden rethink. 'Wednesday, when the teeth reappear, could be difficult,' admitted a source.

But fear not, little flock. The climate change committee thought things were going swimmingly.

Three members of this influential quango were at a select committee to talk about their 'seventh carbon budget'. Such budgets set targets for ministers. They have legal status. The climate change committee is the eco-world's equivalent of the Office for Budgetary Responsibility.

The three poohbahs who turned up at the environmental audit committee (in a sweatily over-heated room) were the committee's 'chief executive' Emma Pinchbeck, its 'interim chair' Piers Forster and its 'chief economist and director of analysis', James Richardson.

Full of demands our heroes were. Twenty per cent of land should in future be redesignated, away from growing food and towards climate-friendly usage. They wanted more forests. More peat bogs. More solar farms. And airlines should 'take responsibility' for the transition to green jet fuel. That 'responsibility' had a nice nimbus of morality.

Ed Miliband, greenest of Martians, was nowhere to be seen when Labour's Net Zero plans sprang a leak, QUENTIN LETTS writes

More people should drive electric cars. More people should use heat pumps. The Government should intervene and should make electricity cheaper. Subsidies. Action! All this on the very day that the Government was taking action in entirely the opposite direction.

The three-point turns on electric cars and airport-building were mentioned at the start of the meeting. Like aristocratic ladies confronted by the pong of fish, the visitors pretended it was not there.

No one on the committee directly laughed at them and told them they were nuts.

Someone did briefly allude to Donald Trump and his likely impact on climate policies in the world. The dreaded T-word was ignored. Instead the MPs listened passively while the witnesses insisted that going green could save each household as much as 900 a year by, er, 2040.

At a normal committee meeting, MPs would have got stuck in, scoffing that the witnesses were deluded. Why did this not happen? Well, this is a little difficult to discuss in the modern age but I am employed to give you a picture of proceedings, so here goes.

Professor Forster had a marked stammer. We're not talking an occasional Ed Balls-style hesitation on some words. It was a full Fish Called Wanda job. Naturally one doffs one's cap to a chap who battles on through such an impediment but it quite unbalanced the meeting as an exercise in democratic scrutiny. Prof Forster was jolly difficult to understand.

Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee

This being Britain, no one mentioned it. Ms Pinchbeck, sitting beside her chairman (he has been interim since 2023), drew rapt fascination to her tender chops. Mr Richardson froze when Prof Forster was fighting with a particular consonant and then nodded in relief when it finally popped out. The MPs gazed at the floor, the walls, their computers.

Barry Gardiner (Lab, Brent W) asked some question. Prof Forster, without delay, replied: 'Absolutely.' He then embarked on a second sentence and we hit a problem. Mr Gardiner hurriedly blurted that 'absolutely' was good enough!' Sammy Wilson (DUP, E Antrim) noted that clear communication was vital if climate campaigners were to persuade voters of their allegedly pressing case. Ms Pinchbeck, seamlessly: 'We recognise the need for good communication. I don't think we're necessarily the people to do that.'

Meanwhile, at the Range Rover factory in the West Midlands, the nasal knight was doing his U-ey. He and Rachel Reeves both spoke. Behind them was the moving production line. She started just as Wall Street opened and stock prices sent up the wail of a descending Stuka. Ms Reeves said she was 'cool-headed'. She looked terrified.

As Sir Keir took to the podium, another Range Rover appeared behind him. Its colour? Grey.
Hes like a terrier with its favourite sock. After nearly four years of never letting go, with everything now in tatters, Harrys tug-of-war with the British Establishment will result in someone being left howling and licking his wounds inside a cold outdoor kennel.

The prince of peeves arrived at the Court of Appeal this morning and it was clear from the way he slammed the door of his Range Rover that he meant business.

He is on a mission to reverse a decision that downgraded his taxpayer-funded security while he is in the UK. He said in a previous statement that he needs to protect not just himself but his wife and children.

The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home That cannot happen if its not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil.

His security here is provided on a case-by-case basis and he must also give 28 days notice of his arrival. Harry has his own private security team but says that, without access to risk analysis, they are operating blind and, without the right to bear arms (private security guards are not allowed to carry guns in this country), vulnerable to pistol-packing threats.

His barrister, Shaheed Fatima KC, pointed out this morning that the prince, who stepped down from official duties in 2020, did not believe he was automatically entitled to the same protection he had when he was a senior royal.

Harry is merely challenging the way the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) took the decision.

Right, so he is slamming car doors and presumably spending vast sums on legal representation  not to mention flights and a hotel (the case continues tomorrow, while a written ruling will be released later)  on a technicality. He is literally splitting heirs.

The Duke of Sussex at the Royal Courts of Justice for the start of his appeal against a High Court ruling on his legal claim against the Home Office

Harry has offered to pay for armed police protection while in the UK, which the authorities say is not possible (I have some sympathy with anyone faced with the computer says no mentality of officialdom in this country), but will he stump up to cover the half a million pounds the case has already cost the taxpayer?

Harry chose to attend the hearing when he was under no obligation to do so. While he wouldnt answer questions from the media as he walked into court this morning, its understood Harry did not meet the King before the monarch flew to Rome. (Harry landed on Sunday, while the King was still in residence at Highgrove.)

It was an ideal opportunity, and especially timely given Charles had recently visited hospital due to a reaction to cancer treatment. Also, given his father is in his seventies. And also, um, given they love each other.

Because what if something happens to his father? That thought is always at the forefront of your mind when a parent is fragile. What if this is the last time they will have the opportunity to talk face-to-face and clear the air?

That said, I find it hard to imagine that Harrys legal battle wouldnt have been the only topic of conversation, with his father expressing an opinion that darling boy Harry simply didnt want to hear. And who wants extra stress before a tiring, tedious official overseas visit?

Almost as puzzling is that Harry swerved the wedding of one of his so-called band of brothers, despite an invitation, and despite preparing to visit the UK.

Surely being among close friends, letting what hair he has left down, would have done him the world of good, especially after the controversy swirling around his charity, Sentebale.

My suspicion is that his reticence was due to aching, never-far-from-the-surface nostalgia for all he has lost.

It's understood Harry did not meet the King before the monarch flew to Rome

Almost as puzzling is that Harry swerved the wedding of one of his so-called band of brothers, Charles Vivian (second from left)

He cut a lonely figure on Tuesday morning, the only handholding coming from his long-serving bodyguard, Dave Langdown, an experienced but necessarily unarmed former Met copper.

His live-streamed appearance in the courtroom (some of the proceedings will be held in private) is a far cry from the lifestyle Harry is supposed to be living, if Netflix is to be believed. Like most court proceedings, it was tedious, long-winded and boring.

Does he really believe his previous statement: I cannot put my wife in danger and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harms way too.

Or is he merely barking outside in the cold, scratching at the door, begging to be let back in on a dubious pretext?

Most people I speak to say, well, if Kate can go shopping in Kensington seemingly without a care in the world, what is it that makes Harry, far below her in rank, so paranoid?

Yes, if his mothers car had been flanked by a security convoy and, yes, if a trained, approved, sober driver had been at the wheel, she would still be alive.

But Diana is the one who dismissed royal protection (she felt she was being spied upon). And Harry, no one can live without some degree of risk. You could break your neck playing polo for starters.

Of course our much-loved prince needs to be protected: his fame is due to an accident of birth, not ambition  certainly not talent or hard work.

He is telling us he wants to be heard, he wants to be taken seriously, he wants to come home and, crucially, he wants vengeance.
Trouble is brewing between OnlyFans sensation Lily Phillips and her 'backdoor challenge' co-star Tiffany Wisconsin.

The two blondes recently teamed up to film an eye-watering collaboration with fifty masked men that ended with Tiffany taking a trip to the hospital for surgery on her derriere.

Despite the unfortunate medical mishap, the X-rated stunt was a huge success for the pair.

However, an adult industry insider told DailyMail.com that Tiffany, 36, has been fuming that Lily, 23, got all the publicity from the stunt instead of her.

Tiffany put the entire challenge together, including finding all the men and having them tested for STDs, only to end up in the hospital while Lily reaped all the rewards.

'It was supposed to be her big moment, but as usual Lily stole the spotlight,' the source said.

The Midwest blonde didn't go home empty handed though.

OnlyFans star Tiffany Wisconsin (right) is apparently fuming that Lily Phillips (left) stole all of her spotlight during their recent 'backdoor challenge' video

Apparently, Tiffany had her biggest earnings day on OnlyFans to date, but her numbers were still dwarfed by Lily.

This isn't the first sign of tension between the two sex workers.

There was already some drama brewing after they both started sleeping with elderly men in nursing homes in a bid to create the most outrageous (and lucrative) OnlyFans content for their respective accounts.

Tiffany carved a niche for herself in geriatric porn last year, long before Lily started scouting nursing homes in February.

But as expected, Lily's the one who got all the attention for her stunt, earning millions of views on TikTok.

'Tiffany was basically the only OnlyFans model in the geriatric category, and then Lily came along and did the same thing and went super viral, easily eclipsing Tiffany,' said one source.

'Lily hasn't even been in the industry that long but she's stealing the spotlight from the girls that have been hustling for years and resentment is starting to build up.'

The two blondes recently teamed up to film an eye-watering collaboration with fifty masked men that ended with Tiffany taking a trip to the hospital for surgery on her derriere

Tiffany also feels like Lily copied her by filming OnlyFans content with elderly men

Tiffany isn't the first OnlyFans star to take issue with Lily.

Bonnie Blue recently accused Lily of trying to steal her idea to break the world sex record by sleeping with 1,000 men.

According to Bonnie, the betrayal happened last year after she invited ingenue Lily to join her at Freshers' Week in the UK to sleep with dozens of first-year university students for OnlyFans.

'Way before Lily even put it on her socials that she'd like to do the world sex record, and when I helped her out and invited her to do my Freshers content, I shared the idea with her saying that I really wanted to do the world record,' Bonnie explained.

'And I guess I'm very trustworthy and oblivious to people's bitterness so I shared my idea that I'd like to do it. Then it wasn't until November, three months later, she then announced on her socials that she was doing the world record,' she continued.

'Rivalry suggests competition and that I don't have. In terms of the world record, both me and Lily know it was my idea as l'd spoken to her about it.'

Bonnie even said that she'd introduced Lily to media contacts and tried to help her make a name for herself in the adult industry off the back of her viral student content, only to be betrayed when Lily turned out to be a copycat.

'I helped Lily with publicity. I don't feel like people in the industry need to be jealous, there's multiple subscribers and plenty of space for everyone,' she said.
There had been speculation that The Smiths inspired the group's name

The band dissolved in 2023 after almost two decades in the business

Panic! At The Disco fans are only now finding out the true meaning of the band's name  despite them dissolving two years ago.

The pop rock band, fronted by Brendon Urie, formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2004.

The original line-up included Brendon on vocals and guitar, Ryan Ross on guitar, Spencer Smith on the drums, and Brent Wilson on bass, although the group saw many changes over the years.

While there has been speculation that the name of the group was inspired by English rockers The Smiths, the band is said to have got its stimulus from an emo collective much closer to home.

According to Brendon, Panic! At The Disco was got its namesake from the group Name Taken and their song Panic.

Name Taken, originally known as All That's Left, were a rock band out of Orange County, California.

One such verse in Panic reads: 'Panic at the disco/Sat back and took it so slow/Are you nervous? Are you shaking'

Panic! At The Disco recorded their first demos while they were in high school.

Panic! At The Disco fans are only now finding out the true meaning of the band's name

Brent Wilson, Ryan Ross, Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith were the band's original line-up

Their first album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, was released in 2005, and featured their hit song I Write Sins Not Tragedies, which reached a peak of number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The album itself was certified triple platinum.

Brendon announced the end of Panic! At The Disco in 2023 ahead of the birth of his daughter, whom he shares with wife Sarah Orzechowski.

In a statement shared on social media, he explained that it was time to close this chapter of his life to focus on his family.

He said: 'Well, it's been a hell of a journey Growing up in Vegas I could've never imagined where this life would take me. So many places all over the world, and all the friends we've made along the way.

'But sometimes a journey must end for a new one to begin. We've been trying to keep it to ourselves, though some of you may have heard

'Sarah and I are expecting a baby very soon! The prospect of being a father and getting to watch my wife become a mother is both humbling and exciting. I look forward to this next adventure.

'That said, I am going to bring this chapter of my life to an end and put my focus and energy on my family, and with that Panic! At The Disco will be no more.'

Front man Brendon announced the end of the road for Panic! At The Disco in 2022

He cited his family and the prospect of being a father as the reasons for ending the group

Paying tribute to their fans, he concluded: 'Thank you all for your immense support over the years.

'I've sat here trying to come up with the perfect way to say this and I truly can't put into words how much it has meant to us.

'Whether you've been here since the beginning or are just finding us, it has been a pleasure to not only share the stage with so many talented people but also share our time with you.

'I am looking forward to seeing everyone in Europe and the UK for one last run together.

'I love you. I appreciate you. Thank you for existing. Brendon.'
Fashion-conscious Aussie shoppers have been advised to check out Target Australia's women's clothes section after a style content creator raved about the quality and affordability of their current winter collection.

Melbourne-based style content creator Tiarnah Norris regularly posts videos to her TikTok account sharing her latest fashion finds.

But a video she shared this week has notched up over 230,000 views after the 'shocked' fashion lover shared her surprising Target shopping haul, showcasing the brand's surprisingly well-priced and quality made winter staples.

'So, was anyone going to tell me that Target is popping off right now for nice winter staples that are low key really affordable,' Tiarnah said.

She explained that she'd recently popped into the mass discount retailer with the intention of buying coat hangers, only to be 'distracted by the nice clothes' that were 'really reasonably priced'.

'This is a PSA because nobody told me. I'm really, really shocked right now,' Tiarnah said while brandishing a bursting Target shopping bag.

The fashion lover explained that she'd picked up four 'winter staples' that were affordably priced for the quality of the product, ranging between $30 and $70 each.

The big-ticket item was a Petites Trench Jacket, which retails for $70.

Online content creator Tiarnah Norris (left) raved about the 'quality' and 'really affordable' winter staples at Target - including the 'really flattering' Target Lily Loves Australian Exposed Seam Knit Jumper, $30 (right)

Tiarnah praised the 'quality' of the coat, saying: 'You could have told me this was from like COS it looks like it is.'

'It's really beautiful quality [and a] super flattering fit. It was only 70 bucks,' she added. 'So I grabbed that.'

The remainder of her winter haul retailed for a well-priced $30 per item, including the Lily Loves Australian Exposed Seam Knit Jumpers, which she described as a 'nice staple turtle neck jumper'.

'We're going into winter and autumn - you can't go wrong with a really nice knit,' Tiarnah said.

'These were really flattering,' she added, confirming that she'd picked up the jumper in two different shades - one in Oatmarle and the other in the Charcoal marle.

Tiarnah's last winter wardrobe pick was the Petites Australian Cotton Blend Button Knit Vest in Stone, which is also priced at $30.

'How freakin' cute,' she exclaimed. 'If you'd told me this was DISSH I would have been like, "yep, that looks like it's from DISSH".'

'The quality is so good, I'm honestly in shock.'

The viral video highlighted quality winter staples at Target like the Petites Australian Cotton Blend Button Knit Vest in Stone $30 (left) and Petites Trench Jacket $70 (right)

Fashion conscious shoppers enthusiastically flooded the comments section in response to the video.

'Target has popped off for the last 3 or so years Sooo many good staples and corporate girly clothes,' one raved.

'$70 for the trench where it's cotton outside & polyester lining is actually pretty good,' another added.

'Love that charcoal jumper,' one more said.

'$30 is a steal compared to what you would pay for a very similar item at 'brand' shops.'

It seems that other Aussie shoppers have also recently noticed Target 'upping their game' when it comes to 'reasonably priced' quality fashion pieces.

A recent Reddit thread started by AusFemaleFashion asked other followers whether they too had noticed a turnaround in the brand's formerly 'daggy' clothing reputation.

'I've found so many things I've liked in Target in the last year or so. I've found the quality in the Petites line in particular to be excellent for the price you pay,' replied one user.

'So much more affordable than anywhere else and the quality is good and on trend,' added another.
If you've been following my dating adventures for a while now, you'll know I'm fascinated by open relationships. Or 'ethically non-monogamous' relationships, as they are now commonly referred to.

Seriously, there's now a box you can tick on most dating apps that states you are in an ENM relationship or looking for one. That's how normalised they have become.

As someone who's wrestled with commitment for as long as I can remember, my ears definitely pricked up when more people started embracing the concept.

Could this be the magic fix? If a relationship was open, would I feel less trapped? Less claustrophobic? Hmm it's an intriguing thought.

My therapist's answer was a cautious, 'no, let's work on that fear of intimacy.' My answer was, 'This sounds like a fabulous quick fix. Let's give it a crack.'

Spoiler alert: it turns out I'm far too much of a green eyed monster to let another floozy flirt with my man. Safe to say the claws came out and it was an epic failure on my behalf.

However, it turns out I'm not alone in my curiosity. According to a recent YouGov survey, one in five people have dabbled in some form of ethical non-monogamy. And among Millennials and Gen Z, the interest is seriously heating up.

Nearly a third of Aussies under 35 say they'd consider an open relationship, and let's be honest, with dating apps basically turning love into a buffet, who's surprised?

Mail+ columnist Jana Hocking talks open marriages and relationships: can they really work?

Google searches for 'open marriage' and 'polyamory' are at an all-time high. So it seems we're all asking the same cheeky question: what if there's more than one way to do commitment?

'My hall pass turned into a health scare'

Ellie* gave her boyfriend a hall pass before he jetted off on a lads' trip to Bali.

'I thought it'd be a fun way to let him live out a little fantasy,' she said.

'And honestly, I had a gut feeling he was going to do it anyway so giving him permission made me feel like I was at least in control.'

When he came back, he was smug and full of stories she didn't really want to hear the details.

'I brushed it off, told myself it was fine until a few days later, when I started getting painful blisters in my nether regions.'

Her boyfriend had brought back herpes and passed it on without so much as a warning.

'I was stuck with a lifelong STI because we made one stupid decision and he made an even worse selfish one by not wearing a condom,' she said.

One woman told Mail+ columnist Jana Hocking that she gave her boyfriend a hall pass for his lads' trip - and it backfired spectacularly (stock image posed by model)

'I couldn't forgive him for putting my health at risk. We broke up not long after.'

Now, Ellie says the hardest part hasn't been the breakup, it's the shame.

'Having to tell new partners I have herpes has completely knocked my confidence. The stigma is brutal. It's made me terrified to get back out there.'

Her advice: 'Don't open your relationship unless you completely trust your partner to protect you even when you're not there to make sure they do.'

'Being in a relationship with two men is happiest I've ever been'

Both men know about each other, they get along, and she splits her time between Florida and Maui, living with each of them part-time.

'We joke it's joint custody,' she wrote.

'It sounds complicated, but honestly, it works.'

She told me she never set out to live this kind of life. 'I used to think I was pretty traditional. I had only been with five guys, but my boyfriend was really into kink and alternative relationship structures. I told him I thought I might be bisexual and he really encouraged me to explore that, which I did.'

When she met her second partner, she said the connection was instant. 'It was intense, emotional, and yes, very physical.' But rather than sneak around, she told her first partner everything.

'It was terrifying,' she admitted.

'But we all went to dinner and talked about it and it weirdly, brought us closer. Now, I'm in a serious relationship with both of them, and I've never felt more seen or more supported. I'm not torn between them, it just feels like two different parts of me being loved in full.'

She was clear that it's not all perfect.

'It took time, trust, and a lot of honesty to get here. But I wake up every day feeling loved, grounded, and very well taken care of. We all have 'family calls' once a month just to check in and make sure it's still working for everyone, and we all regularly get tested. It's the most responsible I've been in a relationship(s),' she said.

'I opened my relationship. Then I didn't want to close it'

Jules* opened her marriage for a 'summer of fun' with her husband after they hired a rental house in Paris for three months. Miles away from their Sydney abode where word was likely to get out, they knew they could steer clear of the gossipmongers.

'We agreed to one rule: no sleep overs and all dates must be communicated with each other,' she said.

'At the start it was like we were in our twenties again, flirting and going out with new exciting people. There were some good dates, and some not-so-good dates. But I found I loved the freedom. I thrived. I felt hot and wanted again.'

One woman told Jana she loved opening up her relationship. Her husband? Not so much

Her husband, on the other hand, not so much.

'He tried, but it triggered all his insecurities,' she said. 'He wanted to go back to how things were. I couldn't.'

She told me, 'I've always been more physically attractive than him and I think it didn't help that I was getting more dates then him.'

They eventually had an amicable split. 'Oddly, opening our marriage helped me realise it was over. Since then, I haven't looked back ever again to monogamy. Since that relationship I've been non-monogamous forever and it's going to stay that way.'

'He said he was okay with it. He wasn't'

When Mel* floated the idea of opening her relationship with her husband after ten years together, he hesitated but ultimately agreed. Or so she thought.

'It was fine while nothing was actually happening,' she said. 'But when I met someone and started glowing with excitement, things turned sour fast.'

The jealousy, silent treatment and emotional distance crept in.

'Eventually, he admitted he hated it and felt like I had emotionally left the relationship,' she said.

'We separated three months later, and I'm now with the guy I originally met, in a monogamous relationship. Turns out I didn't need to open my relationship, I needed to escape it to be truly happy.'

'We were poly. Then he fell for her'

Another DM that hit a nerve came from Georgia*, who had been in a polyamorous relationship with her boyfriend James* for two years.

'We had rules. We communicated. We even double-dated,' she said. 'It wasn't a free-for-all but it was structured and kind of exciting.'

They'd started exploring polyamory not because things were broken, but because they were curious.

'We loved each other deeply, but we both had strong flirt-with-everyone energy,' she joked. So they agreed on a set of boundaries: honesty above all else, no secrets, and nothing serious with anyone else.

And for a while, it worked. They had flings, a few short-term situationships, and even hooked up with the same woman a few times. But then James met 'her'.

One woman said she and her partner had 'rules' for making their polyamorous relationship work, but after a while she started to feel like the 'back up option'

'She was supposed to be another casual one,' Georgia said. 'That's what he told me. But within a few weeks, it was obvious something had shifted. He was texting her constantly, cancelling plans with me to see her, always bringing her up in conversation.'

Georgia tried to stay cool. 'I kept reminding myself that this is what we signed up for. I can't be jealous, I agreed to this.'

But deep down, she was spiraling. 'I started to feel like the backup option.'

They went to therapy. They tried to 'recalibrate' the arrangement. Georgia even attempted dating someone new herself to even the scales.

But the damage was done. 'I realised I was okay with him sleeping with other people. What I wasn't okay with was watching him fall in love with someone else in front of me.'

Eventually, she ended things. 'I felt like I was screaming, "Pick me", and he didn't. He tried to stay with both of us, but I couldn't unsee how quickly I became an afterthought.'

She doesn't regret trying polyamory.

'It taught me a lot about myself. About communication, about boundaries, about what I can and can't tolerate,' she said.

'But mostly it taught me that I'm not as emotionally detached as I thought. I want passion, adventure but I also want to be someone's first choice. Not just their safe place.'

'We had a threesome. It became a triad'

Ben* and Marco* had a spontaneous threesome with a man they met on a dating app. They told me it's super common in the gay scene.

It was supposed to be a one-time thing, but chemistry had other plans.

'We all fell for each other in different ways,' Ben explained.

'It turned into a polyamorous relationship with shared calendars, joint holidays, even meeting his friends and letting it all hang out in the open.'

So does it actually work? Honestly, it gave me anxiety reading some of these stories, but there's no denying that sometimes couples in open marriages and relationships can thrive.

For some couples, opening things up turns into the ultimate aphrodisiac. For others, it cracks open insecurities they didn't even know were lurking. There's no neat answer, and definitely no manual.

But if you're going to swing open the door to non-monogamy, just know this: you can't control what (or who) walks in. Or who your partner might walk out with.

Tread carefully and maybe grow a pair of balls made from steel. You will need them.

*names have been changed
Tesco has announced a major change across its superstores - and the first of its kind move could be permanent.

The British merchandise and grocery store will roll out perimenopause and menopause-friendly aisles in 93 of its 'large' UK stores, in a bid to 'empower women with more choices'.

The aisles will exclusively feature perimenopause and menopause products, which the chain hopes will support women in locating and identifying the products they need to treat and manage symptoms.

The supermarket is expected to stock a range of products across several categories, including nutrition, haircare, skincare, sexual wellness and digestive health.

While a specific date for the launch is yet to be announced, it follows a successful trial carried out by Tesco in 2024 which saw dedicated menopause sections added to 200 of its stores.

According to Tesco's website, many of the brands featured in last year's display included Vitabiotics vitamins, Nivea, Olay, Simple skincare products, Tena and Always products - with speculation mounting that they could return in this year's official rollout.

The supermarket is set to be the first in the UK to introduce menopause-only regions to its stores and instantly announce that it will be permanent.

The retailer has joined forces with British company, GenM, a collective of labels, retailers and manufacturers dedicated to empowering menopause brands.

Tesco has announced a major change across its superstores - and the first of its kind move could be permanent (Stock image)

Together, Tesco and GenM will enforce the 'M-tick', the worlds first universal shopping symbol to signpost menopause-friendly products, which will be clearly visible on products, both in Tesco stores and online, states Tesco.

Tescos Category Director for Health and Wellness, Tom Lye, said the supermarket is 'delighted' to unveil the rare initiative.

'We are delighted to be continuing our work with GenM to support our customers and colleagues going through the menopause' said Tom.

'Following a successful trial last year, we hope that having these permanent menopause-friendly bays in 93 of our large stores will provide reassurance and education'.

The collaboration will ensure the signposting of 'safer' products for customers going through menopause or perimenopause, as well as ones that will ease symptoms, explained the executive.

GenM's co-founder and CEO, Heather Jackson, added: 'Whats particularly exciting about the launch is that Tesco will stock a broad range of products across several different categories, from nutrition, haircare and skincare to sexual wellness and digestive health.

'This showcases our joint commitment to supporting women across the breadth of the 48 menopause signs, and means we are empowering women with choice for her to manage her menopause, her way'.

She added that the move is a 'milestone' for 15.5million women in menopause that are yet to be 'understood or served as they deserve'.

The British merchandise and grocery store will roll out perimenopause and menopause-friendly aisles in 93 of its 'large' UK stores (Stock image)

Tesco is expected to stock a range of products across several categories, including nutrition, haircare, skincare, sexual wellness and digestive health

'The very first permanent in-store designated space for MTick-certified products is a huge step forward for empowering women to have a better-lived experience of menopause and transforming how they search, source and shop for product solutions' Heather concluded.

The news comes as doctors have revealed the common symptoms that could be a sign of the perimenopause.

The perimenopause is the stage before the menopause. During this time your hormones start to change but your periods have not yet stopped for good, according to Bupa.

Perimenopause is associated with up to 34 symptoms and typically starts in your mid-40s, but according to some experts it could start much earlier.

According to the NHS, perimenopause is signified by irregular periods, but women may also experience joint pain, low libido, difficulty sleeping, weight gain, heart palpitations, sensitive teeth, mood swings and low self esteem, among others.

The supermarket is set to be the first in the UK to introduce menopause-only regions to its stores and instantly announce that it will be permanent

Together, Tesco and GenM will enforce the 'M-tick', the worlds first universal shopping symbol to signpost menopause-friendly products, which will be clearly visible on products, both in Tesco stores and online

And speaking to FEMAIL, doctors have revealed that fatigue, anxiety and brain fog are all symptoms of the perimenopause, which in rare cases can begin in a woman's 30s.

Doctor Harriet Connell, a Westbury menopause specialist at Health and Her, says perimenopause is 'the transition period leading up to menopause, typically lasting several years'.

During that time, the bodys production of estrogen and progesterone (hormones that regulate periods and pregnancy) become irregular, causing a variety of physical and emotional symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety and brain fog, (the 'F.A.B.' symptoms), she explained.

Dr Connell said: 'These can be some of the earliest and most challenging symptoms of perimenopause. These symptoms often impact daily functioning more than the classic hot flushes or menstrual changes and can appear years before those late perimenopausal'.

In order to understand perimenopause and when it strikes, it is vital to comprehend its next and final stage, menopause. While perimenopause starts first and invokes sporadic periods, menopause causes menstruation to stop indefinitely.

Doctor Claire Merrifield, GP and medical director at Selph in London, told FEMAIL that, for most women, menopause typically occurs around the age of 51.

She said: 'Menopause is the time of life when a woman's periods stop and can be diagnosed when its been 12 consecutive months since the last period and typically occurs around the age of 51'.

Menopause is associated with symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness, and its arrival often signifies the end of a woman's ability to conceive naturally.
The King and Queen were formally welcomed to Italy this morning with full pomp and ceremony - and a stunning city-wide flypast in Rome.

Their Majesties received a ceremonial welcome at the Quirinale Palace from the President of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Signor Sergio Mattarella.

He was accompanied by his daughter, Signora Laura Mattarella, who acts as the windowed presidents First Lady.

Charles, 76, and Camilla, 77, were escorted by mounted Quirinale (Corazzieri) Guards as they arrived for the first major event of their historic four-day state visit, their first as King and Queen.

The British and Italian National Anthems were played as the Union Jack flag was raised on the turret of the iconic palazzo.

President Mattarella, 83, then invited His Majesty to inspect the Guard of Honour in the courtyard, consisting of the Quirinale Band, Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri and mounted Corazzieri Guards. Her Majesty remained chatting with Signora Mattarella, 58.

At the end of the courtyard, The King and President Mattarella, rejoined by Her Majesty and Signora Laura, proceeded into the Palace and onto the terrace to view a stunning flypast of the Frecce Tricolori and Red Arrows in a show of bilateral defence unity, a key theme of the visit.

The Frecce Tricolori issued red, white and green smoke, while the Red Arrows emitted red, white and blue smoke.

The King and Queen (pictured) were formally welcomed to Italy this morning with full pomp and ceremony - and a stunning city-wide flypast in Rome

King Charles III, Queen Camilla, President of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Signor Sergio Mattarella and the President's daughter, Signora Laura Mattarella view a flypast

Their Majesties received a ceremonial welcome at the Quirinale Palace from the President of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Signor Sergio Mattarella

Following the flypast, Their Majesties returned inside the palace, escorted by President Mattarella and Signora Laura, where Their Majesties and the President presented their official delegations.

This included Foreign Secretary David Lammy and His Majestys Ambassador to the Republic of Italy and San Marino, The Baron Llewellyn of Steep.

The President then presented the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Italian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Inigo Lamberini, Secretary General of the Quirinale, Ugo Zampetti and Diplomatic Counsellor to the President, Ambassador Fabio Cassese.

'We are very lucky to have him,' the King said of Mr Lambertini, the Italian ambassador to the UK whom he has met previously.

The King and the President then posed for a photograph in front of the flags of both countries before a private meeting with the Queen and Laura in the President's study, known as the Sala dei Colloqui.

Speaking through an interpreter, Charles told his host: 'This is my 18th visit here.' 'And I remember having you here at the Quirinale before on your visits to Rome,' replied the President.

After around 20 minutes of private conversation, the President presented honours to the royal couple.

The King received the Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit and presented the President with the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.

The British and Italian National Anthems were played as the Union Jack flag was raised on the turret of the iconic palazzo. Pictured, the flypast

President Mattarella (pictured right), 83, then invited His Majesty to inspect the Guard of Honour in the courtyard, consisting of the Quirinale Band, Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri and mounted Corazzieri Guards

Queen Camilla smiles as she attends the ceremonial welcome ceremony at the Quirinale Palace

President Mattarella (pictured right with King Charles) is the twelfth President of the Italian Republic. He was first elected in January 2015 and again, unusually, in January 2022

At the end of the courtyard, The King and President Mattarella, rejoined by Her Majesty and Signora Laura, proceeded into the Palace and onto the terrace to view a stunning flypast (pictured) of the Frecce Tricolori and Red Arrows in a show of bilateral defence unity, a key theme of the visit

The Frecce Tricolori issued red, white and green smoke, while the Red Arrows emitted red, white and blue smoke

King Charles and Queen Camilla stand with Italian President Sergio Mattarella during the state visit to Italy at the Quirinale Palace

In October 2024, President Mattarella became Italys longest serving President. A widower since 2012, he attends official engagements with his daughter Laura (pictured with the King and Queen)

Charles, 76, and Camilla, 77, were escorted by mounted Quirinale (Corazzieri) Guards (pictured behind the King and Italian President) as they arrived for the first major event of their historic four-day state visit, their first as King and Queen

Italian President Sergio Mattarella (C-R) welcomes King Charles (C) and Queen Camilla (C-L) as they arrive at Quirinale Palace, Rome, Italy

Charles and Camilla (pictured left, today) are due to undertake a busy programme of 19 engagements over four days, flying the flag for Britain abroad and highlighting key issues including defence cooperation, trade and culture

'It goes back quite a long way,' said the monarch. 'It's just a token really of our appreciation, you've served for so long.' 'I'm humbled, your Majesty,' he replied.

Signora Laura and Camilla then departed to view a selection of antique books on horsemanship in the Biblioteca del Piffetti and tour the State Rooms of the 16th Century palace, where they chatted to staff preparing for tomorrow's State Banquet and carrying out repairs on tapestries and furniture.

The President and his daughter and the King and Queen were reunited to say their farewells in the Palace's Sala del Bronzino, which is hung with magnificent tapestries designed by the Florentine artist Bronzino.

Queen Camilla was wearing a blue silk crepe dress and coat by Fiona Clare as well as a diamond and sapphire brooch that originally belonged to Queen Victoria for the outing.

Palermo-born Sergio Mattarella is Italy's longest-serving President. He was first elected in January 2015 and again in January 2022.

He lost his wife Marisa to cancer in 2012 and since becoming President, has been accompanied by his daughter, known as Signora Laura, at official events.

Charles and Camilla are due to undertake a busy programme of 19 engagements over four days, flying the flag for Britain abroad and highlighting key issues including defence cooperation, trade and culture.

Meanwhile, no trip to Rome would be complete without a visit to the Colosseum, one of the seven wonders of the world.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla pose in front of the Colosseum in Rome

Even on a busy day, the King and Queen went to view the iconic amphitheatre (pictured), Camilla marvelling at the breath-taking sight of one of the Roman worlds most famous surviving structures

Although the timing of their visit had not been publicised in advance, huge crowds gathered, cheering, with school children excitedly shouting Hes coming, thats the King! as they spotted the police convoy make its way into the grounds of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum (pictured)

Which is why, even on a busy day, the King and Queen went to view the iconic amphitheatre, Camilla marvelling at the breath-taking sight of one of the Roman worlds most famous surviving structures.

Although the timing of their visit had not been publicised in advance, huge crowds gathered, cheering, with school children excitedly shouting Hes coming, thats the King! as they spotted the police convoy make its way into the grounds of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum.

As they stepped out of the State Bentley, which has been brought to Italy for the duration of the four-day state visit, King Charles, 76, turned to wave to the flag-waving crowds.

The royal couple were received by the Minister of Culture Mr Alessandro Giuli and Director of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, Ms Alfonsina Russo but they quickly made a beeline for the hundreds of people gathered to see them.

As they spent 10 minutes shaking hands with the public, which included dozens of pupils from nearby schools, the bands of the Welsh Guards and the Sassari Brigade Band played a series of tunes - including the theme song from the film Gladiator, set during the Roman Empire and featuring spectacular fight scenes at the Colosseum.

The joint musical initiative had been designed to highlight close military and defence links between Britain and Italy, one of the key themes of the visit.

Ahead of their arrival, Imogen Brown, 12 and Nancy Douglas, 12, from St Georges British International School said they were really excited to see the King and Queen,

We only found who we would be meeting this morning, Nancy said. They told us yesterday that we were meeting someone special and this morning on the bus our teachers told us it was the King and Queen.

King Charles and Queen Camilla greet the crowd in front of the Colosseum in Rome

King Charles and Queen Camilla visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers in Rome

Imogen added: I was really shocked that he [the King] wanted to see us and go to the Colosseum.

Accompanied by a large entourage that included Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the King and Queen then proceeded up the stairs to the Colosseum viewing platform, on the edge of the Temple of Venus and Rome - the largest and most splendid of Rome's temples, designed by Hadrian.

They turned to wave to the huge crowd below before posing for photographs in front of the elliptical amphitheatre that was stood in the heart of Rome for nearly 2,000 years.

Speaking moments later with a group of archaeologists, the Queen remarked: The views are beautiful, beautiful.

Dr Barbara Nazzaro, the Architect of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, then discussed the restoration works that they have been doing in the park, which currently centres on the underground passages on the arena floor.

The pair then met representatives from Rome-based community organisations including MO.D.A.V.I., an association founded in the city in 1996 to address the problem of drug addiction; Peter Pan Odv, an Italian non-profit organisation that provides accommodation and a range of free services to families that come to Rome from across Italy and from abroad to access cancer treatment for children and Differenza Donna, an Italian N.G.O.s supporting women who are victims of domestic violence and of human trafficking.

Popular Italian TV presenter and historian Alberto Angela was then introduced to the King and Queen, who explained more about Romes history and restoration while overlooking the Roman Forum, ruins of important ancient government buildings located a stones throw away from the Colosseum.

Still today, it looks impressive, the King and Queen were told, as they both nodded in agreement and marvelled at the archaeological site below.

They listened intently as Mr Angela explained how the once bustling heart of ancient Rome was largely destroyed by a major earthquake in the 9th century that cause significant damage to the buildings.

Before they were ushered towards the waiting convoy of vehicles by their security team, the King told Mr Angela that the restoration work that has been carried out was brilliant, while the Queen said: It was lovely to be able to see this today.

The Colosseum Archaeological Park is one of the most-visited sites in the world and includes the iconic Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill, the Arch of Constantine with the Meta Sudans and the Domus Aurea.
Cory Hardrict refuses to have a "messy" divorce for the sake of his children.

Cory Hardrict refuses to have a 'messy' divorce for the sake of his children

The 45-year-old actor called time on his marriage to former 'Sister, Sister' star Tia Mowry, 46, in 2023 after 15 years together but intentionally "blocks out the noise" because he wants to "represent" his kids.

Speaking on 'Sherri', Cory - who has son Creo, 13, as well as six-year-old daughter Cairo with Tia - said: "Everything starts and ends with love. We are a family, no matter what people say. I block out the noise. My kids are going to live to see this one day, and I am going to represent for them, always.

"If you really love your children, you won't get involved in the noise or the mess. I make sure that I always think about them first. I put myself last. If you do that, you're going to avoid the mess."

His comments come shortly after Tia revealed that Cory had been her "first everything" and that she had never really known anything than their marriage when it comes to relationships.

Speaking during a confessional segment on her WeTV reality show 'Tia Mowry: My Next Act', she explained: "You know Ive never dated. Cory was my first everything.

I wasnt even allowed to date until I was 18 years old. "I met Cory when I turned 20 and I lost my virginity at 25. There, I said it! And then we got married! Boom!"

The former Nickelodeon star did try dating again for a little while but then took a break from because she was struggling to find someone who wasn't interested in her fame.

She told UsWeekly magazine: I put a little bit of a pause on dating at the moment, because you dont really know why someone is dating you.

"When it becomes very clear on why someone is dating you through their behaviours, its disappointing.

"Ive realised that some people are attracted because there was some sort of infatuation growing up  you know, Oh, this is the girl from 'Sister, Sister'. Its like, Nah. I want you to know me and love me when the makeup comes off.
A doctor has revealed some of the lesser-known signs that an individual may have autism, as rates of diagnosis surge across the UK.

Appearing in a new Channel 5 documentary, which airs tonight, NHS GP Dr Claire Taylor explored some of the key symptoms of autism, analysing the latest research and interviewing Brits who have been diagnosed with the neurological condition.

There are currently over 170,000 people in the UK are waiting for a doctor to assess whether they have the condition, a figure that is five times higher than before the pandemic in 2020.

From 2022 to 2023, there was a whopping 50 per cent increase of autism referrals in the UK - with many people waiting up to three years for a diagnosis.

Dr Claire said she looks for three key indicators when diagnosing autism - difficulty with social communication and interaction, signs of repetitive movement of patterned behaviours and thirdly, extreme sensitivity to stimuli.

In the documentary, Claire interviewed several autistic people about their experiences living with the condition.

Defining what they viewed as the distinguishing factor in deciphering whether or not someone may be autistic, one woman said: 'If you feel more exhausted than other people from putting on a face, it is worth questioning whether you could be autistic.'

A second said: 'Ask yourself if going into situations, if you are the one that's present or if your presence is an invitation of what you feel like other people want you to be.'

Appearing in a new Channel 5 documentary, which airs tonight, NHS GP Dr Claire Taylor (pictured) explored some of the key symptoms of autism, analysing the latest research and interviewing Brits who have been diagnosed with the neurological condition

Struggling with social situations can lead some autistic people to be perceived as 'rude' or 'standoffish', despite not intending to come across as such.

Speaking in the documentary, one interviewee said she had a hard time 'controlling my facial expressions and my tone'.

Alongside responses to social situations, sensitivity to stimuli such as light and sound can also be indicative of autism, Claire advised.

However, as with other autism symptoms, this can vary from person to person.

Software engineer, Nadia, explained that both can be highly triggering and finding herself somewhere like a shopping centre can even go as far as to induce 'panic'.

'If you are sensitive to stimuli such as sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or temperature, this could be a sign that you are autistic,' the doctor asserted.

One interviewee, a sound engineer called Jacob, explained that his sensitivity to sound was so acute that he could hear noises as quiet as overhead wires and subtle creaks of a chair.

Recent studies have revealed that autistic people tend to have a greater 'perceptual capacity', than neurotypical individuals, which often makes them better able to take in more information.

Speaking on the documentary, cognitive psychologist Anna Remington explained that this can make picking out noises amongst a plethora of sounds much easier for autistic people.

A doctor has revealed some of the lesser-known signs that an individual may have autism, as rates of diagnosis surge across the UK

'But if you're doing a much simple task that doesn't take up all your processing capacity, having extra capacity automatically processes anything that's going on around you,' she added.

'In a real life situation, noticing lots of other conversations can make it harder to stay focused on the conversations you're trying to focus on.'

This increase in sensitivity explains why autistic people are more prone to becoming overwhelmed in highly stimulating situations, Claire explained.

The third symptom that can be used to identify autism are rigid and repetitive behaviours.

Sometimes, these can take the form of movement called stimming, which stands for self-stimulatory behaviour which can include fidgeting, rocking back and forth.

'It's the behaviour that a lot of people do as a form of self regulation,' one autistic person explained.

In addition to helping cope with high concentrations of stimuli, it can also be used to express a range of emotions including anxiety and even joy.

These behaviours can be used to express a desire for 'sameness and order', the NHS doctor said.

Recent studies have revealed that autistic people tend to have a greater 'perceptual capacity', than neurotypical individuals, which often makes them better able to take in more information (Dr Claire interviewed a number of people diagnosed with autism)

This can also develop into an 'intense interest', which manifests differently to just a typical passion or hobby for a non-autistic individual.

The differences lies in the fact that passion for a non-autistic person 'is almost always enjoyable', whereas an intense interest can become 'almost necessary rather than optional'.

Autism can be diagnosed at any age, with interviewees having received diagnoses for the condition from as young as four and as old as 35.

'You are autistic from birth. But experts can only diagnose you with the condition once they have looked at your behaviour over a long period of time,' Claire clarified, adding that this means most diagnoses will happen after the age of two.

During the documentary, Claire said she had seen 'more and more young people coming for that same thing - and that's an autism assessment'.

'Autism is not an illness like many would go to your GP for. It is a condition with a huge spectrum that covers a diverse range of people in different ways - so it's not always easy to spot the signs.'

Diagnosis can take several months, and most GPs are not qualified to make one alone - though they can make a pre-assessment.

Doctor Claire pointed out that not everyone who expresses autistic traits have the condition

'This group are very different to what I was taught about autistic people at medical school 20 years ago,' she said.

For example, it was previously thought that the majority of diagnosed autistic people were men - while more recent data suggests this is not the case.

'It's not understood that women's autistic traits represent differently,' Claire said.

Speaking to one autistic woman, she explained that women 'may be able to make more non verbal queues' such as eye-contact, and tend to be better as 'masking'.

'It's exhausting because you're basically putting on a presentation that isn't a natural manifestation of yourself - it can lead to serious mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, as well as burn out.'

However, it's not just women who 'mask'. One interviewee, games specialist Barrington, explained that he had been masking for several years 'without realising'.

While some know from a young age that they are are 'different', others have lived with their symptoms for several decades before receiving a diagnosis.

Doctor Claire pointed out that not everyone who expresses autistic traits have the condition.

'It's only when these traits manifest diagnostically that a person is autistic.'
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Well-known Danish brand Lurpak has been defeated by three own-label spreadable butters in a blind taste test.

A new study by consumer champion Which? revealed the UK's best spreadable butter, with budget supermarket Aldi's offering coming out on top.

A panel of 67 people rated eight supermarket spreadables from Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, M&S, Ocado, Tesco and Waitrose alongside premium brand Lurpak.

With a score of 75 per cent, Aldi's Nordpak, praised by tasters for its creaminess, colour and well-rounded flavour, was the ultimate winner.

Priced at 2.18 for 500g, Nordpak was also one of the cheapest spreadable butters, which earnt it a Great Value endorsement from Which? in addition to a sought after Best Buy award.

Second place went to M&S Lightly Salted Butter Blend, which received a final score of 74 per cent and also won a Best Buy award.

Not only did M&S's product receive high scores for flavour and texture, it was also found to have the highest proportion of butter of all the spreads.

Yet, while it was cheaper than Lurpak at 2.30 for 250g, M&S's spread was almost double the cost per 100g of Aldi's Nordpak.

In third place, also scoring higher than Lurpak, was Morrisons Salter Spreadable (73 per cent).

Morrisons' win over the Danish brand wasn't quite as dramatic as Aldi's or M&S's but, priced at 1.97 for 450g, it was half the cost of Lurpak.

Its good value along with its high score for texture made Morrisons' spreadable a solid runner up.

Fans of Lurpak may be surprised to learn that it ranked fourth with a score of 72 per cent - but it was still recognised for its appearance, flavour and texture.

Yet, at 4.75 for 400g (1.19 per 100g), it was more than 60 per cent more costly gram for gram than Aldi's version.

Spreadables from Asda, Lidl and Ocado scored relatively well, with the latter, which scored 70 per cent, admired for its appearance, flavour and creaminess.

The Lidl Danpak Spreadable Slightly Salted (66 per cent) fell down on aroma and strength of flavour while the Asda Spreadable Slightly Salted (69 per cent) lost points for texture.

Next came versions from Tesco (64 per cent) and Waitrose (59 per cent), with Waitrose's spreadable receiving the lowest score due to its lack of flavour and creaminess.

Natalie Hitchins, Head of home products and services at Which?, said: A spreadable butter that can be used straight out of the fridge and without making a mess of your bread can save time and stress.

Weve churned through offerings from the main supermarkets and found Aldis Nordpak is not only the tastiest tub on test, but also less than half the price of its branded counterpart.
An 11-year-old girl was hospitalized with severe third-degree burns after attempting to make a viral treat at home.

Kathryn Nichols, from Ventura County, California, was seriously injured while attempting to cook Tanghulu  a candied fruit snack she had seen on social media.

But the fun kitchen experiment soon turned into a nightmare when she accidentally spilled scalding hot sugar syrup all over her arm.

The cup shattered and the liquid poured down her arm, causing deep and severe third-degree burns.

Mom Jaime says she was in the garage when she heard an 'animalistic howl' coming from the kitchen.

She is now sharing her horror story to warn other parents about the dangers of children following food trends seen online.

Kathryn has undergone various surgeries and has many more ahead, with the family's medical bills rising.

'I honestly didn't know what it [the sound] was [at first],' 45-year-old Jamie said of the incident.

Kathryn Nichols, 11, was seriously injured while attempting to cook Tanghulu - a sugar-coated fruit snack and social media trend

The cup shattered and the liquid poured down her arm, causing deep and severe third-degree burns

'It sounded like there was an animal in the kitchen. It was such a horrific scream.

'I don't know how I even had the strength to deal with it. It was terrifying.

'After Kathryn poured the liquid on herself, she threw the glass  and because it was so hot, it shattered into a thousand pieces on the kitchen floor.'

The mom says she regrets letting her daughter attempt the viral treat in the first place.

She said: 'She had seen something on TikTok and YouTube like they all do.

'I'm a nurse so I'm really careful.

'I let her older sister make the same things a few weeks prior, but to be honest, I didn't know what was involved.

'She asked me and I said no, but I felt bad as she was the little sister.'

Kathryn spent 10 days in the hospital where she underwent multiple surgeries

Jaime immediately put her daughter's arm under cold water and later put her in a cold bath.

Once her child was out of immediate danger, she reached out to plastic surgeon bosses at the hospital where she works.

They told her to go and see them first thing in the morning and to keep Kathryn's arm wrapped up overnight.

She said: 'There wasn't much we could do that night.

'She wasn't in a lot of pain  you don't have pain when a burn is that bad because the nerves have burned away.

'We went to [the] hospital the next morning and we were immediately sent off to a burn center to see a world-renowned plastic surgeon.'

Kathryn spent 10 days in the hospital where she underwent multiple surgeries.

The first doctors they saw cut away dead tissue from her arm before undergoing a skin graft from her thigh to repair the damage.

Her medical expenses are expected to reach an eye-watering $60,000 by the end of this year

The first doctors they saw cut away dead tissue from her arm before undergoing a skin graft from her thigh to repair the damage

The youngster was out of school for a month while recovering.

Since the accident in 2024, Kathryn has had five surgeries and needs ongoing steroid injections and laser treatments to manage scarring and prevent further damage.

Her medical expenses are expected to reach an eye-watering $60,000 by the end of this year.

While the family has insurance, mom-of-three Jaime says it won't cover everything  meaning they will have to pay around $32,000 out of pocket.

Friends have since set up a GoFundMe appeal to help the family through this financially difficult time.

The mom said: 'Some things aren't covered. The laser surgery in January this year, compression garments, etc.

'[The doctor] thinks she needs around three to four more laser treatments, so that's $32,000.'

Although Kathryn is recovering well, the main concern is that scarring may limit the movement of her arm.

Jaime said: 'She has more surgeries in her future.

'Every couple of months, she needs to have steroid injections and laser treatments.

'We're trying to make it look as good as possible and keep it from being a physical hindrance.

'The biggest concern is keeping it from contracting so she has [a] full range of motion.

'Luckily, she's done really well  she's a really resilient kid to say the least.

'She's such a light. Everyone at that hospital loved her.

'It's horrible that this happened but at some point, hopefully, it's going be, "When I was a kid, I was burned," and it won't be her entire life like it is right now.

Kathryn has undergone many surgeries and has many more ahead, with the family's medical bills rising

'I tell her people are going ask her for the rest of her life, "Wow, what happened to your arm?"

'So we want to do everything we can to make it the best result right now  but not torture her with unnecessary surgery if she doesn't care and doesn't want it.'

Jaime says if she could go back in time, she would never have let Kathryn try out the trend.

She said: 'I would say "Absolutely not." I wish I had done my research and known what it was. I might have let her do it but I would have 100 percent supervised more.

'I would have been standing right next to her. We're the PSA for people for people not to [try it at home].

'It's my fault. They see things on the internet. I wish I had stuck to my guns and stuck to my "no."

'It's just one of those unfortunate things. It was just an accident.'
A glamorous DJ has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the running of a high-end prostitution ring.

Rebeka 'Beka' Episcopo, who is well known in the music industry, was arrested as part of a police operation called 'Last Massage.'

Episcopo is one of six people targeted as part of the sting.

Two others have also been remanded into custody, while the rest must sign in with the authorities at regular intervals.

Episcopo was arrested in Lisbon and is accused of leading a prostitution ring in Portugal.

The music star, who boasts more than 65,300 followers on Instagram, is originally from Dourados, Brazil, but has lived in Europe for more than 30 years.

In addition to DJing at events and radio stations, she is a producer, businesswoman, and international model, as per reports online.

Episcopo owns two branches of Nuru Spa in Lisbon and Cascais.

Glamorous DJ Rebeka 'Beka' Episcopo was arrested as part of a police operation called 'Last Massage'

The music star, who boasts more than 65,300 followers on Instagram, is originally from Dourados, Brazil

She is believed to have recruited women from Brazil, where detectives suspect the prostitution ring may also be operating, to work there.

Nuru Spa caters to a high-income clientele and advertises 'sensual care' and 'tantric massages' on its website.

In addition to pimping, detectives are investigating the suspects for social security fraud.

During the operation, officers seized around $117,378 in cash and bank checks totaling $11,000 from the group.

Three firearms, ammo, and pepper spray canisters were among the other items seized across 17 raids.

The two other suspects ordered into preventive custody are another Brazilian woman and a Portuguese man.

One of the suspects is reportedly a police officer on extended leave.

In March 2025, Saudi Arabia arrested more than 50 people including sex workers and foreign nationals as police crack down on 'immoral acts.'

During the operation, officers seized around $117,378 in cash and bank checks totaling $11,000 from the group

The Ministry of Interior arrested 11 women into custody on prostitution charges, the Financial Times reports.

The newly established community security unit also detained dozens of foreigners on alleged offences in massage parlours and for forcing women and children into begging.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the creation of the new police unit to tackle 'community security and human trafficking'.

Analysts allege the community security unit was formed in response to 'notable increased activity' related to sex and other alleged issues of morality.
The King and Queen joked about ageing and said they enjoyed any excuse be in Italy as they attended a lively reception for the British-Italian community in Rome this evening.

Charles, 76, and Camilla, 77, met people from business, industry, recipients of honours, realm ambassadors, U.N. diplomats and representatives from the arts and culture, military and defence, and education and youth sectors over drinks in the garden of Villa Wolkonsky, the British ambassadors residence, which the government bought in 1951.

Ambassador Lord Llewellyn and his wife, Anne Charbord, hosted them for the evening, where they were also joined by foreign secretary David Lammy and his wife Nicola Green, and the UK ambassador to the Holy See, Chris Trott.

The reception began with the national anthem played by a brass band as Charles and Camilla, wearing a pretty green silk crepe Anna Valentine dress, stood at the top of steps leading down into the garden.

After the national anthem, they joined the 150 guests including William Blacker the author of Along the Enchanted Way: A Story of Love and Life in Romania. Blacker, who has known Charles for many years and shares his interest in Transylvania, was joined at the reception by his son, Valentin Palffy, 19, a student in Rome and aspiring actor who first met Charles during a visit to Bucharest when he was 11, and was photographed hugging him.

'It was wonderful and a miracle for me to see him again after all these years,' said Palffy. 'Ive always found him an inspiring character since meeting him all those years ago.'

Another guest told Charles: 'I first met you in Brussels many years ago, we both had brown hair then,' to which Charles jokingly replied, pointing to his white hair: 'Didnt we all.'

Lord Llewellyn also introduced the King to some of the embassy staff who have been working on the royal visit. He told them: 'Im so sorry you had to be put to all this effort, but thank you.'

The King and Queen were in high spirits as they enjoyed a glitzy evening reception, after arriving in Italy for their four-day visit last night

Charles appeared to be in high spirits as he chatted with guests during the reception at the villa

Camilla and Charles grinned as they mingled with members of the British community in the Mediterranean nation, hosted at the stunning Villa Wolkonsky, where the royal couple are staying, in Rome

The royal couple looked to be in high spirits as they enjoyed a glitzy evening reception, after arriving in Italy for their four-day visit last night.

Camilla added a pop of colour in a bright green dress - accessorising with a stunning brooch that once belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

She and Charles grinned as they mingled with members of the British community in the Mediterranean nation, hosted at the stunning Villa Wolkonsky, where the royal couple are staying, in Rome.

The monarch, meanwhile, opted for a casual yet elegant blue pinstripe suit, perfect for the warm evening.

Appearing to pay homage to her mother-in-law, Camillla pinned a diamond-set Celtic knot design surrounding a cabochon emerald, a royal heirloom dating back centuries.

The brooch belonged to Queen Mary of Teck after it was given to her as a wedding gift from Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in 1893, when she married the future King George V.

The King and Queen joked about ageing and said they enjoyed any excuse be in Italy as they attended a lively reception for the British-Italian community in Rome this evening

Charles and Camilla met people from business, industry, recipients of honours, realm ambassadors, U.N. diplomats and representatives from the arts and culture, military and defence, and education and youth sectors over drinks

The King appeared gleeful as he chatted with distinguished guests across a series of industries

The royals appeared to enjoy the last of the sunlight in the evening, during their reception on Tuesday

The King grinned and shook hands with other attendees, as he and Camilla enjoyed their second day in Italy

Ambassador Lord Llewellyn and his wife, Anne Charbord, hosted them for the evening, where they were also joined by foreign secretary David Lammy and his wife Nicola Green (both pictured) and the UK ambassador to the Holy See, Chris Trott

The monarch seemed to be in high sprits as he chuckled and grinned during conversations at the reception

King Charles looked to be very animated as he met with guests at Villa Wolkonsky in Rome this evening

The royal met with members of the British community in Italy at the evening reception, hosted at the gala

The sunny weather shone down as the King and Queen mingled with guests during the reception

The King and Queen enjoyed a glitzy reception during their trip to Italy this evening - after a day packed with activities

Camilla, 77, added a pop of colour in a bright green dress - accessorising with a stunning brooch that once belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth II

The monarch, meanwhile, opted for a casual yet elegant blue pinstripe suit, perfect for the warm evening

The King and Queen listened to the band of the Welsh Guards at Villa Wolkonsky during tonight's reception

It made another public appearance the following year, as the late monarch wore it for an audience with the Secretary General of the United Nationals in Malta in November 2015.

She even wore it in one of her final public appearances in July 2022, when she bestowed the George Cross on the NHS.

It comes following a day packed with activity, as the King and Queen were formally welcomed to Italy this morning with full pomp and ceremony - and a stunning city-wide flypast in the capital.

Their Majesties received a ceremonial welcome at the Quirinale Palace from the President of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Signor Sergio Mattarella.

He was accompanied by his daughter, Signora Laura Mattarella, who acts as the windowed presidents First Lady.

Charles and Camilla were escorted by mounted Quirinale (Corazzieri) Guards as they arrived for the first major event of their historic four-day state visit, their first as King and Queen.

The British and Italian National Anthems were played as the Union Jack flag was raised on the turret of the iconic palazzo.

President Mattarella, 83, then invited His Majesty to inspect the Guard of Honour in the courtyard, consisting of the Quirinale Band, Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri and mounted Corazzieri Guards. Her Majesty remained chatting with Signora Mattarella, 58.

The King and Queen (pictured) were formally welcomed to Italy this morning with full pomp and ceremony - and a stunning city-wide flypast in Rome

King Charles III, Queen Camilla, President of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Signor Sergio Mattarella and the President's daughter, Signora Laura Mattarella view a flypast

Their Majesties received a ceremonial welcome at the Quirinale Palace from the President of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Signor Sergio Mattarella

At the end of the courtyard, The King and President Mattarella, rejoined by Her Majesty and Signora Laura, proceeded into the Palace and onto the terrace to view a stunning flypast of the Frecce Tricolori and Red Arrows in a show of bilateral defence unity, a key theme of the visit.

The Frecce Tricolori issued red, white and green smoke, while the Red Arrows emitted red, white and blue smoke.

Following the flypast, the King and Queen returned inside the palace, escorted by President Mattarella and Signora Laura, where Their Majesties and the President presented their official delegations.

This included Foreign Secretary David Lammy and His Majestys Ambassador to the Republic of Italy and San Marino, The Baron Llewellyn of Steep.

The President then presented the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Italian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Inigo Lamberini, Secretary General of the Quirinale, Ugo Zampetti and Diplomatic Counsellor to the President, Ambassador Fabio Cassese.

'We are very lucky to have him,' the King said of Mr Lambertini, the Italian ambassador to the UK whom he has met previously.

The King and the President then posed for a photograph in front of the flags of both countries before a private meeting with the Queen and Laura in the President's study, known as the Sala dei Colloqui.

Speaking through an interpreter, Charles told his host: 'This is my 18th visit here.' 'And I remember having you here at the Quirinale before on your visits to Rome,' replied the President.

President Mattarella (pictured right), 83, then invited His Majesty to inspect the Guard of Honour in the courtyard, consisting of the Quirinale Band, Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri and mounted Corazzieri Guards

Queen Camilla smiles as she attends the ceremonial welcome ceremony at the Quirinale Palace

President Mattarella (pictured right with King Charles) is the twelfth President of the Italian Republic. He was first elected in January 2015 and again, unusually, in January 2022

Charles and Camilla (pictured left, today) are due to undertake a busy programme of 19 engagements over four days, flying the flag for Britain abroad and highlighting key issues including defence cooperation, trade and culture

After around 20 minutes of private conversation, the President presented honours to the royal couple.

The King received the Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit and presented the President with the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.

'It goes back quite a long way,' said the monarch. 'It's just a token really of our appreciation, you've served for so long.' 'I'm humbled, your Majesty,' he replied.

Signora Laura and Camilla then departed to view a selection of antique books on horsemanship in the Biblioteca del Piffetti and tour the State Rooms of the 16th Century palace, where they chatted to staff preparing for tomorrow's State Banquet and carrying out repairs on tapestries and furniture.

The President and his daughter and the King and Queen were reunited to say their farewells in the Palace's Sala del Bronzino, which is hung with magnificent tapestries designed by the Florentine artist Bronzino.

Queen Camilla was wearing a blue silk crepe dress and coat by Fiona Clare as well as a diamond and sapphire brooch that originally belonged to Queen Victoria for the outing.

Palermo-born Sergio Mattarella is Italy's longest-serving President. He was first elected in January 2015 and again in January 2022.

He lost his wife Marisa to cancer in 2012 and since becoming President, has been accompanied by his daughter, known as Signora Laura, at official events.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla pose in front of the Colosseum in Rome

Charles and Camilla are due to undertake a busy programme of 19 engagements over four days, flying the flag for Britain abroad and highlighting key issues including defence cooperation, trade and culture.

Meanwhile, no trip to Rome would be complete without a visit to the Colosseum, one of the seven wonders of the world.

Which is why, even on a busy day, the King and Queen went to view the iconic amphitheatre, Camilla marvelling at the breath-taking sight of one of the Roman worlds most famous surviving structures.

Although the timing of their visit had not been publicised in advance, huge crowds gathered, cheering, with school children excitedly shouting Hes coming, thats the King! as they spotted the police convoy make its way into the grounds of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum.

As they stepped out of the State Bentley, which has been brought to Italy for the duration of the four-day state visit, King Charles, 76, turned to wave to the flag-waving crowds.

The royal couple were received by the Minister of Culture Mr Alessandro Giuli and Director of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, Ms Alfonsina Russo but they quickly made a beeline for the hundreds of people gathered to see them.

As they spent 10 minutes shaking hands with the public, which included dozens of pupils from nearby schools, the bands of the Welsh Guards and the Sassari Brigade Band played a series of tunes - including the theme song from the film Gladiator, set during the Roman Empire and featuring spectacular fight scenes at the Colosseum.

The joint musical initiative had been designed to highlight close military and defence links between Britain and Italy, one of the key themes of the visit.

Ahead of their arrival, Imogen Brown, 12 and Nancy Douglas, 12, from St Georges British International School said they were really excited to see the King and Queen,

We only found who we would be meeting this morning, Nancy said. They told us yesterday that we were meeting someone special and this morning on the bus our teachers told us it was the King and Queen.

Imogen added: I was really shocked that he [the King] wanted to see us and go to the Colosseum.

Accompanied by a large entourage that included Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the King and Queen then proceeded up the stairs to the Colosseum viewing platform, on the edge of the Temple of Venus and Rome - the largest and most splendid of Rome's temples, designed by Hadrian.

They turned to wave to the huge crowd below before posing for photographs in front of the elliptical amphitheatre that was stood in the heart of Rome for nearly 2,000 years.

Speaking moments later with a group of archaeologists, the Queen remarked: The views are beautiful, beautiful.

Dr Barbara Nazzaro, the Architect of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, then discussed the restoration works that they have been doing in the park, which currently centres on the underground passages on the arena floor.

The pair then met representatives from Rome-based community organisations including MO.D.A.V.I., an association founded in the city in 1996 to address the problem of drug addiction; Peter Pan Odv, an Italian non-profit organisation that provides accommodation and a range of free services to families that come to Rome from across Italy and from abroad to access cancer treatment for children and Differenza Donna, an Italian N.G.O.s supporting women who are victims of domestic violence and of human trafficking.

Popular Italian TV presenter and historian Alberto Angela was then introduced to the King and Queen, who explained more about Romes history and restoration while overlooking the Roman Forum, ruins of important ancient government buildings located a stones throw away from the Colosseum.

Still today, it looks impressive, the King and Queen were told, as they both nodded in agreement and marvelled at the archaeological site below.

They listened intently as Mr Angela explained how the once bustling heart of ancient Rome was largely destroyed by a major earthquake in the 9th century that cause significant damage to the buildings.

Before they were ushered towards the waiting convoy of vehicles by their security team, the King told Mr Angela that the restoration work that has been carried out was brilliant, while the Queen said: It was lovely to be able to see this today.

The Colosseum Archaeological Park is one of the most-visited sites in the world and includes the iconic Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill, the Arch of Constantine with the Meta Sudans and the Domus Aurea.
Netflix users have been left in shock after a new trailer for an upcoming documentary series exposing kidfluencing claims a mom appeared to try and send her child's used underwear online.

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing premieres on the streamer on Wednesday, April 9, and is set to lay bare disturbing stories of alleged exploitation, cult-like manipulation, and abuse at the hands of disgraced momager Tiffany Smith, who described herself as 'Madame of YouTube.'

The three-part investigative docuseries peels back the curtain on the former child influencer and YouTuber Piper Rockelle and her friends, known collectively as The Squad.

Together, The Squad made millions of dollars by making video content of their elaborate staged pranks and general merriment around Los Angeles.

Piper's success on YouTube was engineered by her mother, Tiffany, who invited several aspiring child stars to join her daughter in front of the camera.

But as time went on, several members of The Squad - and their parents - began to feel that something was seriously wrong.

In a chilling new teaser for the series, influencer Corinne Areeco, now 17, revealed how she was once with Tiffany when she went to mail out Piper's used underwear. Tiffany has publicly denied the allegations.

A new Netflix docuseries is set to lay bare disturbing stories of alleged exploitation, cult-like manipulation, and abuse at the hands of disgraced momager Tiffany Smith (pictured)

Tiffany is the mother of YouTuber and influencer Piper Rockeller (pictured)

Recalling the incident, Corinne said: 'Piper had an acting lesson, or voice lesson, and after we dropped Piper off, Tiffany was like "I have to go to the post office and drop off some things."

'She had a bag, and she pulled out what looked like Piper's underwear, and I asked her, "Why are you shipping those out?"

'And she told me that old men like to sniff them. I was confused. I was like, what is she talking about?'

Corinne's mom Steevy Areeco also recounted the chilling situation.

She recalled: 'Corinne came home and asked me why old men liked to smell underwear.'

Steevy went on to claim that she confronted Tiffany, but she was immediately shut down and told 'stop being so dramatic.'

Social media users have been left feeling unease following the clip's release.

Taking to social media, one wrote: 'This is why you don't put kids on camera for exploitation. It's no one's fault but the parents/guardians. Be better parents.'

Influencer Corinne Areeco claimed how she was once with Tiffany when she went to mail out Piper's used underwear

Recalling the incident in Netflix's upcoming documentary, Corinne said: 'She had a bag, and she pulled out what looked like Piper's underwear, and I asked her, "Why are you shipping those out?"'

Corinne's mom Steevy Areeco also recounted the chilling situation, claiming that she confronted Tiffany afterwards

'Definitely tuning in, exposing the ugly side of fame,' said another.

A third posted: 'Solely based on the subject, this should be mandatory viewing.'

'I knew it,' declared a fourth. 'More will come out of this. That's why I banned my kids from watching YouTube.'

In October 2024, Tiffany settled a lawsuit filed by 11 teenagers who accused her of sexually abusing them, agreeing to a confidential settlement with the children.

Tiffany publicly denied the allegations.

In the lawsuit, Tiffany was accused of rubbing one of the girls' exposed thighs and 'moving her hand toward her vagina, constantly spanking her buttocks and sticking her finger/poking her anus over clothing.'

That same alleged victim, identified as Claire Rocksmith, claimed in the lawsuit that Tiffany would comment on how 'big' her breasts looked and attempt to squeeze them, and that on one occasion she tried to spit in the girl's mouth.

Eleven teens from the 'Piper Squad' sued Tiffany in January 2022

A separate complainant alleged that she joined Tiffany at the post office on one occasion when she was shipping Piper's 'soiled training bras and panties to an unknown individual.'

Tiffany reportedly told the child 'old men like to sniff this stuff,' according to the lawsuit.

Sawyer Sharbino, Donlad Dougher, Corrine Joy, Connor Cain, Symonne Harrison, Ayden Mekus, Hayden Haas, Walker Bryant, Sophia Fergi, Claire Rocksmith, and Reese Rocksmith were all listed on the initial complaint.

According to the complaint, Tiffany would also assume an alter-ego as 'Frank the Pug' or 'Lenny the Dead Cat' and shout out explicit phrases to the children.

'I'm going to f**k you up the a**,' and 'I'm going to touch you in your sleep' were both listed in the complaint as phrases used by Tiffany's 'alter-ego.'

Dhillon Law Group partner and lead attorney Matt Sarelson said he wanted to 'publicly commend these 11 kids' in a statement announcing Tiffany had settled.

'They're smart and brave. What they went through was grotesque. I look forward to watching them thrive as young adults.'

The children were initially each seeking $2million in compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages.

It is not yet clear what the final agreed figure was.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex went on tour to crime-riddled Colombia last year as well as visiting Nigeria, where the murder rate is ten times that in England.

Yet the former Household Cavalry officer felt the risk level was too high for his friend's London wedding.

That is, I am told, the official explanation for Prince Harry's absence when Charles Vivian and Saweda Kamara exchanged vows in Chelsea at the weekend.

Yesterday, I disclosed that Harry had failed to attend the marriage ceremony for Lord Vivian, who was in the 'band of brothers' photograph at the Sussexes' wedding in Windsor.

A source close to the duke has since got in touch to say 'the main reason' for his absence was that 'security wasn't provided for the visit, which makes attending events or moving around the UK very challenging'.

Harry was, though, able to attend the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday for the Court of Appeal hearing into the Home Office's decision to strip him of taxpayer-funded security when he returns to these shores.

Prince Harry had failed to attend the marriage ceremony for Lord Vivian, pictured, who was in the 'band of brothers' photograph at the Sussexes' wedding in Windsor

Harry and his 'band of brothers' at Windsor castle on the night of his own wedding

Harry was, though, able to attend the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday for the Court of Appeal hearing into the Home Office's decision to strip him of taxpayer-funded security when he returns to these shores

Lord Vivian had confirmed that Harry was invited. When asked why the duke didn't attend, he told me: 'I don't know. He has a lot on.'

Among the guests was the man sometimes known as Harry's 'second father', Mark Dyer, 59, a former Welsh Guards officer.

Dyer introduced Harry to Lord Vivian, who's a major player in the public relations world and reportedly helped the prince set up several of his charity trips to Africa.

The duke's absence in Chelsea was particularly notable because he was an usher at Vivian's first wedding to Elizabeth Wimpress.

Lord Vivian's was not the first wedding of one of the 'band of brothers' he missed. In 2023, I revealed Harry skipped Jack Mann's nuptials in Suffolk.

Dyer is still close to Harry. Last month I disclosed that he and others had quit as trustees of Harry's charity Sentebale, prompting the duke to resign in solidarity. It followed a dispute with chairman Sophie Chandauka.
Thousands of men with prostate cancer are being left at increased risk of early death due to a scandalous postcode lottery.

To maximise survival chances, the NHS should diagnose the disease and start treatment within 62 days of a patient being referred by a doctor.

But hospitals in England met this target in only 67 per cent of cases in January, the latest month for which figures are available.

While some NHS trusts diagnosed and treated every prostate cancer patient on time, others failed to meet the target on a single occasion. NHS England says trusts should achieve the target 85 per cent of the time.

But 96 trusts failed to do this in January, according to official data. One hit it and 23 exceeded it.

This means 1,559 men started their first treatment late in one month alone, heightening their anxiety and potentially giving their tumour time to spread.

Of particular concern, 435 waited more than 104 days (almost four months)  the threshold that is supposed to trigger a clinical review.

Nine high-performing trusts achieved a rate of 95 per cent or higher, while eight trusts reported a rate of 33 per cent or lower.

Thousands of men with prostate cancer are being left at increased risk of early death due to a scandalous postcode lottery. Pictured: File photo

To maximise survival chances, the NHS should diagnose the disease and start treatment within 62 days of a patient being referred by a doctor. Pictured: The Mail's campaign to end needless prostate deaths

The revelations come a day after a poll showed 94 per cent of GPs back the Mail's campaign to introduce urgently a prostate cancer screening programme, initially targeted at high-risk men.

David James, from Prostate Cancer Research which wants screening from the age of 45, said: 'The postcode lottery in diagnosis and care is unacceptable.

'With cases on the rise, it's deeply concerning that too many patients are waiting longer than the 62-day standard to be diagnosed and begin treatment.

'Resources simply aren't keeping pace with demand. We urgently need targeted investment in the workforce  especially specialist nurses  and in smarter, more efficient systems. That means embracing innovative technologies like AI-assisted MRI and automated triaging tools to speed up the diagnostic pathway and ensure every man receives timely, high-quality care, no matter where he lives.'

Chiara De Biase, from Prostate Cancer UK which also supports the Mail's campaign, said: 'This situation is deeply distressing for men and their loved ones and is further evidence of the postcode lottery impacting men with prostate cancer. We know that if you're black or from a working class area, you're more likely to get an incurable prostate cancer diagnosis and less likely to get the best treatments on the NHS.

'We're reaching breaking point, and it needs to be stopped now.'

Prostate Cancer Research suggests a screening scheme would lead to an extra 775 cases being diagnosed early each year among men aged 45 to 69 who are black, have a family history of the disease or have a genetic mutation.

Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed form of cancer in England with 55,033 cases identified in 2023 and around 10,200 dying each year. A biopsy can help determine whether a tumour is aggressive and fast-growing or mild and growing so slowly that it is unlikely to pose a risk to life.

Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed form of cancer in England with 55,033 cases identified in 2023 and around 10,200 dying each year. Pictured: File photo

Men with slow-growing tumours may never need surgery and can often be monitored through regular check-ups.

A Department for Health spokesman said: 'It is unacceptable prostate cancer patients are waiting too long for diagnosis and treatment. Our National Cancer Plan will transform cancer care, making the UK a world leader in cancer survival by fighting the disease on all fronts.'

An NHS England spokesman said: 'Some people are waiting too long and there is more to do to ensure all patients receive high-quality and timely care.'
Health chiefs have issued an alert after a fresh case of a killer strain of mpox has been detected in Britain.

It is the first UK patient with the deadly virus to have contracted it within the country, rather than abroad.

Virus experts have warned that this is likely to mean mpox is spreading within local communities.

The strain, called clade 1b, has been named 'the most dangerous one so far' by experts, as it kills one in ten of those infected and is believed to be behind a wave of miscarriages.

The latest patient is from the North East of England and was diagnosed in March, according to the alert by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

The Government added that the overall risk to the population remains 'low', as Clade Ia and Ib mpox are no longer classified as a high consequence infectious disease.

All previous cases in the UK to date have either travelled to an affected country or have a link to someone that has.

In January, the UKHSA announced the seventh case of the deadly strain had been detected in the UK.

Officials don't yet know how they became infected with the strain. But they had 'recently' travelled back to the UK from Uganda, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said

Officials don't yet know how they became infected with the strain.

But they had 'recently' travelled back to the UK from Uganda, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

The UK's first case of clade 1b was detected after the unidentified patient developed flu-like symptoms, followed by a rash and attended A&E on October 27 where they were tested.

They were then transferred to a high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in North London  the same facility where imported cases of Ebola were treated in 2015.

In November, officials confirmed a further four patients were being treated at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with the strain.

In early January, a sixth case  which had no previous links to the other cases  was also detected in East Sussex.

They had also recently returned from Uganda and officials said they were now under specialist care at Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust.

A global outbreak of mpox, previously known as monkeypox, began in Africa in May 2022.

Cases of Clade 1b in the UK are a far cry from the 2022 outbreak where thousands of cases were recorded, mostly in London

But the latest clade 1b strain is considered far deadlier.

It has swept through central Africa killing at least 1,000 people, since the outbreak began.

However, experts say fatality rates of clade 1b from central Africa are unlikely to be replicated in developed nations like the UK due to better access to higher quality healthcare.

Mpox causes characteristic lumpy lesions, as well as a fever, aches and pains and fatigue.

However, in a small number of cases, it can enter the blood and lungs, as well as other parts of the body, when it becomes life-threatening.

Current mpox vaccines, which are designed to work on smallpox a close relative of the mpox virus, were used during the 2022 outbreak against the milder strain.

But they have yet to be widely tested and proven to be effective against the more potent clade 1b strain.

The WHO and the NHS recommends a vaccine within four days of contact with someone who has the virus or within up to 14 days if there are no symptoms.

Healthcare workers and men who have sex with men are advised to receive a vaccine even if they have had no mpox exposure.

There are no direct treatments available with medics focused instead on supporting a patient to help their body fight off the virus.
A terrified mother has warned of the dangers of e-cigarettes after her daughter developed a deadly, life-long lung condition linked to vaping.

Brianne Cullen, 17, began using disposable vapes 'in secret' aged 14 to 'ease anxiety' triggered by the return to school post Covid lockdown.

But one afternoon four months a go, the keen cheerleader from Nevada, the US, called home out of panic - she was struggling to breathe.

Her mother, Christie Martin, rushed Brianne to a local emergency department where tests revealed she was suffering devastating bronchiolitis obliterans - better known as 'popcorn lung'.

The condition is a rare type of lung disease, triggered by inflammation in bronchioles  the smallest airways in the lungs  which become scarred.

Steroids and an inhaler can reduce inflammation and help with breathing, but in severe cases, a lung transplant may be required.

Sufferers require life-long care to manage their symptoms and are advised to avoid air pollution, cigarette smoke and people who are unwell, who could pass on infections.

Recalling the ordeal, the estate agent said: 'She called me all of a sudden and said she couldn't catch her breath.

Brianne Cullen was rushed to hospital after she struggled to breathe during cheerleading practice

'She kept saying "I can't breathe", it was the scariest thing.'

Once they arrived at the hospital, and multiple scans were performed, the doctor told the pair the results had triggered a 'very serious' conversation.

'I didn't expect the news she gave me, that it was popcorn lungs that's permanent and children are dying from it,' she said.

'They told me she should be able to make a full recovery because we caught it so early, but it can also cause problems like cancer in the future.

'Smoking takes years to show its effect and your lungs can heal from it, but popcorn lung is irreversible.'

Doctors gave Brianne - who puffed on a $25 (19) disposable vape daily for three years - an inhaler to help with her breathing.

But other than stopping vaping, there is little else medics can do.

'We don't know the status of her lungs now,' said Ms Martin. 'We still don't know if there will be long term effects.'

The 17 year-old vaped in secret for three years - her mother had no idea of the habit

The cheerleader has been left with a permanent condition that may result in her needing a transplant in the future

Scientists have suggested there may be a possible link between 'popcorn lung' and a chemical found in some vapes called diacetyl. However, further research is required.

Some liquids in e-cigarettes used to contain diacetyl, but in the UK the chemical was banned in e-cigarette liquids under the EU Tobacco Products Directive in 2016.

The ingredient can still be found in e-cigarettes sold in the US.

As well toxic chemicals, infections and autoimmune diseases can also cause popcorn lung. It is unclear how many people suffer from the rare condition affects.

Tell-tale signs include coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, tiredness, fever, night sweats and a rash.

It was named after a group of popcorn factory workers in Missouri developed the condition after breathing in vapour from the butter flavouring added to the popcorn, which contained diacetyl.

Cancer Research UK says there have been no confirmed cases of popcorn lung reported in people who use e-cigarette, however.

Despite this, public health experts have become increasingly concerned that youngsters who have never smoked are using electronic cigarettes, or vapes.

Public health experts are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of vapes on young lungs

In a bid to stop young people getting hooked, disposable vapes  colourfully packaged devices that come in candy-like flavours and contain addictive nicotine  will be banned in the UK from June, the Government announced in October.

Multiple shocking cases have emerged of collapsed lungs, fainting or vomiting ominous green liquid among, liked to heavy vaping.

And, disturbingly, there is evidence children as young as four are being hospitalised due to damage caused by vapes.

The latest data shows one in four children have tried the devices, while one in 10 use them regularly. Rates rise to as many as one in six among 16-to-17-year-olds.

Ms Martin is now on a mission to urge parents to work together to take vapes off the market.

'I would urge parents to spread awareness. This is meant to be a cautionary tale to not let your kids vape no matter what,' she said.

'They used to say cigarettes are healthy and now we know the truth, but we don't know the truth about vapes.

'Kids can walk straight into these smoking shops and buy them, it's a money grab.

'Yet, I would walk into her room all the time and I never saw her vaping. 'It took a deadly diagnosis for her to stop.'
Forest Whitaker has only taken about 10 holidays in his life.

Forest Whitaker has only taken about 10 holidays in his life

The 63-year-old actor is renowned for his workaholic approach to his craft, and he opened up about his monastic existence as he prepares for the return of 'Andor' and season 4 of 'Godfather of Harlem'.

Speaking about his rare experiences with rest, he told Haute Living he has only taken about 10 vacations in my life.

Despite his extensive career, which spans decades and includes iconic roles in films like 'The Last King of Scotland' and 'Black Panther', Forest added he has always kept his rare holidays simple.

He recalled his three international trips  to Capri, Italy, India, and Cancun, Mexico  as the only overseas holidays hes experienced.

Forest admitted: Thats pretty much it, explaining most of his time off has been spent on road trips between California and Texas to visit family.

The trip to Cancun stands out in Forests memory as the greatest luxury I can imagine, he added. Reflecting on his lifestyle, he described himself as monk-like and hermit-like due to his deep commitment to work.

Forest also said hes often so obsessed and possessed by what Im doing that the nurturing part of Forest doesnt happen that often.

While he acknowledged the need for rest, he explained his busy schedule has left little room for relaxation.

Forest also said he would advise his younger self to enjoy life a little bit more.

He added: I was just obsessed with finding the core of the character and playing him to my fullest, no matter what the sacrifice. I would change that.

But the actor has no plans to slow down anytime soon.

He revealed he is ready to direct again, expressing interest in making something lighter  and possibly a comedy.

Forest said: I want to do something that brings people joy.

While hes not traveling the world for vacations, Forest practices daily meditation, which he said helps to centre himself.

The practice is also integrated into his nonprofit group, the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI), which operates in conflict zones around the world.

Forest added meditation is used to help centre those in the group, adding: If you cant centre yourself, you cant lead others.
When Michael Stone was hit by tightness in his left foot and sudden twitching in his early 20s, he blamed it on his waiter job.

But the actual cause was an incurable, life-wreckingand ultimately deadlycondition that gradually robs sufferers of their ability to move, talk and even eat.

Three years after that first warning shot, in February this year, the now 25-year-old from San Marcos in Texas was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)  the most common form of motor neurone disease.

ALS claimed the life of Sandra Bullock's partner Bryan Randall in 2023 and the acclaimed scientist Stephen Hawking famously suffered from it.

Now, in a series of Instagram reels, watched over 20,000 times, he has told of the early signs he suffered before his diagnosis.

The most noticeable was involuntary muscle twitchinga common phenomenon as you fall asleepbut often linked to stress and caffeine use.

The twitches can be subtle, strong enough to feel but unlikely to cause jerking or big, noticeable movements, and most commonly affect the eyelids, arms, hands, fingers, legs, and feet.

Mr Stone told his followers: 'I was a server serving at a restaurant in 2022 and the first thing I noticed was that my left foot just felt a little different. It was more like tightness.

Earlier this year in February 25-year-old Michael Stone from San Marcos in Texas , was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)  the most common form of MND

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'I was working a lot of 12 hour long shifts so I just thought that I needed to stay off my feet or I was on my feet too much.

'But right after that I noticed some twitching on top of my left foot and that was weird for me.

'Eventually that twitching spread up my leg to my calf, my left thigh, the left side of my body and my left arm.

'Then I had twitching everywhere, all over my body.'

In a separate video posted last month explaining what his diagnosis and ALS means, he added: 'For the past few years I've been dealing with a range of symptoms such as muscle weakness, muscle stiffness, twitching in my muscles.

'Over the last few months I was starting to notice that I was having some problems breathing, specifically when lying down.

'It's been a really scary journey, especially at the beginning when I was seeing a lot of doctors and a lot of specialists and nobody could figure out what was going on with me.

'I kept going to all these well-known doctors and they all kept saying the same thing like "well something is definitely going on, but I'm not the person that is going to be able to figure it out for you".

In a series of Instagram reels, watched over 20,000 times, he has told of the early warning signs he suffered before his diagnosis

ALS or 'locked-in' syndrome can lead to paralysis and eventually death. The acclaimed scientist Stephen Hawking famously suffered from it

'Then I would get shipped off to the next doctor. It was two and a half years of that.'

He said: 'ALS is usually diagnosed in people between the ages of 50 and 70. I'm 25.

'When my doctors first saw my symptoms they were completely stumped.

'After I ended up in a geneticist's office in Arizona, they found I have a very rare genetic mutation that is known to indirectly cause ALS and other types of neurodegenerative diseases through a process called glutamate excitotoxicity.'

This process occurs when excessive glutamatethe brain's main neurotransmitterallow high levels of calcium into neurons damaging and destroying them.

ALS is a rare condition that progressively damages parts of the nervous system.

Mr Stone said: 'Of course I'm scared, I'm terrified.

'Every time I think of my future and what is to come and what will happen to me, what's already happening to me, it terrifies me.

ALS also claimed the life of Sandra Bullock's partner Bryan Randall (pictured with Sandra in 2018) in 2023

Leeds Rhinos star Rob Burrow (pictured) died last year at the age of just 41 after a four-and-a-half-year battle with MND

This rare and incurable condition affects the brain and nerves, robbing sufferers of their ability to move, to eat and eventually breathe. Pictured, Rob Burrow in 2013

'But for me, it's not about what's on your plate. It's about what you do with your leftovers.

'I'm not going to let fear control my life and stop me from living because I still have so much life left to live.'

He added: 'If I give in to the fear I'm not going to be able to do that.

'That doesn't mean I don't let myself sit with these feelings and let myself mourn my situation, because I do.

'I've just learned tools that have helped me so much.'

Around 5,000 adults in the UK have MND and there is a one in 300 risk of developing the condition over the course of a person's life.

Life expectancy for about half of those with the condition is between just two and five years from the onset of symptoms. But these can worsen rapidly.

Some people may live for up to 10 years, and, in rarer circumstances, even longer.

Along with twitches, cramps and muscle weakness are among the early signs of the condition, along with slurred speech and weight loss.

There is no cure but doctors can provide treatments to help reduce the impact it has on a person's life.

The exact cause is largely unknown, but current research points towards a complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and possibly lifestyle factorsand it often hits seemingly fit and healthy people.

Last year, Leeds Rhinos star Rob Burrow, 41, died after a four-and-a-half-year battle with the condition.

Locked-in syndrome (LIS) is a rare neurological disorder that can also occur in some progressive cases of ALS.
A grief-stricken mother has told of doctors' multiple failings to spot the lethal bone cancer that killed her 'beautiful, kind and funny' daughter at just 19.

Jane Kelly, from Gateshead, said she was treated as a 'neurotic parent', with her teenagers' symptoms fobbed off as glandular fever and urine infections over the course of two years.

By the time her daughter Megan was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma - a rare type of cancer that usually begins in the bone - it had spread to her lungs and lymph nodes.

Doctors said there was just a 30 per cent chance she'd live more than five years. She survived just over a year.

The first sign something was wrong struck in September 2017, when Megan was 16.

'It began with a virus that lasted over three weeks, she could not shake it off,' said Ms Kelly.

'This was followed by virus after virus, along with constant urine infections. She missed so much school due to ill health that by Easter 2018, she was asked to leave.'

Doctors failed to find an underlying cause of the infections, instead telling her she was suffering common conditions like glandular fever - despite her chronic lack of energy.

Megan Kelly spent two years in and out of GP surgeries to understand the reason for her chronic symptoms

Megan's mother had survived blood cancer and found the delayed process of her daughter's diagnosis similar to her own

Ms Kelly said her 'gut feeling' was that 'something was seriously wrong.'

'I had fought my own battle with [blood cancer] Hodgkin lymphoma when I was 32,' she said. 'It had taken a year before I was correctly diagnosed, and I recognised much of my own experiences in what Megan was going through.

'But the rational side of me wanted to believe the doctors each time we were told she just had a virus.

'It was much harder to think that my teenage daughter could have cancer, and it was certainly not something I wanted to hear.'

By 2019, Megan was struck down with illness again - this time with dangerous hypothermia, a potentially life-threatening drop in body temperature.

'I remember saying to the doctor at the walk-in clinic that something needed to be done, that I feared there was something seriously wrong,' said Ms Kelly.

'But she just rolled her eyes and told me that parents could sometimes be neurotic when it came to their children.'

It wasn't until June that year that an astute GP performed an examination and detected what appeared to be a mass growing on Megan's kidney.

Despite being told she had less than a year to live, Megan was 'positive', telling her mother, 'I'm ready'

The doctor asked Ms Kelly to come to the surgery immediately, and informed them both that she suspected cancer.

A series of hospital tests subsequently revealed the devastating diagnosis of stage 4 soft cell Ewing sarcoma - which doctors said had probably developed two years prior.

'Her diagnosis was not a complete shock to me,' Ms Kelly said. 'Through the power of Google, I already suspected it.

'The worst thing for me was knowing that she would have to go through chemo. Having been through it myself years before, I knew how brutal it could be.

Megan 'listened to her diagnosis, had a cry, then stopped and said "so what are we going to do about it?".

'Of course, there were dark days, but by and large, she was very positive. She never felt sorry for herself.'

A 'brutal' regime of chemotherapy, on and off for nine months, coupled with a major operation to remove her cancer-stricken left kidney, seemed to keep the disease at bay.

In June 2020, she was told she was in remission.

By the time the disease was spotted, it was at stage four and had spread throughout her body

'We had always been told that she only really had one chance at treatment, and that if the cancer returned, there was nothing else that could be done,' Ms Kelly said.

'For the next couple of months, Megan was very hopeful. Despite the isolation we all faced due to Covid, she was happy. She was still incredibly thin, but her hair started to grow back and she was able to walk again.'

But the success of her treatment was short-lived. In August 2020, signs of a relapse were picked up on a routine scan.

'It was the worst news,' Ms Kelly said. 'Megans cancer was back and there was nothing else they could do for her. We were told she had a year to live.

'Incredibly, Megan did not even break a sweat.

'Despite promising myself that I would never cry in front of her, I broke down. But she just turned to me and said: You know what, mum, Im fine. Ive been thinking about this moment a lot and I am at peace with it. I am ready.'

The teenager was put on a low dose of chemo to keep the cancer at bay, but after a couple of weeks, she became more unwell.

'The doctor took me aside and told me it was not working and that Megan only had a few days left,' said Ms Kelly.

WHAT IS EWING'S SARCOMA? Ewing's Sarcoma is a cancer of the bone, which usually affects the ribs, pelvis and spine. In rare cases, it also occurs in the soft tissues. The condition affects less than 30 children a year in the UK. Around 225 young people are diagnosed annually in the US. Ewing's Sarcoma's cause is unclear but may relate to the timing of rapid bone growth. The most common symptom is pain, which is usually worse at night. Others may include: Swelling

Tenderness

Fever

Weight loss Treatment depends on the size and position of the tumor but usually involves chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. Amputation may be unavoidable if the cancer affects the surrounding blood vessels and nerves. However, this may be avoidable by replacing the bone with a prosthesis or a bone from elsewhere in the body. Source: Macmillan Advertisement

On 9 December 2020, Megan passed away at the family home.

Since her death the family have endeavoured to honour her attempts to raise funds for reseach into childrens' cancers, and have so far collected 26,000.

Much of this has been donated to The Institute of Cancer Research, which conducts game-changing clinical trials that can transform treatment for patients.

'Research into childhood cancer is underfunded compared to adults, because relatively few children are diagnosed with cancer compared to the adult population,' said Ms Kelly.

'We need to develop kinder, better treatments for children with cancer to be able to save more lives.

'My daughter had an incredible life ahead of her. She was articulate, beautiful, kind and funny  and I often wonder where she would be right now. I can only hope that she would be incredibly proud of what we are doing in her name.'
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, an avid Trump supporter and friend of the President, has launched an investigation into the food manufacturing behemoth Kelloggs for potentially violating state law.

Mr Paxton alleges that the companys healthy cereals are laden with petroleum-based food dyes that have been linked to hyperactivity and behavioral issues in children, obesity, hormone-related conditions, and cancer.

The company will be held accountable, Mr Paxton said, for unlawfully makes misrepresentations about its food and contributes to a broken health system that has made Americans less healthy.

Mr Paxtons investigation into the possible violations of the states consumer protection law aligns with the Trump Administrations Make America Healthy Initiative spearheaded by Robert F Kennedy Jr, a long-time crusader against the FDAs lax approach to regulating foods and the chemicals in them.

He has taken aim at Kelloggs Fruit Loops in the past, as well as other processed foods, saying that the dyes and additives used to make them are literally poisoning our kids.

Kelloggs pledged in 2015 to remove artificial flavors and colors from its cereals by 2018. The countrys largest cereal manufacturer added that it had already stopped using dyes in 75 percent of its cereals, with more than half of them being made without artificial flavors.

Yet, as Mr Paxton and other officials have pointed out, products like Froot Loops and Apple Jacks are made with Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, and Yellow 6  all of which are derived from petroleum.

Mr Paxton said: 'A critical part of fighting for our childrens future is putting an end to companies deceptive practices that are aimed at misleading parents and families about the health of food products.

Paxtons probe into alleged consumer protection violations mirrors Trump-era health initiatives aiming to do away with food dyes and their reported health effects

Kelloggs cereals contain types of blue, red, yellow, green, and orange food colorings.

Despite removing those unhealthy ingredients from products distributed in Canada and Europe, it has not done so in the United States, the AGs office said.

Under the states consumer protection laws, it's illegal for a company to misrepresent the quality, ingredients, or characteristics of a product.

If Kelloggs publicly claimed it would remove dyes and continued using them without clearly communicating that to consumers, that could be considered a misrepresentation.

Its public statement to remove dyes from all cereals could compel the state to treat it as an express warranty.

Under this concept, failing to deliver on that promise could constitute a breach, which is actionable under the law.

Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 contain benzidine, a human and animal carcinogen permitted in low, presumably safe levels in dyes.

According to the FDA, ingestion of free benzidine raises the cancer risk to just under the concern threshold, or one cancer in 1 million people.

Canadian researchers have also found Red 40, also known as Allura red, can hamper the guts ability to absorb nutrients, water, and electrolytes, increasing a person's risk of developing an inflammatory bowel disease.

They say this wearing down of the bodys defenses could make people more susceptible to ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease.

Blue 1 is found in candies like gummy bears. Both of these ingredients have been associated with hyperactivity and inattention in children.

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Several food dyes are banned or contain warning labels in Europe, where food and drug regulators have more oversight than the FDA.

Unlike European regulators, who proactively review ingredient lists and formulations before products reach store shelves, US regulators tend to take a more reactive approach.

State legislatures are increasingly approaching the issue of food dyes in a way that aligns with RFKs perspective.

Under Trump's Make American Health Again movement, food dyes have become public enemy number one

In California, Gov Gavin Newsom signed a landmark law that outlawed Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3 from the meals, drinks, and snacks served at schools statewide.

Several other states are working on similar legislation, including Virginia, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and New York, receiving bipartisan support.

The AG did not go into detail about this investigation and what it will entail, but a lawsuit going Mr Paxtons way is highly possible, given that several of the State Supreme Court judges have ruled in his favor in the past.

Paxton also frequently files cases in courts presided over by Trump-appointed judges.
For years, Dominique McShain dreamed of becoming a psychologist for troubled youth in her native New Zealand.

She was on track to achieve her goal, studying psychology in college, but in April 2024 she was diagnosed with incurable colon cancer that had spread to her liver.

At the time, she said doctors had given her between one and five years to live. But in a heartbreaking update on Tuesday, she said: I want to be direct with you all: this will be my final update on my cancer journey until I have passed away.

Ive recently been given a prognosis about five days ago of only a few days to a few weeks to live.

Her chemotherapy treatments, which she had undergone for seven months, had to stop immediately as her liver failed, leaving her skin and eyes yellow.

At this point, she said, Ive transitioned into end-of-life care, focusing on pain relief and managing side effects, with so much time spent in both the hospital and hospice facilities.

Her diagnosis at the age of 20, which came after months of fatigue, blood in her stool, and constipation, is just one amid a surge of early-onset colorectal cancer striking people under 50.

Rates of disease in people under 35 nearly doubled from 1990 to 2019, from 21,000 to 41,000, while deaths rose by 25 percent.

Dominique McShain, 21, was diagnosed last Spring with incurable colon cancer that had spread to her liver. She has since been given mere days to live

Ive been really numb to everything like I havent really been crying, she said in an emotional video update, the whites of her eyes tinged yellow.

McShain continued: 'Its crazy to think that I got given one to five years originally  I got diagnosed the 19th of April  and Im not even a year yet.'

It just feels so surreal how fast my cancer has taken over my body and how fast it grows.

Colon cancer begins in the inner lining of the colon and grows into the deeper levels of cells before breaching the colon wall and invading nearby blood vessels and the lymph system.

When cancer cells break off and enter the bloodstream, they enter the liver with the blood that drains from the colon. Once there, cells can escape immune detection and take hold in liver tissue.

Tumor cells steal nutrients meant for liver tissue, hijack immune cells, and begin to create durable shields around tumors to survive attacks.

At the start of last year, Dominique began experiencing bouts of diarrhea and constipation. Then she saw blood in her stool, a common symptom of cancer.

A 2024 review in JAMA analyzed 81 studies involving nearly 25 million young colorectal cancer patients under 50. The most frequent early warning sign was blood in the stool.

Dominique McShain dreamed of becoming a psychologist for troubled youth in her native New Zealand. Her life plans and goals, including to be a mother, have been cut short

Your browser does not support iframes.

Other common symptoms included stomach pain, anemia, and changes in bowel habit

McShain was always fatigued to the point where she was not taking in any of her professors lectures.

I'd have a normal night's sleep but then sleep another five to six hours every single day, she said.

She added: I also started to develop severe abdominal pain and I also lost my appetite like, severely. I was just not feeling well.

She waited three to four weeks before going to the doctor, fearing that if she went to the hospital before her symptoms got worse, doctors would be more likely to brush off her concerns, chalking it up to normal constipation that can be easily resolved with over-the-counter treatments.

Eventually, she underwent a blood test, and while her general markers were typical, ruling out myriad issues such as kidney disease or anemia, her liver blood samples showed abnormally high amounts of enzymes and proteins, indicating organ damage.

She had to rush to Christchurch Hospital for an ultrasound, which revealed several lumps in her colon.

McShain continued to feel unwell and ultimately had a biopsy, which confirmed that she had colon cancer and only a year to five left to live.

The above graph shows the increase in US colorectal cancers in men and women from 2000 through 2021, the most recent year in which trendline data is available

But the drastic cut to that life expectancy came after her liver began failing. She went into the hospital because doctors believed she had a build-up of fluid in her stomach. She couldnt walk or turn around and was in so much pain that she was in tears.

Doctors conducted an ultrasound to locate the pockets of fluid and found none.

She said days ago: Unfortunately, later in the afternoon, after the oncologists had some discussion, they basically worked out that all the stuff Im getting is caused by my cancer and liver failure and not anything to do with fluid. Which led them to tell me that I only have a few short days to a few short weeks to live.

I fought as hard as I could, truly,' she added. 'I find comfort in knowing I won't have to suffer everyday soon.'

Doctors and researchers have sounded the alarm in recent years about rising instances of colorectal cancer in people under 50.

In 2024, an American Cancer Society study found that colorectal cancer cases among adults under 55 increased from one in 10 in 1995 to one in five in 2019.

Early diagnosis of colorectal cancer is crucial, as cancers detected in the early stages can often be cured with surgery alone.

But delays in diagnosis are common, as screening recommendations start at age 45. This means people can live several years with steadily advancing cancer unbeknownst to them until they begin experiencing symptoms.
An MSNBC guest scolded Americans who voted for Donald Trump and suggested racism is why they did not support Kamala Harris.

'We chose a felon because we didn't want to elect a black woman,' Princeton professor Eddie Glaude told host Nicole Wallace on Monday.

'We would rather destroy the Republic than for that to have happened.'

Glaude was discussing the Supreme Court's decision to block an order to return migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia who was wrongly deported to El Salvador.

He took aim at the president and his supporters during the tirade.

'We chose a felon who is more interested in loyalty, who is more interested in retribution, who is more interested in grift than in democracy,' Glaude fumed.

'Theres no amount of protesting I could do, theres no amount of resistance that could come into play to actually force 78 million people to grapple with what motivated them to put themselves in this position.'

Wallace agreed with her guest, stating that Trump 'someone who wants to shred the Constitution'.

Glaude's comments came as the two were discussing Garcia's case.

MSNBC guest Eddie Glaude scolded Americans who voted for Donald Trump accusing them of racism for not supporting Kamala Harris

On Monday Chief Justice John Roberts, acting on behalf of the court, paused the order by US District Judge Paula Xinis that the administration return Garcia by the end of Monday.

Garcia's family filed lawsuit challenging the legality of his deportation which the Trump administration has admitted was done in, 'error'.

The court's action, called an administrative stay, gives the nine justices additional time to consider the administration's more formal request to block the judge's order while litigation in the case continues

It was not the first time Glaude has criticized the president and his supporters.

In December he described the MAGA movement as, 'the collision of greed and hatred'.

'Thats at the heart of Trumpism, of MAGAism. Its always been greed, always been selfish, its always been hatred, and now its in full, full view,' Glaude said.

While during a segment with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle in November he suggested Trump's victory was because 'whiteness' is under threat.

'Theres this sense, right, that Whiteness is under threat  the demographic shifts. The country is  all of these racially ambiguous children on Cheerios commercials are confusing the hell out of me,' Glaude said.

'We chose a felon because we didn't want to elect a black woman,' Princeton professor Eddie Glaude told host Nicole Wallace on Monday

Glaude said Trump is more interested in 'loyalty and grift' than democracy as he fumed that voters had spurned Harris due to her ethnicity and sex

Ruhle pushed back however and suggested that many of Trump's supporters voted for him because of the soaring cost of living.

However, he was unconvinced by the economic argument.

'They voted for a crook, a person who they know is doing everything to undermine the so-called country that they love,' Glaude said.

'And then theyre telling us the BS, that its economics. We know thats not true. We know its not true.'
Charlamagne tha God has urged Elon Musk and his DOGE cronies to target President Trump for their next investigation into wasteful spending.

The radio host slammed Trump amid reports he plans to throw a costly military parade to coincide with his 79th birthday.

Everyday Americans are still struggling with a cost of living crisis while markets plummet on the back of Trump's controversial reciprocal tariffs.

'Nothing to celebrate right now, my guy,' Charlamagne said on his radio show The Breakfast Club on Tuesday.

'Where's DOGE at when you need them?' he said. 'DOGE can't intervene in a situation like this? That seems like wasteful spending to me.'

Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is designed to root out wasteful government spending.

The controversial taskforce has set about slashing federal jobs and dismantling entire departments in all but name, with an estimated 60,000 roles cut since Trump returned to the White House.

Amid simmering tensions between Musk and some of Trump's closest advisors, the world's richest man is reportedly halfway out the door, leaving a question mark over the department.

The radio host slammed Trump amid reports he plans to throw a costly military parade to coincide with his 79th birthday

Charlamagne tha God has urged Elon Musk and his DOGE cronies to target President Trump for their next investigation into wasteful spending

The White House maintains there is no rift between the president and his 'First Buddy', noting that Musk's role was always temporary.

Charlamagne's call for Trump himself to be investigated centers around reports that he is planning a military parade for June 14.

The event coincides with his 79th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the US Army.

The White House hosed down suggestions, insisting no parade has been 'scheduled.'

But according to the report, the administration is looking into throwing an enormous celebration which would stretch from the Pentagon in Arlington to the White House.

Arlington County Board Chair Takis Karantonis told the publication the county was given a 'heads up' about the potential event on Friday, giving them just nine weeks to prepare.

'I would hope the Federal Government remains sensitive to the pain and concerns of numerous active military and veteran residents, who have lost or might lose their jobs in recent federal decisions,' Karantonis said.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser also confirmed the administration had reached out about the parade.

The White House maintains there is no rift between the president and his 'First Buddy', noting that Musk's role was always temporary

Trump in his first term proposed having a grand military parade in the U.S. after watching one in France on Bastille Day in 2017

'If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads,' she said.

Charlamagne tha God said throwing a party while the economy is 'in the toilet... and people's people's 401(k)'s [are] being slashed' sends a bad message to the public.

Instead, he suggested Trump throw 'a nice little light party at Mar-a-Lago for family and close friends.

'Don't involve our military with that foolishness,' he added.

In a statement, Army spokesperson Colonel David Butler said 'it's too early to say yet whether or not we're having a parade but we're working with the White House as well as several government agencies to make the celebration a national level event.'

Trump in his first term proposed having a grand military parade in the U.S. after watching one in France on Bastille Day in 2017.

He said after watching the two-hour procession along the famed Champs-Elysees that he wanted a grander one in Washington on Pennsylvania Avenue.

But the event never happened due to expected high costs, with one estimate of a $92 million price tag, and logistical hangups.

At the time, he said in a post on Twitter that he was canceling the event over costs and accused local politicians of price gouging.


The European Union has warned China not to escalate tensions with Donald Trump with the US President's sweeping tariffs sparking fears of a global trade war.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for a 'negotiated resolution' between China and the US after Beijing vowed it would 'fight to the end' amid the threat of fresh tariffs imposed by Trump.

It comes as stock markets across Europe and Asia stabilised today after a dramatic slump on Monday and days of heavy losses.

Londons FTSE 100 rose in the first few minutes of trading and has maintained gains throughout the day but investors warn markets could remain 'fragile' for weeks to come.

Our live updates have ended
Classic car enthusiasts and collectors will have sighed in relief at news that vehicles of a particular vintage evade Donald Trump's 'reciprocal' 25 per cent tariffs on motor imports introduced last week - but there could be a huge catch coming next month.

Vehicles over the age of 25 years will not be subject to the levies announced on 2 April as part of the US President's 'Liberation Day' strategy, protecting one of the UK's most important industries that contributes 8.7billion of aggregate Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy each year.

While the rest of the auto industry comes to terms with the impact of tariffs, the sparing of historic and classic cars has been described as 'common sense prevailing' by the Historic and Classic Vehicles Alliance (HCVA).

If classic cars had not been exempted from the tariffs, the results could have been catastrophic to such a vital UK industry, as the US remains one of the largest buyers of European classic cars.

However, there's growing concerns that a second wave levy will sting the classic vehicle sector.

That's because an additional 25 per cent tariff will hit auto parts from 3 May - and it looks likely they will be applied to classic car components too.

How will that impact the industry and is the classic car industry our automotive sleeping giant?

Classic car enthusiasts sighed in collective relief at news that vehicles of a particular vintage evade Donald Trump's 'reciprocal' 25% tariffs - but there could be a huge catch coming next month Pictured: A classic Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante parked on the street in Washington

Why Trump tariffs would cause chaos on classic car exports to the US

Dale Keller, CEO of the HCVA, said: 'Historic vehicles and parts are by nature already built, classified and valued and there is no ability to recreate them as newly manufactured in the USA.

'Applying a penalising tariff would have served no policy objective.'

A 25 per cent tariff added to the purchase and shipping costs of imported classic cars to the US would increase the expense significantly, making it impossible for many mid-range collectors to pay the premium.

It would leave many US buyers turning to stock that's already stateside - not only pushing up prices significantly across the pond, but removing a serious chunk of UK classic car buyers from the market.

Dmitriy Shibarshin, director of marketing at West Coast Shipping told This is Money: 'It is a huge relief that classic cars are exempt from the tariff increase.

'If classic cars were to be taxed at 25 per cent into the US instead of 2.5 per cent, it would not only drive down the demand for classic car imports, but it would have signaled the disconnect of the US classic car market from the world.

'Values for cars already in the US would go up, but the flow of imports would drop off drastically.

'Everyone in the classic car industry is extremely grateful that the US government continues to allow for a low import tax on classics, which supports the idea that classic cars are a piece of history which should continue to be supported and cherished. '

A tit-for-tat situation could easily snowball too; the UK and EU offers preferential import duty and VAT rates for historic vehicles compared to modern cars due to their cultural significance.

For any car 30 years or older, the UK and EU allow for 5 and between 5.5 and 10 per cent import duty respectively, as long as certain criteria are met.

All classic cars over the '25-year-rule' will be exempt from Trump's 'Liberation Day' 25% tariffs

While classic vehicle imports evade the levies, it's not yet clear whether parts supplied for them will be. If so, it could cause havoc to the UK specialist companies

Will classic car parts still be subject to tariffs?

It remains unclear whether classic car parts will be subject to imports or not.

However, if given the green light, the impact could be catastrophic to small and medium-size businesses.

Companies that sell restoration parts for American classics are a smaller part of the automotive ecosystem but still significant, not least to preserve history and heritage as well as jobs.

Established classic car parts makers such as Rimmers, SNG Barratt, Britpart and Introcar export a large amount to US enthusiasts but these are made outside the USA and could subject to the tariffs.

The US Government has announced a second wave of tariffs that will begin on 3 May 2025.

These will target certain auto parts classified under various subheadings in Chapters 40, 70, 73, 83, 84, 85, 87, 90, and 94 - all fall under new subheading 9903.94.05.

This applies to parts of passenger vehicles (sedans, sport utility vehicles, crossover utility vehicles, minivans, and cargo vans) and light trucks classified under the following USHTS codes.

It means vehicle parts will be subject to the 25 per cent duty rate - but there is yet to be clarification about the 25-year rule for these sections.

The HCVA told This is Money that it believes its members involved with exporting parts are referring to the import agencies in the US for guidance.

At the moment, it seems that parts will be subject to the new tariff and there is no mechanism for separate classification of historic parts.

However it appears there's scope to add additional parts categories as written in the executive order but due to the complexity it will need import agencies with specialist staff to advise on specific importation cases and changes.

At the very least it will be an enormous admin headache for classic car parts importers.

This is Money's been informed that there will be a meeting on Tuesday (today) to talk about the issue.

The US loves European classic cars: it's estimated that the US imported over 600million (515m) classic and collectors' vehicles from Europe in 2023 alone. Pictured: A vintage Aston Martin DB4 leading a procession of classic American muscle cars in Newport, Rhode Island

How big is the US classic car market  how many classic cars does it import?

The US is a place of car worshippers, with 69 million individuals in the US considered 'enthusiasts', insurer and classic car expert Hagerty claims.

It's also the world's largest importer of cars  nearly half of all cars sold in the US last year were imported, GlobalData found.

John Mayhead, editor of Hagerty UK, told us: 'The UK classic car industry is estimated to be worth over 8billion to the UK economy, of which over 1billion comes from outside the country.

'The US is a big part in that, especially at the top end of the market as many 1million-plus cars are regularly sold in and out of America.

'In total, Hagerty have tracked 23,646 classic cars over 25 years old being shipped by sea into the US over the past 5 years, with the Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R the most numerous import, followed by the Land Rover Defender.

'The UK accounts for 12.5 per cent of all classic cars shipped into the US, with only Japan more numerous at 56 per cent. In numbers, that's 2,940 cars from the UK, 13,146 from Japan.'

On top of that is air transported classic cars, although Hagerty says this is likely to be extremely small due to the cost.

Even a few years ago the Hagerty US Market has 43million collector cars with a total combined value estimated at $1trillion.

The UK Heritage motor sector has an aggregate turnover of 18.3billion, with a total of 3.1million classic and historic vehicles in the UK, the Centre for Economics and Business Research found

The UK classic car sector in numbers

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) says the auto sector is the UK's largest exporter of manufactured products in 2024, with shipments of cars, vans and components worth almost 47billion.

The HCVA estimated that 115,000 people work in the classic car industry in the UK - the same staff size as the nation's ports and twice that of the whisky industry.

The UK Heritage motor sector has an aggregate turnover of 18.3billion, with a total of 3.1million classic and historic vehicles in the UK, the Centre for Economics and Business Research found.

The total spend of 3.15billion per annum for new parts, maintenance and repair of classic vehicles supports over 25,000 FTE jobs.

Specific skills that classic car maintenance and restoration workers possess are estimated to be worth at least 335 per annum to the UK economy.

The collectible vehicles market represents 65billion to 77billion in annual revenue

The global power of the classic car market

A 2025 report by McKinsey & Company put the global value of the existing stock of collectible cars to around 800billion (685bn) in 2024.

Collectible vehicles were defined 'as those that have been out of production for at least five years and valued at 20,000 (17k) or more that have intangible characteristics'.

For automotive industry stakeholders along the value chain, the collectibles market represents an opportunity worth 76billion (65bn) to 90billion (77bn) in annual revenue.

It is perhaps unsurprising then that the Trump Administration has chosen to keep the 25 year rule in place and exempt classics.
Last July, I had a medical incident while on holiday in Austria. I submitted a claim to my travel insurer AllClear in August, but the matter is still not settled. I keep receiving payment reminders from the various organisations who helped me. Having had two threats of court action, I forked out 10,000 of my own funds to settle the bills, but had little meaningful contact with the insurer. Please help.

J. A., Cheadle, Greater Manchester.

Sally Hamilton replies: You explained to me how this costly medical incident came about when you were walking in the hills near Obergurgl, Austria, a popular hiking area, and were heading back down on a waymarked path on your own when you began to feel unwell.

You stopped at the side of the path to rest and drink from your bottle of water.

A local man who spoke some English stopped to ask if you needed help. You said you hoped youd soon be better and planned to continue the descent.

The man obviously didnt think this wise and, despite your protests, used his mobile to call a rescue helicopter. After half an hour, it hadnt arrived, so you headed downhill, accompanied by a kind German couple who had also stopped to ask after you.

Just as you reached the bottom, the helicopter landed nearby carrying a doctor, who came and checked you over.

He decided you were probably just dehydrated but insisted you take the helicopter down into the valley and be transferred by ambulance to hospital for proper assistance. This you did, and after being thoroughly examined were given the all-clear and discharged.

You were relieved there were no lasting ill-effects from your overheating episode but taken aback by the lengthy struggle that ensued to get your bills paid by your insurer.

AllClear insurance is underwritten by Zurich, which passed your details to agency Reactiveclaims to manage the claim on its behalf. This is when matters slowed to a glacial pace.

Meanwhile, you received four invoices relating to the incident, the cheapest being 25 for the hospital doctors assessment, which I thought surprisingly low.

But the bills for all the sundry expenses were hefty. The rescue organisers charged 270, the ambulance transfer cost 389 and the short helicopter ride came to 10,850 (an overall total of nearly 10,000). This latter bill is a particular reminder as to why it is vital to take out travel insurance for any trip.

Scam Watch Facebook users should beware a scam offering a skincare set from Sol De Janeiro for 1.95, consumer website Which? warns. Scammers claim their daughter who works at Sol De Janeiro says you can fill in a questionnaire to get hundreds of pounds knocked off the set, which typically retails for 215. Which? says the posts seemingly come from a hacked account. Do not click on the link as it aims to steal your personal and financial information. Instead, report the post by using the three dots on the right of the page and clicking report.

As an aside, tourists may not realise the massive costs of rescue flights and medical care while abroad. Anyone who saw this column four weeks ago will have read of the huge cost of the rescue of a reader who had a cardiac arrest in Americas Grand Canyon  estimated at $50,000 (38,000).

The US is a notoriously expensive place to fall ill or have an accident, but bills can be high in Europe, too. Anyone relying on the free Global Health Insurance Card, which offers state healthcare in European Economic Area countries on the same terms as locals (whether thats free or involves some form of payment), should be aware that it would not provide cover for services such as the ones that came to your rescue  including for individuals who dont want to be rescued in the first place.

I understand that insurers must check the veracity of any claim and get full details of the invoices involved, plus scrutinise any issues over non-disclosure of medical problems. But I find it difficult to fathom why it should take eight months, as in your case, especially when all the relevant invoices were forwarded promptly.

What is more concerning is the poor communication that left you feeling you had no choice but to pay the bills out of your own pocket through fear of debt collectors knocking at your door. What if you hadnt the resources to pay?

I asked AllClear to investigate what went wrong and prod the claims handlers into action. As if by magic, a few days later, your 10,000 claim was paid in full  plus 800 for the inconvenience.

An AllClear spokesman says: Whilst we strive to offer the highest standards of customer service, on this occasion this didnt happen. Working with our underwriter Zurich, we have carried out a thorough investigation and they have identified an isolated processing error in relation to this claim which led to the payment delay. Zurich apologises for the stress caused.

I had a 6,000 stairlift installed by Stannah Lifts in May 2023, which was guaranteed for two years. In the first year, I had to call out an engineer every month as the footplate was failing, with many parts replaced.

The issue seemed to settle, but in the past two months the problem has returned. Apparently, its an issue with the motor. Two engineers have been to sort it, but since then it has reoccurred.

What worries me is I have a stairlift that is not fit for purpose and that Ill have to take out the firms 506-a-year maintenance contract once the warranty expires in May.

J. B., Gloucester.

Sally Hamilton replies: I asked Stannah to look into what was up with your stairlift as you had faced an inordinate number of callouts to fix it. This made you feel pressured to take out the 506 maintenance contract as you couldnt trust the lift to work without regular engineer visits.

Stannah investigated immediately, and I am pleased to say speedily came back to offer a fulsome apology  and a resolution.

It said sorry for the uncharacteristic trouble you have faced, and promised to replace the carriage and chair  leaving the third main component (your bespoke curved rail) in place.

Normally, such a reconditioned stairlift would come with only a one-year free warranty, but as a goodwill gesture its now two years.

This certainly lifted your mood, and when we caught up last week you were pleased to report you now have a fully functioning lift.

Lets hope it continues, as at the age of 81 and suffering arthritis, asthma and atrial fibrillation, you need a reliable stairlift.

Straight to the point I booked a hotel stay with Booking.com at New Year for 234.78. The television did not work and the shower was stuck at the hottest temperature. I had warned the hotel that my daughter has coeliac disease, but they still gave her food she cant eat. I have been ignored for over three months by the hotel and Booking.com. L. M., Bedford. Booking.com apologises and has offered a full refund as a gesture of goodwill. *** In October I ordered a coat for 32.99. I returned it but the retailer said it didnt arrive. Ive contacted the retailer to get my money back but had no luck. I called the delivery service in January and was charged 53.27 for a 20-minute phone call. G.D., Birmingham. The retailer apologises and has issued a full refund. The phone number you called was a scam number charging a premium rate, and your telephone provider will not reimburse you. *** My daughter bought me a 50 Marks & Spencer gift card for Christmas. It came in two parts, and when I came to spend it, I was told I threw away the wrong part. The part I kept says gift card and has a barcode. But the branch says its impossible to give me a refund. D.T., via email. Marks & Spencer has offered you a 50 gift card as a goodwill gesture. *** We had a Wickes kitchen installed in 2022 but a bubbling effect appeared on the doors. It replaced the doors for us under the ten-year guarantee, but it is happening again. Wickes now says water ingress from poor care and maintenance has caused the bubbling so faults arent covered by the guarantee. T.W., Chesterfield. Wickes has conducted a thorough review of your kitchen and maintains that the issues are not product defects or a result of the installation.
Whether you are already in retirement or still decades away, the market turmoil caused by US President Donald Trumps tariffs announcements last week will have caused havoc with your pension savings. Heres how it could affect you  and what to about it.

If youre under 40

The bad news? Of all the age groups, you are likely to have seen the biggest dent to your pension in recent days.

The good news? It probably matters to you the least.

The market turbulence has spread to most types of investments, but company shares  which make up the bulk of younger workers pensions  have suffered the most.

As a result, you may well have seen a double-digit fall in the value of your pot in the last week alone.

Yes, uncomfortable, but the best thing you can probably do is...nothing.

Faye Church, senior financial planning director at Rathbones, says: Younger age groups can sit back and close their eyes.

Whether you are already in retirement or still decades away, the market turmoil caused by Donald Trumps tariffs announcementswill have caused havoc with your pension savings

You still have decades until you can access your pension, so you have plenty of time for its value to recover.

It might be tempting to stop contributing to your pension when its doing such a miserable job at protecting  let alone growing  your savings.

But Steven Cameron, director at pension group Aegon, says this is the worst thing you could do.

If you stop paying into your workplace pension, the chances are your employer will too, so you will miss out on what is effectively free cash.

When you put money into your pension its value is doubled if your employer matches your contributions  and you benefit from tax relief at 20, 40 or 45 pc as well. So you have probably more than doubled your money when you put it into a pension  so you are already up even if you suffer a huge drop afterwards due to volatility in the market.

In fact, increasing your contributions now could be a sharp move if you have the stomach for it and can afford to. Shares are much cheaper than they were a week ago so youre buying at a better price.

The companies that you are buying into your pension havent suddenly become bad, adds Church. Their shares have fallen because the market has. They should recover in time  markets always have in the past.

40-50

If youre under the age of 47, you still have a minimum of 10 years until you can access your pension. Even then, you may choose to wait. So, you have plenty of time for your pension pot to recover from this latest turbulence.

In previous stock market drops, the recovery has taken months rather than years

Theres no knowing how long it will take as so much is still in flux. We dont know, for example, whether Trump will stick to his guns, how other countries will react and what investors will do next.

However, in previous stock market drops, the recovery has taken months rather than years. Over the last 10 years, the US stock market has taken four big tumbles, Church points out. The worst was when Russia started a war in Ukraine, and the US market took 24 months to recover. The recovery after Trump launched tariffs in 2018 took six months, the one after Covid struck in 2020 took six months and one in 2023 over global growth concerns took five months. Although we dont know that this downturn will look anything like previous ones, you would have to be quite pessimistic to think that pensions of those currently in their forties will still be reeling by the time they start to think about retirement.

50-60

The value of your pension may have dropped slightly less sharply than that of younger colleagues. That is because some pension schemes automatically move your savings from riskier shares into less risky government and corporate bonds as you approach your target retirement date.

Now is not the time to make big changes to your portfolio. As Church puts it: When market volatility is wild, as it has been as a result of Trumps tariffs, investment decisions can be out of date within a couple of hours.

However, when the dust has settled, it may be a good time to check what you are invested in and make sure it suits your time horizon, appetite for risk and how much you can afford to lose if markets drop again.

If you look at your pension value now and feel queasy, that doesnt necessarily mean that there is anything wrong. Volatility is all part of investing  there will be highs and lows. But if you still feel unsettled after a few months, you may want to consider your strategy  especially as you reach the last decade of work before retirement.

Use this as a reset, says Ian Cook, financial planner at Quilter Cheviot. Wait for the recovery and then look back at how you felt during this period. If it made you feel unsafe and unable to cope with the volatility, it may be time to look at alternatives. If, by the time markets have recovered youve forgotten all about how you felt now, your risk level is probably okay.

60 to retirement

If youre approaching retirement and have not been reducing the level of risk in your portfolio, the stock market falls may have put a big dent in your retirement plans.

You may need a rethink. If youve lost a lot of value, you may need to work for longer than youd planned or to reduce the amount of income you plan to take from your pension or perhaps draw income from other sources if you have them, says Church.

You may also want to hit pause on plans to take your tax-free lump sum. After all, the value of that sum is likely to have dropped and taking it now crystalises that loss. If you had been planning to take it, but dont have any particular plan for what to spend it on, having a rethink is not a bad idea at a time when most people would consider it a bad time to take a large sum from your pension, Cameron explains.

However, if you have been reducing the risk in your portfolio  or it has been done automatically by your pension provider  you may not have lost much value in recent days and your retirement plans may well be on track.

Big stock market falls only tend to be a problem if they occur right before you plan to take money from your pension.

If you intend to keep most of your pension invested in retirement and only draw an income when you need it, you will still have decades until you need to access great chunks of your pension and therefore plenty of time for it to recover.

The exception here is if you plan to buy an income for life, known as an annuity.

Financial adviser and annuities expert William Burrows warns that those looking at buying one now face a double whammy of bad news. Unless youve been reducing the risk in your pension, its value will have fallen so youll have less money to turn into an annuity, he says. On top of this, although annuity rates are higher than they have been for years, they are likely to start to fall.

Pension savers face a difficult choice: do they wait for their pension pot to recover and hope that annuity rates have not fallen too hard in the interim, or do they lock in an annuity now?

Burrows says theres not an easy answer, and part of the decision will be psychological  in other words, what makes you most comfortable.

It may be a good time to seek financial advice as this is a complicated, life-changing decision. Similarly, those worried about the level of risk in their pensions as they approach or are in retirement may benefit from expert advice.

Annuity rates are closely aligned with the yield on government bonds as it is these financial products that annuity providers buy with your pension pot to pay you an income for life.

Burrows advises that savers who are considering an annuity keep an eye on the 15-year gilt yield as an indication of which way annuity rates are going. You can find a number of sources for this information by typing UK 15-year bond yield into an internet search engine. They are currently just a shade under 5 pc. As a rule of thumb, for every percentage point fall in the yield, annuity rates fall by around 10 pc, he explains.

In retirement

If you have a final salary pension, annuity or rely predominantly on the state pension, your income will not be affected as you are guaranteed a certain yearly sum for life.

But if your pension is still invested, you have probably taken a hit and may want to rethink how you manage your money.

Firstly, this is unlikely to be a good time to take a large chunk from your pension if it means selling shares that have plunged in value.

You may want to hold fire on cashing in to pay for that cruise.

Say you have a cruise or big holiday coming up in a year that costs 12,000, you may have planned to increase your monthly pension withdrawals by 1,000 a month so you had all the money to pay for it, says Cook. Instead, you may be better off waiting until closer to the time and taking it out in a lump sum. Dont forget tax, though  market volatility is never the only consideration.

Similarly, if youve started to take a higher income from your pension to gift it to loved ones ahead of rule changes in 2027 that will mean pensions may attract inheritance tax, you may want to think again if it means selling shares when their value is down.

And if you had planned to take money from your pension to gift to loved ones, check you can still afford it.

A financial adviser will be able to do a cash-flow model for you, looking at how much you have saved and how much you need to spend to determine if you need to change your plans, says Cook. For example, you may need to reduce that 100,000 gift to your children to 75,000 or reduce the monthly income you take.

He adds that savers may decide to draw on investments that have not fallen in value and leave those that have invested to recover. Then, once markets have eventually recovered, you can rebalance your portfolio again.

Financial advisers tend to recommend that retirees have a sizeable cash buffer from which they can draw an income when markets drop so they are not forced to sell investments when they are down. If you have cash, now might be a good time to lean on it.

And finally, if you have so much saved that you never risk running out, dont worry and carry on.

rachel.rickard@dailymail.co.uk
China edges closer to commercial nuclear fusion

Xinhua) 09:01, April 08, 2025

CHENGDU, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Armed with cutting-edge fusion energy technologies and bold venture backing, a generation of young Chinese innovators is betting to shrink the power of the sun into scalable, affordable and investable projects.

As artificial intelligence's insatiable energy demands threaten to outstrip global grids, nuclear fusion has emerged as an ultimate moonshot solution.

Now, in a high-stakes race, fusion tech leading nations, particularly the United States and China, are racing to translate their recent lab breakthroughs into know-hows in engineering.

OUT OF LABS

The bustling renovation at an industrial site in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu is underway. This is designed to be a compact fusion device base, pioneering linear Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC) technology, a novel approach to creating a flexible, modular "miniature artificial sun."

"Traditional approaches require sustained 'ignition of the sun'," explained Xiang Jiang, chairman of HHMAX-Energy, a startup founded in 2022. The linear configuration, also adopted by U.S. fusion firm Helion Energy, serves to bypass the technical hurdles of prolonged stable operation in conventional fusion devices.

"If traditional tech is like a sprawling subway system, we plan to build a nimble, high-speed maglev train," added Xiang.

In Xi'an, located 700 kilometers north of Chengdu, a firm established by former members of Tsinghua University's fusion lab has achieved a remarkable feat. Not only did they build a fusion experimental device in just 279 days, they then doubled the plasma current within three months.

"We're not changing direction," said Chen Rui, founder of StarTorus Fusion. "We're redefining the approach."

In Shanghai, a team is pushing the boundaries of magnetic field strength for nuclear fusion. Energy Singularity, focused on high-temperature superconducting tokamak technology, realized a tech breakthrough in March: its magnet reached 21.7 tesla, surpassing the previous record held by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and CFS in the United States.

The company has announced ambitious plans to complete its next-generation tokamak by 2027, targeting a 10-fold energy gain -- a critical milestone for commercial fusion viability.

POLICY SUPPORT

In 2024, Chinese authorities prioritized support for breakthroughs in core technologies for future energy systems, with nuclear fusion as a focal point.

This top-tier directive has been widely hailed as "the starting gun for China's race to commercialize controlled nuclear fusion."

Shanghai is doubling down on its nuclear ambitions by forging a world-class hub for nuclear equipment manufacturing and cutting-edge fusion R&D, while locking in double-digit annual growth for its nuclear power sector through 2025.

"Commercial fusion could have become viable around 2050, but leaps in high-temperature superconductors (HTS), AI and advanced materials might accelerate this timeline," said Duan Xuru, chief fusion scientist at China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

A significant catalyst for the swift advancement of commercial nuclear fusion in China is its robust and tangible achievements in nuclear fusion scientific experiments.

In January, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation.

Last month, HL-3, another "artificial sun" tokamak facility in Chengdu, reached a milestone by achieving atomic nucleus and electron temperatures both exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius, marking a new phase of combustion experiments.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

Despite these ambitious plans, the industrialization of nuclear fusion still faces key technical challenges, according to industry insiders.

Current devices operate only at the hundred-second level, far below long term operation needs. The extreme fusion environment, such as high temperatures and intense neutron irradiation, requires state-of-the-art resistant materials, which remain underdeveloped. Also, achieving net energy gain demands higher device efficiency and better system coordination.

Xiang likened the challenges to building an "alchemy furnace." "Mastering fusion while engineering a reactor resilient to million-degree heat and sudden shocks is a task demanding industry-wide collaboration," said Xiang.

Despite growing venture capital interest in nuclear fusion, investment in China remains lacking. "Over the past five years, China's private funding in the sector totaled just 500 million U.S. dollars, far below the roughly 5 billion invested in the U.S. during the same period," said Chen.

Kang Jianshu, executive director of LightSilver Capital, acknowledged that nuclear fusion requires investors to adopt a long-term approach, suited for those investment institutions genuinely committed to deep-rooted hardcore technologies.

"Capital seeking short-term returns or rapid commercialization would find itself fundamentally incompatible with this sector," said Kang. LightSilver Capital is HHMAX-Energy's investor.

"Our investment horizon can span 8 to 10 years," Kang added. "Patience is the key."

Beyond its long-term goal, HHMAX-Energy has also adopted a "value-creation along the way" strategy to generate some returns for investors throughout the lengthy process.

This involves exploring commercial applications of neutron sources in medical and industrial fields, such as cancer radiotherapy, nuclear pharmaceutical isotope production, neutron imaging and nuclear waste treatment.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Jon Hamm thinks the concept of a "leading man" belongs to a different era.

Jon Hamm has enjoyed huge success in Hollywood

The 54-year-old actor has enjoyed huge success during his career - but Jon doesn't see himself as a leading man, suggesting that the movie industry has now entered a new era.

Speaking to Interview magazine, the Hollywood star explained: "I think those categories are kind of a vestige of a different industry that we dont really live in anymore.

"Its like youre a lead actor if youre the guy thats carrying most of the story, and at certain points, youll have character moments or whatever."

Jon has worked with a host of big-name stars during his career, and he appreciates the "breadth" of experiences he's been able to enjoy in the film and TV business.

The actor said: "Thats the most fun part about having a career this long, right? There is a breadth to your experience that is pretty great."

Meanwhile, Jon previously admitted to being "happy" with where he's at in his career.

The actor has shot a number of high-profile projects in recent years - including 'Mean Girls', 'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'The Morning Show' - and Jon is delighted to be so busy at this point in his career.

The actor - who is perhaps best known for playing Don Draper in the period drama series 'Mad Men' - told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024: "My bones ache, but Im in a good place.

"Something happened in the last four, five years, where I got really, really comfortable doing what I do, like Im invited to the party.

"I was talking to Billy Crudup, and I revere Billy, and he goes, 'Man, do you still get freaked out about all this?' I said no. I let that go at some point. I used to think, 'Im not going to be good enough,' and all that. But theres always take two. And they dont use the bad takes. So, yeah, I like where I am.

"Im a happy guy. And Ive worked hard to get here, and its not been a steady upward climb. There have been setbacks and difficulties, but thats life."
What a worrying time for those with share portfolios, equity Isas and pension funds dependent on the performance of the stock market to secure them a financially resilient retirement.

Although the sharp stock market falls that we have seen since President Trump imposed tariffs on goods exported to the United States do not match those seen in previous financial crises  such as the banking meltdown of 2008 and the global lockdown of 2020  we are not yet out of the danger zone.

While some markets yesterday  such as Hong Kong, China, and the UK  recovered a chunk of the losses that they incurred on Ugly Monday (Hong Kongs 13.2 per cent fall was its biggest since the Asian financial crisis of 1997), we are far from being clear of the eye of the storm.

Markets in Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand continued falling on Tuesday  and further stock market turbulence is expected in the coming weeks as the world adjusts to the deglobalisation impact of Trumps protectionist tariffs.

All rather scary. A number of key financial commentators are now openly talking about recession in the US (Jamie Dimon, boss of US bank JPMorgan Chase), a world economic nuclear winter (Bill Ackman, a US hedge fund manager and Trump supporter), and further stock market falls.

Larry Fink, boss of global asset manager BlackRock, says markets could fall by another 20 per cent from here.

Tariffs: Uncertainty, market volatility and negative sentiment are back in spades and there seems little light at the end of the tunnel that President Trump (pictured) has pushed us down

All deeply troubling for investors. Uncertainty, market volatility and negative sentiment are back in spades and there seems little light at the end of the tunnel that the President has pushed us down.

Caroline Shaw, multi-asset portfolio manager at Fidelity International, took to the airwaves yesterday to talk about the seismic economic event that Trump has created off his own bat.

Worrying times, she said, but not without opportunities for brave investors  a view shared by some of the investment experts that Money Mail has spoken to in the past 24 hours...

First, remember the basic rules...

Although the recent correction in stock markets is unnerving for investors, the biggest mistake now would be to sell your shares and funds in a panic, especially if you bought them for the long-term (which you should always do).

As Nigel Green, chief executive of the financial advisory deVere Group, says: Savvy investors understand that volatility is part of the price you pay for superior long terms.

He adds: Those who stay invested and act strategically during times like these are consistently the ones who reap the biggest rewards. Recoveries often begin when sentiment is still deeply negative.

So, avoid the temptation to sell your shares and run for the hills.

Yes, Ive said it before (apologies), but if your mission is to build long-term wealth it is better to be in the market (invested) rather than in and out of it.

Alan Miller, chief investment officer of wealth manager SCM Direct, is currently no big fan of the top end of the US stock market  overvalued  but he does say that investment stayers do better than those who flit in and out of the market.

For example, in the 2010s, an investor with a holding in the S&P 500 Index (the largest listed companies in the US) would have generated a return of 190 per cent over the course of the decade.

But if they had missed the markets best ten days, their return would have halved  to 95 per cent.

So, if youre investing on a regular basis  into a pension or an equity Isa  keep going.

Not only will you be buying shares or funds that are cheaper now than they were a month ago, but you will be utilising invaluable tax breaks.

In the case of a pension, you will get tax relief on contributions (worth a minimum 20 per cent), plus the bonus of an employer payment top-up if you are in a workplace pension.

These are just too good to miss. Plus, your money is more likely than not going into a default fund that is split across a range of assets  not just equities  giving you a degree of protection from sliding equity prices.

For Isas, making as much use as possible of the annual 20,000 contribution allowance gives you the chance to build your own mini tax haven  where tax is not an issue (on investment growth within or on any withdrawals).

...and consider these strategies:

Over the past 24 hours, Money Mail has asked a plethora of wealth managers about how investors can ensure their portfolios are best set up to withstand the fallout from Trumps protectionism  and thrive long term.

Although their views vary, as is the way with investing, the following are the dominant themes that come through.

1. Spread risk

Diversification is all-important. You can no longer rely upon the US stock market  and in particular the magnificent seven stocks (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla)  to power your investment portfolio.

Matthew Yeates, deputy chief investment officer of Seven Investment Management (7IM), says: The last decade has been one of US exceptionalism: US assets or nothing.

In many ways, Trumps Liberation Day tariff plan put a stop to that  and the relative outperformance of US equities.

He adds: If tariffs are about looking inward, we expect investors to look outwards. In an uncertain new world, investors should seek greater diversification  equity exposures and asset types  to navigate a more volatile environment.

Further stock market turbulence is expected in the coming weeks as the world adjusts to the deglobalisation impact of Trumps protectionist tariffs

Its a view shared by Ben Conway, chief investment manager of Hawksmoor Investment Management, and Tom Stevenson, investment director at Fidelity International.

Portfolios should always be diversified across geographies and asset classes, says Mr Conway. It might now be prudent to consider rebalancing in the wake of recent market volatility.

That means doing the opposite to what might feel comfortable: increasing your losers and decreasing your winners to bring your portfolio in line with weights that give you adequate diversification.

Mr Stevenson adds: Three months ago, Goldman Sachs asked investors what they thought about the new US governments policies.

More than 50 per cent said they would be good for the US and bad for the rest of the world. Just 2 per cent expected the reverse. It really is a great advert for diversification.

Even when we know what is happening, we often dont fully understand what the implications will be or who will end up winning and losing.

Many global funds are heavily invested in magnificent seven stocks. Theyre not really global, says Mr Miller.

Theyre US, plus a bit. You can check out their portfolios by looking at the latest monthly factsheet, which will detail the biggest holdings and geographic exposure.

If the magnificent seven dominate, consider taking some profits and investing the proceeds elsewhere.

Mr Miller warns that the magnificent seven stocks now make up a fifth of the MSCI World Index.

He describes the valuation and concentration risks of these stocks as palpable.

A better strategy, he suggests, is to invest in a US fund that has an equal weighting in each of the companies that make up the S&P 500 (in other words, lighter touch exposure to the magnificent seven).

The likes of Invesco and iShares run such funds. Alternatively, he recommends small cap US funds or US funds with a dividend bent.

Rob Burdett, head of multi-asset portfolios at investment house Nedgroup, agrees, saying that US small caps look good value from here and less sensitive to Trumps tariffs than bigger US beasts such as Apple that import components from the likes of China.

2: Go for gold

Although the gold price has slipped in response to Trumps tariffs, most fund managers believe it remains an important portfolio diversifier.

Nedgroups Mr Burdett says gold often works well as a buffer when fear strikes.

He explains: The late Julian Baring, self-confessed gold bug and founding manager of what is now BlackRock Gold & General Fund, used to recommend that investors hold around 5 per cent of their portfolio in his fund.

He adds: If it grew to 10 per cent, he would advise that investors sell back to 5 per cent. If it dipped to 3 per cent, he would suggest topping it back up to 5 per cent.

Not a bad strategy when it comes to any investment, but especially so for the inert but erratically priced metal that is gold.

While some markets recovered a chunk of the losses that they incurred on Ugly Monday, we are far from being clear of the eye of the storm

3: Think UK

While the economic mood music in the UK is more down than upbeat, some fund managers now believe the UK stock market looks attractive.

It offers strong income by way of dividends, says Mr Miller, and it sits at a big 40 pc discount to global peers. In other words, its cheap.

Its a view shared by other fund managers that Money Mail has spoken to. Ben Peters runs the 1.7 billion Evenlode Global Income Fund, and UK-listed businesses represent just over a fifth of the portfolios assets.

We see a good number of opportunities in the UK, he says. Market leading businesses that generate strong cash flows and attractive returns on capital  which lead to growing dividends.

Three of the funds top holdings are UK listed: Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, and Experian.

Mr Conway agrees: UK equities, especially smaller companies, look attractively valued.

UK funds that Hawksmoor like include Aberforth Smaller Companies, Artemis Select, Temple Bar and Teviot UK Smaller Companies.

4: Remember Japan

River Global is among a number of investment houses that sees rich opportunities from Japanese equities.

William Lough, portfolio manager, says: Japan is home to many companies which dominate their particular market, however niche, allowing them to earn attractive margins.

With corporate governance at the top of the agenda, we are seeing more cash returned to shareholders by way of dividends.

On the horizon is increased merger and acquisitions. For investors with a long-term perspective, valuations look particularly attractive  especially after the tariff carnage of the last few days.

Indeed, Japan could be the first country to strike a deal on tariffs with President Trump.

And finally...

The last word goes to Hawksmoors Mr Conway, who says: The key to successful investing is having an investment portfolio that can weather all types of macro-economic conditions.

It means that when curve balls like tariffs come along, there will always be something in the portfolio to counter any adverse impact on other assets.

Well said, that man.

Diversify and diversify again  and keep investing into your Isa and pension.

jeff.prestridge@dailymail.co.uk
Global stocks rallied after another tariff-induced slump in the previous session, as cautious investors sought evidence the US may be willing to negotiate.

Optimism is being driven by news US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will lead trade negotiations with Tokyo, helping Japan's Nikkei index to outperform peers in early trading.

But market sentiment remains frail, with the so-called 'fear index'  the Vix  spiking over the 60 mark overnight for only the second time since the pandemic.

Chinese officials have responded to additional 50 per cent levies announced last night by warning the world's second largest economy would 'fight to the end' if the US insists on waging a trade and tariff war.

The FTSE 100 closed up 208.45 points at 7910.53., while the FTSE 250 finished up 583.96 at 18349.15.

Japan's Nikkei index is out outperforming peers amid hopes of reaching a deal with the US

In the US, the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq were all posting 2 per cent gains by the close of the session in Europe.

Europe's Stoxx 600, which fell 4.5 per cent on Monday, was up 3 per cent.

Last night, the Nikkei led gains at 6 per cent, as Asian stocks rallied from one-year lows hit in the previous session.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'Volatility remains the only certainty at this point.

'Company earnings are just around the corner, which may provide a welcome distraction.

'However, management teams are facing a tough patch, with difficult decisions ahead on how to navigate the tariff storm.

'Expect a lot of cautiousness, and possibly even a lack of quarterly guidance in some cases, as uncertainty takes centre stage.'

Buying the dip?

Markets whipsawed on Monday after an erroneous report by CNBC that President Donald Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs briefly saw risk assets rally aggressively.

Once denied, markets fell back sharply, demonstrating the highly volatile trading environment.

Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, said: 'Buying the dip' is a well-known tactic, but the risk now is that prices could still fall further.

'The only thing that is for sure is that uncertainty has peaked, and markets hate uncertainty. Without a policy reversal, volatility could escalate  and with Trump claiming a mandate for these actions, that remains a real risk.'

He added that 'true safe haven' assets are 'extremely difficult' in a sell off, with Government bonds currently the only 'real refuge'.

McDermott said: 'For investors who believe now could be the time to buy the dip in UK equities, Artemis UK Select could be an attractive option.

'The fund has outperformed the wider UK market across multiple time periods  and after the recent sell-off, entry points look compelling for the long term investor. However, there is still substantial uncertainty.'
Daily Dose has 74 staff and sources all its fruit and veg from the UK

George Hughes-Davies seems slightly baffled at how he's managed to grow his juice company, Daily Dose.

What started in his mum's kitchen in 2015 has grown into the biggest cold-pressed juice company in the UK, supplying drinks to Waitrose and Gail's.

But he maintains that the company, which has 74 staff, is still 'not that big'.

The cold-pressed juice category is small. Unlike bigger brands, no heat treatment is used and the process is more similar to how you might make a juice at home.

Hughes-Davies has not made it easy for himself, either. The process is labour and capital-intensive. What's more, Daily Dose sources and manufactures everything in the UK - the only juice company to do so - and uses wonky fruit and veg to do it.

He hopes that changing tastes, namely the increased desire to know where our food and drink is made, will mean Daily Dose becomes as synonymous with juice as household names such as Innocent or Tropicana.

The brand has grown 75 per cent in the last year alone, suggesting his enthusiasm might be well-placed.

Squeeze the day: Daily Dose sources and manufactures everything in the UK

'A jacuzzi for fruits'

A factory in the industrial heartland of Corby in Northamptonshire, made strategic sense for Daily Dose. When they moved last year, there wasn't too much work to do.

The factory was previously home to Orchard Foods, which worked with M&S and collapsed last year. It meant that refrigeration, drainage and other crucial parts were already in place.

When I visit on a sunny day in February, the smell of fruit from the factory floor is almost overwhelming.

The 30-something entrepreneur is a bundle of energy when we meet and is keen to show me every part of the manufacturing process. I don a fetching hairnet, hi-vis jacket and work boots to see where the magic happens.

The fruits are first soaked in water, which Hughes-Davies describes as a 'jacuzzi for fruits,' before they're taken to the belt press to be steamrolled. Daily Dose gets through 50 tonnes of fruit every day that would have otherwise been discarded for cosmetic reasons.

Other than scale, the process seems to have changed very little as the company has grown. Hughes-Davies is very much at the helm, they sell largely the same flavours and cafes remain an important customer base.

What has changed is the use of two high-pressure processing (HPP) machines, his pride and joy. Hughes-Davies explains, at a rapid pace, that they prolong shelf life without using any heat. It's the same process used by other challenger brands like Moju and Mockingbird.

His enthusiasm is infectious but I question how much UK consumers care about niche juicing processes, especially if it means their juice is going to be more expensive.

He says that 'as more and more people learn how their food is made, what the process is behind the product, they're more interested in buying those premium products and there'll be more price parity.'

Daily Dose's 750ml bottles sold in Waitrose are the same price as Innocent, and Hughes-Davies believes it is 'a far superior product'.

Discounting will play a significant role as they try to convince customers to pay full price later down the line, but it's a gamble. And while scaling will help bring the price down, there are unstoppable forces that mean it's harder to compete with established brands.

A tax quirk means fruit and vegetables are exempt from VAT, but juices have to pay the standard 20 per cent.

To add insult to injury, juice shots are also exempt from VAT despite having similar ingredients. It is possibly one of the reasons why Daily Dose launched their own shot range, which is now the company's best-selling product online.

George Hughes-Davies came up with the idea for Daily Dose on a post-uni road trip

From US road trip to his own factory

Hughes-Davies has always had an interest in food and drink, working as the food editor of Nottingham University's magazine while he studied for his politics degree.

But it wasn't until a post-graduation road trip across the US that he came up with the idea for a cold-pressed juice brand.

In 2015, the category was largely limited to Los Angeles pilates types, and the likes of Innocent and Tropicana had a hold over the UK market meaning there was very little innovation.

Crucially, none of the juice brands were sourcing and manufacturing juice in this country.

When he arrived home, he bought a small juicer from Ebay and told his mum he'd be taking over the kitchen for the next year.

After four months, his mum kicked him out into the driveway and Hughes-Davies converted a doughnut van into a small mobile juice kitchen, before moving into an office in West Norwood, south London.

His office neighbours - two designers - weren't happy with the noise from the juicing machine, but he had landed his first customers selling to local cafes and he was able to hire an employee.

A Crowdcube fundraising round helped raise 125,000 to buy a second juicer and move Daily Dose into a converted railway arch in Battersea.

While still at a small scale - Hughes-Davies' dad helped bottle juices on the weekends - Daily Dose took on Gail's as a customer after a buyer tried one of the juices in a Peckham cafe.

A pop-up in a local gym eventually led to 950,000 from an investor which helped Daily Dose move into a factory in St Neot's, Cambridgeshire. They could start processing and bottling juice on-site but not before the bank granted them a 1 million loan for a high-pressure processing machine.

After some back and forth, they secured the funds and moved into the site the day the first covid lockdown was announced.

It was a baptism of fire for Hughes-Davies and his team, who were forced to pivot into selling fresh products from suppliers for six months.

By 2023, venture capital funds had started to notice Daily Dose and a 5 million cash injection prompted the move to Corby. Lots of employees came along, including married couples and even siblings, and they now have 74 full-time employees.

The owner shows contempt for big-name juice brands, some of which started small but have since sold out to multinational drinks giants.

'They've been able to keep other players out but they've stripped so much value out of those products,' he says.

'The only way they've been able to keep supermarkets happy is increasing the price and increasing the value of the category we're much better quality.'

He proudly says that Daily Dose's 'Rouge' juice is now the bestselling juice in Waitrose, ahead of both brands' blends.

Farming and tax upheaval poses a challenge

Away from the juice industry, Hughes-Davies directs his ire at the government.

'If we had a more business-friendly government then it would be easier to do business in the UK and I think it would encourage more people to do business in the UK.'

National Insurance Contributions, business rates and electricity levies are all headwinds Daily Dose is facing.

I ask whether there are issues on the supplier side, as changes to farming and inheritance tax could force many to shut up shop.

Daily Dose's softly spoken chief operating officer Ollie Watts, who is also a farmer, chimes in - he is very much the sensible agronomist Charlie in Clarkson's Farm to Hughes-Davies' more optimistic Clarkson.

He says there 'could be a retraction in the volume that's available to us because growers might not want to take on as much of a risk as they previously did.'

'In simple terms, the amount of apples grown in the UK could decrease over the next five years by 20 per cent because farmers may look to do other things with their future if they're going to be taxed so heavily, Watkins adds'

It's a startling realisation that even fast-growing small companies like Daily Dose are facing difficult headwinds - especially when they're looking to do the right thing and revive the UK economy.
Foxtons staff made a sickening poster of a homosexual employee calling him a 'gay whore', as more former workers tell MailOnline of the abuse they suffered from colleagues while at the London estate agent.

This newspaper has seen the vile flyer that pimped out the male worker with a phone number typed on tabs underneath. Some of those are visibly torn off.

It is understood it was printed off at work and placed in the office. MailOnline understands two staff members were sacked over the poster, while another worker who was suspended is believed to still be employed by the firm.

In 2022 Foxtons boasted of turning all of its 57 branches into 'safe spaces' for LGBTQ+ people seeking shelter from intimidation or abuse, which were signposted by a rainbow 'F' sticker' on a store's window.

Two former Foxtons employees have told MailOnline how they were subjected to and witnessed sexual harassment and racist abuse and described working at the firm as like being in 'The Wolf of Wall Street'.

The below allegations are made across a two year period from 2021 to 2023.

We have heard how two male colleagues made a sordid 'playful bet' on which one would 'get' a 19-year-old girl first when she started working at one branch.

A female colleague, who wished to remain anonymous, told us how she befriended the new starter after overhearing the sleazy wager and said they were both 'randomly touched' in the staff kitchen by one of the older men.

A view of the window of a Foxtons estate agents on the high Street in West Hampstead, London -- January 15 2021

Former Foxtons employees say working at Foxtons is like being in The Wolf of Wall Street. Pictured: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), starring Leonardo DiCaprio

'It would first be jabs to the side of our waists and then he would resort to trying to lift us over his shoulder,' she said.

'I adopted the method of dropping down into a low squat so as to become dead weight so he'd stop but my younger colleague who was as light as a child, she wouldn't be able to escape.'

Things turned more uncomfortable when he started FaceTiming them both late at night from his home where he would sit on his bed or sofa and ask them what they were doing.

The former female employees told how they would be pestered by male colleagues on work nights out and at the firm's Christmas parties where they had to 'dodge' drunken hands.

One young woman, who did not want to be named and we are calling Sophie, said she was drawn in to working at Foxtons by the pay, benefits, and being told she would get to drive around in the 'flashy' fleet of green Minis.

At first it was 'really exciting' but she said the gruelling 12-hour shifts without a lunch break and 'brutal' daily targets ended up taking its toll and making her feel like she was in boot camp.

But It was interactions with her manager that would escalate to unwanted sexual advances. To begin with he would show off his dating apps to female colleagues and ask her 'what do you think of this girl?'.

Then at a team building night out he approached her from behind with a pint of beer in his hand and blurted: 'Do you want to come to the car park and suck my d***?'

Sophie was aged 24 at the time and was chatting with another female colleague when he made the crude request that left her frozen.

'I thought, did I hear him correctly? I was thinking to myself in that moment if that is what I think he just said, if this wasn't a work function, and if I was out with my friends and a stranger approached me and said that, he'd be wearing his drink.

Foxtons is widely known for its iconic fleet of Mini Coopers which employees drive around the capital for bookings

Foxtons estate agent sign is seen outside a branch in west London -- July 29, 2016

'When I composed myself I didn't know what to do, so I literally ignored what he said, I didn't even acknowledge it, and I turned my back to him and carried on talking to her.

'He walked off, and so for the rest of the evening it was obviously quite uncomfortable. I just kept my distance from him. I played my game of bowling. I didn't drink anything. I didn't eat anything.'

At the end of the evening she got in to her car to drive home when her boss approached her again where he leaned into the passenger window and asked her if 'she wanted to see his house' and that she could 'sleep on the sofa'.

She turned down his offer and drove home.

Sophie believes it is this rejection that led to him making her life difficult at work and ultimately hounding her out of her job with him calling her into the kitchen the next morning for a 'pointless' chat.

She said: 'I just thought at this point, this is where you should just own it. And if you did think it was banter, and I obviously didn't take it as banter, that was your opportunity to apologise and maybe address it. But he didn't.'

He would call her in for meetings on a weekly basis telling her she seemed 'funny' or that 'something was wrong', and complained to the director that he was 'losing sleep' over her behaviour.

Sophie said he made her go on valuations with him and said: 'I would say I would meet him there so I could go in my own car but he would insist, and he would do this in front of everyone in the office, that I go in his car to save time.

'I went once in his car because I had no choice and I literally wanted to die. He made my skin crawl.'

She did not make any allegations of anything ever happening inside the car.

'I remember saying to other people, and like my friends and stuff, and my sister,' she said. 'He's gunning for me every single day and every day. It's something new.'

Sophie added: 'I think my silence made him extremely nervous because he was probably wondering why I hadn't said anything and because of this, he started going to my director and telling him I had an attitude.'

Sophie said she did not tell human resources about what happened out of embarrassment and fear she wouldn't believed.

Two former Foxtons employees have told MailOnline how they were subjected to and witnessed sexual harassment and racist abuse while working at the estate agent (Pictured here is Foxtons' Blackheath branch)

A Foxtons estate agent sign advertising a house for sale in West Hampstead, London -- May 23, 2014

She spoke of another particular 'scary' sales manager who came up to her carrying a bin while she was talking to colleagues and told her to 'put that in my I don't give a s*** bucket' and to get on with her call outs.

Months later she said she left Foxtons and has now quit the industry completely.

Sophie described working at the estate agent as like being in a cult.

'They entice you with competitions where you can win like 1,000, 2,000, 3,000. There are winter and summer trips and they take you to all these things that you maybe couldn't afford to do yourself.

'And I think that's how they keep a lot of the younger people there. It's very hard to then walk away from it.'

She added: 'A lot of people will turn a blind eye to things they know are going on because they think. Oh, I just I don't want to get involved. I don't want to be a part of it, because I've got what I've got, and I'm comfortable.'

Another ex employee, who we are calling Naomi, joined the estate agent after the coronavirus pandemic and had to endure repeated racial slurs from her male boss.

She and a male colleague were the only ethnic staff members and said her manager would refer to them as 'chapati heads'.

On work nights out Naomi said her female boss would ask her if she knew of any drug dealers and asked 'can you get us some coke [cocaine]?'.

She says she witnessed her boss putting her toddler to bed before snorting lines of cocaine on the coffee table before they headed to a Foxtons Christmas do.

Naomi also said her female manager favoured the male workers and would treat them to trips out for breakfast.

'At this point it was coming up to a year of me being at Foxtons and my mental health was in tatters,' she said.

'I was working 12-hour days, five days a week and had to swallow so much discrimination.'

Naomi said she and a young female worker were both 'inappropriately' touched by an older male colleague, but it was her who was reprimanded when she lashed out and called him a paedophile.

They were both hauled in for separate meetings with directors 'and questioned as though we were the problems'.

She said: 'I took this opportunity to explain exactly what had been happening.

'However he took no measures to change anything and even when I explained why I had called [the male colleague] a paedo and how he'd been touching us - he said 'Well, let's draw a line under this. Because this will just create an uncomfortable atmosphere in the office and with your team' to which I replied, 'So it doesn't matter that I'm feeling uncomfortable?'.'

Naomi handed in her notice soon after this meeting.

'For years after I kept feeling embarrassed and annoyed that they all could carry on living life untouched but I'd have these memories forever,' she said.

A spokesperson for Foxtons said: 'We have investigated and taken robust action where these incidents have been reported.

'We take these allegations very seriously and urge those affected by them, or similar incidents, to use our whistleblowing processes so further action can be taken, as many of these are yet to be reported or identified.

'We have made progress improving our culture in recent years, introducing mandatory annual respect and inclusion training, strengthened EDI policies, and enhanced whistleblowing and speak up processes, but there is more to do and further initiatives are underway.'
My name is Galina I am the daughter of a serial killer.

The first shocking post appeared on Maria Galina Trefils Facebook page on March 13 and quickly went viral.

She shared the startling statement nearly 15 years after she claims her psychiatrist father told her a blood-curdling story that first made her suspect he was a murderer.

Galina said she was recovering from the traumatic birth of her first son in 2011 following a medication mix-up.

Her father told her she could have died, she said, because in the 1960s he deliberately gave one of his patients a fatal overdose.

He thought it was very funny, the 43-year-old told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview.

He talked about how, after he overdosed this person, whose name he did not even know, he went down to the cafeteria and had lunch, fully aware that by the time he got back upstairs, they were going to be dead - and they were, Galina added.

And I just knew, when he was describing it like that, there was no way this only happened once. Theres just absolutely no way.

Maria 'Galina' Trefil (left) has posted extraordinary claims on social media that her father, Dr. Jon Charles Trefil (right) murdered hundreds of victims over a decades-long span. He denied the allegations

The shocking posts appeared on Maria 'Galina' Trefil's Facebook page in March and quickly went viral

Reflecting on her life and relationship with her father, she says, 'all of a sudden, everything just made sense'.

Her allegations spread like wildfire online and led police to publicly state that their investigation has not turned up any evidence against her father.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Dr. Jon Trefil denied any suggestion he is a murderer and said he is open to working with investigators to help clear his name.

But the family saga has snowballed into a bizarre mystery that has sent armchair detectives into overdrive.

Galina told the Daily Mail that years ago she came up with a plan to catch her father, playing the good daughter to lure him into a sense of security.

It worked, she said, claiming that Dr. Trefil confessed to murdering one person, give or take, a month between 1965 and 1999.

That would mean the 86-year-olds alleged victims number in the hundreds, far surpassing the body count of even the most infamous serial killers, despite police finding no evidence to support the claims.

I knew that this was up to me. Nobody had caught him. Nobody would catch him, Galina told the Daily Mail.

Her frequent posts on Facebook, which have been widely shared and amassed hundreds of comments, include specific details about purported victims, as well as photographic evidence she claims prove his guilt.

Dr. Trefil, his daughter alleged, killed his grandparents by poisoning. As a teenager, he also poisoned his own father on his deathbed, she said.

And thats only the beginning.

Galina insisted her father has claimed to be both the Zodiac and Santa Rosa Hitchhiker killers and that he was tangentially involved with the Children of God cult.

She said he murdered countless hitchhikers and campers in California and buried bodies at remote cabins. She alleged that he worked with other murderers and that he claimed victims across the US and Europe.

He found some targets by placing classified ads seeking women in the medical field and taking them on dates before killing them, she claimed.

He kept one woman underground for three weeks before murdering her, Galina said, and she even suspects him of killing her unborn siblings.

Galina told the Daily Mail that she first went to authorities in 2017 and has repeatedly tried to engage various agencies, including the Mendocino County Sheriffs Office, which she approached in January 2023.

But the lack of action, she said, motivated her to take her claims public - starting with the March 13 Facebook post. It has been re-shared by thousands of other users on the platform. Her subsequent posts have garnered keen interest from commenters, some of whom began doing their own online sleuthing.

The Mendocino County Sheriffs Office says it hasnt found any evidence - even after launching investigations into the doctor when his daughter came to them in January 2023 with the jaw-dropping accusations.

Investigators pored over recordings, scanned journals, and other investigative materials, the sheriffs office said, and compared DNA connected to a cold case cited by Galina in Mendocino County.

His DNA was uploaded to a nationwide database to see if it matched evidence from other unsolved cases. Investigators also searched a property and cabin where Galina claimed they would discover human remains.

Authorities found nothing and have zero proof, the sheriffs office said in a lengthy statement issued four days after Galinas initial Facebook post.

At the time of the investigation, Galina told authorities that her father would not speak to them, a spokesman for the sheriff's office said this week.

Dr. Trefil, meanwhile, resides at a care facility in Fort Bragg, California, about 20 miles from the 18-acre property where he and his wife - who married and divorced before remarrying - spent much of their lives.

Speaking to Daily Mail by phone from the facility this week, Dr Trefil said theres no truth to his daughters allegations and that he never confessed to her.

It makes me feel terrible, he continued. Its not true what shes saying I can only come to the conclusion that she might be mentally ill.

The doctor added that he would look forward to speaking with investigators.

Id be willing to talk to them, he said.

His wife and Galinas mother, Kandeda Trefil, told the Daily Mail that her husband has been battling Parkinson's Disease for the past 30 years.

He tells me, I thought I had a daughter, but I dont anymore, the 84-year-old said by phone from the family home.

Maria 'Galina' Trefil shared journal entries and audio recordings of her father, now 86 and in a care facility, that claimed was evidence. California authorities said they've found nothing to back up the claims

Investigators pored over recordings, scanned journals, and other investigative materials, the sheriffs office said

Kandeda was unclear on the exact time she first found out about her daughters accusations - but believes it was around 2015, when Galina was caring for the doctor in Reno, Nevada, where she lived at the time.

I thought it was weird, Kandeda said. I thought it was something she cooked up for no reason, so I didnt make a big problem with it, but now I have.

Galina said that in 2015, she convinced her bedridden father to let her act as his caretaker in Reno - the same time she began enacting her plan to expose him.

She said Dr. Trefil gave her power of attorney and she cared for him for more than a year, during which time she peppered him with questions about his life and alleged crimes.

Galina says she eventually began recording such 'confessions' as her father detailed more and more killings.

According to the sheriffs office, investigators listened to tapes provided by Galina.

It was very clear that leading questions were provided to him and then when he would make sounds, she would say, "Oh, he confesses to this,"' Sheriff Matthew Kendall told The Press Democrat. But my detectives could not hear him say yes, no or anything else. A lot of it was just strange moans.

Galina responded by posting online the audio of her fathers alleged confessions, along with a trove of photos, alleged evidence like journal entries, and specifics about the crimes she claimed her father admitted to committing.

Galina claims that her psychiatrist father targeted victims who ultimately escaped, including some who were patients. She is urging them to come forward

Galina says she's in possession of alleged murder weapons, such as the pictured bottle of strychnine from her father's medical bag, that investigators have yet to test. The Mendocino County Sheriffs Office says it hasn't found any evidence.

She said she is in possession of possible murder weapons, including a bottle of strychnine from her fathers medical bag, that authorities have failed to procure and test.

Kandeda said she read some of her husbands journal entries and that Dr. Trefil agreed to give his journals to Galina.

I thought it was a very bad idea, Kandeda told the Daily Mail. Hes a psychiatrist. He should know better. But I didnt really think that it was going to go any further.

Kandeda said she was tickled to death when sheriffs deputies eventually turned up at her home. I didnt think that anybody would just swallow [Galinas claims] wholesale, she explained.

Both mother and daughter acknowledged that authorities searched the familys property. Galina, however, insisted that investigators failed to use cadaver dogs.

The sheriff's office said last month that it 'will continue to investigate crimes associated with Trefil or allegations that he was a serial killer in Mendocino County.'

The Sheriffs Office has not interviewed Trefil directly regarding these allegations due to his fragile medical state and information provided by his family that he will not cooperate with law enforcement, a March 17 statement read. When legally justified and supported by probable cause, the Mendocino County Sheriffs Office will continue to investigate this matter.

A spokesman for the sheriff's office this week elaborated by saying that Dr. Trefil 'was non-verbal and unable to communicate' during its 2023 investigation. He added that investigators 'were told by [his] daughter that he would not cooperate with or speak to' them at the time.

After learning that Dr. Trefil spoke to the Daily Mail, the spokesman said that investigators 'will see if they want to reassess their decision regarding interviewing' him.

Kandeda added that she would 'love to see him talk with [investigators].'

Galina claims her father murdered many victims and buried some on remote properties. Her father spent much of his life on an 18-acre property in California. Investigators searched a property and cabin where Galina claimed they would discover human remains, but found no evidence

Galina is pictured at the age of 14 at the grave of her great-grandparents and grandfather, who she claims were among her father's first victims. She wrote in a Facebook post that the doctor fatally poisoned all three. He denied the allegations

Galina alleged that her father worked with other murderers and that he claimed victims across the US and Europe. He denied the claims

Galina has authored books of historical fiction and gothic novels, listing Edgar Allan Poe and Isabel Allende as her influences.

According to her LinkedIn profile, shes also an actor, director, producer, film critic, rabbi and Romani educator. She describes herself online as a descendant of Romani slaves.

In 2002, when she was 20 years old, Galina married a prison inmate. Aaron Channel, whom Galina said she had previously dated, was charged alongside two others with murder, conspiracy and robbery in the 2001 death of Donald Perez, 39, in Mendocino County. Channel was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

In 2018, she posted a photo commemorating their anniversary - though Galina has referred to Channel more recently as her ex.

She discussed the marriage in a Facebook post, writing that she hadnt believed at the time of their wedding that hed committed the murder.

He told me that he didnt for 17 years. Id known him since we were in grammar school. I believed him, she wrote, while apparently defending herself against critics of her accusations.

Now Im baffled by the concept that my fathers claims of being a serial killer should be ignored because of Channels criminal history.

Galina, who said shes both autistic and epileptic, insisted that she wants the truth revealed to get justice for victims families.

She is urging people to come forward, insisting that a number of intended victims escaped her fathers murderous attempts.

My father has repeatedly said that there were many victims who actually got away, some of whom were his patients, she wrote on Facebook.

IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO THE MENDOCINO COUNTY AUTHORITIES, she continued.

'Im afraid that, given the lack of DNA analysis, this case absolutely will not be solved without the other surviving victims being willing to come forward.
British business owners have warned they will be fighting to survive after Donald Trump imposed a blanket 10 per cent tariff on UK imports to America.

Firms have told MailOnline the world is in 'turmoil' and labelled the US President's decision to impose the widespread tariffs as 'ridiculous'.

Those ramifications are already being felt on these shores with the likes of Waterstones and Jaguar Land Rover pausing orders to America.

The British bookstore said it was 'unable to accept or ship orders to the US, while we establish options to be compliant with the new tariffs'.

However, customers could once again order a title online to be shipped to the US today - which comes with a 13 delivery charge plus 1.50 for each additional book.

Meanwhile, one of Britain's biggest carmakers suspended shipments to the US over the weekend after a 25 per cent import tariff was slapped on foreign vehicles.

Jaguar Land Rover, which has 38,000 British workers, will pause exports to America for two weeks.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has also issued a stark warning, saying the tariffs were a 'major blow' to small and medium companies as 59 per cent of small UK exporters sell to the US.

British businesses have told MailOnline of their anguish amid fears Trump's bombshell tarriffs could have a devastating impact on their businesses.

British business owners have warned they will be fighting to survive after Donald Trump imposed a blanket 10 per cent tariff on UK imports to America

Waterstones became the latest British company to halt international orders to America

Waterstones added a note to its international shipping information webpage last Thursday

Jaguar Land Rover, which has 38,000 British workers, will pause exports to America for two weeks

Jennifer Bailey - Calla Shoes

Jennifer Bailey is the owner of specialist premium footwear brand Calla Shoes and said the world has been plunged into 'turmoil' after the US president made a 'ridiculous' decision which risks sending companies under and sparking a global trade war.

The company is based in the UK but manufactured in Portugal, which means Ms Bailey will pay the higher EU band of a 20 per cent tariff on imports to the US.

More than 50 per cent of Calla Shoes' revenue comes from the US market, which has been growing ever since Ms Bailey set up the company in 2016.

Ms Bailey, whose company raked in 1million revenue - including 600,000 in the US last year - told MailOnline: 'It's just going to be absolute turmoil... I just can't afford to take the hit on that coming into place.'

She added: 'It's horrible. I feel like the world at the moment is taking the p**s in terms of what's been thrown at us.

'I've been in business eight years and first of all we had Brexit, then we had Covid, and then we had the war, which put all of raw materials up by 50 to 100 per cent.

'So we have to increase all the prices of our shoes to stay in business and then the cost of living crisis hit and now this.'

Ms Bailey revealed how she has hired more staff thanks to the growth of her business in the US.

Jennifer Bailey is the owner of specialist premium footwear brand Calla Shoes and said the world has been plunged into 'turmoil'

Her company is based in the UK but manufactured in Portugal, which means Ms Bailey will pay the higher EU band of a 20 per cent tariff on imports to the US

But she warned: 'If that income isn't coming in then it's too big of a proportion of our business to not have a hit on how the business operates or to have an impact on the staff that I employ.'

She added: 'Last year, the US market took over the revenue that we got from the UK. Our two main markets are the UK and the US.

'We grew fast on social media and got a bit of PR in America and started getting some brand recognition over there.

'Our US sales really started to ramp up because no one does what we do in the US. We're in a niche. We just couldn't afford to take half of our revenue being wiped out in one go.'

Ms Bailey said the tariff marks a 'significant blow' for her brand as well as other US fashion giants such as Nike because America only produces around 1 per cent of the footwear they buy and relies heavily on imports.

Ms Bailey continued: 'I feel like it's a ridiculous decision to do a blanket tariff without really understanding what America can actually produce. I get that it's a way of suddenly opening negotiation channels with the whole world on trade and it's a shock to get countries to come to the table and negotiate that.

'But in the meantime, it just means American consumers are just going to have to pay more.'

Calla Shoes make premium quality, stylish shoes for women who have problems with their feet.

The shoes can cost around $300 and Ms Bailey fears it would be difficult to maintain consumers if they have to hike their costs by 20 per cent to $360 to cover the import hike.

She fears that the import trade tariff will have a similar impact to Brexit, where she had to stop selling in the US because it became too expensive with importing parcels.

'I'm still a small business at the end of the day, and we just couldn't deal with this.

'The margins are smaller than fashion and footwear. People don't think people really appreciate that. It's not like I'm rolling in piles of cash. I'm not.'

Paulomi Debnath - Handmade by Tinni

Textile jewellery designer Paulomi Debnath is expecting her revenues at her company Handmade by Tinni to plummet by 50 per cent.

While she said her customs and shipping costs could rise by as much as 25 per cent.

'The struggle is real,' she told MailOnline.

'As the sole founder and maker behind Handmade by Tinni  a bold and sustainable textile jewellery brand  the impact of new US tariffs could be deeply personal and financially challenging.

'I regularly ship to the United States and collaborate with independent boutiques who stock my handmade pieces. The US has been a growing and exciting market for me, and one that's important for my business' future.

'If new tariffs are introduced on UK imports, it would directly increase shipping and customs costs, making my products more expensive and less accessible for US customers and stockists.'

Textile jewellery designer Paulomi Debnath (pictured) is expecting her revenues at her company Handmade by Tinni to plummet by 50 per cent.

Ms Debnath said 'the struggle is real' and that any added costs could force her to increase prices on her products

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She says any added costs could force her to increase her prices 'which risks pushing away customers who already face high international shipping fees'.

Ms Debnath said she is unable to absorb any 'unexpected' costs and 'every lost sale or cancelled order makes it harder to reinvest in my business, create new designs, or expand my reach'.

She added: 'What's worrying is that these tariffs don't just hit big exporters  they directly affect solo creatives like me who are trying to grow their businesses through honest, handmade work.

'The added pressure of tariffs could make trading internationally feel out of reach for many small makers.

'At a time when we're all trying to stay resilient and connected globally, extra barriers like these can be disheartening.'

Martha Keith - Martha Brook

Martha Keith is the owner of London-based stationery firm Martha Brook. Around 15 percent of her sales go through the US and says the country is 'one of the biggest growth areas of our business'.

'One thing that's currently unclear is how much this will affect direct to consumer orders as well as exports,' she said.

'At the moment there is a 'di minimis' threshold of $800, under which businesses don't need to pay any tariffs.

'Trump is removing this for China as a trial and the concern is that he'll expand this wider once he's worked out how to implement it through the US postal system.

'Even if he doesn't, the confusion around this could well affect consumer confidence of Americans ordering from overseas.

'In Etsy, for example, 40 percent of our sales are from the US, so it's a hugely important area of our business.

'In general, this comes at the worst possible time for small businesses with rising costs across the board and US having become an increasingly important market to export to with the increased challenges of sending to the EU post Brexit.

'I'm glad the 10 percent isn't higher but the uncertainty of the impact this will have is another challenge we don't need right now.'

Martha Keith is the owner of London-based stationery firm Martha Brook. Around 15 percent of her sales go through the US

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Meanwhile, experts have also warned that Trump's tariffs could not have come at a worse time for the slumping UK economy.

Riz Malik, Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth, said: 'The threat of US tariffs is a major blow to UK exporters, especially the car industry, with Jaguar already halting shipments.

'While Trump is known for sudden U-turns, uncertainty alone is damaging. For a UK economy already under strain, this latest jolt could not come at a worse time.'

Harry Goodliffe, director at HTG Mortgages, said: 'Trump's tariffs, combined with National Insurance hikes and a minimum wage increase, are stacking up the pressure on UK businesses. With costs rising across the board, many will have no choice but to pass them onto consumers, or worse, make tough decisions on jobs.

'It's a perfect storm of increased costs, reduced sales, and a tightening labour market. No business will be immune, and the next few months will be make or break for many. Adapt fast or risk getting left behind.'
Ask for the name of the UK's most despised tax and you're likely to receive the answer: inheritance tax. After a lifetime of paying tax on your income, land, property and shares, the dreaded inheritance tax means the government squeezes your estate once again when you die.

Unlike the UK, Australians have long rejected the idea as morbid.

But in a shocking move last month, Australia's leading financial and business publication, the AFR, used its pre-Budget editorial to call for 'genuine tax reform to make everyone better off overall' and suggested 'a modest inheritance tax to help lower the tax burden of younger generations'.

The newspaper's alarming decision to support a death tax would no doubt have gone down like a lead balloon with its readers, as noted by The Australian's Media Diary.

But the paper's radical rethink of inheritance tax in Australia can't simply be dismissed out of hand. It could become a reality... thanks to the Greens.

Angry young Australians who are locked out of the property market are increasingly supporting the Greens which campaigns on 'wealth inequality' and demands radical 'wealth redistribution'.

If Labor wins the forthcoming election, it could well be forced to rely on the left-wing party to form a minority government.

In the event of a Labor/Greens coalition, Australia could face its first federal inheritance tax since it was abolished in 1979.

Australians with investment properties and shares could soon be paying a hefty inheritance tax on their estate when they die - if the landlord-loathing Greens force Labor's hand

Should Labor win the next election and be forced to rely on the Greens to form a minority government, a UK-style inheritance tax is a distinct possibility

This would mean Australians with investment properties or a share portfolio could soon be paying a hefty inheritance tax on their estate when they die.

The Greens, which targets young renters and blame baby boomers for generational inequality, has an 'economic justice' platform that advocates an inheritance tax, calling it a tax on dynastic wealth, targeted at those bequeathing or gifting large amounts.

'Wealth inequality is fundamentally unjust and requires structural economic change and wealth redistribution,' it says.

A spokesman for Greens senator Nick McKim, who holds the Economic Justice and Treasury portfolios, downplayed any suggestion the party was 'proposing an inheritance tax at the next election', saying it wasn't party policy.

The concept is even too toxic for the Greens - to admit publicly anyway.

But should that change, and with the party likely to hold the balance of power next year, here's what it could mean for you:

How inheritance tax works in the UK

The UK has an inheritance tax on estates worth more than 325,000 (AU$634,000)  a threshold known as the nil rate band. Tax is charged on assets above this threshold at 40 per cent.

If you are married or in a civil partnership, all property and assets go to the surviving spouse free of inheritance tax provided the deceased has left a will naming them as its beneficiary.

If someone dies intestate  without a will  then the first 322,000 of the estate goes to the surviving spouse. However, if the estate is larger than this, the spouse gets half of the rest tax-free, and the other half goes to the deceaseds children, if there are any, who may have to pay tax.

Angry young Australians who are locked out of the property market are increasingly supporting the Greens, led by Adam Bandt (second from left), who campaign on 'wealth inequality' and demand radical 'wealth redistribution'

Children pay inheritance tax on their parents estates above 325,000, but also get an extra 175,000 tax free allowance per parent if the value of the estate lies in property - meaning they can inherit up to 1 million worth of property tax-free. This only applies if the total value of the estate is less than 2 million.

Research by the UK's House of Commons Library said that in the 2020-21 financial year, 3.73 per cent of deaths resulted in inheritance tax having to be paid, meaning the tax applied to 27,000 estates.

The UK's parliamentary library explained that the rich, whose estates incurred an inheritance tax, were more likely to own shares than those with assets under 1million (AU$1.95million).

'Wealthier estates are more likely to have a higher proportion held in securities or other assets,' it said.

'Those with estates valued at less than 1million are more likely to be mostly composed of residential property and cash.'

Australia's experience

Australia abolished inheritance taxes in July 1979, a year after Queensland's eccentric National Country Party premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen led the charge to get rid of death duties.

Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser scrapped the federal inheritance tax and all of the states followed.

But a federal capital gains tax debuted in 1985, under Bob Hawke's Labor government, with an exemption on the family home.

The last time Labor formed a minority government with the Greens, former Labor PM Julia Gillard was forced to introduce a carbon tax in 2011 - despite vowing not to do so during the 2010 election campaign.

In negotiating an agreement to provide Anthony Albanese's Labor with confidence and supply, Greens leader Adam Bandt could try that same trick again and force Labor to introduce an inheritance tax.

Should the Greens force Labor to introduce an inheritance tax, there are ways you can protect your estate from the taxman (stock image)

How to protect your family's wealth

Should the Greens force Labor to introduce an inheritance tax, there are ways you can protect your estate from the taxman.

The following strategies are commonly used in countries where inheritance tax is already in place.

However, it is important to remember tax laws vary between jurisdictions and what works in a European country, for example, may not necessarily apply in Australia.

Leave everything to your spouse in your will

In Britain and other countries, any assets passing between spouses and civil partners are generally exempt from inheritance tax, provided there's a will.

In the event of inheritance tax being introduced in Australia, a similar rule would likely apply. Therefore, by leaving assets solely to a spouse and not any descendants, you could avoid facing the tax until after the spouse's death.

Early inheritance and gifting assets during your lifetime

Generally speaking, the smaller the size of your estate, the less tax is paid upon death.

So one easy way to pay less inheritance tax is to gift assets to heirs while you are still alive. This not only reduces the size of your estate, but allows a parent or grandparent to see their child or grandchild enjoy their gift.

Depending on how inheritance tax laws are structured, gifting assets a certain number of years before death might reduce the taxable estate - which means it's a good idea to transfer the gift when you are in good health.

For example, the UK has a 'seven-year rule', which means if you die within seven years of gifting an asset (e.g. money, possessions, property) to a beneficiary, then the gift may still be subject to inheritance tax. But after seven years, the gift does not count towards the overall value of your estate.

Establishing Trusts

By placing assets in a discretionary trust, you can ensure they are managed for the benefit of your heirs without transferring direct ownership.

Depending on how an inheritance tax was structured in Australia, this could reduce or eliminate the tax burden.

Life interest trusts could be another option to avoid inheritance tax, as they allow a beneficiary to use your property after your death - either to live in or generate income - without full legal ownership.

This type of arrangement can be useful if you want to provide for someone immediately after your death, but ultimately wish for your property to be left to another person.

Get life insurance - but put the policy into trust

Taking out life insurance means your loved ones get a payout after your death. In the UK, this can count as part of your estate when you die - and if it crosses the 'nil rate band' threshold then the 40 per cent inheritance tax applies.

However, the payout can be exempt from inheritance tax - but you have to set it up correctly, ideally with the help of a financial advisor.

To stop a life policy payment getting rolled into your estate, Britons put it into trust, which means the proceeds of the policy are paid directly to your appointed beneficiaries, rather than to your legal estate.

Take advantage of charity bequests

Many inheritance tax systems around the world allow for exemptions or reductions if a portion of the estate is left to charity.

Donating part of your estate could reduce the overall taxable amount, with the added benefit of helping out a cause you care about.

Consider structuring ownership of assets

In countries with inheritance tax, holding assets in joint ownership can sometimes allow for a more tax-efficient transfer of assets.

The surviving co-owner might automatically inherit the property in its entirety without it contributing towards the 'nil rate band'.

Any advice given is general only and not intended to influence readers' financial decisions
Donald Trump's wave of activism, especially on tariffs, is reviving left wing parties the world over. Especially in countries with elections on the near horizon.

The impact of Trump may be a contributing factor to Anthony Albanese's comeback as Australia counts down to the May 3 federal election.

It's no coincidence that Labor's strategy includes comparing Peter Dutton to Trump.

In times of international uncertainty incumbents usually benefit, whatever their political colours.

However when such uncertainty is economic, the benefit doesn't always translate for the Labor Party.

Since the Howard years the Coalition has been seen as the better economic managers, according to published polls.

But the Trump phenomenon may have taken away that Coalition advantage.

The fact that a Republican US administration is imposing new tariffs across the globe has left conservative parties in other countries reeling.

Polls show signs of an anti-Trump backlash brewing in other countries. Above with First Lady Melania Trump

Perhaps it's a case of the political right being tarred by the Trump brush, giving the left renewed vigour.

In Canada the Liberal Party - which unlike here in Australia represents the progressive side of politics - has seen an extraordinary resurgence in the polls ahead of its general election to be held on April 28.

Canada's Conservative Party, led by Pierre Poilievre, had been well ahead for many months according to the polls - some 45 per cent to 16 per cent in December - before a confluence of events saw its support steadily ebb away.

Liberal leader and PM Justin Trudeau resigned as leader, replaced by central banker Mark Carney.

Coupled with Trump's tariffs announcements these events have flipped what was a one sided election campaign on its head.

According to a poll of voting intentions, Carney's Liberals are ahead 42 per cent to 37 per cent.

Poilievre - whose slogan 'Canada First' mimics Trump's 'America First' - is now in the fight of his political life.

While the turnaround in Australia hasn't been quite so stark, it is apparent. Late last year Dutton's personal numbers had surpassed Anthony Albanese's, and the Labor Party primary and two party votes were in the toilet.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau (left) was very unpopular when he announced his resignation earlier this year. But his poll numbers went up when Donald Trump targeted Canada - and his successor Mark Carney has benefited from the same upswing

Anthony Albanese has tied Peter Dutton to Trump - without ever saying the US President's name - and has improved in the polls

Many commentators were starting to predict a change of government was in the offing.

However, once Trump came to power in late January and wielded his powers to impose what can only be described as a radical agenda, Labor slowly and steady improved.

Perhaps it is a case of voters seeking to align themselves with the party that least mirrors Donald Trump.

Within the US Republican Party warnings are now being issued that unless Trump reverses his tariffs position the party might be heading towards an electoral 'bloodbath' in the mid terms due in less than two years time.

Republican senator and former presidential candidate Ted Cruz has expressed such concerns, and he's certainly not alone.

Trump's return was never going to be passive. His capacity to intervene, for better or worse, in the domestic politics of other nations is high.

US presidential powers are greater in the theatres of international affairs than they are domestically, where the limiting role of the Congress is greater.

This is one more reason why Trump's controversial actions are harming fellow right-wing travellers around the world.

The Trump effect might not be the only reason for a resurgence in Labor's fortunes here at home anymore than it is for the progressives in Canada.

But it clearly reduces the likelihood of voters risking returning right wing parties to power before they are certain they won't emulate Trump's chaotic ways.

The impact is greater in Canada, which shares a border with the US. But it can't be discounted here in Australia, even if we are an ocean away.
Superyachts belonging to Russian oligarchs were likely involved in covert maritime operations around the British Isles prior to Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, defence sources have claimed.

Russia, a world leader in submarine and undersea technology, routinely sends what it claims are research vessels into waters around Britain and in the North Atlantic.

By the Russian parliament's own admission, these vessels carry a host of technologies, including equipment 'designed for deep-sea tracking, as well as equipment for connecting to top-secret communication cables'.

Some ships, including the notorious Yantar that was warded off by the Royal Navy after it was discovered loitering in the Irish Sea earlier this year, can also deploy unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and mini-submarines to access internet cables and energy pipelines up to six kilometres deep.

Britain depends on a vast network of gas pipelines, electrical cables and offshore energy hubs to function, but many of these vital arteries lie relatively undefended.

An attack on any one of these energy pipelines or communications cables could plunge Britain into chaos.

Now, military and government sources told the Sunday Times they suspected superyachts belonging to Russian oligarchs had also been involved in nefarious undersea operations.

They claimed some of these ships are fitted with 'moon pools' - protected openings in a vessel's hull that allow crews to deploy and retrieve deep-sea diving equipment. Others are able to deploy mini-submarines and submersible crafts.

This allows the stunning yachts to float innocuously on the surface of the water, all while underwater vessels dive deep to sabotage undersea cables or deploy reconnaissance equipment.

Indeed, sources also revealed that the Ministry of Defence and Royal Navy had found reconnaissance devices and sensors in various locations off Britain's coastline.

Military and government sources told the Sunday Times they suspected superyachts belonging to Russian oligarchs had been involved in covert maritime operations on the orders of Vladimir Putin (pictured)

Military and government sources told the Sunday Times they suspected superyachts belonging to Russian oligarchs had been involved in covert maritime operations (Pictured: The yacht Amadea of sanctioned Russian Oligarch Suleiman Kerimov. There is no insinuation this vessel conducted spy operations on behalf of the Kremlin)

Russia's Yantar 'research vessel' is widely thought to be a spy vessel. It is fitted with a range of technologies to conduct covert operations deep underwater, including unmanned underwater vehicles and mini-submarines

The Estlink 2 power cable in the Gulf of Finland was ruptured in suspected Russian interference

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These devices, some of which were found as early as 2020, are thought to have been deployed to gather data on the movement of Britain's four Vanguard-class nuclear submarines (SSBNs), which constitute the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Some were discovered when they washed ashore, while others were reportedly found by Royal Navy minesweepers. But defence sources admitted they did not know how many sensors were still operational.

The unsettling discoveries, revealed in the Sunday Times investigation, led one senior UK military official to declare: 'There should be no doubt, there is a war raging in the Atlantic. This is a game of cat and mouse that has continued since the ending of the Cold War, and is now heating up again.'

Britain and NATO are now cognizant of the threat posed by Russian spy vessels and oligarch pleasure craft alike.

In January, NATO dispatched a fleet of ten ships to the Baltic Sea to protect Europe's crucial undersea cables.

The ships, which are set to end their deployment this month, conducted patrols in the vicinity of energy pipelines and undersea data cables in an effort to monitor suspicious activity and deter any attempt to sabotage these vital assets.

The move came off the back of a number of disruptions in the Baltic Sea that are widely believed to have been sabotage operations.

In February, Swedish and Finnish police said they were investigating a suspected case of sabotage of an undersea telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea, while Sweden's coast guard deployed a vessel to the location where the damage occurred.

Finnish operator Cinia said it had 'some time' earlier detected problems on its C-Lion1 link connecting Finland and Germany and that it had eventually received confirmation that the cable was damaged even as data traffic continued to flow.

The incident marked the third time in just a few months that the C-Lion1 cable was damaged after it was completely severed in November and December of 2024.

And on Christmas Day in 2024, the Estlink 2 undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged along with four telecoms lines.

Finland seized the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S tanker on suspicion it caused the damage by dragging its anchor, adding that the ship was part of a 'shadow fleet' circumventing sanctions on Russian oil.

The Finns found tracks on the seabed where they suspected the Eagle S of damaging the cables, and investigators later recovered a lost anchor they said was believed to belong to the ship.

Britain and the EU are now working hard to scale up their underwater reconnaissance and warfare capabilities, with this maritime realm being identified as a critical vulnerability.

The Royal Navy currently operates one 'multi-role ocean surveillance ship' (MROSS), named RFA Proteus.

The vessel was originally built in 2019 in Norway as an offshore support ship but was acquired by the MoD in January 2023 for 70 million.

It underwent an extensive retrofit to carry military surveillance technologies, including unmanned submersibles, and by October 2023 entered service as the Royal Navy's MROSS.

RFA Proteus now works in conjunction with Royal Navy mine-hunting crews, submarines and the Royal Air Force's reconnaissance planes to track suspicious underwater activity around the British Isles.

But Britain's capabilities lag far behind those of Russia when it comes to conducting underwater warfare, and Proteus remains the Royal Navy's only MROSS.

The Yantar is just one of many ships operated by the Russian Navy's Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI).

Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood warned that Britain is 'behind the curve' in tracking Russia' deep sea operations.

One insider told the Sunday Times: 'Our adversary has multiple points of action that they can be playing, and we've only got one ship that can deal with it,' one insider said.

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Nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard arrives back at HM Naval Base Clyde, Faslane, Scotland following a patrol

A handout picture released by the Britain's Ministry of Defence (MOD) in London on January 22, 2025 shows Royal Navy Royal Navy of RFA Proteus (R) patrolling near the Russian vessel Yantar (L), in November 2024

Britain's Defence Secretary John Healey (R) talks to Commanding Officer of RFA Proteus, Captain Martin Jones (L) as he sits at the dynamic positioning desk on the bridge during his visit to RFA Proteus on February 20, 2025

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) at sea. These unmanned robotic craft have revolutionized deep ocean survey and exploration

The Royal Navy's Vanguard submarine, a cornerstone of Britain's nuclear deterrent, is seen arriving at the Clyde Naval Base

Later this year, the British government is expected to publish a strategic defence review (SDR).

Led by Lord Robertson, a former Labour Defence Secretary and Secretary General of NATO, the review will identify critical vulnerabilities in the UK's defence posture and recommend measures to shore up these areas.

Two parameters of the ongoing review are a 'total commitment to the UK's nuclear deterrent' and 'options to reinforce homeland security'.

Britain's underwater warfare capabilities and the security of undersea infrastructure are therefore expected to constitute a key part of the review.

In the meantime, the MoD and Royal Navy have begun work on an ambitious programme known as Project CABOT - a proposed two-stage anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operation in the North Atlantic.

The first stage of the operation, called Atlantic Net, will see the Royal Navy work with private contractors operating drones at sea to collect acoustic data, which is then processed using AI to detect potential threats.

The system is designed to 'digitise' the Atlantic, complementing existing Royal Navy patrols to help monitor vital underwater infrastructure. The first trials for this stage are set to take place later this year.

In the second stage of CABOT, named Atlantic Bastion, the Royal Navy plans to take full operational control, using its own uncrewed surface and underwater vehicles, including the future Type 92 and Type 93 unmanned maritime drones.

These assets will provide persistent surveillance and allow the Royal Navy's manned warships to focus on other tasks. Bastion Atlantic is expected to launch around 2028.

He insisted that officials now 'realise that there is a delta between our resilience and the threat that we face'.

'The scale of damage [they could do] is enormous and it's deniable and it's cheap to do,' he told the Guardian. 'That's the worrying dimension of all of this.'

Meanwhile, the EU is set to allocate almost 1 billion to boost surveillance of undersea cables and establish a fleet of emergency repair vessels after a spate of sabotage attacks.

'We want to make sure Europe is equipped not only to prevent and detect sabotage to cables but also to actively deter, repair and respond to any threat to critical infrastructure,' said Henna Virkkunen, the executive vice president in charge of security at the European Commission.

'We know that this is a threat for our security and for our environment, not only in the Baltic Sea area, but all over the European Union,' Virkkunen told reporters in Helsinki.

In its action plan, the Commission pledged action to deter, prevent, detect and respond to cable damage.

The reallocated budget cash would be used to develop a new data-sharing surveillance mechanism and drone programme.

It also outlined a goal to ensure supplies of spare parts for broken cables and to work towards the creation of an emergency reserve fleet 'to deploy or repair electric or optical submarine cables'.
CBP denies that the agency is conducting more phone searches than normal

Border officials are pushing back on reports indicating that the Trump administration is abnormally searching foreigners' phones at U.S. customs in border airports.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) denied entry to 329 individuals traveling through John F. Kennedy International Airport in February and March, the agency recently announced.

According to CBP, officials at the JFK port of entry removed 135 inadmissible aliens in February. In March, officials removed 194 of them at the airport.

JFK is the sixth busiest airport in the country by passenger volume and is the most popular U.S. airport for international travelers.

The 44 percent month-over-month increase indicates that enforcement operations are ramping up since a memo from the Trump administration ordering 'enhanced screening.'

News of increased arrests and deportations after flying into the United States - including tales of agents searching passengers' phones for anti-Trump content - have sparked paranoia.

The fear is prompting travelers to bring burner phones to avoid being denied entry to the U.S.

From a British man who got a job in Minnesota to a French researcher who was traveling to attend a conference in Houston, foreigners heading to America are concerned about having their devices searched by border agents.

Muhammed Ihsanullah, 20, a student from England who recently got a job offer to work at a Minnesota summer camp, is still concerned about heading to the US, he recently told NBC News.

CBP agents denied entry to nearly 330 travelers at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport in February and March

He said he may bring a burner phone when he comes to the U.S. next month 'just so that I have the added security of knowing that no one's going to go through my phone.'

'I have a very, you know, stereotypical name as well,' Ihsanullah added.

In another case, American attorney Amir Makled, who is representing a client arrested last year at a pro-Palestinian protest, was asked by customs officials to surrender his phone after returning from a vacation with his family.

Makled, 38, is a civil rights attorney and negotiated with authorities over what he would allow them to access. After being detained for 90 minutes, Makled was released, though the agents who questioned him did gain access to his contacts list.

But border officials say their efforts are only aimed at halting illegal entry into the homeland and travelers' phones aren't being searched improperly.

'Claims that CBP is searching more electronic media due to the administration change are false,' CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham told DailyMail.com

The crack down on international travelers comes as foreigners report increased security measures at customs, noting how agents have read through passengers' phones, messages and social media

'Under the leadership of the Trump Administration, we have seen a historic decline in illegal immigration,' Beckham went on.

'This reduction has allowed our law enforcement personnel to get back to doing law enforcement work, like conducting thorough vetting and interviews.'

She also reassured passengers in good legal standing have nothing to fear when going through customs, noting the measures are designed to protect US national security.

'Those intending to enter the U.S. with fraudulent purposes or malicious intent are offered the following advice: Don't even try.'

'If statutes or visa terms are violated, travelers may be subject to detention and removal. A visa is a privilege, not a right, and only those who respect our laws and follow the proper procedures will be welcomed.'

But in late March, a French researcher was reportedly denied entry to the U.S. after landing in Houston after authorities searched his phone.

'A French researcher on assignment for the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) who was traveling to a conference near Houston was denied entry to the United States before being expelled,' French Minister for Higher Education and Research Philippe Baptiste said in a statement.

Trump directed border officials to vet and screen incoming travelers 'to the maximum degree possible' in an order earlier this year

Travelers que at New York City's JFK airport

The researcher was denied entry because of personal opinions he had expressed on his phone about Trump, the French minister added.

But CBP pushes back on the notion that phone searches have increased under Trump.

'CBP's search numbers are consistent with increases since 2021, and less than 0.1% of travelers have their devices searched,' Beckham shared.

'These searches are conducted to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to visitor admissibility, all of which play a critical role in national security.'

A TSA officer gives directions to passengers at John F. Kennedy International Airport's Terminal 8

Customs and Border Protection officer watches over travelers at Los Angeles International Airport

'Allegations that political beliefs trigger inspections or removals are baseless and irresponsible,' Beckham told DailyMail.com.

The paranoia over enhanced border searches comes on the heels of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cracking down on illegal immigrants and students on visas.

It also coincides with warnings from foreign governments like Germany and Denmark advising their citizens against traveling to the U.S. without taking precautions.
Steve Guttenberg has filed for a divorce from his wife Emily.

Steve Guttenberg has filed for a divorce

The 66-year-old actor - who is best known for playing Carey Mahoney in the 'Police Academy' film franchise - filed for divorce in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles on Friday (04.04.25).

The actor cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for their separation and has agreed to pay spousal support to his estranged wife, People reports.

The former couple - who tied the knot in 2019 - had a prenuptial agreement in place, and that will mandate the allocation of "additional separate property and obligations of each party".

The court filing has also confirmed that Steve has requested that he and his wife both pay attorneys' fees and other costs.

The former couple tied the knot in Malibu in January 2019, after meeting on a blind date in 2014.

Emily announced their engagement via a Facebook post in 2016, when she posted a photo of Steve proposing to her. Emily captioned the image: "Yes, yes, yes."

Meanwhile, Steve heaped praise on Emily in an interview in 2017, describing the actress as "the real deal" and a "very classy lady".

The movie star also suggested that Emily had made him "a better person".

Steve - who was also married to actress Denise Bixler between 1988 and 1992 - told The Daily Beast: "I don't want to give these things a jinx, but she makes me a better person which I really like. I have to up my game around her.

"Shes a very classy lady. She creates a wonderful home, her value system is terrific, and her character and integrity, and sense of humour  shes a really nice lady."

Meanwhile, Steve's home and neighbourhood were threatened by the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year.

The film star revealed at the time that he had chosen to "stand and fight" amid the threat posed by the wildfires.

Steve - whose home in Pacific Palisades managed to survive the fires - told People: "At this time I have the choice of sitting down and walking or standing up and doing what I can. I choose to stand and fight. And help."
Nafiah Ikram was the victim of a barbaric attack when her face was doused with acid by stranger in the driveway of her Long Island home.

Four years later, cops still have not caught the suspect.

It was a typical Wednesday night on March 17, 2021 for the 21-year-old pharmacy technician was heading home from a long shift at CVS.

As she was walking towards the front door of her house in Elmont - holding her leftovers from lunch in one hand and her bag in another - she saw someone lunge towards her and toss a liquid substance from a white styrofoam cup at her face before fleeing.

Ikram screamed and immediately felt a burning pain as she rushed to splash water on her face unaware at the time the contents that were in the cup. It also went down her tongue and throat that prevented her from breathing.

She would later learn the acid was sulfuric acid - a dangerous substance that causes blindness and severe burning - and if it would have gotten into her lungs she could have died.

Her panicked parents immediately called 911 and she was transported by ambulance to the hospital. For weeks she stayed in the ICU.

The acid burned three-quarters of the skin on her face including, her cheeks, nose, mouth, chin, upper chest, eyes and wrists. The poisonous substance also melted the contact lenses she was wearing onto her eyes.

Ikram miraculously survived the attack but she would undergo countless excruciating surgeries that left her with severe scarring, disfigurement, chronic pain, and loss of vision in her right eye.

Last month, the now-25 year old marked four years since the nightmare attack and Ikram and her mother both expressed their frustration that the evil person who committed this savage act is still out there.

'We are pushing all the time to keep going with the community and the public because one of these days they are going to get caught,' Nafia's mother, Sherina Ikram told DailyMail.com. 'I will never give up.'

Nafia Ikram was 21 when the horrific assault happened. She was busy studying medicine at Hofstra while working as a pharmacy technician at CVS

Nafia, now 25, is working on her recovery, inside out, after she was burned with acid in an unprovoked attack on March 17, 2021

On the night of the attack, Ikram recalled someone standing around the fence near her neighbors house staring at her after she got out of her parked car.

'I got this bad nudge. I felt like death had just come to my gut. I felt like something really bad was going to happen,' she said.

'As I was walking in the driveway, I started to recite a surah (Muslim prayer) in my head. The prayer 'Divine Protection' tells you how powerful God is and it is supposed to make you feel safe.'

It was a cold night, she remembered, and she was wearing a long coat with layers and asked herself why the person was there outside in the cold.

She told DailyMail.com, 'when I leaned in to see their face they made eye contact with me and then threw the acid and ran away with the cup,' she said.

'At first I was like 'wtf' and then my face started burning and I started panicking.'

'I wiped my eye where the acid burned my eye. I didn't know how bad it was but I felt my cornea burn and my contacts got stuck to my eyes.'

Then she started to have trouble breathing and started to drool.

When the paramedics got to her home they put an oxygen mask on her.

'I was going in and out in the ambulance,' she recalled. 'They were pouring saline on my face. It was burning so bad. I was passing out.'

'I thought I was going to die. I had a conversation with God telling him, 'God I am 21 years old. I cannot go out like this. I refuse to go out like this.'

Before she completely lost consciousness.

Once she was responsive she was able to share with police some of the chilling details from that night.

She told detectives that the attacker was a male, about 6ft. 2 in. with a thin build and wearing gloves.

Surveillance footage captured the attack and police and the FBI reviewed it than released photos of a red 2013-15 Nissan Altima seen speeding away from her home.

Horrifying surveillance footage shows the moment that Nafiah arrived at her Elmont home. A man (right) is seen running up behind her and throwing the acid in her face

Ikram's mother believes her daughter Nafia and her only child was the victim of a targeted attack and that someone was jealous of her.

'It was 100 percent planned,' she said. 'We don't know. A customer or a coworker. All of us have enemies we just don't know who our enemies are.'

She said that when her daughter was working at CVS she was 'climbing up very quickly and was favored over a lot of people.'

'She was doing really well there,' she said. 'Somebody is so damn jealous of you that they want you to lose your job or want something bad to happen to you.'

The night of the attack, she said 'she saw a red car was parked across the street 30 minutes before the incident. Someone was waiting for her.'

And, shared her disappointment with the years-long investigation. 'I don't know what the police did with the case. The FBI is involved but we're really not happy.'

Nassau County Police were unable to publicly disclose details of the investigation, but have put up a $30,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

'The investigation continues to remain open and ongoing and we will not rest until the person(s) responsible are apprehended,' Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said in a statement on Monday.

'From the inception of the Nafiaf Ikman assault case, the Nassau County Police Department has devoted tremendous investigative resources toward this horrific attack,' the statement reads.

'We have expended countless investigative hours, asked for the assistance of the public through the media and social media, and we have been working with multiple Law Enforcement Agencies at the local, state and federal levels.

Ikram with her parents are at a press conference a year after the attack claiming the police have not done enough to get the suspect off the streets

Nafia with oxygen mask was unable to breathe on her own

Nafia has undergone multiple grueling surgeries to her face. She nearly lost her right eye

Doctors are trying to grow new skin on Ikram's face. She is pictured in hospital after one of the procedures where skin was taken from another part of her body

Ikram has the love and support from her best friend who has been at her side from day one

Despite some of the challenges she continues to face, Ikram is trying to rebuild her life.

Before the attack, she was a busy twenty-something, juggling work and college classes.

She was part-time at Hofstra on a pre-med track while working at CVS and was excited for her future, until it all fell apart in an instant.

The last few years have been grueling in between surgeries and different treatments to repair the burns to her face and wrists.

She shared that she has a team of 13 doctors that are helping in her recovery but revealed the emotional ups and downs.

'It's insane. Who do you know has a pain management doctor, an ophthalmologist and a cornea doctor,' she asks. 'Who has three eye doctors and doesn't even have two eyes?.'

One of those doctors is Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez, a surgeon at NYU Langone that heads their face transplant program.

Part of her treatment, she said is to grow new skin on her face. This is done by taking skin from other places on her body.

While doctors are working on her physical scars Ikram is working on the emotional scars that has left her with bouts of depression, and anger that she continues to work on with her therapist.

But, talking about that night when her life changed in an instant has been difficult she told DailyMail.com.

'As soon as I have to talk about something in reference to my trauma it's like my brain shuts down so I am trying to relearn that skill because a part of me died.'

Looking in the mirror has been part of the therapy and learning to love herself.

'I see my face but I'm a different person. I am not her anymore,' she said. 'I was trying so hard and that's where the anger came in. I would get so angry.'

'I would look at old videos, old pictures of myself. I was always positive ...that person that you could make you laugh when you were feeling bad.'

'One day I was with my little cousin, he said to me, "What happened to you? You're the person that is always bubbly" and I'm like, 'Yeah, go figure. Have you not seen my face?''

It is that dark humor, she explains, that helps her cope and accept her new reality.

Ikram is hoping to rebuild her life

Ikram with her mom, Sherina when she gave her first talk at an academy charter school

A recent photo shows the scarring that appears on Ikram's face and wrists that has been healing though she suffers from chronic pain she is trying to be patient and kind to herself

She smokes medical marijuana that helps her manage the pain.

She has to stay away from certain foods as not to inflame her esophagus where she suffered internal burns.

She is also unable to drive and relies on her parents due to the lack of vision in her eye and hopes one day to be able to drive again.

Some of her triggers is seeing a red car that brings her back to that ghastly night.

Part of her healing is journaling, attending Pilates classes, going to the gym and spending time with her cat, Zen.

Ikram said she is slowly getting back to her new normal. She started taking classes at Hofstra again, and is trying to get back to work as a pharmacy technician.

She continues to do speaking engagements at different schools and organizations in the tri-state area.

Some of the topics she speaks on, she explains, is mostly on 'adversity, resilience how to find the motivation when you don't have it, how to deal with feelings like when you are stuck.'

Though she is unsure where her career path will lead her, she knows that she wants to do something that will help other trauma survivors.

The trauma she endured has made her a more compassionate and empathetic human and in the process learning to love herself again.

Ikram's mother said her daughter still has a lot of burn areas and a lot of scars from her surgery, but shared how much she admires her strength.

'She's in a lot of pain but she is trying to manage and move forward with her life.'

A GoFundMe had been set up, shortly after the attack by some neighbors, to help with the expenses.

And, celebrity chef host Padma Lakshmi, who is a friend to the family, shared Ikram's story to her millions of Instagram followers.

The fundraiser is still active and to date nearly $600,000 has been raised.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crimestoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.
Lady Victoria Hervey has insisted that Virginia Giuffre's credibility has been 'destroyed' after she was released from hospital following her dramatic claim that she had only 'four days' to live.

The aristocrat who once dated Prince Andrew said she been vindicated after last week accusing Jeffrey Epstein victim Ms Giuffre of faking claims that a crash with a school bus had left her fighting for life.

Lady Victoria, 48, was slammed as 'nasty' and 'vile' by many social media users when she joked about Ms Giuffre having posted a selfie of herself with a badly bruised face and claiming that she was about to die from kidney failure.

In a brutal Instagram post, she showed Ms Giuffre's picture with the word 'Karma' added to it, accompanied by the soundtrack of Europe's 1986 hit The Final Countdown to mock her claims.

Lady Victoria said: 'I called her out because I have known for a long time what this woman is capable of. She claimed more than a week ago that she had four days to live, and yet now she is out of hospital.'

She added in an exclusive interview with MailOnline: 'I got a lot of abuse on social media for calling her out and saying that I never believed her. I have no regrets about what I said, and I have been proved right. Her credibility is destroyed.'

Lady Victoria has been a long term critic of Ms Giuffre who won a multi-million pound settlement from Prince Andrew after claiming that she had been forced to have sex with him three times at the age of 17 when she was trafficked by his friend Epstein.

Ms Giuffre, nee Roberts, caused concern when she shared a photograph of herself on Instagram nine days ago, showing her covered in bruises after a bus allegedly crashed into her car two weeks ago in Neergabby near Perth, Western Australia.

Lady Victoria Hervey (pictured at London Fashion Week in February of this year) dated Prince Andrew briefly back in 1999

When Andrew's accuser Virginia Giuffre posted a bruised selfie after her car was hit by a school bus at the end of March, Lady Victoria reposted the image with with the word 'Karma' added to it, accompanied by the soundtrack of Europe's 1986 hit The Final Countdown

Virgina Giuffre, nee Roberts (pictured right), claimed she was sexually assaulted as a teenager by Prince Andrew (left) after being recruited by Jeffrey Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell

Her post said: 'I've gone into kidney renal failure, they've given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology. I'm ready to go, just not until I see my babies one last time.'

Ms Giuffre added: 'I think it important to note that when a school bus driver comes at you driving 110km as we were slowing for a turn that no matter what your car is made of it might as well be a tin can.'

But Lady Victoria insisted that Ms Giuffre's story appeared to be fabricated as questions continued to be asked in Australia about the truth of what had happened to her.

She spoke out after commenting on Instagram: 'It's a little hard to believe anyone who cries wolf', along with a message saying, 'Lock her up!', accompanied by the Duran Duran track Hungry Like The Wolf.

Lady Victoria told MailOnline that Ms Giuffre was a 'fantasist' who was faking or exaggerating the seriousness of her condition in order to 'emotionally blackmail' her children who appear to be with her estranged husband.

She said: 'I just thought the photo looked dodgy in the beginning. You don't have earrings on like that and a necklace on if you are dying in hospital. You just don't. You would have a gown on as well

'There's no puffiness in her face. It's just like a few bruises. It definitely doesn't look like a dying picture. If she really wanted to make it dramatic, there would have been tubes all over her, and the proper equipment around her, but there is none of that.'

She added: 'The other interesting thing is that her husband seems to have custody of the kids. The kids are not little. They are like teenagers. When you are a teenager they are big enough to know.

Prince Andrew (left) and Lady Victoria (right) are seen together in January 2002 at a New Year's party inside the Reform Club in London

Due to the shocking nature of the claims against him, Prince Andrew lost military titles and royal patronages as well as the use of the title His Royal Highness (pictured December 2022)

Virginia Giuffre, 41, shared a photo of herself from her hospital bed on March 30 covered in bruises she had claims she sustained after her car was hit by a speeding school bus

In the post, Ms Giuffre claimed that she had 'gone into renal kidney failure' and that doctors told her she had 'four days to live' - although her brother Sky Roberts later clarified that that may have been the length of time specialists told her she would live if she hadn't got treatment for her injuries

'It's an interesting fact. I just think that is very low for somebody like her to reach out to her children through Instagram and say something like that, especially if it is a lie just to get sympathy.'

Ms Giuffre is believed to have been discharged on Monday afternoon from Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, and left via a back door to avoid the large media pack waiting at the front.

She was said to have been admitted to the hospital at 3am last Tuesday for an unknown reason within hours of the story of her Instagram post on the previous Sunday making headlines around the world.

Local media in western Australia claimed that Ms Giuffre had a pre-existing kidney problem which had earlier required treatment.

Questions about the reliability of her claims deepened after the driver of the bus involved in the crash with her car exclusively told MailOnline that she was not in the vehicle when the accident happened.

Ross Munns said the crash had been 'blown out of proportion' and was only a minor collision which damaged the tail light of the car.

He claimed he was unable to avoid the impact happened when he was legally overtaking the car at around 75kph only for it to suddenly turn right without indicating in to Ms Giuffre's farmstead property.

Mr Munns claimed he stopped and spoke to the 71-year-old woman driver after the crash and was convinced that nobody else was in the car.

Billionaire and prolific sex offender Jeffrey Epstein took his own life in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting his sex trafficking trial

Ms Giuffre found herself at the centre of one of the world's biggest scandals when she launched legal action against billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2015 - Andrew later settled for an undisclosed sum but with no admission of liability

Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital in Perth where Ms Giuffre received treatment for her injuries following the crash

Ms Giuffre's spokesperson also appeared to pull back from her comments by claiming that she meant to have posted the statement about her crash injuries on her private Facebook page instead of her public Instagram account

Further doubts about her story emerged when her brother Sky Roberts, clarified her 'four days to live' claim, saying only that she was told by doctors she would have died in that timeframe if she did not receive treatment.

It has also since emerged that Ms Giuffre has been living alone on her 40 acre farmstead since a 'messy' split from her husband Robert earlier this year.

She also appears to be estranged from her three children who are thought to be still living with their father at the family's sprawling six bedroom home in Perth's seaside suburb Ocean Reef.

The children are thought to have been at school this past week with no sign of them at her hospital during visiting hours. Giuffre's eldest son is no longer 'friends' with his mum on social media.

It also emerged last week that she had been accused of breaching a family restraining order at the family home and is due to face Joondalup court on Wednesday this week. She's yet to enter a plea.

Ms Giuffre broke her silence over the weekend to claim in an interview with People magazine that she was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her estranged husband.

'You don't know the half of it,' one neighbour told Daily Mail Australia. 'I can't really say anymore, but none of this surprises me.'

Lady Victoria said she received 'a lot of abuse on social media for calling out Ms Giuffre (pictured here in 2019) but added: 'I have no regrets about what I said, and I have been proved right. Her credibility is destroyed'

Virginia Giuffre (right) pictured with her now-estranged husband Robert Giuffre (left) who she has since accused of domestic violence

Lady Victoria added: 'I knew from the start that the picture of her didn't look right. The important thing is that nobody is believing her at all now.'

The aristocrat has in the past accused Ms Giuffre, 41, of having used an 'Irish body double' to fake the famous photo that appeared to show her as a teenager with Prince Andrew in Ghislaine Maxwell's home in London.

She described Ms Giuffre as 'the Queen of the fake photo after all', and claimed that the FBI had now been given recordings of her admitting in a phone conversation with two other people that she had lied about having sex with Prince Andrew.

Lady Victoria told MailOnline said: 'I don't want to get into too much with the FBI. But basically they are on to her and we do have recordings which are now in the hands of the FBI. They are deeply incriminating for her and show that Prince Andrew is innocent.

'We had to wait for Trump to win and for the new FBI to be sworn in to get the recordings into the right hands because the problem was under the last President, it was never going to happen

'Under Biden we were never going to get the whole story and the right people behind bars.'

Asked if Prince Andrew would be 'rubbing his hands in glee', she added: 'I don't think he is that kind of person. I think he just wants his life back. I wouldn't say he was a vengeful person, like quite possibly I could be. He just wants his life back.'

MailOnline has approached Virginia Giuffre's representatives for comment.
A glamorous drug mule spared jail after being caught attempting to smuggle over 35kg of cannabis into the UK hopes to visit schools so she can urge children not to make the same mistake she did.

Shamed ex-nurse Levi-April Whalley, now 31, and close friend Sophie Bannister, 30, have admitted making a 'stupid' decision - but blamed their downfall on being 'groomed' by international criminals.

Since unsuccessfully trying to bring the drugs  worth around 160,000  hidden inside two suitcases on a flight from New York to Birmingham in December 2023, Whalley has given birth to a baby, a daughter now aged five months.

After both were given suspended prison sentences, she said becoming a mother had made her realise why drug smuggling has to carry such heavy penalties  a maximum of 14 years' imprisonment in the case of cannabis.

The pair  both originally from Blackburn, Lancashire - have nearly 60,000 followers on Instagram, and until their arrest regularly posted about enjoying beach holidays around the world.

They claim that a woman Bannister had met in Marbella offered them a free holiday in New York in return for bringing back what they thought were watches and jewellery.

The pair were among 134 suspects arrested for smuggling a total of 5,609kg of cannabis into UK airports in 2023.

Last year a staggering 26,924kg was seized from around 750 smugglers flying into UK airports  a five-fold increase on the year before.

Shamed ex-nurse Levi-April Whalley, 31, who was spared jail over attempting to smuggle drugs, hopes to visit schools so she can urge children not to make the same mistake she did

Whalley, pictured on a boat in Thailand in 2023, admitted making a 'stupid' decision - but blamed her downfall on being 'groomed' by international criminals

The drugs in Whalley's were estimated at 121,500, while Bannister's suitcase had an estimated street value of 40,500

Saying she now bitterly regrets accepting the offer, Whalley said: 'I'd love to be able to speak to people now and go in schools and try to change and people.

'I'd really like to open people's eyes up and say always think twice about every opportunity that's offered to you, because it's not always the route that you should go down.

'You've got to think about the whole of the consequences, not just one angle of things.

'You've not got to just go in and think "Oh yeah, it's a free holiday, let's go and do this".'

Whalley  who faces being struck off the nursing register and has retrained offering beauty treatments  said her baby daughter was her 'biggest blessing'.

'I didn't realize how much children do change you,' she added.

'I want the best for my daughter.'

Asked if that had brought it home to her why drug smuggling can carry such strong punishments, she said: 'Yes of course it does.'

Close friend Sophie Bannister, 30, (pictured)  was also given a suspended prison sentence for her part in attempting to smuggle drugs into the UK

Whalley and Bannister are pictured on a trip to New York City in 2023 before they were caught with the drugs

Since their arrest, neither has committed any other offences and Whalley (pictured) has become a mother to a young baby, the court heard

Saying she wanted to share her message of the perils of being 'grooming' into becoming a drugs mule, Whalley said: 'It worries me for my own daughter, exploitation.

'I wouldn't want her to be exploited. I want her to choose the right actions in the future.

'It's always "Do you want to go on holiday?!

'Don't be sucked into this type of false reality. We just got sucked into it.'

Text messages between Bannister (pictured) and Whalley later revealed that the pair had become involved in a lucrative plot to import cannabis into the UK

Bannister (pictured) and Whalley told border officials they had been on a three-day shopping spree in the Big Apple
A European court has ruled that an assassin who shot dead a mother-of-nine and her sleeping nephew in a botched revenge hit has had his human rights breached.

Obina Christopher Ezeoke, 32, sneaked into the family home of student Bervil Kalikaka-Ekofo, 21, and his aunt Annie Ekofo, 53, through their unlocked front door and executed them in September 2016.

But the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has now ruled that Ezeoke's human rights were breached due to the lengthy wait for his case to be tried, The Telegraph reported.

Ezeoke carried out the revenge hit after footage of him being attacked was shared on Snapchat by rivals - including Ms Ekofo's son Ryan Efey, the Old Bailey heard.

Mr Efey was probably the intended target but Ezeoke decided he would kill anyone in the flat.

Ezeoke was finally convicted at the fifth attempt after the previous four trials ended with either a split decision or fell apart due to external circumstances.

The original trial in 2017 was stopped after a judge was forced to withdraw with agonising back pain.

Juries in May 2018 and March 2019 failed to reach verdicts, despite the majority of jurors supporting a conviction in both instances.

Obina Christopher Ezeoke, 32, was convicted of double murder in September 2020 after four previous trials. A European court in Strasbourg found that the delays constituted a breach of his human rights under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights

One of the victims, student Bervil Kalikaka-Ekofo, 21, who was killed Ezeoke sneaked into his family home through an unlocked front door in September 2016

Ezeoke also executed Bervil's aunt Annie Ekofo, 53, at the apartment in East Finchley, north London

Prosecutors made the exceptional choice to pursue a fifth trial after the previous hearing collapsed due to the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

Ezeoke's legal team made the case for refusing a fifth trial, saying 'enough is enough' but the prosecution eventually got the green-light.

He was eventually convicted in September 2020 and handed a life sentence, with the judge recommending he should serve at least 40 years behind bars.

The court ruled that the gap between his arrest and conviction breached Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to 'a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law.'

While the delays in bringing Ezeoke to justice were beyond the control of either the court system or the government, the court in Strasbourg nevertheless ruled that the killer's rights had been breached.

Ezeoke, who represented himself, had sought his release from prison, which was rejected by the court who said it had no jurisdiction to order such a measure. Further, while noting that Ezeoke had not requested compensation, it ruled that he was not entitled to any sum by way of just satisfaction.

Judges at the ECHR found that while the trial delays constituted a breach of human rights, the conviction and sentence were both fair and not in breach of Article 6.

The shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said: 'This is the latest extraordinary example of judicial activism by the Strasbourg court. It only seems to get worse.'

Ezeoke carried out the killings against Bervil and Annie (pictured) as part of a 'vendetta of violence' after footage of him being attacked was shared on Snapchat by rivals - including Ms Ekofo's son Ryan Efey, the Old Bailey heard

Ezeoke fired a bullet into the back of psychology student Bervil's head with a vintage Western-style revolver at her apartment in East Finchley, North London.

He then wheeled around and blasted the victim's aunt Annie Ekofo, 53, in the chest with the Smith and Wesson .44 when she came out of her bedroom dressed only in her underwear.

Neither Bervil nor Annie were the intended targets, the court was told.

Ezeoke carried out the killings as part of a 'vendetta of violence' before fleeing the scene in a Vauxhall Meriva at around 6.30am.

He maintained that he had been on Grahame Park estate in North London with four friends at the time of the murders.

The killer claimed that gunshot residue particles discovered in the getaway car, which evidence showed had been bought and insured by him under a false name, came from a different shooting when others had used the vehicle.

But an Old Bailey jury convicted him of the two murders after deliberating for 41 hours and ten minutes over eight days.
A podcaster has been ordered to pay the wife of a convicted killer nearly $400,000 after falsely accusing her of engaging in witchcraft and helping her husband kill his mistress.

Charlene Jabbie, 38, won her defamation lawsuit against Melbourne-based podcaster Susanna Gbangaye, 37, in the Supreme Court in Perth last month.

The civil case began after Ms Gbangaye falsely claimed Ms Jabbie played a major role in the murder of Janet Dweh, 36, inside her Perth home in October 2021.

Ms Dweh was brutally murdered by her lover, and Ms Jabbie's now ex-husband, Hassan Jabbie, 53, after she refused to abort their child.

Hassan Jabbie was sentenced to life behind bars for the crime in February.

The court heard Ms Gbangaye addressed her 32,000 followers, largely from the Liberian-Australian community she shared with Ms Jabbie, in a two-hour livestream to discuss Ms Dweh's murder just weeks after the event.

Ms Gbangaye falsely alleged Ms Jabbie was an 'evil' and 'violent' person who had assisted her husband in his lover's murder.

A video of the livestream was then uploaded to Ms Gbangaye's Facebook page, where it remained for just shy of a year.

Janet Dweh (pictured) was brutally murdered by Hassan Jabbie in 2021 after she refused to abort their love child

Melbourne podcaster Susanna Gbangaye falsely told her follower's Hassan Jabbie's wife, Charlene Jabbie, was involved in the murder (pictured, officers at the crime scene)

A transcript of the livestream was included in court documents, seen by the Herald Sun.

'One way or the other if Hassan is to be in jail I want to believe that the law in this country that they can push to every extent to find out about the wife too  she's not innocent  Charlene is not innocent,' Ms Gbangaye said.

'Charlene if you come across this video I am here to clearly tell you that you Charlene will not go free.

'I don't care how long it is or how long it takes in this system, you Charlene will never go free.'

Ms Gbangaye and Ms Jabbie knew each other before Ms Dweh's murder.

Both emigrated to Australia from a refugee camp in Guinea and settled in the same Perth neighbourhood.

Ms Gbangaye later moved to Melbourne and worked to build a large following for her podcast, The Gees, where she speaks on social and political issues relating to the Liberian community.

During her takedown of Ms Jabbie's character, Ms Gbangaye falsely claimed she was an 'evil' and 'violent' person who cut off a woman's ear to perform witchcraft during their time in Guinea.

Ms Gbangaye (pictured) falsely claimed Ms Jabbie physically attacked, verbally abused and threatened Ms Dweh prior to her death

The livestream was viewed upwards of 3,700 times on Ms Gbangaye's page and was shared by several other accounts with tens of thousands of followers.

Ms Jabbie told the Perth court she first learnt of the video from her sister, who warned a woman in Melbourne was 'saying things' about her.

However, she initially dismissed the video and told her mother and sister Ms Gbangaye can 'say what she wants to say', while she was preoccupied with her partner's crime.

'I did not view it at the time because I was completely shattered, to be honest, and when I - I only heard a few details of it but I didn't know the extent,' Ms Jabbie said.

'Then my mother was the one that played a section, the first 24 minutes of it, and I started crying.'

Ms Jabbie soon started feeling the real-life implications of Ms Gbangaye false accusations.

She was targeted online and on the streets, with one woman even confronting Ms Jabbie at her local shopping centre.

'There was a lady who came up to me and said, "You're a killer. You are a killer. You deserve to go to jail. No wonder why Susanna say you are a killer",' she said.

Hassan Jabbie (pictured) was sentenced to life behind bars for Ms Dweh's murder in February

Her children were also subjected to the abuse.

'There was picture on Snapchat of me, the video she has shown, that pictures of my children calling, "Your dad is this. Your mum is a killer",' Ms Jabbie said.

Ms Jabbie was eventually hospitalised with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after struggling to cope with the harassment on top of her husband's murder charge.

She also lost her job with superannuation firm AustralianSuper after being forced to take considerable time off work.

Ms Gbangaye admitted to making five of the 12 defamatory statements outlined in Ms Jabbie's case.

Those included allegations Ms Jabbie had physically attacked, verbally abused and threatened Ms Dweh prior to her death.

Justice Paul Allan Tottle found the beginning of Ms Gbangaye's livestream was 'plainly defamatory' and she did not care for the consequences of her accusations.

'The defendant's comments about the plaintiff during the podcast constituted an attack calculated to destroy the plaintiff's reputation in the Liberian community in Australia and cause the community to reject her,' Justice Tottle said.

The court found Ms Gbangaye's video accusing Ms Jabbie of being involved in Ms Dweh's (pictured) death was 'plainly defamatory'

'The community was mourning the loss of Ms Dweh and the imputations the plaintiff was complicit in the murder of Ms Dweh and coerced her husband to commit the murder could not have been more serious.'

The Supreme Court in Perth ordered Ms Gbangaye to pay Ms Jabbie $325,000 in general damages and $70,400 for economic loss.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Gbangaye for comment.
A woman has blasted the Coalition's election promise for first-time home buyers, claiming it is 'unfair' young Aussies must use their retirement savings to buy a house.

Maja Petrovic took aim at the policy on ABC's Q+A program on Monday night in a rant that sparked nervous chuckling from members of the studio audience.

As part of an election promise, the Coalition has vowed to allow first-home buyers to withdraw up to 40 per cent of their super, or a maximum of $50,000, to buy a house.

Ms Petrovic, who is renting with her family, claimed it was unfair young Aussies needed to rely on their super to get into the housing market while the previous generations, such as baby boomers and Gen X, did not have to.

'I am sure some people didn't have to use their super to buy their 27th or 26th home either? I don't know why we should have to do that?' she said.

'What are we going to do later? We can use our super but all the house prices are going to go up anyway and who benefits? House owners.'

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather spoke up and backed Ms Petrovic's frustrations with Australia's housing market.

'There are politicians in Canberra who got to buy a house for three to four times the average income,' he said.

ABC's Q+A audience member Maja Petrovic called out the Coalition's first home buyers plan to allow young Australians to use their super to secure a deposit to buy a home

'We are being told our generation, if we want home ownership, we have to drain our retirement savings now. How dare they?'

Mr Chandler-Mather, who holds the housing portfolio for the Greens, blamed former prime minister John Howard's 50 per cent capital gains tax discount in 1999 for Australia's housing crisis 25 years later.

He added the capital gains tax discount has enabled landlord investors to drive up property prices resulting in young Australians being 'locked out' of the property market.

'The rot started when John Howard introduced the capital gains tax discount and that's why we're locked out of home ownership,' Mr Chandler-Mather said.

'Every time a property investor uses those tax handouts to bid up the price of housing, we get screwed. It has to change.'

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg argued young Aussies were 'better off in the long-term' if they owned a property.

He added Australians in retirement still relied on the age pension and not just their super.

'This idea is rigid thinking that superannuation is the only way to get to a comfortable retirement,' Senator Bragg said.

Liberal Senator for NSW Andrew Bragg argued young Aussies were 'better off in the long-term' if they drew on their super to buy a home

'Housing is at the core of a safe retirement. That is what we want to give people the option. It is a choice. You don't have to use it but if you want to, you can use it.'

Mr Chandler-Mather fired back at Mr Bragg's comments, suggesting the government stop giving more money to investors who have '20 properties' to buy another one.

Senator Bragg shot the statement down claiming 'it makes no difference to the prices'.

'What you are saying it not right. It makes no difference. I wish it was that simple,' he said.

In January, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton confirmed the Coalition's election promise to allow first-home buyers to use $50,000 of their superannuation to buy a home.

Mr Dutton said 'restoring the dream of home ownership' would be a key policy area in the Opposition's campaign to win the 2025 election.

'Entering the property market shouldn't be limited to those who can rely on the bank of mum and dad,' Mr Dutton said.

With the federal election to be held on May 3, the Opposition Leader vowed the Coalition would 'get Australia back on track' and that he would lead a government based on the 'views, values and vision' of everyday Australians.

Australia's median capital city house price is now at $1.014million, which would require a high $156,000 salary just to get a mortgage with a 20 per cent deposit.

Monday night's Q+A was recorded at Casula, in Sydney's outer south-west, where houses typically cost $1.159million, CoreLogic data showed.
A billionaire American-Palestinian businessman has been sued by grieving families whose loved ones were victims of the October 7 terror attack in Israel.

Bashar Masri, once named one of the 'world's greatest leaders', has been accused of allowing Hamas to construct the infrastructure needed to carry out their sick attack, which left 1,200 dead and sparked the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The lawsuit accuses the wealthy developer of knowing that Hamas militants were constructing elaborate tunnels underneath his properties in Gaza to 'store and launch its rockets at Israel.'

Those tunnels have been central to Hamas' operations, concealing hostages taken from the 2023 attack on the Nova Music Festival alongside scores of weapons.

'The properties defendants developed with Hamas were not only part of the infrastructure Hamas used in connection with the Oct. 7 attack itself,' the lawsuit stated.

'Their development deliberately advanced Hamas's false narrative that it was interested primarily in the economic development of Gaza and a grudging coexistence with Israel.'

Masri, named by the World Economic Forum as a 'Global Leader of Tomorrow' and a graduate from Virginia Tech, maintains the allegations are baseless and is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed.

'Neither he nor those entities have ever engaged in unlawful activity or provided support for violence and militancy,' his office said in a statement.

Bashar Masri (pictured) has been accused of allowing Hamas to construct infrastructure needed to carry out their sick attack, which left 1,200 dead and sparked the ongoing conflict in Gaza

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 200 plaintiffs, including the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin (pictured), one of the Israeli American victims who was initially taken hostage but later killed

'His continued efforts to promote regional peace and stability have been widely recognized by the United States and all concerned parties in the region. He unequivocally opposes violence of any kind.'

It was filed in the Federal District Court in Washington, where Masri has a home, and is considered the first of its kind.

Forty six Americans were killed in the initial attack.

The lawsuit does not accuse Masri of knowing that the October 7 attack was going to take place, only that he knew Hamas had stored the military infrastructure.

It states that Masri's investments in Gaza directly benefited Hamas. One of his properties, an industrial park near the Israeli border, had an 'elaborate subterranean attack tunnel network' which was 'siphoning electricity from their World Bank-funded solar project.'

His Blue Beach Resort allegedly also had a complex tunnel system which linked it to a Hamas training base. Israel's Defense Forces claimed the hotel was also used 'as a shelter where [Hamas] planned and executed attacks both above and below ground.'

Finally, the lawsuit cites the Israeli army's intel allegations that Masri's Ayan Hotel was used as a base to fire rockets from, and that tunnels underneath the hotel were accessible from certain guest rooms and facilities.

Both hotels were damaged when Israel retaliated against the October 7 attack.

The lawsuit does not accuse Masri of knowing that the October 7 attack was going to take place, only that he knew Hamas had stored the military infrastructure

Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was an outspoken advocate for her son's safe return before learning he had been tragically killed

Pictured: Masri at one of his developments in the West Bank

Rachel and her husband Jonathan are reportedly among 200 plaintiffs in the new lawsuit

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 200 plaintiffs, including the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the Israeli American victims who was initially taken hostage but later killed.

Masri's former business partner Eyal Waldman, whose daughter was killed on October 7 at the festival, is also part of the lawsuit.

Hamas has had a stronghold on Gaza and often major projects in the city have to be accepted and agreed upon by militants, who make up the government.

Israel has since revealed Hamas has built a vast network of tunnels under homes, hospitals, schools and other major infrastructure.

Masri has reportedly been advising Trump's envoy seeking the release of Hamas hostages, Adam Boehler.

He has also been linked with plans to rebuild Gaza after the war, the New York Times reported.

Trump has a bold vision for Gaza and the West Bank, revealing he'd like to see it transformed into the 'Riviera of the Middle East.'

He's also been working closely with Israel in an effort to end the crisis.
An 11-year-old boy who died from a snake bite was assumed to be 'grog sick' or concussed when he began slurring his words and vomiting.

Tristian Frahm died at a property in Murgon in Queensland's South Burnett region, 150km inland from the Sunshine Coast, on November 21, 2021 - hours after he told his dad a snake had bitten him.

The timeline leading up to Tristan's tragic death has been revealed during a pre-inquest hearing at Brisbane coroner's court on Monday.

Tristian and his father, Kerrod Frahm, were at a remote property on November 20 for a birthday celebration, according to opening remarks seen by Daily Mail Australia.

Counsel assisting the Coroner Sarah Ford told the court the father-son duo spent the afternoon and night with Mr Frahm's friends, Rachelle Dorman and Jacob Bryant, and two other young boys.

The trio of boys were riding a mower when Tristian is believed to have fallen off, saying he had been bitten by a snake.

Mr Frahm reportedly told police he thought Tristian was 'a little dazed or concussed', suggesting Tristian may have hit his head.

'Mr Bryant recalls that Tristian was barely able to stand and was trying to "half talk" but was slurring his words,' Ms Ford said.

Tristian Frahm, 11 (pictured), died at a remote property in Queensland's South Burnett region in November 2021, hours after he told his dad he had been bitten by a snake

'It's clear that there was some talk of Tristian having been bitten by a snake,' Ms Ford said, telling the court the adults reportedly checked Tristian for bite marks.

Possibly while Tristian was being checked for bites, the court heard that one boy told the adults that Tristian had drank some beers he had stolen from his dads esky.

They then reportedly assumed the 11-year-old was intoxicated, with Mr Frahm telling his son to 'go and sleep it off'.

Between the accounts shared by Ms Ford with the coroner's court, Tristian is believed to have vomited multiple times over the following hours and into the night.

The court heard that after one bout of vomiting, one of the other boys tried to wake Mr Frahm, who was asleep on a couch, but was unsuccessful.

'Overnight, both [boys] observed Tristian to be in significant pain. In [one's] words, Tristian was in really big pain,' Ms Ford said.

One boy reportedly alerted Ms Dorman to the 11-year-old's condition but 'she thought Tristian was just hungover from the beers he had stolen', the court heard.

Ms Dorman is believed to have seen Tristian sitting in the door of a donga, a form of temporary, demountable housing, at about 2am and he waved to her.

Tristian's dad Kerrod Frahm reportedly told police that he thought Tristian may have hit his head, saying he was 'a little dazed or concussed' (the father-son duo are pictured)

'In Ms Dorman's opinion, Tristian appeared to be perfectly fine - just "grog sick",' Ms Ford told the court.

The counsel's assistant said Mr Frahm discovered his son lying face down outside the donga about 7am the following morning.

'Unable to rouse Tristian, Mr Frahm realised he had passed away,' she said.

Mr Frahm is said to have phoned his mother who then called triple-zero at 8.56am.

His mother said Mr Frahm was 'hysterical', according to Ms Ford.

Tristian's lifeless body was found lying outside the shed by emergency services with 'five patches of vomit within 20metres of his body', the court heard.

At the scene, emergency services observed two marks on Tristian's right ankle. The autopsy found that this injury was consistent with a snake bite.

The court heard that forensic pathologist, Dr Christopher Day determined Tristians cause of death as being brown snake envenomation.

Tristian's lifeless body was found outside the donga, a type of temporary housing, by emergency services with five patches of vomit close by, the court heard

At the inquest, listed for June 2 and 6, the court will hear from Associate Professor Katherine Isoardi regarding Tristian's death.

Ms Ford said the expert will give evidence that, 'had Tristian received immediate medical attention, it is likely that his death would have been prevented'.

On the coroner's court website, the inquest is listed as aiming to promote awareness of 'the signs and symptoms of snake envenomation'.

It will also highlight the first aid required for suspected snake bites and consider recommendations to prevent future deaths.

Prosecutors dropped a manslaughter charge against Kerrod Frahm in 2024 after police alleged he was negligent in his son's death for not seeking medical help.

Mr Frahm was not present at the Coroner's Court on Monday but Tristian's mum and grandmother attended.

His death has devastated his family who say they will remember him as a 'little hero' and an 'angel'.

'I'm so beyond lost for words and the heart break is unimaginable. I'm still in disbelief,' one relative posted at the time.'
A British woman living on the Gold Coast has sparked intense debate after she accused Australians of being 'immature' and 'emotionally-stunted'.

Eloise Juliet asked her followers whether they had noticed what she referred to as 'a very Australia-specific issue' in a TikTok video on Sunday.

'From what I have observed since being here, Australians have a very weird and complicated relationship with emotions,' she said.

'It ties into misogyny, it ties into men acting very strangely towards women; AKA just not knowing how to deal with them at all, or treating them like objects.

'It's just a lot worse here.'

Ms Juliet said it was a symptom of a 'deeper-rooted' problem among Australians.

'There's this weird oppressive strange sensation in the air where you can feel, "I'm not supposed to really share anything genuinely authentic about how I'm feeling",' she continued.

'There's this sense that if you do so you are not safe and it will not be well received because people here don't know how to receive it'.

@eloise_juliet this is definitely not just a male thing btw ive noticed it more in females tbh since ive been here and obviously this is a generalisation you meet lovely people who this doesnt apply too but out of my experience i would say this applied to most people here  original sound - eloise_juliet

Eloise Juliet addressed the 'very heated' comments in response to her initial video the following day

Ms Juliet said the problem was not nearly as pronounced in the UK, where she lived until relocating to Queensland to study three months ago.

The dual citizen said the problem was particularly interesting given the tendency for Australians to ask, 'how are you?', without actually wanting to hear the answer.

'If you say, "Do you know what, I'm actually not doing too well", they get this like panic behind their eyes,' she said.

'They don't want the real answer, they don't want to know and it just creates this culture of emotionally-stunted people.

'It's why everyone here is just so much more immature than anyone else I've ever come across in the rest of the world.'

The expat's provocative outlook brought mixed reactions.

'In Australia, "How you going?", or, "How are ya?" just means hello. We aren't actually asking how you are,' one Australian commented.

'So it's like someone saying, "Hello", and you just spill out your emotions.'

Ms Juliet said her experience on the Gold Coast (pictured) was 'not dissimilar' to her time in Sydney

Another viewer said uneasiness around hard emotions also existed in the UK.

'As a British Australian, Australians are far more in tune with their emotions than the British. Emotions aren't taboo here,' they said.

'Think you've just been hanging around the wrong crowd,' a second agreed.

'This sounds like a perception issue,' a third wrote.

'Imagine saying it's a whole population of 26million people instead of considering maybe just maybe it could be you.'

But Ms Juliet hit back at this commenter, saying: 'If it was just me then why are there so many people in the comments agreeing?'

'Also, notice how it's often the people who have lived in another country at some point who can see and feel this.

'You can't really see it if you have never known anything else.'

But others agreed that an unwillingness to open up and share emotions was pronounced in Australia, as men particularly take the 'no worries' culture too far.

'Lived here 18 years. Girl, you nailed it. Not tall poppy syndrome (they blame everything on that). Just a pathological shallowness to all relationships and a sharp divide between the sexes,' one wrote.

Another commented: 'Australian men especially struggle with casual vulnerability in a way that is so palpable once you've spent time elsewhere.'

Ms Juliet acknowledged her experience was limited but said she had met a 'broad range' of people in her time as a student on the Gold Coast (pictured, university students)

Ms Juliet posted a follow-up video the next day addressing the 'very heated' response from defensive Aussies.

In the video, Eloise admitted her experience was limited to the Gold Coast but added she had 'gotten to know quite a broad range of people'.

She added her experience was 'a bit different' but 'not entirely dissimilar' in Sydney, where she spent the first seven years of her life.

She added that while she had not yet found her 'core group', her comments were directed at a broader cultural issue and the 'unspoken-ness of Australian emotion'.

While some agreed with her characterisation of the Gold Coast, the follow-up video was quickly inundated with negative comments.

'Aussies are friendly. That awkwardness with emotional connection is because they actually don't like you, but they're too nice to make you feel rejected,' one user said.

'Emotional intimacy is earned, not automatic,' another said.

'Like, Id say Im very emotionally intimate with my friends, and even my acquaintances, but not immediately.

'I would never put my emotions on strangers, or someone who hasnt made it clear that they are willing to hold space for it.'
Sam Newman's latest shocking podcast has aired baseless claims that Port Arthur mass murderer Martin Bryant was innocent and was set up by the government.

It comes just months after Newman was widely criticised for hosting neo-Nazis Thomas Sewell and Blair Cottrell on his You Cannot Be Serious podcast.

In his latest episode, Newman allowed a conspiracy theorist to defend Bryant and preach his wild beliefs for almost 40 minutes, without offering any substantial proof.

The massacre was a mass shooting that happened on April 28, 1996 at Port Arthur, a former convict settlement and now tourist site 90km south of Hobart in Tasmania.

Bryant, who was intellectually disabled, killed 35 people and wounded 23 others, including Nanette Mikac and her daughters Alannah Mikac, 6, and Madeline, 3.

Newman began the podcast by declaring 'these kind of chats are fraught with danger' before admitting he 'loved to do it' because it was 'food for thought' and of interest to his listeners.

He gave actor and 'film armourer' Paul Moder free rein to rewrite history and claim the mass shooting was arranged to precipitate a de-arming of Australians, as strict new gun laws were passed in the aftermath.

Moder was promoting his new movie which he said aims to 'retell' his version of the massacre, and told Newman he had 'dug very deeply' into the tragic events.

Former AFL star and entertainer Sam Newman has given air to another conspiracy theorist

Actor and 'film armourer' Paul Moder (pictured) was given free rein to rewrite history and the memory of those murdered in Australia's deadliest massacre in modern times

'I came to the conclusion Port Arthur stinks to high heaven,' he said.

'The mainstream story is not the full story. There is definitely a cover-up and there are a lot of unresolved questions.'

The former nightclub owner told Newman his theories on the shooting were based on both the change in gun laws, and the fact there was no coronial inquest into the incident.

Among Moder's wildest claims was that Bryant was present at the scene but never committed the massacre and was set up as the fall guy.

Bryant's rampage began at the Seascape Cottage, a guest house close to his home by the water on the Tasman Peninsula.

In his car Bryant, then aged 28, had packed two semi-automatic rifles, a 12-gauge shotgun, hundreds of ammunition rounds, handcuffs, rope, a hunting knife and tins of petrol.

Shortly after he arrived at the guest house, he murdered Seascape's owners, David and Sally Martin.

He then went to the nearby Port Arthur penal colony tourist site and shot dead 24 visitors and staff around the Broad Arrow Cafe. He shot dead another eight people on the way back to Seascape Cottage where he shot dead a hostage he had taken.

Paul Moder discussed his wild theories with former AFL legend Sam Newman on his podcast

Martin Bryant will be remembered as one of history's greatest monsters

'He's the Perfect Patsy,' Moder insisted. 'And my opinion is that he was helped and or set up by some very shady individuals.

'By his own admission, he was at Seascape Cottage where he was arrested, but that he didn't do the Port Arthur shooting.'

Moder claimed Bryant was 'tricked' into taking part in a secret military exercise linked to the CIA's Project MK Ultra mind control program, which dates back to the 1950s.

'The basic premise is that Martin Bryant was the perfect kind of Patsy, and that he was set up to take part in a false counter-intelligence exercise, if you like,' he said.

'So the theory is he was tricked into taking part in an exercise, going to Seascape Cottage, and told, "Look, you will read from this script, and you will shoot out the windows and keep people at bay".

'And that while he was there, he was incapacitated or drugged, and that they sent a professional person in impersonating him in his Volvo with his guns, who then carried out a very successful assault at the tourist penal colony.'

Newman acknowledged Moder's views 'might' be unpalatable and insensitive, but repeatedly justified airing the bizarre claims to his listeners.

'I thought it was worth having a chat to him about it because I've not heard this before and if I'm interested in what he has to say I reckon the people who listen to this (are),' Newman said.

The remains at the Seascape Cottage smouldered for days after Bryant's arrest

The Broad Arrow cafe where Martin Bryant carried out his evil crime in 1996

While Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to report much of Moder's rant, it can be revealed he used the platform to attack grieving dad Walter Mikac - who lost his wife the daughters in the tragedy - after being prompted by Newman.

'I understand he's taken on board the mantle, the mantle of preventing violence in Australian society, particularly by banning firearms, so I can certainly understand that loss,' Moder told Newman.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Mikac via the Alannah & Madeline Foundation - the charity named in honour of his slain daughters - for comment.

Moder believes the 'Bryant conspiracy' was intended to bring in gun control as part of former Prime Minister John Howard's 'lust for power'.

'I've always said that gun control alone is a motivation for a government involvement ... the oldest motivators in the book, going back through centuries,' Moder said.

'You only have to study history, power, money, influence and control. There were always people that benefit from major traumatic events and power.'

Newman said he was prepared for a public backlash over his decision to air Moder's interview.

'We'll probably take another belting for speaking to somebody about speaking about something that is ... well, we take a belting from everyone who we speak to,' he said.

Newman interviewed neo-Nazis Thomas Sewell and Blair Cottrell on his You Cannot Be Serious podcast and posed for a photo with them

In February, Newman was lambasted by chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission Dr Dvir Abramovich over his interview of two Neo-Nazis.

During the 55-minute episode, the trio discussed topics relating to the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler and an Australia Day march.

'Lets call this what it is - an absolute moral collapse,' Dr Abramovich said then.

'Sam Newman has now plunged into the depths of disgrace, rolling out the red carpet for Australias most vile, unapologetic white supremacists.

'These are not misunderstood figures. These are the faces of hatred, and Sam Newman has just handed them legitimacy on a silver platter.

'This is not just controversial or about free speech. Its a betrayal of every Australian value.

'By giving these hardcore bigots and antisemitism a platform, Newman has spat in the face of Holocaust survivors, trampled on the legacy of the courageous diggers who died to defeat Hitler, and insulted every Australian who has fought against bigotry.'

Newman later claimed Cottrell ambushed his podcast and that he never invited the extremist to be on the show, although he did interview him for almost an hour.

Former Footy Show host and AFL great Newman said he was angered that Cottrell had promoted the interview on X and tried to make it look like an endorsement of his views.

'That turd tried to link me to the cause. I tell you what, you are a piece of crud and you are just deliberately being mischievous,' Newman said.

'It was Cottrell's post on X that started the ball rolling.'

Newman labelled Cottrell a '24-carat scumbag' and denied any involvement, affiliation or endorsement of neo-Nazis.
Sami Sheen has revealed she has not communicated with her father Charlie Sheen for more than five months.

Sami Sheen has revealed she has not communicated with her father Charlie Sheen for more than five months

In the latest episode of Denise Richards and Her Wild Things, the 21-year-old OnlyFans content creator declined an invitation to join her mother, Denise Richards, 54, and sister, Lola Sheen, 19, for lunch with 59-year-old Charlie  and told how he is missing out on her life.

She said: I would rather do literally anything else than go to lunch with my father. 

Sami elaborated on her strained relationship with the actor by talking about their ups and downs over the years.

She said: It goes in very big chunks with him. I think for the first 13 years of my life it was pretty bad, and then we were OK for a couple years, and now it's just like, OK. 

Her mum Denise acknowledged the challenges her daughters have faced due to Charlies past struggles with addiction, saying on the show: I understand why Sami feels the way she does. 

Denise also shared her hope Charlie would recognise the importance of being involved in his daughters lives, stating he is missing out.

Sami concurred, adding: He really is missing out. 

In contrast, Lola described her relationship with Charlie as positive and close.

She said: My relationship with my dad has definitely improved. We started getting pedicures together, like, every two or three weeks, and that's, like, our favourite thing to do together. 

Over the weekend, Sami also took to TikTok to detail the cosmetic procedures she has undergone.

She disclosed she started receiving lip filler at age 18, with annual touch-ups.

Sami also mentioned over-lining her lips, calling it an addiction.

Regarding Botox, Sami admitted: I got Botox in my forehead and I hated it. I actually got it to lift my eyebrows up, but it did the complete opposite. 

She recounted trying nose filler before opting for a rhinoplasty, saying: I did that in the tip of my nose and the bridge to try to make it more straight and lifted. It worked a tiny bit, but I just needed a rhinoplasty, so I got that done twice. 

Sami also revealed she underwent a breast augmentation.
The discovery of an empty bullet casing on a packed flight from Sydney to Fiji has sparked an urgent police probe.

The Fiji Airways flight departed Sydney International Airport on Monday afternoon and arrived at Nadi International Airport later that evening.

The shell casing was reportedly discovered in an overhead compartment during the flight.

It's understood the shell casing did not originate in Australia, but was already on board the inbound flight when it arrived in Sydney from Nadi.

Firearms and ammunition are strictly prohibited on Fiji Airways flights, in accordance with the airline's dangerous goods policy.

How the bullet casing was taken on board remains under investigation by Fiji Police.

'Confirming the report of the discovery of a shell casing in an overhead compartment of a plane that arrived in to the country at the international airport,' a police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

Fiji Airways has been contacted in relation to the incident.

The shell casing was discovered in an overhead compartment on an Fiji Airways flight (stock)

Sydney Airport declined to comment when contacted.

It comes after a Fiji Airways flight from Sydney recently made headlines after four people were injured during horror turbulence on the way to Nadi.

The passengers were treated by medical staff upon arrival at the airport.

'Fiji Airways takes the safety and well-being of its guests and crew very seriously and regrets the occurrence of this event,' Fiji Airways said in a statement.
A glamorous judge who won re-election last year with nearly 65 percent of the vote is now under fire for a series of ethical lapses that have prompted Florida's judicial watchdog to recommend she be formally disciplined.

Judge Stefanie Moon, a longtime fixture in Broward County's legal circles, is facing a public reprimand and a fine for alleged conduct that includes mixing campaign politics with her courtroom authority, and making improper political contributions while on the bench.

The Florida Supreme Court will now decide whether to accept the recommendation from the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC), which described Moon's behavior as 'inherently coercive' and potentially damaging to public confidence in the judiciary.

Moon has now agreed to the reprimand and to pay a $2,115 fine, equal to the political donations she made to Democratic-aligned groups - contributions the commission said violated judicial canons.

At the center of the controversy is a moment that was captured on courtroom audio in February 2024, when Moon confronted attorney Michael Jones after a hearing, questioning why he hadn't returned a call about joining her reelection campaign committee.

The call had been placed from her personal cellphone outside of work hours a month earlier. Under Florida's judicial rules, such outreach is allowed as long as it is limited, indirect, and kept strictly outside the courtroom.

'This is Judge Stefanie Moon. I hope you are well. I'm reaching out because I'm putting together my reelection committee and I was wondering if you would agree to serve. If you would kindly return my call, I'd greatly appreciate it,' Judge Moon said in her voicemail to Jones.

But after dismissing a restraining order case in which Jones was representing a client, Judge Moon, still in her robe, seated in her courtroom, turned directly to the lawyer.

Broward County circuit judge Stefanie Moon, who won re-election last year with nearly 65 percent of the vote is now under fire for a series of ethical lapses

At the center of the controversy is a moment that was captured on courtroom audio when Moon confronted attorney Michael Jones, pictured, after a hearing, questioning why he hadn't returned a call about joining her reelection campaign committee

The Florida Supreme Court, pictured, will now decide whether to accept the recommendation from the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC), which described Moon's behavior as 'inherently coercive' and potentially damaging to public confidence in the judiciary

'I left you a message,' she told attorney Jones, shortly after dismissing a case in which he had been representing one of the parties.

Just before the courtroom audio was deactivated she asked him about his silence.

'I said, 'Yes, judge. You did.' And she asked me why I didn't return the court's call,' Jones recalled. 'I was extremely uncomfortable.'

The JQC said it was 'quite disturbed' by Moon's in-court remarks to Jones describing it as 'an inappropriate political activity' citing the power imbalance created when a judge questions an attorney in open court about campaign support.

'The inherently coercive nature of the interaction could reasonably raise questions about the judge's integrity or impartiality,' the commission concluded.

Moon later admitted that the exchange was inappropriate and could have been perceived as coercive - but she disputed the allegation that she asked Jones why he hadn't returned her call, saying it was 'self-evident.'

But it appears Moon's missteps didn't end there.

On Friday, the JQC released documents detailing additional violations, including her donations to political committees supporting Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, and ActBlue.

Moon has now agreed to the reprimand and to pay a $2,115 fine, equal to the political donations she made to Democratic-aligned groups - contributions the commission said violated judicial canons

On Friday, the JQC released documents detailing additional violations, including her donations to political committees supporting Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, and ActBlue

Florida's judicial ethics rules bar sitting judges from contributing to political campaigns or partisan organizations.

The JQC said the fine and public reprimand were appropriate given Moon's admission of wrongdoing, her expression of 'deep regret', and her cooperation with investigators.

The cumulative effect of her actions has prompted rare scrutiny for a judge once seen as a rising star in Broward legal circles.

Moon, who was elected to the Broward County circuit bench in 2018 following stints as an assistant US attorney and private civil litigator, has declined to comment publicly despite repeated requests from NBC6, which first exposed the election-related controversy last year.

Moon, who has served in family court since her election in 2018, also admitted to another violation: improperly contacting a mental health counselor who was scheduled to testify in a stalking case before her.

She phoned the witness outside the presence of attorneys and parties and began questioning him before he could testify in court, a clear violation of judicial protocol.

The JQC noted the action undermined procedural fairness and risked contaminating the integrity of the proceedings.

The commission described the conduct as serious but stopped short of recommending suspension or removal, citing her acknowledgment of misconduct and willingness to accept sanctions.

Concerns about her conduct have come from multiple corners of the legal community.

Judge Stefanie Moon is seen sitting in court. Florida's judicial ethics rules bar sitting judges from contributing to political campaigns or partisan organizations

Moon, who has served in family court since her election in 2018, also admitted to another violation: improperly contacting a mental health counselor who was scheduled to testify in a stalking case before her

Johnny Weekes, her 2024 primary opponent, accused Moon of displaying a lack of respect and professionalism in her court and said he ran against her to offer voters a different option

Johnny Weekes, her 2024 primary opponent, accused Moon of displaying a lack of respect and professionalism in her courtroom and said he ran against her to offer voters a different option.

Weekes believed 'the candor, the respect that's in that courtroom just is not there. And I thought Broward County needed something different,' he explained.

He pointed to several troubling incidents, including her decision not to reschedule a Monday morning hearing to accommodate his travel with his teenage son - a hearing that Moon herself allegedly missed due to her own travel delays.

'She wanted me in that courtroom, and I was there,' Weekes told NBC6. 'And she wasn't.'

Jones, meanwhile, has vowed to ask Moon to recuse herself from any future cases he argues before her.

'Not returning a judge's call who directly looks for your help puts me in a bad situation,' he said. 'I felt intimidated.'

Though Moon has consented to the reprimand and fine, the final word now lies with the Florida Supreme Court, which can accept, reject, or modify the JQC's recommendation.

If it agrees, Moon would be publicly reprimanded - a formal mark of censure - but could remain on the bench.

Moon's supporters say she is meticulous and fair, and that the violations should be viewed as lapses in judgment, not patterns of misconduct.

'Judge Moon is one of the most ethical, methodical, thorough judges I've ever appeared in front of. Everything in her courtroom is by the book,' said attorney Valerie Small-Williams, who served on Moon's reelection committee. 'I don't think her intent was to violate anything.'

While some might see a troubling trend that undermines the very foundation of the judiciary, last August voters returned Moon to the bench with nearly 65 percent of the vote.
A property at a prized location could sell for a million dollars less than it would normally be worth because it contains an immovable object.

The narrow plot, which is just 235sq metres, is situated in the leafy suburb of Longueville on Sydney's lower north shore.

It appears to be a rare gem, but there is a significant catch.

It comes with a large shed-sized electrical substation and the new owners will not be able to remove it.

The land was previously been owned by Ausgrid and it holds an easement over the site.

It means the company has permanent legal rights to access and maintain the substation, even if the property changes hands.

Belle Property agent Joshua Jarvis told Daily Mail Australia the new owners would also not be able to build on the first 6.1m of the property.

But he said it should be sold at auction on Saturday for a bargain thanks to the substation.

This substation on a Longueville property will impact its sale price

The 24A Kenneth Street property is in a prized location

'It will definitely influence the result. It would be worth a significant amount of money but this will limit the sale price,' Mr Jarvis said.

'If it sells for what we're being told, it will be a million-dollar discount.

'This is what the buyer feedback is telling us. It is an auction though so you never know.'

The big green substation boxes can be seen all over the country but rarely are they located on a private residence.

The new owners can only remove it if Ausgrid allows them to.

Ausgrid also has full rights to enter the property to operate and upgrade the substation.

Mr Jarvis said if potential owners could put up with the substation and Ausgrid staff turning up to conduct work on it, they'll secure a bargain in a great location.

'It presents an exciting opportunity for someone to try and maximise the potential of it,' he said.

Ausgrid workers can enter the property to work on the substation

The new owners will be told on Saturday that interfering with the infrastructure could lead to legal consequences.

Belle Property said there could be workarounds, such as integrating the substation into the home's design, or using screening and landscaping to soften its presence.

'This compact block offers endless potential. A rare find in a tightly held enclave,' Belle wrote on the online listing, which doesn't offer a price guide.

In Longueville, the median house price is $5.66million.

Mr Jarivs said due to the unique nature of Kenneth Street, they are not currently quoting a price guide but it will sell for hundreds of thousands less due to the substation.

Meanwhile, in 2023, a family made the rookie error of 'not paying attention to' the land survey before building their dream home.

They were left shattered after discovering an 'unattractive' green box centimetres from their bedroom windows during a check-up.

The transformer box was always set to be installed in the spot, but the family said they didn't realise before building started.
Thieves have made off with thousands of dollars worth of designer goods after a luxury boutique was targeted in an early morning ram raid.

The Fendi boutique on Collins Street in Melbourne's CBD was targeted by thieves shortly before 6am on Tuesday.

The group used a vehicle to smash through the front windows of the boutique.

The thieves grabbed a stash of designer handbags, which can be worth up to $9,000 each, clothing and other accessories.

Police officers have yet to establish how many items were stolen.

After getting their hands on the designer items, the thieves then made their getaway in separate vehicles which were last spotted travelling south along St Kilda Road

The Fendi store is the fourth luxury boutique to be targeted by thieves and the fifth burglary to have taken taken place in a matter of weeks in Melbourne.

A Dior store in the CBD was first ram-raided on March 6 before being targeted again two weeks later.

Smashed glass is seen in front of the Fendi store targeted by thieves in Melbourne

A David Jones on nearby Bourke Street was also targeted by thieves on April 6 (pictured)

A vehicle crashed through the glass storefront while reversing allowing the offenders to nab a number of high-end items.

A Louis Vuitton store in Southbank was hit shortly after with thieves making off with thousands of dollars worth of items in broad daylight.

A white Nissan Navara drove into the front of the store in the Crown Casino precinct on a Sunday morning in March.

The Louis Vuitton had been previously ram-raided in 2020.

On Sunday, thieves ram-raided the real roller door of a David Jones on Bourke Street.

Thousands of dollars worth of luxury handbags were taken before the criminals fled in a white Lexus.

Police officers are investigating whether the latest raid at Fendi is linked to the other burglaries.

Retail theft in Victoria has increased by almost 90 per cent in the past year, costing businesses around $9billion.
Lori Vallow Daybell broke courtroom protocol by bringing a witness who had not been subpoenaed to the first day of her second murder trial - all while representing herself.

The 'Doomsday cult mom,' 51, is serving multiple life sentences with no chance of parole for murdering two of her children, Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow, and conspiring to kill her husband Chad Daybell's former wife, Tammy Daybell.

After her conviction for the shocking 2019 crimes, she was extradited to Maricopa County, Arizona, in November 2023 on two indictments.

Her second trial that started on Monday is focused on the 2019 death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was fatally shot by her brother Alex Cox in Chandler.

She has pleaded not guilty and decided to represent herself in court after invoking her right to a speedy trial.

Monday's trial was immediately delayed when prosecutors noted a man in the courtroom who they knew Vallow Daybell wanted to call as a witness, but who had not been subpoenaed to appear, reported KUTV.

The man was identified as Brandon Boudreaux, her niece's ex-husband who she is accused of conspiring to murder and will go on trial for in May.

The judge asked Vallow Daybell if she intended to call on Boudreaux, and when she said yes, the judge asked why his testimony was relevant.

Lori Vallow Daybell broke courtroom protocol by bringing a witness who had not been subpoenaed to the first day of her second murder trial

Her second trial that started on Monday is focused on the 2019 death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow (right), who was fatally shot by her brother Alex Cox in Chandler

The 'Doomsday cult mom,' 51, is serving multiple life sentences with no chance of parole for murdering two of her children, Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow (pictured)

Vallow Daybell reportedly answered by claiming she did not want to 'give away my defense' by revealing information about Boudreaux's testimony.

The prosecution said they had not interviewed Boudreaux and wanted to know what information Boudreaux allegedly had.

The judge informed Vallow Daybell - who is not a lawyer but chose to represent herself - that witnesses are not allowed to be called without giving the other party adequate notice and information about their relevancy, then called a sidebar that lasted nearly 45 minutes.

When the parties returned, the judge ruled Boudreaux's testimony was not relevant to the case, and struck him from the witness list.

At a hearing last week, she lost a bid to strike three people from the prosecutions witness list, including the grandmother of her adopted son.

Another witness said Vallow Daybell spoke about Vallow as being 'possessed' in the months before his death.

When the judge asked her to argue her point, Vallow Daybell lowered her head, sighed and paused a few seconds.

'Their information is not firsthand,' Vallow Daybell said. 'These witnesses are all coming together. They are watching everything that goes on on TV regarding this.'

She has pleaded not guilty and decided to represent herself in court after invoking her right to a speedy trial

If convicted in Arizona of conspiring to kill Vallow, she would face a life sentence.

Vallow Daybell will wear civilian clothing during her trial and will not be handcuffed or shackled when jurors are in the courtroom.

She, however, is expected to be wearing a belt-like device under her clothes that will let a jail officer deliver an electric shock by remote control if there's a disturbance.

Vallow Daybell previously told True Crime Arizona she decided to represent herself because, 'I'm fighting for my life here.'

Explaining her decision to represent herself, Vallow Daybell said, 'I'm not an attorney. I don't have training to be an attorney. There's something that I figured out when I got to this jail, you know. This experience has been five years running, OK.

'I went through a whole trial, you know, before in my other state. And then, I was brought here to Arizona to face some more serious charges.'

Her husband, Chad Daybell, was sentenced to death in June of the previous year after being convicted of murdering Tammy, J.J. and Tylee in cult-like killings.

The two children went missing in 2019, and their bodies were discovered the following year buried in Chad Daybell's backyard in eastern Idaho.
A controversial ex-Liberal candidate has claimed 'traitors' in the party are plotting to 'stab' leader Peter Dutton in the back.

Mr Dutton announced Benjamin Britton would no longer be the party's endorsed candidate for the NSW seat of Whitlam on Sunday after comments he made regarding women in the military resurfaced.

Mr Britton, who served Australia as a paratrooper in East Timor, in August called for the Australian Defence Force to 'remove females from combat corps' in order to 'fix' the military.

'Their hips are being destroyed because they can't cope with the carrying of the heavy loads and the heavy impacts that's required for doing combat-related jobs,' he said.

'Why would you want to send your beautiful women? Your females, the ones that are the backbone of your society. Your society only exists because of women.

'Why would you want to sacrifice them in war, on the altar?'

Mr Britton also blamed 'diversity and equity quotas, Marxist ideology and woke ideologies' for weakening the ADF.

About 20 per cent of Australia's military personnel are women.

Benjamin Britton (pictured) was dropped as the Liberals' endorsed candidate for the NSW seat of Whitlam

However, the former candidate fronted 2GB on Tuesday to blame infighting within the Liberal Party for his expulsion - rather than the public's adverse reaction to his statements.

'It's a witch hunt because they didn't want me there,' Mr Britton said.

'It's the factions within the party that didn't want me there. It's because I wouldn't sign up to a faction; I wouldn't be controlled.

'My position is the same as Andrew Hastie, the Shadow Minister for Defence, and the great Jim Molan, that women should not serve specifically in combat roles, specifically in the Army itself,' he claimed.

Although the party publicly dumped Mr Britton because his views were not in line with its policies, he was adamant his dismissal is actually part of a larger scheme.

'The (Liberal Party) left faction works in hand in glove with members of the right faction, who are traitors, to stab Peter Dutton in the back to ensure he doesn't get elected as the prime minister, so they can roll him as leader,' he said.

'That's what's happening.'

The former Liberal candidate also doubled-down on his belief that women should not be in combat roles.

Peter Dutton (pictured) dropped Mr Britton as his controversial statements did not align with his party's policies

'You said that I don't want women in the ADF,' Mr Britton said.

'The opposite is true. I serve with great women in the ADF. I serve with extraordinary women.

'My position ... is that women should not serve, specifically, in combat roles.'

The Liberals on Sunday removed Mr Britton's profile from its website and announced it would no longer back him in the upcoming election.

'This follows a decision to disendorse Benjamin Britton over views expressed which were not previously disclosed and are inconsistent with the party's position,' a statement read.

The party replaced him as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Whitlam - which covers the southern Illawarra and NSW Southern Highlands - with former NSW state MP Nathaniel Smith.

Whitlam is currently held by retiring Labor MP Stephen Jones.

Mr Britton (pictured with Mr Dutton) served Australia as a paratrooper in East Timor

Mr Dutton had previously posed for a photo with Mr Britton before he was disendorsed.

'Ben's working hard in his community and standing up for local families and small businesses, drawing on his dedication as a veteran and his leadership in the defence industry,' the caption to the photo read.

'This area has been ignored by a local Labor member who is asleep at the wheel, but with our positive plans and an outstanding candidate like Ben, we'll get this region and our country back on track.'

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Mr Dutton shares Mr Britton's views on women in the ADF.

Mr Britton previously had an unsuccessful campaign with the United Australia Party for the 2022 federal election.

He has faced mounting criticism for his divisive views, including that exposure to pornography is 'pushing' young men into 'transgender desires'.

'This is why we see extreme, unrealistic sexual practices and desires in the community (that) have risen massively over the last, say, 40 years, as a direct result of pornography,' he said.
Prince Harry landed in the UK just before King Charles III jetted off to Italy for a historic four-day state visit - but may not have met up.

It is not known if father and son, who have experienced a strained relationship in recent years since Megxit, met in the few hours between their flights.

The Duke of Sussex is back in London for an appeal against a High Court ruling on whether he is entitled to armed bodyguards paid for by the taxpayer.

Harry has been taking legal action against the Home Office over a decision made by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) in February 2020 over the level of protection he should receive when in the country.

The High Court previously heard that his 'status' had changed as a result of no longer being a 'full-time working member of the Royal Family'.

But Harry has argued his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet cannot 'feel at home' or 'safe' in the UK unless his police protection is fully restored.

His legal fight comes as the Charity Commission announced it had launched an investigation into Sentebale, the charity he founded, amid a bitter boardroom rift between Harry and chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka.

She has accused Prince Harry of 'harassment and bullying' - a claim that is denied.

Prince Harry reportedly flew into the UK just hours before King Charles jetted off to Italy for a historic four-day state visit

King Charles and Queen Camilla have tonight arrived in the Italian capital, Rome

King Charles III and Queen Camilla arriving at Giovan Battista Pastine International Airport

For his part Harry, who stood down as patron of the charity last week alongside co-founder Prince Seeiso in support of a group of trustees who have also quit, has accused Ms Chanduaka of telling 'blatant lies'.

He said they 'fully expected [the investigation] will unveil the truth that collectively forced us to resign'.

Prince Harry added: 'We remain hopeful this will allow for the charity to be put in the right hands immediately, for the sake of the communities we serve.'

His arrival in the UK capital comes as the King and Queen jetted into Rome, before visiting the city of Ravenna, as they use the 'soft power' diplomacy of the monarchy to strengthen Britain's relationship with its ally.

A separate state visit to the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church, in the Vatican, has been cancelled, as Pope Francis is recuperating after leaving hospital following treatment for double pneumonia.

With a number of Vatican events removed from the itinerary in Rome, the remaining engagements in the Italian capital have been spread over two days, and extra elements added to some engagements.

At the weekend the Pope made a surprise appearance in St Peter's Square, in the Vatican.

He appeared with an oxygen tube under his nose and was using a wheelchair.

King Charles waves from a car as he and Queen Camilla depart the Rome Ciampino Airport at the beginning of their four-day state visit to Italy

The King and Queen pictured departing their flight ahead of their historic state visit to Italy

Ciao fella: It is not known if King Charles III and Prince Harry met between their flights

The Duke of Sussex is back in London for an appeal against a High Court ruling on whether he is entitled to armed bodyguards paid for by the taxpayer

The prince's legal fight comes as the Charity Commission announced it had launched an investigation into Sentebale, the charity he founded, amid a bitter boardroom rift between Harry and chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka (pictured)

Dr Sophie Chandauka, pictured with Meghan and Harry at a polo event last year that sparked a row. A year on the trio have fallen out and the Duke of Sussex resigned from Sentebale

King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Clarence House in London on March 25

Charles will hold audiences with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Charles will become the first British monarch to address both houses of Italy's parliament - the chamber of deputies and the senate of the republic.

The King will also hold audiences with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and he and his wife will attend a black-tie state banquet at the Palazzo Quirinale, hosted by the president on the evening of their 20th wedding anniversary.

The UK and Italy's defence co-operation will be marked by a joint flypast over Rome by the Italian air force's aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, and the RAF's Red Arrows.

In Ravenna, near Bologna, Charles and Camilla will mark the 80th anniversary of the province's liberation from Nazi occupation by allied forces, on April 10 1945, during a town hall reception.

Charles and Camilla will attend a black-tie state banquet at the Palazzo Quirinale (pictured)

Pope Francis speaks to the faithful in St Peter's Square at the Vatican yesterday

They will celebrate literary culture by visiting Dante's tomb and the Queen will make a solo trip to the Byron museum.

Charles returned to official public duties after cancelling a string of engagements last month, when he experienced temporary side effects from cancer treatment on March 27.

Buckingham Palace announced that the King had 'required a short period of observation in hospital' earlier that day.

Planned engagements in Birmingham the following day, March 28, were cancelled to prioritise his recovery as a precautionary measure.

A source described it as a 'most minor bump in a road that is very much heading in the right direction'.
An elderly man has been killed and another man stabbed to death in another brutal day of carnage across Victoria.

Homicide Squad detectives have arrested a 55-year old man over the suspected murder of 86-year old Paul Waylen in Cowes on tourist-friendly Phillip Island.

In an unrelated incident just hours later, a 32-year old local man was found dead 129km away in O'Brien Lane in Moe, Gippsland, about 4.30pm on Monday.

The man arrested over the Phillip Island tragedy is believed to be one of Mr Waylen's three sons, and was arrested in the nearby town of Ventnor.

He remains in hospital with what are believed to be self-inflicted injuries.

Officers had been called to the home, at the intersection of Church Street and Justice Road, about 10.20am on Monday.

A police spokesperson said the victim and alleged offender were known to one another.

'The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are yet to be determined,' the spokesperson said.

The body of Paul Waylen was found dead on Phillip Island

Cowes Foreshore at Phillip Island. The body of a man aged in his 80s was found in the town on Monday

According to neighbours, the property contained three houses, with the main home inhabited by an elderly man, believed to be the victim, and the other two houses lived in by his sons, the Herald Sun reported.

One of the sons was described as being jovial and neighbourly, while the other was described as more distant.

'One of the sons I wave to as we put out our rubbish bins and do the normal things,' one neighbour told the publication.

'The other son is not like that. He will not say hello.'

Mr Waylen was known for his involvement in the local business community, having run an engineering business for more than four decades and serving as a director at San Remo Bendigo Bank, it was reported.

The Moe murder hunt was launched after a body was found slumped over in an alleyway just off the town's main thoroughfare, opposite Moe Railway Station.

Channel 7 reported the man had been stabbed multiple times.

A 26-year-old woman of no fixed address was interviewed by police but later released pending further enquiries.

Victoria has become famous for crime. On Friday the state released notorious criminal Tony Mokbel (pictured) from jail due to the actions of a dodgy lawyer

Victoria's crime epidemic has made headlines across the nation in recent months and has become a hot election issue for the Labor Government.

On Friday, authorities released notorious criminal Tony Mokbel from jail after 18-years on bail due to the actions of rogue lawyer Nicola Gobbo.

Just weeks ago, it was revealed the crime rate in Victoria rose by 13.2 per cent in 2024.

The latest figures from the Crime Statistics Agency declared crime had risen to its highest level since 2016 in Victoria.

Home invasions, car theft, retail crime and family violence incidents all reached record highs.

The biggest increase was in property and deception offences, which rose by 21.9 per cent in 2024.

Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit the website www.crimestoppers.com.au
Rioters who were pardoned by President Trump when he returned to the White House have turned on FBI boss Kash Patel after he 'promoted their tormenter.'

Patel was an outspoken critic of the FBI, and the MAGA faithful hoped he would 'clean up' the department from within when Trump sensationally appointed him as the new chief.

Now, they're feeling betrayed and abandoned after a New York Times report revealed he'd appointed agency veteran Steven Jensen his assistant director in charge of the office.

Jenson described January 6 participants as 'terrorists' and was integral to the department's ability to arrest and prosecute so many of them following the storming of the Capitol.

Initially, supporters tried to play off the report as 'fake news', but the appointment became undeniable when Patel himself shared an X post addressing the rumor.

Richard Barnett, who was sentenced to 54 months in prison for his involvement before Trump pardoned him, lashed out at the decision on X.

'The anger and depression is hitting hard today,' he wrote.

He went on to accuse both Patel and his Deputy Director Dan Bongino of 'stabbing us in the back.'

Patel was an outspoken critic of the FBI and the MAGA faithful hoped he would 'clean up' the department from within when Trump sensationally appointed him as the new department chief

Rioters who were pardoned by President Trump when he returned to the White House have turned on FBI boss Kash Patel after he 'promoted their tormenter'

He said they 'actually promoted one of our tormenters, Steve Jensen, into a position of great power within the FBI.'

Another said Patel and Bongino 'owe The People an explanation about the promotion of Steven Jensen - who obviously hates Trump voters - to one of the most powerful FBI positions in America.'

Philip Anderson, who describes himself as a 'January 6 survivor', was equally critical.

'Dan Bongino and Kash Patel betrayed us all,' he wrote. 'They promoted Steven Jensen who viciously persecuted J6ers.

'It has never been more clear that Pam Bondi, Dan, and Kash have no intention whatsoever of arresting the democrat criminals.'

Derrick Evans, who said he was held as a 'political prisoner' after the riots, added: 'Seriously Kash? Why the f**k does this guy have a job, let alone a promotion?'

According to a former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst who testified at the House Weaponization Committee, Jenson was hellbent on catching and imprisoning anyone involved in the January 6 riots.

Jenson reportedly said: 'I don't give a blank, they're goddamn terrorists, and we're gonna round them all up.'

Jenson (pictured) described January 6 participants as 'terrorists' and was integral to the department's ability to arrest and prosecute so many of them following the storming of the Capitol

Former Patel supporters are feeling betrayed and abandoned after it was revealed he'd appointed agency veteran Steven Jensen his assistant director in charge of the office

The rioters describe themselves as January 6 survivors and political prisoners, and largely blame Jenson for their arrests

Patel was a controversial pick to run the FBI due to eyebrow-raising remarks he'd made over the years, vowing to dismantle and gut the agency which he viewed as corrupt.

He had referred to law enforcement officials who investigated Trump as 'criminal gangsters,' saying some Jan. 6 rioters were 'political prisoners' and pledged to 'come after' anti-Trump 'conspirators' in the government and media.

He proposed shutting down the FBI headquarters in Washington and turning it into a museum for the so-called deep state.

At his Senate hearing in January, Patel said Democrats were taking some of his comments out of context or misunderstanding the broader point that he was trying to make.

'The American people deserve an FBI that is transparent, accountable, and committed to justice. The politicalization of our justice system has eroded public trust  but that ends today,' he said after his appointment.

He said his mission as director was to 'let good cops be cops  and rebuild trust in the FBI.'
Donald Trump last night threatened to slap China with tariffs of more than 100 per cent despite mounting pressure from allies to halt his trade war as trillions more were wiped off markets.

Stocks plunged for a third day, yet the US President took aim at Beijing, which said it would impose its own 34 per cent levy on imports of American goods as a retaliatory measure to last weeks tolls.

The tit-for-tat could take the US tariff rate on China to 104 per cent. That would be made up of the 34 per cent tariffs announced last week, which are set to kick in tomorrow and which came on top of 20 per cent levies already in place.

Mr Trumps threat of an additional 50 per cent would essentially double the price of any Chinese goods imported to the US.

But it was likely to bring a sharp reaction from tech firms such as Apple who have been cosying up to the White House but rely on China for their products. Mr Trump stepped up his action despite calls from billionaire investor Bill Ackman  a major backer of the President  and JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon to resolve the crisis amid a market meltdown.

Mr Ackman warned the US was heading towards an economic nuclear winter as the US tariffs increased the chances of a global recession, while Mr Dimon  often dubbed the worlds most powerful banker  warned there may soon be no way back. The developments came as:

Londons FTSE 100 index of blue-chip stocks fell 4.38 per cent, continuing days of sell-offs and losses; Volatile Wall Street stocks staged a $4trillion rally, on reports that Mr Trump was mulling a 90-day reprieve on tariffs, before falling back when the White House dismissed the speculation as fake news;

The US was in bear market territory  a term investors use when stocks have fallen 20 per cent from a recent high;

The Cboe Volatility Index  dubbed Wall Streets fear gauge  hit an eight-month high of 60.13;

European stock markets recorded a third day of losses with Germanys Dax falling 4.26 per cent and Frances CAC 40 down 4.78 per cent;

Asian markets plunged overnight on Sunday with Japans Nikkei 225 losing 7.83 per cent and Hong Kongs Hang Seng tumbliing 13.22 per cent, its biggest single-day fall since 1997;

Oil prices hit a four-year low of $64.25 per barrel on fears a global recession would dampen demand;

Gold, usually a safe haven in uncertain economic times, fell about 2 per cent to $2,985 an ounce as investors retreated into cash.

Mr Trumps threat of an additional 50 per cent would essentially double the price of any Chinese goods imported to the US

Donald Trump last night threatened to slap China with tariffs of more than 100 per cent despite mounting pressure from allies to halt his trade war as trillions more were wiped off markets

Despite the bloodbath in global financial markets and damning criticism from both economists and allies, Mr Trump remained defiant. Be strong, courageous, and patient, and greatness will be the result, he wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.

He later threatened Beijing, saying: If China does not withdraw its 34 per cent increase above their already long-term trading abuses by April 8, the United States will impose additional tariffs on China of 50 per cent, effective April 9.

Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated. Mr Trump described tariffs as a beautiful thing to behold and added: I dont want anything to go down but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.

In the Oval Office alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night, Mr Trump again rejected a pause on tariffs.

Were not looking at that, he said and added the US has been ripped off by many countries over the years. Analysts at independent advisers Pantheon Macro said the Presidents comments on China had poured gas on the fire and upped the risk of a recession.

Mr Ackman, boss of US hedge fund Pershing Square and a Democrat who flipped to support Mr Trump, said: The President is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe  this is not what we voted for.

The President has an opportunity to call a time-out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system. Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down.

Tesla boss Elon Musk, the worlds richest man and head of the US department of government efficiency, has also stated all is not aligned in the Trump administrations economic policy.

Following his call on Sunday for a free-trade zone between Europe and North America, Mr Musk yesterday shared a video on his X platform of former Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher adviser Milton Friedman extolling the benefits of free markets and complex supply chains.

Mr Musks SpaceX is one of those firms said to be pushing for exemptions on tariffs from China.

Mr Dimon told his shareholders: The quicker this issue is resolved, the better because some of the negative effects increase cumulatively over time and would be hard to reverse.

JPMorgans economists raised the risk of a US and global recession this year to 60 per cent from 40 per cent after Mr Trump last week unveiled the steepest trade barriers in more than 100 years.
Prince Harry claimed to have been "singled out" for "inferior treatment" amid the latest round of legal action over his security arrangements.

Prince Harry is challenging his security arrangements

The 40-year-old royal appeared at the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday (08.04.25) , as he continues his legal challenge against his security arrangements in the UK.

In 2020, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) ruled that Harry should receive a different degree of security when he's in the UK, after he and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, both stepped down as senior working royals.

Harry's UK security is currently decided on a case-by-case basis, but the prince - who sat behind his legal team in the courtroom - is arguing that he still faces significant security threats.

During the hearing, Shaheed Fatima KC, Harry's barrister, said: "The appellant does not accept that bespoke means better. In fact, in his submission, it means that he has been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment.

"The appellants case is not that he should automatically be entitled to the same protection as he was previously given when he was a working member of the royal family.

"The appellants case is that he should be considered under the terms of reference and subject to the same process as any other individual being considered for protective security by Ravec, unless there is a cogent reason to the contrary."

The barrister disputed the notion that there was "good reason" for the judge to depart from Ravecs terms of reference.

She also contested the idea that Ravec could properly determine whether Harry was not within the other VIP category without seeking advice from the risk management board (RMB).

She said: "The judges starting point for that good reason question is that the RMB assessment is optional or discretionary. That is wrong, and that fundamental error of interpretation then completely tainted his analysis of 'good reason'."

Fatima added that the reasoning for not carrying out a a risk management board assessment "does not stack up".

The hearing in London is expected to last two days. Harry - who now lives in California with his wife and children - is not expected to give evidence.
Hundreds of patients will have elective surgeries cancelled this week because thousands of 'exhausted' doctors across New South Wales are holding a three-day strike.

Health Minister Ryan Park confirmed on Monday that emergency departments and planned surgeries will be disrupted by the industrial action despite a union's claims that patient care will not be affected.

Doctors from more than 30 public hospitals walked off the job on Tuesday, with many spending the morning protesting outside Westmead Hospital in Sydney's west.

It marks the first time doctors in NSW have taken industrial action since 1998.

Elective surgeries and outpatient clinics are expected to be worst-affected by the strikes, as those doctors not attending protests prioritise emergency care.

The NSW Government estimates around 700 elective surgeries will be cancelled due to the strikes which were barred by the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC).

More than 100,000 people in the public health system are on the elective surgery waiting list, with that number having tripled since 2023.

Mr Park said he was most concerned about the impact on metropolitan tertiary hospitals including Westmead, Prince of Wales, Royal Prince Alfred and St George.

Hundreds of patients will go without elective surgeries this week as thousands of 'exhausted' doctors across New South Wales launch a three-day strike (pictured)

Doctors from more than 30 public hospitals walked off the job on Tuesday, with many spending the morning protesting outside Westmead Hospital in Sydney's west

The Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (ASMOF) expected the industrial action to reduce staffing levels at hospitals to those typical of public holidays.

It added that safe levels will be maintained in emergency departments and critical care units.

The ASMOF announced the strike last week following a refusal by the state government to bring salaries of public doctors in line with other states.

The union is demanding a one-off, 30 per cent pay rise in the first year and guaranteed breaks.

It refused the state government's counter of a 10.5 per cent increase over three years plus a backdated three per cent rise.

Doctors have argued the pay rises are needed to stop colleagues from moving to other states where pay and conditions are better.

'Doctors at this rally have actually already signed contracts in other states,' junior doctor Henry Crayton told AAP.

'I'd be lying if I said I myself was not actively looking, because if the state government doesn't value me and doesn't help me be the best doctor I can, why would I stay?'

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park (pictured) has criticised the union's decision to strike despite a contrary ruling by the Industrial Relations Commission

The union is demanding a one-off, 30 per cent pay rise in the first year and guaranteed breaks

Dr Crayton said he'd worked 135 hours in the past fortnight, with one day off, covering 150 patients per shift.

'That is a completely normal fortnight for me, and I'm over it,' he said.

Another western Sydney doctor said the government's unwillingness to move on pay and conditions was demoralising.

First-year doctors in Queensland earn about $38 an hour but can collect $45 before penalty rates and extra leave.

'Patient care is declining simply by virtue of the fact we can't staff our hospitals appropriately - we are chronically unstaffed,' Zachary McPherson told AAP.

'Any one of our doctors here striking today could make 20 or 30 per cent more money just by simply moving to Brisbane or Melbourne.'

Mr Park agreed healthcare workers should be paid more, but challenged the ASMOF's claims that patient care will not be impacted.

'We don't believe that patients and their families and other staff should be impacted by a three-day strike,' he told ABC News on Tuesday.

'We don't think that is reasonable, neither does the independent umpire, but that's a decision for the union.'

It is not yet clear how many doctors will strike though the unions have estimated up to 9,000 doctors will join the action (strike action at Westmead Hospital in Sydney is pictured)

It marks the first time doctors in NSW have taken industrial action since 1998

The ASMOF has issued assurances that public safety will not be compromised by the strike.

'If you or your family need urgent medical care at any hospital across NSW, our doctors and medical staff will be there to provide it,' ASMOF president Dr Nicholas Spooner said.

'Emergency departments and critical care units will remain fully staffed.'

Mr Park acknowledged there was a 'considerable' pay gap between NSW and other states.

But the health minister said it was not feasible to close a 30 per cent pay gap in one year.

'This is not a union without options  it is inexplicable ASMOF would actively choose to jeopardise patient safety over resolving its claim in the IRC. I say to ASMOF, it is not too late to return to the IRC (Industrial Relations Commission),' he said.

The strike will continue until Thursday unless an agreement can be reached.
An Arizona man has been charged with manslaughter after his unruly dogs attacked and killed a neighbor.

Martin Martinez, 60, was arrested after his five vicious dogs escaped his property and attacked 43-year-old Kevin Renguul on March 30, reported KOLD.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department said Renguul was found on bleeding from several bites and a pack of dogs around him on the 5000 block of West Camino Tierra.

He was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries, which he battled for nearly four days before he died on Wednesday.

Renguul received at least 15 blood transfusions and had two surgeries to treat his injuries before he passed, according to court documents obtained by KOVA.

He had to be intubated and connected to machines to support his lung and kidney functions while he fought for his life.

'It's just sad that Mr. Renguul, fight as he will, these are some pretty big dogs,' said Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos.

Police said the dogs escaped from Martinez's property and the canines had a violent history, including killing other neighbors' pets.

Martin Martinez (pictured), 60, was arrested after his five vicious dogs escaped his property and attacked 43-year-old Kevin Renguul on March 30

The Pima County Sheriff's Department said Renguul was found on bleeding from several bites and a pack of dogs around him on the 5000 block of West Camino Tierra

'Mr. Martinez has been dealing with past cases, several where his dogs have been loose and have attacked various people in the neighborhood,' Nanos said.

According to court documents, there have been three previous reports the Pima County Sheriff's Department involving Martinez's dogs biting people.

Since 2022, the Pima Animal Control received eight additional reports of people getting bit by Martinez's canines.

'Some neighbors have also reported their animals being attacked or killed, sometimes on their own property by Martin's dogs,' the document said.

The dogs were mixed breeds, including German Shepherd, Pitbull, Cane Corso and Mastiff, according to the filings.

Animal Control confirmed it impounded six dogs from the home. The sixth dog, a Mastiff mix, was not involved in the fatal attack.

Martinez was charged with manslaughter, endangerment and assault by a vicious animal.

He is being held on a $275,000 bond and is scheduled to return to court on April 14.

Police said the dogs escaped from Martinez's property and the canines had a violent history, including killing other neighbors pets

In Colorado, a woman was arrested after her 54 dogs allegedly mauled her dementia-stricken elderly mother to death.

Jessica Hoff, 47, has been arrested and charged with criminal negligence resulting in death and 54 counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, following the gruesome death of her mother LaVonne Hoff, 76.

Hoff allegedly left LaVonne home alone with Hoff's dogs during the day while she ran errands.

Her mother was later found unresponsive by law enforcement on February 3.

Pueblo County Sheriff's Office responded to a call to Hoff's home at 5.30pm and found 'several dogs loose inside the home along with at least a dozen more dogs in cages.'

LaVonne Hoff's autopsy revealed her death was a result of a dog attack, sheriffs said in a press release.

Sheriffs added that LaVonne reportedly had dementia and required 24-hour care.

Detectives learned that while LaVonne Hoff was left alone, she was attacked by the dogs that were loose in the home, sheriffs said.

The investigation led to the search of the home and another property Hoff owned in Colorado City, finding a total of 54 dogs and seven birds in her possession.
A man has been arrested at Sydney airport and charged with indecently assaulting a female passenger on an international flight into Australia.

The dual United States-Nepal national, 67, committed the alleged assault during a flight from Los Angeles to Sydney that arrived on Monday.

He has been charged with committing an act of indecency on a female passenger who he did not know.

The woman alerted cabin staff to the alleged incident, who then notified the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

AFP officers interviewed passengers and airline staff when the flight landed in Sydney.

The man was charged with one count of an act of indecency without consent.

He could face a maximum penalty of seven years in jail if convicted.

The man is expected to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday.

A 67-year-old man has been charged after allegedly indecently assaulting a woman on an international flight to Sydney (stock)

AFP Sydney Airport Police Commander Davina Copelin said passengers had the right to feel protected from inappropriate behaviour, particularly on a flight when they have no means to get away.

'No one deserves to be subjected to unwanted attention under any circumstance, particularly when isolated and confined on a long-haul flight,' Copelin said.

'When people are bound by Australian law and there is evidence that someone has committed a criminal offence, the AFP will take action.

'Anyone subjected to unwanted contact is encouraged to alert the authorities, be it airline staff, the AFP or airport security, as soon as it is safely possible to do so.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Sydney Airport and the AFP for comment.
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water.

Kennedy, a staunch anti-vaxxer, said he's assembling a task force of health experts to study the mineral-enriched water issue - after he called fluoride a 'dangerous neurotoxin.'

On Monday, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reviewing 'new scientific information' on the potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water. Kennedy held a news conference with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in Salt Lake City.

The EPA sets the maximum level allowed in public water systems.

Kennedy cannot order communities to stop fluoridation, but he can direct the CDC to stop recommending it and work with the EPA to change the allowed amount.

Utah last month became the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, pushing past opposition from dentists and national health organizations who warned the move would disproportionately hurt low-income residents who can't afford regular dentist visits.

Republican Governor Spencer Cox signed legislation barring cities and communities from deciding whether to add the cavity-preventing mineral to their drinking water. Water systems across Utah must stop fluoridation by May 7.

Kennedy praised the Beehive State for emerging as 'the leader in making America healthy again.' He was flanked by Utah legislative leaders and the sponsor of the state's fluoride law.

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide

In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and in 1962 they set guidelines for how much should be added to water

People protested before a press conference about Utah's new fluoride ban with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Salt Lake City

'I'm very, very proud of this state for being the first state to ban it, and I hope many more will,' he said.

Kennedy oversees the CDC, whose recommendations are widely followed but not mandatory.

State and local governments decide whether to add fluoride to water and, if so, how much - as long as it doesn't exceed a maximum set by the EPA, which is currently 4 milligrams per liter.

Zeldin said his agency was launching a renewed examination of scientific studies on the potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water to help inform any changes to the national standards.

'When this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency's future steps,' Zeldin said.

'Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks, and we are committed to working alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment.'

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the CDC.

In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and in 1962 they set guidelines for how much should be added to water.

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the CDC

Dentists and national health organizations warn the move to remove fluoride will disproportionately hurt low-income residents who can't afford regular dentist visits

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Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, has called fluoride a 'dangerous neurotoxin' and said it has been associated with arthritis, bone breaks and thyroid disease.

Some studies have suggested such links might exist, usually at higher-than-recommended fluoride levels, though some reviewers have questioned the quality of available evidence and said no definitive conclusions can be drawn.

In November, just days before the presidential election, Kennedy declared Donald Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day as president.

That didn't happen, but Trump later picked Kennedy to run the US Department of Health and Human Services, where he has been expected to take some kind of action.

Meanwhile, some localities have gone ahead with deciding whether to keep adding fluoride.

Meanwhile, a massive round of staffing cuts last week across federal agencies included elimination of the CDC's 20-person Division of Oral Health.

That office managed grants to local agencies to improve dental health and, in some cases, encourage fluoridation.

Fluoride can come from a number of sources, but drinking water is the main one for Americans, researchers say.

Nearly two-thirds of the US population gets fluoridated drinking water, according to CDC data.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits University of Utah to discuss Utah's new fluoride ban and food additives legislation in Salt Lake City on Monday

Utah will be the first US state to ban fluoride in public drinking water from May

The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water was long considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

About one-third of community water systems - 17,000 out of 51,000 across the U.S. - fluoridated their water, according to a 2022 CDC analysis.

The agency currently recommends 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water.

But over time, studies have documented potential problems. Too much fluoride has been associated with streaking or spots on teeth.

Studies also have traced a link between excess fluoride and brain development.

A report last year by the federal government's National Toxicology Program, which summarized studies conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico, concluded that drinking water with more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter was associated with lower IQ in children.

A major study has found that fluoride in drinking water can lower a child's IQ and it could 'double the number of people classified as intellectually disabled'

The American Dental Association said decades of fluoride in drinking water have been shown to reduce tooth decay.

The group said it was willing to help conduct high-quality studies to settle the issue.

'When government officials like Secretary Kennedy stand behind the commentary of misinformation and distrust peer-reviewed research, it is injurious to public health,' said the association's president, Brett Kessler.

Utah Oral Health Coalition chairperson Lorna Koci said on Monday that she hopes other states push back against the removal of fluoride and that Kennedy's visit to celebrate her state's fluoride ban underscores the political motivations of those who support it.

'This seems to be less about fluoride and more about power,' Koci said. 'Fluoridation is the the most cost effective way to prevent tooth decay on a large scale.

'I think the anti-fluoride people, they're latching onto Kennedy's opportunity with his beliefs and using that now as a way to kind of get in the door to stop water fluoridation,' she added.

Koci also said that fluoridated public water is often the only form of preventive dental care for some people, and the impacts may be most visible in low-income Utah residents.

Utah ranked 44th in the nation as of 2022 for the percentage of residents receiving fluoridated water, according to CDC.

Out of the 484 Utah water systems that reported data to the CDC in 2024, only 66 fluoridated their water, an Associated Press analysis showed. The largest was the states biggest city, Salt Lake City.

In 2023, voters in Brigham City, north of Salt Lake City, struck down a measure that would have removed fluoride from its public water supplies. The proposal was defeated by more than a two-to-one margin.

Val Radmall, executive director of the Utah Dental Association, said he and other dental officials recently met with Gricius to try to get her to reevaluate the bill.

He has worked in communities without fluoride in tap water for 30 years, saying that lack of the mineral has shown in residents' teeth.

'I'd have a patient come in without cavities or anything else like that, and I'd say, 'You didn't grow up here. Where did you grow up?' ... because everybody here has lots of cavities!' Radmall said.
A woman born without any limbs was told she would need to pay for another seat for a second carer on her Qantas flight just 24 hours before she was due to fly.

Perth woman Monica McGhie, 61, lives with Tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare condition that causes the absence of all four limbs.

She was due to fly to Sydney to make a speech at the 50th anniversary dinner for the Variety charity as a special guest on Wednesday.

Despite paying $11,000 for return flights for herself and a support worker, Qantas requested Ms McGhie bring a second carer to assist her on the plane.

A Qantas spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that 'it was determined that from a Work Health and Safety perspective, we unfortunately were unable to transfer Ms McGhie safely'.

But Ms McGhie said it would have been impossible to arrange another carer with such short notice.

'They had a month to tell me they couldn't do this. I could've made other arrangements if I'd known earlier, but less than 24 hours is a bit much,' she told 7NEWS.

Luckily for Ms McGhie, Qantas acquiesced and said it would cover the cost of an additional support person, allowing McGhie to travel to Sydney in time for the event.

Monica McGhie (pictured) was told she needed an extra carer just 24 hours before her flight

Qantas issued an apology to her saying: 'We sincerely apologise to Ms McGhie for what we know would have been an upsetting experience'.

The airline said it had been in 'constant contact' with her since Sunday and that they were 'committed to working with her for future travel requirements'.

McGhie previously spoke out against Qantas in 2019, after being told she would need to leave her wheelchair behind in Melbourne while travelling to Canberra.

At the time, she was heading to the national capital to campaign for a royal commission into the abuse of people with disabilities.

'When we were getting on the flight to Canberra, the lady said: "Oh sorry, your chair won't fit on the plane". And I went, "Are you kidding me?"' she told the ABC .

And it's not the first time the national carrier has been criticised for its handling of customers living with disabilities.

Last year, Qantas settled a legal case filed by Rachel Fullerton, who was denied boarding with her assistance dog.

After a failed conciliation through the Australian Human Rights Commission, Ms Fullerton took the matter to the Federal Court, alleging disability discrimination.

Monica McGhie (pictured) had spent $11,000 on flights before being told she couldn't travel

She argued that the airline's treatment was unfair and called for changes to its policies regarding passengers with assistance animals.

In 2022, Paralympian Karni Liddell revealed she was prevented from flying with Jetstar from Brisbane to the Whitsundays because of her wheelchair.

Liddell claimed she had been blocked from flying with the Qantas Group on 'at least 10' occasions, accusing the airline of being a frequent offender when it comes to banning and damaging wheelchairs.
A mother of two has been jailed after she robbed a charity of more than $500,000 to fund her lavish jetset lifestyle - then tried to buy her way out of a prison sentence.

Angela Stathopoulos, 49, will spend her first night behind bars on Tuesday after she admitted conning a charity for underprivileged kids and the homeless out of $531,111.

Melbourne County Court was told Stathopoulos paraded her luxury family holidays - paid for by the stolen money - on Instagram.

The court heard Stathopoulos 'acted like the charity's money was hers to spend' while she drained the Prahran Community Learning Centre dry.

Stathopoulos was the well-paid boss of the inner-east Melbourne charity - which survived on a shoestring budget - while she siphoned off the cash between May 2011 and March 2022.

The court heard Stathopoulos was on a huge six-figure salary with a $20,000 annual fuel allowance, and spent $155,274 on lavish trips including several first-class jaunts to the US.

Stathopoulos proudly displayed her illegally-funded holidays in a series of Instagram postcards featuring happy snaps from the exotic locations.

The holiday pics feature Stathopoulos and her husband and children living it up on premium trips to Disneyland, New York, Universal Studios and Hawaii.

Fraudster Angela Stathopoulos (pictured) will tonight spend her first night behind bars after pleading guilty to stealing $531,111 from a charity. Above, at Disneyland. She burned almost $30k on the trip where the family stayed at Anaheim

Stathopoulos (pictured) tried to shield herself from the media during a previous court appearance

Stathopoulos spent big on a trip to New York City

Stathopoulos also bragged about her trips and showed off the photos to the hardworking, honest staff at the not-for-profit charity.

The court heard she went on the luxury jaunts while charity staff back in Melbourne struggled to make ends meet and crucial programs were being cancelled.

Stathopoulos appeared in court dressed casually compared to her usual designer vintage outfits which she showcased online.

The court was told that she had repaid the entire amount in a last-ditch bid to avoid jail, but the judge questioned how she managed to pay back the cash.

Judge Gavan Meredith wanted to know where the cash had come from, after previously hearing Stathopoulos had spent the proceeds on travel and designer gear.

'Can I enquire how the money was repaid?' Judge Meredith said.

Most people dont have 530-odd thousand of savings available.

Defence barrister Joshua Sheppard said Stathopoulos had used her family's savings but later added that she had also sold a property which was gifted to her by in-laws.

The holiday snaps feature Stathopoulos and her husband and children living it up at premium locations including Disneyland, NYC, Universal Studios and Hawaii

Stathopoulos dressed down at her last court appearance

Stathopoulos proudly displayed her ill-gotten holidays with a series of Instagram happy snap postcards

The court had earlier been told Stathopoulos paraded her luxury family holidays on Instagram which were paid for by the stolen money.

The court heard Stathopoulos, who sobbed as she pleaded guilty at last month's plea hearing, took 10 separate overseas holidays between August 2011 and May 2019, illegally paid for by charity funds.

In one single transaction, Stathopoulos paid $29,040 for flights for a Melbourne to Los Angeles return via New York and Nashville trip for her and her family in 2015.

Stathopoulos spared no expense as she laid down for deluxe accommodation including a seven-night stay at the Westin Hotel Times Square New York City and the Sheraton Music City Hall in Nashville.

During another holiday, Stathopoulos spent almost $30,000 on a US trip where the jetsetters stayed at Disneyland Anaheim.

Stathopoulos and her family also visited Legoland California and stayed at five-star hotels at Beverly Hills, San Diego and the Grand Hyatt San Francisco in 2017.

Stathopoulos also lavished the stolen cash on airport transfers, hire cars, premium rail tickets and other travel expenses.

Stathopoulos showed off her holiday photos to hardworking and honest staff at the not-for-profit charity

The grifter mum also paid top money for vintage designer clothes, furs and accessories

Back home in Melbourne, Stathopoulos spent more than $6000 on a Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus concerts, a Wizard of Oz stage show and WWE Live events.

The remorseless Stathopoulos hid her thefts as 'legitimate business expenses' but the court heard it was estimated only 12-18 percent of funds were actually spent on the charity.

Stathopoulos, who brandished a vintage PELLE di GIADA Croco Italian black patent purse at an earlier court appearance, also spent vast amounts on jewellery for her kids and school books, excursions and activities.

The grifter mum also paid top money for dancing lessons for her daughter, bought herself vintage designer clothes and accessories and splashed out on beauty and styling, personal fitness and Netflix.

Stathopoulos, who lives in a $1.7million house in Murrumbeena in Melbourne's south-east, funnelled money onto untraceable Load & Go cards and bought luxury accessories via PayPal.

The disgraced boss also spent $32,575 on unauthorised fuel cards, despite having a $20,000 per year vehicle allowance as part of her employment contract.

Her crime spree finally ground to a halt when a new board took over in 2020, headed by Neil Pharaoh.

He initiated an investigation, spearheaded by charity staff Maggie Burke, Tara Blanchy and Shima Ubuki.

Stathopoulos also spent stolen money on tickets for the 'VIP Ultimate Prince Experience'

A psychologist opined Stathopoulos wanted to 'feel better about herself and positively present herself to others'

The court heard the women worked tirelessly day and night to find evidence against Stathopoulos who had been 'slow and resistant' during the investigation.

Stathopoulos also stifled attempts to end her reign by 'gaslighting, physical aggression' and even locking Ms Burke out of the centre.

In the end, a forensic accounting investigation was launched and Stathopoulos was stood down, sacked and then handed over to police.

The fraudster, who later worked as a teacher and a manager at a South Yarra vintage clothing store, eventually admitted to her offending.

'I've always had a problem with this sort of thing,' she told investigators.

'Some people turn to alcohol and drugs but this is my problem.'

The court heard the charity, which has since changed its name, suffered repercussions beyond financial loss including severe reputational damage.

The federal Government also withheld funds and Stonnington Council now defers any PCLC funding decisions to its lawyers.

Stathopoulos flaunted her stolen lifestyle

Programs and classes were also disrupted and the charity is now 'viewed as a high-risk grant applicant'.

Ms Burke, who had to postpone urgent spinal surgery to investigate Stathopoulos, told the court the crook 'acted like the charity's money was her own'.

'(The money she stole) could've changed the lives of disadvantaged youths,' she said.

Ms Blanchy said she lost sleep over Stathopoulos' 'nefarious activities' and feared the fraudster's 'ill-gotten wealth' would buy her way out of jail.

Stathopoulos locked down her social media accounts after her crimes were exposed in the media last year.

The previously public posts, obtained by the Daily Mail Australia before they were made private, showed Stathopoulos poolside at the Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort Honolulu and Vegas hotel The Bellagio.

Stathopoulos also boasted about visiting pop star Prince's 'Paisley Park' residence multiple times and how the Universal Studios VIP Experience Tour was 'amazing'.

The proud mum also posted pics of her and her family at a School of Rock show, the Melbourne Grand Prix and the 'VIP Ultimate Prince Experience'.

Stathopoulos was remanded in custody at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre (pictured) for sentencing at a later date

Stathopoulos also posed for media opportunities supporting charities including the Feed Melbourne Appeal during her time as charity boss.

Her last court hearing was adjourned until today for a psychologist's report which found she was 'addicted to stealing money'.

It was a pattern of behaviour, (she was) covering her tracks,' Dr Carla Lechner said in her report.

Dr Lechner also said Stathopoulos has a 'lot of cognitive dissidence' who believed she was 'an honest and good person' but also knew it was dishonest'.

(Stathopoulos wanted) to feel better about herself and positively present herself to others, Dr Lechner said.

(She was) filling a hole of emotional deprivation, she had the means to do this legally, and couldve got the same satisfaction.

Mr Sheppard, for Stathopoulos, said his client poured her heart and soul into the charity and is 'deeply sorry about the negative consequences'.

She feels deep and genuine regret and she hates herself for what she has done, Mr Sheppard said.

Mr Sheppard also compared his client to Dylan DiPierdomenico, the disgraced fraudster son of AFL legend Robert DiPierdomenico, who was handed a nine-month jail term in January for stealing $140,717 from a family-run Melbourne business.

Stathopoulos, who has a prior conviction for theft, was remanded in custody at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre for sentencing at a later date.
READ MORE: Grim satellite image shows scale of flooding across Queensland

Aussies in remote areas of western New South Wales have been urged to 'prepare to isolate' for up to 10 weeks after being cut off from civilisation by floods.

Emergency services issued major and moderate flood warnings for the region on Monday after floodwater flowed down from Queensland into the state.

'We want the community to prepare now to isolate for an extended period of time,' said Annabelle Watson, the NSW SES Western Zone's deputy incident controller.

Ms Watson warned those who chose to stay could be isolated for over two months and would have limited access to essential services and supplies.

'Those who choose to stay could face power outages and loss of communication. We are here to support with resupply of essential food, water and medical supplies so there is absolutely no need to go near or through floodwaters,' she said.

Paroo River, near the remote outback village of Wanaaring, has experienced flooding higher than the 1990 and 2010 flood levels, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

The river level is expected to peak near 5.30metres by Tuesday evening, surpassing the previous record of 4.90metres during a flood event in 1990.

The NSW SES told Daily Mail Australia that, of the 350 people they estimate will be impacted in the Wanaaring area, none have been evacuated.

Aussies in remote areas of western NSW could be cut off from essential services for 10 weeks

Residents have been urged to 'prepare to isolate for an extended period of time'

Mayor Lachlan Ford from Bourke Shire Council, which covers the Wanaaring area, addressed the rising river waters on Monday.

'Our Shire is going through an unprecedented flood at the moment,' he said in a video shared to Facebook titled 'Minutes with the Mayor'.

'We've had places inundated that have never had water in them before.

'The main thing in all of this is everyone's safety and I implore you not to drive through water, or try and travel across any water.

'There's plenty of assistance out there.'

The flooding in NSW comes after Queensland was battered by extreme rain for almost a fortnight, leaving the ground in flooded areas of the state's southwest so saturated, it cannot physically absorb any more moisture.

A side effect of the saturation was that floodwaters started flowing down the river systems into northern NSW, causing river levels to rise in the neighbouring state.

NSW SES has said it is a slow process but the water that overflowed from Queensland will work its way to the Darling River system to the Menindee Lakes.

Floodwaters have trickled down from Queensland into NSW, triggering evacuation warnings

Residents in western NSW (pictured) have been implored not to enter the floodwaters

Moderate flooding has occurred on the Warrego River at Barringun with flows expected to move downstream with a peak forecast for around Friday.

In north-western NSW, moderate flooding is continuing along the Namoi River at Bugilbone, where river levels are slowly receding.

Independent MP for Barwon, Roy Butler, has encouraged residents to pay attention to emergency services.

'Evacuation may not be necessary, but just in case its best to be prepared,' he said on Monday.

Here, Daily Mail Australia has provided a three-day forecast of the weather in your city.

Sydney

Wednesday. Min 17 Max 24. Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and early afternoon. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the late evening.

Thursday. Min 16 Max 26. Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog in the outer west. Slight chance of a shower along the coastal fringe, near zero chance elsewhere. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening.

Friday. Min 17 Max 27. Mostly sunny day. Slight chance of a shower in the outer west, most likely from the late afternoon. Light winds.

Flooded roads and homes are seen in Thargomindah in Queensland's southwest

Melbourne

Wednesday. Min 9 Max 21. Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog. Light winds.

Thursday. Min 11 Max 26. Cloud clearing. The chance of morning fog in the southeast suburbs. Light winds becoming northerly 15 to 20 km/h during the morning.

Friday. Min 16 Max 24. Mostly sunny. Winds north to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light during the morning then becoming south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon.

Brisbane

Wednesday. Min 17 Max 27. Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon. Light winds becoming southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the evening.

Thursday. Min 17 Max 27. Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Light winds becoming southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the evening.

Friday. Min 18 Max 27. Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds southerly 15 to 20 km/h tending southeasterly during the morning then becoming light during the evening.

The flooding in NSW comes after Queensland was hit with extreme rain for almost two weeks

Canberra

Wednesday. Min 9 Max 24. The chance of fog in the early morning. Mostly sunny afternoon. Light winds.

Thursday. Min 7 Max 25. Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog. Light winds.

Friday. Min 8 Max 27. Mostly sunny morning. Slight chance of a shower in the afternoon. Light winds.

Adelaide

Wednesday. Min 11 Max 25. Cloudy. Slight chance of a shower in the middle of the day. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the late evening.

Thursday. Min 16 Max 31. Mostly sunny. Winds northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h turning north to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the afternoon.

Friday. Min 16 Max 29. Mostly sunny. Winds easterly 15 to 20 km/h tending northwest to southwesterly during the day then tending east to southeasterly during the afternoon.

Flooding is seen in the township of Thargomindah in Queensland on April 1

Perth

Wednesday. Min 16 Max 26. Partly cloudy. Light winds becoming south to southwesterly 20 to 30 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the late evening.

Thursday. Min 14 Max 28. Sunny. Winds southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h turning easterly during the evening.

Friday. Min 18 Max 31. Sunny. Winds easterly 25 to 40 km/h tending northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the day then shifting south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon.

Darwin

Wednesday. Min 24 Max 34. Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the early afternoon.

Thursday. Min 24 Max 34. Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming east to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the evening.

Friday. Min 24 Max 32. Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Winds southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h tending easterly during the day.

Hobart

Wednesday. Min 9 Max 20. Mostly sunny. Light winds.

Thursday. Min 11 Max 25. Mostly sunny. Winds northwesterly 25 to 35 km/h.

Friday. Min 14 Max 20. Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower, most likely in the morning. Winds west to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light during the morning.
YouTube star Ms. Rachel has been accused of spreading Hamas propaganda to children, according to an antisemitism watchdog that has penned a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Child educator Rachel Griffin-Accurso, known online as Ms. Rachel, has become a massive star and accumulated millions of followers thanks to her catchy songs.

However, Jewish civil rights group StopAntisemitism has accused the viral sensation of using her platform to indoctrinate children with pro-Hamas propaganda following the October 7 terror attack in Israel.

The group sent a letter to the attorney general imploring her to investigate Ms. Rachel as the Trump Administration cracks down on antisemitism.

StopAntisemitism accused Ms. Rachel of 'incorporating Hamas-like propagated images and stories into her content.'

'Given the vast sums of foreign funds that have been directed toward propagandizing our young people on college campuses, we suspect there is a similar dynamic in the online influencer space,' StopAntisemitism director Liora Rez said in a letter sent Monday to Bondi obtained by the New York Post.

'We urge you and your office to investigate whether or not Ms. Rachel is being remunerated to disseminate Hamas-aligned propaganda to her millions of followers, as this may violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).'

The group claimed Ms. Rachel had made several posts that included either debunked false information about the conditions of children in Gaza.

YouTube star Ms. Rachel has been accused of spreading Hamas propaganda by an antisemitism watchdog

StopAntisemitism accused Ms. Rachel of 'incorporating Hamas-like propagated images and stories into her content'

The group sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi (pictured) imploring her to investigate Ms. Rachel as the Trump Administration cracks down on antisemitism

'Her posts have largely ignored the suffering of Israeli victims, hostages, and Jewish children, while she consistently amplifies misinformation from Hamas and other anti-Israel sources,' Rez said.

The posts cited by StopAntisemitism include those from her Instagram account, where she has 2.5 million followers.

In one post, Ms. Rachel filmed herself praying for the children in Gaza, which the group claims perpetuates Hamas' claims that Israel is bombing Gaza indiscriminately.

Another post included an image of a child with protruding limbs depicting starvation, but StopAntisemitism claimed those images were debunked and the child is suffering from cystic fibrosis, not starvation.

StopAntisemitism also claimed Ms. Rachel is pushing Hamas propaganda by sharing the death toll provided by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, which does not differentiate between terrorists and civilians.

'It's not a secret influencers such as Ms. Rachel often have paid collaborations on social media. That being said, we could not help but notice post 10/7, Ms. Rachel posting a massive barrage of anti-Israel propaganda. This was at the same time as other social media influencers were being paid to post,' Rez told The Post.

'We are merely asking the Attorney General to investigate. While Ms. Rachel is entitled to her opinions and to exercise her free speech rights, there are laws that require those being paid by foreign countries to disclose these things. Foreign agents must register.'

StopAntisemitism also claimed Ms. Rachel is pushing Hamas propaganda by sharing the death toll provided by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health

StopAntisemitism has accused the viral sensation of using her platform to indoctrinate children with pro-Hamas propaganda following the October 7 terror attack in Israel

Ms. Rachel was previously slammed for fundraising for children suffering in global conflicts without mentioning Israeli youngsters.

She said had been bullied after announcing a fundraiser for the UK-based charity Save the Children, adding that it 'hurt so bad' people were saying she didn't care about all kids.

She said in a social media post about the fundraiser: 'I'll make videos for little ones, and all the money raised on my end will go to Save the Children's emergency fund, which will go to children living in conflict in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine.'

'Children should never experience the horrors of war,' she added.

'What about Israeli children Ms. Rachel?,' a social media user asked under the content creator's Instagram post.

Ms. Rachel responded to the criticism by posting a video on Friday, in which she told her followers that she had been bullied and accused of not caring about 'all kids'.

She said under tears that she cares 'deeply for all children', adding: 'That is who I am. I love my neighbor.

'I love every child. Palestinian children, Israeli children, children in the US, - Muslim, Jewish, Christian children -, all children, in every country. Not one is excluded.'
Sunrise host Natalie Barr has asked why the $5 note is being redesigned after a report revealed the consultation process cost over $500,000.

In March, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced it would update the banknote, with the winning Indigenous theme called 'Connection to Country', replacing Queen Elizabeth II's portrait following her death in 2022.

It also confirmed King Charles would not feature on the note.

Endorsed by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, RBA staff conducted consultation in Alice Springs, Barmah, Bathurst, Broome, Cairns, Condobolin, Darwin, Hobart, Kalgoorlie, Orange, Port Augusta, Shepparton, and the Torres Strait.

'Overall, we met with around 100 First Nations community representatives from over 40 organisations. Multiple online information sessions were also conducted to facilitate participation from all parts of the country', the RBA's annual report stated.

On March 17, the RBA said the new $5 banknote would honour First Nations People.

Ms Barr asked why Queen Elizabeth II, the nation's longest serving monarch, was being replaced given Australia was not a republic.

'You do wonder why they would replace the Queen, even if we've now got a King, because she is the longest-serving monarch. She's an iconic figure,' she said.

Sunrise host Natalie Barrr (pictured on Tuesday) asked the question every Aussie wants answered about the planned redesign of the $5 banknote

'(Maybe) if we'd become a republic, then we could think about that. I could actually understand that.'

Ms Barr was joined by Western Sydney Women CEO Amanda Rose who took aim at the costly change to the note.

'I'm glad my taxes paid for them to go on a nice little trip while people can't afford their rent,' she said.

'This is a classic example of how disconnected our government is - because people can't even afford food and they're using taxpayer money to go on this road trip to ask people on something that we didn't even vote for.

'They didn't even ask the general community. Who said they wanted it changed? We're not a republic. Why are they getting rid of any monarchy at all on our $5 note?'

The Australian Monarchist League (AML) slammed the government decision to remove British royalty from the $5 note, branding the move 'neo-communism'.

The group is calling for King Charles III to be on the note.

'I believe all Australians would be proud of AML's design,' Australian Monarchists League spokesperson Jack Barton said.

The proposed $5 banknote put forward by the Australian Monarchist League

'Unlike the Labor government's divisive decision to remove the portrait of the sovereign from the $5 note, this design is a testament to the shared journey between Indigenous Australia and the Westminster Parliamentary system underpinned by our constitutional monarchy,' AML said in a statement.

Shadow Minister for Government Efficiency and for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, also hit out at the $507,000 expense.

'There is a consistent theme where the Albanese Government is guided by ideology more than a commitment to improving the lives of Indigenous Australiana. They have spent half a million dollars on this pet project, yet how many marginalised lives have been actually improved?' she told the Daily Telegraph.

Queen Elizabeth II has appeared on every Australian bank note series since her coronation in 1953. Her image will remain on the nation's coins, which is a decision of the Royal Australian Mint.

The new $5 design will also feature additional security features to prevent fraud.
Accused killer Daniel Krug cried to police a month before he was arrested for his wifes murder over failing to protect his family from a stalker terrorizing them, Colorado jurors heard Monday.

Prosecutors say Krug was posing as his wife Kristil's ex-boyfriend and stalking her with threatening emails and messages before he stabbed her to death in their suburban Denver home. He has denied the allegations.

The jury heard on Monday how Kristil received a barrage of unsolicited pics of men's genitals and unwanted offers for sex after an ad was placed on a hookup site.

Prosecutors said in openings that a sexual ad had been created with an email address purported to be Hollands, using elements of his name, that was created on the WiFi at Krugs workplace.

Im panicking and Im doing a s*** job of protecting my wife, Krug told detectives in November 2023, choking up, slumping over and continuing to break down in footage shown in court.

Im sorry about this, he said haltingly to the detective. I wear a mask around the kids.

The stalking began amidst the total breakdown of Kristils marriage, her mother and brother also testified. They said the engineer was separating her finances, moving up her timeline for divorce from Krug and couldnt stand the man.

The Broomfield County jury heard testimony during the second day of Krugs trial after opening statements on Friday.

Accused killer Daniel Krug cried to police a month before he was arrested for his wifes murder over failing to protect his family from a stalker terrorizing them, Colorado jurors heard Monday

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, stalking and criminal impersonation in the death of his wife, who was found fatally bludgeoned and stabbed in the heart in the garage of the family home on December 14, 2023.

Shed been terrified by an extensive campaign of stalking and harassment in the months before her murder that included not just threatening messages but also a sexual classified ad placed on a hookup site in her name  inviting men to run a train on the victim, the jury heard Monday.

Prosecutors argue that Krug, 44, executed a calculated plan of framing Kristils ex-boyfriend, a man whose apparent reconnection attempts over the years had included some alarming messages.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Kate Armstrong told jurors on Friday that the ex had quickly been ruled out following Kristils murder  and messages had been traced to IP addresses, emails and phones connected to her husband.

Krug also made damning searches about head trauma the night before his wife was bludgeoned, she said.

The defense argues that none of Krugs DNA was found at the scene, though some from an unknown contributor was discovered on her neck.

Prosecutors say Krug was posing as his wife Kristil's ex-boyfriend and stalking her with threatening emails and messages before he stabbed her to death in their suburban Denver home

On top of that, they claim there were ongoing procedural and search warrant issues that plagued the investigation.

Krugs daughter also told investigators that her father was wearing the same clothes after the murder as he had before  with no trace of the crime on them.

Jurors on Monday learned the extent of fear that Kristil had lived in during the final months of her life, when someone she believed to be her ex from 2000, Jack Anthony Holland, apparently began sending escalating, threatening messages via text and email.

Kristil notified her employer of the threat. She got a new phone number. She devised new pickup and dropoff plans for her three children to keep them safe.

She was forced to skip her daughters performance in the Nutcracker, a beloved annual tradition, because of fear within the dance community who knew about the situation. She bought a new gun  and a purse for concealing it from a specialty store run by her stepmoms sister, Diana West.

The court heard from several witnesses that Kristil became increasingly paranoid. While she was mostly convinced Anthony was behind the stalking, she also considered Krug, West testified.

I remember her saying  The sad thing is, I cannot even rule out my husband as the stalker, Diana West testified Monday.

Kristils mother, Linda Grimsrud, told the court about her daughter collapsing into tears in a parking lot.

I held her and there wasnt much else to do for her, because she was so upset and so troubled  I felt helpless, and she did too.

Jurors watched Kristils November 2 first in-person interview with a detective about the stalking, during which she was clearly agitated and speaking rapidly but precise and methodic.

The jury heard on Monday how Krug allegedly placed a classified ad on a hookup site suggesting his wife wanted sex and were shown video of him weeping in an interview with investigators (their home in Colorado is pictured above)

Kristil arrived with a spreadsheet log of her history with the ex, Jack Anthony Holland, as well as the more recent scary messages. By that time, shed already received pictures and messages indicating the sender had been keeping the family under surveillance from close proximity.

This is exhausting, she told Det Andrew Martinez, now a sergeant. The barrage of contact, she said, comes from all directions at any time.

Its a lot, and it has definitely made me paranoid everywhere I go.

She said she didnt know at what point her stalker might come out from the bushes.

As the messages escalated  including messages threatening to get rid of Krug  Broomfield officers later in the month conducted wellness checks and counter-surveillance on husband and wife, as well as sweeping Kristils car for GPS devices.

Kristils mother said that Krug, with whom shed never had a particularly close relationship, seemed to not take the stalking situation seriously.

But Kristils brother testified that Krug exhibited pronounced jitteriness during a November 2023 family birthday party.

Lars Grimsrud said Krug mentioned vigilance and paranoia and taking pictures of cars on the street.

Whenever a car would come by, he would stand up and look out the window, Lars said.

Kristil, meanwhile, was increasingly panicking.

This is making me very scared. He may very well escalate to approaching me in person because he promised to see me soon in the last message. When he does, I dont think it will be to say hi, she texted Martinez in November.

As the unwanted train sex ad attracted a barrage of d*** pics later in the month, Kristil worried to Martinez that she was nervous that one of these guys will try to find me, thinking I want this.

Kristils brother testified on Monday that his sister became frustrated with lack of police action.

Investigators only located Holland in Utah, where he now resides, in the immediately aftermath of her murder. Shed first told them about him on Halloween  and Holland proved easy to rule out as a suspect. He had alibis for the times of the murder and messages sent.

Lars Grimsrud also testified Monday that, when he was informed of his sisters murder, detectives said theyd suspected Krug since November. Lars said he subsequently demanded to know why they hadnt informed his sister her husband was a suspect.

Their mother told the court about the morning of Kristils death  how Krug had called her to say he hadnt heard from his wife. Hed also called police for a wellness check.

It was very unusual to me, because he was very agitated and very anxious, and Ive never heard that from him in the past, she said.

She drove over, saw a police car and the front door was kicked in.

I immediately just panicked, and I went around the side, and I saw her legs laying on the garage floor, she testified emotionally. A cop was on top of her attempting CPR.

Dan came last, Linda said. It was a horrible scene and a horrible thing.

The very next day, she says, she found it odd when Krug began talking to her about selling the house and getting rid of Kristils clothes.

Jurors ended the day watching more emotional video from Krug as he was interviewed by police in the hours after his wifes death.

As he watched himself on Monday, Krug  wearing a gray suit and blue tie  stared expressionlessly at the screen as jurors sat rapt.

Krug repeatedly sobbed, rocked forward, mumbled and made helpless hand gestures as he sat on a couch in the Broomfield Police Department in the December 14 footage. He seemed to struggle for air and grasp for basic information when questioned.

He handed over his phones to detectives and told them hed been late leaving that morning  but had last seen Kristil in the kitchen.

He did, however, bring up that Kristil had been mysteriously disappearing recently and keeping secrets.

The trial continues on Tuesday.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex were forced to step back from royal family duties because they were not being protected by the institution.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex were forced to step back from royal family duties because they were not being protected by the institution

The 40-year-old Duke of Sussex made the claim as he challenged a decision made by the High Court last year, which dismissed his case against the Home Office and the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec).

He has now launched a fresh legal battle at the Court of Appeal, seeking to overturn that ruling by arguing his security arrangements were unjustly downgraded after he stepped down as a working royal in 2020 with his wife Meghan, 43.

A two-day hearing in London that started on Tuesday (08.04.25) marks the latest development in a long-running legal dispute over whether Harry should continue to receive state-funded police protection when visiting the UK.

The case stems from the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs decision to leave their roles as senior royals  a move commonly referred to as Megxit.

Harry's barrister, Shaheed Fatima KC, told the court the couple felt they had no choice.

In written submissions, she said: On 8 January 2020, (the duke) and his wife felt forced to step back from the role of full-time official working members of the royal family as they considered they were not being protected by the institution, but they wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the royal family.

The barrister argued Ravec had adopted a bespoke process in reviewing Harrys protection  a procedure she claimed was not used for any other individual.

She added: The appellants case is not that he should automatically be entitled to the same protection as he was previously given when he was a working member of the royal family.

The appellants case is that he should be considered under the terms of reference and subject to the same process as any other individual being considered for protective security by Ravec, unless there is a cogent reason to the contrary.

The barrister also said Ravecs failure to conduct a Risk Management Board (RMB) assessment may have resulted in a flawed decision.

Court documents submitted by Harrys legal team highlighted threats against him, including a call by Al-Qaeda for Harry to be murdered after his security status was changed in February 2020.

They also referenced a 2023 incident in New York, in which Harry and Meghan, 43, were involved in a high-speed car chase with paparazzi.
Australia's largest mosque could begin broadcasting the Muslim call to prayer from loudspeakers every week under a proposal lodged with a Sydney council.

Lakemba Mosque, also known as the Masjid Ali Bin Abi Talib, has proposed to affix four loudspeakers to its minaret in a new bid to the Canterbury-Bankstown Council in Sydney's west.

It would be the first mosque in Sydney to broadcast the call to prayer - known in Arabic as the adhan - regularly throughout the year.

According to planning documents, nearly two thirds of the Lakemba population identified as Islamic in 2021 while nearly one quarter spoke Arabic at home.

The proposed development would be permissible under zoning restrictions with council's consent, according to the application.

The mosque is owned and operated by the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA), a community-based non-profit organisation established in 1962.

A spokesperson for the LMA told Daily Mail Australia the proposal was 'modest in nature but deeply meaningful to our community.'

'If approved, it reflects the growing recognition of Australia's multicultural identity and religious diversity,' the spokesperson said.

Lakemba Mosque (pictured) will install four loudspeakers to its minaret if the Canterbury Bankstown Council approves its proposal

Pictured is Sheikh Yahya Safi who has served as the mosque's head Imam since 1996

Lakemba Mosque is a Sunni place of worship. It's opening in 1977 was attended by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and is widely considered to be Australia's most significant mosque.

The mosque is situated on Wangee Road among mostly single-storey residential dwellings and low-rise commercial buildings.

The five-minute call to prayer would be broadcast once a week prior to the Friday prayer, referred to as the Jummah.

'The adhan would be broadcast around midday on Friday, a time when most people are at work, school, or otherwise active, minimising any potential disruption,' the LMA spokesperson said.

'Importantly, local residents and community members have been overwhelmingly supportive of the proposal. For many, it represents cultural inclusion and the freedom to express one's faith peacefully in public life.'

The LMA spokesperson said they had not received any 'formal objections' through the council application process.

'Informal feedback from the surrounding neighbourhood has been respectful and positive. We understand the importance of balance, and this proposal has been designed to uphold religious expression while maintaining harmony with local residents.'

The mosque broadcasted the call-to-prayer during Ramadan - the holiest month in the Islamic calendar - during the Covid-19 lockdowns in May 2020.

As the largest mosque in Australia, several thousand worshippers attend it on a weekly basis

'The adhan is a traditional and peaceful call to prayera reminder for worshippers to attend the mosque,' the LMA spokesperson said.

'It is not a sermon, speech, or call to action, but a spiritual moment marking the significance of prayer time, especially on Fridays. The adhan is already publicly broadcast in cities around the world, including London, Birmingham, Auckland, Toronto, Stockholm, New York City, and parts of the Netherlands.'

'These examples show how cities around the world accommodate faith and culture respectfully and harmoniously.'
A billionaire Republican donor who once backed Donald Trump has blasted the president's tariffs policy as 'b******t.'

Home Depot founder Ken Langone, 89, joined the growing list of financiers to call out the president for launching his trade war last week.

Langone criticized the scope and timing of Trump's tariff announcement that triggered a market collapse, claiming the president was poorly advised and his math does not make sense.

'I don't understand the goddamn formula,' Langone, who supported Trump in 2016 and has a net worth of $8.4billion, told The Financial Times.

'I believe [Trump's] been poorly advised by his advisers about this trade situation  and the formula they're applying.'

He said the tariff on Vietnam was 'b******t' and the additional 34 percent tax on China was 'too aggressive, too soon' and did not give 'serious negotiations a chance to work.'

'Forty-six per cent on Vietnam? Come on!' said Langone. 'You might as well tell them, "Don't even bother calling."'

The billionaire's loyalty to Trump, and his opinions on tariffs, have flip-flopped in recent years. Despite his ferocity this week, in 2019 Langone came out publicly and praised the president for 'doing the right thing' by increasing tariffs on China.

Home Depot founder Ken Langone, 89, joined the growing list of financiers to call out the president for launching his trade war

Langone criticized the scope and timing of Trump's tariff announcement that triggered a market collapse

Langone switched political parties around 2022 too, when he vowed to do what he could to support the Biden administration despite previously piling money into Trump's campaign.

This comes after MAGA ally Ben Shapiro stunningly turned on President Trump and urged him to listen to Elon Musk's criticism of his tariff policy.

Shapiro, a long-time supporter of the president, smashed the illusion that tariffs are a good business deal for Americans to smithereens, with a startling insight on Monday: 'Musk is right. Musk happens to be 100 percent right about this.'

The Tesla CEO has been in lockstep with the president on key voter issues since he returned to the White House, but came out swinging against tariffs and exposed a feud with the key advisor who helped bring them to life.

Shapiro gave a blisteringly blunt message to Trump, urging him to do 'exactly' what Musk tells him to do in regard to his tariff policy - just days after global markets faced devastating downturns because of his decisions.

Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro has been engaged in a public war of words with Musk since the White House unveiled his controversial reciprocal tariff policy, which sparked market chaos and global fears of a recession.

Musk revealed on Saturday that he hopes the United States will achieve zero-zero tariff agreements with major trade partners.

Wall Street trader Bill Ackman, one of Trump's most faithful backers in the financial world said on Sunday night that the president needed to put his tariff war on hold or risk a self-induced, economic nuclear winter.

The Pershing Square Capital Management CEO warned that Trump's current trajectory could devastate businesses around the world, 'destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business and as a market to invest capital'.

He urged the president to 'call a 90-day timeout, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country.

'If, on the other hand, on April 9, we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate,' he added.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk came out swinging against tariffs and exposed a feud with the key advisor who helped bring them to life

Bill Ackman, the billionaire boss of Pershing Square Capital Management, said the President needed to put his tariff war on hold or risk a self-induced, economic nuclear winter

Trump denied he was intentionally engineering a market selloff and insisted he could not foresee market reactions, saying he would not make a deal with other countries unless trade deficits were solved.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz - who ran for re-election calling himself Trump's 'strongest supporter' in the Senate - warned how the tariffs could 'hurt jobs and hurt America.'

On his own podcast, he said that he's not a fan of tariffs and was wary of Republicans defending Trump just to defend Trump.

'I'm seeing a lot of Republican cheerleaders reflexively defending what the White House is doing,' Cruz said.

Cruz warned that nations reciprocating Trump's tariffs for lengthy periods of time could hurt the country.

'If we're in a scenario 30 days from now, 60 days from now, 90 days from now, with massive American tariffs, and massive tariffs on American goods in every other country on earth, that is a terrible outcome.'

He said that while 'the upside could be massive,' Republicans running to keep their seats next year may face a hostile environment if the plan doesn't work.

'If we go into a recession  particularly a bad recession  2026 in all likelihood, politically would be a bloodbath,' he said.
A teenager has been arrested after hundreds of students trashed an Airbnb during an unexpected, drunken party which caused thousands of dollars in damages.

A 16-year-old Kelvin Grove boy was taken into custody on Tuesday after a 'family' booking for a property in East Brisbane turned into a wild, booze-filled night.

Officers had searched the boys home and seized evidence related to the out-of-control party which a spokesperson labelled as a 'large disturbance'.

Airbnb host Benjamin Holt had received a reservation from a member of what he thought was a family-of-five for his home on Geelong Street over the weekend.

However, the booking profile was fake and an open-invitation to the house party was sent via Snapchat, with about 500 teenagers piling into the house on April 5.

What then became a wild party was organised by students from private school Brisbane Boys College, The Courier Mail reported.

Police were eventually called to shutdown the event, causing hundreds of teenagers to flee the scene, while others continued to cause havoc on the street.

Some teenagers even clashed with police as horrified neighbours watched on from the safety of their homes.

An Airbnb property has been destroyed after 500 teenagers hosted a wild, booze-filled party

The unruly teens damaged the home, ripping off Balustrades and throwing expensive household items into the pool including an iron, wheelbarrow, lawnmower, lounge and Dyson vacuum cleaner

The unruly teenagers destroyed Mr Holt's property and caused thousands of dollars in damages.

Balustrades were ripped off and numerous items were thrown into the pool including an iron, wheelbarrow, lawnmower, lounge and Dyson vacuum cleaner.

The partygoers also left the property covered in rubbish, with Mr Holt having to clean up plastic cups, broken glass and countless empty cans and bottles of alcohol.

Just before 11pm on Sunday, Mr Holt received a threatening message on his real estate profile from one of the teenagers involved in the alcohol-fuelled party.

'Hey, why the hell would you get the cops and news involved man,' the teenager wrote.

'Idc (I don't care) if you press charges on me, I should've thrashed the house even more. And btw (by the way) I ain't paying for anything which was damaged.

'Sent from my burner btw. If u wanna press charges go for it dude. But that would cost you too much money ahaha.'

Mr Holt told Sunrise on Monday it was a 'bit frightening' that they were threatening him despite the police involvement.

A 16-year-old Kelvin Grove boy was arrested on Tuesday after the 'large disturbance'

Airbnb host Benjamin Holt revealed he was sent a threatening message from one of the teenagers involved in the out-of-control party

Mr Holt explained it was too early to estimate the total cost of the repairs and cleanup, as the damage to the property was extensive.

Three cleaners attended the property on Sunday and worked a seven hour shift to clear the house of the rubbish.

Carpenters, grass professionals and a plumber have also been called to the home to repair internal and external damages.

'I can't put a number on it just yet but I'm not looking forward to the bill,' Mr Holt said.

'I am here with my work clothes on pulling glass strands out of the grass in the backyard, it is looking better, but we still have a lot of work to go.

'The lawnmower, the vacuum cleaner [thrown in the pool], all these things add up, and we still have to do all the actual tradie work, which we have not even started.'

Mr Holt said he just wanted to get the property back up and running as other families were suffering due to the actions of the teenagers.

He explained a family-of-four, including two kids, had booked a five-night stay at the home, but due to the damage had to cancel their stay.

'I had to call them at 10.30pm at night and tell them they could not stay. So that is the hard part for me, the cancelled bookings,' Mr Holt said.

Mr Holt added he just wanted the teenagers to take responsibility for their actions and foot the bill for the repair work.

The Airbnb host also noted the teens would be 'flushed with cash' as he was informed revellers had to pay to enter the party.

Despite having insurance, Mr Holt fears the total payout would not be enough to cover the total cost of the repair bill.

'At the end of the day, we need them to take responsibility for what they have done, they need to foot the bill for the repair works,' Mr Holt said.

Mr Holt (pictured) said it was too early to estimate the total cost of the repairs and claimed he wanted the teenagers to take responsibility for their actions

Queensland Police said the 16-year-old boy will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act.

A spokesperson said Mr Holt has been provided with support throughout the investigation and has been advised of the update.

A spokesperson for Airbnb Australia and New Zealand told Daily Mail Australia that 'Airbnb does not permit disruptive gatherings and this type of behaviour has no place on our platform.

'We know that the overwhelming majority of guests are responsible and treat their Airbnb listings and neighbourhoods as if they were their own.

'We're supporting the host and are in contact with police to assist in their investigation.'
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton faced-off in the first leaders' debate of the 2025 Federal Election on Tuesday night.

The Sky News/Daily Telegraph Peoples Forum, broadcast from the key election battleground of Western Sydney, kicked off at 7.30pm (AEST).

It was light on drama as both leaders stuck to well-rehearsed lines, with the audience declaring the Prime Minister the winner.

Follow Daily Mail Australia's live campaign coverage.
Disturbing footage has emerged of a group of 'Karens' unleashing into an expletive-filled tirade at two teenage fishermen.

The boys were fishing at a pond on Delfin Island near West Lakes in Adelaide's west last Saturday when they were confronted by the angry group.

A heated exchange soon escalated with both groups filming each other and threatening to call the police.

The group appeared to be local residents concerned about protecting native wildlife.

At least four adults were heard yelling at the teens and demanding they leave, despite the boys doing nothing illegal.

One man shouted profanities at the boys including, 'the police is on their way', 'you take this phone away', 'p*** off', 'you go away', 'shut the f*** up' and 'f*** off'.

Another man grabbed a bag belonging to one of the boys and tossed it onto the nearby grass.

'You can't do that', the shocked boy said.

A group of locals have been slammed over their overreaction to two teens fishing on an island

A man (pictured) got into the face of one of the boys as he shouted profanities at them

The adults seemed to want to protect the wildlife at West Lakes - but the boys had done nothing illegal

A woman fired back: 'You ruin the environment, we ruin your things.'

The group then got very close to the boys, where one woman loudly clapped her hands in one of their faces.

As a boy filmed a man's rage, he leaned into the camera and shouted 'You go away  f*** you.'

The boys eventually left the scene to avoid tensions escalating further.

The incident sparked outrage from viewers online.

Many believed the locals overreacted.

'From what I could see, the children were fishing, let them fish better they do that than get into mischief,' one wrote.

'It's absolutely appalling behaviour from the adults, if that was one of my kids, I would be down there with them next time.'

The group demanded the boys that they leave and threatened to call the police

A young boy's bag was picked up and thrown from the island onto the nearby grass

A recreational fishers' group added: 'Delfin Island is not closed to recreational fishing as claimed by residents who continue to deface and alter council signage.

Charles Sturt Council has since weighed into the saga and confirmed the boys weren't doing anything illegal.

'The by-laws say that fishing is permitted in the lake  but the fishermen need to be more than six metres away from any property boundary,' council chief executive Paul Sutton told The Advertiser.

'I think they probably were (six metres away) but I haven't been down there with a tape measure to measure it out.'

SA Police attended the 'disturbance between two groups' but 'no offences were disclosed.'
The real estate agent who listed it online has since apologised

A Brisbane property asked renters for offers over $750 for rent

A real estate agent has apologised and admitted a mistake was made after an illegal rental listing sparked huge backlash.

The listing for a three-bedroom home in Bellbowrie west of Brisbane invited prospective tenants to bid for the opportunity to secure the lease.

'Offers over $750 would be considered,' the Harcourts Success ad stated.

Screenshots of the listing went viral online as house-seekers pointed out its blatant illegality.

Queensland banned rental bidding in 2024 and now requires rentals to be listed with fixed prices.

Under the new laws, it is an offence for a property to be advertised with a rent range and agents are not allowed to accept offers higher than the advertised price.

The listing has since been updated to $800 per week.

'We sincerely apologise for the mistake that happened. We didn't intend to advertise this property without a price or wanted to invite rental bidding,' Harcourts Success director Praveen Ha told news.com.au.

A real estate agency in Brisbane has been slammed for listing a property which encouraged prospective tenants to bid for the lease

The rental listing for the three bedroom home has since been updated to $800 per week

Mr Sha said the error was caused by a 'computer glitch and a bit of human negligence'.

He explained the homeowner has expected rent to be over $750 and the listing inadvertently went up requesting offers over that amount.

He blamed the blunder on miscommunication.

AI used by the real estate meant that the listing was posted online a day earlier than it should have, which meant the error wasn't picked up beforehand.

'This shouldn't have happened if we had not relied on AI for write up, and be more vigilant on what's typed,' Mr Sha told the publication.

The original listing was on realestate.com.au for an hour before the listing was removed and amended.

But not before the listing breached the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act, according to the Queensland Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA).

The agency's compliance and enforcement team will contact the property manager to address the incident.

The online listing for the three-bedroom Bellbowrie property has since been amended

Mr Sha has since been in contact with the RTA to explain the incident and has vowed to accept whatever outcome it makes.

'Bottom line, we are responsible for what has happened and we sincerely apologise for the mistake,' Mr Sha said.

Possible sanctions include a 'notice of non-compliance', which would involve being let off with a warning.

The maximum penalty is 50 penalty units, with a single penalty unit in Queensland equivalent to a $161.30 fine.

Harcourts Success director Praveen Ha has since apologised for the mistake blamed on miscommunication, AI and human error

Hundreds of Reddit users slammed the real estate company for its audacity.

'This really boils my blood,' one user in the r/Brisbane group said.

A real estate agent added: 'As a property manager myself this is disgusting. This is why our industry has such a low trust relationship with the public.

Others described it as 'dodgy', 'cooked' and 'unbelievable'.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Praveen Sha and the Queensland Residential Tenancies Authority for comment.
Businessmen who made more than 6million in a money laundering operation which saw them selling vans and lorries to war-torn Ukraine after purchasing them with criminal money have been jailed.

Valeriy Popovych, 52, and his wife Oksana, 42, both of SunburyonThames, and Vitaliy Lutsak, 43, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, bought the vehicles in the UK before sending them to Ukraine and converting their profits into cryptocurrency.

The group exploited Ukraine's legitimate demand for the vehicles and the lack of cryptocurrency regulation to maximise their profits which totalled to around 6.7million.

All three were found guilty following a five week trial at Wood Green Crown Court.

Valeriy Popovych and Vitaliy Lutsak were both sentenced to six years and six months in prison on Monday. Oksana Popovych is due to be sentenced on May 30.

They were all found guilty of transferring criminal property and running an unregistered money service business, following an investigation by the Met's economic crime team.

The criminal enterprise enabled Valeriy and Oksana Popovych to purchase a second house in South West London for just under 1 million.

Popovych used his export business, Sprint Commercial Ltd, to purchase vehicles in the UK from legitimate traders before selling them to Ukraine. His wife, Oksana , was also employed by the business.

Valeriy would purchase the goods with criminal cash before the money was deposited in Ukraine and converted to cryptocurrency.

Valeriy Popovych, 52, of SunburyonThames, bought cars and vans with criminal money before selling them to Ukraine

Vitaliy Lutsak, 43, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, was also involved in the money laundering investigation

The group exploited Ukraine's legitimate demand for the vehicles and the lack of cryptocurrency regulation to maximise their profits which totalled to around 6.7million (Pictured: cash seized by police)

Vitaliy acted as the money co-ordinator and would send the Popovychs to collect criminal cash from 'customers' in the UK.

During the investigation officers found more than $14million (10,948,280) in cryptocurrency had passed through his 'cyrptowallets' stored on his computer.

Part of the laundered cash was controlled by a Russian National called Semen Kuksov, who was convicted on October 27, 2023, at Southwark Crown Court, under the National Crime Agency's (NCA) Operation Destabilise.

Kuksov was sentenced to five years and seven months imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court on February 1, 2024.

Bodycam footage shows the moment Valeriy Popovych was arrested by police who pulled over a vehicle he was riding passenger in on June 28, 2023, in Twickenham.

When searching the vehicle, police found over 60,000 in cash. In another search of is house in Feltham officers recovered 130,000 in cash which was seized, along with a laptop and mobile devices.

Evidence obtained by officers included chats, money transactions, CCTV, cryptocurrency wallets and call logs.

Messages outlined key times in which Valeriy and Popovych visited addresses to collect cash.

Crucially, they found an Excel spreadsheet, named 'V Enf Acc' which proved the group laundered over 6million between August 2022 and June 2023.

Bodycam footage shows the moment Valeriy Popovych was arrested by police who pulled over a vehicle he was riding passenger in on June 28, 2023, in Twickenham

Valeriy Popovych and Vitaliy Lutsak were both sentenced to six years and six months in prison on Monday. Oksana Popovych is due to be sentenced on May 30 (Pictured: cash seized by police)

During the investigation officers found more than $14million (10,948,280) in cryptocurrency had passed through his 'cyrptowallets' stored on his computer (Pictured: cash seized by police)

Following Popovych's arrest, extensive investigations discovered the link with Oksana and Lutsak, who were arrested at their homes on May 15, 2024. Lutsak was charged on the same day.

Valeriy and Oksana Popvych were charged on June 14, 2024.

They were all found guilty by the jury on March 5 this year at Wood Green Crown Court.

Detective Constable Harry Davies, from the Metropolitan Police, who led the investigation, said: 'This was a thorough and complex investigation into an organised crime gang operating internationally, I'd like to thank the dedicated officers and our partners for their work in bringing this group to justice.

'Mr Popovych presented himself as a hardworking, legitimate tradesman and used his reputation within the second-hand lorry market to clean criminal cash. He also callously saw the conflict in Ukraine as a lucrative business opportunity.

'The sentences given to the group today show how committed we are in tackling organised crime groups and the serious risk they pose to our communities.'

Negeen Momtahen, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Together, these defendants used an export business as a front to launder millions of pounds of criminal cash across borders. They attempted to conceal the source of this illicit money by using secret token exchanges and cryptocurrency.

'Money laundering is not a victimless crime  it is the financial lifeline which enables criminals to profit from their illegal activities.

'Last year we convicted other key members of this same money laundering network. I hope this latest prosecution demonstrates our ongoing determination to dismantling these criminal operations and bringing all involved to justice.

'We will be pursuing confiscation proceedings against the defendants to remove any available criminal benefits gained from this enterprise.'
A Colombian career criminal with a slew of convictions to his name is 'too fragile' to be deported from the UK, a judge has ruled.

The unnamed man, 46, has racked up 12 convictions for 27 offences since arriving in Britain as a teenager in the 1990s and was branded a 'persistent' offender.

He committed the crimes to 'feed his drinking and substance misuse' and had faced a prison sentence for breaching a retraining order against his ex, a hearing was told.

As a result of this, the crook faced deportation - but he appealed and took the matter to an immigration tribunal.

And despite his 'persistent offending', a judge ruled he could remain in the country as there would be 'very significant obstacles' for him if he were to return to Colombia.

She said the man was 'fragile' and his deportation would also be too 'harsh' on his son, who has 'undiagnosed autism'.

The Home Office criticised this ruling and have since successfully applied to have it reheard.

The Upper Tier Tribunal (UTT) of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber was told the man - who was granted anonymity - arrived in the UK in the early 1990s when he was 16.

A Colombian criminal with a slew of convictions to his name is 'too fragile' to be deported from the UK, a judge has ruled. Pictured is the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber

He claimed asylum and while this was refused, he was granted discretionary leave to remain until December 2005.

The man returned to Colombia but on an unknown date, he came back to the UK. In 2007, he was granted indefinite leave to remain.

The tribunal said that between 2006 and 2024, he amassed 12 convictions for 27 offences.

Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Sandip Kudhail said: 'He is a persistent offender.'

In 2016, the criminal was convicted of breach of a restraining order in relation to his former partner - with whom he shares a child - and was handed an eight-week jail sentence.

This was extended for another 11 weeks for three previous driving offences.

The tribunal said that in 2018, a restraining order was made by his former partner which prohibited him from contacting her except via solicitors or a contact centre.

Later that year, he was served with a deportation order.

In February 2020, the man was detained pending removal but after judicial review proceedings, the removal directions were deferred and further representations were lodged.

The unnamed man has 12 convictions for 27 offences since arriving in Britain as a teenager in the 1990s and was branded a 'persistent' offender (file image)

Some three years later, the Home Secretary refused his leave to remain. But, the man appealed this.

In October 2024, First-tier Tribunal Judge Phull granted him permission to remain in the UK on the grounds of Article Eight of the European Convention of Human Rights act [ECHR].

She found found the man had lived in the UK 'lawfully for over half his life' and so there was evidence of 'working, relationships, friendships and medical issues demonstrated he was socially and culturally integrated'.

Judge Phull said there would be 'very significant obstacles' for his reintegration if he were to return to Colombia as he had lived in the UK since he was a teenager.

She found there had been only a few short visits to his home country since leaving and so he had 'no real ties to it anymore'.

It was said that while he had family in the country, his mental health needs and support in the UK indicated he was 'fragile' meaning he 'would not be able to re-integrate'.

'The Judge found [his] fragile mental health and lack of proper accessible treatment, would lead to very significant obstacles,' the UTT was told.

Judge Phull also ruled it would be 'unduly harsh' on his son if he were to leave the country.

She said the child has 'undiagnosed autism' which would 'make it difficult for him to understand why the relationship has been severed and he was unable to spend time with his father'.

Judge Phull also ruled it would be 'unduly harsh' on his son if he were to leave the country. Pictured is a stock image of the Colombian capital, Bogota

The judge ultimately ruled that the 'very compelling circumstances' outweighed the 'public interest' in keeping him in the UK.

But, the Home Office appealed this decision and said she had 'erred in the assessment of very significant obstacles'.

The body said the judge had given 'inadequate' reasoning for why the man had 'no real ties' in Colombia, when there was evidence that he had family there who could 'support' him.

They argued there was 'no evidence' that his son would be 'adversely impacted'.

And, they said that he did not give weight to the man's 'repeat offending'.

The body said this was at odds with her finding that 'the offending is very much the exception, to feed his drinking and substance misuse, in what has otherwise been a law-abiding life'.

They appealed the judge's decision and took it to The Upper Tier Tribunal.

After hearing arguments made by the Home Office, Judge Kudhail ruled the case should be reheard.

She said the previous judge failed to address the question of support from the man's family, who he was in contact with.

And, Judge Kudhail said she failed to set out exactly how his leaving of the country would impact his son.

Judge Kudhail said the first judge to hear the case made an 'error of law' so ruled it should be remitted to the First-tier Tribunal and heard by somebody else.

This will take a place at a later date.
Meghan Markle has revealed she had a 'huge medical scare' after giving birth as the first episode of her new podcast Confessions Of A Female Founder came out today.

The Duchess of Sussex announced the arrival of the new Lemonada Media show by posting a series of throwback photos on Instagram of her selling cookies as a child.

In the first episode, Meghan speaks with her friend, the entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe Herd, who founded the female-focused dating app Bumble and co-founded Tinder.

Both women discussed how they had suffered from postpartum preeclampsia, a condition related to high blood pressure and excess protein in urine in the days or weeks after giving birth - which Wolfe Herd described as 'life or death, truly'.

It was released just hours after Meghan's husband Prince Harry landed in the UK, and King Charles III jetted off to Italy with Queen Camilla for a four-day state visit.

The Duke of Sussex then arrived at the High Court this morning for an appeal against a ruling on whether he is entitled to armed bodyguards paid for by the taxpayer.

In the podcast interview recorded in February, Meghan said to Wolfe Herd: 'We both had very similar experiences - though we didn't know each other at the time - with postpartum, and we both had preeclampsia. Postpartum preeclampsia.'

Meghan did not reveal whether she suffered the condition after the birth of her son Prince Archie, five, or her daughter Princess Lilibet, three. Wolfe Herd has two sons.

The Duchess of Sussex has launched a new podcast called 'Confessions Of A Female Founder'

Meghan released four throwback photos of herself as a child on Instagram to launch the show

Meghan's announcement on Instagram today to confirm her new podcast is now live

The Duchess added: 'It's so rare and so scary. And you're still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn't know what's happening quietly.

'And in the quiet, you're still trying to show up for people - mostly for your children - but those things are huge medical scares.' Wolfe Herd added: 'I mean life or death, truly.'

Wolfe Herd spoke about Meghan and Harry introducing their newborn son Archie to the world in a photocall at St George's Hall in Windsor Castle in May 2019, two days after his birth.

She told the Duchess: 'I mean, I'll never forget the image of you after you delivered Archie, and the whole world was waiting for his debut.

'I was either just becoming or about to become a new mom, and I was like, 'Oh my God, how is this woman doing this? How is this woman putting on heels and going and debuting a child in this, you know, beautiful outfit in front of the entire world?'

Wolfe Herd added: 'I could barely face a doorbell delivery for takeout food in a robe'  to which Meghan laughed.

Meghan also called Wolfe Herd a 'wildly successful female entrepreneur' and 'the kind of friend who just always seems to know the exact right thing to say when I need perspective'.

Harry and Meghan with their baby son in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019. Her podcast guest Whitney Wolfe Herd said of this moment: 'I was either just becoming or about to become a new mom, and I was like, 'Oh my God, how is this woman doing this?'

Meghan speaks with Whitney Wolfe Herd, who founded the female-focused dating app Bumble

The podcast was released shortly before Meghan's husband Prince Harry arrived at the High Court in London today for an appeal against a ruling on his legal claim against the Home Office

Wolfe Herd spoke about Meghan's 'brutalising' time in the public eye, telling her: 'I do think there is so much to be said for your ability to exist, even in the presence of that.

'It takes a very strong cookie. When I was going through the media storm and being called this and that, and this and that, at Tinder, I didn't leave my house for, like, a month and a half.'

How postpartum preeclampsia can be fatal for new mothers

Postpartum preeclampsia is a potentially-deadly condition that new mothers can suffer when they have high blood pressure and excess protein in their urine after childbirth. It is different to preeclampsia, which is a similar condition that develops during pregnancy and normally resolves with the baby's birth. Postpartum preeclampsia normally develops within 48 hours of childbirth, but it can sometimes be up to six weeks or later - which is then known as 'late postpartum preeclampsia'. If the condition is untreated, it can cause seizures and other serious complications such as organ damage, a stroke or even death. Signs and symptoms might include high blood pressure, excess protein in urine, severe headaches, changes in vision or pain in your upper belly, usually under the ribs on the right side. Other symptoms might be nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath and decreased urination. Advertisement

Meghan told Wolfe Herd about being 'absolutely consumed with packaging', adding: 'Boxes. It's all I could think about. I would sit there doing the unboxing in my head: Is there tissue paper?

'What about the packing peanuts, but they're biodegradable? Where does the sticker go, and what size the box is going to be?'

She also made reference to a 'porch pirate'  a term for someone who steals packages left on porches or doorsteps after delivery.

Meghan said: 'Someone says, 'But you don't want to brand the outside of the box, because of porch pirates. Had never heard that before. What's a porch pirate?'

Wolfe Herd also said that the 'one thing you can never get back is time'.

She told the Duchess: 'The amount of time, Meg, that I wasted on being stressed, being miserable, being overwhelmed, being paranoid about what shoe was going to drop. I actually think I would have been more successful had I not been like that.'

However, Meghan replied, 'But can you turn it off? I say this because last night, I was - you know when your brain goes in a loop? Those 3am loops, and you can't stop overthinking the thing.'

Wolfe Herd explained how she has followed the 'rule of fives.'

She said: 'Will this matter in five minutes? Five hours? Five days? Yes or no. If it's not going to matter in five years, throw it out the window.'

And Wolfe Herd told her: 'I think you have to really take a deep breath and say, 'You know what, how big of a deal is this? If this is not going to be a defining issue in your business, your life, your family in five years, like, you'll be fine.'

She also said: 'When you're ruminating in the middle of the night and you're like, 'Oh, but the box came out the wrong texture.' Well, is that a problem in five months? Not really because you can switch that box.'

They also talked about how having children had change their perspectives on life, with Wolfe Herd telling Meghan: 'I think being a mother, as you know, nothing comes before that.

One of the four photos posted by Meghan on Instagram today to announce the new show

Meghan is pictured as a child with friends in one of the pictures to launch her new podcast

A photo of Meghan as a child which she released today to help confirm the new show's release

'Their well-being is our wellbeing. And so I think it forces you to prioritise in ways that, for me, I never did before.'

Meghan also talked about balancing home and work life, and explained how her daughter Lilibet would sometimes come into her office at their property in Montecito, California, following a nap.

Quotes from Meghan's new podcast episode On postpartum preeclampsia 'It's so rare and so scary. And you're still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn't know what's happening quietly. And in the quiet, you're still trying to show up for people - mostly for your children - but those things are huge medical scares' On Whitney Wolfe Herd 'The kind of friend who just always seems to know the exact right thing to say when I need perspective' On working from home 'We became moms in the pandemic, post-pandemic culture, where there is so much working from home I don't leave the house to go to an office; my office is here. On Princess Lilibet 'Lili still naps, she gets picked up early and she naps. She only has a half day in preschool. If she wakes up and wants to find me, she knows where to find me, even if my door is closed to the office' On having children What I do love the most about having young kids, in this chapter while I'm building [my business], is the perspective that it brings because you're building something while your child's going through potty training... and both are just as important It's like, 'Great, OK, where's the Cheerios? Well done'.' Advertisement

She told Wolfe Herd: 'We became moms in the pandemic, post-pandemic culture, where there is so much working from home I don't leave the house to go to an office; my office is here.

'Lili still naps, she gets picked up early and she naps. She only has a half day in preschool. If she wakes up and wants to find me, she knows where to find me, even if my door is closed to the office.

'She'll be sitting there on my lap during one of these meetings with a grid of all the executives I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't want to miss those moments. I don't want to miss pickup if I don't have to. I don't want to miss drop-off.'

The Duchess continued: 'What I do love the most about having young kids, in this chapter while I'm building [my business], is the perspective that it brings because you're building something while your child's going through potty training...and both are just as important

'It's like, 'Great, OK, where's the Cheerios? Well done.' And then you're championing your team ten minutes later about something that is really high value for the world. In your own world, that's super high value. And in [Lilibet's] world, that's super high value.'

Wolfe Herd added: 'Technology is a beautiful tool for parents because you can dial in and be present and do a great job on the call while you sit in the carpool line outside school.

'Like, why do I need to be at a desk? I have the same mental opinion in a carpool line.'

Wolfe Herd also described Meghan as 'such an amazing hostess', adding: 'When you go to your home, you're, like, engulfed in love and coziness, just carry - you - through, and the rest writes itself.'

The series is the latest in the former Suits actress's flurry of output after her much-criticised Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan and her new brand As Ever.

Meghan also released a series of throwback photos to accompany the podcast's release, saying: 'Being an entrepreneur can start young. (By the way, all these years later and I'm still selling cookies!)

'Tune in for the premiere episode of 'Confessions of a Female Founder' featuring my dear friend, @whitney, now streaming wherever you get your podcasts! @lemonadamedia.'

The pictures showed her selling cookies while wearing a brown Girl Scouts uniform - a nod to her new lifestyle brand As Ever and its shortbread butter cookies.

The Duchess of Sussex's new TV show 'With Love, Meghan' came out on Netflix on March 4

Lemonada Media co-founders Jessica Cordova Kramer (left) and Stephanie Wittels Wachs

Meghan's Spotify contract ended in 2023 after one series of her first podcast Archetypes

The previous Spotify podcast Archetypes about female stereotypes ran for just one series

The Duchess also told the New York Times in an email: 'I hope 'Confessions of a Female Founder' reminds listeners they're not alone. These are honest conversations with women who've built from the ground up, faced challenges and kept going.'

The newspaper reported that Meghan and Wolfe Herd 'discussed navigating media scrutiny, shaping a brand, spreading kindness, embracing self-love, prioritising family and finding strategies to tackle it all'.

Both the New York Times and People had advance access to the podcast before it was released on Lemonada Media and other platforms such as Spotify and Apple.

A trailer for the show was released on March 25, with Meghan promising 'girl talk' and advice on how to create 'billion-dollar businesses'.

Meghan told one guest to think of the experience as being in a 'dolphin tank' rather than a 'shark tank', asked another whether she is single now, talks about the 'laser focus' needed in business, and finished her voiceover with: 'Let's do this, ladies.'

The eight-part podcast series is also expected to follow the Duchess's work on her As Ever brand which has now begun selling jam, herbal teas, flower sprinkles and ready-make crepe mix.

The new show is part of a deal signed in February last year with Lemonada Media, which follows her previous series Archetypes which aired on Spotify in 2022.

That show about female stereotypes ran for just one series, and was part of the Sussexes' previous 20million deal with Spotify, which ended the year after.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday the EU had offered the United States a bilateral tariff exemption for cars and other industrial goods as it works to avert an all-out transatlantic trade war.

Last week, Trump announced a spate of tariffs on goods imported into the EU from almost every country in the world. The Republican president slapped a 20% levy on products from the EU bloc.

Since then, many nations like China have imposed retaliatory measures against the US, with Xi Jinping's nation announcing its own 34% tariff on American goods.

'We stand ready to negotiate with the United States. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods, as we have successfully done with many other trading partners,' von der Leyen said.

'The offer was made long before and repeatedly, for example, in automotive sector,' she said, without providing a precise timeline.

She added that 'there was not an adequate reaction' from Washington. Trump last night told reporters media that the EU's proposed deal was highly unlikely to be signed.

He said: 'The European Union's been very bad to us. They're going to have to buy their energy from us, because they need it and they're going to have to buy it from us. They can buy it, we can knock off $350bn in one week.'

'Europe is always ready for a good deal. So we keep it on the table,' von der Leyen said after Trump's comment.

Last week, Donald Trump (pictured) announced a spate of tariffs on goods imported into the EU from almost every country in the world

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) said: 'Europe is always ready for a good deal'

European index funds have dropped drastically in the last few days

The commission later clarified that the offer was part of the ongoing negotiations between EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and the US authorities.

Sefcovic, the EU commissioner for trade, said that the EU may soon do the same, but would prefer negotiation a proper deal with America.

He said: 'Right now we are in the early stages of discussions, because the US view tariffs not as a tactical step, but as a corrective measure.'

The trade czar added: 'While the EU remains open to and strongly prefers negotiations, we will not wait endlessly.' He listed EU actions including retaliatory countermeasures.

Von der Leyen repeated Europe's threat that should negotiations fail, the commission was 'prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests'.

She also vowed the EU would protect itself from a flow of cheap goods into bloc, especially from China, in an expected indirect impact from Trump's extra levies.

Billionaire US presidential adviser Elon Musk sparked confusion at the weekend when he said he hoped Europe and the United States would agree to join in a free-trade zone - days after US leader Donald Trump unleashed heavy global trade tariffs.

Europe's reaction to Musk's comments was mixed on Monday, with French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin describing it as 'a great idea' before talks with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg.

A stock trader monitors the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) in South Tangerang, Banten, on April 8, 2025

Traders work the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani went further, describing how his 'dream is to have a transatlantic European market that is a single market where there are no tariffs'.

But Germany, the EU's biggest economy, poured cold water on the idea and suggested Musk was motivated by fear that trade turmoil would hurt his companies including Tesla.

'If he has something to say, he should go to his president and say, 'before we talk about zero tariffs, let's stop the nonsense, the mess you have just made in the last week'. So this is ridiculous,' German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said.
Shuttered storefronts lined empty streets in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Monday during a general strike by Palestinians demanding an end to the Gaza war.

"I walked through the city today and couldn't find a single place that was open," Fadi Saadi, a shopkeeper in Bethlehem, told AFP.

Shops, schools and most public administrative offices were closed across the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

A coalition of Palestinian political movements -- including rivals Fatah and Hamas -- called the strike to protest what they described as "the genocide and the ongoing massacre of our people".

It called for the strike "in all the occupied Palestinian territories, in the refugee camps... and among those who support our cause".

Israel resumed air strikes on Gaza on March 18, ending nearly two months of ceasefire with Hamas. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed almost daily since Israel restarted its military offensive.

Imad Salman, 68, who owns a souvenir shop in Jerusalem's Old City, said the closure is for "our family in Gaza, our children in Gaza."

He told AFP: "In Jerusalem, in the West Bank, we can't do something more than what we're doing here now."

In Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the usually bustling commercial Salaheddin Street was empty.

"This strike is in solidarity with Gaza and what is happening there, and the war being waged against the Palestinian people, whether by (US President Donald) Trump, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, the Israeli government, or the American government," said Ahmed, who did not want to his surname.

"This war must stop, the killing and destruction must stop, and only peace should prevail -- peace, and nothing but peace."

A rally was planned Monday in the centre of the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority has its headquarters.

"This time, the strike is serious, and the population's commitment is significant because Israeli aggression now affects all Palestinian households, whether in the West Bank or Gaza," said Issam Baker, a community organiser in Ramallah.

"We have seen total commitment in support of the strike today throughout the West Bank, which has not happened since October 7" 2023, when the Gaza war started, said a security source from the Palestinian Authority which has partial administrative control in the territory.

Since the start of the Gaza war, violence has soared in the West Bank.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 918 Palestinians, including militants, in the territory since then, according to health ministry figures.

Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 33 Israelis, including soldiers, over the same period, according to official figures.

Protests also erupted in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Monday in front of the Lebanese American University, with dozens of students gathering around a massive Palestinian flag.

In Sidon in southern Lebanon, hundreds demonstrated, shouting "stop the massacres against the Palestinian people" and "stop the war of extermination in Gaza".

In the Tunisian capital as well, hundreds of students demonstrated in front of the French embassy to express solidarity with Palestinians, as French President Emmanuel Macron visited Cairo to discuss Gaza.
An autistic teenager has been left fighting for his life after being shot nine times by Idaho police, sparking protests.

Cops had responded to a call about a physical disturbance at the unnamed 17-year-old's family home in Pocatello on Saturday when multiple shots were fired, police said in a statement.

Officers were responding to reports of two males, one of which was in possession of a knife, and a female involved in a physical altercation.

Eyewitness footage shows the boy rolling on the ground and waving what police said was a knife at a woman believed to be his mother.

Police officers are seen running up to the fence and quickly pointing their weapons while telling the teen to get on the ground.

But when the teen stands up, the video shows police rapidly firing at him.

Police said in a statement on Sunday: 'At approximately 5:22 PM, officers responded to a residence located in the 700 block of N. Harrison in reference to a reported physical disturbance involving two male subjects and a female. It was reported that one of the male subjects was intoxicated and in possession of a knife.

'Officers arrived on scene at 5:25 PM. During the encounter, officers were involved in a shooting with the male subject who was armed with a knife. Immediate life-saving measures were initiated by officers on the suspect, who was subsequently transported by ambulance Portneuf Medical Center by the Pocatello Fire Department.'

An autistic teenager has been left fighting for his life after being shot dead nine times by Idaho police

The teen's family told Local News 8 that he was in critical condition and had to have his leg amputated because of his injuries.

Neighbours explained that they had called police hoping that they could de-escalate the situation.

The shooting has sparked local outrage, with dozens of neighbours gathering outside the Pocatello Police Department to protest the shooting.

Some have been seen holding banners with the slogan: 'Why were your guns drawn?'.

A woman, identified as the teen's aunt, told the station the teen was not going after the police, explaining that 'he has [an] impairment' and 'can barely walk'.

Brad Andres, who witnessed the shooting, told Local News 8 how 'it wasn't a really dangerous situation'.

'He was having a really bad day with mental issues, but he wasn't chasing anybody, and everybody could easily get out of the reach of his knife'.

Dylan Harrison, who joined the protest, told the local news outlet that the shooting 'highlights a much larger systemic issue that police respond with unnecessary force when they do not need to when the public needs help and support'.

The East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force will carry out an investigation into the incident.
A Cancer Research charity shop manager was sacked after removing volunteers who annoyed her from a WhatsApp group chat, an employment tribunal heard.

Manager Adelaide Ribaud was fired for misconduct after three volunteers complained about her to the charity.

Among the grievances included that she sent one a 'rude' message after she thought a volunteer was being sarcastic to her.

Ms Ribaud confessed she 'could have been nicer' after she booted volunteers out of a chat and stopped them working at the shop.

She showed 'no remorse' about her behaviour, the tribunal found, despite knowing the importance of retaining volunteers was to the charity's business model.

After being sacked, Ms Ribaud sued for unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and victimisation but all her claims were all dismissed.

The tribunal held in Watford, Hertfordshire, heard that Ms Ribaud was employed by the charity between July 2018 and March 2023 as a store manager.

The charity shop, based in Edgware, London, is one of 600 that Cancer Research operates across the UK.

Manager Adelaide Ribaud was fired for misconduct after three volunteers complained about her to the charity (pictured: The shop in Edgware)

Ms Ribaud confessed she 'could have been nicer' after she booted volunteers out of a chat and stopped them working at the shop (pictured: Watford Employment Tribunal)

Store managers are paid employees, and they manage the volunteers who work on a rota among other responsibilities.

Three volunteers complained about Ms Ribaud, among them, was Dafta Shah, who said after returning from a period of leave in October 2022, Ms Ribaud 'refused to allow her to volunteer in the shop and gave her no explanation'.

Another volunteer, Rubeena Anwar, said that she arrived for a shift in November 2022 only to be told that her log in had been removed from the till, and she was also 'not allowed to work in the shop'.

'She also discovered that she had been removed from the volunteers' WhatsApp group without explanation,' the tribunal heard.

The third volunteer, Adelle Clancy, complained that in the same month, Ms Ribaud 'had sent her an upsetting message and had subsequently removed her from the volunteers' WhatsApp group without explanation'.

The tribunal heard Ms Ribaud had been 'annoyed' when Ms Clancy used the phrase 'oh great' in a message exchange which she saw as being sarcastic.

Ms Ribaud's response was 'rude', and 'an overreaction to what we consider to be a polite enquiry', the tribunal said.

At a disciplinary meeting in March 2023, Ms Ribaud said of the message she sent Ms Clancy: 'I guess I could have been nicer,' as she claimed that she was not aware the text was sent to the group chat.

'We consider that it is very clear from the top banner of that chat that it is a group chat,' the tribunal concluded.

'Within the message sent, [Ms Ribaud] also refers to having not seen her personal message which we conclude would suggest that she is aware that it is within the group chat because she is making the distinction between the two.

'Further, [Ms Ribaud] later goes on to immediately remove Adelle Clancy from the group, that being something you cannot do within a one to one chat.'

Employment Judge Amy French said: 'The Tribunal considers that [Cancer Research UK]'s business model is unique,' adding: 'They rely on volunteers.

'It is the difference between million pounds in profits against millions in loss.

'[A charity representative] described them as the life blood of the charity and [Ms Ribaud] herself recognised the importance of their retention.'

The tribunal was told that Ms Ribaud had a 'lack of remorse' for her actions, and had also registered a business she owned to the charity shop's address.

Ms Ribaud had a 'lack of remorse' for her actions, and had also registered a business she herself owned to the charity shop's address, the tribunal found

It was claimed that junk mail was sent to the charity shop addressed to Ms Ribaud's business around the same time the allegations were made by the volunteers.

At a disciplinary meeting in March 2023, Ms Ribaud accepted the 'essential elements' of her acts of misconduct, but did not 'necessarily consider that that amounts to misconduct'.

Concluding on the issues Ms Ribaud had with volunteers, employment Judge French said: 'There is subsequently no remorse by [Ms Ribaud], and we consider that in those circumstances there is a real risk that the incident could have occurred again.

She added: 'We do also consider that does amount to a breach of trust and confidence in the unique circumstances of this business and the importance of volunteers.

'On that alone, the Tribunal do consider that gross misconduct was made out, which would mean [Cancer Research UK] is entitled to dismiss [Ms Ribaud] without notice.'
The United States has sent an 'unprecedented' deployment of its heavy B-2 bombers to the Chagos Islands in a show of force amid rising tensions with Iran.

Six of the famed stealth bombers flew in to the U.S. airbase on Diego Garcia from Missouri last week in the 'largest single deployment in US history'.

Satellite images of the Indian Ocean airbase showed six of the planes on the apron, adjacent to the runway, last Wednesday.

'To my knowledge, this is the largest B-2 deployment to a forward location,' Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists told American journalist Ken Klippenstein.

The Trump administration has been unusually quiet on the deployment to Chagos, which is in range of both Iran and Yemen, where B-2s have been used to target Houthi rebels.

While Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East, said last month that there was still hope Iran could be reached through diplomatic routes, the U.S. president has been more direct in threats against the regime.

Trump said yesterday that if talks between U.S. officials and Iranian leaders this weekend do not go well, 'Iran is going to be in great danger'.

Asked if the U.S. was gearing up to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, he said: 'Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and if the talks aren't successful I actually think it will be a very bad day for Iran if that's the case.'

Six B-2 bombers seen on the apron of the US military base on Diego Garcia island, April 2

File photo. A U.S. B-2 Spirit flying above Dover, United Kingdom, 29 August 2019

Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2025

American officials will be looking to convince Iran not only to wind in its nuclear programme, but also to limit the development of ballistic missiles and to cut support for groups clashing with Israel in the region, like Hezbollah.

Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt, a former Deputy U.S. Military Representative to NATO, told Newsmax last week that leaving the B-2s out of their hangers, to be captured in satellite imagery, was a deliberate tactic meant as a warning, ahead of Saturday's summit.

'All the bombers, they're not in hangers, they're underneath satellites where they can be photographed and seen; and the idea is, do you see our sword?' he said last week.

The build up has taken weeks of planning. The military base on the Chagos Islands now hosts 30 per cent of the American fleet of B-2s.

The Pentagon has already ordered one aircraft-carrier strike group to stay in the region, and has sent another to join it.

A second THAAD anti-missile defence battery was also reported to have been transferred to Israel, apparently anticipating possible reprisals.

The U.S. has been steadily building up its military presence in the region amid ongoing clashes with the Yemeni Houthi rebels and ISIS in Syria.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressing the nation in March 2024 (File)

Six American B-2 bomber planes on the tarmac of Mauritius' US military base on Diego Garcia island as well as 6 logistical Stratotanker aircrafts for in-flight refueling

The United States is also increasing the number of aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East to two, keeping one that is already there and sending another from the Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon said April 2, 2025

And at the end of last month, the U.S. sent 'several' additional A-10 Warthogs to the Middle East, along with 300 airmen.

The planes have played a key role in providing close air support to ground troops fighting ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria.

Stealth bombers play a very different role, and the build-up appears unprecedented.

Six B-2 bombers were previously used during Operation Enduring Freedom, at the start of the War in Afghanistan.

But their missions across the Pacific Ocean were staggered, spread out over three nights in groups of two.

Stealth bombers pose a direct threat to nuclear sites, capable of carrying GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, which would allow the U.S. to strike nuclear sites deep underground.

Such mounting threats come in spite of an assessment by Trump's own director of national intelligence on March 25 that the regime has not yet actually decided to build a nuclear weapon.

The American president appeared riled last month when Iran turned down direct talks with Washington.

He said at the time that 'if they don't make a deal' on a new nuclear agreement 'there will be bombing'.

'It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before,' he said on March 30.

Iran issued its response via Oman, saying its policy was not to engage in direct negotiations with the U.S. while under its maximum pressure campaign and military threats

'Direct negotiations [with the US] have been rejected, but Iran has always been involved in indirect negotiations, and now too, the Supreme Leader has emphasized that indirect negotiations can still continue,' Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said.

A file photo shows an American A-10 Warthog, as used in recent strikes over Syria

Donald Trump (L) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) in the White House in Washington DC., United States on April 7, 2025

Trump announced yesterday that direct talks had already begun, ahead of the landmark summit this weekend.

Were having direct talks with Iran. And theyve started, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

'I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious.

'And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it,' he added.

'So we are going to see if we can avoid it, but it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful.'
Prince Harry is not thought to have seen his father King Charles before the monarch jetted off for Italy, MailOnline can reveal today.

The Duke of Sussex landed from Los Angeles on Sunday but his father spent the weekend at Highgrove, his private Gloucestershire home, resting ahead of this weeks busy State Visit to Italy.

His youngest son flew into London from California at the weekend ahead of his High Court showdown today.

The Duke of Sussex is at the Royal Courts of Justice to support his own appeal against a ruling on the level of security he, Meghan Markle, Archie and Lilibet are afforded while in the country of his birth.

But despite being in the same country for some hours, the King and Harry are not believed to have spent any time together on Sunday.

The King, it can now be revealed by the Mail, underwent routine cancer treatment on Sunday night ahead of the trip.

He travelled by helicopter from Highgrove in Gloucestershire to Kensington Palace in London on Sunday evening in order to undergo his weekly treatment, which had seemingly been brought forwards because of his travel plans. He recuperated in hospital before flying to the Cotswolds to spend the night.

He and the Queen then travelled to Rome together on a government jet from RAF Brize Norton on Monday afternoon.

It came after the Mail's Richard Eden revealed Harry's skipped the wedding of one of his so-called 'band of brothers' - despite being invited and in the UK.

Today, just as Harry walked purposefully into the Royal Courts of Justice for the 10am hearing, Charles and Camilla were afforded a ceremonial welcome including a flypast by Italian President Sergio Mattarella and his daughter, Laura Mattarella, at the Quirinale Palace on Tuesday.

A sombre Prince Harry has arrived at the High Court in London today

The Duke of Sussex is at the Royal Courts of Justice for the start of his appeal against a High Court ruling on his legal claim against the Home Office

But MailOnline can reveal he did not see his father, pictured today in Rome with Queen Camilla, when they were briefly in the US at the same time on Sunday and Monday

Harry waved to the crowds outside amid the ongoing rows with the UK Government and also his family

The Duke of Sussex has decided to travel 5,000 miles to be at the High Court in London to support his own appeal against a ruling on the level of security he, Meghan Markle, Archie and Lilibet are afforded while in the country of his birth.

Wearing a suit, white shirt and tie, Harry arrived looking stern, clutching his mobile phone tightly. There was a brief smile and wave as he entered the historic building.

Harry's long-term personal bodyguard Dave Langdown, 57, a former Metropolitan Police officer, entered the courtroom 20 minutes before the case was due to start. He scanned the room to ensure it was safe for the Prince's evidently imminent arrival.

At 10.24am Prince Harry himself walked into court, clad in a charcoal grey suit. Offering a forced smile grimace to the media, he took a seat in the third row back from the judge, two rows behind his two Kings Counsel barristers, Shaheed Fatima and Jason Pobjoy.

Mr Langdown took a seat in the public gallery behind his boss.

Harry believes he is entitled to armed bodyguards, paid for by the British taxpayer, and is fighting a 2020 decision to reduce the level of security after he and Meghan Markle stepped back from life as working royals and emigrated to the United States.

He has expressed safety concerns about returning to the UK with his wife and children.

It came after landed in the UK just before King Charles III jetted off to Italy for a historic four-day state visit.

The King and his son are also believed to have differing views over Harry's decision to pursue his legal fight with the Home Office, which has cost the British taxpayer 500,000 so far.

Harry has been taking legal action in the UK over a decision made by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) in February 2020 over the level of protection he should receive when in the country.

The High Court previously heard that his 'status' had changed as a result of no longer being a 'full-time working member of the Royal Family'.

But Harry has argued his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet cannot 'feel at home' or 'safe' in the UK unless his police protection is fully restored.

His legal fight comes as the Charity Commission announced it had launched an investigation into Sentebale, the charity he founded, amid a bitter boardroom rift between Harry and chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka.

She has accused Prince Harry of 'harassment and bullying' - a claim that is denied.

Prince Harry flew into the UK just hours before King Charles jetted off to Italy for a historic four-day state visit

There was a brief smile for the cameras when Harry arrived. There were shouts asking whether he had seen his father

King Charles III and Queen Camilla are received by the President of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Signor Sergio Mattarella and the President's daughter, Signora Laura Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace f

Meanwhile in Rome, Italy's President Sergio Mattarella (R) welcomes Britain's King Charles III at the Quirinale Presidential Palace

King Charles III, Queen Camilla, President of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Signor Sergio Mattarella and the President's daughter, Signora Laura Mattarella view a flypast by the Frecce Tricolori and Red Arrows at the Quirinale Palace

King Charles and Queen Camilla are in the Italian capital, Rome, pictured at at Villa Wolkonsky

King Charles III and Queen Camilla arriving at Giovan Battista Pastine International Airport

For his part Harry, who stood down as patron of the charity last week alongside co-founder Prince Seeiso in support of a group of trustees who have also quit, has accused Ms Chanduaka of telling 'blatant lies'.

He said they 'fully expected [the investigation] will unveil the truth that collectively forced us to resign'.

Prince Harry added: 'We remain hopeful this will allow for the charity to be put in the right hands immediately, for the sake of the communities we serve.'

His arrival in the UK capital comes as the King and Queen jetted into Rome, before visiting the city of Ravenna, as they use the 'soft power' diplomacy of the monarchy to strengthen Britain's relationship with its ally.

A separate state visit to the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church, in the Vatican, has been cancelled, as Pope Francis is recuperating after leaving hospital following treatment for double pneumonia.

With a number of Vatican events removed from the itinerary in Rome, the remaining engagements in the Italian capital have been spread over two days, and extra elements added to some engagements.

At the weekend the Pope made a surprise appearance in St Peter's Square, in the Vatican.

He appeared with an oxygen tube under his nose and was using a wheelchair.

King Charles waves from a car as he and Queen Camilla depart the Rome Ciampino Airport at the beginning of their four-day state visit to Italy

The King and Queen pictured departing their flight ahead of their historic state visit to Italy

Ciao fella: It is not known if King Charles III and Prince Harry met between their flights

The Duke of Sussex is back in London for an appeal against a High Court ruling on whether he is entitled to armed bodyguards paid for by the taxpayer

The prince's legal fight comes as the Charity Commission announced it had launched an investigation into Sentebale, the charity he founded, amid a bitter boardroom rift between Harry and chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka (pictured)

Dr Sophie Chandauka, pictured with Meghan and Harry at a polo event last year that sparked a row. A year on the trio have fallen out and the Duke of Sussex resigned from Sentebale

King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Clarence House in London on March 25

Charles will hold audiences with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Charles will become the first British monarch to address both houses of Italy's parliament - the chamber of deputies and the senate of the republic.

The King will also hold audiences with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and he and his wife will attend a black-tie state banquet at the Palazzo Quirinale, hosted by the president on the evening of their 20th wedding anniversary.

The UK and Italy's defence co-operation will be marked by a joint flypast over Rome by the Italian air force's aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, and the RAF's Red Arrows.

In Ravenna, near Bologna, Charles and Camilla will mark the 80th anniversary of the province's liberation from Nazi occupation by allied forces, on April 10 1945, during a town hall reception.

Charles and Camilla will attend a black-tie state banquet at the Palazzo Quirinale (pictured)

Pope Francis speaks to the faithful in St Peter's Square at the Vatican yesterday

They will celebrate literary culture by visiting Dante's tomb and the Queen will make a solo trip to the Byron museum.

Charles returned to official public duties after cancelling a string of engagements last month, when he experienced temporary side effects from cancer treatment on March 27.

Buckingham Palace announced that the King had 'required a short period of observation in hospital' earlier that day.

Planned engagements in Birmingham the following day, March 28, were cancelled to prioritise his recovery as a precautionary measure.

A source described it as a 'most minor bump in a road that is very much heading in the right direction'.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson has won his battle with the local council after excavating a lake at his 16th century farmhouse, and has even won praise for it 'attracting birds'.

The Brit actor and his film director wife Sam Taylor-Johnson sparked the ire of neighbours for carrying out the unauthorised works at their Somerset country bolthole.

They had feared it would be used for open water swimming, but now have been left 'overjoyed' at seeing geese flock to the water and hearing the calling song of a Tawny Owl.

Taylor-Johnson, 34, and his 58-year-old wife, who directed Fifty Shades of Grey, have since been given retrospective permission.

An inspection carried out last week by council officers has given the go ahead for the pond to continue operating with 'no issues' raised.

The actor is hotly tipped to follow in the footsteps of Daniel Craig as the next 007. He is yet to accept the role of Bond, but if he does he will be the seventh to play the iconic British secret agent since the franchise started in 1962.

Aerial pictures show the huge scale of the pond at the farmhouse, that the celebrity couple bought from Grand Designs host Kevin McCleod.

Neighbour Amy Fukuyama wrote: 'I live to the west of the fields belonging to Great House Farm and am overjoyed at the prospect of the increase to biodiversity in our area.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his film director wife Sam Taylor-Johnson pictured in New York in December for the world premiere of Kraven The Hunter

The couple had sparked the ire of neighbours for carrying out unauthorised works at their Somerset country bolthole

'I can see the ponds from my house and very much welcome the change to the view and monoculture.

'Since the ponds have been constructed there has been a noticeable increase in bird activity.

'We now regularly see, and hear, flocks of geese flying over and can hear a Tawny Owl on occasions which I don't recall hearing before.

'I recently attended a talk by another local rewilding enthusiast in which he spoke of the flocks of 100 plus Goldfinches which now visit his re-wilded farm and I fully support any application which would encourage such activity in our area.'

Another neighbour Darren Tune added: 'Previously the field were monoculture providing very little habitat and this is better use of the field as it will increase the biodiversity of the area.

'My home looks over the field and my land buts on to the field, I can see the pond and i consider the construction noise was not intrusive.'

Ty Schlechter wrote: 'It will be wonderful to see and hear wildlife in the village especially around the Great House and I wish to support their endeavour which can only help improve the local environment especially against localised flooding.'

In approving the plans, which were under the banner of a 'flood alleviation scheme, planning official Jane Thomas wrote: 'The proposal is for the creation of a number of new wetland features to attenuate the flow of these spring-fed water courses across the proposal site and the wider estate.

The couple, who share four children together, have now won over locals for 'attracting birds' with one neighbour saying they have heard the calling song of a Tawny Owl for the first time

The couple bought their Somerset farmhouse home, which was once owned by Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCleod, for 1.85million in 2010

Sam Taylor-Johnson and her actor husband Aaron attending the Opening Ceremony and Baaria Red Carpet at the Sala Grande during the 66th Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2009

'The proposal will reduce the risk of flooding from these water courses that has threatened the fabric of the Grade II-listed farmhouse on a regular basis and also has resulted in regular flooding of the highway along Leigh Street.

'Additionally, the proposals will deliver a significant net gain in biodiversity across the proposal site and the wider area.'

Some locals had initially feared the one acre lake was going to be used for open water swimming, but the restrospective application outlined the two areas of water were wildlife ponds.

The couple insisted the measures were needed to prevent flooding of the 16th century five bed Grade II listed home.

Last month, a Sustainable Drainage Systems inspection was carried out. It passed all necessary checks with no objections raised.

The report stated: 'The flood prevention scheme has operated well during periods of high rain and high spring discharges.

'The arched bridge at the outlet is clear, unencumbered and well maintained as is the rest of the site.'

Evidence to support the application stated the home has flooded every year since 2011.

It says: 'The owners are undertaking a project to create new wetland features to alleviate severe flooding to the house and to enhance biodiversity.'

Planning permission was also granted earlier this month for new pedestrian and vehicle gates at the site.

Last Friday the green light was also given to install a new surfaced bellmouth, a cattlegrid and a timber field gate along with

stock proof fencing, native hedge planting, and associated landscaping.

Approving the scheme, planners wrote: 'The works proposed will improve the access to the agricultural land of the estate facilitating management of that land.

'Part of the wider site has been the subject of a comprehensive flood alleviation scheme in recent years and the access will also be used to facilitate maintenance of these works.'
A grandfather who stopped driving when doctors told him to was killed by a motorist who had ignored the same advice, an inquest heard.

Keen climber and walker Peter Westwell, from Billington, was crossing the A666 Whalley Road, Langho, Lancashire, when he was hit by a Honda Jazz being driven by Neil Pemberton.

Peter, who had recently turned 80, had been forced to stop driving due to health conditions but continued to enjoy his hobbies, including walking in the Yorkshire Dales, salmon fishing, and shooting.

Pemberton had been told to stop driving nine years earlier but had ignored the warnings before the fatal crash on March 17, 2022.

In 2016 he had no vision in his right eye and very poor vision in his left eye and on the day of the crash could only read a registration plate at a distance of 8ft when the legal requirement was 66ft.

Pemberton, then 81, was jailed for two years and eight months in 2023 after he admitted causing death by dangerous driving.

An inquest into Peter's death started on Monday at County Hall in Preston and is being held alongside three other inquests into deaths involving motorists with failing eyesight.

Peter's son Victor described his dad as someone who was 'independent, private and very proud'.

Keen fell climber and walker Peter Westwell, from Billington, was crossing the A666 Whalley Road, Langho, Lancashire, when he was hit by a Honda Jazz

The Honda Jazz was being driven by Neil Pemberton who had been told to stop driving nine years earlier but had ignored the warnings

Peter had spent time in hospital during the Covid pandemic, and was 'very close to death', but defied the odds and survived.

Victor added: 'After a lifetime of driving, some time as a professional lorry driver without so much as a speeding ticket in his name, we had to take his car away from him.

'Dad desperately wanted to go to Scotland back to his famous salmon fishing location and to go climbing in the Dales. His grandson and favourite walking partner Joe had recently passed his driving test.'

Peter's children said their dad died 'doing the right thing' while Pemberton had selfishly ignored repeated warnings from his own doctors.

Victor added: 'On November 17 on a beautiful day my dad went out for a good walk. He had his walking boots on, they were his pride and joy and never failed to tell us how much they'd cost.

'He never came home. He died at the side of the road. He was not a shuffly, hesitant old man. He was fit and able.

'My dad died because he was doing the right thing. Walking and taking the advice of his doctor rather than driving. He never had the chance to be driven in a car by his grandson. He didn't live to see his daughter survive a very aggressive form of cancer. To choose to drive was a very selfish thing.'

The inquests, which are due to last nine days, continue.
A British woman has been tragically crushed to death under her own campervan which rolled on top of her during a fierce storm in Australia.

Eleanor Thompson, 35, a hospitality worker from Mold, Wales, was travelling alone in her campervan when Cyclone Alfred with 100mph winds struck Australia last month.

She was in Burringbar, New South Wales, when the storm ravaged the area on March 8, an inquest heard.

The authorities in the region had warned people to stay indoors to avoid putting themselves and the emergency services at risk.

Senior coroner John Gittins said he had been informed by Ms Thompson's father that she was in quite a remote area and believed to be seeking shelter.

Mr Gittins said that she exited her van, which then possibly rolled over and injured her during the storm.

Ms Thompson died as a result of 'multiple injuries', a post-mortem examination in Australia found.

The full inquest hearing could be delayed due to further inquiries having to be carried out, according to Mr Gittins.

Fallen trees following Cyclone Alfred are pictured above in Pottsville Beach, Northern New South Wales, Monday, March 10, 2025

A damaged home is pictured after a tree uprooted by strong winds crashed into the structure in the suburb of Elanora as Cyclone Alfred passed near the Gold Coast on March 8, 2025

Local residents paddle a canoe down a street in South Lismore, New South Wales, Australia, 10 March 2025

Around 290,000 homes were left without power for days following the storm in early March, with many Australians needing to be rescued.

Heavy rainfall totals in southeast Queensland reached almost 1200mm in some areas.

Brisbane was inundated by almost 280mm on March 10 alone - the city's biggest 24-hour total in more than 50 years.

The mayor of the Gold Coast revealed '80 per cent of our beach is gone' due to coastal erosion caused by the cyclone - which was later downgraded to a tropical storm -, so a sand bumping barge was sent to the region to rectify the damage.
Apple is scrambling to readjust its global supply chain amid concerns iPhones could soar in price due to Donald Trump's new tariffs on countries where they are made.

The California-based company makes most of the devices in China, which the US President hit with a 54 per cent levy - a figure which could go up amid a trade war.

Apple is thought to be ramping up iPhone shipments from India - which faces a lower 26 per cent tariff - to America as a temporary fix while it seeks an exemption.

Chief executive Tim Cook has a good relationship with Mr Trump and the firm will hope he can use this to encourage a U-turn after last Wednesday's announcement.

During Mr Trump's first term in 2018, Mr Cook ensured Apple got an exemption for billions of dollars in imports of Chinese-made smartwatches and other components.

But there has been no exemption this time so far - and analysts estimate the China tariffs could hike the cost of producing an iPhone from $580 (450) to $850 (660).

While experts have warned manufacting the smartphone in America could see the purchasing cost skyrocket from $1,100 (850) to $3,500 (2,715).

Apple's reliance on China for manufacturing has led to a 19 per cent collapse in its share price, which is their worst performance over three days in nearly 25 years.

Apple CEO Tim Cook escorts US President Donald Trump as he tours Apple's Mac Pro manufacturing plant in Texas in November, 2019

Mr Cook has a good relationship with Mr Trump and the firm will hope he can use this to encourage a U-turn after last Wednesday's announcement

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Ahead of the tariff announcement, Apple had been planning to produce 25million iPhones in India this year with up to 10million originally meant for local sale.

But if Apple redirects all India-made iPhones to America, it could meet about half of US demand for the device this year, Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan said.

While Apple makes many iPhone components in China, more of the devices have been assembled in India in recent years  meaning it can label the country of origin as 'India'.

The company could therefore offset some of the increased export cost by sending more phones to the US from India, according to the Wall Street Journal.

'Trump's new policies have thrown a wrench into Apple's supply chain gears, essentially negating the tariff-hopping that Apple targeted through diversifying production geographies,' Mark Zetter, an electronics supply chain expert, told The Telegraph.

'Apple moved some production to countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and India when the world was less polarised. But these strategies no longer apply.'

The tech giant has been expanding Indian production since 2017  not just to dodge tariffs, but also to reduce its reliance on China and tap into India's fast-growing smartphone market.

Despite growing investment in India and some US manufacturing, most iPhones are still built in China, where Apple's supply chain is deeply entrenched.

Mr Cook shows Trump a board highlighting the number of US companies works with as he toured its manufacturing plant in Texas in 2019

Mr Cook looks on behind Trump and US Vice President JD Vance after the two were sworn into office at an inauguration ceremony -- January 20, 2025

The cost of making an iPhone 16 with 256 GB will go from around $580 to $850, experts explained to The Wall Street Journal (stock image)

Trump speaks during an American Technology Council roundtable in the State Dinning Room at the White House with Mr Cook (left), Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos in 2017

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, a Wall Street tech expert, said: 'The economic pain that will be brought by these tariffs are hard to describe and can essentially take the US tech industry back a decade in the process while China steamrolls ahead.

'50 per cent China tariffs, 32 per cent Taiwan tariffs would essentially cause a shut-off valve from the US tech landscape and in the process cause every electronic to go up 40 to 50 per cent for consumers.

'iPhones made in the US would cost $3,500 (vs. $1,000), and the AI Revolution trade would be significantly slowed down by these head scratching tariffs that need to be negotiated to realistic levels.'

Mr Cook had already made moves to woo Trump back in February when Apple announced it was planning to spend $500billion and hire 20,000 people in the US.

'We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we're proud to build on our longstanding US investments,' Mr Cook said in a statement.

The investment spread across Trump's second term includes opening a factory in Texas.

The pair had met a week prior, the New York Times reported, in which Mr Cook outlined his plans to the US President.

It led to Trump declaring afterwards in a speech: 'They're going to build here instead because they don't want to pay the tariffs.'

President Donald Trump explains his 'Liberation Day' crackdown at the White House last week

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Apple CEO Tim Cook is among the Silicon Valley chief executives who turned to Donald Trump in the run up to his election victory, buoyed by his promises to cut regulation and taxes

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Mr Cook vowed during Trump's first term to build three new manufacturing plants in the US which the President said would be 'big, big, big'.

Trump had criticised American companies for not producing in the US and said in 2016 'we're gonna get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries'.

Mr Cook dined with Trump on the patio of his Mar-a-Lago residence in December a month after he took to X to congratulate him on winning a second term.

He wrote: 'Congratulations President Trump on your victory! We look forward to engaging with you and your administration to help make sure the United States continues to lead with and be fueled by ingenuity, innovation, and creativity.'

He was also among the plutocrats sitting side-by-side at Trump's inauguration.

Meta and Amazon both gave $1million to the inauguration fund, while Mr Cook personally donated another million.

Mr Cook has so far remained tight-lipped about Trump's tariffs, only telling analysts during an earnings call in January: 'We are monitoring the situation and dont have anything more to add than that.'

But their love-in appears to have strained since Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs last week, wiping billions from the tech giants' share prices.

Russ Shaw, of Tech London Advocates, said: 'It was always an odd bromance to begin with, I think it was opportunism on both sides. Biden never reached out to the tech giants so Trump took advantage.

'A sobering reality has kicked in now.'
Two young LGBT rights activists in Afghanistan face torture and being stoned to death by the Taliban after trying to leave the country.

Maryam Ravish, 19, and Maeve Alcina Pieescu, 23, were detained while trying to flee the regime, which carries out brutal executions against LGBT people.

Maryam, a lesbian woman, was set to escape to Iran with her partner, Parwen Hussaini, and friend Maeve, a trans woman, on March 20, 2025.

But as they went to board the plane in Kabul, Maryam and Maeve went intercepted by the Taliban's intelligence unit, allegedly beaten and 'held in captivity'.

Nemat Sadat, CEO of Roshaniya, the Afghan LGBT network, said: 'They are expected to be tortured to reveal the names of other LGBTs and sentenced to a long jail term or possibly executed [sic].'

'Maryam and Maeve now face the death penalty for simply wanting to be free and happy,' he added.

Susan Battaglia, Maeve's sister, who now lives in Michigan, said: 'My family in Afghanistan is very anxious about Maeve being tortured and killed.'

During her interrogation, she said, Maeve confessed that she is not a Muslim.

'This is scary for our family since the penalty for apostasyunder sharia lawis death.'

Maeve Alcina Pieescu, left, Maryam Ravish and Parwen Hussaini in Kabul

Maryam Ravish and Parwen Hussaini, separated by the Taliban as they tried to flee the regime

Parwen, who was able to carry on to Iran, said that Maryam and Maeve were stopped after the Taliban seized their belongings and found 'LGBT+ content' on their phones.

They had been due to leave the country on a Mahan Air flight from Kabul late last month, accompanied to the airport by a male chaperone.

'I last heard from them when they were being taken away by Talibans armed men inside the airport in a car,' Nemat, their employer, said.

Both Maryam and Maeve are still being held in Taliban captivity and 'have been beaten and battered very badly', the 20-year-old said.

He told The Independent that Taliban prisons were often 'extremely harsh' for trans people.

'They are likely to punish, sexually harass, and even subject members of the trans community to torture in prison,' he warned.

'It is very likely that Ms Maeve is being punished in the prison by the Taliban right now.'

Parwen shared in concerns that 'it is possible they would be placed in solitary confinement and stoned to death'.

'It is possible for them to receive a death penalty.'

Horrifying footage filmed in 2020 showed an Afghan woman being stoned to death by a mob

Taliban security personnel gather at the site two days after air strikes by Pakistan in the Barmal district of eastern Paktika province on December 26, 2024

A Taliban judge said in a rare interview in 2021 that the regime considers two options as 'punishment' for gay people: either stoning or having an 8ft-10ft wall toppled on them.

Parwen had hoped to eventually move to Europe with her partner to be married, after falling in love in school in December 2021, shortly after the Taliban took over Kabul.

She told The Independent that they had to call off their relationship a year after getting together, struggling to keep a same-sex relationship going in the city.

They rekindled their relationship in 2023 and made plans to leave.

LGBT people face intense persecution in Afghanistan under the Taliban, compounded by hostile attitudes from the public.

Parwen said that Maeve's family have not been in touch and dismissed their 'request to work with them'.

'We have no word from Maryam to know what situation they are in now,' she said.

Maryam's family also 'refused to accept her sexuality as a lesbian and forced her to marry a man,' Nemat explained.

Taliban fighters stand guard during the funeral prayers of Khalil Haqqani, the minister for refugees and repatriation, in eastern Paktia province, Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024

'She tried to escape and Maeve, a trans person, helped her at great personal risk.'

'The actual source of this problem is rooted in the Talibans interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, which deems homosexuality forbidden and a womans place to be in the home,' he added.

My agony is indescribable,' Parwen said. 'I knew that if I were to leave Afghanistan, it would not be without Maryam.

'She knew she would leave her family because they would never support us.'

Roshaniya is calling on human rights organisations and LGBT organisations to demand the immediate release of Maryam and Maeve.
The majority of unemployed people in Germany have a 'migration background', a shocking new reports has found.

Of 2.8 million unemployed people in Germany, 1.5 million - 54 per cent - have a 'migration background', according to a report by the federal employment agency seen by the Bild newspaper.

Around 80 percent of them have immigrated to Germany themselves and 19 percent have German citizenship after their parents immigrated.

About 881,000 people in the country are considered to be long-term unemployed after not having a job for two or more years and 52 per cent of them are immigrants or the children of immigrants.

The study also shows that 82 per cent of unemployed foreigners in Germany have no completed vocational training.

The number for those from countries with a high number of asylum seekers coming to Europe was even higher at 91 per cent.

Meanwhile, for those with German citizenship the number of unemployed people without vocational training was around 51 per cent.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Rene Springer, who commissioned the study, told Bild: 'Those who, after years in Germany, have neither a professional qualification nor a job are not skilled workers, but rather a permanent burden on our social system.'

File image of people visiting a job fair for refugees in the foyer of the World Trade Center in Dresden, Germany

Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Rene Springer (pictured), who commissioned the study, told Bild: 'Those who, after years in Germany, have neither a professional qualification nor a job are not skilled workers, but rather a permanent burden on our social system'

This comes after labour market researcher Holger Schafer from the German economic institute told Bild that skilled workers are generally not migrating to Germany.

He said that many foreigners come to Germany 'for humanitarian reasons, not to fill gaps in the German labour market', particularly because they are often from countries where the vocational training system is underdeveloped.

Schafer says that Germany needs skilled workers to immigrate, as otherwise 'it would be hopeless to compensate for the retirement of the baby boomer generation, and we would inevitably face a loss of prosperity'.

The study comes as temporarily suspended any further admission of refugees via a UN resettlement programme, the dpa news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the interior ministry and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

The ministry had no immediate comment on the report when contacted by Reuters and the UNHCR could not be immediately reached.

Migration has been a contentious issue in government coalition negotiations between Germany's conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democrats.

The conservatives are advocating for a stricter approach to asylum seekers in response to rising support of the far-right AfD party and several violent incidents involving refugees.

Of 2.8 million unemployed people in Germany, 1.5 million - 54 per cent - have a 'migration background', according to a report by the federal employment agency seen by the Bild newspaper (file image of people queuing outside a German job centre)

So far in the coalition talks, which are yet to be sealed, the two sides struck an initial agreement to end voluntary federal admission programmes for refugees wherever possible and not launch any new programmes, according to a document seen by Reuters.

According to the interior ministry, Germany planned to offer up to 6,560 places as part of an EU resettlement programme this year.

This programme typically accepts refugees of various nationalities or stateless individuals from countries including Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Pakistan and Libya.
A University of Florida (UF) student's arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday, April 4, 2025, has sent shockwaves through the Gainesville campus, igniting debates over immigration policy and student rights. The student, identified only as a 22-year-old international enrollee from Honduras, was detained outside his off-campus apartment after a routine traffic stop revealed an expired visa. Now held at the Baker County Detention Center awaiting deportation proceedings, his case has rallied classmates and raised questions about the vulnerability of international students at American universities.

According to ICE officials, the student's visa lapsed in late 2024, triggering a removal order. UF police assisted in the arrest after pulling him over for a broken taillight, a minor infraction that quickly escalated into a federal matter. "He was compliant, but they took him anyway," said a friend who witnessed the incident, speaking anonymously to WCJB. The student, a junior majoring in engineering, had reportedly been working with UF's international office to renew his visa, but delayspossibly tied to bureaucratic backlogsleft him in legal limbo.

Campus Responds with Protests and Petitions

News of the detention spread rapidly across UF's 57,000-student community, prompting an immediate response. By Saturday afternoon, dozens of students gathered outside the Reitz Union, holding signs reading "Education, Not Deportation" and "Gators Stand Together." A petition demanding the student's release, launched by the UF chapter of Students for Justice, had garnered over 1,500 signatures by Monday, April 7. "He's one of usa Gator working hard for his degree," said protest organizer Maria Lopez, a senior. "This isn't just about him; it's about all international students who fear this could happen to them."

UF's administration has treaded carefully, acknowledging the student's enrollment but deferring to federal authority. "We are aware of the situation and are providing support within our capacity," a university spokesperson said, citing counseling services and legal resource referrals. With international students comprising roughly 8% of UF's populationmany on F-1 visasthe incident has exposed the precarious balance between academic aspirations and immigration compliance.

A Broader Struggle for International Students

The detention comes amid heightened ICE enforcement nationwide, with data showing a 15% uptick in deportations of visa overstays in 2025. For UF, home to students from over 130 countries, the case underscores the challenges international enrollees face: navigating complex visa renewals, funding uncertainties, and now, the specter of sudden detention. "It's a wake-up call," said Dr. Amit Patel, a UF professor of global studies. "Universities recruit these students for their talent, but when the system fails them, they're left defenseless."

The student's family in Honduras has hired an immigration attorney to fight the deportation, though ICE has not disclosed a timeline for proceedings. If deported, he would join thousands of students annually forced to abandon their U.S. educationsa loss not just for the individual, but for the academic communities they enrich.

What's Next for UF?

As the case unfolds, UF students and faculty are pressing the university to advocate more forcefully, potentially joining other institutions in lobbying for immigration reform. For now, the detained student remains in limbo, his textbooks and engineering projects gathering dust while his peers rally on his behalf.

UniversityHerald will follow this story closely, reporting on legal developments and UF's response. The incident serves as a stark reminder: for some students, the pursuit of higher education comes with risks far beyond the classroom.

Originally published on University Herald
Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that more countries would get nuclear weapons in the coming years, blaming the West for pushing the world towards the brink of World War Three by waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.

Medvedev, who cast himself as a liberal moderniser when he was president from 2008-2012, now presents himself as an anti-Western Kremlin hawk.

Diplomats say his remarks give an indication of thinking at the top levels of the Kremlin elite.

In a post about the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty which he signed with then US President Barack Obama in Prague in 2010, Medvedev said the risk of nuclear conflict was at an all time high.

The treaty is due to expire in February 2026.

Referring to recent statements from the leaders of France and Britain about their nuclear arsenals, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council chastised European powers for what he said was sabre-rattling over their 'meagre strategic capabilities' and said the situation was fraught with danger.

'The situation is such that even with the complete cessation of the conflict over so-called 'Ukraine' nuclear disarmament in the coming decades is impossible,' Medvedev wrote on his official Telegram channel.

'The world will create new, more destructive types of weapons, and new countries will acquire nuclear arsenals.'

A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is test-fired as part of Russia's nuclear drills from a launch site in Plesetsk, northwestern Russia in October 2022

The Yars mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launcher moves to Red Square during the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War on June 24, 2020 in Moscow, Russia

'The situation is such that even with the complete cessation of the conflict over so-called Ukraine nuclear disarmament in the coming decades is impossible,' Dmitry Medvedev (pictured) wrote

Russia and the United States are by far the world's biggest nuclear powers, with about 88% of all nuclear weapons, followed by China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

The thinktank last month warned that rogue nations have been quietly stockpiling more nuclear arms in the event of a potential showdown.

According to the data from the Federation of American Scientists, there is clear evidence that five nations have seen their nuclear stockpiles grow since 1986 - China (224 to 500), Pakistan (0 to 170), India (0 to 172), Israel (44 to 90), and North Korea (0 to 50).

The experts found that 2,100 American, Russian, British, and French 'warheads are on high alert, ready for use on short notice.'

Since no country on Earth openly reveals exactly how many nuclear weapons they have in their arsenal, the team made an educated guess, which they note has become even harder to do in recent years.

To do this, FAS used publicly available information, historical records, and leaked data from government officials to compile their 2024 numbers.

However, scientists said governments are once again becoming tight-lipped about their nuclear secrets.

The first Trump Administration ended the total disclosure policy of America's nuclear stockpile in 2019. It was a policy that had been in place since the Obama presidency in 2010.

Russia and the United States are by far the world's biggest nuclear powers, with about 88% of all nuclear weapons

Vladimir Putin (pictured) controls one of the world's largest nuclear stockpiles

Although the Biden Administration said they would restore the nation's policy on nuclear transparency in 2021, researchers noted that the Biden White House immediately failed to declassify any US stockpile data for three straight years.

As of 2024, both the US and Russia are no longer exchanging data on their strategic warheads and launchers deployed around the world - even though this is mandated by the New START Treaty.

The agreement sought to increase US safety by placing limits on Russia's deployed intercontinental nuclear weapons.

Overall, the think tank said that the US was still the most transparent nation when it comes to the size of their nuclear arsenal, noting that the country's allies in Israel were the most secretive.

Another of America's allies, the UK, has also stopped providing updates on their military's nuclear stockpile - which researchers said sits at 225 warheads.
The owner of a derelict factory which has been turned into a 'shanty town' is refusing to evict the 'hippies' living there - despite the council ordering them to leave.

Squatters living at the Zig Zag site in Glastonbury were due to be booted out by the end of March after Somerset Council issued an enforcement order for them to leave, saying it was not fit for humans to live in.

More than 20 people have lived in the grounds of the building, some for as long as a decade.

And while Glastonbury is known for welcoming hundreds of thousands of music lovers for one of the biggest festivals in the world, residents have been subjected to living alongside dozens of caravans lining up country lanes and 'hippies' dancing around naked.

The Zig Zag building is a popular haunt in Glastonbury, but an enforcement order ruled storage and residential use must end, all caravans must be removed and the site will have to be restored to its original condition.

However Zig Zag owner Chris Black, who bought the former sheep skin factory in 2013, is refusing to evict the squatters living there as he would never make someone 'intentionally homeless'.

Mr Black accused the local authority of 'wasting millions' of pounds to force the relocation of the squatters.

Zig Zag owner Chris Black (pictured), who bought the former sheep skin factory in 2013, is refusing to evict the squatters living there as he would never make someone 'intentionally homeless'

More than 20 people have lived in the grounds of the building, some for as long as a decade

He argues the council should have come to a compromise rather than turning to lawyers.

It comes as around half of the squatters still remain in the building despite the eviction notice period ending in March 2025.

Mr Black said: 'The council spent all this money on lawyers, and they even paid for a barrister which was just completely unnecessary.

'Now I have to pay for the legal fees for them and us from something that could have been resolved with a bit more understanding.

'There are now more than 300 caravans in Glastonbury and the council needs to find a way to manage that sensibly without making people homeless.'

A total of 23 people were unofficially living in the Zig Zag building but, after losing an appeal against the council in July 2024, an order was issued.

Mr Black has owned the former factory since 2013 and has been used as a home and community hub for over a decade.

Although Mr Black does not have the exact numbers to hand, he says fewer than ten people remain in the building.

He said: 'Over half who are able to have moved out and left, but some who are less able are still here - there were 23 who lived here, now there are fewer than 10.

Christopher Black pictured outside the property he is in dispute with the local authorities

The encampment, which is covered in Ukraine and Palestine flags, is pictured last year

A total of 23 people were unofficially living in the Zig Zag building but, after losing an appeal against the council in July 2024, an order was issued. Pictured: Mr Black on April 3

Mr Black has taken aim at the local authority for wasting millions of pounds to force the relocation of the squatters. Pictured: Rubbish piles up around the Zig Zag building

Squatters living at the Zig Zag site in Glastonbury were due to be booted out by the end of March after Somerset Council issued an enforcement order for them to leave, saying it was not fit for humans to live in. Pictured: A portaloo on the Zig Zag site

Mr Black has owned the former factory since 2013 and has been used as a home and community hub for over a decade

'We have forged relationships with people in the community who have helped us but unfortunately not everyone has been able to move out.

'And I've said it before, I'm not going to make people intentionally homeless and it's on the council to help us find homes for these people, as it's their eviction notice.

'It's completely unreasonable if they do not help these people. They are human beings and the council should treat them as such.

'The council needs to know we are trying but they must understand that we do not want people to live on the streets outside [the Zig Zag building].'

When MailOnline visited Glastonbury last summer, furious residents said they were sick and tired of scores of hippies ruining the area with caravans on 'beautiful' country lanes.

We discovered several dozen grubby and battered caravans occupied by an army of unwashed itinerants around the once-tranquil town.

Richard Hill, 47, said: 'It was beautiful here until this mob of hippy thugs arrived.

'We've been sitting here trying to enjoy what's left of the views and had to watch them actually go to the toilet in front of us, in the middle of the field.

'They don't care. We have even seen a naked lady rolling around in the fields. I mean, it is just horrible to look at.'

Resident Sue Hazlewood, 70, said she was fed up of caravans being abandoned and left to rot.

'The thing is, they just leave them there,' she said last August. 'And that means the council is going to have to spend more of our money taking them away. There are so many of them that I don't think the local authority has enough money to really clear up after them.

'These people have also caused a huge rat problem with their filth.

'They leave mess everywhere and couldn't care less.

'I've often seen them urinating and defecating right in front of people's homes. It isn't really what you want to see when you're trying to enjoy a nice stroll.'

Last summer, MailOnline revealed how Glastonbury Tor is being terrorised by 'hippy thugs' who strip off to cavort in front of horrified locals

Numerous battered caravans were plonked down in the area, wrecking the local vista

One of the most popular spots for the hippy mob is the Zig Zag building (pictured)

Addressing the Zig Zag site, a Somerset Council spokesperson said: 'This is a complex situation and we will do everything we can to support anyone who is impacted.

'In July 2024, the Planning Inspectorate dismissed two planning enforcement appeals relating to the Zig Zag building and yard (the former car park area behind the site).

'The Inspector agreed with the Council that the site was not fit for human habitation and the terms of the Enforcement Notice were upheld.

'Importantly, the Inspector made an award of costs to Council which demonstrates the Council has, and would, be acting reasonably in terms of upholding the terms of the Enforcement Notice.

'Activities being undertaken by Somerset Council by way of support include the Enabling Project - part of the Glastonbury Town Deal - which aims to improve the situation and with the development of a site to provide permanent provision, in consultation with the relevant communities and subject to deliverability.

'The Council recognises that the issue is much bigger than one town however, and a wider approach is needed going forward.

'We have just secured Government funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to undertake a feasibility study that will consider sites in Somerset that could provide a range of designated spaces for temporary and permanent pitches.

'This study will provide the foundation for the Council to consider matters around funding and delivery options for sites across Somerset during 2025/26.'
South Korean soldiers this morning fired warning shots at a contingent of North Korean troops that crossed the heavily fortified border separating the two nations.

Ten armed North Koreans reportedly chose to cross the frontier but were forced to retreat rapidly when their southern counterparts opened fire.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the border breach and subsequent retreat in a statement, adding the incident occurred around 5pm local time (0900 BST).

The crossing is the latest in a concerning trend of border infringements by the North in recent months as the pariah state's leader Kim Jong Un ruthlessly pursues a never-ending militarisation campaign.

Pyongyang's troops conducted three separate incursions across the border in June 2024, when Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to Kim.

North and South Korea technically remain at war as the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, and the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) dividing the peninsula is already one of the most heavily guarded places on earth despite its name.

But North Korea has recently moved to reinforce the DMZ even further, laying more landmines, reinforcing tactical roads and adding anti-tank barriers while blowing up railways connecting the two sides of the peninsula.

One of the incursions in June saw several North Korean soldiers sustain injuries when they accidentally stumbled upon landmines they had laid along the border as they retreated.

South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Feb. 18, 2025

This undated handout photo provided on June 18, 2024 by the South Korean Defence Ministry shows North Korean soldiers working at an undisclosed location near the heavily fortified border, as seen from a South Korean guard area

North Korean Supreme leader Kim Jong Un sitting inside a new-type main battle tank during a training competition involving tank units of the Korean People's Army (KPA), at an undisclosed location in North Korea

People have stepped across the demarcation line that separates the two Koreas before.

But these incidents typically take place under very special circumstances, and usually at the border village of Panmunjom where US President Donald Trump famously stepped across the frontier with North Korean leader Kim.

Outside of Panmunjom, much of the DMZ is wilderness and in some parts is only marked by a sign mounted on a stick or a slice of concrete surrounded by heavy foliage.

Because overgrown trees and plants may have been obscuring the signs marking the demarcation line, Seoul says, the North Korean troops may have stepped over the line without knowing it.

But the southern side of the land border is protected not only by thousands of soldiers, guns and mines but also by a dense network of cameras, motion sensors and other high-tech surveillance equipment.

Any breaches are therefore detected extremely quickly and will result in troops trying to cross being greeted with warning shots from the South Korean sentries who are prepared to shoot to kill if their foes do not retreat.

Analysts believe that North Korea's recent efforts to fortify and mine the border are designed to crack down on any attempts by North Koreans to defect, but also to signal to Seoul that there is no path to peace any time soon.

'North Korea's activities seem to be a measure to strengthen internal control, such as blocking North Korean troops and North Koreans from defecting to the South,' one JCS official said.

Meanwhile, Koh Yu-hwan, North Korean studies emeritus professor at Dongguk University, said the fresh fortification 'has rather symbolic significance'.

'By laying mines, North Korea is demonstrating once again that, as per the instructions of the supreme leader (Kim Jong Un), there will be no reconciliation with the South,' he added.

'North Korea is not laying mines across the entire frontline, but rather in areas that are easily observable by the South. They are also blocking roads and railways that were previously areas of inter-Korean cooperation.'

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses with troops at a major military operations base in the western region of the country

This picture taken on May 30, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on May 31, 2024 shows the test-firing of 600mm super-large rocket artillery at an unconfirmed location in North Korea

The new treaty will allow for mutual assistance in case of aggression against one of the parties to this treaty'

During a period of warmer ties in 2018, the two Koreas removed landmines along a section of the heavily fortified border in a bid to ease military tensions - but this brief period of reconciliation did not last long.

Both sides have said they are no longer bound by a military agreement signed in 2018 to reduce said tensions.

It remains to be seen whether US President Donald Trump - who worked to rebuild ties with Kim during his first presidential term - will attempt to engage Pyongyang in diplomacy once again.

Trump said since his inauguration in January that he would reach out to Kim but gave no time frame.

Pyongyang has not responded to Trump's remarks and says US hostilities against it have deepened.
A British couple and their two young children were forced to spend four days surrounded by wild animals in a Kenyan safari park after their vehicle got stuck when they went off their planned route.

Chris and Sophie Hodder and their two young children were finally located at 9.30am local time in Kenya this morning following an extensive search operation involving aircraft combing the bush.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) says the tourists were finally located by a conservation helicopter pilot who spotted their stranded Toyota Hilux at a remote spot inside Tsavo East National Park, 31 miles north of their planned route.

Their vehicle, which is fitted with a canopy and roof tent, is believed to have become stuck in the mud after veering off a dirt track following two weeks of heavy rain in an area that is home to almost 700 lions.

Predators including leopards, cheetahs, jackals and hyenas roam the same semi-arid plains and fears were raised when the family's abandoned camping gear was found on Monday night.

Rangers said that the decision to stay inside their vehicle was key to the Brits' survival and they are said to be in good health.

In an exclusive interview, one game driver operating in the area said: 'They were very lucky to be found as they had diverted from the main travel route. The area they were discovered in is very remote and not normally frequented by tourists.'

The rescue operation included two fixed wing aircraft and one helicopter working alongside two Land Cruisers.

Chris and Sophie Hodder and their two young children (pictured) were finally located at 9.30am local time in Kenya this morning following an extensive search operation involving aircraft combing the bush

Their vehicle, which is fitted with a canopy and roof tent, (pictured) is believed to have become stuck in the mud after veering off a dirt track following two weeks of heavy rain

In a statement, a spokesperson for the KWS said: 'In a dramatic turn of events this morning, Tsavo Trust pilot Nick Haller spotted the family  a couple and their two children  near Kabaguchi Ranger Camp on the remote Yatta Plateau, approximately 50 kilometres north of their planned route.

'Haller immediately landed his helicopter and confirmed that all four individuals were unharmed and in good health.

'Ground teams from KWS and Tsavo Trust are currently facilitating their safe extraction.

'The family had entered the park on Saturday, 5 April at 5:40 PM through Manyani Gate, intending to camp for two nights at Luggards Falls Special Campsite and exit via Sala Gate by Monday evening.

'When they failed to check out by the 8:00 PM deadline, park authorities launched an immediate search operation.'

Photos of the smiling family were posted by concerned friends on Kenyan social media groups earlier today and were also published by the local media.

Chris Hodder's open Facebook page states he is from Cambridge but lives in Nairobi where he works as Save the Children's Regional Health Advisor for West and Central Africa.

His wife's Linkedin page shows she is a health care worker who previously with the NHS but who now works to build 'sustainable models for healthcare' in Africa.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) says the tourists were finally located by a conservation helicopter pilot who spotted their stranded Toyota Hilux at a remote spot inside Tsavo East National Park

The family had entered the park on Saturday, 5 April at 5:40 PM through Manyani Gate, intending to camp for two nights at Luggards Falls Special Campsite and exit via Sala Gate by Monday evening (File image of Tsavo National Park)

The couple's social media accounts show they have two daughters and are experienced campers and safari enthusiasts.

In an Instagram post in 2023, Mr. Hodder wrote of Kenya: 'what an amazing country this is! Camping 2 nights @3500m freezing cold, 2 nights cedars lodge, 2 nights mt Kenya! No cell phone coverage and just family time. So needed x.'

It is not clear why the family did not immediately call for help when they got lost over the weekend although a lack of mobile phone coverage is the most likely explanation.

Roughly 180 miles southeast of Kenya's capital Nairobi, the Tsavo East National Park is 5,308 square miles and home to around 675 lions.

It offers an excellent vantage point for tourists to observe the hundreds of elephants and other wildlife that come to drink during the dry season and it is also home to a black rhino sanctuary.
A pub sparked a furious public backlash after naming a cocktail after notorious date-rape drug Rohypnol.

The Catherine Wheel pub in Norwich posted a photo of the lurid green drink Rolyhypnol standing on a table in the venue on social media on Friday.

Offering it as its 5.50 cocktail of the month, it said the devilishly smooth drink goes down way too easily.

Appalled members of the public immediately attacked the crass stunt, with one person commenting online: What a scummy pun at the expense of people who have suffered real trauma through date rape.

Another said: Just imagine some guy trying to pass off that he gave Rohypnol with consent because of this drink or even just being on the receiving end of jokes saying youve been rohypnoled just gross and offensive.

One wrote simply: Grim. Offensive. Belittling.

The drink, which was to have been the pubs cocktail of the month for April, contains melon liqueur Midori, peach schnapps, tequila and lemonade.

Following the outcry after the image appeared on Instagram, its name was hurriedly changed to Lil Mexican Peach.

The Catherine Wheel pub in Norwich sparked anger over its 'Rolyhypnol' cocktail of the month, named after date-rape drug Rohypnol

Research shows 13 per cent of women and nine per cent of men believe they have been the victim of drink spiking. Substances commonly used include Rohypnol, GHB and ketamine.

But a poll by Drinkaware and Anglia Ruskin University nine in ten dont see the point of reporting it to police, despite the risk of those targeted falling victim to sex crimes, robbery and theft.

In February, the Home Office said it was introducing a new law that makes spiking a specific criminal offence under the Crime and Policing Bill 2025, with a maximum ten-year jail term.

Previously, it was prosecuted under other offences, such as the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

It followed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying in November: We must do more to bring the vile perpetrators who carry out this cowardly act, usually against young women and often to commit a sexual offence, to justice.

The Home Office is also allocating 250,000 to train up to 10,000 pub and bar staff and bouncers to spot the signs of a potential offenders, protect victims and preserve evidence for police.

Clive Evans, chief executive of Sue Lambert Trust, which provides support for sex crime victims in Norfolk, said: Any form of joke about sexual abuse is never okay and does nothing to help survivors who have experienced and continue to live with the life-long trauma that sexual abuse and sexual assault has on their life.

Rohypnol is used to rape people and there is nothing funny about that. Making light of this normalises and condones this behaviour, showing a lack of awareness and responsibility, which is something no business should do.

Seeing this cocktail promoted on a night out would be extremely triggering for someone who has been raped or sexually abused. Were glad to see the business retracted it.

Dawn Dines, chief executive of the charity Stamp Out Spiking, said: It is very disappointing to read of this cocktail being named after the date rape drug Rohyphol. It was obviously meant as a joke but it is in rather poor taste.

An online review for the pub states it is a 'safe, fun, friendly and fabulous venue for the LGBT - and straight! - community'

Rohypnol is among several substances used to spike drinks, with others including GHB and ketamine

This is why we believe urgent training is needed across the hospitality sector, to educate on the severity and seriousness of these cowardly crimes.

We are also very pleased to read that they have now changed the name.

The Catherine Wheel said in a statement that the idea for the name was a customer suggestion, based on the name Roly, and never intended as a serious acceptance or approval of a drug.

It added: The cocktail has been renamed as a result of the online backlash. The Catherine Wheel apologise for an offence caused.

Norfolk Police said they were not investigating the incident.
To the casual observer, it sounds like something from the pages of a Boys Own Annual.

But security officials are insisting that every household in the UK needs to pack a 72-hour survival kit in case a Russian attack on our energy infrastructure plunges us into darkness.

In an ominous-sounding development, sources told the Mail that families should be prepared for all eventualities. It comes against the backdrop of mounting fears over the threat of Kremlin-led sabotage against crucial British supply channels.

Almost 40 per cent of our gas is imported from Norway  much of it through the Langeled pipeline that runs 700 miles to the Yorkshire coast under the North Sea. Meanwhile, our telecommunications networks are also heavily reliant on underwater cables.

The warning follows last weeks launch in Brussels of a new preparedness strategy to prevent and respond to emerging threats across Europe. One senior EU official remarked that the move was aimed at ensuring that everyone [has] a manual of what to do when the sirens go off.

Back here at home, the safeguarding of undersea infrastructure will be a key element of the Governments Strategic Defence Review by former Nato chief Lord Robertson this year.

But in the meantime critical parts of our energy network will  as Conservative MP Nick Timothy puts it  remain exposed and vulnerable to attack by hostile states like Russia.

Perhaps unsurprisingly in the circumstances, a growing number of Britons are logging on to so-called prepper websites that have grown up around the survivalist movement.

Security officials are insisting that UK households need to pack a survival kit in case of a Russian attack on our energy infrastructure. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin

Dispensing advice that ranges from the self-explanatory to the somewhat less obvious, these sites are aimed at encouraging individuals to be ready for life in the aftermath of a major emergency such as a natural disaster or  to get back to where we started  full-scale blackout.

And as the Mail discovered, it involves more than simply stocking up on tea bags and toilet rolls...

TORCH

At the risk of stating the obvious, a torch or flashlight will be the most useful item to have handy in the event of a blackout. Make sure to stock up with plenty of spare batteries.

RADIO

An essential for making sure you keep up to date on what exactly is happening locally and in the wider world. Again, youll thank yourself if you have a ready supply of extra batteries unless you have a wind-up version.

FIRST AID KIT

Preferably a large kit containing plasters, bandages, antiseptic wipes, sanitiser, medical scissors, face masks and so on.

A first aid kit should include plasters and antiseptic wipes

NON-PERISHABLE FOOD

Tinned edibles such as meat, beans, lentils and soups. Also, rice, pasta, crackers, peanut butter, energy bars, dried fruits and shelf-stable milk.

BOTTLED WATER

At least six litres per person.

WATERBOB

Retailing for a little over 50 and made of heavy-duty plastic, a WaterBOB is a water containment system that can hold up to 100 gallons of fresh drinking water in a standard bath tub.

THERMAL BLANKETS

Lightweight, but effective at retaining body heat during cold weather.

PHOTOCOPIES OF IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS

At least one copy each of passport, driving licence and other forms of ID as well as vital contact numbers.

CANDLES

Another source of light, but obviously without the need for batteries.

MEDICINES

If possible, try to have extra supplies of all prescription medication taken by any family members. Adequate quantities of paracetamol and other over-the-counter drugs are also strongly recommended.

ROPE

A length of strong rope will help to secure temporary shelter (if needed)  and can also be used as a washing line.

BACKPACK

A large, sturdy backpack or rucksack to carry essential items.

WARM CLOTHING

Given the UKs unpredictable weather, a woolly hat, scarf and gloves  as well as a waterproof coat  are all must-haves.

SPARE KEYS

At least one spare set of both house and car keys.

MONEY

Given the lack of access to bank machines or credit card terminals, it is important to have some ready cash on you.

GAMES

With the prospect of endless hours stretching out into the distance, it is important to have something to relieve the boredom. Having a set of playing cards or a travel chess board would likely prove invaluable  and could also encourage bonding between family members at a stressful time.

PETROL/DIESEL

If possible, always try to keep your cars fuel tank topped up.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE

Can be used as a screwdriver, bottle and can opener, pliers, miniature saw and magnifying glass among other functions.

SALT

With refrigeration systems out of action, salt can be used as a basic food preservative.

COMPASS

Could be a lifesaver if someone gets lost and disorientated.

A compass could be useful if someone becomes lost or disorientated

SPECTACLES

A spare set of reading glasses  or other prescription spectacles  could prove essential. Sunglasses are also worth packing.

PORTABLE USB SOLAR CHARGER

Some models can charge two devices  smartphones or tablets  at the same time.

AXE

Useful for chopping firewood.

LIGHTER/SAFETY MATCHES/FIRELIGHTERS

To light fires for cooking and warmth.

WHISTLE

Could prove very handy indeed if you need to attract attention.

TIN FOIL

Useful for wrapping potatoes and meat before cooking over a fire.

BAKING SODA

As well as its use in cooking, it can also be used as a cleaning and deodorising agent.

BATHROOM ESSENTIALS

Personal hygiene items, grooming tools and  of course  the aforementioned loo rolls.

PORTABLE STOVE

Can be used for both cooking and as a source of heat.
A gang of drug dealers who smuggled half a ton of cocaine worth up to 17 million into Britain have been convicted.

The group, who brought in cocaine from the Netherlands to distribute throughout London, were found hiding out at a holiday let in Norfolk.

Kingston Crown Court heard that millions of pounds of cocaine were distributed by lorries across London.

Lorries would stop outside the capital, and the drugs would be collected and then be sent to 'retail suppliers' on a weekly basis.

A holiday let was booked in Marsham, near Norwich on July 16, 2024, and the following day a van was seen outside the address.

The van, driven by Justyn Morris, 23, then travelled to an industrial estate in the city, where he met Bert De Jong, 59, in a lorry who have him three cardboard boxes.

Morris, who the drove back to the holiday let, was then intercepted by officers who had seen a suspected handover.

Officers then searched the van and the three boxes were found hidden behind black cladding.

The group, who brought in cocaine from the Netherlands to distribute throughout London , were found hiding out at a holiday let in Norfolk. Pictured: Zaibaa Zahur, 21, of Harlington Road, Uxbridge

Kingston Crown Court heard that millions of pounds of cocaine were distributed by lorries across London. Pictured: Justyn Morris, 23, of Upper Lees Road, Slough

Lorries would stop outside the capital, and the drugs would be collected and then be sent to 'retail suppliers' on a weekly basis. Pictured: Hussain Sakhi, 22, of Laughton Road, Northolt

A total of 70kg worth of cocaine was found  worth between 1.75million and 2.45million.

Hussain Sakhi, 22, and Zaibaa Zahur, 21, arrived at the holiday let later that day, to 'view' it but officers arrived on the scene and searched the pair.

A phone showed messages between Sakhi and an unidentified contact, who Morris had also been in contact with.

De Jong, of the Netherlands, Sakhi, 22, of Laughton Road, Northolt and Zahur, of Harlington Road, Uxbridge were convicted of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of cocaine and conspiracy to supply cocaine, following a four-week trial on Monday, April 7.

Sakhi and Zahur were also found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

While Morris, of Upper Lees Road, Slough, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, March 11, to conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of cocaine and conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Drug ledgers they kept as a record of the movement and distribution of the cocaine were examined during the trial and established the group had moved nearly 500kg.

De Jong would bring the drugs into the country from the Netherlands and Morris would pick them up and pass them to Sakhi and Zahur, who would then distribute them.

Bert De Jong, 59, of the Netherlands, would bring the drugs into the country from the Netherlands and Morris would pick them up and pass them to Sakhi and Zahur, who would then distribute them.

Three boxes were found hidden behind black cladding containing a total of 70kg worth of cocaine  worth between 1.75million and 2.45million

Drug ledgers they kept as a record of the movement and distribution of the cocaine were examined during the trial and established the group had moved nearly 500kg

On July 23, 2024, De Jong, when entering the country again, was arrested but claimed he had no knowledge of what he was bringing into the country.

However, evidence suggested on his phone that he would send 'tokens' to his counterparts, implying the drugs had been delivered. He was charged on the same day.

Detective Constable Leon Ure, of the Met's Specialist Crime South team who led the investigation, said:

'This has been a complex and lengthy investigation to dismantle a group supplying drugs across London. It has been part of a wider, proactive drug operation led by the Specialist Crime South team.

'This investigation shows the breadth of work the specialist crime unit deals with and I'd like to thank every officer who was involved in the case.

'Drug dealing has a huge impact on Londoners. It fuels further crime and impacts the heart of our communities. This group is an example of how we will investigate and hold offenders to account.'

They are due to be sentenced on Friday, 11 April at Kingston Crown Court.
Prince Harry feels he has been 'singled out' for 'unjustified, inferior treatment' since Megxit, the Court of Appeal in London heard today.

The Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan Markle 'felt forced to step back' from frontline royal duties in 2020 'as they considered they were not being protected by the institution', his KC Shaheed Fatima has said.

Harry has flown 5,000 miles to be at the Royal Courts of Justice to support his own two-day appeal against a ruling over the right he, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet have to taxpayer-funded bodyguards while visiting the UK.

But hitting back the Home Office's barrister said the Duke of Sussex's appeal 'involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees'.

It came as MailOnline revealed that Harry is not thought to have seen his father King Charles before the monarch jetted off for Italy for his four-day state visit this week.

The California-based royal is challenging the dismissal of his High Court legal action against the Home Office over the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of protection when in the country of his birth because he stepped down as a full-time royal. His case has cost the British taxpayer 500,000 so far.

Opening the Duke of Sussex's appeal this morning, with her royal client sat just behind her, Ms Fatima said he had been 'singled out' for 'inferior treatment' when he was stripped of the high level of protection he was previously given by the Metropolitan Police.

'When Ravec made its February 2020 decision about the appellant's protective security, it did not apply its own terms of reference to that decision-making process', she said, adding that Ravec came up with a 'different and so-called 'bespoke process'.

'The appellant [Prince Harry] does not accept that 'bespoke' means 'better'. In fact, in his submission, it means that he has been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment'.

Prince Harry was sat in court following his lead counsel's case, sipping from a plastic bottle of still mineral water as she spoke.

Shaheed Fatima KC, watched by her client the Duke of Sussex, during the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice over his security

The Duke of Sussex (pictured today) has been 'singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment', the Court of Appeal has heard in the royal's challenge over his level of security in the UK.

A sombre Prince Harry has arrived at the High Court in London today

The Duke of Sussex is at the Royal Courts of Justice for the start of his appeal against a High Court ruling on his legal claim against the Home Office

The Duke of Sussex's appeal against the dismissal of his legal challenge over the level of protection he and his family (pictured together at Christmas) is given while visiting the UK has begun at the Court of Appeal

In written submissions submitted to the Court of Appeal today, Harry's KC, viewed as a legal trailblazer because in 2016 she became Britain's first hijab-wearing barrister, said: 'This appeal concerns the most fundamental right: to safety and security of person'.

She continued: 'On January 8 2020, (the Duke of Sussex) and his wife felt forced to step back from the role of full-time official working members of the royal family as they considered they were not being protected by the institution, but they wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the royal family'.

Ms Fatima later said that Harry was 'not in a position to make any informed representations to Ravec'.

He added: '(His) security does not appear to have been discussed at any formal Ravec meeting and there are no official notes or detailed minutes recording the approach to be taken to (his) security and the rationale for it.'

According to Ms Fatima KC, when Ravec stripped the prince of his top-level security in February 2020, shortly after he and wife Meghan had announced they were stepping back from royal duties and relocating to North America, it did not follow his own rules.

And the judge who previously ruled Ravec had acted correctly, was mistaken.

Ms Fatima said according to its own guidelines, Ravec should have commissioned an assessment of Prince Harry's particular security needs from another specialist body, the Risk Management Board. It has failed to do so, instead reaching its decision by 'bespoke' means.

Ms Fatima said: 'The appellant [the Duke of Sussex] does not accept that bespoke means better  in fact, in his position, it means he has been singled out for different, inferior treatment.'

The hearing before Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean, and Lord Justice Edis is due to conclude on Wednesday with a decision expected in writing at a later date.

It came as MailOnline reveal that the King is not thought to have met with his youngest son when he flew into London from California at the weekend ahead of his High Court showdown today.

The Duke of Sussex landed from Los Angeles on Sunday but his father spent the weekend at Highgrove, his private Gloucestershire home, resting ahead of this week's busy State Visit to Italy.

His Majesty then flew directly to Rome from RAF Brize Norton with Queen Camilla on Monday afternoon. It came after the Mail's Richard Eden revealed Harry's skipped the wedding of one of his so-called 'band of brothers' - despite being invited and in the UK.

Today, just as Harry walked purposefully into the Royal Courts of Justice for the 10am hearing, Charles and Camilla were afforded a ceremonial welcome including a flypast by Italian President Sergio Mattarella and his daughter, Laura Mattarella, at the Quirinale Palace on Tuesday.

The Duke of Sussex has decided to travel 5,000 miles to be at the High Court in London to support his own appeal against a ruling on the level of security he, Meghan Markle, Archie and Lilibet are afforded while in the country of his birth.

Wearing a suit, white shirt and tie, Harry arrived looking stern, clutching his mobile phone tightly. There was a brief smile and wave as he entered the historic building.

Harry's long-term personal bodyguard Dave Langdown, 57, a former Metropolitan Police officer, entered the courtroom 20 minutes before the case was due to start. He scanned the room to ensure it was safe for the Prince's evidently imminent arrival.

Harry waved to the crowds outside amid the ongoing rows with the UK Government and also his family

But MailOnline can reveal he did not see his father, pictured today in Rome with Queen Camilla, when they were briefly in the US at the same time on Sunday and Monday

At 10.24am Prince Harry himself walked into court, clad in a charcoal grey suit. Offering a forced smile grimace to the media, he took a seat in the third row back from the judge, two rows behind his two King's Counsel barristers, Shaheed Fatima and Jason Pobjoy.

Mr Langdown took a seat in the public gallery behind his boss.

Harry believes he is entitled to armed bodyguards, paid for by the British taxpayer, and is fighting a 2020 decision to reduce the level of security after he and Meghan Markle stepped back from life as working royals and emigrated to the United States.

He has expressed safety concerns about returning to the UK with his wife and children.

It came after landed in the UK just before King Charles III jetted off to Italy for a historic four-day state visit.

The King and his son are also believed to have differing views over Harry's decision to pursue his legal fight with the Home Office, which has cost the British taxpayer 500,000 so far.

Harry has been taking legal action in the UK over a decision made by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) in February 2020 over the level of protection he should receive when in the country.

The High Court previously heard that his 'status' had changed as a result of no longer being a 'full-time working member of the Royal Family'.

But Harry has argued his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet cannot 'feel at home' or 'safe' in the UK unless his police protection is fully restored.

His legal fight comes as the Charity Commission announced it had launched an investigation into Sentebale, the charity he founded, amid a bitter boardroom rift between Harry and chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka.

She has accused Prince Harry of 'harassment and bullying' - a claim that is denied.

Prince Harry flew into the UK just hours before King Charles jetted off to Italy for a historic four-day state visit

There was a brief smile for the cameras when Harry arrived. There were shouts asking whether he had seen his father

King Charles III and Queen Camilla are received by the President of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Signor Sergio Mattarella and the President's daughter, Signora Laura Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace

King Charles III, Queen Camilla, President of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Signor Sergio Mattarella and the President's daughter, Signora Laura Mattarella view a flypast by the Frecce Tricolori and Red Arrows at the Quirinale Palace

King Charles and Queen Camilla are in the Italian capital, Rome, pictured at at Villa Wolkonsky

For his part Harry, who stood down as patron of the charity last week alongside co-founder Prince Seeiso in support of a group of trustees who have also quit, has accused Ms Chanduaka of telling 'blatant lies'.

He said they 'fully expected [the investigation] will unveil the truth that collectively forced us to resign'.

Prince Harry added: 'We remain hopeful this will allow for the charity to be put in the right hands immediately, for the sake of the communities we serve.'

His arrival in the UK capital comes as the King and Queen jetted into Rome, before visiting the city of Ravenna, as they use the 'soft power' diplomacy of the monarchy to strengthen Britain's relationship with its ally.

A separate state visit to the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church, in the Vatican, has been cancelled, as Pope Francis is recuperating after leaving hospital following treatment for double pneumonia.

With a number of Vatican events removed from the itinerary in Rome, the remaining engagements in the Italian capital have been spread over two days, and extra elements added to some engagements.

At the weekend the Pope made a surprise appearance in St Peter's Square, in the Vatican.

He appeared with an oxygen tube under his nose and was using a wheelchair.

King Charles waves from a car as he and Queen Camilla depart the Rome Ciampino Airport at the beginning of their four-day state visit to Italy

The King and Queen pictured departing their flight ahead of their historic state visit to Italy

Ciao fella: It is not known if King Charles III and Prince Harry met between their flights

The Duke of Sussex is back in London for an appeal against a High Court ruling on whether he is entitled to armed bodyguards paid for by the taxpayer

The prince's legal fight comes as the Charity Commission announced it had launched an investigation into Sentebale, the charity he founded, amid a bitter boardroom rift between Harry and chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka (pictured)

Dr Sophie Chandauka, pictured with Meghan and Harry at a polo event last year that sparked a row. A year on the trio have fallen out and the Duke of Sussex resigned from Sentebale

King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Clarence House in London on March 25

Charles will hold audiences with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Charles will become the first British monarch to address both houses of Italy's parliament - the chamber of deputies and the senate of the republic.

The King will also hold audiences with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and he and his wife will attend a black-tie state banquet at the Palazzo Quirinale, hosted by the president on the evening of their 20th wedding anniversary.

The UK and Italy's defence co-operation will be marked by a joint flypast over Rome by the Italian air force's aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, and the RAF's Red Arrows.

In Ravenna, near Bologna, Charles and Camilla will mark the 80th anniversary of the province's liberation from Nazi occupation by allied forces, on April 10 1945, during a town hall reception.

Charles and Camilla will attend a black-tie state banquet at the Palazzo Quirinale (pictured)

Pope Francis speaks to the faithful in St Peter's Square at the Vatican yesterday

They will celebrate literary culture by visiting Dante's tomb and the Queen will make a solo trip to the Byron museum.

Charles returned to official public duties after cancelling a string of engagements last month, when he experienced temporary side effects from cancer treatment on March 27.

Buckingham Palace announced that the King had 'required a short period of observation in hospital' earlier that day.

Planned engagements in Birmingham the following day, March 28, were cancelled to prioritise his recovery as a precautionary measure.

A source described it as a 'most minor bump in a road that is very much heading in the right direction'.
Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed for the first time that Ukrainian troops have launched an incursion into Russia's Belgorod region as they seek to protect border towns from Vladimir Putin's forces.

The Ukrainian incursion into Belgorod comes eight months after Kyiv's troops launched a lightning offensive into Russia's neighbouring Kursk region - though localised fighting in Belgorod has reportedly been raging for weeks.

The invasion of Kursk in August, which saw Ukraine's army capture thousands of square kilometres of territory, sought to halt Russian advances in Donetsk by drawing Moscow's resources while seizing land that could be used as a bargaining chip in ceasefire negotiations.

Russia has since clawed back almost all of its territory there, with Ukraine's war-weary troops now clinging to a sliver of soil as the might of Moscow's military bears down on them.

Now, Russian forces will be tasked with heading off another incursion, though it is not yet clear to what extent Zelensky's troops will push into Belgorod.

In a video address last night, the Ukrainian President said his top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, had presented a report 'on the front line, our presence in the Kursk region and our presence in the Belgorod region'.

'We continue active operations in the enemy's border areas and this is absolutely justified. The war must return to where it came from.

'Our main objective remains the same: to protect our land and our communities in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions from Russian occupiers.'

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Russian service members walk past a destroyed building in the town of Sudzha, which was recently retaken by Russia's armed forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Kursk region

A handout photo made available by the acting Governor of the Kursk region Alexander Khinshtein shows the governor during his visit to Pogrebki, Kursk region, Russia, 07 April 2025

A Russian 'Grad' self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher fires toward Ukrainian positions in the Russian - Ukrainian border area

Zelensky's confirmation that his troops were fighting in Belgorod came just 24 hours after Moscow said its troops had seized the village of Basivka in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region

Zelensky repeated Kyiv's long-held contention that despite Russia's recapture of areas of Kursk in recent weeks, the operation was successful in that it drew Russian forces away from the war's main front line in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

'Due to the entire Kursk operation, we have managed to reduce pressure on other frontline sectors, particularly in Donetsk region,' he said.

The president last month referred obliquely to 'certain steps' undertaken by Ukraine's military in Russia 'a little below the Kursk region', implicitly suggesting a presence in Belgorod region.

Russian military bloggers subsequently reported battles in Belgorod region between Russian and Ukrainian troops around the settlements of Popovka and Demidovka.

Ukraine's Armed Forces have reportedly occupied land stretching from Popovka, close to the Belgorod-Kursk border, down to the village of Prilesye, roughly 10 kilometres further south.

For now, it seems the operation in Belgorod is primarily dedicated to preventing a Russian advance into Ukrainian borderlands, rather than a concerted effort to seize fresh territory.

The situation in Belgorod region is 'under control', Russian commander Apti Alaudinov was quoted by the state RIA news agency as saying late last week.

Alaudinov, commander of Chechnya's Akhmat special forces, told Russian state television that Moscow's forces were 'clearing areas' of Ukrainian troops in Belgorod.

'In general, our situation is quite good,' RIA cited him as saying. 'The enemy does not tire of throwing in new meat, although he sees every day that he suffers terrible losses and cannot achieve results.'

'Two Majors', a pro-Russian war blogger with over 1.2 million subscribers, wrote on Friday that Ukrainian troops were trying to break through fortified forest areas along the Belgorod border.

And on Friday, Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, reported Ukraine had stepped up shelling and drone attacks of Russian border towns including Murom, Malinovka, Masychevo and Shebekino.

Zelensky's confirmation that his troops were fighting in Belgorod came just 24 hours after Moscow said its troops had seized the village of Basivka in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region - opposite Kursk - and were battering Ukrainian forces in different settlements.

A Ukrainian military spokesperson issued a new denial on Monday that Basivka was in Russian hands after the Ukrainian Centre for Countering Disinformation insisted on Sunday the village had not fallen to Moscow's troops.

The battle rages on as ceasefire talks between Russia and the US appear to have stalled.

Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky's hometown, was the site of a particularly brutal missile attack on Friday in which 11 adults and nine children were killed, leading Ukraine's military to suggest Moscow had deployed cluster munitions

On his Instagram page, Zelensky shared a selection of photographs that laid bare the extent of Russia's latest attack on his hometown, Kryvyi Rih

People react next to a body at the site of a Russian missile strike in a residential area, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, April 4, 2025

The aftermath of a Russian stike on Novobavarskyi District, Kharkiv, Ukraine

Last month, the US and Ukraine agreed a partial ceasefire that aimed to halt strikes on energy and maritime infrastructure, but Russia did not agree to the deal and continued to batter Ukraine's power plants and energy grid along with civilian targets.

Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky's hometown, was the site of a particularly brutal missile attack on Friday in which 11 adults and nine children were killed, leading Ukraine's military to suggest Moscow had deployed cluster munitions.

Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said the strike was the deadliest of the war on Kryvyi Rih, an industrial centre with a pre-war population of around 600,000 that is regularly targeted by Russian missiles and drones.

'Revenge will be inevitable, because this is a crime without a statute of limitations,' he wrote on social media.

The victims ranged from 3 to 79 years old, he said, adding that 33 people including 4 children were still being treated in hospital.

Ukraine has in recent days responded in kind, targeting Russian energy infrastructure with drone strikes while pounding towns in Belgorod with artillery.

US President Donald Trump, who claims he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly said he wants the three-year conflict in Ukraine to end and is pushing both sides to agree to a truce.

But Putin said last month that fighting could not be paused until a number of crucial conditions around the US-proposed ceasefire were worked out or clarified.

'President Putin does support the idea of the need for a ceasefire, but before that a number of questions must be answered,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters last week.

'These questions are still hanging in the air, so far no one has given an answer to them.'

Putin has said that any peace agreement must address what Moscow sees as the root causes of the conflict - essentially a tug of war between Russia and the West over Ukraine's future and the post-Soviet enlargement of NATO towards Russia's borders.

Putin has said the ceasefire would have to ensure that Ukraine did not simply use it to regroup, and that key questions about verification of a truce would need to be clarified.
A mentally-ill killer beat an 87-year-old grandfather to death with his own walking stick eight months after being discharged into the community by mental health services, a judge today revealed.

Sekai Miles, 23, had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia before he slaughtered Bernard Fowler at Harold Wood station in east London.

Miles' illness was exacerbated by his use of cannabis but three months before the killing a doctor said he was looking 'the best he had seen him', the Old Bailey heard.

Mr Fowler had gone to the station to pick up his daily newspaper when Miles bludgeoned him with the stick and kicked him to death on February 27 last year.

Miles battered his frail victim with his walking stick 19 times 'with great force' before stamping on his head eight times in a 'truly shocking' attack. He was also caught on CCTV gouging at Mr Fowler's eyes.

Death was caused by multiple severe traumatic head injuries which led to a bleed on the brain, with Miles later seen standing over his victim's body, his hands raised in a 'triumphal stance', the court heard.

Miles admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, with a judge last week sending the killer to a secure ward indefinitely, under sections 37 and 41 of the Mental Health Act 1983.

Today it was revealed mental health teams had first become aware of Miles when he was five amid claims he was trafficked by drugs gangs. He was admitted to psychiatric wards twice in 2023 before being freed in June of that year. Months later, he killed Mr Fowler.

Sekai Miles (pictured), 23, was detained after he subjected Bernard Fowler to a 'brutal' random attack outside Harold Wood station in east London early on February 27 last year

Miles had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia before he slaughtered Mr Fowler (pictured) at Harold Wood station in east London

Police rushed to the scene and when officers arrived, Miles ran off holding the bloody stick in one hand and his trainers in the other, and was arrested after a struggle

Describing the horror attack during her full sentencing remarks today, the judge said: 'It is clear Bernard Fowler was a much loved and respected man... He is described as gentle and kind.

'His loved ones say he brought immeasurable joy to everyone around him. It is clear this loss is felt acutely by those around him.

'He was 87-years-old and walking with a stick. You took his walking stick and struck him on the head 19 times with great force.

'You continued to attack him stamping on his head eight times.

'You left the scene but returned minutes later... You walked away and returned two further times.

'I am satisfied on the expert evidence in this case that it is necessary to protect the public from serious harm and it is not possible to say how long that will be the case.'

Psychiatrists said Miles' psychosis was not drug induced as he had been 'floridly psychotic for four months'.

Miles had previous convictions for intent to supply heroin and possession of a blade.

In victim impact statements, Mr Fowler, pictured, was described by his family as a kind and caring man with a raw sense of humour

The judge said: 'There are many references to you being trafficked by county lines drug gangs in adolescence and you had previously been stabbed.'

The judge said Miles had come to the attention of mental health services when he was five years old.

He had come to the attention of adult services in 2023 and was admitted to psychiatric wards twice that year.

'It was clear your ill health was exacerbated by your cannabis use,' the judge said.

In June 2023 he was discharged into the community with support from mental health services. He later requested re-admittance to hospital to help curb his cannabis use.

On November 17, 2023 he met with a doctor who told him that he was looking 'the best he had seen him' and that he did not have schizophrenia.

The doctor advised him to keep taking medication, but he did not have to, and Miles said he would not.

The medic then said Miles no longer needed to be monitored, the court was told.

The judge said: 'You were told you did not have schizophrenia and also advised to continue with your medication.

'You were 21 and from a troubled background and I conclude you may not have understood the nature of your mental ill health or the need to keep taking medication.

'Your later failure to recognise the signs of your need to take medication was itself a result of your lack of insight due to your ill health.

The judge said Miles had come to the attention of mental health services when he was five years old. Pictured: Harold Wood railway station where the attack happened

'I cannot be sure you consumed synthetic cannabis before the offence and even if you had done so in the expert evidence that was not the cause of the mental disorder.'

Mr Fowler's son attended court today wearing a t-shirt with a picture of his father on it.

Miles attended court today via video-link from Broadmoor maximum security psychiatric hospital.

The judge said: 'The hospital weren't able to transport Mr Miles here today but I know the parties were made aware of that and were content he appear by video link.'

Prosecutor Ben Aina, KC, said CCTV evidence shows Mr Fowler arriving at the station at 3.58am.

'The defendant approaches him and the attack begins at about 4.03am.

'During the attack, the defendant gouges Mr Fowler's eyes, he falls to the floor, the defendant then attacks him as he is lying helpless on the ground.

'The defendant kicks Mr Fowler in the head before picking up his walking stick by the end and hitting him on the head with enormous force.

'Mr Fowler is hit in the head 19 times, the defendant then stamps on Mr Fowler's head and he does that eight times.

'The attack is truly shocking and appalling.'

Miles then returned to the scene 15 minutes later still clutching the bloody crutch in one hand and with his trainers in the other.

He seen standing over the body in a 'triumphal stance' with his arms up in the air.

Police were called and he was eventually arrested at 4.39am after initially attempting to run off, discarding the walking stick along the way.

After his arrest, Miles 'later threatened to pluck out a police officer's eye whilst in custody,' prosecutor Mr Aina said.

The court was told the defendant had paranoid schizophrenia and there was evidence he had taken the synthetic cannabis drug known as spice in the past

He later assaulted PC Farmer in the police station when officers attempted to interview him.

'The defendant attempted to leave the room, PC Farmer put a hand to stop him from leaving and he punched PC Farmer in the face,' the prosecutor told the court.

'There was a struggle and PC Farmer's head hit the wall three to four times.

'He was placed back in the police cell and he said at that stage: "Hit me, I deserve it," he then threatened officers and said "I will kill you all".

'PC Farmer sustained bruising and swelling to his face.

'The defendant was deemed too uncontrollable to be interviewed.'

Several members of Mr Fowler's family gave victim impact statements.

They included his two sons Darrin and Ian Fowler and his grandson, Bernard Fowler Jr.

Darrin said: 'To say that I love may father is just not enough, he is everything and the pain and loss I feel cannot be quantified.

'I named my eldest son after him because of how much I love and respect him.

'I am numb inside and in utter shock and disbelief at this awful situation, I am now existing not living, my father was my wingman, my confidant, I have lost my closest and best friend, I feel alone and lost without him.'

Ian said: 'To put it bluntly, last year was the worst year of my life, I have had nightmares thinking about what my father went through.

'It breaks my heart that this happened to the man that raised me and taught me about life.'

Bernard said: 'Losing my grandad has left an enormous void in my life, we were not just family, we shared an incredible bond that made us very close, we even share the same name.

'Every morning for the last 20 years he would walk to the station to collect his morning paper.

'I miss him deeply, I miss his sharp sense of humour and the way he would confuse me with his cockney rhyming slang, I miss our Friday calls where we would talk about nothing and everything at the same time.

'I felt comforted, those calls were part of our Friday evening routine.'

Sekai, of Hendon, northwest London, denied murder but admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility and assaulting a police officer.

Senior Investigating Officer DCI Sam Painter said: 'This was a horrific and brutal act of unprovoked violence which claimed the life of a much loved and respected father, brother, and grandfather.

'I know that no result can possibly make up for the pain and devastation that the tragic loss of Bernard has brought, but I hope that today's outcome will help them find some comfort.'
Donald Trump's long-desired military parade is back on the tableand this time, it's set to march through Washington, D.C. on his 79th birthday, despite concerns that it will cost U.S. taxpayers millions.

Trump first proposed a military parade in 2018 during his first term, inspired by France's Bastille Day celebration, as reported by the Washington City Paper. He envisioned tanks, aircraft and troops showcasing U.S. might down Pennsylvania Avenue.

However, that plan was scrapped after backlash from military leaders and D.C. officials over projected costsestimated at $92 millionand concerns that heavy military equipment would damage roads.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser publicly clashed with Trump at the time, highlighting the financial and logistical burdens the event would create for the city. Now re-elected, Trump is reviving the parade ideachoosing June 14, which coincides with both his birthday and the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

Sources told the outlet that the route would span nearly four miles from the Pentagon to the White House. However, local officials say they've been given little information or timejust 10 weeksto prepare for such a massive event.

The parade, if it proceeds as Trump envisions, will cost taxpayers millions in security, infrastructure, and coordination across military branches and local transit systems. Critics fear it will divert resources from essential services, while supporters frame it as a patriotic tribute to the armed forces.

As news of the parade spread on social media, several users voiced their disapproval, with many users comparing the military parade to those of authoritarian leaders.

"This is exactly what dictators do," one user lamented. Another user wrote, "He better not. This is not north Korea. Our economy is tanking."

This is exactly what dictators do  Orwells Ghost (@planterspunch7) April 7, 2025

"Spending that kind of money is not going to sit well with so many citizens facing financial ruin!" another commented.

He probably better not. Spending that kind of money is not going to sit well with so many citizens facing financial ruin!  Bev the Blue Vet (@BevHerard) April 7, 2025

Arlington County Board Chair Takis Karantonis confirmed that while they received a heads-up from the White House, no formal plans have been shared.

Originally published on Latin Times
While inevitably the travelling parliamentary press gallery will award this debate to the Prime Minister - reflecting the Labor bias of Canberra electorates when doing so - in point of fact it was won by Peter Dutton.

He highlighted the lack of sound economic management by the highest spending government in 40 years, citing wall to wall deficits forecast across the coming ten years.

Dutton even provided cogent reasoning for embracing nuclear energy, using the opportunity to remind voters that the PM promised to reduce energy bills by $275 at the last election, however power bills have increased by $1,300 instead.

Responding to Labor's nuclear scare campaign was an important building block in this debate. Dutton cited country after country that uses nuclear power to demystify his plan, which in a pure debating sense was powerful.

I'm just not sure if voters are listening.

The Opposition Leader also rebutted the notion that he's a threat to Medicare, clarifying that bulk billing rates have in fact fallen since Labor came to power, not before. Albo looked uncomfortable when his Medicare arguments were turned against him.

All of that said, the first leaders' debate was a largely lacklustre affair. And in between his regularly rehearsed lines, the PM made some good points too. For example, noting that his government delivered two surpluses when the previous Coalition government claimed that it would do so - but never did.

It's a powerful retort to criticisms directed at Labor's budget management. Dutton missed the opportunity to point out that those surpluses were driven by commodity price surges rather than any budget decisions taken by Labor.

People's forums can be difficult for incumbents because they are forced to defend their track record. This is especially hard during crisis times like we are living through now.

Albo's inability to connect with mainstream voters was on full display during Tuesday night's leaders' debate, according to Daily Mail Australia's political editor

In this context Anthony Albanese did well, avoiding a knock out blow against him. The biggest threat he faced in this debate was having the campaign turned on its head. That didn't happen.

But Dutton's primary task was to arrest the decline in his ratings during the first week and a half of the election campaign and to start building momentum towards improving fortunes. He did that, even if he didn't turn his fortunes completely around.

Albo's inability to connect with mainstream voters was on full display. For someone who enjoys touting his working class roots, the PMs mannerisms were manufactured and his lines rote learnt.

They just weren't engaging.

Peter Dutton was forced to get through this debate in the knowledge that his father had been rushed to hospital with a heart attack right before it started. A horrific situation all Australians can sympathise with.

Despite such trauma, he started well and managed to stay composed. The situation wasn't mentioned during the live debate.

Albanese used the debate to claim he was aiming for majority government, which sounded strained when he did so.

It was his final pitch to voters.

Viewers believe Anthony Albanese won the first debate over Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton (right) provided cogent reasoning for embracing nuclear energy

But it backfired, because it opened the door to a discussion about the role the Greens might play if minority government beckons for Labor.

The ensuing discussion left Albo looking disingenuous when he claimed no deals would be made with the Greens.

In contrast the authenticity of Dutton's rejection of doing deals with the Greens couldn't have been more real.

Week two of the campaign now moves to seat by seat battleground electorates, with the expectation that both leaders will claim that they won the first debate.

That of course is the spin you expect in modern politics. But make no mistake, Dutton won this debate.

He just didn't win it convincingly.
A UK-based tech company has apologised after placing a job advert where it said only Indian immigrants would be considered.

Avantao Technologies was hiring for a DevOps engineer at the company's headquarters in Ilford, England.

But the advert - which was live on a popular recruitment site - made it clear applicants born in the UK were not welcome.

Application questions included several which were visa related, such as 'are you seeking sponsorship for employment in the UK?', 'What is your native country?' and 'are you legally authorized to work in United Kingdom?'

The job was placed by Avantao, which also has two offices in Hyderabad and Bangalore, and one in New Jersey, USA.

Chitra Ranjeeth is the director of Avantao in Ilford.

The Ilford office is listed at a business centre address in the London town which is the home of many other unrelated firms.

Today the company put the advert down to a 'mistake' made by an employee, and claimed it was a 'test' to teach their staff about 'do's and don'ts' and so no one had been hired.

Avantao Technologies has apologised after it put out a job advert where 'only candidates who are immigrants from India will be considered

The Ilford office is listed at a business centre address in the London town which is the home of many other unrelated firms

They claimed they could not take the ad down because the person who posted it was on holiday.

A spokesperson for the firm insisted it followed all UK rules and the online advert was a mistake.

They told MailOnline: 'We are very sorry to hear that this has occurred. The job was never intended, nor did we provide support from a certain country.

'What we discovered was a test demonstration post that is being taught to our employees about do's and don'ts.

'Unfortunately, that has been published, and we are unable to retract it because it was a mistake made by the employee who posted it live and then departed on holiday.

Application questions included several visa related questions such as 'are you seeking sponsorship for employment in the UK?', 'What is your native country?' and 'are you legally authorized to work in United Kingdom?'

'Our organisation is subject to United Kingdom rules and regulations.

'But a mistake is a mistake, and we have taken action against the individual. We haven't hired anyone for this role because it's a test.

'However, we genuinely apologise.'

The job advert expired on March 24.
Rachel Reeves warned the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs could be 'profound', as global markets calmed after days of turmoil caused by the US president.

The Chancellor told MPs she would be meeting her US counterpart, treasury secretary Scott Bessent 'shortly' to discuss the impact of the president's protectionism.

UK stocks rose slightly this morning, with the FTSE 100 up almost 2 per cent, but still far below where it was before last week's decision by Trump to bring in an import taxes.

It follows a more positive session for Asian markets overnight, with some indexes making gains after suffering from steep falls in previous days.

The Chancellor said the Government would remain 'pragmatic' as it looks into a deal with the United States, telling MPs: 'This Government is clear-eyed that our response to global change cannot be to watch and wait, but instead to act decisively, to take the right decisions that are in our national interest.'

She added: 'I know that the challenges facing the global economy and the potential impact could be profound, and as a Government we must step up to that challenge to deliver security for working people.'

Keir Starmer today insisted Donald Trump's tariffs were not a 'temporary passing phase' but part of a 'changing world order'.

Asked if the Government could intervene to prevent recession, similar to steps taken during the Covid pandemic, the Prime Minister emphasised ministers were prioritising support that was 'more in the nature of breaking down barriers that are in the way' rather than spending cash.

Meanwhile a new poll suggests voters are against Sir Keir Starmer's method of fighting the 10 per cent tariff levied on UK exports to the US.

The Chancellor told MPs she would be meeting her US counterpart, treasury secretary Scott Bessent 'shortly' to discuss the impact of the president's protectionism.

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UK stocks rose this morning as a sense of calm returned to the market after days of turmoil caused by Donald Trump.

More than half of those polled by More in Common back retaliatory tariffs on US goods entering Britain, instead of quiet diplomacy.

And they appear to be against any major concessions by ministers to achieve a free trade deal with the US that would remove the tariffs.

Trump last night narrowed his tared focus on China, threatening tariffs of more than 100 per cent despite mounting pressure from allies to halt his trade war as trillions more were wiped off markets.

Beijing said it would impose its own 34 per cent levy on imports of American goods as a retaliatory measure to last week's tolls.

The tit-for-tat could take the US tariff rate on China to 104 per cent, and could be reflected when Wall St opened at 2.30pm UK time.

Sir Keir Starmer will face MPs this afternoon, appearing before the Liaison Committee of senior MPs on the last day the Commons sits before it heads into the Easter break.

The next stage of the US president's tariff programme comes into force in the early hours of Wednesday, with import taxes at 20 per cent for goods from European Union nations and 24 per cent from Japan.

The UK Government is pushing for a deal with the White House in the hope of easing the 10 per cent tariff on US imports of British goods, along with a 25 per cent tariff on cars and separate import taxes for steel and aluminium.

The impact of Mr Trump's tariffs is likely to be on the agenda for the Liaison Committee, where Sir Keir may also be questioned about the war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, and the US president's announcement that America will hold direct talks with Iran about its nuclear programme.

But Mr Streeting told the BBC 'the NHS is not for sale and our patients' data is not for sale' as part of any deal with the US.

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Trump last night narrowed his tared focus on China, threatening tariffs of more than 100 per cent despite mounting pressure from allies to halt his trade war as trillions more were wiped off markets.

US tariffs provide 'another layer of challenge' for ensuring the supply of medicines, the Health Secretary warned this morning.

Wes Streeting told Sky News: 'Until this trade war erupted, we'd already had issues with medicines production and supply internationally.

'We are constantly watching and acting on this situation to try and get medicines into the country, to make sure we've got availability, to show some flexibility in terms of how medicines are dispensed, to deal with shortages.

'But whether it's medicines, whether it's parts for manufacturing, whether it's  the ability of businesses in this country to turn a profit, this is an extremely turbulent situation.'

The steps the US has taken are 'unprecedented in terms of global trade', he said.

'As ever in terms of medicines, there's a number of factors at play.

'There have been challenges in terms of manufacturing, challenges in terms of distribution, and if we start to see tariffs kicking in, that's another layer of challenge, but we watch this situation extremely closely.'

'We work on a daily basis to make sure that we have the medicine supply this country needs.'
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton were put on the spot by a grandmother's question about immigration and the housing crisis in the first leaders' debate.

The two leaders faced off in front of 100 undecided voters at the Sky News/Daily Telegraph People's Forum held at Wenty Leagues Club in Sydney's west on Tuesday night.

They fielded a number of tough questions from the crowd but it was 74-year-old grandmother Janine who left the pair stunned.

'I worked very hard all my life. I didn't come for money at all. I came from an average family,' Janine began.

She said she wasn't worried about her own future, but held grave fears for those of her children and grandchildren.

'I have not seen any government take control of a fact, and it is a fact: a lot of foreign companies and countries buy Australian farmland,' Janine continued.

'We have a lot of migrants. Sorry, not migrants - I didn't say that we have a lot of students who are here visiting, who are buying housing within the city area.

'And we have a lot of people here, just on visas, buying properties here in Sydney, and they are now empty.'

Grandmother Janine asked the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader if they would ban foreign investors from buying land and housing during Tuesday night's leaders' debate

The question stunned both leaders who offered similar answers, which did not satisfy the undecided voter

'Is one of our governments going to turn up and say, 'Australia belongs to Australians, and therefore our land remains Australian land'?'

Both leaders went on the charm offensive, seeking to compliment Janine.

Mr Dutton said she looked healthy and well while the Prime Minister thanked workers like Janine for making Australia the best country in the world.

Mr Dutton repeated his campaign promise that a Coalition government would impose 'a two-year ban on foreign buyers from purchasing existing housing stock'.

'I don't want foreign buyers competing against young Australians at auctions or at the sale of the house that they've got their mind set on,' he said.

Janine however, was quick to ask what the Opposition Leader meant regarding 'existing' housing.

'Does that stop them from buying property and building new homes?' she asked.

Mr Dutton said it was a 'fair question' but clarified that without foreign investment in new housing developments, many construction jobs would fail to be funded.

Mr Dutton said a Coalition government would ban foreign investors from buying 'existing' housing for two years but Janine asked if that would include future developments

Using the example of a 200-unit apartment block, Mr Dutton said if foreign students and investors did not buy 'a portion' of the housing, then it could not be built.

'There is a certain number of presales that need to take place before that unit development can be completed,' he said.

'So if they don't get the presales, they don't get the finance, then the apartment block of 200 units cannot get built.

'It allows that project to get up and running and it allows those 200 units to get onto the market so we're trying to strike that balance.'

When it was the Prime Minister's turn to respond he said his government had already put a two-year ban on foreigners buying homes in Australia.

'We have put in place a two-year ban on foreign ownership of homes,' Mr Albanese said.

'We think that's appropriate at the moment in order to ensure that homes are available for Australians.

'We're going to increase the supply of homes, that's absolutely central to a range of policies that we have put in place. Whether it be private rentals, whether it be public and social housing where I grew up or whether it be home ownership as well.'

Mr Dutton (right) said he would not stop foreign investors from buying into housing developments while the Prime Minister (left) said he would not ban future investors either

Mr Albanese said his policy was 'basically' the same as Mr Dutton's but managed to avoid mentioning anything about existing housing in his answer.

But Labor's legislation specifies that its ban also only prevents foreign investors from 'buying established homes' and does not cover future housing.

'Foreign investors (including temporary residents and foreignowned companies) will no longer be able to purchase an established dwelling in Australia while the ban is in place unless an exception applies,' the government's policy website states.

'These limited exceptions will include investments that significantly increase housing supply or support the availability of housing supply, and for the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.

'Alongside the temporary ban on foreign purchases of established dwellings, we will tackle land banking by foreign investors.

'We're cracking down on land banking by foreign investors to free up land to build more homes more quickly.'

The ban came into effect on April 1 and will be in place until 31 March 2027.

A review will take place in April 2027 to determine whether the ban should be extended.

Following the debate, Sky's panel was quick to label Mr Dutton the winner of the debate

The 100 undecided voters in the room disagreed however with 44 per cent voting that Mr Albanese had won the debate while only 35 per cent said that Mr Dutton was the winner

Following the debate, the Opposition Leader was immediately declared the winner by Sky's Political editor Andrew Clennell and the Daily Telegraph's editor Ben English.

'I think Peter Dutton was a clear winner and I think that's pretty meritorious with the situation with his father,' Mr Clennell said.

He was, or course, referencing the news that broke just before the debate began about Mr Dutton's 79-year-old father being rushed to hospital with a heart attack.

Mr English added: 'He (Dutton) won it. He was clear, he was focused and he was across the detail.'

But the majority of the hundred undecided voters did not agree, as 44 per cent believed Mr Albanese won the debate, while only 35 per cent were convinced by Mr Dutton.

The remaining 21 per cent were undecided.
A pair of businessmen who parked their van in an automatic car park more than two years ago are still waiting to get it back after the machinery broke down.

Mark Lucas dropped his Vauxhall Vivaro electric van at Rathbone Square car park in central London in December 2022 in order to deliver some furniture produced by his firm, HCS Furniture in Buckinghamshire.

But hours later he went back to retrieve it - only to be told he couldn't take it home because of an unspecified mechanical malfunction in the garage, which automatically parks cars in warehouse-style shelving using a lift.

He hasn't seen it since.

More than two years later, the van is still there and declared off-road - and both Mr Lucas and his business partner Steve Davies are none the wiser as to its fate.

Speaking to MailOnline, Mr Davies said the Vauxhall, which was just six months old, had only been parked at Rathbone Square - home to Facebook's UK headquarters - for a short time before the concierge said the van could not be retrieved.

'They just said "it (the car park) is broken - it don't work no more",' he recalled.

'We had to go home on public transport. I thought it would be a matter of days until they got it out.

'Then days turned into weeks and we kept getting calls saying, "yes, it'll be next week". It's just unbelievable, isn't it?'

Mark Lucas parked his Vauxhall Vivaro van in Rathbone Square car park in 2022 and hasn't seen it since

Mr Lucas (right) and his business partner Steve Davies, pictured with another van they have bought since in order to keep their business going

The entrance to the Rathbone Square car park in London's West End, close to Oxford Street

Mr Davies estimates that he and his business partner have spent around 40,000 between renting a van for 800 a month and ultimately taking out a loan to buy another one, while still paying off the trapped Vivaro.

To make matters worse, Rathbone Square is yet to tell them what exactly has gone wrong in the car park to make their van irretrievable.

The system is produced by a company called Klaus Multiparking, a German firm, and distributed in the UK by a firm called Double Parking.

It says the system is 'large enough to hold small transport Sprinter class' - a by-word for vans such as the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter - suggesting it should be able handle vans without trouble.

A promotional image for the parking facility, published on the Double Parking website, even features a van parked in an upper parking space, as if to demonstrate the point.

Double Parking has installed a number of similar automatic parking facilities elsewhere in London's poshest areas: Canary Wharf, Westminster, Mayfair, Fitzrovia.

Mr Davies added that he believed the system should have been simpler to fix than car park managers are letting on.

He was told more than a year ago that the repairs would take place in May 2024, but that responsibility for the failure was yet to be attributed.

'I would guess that these stacking systems are modular and mass produced - I can't imagine that the parts are hard to come by.

'I suspect that it's all about the insurance companies. It doesn't take two and a half years to fix these things and I think it's that they can't work out between them who is to pay for it.

'Until they decide, we're being held to ransom.'

The pair pictured in their furniture workshop. They say they're none the wiser as to what exactly has happened in the car park

An automatic stacking car park not dissimilar to that in Rathbone Square in central London

Rathbone Square was recently redeveloped and is now home to the UK offices of Facebook (pictured, an entrance to the square)

The car parks operate automatically - saving space that would otherwise be set aside for ramps and pedestrians (file picture of a car park in China)

Double Parking Systems told BBC News it could not comment as it had signed a non-disclosure agreement.

However, it told MailOnline that it responded 'quickly' as the 'contracted maintenance provider'.

A spokesperson said: 'Unfortunately, the main causes of delay in resolving the issue were prolonged procurement approval processes and delays in receiving specialised parts from overseas suppliers - factors entirely outside of our control.

'While we regret how long it took to restore access, we acted in good faith at every stage and proceeded with repairs as soon as we were authorised and equipped to do so.

'Vehicle access was fully restored on 15 March 2025. We remain fully committed to supporting the reliability, safety, and performance of the parking system moving forward.'

Rathbone Square is owned by Rathbone Place Jersey Ltd, a firm registered in the Channel Islands and ultimately owned by WestInvest Gessellschaft Fur Investmentfonds (WestInvest Investment Fund Company).

It bought the freehold for the complex - valued at 100,000 - from developers GPE for 435million in 2017.

A MailOnline reporter who called Rathbone Square was told by a member of security that management could not be reached for comment.

Automatic parking systems, which use transporters and turntables to stack cars in warehouse-style shelves, are popular in high density cities where car use remains high.

They are chosen as an alternative to multi-storey car parks because of their small size - since they need no footpaths, ramps or gaps in which to fit people.

However, they have been beset with problems - including the notorious Woolwich Auto Stacker, which was opened in 1961 by Princess Margaret but and closed within months.

And in 2019, an automatic parking garage in Stockholm, Sweden suffered a power failure that left 18 cars trapped there for several months, SVT reported.

After Italian engineers came to Sweden to fix the problem, the cars were freed and the parking facility was shut down.
A Danish chef couple who set up up an eco-friendly retreat in Sweden left behind 158 barrels of human waste and abandoned their animals to die after fleeing the country's tax authorities.

Nestled deep in the forests of Halland, southwest Sweden, the Stedsans retreat was set up eight years ago by Fleming Hansen and Mette Helbk, who claimed to have 'felt the call of the wild' while working in the high-pressure restaurant industry in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The retreat, made up of 16 wooden cottages that overlooked a serene lake, was shut down earlier this year.

The couple said in a blog post in January announcing the closure: We are now living off money we have borrowed from a family member, trying to figure out what's next for us. We are a family who is completely, utterly beaten to count.'

But in the wake of the abrupt closure, Hansen and Helbk, who have since fled to Guatemala, left behind hundreds of barrels of human waste and left animals they once looked after to die, in an apparent contravention of their eco-friendly lifestyle.

Investigations by newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Politiken revealed the waste the couple left behind has seeped into the once-pristine forest surrounding the retreat.

Photos taken from the retreat showed a mass of black barrels, apparently designated for rubbish collection, piled next to each other.

Some barrels did not have any covers on them.

The Stedsans retreat was set up eight years ago by Fleming Hansen and Mette Helbk (both pictured)

Photos taken from the retreat showed a mass of black barrels, apparently designated for rubbish collection, piled next to each other

The retreat, made up of 16 wooden cottages that overlooked a serene lake, was shut down earlier this year

Staff told the outlets that several animals, including ducks, died after being left outside in the cold night.

Local authorities decried the couple's actions as an 'environmental crime.'

Daniel Helsing, head of building and environment for the local county told Dagens Nyheter: 'Voila. Over 150 barrels of human s***.'

The newspapers also revealed that the couple had accumulated a tax debt of 6million Swedish Kroner (470,000), and have fled to Guatemala to start a hotel business.

Posts on Helbk's Instagram enjoying their life in the South American country.

It was also revealed that they had left Denmark as they had accumulated millions of kroner to Danish tax authorities.

The couple wrote in a blog post announcing the retreat's closure: 'We came very far with Stedsans, but we also had to realise on the way that being soul-driven entrepreneurs on a mission in a country where taxes are some of the highest in the world and bureaucracy is relentless, it is an impossible task.'

They added: 'When you read this we have probably been declared bankrupt by the Swedish tax authorities. All we ever wanted was to be a part of creating a more beautiful planet.'

Following the newspapers' inquiries, Helbk denied the allegations in an Instagram post: 'My family and I are under a massive attack from dark forces, and if you have it in your heart, I ask you to kindly send prayers our way.

'A lot of lies, rumours and false accusations are going around. Things we have proven were not correct got printed in newspaper articles in Denmark and Sweden. Now the stories of how horrible people we are, are spreading like a wildfire. I get dead threats and are called the most horrific things.

Staff told the outlets that several animals, including ducks, died after being left outside in the cold night

Local authorities decried the couple's actions as an 'environmental crime'

The newspapers also revealed that the couple had accumulated a tax debt of 6million Swedish Kroner (470,000), and have fled to Guatemala to start a hotel business

'Together with my husband and 3 of my kids I'm now trying to rebuild my life from scratch. Our oldest daughter still lives in Sweden.

'I was hoping to be left in peace in this difficult time, but right now it seems there are forces who want to make things even more difficult for us.

'I'm extremely scared and feel quite hopeless right now.'

MailOnline has contacted Hansen and Helbk for comment.
A 911 dispatcher in Georgia was caught on tape multitasking on the job, casually putting in her breakfast order while also answering active burglary call.

Dylan Johnson dialed emergency services while at work in February after receiving a frantic call from his wife, who was terrified by the sound of someone lurking around their home, AZ Family reported.

However, when Johnson finally reached a 911 dispatcher, he was stunned to hear the operator nonchalantly place her McDonald's breakfast order while still on the phone with him.

'I really couldn't believe it,' Johnson told AZ Family.

'If it didn't happen to me, I wouldn't believe that it had happened to someone else,' he added. 'That's how unbelievable it was.'

At around 9.30am on Valentine's Day, Johnson's wife called him fearing a potential burglar was creeping just outside their family home, explaining that someone was 'snooping around the house, knocking on the doors and banging on windows'.

'I was panicking,' Johnson told the outlet. 'My wife was home alone with my five-month-old daughter... I was coming home not knowing what I was going to come home to.'

Johnson first phoned the Chatham County's non-emergency line, but the call went unanswered.

Dylan Johnson, of Georgia (pictured), was shocked after calling 911 to report a potential break-in at his home, only to find that the dispatcher seemed more focused on ordering her breakfast than addressing his emergency

On Valentine's Day, Johnson dialed emergency services while at work after receiving a frantic call from his wife who feared a potential burglar was creeping just outside their family home, explaining that someone was 'snooping around the house, knocking on the doors and banging on windows' (pictured: Chatham County 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Center)

After nearly three minutes on the line, the dispatcher was caught on tape as she seemingly placed her order for a McDonald's McGriddle sandwich before refocusing on Johnson and asking him to repeat what he said

The worried father then made three attempts to dial 911 - a nearly six-minute ordeal - before finally getting ahold of an operator.

Johnson, however, could never have imagined the call unfolding as it did, with the 911 dispatcher seemingly prioritizing a breakfast sandwich over his emergency.

The operator appeared to sound distracted during the 911 call, conversing with others around her instead of asking Johnson any questions about the possible break-in developing at his home.

Then, after nearly three minutes on the line, the dispatcher shifted her attention, caught on tape as she seemingly placed her order for the first meal of the day, according to the call obtained by AZ Family.

In the call, the dispatcher appeared to say: 'Mhmm... McGriddle', before coughing and refocusing on Johnson, proceeding to ask him, 'I'm sorry, what?'

The remark left Johnson nothing short of stunned.

'That should never happen,' Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis told AZ Family after the incident.

'Your ordering breakfast should be different from your answering the call, and the two should never intertwine,' he added.

Johnson initially called the non-emergency line, but his call went unanswered. He then made three attempts to dial 911 - a nearly six-minute ordeal - before finally getting ahold of an operator

After reviewing the call, Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis (pictured) stated that the dispatcher's actions are now under review

A whopping 24 percent of 911 calls in Chatham County last year - or nearly one in four - were marked as abandoned, making the ongoing 911 response issues a major point of contention in the county

Whoever was lurking around outside had left by the time police officers arrived at the home, leaving Johnson's wife shaken but thankfully safe, with both her and their child unharmed after the terrifying ordeal.

After reviewing the call, Chairman Ellis stated that the dispatcher's actions are now under review, AZ Family reported.

'When someone is calling 911, obviously they need help,' Johnson said. 'I want them to treat everything as an emergency, as it should be.'

The fact that Johnson had to call emergency services three times before reaching a dispatcher has been a major point of contention in Chatham County, which oversees all 911 operations throughout the entire county.

A whopping 24 percent of 911 calls in Chatham County last year - or nearly one in four - were marked as abandoned.

Abandoned 911 calls occur when a caller disconnects before a dispatcher can answer, a problem that can arise from various factors, including accidental butt-dials or frustrations with long wait times.

Prior years have shown a similarly concerning trend, with county records revealing a 27 percent increase in abandoned calls in 2023, according to AZ Family.

That increase highlights a dramatic spike compared to previous years, with 18 percent of calls marked as abandoned in 2022, 19 percent in 2021 and 14 percent in 2020.

Chatham County has been working towards building a new multi-agency public safety facility, hoping the construction will help resolve the county's ongoing 911 response issues.

When constructed, the 83,000-square-foot building would house the county's emergency operations center, non-emergency call center, E-911 dispatch center with new equipment and the Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA).

'This facility will be for the benefit of all of Chatham County - every municipality - that's why it's called the Multi-Agency Public Safety Building,' Ellis said during a collaboration ceremony hosted by the commission in May.

Dennis Jones, the director of CEMA, concurred, adding that he hopes to fully utilize the extents of the new facility to emphasize the importance of intergovernmental collaboration in ensuring public safety.

Whoever was lurking around outside had left by the time police officers arrived at the home, leaving Johnson's wife shaken but thankfully safe, with both her and their child unharmed after the terrifying ordeal

Chatham County has been working towards building a new multi-agency public safety facility, hoping the construction will help resolve the county's ongoing 911 response issues

When constructed, the 83,000-square-foot building would house the county's emergency operations center, non-emergency call center, E-911 dispatch center with new equipment and the Chatham Emergency Management Agency (pictured: Chairman Ellis)

'The value the facility adds to public safety is immeasurable,' Jones said. 'The state-of-the-art facility will help propel Chatham County into the future of emergency response and recovery efforts.'

'As we stand on this ground today, we're not just breaking earth, we're breaking barriers,' he added.

'We're breaking down walls of uncertainty and laying the foundation for a safer and stronger community.'

However, the county is still in the process of finding a builder for the project. It was put out to bid for a third time, as officials had to go back to the drawing board on contractors.

The county is currently accepting contractor applications until April 15. The project is expected to take around two to three years to build.
NATO must not be 'naive' about China in light of Beijing's 'staggering' expansion of its armed forces, the alliance's chief has warned.

Mark Rutte said the country's substantial investments in its defence capabilities must act as a wake-up call for Western nations who have not taken the threat seriously so far.

The NATO Secretary General also claimed that China's increasing support for Russia, as well as their links with North Korea and Iran, shows the renewed importance of the Euro-Atlantic partnership.

'China is supporting Russia's efforts. China is building up its armed forces, including its navy, at a rapid pace,' Rutte told reporters at the Japanese navy port of Yokosuka today.

'We cannot be naive, and we really have to work together, assess what is happening.

'When you look at the build-up of the defence industrial base in China, when you look at the fact that they have now more NATO ships sailing than the US, that they will go in to 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, it's absolutely clear that we cannot be naive about China.

'We cannot be naive about China, and that's the reason why we work so intensely together with, indeed, Japan and Korea, but also Australia, New Zealand. And the importance now is that we that we deepen that cooperation.'

He later told the Japan Times: 'The build-up of their armed forces and investments in their defence industry, and in their defence capabilities, is staggering.'

The NATO Secretary General claimed that China's increasing support for Russia , as well as their links with North Korea and Iran , shows the renewed importance of the Euro-Atlantic partnership

Rutte (L) visited the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's Yokosuka Base in Yokosuka, near Tokyo, Japan

Servicemen of the Chinese Armed Forces march during a Victory Day military parade in Russia

Japan considers China as a threat in the region and has in recent years accelerated military build-up, including preparing to acquire strike-back capability with long-range cruise missiles.

Earlier today he told Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani: 'NATO and Japan share the same values and we face many of the same challenges.

'China, North Korea and Russia are stepping up their military exercises and their cooperation, undermining global stability, and that means what happens in the Euro-Atlantic matters for the Indo-Pacific and vice versa.

'A stronger Japan-NATO cooperation is necessary in an increasingly dangerous world.'

NATO has already strengthened ties with Tokyo in recent years, with Rutte calling for bonds to be deepened further in light of the Chinese threat.

This could come in the form of information sharing and cooperation on defence.

'We have to move beyond ... joint declarations ... let's make it practical,' Rutte said last year.

In recent weeks China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched large-scale military drills around Taiwan - a territory it wants to control fully - without warning.

Earlier today the former Dutch prime minister said NATO is concerned about the operations and is monitoring them 'very closely.'

The exercises have prompted condemnation from the US, UK and other G7 nations, who fear Beijing are stepping up their military pressure on the island.

The Labour government have been accused of failing to stand up to Chinese aggression, both on British soil and abroad.

Luke De Pulford of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China told MailOnline: 'It would be good to see some of this realism creep into the UK's rhetoric on China.

'Rutte is correct that Beijing's behaviour threatens world peace, and global economic stability.

'The democratic world isn't even close to meaningful deterrence, and the UK is further behind than most.'

NATO's Secretary General Mark Rutte looks at military equipment on the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's (JMSDF) stealth frigate

In recent weeks China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched large-scale military drills around Taiwan - a territory it wants to control fully - without warning

Military delegates arrive at the closing meeting of the Third Session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) of China in Beijing

China is also threatening the West through their continued backing for Russia, Rutte said.

'Let's be totally clear about this. We know that they help and support the Russians warfare through war effort, through sanction circumvention, through delivery of dual use goods.

'So they are an integral part of the war effort, and now North Korea sending its soldiers to Europe to fight a war here.

'We know that the Russians are repaying them, not only with money, but also with technology, which, in the end, is also posing a threat to the United States, and to the whole of NATO territory and to the Indo Pacific.'
A Utah mother of 10 who sought routine blood work has received a devastating diagnosis of stage four cancer.

Angela Goodrich, 45, a devoted wife and mother from Toquerville, attended the hospital feeling unwell on March 3 when what was expected to be a simple check-up quickly spiraled into a nightmare.

After several hours at the hospital, doctors informed the sickly mother that she would need to stay for additional testing.

Those tests would ultimately reveal a heartbreaking diagnosis: stage four, grade three adrenocortical carcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer that originates in the adrenal cortex, the small glands atop the kidneys.

Being diagnosed with stage four means the cancer has spread to other areas of her body, while the grade three classification indicates that the cancer cells are highly likely to grow rapidly.

Goodrich, a mother of 10 and grandmother of two, is embarking on treatment with her family rallying around her.

Jocelin Blohm, a good friend and former neighbor of Goodrich, told KSL.com that the news has devastated family, friends and many whose lives have been touched by Goodrich.

'It's just crazy that it could be that bad,' she said. 'Just like that, suddenly she has stage 4, grade 3 cancer. She's gone from being just fine a month ago to barely being able to get out of bed.'

Angela Goodrich, 45, a devoted wife and mother of 10 from Toquerville, went for a simple check-up that quickly spiraled into a nightmare. Pictured: Angela Goodrich with her husband, their ten children, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren

After several hours at the hospital doctors informed Goodrich that she would need to stay for additional testing. Pictured: Angela Goodrich with her husband, Matt

Blohm spoke to Goodrich's 'giving nature,' adding that the devout mother was the first person she met in her Eagle Mountain neighborhood.

'When I had just moved into the neighborhood, I sent my daughter down to Angela's house to get an egg and my daughter came home with a dozen eggs,' Blohm recalled.

'I was so embarrassed because we just needed one. She was like, 'Oh my gosh, honey, if you needed one egg, you needed a dozen. I want you to keep these.' She's so nice, and it was wonderful - and we've just been best friends ever since.'

Blohm is not the only neighbor who has benefited from Goodrich's kindheartedness, many others have since reached out, sharing moments when Goodrich helped them in their own times of trial.

'Angela invited me to the birth of her last baby because she knew that I always wanted to have a child and was heartbroken that I never had that experience,' Bonnie El Halta said. 'This was a very special gift.'

'At one point, I was struggling with infertility, and she just knew when I was extra sad, even though I was trying to hide it,' Geneve Fallon added. 'She brought me dinner after one of my (fertility) treatments because she knew it was emotionally, as well as physically draining.'

Another neighbor wrote on her Facebook page about receiving service from Goodrich when her own husband was diagnosed with cancer.

'When my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer five years ago, I felt like my world had been turned upside down,' Gina Hardy wrote. In the middle of the whirlwind of treatments, appointments and fear, one constant comfort was my friend Angela. When my husband needed a place to work and rest during treatment, Angela quietly rallied friends to help finish a bathroom in our basement. That space became a refuge for him during some of his hardest days, and she made that possible.'

'Just a few weeks before her own diagnosis, Angela drove three hours to come to my son's (Latter-day Saint) mission farewell,' Hardy said.

The mother of 10 and grandmother of two is embarking on treatment with her family rallying around her. Pictured: Angela Goodrich in the hospital surrounded by loved ones

A GoFundMe fundraiser has since been organized by a friend of the family, Amanda Leach, asking for financial help as the financial burden of these treatments 'is far more than they can manage alone'. Pictured: Angela Goodrich with one of her 10 children

'She showed up early, surprised me at my door, and immediately jumped in to help with preparations. I could tell she wasn't feeling well that day - but of course, Angela was there, doing what she always does: lifting others.

'Now it's our turn to show up for her.'

A GoFundMe fundraiser has since been organized by a friend of the family, Amanda Leach, asking for financial help.

'The reality is that the financial burden of these treatments is far more than we can manage alone. Every donation, no matter how big or small, will help cover medical bills, holistic treatments, medication, and the additional costs that come with fighting such a devastating illness,' the fundraising page reads.

As of Tuesday morning, the donation page reached $27,814 of its $80,000 goal.
A Nevada veterinarian who disappeared days after a clip of him abusing a horse went viral has vanished and is feared to have drowned.

Authorities are currently searching the waters of Lake Mead for Dr Shawn Frehner, 8News Now reports.

Frehner was filmed kicking a horse named Red in the head as he tried to administer anesthetic shots to the animal on Thursday.

The distressing attack was caught on camera by Red's owner Shawna Gonzalez, who runs a rescue center in Pahrump.

She contacted Nye County Animal Control which referred her to the local sheriff's office where she filed a complaint.

Frehner took to Facebook to post an apology video over the weekend, which appears to have since disappeared along with the veterinarian.

Multiple agencies are now searching the Lake Mead National Recreation Area for any sign of him.

'It's horrible, I never, ever wished this upon him, I never wished this upon anybody' Gonzalez said. 'This is not what I wanted in the end at all.'

Dr Shawn Frehner has disappeared after video of him kicking a horse at a Nevada rescue center went viral

The veterinarian was caught attacking the animal during a visit on Thursday

She explained that her daughter began recording Frehner after being concerned by how tightly he appeared to have wound a rope around her colt's neck.

'I heard [my mother] yell, 'Oh my God. He just kicked him',' Gonzalez said.

'He wrapped the horse around his neck three times, and he kicked him in the head.

'I had started having a severe anxiety attack and couldn't breathe myself.

'I was already on the ground, and my daughter picked up the phone and hit record, and that's when she got him on videotape, kicking him.'

The animal was left with abrasions to the skull and taken to Desert Pines Equine Center.

'[Frehner] left my property before my horse was even up,' Gonzalez added. 'My horse was still down for a good 45 minutes after he left and before he left, there's several people that were there, and even they can state that he was kind of in a rush off my property.'

In his apology, Frehner reportedly stated that the video did not provide the full context.

Frehner apologized but admitted that he kicked the horse in the chin

'I did not blatantly haul off and kick this horse as it appears in the video. That was not my intention at all,' Frehner wrote, News8 Now reports.

'It was done simply to get the horse in a better position so that he could breathe and get up and move so I could again try to anesthetize.'

'But yes I did kick him right in the chin and I very much do apologize and wish this never happened,' he wrote.

Search teams were dispatched to the lake on Monday and plan to continue searching today.

It is unclear if officials think Frehner met an accident or if he may have taken his own life.

Gonzalez said that she had been using Frehner's services since last August.

She revealed that the vet bills for Red are likely to run into the thousands and requested donations to Desert Pine Rescue Center.

'The abuse and cruelty my horse suffered on 4/3/2025 was inhumane, disgusting, appalling, and the most hurtful thing and from the hands of vet that I trusted and Red trusted,' she wrote shortly after the incident.

Frehner's website states he received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine-DVM degree from Ohio State University in 1997 and began his equine business the year after.

Red was left with abrasions to his skull and sent for treatment at Desert Pines Equine Center

Authorities are now searching the Lake Mead Recreation Area, sources confirmed to News8 Now

He claims he, 'provides state-of-the-art medical care for your four-legged companions'.

'He believes in nurturing the human-animal bond and creating a harmonious relationship between people and animals,' according to the site.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday temporarily halted a court-ordered deadline requiring the return of a Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador.

The move comes in response to a request from President Donald Trump, whose administration mistakenly deported Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia in March.

At the center of the legal battle is Abrego Garcia, a father of three and Salvadoran national, who was removed from the U.S. despite a 2019 immigration ruling that barred his deportation due to credible threats against his life.

Monday's Supreme Court action delays a midnight deadline set by a lower court, buying time for further judicial review in a case that has sparked fierce debate over executive power, immigration enforcement, and the role of federal courts in foreign affairs.

Chief Justice John Roberts issued the temporary "administrative stay," extending the deadline without setting a new one. The court also ordered a response from Abrego Garcia's legal team by Tuesday, though it had already been submitted before Roberts' announcement.

"This is just a temporary administrative stay. We have every confidence that the Supreme Court will resolve this matter as quickly as possible," said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, attorney for Abrego Garcia.

The Trump administration has admitted in court documents that Garcia was deported "because of an administrative error," but now argues it cannot retrieve him due to his current detention in a notorious Salvadoran prison. The Department of Justice is framing the case as a constitutional standoff, accusing the courts of overreach.

"Even amidst a deluge of unlawful injunctions, this order is remarkable," Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in a filing Monday. "The Constitution charges the president, not federal district courts, with the conduct of foreign diplomacy and protecting the nation against foreign terrorists, including by effectuating their removal."

"While the United States concedes that removal to El Salvador was an administrative error ... that does not license district courts to seize control over foreign relations, treat the executive branch as a subordinate diplomat, and demand that the United States let a member of a foreign terrorist organization into America tonight," Sauer continued.

Abrego Garcia's attorneys rejected that claim outright, stating in a filing that the administration is attempting to sidestep accountability.

"There is no dispute that Abrego Garcia is only in El Salvador because the United States sent him there," his lawyers argued. "There is likewise no dispute that he is being held only because the United States has requested that he be held. And there is no evidence in the record of this case supporting the government's contention that it cannot bring him back."

They further criticized the administration's characterization of their client as a threat: "The executive branch may not seize individuals from the streets, deposit them in foreign prisons in violation of court orders, and then invoke the separation of powers to insulate its unlawful actions from judicial scrutiny."

Though Abrego Garcia was living in the U.S. without legal status, a 2019 immigration court ruling protected him from deportation due to credible threats from gangs targeting his family's pupusa business in El Salvador.

The Trump administration now claims he is a "ranking member" of the MS-13 gang  a group designated as a foreign terrorist organization  thus arguing that the court's previous protection no longer applies.

Despite those claims, records show Garcia regularly checked in with immigration authorities for six years and was never charged with a crime.

Nevertheless, he was recently placed on a deportation flight to El Salvador, separated from his family under Trump-era legal justifications, including the rarely invoked 1798 Alien Enemies Act  a statute currently facing its own Supreme Court challenge.

Garcia's wife, Jennifer Stefania Vasquez Sura, expressed cautious optimism following the appeals court ruling, stating, "This decision gives me hope, and even more encouragement to keep fighting. My children, family, and I will continue praying and seeking justice. Now that the court has spoken, I ask again that both President Trump and President Bukele stop attempting any further delays. They need to follow the court's order NOW. My children are waiting to be reunited with their father tonight."
Canada's new prime minister, Mark Carney, has been likened to Marie Antoinette after he admitted he doesn't do his own grocery shopping.

'I have to give you a strange answer, because as prime minister, I no longer buy strawberries and all that. Someone does it for me,' the liberal said when asked if he still buys US food products.

Andrew Scheer, a conservative member of Parliament, took the opportunity to slam Carney, writing: 'Move over, Marie Antoinette!'

The parliamentarian's fellow conservatives quickly piled on on Carney, accusing the former banker of being out of touch.

'Carney tried to make it sound like this is because hes PM. Yet, Carney was only sworn in as PM 3 weeks ago,' said conservative senator Denise Batters.

'I bet he has never done his own grocery shopping,' wrote X user Bijan Daei.

However, many X users disagreed with the backlash against Carney, arguing it is normal for a man of Carney's position not to do his own grocery shopping.

One X user wrote: 'Andrew, I would rather our PM be out of touch than cost tax payers tens of thousands of dollars in personal security every time he fancies a parfait.'

Canada's new prime minster has been likened to Marie Antoinette after he admitted he does not do his own groceries

Andrew Scheer, a conservative member of Parliament, took the opportunity to slam Carney

Another said: 'Breaking News... No Prime Minster does their own Groceries... Opposition Party Leader doesnt do their own Groceries.'

A third added: 'I hope the PM has better s*** to do with his time.'

Carney, a former two-time central banker in Canada and the UK, has become prime minister as the country is embroiled in a trade war with the US.

The 59-year-old was sworn in last month after the resignation of Justin Trudeau.

Carney ran the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020.

After helping Canada manage the worst impacts of the 2008 financial crisis, he was recruited to become the first non-Brit to run the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694.

In 2020, he began serving as the United Nations special envoy for climate action and finance.

Carney is a former Goldman Sachs executive. He worked for 13 years in London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto, before being appointed deputy governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003. He has no previous experience in politics.

Canada will hold elections on April 28 and his chances of remaining the nation's leader have increased.

Many took to X to defend Carney, arguing it's normal for prime ministers to not do their own grocery shopping

Carney was sworn in last month after the resignation of Justin Trudeau

The governing Liberals appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until president Donald Trump declared a trade war. He has repeatedly said Canada should become the 51st US state and has acknowledged hes upended Canadian politics.

Trumps almost daily attacks on Canadas sovereignty have infuriated Canadians and led to a surge in Canadian nationalism that has bolstered Liberal poll numbers.

'They want our resources. They want our water. They want our land. They want our country. Never,' Carney said at a rally in Newfoundland.

The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged.

But after decades of bilateral stability, the vote is now expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with Trump.
Residents in a tiny fishing town in the newly renamed Gulf of America are celebrating President Trump's controversial tariff plan after their economy was ruined by cheap imports.

Jeremy Zirlott, a commercial shrimper in Bayou La Batre in Alabama, said he could 'hardly believe it' when he saw Trump announce tariffs on imports from around the world last week.

But while global markets reacted in horror to the plan, Zirlott told the Wall Street Journal that to him, it 'seemed too good to be true.'

Trump's tariff plan will impose heavy levies on nations that export the majority of America's shrimp, including a hefty 46 percent tariff on Vietnamese imports and 32 percent on Indonesia.

These same imports had decimated the economy in Bayou La Batre in recent years, as the small fishing town couldn't compete with the influx of cheap farmed shrimp from overseas.

Income and sales tax revenue in the town fell around 40 percent between 2021 and 2024, and the town's Mayor Henry Barnes said he felt helpless as he watched the area's main industry falter.

'People were looking to me for answers, and I didnt have them,' he said. 'The city cant put tariffs on foreign seafood.'

Locals say they now have their hopes up for an economic boom as tariffs may force retailers to buy from American sources.

Residents in the tiny fishing town of Bayou La Batre, Alabama in the Gulf of America are celebrating President Trump's controversial tariff plan after their economy was ruined by cheap imports

Jeremy Zirlott, a commercial shrimper in Bayou La Batre, said he could 'hardly believe it' when he saw Trump announce tariffs on imports from around the world last week, feeling it was 'too good to be true'

The small town rejoiced Trump's controversial tariff plan that he announced Wednesday which slapped hefty levies on foreign imports

More than 90 percent of shrimp consumed in the US each year is currently imported, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Barnes said he welcomed Trump regaining the White House in November's election because he hoped the president's America First ideology could save the US shrimping industry.

The mayor wrote Trump a letter after the election pleading for the new administration to impose tariffs on imported shrimp.

'We could come back the way it used to be,' he said.

Barnes said the town used to be a bustling hub of activity when shrimping season began each year, and recalled lines of boats and trucks filling the streets in years past.

Today, 'you couldn't hardly walk across the street waiting on traffic,' he told the Wall Street Journal.

'Now, you could pretty much crawl across it, because theres nothing going on.'

Zirlott said he was almost forced to shut down his commercial shrimping company last year due to the financial struggles in the industry.

Pictured: Jeremy Zirlott and his wife, Kim

Bayou La Batre Mayor Henry Barnes said he hopes Trump's heavy tariffs on major shrimp importing nations could revive his town's economy, saying: 'We could come back the way it used to be'

Bayou La Batre's economy relied heavily on shrimping, but in recent years it couldn't compete with the influx of cheap farmed shrimp from overseas. Income and sales tax revenue in the town fell around 40 percent between 2021 and 2024, the town's mayor said

He said his family has worked in shrimp farming since the 1700s in the small Gulf town, and has no regrets despite the long days at sea and grueling lifestyle.

'I pity people that go through life and dont get the excitement of a big catch,' he said.

He recalled that imported shrimp started becoming an issue in the area around 20 years ago, and many of his competitors went out of business as they couldn't compete.

While he survived through marketing his shrimp as higher quality and selling directly to wholesalers, Zirlott said the town was decimated in 2021 when import prices dropped dramatically.

This meant it was far more difficult for domestic shrimp farmers to keep up, and according to the WSJ, domestic US shrimpers on average went from operating at a 5.1 percent profit in 2021 to a 3.7 percent loss in 2023.

'I wound up with more product in the freezer than I ever had,' Zirlott said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Tuesday that Ukraine has captured two Chinese nationals fighting for Russia.

'Our military captured two Chinese citizens who fought in the Russian army,' he claimed in a post on Telegram.

'This happened on the territory of Ukraine - in the Donetsk region. There are documents of these prisoners, bank cards, personal data.'

He said Ukraine had information that there were 'significantly more Chinese citizens' still among the Russian ranks, adding: 'We are currently clarifying all the facts.'

Zelensky instructed his foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, to contact Beijing 'and find out how China is going to react to this'.

Sybiha said that Ukraine had summoned China's charge d'affaires after Kyiv to the Foreign Ministry to demand an explanation.

In a damning admission, he added that the presence of Chinese nationals fighting for Russia 'puts into question China's declared stance for peace'.

Video purported to show Chinese citizens detained after fighting for Russia

Zelensky said they had reason to believe there were 'significantly more' in the Russian ranks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a press conference in Kyiv, April 4, 2025

Zelensky said that the prisoners were currently in the custody of the Security Service of Ukraine.

'Relevant investigative and operational actions are underway.'

The Ukrainian president pointed to the presence of Chinese soldiers on the battlefield as evidence 'Putin is going to do anything, except end the war'.

'He is looking for a way to continue fighting,' he said, calling on the U.S. and Europe to 'react'.

The use of Chinese soldiers to bolster Russia's war effort could threaten to upend the delicate status quo.

Beijing proclaims to be neutral, but maintains close economic and political ties with Moscow.

NATO members have branded Beijing a 'decisive enabler' of Moscow's invasion, which it has never condemned.

Philip Ingram MBE, retired British Army colonel and military intelligence specialist, told MailOnline today: 'I am not surprised Chinese nationals have been captured.

'Whilst China won't be formally providing troops to Russia they won't discourage individuals wanting to join.

'They will probably be sending liaison staff and special forces to gain combat experience but in as deniable a way as possible.'

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File photo, 2024. Ukraine said it had approached Beijing for comment on reports of Chinese nationals fighting for Russia

A Ukrainian howitzer fires towards Russian troops on the Donetsk frontline, on April 6, 2025

In recent weeks, unconfirmed reports have claimed Chinese nationals have been fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

Radio Free Europe quoted one Chinese national in February, who 'confirmed to us that he had been fighting in Russia but had already returned home', correspondent Mark Krutov said.

While foreign volunteers have participated on both sides of the conflict, Russia has been accused of leveraging its relationships to field massive foreign contingents.

Russia was last year accused of drawing in some 12,000 North Korean troops after Ukraine launched a stunning counteroffensive into Kursk and Belgorod.

Hundreds of Yemeni mercenaries were then claimed to have been press-ganged into fighting for Russia in Ukraine, having been lured in with the promise of well-paid work and Russian citizenship.

Some said they were tricked into joining after signing enlistment contracts they could not read, and were told they would be working in lucrative fields like engineering.

When they arrived in Russia, a recruit said a man fired a pistol above their heads and ordered them to sign a contract before they were taken to Ukraine on buses.

Nepal and Sri Lanka also had to warn their people not to be lured in by false promises as it emerged hundreds of their citizens had joined the Russian invasion as mercenaries.

Vladimir Putin meets with the Governor of the Moscow Region in Moscow on April 8

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The ruined town of Maryinka, in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on April 1, 2025

The use of a 'significant' Chinese force in Ukraine could set back ongoing peace talks mediated by the United States to bring a lasting resolution to the conflict.

Donald Trump has been pushing for a speedy end to the more than three-year war since taking office but his administration has failed to reach a breakthrough despite rounds of negotiations.

Kyiv has repeatedly urged Beijing to pressure Moscow to end its invasion that has cost tens of thousands of lives and yet still so far failed to see the Kremlin achieve its core objectives.
Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary issued a stark warning to China that it has made a 'big mistake' by escalating the bitter tariff feud.

'I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation, because they're playing with a pair of twos,' Scott Bessent told CNBC's Squawk Box on Tuesday morning.

'We are the deficit country. What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us? We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them.'

Beijing vowed to fight the president's tariffs to 'the end' and imposed 34 percent tariffs on U.S. products in response to the 34 percent imposed on them by the White House.

Trump, meanwhile, doubled down, saying he would add an additional 50 percent charge on U.S. imports from China on Wednesday, if Beijing doesn't take back its 34 percent.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned China its tariff escalation was a 'big mistake'

China, the world's second-largest economy, called Trump's tariffs 'completely groundless' and 'a typical unilateral bullying practice.'

Beijing said they would 'never accept' the import tax.

'The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end,' its Commerce Ministry said.

In 2024, the U.S. ran a nearly $300 billion trade deficit with China, or about one-third of the entire imbalance.

But Trump's 34 percent tariffs on China were on top of the 20 percent import taxes rolled out since February, bringing the total new tariffs this year on China to 54 p[ercent.

If Trump adds the new tariffs he is threatening on Chinese products, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would reach a combined 104 percent.

The situation could lead to massive price increases for American shoppers for iPhones, computers and toys.

President Trump has shown little sign of backing down.

'All talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!,' he said on Truth Social Monday.

The European Union is getting involved.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on China to work with them on solutions to the global challenges presented by Trump tariffs.

During a phone call with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang on Tuesday, Von der Leyen 'stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of world's largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field,' her office said in a readout of the call.

Neither President Donald Trump (left) nor Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) are showing any sign of backing down on tariffs

The tit-for-tat war comes as other nations scramble to negotiate with Trump over his massive tariff hike on foreign products.

Bessent told CNBC that the administration has heard from over 70 countries. He said Japan has been at the forefront but the White House expects to hear from many others.

'I think you are going to see some very large countries with large trade deficits come forward very quickly,' Bessent said. 'If they come to the table with solid proposals, I think we can end up with some good deals.'

Trump will be personally involved in trade negotiations, he noted.

'Everything is on the table,' Bessent said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba reached out to Trump on Monday and asked him rethink his tariff scheme.

'I've told the President that Japan has been the biggest investor in the United States for five straight years and the tariff policies could hurt Japanese companies' investment capabilities,' Ishiba told reporters after the call with Trump.

Other nations are working on plans to counter Trump, however.

The EU is working on a plan that could be ready as early as next week to hit back against auto export levies and a 20 percent tariff on goods from the bloc.

This comes as EU member states prepare to vote on a first round of levies designed to counter 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum exports to the U.S.

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Trump's tariff announcement sent the world markets in a tail spin. The markets from Tokyo to New York have become more unstable as the tariff war worsens and many economists warn a recession could be on the horizon.

But the president continues to defend his dramatic tariffs despite three days of heavy losses in the stock market.
A British Army soldier who climbed a wall to record his female colleague having sex before showing the clips to other servicemen has been jailed.

After hearing the woman moaning, Guardsman Meli Gaunavinaka Cama drunkenly scaled the outside of an accommodation block three times in one evening to take 11 minutes worth of footage of the couple.

A court martial heard that immediately afterwards, the 35-year-old - who was deployed on a training exercise at the time - showed the clips to a group of soldiers.

Gdsm Cama later presented the clips to the female colleague he recorded, who was 'distraught' at what she saw and 'ran away' from him.

In an attempt to defend the 'unconscionable' act, Gdsm Cama argued he heard 'moaning' and so was concerned with the woman's safety so wanted to check she was 'freely consenting to sex'.

But this assertion was rejected at a court martial hearing by a board who found the soldier guilty of voyeurism.

Now, Gdsm Cama - of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards - has been dismissed from the service and sentenced to 12 months in civilian prison.

Catterick Military Court, North Yorkshire, heard Gdsm Cama committed the offence in November 2023 while on a training exercise in Oman.

Catterick Military Court, North Yorkshire, heard that immediately afterwards, the 35-year-old - who was deployed on a training exercise at the time - showed the clips to a group of soldiers

Gdsm Cama committed the offence in November 2023 while on a training exercise in Oman. Pictured is the Al Batinah South, Oman in 2018

The soldier, who had been drinking at a bar was 'clearly intoxicated', climbed up the outside wall of an accommodation block and proceeded to film a female colleague having sex with the Company Sergeant Major.

It was heard that he used his mobile phone to record the couple on three separate occasions during the night and ended up with 11 minutes worth of footage.

Immediately after taking the video, Gdsm Cama showed a group of other soldiers what had been recorded on his phone.

Days later, he approached the female colleague he had filmed and showed her one of a number of separate videos taken of her.

The woman became 'distraught' at what she was being shown and 'ran away'.

Assistant Judge Advocate General Edward Legard said: 'She was able to recognise that it was her being filmed having sex and that the person doing the filming must have been positioned at the outside of the window.'

The judge said Gdsm Cama did it because he wanted to 'record that sexual activity' both for his 'own personal gratification' and the 'gratification of others'.

Gdsm Cama said he heard a female 'moaning' whilst outside the block and 'had only climbed up the outside because he was concerned for that individual's safety' as she may not be 'freely consenting to sex'.

'That story was rightly, unsurprisingly and comprehensively rejected by the Board,' the judge added.

The female victim described the 'profound and lasting impact' Gdsm Cama's behaviour had on her.

It was heard she is now a 'shadow of her former self' and has endured feelings of feelings of guilt, embarrassment and sleep disturbance.

Gdsm Cama was convicted of a single offence of voyeurism at a trial.

The court martial heard Gdsm Cama was absent from the sentencing hearing and was believed to be in Fiji.

The judge remarked that this was despite directions he made after his conviction that he was to surrender his passport and report daily to the orderly officer or other officer.

Sentencing him, the judge said: 'What he did on that occasion was unconscionable by taking advantage of someone, or two people, both of whom have every right to privacy; every right to do what they wished to do as consenting adults in the privacy of a room within the accommodation block.

'The initial recording may not itself have been premediated but more opportunistic.

'However this offending involved three separate and deliberate incidents of Guardsman Cama climbing up outside the block in order to deliberately record what was happening inside.

'The opportunism fell away within seconds of that first climb.'

Judge Legard said the behaviour was 'inexcusable' and represents a 'betrayal of the values and standards of the Armed Forces'.

He handed him a 12 months civilian prison sentence and dismissed him from the service.
ABC's 'The View' is being called out by conservatives for failing to feature right-wing guests.

In fact, new research revealed the daytime show hosted a whopping 63 left-leaning guests, but zero conservatives, resulting in a stunning lack of diversity.

The statistic came to light after media watchdog Media Research Center (MRC) analyzed every episode of the talk show from January through early April.

The report shows that while 'The View' welcomed dozens of liberal voices, conservative perspectives were not included among guests during the entire first quarter of 2025, though it is unclear how many conservatives were invited to appear, but declined to accept.

The show does have two Republicans on its permanent host panel - Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro.

Among the left-wing guests were nine Democratic politicians, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The show also invited former Obama aides Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor, as well as Biden's ex-press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The show also invited Hollywood liberals, including John Leguizamo, Ellen Pompeo, Chelsea Handler and Bill Burr - who all made appearances on the ABC News program.

Transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney and far-left pundit Elie Mystal also secured spots on the show.

The liberal guest count climbed to 64 on Monday when Democratic Senator Cory Booker appeared.

ABC's ' The View ' is being called out by conservatives for failing to feature right-wing guests

The statistic came to light after media watchdog Media Research Center (MRC) analyzed every episode of the talk show from January through early April

Nicholas Fondacaro, who conducted the study for NewsBusters, revealed the show's upcoming guest list includes yet more Democrats but 'not a single Republican politician nor celebrity with right-leaning politics.'

'Who a program chooses to give a platform can tell you a lot about the nature of the show and what the hosts view as their mission,' Fondacaro told Fox News Digital.

'Having 63 liberal guests and zero conservatives, even after Trump's inauguration, proved that the cast of The View have an agenda to flood the zone with left-wing political spin,' he added.

Last month, The View host Sunny Hostin said she was left unconvinced by recent anti-Trump rallies headed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The hosts are predominantly liberal - however, Hostin honed in on something she said the pair are missing.

Speaking from the perspective of everyday citizens, she said voters are probably more interested in improving their own economic situation - not the bank accounts of bigwigs and high-paid CEOs.

Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have made 'taxing the rich' a cornerstone of their plans to reshape the Democratic party - leading Hostin, a licensed lawyer, to suggest plans to dismantle the billionaire class are likely not a priority for regular voters.

'The message is, is correct. [But] I think that [it] is a little bit off,' she said, after Ana Navarro brought up the huge crowds the duo have commanded in recent days.

'If you look at what people want and are looking for... cost and economy is still number one,' Hostin reminded her co-hosts.

'Taxing the rich may not do that for the majority of people - they want to see much more of an action plan.'
A 16-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in a West Yorkshire town centre was a Syrian refugee, police have said.

Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim was knifed in the neck in Huddersfield on Thursday afternoon by a complete stranger.

The teen had escaped war-torn Homs, where he had been injured in a bombing, and came to Britain because he 'believed in the values of human rights, safety, and dignity'.

Alfie Franco, 20, of Kirkburton, has been charged with murder and possessing a knife in a public place.

Al Ibrahim was described by his grieving family as a 'kind, gentle' boy.

In a heartbreaking tribute released today they said: 'He was full of hope and dreamed of becoming a doctor - wanting to heal others after all he had endured.

'He had just begun settling into his new life with his uncle, adjusting to a new language, a new home, and a future he was excited to build.

'Ahmad was kind, gentle, and carried so much promise. Losing him has left an unimaginable emptiness in our hearts. We never thought that the place he saw as a safe haven would be where his life would end.

Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim, 16, who was knifed in the neck in Huddersfield on Thursday afternoon by a 'complete stranger' was a Syrian refugee, police have said

A cordon remained in place on Saturday morning as police began their investigations

'Our only wish now is to lay him to rest in his homeland, Syria. Thank you for helping us honour his memory.'

Franco today appeared at Leeds Crown Court which heard there appeared to have been a verbal altercation between the pair.

They were not known to each other and there was 'no history of animosity'.

Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed said shortly before 3pm Ahmad was in Huddersfield town centre with a friend and walked past Franco, who was with his girlfriend at the time.

He told the court: 'There appears to be some sort of verbal altercation between Ahmad and the defendant that then causes (Ahmad) to come towards the defendant.'

It is alleged the defendant then produced a knife from his waistband and inflicted one stab wound on Ahmad, the court heard.

Appearing via video-link from prison, Franco spoke only to confirm his name and was not asked to enter a plea to the charges.

Police said the incident, which happened in Ramsden Street at about 2.45pm, was not gang related or linked to any wider dispute between groups.

Al Ibrahim died after being stabbed in Ramsden Street, Huddersfield, at about 2.45pm on Thursday, West Yorkshire Police said

The teenager - who police said had only recently moved to the area from south Wales - received a single wound to the neck and died in hospital

Ahmad had only recently moved to Huddersfield from the South Wales area, the West Yorkshire force said.

Franco, who the court heard has strong links to South Africa, was remanded in custody until his next appearance at the same court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on May 7.

Judge Robin Mairs set a date of October 2 for the trial, which is expected to take five days.

Police said a 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender have been released on bail.
At least 50 hippos and other large animals have been killed by anthrax poisoning in eastern Congo's Virunga National Park and have been spotted floating along a major river that feeds one of Africa's great lakes.

Tests confirmed anthrax poisoning, said Virunga Park director Emmanuel De Merode, on Tuesday, adding that buffalo have been killed too.

The exact cause of the poisoning was not yet clear.

Images shared by the park show the hippopotamuses motionless on their sides and backs in the Ishasha River, or caught among foliage on the river's muddy banks.

The deaths represent a major loss for the park, which has been working to increase the number of hippos in recent decades after poaching and war reduced the population from over 20,000 to a few hundred by 2006.

The park now holds about 1,200 hippos.

Park guards noticed there was a problem when the dead animals started to appear about five days ago along the river, which forms Congo's border with Uganda and runs through an area under the control of rebel fighters.

Anthrax is a serious disease usually caused by bacteria found naturally in soil. Wild animals can become infected if they inhale anthrax spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water.

A dead hippo lies in the water due to anthrax killing the animals in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo, in this undated handout picture

Images shared by the park show the hippopotamuses motionless on their sides and backs in the Ishasha River

In a statement on Tuesday, the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation warned residents to avoid wildlife in the area and to boil water from local sources before drinking.

De Merode said that a team was on site and that they were trying to get the hippos out of the water and bury them, but that it was difficult because they did not have excavators.

'It's difficult due to lack of access and logistics,' De Merode told Reuters.

'We have the means to limit the spread (of the disease) by...burying them with caustic soda.'

The river runs north to Lake Edward, where locals spotted more corpses.

'There are more than 25 hippopotamus bodies floating in the waters of the lake, from Kagezi to Nyakakoma,' Thomas Kambale, a civil society leader in Nyakakoma, told Reuters.

Virunga is a vast expanse of deep forests, glaciers and volcanos, with more species of birds, reptiles, and mammals than any other protected area in the world.

It has been caught in the middle of militia activity since civil wars fought around the turn of the century.

This file photograph taken on September 28, 2019, shows fields of crops bordering Virunga National Park, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo

It comes after around 160 elephants perished in Zimbabwe's Hwange national park, which did not experience a single drop of rain between February and November 2023.

The park's animals were hard-pressed to find sustenance, with the lack of water also having a significant impact on the abundance of food sources and nutrition.

Some images showed elephants collapsed in a heap on the bone-dry turf, their corpses painted with the faeces of opportunistic vultures digging into the rugged skin.

Other yet more evocative pictures showed elephant carcasses lying in a pool of water after rain came, with one park spokesperson claiming many of the beasts died just a few hundred feet from a water source.

Once the rains came, yet more elephant calves died after they became stuck in the mud, unable to free themselves in their weak, starved state.
Two teenagers have been charged after a huge seat was thrown from the third floor of a Westfield shopping centre.

The two boys, aged 14 and 16, were charged today with criminal damage with intent to endanger life.

The pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were arrested on March 4 after the blue pouffe was thrown from the third floor of the Stratford Westfield in east London.

They will appear at Stratford Youth Court on May 6.

A spokesperson for Newham MPS said at the time of their arrest: 'This was a serious incident and we would encourage anyone who may have further information to contact the police.'

Two teenagers have been charged after a huge seat was thrown from the top floor of a Westfield shopping centre

Footage of the incident went viral after the blue pouffe landed just inches away from shoppers

The blue chair landed just inches away from shoppers who were walking along the ground floor

The pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were arrested on March 4 after furniture was thrown from the third floor of the Stratford Westfield in east London. (File image)

Police were alerted to the incident after a video circulated online of the heavy seat being launched from above.

Footage showed the seat being picked up and dropped over a glass barrier, crashing down to the ground floor.

The person filming pans down to where the chair has landed just inches away from shoppers with a caption reading: 'No way bro almost killed someone'.

The group of boys could then be seen sprinting away and running up an escalator.
Liberals have slammed Full House star John Stamos for attending a benefit at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate over the weekend.

The actor emceed at the Palm Beach Ray of Hope Gala, which supports nurses, at the president's Florida pad on Saturday, sparking outrage from the woke mob online.

Amid the fierce backlash Stamos, 61, defended his decision to promote the non-profit on Monday by denouncing any political affiliation with the gala.

'I accepted the invitation to emcee the Palm Beach Ray of Hope Gala  an evening dedicated to honoring and uplifting our frontline heroes,' Stamos wrote in a post shared via his Instagram story.

'This nonpartisan event supports The Academy for Nursing and Health Occupations, a 501(c) (3) organization that trains 350-400 nurses every year, directly addressing the critical shortage of healthcare professionals in Palm Beach County.

'Supporting nurses isn't political  it's essential. These are the people who care for us and our families when we need it most, and I believe we should show up for them with the same unwavering dedication they show up with every single day.

'I stand by the importance of healthcare, of service, and of investing in those who care for our communities.'

Stamos added that his 'values and political views remain unchanged' and asked fans to consider donating to Palm Beach Ray of Hope or Democracy Forward nonprofits.

Liberals have slammed Full House star John Stamos (pictured second left) for attending a benefit at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate over the weekend

Stamos, 61, defended his decision to help the non-profit in a social media post in response to the fierce backlash by denouncing any political affiliation with the gala

Some people also defended Stamos, pointing out that the Mar-a-Lago estate (pictured) has rentable venues while separating politics from supporting the non-profit

The California-born General Hospital star's statement came after liberals slammed him online and vowed to unfollow his social media accounts.

'John Stamos just ruined his brand forever,' one person wrote on X. 'You can't visit Mar-a-Lago and then expect the stink to ever leave you.'

'John Stamos at Mar-a-Lago? Disappointing. Uncle Jesse would never,' another user quipped.

'Time to cancel Full House reruns, cant watch without thinking of this betrayal. Whats next, DJ Tanner at a MAGA rally? Gross.'

'Everyone unfollowed John Stamos immediately,' one person observed.

However, others defended Stamos, pointing out that Mar-a-Lago has rentable venues while separating politics from supporting the non-profit.

'Stamos can speak wherever he wants. Everyone has different views but no need to attack someone for their views. If John wants to speak somewhere he can and Im not gonna hate or dislike him for it,' one fan wrote on X.

The actor emceed at the Palm Beach Ray of Hope Gala at the president's Florida pad on Saturday, sparking outrage from the woke mob online - though some also defended him

'Can we blame whoever booked the fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago for supporting Trump instead of John Stamos for supporting frontline workers?' another wrote.

'The guy made the choice not to politicize supporting a charity and ended up getting torn down in the process'.

The Academy for Nursing and Health Occupations charity website said it paired 'prominent local community figures with professional dancers' at the gala to raise money for the organization.

Dancing with the Stars alums Artem Chigvinstev and Karina Smirnoff also attended the event.

Stamos is frequently spotted at charity fundraising events and his wife Caitlin McHugh Stamos co-founded the Civic Soul nonprofit, which aims to united people through 'acts of service, compassion and shared humanity'.
A Missouri woman who has fostered over 200 children is under investigation for child abuse following reports that after years of abuse, she allegedly traded one of her foster children for a monkey.

Brenda Ruth Deutsch, 70, of Winfield, has been charged with two counts of child abuse or neglect and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, according to Lincoln County Prosecutor Mike Wood.

Police were alerted to the case after the victim's school reported her extended absence. Investigators learned Deutsch sent the teen to Texas to live with a friend, where she was reportedly left alone in unsanitary conditions with exotic animals, KSDK reported.

"A witness said that they had been asked to bring the child down to Texas and bring the monkey back in return," Prosecutor Wood revealed. "Obviously we have to do more investigation to see if that's actually credible."

The 16-year-old victim told police Deutsch had beaten her with a paddle, shoes, and wooden trim, and on one occasion had someone hold her down while she was struck on her bare buttocks. She also alleged that Deutsch punished her by stealing and giving away her clothes, and sent her to psychiatric and residential facilities for extended periods.

Despite fostering hundreds of children, authorities say there were no prior criminal reports tied to the residence, although community members indicated the home had a long-standing reputation for abuse. "These types of abuse and emotional neglect had been going on for what seemed to be perhaps a decade," Wood said of the reports.

Wood described the allegations as "particularly heinous and just disturbing to read," especially given "the number of children that had been fostered through that home."

The victim is now in the custody of child protective services in Texas.

Deutsch was taken into custody over the weekend, with bond set at $250,000.

Originally published on Lawyer Herald
Al Qaeda called for Prince Harry's murder and said his death would 'please the Muslim community' in a threat after his taxpayer-funded bodyguards were pulled following Megxit, his lawyer told the High Court today.

The bombshell claim was made as the Duke of Sussex flew from Montecito to the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the latest stage of his legal battle with the Home Office.

In February 2020, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) decided he should receive a different degree of protection when in the country, and he is appealing against a High Court ruling dismissing his case against the Home Office over the decision last year.

His barrister Shaheed Fatima KC said in written submissions that Al Qaeda had called for Harry 'to be murdered' after the decision in February 2020 to change the level of security the duke is given while in the UK.

She said that Harry's security team were informed that the terrorist group had published a document which stated that his 'assassination would please the Muslim community'.

An exact date for Al Qaeda's assassination threat was not revealed in Harry's legal submission, which was published as the appeal began today.

But in 2023 it was reported that he received death threats when he wrote in his tell-all autobiography Spare about killing 25 Taliban fighters while fighting in Afghanistan, comparing the the victims to chess pieces.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, walks with security as he arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice for his legal battle with the UK Government over his personal protection

Prince Harry making pre-flight checks in the cockpit at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in 2012. He wrote in Spare about killing 25 Taliban fighters

Shaheed Fatima KC, watched by her client the Duke of Sussex, said in written submissions that Al Qaeda had called for Harry 'to be murdered' after the decision in February 2020 to change the level of security the duke is given while in the UK

Shaheed Fatima KC also told the court that Harry and the Duchess of Sussex were also involved in a 'dangerous car pursuit with paparazzi' in New York in May 2023 involving 'reckless disregard of vehicle and traffic laws'.

She continued: 'The judge's analysis on the construction and application of the terms of reference and evaluation criteria for decision-making erred in three respects.

'The judge wrongly and inappropriately deferred to Ravec in interpreting the terms of reference and evaluation criteria for decision-making.

'The judge failed to appreciate the role of the RMB (risk management board) analysis in Ravec's decision-making.

'The judge erred in finding that the terms of reference granted Ravec the discretion to simply not use the terms of reference in certain cases.'

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex 'felt forced to step back' from their roles as senior working royals as they felt they 'were not being protected by the institution', the Court of Appeal was also told.

Harry and his wife Meghan quit as senior working royals in January 2020 but 'wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the royal family', the duke's barristers told a hearing on Tuesday.

In written submissions, Shaheed Fatima KC, for the duke, said: 'On 8 January 2020, (the duke) and his wife felt forced to step back from the role of full time official working members of the royal family as they considered they were not being protected by the institution, but they wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the royal family.'

In her written submissions, parts of which were redacted for confidentiality reasons, Ms Fatima said Ravec ruled in 2020 that 'there is no basis for publicly funded security support for the duke and duchess within Great Britain'.

Ms Fatima said the duke's security 'does not appear to have been discussed at any formal Ravec meeting', adding there were 'no official notes or detailed minutes recording the approach to be taken' to his protection.

The court was told that a meeting took place at Buckingham Palace on January 27 2020, but in February 2020, Sir Richard Mottram - the then-chairman of Ravec - said a risk management board (RMB) assessment would not be carried out for the duke.

In court on Tuesday, Ms Fatima said that by failing to undertake an RMB assessment, Ravec 'did not apply its own terms of reference' to its decision-making process, and came up with a 'different and so-called 'bespoke process'' for Harry.

She continued in written submissions that the decision was made 'despite the existence of the other categories that only Ravec knew of at the time and which, as (the duke) now knows, do provide a basis for protective security'.

This meant the duke was 'not in a position to make any informed representations to Ravec'.

The Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan Markle 'felt forced to step back' from frontline royal duties in 2020 'as they considered they were not being protected by the institution', his KC Shaheed Fatima (pictured today) has said

The Home Office, which is legally responsible for Ravec's decisions, is opposing the appeal.

Its barrister Sir James Eadie KC said in written submissions that the appeal 'involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees'.

He said: 'Whether by reference to rationality generally, or by reference to the absence of an RMB analysis, (the duke) cannot show that the judge was wrong to reject his claim that his circumstances were so exceptional as to justify not just the specific bespoke process focused on him, but to require general inclusion within the Ravec cohort.'

The hearing before Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean and Lord Justice Edis is due to conclude on Wednesday with a decision expected in writing at a later
Chinese officials reacted negatively to a comment from Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday after he described the Chinese economy as fueled by 'peasants.'

Vance took a shot at the status quo of the global economy last week, lamenting in an interview on Fox and Friends that, 'we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.'

'What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America? And the answer is, fundamentally, its based on two principles  incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us, Vance said.

That angered China as Vance's remarks went viral on the Chinese internet.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian reacted to the comments on Tuesday during a news conference on Trump's tariffs.

'Its both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks,' he said.

The vice president's office did not respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment.

China continues to play tough with Trump's, vowing to continue fighting rather than make a deal with the president on tariffs.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian gestures as he addresses a press conference in Beijing, China.

US Vice President JD Vance arrives at a White House event

'The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this,' the Chinese Commerce Ministry said. 'If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.'

On Monday, Trump threatened to raise tariffs on China by an additional 50 percent if it did not withdraw its 34 percent tariff it enacted in response to the president's first round of tariffs.

China complained that Trump's tariff threats were 'completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice,' vowing to further retaliate if the president moved forward with his threats.

If Trump moves forward, the end result would be a 104 percent tariff on China.
Dozens of small boat migrants have been intercepted in the English Channel during a busy morning for Border Force and lifeboat teams today.

A group could be seen getting off Border Force boat Defender at the immigration processing centre at the Port of Dover, Kent.

They were all wearing orange life jackets and there appeared to be women as well as men among the group.

Border Force vessels Volunteer and Typhoon are also expected to bring migrants to shore after spending time in the Channel this morning before heading towards Dover where small boat migrants are processed.

The Dungeness RNLI lifeboat was also launched todayand according to ship tracking website Marine Traffic, went into the middle of the Channel and was seen heading back to Dover.

The Hurricane, as well as the MCS Taku, which is used to collect inflatable dinghies from the water once their passengers have disembarked, could also be seen operating in the Channel this afternoon.

It comes as arrivals since the Labour Government took charge in July last year topped 30,000.

So far this year 6,796 people have arrived in 123 boats - with increasing numbers of passengers being crammed onto fewer boats.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vesse

It comes as arrivals since the Labour Government took charge in July last year topped 30,000

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In comparison, by this time last year 5,435 people had arrived in 114 boats.

In 2020, the number of people who had crossed by this date was 465; in 2021, it was 1,134; by 2022 that had surged to 4,548 before dropping to 3,770 in 2023; it then rose to 4,644 last year.

Over the weekend, Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary, said it was proof the Government had lost control of migration and that its attempts to break up smuggling gangs were failing.

He told MailOnline: 'These shocking figures show this Labour government has lost control of our borders. When Keir Starmer scrapped the Rwanda plan before it started, he gave up the only deterrent this country had.

'Crossings are up 31 per cent since the election and 2025 so far has been the worst year ever as a result. Starmer's claim to 'smash the gangs' lies in tatters.'

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that good weather had enabled the high number of arrivals in March after January and February, when several storms were wreaking havoc on the UK, had lower levels of crossings than previous years.

'March had much higher levels and the really unacceptable situation that we're in is because of the way the criminal gangs have taken hold, our border security ends up being dependent on the weather and we cannot continue like this, where the number of calm days affects the number of crossings and affects our border security as well,' Ms Cooper told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

On average, more than 55 people are being stuffed into tiny inflatable dinghies at a time and cast into the Channel - not all of whom will necessarily make it across alive.

The group were all wearing orange life jackets and there appeared to be women as well as men among the group

According to the French-run Office for the Fight against Illicit Trafficking of Migrants, 78 people died trying to reach Britain via small boat last year.

And last month, two migrants died in the space of two days last week. At least eight others have either died or been reported missing in the Channel since the start of 2025, according to the United Nation's International Organisation for Migration.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

'The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

'That's why this government has put forward a serious, credible plan to finally restore order to our asylum system, including tougher enforcement powers, ramping up returns to their highest levels for more than half a decade and a major crackdown on illegal working to end the false promise of jobs used by gangs to sell spaces on boats.'

Earlier this month, the Government signed a roadmap with French authorities that aims to disrupt smuggling gangs and deter migrants from making the journey, as well as making it easier to send migrants out of Britain.

It comes as Labour looks set to backtrack on an election promise to scrap the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

Last week MailOnline reported that an ongoing review of Government spending acknowledged that 'demand for short-term residential accommodation... is likely to remain over the coming years'.

The figures show Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) has 'lost control of the borders', Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said

Attempts to crack down on the people smuggling gangs encouraging the crossings do not appear to be stemming the flow of arrivals (pictured: confiscated outboard motors)

An average of 55 migrants pack themselves onto each inflatable dinghy, according to MailOnline analysis of figures (file image of a packed dinghy in the Channel last August)

The Home Office spent 2.3billion on hotels for asylum seekers in 2022/23 due to 'pressures on housing supply' and 'risks presented by global instability'.

The Home Office is considering setting up 'return hubs' in the Balkans for asylum seekers who have had their claims rejected and all options of appeal exhausted to reduce the pressure on Britain.

It would involve payments being made to partner countries for each person removed from the UK.

Similar plans are being looked at in the European Union, with 'return hubs' set up outside the EU. The EUFRA, the bloc's human rights body, said the hubs must not become 'rights-free zones'.

The Government has shifted its focus away from moving migrants out of Britain and onto dismantling the gangs responsible for enabling their journeys.

Labour scrapped the previous Conservative government's controversial plan to fly migrants to Rwanda - which had been beset by legal wranglings and challenges.

It signed agreements with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo in a bid to crack down on the people-smuggling gangs who support asylum seekers' efforts to reach the UK via the English Channel.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) - Britain's FBI - said earlier this month it had been taking down thousands of pages and profiles on social media that targeted would-be migrants on social media.

And advertisements have been distributed in Albania, Vietnam, and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) that attempt to dissuade people from making small boat crossings.

The ads distributed in the KRI, for instance, warn of a risk of dying at sea, or being forced into slavery by smugglers.

Another campaign targeted at Albanians, entitled Histori Nga Britania (Stories from Britain), sees Albanian migrants share stories about how life in the UK is not as rosy as it seems via social media.

Black and white images show miserable-looking housing estates covered in graffiti and feature accounts from migrants who lament about the cost of living, and the difficulty in securing a right to remain.

One account notes: 'The moment you come here illegally that's how life will go on is very hard this state won't let you become a legal person no matter how hard you try.'

But an internal Foreign Office assessment of the scheme concluded there was 'limited evidence on the effectiveness' of what it termed a 'dissuasive communications approach'.

The Government is trying new strategies to cut migration after ditching the Tories' Rwanda plan - such as these adverts targeting Kurdish Iraqis which warn: 'People were lost at sea'

The Foreign Office also funded the Histori Nga Britania (Stories from Britain) campaign targeting Albanians, which sought to paint life in Britain as less than rosy

Smuggling gangs charging them thousands of pounds to help them reach the UK -offering them discounts if they promote their journey on social media in a twisted form of 'influencing' others to make the trip.

Last month, three people smugglers were jailed for their part in arranging small boat crossings, earnings huge amounts of cash in the process.

Pistiwan Jameel, Artan Halilaj and Fiorentino Halilaj were jailed for a combined 130 months after being convicted of facilitating illegal migration.

Jameel had been recorded by NCA detectives arranging crossings, moaning about competition pushing his prices down, and bragging he had made at least $2million for his criminal partners.

At the weekend, we reported on the migrants trying to reach Britain by stowing away in caravans and lorries - costing their owners millions in fines when caught.

Around 5,000 'clandestine entrants' were found last year at UK border controls in Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk, according to a report by the immigration and borders watchdog.

David Bolt noted that the number of detections had fallen dramatically from more than more than 56,000 people in 2016 - before tighter security around ports and the Channel Tunnel prompted people smugglers to change their tactics to favour small boat crossings.

The Home Office's Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Scheme handed out 1,276 fines worth nearly 10million in 2023/24 to drivers who were found with migrants hiding in their vehicles, either in northern France or after crossing into the UK.
A Trump-loving drag queen has revealed he is starting to cool on the president over what he feels are the Republican's unfulfilled promises.

Ryan Woods, known as Lady MAGA USA, has famously supported president Trump for years, showing up at rallies with a big blonde wig and 19th-century gowns.

But since Trump's inauguration in January, Woods has not performed as the flamboyant character, as he says he has not been feeling the love for Trump lately.

'Its just not in me right now, and Im not exactly sure why,' Woods said.

Woods told The 19th that he expected more information released about sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and is also concerned that Trump is 'flirting with foreign wars.'

'I cant say that Im disappointed yet, because we are just two months into his administration,' the performer said.

'That being said, some of the people hes chosen to be in his administration, I am not excited about.'

One of those hires is Attorney General Pam Pondi, who Woods feels was a 'poor choice' to lead the nation's Justice Department.

Ryan Woods, known as Lady MAGA USA, says he is doubting his support for president Donald Trump

Lady MAGA USA, with her huge blonde wig and traditional attire, was a common presence at Trump rallies all over the country

Woods says he wanted more from Trump's first months in office, including more information about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein

However, Woods admitted: 'I did sort of sit back and complain for a few weeks there, but then it was pointed out to me that you need to chill out, because we have four years ahead of us, and its only been two months, and maybe I expected too much, too fast.'

He also confessed he has been dealing with depression, and feels his judgment has been clouded 'a little bit'.

'It kind of puts a cloud over a lot of my political opinions,' Woods shared.

While Woods is a gay man, he has been outspoken against the transgender community, abiding by much of the right's rhetoric on the topic.

He built his platform by arguing that transgender people are indoctrinating children into transitioning, particular gay ones.

As The 19th points out, the Republican party has been making significant inroads with voters who identify as LGBTQ+ - with as many as 12 percent registered with the GOP.

Though drag queens are known for their raunchy dance moves and outfits, Woods' character was inspired by an old-fashioned view of womanhood in order to attract a conservative audience.

Woods even stopped calling himself a drag queen, as the term became toxic in conservative circles.

'Its just not in me right now, and Im not exactly sure why,' Woods said of her support for Trump

Woods also said he is concerned that president Trump is 'flirting with foreign wars'

He said he's not sure if Lady MAGA will ever return, but claimed that if she does, it might not be to support Trump, but conservatism at large.

'Im not Lady Trump... Im Lady MAGA,' the drag queen clarified.

'I dont worship Donald Trump, and I dont put my faith in any government leader... I scrutinize him, just as harsh as I would scrutinize [former President Joe] Biden,' he added to The 19th.
A Tesla was obliterated in a horrific crash that killed a male and female passenger - but a baby was found still alive in the debris.

Authorities responded to the gruesome scene in the early hours of Monday, April 7, after reports that the Tesla Model 3 had crashed off the side of a highway in Chino, California, a city in Los Angeles County.

Law enforcement found that the car had traveled up on a dirt embankment off the side of the road and was destroyed.

It's unclear what led to the single-car collision, but at least one person inside the Tesla was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene, California Highway Patrol said in a press release.

The baby was found alive in the debris after they were thrown from the vehicle.

The witness who reported the crash told the CHP they had heard a baby crying but didn't see a child in the Tesla.

'For unknown reasons, the driver of the Tesla lost control of the vehicle, collided with the center divider wall, traveled up a dirt embankment and was pronounced deceased at the scene,' CHP wrote in a press release.

A female adult passenger also survived and both were transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition, Massiel De Guevara, a spokesperson for the Chino Valley Fire District confirmed to DailyMail.com.

A tragic crash occurred off of 60 Freeway in Chino, California around 2 am on Monday, April 7

Authorities discovered a baby had survived the crash and was found with critical injuries in the debris

Two passengers were pronounced dead on the scene, while the infant and another individual survived with critical injuries

The second surviving passenger was a female in her mid-20s and was seated in the backseat of the vehicle.

The infant was seated next to the surviving passenger in a car seat that wasn't secured, CHP confirmed

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office identified one victim as Jacqueline C. Perez, 23. Perez was a resident of La Puente, a city in East Los Angeles.

A second male victim also died in the crash, but his identity has not been released to the public.

CHP said the victim was in his mid-30s and was sitting in the front passenger seat before he was ejected from the vehicle and struck by a second car.

It's currently unknown how the four passengers were related to one another. CHP did not confirm if Perez was the driver during the incident.

A funeral home announcement said Perez was, 'full of promise and had a heart full of love for others.'

'Known for her kind spirit and determination to help those in need, Jacquelines untimely death has left an indelible mark on her family and the Riverside community,' the announcement continued.

The two survivors were transported to a local hospital after the Tesla they were in rolled over on an embankment

One of the fatalities was identified by the sheriff's department as a 23-year-old woman named Jacqueline C. Perez. She was a resident of La Puente, a city in East Los Angeles

The identity of the second fatality has yet to be confirmed, but authorities said they were an adult male. The second survivor was also an adult

It's unclear how the four passengers were related to one another or what led to the horrific crash. Authorities are still investigating the incident

There were no other vehicles involved, and the Tesla appeared to roll over traveling westbound on the freeway.

The crash occurred around 2 am and authorities closed the westbound lanes of 60 Freeway until 5:30 am.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing and authorities have yet to announce the extent of the infant or the other individual's injuries.

CHP has asked the public to contact the investigating officer, Officer R. Morfin with any additional information.
Youth Demand protesters have wreaked havoc across London today after placing fake body bags outside the Foreign Secretary's house and blocking several roads.

Two members of the campaign group, which is looking to follow in the footsteps of renowned eco-activists Just Stop Oil, laid child-sized body bags outside David Lammy's home at around 11am this morning.

Live-in carer Cristy North and Sue Houseman also drapped a sign over the Labour minister's hedge, which read 'Lammy Stop Arming Genocide'.

Just hours earlier, two groups of Youth Demand protesters began blocking traffic at Commercial Street, Angel Junction and Tower Bridge, causing misery for busy commuters in the capital.

The groups could be seen holding banners which read 'Youth Demand an End to Genocide' and 'Stop Arming Israel' written in orange - the colour used by JSO.

Youth Demand is planning daily co-ordinated actions to 'shut down' London every day this month with 'swarming road-blocks' and warned of further road disruptions later today.

The group is calling on the Government to end to British arms exports to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza and to tax the 'fossil fuel elite' to compensate communities and counties harmed by fossil fuel burning.

Youth Demand protesters are spoken to by police after placing fake body bags outside the Foreign Secretary David Lammy's house

Two members of the campaign group laid child-sized body bags outside David Lammy's home at around 11am this morning

Activists from Youth Demand block traffic in Tower Bridge Road in central London earlier this morning - causing misery for busy commuters going about their day

Sue Houseman, a mother from Lancaster, was one of the women who protested outside David Lammy's house this morning.

She said: 'For years I've worked with children, helping them understand what's right and what's wrong and giving them the confidence to use their voice and to speak up. Our government is breaking international humanitarian law and they are allowing Israel to murder children en-masse.

'We're providing them with the resources, the bombs, the surveillance equipment they need to kill children day in, day out and the UK government are not doing anything to stop it.

'If, like me, you are not prepared to put up with that, then please take action this April with Youth Demand.'

Cristy North, 37, a live-in carer from Nottingham, was also outside the Foreign Secratary's house this morning.

She said: 'How can we be trading with and arming a genocidal state? The UK government is breaking domestic and international law by doing so.

'I cannot sit back and watch a genocide take place. I originally come from South Africa. I was a lot younger when apartheid was happening there and I couldn't do anything about it, but I saw the trauma and the effect it has had on people there and it makes me incredibly sad for this to be happening now in Palestine.

'We cannot sit back and do nothing, we must call on the government to impose a trade embargo on Israel, because as we saw with apartheid in South Africa, that was the final nail in the coffin that ended apartheid.'

Live-in carer Cristy North, 37, and Sue Houseman, a mother from Lancaster, also drapped a sign over the Labour minister's hedge, which read 'Lammy Stop Arming Genocide'

Sue and Cristy sit outside David Lammy's house during a protest this morning

The pair say in front of the sign while holding fake child-sized body bags

Meanwhile, activists were also seen blocking traffic in Tower Bridge Road this morning, holding flares, banners and Palestine flags in the middle of the road.

The same group were later confronted by an angry driver who could be seen pushing against members of the group.

He then grabs a banner from one of the group's hands in another picture, while a third image appears to show an activist who has fallen to the ground.

A Met spokesperson said: 'At 11:04hrs on Tuesday, 8 April police were called to a private residential address in Haringey following reports of a protest.

'Officers attended the location where three people from the protest group Youth Demand were identified.

'They were ordered to leave the area using powers under Section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act and were warned not to return for at least the next three months.

'Everyone, including those with a public profile, should be able to go about their lives without feeling harassed or intimidated. This is especially the case in the vicinity of private homes.

'Where protesters choose to target these addresses officers will use the powers available to intervene appropriately.'

A driver pushes Youth Demand protesters off the road as the group blocked traffic in Tower Bridge Road this morning

The driver could be seen pushing some of the protesters during their march in Tower Bridge Road

An activist appears to have fallen to the ground during the Youth Demand protest on Tower Bridge Road near in central London

Many of those in Youth Demand, whose members have also opted to wear JSO's trademark colour, have come from the notorious original campaign group which caused many members of the public headaches.

The bright website boasts 'young people are resisting' and they have organised a list of activities - including 'action training' and 'legal briefing' as they rally the troops.

MailOnline previously revealed the new group is planning to target the British Museum and other London landmarks this month.

They hope to overwhelm the justice system by clogging the courts and costing the police 'millions of pounds' in shifts.

Mr Lammy is currently in Rome on a royal visit with the King and Queen, looking to cement Britain's defence and trade ties with Italy.

The Foreign Secretary's position on Israel has been under scrutiny since Downing Street rowed back on his comments in the Commons last month.

Mr Lammy had said Israel's denial of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza was a breach of international law following the collapse of the truce which had been in place since January.

Downing Street later said Israel's actions were 'at clear risk' of breaching the law and Mr Lammy said he 'could have been clearer' when asked if he regretted making the statement.

The Government also ruled out an arms embargo on Israel over the blockade.

A Youth Demand spokesperson said: 'David Lammy has admitted that Israel is in breach of international law and yet the UK has cancelled less than 10% of arms sales to Israel. 90% complicity with murder is still complicity with murder.

'History will rightly view those that supported the systematic slaughter of children with absolute contempt, and David Lammy will be held to account for not having the spine to cease trading with Israel and halting British armed forces from assisting this genocide.'
The presence of Chinese troops in Ukraine reveals a sinister 'authoritarian axis in action', experts have warned after Kyiv claimed to have captured troops in Donetsk.

Luke De Pulford, Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, suggested China, Russia and North Korea were allowing citizens to prolong a conflict 'which is killing innocents and fracturing democratic alliances'.

He told MailOnline the presence of mercenaries would mean China is 'tolerating' its citizens providing on-the-ground support for Putin's illegal war.

If they were People's Liberation Army soldiers, he said, 'swift and meaningful coordinated sanctions must follow'.

The presence of Chinese soldiers on the battlefield, be they mercenaries or Chinese soldiers, threatens to upend the delicate status quo with U.S.-mediated peace talks failing to make decisive progress.

Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, today demanded an explanation from Beijing, going so far as to say it 'puts into question China's declared stance for peace'.

Philip Ingram MBE, retired British Army colonel and military intelligence specialist, told MailOnline that 'while China won't be formally providing troops to Russia they won't discourage individuals wanting to join'.

'They will probably be sending liaison staff and special forces to gain combat experience but in as deniable a way as possible.'

Zelensky said they had reason to believe there were 'significantly more' in the Russian ranks

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin look toward each other as they shake hands prior to their talks in Beijing, China, Thursday, May 16, 2024

Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with officers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region, March 2025

Ukraine on Tuesday reported that Chinese nationals had been found fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine.

Initial comments from President Zelensky stopped short of suggesting whether they were foreign volunteers, paid mercenaries or Chinese PLA troops.

Zelensky admitted that Ukraine is still scrambling to bring together all the facts, and said that an investigation was under way.

In an unsettling development, he said that Kyiv had evidence that 'many more Chinese citizens' are fighting alongside Russian forces.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Zelensky hit out at Beijing, accusing it of actively supporting Russia - against its principle of neutrality.

'This is another country that militarily supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the side of Russia,' he said.

'This is another one after Iran and the North Korean military.'

He urged a response from 'the Chinese side' and also called for the U.S. and Europe to 'react', accusing Putin of trying to prolong the war.

Michael Clarke, former director of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told Sky News the consequences would depend on 'the identity and allegiances' of the soldiers captured.

If they are Chinese individuals 'effectively fighting as mercenaries, then that's obviously embarrassing to China. But in a way it goes no further than that.'

But operating on behalf of China would cross 'quite a big legal line', he said.

China 'would pretend that that isn't the truth', he anticipated.

There was no immediate response to the claims from either Moscow or Beijing but Sybiha said on social media that China's charge d'affaires had been summoned for an explanation.

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Tom Shugart, a former US Navy submarine warfare officer and Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), agreed.

'If these are individuals who have signed up of their own accord, that would be one thing,' he wrote on X.

'If [China] is actively providing soldiers to fight in Ukraine, that would be altogether different - a possible sign of a real Axis that may best be resisted wherever it is fighting.'

While China is unlikely to be sending troops directly to support Russia's war effort, the discovery will come as an embarrassment for China, after three years of vows to stay out of the conflict.

Beijing has maintained that it respects Ukraine's sovereignty, calling for a 'peaceful and diplomatic resolution'.

But it has also called for Russia's concerns about NATO expansion to be addressed and stayed out of UN votes condemning the invasion.

Just weeks before the February 2022 invasion, Moscow and Beijing announced a 'no-limits partnership deal' - a significant effort to collaborate and repair ties strained by a complicated history.

Servicemen from the 24th Mechanized Brigade firing a 120mm mortar at Russian army positions near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, 16 March 2025

A view of the ruined and abandoned town of Maryinka (Mariinka) in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on April 1, 2025

Jan Paternotte, a Dutch MP with the Democrats 66 party, said Putin's war in Ukraine was 'made possible by Xi [Jinping]', citing the continuation of mutual trade.

'And now the bombshell: Chinese soldiers captured in Europe,' he wrote on X.

'Not as peacekeepers, as Beijing has cynically suggested. But as mercenaries in Putin's invasion force.

'There's no way the Chinese government didn't know. Europe must make clear: this is unacceptable.'

Professor Sergey Radchenko, an expert on Sino-Soviet relations, told MailOnline he understood the Chinese nationals were not there on government instructions.

'Nationals of many countries have been doing this sort of thing. The only ones that definitely require government involvement are North Koreans who wouldn't be able to do it on their own.

'The Chinese, on the contrary, can just sign up as any mercenaries can  for either side!'
Chilling 911 audio captured the moment a young girl described burglars breaking into her home as her family cowered in fear.

The terrifying incident unfolded in Orange County, California, on April 3 when a 34-year-old man allegedly tried breaking into the family home.

The suspect, identified as Jorge Mendoza Diaz, smashed through the kitchen window and attempted to enter the home, but was confronted by the girl's father.

As the two men clashed downstairs, the little girl was heard in the audio calmly talking to a 911 dispatcher, telling them: 'There's someone breaking into my house.'

'They broke the window,' she said in the audio, first shared by KTLA.

The dispatcher, named as Westminster Police Department officer Kristen Kennard, asked the girl questions about the man breaking into her home, whom she estimated was in his 30s.

At one point during the call, a knock could be heard from the child's end, and she said: 'They're knocking on the door.'

After initially sounding calm when she called 911, the girl grew emotional during the call as she heard her father struggling with the suspect downstairs, telling the officer: 'I'm really scared.'

A nine-year-old girl was praised by officers from the Westminster Police Department (seen together) after she called 911 when burglars broke into her family home and helped dispatchers send cops to save them

The dispatcher then asked the girl where she was in the home, learning she was calling from upstairs while her parents were downstairs.

After the knock at the girl's door, the audio is not fully clear what the dispatcher asks, to which she appears to respond: 'Yes, please help me.'

'Is your mom there?' the officer asks. 'Can I speak to your mom or dad?'

The girl responded: 'I hear them coming upstairs, I dont really know what's going on.'

Asked what she could hear downstairs, she said she 'heard him kicking the door.'

The girl's mother could then be heard in the background of the call, and the girl told them: 'I called the police, I called the police already.'

'I locked the door,' she added.

The call came to an end as Kennard told the girl one of her older sisters also called the cops and help was on the way.

'Good job, okay?' Kennard told the young girl.

The dispatcher who spoke with the girl was identified as Westminster Police Department officer Kristen Kennard (center), who calmly asked the girl questions as she cowered in fear inside her home

The terrifying incident unfolded in Orange County, California, on April 3 when a 34-year-old man tried breaking into the family home

Police said the break-in at the girl's home ended when her father pepper sprayed Diaz in their kitchen.

Diaz then allegedly fled the scene and jumped into a neighbor's yard to hide.

Authorities said he was caught within minutes and praised the young girl who called 911 after officers arrived within three minutes of her initial call.

Officials said officers were able to quickly establish a perimeter and find Diaz in the neighbor's yard before he was taken into custody.

Diaz now faces charges of residential burglary and trespassing, and in a statement, the Westminster Police Department lauded the young girl for helping lead to his arrest.

'The Westminster Police Department applauds the brave actions of the nine-year-old victim, who called 911, remained calm, and provided vital information to dispatchers, significantly contributing to the timely apprehension of the suspect,' the department said.

The force's Chief Lenyi added: 'I am very glad that the actions of both the nine-year-old and her father were such that kept the situation from possibly becoming much more serious.

'Based on her performance, I invite the nine-year-old, when she grows up, to become a member of the WPD as either a police officer or dispatcher.'
Florida authorities have confirmed that human remains found under a commercial JetBlue airplane that travelled from New York to Fort Lauderdale in January belong to two teenage boys.

After 'extensive' DNA testing the Broward County Sheriff's Office identified 18-year-old Jeik Lusi and 16-year-old Elvis Castillo as the two people found dead in the landing gear of the plane on January 6.

The harrowing statement, released on Monday, did not provide details on how the teen victims gained access to the landing gear or their causes of death.

Aviation expert Gary Sheradsky believes that duo likely died an 'unbelievable' death, due to the arctic temperatures and lack of oxygen at altitude.

'How cold it is outside the plane is how cold it is in the wheel well,' Sheradsky, 62, told the Miami Herald. 'It was definitely below zero. It's probably an unbelievable way to die.'

Temperatures at 40,000 feet where planes typically cruise normally hover between -40F to -70F, according to Airplane Academy.

And while the plane's cabin is pressurized, the wheel well would not have been, meaning they would likely have been starved of oxygen.

The devastating discovery was made during a 'routine' post-flight maintenance check after the plane, which took off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Aiport, landed in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport in Florida.

Following 'extensive DNA testing,' the Broward County Sheriff's Office identified 18-year-old Jeik Lusi and 16-year-old Elvis Castillo as the two people who were found dead inside the landing gear of a JetBlue on January 6

The devastating discovery was made during a 'routine' post-slight maintenence check after the plane, which took off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Aiport, landed in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport in Florida

The deceased bodies were found in the plane's landing gear compartment, the airline confirmed to the Daily Mail.

'On Monday evening, January 6, at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, two individuals were found in the landing gear compartment of one of our aircraft during the routine post-flight maintenance inspection,' JetBlue said.

It remains unclear how the boys, who were from the Dominican Republic, were able to gain access to the plane's undercarriage, or where they did so.

Operating flight 1801 made stops in Jamaica, Salt Lake City and New York before the gut-wrenching discovery in Fort Lauderdale, according to the New York Post. NBC reported that the aircraft had previously been in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

The Daily Mail has reached out to JetBlue for comment.

'This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred,' the airline's statement from January continued.

Ironelis Castillo, Elvis's mother, told Broward County Sheriff's Office that her son was driven to a nearby airport before leaving the Dominican Republic on January 4.

Aviation expert Gary Sheradsky (pictured) said two stowaways who died inside a JetBlue plane's wheel compartment likely froze to death

That was the last she heard from him, the Post reported.

While it is unclear whether the teenagers were attempting to stow away on the flight, it is not uncommon for people to use wheel wells, nose wells and other unpressurized areas to sneak on to aircrafts, according to reporting by Reuters.

Stowaways in the unpressurized wheel houses and cargo holds of planes have to contend with freezing conditions, with temperatures that can reach between minus 58 degrees and minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit, Reuters said.

A lack of oxygen and the risk of being crushed by the plane's wheels are a severe threat to life.

The teen boys' deaths bear an eerie similarity to another incident which happened in Hawaii on Christmas Eve when a dead body was discovered on the wheel of a United Airlines jet that had flown to Kahului Airport in Maui from Chicago.

The body, which has still not been identified, was discovered on the wheel well of the Boeing 787-10.

United said at the time that it was unclear how the person had gained access to the wheel well.

There is no indication that the Fort Lauderdale and Hawaii deaths are linked.
Elon Musk has savaged President Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro as a 'moron' after he criticized Tesla.

The extraordinary public row began when Navarro described Musk as a 'car assembler,' and claimed his Tesla vehicles required parts manufactured in foreign countries including China, Japan, and Taiwan.

'When it comes to tariffs and trade, we all understand in the White House - and the American people understand - that Elon is a car manufacturer, but he's not a car manufacturer. He's a car assembler,' Navarro said in an interview.

Musk responded angrily on X to Navarro's claim.

'Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks,' Musk wrote. 'Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false.'

Musk shared a 2023 Cars.com study that showed Tesla as having four of the top 10 most American-made cars followed by the Honda Passport, the Volkswagen ID.4, and the Honda Odyssey.

The study shows the 'Big Three' car companies Ford, GM, and Stellantis lower on the list because of the parts imported from foreign countries.

The 2024 Cars.com ranking, however, is slightly less favorable to Tesla.

It shows Tesla's Model Y is in the number one slot, but the Honda Passport is at number two, the Volkswagen ID.4 at number three, and the Tesla Model S in number four. The Honda Odyssey rounds out the top five.

Billionaire chief executive of Tesla Elon Musk savaged President Donald Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro after he criticized the DOGE advisor's car company. Pictured (from left): Peter Navarro, Stephen Miller and Elon Musk speaking inside the Oval Office of the White House in March

Musk personally lost billions in the market's reaction to the tariffs, with the US stock market experiencing its worst trading week in five years. He is pictured with Donald Trump at the White House on March 14, 2025

The study, however, considers parts from both the United States and Canada as domestic manufacturing.

The author, American University associate professor of information technology and analytics Frank DuBois, confirmed that Tesla does rely on Chinese parts for the manufacturing of their vehicles, even though they also build motors and batteries in the United States.

Musk waded into controversy on Friday after the markets closed and Navarro appeared on CNN to calm concerns over the damage caused by tariffs.

The Tesla CEO - who is the world's richest man - personally lost billions in the market's reaction to the tariffs, which saw the US stock market experience its worst trading week in five years.

But after Navarro insisted that the tariffs would eventually pay off, Musk took to his X platform to mock the economic advisor.

Musk responded to a post that noted Navarro has a PhD in economics from Harvard, to which he said: 'A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing. Results in the ego/brains>>1 problem.'

After a user responded to say that Navarro was 'correct', Musk remarked: 'He ain't built s***.'

But Navarro has since dismissed Musk's concerns about Trump's tariffs, noting it was understandable as coming from a 'car person'.

'He's a car person. That's what he does, and he wants the cheap foreign parts,' he said. But Musk was not pleased with Navarro's claim.

'By any definition whatsoever, Tesla is the most vertically integrated auto manufacturer in America with the highest percentage of US content,' he wrote on X.

Trump launched a historic trade war last Wednesday (pictured, announcing the tariffs) and China retaliated with 34 per cent reciprocal tariffs on US imports on Friday

Trump has hailed Tesla as an American-made car, even promoting it at the White House after left-wing opponents started attacking Musk's company and vandalizing Tesla dealerships and vehicles in the streets.

'They're harming a great American company,' Trump said during the event at the White House where he praised Musk as a 'patriot.'

'He's built this great company, and he shouldn't be penalized because he's a patriot,' he said.

Musk's brazen break with Trump's inner circle comes just days after it was revealed that he would be stepping down from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - leaving the Trump White House early in a surprise move.

Musk also made direct yet unsuccessful appeals to Trump to reverse tariffs over the past weekend, the Washington Post reports, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The exchange marked the highest profile disagreement between the President and Musk, the report said. It follows Trump's unveiling of a 10 per cent baseline tariff on all imports to the US along with higher duties on dozens of other countries.

Musk called for zero tariffs between the US and Europe during a virtual interaction at a congress in Florence of Italy's right-wing, co-ruling League Party over the weekend.

In the two sessions after the tariff decision was unveiled on April 2, the S&P 500 tumbled 10.5 per cent, erasing nearly $5 trillion in market value, marking its most significant two-day loss since March 2020. Wall Street's main indexes, however, clawed back some of the losses on Tuesday.

Tesla has seen its quarterly sales drop sharply amid a backlash against Musk's work with a new Department of Government Efficiency.

The company's shares are trading at $245.12 today after closing at around $233 on Monday, a 42 per cent decline since the beginning of the year. Musk has previously said that the impact of Trump's auto tariffs on Tesla is 'significant'.

Elon Musk (pictured during a White House cabinet meeting on March 24, 2025) made direct yet unsuccessful appeals to Donald Trump to reverse tariffs over the past weekend in what was the highest profile disagreement between the President and Tesla billionaire

Trade advisor to US President Donald Trump Peter Navarro speaks to press outside of the White House on March 12, 2025

Economists say the tariffs could reignite inflation, raise the risk of a recession and boost costs for the average US family by thousands of dollars - a potential liability for a president who campaigned on a promise to bring down the cost of living.

But America's top trade official has today defended Trump's sweeping tariffs on nearly every other nation, telling Congress that almost 50 countries had reached out to make a deal.

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said exemptions to Trump's global tariffs are not expected in the near term and argued that the strategy was 'already bearing fruit.'

'Nearly 50 countries have approached me personally to discuss the president's new policy and explore how to achieve reciprocity,' he told the Senate Finance Committee.

Several countries - including Argentina, Vietnam and Israel - had offered to reduce their tariffs, Greer said, while auto manufacturers were canceling layoffs and companies had announced $4trillion in new investment in the United States.

The annual hearings on the president's trade policies are often staid affairs.

US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk sit in a Tesla car model S on March 11

President Donald Trump steps out of a red Model S Tesla vehicle on the South Lawn of the White House on March 11, 2025

But they have generated more interest this year after Trump last week announced a baseline tariff of 10 per cent and extra levies of up to 50 per cent on dozens of countries exporting more to the United States than they buy.

Greer told senators the US had shed five million manufacturing jobs and 90,000 factories in the last 30 years, since a trilateral free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada was enacted.

America's 'large and persistent trade deficit' will not be resolved overnight, he cautioned. 'But all of this is in the right direction.'

'We must move away from an economy based solely on the financial sector and government spending, and we must become an economy based on producing real goods and services,' Greer added.

Senior Republican lawmakers have pledged to allow Trump time to see how his tariff gambit plays out, but are desperate to see progress on trade negotiations they believe will calm markets.

Wall Street stocks surged higher early Tuesday after a three-day rout as global markets rallied in hopes of trade agreements.

But rank-and-file lawmakers remain jittery about the effect of the tariffs and have been demanding briefings on the strategy, with some even seeking to remove Trump's authority to raise import levies.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer takes his seat upon arrival at the start of a Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's trade policies today

Donald Trump and White House Peter Navarro check out an Endurance all-electric pickup truck on the south lawn of the White House on September 28, 2020

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is leading a bipartisan effort to require congressional approval of tariffs within 60 days, although it is not expected to get a floor vote.

Four Republican senators voted with Democrats last week to pass a symbolic resolution to undo Trump's tariff on Canada that does not have the force of law.

Trump himself ruled out any pause in his aggressive new global trade policy on Monday, and threatened to slap an additional 50 per cent tariff on China over its retaliation.

He also dismissed the possibility of a trade deal with the European Union and called his critics on trade 'weak and stupid' while pledging to veto Grassley's bill, which is backed by at least seven Republicans.
China launches tip-off service to combat medical insurance fraud

Xinhua) 09:08, April 08, 2025

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China's National Healthcare Security Administration announced on Monday the launch of a tip-off service via its official WeChat account, enabling social organizations and the public to report leads on medical insurance fraud.

Eligible informants will be rewarded with a one-time payment ranging from 200 yuan (about 27.8 U.S. dollars) to 200,000 yuan, according to the administration.

Noting that the misuse of medical insurance funds undermines public interests, it urged the whole society to make efforts in combating fraud.

In 2024, China's medical insurance watchdogs recovered 27.5 billion yuan of misused medical insurance funds, with a total of 10,741 suspects arrested.

The Chinese government has vowed to continue strengthening oversight of medical insurance funds to ensure every penny is maximized for the benefit of public health.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Labour could nationalise Chinese-owned British Steel with Sir Keir Starmer saying he is keeping 'all options on the table' as he fights to save UK steel-making.

The Prime Minister told a group of senior MPs this afternoon he was 'absolutely committed to steel production in this country'.

'The last thing we want to do is lose our capacity on steel,' Sir Keir added, as ministers hold emergency talks with Jingye, the owners of British Steel since 2020.

The Government is engaged in crunch discussions with British Steel's parent company over the proposed closure of its blast furnaces at Scunthorpe.

It would mean the end of steel-making in the Lincolnshire town after 160 years and could cost up to 2,700 jobs.

Bloomberg reported that ministers are seriously considering taking British Steel into public ownership in their bid to rescue the Scunthorpe plant from closure.

Labour is holding active discussions about nationalisation, according to the website.

The blast furnaces at Scunthorpe are the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, which is made from iron ore rather than recycled steel.

The Prime Minister told a group of senior MPs this afternoon he was 'absolutely committed to steel production in this country'

The Government is engaged in crunch discussions with British Steel's parent company over the proposed closure of its blast furnaces at Scunthorpe.

The blast furnaces at Scunthorpe are the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, which is made from iron ore rather than recycled steel

There are concerns their closure will make Britain more reliant on imports from abroad.

British Steel has reportedly rejected a 500million Government offer to help its transition to a greener form of steel production with a new electric arc furnace.

Appearing before Parliament's Liaison Committee, which is made up of the chairs of all other select committees, Sir Keir was grilled about ministers' ongoing efforts.

'We are in the middle of discussions, so I hope the committee will forgive me if I don't go through each of the fine detail,' the PM said.

'But I'm absolutely committed to steel production in this country. All of our plans are going to require infrastructure and more steel in this country.

'So the last thing we want to do is lose our capacity on steel.

He added: 'For Scunthorpe, I've spent some time at Scunthorpe talking to the management, talking to the workforce there.

'And I know first hand the impact that any loss of capacity at Scunthorpe will have on the workforce, the community and the country.

'Therefore we will keep talking, we have made an offer but all options are on the table in relation to Scunthorpe.

'I think it's really important and we're in the middle of those discussions at the moment.'

Asked what he meant by 'all options on the table', Sir Keir replied there was 'a limit to what I can say' as he pointed to 'ongoing discussions at the moment'.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch had earlier warned nationalising British Steel must be a 'last resort'.

She said the Scunthorpe steel plant was 'in peril' because of Labour's 'wrong choices'.

'Nationalisation has got to be a last resort,' she told reporters during a visit to Salisbury.

'We need steel production in this country. It is important for national resilience.

'But as I said, whether it's with the jobs tax, what they've been doing all around the economy, energy costs in particular, that's why we're not having steel companies wanting to produce it.

'Our energy costs are too high and Labour is making those costs even higher.'

Reform UK demanded the Government nationalise British Steel within the next three days.

The party's leader Nigel Farage said: 'Whilst the Government dithers and delays, we have produced a plan to ensure the survival of British Steel.

'Without immediate action to nationalise Jingye's UK business within the next three days the UK's last blast furnaces risk being shut down permanently.

'The UK's steel industry is broken. Reform UK will fix it.'

The UK's steel industry was recently hit by US President Donald Trump's imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on all steel entering America.

Industry minister Sarah Jones today hosted a meeting of the Steel Council attended by the chief executives of Tata, Liberty and British Steel, as well as trade union leaders and the trade association UK Steel.

Ms Jones said: 'We know this is a concerning time for our steel industry in the face of global challenges.

'That's why we're working in lockstep with industry to drive forward our steel plan so it can help the sector secure jobs, deliver growth and power the modern economy.

'This Government will always stand up for UK steelmaking, and where others may talk tough, we are acting, with money ready to go to back up British industry.

'With our steel plan we're placing it at the heart of our growth mission, and we'll keep all options on the table to help steel in the UK thrive and deliver on our Plan for Change.'
President Donald Trump's surprise comment about direct talks with Iran comes as the Pentagon has been brandishing American firepower by deploying B-2 bombers at a base in the Indian Ocean.

Satellite images have revealed the deployment of six nuclear-capable B-2 bombers on Diego Garcia, a British-owned naval base that has been critical during U.S. military campaigns.

It comes as the Pentagon has unleashed daily attacks on the Iran-backed Houthis  and as Trump has said emphatically and repeatedly that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon.

'The movement of the aircraft to Diego Garcia definitely sends a signal to Iran about the extent to which they are in jeopardy, and the extent of seriousness the Trump administration feels with regard to its various demands,' Daryl Press, the director of the Initiative for Global Security at Dartmouth College told ABC News.

The network analyzed commercial satellite imagery from Planet Labs PBC.

Trump on Monday said the U.S. would hold top level direct talks with Iran  while brandishing new threats and repeating demands that Iran could not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

Were having direct talks with Iran. And theyve started, Trump told reporters while seated in the Oval Office next to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, himself a top Iran hawk.

The talks are set to take place in Oman, but Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said the talks would be 'indirect,' amid longstanding tensions between the two nations.

'Indirect negotiations can guarantee a genuine and effective dialogue,' he told Iranian state news agency IRNA, Reuters reported.

Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show six B-2 stealth bombers. The U.S. continues to pound Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The unconcealed presence of the powerful aircraft also send a message to Tehran, experts say

The disclosure came just days after Trump threatened Iran in remarks to NBC News. 'If they dont make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.'

If he were to order such a bombing campaign, the B-2 bombers are capable of launching bunker buster bombs and other munitions that could be used to take out Iran's nuclear technology, which is often set up deep underground. The bombers are capable of carrying conventional and nuclear munitions.

On military blogger, Ken Klippenstein, quoted experts calling it the largest deployment of B-2s to a forward location. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt, the former Deputy U.S. Military Representative to NATO, boiled it down to 'do you see our sword?'

Over the weekend, Trump fired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only female officer on NATO's military committee, for unexplained reasons, the AP reported.

President Trump revealed that the U.S. would hold direct talks with Iran on Saturday

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Pentagon for comment on the deployment.

When speaking to reporters about Iran, Trump said the surprise meeting would take place Saturday, but refused to divulge where.

Well see what can happen, he said.

All I can tell you is theres a major meeting going on, Trump said when pressed, adding that it would be top level.

The stakes are high. The U.S. has avoided such direct talks for years. The Iran nuclear deal, which Trump scuttled after it was put in place under Barack Obama, was negotiated through multi-party talks.

'I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it,' he added. 'So we are going to see if we can avoid it, but it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful.'

'And I think it would be in Iran's best interests if they are successful.'

Asked about the consequence if Iran refuses to give up its nuclear program, Trump responded: I think if the talks arent successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger.

Because they cant have a nuclear weapon. Its not a complicated formula. Iran cant have a nuclear weapon, Trump said.

If the talks arent successful, I actually think itll be a very bad day for Iran if thats the case.

They would be the first known direct talks since Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018. Trump has repeatedly called it a 'horrible' and complained 'we got nothing.'

Trump made the comments at a meeting that was being closely watched amid a global sell-off after he imposed an across-the-board 10% tariff and slapped additional tariffs on more than 60 countries.

Trump showed no indication of backing down on trade.

Trump did not reveal who was taking part in the talks. They would not occur without the support of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei

'Were not looking at that, Trump said when asked if he was considering a pause after the multi-trillion sell-off.

Trump fielded a series of questions from U.S. and Israeli reporters after cancelling a scheduled press conference planned for the East Room of the White House.

Instead, he revealed the talks on the high-pressure issue, inside the Oval Office facing new pressure on the tariffs. The White House has threatened to veto a Senate bill that would end the emergency designation that the White House cited to impose the tariffs.

Netanyahu was much less revealing on Iran, while confirming the two men discussed it.

'We're both United that Iran does not ever get nuclear weapons, if it could be done diplomatically in a full way, the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing,' he said.

'That's the end of my speech,' said Netanyahu after remarks that were brief.

At one point an Israeli reporter asked Trump to elaborate on how a new Iran deal was going to be 'more effective than the JPOA'  the Obama-era Iran deal that he ripped up.

'Well, I can't really say that, but I think it will be different and maybe a lot stronger,' he said at first  before immediately pivoting to a temporary cease fire with Hamas to free hostages in Gaza.

'But they were so happy when we made that first deal, because we did get a lot out. You know, I had people right in this office, this beautiful Oval Office. They came in, 10 people, hostages, you know that? And I said to him, so how was it and the stories they told me, I mean, as an example, I said to them, was there any sign of love?'

'Did the Hamas show any signs of like help or liking you? Did they wink at you? Did they give you a piece of bread extra? Did they give you a meal on the side like you know, you think of doing like what happened in Germany? What happened elsewhere? People would try and help people that were in unbelievable distress. They said no.'

Netanyahu began the meeting by appeasing Trump's trade complaints, after the U.S. slapped a 17 % tariff on imports from Israel.

'We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States. We intend to do it very quickly. We think it's the right thing to do. And we're going to also eliminate trade barriers, a variety of trade barriers, that have been put up unnecessarily. And I think Israel can serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same,' he said.

The tariffs had surprised the Israeli government, which signed an agreement the day prior to end tariffs on U.S. products. Israel exports about $22 billion annually to the U.S.
The CEO of JP Morgan is banning staff from participating in a very common behavior during work meetings.

Jamie Dimon, who has run America's biggest bank since 2006, has ordered staff to stop reading texts and emails in meetings, claiming it's 'disrespectful' and 'wastes time.'

Dimon, 69, said he's had enough of staff scrolling through messages when they should be paying attention.

In his annual letter to shareholders, the banking chief demanded it 'has to stop.'

'I see people in meetings all the time who are getting notifications and personal texts or who are reading emails. This has to stop. It's disrespectful. It wastes time,' he wrote.

He insisted that he always gives discussions '100 per cent of my attention' and expects others to do the same.

The CEO didn't stop there in his annual letter.

He also took aim at corporate speak that plagues modern offices.

'Avoid management pablum [pap],' he told staff. 'It's a pet peeve of mine. Talk like you speak - get rid of the jargon'.

Jamie Dimon, who has run America's biggest bank since 2006, has ordered staff to stop reading texts and emails in meetings, claiming it's 'disrespectful' and 'wastes time'

Jamie Dimon, who has run America's biggest bank since 2006, has ordered staff to stop reading texts and emails in meetings, claiming it's 'disrespectful' and 'wastes time'

He also advised his employees to 'work smarter, not longer'.

'Don't read the same email two or three times. Most can be addressed immediately,' he instructed.

The Wall Street veteran, dubbed the '$25 billion man' because that's supposedly how much JP Morgan's stock would drop if he left.

He went on to call out 'class warfare' and 'identity politics,' claiming these policies 'hurt the very people they were meant to protect most'.

'We engage too frequently in class warfare and excessively in identity politics, ie using race, sex or creed inappropriately  Many of these policies hurt the very people they were meant to protect most,' he wrote.

'Unfortunately, more and more people are being disrespectful, condescending and unwilling to listen to one another,' he continued.

'While adjustments are needed, it is quite predictable that the pendulum will swing too far in the other direction. When all is said and done, let's hope we can all treat each other with a little more respect.'

In his annual letter, he also addressed the trade wars started by President Donald Trump risk driving up prices at American stores, undermining global alliances, and slowing economic growth.

The warning comes as global stock markets - including pre-market trading in the US - continue the carnage that shed trillions of dollars last week.

JPMorgan raised its likelihood of a recession from 40 percent to 60 percent.

'Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,' Dimon wrote.

'If the Western world's military and economic alliances were to fragment, America itself would inevitably weaken over time.'

The warning comes after Reuters reports that Dimon and other bank CEOs met with White House Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The meeting took place on Thursday, but the meeting and days of global market downturns don't seem to have changed the Trump administration's minds.

Dimon has also took a strong stance against work from home policies.

In March, he again passionately defended his ironclad stance on remote work, this time in front curious college students.

While speaking at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, he said he's 'had enough' of the now-common workplace practice and that it simply 'doesn't work' in his business.

Dimon, whose heated criticisms of remote work have made him a champion of the return-to-office culture shift, claimed the only group of people disgruntled with the move are 'the people in the middle' - like corporate office workers.
A restaurant frequented by Royals, Rita Ora and Selena Gomez has been shut down after a disgusting discovery in the food.

Posh restaurant Beach Blanket Babylon in Notting Hill, west London was infested with mice and rats.

The food was even contaminated with mouse droppings, poor cleaning, inadequate pest control procedures and a failure to comply with a Hygiene Improvement Notice under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.

Following this failure, Kensington and Chelsea Council officers decided to take legal action against business operators Robert Kenneth Newmark and Conor George Thomson-Moore.

The duo admitted serious food offences, with the offences related to poor food hygiene practices.

Mr Thomson-Moore pleaded guilty to four charges at City of London Magistrates' Court last week and is due to be sentenced later this year.

The charges against Mr Newmark were dropped.

Kensington and Chelsea Council officers inspected the restaurant in September 2022 and found a serious mice infestation, cockroaches, and rats.

Posh restaurant Beach Blanket Babylon in Notting Hill, west London was infested with mice and rats

The food was even contaminated with mouse droppings, poor cleaning, inadequate pest control procedures and a failure to comply with a Hygiene Improvement Notice under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013

Following this failure, Kensington and Chelsea Council officers decided to take legal action against business operators Robert Kenneth Newmark and Conor George Thomson-Moore

The duo admitted serious food offences, with the offences related to poor food hygiene practices

The venue was a former favourite of Prince William and Princess Kate, pictured

Excrement was also found around the premises, as well as food contaminated with mice faeces and packets of till white seeds, cocoa powder and flaked almonds gnawed by mice.

The dirty and unclean condition of the restaurant saw it served with an Emergency Hygiene Prohibition Notice.

No hot water and more pest issues found in a 2023 inspection meant they were also served with Hygiene Improvement Notices.

The venue was a former favourite of Prince William and Princess Kate as well as Rita Ora.

Councillor Cem Kemahli, lead member for planning and public realm said: 'Neglecting food hygiene not only puts public health at risk, but also undermines trust and credibility within the community.

'The borough remains a hub for its vibrant restaurant scene for residents and visitors and it's vital that businesses take necessary steps to keep their premises clean and safe.

'We will not hesitate to take action and call out those who not only blatantly disregard health risks but break the law as we continue to work towards becoming a safer and fairer borough.'
A white progressive activist called a black Republican congressman a 'race-traitor' at a protest in Florida.

'I would like you, as a member of Congress, to rise up and support LGBTQ+ youth and stop this f***ing insane attack on our children who know who they are,' the woman, who has not been identified, yelled at Florida Rep. Byron Donalds.

The woman then called Donalds a fascist and a 'race-traitor.'

The MAGA congressman replied: 'If I don't agree with you, then all of a sudden I'm a fascist?'

Donalds shared footage of the moment on X on Monday, writing: '1  We will NEVER stand for the mutilation of our children.'

He added: '2  Opposing the mutilation of our children doesn't make you a "fascist" or a "race traitor."

'3  Opposing the mutilation of our children makes you a GOOD PARENT,' he finished his tweet.

Donalds, who is running for Florida governor, attended an anti-GOP protest in Kissimmee in an attempt to hold a dialogue with progressives.

A white woman called Republican congressman Byron Donalds a 'race traitor' at a protest in Kissimmee, Florida

The Republican attended the progressive protest to speak to GOP critics

'Conversation is the bedrock of democracy,' the congressman said, before sharing that one of the protestors who initially called him a Nazi eventually apologized.

'We don't have to agree on everything, but at the end of the day, we're ALL AMERICANS,' Donalds wrote on X.

Many X users expressed support for how Donalds handled the situation under his post.

'Thank you Byron. Well said,' said one supporter.

'I wish I still lived in Florida so I could vote for you, sir!' added another.

Donalds is a close ally of president Donald Trump, who has endorsed him in the Florida governor's race.

So far, the 46-year-old has no major challenger in the Republican primary. But DeSantis had hinted previously that his wife, Casey DeSantis, would be a worthy candidate to continue his administrations legacy.

Any Republican who joins the race after may face hurdles in finding Republican donors to back them since Donalds has secured Trumps endorsement. Trumps backing in other gubernatorial and congressional races has proven to massively aid candidates, including DeSantis in 2018.

Many X users expressed support for how Donalds handled the situation under his post

Donalds is a close ally of president Donald Trump, who has endorsed him in the Florida governor's race

Other than Casey DeSantis, potential GOP candidates include former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who said in January that he was considering a run, and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who sparred with the governor over immigration policies earlier this year.

Donalds may not have a lot of name recognition across Florida, but he has been a staunch Trump ally.

He was elected in 2020 to the U.S. House, and he is part of the conservative congressional Tea Party Caucus and is highly regarded by Republican colleagues in his circle.

He was also on a short list of people considered to be Trumps vice presidential running mate last year.
Women in Kyrgyzstan will be fined for wearing a full-body niqab under a new plan that is supported by the country's official Muslim governing body.

The authority says the garments could hide 'attackers in disguise' and are 'alien to our society'.

It comes as Central Asian officials seek to combat growing Islamist influence, according to local media.

The Muslim-majority country introduced a ban earlier this year on the veil, worn by some adult women, that covers most of the body except the eyes.

Those found wearing the garment could be fined 20,000 Som ($230), more than half the monthly average wage.

'The niqab is alien to our society,' the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan was quoted as saying by local media on Tuesday.

'It is possible that our niqab-wearing sisters are attackers in disguise, which threatens public safety.

'So it is important to openly show your face to be recognisable,' it added.

After becoming independent from the USSR, the five Muslim-majority countries of Central Asia saw a rapid revival of interest in Islamism that its secular governments have sought to suppress.

Women in Kyrgyzstan will be fined for wearing a full-body niqab under a new plan which is supported by the country's official Muslim governing body (stock image)

The authority says the garments could hide 'attackers in disguise' and are 'alien to our society' (stock image)

It comes as Central Asian officials seek to combat growing Islamist influence, according to local media (stock image of the Kyrgyz national flag)

The region has seen a rise in Islamic radicalisation in recent years, and thousands of Central Asian citizens left to join jihadist groups in the Middle East during the rise of the Islamic State between 2013-2015.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, who signed the ban into law in January, said in an interview Saturday that women had traditionally 'never worn a burqa' in the country and that the move was 'important for ensuring public safety'.

Central Asia's Islamic 'spiritual administrations' are nominally independent from the government but have their roots in the official, Soviet-era governing bodies that sought to enforce the state's authority over religion.
Two drug mules caught attempting to smuggle 160,000 worth of cannabis into the UK are also OnlyFans models, MailOnline can reveal.

Sophie Bannister, 30 and Levi-April Whalley, 31 have posted a series of provocative pictures of themselves in an attempt to earn money from the online platform which has more than 200 million users around the world.

Both women received suspended sentences after being detained for bringing the drugs back to the UK from the US but before taking their arrest, they have been regularly posting on OnlyFans.

Bannister admitted to MailOnline: 'I've not been posting on it recently because I've been busy with other things. Levi and I did it for a laugh and to help make ends meet.'

One picture shows the two women wearing cowboy hats with their naked rear ends exposed.

Bannister said: 'Yes, that's me and Levi...It was just a bit of fun.'

The women burst into tears when they were handed 18-month suspended sentences at Preston Crown Court last week.

And after walking free from court with suspended sentences they told the Daily Mail that while it might appear they escaped 'scot-free', their lives had been 'ruined.' They also blamed their downfall on being 'groomed' by international criminals.

Sophie Bannister, 30, and Levi-April Whalley, 31, have posted a series of provocative pictures of themselves in an attempt to earn money from OnlyFans. One picture shows the two women wearing cowboy hats with their naked rear ends exposed

The pair have posted a series of near-nude images of themselves to earn money

Bannister admitted to MailOnline: 'I've not been posting on it recently because I've been busy with other things'

Ex-nurse Whalley  who now faces being struck off  and Bannister, who was educated at boarding school continued to insist they thought the cases contained watches.

But they admit that they felt 'panicky' about what might really be inside as they flew home  saying they were in 'far too deep to turn around'.

The pair were arrested on arrival at Birmingham International Airport following a three-day pre-Christmas shopping trip to New York in 2023 when the incriminating packages were found in their luggage.

The 'true friends' sobbed and held hands in the dock as a judge imposed suspended prison sentences after being told neither of them had been in trouble since then.

The pair  both originally from Blackburn, Lancashire - have nearly 60,000 followers on Instagram, and until their arrest regularly posted about enjoying beach holidays around the world.

A woman whom Bannister had met in Marbella contacted her over Instagram offering them 2,000 each to bring what they thought were watches and jewellery back from New York, they allege.

Whalley told MailOnline the offer was 'you can go on holiday for free and go shopping, and then at the end of it you brought some suitcases back, but you didn't have to think about it until the day that you actually came back'.

'It's something I've always wanted, to go to New York, since I was a little girl. I thought 'Oh, let's do it', but not thinking about the actual consequences.'

As a result, they 'very stupidly' agreed.

Bannister's case was packed with 34 heat sealed packages containing 16.5kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of 40,500, Preston Crown Court heard this week

Continuing to insist she had no idea of the contents, Bannister told the Mail she was 'absolutely heartbroken and gobsmacked'

Sophie Bannister (pictured in New York) and Levi-April Whalley, both 30, from Blackburn, were snared with 35kg of the Class B drug in their luggage

Whalley  who has since had a baby - said they were told to 'go and enjoy your holiday' and that at the end of it they would have to bring the watches back with them.

However, after being handed her case and checking onto their flight to Birmingham via Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport on December 9, 2023, Bannister said they felt 'a bit anxious'.

'I wasn't 100 per cent what was in it to be honest,' she said.

'I just started to get a bit panicky.'

Whalley said it was only at the end of the break that 'reality hit'  but claimed they felt they had no choice but to smuggle the cases due to being 'threatened'.

'We had an absolutely amazing time in New York.

'Then on the last day when we had to get these cases back it was like, 'S***, what are we actually doing?'

'But we felt like we were already in far too deep to turn around at that point.'

They were stopped by Customs officers after picking up the locked cases  for which they didn't have keys - from the carousel at Birmingham airport.

'He asked us if we'd packed our cases ourselves,' said Bannister.

'Levi said 'Yes' at first, but when he asked us to open it, we said 'No.'

'And then when he opened it, we found what was inside.'

Bannister's case was packed with 34 heat sealed packages containing 16.5kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of 40,500, Preston Crown Court heard this week.

A further 39 packages containing 19kg of cannabis were in Whalley's case worth an estimated 121,500.

Continuing to insist she had no idea of the contents, Bannister told the Mail she was 'absolutely heartbroken and gobsmacked'.

'We thought that's it, our lives are over. 'The friends spent more than 24 hours in police custody  during which time Bannister said she was hospitalised due to a severe panic attack  before being released on bail.

Both insist they were 'groomed' as a result of their social media profiles  and argue they were vulnerable to exploitation due to coming out of difficult relationships and  in Bannister's case - debt.

Ex-nurse Whalley  who now faces being struck off  and Bannister, who was educated at boarding school continued to insist they thought the cases contained watches

Sophie Bannister (pictured) and Levi-April Whalley, both 30 from Blackburn, told border officials they had been on a three-day shopping spree in the Big Apple

Whalley told the Mail that at the time she had wanted to 'escape myself'.

'I thought 'Yeah, why not', not really thinking much about the consequences.'

Whalley believes traffickers target women like her on social media leading a 'certain lifestyle', sucking them in with the offer of a 'free holiday'.

'They approach the type of vulnerable people because even though they might have so many followers on Instagram they're not as confident as they may seem.

'They've obviously seen that we were travelling a lot.'

She insists that her reaction to the offer today as a mother-of-one would have been 'absolutely not'.

'So, it just it proves that that we had some vulnerability, that we took that risk and opportunity.'

Whalley lost her job as an adult nurse after informing her employer of her arrest.

She now faces being struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council  she is currently under an interim suspension.

Whalley is now juggling running a beauty business with being a single mother.

Bannister  who attended 15,000-a-year Kirkham Grammar School  used to run a clothing brand in Dubai but is now living with friends in Manchester following her arrest.

'It's caused a lot of upset and hurt,' she said.

'My family all fell out with me. It's not been easy.'

Whalley believes traffickers target women like her on social media leading a 'certain lifestyle', sucking them in with the offer of a 'free holiday'

Whalley is pictured on a beach in Thailand in one of her social media snaps

The pair have been bombarded with 'harsh' messages about their crimes since their sentencing this week.

'We're being treated as if we've murdered someone,' said Whalley, whose mother died last week.

'It's disgusting, I've got a baby here and I'm being trolled.

'What I really don't like is people saying I've had a baby to avoid me going to jail. That simply wasn't the case.

'I'm ashamed for my family, I've got to live with that for the rest of my life.

'But the things that people are saying, that doesn't go away either. We've made a mistake and we're really sorry for that.

'And you're paying for it, not just in the terms of the suspended sentence.

'Everything is different now and I do I look back and I think I wish I didn't do that.

'At the end of the day we chose that path and we've got to pay the price.'

'We've both said we're ashamed,' Bannister added.

'I wish we'd made better decisions, to be honest.'

Both women pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a class B drug.

Last Wednesday at Preston Crown Court Judge Richard Archer gave Whalley a 16-month sentence suspended for 18 months, with 10 days rehabilitation and 80 hours of unpaid work.

Bannister was sentenced to 20 months suspended for 18 months with 30 days rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid work.
Sir Keir Starmer today confirmed Labour's plan to give 16-year-olds the vote - despite opponents claiming it's a bid to rig future elections.

The Prime Minister said he would 'definitely' lower the age limit for voting at general elections, as was promised in Labour's manifesto ahead of last July's contest.

'It's a commitment we made, it's a commitment we intend to keep,' Sir Keir told a group of senior MPs.

Following Labour's general election victory last year, the PM did not include extending the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds in his Government's initial legislative agenda.

But, despite it's exclusion from the King's Speech in July, ministers pledged an elections bill would come later in the parliamentary cycle.

This legislation would see 16 and 17-year-olds able to vote in the next general election, scheduled for 2029, the Government signalled.

The Tories have warned lowering the voting age is a bid by Labour to permanently keep themselves in power - with younger people more likely to back Sir Keir's party.

Sir Keir Starmer today confirmed Labour's plan to give 16-year-olds the vote - despite opponents claiming it's a bid to rig future elections

The Prime Minister said he would 'definitely' lower the age limit for voting at general elections, as was promised in Labour's manifesto ahead of last July's contest.

Prior to July's general election, then home secretary James Cleverly said it was part of an attempt 'lock in their power permanently'.

'Because they don't really feel confident they're going to be able to make a credible case to the British people at the next election,' he added.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also recently accused the Government of trying to 'rig' the electoral system.

But he added that Labour 'might well be in for a shock when they find out just how many of them end up voting for Reform'.

Appearing before Parliament's Liaison Committee, Sir Keir was asked when the Government might bring forward laws to lower the voting age for all elections.

Those aged 16 and over can already vote in Scottish and Welsh parliamentary and local elections.

But the voting age is 18 for parliamentary and local elections in Northern Ireland, local elections in England, and UK parliamentary elections.

The PM told the committee: 'We will definitely get it done, it's a manifesto commitment and we intend to honour it.

'I think that if you're old enough to go out to work, if you're old enough to pay your taxes, then you're entitled to have a say on how your taxes are spent.

'Also, we do have voting at a younger age in different parts of the UK and the sky didn't fall in. It's a commitment we made, it's a commitment we intend to keep.'

Asked whether he would like to see more political education for younger people - as Labour seeks to lower the voting age - the PM added: 'I would term it as sort of more education about citizenship, rather than sort of pure political indoctrination!

'Citizenship and how the state works, how you participate in it, what the institutions and structures are.

'I'm very pleased to see that is part of the curriculum, I think it's important that everyone learns about citizenship.'
European pharmaceutical companies have warned EU chiefs that Donald Trump's tariffs could cause an 'exodus' from Europe and toward the United States.

The European Commission president was warned about the potential shift at a meeting on Tuesday.

Pharma trade lobby European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) said it had called on EU President Ursula von der Leyen to push for 'rapid and radical action' to mitigate the 'risk of exodus' to the United States.

Pharmaceuticals were exempt from sweeping tariffs on US imports announced by US President Donald Trump last week, but he has warned they will face separate tariffs.

The EFPIA, whose members include European pharma giants Bayer, Novartis and Novo Nordisk, said the EU needs to change its regulatory framework for the industry to make it more conducive to innovation and strengthen Europe's intellectual property provisions.

The EFPIA has repeatedly warned that Europe's pharma sector will lose out to increased competition from the US, China and emerging markets if the EU does not amend a proposed revamp of laws governing the sector.

'Now with the uncertainty created by the threat of tariffs, there is little incentive to invest in the EU and significant drivers to relocate to the US,' the EFPIA statement read.

The CEOs of EU-headquartered pharma companies as well as biotech lobby Europabio and generics trade group Medicines for Europe were invited to the meeting.

President Donald Trump has warned that pharmaceutical companies could soon face separate tariffs

The EFPIA has called on EU President Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) to push for 'rapid and radical action' to mitigate the 'risk of exodus' to the United States

EU chiefs have been warned that they risk an exodus of companies to the United States

Pharmaceutical companies are currently exempt from tariffs, but have been warned to prepare for them in the coming months

However it is understood that Europe's largest generics maker, Sandoz, was not.

Europe and the US have interconnected supply chains for medicines. The US depends on medicines partly produced in Europe that bring in hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue.

EU medical and pharmaceutical product exports to the United States totalled about 90 billion euros ($97.05 billion) in 2023, according to latest Eurostat data.

European pharma giants have recently been expanding production facilities in the United States.

The United States is the biggest pharma market by sales for big pharma companies, including both US and European headquartered ones.

Sales in North America accounted for nearly 50 per cent of world pharmaceutical sales in 2021, compared with nearly 25 per cent for Europe, according to EFPIA.

The European Commission on Monday proposed counter-tariffs of 25 per cent on a range of US goods, including soybeans, nuts and motorcycles.
A talented young costume designer was enjoying her dream life working on Broadway...until an unhinged stranger stabbed her with a broken bottle.

Megan Berg, 25, was strolling through the affluent Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo at 3pm on Monday when police say a homeless man slashed her in the neck from behind, leaving her bleeding out on the street. She remains in a critical condition.

An NYPD spokesman told DailyMail.com that Muslim Brunson, 46, was charged the following day with attempted murder in the second degree, second degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Brunson's alleged rampage unfolded in the area of Broome and Wooster Streets, a ritzy tourist hotspot known for its designer stores, restaurants and celebrity residents.

The suspect is also said to have assaulted another young woman moments before attacking Berg.

A NYPD spokesperson said he hit a 29-year-old woman in the back with a glass bottle at the intersection. She was unhurt and ran away, but the bottle shattered.

Brunson then allegedly used the broken bottle to stab Berg in the neck. She was rushed to Bellevue Hospital for surgery.

George Berg, Megan's father, said she moved to NYC from her home state of Arizona to pursue her aspiration of working as a costume designer.

The heartbroken father of young costume designer Megan Berg (pictured), who was attacked with a broken bottle in New York City, has said she had been 'living her dream' in the Big Apple

The heartbroken father of a young costume designer who was attacked with a broken bottle in New York City has said she was 'living her dream' until the horror incident left her in a critical condition this week. (Pictured: The bloody aftermath of the attack in SoHo, Manhattan)

Muslim Brunson used a glass bottle to attack two young women in Manhattan, police said

'Moving to New York City was her dream,' he told the New York Post. 'She's been doing costume design since she was in middle school.

'It's just crazy. She's still hanging on. She's bubbly and loves what she's doing. She's full of life.'

'We're hanging on,' he added, his voice cracking. 'It's tough. My wife flew to New York this morning. I haven't heard anything other than [Megan is] still in ICU.'

Disturbing photographs from the scene show blood splattered across a pedestrian crossing and shards of a glass bottle near by.

Witnesses said they heard Berg scream amid the attack and several people rushed over to apply pressure to her wound until EMS arrived.

Police said Brunson has been arrested several times before and has a history of mental health treatment.

Megan Berg (pictured), 25, was strolling through the affluent Lower Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo at around 3pm on Monday when police say Muslim Brunson slashed her in the neck from behind, leaving her bleeding out on the street

The heartbroken father of young costume designer Megan Berg (pictured), who was attacked with a broken bottle in New York City has said she had been 'living her dream' in the Big Apple

Brunson's alleged rampage unfolded in the area of Broome and Wooster Streets in SoHo

His rap sheet includes an alleged attack on July 4, 2022, that left a 53-year-old woman with serious injuries to her face.

The NYPD told DailyMail.com that Brunson attacked the woman at Fulton Street in the city's ritzy Financial District by pushing her from behind, causing her to strike a subway pole.

'The victim sustained bruising and swelling to the face,' a spokesperson said, adding that she was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Brunson also allegedly robbed and assaulted a 13-year-old boy in Brooklyn in 2019.

The NYPD told DailyMail.com that Brunson, 46, was charged at 1.50am on Tuesday with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon

Jade McLeon, a theater performer and former colleague, told The Post that Berg was 'a sweet girl'

Witnesses said they heard Berg scream amid the attack on Monday, and several people rushed over to apply pressure to her wound until EMS arrived

His latest alleged victim, Berg, had a glittering career under her belt already at the age of 25.

She had worked on musicals since 2017 in her home state of Arizona, and was most recently an assistant costume designer on off-Broadway productions of Fallen Angels, The Irrepressible Magic of the Tropics and Music City: A New Musical.

Jade McLeon, a theater performer and former colleague, told The Post that Berg was 'a sweet girl'.

'She's really friendly, lovely. We talked about theater. She's passionate about theater.'
A gorgeous Labrador looked completely overjoyed on being reunited with his owner nearly a month after vanishing during a tornado.

The dog, called Linus, appeared to smile as he saw owner Curtis Bush for the first time since the March 15 twister that destroyed their home in Tylertown, Mississippi.

That storm destroyed the family's home, left Bush's young son in a wheelchair and killed their other dog.

They feared Linus had been killed too - but thankfully, there was one bit of happy news to cheer them up after weeks of anguish.

It came after Bush contacted the Mississippi Animal Project, a nonprofit that works to protect animals in the state.

The nonprofit then contacted Jason Miller, a drone specialist and filmmaker with Raven 6 Rising.

Miller used thermal technology to scan the nearby area for any sight of the dog and videotaped his journey attempting to locate the lost lab.

As he scanned the area, Miller whispered to himself, 'Please let me find this dog.' Suddenly, the drone operator saw a yellow lab walking alone in the wilderness.

'Oh my gosh, is that him?!' Miller muttered in disbelief.

Linus the Labrador's joy was clear to see after he was reunited with his owner following a tornado that destroyed the family's home

The dog spent almost a month wandering close to his home until he was found by drone specialist Jason Miller

Linus' emotional reunion with owner Curtis Bush was caught on camera

Once he zoomed in and confirmed that the dog was indeed was Linus, Miller burst into tears and called Bush immediately.

Miller told Bush his lab's location and the excited dog owner hopped into the car to reunite with his pup.

Raven 6 Rising documented the experience and said the journey was more than just a testament to the success of the technology.

'It's about compassion, connection, and the hope of reuniting loved ones,' they said.

Miller recalled the moment he saw Linus to Inside Edition, 'The emotion that you saw on film where I actually broke down and started crying - it was real.'

Bush said that it was 'exhilarating' to see Linus running toward him and he was relieved that his lab only had minor injuries.

He told local NBC affiliate, WDAM, that he believed God was drawing his family closer to Linus.

Even though the tornado took their home, Bush told the outlet, 'We will rebuild. This won't take us out.'

Curtis Bush said that even though his family lost their home, he had faith that they would rebuild

Miller located the dog using drone technology and burst into tears when he finally spotted the lost lab

The tornado destroyed multiple homes across Tylertown and Darbun on March 15

Bush's wife and son were hospitalized after they sustained injuries from the tornado destruction, but are back home recovering.

The family is staying in a camper that was gifted to them until they find a permanent home.

Miller said he was honored to reunite the family with their dog, telling WDAM, 'That moment was one of my top moments to be blessed and witness that firsthand.'

The Mississippi Animal Project praised Miller's work, writing on their website, that Linus's survival story was 'extraordinary.'

'Jasons compassion and dedication shine through as he works tirelessly to reunite lost pets with their families,' they added.

The nonprofit added that Linus was 'thriving' since his tremendous rescue and continues to recover with his family by his side.
A Texas man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after admitting to strangling his pregnant wife to death after she gave him a second chance.

Nasib Ahsan, 35, pleaded guilty to murdering his wife Nawreen Tuli on Christmas Day in 2023, in what prosecutors described as a brutal, senseless slaying.

'This was a vicious, premeditated act of domestic violence that stole the life of a young woman and her unborn child,' Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said this week after he was sentenced.

'My team fought to hold him fully accountable and ensure he can never harm another woman.'

In the weeks before the murder, Tuli filed a protective order against her husband after he allegedly assaulted her.

But family members said she decided to give him a second chance for the sake of their unborn child, and had taken him back into the home they shared in McKinney, Texas.

On Christmas Day, Ahsan called his uncle and admitted to murdering his wife, saying an argument they had when he got home from work escalated into violence.

When officers arrived at their apartment, Ahsan told police that his wife was napping inside, before they found her choked to death on her bed.

Nasib Ahsan, 35, pleaded guilty to murdering his wife Nawreen Tuli on Christmas Day in 2023, just weeks after she had given him a second chance in their relationship

Nawreen Tuli was two months pregnant when Ahsen strangled her to death

When officers arrived at Ahsan's home for a welfare check after his uncle called 911, Ahsan initially claimed his wife choked him first, leading him to choke her back in response, according to an arrest affidavit reported by Fox4.

Tuli was two months pregnant at the time of the slaying, and an autopsy found her injuries were consistent with strangulation.

Her niece Tasneem Kabir revealed after the murder that Ahsan was already facing legal trouble for an alleged assault on Tuli a month prior, which led her to file a protective order against him.

'She called my mom when her husband got arrested, and she was shaking with fear,' she recalled.

It is unclear how long Ahsan and Tuli were together before the murder, but her family said she had only moved from Bangladesh a year before to start a new life in America.

Kabir said her aunt had given Ahsan another chance at their relationship because she was pregnant, saying: 'She always wanted to have a family.'

'That's why she thought maybe he will get better, but eventually he didn't,' she said.

Tuli's family said she gave her killer another chance because she was pregnant and had 'always wanted a family'

Ahsan was arrested at the home he shared with Tuli in McKinney, Texas, (pictured) after he confessed to killing his wife to his uncle

Kabir said she hoped her aunt's story could serve as a warning to other victims of domestic violence to seek help before it is too late.

'She was always an independent woman, but I dont know what happened that she just accepted everything,' she said.

She added at the time: 'I want him to pay for what he has done. I want him to be an example that no one can do that to anyone.'
The heartbroken family of a woman crushed to death under her own campervan during a fierce storm in Australia have paid tribute to the 'beautiful' and 'courageous' adventurer.

Eleanor Thompson, 35, is believed to have been seeking shelter from Cyclone Alfred's 100mph winds when the storm toppled her vehicle.

The hospitality worker from Mold, Wales, was staying in a house in remote Burringbar, in New South Wales, while the householder was away in Melbourne.

In an emotional tribute, her devastated father Peter told MailOnline: 'She worked and travelled and visited many countries. She went to Cambodia, Vietnam, Bali.

'She was an adventurer. She was as courageous as a lion, as curious as a cat, and delicate as a butterfly.

'We are all devastated by what's happened. Our life will never be the same. She was joyful and that fun was contagious. She is irreplaceable.

'She had a big heart. She wanted people to enjoy life. She had a network of friends around the world.'

Eleanor Thompson, 35, a hospitality worker from Mold, Wales, is believed to have been seeking shelter from Cyclone Alfred's 100mph winds when the storm toppled her vehicle

A hospitality worker from Mold, Wales, she was sleeping in a house in remote Burringbar, in New South Wales, while the householder was away in Melbourne

A damaged home is pictured after a tree uprooted by strong winds crashed into the structure in the suburb of Elanora as Cyclone Alfred passed near the Gold Coast on March 8, 2025

He added: 'Tributes on social media have given us a lot of comfort.'

Ms Thompson was one of two children and had previously worked in insurance, in marketing, in hospitality and in a dentists. For part of her career she had lived in London.

Known as Ellie to friends, a post-mortem examination found she died as a result of 'multiple injuries' on March 8.

She had exited her van, which then possibly rolled over and injured her during the storm, senior coroner John Gittins said in an inquest this week.

Her mother Amanda continued: 'She was a beautiful person.

'It's been very, very hard but the response on social media, she had friends around the world and they have given us a lot of strength and comfort. She was well-loved.'

During Storm Alfred authorities in the region had warned people to stay indoors to avoid putting themselves and the emergency services at risk.

Ms Thompson was one of two children and had previously worked in insurance, in marketing, in hospitality and in a dentists. For part of her career she had lived in London

Known as Ellie to friends, a post-mortem examination found she died as a result of 'multiple injuries' on March 8

She had exited her van, which then possibly rolled over and injured her during the storm, senior coroner John Gittins said in an inquest this week

Fallen trees following Cyclone Alfred are pictured above in Pottsville Beach, Northern New South Wales, Monday, March 10, 2025

Local residents paddle a canoe down a street in South Lismore, New South Wales, Australia, on March 10, 2025

Around 290,000 homes were left without power for days following the storm in early March, with many Australians needing to be rescued.

Heavy rainfall totals in southeast Queensland reached almost 1200mm in some areas.

Brisbane was inundated by almost 280mm on March 10 alone - the city's biggest 24-hour total in more than 50 years.

The mayor of the Gold Coast revealed '80 per cent of our beach is gone' due to coastal erosion caused by the cyclone - which was later downgraded to a tropical storm - so a sand bumping barge was sent to the region to rectify the damage.
The Trump administration has announced fines for illegal immigrants under deportation orders who refuse to leave the country.

Those who are in the U.S. illegally and refuse to leave will be charged $998 per day until they go, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced.

'If they don't [leave], they will face the consequences,' a DHS spokesperson said.

'This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order.'

Officials are planning to roll out the fines under a rarely used 1996 law that allows fines to be imposed on those avoiding removal orders.

The law was first enforced in 2018 under the Republican's first term.

However, Joe Biden's administration suspended the rule in 2021, saying the penalties were 'ineffective and unnecessary punitive measures.'

One senior Trump administration official said the fines will be retroactive up to five years, dating back to 2019, which could result in penalties totaling over $1 million in some circumstances.

President Donald Trump's administration is planning on imposing a nearly $1,000 fine per day on migrants who stay in the U.S. after they are given deportation orders

Migrants turn themselves in to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers after crossing over a section of border wall into the U.S. on January 05, 2025 in Ruby, Arizona

The Department of Defense loads illegal immigrants onto a military plane for deportation on January 23, 2025

The fines reportedly would only apply to the 1.6 million migrants in the U.S. facing deportation orders.

The administration also has plans to seize the property of those who refuse to cough up the cash for the fines, according to White House emails reviewed by Reuters.

U.S. officials on those emails discussed how the Department of Justices civil asset forfeiture division could be used to help with seizing the migrant's assets.

DHS previously warned in a social media post on March 31 that fines were being considered for migrants found not in compliance with their deportation orders.

During Trump's first administration Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued fines ranging from $300,000 to $500,000 to migrants who refused to depart the U.S. by taking refuge in churches.

In 2019, Edith Espinal Moreno, a migrant from Mexico, was ordered to pay $497,000 for 'failing to depart the U.S. as previously agreed.'

Moreno had overstayed her deportation order by two years and took refuge at an Ohio church during that time.

Eventually, ICE dismissed the fine.

There are over 1.6 million migrants in the U.S. who have been ordered by a judge to be deported

Migrants plead with Texas National Guard to be let into the U.S. near El Paso, Texas, on March 20, 2024

Emails discussing the new fines showed that White House Deputy Chief of Staff for policy Stephen Miller was pushing for the reimplementation.

During those talks, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials requested that ICE take the lead on issuing the fines, arguing that CBP does not have the necessary infrastructure to administer the penalties.

When the fines could be implemented remains unclear.
An American academic faces 15 years in prison in Thailand after being accused of insulting the royal family.

Paul Chambers, a 58-year-old lecturer at Thailand's Naresuan University, was arrested last week following a complaint filed by the army.

A lawyer for Chambers has said the accusations stemmed from a blurb for an online academic seminar last year at which he was a speaker. The blurb was posted on a website of a research institute based outside of Thailand.

'He has denied all charges,' Wannaphat Jenroumjit, who is part of the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group, said before adding Chambers was denied bail.

Chambers told Bloomberg the Thai military filed a complaint about comments he made regarding the powers of the prime minister and the monarchy.

He claims his response did not break the law against insulting the monarchy. Still, Chambers said, a Thai-language newspaper demanded his firing and a Thai security official questioned his employer.

Chambers is originally from Oklahoma but has lived in Thailand since 1993.

He was also charged with a computer crime violation.

Paul Chambers faces 15 years in jail after being accused of insulting the Thai royal family

Chambers said Thai military filed a complaint about comments he made regarding the powers of the prime minister and the monarchy. Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn is seen in 2024

'He came to acknowledge the two charges, including a violation of Section 112,' a Phitsanulok police officer said, according to Reuters.

Thailand's monarchy is protected by Section 112 of the country's penal code, which says anyone found guilty of defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir apparent or regent shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years.

Thai royalists consider the monarchy sacrosanct. Public discussion of the law has for decades been a taboo issue, with dozens of people jailed for perceived insults of the crown.

Since student-led, anti-government protests in 2020 that saw calls to abolish the law, 279 people have been charged with the offense, according to data compiled by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group.

Foreigners are rarely prosecuted for insulting the monarchy, but in 2020 an American was pardoned after spending part of a two and a half years in jail for translating and posting a banned book about the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Several prominent student leaders who made calls to scrap the law have since been imprisoned.

Asked about Chambers, the US State Department said it was concerned about the arrest of a US citizen.

'We regularly urge Thai authorities, both privately and publicly, to protect freedom of expression in accordance with Thailand's international obligations,' a spokesperson said.

Chambers is originally from Oklahoma but has lived in Thailand since 1993. He is an expert on militaries and democracy in Southeast Asia

Thai royalists consider the monarchy sacrosanct. Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida are pictured

Chambers is a special adviser on international affairs at Naresuan University in Phitsanulok.

He is an expert on militaries and democracy in Southeast Asia and has a doctorate from Northern Illinois University.

'We express our grave concern over the recent issuance of an arrest warrant against Dr. Chambers, a well-respected social scientist, under Section 112 of Thailands Criminal Code and the Computer Crime Act,' The Southeast Asian Human Rights and Peace Studies Network said in a statement.

'His academic work has contributed to a better understanding of Thai social and political dynamics, and had inspired many lives of Thai students through teaching, research, and mentoring.

'The use of criminal lawunder any circumstancesagainst scholars, researchers and students, directly undermines the dignity and integrity of both social and educational institutions.

'We call on the Thai authorities to respect due process, ensure transparency, and guarantee the protection of academic freedoms.

'We urge the immediate withdrawal of charges against Dr. Chambers. The right to study, publish, and speak freely is essential for all societies committed to freedom justice and democracy.'
A wicked stepmother broke down in tears as she plead guilty to her role in starving her 12-year-old stepson to death.

Nichole Lea Scott, 51, of West Haven, Utah, admitted on Monday to a heart-wrenching array of crimes after her actions led to the emaciated death of Gavin Peterson in July 2024.

Scott, along with the boy's father, Shane Peterson, 47, and the boy's oldest brother Tyler Peterson, 22, are accused of starving the child to death and subjecting him to years of abuse, including locking him in a room and providing only scraps of food and water.

'When talking about feeding the child victim, the three suspects talk about only giving the child one-third of a cup of water, only giving him a piece of bread and mustard, or not feeding him food at all,' charging documents obtained by East Idaho News state.

'All of this messaging and evidence revealed a prolonged pattern of abuse over the course of several years.'

While in Ogden's 2nd District Court on Monday, the 'evil' stepmother was seen weeping and emotional as she tearfully pleaded guilty to murder, three counts of intentional aggravated child abuse, two counts of obstruction of justice, child endangerment and possession of a controlled substance.

Shane and Tyler both pleaded guilty to child abuse homicide and other child abuse charges on March 20.

Part of the guilty pleas for both men involved admitting to the factual basis of the charges.

Nichole Lea Scott, 51, of West Haven, Utah, admitted on Monday to a chilling array of crimes after her actions led to the emaciated death of her stepson Gavin Peterson in July 2024

Gavin Peterson, 12, died on July 9. Deputies from the Webster County Sheriff's Office were called to his father's home in West Haven after it was reported that the young boy was 'not breathing' and 'experiencing vomiting' for days on end

They both testified that investigator statements were true and that Gavin was subjected to a 'prolonged pattern of abuse over the course of several years.'

Sentencing for both Scott and the boy's father will be held on May 12.

Deputies from the Webster County Sheriff's Office were called to his father's home in West Haven on July 9 after reports that the young boy was 'not breathing' and 'experiencing vomiting' for days on end.

Officers and paramedics attempted to resuscitate Gavin who was found on the bathroom floor. He was then taken to the hospital, where he later died, police said.

His father, stepmother and older brother were all arrested in connection to the boy's horrific death, which the court heard was brought on by 'a prolonged pattern of abuse over the course of several years.'

Sickening surveillance footage and text messages between the three revealed Gavin's final days, where he was only fed a piece of bread with mustard, one-third of a cup of water, and was not allowed to use the bathroom, according to the affidavit.

The deputy noted that the bathroom floor was 'wet and the child's skin was cold to the touch,' the affidavit said.

'Nichole and Shane reported that the child had been ill for several days, experiencing vomiting and seizures, but was not taken to a doctor. On the day of the incident, Nichole found the child in his bedroom, covered in vomit, and assisted him into the shower.'

The 'evil' stepmother was weeping and emotional as she tearfully pleaded guilty to murder, three counts of intentional aggravated child abuse, two counts of obstruction of justice, child endangerment and possession of a controlled substance

The boy's father, stepmother and older brother were all arrested in connection with his horrific death, which was brought on by 'a prolonged pattern of abuse over several years'

Scott, along with the boy's father and the boy's oldest brother, have been accused of starving the 12-year-old boy to death, subjecting him to years of abuse, including locking him in a room and providing only scraps of food and water

Once Gavin was taken to the hospital, doctors found that his body 'showed malnutrition to the point the child's internal organs had shut down completely'.

'The child's body was visibly emaciated,' according to the affidavit.

Upon further investigation into the child's death, detectives discovered text messages between Tyler and Shane where they discussed the condition of Gavin.

In the messages, Tyler told his father that Gavin was not breathing, asking what he should do, the affidavit said.

Investigators also found home surveillance footage that showed Tyler making three trips to the shed in the backyard around the same time they called 911.

'During two of these trips, Tyler appeared to be carrying items to the shed. A search of the property uncovered small surveillance cameras in the shed Tyler entered,' the affidavit said.

Screenshots of surveillance footage that monitored Gavin's room were also uncovered on Nichole's phone that showed the horrendous conditions the boy was living in.

'In most of the screenshots, the child is only wearing a heavily saturated diaper. The child can be seen curling up on the carpet-less floor of the room, which lacked bedding or blankets.

'Several screenshots also showed sores on the child's back. The room appeared to have multiple cameras, as the infrared lights from other devices were visible in the screenshots.

Once Gavin was taken to the hospital doctors found that his body 'showed malnutrition to the point the child's internal organs had shut down completely,' according to the affidavit

Screenshots of surveillance footage that monitored Gavin's room were also uncovered on Nichole's phone that showed the horrendous conditions the boy was living in. Pictured: The Peterson family home in West Haven, Utah

'The photo also showed the door handle with a locking mechanism positioned on the outside of the room,' the arrest report said.

After searching through the suspects' phones, detectives found text messages where they discussed if Gavin was allowed to 'use the bathroom' or 'be given any food.'

Their conversations also included talk about 'hitting or beating' Gavin, including 'using a pinata stick to do so,' the report said.

'They also talk about how the door to the child's bedroom is locked and how he has to knock on his door in order to leave.

'When talking about feeding the child victim, the three suspects talk about only giving the child one-third of a cup of water, only giving him a piece of bread and mustard, or not feeding him food at all.

'All of this messaging and evidence revealed a prolonged pattern of abuse over the course of several years,' the affidavit said.
A member of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's security detail was arrested in Brussels last week after getting in a fight at a hotel.

The person was a shift supervisor with the Diplomatic Security Service assigned to the U.S. top diplomat, according to a report by the Washington Examiner.

The incident happened last Monday a hotel bar. The agent reportedly was arguing with hotel staff and then got in a fight with responding police officers.

Just days later, Rubio stayed at the same Hotel Amigo while attending the meeting of NATO's foreign ministers.

The person's name was not revealed in the report, but it stated the individual was a veteran agent on the advance party to Belgium.

The group is responsible for securing the hotel and carrying out final security preparations for the secretary of state's visit.

The incident involving the arrest of a Diplomatic Security Service agent happened at a hotel in Brussels ahead of Secretary of State Marco Rubio (pictured) visiting to attend a NATO meeting

According to Washington Examiner sources, the agent arrested had been 'behaving erratically and became irate when hotel staff refused to reopen the bar beyond its normal hours.'

When hotel staff attempted to persuade the agent to return to his room, that's when he became 'physically aggressive' and police were called.

The agent ended up being arrested after engaging in an altercation with multiple police officers, according to the report.

In the end, he was released from police custody later that day after the U.S. Embassy intervened.

Hotel Amigo where the incident reportedly took place ahead of Rubio's visit

'The Diplomatic Security Service is aware of allegations of an incident involving an employee in Brussels, Belgium, on March 31, 2025,' a State Department spokesperson said in a statement provided to DailyMail.com.

The spokesperson added while they do not discuss specific personnel matters or their protective operations 'the allegations are being examined.'

While the person's identity has not been released, Rubio's detail has reportedly been under severe strain and 'stretched to a near-breaking point by senior leadership.

One source told the Washington Examiner that the strained resources have lead to protection vulnerabilities.

A State Department employee said that the shift supervisors on Rubio's detail have an 'incomprehensible workload' and work six to seven days a week.

They said they 'truly believe' the incident was the result of 'incomprehensible strain' and the Diplomatic Security Service owes them 'a very fair evaluation of these circumstances in their totality.'
Bill Gates is set to leave his three children a staggering $500 million each despite previously insisting they would be given a 'minuscule' portion of his wealth.

The Microsoft founder told the Raj Shamani podcast that he would be bequeathing kids Jennifer, 28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22, less than one percent of his fortune.

But with a net worth of $149 billion per Bloomberg, the relatively small portion still equates to a massive sum.

'My kids got a great upbringing and education, but less than one percent of the total wealth because I decided it wouldn't be a favor to them,' Gates said.

'It's not a dynasty, I'm not asking them to run Microsoft. I want to give them a chance to have their own earnings and success.'

The billionaire suggested to DailyMail.com in 2011 that he would be leaving his children around $10 million.

'It will be a minuscule portion of my wealth,' he said. 'It will mean they will have to be their own way.

At that time, the tech mogul's fortune was around $56 billion.

Bill Gates is set to leave his three children a staggering $500 million each despite previously insisting they would be given a 'minuscule' portion of his wealth

Gates (pictured with daughters Jennifer, center, and Phoebe) previously suggested he would leave his kids around $10 million

Today, Gates is the sixth richest man in the world. However, he plans to give away a lot of his wealth to charitable causes.

He and his ex-wife Melinda French have long been up front with their children about their inheritance and have tried to model their philanthropic values through their non-profit the Gates Foundation.

'You don't want your kids to ever be confused about your support for them and your love for them,' Gates told the podcast.

'So I do think explaining early on your philosophy, that you're going to treat them all equally and give them incredible opportunities, but that the highest calling for these resources is to go back to the neediest through the foundation.'

Gates's youngest daughter recently opened up about how her 'privileged nepo baby' status gave rise to feelings of intense insecurity throughout her student years.

The 22-year-old, who studied Human Biology at California's Stanford University and graduated last year, discussed her father's extraordinary success and the pressure that brings on her new podcast, The Burnouts.

'I had so much insecurity and such a desire to prove myself at Stanford,' she said.

'I came in, I was like, ''I'm so privileged, I'm a nepo baby'', like I had so much insecurity around that. I feel it's so hard when you're a freshman in college because you have no experience. You have nothing.'

He and ex-wife Melinda (pictured with son Rory) hope to instill a sense of hard work in their three children which means they don't want them to rely on generational wealth

But with a net worth of $149 billion per Bloomberg, the relatively small portion still equates to a massive sum. Pictured: Gates' sprawling Seattle estate

Despite her billionaire father's gravitas, the graduate, who is dating Sir Paul McCartney's grandson, Arthur Donald, said she was 'flat-out rejected' from a business class after devising her first pitch, Bluetooth tampons, giving women health status updates throughout their periods.

'This was our first big failure of many, many, many,' Phoebe admitted. 'I don't think it's really a shocker that we got flat-out rejected from this class - they asked us, ''What problem does this solve? How would it make money?'' We couldn't answer those questions.'

Gates' only son Rory reportedly works as a congressional analyst whilst completing a a doctorate, according to Business Insider.

His oldest child Jennifer attended medical school and is completing her residency in New York.

She recently welcomed her second child with husband Nayel Nassar. Their daughter Mia was born on their third wedding anniversary and is a younger sister to their first child Leila.

Gates has not disclosed how much inheritance, if any, his grandchildren will receive.
Usha Vance broke her silence about her new life as Second Lady of the United States, revealing what it was like to be part of the MAGA political uprising to re-elect Donald Trump.

'Obviously, our lives are not normal, and it feels almost absurd to say that they are,' she said in an interview with The Free Press writer Peter Savodnik.

Savodnik questioned her about the new MAGA world she had joined, where the majority of women are blonde, with 'low-cut blouses and nine-inch heels.'

'People don't seem to care all that much what I look like,' Usha replied laughing.

'I'm laughing, because it would be really hard for me to be blonde ... that color would look totally absurd.'

After the Inauguration the internet buzzed over Usha Vance's hair, noting she was allowing it to go grey.

But she said she felt welcome in Trump's political revolution.

'For what it's worth, my reception into this world  and I'm not from a particularly wealthy background, not from a very fashion-oriented background personally or professionally  has been really positive,' she said. 'People don't seem to care all that much what I look like.'

Second lady Usha Vance holds her daughter Mirabel

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance arrive to board Air Force Two

The second lady spoke to Savodnik at her new home at the vice president's residence and reflected on the night she and her husband JD Vance went to a concert at the Kennedy Center where they were booed by people in the audience.

'It was about 20 or 30 seconds of some people booing and delaying the start of the concert, right as the conductor is about to come out, and there were a few other people clapping,' she recalled.

She dismissed the impact of the vocal protesters at the concert, noting it was brief.

'J.D. waved at them, and then we enjoyed the show that we had come for,' Usha said.

She also reflected on how her family's life changed after President Donald Trump selected her husband as his running mate.

'The day before JD was selected  I did not know he was going to be selected  I was working as a lawyer, and I had the wardrobe of a person with three children who likes to do things outdoors, who has a dog, who doesn't like things to be too precious,' she added.

One thing that hasn't changed is that she remains the vice president's close confidant and advisor, even though she downplayed her influence.

'I don't know that he's asking me for advice so much as, it can be a very lonely, lonely world not to share with someone,' she said.

She admitted the difficulty of having her and her husband's life scrutinized by the media in a simplistic way.

'It's a very strange life that we lead, where there are lots of people who have just imagined all sorts of narratives about us and what we think and what we do and why we do it and how much planning goes into it and all these sorts of things.'

Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance

Usha Vance attends a campaign rally

Usha Vance has traveled with JD Vance on various political trips, as she and the family went to Europe for her husband's speech at the Munich Security Summit and to Bay City, Michigan for an event on restoring American manufacturing.

Usha and JD also traveled together for a historic trip to Greenland, as the parka clad couple visited the U.S. Pituffik Space Base.

She criticized the current political climate, noting it was the product of technology, screens, and social media.

'Very, very intelligent people say things that are sometimes very, very ill-founded because we are now in this world in which all conversations happen based on limited information very quickly, without the kind of reflection that might have been possible before,' Usha said.

She expressed a dissatisfaction with the political climate, urging people to step back and reflect before reacting instantly to voice their opposition.

US Vice President JD Vance joined by his wife Usha Vance, speaks at Vantage Plastics in Bay City, Michigan

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff pose for a photo along with U.S. Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance at the White House on inauguration day

'It's really easy to caricature your enemy,' she said, 'and I think there are plenty of people who do that on the right as well.'

Usha also shared her and JD's concerns about taking care of their children within their new lifestyle.

'There is nothing that he cares more about than how his children grow up and how he relates to them and how we live together as a family. And he is very, very, very concerned, as we both are and I think maybe anyone in our position would be, about how this life impacts them,' she said.

Her goal, she repeated, was to try and live a normal life for her family.

'To me, the highest priority right now is to be actually a normal person,' she said.
A judge has dismissed a $1 million lawsuit filed by the family of an alleged-murderer Antifa activist who was shot and killed by police in Washington.

Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, a self-proclaimed anti-fascist, was wanted for the murder of Aaron 'Jay' Danielson, 39 - a member of the ring-wing Patriot Prayer group, in Portland, Oregon on August 29, 2020.

Danielson, who was walking with his friend when he died, was allegedly shot in the chest by Reinoehl after clashes between Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters broke out during a rally.

After the violent incident, Reinoehl fled from Oregon to Washington state. Authorities obtained a warrant for his arrest and launched a manhunt for the fugitive.

On September 3, 2020, a fugitive task force of the US Marshals Service, the FBI, and state and local law enforcement agencies tracked the alleged culprit down near an apartment complex where he was hiding out.

When Reinoehl allegedly tried to dodge his arrest and pulled out a gun, officers shot him dead, according to a statement from Attorney General William P. Barr.

They began shooting at him through his car, sending terrified onlookers diving for cover in the heavily-populated residential area.

Civilian witnesses gave differing accounts of what they saw. All described a chaotic scene with bullets flying while children were outside.

Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, a self-proclaimed anti-fascist, was shot and killed by police while he was on the run in Washington on September 3, 2020

Police started shooting at the suspect through his car, before he stepped out of the vehicle

Cops kept firing and he dropped dead to the ground near mailboxes. His autopsy revealed his cause of death was gunshot wounds to his head and chest.

Reinoehl was injured inside his vehicle, but reportedly got out and tried to hide behind it.

But cops kept firing and he dropped dead to the ground near mailboxes. His autopsy revealed his cause of death was gunshot wounds to his head and chest. His death was ruled a homicide.

Trump, who was serving his first presidential term at the time, said Reinoehl was a 'violent criminal' and 'there has to be retribution'.

Reinoehl's family sued the task force that gunned down he left-wing protester in 2023, claiming they fired more than 40 bullets without a solid plan for his arrest.

The shots were fired by two Pierce County sheriff's deputies, a Lakewood police officer and a Washington State Department of Corrections employee.

The excessive force lawsuit, filed in Tacoma on behalf of his children, also alleged cops never identified themselves before drawing their weapons.

'The actions of the officers, before, during, and after the shooting, show that they either had no plan to arrest the man without injury, made no effort to follow such a plan, or planned to use deadly force from the start,' the document reads, according to The Oregonian.

Police were allegedly making decisions based on 'inaccurate, misleading, incomplete, and/or out of context information, such as a claim that Reinoehl considered himself to be at war with police,"' the family claimed.

Aaron 'Jay' Danielson, 39, a member of the ring-wing Patriot Prayer group, was shot dead on August 29, 2020

Danielson was walking with his friend when he was killed (pictured: his friend being held back by cops after the shooting)

Danielson was allegedly shot in the chest by Reinoehl after clashes between Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters broke out during a rally

Task force officers confronted Reinoehl wearing regular clothes in unmarked cars. They never told the accused killer who they were, the lawsuit alleged.

He was reportedly struck by at least five bullets - with one through his head and another through his chest.

His family has also said the pistol in his pocket was unloaded and never pulled on the police officers.

'It was still in his pocket when he was laid out dead on the street,' the suit reads.

But US District Judge David G. Estudillo ultimately ruled in favor of the authorities last month, The Oregonian reported.

In his 50-page decision, he explained it was not the court's role to decide if the task force's plan was detailed enough.

'There was plan to arrest Reinoehl and command structure,' he wrote, according to the outlet.

Estudillo also asserted that the responding officers had good reason to be afraid of Reinoehl, given he was wanted for homicide, was likely armed and believed to passionately dislike police.

'We think he got it wrong, and we intend to appeal,' Jesse Merrithew, the lawyer representing the Reinoehl family, told The Oregonian.

The excessive force lawsuit, filed in Tacoma on behalf of his children, also alleged cops never identified themselves before drawing their weapons

Before the shooting, her brother had made social media posts about his Antifa beliefs

Just after Danielson died and before Reinoehl was officially named as a suspect, Reinoehl's sister reported him to police after recognizing him in pictures from the fatal protest.

In a 2020 interview at her Oregon home, April told DailyMail.com her brother had been estranged from their family for three years after stealing medication from their mother who has dementia.

For years he would verbally abuse and bring their mother to tears, manipulating her into giving him what little spare money the single, retired teaching assistant had, April claimed.

April apologized to the victims family for her brothers alleged actions.

To the family of Aaron Danielson, I am so, so sorry this happened to you. He didnt deserve this, nobody does, she said.

Before the shooting, her brother had tweeted that he was a member of the left-wing anarchist group Antifa and said he was willing to engage in violence. He other social media posts with similar sentiments.
The family of a woman at the centre of a murder investigation after she was found dead in a Manchester flat have paid tribute to a 'kind and loving' mother.

Clare Burns, 51, was found dead after Greater Manchester Police were called to an address on Queens Road, in Harpurhey at 4.07am yesterday.

Leonard Lee Stewart, whose 55th birthday is today, was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with murder.

The force have referred themselves to the police watchdog due to past contact with the victim and the suspect.

Ms Burns' family said she would 'light up the room' as they paid tribute to a 'kind' and 'generous' mother.

They said: 'Clare was a loving mother, auntie, sister and daughter.

'She was funny, outgoing and a very independent person. She was also kind, generous and friendly to anyone she met.

Clare Burns, 51, (pictured) was found dead after Greater Manchester Police were called to an address on Queens Road, in Harpurhey at 4.07am yesterday

Leonard Lee Stewart, whose 55th birthday is today, was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with murder. Pictured: Police at the scene

The force have referred themselves to the police watchdog due to past contact with the victim and the suspect. Pictured: Police at the scene

'Clare would always light up the room she entered, and she was a brilliant friend to many.

'We will miss her dearly.'

Stewart remains in custody ahead of an appearance at Manchester City Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

Earlier today, Detective Inspector Emma Hulston said: The thoughts of the entire investigation team remain with the victims family at this time.

We are committed to getting answers for them and establishing what occurred.

We understand this investigation will raise concerns in the local community, but I would like to reassure the public that we believe this to be an isolated incident with no wider threat to the public.

Officers will be conducting their enquiries at the address so you will see more officers out in the local area.

We have a number of additional resources dedicated to this investigation.
A missing 59-year-old California woman who was found alive after being pulled from a storm drain tragically died hours later.

Yafang Zhou, of San Diego, went missing two weeks ago in the downtown area - where she lives with her husband, her mother-in-law told NBC 7 San Diego.

While searching for her on Monday morning, San Diego police detectives heard a woman's voice coming from below on the 14600 block of Beeler Canyon Road in Poway.

They quickly called firefighters to assist, along with a search and rescue team, and miraculously brought Zhou to the surface around 2.20pm.

She was taken to the hospital in serious condition after suffering from medical distress, the San Diego County medical examiner's office said.

Unfortunately, at 4.15pm that day she died after succumbing to her injuries.

It is unclear how she got in the drain and how long she was in there, but authorities believe she was trapped in there for days, San Diego Fire-Rescue battalion chief Erik Windsor told the outlet.

'What she was doing in there, what drove her in there, how she came to be in there  we are unclear,' he said.

Yafang Zhou, of San Diego, was found inside a storm drain on Monday afternoon after she went missing two weeks ago

A rescue team managed to rescue from the drain (pictured) and rush her to the hospital, but unfortunately, she died from her injuries just hours later

Windsor said the rescue operation took time because the conditions in the drain were not subtle for humans to survive in, and they weren't exactly sure where Zhou was at first.

'Firefighters were literally inside the .. storm drain, crawling on their stomachs to try to locate the victim,' he explained.

Windsor said the crew all had to be cautious because 'when we go in a confined space, we're worried about all sorts of gases, limited oxygen, what's going on in the confined space that are environmentally dangerous to them.

'There are also animals in those confined spaces,' he continued.

Rescuers were in the process of calling a bomb squad while looking for the woman, when all of a sudden, firefighter's lifted manhole covers along the storm drain's path and found her.

They were seen in video footage setting up a command center by the hole, while also placing a tripod over a nearby manhole.

Paramedics were on standby preparing a stretcher while a crew pulled her out of the deep hole with rope and a pulley system.

Windsor said 'lifesaving measures' were performed on the victim, but she did not make it.

It is unclear how she got in the drain and how long she was in there, but authorities believe she was trapped in there for days, San Diego Fire-Rescue battalion chief Erik Windsor said

'It is very amazing that we were able to extricate her and get her going to the hospital,' he said.

Zhou was first reported missing on April 3, according to a missing persons flyer.

She was last seen on March 25 around midnight near Union Street in downtown San Diego in 'unknown clothing,' the department said, adding that she was 'at risk.'

DailyMail.com contacted the San Diego Police Department for more information.

This comes just about a week after another missing woman fell into a well moments after surviving a car crash.

Mom-of-four Shirley Obert, 67, went missing March 29 after being involved in a car accident in Monroe County, Georgia.

Authorities and family members frantically searched for Obert, who was last seen wearing a red shirt and black pants - which police described as a Chick-fil-A work uniform.

Windsor said the rescue operation took time because the conditions in the drain were not subtle for humans to survive in, and they weren't exactly sure where Zhou was at first

A day after she went missing, police discovered her body at the bottom of a 'deep well that was surrounded by very thick brush' near where her car was found, authorities said.

'Mrs. Obert appeared to have been trying to go for help when this incident occurred. This appears to be a tragic accident,' Monroe County Sheriff's Office said.

A spokeswoman with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office told DailyMail.com: 'The well was covered under thick brush and would not have been noticeable.'

'We do not know exactly how she ended up in the wooded area, where her car was found. Our fatality Investigator is working on trying to piece everything together. We may never know exactly,' they added.
A convicted stalker unleashed a 'reprehensible' campaign of harassment on a former ambassador to Belarus after meeting him on a dating website, a court has heard.

Farah Damji, 58, met Nigel Gould-Davies in Bumble in July 2023 and was later diagnosed with stage three breast cancer.

Damji soon began slandering the former diplomat, 59, in 'defamatory' emails copying in the Labour MP for Islington Emily Thornberry, staff members at Harvard University and New York Times editorial staff, jurors heard.

Mr Gould Davies is the former British ambassador to Belarus and currently a fellow with the International Institute of Strategic Studies.

Damji stole legally privileged documents relating to Russia from his home and threatened to post them online, Wood Green Crown Court heard.

She appeared in court wearing a patterned red top and black trousers as Christiaan Moll, prosecuting, told how they 'met online on a dating site called Bumble.

'They started a relationship soon after meeting each other and thereafter saw each other regularly, usually several times a week.

'The Crown's case is that throughout their relationship, Nigel Gould-Davies knew the defendant as Noor Higham.

Farah Damji, 58, (pictured) met Nigel Gould-Davies in Bumble in July 2023 and was later diagnosed with stage three breast cancer

Damji soon began slandering the former diplomat, 59, in 'defamatory' emails copying in the Labour MP for Islington Emily Thornberry, staff members at Harvard University and New York Times editorial staff, jurors heard

'He only found out her name was Farah Damji when he made enquiries after the relationship ended about the identity of a person who created a fake website in this name with the hosting platform 'GoDaddy'.

'In 2023 this defendant set up The View cafe by convincing a wide range of suppliers to give her help and supplies for free as a community interest company, including the use of premises rent free.

'That organisation links the defendant to a number of false emails and social accounts which we say are part of the evidence in this case.'

Mr Moll described the complainant as an 'acknowledged expert on Russia' who was 'working at the time of these alleged offences as a consultant for the International Institute of Strategic Studies.'

Jurors heard Mr Gould-Davies supported Damji after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

'Nigel Gould-Davies wanted to support her, she insisted he attended every medical appointment and repeatedly threatened not to to them unless he accompanied her.

'He consistently accompanied her and on one occasion even changed a flight in order to be available.'

The prosecutor said Damji's diagnosis 'doesn't provide a defence to the reprehensible behaviour that the crown say this defendant engaged in with regards to Nigel Gould-Davies.'

Damji stole legally privileged documents relating to Russia from his home and threatened to post them online, Wood Green Crown Court heard

Damji also used the alias 'Holly Bright' in the campaign, jurors heard.

'She started contacting people at Nigel Gould-Davies's workplace, making serious and defamatory allegations about him.

'She also sent a series of highly abusive emails to him directly - some expressing pleasure at the prospect that he would have a nervous breakdown.'

Damji allegedly sent another email to the Ambassador of Kazakhastan in November 2023, referring to him as a 'severally dysfunctional cretin'.

Mr Moll said she also used the name 'Claire Simms' for the purposes of unsettling Mr Gould-Davies.

'The result was for Mr Gould-Davies very frightening and disorientating, especially when these emails made serious defamatory statements and baseless claims that he physically abused women.'

Damji allegedly sent more emails to Harvard University staff members and editorial staff at the New York Times accusing Mr Gould-Davies of 'domestic violence and gaslighting.'

All the emails sent by 'Holly Bright' and 'Claire Simms' were traced to an address associated with The View magazine, set up by Damji.

She even created a spoof Twitter account in the name 'John Hanigan' to mock Mr Gould-Davies, the prosecutor said.

Damji also stole a 'legally privileged document' from his house, it was said.

'She left with the document and then sent him a photograph of it threatening to put it on the internet', Mr Moll said.

'The pattern was the same as the messages from Noor Higham, Holly Bright, Claire Simms and John Hanigan - they were harassing, abusive and deeply hurtful, followed by apologies, retractions and then further sudden attacks.'

Mr Gould-Davies eventually flew to Berlin 'to seek temporary refuge' in early 2024, the court heard.

'The defendant was keen to ascertain his whereabouts and he continued to receive messages and phone calls.'

He received one email stating: 'I have people searching for you, we are everywhere, and Holly is in Berlin.'

The prosecutor added: 'Social media evidence (also) suggests at the end of February 2024 Damji visited a town in southern Spain where Nigel Gould-Davies' mother lives.'

Jurors were played doorbell camera footage showing a woman allegedly sent by Damji to the former diplomat's home while the defendant was in Berlin.

'There is evidence that the defendant committed credit card fraud against the defendant in mid-December 2023, when one of his credit cards and indeed his passport disappeared without explanation, forcing him to cancel plans to visit his mother in Spain and instead spend Christmas with Noor,' said Mr Moll.

Mr Gould-Davies' credit card bill showed unexplained transactions totalling 13,621 including several to a company called 'Flowers for Freedom'.

'The Twitter and Etsy accounts for these companies have the defendant's picture on them,' the prosecutor said.

Damji was eventually arrested on her way to Berlin at Heathrow airport and she was interviewed several times by police on 12 March 2024.

Mr Moll told jurors: 'When you come to consider all the evidence in this case, we say there is an irresistible inference that Nigel Gould-Davies was the victim of a campaign of stalking orchestrated by this defendant Farah Damji, who - as you will hear - has previous convictions for stalking committed in similar circumstances.'

Damji, of Doughty Street, Clerkenwell, denies denies stalking involving serious alarm and distress, theft and two counts of fraud by false representation.
Vice President JD Vance fired back at Sen. Mitch McConnell on Tuesday after the former Senate majority leader voted against President Donald Trump's choice for Pentagon policy chief, Elbridge Colby.

The vice president engaged after McConnell detailed his decision in a statement condemning Colby's views on foreign policy.

'Mitchs vote today  like so much of the last few years of his career  is one of the great acts of political pettiness Ive ever seen,' Vance wrote on social media.

Colby was confirmed in the Senate with a vote of 54-45 with three Democrats also voting in favor - Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).

McConnell was the only Republican to vote against Colby, and issued a strong statement outlining his dissent.

'The prioritization that Mr. Colby argues is fresh, new, and urgently needed is, in fact, a return to an Obama-era conception of a la carte geostrategy,' McConnell stated, referring to Colby's views about the United States need to pivot from Europe and the Middle East to focus on the Indo-Pacific for the purpose of addressing the looming threat from China.

McConnell described the idea as 'geostrategic self-harm that emboldens our adversaries and drives wedges between America and our allies' and lamented that 'less-polished standard-bearers' would be added to the Pentagon which would cause 'irreparable damage' to the United States.

'Make no mistake: America will not be made great again by those who are content to manage our decline,' McConnell concluded.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance took a shot at Sen. Mitch McConnell for his 'petty' decision to oppose Trump's choice for Pentagon policy director

Republican Senator from Kentucky Mitch McConnell departs the Senate floor in the US Capitol

Vance and other MAGA supporters were taken aback at the vitriol demonstrated by McConnell, despite other Republican senators falling into line.

The vice president went out of his way to back his friend Colby despite his untraditional views on American foreign policy.

'Elbridge Colby is one of the brightest foreign policy minds in the GOP and it's pathetic watching Mitch McConnell continue to stand with Dems to sabotage President Trump,' wrote American entrepreneur Nate Morris, who demanded a 'clean break' from McConnell's views after he left office.

Donald Trump Jr. and other MAGA figures have encouraged Morris to run for senator of Kentucky as McConnell has announced he will step down in 2026.

Elbridge Colby, President Donald Trump's nominee to be under secretary of defense for policy,

U.S. Vice President JD Vance talks to reporters on Capitol Hill

Others voiced their disappointment with McConnell, as the former majority leader has voted against several of Trump's nominees.

'Is anyone surprised at this point?' asked activist Charlie Kirk on X, responding to McConnell's vote.

Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller noted that Colby earned bipartisan support for his nomination.

'Mitch McConnell however voted AGAINST Colby, the ONLY Republican to do so. Makes you wonder' he mused.

'It really is astounding that apparently the only ethical hill Mitch McConnell has ever been willing to die on is a defense of Americas moribund post-Cold War liberal empire building,' wrote Emma Ashford, a Senior Fellow from the Stimson Center.
A New York appeals court judge was left outraged when the plaintiff in a case before him attempted to use an AI-generated lawyer, which he created, to present his argument before the panel.

Jerome Dewald, 74, had just begun presenting his argument in an employment dispute before the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division's First Judicial Department last month when his method shocked the courtroom, eerily showcasing the rapid rise of technology.

In a bizarre twist, Dewald's council was not actually a lawyer but rather an artificially generated gentleman created using AI technology - a 'trick' that left the panel infuriated.

'I don't appreciate being misled,' Justice Sallie Manzanet-Daniels said in the courtroom.

On March 26, Dewald sat with his hands folded on his lap in the Manhattan-based courtroom, waiting for the panel to hear his argument for the reversal of a lower court's decision in a dispute with a former employer.

The 74-year-old man had received prior permission from the court to prerecord a video presentation to assist with his argument, as he was representing himself in the case.

As soon as the video began playing, a smiling young man wearing a blue, collared shirt topped with a beige half-zip sweater appeared on screen, seemingly standing in front of a luxurious, though blurred, virtual background.

'May it please the court,' the fake man said. 'I come here today a humble pro se before a panel of five distinguished justices.'

Jerome Dewald, 74, of New York, was scolded by an appeals court judge for creating an AI-generated avatar to represent his argument in an employment dispute in front of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division's First Judicial Department's panel

In the video - which Dewald initially got permission to prerecord a video to assist with his argument - a smiling young man wearing a blue, collared shirt topped with a beige half-zip sweater appeared on screen, seemingly standing in front of a luxurious, though blurred, virtual background

The judges quickly sensed something was off, as they were seen exchanging dumbfounded looks, turning to one another in sheer confusion.

'Alright,' Manzanet-Daniels immediately interrupted. 'Is this... is... hold on... is that council for the case?'

'I generated that,' Dewald responded. 'That is not a real person.'

Manzanet-Daniels appeared stunned over his explanation, pausing for a moment with a clear expression of displeasure on her face.

'It would have been nice to know that when you made your application. You did not tell me that sir,' the judge sternly stated, yelling across the courtroom for the video to be taken off the screen.

'I received the application and you have appeared before this court and been able to testify - verbally - in the past,' she added.

'You have gone to my clerk's office and held verbal conversations with our staff for over 30 minutes. OK? If you want to have oral argument time, you may stand up and give it to me. I don't appreciate being misled.'

In an apology letter, Dewald acknowledged his AI-generated attempt at presenting his legal argument himself had 'inadvertently misled' the court, though maintained that he never intended to cause any harm in the process, The New York Times reported.

In an apology letter written after the incident, Dewald acknowledged his AI-generated attempt at presenting his legal argument himself had 'inadvertently misled' the court, though maintained that he never intended to cause any harm in the process

The judges quickly sensed something was off, as they were seen exchanging dumbfounded looks, turning to one another in sheer confusion before ordering the video to be turned off moments later

'The court was really upset about it,' he said during an interview with the AP. 'They chewed me up pretty good.'

The self-described entrepreneur explained his plans to create a digital version of himself, but due to 'technical difficulties', he was unable to do so and instead created a fake, younger-looking persona.

However, the hearing left Dewald overwhelmed by humiliation as he expressed deep regret for his actions, explaining that he had believed he was using artificial intelligence for good.

The logic behind his decision, he said, was his belief that an avatar would present his argument more fluently in the courtroom, as he feared stumbling over his own words while speaking to the panel.

'My intent was never to deceive but rather to present my arguments in the most efficient manner possible,' Dewald wrote in the letter, the NYT reported.

'However, I recognize that proper disclosure and transparency must always take precedence.'

Despite the bizarre nature of Dewald's method, this wouldn't be the first time AI has infiltrated courtrooms and legal proceedings.

In 2023, a lawyer used ChatGPT to create a legal brief, though it was saturated with fake judicial opinions and legal citations, the NYT reported.

The logic behind his decision, Dewald said, was his belief that an avatar would present his argument more fluently in the courtroom, as he feared stumbling over his own words while speaking to the panel

Justice Sallie Manzanet-Daniels (left) scolded Dewald in the courtroom, claiming that she doesn't 'appreciate being misled'

The Manhattan-based attorney faced severe consequences for his actions, which showcased the flaws that can arise in the legal world from relying on AI systems for real world problems.

Michael Cohen, a former lawyer and fixer for President Donald Trump, provided his lawyer with fake legal citations generated by artificial intelligence program Google Bard that very same year.

Cohen begged the federal judge for lenience, arguing that he had been unaware generative text services could provide the user with false information.

'They can still hallucinate - produce very compelling looking information that is actually either fake or nonsensical,' Daniel Shin, assistant director of research at the Center for Legal and Court Technology at William & Mary Law School, told the NYT.

'That risk has to be addressed.'
A European beauty queen tragically plunged to her death after falling from a bridge onto a motorway below while fleeing police.

Guler Erdogan, 27, is said to have fallen 50ft as she escaped from officers after the catwalk model was stopped for alleged drunk driving in Giresun, Turkey, on April 1.

The 'Miss Europe-Kosovo' title holder was said to have been more than three times over the limit following a night out in her home town to celebrate Eid with her family, The Sun reports.

She then went on to a nightclub with friends before driving home, but she was stopped at a police checkpoint, where officers recorded a blood level of 1.70mg per 100ml, according to CNN Turkey.

In Turkey, the legal limit is 0.5mg per 100ml.

Fearing she could be in trouble, Erdogan is said to have left her car and ran towards a nearby overpass.

But she lost her balance and fell over the edge onto a six-lane motorway below.

Moments later, she was tragically struck by an oncoming car.

Guler Erdogan, 27, tragically plunged to her death after falling from a bridge onto a motorway below while fleeing police in Giresun, Turkey, on April 1

Erdogan is said to have fallen 50ft as she escaped from officers after the catwalk model was stopped for alleged drunk driving

The 'Miss Europe-Kosovo' title holder was said to have been more than three times over the limit following a night out

Footage from the scene shows a huge emergency response with multiple police vehicles and ambulances arriving at the location.

But despite the best efforts of medics, Erdogan was pronounced dead at the scene.

Turkish police have launched an investigation into the accident.

Erdogan had a large presence on social media and had amassed 56,000 followers on Instagram.

But in the wake of her death, her account has been scrubbed with all her posts removed.

Officers recorded a blood level of 1.70mg per 100ml after a breathalyser, CNN Turkey reported

Despite the best efforts of medics, Erdogan was sadly pronounced dead at the scene

Erdogan had a large presence on social media and had amassed 56,000 followers on Instagram

There is now only a lone statement from her family, which disputes details surrounding the model's death.

It states: 'Do not believe the false news and information regarding the death of our daughter, sister, and friend Guler Erdogan.

'Our sister lost her life as a result of a tragic accident. As her family, we were by her side at the time of the incident.'

Earlier this year, Australian model and DJ Courtney Mills, 37, died after falling from a balcony at the unit complex she was staying at in Kuta, Bali

Earlier this year, Australian model and DJ Courtney Mills, 37, died after falling from a balcony at the unit complex she was staying at in Kuta, Bali, in January.

She suffered critical injuries and was rushed to hospital, where she underwent several emergency operations before she died surrounded by loved ones two days later.
A teenage girl murdered her cousin's boyfriend by stabbing him in the heart in an act of 'murderous rage', a murder trial has heard.

Paige Poulton, then 19, was said to have been 'quarreling' with Jack Cadwallader at a flat in Harrietsham, Kent in the early hours of July 2.

She then allegedly punched the victim in the mouth before 'snapping' when he seemed to laugh off the attack.

It is claimed that Poulton then grabbed a knife and delivered a single but 'forceful' blow, causing the blade to penetrate his chest.

Mr Cadwallader collapsed almost immediately, with efforts to revive him both at the scene and then at hospital proving futile.

Poulton hid outside in nearby bushes for almost an hour before eventually being discovered by police, the court heard.

Following her arrest, she repeatedly told a constable she had been attacked by Mr Cadwallader.

But at the start of her trial today, prosecutor Sarah Jones KC informed the jury at Maidstone Crown Court of six men and six women the teenager had had 'murderous intent' when she stabbed the victim, KentOnline reports.

Paige Poulton (pictured), then 19, was said to have been 'quarreling' with Jack Cadwallader at a flat in Harrietsham, Kent in the early hours of July 2

Jack Cadwallader (pictured) collapsed almost immediately, with efforts to revive him both at the scene and then at hospital proving futile

Ms Jones said: 'The Crown say she did this in an act of anger and aggression. She was wound up.

'There were any number of ways she could have dealt with the situation they were in but she went straight for the most dangerous and violent method she could and she killed him.'

Poulton, now 20 and from Haringey in London, denies murder and possessing a bladed article.

She is likely to argue she acted in self-defence, the court heard.

Jurors were told Poulton had been staying with her distant cousin Shannon Byrne, also Mr Cadwallader's girlfriend, at the time of the stabbing.

The prosecutor stated the couple had a 'stormy' relationship, which in the hours up to his killing had been 'particularly fraught'.

They met up with others at the Muggleton Inn Wetherspoon pub in Maidstone on July 1 but Ms Byrne left the group and joined Poulter and her boyfriend Clive Harris as well as a woman called Bibiana Valery after bumping into them in the town centre, and following a number of squabbles and bickering.

All four then caught a train just after 6pm before heading to Ms Valery's home in Southfields Way.

Poulton, now 20 and from Haringey in London, denies murder and possessing a bladed article

The court heard this had been a 'difficult period' for Poulton who had lost her accommodation and needed to rely on friends for somewhere to live.

She was said to have found Mr Cadwallader 'increasingly irritating'.

In a message to her mother a little over 24 hours before his death, Poulton said: 'Jack keeps going on imma (sic) end up stabbing the Cunr (sic).'

At Ms Valery's home, there was drinking and socialising as well as videos uploaded to Snapchat.

Ms Byrne began contacting various people to find out where her boyfriend was, eventually messaging an acquaintance, Matt Smith, who she asked for a lift to the flat.

After Mr Smith agreed, they arrived at the address shortly after 1.30am with Mr Cadwallader jumping out of the car before it had stopped moving, the court heard.

Mr Smith described Mr Cadwallader as his 'usual hyper self', though a row flared as soon as he entered the property, the jury heard.

The court heard that Ms Valery asked 'What the f*** are you doing here?' with Ms Byrne complaining to Mr Smith for bringing him as she knew he would 'kick off'.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the teenager had had 'murderous intent' when she stabbed the victim

It was then that Poulton allegedly punched Mr Cadwallader in the mouth, causing his lip to bleed.

The court heard he 'laughed it off' and said it did not 'bother' him, with Poulton then responding to say she did not like the way he treated her cousin, that he thought he was 'something special' and to 'get the f*** out'.

Amid calls for everyone to 'calm down', Mr Cadwallader exchanged words with Poulton's partner and left the flat, having 'offered him outside' for a fight.

Poulton then allegedly exclaimed she was 'going to go f***ing mad', grabbed a knife from the kitchen and then ran back to stand by Mr Harris at the patio doors.

Mr Cadwallader allegedly initially responded by holding up his phone as if recording to say 'she's got a knife'.

Ms Byrne told him Poulton did not have one, thinking her cousin only wanted to scare him away, the court heard.

Still outside, Mr Cadwallader picked up a metal chair, using the legs to ward off Poulton, jurors were told.

The prosecutor told the court, describing the moment he was allegedly attacked, that Ms Byrne had seen Poulton stab, 'with intention, hard, into the left side of Mr Cadwallader's chest'.

On Poulton's arrest, she made various 'significant' comments such as 'he tried to beat me up' and 'he has come in and tried to attack me'

The court heard Poulton 'did it really quick but really hard'.

A 999 call was said to have captured 'the chaos' at the scene with those present arguing about how best to deal with a wounded man.

Mr Smith later told police he had seen Poulton step forward and stab his friend using a 'swinging motion and quite a lot of force'.

It was decided to drive Mr Cadwallader to hospital rather than wait for the emergency services, however, he was no longer breathing on arrival.

Despite the efforts of paramedics and then an air ambulance crew, Mr Cadwallader was pronounced dead shortly before 3am.

On Poulton's arrest, she made various 'significant' comments such as 'he tried to beat me up' and 'he has come in and tried to attack me'.

Poulton also claimed Mr Cadwallader had beat up her cousin and 'tried to boot' her French bulldog.

Despite this, she answered 'no comment' to questions once formally interviewed.

Poulton was found to have traces of alcohol, cocaine and THC - the breakdown product of cannabis - in her urine, as well as drugs for anxiety and insomnia

A knife of 15.2cm was one of three found by police in the kitchen sink, confirming a complete DNA profile for Mr Cadwallader.

Subsequent blood tests revealed he was more than double the drink-drive limit at the time of death, with suggestions of recent use of cocaine and morphine - possibly from heroine - as well as anti-psychotic, anti-depression and anti-anxiety drugs, and one for treating insomnia.

Poulton was found to have traces of alcohol, cocaine and THC - the breakdown product of cannabis - in her urine, as well as drugs for anxiety and insomnia.

To find her guilty of murder, the jury was told the prosecution had to prove Poulton had either intended to kill or to cause really serious injury as she stabbed Mr Cadwallader.

On the topic of self-defence, the barrister said it may be argued Poulton's actions were justified due to the 'size and reputation' of the victim and 'in the heat of an attack' from him on herself or another.

But the prosecution disputed this as 'opportunistic fiction', describing Poulton as 'the aggressor'.

Prosecutor Ms Jones added Mr Cadwallader was 'not attacking anyone at that point in time' and on the contrary had not reacted to violence from Poulton when she punched him.

She added Ms Cadwaller had not been armed, saying Poulton was not threatened but had commented on how she was 'mad' and 'couldn't control' her emotions.

The trial, which is expected to last up to four weeks, continues.
This is the moment a thief walked into a fish and chip shop and brazenly swiped the tip jar from the counter, as a friend stood by her vaping.

CCTV footage captured the moment the pair stole the money after distracting a waiter to leave the counter unattended.

The conning couple asked the server at Captain Fish in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, for a plastic fork, which she then needed to retrieve from the restaurant side of the business.

They then waited for the moment to steal the tip jar, as the woman dropped it into her bag, while her partner-in-crime stood beside her vaping.

Owner Petros Georgieou said he was devastated that his staff's hard-earned tips had been targeted.

He told NeedToKnow that his wife had been working behind the counter when the customers asked for a fork.

He said the deceiving duo asked for the piece of cutlery despite neither of them having ordered any food.

As she turned her back on the customers, they took the chance to swiftly steal the jar and dash.

Two people are caught on camera walking into Captain Fish in Wakefield, where they distracted a waiter

The woman is then caught picking up a jar of tips and dropping it into her bag while no one is watching

The pair then leave the premises with the tip jar before the waiter returns to the counter

The hard-earned tips for staff at Captain Fish in Wakefield, South Yorkshire were stolen

When his wife returned, she noticed that the tip jar was missing and the customers had disappeared without a trace.

After checking CCTV, Mr Georgieou discovered that they had been robbed.

The jar was stolen on Tuesday afternoon.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: 'Police received a report of theft of a tip jar from premises in Westmorland Street, Wakefield city centre, said to have taken place at 2:45pm on Tuesday (1 April).

'The matter is being investigated.'

Insp Paul Fraser, of Wakefield City Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: 'Wakefield city is seeing an overall reduction of 44 per cent in retail crime compared to this time last.

'We take a zero tolerance approach to this kind of offending and are conducting enquiries to locate the people involved.'

It comes after more brazen thieves took their opportunity to steal 857 trollies of goods worth 130,000 from stores across the South.

A CCTV video shows the shameless opportunists sauntering out of stores pushing trollies stuffed full of stolen items before returning to fill up another trolley load

For two years, the family of thieves managed to get away with their crimes, plaguing Tesco supermarkets in Suffolk, Somerset, Surrey and Cornwall before a determined police officer finally stopped them in their tracks

For two years, the family of thieves managed to get away with their crimes, plaguing Tesco supermarkets in Suffolk, Somerset, Surrey and Cornwall before a determined police officer finally stopped them in their tracks.

A CCTV video shows the shameless opportunists sauntering out of stores pushing trollies stuffed full of stolen items before returning to fill up another trolley load.

The raiders swiped a range of goods including toilet roll, nappies, alcohol and cleaning products from the shelves.

This week the final members of gang were finally brought to justice, with the ringleaders receiving three years in prison.

Police estimated that the gang had gotten away with at least 130,000 worth of stolen goods between January 2022 and February 2024.

From the 55 trolleys that the gang were stopped from taking, police were able to calculate the average value of stolen goods at 628.

Other shoppers appear to be completely unaware of the sophisticated criminal operation that is underway.

The thieves might have continued to get away with their crimes if an observant police officer who noticed similarities in 86 thefts across 13 police force areas hadn't stepped in.

In another recent video, a bungling thief is seen smashing his way through the ceiling of a supermarket to try steal scratchcards - before getting stuck.

This is the moment a bungling thief got stuck climbing through the ceiling of a supermarket in an attempt to steal scratchcards

Staff at a Sainsbury's Local frantically called 999 after they saw a pair of legs dangling from a hole in the store ceiling just after 6am.

The Mission Impossible-style burglary shows the suspect smashing his way through the ceiling of the store in Radford, Nottingham, in a cloud of plaster and dust.

But then as he lowers himself down to the waist, he becomes stuck, and starts kicking and flailing his legs in a panicked attempt to steady himself.

Groceries were sent flying off a shelf nearby with the raider comically left dangling for a few seconds.

He eventually managed to free himself and allegedly went on to steal around 200 worth of National Lottery scratchcards.

The man also placed crisps, washing detergents and food products into a bag before fleeing the store via a fire exit, police have said.

Response officers arrived within six minutes of the 999 call and found a man matching the intruder's description in nearby Forest Road.

A 50-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and taken into custody.

In London, prolific thief Derick Bell was caught red-handed during a police ambush before being told: 'You're nicked'.

Thief Bell, 36, looked stunned after being tackled to the ground by the police officer

The 36-year-old crook attempted to raid the Co-Op in Lower Marsh, Lambeth, south London

Wearing a grey hoody and black coat, the greedy thug started ransacking the store's meat chiller.

But little did the villain know that as he was piling up cuts of steak, police hiding in the back room were preparing to pounce.

Dramatic footage, caught on body-worn camera, captured the moment a Met Police officer launched out of the room and charged the unsuspecting thief.

Sprinting down the aisle, Inspector Darren Watson grabs Bell while he was still attempting to pinch food from fridge.

'You're nicked,' Insp Watson shouts, as he dumps the wide-eyed crook to the floor, before yelling 'give me your hands' as he arrests Bell.

The police ambush, which took place in January, led to Bell being jailed for eight weeks.
Donald Trump's top trade boss says the US is 'running up the score' with Australia by hitting the country with sweeping tariffs.

Despite already enjoying a rare trade surplus - in which the US sells more to Australia than it buys - US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday confessed the country is milking its Australian partners to help cover deficits elsewhere.

The stunning admission was made by Mr Greer during a heated exchange with Mark Warner, a Democratic senator from Virginia, at a Senate hearing in Washington DC.

Mr Warner questioned why Australia was 'hit' with the tariffs when it is one of America's best customers and strongest allies under the AUKUS defence pact.

'Australia has the lowest rate available under the new program,' Mr Greer responded, pointing to a general 10 per cent tariff on all imports.

'We're addressing the $US1.2trillion (trade) deficit, the largest in human history, that president Biden left us with. We should be running up the score on Australia.'

Running up the score typically refers to a sport strategy where a winning side will continue to heavily attack a losing side in order to offset poor results in prior games.

Mr Greer's use of the term suggests the US is targeting Australia to compensate for its trade deficits with other countries.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (pictured) admitted the US is 'running up the score' by hitting Australia with its wide sweeping tariffs

Donald Trump's (pictured) administration has imposed a trade tariff on Australia, despite already selling more than it imports

Mr Warner further questioned why the US would impose a tariff on Australia when the countries have a free trade agreement.

Mr Greer replied: 'Despite the agreement, they ban our beef, they ban our pork, they're getting ready to impose measures on our digital companies. It's incredible.'

Despite Mr Greer's unwavering stance, Mr Warner warned the tariffs could lead to Australia, and other close American allies, questioning its partnership with the US.

'The idea that we are going to whack friend and foe alike, and particularly friends, with this level [of tariffs] is both insulting to the Australians, undermines our national security and frankly makes us not a good partner going forward,' he said.

Mr Warner further emphasised the importance of the AUKUS pact following the hearing.

'We're supposed to be doing this major deal around jointly building submarines,' he said.

'I think they and all of our allies are rethinking whether we can be counted on as a partner.'

Mr Greer had earlier highlighted tensions with Australia over its refusal to buy American beef, referring to it as a 'ban'.

Mr Greer highlighted ongoing tensions between the US and Australia over its refusal to import American beef

'It's always surprising because we have a free trade agreement with Australia, and we would expect that we'd have fair, reciprocal trade,' Greer said.

'It's not just beef. Australia also blocks  on specious, fake science grounds  the export of fresh and frozen US pork. It's incredible that they do this.'

Australia banned imports of American beef in 2003 due to concerns over mad cow disease prior to the free trade agreement being enacted in 2005.

The ban on beef from the US was technically lifted in 2019 but Australia is yet to begin trade as America does not meet its import requirements.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese previously stated the lack of American beef imports was due to a biosecurity risk.

'Australia does not ban imports of beef from the United States,' Australia's Department of Agriculture said in a statement to The Age.

'Import conditions into Australia are currently available for beef products sourced from cattle born, raised and slaughtered in the US.

'The US has requested to expand its access to the Australian market to include beef products sourced from cattle from Mexico and Canada and legally imported into the US for export.

Mr Greer on Tuesday confessed the US is milking its Australian partners to help cover deficits elsewhere

'Australia's assessment for this additional US request is progressing. US exporters have not commenced trade under the existing import conditions into Australia in the meantime.'

A baseline 10 per cent tariff for almost all US trading partners came into effect over the weekend.

Its reciprocal tariffs, which are higher than 10 per cent, will begin on Wednesday, local time.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that despite 'fearmongering by the media', almost 70 countries had contacted the Trump administration to begin trade negotiations.

'Countries are falling over themselves to reform their unfair trade practices and free open their markets to our country. Why? Because these countries greatly respect President Trump and the sheer power of the American market,' she said.

Trump reportedly directed his trade team on Tuesday to create 'tailor-made deals with each and every country that calls up this administration to strike a deal'.

Deals would only be agreed to if they benefit American workers and the United States' trade deficits.
Bombshell footage has been released for the first time revealing the moment that the Delphi killer's wife realized he had lied about his whereabouts on the day that he slaughtered two teenage girls.

In the video, captured during a break in his police interview on October 26, 2022, Richard Allen is seen admitting to his wife Kathy Allen that he was on the Monon High Bridge in Delphi, Indiana, on February 13, 2017 - when Abby Williams and Libby German were brutally killed.

Footage of Allen's police interviews were presented at his high-profile trial in October but had never before been made public. They have now been obtained by the YouTube account 'Crime Circus' and shared online.

'But were you on the bridge?' Kathy asks.

Allen replies: 'I told them I was on the bridge. I went out to the first trestle.'

A sobbing Kathy appears taken aback by her husband's admission - and confronts him about changing his story.

'Oh okay. I don't remember you telling me that,' she says.

When she tells him that she told police he wasn't on the bridge, he tells her: 'Hun, you're not in any trouble.'

In the video, captured during a break in his police interview on October 26, 2022, Richard Allen is seen admitting to his wife Kathy Allen that he was on the Monon High Bridge in Delphi, Indiana, on February 13, 2017

Kathy Allen pictured with Richard Allen. She went on to support him at his murder trial

Kathy, who shares an adult daughter with the convicted killer, breaks down into sobs with her voice inaudible through the crying.

She then says: 'I didn't know you were on it. Im sorry.

'You told me you werent...' she tells him.

Allen appears to briefly loose his cool and denies that he has changed his story about where he was at the time of the murders.

'No I told you that I walked-' he says, before abruptly stopping himself from saying anymore.

He looks away and pauses.

Allen then tells his wife he loves her and leans in and kisses her.

Allen, a local CVS worker, was convicted in November and sentenced to a lifetime behind bars for the brutal murders of the teenage best friends.

Libby German (left) and Abby Williams (right) set off on a walk along the Monon High Bridge trail in Delphi, Indiana, on February 13 2017 and never returned

Richard Allen leaves the Carroll County Courthouse in December after being sentenced to 130 years in prison for the 2017 murders

Abby, 13, and Libby, 14, disappeared back on February 13 2017 after setting off on a walk along the Monon High Bridge.

Their bodies were found around half a mile from the trail, close to Deer Creek, the next day.

Both of their throats had been slashed, with the murder weapon believed to be a box cutter. Libby was naked while Abby was fully dressed in some of Libby's clothes and an unspent bullet was found between their bodies.

Before they were killed, Libby managed to capture a video on her cellphone of a man dressed in blue jeans, a blue Carharrt jacket and a cap following them over the bridge.

Her cellphone was found under Abby's body, leading cops to recover the footage of that became critical evidence in the case.

During the years-long hunt for the killer, a small clip of the grainy footage was released to the public, along with the audio of the man known as 'Bridge Guy' ordering them: 'Guys... down the hill.'

Days after the February 2017 murders, Allen had admitted to authorities that he was on the trail that day.

But that information was lost for more than five years due to a clerical error, before investigators came across the tip and first questioned by police on October 13, 2022.

Richard Allen seen during the first police interview on October 13, 2022 - five years after the murders

Allen was questioned after police found a tip that had been overlooked at the time of the murders

Police then searched the home he shared with Kathy and uncovered a 'Bridge Guy starter kit' including blue jeans and a Carhartt jacket matching the outfit worn by 'Bridge Guy.'

Investigators also found a Sig Sauer Model P226 pistol which Allen said only he had access to.

Ballistics experts matched the gun to a bullet found between the two victims' bodies at the crime scene.

After finding that evidence, Allen was questioned by police a second time two weeks later on October 26, 2022.

It was during this second interview that Allen's wife Kathy was allowed to enter the room to speak to her husband while investigators were out of the room.

When Kathy first enters the room, the couple hug and Allen reassures her 'it's going to be alright.'

Allen quickly tells Kathy that he has been told she thinks he killed Abby and Libby.

'They're trying to tell me that you actually believe I did that - and I just can't believe that,' he says.

Haunting video captured on Libby's cellphone shows 'Bridge Guy' following Abby along the abandoned bridge in Delphi

'Bridge Guy' is seen following Abby over the bridge. Minutes after the footage was taken, Abby and Libby were murdered

His wife of decades is stunningly silent for several moments - neither reassuring him nor confirming her beliefs.

Through tears, she then whimpers that she is trying to understand how a bullet from his gun could be at the crime scene.

Allen repeatedly claims to his wife that he also cannot explain that piece of key evidence.

Multiple times, he tells her 'I know you know I didn't do this.'

You know me. You know this isn't something I could do. And I know that you know that,' he says.

'You don't have to tell me that. I know.'

While behind bars awaiting trial, Allen confessed to murdering the girls a staggering 61 times including in jailhouse phone calls to his wife and mom.

In one damning confession presented at trial, Allen revealed information that only the killer could have known.

The Monon High Bridge seen in February 2017 days after the shocking murders of the teenage best friends

A makeshift memorial to Libby and Abby seen in October 2022 near where the girls' bodies were discovered five years earlier

He said he had planned to take the girls into the woods to rape them but was startled by a white van driving past and so quickly killed them, jurors heard.

The man in the white van testified that he drove home from work at around 2.30pm that afternoon, to his property close to Deer Creek.

This matched the time that Libby's cellphone last recorded movement - and came just minutes after the 'Bridge Guy' video was recorded - and so this is believed to be the time when the girls were killed.

Despite his series of confessions - which were also released for the first time - Allen pleaded not guilty and Kathy stood by her husband during his murder trial.

When the guilty verdict was handed down, she defiantly told a reporter on leaving the courthouse: 'This isn't over at all.'

During his trial, Allen's defense team claimed his damning confessions while he was suffering a mental health crisis due to the 'prisoner of war' treatment he was enduring inside the state penitentiary.

Allen's attorneys had also claimed Libby and Abby were actually murdered as part of a 'ritualistic sacrifice' by a local white nationalist cult called Odinists - even publicly naming four individuals as the killers in bombshell court documents.

Those four men have never been named as suspects or persons of interest and have never charged in connection to the case.

As part of the shocking theory, Allen's defense pointed to sticks found on the victims' bodies, claiming they were arranged specifically into Pagan symbols.

Crime scene photo shows Libby's phone on the ground where it was found underneath Abby's body

Libby posted this photo on Snapchat of Abby walking along the bridge not long before they were murdered

Jurors did not hear this theory at trial, as the judge blocked the defense from introducing the Odinism theory or from introducing any other alternative suspects.

In another twist in the case, Allen's defense was briefly struck off the case - and then reinstated before trial - following the leak of graphic crime scene photos.

Allen was convicted and sentenced to 130 years in prison.

In the trial's closing arguments, prosecutor Nick McLeland called Abby and Libby 'heroes' for capturing the damning video that ultimately captured their killer.

'They're more than victims, they're heroes. Libby for making the video. Abby for hiding the phone and both of them for camouflaging the bullet,' he said.

Abby's mom Anna Williams spoke to DailyMail.com in February on what marked the first anniversary of the murders since their killer was brought to justice and said the girls' bravery is the one thing she is grateful for about that devastating day.

'I was always very grateful that the girls stayed together,' she said.

'And whether or not things turned out the way we would have hoped, resolutions came about because of how they were that day and how they stayed together.

'Both of their actions helped us get to solving their crime.'

Since his trial, Allen's attorneys continue to file a string of legal objections and have appealed his conviction.
MAGA world is furious with Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett after she sided with liberal justices against the Trump administration despite having been appointed to the country's highest court by President Donald Trump.

It is the latest in a series of rulings where Coney Barrett sided with the court's liberal justices angering Trump supporters since he returned to office.

This time, the associate justice joined the dissent authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in part in a ruling regarding the administration's deportation of Venezuelan migrants.

In the 5-4 decision, the conservative majority overturned at last for now lifted a lower court order halting the migrant deportations to a prison in El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

On social media, Trump supporters were in an uproar over her decision.

'Appointing a woman, namely Amy Coney Barrett, was a huge mistake,' wrote one X user.

'Amy Coney Barrett is a big problem. She sided with the liberals again,' wrote another.

'Justice Barrett joined the 3 liberals on the court to rule against Trump using Alien Enemies Act for deportations,' posted the far-right 'End Wokeness' X account with an image of the four women Supreme Court justices who made up the minority.

Trump supporter Senator Mike Lee reposted the image, which included Coney Barrett, with the caption: 'This is disappointing.'

MAGA loyalists have turned on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett for a series of rulings where she has sided with the more liberal justices on the country's highest court

The associate justice was chosen by Trump and rushed through confirmation by Senate Republicans in 2020 ahead of the November presidential election.

But since her appointment, Barrett has joined her liberal colleagues on several occasions.

While Monday night's ruling put her in the minority, on several occasions, her decisions have hampered Trump and his second term agenda, sparking fury among Trump's loyal fans.

The MAGA meltdown over Barrett really kicked into high gear in early March after the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's emergency request to block the payment of $2 billion in foreign aid.

In that 5-4 decision, the country's highest court refused to halt a lower court judge ordering the administration to release the funds owed under existing contracts.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Barrett joined with the more liberal justices on the court in the majority.

Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented, making Barrett the only Trump appointed justice to side against the president's effort.

A file photo of deportees from the U.S. in El Salvador. On Monday the Supreme Court lifted a halt on the migrant deportations in a 5-4 decision, but Coney Barrett sided with liberal justices in the minority

Justice Barrett shakes hands with President Donald Trump ahead of his address to a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025

In January, Barrett was among the same five-justice majority that ruled against Trump's request to halt him being sentenced on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records just days before his inauguration.

But Barrett has also been a swing vote siding with conservatives as well. She was in the majority which overturned Roe v Wade in 2023.

She was also in the 6-3 conservative majority last June that ruled presidents have some immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office.

Trump nominated Barrett to replace late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court after she passed away in September 2020.

President Donald Trump with Barrett on October 26, 2020 after she was confirmed to the Supreme Court by the Senate

In announcing her nomination, Trump said Barrett was going to be 'fantastic.'

'No matter the issue, no matter the case before her, I am supremely confident that Judge Barrett will issue rulings based solely upon a fair reading of the law,' the president said at the time.

Despite refusing to confirm an Obama Supreme Court nominee ahead of the 2016 election, Senate Republicans in the majority ramped through Barrett's confirmation.

The move solidified a conservative supermajority on the country's highest court just weeks before Joe Biden won the election and Democrats flipped the Senate.
A 'paranoid' man barbarically murdered his wife by slitting her throat after nurturing years of twisted, unfounded jealousy.

Wahib Albaradan, 37, who had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia, repeatedly accused mother-of-four Salam Alshara, 27, of speaking with other men, despite having no proof, and had threatened to kill her before.

His 'controlling' behaviour worsened when Ms Alshara downloaded WhatsApp and TikTok - leading him to believe she was having an affair - and she refused his demands to wear a niqab.

Albaradan, who arrived home in a 'bad mood', then savaged his wife with a large and small knife in their bedroom before attacking her with either a razor or a Stanley knife.

With these, he slit her throat and left Ms Alshara to bleed out on their children's bedroom floor with 'at least 20 wounds'.

The murderer pleaded guilty to the 'frenzied' attack from 2023 at Leeds Crown Court last month and was sentenced with a life sentence today.

Albaradan, a Syrian national, told a psychiatrist that if he was in his native country 'nothing would happen to him' and his wife's death would be considered an 'honour crime'.

Ms Alshara, who was described as 'timid and withdrawn' by neighbours, had tried to divorce Albaradan but was convinced by her and her husband's family to stay after he said he would change.

Salam Alshara, 27, was attacked by her 'controlling' husband with knives before being left to bleed out on their children's bedroom floor with 'at least 20 wounds'

Wahib Albaradan, a Syrian national, said if he was in his native country 'nothing would happen to him' and his wife's death would be considered an 'honour crime'

Albaradan moved to the UK in May 2020 and was joined by Ms Alshara a year later before moving to Ravensthrope, Dewsbury, together.

He believed Ms Alshara had been speaking to other men while she was in Syria alone and that he would have been able to kill her for it there since 'that is our law'.

Prosecutor Nick Worsley KC said the couple did not have the 'happiest of marriages'.

'The defendant had demonstrated signs of jealousy for some time,' he said.

'She had been living at his home in Syria and had complained at being treated by his mum and sister and they said and he believed she had been speaking to other men. There was no truth in this.'

Albaradan's barrister Geraldine Kelly KC said his 'paranoia was a result of his ill health'.

'There is sufficient evidence in my submission to suggest he was not thinking entirely clearly.

'He was seen on several occasions by his GP when he arrived here and at first it was thought his mental health was related to PTSD,' she said.

Albaradan had said he suffered from hallucinations and hearing voices in the weeks before murdering his wife and his 'paranoia' led to him believing that government agencies were spying on the couple and wanted to harvest his organs.

Ms Kelly continued: 'He maintained this after killing his wife. He doesn't recall what happened with his wife other than an argument.'

Eleven months before Ms Alshara was killed, Albradan had sent her stories about deahts between couples - including one of a man who only spent days in jail for the death of his wife.

'He said he would kill her,' Mr Worsley added.

One neighbour said they saw Ms Alshara sit on their doorstep every day but would go inside when told to by her husband.

Ms Alshara's brother said that Albaradan would take her phone away or phone her every 15 minutes when they were not together.

Recorder of Leeds His Honour Judge Guy Kearl told Albaradan 'the reasons for that argument may have been rooted in your paranoid beliefs but to kill her with three separate blades was your choice to make'

Ms Alshara had also defiantly messaged her brother: 'I am one female who wants to live in her house happy and satisfied and without suspicion of judgement in anything.

'I don't know what to do. I told him I don't want this life full of suspicion and mistrust.

'I told him to take his things and leave but if you want to stay, I want you to treat me like any woman.

'I don't want to be out in the streets, I have my duties to do.'

The brother had also said that Albaradan had once previously kicked his wife out of the house without her phone.

He told her that 'if he did it again, to report him to the police'.

The brother also told her she had 'not done anything wrong' when she deleted social media and had every right to keep it.

'Don't keep silent and stand up for your right,' he said.

The prosecutor told the court that Albaradan said 'his wife was naive to let him control her and knew he wasn't a bad person and forced him to commit the crime'.

Ms Alshara's parents said she was the 'light of their lives' and in killing her, Albaradan had also killed them.

When they were told of their youngest daughter's murder, the parents passed out and continue to repeatedly do so because of 'trauma'.

The brother added that they have since been plagued by 'disease' and high blood pressure.

Ms Alshara's sister has also lost the ability to speak after learning of the murder and is receiving mental health treatment.

Recorder of Leeds His Honour Judge Guy Kearl told Albaradan as he was sentencing him: 'From what we know, she was a good and faithful wife and you were a jealous and controlling husband who bullied, threatened and manipulated her.

'As a result of that jealousy, you resented her leaving the house and living a normal life and wanted to control every aspect of her life and made her timid and withdrawn.

'You convinced yourself she was having an affair or affairs, which she wasn't.

'You didn't want her to use the phone to communicate with other people or to have access to social media and she resented this and, no doubt, she resented you.

'She spoke to you about this and you made worthless promises but failed to change your ways.

'Your decision to arm yourself, attack and kill her was a choice. The reasons for that argument may have been rooted in your paranoid beliefs but to kill her with three separate blades was your choice to make.

'Despite suffering a form of psychosis you had not previously been driven to behave violently by your schizophrenia.

'Doctor Medani indicates that your mental capacity was not significantly affected by your mental illness, however there is evidence that at the time of the offence you were mentally disordered, albeit not substantially... You have shown some remorse by your guilty plea.'

Albaradan will serve a minimum term of 19 years and six months, but realistically 18 years and 44 days after already serving time on remand.
A new poll suggests that Donald Trump should be careful what he wishes for when he said last week he'd 'love' to run against Barack Obama for a third presidential terms.

Trump was pressed last week on the hypothetical faceoff in the wake of his proclamation that he could find a way to run again in 2028.

When asked what he thought about a potential showdown with fellow two-termer Obama, he said: 'I'd love that. That would be a good one. I'd like that.'

An Overton Insights survey of 1,100 registered voters, however, claimed that he might not love it so much, as Obama leads the dream head-to-head 53 percent to 47 percent over Trump.

Obama notably would dominate Trump among moderate and independent voters, taking 59 percent of independents and 61 percent of moderates.

Trump's predecessor would also take 10 percent of his own 2024 voters, whereas he would only swipe 3 percent of Kamala Harris voters.

The current president added: 'I know people are asking me to run and there is a whole story about running for a third term. I don't know. I never looked into it. They do say there's a way you can do it, but I don't know about that.

'But I have not looked into it,' he continued.

A new poll suggests that Donald Trump should be careful what he wishes for when he said last week he'd 'love' to run against Barack Obama for a third presidential terms

An Overton Insights survey of 1,100 registered voters has Obama leading the dream head-to-head 53% to 47% over Trump

Right now, no Constitutional law allows Trump or Obama to run again in 2028.

Just three days into Trump's second term, Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican, sent out a proposal to amend the 22nd Amendment to open the door for a Trump third term.

Ogles' Constitutional amendment would allow for Trump to run for a third term - but prohibit Obama from doing so, because the Democrat had already served two consecutive terms.

The other former two-term living presidents, Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton, also wouldn't be eligible if this amendment was passed.

'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 term,' the text of the Ogles' Amendment read.

There's an incredibly high bar to pass a Constitutional amendment - as two-thirds of both the House and Senate would need to sign on - as well as three-fourths of the state legislatures.

With the current nearly 50/50 split in the country of Republicans and Democrats it's extremely unlikely an amendment of this kind would pass - especially one that only aims to allow Trump to serve thrice.

Yet the topic of a Trump third term again came up over the weekend, when the president talked to NBC Meet the Press host Kristen Welker by phone recently.

Trump was pressed on the hypothetical faceoff in the wake of his proclamation that he could find a way to run again in 2028

'A lot of people want me to do it,' the 78-year-old president said.

A chant of 'four more years' broke out at the White House last week during the president's Greek Independence Day event.

'But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it's very early in the administration,' he continued. 'I'm focused on the current.'

When asked why he'd want another term, the president responded, 'I like working.'

'I'm not joking,' he continued. 'But I'm not - it is far too early to think about it.'

He was then asked if he'd been presented with plans on how to serve a third term.

'There are methods which you could do it,' he said.

He was asked about those comments on board Air Force One Sunday as he traveled back to Washington, D.C.

'I don't want to talk about a third term now because no matter how you look at it, you've got a long time to go,' Trump said.

Obama, a longtime rival of Trump, has never expressed any interest in running for a third term.
President Donald Trump brushed off warnings about climate change Tuesday and said the real threat is 'nuclear heat' in a grave threat about Iran.

Trump made the comments in a rambling White House statement before signing executive orders meant to unleash coal power and wipe away regulations that limit it.

He began by dismissing scientific warnings about rising temperatures, melting glaciers, and rising sea levels, months after pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.

'Because they gave us only a few years left on Earth, right?' Trump mocked, with hard hat-wearing coal workers as a backdrop.

'We were going to be gone, we're all going to be gone  the environment. No, what they have to worry about is the nuclear  nuclear heat. They don't have to worry about environmental heat. They have to worry about nuclear heat.'

'And if we're smart, we're working on that right now with others, having to do with Iran and some other countries,' Trump said.

That was the tip that he was referring to Iran and new talks to deal with its nuclear program. Trump has said those talks will be 'direct,' although Iran says they will be 'indirect.' Trump's reference to 'other countries' added more confusion.

'But that's the that's the heat you're gonna have to worry about. You don't have to worry about the air is getting warmer. The ocean will rise ... within the next 500 to 600 years, giving you a little bit more waterfront property. They say this is going to these guys can handle that. The nuclear we have a bigger problem with, right?' Trump said.

President Trump signed orders to boost coal production  then spoke of the 'nuclear heat' in advance of talks with Iran

Trump's latest comments came a day after he sat down with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and told reporters Iran would not be allowed to get a nuclear weapon.

It was a statement that pleased Morton Klein of the Zionist Organization of America.

'You couldnt have had more clarity on Trump saying we can never allow Iran to get nuclear weapons,' the conservative hawk told DailyMail.com. 'He's making it clear to them ... that we're not messing around. We are serious. We're not going to tolerate your continuing. Once they get nukes, it's a nightmare,' he said.

Trump's surprise comment about direct talks with Iran comes as the Pentagon has been brandishing American firepower by deploying B-2 bombers at a base in the Indian Ocean.

Satellite images have revealed the deployment of six nuclear-capable B-2 bombers on Diego Garcia, a British-owned naval base that has been critical during U.S. military campaigns.

The Pentagon has unleashed daily attacks on the Iran-backed Houthis, in a move that sends its own message to Tehran.

'The movement of the aircraft to Diego Garcia definitely sends a signal to Iran about the extent to which they are in jeopardy, and the extent of seriousness the Trump administration feels with regard to its various demands,' Daryl Press, the director of the Initiative for Global Security at Dartmouth College told ABC News.

The network analyzed commercial satellite imagery from Planet Labs PBC.

Trump ridiculed climate scientists warning of rising temperatures and sea levels. 'You don't have to worry about the air is getting warmer. The ocean will rise ... within the next 500 to 600 years, giving you a little bit more waterfront property,' he said

Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show six B-2 stealth bombers. The U.S. continues to pound Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The unconcealed presence of the powerful aircraft also send a message to Tehran, experts say

Trump allied himself with coal miners and climate change skeptics at a White House event meant to boost uses of coal plants and energy production

Trump on Monday said the U.S. would hold top level direct talks with Iran  while brandishing new threats and repeating demands that Iran could not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

Were having direct talks with Iran. And theyve started, Trump told reporters while seated in the Oval Office next to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, himself a top Iran hawk.

The talks are set to take place in Oman, but Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said the talks would be 'indirect,' amid longstanding tensions between the two nations.

'Indirect negotiations can guarantee a genuine and effective dialogue,' he told Iranian state news agency IRNA, Reuters reported.

The disclosure came just days after Trump threatened Iran in remarks to NBC News. 'If they dont make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.'

If he were to order such a bombing campaign, the B-2 bombers are capable of launching bunker buster bombs and other munitions that could be used to take out Iran's nuclear technology, which is often set up deep underground. The bombers are capable of carrying conventional and nuclear munitions.

On military blogger, Ken Klippenstein, quoted experts calling it the largest deployment of B-2s to a forward location. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt, the former Deputy U.S. Military Representative to NATO, boiled it down to 'do you see our sword?'

Over the weekend, Trump fired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only female officer on NATO's military committee, for unexplained reasons, the AP reported.

President Trump revealed that the U.S. would hold direct talks with Iran on Saturday

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Pentagon for comment on the deployment.

When speaking to reporters about Iran, Trump said the surprise meeting would take place Saturday, but refused to divulge where.

Well see what can happen, he said.

All I can tell you is theres a major meeting going on, Trump said when pressed, adding that it would be top level.

The stakes are high. The U.S. has avoided such direct talks for years. The Iran nuclear deal, which Trump scuttled after it was put in place under Barack Obama, was negotiated through multi-party talks.

'I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it,' he added. 'So we are going to see if we can avoid it, but it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful.'

'And I think it would be in Iran's best interests if they are successful.'

Asked about the consequence if Iran refuses to give up its nuclear program, Trump responded: I think if the talks arent successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger.

Because they cant have a nuclear weapon. Its not a complicated formula. Iran cant have a nuclear weapon, Trump said.

If the talks arent successful, I actually think itll be a very bad day for Iran if thats the case.

They would be the first known direct talks since Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018. Trump has repeatedly called it a 'horrible' and complained 'we got nothing.'

Trump made the comments at a meeting that was being closely watched amid a global sell-off after he imposed an across-the-board 10% tariff and slapped additional tariffs on more than 60 countries.

Trump showed no indication of backing down on trade.

Trump did not reveal who was taking part in the talks. They would not occur without the support of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei

'Were not looking at that, Trump said when asked if he was considering a pause after the multi-trillion sell-off.

Trump fielded a series of questions from U.S. and Israeli reporters after cancelling a scheduled press conference planned for the East Room of the White House.

Instead, he revealed the talks on the high-pressure issue, inside the Oval Office facing new pressure on the tariffs. The White House has threatened to veto a Senate bill that would end the emergency designation that the White House cited to impose the tariffs.

Netanyahu was much less revealing on Iran, while confirming the two men discussed it.

'We're both United that Iran does not ever get nuclear weapons, if it could be done diplomatically in a full way, the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing,' he said.

'That's the end of my speech,' said Netanyahu after remarks that were brief.

At one point an Israeli reporter asked Trump to elaborate on how a new Iran deal was going to be 'more effective than the JPOA'  the Obama-era Iran deal that he ripped up.

'Well, I can't really say that, but I think it will be different and maybe a lot stronger,' he said at first  before immediately pivoting to a temporary cease fire with Hamas to free hostages in Gaza.

'But they were so happy when we made that first deal, because we did get a lot out. You know, I had people right in this office, this beautiful Oval Office. They came in, 10 people, hostages, you know that? And I said to him, so how was it and the stories they told me, I mean, as an example, I said to them, was there any sign of love?'

'Did the Hamas show any signs of like help or liking you? Did they wink at you? Did they give you a piece of bread extra? Did they give you a meal on the side like you know, you think of doing like what happened in Germany? What happened elsewhere? People would try and help people that were in unbelievable distress. They said no.'

Netanyahu began the meeting by appeasing Trump's trade complaints, after the U.S. slapped a 17 % tariff on imports from Israel.

'We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States. We intend to do it very quickly. We think it's the right thing to do. And we're going to also eliminate trade barriers, a variety of trade barriers, that have been put up unnecessarily. And I think Israel can serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same,' he said.

The tariffs had surprised the Israeli government, which signed an agreement the day prior to end tariffs on U.S. products. Israel exports about $22 billion annually to the U.S.
Isobel Roe, one of the ABCs small army of federal political reporters, was following along Peter Duttons campaign trail last week.

The award-winning, all-singing and all-dancing TV, radio and digital journalist was so busy filing across Auntys many platforms and programs that she barely found time to eat or sleep.

But Ms Roe (pictured, below) was not complaining, describing the experience of criss-crossing four states and a dozen electorates as an absolute blast.

The 19 hour days with barely any food really pushed reporters to their limits, but I wouldnt have had it any other way, Ms Roe wrote in a recent LinkedIn post.

However, not everyone agreed with the rising stars impressive work ethic.

Fullbright scholar Eliza Howard, who describes herself rather grandly as an independent writer, research strategist, educator, consultant and facilitator and a LinkedIn Top Voice (whatever that is), was incensed.

Why would you not have it any other way? Working so hard that you can barely eat or sleep is abhorrent, she fumed.

Ms Howard then seized on Ms Roes proud work post to launch into a diatribe about how there is seriously something wrong with our society.

24/7 news cycles destroy good thinking and constructively critical journalism, she seethed.

Journalists become parrots who have no time to analyse what is actually important. In turn, politicians are expected to have all the answers, including miniscule details, rather than deferring to experts who are paid to write and articulate policy.

So politicians robotically spit out meaningless garbage to be reported by exhausted, hungry information gatekeepers.

The keyboard warrior the begged Ms Roe to look after herself.

Demand better so you can do better, she wrote.

Dont be flippant just to please your employer. Because we news consumers need you as the Fourth Estate to prevent us from becoming like our now in name only on paper allies, the United States.

Ms Roe shot back: Unless you watched or read everything I did last week, its surely difficult to judge whether I am a parrot who reported the meaningless garbage without thought.
Tomorrow marks 20 years since Charles and Camilla emerged from St George's Chapel in Windsor as a newly married couple.

The wedding was 35 years in the making and, naturally, the newlyweds were beaming with happiness as they posed for pictures on the steps of Windsor Castle and greeted well-wishers on a royal walkabout.

It was far from a conventional affair, with the day broken up into two sections - with Charles and Camilla taking part in a civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall, where they were legally married, before they travelled to St George's Chapel for their blessing from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Nevertheless, the wedding dubbed a 'fairytale for grown-ups' was a seamless affair without any hitches.

Even the weather held up with the party enjoying a beautiful spring day.

However, in the couple's long and windy journey down the aisle they faced opposition from senior members of the Royal Family, mainly from Charles's youngest son Prince Harry.

In his 2023 memoir 'Spare' Harry claimed that he and William pleaded with their father to not marry Camilla.

'We support you, we said. We endorse Camilla, we said. Just please don't marry her. Just be together, Pa,' Harry wrote.

Charles and Camilla on the steps of St George's chapel following their marriage. Tomorrow marks 20 years since the couple said 'I do'

In Charles and Camilla's long and windy journey down the aisle they faced opposition from senior members of the Royal Family, mainly from Charles's youngest son Prince Harry

Charles and Camilla greeting well-wishers following their marriage. The wedding was dubbed a 'fairytale for grown-ups'

Prince Harry with his mother Princess Diana in 1995. Harry claims that he pleaded with his father to not marry Camilla

The conversation between the father and his sons came after William and Harry formally met Camilla at Highgrove in 1998 a year after their mother - Diana Princess of Wales - died in a Paris car crash.

After the meeting, Harry revealed that he and William reportedly promised Charles they would welcome Camilla into the family.

All they asked of the then-Prince of Wales was to not marry Camilla.

Harry claimed this was because the marriage would 'cause controversy'.

He said: 'It would incite the press. It would make the whole country, the whole world, talk about Mummy, compare Mummy and Camilla, and nobody wanted that. Least of all Camilla.'

The King did not answer but Harry said Camilla did when she 'began the long game, a campaign aimed at marriage and eventually the Crown.'

Harry says that details from Camilla and William's meetings were later leaked to the press - which he alleges came from Camilla.

Harry was far from the only obstacle Charles and Camilla faced in the dramatic history of their relationship.

Charles and Camilla's official wedding photograph. It was a wedding 35 years in the making and naturally they were beaming with happiness

Prince William and Prince Harry outside the Guildhall in Windsor following the civil wedding ceremony of the then-Prince Charles and Camilla

Queen Elizabeth II with Prince Philip during the wedding. The late Queen did not attend the civil ceremony although she was at the religious blessing

The late Queen Elizabeth II was one such hurdle whose support for the marriage was crucial so that Charles was not removed from the line of succession.

According to Tom Bower's book Rebel Prince in 1998, around the same time Harry and William met Camilla, Charles spoke to his mother about about welcoming Camilla into the family which the Queen was not happy about.

Bower wrote that the Queen said she 'would not condone his adultery, nor forgive Camilla for not leaving Charles alone to allow his marriage to recover'.

He also claimed that the Queen referred to Camilla as 'that wicked woman'.

By 2000, the Queen indicated her tacit approval of their relationship when she attended a lunch with the pair.

And she did eventually give the couple permission to marry. However, the Queen did not attend the civil ceremony although she was at the religious blessing.

Camilla and Charles also faced opposition to their relationship from the wider public.

Following the collapse of Charles and Diana's marriage in 1992, Camilla was seen as a homewrecker who had destroyed the Prince and Princess's relationship.

Charles and Camilla, arms linked together, leaving St George's Chapel with the Queen close behind

Charles and Camilla leaving their civil wedding ceremony before they received a blessing from the Archbishop of Canterbury

Camilla showing off her engagement ring in February 2005

Speaking to Vogue in 2022 Camilla said: 'I was scrutinised for such a long time that you just have to find a way to live with it.

'Nobody likes to be looked at all the time and, you know, criticised but I think in the end, I sort of rose above it and got on with it. You've got to get on with life.'

To rehabilitate Camilla's image Charles launched a large-scale PR campaign with Mark Bolland at the helm.

During the spin doctor's reign in the late 1990s and early 2000s he performed something of a miracle, taking Charles's own popularity rating from 20 per cent after Diana's death to 75 per cent.

Bolland also orchestrated the media coverage of the prince's first photographed public appearance with Camilla at the Ritz Hotel in January 1999 - dubbed 'Operation Ritz'.

Harry wrote in Spare, that he was collateral damage in the campaign to rehabilitate Charles and pave the way for his marriage to Camilla, though 'the new spin doctor, Camilla had talked Pa into hiring'.

Unnamed in the book, although widely understood to be Bolland, he describes a character who meticulously choreographed those early first steps towards Charles's non-negotiable ambition: to reign with Camilla seated on the throne beside him.

During the run up to their wedding, the couple attended a number of public events together and Camilla also moved into Clarence House establishing her as Charles' closest confidant.

Charles and Camilla at their religious blessing inside St George's Chapel

In his 2023 memoir 'Spare' Harry wrote that he was collateral damage in the campaign to rehabilitate Charles and pave the way for his marriage to Camilla

Charles and Camilla together in 1999. To rehabilitate Camilla's image Charles launched a large-scale PR campaign with Mark Bolland at the helm

Once the wedding day arrived in 2005 it was an uncontroversial affair although it did face some last minute bumps in the road to the aisle.

It had to be delayed by 24 hours at the last minute when the Queen asked Charles to represent the crown at the funeral of Pope John Paul II and Camilla was reportedly suffering from a heavy cold.

By the time the couple were seen outside St George's Chapel the newlyweds were the picture of happiness.

And despite Harry's claim in Spare that 'weddings were joyous occasions, sure, but they were also low-key funerals', the day was an enjoyable one with the Queen giving a humorous speech making reference to the wedding clashing with the Grand National.

And in spite of Harry's claim that the marriage would cause controversy, 20 years on Camilla has become an integral and accepted part of the Royal Family.

This culminated in Queen Elizabeth II issuing a statement voicing her support for Camilla to receive the title of Queen Consort upon Charles accession to the throne rather than Princess Consort.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following their Coronation on May 6 2023

Since Charles became King following the death of his mother in September 8 2022, the now Queen Camilla is one of the most prominent members of the Royal Family.

And since she became Queen her popularity with the public has soared to a high of 55 per cent in September 2022.

In the wake of Charles's cancer diagnosis in February 2024, Camilla took on more engagements and has only seen her support grow.

In contrast, Harry - who stepped down as a senior royal in January 2020 - has seen his popularity slip behind that of Camilla.
Prince Harry has said he was 'singled out for inferior treatment' when his security was downgraded following his decision to step back from royal duties, a court heard today.

The Duke of Sussex is appealing the dismissal of his legal challenge over the level of protection he is given while visiting the UK at the Court of Appeal.

Last year, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane ruled that the Home Office's decision to downgrade his security, taken in early 2020 after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit as senior working royals, was not irrational or procedurally unfair.

Opening his case, Prince Harry's barrister Shaheed Fatima KC said her client was 'singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment' by the Home Office.

Live updates below
Since becoming Queen, Camilla's style has evolved with confidence - and it's her choice of accessories that truly sets her apart.

From the understated luxury of Launer leather clutches to the refined elegance of a Moynat top-handle, each bag brings a unique touch to her ensembles.

Collaborating closely with her longtime dresser Jacqui Meakin, who also styled the Queen Mother, Camilla effortlessly balances timeless elegance with a modern edge.

She embraces iconic brands such as Chanel, Fendi and Bottega Veneta, while also championing British labels, including Aspinal of London and the late Queen Elizabeth's go-to, Launer.

No matter the occasion - be it a royal wedding, formal gala or Commonwealth tour - Camilla favours a palette of neutrals, soft pastels and navy, occasionally adding a striking shade of blue for contrast.

Here, we explore her coveted collection of handbags.

Bottega Veneta

The King and Queen received a warm welcome in Rome today as they kicked off their four-day state visit.

Camilla appeared resplendent in a Fiona Clare dress, accessorised with an eye-catching Bottega Veneta bag.

The luxurious Andiamo intrecciato leather tote in ecru, costing 3,410, incorporated a top handle and signature knot detailing.

This wasn't the first time Camilla has shown a preference for the Italian designer. At the Sandringham Flower Show in 2023, she opted for another woven style, paired with a Cefinn floral dress.

The 2,200 shoulder bag, in a classic neural hue, subtly highlighted her Van Cleef and Arpels Alhambra jewellery.

Visiting Rome in April, Camilla appeared resplendent in a Fiona Clare dress, accessorised with an eye-catching Bottega Veneta bag

Camilla stepped out with another chic bag by cult designer Bottega Veneta at the Sandringham Flower Show in 2023

Chanel

Camilla has showcased numerous Chanel bags over the years.

On Easter Sunday in 2023, her 3,605 vintage crossbody bag was notably paired with a complementary navy blue coat dress by Anna Valentine, creating a stylish and cohesive look.

At the Field of Remembrance in 2020, she gracefully carried a 3,350 Chanel top handle flap bag in classic black caviar leather.

The bag, boasting soft quilting and the iconic double C logo in gold, was the perfect addition to her military-inspired hunter green coat and Philip Treacy hat.

Back in 2005, a 3,250 quilted flap bag, with a chain shoulder strap and silver hardware, gave a fresh twist to Camilla's boucle suit during a tour of the US.

A mainstay in her wardrobe, this design has been spotted on many occasions.

Camilla stunned with her 3,605 vintage Chanel crossbody bag as she and King Charles celebrated their first Easter Sunday as Queen and King in April

Queen Camilla gracefully clasped her 3,350 Chanel top handle flap bag in classic black caviar leather at the Field of Remembrance in November 2020

During her US tour in November 2005, Camilla relied on her trusty 3,250 quilted Chanel bag

Launer

Camilla owns Launer's High Society clutch in both black and white.

For the Commonwealth Day Service in 2023, she teamed the 1,400 black version with a cobalt Fiona Clare coat and Philip Treacy fascinator.

In contrast, she opted for ladylike tones of cream at the 2018 RAF centenary event, teaming a pencil dress and wide-brimmed hat with the coveted clutch.

Launer was Queen Elizabeth's favourite bag designer and she was rarely seen without one.

Camilla was a vibrant sight at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in March 2023 with her 1,400 High Society cutch from Launer

It was the 1,400 High Society bag by Launer for the Queen Consort at a RAF centenary event at Westminster Abbey in July 2018

Aspinal of London

Camilla's affinity with Aspinal of London has remained strong for several years.

She first carried the 450 Letterbox Saddle Bag to a literature festival at Peterborough Cathedral in 2016.

At the 2023 Cheltenham Festival, Camilla earned instant style points for choosing the Midi Mayfair in a sophisticated burgundy croc finish, which stood out beautifully against her camel cashmere coat by Anna Valentine.

The Midi Mayfair, priced at 595, is crafted from full-grain Italian leather and features Aspinal's signature shield lock and logo.

At the 2023 Cheltenham Festival, Camilla earned instant style points for choosing Aspinal of London's Midi Mayfair in a sophisticated burgundy croc finish

Camilla attends the 2018 Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey

Fendi

Camilla has a particular fondness for Fendi's sought-after Peekaboo bags.

At Ascot's Racing Weekend in November 2022, she accentuated a Mr Roy coat and fur-trimmed Lock & Co. hat with the 4,300 Peekaboo ISeeU bag.

Created in a classic tan colourway, with the signature silver twist lock closure, the small tote is designed to carry everyday essentials.

Previously, while attending Wimbledon in 2018, Camilla opted for a similar Peekaboo Mini bag in dove grey, featuring a python handle and oversized stitching, priced at 3,900.

For Ascot's Racing Weekend in November 2022, Camilla chose Fendi's 4,300 Peekaboo ISeeU small bag

Camilla dressed for Wimbledon in a summery cream and white polka dot dress

Bulgari

In February 2022, Camilla attended The Prince's Foundation in Trinity Buoy Wharf, carrying a 2,730 Bulgari Serpenti Forever bag in emerald.

The small top handle bag incorporated an amethyst purple grosgrain lining and snakehead closure embellished with black and white agate enamel scales and green malachite eyes.

Worn with a coordinating double-breasted jacket and riding skirt from Anna Valentine, the Queen was a vision in shades of green.

In February 2022, Camilla attended The Prince's Foundation training site for arts and culture in Trinity Buoy Wharf

Smythson

Attending Royal Ascot in 2021, Camilla carried a 495 Smythson dove grey flap clutch, coordinating with the stripes on her Bruce Oldfield coat.

The sleek foldover design provided ample room for Camilla's belongings and boasted a contrasting black trim.

Her radiant pastel look was completed with Chanel pumps and a Philip Treacy hat.

Camilla looked radiant in pastels for Ascot in June 2021, topping off her outfit with a 495 Smythson dove grey flap clutch

Heidi Klein

Exuding elegance at the National Gallery in July 2020, Camilla clutched her favourite straw bag from Heidi Klein. The visit marked the re-opening of the gallery after a long closure during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Camilla's 280 raffia tote bag tied in with the neutral tones of her Liberty print face mask and Sole Bliss pumps.

Camilla carried her favourite summer straw bag from Heidi Klein on an outing to the National Gallery in July 2020

DeMellier

Camilla carried a DeMellier forest green bag during a 2020 engagement in Loughborough with William and Kate.

The 340 Mini Venice, boasting a top handle, crossbody strap and playful tassel detail, has also been spotted on Meghan Markle.

The Queen paired the design with a tailored coat and fur-trimmed hat.

During a visit to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Stanford Hall in Loughborough, Camilla opted for the forest green 340 Mini Venice bag from DeMellier

Moynat

At the Commonwealth Service in March 2019, Camilla showcased a top handle bag from Moynat, a luxurious trunk-maker dating back to 1849.

The 3,430 Gabrielle design complemented her purple velvet Anna Valentine coat and Philip Treacy hat.

The previous month, Camilla debuted the brand's Gabrielle BB in an exquisite brown lizard skin.

The 5,620 piece was not available to buy online, making it the most exclusive bag in her accessories collection.

At the Commonwealth Service in March 2019, Camilla carried a black top handle from Moynat

Attending a reception for London taxi drivers in February 2019 at Buckingham Palace, Camilla carried a Moynat Gabrielle BB in a brown textured lizard skin

Carnaby London

Attending the Countryside Fund racing weekend at Ascot in November 2018, Camilla paired a checked heritage-style coat with a Carnaby London tote bag.

The 395 tan buckled strap bag, featuring a statement gold crown motif beneath the clasp, was designed by an ex-British Army soldier.

When attending the Countryside Fund racing weekend at Ascot in November 2018, the Queen chose a Carnaby London tote bag in tan leather

The Rodnik Band

Donning a blue floral dress, blazer and pearl jewellery for a London charity event in June 2015, Camilla made a sartorial statement.

But it was her sequinned clutch emblazed with the Heinz baked beans motif that caught onlookers' attention.

The 795 glitzy number, created by British label The Rodnik Band, offered a quirky take on the humble store cupboard essential.

The glitzy 795 number made in 2015 was created by British label The Rodnik Band
While Britain is only just stepping into Spring, around the world last month's weather was scorching hot

According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), last month was the second warmest March on record.

Average surface air temperatures hit 14.06C (57.3F), making the month only 0.08C (1.44F) cooler than last year's record-breaking March.

Globally, March was 1.59C (2.86F) hotter than the average for 1850 to 1900, the period referred to as 'pre-industrial'.

This makes last month the twentieth out of the last 21 months to exceed the 1.5C warming target laid out in the Paris Climate Agreement.

These near-record levels of warming make the average temperature for the 12 months up to March 0.71C (1.28F) hotter than the 1991-2020 average, and 1.59C (2.86F) above the pre-industrial level.

Meanwhile, Europe experienced its hottest March on record with an average temperature of 6.03C (42.85F).

Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S, says: 'March 2025 was the warmest March for Europe highlighting once again how temperatures are continuing to break records.'

Last month was the third hottest March on record globally and the hottest ever recorded in Europe (right). The month also saw contrasting climate conditions, with some regions remaining dry as others saw their wettest period in over 40 years (left)

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C3S looks at temperature readings from a variety of instruments, such as weather stations, balloons, and satellites.

The department's readings refer to the average air temperature for the whole planet over the whole month  so lower than a single typically 'hot' temperature reading.

Globally, this marks yet another month in which global temperatures exceeded the 1.5C warming target of the Paris Agreement.

However, that does not necessarily mean that the Paris Agreement restrictions have already been breached.

The Paris Agreement refers to temperature averages calculated over decades rather than individual years, so there is still time for countries to try and meet their commitments.

But it does seem more likely that the global average temperatures will continue to follow their record-breaking trend.

Last December, November, October and September were all the second-hottest for that respective month, according to C3S, while August 2024 was the joint-warmest August globally, tied with August 2023.

Summer 2024 (June to August) was the hottest summer on record, while last year was the hottest year on record.

Average surface air temperatures hit 14.06C (57.3F), making the month only 0.08C (1.44F) cooler than last year's record-breaking March. Europe experienced its hottest March on record with an average temperature of 6.03C (42.85F). Pictured: People enjoying a warm day on Bournemouth Beach on March 30

Likewise, this January was the hottest on record while February was the third hottest ever recorded.

Last month was particularly hot in Europe, where the average surface temperature was 2.41C (4.34F) above the 1991 to 2020 average for March.

While parts of Europe, including Spain and southern France, experienced a cool, wet March other areas were hit by unseasonably high temperatures.

In particular, Eastern Europe and parts of Southwest Russia saw temperatures well above the historical average.

Warmer temperatures also had a negative effect on sea ice levels in the Antarctic and Arctic regions.

Arctic sea ice reached its lowest monthly extent in March in the 47-year satellite record.

Arctic sea ice covered an area six per cent smaller than average, marking the fourth month in a row when sea ice extents have seen record-breaking lows.

Likewise, Antarctic sea ice hit its fourth lowest monthly extent for March, standing 24 per cent lower than average.

March was 1.59C (2.86F) hotter than the average for 1850 to 1900, the period referred to as 'pre-industrial'. Making it the twentieth out of the last 21 months to exceed the 1.5C warming target laid out in the Paris Climate Agreement.

Arctic sea ice hit its lowest extent for March in the 47-year satellite record. This is the fourth month in a row that Arctic sea ice has set a new record low for the month

Average sea surface temperatures hit 20.96C (69.72F), the second highest on record.

According to C3S, sea temperatures were just 0.12C (0.22F) below the March record set in 2024.

This comes after research found the melting sea ice in the Antarctic threatens to destabilise the world's strongest ocean current, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC).

This would trigger a 'vicious' cycle of global warming and melting ice as the ACC would no longer be able to play its vital role in regulating the world's temperature.

'It was also a month with contrasting rainfall extremes across Europe,' Ms Burgess says.

'With many areas experiencing their driest March on record and others their wettest March on record for at least the past 47 years.'

During March, most of Europe experienced wetter-than-average conditions, especially Spain's Iberian Peninsula which was hit by storms and widespread flooding.

However, the UK and Ireland were notably drier and warmer than the average for the month, as was a large part of central Europe.
Since Covid-19 brought the world to a standstill back in 2020, thoughts have turned to what the next global pandemic could be.

Many scientists are focusing their research on a hypothetical future 'Disease X'.

But according to a new study, the answer could actually lie in the Arctic.

Scientists have warned that melting ice at the North Pole could unleash 'zombie' viruses with the potential to trigger a new pandemic.

These so-called 'Methuselah microbes' can remain dormant in the soil and the bodies of frozen animals for tens of thousands of years.

But as the climate warms and the permafrost thaws, scientists are now concerned that ancient diseases might infect humans.

Co-author Dr Khaled Abass, of the University of Sharjah, says: 'Climate change is not only melting iceit's melting the barriers between ecosystems, animals, and people.

'Permafrost thawing could even release ancient bacteria or viruses that have been frozen for thousands of years.'

Melting ice and thawing permafrost in the Arctic could release a deadly 'zombie virus' and start the next pandemic, scientists have warned. Pictured: Scientists walk over the thawing Greenland icecap

So-called 'Methuselah microbes' can remain dormant in the soil and the bodies of frozen animals for tens of thousands of years. Scientists have managed to revive some of these ancient diseases in the lab, including this Pithovirus sibericum that was isolated from a 30,000-year-old sample of permafrost

Glaciers can also store huge numbers of frozen viruses. As scientists predict that the world's glaciers will vanish by 2100, there are concerns that these ancient pathogens could be released

For over a decade, scientists known that bacteria and viruses frozen in the Arctic could still have the potential to infect living organisms.

In 2014, scientists isolated viruses from the Siberian permafrost and showed they could still infect living cells despite being frozen for thousands of years.

Similarly, in 2023, scientists successfully revived an amoeba virus that had been frozen for 48,500 years.

However, the risks are not limited to permafrost regions, as dormant pathogens can also be found in large bodies of ice such as glaciers.

Last year, scientists found 1,700 ancient viruses lurking deep inside a glacier in western China, most of which have never been seen before.

The viruses date back as far as 41,000 years and have survived three major shifts from cold to warm climates.

While these viruses are safe so long as they remain buried in the permafrost, the big concern for climate scientists is that they may not remain that way for long.

When ice or permafrost is disturbed or melts, any microbes inside are released into the environment - many of which could be dangerous.

The bodies of frozen animals like mammoths or woolly rhinoceros (pictured) can harbour ancient organisms which survive in a dormant state. When these animals are disturbed or thaw, the microbes are released

Some of these microbes have the potential to be dangerous, such as Pacmanvirus lupus (pictured) which was found thawing from the 27,000-year-old intestines of a frozen Siberian wolf

Which zombie viruses could be released? Influenza Scientists have found strains of influenza in the lungs of frozen victims from as far back as 1918. Pithovirus sibericum Despite being frozen for 30,000 years the virus was still infectious. Mollivirus sibericum While not a threat to humans and animals, scientists found this virus can survive for thousands of years. Pandoravirus and Megavirus mammoth These viruses were found in a clump of frozen mammoth wool and are able to infect both human and mouse cells. 'Wolf' virus - Pacmanvirus lupus An ancient relative of African swine fever virus, this was found thawing from the 27,000-year-old intestines of frozen Siberian wolf. Advertisement

For example, researchers discovered an ancient relative of African swine fever virus, Pacmanvirus lupus was found thawing from the 27,000-year-old intestines of frozen Siberian wolf.

Despite having been frozen since the Middle Stone Age, this virus was still capable of infecting and killing amoebas in the lab.

Scientists estimate that four sextillion - that's four followed by 21 zeros - cells escape permafrost every year at current rates.

While researchers estimate that only one in 100 ancient pathogens could disrupt the ecosystem, the sheer volume of microbes escaping makes a dangerous incident more likely.

In 2016, for example, anthrax spores escaped from an animal carcass that had been frozen in the Siberian permafrost for 75 years, leaving dozens hospitalized and one child dead.

Yet the bigger risk is that the disease becomes established in the animal population, where increasing contact with humans makes it more likely that the disease will jump into humans as a 'zoonotic' disease.

According to the researchers, about three-quarters of all known human infections are zoonotic, including those found in the Arctic.

If a zoonotic disease emerged from a dormant state in the frozen Arctic, our bodies might not have the defences needed to fight an infection.

Scientists warn that pathogens from frozen animals, such as this 39,500-year-old cave bear from Siberia, could jump to modern species. If this happened, there is a serious risk of humans becoming infected by the ancient disease

The Arctic is an especially dangerous region for zoonotic diseases because health monitoring services are so limited. The researchers point out that diseases like Toxoplasma gondii are already spreading widely through people and animals in the region (illustrated)

This type of infection could lead to a particularly dangerous and hard-to-control pandemic.

Dr Abbas says: 'Climate change and pollution are affecting both animal and human healthour research looked into how these two forces are interconnected.

'As the Arctic warms faster than most other parts of the world, we're seeing changes in the environmentlike melting permafrost and shifting ecosystemsthat could help spread infectious diseases between animals and people.'

The researchers warn that Arctic regions are an especially dangerous starting point for a pandemic since the region has so little medical infrastructure.

Health and research services are limited, meaning a disease may spread widely before the authorities have the chance to react.

Already, the researchers point out that zoonotic diseases such as Hantavirus hemorrhagic fever and the parasite Toxoplasma gondii have spread throughout the Arctic region.

However, Dr Abbas cautions that what is happening in the Arctic 'doesn't stay in the Arctic'.

'The environmental stressors we studied have ripple effects that reach far beyond the polar regions.'
A genetic engineering company stunned the world by bringing the ancient dire wolf back from extinction  but it won't stop there.

The Texas-based Colossal Biosciences also plans to de-extinct the woolly mammoth, the dodo bird and the Tasmanian tiger.

The project aims to restore species that have been eradicated at least in part due to human activities such as overhunting, habitat destruction and pollution.

To de-extinct a species, Colossal scientists extract the extinct species' DNA from fossils or museum specimens, reassemble its full genetic code (or genome), then compare it to the genome of their closest living relative to pick out the differences.

Once they identify gene variants that are specific to the extinct species, they modify the living relative's genome to match the extinct species as closely as possible. In the case of the dire wolves, they made 20 changes to gray wolf DNA.

Then, they use this modified genome to make an egg cell that can be implanted into a surrogate  a female from the living relative species  who later gives birth to the previously extinct animal.

Colossal has already sequenced the woolly mammoth's genome, and in March, its scientists managed to create 'woolly mice' in a major step toward bringing this ancient giant back.

Ultimately, the company hopes to use Asian elephants as surrogates for their woolly mammoths, which they aim to birth by 2028.

After de-extincting the dire wolf, Colossal Biosciences plans to bring back the woolly mammoth, the dodo bird and the Tasmanian tiger too

Colossals Dire Wolves; Romulus and Remus at age three months

Scientists are also making strides toward resurrecting the dodo and the Tasmanian tiger by using museum specimens to reconstruct their genomes.

But some wildlife conservation experts warn that reintroducing long-extinct species to today's ecosystems could have significant consequences.

On Monday, Colossal Biosciences announced it had successfully birthed three dire wolves, naming them Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi. Made famous by the popular HBO series Game of Thrones, these ancient wolves went extinct 12,500 years ago.

The reason for their disappearance is unclear, but scientists think it may have been triggered by the loss of their megafaunal prey  perhaps due to overhunting.

'I could not be more proud of the team. This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works,' said CEO of Colossal Ben Lamm.

His company claims it is humanity's responsibility to bring these species back. 'We're committed to rectifying the past and rehabilitating nature on a global scale,' the website states.

Its experts say reintroducing these animals to nature will be beneficial to the environment in many ways, even when it comes to climate change.

De-extincting the woolly mammoth, for example, could combat global warming by restoring Arctic grassland ecosystems, they say.

But some other experts aren't so sure. 'I'd argue that the broader effort to de-extinct the mammoth is  as far as conservation efforts go  incredibly misguided,' conservation scientists Nitik Sekar wrote in an recent article for Ars Technica.

'Ultimately, Colossal's efforts won't end up being about helping wild elephants or saving the climate. They'll be about creating creatures for human spectacle, with insufficient attention to the costs and opportunity costs to human and animal life.'

Woolly mammoth

Ben Lamm, CEO and founder of Colossal Biosciences, has said he is 'positive' that the first woolly mammoth calves will be born in late 2028

These ancient giants haven't roamed the Earth for roughly 4,000 years, but Lamm has said he is 'positive' the first woolly mammoth calves will be born in the next few years.

His company sequenced a mammoth genome and found a way to produce elephant stem cells capable of giving rise to several different cell types  two important steps toward resurrecting the mammoth.

In March, Colossal scientists managed to create 'woolly mice' by modifying mouse DNA to express two mammoth traits: long, bushy hair and fat that helped them survive in the cold.

'We ended up with some absolutely adorable mice that have longer, woolly, golden-colored coats,' Beth Shapiro, chief science officer at Colossal, told NPR.

'This is exciting to us because it confirms that the genes and gene families that we identified using our comparative genomics approach really do cause an animal to have a woolly coat and a golden coat and longer hairs,' she said.

'And this is the way that we're going to create mammoths for the future.'

When that time comes, Colossal plans to use Asian elephants as surrogates.

Surprisingly, this species is more closely related to woolly mammoths than African elephants  they share 95 percent of their genetic code with the extinct giants.

Dodo bird

Most experts believe that the dodo was a fat, gawky bird. But because it has been extinct since the late 1600s, nobody really knows exactly what the dodo looked like

This ancient, 50-pound flightless bird once thrived on the island of Mauritius. The species was first documented by Dutch sailors around the year 1600.

But by 1681, they were wiped off the map.

The dodo bird was pushed to extinction by deforestation, overhunting and the destruction of their nests by animals that the Dutch brought to the island.

Now, Colossal wants to bring them back using dodo DNA preserved in museum specimens. Though the company has not set a target date for the bird's return, it has made progress toward this goal in recent years.

In 2022, Shapiro and her former colleagues at the University of California, Santa Cruz (where she worked prior to joining Colossal) managed to reassemble the extinct bird's genome.

This was an important first step toward de-extincting the dodo, but Colossal scientists still need to engineer genetic diversity into the genome so that they don't produce a population of clones, Lamm told LiveScience.

This hurdle, among others, will need to be cleared before the company can begin birthing dodos.

But gestating the birds will be much quicker and easier than it is for large mammals such as the dire wolf or woolly mammoth, because the dodo DNA is self-contained in an egg, Lamm said.

The extinct bird's closest living relative, the Nicobar pigeon, will gestate and lay these eggs, according to Colossal.

Tasmanian tiger

The last-known thylacine, or 'Tasmanian tiger,' died in captivity in a Hobart zoo in 1936 (pictured)

The thylacine, commonly known as the 'Tasmanian tiger,' was a large carnivorous marsupial that officially went extinct 89 years ago.

This coyote-like animal once roamed the mainland of Australia as well as the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea, with roughly 5,000 thriving in Tasmania alone.

But ultimately, the species disappeared due to overhunting, habitat destruction and the introduction of invasive, competing species to their lands. The last one died in captivity in 1936.

Because the Tasmanian tiger was featured in many museums around the world, Colossal scientists have lots of DNA specimens to work with.

'Every major museum wanted one in their collection, so there are hundreds of samples around the globe, and some are exceptionally preserved,' Andrew Pask, a professor of genetics and developmental biology at the University of Melbourne in Australia who is working with Colossal, told BBC Future in 2023.

He and his colleagues sequenced the full Tasmanian tiger genome in 2017.

Since then, they have compared its genome to that of its closest living relative  a mouse-sized marsupial called the dunnart  to identify the gene variants that make the Tasmanian tiger unique.

But there is still more work to be done before this species can be de-extinct. Next, Pask will edit the dunnart genome so that it matches the Tasmanian tiger's.

Once Colossal create an egg cell using this reconstructed genome, the company plans to implant it into a dunnart surrogate.
It's been more than a century since the famous Titanic sank after striking an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean.

But stunning images now reveal its demise in groundbreaking detail.

Experts at deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd have snapped the wrecked luxury liner from new angles about 12,500 feet below the ocean's surface.

The digital scans reveal a new view of the boiler room near where the liner split in two.

Some of the boilers are concave, which suggests they were still operating as they were plunged into the icy water.

Meanwhile, punctures in the hull 'the size of A4 pieces of paper' caused the ship's speedy demise  just two hours and 40 minutes after it hit the iceberg.

'Titanic is the last surviving eyewitness to the disaster, and she still has stories to tell,' Titanic analyst Parks Stephenson told the BBC.

'Having a comprehensive view of the entirety of the wreck site is key to understanding what happened here.'

Experts at deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd have snapped the wrecked luxury liner from new angles about 12,500 feet below ocean surface. Pictured, the bow (front of the ship)

The images, published by the BBC, reveal a new view of the boiler room near where the liner split in two. Some of the boilers (pictured) are concave (they curve inwards), which suggests they were still operating as they were plunged into the icy water

The grandest ship: RMS Titanic departing on its maiden voyage from Southampton on April 10, 1912. The remains now lie on the seafloor about 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada

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Also revealed by the scans is a valve in an open position, indicating that steam was still flowing into Titanic's electricity generating system.

This backs up eyewitness reports from the fateful night that a team of brave engineers worked right to the end to keep the ship's lights on.

The team led by Cumbria-born engineer Joseph Bell worked to shovel coal into the furnaces to keep the lights on.

All died in the disaster but their heroic actions saved many lives by giving crew time to launch the lifeboats safely, Mr Stephenson told the BBC.

'They held the chaos at bay as long as possible, and all of that was kind of symbolised by this open steam valve just sitting there on the stern,' he said.

The scans have been studied for a new documentary by National Geographic and Atlantic Productions called 'Titanic: The Digital Resurrection'.

It follows the first batch of digital scans images from Magellan Ltd released two years ago that revealed the 3D reconstruction of the wreck.

Magellan Ltd sent submersibles to survey all parts of the wreck, which lies around 13,000 feet under the water's surface.

Pictured, the heavily-damaged stern of the ship (the rear or aft-most part of the vessel) which slammed into the sea bed so hard it distorted its shape

Also revealed by the scans is a valve in an open position, indicating that steam was still flowing into Titanic's electricity generating system

As well as the imagery, a new simulation reconstructs RMS Titanic and the damage caused that tragic night nearly 113 years ago exactly.

Hero: A team led by Cumbria-born engineer Joseph Bell (pictured) worked to shovel coal into the furnaces to keep Titanic's lights on as it sank

According to research leader Jeom-Kee Paik at University College London, Titanic only made a glancing blow against the iceberg.

But it was left with punctures the size of A4 pieces of paper spread across six compartments along a narrow section of the hull.

'Those small holes are across a long length of the ship,' Simon Benson, naval architect at the University of Newcastle, told the BBC.

'So the flood water comes in slowly but surely into all of those holes, and then eventually the compartments are flooded over the top and the Titanic sinks.'

RMS Titanic  owned and operated by British company White Star Line  tragically sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912 after a collision with an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean, killing an estimated 1,517 of the 2,224 people on board.

The remains now lie on the seafloor about 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

However, the delicate wreck is deteriorating so rapidly underwater that it could disappear completely within the next 40 years.

This image released in 2023 shows stalactites of rust on the ship's bow, the serial number on a propeller, and a hole over where the grand staircase once stood

This 2023 image shows the stern (the back of the ship) as a twisted mess of metal, after it hit the ocean floor still rotating in a counter-clockwise direction

Titanic broke in half just before it made its final plunge in the early hours of April 15, 1912, and now two parts of the ship  the bow and the stern  lie 2,600 feet apart.

Titanic's stern (the back of the ship) is a twisted mess of metal after it hit the ocean floor still rotating in a counter-clockwise direction.

The V-shaped bow is more recognisable, complete with railings, although much of it is buried under mud due to the force of impact.

Both halves are surrounded by a field of debris consisting of bits of metal, pieces of furniture, unopened champagne bottles and even passengers' shoes.

The wreck wasn't located until September 1, 1985  a discovery that made global headlines.

The full footage can be seen in Titanic: The Digital Resurrection on Tuesday 15th April at 8pm on the National Geographic Channel.
America's newest weapon of mass destruction is going into production seven months ahead of schedule as fears of a war with China continue to grow.

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico are kickstarting development of the B61-13, a nuclear 'gravity bomb' that was originally slated to go into production for the US Air Force in 2026.

Gravity bombs are literally what they sound like, a bomb dropped from a military plane which lets gravity do all the work.

The timeline was moved up due to the 'critical challenge and urgent need' for a new nuclear deterrent - a threat that's hopefully big enough to discourage America's enemies from attacking first.

The B61-13 is 24 times more powerful than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. That first atom bomb, called 'Little Boy,' had a yield of about 15 kilotons - the explosive equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT.

The B61-13, on the other hand, is designed to have a yield of around 360 kilotons, or 360,000 tons of TNT.

This particular weapon was scheduled to become the full-time replacement for older nuclear bombs carried by US stealth bombers and dropped over targets without warning by 2028.

However, with growing economic and military tensions between the US and major powers like China and Russia, the dramatically updated timeline could put a terrifying new weapon on the battlefield by the end of this year.

Workers prepare the B61-13, a nuclear 'gravity bomb' 24 times more powerful than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945

The uranium-based atomic bomb dubbed 'Little Boy' was dropped on Hiroshima, which was home to 320,000 people when it was released in 1945. Now, the Department of Defense (DoD) is developing an even more powerful nuclear bomb, which packs a destructive force of 360 kilotons

China has already hit back at President Donald Trump's vow to impose further tariffs with a stark warning that Beijing is ready for a tariff war or 'any other type of war.'

The team at Sandia added that their sped-up schedule will also cut the overall production time on the B61-13 nuclear bomb by 25 percent.

In September, the US Department of Energy said: 'The B61-13 will provide the President with additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets.'

Despite the US military rushing new nukes into production, government officials noted that the move won't increase the country's already massive nuclear stockpile.

The new bomb will have the same explosive yield as its predecessor, the Cold War-era B61-7, estimated to be 360,000 tons, giving off a blast radius of roughly 190,000 feet, the length of two Manhattans.

As production of the B61-13 ramps up this year, the Department of Energy revealed that fewer B61-12 nuclear bombs will be created.

The B61-12 was the latest nuclear weapon created by the military's Life Extension Program (LEP), which modernizes older versions of these bombs to make them safer and more reliable.

The B61-13 takes the warhead from the existing B61-7, which has been around since the 1980s, and pairs it with the newer features of the B61-12, like enhanced safety systems and a precision-guidance tail kit.

While the current B61-12 is certified to be carried by the B-2 stealth bomber and fighters like F-15 Eagle and F-35 Lightning, the B61-13 is scheduled to be carried by America's newest stealth bomber currently under construction - the B-21 Raider.

Plans for the B61-13 have been in the works since 2023, when the Biden Administration feared Russia's invasion of Ukraine could escalate into a devastating war throughout Europe.

The B61-13 wasn't scheduled to reach production until 2026, but Sandia National Laboratories has said they are 7 months ahead of schedule

The bomb will likely be carried by the US military's newest stealth bomber currently in production, the B-21 Raider

The new bomb will have the same explosive yield as its predecessor, the Cold War-era B61-7, estimated to be 360,000 tons, giving off a blast radius of roughly 190,000 feet, the length of two Manhattans

If dropped over a city like Beijing, the B61-13 would likely cause significant devastation, with an estimated 788,000 dead and 2.2 million injured.

Anything within an half-mile radius of the bomb's detonation site would be vaporized by the ensuing fireball and the blast would demolish buildings and kill nearly everyone else within a mile.

Those within a two-mile radius of the detonation site would also suffer from high levels of radiation that would likely kill them within a month. An additional 15 percent of the survivors would likely die from cancer later in their lives.

Currently, the US has approximately 5,044 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, with Russia being the only country that has more.

However, five countries - China, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea - have all increased their nuclear stockpiles by over 700 warheads over the past 40 years.

The fears of an impending nuclear war come as groups like the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have noted that a treaty to permanently ban nuclear testing has stalled, and countries like Russia and China have been seen constructing new buildings at their nuclear weapons sites.

In February, the US government also announced that it will also restart its nuclear testing programs in secret underground facilities.
A new AI-generated video believed to have been created by a Chinese TikToker depicts a depressing America under Donald Trump's tariffs.

The video shows morbidly obese Americans in sweatshops and factories performing low-skilled labor work with somber Chinese music playing in the background.

Each 'American' in the video looks depressed and exhausted by the amount of labor - feeding into many stereotypes about the nation's work ethic.

The clip fades out by taking a shot at Trump's campaign slogan, showing 'Make America Great Again.'

The 32-second clip focuses on the stereotypical manufacturing jobs that have moved overseas in the last few decades, but could be return to US soil amid Trump's tariff frenzy.

Insults like this viral video have started spreading online amid the tit-for-tat tariff fight between Washington and Beijing, with both sides threatening the other with stiff fees on imported goods in recent days.

Along with the retaliatory tariffs, a war of words has broken out after US Vice President JD Vance claimed China's economy was fueled by 'peasants' during an interview with Fox News last week.

The humiliating video mocking Americans was posted by a TikTok user named Ben Lau on Monday.

A viral TikTok meme using AI-generated 'Americans' mocked the US government's desire to bring manufacturing jobs back to American soil

To this point, Lau's TikTok has been fairly unused, with only 1,000 followers and three other videos posted.

One X user reposted the inflammatory video and it's already been viewed more than five million times.

'Low skilled manufacturing will never come back to the US. Highly skilled manufacturing wont come to the US because we gutted education and dont have the highly skilled workforce,' a user commented on the video.

Another user said: 'America will become the poorest country in the world under Trump's rule.'

However, on user made a joke, saying: 'That sewing machine could be made in China.'

The comments appeared to be coming from both Chinese nationals and Americans who oppose the Trump Administration's agenda.

Defending Trump's Tariffs, which have already sparked a 4,000-point freefall on Wall Street over the last week, Vance told Fox and Friends last Thursday that, 'we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.'

'What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America? And the answer is, fundamentally, it's based on two principles  incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us,' the vice president said.

The meme posted by TikTok user Ben Lau was shared on multiple social media platforms and has been viewed millions of times

The 32-second video showed 'Americans' building smartphones and also sewing garments in factories

Chinese social media has continued to mock Americans as moody children who will be unwilling to take on labor-intensive work as the US-Chinese trade war carries on

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian reacted to Vance's comments during a news conference on Trump's tariffs.

'It's both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks,' he said.

Meanwhile, President Trump escalated his trade war rhetoric on Monday, vowing to hit the Chinese economy with an additional 50 percent tariff unless they remove their own retaliatory import levy that was announced Friday.

Beijing threatened to charge a 34 percent tariff on US goods entering China in response to Trump's global tariff initiative.

The president gave China until Tuesday to stand down on their 34 percent tariff threat or face retaliation.

'If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50 percent effective April 9th,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

The president also warned that negotiations and trade talks with China would be canceled if they refused to back down.

US Vice President JD Vance called the Chinese people 'peasants' during an interview last week, drawing the anger of Chinese state officials

The war over manufacturing jobs which the new meme mocks has been raging between the US and China since President Trump's first term in office.

Trump has consistently advocated for imposing tariffs on Chinese goods as a strategy to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US since 2017.

His core argument is that tariffs make Chinese imports more expensive, which incentivizes American companies to produce goods domestically, thereby creating jobs and reducing reliance on foreign labor.

However, China's social media is now mocking the idea that Americans will be willing to take over these labor-intensive jobs.
Joe Rogan raised ethical questions about de-extincting animals after an engineering company reintroduced the dire wolf after it vanished 12,000 years ago.

Rogan had Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm on his podcast Monday, where he asked the billionaire about skeptics who say he is 'playing God.'

Colossal scientists extracted DNA from dire wolf fossils, reassembled its full genetic code (or genome), then compared that with the genome of its closest living relative (the gray wolf) to pick out the differences.

Once they identified gene variants that are specific to the dire wolf, they made 20 different edits to the gray wolf genome to make it match the dire wolf's as closely as possible, then used it to grow an egg cell that was implanted into a surrogate.

Rogan said that if he were grilling the CEO, he would ask: 'What right do you have to invade the natural process of nature and to inject your curiosity and your ability to create new life?'

The CEO said that humans have become the apex predator of the world, essentially changing everything we see around us.

'We overfish the ocean, we overhunt something,' said Lamm.

'In the case of the [Tasmanian tiger], the Australian government put a bounty on its head and killed it off. We cut down the rainforest. Every time we drink hydrogenated water, we're playing God on some level.'

Researchers from the UK's Cambridge University have argued that it is 'morally wrong to recreate and resurrect species' due to the risk of 'miscarriage, stillbirth, early death, genetic abnormality and chronic disease' during the process.

Colossal Biosciences, a genetic engineering company, birthed three dire wolves, naming them Romulus (right), Remus (left) and Khaleesi in honor of the legendary creature made famous from the HBO hit series Game of Thrones

On Monday, Colossal Biosciences announced it had successfully birthed three dire wolves, naming them Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi. Made famous by the popular HBO series Game of Thrones, the ancient species went extinct 12,500 years ago.

The reason for their disappearance is unclear, but scientists think it may have been triggered by the loss of their large prey, which might have been overhunted.

Rogan was stunned by the achievement, saying: 'Ladies and gentleman, prepare yourself because this is truly f****** crazy.'

Lamm then showed pictures of the three pups, explaining that the animals are not going back into the wild.

The trio is now five months, they were born in October, but the CEO said he and his team were surprised by the results.

'We didn't know this, they have this beautiful like mane-like quality to them,' said Lamm. And when they're babies, their fur almost feels like polar bears. It's crazy.'

Rogan joked by calling the pups 'nature's cute little murderers.'

Lamm said the wolves are starting to exhibit behaviors of their species, like hunting and socializing.

On Monday, Colossal Biosciences announced it had successfully birthed three dire wolves, naming them Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi. Made famous by the popular HBO series Game of Thrones, this ancient species went extinct 12,500 years ago

Joe Rogan recently hosted Ben Lamm, the CEO of Colossal Biosciences, on his podcast. He asked the billionaire entrepreneur about skeptics who say he is 'playing God'

Lamm argued that humans are already 'playing God' by damaging ecosystems and endangering wildlife

He also revealed the company plans to 'make two or three more.'

However, critics believe Colossal Biosciences is wasting time and funds on its effort.

Dr Patrick Weaber, a scientist at Bern University in Switzerland, said on Bluesky: 'Do we have the right to play God? De-extinction is fascinating but risks creating dangerous illusions: that we can undo the damage we've done.

'Limited funds are a struggle. We should focus on habitat protection, anti-poaching, & keeping species from vanishing.'

Lamm has addressed such comments in the past, saying in 2024: 'Did Australians play God in the late 1800s when they [began to eradicate] the [Tasmanian tiger]?

'I would argue, yes. Do we play God when we pollute the environment, accelerate human-caused climate change, or cut down the rainforest? I would say, yes.'

Colossal is working to bring back other animals, such as the woolly mammoth.

It has already sequenced the woolly mammoth's genome, and in March, its scientists managed to create 'woolly mice' in a major step toward bringing this ancient giant back.

They are also making strides toward resurrecting the dodo and the Tasmanian tiger by using museum specimens to reconstruct their genomes.

Nic Rawlence, a paleontologist at the University of Otago, said introducing these genetically-modified wolves to the wild could have significant consequences

The controversial project aims to restore species that have been eradicated at least in part due to human activities such as overhunting, habitat destruction and pollution, according to Colossal's website.

The company claims it is humanity's responsibility to bring these species back. 'We're committed to rectifying the past and rehabilitating nature on a global scale,' the website states.

Its experts say that reintroducing these animals to the wild will be beneficial to the environment in many ways, such as rebuilding ecosystems and combatting climate change.

De-extincting the woolly mammoth, they claim, could combat global warming by restoring Arctic grassland ecosystems and help protect endangered species like the Asian elephant  the mammoths' closest living relative.

George Church, a Harvard geneticist and Colossal co-founder, told NPR that the woolly mammoth program could lead to new ways to expand the Asian elephant's habitat and help scientists study them.

But some other experts aren't so sure. 'I'd argue that the broader effort to de-extinct the mammoth is  as far as conservation efforts go  incredibly misguided,' conservation scientist Nitik Sekar wrote in an recent article for Ars Technica.

'Ultimately, Colossal's efforts won't end up being about helping wild elephants or saving the climate. They'll be about creating creatures for human spectacle, with insufficient attention to the costs and opportunity costs to human and animal life.'

Karl Flessa, a professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona, has also expressed skepticism about the project.

'What are you going to get out of this? First of all, I think you're going to get a bit of a freak show in a zoo somewhere,' he told NPR.

'And then if you're going to release a herd into the Arctic tundra, is that herd going to go marching off to its second extinction in the face of global warming?' he asked.

Despite these concerns, Colossal has amassed $435 million in funding since the company launched in 2021, and plans to leverage this money to further its goal of bringing more species back from extinction.
Wow, whats this ice cream called mummy? Its yummy, exclaimed my two-year-old son. It wasnt ice cream.

It was in fact coconut tapioca pudding with yuzu and frozen passion fruit.

Its on the menu at one of the seven restaurants here at Corfus Ikos Odisia, one of the latest offerings from the luxury Greek all-inclusive chain.

As parents of a toddler and a nine-month old baby, my husband and I generally stay away from places described as luxury.

But here, children and babies are not simply tolerated  they are given the five-star treatment too.

Our daughter is currently sat atop a designer Stokke highchair (RRP 309), a staple of all the hotels restaurants.

If we had been so inclined, the kitchen could have easily whipped up a freshly made puree for her  the back page of the menu detailed options for babies including cream of poached fish fillet, courgette, carrots and potatoes.

But as it happened, she merrily joined in with the rest of us as we ate our way through the delights of the hotels Asian themed restaurant Anaya, designed by Michelin-starred Chef Apiradee Thirakomen.

Jemma Buckley and her family stayed at Corfus Ikos Odisia, one of the latest offerings from the luxury Greek all-inclusive chain

Located on the east coast of Corfu, the resort has access to 420 metres of sandy white beaches

Set on a peninsula jutting out into the Ionian sea, the hotel  covering a sprawling 60 acres  has been designed so the restaurants make full use of the beautiful views. From our dinner table we can almost see sister hotel Ikos Dassia, a leisurely 20-minute walk along the beach.

That hotels insane popularity with mostly well-to-do British families led to it having a constant occupancy rate of 98pc. So Ikos management took the plunge and opened up Odisia last spring, with another 390 high-end rooms, just 1000 metres along the coast.

And its easy to see why those with the cash to spend just cant get enough of this chain. It strikes the perfect balance between high-end and laid-back, allowing parents to enjoy the finer things in life while bringing their children along for the ride. No one will raise an eyebrow here if a lively toddler spills your Chianti on the tablecloth.

Unlike in many family hotels, even the smallest guests are catered for here. When passing the bike hire station one morning, we noticed they had toddler-size balance bikes. A few minutes later we had checked one out (complete with well-fitting helmet) and our two-year-old was off like a shot, soon deftly navigating the sprawling resort. This became his primary mode of transport for the week, zipping about from swimming pool to splash park to a Greek BBQ by the beach for lunch, before crashing out for a much-needed snooze.

Afternoons were generally spent down on the honey-hued, velvet sand beach, where the sea is warm and gently shelving. Shade is provided by gnarly olive trees and fragrant pines.

Despite the hotel being full, it was never hard to find a sunbed or, better still, a fully-serviced cabana by the bar.

Our son could hardly contain his delight when a waiter brought him a babychino  served in a china expresso cup  directly to a miniature picnic table in the nearby sandpit.

Copious ice-cream consumption was burnt off by regular father-and-son pedalo sessions around the crystalline bay.

The menu at the hotels Asian themed restaurant, Anaya, was designed by Michelin-starred Chef Apiradee Thirakomen, and features dishes such as rosted silver cod with a champagne sauce and honey

The Elia restauant at Odisia overlooks the Ionian sea, and offers traditional Greek food with a contemporary twist

If you need some child-free time, then fear not. The kids club is run to OFSTED guidelines and is included in the price for children aged four and up  but such is the demand you need to book early to guarantee your slots.

There is also a babysitting service in the evenings, if you feel you need it. But like most other guests we took our children along to dinner, where they are welcomed with open arms.

Arguably the resorts swankiest restaurant is Elia, a contemporary Greek taverna perched on the headland where you can watch the sun slowly sink behind the horizon.

We found it hard to pick a starter and a main course each, so ordered a feast of different plates. Our waitress nodded enthusiastically, suggesting we add the cuttlefish and truffle beef  it's all included, after all.

A sommelier was on hand to talk us through the wine list, as the extensive choice left us feeling overwhelmed. He suggested a white from Greeces Peloponnese region. When we complimented his choice at the end of the evening, he dashed off to the cellar and presented us with another unopened bottle on our way out. For when the little ones are sleeping, he said with a smile.

This truly limitless approach to all-inclusive left us accumulating an embarrassing stock-pile of booze back in our room.

On my husbands birthday we were presented with a bottle of Taittinger champagne at dinner, along with a personalised cake. When we got back to our room, another bottle was waiting with a some truffles.

Odisia Ikos caters for guests of all ages, and has bikes available to hire to ride around the resort - including balance bikes for toddlers. For those needing some children-free time, the kids club is available to book (press shot)

One evening, a couple on the table next to us asked if they could have the same wine they had drunk at another restaurant the night before.

It wasnt stocked here, they were told, but it could be ordered in  and before long a waiter on an electric scooter had zoomed over with a bottle on a silver tray.

So this all sounds great, I hear you say, but you dont like being cooped up in a hotel all week. Well Ikos has a solution to that, with the hire of a complementary Tesla included, allowing you to escape the resort confines and discover the real Corfu.

But, did we bother? To be totally frank, no. As two tired parents, with everything we could ever want on site, why would we want to leave?
This is the spine-chilling sci-fi bar inspired by the Alien franchise and has been dubbed by visitors as 'unforgettable'.

The surreal bar is filled with eerie bones, twisted architecture, and spine-like ceilings.

And it gives visitors the ultimate dose of sci-fi chills - all thanks to the legendary artist behind the Alien franchise, H.R. Giger.

Tatiana Andreeva, a 39-year-old Swiss travel influencer, recently visited the bar that was nestled in the peaceful village of Gruyeres.

She shared a viral video of her experience racking up nearly 21 million views with many fellow fans comments flooding in awe of the hidden gem.

Her footage showcases the bar's haunting interior: vaulted ceilings shaped like alien spines, bone-textured walls, walls of faces and intricately sculpted furniture.

Designed by the late H.R. Giger, a Swiss painter, sculptor, and Academy Award-winning set designer, the bar pays homage to his legacy.

Tatiana said: 'It's nothing like your average cozy cafe.

Tatiana Andreeva, 39, visited the spine-chilling sci-fi bar inspired by the Alien franchise and has been dubbed by guests as 'unforgettable'

It's all designed by the legendary artist behind the Alien franchise, H.R. Giger

The surreal bar is filled with eerie bones, twisted architecture, and spine-like ceilings is giving visitors the ultimate dose of sci-fi chills

'The entire place feels like you're walking through a sci-fi horror dream.

'The Alien coffee, served with meringue and Gruyere double cream, is absolutely worth the trip!

'No booking is needed it's first come, first serve.

'It's an unforgettable experience.'

Giger's work on Alien (1979) earned him an Oscar for Best Visual Effects and cemented his place as one of the most influential visual artists in film history.

His signature 'biomechanical' style has shaped the worlds of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy for decades.

And Tatiana added: 'While Ridley Scott directed the film and Dan O'Bannon wrote the script, it was Giger who gave the creature its unforgettable look.

'His vision was and still is iconic.'

It has vaulted ceilings shaped like alien spines, bone-textured walls, walls of faces and intricately sculpted furniture

Tatiana's video sparked several comments from fellow fans.

One said: 'Every time I visit Switzerland, I go for an Alien coffee thereit's amazing!'

'So unique and beautiful!,' another added.
Tourists will now have to book via an app if they want to visit a popular beach

Since the pandemic, it's become pretty standard practice to book a restaurant, pub or bar before going.

But would you be prepared to book a spot at the beach?

Tourists will soon have no choice but to plan ahead to visit one idyllic beauty spot in Italy.

Visitors travelling to Tuerredda Beach, a beautiful crescent-shaped bay in Sardinia, will soon be required to book their place via an app.

Numbers are already restricted to 1,100 people a day in summer, but the local council now wants to introduce further regulations.

The beach, which is located near the town of Teulada, has been described as Caribbean-like due to its glistening white sand but often becomes overcrowded during summer.

Angelo Milia, the mayor of Tuelada, told local media: 'We hope to start with the new system as early as July.'

The app was one idea discussed at an overtourism summit in Italy which was attended by mayors from many of the country's leading tourist destinations, including Capri and Positano.

Visitors travelling to Tuerredda Beach, a beautiful crescent-shaped bay in Sardinia, will soon be required to book their place via an app

Numbers are already restricted to 1,100 people a day in summer, but the local council now wants to introduce further regulations

Capri's mayor, Paolo Falco, has said he would like to introduce an hourly limit on ferry numbers.

Falco said: 'It is essential that our municipality has a say in the hourly timetable of maritime connections.

'On Capri, we want to protect to the fullest those who come to visit us and ensure a quality experience for all.'

Tourists now regularly outnumber residents on the island of Capri during the summer months.

Michele Cereghini, mayor of Pinzolo in the Italian Alps, said: 'We are well aware of the value and importance of tourism for the growth of our areas, but we are equally aware of the need to guarantee the wellbeing of our residents.

'It is the concept of quality tourism that we want to guarantee and preserve.'
An expert has revealed a little-known hack that allows non-guests to indulge in free food and drink all day at chain hotels from just 25 per person.

Most would think executive lounges are reserved for hotel guests on their member schemes, where they're generally offered complimentary breakfast, canapes, drinks, and other premium amenities.

However, many lounges can actually be accessed by non-guests for a set price - and some kids can even go free.

David Haines, a concierge at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, explained to The Sun that his hotel offers adult guests access to the executive lounge for 55, while children aged 12 to 18 can visit for 35, and children under 12 go free.

Non-guests can also get full, all-day access to the lounge for the slightly higher price of 75.

Visitors can enjoy both hot and cold breakfast buffets, pastries, and tea and coffee which are served all day.

In the evening, guests can indulge in canapes and soft and alcoholic drinks, as well as free Wi-Fi and city views of Big Ben.

The same perk is offered at several of The Park Plaza's hotels across the globe, including Park Plaza London Riverbank on Embankment, which offers 180-degree views from the 12th floor, overlooking Battersea Power Station and the River Thames.

An expert has revealed a little-known hack that allows non-guests to indulge in free food and drink all day at chain hotels from just 25 per person

David Haines, a concierge at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, explained to The Sun that his hotel offers adult guests access to the executive lounge for 55

For 25, guests aged 12 and over can access the hotel's lounge, while children under 12 can enter for just 10.

As with the Westminster Bridge location, guests can enjoy a range of complimentary food, snacks and drinks.

Additionally, the InterContinental London also offers access to its executive lounge for 50 per person.

Guests who join the reward scheme, which is available in all Park Plaza hotels across the UK and Europe, are also treated to discounts across the chain's hotel rooms, restaurants and bars.

Elsewhere, a savvy saver sparked outrage with a very controversial free breakfast hack after she shared how she scores a free meal without sleeping away from home.

'If you walk into any chain hotel that serves complimentary free breakfast, you can get free breakfast,' TikTok user Bayley said, before adding she thinks it is a hack that will mainly work 'if you're white.'

Bayley said if you walk in with 'enough confidence' you can get away with scoring a free meal, testing it at a Hyatt in New York City.

She strode into the hotel with purpose but detailed how she was immediately presented with the first test of looking like she belonged - knowing where the breakfast was located in the hotel.

The InterContinental London also offers access to its executive lounge for 50 per person

Guests who join the reward scheme, which is available in all Park Plaza hotels across the UK and Europe, are also treated to discounts across the chain's hotel rooms, restaurants and bars

'Right or left?' she recalled, panicked, adding she picked right - 'which was correct.'

Although admitting she 'got anxiety and only took two things,' Bayley wants to keep trying her thrifty moves at different chains.

In another clip, she shared her tips on how to get away with a free breakfast, after trying it again.

'Research beforehand,' she urged, adding it's important to also 'know the layout.'
The airline now flies to the island from London Gatwick three times a week

easyJet has just launched its first-ever flights to an exciting island destination that's often described as the 'African Caribbean'.

The budget carrier will take British holidaymakers from London Gatwick to Sal, an island in Cape Verde, three times a week.

The flights, which launched last week, depart every Monday, Wednesday and Friday giving tourists the chance to soak up the island's sun year-round.

easyJet described the new route as a 'milestone' as it marks the carrier's first-ever Sub-Saharan service.

An island country made up of 10 volcanic islands, Cape Verde enjoys average winter temperatures of 31 degrees and is just a six hour flight from the UK.

Cape Verde's dry season runs from November to May, making British winter the most popular time to visit the island.

TravelSupermarket has described the country as the 'African Caribbean' due to its 'sumptuous beaches' and 'laid-back' lifestyle.

Sal's top attractions include its gorgeous beaches where it's possible to see lemon sharks and loggerhead turtles.

easyJet has just launched its first-ever flights to Cape Verde. The island is often described as the 'African Caribbean'

The budget carrier will take British holidaymakers from London Gatwick to Sal, an island in Cape Verde, three times a week

Another must-visit is the Pedra Lume Salt Crater where tourists can admire the salt pans and take a wellness dip in the salty water.

easyJet says: 'Cape Verde flies a little more under the radar than other beach holiday hotspots.

'But in a six-hour flight, you can be somewhere that feels far-flung and decidedly exotic. In fact, Cape Verde is sometimes likened to a mini Galapagos.'

The best part?

Cape Verde is just one hour behind the UK (two hours during BST) which means holidaymakers won't need to worry about jetlag on their tropical adventure.

easyJet holidays is also offering packages to Sal with seven-night stays available from just 464 per person.

In Santa Maria, in the south of Sal where many hotels are based, tourists will find a lively music scene and plenty of al fresco restaurants.

Visitors to the island won't want to miss out on its cuisine, which is a unique blend of African and Portuguese influences.

An island country made up of 10 volcanic islands, Cape Verde enjoys average winter temperatures of 31 degrees and is just a six hour flight from the UK

In Santa Maria (pictured above), in the south of Sal where many hotels are based, tourists will find a lively music scene and plenty of al fresco restaurants

The country's national dish is cachupa, a hearty stew made with vegetables, cured meats and fish.

easyJet has also just launched its first direct flights to Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia.

And the airline has opened a major new base at London Southend Airport which is set to fly passengers to 22 destinations.

easyJet will run 122 flights per week to holiday hotspots including Dalaman in Turkey and Marrakech in Morocco.
A major airport which transports over 30 million passengers a year is reportedly sinking into the sea.

Kansai International Airport in Osaka, which serves as the main hub to reach Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, is battling against persistent subsidence.

The 14/$19 billion airport was built across two artificial islands in Osaka Bay and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024.

Its unique design is engineered to withstand seismic activity, including runways that bend during an earthquake to reduce the risk of a fracture.

Kansai International Airport has also picked up a few awards in its time including the Skytrax prize for the World's Best Baggage Handling, due to its impressive record of never having lost a bag in 30 years.

But the award-winning airport is now under threat of disappearing into the sea.

The weight of the airport's infrastructure is thought to be putting the clay and silt seabed it sits on under pressure.

According to Essential-Japan, the major airport has sunk by more than 11.5m/38 feet since it opened.

Kansai International Airport in Osaka, which serves as the main hub to reach Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, is battling against persistent subsidence

The 14/$19 billion airport was built across two artificial islands in Osaka Bay and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024

The rate of the airport's sinking is thought to be much higher than engineers initially predicted.

First estimates predicted that the airport would sink by around eight metres/26 feet over 50 years but that has already been surpassed.

In 2018, Kansai Airport was forced to close when it was cut off during Typhoon Jebi.

The airport's runways were hit by surging flood water and the bridge connecting it to the mainland was damaged.

Essential-Japan states that the airport has since heightened its sea wall to mitigate future flood risks.

Despite the subsidence threat, Kansai International Airport has recently renovated Terminal 1 in anticipation of increased demand ahead of Expo 2025, a major design event in Osaka set to open on April 13.

Kansai Airports Group said it would 'continue to meet the growing demand for air travel and create new travel experiences'.
If you want your next holiday to feel more like an adventure, theres no better way than on a road trip. And theres no better place or way to do it than on British Airways Holidays fly  drive in the mother country of all road trips: the US of A.

Chart your own course, change direction at a moments notice, and enjoy the freedom and spontaneity that comes when youre not tied to one location.

A road trip means you can see more of what a country has to offer and get away from the regular tourist trails. Instead, discover hidden gems and local haunts to really get to know your destination.

You just need to decide where your epic adventure will start. How about crossing America from east to west on the iconic Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica? Or perhaps youll travel the Pacific Coast Highway, taking in Big Sur, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles?

Maybe youll stick to one state. Fly to Orlando and spend a few weeks taking in everything from the Everglades to Walt Disney World Resort, the Florida Keys and the pretty streets of Old Town Kissimmee. Or head south from Miami and drive the incredible Overseas Highway linking the Florida Keys.

With so much to see, a road trip really is the best way to experience the United States. So why not make your next Stateside holiday a fly-drive getaway?

Book your US break with British Airways Holidays and you can wrap up everything you need in one convenient ATOL-protected package. With your flights and a generous baggage allowance included, along with carefully selected hotel choices to suit all budgets and the option to add car hire, so you can explore on your terms.

Take the road less travelled

As well as the famous routes to feel the wind in your hair, the USA also has a whole variety of lesser-known road trips with stunning scenery to plunge you into the rich tapestry of American culture.

Epic adventure in New England

This scenic 830-mile trip takes in quaint towns and historical sites, as well as coast, valleys, mountains and islands - the very best of New England scenery. From Boston, take the highway north to the traditional riverside city of Portsmouth, before making for Maine, where outdoor wonders await. Hike to the top of the highest peak on the Atlantic coast, Cadillac Mountain, kayak along the Androscoggin River or take a cruise on a traditional Down East lobster boat. Drive southwest to New Hampshire's White Mountains for stunning panoramic views aboard valley trains, then onto Vermont to explore state parks, ski towns and natural splendour as you loop back to Boston.

Scenic cities of the West

An alternative to the traditional Californian road trip, this journey begins in San Francisco then heads north to Washington State and finishes in verdant Seattle. Its an epic 1,300-mile trip, one that takes in four national parks and can be enjoyed at a leisurely pace over two weeks. Marvel at immense redwood trees and the deepest blue of Crater Lake as you drive along the ridges of river gorges, through thick pine forests and along the unspoilt Oregon coastline. Stop off in Napa Valley for fabulous farm-to-table foodie experiences, and later on stop for coffee at one of Portlands quirky cafes.

The Great River Road

The mighty Mississippi winds its way through 10 states from its origin at Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth, more than 2,000 miles south where it pours into the Gulf of Mexico. The Great River Road runs alongside it and offers a thread back to the past and how regions were shaped by this river. Make yours a musical trip by flying into country music capital Nashville then driving west to Memphis, where soul, gospel, rhythm and blues and even rock n roll grew up on the riverside and Elvis called Graceland home. Wend your way south, via Clarksdale, where many of the biggest artists in the blues came from, and the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, swing through Louisianas Cajun Country, then finish with a jazz flourish in colourful New Orleans.

Colorados wilderness wonders

The spiked state of Colorado makes for an incredible adventure. This 1,121-mile circular route takes in breathtaking scenery and exhilarating culture, with visits to national parks and vibrant towns along the way. Begin your adventure in Denver, the Mile-High City, where youll find fantastic museums and a great foodie scene. From here, youll head to Rocky Mountain National Park, with its scenic highway to the sky, lakes, mountains and hiking routes. Follow the Colorado River to take in prairies, steep canyons and red rock spires, stargaze at Black Canyon and explore ancient cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park before the golden wonder of Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Desert dreams in Arizona

Plan your adventure from Phoenix and enjoy a blend of elegant desert escapes and charming mountain towns with this road trip itinerary. Head north to Flagstaff, perched at nearly 7,000ft and just a short drive from Grand Canyon National Park. Then head on to the sophisticated city of Scottsdale, where spas gave over the Sonoran Desert. Farm-to-table dining is the staple in picturesque Mesa, while Tucson is where Spanish, Mexican and Western heritage meet, surrounded by incredible hiking opportunities among giant cacti in Saguaro National Park. Finish in the desert town of Ajo, with its colonial charm and impressive arts scene, before making your way back to Phoenix.

When you book with British Airways Holidays

All British Airways Holidays packages are Atol-protected, keeping you and your money safe.

All package bookings include flexible payment options, with low deposits.

All British Airways Holidays packages include a generous baggage allowance, along with a 24 hour dedicated support helpline during your trip.

British Airways Holidays offers a range of hotel options as well as the opportunity to hire a car with Avis.

When you book flights and car hire together, all mandatory charges are included, and youll benefit from roadside assistance and 24-hour customer support. All hotels and car hire are committed to British Airways high safety standards.

Find out more and book your road trip at ba.com/usa.
For a truly supersized wilderness experience, few places on Earth can compete with the United States of America.

The US is a vast country where you can explore every landscape imaginable. From hiking the Rocky Mountains to white water rafting in the Grand Canyon, bear spotting in Washington State to ranching like a cowboy in Arizona, a lifetime of unforgettable experiences awaits.

This is the perfect place to savour the untamed wilderness and plan an incredible adventure.

Book your getaway with British Airways Holidays and you can wrap up everything you need in one convenient ATOL-protected package. With your flights and a generous baggage allowance included, along with carefully selected hotel choices to suit all budgets and the option to car hire, so you can explore on your terms.

So discover this unique country at your own pace, with the freedom to explore wide open spaces, icon spots, hidden gems and everything in between.

Nature at its best

The US is host to some of the worlds most stunning natural wonders. Escape to Californias Yosemite National Park, a breathtaking expanse that features some of the worlds oldest and largest trees, including the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant. You can also get up close experiences of Niagara Falls with the stunning Cave of the Winds tour, for a front row seat to natures cascading beauty.

Discover the breathtaking landscape of Arizonas Grand Canyon, then settle in for an incredible stargazing experience at night, with views of the Milky Way. Down south in Louisiana, the lush Atchafalaya Basin is the largest swamp area in the country, home to an array of bird species, reptiles and amphibians.

Take in the deepest blue of Crater Lake to the greenest forests in Oregon, the craggy peaks of the Rocky Mountains surrounding Denver, or the incredible white sand beaches of Florida's Gulf Coast. And the most visited national park in the country is the Great Smoky Mountains, in Tennessee, easily reachable from Nashville and boasting stunning shades of ochre and burnt umber in the autumn.

Coastal marvels

From Californias golden beaches to the island charm of the Florida Keys, the coastlines of the US offer a diversity of experiences. New England has a charming collection of quaint coastal towns, with whitewashed boarded homes and historic lighthouses perched on rocky outcrops to guide fishermen safely back to port. The seafood is spectacular, and best enjoyed on a sandy beach picnic or from one of the coastal crab shacks, gazing out at the incredible ocean views. And you can take to the water to spot humpback whales, finback whales and more.

Down south in the Sunshine State, lush landscapes meet two distinct coastlines. Take an unforgettable airboat tour across the Everglades, keeping watch for alligators, crocodiles, snakes, and lizards as you cruise the unique wetlands. On the Atlantic Coast, head to the elegant city of Fort Lauderdale for sprawling golden beaches, or go west to the Gulf of Mexico where secluded Marco Island is home to pelicans, turtles and manatees.

The stretch of shoreline long lionised in song and film is the California coast. Yes, youll find plenty of glamour in and around Los Angeles. But in the states central coastline region, youll find secluded beaches and sublime seafood in Monterey, surfing and windsurfing adventures in Ventura, and whale watching in Santa Cruz.

Rocky Mountain high

Fly into Denver, Colorado with British Airways, your gateway to the Rocky Mountains and some of the most spectacular natural scenery in North America. Sights range from sweeping sand dunes and windy plains to the Alluvial Fan Trail, testament to an ancient flood that deposited huge rocks and sediments in its wake. Grand Lake is the states largest natural lake, a snow-swept tundra of mesmerising vistas before you reach Grand Junction, and the Colorado National Monument, the ultimate picturesque destination with deep canyons, panoramic viewpoints and red rock columns. Black Canyon National Park is the place to experience scenery youll never forget, with a vertiginous ravine plunging into the depths of a rugged landscape.

Its not just the Rockies that are calling. There are mountain adventures to be had across the whole country, including on the northeast coast. An easy road trip awaits, crossing rugged coastlines, dramatic gorges, spectacular waterfalls and beautiful mountains, from the Cadillac and Mahoosuc Mountains in Maine to New Hampshires White Mountains and Mount Mansfield in Vermont.

Meanwhile, Virginia and North Caroline also offer sensational scenery. Travel south-west from Washington DC to Shenandoah National Park before turning south for the Blue Ridge Highway, one of the countrys most beautiful drives. It is a route that takes in the sprawling expanse of Seneca Rocks, an Appalachian Mountains landmark rising 900 feet above the North Fork River and the subterranean wonder of Mammoth Cave National Park, a labyrinth of petroglyphs, stalactites and stalagmites.

Desert dreams

The US is home to some of the most incredible desert landscapes you can see anywhere. Californias Joshua Tree National Park is a stark expanse dotted with the eponymous twisted Joshua trees while the Mojave National Preserve offers an otherworldly experience, perfect for hiking.

From Las Vegas, its easy to cross from Nevada to Utah and experience the mesmerising canyons, beguiling desertscapes and starlit skies of this remote state. It takes just two hours to reach the beautiful desert wilderness of Zion National Park. Then its an even shorter journey to see the incredible red rock formations of Bryce Canyon, before travelling on to explore the natural arches and sandstone canyons of Capitol Reef National Park.

Another sensational southwestern road trip takes in Arizonas most spectacular landscapes, starting from Phoenix, and including dormant volcanos and ancient lava flows at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in Flagstaff. Explore ancient cliff dwellings at Montezuma Castle National Monument, and the Sonoran Desert, one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world.

Wildlife wonders

Take a drive to the wild side of the US, experiencing some unforgettable wildlife encounters.

Washington State has an abundant and diverse wildlife population. Aquatic life includes many marine mammals with resident populations of orca as well as migrating humpback and minke whales, plus seals and dolphins. Inland, black bears, elk, goats and bighorn sheep roam the mountains and thick forests while the bald eagles, snow geese and sandhill cranes soar overhead or nest in the crags.

Marvel at over 60 different species of mammals at Yellowstone National Park, the worlds first-ever national park, from grizzly bears and bison to grey wolves and buffalo. Or head to Big Bends National Park, in Texas, to spot black bears, bobcats, coyotes and Carmen white-tailed deer.

Americas landscapes are as diverse as they are magnificent. From glittering coast to glittering coast, across majestic mountains and dreamy deserts, a world of experiences awaits. Discover it all with British Airways Holidays.

When you book with British Airways Holidays

All British Airways Holidays packages are Atol-protected, keeping you and your money safe.

All package bookings include flexible payment options, with low deposits.

All British Airways Holidays packages include a generous baggage allowance, along with a 24 hour dedicated support helpline during your trip.

British Airways Holidays offers a range of hotel options as well as the opportunity to hire a car with Avis.

When you book flights and car hire together, all mandatory charges are included, and youll benefit from roadside assistance and 24-hour customer support. All hotels and car hire are committed to British Airways high safety standards.

Find out more and book your trip at ba.com/usa
The cuisine of the United States is as diverse as it is delicious. Inspired by a melting pot of cultures from around the world, each dish is a tantalising insight into the unique communities that make up this one-of-a-kind country, from Southern soul food to Chicago deep-dish pizza. It makes eating one of the very best ways to experience the cultural differences across the 50 states.

So why not make your next US trip a foodie one? Book your getaway with British Airways Holidays and you can wrap up everything you need in one convenient ATOL-protected package. With your flights and a generous baggage allowance included, along with hotel choices to suit all budgets and option to add car hire, so you can explore on your terms.

Creole and Cajun delights in Louisiana

Famed for its unique cuisine, influenced by a melting pot of cultures from Cajun and Creole to African and French, the state of Louisiana is a true foodie paradise. Head to the capital, New Orleans, and take a street food tour, indulging in gumbo, po-boy sandwiches, crawfish and oysters.

Youll also find some of the best restaurants in the country, with fresh twists on classic dishes. Take a deep dive into Cajun Country cuisine with a trip to Lafayette, stopping off for a taste of freshly caught shrimp in the small city of Houma, the number one spot for sublime seafood in Louisiana.

New York State of bliss

Beyond the sensational cuisine of the Big Apple, youll discover an array of fabulous food experiences as you meander between the picture-perfect towns of New York State. Long Island is host to an array of family-run farms offering farm-to-table experiences as well as fabulous vineyards.

In Syracuse, discover a thriving culinary scene with some of the best up-and-coming restaurants in the state. Make your way to the fertile lands of the Hudson Valley, where you can explore European settlements dating back to the 1600s as well as enjoying a culinary journey, fabulous craft beers and the countrys oldest vineyard, Benmarl Winery.

BBQ delights in the Lone Star State

Take a delicious tour around the so-called Barbecue Belt, savouring the sensational smoky flavours of one of the most all-American cuisines. In Austin, youll find a whole host of restaurants offering live music alongside some of the best barbecue dishes in the state.

Once youve tried out-of-this-world brisket and juicy glazed pork belly, head to the town of Taylor. It is known for its famous sausages crafted over the years and influenced by the towns heritage of German, Czech and Austrian immigrants. For an authentic small-town Texan experience, the charming towns of Elgin, Lockhart, and Driftwood also offer world-class barbecues alongside wine tastings and food festivals.

Deep South sensations

Start your southern flavours tour by flying into Atlanta, Georgia, one of the Souths great foodie cities. Atlanta and Macon are home to burgeoning culinary scenes, including fabulous soul food restaurants serving classic Southern cuisine such as crispy fried chicken and collard greens.

Dont forget to try the famous southern peach cobbler as you drive through Augusta before crossing into South Carolina and its capital, Columbia. Fast becoming the food truck capital of the US, Columbia has a whole fleet of fabulous food experiences, from Mexican fusion to comforting soul food. Then, for fresh lobsters, slow-cooked pork and homemade doughnuts, make Charlestons blossoming culinary scene your next port of call.

Desert delicacies

Take a culinary road trip through the states of Arizona, Nevada, and California to unearth gourmet treasures in the desert. Start in Arizonas capital, Phoenix, savouring bountiful breakfasts of steak and omelette followed by blueberry pancakes.

In nearby Sedona, you can combine incredible Native American sites with fabulous Mexican-inspired cuisine, while Flagstaff is where you can try nostalgia-filled burgers and fries, just off Route 66 before making your way to the Grand Canyon.

In Las Vegas, splash out on glamorous brunches and celebrity chef eateries, then escape to the epic expanse of Palm Springs, just like Hollywood stars did in their heyday. Here youll find cosy classics alongside contemporary fusion fare, and incredible ingredients celebrated by the wellness set.

The Maine course

New England is famous for being the best place for seafood in the whole of the United States. Fly into Boston with British Airways to visit the food trucks in the Faneuil Hall Marketplace before heading on to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for a fresh seafood picnic. End up in Maine, a must-visit destination for foodies. The lobster rolls here are simply sensational, steamed and served with lightly dressed mayonnaise inside a griddled hotdog bun.

The states largest metropolitan area, Portland, is home to buzzing award-winning restaurants and is an excellent spot for a food tour. Make your way north to Brunswick, famed for its farm-to-table dining experiences, then stop off in mid-coast Damariscotta for some of the best oysters youll ever eat, and Lewiston to visit some fantastic craft breweries.

When you travel, you should eat like the locals. In the United States, that means a licence to indulge. Book your escape with British Airways Holidays and get ready for a foodie trip to remember.

When you book with British Airways Holidays

All British Airways Holidays packages are Atol-protected, keeping you and your money safe.

All package bookings include flexible payment options, with low deposits.

All British Airways Holidays packages include a generous baggage allowance, along with a 24 hour dedicated support helpline during your trip.

British Airways Holidays offers a range of hotel options as well as the opportunity to hire a car with Avis.

When you book flights and car hire together, all mandatory charges are included, and youll benefit from roadside assistance and 24-hour customer support. All hotels and car hire are committed to British Airways high safety standards.

Find out more and book your trip at ba.com/usa
Nearly a year and a half after pulling out of the Scream franchise, Jenna Ortega is finally opening up about the real reason for her exit.

The 22-year-old actress signed on to play Tara Carpenter in the 2022 film Scream, the fifth installment in the franchise of the same name.

She also returned as Tara in 2023's Scream VI, and was expected to return in the upcoming Scream VII, which is set for release on February 27, 2026.

However she made the surprising announcement in November 2023 that she was exiting the franchise, shortly after fellow co-star Melissa Barrera was fired due to her pro-Palestinian social media posts.

Ortega's exit was initially said to be due to both scheduling and pay issues, though many wondered if her exit was in solidarity to support Barrera after her firing.

The actress also clarified in an interview with The Cut that it was not only Barrera's exit, but also the departure of directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, who were at the helm for both of her Scream movies.

Nearly a year and a half after pulling out of the Scream franchise, Jenna Ortega is finally opening up about the real reason for her exit.

The 22-year-old actress signed on to play Tara Carpenter in the 2022 film Scream, the fifth installment in the franchise of the same name

'It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling. It was all kind of falling apart,' she said of the film, after both Barrera and the directors left.

'If wasnt going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didnt seem like the right move for me in my career at the time,' Ortega said.

Gillett and Bettinelli-Oplin left the project in August 2023, just a few months before Barrera's firing, and they were replaced by Christopher Landon (Freaky, Happy Death Day).

After Barrera and Ortega had backed out of the project, Landon left too, with original Scream writer Kevin Williamson coming back to direct from Guy Busick's script.

Back in January, Barrera spoke about her friendship with Ortega, hinting her exit was more about solidarity than scheduling.

'Listen, Jenna is a good egg. Shes a good person and we love each other. She would show up for me and I would show up for her no matter what,' Barrera said of her former co-star.

'Its for the well-being of both sides of that wall, you know? An end to the violence. Thats it. An end to the violence for everyones peace and security. Just humanity,' she said.

Barrera said the controversy helped shed light on who her true friends were.

'It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling. It was all kind of falling apart,' she said of the film, after both Barrera and the directors left

After Barrera and Ortega had backed out of the project, Landon left too, with original Scream writer Kevin Williamson coming back to direct from Guy Busick's script

'Listen, Jenna is a good egg. Shes a good person and we love each other. She would show up for me and I would show up for her no matter what,' Barrera said of her former co-star

'Its for the well-being of both sides of that wall, you know? An end to the violence. Thats it. An end to the violence for everyones peace and security. Just humanity,' she said

'One hundred percent. Its great. Its like a filter. Its very important, in this industry, to know who you can count on and who you cant, and who you wanna work with and who you dont,' she said.

Barrera starred in the last two films in the horror franchise as Sam Carpenter and had been about to shoot the next before being dropped by Spyglass.

Filming on Scream VII began in January, with Neve Campbell returning as original Scream star Sidney Prescott.

The film also stars Isabel May (1883) as Sidney's daughter, Joel McHale as Sidney's husband, Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, David Arquette as Dewey Riley, Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin and Jasmine Savoy brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin.
Reunion viewers have confessed that they are 'already hooked' on the new drama after just one episode.

The new bilingual show featuring British Sign Language and spoken English, directed by Luke Snellin, premiered on BBC One on Monday night.

The BBC's media pack states: 'Reunion is a four-part revenge thriller told through the unique point of view of a deaf man isolated from society, both physically and emotionally.

'We meet Brennan, a convicted murderer, as he leaves prison after serving ten years. Upon leaving prison, Brennan has a clear mission: revenge.'

Reunion stars the likes of Matthew Gurney, Lara Peake, Anne-Marie Duff, Eddie Marsa and Rose Ayling-Ellis.

Many rushed to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts - and they were all very positive.

Reunion viewers 'already hooked' on new drama after just one episode - raving over 'compelling twists and turns' in BBC premiere

The new show, directed by Luke Snellin, premiered on BBC One on Monday night

One confessed: 'Well I was hooked by #Reunion on @BBC1.'

Another added: 'As a deaf person, this programme is great to watch and learn the BSL again. Definitely more twist and turns to come! #Reunion.'

'#Reunion on @bbc - anyone else sob at the ending? Brilliantly acted by all concerned,' a third chimed in.

A fourth tweeted: #Reunion was compelling I went in tonight without knowing anything about it, but Im used to watching Walter Presents subtitles on channel 4. Rare for the BBC to put signing in a mainstream tv slot. Bravo!!!'

Actor Daniel Brennan, who plays protagonist Matthew Gurney, opened up about why he wanted to take on the role of the character.

He said: 'Its an amazing storyline and completely different from my previous work. Brennan is on a wildly different journey than that portrayed by normal deaf lives.

'In previous films, deaf and disabled characters have been portrayed in quite stereotypical ways.

'This is different, this portrays a man who is hated within the deaf community.

Many rushed to X, formerly known as Twitter , to share their thoughts about the drama - and they were all very positive

'Thats why I wanted to know more about him, and thats why I wanted to get involved.'

Adding why people should watch the show, he said: 'It is a unique storyline, not one that patronises deaf people, it shows a range of Sign Language, from BSL to SSE!

'And it's incredibly visual.

'Try not to rely on the sound or music but appreciate the visual nature of the show.'

And writer, creator and executive producer William Mager said: 'Reunion is set within the deaf communit.

'It has sign language within it, but also it has an element of mystery, intrigue and excitement. Reunion is about hope.

'Its about a man who's lost everything.

'His wife, his daughter, his friends and his community, but he still has hope that one day, maybe, hell find a way to live again.'

Reunion is produced by Warp Films.

Filming for the show took place in Sheffield, south Yorkshire, in the summer last year.

There is a total of four episodes and one series so far.

Reunion airs Monday and Tuesday at 9pm on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer.
University Challenge fans raged 'it's annoying me already' just minutes into the show after spotting one contestant's unusual habit.

Monday's episode of the BBC Two quiz show saw host Amol Rajan welcome Warwick University and University College London as they played in the quarter finals.

Ananya Govindarajan, Thomas Hart, Oscar Siddle and Benjamin Watson represented Warwick, while UCL's team consisted of Callum Jack, Josh Mandel, Olivia Holtermann Entwistle and Sanjay Prabhakar.

However, many viewers were quick to point out the habit of one contestant that they noticed.

When Amol began asking the questions, Thomas appeared to pose ready with his elbow pointed upwards.

Some fans took to social media to call out the behaviour and one even called it 'insufferable' while someone else posted on X: 'The elbow is back.'

Monday's episode of the BBC Two quiz show saw host Amol Rajan (pictured) welcomed Warwick University and University College London as they played in the quarter finals

However, many viewers were quick to point out the habit of one contestant (pictured) that they noticed

When Amol began asking the questions, Thomas appeared to pose ready with his elbow pointed upwards

Another wrote: '#universitychallenge Hart at elbow training earlier today.'

While a third penned: 'Hart straight in the dressing room after the final gong... to put an ice pack on his elbow.'

Someone else noticed another contestant was striking a similar pose and said: 'Siddle has started to do the elbow thing too!!'

Another added: '#UniversityChallenge Harts craned arm stance gives him the extra weight/leverage for hitting that buzzer it seems.'

One viewer penned: 'Hart is annoying me already #UniversityChallenge.'

Someone else commented: 'The Hart elbow is back #UniversityChallenge.'

While others complimented the contestant's ability and one said: 'Hart - Warwick amazing knowledge again.'

Someone else posted: 'Hart's a clever guy & it's fascinating to see how his brain processes data #UniversityChallenge.'

Some fans took to social media to call out the behaviour and one even called it 'insufferable' while someone else posted on X: 'The elbow is back.'

It isn't his first time striking the pose on University Challenge - fans were left distracted by Thomas' nonsensical habit during an episode back in February.

Viewers of the BBC Two show saw eight students from Queens University Belfast and Warwick University students battle it out for a place in the semi-finals.

Presenter Amol Rajan took them through a double elimination round, where students had three chances to pick up at least two wins to qualify for the next round.

While watching the episode, many fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to point out an unusual habit from player Thomas.

Many pointed out that the player, from South Wales, had a very unique way of buzzing in for his questions.

University Challenge fans seriously distracted by contestant's 'nonsensical' habit - and realise it isn't his first time pulling focus on BBC quiz

Viewers of the BBC Two show saw eight students from Queens University Belfast and Warwick University students battle it out for a place in the semi-finals

One tweeted: 'Only watching for the elbow action.'

A second said: 'Noooo! Not Hart and his flying elbow again.'

'Oh God the elbow is back,' a third added.

A fourth wrote: 'Why am I being distracted by Hart's nonsense elbow action, and his absolute RASCAL medallion. #UniversityChallenge.'

A fifth questioned: 'Does Hart hover over the buzzer like that so that god can push down on his elbow?'

But it's not the first time that Thomas has done it on our screens.

The maths student was on University Challenge at the start of February too and he did the same thing then.

February 3rd's instalment of the BBC show saw Warwick take on players from Oriel College Cambridge.

While watching the episode many fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to all say the same thing about player Thomas

Many viewers rushed to X, formerly known as Twitter, to point out Thomas' elbow habit

Thomas' habit has been hilariously named 'The Hart Attack'.

Warwick University were crowned winners of the episode with 215 points.

Queen's Belfast ended the show with 95 points.

But luckily they aren't out of the competition just yet.

Host Amol said: 'You know what guys, that was such an impressive performance against at exceptional performance.

'And it would be so sad if we had to say goodbye to Percy the Potato, and you!

'But luckily for you, it's not over yet because you get to come back and have another go.

'So we don't have to say good bye just yet.

'Though Warwick, we have to say well done. I mean, that is a tremendously impressive performance.

'And imagine how good you'd been if we'd given you Femtochemistry as well.

'That would have been even better.

'Bad luck on that one. But we shall see you again!'

University Challenge airs Mondays at 8:30pm on BBC Two and is available to stream on iPlayer.
An Antiques Roadshow guest was stunned into silence after an expert revealed the eye-watering value of her paintings during Sunday's instalment of the BBC soap.

The episode, which originally aired in 2023, saw many antique owners arrive at Ebrington Square in Derry to find out how much their ornaments were worth.

Picture specialist Frances Christie confessed that she was 'really excited' when she realised that the show guest had brought in Norah McGuinness pieces for her to look at.

The guest confessed that she bought them just because she liked the look of them and knew Norah's sister 'very well'.

Frances said: 'I love that you managed to get your hands on two, because Norah, I mean she was a pretty pioneering artist for her time. She was obviously born around here, but spent most of her life in and around Dublin.

'She went to art school in Dublin, then London, then Paris.

Antiques Roadshow guests stunned into silence as expert reveals eye-watering value of her paintings - while BBC crowd gasp in awe

Picture specialist Frances Christie confessed that she was 'really excited' when she realised that the show guest had brought in Norah McGuinness pieces for her to look at

The episode, which originally aired in 2023, saw many antique owners arrive at Ebrington Square in Derry to find out how much their ornaments were worth

'They're both oil on canvas. And when you stand back and you see the bold combinations of colours that she's used in them. Over here, behind the birds, this sort of bright green, with red flashing across the composition.

'And then over to the seagull in this painting, that combination of purple with blue, and then this lovely ochre, sand colour.'

Frances was keen to know if the guest remembered how much she paid for them and how many years ago.

The woman said: 'About 120 for that one, and the price is on the back of that...'

Frances looked on the back of the painting and explained that it said 600 on the back of the frame.

She continued: 'So today at auction, I'd put a value of 8,000 to 12,000 on this one.'

The guest was left lost for words and simply said: 'Wow!'

Frances added: 'And on this one, I would say 6,000 to 8,000.

'So not bad for something that you spotted a while ago!'

It comes after another Antiques Roadshow guest gasped when she learned the eye-watering value of her 'obsessive' makeup compact collection.

A recent episode of the BBC show revisited a woman who had previously brought some of her collection of art deco powder compacts to be evaluated back in 2013.

The more recent instalment, which first aired in October 2023, saw the guest return and share that she had expanded her collection.

Expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan asked her: 'Could it be said, that you're an obsessive collector by any chance?'

The woman joked, 'No I don't think it's obvious,' and went on to reveal that she had 'probably over a thousand' compacts.

She explained how her collection started and went on: 'The story is we were married in 1973, we had no furniture, I went to an auction, bought a cardboard box full of things and one of them was a deco powder tin. I fell in love with that and this is the result.'

Sunday's episode of the BBC show revisited a woman (left) who had previously brought some of her collection of art deco powder compacts to be evaluated back in 2013 and saw expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan (right) evaluate them

The woman (pictured) went on to reveal that she had 'probably over a thousand' compacts in her collection

The expert looked at some of the compacts the guest brought in and began to evaluate them

'These are my babies, they're quite an assortment,' she added.

The expert looked at some of the compacts the guest brought in and began to evaluate them.

'These ones here... they're all about 1910,' Ronnie said gesturing to some of the items. 'They're Edwardian.'

He added: 'A lady would go out for her evening dinner and she was on show. Everybody would be looking. This [one of the compacts] would go on her finger. That is a thing of beauty.'

She had a range of mirrors ranging from 1910 to the 1950s, all in different styles.

'We've got to tot the values of these up, it's quite difficult. But I know that would be 800 or 900. This one would be 500, 600, 700, and so would this one. This would be 800 or 900, this beautiful little duo,' Ronnie explained.

He then revealed, 'We're talking, on the table here, 5,000.'

The guest looked visibly shocked and gasped, 'Oh my God'.

Ronnie added: 'It's been a delight looking at these. I would love more time to go through them, study them and enjoy them and love them like you.'

Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer.
An ITV newsreader has been forced to address his health in a social media post after sparking concern with his appearance live on air on Monday evening.

Journalist Paul Brand, 38, took to our screens to present the latest instalment of News at 10.

But fans rushed to X, formerly known as Twitter, to point out how one of his eyes looked redder than usual.

One asked on the platform: 'Has Paul Brand had an allergic reaction / hayfever reaction in his right eye? #ITVNews.'

The editor decided to take to Instagram to explain what had happened.

Sharing a selfie of himself with one of his eyes looking a little sore, Paul said: 'For those asking, the dodgy eye is just a product of a toddler's grubby fingers.

TV newsreader Paul Brand (pictured) has been forced to address his health in a social media post after sparking concern with his appearance live on air on Monday evening

The editor, 38, decided to take to Instagram to explain what had happened and why he had a red eye

'Hopefully less red tomorrow.'

Paul is currently the UK editor of ITV News, and has held that role since 2021.

He has worked with the channel for a number of years, starting off his career as a production journalist at ITV Wales in 2008.

Paul later worked as a political correspondent for ITV Yorkshire and ITV Tyne Tees & Border.

He joined ITV News in 2016 as a political correspondent and has also presented the current affairs programme Tonight for the past three years, as well as Good Morning Britain occasionally.

Paul is married to Joe Cuddeford and the pair have a son.

The journalist has worked with ITV for a number of years and he has appeared on Good Morning Britain

Over the years he has been nominated and won awards for his work.

Some include Broadcaster of the Year at the 2019 PinkNews awards.

He also won Political Journalist of the Year at the RTS Television Journalism Awards in 2023.

This isn't the first time that viewers have shared their concerns over a presenter on their TV screens.

Earlier this year Clive Myrie, 60, worried fans after many noticed that he had a swollen eye while he was hosting BBC News at Six.

As he read out the latest reports from around the world back in January, fans took to X to share their concern.

They wrote: '@BBCNews is Clive Myrie ok? His left eye is droopy??'; 'Whats wrong with Clive Myries eye tonight?'; 'Something wrong with Clive Myries left eye @BBCNews?'

Clive Myrie reassured worried viewers, after many noticed his swollen eye while he was hosting BBC News at Six (pictured)

The newsreader, 60, has presented the weekday news bulletin on BBC One for the past decade, but sparked a flood of concern during the latest live broadcast

'Just noticed that Clive Myrie has a slight droop in his left eyelid. Has that always been there or has he had a stroke recently?'; 'What's Clive Myrie done to his eye'.

However, Clive soon took to X to clear up any fears, explaining he was just suffering from a non-serious infection as he thanked fans for their concern.

In his typical humorous tone, the Mastermind host quipped that he had wanted to wear an eyepatch, but had been denied by bosses because he resembled a pirate.

He wrote: 'Happy N.Year everyone and thank you all for your concern over my left eye. Its nothing serious, just an infection.

'I did think about wearing an eye patch, but the boss said no! A bit like Long John Silver.

'He wasnt having any of it! Cheers.'
Netflix fans have raved over a new medical drama that 'scratches the Grey's Anatomy itch' and is packed full of 'enjoyably juicy' action.

The new series, Pulse, launched on the streaming platform on April 3 and stars Willa Fitzgerald, Coin Woodell, Jack Bannon and Jessie T. Usher.

Based in a trauma centre in Miami, it follows a third-year medical student called Danny who is promoted after Chief Resident Dr. Xander Phillips is suspended.

The pair then have to navigate working together, as well as their complicated romance.

After only a few days on screens, the medical drama is already being likened to the longstanding Grey's Anatomy.

The Hollywood Reporter has described how the series is packed full of 'enjoyably juicy' action and will 'scratch that Grey's Anatomy itch'.

The new series, Pulse, launched on the streaming platform on April 3 and stars Willa Fitzgerald, Coin Woodell, Jack Bannon and Jessie T. Usher

Based in a trauma centre in Miami, it follows a third-year medical student called Danny who is promoted after Chief Resident Dr. Xander Phillips is suspended

Some fans have taken to social media to share their verdicts on the new show and one posted on X: 'Pulse is so good! Finally Netflix is giving me what I want!'

Another penned: 'Just finished Pulse on Netflix. Soundtrack 10/10 Drama 8/10.'

While someone else wrote: 'The show Pulse on Netflix is amazing sheesh.'

A fourth urged for another season and said: 'Netflix when are we getting season 2 of the pulse?'

Someone else also wanted future instalments and added: 'Oh Netflix I need seasons two and three to be ordered for #pulse STAT! and I need more of Nia and Cole.'

While another chimed in: 'PULSE on Netflix is so good!'

But not everyone is enjoying Pulse and one viewer penned: 'Watching Pulse on Netflix and I am so confused. Im on episode 3 and Im still confused.'

A second said: 'Hope Pulse on Netflix gets a season 2 bc i kinda wanna see how much worse it can get.'

Previously speaking about the show, co-writer Zoe Robyn told Tudum: 'We always endeavoured to make Danny and Phillips relationship a real, authentic look at a workplace romance'

Some fans have taken to social media to share their verdicts on the new show and while many have been positive, there have been some negative reviews too

'Pulse shows the edges and pitfalls of their relationship - but also all the joyous moments of working a high-pressure job like this,' she added.

Zoe said: 'You dont really want to be in the hospital. But if you're in the hospital, this is the one you would want to be in. You want to be in the care of these people.'

Pulse also stars Chelsea Muirhead as surgical intern Sophie Chen, Daniela Nieves as another medical student, Camila Perez, and Jessy Yates as a emergency medicine resident student called Harper.

It comes as another medical drama, The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call, launched on Netflix earlier this year and caused an excited buzz among fans.

It stars Choo Young Woo as Yang Jae-won, Ha Young as Cheon Jang-mi and Ju Ji-Hoon as Baek Gang-hyeok.

The Korean hospital drama follows trauma surgeon Baek Gang-hyeok as he works to transform his team of medics.

The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call launched on Netflix in January and has already caused an excited buzz amongst fans of the show

Yoon Kyung-ho as Han Yu-rim, Ju Ji-hoon as Baek Kang-hyuk in the new medical drama

Viewers have already binge-watched the entire eight-episode series and have begged for a second instalment.

Some have taken to social media to share their verdicts on the show, and one posted on X: 'Done watching #Traumacode Love all the characters in the drama.'

Another pushed for further series and said: 'Need more seasons of #TraumaCode #TraumaCodeHeroesOnCall.'

Pulse is available to stream on Netflix now.
Benidorm legend Sherrie Hewson has shared her epic five-word response as ITV bosses hold talks to reboot the beloved comedy - and fans will be thrilled.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the beloved comedy could be returning to our screens eight years after it was axed.

And Sherrie, 74 - who played Joyce Temple-Savage in the sitcom between 2012 and 2018, has lifted the lid on if the rumours are true.

Speaking on Best magazine's Suddenly Single podcast, Sherrie said: 'There is this thing that it's coming back though, and I keep that alive.'

She excitedly quipped: 'It is now a possibility.

'That would be wonderful because we all miss it desperately.'

Benidorm legend has epic five-word response as ITV bosses 'hold talks' to reboot beloved comedy - and fans will be thrilled

Sherrie, 74 - who played Joyce Temple-Savage in the sitcom between 2012 and 2018, has lifted the lid on if the rumours are true

Benidorm hit our screens in 2007 and went on to air 74 episodes over 10 series.

Then in 2018 it was confirmed that the long-running sitcom would end after 11 years on our screens.

Since the show was given the axe, many fans have been desperate for the programme to return, so no doubt the rumours are welcome news.

A TV insider told The Sun: 'Benidorm was adored by millions when it was suddenly cancelled.

'Fans will be thrilled to hear ITV wants to bring it back.

'An 11th series hasn't been commissioned yet, but there's major excitement building as early talks begin.

'Producers have started to reach out to the show's stars and are hopeful a decision can be made later this year.'

The show's synopsis reads: 'British comedy series following holidaymakers at the Solana Resort in Benidorm.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the beloved comedy could be returning to our screens eight years after it was axed

'Hilarity ensues as guests try to get value for their Euros.'

Benidorm has had some very famous faces as part of the cast.

The likes of Jake Canuso, Janine Duvitski, Steve Pemberton, Sheila Reid, Kenny Ireland, Tony Maudsley, Johnny Vegas and Tim Healy have appeared in the show.

Crissy Rock, Hannah Waddingham, Danny Walters, Sheridan Smith, Nigel Havers and Julie Graham have also appeared in it.

The show was created by Derren Litten.

Back in 2023 he teased a return of the beloved series as he announced that he was returning back to writing for 'both television and theatre'.

He said: 'I have had clear, recent indications that certain TV channels are interested in my decision and I hope you will be watching the fruits of my labour in time to come.'

Then, last month he sparked hope of its comeback once again when a fan asked on X: '@DerrenLitten @ITV Another series of Benidorm on the cards?'

He cryptically replied: 'Who knows...'

Announcing the news on social media that it had been axed in 2018, Derren said: Crazy to think Wednesday will be the last episode of Benidorm!

'I created the series over 11 years ago, wrote it, guest starred in it and ended up directing it.

'Its difficult to think what else there is to do! Thank you for watching!'
After years of public feuding, Rosie O'Donnell has turned her back on her wayward daughter one final time, cutting her out of her $80 million estate, DailyMail.com can reveal exclusively.

The one-time talk titan made the decision just days before she left the United States to start a new life in Ireland.

And in retaliation Chelsea O'Donnell went to court herself to petition to change her last name back to her birth mother Deanna Micoley's maiden name, Neuens.

'Chelsea really didn't care that Rosie wrote her out,' a source told DailyMail.com.

'I mean who wouldn't want to have access to millions? But for Chelsea it is not about the money, it's about feeling wanted and loved.

'And that's something she feels she has never really had from Rosie.

Rosie O'Donnell, 63, has cut her wayward daughter Chelsea, 27, out of her $80million estate days before fleeing the arrest in protest of President Donald Trump

Chelsea's birth mother Deanna Micoley holding a photo of her as a baby before she gave her up for adoption. The two reunited in 2015 and Deanna was the one to bail her out of jail in November 2024

In retaliation, Chelsea went to court herself to petition to change her last name back to her birth mother Micoley's maiden name, Neuens

'Money is what allowed for Rosie to send her away to six or seven boarding schools during her lifetime.

'Rich people can pay someone else to raise their kids. Middle- or lower-class parents actually have to be parents, they can't ship their kids off at the first sign of trouble,' the source added.

Chelsea, the second of the star's five adopted children, is currently in a sober living facility in Marinette, Wisconsin, and could not be contacted for comment.

Rosie's representative pointed DailyMail.com to a 30-stanza poem that Rosie posted on Substack over the weekend, but said she would have no further comment.

The free-verse poem, written almost entirely without capital letters and entitled 'my child chelsea' did not mention cutting her daughter off financially but did mention the name change.

'she wishes to change her last name/to her birth moms maiden name/doesn't make sense to me/ I am not her,' Rosie wrote.

Rosie signed her drug-riddled daughter out of the will 11 days before she left the country in protest at Donald Trump's re-election as president

Chelsea is currently in a sober living facility in Marinette, Wisconsin, and could not be contacted for comment

Rosie with her five adopted children Chelsea, Blake, Vivienne, Parker and Dakota O'Donnell

Chelsea and Rosie have long had a contentious relationship, which the former co-host of The View has put down to her daughter being 'born addicted to heroin'

At another point, she wrote: 'i wish i could delete my fame/for her/to make life easier/has been my goal from the beginning/but maybe that is untenable.'

She pleaded guilty to a string of felonies and misdemeanors including drug and child neglect charges in a Wisconsin courtroom on March 31 and was sentenced to 6-years-probation, with strict terms and conditions.

If she violates her probation she could face several years in state prison.

Chelsea, 27, and Rosie, 63, have long had a contentious relationship, which the former co-host of The View has put down to her daughter being 'born addicted to heroin'.

'She has had a tough road,' Rosie said in 2017 after Chelsea had given an interview to DailyMail.com in which she claimed her mother had threatened to hit her with a wine bottle because she had gotten a tattoo.

'Chelsea is mentally ill. Has been in and out of hospitals most of her life,' Rosie added.

'She is very sick. She is not capable of truth or reason.'

At the time, Chelsea said she was pregnant and insisted that Rosie 'would not be in my son's life'.

'And no, I do not feel sad about that to be honest,' she added. In the end she miscarried.

But she now has four children, the youngest of whom is 18 months old and living in foster care. The other three are living with their father.

Rosie O'Donnell's estranged daughter Chelsea was sentenced on March 31 to six years probation after being arrested on multiple drug charges

Chelsea O'Donnell was most recently arrested on November 18, following previous arrests on September 10 (left) October 11 (right) in connection with allegations of drug-related offenses

Rosie specifically cut Chelsea out of her estate in the documents. They state she has $27 million in life insurance twhich means Chelsea would miss out on $5.4 million from that source alone

And now, following Chelsea's three arrests in as many months, Rosie has decided enough is enough.

According to documents exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, Rosie cut Chelsea out of two separate trusts on January 6, just 11 days before she left the country in protest at Donald Trump's re-election as president.

'At the time of the execution of this indenture, the donor's children are Parker O'Donnell, Chelsea O'Donnell ('Chelsea'), Blake O'Donnell, Vivienne Rose O'Donnell and Dakota O'Donnell,' one of the trust documents reads.

'However for all purposes of this indenture, the terms of 'the donor's children,' 'child of the donor,' 'issue of the donor' and any term of like import shall not include Chelsea or any issue of Chelsea,' it adds, making clear that her grandchildren are also out.

The documents state that Rosie has $27 million in life insurance, which means Chelsea is missing out on more $5.4 million from that source alone.

DailyMail.com understands that Rosie sent Chelsea a copy of the documents so she would know for sure that she would not inherit any of her fortune, which Celebrity Net Worth estimates at $80 million.

Chelsea's youngest child is in foster care, while her three other children live with their father

Then on January 30, Chelsea filed papers in court in Wisconsin where she now lives asking for the name change.

On the form submitting the request she filled in the reason for wanting the name change as 'Adoption/family name'.

Rosie has been forthright about her problems raising her children.

'My teenagers are a nightmare, they're horrible,' she joked in 2016.

'I had four teenagers when I decided to adopt a newborn baby. You might ask why. Because I had four teenagers and I needed to remind myself that I actually do love children.'

Rosie's decision to move to Ireland with her youngest, Dakota, 12  who is non-binary and goes by the name Clay  came after Trump's election. They are living close to U2 drummer Larry Mullen and Oscar-nominated actor Brendan Gleason in an upmarket area, 20 minutes from the center of Dublin.

Rosie O'Donnell was spotted in Dublin for the first time since she fled the United States for Ireland in January this year

Chelsea said her adopted mom cared more 'about the Menendez brothers than me' and that she did nothing to help her get out of prison

She said she plans to take out Irish citizenship but may return to the United States 'when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights'.

'I miss my other kids. I miss my friends. I miss many things about life there at home, and I'm trying to find a home here in this beautiful country,' she said from her new homeland.

'It's been pretty wonderful, I have to say. The people are so loving and so kind, so welcoming. And I'm very grateful.'

But Chelsea's feelings for the woman who adopted her are far from loving and kind.

'Rosie cares more about the Menendez brothers than me,' she said after she was arrested last year. She claimed Rosie did nothing to help her but had expressed support for the killer California brothers' release from prison.

She was first arrested in September on charges including child neglect and possessing methamphetamine.

Rosie posed for a selfie behind the wheel of a car in Ireland on March 7 while mentioning how she's having a difficult time driving on a different side of the road

She was released but re-arrested the following month for felonies including bail jumping, obstructing an officer and another meth charge.

In November, she was arrested again. She was sentenced to six years' probation on March 31. The terms include abstaining from alcohol or drugs, no contact with known drug users and she was banned from having firearms.

She also has to obtain a high school diploma or GED and complete a mental health evaluation.

The source said that Chelsea is finally taking responsibility for her actions, but no one will ever know what she went through as a child.

'Chelsea turned to drugs to cope in life, it is not an excuse it just happened that way,' the source said.

'I do not think it is uncommon for most adopted children to have abandonment issues. Then to be shipped away to some troubled youth facility masked as a "boarding school" only further complicates the issue.

'It's not an excuse but she turned to drugs to mask her pain, of her feeling of not being wanted.

Chelsea and Rosie last spoke in December. 'Chelsea has put Rosie in her rear-view mirror,' said the source.
Kathy Griffin underwent a hysterectomy on Friday after she found herself at risk of developing cancer again.

The My Life on the D-List star, 64, shared her story including a funny anecdote about her nurse who was confused by tariffs, calling them terrorists.

'Happy Monday! I had a hysterectomy on Friday, that's right they took out the uterus, the fallopian tubes & the ovaries,' Kathy wrote on Instagram.

'Pre-cancerous, blah blah blah,' she continued. 'I'm going to do a @patreon post later about my private 'nurse' (who possiblygot her scrubs online).

'I sent her home because she also thinks that tariffs are terrorists. So she kept saying stuff like "I dont like Trump anymore because the price of eggs is going up and now hes adding terrorists!"'

In the caption of the post, Kathy wrote, 'Not to be an ahole, but how do I NOT have a reality show to capture all of this??? I mean, you cant write it. Its too real.'

Kathy Griffin underwent a hysterectomy on Friday after she found herself at risk of developing cancer again; Seen here in 2024

In 2021, Kathy announced that she had stage one lung cancer and that she needed to have surgery to remove half of her left lung.

A few months later, she revealed she was cancer free.

Last week, Kathy revealed the way she punks her friend Sharon Stone.

'I'm friends with Sharon Stone and one of the things I do to torture her is adding her to random text chains with people she doesnt know,' the Suddenly Susan alum told Us Weekly.

'I have her on four text chains now, and she keeps side-texting me and says, "Im going to f**king kill you. Stop adding my phone number to people Im never going to meet."'

During a November 2024 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Griffin explained how the prank all came out.

'My new favorite hobby is that every time Sharon Stone blows me off for a dinner date, I add her to a random text chain,' the comedian revealed, making Kimmel crack up. 'And Jimmy, she, like, wants to kill me.'

'How many times has this happened?' Kimmel asked.

Kathy shared her hysterectomy story with her Instagram followers

In the caption she wondered why these bizarre things happen to her

The My Life on the D-List star, 64, shared her story including a funny anecdote about her nurse who was confused by tariffs, which she called terrorists. Seen here in 2024

'Happy Monday! I had a hysterectomy on Friday, that's right they took out the uterus, the fallopian tubes & the ovaries,' Kathy wrote on Instagram. Seen here in 2024

Kathy Griffin loves a good prank and even her friends aren't immune to her shenanigans

'Pre-cancerous, blah blah blah,' she continued. 'I'm going to do a @patreon post later about my private 'nurse' (who possiblygot her scrubs online).' Seen here in 2024

'Around four,' Griffin said. 'And theyre like 17-person text chains.'

'And itll say, "Sharon Stone has been added to the conversation?"' Kimmel asked.

'And its her real number,' Griffin added. 'Its not her office number.'

'I like that,' Kimmel said while giggling. 'Im going to use that, I like that idea.'

Griffin also appears to be reigniting her long-standing feud with Will Smith.

The controversial comedian claimed the actor gave her the cold shoulder when they worked together decades agoyears before she would go on to slam him for his infamous Oscar slap.

During Tuesdays episode of her Talk Your Head Off podcast, the actress recalled her early days in Hollywood when she landed a guest role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990.

But according to Griffin, Smith, then a rising star, completely ignored her until the moment they filmed

'I sent her home because she also thinks that tariffs are terrorists. Seen here in 2024

'This was the first big gig I had,' she said, adding, He did not talk to me until show day.

Griffin explained that the episode was shot before The Fresh Prince had even premiered, at a time when Smith was primarily known as a rapper.

She explained that Smith had 'ignored her all week because hes launching a gigantic show.'

When I finally got to talk to him on shooting day, which was Friday, I said, What would you like me to call you, Fresh Prince or Will? And he said, You can call me Will, she continued.

'So I did, and I was, you know, nervous around him, because Id seen all his videos, and Jazzy Jeff was there for a day, which was great, and the live audience went crazy when they saw Jazzy Jeff. He may have even DJd, if I recall correctly.

While she acknowledged the pressure Smith was under as the face of a brand-new show, she claimed he was distant all week, only warming up when cameras rolled.

He really took his time to kind of get to know me a little bit, she said. 'And he was asking about me and helping me relax.

'I didnt tell him I was nervous, but I think he could tell that I hadnt done a show this big before.
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Jacob Elordi praised Married At First Sight bride Carina Mirabile's fashion sense at the premiere of Amazon Prime's new miniseries The Narrow Road to the Deep North in Sydney on Monday.

Despite being the guest of honour for the event celebrating his new series, the 27-year-old Euphoria star was captivated by Carina's stunning red gown.

'Great dress,' Jacob told the reality star as he walked up the cinema stairs, while Carina sat in her seat and smiled.

The brunette beauty's off-the-shoulder gown featured a cinched-in waist, long train and elaborate trimming, and the plunging neckline made the most of her figure.

Carina accessorised with a dainty designer handbag.

She let her long black hair fall over her shoulders and completed her styling with an understated glam make-up look.

Jacob Elordi praised Married At First Sight bride Carina Mirabile's fashion sense at the premiere of Amazon Prime's new miniseries The Narrow Road to the Deep North in Sydney

'Great dress,' Jacob told the crowd, in relation to the sizzling frock Carina stepped out in, which flattered the dark-haired beauty's voluptuous figure

The off the shoulder gown featured a cinched-in waist, long train and elaborate trimming, and the plunging neckline made the most of her figure

She let her long black hair fall over her shoulders and completed her styling with an understated glam make up look

The reality star appeared to enjoy her moment on the red carpet, where she could be seen posing and smiling for onlookers.

Meanwhile, Jacob decided to switch up his signature look at the event, by debuting a moustache.

The actor showed off the neat facial hair at the glitzy event as he wore a navy collared jacket with a matching pair of high-waisted trousers.

He added a white vest and completed the outfit with matching loafers.

The Kissing Booth star accessorised with a thick gold chain necklace and small gold hooped earrings on each ear, showing off his voluminous brown locks for the shoot.

Elsewhere, Simon Baker, 55, opted for a timeless monochromatic look in a tailored black blazer and matching pants.

The Boy Swallows Universe star paired it with a crisp white shirt and brown dress shoes, radiating charm as he posed for photos.

The Wiggles star Tsehay Hawkins, 19, ensured all eyes were on her when she stepped out in a fiery red gown with a cut-out at the midriff.

Meanwhile, Jacob decided to switch up his signature look at the event, by debuting a moustache. The actor showed off the neat facial hair at the glitzy event as he wore a navy collared jacket with a matching pair of high-waisted trousers

Elsewhere, Simon Baker opted for a timeless monochromatic look in a tailored black blazer and matching pants

The Wiggles star Tsehay Hawkins ensured all eyes were on her when she stepped out in a fiery red gown with a cut-out at the midriff

Reality TV veterans Tahnee Cook (left) and Tina Provis (right) rocked up together in eye-catching off-white colour-coordinated outfits

The children's entertainer completed her look with stylish heels and a black designer handbag.

Reality TV veterans Tahnee Cook and Tina Provis rocked up together in eye-catching off-white colour-coordinated outfits.

MAFS veteran Tahnee stunned in a striking strapless gown featuring a dramatic tie that wrapped elegantly around her neck.

Meanwhile, Love Island Australia winner Tina Provis brought the glam in a timeless beige gown that radiated elegance and sophistication.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North tracks an army surgeon's torment over his past while he struggles in a Thai-Burmese prisoner-of-war camp during World War Two.

The series co-stars Aussie stars Odessa Young, Olivia DeJonge, Heather Mitchell and Thomas Weatherall.
Bhad Bhabie has publicly discussed and defended her decision to go under the knife for elective cosmetic surgery while battling cancer.

Since revealing she was diagnosed with a form of blood cancer late last year, the influencer, 21, has undergone a nose job, with her doctor's approval, and various other procedures.

On Sunday, the mother-of-one sparked criticism over her appearance after sharing a slideshow of sultry mirror selfies rocking a plunging black jumpsuit.

In response to her post, a number of her 16.3 million Instagram followers flocked to the comment section to scrutinize her rhinoplasty and breast augmentation.

'Why do all girls get the same facial work done then all start to look the same?' one asked.

Another wrote: 'Your face doesnt even look like you anymore [sad emoji].'

Bhad Bhabie has publicly discussed and defended her decision to go under the knife for elective cosmetic surgery while battling cancer

Others inquired why her breasts appeared 'so far' apart.

The appearance of wide cleavage can be due to various factors, including natural anatomy, implant size, or capsular contracture.

Amid the hateful comments, a handful of fans reminded the rest of the internet that they were tearing apartment a woman battling battling chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

'yall picking apart a cancer survivors appearance is disgusting btw,' one wrote.

A second chimed in to say:

Bhabie, who is feuding with Alabama Barker, previously spoke out against criticism of her noticeable thinner frame as she revealed her weight loss was the result of her cancer medication.

After getting backlash online from fans for undergoing the elective surgeries, the rapper came out and insisted that she got clearance from her hematologist first.

Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Deepak Dugar told DailyMail.com that people actively battling cancer should take a cautious approach to cosmetic surgery, but insisted that Bregoli had followed the right protocol by speaking to her doctors first.

Since getting diagnosed with a form of blood cancer late last year, the influencer, 21, has undergone a nose job, with her doctor's approval, and various other procedures

In response to her post, a number of her 16.3 million Instagram followers flocked to the comment section to scrutinize her rhinoplasty and breast augmentation

Denver-based plastic surgeon Dr. Manish Shah echoed Dr. Dugar's sentiment, telling RealSelf that it's important for plastic surgeons to get the greenlight from a patient's oncologist before any elective cosmetic procedures.

Dr. Shah also warned against getting neurotoxin injections like Botox or certain fillers while fighting cancer.

In a fiery video on Instagram, Bregoli insisted that she'd been cleared for surgery and that she had no regrets about her cosmetic tweaks.

'Y'all it doesn't matter if you liked my nose before.. this is my face. I didn't like it so I fixed it,' she raged.

Amid the hateful comments, a number of fans reminded the rest of the internet that they were tearing apartment a woman battling battling chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)

'I'm going to the top doctors. They're not going to perform plastic surgery on a cancer patient without clearance from their cancer doctor.

'I had to get approval both times for my surgeries,' she continued.

'I just got my boobs and my, um, butt shots taken out on December 12. And I got my nose job on January 15. And both times I had to get clearance.'

She also explained her reasoning for getting surgery and admitted that her cancer diagnosis played a role in her desire to go under the knife again.

Bhabie previously spoke out against criticism of her noticeable thinner frame as she revealed her weight loss was the result of her cancer medication

'I'm literally 21-years-old, battling cancer, who knows how long I'll be here for? You think I'm not gonna get my body and my face right and do everything I wanted to do?' she said.

Bregoli said that she had 'always wanted a nose job' and that she had also decided to get her breasts done after the birth of her daughter Kali Love in March.

'If you don't think I'm a live my life to the fullest and do everything that I wanna do without a care in the world about what you've got to say about me... I'm a do me, always!'

Previously, she admitted to getting lip and facial fillers, as well as 'sculptra and silicone' in her buttocks when she was just 16.
Bill Murray is opening up about the shocking sexual misconduct allegation that doomed his film Being Mortal from being released in 2022 and forever altered his public reputation.

In an interview with the New York Times over the weekend, Murray admitted that the incident still haunts him to this day  even as he remained defiant about the investigation's outcome, which he said was not 'justice.'

When asked if he thought about the incident while playing a man accused of inappropriate conduct in his new film The Friend, he replied, 'I dont go too many days or weeks without thinking of what happened in Being Mortal.'

Murray was again swept up in controversy as he promoted the new film when he grabbed his co-star Naomi Watts and kissed her unprompted while both appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

In the new interview, he shared his recollection of the circumstances leading up to the complaint about his behavior on Being Mortal, which was to be the directorial debut of its star, Aziz Ansari, before it was shelved.

Murray noted that the film was shot at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and the cast and crew were 'all wearing masks and we were all stranded in this one room listening to this crazy scene.'

Bill Murray is opening up about the shocking sexual misconduct allegation that doomed his film Being Mortal from being released in 2022 and forever altered his public reputation in an interview with the New York Times; seen February 27 in NYC

Before recounting his alleged behavior, he prefaced it by saying, 'I dunno what prompted me to do it. It's something that I had done to someone else before, and I thought it was funny, and every time it happened, it was funny.'

Murray explained that, while wearing a mask, he gave the unnamed female crew member  who was also masked  a kiss. 'It wasn't like I touched her, but it was just, I gave her a kiss through a mask.'

He added, 'And she wasn't a stranger,' and he said the two were having lunch multiple times a week before the incident.

Murray, who described feeling 'barbecued' in the aftermath of the complaint against him, described interventions by HR and subsequent arbitration that he felt were prejudiced against him.

'It turned out there were pre-existing conditions and all this kind of stuff,' he said. 'I'm like, what? How was anyone supposed to know anything like that? There was no conversation, there was nothing. There was no peacemaking, nothing.

'It went to this lunatic arbitration, which, if anyone ever suggests you go to arbitration: Don't do it. Never ever do it. Because you think its justice, and it isn't,' he continued.

Murray lambasted Disney's HR department as being 'more strident than some other countries',' and he called the decision not to complete the film a 'great disappointment.

Murray reportedly paid a $100,000 settlement to the woman in 2022 at the conclusion of the investigation.

Murray was accused by a female crew member who said he kissed her on set. He noted both wore masks at the time due to Covid. 'It wasn't like I touched her, but it was just, I gave her a kiss through a mask,' he claimed; pictured February 27 in NYC

He said he still thinks about the incident often and finds it 'funny,' but he felt he was 'barbecued' by HR and the subsequent reporting on the incident

He reportedly paid $100K in a settlement, and he blasted the 'lunatic arbitration' process, which he felt was biased against him; seen with Naomi Watts on March 24 in NYC

However, the interviewer also referenced other times when the Royal Tenenbaums star has been accused of being aggressive, violent or insulting with his costars.

Among them, an incident in which he was alleged to have hurled a glass ash tray at his What About Bob? co-star Richard Dreyfuss.

'You can tell that story as much as you like, but its never going to be true,' he replied, before claiming he threw the ashtray at the ceiling, assuming it would shatter on impact

'If Id thrown it at Dreyfuss, Id have hit him,' he said defiantly.

As for Geena Davis, she accused Murray in her 2022 memoir Dying Of Politeness of screaming insults at her in front of 'more than 300 people' on set.

Murray responded to Davis' claim with just one word: 'Outrageous.'

He then claimed that there had been a concerted effort made to dredge up embarrassing moments from his past as a result of the claim made against him on Being Mortal.

When someone has an episode like mine on Being Mortal, the world goes searching for more proof that this person is a monster. An absolute monster,' Murray alleged.

Murray got in hot water earlier this month while promoting The Friend with co-star Naomi Watts on Watch What Happens Live.

After she was asked about her best on-screen kiss, he interrupted to forcibly kiss her. She looked shocked but didn't call him out. However, fans lambasted him afterward on social media for kissing Watts without getting permission

He claimed that in his 'hundreds of thousands' of interactions with people throughout his long career, sleuths could like come up with 'half a dozen' incidents that cast him in a poor light.

'If you really worked, youd probably come up with a couple dozen,' he added.

Earlier this month, Murray was slammed by fans and Watch What Happens Live viewers after he appeared to give Naomi Watts a kiss without getting permission first.

During a Q&A section of the show, a viewer called in to quiz the 56-year-old Mulholland Dr. actress on her favorite on-screen kiss.

But before she could even answer, Murray lunged for her, held her face in his hands and appeared to kiss her on the lips, though her face was blocked from the camera by his head.

Murray, who previously appeared with Watts in the 2014 dramedy St. Vincent, even gave a thumbs-up for the camera after pulling away from his costar.

'Youve got lipstick on your face,' Watts subsequently said, before wondering aloud, 'Did I go red?'

Murray just stared into the camera and stated, 'That was too easy.'

He was lambasted by viewers on social media for putting Watts in such a position, though she doesn't appear to have commented on the display since then.
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Chris Lilley has hinted he is bringing back his iconic Mr G character from his comedy show Summer Heights High, four years after he was 'cancelled' by Netflix.

The 50-year-old Australian comedian shared a clip to Instagram on Tuesday which showed Mr G's pink exercise ball bouncing around before landing on a chair.

Although Chris did not write anything in the caption, fans went wild with speculation he is bringing back the flamboyant drama teacher.

'If it isnt Mr G, it should be,' wrote Chilling Adventures of Sabrina star Luke Cook.

'We asked for so long for a Mr G seriesI think we are finally receiving!!!' a second person added.

It would be Chris' first acting appearance in several years as he has not acted in a production since his 2019 Netflix mockumentary series Lunatics.

Chris Lilley has hinted he is bringing back his iconic Mr G character from his comedy show Summer Heights High four years after he was 'cancelled' by Netflix

In July 2021, four of his television shows were removed from Netflix due to concerns over 'blackface' portrayals.

It was announced Jonah from Tonga, Angry Boys, Summer Heights High and We Can Be Heroes would be removed from Netflix in Australia and New Zealand.

The shows raised questions about racial discrimination, as several characters were depicted using blackface and brownface.

On Angry Boys, he portrayed African-American rapper S.mouse and performed a song called Squashed N****.

In Jonah from Tonga, he painted his face brown and wore a curly wig to portray troubled teen Jonah Takalua.

In We Can Be Heroes, Lilley played Ricky Wong, a Chinese physics student.

Chris has defended his style of comedy, telling The Weekend Australian in 2019: 'I'm not trying to do the thing that is trendy at the moment.'

The award-winning comedian went on to say he would continue making 'clever, layered' characters.

The 50-year-old Australian comedian shared a clip to Instagram on Tuesday which showed Mr G's pink exercise ball bouncing around before landing on a chair

Although Chris did not write anything in the caption, fans went wild with speculation he is bringing back the flamboyant drama teacher

Defending his controversial portrayals, he added: 'When you meet them, you think "I know that type of person", but then there is a twist, something crazy.

'In the end you think, "Actually, I kind of relate to this, she just did that thing that I do every day."'

Over the past year, he has shifted his focus to a wildlife venture.

Chris has become a YouTuber, sharing videos of his wildlife encounters while travelling across Australia.

A recent video features the iconic funnyman documenting close encounters with kangaroos.

Another clip shows him swimming with grey nurse sharks, while an earlier video captures Chris travelling to Tasmania in search of wombats.
Blowing out the candles on her cake, Lily James was reminded of the little princess she once was  and how her dreams became reality.

The cake, emblazoned with a childhood picture of her dressed as a Disney princess, served as proof she was destined to become a star  and to play one role in particular.

Lily, who starred as Cinderella in Disney's hit 2015 remake, celebrated her 36th birthday with friends in London on Saturday, looking relaxed in a sleek dress with cut-outs at the waist.

She splashed out on a private dining room at Michelin-starred Italian restaurant Luca, where the fixed menu, including wine pairings, costs nearly 200 per person.

She was joined by close friends including her Mamma Mia! co-star Dominic Cooper, his girlfriend, actress Gemma Chan, and producer Gala Gordon.

'Keep shining my girl  this is your year,' Gala wrote on social media.

Blowing out the candles on her cake, Lily James was reminded of the little princess she once was  and how her dreams became reality

The cake, emblazoned with a childhood picture of her dressed as a Disney princess, served as proof she was destined to become a star  and to play one role in particular

Lily, who starred as Cinderella in Disney's hit 2015 remake, celebrated her 36th birthday with friends in London on Saturday, looking relaxed in a sleek dress with cut-outs at the waist

Gala and Poppy took to Instagram to share pictures showing Lily looking happier than ever as she celebrated her day.

She looked relaxed in a khaki sleeveless dress cut away at the waist, showing off her toned frame.

The Surrey-born star and her friends drank champagne and red wine while feasting on a menu with mouth-watering items including 68 beef ribeye, 49 lamb with spiky artichoke and pine nuts and fresh pasta dishes such as 46 prawn taglierini.

At the end of the meal, Lily was treated to a big white birthday cake adorned with multi-coloured candles, meringue balls and an icing photo of herself as a child in an early acting role.

Gala is an executive producer of Swiped, the film starring Lily as Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder of dating app Bumble, due out this year.

Gala is also co-founder of a film production company, Parados Productions, with Lily.

Poppy, 38, shared a video of her and Lily playing around in a lift, with a soundtrack of the quote: 'You are by the far the baddest, raddest, sexiest, most far-out kick-a** chick that I've ever met!'

She splashed out on a private dining room at Michelin-starred Italian restaurant Luca, where the fixed menu, including wine pairings, costs nearly 200 per person

Lily (R) was joined by several close friends including her Mamma Mia! co-star, Dominic Cooper, his girlfriend, actress Gemma Chan, actress Gala Gordon and socialite Poppy Delevingne (L)

It is a line said by actor Sebastian Stan as Tommy Lee to Lily's Pamela Anderson in the 2022 TV series, Pam and Tommy. 'You really f****** are,' wrote Poppy, who is heavily pregnant with her first child - a girl - by her billionaire boyfriend, Archie Keswick. 'Happy birthday beautiful LILS. Love you to Pluto.'

Lily, who has previously been in long-term relationships with actor Matt Smith and US musician Michael Shuman, did not appear to be joined by a date at her birthday bash.

The star's relationship with Michael was first revealed in February 2021 when they were spotted kissing outside a boutique hotel in England while she filmed What's Love Got To Do With It.

The Tom & Pammy star was last romantically linked to musician Michael in late 2023.

Currently single, she was pictured last month leaving a restaurant in Paris with Chris Jones, the well-connected brother of film director Emma Holly Jones.

In February, she was photographed leaving a BAFTA party in Mayfair with Hollywood star Glen Powell, and in December last year, she was spotted at the celebrity hangout Chiltern Firehouse with American billionaire Brian Chesky  chief executive of Airbnb.

On her birthday, Lily re-posted her horoscope on her Instagram stories. It read: 'Be an active participant in your life. Believe in change. Believe that a month, a year can change anything.

'Believe in new beginnings. Believe in fresh starts. Believe in healing through and beyond. You are not your past. You are not your current circumstances. Believe in renewal.'
Married At First Sight's Ryan Donnelly is showing his former TV wife Jacqui Burfoot what she's missing.

The reality star, 37, stripped down to his underwear on Saturday for ManHunt Australia after nabbing a top ten spot in the nation-wide search for Australia's next hot model.

Ryan oiled up to show off his toned biceps, chiseled chest and abs in the sexy photoshoot.

The former groom left little to the imagination as he posed up a storm in a tiny pair of Tribe Australia underwear.

Joining Ryan in the competition are national finalists Adriel Yuan, Conor Rigby, Dylan Mahoney, James Morris, Marcos Tolosa, Rali Am, Ryan Donnelly, Vaclav Vrbensky, Vytis Cesnauskas and and William Weightman.

The winner of the blush-inducing competition will be announced on Friday April 11.

Married At First Sight's Ryan Donnelly is showing his former TV wife Jacqui Burfoot what she's missing

The reality star, 37, stripped down to his underwear on Saturday for ManHunt Australia after nabbing a top ten spot in the nation-wide search for Australia's next hot model

Ryan oiled up to show off his toned biceps, chiseled chest and abs in the sexy photoshoot

The steamy snaps come in the wake of Ryan's ex-TV wife's engagement.

Jacqui, 29, and her now-fiance Clint Rice, 43, made headlines on Sunday after the Tasmanian businessman got down on one knee and proposed to the controversial bride at a MAFS viewing party in Sydney.

In footage shared to TikTok, Clint is seen on one knee popping the question to his ladylove before producing an impressive diamond ring.

It wasn't long before an elated Jacqui said yes, scooping up her hunk and planting a joyous kiss on his smiling lips.

Later in the footage, Jacqui proudly flashed her blinding diamond ring to her adoring MAFS fans as she grinned with glee.

It comes after Ryan sensationally claimed that his on-screen bride Jacqui was 'never really on the show to find love'.

In a no-holds-barred interview with Daily Mail Australia, Ryan, revealed how Jacqui formed a secret connection with fellow groom Clint while they were still married, all while maintaining what he now calls 'an agenda' to control her narrative and become the show's breakout star.

Ryan didn't hold back when asked why he thought his marriage with Jacqui imploded so dramatically.

The former groom left little to the imagination as he posed up a storm in a tiny pair of swimwear

Among the handsome finalists are Rali Am, Ryan Donnelly, Conor Rigby, James Morris and Dylan Mahoney (pictured L-R)

Jacqui and her now-fiance Clint Rice made headlines on Sunday after the Tasmanian businessman got down on one knee and proposed to the controversial bride at a MAFS viewing party in Sydney

'Her motivation was to be the main character (of the show), I think,' he said bluntly.

He claimed Jacqui was 'flip-flopping' between playing the victim and the heroine throughout the experiment.

'I think she wanted to pick at something, pull at a thread until the whole thing unravelled. That's why I looked a bit guarded. I had to say to myself, 'Alright, she's got more masks than a Halloween ball. Which one is she gonna wake up with today?''

Ryan also believes he was intentionally paired with Jacqui to create drama.

'There's cupid matches and there's clash matches, and obviously the clash ones are more entertaining,' he said.
Dyan Cannon revealed she's not ready to stop having fun just because she's approaching her nineties.

While attending the 10th Annual Hollywood Beauty Awards on Sunday, the 88-year-old actress revealed that she still likes to juggle multiple 'friends with benefits'  and there are still 'more to come,' according to People.

When she was asked if she was still dating, she responded with an 'of course,' before clarifying that she's only interested if the person is 'somebody very special.'

Dyan  who caught an LA Lakers game last month  added that she was seeing 'several special [people]...' at the moment, adding that she had multiple physical connections with partners that didn't come with the baggage of relationships and commitment. 'I have friends with benefits, yes,' she admitted.

The Heaven Can wait star, who shared a daughter with her late ex-husband Cary Grant, also looked back on her past relationship with another older man, former Tonight Show host Johnny Carson.

'I've been hearing constantly about Johnny Carson,' Dyan said, which was due to CBS Sunday News' special The Hidden Side Of Johnny Carson.

Dyan Cannon revealed she still has multiple 'friends with benefits' at 88 while chatting with People on Sunday at the 10th Annual Hollywood Beauty Awards in LA (pictured)

Dyan said she was only interested in dating 'somebody very special,' but bragged of her relationships that there were 'more to come'; seen March 17 in LA with Judd Apatow

The special aired in March and delved into Carson's relationship with her, as well as her appearance on The Tonight Show while he was host.

'It's on a lot. They're running it, running it, running it,' she said.

Dyan went on to brag: 'I rattled him, and I love that. We love it when we rattle men who aren't usually rattled, don't we?'

However, she clarified that Carson 'loved it' as much as she did.

The Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice star bragged that the legendary late-night host would even close down restaurants for an especially intimate experience when they would go out for dinner.

'He was a special man,' she continued fondly of Carson, who died in 2005 at 79. 'I've known a lot of special men. And there's more to come.'

The new special about Carson covers Dyan's famous 1985 appearance on The Tonight Show, in which she managed to embarrass the host by bringing up their old history, which sent her into giggle fits.

The actress got her star in the late '50s and early 1960s with various television guest roles, but it was her relationship with film superstar Cary Grant  who was 33 years her senior  that elevated her public stature.

Dyan also reflected on her late ex Johnny Carson, after their relationship was highlighted in a recent CBS Sunday News special about the late-night host

She famously had a giggly appearance on the Tonight Show in 1985 in which she embarrassed Carson by bringing up their former relationship, but Cannon said he enjoyed being 'rattled'

The actress got her start on TV in the late '50s and early '60s, but she gained more prominence with her 1965 marriage to Cary Grant, who was 33 years her senior; pictured in '66

They had a daughter in 1966 and divorced two years later. Cannon is pictured with her daughter Jennifer Grant in December 2023 in NYC

Dyan's big breakthrough was in 1969 with the release of the counterculture comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice; seen with costars (LR) Elliott Gould, Natalie Wood and Robert Culp

The couple were married in 1965, and the following year Dyan welcomed their only child, daughter Jennifer Grant.

The couple later divorced in 1968.

It wasn't until after their split that Dyan became a major Hollywood star in her own right thanks to her Oscar-nominated role in the counter-culture hit Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), which follows two friendly couples who experiment with swinging.

After appearing with Sean Connery in The Anderson Tapes and in Otto Preminger's Such Good Friends  which earned her a Golden Globe nomination  she took time off in the mid-'70s to focus on a musical review in Las Vegas and attended the American Film Institute's Women's Directing Workshop.

The experience paid off, as Dyan became the first Oscar-nominated actress to again be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Hort Film, Live Action category for her 1976 short Number One, which she produced, wrote and edited.

She returned to prominent film roles and earned another Oscar nomination for appearing opposite Warren Beatty in 1978's Heaven Can Wait, which he also directed.

Dyan continued acting steadily throughout the 1980s, and she rang in the 1990s by starring in and directing the semi-autobiographical film The End Of Innocence.

Though she has acted less frequently in recent years, Cannon turned to writing with the publication of her memoir Dear Cary: My Life With Cary Grant in 2011.

The book was a bestseller and came after she had turned down lucrative offers to write a memoir about her marriage for decades.

In 2023, The White Lotus season three star Jason Isaacs starred as Grant in a British TV adaptation of the book that was retitled Archie. She also served as an executive producer on the miniseries.
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OnlyFans star Paris Ow-Yang has reportedly purchased a block of units in the Sydney eastern suburb of Randwick for $7.5million.

According to Confidential, The teenage adult content creator, 19, is said to have snapped up six renovated apartments which are all currently leased for $810-$1,275 per week for a total of $6,195 in rental income per week.

In total, the building contains 14 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and six car spaces, with the upper apartments boasting ocean and district views across Coogee and surrounds.

There are four three-bedroom apartments featuring en suites and lock-up garages, and two one-bedroom apartments which also provide onsite car spaces.

Paris seemingly confirmed her ownership of the building when she messaged Confidential over reports on a recent video which saw her riding in a car without a seatbelt.

'I have an over 15 million dollar property portfolio. While you're busy writing about me not wearing a seatbelt, I'm buying 7.5 million properties. 7.5 million baby,' she wrote to the publication.

OnlyFans star Paris Ow-Yang, 19, has reportedly purchased a block of units in the Sydney eastern suburb of Randwick for $7.5million

When approached by Daily Mail Australia for comment about her latest purchase, Paris declined to confirm or deny.

Other properties listed under the ownership of Ow-Yang Property Pty Ltd include a block of units in Randwick, which she purchased for $4.3million.

Paris also own a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Bondi Beach and a four-bedroom estate in Bowral, both of which she bought with the millions she raked in through the adult subscription website OnlyFans.

The influencer, who is currently serving a two-year Community Corrections Order over a string of offences, was caught on video appearing to flout basic road rules during a joyride in Sydney late last month.

In footage posted to social media, Paris was seen perched in the passenger seat of a luxury two-seater convertible, smiling alongside two other young women as the car cruised down the street.

While the driver was clearly buckled up, no seatbelt was visible across Paris' body.

Adding fuel to the fire, the short video was cheekily captioned: 'Illegal Tuesday.'

When approached for comment, Paris declined to comment on the risky behaviour.

The teenage adult content creator is said to have snapped up six renovated apartments which are all currently leased for $810-$1,275 per week for a total of $6,195 in rental income per week

In total, the building contains 14 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and six car spaces, with the upper apartments boasting ocean and district views across Coogee and surrounds, reported Confidential on Sunday

It's the latest in a string of public incidents and legal dramas involving the Bondi-based social media sensation, who shot to fame after launching a racy OnlyFans account the day after her 18th birthday.

Paris, a former private school student who attended the prestigious $33,000-a-year Frensham School, has faced mounting scrutiny in recent months over her brushes with the law, including a high-range drink-driving crash, a domestic violence rampage, and an AVO taken out by her own family.

Back in October 2023, Paris was charged with high-range drink driving after slamming her $50,000 black Mercedes into another vehicle in the affluent suburb of Point Piper, blowing more than four times the legal alcohol limit for a P-plater.

She was slapped with a nine-month driving ban, forced to install an alcohol interlock device in her car for two years, and handed a two-year Community Corrections Order.

But that wasn't the end of her troubles.

In December last year, the OnlyFans starlet made headlines yet again after she was charged with assault and stalking following a terrifying domestic violence incident involving her own mother, Amanda Ow-Yang, at the family's Double Bay apartment.

Court documents revealed the teenage millionaire arrived at her mother's home drunk, hurling abuse, calling her a 's**t' and threatening to kill herself before trashing the property and embedding two kitchen knives into the floor.

Paris pleaded guilty to assault, stalking, and property damage, with a magistrate ordering her to abstain from alcohol for 15 months and comply with mental health treatment.

There are four three-bedroom apartments featuring ensuites and lock-up garages, and two one-bedroom apartments which also provide onsite car spaces

Paris seemingly confirmed her ownership of the building when she messaged Confidential over reports on a recent video which saw her riding in a moving vehicle without a seatbelt

A two-year apprehended violence order was also imposed to protect her family.

While her personal life has been marred by legal woes and emotional turmoil, Paris' career as an adult content creator has continued to soar.

The teenager, whose father is renowned neurosurgeon Dr Michael Ow-Yang, has amassed more than 1.6million followers across Instagram and TikTok and claims to have made millions of dollars through her subscription-based OnlyFans account.

She previously bragged about ranking in the top 0.02 per cent of creators globally, using her earnings to snap up an impressive portfolio of properties across Sydney's exclusive eastern suburbs.

'For me, it's been an incredible journey which has allowed me financial freedom and control over my career,' she told The Daily Telegraph. 'I've been able to create an empire for myself, on my own terms.'

Paris' legal team have long argued her erratic behaviour stems from childhood trauma and ongoing mental health struggles, including depression, anxiety, ADHD, and an eating disorderconditions she's battled since her parents' messy split when she was just 13.

Her solicitor, Michael Bowe, has previously told courts the teen's highly publicised meltdown last year was the result of binge drinking, heartbreak following the breakdown of a relationship with Sydney nightclub identity Julian Tobias, and ongoing online abuse.

The court heard she was left 'spiralling out of control' and unable to cope with her newfound fame.

During her last court appearance in November, the model appeared demure and composed, dressed in grey trousers, a crisp white blouse, black blazer and designer Dior heels, wiping away tears as the magistrate warned her against further offending.

Despite her ongoing community corrections order and court-mandated abstinence from alcohol, Paris' latest seatbelt stunt is likely to raise fresh concerns about her disregard for the law.
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Jackie 'O' Henderson has revealed she was brutally roasted by fellow patients when she checked herself into a US rehab facility in 2022 for a drug addiction.

The radio star, 50, revealed on The Kyle & Jackie O Show on Tuesday she was teased and compared to a popular Aussie icon.

Jackie described the moment she told other patients at the Betty Ford Clinic she was there for a painkiller and sleeping pill addiction and was taking 24 Panadeine Forte and 10-12 Stilnox/Zolpidems a day.

'Everyone is in there for fentanyl, ice, alcohol,' Jackie told listeners, saying they described it as the 'big three'.

She said when she told other patients she was checking herself into the 'world's most hectic rehab' for the addiction they were in disbelief.

'They went "Tylenol?" - that's what they call it. "You're in here for Tylenol?"' she reenacted.

Jackie 'O' Henderson has revealed she was brutally roasted by fellow patients when she checked herself into a rehab facility in the US in 2022 for a drug addiction

'That's why I think they called me The Olivia Newton John,' she added.

'This real goody two shoes Australian whose come all the way over for Tylenol,' she joked as her fellow radio host Kyle Sandilands erupted in laughter.

'You know what, maybe you didn't need to go in there after all?' Kyle quipped.

Last year Jackie shocked her listeners when she admitted she secretly flew out of Australia to check into the renowned rehab clinic, breaking down in tears on her show as she spoke about her battle with addiction.

She detailed the harrowing extent of her addiction in her memoir, The Whole Truth, and publicly shared the news in a tearful radio segment.

Jackie revealed how she managed to secretly fly out of Australia to Los Angeles in November 2022 to check into the Betty Ford Clinic, which has been host to Hollywood stars including Lindsay Lohan and Keith Urban.

Speaking live on-air, Jackie said she was accompanied by her best friend Gemma for the flight and they made the decision to catch a night flight for more privacy.

Reading out a section from her memoir, Jackie detailed her travel itinerary and how she managed to keep her addiction a secret for more than two years.

The radio star, 50, revealed on The Kyle & Jackie O Show on Tuesday she was teased and compared to a popular Aussie icon

In November 2022, Jackie secretly checked into the Betty Ford Clinic for a 28-day stay to take part in a voluntary 12-step program to treat her drug addiction

'I'm ready to leave for the airport and catch this night flight. We board at the last possible moment and we arrive late in the evening,' she read.

'We pick up our rental car and set a course for Palm Springs. We're headed to a little hotel there for two nights, but that's not my final destination.

'After our weekend in the Sonoran desert, Gemma will be heading home and I won't be going with her. I'm going on alone when she checks out.'

Jackie explained she then checked into the Betty Ford Clinic for a 28-day stay to take part in a voluntary 12-step program to treat her drug addiction.

Betty Ford, located in Rancho Mirage, charges anywhere from $45,000 to $90,000 AUD for a month-long stay, depending on the program.

At the time, her stay in Betty Ford was not known as she told listeners at the time that her absence was due to a battle with long Covid, which she now admits was a 'lie' by 'omission'.

Jackie said none of her KIIS FM colleagues were even aware of the reason behind her prolonged absence from her radio show at the time, not even her close friend Kyle.

She was accompanied by her best friend Gemma O'Neill for the flight and they made the decision to catch a night flight for more privacy

She recalled of the time: 'The whole team wishes me well, I'm sure they're curious about my temporary leave of absence, but none of them really knows why I'm stepping back.

'But it has to be this way.'

Kyle sounded shocked as he revealed he had 'no idea' about her addiction battle while learning about it for the first time live on-air.

'You're just so anti-drug, that's the shock of it, you have never been the party girl, you were never that,' he said.

'I didn't know you were a big drinker, I know you like a wine every now and then. I feel embarrassed that I sit here every day of my life and had no clue.'

'I'm in shock, I'm in shock and feeling like a s**t friend for not realising,' he added.
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The stars of this season's Married at First Sight have soared on social media.

Figures released by social media ranker Fabulate for March reveal that some cast members including Dave Hand, Rhi Disljenkovic and Awhina Rutene have captured an online following of over 100K.

Heading for social media stardom is fan favourite Jamie Marinos who leads her MAFS co-stars in online popularity after racking up 184.6K followers on TikTok.

The 28-year-old has another 182K followers on Instagram.

She has seen quite a leap in interest since she was sitting on 169,000 only last week.

Jamie's TV husband Dave Hand, 36, has also attracted attention online, scoring 143K followers on Instagram.

The stars of this season's Married at First Sight have soared on social media. Figures released by social media ranker Fabulist for March reveal that fan favourite Jamie Marinos is headed for stardom after racking up 184.6K followers on TikTok and another 182K followers on Instagram. (Pictured)

Jamie's TV husband Dave Hand, 36, has also attracted attention online, scoring 143K followers on Instagram. (Pictured)

Also popular with social media users is controversial groom Eliot Donovan who captured 129.6K followers on TikTok.

Meanwhile, Rhi Disljenkovic and Awhina Rutene both managed to attract 112K followers on Instagram.

However, not all MAFS cast members are performing as well on social media.

Controversial groom Adrian Araouzou, who had a famously stormy match with Awhina, has accumulated 74,000 fans on TikTok as regular followers.

It comes after a group of rebellious Married At First Sight stars defied Channel Nine and risked breaching their contracts by taking back control of their Instagram accounts.

And insiders say the network is fuming.

Daily Mail Australia revealed last week that groom Dave and intruder bride Veronica Cloherty have successfully reset their Instagram passwords are now refusing to hand the accounts back to the show's publicity team.

Dave and Veronica are understood to be planning to cash in on their newfound stardom by launching influencer careers immediately - but this sneaky move is a direct violation of their contracts with Nine and production company Endemol Shine Australia.

Rhi Disljenkovic (pictured) and Awhina Rutene attracted 112K followers on Instagram

According to the insider, Nine's publicity team is 'not happy' with the rogue participants, who have blindsided network bosses by jumping the gun.

An insider close to production told Daily Mail Australia: 'It's not a good look. Nine and ESA can't risk them going rogue online while the show is still airing overseas'.

In a major shake-up this year, Channel Nine has tightened the reins on cast members' social media activity, banning them from reclaiming their accounts until May 10 - well after the Australian finale - to coincide with the show's broadcast in the UK.

'They want to control the narrative for as long as possible and stop participants from bad-mouthing the show over their "horrible edits,"' the source said.

It's a huge blow for this year's cast, many of whom were banking on post-show fame to launch paid partnerships and lucrative influencer deals.

One furious bride, who asked not to be named, told Daily Mail Australia: 'I've had a few brands approach me, but they all say the same thing - I need control of my account before they'll sign me'.

During the show's airing, Nine's publicity team maintained an iron grip over the participants' accounts.

The brides and grooms were only allowed to write captions under strict supervision, with comments disabled and no access to direct messages - blocking any potential brand opportunities.

In the past few weeks, participants were allowed to supply photos and captions, but Nine's social team had the final say on what was posted.
Chesney Hawkes entered the Celebrity Big Brother house on Monday night, having netted a reported 25,000 appearance fee.

And while the hitmaker - famed for his 1991 hit The One And Only - is said to be in the house for fame not money, he previously shed light on his financial woes.

Despite 8.2million from the song, which appeared in the movie Buddy's Song, Chesney, 53, told the My Dirty Laundry podcast, that he blew the staggering sum and burned himself out with 'utter exhaustion' due to his 'crazy' lifestyle.

Chesney entered the house in a flurry, joking about his love of nudity and his famous hit, after being dubbed a 'novelty booking' and being paid the second lowest - just above TOWIE's Ella Rae Wise, who has been paid 20,000.

Last year, he confessed his hedonistic life led to losing the dramatic sum, after blowing his cash - meaning his Big Brother sum is no doubt a welcome cash infusion.

Chesney Hawkes entered the Celebrity Big Brother house on Monday night, having netted a reported 25,000 appearance fee - following an admission of past money troubles

And while the hitmaker - famed for his 1991 hit The One And Only - is said to be in the house for fame not money, he previously shed light on his financial woes (pictured in 1991)

Despite 8.2million from the song, which appeared in the movie Buddy's Song, Chesney, 53, told the My Dirty Laundry podcast , that he blew the staggering sum and burned himself out with 'utter exhaustion' due to his 'crazy' lifestyle

Chesney joined the likes of Mickey Rourke, Jack P Shepherd and Patsy Palmer in entering the famous house on Monday, to the delight of CBB fans.

Prior to the show's launch, the stars' appearance fees were reported, with claims that Mickey has had a 480k payday and Jojo Siwa is being paid 400k.

Chesney meanwhile is said to be the second lowest, however insiders allege he is appearing on the show for exposure not for cash, despite his previously precarious financial status at the hands of his poor choices.

During his appearance on the podcast, he admitted he can relate to fellow stars Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran and urged young people in the industry to 'be careful and make sure they don't burn out like he did.'

He admitted: 'I did that classic thing when I first made it of just blowing everything. I bought a state of the art studio. I bought everyone in my family a car. So yeah, we had fun.

'My brother Jodie is my drummer and he was with me through the whole time. And yeah, we enjoyed it, because we were young. We were 19 and 17, and we toured all over the world - America, Japan, it was an amazing time.

Chesney entered the house in a flurry, joking about his love of nudity and his famous hit, after being dubbed a 'novelty booking' and being paid the second lowest - just above TOWIE's Ella Rae Wise, who has been paid 20,000

Mickey Rourke is the highest paid star of the show, with a reported 480k fee

The pop icon hit the big time with his song The One And Only and travelled the world but he was soon left 20k in debt when the work dried up (pictured in 1991)

After becoming so burned out he fainted during an interview, Chesney said: 'You see it with these young artists now. I remember Adele had to cancel a whole bunch of shows. Harry Styles, (left) had a similar thing. Ed Sheeran, (right), I see it happening'

'It was like living in the eye of a storm. So I had my family and the people around me in this kind of bubble, you know?

'I would be thrown into the hurricane and I'd be gone. And then I'm off to Sweden and then I'm off to New York. I never knew where I was waking up for that first year.

'It was mental. It was really crazy.'

When asked if he was referring to women or countries when he spoke about not knowing where he was waking up, he said: 'I am saying nothing.'

Chesney said there is more to him than meets the eye and his lifestyle got so taxing that he suffered from 'utter exhaustion' and once fainted while being interviewed.

He said: 'I see young artists make it like the way that I did nowadays.

'I've actually worked with a lot of artists that are just going through that first craziness and I always say, "Take it easy because you may burn out".

'I was doing an interview in Japan and I was so tired. I hadn't slept and whatever. I was burning candles at both ends and gigging and travelling.

Chesney has a new album coming out called Living Arrows and will be going on tour. He's set to perform at the Kentish Town O2 Forum on May 31 and you will also catch him performing at the Butlin's Weekenders this summer, (pictured performing at Butlin's)

Chesney enjoyed the trappings of early success with his brother Jodie, (left), who is the drummer in his band and they travelled the world together

'And I remember standing up in the middle of this interview and I just fainted. Yeah, it was just exhaustion, like complete and utter exhaustion.

'You see it with these young artists now. I remember Adele had to cancel a whole bunch of shows. Harry Styles had a similar thing. Ed Sheeran, I see it happening.

'So I always give them that little, you know [nudge], just be careful, don't let them, [the machine], burn you out.'

Chesney has previously said his income started drying up a couple of years after his initial success and his record label subsequently dropped him.

He had bought his first home in west London and by the time he was aged 23, he was struggling to pay the mortgage and soon found himself 20k in debt.

But he started writing songs for other people and got himself a publishing deal and his net worth is now thoguht to be about 8million again.

Now a father-of-three. Chesney has been happily married to his American wife, model Krissy since 1995 and he credits her with being a sensible influence.

He said; 'We're not your usual popstar/model union. We've been together for, well, 28 years this year.

Now a father-of-three. Chesney has been happily married to his American wife, model Krissy since 1995 and he credits her with being a sensible influence

He said: 'I love her more now than I ever have.She's pretty special and I would not be the man I am without her. And honestly, it's difficult [for people] to keep a relationship like that, especially in this business where I'm always on tour, always away, but I absolutely adore her' (pictured on their wedding day)

The couple and their children, Casey, Indi and Jesse, split their time between LA and the UK but are set to live back in the UK full-time

Chesney had a second wave of success when he writing songs for other people and got himself a publishing deal - his net worth is now said to be about 8million again

'She's the best. I mean, I love her more now than I ever have. It's incredible. Our relationship is just everything to me.'

'She's pretty special, but you know, I would not be the man I am without her. And honestly, it's difficult [for people] to keep a relationship like that, especially in this business where I'm always on tour, always away, but I absolutely adore her.'

The couple and their children, Casey, Indi and Jesse, split their time between LA and the UK but are set to live back in the UK full-time.

To watch the full interview with Chesney, click here or visit @mydirtylaundrypodcast on Instagram.
James Cook has got engaged to his girlfriend, Lauren Brown, three years after the collapse of his marriage to actress and model Poppy Delevingne.

The businessman proposed to Lauren, a photographer's agent, while on holiday in Bhutan.

Confirming the happy news, Lauren - who strikes a remarkable resemblance to Poppy with her slender figure, chiselled cheekbones and light blonde hair - shared a photo on Instagram of herself and James celebrating while on a walk in Bhutan.

'Said YES in a three stripe @cook_james Bhutan you have been a real life fairy tale!' Lauren captioned the post, making a reference to her Adidas tracksuit.

James shared a post on Instagram of them walking in the distance, and wrote: 'YES @lauren_ebrown thank you!'

In what appears to be a blessing from the Delevingne clan, James's engagement post was liked by Poppy's younger sister, top model Cara Delevingne.

James Cook has got engaged to his girlfriend, Lauren Brown, three years after the collapse of his marriage to actress and model Poppy Delevingne

The businessman proposed to Lauren, a photographer's agent, while on holiday in Bhutan. Confirming the happy news, Lauren wrote: 'Said YES in a three stripe @cook_james 

Congratulatory messages poured in, including from some of James's famous pals.

Model Jodie Kidd wrote: 'Hugh congratulations to you both' while Sienna' Miller's sister, wedding dress designer Savannah Miller, commented with several stars and love hearts.

James and Poppy, 38, got married in 2014 at St Pauls Church in Kensington, London, with a star-studded guestlist including Alexa Chung, Georgia May Jagger, Princess Beatrice, Sienna Miller and Suki Waterhouse.

They eventually grew apart, and while choosing not to officially announce their split, in 2023, Poppy started dating Prince Constantine Alexios of Greece and Denmark - sparking speculation that she and James had separated permanently.

In September last year, Poppy broke her silence on the divorce, saying she 'will always have a good relationship' with James.

She added: 'Theres a lot of love and respect there. It just no longer worked for us. I met him when I was 20 years old, and 15 years is a long time...

'I think 15 years to be with someone is a success. And sometimes these things just have to come to an end. When it did end, that feeling, it was this sort of, like, bubbling-up of freedom. I felt sort of 20 all over again.

'It should have probably ended earlier than it did, and I think one of the reasons why it didnt is because of that stigma, which is extraordinary.

'Im quite sad, actually, that we should feel that theres such a thing about it. [Its] that: "God, shes divorced, damaged goods, no ones going to want you."

James and Poppy, 38, got married in 2014. They eventually grew apart, and while choosing not to officially announce their split, in 2023, Poppy started dating Prince Constantine Alexios of Greece and Denmark (Poppy and James pictured in 2017)

Poppy is now in a relationship with billionaire businessman Archie Keswick, by whom she is pregnant with her first child, a girl (pictured in February)

Archie's family has a reported private fortune of 6.35bn and he is no stranger to a high-profile relationship, having previously dated actress Sienna Miller (pictured together in 2021)

'Especially women in their late thirties who havent had a baby. Its not easy to make that kind of a decision. You have to have courage. Youve got to love yourself, put yourself first, and youve got to be happy. We have one shot at life.'

Poppy is now in a relationship with billionaire businessman Archie Keswick, by whom she is pregnant with her first child, a girl. 'She really is all Ive ever wanted,' she said earlier this year.

Archie's family has a reported private fortune of 6.35bn and he is no stranger to a high-profile relationship, having previously dated actress Sienna Miller
She recently revealed she had her BBL removed after a string of botched surgeries.

And Chloe Ferry has returned to social media with a gallery of unfiltered snaps as she proudly showed off the results of her recent procedures.

After recently reversing her cosmetic surgeries, Chloe set pulses racing into the dramatic red two-piece as she took to Instagram to share a new gallery of images from her solo trip to Morocco.

She captioned the images: 'In my healing era .'

Chloe recently shared that she had her Brazilian bum lift reversed, after becoming the victim of cruel body-shaming by trolls.

The star is also newly-single after confirming she has split from her on-off boyfriend Johnny Wilbo during a trip away to Ibiza.

Chloe Ferry showed off the results of her BBL removal in a sexy sequinned bikini as she posed for a string of sizzling Instagram snaps on Monday

The Geordie Shore star set pulses racing into the dramatic red two-piece as she took to Instagram to share a new gallery of images from her solo trip to Morocco

The Geordie Shore star has been linked to Johnny since 2021 but they have had a rollercoaster romance over the years.

And despite appearing strong last year, Chloe has finally put speculation over their relationship to rest as the star confirmed she is in the midst of a break up.

Taking to her Instagram Stories, the beauty shared a screenshot of a FaceTime call with her girl pal as they both pulled a crying face with a glass of wine.

She captioned the snap: 'When you and your bestie are going for a break up at the same time.'

It comes just hours after Chloe shared a stunning selfie of her on the plane heading towards the sun-soaked location.

Chloe and Johnny last broke up in February 2024 but they were apart for just a month before they reunited again.

Last year it was reported that Chloe and Johnny had split yet again after a string of arguments over money.

They also previously ended their romance back in October 2022, when she accused him of messaging other women.

Chloe recently shared that she had her Brazilian bum lift reversed, after becoming the victim of cruel body-shaming by trolls

She captioned the images: 'In my healing era ' after recently confirming that she had split from her boyfriend Johnny Wilbo

Revealing that Chloe has already moved Johnny back into her 1 million mansion, a source told The Sun: 'Chloe's pals couldn't believe it when she said she was back with Johnny again.

'The pair are on, off, on, off but everyone thought it really was over the last time.

Chloe went under the knife to reverse botched cosmetic procedures after admitting the 'mistakes' left her battling depression.

Last month, Chloe told her Instagram followers she was in hospital as she prepared to undergo surgery to reverse her botched cosmetic procedures, after being body shamed by trolls.

After entering the TV world, Chloe quickly became a target for trolls who criticised her looks which affected her 'mental health and confidence' causing her to spend over 50,000 on cosmetic procedures.

She admitted she was 'naive and vulnerable' as she was offered surgeries while still a teenager, which she went through with as she believed it would 'solve all my problems'.

In an attempt to turn back the clock, Chloe took to her Instagram Stories and revealed she was in the hospital about to have her surgery.

Sharing a snap of her legs in a hospital gown on the bed, the star captioned the snap: 'Today is a new chapter.'

At the time it was unknown which surgeries she underwent, though she has since revealed she has had a BBL reversal.

On Tuesday, Chloe said she felt suicidal during a 'depressing' time of her life after finding fame at just 19-years-old on the hit MTV reality show.

The TV personality is now working on rebuilding her life as she admitted she felt so low she 'didn't want to be here'.

Speaking on Paul C Brunson's We Need to Talk podcast, Chloe emotionally said: 'I've been seeing a therapist. I always doubt myself and look in the mirror and say I don't look nice today. I'm very mean to myself and I need to give myself a break.'

'I felt like I was going through depression.'

She continued: 'The main thing is I want to love myself again. I've been rock bottom where I've felt I didn't want to be here, that's how bottom I was.'

'I get scared of going back to that mindset, it was dark. I can't go back to feeling like that.'

Chloe admitted that her cosmetic surgery was a 'mistake' as she was constantly trying to achieve 'perfection' because she felt 'insecure and ugly'.

She said: 'Listen, I hold my hands up  I made a mistake. I got surgery because I was insecure and felt ugly. If I could turn back time, I wouldn't have done it.'

'Surgery is a dark hole. You always want more  but what is perfection? It doesn't exist. I was trying so hard to make people like me and stop the nasty comments, but I lost myself along the way.'

'I've wasted my 20s chasing some girl I wasn't born to be. I'm broken and I'm going to fix myself.'

Now, as she approaches 30, Chloe is determined to embrace the real her and find happiness.

She continued: 'I don't want to be known for having a big arse. I want to go back to being the funny Chloe who doesn't worry about what she looks like. That's where my happiness is.'

Chloe previously revealed she has spent over 50,000 on cosmetic procedures, which have included two nose jobs, liposuction and breast augmentation.

Less invasive procedures also include an eyebrow lift, dental veneers, dermal cheek fillers and Botox.
Kristen Stewart cut an edgy figure in a black leather bralette as she debuted her new bleach blonde hair at a special screening of her new movie Sacramento in Los Angeles on Monday.

The 34-year-old Twlight star looked worlds away from her usual self as she swapped her signature brunette locks for wavy blonde tresses.

She flaunted her taut stomach in a plunging black triangle bralette, which she paired with high-waisted black trousers and red, white and black suspenders.

Kristen accessorised with a quirky silver dice necklace and opted for chunky black boots to add inches to her height.

She elevated her natural beauty by wearing a glowing palette of makeup and seemed to be in high spirits as she posed up a storm on the red carpet.

The Oscar-nominee also took the time to pose with her co-stars Maya Erskine and Michael Angarano, who is also her ex, with the new movie set to hit US theaters on April 11.

Kristen Stewart cut an edgy figure in a black leather bralette as she debuted her new bleach blonde hair at a special screening of her new movie Sacramento in Los Angeles on Monday

The 34-year-old Twlight star looked worlds away from her usual self as she swapped her signature brunette locks for wavy blonde tresses

When free-spirited Ricky (Michael) suddenly reappears in father-to-be Glenns (Michael Cera) life, the two former best friends embark on a spontaneous road trip from LA to Sacramento.

Kristen plays the character of Rosie in the comedy flick, who is the pregnant wife of Glenn.

Kristen originally met ex Michael while co-starring in Jessica Sharzer's high school drama Speak, and they dated for six years until 2009 when she moved on with her Twilight leading man Robert Pattinson.

This outing is one of the the first times Kristen has debuted her bold new look on a red carpet, after dyeing it back in January.

It comes after Kristen has been hard at work on the Los Angeles set of her fiancee Dylan Meyer's feature directorial debut The Wrong Girls.

Compared to her off-screen grunge style, Kristen ooked surprisingly polished in a chic black jacket, matching mini-skirt, dark stockings, and lace-up boots selected by costume designer Heidi Bivens.

Hair department head Vanessa Price coiffed Kristen's newly platinum-blonde locks into a fringe-fronted ponytail so she could better embody her stoner character Frankie in the mistaken identity Neon drama.

The 37-year-old nepo-baby of Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nicholas Meyer spent '13 years' honing the script for The Wrong Girls - which also features Alia Shawkat, Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, LaKeith Stanfield, and Tony Hale.

'If I couldn't share with [Dylan] and make with her and collaborate with her I would do it with other people and we wouldn't be as close,' Kristen confessed on The Late Show last year.

The actress was glowing as she took her new look to the red carpet

Kristen accessorised with a quirky silver dice necklace and opted for chunky black boots to add inches to her height

She flaunted her taut stomach in a plunging black triangle bralette, which she paired with high-waisted black trousers and red, white and black suspenders

She elevated her natural beauty by wearing a glowing palette of makeup and seemed to be in high spirits as she posed up a storm on the red carpet

The star showed off her arm tattoos in the skimpy bralette

The Oscar-nominee also took the time to pose with her co-stars Maya Erskine and Michael Angarano, who is also her ex, with the new movie set to hit US theaters on April 11

'I need to have that [in a relationship]. And she is so much better and smarter and cooler and hotter than me.'

'The day that I met her, it was like all bets were off,' the Spencer actress previously said during a different appearance on The Howard Stern Show.

The couple got engaged on November 2, 2021, but have yet to tie the knot.

Though details on the proposal have not been made public, Kirsten previously revealed that the screenwriter popped the question.

'She nailed it,' she told Stern about the proposal. 'It was really cute.'

Back in February, the Underwater star got candid about their relationship and explained how she knew Meyer was the one.

'I found the right person because I can be so obsessive about what I do. And luckily my girlfriend, my partner, we are into the same sh*t,' she shared.

'We have taken the things that we're spending our time on and interlocked them, and we're so much f**king smarter and stronger together. And you're just like, 'F**k', that is the best.'

Later in the interview, she explained that they bonded over growing up in Los Angeles and their similar personalities.

Kristen originally met ex Michael (R, pictured in 2008) while co-starring in Jessica Sharzer's high school drama Speak, and they dated for six years until 2009

The Love Me actress will next portray Michael Cera's (2-R) onscreen pregnant wife Rosie in her ex-boyfriend Michael Angarano's (2-L) critically-acclaimed road trip comedy Sacramento hitting US theaters on April 11

Kristen and Dylan got engaged on November 2, 2021, but have yet to tie the knot

'We both felt like trolls as kids. We're like so similar but different. She's a writer. She's brilliant,' the Love Me actress added.

Stewart publicly came out as bisexual during an interview with The Guardian in 2017.

She has previously been linked to her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, director Rupert Sanders, fashion blogger Sara Dinkin and model Stella Maxwell, among others.

Last year, the inseparable couple co-founded a production company called Nevermind Pictures with Maggie Mclean, and they wrapped Kristen's feature directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, in Latvia last June.

Kristen's big-screen adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch's 2011 memoir will star Imogen Poots, Thora Birch, Jim Belushi, and Tom Sturridge.

Kristen's other upcoming projects include Panos Cosmatos' vampire flick Flesh of the Gods and Amazon MGM's limited series The Challenger about astronaut Sally Ride.

The Love Me actress was said to have originally met Meyer in 2013 on the set of a film (most likely Camp X-Ray), and they announced their engagement on The Howard Stern Show in November 2021 after two years of dating.
His career couldn't be more different to that of his award-winning actress sister Carey Mulligan.

While the Great Gatsby star attended glitzy red carpets and movie sets, her brother Owain has spent his career dodging bombs and bullets in war-torn countries.

After quitting his job as a teacher, Carey's older brother, 42, decided to pursue a career in the military and became a Territorial Army soldier.

Dealing with warring militias, keeping areas secure and the emotional toll of losing comrades, Owain served in three operational tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite it never being his full time job.

And now Owain has shared an insight into his career in his upcoming memoir The Accidental Soldier as he admits that while he was flying to Afghanistan, Carey, who he has described as his 'best friend', was boarding Leonardo DiCaprio's private jet.

He wrote: 'I remember on one of my tours I flew to Afghanistan on a trooping flight with 150 other soldiers, and all they give you is a bottle of water on board, but apart from that they sit you in your helmet and body armour for 10 hours.

Carey Mulligan's soldier brother has had a VERY different career to the famous actress as he reveals he flew to Afghanistan while his sister boarded DiCaprio's private jet

After quitting his job as a teacher, Carey's older brother, 42, decided to pursue a career in the military and became a Territorial Army soldier

'So, I was on that flight at the exact same time that Carey was crossing the Atlantic on Leonardo DiCaprio's private jet, which always struck me as a particularly galling juxtaposition.'

Owain was stationed in Iraq for seven months after he received a TA officer training at Sandhurst and further training in Germany before being deployed with his regiment.

He thought he would be given relatively minor duties, maybe some sort of liaison job, but ended up 3rd Troop leader of B Squadron, a fighting troop stationed in Basra in 2006.

Discussing how his fellow soldiers reacted when they found out who his sister was, he joked: 'They'd say the most outrageous things like, "Sir, how can you be out here living your life when your sister is just so much more successful?"'

Owain, who is now a management consultant, teased over sibling rivalry: 'Over the years there's been a lot of jealously and bitterness, but as I say to Carey, "I'm sorry, you just can't be a management consultant no matter how much you like it, it's not doable for you".'

When Owain attended Carey's wedding to Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Mumford in 2012, he'd only met him about four times because he'd been away with the army so much.

'I went to the wedding the day after I got back from Afghanistan, with a haircut that had been done by an Afghan barber in Camp Bastion, for which I will never forgive him.'

He rarely attends red carpet events with his sister, but did almost appear as an extra in her film Suffragette.

Owain explained:'So, I was on that flight [to Afghanistan] at the exact same time that Carey was crossing the Atlantic on Leonardo DiCaprio's private jet' (Carey pictured in March)

Owain was stationed in Iraq for seven months after he received a TA officer training at Sandhurst and further training in Germany before being deployed with his regiment.

Owain has shared an insight into his career in his upcoming memoir The Accidental Soldier

He explained: 'I ended up on the cutting room floor because they thought it was weird that some random policeman sitting in a cinema looked a bit too much like the lead actress.'

Joking aside, the pair are extremely close and have worked together to raise funds for War Child, which supports children in war-torn countries.

Speaking about his time in the army he added: 'My learning curve was vertical. I'm constantly surprised that they let me go on operations as a troop leader with as little training and competence as I had at the time.

'The army was scraping the bottom of the barrel and I was almost certainly at the bottom of that barrel.'

Back in 2014 Carey spoke of her pride after her Army captain brother helped save a girls school that had been targeted by the Taliban.

She revealed that Owain had set about trying to raise money to create a new well and after working with War Child, the school later reopened.

The star said her brothers efforts had inspired her to become an ambassador for the charity, which helps youngsters in war-stricken countries.

Owain attended Carey's wedding to Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Mumford in 2012 (pictured 2014), he'd only met him about four times because he'd been away with the army

She told Harpers Bazaar: When my brother was a soldier in Afghanistan, he was at a base around the corner from a girls school that had to be shut down because of the Taliban. They had poisoned the water source.

'The only way it could reopen was if a new well was built. So my brother took up the initiative, amazingly, and started raising money for this school.

She continued: War Child was a charity that responded immediately. Since then, my brother has been a big fan, and when he left the Army we met with them and started talking about working together.

'War Child is just extraordinary. They counsel kids through conflict and help them for years after a trauma.
Amanda Holden and lookalike daughter Lexi enjoyed a girls' trip to the salon on Monday, after returning from their lavish family getaway to Dubai.

The BGT judge, 54, and her eldest, 19, headed to the swanky Paul Edmonds salon in London for a colour treatment ready for summer.

Taking to Instagram Amanda shared stunning snaps of the pair as she showed off their newly lightened locks, which had also been styled in loose bouncy curls.

The actress, who also shares daughter Hollie, 13, with husband Chris Hughes, 51, looked chic in a crisp white shirt which she accessorised with gold jewellery.

Meanwhile Lexi, who has just signed to top modelling agency Storm, was stylish in a paisley print look as she posed up a storm.

Amanda captioned the snaps: 'Putting the sunshine back into mine and @lexi.hughes__ hair. Thank you @pauledmonds217'.

Amanda Holden, 54, and lookalike daughter Lexi enjoyed a girls' trip to the salon on Monday, after returning from their lavish family getaway to Dubai

The BGT judge and her eldest, 19, headed to the swanky Paul Edmonds salon in London for a colour treatment ready for summer

Last week Amanda Holden gushed over both 'grown up' daughters as the trio posed together for a rare snap amid their lavish Dubai getaway.

The TV personality, 54, who took to Instagram as she posed between her glamorous doppelgangers, stunned in a black figure-hugging leather dress and sported flawless make-up and her hair styled perfectly

Meanwhile Lexi looked gorgeous in a dusky pink dress with Bardot neckline as she flashed a huge smile for the camera.

Finally Holly opted for a stylish black look which she teamed with a statement gold necklace and just like her mum wore her long tresses loose.

Amanda captioned the snap: 'I never want to sound dramatic. You know me if you follow me -but time passes so fast- my babies! all grown up'.

Fans and famous friends rushed to the comments, with her co-host Alan Carr writing: 'Just gorgeous'.

While Emily Atack said: 'So gorgeous xxx' and Dame Kelly Holmes added: 'Whooooh all beauts'.

It comes just weeks after Amanda had fans doing a double take as they proclaimed she and her daughters looked like 'sisters'.

Taking to Instagram Amanda shared stunning snaps of the pair as she showed off their newly lightened locks, which had also been styled in loose bouncy curls (Right pictured 2024)

Lexi, who has just signed to top modelling agency Storm, was stylish in a paisley print look as she posed up a storm (Right, pictured in February)

The actress, who also shares daughter Hollie, 13, with husband Chris Hughes, 51, looked chic in a crisp white shirt which she accessorised with gold jewellery

Amanda captioned the snaps: 'Putting the sunshine back into mine and @lexi.hughes__ hair. Thank you @pauledmonds217'

While enjoying a family holiday in Barbados, the BGT star posed for a striking snap with Lexi and Hollie as they enjoyed dinner.

Amanda glowed in a strappy black dress and accessorised with statement gold jewellery for the outing.

Meanwhile, Lexi wowed in a leopard print maxi dress while Hollie looked incredible in a metallic cowl neck dress.

Amanda simply captioned the sweet snap: 'Me and my girls,' with a black heart emoji.

Taking to the comments, fans were quick to remark on their incredible likeness, writing: 'Stunning '; 'Sisters !! So gorgeous xx'; 'What knockouts!!!!';

'Gorgeous family pic.You look like sisters .Hollie has grown into a stunning young lady '; 'Which one are you?'.

During her latest family holiday Amanda showed off her toned figure as she sunbathed in a patterned blue bikini, consisting of a triangle top and tie-side bottoms.

Last week Amanda Holden gushed over both 'grown up' daughters as the trio posed together for a rare snap amid their lavish Dubai getaway

Amanda pictured with husband Chris Hughes, 51

Sharing a series of photos from the Cloud 22 sky pool, she relaxed on a sun lounger while shielding her eyes with a pair of aviator sunglasses.

Amanda then took a dip in the water, slicking her wet hair back from her face and posing against a blue wall.

'When your bikini matches your background,' she captioned her Instagram update.

Her fans were all saying the same thing about her husband as she posted a rare loved-up 'date night' snap this week.

The radio presenter looked incredibly glamorous as she posed for a selfie with the music producer.

She beamed from ear to ear as she wrote in the caption: 'Date night (except the girls are with us) so Date night with the girls #family.'

However, her followers rushed to the comments to express their shock at how 'young' and fresh-faced her husband looks.

They quipped: 'Chris looks about 28' and 'How does he look 20?? Both stunning'.

Others chimed in with: 'Why does he look 20 lol.' 'Wow your hubby is stunning ! ...he looks like a very very young handsome man.' 'Your hubby looks about 19!'.
Love Island's Tanyel Reven showed off the results of her new nose job as she opened up about the painful procedure on Monday.

The reality star revealed she had undergone rhinoplasty after previously having nose filler which 'ruined her natural nose'.

Speaking on her I'm Right He's Ron podcast with co-host Ron Hall, Tanyel admitted she couldn't stop crying during the recovery due to the swelling and pain.

She also shared a number of selfies showing off her bandaged nose and bruised and swollen eyes.

Tanyel said: 'I'm not embarrassed about having it. I've only just started to like it. I came out f***ed, like I was f***ed, my face was a joke.

'One day I cried so much. I cried for like an hour I couldn't open my eyes. My eye lashes turned in and I couldn't open them.'

Love Island's Tanyel Reven showed off the results of her new nose job as she opened up about the painful procedure on Monday

The reality star revealed she had undergone rhinoplasty after previously having nose filler which 'ruined her natural nose'

Tanyel went on to slam other influencers who have claimed the surgery 'isn't painful' due to them having it for free.

She continued: 'People who say it doesn't hurt and it's not painful, those are the influencers taking the freebies because this s*** was motherf***ing painful.

'It was so bad, the pain. I'll be honest when I first woke up I was like this is bad but by day three the swelling was making me die.

'It was so bad, I did it to myself day 2 I felt better and went shopping and I got to tired and then my face and eyes were growing bigger and bigger. I couldn't see then, I was so swollen.

'By day 5 I felt a lot better, I wouldn't say it's the most painful thing ever but because it's on your face my ears hurt, jaw hurt, teeth hurt and then like a week later it was all gone.'

The ITV2 star, who appeared on the winter series of Love Island in January 2023, added that she was 'so scared' when she removed her bandages.

She said: 'I didn't like my nose when I first took the cast off. I was so scared I was like, calm down that isn't what I wanted and he [the surgeon] said to me, trust me in a months time you'll love it.

'Day by day now it is getting better, the tip is still lifted and its swollen. I never wanted a fake nose I just wanted my old filler removed which had spread and just define it a bit.'

Speaking on her I'm Right He's Ron podcast with co-host Ron Hall, Tanyel admitted she couldn't stop crying during the recovery due to the swelling and pain

She also shared a number of selfies showing off her bandaged nose and bruised and swollen eyes

Tanyel said: 'I'm not embarrassed about having it. I've only just started to like it. I came out f***ed, like I was f***ed, my face was a joke. One day I cried so much. I couldn't open my eyes'

'It was so bad, the pain. I'll be honest when I first woke up I was like this is bad but by day three the swelling was making me die', she added

Tanyel went on to explain why she decided to get the procedure despite previously being happy with her natural nose.

Ron said: 'So many people get stuff done and then later wish they had never had it done'.

Tanyel added: 'But that's exactly why I'm talking about it and being honest because nose filler actually ruined my natural nose which I never really had an problem with before and now I've had to go and do this to remove it.'

In 2023, Tanyel got engaged to her property developer beau Ediz following a romantic yacht proposal.

The reality star said yes to her handsome partner after he got down on one knee during a romantic trip to Turkey.

It came just 10 months after she starred on the 2023 winter series of Love Island in South Africa where she failed to find love.

But shortly after leaving the villa she met Ediz and they have gone from strength to strength since.

She looked beautiful for the proposal boat ride in a sheer white lace dress that showed off her figure as she showed off her dazzling ring and huge bouquet of white roses.

Tanyel told The Sun of getting engaged: 'It was crazy. I feel like this is the quickest that anyone has gotten engaged after Love Island. It's very mad, but it's really exciting.

Revealing why she had the surgery, she said: 'Day by day it is getting better, the tip is still lifted and its swollen. I never wanted a fake nose I just wanted my old filler removed which had spread'

Tanyel went on to add that she is being 'honest' about the surgery 'because nose filler actually ruined my natural nose which I never really had an problem with before'

In 2023, Tanyel got engaged to her property developer beau Ediz following a romantic yacht proposal

It came just 10 months after she starred on the 2023 winter series of Love Island in South Africa where she failed to find love

'Obviously I said yes. I was really excited. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited. My ring is yellow gold. It's exactly how I wanted it. The clarity is so good, it's amazing.'

She continued: 'I am over the moon. I feel like it's natural. I felt it was coming, I knew it was time for it to come. When you know you know. There's no way I could've been with anyone else.'

Tanyel and Ediz first got together when she was 20 but they drifted apart but then reconnected once she left Love Island.

She first teased she was in a new relationship in March during the reunion show where she told how she was dating someone.

Since leaving the villa, Tanyel has returned to normal life and work at her hair salon in North London.

While on Love Island Tanyel was paired with Kai Fagan briefly before he ended up winning with show with his partner Sanam Harrinanan.
Scarlett Johansson put on a brave face as she stepped out in NYC on Monday evening, days after her alleged stalker was arrested for allegedly threatening to bomb Saturday Night Live's studios.

The 40-year-old donned an oversize gray suit featuring a an open blazer paired with the matching vest and high-waisted trousers.

She paired the chic set with a pair of maroon, patent leather boots with a chunky platform and a taupe, leather shoulder bag.

For her night out, the Marvel star slicked back her blonde hair into a polished, tight bun.

She also sported a shiny sparkling diamond band on her ring finger and completed her look with a pair of statement stud earrings with massive gemstones as well as layers of dainty necklaces.

It marked the first time Scarlett had been seen since her stalker's arrest. He allegedly threatened to bomb SNL studios, which is also her husband Colin Jost's workplace.

Scarlett Johansson put on a brave face as she stepped out in NYC on Monday evening, days after her alleged stalker was arrested for allegedly threatening to bomb Saturday Night Live's studios

She was pictured sticking closely to her bodyguard.

Johansson has been married to Jost since October 2020. Jost works on the long-running sketch comedy show as the co-host of Weekend Update at the studios where SNL is taped.

Last week, Michael Joseph Branham, 48 who has a large heart tattoo on his chest with Johansson's name written across it  was arrested after he allegedly texted his university where he's enrolled: 'THE NEXT TIME YOU HERE [sic] FROM ME I WILL BE ON CNN FOR EXPLODING A BOMB IN SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE AUDIENCE,' the criminal complaint, viewed by the New York Post, said.

NBC Universal and 30 Rock - where the show is filmed - reported the message to the NYPD, police sources told The Post.

He was arrested last Wednesday for allegedly making the threat, which prosecutors claimed was 'based off a personal obsession' with Scarlett.

The following day, he was arraigned on felony charges which consisted of false reporting of an incident and making a threat of mass harm.

His attorney argued that his $100,000 bail or $300,000 bond bail should be lower, alleging that he had been scammed by people posing as Johansson and were 'setting him up.'

Johansson had previously tried to get a restraining order against Braham after he showed up to her home in November 2023 and claimed to have fathered one of her children.

He had also allegedly left a number of letters and children's toys outside Johansson's mansion. The notes he is said to have left also saw the alleged stalker express his wish to meet Cosmo and spend time with him as his father.

The actress was denied the restraining order after she was unable to serve Brahman the papers.

Branham, who has four warrants in Kentucky, has posted about the Lucy actress on his social media pages several times.

Meanwhile, Johansson is preparing for the upcoming release of her new film  The Phoenician Scheme, an espionage black comedy movie written and directed by Wes Anderson from a story he wrote with Roman Coppola.

She was pictured sticking closely to her bodyguard

She appeared relaxed as she was pictured for the first time since her stalker was arrested after allegedly threatening to bomb the Saturday Night Live studios where her husband Colin Jost works; pictured February

Jost works on the long-running sketch comedy show as the co-host of Weekend Update at the studios where SNL is taped.

Johansson has been married to Jost since October 2020

Meanwhile, Johansson is preparing for the upcoming release of her new film  The Phoenician Scheme, an espionage black comedy movie written and directed by Wes Anderson from a story he wrote with Roman Coppola

She also recently attended CinemaCon in Las Vegas to promote her new action film Jurassic World Rebirth after unveiling the first trailer

In the forthcoming movie, which is set for release in May, she is a part of an all-star cast including Mia Threapleton, Bill Murray, Benicio del Toro, Tom Hanks, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Cera, Willem Dafoe and many more.

She also recently attended CinemaCon in Las Vegas to promote her new action film Jurassic World Rebirth after unveiling the first trailer.

At the convention, she took the stage with her co-star Mahershala Ali and director Gareth Edwards to unveil the latest installment in the film franchise.

And gushing about the new movie, she said that working on it fulfilled a 'lifelong dream' of hers she has had 'for the last 15 years.'

The sci-fi flick is scheduled to hit theaters in July.
This nepo baby towered over his A-list actor father during a family outing in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The teenager, now 15, was spotted taking a stroll with the star, who is best known for portraying a superhero, as they went to grab sushi together at Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills.

The father-son duo were also joined by the actor's daughter in a very rare family outing.

The A-list star, who is reportedly 5 feet 8 inches, looked every bit the proud and doting father as he strolled alongside his tall son and daughter.

He had a smile on his face as he walked and talked with his nepo baby kids.

Can you guess who he is?

This nepo baby towered over his A-list actor father during a family outing in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Can you guess who he is?

He's Tobey Maguire! And he's joined by his son Otis Tobias and 18-year-old daughter Ruby Sweetheart.

The Spider-Man star, 49, shares his two teenage kids with his ex-wife Jennifer Meyer.

He and the jewelry designer got married in 2007, split up in 2016 and finalized their divorce in 2020.

Despite their separation, the exes maintain a friendly relationship for successful co-parenting, which Maguire's ex previously said was the 'most beautiful experience' of her life.

The former couple share joint legal and physical custody of their children.

Meyer previously opened up about how she and Maguire worked to put aside their differences in order to remain a family in a 2022 episode of her and Erin Foster's The World's First Podcast.

She also likened their current relationship to a different kind of familial one as she referred to him as her 'brother.'

Meyer later embarked on a romance with billionaire heir Geoffrey Ogunlesi in 2023, and the couple announced their engagement last year.

Meanwhile, Maguire has been embracing single life and has been romantically linked to a string of younger women.

Most recently, he was rumored to be getting close to 22-year-old model Mona Tougaard after he was spotted at Michael Rubin's annual Fourth of July White Party with 20-year-old Lily Chee.

During this week's outing, Maguire's ex did not appear to be present as they went out for a family bonding dinner.

He's Tobey Maguire! And he's joined by his son Otis Tobias and 18-year-old daughter Ruby Sweetheart

The A-list star, who is reportedly 5 feet 8 inches, looked every bit the proud and doting father as he strolled alongside his tall son and daughter. He had a smile on his face as he walked and talked with his nepo baby kids

The Spider-Man star, 49, shares his two teenage kids with his ex-wife Jennifer Meyer

He and the jewelry designer got married in 2007, split up in 2016 and finalized their divorce in 2020; pictured October 2024

The former couple share joint legal and physical custody of their children; pictured February 2016

The Great Gatsby star showcased his casual style in an all-black outfit with a trucker cap on his head and a pair of sunglasses hooked into the collar of his shirt.

He paired a short-sleeved T-shirt with sweatpants and low-top sneakers as he joined his children.

His youngest child, towering over him, dressed for comfort as he sported an oversize, brown graphic hoodie with matching sweatpants and trainers.

Meanwhile, Maguire's daughter Ruby looked effortlessly chic in a black tank top, cream cardigan and light-wash jeans.

The trio all had smiles on their faces as they walked and talked on their way to the sushi joint as they kicked off the week with a family meal.
It's the final countdown, as uber rich wallflowers Lauren Sanchez and Katy Perry gear up for their all-female space flight next week there's been plenty of hot air ahead of lift-off.

Elle Magazine published an interview last week featuring all six of the women who have secured a seat on Blue Origin's New Shepard 31.

Headlined, 'For all womankind,' the article elevated this self-indulgent PR stunt, funded by Sanchez's billionaire fiance Jeff Bezos, to a feminist mission for the greater good.

Reframing the privilege as pioneering, Elle described the group as a 'crew,' even though the rocket on which they will undertake their 'mission' will fly itself.

Indeed, much has been made of the fact that this is the first women-only 'mission' since Russian astronaut Valentina Tereshkova's solo space flight in 1963.

But let's get some perspective.

Elle Magazine published an interview last week featuring all six of the women who have secured a seat on Blue Origin 's New Shepard 31.

Headlined, 'For all womankind,' the Elle article elevated this self-indulgent PR stunt, funded by Sanchez's billionaire fiance Jeff Bezos , to a feminist mission for the greater good.

Tereshkova orbited the Earth 48 times across a three-day space flight and remains the only woman to have ever undertaken such a mission solo.

Seventy-five women have travelled to space since then and all of them were actual astronauts with a purpose, like Kathryn D. Sullivan.

In October 1984, she became the first American woman to perform a spacewalk  three and a half hours long  proving that satellites could be refuelled while in orbit.

So, what advances of knowledge can we expect from Lauren and Katy's suborbital jaunt?

How best to style out a space suit? Whether false lashes stay attached as you float in the capsule? Or more to the point, how does the lack of gravity effect filler?

With CBS cohost Gayle King, 70, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyne, 33, filmmaker Kieranne Flynn, 57, and NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, 38, buckling up alongside 55-year-old Sanchez and Perry, 40, this is, Elle magazine gushed, 'the most diverse set of women to ever go into space' - as if this clutter of celebs represents something other than self-interest.

And speaking of representationit really matters according to Bowe, whose presence on board will presumably lend a degree of tokenistic gravitas.

'It's people seeing themselves,' she wittered, 'and being able to show up authentically in their careers in the future.'

Straight from the Meghan Markle book of waffle.

Yes, you too can be in our shoes on a privatized space flight courtesy of Amazon founder Bezos's aerospace company, Blue Origin - if you bag a billionaire or happen to be handpicked by a celebrity crony.

Make no mistake this space odyssey isn't about you or me. It's barely even about the bulk of the 'crew'  no, this is about Perry and particularly Sanchez.

In the same magazine interview, she of the perma-flaunted inflated assets, which already defy gravity on a daily basis, used this historic moment to discuss such weighty matters as lash extensions  they will be glued on  and 'glam.'

Astronauts spend years undertaking gruelling training before they are declared flight-ready. The most difficult thing Sanchez and co will have to negotiate is getting their helmets over their bouffant blow outs ahead of the 11-minute voyage launching from West Texas.

You heard right: 11 mins. Well, Sanchez has still got her wedding of the century this summer in Italy to plan, and those floral centrepieces won't arrange themselves.

Plus, she likes to be ready for her close-up and we now know prolonged space travel can play havoc with your hair and complexion.

Who can forget 59-year-old NASA astronaut Suni Williams's banshee appearance after nearly nine months trapped in the International Space Station.

Returning to Earth in March, she looked like a mad-haired troll doll with sandpaper skin  it's no wonder Sanchez et al don't plan to hang around.

'All of these women are storytellers in their own right,' droned Sanchez of a key criteria for their inclusion in the trip. 'They're going to go up to space and be able to spread what they felt in different ways.'

Yes, can't wait for more musings from Perry who with her usual faux girl power schtick has already declared they're putting the 'ass in astronaut.'

Of course, we know the real story here  the one that begins with self-publicity and NEVER ENDS, which perhaps explains why, with tone-deaf timing, the trip hasn't garnered the universal enthusiasm that the group were no doubt expecting.

Yes, in a world that has been teetering on the brink of World War Three with global trade tensions reaching fever pitch, the exact point of this galactic girl trip and eye watering expense of space tourism is being rightly questioned.

I can't wait for more musings from Perry who with her usual faux girl power schtick has already declared they're putting the 'ass in astronaut.'

Blue Origin's price structure is opaque but clearly out of reach of mere mortals with one ticket broker rumoured to have paid $2,575,000 for two seats on one recent flight.

'I know that this is probably not the cool thing to say, but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now,' said X-Men Apocalypse star Olivia Munn, 44, who slammed the trip as 'gluttonous' on a recent episode of Today with Jenna & Friends

'What are you going to do up in space? What are you doing up there?'

Good question.

Perry who is still in recovery from a widely derided 'comeback' and has a world tour to hawk this year will no doubt be dining out on all this for some time and, if her early proclamations are anything to go by, it doesn't bode well.

'Space is going to finally be glam. Let me tell you something. If I could take glam up with me, I would do that,' she told Elle magazine.

As Olivia Munn posited: 'Why do you guys need to tell us about it? It's like just go up there, have a good time, come on down.

'Also, I know that this is probably obnoxious - but like, it's so much money to go to space. You know, there's a lot of people that can't even afford eggs.'

Quite right.

Perhaps, the inclusion of some space-mad underprivileged children or committed astrophysics college students would have redeemed things but their pockets and social capital weren't deep enough.

Instead, it's for the favored few simply swapping one starry orbit for another, looking for the next thrills after the superyachts and submarines.

Sorry, Lauren and Katy I'm with Munn. I can't share your enthusiasm ladies. Here's to a safe landing, but with seemingly nothing out of your reach, I doubt you'll ever be truly down to Earth.
Dame Esther Rantzen has opened up about her heartbreaking final wish, revealing the 'extremely limited' time she has left in a cancer health update.

The Childline founder, 84, who is battling terminal lung cancer, expressed her deep desire to be reunited with her late husband, Desmond Wilcox, whom she lost to a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 69.

In a new interview, she spoke deeply about her lasting bond with Desmond, musing on the possibility of an afterlife where they could once again be together.

She told The Times: 'If there is a heaven, it would be a very happy place.

'It's a lovely idea to meet Desmond again and all those I have loved and lost  my parents and grandparents, my close friends and family.'

Esther's relationship with Desmond began as an affair in 1968, when he was her head of department at the BBC.

Dame Esther Rantzen has opened up about her heartbreaking final wish, revealing the 'extremely limited' time she has left in a cancer health update (pictured in 2020)

The Childline founder, 84, who is battling terminal lung cancer, expressed her deep desire to be reunited with her late husband, Desmond Wilcox, whom she lost to a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 69 (pictured together in 1999)

They married in 1977 and spent 30 years together until his death, and had three children together.

Back in 2013, the presenter spoke of her own sadness at being a widow, saying she would give up a decade of her life to spend just ten more minutes by her late husbands side.

She said: 'Desmonds last words to me were, ''I adore you''. I was sitting on his deathbed.

'I will take those words with me to the grave. I said to my son last night, ''If God gave me the choice between ten more years of life and ten more minutes with Desi, I would pick those ten minutes.'''

Esther's heart wrenching final wish comes after her daughter Rebecca Wilcox said the cancer drug her mother was put on last year is no longer working.

The star was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2023, and at one point was told she had just weeks to live.

Last year the star raved about an 'amazing' new drug which had delayed the spread of her cancer, telling The Sunday Times that it had allowed her to plan ahead.

In March, Rebecca gave an update on her mother during an interview on 5 News, revealing that the medication was no longer working.

Esther's relationship with Desmond began as an affair in 1968, when he was her head of department at the BBC

Esther's heart wrenching final wish comes after her daughter Rebecca Wilcox said the cancer drug her mother was put on last year is no longer working (pictured together in 2015)

Host Julian Druker asked if the medication she was on 'was an improvement' only for an emotional Rebecca to admit: 'I really wish that was true but I don't think that's the case anymore.'

Both Dame Esther and her daughter are advocates for making assisted dying legal in the UK.

Speaking in response to the news that there are delays to implementing an assisted dying bill, Rebecca explained: 'I just wish that people understood that all the assisted dying bill is, is choice for people that want it.'

'All it is, is giving you peace of mind and that peace of mind, I cannot tell you how powerful that would be right now for my mum.'

'I'm a witness to the trauma of uncertainty, to the trauma of stress around what is going to happen.'

'The fact that she doesn't know how her death is going to happen, how the pain is going to progress, the exhaustion, the fatigue, what symptoms are going to come in.'

'She is a person who has fought her whole life for other people, and she has no control now.'

'Why can't we give people like my mum with a terminal diagnosis, with no other choice, some choice as to when and how and where they die?'
Blake Lively's ongoing court battle with Justin Baldoni has taken another shock twist as her It Ends With Us co-star turned against her.

Lively, 37, whose drama with Baldoni, 41, erupted last year after she accused him of sexual harassment in a bombshell lawsuit, brought co-star Adam Mondschein into the legal battle when she alleged that Baldoni cast his 'best friend' as her OBGYN in a 'violative birthing scene.'

In her original complaint and again in the amended report in February Lively claimed she 'felt that the selection of Mr. Baldonis friend for this intimate role, in which the actors face and hands were in close proximity to her nearly nude genitalia for a birth scene, was invasive and humiliating.'

Mondschein - who played Doctor Dunbar in the scene - hit back at Lively's claims in a statement obtained by DailyMail.com saying: 'Im not going to speculate as to Ms. Livelys motivations for mentioning me in the complaint.

'Needless to say, my experience working with her is very different than the one she described in her lawsuit. Indeed, I was surprised to read her description of the scene.

'Her costume included a full hospital gown, black shorts and torso-covering prosthetic to make her appear pregnant in addition to whatever personal garments she chose.'

Blake Lively's ongoing court battle with Justin Baldoni has taken another shock twist as her It Ends With Us co-star turned against her

Lively, 37, brought co-star Adam Mondschein (pictured 2016) into the legal battle when she alleged that Baldoni cast his 'best friend' as her OBGYN in a 'violative birthing scene'

Mondschein claimed Lively 'never complained or expressed discomfort at any point because nothing unusual or improper occurred. It was entirely professional.'

Lively's claim in the lawsuit that Mondschein's role was typically one which was filled by a 'local actor' was slammed by the actor as 'offensive' as he cited his own qualifications including a masters in fine arts from UCLA.

He added: 'Lastly, I was, in fact, a local hire (my wife and I are from New York and spend significant time there). As such, I, like any actor accepting that contract, was required to cover my own travel and living expenses in connection with the job.'

Mondschein said he is willing to take to the stand to testify in Lively and Baldoni's trial, should he be asked.

He concluded: 'If Im called to testify in the case I will answer truthfully, and more freely, whatever is asked of me with all the legal protection that affords.'

Representatives for Blake Lively declined to comment when approached by DailyMail.com.

Lively has previously claimed of the birth scene in her lawsuit: 'On the day of shooting the scene in which Ms. Livelys character gives birth, Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath [Jamey Heath - CEO of Wayfarer Studios] suddenly pressured Ms. Lively to simulate full nudity, despite no mention of nudity for this scene in the script, her contract, or in previous creative discussions.

'Mr. Heath and Mr. Baldoni also failed to close the set, allowing non-essential crew to pass through while Ms. Lively was partially nude from below the chest down with her legs spread wide in stirrups and only a small piece of fabric covering her genitalia.'

'Contrary to the Wayfarer Parties contention, the production did not maintain a closed set Ms. Lively was not provided with anything with which to cover herself between takes until after she had made multiple requests.'

Lively has been has been embroiled in legal drama with Baldoni since December 2024 after she accused him of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her.

Lively claimed she 'felt that the selection of Mr. Baldonis friend for this intimate role, in which the actors face and hands were in close proximity to her nearly nude genitalia for a birth scene, was invasive and humiliating.'

Mondschein - who played OBGYN Doctor Dunbar in the scene (pictured) - hit back at Lively's claims in a statement obtained by DailyMail.com saying: 'Needless to say, my experience working with her is very different than the one she described in her lawsuit'

Lively has been has been embroiled in legal drama with Baldoni since December 2024 after she accused him of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her

Mondschein claimed Lively 'never complained or expressed discomfort at any point because nothing unusual or improper occurred. It was entirely professional'; seen in March in Austin

Lively's claim in the lawsuit that Mondschein's role was typically one which was filled by a 'local actor' was slammed by the actor as 'offensive' - pictured with his wife

Earlier this month, Justin accused Blake of staging a PR stunt against him which he claimed was 'designed to ruin the reputations and careers of the Wayfarer parties' after she filed to dismiss his lawsuit on March 20; seen in 2024

He responded with a $400 million lawsuit against the actress as well as filing a $250 million libel lawsuit against the New York Times which reported on Lively's allegations.

Earlier this month Justin accused Blake of staging a PR stunt against him which he claimed was 'designed to ruin the reputations and careers of the Wayfarer parties' after she filed to dismiss his lawsuit on March 20.

Baldoni stated he was 'exercising' his First Amendment right 'to petition the court to clear their names from her false and harmful claims.'

Blake's attorneys Mike Gottlieb and Esra Hudson told TMZ on Friday: 'That's right: Justin Baldoni, the man who has built his brand on supposedly speaking up for victims, believes that the First Amendment rights of victims of sexual assault and harassment to speak out should give way to the rights of perpetrators to sue their victims "into oblivion."'

Her legal team further stated that Baldoni and his lawyer Bryan Freedman are trying to 'shed' a law that protects victims and also prevents others from speaking out in the future.

In response, Freedman told DailyMail.com on Friday: 'This convoluted statement makes it abundantly clear that Ms. Lively and team are rattled and once again resorting to making inflammatory remarks to steer focus away from the actual facts.

'Clearly they want to divert the public's attention from the receipts, the actual documents, video footage and additional evidence shown that make it irrefutable that there was no sexual harassment.'

Freedman added it is 'surprising that Ms. Lively and her team are suddenly speaking so passionately about the hard won rights of the survivor community, considering she sidestepped this topic for the entirety of the film campaign...

'Focusing instead on her hair care and alcohol products which at that time caused the organic backlash that she received. She does not need discovery to find out who smeared her. Just a mirror will do.'

Justin's attorney also recently told TMZ, 'Ms. Lively and her circle of Hollywood elites cannot prevent my clients from exercising their constitutional right to petition the court to clear their names from her false and harmful claims.'

Last year, Justin and Blake both starred in the adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel It Ends With Us - which the actor also directed.

She went on to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baldoni, who she also accused of orchestrating a 'retaliation campaign,' and he responded by suing Lively, Reynolds and Lively's publicist Leslie Sloane for defamation.

The two stars have since been embroiled on ongoing legal drama as they prepare to go to court next year on March 9, 2026.

Last month, Lively, Reynolds and Sloane filed to dismiss Baldoni's 'vengeful and rambling' $400 million lawsuit; Blake and Ryan seen in February in NYC

Justin recently issued a scathing response to Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds after the couple filed to dismiss his $400 million defamation lawsuit against them.

Last month, Lively, Reynolds and Sloane filed to dismiss Baldoni's 'vengeful and rambling' $400 million lawsuit.

In a fiery statement, Reynolds slammed Baldoni as 'thin-skinned' while describing himself as a 'supportive spouse' to Lively.

And on Tuesday, April 1, the legal team representing Baldoni and the Wayfarer Studios parties called Reynolds Lively's 'co-conspirator' as they asked Judge Lewis J. Liman to deny both the Deadpool star and his wife's dismissal request.

According to People, Baldoni's lawyers claim in the legal docs that Reynolds 'pretends that the Wayfarer Parties' First Amended Complaint (the 'FAC') fails to set forth any basis for his liability and that he merely acted as a supportive spouse. Not so.

'The FAC specifically alleges ample facts to support the Wayfarer Parties' claims against him, based on both his direct actions and his liability as a co-conspirator.'

They've also suggested that Reynolds should not be able to recover attorneys fees from Baldoni in the 'extremely unlikely event' that he is dismissed from the lawsuit.

This comes after Lively's attorneys stated in her March 20 dismissal filing that Wayfarer's legal efforts against her could end up costing Baldoni's team $100 million.

In an April 3 statement to DailyMail.com, a spokesperson for Reynolds responded to Baldoni's latest legal move.

The spokesperson claimed that Baldoni and the Wayfarer Studios parties 'finally realize the plain defects in their complaint,' while calling the lawsuit 'frivolous.'

They also told DailyMail.com that Reynolds will continue to standby his wife while reiterating Lively's harassment and retaliation allegations.

'They once again claim defamation without alleging who was defamed, what specifically was said, or how anyone suffered actual harm.

'Unlike Mr. Baldoni, who built his brand pretending to be a man who is 'confident enough to listen' to the women in his life, Ryan Reynolds actually is that man and he will continue to support his wife as she stands up to the individuals who not only harassed her but then have retaliated against her.

'Under New York law, California law, and indeed in every jurisdiction of the United States this lawsuit not only fails but may result in the Wayfarer Parties covering Ryan's costs and attorneys' fees for bringing such a frivolous case in the first place,' the statement concluded.

Baldoni's response to Lively's dismissal filing was obtained by TMZ.

According to court docs obtained by the outlet on Thursday, Baldoni provided the judge with reasons as to why the Gossip Girl's attempt to toss out his lawsuit should be denied.

The spokesperson claimed that Baldoni and the Wayfarer Studios parties 'finally realize the plain defects in their complaint,' while calling the lawsuit 'frivolous'; seen in 2024 in NYC

According to court docs obtained by the outlet on Thursday, Baldoni provided the judge with reasons as to why the Gossip Girl's attempt to toss out his lawsuit should be denied

Baldoni accused Lively of being the mastermind behind an elaborate smear campaign, which he claimed was 'designed to ruin the reputations and careers of the Wayfarer parties.'

Baldoni claimed claims 'there is sufficient evidence that [Lively] took a responsible part in publishing each of the allegedly defamatory statements by approving or authorizing them prior to publication.'

He also alleged that Lively 'told the NYT a false and damning story about an insidious PR sabotage operation deployed as revenge for sexual harassment complaints, with the knowledge and intent that the newspaper would publish that false story.'

He continued to insist that Lively acted out of malice and accused her of actively trying to destroy his Hollywood career.

Freedman also informed TMZ, 'What Ms. Lively is attempting to do is to set a dangerous precedent by barring the courthouse doors to my clients and punishing them for having their day in court, a right protected by the First Amendment.

'This right protects not only Mr. Baldoni and the Wayfarer parties in this particular case, but all Americans in the future who have false accusations levied against them and seek relief from our justice system.'

He added, 'This must stop here, and we will continue to fight against this blatant attempt to block access to the court system and to weaken our nations Constitution to serve those who are in the position of power.'

Lively, Reynolds and publicist Sloane filed to dismiss Baldoni's defamation lawsuit on March 20.

In court documents obtained by DailyMail.com, Lively's attorneys slammed Baldoni's 'vengeful and rambling' lawsuit as a 'profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court' as they asked for all claims against her to be dropped.

He continued to insist that Lively acted out of malice and accused her of actively trying to destroy his Hollywood career; seen in 2024 in L.A.

In court documents obtained by DailyMail.com, Lively's attorneys slammed Baldoni's 'vengeful and rambling' lawsuit as a 'profound abuse of the legal process that has no place in federal court' as they asked for all claims against her to be dropped; seen in 2024 in NYC

In a shocking twist, the documents also state that Wayfarer's legal efforts against Lively may end up costing Baldoni's team $100 million due to a mandatory fee shifting provision in California Civil Code Section 47.1, which provides protections to individuals with claims of sexual harassment and similar allegations.

In the introduction and summary of their argument, Lively's legal team argues the lawsuit against her has 'no place in federal court' due to legal protections for individuals who have spoken out about sexual harassment or filed legal claims.

Under the California law, communication by an individual making a claim - without malice - about sexual harassment and similar matters is considered privileged communication.

Section 47.1 dictates that these individuals who prevail in a defamation lawsuit against them over the allegations will be awarded their attorney's fees, punitive damages, and treble damages (an award three times what the jury decides to give the plaintiff). The law applies to those who had a 'reasonable basis to file a complaint' of harassment and similar allegations, whether or not the complaint was filed.

The documents note that the 'Wayfarer Parties' - Baldoni's studio - will be financially responsible for all of this should the defamation lawsuit be dismissed.

With this fee shifting provision in mind, the documents note that Steve Sarowitz, the co-founder of Wayfarer Studios, may end up forking over the $100 million he allegedly pledged to spend on litigation in a manner he did not intend.

'Steve Sarowitz may indeed make good on his threat to spend $100 million litigating against Ms. Lively, but perhaps not in the way he planned.'

They said Wayfarer's First Amendment Complaint - shortened to 'FAC' in the legal documents - relied on 'implausible conjecture and conspiracy theories' to make their case about Lively.

Lively's legal team called the FAC a 'blunt public relations instrument' intended to 'bury' and destroy' Lively for speaking up about her claims.

The documents note that the 'Wayfarer Parties' - Baldoni's studio - will be financially responsible for all of this should the defamation lawsuit be dismissed

In the documents, Lively's legal team argue she did not act with 'actual malice' when making her claims about Baldoni, 'a public figure subject to the actual malice standard'.

They state Wayfarer's FAC 'confirms' Lively reported her claims and sincerely believed them to be true.

The documents also said Wayfarer failed to demonstrate that Lively doubted the truthfulness of her allegations.

Additionally, it cites an alleged text conversation between Justin and his crisis publicist Melissa Nathan in which they agreed Lively truly believed she was right.

The filing also says the FAC fails to demonstrate Lively and her team were all conspiring against Wayfarer.

It also adds that alleged coordination between Lively and The New York Times - whose article about Lively's original complaint sparked a lawsuit from Baldoni - was 'not wrongful as a matter of law.'

They also allege that their documents failed to 'allege that Ms. Lively wrongfully interfered with any contract or economic relationship.'

This references Wayfarer and Baldoni being dropped by talent agency WME following the filing of Lively's claims.

They state the documents lack evidence showing Lively did anything to destroy the relationship, and that the only 'specific allegations' were surrounding her husband, who allegedly referred to Baldoni a 'sexual predator' in conversation with a WME executive.

The filing also says the FAC fails to demonstrate Lively and her team were all conspiring against Wayfarer; seen in 2024 in NYC

They also claim Wayfarer did not state any damages related to their extortion claims.

The lawsuit concluded by asking the court to 'dismiss all claims against Ms. Lively with prejudice, deny leave to amend, and award Ms. Lively all relief sought.'

Baldoni and his company Wayfarer Studios filed the $400M lawsuit in January. His studio's chief executive Jamey Heath, It Ends With Us Movie LLC, and publicists Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel were also listed as plaintiffs, according to NPR.

The legal fallout between Lively and Baldoni came after months of intense fan speculation of tension between the two during the promotion of the film, with the duo not posing together at the premiere and doing press separately.
As a team captain on Have I Got News For You, Ian Hislop enjoys bringing pompous politicians down a peg or two.

But the Private Eye editor appears to have met his match in Tim Martin, the founder and chairman of JD Wetherspoon pub chain.

Hislop, 64, claimed to have witnessed an incident of domestic violence, as well as a gang of teenage drug pushers in a Wetherspoons pub in Wales.

But Martin, 69, insists the violent incident never happened and that Hislop was 'fantasising'. The pub owner has published in his newsletter some correspondence between Lynn Picknett, a loyal customer, and Hislop.

Ms Picknett wrote to Hislop complaining about allegedly disparaging comments that he had made about Wetherspoons on the popular BBC One panel show. She describes the chain, known for its low prices on drinks and popular meals, as a 'warm and welcoming haven'.

Hislop wrote back to Ms Picknett, describing his recent trip to a Welsh Wetherspoons, in which he'd allegedly seen a woman beating up her husband and witnessed a group of 'underage dealers trying to sell drugs for cheaper than the cut-price shots'.

This has not gone down well with Martin, who is known for his campaigning for Brexit.

'I must admit that my personal intuition on reading Mr Hislop's reply to Ms Picknett was that he was 'gilding the lily' somewhat, or, to be blunter, fantasising,' Martin says.

Private Eye editor Ian Hislop appears to have met his match in Tim Martin, the founder and chairman of JD Wetherspoon pub chain

Martin, 69, insists the violent incident never happened and that Hislop was 'fantasising'

The pub owner has published in his newsletter some correspondence between Lynn Picknett, a loyal customer, and Hislop

'Since all of our pubs are covered by CCTV, the alleged behaviour would have been reckless indeed, yet we can find no trace of these incidents in any Welsh pub during the time of Mr Hislop's visit.

'In any event, in order to help our investigations, I wrote to Mr Hislop asking which pub he had visited, but he declined to help us with our enquiries.'

Poppy's ex to marry lookalike

Poppy Delevingne is due to give birth to her first child next month, but the society model's ex-husband has exciting news of his own.

James Cook, 46, has got engaged to Lauren Brown, who looks remarkably like his 38-year-old ex-wife. Cook, who works for his family's aerospace firm, proposed to the photographer's agent in Bhutan.

Cook and Poppy married in 2014 but separated in 2022. Poppy is expecting a baby with boyfriend Archie Keswick, 44, scion of the Jardine Matheson empire.

James Cook, 46, has got engaged to Lauren Brown, who looks remarkably like his 38-year-old ex-wife

Cook and Poppy married in 2014 but separated in 2022. Poppy (pictured) is expecting a baby with boyfriend Archie Keswick, 44, scion of the Jardine Matheson empire

Prince Harry's old friend Alex Rayner went into battle for him last week in the row over charity Sentebale, suggesting that its chairman, Sophie Chandauka, failed to support Meghan over criticism as she 'had her nose put out of joint because she was not the most important woman of colour on stage' at a polo event.

And this week public relations man Rayner, 46, playfully squared up to boxer David Haye, 44, at the charity International Restaurateurs' 8 Hand Dinner, sponsored by Visit Malta and Neft Vodka, at the Rosewood Hotel in London.

This week public relations man Rayner, 46, playfully squared up to boxer David Haye, 44, at the charity International Restaurateurs' 8 Hand Dinner

It's double delight for TV's Ellie

GB News breakfast presenter Ellie Costello's life hit the headlines in 2022 when she revealed her terrifying stalking ordeal at the hands of a guest who appeared on her programme.

Now Eamonn Holmes's co-host has a joyful bulletin to report  she is due to marry Gerard Durkan this weekend.

Ellie, 31, tells me at a charity gala: 'It's our legal wedding on Saturday. It will be a nice intimate family celebration in London. We will then have a second wedding in the South of France.'

She and Gerard, 29, a commercial manager, met as students.

Now Eamonn Holmes's co-host has a joyful bulletin to report  she is due to marry Gerard Durkan this weekend (pictured together)

Simon Le Bon, who sang Hungry Like The Wolf with Duran Duran, says he and wife Yasmin enjoy eating raw sea urchins, whose reproductive organs are the only edible part.

'We eat pretty much everything,' he tells the Travel Secrets podcast. 'Some may feel a little uncomfortable about this.'

Troubled by things which go bump in the night? Then spare a thought for beauty Rose Cholmondeley, who at 25 married the Marquess of Cholmondeley, 23 years her senior.

The couple  close friends of the Prince and Princess of Wales  have been reflecting on the pleasures (and pains) of life in Norfolk, where just 11 miles separate them from Anmer Hall, William and Catherine's retreat.

'It's huge,' muses Rose, 41, referring to Houghton Hall, the Palladian pile built by her husband David's ancestor, Robert Walpole. But that doesn't make it invulnerable to nocturnal intruders  as David, 64, learned in lockdown.

'Beetles came down the chimney and started to munch away at the tapestries,' he says. 'We got it under control quite quickly.'

He was known in his Eton days  when his courtesy title was the Earl of Rocksavage  by the playful nickname 'Rocksausage'.
Queen of Versailles star Jackie Siegel has suffered another heartbreaking family tragedy, just two days after the death of her husband.

Siegel, 59, revealed her sister Jessica Mallery died from an accidental drug overdose of cocaine laced with fentanyl on Monday aged just 43.

Siegel said in a social media statement Jessica's death 'is another stark reminder of the drug epidemic and fentanyl crisis plaguing our country  and the urgent need to address substance abuse in order to save lives.'

She added her 'world was shattered again' by a 'a scourge we as a family know all too well.' Her daughter Victoria died from a drug overdose in 2015 aged only 18.

'Our family appreciates everyones love, support and prayers, and we ask for privacy during this extremely difficult time.

As per the familys request, Jessicas organs are being donated to help others within our community.

Queen of Versailles star Jackie Siegel has suffered another heartbreaking family tragedy, just two days after the death of her husband

Siegel, 59, revealed her sister Jessica Mallery died from an accidental drug overdose of cocaine laced with fentanyl on Monday aged just 43

The star's husband David Allen Siegel died at the age of 89 on Saturday (pictured)

Jessica's death came two days after Siegel's husband David Alan Siegel died on Saturday,

The reality star shared the sad news in a loving post Saturday on Instagram.

'I wanted to personally reach out and let you know that my husband, David Alan Siegel, passed away this morning,' she wrote.

'I was lucky enough to share twenty-five wonderful years with David, and together we raised eight incredible children. His life and legacy live on through them all.'

Jackie married the Westgate Resorts owner in 2000 and shared Daniel, Debbie, Drew, David, Jordan, Jacqueline, Jonquil and Victoria. Sadly, Victoria died of a drug overdose in 2015, and the couple started a non-profit in her name.

'To say we are devastated is an understatement, the grieving widow wrote adding, 'But I find comfort in knowing that Victoria was there to greet himthe first thing he heard was Dad, followed by a big hug.'

'And of course, Steven [David's son from his first marriage] is there too. That thought brings me so much peace.'

'I know you all loved him too, which is why I wanted to share this with you,' she told her many followers and fans. 'Thank you for your love and support during this difficult time. It means the world to us.'

She concluded writing, 'Life is a precious gift from Godand my husband has found his peace with Him. Embrace and cherish every momentand thank God.'

Jackie and her family rose to stardom the 2012 documentary Queen of Versailles, which focused on her efforts to build a lavish mansion inspired by the Palace of Versailles in France.

Camera crews caught up with their efforts a decade later in Queen of Versailles Reigns Again.

A Broadway musical based on their story debuted in 2024.

Kristen Chenowith, who originated the role as Jackie in the stage production extended her condolences writing, 'Sending all my love.'

Fellow reality star Jill Zarin also responded. 'Im so sad for you and the family and sending so much love and prayers. ' Real Housewives of Orange County cast member Shannon Beador wrote, 'I am so sorry!!! Sending prayers to your family!'

Jackie's daughter Victoria died from a drug overdose in 2015 aged only 18 - pictured together

'I was lucky enough to share twenty-five wonderful years with David, and together we raised eight incredible children. His life and legacy live on through them all,' Jackie, 59, wrote next to a carousel of family photos on social media

Jackie married the Westgate Resorts owner in 2000 and shared Daniel, Debbie, Drew, David, Jordan, Jacqueline, Jonquil and Victoria. Sadly, Victoria died of a drug overdose in 2015, and the couple started a non-profit in her name

Jackie and her family rose to stardom the 2012 documentary Queen of Versailles, which focused on her efforts to build a lavish mansion inspired by the Palace of Versailles in France

David Siegel established Westgate resorts in 1982 in the Orlando, Florida area, and the company has since become the largest privately-held timeshare company in the world

David Siegel established Westgate resorts in 1982 in the Orlando, Florida area, and the company has since become the largest privately-held timeshare company in the world and one of the largest resort developers in the United States, boasting more than 13,500 rooms at 22 resorts across the country.

As an army veteran, he donated more than 28,000 complimentary vacations to members of the armed services.

The Victoria's Voice Foundation, the charity named for their late daughter, has advocated for coverage of drug rehab treatment to be extended from the standard 30 days to 90 days to improve outcomes.

The organization also lobbied Congress to implement for the widespread availability of Naloxone, a lifesaving medicine that can save the lives by blocking the effects of opioids.
Comedian Dave Chappelle's prediction about President Trump's tariffs has resurfaced on social media amid the China trade war.

Trump placed a 34% increase on China when he announced his tariff plan on Liberation Day on April 2. That was on top of 20% import taxes rolled out earlier this year on Beijing.

The president pledged another 50% tariffs after Beijing responded to his tariff threat with a 34% increase on U.S. goods coming into China - with China blasting the tariffs as 'blackmail' and vowing to 'fight to the end.'

Americans could now see massive price hikes on iPhones, computers and toys as a result.

In the wake of the trade war, a 2017 clip of Chappelle began making the rounds on social media again, in which the star joked about Trump bringing manufacturing jobs back to America from China, and iPhones rising to $9000 each as a result.

In the Netflix special clip Chappelle said: 'All this motherf****r's ideas sound like high people ideas, like, he doesn't think these things through before he tells us

Comedian Dave Chappelle's prediction about President Trump's tariffs has resurfaced on social media amid the China trade war

On Tuesday Trump threatened a 104 percent tariff on China after the country refused to lift its retaliatory tariff on the U.S

'I'm gonna get these jobs from China and bring them back here to America.

'He just tells us what he's thinking before telling him that s**t sounds nuts.

'So iPhones can be $9,000? Leave that job in China where it belongs. None of us want to work that hard, stop trying to give us Chinese jobs.

'I want to wear Nikes - I don't want to make them.'

Fans lauded the clip with one writing: 'The dave Chappelle joke was a prophecy i guess

'Anti/pro Trump or anti/pro Tariff.....you got to admit, Dave Chappelle's take was pretty funny. I'm sure you saw it. If not, look it up (unless you find vulgarity offensive, in which case, don't).

'That Apple segment just reminded me of it.

'Dave Chappelle's comedy bit on the topic holds true.'

In the wake of the trade war, a 2017 clip of Chappelle began making the rounds on social media in which the star joked about Trump bringing jobs back to America from China, and iPhones rising to $9000 each as a result

Fans lauded the clip with one writing: 'The dave Chappelle joke was a prophecy i guess'

China now faces another 50% in tariffs after Beijing missed a noon deadline to withdraw the retaliatory import taxes it imposed on the United States - Trump pictured Tuesday

On Tuesday Trump threatened a 104 percent tariff on China after the country refused to lift its retaliatory tariff on the U.S.

China now faces another 50% in tariffs after Beijing missed a noon deadline to withdraw the retaliatory import taxes it imposed on the United States.

The new tariffs will go into effect at 12:01 am, the White House said.

Defending Trump's Tariffs, which have already sparked a 4,000-point freefall on Wall Street over the last week, Vice President JD Vance told Fox and Friends last Thursday that, 'we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.'

'What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America? And the answer is, fundamentally, it's based on two principles  incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us,' the vice president said.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian reacted to Vance's comments during a news conference on Trump's tariffs.

'It's both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks,' he said.

The war over manufacturing jobs which the new meme mocks has been raging between the US and China since President Trump's first term in office.

Trump has consistently advocated for imposing tariffs on Chinese goods as a strategy to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US since 2017.

His core argument is that tariffs make Chinese imports more expensive, which incentivizes American companies to produce goods domestically, thereby creating jobs and reducing reliance on foreign labor.

However, China's social media is now mocking the idea that Americans will be willing to take over these labor-intensive jobs.

In January Chappelle returned to Saturday Night Live with a message for Donald Trump as he joked about everything from the Los Angeles wildfires to conflict in the Middle East.

The comic's appearances on the show have drawn controversy and headlines since his monologue after Trump won in 2016.

He's since returned to the limelight as an A-list comic, making the news and causing laughs and offense for his comments on Trump, Biden, transgender people and anti-Semitism, with rumors of even some SNL writers boycotting his 2022 appearance.

Chappelle - at one point joking that he was 'tired of being controversial' and hoping to 'turn over a new leaf' - ended his set on the NBC show discussing Trump, saying: 'He'll be the 47th president, he's done it again.'

The comedian relayed an anecdote about the late President Jimmy Carter going to Palestine with minimal security while Chappelle was visiting the Middle East 20 years ago.

In January Chappelle returned to Saturday Night Live with a message for Donald Trump as he joked about everything from the Los Angeles wildfires to conflict in the Middle East

'I will never forget the images of a former American president walking with no security with thousands of Palestinians cheering him on and when I saw that picture, it brought tears to my eyes. I said, 'I don't know if that's a good president but that right there, I am sure, is a great man.' It made me feel very proud,' he claimed.

He then said that 'the presidency is no place for petty people,' before addressing Trump and the rest of the nation, joking that 'I know you watch the show.'

To Trump and America, Chappelle said: 'Remember, whether people voted for you or not, they're all counting on you. Whether they like you or not, they're all counting on you. The whole world is counting on you. I mean this when I say this, good luck. Do better next time. Please, all of us, do better next time.'
Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary urged President Donald Trump to take an 'off-ramp' offered to him on his worldwide tariffs, as the global economy continues to plunge.

The 70-year-old businessman and DailyMail+ columnist spoke out in favor of a 'zero-zero' tariff deal offered by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in which neither the United States nor the Eurozone would leverage the fines on industrial goods.

'This is a really huge opportunity for Trump to find an off-ramp here in the administration,' O'Leary told Fox Business on Monday.

'Because if you think about how restricted it's been in Germany alone or in Switzerland or in France about getting US cars into those markets, and they're willing to wipe those out.'

O'Leary then went on to argue that Europe's deal could be touted as an example to other countries that are willing to come to the negotiating table.

'Look, in the interim as we're building our own factories in the US or whatever it is you want to look at, I'm going to show you how it's done with [Europe],' he suggested to the American president, calling the deal 'the beginning of a beautiful outcome.

'And you get to say to everybody, "Well look, it was a lot of volatility, but I got us there,"' O'Leary told Trump.

He also claimed that 'the Eurozone has been brought to its knees.

Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary urged President Donald Trump to take an 'off-ramp' offered to him on his worldwide tariff

Under Trump's reciprocal tariffs, the Eurozone will now pay 20 percent on all goods from the United States

'It's willing to go zero-zero and open it's markets up - and that's the key,' O'Leary claimed.

'The idea that you would open up the markets and set the path for every other negotiation of the other 59 countries... This is the opportunity. This is the moment.'

Under the European Union's deal, cars and other goods - including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, rubber and plastic machinery - would not face tariffs in the United States or in any of the Eurozone countries, according to Politico.

The idea had been backed by DOGE Chief Elon Musk, who told a political rally last week that he hopes to see a 'zero tariff situation' between the US and Europe to create a free trade zone.

'I hope that the United States and Europe can establish a very close partnership,' the Tesla CEO said during the virtual rally of Italy's Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini.

'I hope it is agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally in my view to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America,' the SpaceX founder continued.

The European Union currently charges average tariffs of 1.6 percent on US non-agricultural products, on a trade-weighted basis.

But it also charges a higher tariff of 10 percent on imported American vehicles.

Under Trump's reciprocal tariffs, the Eurozone will now pay 20 percent on all goods from the United States.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a 'zero-zero' tariff deal on Monday, but warned the European Union is still prepared to retaliate

The European Union has been negotiating with the United States for days to reverse the tariffs, with von der Leyen announcing her proposed deal on Monday.

European officials have also dangled other carrots like buying American liquid natural gas and ramping up military expenditures, according to the New York Times.

At the same time, though, Leyen said the union is 'prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests.'

She has previously said legislators were 'finalizing a first package of countermeasures' and were preparing to implement even more as European stocks suffered their worst one-day fall since the start of the COVID pandemic.

European leaders now plan to implement the countermeasures on April 15, and sent a refined list of retaliatory tariffs to member state representatives on Monday.

In the meantime, Audi - the luxury arm of the world's second largest global automaker, Volkswagen - announced that it is now holding its cars at US ports.

The company also said it will display a new 'import fee,' which will appear alongside standard charges like taxes and extras for optional features like heated seats or panoramic sunroofs.

The fee will appear alongside standard charges like tax and extras for optional features like heated seats or panoramic sunroofs.

Trump has thus far held firm on his worldwide tariffs

Yet Trump has thus far held firm, telling reporters on Monday that the European Union's offer was not enough to get him to reverse his tariffs on the 27-state bloc.

'The EU has been very tough over the years,' he said. 'It was formed to really do damage to the United States in trade.

'They don't take our cars - like Japan in that sense,' the president continued. 'They don't take our agricultural product; they don't take anything practically.'

He went on to claim that the United States has a trade deficit with the European Union of $350 billion - though he claimed the deficit is 'going to disappear fast,' according to the New York Post.

'And one of the ways that that can disappear easily and quickly is they're going to have to buy our energy from us,' Trump said.

When the president was then asked whether the global tariffs were just an opening for trade negotiations, he replied: 'We're not looking at that.'

'We have very many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us. And they're going to be fair deals.

'In certain cases, they're going to be paying substantial tariffs.

'This is America First,' Trump added. 'There can be permanent tariffs and there can also be negotiations.

'It's the only chance that we will have to reset the table,' he said, claiming 90,000 manufacturing plants have disappeared since the North American Free Trade Association took effect.

On Sunday, the president boasted that foreign powers were begging him to make a trade deal with them, but he brushed off their requests and defiantly continued on with his plans

The president made similar remarks aboard Air Force One on Sunday, as he boasted that foreign powers were begging him to make a trade deal with them, but he brushed off their requests and defiantly continued on with his plans.

'They're dying to make a deal,' Trump claimed as he revealed his conditions for any such agreements.

'But I said we're not going to have deficits with your country. We're not going to do that because, to me, a deficit is a loss. We're going to have surpluses, or we're, at worst, going to be breaking even.'

Trump then went on to issue a warning to China, which he declared 'would be the worst in the group because the deficit is so big and [it] would have been unsustainable.'

On his Truth Social page, the president also claimed the US has 'massive Financial Deficits with China, the European Union and many others.

'The only way this problem can be cured is with TARIFFS, which are now bringing Tens of Billions of Dollars into the USA,' he said amid the economic turmoil.

'They are already in effect and a beautiful thing to behold,' Trump said.

'The Surplus with these countries has grown during the "presidency" of Sleepy Joe Biden. We are going to reverse it and reverse it QUICKLY.'

'Some day people will realize that Tariffs, for the United State of America, are a very beautiful thing.'
The IRS has issued a stark warning to millions of Americans: nearly $1 billion in unclaimed tax refunds from 2021 are still up for grabs  but the clock is ticking.

Around 1.1 million Americans have yet to file their 2021 Form 1040 Federal Income Tax Return, leaving substantial refunds on the table.

While most taxpayers submitted their returns in 2022, those who didn't could be missing out on a median refund of $781. The deadline to claim that money is April 15.

Some individuals may be eligible for even more.

Low- and moderate-income workers are urged to check if they qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which could increase their refunds by up to $6,728.

'Under the law, taxpayers usually have three years to file and claim their tax refunds,' the IRS said in a press release.

'If they don't file within three years, the money becomes the property of the US Treasury.'

With just a week remaining, more than a million Americans risk permanently losing their refunds if they dont act soon.

Americans have left over $1 billion on the table for their 2021 tax returns

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According to the IRS, residents in California, Florida, and Illinois are owed more than $42 million each in unclaimed refunds.

Even in smaller states, substantial amounts remain uncollected. North Dakota taxpayers are owed over $2 million, while those in Montana have more than $3 million waiting.

North Dakota taxpayers are owed over $2 million while Montana residents are owed more than $3 million.

The federal government estimates that New York taxpayers who haven't filed are owed the most, with the average late-paying resident leaving $995 on the table.

Meanwhile, California recipients have the lowest average return, with $600.

For more information, taxpayers can visit the IRS website.

The groundswell of taxpayers who didn't file their 2021 taxes is meaningfully higher than 2020, the IRS said.

Last year, around 900,000 Americans missed out on their returns leading up to the deadline.

New Yorkers can expect the largest tax refund - Californians are owed more than $60 million

The IRS warned that taxpayers only have a month before the cash goes back to the government

Earlier this year, the IRS warned taxpayers that some refunds may take more time to process than previous tax seasons.

The tax season, which began on January 27 and ends April 15, has several national holidays.

Typically, taxpayers can expect their funds in less than 21 days after they've filed.

However, residents who sent their 1040s before a holiday may have to wait for their banks to reopen before receiving their 2024 refunds.

The IRS expects to receive more than 140 million individual returns ahead of the federal deadline.

Last year, the average refund was $3,138, according to the IRS.
Disneyland has revealed a major change  and fans say it's a recession red flag.

The House of Mouse's California theme park is now openly inviting membership inquiries for its ultra-exclusive Club 33.

Until recently, Club 33 membership wasn't publicly advertised.

However, Disneyland has now added an information page  complete with an inquiry link  to its official app.

The elite private dining club, founded in 1967 by Walt Disney himself, has famously been shrouded in secrecy with Elton John, Tom Hanks, Katy Perry, and Tiger Woods rumored to be members.

'Learn about the legendary private Membership club founded by Walt Disney at the Disneyland Resort,' the information page read.

'Members enjoy special access and exceptional service at Club 33 locations within the Disneyland Resort.

The change was first noticed by fans last week but Disneyland claims membership inquiries have been available for over a year.

Some quickly quickly speculated the change was a sign Disney is looking to boost revenue ahead of a possible recession.

The exclusive private dining club was founded in 1967 by Walt Disney himself

Disney's theme park profits hit a two-year low in its November earnings report, and a downturn could lead families to cut back on trips, food, and souvenirs.

Increased members would certainly go some way to boosting the park's coffers with initiation fees rumored to be between $30,000 to $100,000 depending on your membership level,followed by annual dues between $15,000 to $30,000.

It also comes after JPMorgan advised that America is likely headed towards recession, giving it a 60 percent chance in new analysis on Friday.

The move comes just as JPMorgan put the odds of a US recession at 60 percent, citing market chaos fueled by Donald Trump's aggressive new tariffs. Some analysts warn the policies could trigger a global economic downturn.

Club 33  tucked above the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in New Orleans Square  was originally created as a place for Walt Disney to entertain corporate sponsors and VIPs.

The historic club was once the only place in the park to sell alcohol, While that is no longer the case, the club still offers exclusive dining options to its members.

The entrance to the California branch of the club is marked simply by a '33' on a discrete door at Disneyland.

Branches have since opened in Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland.

The entrance to the California branch of the club is marked simply by a '33' on a discrete door

Elton John, Tom Hanks, Tiger Woods and Katy Perry are rumored to be members of the club

The club has long fascinated hardcore Disney fans, with word-of-mouth whispers, waitlists, and strict no-photo rules fueling its mystique.

Disney expert Lindsay Brookshier from Mickey Visit told DailyMail.com that a recent flurry of content about Club 33 on social media likely prompted Disney to release the information 'to clear up guest questions.'

'We do feel that this is a mistake from a guest satisfaction level since it makes this luxury experience, often reserved for the wealthy, seem within reach,' Brookshier explained.

She added that Disneyland could take a cue from Walt Disney Worlds Club 33 and ban all content from inside the club to preserve its exclusivity.
China maintains continuity, stability, certainty in its ROK policy: foreign ministry

Xinhua) 09:11, April 08, 2025

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The continuity, stability and certainty of China's foreign policy on the Republic of Korea (ROK) have been maintained, and China is willing to work with the ROK to promote the healthy, stable development of the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to news of Yoon Suk-yeol's ousting from his post as president of the ROK.

"This is an internal affair for the ROK," Lin said, adding that China hopes the ROK will advance its domestic political agenda in an orderly manner, and maintain its political and social stability.

China and the ROK are close neighbors and inseparable partners, Lin said.

"We are willing to work with the ROK to adhere to our original intentions in establishing diplomatic relations, strengthen the direction of good-neighborliness and friendship, stand firm in our pursuit of mutual benefits and win-win cooperation, and promote the healthy, stable development of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries," he said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Sri Lankan Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation presents credentials



The newly appointed Sri Lankan Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mr. Nimal Karunatilake presented his credentials to Director General of the WTO, Mr. Pascal Lamy on 13th February 2013.





Having welcomed the new Ambassador, Mr. Lamy provided him with a brief update on the state of play in the Doha Round of Trade Negotiations, which is commonly known as the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), with special emphasis on areas where the WTO Members have been able to achieve considerable progress in consensus building.





Mr. Lamy also said that the WTO would be pleased to offer more technical assistance for capacity building in trade-related institutions in Sri Lanka.





Following Director General Lamys observations, Ambassador Karunatilake said that Sri Lanka, being a founder member of both the GATT and the WTO, remained fully committed to the rule-based, multilateral trading system in promoting global trade.





In fact, Sri Lanka was also the first South Asian state to introduce market-friendly economic reforms. The unilateral trade liberalization measures implemented under those reforms as far back as 1970s have made Sri Lanka one of the most business-friendly nations in the region he added.





He also said that Sri Lanka looked forward to an early conclusion of the DDA that would effectively address the interests of all stakeholders, in particular, the specific issues and challenges faced by small and vulnerable economies like Sri Lanka.





Stressing Sri Lankas appreciation of the World Trade Organisationss support, Ambassador Karunatilake conveyed his sincere thanks to Director General Lamy for the valuable cooperation the WTO continues to extend toward trade-related capacity building in Sri Lanka, through various training programs, awareness building seminars and related projects.





Ambassador Karunatilake is the sixth Lankan Ambassador to the WTO, whose membership accounts for about 97% of the global trade. He holds a career record of nearly 28 years at the Department of Commerce, Colombo, and his previous overseas assignments include Sri Lanka Missions in Baghdad, Tokyo, Manila, Paris and Washington D. C.
The Ukrainians have captured Chinese soldiers fighting with the Russian invaders on the front line of the ongoing conflict. Eighty percent of the technology that Russia uses is from China. The Russians are also using Iranian suicide drones, and N. Korean as well as PLA Chinese troops to fight Ukraine. The Axis of Evil is truly alive and kicking.

BREAKING: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Kyivs troops recently engaged in combat with six Chinese soldiers in eastern Ukraine, capturing two of them. He added that this indicates another nation has now aligned itself with Russia in its war against Ukraine, pic.twitter.com/GOsN4jx1l2  Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) April 8, 2025

What does this mean? Well, it seems that the poor Ukrainians are really up against it by fighting multiple nations from all fronts.

Abandoned by the USA, and with lacklustre help from the EU, what can the bankrupt UK do to help in the fight against the Axis of Evil?

Ukraine needs all the support it can get right now.
Sri Lanka rejects resolution at the UN Human Rights Council

Sri Lanka categorically rejected resolution A/HRC/51/L.1 (Rev.1) titled "Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka" tabled by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and the United States, which was adopted by a vote at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, today (06 October 2022).

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry delivered the statement on behalf of Sri Lanka as the country concerned and called on the Members of the Council to reject the resolution by voting against it.

In support of Sri Lankas position opposing the resolution, the delegation of Pakistan called for a vote. Over half of the members of the Council did not support the resolution with 07 countries (Bolivia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela) voting against the resolution and 20 countries abstaining on the vote. 20 countries voted in favour of the resolution.

Representatives of Pakistan, Brazil, China, Venezuela, Japan and Republic of Korea made statements in support of Sri Lanka prior to the vote.

Pakistan said that they share the concerns of Sri Lanka and other Member States that the resolution is intrusive and this level of scrutiny would not be even acceptable to any sovereign state including the Core Group. They further observed that the resolution fails to recognize the horrendous acts of terrorism committed by the LTTE and its sponsors, lacks balance, proportionality and consistency. At a critical time when the people of Sri Lanka expect demonstrations of global solidarity and support to face its economic challenges which are not entirely of Sri Lankas own making, the Core Group chose a path that has the potential to exacerbate the problem instead of improving the situation.

Brazil noted the need to avoid politicization of the work of the Council and reiterated their position that cooperation of the country concerned is key to the success of this Councils initiatives. Brazil highlighted the responsibility of the international community to support the country in its recovery including through international cooperation and assistance.

China appreciated the Government of Sri Lankas commitment to promoting and protecting human rights, advancing sustainable socio-economic development, improving living standards, protecting the rights of the vulnerable groups, facilitating national reconciliation and combatting terrorism. China regretted that the resolution is tabled without the consent of country concerned, is a product of politicization, and will by no means play any positive role in the promotion of human rights in Sri Lanka. China highlighted that the work of Council should be guided by its founding principles and that all parties should promote genuine dialogue and cooperation and refrain from adopting double standards. China rejected the practice of using human rights as a pretext to interfere in the internal affairs and undermine the sovereignty of other countries to the detriment of international cooperation.

Venezuela expressed their deep concern at initiatives that do not have the support of the country concerned and that the Core Group is insisting on imposing hostile initiative, monitoring and oversight mechanism without the consent of Sri Lanka, ignoring the progress made by the Government. Venezuela highlighted that the mechanism financially bleed out over 6 million dollars that could have been better used to support the least developed countries and further that the practice of wasting money seems all too common in the Council.

Japan recognized the progress made by Sri Lanka and said that the Governments own initiatives, efforts and commitments are indispensable to achieving real change on the ground.

Republic of Korea noted with appreciation the efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka to promote national reconciliation, reconstruction and prosperity.

Sri Lanka is grateful to the countries which withstood pressure by the sponsors and demonstrated their support to Sri Lanka by voting against or abstaining on the vote as well as by speaking in support of Sri Lanka.

While delivering the Sri Lanka statement as the country concerned, the Foreign Minister regretted that a draft resolution on Sri Lanka is tabled once again despite the progress made domestically on reconciliation and human rights and Sri Lankas continued constructive engagement with the Council. He outlined Sri Lankas intention to move forward domestically with replacing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) with a comprehensive national security legislation, and the introduction of Constitutional amendments and a legal framework to strengthen democratic governance, participation and the rule of law as well as independent institutional oversight. On reconciliation and human rights, Sri Lanka is awaiting the final report of the Presidential Commission and the establishment of a domestic truth-seeking mechanism is under advanced discussion. He also referred to Sri Lankas upcoming engagement with the UPR process.

Minister Sabry highlighted that while the resolution may meet the objective of advancing the political considerations of the sponsors, it is manifestly unhelpful to Sri Lanka.

The Minister strongly opposed the resolution, particularly the proposal in Operative Paragraph (OP) 8 that seeks to extend and reinforce the so-called external evidence gathering mechanism created by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The mechanism is outside the mandate envisaged for the Council. No sovereign state can accept the superimposition of an external mechanism that runs contrary to its Constitution and which pre-judges the commitment of its domestic legal processes.

The Minister also noted that many countries have already raised serious concerns on the budgetary implications of this resolution given its ever-expanding mandate. He further noted that this is an unhelpful and misdirected drain on the resources of all Member States, including the donors in the midst of ongoing global crises. In sharp contrast, he said that we are faced with the dire financial needs of developing countries to prevent hunger and child malnutrition.

Foreign Minister Sabry objected to the references in the resolution to matters which are outside the framework of the Council such as domestic economic and financial policy. He further observed that solutions to economic and financial crises faced today by many countries will not be found in the mandate, the instruments or the expertise of the Council.

The result of the vote demonstrates that the resolution is another example of the North-South polarization and politicization of the Council, contrary to its founding principles. This vote also demonstrated solidarity among the countries of the South which continued to support the basic founding principles of the Human Rights Council of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity leading to constructive international dialogue and cooperation.

The Human Rights Council is comprised of 47 Members, including 13 African states, 13 Asia- Pacific states, 8 Latin American & Caribbean States, 7 Western Europe and Other States, and 6 Eastern European States.





Read Full Sri Lanka statement as the country concerned

View Media Release PDF





Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

6 October, 2022
Ambassador / Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) of Sri Lanka Presents Credentials to the Director General of the WTO

Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Mr. R.G.S Wijesekara presented his credentials to the Director General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the WTO on Wednesday, 27 July 2023 at the WTO Secretariat in Geneva.

During a brief meeting at the presentation of credentials, Ambassador Wijesekara conveyed the personal greetings of the Hon Minister of Trade Commerce & Food Security of Sri Lanka to the Director General. He also remarked on the ambitious regional trade reforms agenda of the Hon President that leads to better building block for our multilateral engagements. Ambassador Wijesekara also highlighted the need of 360 degree capacity building initiatives; including from the WTO for better integration of countries like Sri Lanka to the multilateral trading system.

Ambassador Wijesekara served as Director of Commerce at the Department of Commerce as well as a member of the Cabinet Appointed National Trade Negotiation Committee, prior to his assignment as Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the WTO.

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka

Geneva

27 July 2023
Crawfords Butchers in Maghera recently won the title of Supreme sausage makers at the Sausage Makers competition in Newtownabbey. Staff member of Crawfords Jack McFall took home the award.

In a Facebook post the butchers said they are pleased to announce they are .

The Maghera butchers were also awarded & in County Derry.

They thanked competition organiser Scobie and Junor NI for the recognition.

To celebrate this achievement the butchers had a special taste testing of their specialty sausage for the public in their store.

Organisers Scobie and Junor Northern Ireland, hosted their annual sausage competition on 2 April to find out which Northern Ireland butcher makes the best sausages.

Entries came in from all over Northern Ireland and were scored through a blind taste test and categorised, showcasing the talent there is with butchers in Northern Ireland. Judging involved blind tasting by four independent judges. Awards went out to the Best Butchers Apprentice, Country Champions and the overall Supreme Champion.

Scobie and Junor said all entries were of an extremely high quality, and we want to congratulate everyone who entered. Scobie and Junor also like to give back to the community so with that in mind, all proceeds of the open evening were in aid of Action Mental Health (amh.org.uk), supporting vital mental health services across Northern Ireland.
Northern Irelands First Minister Michelle ONeill has written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging his Government to grant a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown.

Ms ONeill said the family of the GAA official had waited far too long for truth, justice and accountability.

Mr Brown, 61, the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.

Last week, three judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast said the Governments failure to order a public inquiry into the killing was unlawful.

Northern Irelands Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said the court would give Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn four weeks to reflect upon the judgment before another hearing.

The UK Government has said it will carefully consider the court judgment.

Ms ONeill said: Last week, outside court, Bridie Brown (Mr Browns widow) made a direct plea to the British government, and I want to echo her powerful and emotional words.

The Brown family has waited far too long for truth, justice and accountability.

They should not have to endure the indignity and insult of further delays or legal appeals.

I have written to the British prime minister, imploring him and his government to accept the unequivocal court ruling and grant a public inquiry without any further delay.

Ms ONeill said anything less than a public inquiry would further compound the grief and trauma of the Brown family.

She added: There can be no more cynical moves or obstructionist tactics by the British government.

Its time to hold a public inquiry, and at last establish the full truth around Sean Browns murder.

As Bridie Brown said, five judges have told the British government to do the right thing. That is what the Brown family deserves.

Last year a coroner halted an inquest into the Brown killing, expressing concern that his ability to examine the case had been compromised by the extent of confidential state material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.

Preliminary inquest proceedings had already heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

It had also been alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.

Coroner Mr Justice Kinney called on the Government to establish a public inquiry into the loyalist murder.

Mr Benn decided against holding an inquiry, arguing that the case could instead be dealt with by a new Troubles investigatory body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

Mr Browns widow Bridie challenged Mr Benns decision not to order a public inquiry and High Court judge Mr Justice Humphreys found in her favour in December and ordered the Government to establish one.

The Government then appealed against that decision to the Court of Appeal, leading to last weeks judgment.
The dispute between The Honourable The Irish Society and River Faughan Anglers Ltd regarding the future management of the river shows no sign of abating.

Duane Farrell, the secretary and chief executive of The Honourable The Irish Society, acknowledged the amazing work in custodianship carried out by Faughan Anglers and the angling clubs who lease other rivers from the Society, in a statement to The Derry News.

Mr Farrell also praised how the clubs engaged members of the community in an activity that promotes health and wellbeing for those who participate.

The Society wants to better support this important activity, he added.

According to Mr Farrell, The Honourable The Irish Society is a philanthropic funder.

We operate commercial activities to generate a surplus, he added, and 100% of that surplus is spent in pursuit of our charitable purposes.

In recent years, the Society has spent approximately 250,000 annually in a grants programme supporting schools and community groups among others. In the last 25 years approximately, that figure is in excess of 2,5 million of grant support to local communities.

As part of a review of the Societys strategy which has been ongoing for the last year, the Society has sought to better combine these purposes, particularly where it relates to the angling clubs we currently lease our fishing rights to.

This work has been informed by a survey which clubs responded to back in 2023. The key trends which clubs talked to us about in that piece of work were concerns about areas of work which clubs wanted to invest in to increase sustainability but were struggling to do this as a result of concerns about medium term financial sustainability, particularly in light of the impact which the covid pandemic had on clubs at that time.

This has informed the Societys thoughts about what actions we can take to increase the sustainability of angling as a community activity which provides significant positive outcomes for communities. In turn, this has informed an initial set of proposals which we are in the process of consulting clubs on, said Mr Farrell.

The chief executive added that the change in direction in the Societys strategy recognised it could do more to support angling clubs in the important work they undertake day and daily in communities.

He admitted the Societys support of angling clubs over the years had been piecemeal and responsive.

Our new strategy is rooted in recognising the valuable work which clubs are already undertaking to protect river environments and supporting that in a more proactive way and building a new system to support clubs in this aspect of their work, said Mr Farrell.

We are currently consulting with clubs on our initial proposal.

Local anglers are an amazing asset to communities right across Northern Ireland, investing hours of voluntary effort in maintaining and developing rivers as well as facilitating a pursuit which provides health and wellbeing to those who participate. Local anglers are the heart of our plans.

We have also identified that generating additional income from sales of tickets to tourists who are also interested in angling and sharing that income with clubs will also increase the sustainability of the Societys grants and those angling clubs and the work they undertake while also marketing the amazing angling we have here and attracting visitors into our amazing rivers, said Mr Farrell.

Speaking to The Derry News, Gerry Quinn, secretary of River Faughan Anglers Ltd, revealed the responses to The Honourable The Irish Societys 2023 were never published and it was proposing to rescind the right of angling clubs to sell day tickets to visiting anglers.

I can speak with authority on behalf of River Faughan Angler, said Mr Quinn. The Honourable The Irish Society is a London based charity which owns property and sporting rights awarded for services rendered to the crown in early 17th century Ireland

In late 2023 it surveyed those angling clubs leasing the fishing rights from it, touching on a number of topics including financial stability, membership, and environmental issues around water quality. The Society reviewed the responses but did not publish them, rather it came up with a set of proposals to replace club leases with a partnership with the Society, an offer to remit some of the rents paid by clubs back to it to be spent on works it must approve, and the rescinding of the clubs right to sell day tickets to visiting anglers, he added.

The Society presented these proposals to clubs and dressed it up as a consultation process, which it patently is not. It consulted on what it sees as the way forward for the Society and presented it as partnering with clubs.

This is not a partnership of equals agreeing a way forward, rather clubs have been asked to accept a set of proposals presented to them by The Honourable The Irish Society.

River Faughan Anglers position is that we are not sold on these proposals from the Irish Society and we have told it so. We have told it we will keep to the existing leasing arrangement instead of adopting their proposed partnership, and indeed we offered to buy out the fishing rights. This stance was unanimously endorsed by our anglers at an EGM on March 13.

I am also assured that all clubs who lease water from the Society are united in opposition to their current plans to assist clubs, said Mr Quinn.

According to Gerry Quinn, River Faughan Anglers manages its affairs, including its finances, professionally, competently and effectively.

We do not accept that the Society has a remit for determining the role of angling clubs, and we are not at all convinced its proposals are in our best interests.

Nevertheless River Faughan Anglers is content to contribute to the Societys grant making capacity by paying for the lease of the fishing rights on an annual basis. In return we look forward to the quiet enjoyment of our sport on the River Faughan.
A number of Firstsource employees in Derry are facing the prospect of redundancy for the second time in just under two years.

Based in Springtown Business Park in the city, the call centre handles customer services for a number of companies.

In July 2023, Firstsource announced 200 redundancies - 100 in Derry. A year later, it announced 63 redundancies - 50 in Derry.

On March 6, Firstsource announced to the YouFibre team in Springtown it was going to be impacted by TUPE transfer; broadband provider YouFibre was transferring jobs from Derry to its call centre in South Africa.

TUPE [Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations] is designed to protect employees if the business in which they are employed changes hands. Its effect is to move employees and any liabilities associated with them from the old employer to the new operator by operation of law.

The following day, the employees concerned received at risk letters from Firstsource, a copy of which has been seen by The Derry News.

The letter said: We have been informed by our client, YouFibre, that effective from April 7, 2025, they will be transitioning the work we currently deliver to a new, yet unnamed client base in South Africa.

This change will prompt a subsequent TUPE transfer.

We understand that this news may bring about questions and concern. Please be assured that we are committed to supporting you through this transition. We will be consulting with colleagues about the changes and are currently waiting on confirmation from the client regarding the new provider, so that we can start the process. However, due to the work transferring to a provider in South Africa, we will be placing staff at risk of redundancy.

According to one employee uncertainty due to a lack of clarity around YouFibres absolute failure to engage in the TUPE process is extremely stressful and is causing great anxiety.

On March 13, representatives of the Derry YouFibre team held a meeting with Firstsource. At that meeting it was confirmed the TUPE process was applicable. Firstsource also advised those affected they were entitled to statutory redundancy and payment in lieu of notice.

The representatives also requested an update on the name of the company linked to TUPE in South Africa as this had not previously been provided. In addition, they enquired if an exit clause had been triggered as YouFibre was withdrawing from its contract with Firstsource 18 months early. Firstsource would not discuss this with the representatives, describing it as commercially sensitive.

The representatives then questioned why the redundancy package offered to the Youfibre team was considerably lower than the offer made to them and their colleagues when Sky completed TUPE to Bulgaria in 2023; the workers affected then were awarded 23% on top of their redundancy and payment in lieu of notice payments.

The Firstsource employee told The Derry News, one and a half years after showing loyalty to the company during the 2023 round of redundancies, they would leave with less than they could have obtained then.

At that time we were also approached to help in bringing YouFibre to Derry.

This is why the workers affected by this latest redundancies are seeking at least 23% additional payment, they added.

However, Although Firstsource has advised workers that TUPE does apply, YouFibre disagrees and is refusing to engage in the process; this means that Firstsource is effectively unable to discuss the additional payment of 23%, paid to workers made redundant in 2023.

Firstsource has told the workers it will not provide any additional payment; Firstsource also indicated to those affected it had exhausted all avenues, both from client and a legal perspective. The company then closed the collective consultation in spite of the fact this was not agreed with staff representatives or those affected by TUPE.

Firstsource has offered the affected workers: redeployment; redundancy; or TUPE - transfer to South Africa. The YouFibre calls are now being handled by the African company Nutun.
Northern Irelands First Minister Michelle ONeill has written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging his Government to grant a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown.

Ms ONeill said the family of the GAA official had waited far too long for truth, justice and accountability.

Mr Brown, 61, the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Londonderry, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.

Last week, three judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast said the Governments failure to order a public inquiry into the killing was unlawful.

Northern Irelands Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said the court would give Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn four weeks to reflect upon the judgment before another hearing.

The UK Government has said it will carefully consider the court judgment.

Ms ONeill said: Last week, outside court, Bridie Brown (Mr Browns widow) made a direct plea to the British government, and I want to echo her powerful and emotional words.

The Brown family has waited far too long for truth, justice and accountability.

They should not have to endure the indignity and insult of further delays or legal appeals.

I have written to the British prime minister, imploring him and his government to accept the unequivocal court ruling and grant a public inquiry without any further delay.

Ms ONeill said anything less than a public inquiry would further compound the grief and trauma of the Brown family.

She added: There can be no more cynical moves or obstructionist tactics by the British government.

Its time to hold a public inquiry, and at last establish the full truth around Sean Browns murder.

As Bridie Brown said, five judges have told the British government to do the right thing. That is what the Brown family deserves.

Last year a coroner halted an inquest into the Brown killing, expressing concern that his ability to examine the case had been compromised by the extent of confidential state material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.

Preliminary inquest proceedings had already heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

It had also been alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.

Coroner Mr Justice Kinney called on the Government to establish a public inquiry into the loyalist murder.

Mr Benn decided against holding an inquiry, arguing that the case could instead be dealt with by a new Troubles investigatory body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

Mr Browns widow Bridie challenged Mr Benns decision not to order a public inquiry and High Court judge Mr Justice Humphreys found in her favour in December and ordered the Government to establish one.

The Government then appealed against that decision to the Court of Appeal, leading to last weeks judgment.
More than 50 firefighters have been tackling a significant wildfire in the Mourne Mountains in Co Down.

It comes after a major incident was declared at the weekend when a large wildfire close to the Mournes led to homes being evacuated. That blaze is being treated as arson.

Firefighters have tackled almost 150 blazes in the area since Thursday night.

An amber wildfire warning is expected to remain in place until the end of the week, with the forecast for increasing temperatures in Northern Ireland heightening concerns of further ignitions.

Police said they were using air support and other specialist units to survey the area for potential suspects, to spot fires early, and alert those who may be at risk.

First Minister Michelle ONeill described the destruction and devastating, and said there is no option but for ministers to work to prevent wildfires.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament Buildings in Belfast on Tuesday afternoon, Ms ONeill said: Something more must be done, whenever we look at what has happened over recent days, it is absolutely devastating to see these fires rage right across the Mournes.

There is no option for ministers to do anything other than action, and I think what has been called for in terms of plans are a necessity, and Ill work with the ministers responsible.

But its a time for everybody to put their heads together to ensure that this doesnt happen and where it can be prevented we need to do everything we can to ensure it is prevented.

Ms ONeill added she had been due to go hiking in the Mournes herself with the conservationist group the Hiking Hens at the weekend.

Its such a beautiful area, something that we very much value and cherish, she added.

Thats all in jeopardy because of what we see unfolding.

On Tuesday morning the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said it had received 240 calls on Monday, and that 27 of the 148 calls mobilised involved wildfires.

Firefighters continued to work tirelessly throughout the duration of yesterday evening and into this morning, responding to multiple wildfires and other emergency calls across Northern Ireland, it said in a statement.

The wildfire in the Bloody Bridge area of the Mourne Mountains has escalated to eight fire appliances with over 50 firefighters now battling the blaze.

It is expected that firefighting operations will continue in the Bloody Bridge area across today. We are appealing for the public to please stay away from the area and avoid hill walking in the mountains around the Bloody Bridge area.

If you live in the Newcastle vicinity please keep your windows and doors closed.

We are urging the public to stay away from the area & not to walk in the mountains around the Bloody Bridge area. pic.twitter.com/CtiljnfKsc  Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (@NIFRSOFFICIAL) April 8, 2025

Meanwhile, the NIFRS said wildfires in the Sawel Mountain area of Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone, and on the Carncullagh Road in Dervock, Co Antrim, have been dealt with.

Our firefighters have continued to respond to a number of other emergency incidents across the night, including a well-developed kitchen fire that had spread to the attic of a house in Banbridge as well as a large shed fire in Hillsborough in the early hours of this morning, it said.

An amber weather warning remains in place for wildfires. Please follow our fire safety advice and stay vigilant to the risk of fire in the countryside. If you see a fire please call 999 immediately.

Superintendent Norman Haslett, PSNI District Commander for Newry, Mourne and Down, said wildfires pose a real threat to the homes, farms and lives of the people in the areas affected, as well as to the environment and wildlife.

He said officers believe some of the recent blazes were started deliberately.

We have implemented dedicated patrolling and are utilising all the capabilities of our air support and other specialist units to survey the Mournes to help us locate potential suspects, spot any fires early, and alert those who may be at risk or in any imminent danger, he said.

We are liaising with our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service to try to determine which fires have been maliciously started and people who are found to have deliberately set any of these fires should be under no illusion that they will face legal consequences for their reckless actions.
Northern Irelands First Minister Michelle ONeill has welcomed the passing of a vote to establish a climate commissioner.

The DUP opposed the motion at the Assembly on Tuesday, arguing the costs of the role, estimated to be 1 million a year, could not be justified in the current financial climate.

However, the draft Northern Ireland Climate Commissioner Regulations 2025 were passed by 51 votes to 19.

Speaking to reporters in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings, Ms ONeill said it was regrettable the DUP had voted against the plans.

She said: I think that the public can take some comfort that the majority of MLAs elected here understand that climate is a real emergency, understand that as we speak today the Mournes are on fire, Lough Neagh is in crisis, floods are becoming an ever more occurring phenomenon.

Its regrettable that the DUP have taken this square earth mentality again and voted against the regulations, but they have went through nonetheless and I very much welcome that.

Asked about DUP concerns around the cost, Ms ONeill responded: Whats the cost of doing nothing?

The cost of doing nothing is continuing floods, the cost of doing nothing is the real implications that people face, if you take the issues of the fire or the issue of Lough Neagh.

The cost of doing nothing will be far, far more than the cost of putting a commissioner in place that can actually hold every department and agency to account in terms of their responsibility around getting us to net zero by 2050.

Last week, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said she did not believe there was a need for a climate commissioner.

She said then the appointment will be made because it is a legal duty, but expressed concern it would cost at least 1 million per year at a time of financial challenge.

I dont think that there is a particular need for a climate commissioner at this time, but it is a legal duty that falls to the First Minister and myself, and thats why we are moving forward at this time, she said.
Some 75 firefighters were involved in quelling a major wildfire in the Mourne Mountains in Co Down.

The blaze in the Bloody Bridge area, which raged across a two-mile front, was described as dealt with on Tuesday evening while the cause remained under investigation.

However, firefighters were tackling another blaze close to Bloody Bridge in the Slieve Bearnagh area, with three appliances at the scene late on Tuesday afternoon and operations expected to continue into the evening.

The wildfire in the Bloody Bridge area of the Mourne Mountains has now been dealt with. More than 75 Firefighters were involved in tackling a fire front of 2 miles.Read more here https://t.co/zgR4tHmrRM  Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (@NIFRSOFFICIAL) April 8, 2025

The continuing blazes came after a major incident was declared at the weekend when a large wildfire close to the Mournes led to homes being evacuated. That blaze is being treated as arson.

Firefighters have tackled almost 150 blazes in the area since Thursday night.

An amber wildfire warning is expected to remain in place until the end of the week, with the forecast for increasing temperatures in Northern Ireland heightening concerns of further ignitions.

Police said they were using air support and other specialist units to survey the area for potential suspects, to spot fires early, and alert those who may be at risk.

First Minister Michelle ONeill described the destruction and devastating, and said there is no option but for ministers to work to prevent wildfires.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament Buildings in Belfast on Tuesday afternoon, Ms ONeill said: Something more must be done, whenever we look at what has happened over recent days, it is absolutely devastating to see these fires rage right across the Mournes.

There is no option for ministers to do anything other than action, and I think what has been called for in terms of plans are a necessity, and Ill work with the ministers responsible.

But its a time for everybody to put their heads together to ensure that this doesnt happen and where it can be prevented we need to do everything we can to ensure it is prevented.

Ms ONeill added she had been due to go hiking in the Mournes herself with the conservationist group the Hiking Hens at the weekend.

Its such a beautiful area, something that we very much value and cherish, she added.

Thats all in jeopardy because of what we see unfolding.

Starting fires deliberately is dangerous and can have extreme consequences. Fires can easily spread and can pose a serious risk to life, property and the environment.Info and advice: https://t.co/4v5JoU9fjF @NIFRSOfficial @healthdpt @daera_ni @PoliceServiceNI pic.twitter.com/EyQoNdg5Qj  nidirect (@nidirect) April 8, 2025

A Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) spokesperson said firefighters also tackled wildfires in other areas on Tuesday.

In Western Area Command, firefighters were called to gorse on fire in the White Bridge area of Ballygawley, Co Tyrone at 1.57pm, they said.

There are currently four fire appliances and over 20 firefighters battling a one-mile firefront.

Whilst firefighters have been in attendance at these wildfire incidents, NIFRS continues to respond to other emergencies in the community including a house fire in Newry and a fire in a flat in Belfast.

Firefighters were also called to a potential aircraft incident in Enniskillen earlier today, however, no action was required on arrival.

A yellow warning for wildfires is in place. Please follow our fire safety advice and stay area from these areas. If you see a fire please call 999 immediately.

Superintendent Norman Haslett, PSNI district commander for Newry, Mourne and Down, said wildfires pose a real threat to the homes, farms and lives of the people in the areas affected, as well as to the environment and wildlife.

He said officers believe some of the recent blazes were started deliberately.

We have implemented dedicated patrolling and are utilising all the capabilities of our air support and other specialist units to survey the Mournes to help us locate potential suspects, spot any fires early, and alert those who may be at risk or in any imminent danger, he said.

We are liaising with our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service to try to determine which fires have been maliciously started and people who are found to have deliberately set any of these fires should be under no illusion that they will face legal consequences for their reckless actions.

On Tuesday evening, Sinn Fein MLA Aisling Reilly said a fire was burning on Black Mountain in west Belfast.

She said: Black Mountain is an environmental treasure, and its absolutely shocking to see a fire burning on it tonight.

This threatens wildlife and natural habitat on the mountain, and the surrounding community.

I understand fire appliances are currently at the scene and I would encourage the community to allow them space while they deal with the fire.

If the fire was started deliberately, those responsible must face the full force of the law, and I would encourage anyone with information to bring it forward.
Statement by Ambassador and Permanent Representative Himali Arunatilaka during the General Debate on Agenda Item 2 at the HRC 54, 13 September 2023



54th Session of the Human Rights Council

Agenda Item 2 - General Debate

Statement by Her Excellency Himalee Arunatilaka, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva

13th September 2023

Mr. President,

Resolutions 60/251 and 48/141 require that the work of this Council and the OHCHR should be guided by the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity, and constructive international dialogue and cooperation.

Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case with regard to Sri Lanka.

One such instance in the Written Update is the reference to the investigations on the Easter Sunday Attacks of 2019. It is regrettable that the OHCHR has sought to use incorrect and unsubstantiated information from biased sources in their analysis. As Sri Lanka has repeatedly informed this Council, extensive and comprehensive investigations have been carried out by the GoSL with regard to these attacks including a Presidential Commission of Inquiry, the report of which was submitted to the Parliament. Investigations carried out by the Government authorities were assisted by international professional agencies including the Australian Federal Police, the FBI of the United States and INTERPOL.

As at April 2023, 79 have been indicted in Easter Sunday terror attacks related matters. On 12 January 2023, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka delivered its judgement on the Fundamental Rights petition that was filed against the President, IGP, Director of State Intelligence Service, Defence Secretary and Chief of National Intelligence, at the time of these attacks.

In addition, the Government has decided to establish a Parliamentary Select Committee to address concerns raised in the public domain as of late and the President has appointed a committee, led by a retired Supreme Court judge to investigate the relevant allegations.

Mr. President,

We appreciate the many positive comments made by countries during the Interactive Dialogue on Sri Lanka, acknowledging the visible progress on the ground.

Mr. President,

Sri Lanka supports the One China policy and we welcome Chinas cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms. We reiterate that interference in the internal affairs of any sovereign country cannot and should not be tolerated.

Thank you.

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SEATTLE  A restaurant-packed Fremont corner, at 4358 Leary Way N.W., sold last week for almost $2.8 million, according to King County records.

The seller was 4350 Leary Way LLC, which acquired the property in 2006 for about $1.7 million.





. . .
Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions 11  14 September 2023



Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions 11  14 September 2023

Statement by Sri Lanka

Agenda Item 8: General Exchange of Views

Thank you Mr. President,

Sri Lanka joins other delegations in congratulating you for assuming the Presidency of the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. I wish to assure you of my delegations fullest support towards a productive outcome of our deliberations. We also warmly welcome Nigeria and South Sudan as the 111th and the 112th States Parties to the Convention. This is an important step towards universalization of the Convention.

Mr. President,

As a country which has never used, developed, produced, acquired or stockpiled Cluster Munitions even during the time of a brutal terrorist conflict, Sri Lanka wishes to reiterate its strong and enduring commitment to realizing the core objectives of the Convention inter alia to put an end for all time to the suffering and casualties caused by cluster munitions.

We consider that the Convention on Cluster Munitions is a significant disarmament treaty adopted by more than half of the world in the past decade, with far-reaching obligations.

In todays global context, when the world is experiencing conflicts in a number of regions, it is important to ensure that the principles and rules of international humanitarian law are upheld by all parties for the protection of civilian populations and civilian objects in the military operations. As a weapon, cluster munitions entail very destructive consequences to human beings as they target and deliver explosives to a large area. Cluster Munitions cannot distinguish civilians and civilian objects and once used, the remnants of cluster munitions which remain on the ground for years or perhaps decades can cause major injuries and risks to the civilian population. This is an explicit violation of universal principles of IHL as it is unable to distinguish civilian population, civilian objects and military.

As history shows us, the long-term destruction caused by cluster munitions to civilian life and infrastructure are heavy. Moreover, the detrimental effect of cluster munitions to environment is severe. In order to prevent tremendous human suffering, we call on all member states to adhere to the mandate of the Convention in destroying stockpiles, clearing remnants, providing risk education, and victim assistance. We believe that promoting cooperation between states, regional and international organizations to provide technical, scientific, material and financial assistance to State Parties affected by cluster munitions is also important to realize the objectives of the Convention.

We are optimistic to learn the progress of implementation of the Lausanne Action Plan during the past year since its adoption in 2022. We remain hopeful that Lausanne Action Plan would be an effective monitoring framework for States Parties to achieve significant and sustainable progress towards the universalization and implementation of the Convention from 2021 to 2026.

Sri Lanka also wishes to take this opportunity to update this forum on our progress in national implementation of the Convention. Sri Lanka has been studying the existing legal system to enable the effective implementation of the CCM and at present, the draft Cluster Munition Prohibition Bill is with the Legal Draftsman for clearance. Sri Lanka hopes to bring in enabling domestic legislation for the national implementation of the CCM very soon.

Sri Lanka strongly promotes universalization of the Convention and calls on States Parties and other organizations to take all measures not only to stop using cluster munitions but also to prevent its stockpiling, production and transfer as important steps towards ensuring a world free of cluster munitions.

We also sincerely appreciate the work and commitment of the CCM ISU in the implementation process of the Convention and in organizing this meeting.

In closing, Mr. President, let me assure Sri Lankas commitment to realize the humanitarian objectives of the Convention and our fullest cooperation for the success of the 11th Meeting of States Parties.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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Only two of eight religious bodies linked to mother and baby homes in Ireland have offered to contribute to a survivor redress scheme, a report has found.

The Sisters of Bon Secours offered 12.97 million euro (about 11 million)  a sum deemed as meaningful and accepted by the Irish Government.

The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul has proposed contributing a building to the scheme. That offer is to be considered by the Government.

A third religious body  the Sisters of St John of God  declined to contribute to the scheme but offered a conditional donation of 75,000 euro (64,000) to be used for a charitable purpose associated with mother and baby home survivors.

Min. @NormaFoleyTD1 today published the report of the independent negotiator, Ms. Sheila Nunan Ms. Nunan engaged with eight religious bodies involved in the institutions over a period of some 20 months Full Press Release: https://t.co/z4p06VW7pp pic.twitter.com/b16651exDb  Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, Youth (@dcediy) April 8, 2025

The remaining five bodies  the Congregation of Lady of the Good Shepherd; the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy; the Legion of Mary; and the Church of Ireland  made no offer.

The details were contained in a report compiled by Sheila Nunan, the independent negotiator appointed by the Government to engage with the organisations over financial redress.

The negotiation was part of a bid to secure contributions from religious bodies towards the cost of the Government-established Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme.

The scheme will cost more than 800 million euro (680 million) and the Government had been seeking around 270 million (231 million) in total from the religious bodies.

A commission of investigation was set up in 2015 to examine homes run by the state and religious organisations where tens of thousands of unmarried Irish women were sent to have their babies.

The commission found that almost 170,000 women and children passed through the institutions from 1922 until the last one closed in 1998.

The investigation exposed the often harsh conditions and unforgiving regimes many women and children experienced in the institutions.

Minister for Children Norma Foley expressed disappointment at the approach adopted by the majority of religious bodies to the redress scheme.

The commission (of investigation) made significant findings in relation to the failings of the state and religious organisations who together ran mother and baby and county home institutions, said Ms Foley.

I know that people across Irish society, both religious and lay, have been distressed and appalled by the harsh conditions that women who became pregnant outside of marriage endured in these institutions.

They had to face unfair, unwarranted and unbearable shame and stigma both inside the walls of the mother and baby homes and outside the walls from both state and society.

She added: The state has accepted its own responsibility for what happened to women and their children in mother and baby homes by firstly apologising and also setting up a payment scheme.

A process was put in place to seek a financial contribution towards the cost of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme from religious bodies associated with mother and baby and county home institutions.

While acknowledging the financial contribution by the Sisters of Bon Secours, I believe that much more could have been done by the other religious bodies concerned.

I would encourage other religious bodies to reflect further on their willingness to make a meaningful contribution to the payment scheme and note that my department is available to engage with them on this matter at any stage.

The department had been seeking a total combined contribution of 267.52 million euro (229 million) from the eight organisations.

Asked about compelling the religious orders to make further contributions, the minister said the Attorney General has been tasked with looking at what avenues are open to the Government going forward.

She said: That is a step that may well be taken.

The report states that the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul (DCSVP), which offered the making, was reluctant to make a financial contribution as it had provided 19 million euro (16.2 million) to the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme in respect of the St Patricks/Pelletstown institution.

It said the order was made up of employees and not trustees, that the Home was owned by the State, and that it needed to be in a position to fund its ongoing work.

The Sisters of St John of God said there was no basis  legal or moral  to demand it participate in the scheme as there was no evidence that our sisters there acted in any untoward manner. It said the donation was made on the basis that it was not presented as a contribution or as part of a moral or ethical obligation towards those survivors.

The Congregation of Lady of the Good Shepherd said it would not be making a contribution as it could not afford to and they did not believe they had an ethical or moral reason to do so, further stating that the report into the Dunboyne institution showed residents were well cared for.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary highlighted financial constraints, its responsibilities to its elderly members and duties oversees, and that it had provided roughly 25 million euro (21.3 million) in unpaid work to the homes through its sisters.

The Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy said county homes were public bodies that were never owned or governed by the CSM.

The Legion of Mary objected to its inclusion, arguing that the Regina Coeli Hostel was not a mother-and-baby home and was instead a homeless hostel operating outside of the system in recognition of failures of Irish society, the State and Irish families.

The Church of Ireland said it did not have institutional responsibility for the institutions mentioned in the report, and was neither the owner nor the operator of the homes. It further said it was unclear it had any legal or moral responsibility to make a contribution.
A cross-border healthcare scheme will be reinstated to help relieve hospital waiting list pressures in Northern Ireland, Mike Nesbitt has said.

The Health Minister told MLAs he wanted to proceed at pace with work on getting the reimbursement scheme up and running.

Before Brexit, the European Unions Cross-Border Health Directive was used to reimburse patients in Northern Ireland who were diagnosed with a clinical need and received treatment in another EU country.

This was later replaced by a direct scheme with the Republic of Ireland, which closed in 2022 due to lack of funding.

Hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland are currently the worst in the UK.

Mr Nesbitt was allocated 215 million in the recently agreed 2025/26 budget to attempt to deal with waiting list pressures.

During ministerial question time at the Northern Ireland Assembly, Sinn Fein MLA Orlaithi Flynn asked Mr Nesbitt if he had given any consideration to re-introducing a cross-border scheme.

He said: I most certainly have, yes.

There is 215 million broken into three pots of money  85 million for red flag cancer and urgent, then 80 million which is to stop the waiting lists growing any larger effectively. That is 165 million of the 215 million.

That is coming out of my budget, it is being ring-fenced by the Executive.

Tackling waiting lists is an Executive priority, I have no difficulty with that because I agree with it.

And then I am getting another 50 million in June monitoring if I can provide the right plan and I accept I need to be able to justify that spend.

Mr Nesbitt said a cocktail of measures would be needed to tackle the waiting lists crisis.

He said: There will be work that will be carried out by the health and social care trusts within the HSC system

Secondly, we will have to look to independent providers.

Thirdly, we will look to reinstate a cross-border scheme.

And we will be doing all that at pace and I will be meeting officials in the coming days to look at an options paper they are preparing for me in that regard.

Mr Nesbitt reminded MLAs that through the scheme patients would have to pay for their treatments in advance and then be reimbursed by his department.

He said: There is an equity issue that I am concerned about and that I want to see what might be done, with no guarantees, to try and mitigate the fact that there might be those who actually cant afford or cant find the means to find the money for the up-front payment.

The health minister added: We want to proceed at pace.

The cross-border scheme, I am being told, if we start next week, it could be another six to eight weeks before we are putting it in place where we start the machinery rocking.

That is getting well into this financial year and, like people who are on a waiting list, I am pretty impatient to get this done.

Ms Flynn, a member of Stormonts Health Committee, said the minister should explore all options to ensure patients get the care they need.

She said: This scheme previously enabled many patients on long waiting lists to access vital procedures  particularly knee and hip operations  which not only reduced waiting times but significantly improved quality of life for those individuals.

Given the proven success of the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive, I am pleased that the minister is taking steps to reinstate it.

SDLP health spokesman Colin McGrath also welcomed Mr Nesbitts comments.

He said: The cross-border health scheme, first introduced by the EU, helped thousands of people from both sides of the border access timely care in locations that suited their needs.

It was deeply regrettable that the scheme was allowed to end in 2022 due to a lack of funding and the absence of an executive, depriving people of vital care as waiting lists continued to grow.

From the day and hour this scheme ended the SDLP has been campaigning for its return and I welcome the commitment from the minister today.

We also share concerns that under the previous scheme patients had to pay upfront for their treatment and were then reimbursed. Any new scheme must address this imbalance.

Mr McGrath added: Its welcome that the minister is focusing on a solution that can quickly help people on both sides of the border access care.
There has been 1,376 incidents of shoplifting in Louth in 2024, an increase of 300% since 2003.

Between 2023 and 2024 alone, shoplifting in the Louth Garda division grew by 35%.

Theft and related offences continue to be the most frequently recorded crimes in Louth, with 673 incidents towards the end of 2024, an increase from 539 during the same time in 2023.

Shoplifting remains a significant issue, rising from 259 to 350 cases.

Vehicle thefts also saw an increase, with 97 incidents recorded in 2024 compared to 71 in 2023.

Burglary-related offences surged from 57 towards the end of 2023 to 87 towards the end of 2024.

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association estimated that retail crime costs retailers over of 1.62 billion each year.

Additionally, the Global Retail Theft Barometer indicates that Ireland has the highest cost per capita of retail crime (339.31) - significantly more than both second and third placed countries, Iceland and Denmark.

READ NEXT: Louth children make big impact on National Pyjama Day

Mr. Arnold Dillon, Director of Retail Ireland and IBEC board member said, "Business owners across Ireland are adversely affected by organised retail crime and shoplifting each year and can lose a significant amount in revenue as a result. Continuing to work in close partnership with Government and An Garda Siochana to address the challenges caused by retail theft is essential to the maintaining the strength of Irelands retail community.

Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ni Mhurchu is calling for the Government to introduce the Retail Crime Strategy, which was promised in the Programme for Government.



The Ireland South MEP has also called for other measures, stated below:
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) has been awarded its second international Athena SWAN Bronze Award by AdvanceHE in recognition of the Louth institute's commitment to advancing gender equality in academia, and in promoting diversity and inclusion for staff and students in higher education.

The Athena Swan Ireland Charter offers a framework for progressing gender equality in higher education and research.

It is run by Advance HE, which has worked in partnership with the sector for 10 years, supported by the Higher Education Authority.

Commending DkITs renewal of the award, Sarah Fink, Head of Athena Swan Ireland, said: This Bronze Athena Swan award highlights the fantastic commitment of Dundalk Institute of Technology in bringing about change through impactful and sustainable gender equality initiatives in higher education across Ireland. Congratulations to all those who work so hard to achieve and sustain this recognition.

DkIt says that the renewal of the prestigious award, first achieved by DkIT in 2021 is a testament to the Institutes continued commitment to advancing gender equality and having an inclusive culture among staff and students.

Welcoming the announcement, Dr Diarmuid OCallaghan, President of DkIT said: The Institutes Strategic Plan 2024-2028 embeds equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across all activities. We are very proud of what DkIT has achieved to date. Impressive progress has been made on implementing our Athena Swan plan and I look forward to seeing what our DkIT community will achieve next.

DkITs submission was developed by the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion officers Donna OConnor and Ciara OShea in collaboration with the Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Teams (SAT). The self- assessment teams were chaired by members of the Institute Executive Board, demonstrating the strong support of senior management for EDI.

Breda Brennan, Head of School of Engineering and Chair of the DkIT EDI Committee said: I am delighted that DkITs continued commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion has once again been recognised by the Athena Swan evaluation team. DkIT is committed to facilitating and driving changes which will remove any barriers to equality, diversity and inclusivity for both students and staff across campus.

She added, the engagement of staff and students across the institute has been fantastic and the desire to make positive changes towards an inclusive campus is one that is clearly shared by so many across DkIT.

In 2024, the School of Engineering became the first academic faculty in DkIT to be awarded an Athena Swan school-specific award, which was a fantastic recognition of the wonderful efforts to promote gender equality in the school.

Donna OConnor, a member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team at DkIT said: It is fantastic to be recognised with our second Athena Swan Award which is a testament to the hard work by teams across the institute to achieve gender equality in higher education and ensure an inclusive culture within our community. Since beginning our Athena Swan journey, we have made huge progress across a number of wonderful initiatives, and I cannot wait to see what we can collectively achieve next.

A number of initiatives across the institute were commended by the Athena Swan team. These included: The RiVeR project (where DkIT aims to become the national centre of excellence in the provision of education and training initiatives that includes active engagement in research, dissemination of information and capacity building in domestic, sexual and gender-based violence); the DkIT Loves STEM roadshow, which has reached around 1,000 students in two years; International Womens Day events; and the establishment of a Race Equality Committee and College of Sanctuary Working Group.

The Headstart Programme, which was developed with Louth Local Development and aimed at those thinking of going back to Higher Education, was also given a special mention by the judging team. The impact of this programme was recently recognised by the HEA, when DkIT was awarded 1 million in funding to support and recognise exemplary performance.

Jennie Rothwell, Centre of Excellence for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Higher Education Authority, said:

Action plans developed through the Athena Swan Ireland Charter enable higher education institutions and departments to take an evidence-based approach to addressing gender equality challenges. Congratulations to Dundalk Institute of Technology in taking this step forward to advance gender equality for all staff and students.
The fabulous duo of virtuoso fiddle player Fergal Scahill & TG4 Composer of the Year Ryan Molloy, are to make a return to the Oriel Centre at Dundalk Gaol, this Sunday 13 April for an Easter concert featuring tracks from their newest CD release The Gannets Dive.

There is no better way to get in the mood for the Easter break, than an evening with this massively talented pair, whose musical brilliance and soulful playing has astounded audiences worldwide.

The two renowned musicians are in town working with the highly acclaimed Nos Nua Folk Orchestra, who have featured on numerous TV productions in recent years, including Creedons Atlas Of Ireland, and released their own debut album Causeway in 2024.

Multi-instrumentalist Fergal Scahill is best known as the fiddle player in award winning band, We Banjo 3, recipients of the RTE Folk Awards Album of the Year 2018, Irish Times Album of the Year in 2012 and two No 1 albums on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts in the USA.

Fergal has performed in over 30 countries and recorded on over 40 albums with musicians from all over the world, including three solo albums, six albums with his band We Banjo 3, two albums with his band Freewheel and two successful charity albums for Pieta House & The Hope foundation collaborating with some of the greats of Irish music.

Ryan Molloys compositional and performance work sits at the boundary of contemporary classical music and traditional Irish music and is internationally recognised for its cross-genre innovation, musicality, and deep-rooted exploration of place and time.

Ryan has written over 50 works and his music has been performed to audiences on four continents. He has been commissioned by both RTE and the BBC, as well as a range of renowned performers such as Darragh Morgan, Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble & the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

Ryan has recorded on over twenty albums as a pianist, composer and arranger. He was honoured with the TG4 Graham Cheoil for Composer of the Year in 2024, and is an Associate Professor of Composition at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

An uplifting night of amazing music, fun and laughter is guaranteed at the Oriel Centre next Sunday evening with Ryan and Fergal. For all connoisseurs of Traditional Irish Music, this is a performance certainly not to be missed! Tickets available at www.orielcentre.ie
Early Childhood Ireland says it is thrilled to announce that an incredible 3,750 was raised by Early Years and School Age Care settings in Louth during National Pyjama Day 2024.

Over 1500 excited children and educators in 26 Early Years and School Age Care settings across Louth donned their favourite pyjamas to take part in this unique fundraiser in late November 2024. Through teddy bear picnics, sing-alongs, and lots of storytelling fun, their generous families and settings raised vital funds to make a meaningful difference for other children across Ireland.

This year, the funds raised will go towards supporting Sensational Kids, an award-winning social enterprise that works with children who have sensory processing challenges, and Early Childhood Irelands Eco-Emotions project, which empowers educators and parents with the tools they need to support children in caring for themselves, their communities, and the planet.

Since the first National Pyjama Day in 2003, over 4.5 million has been raised for a host of charitable causes that support babies and children all over Ireland.

Read next: Countdown underway for the 2025 Dundalk Show

Commenting on the success of National Pyjama Day, Teresa Heeney, CEO of Early Childhood Ireland, said, Were thrilled to announce the significant funds raised in Louth during National Pyjama Day 2024, a campaign that continues to inspire generosity and community spirit. These contributions will create lasting, positive change for children, and were immensely grateful to our members in Louth for making the day so special for the children and their generous families.

Karen Leigh, CEO of Sensational Kids, said, We are thrilled that Sensational Kids was selected as a charity partner for National Pyjama Day 2024. This wonderful initiative embodies the spirit of children helping children, making a real impact in young lives. Thank you to Early Childhood Ireland and all who took part for helping to create inclusive learning spaces for all children to thrive.

Chief Executive of Community Foundation Ireland, Denise Charlton, commented, National Pyjama Day is a unique coming together of children, parents, and members of Early Childhood Ireland to have a positive impact on children's lives. A huge showing of generosity that makes a real difference for the youngest among us. All of us at the Community Foundation are incredibly proud to contribute to this partnership.
Gardai have made a renewed appeal on the 20th anniversary of the murder of art student Emer OLoughlin in Co Clare.

Detectives have said they believe that a man they want to speak to in connection with the killing in Ballybornagh, Tubber, is still alive.

On April 8 2005, human remains were discovered in a mobile home close to where Ms OLoughlin, 23, lived with her boyfriend.

The mobile home, which belonged to John Griffin, had been completely destroyed by fire.

The remains were later identified as being Ms OLoughlins.

Griffin went missing 10 days after the fire at the mobile home.

He was spotted going to Inis Mor in the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland, where his clothes were later found on a cliff top.

But it was believed to be an attempt to fake his own suicide.

Interpol later named him on their most wanted list.

On May 19 2010 investigating gardai exhumed Ms OLoughlins remains, which were then removed to University Hospital Galway where forensic anthropology tests were conducted.

The tests indicated that she had died a violent death, and the investigation was upgraded to murder.

A spokesperson said: Investigating gardai are hopeful that the public can assist with efforts to trace John Griffin, formerly of the Mervue area of Galway City.

The last confirmed sighting of him was on the Aran Island of Inis Mor.

Gardai believe that John Griffin may have information that will assist them and are eager to interview him as part of the investigation.

This year is the 20th year since Emers death and her family are still struggling to come to terms with her loss and are asking for your assistance in order to bring them closure.

If you believe you may be in a position to bring closure and get justice for them, gardai would like to hear from you.

Griffin was known as Fozzie.

The spokesperson said: Investigating gardai believe that John Griffin is still alive and at the time of his disappearance he was assisted by a person or persons unknown in leaving the island of Inis Mor.

Gardai have never received a missing person report in respect of John Griffin.

Extensive searches were conducted along the coastline following the finding of his clothing, however he has never been sighted nor has his body ever been recovered.

John Griffin is described as being 180cm in height (5ft 11in), and now 57 years of age.

He is of a slight build and bald on the top of his head. He often sported a beard, which was shaved off on occasion.

He has a distinctive Egyptian Eye of Horus tattoo on his throat area.

He speaks with a local accent.
Irelands deputy premier Simon Harris has travelled to Washington DC for a meeting with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, a key critic of the Irish Governments fiscal policies.

Mr Harris flew to the US on Tuesday night for meetings with economic and business stakeholders.

Over the course of Wednesday, he is due to hold several further meetings on Capitol Hill to discuss Irelands economic, trade and foreign policy priorities.

He will also meet with Mr Lutnick on trade and investment relations, mentioning the US-Irish economic relationship which sustains 400,000 jobs.

The commerce secretary has been a key figure in US President Donald Trumps tariff plans.

Mr Lutnick, who has described Ireland as his favourite tax scam, told a podcast last month: They have all of our (intellectual property) for all our great tech companies and great pharma companies.

They all put it there because its low tax. They dont pay us, they pay them, so that is going to end.

He has also said on social media that it is nonsense that Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus at our expense.

Pharmaceuticals were exempt from the sweeping 20% tariffs imposed on EU exports to the US earlier this month, but could be subject to further measures taken by the Trump administration.

Mr Harris held a late-night call with Mr Lutnick a number of weeks ago, which the Fine Gael leader described as a useful opportunity to exchange views.

Speaking about his US visit, the Tanaiste said: We are here to keep the lines of communications open with US political and business leaders as well as share insights and engage.

During the visit I will be emphasising our desire to find a negotiated solution between the EU and US on tariffs and that I am fully supportive of Commissioner Sefcovics work.

I will make the point that the European Union is ready right now to negotiate.

We have a team on standby to travel to DC to begin negotiations between the EU and the US to find a way forward.

He added: In a complex and unpredictable global economic environment, direct bilateral engagement with the United States is one of my priorities.

A particular focus of discussions will be the transatlantic economic and trade relationship between Ireland, the EU and the United States.

I hope the trip will provide for an opportunity to gain further insight into the administrations thinking on their next steps.

Mr Harris, who is also Irelands foreign affairs and trade minister, will also engage with US figures on Ukraine and the Middle East as well as discussions with the British government on legacy issues in Northern Ireland and on ending paramilitarism.

He said: US support has been so significant over many decades in underpinning peace and reconciliation on this island, and remains essential.
Sri Lankas 6th Periodic Review under the ICCPR to be held in Geneva

Sri Lankas 6th Periodic Review under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) will be held on 8 and 9 March 2023 in Geneva.

It is recalled that Sri Lanka acceded to the ICCPR on 11 June 1980. Currently, 173 countries have ratified the ICCPR. In addition to the implementation of the Covenant, all States Parties to the Covenant have undertaken a voluntary obligation to submit periodic reports to the Committee and participate in periodic reviews.

Accordingly, Sri Lanka has submitted 5 Periodic Reports in 1983, 1990, 1994, 2003 and 2013 and has participated in 5 Reviews in 1983, 1991, 1995, 2003 and 2014.

The 6th Report was submitted on 22 February 2019 to the Human Rights Committee. The Human Rights Committee is a body comprised of 18 independent experts that monitor the implementation of the ICCPR. The Reviews of all countries are conducted by the Committee.

At the request of Sri Lanka, the 6th Review will be conducted in hybrid format and will be led by Sri Lankas Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Himalee Arunatilaka. The Sri Lanka delegation also comprises senior officials from the Presidential Secretariat, Ministry of Public Security, Attorney-Generals Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva participating in person. Senior officials from Colombo will join the Review virtually representing the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment, Ministry of Health, Department of Prisons, Department of Police, Office on Missing Persons (OMP), Office on Reparations (OR) and Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR).

In addition to Sri Lanka, the following countries will also be reviewed by the Human Rights Committee during its 137th session to be held from 27 February to 24 March 2023: Egypt, Turkmenistan, Zambia, Peru, and Panama.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

06 March 2023
The owner of a number of convenience stores in Cork city centre has described current efforts to counter a growth of shoplifting as fighting a losing battle, telling The Echo that 250 worth of alcohol was being stolen every week from his Patrick St store, despite investing 250,000 in security annually.

Kevin Herlihy, who owns a number of Centra shops, was speaking to after figures released by the Central Statistics Office showing a significant increase in the number of shoplifting offences in Cork between 2003 and 2024 were highlighted by Fianna Fail MEP Cynthia Ni Mhurchu as she called for tougher sentences for offenders.

There were 1,440 recorded incidents of shoplifting in the Cork city garda division in 2003. This rose to 2,682 recorded incidents of shoplifting in Cork city in 2024, an increase of 86%.

Cork city saw a 26.7% increase in shoplifting between 2023 and 2024 alone.

Mr Herlihy has said these figures reflect what his city centre shops are experiencing.

Its gone completely out of hand, its just crazy  the last year or two years, its mad, he said.

We are spending a quarter of a million euro a year now on security in our city centre stores, Mr Herlihy said.

We have security there seven nights a week in most of the stores. We have to, for the safety of our staff.

I have about 100 people working for me inside in the stores and, to be fair to them, theyre very vigilant and theyre very good.

Were trying our best to alleviate the situation, but unfortunately were fighting a losing battle because they get caught, they get arrested, they get put in jail and theyre out in a few hours and theyre back doing it again.

Its very disheartening and utterly demotivating for me and my staff when we see that happening.

Elsewhere in Cork, in the North Cork garda division, there were 207 recorded incidents of shoplifting in 2003.

This figure rose by 129% to 474 recorded incidents in the division by 2024.

The number of shoplifting incidents remained fairly steady between 2023 and 2024 in North Cork, only registering an increase of 0.6% year-on-year.

According to the new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), there were 88 recorded incidents of shoplifting in the West Cork garda division in 2003.

This rose to 144 recorded incidents of shoplifting in West Cork by 2024, an increase of 64%.

The CSO recorded a 10.5% decrease in shoplifting offences in the West Cork garda division between 2023 and 2024.

Amongst the measures Ms Ni Mhurchu is calling for to address the issue of shoplifting is for the Government to introduce the Retail Crime Strategy mentioned in the programme for government.

She is also calling for a number of other measures such as mandatory prison sentences for people who have been caught shoplifting on more than one occasion.

The Ireland South MEP also said that the practice of retail defamation should be ended. This would mean that people stopped by a retail worker on suspicion of shoplifting could not be sued as long as the retail worker had a bona fide suspicion that theft had taken place.

The MEP said that retailers had told her they were sick of what they called the revolving door justice system for shoplifters.

The CSO shoplifting figures indicate a dramatic trend upwards in shoplifting offences across most counties in Ireland.

Some of the biggest jumps in the year between 2003 and 2024 occurred in countries including Tipperary, Wexford, Wicklow, Kildare, and Limerick.

The MEP praised the gardai in West Cork and other divisions where there had been a reduction in recorded incidents of shoplifting between 2023 and 2024, attributing this to more focused garda actions of late.
Alan OCarroll, Shandon and Luke Telford, Ballincollig, at the ARC Cinema for a sold out event on the big screen streaming Cork City v Derry City. Picture: Alison Miles

Open day at centre

Blackpool Community Centre is gearing up to showcase all that is great about it and showcase its fantastic breadth of activities and groups.

Open Day at Blackpool Community Centre will take place on Wednesday, from 12- 2pm. The event is part of the Lifelong Learning Festival.

A spokesperson said: An exhibition [will take place] of all the wonderful activities we host and do in the Centre, such as the Over 60s Club, youth club, yoga, citizens information centre, regeneration group, mens shed, knitting class, computer classes and much more.

The centre is also home scores of local groups that are active in the local area and has a wide range of classes across its Monday to Friday opening hours. For information see: www.facebook.com/BlackpoolCommunityCentre2023/

Artists chance to show work

Two theatres are teaming up to give young artists an opportunity to showcase their work.

Are you an early-career theatre artist or theatre company based in Cork?

Do you have a production in development or an idea brewing?

You may be eligible to apply for CATALYST  a collaboration between Cork Arts Theatre and The Everyman, which aims to provide a platform for the work of early career theatre artists in the city, and an opportunity for them to develop their practice in a professional context. Applications require an email to outline the proposed work, including CVs of any artists attached to the project, as well as a draft budget to catalyst@corkartstheatre.com The closing date is Thursday, April 24, at 6pm. In 2024, the winners presented their work on stage at the CAT club. The first production featured Amber Deasys new play, The Dream Cant Wait, with actors Imogen Deasy and Jack OShaughnessy, while the second featured Mollie Savage & Ben Holman in their production of Eurydice.

Laura Power and Conor Quinlan at Quinlans Bar, Blackpool, Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins

Council launch Shandon Integrated Urban Strategy

Cork City Council has launched the Shandon Integrated Urban Strategy (IUS), an action-based roadmap for the sustainable and heritage led regeneration of the Shandon area over the coming years. The IUS was drafted in partnership with the Shandon Neighbourhood Team and Consultancy Team, and followed extensive consultation including two consultation events, an online survey, and targeted engagements with local businesses, schools and community groups.

Lord Mayor Dan Boyle said: The Shandon Integrated Urban Strategy represents a significant milestone for our city. This strategy puts forward Shandons wealth of heritage as an asset in its future growth and development. The coming together of the various participants with their shared knowledge and passion or the area has been instrumental in ensuring a citizen led strategy for the whole community going forwards The Shandon IUS identifies 36 actions under the four themes of Heritage, Living Neighbourhood & Climate Resilience, Community & Arts and Business & Tourism. The actions range from small to larger scale interventions which can be progressed by a number of identified stakeholders including Cork City Council directorates, public sector bodies, community groups and associations, charitable organisations and business groups. Successful implementation will rely on continued community support and action, Cork City Council leadership, several funding streams and sustained private investment.

Amongst the actions set out in the Shandon IUS, are several strategic regeneration proposals which emerged as priorities through the consultation process: The Butter Market and Weighmasters House Complex; St Annes Church and Dr Mary Hearn Parks; The Revitalisation of Shandon Street.

Chief executive of Cork City Council, Valerie OSullivan, said: The strategy will be utilised as a resource for all stakeholders and to support funding applications for the actions identified in order to deliver tangible results over the coming years. We look forward to working in partnership to drive the development of Shandon and build it as a destination of choice with wide-ranging appeal for residents and visitors alike.

The strategy has been delivered through the Town Centre First Heritage Revival Scheme (THRIVE) Strand 1. The Shandon IUS is available to view on Cork City Councils website at https://www.corkcity.ie/en/council-services/services/planning/thrive/

History talk on Wednesday

Shandon Area History Group will hold a history talk on Wednesday in Coffa House at 7.30pm.

The subject is William OBrien M.P. and the speaker on the night is Ger ORourke, author and historian. All are welcome to attend.

Courtesy visit to bishop

The Lord Mayor of Cork recently paid a courtesy visit to Bishop Fintan Gavin, Bishop of Cork and Ross at the Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne. The Lord Mayor was accompanied by Brian Geaney, assistant chief executive, Cork City Council. Also present was Canon John ODonovan, Co-PP and moderator of the Cathedral Family of Parishes.

Have Blackpool, Shandon and Ballyvolane news to share? Contact robert.mcnamare@theecho.ie
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said that the EU will have to negotiate with the US to see stability brought back to the world economy following US president Donald Trumps widespread tariffs.

Speaking to The Echo yesterday, Mr Martin said that the European Commission will in all likelihood produce a list of counter measures with the aim of alleviating pressure imposed by the 20% tariff on imports from the EU, which was announced last week.

I believe we should engage with the US, [and that] the EU should be transparent in terms of what could happen, said Mr Martin.

In other words, the [European] Commission will, in all likelihood, produce a list of potential countermeasures.

They must be designed strategically and, insofar as possible, not bring more damage onto the European economy.

The only way to ease the carnage on the stock markets is for a negotiated pathway between the US and the EU, he added.

Mr Martin said it would be a signal for stability if the EU and the US could engage in negotiations to get to a reasonable settlement in these circumstances.

A trade and tariff war would damage everybody  already the world economy is being damaged, already investments are being paused, so it is not good for the world economy.

Europe has the resources to respond, and will respond, but ultimately it has to be a negotiated pathway if we want to see stability brought back to the world economy.

Tanaiste Simon Harris, who travelled to Luxembourg yesterday to attend a meeting of EU trade ministers, said that the EU does not want to get into tit-for-tat tariffs with the US. He said that there is a need for a calm and measured response from the EU, and that the Irish Government will keep supports for businesses under review.

I really think economics is on our side here, and no matter whos in the White House, no matter what anybodys ideological view is, a trading relationship of 1.6 trillion between the EU and the US really matters, said Mr Harris.

Were beginning to already see the US markets  and I think people in the United States themselves  begin to convey that to their administration.

It is important to stay calm [and] to take this step by step.

Mr Harris will travel to Washington DC today for engagements with the US administration.

I really believe that if people get around the table, a way forward can be found, he said.

This is a trading relationship that matters, and Europe has been very clear  were up for a deal.
A woman who stole clothing from Tesco in Mahon Point was jailed for two months.

It was the 42nd time that she was caught stealing. As well as previous convictions for theft she had 79 other convictions, Sergeant John Kelleher said at Cork District Court.

Emma Minihane of Marina View, Victoria Road, Cork, appeared before the court where she pleaded guilty to carrying out the theft.

Sergeant Kelleher said the crime was committed at Tesco in Mahon Point shopping centre on February 7, 2024.

Ms Minihane entered the store and selected various items of clothing which she concealed in a bag and left the store without paying for them.

She was stopped outside by staff and all of the property was recovered and it was in a saleable condition, Sgt Kelleher said.

Aoife Buttimer, defence solicitor, said the 33-year-old had longstanding addiction difficulties but was addressing these issues in prison.

Ms Buttimer said that Ms Minihane was due for release from another sentence in May and was anxious to take up drug treatment at Coolmine as soon as possible after her release from prison.

Judge Mary Dorgan imposed a sentence of two months on the accused which will run concurrently with the longer sentence which she is serving for an unrelated crime.
The jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering his wife by slashing her throat at their home in Wilton asked this morning to see again the CCTV evidence of the accused purchasing a carving knife two days before his wifes death.

Arrangements were made to have this CCTV evidence replayed in the jury room as part of their second day of deliberations in the case.

43-year-old Regin Parithapara Rajan, denies the single charge of murdering his wife, 38-year-old Deepa Paruthiyezhuth Dinamani at their home at Cardinal Court, Wilton, Cork, on July 14 2023.

The jury went out shortly after noon yesterday and deliberated until after 4pm.

Prosecution senior counsel Sean Gillane urged the jury to examine the evidence of the accused man purchasing the carving knife two days before his wifes death and to consider the Google searches made by Regin Rajan including searches in relation to carving knives and prison conditions in Ireland before July 14 2023.

The accused testified during the trial that he purchased the knife because his late wife asked him to get one.

Defence senior counsel Brian McInerney said to the jury: It is a tragic case, it an awful case, a human life has been lost but I would urge you to consider this is not a cold-blooded intentional killing, it is not murder. Whatever it is, it is not murder. I urge you not to find him guilty of murder.

The jury of seven women and five men was sworn in for the trial which commenced a fortnight ago on March 24 at the Central Criminal Court in Cork.

Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford told members of the jury panel at the courthouse in March that they should be available until April 11 as the trial could last in excess of two weeks.

The deceased worked in the accounts section of Alter Domus fund services at Cork Airport Business Park. The deceased and the accused both came from Kerala in south-west India.
Seven women and five men took five hours and seven minutes of deliberations across two days to reach their unanimous verdict that 43-year-old Regin Rajan murdered his wife  38-year-old Deepa Dinamani by slashing her throat at their home in Wilton  only four months after their arrival in Ireland.

Regin Parithapara Rajan, now faces the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murdering his wife, Deepa Paruthiyezhuth Dinamani at their home at Cardinal Court, Wilton, Cork, on July 14 2023.

In the short time they spent in Cork before July 2023 and for a period before that again in their home state of Kerala in India, Deepa wanted a divorce but Regin would not let her go, according to the evidence in the trial.

Because no sentence is possible other than life imprisonment it might have been imposed today but prosecution senior counsel Sean Gillane indicated that the deceased womans only sibling  her brother Ullas Dinamani  made it known that he wanted to be present by video link from India for the sentencing.

Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford understood that this was very important and said, He needs to be here.

For that, and for other logistical reasons, sentencing was then adjourned until May 2.

There was no discernible reaction to the verdict from the accused who appeared in court today  and every day of the trial  in a navy suit with collar and tie.

Regin Rajan had an A4 pad on the bench in front of him throughout the trial and he took notes a great deal of the time, passing many pages to his legal team throughout the case.

The one note he wrote which took a central place in the prosecution evidence was the one he left on the bedside table where gardai also found the bloodstained murder weapon and wedding ring, as the body of the deceased lay on the bloodsoaked bed at her home, wrapped in a duvet.

Crime scene examiner, Detective Garda John Twomey, read the note which was found and it was addressed to the couples five-year-old child: I love you so much. Please forgive me for what I did as your mum was having

The detective said at this point in his reading of the note that it said something he could not make out and he then read, and his name was Jay.

999 CALL

And there were other confessions made by the accused on the day of the murder. A recording of the 999 call was played to the jury. As soon as the 999 call was answered by the person who would allocate it to gardai or other emergency services, the caller is heard saying, I killed my wife, that is why I am phoning you.

The call was immediately referred to gardai.

When he was put through to garda control room, the caller said, I killed my wife.

He told two friends and a housemate the same thing.

And outside the house that evening as he knelt on the ground in handcuffs he had this to say to Detective Garda Kenneth Lawton: She was cheating on me. She was having an affair and he lives in London. I just found out today. I saw the messages that were on her phone (details of passwords) and I could not tolerate it. It was very ugly messages.

I just stabbed her with a knife in the throat, she was cheating on me, I could not tolerate that. I will take any sentence. I committed a crime. I could not take this. She was the love of my life.

And this is the second time, sorry to say. I was in depression and family life was not good. I lost 15 kgs in the last two months.

It was good until two months ago. When I knew she was chatting with someone, that is when I became depression.

I did not do it deliberately. After seeing those messages I did that, sorry to say. The man with whom the late Ms Dinamani was texting for a few weeks before her death said that in fact they had never met each other. And on the website through which they met she openly described herself as a mother of a five-year-old boy who was separated but not divorced.

CCTV

CCTV evidence was also given of what Detective Garda Dave Hickey described as the purchase of the potential murder weapon two days earlier.

Today the jury asked to see this CCTV evidence again. It showed the accused man at lunchtime on Wednesday July 12 2023  two days before the murder - purchasing in his local Tesco at Wilton Shopping Centre a Go Cook brand kitchen knife for 16, along with a bottle of Jameson whiskey and a bottle of flavoured water. He brought a re-usable plastic shopping bag, paid by Revolut and tapped his Tesco Clubcard.

State pathologist Linda Mulligan said the main injury was a 14 cm horizontal cut across the neck of the deceased, gaping to 4 cm. and she concluded that death was due to blood loss, complicated by inhalation of blood due to an incised wound to the neck.

But as well as the prosecution evidence the jury also had to consider the testimony of the accused man who opted to give evidence.

Despite his admissions on the day of the murder and even the reasons he gave for his brutal actions, he pleaded not guilty and described what happened as a tragic accident.

She took the knife from the table, I think, I am not sure, and told me to go back. The knife was the one I purchased two days back. My immediate reaction was to take the knife from her. I took the knife. We had a struggle. The knife was in my hand. And falling down, her throat got cut. There was blood everywhere. Such a shock for me. I dont know what to do.

My initial reaction was, I dont know what to do, to be frank. I just tried to stop the blood from the neck. I dont know. My mind was blank. I cannot think straight. I dont know.

I never had any intention to stab her I never thought my wife was going to hide my passport (which he wanted in order to travel back to India) and tells me I can go back to India when she comes back from Dublin. I never had an intention to harm her in any way, not even to give her a slap.

To get the passport back I went into the room, just my passport, nothing else. I wish I can turn back the clock. I wish she is alive, he said and cried.

He claimed that when he entered his wifes room that day she was dressed only in a t-shirt and was holding her phone in her hand and then picked up the knife and told him to get out. He said during his evidence that he always loved her.

The jury did not accept this version of events and instead were unanimous in accepting the evidence of the garda investigation, led by Detective Inspector Jason Lynch, as they found Regin Rajan guilty of murdering a woman who was variously described during the trial as outgoing, successful, confident and bubbly. Ullas Dinamani described his only sibling as ambitious, very studious, really good-humoured and a great sister.
Two teenage boys broke down in tears in the Central Criminal Court as they were found guilty of their different parts in the sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl in a car at Limerick Races at Christmas 2022.

One was found guilty of rape and sexual assault, carried out when he was aged 15.

The other, who was also aged 15 at the time, was found guilty of aiding and abetting this accused, and a 13-year-old who was convicted yesterday of rape and sexual assault.

The teenager who was found guilty of aiding and abetting was found not guilty on another charge  that of falsely imprisoning the 16-year-old girl in the car.

All three will be held in detention until they come back before the court for sentencing by Mr Justice Paul McDermott on April 28.

All of the guilty verdicts by the 11-person jury were by a 10-1 majority.

One juror was discharged due to illness during the trial, which proceeded in front of a jury of nine women and two men.

The jury commenced its deliberations last Friday, and spent a total of 10 hours and 46 minutes considering its verdicts against the three accused teenagers.

At the outset, the jurors were told that they were, in effect, dealing with three separate trials, as there were three defendants in the case.

Closing speeches

During the closing speeches by the prosecution and the defence lawyers and in the judges charge to the jury they were told that, in effect, they should think of the case as three trials as there were three different defendants, and that the cases were simply being held together as a matter of convenience when it commenced on March 11.

One of the 12 jurors sworn in on that date had become ill during the trial and was discharged from hearing the case against three teenagers.

The incidents occurred in a car in a field car park at Limerick Racecourse at Patrickswell, County Limerick, on December 26, 2022.

Defence senior counsels, Tom Creed, Vincent Heneghan, and Brian McInerney, for the three defendants, said the prosecution had not reached the point of proving any of the counts beyond reasonable doubt.

The defence also said that, by the complainants own account, she did consent to some interaction that afternoon.

They argued that, while the prosecution said it was consent up to a point, it was not clear where that point was.

The events in the car relate to a period of somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes, the prosecution alleged.

However, prosecution senior counsel Dean Kelly said the three defendants acted as a group in carrying out the offences with which they were charged.

Mr Kelly said: These boys acted as a group, each of them taking what they wanted from her physically and sexually in the way they went, whether she wanted to or not.

From the time those three boys are in the car they are acting as a single unit.

[Name] moves the car  he says he just wanted to go for a drive.

That is inherent nonsense. It was so that whatever was going on in the car was going to be done away from prying eyes.

This is a group working together. [Name of driver] is an enthusiastic member of the group who achieves his own sexual gratification.

Mr Kelly said that, while there were some inconsistencies and contradictions between the accounts given by the three accused in garda interviews, there were essentially two broad narratives in the case  one from the complainant and the other from the three accused.

He said that, in her account, the complainant goes to the races with her friends at the age of 16, goes drinking, gets significantly drunk, ends up in the company of the three boys and that as an ordinary part of teenage life she consensually kisses the 13-year-old and consents, but that her consent is only up to a very certain point.

Mr Kelly said that is her narrative, and then there is what they have to say  what they tell the gardai in lurid technicolour in almost pornographic terms.

[In their account] within moments of entering the car she is in total control of an orgy, she is portrayed as actively, sexually voracious, insatiable, controlling, demanding at every turn. That is what you are asked to consider as quite reasonably true.

Those are the narratives in broad outline  a young girl consenting to low-level intimacy, and on the other hand she is described as sexually voracious.

Mr Justice McDermott excused the jurors from further jury service for a period of 10 years and said it was not an easy case and they had given it careful consideration, for which he thanked them.

- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.
Foreign Minister concludes working visit to South Africa

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry, accompanied by the Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, concluded the 3 day working visit to South Africa from 21-25 March 2023.

It is recalled that the Cabinet of Ministers in January this year approved the concept of a Truth and Reconciliation mechanism as proposed by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Reconciliation, which is chaired by President Wickremesinghe. The proposed concept states that an independent, domestic mechanism of truth seeking is identified as a meaningful way for Sri Lanka to advance and secure peace, after the countrys arduous journey of ending conflict of three decades. The Cabinet also authorized the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Justice to operationalize this concept and to initiate discussions and facilitate the drafting of a Truth and Reconciliation law. It is in support of this process, the current visit took place at the invitation of the South African Government.

During the visit, the two Ministers paid a Courtesy Call on the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and held bilateral meetings with the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Naledi Pandoor and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional and Constitutional Development Ronald Lamola. They also met with former South African President Thabo Mbeki as well as Roelf Meyer, former Minister of Constitutional Development and one of the chief negotiators, along with President Ramaphosa, for the end of apartheid in South Africa and paving the way to the first democratic elections in the country. Meetings were also held with officials from the Public Prosecutions Office of South Africa, the Pan African Bar Association of South Africa, Freedom park, In Transformation Initiative and the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.

During the call on President Ramaphosa, the South African President warmly recalled his friendship with President Wickremesinghe and said that he wishes to further consolidate the bilateral relations with Sri Lanka. He further stated that South Africa is committed to sharing their experiences in relation to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with a view to assisting Sri Lanka in the reconciliation process.

Foreign Minister Sabry and Minister Pandoor exchanged views on important bilateral issues as well as the current situation in Sri Lanka. Minister Sabry especially briefed the South African Minister on the progress being made by the Government of Sri Lanka with regard to national efforts on reconciliation and the promotion and protection of human rights. While acknowledging that the South African model would need to be adapted to the Sri Lankan context, both Ministers agreed to work together in sharing experiences and expertise in developing the contours of a truth-seeking mechanism that would best suit the needs of the Sri Lankan people.

The interactions with the South African Minister of Justice and other experts provided valuable insights with regard to the South African experience in the establishment of their Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

28 March 2023

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Normally, when entering a church like St Marys on Popes Quay, your eye is drawn upwards.

The large limestone columns urge you to look to the cross on top of the building or the vaulted ceilings inside.

But last week, a crew of curious people gathered outside of the church, eyes firmly cast downwards, marvelling at the ancient life beneath our feet.

As part of Corks Lifelong Learning Festival, I had the pleasure to partake in a Fossil Walk enthusiastically led by UCCs Professor of Paleontology Maria McNamara.

The sun was sparkling on the river at high tide and provided the perfect illumination for us to ooh and aah at the swirly lines in the Liscannor limestone flagstones outside St Marys Church.

These are not pretty patterns by a creative human hand, but are, amazingly, the trace fossils left by burrowing prehistoric creatures called arthropods that lived around 305 million years ago.

Back then, this rock was estuarine muddy material located in a huge delta somewhere south of the equator, and creatures that look a bit like large woodlouses were busy digging through the mud.

Standing in Cork on a bright April day in 2025 and hearing this 305-million-year-old story was a moment of shared wonder for the group.

The walk was organised by Irelands Fossil Heritage, a group of paleontologists who are helping to make connections between this countrys natural landscapes and our mysterious ancient past through school workshops, public events like the Carnival of Science, and fossil walks.

I never noticed that before

The wonder continued.

In the impressive limestone church columns, McNamara pointed out the fossils of crinoids - ancient ancestors of sea urchins. This type of limestone is actually called fossiliferous limestone because it contains copious fossils. Once these features are pointed out, we all start spotting and pointing ourselves, astonished that this secret world of fossils was right under our noses all this time.

A veil of fossil ignorance has been lifted!

Onwards we traipsed to the Arc Cinema on North Main Street, clad in jura limestone, from the Jurassic period dont you know.

It might have looked like we were trying to decide as a group what film to go see, but in fact, we were marvelling again - this time at the outline of an ammonite - a fossil cousin of a modern-day squid - which is so distinct, once pointed out, that I cant believe Ive walked past this building a million times and never noticed it.

Later, we all stared into the blackish limestone gutters of North Main Street, oohing and aahing as, what we thought were just white blemishes (or maybe even a splodge of bird poo) were revealed to be fantastic examples of brachiopods - animals a bit like a sea mussel but 350 million years old.

To look at those familiar white rings (which always reminded me of coffee cup stains) and realise they are evidence of ancient life is kind of profound. And makes the medieval archaeology and history that North Main Street is so famous for feel like mere moments ago by comparison.

A trip to Lidl will never be the same again

Humans have long been interested in the hints of creatures and life that appeared in rocks.

Leonardo da Vinci witnessed rocks in the Alps that contained the skeletons of what looked like marine creatures to him, and correctly deduced that it meant the rock must have moved position from its original location in the sea.

This was 300 years before the formal science of palaeontology and geology began putting definite ages on rocks and the ancient remnants of creatures found within them.

At the entrance to Lidl in the Cornmarket Centre, three types of black, red and beige limestone are laid. Da Vinci himself might have been familiar with the rust-coloured Rosso Verona limestone as it can be found in northern Italy. The Romans were fans of it too.

You might have lugged your weekly shop across this floor and failed to spot the enormous sea snail fossil embedded in this stunning rock. But once its pointed out to you, its hard to ignore.

The next time youre near the Cornmarket Centre, take a moment to pause - put down your bags and scan the floor. You might be standing on a relic of prehistory.

The piece de resistance of the tour was the final stop outside the new Eason shop on Patrick Street. Its a fantastically restored building now clad in beautiful Kilkenny marble with an astonishing array of fossils on display.

There are teeny coral fossils the size of a fingertip and there is a giant cross-section of a coral fossil that you can easily envisage growing at the bottom of the sea a couple of hundred million years ago.

For passing onlookers, our fossil appreciating walking group must have been quite the sight - grown adults closely inspecting the wall of a church, cinema, gutters, and now our noses mere millimetres from the surface of bookshop.

But the fossils are truly astonishing and humbling to behold.

The immense age of the rocks and fossils and the enormous forces that have forged them put the plight of humans in perspective. We are mere blips on the timeline of life.

If you are interested in having your eyes opened up to the world of fossils, the Irish Fossil Heritage group are holding an event in the Grand Parade library today, Tuesday, April 8. Theyre also launching the Great Irish Fossil Hunt, asking the public to start spotting fossils throughout the country.

If you see fossils, take a picture and submit it to the UCC Great Irish Fossil Hunt website.

Later this year, organisers will produce a new fossil map of Ireland - one built by the beady-eyed observations of everyday fossil hunters.
By Rebecca Black, PA

The government has been accused of wasting more than seven years in an inquest into the death of a dissident republican.

Kieran Doherty, 31, was found dead on the Braehead Road in Derry, close to the border of the Republic, on February 24th, 2010. He had been kidnapped, stripped, bound and shot.

He was reported to have been involved with the dissident republican group the Real IRA, which claimed responsibility for his death.

A number of preliminary hearings have taken place ahead of a full inquest into his death, however, those involved are waiting for information from An Garda Siochana and the Chief State Solicitors Office (CSSO).

Laganside Court complex in Belfast. (Liam McBurney/PA)

A preliminary hearing on Tuesday morning heard a letter dated April 7th had been received from the CSSO, which sets out a procedure under the 2019 International Co-operation Act around a request for witness evidence.

Ian Skelt KC, counsel to Coroner Brian Sherrard, described it as a matter of concern.

It is not witnesses that you are seeking but material, and there has been quite a long history of your office corresponding and interacting with the CSSO, seeking material, and it may be something of a surprise that weve received this letter, framed as it is, as a request for witness evidence without specifically referring to material, and there had been ongoing correspondence about the supply of material, he said.

Mr Sherrard said it will be very difficult for the inquest to proceed without first knowing what material, if anything, gardai may hold concerning Mr Doherty and the circumstances around his death.

Stephen Toal KC, acting for the Doherty family, said they feel they are back to square one with the last seven-and-a-half years having been wasted.

He said the coroners office cannot be faulted, having first contacted the southern authorities about the case in 2017 and having done everything to bring it to this point.

However, seven-and-a-half years have now been wasted, and after all that time, the Irish state is still silent on what information they hold, he told the hearing.

Its unfortunate to say this, but it is either incompetence or it is deliberate, and it follows a familiar pattern to all of us who deal with cases in this area.

Mr Toal said there were similar delays and years wasted in the inquest into the death of GAA official Sean Brown.

GAA official Sean Brown (Liam McBurney/PA)

There seems to be a fault in the system, and recent examples only make that worse. We have the Dublin Monaghan bombings case where the Irish government was asked by the Police Ombudsman to deliver relevant files, and just like this case seven years passed and nothing was done, and those victims had to bring judicial review proceedings down in Dublin to force this issue, he said.

We also know that this Irish government have refused to establish a parallel inquiry into the Omagh bomb, and all of those things lead this Doherty family to conclude that this Irish government are simply not making any effort and trying to avoid accountability by whatever means, and that is a matter of grave concern to them.

As things stand, the Doherty family have now spent 15 years waiting for the truth. At one end, you have the British government and MI5, whose role as we all know in this inquest into this death is dealt with in a report by Lord Carlisle, and at the other end we have the Irish government who are being even more obstructive because theyre not even telling us what they possess.

It's really, really difficult to see how this matter is going to be progressed without genuine engagement from the Irish government and its state agencies.

Mr Sherrard pointed out the Irish government is not represented in the matter to answer to any criticisms.

Mr Skelt said the coroner can invite representatives from the Irish government and An Garda Siochana to attend and engage.

Mr Toal said he would welcome the Irish governments attendance, but said the family remains sceptical.

The simple solution to this is they simply commit to writing what they are going to do to progress this inquest  just tell us what information you have and how long it will take you to provide that to this inquest, he said.

Mr Sherrard indicated he favoured inviting the Irish government to send a representative to attend a hearing, expressing concern about the considerable drift in the case.

Just as we thought that perhaps we may be able to make some progress, this has rather taken the rug from under my feet, he added.

I propose to write again to the Chief State Solicitors Office  and to alert them to the fact that a date has been placed for a further preliminary, and to invite them to respond in writing and also to extend an invitation should they wish to defend their position, or to assert their position at the inquest. I will certainly make room for them to be heard in terms of this preliminary step.

Another preliminary hearing has provisionally been planned to take place on May 7th.
High Court Reporters

A worker for a contracting firm at Dublin Airport who was dismissed for telling a customer services check-in representative to "f...off" has been reinstated, the High Court heard.

However, in what a judge described as "a failure of common sense" over the use of one expletive, IT systems engineer Colm Dunne has now had to bring proceedings against the airport operator, the daa, because it has allegedly blocked his return to the airport and meant he had to be reassigned elsewhere.

On Tuesday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan, following a one-side only represented application by Mr Dunne's barrister, Conor Power SC, instructed by Feran and Co Solicitors, granted permission to serve proceedings at short notice on the daa.

The judge commented: "I find it astonishing that somebody could be fired for this and I find it equally astonishing that they are withdrawing permission for him to work at the airport".

Mr Dunne (34) of St Laurence's Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, had initially brought proceedings against his employer, ESP Global Services, which provides support services under contract to the airport.

He claimed his dismissal was disproportionate, that the procedures used by his employer to do so were flawed and invalid and that he had offered to personally apologise to the customer services representative involved.

The court heard the f..off incident happened towards the end of a night shift in the early hours of January 27th last when Mr Dunne was fixing a faulty self-service flight check-in kiosk.

An Aer Lingus customer service representative approached him to fix another kiosk when Mr Dunne said he regrettably told him to go away and f off.

Following a complaint, ESP conducted a disciplinary process and less than two months later, after an initial hearing and an appeal before senior ESP management, he was dismissed.

He then brought High Court proceedings and Mr Justice Cregan granted him an injunction restraining ESP from taking any steps to give effect to the purported dismissal.

When the case returned before the judge last week, and after he was told Mr Dunne had not been reinstated in spite of his order, he said the case would be given an early hearing and it was adjourned to Tuesday.

On Tuesday, his counsel Mr Power said the ESP case had been resolved with his client reinstated. However, he said ESP had said the daa had blocked his return to the airport and had to be reassigned elsewhere for the company.

The court heard ESP said that the daa "has decided that your client's conduct has fallen below what it considers an acceptable standard and has withdrawn permission for your client to work at the airport...".

Mr Power said his side was prepared to temporarily accept reassignment as a field services engineer but was now seeking to bring proceedings against the daa for unlawful interference with his contractual and constitutional right to work at the airport.

Counsel said that before bringing the court application, his solicitor had written to the daa calling on it to immediately reinstate his clearance to work at the airport. Apart from saying it would revert by Monday, the daa had not responded, counsel said.

Mr Justice Cregan said he was glad to hear the ESP proceedings were resolved given the "lack of proportion" over the use of an expletive. "Perhaps if you were a monk in a monastery where you had taken a vow not to utter an expletive then I would understand.

"But is there anybody in this courtroom who has not uttered an expletive in their life".

Mr Dunne had uttered an expletive at 5.20 in the morning, he said. "If the daa was to apply that to everyone, they might find themselves very short staffed", he said.

The judge noted that in settling its case, ESP had taken him back on and given him a first warning about his behaviour which was proportionate.

Given that the daa had not replied to the letter from his solicitor, the judge said he would adjourn the case until Wednesday (tomorrow).

"The idea that one expletive leads to two High Court cases is a complete failure of common sense," he said.
Sonya McLean

A man who beat his partner four times, threatened to knife her dead and put a bullet in the back of her head has been jailed for six and a half years for coercive control, harassment, assault and making threats to kill or cause serious harm.

Levi McCarthy (33) who is originally from Limerick and has an address at North Frederick Street, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to multiple counts including coercive control, assault causing harm, making threats to kill or cause serious harm, perverting the course of justice and robbery of Victoria Keogh on dates between July 2021 and July 2023.

His previous 60 previous convictions include a conviction for burglary of Ms Keoghs parents' home and convictions from France which include threatening a former partner.

In a victim impact statement read into the record, Ms Keogh said there was never a honeymoon period in the relationship because within months the abusive behaviour started.

Breach of barring order

The court heard McCarthy was remanded in custody in August 2023 but was released in error, during which time he turned up at Heuston Station, where he knew Ms Keogh would be getting a train to her family home.

At the station, he was in breach of a barring order when he approached Ms Keogh.

He was also charged with intimidating her as she was a witness in the investigation against him at the point.

The court heard that McCarthy also wrote letters to Ms Keogh and her parents while he was on remand in Cloverhill Prison, which the State claimed were again intimidating as these people were all witnesses in the ongoing prosecution against McCarthy.

The assaults carried out on Ms Keogh involved headbutting, kicking, punching to the face and choking her.

A victim impact statement from her parents said she often came home bruised and with black eyes after meeting with McCarthy.

They spoke of how they were worried when their daughter left the house that it would be the last time they would see her because they were concerned McCarthy could kill her.

Threats to kill

Garda Colin Shelly played recordings and videos of McCarthys behaviour towards the woman. The recordings were inaudible at times but he could be heard referring to the woman as a rat and saying die bitch.

He can be heard threatening to put a knife through her neck and I will knife you dead. See what is going to happen to you, McCarthy said.

I will put a bullet in the back of your headwill catch your father too, he can be heard saying.

Gda Shelly said the couple started a relationship in May 2021, and it ended in 2023. The charge of coercive control relates to a period from August 2021 to August 2023.

He said during this period McCarthy threatened and assaulted Ms Keogh and isolated her from her friends. She was afraid to break up with him because of the threats he issued. He would continuously text her while she was out with friends and send her voice notes if she didnt answer.

Gda Shelly said McCarthy would also humiliate Ms Keogh in front of her family and friends and comment on her clothing.

Ms Keogh prepared a victim impact statement for the court which was read into the record by prosecuting counsel, Maddie Grant BL.

She spoke of how her life with McCarthy was a nightmare and spoke of how he would threaten to break down the windows of her rented home if she didnt allow him in when he turned up drunk.

She said she left that home because she didnt want to get in trouble with the landlord and returned to live with her parents.

Almost every day he would threaten to hurt me or my parents. Threaten to stab me if I said I would leave. I felt trapped with no way out, the victim continued, describing feeling extreme stress.

She said at one point McCarthy kicked down the door of her family home, and her parents had to hide in the bathroom. They did not feel safe in their own home.

The woman said McCarthy continued to harass her while he was in prison by sending her cards and letters.

The womans parents also prepared a victim impact statement which Ms Grant read into the record.

Ms Keoghs parents, Valerie and Noe,l said they were unsure of McCarthy at first but thought their daughter seemed happy. They said that within a few weeks, they knew something was not right, and they found that McCarthy was mentally and physically abusive.

They said they didnt want McCarthy near their daughter or their home , and he would often arrive at their house drunk and abusive.

Injuries

They said they would be scared when they knew that Ms Keogh was going to meet McCarthy and described her coming home with visible injuries including black eyes, swollen cheeks and choke marks on her neck.

They said on one occasion when Ms Keogh left the house to meet McCarthy, they worried that it would be the last time they would see her as they were afraid he would kill her.

They said McCarthy has caused damage to their daughter and ruined so many lives.

He has threatened to kill us and our daughter. We will never forgive him for what he did to our family, they said.

The couple concluded their statement that they will never forget the fear they felt thinking McCarthy was going to kill them.

Judge Martin Nolan told the garda it was a very good investigation.

He noted that he had the benefit of hearing the recordings but acknowledged that it was difficult to hear what McCarthy was saying because of a level of intoxication and he has a certain accent but nonetheless the threats are clear.

Judge Nolan said McCarthy exhibited physical and mental violence and control over Ms Keogh and that he sent letters to her while he was in prison in an attempt to reactivate the trauma and pervert the course of justice.

He acknowledged that Ms Keogh suffered serious trauma and the impact on her has been long lasting.

Judge Nolan said he found the victim impact statements believable. He acknowledged that McCarthy had a difficult start in life and was addicted to alcohol.

He set a headline global sentence of nine years before he imposed a four year sentence on the charge of coercive control and a consecutive term of two and half years on one of the charges of assault causing harm.

Judge Nolan ordered that McCarthy not having any contact whatsoever with Ms Keogh or her family for 15 years.

Aisling Murphy BL, defending, said that her client is originally from Limerick and was adopted as a baby by a loving and caring family.

He studied to third level in site management and became a qualified carpenter, which led to him working in Europe.

Ms Murphy said McCarthys drinking became out of control and he ended up in homeless accommodation in Dublin.

She said McCarthy accepts that his behaviour is nothing short of appalling and absolutely unjustifiable. She said he is determined to make amends and handed in letters of apology.

Ms Murphy said McCarthy expresses remorse and has identified the psychological harm he has caused. He has had not come to negative attention in prison.

McCarthy is currently serving a prison sentence for burglary of the Keoghs home and is due for release in July this year.
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

The Chevron Oronite oil additives manufacturing facility in Plaquemines Parish in Belle Chasse, Louisiana on June 4, 2008. Mario Tama / Getty Images

Oil giant Chevron has been ordered by a Louisiana civil court jury to pay $744.6 million to a parish government to help restore coastal wetlands destroyed by the company over a period of decades.

The lawsuit was the first of 42 filed against the company since 2013, reported The Guardian.

The jury found that energy major Texaco  bought by Chevron in 2001  had been violating state coastal resources regulations by not restoring wetlands that were impacted by drilling oil wells, dredging canals and the billions of gallons of toxic wastewater dumped into the environment, The Associated Press reported.

No company is big enough to ignore the law, no company is big enough to walk away scot-free, lead attorney for the plaintiffs John Carmouche told the jury during closing arguments, as reported by The Associated Press.

A 1980 Louisiana coastal management regulation requires that Mineral exploration and production sites shall be cleared, revegetated, detoxified, and otherwise restored as near as practicable to their original condition upon termination of operations to the maximum extent practicable.

The verdict is likely to affect similar lawsuits against big oil in the state, The New York Times reported.

Plaquemines Parish, which filed the lawsuit, sought damages of $2.6 billion, arguing Chevron was directly responsible for the pollution and loss of wetlands.

Chevron said its activities were not the cause of the damage and that the state regulations did not apply, since its oil and gas activities began before 1980.

Following a four-week trial, the jury awarded the parish $575 million for land loss, $161 for contamination of the area and $8.6 million for equipment abandoned by the company.

Chevron said it plans to appeal.

Expert witnesses testified that the company had failed to follow best practices since starting its operations in the region in the 1940s, reported The Associated Press.

Carmouche said Chevron chose profits over the marsh, allowing the environmental degradation from its operations to spread and fester.

The United States Geological Survey has said that the Louisiana coastal region experiences more wetlands loss than all continental U.S. states combined, The Guardian reported. Between 1932 and 2016, roughly 25 percent of its land area has been lost.

Marshlands of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana on June 16, 2010. kris krug / Flickr

Louisianas Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has said that the state could lose as much as 3,000 additional square miles over the coming 50 years.

Attorney for the state Jimmy Faircloth Jr. told the jurors that Chevron was saying their community wasnt worth preserving, reported The Associated Press.

Our communities are built on coast, our families raised on coast, our children go to school on coast, Faircloth said. The state of Louisiana will not surrender the coast, its for the good of the state that the coast be maintained.
Sri Lanka is concerned over the deteriorating situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Sri Lanka is deeply concerned over the recent escalation of violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including the incidents at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the holy month of Ramadan.

Sri Lanka calls on all parties concerned to exercise restraint, maintain calm and take sustained measures to address the worsening humanitarian situation.

Sri Lanka reaffirms its unwavering support for the right of the Palestinian people to statehood in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter and the relevant UN resolutions. Sri Lanka remains committed to supporting a negotiated settlement in line with internationally agreed parameters of two states living side by side on the basis of the 1967 borders, which is key to achieving long term security, peace and prosperity.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

11 April 2023
The initiative's staffers are also said to be using Signal to communicate with each other.

A new report from Reuters has shed light on how Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is employing tech in its processes, including the alleged use of artificial intelligence to monitor communications. The initiative is said to be keeping an eye out for chatter that's considered hostile toward Musk or President Donald Trump.

Some managers at the Environmental Protection Agency have reportedly been told that DOGE is deploying AI to monitor communication apps and software such as the widely used Microsoft Teams for anti-Musk or anti-Trump sentiment. It's said that DOGE is watching out for individuals whose work didn't square with the administration's agenda. One manager reportedly told EPA staffers to Be careful what you say, what you type and what you do."

The EPA didn't explicitly state whether AI was being used to monitor employees for signs of disloyalty, though it told Reuters that it was "looking at AI to better optimize agency functions and administrative efficiencies." It added that it wasn't using AI "as it makes personnel decisions in concert with DOGE." The EPA has placed nearly 600 workers on leave and pledged to cut its budget by 65 percent amid DOGE's government-wide cost-slashing efforts.

Meanwhile, it's said that DOGE staffers are using Signal to communicate with each other. This could be a violation of federal record-keeping rules given the app's ability to automatically delete messages after a certain period of time. And that's not to mention the security risks of accidentally inviting, say, a journalist to a top-secret chat about government operations.

Some DOGE workers are also said to be using Google Docs to edit official documents collaboratively, in effect bypassing usual vetting procedures and chains of custody. In addition, staffers are reportedly making use of Musk's chatbot Grok AI in their work, but exactly what they're doing with it remains unclear. It emerged this week that the White House wants federal agencies to make full use of "American AI."

DOGE has been accused of operating under a shroud of secrecy. The administration has contended that since DOGE is operating under the Executive Office of the President, it's not obligated to allow the public to request access to its records, which would be the case if it were an official government agency. Nevertheless, a federal judge last month ordered DOGE to start providing records of its operations to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sued for access to such documents under freedom of information laws. The watchdog told Reuters that, as of Monday, it had received no records from DOGE.
Blake Lively's reputation is under fire as new evidence emerges in her legal battle with Justin Baldoni.

As per The DailyMail, the actress has been accused of hypocrisy after a resurfaced clip from the Blu-ray commentary of her 2018 film "A Simple Favor" shows her joking about a scene where she inappropriately grabbed co-star Henry Golding's groin.

In the clip, recorded during the film's commentary, Lively can be heard laughing and asking Golding, "Hey nice to meet you, can I grab your nuts really hard?" Director Paul Feig praised her improvisation, saying, "You really went for it too."

This admission has sparked outrage on social media and raised questions about the legitimacy of her claims against Baldoni.

Lively filed a lawsuit in December against Baldoni, alleging sexual harassment during the filming of their movie "It Ends With Us."

She described feeling uncomfortable with Baldoni's alleged "improvised physical intimacy," including comments made during intimate scenes.

Baldoni has fired back with a defamation lawsuit of his own, alleging Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds conspired to ruin him.

The Smoking Gun

The resurfaced clip is still relevant and could be considered a "smoking gun" in the continuing legal dispute between Baldoni and the source, according to a source close to Baldoni.

"Blake admitted to grabbing her co-star's crotch as improvisation," the source told DailyMail. "This video captures Blake doing exactly what she is now accusing Justin of, except worse."

In addition to the resurfaced footage, Baldoni's team has presented other evidence that they believe contradicts Lively's claims.

A video obtained by the Daily Mail earlier this year appeared to show that Baldoni's comments about Lively's scent were in response to her discussing her recent spray tan, countering her assertion that no one heard him.

Despite facing backlash, Lively has attempted to maintain a positive public image.

She was spotted at a friend's bakery in Connecticut recently, handing out donuts as part of some effort to reach out to fans during the controversy.

Sources close to both parties tell us this legal drama is far from over.

Neither Lively nor Baldoni seem to have a leg to stand on in their allegations, considering the increasing amount of evidence and public outcry.
Sydney Sweeney is leaving fans guessing when it comes to her rumored romance with "Anyone But You" co-star Glen Powell.

Talk of a romance between Powell and the "Euphoria" actress turned up a notch as reports that she and longtime fiance Jonathan Davino had put their wedding plans on ice. However, Sweeney is not giving too much away  at least not directly.

The 27-year-old blonde bombshell wowed on Sunday at the Hollywood Beauty Awards in Los Angeles, where she stood by her longtime hairstylist, Glen Oropeza. Sweeney was wearing a monochrome brown outfit with a leather corset, a blazer, and a matching pair of trousers.

Reports are that Sweeney did turn a lot of heads at the Avalon Club, and there are a few questions about her dating life.

A source told The US Sun, "Someone she knew came up to talk to her and they seemed friendly," a source said. "The person asked if Sydney was actually dating Glen and said she hoped she was."

Sweeney reportedly "laughed and played super coy and at one point even gave a flirty wink."

The source added, "She wouldn't say it one way or another. But she did say she was 'having a lot of fun.'"

Later in the evening, "The White Lotus" star was later heard saying she "loves Glen so much" but did not confirm she was in a relationship with Powell.

Multiple outlets claimed Sweeney had secretly ended her wedding to the 41-year-old Davino in March, citing "major problems" between the couple. The two, who became engaged in February 2022, were reportedly set to wed in Chicago this spring.

The insider added at the time, "They are working on their relationship but have called off the wedding for now. The wedding is not happening, and they aren't having further discussions about it. Sydney wanted to cancel everything and couldn't handle the stress."

Sweeney's busy filming schedule was reportedly one of the major causes of the strain.

Close Ties On and Off Screen

The actress and the 36-year-old Powell had fans talking about dating rumors during the steamy promotion for "Anyone But You," featuring a plethora of sexual tension, giggles, and viral moments of lovey-dovey action. The speculation ramped up again after Sweeney reportedly attended Powell's sister's wedding in Texas last week, donning a baby blue dress and being photographed with family members.
Barack and Michelle Obama have long stood as the model of a strong, enduring partnership. But recently, whispers have been circulating about a strain in their marriagefueled by speculation and social media theories. Despite their polished public image, some have started to question what's really going on behind the scenes.

During a recent discussion with Hamilton College president Steven Tepper, Barack offered a candid reflection on life post-presidency, according to Hola. He spoke openly about the impact it had on his relationship, acknowledging the emotional debt he felt he owed Michelle.

"I was in debt to my wife," he confessednot in financial terms, but emotionally. According to him, 2017 marked a shift in their dynamic as they adjusted to life beyond politics.

Balancing public life and private marriage was no small feat. As president, Barack was navigating global affairs, while Michelle took on numerous rolesFirst Lady, mother, public health advocate, and cultural iconall while under intense public scrutiny.

Since stepping away from Washington, Barack said he's been focused on making amendsnot through therapy or formal interventions, but by simply creating joyful moments. He explained that he's been working to "dig himself out of that hole" by prioritizing fun and shared experiences with his wife.

While Barack has taken steps to reconnect, Michelle has also been carving out her own lane. She recently co-launched a podcast with her brother Craig Robinson called 'In My Opinion (IMO),' where she spoke about choosing love over corporate success. "I had someone telling me: 'I support you,'" she said.

Obama's podcast launch did not come without controversy, however. Across the pond, podcasters in the United Kingdom have claimed that her show's name is too similar to theirs, and have cut into their revenue because of it.

Despite unfounded rumorsincluding one linking Barack to actress Jennifer Anistonwhat's clear is this: the Obamas remain committed to navigating their journey together, flaws and all.
2nd Meeting of Experts on the Migration Partnership between Sri Lanka and Switzerland

The 2nd Experts Meeting on the Migration Partnership between Sri Lanka and Switzerland was held on 16 May 2023 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was co-chaired by Director General/Europe & North America the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka Shobini Gunasekera, and Ambassador Vincenzo Mascioli Director of International Affairs, State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) of Switzerland.

The meeting reviewed the progress made under the Migration Partnership since its launch in 2016 and discussed the priorities and challenges for the future. The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing bilateral cooperation on migration issues. They also exchanged views on current migration trends, developments, and avenues for promoting employment opportunities in Switzerland for skilled workers from Sri Lanka. Both sides agreed to explore possible future cooperation in the hospitality sector, especially sustainable tourism and also in the fields of vocational training, skills development and sustainable reintegration.

The Swiss delegation extended their appreciation towards Sri Lanka for its excellent cooperation in matters related to migration. Senior officials of relevant line ministries and government agencies including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour & Foreign Employment, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Tourism & Lands, Ministry of Urban Development, Department of Immigration & Emigration, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission, Vocational Training Authority, Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management participated in the discussion.

Read More: www.mfa.gov.lk

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

18 May 2023



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Whether youre out in the fresh spring air or cleaning your dusty basement, allergens run amok throughout the year. They trigger allergy symptoms like coughing, sneezing, stuffy and runny nose  and swollen eyes. Allergies can cause the eyes to swell and become red, itchy, watery, and really uncomfortable.

The reason people have swollen eyes from allergies is theyre getting contact in the eyes from airborne allergens, says Princess Ogbogu, MD, the director of the division of pediatric allergy, immunology, and rheumatology at the University Hospitals in Cleveland.

Basically, when the allergens hit your eyes, they sort of dissolve in your tears, says Dr. Ogbogu. They have contact with the lining of the eye [the conjunctiva], and they react with antibodies that are bound to cells in your eyes. These antibodies cause the body to release histamine  which also causes nasal congestion that often accompanies swollen eyes.

The allergens doing this damage include outdoor allergens such as pollen and molds, and indoor allergens such as pet dander and indoor molds.

RELATED: How to Stop Winter Allergies

How Bad Can Swollen Eyes Get?

Eye allergies are also known as allergic conjunctivitis, but unlike other forms of conjunctivitis (pink eye), eye allergies are not contagious, notes the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). And eye allergies usually affect both eyes.

In addition to burning or teary, watery eyes, allergies may make you sensitive to light, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). A runny nose, cough, or headache often go hand in hand with eye allergies. The AAFA also adds that your vision may be briefly blurry and you may feel distracted or sluggish and unproductive.

RELATED: Allergy Symptoms and Diagnosis

Tips to Ease Swollen Eyes

Remember, these are your eyes were talking about, so check with your doctor or ophthalmologist before you try any treatment. But if youre looking for relief, consider the following home remedies and medical interventions.

Wash your face. Washing your face is one of the first things you should do to combat itchy, swollen eyes, says Ogbogu. It can help wash away the allergens sticking to your skin and eyelashes.

Rinse out the eyes. Rinse out the eyes if you can with a little bit of water  thats usually helpful, Ogbogu says. That will loosen the allergens from the inside of your eyes and help to flush them out.

Apply a cold compress. Cold compresses around the eyes can be helpful with itching and swelling, says Ogbogu. Soak a towel or washcloth in cold water or refrigerate a damp cloth or eye pillow. Then lie down with the compress across your eyes to let the coolness reduce swollen eyelids.

Try allergy eye drops. Ogbogu suggests trying an over-the-counter eye drop made to soothe itchy, swollen eyes caused by allergies. An ophthalmologist might prescribe an antihistamine eye drop. But note that the AAO cautions that using certain drops for more than three days may actually increase irritating symptoms.

Mast cell stabilizer eye drops can also be effective, preventing the release of histamines in your body. Unlike antihistamine treatments, this type of eye drop needs to be administered before exposure to an allergen in order to prevent itching, notes the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

The AAO also notes that some people may be allergic to the preservatives in certain lubricating eye drops and suggests using preservative-free formulas if thats the case.

Take oral medications or get allergy shots. Ogbogu says that over-the-counter or prescription allergy medications, including antihistamines, can provide some relief for milder allergy symptoms, including swollen eyes. In addition to oral medications, allergy shots (immunotherapy) can help keep allergy symptoms under control.

Additionally, an OTC nasal spray called fluticasone (Flonase) is a corticosteroid formulated to relieve itchy, watery eyes along with nasal congestion.

Stay indoors. Weather conditions play a role," says Ogbogu. A breezy day with lots of pollen in the air will continually reexpose you to allergens. On days when outdoor allergens are high, stay inside  and save outdoor activities for just after a rain, when fewer allergens fill the air.

It may be challenging, but avoid rubbing your eyes, as this can worsen symptoms.

Ogbogu says some do-it-yourself and home remedies arent always a good choice. If you have intense redness thats not leaving, you need to go see your doctor.

And if any of the following occur, you should call your doctor immediately:

A feeling that theres something stuck in your eye

Pain in the eye

Blurry vision

Decreased vision

The Takeaway

Allergies can cause swollen, itchy, and watery eyes, but simple steps like washing your face, applying cold compresses, and using certain eye drops can help manage these symptoms. Other tips include staying indoors when allergens are high and not rubbing your eyes, which can make symptoms worse. Medication and allergy shots may be additional options.

RELATED: 10 Myths About Allergies


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Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Panama Canal faces ongoing threats from China, but together, the U.S. and Panama will keep it secure. Speaking at ribbon cutting for a new U.S.-financed dock at the Vasco Nunez de Balboa Naval Base, Hegseth said the U.S. would not "allow Communist China, or any other country to threaten the canals operation or integrity."
Key Takeaways

Federal cuts could decimate medical research in the U.S.

Cuts are leading researchers to take on less risky, less rewarding research

The cuts also could undermine research support and create a brain drain among young scientists

TUESDAY, April 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Federal cuts to funding could decimate medical research in the United States, delaying cures and costing countless lives, according to a leader in cancer research.

Theres been an overall freeze in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since the start of the Trump Administration, and its been pretty disruptive to the field, Alicia Zhou, CEO of the Cancer Research Institute, told HealthDay TV.

I know, having talked to the scientists who are doing the research, that in a world where they're worried about having NIH funding, they are choosing to only do the less risky projects, Zhou said. The projects that are getting cut are the higher risk, higher reward projects.

She continued: Instead, researchers are now going to focus on the projects that they think will immediately result in a publication because those publications are important for them to show their productivity to their institutions.

Such cutbacks might produce a shrug from the public, but Zhou noted that of 356 drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2010 to 2019, 354 of them had their origins with NIH-funded research.

The NIH also has announced plans to cut indirect research funding by 15%. Right now, these cuts are suspended due to a court challenge, but if they go through they could throw a monkey wrench into ongoing research, Zhou said.

This indirect funding might seem non-essential, since it pays for basic facilities rather than for direct research, she said.

But they also pay for the shared resources that folks use, and not just janitors to clean up lab buildings, Zhou said.

Take lab mice as an example.

If you're going to use mice for your experiment, you actually need a mouse facility, Zhou said. And that mouse facility has to be staffed with skilled workers who know how to handle those mice ethically and keep them alive so that you can do your research. All of those types of things are paid for by the indirect costs.

Given the need for this support, a 15% cut is a complete non-starter, Zhou said.

I think 15% decimates biomedical research in the United States as we know it today, Zhou said.

She said she is particularly concerned about the impact that funding cuts will have on mRNA vaccine development for cancer.

For us in the cancer space, mRNA vaccines are very promising, Zhou said. In fact, Moderna was developing a cancer vaccine before it pivoted to do COVID-19 vaccine work and infectious disease vaccine work during the pandemic.

She noted that the underlying technology of mRNA vaccines plays an important role in cancer vaccine development.

So I'm very worried that, for example, cancer vaccine research is going to get disproportionately impacted here, Zhou said.

There also are concerns that funding cuts will cause a brain drain among budding young researchers. About 43% of postdoctoral researchers say their positions are at risk due to the cuts.

When we talk to our scientific advisory council members, they have all told us that it is the young scientists, the training scientists, this is the generation of scientists that they're most worried about, because the uncertainty in the funding creates all of this uncertainty in the job market, Zhou said.

If you're early in your career, you're now having sort of an existential crisis about whether you should become a scientist or not, or if you should be pursuing an entirely different vocation, she continued. If we have too many people opting out of science, we will see a huge brain drain when it comes to 10 years from now when we're looking at the scientific workforce in the United States.

The Cancer Research Institute, which is a nonprofit, plans to spend another $2.5 million this year to add 10 more postdoctoral fellowships to its program, Zhou said.

This is our way of trying to help bolster that community and send a strong message to them that we do want there to be stability in this space, Zhou said. We do want them to stay in academic research. We don't want to see this brain drain happen, and I'm very proud to be able to say that we're stepping up in this area.

More information

The American Association for the Advancement of Science has more on federal funding cuts to medical research.

SOURCE: HealthDay TV, April 8, 2025

What This Means For You

People opposed to funding cuts should contact their Congressional representatives.
(The Center Square) - There is now a Social Security War Room, and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is one of the Democrats behind its launch.

The stated purpose for the war room is to fight back against the Trump administrations attack on Social Security.

U.S. Sens. Kelly; Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts; Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, state in a press release that the Trump administration has gutted the Social Security Administration with the help of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.

President Trump said he wouldnt cut Social Security, but he and Elon Musk are firing people and making it harder for Americans to get their benefits, said Kelly in a press release. Im focused on hearing from Arizonans about how this is impacting them and sharing their stories.

Musk, who is battling a lawsuit over Social Security cuts, said in March that he and the Trump administration are not going to cut Social Security benefits. NBC News ran a story on March 23.

President Trump has made similar statements, adding the press is lying again" when it comes to coverage of job cuts and related issues. A White House Fact Check also states that the targets for cuts are waste and fraud in entitlement spending.

According to the White House, the Social Security Administration alone made an estimated $72 billion in improper payments between 2015 and 2022.

Still, Kelly and others said the Trump/Musk/DOGE efforts have created chaos and threatened the benefits of Americans.

Last month, the Social Security Administration announced plans to cut about 7,000 employees, or about 12 percent of its workforce, said the senators. It has also tried to significantly limit Americans access to services by shutting down regional offices, requiring in-person identity checks for new and existing beneficiaries, and forcing Americans to change direct deposit and other banking information online in person instead of by phone, posing a challenge to many seniors who rely on benefits.

Plans for the War Room include assisting Senate Democrats with messaging and encouraging grassroots engagement.

The Center Square couldn't reach Kelly and Arizona Republicans for additional comments.
(The Center Square) - The cases of nearly 7,000 juveniles who claim they were sexually assaulted at Los Angeles County facilities won a $4 billion settlement.

This settlement, in conjunction with likely losses in federal funding  which cover 13% of the countys budget due to its sanctuary jurisdiction policies  leave the county anticipating major budget cuts and the issuing of new debt.

This is the costliest financial settlement in the history of LA County and will have a significant impact on the Countys budget for years to come, said the county in a statement. The Countys plan to pay for the settlement includes cash from reserve funds, issuance of judgment obligation bonds and proposed cuts in departmental budgets.

The financing will require annual payments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars through 2030 and substantial continuing annual payments through fiscal year 2050-51, continued the county.

The settlement must be voted on by the five-member Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors after a Claims Board vote anticipated Monday. The Board of Supervisors vote is scheduled for April 29.

The $4 billion settlement covers nearly 7,000 sexual assault and mistreatment allegations stretching back to 1959 in Los Angeles Countys foster care and juvenile detention facilities.

The cost of the settlement surpasses the $2.6 billion Boy Scouts of America case, which led the organization to change its name to Scouting America amid bankruptcy proceedings.

With the state allowing deferred property tax payments due to the local wildfires, the county could find itself short of revenue that it otherwise would and likely will receive, which will put more strain on the county budget.

The countys current budget is $49.2 billion, with 13% of funding coming from the federal government and 19% from property taxes.

Given the Trump administrations withholding of some federal funding for sanctuary state jurisdictions and the states deferral of property taxes for fire-impacted parts of Los Angeles County, the settlement could put significant pressure on the countys budget.
(The Center Square)  More than 900,000 illegal foreign nationals who were unlawfully released into the country by the Biden administration through a now defunct CBP One phone app have been notified that their parole status is terminated and have been instructed to leave the U.S. immediately, or face deportation, according to a notification obtained by CBS News.

The Notice of Termination of Parole states, It is time for you to leave the United States. You are currently here because the Department of Homeland Security paroled you into the United States for a limited period.  DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole within seven days of the notice unless their parole expires sooner.

The notice warns those who dont voluntarily leave who remain in the U.S. will be targeted for removal, criminally prosecuted, subject to civil fines and penalties, and any other lawful options available to the federal government, it says.

Any benefits they received when they were released into the U.S. through the app, including work authorization, have also been terminated, according to the notice.

The warning comes after the app was terminated within minutes of President Donald Trump being sworn into office on Jan. 20. Later, DHS announced the app was repurposed as the CBP Home app to facilitate self-deportation.

The notice encourages those who used the CBP One app to illegally enter the U.S. to use the CBP Home app to self deport and notify DHS before and after they leave.

The notice also warns: DHS is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States  the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.

It follows a DHS directive issued last month to all foreign nationals living in the U.S. legally and illegally to register with the federal government in compliance with federal law, The Center Square reported. For decades, this law has been ignored  not anymore, DHS said.

An alien's failure to depart the U.S. is a crime that could result in significant financial penalty. An alien's failure to register is a crime that could result in a fine, imprisonment, or both, DHS warned.

That directive followed a multi-million-dollar ad campaign DHS launched in February in which DHS Secretary Kristi Noem urged those in the U.S. illegally to voluntarily leave and told foreign nationals not to illegally enter the U.S., The Center Square reported.

Let me be clear: if you come to our country and you break our laws, we will hunt you down. Criminals are not welcome in the United States, she said. Under President Trump, we are defending American families and restoring their safety. If you try to enter illegally, you will be caught, you will be removed, and you will never return.

CBP first launched the app at the end of the first Trump administration on Oct. 28, 2020, for commercial purposes to facilitate the efficient movement of commercial goods into the U.S.

Under the Biden administration, former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas repurposed it in January 2023, subsequently revising it in May and November 2023, to allow 1,000 daily appointments for foreign nationals to obtain entry into the U.S., the majority of whom would otherwise be denied entry under federal immigration law, The Center Square reported.

The app was another example of Mayorkas violating federal law, House Republicans who impeached him for creating it and other parole programs argued, saying it granted mass parole to foreign nationals who were deemed inadmissible, The Center Square reported. Texas also sued, arguing, The Biden Administration deliberately conceived of this phone app with the goal of illegally pre-approving more foreign aliens to enter the country and go where they please once they arrive.

Mayorkas claimed the app would help reduce long lines at ports of entry and illegal border crossings between ports of entry. According to CBP data, the opposite occurred.

Under Mayorkas, the greatest number of foreign nationals illegally entered the U.S. in history of nearly 4 million in fiscal 2023 and nearly 3 million in fiscal 2024, The Center Square exclusively reported.

Since the CBP One app was introduced in January 2023 and through the end of December 2024, more than 936,500 illegal border crossers successfully scheduled appointments through it. The top nationalities processed with app appointments were Venezuelans, Cubans and Mexicans, CBP said.

Now they are being targeted for removal.
The writer behind Robert De Niro classics "Raging Bull" and "Taxi Driver" is being sued by his former assistant for sexual harassment and assault.

Paul Schrader has been accused by the unnamed 26-year-old of grabbing and kissing her while they were at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

A lawsuit filed in New York last week says after she escaped his clutches, the woman -- given the pseudonym Jane Doe in the suit -- was summoned to his hotel room three days later where Schrader exposed himself.

"Since Defendant Schrader's brutal attack on Ms. Doe, exposure of his genitals to her, and his countless other acts of sexual harassment, she has suffered, inter alia, nightmares, extreme anxiety, and trauma, and has withdrawn almost completely from her former life," the suit says.

The legal filing claims Schrader, 78, fired his assistant in September.

"Two days later, in full acknowledgment of his unlawful and predatory behavior, he wrote in an email to her...'If I have become a Harvey Weinstein in your mind then of course you have no choice but to put me in the rear view mirror,'" the lawsuit says.

Weinstein, 73, was the Hollywood power player whose decades-long sexual predation sparked the "Me Too" movement, leading to convictions that are under appeal.

The former Miramax co-founder is serving a 16-year prison sentence in California after rape convictions in New York were overturned in 2024.

Jane Doe's suit says Schrader initially agreed to an undisclosed financial settlement over the allegations, but later backed out.

The motion seeks to enforce the terms of the agreement and demands reimbursement for legal fees and costs.

Schrader's lawyer, Philip Kessler, told AFP on Monday that they would contest the lawsuit.

He said Schrader had not signed an agreement, which meant it was null and void.

"He reflected on paying as much money as the agreement required him to pay, had he signed it, and he reached the conclusion that it was not in his interest to do that," Kessler said.

Kessler said the underlying harassment allegations "are seriously inaccurate, very misleading and fundamentally untrue."

"He kissed her twice in almost three and a half years and... it was only at the time of the second kiss that she indicated displeasure, and he never attempted to kiss her again," Kessler added.

"He will also say that he never attempted to have sex with her, and he will also say that he never exposed himself to her."

Schrader was in Cannes to promote his film "Oh, Canada," starring Richard Gere, Uma Thurman and Jacob Elordi.

AFP has reached out to Cannes organizers for comment.

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President Donald Trump said the United States was starting direct, high-level talks with Iran over its nuclear program on Saturday, in a shock announcement during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking Monday in the Oval Office, Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran, but warned that the Islamic republic would be in "great danger" if the talks failed.

Tehran confirmed discussions were set for Saturday in Oman, but stressed they were "indirect" talks.

According to Iranian news agency Tasnim, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will attend the talks, as will the top US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.

"It is as much an opportunity as it is a test," Araghchi wrote on X. "The ball is in America's court."

Netanyahu meanwhile said the United States and Israel were working on another deal to free hostages from war-torn Gaza, where a ceasefire between Israel and Iran's ally Hamas has collapsed.

"We're dealing with the Iranians, we have a very big meeting on Saturday and we're dealing with them directly," Trump told reporters after a meeting that was meant to focus on Israel's bid to avoid US tariffs.

Trump did not say where the talks would take place, but insisted they would not involve surrogates and would be at "almost the highest level."

Trump's stunning announcement came after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country's nuclear program, calling the idea pointless.

The US president pulled out of the last deal in 2018, during his first presidency, and there has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no new agreement is reached.

Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran, however.

"I think if the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran's going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it, great danger, because they can't have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Meanwhile officials said that Russia, China and Iran were due to hold consultations on the Iranian nuclear issue on Tuesday in Moscow.

Trump's revelation came as Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to personally plead for a reprieve from stinging US tariffs that have shaken the world.

The Israeli premier pledged to eliminate the trade deficit between the two countries and also knock down trade "barriers."

His country moved to lift its last remaining tariffs on US imports ahead of the meeting.

- Gaza talks -

Netanyahu and Trump also discussed Gaza, where a short-lived, US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas has collapsed.

Netanyahu said new negotiations were in the works aimed at freeing more hostages taken by Hamas during its unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which ignited the war.

"We're working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we're committed to getting all the hostages out," he said.

Trump also doubled down on his plan for the United States to "control" the Gaza Strip, which he described as a "great piece of real estate." He initially announced that plan when Netanyahu last visited him in February.

Earlier, Trump greeted Netanyahu outside the West Wing and pumped his fist, before the two leaders went inside for a meeting in the Oval Office.

Their planned press conference was canceled at short notice without explanation -- an unusual move. But they spoke to a smaller group of pool reporters at length in the Oval Office.

The Israeli premier's visit is his second to Washington since Trump's return to power, and comes at short notice -- just days after the president slapped a 17 percent tariff on Israel in his "Liberation Day" announcement last week.

Trump refused to exempt the top beneficiary of US military aid from his global tariff salvo as he said Washington had a significant trade deficit with Israel.

Netanyahu met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Sunday soon after his arrival, according to his office.

The Israeli premier also met Trump's envoy Witkoff on Monday.

bur-dk/mlm/dw/ser/ami
We waited for the Prospective Planting report on March 31 to give us insight into the grain markets for the 2025 crop. It should have been easy to draw some conclusions about spring market prices. It now seems that early conclusions were not valid.

This should have been a week when I could bask in the comfort of knowing that I wrote about the markets last week, and this week at this time I would feel good about my expectations. It didnt work out that way.

Last week, shortly before I wrote about markets for the week, we got the big report we were waiting for. The U.S. Department of Agriculture told us that American farmers would plant more corn than anyone expected, and most of the acres would come out of soybeans. The current estimate is now that the farmers will plant 95.3 million acres of corn, 5.2% more than last year. That would give us 15.8 billion bushels in the bins, a new record. It was easy to predict that prices would go down on this news, especially since it was a surprise, with analysts coming in with lower numbers.

Then, we got the other side of that prediction. Soybean acres would be down 4.1%, at 83.5 million acres. Again, the conclusion was simple: Soybeans would rally out of this report.

Unexpected

The actual results, which are easy to report now that we are a week after the report, are not what we expected. The May corn futures gained 7 cents last week instead of crashing. The soybeans were almost unchanged for the week, but there is a story there. May futures were down 2 3/4 cents for the week, but April 4 they crashed 34 1/2 cents to $9.77, the lowest price since the middle of December.

Corn prices seem to firm because of other factors. Maybe traders were cautious about how bullish they were and expected worse news. Maybe the new carryout of about 2 billion bushels was less than was thought. It certainly couldnt have been about foreign production. We are now being told that the Brazilian cerrado, or second crop corn, would be a new record for production. For whatever reason, we are now trading May futures at $4.66 after a $4.44 low March 31.

The soybeans are also not trading as expected. Lower acres should mean higher prices, but they dont seem to right now.

Tariff trouble

Hanging over the market is a huge unknown, and the market treats most unknowns factors as negative to prices. The big unknown right now is the effect of tariffs on grain prices. In the Trump 1.0, as many are calling his first term, we put tariffs on the Chinese, and the farmers paid for it in the form of grain business being switched by the Chinese to Brazil. Since the big sales of grain to the Chinese are of soybeans, that might be thinking that hit the market April 4.

This time around, Trump 2.0, everyones tariff is being increased. In a year that the Brazilians have just produced a record soybean crop, we are giving the Chinese a big reason for buying their needs from Brazil. I saw an article this week quoting one Asian trader as saying that with the current tariff, no soybeans will go from the U.S. to China.

The good news is that we are in world markets, so even if the Chinese do not buy from us, their buying from Brazil is still demand for soybeans in general, and we will see the Chinese sales replaced by sales to other countries. That would be more valid if the Brazilians were not sitting on a record crop.

Ugly budget

The backdrop to this mostly negative mood in the markets is an ugly crop budget for individual farmers. A current article in Farm Futures, a Farm Progress online publication, looked at the cost of production this year compared to current prices. It should be noted that this is full cost of production, which usually means the full value of farmland is included. Their take is that the full cost of production for corn is $4.79 per bushel. At current prices, that would be a loss of $1.25 per bushel.

Similarly, soybeans are projected to average $11.90 at the farm gate. That would yield a loss of $95 per acre for producing soybeans. Given these figures, something has to give. The hope may lie in usage or exports that are more than predicted. We are now looking at 2 billion bushels of carryout for corn, which is 46 days. The corn carryout is predicted now at 477 million bushels, a 40-day supply. I would expect that the market doesnt worry until the supply gets down to a month or so. That means that there is room to hope we get a little short. And, we need to remember that we are basing price predictions on some historically huge yields.

Looking ahead for better prices is to bet against ourselves as farmers. Still, the market now assumes a perfect spring and planting that agrees with the USDA current estimates. It assumes great summer weather. So, anything can still happen. The ugly truth is, however, that we need to see a lot of problems on someone elses farm just to get us back to a no loss market.

It is tough to start out the spring with no hope. At this moment, we are committed more than our city cousins realize. This is a gut-wrenching market, and there will be a lot of stomach-cramping moments before the crop is in the bin.
Defra has allocated funding to support continued checks on illegal meat imports at Dover for 202526, but the port authority warns the amount is insufficient to safeguard the livestock sector from diseases.

The department has offered 3.1m for the new financial year, covering only around 20% of operational capacity at Doversimilar to last yearand providing no coverage at Coquelles in France.

Lucy Manzano, head of port health at Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA), said the funding comes with significant constraints that would make effective implementation immensely challenging.

Notably, the offer includes no funding for official veterinarians, who are essential for identifying products of animal origin.

This would leave the border largely open. When DPHA are not operating, these checks do not take place, she said.

Ms Manzano stated that DPHA had submitted multiple funding proposals to Defra for 202526, including a request for 6m to achieve approximately 50% operational coverage, but none have been acknowledged or accepted.

We have written to Baroness Hayman (the Defra minister for biosecurity) advising of this, especially in the context of the escalating pressures we are experiencing at the border with the active creep of foot-and-mouth, African swine fever and Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in Europe.

"We have requested an urgent review of the funding that has been offered," Ms Manzano said.

Flaws in the governments Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) for commercial import checks have also been highlighted.

Speaking to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Ms Manzano recently warned that illegal meat seizures at Dover have increased significantly since the introduction of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM).

She said the UKs limited border controls are being exploited, allowing large volumes of restricted productssuch as those from countries like Romania, where imports are limited due to African Swine Fever (ASF)to enter Britain via the EU.

Despite operating at only 20% capacity, DPHA has seized over 214 tonnes of illegal meat at Dover since September 2022, including 55 tonnes since the beginning of this year.

Defra confirmed that it had put a funding proposal to DPHA and said it "remained committed to agreeing an appropriate funding model for 2025/26 to help tackle illegal imports."

A coalition of pig sector and meat industry bodies recently urged Defra Secretary Steve Reed to take immediate action to strengthen the UKs national disease control measures.

With 90% of illegal imports arriving via Dover, they said: We believe the government must urgently invest in targeted enforcement at key ports of entry.

Separately, the NFU has called for a new cross-government biosecurity plan and sufficient border investment to counter the biosecurity risks that British farmers now face.
Column: Politicizing academic research won't make America safer

09:15, April 08, 2025 By Guan Yan ( Xinhua

John Moolenaar, chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on China, sent letters on March 19 to six American universities, demanding their disclosure of detailed personal information of all Chinese students by April 1.

In the letters, Moolenaar accused Chinese students of acting as "Trojan horses" and systematically embedded researchers, while portraying American universities as "incubators of Chinese technological and military advancement."

Moolenaar's claims, with no credible evidence and a presumption of guilt, labeled over 290,000 Chinese students as potential national security threats, ignoring the fact that the vast majority of these students pursue studies in non-sensitive fields like humanities or basic sciences.

This sweeping accusation echoes Cold War-era paranoia, disregarding the principle of "innocent until proven guilty." The letters are nothing but a politically charged manifesto.

The Committee's latest move recalls the notorious "China Initiative" launched by the U.S. Department of Justice more than six years ago, under which thousands of Chinese scholars in the United States were subjected to unwarranted and disproportionate investigations, false accusations and career-destroying prosecutions. Many were ultimately exonerated, but the damage -- loss of talent and academic freedom -- remains irreparable.

By threatening to expose Chinese students' private data, Moolenaar risks repeating the violation of privacy rights and accelerating the exodus of skilled researchers from American institutions.

Equally alarming is the letters' racially-charged rhetoric, which echoes the surge of anti-Asian sentiment witnessed in recent years. Such discrimination undermines America's founding principles of openness and inclusiveness. If implemented, these policies would stifle innovation and tarnish America's global reputation as a hub for academic excellence.

Moolenaar conveniently omitted the U.S. government's increasing export controls on advanced technologies to China -- measures that have severely disrupted global scientific collaboration and supply chains. Meanwhile, Chinese students face increasing barriers, including arbitrary visa denials and unexplained deportations at U.S. airports.

These discriminatory practices have caused profound psychological distress and shattered academic aspirations, contributing to a significant decline in Chinese student enrollment in U.S. universities over the past five years. Notably, 75 percent of Chinese STEM graduates have already returned home, partly due to America's hostile policies.

It is crucial to emphasize that China's technological achievements stem from decades of domestic investment in education, economic reforms and global collaboration, not espionage. By scapegoating students, Moolenaar diverted attention from legitimate competition to manufactured threats, ignoring the mutual benefits of China-American academic exchanges. For decades, Chinese students have served as cultural ambassadors and contributed significantly to U.S. universities' academic prestige and economic vitality.

Moolenaar's actions prioritized political theatrics over rational policies. By politicizing academic research, the Committee risks fueling further visa denials and baseless prosecutions, undermining academic freedom and deterring global talent from studying in the United States. In an increasingly interconnected world, such xenophobic fearmongering only serves to isolate America.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Sri Lanka Prepares for Upcoming Country Assessment on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism

Addressing the National Law Conference yesterday (03), President Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lankas next country assessment on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism will commence soon. The assessment, slated to commence soon, holds immense significance as it directly impacts the countrys ease of doing business rating and its ability to attract foreign investments.

In an important development, Sri Lanka has been informed about the impending country assessment on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. This assessment holds significant weight as Sri Lankas compliance in these areas is crucial for enhancing the ease of doing business rating and attracting foreign investments.

As discussions unfold, it becomes apparent that addressing the identified gaps in the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing framework is of utmost importance. Failure to rectify these gaps poses a potential risk of Sri Lanka once again being labelled as a country with strategic deficiencies. Such a designation could have severe adverse effects on the countrys economic development.

Recognizing the urgency, it is imperative for Sri Lanka to prioritize bridging these gaps, which will also support the governance and anti-corruption framework, ensuring the successful implementation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.

During the discussions, various issues have come to light. One major concern is the bureaucratic hurdles and legal complexities faced by the citizens, resulting in frequent court visits. Participants reflect upon the past, where significant infrastructure projects were accomplished within specified timeframes, even amidst an ongoing war. However, the current administrative structure and an excess of legal professionals hinder the timely completion of projects, demanding a comprehensive review.

To tackle these challenges effectively, a recommendation is made for all stakeholders, including the bench, the bar, the government, and the parliament, to convene and compile a joint report. This collaborative effort would provide a clear roadmap for addressing the backlog and delays caused by legal proceedings. Additionally, it is emphasized that the formulation of a national policy, determined by parliament rather than the cabinet, is essential to resolve various issues and ensure broad agreement on critical subjects.

Following is the speech delivered by President Ranil Wickremesinghe

Well, its been a long and fruitful discussion, but I dont think I should keep you all too long because yesterday, I was given 15 minutes, but I nearly took twice that time. As the representative of the government, along with the three panel members, I will address the issues raised. One of the primary complaints has been the bureaucracy, laws, and the increasing frequency of court visits. Reflecting on my 17 years in government, during the first ten years, we successfully constructed seven large reservoirs in the Mahaveli scheme, as well as Samanala Wewa and Lunugam Vehera outside of it. We also built the Left Bank canals, Right Bank canals, and completed all these projects on time.

During President Jayawardenas tenure, we established two investment promotion zones and a new capital with a parliament, along with several buildings. During President Pramadasas time, we developed two more investment promotion zones, including 200 garment factories. We managed to stay on schedule, with no major overruns, despite the on-going war at that time. However, the current circumstances make it challenging to achieve similar results. Therefore, we need to re-evaluate the entire administrative structure. Regarding the issue of backlog and law delays, which Justice Priyantha Gunawardane emphasized, I propose that all stakeholders, including the bench, bar, government, and parliament, come together to produce a unified report. This would facilitate parliamentary action and allow input from opposition lawyers.

We can all convene and work out the necessary steps within a short period of time. As a representative of the government, I will ensure the involvement of the Secretary and the treasury, depending on the available resources. Adequate funding is essential. Additionally, I recommend that the unofficial bar, official bar, and bench provide a report on other raised concerns. The lack of a national policy contributes to some of these problems. While most governments have neglected the formulation of national policies, our constitution places the responsibility on parliament rather than the cabinet. Therefore, we aim to implement this system and have already established a committee on national policy. Though agreement among all may not be guaranteed, striving for the broadest possible consensus on various subjects is our objective, ensuring their enactment.

Now, addressing the energy issue, we must first focus on unbundling the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). Unbundling was advised by the Asian Development Bank in 2003, but later, due to union influence, the government reversed the decision. The unions now insist on unbundling. Had we done it in 2004, we would have avoided the current problem.

The second issue pertains to renewable energy. We have a renewable energy authority under the 13th Amendment and its under the Provincial Councils and the other is hydroelectricity. As for the national grid, its definition remains incomplete, allowing for the possibility of parallel grids. Consequently, an energy regulator, specifically an electricity regulator, is necessary to balance the powers of the CEB and the Provincial Councils. We are currently exploring the appropriate regulatory framework and seeking resolutions for the raised concerns, including tariffs. Furthermore, we have initiated a committee on Digital Transformation to drive digitalization in the government. During my tenure as Minister of Industries and Technology, we discussed digitalization in customs, but even after 30 years, progress has been insufficient. The presence of numerous lawyers leads to further complications, with court stays being sought amid on-going processes. To address this problem, we are introducing a new system inspired by the Malaysian model the Lab methodology. This system involves bringing all stakeholders together to discuss and provide a report within six weeks, which the government will then implement. In the Sinhalese language, we refer to this approach as Sanghayana where everyone participates, discusses, and returns with recommendations. This methodology aims to resolve government-related issues and streamline procedures in collaboration with the private sector. Lastly, regarding the local firms, we will provide assistance to competitive companies to improve their competitiveness. However, non-competitive local firms cannot expect special treatment. In the past, we focused heavily on the construction sector, providing BOI proposals and tax incentives. Our economy became overly reliant on concrete-related activities. While we support the growth of our construction and real estate firms, we also encourage other companies to come if they meet our standards. A level playing field is essential for development. By looking beyond our borders and adopting a unified policy, we can overcome the challenges we face. I wont take any more of your time as you have other sessions and a lunch break. I extend my gratitude to all of you, and lets follow up on these matters. Finally, I want to emphasize that we are preparing for the upcoming country assessment on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. Sri Lanka recognizes the importance of addressing the identified gaps, strengthening our governance framework, and ensuring compliance. With the support and cooperation of all stakeholders, we strive for sustainable economic development and international cooperation.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kaushalya Navaratne, President, Bar Association of Sri Lanka addressing the gathering said, The aim of this conference is to initiate a dialogue between the legal fraternity, policymakers, bureaucrats, and the business community. Recognizing the significance of both entrepreneurship and the rule of law, it is crucial for these sectors to understand each others importance for the nations prosperity.

To ensure a fruitful discussion, it is essential to involve the political leadership, and we appreciate the dedication of President Wickremesinghe in joining us for this event. The presence of senior judicial officers, policymakers, bureaucrats, lawyers, and corporate leaders will contribute to candid and open discussions.

The focus of the conversation should be on real problems and realities, aiming to find long-lasting solutions. With this in mind, let us commence the conversation and work towards a productive outcome.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Faiszer Mustapha PC, Chairman NLC said, Reflecting on the past 75 years since our independence, we acknowledge the initial optimism for Sri Lankas growth. However, the devastating impact of war and economic mismanagement has hindered our progress and led us to our current challenges. It is now our duty to rectify past mistakes and confront these obstacles.

We must begin by addressing our debt and engaging in debt restructuring to regain control of our economy. Business as usual is no longer an option; we must forge a new path towards efficient economic growth and sustainable development. This requires a deep understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the legal fraternity, judiciary, entrepreneurs, and guardians of the rule of law.

The business community plays a crucial role in job creation, wealth generation, and innovation. Without a thriving business sector, our nations advancement will be compromised. It is essential for the legal fraternity and judiciary to foster trust and collaboration with the business community, while businesses must uphold the rule of law and consider their social responsibilities beyond individual targets.

Supreme Court Justice Priyantha Jayawardena PC said, The significance of this conference cannot be understated, particularly in light of the unprecedented economic and financial challenges our nation is currently facing. It is our collective responsibility to strive for the betterment of our country and overcome this situation.

The fact that we have gathered here today is a testament to the shared interest we all have in this conference. Throughout the event, we will be focusing on important topics such as improving the ease of doing business, enhancing contract enforcement within a favourable legal framework, and related subjects.

It is crucial to note that Sri Lankas current rankings by the World Bank place us at 29th in the ease of doing business index and 164th in enforcing contracts. These rankings significantly influence investment decisions, making it imperative for us to address these parameters for the economic revival of our nation.

Mr. M. Rajaram, Partner/Chairman, K&L Gates Straits Law LLC (Singapore); Investors perceive Sri Lanka as an increasingly attractive destination for investments, as acknowledged in discussions held in Singapore, India, the UK, and the US. However, investors seek certain assurances and a level of comfort when considering investment opportunities. When disputes arise, investors prioritize two key factors: certainty of outcome and a fast resolution.

Drawing from Singapores experience, specialized judges and a case management system have been established to address different types of issues, aiming to resolve cases within 15 months in most instances. Additionally, modernization efforts, such as paperless filings and electronic hearings, have been implemented in Singaporean courts.

Despite being a small nation with limited natural resources and a smaller population compared to Sri Lanka, Singapore has successfully embraced these measures. Therefore, the suggestion is made to consider modernizing Sri Lankas court system using artificial intelligence (AI) and implementing strict case management controls.

Presidents Counsel Dr. K Kanag-Isvaran, Presidents Counsel Dr. Faiz Mustapha, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Finance Ministry Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena, Presidents Senior Adviser on Economic Affairs Dr. R.H. Samaratunga, attended the conference as panelists while Presidents Counsel Mr. Chandaka Jayasundere moderated the panel discussion.

Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam, Mr. Ronald Perera PC, Chairman, Bank of Ceylon, Chairman, Sri Lanka, Insurance Corporation Mr. Thulci Aluwihare, Deputy Managing Director, CHEC Port City Colombo(Pvt) Ltd, Mrs. Nadeeja Tambiah, President- Head of Legal and Secretarial- John Keells Holdings, Mr. Mohamed Azmeer, CEO, Amana Bank PLC, Mr. Premalal Brahmanage, Chairman, Prime Group, Mr. Nirmal Cooke, Group Director Capital Maharaja Organization, Mr. Vinod Hirdaramani, Chairman, Hirdaramani Group, Mr. Asgi Akbarally, Executive Director, Akbar Brothers Group, Mr. Dipak Das, Managing Director, Lanka IOC PLC, Mr. Imal Fonseka, Chief Executive Officer, Richardson Group, Mr. Janaka Abeysinghe, Chief Executive Officer, Sri Lanka Telecom, Mr.Thushan Meemanage, Director, Scope Cinemas (Pvt) Limited and a distinguished group of Supreme Court judges and lawyers attended this event.

President's Media Division (PMD)

04-06-2023

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Read more: www.pmd.gov.lk
Young farmers will vote on a motion regarding inheritance tax at the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs (NFYFC) annual meeting of clubs.

The motion calls for a debate on Labour's proposed inheritance tax changes and their potential impact on the next generation of farmers.

NFYFC, the UKs largest rural youth organisation with over 23,000 members, will host the meeting at the Assembly Rooms in Leamington Spa on 13 April.

The motion states: This house believes that the proposed changes to inheritance tax will have a detrimental impact on the next generation of farmers, and threaten the security of family farms.

In the autumn budget last October, the government announced several reforms to agricultural property relief from inheritance tax.

This includes a 1m allowance which will apply to the combined value of property that qualifies for 100% APR.

After the 1m allowance has been exhausted, relief will apply at a lower rate of 50% to the combined value of qualifying agricultural and business property.

YFC member Luke Cox, who proposed the motion, said the impact of the controversial proposals are "well documented".

"I feel there needs to be more understanding and empathy for British farmers," Mr Cox, a member of Wiltshire Federation of Young Farmers Clubs, said.

A concern for the next generation is the impact this has on investment, because throughout the period of the 7 year rule a choice will have to be made between investing in the future of the farm or saving every penny to pay off a potential tax bill."

The vote will take place at The Assembly Rooms in Leamington Spa on 13 April at 10.30am.

Votes can be cast online and all clubs, counties and council will receive voting details in advance of the meeting.
Beijing will take countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests if Washington escalates its tariff measures, the Chinese Commerce Ministry has said.

The comments by a ministry spokesperson followed the US threat to impose an additional 50-per cent tariff on Chinese imports that Beijing firmly opposes.

China will take countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests if the US escalates its tariff measures, the former's Commerce Ministry said following the US threat to impose an additional 50-per cent tariff on Chinese imports that Beijing firmly opposes. The so-called US 'reciprocal tariffs' against China are groundless and a typical practice of unilateral bullying, the ministry said.

The so-called US reciprocal tariffs against China are groundless and a typical practice of unilateral bullying, the spokesperson was cited as saying by a state-controlled media outlet.

The US tariff escalation threat against China compounds its mistake and further exposes its nature of blackmail, which China will never accept, said the spokesperson.

"China will fight till the end if the US side is bent on going down the wrong path," the spokesperson noted.

China urges the United States to immediately correct its wrongdoings, cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China, stop its economic and trade suppression, and settle differences with China properly through equal-footed dialogue based on mutual respect, the spokesperson added.

The Trump administration's trade war, launched under the guise of fairness and reciprocity, is in essence a zero-sum game driven by the pursuit of America First and American exceptionalism, the media outlet added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
German exports rose by 1.8 per cent, and imports by 0.7 per cent in February 2025 on a calendar- and seasonally adjusted basis compared with January 2025, as per the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). It also reported that exports increased by 0.1 per cent and imports by 4.6 per cent compared to February 2024.

After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the value of 131.6 billion (~$143.44 billion) and imported goods to the value of 113.8 billion in February 2025. The foreign trade balance thus showed a surplus of 17.7 billion (~$19.29 billion) in February 2025. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus stood at 16.2 billion in January 2025. In February 2024, the surplus was 22.6 billion (~$24.63 billion), Destatis said in a press release.

On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 70.2 billion to the Member States of the European Union (EU) in February 2025, while it imported goods to the value of 58.6 billion from these countries in the same period. Compared with January 2025, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to EU countries rose by 0.5 per cent and imports from these countries increased by 2.3 per cent.

In February 2025, German exports rose by 1.8 per cent and imports by 0.7 per cent MoM (seasonally adjusted), with a trade surplus of 17.7 billion (~$19.29 billion). Compared to February 2024, exports were up 0.1 per cent and imports rose 4.6 per cent. The US remained the top export destination, while most imports came from China. Exports to Russia declined both monthly and annually.

The value of the goods exported to euro area countries totalled 48.5 billion (+0.3 per cent), and the value of the goods imported from these countries was 39.2 billion (+2.8 per cent). Goods to the value of 21.7 billion (+1.0 per cent) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 19.4 billion (+1.4 per cent).

Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 61.4 billion in February 2025, while imports from these countries totalled 55.2 billion, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with January 2025, exports to third countries rose by 3.2 per cent, while imports from those countries fell by 1 per cent.

Most German exports in February 2025 went to the United States. After seasonal and calendar adjustment, exports of goods to the United States were up 8.5 per cent compared with January 2025, with the value of exports to the United States rising to 14.2 billion. Exports to China increased by 0.6 per cent to 6.8 billion. Exports to the United Kingdom decreased by 3.8 per cent to 6.5 billion.

Most imports in February 2025 came from China. Goods to the value of 13.7 billion were imported from there, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. This was an increase of 7.1 per cent compared with the previous month. Imports from the United States decreased by 3.9 per cent to 7.6 billion. Imports from the United Kingdom dropped by 5.2 per cent to 3.5 billion during the same period.

After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports to Russia decreased by 3.0 per cent to 0.6 billion in February 2025 from January 2025 and were down 13.4 per cent from February 2024. Imports from Russia fell by 4.5 per cent to 0.1 billion in February 2025 from January 2025 and were down 49.4 per cent compared with February 2024.

Germany exported goods to the value of 129.8 billion and imported goods to the value of 111.4 billion on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in February 2025. Compared with February 2024, exports were down 1.8 per cent and imports rose by 3.1 per cent. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 18.4 billion in February 2025. In February 2024, the surplus was 24.1 billion.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)
President Donald Trump would veto a bipartisan bill aimed at mandating congressional approval of all tariffs when those arrive on his desk, the White House has cautioned.

The measure introduced last week by Senators Chuck Grassley (Republican from Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (Democratic from Washington) would severely constrain the Presidents ability to use authorities long recognised by Congress and upheld by the courts to respond to national emergencies and foreign threats, Trumps Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said.

The US President would veto a bipartisan bill aimed at mandating congressional approval of all tariffs when those arrive on his desk, the White House has cautioned. The step would severely constrain the President's ability to use authorities long recognised by Congress and upheld by the courts to respond to national emergencies and foreign threats, Trump's Office of Management and Budget said.

The Trade Review Act also eliminates leverage over foreign trading partners, inhibits reshoring and supply chain resilience, fosters market uncertainty, and introduces procedural micromanagement, the OMB statement of administration policy noted.

Republican Senators Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Todd Young of Indiana and Susan Collins of Maine have also cosponsored the Grassley-Cantwell bill.

The bill would require the executive to have any new tariffs agreed to within 60 days by US Congress, which would have to get votes in favour of bill by two-thirds of its members in both chambers to overcome Trumps veto, which seems almost impossible.

Trade wars can be as devastating, which is why the founding fathers gave Congress the clear constitutional authority over war and trade. This bill reasserts Congresss role over trade policy to ensure rules-based trade policies are transparent, consistent, and benefit the American public. Arbitrary tariffs, particularly on our allies, damage US export opportunities and raise prices for American consumers and businesses, Sen. Cantwell said in a statement.

As representatives of the American people, Congress has a duty to stop actions that will cause them harm, he noted.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)




Talking to a leading media portal, the actor said, "That film is definitely coming. I started that before, and its shooting has also wrapped. I started Jaat after that. But that is taking slightly longer because Aamir Khan is the producer, and he's aiming for perfection in editing." Sunny Deol is gearing up for the release of Jaat, but there is also another film that his fans are eager about, and that is Lahore 1947. The film is produced by Aamir Khan and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. It is based on Asghar Wajahat's play Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya, O Jamyai Ni. It was supposed to hit the big screen on Republic Day this year, but it got delayed. Now, Deol has broken his silence over the delay of the film and said Aamir Khan is the reason behind the same.





Deol also revealed that Aamir Khan was the first person who came to him and offered him Lahore 1947. He said, "Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya is a play that we had been trying to adapt into a film for many years. However, because there was no success, it was financially difficult to make. When Gadar became a hit, we were really delighted, thinking someone might eventually make it. And Aamir was the first person who came forward and said, 'Sunny, I want to make this film'." Lahore 1947 sees Sunny Deol and Raj Kumar Santoshi reunite. This actor-director pair has given us several hits such as Ghatak, Ghayal and Damini. Deol continued, "We have been working on Lahore 1947 for so many years. Several actors heard the story, and many of them were supposed to do it as well, but it didn't happen. But Gadar 2 made everything happen."

The film is based on a Muslim family that migrates from Lucknow to Lahore during the partition. They live in a haveli that is abandoned by a Hindu family but they realise that an old Hindu woman is living in the haveli who refuses to leave.

See Also: Sunny Deol starrer Lahore 1947 wraps up after an intense 70-day schedule
In the absence of the Avengers, there is no one to protect the people on Earth. And with Sentry unleashing chaos, the world stands on the brink. In the midst of this turmoil, Bucky Barnes steps up, assembling a new team. But they are not the Earth's Mightiest Heroes like the Avengers. They are reformed villains and antiheroes. The newly released trailer of Thunderbolts* offers a glimpse into this group of misfits as they take on the task of stopping Sentry. In one scene, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Valentina Allegra de Fontaine suggests that Sentry is more powerful than all of the Avengers combined- a chilling and interesting thought for any Marvel fan.The film stars Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Edward Pierce, with David Harbour, with Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.A couple of days ago, the makers shared a behind-the-scenes video from Thunderbolts, giving a glimpse of a thrilling stunt. The short clip, just over a minute long, showcases Florence Pugh preparing for one of the boldest sequences in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. The scene is set at Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiathe second-tallest building in the world. Pugh, who reprises her role as the sharp and skilled Yelena Belova, is seen harnessed up, beaming with excitement just moments before initiating a base jump from the towering skyscraper. Any stunt in any movie, this is amazing, she says, with genuine awe and adrenaline in her voice.Directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* is produced by Kevin Feige. Louis D'Esposito, Brain Chapek, and Jason Tamez are the executive producers. Marvel Studios will release Thunderbolts* on 1st May 2025, in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, only in cinemas. The film will be released in India a day before its US release.
Renowned for his powerful background scores in Bollywood films like Animal, Kabir Singh, and Arjun Reddy, Harshavardhan Rameshwar is now set to make his entry into Malayalam cinema. The composer will be lending his musical expertise to the upcoming psychological thriller Anomie, which also marks actress Bhavanas debut as a producer.

The films team shared the announcement on social media, welcoming Rameshwar to the Malayalam film industry with the caption: ANOMIE welcomes the musical sensation Harshavardhan Rameshwar to Mollywood! Get ready for a symphony of brilliance! The news has already generated a buzz among cinephiles eager to see how Rameshwars signature sound translates into Malayalam storytelling.

Helmed by director Riyas Marath, Anomie stars Bhavana alongside veteran actor Rahman. The project is expected to deliver a gripping narrative infused with intense psychological themes, and it is already being recognized for its high production values and technical finesse.Bhavana, producing the film under her own banner Bhavana Film Productions, expressed her excitement on social media, referring to the film as a musical journey unlike any other. The collaboration with Rameshwar reflects her intent to push creative boundaries both in front of and behind the camera.The cast includes a mix of emerging and established talents such as Vishnu Agastya, Binu Pappu, Shebin Benson, Arjun Lal, and Drishya Raghunath. On the visual front, the film brings in Sujith Sarangcelebrated for his work in Dear Comrade and Dhuruvangal Pathinaaruas cinematographer, with editing by Kiran Das, known for Romancham and Rorschach.Backing the film are co-producers Dr. C.J. Roy (Confident Group), APK Cinema, and Bhavana Film Productions. The crew also includes renowned colorist JD (Gangs of Wasseypur, Mulk), action coordinators Action Santhosh and Thavasi Raj, and VFX teams from Egg White and Digi Bricks. Sync Cinema is overseeing sound design to enhance the immersive experience.Shot over 100 days across diverse locations such as Ernakulam, Mumbai, Pollachi, Kodaikanal, and Coimbatore, the films visuals are expected to match its psychological depth. The title and first look were unveiled by actor Dulquer Salmaan on social media, amplifying anticipation.See Also: Watch: Krypto Takes Superman To The Fortress Of Solitude In New Sneak Peek
That Andhra Pradeshs deputy Chief Minister and actor Pawan Kalyan's younger son Mark Shankar met with a fire accident in his school

on Tuesday morning

in Singapore is known. The seven-year-old suffered injuries to his hands, legs and reportedly suffered smoke inhalation. The actor-politician, who has just wrapped up his manyam tour, responded over the tragic incident. Speaking at the press conference

on Tuesday evening

, Pawan stated that initially he wasnt aware of the magnitude of the fire accident and damage. He learnt about the development when he was on the Manyam tour.

Around 30 students (kids) were there supposedly to attend a summer camp. Around 8: 30 AM, I got a call from my wife and also school authorities that a fire had broken out. Unfortunately, one kid died while another kid suffered third degree burns. Its so disheartening to know such reports. My son had inhaled a lot of smoke during the accident, and he is presently undergoing bronchoscopy treatment, stated Pawan adding that his son is presently in the hospital and is being shifted to general ward.Mark is presently undergoing bronchoscopy treatment under general anesthesia. These kinds of issues may have a long-term impact because of the amount of smoke inhalation that went into the lungs, so itll take some time for complete recovery, Pawan added.

While thanking all those who showed solidarity in this grief hourPawan stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him of all the support from the Indian High Commission in Singapore. On a concluding note, Pawan stated that he is looking forward to his sons recovery and wellbeing. I had to cut-shot my four-day Araku trip and I would be leaving for Singapore shortly. There was a construction happening beside the premises and luckily, the construction works were the first one to rescue the kids before the fire engines came to put off the fire, said Pawan.

STORY | Andhra Dy CM Pawan Kalyans son injured in Singapore school fire that kills 10-year-old girl



READ: https://t.co/IcOYdEevmk



VIDEO | Addressing the media, Andhra Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan (@PawanKalyan) said, "I initially thought it was a minor fire accident. Later, I pic.twitter.com/jJA3bhgtGe  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 8, 2025

And in a gruesome coincidence, Tuesday also happens to be Pawan elders son Akira Nandans birthday. Its ill-fated that today we heard the sad news and its an unfortunate coincidence.



See Also: Pawan Kalyans Son Mark Shankar Suffers Injuries After Fire Accident in His School
Sri Lanka elected to the UN Committee on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW)

Sri Lankas candidate Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam was elected to the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families at the election held on 27 June 2023 at the United Nations in New York.

Ambassador Kariyawasam is a retired career diplomat and has previously served in the Committee three times, during which he was also the Chairperson during the Committees initial formative stages.

In addition to Ambassador Kariyawasam, candidates from Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Turkiye, Mexico and Burkina Faso got elected to the seven member Committee. Sri Lanka obtained the second highest number of votes together with Algeria.

In the post pandemic context, and the prevailing global economic situation, migrant workers are facing enormous challenges while contributing to the growth of economies across the world. The nomination of a candidate to the Committee by Sri Lanka is an endorsement of the countrys commitments to protecting and promoting rights of migrant workers.

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) is a body comprising of 14 independent experts that works to protect the rights of migrant workers around the world and monitors the implementation of the Convention, an important International Human Rights Treaty.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

28 June 2023
HIGHLIGHTS

Solis Minerals has received approvals to commence drilling at its copper-gold project Chancho al Palo (100% ownership) in Peru.

Leading Peruvian drilling contractor to commence a 7,500-meter diamond drilling campaign of copper-gold targets. Drilling is anticipated to begin imminently.

Drilling permits for the Company's other drill-ready target, Ilo Este (100%), are expected in the coming weeks.

Assay samples will be processed at ALS Global's laboratory in Lima, Peru, a leading facility in geochemical analysis.

The commencement of drilling at Chancho al Palo, followed by Ilo Este, alongside continued target identification across the Company's highly prospective copper-gold projects, is expected to generate strong news flow throughout 2025.

Solis Minerals is committed to its objective of identifying copper-gold resources that have potential to host large-scale mining in one of the world's leading copper producing regions.

Perth, Western Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 7, 2025) - Solis Minerals Limited (ASX: SLM) (TSXV: SLMN) ("Solis Minerals" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the receipt of permits to commence drilling at its Chancho al Palo project in southern Peru. The program will begin with approximately 5 drill holes, totalling 2,500 meters, with scope for expansion.

The commencement of drilling firstly at Chancho al Palo, and shortly Ilo Este, delivers on commitments made in support of the recently announced placement of A$4.5 million[1]. The Company plans to drill these targets in parallel once all approvals have been granted which will provide a period of strong news flow in support of Solis Minerals' objective of identifying copper-gold resources in southern Peru that have the potential to host large-scale mining.

Solis Minerals' exploration drill targets are located near the coast, exhibit promising mineralisation at surface - particularly Ilo Este, and benefit from access to critical infrastructure essential for future mining operations. Elevations do not exceed 1,100 metres. The region hosts several major international copper mining companies in production or with advanced projects including Southern Copper, Teck and Anglo American. The Company's targets are analogous to AusQuest Limited's (ASX: AQD) Cangallo exploration prospect in southern Peru where wide zones of copper mineralisation have been discovered.

Chief Executive Officer, Mitch Thomas, commented:

"Drilling commencement at Chancho al Palo marks the start of an exciting phase of growth for the Company. Following 12 months of detailed technical and permitting work by the experienced Solis Minerals team, targets will now be tested through a diamond core drilling program of up to 7,500 meters in Southern Peru.

"Chancho al Palo and Ilo Este exhibit strong potential to contain large scale porphyry and iron oxide copper-gold ("IOCG") systems consistent with nearby operating mines. Solis Minerals expects to deliver a steady stream of updates over the next two to four months as assay results become available.

"With copper prices nearing US$10,000 per tonne and gold surpassing US$3,000 per ounce -both near all-time highs - this is an optimal time for exploration. We aim to leverage this strong macroeconomic environment to drive shareholder value."





Figure 1: Ilo region of the Department of Moquegua, Peru showing Solis Minerals' exploration project areas including Ilo Este, Chancho al Palo, Cinto and Chocolate as well as exploration ground held by major mining companies. Values for operations and projects sourced from company websites[2].

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/1134/247681_solisimage.jpg

Chancho al Palo (100%)

The project comprises four contiguous concessions situated within the Southern Coastal Belt of Peru (Figure 1). Geophysical surveys, including drone magnetometry and induced polarisation (IP) studies, have identified significant chargeability targets, with albeit limited surface exposure confirming copper mineralisation. Two primary mineralisation styles have been identified: (i) the western section of the project area is prospective for IOCG mineralisation, (ii) while the eastern section demonstrates potential for porphyry-style mineralisation.

Next steps

Drilling is expected to commence shortly at Chancho al Palo. A leading local drilling company has been engaged. Assaying will be carried out at ALS Global in Lima, Peru.

In parallel, permit approvals to commence drilling 5,000-meter program at Ilo at Este are being finalised. These are expected as soon as the end of April 2025. Drilling is then planned take place concurrently between Chancho al Palo and Ilo Este following granting of all approvals. This maiden drilling programme delivers on Solis Minerals objective of identifying copper-gold resources that have potential to host large-scale mining in one of the world's leading copper producing regions.

ENDS

This announcement is authorised by Mitch Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Solis Minerals Ltd.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this news release.

About Solis Minerals Limited

Solis Minerals is an emerging exploration company, focused on unlocking the potential of its South American copper portfolio. The Company is building a significant copper portfolio around its core tenements of Ilo Este and Ilo Norte and elsewhere in the Southern Coastal Belt of Peru and currently holds 81 concessions totalling 69,200 Ha. 47 concessions are fully granted (39,000 Ha) and 34 concessions are being processed (30,200 Ha).

The Company is led by a highly-credentialled and proven team with excellent experience across the mining lifecycle in South America. Solis Minerals is actively considering a range of copper opportunities. South America is a key player in the global export market for copper and Solis Minerals, under its leadership team, is strategically positioned to capitalise on growth the opportunities within this mineral-rich region.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that relate to future events or performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected, including, but not limited to, market conditions, availability of financing, actual results of the Company's exploration and other activities, environmental risks, future metal prices, operating risks, accidents, labour issues, delays in obtaining governmental approvals and permits, and other risks in the mining industry. All the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. 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 save as required by applicable law.

Qualified Person Statement

The technical information in this news release was reviewed by Michael Parker, a Fellow of the Australian institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101). Michael Parker is Technical Director of the Company.

Competent Person Statement

The information in this ASX release concerning Geological Information and Exploration Results is based on and fairly represents information compiled by Mr Michael Parker, a Competent Person who is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Parker is a contractor to Solis Minerals Ltd. and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and types of deposit under consideration and to the exploration activities undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves." Mr Parker consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on information in the form and context in which it appears. Mr Parker has provided his prior written consent regarding the form and context in which the Geological Information and Exploration Results and supporting information are presented in this Announcement.

[1] Refer to (ASX: SLM) announcement 26 February 2025: '$4.5 MILLION PLACEMENT BOLSTERS FUNDING AHEAD OF DRILLING IN COPPER-RICH REGION OF PERU.'

[2] Nearby properties and projects is for information purposes only and there are no assurances the company would achieve the same results at its projects.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247681

SOURCE: Solis Minerals Ltd.
NAPERVILLE, IL / ACCESS Newswire / April 7, 2025 / Maggie Fleming's influence extends far beyond small business ownership -she is a leader whose academic foundation and strategic insights continue to inspire professionals across industries. With degrees from Pepperdine University and Texas A&M University, she has built a career rooted in learning, leadership development, and industry trends.

From hospitality and business ownership, Fleming's expertise reflects a blend of real-world impact and academic excellence. Her ability to translate complex concepts into actionable insights has positioned her as a sought-after voice in industry discussions, and professional development initiatives.

Academic Excellence & Strategic Thinking

Fleming's educational background at two of the nation's top universities shaped her approach to leadership and business. At Pepperdine University, she honed her skills in decision-making and corporate leadership, while her time at Texas A&M University reinforced the importance of business concepts and understanding start-ups.

Her studies emphasized:

Critical thinking - Developing analytical skills that drive business success

Leadership principles - Understanding how to inspire teams and shape industries

Market fit - Learning how to meet customer needs

These foundational skills have allowed her to excel in diverse roles, from corporate leadership at Tesla to small business ownership in hospitality.

A Recognized Leader in Hospitality & Business

Fleming's ability to bridge academia with industry has made her a key figure in professional development conversations. Her thought leadership spans multiple sectors, including:

Hospitality - Redefining service and communication excellence

Business - Helping brands navigate growth, and best leadership practices

Wellness - Advocating for business practices that value well-being

Through her advisory roles and previous start-up experience, she continues to share insights that mainly inspire emerging professionals as well as some industry veterans too.

Empowering More Leaders

Beyond her own success, Fleming is committed to fostering more business leaders. She actively contributes to:

Start-up communities Industry mentorship programs, that guide new entrepreneurs

Podcast Appearances and leadership publications, contributing expertise to industry conversations

Her influence as a podcast guest and writing contributor demonstrates her dedication to knowledge-sharing and professional development.

Conclusion: A Lasting Intellectual Impact

Maggie Fleming's journey from business leadership to academic excellence illustrates the power of lifelong education. Whether through small business ownership, or contributing to podcasts and publications, she continues to shape conversations that define the future of etiquette, and business.

As a respected leader, her insights serve as a roadmap for aspiring leaders, industry professionals, and businesses striving for new trends. Fleming's impact is more than professional-it's a plethora of knowledge, empowerment, and forward-thinking leadership.

For those looking to refine their hospitality skills, this internationally recognized book shares how. Whether you're hosting a dinner party, leading a team, or attending a corporate event, the ability to engage meaningfully will always set you apart.

For interviews or collaborations with Maggie Fleming, write to us at pr@evrimachicago.com.

SOURCE: Maggie Fleming
Batteries Spearhead Dual Economic and Technological Race in 2025

TIANJIN, China, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The 17th China International Battery Fair (CIBF2025), Asia's premier battery industry gathering, will be held at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center from May 15-17, 2025. Organized by the China Industrial Association of Power Sources (CIAPS), the 300,000-sqm event will span 15 halls, hosting 3,100 global exhibitors spotlighting next-gen technologies and solutions.

Industry Giants to Showcase Synergies Between Innovation and Commercialization

Confirmed participants include industry leaders CATL, BYD, EVE Energy, Gotion High-tech, Cornex, Sunwoda, and Lishen Battery, alongside Dynanonic, Hunan Yuneng, SEMCORP and other key suppliers. The event will also highlight advancements in smart battery management systems (BMS) and energy storage solutions. In a move to streamline event access, CIBF2025 has set up two registration entrances (North/South), in anticipation of the more than 400,000 professional buyers and visitors worldwide, who are looking forward to the opportunities for networking and deal-making.

Attendees to the CIBF2025 Conference on the Frontier Technology of Advanced Batteries taking place concurrently will discuss critical industry themes of the day, with a focus on the lastest advancements in lithium-ion batteries, battery safety and testing, solid-state and next-gen batteries, high-power fast charging, sodium-ion batteries, advanced materials, and smart manufacturing with digital twins.

Additionally, the event will host several high-level forums including the Electric Aviation & Next-Gen Batteries (CIBF2025 Shenzhen) Technical Conference, the CIBICS Battery Industry Cooperation Forum, and the Isotope Nuclear Battery Status and Future Development Symposium, in addition to more than 200 technical presentations to decode emerging trends and explore the future of battery ecosystems.

The TWh Era Arrives: Batteries Power Economic Growth

China's lithium battery industry achieved landmark growth in 2024, with total output surging 24% year on year to 1,170GWh and industry valuation exceeding 1.2 trillion yuan.

With 2024 power battery shipments rising to 1,157GWh worldwide, the industry has decisively crossed into the TWh era - a milestone underscored by Chinese firms' growing market dominance.

The low-altitude economy has evolved into a strategic growth sector, featured prominently in regional government blueprints and poised to unlock a new trillion-yuan market.

As new entrants flood this high-potential market, competition is accelerating breakthroughs in critical technologies.

Join the event at CIBF2025, May 15-17, 2025, at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center.

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EQS Newswire / 08/04/2025 / 10:30 UTC+8

(8 April 2025, Hong Kong) Novautek Technologies Group Limited ("Novautek", stock code: 519.HK) proudly announces the official unveiling of its AI robot, S2 ("Novautek AI Robot"), at a ceremony held on a Hong Kong campus on 3 April 2025. This event marks a significant advancement in Novautek's application of intelligent education scenarios.

The unveiling ceremony was presided over by the Under Secretary for Education, with over a hundred representatives from the education sector in attendance. Throughout the event, the Novautek AI Robot utilized its diverse AI interaction system featuring core functions such as intelligent Q&A and precise navigation, served as the receptionist throughout the ceremony and engaged in various interactions with guests. The Novautek AI Robot leads the Under Secretary for Education and the guests into the ceremony. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region places a high priority on the development of intelligent education and has included artificial intelligence education as a key initiative in the "Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint". According to the 2025-26 Budget announcement, the government will allocate an additional HKD 800 million over the next three years (2025-2028) to promote the procurement of intelligent teaching equipment, teacher training, and data infrastructure upgrades. With the continuous support of government policies and an increase in resource investment, alongside the innovative capabilities of local technology companies, Hong Kong is poised to emerge as a hub for intelligent education in the Asia-Pacific region within the next five years, further solidifying its position as an International Innovation and Technology Centre. The Novautek AI Robot also aspires to advance the development of intelligent education in Hong Kong through collaboration with the government in the educational sector. - END - About Novautek Technologies Group Limited The principal businesses of Novautek Technologies Group Limited include autonomous driving, property development, property investment, and investment holding. The Group successfully established Novautek Autonomous Driving Limited in 2023 and set up an autonomous driving business in 2024, focusing on developing products and services related to autonomous driving technology for specific scenarios such as cleaning, security, warehousing, logistics and transportation. Based in Hong Kong, the Group not only serves the local market but also promotes its high-tech products to the world. This press release is issued by DLK Advisory Limited on behalf of Novautek Technologies Group Limited. DLK Advisory ???? pr@dlkadvisory.com Tel: +852 2857 7101 Fax: +852 2857 7103 08/04/2025 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


14 of Singapore's most forward-looking designers, design studios, and rising talents address contemporary societal needs in a three-part showcase that captures the city-state's vision for innovative design

SINGAPORE, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION, presented by DesignSingapore Council has officially opened at Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache, located in the historical Cinque Vie district.

With 2025 marking 60 years of Singapore's independence, the third instalment of the series - launched in 2023 - explores the country's evolution through the lens of design. With a unique approach that unifies forward-thinking design with innovation and creativity, Singapore has transformed into a successful global economy that is famed for being one of the most seamlessly-designed city-states in the world.

Curated by Tony Chambers, Maria Cristina Didero and Singaporean co-curator Hunn Wai of Lanzavecchia + Wai, Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION is a three-part showcase that brings together 14 of Singapore's most forward-looking designers, from established names to rising talents, who are pushing the boundaries of design to enhance the world we live in and how we live in it.

Visitors will be taken on a journey through the past, present, and future of Singapore design, beginning with Little Island of Brave Ideas. Tracing design's crucial role in nation-building over the past six decades, the first part of the showcase spotlights key milestones that demonstrate how strategic foresight and meticulous execution have made Singapore a global success story by design. This includes the country's unique public housing system and robust public transport system, to beers brewed from Singapore's reclaimed water and colour-coded plates in hawker centres.

The third iteration of the Future Impact series stands as the centrepiece, spotlighting eight works from designers Claudia Poh (Werable), Ng Sze Kiat (Bewilder), Olivia Lee, Randy Yeo (Practice Theory), Sacha Leong (Nice Projects), Wei Xiang, as well as design studio Supermama and a collective formed byFARM, Vouse and Changi General Hospital. The works will reflect how Singapore's leading contemporary designers are creating design-driven solutions to tackle urgent global challenges, while reducing environmental impact and elevating everyday lives.

This includes a woven screen designed by Sacha Leong (Nice Projects) in response to overcrowding in cities, to a versatile bag that seamlessly adapts to its users by Claudia Poh (Werable). Design collective FARM, Vouse and Changi General Hospital will present their work on a dynamic digital twin of the hospital's Emergency Department to aid holistic decision-making for enhanced patient care.

The influence of Singapore's rich cultural heritage will also be showcased in new works by Supermama, which modernises the traditional Japanese art form of Kintsugi with 3D-printed resin and algorithmic growth patterns, and Olivia Lee, who reimagines the steel solar cooker, commonplace in Southeast Asia, to spark a broader reflection of the Sun's role as a futuristic source of energy.

Exploring sustainable methods and materials is Ng Sze Kiat (Bewilder), who presents a new line of Fungariums developed using stainless steel, and the Knots Stool by Wei Xiang that transforms old blankets or curtains into functional furniture with simple knots. Finally, Randy Yeo (Practice Theory) considers Singapore's design identity in the context of its nation-building history and unique blend of culture, manifested in a form of sculptural objects using paper offcuts.

"It is with great pride that we bring the third edition of Future Impact to Milan Design Week, to shine a light on the essence of Singapore's unique design DNA with the world. Through each of the eight designers' works, we hope visitors will recognise the important role design plays in shaping the world," said Tony Chambers and Maria Cristina Didero, co-curators for Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION.

Looking to the future, the final segment of the three-part showcase, Virtuoso Visionaires demonstrates Singapore's role as a global hub for design, empowering the next generation of designers to think creatively about contemporary challenges and cultural shifts. Works by six emerging design talents will interrogate topics such as leveraging artificial intelligence to redefine Singapore's multicultural identity, an exploration of Singlish (Singaporean Colloquial English), examining post-consumer waste and circular design practices, as well as sustainable designs for living spaces.

"I am deeply honoured to be proudly showcasing the design excellence of our Lion City to the world at Milan Design Week. Singapore is well-known for thriving through ingenuity and resourcefulness and now, the future lies with the new generation of globally attuned, self-aware innovators who can continue this legacy," said Hunn Wai, co-curator for Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION.

Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION is currently on display within the cathedral setting of Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache, located within the Cinque Vie (5vie) district, one of the most vibrant areas for culture and design in central Milan, a short walk from the Duomo. The showcase runs from 8 to 13 April 2025.

Alongside the exhibitions, DesignSingapore Council is hosting a series of events throughout the week. These will include daily designer-led activities that are open to the public such as decoding Singlish nuances and fungarium workshops, Live with Monocle, an exclusive live broadcast show with hourly interviews featuring designers and curators as well as evening cocktails, followed by a Singapore-themed Friday Late party to cap off the week.

"This special edition of the Future Impact series spotlights Singapore's unique design journey as our nation turns 60. Truly a Nation by Design, Singapore has been transformed by a remarkable attitude and approach to design that is purpose-driven, with people at its centre. Through Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION, visitors will gain insight into Singapore as a global design hub that pioneers solutions for pressing challenges," said Dawn Lim, Executive Director of DesignSingapore Council

*ENDS*

For full list of designers and their works, refer to Annex A and B here .

For images and more information, refer to the press kit here .

About DesignSingapore Council

The DesignSingapore Council's (Dsg's) vision is for Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city by design. As the national agency that promotes design, our mission is to develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design. Dsg is a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board.

designsingapore.org.

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CLUJ, Romania, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Montran, a global provider of payment system infrastructure, has announced the broader availability of its consulting and connectivity services for SEPA Instant Payments across the European Union. Building on successful implementations in Belgium, Germany, France, the UK, Bulgaria, Italy and Romania, this expansion reflects Montran's commitment to supporting commercial banks across the continent as they prepare to meet the compliance deadlines set by the EU's Instant Payments Regulation (IPR).

The regulation mandates that eurozone banks be ready to send and receive SEPA Instant Payments starting in October 2025. Banks in non-euro EU countries have until July 2027. In response, Montran is extending its established expertise-previously focused in select markets-to financial institutions throughout Europe.

"Instant Payments are becoming the new standard across the EU," said Keith Esca, Global Sales Director at Montran. "We are now making our implementation services and proven connectivity solutions available to more banks, helping them meet the regulatory timelines with confidence."

Expanded Availability of Business Consulting Services

Montran's consulting teams support banks in meeting SEPA Instant Payment requirements, offering end-to-end guidance from project scoping through implementation. Services include:

Interpretation of SEPA Instant documentation

Analysis of message flows and business rules

Workshop sessions and internal training

Support with internal testing documentation

Ongoing assistance for project teams

With experience supporting more than 30 banks on instant payment projects, Montran's consulting services are designed to reduce complexity and accelerate readiness.

Broader Deployment of Instant Payments Connectivity Solutions

Montran's Payments Gateway, a scalable solution already in use by banks and central infrastructures, is now available for wider deployment across Europe. The solution provides direct connectivity to TIPS, EBA RT1, and national instant payment systems such as Romania's SENT CPI.

Key capabilities include:

Support for both euro and local-currency instant payment systems

Real-time monitoring and operational dashboards

High-volume transaction processing (up to 10 million/day)

Flexible integration with existing core and digital banking systems

The solution is delivered on-premises and fully supported by Montran's local and international teams.

About Montran

Montran is the leading provider of Payment and Capital Market Infrastructure solutions, servicing the world's foremost financial institutions with mission critical installations and operations in over 90 countries. Discover more at www.montran.com.

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ASMALLWORLD AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

ASMALLWORLD Honoured With Regional Virtuoso Award For Top Producing Cruise Member In Continental Europe



08.04.2025 / 06:30 CET/CEST





ASMALLWORLD Honoured With Regional Virtuoso Award For Top Producing Cruise Member In Continental Europe

Zurich, 08.04.2025 - Virtuoso, the leading global network specialising in luxury and experiential travel, presented its first annual regional Virtuoso Awards at its Continental Europe Forum, which took place 19-21 March at Mandarin Oriental Palace, Luzern. ASMALLWORLD was among the network's most esteemed travel agency members in Continental Europe and global preferred partners honoured with a regional award. These recognitions were given to those who set the standard in their given category based on sales performance or engagement within the network.

ASMALLWORLD received the award for Top Producer in Cruise, which honours a Virtuoso member and partner with the highest overall network sales in a respective category.

"To have launched our travel business in 2020 and achieved this level of recognition in such a short period is a remarkable accomplishment," said Zain Richardson, CEO of ASMALLWORLD.

"This milestone reflects the dedication, expertise and passion of our entire team, and I would like to extend my sincere thanks to our incredible team who made this possible. I'd also like to acknowledge in particular Grant Holmes, our Global Commercial Director of Travel, whose commitment and leadership have been central to this achievement. As we look to the future, we are focused on accelerating the growth of our travel business, strengthening our partnerships, and continuing to enhance the value we provide to our clients and members. This recognition reaffirms the strength of our offering and the exciting potential that lies ahead."

Awards were announced at an elegant gala on the evening of 20 March. The annual Forum brought together over 90 attendees, including owners and managers from Virtuoso's travel agency members in Continental Europe and preferred partners from around the world.

Virtuoso wishes to congratulate ASMALLWORLD and thank them for their invaluable contribution to the success of the Virtuoso network.

For more details on Virtuoso's network of the world's best travel agencies, advisors and preferred partners, please visit www.virtuoso.com .



About Virtuoso

Virtuoso is the leading global travel agency network specialising in luxury and experiential travel. This by-invitation-only organisation comprises over 1,200 travel agency locations with more than 20,000 travel advisors in 58 countries throughout North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Drawing upon its preferred relationships with 2,300 of the world's best hotels and resorts, cruise lines, airlines, tour companies and premier destinations, the network provides its upscale clientele with exclusive amenities, rare experiences and privileged access. Normalised annual sales of (U.S.) $35 billion make Virtuoso a powerhouse in the luxury travel industry. For more information, visit www.virtuoso.com .

Misty Belles, Virtuoso - Vice President, Global Public Relations

+1.202.553.8817 / mbelles@virtuoso.com

The ASMALLWORLD Group:

Centred around the ASMALLWORLD social network, the company operates a luxury travel ecosystem that serves discerning travellers and industry partners.

At its core, the ASMALLWORLD social network is the trusted community for modern luxury travellers, offering a platform to connect, share experiences and enjoy a wealth of travel privileges.

ASMALLWORLD members can engage through its app and website, receive travel inspiration, and meet in person at over 800 global ASMALLWORLD events every year, ranging from casual get-togethers, access to exclusive launches, galas, major global sporting events, and larger flagship weekend experiences hosted in iconic destinations such as Saint-Tropez and St. Moritz.

Beyond the social network, the ASMALLWORLD Group extends into bespoke travel planning, luxury hospitality, and strategic B2B collaborations. Through its diverse portfolio, the Group fosters a like-minded global community, curated opportunities, and tailored solutions, shaping the evolution of luxury travel.

Other businesses in the ASMALLWORLD travel ecosystem include:

ASMALLWORLD Collection, a high-end online hotel booking engine focused on the world's most admired hotels, offering the unique "ASMALLWORLD VIP Rate," which allows customers to enjoy exclusive travel benefits at no extra cost.

ASMALLWORLD Bespoke Travel, a high-end travel agency offering personalised travel curation services.

ASMALLWORLD DISCOVERY, part of Global Hotel Alliance alongside 45 leading hotel brands, services independent hotels in providing access to the GHA DISCOVERY loyalty network

ASMALLWORLD Hospitality, a hospitality and management consultancy that supports owners and developers of hospitality assets throughout the different lifecycle stages of their assets, including acquisition, development, operations and exit.

First Class & More, a subscription-based smart luxury travel service that allows members to enjoy luxury travel at insider prices.

The World's Finest Clubs, the world's leading nightlife concierge offers its members VIP access to the most exclusive nightlife venues around the world.

Jetbeds, a premier booking platform specialising in affordable Business and First-Class flights, offering exclusive deals, expert advice and personalised service.

For more information, please visit:

www.asmallworldag.com

www.asmallworld.com

www.asmallworldcollection.com

www.asmallworldbespoke.com

www.asmallworlddiscovery.com

www.asmallworldhospitality.com

www.first-class-and-more.de

www.first-class-and-more.com

www.finestclubs.com

www.jetbeds.com

Contact:

ASMALLWORLD AG

Seidengasse 20

8001 Zurich

Switzerland

info@asmallworldag.com

Disclaimer

The statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements". Such can be identified, for example, by the use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," "project," "target," "seek," or "aim," or the negative of these words or comparable expressions.

Forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Issuer or its industry to be materially different from any future results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

The issuer undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

End of Media Release


Royal Oak, Michigan--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Jrop, a major innovator in America's thriving on-demand vehicle services segment, has recently expanded its footprint throughout the United States by broadening its network of providers. With a completely revamped and up-to-date website, the company is now delivering unmatched speed, convenience, and accuracy to customers looking for roadside assistance, towing, junk car removal, auto transport, auto locksmith services, and more. This milestone solidifies the position of Jrop as the country's only on-demand platform offering all these services under one roof.





Jrop Emerges as America's Only All-in-One On-Demand Vehicle Support Platform with Nationwide Coverage



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"Our new web platform has been designed immaculately to deliver an intuitive and easy-to-use interface that allows you to request and receive services promptly with minimal input. This upgraded system enhances speed as well as accuracy so that you can enjoy a frictionless experience from placing a request to completion of service. Whether you prefer using a desktop or mobile device, our streamlined process delivers real-time updates and ensures transparency at every step," mentioned a senior spokesperson from Jrop.

American on-demand Vehicle Services Industry

America's on-demand vehicle services industry has experienced significant growth in the recent years, as more and more customers have started prioritizing convenience and flexibility. This upward trajectory of the industry can be attributed to the shifts in consumer behavior, advances in technology, and the rise in gig economy. The industry is poised to continue developing further with advances in electrification, automation, and AI.

Jrop is in the process of transforming the way vehicle related emergencies and logistics are managed by Americans. Through its real-time dispatching capability and nationwide provider network, the company is now able to assist its customers faster and with greater efficiency. The new state-of-the-art website ensure a hassle-free customer experience, from receiving a competitive quote for auto transport or junk car removal to requesting roadside assistance.

"We are confident that our new and improved platform will set new industry standards," the company spokesperson added. "Customers will no longer need to rely on multiple providers for different needs related to their vehicles. Whether you want to sell your old car for cash, ship a vehicle across the nation, or need a tow truck in odd hours, we have everything in one place, with reliability, transparency, and speed."

Jrop's Nationwide Coverage: A Gamechanger

Jrop's expanded service network has already brought significant benefits to businesses, vehicle owners, and roadside assistance seekers throughout the country. Its robust network across 50 states ensures that top-class assistance is just a click away, regardless of the customer's location.

Lightening Fast Emergency Assistance: The real-time dispatch technology used by Jrop instantly connects customers to nearest available providers. This has already reduced the company's emergency response time by 10%.

Junk Car Removal with Instant Cash & Hassle-Free Pick-Up: To enhance the process of disposing of an unwanted vehicle, Jrop now provides instant and accurate cash offers based on real-time market data. The vehicle pick-up and payment methods have also been streamlined to eliminate the typical delays and frustrations.

Reliable Scheduling and Transparent Pricing in Auto Transport: Jrop's auto transport service now offers transparent ad real-time quotes for shipping and highly accurate dates for pick-up and delivery. As a result, customers can confidently plan their shipments without worrying about scheduling related uncertainties or hidden expenses.

Commitment to Sustainability

Jrop's commitment is by no means limited to transforming vehicle services in America; they are also leading the way in driving sustainable practices in the industry. By reducing unnecessary consumption of fuel and optimizing service dispatching, its advanced platform contributes to lower carbon emissions. To further promote and encourage environmentally responsible practices, the company is exploring opportunities to partner with electric and hybrid towing service providers.

Future Plans:

The recent nationwide expansion is just the beginning of Jrop's ambitious plans for the future. To further improve its service capabilities, they are actively pursuing strategic collaborations with fleet management companies, insurance providers, and auto repair shops. Through integration with key industry players, the company aims to deliver a holistic and seamless vehicle support experience to businesses as well as individual consumers.

"We strongly believe that our forward-thinking approach will position us as the leading innovator in the on-demand vehicle services space," the spokesperson concluded. "In the future, we also aim to develop an AI-driven service recommendation system capable of providing personalized service suggestions based on customers' location, past service requests, and vehicle history.

To find out more about Jrop and its advanced service capabilities, please visit https://www.jrop.com/.

About Jrop: Jrop is now America's only nationwide on-demand platform offering comprehensive vehicle support services. From vehicle transport and disposal to roadside emergency support, Jrop provides customers with transparent, reliable, and superfast solutions through its extensive service provider network and industry-leading digital platform.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247488

SOURCE: Plentisoft
Introduces real-time financial insights, in partnership with DigiAlly, to power more innovative SME underwriting, drive more efficient cross-border trade, and broaden business credit access across ASEAN.

BENGALURU, India and SINGAPORE, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Decentro, India's leading API banking and financial infrastructure platform, announced today that it is deepening its presence in Southeast Asia by launching its advanced business credit and underwriting solution. Powered by a partnership with Singapore-headquartered DigiAlly, this initiative brings real-time business financial intelligence to the ASEAN region-an industry-first capability enabling more innovative lending, risk assessment, and cross-border financial operations.

As Southeast Asia's digital economy accelerates, access to credit and intelligent underwriting has become vital for both SMEs and fintechs. The Asian Development Bank estimates the SME credit gap in Asia to be over $2.1 trillion, with ASEAN nations representing a significant portion of the total. Yet, despite rapid fintech innovation, many financial institutions still rely on outdated verification and underwriting models, exposing them to fraud and slowing credit access. With 1 in 5 fraud cases now involving synthetic identities (Experian, 2023), the urgency for real-time business intelligence is apparent. Without modern, data-driven infrastructure, institutions risk falling behind-and missing out on the next wave of fintech-led growth.

Building on its robust consumer credit APIs and SaaS infrastructure, Decentro's expanded stack now includes a comprehensive business credit infrastructure, supporting SME financing, invoice factoring, and cross-border trade. Through a single integration, fintech platforms and financial institutions across the ASEAN region can now access business financial reports, trade data, and verification insights-all in real time and also via a single, comprehensive PDF report.

Commenting on the milestone, Rohit Taneja, Co-founder & CEO of Decentro, said, "At Decentro, we've always believed that the future of fintech is borderless, intelligent, and deeply integrated. Our expansion into Southeast Asia with a strong partner like DigiAlly allows us to power the next generation of business underwriting and credit access-making real-time KYB and financial data accessible at scale. Whether a large unit in Jakarta or a cross-border lender in Manila, the infrastructure to assess risk and unlock growth is now just an API away."

With this move, Decentro introduces a unified business financial intelligence suite-an industry first in the ASEAN region-bringing together financial reports, trade history, and verification data into a single, downloadable PDF. The offering is already enabling:

Insurance companies to underwrite SME risk faster

to underwrite SME risk faster Lenders and banks to assess business creditworthiness more accurately

to assess business creditworthiness more accurately Neobanks to verify & offer a credit line on the fly

to verify & offer a credit line on the fly Payment service providers (PSPs) to verify businesses across borders with greater confidence

And here are the countries that are covered for this solution -

Singapore

India

Vietnam

South Korea

Australia

Philippines

Indonesia

DigiAlly, known for its deep credit and financial data intelligence solutions across Southeast Asia, will be a key data partner in this expansion. Its platform offers granular credit and financial analytics across company types, empowering lenders, PSPs, insurers, and trade platforms with faster, more accurate decision-making. This partnership will enhance Decentro's product suite to meet the evolving demands of emerging markets and fast-scaling enterprises.

"Our collaboration with Decentro brings together the best of infrastructure and intelligence. With our credit and trade data combined with Decentro's platform-first approach, we're making real-time, AI-powered business insights available to financial players across Southeast Asia. This is a step forward for financial inclusion, risk transparency, and smart credit enablement," Shrikant Patil, CEO of DigiAlly, said.

With this expansion, Decentro continues to simplify financial workflows across the globe, helping businesses of all sizes tap into local and international opportunities. The company's entry into Southeast Asia follows its strong momentum in India, which recorded over 150% year-on-year growth in FY24 - 25. Building on this foundation, Decentro aims to deepen its presence across ASEAN, enable deep credit underwriting for both global and regional platforms, and power the next wave of fintech infrastructure across borders.

About Decentro

Founded in 2020, Decentro is a full-stack banking and fintech infrastructure platform that builds and empowers companies across India and Asia. With its products Flow (Payments & Money flow) and Fabric (KYC, Data & Intelligence), having 10+ modules across banking and payments, Decentro helps businesses remove over 90% of the friction and reduce the timeline they face when it comes to the flow of money and financial data.

Decentro powers over 1200+ companies, including CRED, MakeMyTrip, Meesho, MoneyTap, AU small finance bank, and many more, helping them with a robust credit & banking infrastructure. Decentro was founded by Rohit Taneja and Pratik Daudkhane and is backed by investors like Y-Combinator, Rapyd Ventures, and Soma Capital, among many others.

For more information, please visit https://decentro.tech/global.

About DigiAlly

DigiAlly is a Singapore-based fintech pioneering a unique trust-based Embedded Finance platform for fostering "Frictionless Credit." We help Financial Institutions make faster, cheaper, and better decisions during their lending journey with SMEs. They create an AI-powered trust score that represents a holistic health check of SMEs, proactively covering operational, market, and credit risks. DigiAlly assesses the overall portfolio of financial institutions across the value chain and assists them in optimising collections through continuous portfolio monitoring.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/decentro-deepens-presence-in-southeast-asia-with-digially-launches-industry-first-real-time-business-data-for-credit-302421863.html
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Global Tactical Metals Corp. (CSE: MONI) ("Global Tactical Metals Corp." or the "Company") is excited to announce the successful staking of the Green Mine, a historically significant antimony deposit located in the Wildhorse Mining District of the Humboldt Range, Pershing County, Nevada, U.S.A. This strategic staking aligns with our commitment to securing and developing critical mineral resources essential for modern industries.

Discovered during World War I, the Green Mine has a well-documented history of antimony production, with operations recorded during three distinct periods: 1936-1937, 1952-1954, and 1962-1967. Historical data confirms that the site produced 46 tons of antimony, with documented mineralization occurring along fault zones within altered gabbro, limestone and shale. Notably, historical sampling results from the Green Mine have demonstrated impressive grades, including:

Antimony (Sb): 1.20% to 32.95%

Lead (Pb): 0.6% to 3.9%

Silver (Ag): 0.70 oz/ton to 16.20 oz/ton

Gold (Au): 0.01 oz/ton to 0.07 oz/ton

Key minerals identified on the property include pyrite, arsenopyrite, jamesonite (Pb4FeSb6S14) and secondary bindheimite (Pb2Sb2O6(O,OH), and possibly boulangerite (Pb5Sb4S11) , further underscoring the site's mineral potential (Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology online database; USGS Bulletin 2218).

High-grade antimony oxide ore has been identified in multiple locations across existing mine workings and surface outcrops, further validating historical reports of mineralization. To quantify the extent and grade of these occurrences, our team has collected a series of representative samples, which are currently being prepared for laboratory analysis. These assays will provide critical data on Sb content, associated metals, and ore characteristics, guiding our next phase of exploration and development.

Figure 1: Antimony Oxide Showings

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9172/247704_8c744cf3444a1ab0_001full.jpg

Figure 2: Exploration Team On Site

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9172/247704_8c744cf3444a1ab0_002full.jpg

To build upon the mine's proven history, Global Tactical Metals has launched an extensive on-site verification program, incorporating geological mapping, geochemical sampling, and geophysical surveys. These initiatives will refine our understanding of the deposit and guide future exploration and development efforts.

In addition to laboratory testing, we will be conducting structural mapping and geochemical surveys to delineate the continuity of high-grade zones and assess their economic potential. These efforts will inform future drilling programs aimed at defining resource tonnage and optimizing potential extraction methods.

In line with our modern exploration approach, the company may deploy cutting-edge technologies, including drone-based LiDAR scanning and hyperspectral imaging, to identify potential extensions of known mineralization and optimize future drilling targets. Our objective is to unlock the full potential of the Green Mine and contribute to the secure, domestic supply of antimony-a critical mineral with applications in flame retardants, batteries, and military-grade alloys.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Global Tactical Metals Corp.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical disclosure for Global Tactical Metals Corp. included in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mark Smyk P.Geo. Mr. Smyk is a Technical Advisor to the Company and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

About Global Tactical Metals Corp.

Global Tactical Metals Corp. is focused on acquiring, exploring, and advancing mineral properties that address critical resource needs in North America. The company holds a 100% interest in the St. Anthony Property, a highly prospective mineral asset in Newfoundland, Canada, positioned in a region known for its rich mineral potential.

The company has also significantly expanded its exploration portfolio with a substantial land package staked in Darling Township, southeastern Ontario-approximately 300 km east-northeast of Toronto. This property, now exceeding 1,400 hectares, targets critical mineral exploration with a primary focus on antimony, a vital element for renewable energy, defense, and electronics industries.

In addition, Global Tactical Metals Corp. has extended its strategic footprint into the United States by staking the Green Mine, a past-producing antimony deposit in Nevada, further strengthening its commitment to securing critical mineral resources.

Forward Looking Statement

Certain information contained in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are not historical facts may be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may," "should," "anticipate," "expect," "potential," "believe," "intend," or similar expressions. These statements relate to future events or future performance and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: The exploration and development of the Company's mineral properties, including the St. Anthony Property, the Ontario claims, and the newly staked Green Mine; The potential value and economic viability of these mineral assets; The growing demand for antimony and its impact on the Company's strategic initiatives; and The Company's ability to execute exploration programs, conduct geological assessments, and advance its assets towards potential resource development.

Forward-looking information in this press release is based on various assumptions, including but not limited to: the Company's ability to successfully conduct exploration and development activities, access to funding and infrastructure, regulatory approvals, and favorable market conditions for critical minerals.

These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: Challenges in obtaining permits, regulatory approvals, or financing; Geological or technical difficulties in mineral exploration and extraction; Changes in market demand or commodity prices; and Unforeseen environmental or operational risks.

Readers are cautioned that the above list is not exhaustive. Forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the Company's expectations as of the date of this release and are subject to change. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247704

SOURCE: Global Tactical Metals
The Ella Odyssey: 75 Years of Diplomacy



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Presidential Secretariat and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau organized the Ella Odyssey, a familiarization tour of Nuwara Eliya and Ella for foreign heads of mission in Colombo, and nine heads of mission based in New Delhi who presented credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Ella Odyssey is part of Sri Lankas commemoration of 75 years of independence and 75 years of diplomacy  testament to the countrys enduring engagement with the international community.

This journey to the mesmerizing tea country in the mountains of Sri Lanka took place from 1 - 3 July 2023.

The foreign heads of mission undertook a journey on board the Viceroy Special - a vintage train reminiscent of the countrys colonial past. The diplomatic envoys forayed into the countrys cool highlands  past Kandy to Nuwara Eliya en route to Ella - to experience Sri Lankas verdant beauty, hospitality and adventure tucked away in the lush and misty mountainous landscapes in the countrys interior, passing along the way the gushing waters of St. Clairs Falls, the biodiverse Knuckles Range and Pattipola, home to Sri Lankas highest railway station. The passengers also witnessed a railway signaling routine from the bygone era, still meticulously adhered to on the countrys tracks - the Tyers Tablet System.

Those on board were able to feast their eyes on the changing panorama of the scenic route, including the engineering marvel that is the Nine-Arch Bridge in Ella, a railway viaduct that was built in the 20th century, and the turbanesque Demodara Loop.

Legendary Sri Lankan hospitality awaited the travellers at the Grand Hotel in Nuwara Eliya, a national heritage building, steeped in colonial history and grandeur. The Pedro Tea Estate welcomed the visitors to a tasting of one of the worlds finest beverages  Ceylon tea.

The heads of mission also had the opportunity to call on President Wickremesinghe and First Lady Maithree Wickramasinghe at the official residence of the President in Nuwara Eliya.

Costs associated with the tour were borne by participating foreign heads of mission, and through sponsorship by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.

The excursion to the hill country commemorates 75 years of constructive partnership with the international community and highlighted the countrys treasure trove of diverse and exciting possibilities for the travel enthusiast. It also highlighted the countrys return to stability, its excellent connectivity and open and friendly people.



Read more: www.mfa.gov.lk

Ministry of Foreign affairs

Colombo

06 July 2023

video links to the Ella Odyssey - 75 Years of Diplomacy fam tour.

 Link (no subtitles) - https://we.tl/t-hUQ0snKPrn

 Link (with Sinhala subtitles) - https://we.tl/t-4W0NsRFN1y
EQT Ventures and Forgepoint Capital International back agentic AI technology that dramatically enhances security analysts' productivity

Qevlar AI, the pioneering force behind a new class of autonomous security operations centres (SOCs), today announces it has secured an additional $10 million in funding, bringing total investor commitments to $14 million. Funding will be used to accelerate the company's mission to advance the productivity of SOC teams by empowering them to effectively prioritise and respond to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

The latest round was led by EQT Ventures and Forgepoint Capital International and includes strategic participation from tech luminaries Olivier Pomel (CEO, Datadog), Florian Douetteau (CEO, Dataiku), and Mehdi Ghissassi (ex-Director of Product, Google DeepMind)-a powerful endorsement of Qevlar AI's revolutionary approach to security operations. As part of this funding round, Forgepoint Capital International Managing Director Damien Henault will join the company's Board of Directors.

From Human Limits to Machine Precision

Cyber-attacks continue to increase in severity, frequency, and sophistication; one study named cyber incidents as the top global risk for 2025, while the growing use of AI and generative AI creates new threat vectors. Security efforts are undermined by this rising complexity and an ongoing cyber talent shortage; other research revealed that two-thirds of organisations reported moderate-to-critical skills gaps, with just 14% of respondents confident they have the people and skills needed.

A third study found that security analysts are unable to deal with 67% of the daily alerts they receive, with 83% of these alerts being false positives. At a time when many enterprises rely heavily on manual investigation methods, it is unsurprising that security teams are overwhelmed by this workload.

Qevlar AI aims to solve this critical issue. Since its launch in 2023, the company has already achieved transformative results for enterprise customers across multiple industries and managed security service providers (MSSPs). Organisations implementing Qevlar AI's autonomous investigation platform have:

Reduced the time spent on malicious alerts from 40 minutes to just three minutes

Decreased the time Level 1 and 2 analysts spend on tasks such as alert investigations by 90%

Increased classification accuracy to 99.8%, compared with a maximum human expert accuracy of 97%

Closed 100% of benign alerts autonomously

Ahmed Achchak, Qevlar AI Co-Founder and CEO, said: "The mathematics of cybersecurity are fundamentally broken. When a single analyst can only properly investigate a small selection of alerts per day, yet faces hundreds or even thousands requiring attention, we're asking humans to solve an impossible equation. Our autonomous agents don't just assist analysts; they recalibrate what's possible in security operations by conducting complete investigations that previously consumed hours in just seconds, with greater consistency and accuracy. As a result, SOCs can shift from being reactive alert factories to proactive threat hunters."

Julien Hobeika, Partner at EQT Ventures, added: "Cyber threats have an immense impact on businesses of all sizes, and counteracting sophisticated AI-powered threats is best done with an even more sophisticated agentic AI defense. We continue to be proud backers of Ahmed, Hamza and the entire Qevlar team and are looking forward to supporting them as they revolutionise SOC capabilities on a global scale."

Damien Henault, Forgepoint Capital International Managing Director, said: "Qevlar AI's game-changing autonomous AI agent-led threat investigations are shaping the future of modern SOCs. By combining its proprietary knowledge graph and LLM-based AI technology, Qevlar AI delivers consistent outputs faster and more accurately than alternatives, empowering and augmenting Level 1 and Level 2 analysts to focus on more high-value work. The team embodies everything we look for in the businesses we back with their ambition, focus, and thorough understanding of the market, their product, and how they help customers solve such an incredibly complex and important problem."

Beyond Tools: Building the Autonomous SOC

While the cybersecurity industry has long promised automation, Qevlar's AI represents a fundamental leap beyond existing approaches.

Central to Qevlar AI's early success is its autonomous investigation API. It enables the rapid, automated analysis of potential incidents, executing investigation tasks in under a minute, compared with the hours it can take humans to complete, with improved accuracy. Integrating with existing security infrastructure, Qevlar AI accelerates SOC efficiency by up to 90%, freeing up Level 1 and 2 analysts to focus on more critical, sophisticated challenges.

Eric Bohec, Chief Technical Officer, at Nomios, a leading Pan-European MSSP with more than 60 SOC analysts supporting over 2000 customers, said: "Businesses spend a huge amount of time reviewing threats, with some tools not delivering the required level of accuracy in their analysis and requiring more reviews. With Qevlar, we can rapidly analyse even the most complex of cases in just three minutes compared to the half hour it previously took, and we know its assessments will be accurate."

Daniel Aldstam, Chief Security Officer of Globalconnect, Nordics' leading digital infrastructure and data communication providers, added: "Companies have dozens of security products, so adding something new is always a risk. Qevlar AI seamlessly integrates with existing tools to help us automate L1 analyst tasks, without the need for any manual intervention, and boosting both efficiency and accuracy of threat analysis."

Julien Steunou, Managing Partner Security Services of Almond, a major French MSSP, commented: "We chose Qevlar for the SOC after testing several solutions. The challenge we wanted to meet was to be able to autonomously handle investigations and have a system that can deliver a verdict on an analysis, along with a confidence level for that verdict, so we can reuse it in subsequent processing. It complements well the automation setup we've had in place for a while so that detection and remediation can mostly happen at machine speed. In these scenarios, we can handle more than 80% of cases this way, and call in human experts only when the system isn't confident in the verdict it provides. This makes everything fully integrated. That was the technical challenge Qevlar really delivered on."

Scaling the Future of Security Operations

The new funding will propel Qevlar AI's rapid growth, enabling further team expansion after quadrupling in the past year while driving advanced product research and development, and accelerating international market expansion.

Qevlar AI will be showcasing its autonomous security operations platform at the RSA Conference in San Francisco from April 28 to May 1. The team will be at booth ESE 16 in the Early Stage Expo, where attendees can see firsthand how Qevlar AI is transforming threat defense for organisations facing today's increasingly complex cyber landscape.

Allianz Risk Barometer

 World Economic Forum Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025

 Vectra 2023 State of Threat Detection

About Qevlar AI

Qevlar AI is augmenting security operations centre (SOC) productivity with autonomous AI SOC analysts. It enables SOC analysts to autonomously enrich, investigate, contextualise, and triage security alerts, improving defense posture and overall SOC performance. Founded in 2023 and incubated by Meta and Microsoft, Qevlar AI has raised $14 million in funding and is backed by leading investors including EQT Ventures and Forgepoint Capital International. Major Managed Security Service Providers and leading enterprises across industries trust Qevlar AI to 10x their SOC team productivity with 99.8% accuracy. For more information, follow Qevlar AI on LinkedIn.

About EQT Ventures

EQT Ventures is an early-stage lead investor striving to be the most impactful partner to generation-defining founders. With 2.6bn in AUM, EQT Ventures partners with founders to create enduring, category-defining businesses. EQT Ventures provides more than capital, offering deep operational expertise, strategic guidance, and access to EQT's global platform to accelerate growth. With a team of former founders and operators, EQT Ventures delivers radical support, to help startups scale with confidence. With investment advisors in Stockholm, London, New York, Berlin, and Paris, EQT Ventures has backed 140+ founding teams across Europe.

About Forgepoint Capital

Forgepoint Capital is a leading venture capital firm that partners with transformative cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and infrastructure software companies protecting the digital future. With the largest sector focused investment team, over $1 billion in AUM, and an active portfolio of more than 40 companies, the firm brings over 100 years of collective company-building expertise and its global Advisory Council of more than 100 industry leaders to support exceptional entrepreneurs advancing innovation globally. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area and London with a presence in Madrid and Paris, Forgepoint is proud to help category-defining companies reach their market potential. For more information, follow Forgepoint on LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408264298/en/

Contacts:

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YourStory PR for Forgepoint Capital

ForgepointCapital@yourstorypr.com

+44(0)7867488769
Empowering Small to Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs) with the latest Direct-to-Cloud Video Surveillance and AI-Driven Business Intelligence

BIRMINGHAM, UK, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- March Networks, a global leader in intelligent video solutions, is bringing its award-winning CloudSight platform to the UK & Europe for the first time. The powerful cloud-based video surveillance solution will be showcased at The Security Event 2025, taking place April 8-10 at the NEC Birmingham.

Specifically designed for SMBs in sectors such as retail, convenience, hospitality, and finance, CloudSight is a plug-and-play solution that eliminates the need for on-site recorders and complex infrastructure. Whether managing a single site or multiple locations, CloudSight offers an intuitive browser-based interface and mobile access that make it easy to monitor and manage your business from anywhere. It simplifies security management while delivering advanced AI-powered analytics to enhance protection, streamline operations, and reduce losses.

"We are proud to introduce our award-winning CloudSight solution to the European market," said Peter Strom, President and CEO of March Networks. "Small and medium-sized businesses deserve intelligent, scalable security solutions that deliver real value. CloudSight offers an easy-to-use, AI-powered platform that not only enhances security but also provides actionable insights to support better business decisions. This launch marks an important milestone in our global expansion and reinforces our commitment to delivering smarter, more effective surveillance solutions worldwide."

Simplified Security, Smarter Insights

CloudSight modernizes video surveillance with a straightforward, cloud-based approach. Cameras connect directly to the cloud-no recorders, no on-site servers-enabling businesses to monitor multiple sites from anywhere.

When paired with Searchlight Cloud, users gain access to powerful AI features that turn video into actionable business intelligence.

Key capabilities include:

POS integration : Link transactions with video to investigate refunds, voids, and discounts with ease.

: Link transactions with video to investigate refunds, voids, and discounts with ease. Cloud-based access control integration : Connect with access control solutions such as KISI to remotely monitor and track entries into restricted areas.

: Connect with access control solutions such as KISI to remotely monitor and track entries into restricted areas. Real-time event triggers: Detect loitering, intrusions, and off-hours activity with instant mobile notifications through the CloudSight app or via email notifications.

Detect loitering, intrusions, and off-hours activity with instant mobile notifications through the CloudSight app or via email notifications. Smart search tools : Locate footage quickly using visual attributes like clothing color, vehicle type, license plate, or direction of movement.

: Locate footage quickly using visual attributes like clothing color, vehicle type, license plate, or direction of movement. Compliance and safety review : Monitor key zones like entrances, exits, and high-risk areas.

: Monitor key zones like entrances, exits, and high-risk areas. Secure evidence video sharing: Use Case Vault to send video clips securely to law enforcement, insurers, or internal teams with just a few clicks.

See it in Action Live at Stand 5/K80

Attendees at The Security Event in Birmingham this week are invited to visit March Networks at Stand 5/K80 for live demonstrations of CloudSight and Searchlight Cloud. Experience firsthand how these solutions enhance security, increase efficiency, and reduce risk-tailored specifically for the needs of SMBs.

For more information about March Networks, visit marchnetworks.com.

To speak to someone about our intelligent video solutions or book a demo, please contact us.

About March Networks

March Networks is leading the future of intelligent video, transforming enterprise video into actionable business intelligence. Globally recognized for our deep expertise in video security and data analytics, we empower organizations to enhance operational efficiency, security, and profitability. Our cloud-based, intelligent video technologies extend beyond traditional surveillance, integrating AI analytics and advanced integrations like POS systems, IoT devices, and ATMs to drive business growth and improve customer experiences. With over two decades of experience, March Networks is a trusted partner to over 1,500 financial institutions, more than 600 retailers, and over 950 commercial and industrial brands. We are committed to guiding our clients intelligently and cost-effectively through their transition to cloud-based enterprise video. Our extensive network of over 800 certified partners ensures adaptability to a myriad of business needs, integrating with a wide range of third-party cameras and systems. With global reach, local support, and a dedication to customer service, we ensure seamless operation, maintenance, and optimization of systems for customers in over 70 countries. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and owned by Delta, a global leader in power and thermal management solutions, March Networks stands as a trusted partner and innovative leader in the intelligent video sector. For more information, please visit marchnetworks.com .

March Networks and the March Networks logo are trademarks of March Networks Corporation.

To keep up with March Networks news and updates, subscribe to our Intelligent IP Video Blog and stay connected by following March Networks on LinkedIn.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jacqueline Ondaye, Communications Manager, March Networks, jondaye@marchnetworks.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2659246/March_Networks_Corporation_March_Networks_CloudSight_Lands_in_th.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/march-networks-cloudsight-lands-in-the-uk--europe-company-unveils-next-gen-surveillance-at-the-security-event-uk-302422443.html
The popularization of methods like Pix and e-wallets, and cards' solid participation in digital commerce are behind the partnership announced today by two giants in the payments industry, Spreedly and EBANX

DURHAM, N.C. and CURITIBA, Brazil, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognizing the success of alternative payment methods in Latin America like Brazil's Pix, e-wallets, and local cards, Spreedly, the leading Open Payments Platform, and EBANX, a global payment service provider specialized in emerging markets, have teamed up to offer international companies seamless access to these options in the LatAm region. This partnership enables global merchants, including travel companies Busbud and Rocket Travel by Agoda, to cater to the diverse payment preferences of Latin American consumers.

As Latin America's digital commerce rapidly grows, especially in countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, international companies are increasingly looking to localize their payment offerings. The partnership provides a unified framework for businesses to offer payment methods like Pix, e-wallets, cash vouchers, and debit and credit cards, including local brands and installments.

"Latin America is a key market for global expansion, with diverse payment preferences driving success. Our collaboration with EBANX empowers merchants to offer local payment methods, enhancing customer satisfaction while supporting business growth in the region," said Rose Francois, VP of Partnerships & Business Development at Spreedly.

The partnership extends to all 17 countries EBANX operates in Latin America, from the largest markets like Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, to newer digital markets like Peru, and Chile, as well as countries in Central America and the Caribbean.

"Latin America is on the radar of international companies because it offers solid expansion opportunities. Mexico and Peru, for example, are emerging digital markets with a growth potential of 25% and 20% per year by 2027, respectively. In Brazil, the expectation is that the online market, currently valued at an impressive USD 346 billion, will reach USD 586 billion by then," said Daniel Kornitzer, VP Head of Global Partnerships at EBANX, citing data from Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence - PCMI.

The Pix Phenomenon

Pix, Brazil's instant payment system, is revolutionizing the digital commerce landscape, particularly in the travel vertical. According to PCMI data analyzed by EBANX, Pix already accounts for 33% of online travel payments in the country. "Integrating Pix with our platform allows for faster, secure, and low-cost transactions, which are crucial for travel companies serving international customers," said Francois, from Spreedly.

Streaming platforms and SaaS providers are also benefitting from Pix, especially with the upcoming Pix Automatico feature, which will enable recurring payments starting in June 2025. "Over the past year, Pix transactions processed by EBANX have grown by 139%. Merchants using our technology already see a 25% increase in the number of customers and a 16% rise in revenue. Offering Pix is no longer optional; it's essential," concluded Kornitzer, from EBANX.

The Cards and Alternatives Mix in Latin America

While alternative payment methods like Pix are on the rise (expected to represent 44% of Brazil's online sales by 2025), traditional cards still play a significant role in LatAm. Credit and debit cards account for 54% of total digital commerce in the region, with local credit cards comprising a large portion of this total: 21% of the total value, going as high as 34% in Brazil and over 20% in Argentina and Ecuador, per PCMI data.

"Cards continue to play an essential role alongside emerging methods like Pix. Companies must integrate multiple payment options to meet the diverse needs of customers," Kornitzer added.

Benefits for Customers and Merchants

Through the partnership between EBANX and Spreedly, merchants will benefit from the high transaction success rates of both fintech companies, which are above the industry average. "Spreedly's efficient orchestration and intelligent routing, and EBANX's optimized payment rails, direct integrations, and local acquiring partnerships, enable faster, more secure transactions," explained Kornitzer. "This helps improve customer satisfaction and loyalty."

Merchants also benefit from easy integration, access to multiple local markets, and a broad range of payment options, enabling scalability, cost optimization, and compliance with local regulations. "This partnership combines Spreedly's advanced payments orchestration with EBANX's local expertise, providing a seamless payment experience for customers and helping businesses scale efficiently across Latin America," concluded Francois, from Spreedly.

ABOUT SPREEDLY

Spreedly's open payments platform enables access to the global consumer, processing more than $50B GMV annually in more than 100 countries. Built to overcome the challenges of commerce in a cashless world, we empower our merchants through an open, secure and inclusive payment ecosystem, unlocking choice among PSPs, fraud tools and other innovative payment services.

For further information, please visit:

Website: https://www.spreedly.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spreedly/

ABOUT EBANX

EBANX is the leading payments platform connecting global businesses to the world's fastest-growing digital markets. Founded in 2012 in Brazil, EBANX was built with a mission to expand access to international digital commerce. Leveraging proprietary technology, deep market expertise, and robust infrastructure, EBANX enables global companies to offer hundreds of local payment methods across Latin America, Africa, and Asia. More than just payments, EBANX drives growth, enhances sales, and delivers seamless purchase experiences for businesses and consumers alike.

For further information, please visit:

Website: https://www.ebanx.com/en/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ebanx

Media Contact:

Leonardo Stamillo

leo@contentco.tech

Content CO

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Manufacturing industry event draws experts to discuss challenges and best practices

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Configit, the global leader in Configuration Lifecycle Management (CLM), today announced that the company will hold its tenth annual Configuration Lifecycle Management Summit 2025 on April 29-30. Registration and the full schedule for the virtual event are available here .

Intense competition, economic uncertainty and rapid technological advancements are just a few of the challenges facing global manufacturers. To combat these pressures, organizations must have a dynamic, scalable business model to thrive in today's environment. The 2025 Summit will explore how to drive profitable growth by advancing customer-centric manufacturing. Professionals from around the world will learn how connecting engineering and sales streamlines product configuration, improves customer experiences and accelerates new product development.

April 29 is Business Day, focused on driving profitable growth through responsive customer experience. Presentations and discussions by Siemens, Accenture, Philips and other industry leaders will demonstrate how removing the boundaries of traditional product configuration processes supports increased customer satisfaction, faster sales and expanded market reach.

April 30 is Technology Day, where attendees will gain actionable insights on how connecting engineering and sales streamlines the product configuration process, empowering manufacturers to scale more efficiently. PTC, Deloitte and Configit will present use cases that demonstrate the potential and possibilities of having the right configuration technology and management approach in place to enhance sales, engineering, and service.

Johan Salenstedt, CEO, Configit, said: "As the market shifts toward customer-led personalization, manufacturers of complex products need solid technology solutions and fresh ideas. Configuration Lifecycle Management (CLM) is already transforming how many manufacturers meet today's challenges. This year's summit will showcase how B2B manufacturing leaders are using the power of CLM to navigate product complexity, boost operational efficiency and accelerate digital transformation amid an ever-changing landscape."

About Configit

Configit is the global leader in Configuration Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions and a supplier of business-critical software for the configuration of complex products. All Configit products are based on the patented Virtual Tabulation (VT) technology, which has redefined product configuration by offering greater speed and better handling of complexity. Virtual Tabulation enables Configit to deliver powerful, easy-to-use configuration solutions to market-leading global enterprises. Website: configit.com

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Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Defence Therapeutics Inc. (CSE: DTC) (OTCQB: DTCFF) (FSE: DTC) ("Defence" or the "Company"), a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing advanced cancer therapeutics and drug delivery technologies, is pleased to announce a collaboration with the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories ("CNL"). CNL, Canada's premier nuclear science facility, will conduct preclinical studies combining alpha-particle radiotherapy Actinium-225 ("Ac-225") with Defence's proprietary Accum delivery technology.

Targeted radiotherapies using Ac-225 have shown great promise in cancer treatment. Ac-225 emits powerful alpha particles that irreparably damage cancer cells' DNA, leading to cell death. Ac-225 is typically attached to cancer-targeting antibodies. However, many of these Ac-225-antibody complexes become trapped in cellular compartments called endosomes, preventing them from reaching the cell's nucleus where they can be most effective. Defence's Accum technology is designed to enhance the escape of these complexes from endosomes, improving their accumulation in the nucleus. This approach could reduce the required dosage levels of Ac-225, potentially minimizing side effects while maintaining therapeutic efficacy.

The Ac-225 will be produced and supplied by CNL, from its Th-229/Ac-225 generator at Chalk River Laboratories. CNL will evaluate several tumor-targeting antibodies modified with Accum technology to transport Ac-225. Studies in rodent models will assess the biodistribution, therapeutic potency, and safety profile of these selected radiolabeled antibodies. The research aims to determine how effectively the Accum-modified antibodies deliver Ac-225 to cancer cells and their impact on tumor growth. This collaboration marks a significant step in Defence's mission to revolutionize cancer treatment through enhanced targeted therapies. By combining CNL's expertise in Ac-225 radioisotope and R&D in Targeted Alpha Therapy with Defence's innovative delivery technology, the project seeks to overcome current limitations in radioisotope-based cancer treatments.

"We believe Accum will significantly enhance the potency of Ac-225 immunoconjugates by improving therapeutic efficacy and tumor targeting. Our technology's ability to facilitate endosomal escape and increase the presence of therapeutics in cell nuclei enhances the effectiveness of alpha-particles at their primary target. Our team is confident this innovative approach will overcome current limitations in radioisotope delivery for oncology, amplifying anti-cancer effects while reducing off-target toxicity. The synergy between Accum and CNL's expertise will advance precision oncology, leading to more effective and safer treatments," said Sebastien Plouffe, CEO and Founder of Defence Therapeutics.

As the project progresses, Defence will provide updates on the development of these Accum-enhanced radioimmunoconjugates. With the global radiopharmaceutical market projected to reach USD 16.87 billion by 2033, Defence is well-positioned to contribute to this rapidly growing field of precision oncology.

https://straitsresearch.com/report/radiopharmaceutical-market

About Defence:

Defence Therapeutics is a publicly-traded clinical-stage biotechnology company developing and engineering the next generation of radio-immuno-conjugate and ADC products using its proprietary platform in addition to novel immune-oncology vaccines. The core of Defence Therapeutics platform is the ACCUM technology, which enables precision delivery of radio-immuno-conjugates or ADCs in their intact form to target cells, and vaccine antigens. As a result, increased efficacy and potency can be reached against catastrophic illness such as cancer and infectious diseases.

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Neither the CSE nor its market regulator, as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247700

SOURCE: Defence Therapeutics Inc.
Xeltis is one of only seven companies to successfully pass evaluation phase of EIC Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale Up call

Funding to supportcommercialization of its groundbreaking bioresorbable vascular conduits

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Xeltis, a leading developer of transformative implants that enable the natural creation of living and long-lasting vessels, today announces that it has successfully passed the evaluation phase of the 2025 European Innovation Council ('EIC') STEP Scale-Up call program, and is set to secure a 10 million equity investment from the EIC, subject to an award decision by the European Commission and to an EIC Fund Investment Committee decision.

The EIC STEP Scale Up call is a strategic initiative aimed at accelerating the growth of high-potential companies in the digital, deep tech, clean tech, and biotech sectors to enhance the EU's economic and technological competitiveness. It provides equity investments of between 10 million and 30 million, targeting larger funding rounds of 30 million to 150 million. The program is designed to help companies with transformative technologies grow faster and achieve international expansion.

Only seven companies, including Xeltis, were successful in securing funding, with Xeltis selected as the only life science company among the cohort. To be selected, companies were required to demonstrate high levels of innovation and technological excellence, the potential for significant market, societal and economic impact, as well as execution capabilities. As part of the award, Xeltis will also receive the STEP Seal which allows access to complementary or alternative funding, in addition to EIC Business Acceleration Services.

This funding will be used to support the Company's clinical advancement and preparations for the commercialization of its groundbreaking bioresorbable vascular conduits.

Eliane Schutte, Chief Executive Officer of Xeltis, said: "To have been selected as the only life science company among this cohort of leading EU technology companies is a fantastic honor. Our technology, based on Nobel-Prize winning supramolecular chemistry, represents an opportunity to transform vascular surgery, while also providing a PFAS-free solution in a field where innovation has stalled to the detriment of patients."

Alexander Goemans, Chief Financial Officer of Xeltis, commented: "With the EU pivotal trial readout a couple of months away, this prestigious award will allow us to start commercializing aXess, our first regenerative vascular access conduit for dialysis patients. It is a tremendous validation and endorsement of our revolutionary technology and also recognizes that we have the capability to successfully bring this first-in-class technology to the market and establish Xeltis as a global leader."

aXess is a restorative vascular access conduit which enables the creation of new, long-term living vessels for hemodialysis vascular access. It combines the safety and patency of a fistula with the speed to treatment of an AV graft while avoiding the frequent reinterventions and complications, such as infections, associated with current treatment options. Currently, Xeltis is advancing pivotal trials for aXess in both the EU, where enrolment was recently completed, and the US.

About Xeltis

Xeltis is a medtech company developing transformative implants that enable the natural creation of living and long-lasting vessels. Xeltis seeks to address the limitations of currently available options for the millions of people requiring hemodialysis access grafts or cardiovascular replacements every year. The Company's proprietary endogenous tissue restoration (ETR) platform utilizes an advanced polymer implant which regenerates the patient's own tissue before gradually being absorbed and leaving new, living, and long-lasting vessels in place. Xeltis' most advanced product currently under clinical development is aXessTM, an implantable blood vessel for hemodialysis vascular access. Xeltis' groundbreaking technology has high potential to be applied to other major vascular and cardiovascular diseases.

Xeltis is based in The Netherlands and the USA. Its investors include DaVita Venture Group, EQT Life Sciences, Kurma Partners, VI Partners, Ysios Capital, Grand Pharma Group, the European Innovation Council and Invest-NL, in addition to other public and private investors.

Visit the Xeltis website for more details: https://xeltis.com/

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GUANGZHOU, China, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The 55th edition of the China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou) (CIFF Guangzhou 2025) successfully concluded on March 31, setting new records in scale and participation. Under the theme "Powered by Design," this year's fair covered an expansive 850,000 square meters, achieving remarkable growth in exhibitor participation, visitor numbers, and international engagement. With an all-time high number of over 4,900 exhibitors, the eight-day event welcomed 363,825 professional visitors from 187 countries and regions. Notably, the number of international attendees reached 56,794, reflecting a 10.91% increase from the 2024 peak, setting a new record.

The Home Furniture exhibition showcased innovative designs in aesthetics, smart sleep technology, and outdoor living. The event highlighted emerging trends in sustainable materials and intelligent home solutions, illustrating how modern design is integrating with traditional craftsmanship.

With a focus on sustainability, the Office and Commercial Space presented forward-thinking solutions for workspaces, healthcare, and educational environments. Emphasizing green innovation, the exhibition featured low-carbon office designs and AI-powered commercial spaces, reflecting the industry's shift toward eco-conscious development.

The CIFM/interzum guangzhou introduced advancements in smart manufacturing, hardware solutions, and sustainable materials. Featuring next-generation production technologies, the exhibition underscored the industry's transition from mass production to high-quality craftsmanship.

Design remained central to this year's fair, with a comprehensive lineup of specialized pavilions. The Home Furniture exhibition featured a contemporary design showcase, fostering in-depth exchanges between Chinese and international designers to propel domestic brands onto the global stage. Additional dedicated spaces for outdoor furniture, dining, and living areas, and office solutions enriched the overall exhibition landscape. Moreover, 12 themed design exhibitions brought together designers, curators, and media professionals to explore trends in sustainability, digital innovation, and cultural aesthetics.

The event also introduced the upgraded CD Awards Ceremony, recognizing industry pioneers and advocating for high-quality production standards. Alongside this, over 100 industry-leading forums gathered designers, key brands, and media representatives to explore the future trajectory of home furnishing aesthetics.

Intelligent living and sustainability were key focuses, with smart home solutions, senior-friendly eldercare innovations, and low-carbon living concepts taking center stage. The exhibition also introduced bamboo-based furniture and sustainable materials, reinforcing its commitment to green development.

As CIFF Guangzhou continues to connect global markets, this year's success highlights the industry's momentum toward innovation, sustainability, and high-quality growth.

For more details, please visit: https://www.ciff-gz.com/en/.

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This first building of Europe's gigascale Cloud, AI and HPC ready Campus is the largest data center ever built and operated in Portugal

Following the start of operations in Q4'24, Start Campus officially inaugurates SIN01, a 26MW data center facility in Portugal.

SIN01 is the first building of the 1.2 GW SINES Data Campus Europe's leading gigascale Cloud, AI and HPC ready data center campus, with fully secured grid power and a ready to develop site.

The 8.5 billion privately funded project is backed by Davidson Kempner Capital Management and Pioneer Point Partners, positioning Portugal as a global leader in digital infrastructure.

The SINES Data Campus design features 100% renewable energy use and sustainable seawater cooling to achieve a design Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.1 without consuming water.

Start Campus, a company focused on designing, building and operating a new generation of sustainable data centers, celebrated the official inauguration of SIN01 on Friday April 4, its first operational facility within the company's 1.2-gigawatt (GW) SINES Data Campus.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408371738/en/

Start Campus SIN01 Data Center

The inauguration brought together national leaders and international stakeholders, including senior representatives from the Portuguese Government, the United States (U.S.) Embassy in Portugal and other national and international authorities. The ceremony underscores the strategic value of Start Campus and its role in anchoring one of the largest private digital infrastructure investments in Europe.

Located on Portugal's southwest coast, SIN01 is now the largest data center facility ever commissioned in the country, almost doubling the country's total data center capacity. This is a pivotal milestone in positioning Portugal at the center of the global data economy, strengthening its role as a key hub for digital infrastructure in Europe and globally.

"Today, Sines becomes home to the country's largest operational data center building and it's just the beginning," said Robert Dunn, CEO of Start Campus. "SIN01 is the first chapter in Europe's leading gigascale Cloud, AI and HPC data campus built for the future, powered by renewables, and designed to scale. From day one, this project has been about collaboration with customers, the community and the industry. Our state-of-the art facilities will strengthen the digital ecosystem, create new opportunities, attract talent, and provide a solid foundation for economic growth." Dunn adds

Funding

Start Campus' shareholders, Davidson Kempner Capital Management and Pioneer Point Partners LLP, have provided the funding to privately deliver SIN01 without subsidies, public funds or tax benefits. Coupled with the support of a world-class U.S. bank, this investment marks a strong vote of confidence in Portugal's digital and clean energy potential on the global stage.

"We expect this campus to represent more than 8.5 billion in construction investment alone and we anticipate our customers to invest multiples of that in infrastructure and technology deployments on-site," said Dunn.

The full campus, once complete, is expected to comprise of six buildings across 1.2 GW of capacity, with grid access already secured. The construction of the next 180MW facility (SIN02) is expected to begin later in 2025

"The Sines Project will continue to ensure Portugal is at the forefront of the race for the development of Artificial Intelligence, with major international technology companies already operating in our country," adds Joao Talone, Senior Advisor at Davidson Kempner.

As part of the ceremony, senior members of the Portuguese Government emphasised the SINES Data Campus as a symbol of national ambition and forward-looking infrastructure policy.

"With this pioneering development, Sines is consolidating its position as a strategic hub. I welcome the ecosystems that have developed here, powered by renewable energy, which hold great potential for retaining talent. There is an urgent need to combat the flight of qualified young professionals from Portugal. We cannot simply accept it," says Miguel Pinto Luz, Minister for Infrastructure and Housing.

"This is yet another structuring investment for the Portuguese economy, helping to place Portugal in a strategic position in the data economy, taking advantage of Sines' privileged geographical location. It is an investment deeply committed to sustainability, which will bring more qualified jobs, diversifying economic activity in the region and contributing to the construction of a long-term digital ecosystem. It joins other major investments that have demonstrated that Portugal is a country with a good value proposition for investors," says Pedro Reis, Minister of Economy

The presence of U.S. Embassy officials at the event reaffirmed the importance of the development in strengthening transatlantic ties.

"This inauguration represents one of the largest U.S. and foreign investments in Portugal's history. It's a game changer and we are proud to support this initiative that will enhance Portugal's global connectivity, deepen bilateral ties, and create thousands of jobs in Portugal and the United States," adds Douglas A. Koneff, Charge d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon.

Portugal's Energy Advantage and Sustainability

SIN01 is optimised to meet the high-performance demands of AI, hyperscale cloud, and digital acceleration-leveraging Portugal's unique position as a low-carbon, high-availability power hub. The country offers one of the most competitive energy environments in Europe, supported by a growing supply of renewable capacity. In 2024, 87.4% of Portugal's electricity generation came from renewables, according to Eurostat, making it one of the greenest grids in Europe.

Building an AI Gateway for Europe

The SINES Data Campus, home to the SIN01 facility, offers excellent subsea and terrestrial connectivity, delivering competitive latencies to all strategic European and global economic centres. Enabling access to international fiber cables via carrier-neutral facilities, it enables seamless integration between submarine and terrestrial networks.

To date, more than 2 million labor hours have gone into delivering SIN01, involving thousands of professionals and local suppliers. With the full 1.2GW campus expected to be built over the coming years, Start Campus will continue to play a major role in job creation and regional economic development.

"From the edge of the Atlantic, we are building the backbone of Europe's AI future," said Dunn. "And we are proud that this begins here, in Sines, Portugal," Dunn concludes.

About Start Campus

Start Campus is developing the SINES DC project, a 1.2GW data center campus in Portugal, creating Europe's largest and most sustainable data ecosystem with market-leading global connectivity. SINES DC provides maximum optionality for customers with powered shell, turn-key and build-to-suit solutions. The company's advanced customer offerings are AI-ready and address the future needs of the industry by integrating liquid cooling technologies into its flexible and scalable design. With a total combined investment value of 8.5 billion, the project will use 100% renewable energy and targets an industry-leading PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.1 and a WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness) of 0 by harnessing the cooling power of the ocean. For more information, please visit www.startcampus.pt

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408371738/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Global

Ruvina Uppal

ruvina.uppal@sourcecodecomms.com

startcampus@sourcecodecomms.com

+44 7464 953 655

Portugal

Beatriz Serrano Rodrigues

bsr@ampassociates.pt

+351 964 124 051

Afonso Azevedo Neves

aan@ampassociates.pt

+351 939 010 613
Analogic and SeeTrue partner to bring automation to the security screening market with a certified APIDS solution on advanced CT scanners

MADRID, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SeeTrue, a leader in AI-powered threat detection for aviation security, is proud to announce that its Automated Prohibited Items Detection System (APIDS) for checkpoint CT security scanners has received national approval from the Netherlands' National Coordinator for Security and Counter-Terrorism (NCTV) for use with the Analogic ConneCT. The certification, which adheres to EU and Dutch regulatory requirements, was granted following testing at the Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).

The certification enables Analogic customers to further automate security screening using a certified APIDS solution. This enhancement brings consistent threat detection, improved operational efficiency, reduced costs, and increased passenger throughput.

The solution leverages Open Architecture (OA) principles, allowing seamless system integration with support for both new and existing ConneCT deployments.

"SeeTrue's vision is providing the best AI technology to the security screening market through collaboration with top-tier technology providers," said Assaf Frenkel, Co-Founder and CEO of SeeTrue. "Being the first AI software company to receive this certification is a testament to our technological leadership. Analogic is an outstanding partner, and we're proud to bring innovative, automated solutions to the market together."

"Analogic is pleased to see our collaboration with SeeTrue on APIDS detection algorithms reach the important milestone of national certification in the Netherlands. It is an example of our commitment to collaborative relationships and our focus on expanding the range of capabilities available to our customers with the ConneCT," said Tom Ripp, CEO of Analogic.

SeeTrue will be exhibiting at the Passenger Terminal Expo (PTE) in Madrid on 8-10 April at Hall 9 Booth 9325 to showcase its solutions.

About SeeTrue

SeeTrue is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software company and a global leader in prohibited items and threat detection technology, delivering a secure, fast, and efficient security screening process. SeeTrue's AI solutions integrate seamlessly with X-ray and CT scanners at airports, seaports, urban security checkpoints, customs, and shipment facilities worldwide, making security and travel fast and secure while improving operational efficiency. SeeTrue operates from Tel Aviv, London, New York, and Amsterdam. For more information, visit our website at www.seetrue.ai.

About Analogic:

Analogic Corporation, headquartered in Peabody, MA, is a global leader in design, development, manufacturing and support of technically advanced and cost-effective imaging & detection and power technology solutions for aviation security, healthcare, and other high-end industrial markets. For more information, please visit www.analogic.com.

Contact:

Sharon Salzman

Director of Marketing, SeeTrue

sharons@seetrue.ai

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DUBAI, UAE, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Tarjama, the leading language solutions technology company in the MENA region, announced today the launch of Pronoia V2, a state-of-the-art Large Language Model (LLM) designed to deliver unmatched performance in Arabic and multilingual enterprise applications.

Built on over 16 years of linguistic expertise, Pronoia now ranks as the most accurate and cost-effective Arabic AI solution, outperforming GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3, and Cohere on Arabic-related tasks. Pronoia sets a new benchmark for Arabic AI by combining high-performance language processing with enterprise-grade security and efficiency.

Built to operate on just one GPU, Pronoia delivers best-in-class output while significantly reducing infrastructure costs. "Arabic has been underserved by AI for too long," says Nour Al Hassan, CEO and Founder of Tarjama. "Pronoia changes that. It's not just smarter - it's faster, more secure, and cost-effective."

Performance That Speaks Volumes

Pronoia registered a 76.8% average performance across Arabic benchmarks, outpacing GPT-4o (58.05%), DeepSeek 70B (53.6%), and Cohere 7B (55.3%).

It also registered an 18.75% performance gap over GPT-4o on average, a 23.2% performance advantage over DeepSeek 70B, and a 21.5% lead over Cohere 7B.

It further achieved exceptional results on specialized benchmarks, scoring 92.4% on MT ARC Easy and 83.4% on MT Openbook QA.

Iyad Ahmad, CTO of Tarjama, explains: "Size doesn't always mean strength. We've proven that thoughtful architecture and precision training can outperform sheer scale."

Enterprise-Ready Solutions

Pronoia enables businesses to streamline operations through high-quality Arabic translations, automated contract review, multilingual customer support, regional content generation, and instant document processing. "We've witnessed firsthand how businesses struggle with Arabic content management," notes Al Hassan. "Pronoia turns day-long processes into minute-long tasks, fundamentally changing how organizations operate in Arabic-speaking markets."

Built for Business

Designed with enterprise needs in mind, Pronoia features enterprise-grade encryption, flexible deployment options, custom model training capabilities, and seamless platform integration. Available in both 7B and 14B configurations, Pronoia processes text, audio, and structured data in both Arabic and English, with larger versions in development to meet evolving business demands. "This isn't just a language model-it's a comprehensive business solution built from the ground up with Arabic at its core," says Al Hassan. Pronoia is available immediately to enterprises via API, with on-cloud and on-premises deployment, through Tarjama's secure AI framework.

Looking Ahead: Pronoia V3

Tarjama's team is currently developing Pronoia V3, aiming to raise the benchmark even further with an 80% average across Arabic evaluation datasets and a 94+ COMET score for translation quality, reinforcing its leadership in Arabic AI performance.

About Tarjama

Tarjama is a leading language solutions provider with over 16 years of experience in AI and human translation. Trusted by more than 700 clients globally, Tarjama combines proprietary AI technology with deep linguistic expertise to deliver cutting-edge language solutions tailored to business needs.

Website: Pronoia.tarjama.com

Media Contacts:

Name: Habiba Waleed

Email: Habiba.waleed@tarjama.com

Mobile: +971 509232022

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Sri Lanka rejects the reference to Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day by the Canadian Prime Minister

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs unreservedly rejects the reference to a Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day in the statement issued on 23 July 2023 by the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Canada's continued reference to a false, distorted narrative of the past conflict in Sri Lanka is aimed solely at achieving local vote-bank electoral gains, and is not conducive to broader goals of communal harmony.

Sri Lanka urges Canada and its leaders to support Sri Lanka in its efforts to ensure stability, progress, peace and reconciliation among all communities in all parts of Sri Lanka, as well as among communities of Sri Lankan heritage overseas.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

25 July 2023
Former Chairman and President of Polytechnique and Senior Partner at McKinsey Company, Eric Labaye to support Ekimetrics Toward Hypergrowth

Ekimetrics is announcing today that Eric Labaye becomes the Chairman of its Supervisory Board. Together with Jean-Baptiste Bouzige, the President and Founder of Ekimetrics, they will lead the company through scaling and hypergrowth in accordance with their 2028 Plan, with a target of tripling revenues and workforce.

With his global leadership roles in consulting, his experience as the Chairman and President of one of the most prestigious engineering schools, and his recognized expertise in promoting diversity at the executive level, Eric Labaye will bring his knowledge and insights to support Ekimetrics' ambitions for growth, academic excellence, and diversity.

Eric Labaye is currently the President and co-founder of IDEL Partners, an advisory firm focused on development and transformation strategies. In addition, he is the Chairman of the Comite de Surveillance des Investissements d'Avenir (CSIA), Senior Advisor at Antin Infrastructure Partners, and an Independent Board Member at Rexel.

From 2018 to 2023, he was the Chairman and President of Ecole Polytechnique and Institut Polytechnique de Paris, which he established and elevated to a globally recognized institution. He led the creation of six interdisciplinary research and training centres on crucial social issues such as climate change, artificial intelligence, and healthcare.

Eric Labaye spent 33 years at McKinsey Company, which included eight years as the Managing Director of the France office. The firm's global board (Shareholders Council) welcomed him as the first French member in 2005. He took on the role of Chairman of the McKinsey Global Institute and was a member of McKinsey's Global Executive Committee, in charge of Knowledge and communication.

Throughout his career, he has advised international clients in telecommunications, high-tech and industrial sectors on strategic and organizational matters. During his time at McKinsey, he initiated and co-directed the 'Women Matter' research program, which was launched in 2007, with the aim of promoting gender diversity in corporate leadership.

Eric Labaye is a graduate in engineering of Ecole Polytechnique and Telecom Paris, and holds a MBA from the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) with distinction (Henry Ford II Prize).

"We are extremely proud to welcome Eric Labaye to Ekimetrics. His ability to transform organizations and help them reach their full potential is undeniable," says Jean-Baptiste Bouzige, President of Ekimetrics. "He will play a key role in our growth strategy, helping us secure strong competitive advantages at a time when AI players must prove their ability to drive differentiation and competitiveness for organizations

"I am honored to join Ekimetrics in this role and to support the company's next ambitious phase of growth. Ekimetrics has all the assets to become a global leader in AI in the near future, including its unparalleled team of data scientists in France, its highly relevant AI solutions, and its demonstrated large-scale impact on major French and international companies. The journey and values built by Ekimetrics' founders and teams are remarkable, and I am thrilled to contribute, alongside the other members of the Board, to accelerating its growth and international expansion," says Eric Labaye, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Ekimetrics.

About Ekimetrics

AI and sustainability are set to profoundly reshape business models over the next decade.

At Ekimetrics, our mission is to support companies with AI solutions tailored to this rapidly evolving landscape, helping them anticipate the future and strengthen their competitiveness. We leverage our expertise to optimize revenue, profitability, and operational efficiency by combining AI-driven solutions with deep business knowledge.

A global leader in data science and AI solutions, Ekimetrics operates across three continents with a team of over 500 experts in data science, Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM), and AI.

We believe that large-scale impact through AI can go hand-in-hand with a responsible, ethical, and sustainable approach.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408727721/en/

Contacts:

Rumeur Publique

Cedric Landu, Marie Poinsinet, Juliette Raggi

ekimetrics@rumeurpublique.fr
LONDON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- COSRX, the global K-Beauty brand known for its effective yet gentle skincare solutions, has announced the launch of its first-ever Euro Supporters Program in an unprecedented collaboration with YESSTYLE, the global e-commerce leader in Asian fashion and beauty.

The initiative will run across five European markets - the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain - and is designed to discover the next generation of K-Beauty content creators while deepening COSRX's connection with local skincare communities.

"We're thrilled to team up with YESSTYLE to bring COSRX's most-loved and latest innovations directly into the hands of European creators," said a COSRX spokesperson. "This program is more than just a campaign; it's an invitation for collective growth. It represents a meaningful opportunity to empower local voices to shape the COSRX story through the lens of our consumers and to build a truly global skincare community. After all, it's our core belief that the best skincare begins by listening."

A New Opportunity for Aspiring Creators

The Euro Supporters Program will recruit 100 creators from across the five participating countries. Running from May to August, the program offers access to COSRX's most iconic products, including the cult-favorite Advanced Snail Mucin line and The RX Collection, a derm skincare range formulated with highly concentrated active ingredients. Over the course of three months, participants will complete content creation missions, sharing their authentic skincare journeys on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. These missions are designed to highlight both global K-Beauty trends and each creator's unique local perspective.

In addition to product access and brand exposure, selected creators will receive exclusive rewards throughout the program, including:

YESSTYLE Gold Membership perks and monthly YESSTYLE coupons

Bonus gifts for top-performing creators and the chance to be featured on COSRX's official social media channels

A once-in-a-lifetime trip to Korea for the top three creators at the end of the program

Building a Globally Connected Creator Community

This collaboration marks COSRX's first European influencer program in partnership with YESSTYLE and represents a strategic step into Europe's rapidly expanding K-Beauty market. Backed by years of experience running successful global supporter campaigns, COSRX brings its proven community-building expertise to a new generation of digital creators across the region.

The initiative reflects COSRX's continued commitment to building authentic, long-term relationships with influencers. More than just a product seeding program, it offers a platform for creators to develop their voice, gain hands-on industry experience, and grow their presence in a supportive, brand-aligned environment. Participants will also play a key role in shaping a truly global beauty community rooted in connection, creativity, and collaboration.

How to Apply

Applications for the COSRX x YESSTYLE Euro Supporters Program start on April 7 and close on April 16. Interested applicants can visit the official COSRX or YESSTYLE Influencers Instagram accounts.

About COSRX

With its powerful yet affordable skincare solutions, COSRX has become a globally recognized skincare brand trusted by millions. By using a minimal number of highly effective ingredients in concentrated formulas, COSRX delivers visible results while being gentle on sensitive skin.

Follow COSRX on Instagram, TikTok, or visit www.cosrx.com for updates and exclusive offers.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2659793/K_Beauty_Pioneer_COSRX_Launches_first_ever__Euro_Supporters__Program_Image_Update.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2648141/COSRX_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/k-beauty-pioneer-cosrx-launches-first-ever-euro-supporters-program-in-collaboration-with-yesstyle-to-expand-global-footprint-302423071.html
SEOUL, South Korea, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- DeepRoute.ai is making its debut in South Korea at the 2025 Seoul Mobility Show, marking a significant milestone in its global expansion strategy. The company is showcasing its frontier Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model, which will be integrated into over five vehicle models this year. This innovative technology reinforces DeepRoute.ai's commitment to empowering global automakers to create AI-driven mobility.

Founded in 2019 by Dr. Maxwell Zhou, the company is headquartered in Shenzhen, with businesses across the globe. DeepRoute.ai has completed six rounds of funding, accumulating over US$500 million. The company aims to create artificial general intelligence in Robots with innovative technology. Series production vehicles and large scale Robotaxi deployment will collect a vast amount of data from the physical world, which will enable DeepRoute.ai to build an AI brain with human-level wisdom, empowering various industries and bringing new productivity to humanity.

South Korea has captured international attention with its fast development to advance electric vehicles and smart driving technology, making it a key market for DeepRoute.ai. At 2025 Seoul Mobility Show, DeepRoute.ai unveils its frontier Vision-Language-Action model overseas for the first time.

Designed for versatility, DeepRoute.ai VLA model supports both camera-only solution and LiDAR-camera fusion configurations. It is compatible with various chip platforms, catering to the diverse needs of global automakers and accelerating the adoption of smart driving technologies worldwide.

The first vehicle integrated with DeepRoute.ai's VLA model- the first of its kind in China-is set to release to consumer market mid 2025. This advanced system excels in long-context understanding, analyzing driving scenarios over extended time frames of up to dozen seconds. It provides step-by-step explanation of its decision-making process, offering insights into its surroundings, predictions and planned actions. With enhanced driving performance and transparency, the VLA model fosters greater trust in smart driving technology.

"South Korean automakers have been at the forefront of smart driving innovation, rapidly integrating the latest technologies into mass production models," said Maxwell Zhou, CEO of DeepRoute.ai "With our extensive experience in scaling smart driving vehicles for the Chinese market, we look forward to collaborating closely with South Korean manufacturers to advance AI-powered mobility."

CEO Maxwell Zhou has also been invited to deliver a keynote speech at the Seoul Mobility Show Forum, titled Fast Global Deployment of Smart Driving Vehicles Powered by End-to-End Model. In his address, he delves into the rapid advancements in VLA model, sharing insights from DeepRoute.ai's extensive experience in large-scale deployments, and exploring future industry trends.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/deeprouteai-unveils-vla-model-at-seoul-mobility-show-to-empower-global-automakers-on-ai-driven-mobility-302423201.html
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.



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Regulatory News:

M6 Metropole Television (Paris:MMT):

The Shareholders of the company are invited to attend the Combined General Meeting to be held on April 29, 2025, at 9:00 am, at the Theatre des Sablons, 70 avenue du Roule, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine.

The preliminary notice of meeting, including the agenda and the presentation of the proposed resolutions, was published in the BALO dated March 24, 2025. Notice of meeting will be published in the journal of legal announcements les Petites Affiches on April 9, 2025.

Documents mentioned in Article R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code will be made available to Shareholders starting from the notice of meeting and posted on the Company's website.

In accordance with the current legislation

Registered shareholders can, until the 5th day (included) before the Annual Meeting, request supply of the said documents, including by the way of an electronic mail. For bearer shareholders, the exercise of this right is subject to the presentation of a certificate of attendance in the bearer share accounts kept by the duly empowered intermediary.

All shareholders can consult these documents at the Company's headquarters.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408078403/en/

Contacts:

M6 Metropole Television
BEIJING, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) and AIM Global Foundation are proud to announce the signing of a partnership agreement to foster global business leadership, cross-border business flows, and economic advancement.

This milestone collaboration, which establishes CKGSB as a Knowledge Partner to the AIM Global Foundation, aims to leverage both organizations' strengths to create a CEO Leadership Program, master classes, and business forums that facilitate meaningful dialogue, connections, and mutual growth across China and GCC countries.

CKGSB's Dean Li Haitao emphasized the significance of the collaboration. "As a globally-minded educational institution with a unique focus on fostering chairmen and CEOs, CKGSB is proud to join hands with AIM Global Foundation to shape the future of leadership and entrepreneurship across borders. Together, we aim to promote sustainable business and deeper collaboration between China and the GCC region, driving positive change in the global economy."

The partnership agreement was signed by Dean Li Haitao and Mr. Dawood Al Shezawi, Chairman of the AIM Global Foundation, on April 8, 2025, at the AIM Congress' China Investment Forum, held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

In his keynote speech, Dean Li outlined how in the new global paradigm the "Global South" is rising due to the US tariff war, and China, as a 'Global South' country, is building deeper trade relations with its 'Global South' peers, represented by economies in the Middle East, Latin America, and ASEAN. He noted that China is driving a new phase of global business expansion, as multi-sector, high-tech private firms like BYD, CATL, TikTok, and Shein are actively venturing the global market. Given the potential of digital economy in the Middle East, there can be great synergies between these two regions.

Dean Li joined speakers such as the Ambassador of the UAE to China, Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi, and the Chairman of AIM Congress and AIM Global Foundation, Dawood Al Shezawi, to explore China's investment dynamic and its opportunities for global collaboration.

CKGSB is China's first privately-funded business school that aims to cultivate transformative business leaders with a global vision, sense of social responsibility, innovative mindset, and ability to lead with empathy and compassion. AIM Global Foundation is an independent organization committed to empowering the world's economy by boosting effective promotion strategies and facilitating opportunities for economic productivity and expansion.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ckgsb-and-aim-global-foundation-partner-to-foster-global-business-leadership-across-china-and-gcc-302423217.html
NRD-K soll 2025 den Betrieb aufnehmen

Das Unternehmen plant bis 2030 Investitionen von rund 20 Billionen KRW in die Forschung und Entwicklung moderner Halbleiter

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. gibt die feierliche Einweihung seines neuen Halbleiter-Forschungs- und Entwicklungskomplexes (NRD-K) auf dem Giheung-Campus bekannt, was einen bedeutenden Schritt in die Zukunft markiert. Rund 100 Gaste, darunter Vertreter von Lieferanten und Kunden, nahmen an der Feier teil, um diesen Meilenstein zu wurdigen.

Diese Pressemitteilung enthalt multimediale Inhalte. Die vollstandige Mitteilung hier ansehen: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241119503241/de/

Young Hyun Jun, Vice Chairman and Head of the Device Solutions Division at Samsung Electronics, gives a speech at the tool-in ceremony for Samsung's new semiconductor research and development complex (NRD-K) in Giheung, Korea. (Photo: Business Wire)

Die hochmoderne Einrichtung NRD-K wurde 2022 gegrundet und soll zu einer zentralen Forschungsbasis fur Samsungs F&E in den Bereichen Speicher, System-LSI und Foundry-Halbleiter werden. Die fortschrittliche Infrastruktur ermoglicht es, Forschung und Produktverifizierung unter einem Dach zu vereinen. Bis 2030 plant Samsung, rund 20 Billionen KRW in den Komplex zu investieren, der sich uber eine Flache von etwa 109.000 Quadratmetern auf dem Giheung-Campus erstreckt. Daruber hinaus wird der Komplex eine speziell fur Forschung und Entwicklung vorgesehene Produktionslinie umfassen, deren Betrieb fur Mitte 2025 geplant ist.

"NRD-K wird die Innovationsgeschwindigkeit deutlich steigern und Samsung befahigen, einen nachhaltigen Kreislauf zu etablieren, der sowohl die Grundlagenforschung zu Technologien der nachsten Generation als auch die Massenproduktion beschleunigt. An unserem historischen Standort in Giheung, wo vor 50 Jahren die Erfolgsgeschichte der Samsung-Halbleiter begann, legen wir den Grundstein fur weiteren bedeutenden Fortschritt und gestalten eine visionare Zukunft fur die kommenden 100 Jahre", so Young Hyun Jun, stellvertretender Vorsitzender und Leiter der Device Solutions Division bei Samsung Electronics.

"In einer Zeit, in der gegenseitig vorteilhafte Partnerschaften von zentraler Bedeutung sind, setzt Applied Materials auf eine enge Zusammenarbeit mit Samsung Electronics, um die Innovationsgeschwindigkeit zu steigern und gemeinsam eine neue Wachstumsphase fur die Halbleiterindustrie einzuleiten", sagt Park Gwang-Sun, Leiter von Applied Materials Korea.

Der Samsung-Campus in Giheung, sudlich von Seoul, war 1992 der Entwicklungs-Schauplatz des weltweit ersten 64-Megabit-DRAMs ein Ereignis, das den Grundstein fur die fuhrende Rolle des Unternehmens in der Halbleiterbranche legte. Mit der neuen F&E-Einrichtung wird dieser Standort nicht nur sein Vermachtnis als Zentrum bahnbrechender Innovationen fortsetzen, sondern auch die Einfuhrung modernster Prozesstechnologien und Fertigungswerkzeuge mageblich vorantreiben.

NRD-K wird mit Hoch-NA-Extrem-Ultraviolett-Lithographie (EUV) und neuen Materialabscheidungsanlagen ausgestattet sein, die die Entwicklung von Speicherhalbleitern der nachsten Generation wie 3D-DRAM und V-NAND mit mehr als 1.000 Schichten beschleunigen sollen. Daruber hinaus ist eine Infrastruktur fur Wafer-Bonding mit innovativen Wafer-zu-Wafer-Bonding-Fahigkeiten geplant.

Im dritten Quartal dieses Jahres tatigte Samsung mit 8,87 Billionen KRW eine Rekordinvestition in Forschung und Entwicklung. Das Unternehmen setzt weiterhin alles daran, die Grenzen des Moglichen zu verschieben und seine Wettbewerbsfahigkeit in zukunftsweisenden Technologien wie fortschrittlichem Packaging fur die Herstellung von HBM-Speichern (High Bandwidth Memory) zu starken.

Uber Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd.

Samsung inspiriert die Welt und gestaltet die Zukunft mit transformativen Ideen und Technologien. Das Unternehmen definiert die Welten von Fernsehern, Smartphones, tragbaren Geraten, Tablets, Haushaltsgeraten, Netzwerksystemen sowie Speicher-, System-LSI-, Foundry- und LED-Losungen neu und bietet durch sein SmartThings-Okosystem und die offene Zusammenarbeit mit Partnern ein nahtlos vernetztes Erlebnis. Die neuesten Nachrichten finden Sie im Samsung Newsroom unter news.samsung.com.

Originalversion auf businesswire.com ansehen: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241119503241/de/

Contacts:

Ujeong Jahnke

Samsung Semiconductor Europe GmbH

Tel. +49(0)89-45578-1000

Email: sseg.comm@samsung.com
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Apex Group Ltd. ("Apex Group" or the "Group"), the leading global financial services provider, announces it is acquiring FTS Tech, Inc. ("Flow") - a leading software provider for the private markets. The move further underscores Apex Group's commitment to transforming the private markets.

Founded in 2018, Flow simplifies fund management with its infrastructure software that provides a platform for insights, transparency and dialogue between fund managers and the broader ecosystem of investors, law firms, fund administrators, banks, and accounting firms.

The addition of Flow adds 15 employees and assets under administration of $17bn USD to Apex Group.

This acquisition builds upon the pre-existing partnership between Apex Group and Flow, which culminated in the launch of Apex Ventures. It will also combine Flow's technology with Apex Group's comprehensive suite of services designed to deliver a superior user experience for fund managers, investors, and service providers alike. Benefits include:

End-to-end private markets infrastructure: Clients will now have access to an all-in-one solution that streamlines investor onboarding, data management, entity administration, and compliance.

Clients will now have access to an all-in-one solution that streamlines investor onboarding, data management, entity administration, and compliance. Enhanced efficiency and transparency: By embedding Flow's digital platform into Apex Group's fund administration and middle-office services, clients will benefit from real-time insights, automation, and improved reporting capabilities.

By embedding Flow's digital platform into Apex Group's fund administration and middle-office services, clients will benefit from real-time insights, automation, and improved reporting capabilities. Scalability for fund managers: The combined offering provides a frictionless operating environment for GPs, LPs, and investment platforms, enabling funds to scale faster while reducing administrative burdens.

Apex Group leads the industry with a broad range of services, including fund and investor administration, portfolio and investment administration, capital raising, business and corporate management, ESG, capital markets and transactions support. Flow's clients will now benefit from these services that are tailored to each client need and are delivered both at group level and via specialist subsidiary brands.

Peter Hughes, Founder and CEO of Apex Group, says: "I am extremely pleased to expand our relationship with Flow further driving innovation in the private markets. By integrating Flow's technology, Apex Group further enhances its position as a market leader in fund services, empowering clients with an advanced digital-first experience.

"Together, we are uniquely positioned to deliver an unrivalled combination of technology, operational expertise, and global scale, ensuring our clients benefit from best-in-class infrastructure for private market investments."

Brendan Marshall, Co-Founder and CEO of Flow, said: "Since its inception, Flow has been dedicated to transforming private markets with technology-driven solutions. Joining Apex Group allows us to accelerate our vision while providing an even greater level of service and innovation to our clients."

Goodwin served as legal advisors to Flow, Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisors to Apex Group on the transaction.

-ends-

About Apex Group

Apex Group is dedicated to driving positive change in financial services while supporting the growth and ambitions of asset managers, allocators, financial institutions, and family offices. Established in Bermuda in 2003, the Group has continually disrupted the industry through its investment in innovation and talent. Today, Apex Group sets the pace in fund and asset servicing and stands out for its unique single-source solution and unified cross asset-class platform which supports the entire value chain, harnesses leading innovative technology, and benefits from cross-jurisdictional expertise delivered by a long-standing management team and over 13,000 highly integrated professionals.

Apex Group leads the industry with a broad and unmatched range of services, including capital raising, business and corporate management, fund and investor administration, portfolio and investment administration, ESG, capital markets and transactions support. These services are tailored to each client and are delivered both at the Group level and via specialist subsidiary brands.

The Apex Foundation, a not-for-profit entity, is the Group's passionate commitment to empower sustainable change.



About Flow

Flow is a leading software provider for the private markets. Our investor engagement platform makes investing simple for LPs, reduces overhead for investment teams, and streamlines collaboration with third-party service providers. With fully-integrated secure virtual data rooms, digital investor onboarding, and investor portal solutions, Flow lets you manage the full lifecycle of your fund on a single platform. Flow services over 1,000 funds across 300+ GPs clients and 20,000+ LPs.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247608

SOURCE: Apex Group
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Copper Fox Metals Inc. (TSXV: CUU) (OTCQX: CPFXF) (FSE:HPU) ("Copper Fox" or the "Company") and its wholly owned subsidiary, Desert Fox Mineral Mountain Co. ("Desert Fox"), are pleased to provide an update on the permitting process to complete a drilling program (see News release dated October 31, 2024) on its 100% owned Mineral Mountain porphyry copper property (2,692.4 ha) located within the Mineral Mountain mining district, Arizona. The Mineral Mountain mining district is located within a northeast trending porphyry copper belt approximately 25 kilometers ("km") southwest from Rio Tinto and BHP's giant Resolution porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit and approximately 20 km northeast of Taseko's Florence porphyry copper deposit.

Background To Environmental Review

In early 2024, Copper Fox submitted a Plan of Operations (PoO) to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conduct a drilling program at four locations on its Mineral Mountain porphyry copper project. The PoO was accepted by the BLM, Tucson Field Office. Prior to deciding on if or when the drilling permit would be granted, the BLM requires, pursuant to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), that Copper Fox prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) followed by a 30-day Solicitation of Public Comment period. SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA), an Arizona based firm specializing in environmental, regulatory, and natural and cultural resources management services, was retained by Copper Fox to complete the EA and provide support, if required, during the Solicitation of Public Comment period.

Highlights

The EA pursuant to NEPA has been published by the BLM.

The 30-day Solicitation of Public Comment period commenced on April 7, 2025.

Field work on Arizona State Mining Exploration Permit 08-122622, located numerous occurrences of interpreted Laramide age quartz veinlet and fracture hosted copper mineralization.

Elmer B. Stewart, President, and CEO of Copper Fox, stated, "We are pleased with the progress of the permitting process and looking forward to addressing concerns, if any, raised during the 30-day Solicitation of Public Comment period. While completion of the EA is encouraging, it is too early to speculate on the outcome of the Solicitation of Public Comment processes and if a drilling permit to commence the planned drilling program would be granted by the BLM. A reconnaissance exploration program in the SE portion of the Mineral Mountain project located Laramide age vein and fracture-controlled mineralization of sufficient merit to warrant further investigation and suggests the potential for an additional Laramide age porphyry copper target within this portion of the Mineral Mountain project."

Update On Permitting Process

This EAs and associated Biological Evaluation (BE) were prepared to address the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended and specifically addressed the species covered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, as well as addressing an Ecological Overview and collected data on the Vegetation, Wildlife, and Soil types. The project-specific official Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC) includes species that are currently listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA, as well as non-essential experimental population and candidate species.

Based on the survey, no acuna cactus were observed in the species-specific survey area, and SWCA conclusions of the BE are:

the proposed drilling program "may affect but is not likely to adversely affect" the acuna cactus and its designated criticalhabitat through the removal of 0.180 acres of potential seed bank at drill pads 1-4, including disturbanceof 0.135 acres of PBFs of its critical habitat at drill pads 1-3, the cumulative effects related to future mining proposals in the project area and ongoing development in the species' range may affect individual acuna cactus, other activities, including livestock grazing, off-highway vehicle use, dispersed recreation, and cross-border activities, could impact acuna cactus; and incremental effects on acuna cactus from the proposed drilling program are anticipated to be insignificant because no acuna cactus are present in the planned disturbance area.

Reconnaissance Program

Arizona Mineral Exploration Permits require annual expenditure to maintain the permits in good standing. The minimum expenditure can be made either on work on the ground or cash.

Copper Fox conducted a two-day reconnaissance style mapping, sampling and prospecting program to investigate several east-west trending, large Tertiary age granodiorite dikes located within the permit. The sampling for petrographic studies, whole rock and trace element geochemistry and possibly age dating of the granodioritic rocks was completed. Preliminary observations from the reconnaissance mapping program are described below.

Geology: The geology in the area consists of Precambrian aged Ruin granite, Pinal Schist and diabase intruded by Tertiary age porphyritic granodiorite, medium to coarse grained biotite granodiorite and fine grained and pegmatitic aplite occasionally containing tourmaline.

Mineralization: The styles of veining and copper mineralization are like those found to the north in the area designated Target #1-3, described in several previous news releases. Quartz-copper-hematite veins, copper-hematite veins and hematite fractures have been observed mainly in the porphyritic granodiorite and to a lesser extent in the coarse-grained biotite granodiorite and Precambrian age Ruin granite. The veins range from 1-3mm in width and consist of a combination of malachite, chrysocolla, chalcocite and hematite. The dominant set trends NE from 050 to 080 and dips between 45 to 85 degrees SE. Several quartz-copper-hematite veins have a similar strike direction and dip 60 to 70 degrees NW.

Alteration: Alteration consists of weak to moderate sercitization of the plagioclase, Biotite typically exhibits' rough ("shreddy") brown colored edges. The quartz-copper-hematite veins exhibit a white, 1-3mm wide halo interpreted to be potassic alteration.

Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P.Geo., President, and CEO of Copper Fox, is the Company's non-independent, nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approves the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.

About Copper Fox

Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc. Its wholly owned subsidiaries being Northern Fox Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc., are the 100% ownerships of the Van Dyke ISCR project, and the Mineral Mountain and Sombrero Butte porphyry copper exploration projects all located in Arizona, the 25% interest in the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with Teck Resources Limited on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project and the 100% owned Eaglehead polymetallic porphyry copper project each located in northwestern British Columbia. For more information on Copper Fox's mineral properties and investments visit the Company's website at www.copperfoxmetals.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Elmer B. Stewart

President and Chief Executive Officer

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information is generally identifiable by use of the words "believes," "may," "plans," "will," "anticipates," "intends," "budgets," "could", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "projects" and similar expressions, and the negative of such expressions. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding; publication of the of the EA; commencement of the 30 day Solicitation of Public Comment period; the purpose, scope and area covered by the BE; potential for acuna cactus in the project area; the critical habitat of the acuna cactus; determination of effects on the other species; a species-specific survey for acuna cactus; and determination of effects of the proposed drilling program on the acuna cactus and its designated critical habitat.

In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Copper Fox and its subsidiaries have made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the geological advice that Copper Fox has received is reliable and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards; and the reliability of historical reports. While Copper Fox considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies.

Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause Copper Fox's actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: the 30-day Solicitation of Public Comment period may not be completed as planned or at all; the findings and conclusions of the BE may be incomplete or inaccurate; the permit to conduct the proposed drilling program may not be granted; the financial markets and the overall economy may deteriorate; the need to obtain additional financing and uncertainty as to effects of threatened tariffs, timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals.

A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing Copper Fox is disclosed in Copper Fox's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedarplus.ca. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Copper Fox disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events, or developments, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247708

SOURCE: Copper Fox Metals Inc.
Sri Lanka elected to the Executive Board of the UNESCO

Sri Lanka was elected to the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the term 2023-2027, during the 42nd General Conference of the inter-governmental organization, on 15 November 2023 in Paris.

Sri Lanka obtained 144 votes out of 188 member states voting at the said election, co-securing the 3rd highest vote count from the region, with Bangladesh. The member states of the UNESCO elected 6 members, out of 9 candidates from the Asia-Pacific Region, to the UNESCO Executive Board. The other countries who were elected from the region are Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Republic of Korea and Australia. Sri Lanka last served on the Executive Board from 2015 to 2019.

The UNESCO contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication and information. It also contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Sri Lankas membership in UNESCO in 1949, soon after its independence, is demonstrative of the countrys firm commitment to the values and principles upheld by UNESCO to promote collaboration among nations through education, science and culture, in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms of the peoples of the world.

Since the inception, Sri Lanka has played a significant role and made proactive contribution towards the furtherance of the mandate of the UNESCO. Sri Lanka National Commission for UNESCO is the government arm for implementing the UNESCO Agenda in Sri Lanka, under the guidance of the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Sri Lanka Embassy in Paris and the Ministry of Education (National focal point) is pleased to have spearheaded the successful effort to ensure Sri Lankas election to UNESCO Executive Board.

It is notable that in the past months, Sri Lanka has been successful in consecutively being elected to 3 UN bodies/committees: Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), and the UNESCO Executive Board.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

16 November 2023
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Dryden Gold Corp. (TSXV: DRY) (OTCQB: DRYGF) ("Dryden Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that deeper drilling at Elora has intersected a new zone with significant visible gold ("VG"). This newly discovered section is a hanging wall structure of folded sheared basalts and represents the most significant amount of VG that Dryden Gold has intersected to date. This new discovery is further evidence that the Dryden District hosts a strong Archean lode gold system like Red Lake, Kirkland Lake and Timmins Districts. The Company is awaiting assays to fully evaluate this structure to determine further testing within the current 15,000-meter drill program. Current drill hole targets at Elora are testing down plunge at true depths between 250 and 400 meters. The next drill targets in Dryden Gold's fully funded 2025 exploration program will also test further down-plunge potential of Elora and along strike northeast to the historic Laurentian Mine.

Figure 1

For more information on the Gold Rock Camp: https://drydengold.com/project/gold-rock-project/

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Trey Wasser, CEO of Dryden Gold stated "We continue to make high-grade gold discoveries within the Gold Rock Camp. This new zone shows the potential for hanging wall and footwall mineralized structures to host significant gold mineralization similar to our discoveries last year on the Big Master System. With permits in hand, we will now move northeast and begin to fully test Elora, at depth and along strike, where we have identified multiple targets. This will be a pivotal year for Dryden Gold as we also drill test regional targets at Mud Lake, Sherridon and Hyndman. With a fully funded exploration program for 2025, shareholders should expect drill results and other news flow on a very consistent basis into the fall. Our goal this year is to show the true district potential of this amazing under-explored property".

The newly intercepted gold mineralization in hole KW-25-003 indicates a new zone of hanging wall mineralization approximately 80 meters from main Elora target zone (Figure 2). The geology team had made a similar discovery on the Big Master gold system through our robust geological and sampling protocols in the 2024 exploration program. Multiple parallel mineralized structures are another striking similarity to the Red Lake Mine. The Elora Gold System is hosted within sheared mafic volcanic rocks as part of the Elora-Jubilee shear (Figure 2). This new mineralization is in the hanging wall of the main target in a folded quartz vein within the sheared basalt unit. The Company is drilling NQ size core. Samples are cut in half, with half going to the lab for analysis and half kept as a record. The Company will continue to test Gold Rock for additional parallel mineralized structures.

Figure 2: Left Cross-section of hole KW-25-003 with mineralized structures. Right Map of Gold Rock area showing mineralized structures

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Drilling Elora at Depth

The 2025 drill program began in late March testing the depth of the extension of the mineralized structure on the Elora Gold System. At Gold Rock, the Company has two main objectives to test this year. First, to show that the Elora and Big Master gold systems in the Gold Rock Camp have deep roots like other Archean lode gold systems at Red Lake, Kirkland Lake and Timmins. The program will test Elora at depths between 250 and 550 meters (Figure 3) as well as the along-strike potential of the Elora System. Second, the team is preparing to drill test the structural intersections along the Elora (Figure 2) target where the northeast trend and the more east-west trend intersect. The Company is permitted to drill the trend to the northeast up to the historic Laurentian Mine and beyond, two kilometres north to the newly discovered Mud Lake target. Initial 2025 results have been favourable on the Elora Gold System as all five deeper holes have intersected zones of sulphide mineralization and shearing at target depth. Hole KW-25-001 returned 4.00 g/t over 3.07 meters including 18.10 g/t over 0.45 meters while Hole KW-25-002 is current pending at the lab (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Long Section Elora Gold System - Main



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For updated technical drilling details of our 2025 drill program, please click here.

Qualified Person

The technical disclosure in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Maura J. Kolb, M.Sc., P.Geo., President of Dryden Gold and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators.

Analytical Laboratory and QA/QC Procedures

All sampling completed by Dryden Gold Corp. within its exploration programs is subject to a Company standard of internal quality control and quality assurance (QA/QC) programs which include the insertion of certified reference materials, blank materials, and a level of duplicate analysis. Drill samples from the 2024 and 2025 program were sent to Activation Laboratories, with sample preparation and analysis in Dryden, where they were processed for gold analysis by 50-gram fire assay with an atomic absorption finish and over limits determined by Fire Assay with a gravimetric finish. Select samples were analyzed using metallic screens. Activation Laboratories systems conform to requirements of ISO/IEC Standard 17025 guidelines and meets assay requirements outlined for NI 43-101.

ABOUT DRYDEN GOLD CORP.

Dryden Gold Corp. is an exploration company focused on the discovery of high-grade gold mineralization listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("DRY") and on the OTCQB marketplace ("DRYGF"). The Company has a strong management team and Board of Directors comprised of experienced individuals with a track record of building shareholder value through property acquisition and consolidation, exploration success, and mergers and acquisitions. Dryden Gold controls a 100% interest in a dominant strategic land position in the Dryden District of Northwestern Ontario. Dryden Gold's property package includes historic gold mines but has seen limited modern exploration. The property hosts high-grade gold mineralization over 50km of potential strike length along the Manitou-Dinorwic deformation zone. The property has excellent infrastructure, enjoys collaborative relationships with First Nations communities and benefits from proximity to an experienced mining workforce.

For more information go to our website www.drydengold.com.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the acquisition of the Property, receipt of corporate and regulatory approvals, issuance of common shares; future development plans; future acquisitions; exploration programs; and the business and operations of Dryden Gold. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings including receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval for the acquisition of the Property; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in Dryden Gold's and the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward--looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Dryden Gold and the Company do not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from Dryden Gold's and the Company's expectations or projections.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247734

SOURCE: Dryden Gold Corp.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Happy Belly Food Group Inc. (CSE: HBFG) (OTCQB: HBFGF) ("Happy Belly" or the "Company"), a leader in acquiring and scaling emerging food brands across Canada is pleased to announce it has signed as of April 7th, 2025, our eight franchise agreement for Yolks Breakfast ("Yolks") that will see a new Yolks Breakfast in the city of Richmond Hill. Yolks is a boutique restaurant brand serving delicious breakfast, brunch and lunch.





Yolks 1

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"As one of the fastest-growing segments in the restaurant industry, the breakfast category continues to gain momentum-something we've fully embraced since acquiring Yolks," said Sean Black, Chief Executive Officer of Happy Belly. "Following the successful opening of Yolks in Ottawa's Glebe neighborhood, we've seen a surge in interest from both franchisees and landlords across the country. This new agreement marks our first Yolks location in the Greater Toronto Area ("GTA") within the city of Richmond Hill, and our second in Ontario, as we draw on our deep franchising experience to accelerate the brand's expansion. With strong population growth and a demographic that aligns perfectly with Yolks, Richmond Hill presents a prime market for extending the brand's reach, and real estate site selection is already underway."





Yolks 2

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"The breakfast sector stands as one of the most dynamic and rapidly expanding verticals within the restaurant industry and Happy Belly is well suited to capitalize on the opportunity. Today's announcement marks another executed step forward in our expansion strategy for Yolks as we continue to incorporate our breakfast brand into our accelerated franchising framework, leveraging our asset-light strategy, and capitalizing on the considerable interest and inquiries from potential franchisees."



"With the ongoing rollout of our franchising initiative, we are excited to replicate our past success by elevating Yolks Breakfast into a leading national brand. Leveraging our experience-having grown brands like Extreme Pita, Mucho Burrito, Burger's Priest, and Fresh to over 400 franchised and corporate locations-our proven asset-light model remains a key component of our disciplined organic growth strategy."

"We look forward to continuing to execute on our franchising model as we accelerate our growth organically and inorganically through accretive M&A. Happy Belly has 521 contractually committed retail franchise locations across our emerging brands-whether in development, under construction, or already operating. We are working to expand this pipeline throughout 2025 and 2026, continually selecting the right franchise partners and securing optimal real estate to achieve our brands' development goals."





Yolks 3

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"Our approach has always been to focus on the development and growth of emerging brands in the food sector. Yolks Breakfast was an accretive acquisition by Happy Belly Food Group, and it is anticipated that our franchising program will continue to deliver new franchised locations that will drive both top line and bottom-line profitability for Happy Belly."



We are just getting started.



About Yolks Breakfast

Chef Steve Ewing is a strong proponent of breakfast - it's his favourite meal of the day - which is why its so important to him and why he takes so much care and puts so much effort into its menu. Not only are the eggs free-range, but the bacon is local and the hollandaise isn't some quickie version, but the real deal, just one fast whisking away from le Cordon Bleu. Even the Dijon is made in-house!



Franchising

For franchising inquiries please see www.happybellyfg.com/franchise-with-us/ or contact us at hello@happybellyfg.com.



About Happy Belly Food Group

Happy Belly Food Group Inc. (CSE: HBFG) (OTCQB: HBFGF) ("Happy Belly" or the "Company") is a dynamic multi-branded restaurant company focused on acquiring and scaling emerging food brands across Canada. With a robust portfolio of brands Happy Belly is dedicated to delivering quality, efficiency, and exceptional customer experiences nationwide.





Happy Belly Food Group Inc.

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Sean Black

Chief Executive Officer

Shawn Moniz

Chief Operating Officer

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-Looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur and include the future performance of Happy Belly and her subsidiaries. Forward-Looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the business plans for Happy Belly described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedarplus.ca.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247754

SOURCE: Happy Belly Food Group Inc.
LONDON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- H.I.G. Bayside Capital Europe ("Bayside"), the European alternative credit affiliate of H.I.G. Capital ("H.I.G."), a leading global alternative investment firm with $68 billion of capital under management, is pleased to announce its financing of Riviera Travel ("Riviera" or the "Company"), an award-winning global travel brand specialising in guided tours, cruises, and solo holidays backed by Silverfleet Capital ("Silverfleet"). The new five-year, 125m unitranche term loan is being provided by Bayside and Triton Debt Opportunities ("Triton").

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Riviera has been curating travel experiences for over 40 years. The Company focuses on the over-60s market and has built an excellent reputation for quality, value for money, and exceptional customer service. Riviera offers approximately 170 unique itineraries for tours and cruises, spanning over 45 countries globally.

The new five-year facility refinances the existing term loan, and provides a solid platform for Riviera's management team, led by Chief Executive Officer Phil Hullah, to build upon the impressive growth achieved since the Company's acquisition by Silverfleet.

David Whatley, Chief Financial Officer at Riviera, commented: "We are delighted to partner with Bayside and Triton for this exciting next phase of growth. This partnership will enable us to continue investing in our business to enhance the customer experience, develop and improve our itineraries, and execute our strategic growth plans."

Mathilde Malezieux, Managing Director at Bayside, commented: "Riviera has been an impressive success story resulting in high, sustainable growth in an attractive market segment. Bayside's capital solutions loan refinances Riviera's existing debt and provides the flexible capital structure to support the continued growth of the business. We are looking forward to working with the team at Riviera on the next phase of its growth journey."

About Bayside Capital

Bayside Capital is the special situations affiliate of H.I.G. Capital. Focused on middle market companies, Bayside invests across several segments of the primary and secondary debt capital markets with an emphasis on long term returns. With eight offices throughout the U.S. and Europe and over 500 investment professionals to draw upon, Bayside has the experience, resources, and flexibility required to generate superior risk-adjusted returns. For more information, please refer to the Bayside website at bayside.com.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global alternative investment firm with $68 billion of capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco in the United States, as well as international affiliate offices in Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Dubai, and Hong Kong, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/value-added approach:

H.I.G.'s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.

H.I.G.'s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche, and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. also manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.

H.I.G.'s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.

H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 400 companies worldwide. The Firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $53 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at hig.com.

*Based on total capital raised by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.

Contacts:

Duncan Priston

Co-Head of Bayside Europe

dpriston@bayside.com

Andrew Scotland

Co-Head of Bayside Europe

ascotland@bayside.com

H.I.G. Capital

10 Grosvenor Street

2nd Floor

London W1K 4QB

United Kingdom

P: +44 (0) 207 318 5700

hig.com

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TORONTO, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MolecuLight Inc., a global pioneer in point-of-care fluorescence imaging for rapid bacterial detection in wounds, announces its presence at the American Burn Association (ABA) Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, April 8-11. MolecuLight will showcase its innovative fluorescence imaging systems that empower providers with immediate, non-invasive bacterial visualization for optimized burn care.

Attendees at the ABA meeting will have the opportunity to:

Witness Clinical Breakthroughs - Podium Presentation: Dr. Erik Hanson-Viana, renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Hospital Angeles in Mexico City, will present his research on " Fluorescence Imaging-Guided Sampling Provides More Accurate and Actionable Microbiology Compared to the Levine Technique " on Wednesday, April 9 th at 11:45 AM during the Educational Forums and Correlatives session. He will unveil how MolecuLight-guided sampling revolutionizes large burn reconstruction, enabling optimal graft timing and site selection, surpassing traditional techniques.





Dr. Erik Hanson-Viana, renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Hospital Angeles in Mexico City, will present his research on " " on Wednesday, April 9 at 11:45 AM during the Educational Forums and Correlatives session. He will unveil how MolecuLight-guided sampling revolutionizes large burn reconstruction, enabling optimal graft timing and site selection, surpassing traditional techniques. Explore Cutting-Edge Research - Poster Presentation: Dr. Carlos Daniel Torres Garcia, plastic and reconstructive surgery resident at Hospital Angeles, will present his award-winning research, " Bacterial Fluorescence Signals Are Associated with Dermal Regeneration Template Infections in Burn Patients ", on Wednesday April 9 th at 12:30 PM during Poster Roud 1. This work demonstrates the critical link between bacterial loads detected using MolecuLight and failure of cellular tissue products in burn reconstruction. Dr. Garcia's research has been internationally recognized, earning 2 nd place for Best Scientific Protocol in the 55 th Annual Mexican National Plastic Surgery Congress earlier this year.





Dr. Carlos Daniel Torres Garcia, plastic and reconstructive surgery resident at Hospital Angeles, will present his award-winning research, " ", on Wednesday April 9 at 12:30 PM during Poster Roud 1. This work demonstrates the critical link between bacterial loads detected using MolecuLight and failure of cellular tissue products in burn reconstruction. Dr. Garcia's research has been internationally recognized, earning 2 place for Best Scientific Protocol in the 55 Annual Mexican National Plastic Surgery Congress earlier this year. Hands-On Innovation - Live Demonstrations at Booth #626: MolecuLight will exhibit at Booth #626 throughout the conference. Attendees can engage with Dr. Erik Hanson-Viana and MolecuLight representatives, and experience live demonstrations of the MolecuLight i:X and MolecuLight DX imaging systems, understanding how these technologies can provide real-time bioburden information to guide clinical decision-making for optimized burn care.

"The ability to visualize bacteria in real-time with MolecuLight has far-reaching implications for improving burn wound reconstruction," says Dr. Erik Hanson-Viana. "By providing immediate, actionable information, MolecuLight has led to more precise interventions, ultimately improving reconstructive outcomes. My research also demonstrates the clear advantage of MolecuLight-targeted sampling over traditional methods, and I am thrilled to share these findings with my colleagues at the ABA meeting."

About MolecuLight Inc:

MolecuLight Inc. is a privately owned medical imaging company with a global presence that manufactures and commercializes the MolecuLight i:X and DX wound imaging devices. These are the only class II FDA-cleared point-of-care imaging devices for the real-time detection of elevated bacterial burden in wounds. They also provide accurate digital wound measurement for comprehensive wound management, supported by strong clinical evidence including over 100 peer-reviewed publications.

www.moleculight.com

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New CPT codes mark a major step toward making Caristo's CaRi-Heart-the first AI-powered tool to detect coronary inflammation from routine CT scans-available in everyday clinical care

Rewriting the rules of cardiac risk assessment, Caristo moves beyond anatomy to reveal the biological drivers of heart disease, helping doctors predict and prevent life-threatening events before symptoms or structural changes appear

With support from medical societies including the American College of Cardiology, Caristo achieved CPT approval well ahead of the CaRi-Heart market launch schedule, accelerating its path from research to real-world impact

STAMFORD, Conn., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Caristo Diagnostics , on a mission to transform the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, today announced that the American Medical Association's (AMA) CPT Editorial Panel has approved new Category III CPT codes for AI-assisted perivascular fat analysis-the foundational capability behind Caristo's flagship CaRi-Heart technology. The CPT approval marks a critical milestone on CaRi-Heart's path to U.S. clinical adoption and reimbursement, laying the groundwork for broader payer adoption once FDA clearance is achieved. The codes also confirm CaRi-Heart's use on both newly acquired and historical cardiac CT scans, opening the door to proactive, AI-driven risk assessment at scale.

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S. , yet many heart attacks strike people whose arteries look 'normal' on standard imaging scans. That's because traditional imaging only detects visible plaques that cause narrowings or blockages-it can't see the invisible, biological forces that make heart attacks more likely. Coronary inflammation, a hidden but treatable driver of disease, destabilizes plaque and triggers deadly cardiac events with little or no warning. While statins and anti-inflammatory medications help slow progression, doctors have lacked a precise, widely available way to measure and track coronary inflammation itself. By unlocking this missing piece, Caristo's AI-powered analysis of perivascular fat-now recognized with an AMA-approved CPT code-opens a new frontier in preventive cardiology, enabling doctors to intervene before it's too late.

"This is a huge leap forward in the fight against heart disease, and a major validation that AI-powered coronary inflammation analysis belongs in routine care," said Frank Cheng, CEO of Caristo Diagnostics. "With CPT approval, we are laying the foundation for a future where every at-risk American has access to precision risk assessment, moving heart care from late-stage intervention to truly preventive medicine."

The newly approved CPT codes (X409T and add-on code X434T) will be published on the AMA website by July 2025 and will be effective on January 1, 2026.

A landmark 2024 Lancet study proved that Caristo's CaRi-Heart technology can reveal hidden, high-risk markers of CAD progression - predicting heart attacks up to a decade before they strike . CaRi-Heart uses advanced AI to analyze perivascular fat captured in standard coronary CT angiography (CCTA) scans. The technology reveals hidden coronary inflammation-a powerful but previously invisible predictor of heart attacks. Its proprietary FAI-Score and CaRi-Heart Risk Score give clinicians and patients a personalized assessment of cardiac mortality risk, informing earlier and more targeted treatment decisions. The CaRi-Heart technology is currently limited to research use in the United States.

Typically less than half of CPT applications are approved, and Caristo's success came well ahead of the CaRi-Heart market launch schedule, a feat made possible by strong support from medical societies such as the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and a growing clinical consensus that coronary inflammation is a modifiable and mission-critical risk factor for heart attack prevention.

In its public comment supporting the CPT application, the ACC wrote:

"The proposed service does more than characterizing tissue as it includes patient [risk] factors and provides a comprehensive risk assessment approach that ensures that the analysis is contextualized within the broader clinical picture, enhancing patient management decisions. The use of this service - the pericoronary fat attenuation index - shows great promise in risk stratification for preventive cardiology."

About Caristo Diagnostics

Caristo Diagnostics is a global leader in AI-powered heart disease detection. A spinout from the University of Oxford, Caristo's award-winning technology is transforming cardiovascular care by identifying hidden heart attack risks before symptoms appear. Backed by leading hospitals and scientists, Caristo is on a mission to save lives through early detection and personalized prevention. For more information, visit caristo.com . Find Caristo online on LinkedIn , YouTube, and X .

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TORONTO, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Reported quarterly adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.48

Total assets under management and fee-earning assets of $53.8 billion

Increased quarterly dividend per share to 12.5 cents



AGF Management Limited (AGF or the Company) (TSX: AGF.B) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended February 28, 2025.

AGF reported total assets under management and fee-earning assets1 of $53.8 billion compared to $53.6 billion as at November 30, 2024 and $45.0 billion as at February 29, 2024.

"In a challenging market environment shaped by political change, we have excelled and continued to deliver on our strategy," said Kevin McCreadie, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, AGF. "Our long-term approach aims to deliver on our strategic imperatives; while also ensuring we can thrive through changing market cycles and uncertainty."

AGF's mutual fund gross sales were $1,568 million for the quarter compared to $993 million in the previous quarter and $914 million in the prior year quarter. Mutual fund net sales were $258 million compared to $5 million in the previous quarter and net redemptions of $125 million in the prior year quarter.

"Recent market volatility has reinforced the importance of providing investors with access to diverse capabilities and offerings," said Judy Goldring, President and Head of Global Distribution, AGF. "With alternatives playing an increasingly important role in portfolios, this quarter we have focused on further building out our strategies with the launch of products across our lines of business."

1 Fee-earning assets represents assets in which AGF has carried interest ownership and earns recurring fees but does not have ownership interest in the managers.

Key Business Highlights:

In January, AGF Capital Partners, AGF Management Limited's multi-boutique alternatives business announced the launch of the AGF NHC Tactical Alpha Fund (https://www.agf.com/ca/en/products/alternatives/absolute-return-strategy/apc202.jsp), an absolute return-oriented strategy that aims to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns across market regimes while maintaining low beta to traditional asset classes.

In February, AGF Investments Inc. announced the launch of AGF Enhanced U.S. Income Plus Fund (https://www.agf.com/ca/en/products/alternatives/739.jsp), an alternative mutual fund that seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation and generate a high level of consistent income by investing in U.S. equity securities and employing dynamic options strategies such as put writing and covered call writing.

AGF Investments Inc. was recognized with FundGrade A+ Awards for AGF American Growth Fund, AGF Fixed Income Plus Fund and AGF Global Select Fund.

Taking another important step forward in our ongoing commitment to gender equity, AGF Management Limited announced a new partnership with VersaFi, (formerly Women in Capital Markets). This renowned organization is focused on addressing barriers to women's advancement, sharing best practices and strategies for progress, and developing actionable policies and industry-leading programs to advance gender diversity in the workplace.

Financial Highlights:

Adjusted EBITDA 2 for the three months ended February 28, 2025 was $47.9 million, compared to $39.6 million for the three months ended November 30, 2024 and $49.5 million for the comparative prior year period.

for the three months ended February 28, 2025 was $47.9 million, compared to $39.6 million for the three months ended November 30, 2024 and $49.5 million for the comparative prior year period. Net management, advisory and administration fees 2 for the three months ended February 28, 2025 was $85.2 million, compared to $83.6 million for the three months ended November 30, 2024 and $74.9 million for the comparative prior year period.

for the three months ended February 28, 2025 was $85.2 million, compared to $83.6 million for the three months ended November 30, 2024 and $74.9 million for the comparative prior year period. Adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners for the three months ended February 28, 2025 was $23.6 million, compared to $18.2 million for the three months ended November 30, 2024 and $24.4 million for the comparative prior year period. The decrease year over year was driven by change in fair value adjustments, offset by the consolidation of KCPL financial results. Revenue from AGF Capital Partners can be variable quarter to quarter and can be impacted by fair value adjustments, timing of monetizations and cash distributions as well as performance fees and carried interest.

Adjusted selling, general and administrative costs 2 for the three months ended February 28, 2025 was $63.6 million, compared to $66.2 million for the three months ended November 30, 2024 and $53.5 million for the comparative prior year period. The increase in adjusted SG&A from prior year reflects the consolidation of KCPL as well as increases driven by higher performance-based compensation and the market environment.

for the three months ended February 28, 2025 was $63.6 million, compared to $66.2 million for the three months ended November 30, 2024 and $53.5 million for the comparative prior year period. The increase in adjusted SG&A from prior year reflects the consolidation of KCPL as well as increases driven by higher performance-based compensation and the market environment. Adjusted net income attributable to equity owners2 for the three months ended February 28, 2025 was $32.1 million ($0.48 adjusted diluted EPS), compared to $29.8 million ($0.45 adjusted diluted EPS) and $33.7 million ($0.51 adjusted diluted EPS) for the comparative prior year period.

Three months ended February 28, November 30, February 29, (in millions of Canadian dollars, except per share data) 2025 2024 2024 Revenues Management, advisory and administration fees $ 122.8 $ 120.2 $ 108.6 Trailing commissions and investment advisory fees (37.6 ) (36.6 ) (33.7 ) Net management, advisory and administration fees2 $ 85.2 $ 83.6 $ 74.9 Deferred sales charges 1.2 1.3 2.0 Adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners2 23.6 18.2 24.4 Other revenue2 1.5 2.7 1.7 Total adjusted net revenue2 111.5 105.8 103.0 Selling, general and administrative 67.8 70.2 57.9 Adjusted selling, general and administrative2 63.6 66.2 53.5 EBITDA2 44.2 36.9 45.1 Adjusted EBITDA2 47.9 39.6 49.5 Net income - equity owners of the Company 30.9 28.7 30.5 Adjusted net income - equity owners of the Company2 32.1 29.8 33.7 Diluted earnings per share 0.46 0.43 0.46 Adjusted diluted earnings per share2 0.48 0.45 0.51 Free cash flow2 31.6 21.4 21.2 Dividends per share 0.115 0.115 0.110

(end of period) Three months ended February 28, November 30, February 29, (in millions of Canadian dollars) 2025 2024 2024 Mutual fund assets under management (AUM)3 $ 31,167 $ 30,662 $ 26,186 ETFs and SMA AUM 2,913 2,537 1,676 Segregated accounts and sub-advisory AUM 6,529 6,977 7,162 Total AGF Investments AUM 40,609 40,176 35,024 AGF Private Wealth AUM 8,623 8,567 7,836 AGF Capital Partners AUM 2,468 2,752 48 Total AUM $ 51,700 $ 51,495 $ 42,908 AGF Capital Partners fee-earning assets4 2,142 2,111 2,104 Total AUM and fee-earning assets4 $ 53,842 $ 53,606 $ 45,012 Net mutual fund sales (redemptions)3 258 5 (125 ) Average daily mutual fund AUM3 30,853 29,173 25,197

2 Net management, advisory and administration fees, adjusted revenue from AGF Capital Partners, total net revenue, adjusted selling, general and administrative, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share and free cash flow are not standardized measures prescribed by IFRS. The Company utilizes non-IFRS measures to assess our overall performance and facilitate a comparison of quarterly and full-year results from period to period. They allow us to assess our investment management business without the impact of non-operational items. These non-IFRS measures may not be comparable with similar measures presented by other companies. These non-IFRS measures and reconciliations to IFRS, where necessary, are included in the Management's Discussion and Analysis available at www.agf.com.

3 Mutual fund AUM includes retail AUM and institutional client AUM invested in customized series offered within mutual funds.

4 Fee-earning assets represents assets in which AGF has carried interest ownership and earns recurring fees but does not have ownership interest in the managers.

For further information and detailed financial statements for the first quarter ended February 28, 2025, including Management's Discussion and Analysis, which contains discussions of non-IFRS measures, please refer to AGF's website at www.agf.comunder 'About AGF' and 'Investor Relations' and at www.sedarplus.com.

Conference Call

AGF will host a conference call to review its earnings results today at 11 a.m. ET.

The live audio webcast with supporting materials will be available in the Investor Relations section of AGF's website at www.agf.comor at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/4ch7jtxw. Alternatively, the call can be accessed over the phone by registering hereor in the Investor Relations section of AGF's website at www.agf.com, to receive the dial-in numbers and unique PIN.

A complete archive of this discussion along with supporting materials will be available at the same webcast address within 24 hours of the end of the conference call.

About AGF Management Limited

Founded in 1957, AGF Management Limited (AGF) is an independent and globally diverse asset management firm. Our companies deliver excellence in investing in the public and private markets through three business lines: AGF Investments, AGF Capital Partners and AGF Private Wealth.



AGF brings a disciplined approach, focused on incorporating sound, responsible and sustainable corporate practices. The firm's collective investment expertise, driven by its fundamental, quantitative and private investing capabilities, extends globally to a wide range of clients, from financial advisors and their clients to high-net worth and institutional investors including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations.



Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, AGF has investment operations and client servicing teams on the ground in North America and Europe. With over $52 billion in total assets under management and fee-earning assets, AGF serves more than 815,000 investors. AGF trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AGF.B.

About AGF Investments

AGF Investments is a group of wholly owned subsidiaries of AGF Management Limited, a Canadian reporting issuer. The subsidiaries included in AGF Investments are AGF Investments Inc. (AGFI), AGF Investments America Inc. (AGFA), AGF Investments LLC (AGFUS) and AGF International Advisors Company Limited (AGFIA). The term AGF Investments may refer to one or more of these subsidiaries or to all of them jointly. This term is used for convenience and does not precisely describe any of the separate companies, each of which manages its own affairs. AGF Investments entities only provide investment advisory services or offers investment funds in the jurisdiction where such firm and/or product is registered or authorized to provide such services.

About AGF Capital Partners

AGF Capital Partners is AGF's multi-boutique alternatives business with diverse capabilities across both private assets and alternative strategies. Clients benefit from the specialized investment expertise of Affiliate Managers1 combined with the organizational support and breadth of resources of AGF Management Limited (AGF). With over 18 years average experience, AGF Capital Partners Affiliate Managers including, Kensington Capital Partners Limited, New Holland Capital, LLC and AGF SAF Private Credit, manage approximately C$13.8 billion* in alternative AUM and fee earning assets on behalf of institutional and retail clients. Affiliate Manager AUM may not be consolidated into AGF Management Limited's reported AUM.

*US AUM converted FX rate at February 28, 2025 (1.44)



The term 'Affiliate Manager' refers to any partner regardless of relationship structures or revenue sharing agreements. The form of AGF's structured partnership interests in Affiliate Managers differs from Affiliate Manager to Affiliate Manager. The structure of the relationship with a particular Affiliate Manager, or the revenue that AGF agrees to share in, may change. Affiliate Managers only provide investment advisory services or offer products in the jurisdiction where such firm, individuals and/or product is registered or authorized to provide such services.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investment fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Investment funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently, and past performance may not be repeated.

AGF Management Limited shareholders, analysts and media, please contact:

Nick Smerek

VP, Financial Planning & Analysis

416-865-4337, InvestorRelations@agf.com

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements about the Company, including its business operations, strategy and expected financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as 'expects,' 'estimates,' 'anticipates,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes' or negative versions thereof and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as 'may,' 'will,' 'should,' 'would' and 'could.' In addition, any statement that may be made concerning future financial performance (including income, revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies or prospects, fund performance, and possible future action on our part, is also a forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and assumptions, including expected growth, results of operations, business prospects, business performance and opportunities. While we consider these factors and assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions about our operations, economic factors and the financial services industry generally. They are not guarantees of future performance, and actual events and results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made by us due to, but not limited to, important risk factors such as level of assets under our management, volume of sales and redemptions of our investment products, performance of our investment funds and of our investment managers and advisors, client-driven asset allocation decisions, pipeline, competitive fee levels for investment management products and administration, and competitive dealer compensation levels and cost efficiency in our investment management operations, as well as general economic, political and market factors in North America and internationally, interest and foreign exchange rates, global equity and capital markets, business competition, taxation, changes in government regulations, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings, technological changes, cybersecurity, the possible effects of war or terrorist activities, outbreaks of disease or illness that affect local, national or international economies, natural disasters and disruptions to public infrastructure, such as transportation, communications, power or water supply or other catastrophic events, and our ability to complete strategic transactions and integrate acquisitions, and attract and retain key personnel. We caution that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Other than specifically required by applicable laws, we are under no obligation (and expressly disclaim any such obligation) to update or alter the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For a more complete discussion of the risk factors that may impact actual results, please refer to the 'Risk Factors and Management of Risk' section of the 2024 Annual MD&A.

FundGrade A+ Awards:

FundGrade A+ is used with permission from Fundata Canada Inc., all rights reserved. The annual FundGrade A+ Awards are presented by Fundata Canada Inc. to recognize the "best of the best" among Canadian investment funds. The FundGrade A+ calculation is supplemental to the monthly FundGrade ratings and is calculated at the end of each calendar year. The FundGrade rating system evaluates funds based on their risk-adjusted performance, measured by Sharpe Ratio, Sortino Ratio, and Information Ratio. The score for each ratio is calculated individually, covering all time periods from 2 to 10 years. The scores are then weighted equally in calculating a monthly FundGrade. The top 10% of funds earn an A Grade; the next 20% of funds earn a B Grade; the next 40% of funds earn a C Grade; the next 20% of funds receive a D Grade; and the lowest 10% of funds receive an E Grade. To be eligible, a fund must have received a FundGrade rating every month in the previous year. The FundGrade A+ uses a GPA-style calculation, where each monthly FundGrade from "A" to "E" receives a score from 4 to 0, respectively. A fund's average score for the year determines its GPA. Any fund with a GPA of 3.5 or greater is awarded a FundGrade A+ Award. For more information, see www.FundGradeAwards.com. Although Fundata makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Fundata.

AGF American Growth Fund won in the U.S. Equity CIFSC Category, out of 237 funds. The FundGrade A+ start date was 12/31/2014 and the FundGrade A+ end date was 12/31/2024.

AGF Global Select Fund won in the Global Equity CIFSC Category, out of 306 funds. The FundGrade A+ start date was 12/31/2014 and the FundGrade A+ end date was 12/31/2024.

AGF Fixed Income Plus Fund won in the Canadian Fixed Income CIFSC Category, out of 137 funds. The FundGrade A+ start date was 12/31/2014 and the FundGrade A+ end date was 12/31/2024.
LONDON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Octa is a major CFD broker that offers online trading solutions for various financial instruments, and it has been awarded the title of 'Best CFD Broker, Asia 2025' by Global Brands Magazine (GBM) at the prestigious Global Brand Awards.

The Global Brand Awards recognises outstanding achievements across various industries worldwide. Octa received this award for its innovative trading solutions and good client service.

Jay Reddy, CEO of Global Brands Magazine, commented, "At Global Brands Magazine, we take great pride in recognising excellence across all industries. Octa's achievement as the Best CFD Broker, Asia 2025, is a testimony to their unwavering commitment to innovation and exceptional client service. Congratulations to the entire Octa team on this well-deserved recognition."

The team at Octa highly appreciates receiving the 'Best CFD Broker Asia 2025' award as a recognition and verification mark for all the efforts to offer high-quality brokerage services across the region. The Global Brands Magazine accolade creates an additional incentive to set industry benchmarks in trading experience.

Octa continues to improve its products and services. At the end of 2024, its proprietary trading platform, OctaTrader, received a milestone update with the introduction of the AI pattern search feature. This powerful tool automatically finds relevant and timely technical analysis patterns for any given instrument based on historical data so that Octa's clients can make data-driven, informed decisions quickly and without excessive cognitive load. In the future, Octa plans to double up on its efforts to improve OctaTrader as an all-in-one trading ecosystem that makes trading transparent and clear.

ABOUT OCTA

Octa is an international broker that has been providing online trading services worldwide since 2011. It offers commission-free access to financial markets and a variety of services used by clients from 180 countries who have opened more than 52 million trading accounts. To help its clients reach their investment goals, Octa offers free educational webinars, articles, and analytical tools"

ABOUT GLOBAL BRANDS MAGAZINE (ENGLAND)

Global Brands Magazine (GBM) is one of the largest Brands publication in the world, leading the way in delivering insights, news, and opinions on brands shaping the future of their industries. Based in the UK, the magazine keeps readers informed about 'best-in-class' brands worldwide. Each year, GBM recognizes companies that demonstrate innovation, exceptional service, and consumer-focused solutions in their respective industries.

With over 8.4 million annual visitors and 14 million page views, GBM is the world's premier Brand magazine. The magazine also boasts a robust social media presence, engagement including 35k+ Facebook followers, 20k+ Instagram followers, 25k+ Twitter followers, and 4k+ LinkedIn followers.

ABOUT THE GLOBAL BRAND AWARDS

The Global Brand Awards celebrate excellence in brand performance, recognising companies and organisations that excel in quality, innovation, and customer-centric services across various sectors, including finance, education, hospitality, technology, and more. More than 10,000 companies were evaluated in 2024 for the Global Brand Awards.

The Global Brand Awards events were held at some of the most iconic properties in the world, including The Address Downtown, Waldorf Astoria, Emperors Palace, JW Marriot Marquis, Galaxy Macau Athenee Hotel, to name a few. The next awards ceremony will take place on the 13th of June 2025 at the Grand Hyatt in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

For a complete list of the winners of the Global Brand Awards, please visit: https://www.globalbrandsmagazine.com/brand-awards-winners/.

To nominate your company or leader for the Global Brand Awards 2025, visit: https://www.globalbrandsmagazine.com/nomination-form/

Disclaimer: Trading involves risks and may not be suitable for all investors. Use your expertise wisely and evaluate all associated risks before making an investment decision.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2648066/GBM_Awards_2025_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/octa-wins-best-cfd-broker-asia-award-at-global-brand-awards-2025-302423277.html
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - BELGRAVIA HARTFORD CAPITAL INC. (CSE: BLGV) (OTC Pink: BLGVF) (FSE: ECA) ("Company") is pleased to announce that, effective April 8, 2025, it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent ("LOI") with Parallel Logic Corporation ("PLC") to create a multiplatform partnership for the launch of Ethpar blockchain ("Ethpar Blockchain") and its related Tokens ("Ethpar Tokens").

LOI & Ethpar Partnership

The partnership between the Company and PLC will be managed by NodeVest IO Inc. ("NodeVest"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company https://nodevest.io/. Pursuant to the LOI, the parties have 90-days to negotiate, in good faith, certain investment agreements ("Investment Agreements") setting out the terms and conditions pursuant to which the Company and PLC will exchange Ethpar Tokens for common shares in the capital of the Company in anticipation and coordination with the launch of Ethpar Blockchain and the issuance of Ethpar Tokens to the public. Notably, the LOI states the Investment Agreements will allow the Company first-mover investment position in Ethpar Tokens prior to launch (collectively, "Transactions").

Ethpar Blockchain

Dr. Victor Cook, Founder and CEO of PLC explains: "Ethpar Blockchain is a hard fork of Ethereum. Every contract, every token, every transaction from legacy Ethereum is on Ethpar Blockchain, the difference being Ethpar Blockchain scales on Layer 1 using parallel computing algorithms. Ethpar is Ethereum, updated with the same technology that directs your computer to run multiple applications at the same time. It is that simple."

Dr. Cook added: "Ethpar Blockchain enables features that have been delayed on legacy Ethereum due to infighting and fragmentation. Ethpar permits zero fee transactions, instant transaction finality, defeats toxic extraction of value (MEV) and lets popular apps share network income. Ethpar blockchain adheres to the original vision of Ethereum, a scalable, decentralized world computer."

Dr. Cook further noted: "Ethpar Blockchain is a parallel extension to the native Ethereum blockchain. It is 100% Ethereum network compliant, with nodes that support the same dApps and use the same languages and tooling. Ethpar Blockchain complements Ethereum and is expected to offer up to 100x more throughput and 20x lower transaction fees."

Mehdi Azodi, the CEO of the Company remarked: "Since our initial discussions with Dr. Cook, the Company has been working towards a potential combination with PLC as Dr. Cook launches Ethpar - and we are thrilled to be one of the first and only external investors and supporters of the Ethpar Blockchain."

More details about the Ethpar Blockchain and our partnership may be found on the NodeVest website, https://nodevest.io/.

*******************************

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the "United States" or to "U.S. persons" (as such terms are defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

Neither CSE nor its Regulation Services accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About Belgravia Hartford

Belgravia Hartford Capital Inc. is an investment issuer, listed for trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange, focused on the tech and finance sectors of the worldwide economy. The Company's focus, as set out in its 2018 Investment Policy, specifies cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, media and digital streaming opportunities. Belgravia invests in a portfolio of private and public companies located in jurisdictions governed by the rule of law. It takes a multi-sector investment approach with emphasis in the resources and commodities sector. Belgravia and its investments are considered high risk holdings and it may expose shareholders to significant volatility and losses.

For more information, please visit www.belgraviahartford.com and https://nodevest.io/.

Neither CSE nor its Regulation Services accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties 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 forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements that use forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "potential" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the structure of the Investment, anticipated risk mitigation strategies, Dr. Cook's planned appearance on TraderTV, and other statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, changes in market trends, the completion, results and timing of research undertaken by the Company, risks associated with resource assets, the impact of general economic conditions, commodity prices, industry conditions, dependence upon regulatory, environmental, and governmental approvals, and the uncertainty of obtaining additional financing. 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 and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247732

SOURCE: Belgravia Hartford Capital Inc
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.



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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.



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Sri Lanka expresses grave concern over the death of aid seekers in Gaza

Sri Lanka is deeply troubled about the death of over hundred people who were waiting to receive aid in Gaza and joins the call for investigation into the incident.

The latest incident underscores the immediate need to end the blockade imposed on Gaza, depriving its civilian population, including women and children, of access to basic necessities such as food, water, medicine, electricity, and fuel.

Sri Lanka reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza to alleviate the suffering of civilians.

The Sri Lanka Government approved the establishment of the Children of Gaza Fund, a compassionate initiative proposed by the President aimed at providing assistance to the victims in Gaza and to donate USD one million through UN agencies to provide much-needed support to the victims of Gaza.

Sri Lanka joins the global calls for a sustainable political resolution to the conflict and emphasizes the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine, based on the borders of 1967, in line with relevant UN resolutions, as well as ensuring the security of Israel.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

02 March 2024
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - South Pacific Metals Corp. (TSXV: SPMC) (OTCQB: SPMEF) (FSE: 6J00) ("SPMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the acquisition of its first man-portable diamond drill, following the successful close of its C$6.3 million financing. Designed for efficient core drilling to depths of 500+ metres in remote locations, the new MultiPower MP500 Diamond Core Drill can operate year-round and will support faster and more cost-effective mobilization efforts across SPMC's 3,100 km portfolio of four gold-copper projects in Papua New Guinea.

Drill Rig Acquisition

The MultiPower MP500 Diamond Core Drill purchase enables the Company to accelerate early-stage target testing of known high-grade gold and copper bearing structures. Equipment is scheduled to arrive at the end of May, with drilling to begin soon after. Former K92 Mining Inc. ("K92") exploration operator/manager, Dean Williamson, will assemble and lead the in-country drill crew who will transport, set up, and operate the drill throughout the 2025 drilling campaign.

"The acquisition of our first man-portable drill rig marks a major milestone in accelerating our exploration efforts across Papua New Guinea," said Michael Murphy, Executive Chair of the Company. "With a strong treasury following our recent financing, we're now in a position to aggressively advance our gold and copper projects. The bulk of our identified drill targets fall well within the depth range of this rig, allowing us to operate more efficiently and cut estimated drilling costs by nearly half. While surface work continues to refine and expand our target pipeline, upcoming drill programs are designed to test both known zones of mineralization and newly prioritized areas with strong potential. We're confident this next phase will drive significant value across our portfolio."

Osena Project

Focus remains on the Ontenu Cu-Au Prospect, a large-scale, multi-intrusive copper-gold porphyry, vein and skarn complex extending over 5 km x 3 km. Field sampling has commenced at Ontenu NE, which has potential to host lode-gold style mineralization consistent with what K92 is now mining, as the Company prepares to access the Ontenu Central prospect, which hosts confirmed gold-bearing breccias and a large porphyry target ~250 m below surface. 3D geological and structural modeling to assist with drill planning efforts is now complete. The primary targets are near-surface high-grade gold structures, such as the structures hosting gold-bearing breccias - recent trench results from Ontenu Central include 79 m averaging 0.75 g/t Au, including 4 m at 4.52 g/t Au and individual samples up to 8.82 g/t Au (see news release dated October 16, 2024).

Anga Project

Additional surface exploration work, including more detailed soil grid sampling, planned at the Irinke Prospect, has now defined a 2 km-wide mineralized NE trending corridor, with orientation and strike continuations comparable to K92's Arakompa Discovery and lode-gold drill program less than 3 km away. Recently, the Company completed a geochemical study, in respect of all surface samples collected to date at Anga. This work has confirmed the Arakompa-like geochemical signature of the Irinke target, providing vectors to further mineralization in the area and identifying new prospects that warrant on-the-ground follow up. Drill program design continues to be assessed.

Kili Teke Project

With road access to the tenement and a nearby airfield, the project is situated just 40 km west of the Porgera Gold Mine, a Barrick Gold Corporation and Zijin Mining Group joint venture. Thie Kili Teke Project currently hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource (as defined on only a portion - the Central Porphyry - of the system) of 1.81 Moz Au, 802 kt Cu, and 40 kt Mo contained metal, in 237 Mt at 0.34% Cu, 0.24 g/t Au &, 168 ppm Mo1 (see January 12, 2023, press release and National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") published report available on SEDAR+.

Following a successful Warden's Hearing on March 11, 2025, for licence renewal, the Company is now focusing on landowner mapping and community engagement with the intention of commencing on-ground exploration that prioritizes additional discoveries of high-grade Cu-rich skarn, higher grade porphyries (Ieru Prospect) and Porgera-style gold targets and structures (Ridge Gold Prospect). High-grade skarn was intercepted by drilling of the previous operator returning 12.98% Cu, 11.75 g/t Au and 21.07 g/t Ag over 7.8 m within 54 m @ 2.1% Cu, 1.82 g/t Au, 3.87 g/t Ag (from 878 m depth down hole)2. The Ridge Gold Prospect shows a Porgera alkalic-style metal signature (Au-Te-As), which differs from that of resource porphyry (Cu-Au-Mo), and soils have returned up to 9.3 g/t Au. Work completed by the previous operator at the Kili Teke Project included extensive diamond drilling of approximately 36,000 m, primarily focused on the porphyry resource, at an estimated cost of US$20 million.

May River Project

The Skygate Cu-Au Trend, including the Skiraisa Gold Breccia Prospect ("Skiraisa") which lies within a 7 km long gold-copper mineralized trend just 15 km west of the giant Frieda River Cu-Au deposit, has been prioritized for exploration. Historical drilling intercepts include 109 m at 1.53 g/t Au from surface3 and 54 m at 1.83 g/t Au from 106 m depth3 within Skiraisa, with several holes ending in +1 g/t Au and up to 3.7 g/t Au mineralization. Another important prospect warranting follow-up in the field includes the Ufuo Prospect, a high-grade polymetallic massive sulfide system, from which historical drilling returned exceptional results including 19 m @11.47% Cu, 2.17 g/t Au from 13 m depth and 11 m @ 10.07% Cu, 2.03 g/t Au from 13 m depth.3

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information disclosed in this release has been reviewed and approved by Darren Holden, Ph.D., FAusIMM, a "Qualified Person" as defined under the Canadian Institute of Mining NI 43-101, 2014 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Dr. Holden is a Technical Advisor to the Company.

About South Pacific Metals Corp.

South Pacific Metals Corp. is an emerging gold-copper exploration company operating across Papua New Guinea's proven gold and copper production corridors. With an expansive 3,100 km land package and four transformative gold-copper projects contiguous with major producers K92 Mining, PanAust and neighbouring Barrick/Zijin, new leadership and experienced in-country teams, are prioritizing thoughtful and rigorous technical programs focused on boots-on-the-ground exploration to prioritize discovery across its portfolio projects: Osena, Anga, Kili Teke, and May River.

Immediately flanking K92's active drilling and gold producing operations to the northeast and southwest, SPMC's Osena and Anga Projects are located within the high-grade Kainantu Gold District - each having the potential to host similar-style lode-gold and porphyry copper-gold mineralization as that present within K92's tenements. Kili Teke is an advanced exploration project situated only 40 km from the world-class Porgera Gold Mine and hosts an existing Inferred Mineral Resource with multiple opportunities for expansion and further discovery. The May River Project is located adjacent to the world-renowned Frieda River copper-gold project, with historical drilling indicating potential for a significant, untapped-gold mineralized system. SPMC common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: SPMC), the OTCQB Marketplace (OTCQB: SPMEF) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE: 6J00).

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Information

Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainty affecting the business of SPMC. In making the forward-looking statements, SPMC has applied certain assumptions that are based on information available to the Company, including SPMC's strategic plan for the near and mid-term. There is 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. Forward-looking statements may involve various risks and uncertainty affecting the business of the Company. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified as such because of the context of the statements, including such words as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "plans", "may", "estimates", or words of a similar nature. Forward-looking statements or information in this news release relate to, among other things, future exploration or development programs, and any results therefrom and effect thereof. These forward-looking statements and information reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant operational, business, economic, regulatory or other unforeseen uncertainties and contingencies. These assumptions include, without limitation: success of the Company's projects, prices for metals remaining as estimated, currency exchange rates remaining as estimated, availability of funds for the Company's projects, capital, decommissioning and reclamation estimates, prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation), no labour-related disruptions, no unplanned delays or interruptions in scheduled construction and production, all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals are received in a timely manner, and the ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive. The Company cautions the reader that forward-looking statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Such factors include, without limitation: fluctuations in gold prices, fluctuations in prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation), fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar), operational risks and hazards inherent with the business of mineral exploration, inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks and hazards, the Company's ability to obtain all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in a timely manner, changes in laws, regulations and government practices, including environmental, export and import laws and regulations, legal restrictions relating to mineral exploration, increased competition in the mining industry for equipment and qualified personnel, the availability of additional capital, title matters and the additional risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR+ (available at www.sedarplus.ca). Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described, or intended. Investors are cautioned against undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's property.

1 For more information on the Kili Teke mineral resource, please refer to the independent National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report for the Kili Teke Cu-Au Project, Papua New Guinea, prepared by Graeme J Fleming, B. App. Sc., MAIG, and dated 18 November 2022. Mr. Fleming is a "qualified person" under NI 43-101 and is an independent consultant to the Company. Reference should be made to the full text of the Technical Report, which is available for review on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. For summary refer to SPMC news release October 1, 2024.

2 Refer to Harmony Gold news release dated April 13, 2016.

3 Historical assay data acquired by and reported on by previous operators has not been confirmed, with the exception of surface Cu-Au porphyry-style mineralization within the Skygate Cu-Au trend, hosted at the Mtn Gate prospect (see news release dated February 15, 2023). Extensive geophysical datasets over a vast expanse of the property have been acquired by the Company from previous operators, reviewed and interpreted. All historic data is determined to be reliable for the current interpretive use. Refer to SPMC news release October 30, 2024.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247699

SOURCE: South Pacific Metals Corp.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Military Metals Corp. (CSE: MILI) (OTCQB: MILIF) (FSE: QN90), an exploration company advancing the secure supply of strategic and critical minerals, notes the U.S. administration's decision to exclude a key group of minerals including antimony, cobalt, nickel, indium, gallium, bismuth, and fluorspar from the sweeping "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on April 2, 2025.

The executive order, issued under emergency authority to counter what the White House described as "large and persistent" trade deficits, introduces broad-based import duties starting at 10%, with significantly higher country-specific rates. However, Section 3(b) of the order draws a clear line in the sand clarifying that certain critical minerals are too essential to be imposed a tariff. This exemption status highlights the critical nature of antimony given its importance to multiple applications including renewable energy and the defence sector.

Military Metals' Focus: Antimony

Among the strategic materials excluded from the tariff list is antimony, a core focus of Military Metals Corp. Antimony is an essential element used in flame retardants, semiconductors, military-grade ammunition, solar panel glass and energy storage. Despite significant domestic demand, the U.S. currently produces no antimony domestically, relying entirely on imports, primarily from China, Russia, Tajikistan, and other foreign sources.

"It is an ideal time to be developing antimony projects. This exemption is a clear signal that the U.S. government recognizes the strategic value of antimony and other critical minerals," said Scott Eldridge, CEO of Military Metals Corp. "The exemption of these minerals from tariffs reinforces the urgent need to accelerate the development of secure, reliable supply chains. This decision highlights the strategic importance of reducing dependence on China. It's a clear signal that advancing domestic and allied sources is essential."

A Vote of Confidence in Western Critical Mineral Development

The continued exemption of antimony from U.S. tariffs underpins the urgency of securing stable, non-Chinese supply. For Military Metals Corp., it affirms our strategy of developing critical mineral assets in trusted jurisdictions. Military Metals Corp. maintains that the most effective way to insulate North America from foreign supply shocks is to build robust, transparent, and secure domestic supply chains for minerals like antimony.

About Military Metals Corp.

The Company is a British Columbia-based mineral exploration company that is primarily engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties with a focus on antimony.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD of DIRECTORS

This news release contains "forward-looking information". Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative 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. Forward-Looking information in this news release includes statements related to the completion of the Company's review of the technical disclosure related to the asset, as well as future plans for maximizing value, and assumptions related to the continuation of the global demand for tin and continuation of the value of tin. A variety of factors, including known and unknown risks, many of which are beyond our control, could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information in this news release. Additional risk factors can also be found in the Company's public filings under the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Forward-Looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release 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. 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. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances, management's estimates, or opinions should change, except as required by securities legislation. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein 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/247730

SOURCE: Military Metals Corp.
VICTORIA, Seychelles, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MEXC, a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, is celebrating its 7th anniversary with a global campaign featuring a 10,000,000 USDT prize pool. The milestone event invites users worldwide to compete, collect, and earn through a dynamic three-part celebration, marking not just MEXC's seven-year journey, but the start of its next chapter in innovation and community empowerment.

The MEXC 7th Anniversary Celebration Event will be divided into three exciting arenas: Team PNL Rate Competition, Collect, Assemble & Win, and a Solo Leaderboard Battle. Each arena features a generous prize pool, with a total prize pool of up to 10,000,000 USDT. Through various events and rule structures, MEXC offers opportunities for both individual participants and teams to showcase their trading skills and strategies, ensuring that users with diverse needs can earn substantial rewards.

Team Leader Registration Period : Apr 7, 2025, 10:00 (UTC) - Apr 13, 2025, 15:29 (UTC)

: Apr 7, 2025, 10:00 (UTC) - Apr 13, 2025, 15:29 (UTC) Team Member Registration Period : Apr 7, 2025, 10:00 (UTC) - May 4, 2025, 15:55 (UTC)

: Apr 7, 2025, 10:00 (UTC) - May 4, 2025, 15:55 (UTC) Competition Period : Apr 13, 2025, 16:00 (UTC) - May 4, 2025, 15:59 (UTC)

: Apr 13, 2025, 16:00 (UTC) - May 4, 2025, 15:59 (UTC) Extended Draw Period: May 4, 2025, 16:00 (UTC) - May 7, 2025, 15:59 (UTC)

1. Team PNL Rate Competition

Teams compete based on PNL rate, with the top 10 teams sharing 25% of the total prize pool. Leaders and high-performing members receive boosted rewards. Eligible participants must reach a minimum Futures trading volume of 200,000 USDT.

2. Collect, Assemble & Win

In this arena, which offers 40% of the prize pool, participants complete tasks to collect Spot, Futures, and DEX+ fragments and forge them into mystery boxes. Every box contains guaranteed random rewards of up to 7,777 USDT.

3. Solo Leaderboard Battle

Here, individual traders compete in two rankings: Daily Trading Volume and PNL. A combined 35% of the prize pool is distributed across the top traders, with a minimum entry volume of 20,000 USDT in USDT-M Futures.

Beyond the competitive formats, the event also includes exclusive anniversary easter eggs that elevate the overall experience. Both the registration and competition periods span 7 days, a symbolic nod to MEXC's seven-year milestone anniversary celebration. Long-time users can unlock up to 100 USDT in bonuses - a gesture of appreciation for their continued loyalty. Whether joining as a team or going solo, users can enjoy a more gamified, collaborative event structure that reflects MEXC's continuous push to innovate and engage its global community.

Since its establishment in 2018, MEXC has achieved a series of remarkable milestones: from a startup exchange to becoming the industry leader in liquidity, from the MX token reaching new all-time highs (ATH), to surpassing over 36 million users across more than 170 countries and regions. These achievements not only demonstrate MEXC's strength in the cryptocurrency trading field but also its determination for continuous innovation and market expansion.

As MEXC celebrates its 7th anniversary, the platform credits its progress to the trust and support of its users - a driving force behind every milestone. In an industry defined by constant change, that support has empowered MEXC to keep evolving, pushing boundaries, and building with long-term vision.

"Our journey has always been shaped by our users," said Tracy Jin, COO at MEXC. "Their belief in what we're building is what fuels us to keep delivering better products, smarter tools, and a stronger community experience. As we celebrate seven years of growth, this milestone reflects not just our past achievements but also the future we are building together. Every challenge and triumph highlights our commitment to innovation, resilience, and, above all, our global community. Moving forward, we will continue to expand our business and services, focusing on our core strengths: the widest selection of tokens, the fastest listing speed, low trading fees, and high liquidity to provide users with a seamless, low-barrier digital asset trading experience."

Now, as it looks ahead to the next chapter, MEXC remains focused on innovation, resilience, and deepening its connection with users across the globe.

For more details and to participate, visit here.

About MEXC

Founded in 2018, MEXC is committed to being "Your Easiest Way to Crypto." Serving over 36 million users across 170+ countries, MEXC is known for its broad selection of trending tokens, everyday airdrop opportunities, and low trading fees. Our user-friendly platform is designed to support both new traders and experienced investors, offering secure and efficient access to digital assets. MEXC prioritizes simplicity and innovation, making crypto trading more accessible and rewarding.

MEXC Official Website| X | Telegram |How to Sign Up on MEXC

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BERGEN, Norway, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Dataloy Systems, a trusted leader in innovative voyage management solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with Lloyd's List Intelligence, a global authority in maritime risk and compliance data. This powerful collaboration brings Lloyd's List Intelligence Risk and Compliance data into Dataloy's Voyage Management System (VMS) via Dataloy Widgets-enabling charterers, operators, and financiers to access seamless, embedded risk insights at the point of voyage decision-making.

For the first time, users are now able to assess vessel risk, compliance exposure, and operational anomalies directly within the Dataloy VMS platform. This integration addresses increasing regulatory demands and ensures efficient compliance practices without interrupting operational workflows.

Enhancing Maritime Risk Management at the Point of Decision

The maritime industry is navigating an era of heightened regulatory scrutiny, with sanctions enforcement becoming increasingly stringent. For charterers, evaluating vessel risk is no longer optional; it's essential. However, traditional methods of cross-referencing platforms and performing manual risk checks are inefficient and leave room for oversight.

The Dataloy-Lloyd's List Intelligence partnership eliminates these challenges by embedding risk intelligence directly into voyage management workflows through Dataloy Widgets, enabling users to access critical data at the point of decision-making.

"This partnership underscores our shared mission to simplify vessel compliance complexities in an increasingly regulated world," said Andrea Biasillo, CTO of Dataloy Systems. "By equipping charterers with real-time, intuitive risk intelligence, we are not just reacting to industry demands but anticipating them. Our Dataloy Widgets framework ensures that critical data is accessible precisely when and where it's needed."

"Risk intelligence should be accessible at the decision-making point," added Michael Dell, CEO of Lloyd's List Intelligence. "Our partnership with Dataloy demonstrates our unwavering commitment to empowering maritime professionals with the tools they need to safeguard global compliance while simplifying their day-to-day workflows. By reducing inefficiencies and improving situational awareness, we're playing a pivotal role in securing the lawful and efficient movement of trade."

Key Benefits of the Integration:

Assess Vessel Risk Ratings : Obtain insights into a vessel's compliance history, ownership transparency, and trading behaviour.

: Obtain insights into a vessel's compliance history, ownership transparency, and trading behaviour. Monitor AIS Anomalies : Detect AIS interruptions, manipulation, and unusual vessel movements.

: Detect AIS interruptions, manipulation, and unusual vessel movements. Evaluate Movement Risks : Identify ship-to-ship transfers and irregular trading patterns.

: Identify ship-to-ship transfers and irregular trading patterns. Verify Flag and Ownership Data : Access validated information to ensure regulatory compliance.

: Access validated information to ensure regulatory compliance. Streamline Risk Assessment : Conduct due diligence effortlessly within a single platform.

: Conduct due diligence effortlessly within a single platform. Enhance Operational Confidence: Make informed decisions supported by reliable and actionable data.

Driving Innovation in Maritime Compliance

The integration of Lloyd's List Intelligence's leading compliance data with Dataloy's flexible and powerful platform sets a new standard for embedded risk intelligence in maritime operations. This partnership is a response to the evolving needs of the industry-and a proactive move toward smarter, more secure shipping.

About Lloyd's List Intelligence

For over 290 years, Lloyd's List Intelligence has been the trusted independent partner for monitoring, assessing, and managing maritime risks. Leveraging unparalleled expertise and technology, we provide actionable insights and solutions that empower professionals across insurance, trade finance, shipping, and government sectors to make data-driven decisions with confidence.

To learn more about Lloyd's List Intelligence, visit www.lloydslistintelligence.com.

About Dataloy Systems

Dataloy Systems is a leading provider of innovative voyage management solutions, trusted by maritime professionals worldwide to navigate global shipping with confidence and precision. With decades of industry expertise, its adaptable Dataloy VMS platform streamlines planning, execution, and compliance, enabling data-driven decisions that enhance profitability and operational resilience in an ever-evolving landscape.

To learn more about Lloyd's List Intelligence, visit www.dataloy-systems.com.

Media Contact

Anumita Bhargava

Head of Marketing

Dataloy Systems

Email: abh@dataloy.com

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Enhancing Patient Care and Supporting Nurses: A New Virtual Nursing Program to Improve Healthcare Delivery

Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey's largest and most comprehensive health network, has partnered with Equum Medical, a leader in enterprise virtual care-enabled clinical services solutions, and AvaSure, a pioneering innovator in patient safety technology, to launch a groundbreaking Virtual Nursing Program. The program will enhance nursing care delivery by integrating cutting-edge technology with compassionate, high-quality care to enhance patient care, support nursing teams, and optimize health care by seamlessly integrating virtual nurses into the patient care environment across Hackensack Meridian Health's expansive network.

Addressing Healthcare's Most Pressing Challenges

By integrating Equum Medical's virtual nursing services, this initiative will provide real time clinical support and streamline workflows. Virtual nurses will assist with critical tasks such as admission support, mentoring and discharge support, allowing on-site clinicians to focus on high-acuity patient care.

"This partnership marks a pivotal moment in our organization's journey to transform health care through innovative, patient-centered technologies," said Hackensack Meridian Health Chief Executive Officer Robert C. Garrett, FACHE. "Virtual nursing is an opportunity to expand our care teams' impact and provide an elevated care experience for our patients."

Regina Foley, Ph.D., MBA, RN, Executive Vice President, Chief Nursing Executive and Chief Clinical Transformation and Integration Officer of Hackensack Meridian Health, said, "At Hackensack Meridian Health, we have always prioritized high-quality, compassionate care. By partnering with Equum Medical and AvaSure, we are enhancing support for our clinical teams and ensuring that patient care is more focused."

As a nurse who started at the bedside and progressed to hospital leadership, Kristen Lawton, MSN, Chief Nursing Officer of Equum Medical, recognizes the transformation in nursing care that's possible: "This program integrates the best of technology with the heart of nursing-human connection. Through virtual nursing, we can expand care delivery while ensuring nurses are empowered, supported, and able to focus on what matters most: patient care. We are proud to work alongside Hackensack Meridian Health and AvaSure to create a scalable, sustainable model for the future of nursing that blends technology with compassionate care, empowering nurses and extending our reach to better support patients and improve care delivery. It's a key milestone in advancing virtual care."

Equum Medical: Pioneering Virtual Nursing Solutions

Equum Medical is at the forefront of healthcare innovation through its Suite of Acute Care Services. Equum's expanding portfolio anticipates hospital urgency to respond organizationally to access and capacity constraints through multi-specialty and critical care and hospitalist physician services as well as virtual nursing, tele-sitting, telemetry services, establishing the company as a leader in leveraging telehealth to enhance care delivery and optimize operational efficiencies.

"As healthcare systems continue to face dynamic change, virtual care solutions have never been more crucial," said Corey Scurlock, M.D., MBA, Founder and CEO of Equum Medical. "At Equum, we are skilled in leading change, and this partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health and AvaSure represents a landmark achievement. Together, we are providing a scalable model that supports clinical teams and enhances the quality of care across hospitals. This partnership highlights the trusted relationships we've developed with our customers and our ability to meet the evolving needs of the healthcare industry."

AvaSure's Legacy in Patient Safety and Technology Integration

AvaSure, a national leader in patient safety and technology solutions, is renowned for its contributions to enhancing care through innovative technology and AI-driven solutions. By integrating AI into the virtual nursing program, AvaSure will empower virtual nurses with real-time decision support and predictive analytics to optimize patient outcomes. This technology will enable virtual nurses to assist bedside teams more effectively, ensuring that patient care is both responsive and comprehensive.

"AvaSure is thrilled to be part of this pioneering collaboration that merges our expertise in patient safety with cutting-edge technology," said Adam McMullin, CEO of AvaSure. "The integration of AI into virtual nursing represents a major leap forward in how we can support nursing teams by reducing workload burdens, improving the patient experience and meeting the demands of today's healthcare environment. Through our work with Hackensack Meridian Health and Equum Medical, we are supporting and empowering care teams to deliver safer, more efficient, and patient-centered care."

The Future of Virtual Care

This partnership sets a new standard for virtual nursing programs in health care, aiming to improve care team efficiency and address the rising demand for high-quality care. Through an in-depth and customized clinical design process, each side begins to develop relationships where the virtual nurse becomes an extension of the bedside team.

As part of the program's rollout, Hackensack Meridian Health will deploy the virtual nursing service across key units, including Med-Surg, with plans to expand enterprise-wide virtual care as the program scales.

About Hackensack Meridian Health

Hackensack Meridian Health is New Jersey's largest and most comprehensive health network, delivering the highest quality care across hospitals, outpatient services, and home health programs. With a commitment to advancing healthcare through innovative models, Hackensack Meridian Health is reshaping patient care delivery in New Jersey and beyond. For more information, visit https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/.

About Equum Medical

Equum Medical is a technology-enabled inpatient clinical services company recognized for its comprehensive acute care portfolio. Specializing in multi-specialty, tele-critical care, hospitalist, virtual nursing, tele-sitting, and telemetry services, Equum leverages advanced telehealth technologies to enhance clinical access and optimize healthcare delivery across hospitals in the United States. By addressing workforce challenges and improving operational efficiency, Equum Medical empowers healthcare systems to elevate patient care, optimize leadership, and achieve positive clinical, operational, and financial outcomes. For more information, visit www.equummedical.com.

About AvaSure

AvaSure is an intelligent virtual care platform that healthcare providers use to engage with patients, optimize staffing, and seamlessly blend remote and in-person care at scale. The platform deploys AI-powered virtual sitting and virtual nursing solutions, meets the highest enterprise IT standards, and drives measurable outcomes with support from care experts. AvaSure consistently delivers a 6x ROI and has been recognized by KLAS Research as the #1 solution for reducing the cost of care. With a team of 15% nurses, AvaSure is a trusted partner of 1,100+ hospitals with experience in over 5,000 deployments. To learn more, visit www.avasure.com.

Media Contact Information:

Karsten Russell-Wood

Chief Marketing & Experience Officer

410-409-7376

karsten.russell-wood@equummedical.com

www.equummedical.com

info@equummedical.com

SOURCE: Equum Medical
Grande Portage Resources Ltd. (TSXV:GPG)(OTCQB:GPTRF)(FSE:GPB) ("Grande Portage" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results from testwork of a sensor-based ore sorting system, utilizing a composite core sample from the New Amalga Mine Project located approximately 16 miles (25 km) northwest of the city of Juneau.

Summary of Results:

Unsorted Feed Sorter Reject Sorted Product Mass (kg) 64.8 kg 37.2 kg 27.6 kg % Mass Distribution 100% 57% 43% Gold Grade (g/t) 5.9 g/t 0.6 g/t 12.9 g/t % Gold Distribution 100% 6% 94%

Ian Klassen, President and CEO comments: "We are extremely pleased with the results of the testwork with the Steinert ore sorting equipment, which demonstrated excellent ability to identify and reject the unmineralized particles within the sample of New Amalga material, resulting in a 120% increase in gold grade and a 57% reduction in mass with very minimal gold loss."

Mr. Klassen continued: "These results are game changing for a host of reasons. Integrating ore sorting into the conceptual mine production plan significantly reduces the amount of mined rock requiring transportation and processing at a third-party facility, lowering per-ounce costs and also providing useful sorter-reject material for underground backfill, all without the use of chemical processing reagents. This further enhances the existing advantages of our proposed direct-ship mine configuration which utilizes offsite processing. As demonstrated by the test results, it may also create opportunities for inclusion of thinner veins into the mine plan - areas of the deposit which otherwise may not have been considered viable."

Background:

As previously announced, the Company's Conceptual Mining Plan envisions the future development of the New Amalga gold mine as a selective underground mining operation which would send ore off-site to be processed at a third-party facility, enabled by the project's location near tidewater and less than 4 miles (6.5km) from existing paved highway (Fig. 4). This results in a dramatically reduced mine site footprint due to the avoidance of chemical processing and tailings storage facilities.

The purpose of ore sorting is to quickly separate particles of waste dilution rock from the mined material, without the use of chemical reagents. The goal is to significantly reduce the volume of material that would be transported off-site to a third-party processing facility.

Grande Portage assembled a drill core composite which included both ore and waste material to reflect the dilution from wall rock (waste) which is inherent with underground blasting of narrow ore veins. The core composite was subjected to a sensor-based ore sorting test process at the facilities of Steinert US Inc, a leading global manufacturer of ore-sorting equipment.

Technical Description of Ore Sorting Test Process:

Sensor-based ore sorting can utilize a variety of measurements to determine whether a particle is ore or waste, including color, electromagnetic induction, laser, and x-ray analysis to assess elemental composition. The crushed rock is placed on a conveyor belt and then passed in front of the sensor, which rapidly analyzes the individual pieces of rock. When a piece of rock is identified as waste, a puff of compressed air redirects it to a "reject" bin. The remining pieces of rock are sent to the accepted "product" stockpile. (Fig. 2)

Fine particles too small to effectively sort are typically combined with the "product" stockpile, since higher-grade material tends to produce more fines during blasting and crushing due to the higher sulphide content and brittle nature of the quartz vein rock.

For the testwork, a series of reference samples were analyzed by the sorter machine, reflecting core material of various categories including "high grade ore", "mid grade ore", "low grade ore", and "waste". This allowed the sorter to learn the characteristics of each type of material in order to generate a sorting algorithm. Each of these reference samples were sourced from multiple drill holes at various locations within the deposit in order to capture any spatial variability in the rock characteristics.

After the sorting algorithm was developed, the composite sample was fed into the sorter machine (Fig. 3). This composite was sourced from multiple drill holes in various areas of the deposit distinct from the reference samples. It included approximately 55% wall rock and 45% vein rock, reflecting potential waste dilution within run-of-mine material to simulate mining an area of vein narrower than the minimum mechanized mining width.

In addition to the "product" material, three splits of "reject" material were generated from sorting the sample at progressively increasing level of selectivity, reflecting operation of the machine at various degrees of sorting criteria. All material was then assayed at SGS-Lakefield.

All three "reject" splits returned assays below the level which would be considered viable to transport and process at a third-party facility, and were therefore classified as waste, indicating that the highest level of sorter selectivity is appropriate. In total the sorter rejected 57% of the feed material, indicating excellent alignment with the approximately 55% wall rock content of the composite sample.

Additionally, all material was screened before assay to collect unsortable fines (<1cm), which were assayed separately. This confirmed that the fines contained a high degree of gold mineralization and are appropriate to combine with the "product" sample. A full table of results is shown below (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Table of Assay Results

Reject #1 Reject #2 Reject #3 Sorted Product Unsortable Fines Mass (kg) 12.2 13.1 11.9 22.6 5.0 Au (g/t) 0.48 1.09 0.30 12.9 13.1 Overall Waste Rejected Overall Product Mass (kg) 37.2 27.6 Au (g/t) 0.64 12.94

Fig. 2: Simplified Conceptual Diagram of an Ore Sorting System

Fig. 3: Image of Ore Sorting Testwork Being Conducted on New Amalga Samples

A short video of the testwork process is available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/K4XzoRbjCXA

Fig. 4: Location of New Amalga Mine Project

Kyle Mehalek, P.E.., is the QP within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure in this release. Mr. Mehalek is independent of Grande Portage within the meaning of NI 43-101.

About Grande Portage:

Grande Portage Resources Ltd. is a publicly traded mineral exploration company focused on advancing the New Amalga Mine project, the outgrowth of the Herbert Gold discovery situated approximately 25 km north of Juneau, Alaska. The Company holds a 100% interest in the New Amalga property. The New Amalga gold system is open to length and depth and is host to at least six main composite vein-fault structures that contain ribbon structure quartz-sulfide veins. The project lies prominently within the 160km long Juneau Gold Belt, which has produced over eight million ounces of gold.

The Company's updated NI#43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) reported at a base case mineral resources cut-off grade of 2.5 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) and consists of: an Indicated Resource of 1,438,500 ounces of gold at an average grade of 9.47 g/t Au (4,726,000 tonnes); and an Inferred Resource of 515,700 ounces of gold at an average grade of 8.85 g/t Au (1,813,000 tonnes), as well as an Indicated Resource of 891,600 ounces of silver at an average grade of 5.86 g/t Ag (4,726,000 tonnes); and an Inferred Resource of 390,600 ounces of silver at an average grade of 7.33 g/t silver (1,813,000 tonnes). The MRE was prepared by Dr. David R. Webb, Ph.D., P.Geol., P.Eng. (DRW Geological Consultants Ltd.) with an effective date of July 17, 2024.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Ian Klassen"

Ian M. Klassen

President & Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (604) 899-0106

Email: Ian@grandeportage.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties as described in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators. 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 disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Please note that under National Instrument 43-101, the Company is required to disclose that it has not based any production decision on NI 43-101-compliant reserve estimates, preliminary economic assessments, or feasibility studies, and historically production decisions made without such reports have increased uncertainty and higher technical and economic risks of failure. These risks include, among others, areas that are analyzed in more detail in a feasibility study or preliminary economic assessment, such as the application of economic analysis to mineral resources, more detailed metallurgical and other specialized studies in areas such as mining and recovery methods, market analysis, and environmental, social, and community impacts. Any decision to place the New Amalga Mine into operation at levels intended by management, expand a mine, make other production-related decisions, or otherwise carry out mining and processing operations would be largely based on internal non-public Company data, and on reports based on exploration and mining work by the Company and by geologists and engineers engaged by the Company.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICE PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED UNDER THE POLICIES OF THE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE

SOURCE: Grande Portage Resources Limited
Linear Minerals Corp. ("formerly FE Battery Metals Corp"(CSE:LINE)(OTCQB:LINMF)(WKN:A2J C89) ("Linear " or the "Company") is pleased to announce results of Drill Holes LC24-97 of its 2024 exploratory drill program at its Augustus Lithium Property in Quebec, Canada. The drill hole LC24-97 intercepted four lithium bearing zones of various grades and thicknesses, including an intercept of 1.00 percent (%) lithium oxide (Li2O) over 8.90 m at a drilled depth of 139 meters. Additionally, the hole returned anomalous values of other rare metals such as beryllium (Be), cesium (Cs), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta) and rubidium (Rb), along with anomalous nickel (Ni) and chromium (Cr) at various depths (see Tables 1 and 2 for details).

LC24-97 Highlights

The mineralization in four lithium zones is distributed in mixed lithologies of pegmatites with spodumene as main lithium mineral, as well as in the basement rocks with Holmquistite being the main lithium minerals. This hole was placed about 40 m step out from drill hole LC21-20 and was aimed at increasing the footprint of the main Augustus mineralized zone.

Four Lithium Intercepts: 3.35 m at 0.82% Li2O from 10.15 m depth, with 714 ppm Cs and 1,550 ppm Rb. 4.25 m at 1.19% Li2O from 89.4 m depth, with 215 ppm Be, 61 ppm Ga, 369 ppm Rb, 79 ppm Nb, and 179 ppm Ta. 10 m at 0.67% Li2O from 97.4 m drilled depth, with 451 ppm Be, 1,206 ppm Cs, 57 ppm Ga, 4,178 ppm Rb, 49 ppm Nb, and 72 ppm Ta. 8.90 m at 1% Li2O from 139 m depth, with 288 ppm Be, 560 ppm Cs, 88 ppm Ga, 3,947 ppm Rb, 73 ppm Nb, and 87 ppm Ta.

Nickel and Chromium mineralization: 1,620 ppm Ni and 0.26% Cr over 3 m from 85.85 m depth, 1,633 ppm Ni and 0.16% Cr over 3.75 m from 93.65 m depth.



Drill Program Details:

Drill hole LC23-97 was drilled at location 5367785.908N, 287015.498E, UTM NAD 1983 Zone 18N, at azimuth 28.31 degrees (true north) and dip -50 with a drilled depth of 161 m. The drill hole was placed at the main Augustus zone.

The drill program was designed based on historical and current exploration data. Drilling was conducted by Forage Pelletier Drilling of Chapais, Quebec, and core logging and sampling took place at a core shack in St-Dominique du Rosaire, approximately 50 km from the property. The 2024 drill program included 11 drill holes, totaling 1,558 metres. To date, a total of 100 drill holes have been completed on the Property, with a cumulative diamond drilling of 18,165.64 metres.

Drill core was sampled using a rock saw. For quality control and assurance (QA/QC), field duplicates, standards, and blanks were inserted at industry-standard intervals. Samples were bagged and tagged using best practices before delivered to AGAT Laboratories in Val-d'Or, QC, for analysis. AGAT performed Sodium Peroxide Fusion with ICP-OES and ICP-MS Finish (Code 201-378). AGAT is an independent, accredited laboratory with ISO certification for certain tests. All intersections reported are based on drilled width and have not been converted to the true width.

Qualified Person:

Afzaal Pirzada, P.Geo., an independent geological consultant of the Company, and a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects , has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release.

About the Augustus Lithium Property

The Company owns 100% of an interest in the Augustus Property located in Landrienne and Lacorne-Townships, Quebec, Canada. The Property covers a total area of over 15,000 hectares, approximately 40 kilometres northwest of the town of Val d'Or. To date, 100 diamond drill holes totaling 18,165.64 metres have been completed on the Property.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF

Linear Minerals Corp.

"Gurminder Sangha"

Gurminder Sangha

CEO & Director

For further information, please contact the Company at: info@linearminerals.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news 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 regarding the Company's exploration plans, potential mineralization, and future activities. While the Company believes the assumptions underlying such information are reasonable, actual results may vary, and undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.

Table 1: Drill Hole LC24-97 Assay Highlights

Lab Sample ID Field Sample ID Depth From (m) Depth To (m) Total Width (m) Analyte: Be Cr Cs Fe Ga Li Li2O Nb Ni Rb Ta Unit: ppm % ppm % ppm ppm % ppm ppm ppm ppm RDL: 20 0.002 0 0.01 0.5 10 5 10 2 0.5 6372332 1157604 10.15 11.15 1 Holmquistite <20 0.022 279 5.49 21.4 5,120 1.10 12 127 690 3.1 6372333 1157605 11.15 12.05 0.9 Holmquistite 22 0.016 249 4.45 20.4 5,330 1.15 9 93 598 1.1 6372334 1157606 12.05 12.6 0.55 Chlorite schist <20 0.065 1,730 7.47 24.8 1,920 0.41 13 368 3,260 6.1 6372335 1157607 12.6 13.5 0.9 Holmquistite 28 0.035 599 5.61 27.1 2,940 0.63 10 195 1,650 3.2 First Lithium Intercept 10.15 13.5 3.35 25 0 714 6 23 3,828 0.82 11 196 1,550 3 6372336 1157608 13.5 14.35 0.85 Pegmatite 329 0.003 17 0.58 48.8 110 0.02 63 10 108 82.9 6372337 1157609 14.35 15.35 1 Country Rock 62 0.221 1,190 6.68 21.7 1,500 0.32 14 635 2,170 11.6 6372339 1157611 34.15 35.15 1 Country Rock 162 0.193 283 5.4 30.9 448 0.10 23 1470 1,210 28.6 6372340 1157612 35.15 36.15 1 Pegmatite 421 0.006 96 0.78 63.5 1,380 0.30 90 27 684 108 6372341 1157613 36.15 37.15 1 Pegmatite 84 0.002 27 0.48 53 147 0.03 114 <10 307 162 6372342 1157614 37.15 37.85 0.7 Pegmatite 395 0.002 30 0.45 47.8 149 0.03 140 <10 160 192 6372343 1157615 37.85 38.85 1 Meta Basalt 22 0.216 272 5.67 26.6 589 0.13 11 1740 980 5.8 6372344 1157616 85.85 86.85 1 Country Rock <20 0.353 23 6.95 10.2 60 0.01 7 1800 48 <0.5 6372345 1157617 86.85 87.85 1 Country Rock 98 0.289 1,320 5.91 19.6 799 0.17 7 1540 3,380 21.5 6372346 1157618 87.85 88.85 1 Country Rock 29 0.169 1,360 5.22 26.4 1,140 0.25 6 1400 3,720 7.3 Anomalous Ni-Cr Zone 85.85 88.85 3 0.26 744 6 21 647 0.14 8 1620 2,032 12 6372347 1157619 88.85 89.4 0.55 Pegmatite 165 0.003 26 0.54 34.1 644 0.14 57 <10 360 77.2 6372349 1157621 89.4 90.5 1.1 Pegmatite 337 0.003 44 0.61 64.9 5,130 1.10 113 <10 368 301 6372350 1157622 90.5 91.5 1 Pegmatite 175 0.002 30 0.56 66.2 5,510 1.19 69 <10 412 143 6372351 1157623 91.5 92.55 1.05 Pegmatite 200 0.003 28 0.56 67.3 6,520 1.40 93 <10 271 187 6372352 1157624 92.55 93.65 1.1 Pegmatite 148 0.003 68 0.56 46.4 4,950 1.07 42 <10 426 84.6 Second Lithium Intercept 89.40 93.65 4.25 215 0.003 43 1 61 5,528 1.19 79 <10 369 179 6372353 1157625 93.65 94.75 1.1 Schist <20 0.18 284 6.03 20 239 0.05 9 1,750 741 23.1 6372354 1157626 94.75 95.75 1 Schist <20 0.167 12 6.19 9.7 55 0.01 6 1,760 10 <0.5 6372355 1157627 95.75 96.75 1 Schist <20 0.144 13 5.86 7.9 51 0.01 9 1,630 10 <0.5 6372356 1157628 96.75 97.40 0.65 Schist <20 0.144 4 5.32 6.8 54 0.01 <5 1,390 9 <0.5 Anomalous Ni-Cr Zone 93.65 97.40 3.75 0.16 1,633 6372357 1157629 97.40 98.10 0.7 Schist 102 0.101 2,530 4.39 42 1,630 0.35 17 914 6,990 50.7 6372359 1157631 98.10 99.00 0.9 Pegmatite 462 0.003 56 0.78 56.4 3,580 0.77 62 <10 472 97.6 6372360 1157632 99.00 100.00 1 Pegmatite 308 0.003 45 0.58 56 3,830 0.82 59 <10 589 122 6372361 1157633 100.00 100.40 0.4 Pegmatite 1270 0.003 96 0.4 56.9 616 0.13 39 <10 216 78 6372362 1157634 100.40 101.4 1 Schist 290 0.126 2,540 3.39 87.7 4,320 0.93 35 1480 9,530 48.9 6372363 1157635 101.40 102.4 1 Schist 317 0.115 3,330 4.08 76.4 4,270 0.92 25 986 9,930 27.1 6372364 1157636 103.80 104.8 1 Schist 156 0.096 1,840 4.56 50 3,550 0.76 26 948 7,610 28.4 6372365 1157637 104.80 105.6 0.8 Pegmatite 753 0.003 79 0.6 56.8 4,040 0.87 145 <10 383 142 6372366 1157638 105.60 106.4 0.8 Pegmatite 398 0.029 725 1.63 73.9 4,330 0.93 79 265 3,540 119 6372367 1157639 106.40 107.4 1 Schist <20 0.192 818 5 17.2 738 0.16 6 1610 2,520 3.9 Third Lithium Intercept 97.40 107.4 10 451 0.07 1,206 3 57 3,090 0.67 49 4,178 72 6372369 1157641 138.00 139 1 Schist <20 0.128 1,840 9.14 40.4 2,060 0.44 33 632 6,000 5.7 6372370 1157642 139.00 140.00 1 Schist 154 0.094 1,350 3.15 102 4,130 0.89 89 322 6,490 97.4 6372371 1157643 140.00 141.05 1.05 Schist 638 0.002 50 0.31 40.2 140 0.03 36 <10 117 43.2 6372372 1157644 141.05 142.1 1 Peg/schist 411 0.048 394 1.41 70.7 1,740 0.37 74 147 2,020 90.6 6372373 1157645 142.05 143 0.95 Peg/schist 262 0.026 227 0.92 77.5 3,820 0.82 80 70 1,740 108 6372374 1157646 143.00 143.9 0.85 Peg/schist <20 0.15 1,220 3.09 121 6,960 1.50 98 497 9,380 69 6372375 1157647 143.85 144.50 0.65 Peg/schist <20 0.058 803 1.89 125 5,450 1.17 96 203 7,450 127 6372376 1157648 144.50 145.20 0.7 Peg/schist 267 0.003 34 0.58 58.4 7,350 1.58 53 <10 176 110 6372377 1157649 145.20 145.95 0.75 Peg/schist 287 0.004 47 0.66 66 7,040 1.52 37 16 353 69.3 6372379 1157651 145.95 147.00 1.05 Peg/schist 21 0.11 982 2.56 129 6,280 1.35 98 511 7,760 90.6 6372380 1157652 147.00 147.90 0.9 Peg/schist 267 0.034 498 1.44 94.8 3,670 0.79 65 180 3,980 68.9 Fourth Lithium Intercept 139.00 147.90 8.90 288 0.05 560 2 88 4,658 1.00 73 243 3,947 87 6372381 1157653 147.90 149.00 1.1 Peg/schist 333 0.003 50 0.39 57.5 333 0.07 50 <10 440 80.2 6372382 1157654 149.00 150.10 1.1 Peg/schist 456 0.002 53 0.46 55.4 2,490 0.54 60 <10 353 94.5 6372383 1157655 150.10 151.10 1 Schist 76 0.225 2,560 5.78 71.5 2,470 0.53 17 912 7,950 17.5 6372384 1157656 151.10 152.10 1 Country Rock <20 0.273 1,050 5.94 23.3 865 0.19 <5 1320 3,250 <0.5

Note: A standard conversion factor of 2.15 was used to report Li to Li2O values

All intersections reported are based on drilled width and have not been converted to the true width.

SOURCE: Linear Minerals Corp.
87% of IT decision-makers are concerned about the impact of cyberwarfare on their organizations, a 34% increase on the last year

64% of IT decision-makers agree that AI is challenging the geopolitical status quo, allowing smaller nations and non-state actors to emerge as near-peer cyber threats

Armis, the cyber exposure management security company, is warning that AI-powered cyberwarfare attacks are now becoming a supercharged cyber weapon and urges organizations to immediately close the divide between current cybersecurity programs and future proactive preparation as threats will increase.

New data from Armis Labs' third annual global Cyberwarfare Report, Warfare Without Borders: AI's Role in The New Age of Cyberwarfare, shows the threat of AI has increased for organizations and governments worldwide in the past year. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of IT decision-makers globally express concern about nation-state actors using AI to develop more sophisticated and targeted cyberattacks.

"AI is enabling nation-state actors to stealthily evolve their tactics to commit acts of cyberwarfare at any given moment," said Nadir Izrael, CTO and Co-Founder of Armis. "At the same time, threats are emerging at overwhelming rates from smaller nations and non-state actors leveraging AI to elevate to near-peer cyber threats. It is imperative that cybersecurity leaders shift their programs left of boom, enabling them to stop cyberattacks capable of crippling their operations before there's any impact to their organization."

81% of IT leaders say moving to a proactive cybersecurity posture is a top goal for their organization in the year ahead, but nearly 3 in 5 (58%) organizations admit that they currently only respond to threats as they occur, or after the damage has already been done.

Market consolidation, complex regulatory landscapes and gaps in legacy security tool stacks have challenged organizations' abilities to stay ahead of threats. While many wish to implement AI-driven cybersecurity tools in a proactive defense move, half of IT decision-makers surveyed acknowledge their teams lack the necessary expertise to implement and manage the technology.

"Current industry dynamics create an appealing environment for malicious actors to intensify their efforts through automated AI offensive-driven technologies," said Michael Freeman, Head of Threat Intelligence at Armis. "Organizations that leverage proven AI security solutions will realize a greater impact in their ability to equip their teams with the resources and time they need to anticipate the tactics that could be used against them and harden their environments in response. Embracing a more proactive approach to threats has never been more important, and closing that divide between intention and ample preparation is within reach thanks to significant advancements in cyber exposure management."

Additional key global findings from this year's report include:

85% of IT decision-makers confirm that offensive techniques regularly bypass their security tools.

Only 53% of IT leaders believe that their government can defend its citizens and organizations against an act of cyberwarfare, while just 33% strongly agree that their own organization is prepared to handle a cyberwarfare attack and respond to related threats.

Across the globe, IT decision-makers consistently point to three dominant state-sponsored threats: Russia (73%), China (73%) and North Korea (40%).

72% of IT leaders believe that the cyber capabilities of nation-state actors have the potential to trigger a full-scale cyberwar, with devastating consequences for global critical infrastructure.

Three-quarters (75%) of IT decision-makers believe cyberwarfare attacks will increasingly target institutions representing free press and independent thought a sharp rise from last year's 42%.

The 2025 Armis Cyberwarfare Report is based on a study of over 1,800 global IT decision-makers and proprietary data from Armis Labs. Read the full report from Armis, including a comprehensive breakdown of the findings for each region of respondents and IT decision-makers from different verticals here.

Read the blog to dive deeper into these findings and the key learnings for organizations here.

Armis is hosting a webinar later this month to discuss these findings and how organizations can harden their environments against these growing threats. The webinar will take place on April 23rd for America Europe and April 24th for APAC. Register now.

About Armis

Armis, the cyber exposure management security company, protects the entire attack surface and manages the organization's cyber risk exposure in real time. In a rapidly evolving, perimeter-less world Armis ensures that organizations continuously see, protect and manage all critical assets from the ground to the cloud. Armis secures Fortune 100, 200 and 500 companies as well as national governments, state and local entities to help keep critical infrastructure, economies and society stay safe and secure 24/7. Armis is a privately held company headquartered in California.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408231673/en/

Contacts:

Media Contacts:

Rebecca Cradick

Senior Director, Global Communications

Armis

pr@armis.com
ExaGrid Achieves Record First Quarter Bookings and Revenue and 17th Consecutive Quarter of Free Cash Flow, EBITDA, and P&L Positive Operations

ExaGrid, the industry's only Tiered Backup Storage solution with Retention Time-Lock that includes a non-network-facing tier (creating a tiered air gap), delayed deletes and immutability for ransomware recovery, today announced that it had its strongest first quarter (Q1 2025) in the company's history, for the quarter ending March 31, 2025 with double digit growth over the same quarter a year ago.

The company was Free Cash Flow (FCF) positive, P&L positive, and EBITDA positive for its 17th consecutive quarter. ExaGrid added over 150 new customers in the quarter. ExaGrid continues to have 75% of its new logo customer bookings come from six- and seven-figure purchase orders. ExaGrid now has more than 4,600 active upper mid-market to large enterprise customers that use ExaGrid Tiered Backup Storage to store and protect their data.

ExaGrid is a financially strong company generating positive cash each quarter and having zero debt of any kind.

Highlights of Q1 2025:

Added 155 new customers

17 th consecutive quarter of Cash, EBITDA, and P&L positive operations

consecutive quarter of Cash, EBITDA, and P&L positive operations Shipped external key management for encrypted data at rest and support for NetBackup Flex appliances

Continued recognition in industry publications: Sam Elbeck of ExaGrid recognized in Prestigious 2025 CRN Channel Chiefs List Network Computing Magazine published an independent product review, for ExaGrid's S3 Object Storage for Veeam Andy Walsky of ExaGrid named to the 2025 CRN UK Channel Leaders List for EMEA Andy Walsky of ExaGrid recognized in the 2025 CRN Asia Channel Leaders List for APAC ExaGrid listed in the 2025 CRN Partner Program Guide



"We are pleased to announce that ExaGrid continues to profitably grow as it keeps us on our path to eventually becoming a billion-dollar company. We are the largest independent backup storage vendor and we're very healthy, continuing to drive top-line growth while maintaining positive EBITDA, P&L and Free Cash Flow," said Bill Andrews, President and CEO of ExaGrid. "We've hit well over 4,600 active customer installations worldwide. ExaGrid continues to have an over 70% competitive win rate replacing primary storage behind the backup application, as well as inline deduplication appliances such as Dell Data Domain and HPE StoreOnce.

"ExaGrid prides itself on having a product with an architecture built for backup storage that just works, is sized properly, is well-supported, and just gets the job done. We can back up these claims with our 95% net customer retention, NPS score of +81, and the fact that 94% of our customers have our Retention Time-Lock for Ransomware Recovery feature turned on, 92% of our customers report to our automated health reporting system, and 99% of our customers are on our yearly maintenance and support plan," said Andrews. In addition, we have more than 300 published customer success stories on our website, more than any other backup storage vendor in the world, as well as over 200 Gartner Peer Insights reviews.

About ExaGrid

ExaGrid provides Tiered Backup Storage with a unique disk-cache Landing Zone, long-term retention repository, scale-out architecture, and comprehensive security features. ExaGrid's Landing Zone provides for the fastest backups, restores, and instant VM recoveries. The Repository Tier offers the lowest cost for long-term retention. ExaGrid's scale-out architecture includes full appliances and ensures a fixed-length backup window as data grows, eliminating expensive forklift upgrades and planned product obsolescence. ExaGrid offers the only two-tiered backup storage approach with a non-network-facing tier (tiered air gap), delayed deletes, and immutable objects to recover from ransomware attacks.

ExaGrid has physical sales and pre-sales systems engineers in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Benelux, Brazil, Canada, Chile, CIS, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nordics, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and other regions.

Visit us at exagrid.com or connect with us on LinkedIn. See what our customers have to say about their own ExaGrid experiences and learn why they now spend significantly less time on backup storage in our customer success stories. ExaGrid is proud of our +81 NPS score!

ExaGrid is a registered trademark of ExaGrid Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408674016/en/

Contacts:

Media Contact:

Mary Domenichelli

ExaGrid

mdomenichelli@exagrid.com
Serving as a premium partner for pharmaceutical companies by contributing to the safety and productivity of their manufacturing process

To meet growing demand from the pharmaceutical industry, Asahi Kasei has established Asahi Kasei Life Science to operate its bioprocess businesses under a new organizational structure. Through this change, the company can offer the industry more agile and focused services, deeper innovation in bioprocess solutions, and stronger support in emerging modalities.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408291750/en/

Ken Shinomiya, President of Asahi Kasei Life Science

As part of the evolving pharmaceutical ecosystem, where multiple stakeholders are involved in drug development and manufacturing, Asahi Kasei's bioprocess-related business units have operated under Asahi Kasei Life Science since April 1st of this year. This includes virus removal filters Planova and Microfilters BioOptimal, its contract research organization (CRO) testing services performed by ViruSure of Austria, acquired in 2019, and Bionique Testing Laboratories (Bionique) of the U.S., acquired in 2021, as well as the U.S.-based biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), Bionova Scientific (Bionova), acquired in 2022.

Asahi Kasei Life Science covers a broad range of bioprocess products and services. Planova virus removal filters and equipment used in the manufacturing process of biotherapeutic products contribute to improved safety and productivity for antibody drugs, plasma derivatives, and nucleic acid drugs. Recently launched products such as Planova's FG1 and THESYS SCS and ACS Columns are already highly valued by customers.

In line with the strategic expansion of its Healthcare business sector, Asahi Kasei has expanded its production and service capabilities for its bioprocess-related business throughout the past years. In 2023, the company scaled its facility in Glenview, Illinois, to fuel innovation and meet growing market needs for fluid management equipment and virus filtration technology. In 2024, a new assembly plant for Planova was completed in Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan to further ensure stable supply in response to the growing global demand. Furthermore, Asahi Kasei decided to launch its plasmid DNA business under Bionova and establish a new pDNA facility in Texas. The business is expected to grow by providing solutions for new modalities such as cell and gene therapy. Asahi Kasei Life Science will continue proactive investment in these products to drive innovation and reinforce its leadership in the field.

"I am thrilled to announce the start of operations at Asahi Kasei Life Science, which began on April 1," said Ken Shinomiya, President of Asahi Kasei Life Science. "Focused on the field of life science centered on the bioprocess business, we aim to expand as part of the growing Healthcare sector business, the main growth driver of the Asahi Kasei Group. As a trusted premium partner, we are dedicated to shaping the future of the pharmaceutical industry-delivering innovative, reliable solutions that drive lasting impact and empower our clients to thrive."

To learn more about Asahi Kasei Life Science, visit [https://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/lifescience/]

About Asahi Kasei

The Asahi Kasei Group contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its foundation in 1922 with ammonia and cellulose fiber business, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through the proactive transformation of its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age. With more than 49,000 employees worldwide, the company contributes to a sustainable society by providing solutions to the world's challenges through its three business sectors of Material, Homes, and Healthcare. For more information, visit www.asahi-kasei.com.

Asahi Kasei is also dedicated to sustainability initiatives and is contributing to reaching a carbon neutral society by 2050. To learn more, visit https://www.asahi-kasei.com/sustainability/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408291750/en/

Contacts:

North America Contact:

Asahi Kasei America Inc.

Christian OKeefe

christian.okeefe@ak-america.com

Europe Contact:

Asahi Kasei Europe GmbH

Sebastian Schmidt

sebastian.schmidt@asahi-kasei.eu
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath assumes duties

Newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath assumed duties at the Ministry today (25 September 2024) at a simple ceremony. Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane and senior officials of the Ministry were present.

As a Member of Parliament, Minister Herath has represented the Gampaha District since 2000. He had also previously served as the Minister of Cultural Affairs & National Heritage.

Minister Herath holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Kelaniya.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

25 September 2024
iWallet Corporation (OTC PINK:IWAL), a company focused on security-oriented personal accessories, today announced the launch of its official website: www.iwal.tech. This platform offers existing shareholders and the public information about iWallet's next-generation products and company direction.

The newly designed website provides details on iWallet Corporation's development of the iWallet 2.0 and iPassport. These products incorporate materials like aerospace-grade titanium, biometric fingerprint authentication, Bluetooth tracking, and RFID protection, representing an advancement in security accessories.

In addition to product specifications and visual representations, the website offers insights into iWallet's business model, strategic plans, and overall company outlook. Shareholders and interested parties can also find updates on corporate news and other developments as the company progresses towards commercialization.

"The launch of our official website is an important step in establishing a visible presence for our brand and connecting with our shareholders and the broader public," said Steven Cabouli, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of iWallet Corporation. "This platform will serve as a communication hub, allowing us to share our progress and provide information regarding our product development and strategic business initiatives."

The website will be regularly updated with relevant materials, announcements, and milestones as iWallet works to deliver innovative and secure solutions for today's consumers.

About iWallet Corporation

iWallet Corporation (OTC PINK:IWAL) is dedicated to developing high-end, security-enhanced accessories that integrate design with technology. Its main products, the iWallet 2.0 and iPassport, are engineered to address the needs of consumers who prioritize protection, convenience, and quality in their everyday items.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements reflecting iWallet Corp.'s current expectations about future growth, operations, performance, prospects, and opportunities. Such statements are identified by words like "seek," "anticipate," "plan," "continue," "estimate," "may," "will," "project," "predict," "potential," "targeting," "intend," "could," "might," "should," and "believe," and are based on information currently available and reasonable assumptions. However, these statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Potential factors include, but are not limited to, market conditions, technological advancements, regulatory changes, financial performance, operational challenges, the success of strategic initiatives, securing adequate funding, potential legal proceedings, and reliance on key personnel. While management believes its assumptions are reasonable, there is no guarantee that these forward-looking statements will prove accurate. iWallet Corp. undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements unless required by applicable law. This cautionary statement should be considered in conjunction with all other disclosures provided by iWallet Corp., which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements.

Contact:

Steven Cabouli

Chief Executive Officer

ir@iwal.tech

(858) 610-2958

www.iwal.tech

SOURCE: iWallet Corp.
Trans Canada Gold Corp. (TSXV:TTG)(OTCQB:TTGXF) ("Trans Canada" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that the Company has now completed another month of steady oil production for the month of March 2025, with trucking and oil sales to Altex. The two Lloydminster wells have shipped 4,558 barrels (bbl) for the month of March and produced at an average daily rate of 147 bbl/d gross (28 bbl/d net) to the Company since being placed on production, representing its 18.75% working interest ownership in both wells. Daily production and shipping sales were slightly impaired due to limited access to railcars which resulted in seven lost shipping days via rail. Production shipping and sales commenced on the first newly drilled Multilateral well, a year ago on October 6th, 2023, and the new well was brought on production in mid-September 2024. Croverro Energy Ltd. is the Operator.

The Company has agreed to participate to drill a 7 leg Sparky multi-lateral well with Croverro as operator for the Joint Venture. The newly proposed 5-23 well will be situated adjacent to the Company's 12-14 Multilateral Well, near Lloydminster, Alberta. Trans Canada has a 18.75% interest in the new well. This third multi-lateral horizontal well is expected to be similar to the company's successful 7HZ LLOYD 12-14-49-01W4 well, that was drilled in 2023 and encountered 2486 meters of oil pay in the Sparky Oil Formation. The 12-14 Sparky well has now produced over 85,000 barrels of oil and continues to produce consistently month over month. The new 5-23 well is planned to open an estimated 3000 m of Sparky formation. The well is scheduled to be drilled this summer/ third quarter of 2025, subject to final permitting by the Alberta Energy Regulator.

The company has an 18.75% working interest in the Joint Venture with Croverro. The Area of Mutual Interest now contains 1040 acres with potential in the Sparky and GP zones. This third multi-lateral horizontal well is based on similar wells drilled in the Sparky Oil Formation using surrounding well control and recently processed seismic lines. Croverro Energy Ltd., under the terms of the agreement, is the Operator.

Drilling, completion and equipping costs are expected to be $1.9 million ($350,000 net to Trans Canada). The well costs are fully funded out of production cash flow thereby preventing any share dilution.

Croverro continues to proactively implemented a range of repair solutions on the newly drilled GP well blocked at the intermediate casing, including multiple Super Flushes on the well. Croverro remains optimistic about resuming operations and restoring lost production. and the repair plan is fully implemented this spring.

Commented Tim Coupland, "We are expecting additional oil production for 2025, and we are exploring additional exploration drilling opportunities in both central Canada and the United States. The Company will continue with its newly adopted multilateral well drilling strategy for 2025-2026, using new state of the art multilateral well drilling techniques in Alberta and Saskatchewan, to create growth."

ABOUT TRANS CANADA GOLD CORP. - OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION/REVENUE PRODUCING WELLS

The Company is a discovery focused Oil & Gas Resource Development and Mineral Exploration Company that is currently focused on developing and drilling its' production of conventional heavy oil exploration properties, increasing production capabilities, and increasing future oil production revenues through responsible exploration. The Company identifies, acquires and finances with its working interest partners, the ongoing development of oil and gas assets primarily situated in Alberta Canada. The Company has qualified Senior exploration management and Geological teams of professionals, seasoned in exploration production, field exploration and drilling. The Company currently works with Croverro Energy Ltd., who has demonstrated proficiency, expected of an experienced oil and gas technical team that has proven oil production, and revenue success with large multi-lateral wells currently under their supervision. The Company has the necessary manpower in place to develop its natural resource properties and manage its production properties. The Company is committed to minimizing risk through selective property acquisitions, and responsible exploration drilling, and maximizing long term petroleum and natural gas resource assets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Tim Coupland, President and CEO

Trans Canada Gold Corp.

Tel: (604) 681-3131

astar@telus.com

www.transcanadagold.com

or

Christian Timmins, Director

Trans Canada Gold Corp.

Tel: (403) 597-3410

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider, (as the term is defined in the Policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Trans Canada Gold Corp.
A Vote of Confidence in Company's High-Purity Graphite and Cutting-Edge Technology

Focus Graphite Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX.V:FMS)(OTCQB:FCSMF)(FSE:FKC) ("Focus" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce a proposed debt settlement agreement (the "Debt Settlement") with Dontech Global Inc. ("Dontech"), a consulting firm controlled by Joseph Doninger, Focus Graphite's Vice President of Research and Development.

Mr. Doninger, a globally recognized expert in graphite and carbon materials with over 50 years of industry experience, has elected to receive shares in lieu of cash compensation, underscoring his belief in the exceptional quality and strategic value of Focus's Lac Knife Project and the proprietary technology he has developed with the Company.

About Joseph Doninger

Joseph Doninger has spent a lifetime advancing graphite-based technologies and is considered one of the pioneers in the development of battery-grade graphite. With decades of hands-on experience, including senior roles at leading graphite and carbon companies worldwide, he brings unparalleled insight and technical expertise. At Focus, he has led the research and development of its patent pending (US Patent No. 18/278,659) silicon-enhanced spheroidized graphite, an innovative material designed to significantly boost lithium-ion battery performance.

Why Shares Over Salary? A Powerful Endorsement

Under the agreement, Dontech Global Inc. will convert CAD$107,399.63 (US$74,707.59) in services invoiced to Focus into 1,073,996 common shares at a deemed price of $0.10 per share, pending approval from the TSX Venture Exchange. This move reflects not just financial alignment, but an unwavering commitment to the Company's mission and materials.

"I've worked with carbon and graphite materials for more than 50 years," said Mr. Doninger. "When I came across Focus's Lac Knife graphite, I immediately knew this was the best natural flake graphite I had ever seen. That's why I chose to develop my silicon-enhanced spheroidized graphite technology with Focus - because it starts with superior raw material. Combine that with the Company's new direction of integrating innovative battery technologies and the recent exemption of Canadian natural flake graphite from U.S. tariffs - a strategic advantage given the U.S. reliance on China - and it was a clear choice for me. Taking shares instead of salary is simply a reflection of my confidence in Focus Graphite's future."

A Win-Win for Innovation and Execution

Focus Graphite views this transaction as a strategic advantage. By converting debt to equity, the Company retains more capital to advance its breakthrough technologies and accelerate project development without increasing financial strain.

"This kind of commitment speaks volumes," said Dean Hanisch, CEO of Focus Graphite. "Mr. Doninger and I are very much aligned in our belief that success-based compensation is far more powerful than simply drawing a salary. We both believe that Focus Graphite is uniquely positioned in North America to lead in the high-purity graphite space, which is critical to national security and next-gen battery technologies. With the U.S. confirming no tariffs on Canadian natural flake graphite, it's not a question of 'if' - it's 'when.' We're right where we need to be."

This agreement highlights the strong belief within the Company's leadership that Focus Graphite's advanced stage Lac Knife deposit - one of the world's highest-purity and grade natural flake graphite projects - combined with its open-platform battery anode technology, is uniquely positioned to meet North America's rising demand for secure, high-performance graphite materials.

About Focus Graphite Inc.

Focus Graphite Advanced Materials is redefining the future of critical minerals with two 100% owned world-class graphite projects and cutting-edge battery technology. Our flagship Lac Knife project stands as one of the most advanced high-purity graphite deposits in North America, with a fully completed feasibility study. Lac Knife is set to become a key supplier for the battery, defense, and advanced materials industries.

Our Lac Tetepisca project further strengthens our portfolio, with the potential to be one of the largest and highest-grade and purity graphite deposits in North America.

At Focus, we go beyond mining - we are pioneering environmentally sustainable processing solutions and cutting-edge battery technologies, including our patent pending proprietary silicone-enhanced spheroidized graphite technology, designed to enhance battery performance and efficiency. Our commitment to innovation ensures a chemical-free, eco-friendly supply chain from mine to market.

Collaboration is at the core of our vision. We actively partner with industry leaders, research institutions, and government agencies to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation graphite materials. As a North American company, we are dedicated to securing a resilient, locally sourced supply of critical minerals - reducing dependence on foreign-controlled markets and driving the transition to a sustainable future.

For more information on Focus Graphite Inc. please visit http://www.focusgraphite.com

Investors Contact:

Dean Hanisch

CEO, Focus Graphite Inc.

dhanisch@focusgraphite.com

Jason Latkowcer, MBA

VP Corporate Development

jlatkowcer@focusgraphite.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could," "intend," "expect," "believe," "will," "projected," "estimated," and similar expressions, as well as statements relating to matters that are not historical facts, are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current beliefs or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks related to market conditions, regulatory approvals, changes in economic conditions, the ability to raise sufficient funds on acceptable terms or at all, operational risks associated with mineral exploration and development, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's public disclosure documents available under its profile on SEDAR+.

The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties, and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Focus Graphite, Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Nova Pacific Metals Corp. (CSE: NVPC) (OTCQB: NVPCF) (FSE: YQ10) (WKN: A40GFH) (the "Company", or "Nova Pacific") is pleased to announce that the British Columbia Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals has issued an exploration drilling permit for the Company's flagship Lara Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) Project on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

The permit authorizes Nova Pacific to proceed with its planned 10,000-meter diamond drill program comprising 50 drill holes, which was initially announced in July 2024. The drill program is designed to provide both confirmation of the historical Lara VMS mineral resource estimate (2008, Table 1), as well as to provide infill drilling data necessary to complete an updated and current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE). The Company estimates that the MRE may be completed by the end of September.

The Lara deposit is classied as Kuroko-type VMS, comprising volcanic-hosted, stratiform sulphide mineralization in three zones (collectively known as the Coronation Trend) at varying stratigraphic intervals over a strike length of approximately1.5 kilometers. The Coronation Trend is one of several mineralized zones hosted in a highly prospective belt of uplifted felsic volcanic rocks that form the core of the Lara Project.

HISTORICAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE 1% ZINC BLOCK CUT-OFF Category Tonnes Zinc (%) Silver (g/t) Copper (%) Lead (%) Gold (g/t) Indicated 1,146,700 3.01 32.97 1.05 0.58 1.97 Inferred 669,600 2.26 32.99 0.9 0.44 1.9











HISTORICAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE 2% ZINC BLOCK CUT-OFF



Category Tonnes Zinc (%) Silver (g/t) Copper (%) Lead (%) Gold (g/t) Indicated 428,600 5.65 47.04 2.25 1.18 2.39 Inferred 207,900 3.99 37.57 1.73 0.84 2.3



Table 1. Historical, Non-Current, Mineral Resource Summary (Kelso & Wetherup, 2008)

J. Malcolm Bell, Nova Pacific's CEO, commented, "Our new drill permit achieves a significant milestone in the revitalization of the Lara Project. Current metal prices have substantially increased the potential value of the Lara deposit, the result of 50,000 m of historical drilling and 650 m of preproduction underground development at an expense of upwards of $30 million in today's dollars. Importantly, the project is poised for rapid advancement given the recently completed flow-through financing of $2,640,540.

In less than three weeks we will start drilling with the goal of updating and potentially expanding the historical Mineral Resource Estimate (Table 1). This permit is the culmination of diligent preparation by Ministry authorities, and we are grateful for their support throughout this process. Tripoint Geological Services Ltd. of Victoria, BC, has been contracted to manage the drill program on behalf of the Company. Both Mineit Consulting Ltd. and Greg Moser have been instrumental in evaluating historical drill profiles and with preparation of the overall drill plan for the upcoming program, and we wish to thank them for their exceptional work."

Qualified Person

David Nelles, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and verified the scientific and technical data contained in this news release.

Rights of Indigenous Communities Statement

Nova Pacific operates on the Traditional, Ancestral and Unceded Territory of the Stz'uminus and Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group, a politically unified group that represents six Hul'qumi'num-speaking First Nations: Cowichan, Penelakut, Lyackson, Halalt, and Lake Cowichan.

The Company's entire team is committed to establishing lasting relationships with local communities by fostering inclusion and contributing to a shared prosperity.

About Nova Pacific

Nova Pacific is a Canadian exploration and development company focused on the Lara Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) Project on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This brownfields development project boasts a significant historic resource rich in critical and precious metals situated in a prime location with excellent infrastructure. Nova Pacific's forward-looking strategy includes confirmation and infill drilling, completion of an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) and preparation of a Pre-Feasibility Study if and as needed. The Company is committed to creating value for its shareholders while supporting environmental responsibility and strong community relationships.

For additional information please visit: www.novapacificmetals.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors

J. Malcolm Bell

Chief Executive Officer, Director

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the matters referenced herein and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's exploration plans. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forward-looking information involves 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 information. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, changes to the Company's strategic growth plans, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Company's expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247720

SOURCE: Nova Pacific Metals Corp.
The global chocolate brand and its founder MrBeast believes ethical sourcing is a critical step in the quest to end child labor in West Africa

CHICAGO, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Feastables now sources 100 percent of its cocoa from Fairtrade certified cooperatives. The certification ensures Feastables chocolate is produced in line with the rigorous economic, social, and environment sustainability standards the Fairtrade label is known for, to help protect the livelihoods of cocoa farmers, farm workers, and their families.

Commenting on the nearly six million people who rely on cocoa farming to make a living at often less than $1 (USD) per day, Jimmy Donaldson - better known as MrBeast - and Founder of Feastables said, "The status-quo of the big chocolate sector means nearly half of all children living in cocoa communities in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire are engaged in illegal child labor. We created Feastables, and we're going to use the incredible network of our fans, to change the way business is done in cacao-growing regions around the world. I know we can create chocolate that people can afford and that also pays farmers fairly, so kids don't have to work."

"Cocoa farmer livelihoods are on the line. Despite chocolate being a hundred-billion-dollar industry, most of the people growing cacao, the key ingredient in chocolate, live in poverty. Farmers, especially in West Africa, continue to be excluded from their fair share of the profits and are struggling to adapt to the devastating impacts of climate change, crop disease, aging trees, and persistent price volatility," said Amanda Archila, Executive Director, Fairtrade America.

She continued to say, "By partnering with Fairtrade, Feastables is leading the industry by example. Feastables is taking their commitment a step further by paying the Fairtrade Living Income Reference Price, which will help farmers invest in sustainable production and support a fair living for themselves and their families so that cocoa growing communities can thrive."

For Feastables, the breadth and depth of Fairtrade's impact and brand recognition throughout the global market means customers from across different regions will understand the impact of the certification. For example, globally, 71 percent of shoppers recognize the Fairtrade Mark and, critically, 86 percent trust it. Also, Fairtrade works with over two million farmers and workers in 70 countries around the world.

"It is an absolute honor for Feastables to be working with Fairtrade and for all of our chocolate packaging to include the esteemed Fairtrade certification," says Alex Zigliara, CEO, Feastables. "Simply put - Fairtrade is the most relied upon standard and source for those looking to buy products that are ethically and sustainably sourced. We know this is meaningful for our customers and helps us to achieve our central purpose of getting children off working farms and into schools."

Feastables' Ethical Sourcing Strategy

Aligning with Fairtrade Standards is another significant step within Feastables' larger commitment to transform the West African cocoa sector and get 1,500,000 kids out of child labor and into local schools.

As part of its Ethical Sourcing Strategy, Feastables is taking immediate and significant action in three ways:

Sourcing 100% Fairtrade certified cocoa

Fairtrade certified cocoa Paying farmers and their families the Living Income Reference Price always because stopping child labor starts with addressing its root cause - poverty

because stopping child labor starts with addressing its root cause - poverty Working exclusively with farms that actively implement child labor monitoring and remediation systems (CLMRS) to identify, address, and prevent child labor

In addition, Feastables is investing in local communities, in children's education and their wellbeing, and ensuring farmers have access to skilled and mechanized labor to successfully operate their farms, without child labor.

Regional Packaging Rollout: Feastables' fans can expect to see Fairtrade certified packaging start to rollout in stores by Summer 2025. Consumers seeking certified products are asked to check the packaging first before purchasing.

About Fairtrade America

Fairtrade America works to rebalance trade, making it a system rooted in partnership and mutual respect rather than exploitation. It's about businesses, shoppers, farmers and workers all working together so we can all experience the benefits of trade. Fairtrade America is the U.S. branch of Fairtrade International, the original and global leader in fair trade certification with more than 30 years of experience working for fair trading practices in more than 30 countries across the globe. A non-profit 501(c)3 organization, Fairtrade America is part of the world's largest and most recognized fair trade certification program -part of a global movement for change. Learn more at fairtradeamerica.org, and by connecting with Fairtrade America on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Feastables

Feastables is a global snacking company founded in 2022, by Jimmy Donaldson (better known as MrBeast) with a clear purpose of becoming a force for good. By working with farmers and their families in cocoa growing communities throughout West Africa, Feastables aims to revolutionize the chocolate snacking industry by helping as many kids as possible to get off working farms where they participate in hard labor work and into local schools. Knowing this is not an easy goal to achieve and will not happen overnight, Feastables is partnering with other leaders to change the West African cocoa bean supply chain. Part of the MrBeast family, Feastables is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. www.feastables.com

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Uzbekistan Airways is the latest airline to choose SES's network, while Thai Airways plans to integrate future B787 aircraft to SES's open architecture and multi-orbit Ka-band platform.

SES will be providing its SES Open Orbits global inflight connectivity network to upgrade the airline fleets of Uzbekistan Airways and Thai Airways' future B787 aircraft. Through its participating partners, the SES Open Orbits network offers seamless connectivity across the skies, provides internet speeds up to 300 Mbps and is available on all production airframes, including line-fit offer and retrofit solutions tailored to the airline's requirements.

Uzbekistan Airways is set to integrate the SES Open Orbits network into its in-flight connectivity (IFC) services on its upcoming A321neo aircraft from 2026. The Central Asian airline will introduce high-speed internet to connect passengers throughout their journey, including long-haul routes.

Last October, Thai Airways became the first Southeast Asian airline to adopt the SES Open Orbits network for its A321NX and B777 aircraft, with deliveries beginning in H2 2025. The national carrier of Thailand will also integrate the SES Open Orbits network on its future B787 aircraft, which will be line-fitted with delivery scheduled in 2026.

"The promise of consistent and reliable IFC around the world is truly appealing to airlines. We have seen a very good reaction in the market to our initial offering of MEO-GEO services, and we are very excited to see more airlines embrace our value proposition of a consistent and resilient service globally, a customised passenger experience and the ability to scale up quickly and efficiently," said Andrew Ruszkowski, Global Head of Aviation of SES.

These new IFC services will be delivered through one of the SES Open Orbits connectivity service partners, Neo Space Group (NSG). SES Open Orbits is available via Airbus' HBCplus Programme and on Boeing aircraft through Safran Passenger Innovations AeroConnect terminals.

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About SES

SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on Earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless data connectivity services around the world. As a provider of global content and connectivity solutions, SES owns and operates a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) fleet and medium earth orbit (MEO) constellation of satellites, offering a combination of global coverage and high-performance services. By using its intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES delivers high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners around the world. The company is headquartered in Luxembourg and listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at www.ses.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408344284/en/

Contacts:

For further information please contact:

Suzanne Ong

Communications

Tel. +352 710 725 500

suzanne.ong@ses.com
BOSTON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Temu has been named to USA TODAY's "America's Best Customer Service 2025" list, which recognizes 600 companies that "excel in delivering the best customer experience." The ranking-developed by USA TODAY in partnership with research firm Plant-A Insights Group-evaluates companies across 44 industries, including service providers, brick-and-mortar retailers, and online shops, based on large-scale consumer surveys and independently verified performance data.

Temu, which launched in the U.S. in September 2022, is the youngest company recognized in the "Mass Merchant and Variety" category for online general merchandise shops.

The ranking is based on an extensive survey of more than 67,000 U.S. consumers, who contributed over 687,000 evaluations of companies they interacted with over the past three years. Customers assessed businesses on seven key dimensions:

Friendliness and Appreciation of the Customers

Professional Competence

Customer Service

Availability and Accessibility

Solution Orientation

Solution Speed

Transparency and Reliability

Companies involved in data protection issues, major recalls, lawsuits, or ethical concerns in the past two years were excluded under the methodology.

Temu is dedicated to delivering affordable, accessible products alongside responsive service. The company offers 24/7 customer support and a 90-day Buyer Protection Program.

In 2024, Temu expanded its platform to include U.S.-based sellers. This shift supports faster delivery for consumers and provides small and independent businesses with additional channels to reach new customers.

Temu was also named to USA TODAY's "America's Best Online Stores 2025" list for delivering exceptional shopping experiences. It was the youngest company recognized in the "Mass Merchant and Variety" category.

About Temu:

Temu is a global e-commerce company that connects consumers with millions of business partners, manufacturers, and brands with a mission to enable them to live a better life. Temu is committed to offering affordable products to enable consumers and business partners to realize their dreams in an inclusive environment. Temu began operations in the United States in September 2022 and is now available in more than 90 markets worldwide.

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Big ideas and bolder debates, headlined by Dr. Ruha Benjamin and other transformative thinkers

Poble Espanyol Museum, Barcelona, Spain, November 7 - 9

Early bird badge sales are open at a discounted 20% rate until June 1

BARCELONA, Spain, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Mozilla Festival returns to its original home in Barcelona, Spain, gathering innovators and changemakers around the theme of Unlearning - breaking free from outdated systems, questioning biases in technology, and driving a more inclusive and equitable digital future.

Unlearning is an essential theme for the moment, in the technology ecosystem and beyond. Default settings, both in the design of technology and our social beliefs, can limit our perception of what is achievable. The default settings surrounding our daily lives can be easy to ignore. We often trade privacy for low prices or convenience. We forget to revisit a default subscription, or a life path set on a conveyor belt by conventions.

Mozilla Festival 2025 will challenge these normalised standards and invite participants to discover and to rewrite them in the field of emerging technologies from messaging apps to creative media platforms.

The Festival is Mozilla's global convening for bold ideas, impactful conversations, and diverse communities. It has showcased changemakers and disruptors including Internet pioneer Tim Berners-Lee, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, and data illustrator Mona Chalabi, and been a critical gathering point for digital rights activists. After post-COVID years of virtual and rotating regional events, this year it will return to its live, large scale format at Poble Espanyol Museum, Barcelona, Spain, November 7 - 9th.

The Festival will feature Dr. Ruha Benjamin, award-winning author of Imagination: A Manifesto, professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and a leader on the relationship between innovation and inequity. Benjamin will be in conversation with Nabiha Syed, Mozilla Foundation Executive Director, examining how unlearning is a radical act of exploring new possibilities.

Their conversation will challenge the biases baked into our digital worlds and the myths that shape our laws and institutions. Together, they will question the stories we inherit - and how breaking free from set narratives can unlock new ways of thinking, building, and belonging. What have we been taught about technology, governance, and justice that no longer serves us, and what futures become possible when we build and connect differently?

"This is the moment to ignite and support unconventional ideas that connect the dots between what's aspirational and attainable," says Nabiha Syed, Mozilla Foundation Executive Director. She adds, "By blending creativity with ethical thinking, we can build technology that genuinely serves people and enables them to meaningfully contribute to a competitive and diverse tech ecosystem. Mozilla is betting on people to control their technological futures. We're excited to welcome technologists, artists, activists, and innovators to join us in Barcelona as we partner with the local community to create a better digital future."

Mozilla's mission is to imagine, then deliver a radically different future for how technology impacts our lives. Registration is now open with early bird badges available at a 20% discount price until June 1.

Festival Badge: 319 (Standard: 399)

Non-Profit Badge: 239 (Standard: 299)

Academia & Student Badge: 120 (Standard: 150)

Click here to register and sign up here for the latest updates on Mozilla Festival schedule, speakers, and sessions, leading up to the event.

Contact:

Tracy Kariuki

tracy@mozillafoundation.org

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Today the University of Edinburgh and Cerebras Systems announced the successful installation and service start of a groundbreaking Cerebras CS-3 system cluster at the University. Operated by EPCC, the supercomputing centre at the University, and part of the Edinburgh International Data Facility, the cluster consists of four CS-3s using Cerebras's latest 3rd generation of Wafer Scale Engine processors the world's largest commercially available AI chip ever built.

The new service, which builds on experience EPCC gained with the Cerebras CS-1 and CS-2 systems, is a key part of the AI service provided to the Edinburgh and SE Scotland City Region as part of the Data Driven Innovation programme, which has been led by the University since 2018.

"AI is transforming all of our lives, and this investment will help universities, public sector organisations, and companies large and small to train and use AI models at speeds and with ease no other AI technologies can match," said Professor Mark Parsons, EPCC Director. "When we started our collaboration with Cerebras in 2020, the company's technology focused on training AI models at scale. With the Cerebras CS-3 systems, we can now take advantage of Cerebras AI Inference the company's record-breaking inference technology. EPCC has always worked at the leading edge of supercomputing and our investment in this system brings a uniquely powerful AI resource to our region."

With the new Cerebras CS-3 cluster, EPCC is now able to train models ranging from 240 billion to 1 trillion parameters. It can fine-tune 70 billion parameter model in a day. The ease of use of Cerebras's technology allows for a more democratic approach to AI models scientists and ML practitioners from other disciplines, not only computer science, can start training and using models with no need for complex parallel programming. The ability of Cerebras's technology to scale linearly allows for unmatched innovation, iteration, and productivity for the EPCC team.

Additionally, Cerebras CS-3s deliver industry-leading AI inference, enabling EPCC to run state-of-the-art models at speeds unachievable with GPUs. Cerebras Inference runs the industry's most popular models at more than 2,000 tokens/s up to 70x faster than leading GPU solutions.

"We are honored to expand our multi-year partnership with EPCC with this new CS-3 cluster, which will be a major leap forward in advancing AI research and capabilities in the UK," said Andrew Feldman, CEO and co-founder, Cerebras. "EPCC has done pioneering work in enabling the next generation of AI breakthroughs. With this latest installation in the European continent, we're excited to be part of such an important initiative that will enable researchers and institutions to drive innovation and shape the future of AI and HPC at a scale previously thought impossible."

The University of Edinburgh has been a world-leader in AI for the past 60 years. The CS-2 systems at EPCC have already enabled researchers at the University to develop highly optimised wafer-scale inference software for Large Language Models (LLMs), to explore their use for biomedical AI, and for local company, smartR AI to explore fine-tuning of LLMs on the system. The EPCC systems have also helped researchers in India to develop an LLM for materials science and, in Switzerland, to adapt LLMs to better support Swiss German dialects. With 3.6 million AI compute cores, the CS-3s will also enable EPCC to continue its AI research into parallelism and energy efficiency.

About EPCC

EPCC is the supercomputing centre at the University of Edinburgh. Since 1990 it has pioneered the use of novel and high-performance computing technologies for the benefit of academia, industry and commerce. With 150 staff and 120 postgraduate students, it is one of the largest supercomputing centres in Europe. It focuses on traditional supercomputing, data science and AI operating services and undertaking collaborative R&D in all these areas. It has run national supercomputing services for the UK since 1994. Since 2018, it has been at the heart the Data Driven Innovation programme of the Edinburgh SE Scotland City Region Deal, funded jointly by the UK and Scottish Governments. This highly successful economic growth programme has already met many of its lifetime targets at half-way point. For further information, visit www.epcc.ed.ac.uk, www.ed.ac.uk and https://ddi.ac.uk.

About Cerebras

Cerebras Systems is a team of pioneering computer architects, computer scientists, deep learning researchers, and engineers of all types. We have come together to accelerate generative AI by building from the ground up a new class of AI supercomputer. Our flagship product, the CS-3 system, is powered by the world's largest and fastest commercially available AI processor, our Wafer-Scale Engine-3. CS-3s are quickly and easily clustered together to make the largest AI supercomputers in the world, and make placing models on the supercomputers dead simple by avoiding the complexity of distributed computing. Cerebras Inference delivers breakthrough inference speeds, empowering customers to create cutting-edge AI applications. Leading corporations, research institutions, and governments use Cerebras solutions for the development of pathbreaking proprietary models, and to train open-source models with millions of downloads. Cerebras solutions are available through the Cerebras Cloud and on premises. For further information, visit cerebras.ai or follow us on LinkedIn or X.

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Awards recognize Veolia for sustainability initiatives at the company's hazardous waste treatment plant in Gum Springs, Arkansas

Recognition focused on a 5-megawatt solar panel installation which will supply electricity to a new thermal incinerator, set to open later this year

Over the next 25 years, the solar panels and other sustainability innovations at the facility will lead to a 90% reduction in Scope two carbon emissions from electricity consumption

Veolia, the largest provider of environmental services in the world, recently received industry awards for a series of sustainability initiatives at the company's hazardous waste treatment facility in Gum Springs, Arkansas particularly the installation of a solar panel installation covering over 30 acres.

Over the next 25 years, the solar panels and other sustainability innovations at the facility will lead to a 90% reduction in Scope two carbon emissions from electricity consumption compared to similar facilities consuming 100% of their electricity from the current Arkansas grid. This system for locally based energy decarbonization is a key booster for Veolia's global GreenUp strategy for growth and innovation, leading to greater sustainability for customers and communities.

The work being done by Veolia at Gum Springs was singled out by two leading environmental publications Energy Environment Leader and Climate Change Business Journal in making the hazardous waste industry more environmentally sustainable and operationally efficient.

Energy Environment Leader recognized the Veolia Gum Springs initiatives with a Project of the Year Award for 2024. "Every year, our judges look to recognize the businesses that are truly moving the needle and striving for sustainability and operational efficiency," said Kay Harrison, Vice President and head of the E+E Leader Awards program , adding that the Veolia initiatives reflect "the kind of forward-thinking strategies and technologies that companies need to stay ahead in an increasingly complex energy and environmental landscape."

recognized the Veolia Gum Springs initiatives with a said , adding that the Veolia initiatives reflect Climate Change Business Journal recognized the Veolia Gum Springs project with an annual Business Achievement Award for outstanding business performance and achievement in the climate change industry. The publication applauded Veolia's "applied innovation focus on operations and sustainability."

The solar project is one of many pioneering sustainability initiatives at the Gum Springs facility including:

A forest management program, covering over 1,000 acres surrounding the facility , which includes over 600 acres of active reforestation and the planting of 124,000 trees in 2025.

, which includes over 600 acres of active reforestation and the planting of 124,000 trees in 2025. A first-of-its-kind innovation for capturing heat to generate electricity . This feature will make use of a 7-megawatt steam turbine to generate power.

. This feature will make use of a 7-megawatt steam turbine to generate power. Advanced technologies for monitoring wildlife and biodiversity near the facility. In partnership with the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France, a cutting-edge LEKO (Light Emission and Kinetic Observation) biodiversity monitoring tool is installed on the property, using sensors to listen, identify and count species in the surrounding habitat.

The solar installation was completed in 2024, utilizing advanced technology for improved energy production output. Additionally, a single-axis tracker racking system was employed to provide maximum electricity generation during daylight hours by tracking the sun's movement from east to west across the sky. Environmental benefits include reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced pollution and greater energy independence.

"We are extremely proud to be recognized by these industry outlets and organizations for the sustainability work we are doing at Gum Springs," said Bob Cappadona, President and CEO of Veolia North America's Environmental Solutions and Services business. "These initiatives demonstrate Veolia's vision for creating a brighter future for the hundreds of communities in the U.S. under our three pillars: depollution, decarbonization and preserving essential resources in waste, water and energy. Veolia's GreenUp strategy hinges on a commitment to providing innovative solutions for environmental challenges, as demonstrated through the work and vision being carried out at Gum Springs."

Last year, the Gum Springs sustainability projects were recognized with the Diamond Award for environmental leadership from the Arkansas Environmental Federation.

ABOUT VEOLIA

Veolia group aims to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. Present on five continents with 215,000 employees, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for the management of water, waste and energy that are contributing to a radical turnaround of the current situation. Through its three complementary activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, to preserve available resources and to renew them. In 2024, the Veolia group provided 111 million inhabitants with drinking water and 98 million with sanitation, produced 42 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 65 million tonnes of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) achieved consolidated revenue of 44.7 billion euros in 2024. www.veolia.com

ABOUT VEOLIA NORTH AMERICA

A subsidiary of Veolia group, Veolia North America (VNA) is the top-ranked environmental company in the United States for three consecutive years, and the country's largest private water operator and technology provider as well as hazardous waste and pollution treatment leader. It offers a full spectrum of water, waste, and energy management services, including water and wastewater treatment, commercial and hazardous waste collection and disposal, energy consulting and resource recovery. VNA helps commercial, industrial, healthcare, higher education, and municipality customers throughout North America. Headquartered in Boston, Mass., Veolia North America has more than 10,000 employees working at more than 350 locations across the continent. www.veolianorthamerica.com

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Contacts:

Carrie Griffiths

(781) 491-3117

Carrie.Griffiths@Veolia.com
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath assumes duties

Newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment & Tourism Vijitha Herath assumed duties at the Foreign Ministry today, 18 November 2024 at a simple ceremony. Senior officials of the Ministry were present on the occasion.

As a Member of Parliament, Minister Herath has represented the Gampaha District since 2000. At the recently concluded General election, he was re-elected, obtaining the highest ever number of preferential votes in Parliamentary election history, in Sri Lanka.

Minister Herath had also previously served as the Minister of Cultural Affairs & National Heritage, and immediately prior to re-election, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Minister Herath holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Kelaniya.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

18 November 2024
A total of 19 community colleges will receive $500,000 in grant awards

Additional $100,000 will support the Forward Fund to expand access to training opportunities for students

Duke Energy's ongoing commitment to workforce development totals more than $6.6 million over the last five years

Duke Energy Foundation today announced $500,000 to support 19 North Carolina community college programs that are creating a pipeline of skilled workers who will help meet the energy industry's growing workforce needs. A $100,000 grant will also support the Forward Fund to help students in Southeastern North Carolina attain high-wage employment opportunities.

As North Carolina continues to deploy modern energy infrastructure and meet the needs of a growing state, Duke Energy Foundation is investing in programs that will build the next generation workforce and create access to training and job skills that fit community needs. These grants are part of Duke Energy's ongoing commitment to workforce development, which totals more than $6.6 million over the last five years.

"As our state and industry continue to grow, North Carolina's community colleges are helping us meet the moment," said Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy's North Carolina president. "As technologies change and we modernize our energy fleet, we want talent here in the state to help us support our communities and build a smarter energy future for customers."

Durham Technical Community College received a $25,000 grant to enhance its Electric Line Technician Training program.

"Duke Energy's continued commitment to Durham Tech ensures we are connecting skilled individuals to good jobs like electric line technicians," said Durham Technical Community College President J.B. Buxton. "We are proud to be one of the few locations in the state that offers a pathway to these in-demand positions that communities rely on to keep the lights on."

A full list of community colleges receiving funds, along with grant recipient quotes, can be viewed, here.

For the first time, Duke Energy Foundation is also making an investment in the Forward Fund (TFF). TFF provides zero-interest loans to cover essential life expenses like transportation and child care, allowing students to focus on school full time. TTF participants are enrolled in short-term training programs directly connected to regional employer demand and high-wage employment opportunities. Repayments begin after participants earn a minimum salary requirement and are cycled back into the fund for loans to future learners.

"The Forward Fund is thrilled to receive this grant from Duke Energy Foundation to expand access of our customized, student-centered financing to students enrolling in proven Electrical Lineworker programs in Southeastern North Carolina and across the state," said Meaghan Dennis, founder and chief executive officer. "Our zero-interest loans cover tuition, fees and life expenses for students during the program, removing the financial hurdles that may prevent them from enrolling or graduating. We're excited to be part of the workforce solution for high-wage energy careers in the state."

Duke Energy Foundation



Duke Energy Foundation provides more than $30 million annually in philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The Foundation is funded by Duke Energy shareholders.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.4 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy is executing an ambitious energy transition, keeping customer reliability and value at the forefront as it builds a smarter energy future. The company is investing in major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including natural gas, nuclear, renewables and energy storage.

More information is available at?duke-energy.com and the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy on?X,?LinkedIn,?Instagram?and?Facebook, and visit illumination?for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition.

Contact: Garrett Poorman

24-hour media line: 800.559.3853

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View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Duke Energy Corporation on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Duke Energy Corporation

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SOURCE: Duke Energy Corporation
Namibia Critical Metals Inc. ("Namibia Critical Metals" or the "Company" or "NCMI") (TSXV:NMI)(OTCQB:NMREF) is pleased to comment on the recent announcement by its JV partner, JOGMEC and Iwatani Corporation to invest in rare earth separation project Caremag. JOGMEC and Iwatani Corporation are investing up to 110 million euros into the heavy rare earth separation plant Caremag SAS owned by Carester of France.

See JOGMEC Press Release dated March 17, 2025 below:

https://www.jogmec.go.jp/english/news/release/news_08_00035.html

"JOGMEC continues to be at the forefront of investment in the rare earth sector with its strategic investments in Lynas, NCMI and now Caremag and underscores the need to establish diversified rare earth supply chains," said Darrin Campbell, President of NCMI.

The company also provides updates on progress of its intense value engineering for the Prefeasibility Study for the expanded Lofdal 2B-4 Project. All work streams have commenced earlier in the year and show encouraging results to achieve the planned OPEX savings.

The key work streams are:

Increase of feed grade to flotation : Based on positive XRT and XRF sorting tests, the Company decided to alter the original flowsheet by the introduction of sorting for the lower grade material. The resulting flowsheet is expected to increase the feed grade to flotation by 50%. As higher efficiency of flotation was demonstrated in previous test work on higher grade feed, the resulting flotation concentrate is expected to increase significantly, further reducing OPEX and CAPEX in the final hydrometallurgical circuit.

Update of mine schedule and plan : Increase of run-of-mine from 2.1 Mt/a to 3.0 Mt/a with a high-grade and low-grade stream. While the high-grade material of about 1 Mt/a will directly undergo flotation, the low-grade material will be upgraded by XRT sorting and possibly XRF sorting.

Additional geotechnical drilling : commenced on 3 April 2025. It is expected that the higher density of geotechnical data will allow steeper slope angles at the planned pits, and thus, decrease the stripping ratio.

Water supply : SLR Namibia commenced with the work to identify a groundwater resource for sustainable extraction of Lofdal's water demand in February 2025.

Power supply: The Company aims now at a power supply solution by an Independent Power Producer (IPP) based on photovoltaic with battery and limited diesel generator backup. Offers received demonstrate highly competitive resulting electricity prices.

Darrin Campbell, President of Namibia Critical Metals, stated:

"Exciting progress at our fully licensed Lofdal heavy rare earth project as we move towards completion of our PFS this year. The recent events in Myanmar which have caused supply disruptions of rare earths combined with the announcement by China to restrict exports of rare earth metals and permanent magnets amplifies the need to diversify supply chains, particularly for heavy rare earths dysprosium and terbium.

NCMI is uniquely positioned with its strategic partner, JOGMEC, to develop this advanced globally significant source of heavy rare earths."

On site activities at Lofdal in support of the current value engineering

The Area 4 pit was extended and over 2,100 t of bulk samples extracted from a depth between 12 and 17 m. The bulk samples were taken according to the four ore blocks from the footwall to the hanging wall, representing ore variability with different country rocks forming the matrix of the mineralization and enveloping the ore zone. The bulk samples are currently crushed and screened for extended XRT and XRF sorting tests at Gecko Namibia and RADOS South Africa.

About the Lofdal Heavy Rare Earth Project

The Lofdal REE project is one of the few rare earth deposits in the world that contains mostly heavy rare earth elements (~75% HREO distribution) with Dysprosium and Terbium being the economically most important elements.

The heavy rare earth element ("HREE") mineralization comprises zones of hydrothermal alteration, predominantly albitization and carbonatization, associated with carbonatite dykes. The mineralization with the heavy rare earth phosphate mineral xenotime is structurally controlled and continues to depth with a general dip of 50-55SSE in most sub-deposits.

The HREE mineralization covers a huge area of over 15 km by 10 km. Only a very small fraction of the known mineralized systems underwent resource drilling so far, namely Area 2B and Area 4, see map below. These two sub-deposits form the basis for the current Prefeasibility Study "Lofdal 2B-4". Therefore, the project can most likely be significantly expanded by future exploration.

Figure 4: Mineralized systems of the district-scale Lofdal HREE mineralization (red and orange pattern) with drill hole collars. Drilling limited to the Area 2B and Area 4 sub-deposits (green triangles) form the basis for the Mineral Resource Estimate for the current PFS.

The Lofdal project is fully licensed with a valid Mining License until May 10, 2046. The Mining License ML200 covers the entire prospective area of mineralized zones of the district-scale Lofdal HREE system.

About Namibia Critical Metals Inc.

NCMI is developing the Tier-1 Heavy Rare Earth Project, Lofdal, a globally significant deposit of the heavy rare earth metals dysprosium and terbium. Demand for these critical metals used in permanent magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines and other electronics is driven by innovations linked to energy and technology transformations. The geopolitical risks associated with sourcing many of these metals has become a repeated concern for manufacturers and end users. Namibia is a proven and stable mining jurisdiction. The Lofdal Project is fully permitted with a 25-year Mining License and is under a Joint Venture agreement with Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC).

About Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) and the JV

JOGMEC is a Japanese government independent administrative agency which seeks to secure stable resource supplies for Japan. JOGMEC has a strong reputation as a long term, strategic partner in mineral projects globally. JOGMEC facilitates opportunities with Japanese private companies to secure supplies of natural resources for the benefit of the country's economic development.

Rare earth elements are of critical importance to Japanese industrial interests and JOGMEC has extensive experience with all aspects of the sector. JOGMEC provided Lynas with USD$250,000,000 in loans and equity in 2011 to ensure supplies of the Light Rare Earths metals suite to the Japanese industry and invested a further $134 million in 2023.

In March 2025 JOGMEC announced a partnership with Iwatani Corporation to invest 110 million euros in Carester heavy rare earth separation plant, Caremag, located in Lyon, France.

Namibia Critical Metals owns a 95% interest in the Lofdal project with the remaining 5% held for the benefit of historically disadvantaged Namibians. The terms of the JOGMEC joint venture agreement with the Company stipulate that JOGMEC provides C$3,000,000 in Term 1 and C$7,000,000 in Term 2 to earn a 40% interest in the Lofdal project. Term 3 calls for a further C$10,000,000 of expenditures to earn an additional 10% interest. JOGMEC can also purchase another 1% for C$5,000,000 and has first right of refusal to fully fund the project through to commercial production and to purchase all production at market prices. The collective interests of NCMI and historically disadvantaged Namibians cannot be diluted below a 26% carried working interest upon payment of C$5,000,000 to JOGMEC for the dilution protection. NMI may elect to participate up to a maximum of 44% by funding pro rata after the earn in period is completed.

To date, JOGMEC has completed Term 2 and earned a 40% interest by reaching the C$10 million expenditure requirement. Total approved project funding to date is C$16,245,000 of the $20,000,000 Earn-In requirement to reach 50% interest.

Rainer Ellmies, PhD, MScGeol, EurGeol, AusIMM and Vice President of Namibia Critical Metals Inc., is the Company's Qualified Person and has reviewed and approved this press release.

The common shares of Namibia Critical Metals Inc. trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "NMI" and the OTCQB Market under the symbol "NMREF".

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.

For more information please contact -

Namibia Critical Metals Inc.

Darrin Campbell, President

Tel: +01 (902) 835-8760

Email: Info@NamibiaCMI.com

Web site: www.NamibiaCriticalMetals.com

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

SOURCE: Namibia Critical Metals Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Rain City Resources Inc. (CSE: RAIN) (the "Company" or "Rain") announces that the ACCELi mineral extraction pilot plant (the "ACCELi Plant") has arrived at site and we anticipate starting operations this week. The ACCELi Plant will extract lithium, along with other critical minerals, from waste-water brine associated with natural gas production within the Marcellus Shale Formation.

The ACCELi Plant is located at an industrial water transfer site in Springfield Pennsylvania and represents a pre-commercial trial of the ACCELi technology with a focus on extracting lithium along with other critical minerals. The ACCELi Plant will be operated by Avonlea Lithium Corp. ("ALC") in which Rain has the option to earn a 100% interest.

It is envisaged that ALC will operate the pilot test for 21 days running approximately 20,000 litres of brine per day based on a 12-hour day and will provide Rain and ALC the opportunity to demonstrate its proprietary extraction technology targeting lithium and other critical and strategic minerals. Data will be collected and independently tested and verified throughout the course of the trial.

The length of the pilot test may be extended depending on results, volumes, the critical minerals successfully extracted and the usual consents. Rain is conscious of the US Department of Energy's Critical Materials List which includes lithium, barite and magnesium and notes the increasing importance over the short and medium term (2020-2035) of lithium and magnesium, which the ACCELi Plant will produce as part of our proprietary process.

(source: US Department of Energy, Critical Minerals & Materials Program, Medium-Term (2025-2035 Criticality Matrix)



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Benjamin Hill, CEO commented, "A recent article in The New York Times written by Brad Plumer highlighted the ever-increasing growth of, and reliance on, the battery storage industry in the US. It is apparent that a US supply of lithium will become increasingly important as President Trump's tariffs become a new reality. Sixty-nine percent of America's lithium-ion batteries were imported from China in 2024. These grid batteries will now be subject to a 64.5% tax, rising to 82% in 2026. We hope to position ourselves at the forefront of domestic lithium extraction and processing using our proprietary ACCELi direct lithium extraction technology.

Our ACCELi Plant pilot test aligns perfectly with our intention to begin commercial production of lithium in North America by 2027 and we look forward to establishing ACCELi as the default brine-hosted mineral extraction technology in commercial operation."

About the Marcellus Shale Formation

Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale is attracting global attention due to the presence of high concentrations of lithium and other strategic and critical minerals in wastewater from natural gas production. This geological formation is composed of sedimentary rock found in the Appalachian Basin of eastern North America at a depth ranging from about 1,000 feet to 8,000 feet. According to a study from the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, this formation could represent enough lithium-rich wastewater to meet up to 40-percent of the nation's current domestic lithium consumption.

About Us

Rain is an integrated critical mineral technology and project development company committed to solving the environmental, social, and economic issues associated with extracting lithium and other critical minerals from brine.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release may include certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. 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. Rain disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that proposed operations will be successful or that the anticipated financial, economic or strategic benefits will be realized.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247765

SOURCE: Rain City Resources Inc.
Starboard Enhances Presence in German Market by Expanding Partnership Less than a Year After Launch

Starboard Group, the world's leading retail curator at sea, today announced the expansion of its partnership with TUI Cruises, enhancing Starboard's presence in the German market through the launch of highly curated retail assortments aboard a second ship in the Mein Schiff fleet, Mein Schiff Relax

"After launching our partnership just last year, we're extremely proud to now cement our relationship with TUI Cruises and debut expertly curated retail experiences on a second ship, Mein Schiff Relax," said Lisa Bauer, Starboard's President and CEO. "The expansion of our partnership so quickly after its initial launch is a testament to the trust Starboard has built with TUI and our ability to deliver premium assortments and unforgettable retail experiences that specifically resonate with German travelers and elevate their cruise experience."

Expertly Curated Retail Offerings for German Guests

Mein Schiff Relax's Starboard Shops span 3,970 square feet of retail space and feature beauty, fine jewelry, watches, fashion and more from renowned global and German brands. The Mediterranean destination shop is a key pillar of the retail experience, offering curated assortments spanning food, apparel, fashion accessories, jewelry and souvenirs for adults and kids that celebrate the destinations along the ship's various routes. Mein Schiff Relax guests also have the opportunity to book private shopping appointments onboard.

The Starboard Shops feature a range of women's fashion and accessories from Karl Lagerfeld, Armani Exchange, Polo Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. Jewelry offerings from Danish brand Pandora include the brand's signature assortment of charm bracelets and pendants. The shops also feature curated assortments of men's and women's watches from BERING, Bulova, Citizen and Hugo Boss and smart sunglasses from the new Ray-Ban Meta AI collection. Beauty offerings include selections from Rituals Cosmetics, Sol de Janeiro, Shiseido and L'Occitane and fragrances from Bulgari, Chanel, Dior and Tom Ford.

Starboard has also introduced collections of men's fashion from Fynch-Hatton, known for its timeless casual classics and commitment to quality and sustainability, and handbags and accessories for men and women from Gianni Chiarini, the Italian luxury brand renowned for its superior craftsmanship and attention to detail.

Building on TUI's commitment to sustainability and the strong environmental values of German consumers, Starboard is doubling down on its sustainable retail initiatives on Mein Schiff Relax by offering an expanded assortment of environmentally friendly brands and products. These include lab-created diamonds from Engrace Diamonds and vintage luxury accessories and handbags from What Goes Around Comes Around.

About TUI Cruises

TUI Cruises GmbH is one of the leading cruise companies in the German-speaking countries. The joint venture company made up of TUI AG and the US cruise company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd employs a staff of around 750 in Hamburg and Berlin. A fleet of seven ships sail for the Mein Schiff brand. Since the end of 2020, the brand Hapag-Lloyd Cruises with its fleet of currently five ships is also part of TUI Cruises GmbH. The Mein Schiff fleet offers modern holiday cruises at sea in the premium segment (Mein Schiff 1 to Mein Schiff 7 bed capacity: 18,800). Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is the leading cruise brand in the luxury and expedition segment in the German-speaking countries with a history dating back 130 years. TUI Cruises sails with one of the most modern, environmentally and climate friendly fleets worldwide. Two further ship newbuilds are planned by 2026 as part of a sustainable growth strategy.

About Starboard

Charting a new course in the duty-free industry since 1958, Starboard has been the world's leading vacation retailer at sea with the purpose of curating a vibrant world for guests, cruise line partners, brand collaborators and employees. Starboard's transformative retail elevates the experience on more than 90 ships across 14 world-class cruise line partners: Blue Dream, Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Holland America, Resort World Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, TUI Cruises and Virgin Voyages. Starboard's dedicated Luxury Division partners with Azamara, Crystal, Scenic Luxury Cruises Tours, Silversea, and The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.

Starboard is consistently recognized for quality and innovation by the travel industry, championing numerous awards, including DFNI-Frontier Americas Travel Retailer of the Year, Asia/Pacific Cruise Retailer of the Year, Global Cruise Retailer of the Year and Exceptional Achievement by a Cruise Retailer.

Going beyond sailing, Starboard's sister company, Onboard Media, creates multimedia products for top companies in the travel and hospitality industry, driving brand awareness to generate sales and grow revenue. Both businesses are headquartered in Miami with additional Starboard offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Genoa, Italy.

Starboard and Onboard Media are proud to be a part of Global Travel Retail Holdings, LLC, an industry leading travel and technology-centric joint venture in partnership with Gissy Investments and LVMH.

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MEDIA CONTACTS

Alissa Heumann

Berns Communications Group

aheumann@bcg-pr.com
Sopra Steria unveils the latest edition of the Digital Banking Experience Report (DBX)

The report highlights financial well-being as a business imperative for the banking industry

With deep expertise in payments, AI, cybersecurity, and Open Finance, Sopra Steria affirms itself as a trusted partner for banks and insurers

PARIS, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sopra Steria, a major player in the European tech sector, has released the 2025 issue of the Digital Banking Experience Report (DBX), which sheds light on how financial well-being is emerging as a key differentiator in the banking industry. Amid economic uncertainty, banks are stepping up to provide customers with digital tools and services that enhance financial security, improve trust, and foster long-term engagement.

The report explores five critical areas shaping the financial sector: payments, cryptocurrencies, generative AI, data protection & privacy, and sustainability. It highlights that while digital transformation continues to accelerate, only 7% of banks report being challenge-free in their digital initiatives, with legacy systems, cyber threats, and regulatory complexities remaining hurdles to overcome.

The 6 Key Findings from the DBX 2025 Report

Financial well-being is a competitive advantage - More than half (52%) of banks are increasing their offering of digital tools and services aimed at helping customers better manage their finances. More mature banks place greater emphasis on financial well-being, integrating technology-driven solutions to enhance customer engagement.

Payments innovations are shaping consumer habits - Digital payments are growing across Europe, with 87% adoption in Germany and Italy. Banks are prioritizing investments in areas like modernising payment infrastructure using cloud-native solutions (66% already have, 32% are planning to do so) and expanding offerings like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and digital wallets. However, fraud and cybersecurity risks remain a concern, prompting a 10%+ budget increase for risk mitigation.

GenAI will reshape banking experiences

AI is becoming a core component of banking, with 47% of consumers using generative AI tools weekly. Meanwhile, banks are focusing on GenAI, but cautious. They believe the technology can have a big impact on areas like risk management, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering capabilities, delivering personalised experiences at scale, and fraud management. As a result, 61% expect to increase investment in emerging technologies by 10% or more. However, meaningful concerns exist, including how to avoid bias, ensure compliance and security, and minimise data breach and fraud risks.

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CONTACT: Aurelien Flaugnatti, aurelien.flaugnatti@soprasteria.com

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By Mary de Wysocki

This blog is part of our focus on Cisco employees who are "Striving for Sustainability" by finding opportunities to integrate sustainability in their day-to-day work.

At Cisco, we have been focusing on evolving from a linear economy that extracts resources and eventually wastes them, to a circular one that finds new uses for products and their inputs. ?By understanding the environmental impacts of our products, we can make informed decisions to reduce the resources used and determine how to extend the life of our products.

That brings us to Sripriya Narayanan, a senior product manager based in India who works for Cisco's Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) business unit, which focuses on industrial routers, switches, and access points. She has collaborated with Cisco's Circular Design team to develop a series of industrial routers with Circular Design Principles at the core. I recently sat down with her to learn more about her story:

When did your interest in sustainability begin?

Sripriya: My journey towards sustainability began in my childhood in India, surrounded by my parents and grandparents, who lived what we now call a sustainable lifestyle. Their approach was simple: buying only what was necessary, avoiding plastic, minimizing waste, and embracing a holistic, minimalist lifestyle. This simplicity deeply influenced me. Another influence is my love for nature and spending time in natural settings. Being in nature taught me the importance of preserving its tranquility and beauty for future generations.

When I moved to the United States after starting my career at Cisco, I began volunteering with an environmental nonprofit in San Jose called Our City Forest. There, I trained as an arborist and earned a certification in tree planting. On weekends, I led community groups, including children and parents, in tree planting activities across Santa Clara County. This experience sparked my passion for environmental advocacy.

Can you tell us about your professional and educational journey so far?

Sripriya: My journey began as a software engineer at Cisco, where I progressed to a lead engineer and technical leader. While I enjoyed my work, I realized that to drive change, I needed to transition to the business side where decisions impacting sustainability were made. To facilitate this, I pursued an MBA. I chose Berkeley's Haas School of Business due to its focus on sustainability and the active Net Impact Club. This club allowed me to engage with industry influencers and educate my peers, many of whom were CEOs or VPs attending evening and weekend classes. Collaborating with these key industry figures was enriching, as it enabled us to collectively promote sustainable practices.

During my second year at Berkeley, I transitioned into product management at Cisco, a natural progression aligning with my goals. I joined the industrial IoT business unit as a product manager, leading the industrial routing portfolio. This role involves end-to-end management, from defining the product to launching it and engaging with customers as well as managing its end-of-life. The industrial IoT business unit was crucial to me, as it allowed direct interaction with industry leaders in sectors like utilities, manufacturing, oil and gas, and transportation. The convergence of IT and OT is a focus for industries and critical infrastructure providers. Cisco leverages its direct interactions with business leaders to explore how it can enable best practices, including sustainability, across networks from enterprise to industry spaces, all while maintaining trust and addressing both internal product challenges and external factors. It was a chance to influence sustainability on a larger scale, fulfilling my ambition to integrate circularity practices into the business realm.

How are you incorporating circularity in your role as a product manager?

Sripriya: Embracing modular design has become imperative, especially in our industrial IoT business unit, where customers expect long-lasting products, unlike the enterprise sector with frequent refresh cycles. Modularizing components allows for standardization across business units, offering flexibility and reducing redesign costs. This approach also aligns with sustainability goals by minimizing waste and resource usage.

While developing our next-generation products, I prioritized Circular Design Principles. Inspired by sustainability advocates and my own passion, I collaborated cross-functionally to integrate modular components and improve energy efficiency for utility clients concerned with energy consumption.

I also initiated more packaging sustainability efforts, eliminating excessive foam and adopting materials with a lower environmental impact from manufacturing or end of life. This was achieved through collaboration with Cisco's packaging sustainability team. At this point of my career, I was promoted to a senior product manager position and was chosen as a leader to drive sustainability initiatives for our entire Industrial IoT business unit.

Looking to the future, I will continue to drive sustainability initiatives for Cisco Industrial IoT in partnership with the Chief Sustainability Office (CSO) and Engineering Sustainability Office (ESO) teams.

What benefits have you observed from implementing Circular Design Principles?

Sripriya: Implementing Circular Design Principles offers numerous advantages, particularly in extending product lifetimes. Traditionally, businesses focused on frequent product refreshes to achieve their goals. However, by adopting a circular design mindset allows us to foster innovation without the necessity to launch new products every few years. This shift in perspective is not only beneficial for our company but also resonates across various industries, including the enterprise B2B sector.

Circular design can support faster innovation by building on existing products rather than starting from scratch. This approach reduces operational costs and capital expenses, as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, by minimizing the use of natural resources. Furthermore, designing products in a modular way facilitates take-back and reuse, which can reduce financial pressures on both our customers and our supply chain management.

From an environmental standpoint, circular design reduces waste and improve energy efficiency. During product use, energy efficiency is crucial. Our collaboration with the CSO team on a comprehensive product life cycle analysis highlighted that the majority of GHG emissions occur during the use phase. Therefore, integrating energy-efficient features in product design is essential for reducing emissions.

How are Cisco's Industrial IoT innovations helping customers transition to more circular models?

Sripriya: It's essential to address our customers' current business challenges while providing them with easy ways to leverage new innovations without completely replacing their existing products. Cisco's Industrial IoT solutions underscore energy efficiency and support circular practices, enhancing sustainability in product management.

With a circular design approach, we enable our customers to save the expense of buying completely new equipment every time their requirements change, which also eliminates the resources and energy required to create new equipment across manufacturing, shipping, and logistics. By upgrading or repairing just the individual modules, customers extend the product's lifetime, reduce materials that are disposed of prematurely, and help conserve resources.

Customer stories that showcase how Cisco IoT solutions have helped them with their goals can be found here.

Do you do anything in your personal life to promote circularity? If so, what advice would you give others?

Sripriya: In my personal life, I strive to promote circularity by adopting a minimalist lifestyle. This journey began during my time in the United States, where I focused on purchasing only essential items and using reusable bags for grocery shopping to avoid plastic waste. Choosing an electric or hybrid car over a traditional gas-powered vehicle was another significant step that I took, as well as taking public transportation.

Recently, I relocated to India to be closer to my family and care for my aging parents. Here, I've noticed significant challenges regarding waste management and environmental awareness. While there is growing awareness about plastic pollution in some countries, in India, this understanding is often limited to certain urban areas.

Despite these challenges, I aim to influence my community by advocating for simple lifestyle changes that reduce consumption and promote responsible living. Encouraging people to consider the necessity of their purchases and seek better, more sustainable options is key. It's about making conscious choices and recognizing that there are always alternatives that are better for the environment.

I also believe in leading by example and sharing knowledge with others to inspire them to become environmental advocates. By fostering discussions about sustainability, I hope to contribute to a more responsible and environmentally conscious world. These small actions in my daily life reflect my commitment to promoting circularity and encouraging others to do the same.

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View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Cisco Systems Inc. on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Cisco Systems Inc.

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SOURCE: Cisco Systems Inc.
Intellivizz is a well-established AI Automation Agency. In the latest development, the company has launched its flagship AI Receptionist Solution, designed to help businesses enhance productivity, streamline customer interactions, and reduce operational costs. This AI-powered system delivers round-the-clock with high-quality customer support - ensuring every inquiry is answered 24/7 over voice and text channels.

Designed to handle up to 200 incoming conversations simultaneously over phone calls or messages on text, social media and WhatsApp, the AI Receptionist solution features an AI Voice Agent and an AI Chatbot custom built for every business. This advanced system ensures that businesses never miss a lead, providing round-the-clock, high-quality customer support at a fraction of the cost of a traditional receptionist. The key Features of the AI Receptionist:

24/7 Availability - Ensures no customer inquiry goes unanswered.

Advanced AI Automation - Answers FAQs, schedules appointments, and provides real-time customer assistance.

Seamless Workflow Integration - Adapts to existing business processes for effortless implementation.

Multi-Industry Customization - Tailored solutions for various business sectors.

Cost Efficiency - Saves businesses up to 90% compared to hiring a full-time receptionist .

Multilingual Capabilities - Supports English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Brazilian Portuguese, and Dutch .

HIPAA Compliant for Health & Medical related businesses

"With an increasing need for businesses to optimize operations and provide seamless customer service, our AI Receptionist is a game-changer. By combining AI driven automation with personalized engagement, businesses can now offer an enhanced customer experience without the overhead costs and inefficiencies of traditional reception services." says Nakul Mehra , CEO of Intellivizz .

Backed by over 20 years of expertise in automation, software development, and digital marketing, the Intellivizz team has experience in working with over 2,500 international brands, including many major companies, to implement cutting-edge digital solutions. The company's deep industry experience allows it to create practical, real-world AI automation scenarios tailored to each business's needs.

Despite the growing interest in AI automation, many businesses struggle with limited in-house expertise and a lack of trusted AI implementation partners. Intellivizz bridges this gapby offering expert guidance and industry-specific roadmaps, ensuring that AI solutions are cost-effective, practical, and seamlessly integrated into existing workflows.

Beyond the AI Receptionist, Intellivizz specializes in building Custom AI Automation Solutions, AI chatbots & Digital Marketing Services, empowering businesses to enhance efficiency and scale operations.

The AI Receptionist solution is now available for businesses looking to modernize their customer engagement and operational efficiency.

About the Company - Intellivizz:

Intellivizz is a premier AI Automation Agency dedicated to helping businesses implement AI-driven solutions to increase sales, optimize workflows, and enhance customer service. With a strong focus on digital transformation,Intellivizz delivers tailored AI solutions, chatbots, and workflow automation tools to businesses across various industries, ensuring long-term growth and success in the digital era.

For further details, visit the following link: www.intellivizz.com

Media Contact

Organization: Intellivizz

Contact Person Name: Nakul Mehra

Website: https://www.intellivizz.com/

Email: hello@intellivizz.com

Contact Number: +19179333596

Country: United States

SOURCE: Intellivizz
How often do we sit back and realize that the products around us likely came from "mining" natural resources. For example, the glass items that surround us every day such as smartphone screens, windows, water glasses, etc. were manufactured from natural resources. But the list doesn't stop there. Nearly every physical thing that we consume in our everyday lives is a direct or indirect result of natural resources that had to be mined first.

Our Country has and continues to experience cycles of economic growth. Although that is a normal and natural occurrence of a free market, the rebound and recovery of local economies can positively impact the wellness of our larger national economy. When domestic company portfolios include American manufacturing and American-made products, the fabric of our national economy is strengthened now and for future generations to come.

MSI HQ

Corporate Office.

As we applaud a recent Presidential Executive Order that will significantly enhance opportunities in the mining sector, it's important to see the gravity of such an immediate measure. It is vitally important to identify and support companies at the ready.

MS Industries (MSI) is an American company that is well aware of the national emergency and is ready to respond to the needs of our Nation. Because time is of the essence, it is unreasonable to expect and rely on companies outside of our shores to meet our domestic needs.

It takes years to successfully break ground, build facilities, and to secure the enormous amount of power to operate such large industrial undertakings. In fact, those steps require many years of preparation. That's why it's imperative to support American companies that have already invested the time, money, and resources to be in position to answer the call for American energy and mineral independence now.

MSI has identified critical minerals and has important materials stockpiled that enhance and support our Nation's energy production. MSI is also in position to hire more hard working qualified American workers to expand its US-based operations. Under the vision and clear guidance of its founders and shareholders, MSI is at the ready. In fact, from day one (nearly 15 years ago), MSI understood that "Made in America" starts with "Mined in America". As a Nation, we must support companies that are working tirelessly toward one goal, which is:

"American Energy and Mineral Resource Independence".

The Future of American Mining is Now!

Shattered Glass Media is the source of this information.

Sarah Christmas grew up in northern Minnesota on the Iron Range and was raised to understand the generational importance and significance of domestic mining.

https://www.instagram.com/mininginamerica/

https://www.youtube.com/@mininginamerica

https://www.facebook.com/MininginAmerica

https://x.com/MininginAmerica

SOURCE: Shattered Glass Media

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Online Now, Brides & Shoppers Can Now Shop Marchesa's Gowns & Preview David's Fall 2025 Bridal Collection; David's Announces Custom Couture Dress Experience From Viola Chan

David's Bridal, Inc. ("David's"), the leading authority in bridal, special occasions and weddings, is celebrating Spring New York Bridal Fashion Week by taking the next steps towards the company's "modern renaissance" with its latest foray into couture, designer and affordable luxury categories. David's newest partner in this category expansion is Georgina Chapman's iconic womenswear brand Marchesa, which will offer its collection of breathtaking couture bridal, special occasion and ready-to-wear directly on David's website, strategically expanding customer bases for both brands. Additionally this week, Brides can now shop the preview of David's Fall 2025 Bridal Collection centered around rich fabrics, sleek silhouettes and sculpted necklines - all designed by its Head of Couture and Design, Viola Chan - who is also overseeing the company's first-ever Custom Couture Dress Experience, to be available later this year. Customers can purchase bridal couture and special occasion pieces from Marchesa and David's Fall 2025 Bridal Collection starting today on DavidsBridal.com.

David's and Marchesa's partnership marks a pivotal milestone for both companies, expanding how David's can help new generations of brides and shoppers explore and purchase Marchesa's exquisite bridal and eveningwear collections-including sought-after Marchesa Notte and Couture lines-available through David's website. Exclusive to the partnership with David's, Marchesa will be providing some of Georgina Chapman's most coveted award season looks that are currently not available anywhere else online to order, as well as core archive styles that can be purchased and remade online only through David's. Marchesa and David's are reimagining together how bridal fashion can be experienced and the importance of meeting luxury craftsmanship with accessibility, proving that couture can be both aspirational and attainable.

"This is a defining moment for David's Bridal - we are committed to becoming the number one destination for all brides, all styles and all price points," says Kelly Cook, Chief Executive Officer at David's Bridal. "We're not just expanding our selections or naming a new partner-we're working with the leading names in bridal and couture fashion to reshape the way consumers find and shop for luxury and couture dresses. Our partnership with Marchesa, along with our expanded in-house couture offerings and shopping tools, are redefining the category. This is just the beginning of our vision to blend innovation with timeless tradition in a way that inspires and empowers brides worldwide."

"At Marchesa, we've always been passionate about creating gowns that embody romance, elegance, and exquisite craftsmanship," shared Georgina Chapman, Creative Director and Founder of Marchesa. "For the first time, our couture bridal collection will be available online at David's Bridal. This marks an exciting new chapter for both of us, and we couldn't be more thrilled to partner with David's - the leader in the bridal industry. Their unparalleled expertise makes them the perfect partner to bring accessibility and knowledge to future Marchesa brides."

Brides can now enjoy a first-of-its-kind custom couture experience entirely online, selecting luxury handcrafted bridal gowns tailor-made to their exact measurements, designs and preferences. Marchesa gowns will be available through one-on-one virtual appointments with David's expert Personal Stylists, ensuring a personalized shopping experience and a flawless custom fit. David's innovative drop shipping model will power this new designer shopping experience, providing a focus on accessibility and scale and ensuring seamless fulfillment. Brides can explore Marchesa's ready-to-wear offerings or opt for a custom couture experience, where each gown will be meticulously tailored to the bride's precise measurements through dedicated virtual consultations.

Alongside the announcement of its unprecedented partnership with Marchesa, David's is also previewing its Fall 2025 Bridal Collection online. The soon-to-be-in-store collection is filled with handcrafted details that accentuate the modern designs and timeless silhouettes that David's and its brands are known for. Channeling modern and timeless romance, elegance, and feminine styles, brides-to-be can select from a range of new dress styles from DB Studio, Oleg Cassini, Melissa Sweet, Galina Signature and LWD, with retailing for wedding gowns starting at $249.95.

Furthering its commitment to personalized luxury, David's will also introduce a Custom Couture Dress Experience with its Head of Couture and Design, Viola Chan later this year. The world-renowned designer has designed more bridal gowns than any designer in the world and has been behind David's signature brands' bridal gown for decades, including the Fall 2025 Bridal Collection. Expanding her creative vision and allowing brides the ability to work directly with a designer to craft the dress of their dreams, Viola is overseeing the development of the company's upcoming custom dress design offering which will allow brides the ability to create one-of-a-kind gowns tailored to their unique vision, combining expert design with a seamless digital and in-store experience.

David's will continue to unveil new high-end and affordable luxury designer partnerships and couture collaborations throughout 2025, including expanding its curated portfolio and redefining bridal fashion for brides everywhere. With these new partners on the horizon, David's will launch an industry-first AI-powered bridal shopping tool, allowing brides searching for specific bridal designers to schedule appointments not only at David's Bridal locations but also at third-party boutiques and luxury bridal salons. With 90% of brides coming directly to David's websites and platform, this new tool will allow the company to not only help these brides find what inspires them but also be best served to find their dream dress. This technology-driven expansion positions David's as the go-to resource for how brides research, find, connect with and purchase bridal designer fashions - blending convenience, personalization, and accessibility like never before for the industry.

The new designer partnership with Marchesa, the launch of the Fall 2025 Collection and custom couture experience reaffirms David's commitment to evolving with modern brides, offering them the ability to find their dream dress, no matter their style or budget, through a seamless, digital-first experience. With more luxury and designer partners on the horizon, this is only the beginning of an exciting new era in bridal fashion and more ways for brides to earn points with David's industry-first loyalty program, Diamond Loyalty.

To learn more about the Marchesa collection and upcoming designer launches, visit www.DavidsBridal.com and @davidsbridal on TikTok and Instagram.

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About David's Bridal

Celebrating 75 years of making dreams come true, David's Bridal is a leader in wedding and special occasion fashion. With over 190 stores across the U.S., Canada, and franchise locations in Mexico, David's offers a one-stop shopping experience for weddings, Quinceaneras, proms, and more.

David's Bridal is home to the industry's only loyalty program--Diamond Loyalty--boasting nearly 3 million members who enjoy exclusive perks, including deals from top partners such as The Black Tux, Shutterfly, Little Tuxedos and much more, and a chance to win a free honeymoon. Pearl Planner by David's, features wedding websites, a universal registry, planning tools, and a vendor marketplace that connects couples with top professionals.

Through Pearl Media Network, we provide brands with unmatched access to engaged consumers across web, social, podcast, streaming, and in-store channels. Love Stories by David's, our leading wedding media brand, reaches 20M+ monthly viewers with digital-first content, including the industry's only podcast network, top YouTube and TikTok channels, and a vast library of real wedding videos. To learn more about David's, visit www.DavidsBridal.com, download the Planning App, and connect on social media through Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, X, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

SOURCE: DAVID'S BRIDAL CORPORATE
Charlotte, North Carolina--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - HelloPrenup, the premier online platform for creating personalized prenuptial agreements, is excited to announce its expansion into North Carolina. This move marks a significant milestone in the company's mission to provide accessible and affordable prenuptial services to couples nationwide.

With a commitment to empowering couples to protect their financial futures, HelloPrenup has revolutionized the prenup process by making it simple, efficient, and cost-effective. As the company continues to expand, North Carolina residents will now be able to access HelloPrenup's streamlined platform to create customized prenuptial agreements that reflect their unique needs and protect their financial interests.

"We're thrilled to offer couples in North Carolina the same ease and convenience that we've brought to other states," said Julia Rodgers, CEO and Founder of HelloPrenup. "With the great wealth transfer and a greater focus on proactive planning, prenuptial agreements are becoming the norm for all engaged couples-and we're here to make the process accessible to everyone."

To ensure that North Carolina couples receive expert legal support, HelloPrenup has partnered with North Carolina licensed attorneys, including Natori Arrindell, an experienced family law attorney based in the state. Natori Arrindell's expertise ensures that clients will receive top-notch legal guidance throughout their prenup journey.

"As a family law attorney, I understand the importance of planning ahead," said Natori Arrindell. "HelloPrenup's platform provides an invaluable service to couples who want to protect their financial future, and I'm excited to be part of the solution. Their user friendly process and personalized approach help clients make informed decisions that will safeguard their assets."

HelloPrenup's expansion into North Carolina comes on the heels of the company's rapid growth, and the platform is poised to become the go-to resource for couples seeking prenuptial agreements in the state. With its innovative platform and partnership with trusted attorneys like Natori Arrindell, HelloPrenup is setting a new standard for how prenuptial agreements are created and understood.

For more information on HelloPrenup's services in North Carolina, visit www.helloprenup.com.

About HelloPrenup:

HelloPrenup is a leading online platform that helps couples create prenuptial agreements with ease and confidence. By combining cutting edge technology with family law, HelloPrenup makes the prenup process simple, transparent, and affordable. Whether couples are looking to protect assets, clarify financial responsibilities, or safeguard their futures, HelloPrenup provides the tools and resources to create a personalized prenuptial agreement tailored to their unique needs.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247738

SOURCE: Hello Prenup
Miami, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Digital Silk, an award-winning digital agency, is highlighting a digital evolution underway in Miami's hospitality industry - one where custom web design is becoming a key driver of enhanced customer experiences and brand loyalty.





Digital Silk Discusses How Miami's Hospitality Uses Web Design To Improve Customer Experiences

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From boutique hotels and luxury resorts to restaurants and experience-based attractions, hospitality businesses across Miami are investing in user-centric websites that go beyond visual appeal to deliver frictionless, personalized, and high-converting online journeys.

Why Miami's Hospitality Brands Are Rethinking Web Design

With growing competition and higher guest expectations, Miami's hospitality leaders are turning to custom web design to stand out and better serve their digital-first audiences. These websites are being rebuilt from the ground up to prioritize speed, clarity, and personalization - all critical elements for converting web visitors into booked guests.

Key drivers behind this digital transformation include:

Shifting guest behavior: Today's travelers research and book trips almost entirely online. A clunky or outdated site can instantly undermine trust and cost brands potential revenue.

Rise of mobile bookings: With more than half of travel bookings now made on mobile devices, websites must be fully responsive and optimized for smaller screens - without compromising experience.

Demand for personalization: Guests expect tailored content, location-aware offers, and recommendations based on preferences. Personalized UX can significantly increase booking intent.

Reduction in third-party dependence: Investing in direct booking functionality helps brands avoid commission fees from OTAs and gives them greater control over the customer relationship.

Integration of service tools: Features like real-time availability, virtual concierge chat, and instant customer support enhance service efficiency while improving the digital experience.

These factors are prompting hospitality brands to view their websites as more than just a marketing channel. They're becoming integral to the guest experience, influencing not only conversions but also how a brand is perceived long before a reservation is made.

"Web design is now a business-critical asset for hospitality brands in Miami," said Alec Hanak, Head of Design at Digital Silk. "Guests form impressions in seconds, and a well-designed website builds trust, sets expectations, and starts the customer journey long before check-in."

Digital-First Experiences Are the New Standard

As travelers increasingly plan, book, and review experiences online, hospitality brands that prioritize digital design are gaining a measurable competitive edge. Strategic web experiences reduce bounce rates, increase direct bookings, and foster stronger emotional connections - all while streamlining operations through integrated tools and automation.

In Miami, where lifestyle and luxury are key brand differentiators, these web design investments are helping brands deliver consistency across every touchpoint. From first click to final checkout, the digital experience now plays a central role in shaping guest perception and long-term brand success.

About Digital Silk

Digital Silk is a full-service Miami web design agency specializing in custom web solutions that drive real business results. With a proven track record in hospitality website design, the agency works with hotels, resorts, and tourism brands across Miami and beyond to create high-impact websites that increase direct bookings, improve user engagement, and build long-term guest loyalty.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247580

SOURCE: Digital Silk
The former Executive Vice President of Research at Georgia Tech and former University of New Mexico President became LAU's 10th president in its 100-year history on October 1, 2024.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lebanese American University (LAU) held a historic investiture ceremony on April 3 for its president, accomplished scholar, and former administrator, Dr. Chaouki T. Abdallah.

The investiture's theme, "United in Renewal," was at the heart of Dr. Abdallah's remarks. He thanked his family as well as past presidents and trailblazers, and spoke on the importance of building upon, not resting upon, their hard work: "Today we stand united in renewal, acknowledging that being justifiably proud of a past that we had no role in making, it is the future that is our responsibility to create."

Dr. Abdallah also described the vital role of all institutions of higher education in Lebanon today, equating universities to lighthouses that guide nations to a safer, healthier and more prosperous future: "This ancient land and its people have kept the light on for humanity in the darkest moments of history, and today we're called upon to again lead our nation towards a better tomorrow."

Philip Stoltzfus, chair of the Board of Trustees and grandson of the university's second president, William A. Stoltzfus, bestowed the university's medallion on the president, describing Dr. Abdallah as a "a consummate researcher, a world class academic administrator, someone who brings to LAU and to Lebanon a rich network of universities, research institutes, businesses, and governments, an engineer, a problem solver, a collaborator, a natural leader."

Dr. G.P. "Bud" Peterson, president emeritus of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), delivered the keynote speech via video, describing Dr. Abdallah's significant contributions during his time there, nearly doubling externally-funded research. "He has the ability to elevate LAU's academic standing on the global stage," Dr. Peterson remarked about Dr. Abdallah. "As our world becomes more technologically-driven, having a president who understands the intricacies of systems and data science will help LAU stay at the forefront of academic research and excellence."

The ceremony included approximately 500 guests. Investiture ceremonies are one of the oldest traditions in academia, during which a new president is "vested" with the official powers of office. It is typically held during a president's first year. Dr. Abdallah assumed the presidency on October 1, 2024.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/lebanese-american-university-announces-investiture-of-president-chaouki-t-abdallah-302423111.html
LUGANO, Switzerland, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 2-3, BE OPEN joined the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development 2025 at the UN offices in Geneva. The theme of the forum was "Advancing Sustainable, Inclusive, Science- and Evidence-based Solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs". The forum brought together UN governments, international organizations, civil society, academia, youth, the private sector and other stakeholders to discuss strategies for accelerating the insufficient progress towards the SDGs.

The Forum started with the High-level Policy Segment titled "Sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence based solutions to accelerate SDG progress". It featured addresses by Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN; Tatiana Molcean, UNECE Executive Secretary; Ivana Zivkovic, UNDP Regional Director for Europe and the CIS and Vice-Chair of the UN Regional Collaborative Platform for Europe and Central Asia. The cross-cutting message of the UN leaders conveyed the sense of emergency, need for heightened commitment and action towards the sustainable agenda.

Efforts to reach the goals in the UNECE region by 2030 continue to face strong headwinds from economic uncertainties, political shifts, ongoing conflicts and planetary crisis. According to UNECE's newly released report on SDG progress, only 17% of the 125 measurable targets will be reached by 2030, while for 84 targets, progress needs to accelerate, and for 20 targets, the current trend must be reversed.

The theme of the forum was of particular relevance for BE OPEN, since the foundation's ongoing international student competition is called Designing Futures 2050: it is primarily focused on encouraging the creation of innovative solutions by younger people with the hope to contribute to the realistic implementation of sustainability values, their adjustment to the circumstances of today, and implantation of sustainable principles into the approaches, practices and ambitions of upcoming professionals and future leaders of the change.

On behalf of BE OPEN, Founder Elena Baturina pointed out: "Though on a smaller scale, BE OPEN's sustainability programme has very similar objectives: to raise awareness of the SDGs and the necessity of urgent action among the students preparing to enter their professional careers; to involve them into adjusting and updating the plan of actions on the SDGs agenda in the light of the realities of today, and encourage them to take a larger part in the actualization and implementation of the realistic sustainable actions plan. We hope that our programme will make its contribution to ensuring that younger generations approach the 2050 and further agendas with knowledge, skill, responsibility and passion."

BE OPEN continuously supports and awards younger people for developing solutions aimed at contributing to how we can transform inadequate systems and create better conditions for an equitable and environmentally prosperous world.

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Racing Force S.p.A., parent company of Racing Force Group, which is specialized in the development, production, and marketing of safety components for motorsports worldwide, listed on the Euronext Growth market in Milan (RFG) and Paris (ALRFG), announces that the extract of the notice of call for the Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting was published today in the Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 42 and it is fully available on the Company website.

The Shareholders' Meeting is convened in ordinary session for April 29th, 2025, at 2:00 p.m., in a single call, to discuss and resolve upon the following

AGENDA:

1. Examination and approval of the financial statements of Racing Force S.p.A. as of December 31, 2024, including the Board of Directors' report on the company's operations, the report of the Board of Statutory Auditors, and the report of the audit firm; presentation of the consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2024; related and consequential resolutions;

2. Allocation of the net income for the year and distribution of dividends to the shareholders; related and consequential resolutions;

3. Appointment of the Board of Statutory Auditors for the 2025-2027 term and determination of their remuneration; related and consequential resolutions.

The shareholders' meeting will be held exclusively by telecommunication means that ensure the identification of the attendees, their participation and the exercise of voting rights.

COMPOSITION OF SHARE CAPITAL

The subscribed and paid-up share capital of Racing Force S.p.A. is EUR 2,738,933.30, represented by 27,389,333 shares, with no indication of the par value. As of the date of this notice, the Company holds number 64,865 treasury shares.

PARTICIPATION TO THE MEETING

Pursuant to the law and the bylaws, the shareholders for whom the Company has received, by the end of the third trading day preceding the date set for the shareholders' meeting (i.e., April 24th, 2025), the appropriate communication issued by the authorized intermediary (the "Intermediary Communication") certifying their entitlement on the basis of its accounting records, shall be entitled to attend the meeting. This shall be without prejudice to the entitlement to attend and vote if such Intermediary's Communication is received by the Company after the aforementioned deadline, provided that it is received by the start of the meeting.

The Intermediary's Communication shall be made by the Intermediary on the basis of the evidence relating to the end of the accounting day of the seventh trading day preceding the date set for the shareholders' meeting (i.e., April 16th, 2025). Credit or debit entries made to the accounts after this deadline are irrelevant for the purpose of entitlement to exercise voting rights at the shareholders' meeting.

Pursuant to the Bylaws, as well as art. 106 of the Italian Law Decree no. 18/2020 (so called "Decreto Cura Italia") converted with Italian Law no. 27/2020 which application has been extended by Italian Law Decree no. 202/2024 (so-called "Decreto Milleproroghe"), converted with amendments with Italian Law no. 15/2025, the Company has decided to avail herself of the option (provided therein) to provide that the shareholders' meeting is held exclusively by means of telecommunications, provided that the collegial method and the principles of good faith and equal treatment of shareholders, as well as the other conditions set forth in the bylaws, are respected.

To this end, the shareholders entitled to attend and vote at the meeting may obtain the link to connect to the meeting via video-audio conference, as permitted by art. 16 of the bylaws, by sending a specific request to amministrazione@pec.ompracing.it or ir@racingforce.com, attaching the copy of the Intermediary Communication as well as:

(i) in case of a shareholder who is an individual, a copy of his/her identity document (ID card or passport);

(ii) in case of a shareholder who is a legal entity, a copy of the identity document? (ID card? or passport) of the legal representative or of the person with the relevant powers to attend the shareholders' meeting as well as a copy of the documentation attesting to powers to legally represent or the grant of the aforementioned powers to the attendee.

Notwithstanding the methods of participation exclusively by means of telecommunications, each shareholder who is entitled to attend the shareholders' meeting may be represented, in accordance with law, by written proxy, in compliance with the provisions of art. 2372 of the Italian Civil Code, with the right to sign the proxy form available on the Company's website at the address: www.racingforce.com, under the section "Investor Relations - Shareholders' Meetings." The proxy shall be sent to the Company by registered mail with return receipt to Racing Force S.p.A., Via E. Bazzano No. 5, 16019, Ronco Scrivia (GE), or to the address amministrazione@pec.ompracing.it or ir@racingforce.com.

APPOINTMENT OF THE BOARD OF STATUTORY AUDITORS

Pursuant to the bylaws, the appointment of the Board of Statutory Auditors is governed by the provisions of articles 2397 et seq. of the Italian Civil Code and other applicable legal provisions. The Shareholders' Meeting is also called to resolve on the compensation of the members of the Board of Statutory Auditors.

INTEGRATION OF AGENDA AND RIGHT TO ASK QUESTIONS

For the exercise of the right to integrate the agenda and the right to ask questions before the shareholders' meeting, provided for in art. 14 of the bylaws, please refer to the text of the bylaws themselves published on the corporate website at www.racingforce.com, under "Corporate Governance - Corporate Documents."

DOCUMENTS

The documents relating to the items on the agenda, as required by law, will be made available to the public within the terms of law, at the Company's registered office and on the Company's website, www.racingforce.com, under the section "Investor Relations - Shareholders' Meetings" and on the website www.borsaitaliana.it, under the section "Shares/Documents".

The notice of call is published on the Company's website www.racingforce.com, under the section "Investor Relations - Shareholders' Meetings" and on the website www.borsaitaliana.it, under the section "Shares/Documents."

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Premier Sound & Lighting, a leading event production company from Houston, Texas, is thrilled to announce it was recently named a Forbes Industry Game-Changer in the event space. For over 15 years, Premier Sound & Lighting has served the Houston community with premium, white-glove, seamlessly coordinated services, and they are honored to be acknowledged for their hard work and dedication to their craft.

Providing Memorable Experiences for Corporate Events

Industry events are a substantial part of how large corporations and organizations network, drum up new business, and connect with their customers, partners, and employees. That's where Premier Sound & Lighting comes in.

Offering industry-leading design capabilities, high tech and premium products, along with their experience managing all elements of event production, there's no better choice when it comes to booking a high-profile event in Houston and its surrounding cities.

Whether you're planning a corporate or charity event, guests are looking for a premium experience that spares no expense. From innovative event technology, AV production, and AV rentals to staging and custom lighting, all of these components add up to make an event experience like no other.

Honored to Be Recognized by Forbes as a Game-Changer

To be recognized by Forbes as a game-changer and innovator in the event space is a huge accomplishment. It certainly hasn't come easy-after 15 years in the industry, the company has perfected nearly every part of its process to ensure every client feels like they are the top priority and their unique vision is executed with flying colors.

Premier Sound & Lighting works alongside their clients every step of the planning process to ensure every detail is pristine and well-executed. From serving high profile clients like Rolls Royce and Porsche to being named the designated event production company for Houston's luxury venues, The Astorian and LeTesserae, the team at Premier Sound & Lighting is fully committed to its craft.

While sound and lighting are the two premier event offerings, the production company also offers DJ services and entertainers, dance floors and screen rentals, furniture, photo booths, and professional staging unlike anything you've seen before. Whatever vision you have for your corporate event, Premier Sound & Lighting can bring it to life with style and finesse!

About Premier Sound & Lighting

Premier Sound and Lighting is a leading event production company based in Houston, Texas. From corporate events to weddings, private parties, charity fundraisers, cultural events, concerts, and galas, our "Premium One-Stop Approach" embodies full-service event production planning.

Learn more about their services by visiting PremierSoundandLighting.com .

SOURCE: Premier Sound And Lighting
CHICAGO, April 08, 2025, a diversified, vertically integrated global healthcare group engaged in innovative R&D, owner of proprietary pharmaceutical and nutraceutical brands, manufacturer and distributor of healthcare products, and operator of a telehealth platform, announced today the launch of its Sky Premium Life food supplements brand in Albania, in partnership with Pharma Cell , a leading consumer health and medical supplement company that will serve as the distributor in the country.

Cosmos Health has secured an initial annual order worth $300,000 and anticipates further scaling its collaboration with Pharma Cell over time.

Pharma Cell, based in Tirana, is a fast-growing pharmaceutical company specializing in the import and export of high-quality food supplements. Founded in 2021 by CEO Elvis Punmira, an economist with over 18 years of industry experience, the company builds on a family legacy in the pharma sector dating back to the 1990s. With distribution rights for several international brands, Pharma Cell has rapidly expanded its presence across the country, serving a growing network of pharmacies and healthcare professionals.

Greg Siokas, CEO of Cosmos Health, stated: "Sky Premium Life continues to see strong international growth, and it's a great pleasure to welcome our new collaboration with Pharma Cell. We look forward to working together to deliver outstanding results and establish the brand's presence in Albania."

About Cosmos Health Inc.

Cosmos Health Inc., www.skypremiumlife.com , www.cana.gr , www.zipdoctor.co , www.cloudscreen.gr , as well as LinkedIn and X .

Forward-Looking Statements

With the exception of the historical information contained in this news release, the matters described herein, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements preceded by, followed by, or that otherwise, include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "projects," "estimates," "plans" and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would," "may" and "could", are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts, although not all forward-looking statements include the foregoing. These statements, involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may individually or materially impact the matters discussed, herein for a variety of reasons that are outside the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, the Company's ability to raise sufficient financing to implement its business plan, the impact of the war in Ukraine, on the Company's business, operations and the economy in general, and the Company's ability to successfully develop and commercialize its proprietary products and technologies. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements, as actual results could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements contained herein. Readers are urged to read the risk factors set forth in the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available at the SEC's website). The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update, or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Relations Contact:

BDG Communications

cosm@bdgcommunications.com

+44 207 0971 653
The Companies Will Pursue Global UAS Programs

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace have agreed to collaborate on the development and production of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for the global defense market. The joint effort follows the successful completion of a major flight demonstration in 2024 when the two companies launched a GA-ASI MQ-1C Gray Eagle STOL (GE STOL) UAS from the South Korean Navy's amphibious landing ship ROKS Dokdo (LPH-6111) as it was underway at sea off the coast of Pohang, South Korea.

GA-ASI and Hanwha Aerospace collaborated on a historic ship to land flight demonstration using Gray Eagle STOL on Nov. 12, 2024.

The demonstration illustrated the ability of the GE STOL to safely operate on many types of aircraft-capable ships, which opens myriad new ways for the U.S. and its allies to use this UAS to support multi-domain operations. It also paved the way for GA-ASI and Hanwha to sign this new agreement to jointly invest in and pursue new UAS business opportunities.

"We're excited to extend and deepen our business relationship with Hanwha," said GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue, who supervised the November 12, 2024, at-sea demonstration. "Our test flight with Gray Eagle STOL was well-received by the Republic of Korea Navy, and we know Hanwha is ready to invest to grow a UAS business with GA-ASI both in Korea and the U.S."

Gray Eagle STOL-which stands for short takeoff and landing-is the only medium-altitude, long-endurance aircraft of its kind with the ability to operate without a catapult or arresting gear from fight deck-equipped warships such as amphibious ships and aircraft carriers. It additionally enables true runway independence by operating from unimproved fields and roads, beaches, parking lots, etc.

Hanwha Aerospace plans to invest more than 300 billion KRW (US $203.5M) in the development and production facilities for GE STOL and UAS engines, expand research and development activities, and provide production infrastructure in both South Korea and with GA-ASI in the U.S. This is in addition to GA-ASI's past and ongoing investment in UAS STOL development. Hanwha also plans to create jobs by securing talent in related fields and to foster the domestic (Korean) UAS industry ecosystem by discovering domestic parts and material partner companies. GA-ASI expects the endeavor to create nearly 10,000 jobs based upon the expected sales and support over the next 10 years, and at least 500 jobs in the U.S.

"Hanwha Aerospace views unmanned systems as a strategic pillar for the future of defense. Through our collaboration with GA-ASI, we aim to strengthen sovereign defense capabilities, expand Korea's presence in the global UAS market, and contribute to a more robust ROK-U.S. alliance, said Dong Kwan Kim, Vice Chairman of Hanwha Group.

Previously known as Mojave, Gray Eagle STOL leverages extensive commonality with the well-proven, in-production Gray Eagle 25M airframe to offer a highly capable new aircraft at greatly reduced cost and technical risk compared to a clean-sheet design. Gray Eagle STOL has recorded a number of first-of-their-kind aviation milestones, including the flight from the Dokdo, launch and recovery aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales (09), live-fire testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., and several others. Gray Eagle STOL offers international militaries a unique platform: a full-featured medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS with a significant battlefield payload that can take off in short distances from ships, unimproved surfaces, or other highly combat-relevant locations.

About Hanwha Aerospace

Hanwha is South Korea's seventh-largest business group, with innovative businesses in the areas of aerospace & mechatronics, clean energy and ocean solutions, finance, and retail and services. Hanwha Aerospace is a world leader that specializes in the design, development, assembling, and maintaining aircraft gas turbines and engine parts, aircraft components, as well as space systems, guided missile systems, and land and naval weapon systems to include providing highly specialized and dedicated organizational and depot maintenance support across these products. www.hanwha.com

About GA-ASI

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. is the world's foremost builder of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Logging more than 8 million flight hours, the Predator line of UAS has flown for over 30 years and includes MQ-9A Reaper, MQ-1C Gray Eagle 25M, MQ-20 Avenger, XQ-67A, YFQ-42A, and MQ-9B SkyGuardian/SeaGuardian. The company is dedicated to providing long-endurance, multi-mission solutions that deliver persistent situational awareness and rapid strike.

For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com.

Avenger, EagleEye, Gray Eagle, Lynx, Predator, Reaper, SeaGuardian, and SkyGuardian are trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., registered in the United States and/or other countries.

# # #

SOURCE: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
HERNDON, Va., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ST Engineering iDirect, a global leader in satellite communications, today announced USSI Global as the recipient of its Excelerator Collaboration Partner of the Year award at the NAB Show 2025. The award recognizes USSI Global's exceptional ability in creating demand, driving business growth and exceeding customer satisfaction through its partnership with ST Engineering iDirect, underscoring their shared commitment to delivering impactful solutions for mutual success.

USSI Global provides tailored network and broadcast services, managing sales, customer support, and technical assistance for ST Engineering iDirect's broadcast solutions in the U.S. and Canada, including the award-winning MCX8000 multi carrier satellite gateway.

Tony Morelli, President & CEO, USSI Global, stated, "USSI Global is thrilled to celebrate our longstanding partnership with ST Engineering iDirect and the technological progress they are achieving across various platforms in support of the media industry. We are truly honored to be the inaugural recipient of the Excelerator Collaboration Partner of the Year award. We look forward to the opportunities that 2025 and the future hold for this partnership."

Danielle Edwards, Vice President of Channels at ST Engineering iDirect, commented, "A key tenet of our Excelerator Partner Program is driving success through deep partnership and collaboration, and USSI Global exemplifies this commitment through their unwavering focus on shared goals, open communication, and mutual support. They represent the true strength of collaborative partnership and we are delighted to recognize USSI Global as our Collaboration Partner of the Year."

The Excelerator Partner Program replaces ST Engineering iDirect's bePART partner program. For more information, visit https://www.idirect.net/excelerator/.

ST Engineering iDirect, a subsidiary of ST Engineering, is a global leader in satellite communications (satcom) providing technology and solutions that enable its customers to expand their business, differentiate their services and optimize their satcom networks. With over 40 years of delivering innovation focused on solving satellite's most critical economic and technology challenges we are committed to shaping the future of how the world connects. The product portfolio, branded iDirect, represents the highest standards in performance, efficiency and reliability, making it possible for its customers to deliver the best satcom connectivity experience anywhere in the world. ST Engineering iDirect is a leader in key industries including mobility, broadcast and military/government. In 2007, iDirect Government was formed to better serve the U.S. government and defense communities. For more information visit www.idirect.net .

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MADRID, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Eliance Group, a global leader in the provision of specialized aviation services, has announced that Swiss Life Asset Managers has acquired a significant majority stake in the company through its Swiss Life Global Infrastructure Opportunities Growth II fund. The current shareholder, RiverRock, will continue as a minority investor in the company's capital, retaining its commitment to Eliance's growth.

This strategic move strengthens Eliance's financial capacity to expand in the key markets of Spain, Italy and Croatia by providing capital for growth and consolidating its current leadership position in sectors such as firefighting, medical transport and rescue operations.

Since its foundation in 1958 in Madrid, Eliance has evolved from a provider focused on firefighting to a leading player in the emergency air services sector, with an integrated business model and European presence. The company has a varied fleet of fixed and rotary wing aircraft and stands out as one of only two companies accredited for Airbus maintenance in Spain.

Eliance's success is also based on its remarkable track record of international expansion and winning government contracts. Recently, the firm has expanded its global presence by acquiring Italian operator EliFriulia and starting operations in Croatia to meet the growing demand for helicopter emergency medical services in these geographic areas.

Matthew Dooley, Director Value-Add Infrastructure, Swiss Life Asset Managers, said, "AES's business model is characterized by its core nature, strong cash flow stability and asset weight. These are all key characteristics of the infrastructure we seek as part of our value-added investment strategy. We are delighted to be working with the Eliance management team to continue to leverage the strong growth potential of the business."

"We are excited to welcome Swiss Life Asset Managers as a new shareholder of Eliance. Their collaboration represents a significant milestone in our journey, which began in 2021, and has led Eliance to become a leader in air emergency services in Southern Europe. The strength and reach of Swiss Life Asset Managers further underscore Eliance's appeal and the industry's attractiveness to infrastructure investors. Their support will be instrumental in driving Eliance's next phase of growth and enabling the company to play a key role in consolidating the European market," commented Alessandro Graziano, Chief Investment Officer at RiverRock.

For their part, Juan Carlos Martinez, CEO of the group, and Fernando Gallardo, group CFO at Grupo Eliance, added that "Swiss Life Asset Managers' investment in Grupo Eliance not only strengthens our financial framework, but also ensures the stability needed to drive our continued growth in an industry that increasingly requires significant investments. This strategic partnership positions us to enhance our profitability and continue our expansion."

Lazard served as the sole financial advisor to Eliance during this transaction, contributing their expertise to secure an investment that supports Eliance's operational sustainability and growth.

Media contact:

Blanca Ahijado

+34 635 577 750

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/swiss-life-asset-managers-acquires-a-majority-stake-in-eliance-302423527.html
by Darren R. Jones, Morgan DiSanto-Ranney and Stephen Eng

The role of the life sciences industry in corporate social responsibility

The life sciences industry consistently demonstrates leadership in corporate social responsibility through various stewardship activities within the global healthcare economy. However, these efforts can often be perceived as attempts to influence therapeutic choices within the industry. This unfair characterization stems from poor public perception and trust, combined with aggressive enforcement actions against unethical business practices from a few bad players. As a result, many organizations have adopted broad life sciences risk management strategies to mitigate the highly subjective risk of misperception.

This aversion to risk has led to inefficient programs for engaging and supporting the needs of the industry. Today, as academic research institutions face potential reductions in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, their need to solicit stewardship initiatives from life sciences innovators will increase dramatically. As demands rise, the industry's inefficient and risk averse practices now stand in the way of progress.

Types of stewardship activities

Stewardship activities in the life sciences industry take multiple forms, including educational grants (accredited and non-accredited), charitable contributions, corporate sponsorships and investigator sponsored research. These activities can either be unplanned or planned initiatives, and a thorough review of these engagements is needed to ensure life science companies adhere to applicable laws, regulations and industry guidelines. Let's delve deeper into each type:

Educational grants: These grants are provided to support educational programs and initiatives without influencing the recipient's agenda. They aim to enhance knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals which further supports innovation and improvements in patient care. Charitable contributions: These contributions are made to various charitable organizations and causes, supporting their efforts to improve healthcare outcomes and address public health challenges. Most notably this includes supporting the activities of patient advocacy organizations and various healthcare foundations. These contributions must be provided without any expectation of return or influence on the recipient's activities. Corporate sponsorships: Sponsorships offer brand or corporate recognition, often with an opportunity to promote a company's innovation. They can include funding for events, conferences, or other activities that align with the company's values and goals. Investigator sponsored research: This type of stewardship activity involves funding research initiatives sponsored by researchers, who are often affiliated with academic research hospitals or other leading institutions. The support is provided to advance scientific knowledge and innovation without directing the research agenda.

The importance of compliance and ethical engagement

When performed correctly and in full compliance with regulatory standards, stewardship activities play a crucial role in supporting the broader healthcare industry. These initiatives not only facilitate the exchange of scientific knowledge but also strengthen research collaborations, accelerating the development of innovative treatments and medical advancements. By fostering partnerships between life sciences companies, healthcare providers and academic institutions, stewardship efforts can help address unmet medical needs, improve patient outcomes and drive the evolution of therapeutic areas.

Moreover, life sciences companies have an inherent corporate social responsibility to engage in stewardship activities that align with their strategic goals and overarching objectives. This responsibility extends beyond financial contributions to include knowledge sharing, ethical engagement with healthcare professionals, investment in sustainable healthcare solutions and ensuring equitable access to medical innovations. Companies that prioritize responsible stewardship enhance their credibility, build trust with stakeholders and contribute meaningfully to public health initiatives.

In aggregate, the life sciences industry channels billions of dollars into the healthcare ecosystem through these efforts, making a substantial impact on research funding, healthcare accessibility and scientific advancement. However, despite these contributions, companies often refrain from actively promoting their stewardship initiatives due to concerns about how their intentions might be perceived. The fear of being accused of self-interest or undue influence can lead organizations to under communicate their positive contributions, ultimately limiting the recognition and awareness that could support their broader corporate strategies.

By proactively and transparently communicating the value of these stewardship efforts, life sciences companies have an opportunity to strengthen their corporate reputation, enhance stakeholder trust and demonstrate their commitment to ethical and impactful healthcare advancement. Recognizing these initiatives in a responsible manner can help shift perceptions, fostering greater appreciation for the industry's role in driving medical innovation and improving global health outcomes.

Impact of large false claims and anti-kickback settlements

Over the past 25 years, the life sciences industry has faced significant challenges due to large-scale false claims and anti-kickback settlements, which have shaped its practices and reputation. Aggressive enforcement actions, particularly in the early 2000s, intensified the industry's risk aversion.

The False Claims Act (FCA) and Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) have been central to these efforts, with high profile settlements underscoring the need for compliance and ethical practices. Enforcement actions remain active, as evidenced by the 2024 Department of Justice (DOJ) resolutions involving improper marketing and kickbacks that inflated federal healthcare costs.

These settlements have reinforced the importance of compliance but also fueled a risk-averse culture that has led to inefficiencies - delayed decision making, increased administrative burdens and stifled innovation - ultimately hindering partnerships and slowing industry progress. As the industry continues to navigate these challenges, further complexities arise with the recent shift in federal policy under the Trump administration.

Impact of the Trump administration's reduction of NIH funding

One significant development under the Trump administration is the proposed reduction in NIH funding, which is set to have a profound impact on both the life sciences industry and academic research institutions. The administration has suggested a $6 billion cut to the NIH budget, representing a 20% decrease. This has sparked widespread concern among researchers and industry experts about the long-term effects on scientific research and innovation.

Additionally, there is a new NIH policy that limits funding for "indirect" costs to just 15% of new federal grants, a substantial decrease from the typical rate provided. Indirect costs cover essential infrastructure needs, such as utilities and administrative salaries, that support research efforts. By imposing this cap, the NIH aims to save approximately $4 billion annually. However, this reduction in funding could delay or even prevent a range of research projects, as universities assess whether they can afford to move forward with new initiatives under tighter financial constraints.

The biotechnology sector, which heavily depends on NIH funded basic scientific research, is especially vulnerable to these cuts. Many groundbreaking discoveries made in academic labs lead to the formation of new drug startups backed by venture investors. Furthermore, therapeutic areas that have historically received significant NIH support - such as oncology, infectious diseases, neurological disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases) and cardiovascular diseases - are at risk of seeing reduced progress. Additionally, nearly 7,000 rare diseases affecting over 30 million Americans, which have long struggled to secure funding, are particularly dependent on NIH support.

Shifting industry landscape: A need for balancing compliance and stewardship

While the life sciences industry continues to play a crucial role in corporate social responsibility through various stewardship activities, the legacy of large false claims and anti-kickback settlements, coupled with the Trump administration's reduction of NIH funding, is rapidly shifting the overall environment. Moving forward, it is essential for the industry to balance compliance with proactive engagement in stewardship initiatives to support the healthcare ecosystem effectively.

When taken in aggregate, stewardship programs should allocate resources to organizations and activities that reflect the company's values and commitment to social responsibility. By participating in educational grants, charitable contributions, corporate sponsorships and investigator sponsored research, companies can demonstrate their dedication to improving healthcare outcomes and fostering innovation. These stewardship activities not only support critical healthcare initiatives but also enhance the company's reputation by showcasing its ethical standards and commitment to the public good.

Effective stewardship practices, such as those facilitated by platforms like stewardshipNOW, ensure transparency, compliance and strategic impact, thereby strengthening the corporate brand and building trust with stakeholders. Through these efforts, companies can create a positive corporate image, attract socially conscious customers and investors and ultimately achieve long-term success.

For more information on this topic or to explore our stewardship and compliance solutions, connect with a Baker Tilly specialist.

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - PureWave Hydrogen Corp. (TSXV: PWH) ("PureWave" or the "Company"), is pleased to provide an update on the recent activities adjacent to the Company's Lily Rock acreage position that is strategically located within the Mid-Continent Rift (MCR) system in Kansas. Such activity re-affirms the Company's on-going geological analyses for advancement of exploration and development of naturally occurring hydrogen resources, commonly known as "white hydrogen" with a focus of driving long-term value creation.

There has been an increasingly amount of activity surrounding the The Mid-Continent Rift (MCR) that is rapidly gaining attention as a potential new frontier for geologic "white" hydrogen resources. Most recently, HyTerra Ltd. (ASX: HYT) announced results from the Hoarty NE3 well within its Geneva Project in Nebraska, located along the same MCR trend. Gas analyses from the well showed helium concentrations up to 12.8% and hydrogen levels reaching an impressive 44%, underscoring the region's potential for hosting high-value natural gas mixtures.

In parallel, Koloma, a well-funded private company backed by prominent investors including Bill Gates, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is actively advancing its seismic program and extensive geological research within the MCR corridor. These activities continue to validate the MCR as a geological setting for hydrogen generation, migration, and entrapment.

"With our acreage positioned directly on trend with HyTerra and Koloma, the Company believes the Lily Rock project represents compelling underexplored hydrogen opportunities in North America," said Greg Busby, CEO of PureWave Hydrogen. "The encouraging results from the Hoarty NE3 well in conjunction with the increasing interest in this industry further supports our thesis that the Mid-Continent Rift could potentially host commercially viable concentrations of natural hydrogen."

PureWave remains dedicated to building strategic partnerships with leading academic and geoscientific institutions as it advances efforts to de-risk its exploration targets and continues to review the prospects of acquiring additional acreage within this emerging hydrogen region in Kansas.

About PureWave Hydrogen Corp.

PureWave Hydrogen is an evolving junior oil and gas company with the potential of exploration and development of naturally occurring "white hydrogen" resources in the United States and Canada.

TSX Venture: PWH

www.purewavehydrogen.com

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking statements or information". Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: anticipate, intend, plan, goal, seek, believe, project, estimate, expect, strategy, future, likely, may, should, will and similar references to future periods.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. The Company may not actually achieve its plans, projections, or expectations. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: the Company's discovery and development of white (natural) hydrogen resources across North America, the adequacy of our cash flow and earnings, the availability of future financing and/or credit, developments and changes in laws and regulations, consumer sentiment towards the Company's products, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, government regulations, competition, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions, the impact of technology and social changes on the products and industry, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in disclosure documents filed by the Company with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available on the Company's issuer profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Given these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the TSXV nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) 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/247773

SOURCE: PureWave Hydrogen Corp.
Arcady Sosinov, appointed Tritium CEO in December 2024, announces a next-generation ultra-scaling EV charging solution that will be revealed April 28, 2025 at ACT Expo in Anaheim, Calif.

LEBANON, Tenn., April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tritium, a global leader in direct current (DC) fast chargers for electric vehicles (EVs), today announced that it will unveil a revolutionary next-generation DC fast charging architecture at this year's ACT Expo conference in Anaheim, Calif. on April 28, 2025. This groundbreaking architecture significantly enhances Tritium's current shared power model, creating a more efficient and powerful pool of shared power that will redefine industry standards.

"We're looking forward to unveiling this powerful, ultra-scalable solution to our existing and future customers at ACT Expo," said Arcady Sosinov, Tritium's CEO. "Our next-generation architecture is designed for ultimate flexibility and growth, allowing for dramatically more charge points to be utilized at one location. This redefines what's possible in the market today, reducing customers' capital investment while providing flexible ultrafast charging solutions for a variety of EVs."

Sosinov was named Tritium's CEO in December 2024. Prior to joining Tritium, Sosinov was the founder and CEO of Freewire Technologies, an industry leader in battery-integrated ultrafast EV charging and energy management solutions focused on solving grid infrastructure constraints.

In addition to Sosinov's appointment as CEO, early this year Tritium promoted Aaron Jones to Chief Sales Officer and appointed Dr. Philip Garton as Chief Financial Officer. Jones was previously Tritium's Vice President of Sales. Dr. Garton brings extensive financial leadership experience to help drive Tritium's next phase of growth and market expansion.

Tritium will unveil its new charging architecture that exceeds current market capabilities at ACT Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center on April 28, 2025.

About Tritium For over a decade, Tritium has been a pioneer in DC fast-charging, powering the road forward with innovative solutions that businesses and drivers depend on daily. Tritium designs and manufactures proprietary hardware and software to create advanced and reliable DC fast charging solutions and services for electric vehicles. Tritium's compact and robust chargers are USA-made and designed to look great on Main Street and perform in harsh conditions, through technology engineered to be easy to install, own, and use. Tritium is focused on continuous innovation in support of its customers around the world. In 2024 the Tritium global business was acquired by Exicom Tele-Systems Inc.

Media Contact:

Steve Janisse

steve.janisse@newsmakersmedia.com

404-574-9206

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4a86679b-3c5f-4e45-bd8c-3a4b2573e869
Technip Energies (PARIS:TE) has been awarded a major(1) contract by Blue Point Number One, a joint venture between CF Industries, JERA, and MITSUI & CO, for the Blue Point Number One ATR Project in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. This project aims to deliver the world's largest low-carbon ammonia plant with a capacity of approximately 1.4 million metric tons per year.

Technip Energies will perform the engineering, procurement, equipment and module fabrication for the production facility, leveraging its expertise in modularization and project delivery excellence. Working with Topsoe to integrate its SynCOR AmmoniaTM technology, Technip Energies will draw on its proven ability to integrate cutting-edge technologies into industrial-scale projects.

The Blue Point Number One ATR Project is expected to enable greater than 95 % CO 2 recovery, representing a significant step forward for the ammonia industry. The low-carbon ammonia produced will be used to meet what is expected to be robust global demand for both traditional and new applications. Ammonia offers a low-cost liquid energy vector compared with other modes of hydrogen transport. The significant improvement in technology will contribute to its further development as a viable, low-carbon solution for power generation, marine fuels and other markets.

Arnaud Pieton, CEO of Technip Energies, commented: "We are delighted to be entrusted by CF Industries, JERA, and Mitsui with BluePoint Number One ATR, a landmark project for the low-carbon ammonia industry that highlights our capabilities in delivering large-scale facilities that integrate state-of-the-art technologies. By leveraging our modularization know-how and project delivery excellence, we are paving the way for low-carbon ammonia production at scale. Technip Energies is part of the solution in a global effort towards a pragmatic, yet ambitious decarbonization."

(1) A "major" award for Technip Energies is a contract award representing above 1 billion of revenue. This award will be included in the Project Delivery segment's backlog in Q2 2025.

About Technip Energies

Technip Energies is a global technology and engineering powerhouse. With leadership positions in LNG, hydrogen, ethylene, sustainable chemistry, and CO 2 management, we are contributing to the development of critical markets such as energy, energy derivatives, decarbonization, and circularity. Our complementary business segments, Technology, Products and Services (TPS) and Project Delivery, turn innovation into scalable and industrial reality.

Through collaboration and excellence in execution, our 17,000+ employees across 34 countries are fully committed to bridging prosperity with sustainability for a world designed to last.

Technip Energies generated revenues of 6.9 billion in 2024 and is listed on Euronext Paris. The Company also has American Depositary Receipts trading over the counter.

For further information: www.ten.com

Contacts

Investor RelationsMedia Relations

Phillip Lindsay Jason Hyonne

Vice-President Investor Relations Press Relations & Social Media Manager

Tel: +44 207 585 5051 Tel: +33 1 47 78 22 89

Email: Phillip Lindsay Email: Jason Hyonne

Important Information for Investors and Securityholders

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect Technip Energies' (the "Company") intentions, beliefs or current expectations and projections about the Company's future results of operations, anticipated revenues, earnings, cashflows, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, anticipated growth, strategies and opportunities and the markets in which the Company operates. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "plan", "intend", "foresee", "should", "would", "could", "may", "estimate", "outlook", and similar expressions, including the negative thereof. The absence of these words, however, does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations, beliefs and assumptions concerning future developments and business conditions and their potential effect on the Company. While the Company believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made, there can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those that the Company anticipates.

All of the Company's forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are significant or beyond the Company's control, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's historical experience and the Company's present expectations or projections. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

For information regarding known material factors that could cause actual results to differ from projected results, please see the Company's risk factors set forth in the Company's 2024 Annual Financial Report filed on March 10, 2025, with the Dutch Autoriteit Financiele Markten (AFM) and the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF), which includes a discussion of factors that could affect the Company's future performance and the markets in which the Company operates.

Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and speak only as of the date they are made. The Company undertakes no duty to and will not necessarily update any of the forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events, except to the extent required by applicable law.

Technip Energies

Technip Energies
SEQUANA MEDICAL ANNOUNCES NEW SHARE CAPITAL AMOUNT

AND NEW NUMBER OF SHARES

Ghent, Belgium, 8 April 2025 - Sequana Medical NV(Euronext Brussels: SEQUA) (the "Company" or "SequanaMedical"), a pioneer in the treatment of fluid overload in liver disease, heart failure and cancer, announces today that, in the context of a contribution in kind of a EUR 400,000.00 commitment fee outstanding under the share subscription facility agreement entered into on 17 March 2025 between a.o. the Company and GEM Global Yield LLC SCS).

Furthermore, at the occasion of the aforementioned board meeting, the board of directors also decided to approve in principle a capital increase in cash (in multiple transactions, in function of the issuance of subscription request notices by the Company, and subject to certain conditions set forth in the Facility), within the framework of the authorised capital, through the issuance of a maximum of 23,070,491 new shares to the benefit of GEM at the applicable issue price for such new shares as will be determined in accordance with the terms of the Facility, for a maximum aggregate capital increase amount of up to EUR 2,390,102.91 (excluding issue premium). The aggregate amount of the relevant effective capital increases may in any case not exceed the initial maximum commitment of EUR 20,000,000.00 (including issue premium) under the Facility.

The total current number of outstanding subscription rights amounts to 3,899,576, which entitles their holders (if exercised) to subscribe to 5,066,304 new shares with voting rights in total, namely:

up to 261,895 new shares can be issued upon the exercise of 90,780 share options that are still outstanding under the 'Executive Share Options' plan for staff members and consultants of the Company, entitling the holder thereof to acquire ca. 2.88 new shares when exercising one of his or her share options (the " Executive Share Options ");

"); up to 687,784 new shares can be issued upon the exercise of 687,784 share options (each share option having the form of a subscription right) that are still outstanding under the '2018 Share Options' plan for directors, employees and other staff members of the Company and its subsidiaries, entitling the holder thereof to acquire one new share when exercising one of his or her share options (the " 2018 Share Options ");

"); up to 188,370 new shares can be issued upon the exercise of 188,370 share options (each share option having the form of a subscription right) that are still outstanding under the '2021 Share Options' plan for directors, employees and other staff members of the Company and its subsidiaries, entitling the holder thereof to acquire one new share when exercising one of his or her share options (the " 2021 Share Options ");

"); up to 1,000,000 new shares can be issued upon the exercise of 1,000,000 share options (each share option having the form of a subscription right) that are still outstanding under the '2023 Share Options' plan for directors, employees and other staff members of the Company and its subsidiaries, entitling the holder thereof to acquire one new share when exercising one of his or her share options (the " 2023 Share Options ");

"); up to 302,804 new shares can be issued to Bootstrap Europe S.C.SP. upon the exercise of 10 warrants (each warrant having the form of a subscription right) that are still outstanding that have been issued by the extraordinary shareholders meeting of 27 May 2022 (the " Bootstrap Warrants ");

"); up to 1,567,819 new shares can be issued to Kreos Capital VII Aggregator SCSp. upon the exercise of 875,000 warrants (each warrant having the form of a subscription right) that are still outstanding that have been issued by the extraordinary shareholders meeting of 20 December 2024 (the " Kreos Warrants ") 1 ; and

") ; and up to 1,057,632 new shares can be issued upon exercise of 1,057,632 subscription rights that are still outstanding that have been issued by the board of directors (within the framework of the authorized capital) on 27 April 2023 and 10 May 2023 in the framework of the private placement of new shares and new subscription rights (the "2023 Investor Warrants").





This announcement is made in accordance with Article 15 of the Belgian Act of 2 May 2007 on the disclosure of major participations in issuers of which shares are admitted to trading on a regulated market and regarding miscellaneous provisions.

For more information, please contact:

Sequana Medical

Investor relations

E: IR@sequanamedical.com

T: +32 9 292 8065

About Sequana Medical

Sequana Medical NV is a pioneer in treating fluid overload, a serious and frequent clinical complication in patients with liver disease, heart failure and cancer. This causes major medical issues including increased mortality, repeated hospitalizations, severe pain, difficulty breathing and restricted mobility. Although diuretics are standard of care, they become ineffective, intolerable or exacerbate the problem in many patients. There are limited effective treatment options, resulting in poor clinical outcomes, high costs and a major impact on their quality of life. Sequana Medical is seeking to provide innovative treatment options for this large and growing "diuretic resistant" patient population. alfapump and DSR are Sequana Medical's proprietary platforms that work with the body to treat diuretic-resistant fluid overload, and are intended to deliver major clinical and quality of life benefits for patients, while reducing costs for healthcare systems.

The Company received US FDA approval for the alfapump System for the treatment of recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis in December 2024, following the grant of FDA Breakthrough Device Designation in 2019. Sequana Medical intends to start US commercialisation early in mid-Q3 2025 through a small specialty sales force that it will establish to target the 90 US liver transplant centers that perform 95% of liver transplants.

Results of the Company's RED DESERT and SAHARA proof-of-concept studies in heart failure published in European Journal of Heart Failure in April 2024 support DSR's mechanism of action as breaking the vicious cycle of cardiorenal syndrome. All three patients from the non-randomized cohort of MOJAVE, a US randomized controlled multi-center Phase 1/2a clinical study, have been successfully treated with DSR, resulting in a dramatic improvement in diuretic response and virtual elimination of loop diuretic requirements2.

Sequana Medical is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels.

Important Safety Information: For important safety information regarding the alfapump system, see https://www.sequanamedical.com/wp-content/uploads/ISI.pdf.

The alfapump System is currently not approved in Canada.

DSR therapy is still in development and is currently not approved in any country. The safety and effectiveness of DSR therapy has not been established.

Note: alfapump and DSR are registered trademarks.

Forward-looking statements

This press release may contain predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements represent the current judgment of Sequana Medical on what the future holds, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Sequana Medical expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release, except if specifically required to do so by law or regulation. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of Sequana Medical only as of the date of this press release.

1 The exercise price of the Kreos Warrants is equal to the lowest subscription price paid or agreed to be paid for a share in the share capital of the Company pursuant to any round of equity financing; mean increase of 326% in six-hour urinary sodium excretion at 3 months follow up vs baseline, and 95% reduction of loop diuretics over same period

Attachments
Approval by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) in Japan enables TWYMEEG (Imeglimin) to be prescribed to type-2 diabetic patients with moderate to severe renal impairment. This approval is based on the results of the Phase 4 TWINKLE study

Sumitomo Pharma to immediately start promoting the use of the product in this new patient population, further supporting efforts to maximize TWYMEEG opportunity in Japan

This regulatory milestone could also support Poxel's strategy and ongoing discussions to develop and commercialize Imeglimin outside of Japan

Regulatory News:

POXEL SA (Euronext: POXEL FR0012432516), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative treatments for chronic serious diseases with metabolic pathophysiology, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and rare metabolic disorders, today announces that the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) in Japan has approved the revision of TWYMEEG package insert for patients with renal impairment with eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) less than 45 mL/min/1.73m2

This approval follows positive topline results from the post-marketing clinical study TWINKLE (TWYMEEG in diabetic patients with renal impairment: A post-marketing long-term study) in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients with renal impairment, which confirmed TWYMEEG's safety and tolerability profile, as announced last August1. Based on these results, discussions with the Japanese regulatory authorities were initiated by Sumitomo Pharma, resulting in the approval that will be officially implemented by Sumitomo Pharma as of April 8, 2025.

"The approval of the revised TWYMEEG package insert from the regulatory authorities in Japan is a major milestone for Sumitomo Pharma allowing us to address a key patient population, particularly elderly individuals with renal impairment, who are faced with limited treatment options. TWYMEEG is an important asset in our existing diabetes franchise, and we remain fully committed to support its sales trajectory, building on the safety and tolerability profile observed from TWINKLE study", stated Koichi Kozuki, Executive Officer, Corporate Regulatory Compliance Quality Assurance Division, Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Regulatory Compliance Quality Assurance Division of Sumitomo Pharma.

"This regulatory achievement, combined with recent patent approvals, further strengthens TWYMEEG's prescription strategy in a large patient population with high unmet medical need", added Thomas Kuhn, Chief Executive Officer of Poxel. "Given the high prevalence of renal impairment among type-2 diabetic patients, this approval further strengthens the product's commercial potential in other Asian territories."

This milestone builds on the newly granted patent (n7635474) by the Japanese Patent Office to Poxel2 covering the use of Imeglimin in type-2 diabetic patients with moderate to severe renal impairment until 2039, strengthening TWYMEEG's patent portfolio in Japan and protecting its use in this population. Poxel previously received the grant of this patent in China3, the world's second largest type-2 diabetes market, further supporting ongoing discussions initiated by Poxel to develop Imeglimin beyond Japan.

About TWYMEEG

TWYMEEG is the first agent in a class of tetrahydrotriazine-containing molecules. It is thought that the Drugshows a glucose lowering effect by both a pancreatic action that promotes glucose concentration-dependent insulin secretion and an extra-pancreatic action that improves glucose metabolism in the liver and skeletal muscle (suppression of gluconeogenesis and improvement of glucose uptake), through acting on mitochondria. The Drug has the potential to prevent endothelial and diastolic dysfunction, which could provide protective effects on micro- and macrovascular defects induced by diabetes. It may also have protective effects on pancreatic cell survival and function. Owing to its unique mechanism of action, the Drug is widely used for glucose lowering in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, either as monotherapy or as an add-on to other therapies for this purpose.

In October 2017, Sumitomo Pharma concluded a development and commercialization partnership agreement for Japan, Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Korea and nine Southeast Asian countries with Poxel SA (Head Office: Lyon, France; CEO: Thomas Kuhn) and started selling the Drug in Japan in September 2021.

In September 2024, Sumitomo Pharma and Poxel amended this agreement, whereby Poxel received the rights back from Sumitomo for all territories under the agreement except Japan.

About Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd.

Sumitomo Pharma Group defines its Mission as "To broadly contribute to society through value creation based on innovative research and development activities for the betterment of healthcare and fuller lives of people worldwide." By pouring all our efforts into the research and development, the Group aims to provide innovative and valuable pharmaceutical and healthcare solutions to people in Japan and around the world in order to realize its Mission. The Group will remain committed to research and development with the aim of continually discovering excellent pharmaceuticals, regenerative medicine/cell therapy, non-pharmaceutical products, and others with a focus on the Psychiatry Neurology and Oncology as priority disease areas.

For more details, please visit website: www.sumitomo-pharma.com

About Poxel SA

Poxel is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative treatments for chronic serious diseases with metabolic pathophysiology, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and rare disorders. For the treatment of MASH, PXL065 (deuterium-stabilized R-pioglitazone) met its primary endpoint in a streamlined Phase 2 trial (DESTINY-1). In rare diseases, development of PXL770, a first-in-class direct adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator, is focused on the treatment of adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). TWYMEEG (Imeglimin), Poxel's first-in-class product that targets mitochondrial dysfunction, is now marketed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in Japan by Sumitomo Pharma and Poxel expects to receive royalties and sales-based payments. Poxel has a strategic partnership with Sumitomo Pharma for Imeglimin in Japan. Listed on Euronext Paris, Poxel is headquartered in Lyon, France, and has subsidiaries in Boston, MA, and Tokyo, Japan.

For more information, please visit: www.poxelpharma.com

All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release about future events are subject to (i) change without notice and (ii) factors beyond the Company's control. These statements may include, without limitation, any statements preceded by, followed by or including words such as "target," "believe," "expect," "aim," "intend," "may," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "project," "will," "can have," "likely," "should," "would," "could" and other words and terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control that could cause the Company's actual results or performance to be materially different from the expected results or performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not endorse or is not otherwise responsible for the content of external hyperlinks referred to in this press release.

__________________________

1 Sumitomo Pharma and Poxel Announce Topline Results from Post-Marketing Clinical Study on TWYMEEG for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in Japan", August 7, 2024

2 Poxel Announces Grant of New Patent in Japan for the Use of Imeglimin in Type-2 Diabetic Patients with Renal Impairment", on March 31, 2025

3 Poxel Announces the Grant of Patent in China Protecting the Use of Imeglimin for Type-2 Diabetic Patients with Renal Impairment", on January 20, 2025

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408412830/en/

Contacts:

Contacts Investor relations Media

NewCap

Aurelie Manavarere, Theo Martin Arthur Rouille

investors@poxelpharma.com

+33 1 44 71 94 94
Ideagen, a global leader in regulatory compliance software, and Maritime and Healthcare Group (MHG), renowned provider of healthcare staffing and maritime services, have agreed a ground-breaking partnership that is set to transform operations and safety in the maritime industry.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250407615613/en/

Ben Dorks, Ideagen CEO

This landmark collaboration will simplify and streamline safety, compliance and healthcare management for maritime organizations, including cruise lines, offshore platforms and commercial vessels.

For the first time, businesses can manage compliance operations and the sourcing of healthcare professionals and services, through a single, comprehensive agreement an unprecedented milestone for the industry.

The innovative offering combines Ideagen's cutting-edge software with MHG's global network of over 5,000 healthcare professionals globally and a network of medical facilities that spans across 900 locations, delivering a holistic end-to-end healthcare service.

Speaking about the relationship, Ideagen CEO Ben Dorks, said: "The complexities of keeping people safe at sea cannot be underestimated and this new partnership will not only simplify this for the maritime and offshore industries, but it will enhance efficiency, improve outcomes and ensure the safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew.

"It will dramatically reduce both complexity and cost for our customers but most importantly enable them to strengthen healthcare, safety and compliance."

This was a point echoed by Sylvina Nolte, Chief Operating Officer at MHG: "The maritime industry rightly demands the highest standards when it comes to the recruitment and selection of the healthcare professionals needed to deliver care at sea. This partnership allows businesses to address these critical challenges seamlessly.

"Our combined services make it easier than ever for organizations to focus on their core operations while ensuring robust support for their crew and passengers."

Ideagen's platform provides a centralized solution for every aspect of a fleet's medical operations, from crew health checks and passenger records, to inventories and ensuring adherence to strict compliance standards like HIPAA and GDPR, seamlessly connecting ships, crew members and medical providers.

This perfectly complements MHG's healthcare offerings, which alongside on-board healthcare services such as providing and managing healthcare professionals, includes 24/7 mental health and telemedicine advice and support, access to a global network of medical facilities for specialist consultations, pre-employment medical examinations and other onshore medical services (referrals, case management, evacuations and more). Together, they set a benchmark for operational efficiency and crew safety in the maritime sector.

Ben added: Our purpose at Ideagen is to protect people, operations and reputations in highly regulated industries. This partnership with MHG exemplifies our commitment to delivering innovative and practical solutions that empower organizations to manage risk, control costs and improve safety standards."

As well as their specialist maritime solutions, Ideagen software supports more than two-million users daily to manage health and safety, risk, quality and compliance.

Their customers include 95% of the cruise industry, over 900 hospitals and healthcare centres, 15 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies, more than 1,000 government organizations, nine of the top 10 global aerospace and defense corporations, nine of the top 10 accounting firms, 250 global aviation organizations, 65% of the top 20 global food and drink brands as well as some of the leading companies in mining, construction and energy.

Key features of the partnership

Comprehensive services : One agreement provides both healthcare professionals and compliance-enhancing software.

: One agreement provides both healthcare professionals and compliance-enhancing software. Global reach : Access to MHG's 5,000+ maritime professionals and access to a network of medical facilities covering more than 900 locations worldwide supported by Ideagen's best in class compliance platform already used by over 95% of the cruise industry.

: Access to MHG's 5,000+ maritime professionals and access to a network of medical facilities covering more than 900 locations worldwide supported by Ideagen's best in class compliance platform already used by over 95% of the cruise industry. 24/7 support : Round-the-clock telemedicine and mental health support for crew welfare in main languages.

: Round-the-clock telemedicine and mental health support for crew welfare in main languages. Enhanced efficiency : Ideagen's software solutions streamline safety, compliance and risk management, reducing administrative burdens.

: Ideagen's software solutions streamline safety, compliance and risk management, reducing administrative burdens. Scalability: Tailored to meet the needs of both small commercial operators and large cruise lines.

About Ideagen

Ideagen brings clarity and confidence to the safe hands and trusted voices protecting our world.

By unifying deep regulatory expertise and innovation with affordable, best-in-class software we provide trusted, meaningful intelligence to regulated and high-compliance industries such as life sciences, healthcare, banking and finance, aviation, defence, manufacturing and construction.

From the shop floor to the flight deck, from the front line to the boardroom, our 16,000 customers include more than 250 global aviation organisations, nine of the top ten accounting firms, nine of the top ten global aerospace and defence corporations, 15 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies and 65% of the top 20 global food drink companies and includes blue chip brands such as Heineken, British Airways, BAE, Aggreko, US Navy, Bank of New York and Johnson Matthey.

Headquartered in Nottingham UK, with offices across the US, Australia, India, Malaysia and UAE, our 1800+ colleagues are dedicated to supporting industries to turn risk into resilience.

About MHG

Maritime Healthcare Group (MHG) is a leading global healthcare provider specializing in the maritime and healthcare industries. With a presence in 6 offices, a network of 5,000+ medical professionals, and a network of over 900 medical facilities worldwide, MHG serves clients across the cruise, commercial, offshore, and onshore healthcare sectors.

MHG offers integrated, end-to-end health services solutions that provide significant efficiency, cost savings, and a holistic customer experience. Supported by our scalable operations platform, we deliver services with reliability, operational excellence and superior quality.

Please visit www.maritimehealthcare.co for more information.

This game-changing partnership is set to impact the entire maritime industry by creating a safer and more efficient environment for all. To learn more about this innovative solution and its benefits, visit the Ideagen website.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250407615613/en/

Contacts:

For media enquiries please contact:

Rebecca Watson

Head of Marketing Communications

rebecca.watson@ideagen.com

+44 (0)7899 755 636
North American customers can enjoy this exclusive deal on CUCKOO's massage chairs

CUCKOO , a global leader in kitchen and home appliances, is offering a limited-time sale on its two most advanced massage chairs in North America: the Renature 4D Massage Chair and the Renature 3D Massage Chair . For a limited time, North American customers can enjoy deep savings on CUCKOO's most advanced massage chairs.

Renature 3D Massage Chair (CMS-D10SLGB)



Renature 4D Massage Chair (CMS-E410CP) - Retailing Now for $5,499

Engineered for full-body rejuvenation, this advanced 4D massage chair features 12 custom massage programs, 10 manual modes, deep tissue relief, and smart automatic body shape recognition. With adjustable intensity and a focus on waist and lower-body care, the Renature 4D Massage Chair delivers the ultimate massage experience.

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Funding to scale the global deployment of Corinex's broadband over power lines (BPL) grid flexibility and visibility solutions for transformative grid digitalization.

VANCOUVER, BC, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Corinex, a global leader in broadband over power lines (BPL)-based grid visibility and flexibility solutions, today announces a $30 million investment round led by U.K.-based Energy Growth Momentum, along with Spanish investment firms Suma Capital, an independent alternative asset manager and a leader in ecological transition, and Adara Ventures. This funding will fuel Corinex's expansion in standardizing and delivering real-time grid flexibility and visibility solutions. By resolving grid constraints while enhancing the resilience and security of energy systems worldwide, this collaborative effort paves the way for the mass adoption of decentralized low-carbon technologies (LCTs).

The investment will support Corinex's ongoing deployments in major European electricity markets, including Germany, Spain, and the U.K., where leading grid operators have formulated-and, in some countries, already standardized-new use cases for the low-voltage grid necessary for mass decarbonization. As a key contributor to industry-standardization associations, Corinex provides standards-based BPL solutions that have been validated for implementation. The high data rate, edge computing capabilities and real time (dynamic) load balancing provided by Corinex technology are essential for increasing the capacity of low-voltage energy infrastructure worldwide.

A shared vision for smarter, more resilient grids

Peter Sobotka, Founder & CEO of Corinex, emphasized the strategic importance of this investment:

"The world's energy grids are at a critical juncture, requiring scalable, real-time solutions to accommodate the rapid electrification of transportation, heating, and decentralized renewables. Corinex's BPL-based technology offers a transformational approach to grid enhancement enabling the instant increase of the grid capacity at low cost.

The Corinex solution was developed, validated, and is now in mass rollouts within real grid environments of the most advanced European utilities. It collects and processes real-time data on the low-voltage part of the grid. Our technology increases grid resiliency by providing real-time control of low-carbon technologies.

The ability to securely collect and manage pools of low-voltage grid data is uniquely positioning Corinex to collaboratively enable some of the many providers of AI technology. Such a combined solution will push grid digitalization to the next new frontiers.

Corinex's growth, profitability, and this investment by Energy Growth Momentum, Suma Capital, and Adara Ventures provide confidence in scaling and mass adoption of Corinex's intelligent infrastructure solutions that enhance grid resiliency and support decarbonization."

Investor Perspectives

John Wilson, Partner at Energy Growth Momentum, underscored the growing demand for grid modernization:

"Energy grids globally are under increasing strain as the transition to renewables accelerates. Corinex's technology turns a traditional infrastructure challenge into a smart, software-driven solution - enabling utilities to dynamically manage grid congestion and maintain stability, all without costly infrastructure overhauls. Our investment reflects our belief that Corinex is uniquely positioned to build the stable, flexible grids the future demands - a vision that aligns with our focus on supporting high-growth companies driving the energy transition."

Natalia Ruiz, Senior Partner at Suma Capital, highlighted the alignment with EU decarbonization goals:

"As Europe intensifies its energy transition, the demand for advanced grid intelligence solutions is more critical than ever. These solutions are the backbone of a resilient and sustainable power system. Corinex's ability to deliver comprehensive, real-time control and end-to-end visibility over distribution networks is pivotal in enabling progress toward a low carbon economy.At Suma Capital, we have been driving the shift toward sustainable energy for nearly two decades through investments in cutting-edge infrastructure and technologies. Supporting Corinex's vision and international expansion not only advances our mission as a sustainable and impact-driven fund but also reaffirms our commitment to tackling the core challenges of this transition."

Alberto Echeverri, Partner at Adara Ventures, emphasized the strategic nature of the investment:

"Investing in Corinex represents a unique opportunity to support a company that is redefining grid management. Building on our successful past investment in a fabless semiconductor company specializing in Power Line Communication (PLC) chipsets for smart energy, we see immense potential in Corinex's ability to lead the next generation of grid innovation.

About Corinex

Corinex is a pioneering provider of broadband over power lines (BPL)-based grid visibility and flexibility solutions, enabling the digital transformation of energy distribution systems worldwide. The company's products accelerate the mass integration of low-carbon technologies (LCTs), automate electricity infrastructure, and transform the grid into a dynamic and intelligent energy system.

About Energy Growth Momentum

Energy Growth Momentum (EGM) is a UK-based private equity firm dedicated to investing in proven operational and digital technologies that enhance the commercial and carbon efficiency of energy assets. By providing growth capital to high-growth energy technology companies, EGM aims to foster a more sustainable, efficient, and flexible energy ecosystem. The firm's investment strategy centers on scaling companies that deliver innovative solutions to address grid modernization, decarbonization, and energy resilience.

About Suma Capital

Suma Capital is an independent alternative asset manager, a leader in ecological transition. The firm focuses its investments on sustainability through three different programs: Sustainable Infrastructure, Growth Capital and Venture Capital. Suma Capital, managing more than 1.2 billion euros in assets, was founded in 2007 and has become a European reference, with a presence in Barcelona, Madrid and Paris.

About Adara Ventures

Adara Ventures is a leading European venture capital firm specializing in deep tech investments. Founded in 2005, the firm manages over 350 million in assets and has a track record of helping high-potential innovators achieve global success. Adara's portfolio focuses on innovative companies in areas such as cybersecurity, data applications and infrastructure, hardware components, digital health, space tech, and energy transition technologies. For more information, visit www.adara.vc.

For further information, please contact Corinex's media relations team at jan.sobotka@corinex.com.

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When history can be arbitrarily distorted: The absurd historical drama staged by US and Japanese politicians

09:20, April 08, 2025 By Zhou Yaxin ( People's Daily Online

On March 29, 2025, the sea breeze on Iwo Jima, carrying the breath of history, blew over the speech manuscript of US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The US politician, known for the labels of "religious fanatic" and "political novice," blatantly declared at the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima that "the brave spirit of US and Japanese soldiers will live on forever," igniting public outrage. When he said, "We have not forgotten the Americans and Japanese who fought on Iwo Jima," it was as if there was a dislocation in time and space. This fierce battle in which US and Japanese troops fought each other to the death was actually whitewashed into an ode to "shared heroism." American netizens sarcastically remarked, "Could it be that the US and Japan were jointly fighting against aliens on Iwo Jima back then?"

In my opinion, this is a carefully planned political plotting, and even more so, a self-serving interest exchange: The United States needs Japan to serve as a pawn in its "Indo-Pacific strategy" and a "vanguard" for strategically containing China. To this end, it spares no effort to package the World War II arch-criminals as "comrades-in-arms." Japan, on the other hand, has significantly increased its military expenditure, vainly attempting to whitewash the crimes of militarism. Winston Churchill once said, "History is written by the victors," but today, Washington is helping Tokyo distort its history of aggression, which is beyond comprehension. Such acts of wantonly distorting history are no different from the actions of Japanese right-wing forces in meddling with history textbooks and paying homage to the Yasukuni Shrine. They are a desecration of history and justice.

While US politicians stage absurd dramas between history and reality, Japan's rightward shift has become increasingly brazen in the conspiracy between the US and Japan. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe once referred to Class-A war criminals of World War II as "patriots," and former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has broken through the principle that Japan has adhered to since 1976, that is, the defense expenditure should not exceed 1% of the gross domestic product (GDP), and proposed to increase the military expenditure to more than 2% of the GDP within five years. Today, Japan has the world's fourth-largest defense budget and even blatantly lists China as the "greatest strategic challenge" in its National Security Strategy. It has even developed the ability to carry out "preemptive strikes on enemy bases." These successive breakthroughs are inseparable from the indulgence of the United States. The US has tacitly allowed Japan to lift the ban on the right of collective self-defense, supported its development of cruise missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometers, strengthened military construction in Okinawa and deployed medium-range missiles aimed at the Taiwan Strait.

History often repeats itself remarkably. Richard von Weizsacker, former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, once said, "Anyone who closes his eyes to the past is blind to the present. Whoever refuses to remember the inhumanity is prone to new risks of infection." In 1937, Japan fabricated an incident on the pretext of the "disappearance" of a soldier and launched a full-scale war of aggression against China, committing heinous crimes. Today, Japanese politicians are once again hyping up the "Taiwan Strait crisis" and seriously formulating a so-called "evacuation plan." But the world will not forget that it was Japanese militarism that brought great disasters to the people of China and other Asian countries and dragged the Japanese people into the abyss of war. On March 28, the day before Hegseth's visit to Iwo Jima, it happened to be the 80th anniversary of the forced "collective suicide" of more than 300 civilians by the Japanese army during the Battle of Okinawa. More than 100 family members of the deceased paid their respects at the tombstones of the victims, calling for reflection on why such a brutal act occurred and praying for a world free from war.

Japanese writer Haruki Murakami bluntly stated in an interview in 2014, "No one has taken real responsibility for the 1945 war end or the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident." Today, 80 years after the end of the war, some Japanese politicians still cannot view that period of history correctly, and the propaganda vehicles of right-wing forces are still openly shouting on the streets of various places in Japan. In Japan, which has always regarded itself as a "peaceful country" after the war, these phenomena are ironic, and the reasons behind them are thought-provoking. When Japan, under the indulgence of the United States, moves towards a path of excessive militarism, this country is gradually sliding into a dangerous historical cycle.

Standing at the ruins of Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, US and Japanese politicians do not see the warnings of history but rather the bargaining chips of geopolitics. They use the "spirit of bravery" to cover up the crimes of aggression, use "alliance unity" to package their ambition to contain China, and use lies to cover up the truth. Perhaps what truly deserves to "live on forever" is not the fabricated "warrior spirit" but rather the awe for the historical truth. History will ultimately prove that any act of distorting the truth will eventually be nailed to the pillar of shame, and the path that deviates from peace and development will ultimately lead to a dead end. Those clowns who try to distort history will also be swept into the dustbin of history.

Zhou Yaxin is an international affairs observer.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
Industrial Gases-Glass Market is Segmented by Type (Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Argon, Helium), by Application (Container Glass, Float Glass, Fibre Glass, Specialty Glass).

BANGALORE, India, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Market for Industrial Gases-Glass was valued at USD 5211 Million in the year 2024 and is projected to reach a revised size of USD 6741 Million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 3.8% during the forecast period.

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Major Factors Driving the Growth of Industrial Gases-Glass Market:

The Industrial Gases-Glass Market continues to adapt as businesses respond to evolving environmental and commercial pressures. Companies compete by refining their gas generation, storage, and distribution capabilities, while also forging partnerships with furnace and sensor technology providers. This interconnected approach leads to better integration, streamlined production, and enhanced sustainability. Industry participants are keenly aware of shifting customer tastes and tightening regulations, driving them to implement environmentally friendly combustion methods. As new applications for advanced glass materials emerge in electronics, construction, and packaging, the demand for high-quality, efficient manufacturing solutions expands. Leveraging the benefits of industrial gases remains a key strategy for maintaining a competitive edge, ensuring that this market remains a dynamic and integral part of modern industry.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRIAL GASES-GLASS MARKET:

Oxygen is fundamental to sustaining the high temperatures that power modern glass furnaces, making it a vital enabler of the Industrial Gases-Glass Market. By fueling cleaner, hotter combustion, it reduces overall energy consumption and helps manufacturers meet increasingly strict environmental standards. Oxygen-enriched processes allow glassmakers to melt raw materials faster, increasing throughput and enhancing product consistency. This reduction in nitrogen presence also lowers nitrogen oxide emissions, an outcome that aligns with governmental and community expectations. Firms worldwide have embraced oxygen-based systems to achieve both cost savings and sustainability, leading to a more eco-friendly production cycle. With ongoing emphasis on operational efficiency, oxygen continues to boost productivity, stimulate investments in cutting-edge furnace designs, and strengthen global market potential.

Hydrogen serves as a versatile, clean-burning fuel, positioning it as a significant catalyst for the Industrial Gases-Glass Market. When combined with oxygen, hydrogen delivers formidable heat output, enabling manufacturers to melt raw materials quickly and reduce time-to-market. Its minimal carbon footprint supports evolving sustainability efforts, appealing to glass producers and regulators alike. Hydrogen-enhanced combustion lowers nitrogen oxide levels, contributing to healthier working conditions and complying with strict environmental standards. By optimizing energy usage, hydrogen-based solutions help companies cut operational costs while maintaining superior glass quality. As green energy initiatives gain popularity, hydrogen's prominence as an essential fuel continues to rise, driving demand for innovative supply infrastructures and reinforcing its value in boosting growth across the global glass sector.

Container glass underpins numerous industries, from beverages to pharmaceuticals, making it a powerful driver of the Industrial Gases-Glass Market. High-quality container glass production demands steady furnace conditions and precise temperature control, both supported by industrial gases. These gases optimize the melting process, enhance clarity, and preserve consistent color while helping control defects that could weaken containers. By enabling furnaces to operate smoothly, oxygen and hydrogen allow manufacturers to maintain production speed and meet growing consumer needs. Modern lifestyle trends also intensify demand for advanced packaging, sparking interest in improved container glass designs with superior properties. As markets require eco-friendly and longer-lasting containers, container glass production continues to expand, reinforcing the indispensable role of industrial gases in this sector.

Growing environmental concerns drive governments and industry players to adopt cleaner, more efficient manufacturing methods. In glass production, industrial gases enable accurate combustion control, promoting lower greenhouse gas emissions and improved process stability. Companies prioritize sustainability by selecting fuels and methods that reduce pollutants, pushing broader adoption of oxygen and hydrogen for furnace operations. This strategy not only minimizes environmental impact but also secures social acceptance among communities advocating stricter ecological regulations. By investing in advanced gas technologies, organizations demonstrate a commitment to greener business practices, enhancing their market reputation. As nations enforce tougher regulations on industrial pollution, demand for industrial gas systems continues to rise, expanding opportunities for suppliers and reinforcing the global market's steady progression.

Manufacturers in the glass sector strive for flawless products, especially in high-value applications like specialty glass and packaging for sensitive contents. Industrial gases play a pivotal role by ensuring tighter temperature control during the melting phase, effectively limiting variations that could cause defects. Precise combustion delivered by oxygen or hydrogen streamlines heat distribution, allowing glassmakers to maintain clarity, structural integrity, and uniform thickness. Meeting elevated quality expectations also helps companies build trust with customers and fosters greater brand loyalty, fueling ongoing market expansion. Many firms rely on advanced monitoring systems that adjust gas flow in real time, preventing process disruptions. This emphasis on quality assurance and consistency solidifies the relevance of industrial gases, contributing to further adoption worldwide.

Efficient glass production demands a high-temperature environment, which can drive up fuel costs. By substituting or supplementing conventional fuels with industrial gases, manufacturers benefit from cleaner burning and improved heat transfer. Oxygen-enriched combustion, for instance, drastically lowers energy consumption by intensifying temperature zones, reducing overall furnace size, and cutting exhaust volumes. These gains allow companies to allocate resources elsewhere, lowering overhead and boosting competitiveness. Additionally, operators who integrate hydrogen minimize carbon-related expenses, aligning with long-term sustainability plans. As cost pressures mount and energy markets fluctuate, cost-effective combustion solutions become increasingly desirable. This enduring drive for efficiency cements industrial gases as an integral piece of furnace operations, enhancing production capabilities and encouraging market growth.

Ongoing developments in furnace design have made advanced industrial gas applications more feasible and beneficial. High-efficiency systems incorporate specialized burners, real-time sensors, and cutting-edge refractory materials to maximize combustion control. These upgrades help glassmakers refine temperature profiles, managing fuel consumption while achieving faster melting rates and better product uniformity. The compatibility of such designs with different gas blends also encourages flexible operations, enabling manufacturers to pivot quickly based on product type or production goals. Research and development efforts emphasize modular furnace designs that efficiently circulate gases, preserving consistent thermal conditions. This balance of adaptability and performance drives faster adoption of new technologies, broadening the industrial gases market. As furnace innovations persist, glass producers increasingly rely on gas solutions for sustained process improvements.

Consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, and other specialized sectors require glass with unique properties, fueling the need for controlled, high-purity production environments. Industrial gases such as argon can protect molten glass from reactive elements, safeguarding the material's integrity during complex fabrication steps. Additionally, oxygen-enriched flames enable precise temperature gradients needed for specialty coatings and intricate shapes. These advancements allow producers to meet tighter specifications for optical clarity, chemical resistance, and mechanical strength. Emerging trends in solar panels, automotive displays, and medical devices further heighten demand for sophisticated glass products. By incorporating diverse gas solutions, manufacturers accommodate higher quality standards while staying competitive. The push for innovative applications boosts investment in gas-driven technologies, reinforcing market growth in both established and emerging economies.

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INDUSTRIAL GASES-GLASS MARKET SHARE

Global Industrial Gases-Glass key players include Linde Group, Air Liquide, Praxair, Air Products and Chemicals, etc. The global top four manufacturers hold a share of about 70%.

Asia-Pacific is the largest market, with a share about 50%, followed by Europe, and North America, both have a share over 45 percent. Asia-Pacific experiences fast-paced growth, driven by urban expansion, rising disposable incomes, and soaring packaging needs. Large populations in countries like China and India further stimulate glass output, intensifying reliance on industrial gases.

In terms of product, Oxygen is the largest segment, with a share over 40%.

And in terms of application, the largest application is Container Glass, followed by Float Glass, Specialty Glass, Fibre Glass, etc.

Key Companies:

Linde Group

Air Liquide

Praxair Inc

Air Products and Chemicals

Taiyo Nippon Sanso

Air Water

Messer

Yingde Gases

Gulf Cryo

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Medical Rubber Stoppers Market is Segmented by Type (Oral Liquid Stopper, Syringe Stopper, Freeze-dried Rubber Stopper), by Application (Regular Rubber Stopper, Film Covered Rubber Stopper, Coated Rubber Stopper).

BANGALORE, India, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Medical Rubber Stoppers Market was valued at USD 1166 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 1619 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period 2024-2030.

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Major Factors Driving the Growth of Medical Rubber Stoppers Market:

The Medical Rubber Stoppers Market thrives on the convergence of public health imperatives, pharmaceutical innovation, and regulatory compliance. As producers explore refined formulations and advanced coating technologies, stoppers become ever more integral to preserving drug efficacy and preventing contamination. Collaboration among manufacturers, healthcare providers, and regulatory agencies ensures continuous improvements that address evolving therapy requirements and patient needs. Companies focus on strategic product differentiation, emphasizing superior physical properties and reliable sealing capabilities to secure competitive advantages. This adaptability proves essential for meeting a broad spectrum of applications, from routine injections to advanced biologics. With the persistent expansion of global healthcare systems, the market's growth trajectory remains positive, signifying a bright future for medical rubber stoppers.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE GLOBAL MEDICAL RUBBER STOPPERS MARKET:

Syringe stoppers safeguard medication integrity by forming airtight seals, preventing contamination and maintaining sterility. Their design allows repeated needle punctures while minimizing particulate generation, which is crucial for protecting patients from harmful debris. These stoppers also help maintain accurate drug dosing, ensuring the proper delivery of crucial therapies. The rising adoption of prefilled syringes in hospitals and clinics further amplifies the demand for high-quality syringe stoppers that offer consistency and reliability. Manufacturers integrate robust quality control measures, given the stringent standards set by regulatory authorities. As chronic diseases drive sustained use of injectable drugs worldwide, the need for dependable syringe stoppers continues to expand, solidifying their essential role in fueling overall market growth.

Freeze-dried rubber stoppers excel in preserving lyophilized (freeze-dried) formulations, making them vital to the Medical Rubber Stoppers Market. These specialized closures protect medications against moisture, helping maintain potency and extend shelf life. By providing a secure barrier, they minimize oxidation, degradation, and microbial intrusion during storage and transport. This reliability is critical for sensitive therapeutics such as vaccines, biologics, and other injectables that require exacting conditions to remain effective. Regulatory bodies demand rigorous testing to ensure these stoppers meet strict purity and safety requirements. Consequently, manufacturers continuously refine stopper designs and materials to address evolving pharmaceutical needs. As global healthcare focuses on advanced treatments, freeze-dried rubber stoppers remain indispensable, propelling further market expansion.

Film covered rubber stoppers are instrumental in enhancing drug safety and quality, thus propelling the Medical Rubber Stoppers Market. A specialized film layer acts as a protective shield, reducing interactions between rubber and the pharmaceutical product. This barrier is especially beneficial for sensitive formulations that could degrade or become contaminated by leachables from traditional stoppers. By maintaining drug purity, film covered stoppers help extend shelf life and ensure accurate dosing. These benefits align with strict regulatory standards, making them an attractive choice for injectables that demand high levels of cleanliness and stability. The growing prevalence of biologics and complex therapies further increases the need for advanced packaging solutions, amplifying the appeal and adoption of film covered stoppers.

The growing number of injectable therapies for chronic and acute conditions propels the demand for high-grade rubber stoppers. Patients depend on specialized formulations for diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and cancer, where injections are crucial for timely treatment. Medical rubber stoppers maintain the sterility and efficacy of these therapeutics, reducing the risk of contamination. As global populations age and healthcare access improves, the volume of injectable prescriptions surges, driving an increased need for safe and reliable packaging solutions. Pharmaceutical companies, looking to enhance brand reputation, emphasize top-tier closure systems to demonstrate product integrity. Consequently, the expanding injectable drug segment remains a significant catalyst, firmly tying medical rubber stopper usage to modern healthcare demands.

The rise of advanced biologics and other complex pharmaceuticals has elevated the need for sophisticated packaging solutions, especially those involving rubber stoppers. Biopharmaceuticals often require strict temperature control and minimal exposure to contaminants, making stoppers designed with specialized materials a necessity. Certain biologics are sensitive to extractables and leachables, so manufacturers incorporate better coatings and formulations to eliminate detrimental interactions. This focus on quality fuels extensive research and development aimed at perfecting stopper designs for new drug classes. Additionally, the personalized medicine trend amplifies the production of specialized therapies, each requiring robust and trustworthy packaging. As biopharma retains a central position in healthcare innovation, medical rubber stoppers maintain a parallel surge in relevance and demand.

Healthcare professionals prioritize safety and sterility during medication administration, leading to stringent protocols surrounding packaging. Rubber stoppers play a key role in preventing contamination and preserving drug strength, which can be compromised if exposed to foreign substances or pathogens. This emphasis on aseptic conditions, particularly in hospitals and clinics, aligns with rising public awareness of infection prevention. Manufacturers integrate cutting-edge technologies like minimal-particle shedding and improved surface treatments, ensuring rubber stoppers meet hospital-grade cleanliness standards. Such enhancements minimize cross-contamination risks and accidental mix-ups, providing medical staff with confidence in product stability. Over time, the market has shifted to robust quality assurance programs and continual testing, emphasizing the pivotal function of rubber stoppers in ensuring patient safety.

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MEDICAL RUBBER STOPPERS MARKET SHARE:

Regionally, China is the leading producer of butyl rubber stoppers, contributing 50.54% of global supply in 2023. Asia-Pacific continue to make strides in boosting their local manufacturing capabilities, prompted by rising chronic disease burdens and expanding infrastructure.

In terms of consumption, the main markets are North America, Europe, and China, with these regions collectively dominating global demand. In 2023, their respective market shares in sales revenue were 26.24%, 23.51%, and 33.73%. This regional distribution highlights the significant role of these areas in the global medical rubber stopper market.

The market for medical rubber stoppers is characterized by low concentration and a highly diversified product range.

Key companies in the industry include West Pharma, Aptar Stelmi, Datwyler, Jiangsu Hualan New Pharmaceutical Material, and Daikyo Seiko, with the top five companies holding a combined market share of over 38.70%.

Key Companies:

Datwyler

Shandong Pharmaceutical Glass

Samsung Medical Rubber

The Plasticoid Company

Sumitomo Rubber

West Pharma

Nipro

Aptar Stelmi

Jiangsu Hualan Pharmaceutical New Materials

Hubei Huaqiang Technology

Daikyo Seiko

Hebei Oak One

Assem-Pak

Jintai Industry

Jiangsu Bosheng Medical New Materials

Zhengzhou Aoxiang Pharmaceutical Technology

Jiangyin Hongmeng Rubber & Plastic Products

Qingdao Huaren Pharmaceutical

Ningbo Xingya Rubber & Plastic

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- Medical Use Sterile Rubber Stopper Market was valued at USD 410 Million in the year 2024 and is projected to reach a revised size of USD 513 Million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 3.3% during the forecast period.

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- Sterile Rubber Stopper Market was valued at USD 424 Million in the year 2024 and is projected to reach a revised size of USD 550 Million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 3.8% during the forecast period.

- Medical Butyl Rubber Stopper Market was valued at USD 769 Million in the year 2024 and is projected to reach a revised size of USD 1173 Million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period.

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View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/medical-rubber-stoppers-market-size-worth-usd-1619-million-by-2030--cagr-4-8--free-sample-report-inside---valuates-reports-302423799.html
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Spark Energy Minerals Inc. (CSE: SPRK) (OTC Pink: SPARF) (FSE: 8PC) ("Spark" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce positive lithium and key pathfinder analytical results from rock-chip sampling in a newly identified high priority Lithium - LCT Pegmatite - Target "Cruzeta" at the Company's flagship Arapaima Lithium Project, Lithium Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The new target, Cruzeta, has been defined by reconnaissance near surface rock-chip samples with analytical results reporting anomalous Lithium values (up to 1,397 ppm) and essential pathfinder elements, including Tantalum (up to 31 ppm), Niobium (up to 413 ppm), Tin (up to 91 ppm), Cesium (up to 106.8 ppm), and Gallium (up to 165 ppm). Importantly, the samples returned Potassium/Rubidium (K/Rb) ratios as low as 23.84*, pointing to highly evolved and fractionated LCT pegmatites, which are characterized by this ratio and the above elemental association.

Jon Hill, Director of Spark Energy Minerals, commented: "We are extremely satisfied with the identification of this new high quality "Cruzeta Target" that appears to contain highly fractioned pegmatites containing our highest anomalous Lithium values to date with up to 1,397 ppm Li. We continue to progress with our first pass exploration program with 61 sub-drainage basins remaining to be explored across Spark's extensive 64,359 Ha tenement package. The Company, after only a few months, has identified 123 pegmatite occurrences within 13 pegmatite trends over a combined 31km strike. We have now mapped three (3) high-priority lithium target areas (Agua Branca, Grota do Maquem and Cruzeta) and one high-priority rare earth elements (REE) target (Caladao) for detailed follow-up exploration. We are confident that initial diamond drilling targets will be generated from this detailed follow-up work within these prospective areas throughout the Arapaima Lithium project here in Brazil."





Figure 1: Location of the new Cruzeta Target relative to Spark's tenement package and the Agua Branca, Groto do Maquem (lithium) and Caladao (rare earth elements (REE)) priority targets.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/247844_8fb08a640495bbdf_002full.jpg

Cruzeta Target

Analytical results for six (6) rock-chip samples from the Cruzeta Target were recently reported and presented below.





Table 1: Analytical results from Cruzeta for Lithium and important pathfinder elements including Potassium/Rubidium (K/ Rb) ratios.



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https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/247844_table.jpg





Figure 2: Newly defined Cruzeta Target showing the location of highly anomalous Lithium and pathfinder element rock-chip samples and the distribution of old artisanal garimpeiro workings within and along the margins of two anomalous sub-drainage basins.



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Reconnaissance exploration to date at Cruzeta has also identified the widespread occurrence of additional old artisanal-garimpeiro workings on Spark's tenements, previously exploited for gemstones providing very encouraging signs of economic mineral potential associated with pegmatites. More detailed mapping and sampling of these areas will be prioritized going forward.





Figure 3: Old Artisanal - Garimpeiro workings previously exploited for gemstones (Beryl - Aquamarine) within the Cruzeta Target showing deeply weathered pegmatite occurrences.



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Potassium/Rubidium Ratio (K/Rb)*

The (K/Rb) ratio is an important geochemical indicator used in lithium exploration (in conjunction with other tools and indicators), particularly in pegmatite-hosted lithium deposits. It provides insights into the degree of fractionation of pegmatites, which directly influences their potential to host lithium mineralization. Pegmatites with low K/Rb ratios (<150) are more evolved and considered fertile for lithium exploration.

The Cruzeta Target has produced in the highest assays to date with 739 ppm, 1,217 ppm and 1,397 ppm Li respectively. The K/Rb ratios for these three samples tabulated above (Table 1) report as low as 23.84 to 36.42 pointing to the potential proximity of highly evolved Lithium, Cesium, Tantalum (LCT) pegmatites which are characterized by this ratio and the corresponding pathfinder elemental association.

Given the deeply weathered pegmatite occurrences found throughout the tenements and elsewhere within the Lithium Valley, pathfinder elements and these key ratios become critical tools for narrowing in on priority targets to explore at depth. Exploration efforts are focused on the identification of advanced pegmatite evolution and strong K/Rb ratios can indicate the following:

These pegmatites formed from highly evolved granitic melts (their composition changes as the melt differentiates).

Rubidium (Rb) preferentially replaced potassium (K) in potassium feldspar and mica minerals during the melt process.

Low K/Rb ratio is created suggesting a higher degree of fractionation, meaning the pegmatite has undergone extensive differentiation, increasing the likelihood of lithium (Li) enrichment.

Highly fractionated pegmatites often contain lithium-bearing minerals like spodumene, petalite, and lepidolite.

Arapaima Lithium Project Continued Exploration Plans

Exploration of Spark's extensive 64,359-hectare tenement package will continue on three main fronts:

Continued first pass reconnaissance phase geological mapping and stream sediment samples with 61 sub-drainage basins remaining to be sampled.

Follow up initiatives in the highly prospective Agua Branca, Groto do Maquem, and Cruzeta priority lithium targets with ongoing interpretation of the results to develop initial drill testing targets.

Plan more extensive programs in the high priority Caladao REE target including auger drilling to further delineate the potential of the prospective REE & gallium zone contiguous to Axel REE's project.

To date, the Company has completed the following exploration work:

Geological Observations: 401

Pegmatite occurrences: 123

Artisanal workings: 66

Samples collected: 399

Pegmatite trends: 13

Sub-drainage basins sampled: 27

Sub-drainage basins remaining to be sampled 61

Eugene Hodgson, CEO & Director of Spark Energy Minerals, commented: "Achieving the highest lithium anomalism to date at the Cruzeta target is a significant milestone for Spark Energy Minerals. The strong lithium and pathfinder element results from our recent rock-chip sampling confirm the highly prospective nature of the Cruzeta target, which adds to our growing portfolio of priority exploration zones across the Arapaima Lithium Project. This discovery, combined with our ongoing exploration efforts, positions Spark to continue advancing our understanding of this world-class lithium district. We remain confident that our systematic approach to exploration will lead to the identification of high-quality drilling targets and ultimately help position Spark as a key player in the growing global lithium supply chain."

QA/QC Protocols

Spark maintained full chain-of-custody control from sampling through to laboratory delivery ensuring the reliability of the assay results. SGS Laboratory used QAQC protocols for blanks, standards and duplicates, the results of which are reported alongside the completed analysis.

Qualified Person:

The scientific and technical information disclosed in this document has been reviewed and approved by Jonathan Victor Hill, BSc Hons, FAUSIMM, a Qualified Person consistent with NI 43-101 and a director of Spark Energy Minerals Inc.

About Spark Energy Minerals Inc.

Spark Energy Minerals, Inc. is a Canadian company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of battery metals and mineral assets, with a particular emphasis on its substantial interests in Brazil. The Company's flagship project is the Arapaima Lithium project spanning 64,359 hectares in Brazil's renowned Lithium Valley, one of the most prolific mining regions in the world. This region is rapidly gaining global recognition for its vast deposits of lithium and rare earth minerals, positioning Brazil as a critical player in the global energy transition.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer

Certain statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward-looking information") as those terms are used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could," "intend," "expect," "believe," "will," "projected," "estimated", "anticipates" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the business of the Company, the Property, financing and certain corporate changes. In addition, it should be noted that rock, soil and stream sediment samples are inherently selective samples and may not represent the true underlying mineralization. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247844

SOURCE: Spark Energy Minerals Inc.
Booking.com and Bachelor / Astrophysicist Dr Matt host an exclusive two-night stay under the Eta Aquariids meteor shower in Tasmania

HOBART, Australia, April 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Booking.com has teamed up with former Bachelor and scientist Dr Matt Agnew to host a sleepover under the stars as the annual Eta Aquariids meteor shower shoots across Australian skies. One lucky pair of Genius members will enjoy an out-of-this-world experience learning about the cosmic event from the astro-expert in 'The Booking.com Cosmic Cabin', a remote home stay on the Tasman Peninsula.

The unique Tassie holiday home at the McHenry Distillery offers an immersive stargazing experience hosted by Dr Matt, featuring a guided tour of the stars through a high-powered telescope, premium Tasmanian food and wine, flights, a rental car and sustainable accommodation amongst the remote wilderness. The stay costs just $18.78 - a nod to the year the Eta Aquariids was discovered - and spans two nights from 5-7 May, coinciding with the peak of the celestial display.

The stay comes at a time when more people than ever are turning to the cosmos for rest, rejuvenation, and an escape from the pace of modern life. According to Booking.com's 2025 Travel Predictions, 'noctourism' - traveling to experience the beauty of unpolluted night skies - is on the rise, with over half (57%) of Aussie travellers* planning a visit to a dark sky destination this year.

The 'Booking.com Cosmic Cabin' offers guests a star-studded itinerary including:

A personalised star-gazing journey guided by Dr. Matt Agnew, gazing through a telescope at McHenry Distillery's private observatory

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks provided by local makers, producers and chefs

Photographs captured by a dark sky photographer to celebrate the celestial event

Flights, car rental, and accommodation at The Booking.com Cosmic Cabin

A day trip to explore Port Arthur Historic Site and Tasmanian Devil Unzoo

The 'Booking.com Cosmic Cabin' will be bookable on a first-come, first-served basis on 17 April, 2025, starting at 12pm AEST, for one Booking.com Genius traveller and one guest.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/a-stellar-stay-spend-a-night-under-the-stars-with-dr-matt-agnew-in-bookingcoms-cosmic-cabin-302423355.html
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Winnie Sanjoto, Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance Division, Ontario Securities Commission, and her team joined Chris Birkett, President, TSX Listings, to close the market to celebrate the Ontario Securities Commission's oversight of the capital markets.





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The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing the capital markets in Ontario. Its mandate is to protect investors from unfair, improper, or fraudulent practices, foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets, build confidence in the capital markets, foster capital formation, and contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk.

The OSC operates under the authority of the Securities Act (Ontario) and works to ensure that Ontario's capital markets remain inviting, thriving, and secure.

The OSC is also a member of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), working alongside other provincial and territorial securities regulators to harmonize securities regulation across Canada.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247857

SOURCE: Toronto Stock Exchange
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Deveron Corp. (TSXV: FARM) ("Deveron" or the "Company"), announces that Mr. Albert Contardi has resigned as a director of the Company effective immediately. The Company wishes to thank Mr. Contardi for his valuable contributions to the Company and wishes him every success in his future endeavors.

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.

About Deveron: Deveron is an agriculture technology company that uses data and insights to help farmers and large agriculture enterprises increase yields, reduce costs and improve farm outcomes. The company employs a digital process that leverages data collected on farms across North America to drive unbiased interpretation of production decisions, ultimately recommending how to optimize input use.

For more information and to join our community, please visit www.deveron.com .

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of that phrase under Canadian securities laws. Without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various degrees of risk. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current views with respect to possible future events and conditions and, by their nature, are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific to the Company. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: changes in the world-wide price of agricultural commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in agriculture, the uncertainty of future profitability and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. Additional information regarding the material factors and assumptions that were applied in making these forward-looking statements as well as the various risks and uncertainties we face are described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of our annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis of our financial results and other continuous disclosure documents and financial statements we file with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedarplus.ca. The Company undertakes no obligation to update this forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. The Company relies on litigation protection for forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247852

SOURCE: Deveron Corp.
San Salvador, El Salvador, April 8th, 2025, Chainwire

Dubai, UAE/ San Salvador, El Salvador, Freedx, a centralized exchange built for crypto newcomers and experienced traders alike, has been granted a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) license by the Comision Nacional de Activos Digitales (CNAD) in El Salvador.

This marks a significant milestone for Freedx that showcases the exchanges commitment to become a trusted, compliant and accountable platform in the crypto ecosystem.

El Salvadors dedication to crypto-forward policies and favorable regulatory efforts in the space began in 2021 when they became the first country to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender. The enactment of its Digital Assets Law in 2023 positioned the country as a global hub for digital assets, drawing major industry players like Tether and Binance.

We are truly impressed by the professionalism and preparation demonstrated by the Freedx team. Their readiness to launch a successful company is exactly what we are looking for in companies obtaining the DASP license.  Juan Carlos Reyes / President of CNAD

Freedx is now officially among a select group of organizations that have obtained the DASP license in El Salvador  known to have a low application success rate due to its rigorous compliance standards. This license ensures the platform operates within the countrys legal framework, offering users increased regulatory oversight, security, and transparency. As a result, users can confidently trade and invest, knowing their assets are managed under strict compliance. Additionally, El Salvadors pro-crypto policies and growing blockchain ecosystem provide exciting opportunities for investment and innovation.

Continuing Freedxs goal to establish its brand as a global platform, the company is attending two major conferences, Paris Blockchain Week (PBW) and El Salvador Digital Asset Summit. At PBW, Freedx will sponsor an exclusive VIP Diner at The Louvre and partake in panel discussions at the main stage of the event. Meanwhile, at the Digital Asset Summit, Freedx will focus on exhibiting its brand across the conference hall.

We are all thrilled and honoured to have been granted the coveted DASP license by the Comision Nacional de Activos Digitales. El Salvador is a beacon in the crypto space and is setting the standard for countries looking to undergo a digital and technological revolution, Jonathan Farnell, CEO at Freedx said. This achievement speaks volumes about the hard work the Freedx team is doing to ensure we offer a compliant and transparent experience for our users.

This achievement marks a pivotal step forward for our exchange, reinforcing our dedication to security, transparency, and innovation in the digital asset space. Operating under El Salvadors strict and rigorous regulatory framework ensures that we maintain the highest standards in listing assets and handling user deposits. This license not only safeguards user funds but also instills confidence that their assets are managed securely and in full compliance with legal requirements. Said Raks Sondhi, COO at Freedx.

About Freedx

Freedx is a next-generation cryptocurrency exchange designed by traders, for traders. Founded by a team of industry veterans from top financial and crypto institutions such as Binance, Deutsche Bank, Upbit, eToro, and more, Freedx brings together deep expertise in trading, technology, and risk management.

Guided by a user-centric philosophy, Freedx combines professional-grade trading technology with a sleek and intuitive interface, empowering a broad spectrum of users to trade confidently in the rapidly evolving digital asset landscape.

To learn more about Freedx and to stay informed of the latest developments, users can visit https://freedx.com/, or follow Freedx on social media.

Disclaimer:

Freedx, S.A. de C.V, trading under the brand name of Freedx is a licensed and regulated cryptocurrency exchange and Bitcoin service provider under the laws of El Salvador, operating in full compliance with applicable regulatory frameworks. Our services are accessible only to users who sign up on their own initiative, and we do not actively market or solicit users from any jurisdiction where regulatory approval is required. Users must successfully complete onboarding and KYC verification, and access to platform features remains subject to jurisdictional restrictions and compliance with relevant laws.

Contact

Head of Marketing

Rahil Bhagat

Freedx

[email protected]

Disclaimer: This is a paid press release and is distributed for general information only and is not intended to constitute investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities.


Marriage is a union between two people, but no one said either has to be alive. The ancient Chinese tradition of ghost marriages, dating back nearly 3,000 years, revolves around unions involving the deceased. Originally, the practice involved symbolic marriages between two dead individuals, arranged by the living. In more recent times, however, there have been instances where a living person has married someone who is no longer alive read more

The reason behind ghost marriages might come as a surprise. AI-generated/Representational Image

Marriage is traditionally seen as a union between two individuals. But have you ever wondered if both need to be alive?

It appears the phrase till death do us part does not apply to certain customs.

ALSO READ | Why cloning of dead pets is becoming more and more popular in China

One such example is the ancient Chinese practice of  ghost marriages. This ancient tradition, which dates back nearly 3,000 years, centres around marrying the deceased.

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Yes, you read that correctly.

As the name suggests, it is about forming a marriage with someone who has passed away.

In this report, we explore what ghost weddings are, why they continue in parts of China, how these unions are arranged, and whether similar customs exist beyond Chinas borders.

What are ghost marriages?

A tradition that stretches back nearly 3,000 years, ghost weddings are an ancient Chinese custom in which a deceased person is married either to another dead individual or, in rare instances, to someone still living.

Initially, the practice was limited to the dead, where the living would arrange a symbolic union between two unmarried deceased people. However, in more recent times, some cases have included a living person marrying the deceased.

This tradition stretches back nearly 3,000 years. Pixabay/Representational Image

In ceremonies involving two deceased individuals, the brides family often expects a bride price. A dowry is also provided, typically made up of symbolic items such as paper replicas of jewellery, household staff, and a home.

Much like traditional weddings, factors such as age and family status remain important. Families often seek out feng shui masters to act as matchmakers for the pairing.

The wedding itself usually includes a banquet and the presence of funeral plaques representing the bride and groom. One key ritual involves digging up the brides bones and reinterring them in the grooms grave.

This custom is particularly common in northern Chinese provinces like Shanxi, Shandong and Hebei.

In these areas, ghost marriages tend to fall into two categories.

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One includes couples who died before marrying or shortly after becoming engaged. Out of affection and grief, their families hold a wedding ceremony and lay them to rest together, South China Morning Post reported.

The other involves individuals who never met or were promised to each other in life. In such cases, a matchmaker arranges the union posthumously.

Why do ghost marriages take place?

Now to the part you likely clicked in for. The reason behind ghost marriages might come as a surprise.

Those who uphold the tradition believe it spares the unmarried dead from a lonely afterlife.

Among older generations in China, there is a belief that individuals who die without achieving lifes milestones, such as marriage, may not find peace and could return to trouble the living.

This custom is particularly common in northern Chinese provinces. AI-generated/Representational Image

The practice is also deeply rooted in Chinas ancient patriarchal values, where marriage is seen as essential to carrying on the family line, according to SCMP.

Moreover, Chinese folklore expert Huang Jingchun explains that these marriages continue to meet the emotional needs of those still alive.

Whether it is out of longing and compensation for the deceased or for their own interests, the ones who truly seek comfort and relief from anxiety are the living, Huang told the Chinese digital media outlet, The Paper.

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How are such weddings arranged?

The ritual usually starts with the family of the deceased turning to a Feng Shui master to help find a suitable match.

Parents look for an ideal partner for their late child, asking about the other persons age, background, occupation, and even requesting photos.

A wedding ceremony is then arranged, after which the bodies are dug up and reburied together in a shared grave.

In certain instances, one person in the marriage is still alive.

Here, the living individual takes part in a traditional wedding ceremony, with the deceased represented by a photograph and their clothing.

Though illegal, these marriages continue discreetly, driven by long-standing cultural beliefs. To outsiders, ghost marriages might appear unsettling, but for some families, they remain a way to uphold spiritual harmony and honour bonds beyond death.

ALSO READ | Chinas new deep-sea weapon: How dangerous is its cable-cutting tech?

The bodies are dug up and reburied together in a shared grave. AI-generated/Representational Image

Do ghost weddings happen in other places?

Most ghost marriage cases are reported in northern and central China, especially in provinces like Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan.

Szeto Fat-ching, a feng shui master from Hong Kong, told BBC that this age-old custom still survives in Chinese communities across South East Asia.

In Taiwan, if an unmarried woman dies, her family may place red packets with cash, paper money, a lock of hair, and a fingernail in public. The first man to pick up the packets becomes the groom, and turning down the ghost bride is believed to bring bad luck.

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Wedding rituals follow traditional customs, but unlike mainland China, no exhumations take place. While the groom may later marry someone alive, he is expected to treat his late wife as the primary spouse.

In Malaysia last year, a ghost marriage was arranged by the parents of Yang Jingshan, 31, and Lee Xueying, 32, after the couple died in a car accident. They had been in a relationship for three years and were planning to marry.

Jingshan had intended to propose during a trip to Bangkok on June 2 last year. But on May 24, the couples car overturned on a road in Perak, northwestern Malaysia. Neither survived, South China Morning Post reported.
Indian entrepreneur Shruti Chaturvedi said she was subjected to an eight-hour-long ordeal at a US airport after airport security officials found a power bank in her luggage suspicious. Chaturvedi, who runs a public relations firm Chaaipani, said she was stripped of her warm clothes at Alaskas Anchorage airport, kept in a freezing room and was frisked by a male officer. She has now appealed to the Ministry of External Affairs to step in read more

Shruti Chaturvedi  founder of the Indian Action Project and public relations firm Chaaipani  opened up about what she described as her worst experience while travelling through Anchorage Airport in Alaska. Image courtesy: Instagram/@Shruti Chaturvedi

An Indian entrepreneur Shruti Chaturvedi was on her way through a US airport when her journey took an unexpected and distressing turn.

What should have been a routine security check quickly spiralled into an eight-hour-long ordeal. She says she was physically checked by a male officer, made to sit alone in a cold room and not even allowed to make a phone call back home.

All of this, she says, happened because airport security officials found a power bank in her luggage suspicious.

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Heres everything to know about what happened to her.

Chaturvedi recalls her worst experience

In a now-viral post on X, Indian entrepreneur Shruti Chaturvedi  founder of the Indian Action Project and public relations firm Chaaipani  opened up about what she described as her worst experience while travelling through Anchorage Airport in Alaska.

She shared that during her detention, she was made to strip off her warm clothing while being held in a cold room. For eight long hours, she said she wasnt allowed to use the restroom or make a single phone call.

Imagine being detained by Police and FBI for 8 hours, being questioned the most ridiculous things, physically checked by a male officer on camera, stripped off warm wear, mobile phone, wallet, kept in chilled room, not allowed to use a restroom, or make a single phone call, made to miss your flight  all because the airport security found your powerbank in handbag suspicious, she wrote.

Imagine being detained by Police and FBI for 8 hours, being questioned the most ridiculous things, physically checked by a male officer on camera, stripped off warm wear, mobile phone, wallet, kept in chilled room, not allowed to use a restroom, or make a single phone call, made  Shruti Chaturvedi  (@adhicutting) April 8, 2025

I dont have to imagine, already past the worst 7 hours. And we all know why, she added, tagging Indias External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the Ministry of External Affairs in her post.

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Chaturvedi, who was on a trip to Alaska at the time, had earlier shared moments from her journey on social media  including stunning photos of the Northern Lights. Flew to Alaska, drove through the Dalton Highway, crossed the Arctic Circle, and watched the Northern Lights from the room balcony on the night I was not prepared to see one, she wrote.

Indians are powerless outside India

In a follow-up post, Chaturvedi revealed that she waited until she had left the US to share her experience.

Hi! I am alright and posted this only after I was out of the USA. They let me and my friend go after 8 hours of nonsense and not finding anything. They still kept the whole luggage bag and gave a frivolous duffle to keep the luggage, she wrote.

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Anyway  the point is  outside of India, Indians are pretty powerless. Especially when you arent even allowed to make a phone call to anyone in India, she added.

Hi! I am alright and posted this only after I was out of USA. They let me and my friend go after 8 hours of nonsense and not finding anything. they still kept the whole luggage bag and gave a frivolous duffle to keep luggage. Anyway - the point is - out of India Indians are  Shruti Chaturvedi  (@adhicutting) April 8, 2025

Her account has since sparked widespread concern about how Indian travellers are being treated abroad, especially in the US, where immigration policies and security checks have grown increasingly strict following Donald Trumps White House comeback.

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Also read: Indian migrants fear for safety as US border arrests hit four-year low

Indian students being deported over minor offences

In recent weeks, dozens of Indian students studying in the United States have received troubling emails from their universities, informing them that their F-1 student visas had been revoked and that they must leave the country immediately, The Times of India reported.

These messages, sent by the students Designated School Officials (DSOs), cited various past criminal charges, ranging from something as minor as changing lanes improperly to more serious allegations like drunk driving and shoplifting, as the basis for the visa cancellations.

ISS [International Student Services] is writing to inform you that your SEVIS record was terminated  read one of the emails.

The termination of a SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) record essentially means that the individual no longer holds valid F-1 non-immigrant status. This system, maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, is used to monitor international students and their legal standing in the US.

In recent weeks, dozens of Indian students studying in the United States have received emails from their universities, informing them that their F-1 student visas had been revoked and that they must leave the country immediately. AP/File Photo

If your visa has been revoked, this means that the F-1 visa in your passport is no longer valid, the email further explained. If you are in the US, you may need to make plans for immediate departure.

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According to university statements, at least 39 students have been affected so far. The Guardian reported that these include students from prestigious institutions such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, Stanford, Ohio State, the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky, Minnesota State University, and the University of Oregon.

The affected students have reportedly been told to self-deport using the CBP Home App. Failure to do so, officials have warned, could result in forced deportation and a potential ban on applying for US visas in the future.

This wave of deportations comes amid growing scrutiny of international students. During the Trump administration, students involved in pro-Palestinian activism were under particular watch, with some facing detentions  including the high-profile case of Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who led protests at Columbia University.

But this time, many students facing visa termination say they have no known links to any political activism.

With input from agencies

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Accra, Ghana (PANA) - About 500 participants, including more than 80 Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence (ACEs), policy makers, higher education leaders, industry experts, and development partners have gathered in Accra, Ghana, from April 7 to 9, for a three-day celebration marking the tenth anniversary of the ACE programme, a transformative journey in Africas higher education
Prince Harry appeared at Londons Court of Appeal on Tuesday for a hearing over his security arrangements in the United Kingdom. The case centres around the decision to withdraw publicly funded police protection for Harry and his family during visits to the UK. This decision was made after he stepped back from royal duties in 2020 read more

Prince Harry gestures as he arrives at the High Court in London, England. AP

Prince Harrys legal battle over security arrangements in the United Kingdom has returned to court.

The Duke of Sussex appeared at the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday as a two-day hearing began in his case.

ALSO READ | Why Prince Harry quit South African charity, started in honour of his mother Diana

So, what is this dispute about?

The case revolves around the decision to remove publicly funded police protection for Harry and his family during visits to the UK.

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It dates back to 2020 and is one of several legal matters the prince has brought before the High Court in recent years.

In this report, we break down what the case is, what has taken place in court up until now, what is currently happening, and when a verdict might be delivered.

Explained: What is Harrys case over security arrangements in the UK?

Prince Harry had been entitled to full, publicly funded security protection until he stepped away from royal duties and moved to the United States with his wife Meghan in March 2020.

Notably, the case centres on a decision made on February 28, 2020, stating that Harry and Meghan would no longer be eligible for the protection while in the UK, following their decision to give up their official roles.

Harry has challenged this, arguing that his private security team in the US does not have access to sensitive UK intelligence - something he believes is crucial for ensuring the safety of his wife and children while in Britain.

The Duke of Sussex appeared at the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday. AP

However, he is not asking the public to bear the cost of this security. He wants to fund it himself while receiving the same level of protection as before.

In 2022, he wrote to a government official raising concerns over the early stage of his legal challenge. According to The New York Times, Harry claimed his family faced increased threats due to additional layers of racism and extremism and said police protection from the Metropolitan Police was essential.

He also suggested that the decision may have been some form of punishment for protecting my family and putting them first - a claim denied by the British government.

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His legal representative previously said, The UK will always be Prince Harrys home and a country he wants his wife and children to be safe in.

With the lack of police protection comes too great a personal risk.

In the absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return to his home.

What has happened in the case until now?

Harry filed a judicial review challenge shortly after the Home Office decided to withdraw his publicly funded security. The first hearing at the High Court took place in February 2022.

During that hearing, Robert Palmer QC, representing the Home Office, said Harrys offer to personally pay for protection was irrelevant in the eyes of the law, despite the dukes stated concerns over safety, according to Sky News.

The case concluded on February 28, 2024, when retired High Court judge Peter Lane ruled against Harry.

Three months later, the duke was granted permission to appeal, but only on limited legal grounds - specifically, whether the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) had acted in breach of its own guidelines, The New York Times reported.

Meanwhile, Harry has travelled to the UK several times, including for Queen Elizabeth IIs funeral and King Charles IIIs coronation. On each occasion, he funded his own private security.

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ALSO READ | Harry-Meghan car chase and the 1997 crash that killed Princess Diana

Britains Prince Harry and Meghan, at a fundraiser event in Lagos, Nigeria. Reuters/File Photo

The court heard that Harrys legal team had applied to Ravec for protection during each of these visits.

Following the February ruling, a spokesperson for the duke said he would appeal, adding: The duke is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a fair and lawful application of Ravecs own rules, ensuring that he receives the same consideration as others in accordance with Ravecs own written policy.

Harry reaches court for the 2-day hearing

Harry arrived at Londons Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday for a two-day hearing as he challenges the UK governments decision to downgrade his security.

The Duke of Sussex, who smiled and waved on arrival, listened closely in the packed courtroom, occasionally jotting notes to his legal team.

His lawyer, Shaheed Fatima, argued that Ravec, the body responsible for protecting royals and public figures, had treated him in a bespoke manner, unlike anyone else.

Prince Harry at a high-level event at UN headquarters. AP

It means he has been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment, Fatima told the court, clarifying that Harry was not demanding the same protection he had while performing royal duties, but a fair application of existing policy.

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The appeal comes against the backdrop of a separate, tense dispute between Harry and the CEO of his charity Sentebale, founded in memory of his mother, Princess Diana.

Sophie Chandauka, the charitys chief executive, has accused Harry of bullying and racism. The Duke, who stepped down from his role at the organisation, described the episode as heartbreaking.

When will the verdict be declared?

The hearing wraps up on Wednesday.

The Court of Appeal may issue a ruling the same day or choose to reserve judgment, potentially taking weeks or months before delivering a verdict, The New York Times reported.

Either side can seek permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court, depending on the outcome.

With inputs from agencies
The tariff war keeps escalating. In retaliation for Donald Trumps Liberation Day tariffs, China announced a reciprocal levy of 34 per cent on Washington. This resulted in the US president issuing a threat of a 50 per cent additional tariff, which, if imposed, will take the total to a whopping 104 per cent. But Beijing has said it wont back down. What happens then? read more

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump are digging in their heels on trade. File image/AP

How do you deal with a bully? If you are China, you stand up to your bully, vowing that it will fight to the end.

On Monday (April 7), signs of an all-out trade war loomed between the US and China after President Donald Trump threatened Beijing with another 50 per cent tariff unless it withdrew its retaliatory 34 per cent levy it imposed on Washington.

But it seems that China isnt ready to budge; its Commerce Ministry said a statement, The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake.

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So, whats going on? How much tariff is each country imposing on the other? And what happens if neither country doesnt back down? We take a closer look.

US-Chinas tariff for a tariff war

Last week, on April 2, US President Donald Trump imposed a 34 per cent duty on China as part of his  Liberation Day announcement. This was in addition to the 20 per cent the US had already imposed on Beijing earlier  taking the total number up to a whopping 54 per cent.

Following his announcement, many countries rushed to negotiate with Trump on the issue of tariffs, with countries like Vietnam, which was slapped with a 46 per cent tariff, offering to remove all levies on US products.

However, China wasnt one of them. On April 4, the Asian giant announced that it would impose a 34 per cent tax on all US imports next week, the strongest response yet from Beijing to the American leaders trade war.

China also suspended imports of sorghum, poultry and bonemeal from six US companies, added 27 firms to lists of companies facing trade restrictions, and launched an anti-monopoly investigation into DuPont China Group Co, a subsidiary of the multinational chemical giant.

This prompted US President Trump to post on his social media platform, China played it wrong, they panicked  the one thing they cannot afford to do.

And on Monday (April 7), Trump further ratcheted the tariff war by giving Beijing one days time to withdraw their levies or else he would add another 50 per cent duty on Chinese imports  taking the total tariff to a whopping 104 per cent.

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In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump pointed out he previously warned any retaliation would be immediately met with new and substantially higher tariffs, over and above those initially set.

Therefore, if China does not withdraw its 34 per cent increase above their already long-term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose additional tariffs on China of 50 per cent, effective April 9th, he added. Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!

But Trumps threat seems to have no effect on the Dragon. The Asian giant said it would  fight to the end and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests.

The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate, the ministry said. The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end, said Beijings Commerce Ministry.

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The tariff threats being traded by US and China are escalating trade tensions between the worlds two biggest economies. File image/AP

China calling Trumps bluff

Chinas refusal to back down in this tariff war, analysts believe, is extreme and far exceeded their expectations.

According to analysts, Chinas decision to levy such heavy tariffs on Washington is the tactical result of intensive planning for this scenario amid worsening trade tensions, and China being less dependent on the American market than when Trump ignited the trade war in 2018.

A new trade war does not come as a big surprise to China, Larry Hu, chief China economist at investment bank Macquarie, told South China Morning Post, adding that Chinas swift retaliation, rather than de-escalation, pointed to both Beijings preparedness and the likelihood that it does not intend to be rushed into negotiations with Washington.

Even Eurasia Group analysts wrote that the decision to levy such harsh counter-tariffs was a way for the worlds second-largest economy to flex its muscle. Strong, symmetric, tit-for-tat tariff retaliation is a precondition for Beijing to come to the negotiating table. President Xi Jinping cannot engage in talks from a position of relative weakness, wrote the Eurasia Group analysts.

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Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank, also noted that many (Peoples Republic of China) counterparts have argued (the) US is making a mistake that will undermine its own global standing.

Many experts note that the Xi Jinping-led country has responded more forcefully than many had expected to US President Donald Trumps latest tariffs. File image/Reuters

Implications of a China-US trade war

With both countries refusing to back down, it seems an inevitable trade war will ensue between the worlds two largest economies, causing panic at the markets.

And China, it seems, is ready for it. Chinese officials in recent weeks are attempting to project Beijing as an alternative champion of a globalised economy as well as a stable economic partner for business.

As the worlds second-largest economy and the second-largest consumer market, China will only continue to open its doors wider, regardless of the changing international landscape, Chinas Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Experts also noted that China is sending a message to the world  one that others may agree to, leading them to align with the Asian country. As Liu Zhiqin, senior researcher at Chongyang Institute for Finance Studies in Renmin University of China, told CCTV, China is sending a significant message to the world: we cannot back down or tolerate US bullying, as tolerance ultimately leads to more bullying.

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Moreover, countries may have little choice but to look to strengthen ties with China if US tariffs, which hit American allies as well as rivals, become the new normal.

Its not hard to fathom that these tit-for-tat tariffs will hurt both countries  the question is who will blink first. As _The Time_s wrote, Trump is forcing a trial of strength with a rival not known for submission and the world can only wait to see if the No 2 economic power bows to No 1, with unpredictable and dangerous consequences if this stand-off continues.

With inputs from agencies
US President Donald Trump has threatened China with an additional tariff of 50 per cent. The development came after Beijing vowed to retaliate against the reciprocal 34 per cent tariff Trump announced last week. But what does a trade war between the worlds largest and second-largest economies mean for India? read more

Experts say the fallout from the trade war could hurt India's gems and jewellery sector. Reuters

The US and China are fighting. And India is watching closely.

On Monday, US president Donald Trump threatened China with an additional tariff of 50 per cent.

Trump earlier unveiled a tariff of 34 per cent on China during his Liberation Day event at the White House.

This was over and above a 10 per cent base tariff applicable to all nations worldwide.

Its the only chance our country will have to reset the table. Because no other president would be willing to do what Im doing, or to even go through it, he told reporters at the White House.

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Now, I dont mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end.

Beijing on Tuesday vowed to fight to the end against Trump.

But what happened? And what does this trade war mean for India?

Lets take a closer look:

What happened?

Trump on Monday threatened China with an additional tariff of 50 per cent.

If China does not withdraw its 34 per cent increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!

The development came after Beijing vowed to retaliate to the reciprocal 34 per cent tariff Trump announced last week.

If Trump follows through with his threat, that would mean that China would have to pay a combined tariff of 104 per cent.

Beijing has vowed to fight Washington tooth and nail.

The Commerce Ministry said the Us imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs on China is completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.

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If US President Donald Trump follows through with his threat, that would mean that China would have to pay a combined tariff of 104 per cent. AP

The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate, the ministry said.

The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end, it added.

China, the worlds second-largest economy, has taken retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming.

Not only could that increase prices for American consumers, it could also give China an incentive to flood other countries with cheaper goods and seek deeper relationships with other trading partners, particularly the European Union.

China is one of the USs top trading partners, especially for consumer goods, and the tariffs  essentially a tax on imports paid by US companies  will eventually be passed on to the consumer.

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Chinas retaliatory levies are the firmest response yet to Trumps announcement, which has been met with bewildered condemnation from other leaders.

If the tariffs keep going up and up, it becomes a battle of wills and principles rather than economics, said Xu Tianchen, senior economist for China at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

What does this trade war mean for India?

Experts say India is potentially at risk from the fallout from the trade war between the US and China.

A piece in LiveMint noted that our smartphones, laptops, home appliances contain components imported from China.

If this trade war leads to disruptions, these products could become costlier or harder to get. Indian manufacturers relying on Chinese parts will struggle, and those costs might get passed on to customers, the piece noted.

The article stated that the raw materials used to make medicine also come from China  which could raise the cost of pharmaceuticals. The auto industry also relies on China when it comes to spare parts and critical components.

If these parts get stuck due to supply issues, car production could slow down, prices might increase, and delivery times could get longer, the piece stated.

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Supply chain issues could make components of smartphones and laptops harder to get. Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das

Priyanka Kishore of the consultancy Asia Decoded told BBC that many major labour intensive exports will be impacted.

That will likely have a knock-on impact on domestic demand and headline gross domestic product at a time when growth is already stuttering, Kishore said.

BBC quoted Ernst & Young as saying that Indias gems, jewellery and textiles sectors could be significantly impacted.

Millions of people work in these fields.

Nilesh Shah, a veteran fund manager, said India will also need to keep a lookout for China using its market as a dumping ground.

The global South accounts for more than 20 per cent of global consumption and is where the new middle class is being created. This is where China will attempt to sell, Akash Prakash of Amansa Capital, an investment management company based in Singapore, added.

They say Indian businesses are staring down the unknown.

Clearly, the (Trump) administration wants even broader and deeper tariff cuts. The question is what, if anything, will satisfy the Trump administration?, Milan Vaishnav, a senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment told the BBC.

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This gains significance in the fact that White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro told on Monday told CNBC that Vietnams offer for 0 per cent tariffs on US imports means nothing.

Lets take Vietnam. When they come to us and say well go to zero tariffs, that means nothing to us because its the non-tariff cheating that matters, Navarro said.

But others remain optimistic.

Amitendu Palit, Senior Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore, told CNBC the trade war could create opportunities for India.
Paul Chambers, an American scholar, has been detained under the Kingdoms strict lese-majeste law. A warrant for his arrest was issued last week after a complaint by Thailands army. Chambers has also been charged with a computer crime violation. But who is he? What is the case against him? read more

Thailand's army has accused Paul Chambers of 'defamation, contempt or malice' towards the royal family, LinkedIn

A US academic is facing jail for insulting Thailands monarchy.

Paul Chambers, an American scholar, has been detained under the Kingdoms strict lese-majeste law.

Chambers was earlier denied by bail by Thailands Phitsanulok Provincial Court.

A warrant for his arrest was issued last week after a complaint by Thailands army. Chambers has also been charged with a computer crime violation.

But who is Chambers? What do we know about him?

Lets take a closer look

Who is he?

As per CNA, Chambers is a lecturer at northern Thailands Naresuan University.

As per CNN, he works at the universitys Centre of ASEAN Community Studies.

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He is also a visiting fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute  a research institute in Singapore.

He also regularly offers opinions in news articles on Southeast Asia for a variety of publications including CNN.

Thailands King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida review the guard of honour during a trooping of the colours ceremony to mark the 72nd birthday of Thailands King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Thailands monarchy is protected by Section 112 of the countrys penal code, which says anyone found guilty of defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir apparent or regent shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years. Reuters

As per Chambers LinkedIn page, he first came to Thailand around 30 years ago.

He has since spent decades lecturing and researching in the country including writing books on the military.

As per Bangkok Post, Chambers has a PhD in political science from Northern Illinois University.

He has lived in Thailand since 1993 and is a special adviser on international affairs at Naresuan University.

What is the case against him?

As per Bangkok Post, Chambers reported to the Muang district police station on Tuesday.

His wife Napisa Waitoolkiat, dean of the universitys Faculty of Social Sciences, officials from the US Consulate in Chiang Mai and a lawyer were with him.

As per BBC, the army has accused Chambers of defamation, contempt or malice towards the royal family, importing false computer data in a way likely to damage national security or cause public panic, and disseminating computer data that may affect national security.

Wannaphat Jenroumjit, a lawyer for Chambers, said the accusations stemmed from a blurb for an online academic seminar last year at which he was a speaker. The blurb was posted on a website of a research institute based outside of Thailand, Wannaphat said.

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He has denied all charges, said Wannaphat, a lawyer with the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group.

Chambers told CNN he had no idea why he was being charged.

He said he was afraid he could be imprisoned for 15 years.

What do experts say?

They say the case could backfire.

The cost to the Thai military is high because it will attract the kind of international attention and scrutiny the army wants to avoid, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist from Chulalongkorn University, told CNN.

This case tightens the lid on academic freedom, and will reinforce the closing of Thai minds and undermine the intellectual and research ecosystem necessary to foster ideas and innovation to propel the Thai economy forward.

They say academic freedom is under attack.

Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, advocacy lead for the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre, told BBC, When people take to the streets to demand monarchy reforms, they face the risk of political prosecution. Now, when academics write or discuss about those issues in academic settings, it seems they also face the same risk of political prosecution.

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The charges against Chambers are a tightening chokehold on free speech and academic freedom in Thailand, Sunai Phasuk, senior Thailand researcher for Human Rights Watch, told CNN.

Paul is considered a major target by ultra-royalist groups, which have launched multiple attacks against him for years  ranging from online disinformation and hate campaigns to pressing authorities to revoke his visa and get him expulsed from the university.

Thailands lese-majeste law.

Thailands monarchy is protected by Section 112 of the countrys penal code, which says anyone found guilty of defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir apparent or regent shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years.

Thai royalists consider the monarchy sacrosanct.

Public discussion of the law has for decades been a taboo issue, with dozens of people jailed for perceived insults of the crown.

Since student-led, anti-government protests in 2020 that saw calls to abolish the law, 279 people have been charged with lese-majeste, according to data compiled by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group. Foreigners are rarely prosecuted.

Several prominent student leaders who made calls to scrap the law have since been imprisoned.

Asked about Chambers, the US State Department said it was concerned about the arrest of a US citizen.

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We regularly urge Thai authorities, both privately and publicly, to protect freedom of expression in accordance with Thailands international obligations, a spokesperson said.
After markets all around the world cratered on Monday as a result of US President Donald Trumps tariffs, Asian and European markets witnessed a comeback on Tuesday. Indias Sensex and Nifty rose three per cent, while Japans Nikkei 225 rose by six per cent and Chinas blue-chip CSI 300 Index ended 1.6 per cent higher. In Europe, Frances CAC 40, Germanys DAX also finished 1.6 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 1.9 per cent in the green respectively. But what happened? What do experts say? read more

The Sensex and Nifty recovered from yesterdays dismal performances when they crumpled nearly 3 per cent and 3.24 per cent to 73,137.9 and 22161.1 respectively. PTI

Monday witnessed a bloodbath for stock markets all around the world.

US President Donald Trumps tariffs cratered markets in India, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Italy, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland among others.

Hong Kong, Japan and China were the worst off, while Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey were the least affected.

A sea of red took over amid gloomy sentiments about Trumps tariffs and worries about a trade war between the US and China.

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However, Tuesday witnessed a surprise with markets in Asia and Europe bouncing back.

This comes despite Trump vowing to impose an additional tariff on China and Beijing vowing to fight the US till the end.

But why did this happen? Will the trend continue?

Lets take a closer look:

India, Asia and Europe

The Sensex and Nifty recovered from yesterdays dismal performances when they crumpled nearly 3 per cent and 3.24 per cent to 73,137.9 and 22161.1 respectively.

It was the biggest single-day declines since June 2024 with foreign institutional investors getting rid of Indian shares worth $1.05 billion.

However, both indices mounted a major comeback on Tuesday.

The Sensex, which was up over 1,000 points, closed at 74,227.08.

The Nifty 50, meanwhile, gained 374.25 points to finish with at 22,535.85.

All Sensex constituents ended in the green on Tuesday, barring Power Grid.

Major gainers included Titan, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints and Zomato.

As per News18, investors in India are looking forward to the RBIs monetary policy meet on April 9.

Investors think a .25 bps ratings cut could be in the offing.

A rate cut from the Reserve Bank of India could boost investor sentiment.

Some also seem to be viewing the sell off  the Nifty has declines nearly 15 per cent from its all-time high  as a buying opportunity

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Mid-cap and small-cap indices are also down 19 per cent and 22 per cent respectively  making their valuations more appealing to investors

This also came in the backdrop of a broader global recovery in Asia with Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 leading the way.

The index, which tracks more than 200 of the countrys biggest listed companies, had dropped 9.5 per cent on Monday.

On Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 ended six per cent in the positive.

Chinas blue-chip CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both declined over 7 per cent on Monday.

Tuesday saw both indices make a comeback of 1.6 per cent  with a little help from Beijing.

China on Tuesday publicly stepped up efforts to stabilise the market with sovereign fund Central Huijin Investment, dubbed the national team, saying it had bought China-listed shares via exchange-traded funds.

Huijin said it will continue to increase holdings to safeguard the smooth operation of the capital market.

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In extreme market conditions, we believe institutions like Central Huijin still have substantial capacity to further increase holdings to stabilise the market, UBS China equity strategist Lei Meng said in a note.

The national team is likely to continue its support for the Chinese stock markets at least for the next two weeks ahead of an end-April meeting of Chinas key decision making Politburo, when more fiscal measures could be released, according to Shan Guo, partner of advisory firm Hutong Research.

People take pictures on an overpass with a display of stock information in front of buildings in the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China. File image/ Reuters

China vowed to fight to the end with the US on Tuesday, after Trump threatened to ratchet up tariffs on Chinese imports to more than 100 per cent.

South Koreas benchmark Kospi, which fell 5.57 percent on Monday, finished .3 per cent in the green on Tuesday.

What is currently happening is something of a natural market bounce following Mondays calamities, Tim Waterer from the KCM Trade brokerage told the BBC.

US futures markets have been moving higher, which has given a hint of optimism for Asian markets, Waterer added.

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Australias benchmark ASX 200, which cratered 6.2 per cent on Monday, closed 2.3 per cent up.

Hong Kongs benchmark Hang Seng Index, which suffered the most precipitous decline on Monday of 13.6 per cent (and its steepest decline since the 1997 Asian financial crisis), closed 1.5 per cent higher on Tuesday.

Stocks in Europe, which were incredibly volatile on Monday, also made a comeback on Tuesday.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index which declined 4.54 per cent on Monday, ended 1.4 per cent higher on Tuesday.

Frances CAC 40, Germanys DAX and the U.K.s FTSE 100, which all lost over 4 per cent each on Mondays trade, finished 1.6 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 1.9 per cent higher on Tuesday.

Importantly, a little ray of sunshine is starting to emerge that gives hope that the US is genuinely open to trade negotiations, (with) the most significant being Japan with Treasury Secretary Bessent, said Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank.

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Will the trend continue?

Experts say the best move for investors is to wait and watch.

The Trump administration is signaling his openness to trade deals, Elias Haddad, a strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, told Bloomberg. Regardless, the pervasive uncertainty created by continuously changing US tariff threats and the scope of potential retaliatory measures remain a major blow to the global economy. Bottom line: relief rallies in risk assets will likely be short-lived.

The markets have come very far, very fast, added Michael Kelly, global head of multi asset at PineBridge Investments. Its time for them to stabilise and figure out what the next turn of events is: up because the tariffs are coming down or down because the global economy is going down.

This is a very normal action and very technical in nature after a shock period,Truists Keith Lerner, told CNN. The market is extremely oversold, and markets dont move in a linear fashion.

US President Donald Trump over the weekend said he was not concerned about the stock market. Reuters

In a period of uncertainty, each bit of new information is overextrapolated, which leads to wider-than-normal-swings, Lerner added.

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The mood is a little brighter, at least if you are looking at certain markets such as Japan which might be a priority for trade deal, but there is lots of uncertainty, said Chris Scicluna, head of economic research at Daiwa Capital Markets in London.

Markets could continue to be extremely volatile.

Yesterday market players saw how the hint of good news  in that case it was chatter about a pause in the Liberation Day tariffs  could rally markets by whole percentage points very quickly, Michael Block of Third Seven Capital said in a note to investors.

Even though that proved to be all smoke, traders are now poised for the fire  that is, real news.

Block was referring to a rumour that Trump was considering a 90-day pause for tariffs on all countries barring China.

The report, which the White House called fake news, briefly turned US stocks positive early in the Mondays session.

Others were less optimistic.

The impulsive nature of the administration means that market participants may still lack much conviction, said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Capital Markets.

Trump over the weekend said he was not concerned about the stock market.

Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something, Trump was quoted as saying over the weekend.

With inputs from agencies
Lord Bilimoria said the world increasingly looks to India as a hub of intellectual and technological prowess, adding that the UK can learn from the countrys success in STEM read more

At the News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025, British-Indian entrepreneur and House of Lords peer Karan Bilimoria struck a characteristically upbeat note about Indias global standing. Speaking at the flagship event in Bharat Mandapam at Delhi, the businessman praised the countrys entrepreneurial talent and the global impact of Indians in leadership positionsfrom Silicon Valley to Westminster.

Without a doubt, the world has woken up to India, Bilimoria declared, adding that the seeds of this transformation were sown more than three decades ago with economic liberalisation.

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If you go back to when the liberalisation started in 1991, it actually took a decade. Its only from 2002 onwards that the Indian economy actually started to rocket, almost reaching double-digit growth per year. We have not looked back since then. Today, India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world at over 6 per cent growth Its phenomenal.

Indians seen as cleverest people

He also touched on perceptions of Indians abroad, noting that the world increasingly looks to India as a hub of intellectual and technological prowess. The world looks upon Indians as the cleverest people in the world, and thats a fact!"

He mentioned that he has said in the House of Lords, Why cant the UK be like India where 1.5 million school-leavers are set to enter the IITs, 150,000 make it in the first cut, and 15,000 get placedand those 15,000 are now running the world as engineering, maths, and science are the most popular subjectsthe UK can learn from India.

Bilimoria, who founded Cobra Beer and sits in the UK House of Lords as a crossbench peer, pointed out, I went to the Hyderabad Public School, and from that school today, [we have] Satya Nadella, head of Microsoft; Ajay Banga, the head of the World Bank; Shantanu [Narayen], the head of Adobe; and I dont know how many chief ministers of states and cabinet ministers, he said. We had a prime minister of Indian origin in the UK just now. And it makes me very proud.

Another of Indias strengths, he said, is its entrepreneurial spirit, which had been suppressed for decades after Independence but is now thriving. From startups to multinational giants, Indian entrepreneurs are making their presence felt across the globe.
Taking a dig at Yunus, the Indian minister remarked that whilst some countries might not be landlocked, they lack the power of Indias ashtalakshmi  a reference to the eight Northeastern states read more

At News18s flagship Rising Bharat Summit, being held from April 8 through April 9, Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Minister of Development of the North Eastern Region, addressed controversial claims recently made by Bangladesh interim government chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus.

Speaking to News18s Senior Anchor and Managing Editor-Sp projects, Anand Narsimhan, in a session titled North East Calling: Driving Digital Growth & Development, Scindia took a pointed dig at Yunus, who had said that because the Seven Sister states of India are landlocked, Bangladesh is sole guardian of the ocean in that region.

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The Indian minister remarked that whilst some countries might not be landlocked, they lack the power of Indias ashtalakshmi  a reference to the eight Northeastern states. He further emphasised the remarkable growth trajectory of these states, saying, All 8 northeast states are growing at 12-12 per cent. These regions are the engine of the train that drives India.

Drawing on his experience with the Krishi Udaan initiative while he was Civil Aviation minister, Scindia pointed to the fact that pineapples from Tripura fly all the way to Germany, not only make their way to Chennai or Thailand. He said that chillies from Nagaland go all the way to Dubai. Our capability to be able to impact both Global North and Global South from the Northeast is phenomenal.

Scindia also pointed out that Indias Northeast is not isolated and in fact has influence over both Global North and Global South.

The Northeast shares 6,000 kilometres of international boundary. Its connectivity with the global south is unparalleled to anyone. It is imperative that we not only look outward towards the Global North, but also towards the Global South.

During his four-day visit to Beijing, Yunus courted a major controversy by mentioning the North Eastern states of India.

Pleading with Beijing to set up an economic base in Bangladesh, Yunus said that Dhaka is the sole guardian of the ocean in the region.

In a video that went viral on social media, Yunus said that [T]he seven states of India, known as the Seven Sisters, are landlocked. They have no way to reach the ocean. We are the only guardians of the ocean in this region. This opens up huge possibilities. This could be an extension of the Chinese economy build, produce, and market things, bring them back to China, and export to the rest of the world.

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Referring to the narrative Bangladesh is trying to set, Scindia said, narrative is about making sure that you lift the reality and truth about the comparative and competitive advantage of your proposition. Thats the narrative.
At the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, Union minister Nitin Gadkari stressed the need to follow traffic rules, revealing that even his own car was fined twice. He also hinted at a new policy to reduce toll charges, expected to be announced soon. read more

At the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari stressed the importance of following traffic rules and shared that even his vehicle was fined twice on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai.

I made the Bandra-Worli sea link. I have a car in Mumbai. I got a challan for it twice. Nobody can escape. The camera catches everything. I had to pay Rs 500," said Gadkari, adding, People often complain of fine, but they should just not violate rules. Fine is not for revenue generation."

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When asked if roads could become toll-free, Gadkari said a new policy to ease the burden on tollpayers is being prepared and will be announced in 810 days. The toll amount will come down by 100%. Thats all I can say for now, he added.

Talking about the goal to cut road accidents by 50 per cent, Gadkari admitted they havent reached the target yet. He said accidents happen due to issues in both road and vehicle design. While vehicles are now built well, there were problems in road engineering. We spent 40,000 crore to fix accident-prone spots, he said. Under the Raahveer scheme, the government is offering a 25,000 reward to those who help accident victims. Weve also requested the Prime Minister to approve covering medical expenses for the injured, he added.

Another factor is human behaviour. We want people to learn the rules of the road. We are looking to raise the height of the median, which people jump over like Olympic-level athletes, to 3.25ft. We will plant trees to stop people from jumping over it. We are looking to make foot overbridges, which two-wheeler riders and cyclists can use along with pedestrians. Also, we are aiming for a bridge for divyanjan," said Gadkari.

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Scindias statements reflect the Modi governments vision of elevating Indias economic standing globally within a defined timeframe. This projected growth would represent a significant leap forward, positioning India ahead of several current economic powerhouses on the world stage read more

Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, Jyotiraditya Scindia, on Tuesday said India, now unstoppable in its growth trajectory, was on course to become a $6 trillion economy by 2030. Speaking at the CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025 in New Delhis Bharat Mandapam, he made an optimistic assessment of Indias future, asserting, Our country today is on a roll, no power can stop us.

At the summit, Scindia outlined Indias ambitious economic roadmap with remarkable confidence. We are a $4 trillion economy, we will be a $5 trillion economy by 2028 and a $6 trillion economy by 2030. We are the fifth largest economy in the world, and we will be the third largest by 2028. That is my unspoken commitment and confidence in our country, Scindia said.

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The ministers statements reflect the Modi governments vision of elevating Indias economic standing globally within a defined timeframe. This projected growth would represent a significant leap forward, positioning India ahead of several current economic powerhouses on the world stage. Such projections align with the broader narrative of Indias rising influence in global economic affairs and its increasing attractiveness as an investment destination.

Indias youth its greatest asset

In his session titled Connecting Generations, Bridging Geographies,  Scindia emphasised the pivotal role of Indias young population in driving national progress. Its the youth that brings about change and transformation. We have close to 70 per cent of India below the age of 35 years. Thats the potential that India holds out for the world, Scindia said.

The minister highlighted what he called the unbelievable potential of the youth of the country, suggesting that this demographic dividend provides India with a distinct advantage in the global landscape. This focus on youth empowerment has been a recurring theme in the current administrations policy approach, with numerous initiatives aimed at skill development, entrepreneurship, and innovation amongst younger citizens.

Indias global narrative is being re-written

When questioned about narratives concerning India on the world stage, Scindia credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with successfully repositioning Indias image internationally. Narrative is about making sure that you lift the reality about the competitive advantages of your proposition. India is able to set that narrative after a very long time across the world under the leadership of PM Modi, he said.

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This response indicates the governments conscious effort to manage Indias global perception and highlight its strengths as an economic and cultural power. The ministers comments suggest a strategic approach to international relations, where national achievements are deliberately showcased to enhance Indias standing and influence in global affairs.

PM Modi as boss

Scindia offered candid insights into his experience of working with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, using a vivid analogy to describe the pace and intensity of the prime ministers working style. Its amazing. Its always as if youre running on a treadmill, just trying to keep up. The amount of boundless energy, commitment, dedication and an eye for finer detail, the ability to be able to connect with every single human being, not only across India, but across the world, very few leaders have it, he said.

The minister elaborated on how Modi ensures timely delivery from not just his Cabinet colleagues but the entire government machinery. When asked if his perception of the prime minister had evolved since his transition from Congress to BJP, Scindia said, I always thought he was a very driven, committed and dedicated person. One more thing close to my heart is the revival of Indias cultural power. Youre seeing that happen due to the prime ministers perseverance.

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Northeast: Indias new engine of growth

Speaking on the development of Northeast India, Scindia firmly countered Bangladesh caretaker PM Muhammad Yunuss characterisation of the region as landlocked. The minister highlighted the strategic advantage of the region, noting, The Northeast shares 6,000 km of an international boundary. Therefore, our connectivity with the global south is unparalleled to anyone.

Scindia cited the export capabilities of the Northeast to back his assertion. He said, Very few people are aware that our Queen pineapples dont just go to Thailand, but through Krishi Udaan, they are being sent to Germany, the Nagaland chilli goes all the way to Dubai. Therefore, our capability to be able to impact both the global north and the south from the Northeast is phenomenal.

Taking a pointed dig at Bangladesh, Scindia remarked that whilst some countries might not be landlocked, they lack the power of Indias ashtalakshmi  a reference to the eight Northeastern states. He further emphasised the remarkable growth trajectory of these states, saying, All 8 northeast states are growing at 12-12 per cent. These regions are the engine of the train that drives India.

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Politics was not my calling

In a more personal segment of the discussion, Scindia revealed that politics was not his original career plan. Politics was not my calling, he said, before sharing details about his early professional trajectory. The minister recounted his university days, followed by six years as an investment banker, after which he returned to education to pursue entrepreneurship studies.

Scindia described how his life took an unexpected turn following the tragic death of his father, Madhavrao Scindia, in a plane crash, which ultimately led him towards public service. This personal revelation offered a glimpse into the human side of the minister, whose family has long been associated with Indian politics.
Union minister Hardeep Puri thinks India will emerge as winners in the ongoing tariff and trade wars that have unsettled global markets read more

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, expressed confidence that India would emerge victorious in the ongoing tariff war, underscoring the resilience of the countrys economic strategies. Speaking at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025, Puri addressed concerns about the impact of US tariffs and emphasised Indias ability to adapt and thrive in challenging circumstances.

Responding to questions about Indias energy imports and trade relations with the United States, Puri highlighted Indias robust energy strategy. Yes, they [the US] have oil. They are the worlds largest producer, producing 13 million barrels a day and now increasing by another 1.6 million barrels. But the issue is not whether they have oil but whether they sell it to us. Weve been buying $15 to $20 billion worth of energy from them annually, he said.

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When asked about Indias ability to offset the effects of tariffs through increased energy imports, Puri dismissed excessive concern over tariffs. Why are you so mesmerised by this tariff? Every country is free to determine its own economic policy, but we are part of a multilateral system. Tariffs apply to goods crossing borders, but 40 per cent of our exports are services, which are not covered by tariffs, he explained.

Puri also expressed optimism about concluding an early trade agreement with the United States, citing discussions between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Rubio. We are on track, he affirmed.

Addressing broader concerns about potential adverse effects on India, Puri emphasised the importance of resilience and opportunity in overcoming challenges. Every challenge presents an opportunity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a unique ability to navigate this, and his team is second to none. We will come out winners in this, he declared confidently.

Puris remarks reflect Indias strategic approach to navigating global trade dynamics while maintaining its focus on economic growth and energy security.
New York, US (PANA) - With no aid allowed into Gaza for more than a month, the UN Secretary-General appealed on Tuesday for guaranteed humanitarian access to the enclave
This special visit reaffirms our deep-rooted friendship and paves the way for even stronger collaboration in the future, PM Modi posted on X read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoums special visit to India paved the way for a stronger bilateral collaboration between the two countries.

Taking to X, PM Modi said, Glad to meet HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai. Dubai has played a key role in advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

This special visit reaffirms our deep-rooted friendship and paves the way for even stronger collaboration in the future, he added.

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Glad to meet HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai. Dubai has played a key role in advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This special visit reaffirms our deep-rooted friendship and paves the way for even stronger pic.twitter.com/lit9nWQKyu  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 8, 2025

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also held a separate meeting with the visiting dignitary and described the meeting as productive.

Had a productive meeting with the Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy PM and Minister of Defence of UAE Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in New Delhi. For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UAE is of immense priority, he said.

In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as defence cooperation, co-production and co-development projects, innovation and technology, Singh said.

He also said that both India and the UAE are committed to working towards peace and prosperity in the region.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar too met the Dubai Crown Prince.

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Delighted to welcome Crown Prince of Dubai and DPM and Minister of Defence of UAE HH @HamdanMohamme at the start of his first official visit to India, Jaishankar posted on X.

Delighted to welcome Crown Prince of Dubai and DPM & Minister of Defence of UAE HH @HamdanMohammed at the start of his first official visit to India.



Value his positive sentiments for our wide-ranging cooperation and vibrant ties.



  pic.twitter.com/95swFwUKoh  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 8, 2025

Value his positive sentiments for our wide-ranging cooperation and vibrant ties, he added.

Al Maktoum arrived in the national capital this morning on a two-day India visit. He is travelling to Mumbai after concluding his engagements in Delhi.

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The India-UAE bilateral ties have been on an upswing in the last few years.

Following the landmark visit of Prime Minister Modi to the UAE in August 2015, bilateral relations between the two countries were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The bilateral trade and investment ties witnessed a major expansion after the two sides inked a comprehensive economic partnership agreement in 2022.

With inputs from agencies
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India is demonstrating a fast and fearless attitude as it moves forward on various fronts read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the Rising Bharat Summit in New Delhi on Tuesday. Firstpost

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India is demonstrating a fast and fearless attitude as it moves forward on various fronts.

Addressing the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, PM Modi said that global challenges could not stop India, instead, they helped double the size of its economy.

There were a lot to challenges but India ran with double the speed and doubled its economy within a decade. Those who thought India will move in a slow and steady speed can now see fast and fearless India, he added.

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#PMAtRisingBharatSummit2025 | There were a lot to challenges but India ran with double the speed and doubled it's economy within a decade. Those who thought India will move in a slow and stead speed can now see fast and fearless India: PM @narendramodi at #RisingBharatSummit2025 pic.twitter.com/lPYYDmXB8F  News18 (@CNNnews18) April 8, 2025

He said India has transformed possibilities into policies, opening new pathways for growth.

My decisions are aimed at getting the youth the best in order for them to flourish and help propel India forward, he said.

Criticising the previous governments for their slow progress on developmental projects, which hindered Indias growth and advancement, PM Modi said that India cannot afford to waste time, as delays pose the greatest obstacle to the countrys development.

He said India, undoubtedly, will soon become the third largest economy in the world.

Who is driving the unprecedented growth of the country? Youth of India, their ambitions and aspirations, said PM Modi.

PM Modi emphasised that the global community not only observes India but also places its hopes in the nations leadership, resilience, and growing stature.

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He noted that the passage of the Waqf Bill represents a significant step toward achieving true social justice and equitable reform.

Waqf Amendment Bill was passed in these 100 days of 2025. Big step for social justice, said the Prime Minister.

PM Modi condemned the oppositions opposition to the Waqf Bill, labeling it as a tactic of appeasement politics.

He raised questions about the legacy of partition, saying, Many countries got liberated but is there any country whose freedom happened with partition?

Modi further said that the two-nation theory was not the consensus of the common Muslim population.

He slammed the Congress party for gaining power through appeasement politics, questioning what benefits Muslims have received from such an approach.

He also announced that flights from Navi Mumbai airport will begin soon.

On financial empowerment, he said that by the time one watches an episode of an OTT show, 5,000 Mudra loans get sanctioned  proving this is not microfinance but a mega transformation.

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The Sensex rallied 1,089 points to end at 74,227 on April 8 mirroring a global bounce-back as markets recovered from recent losses even as uncertainty over trade tensions continued to weigh on investor sentiment read more

Indian equities staged a strong comeback on April 8, ending a three-day losing streak with broad-based gains across all sectors. The Sensex surged 1,089 points to close at 74,227.08, while the Nifty jumped 374 points to settle at 22,535.85. Market sentiment, battered by a sharp selloff the previous day that erased Rs16 lakh crore in market capitalisation, found temporary relief as all 13 sectoral indices ended nearly 2 per cent higher.

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According to a Moneycontrol report, trading activity on the day was heavily skewed in favour of gainers. As many as 2,968 stocks advanced, with just 843 declining and 115 remaining unchanged. This turnaround reflected renewed optimism, albeit tempered by an undercurrent of caution, as volatility remained a key concern. Indias volatility index, the India VIX, dropped by more than 10 per cent to hover around 20 after having spiked 66 per cent on April 7 to hit a five-year high, a surge that had unnerved many investors.

VK Vijayakumar of Geojit Investments told Moneycontrol that investors are likely to remain in a wait-and-watch mode, waiting for clearer cues amid global trade tensions. However, with Indias macroeconomic fundamentals appearing sound and the economy expected to grow at around 6 per cent in FY26, Vijayakumar suggested that long-term investors could consider selectively entering high-quality large-cap stocks, particularly in the financial and pharmaceutical sectors. He also noted that pharmaceutical companies remain attractively priced, with some relief stemming from the perception that the US may refrain from imposing new tariffs on drug imports for now.

Broad-based gains

The rally on Tuesday was not limited to large caps alone; mid- and small-cap indices also rose by over 2 per cent each, reflecting widespread participation. Among the key contributors to the upswing were information technology stocks, which led the rebound after several sessions of heavy losses. Heavyweights such as TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Wipro climbed up to 4 per cent as investor sentiment turned more constructive ahead of their quarterly earnings announcements.

Sectors like real estate, banking and pharmaceuticals each gained nearly 2 per cent. Notable momentum was seen in the stocks of oil marketing companies like Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil, the Moneycontrol report said. Their gains followed the governments move to increase the price of household LPG cylinders and raise special excise duties on fuel. These measures are expected to help oil companies recover close to Rs 9,000 crore in FY26, partially offsetting their ongoing financial pressures.

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Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) stocks also saw heightened activity, gaining around 9 per cent amid reports from the Wall Street Journal that Apple is planning to source more iPhones from India. The US tech giant is reportedly considering this strategy to bypass tariffs on Chinese imports offering a potential boost to Indias electronics production ecosystem.

Caution despite optimism

Despite the rebound, market strategists emphasised caution as the recent spike in the India VIX continues to serve as a stark reminder of the fragility underpinning current sentiment. Sameet Chavan of Angel One commented that technical indicators pointed to potential downside if key support levels around 22,000 on the Nifty were breached.

Concerns are also being raised over external risks. Chetan Ahya of Morgan Stanley told Moneycontrol that while Indias domestic fundamentals remain resilient, the country could still experience a slowdown of up to 50 basis points in GDP growth if global tariff tensions continue to escalate.

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Global markets make fragile rebound amid tariff turmoil

Across global financial markets, a similar narrative played out on April 8: a fragile recovery after days of intense sell-offs. World equities rebounded after a prolonged rout that had wiped out trillions in market value. Asian, European and US markets all showed signs of stabilisation, although investors remained wary of the persistent uncertainty surrounding trade policies, especially those emanating from Washington.

According to Reuters, in Asia, stock indices rose from multi-month lows. The Nikkei 225 in Japan climbed 6 per cent as markets responded positively to signals that US might be open to trade negotiations, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly tasked with spearheading talks with Tokyo. Other regional markets, however, remained under pressure. Taiwans index fell 5 per cent, reflecting its exposure to chip exports amid rising trade barriers. Thailand and Indonesia, both returning from public holidays, posted declines of 6 and 9 per cent respectively, reflecting delayed reactions to the earlier global turmoil.

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European markets also staged a modest recovery. Bourses in London, Paris and Frankfurt were each up over 1 per cent after hitting 14-month lows. Analysts at National Australia Bank noted that glimmers of diplomatic willingness from the US were helping to calm markets, particularly in relation to Japan and the European Union.

Volatility and safe havens reflect ongoing jitters

Even though stocks showed some stability, market volatility stayed high. The VIX, a key measure of market fear, was around 44 after spiking above 60 on April 7, highlighting ongoing investor anxietyespecially about a possible global trade war, Reuters said.

Currency markets echoed this nervousness. The US dollar stayed weak, while investors moved into safer currencies like the yen and Swiss franc, both at six-month highs. The euro and British pound also rose and the Chinese yuan briefly hit a two-month low before slightly recovering.

In commodities, gold rose 0.8 per cent to $3,006 per ounce, still below its recent high of $3,167. Oil prices were steady, with Brent crude at $63.71 and US crude near $60. Bitcoin gained 1.2 per cent, trading just under $80,000 after bouncing back from a five-month low.

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Global sentiment in flux

The broader concern remains that the escalating trade tensions, especially those involving the US, could fundamentally alter the investment climate. In a candid interview with France Inter radio, Stephane Boujnah, CEO of pan-European exchange operator Euronext, suggested that the US now exhibits characteristics more commonly associated with emerging markets. Boujnah also observed that the exodus of capital from the US into Europe was reflective of this changing global sentiment with many investors now recalibrating portfolios to hedge against erratic policy shifts and the potential for prolonged trade confrontations.

While markets in India and across the world managed to find some relief on April 8, the underlying volatility and persistent geopolitical risks might make people wonder whether this is a temporary reprieve or the beginning of a sustained turnaround. Whether the worst has passed or more turbulence lies ahead will depend heavily on diplomatic progress and policy clarity in the days to come.

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As President AKD gains political confidence, and as Indias credibility continues to rise in Colombo, the strategic balance in the region is being recalibrated. India has shown it is ready to be a stable, long-term partnerand Sri Lanka appears more receptive than ever read more

It is for the first time that India and Sri Lanka have inked a major defence pact to institutionalise a framework for deeper engagement in the military domain. File image

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a highly successful visit to Sri Lanka on April 46, following his participation in the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok. This visit marked a significant diplomatic moment, as he became the first foreign leader to be received by newly elected Sri Lankan President AK Dissanayake (AKD). It is noteworthy that President AKD made his first overseas visit to India, signalling the Sri Lankan governments intent to prioritise its relationship with New Delhi, despite a legacy of anti-Indian political sentiment in his party.

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Interestingly, President AKD did not attend the BIMSTEC Summit, where Sri Lanka was instead represented by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya. This further underscores the importance his government attached to welcoming Modi personally in Colombo.

Four significant aspects of Prime Minister Modis visit highlight the deepening Indo-Lanka engagement:

First is the comfort and civilisational connection. There was a clear sense of mutual comfort and goodwill between the Indian and Sri Lankan leadership. The body language of both Modi and AKD was warm and engaging. Civil society, government representatives, and the broader Sri Lankan public appeared to receive Modi with enthusiasm and respect.

This camaraderie was reinforced through powerful cultural and civilisational gestures. Modis concluding visit to the sacred Mahabodhi Temple in Anuradhapura and his interaction with the Mahanayakes (senior Buddhist clergy) symbolised Indias enduring historical and spiritual ties with Sri Lanka. These moments were emblematic of Indias ancient Buddhist engagement with the island nation.

Second, the visit focused on tangible areas of cooperation, particularly renewable energy and healthcare. India launched a 120-megawatt solar power station in Sri Lanka and pledged to donate 5,000 solar sets to religious institutions across the country. This is part of a broader effort to promote clean energy and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. A grid connectivity to India could allow Sri Lanka to export power to India in years ahead.

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Indias contribution to Sri Lankas emergency health infrastructure has also been significant. India provided a free ambulance service to Sri Lanka, known as Suwaseriya, which was initiated in 2016 with 297 ambulances and later increased to 322. New Delhis most popular project in Sri Lanka, the ambulance network has attended to about 82 lakh calls and 19 lakh medical emergencies in 8 years. A World Bank report called it one of the worlds most digitally advanced and free ambulance services; initially launched in two provinces, it will now be expanded island-wide due to its success. This demonstrates Indias focus on impactful, grassroots-level projects that enhance the well-being of Sri Lankan citizens.

Human resource development was another major pillar of the visit. India reiterated its commitment to building capacity in Sri Lankan institutions through 700 training, scholarships, and technical assistance opportunities, further strengthening institutional ties.

Third, there is a growing level of trust and comfort in addressing sensitive strategic issues. President AKD, during his December visit to India and again now, affirmed that Sri Lanka would not allow its territoryland or maritimeto be used against Indian interests. This assurance carries great significance in a region marked by geopolitical competition.

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A key fourth outcome of the visit was the signing of a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation. This umbrella agreement consolidates various existing defence-related understandings into a coherent framework, enabling structured dialogue and joint action in the future.

The success of this initiative lies in the meticulous preparation by both sides. Some commentators point out that civilisational ties between the two nations have always been robust. However, what is new is the blend of historical engagement with present-day strategic and economic realities. Indias swift and decisive support during Sri Lankas 2022 economic crisisproviding over $4 billion in aidhas fundamentally reshaped Colombos perception of New Delhi as a reliable partner.

Despite positive momentum, Sri Lanka faces daunting economic challenges. It must begin repayment on its $3 billion IMF bailout from 2028. Complicating matters further, the US under the Trump administration imposed a 44 per cent tariff on Sri Lankan exportsthe highest in South Asia. This move threatens to cripple Sri Lankas garment industry, which accounts for 40 per cent of its exports to the US and employs around 300,000 people. While this is not a bilateral issue between India and Sri Lanka, it will affect how attractive Sri Lanka remains as a destination for export-oriented foreign direct investment.

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Another long-standing issue addressed during the visit was the Trincomalee oil farm project. These oil storage facilities were first offered to India in 1987 under the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord but have remained underutilised. The current visit saw a renewed commitment to develop Trincomalee as an energy hub through a trilateral partnership with the UAE. This approach is promising; the inclusion of a third-party country with strong energy credentials, such as the UAE, may provide the necessary financial and technical muscle to make the project viable. So far, only a government-to-government MoU has been signed. Once business-to-business details are finalised, the project is expected to include the UAE in discussions.

Indias earlier attempt at a trilateral infrastructure partnership involving Japan in the Colombo port development had been derailed due to Chinese interference. However, the UAEs inclusion in the current arrangement might face less resistance, especially given that the UAE, like India and China, is now a BRICS partner.

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Conclusion

Prime Minister Modis visit was timely, successful, and symbolic of a stronger Indo-Lankan bond. India is engaging Sri Lanka comprehensivelythrough cultural diplomacy, economic assistance, and strategic dialoguepositioning itself as Colombos preferred partner in the Indo-Pacific region.

While contentious issues such as the fate of detained fishermen or the long-pending provincial council elections remain unresolved, they are being handled with tact and mutual understanding. As President AKD gains political confidence, and as Indias credibility continues to rise in Colombo, the strategic balance in the region is being recalibrated. India has shown it is ready to be a stable, long-term partnerand Sri Lanka appears more receptive than ever.

The author is a former ambassador to Germany, Indonesia, Ethiopia, ASEAN and the African Union. He tweets @AmbGurjitSingh. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Last year, Instagram rolled out teen accounts designed specifically for underage users. On Tuesday, the tech giant extended teen accounts to Facebook and Messenger read more

Meta on Tuesday announced that it will discontinue the livestreaming feature on Instagram for teens in an effort to make the platform safe for underage users.

Under the new safety measures, teens under the age of 16 will no longer be able to live-stream from their accounts without parental permission. They will also require their parents permission to switch off the feature that blurs sensitive content.

We know parents are worried about strangers contacting their teens  or teens receiving unwanted contact. In addition to the existing built-in protections offered by Teen Accounts, were adding new restrictions for Instagram Live and unwanted images in DMs, Meta said in a statement.

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Last year, Instagram rolled out teen accounts designed specifically for underage users. On Tuesday, the tech giant extended teen accounts to Facebook and Messenger. Teens are immediately placed in such accounts, with those under 16 unable to change settings without parental permission.

In a statement, Meta said it was expanding the restrictions in the coming months to stop teens from going live or turning off protections for unwanted images in direct messages on their own.

Teen Accounts on Facebook and Messenger will offer similar, automatic protections to limit inappropriate content and unwanted contact, as well as ways to ensure teens time is well spent, it added.

Facebook teen accounts will initially be available in only the US, UK, Australia and Canada following which it will be launched in other countries.

At least 54 million teenagers currently have a teen account, which also limits overnight notifications and has reminders to leave the app after an hour.

Users can only be messaged by people they follow or are already connected to.

Adolescent use of social networks has prompted concern in recent years, notably about the amount of screentime and lack of moderation on some platforms.

In 2024, the Australian government banned social media for teens, inviting criticism from around the world, including from social media platforms.

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TikTok recently launched a function in the European Union allowing parents to limit the amount of time that teenagers spend on the app.

With inputs from agencies
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies, reported that 11 individuals, including five children as young as two, were killed in an attack on a house in the central town of Deir al-Balah read more

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel. AP

According to Palestinian medics, Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 25 people, including five women and eight children.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies, reported that 11 individuals, including five children as young as two, were killed in an attack on a house in the central town of Deir al-Balah.

It said another strike struck a house in Deir al-Balah, killing four more people.

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The Gaza Health Ministry said another attack in the northern town of Beit Lahiya killed a family of seven and destroyed a house.

A separate strike hit a group of people in an open area northwest of Gaza City, killing four people, including one who was planning to get married next week, the ministry said.

Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.

Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March and has cut off all food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza  a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime  while issuing new displacement orders that have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee Israeli bombardments and ground operations.

Israels war in Gaza, now in its 18th month, has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry. Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. The group still holds 59 captives  24 of whom are believed to be alive.
On June 14, Trump may have what he could not in 2018  a US military parade in Washington DC. He had ordered a similar parade after he saw a French Bastille Day event in Paris read more

The Trump administration is planning a military parade through the streets of Washington, DC, on 14 June to mark President Donald Trumps 79th birthday, coinciding with the Armys 250th anniversary, a senior administration official has confirmed to NewsNation, The Hills sister network.

According to Washington City Paper, which first reported on the event, the parade will stretch nearly 4 miles from the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, to the White House.

An Army official confirmed the parades length to The Hill, stating that there are plans for a parade that will involve the Army, whilst adding that details are not yet finalised.

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The upcoming parade represents a fulfilment of a longstanding desire for President Trump, who previously attempted to organise a military parade in 2018 but was unable to proceed with the plans at that time.

A lingering dream

Trump in his first presidential term ordered the Pentagon to plan a large military parade after he saw a French Bastille Day event during his 2018 Paris visit. He reportedly told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Were going to have to try to top it.

The event looked set for November 10, 2018, but got canceled after defence officials quoted the price tag at $92 million. They were reportedly also slow in planning it, citing more pressing issues. Trump received a lot of flak for ordering a military parade.

The criticism

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) called the military parade plans a fantastic waste of money to amuse the president.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump backer, too warned against treating the parade as a Soviet-style display of military might.

Reports suggest that Trumps military parade plan faced opposition from his own administration officials, who complained that heavy military equipment such as tanks would damage the citys roads and cost the city millions of dollars for public safety.

Some suggested that the Pentagon could use its training budget to pay for flyovers and use vehicles from nearby bases. Such an event in the US would also require outside costs, analysts say, such as payment for the Secret Service and the police, and the renting and construction of stands and barriers.

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Finally, Trump will have a military parade

This June celebration appears to combine the commemoration of the Armys historic milestone with the presidents personal birthday celebration, creating what is expected to be a significant national event in the capital.

The administrations confirmation of these plans marks a notable development in the presidents ongoing interest in military displays and ceremonial events showcasing American military strength.

The Army is very excited to celebrate its 250th anniversary with the entire county. Our intention is for Americans to be proud of their Army and also proud of their nation. Its too early to say yet whether or not were having a parade but were working with the White House as well as several government agencies to make the celebration a national level event, Army spokesperson Colonel Dave Butler told The Hill.

The original plan and preparation

The US Army had initially planned to celebrate its 250th anniversary with a robust capability increase in what you would see in previous years, the Hill quoted the official as saying. Planning commenced last year, with the event subsequently expanding to include more participating units.

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The local administration has been actively involved in the planning process, with engineers from both the US Army and the city conducting route reconnaissance to ensure the parades feasibility.
The protest rallies were held in different cities on Monday to express solidarity with the Palestinians and condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza. The unrest came just ahead of a four-day international investment summit set to begin Wednesday, to be inaugurated by interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. read more

Hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators vandalised business establishments, including multinational outlets, across several Bangladeshi cities, prompting police to launch raids and arrest 56 people, officials said Tuesday.

The violence broke out on Monday during rallies held to express solidarity with Palestinians and denounce Israeli strikes on Gaza. Demonstrators in cities such as Sylhet, Chattogram, Khulna, Barishal, Cumilla and Dhaka targeted shops and franchises including Bata Shoe, KFC and Dominos Pizza, police said.

Police responded with overnight raids to apprehend those involved. At least 56 people have been arrested so far, said Chief Advisers Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam. He added that authorities are analysing video footage to identify more suspects, and the crackdown will continue until all perpetrators are brought to justice.

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Meanwhile, several political parties, including former PM Khaleda Zias Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Islamist groups, and left-leaning organisations, held peaceful protests for a second day on Tuesday, chanting slogans against Israel.

Police maintained heightened security and no further violence was reported on Tuesday.

Several political outfits, including former prime minister Khaleda Zias Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), right-wing Islamist groups, and left-leaning organisations, continued peaceful demonstrations for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, raising slogans against Israel.

Police maintained a strict vigil, and no violence was reported on Tuesday.

Earlier, the BNP condemned Mondays violence, saying the government failed to maintain law and order.

We want to say the government and the law enforcement agencies failures were visible here, BNP standing committee member and spokesman Salahuddin Ahmed told a rally staged against Israel at the Dhaka University campus.

The vandalism occurred ahead of a four-day international investment summit hosted by the interim government, which Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus will inaugurate on Wednesday.

The summit is aimed at attracting global entrepreneurs as Bangladesh seeks both foreign and domestic investment.

With inputs from agencies
Trump announced fresh tariffs against China on Monday, rattling the already upended global economy after his last weeks retaliatory tariffs proclamation read more

China on Tuesday accused the US of pressure, threats and blackmail over President Donald Trumps unprecedented additional 50 per cent tariffs on the country that are expected to rattle a wobbly market.

Tariff wars have no winners, and protectionism has no way out. Chinese people dont make trouble, but are not afraid of it. Pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

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Trump announced fresh tariffs against China on Monday, rattling the already upended global economy after his last weeks retaliatory tariffs proclamation.

Beijing  Washingtons major economic rival but also a key trading partner  responded by announcing its own 34 per cent duties on US goods to come into effect on Thursday, deepening a showdown between the worlds two largest economies.

The swift retaliation from China sparked a fresh warning from Trump that he would impose additional levies if Beijing refused to stop pushing back against his barrage of tariffs  a move that would drive the overall levies on Chinese goods to 104 percent.

I have great respect for China but they can not do this, Trump said in the White House.

We are going to have one shot at this Ill tell you what, it is an honour to do it.

China swiftly hit back, blasting what it called blackmailing by the US and saying it would never accept those tariffs.

If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight it to the end, a spokesperson for Beijings commerce ministry said on Tuesday.

Hong Kongs Hang Seng collapsed by 13.2 percent on Monday  its worst day since the Asian financial crisis  before paring back some of those losses in opening trade on Tuesday.

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Wall Street stocks finished lower following a volatile session, with both the Dow and S&P 500 ending down.

Meanwhile, Trumps tariffs announcement has invited criticism from billionaires who once backed him during his presidential bid.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has warned that the retaliatory tariffs might launch an economic nuclear war.

Business investment will grind to a halt, (and) consumers will close their wallets if the new levies do indeed come into force. We will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate, Ackman said.

With inputs from agencies
The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force on Monday revealed that Chinas social media WeChat is being used to carry praise-worthy messages for Carney, with some of the posts reading the United States is facing a tough prime minister from Canada read more

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives to a press conference to discuss a response to US President Donald Trump's new tariffs, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on Thursday. Reuters File

As China and Canada go back and forth on alleged election interference, Ottawas watchdog that detects poll meddling has found that Beijing tried to influence opinions among Chinese Canadians regarding Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force on Monday revealed that Chinas social media WeChat is being used to carry praise-worthy messages for Carney, with some of the posts reading the United States is facing a tough prime minister from Canada, according to a report by The Globe and Mail.

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The post further said that the Liberal Leader was quick and responsive during the 2008 financial crisis, was called a rock star economist by British media and has been described as the only adult in the room as the Brexit crisis unfolded.

Laurie-Anne Kempton, an assistant secretary to the cabinet, said, The Peoples Republic of China should not be trying to shape the opinions of Canadians, especially during an election period.

Last month, Canadas Security Intelligence Service said that China and India are likely to try to interfere in the Canadian general election on April 28, while Russia and Pakistan have the potential to do so.

During the 2024-25 public inquiry into foreign interference, the Canadian government faced criticism for failing to inform voters about foreign interference efforts during election campaigns.

What has the new report found?

The SITE task force, in its report, said that it believes the information operation was intended to influence Canadian-Chinese communities in Canada (i.e. speakers of a Chinese language, such as Mandarin, Cantonese, or Hakka) and looked to mould perceptions about PM Carney.

The agency said it saw large spikes of coordinated inauthentic behaviour preceding the election campaign, on March 10, and again during the writ period on March 25, 2025.

This content has been amplified in a co-ordinated and inauthentic way. This information operation had contrasting positive and negative narratives, first amplifying Mr. Carneys stance with the United States and then targeting his experience and credentials, Kempton said.

SITE shared links to two posts that were promoted on WeChat as part of an information campaign regarding Carney. Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat, described one post as being relatively neutral, offering a factual account of Carney and the political landscape in Canada ahead of the election.

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The second post, however, was more favorable, portraying him as a technocrat, highlighting his career accomplishments, and repeatedly praising his ability to manage financial crises.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Thirty representatives of Libyan political parties have expressed their concerns over the ongoing political stalemate and emphasised the urgent need to unify state institutions and accelerate the political process, and rationalise resource management
Netanyahus move to sack Shin Bet head Ronen Bar was blocked by the Supreme Court after it agreed to consider petitions against the decision, which fuelled anti-government protests and highlighted political divisions that have deepened since the start of the Gaza war read more

Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit and fellow Israeli Supreme Court judges preside over a hearing on the government's dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service, Ronen Bar, at the high court in Jerusalem. Reuters

Israels Supreme Court began a hearing on Tuesday into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus bid to sack the head of the domestic intelligence service amid raucous scenes from shouting protesters that forced the judges to clear the court.

Netanyahus move to sack Shin Bet head Ronen Bar was blocked by the Supreme Court after it agreed to consider petitions against the decision, which fuelled anti-government protests and highlighted political divisions that have deepened since the start of the Gaza war.

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On Tuesday, as the hearing began, one protestor, whose son was killed in Gaza in December 2023, was dragged out of the hearing as he shouted at the judges, accusing Bar of being responsible for his sons death.

The judges later called a recess and cleared the audience from the court completely, but many remained outside shouting For shame!.

Netanyahu said last month that he had lost confidence in Bar over the agencys failure to prevent the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

But the move sparked a furious reaction from critics who said the real reason for his dismissal was a police and Shin Bet investigation into possible ties between Netanyahu aides and Qatar.

Netanyahu, who travelled to Washington this week for meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump, is not directly implicated and faces no immediate risk to his hold on power from the probe, which alleges that Qatar made payments to media aides as part of an influence-peddling campaign to improve its image.

He has dismissed the so-called Qatargate affair as a political witch-hunt launched against him by what he called the Deep State and said two aides arrested in the probe had been taken hostage.
Medvedev, who cast himself as a liberal moderniser when he was president from 2008-2012, now presents himself as an anti-Western Kremlin hawk read more

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that more countries would get nuclear weapons in the coming years, blaming the West for pushing the world towards the brink of World War Three by waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.

Medvedev, who cast himself as a liberal moderniser when he was president from 2008-2012, now presents himself as an anti-Western Kremlin hawk. Diplomats say his remarks give an indication of thinking at the top levels of the Kremlin elite.

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In a post about the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty which he signed with then U.S. President Barack Obama in Prague in 2010, Medvedev said the risk of nuclear conflict was at an all time high. The treaty is due to expire in February 2026.

Referring to recent statements from the leaders of France and Britain about their nuclear arsenals, the deputy chairman of Russias Security Council chastised European powers for what he said was sabre-rattling over their meagre strategic capabilities and said the situation was fraught with danger.

The situation is such that even with the complete cessation of the conflict over so-called Ukraine nuclear disarmament in the coming decades is impossible, Medvedev wrote on his official Telegram channel.

The world will create new, more destructive types of weapons, and new countries will acquire nuclear arsenals.

Russia and the United States are by far the worlds biggest nuclear powers, with about 88% of all nuclear weapons, followed by China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
Hezbollah is using a naval route to smuggle weapons from Iran to Lebanon, following the significant shutdown of its overland and air supply channels, according to a report, citing a Western official read more

Diggers remove earth at the blast site next to the silos at the port of Beirut on August 16, 2020, in the aftermath of the massive August 4 explosion there that ravaged Lebanon's capital. AFP File

Hezbollah is using a naval route to smuggle weapons from Iran to Lebanon, following the significant shutdown of its overland and air supply channels, according to a report, citing a Western official.

According to Times of Israel, citing a report in the Saudi al-Hadath news outlet, Hezbollah is reestablishing control over Beiruts seaport, which was severely damaged in a massive explosion in 2020 when stored ammonium nitrate ignited, resulting in hundreds of fatalities and widespread destruction throughout the Lebanese capital.

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Efforts to investigate Hezbollahs involvement in storing explosives at the civilian site have consistently faced obstacles from politicians and individuals linked to the group.

The Western source expressed concerns that Hezbollahs renewed control of the port could jeopardise its operations as Lebanon seeks to recover from last years military campaign against the Iranian proxy.

Following the fall of Bashar Assad late last year, it is believed that Irans overland route through Syria for weapon smuggling has come to an end.

Israel has also warned that it may target Beiruts international airport if it is used for transporting Iranian arms, as Hezbollah aims to re-arm after the conflict.

The report identifies several Hezbollah and Iranian officials involved in establishing the maritime route, including members of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force.

With inputs from agencies
China on Tuesday accused the US of pressure, threats and blackmail over President Donald Trumps unprecedented additional 50 per cent tariffs on the country that are expected to rattle a wobbly market read more

US Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks at the American Dynamism Summit in Washington, DC, US, March 18, 2025. File Image/Reuters

China on Tuesday called out US Vice President JD Vances remark on Chinese people, saying that they were ignorant and impolite. The US and China are engaged in a war of words after President Donald Trump imposed retaliatory and additional tariffs on Beijing.

Chinas position on China-US economic and trade relations has been made very clear, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

It is surprising and sad to hear such ignorant and impolite words from this vice president, he added.

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Beijing  Washingtons major economic rival but also a key trading partner  responded by announcing its own 34 per cent duties on US goods to come into effect on Thursday, deepening a showdown between the worlds two largest economies.

What did Vance say?

During an interview last week with Fox News, Vance defended Washingtons levies on China by saying, We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.

That is not a recipe for economic prosperity. Its not a recipe for low prices, and its not a recipe for good jobs in the United States of America, he added.

"We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture" pic.twitter.com/OG3sj5m0CE  Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) April 3, 2025

How has China responded to tariffs?

China on Tuesday accused the US of pressure, threats and blackmail over President Donald Trumps unprecedented additional 50 per cent tariffs on the country that are expected to rattle a wobbly market.

Tariff wars have no winners, and protectionism has no way out. Chinese people dont make trouble, but are not afraid of it. Pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

The swift retaliation from China sparked a fresh warning from Trump that he would impose additional levies if Beijing refused to stop pushing back against his barrage of tariffs  a move that would drive the overall levies on Chinese goods to 104 percent.

With inputs from agencies
While speaking at News18s flagship Rising Bharat Summit 2025, Maldivess former Defence Minister Uza Mariya Didi and Namal Rajapaksa, Member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, made a strong pitch for closer cooperation with India for greater stability in South Asia read more

When it comes to India or China, the Maldives believes that India is naturally a better partner for the island nation. The assertion came from former Maldivian Defence Minister Uza Mariya Didi.

While speaking at News18s flagship Rising Bharat Summit, Didi and Sri Lankan parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, who is also the son of former President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who was forced to vacate power by a mass agitation over cost of living in 2022, identified areas where South Asian nations should collaborate to thrive in turbulent times. The panellist also discussed what both Sri Lanka and the Maldives expect from India, as one of the key powers in the region.

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At a time when US President Donald Trumps wide-ranging tariffs including baseline and reciprocal levies have unsettled a long-standing trade order, South Asian countries are looking for collaborations and opportunities to make space for themselves in the global arena.

While Sri Lanka is recovering from a historic economic crisis that struck the nation in 2022, the Maldives is rebuilding its ties with its decades-long neighbour, India.

On the first day of the Summit, Didi admitted that the Maldives foreign policy is very confusing at the moment. You see him [Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu] visiting China. Then he comes to India. And he talks of India, she said.

The former minister noted that the idea of Maldives First is obvious but the island nation should go beyond that.

You know, its stating the obvious. But if you come to look at how we [India and Maldives] have been together from the beginning, coming to India, as I always say, is our 911, she said.

Youre just one step away from coming to help us whenever we have any sort of difficulty as well, she said.

While speaking to Firstpost, Didi referred to India as the big sister of the Maldives. She said I think the countries, our countries have maintained that relationship, the people-to-people relationship that we have always had. So, youve always been like an elder sister who was thinking of us as people who are together in our region.

When asked about Chinas growing influence in the region, Didi emphasised that India is naturally a better partner to the Maldives than China. When asked about the India-out campaign that briefly took over the nation, the former defence minister emphasised that such ideas no longer exist in the country.

There was a point where the people of the Maldives got confused with all the social media. But I think its not at a people level, she said.

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I think it is just some political thing that was going on so that people do not concentrate on local issues. It was like a significant circumstance to take the mind away from local political issues, Didi said.

Im sure we will rise above it and will always have that close relationship we have with India, she said.

Sri Lanka takes a more pragmatic stance

While speaking about the financial crisis, which even led to political unrest in Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa called the whole ordeal a lesson that Colombo has learned. We must implement and execute what has to be done at that given time. So what we saw in the past couple of years is that we purely ignored certain development projects based on political reasons, for example, some were supposed to be started in 2014-15. And as a result, in 2022, we faced an energy crisis that turned later on into a financial crisis, he said.

When it comes to the Trump tariffs, Rajapaksa emphasised that what currently is happening will not affect one country only. In terms of Sri Lanka, he noted that the Trump tariff would impact the maritime industry in Sri Lanka.

As you know, Sri Lanka depends on trade, and we are depending on logistics as well at the same time. So this is something that we need to work together with countries like India and other partners to see how we can work new alliances and build new partnerships with the region, he said.

Rajapaksa took a programmatic approach regarding who Sri Lanka trusts more, India or China. The Sri Lankan parliamentarian emphasised that the country is more focused on which investment can give the best return for the people of Sri Lanka.

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What we should look at is what can give, which investment can give you the best return for people of Sri Lanka rather than looking at it in a very counter-impressive manner. But I believe it all depends on the existing governments and the political setup in Sri Lanka, and how we manage it, he said.

During an engaging conversation, both Did and Rajapaksa agreed that South Asia is a paradise that can prosper with collaboration, and that India has a prominent role to play to achieve that end.
The apparent shift comes after the US launched significant military strikes against Irans Houthi rebel group in Yemen, which has attacked Red Sea shipping lanes and fired ballistic missiles at Israel read more

Several powerful Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq are prepared to disarm for the first time to avert the threat of an escalating conflict with the US Trump administration, 10 senior commanders and Iraqi officials tell Reuters.

US officials told Baghdad that unless it acted to disband the militias operating on its soil, America could target the groups with airstrikes, the people add.

Izzat al-Shahbndar, a senior Shiite Muslim politician close to Iraqs governing alliance, tells Reuters that discussions between Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and several militia leaders are very advanced, and the groups are inclined to comply with US calls for disarmament.

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The apparent shift comes after the US launched significant military strikes against Irans Houthi rebel group in Yemen, which has attacked Red Sea shipping lanes and fired ballistic missiles at Israel.

The factions are not acting stubbornly or insisting on continuing in their current form, Shahbndar says, adding that the groups are fully aware they could be targeted by the US.

The six militia commanders interviewed in Baghdad and a southern province, who request anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation, are from the Kataib Hezbollah, Nujabaa, Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada and Ansarullah al-Awfiyaa groups.

Some of the groups launched attacks against Israel following the October 7, 2023, attack, though they have seemingly pulled back from such action since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon reached in November.

The commanders say their main ally and patron, Irans elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) military force, gave them its blessing to take whatever decisions they deemed necessary to avoid being drawn into a potentially ruinous conflict with the United States and Israel.

The militias are part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of about 10 hardline Shiite armed factions that collectively command about 50,000 fighters and arsenals that include long-range missiles and anti-aircraft weapons, according to two security officials who monitor militias activities.

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Iran on Tuesday responded to US President Donald Trumps announcement of direct talks regarding its nuclear programme, saying that the discussions, scheduled to begin in Oman on Saturday, will actually be conducted in an indirect format, according to a report read more

Iran on Tuesday responded to US President Donald Trumps announcement of direct talks regarding its nuclear programme, saying that the discussions, scheduled to begin in Oman on Saturday, will actually be conducted in an indirect format.

According to The Guardian report, Iranian officials, however, emphasised that the intentions of the negotiators hold greater significance than the format of the talks.

On Monday, Trumps revelation took Tehran by surprise, as he indicated that the failure of these talks would place Iran in great danger.

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This statement comes amid a notable increase in US military presence throughout the Middle East in recent weeks, suggesting a strategy to compel Iran to negotiate with urgency.

The US delegation will be led by Steve Witkoff, Trumps special envoy to the Middle East, who has previously engaged in talks concerning the Ukraine war. Irans side will be represented by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Witkoffs past attempts to mediate peace between Israel and Hamas, as well as between Russia and Ukraine, have not yet yielded success.

Iran had publicly been hesitant about the talks, saying it was ready for indirect discussions with the US but had not yet received a formal response regarding their status.

In a post on X shortly after Trump announced the weekend talks during an Oval Office press conference, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi referred to the discussions as both an opportunity and a test. He emphasised that the next move rests with the US.

Speaking during a visit to Algiers, Araghchi elaborated that Iran wanted indirect talks.

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The form of negotiations is not important, whether they are direct or indirect. In my opinion, what is important is whether the negotiations are effective or ineffective, whether the parties are serious or not in the negotiations, the intentions of the parties in the negotiations, and the will to reach a solution. These are the criteria for action in any dialogue, The Guardian quoted Araghchi as saying.

Iran has not agreed to a formula that would transition indirect talks into direct negotiations, despite US expectations for such an evolution. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vetoed direct talks, citing US sanctions and concerns from hardliners who view negotiations as a political trap.

Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani welcomed the news, noting that if the 2015 nuclear deal had been negotiated indirectly, it could have taken 20 years instead of just two. Trump withdrew from that deal, which had provided sanctions relief in exchange for limits on Irans uranium enrichment.

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Iran is now assessing whether the US will focus on a new surveillance system for its civil nuclear program, similar to the previous treaty, or if it will push for the dismantling of Irans entire nuclear program, an approach likened to the Libya option. In 2003, Libyas Muammar Gaddafi renounced his weapons of mass destruction program under international scrutiny.

With inputs from agencies
Trump and Netanyahu held a high-stakes meeting at the White House on Monday, touching on a range of pressing global issues. Trump spoke about another ceasefire in Gaza and nuclear talks with Iran as he expressed frustration with Russia read more

US President Donald Trump (R) meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks on Monday in Washington DC before addressing critical geopolitical issues during a hastily arranged meeting at the White House. The Oval Office discussion saw Trump fielding questions from reporters, while Netanyahu remained largely reserved, offering occasional remarks on key topics.

Trump answered questions on Irans nuclear ambitions, Gaza ceasefire negotiations, and escalating tensions with Turkey. The discussion showed alignment as well as friction between Trump and Netanyahu on key issues affecting and shaping political and regional stability in West Asia.

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Here are the five top things they spoke about:

1. Iran nuclear talks set for Saturday

Trump announced that the US would initiate direct talks with Iran over its nuclear programme starting Saturday, marking the first substantive diplomatic engagement with Tehran during his second term. While details about the delegation and location remain undisclosed, Trump warned that Iran would face great danger if the talks failed. Netanyahu, however, reportedly advocated for a military operation to dismantle Irans nuclear facilities, a move deemed risky by experts. Trump described the delegation for talks as high-level.

The move comes amid reported pressure from Netanyahu for Washington to authorise military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities  an option experts deem high-risk and unlikely to prevent long-term nuclear proliferation.

Iran would be in great danger if talks are not successful, Trump warned, underscoring the administrations dual approach of diplomacy and implicit military threat.

Netanyahu reiterated Israels stance that Iran must abandon its nuclear ambitions entirely, though he remained silent on potential military coordination during the press briefing.

2. US looking at another ceasefire in Gaza

The U.S. is working towards securing a new ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and facilitating the release of hostages held by Hamas. The two leaders addressed efforts to broker a new ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel resumed military operations last month following the collapse of a January truce.

Trump confirmed Washingtons focus on securing the release of 59 hostages still held by Hamas, including 22 Israelis and US-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander. Were looking at another ceasefire. Well see what happens. But we want to get the hostages out, Trump said.

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Netanyahu affirmed his dual objectives of hostage recovery and Hamass eradication, endorsing Trumps controversial proposal for US oversight of Gaza and Palestinian relocation.

Having a peace force like the United States there, controlling and owning the Gaza Strip, would be a good thing, Trump said.

3. Netanyahu wants tariff solution very quickly

Trade tensions surfaced as Netanyahu sought to avert Trumps newly imposed 17% reciprocal tariffs on Israeli goods. He pledged to eliminate Israels trade deficit with the US and dismantle barriers, saying, I hope to bring a solution very quickly.

As Netanyahu sought to resolve the reciprocal tariffs imposed by Trump on Israeli goods and pledged to address the trade deficit, the Israeli prime minister faced Trumps reminder of the $4 billion in annual US military aid to Israel.

Trump remarked, We do take care of our friends.

Despite Netanyahus appeals, Trump showed no inclination to pause the tariffs. Trump also ruled out pausing the tariffs and reiterated threats to hike Chinese import duties to 54%, following Beijings retaliatory 34% tariff on US goods.

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4. Trump says he will work out Turkey-Israel tensions

Netanyahu raised concerns over Turkeys growing influence in Syria, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backs a transitional government involving the US-designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir-al Sham. Recent Israeli airstrikes on Syrian airbases hosting Turkish forces have exacerbated tensions.

Any problem that you have with Turkey, I think I can solve We have to be reasonable, Trump told Netanyahu, referencing his rapport with Erdogan.

Netanyahu, acknowledging Trumps potential mediation role, said, We cant have a better interlocutor than the president of the United States.

5. Trump not happy over Russia-Ukraine fighting

Trump voiced dissatisfaction with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine fighting, despite efforts to broker a limited ceasefire. While Russia was exempted from US tariffs due to ongoing negotiations, Ukraine faced a 10% tariff on its exports.

Addressing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump referred to intensified bombardments despite US-brokered ceasefire talks focusing on energy infrastructure and Black Sea shipping. Theyre bombing like crazy right now thats not a good situation, he said.

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The administration exempted Russia from reciprocal tariffs to avoid complicating peace negotiations, though Ukraine faces a 10% duty on US-bound exports. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has defended the decision, arguing that it was inappropriate to conflate trade measures with ceasefire discussions.

The takeaway from Trump-Netanyahu talks

The White House meeting showed Trumps transactional approach to alliances, intertwining security cooperation with economic demands. While Trump and Netanyahu displayed unity on countering Iran and Hamas, obvious divergences on trade and regional strategy hinted at underlying complexities in the US-Israel relations since the Republican leader has taken the office.

Netanyahus muted presence during the briefing contrasted with Trumps expansive commentary, reflecting the delicate balance of US-Israel relations amid evolving global crises. As Trump advances high-stakes diplomacy with Iran and deals with Gazas volatile situation, the changing US-Israel relations look set to reverberate across West Asia, impacting geopolitics but also emphasising Trumps role as a mediator-in-chief.

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The audit found many breaches of the concession awarded to a subsidiary of logistics giant CK Hutchison to operate the two ports, and concluded that Panama did not receive $1.2 billion it was owed under the contract read more

The Hong Kong firm in charge of two ports at either end of the Panama Canal  which sparked US President Donald Trumps threats to seize the waterway  has flouted the terms of its contract, according to Panamanian audit results released Monday.

The audit found many breaches of the concession awarded to a subsidiary of logistics giant CK Hutchison to operate the two ports, and concluded that Panama did not receive $1.2 billion it was owed under the contract.

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The subsidiary, called Panama Ports, benefited from many tax exemptions and also had irregularities in a previous audit that was used to justify an extension of the concession first awarded in 1997, said state comptroller Anel Flores.

This is a very delicate issue, Flores told reporters, adding that he would file a complaint with prosecutors in the coming days over the unpaid concession fees.

The release of the audit results came hours before US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was set to arrive in Panama, which has come under strong pressure from Trump to reduce Chinese influence on the US-built canal.

The United States has said it is a threat to its national security  and the region as a whole  for a Hong Kong company to operate ports at either end of the canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, through which five percent of all global shipping passes.

But Flores denied that the announcement of Panama Ports failing to honor the concession contract had anything to do with the Hegseth visit.

This is an autonomous act by Panama, Flores said.

However, some analysts had predicted that this audit would in fact purport to show irregularities, so that Panama could strip the Chinese company of the contract and thus appease the Trump administration.

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It comes as a surprise to no one that the audit turns up alleged irregularities, since the idea was to have some kind of legal justification strong enough to cancel the concession, Euclides Tapia, a professor of international relations, told AFP.

The state comptrollers office is an autonomous body that examines how government money is spent.

It began the audit of Panama Ports in late January to determine if it was honoring the concession contract, after Trump threatened to take over the canal, by force if necessary.

Faced with Trumps repeated threats, the Central American country in turn has put pressure on CK Hutchison to relinquish its control of the ports.

In March, the firm announced an agreement to sell 43 ports in 23 countries  including its two on the interoceanic Panama Canal  to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash.

A furious Beijing has since announced an antitrust review of the deal, likely preventing the parties from signing an agreement on April 2 as planned.

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Panama Ports, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, won the concession to operate Balboa port on the Pacific side of the canal and Cristobal port on the Atlantic side in 1997.

The concession was renewed for another 25 years in 2021.
President Murmus visit to Portugal highlights the deepening strategic and cultural ties between the two nations. Learn more about the past diplomatic collaborations and the historical ties India shares with Portugal read more

President Droupadi Murmus visit is the first presidential visit from India to Portugal in over a decade. File image/PTI

President Droupadi Murmu is in Lisbon to hold high-level talks, marking 50 years of diplomatic relations between India and Portugal. Her visit marks a new chapter in the bilateral relations of the two countries. Murmus visit is the first presidential visit from India to Portugal in over a decade, highlighting the growing strategic focus on defence, trade, and cultural cooperation. Rooted in a shared colonial historyespecially evident in Goathe partnership today spans renewable energy, science, education, and more.

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Here are five key things you need to know about the India-Portugal relationship.

1. Shared history & cultural ties

After Vasco da Gamas expedition, Portugal ruled parts of western Indiamainly Goa, Daman, and Diufor over 450 years. This ended in 1961 with Operation Vijay, which liberated Goa. Diplomatic ties were strained after the annexation but were restored in 1974 following Portugals Carnation Revolution.

The colonial legacy left a unique cultural fusion, especially in Goan cuisine, festivals, language, and architecture. Today, according to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian diaspora in Portugal is estimated at around 125,000, with thousands of Goans holding Portuguese passports and a vibrant Indian community in Lisbon.

2. Rebuilding and strengthening ties

Since the early 2000s, India and Portugal have worked to strengthen ties. The first major visit came in 1998, when President KR Narayanan traveled to Lisbon to promote cooperation and move past colonial tensions.

In 2017, Portuguese PM Antonio Costaof Goan originvisited India, followed by PM Modis historic visit to Portugal. He was the first Indian PM to visit the country. These visits elevated ties to a strategic partnership focused on innovation in technology, renewable energy, space, and blue economy.

3. Science, technology & start-up collaboration

Indias collaboration with Portugal in science and technology has become a key pillar of their partnership. In 2017, they launched the IndiaPortugal International Start-up Hub (IPISH) to connect their start-up ecosystems and facilitate joint innovation.

Since then, joint innovation funds have supported co-development in clean energy, water management, health tech, and smart cities. Space cooperation has also grown, with Isro and Portugals space agency working on satellite data sharing and ocean monitoring. Both countries are also advancing projects in the blue economy, focusing on sustainable marine technology and ocean resource management.

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4. Economic Engagement & EU Gateway

India and Portugals economic ties have steadily grown with trade. According to the Government of India, in FY 202223, bilateral trade stood at approximately $1.2 billion, with Indian exports at $1,005 million and Portuguese exports at $196 million.

India mainly exports textiles, agricultural products, metals, and machinery, while Portugal exports machinery, metals, chemicals, and optical instruments. Post-Brexit, Portugal is increasingly viewed as a gateway to the EU.

Especially since Portugal supports the long-pending IndiaEU Free Trade Agreement. Its stable economy, transparent regulations, and business-friendly environment make it an appealing base for Indian firms entering European markets.

5. Emerging defence collaboration

Although not a traditional defence partner, Portugal has recently opened channels for cooperation with India, particularly in maritime security and dual-use technologies. In 2022, the Indian Navy training ship INS Tarangini stopped at the port of Porto during its Lokayan voyage.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the crew engaged with the Portuguese Navy in professional exchanges on anti-piracy, maritime domain awareness, and visited naval ships and installations. In 2019, Portugal suggested an aviation and ship building partnership with India. Portugal boasts a vibrant defence industry, and we are keen to collaborate with India under the Make in India initiative, Portuguese Defence Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho said in an exclusive interview with The Economic Times during his visit to India last week.

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Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - Mali on Monday announced the closure of its airspace to all civil and military aircraft flying to or from Algeria with effect from Monday until further notice
Trump imposed a 31% tariff on U.S. imports from South Africa on April 2, when he announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports and higher targeted duties on dozens of countries read more

Tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump will hurt South African citrus farms and could potentially affect 35,000 jobs, a farmers association said on Tuesday.

Trump imposed a 31% tariff on U.S. imports from South Africa on April 2, when he announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports and higher targeted duties on dozens of countries.

South Africa, the worlds second largest citrus exporter after Spain, ships between 5%-6% of its produce to the U.S., earning more than $100 million annually.

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The new tariff would place an additional $4.50 cost on each carton, making South Africas fruit less competitive in the U.S. market, the Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa (CGA) said in a statement.

Towns such as Citrusdal in the Western Cape, which are heavily dependent on citrus exports to the U.S., could be hit especially hard, CGA chairperson Gerrit van der Merwe said.

The severity and immediate nature of the impending tariffs could mean that towns like it now face either increased unemployment or maybe even total economic collapse, van der Merwe said. There is immense anxiety in our communities.

A total of 35,000 jobs are directly connected to South Africas citrus exports, he added.

With South African farmers starting to pack citrus destined for the U.S. market this week, growers have called on the government to prioritise immediate negotiations with the U.S on tariff reductions or exemptions on citrus.

Africas most advanced economy has said it will not retaliate against the U.S., its second largest bilateral trading partner after China. Instead, South Africa says it will seek to negotiate exemptions and quota agreements.

South Africa has also said Trumps tariffs effectively nullified the benefits African countries have enjoyed under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which grants qualifying states duty-free access to the U.S. market. The 25-year-old trade initiative is set to expire in September.

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Animosities between the Koreas are running high now as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to flaunt his military nuclear capabilities and align with Russia over President Vladimir Putins war on Ukraine read more

South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea. File image/ AP

South Koreas military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the rivals tense border on Tuesday, South Korean officials said.

South Koreas military said in a statement that about 10 North Korean soldiers returned to the North after South Korea made warning broadcasts and fired warning shots. It said the North Korean soldiers violated the military demarcation line at the eastern section of the border at 5 p.m.

South Koreas military said it is closely monitoring North Korean activities.

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Bloodshed and violent confrontations have occasionally occurred at the Koreas heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone. But when North Korean troops briefly violated the border in June last year, it didnt escalate into a major source of tensions as South Korean officials assessed the soldiers didnt deliberately commit the border intrusion.

The motive for Tuesdays border crossing by North Korean soldiers wasnt immediately clear.

Animosities between the Koreas are running high now as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to flaunt his military nuclear capabilities and align with Russia over President Vladimir Putins war on Ukraine. Kim is also ignoring calls by Seoul and Washington to resume denuclearization negotiations.

Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy. North Korea has not responded to Trumps remarks and says U.S. hostilities against it have deepened since Trumps inauguration.

South Korea, meanwhile, is experiencing a leadership vacuum after the ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol last week over his ill-fated imposition of martial law.
The trip comes as the European Union rethinks its global trading relationships amid turmoil caused by the US import duties announced last week that have sent world markets into a tailspin read more

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping during his visit in Beijing. File image/ AFP

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez aims to open new market opportunities during a visit to China and Vietnam this week on the heels of US President Donald Trumps sweeping tariffs.

The trip comes as the European Union rethinks its global trading relationships amid turmoil caused by the US import duties announced last week that have sent world markets into a tailspin.

Sanchez is to arrive in Hanoi on Wednesday for talks with Vietnams top leader, To Lam, on the same day Trumps 20 percent tariffs on EU products come into force.

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On Thursday, he will travel to Ho Chi Minh City, the Asian manufacturing powerhouses commercial capital, to meet with business leaders.

The Socialist prime minister then heads to China for his third visit in just over two years, where he is scheduled to meet President Xi Jinping and Chinese investors on Friday.

China and Vietnam currently sell much more to Spain than they buy.

Trump last week announced he would hit China with an additional 34 percent tariff on top of a 20 percent levy imposed this year. On Monday, he threatened additional tariffs of 50 percent from Wednesday if China did not withdraw its retaliatory measures.

Vietnam, where Sanchez will make the first official visit by a Spanish prime minister, is to be hit with a thumping 46 percent tariff.

A mistake

Sanchez broke with the rest of the EU on his last trip to China in September 2024, urging the bloc to reconsider plans to impose high tariffs on Chinese electric cars and calling for a fair trade order.

The EU argued that the tariffs were necessary to protect European producers from unfair competition from state-backed Chinese firms.

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China reacted by launching a probe into imports of EU pork products. Spain is the blocs biggest exporter of pork products to China.

Sanchez has tried to present himself as a bridge between Brussels and China and to be one of the voices calling for pragmatism that puts the economy first, said Ines Arco, an Asia specialist at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, a think tank.

Spains conservative opposition and media have however accused Sanchez of acting on his own and without coordination with Brussels.

Its a mistake to want to switch from the United States to China overnight, said Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of Spains main opposition conservative Popular Party.

Level playing field

Brussels, however, has recently signalled that it wants smoother ties with Beijing.

After Trumps return to the White House in January, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen called for constructive engagement with China.

And the blocs trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, recently visited China to promote a more balanced and cooperative trade relationship.

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The clear objective of Sanchezs trip is to increase Spains exports to China, given the huge trade imbalance that exists, said Miguel Otero, a senior analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute think tank in Madrid.

Spain buys some 45 billion euros ($49.1 billion) of goods from China per year, its fourth-largest trading partner, but sells it just some 7.4 billion euros.

Sanchez will also seek to attract more green tech investment after Chinese carmaker Chery announced last year it would open its first European electric car factory in Barcelona.

Another major Chinese carmaker, BYD, is mulling a new investment in Europe after opening an electric vehicle plant in Hungary, and Spain could be a candidate, said Arco.

Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said Monday that Madrid wants to reach negotiated agreements with China to open up our markets, but always with a degree of protection our companies, our industries should play on a level playing field.

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Tensions within President Donald Trumps administration are rising, as Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), publicly criticised White House adviser Peter Navarro over Trumps recently announced aggressive tariff strategy. read more

Tech-billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk made direct yet unsuccessful appeals to US President Donald Trump to reverse tariffs over the past weekend, the Washington Post reported on Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

This exchange marks the highest profile disagreement between the President and Musk, the report said. It follows Trumps unveiling of a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the US along with higher duties on dozens of other countries.

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Musks efforts have yet to yield any results, according to two people with knowledge of the private discussions. On Monday, Trump escalated the situation by threatening to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports on top of the 34% levies announced the previous week. However, the president did indicate he was open to negotiating certain elements of the policy.

In one of his posts on X, Musk shared a video featuring the late economist Milton Friedman, who emphasized the advantages of global trade through what he called the impersonal operation of prices, using the manufacturing of a wooden pencil as an example.

This policy dispute represents the most prominent rift to date between Musk and Trump. It involves one of Trumps influential advisers, who contributed close to $290 million to support Trump and other Republican candidates during last years elections and has been overseeing cost-cutting measures at the US DOGE Service since January.

Musk has previously clashed with other Trump allies over issues such as H1-B visas for skilled workers and the DOGE Services fiscal strategy.
Although this is not the first time the US and Mexico would be working together for a possible joint operation against drug cartels, a blueprint of the plan this time would involve an unprecedented number of US personnel read more

A Mexican National Guard camp at the US border. President Claudia Sheinbaum began moving troops there last month as part of a deployment to combat illegal migration and drug trafficking. AFP

The US government is planning to launch drone strikes against Mexican drug cartels as President Donald Trump vows to combat the trafficking of narcotics from the Latin American nation.

Officials from the US military, law enforcement and intelligence officials have told NBC News that the White House is discussing initial plans with the Defence Department to attack cartels and their networks in the country with drones in collaboration with the Mexican government.

The administration has yet to make a final decision or reach a concrete agreement on how to address the cartels. Sources indicated that unilateral covert actions, carried out without Mexicos approval, remain a possibility and could be considered as a last resort. It is still uncertain whether US officials have discussed the option of drone strikes with the Mexican government.

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How has US stepped up surveillance?

Although this is not the first time the US and Mexico would be working together for a possible joint operation against drug cartels, a blueprint of the plan this time would involve an unprecedented number of US personnel and American unmanned aircraft to bomb cartel personnel and assets.

According to six sources, the US military and CIA have significantly increased surveillance flights over Mexico to gather intelligence in preparation for what is expected to be a major operation against the cartels, which the White House has identified as a national security threat. These flights are being conducted with the approval of the Mexican government, as confirmed by President Claudia Sheinbaum.

How is Mexico helping?

Last week, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that there are more lists of names of alleged drug traffickers for extradition to the United States.

In February, Mexico handed over nearly 30 jailed convicts or others accused of ties to violent drug cartels to US authorities amid threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose across-the-board tariffs on Mexican goods, which he later paused.

Trump is expected to announce reciprocal tariff rates on April 2, after implementing levies on aluminum, steel and automobiles.

Sheinbaum said in her daily press conference that Mexico does not believe in eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth regarding its response to US tariffs, but that action would be taken.

With inputs from agencies
The White House on Tuesday confirmed that the US President Donald Trump has announced a sweeping 104% tariff on all goods imported from China effective midnight, as Washington doubles down on planned action after Beijing vowed a fight to the end on levies read more

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order on tariffs, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 2, 2025. Reuters File

The White House on Tuesday confirmed that the US President Donald Trump has announced a sweeping 104% tariff on all goods imported from China effective midnight, as Washington doubles down on planned action after Beijing vowed a fight to the end on levies.

According to AFP, US President Donald Trump had vowed a further 50% tariff on goods from China if Beijing did not retract upcoming retaliation - and the White House confirmed that Trump will proceed with this action, taking the overall added duties this year to 104%.

Trumps administration said the move is intended at levelling the playing field following the Presidents recent accusations that various countries are looting the US through tariffs on American exports.

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While Trump said on Tuesday that he is waiting to hear from China before duties of more than 100% take effect, other administration officials said they would not prioritise negotiations with the worlds No. 2 economic power, according to a Reuters report.

Global markets stabilised after days of turmoil triggered by Trumps sweeping tariffs, which have raised recession fears and disrupted a decades-old trading order. US stocks posted gains following a severe selloff that has wiped out trillions of dollars since last week.

Trump has already implemented a 10% tariff on nearly all imports into the worlds largest consumer market, with targeted tariffs of up to 50% on many trading partners set to take effect on Wednesday.

In response, China has rejected what it calls blackmail and vowed to fight to the end after Trump threatened to escalate tariffs to 104% in retaliation for Chinas decision to match his previously announced duties.

Trump indicated that a resolution might be possible.

China also wants to make a deal, badly, but they dont know how to get it started. We are waiting for their call. It will happen! he said on social media.

Administration officials, however, said China would take a back seat to other countries in trade talks.

Right now, weve received the instruction to prioritise our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others, Reuters quoted White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett as saying on Fox News.

Trumps administration has set up negotiations with those two export-dependent countries, which could be hammered by the thicket of country- and product-specific tariffs.

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Dozens of other governments have reached out as well, and Vietnam and Indonesia have offered to cut tariffs on some US imports.

With inputs from agencies
Beijing is a close diplomatic ally of Moscow but is not publicly known to have directly aided in the Kremlins full-scale invasion, which US President Donald Trump is seeking to swiftly end. read more

This handout video grab published on the official Telegram channel of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 8, 2025 shows, according to the Ukrainian president, one of two Chinese soldiers he said were captured by Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region. Image- AFP

The United States on Tuesday expressed concern after reports emerged that two Chinese nationals had been captured by Ukrainian forces while allegedly fighting for Russia, calling it a disturbing indication of Beijings alignment with Moscow.

This is disturbing, said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce. China continues to play a key enabling role in Russias war against Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the two individuals were detained in the eastern Donetsk region while fighting alongside Russian troops. He claimed they were part of a broader contingent of Chinese nationals in the Russian military.

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Our military has captured two Chinese citizens who were fighting as part of the Russian army. This happened on Ukrainian territoryin the Donetsk region. Identification documents, bank cards, and personal data were found in their possession.



We have information suggesting that pic.twitter.com/ekBr6hCkQL  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) April 8, 2025

Zelenskyy said he would instruct Ukraines foreign minister to seek immediate clarification from Beijing regarding the presence of its citizens in the conflict. It remains unclear whether the two detainees were sent by the Chinese government or had joined the Russian forces independently.

Reports suggest that several hundred Chinese nationals may have joined the Russian military as mercenaries, along with others from countries like Nepal and parts of Central Asia. However, their participation appears to differ from the reported deployment of 11,000 North Korean soldiers, which followed an official agreement between Pyongyang and Moscow.

According to Zelenskyy, Ukrainian authorities recovered identification documents, bank cards, and personal details from the two captured men. Ukraines Security Service (SBU) is now working to verify the information and investigate their involvement.

The Ukrainian leader argued that Russias recruitment of foreign fighters, including Chinese nationals, shows that Moscow is not serious about a ceasefire, despite ongoing US-backed peace negotiations that have yielded little progress in recent weeks.

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Bringing China and others into this warwhether officially or unofficiallymakes it clear that Putin is focused on prolonging the conflict, not ending it, Zelenskyy said on social media.

Kyiv has called on its Western allies to respond to Russias deployment of a significant number of North Korean soldiers in the western Russian region of Kursk.

Amid these developments, Ukraines forces continue to face challenges in holding territory after launching an offensive along the border last year. However, President Zelenskyy revealed for the first time on Monday that Ukrainian troops have been operating inside Russias Belgorod region.

With inputs from agencies
Tariffs not only threaten the economic stability of Americans but also undermines a key pillar of American global power, potentially isolating the US at a time when other countries are poised to capitalise on this vacuum, according to a report read more

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump announced his "Liberation Day" tariff plan for countries across the world. Reuters

In a bold move to make America great, US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of a 10% duty on imports from nearly all countries, along with additional punitive tariffs targeting nations he considers trade offenders, including Japan and members of the European Union.

According to The Atlantic, citing experts, this shift away from global trade could have significant repercussions for American families, companies, and investors. The new tariff regime not only threatens the economic stability of these groups but also undermines a key pillar of American global power, potentially isolating the country at a time when other nations are poised to capitalise on this vacuum.

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With the addition of these new tariffs, Chinas average tariff rate has now approached 70%, marking a substantial increase from previous levels.

Describing the tariffs as payback, Trump said, Foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories, and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream.

Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years, but it is not going to happen anymore, he added.

Trumps tariffs are the culmination of a decades-long shift in political perceptions in the United States, in which trade has gone from an unalloyed good to the source of all ills.

Historically, the US aimed to reduce trade barriers and promote global markets, exemplified by agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement and support for the World Trade Organization. This global trading system lowered goods costs, benefiting consumers and companies in wealthier nations, while integrating poorer countries like China into international supply chains, creating jobs and reducing poverty.

Trade once served as the foundation of the American-led international order. However, as supply chains expanded to cut costs, many factories disappeared from the US heartland. This loss fueled a belief among some Americans that trade was to blame for rising inequality and limited mobility, a sentiment that populist politicians have capitalised on, reported The Atlantic

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Moreover, trades strategic promise fell short. Experts had assured Americans that economic ties would foster peace with China and Russia. Instead, these nations have emerged as authoritarian rivals.

The Trump team sold its tariffs programme as a bid to set things straight by forcing Americas lost factories to return home.

Youre going to see the greatest resurgence of factory building and factory production in America, The Atlantic quoted US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as saying in defence of the tariffs.

Trump is changing the way people think about production in America, Lutnick added.

According to The Atlantic report, the outcomes of the administrations tariff strategy may not align with expectations. While some foreign companies might establish US factories to retain access to this key market, many others are too small or too embedded in existing supply chains to do so.

Moreover, its unclear where the workforce will come from to assemble iPhones or produce car parts, especially given the presidents stance against large-scale immigration. US factories are already struggling to find workers, with hundreds of thousands of manufacturing vacancies, added the report.

Trump has often criticised other countries for unfair trade practices, such as currency manipulation and strict product standards. However, the tariff regime may highlight a key economic truth: certain goods are produced more cheaply and efficiently abroad due to established expertise.

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As a result, Trumps policies are likely to lead to higher prices for American consumers, whether goods are produced domestically at inflated costs or imported with hefty tariffs, reported The Atlantic.

Estimates suggest that tariffs could drive the price of a premium iPhone to $2,300, a scenario the Trump administration appears to accept.

Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream, The Atlantic quoted US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as saying in March.

But when consumers buy fewer products at higher prices, companies produce and sell less and hire fewer workers, and growth slows.

As French President Emmanuel Macron put it, Trumps policy will make Americans weaker and poorer.

A global trade war will impact more than just Americans. Other countries are likely to retaliate against US tariffs. China has already imposed an additional 34 percent tariff on US imports, while the EU is also considering its own measures. The once-prosperous global trade landscape may shift to one of economic competition.

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Other nations accepted US leadership as a promoter of global economic progress, but Trumps approach undermines that role. He may offer to reduce tariffs for countries that negotiate with him, viewing it as a display of strength, as seen with his willingness to negotiate with China over TikTok. However, the erratic nature of these policies will diminish American standing internationally, according to The Atlantic report.

This shift could allow Beijing to position itself as a responsible global leader. Following Trumps announcement, ministers from China, Japan, and South Korea pledged to promote global trade, implicitly criticicing the US.

While the US remains the worlds largest economy, it is not the only player. A Chinese state broadcaster highlighted that US tariffs could isolate America from free trade, as its partners deepen their economic ties independently.

Tariffs wont earn respect for the US, they may simply prompt others to move on without it, added the report.

With inputs from agencies

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In March, the Russian military confirmed that Ukrainian forces launched land assaults in Belgorod. The DeepState military blog, which is believed to have close ties to Ukraines military, reported that Ukrainian troops had seized a 13-square-kilometer area in the Russian territory near the border village of Demidovka read more

Servicemen of the 14th Assault Brigade Chervona Kalyna of the Ukrainian National Guard fire an OTO Melara howitzer towards Russian troops at a position in a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk. Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly acknowledged the presence of his troops in Russias Belgorod region, where Moscow reported attacks last month.

We continue to carry out active operations in the border areas on enemy territory, and that is absolutely just - war must return to where it came from, Zelenskyy said on Monday as he confirmed Ukrainian military action in Kursk and Belgorod.

The Ukrainian presidents statement is significant as this is the first time he has mentioned the presence of troops in the region since the start of the war in 2022.

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In March, the Russian military confirmed that Ukrainian forces launched land assaults in Belgorod. The DeepState military blog, which is believed to have close ties to Ukraines military, reported that Ukrainian troops had seized a 13-square-kilometer area in the Russian territory near the border village of Demidovka.

Why is Belgorod important?

Belgorod, which houses 1.5 million people, has been Ukraines regular target since the war began. The region is close to Kursk, which Kyiv has been trying to hold on to after launching a surprise attack last year.

Ukraines operation in Belgorod is thought to be significantly smaller in scope than its activities in Kursk, where Kyiv managed to capture several villages, including the town of Sudzha. President Zelensky and his senior military officials have consistently stated that these incursions have pressured Moscow to move troops from Donetsk, where Russian forces have been making gradual but consistent progress in recent months.

Bombing like crazy

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Monday reiterated his opposition to Russias bombing of Ukraine as his administration participates in talks seeking an end to the fighting there.

Im not happy about whats going on in Ukraine, the Republican told reporters in the White House, accusing Russia of bombing like crazy right now even as he said the parties were sort of close on a deal.

With inputs from agencies
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, April 7, 2025

BACKGROUND:

Since Taliban forces effectively overthrew the Afghan government in August 2021, the Taliban and various armed groups, including the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K), have committed widespread and systematic human rights violations and abuses throughout the country.

The Taliban de facto authorities have implemented restrictive policies and practices that deny women and girls their human rights, perpetuating extreme forms of gender-based discrimination and flagrantly violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Since August 2021 over 100 sweeping repressive edicts, regulations and decrees have been enacted that target women and girls, severely limiting their freedom of movement, freedom of opinion and expression, employment opportunities, political and public representation and access to education and healthcare. In August 2024 the Taliban implemented the so-called vice and virtue laws, which aim to eradicate women from public life, including by requiring women to fully cover their faces and prohibiting them from speaking or being heard in public. Edicts implemented in 2024 reinstated public stoning and flogging of women to death for alleged adultery, among other violations of Taliban ideology. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has documented arbitrary arrests and detentions of women and girls because of alleged non-compliance with the imposed Islamic dress code.

According to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan and the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, the Taliban may be perpetrating gender persecution and gender apartheid as they appear to be governing through systematic discrimination with the intent to subject women and girls to total domination. According to UNAMA, Afghan women fear arrest and punishment whenever a new edict is announced due to increased police harassment. Women and girls have reportedly been forcibly taken into police vehicles and subjected to ill-treatment. Shia Hazara women and girls have been disproportionately impacted. Womens rights activists and gender equality advocates have also faced targeted killings, enforced disappearances, incommunicado detention, attacks and harassment.

UNAMA has also documented evidence of the Taliban committing extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, incommunicado detention and torture and ill-treatment against media workers, human rights defenders and individuals affiliated with the former government, among other specific groups.

Meanwhile, individuals from ethnic and religious minority communities are frequently targeted by the Taliban, ISIL-K and others. Members of these communities have been arbitrarily arrested, tortured, summarily executed and forced to flee. ISIL-K frequently claims attacks that target Shia Hazara, other Shia Muslims, Sufi Muslims, Sikhs and other minorities, as well as places of worship. The UN Special Rapporteur reported that these attacks appear to be systematic in nature and reflect elements of an organizational policy, likely amounting to crimes against humanity.

The people of Afghanistan are enduring a severe humanitarian crisis, compounded by the impact of sanctions and the freezing of state assets. In December 2021 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2615, allowing for humanitarian aid to flow into Afghanistan without violating UN sanctions against the Taliban, which have been in place since 2011.

The Taliban were the de facto authorities in Afghanistan from 1996-2001 before they were overthrown by a North Atlantic Treaty Organization coalition of military forces. During two decades of insurgency against the internationally recognized Afghan government, the Taliban perpetrated likely crimes against humanity and war crimes while Afghan security forces and members of the United States military and Central Intelligence Agency also committed likely war crimes. In March 2020 the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched an investigation into alleged atrocities since July 2002, focusing on crimes by the Taliban and ISIL-K.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

On 23 January the ICC Chief Prosecutor filed applications for arrest warrants for Taliban leaders Haibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani for the crime against humanity of gender-based persecution, marking the Courts first charges of this kind. In September 2024 Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands announced they were initiating legal proceedings against Afghanistan before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for violations of CEDAW.

The Taliban have intensified restrictions on rights and freedoms, particularly targeting women, civil society and the press. Before the end of 2024, the Taliban announced plans to revoke the licenses of NGOs employing Afghan women, ban windows overlooking areas where women work or gather and shut down 12 media outlets.

Afghan nationals in Pakistan, including refugees, documented and undocumented migrants, as well as those awaiting resettlement, face growing risks of forced repatriation under a new multistage plan by the Pakistani government. Tens of thousands of refugees awaiting third-country resettlement in Islamabad and Rawalpindi must relocate by 31 March or face deportation.

ANALYSIS:

The Talibans distortion of religious principles to justify discriminatory and persecutory policies, coupled with measures that redefine the boundaries of acceptable religious practice for the broader population, pose a grave risk of further crimes against humanity. Efforts by the Taliban to exclude women and girls from social, economic and political spheres, including the institutionalized large-scale gender-based discrimination and violence against them, likely amounts to gender persecution, a crime against humanity. Continued restrictions on fundamental freedoms and impunity for past and ongoing violations and abuses creates an enabling environment for more severe violations of international law and further atrocity crimes against women and girls.

The Taliban frequently target journalists, civil servants, human rights defenders and those affiliated with the former government with violations that appear to be perpetrated on a widespread and systematic basis. Targeted attacks are largely unreported due to the Talibans crackdown on independent media and a closed civic space. There are currently no independent national bodies to document human rights violations due to the dismantling of key institutions, including the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and the Office of the Attorney General. The Taliban have also prohibited the Special Rapporteur from accessing the country.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

Decades of violations of international law, as well as impunity for those crimes.

Institutionalized large-scale and systematic gender-based discrimination by Taliban de facto authorities against women and girls.

Widespread and systematic targeted attacks perpetrated by ISIL-K and the Taliban against ethnic and religious minorities.

Lack of independent media and crackdown on civil society and human rights defenders.

Weakness of state structures to protect vulnerable populations and an unwillingness of the de facto authorities to uphold international law obligations.

NECESSARY ACTION:

As the de facto authorities, the Taliban are bound by existing international human rights obligations codified in the treaties to which Afghanistan is a state party, including CEDAW. They must uphold these obligations, including by halting violations and abuses perpetrated by their officials and guaranteeing the equal protection and promotion of the human rights of all people in Afghanistan, regardless of gender, ethnic background, religious belief or political affiliation. The Taliban should allow the international community to provide assistance to meet these obligations. Any efforts towards normalization of relations with the Taliban must be contingent on respect for human rights and womens rights in line with international law.

The Taliban must investigate patterns of human rights violations and take steps to prevent future violations, including by holding perpetrators accountable. They must lift restrictions and allow the Special Rapporteur safe and unfettered access to Afghanistan. The Taliban should fully cooperate with UNAMA and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The international community should continue to pursue justice for likely atrocity crimes committed in Afghanistan, regardless of the position, nationality or affiliation of the alleged perpetrator. The international community should cooperate with and lend support to the ICC and ICJ. All UN member states should ensure that UNAMAs Human Rights Service is sufficiently resourced to carry out its full mandate. Neighboring states must uphold the principle of non-refoulement.

Originally published on March 14, 2025.
Samsung has launched three new gaming monitors in India: the Odyssey 3D 4K, Odyssey OLED G8 4K, and Odyssey G9 DQHD. This follows their global debut last month.

Odyssey 3D 4K Gaming Monitor (LS27FG900XWXXL)

The Odyssey 3D 4K features a 27-inch display with 4K resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate, and a 16:9 aspect ratio. It offers up to 350 nits of brightness and a 1ms Gray-to-Gray (GtG) response time. It supports AMD FreeSync Premium and NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible for smooth gameplay.

Built-in dual speakers provide directional sound, enhancing the audio for 3D content. This monitor delivers a glasses-free 3D experience using eye-tracking technology and view mapping algorithms. It also includes AI-powered 3D video conversion, which analyzes and adds depth to videos.

Users can access this feature via the Reality Hub app, available on Samsung.com or the Microsoft Store, which supports compatible 3D games and allows settings adjustments. Edge Lighting syncs colors under the monitor with the screen to enhance the 3D effect.

Quick specifications

Odyssey OLED G8 4K Gaming Monitor (LS27FG810SW / LS32FG810SW)

Available in 27-inch and 32-inch sizes, the Odyssey OLED G8 uses QD-OLED technology for sharp details, vivid colors, and high contrast from any angle. The 27-inch model boasts 166 pixels-per-inchthe highest pixel density for its sizeand is the industrys first 4K monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate.

Both sizes are certified with VESA DisplayHDR TrueBlack 400 at 250 nits brightness and offer glare-free viewing. To prevent burn-in, it features Samsung OLED Safeguard+ with a Dynamic Cooling System and Pulsating Heat Pipe, dissipating heat five times better than graphite sheets without dimming brightness.

It delivers a 0.03ms GtG response time and supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible. The slim metal design includes Core Lighting+ and an ergonomic stand for easy setup.

Quick specifications

Odyssey G9 DQHD Gaming Monitor (LS49FG910EWXXL)

The Odyssey G9 is a 49-inch ultrawide monitor with Dual QHD resolution (5120 x 1440) and a 1000R curve. It offers a 144Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for smooth, tear-free gameplay.

It also supports VESA DisplayHDR 600 and HDR10+ GAMING, which optimize brightness, contrast, and color range. The 32:9 aspect ratioequivalent to two 16:9 screens side by sideprovides a panoramic gaming view.

Multitasking is seamless with Picture-in-Picture mode, allowing two devices to display simultaneously with flexible sizing, while Auto Source Switch+ detects and displays connected devices instantly when powered on.

Quick specifications

Pricing and Availability

Odyssey 3D 4K (27-inch): Rs. 1,27,299, available in Silver.

Odyssey OLED G8 4K: 27-inch at Rs. 91,299 and 32-inch at Rs. 1,18,999, both in Silver.

Odyssey G9 DQHD (49-inch): Rs. 94,099, in Black.



All models are available for purchase starting today, April 08, 2025, through Samsungs official website, with the Odyssey 3D 4K also available on Amazon.in. Customers can avail launch benefits of up to Rs. 10,000.
The name of a new 1,500-acre Johnson Development community, The George, was revealed last week.
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 ...


Dylan Anderson/Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steam rises from the Craig Station just west of Craig, as seen from an EcoFlight tour in February 2022, of the Yampa Valley. Officials are bracing for the closure of the station and the Colowyo Mine that supplies it in 2030, and what that means for the economy of Craig and Moffat County, which has been reliant on the coal industry.
Toronto, Canada, April 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jade Investments, a leading private equity real estate firm renowned for its strategic residential and industrial investments, is pleased to announce that Aninda Bose has joined the firm as a Partner. In this role, Aninda will collaborate closely with existing partners Avi Jakobowitch, Dallas Rose and Daniel Chovnick to enhance the company's brand, drive strategy and business growth.

Aninda, an American Business Awardee and founder of global digital agency, DigiDrub, software consultancy firm Que Zara, minority partner in Reach, and co-partner of 911 Auto Group brings a wealth of expertise in strategic development and market expansion. His extensive background includes leadership positions at prominent public and private organizations, and stellar digital entrepreneurship. 

"We are thrilled to welcome Aninda to our leadership team," said Avi Jakobowitch, Principal Partner at Jade Investments. "His proven track record align perfectly with our vision to maximize value and build trust with our customers and investors. We aim to grow thrice as fast as the industry average in the next decade with a core focus being on building warehouses, data centers and industrial facilities".



Jade Investments

Jade Investments has a strong history of leveraging deep relationships with brokers, institutions, and operators to source unique investment opportunities. The firm currently (April 2025) manages over $500 million (USD) in assets, encompassing more than 500,000 square feet of industrial space and 3,000 multi-family units. The firm aims to invest $10 Billion USD in the high yield real estate assets in the North American market in the next few years.

"I am excited to contribute to Jade Investments and work alongside Avi, Dallas and Daniel," said Aninda Bose. "Together, we aim to further strengthen the company's market position and explore new avenues for growth."

About:

Jade Investments is a premier private equity real estate firm specializing in strategic acquisitions and asset management across industrial and multi-family sectors. With a portfolio spanning over 500,000 square feet of industrial space and 3,000 multi-family units, the firm leverages deep industry relationships and data-driven insights to maximize value for investors. Committed to growth, innovation, and long-term stability, Jade Investments continues to expand its presence in North America and key markets. For more information, visit www.jadeinvestments.com.

PR Contact:

Michael Jakobowitz

Phone: 216.319.1249

Michael@Jadeinvestments.com

2 St. Clair Avenue W, Toronto, ON M4V 1L5

Disclaimer:

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies (including product offerings, regulatory plans and business plans) and may change without notice. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mustang Energy Corp. (CSE: MEC, OTC:MECPF, FRA:92T) (the Company or Mustang) is pleased to announce the expansion of its Spur Project with the acquisition of a 100%-owned mineral claim comprising 5,751 hectares. The new claim is located directly south of the Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan and was secured through strategic, cost-effective staking. This addition further strengthens Mustangs land position in a geologically favorable region prospective for uranium, rare earth elements (REEs), thorium (Th), and base metal mineralization.

The new claim extends the Spur Project southward and lies approximately 70 km southeast of Camecos Key Lake Mill and within 45 km of all-season road access and a power transmission corridor. The property is situated within an underexplored area of the Wollaston Domain and encompasses a magnetic low trending south from the Burbidge Lake Shear Zonea notable regional reverse fault. This structural corridor also lies adjacent to Forum Energy Metals Janice Lake Sediment-hosted Copper Project. The newly acquired claim includes a historically identified zinc showing, Grand Rapids Zinc Occurrence, where surface grab samples returned up to 0.4% Zn4.

This area is considered prospective for a range of mineralization styles, including basement-hosted uranium, Rossing-type uranium-REE-bearing granitic pegmatites2, and base metals. Its strategic location along trend of Forum Energy Metals Janice Lake Sedimentary Copper Project5 and directly east of Searchlight Resources' Kulyk Lake Uranium and REE Project6, further underscores its promising exploration potential.

With this acquisition, Mustang continues to strengthen and diversify its portfolio to include uranium and critical mineral assets in the Athabasca region, a globally recognized jurisdiction for high-grade uranium deposits," said Nicholas Luksha, CEO and Director. "We are committed to unlocking the mineral potential of the Spur project. Our technical team is currently compiling available datasets with the expectation of initiating a reconnaissance-level exploration program over the newly staked area during the upcoming field season.





Figure 1: Overview of Mustang Energy's newly acquired claim south of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan1

Spur Project Geology and Mineralization

The Spur Project is situated within the Wollaston Domain, just south of the Athabasca Basin, a region recognized for hosting some of the worlds highest-grade uranium deposits. The property is underlain by Proterozoic basement rocks, comprising Wollaston Group metasedimentary gneisses, predominantly psammitic to meta-arkosic, with folded lenses of pelitic to psammopelitic gneisses. This geological setting is favourable for both structurally controlled basement-hosted uranium and pegmatite-related uranium, REEs and thorium mineralization.

Mineralization in this region commonly includes anomalous concentrations of REEs and base metals associated with uranium and thorium, indicative of Rossing-type systems. These deposit types are named after the Rossing uranium mine in Namibia, one of the worlds largest open-pit uranium mines, known for its REE-enriched granitic pegmatites.2

To the northeast lies the Janice Lake area, known for its sediment-hosted, stratiform copper mineralization. Over 20 copper occurrences have been documented there, primarily situated northwest of the Burbidge Lake Shear Zone in more proximal sedimentary facies of the Janice Lake and Rafuse Lake formations. The southern extension of this mineralized corridor, where Mustang's new claim is located, remains underexplored.3

Strategic Importance

This expansion aligns with Mustangs broader corporate strategy of building a diversified portfolio of uranium and critical mineral assets in politically stable, infrastructure-rich jurisdictions. As global interest in nuclear energy and clean technologies accelerates, Mustang remains well-positioned to contribute meaningfully to the evolving energy landscape.

Mustang remains committed to executing its exploration strategy responsibly, contributing positively to local communities, and ensuring environmental sustainability in all its operations.

References

Saskatchewan GeoAtlas, Retrieved from: https://gisappl.saskatchewan.ca/Html5Ext/index.html?viewer=GeoAtlas Rossing Uranium Limited. (n.d.). Press Bulletin 64. Retrieved from https://www.rossing.com/bullet/bulletpress64.htm Delaney, G.D., et. al, (1995): Geological setting of sediment hosted copper mineralization in the Janice Lake area, Wollaston Domain; in Summary of Investigations 1995, Saskatchewan Geological Survey. Sask. Energy Mines, Misc. Rep. 95-4. Saskatchewan Mineral Deposits Index. (n.d.). Grand Rapids Zn Occurrence (Deposit ID: 0987). Retrieved from: https://mineraldeposits.saskatchewan.ca/Home/Viewdetails/0987 Forum Energy Metals Corp. Retrieved from: https://forumenergymetals.com/projects/janice-lake-sedimentary-copper-project/ Searchlight Resources Inc. Retrieved from: https://searchlightresources.com/projects/uranium-projects/kulyk-lake-south-uranium/

Qualifying Statement

The scientific and technical information in this release has been reviewed and approved by Lynde Guillaume, P.Geo., Technical Advisor for Mustang Energy, a registered member of the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan. Ms. Guillaume is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

Adjacent Property Disclaimer:

This news release includes references with respect to uranium occurrences as well as references to geological favourability of Adjacent Properties, which are located near the Spur Project. The Company advises that, notwithstanding their proximity of location, discoveries of minerals on the Adjacent Properties and any promising results thereof are not necessarily indicative of the mineralization of, or located on the Spur Project, or the Companys ability to commercially exploit the Spur Project, or to locate any commercially exploitable deposits therefrom. The Company cautions investors on relying on this information as the Company has not confirmed the accuracy or reliability of the information.

Engagement with MCS Market Communication Service GmbH

Pursuant to an independent marketing services agreement dated April 1, 2025 (the MCS Agreement), the Company has engaged MCS Market Communication Service GmbH (MCS) to provide certain online marketing activities including technical solutions to map those activities and investor relations services to the Company for a term of six months in consideration for an initial budget for the marketing campaign of 220.000 EUR, of which MCS will charge an agency fee of 35.200 EUR (approximately CDN$54,517,76). The Company has an option to increase the budget in the future upon mutual agreement of both parties. The services to be conducted by MCS will include creation of test materials, creation of campaigns, ad groups, text ads, display ads, detailed keyword research, setup and management of remarketing campaigns within an individual website visitor approach, permanent dynamic optimization of the keywords set, ongoing bid management of campaigns, ad groups and keywords, optimization of keyword options, control and optimization for different devices, placing display advertisements, using relevant targeting options as demographic, geographic, interest, topics or keywords, coordinating online advertiser and marketers corresponding to the online marketing targets and creation of landing pages for ad campaigns. The payment of any fees in connection with the engagement is subject to the approval of the CSE. The Contractor has no direct relationship with the Company, other than as contemplated in the engagement.

MCS and its principals are arms length to the Company. MCSs contact information is as follows: Rheinpromenade 13, 40789 Monheim am Rhein, NRW, Germany, attention: Monika Woeste, Chief Executive Officer, email: info@mcsmarket.de, telephone: 49-177-2481220.

Engagement with 9466-5908 Quebec Inc.

Pursuant to an agreement dated April 1, 2025 (the Agreement), the Company has engaged 9466-5908 Quebec Inc. (the Contractor) to provide certain investor relations services to the Company. The engagement commenced on April 1, 2025 and will continue until May 31, 2025 (the Term), unless terminated pursuant to the terms of the Agreement. The Term may be extended with the written consent of the Company and the Contractor. The Contractor will provide 15 professionally produced videos monthly, repurposed for optimal reach across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook and detailed monthly reports with key metrics on engagement, reach and follower growth. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, the Company will pay a cash retainer of $17,400 per month. The payment of any fees in connection with the engagement is subject to the approval of the CSE. The Contractor has no direct relationship with the Company, other than as contemplated in the engagement.

The Contractor has an address at 207  7080 Rue Alexandra, Montreal, QC H2S 3J5 and Adam Khatib of 9466-5908 Quebec Inc. can be reached by telephone at 514.690.2750 or by email at hello@thewtk.com.

About Mustang Energy Corp.:

Mustang is a resource exploration company focused on acquiring and developing high-potential uranium and critical mineral assets. The Company is actively exploring its properties in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada and holds 83,069 hectares in around the Athabasca Basin. Mustang's flagship property, Ford Lake, covers 7,743 hectares in the prolific eastern Athabasca Basin, while its Cigar Lake East and Roughrider South projects span 3,442 hectares in the Wollaston Domain. Mustang has also established its footprint in the Cluff Lake region of the Athabasca Basin with the Yellowstone Project (21,820 hectares) and further expanded its presence in the south central region of the Athabasca Basin with the Dutton Project (7,633 hectares).

For further information, please contact:

Mustang Energy Corp.

Attention: Nicholas Luksha, CEO and Director

Phone: (604) 838-0184

Neither the CSE nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as intends, believes or anticipates, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, should, would or occur. This information and these statements, referred to herein as forwardlooking statements, are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things, the future potential of the minerals claims held by the Company, including the Spur Project; the completion of future work on the Spur Project; that marketing campaigns led by MCS and the Contractor will expand the Companys presence target markets; and that the Company is strategically positioned for substantial growth. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation the assumption that the Company will be able to continue exploring its properties given various environmental and economic factors outside of its control; that the marketing campaigns created by MCS and the Contractor will be completed as planned; and that the marketing engagement with MCS and the Contractor will have the desired impact on Mustangs presence in target markets. 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.

An infographic accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b3332228-5658-4e92-8114-b25272a350fb
Paris, France  April 8, 2025

Viridien, through its subsidiary*, has been awarded a contract by Groupement Hassi Bir Rekaiz, a Sonatrach and PTTEP joint operatorship, to reimage two legacy 3D seismic data sets totaling 2,400 sq km in the Hassi Bir Rekaiz concession in the Berkine Basin, Eastern Algeria.

During the 13-month project, Viridien scientists are completely reimaging and merging the two legacy seismic datasets, originally acquired in 2011 and 2013. To meet the clients challenging imaging objectives, Viridien is applying the latest technology to deliver more detailed seismic velocity modeling and improved reliability of seismic amplitude, phase and frequency attributes for quantitative interpretation and enhanced fault imaging.

Peter Whiting, EVP, Geoscience, Viridien, said: We are happy to receive another award from Algeria, showing client confidence in our experience and differentiation in this growing market. We continue to develop and refine our technology, allowing us to extract more and more useful information from seismic data. This generates value for our clients, allowing them to do much more with the survey data they already have. The ultimate value lies in improved reservoir insights, reduction of uncertainties and increased drilling success.

*CGG Services SAS

About Viridien:

Viridien (www.viridiengroup.com) is an advanced technology, digital and Earth data company that pushes the boundaries of science for a more prosperous and sustainable future. With our ingenuity, drive and deep curiosity we discover new insights, innovations, and solutions that efficiently and responsibly resolve complex natural resource, digital, energy transition and infrastructure challenges. Viridien employs around 3,500 people worldwide and is listed as VIRI on the Euronext Paris SA (ISIN: FR001400PVN6).

Contacts

Investor Relations

Jean-Baptiste Roussille

Tel: + 33 6 14 51 09 88

E-Mail:

jean-baptiste.roussille@viridiengroup.com Media Relations

Sara Pink-Zerling

Tel: + 33 6 37 57 95 44

E-Mail: media.relations@viridiengroup.com





Attachment
New compelling results demonstrate 18 months of both sustained reduction in immunoglobulin G antibodies and sustained improvement in gMG symptoms in pivotal Vivacity-MG3 study and open label extension phase

Up to 128 weeks and 180 patient years of follow-up in the open label extension phase demonstrates a safety profile consistent with the Phase 3 Vivacity-MG3 study

45% of the patients receiving steroids at open label extension baseline were able to decrease or discontinue their steroid use

Additionally, the nipocalimab plus standard of care (SOC) group demonstrated four times greater odds of improving and maintaining the strength and function of different muscle groups as measured by QMG response versus placebo plus SOC in the 24-week double blind phase of the study

BEERSE, BELGIUM, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Janssen-Cilag International NV, a Johnson & Johnson company, today announced results from additional analyses of the Phase 3 Vivacity-MG3 double-blind study and the ongoing open label extensiona (OLE), evaluating the long-term efficacy and safety of nipocalimab in a broad population of antibody-positive (anti-AChR+, anti-MuSK+, anti-LRP4+) adults with generalised myasthenia gravis (gMG).1,2 Patients treated with nipocalimab plus standard of care (SOC) maintained improvements in their MG-ADLb and QMGc scores over 84 weeks with sustained reductions in total IgG.1 These data are included in a presentation (Session 7 #022) and are among 12 abstracts that Johnson & Johnson will present at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2025 Congress in San Diego, California, which includes an oral presentation on QMG score improvements from the double-blind phase of the Vivacity-MG3 study.

The sustained disease control seen over 84 weeks for nipocalimab is a key result given the chronic course of generalised MG and the significant burden on people living with this condition, said Constantine Farmakidis M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology at University of Kansas Medical Centerd. Overall, I am encouraged by these results that show improvement in disease control as measured by the MG-ADL and QMG scores across a broad population seropositive for AChR, MuSK, or LRP4 autoantibodies.

Nipocalimab demonstrated a mean change in MG-ADL of -5.64 (p<0.001) from double-blind baseline after 60 weeks in the OLE for study participants receiving nipocalimab and SOC, and -6.01 (p<0.001) mean change for study participants who transitioned from placebo and SOC to nipocalimab and SOC.1,e In the antibody-positive population, 45% of patients receiving steroids at the OLE baseline were able to decrease or discontinue steroids at the time of this data cut by more than half of the baseline dose.1,f Among these patients, the mean dose of prednisone decreased from 23 to 10 mg per day. Nipocalimab had a consistent and tolerable safety profile throughout the OLE.1,g

"Estimated to impact between 56,000 and 123,000 people across Europe, there remains a significant unmet need to expand our understanding of gMG and subsequently create additional effective therapies for patients who continue to experience the devastating symptoms of this chronic disease," said Mark Graham, Senior Director, Therapeutic Area Lead, Immunology, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine EMEA. "The promising results presented at this year's AAN congress highlight our dedication to broadening the treatment landscape for people affected by autoantibody diseases, including gMG, and could offer a renewed hope for their future care."

Additional findings from the Phase 3 Vivacity-MG3 double-blind study indicate that patients treated with nipocalimab plus SOC achieved statistically significant improvements in their QMG score by -4.9 versus placebo plus SOC (p<0.001) over weeks 22 and 24.2,h Patients in the nipocalimab plus SOC treatment group were four times more likely to sustain symptom improvement at 20 weeks compared to the placebo plus SOC group, as measured by a three or greater point improvement on the QMG score.2,i Results show significantly more patients treated with nipocalimab (36.4%,) versus placebo (10.5%, p<0.001) spent greater than 75% of study duration demonstrating improvements in the QMG score.2 A reduction of more than three points in the QMG score indicates a decrease in the severity of the patient's symptoms as a result of improvements in muscle strength, allowing patients to carry out important daily activities such as swallowing and chewing.3,4

People living with gMG around the world endure daily challenges, such as difficulties swallowing, impaired speech and muscle weakness. They deserve additional, effective treatment options that help address these challenges and provide sustained disease control and stability over time, said Katie Abouzahr, M.D., Vice President, Autoantibody Portfolio and Maternal Fetal Immunology Disease Area Leader, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. These positive data underscore our commitment to helping develop potential innovative therapeutic options for patients living with autoantibody diseases, including gMG.

Editors notes:

The open label extension interim analysis includes 60 weeks of open-label data, totalling 84 weeks for nipocalimab-treated participants, including 24 weeks from the treatment group of the double-blind phase. Some patients have follow-up data extending to 128 weeks.1 MG-ADL (Myasthenia Gravis  Activities of Daily Living) provides a rapid clinical assessment of the patient's recall of symptoms impacting activities of daily living, with a total score range of 0 to 24; a higher score indicates greater symptom severity.3 QMG (Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis) is a 13-item assessment by a clinician that quantifies MG disease severity. The total QMG score ranges from 0 to 39, where higher scores indicated greater disease severity.3 Dr. Constantine Farmakidis M.D. has provided consulting, advisory, and speaking services to Johnson & Johnson. He has not been paid for any media work. At open label extension week 60, patients who received nipocalimab plus SOC in the 24-week double-blind and open label extension phase of the trial demonstrated a mean change in MG-ADL of -5.64 [Standard error (SE): 0.621; p<0.001] compared to -6.01 for patients who received placebo plus SOC in the 24-week double-blind trial and nipocalimab in the open label extension phase [SE: 0.503, p<0.001].1 In the seropositive population from the open label extension, 45% [40 patients out of the total 89 patients in the seropositive population] of patients receiving steroid at open label extension baseline were able to decrease or discontinue steroids at the time of this data cut.1 The overall incidence of adverse events (AEs), serious adverse events (SAEs) and AEs leading to discontinuation were similar to that in the placebo plus SOC group. Specifically, 84% of patients (n=82) treated with nipocalimab plus SOC experienced AEs, matched by 84% (n=82) in the placebo plus SOC group. Serious AEs were reported by 9% of patients (n=9) in the nipocalimab plus SOC group compared to 14% (n=14) in the placebo plus SOC group.5 Patients treated with nipocalimab demonstrated statistically significant improvement in QMG total score vs placebo over weeks 22 and 24 [least-square (LS) SE: 4.9(0.50) vs 2.0(0.50); difference= 2.81(0.710); p<.001].2 Patients receiving nipocalimab were over four times more likely to sustain QMG-3 improvement for 16 weeks (Odds Ratio [95% CI]: 4.31[1.93, 9.66]) and for 20 weeks (Odds Ratio [95% CI]: 4.53[1.93, 10.62]).2





ABOUT GENERALISED MYASTHENIA GRAVIS (gMG)

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoantibody disease in which the immune system mistakenly makes antibodies (e.g., anti-acetylcholine receptor [AChR], anti-muscle-specific tyrosine kinase [MuSK] or anti-low density lipoprotein-related protein 4 [LRP4]), which target proteins at the neuromuscular junction and can block or disrupt normal signalling from nerves to muscles, thus impairing or preventing muscle contraction.6,7,8 The disease impacts between 56,000 and 123,000 people in Europe and an estimated 700,000 people worldwide.8,9 The disease affects both men and women and occurs across all ages, racial and ethnic groups, but most frequently starts in young women and older men.9,10,11 Roughly 50 percent of individuals diagnosed with MG are women, and about one in five of those women are of child-bearing potential.10,12,13 Approximately 10 to 15% of new cases of MG are diagnosed in adolescents (12  17 years of age).14,15,16 Among juvenile MG patients, girls are affected more often than boys with over 65% of paediatric MG cases in the EU diagnosed in girls.17,18,19

Initial disease manifestations are usually ocular, but approximately 85 percent of MG patients experience additional advancements to the disease manifestations  referred to as generalised myasthenia gravis (gMG).20,21,22 This is characterised by severe muscle weakness and difficulties in speech, and swallowing.8,11,23 Vulnerable gMG populations, such as paediatric patients, have more limited therapeutic options.24 Currently, SOC treatments for adolescents with gMG are extrapolated from adult trials.16 Other than symptomatic treatments, there are no approved FcRn blockers for adolescents with gMG in Europe.25,26,27,28,29

ABOUT THE PHASE 3 VIVACITY-MG3 STUDY

The Phase 3 Vivacity-MG3 study (NCT04951622) was specifically designed to measure sustained efficacy and safety with consistent dosing in this unpredictable chronic condition where unmet need remains high. Antibody positive or negative adult gMG patients with insufficient response (MG-ADL 6) to ongoing SOC therapy were identified and 199 patients, 153 of whom were antibody positive, enrolled in the 24-week double-blind placebo-controlled trial.30,31 Randomisation was 1:1, nipocalimab plus current SOC (30 mg/kg IV loading dose followed by 15 mg/kg every two weeks) or placebo plus current SOC.30 Baseline demographics were balanced across arms (77 nipocalimab, 76 placebo).30 The primary endpoint of the study was mean change in MG-ADLa score from baseline over Weeks 22, 23 and 24 in antibody positive patients. A key secondary endpoint included change in QMG score. Long-term safety and efficacy were further assessed in an ongoing open label extension phase.31

ABOUT NIPOCALIMAB



Nipocalimab is an investigational monoclonal antibody, designed to bind with high affinity to block FcRn and reduce levels of circulating immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies potentially without impact on other immune functions. 32 This includes autoantibodies and alloantibodies that underlie multiple conditions across three key segments in the autoantibody space including Rare Autoantibody diseases, Maternal Foetal diseases mediated by maternal alloantibodies and Rheumatic diseases.31,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40 Blockade of IgG binding to FcRn in the placenta is also believed to limit transplacental transfer of maternal alloantibodies to the foetus.41

The EMA and U.S. FDA have granted several key designations to nipocalimab including:

EU EMA Orphan medicinal product designation for haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn (HDFN) in October 2019

U.S. FDA Fast Track designation HDFN and warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (wAIHA) in July 2019, gMG in December 2021 and foetal neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) in March 2024 and Sjogrens disease (SjD) in March 2025

U.S. FDA Orphan drug status for wAIHA in December 2019, HDFN in June 2020, gMG in February 2021, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in October 2021 and FNAIT in December 2023

U.S. FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation for HDFN in February 2024 and for SjD in November 2024

U.S. FDA granted Priority Review in gMG in Q4 2024





ABOUT JOHNSON & JOHNSON



At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow and profoundly impact health for humanity.

Learn more at www.innovativemedicine.jnj.com/emea/.

Follow us at www.linkedin.com/jnj-innovative-medicine-emea.

Janssen-Cilag International NV and Janssen-Cilag Limited are both Johnson & Johnson companies

CAUTIONS CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding product development and the potential benefits and treatment impact of nipocalimab. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialise, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Janssen Biotech, Inc. Janssen-Cilag International NV, and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: challenges and uncertainties inherent in product research and development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and of obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success; manufacturing difficulties and delays; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; changes in behavior and spending patterns of purchasers of health care products and services; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global health care reforms; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnsons most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, including in the sections captioned Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Item 1A. Risk Factors, and in Johnson & Johnsons subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. None of Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Janssen Biotech, Inc. Janssen-Cilag International NV, nor Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments.

Source: Johnson & Johnson

# # #

REFERENCES




HONG KONG, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On April 8, MetaEra, a leading Web 3.0 industry news platform and specialist in brand growth strategies, announced the launch of its Pre-A round financing. The valuation for this round is set at 40 million US dollars, led by first-tier investment firm Fenbushi US. Institutional. Strategic investors including Amber Group, Solomon Fund, FOMO Ventures, and Klickl Labs have confirmed their participation in the follow-on investment.

MetaEra expects to attract more institutional strategic investors through this round of financing, realizing rapid service deployment and brand penetration across various verticals in the Web 3.0 industry, as well as launching a new AI Agent business segment.

Speaking of the investment in MetaEra, Mr. Shen Bo, the founder of Fenbushi Capital, stated: "MetaEra is a distinctive success story in the booming Web 3.0 industry in Hong Kong. It actively serves the builders in the Chinese-speaking Web 3.0 community with its unique resources and product advantages. We are very pleased to support this professional and responsible team in their continuous innovation and practice in the field of AI applications. We also hope that they maintain their growth and achieve further success."





Over the past year, MetaEra has emerged as a dazzling new star and firmly established itself at the top of the industry, by virtue of its professional product services and global operational capabilities. The company has also achieved a business growth rate of more than tenfold, along with surging traffic data and a significantly enhanced brand influence.

While announcing the launch of this round of financing, MetaEra's core management team officially released the 2025 Strategic Roadmap.

Market Positioning:

A leading AI & Web 3.0 news platform and specialist in brand growth strategies.

Three Major Business Lines:

1. Marketing Service

Marketing service is MetaEra's most fundamental business line, featuring a robust product matrix that includes media, KOL marketing services, and online and offline events. It has established two regional operation centers in Hong Kong and New York to better cover customer needs in the Asia-Pacific and North American regions.

In the coming year, MetaEra will focus on optimizing the resource coverage and product standardization of its KOL matrix while introducing more intelligent growth tools to provide brand and growth services to a broad range of clients in the AI & Web 3.0 industry.

 Main Products and Services: Media services, KOL marketing services, online and offline events;

 Core Brands: MetaEra (Media), Meta Space (AMA), Meta Girls Party (Party).

2. Brand Events (MetaEra Event)

With the rapid increase in business scale and revenue proportion, Brand Events has become the second core business line of MetaEra.

Amid the mainstream trend of digital assets represented by Bitcoin, the 2023 and 2024 Hong Kong CryptoFi Forums organized by MetaEra have continuously received full market recognition. In February 2025, MetaEra officially launched the Chinese-speaking event brand Hong Kong CryptoFi Forum. In April of the same year, the third Hong Kong CryptoFi Forum once again garnered unprecedented attention and acclaim. Leveraging Hong Kong's fertile financial landscape, MetaEra will continue to deepen its involvement in the crypto finance ecosystem, better serving the needs of high-end institutional clients in areas such as brand events, event organization, policy consultation, and public relations.

 Main Products and Services: Brand events, event organization, policy consultation, public relations;

 Core Brands: Hong Kong Crypto Finance Forum, Meta Think Tank.

3. AI Agent Services

AaaS (Agentic AI as a Service) is rapidly becoming an essential tool for corporate efficiency upgrades and AI-driven transformations. This includes areas such as corporate social media operations, KOL personal brand building, community interaction management, and more.

As a professional brand and growth service provider, MetaEra has keenly identified the pain points and needs in these areas and has decided to launch the Meta Agents project. This initiative involves the research, development, and deployment of a series of AI Agent products that provide market services, aiming to meet clients' brand and growth needs in the AI era in a smarter way. The first phase of products and services currently in planning will include: Social Media Management AI Agents, Community Management AI Agents, and News Content Publishing AI Agents.

2025 Growth Strategy

1. In MetaEra's business landscape, the market services and event services business lines will continue to maintain high-speed growth as the dual-core revenue engines. The AI Agent business line will be an important strategic layout and will complete the 0 to 1 cycle from research, launch, to productization as scheduled.



2. The Hong Kong Crypto Finance Forum will become the largest vertical track summit in the Chinese-speaking world. In conjunction with the operation of the think tank project, it will establish an absolute advantage in terms of business revenue and influence. For the business needs of high-end institutional clients in areas such as brand events, event organization, policy consultation, and public relations, MetaEra will become the preferred service provider.



3. The Meta Space AMA series and the Meta Girls Party series, which have achieved a double win in terms of traffic and reputation, will become an important infrastructure for KOL resource acquisition and management. In response to the brand and growth needs of retail and token project clients, MetaEra will continue to provide the most competitive solutions.

4. The launch of the Meta Agents project will further ensure MetaEra's continuous growth and maintain its leading position.

Vision

We believe that AI will reshape a decentralized, more efficient, and transparent crypto asset and financial system. As a leading AaaS market service platform, MetaEra will accelerate towards a new future of AI & Web 3.0!

Contact: meta@metaera.hk

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7c0cffdc-c83c-4187-bd89-156e61be0a27

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a816f734-7389-48ee-b4c5-2ed53a377c7c
Arbejdsmarkedets Tillgspension (ATP) has today notified Copenhagen Airports A/S that ATP has received an advance ruling from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority regarding an exemption from the obligation to make an offer in connection with ATP's expected indirect acquisition of control of Copenhagen Airports A/S. Reference is made to the attached information from ATP to Copenhagen Airports A/S and the attached summary (in Danish) of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority's advance ruling, including the conditions stated by the Authority for granting ATP the said exemption.

The advance ruling and, if ATP finally acquires indirect control of the company, the by ATP expected exemption from the obligation to make an offer to the other shareholders of Copenhagen Airports A/S should be seen in the light of the agreement between ATP and the Danish state regarding the acquisition of approx. 59.4 percent of the shares in Copenhagen Airports A/S. Reference is made to company announcement of 2 December 2024. Upon completion of that transaction the Danish state shall make a mandatory offer to the minority shareholders of Copenhagen Airports A/S in accordance with the rules in Chapter 8 of the Danish Capital Markets Act. Should the said agreement between ATP and the Danish state not be completed within the period stipulated by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, ATP will according to the advance ruling be obliged to make a mandatory offer to the minority shareholders.

Copenhagen Airports A/S will announce further information when the company receives notification from ATP or the Danish state on the further process towards ATP's, and subsequently the Danish state's, acquisition of control of the company.





COPENHAGEN AIRPORTS A/S

P.O. Box 74

Lufthavnsboulevarden 6

DK-2770 Kastrup





Contact:

Lars Nrby Johansen

Chairman of the Board of Directors





Telephone: +45 32313231

E-mail: cphpresse@cph.dk

www.cph.dk

CVR no. 14 70 72 04

Attachments
Austin, TX, USA, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Custom Market Insights has published a new research report titled Battery as a Service Market Size, Trends and Insights By Service Type (Subscription Model, Pay-Per-Use Model), By End User (Automotive, Telecommunications, Energy & Utilities, Residential, Commercial & Industrial, Others), By Energy Storage Capacity (Less than 50 kWh, 50-100 kWh, Over 100 kWh), and By Region - Global Industry Overview, Statistical Data, Competitive Analysis, Share, Outlook, and Forecast 2025  2034 in its research database.

According to the latest research study, the demand of global Battery as a Service Market size & share was valued at approximately USD 1.54 Billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 1.63 Billion in 2025 and is expected to reach a value of around USD 9.20 Billion by 2034, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 20.34% during the forecast period 2025 to 2034.

Click Here to Access a Free Sample Report of the Global Battery as a Service Market @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/request-for-free-sample/?reportid=68415

Battery as a Service (Baas) Market Overview

Battery as a Service (BaaS) is a new service innovation concept in which consumers or companies can lease or subscribe to battery packs rather than purchasing the battery. The model allows fleet operators, ride-hailing services, and logistics companies to minimize downtime and drastically reduce initial electric vehicle ownership costs.

The high contribution of lithium-ion battery cost (up to 30-40% of the vehicles total cost) along with a prohibitive upfront cost are some of the main hurdles to having electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems widely adopted. That heavy cost renders EVs and energy storage solutions far too expensive, especially for end users in developing parts of the world.

Investment in clean technologies has also been curtailed by the high capital expenditure involved with businesses adopting or implementing large-scale energy storage or electric vehicle fleets. The price of lithium-ion batteries is still a high barrier to EV adoption, which makes BaaS an attractive and cost-efficient payment method for users and firms that want to reduce high upfront prices.

By providing a battery solution, BaaS significantly reduces the upfront expense of ownership, making it more affordable and eco-friendly for a broader array of consumers and companies. Government policies and incentives are crucial in expediting the process of adopting electric automobiles and upholding energy storage systems, which positively influence the BaaS market.

A growing number of countries are starting to realize the importance of shifting to green energy, and all of them are setting financial incentive mechanisms like subsidies, tax credits, or grants to promote EV and renewable energy plants.

For instance, the European Union is targeting a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, which will drive industries to cleaner, battery-powered alternatives, thereby creating even greater demand for BaaS and driving the global transition toward electrification. This lowers the total cost of EV ownership and the deployment of energy storage solutions and makes them a lot more appealing to a larger section of society.

One of the biggest challenges to the widespread adoption of BaaS solutions is that battery technology is not standardized. Within automotive, manufacturers develop different types of batteries, built to fit specific models, with unique shapes, sizes, capacities, and connectors.

Request a Customized Copy of the Battery as a Service Market Report @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/request-for-customization/?reportid=68415

The absence of standardization makes battery swapping challenging since multiple models of battery swapping stations would need to be built to be compatible with the design of each battery. The lack of standardization in battery formats further complicates things, giving rise to interoperability challenges across different vehicle types and brands, which in turn makes BaaS solutions less scalable.

As indicated by ICCT, the heterogeneity of EV battery technologies creates a major roadblock to the establishment of a universally compatible battery-swappable infrastructure, restricting the aggregate potential for a broad-scale BaaS deployment.

Battery as a Service (BaaS) solutions find a tremendous opportunity in the gradual move towards electrification in industrial sectors. Construction, mining, and agricultural vehicles are some examples of heavy-duty machines that are increasingly powered by high-capacity batteries rather than traditional fuel systems. The industries that suffer due to high energy costs and prolonged downtime with traditional fuel machinery.

Based on end-users, the Global Battery as a Service (BaaS) Market is segmented by automotive, telecommunications, energy & utilities, residential, commercial & industrial, and others. The Battery as a Service (BaaS) market is dominated by the automotive sector, attributed to the swift adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and the growing necessity for effective battery-swapping solutions.

Because downtime should be zero, Kapich, the BaaS processor, offers easy-to-use, on-the-go battery replacement, making BaaS a must for fleet operators and long-distance travel. In China, more than 10 million battery swaps were completed in 2023, showing the automotive industry led in the BaaS market as well as the growing dependence on battery-switching stations as EV adoption and efficiency continue to rise.

The Battery as a Service (BaaS) system market is segmented across Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa. North America is a substantial market for BaaS, led primarily by the growing adoption of EVs and the focus on grid energy storage solutions.

In the U.S., the market is being boosted by supportive government policies, increasing consumer awareness of EV benefits, and significant investments from automotive and energy companies. The U.S. government has made this trend more pronounced by investing billions of dollars into EV infrastructure and battery technologies via policies such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law designed to modernize the nations EV charging and battery-swapping networks.

For example, the U.S. Department of Energy stated that energy storage capacity in the U.S. doubled between 2020 and 2023, showing the growing role of storage solutions based on batteries in energy systems, including BaaS.

Report Scope

Feature of the Report Details Market Size in 2025 USD 1.63 Billion Projected Market Size in 2034 USD 9.20 Billion Market Size in 2024 USD 1.54 Billion CAGR Growth Rate 20.34% CAGR Base Year 2024 Forecast Period 2025-2034 Key Segment By Service Type, End User, Energy Storage Capacity and Region Report Coverage Revenue Estimation and Forecast, Company Profile, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Recent Trends Regional Scope North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South & Central America Buying Options Request tailored purchasing options to fulfil your requirements for research.

(A free sample of the Battery as a Service report is available upon request; please contact us for more information.)

Our Free Sample Report Consists of the following:

Introduction, Overview, and in-depth industry analysis are all included in the 2024 updated report.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak Impact Analysis is included in the package.

About 220+ Pages Research Report (Including Recent Research)

Provide detailed chapter-by-chapter guidance on the Request.

Updated Regional Analysis with a Graphical Representation of Size, Share, and Trends for the Year 2025

Includes Tables and figures have been updated.

The most recent version of the report includes the Top Market Players, their Business Strategies, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis

Custom Market Insights (CMI) research methodology

(Please note that the sample of the Battery as a Service report has been modified to include the COVID-19 impact study prior to delivery.)

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CMI has comprehensively analyzed the Global Battery as a Service Market. The driving forces, restraints, challenges, opportunities, and key trends have been explained in depth to depict an in-depth scenario of the market. Segment-wise market size and market share during the forecast period are duly addressed to portray the probable picture of this Global Battery as a Service (BaaS) industry.

The competitive landscape includes key innovators, after-market service providers, market giants, and niche players. These are studied and analyzed extensively concerning their strengths, weaknesses, and value-addition prospects. In addition, this report covers key player profiling, market shares, mergers and acquisitions, consequent market fragmentation, new trends, and dynamics in partnerships.

Key questions answered in this report:

What is the size of the Battery as a Service market and what is its expected growth rate?

What are the primary driving factors that push the Battery as a Service market forward?

What are the Battery as a Service Industry's top companies?

What are the different categories that the Battery as a Service Market caters to?

What will be the fastest-growing segment or region?

In the value chain, what role do essential players play?

What is the procedure for getting a free copy of the Battery as a Service market sample report and company profiles?

Key Offerings:

Market Share, Size & Forecast by Revenue | 20252034

Market Dynamics  Growth Drivers, Restraints, Investment Opportunities, and Leading Trends

Market Segmentation  A detailed analysis by Types of Services, by End-User Services, and by regions

Competitive Landscape  Top Key Vendors and Other Prominent Vendors

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Battery as a Service Market Regional Analysis

Asia-Pacific holds the highest share in the global Battery as a Service Market owing to government initiatives and rapid EV adoption, along with leading battery-swapping companies in the region. Countries such as China, India, and Taiwan lead among the regions that have adopted large-scale battery-swapping infrastructure, thus making it BaaS growths hot zone.

China is one of those countries with a major role in the BaaS market. And Chinas government isnt just calling for more EV adoption, but actively steering the market into consumptions much wider orbit by way of legislation, subsidies, and incentives specifically geared toward battery-swapping stations.

Battery swapping has become a very competitive alternative to traditional charging, with companies, building thousands of battery-swapping stations nationwide. Similarly, the BaaS model is a rapidly growing segment in India and Taiwan, especially in two- and three-wheelers. Companies like Gogoro in Taiwan and Sun Mobility in India have built extensive swap networks that cater to ride-hailing services and delivery fleets.

However, the regional expansion has also been enabled by government policies that have helped spur EV adoption as well as partnership agreements with automakers.

Compared with North America and Europe, BaaS market in Asia-Pacific will continue transforming, together with strong infrastructure, higher EV penetration and government initiatives, Asia-Pacific is set to be the leader in market share and technology advancement.

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Browse the full Battery as a Service Market Size, Trends and Insights By Service Type (Subscription Model, Pay-Per-Use Model), By End User (Automotive, Telecommunications, Energy & Utilities, Residential, Commercial & Industrial, Others), By Energy Storage Capacity (Less than 50 kWh, 50-100 kWh, Over 100 kWh), and By Region - Global Industry Overview, Statistical Data, Competitive Analysis, Share, Outlook, and Forecast 2025  2034 Report at https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/battery-as-a-service-market/





List of the prominent players in the Battery as a Service (BaaS) Market:

NIO Inc.

Tesla Inc.

Contemporary Amperex Energy Storage Capacity Co. Ltd. (CATL)

BYD Company Ltd.

Aulton New Energy Automotive Energy Storage Capacity Co. Ltd.

Sun Mobility

Gogoro Inc.

Panasonic Corporation

LG Energy Solution

EVgo Services LLC

Enel X

TotalEnergies

Shell New Energies

Ample Inc.

Blink Charging Co.

Immotor

Upgrid Solutions Private Limited

Numocity

Bounce Infinity

Esmito Solutions Pvt Ltd

Others

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The subscription-based option is offered.

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The Battery as a Service (Baas) Market is segmented as follows:

By Service Type

Subscription Model

Pay-Per-Use Model

By End User

Automotive

Telecommunications

Energy & Utilities

Residential

Commercial & Industrial

Others

By Energy Storage Capacity

Less than 50 kWh

50-100 kWh

Over 100 kWh

Click Here to Get a Free Sample Report of the Global Battery as a Service Market @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/battery-as-a-service-market/

Regional Coverage:

North America

U.S.

Canada

Mexico

Rest of North America

Europe

Germany

France

U.K.

Russia

Italy

Spain

Netherlands

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

New Zealand

Australia

South Korea

Taiwan

Rest of Asia Pacific

The Middle East & Africa

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Egypt

Kuwait

South Africa

Rest of the Middle East & Africa

Latin America

Brazil

Argentina

Rest of Latin America

This Battery as a Service Market Research/Analysis Report Contains Answers to the following Questions.

Which Trends Are Causing These Developments?

Who Are the Global Key Players in This Battery as a Service Market? What are Their Company Profile, Product Information, and Contact Information?

What Was the Global Market Status of the Battery as a Service Market? What Was the Capacity, Production Value, Cost and PROFIT of the Battery as a Service Market?

What Is the Current Market Status of the Battery as a Service Industry? What's Market Competition in This Industry, Both Company and Country Wise? What's Market Analysis of Battery as a Service Market by Considering Applications and Types?

What Are Projections of the Global Battery as a Service Industry Considering Capacity, Production and Production Value? What Will Be the Estimation of Cost and Profit? What Will Be Market Share, Supply and Consumption? What about imports and exports?

What Is Battery as a Service Market Chain Analysis by Upstream Raw Materials and Downstream Industry?

What Is the Economic Impact On Battery as a Service Industry? What are Global Macroeconomic Environment Analysis Results? What Are Global Macroeconomic Environment Development Trends?

What Are Market Dynamics of Battery as a Service Market? What Are Challenges and Opportunities?

What Should Be Entry Strategies, Countermeasures to Economic Impact, and Marketing Channels for Battery as a Service Industry?

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Reasons to Purchase Battery as a Service Market Report

Battery as a Service Market Report provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market based on segmentation involving economic and non-economic factors.

Battery as a Service Market report outlines market value (USD) data for each segment and sub-segment.

This report indicates the region and segment expected to witness the fastest growth and dominate the market.

Battery as a Service Market Analysis by geography highlights the consumption of the product/service in the region and indicates the factors affecting the market within each region.

The competitive landscape incorporates the market ranking of the major players, along with new service/product launches, partnerships, business expansions, and acquisitions in the past five years of companies profiled.

Extensive company profiles comprising company overview, company insights, product benchmarking, and SWOT analysis for the major market players.

The Industry's current and future market outlook concerning recent developments (which involve growth opportunities and drivers as well as challenges and restraints of both emerging and developed regions.

Battery as a Service Market Includes in-depth market analysis from various perspectives through Porter's five forces analysis and provides insight into the market through Value Chain.

Reasons for the Research Report

The study provides a thorough overview of the global Battery as a Service market. Compare your performance to that of the market as a whole.

Aim to maintain competitiveness while innovations from established key players fuel market growth.

Buy this Premium Battery as a Service Research Report | Fast Delivery Available - [220+ Pages] @ https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/battery-as-a-service-market/

What does the report include?

Drivers, restrictions, and opportunities are among the qualitative elements covered in the worldwide Battery as a Service market analysis.

The competitive environment of current and potential participants in the Battery as a Service market is covered in the report, as well as those companies' strategic product development ambitions.

According to the component, application, and industry vertical, this study analyzes the market qualitatively and quantitatively. Additionally, the report offers comparable data for the important regions.

For each segment mentioned above, actual market sizes and forecasts have been given.

Who should buy this report?

Participants and stakeholders worldwide Battery as a Service market should find this report useful. The research will be useful to all market participants in the Battery as a Service industry.

Managers in the Battery as a Service sector are interested in publishing up-to-date and projected data about the worldwide Battery as a Service market.

Governmental agencies, regulatory bodies, decision-makers, and organizations want to invest in Battery as a Service products' market trends.

Market insights are sought for by analysts, researchers, educators, strategy managers, and government organizations to develop plans.

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Dublin, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "CIP Chemicals Market by Type (Acids, Alkalies & Caustic, Chlorine), Category (Inorganic, Organic, Specialty Chemicals), Distribution Channel, Application, End-User Industry - Global Forecast 2025-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The CIP Chemicals Market grew from USD 2.35 billion in 2024 to USD 2.50 billion in 2025. It is expected to continue growing at a CAGR of 6.76%, reaching USD 3.49 billion by 2030.



Rapid technological advancements and an increasing focus on sustainability have sparked transformative shifts in the CIP chemicals landscape. The market is witnessing a paradigm shift from conventional practices toward innovative methods that embrace automation, digitalization, and improved process efficiency. Prominent drivers underpinning this evolution include enhanced quality controls, reduced environmental impact, and the integration of cutting-edge sensor technologies.



A growing emphasis on sustainability has motivated many industry stakeholders to adopt green chemistry principles and eco-friendly practices. With shifting regulatory mandates and a heightened focus on employee safety and product integrity, traditional operational models are being replaced by robust systems offering seamlessly integrated cleaning processes. Competitors are now investing significantly in research and development to stay ahead, resulting in the emergence of multi-functional solutions that not only address cleaning efficacy but also support maintenance and cost reduction.



The integration of digital monitoring systems and data analytics into routine cleaning operations brings an additional level of precision to process control. Innovation in materials and formulations that can withstand harsh industrial environments has sparked interest across various segments. In essence, the current market culture demands agility and a proactive embrace of technological innovations that align operational excellence with sustainability objectives.



Global Regional Analysis: Insights from Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Asia-Pacific Markets



The global market for CIP chemicals experiences a distinct set of dynamics and regional particularities that shape overall industry behavior. Insights drawn from the Americas highlight robust developments driven by a strong foundation in industrial innovation and a mature regulatory framework. The emphasis in this region often falls on stringent environmental standards and the pursuit of improved process efficiencies that serve both large-scale industrial operations and emerging small to mid-sized enterprises.



Across the broad territories of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, market trends are influenced by a diverse set of factors including environmental sustainability priorities, unique infrastructural needs, and evolving economic policies. Europe is particularly noted for its detailed regulatory mandates and sustainable initiatives, while the Middle East and Africa are rapidly modernizing their chemical processing technologies to build capacity and competitiveness in the global arena.



In the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region, market expansion is fueled by rapid industrialization and increasing investments in technological modernization. The dynamic economic landscape and high consumer demand characterize this region as a significant hub for innovation. Culturally and economically diverse, the Asia-Pacific market is uniquely positioned to lead in the adoption of digital monitoring and automation technologies in CIP processes. Together, these regional insights provide a comprehensive understanding of localized trends that collectively drive broader market opportunities.

Industry-Leading Companies Overview: Notable Players and Competitive Landscape in CIP Chemicals



A deep dive into the competitive landscape reveals a carefully curated roster of industry-leading companies that are successfully setting the pace in the CIP chemicals market. The report delves into recent significant developments in the CIP Chemicals Market, highlighting leading vendors and their innovative profiles. These include:

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

AkzoNobel N.V.

Alfa Laval AB

BASF SE

Chemtex Speciality Limited

Clariant AG

Diversey Inc.

Dow Inc.

DuPont de Nemours Inc.

Eastman Chemical Company

Ecol Sp. z o.o.

Ecolab Inc.

Evonik Industries AG

Huntsman Corporation

Hydrite Chemical Co.

Johnson Matthey PLC

Keller & Bohacek GmbH & Co. KG

Kemira Oyj

Linde PLC

Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation

PPG Industries, Inc.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation

Shrioum Chemicals

Solenis

Solvay SA

STERIS Inc.

Actionable Strategies: Recommendations for Industry Leaders to Navigate and Succeed in the Dynamic CIP Landscape



For industry leaders seeking to thrive in an evolving chemicals market, a series of actionable recommendations have been devised to drive growth and ensure competitive advantage. First, it is essential to invest in technologically advanced cleaning systems that enhance operational precision and reduce downtime. Embracing innovations such as automated monitoring and data analytics can streamline operations and identify areas for continual improvement.



Companies are urged to prioritize research and development in areas that promise efficiency gains without sacrificing environmental compliance. Sustained investments in alternative chemistries and eco-friendly product lines pave the way for both regulatory adherence and customer satisfaction. In today's competitive landscape, fostering a culture of innovation by partnering with academic institutions and independent research bodies can lead to breakthrough developments.



Another key strategy is to reconfigure distribution channels to integrate digital platforms effectively. As the market shifts toward a more digitally oriented commerce model, leveraging online sales avenues presents significant opportunities for enhanced market penetration and improved customer engagement. This dual channel approach of maintaining robust direct sales while expanding digital presence helps achieve balanced and diversified market exposure.



A comprehensive understanding of segmented market data should inform product development and marketing strategies. Detailed segmentation insights allow companies to tailor solutions based on chemical type, product category, and specific end-use requirements. By aligning product offerings with distinct segments, companies can more precisely address consumer needs while optimizing resource allocation.



Furthermore, a proactive engagement with global markets is recommended. Companies should monitor regional trends closely and adopt flexible strategies that account for local regulatory environments and cultural nuances. Diversifying market presence across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and Asia-Pacific provides opportunities to offset risks and capitalize on growth in emerging regions.



Lastly, maintaining strong partnerships and collaborative networks is crucial. Strategic alliances not only bolster market resilience but also encourage shared technological advancements and best practices. This holistic approach, blending innovation with operational agility, sets the stage for long-term success in a highly competitive environment.



Key Attributes

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 187 Forecast Period 2025-2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2025 $2.5 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $3.49 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. Rising consumer focus on hygiene and cleanliness globally

5.1.1.2. Increasing adoption CIP chemicals in food and beverage industries

5.1.1.3. Stringent government regulations necessitating frequent cleaning processes in industries

5.1.2. Restraints

5.1.2.1. Volatility in raw material costs used in production of CIP chemicals

5.1.3. Opportunities

5.1.3.1. Leveraging advancements in nanotechnology for developing efficient and effective CIP chemicals

5.1.3.2. Expanding application of CIP chemicals in the pharma industry

5.1.4. Challenges

5.1.4.1. Increasing regulatory pressures and compliance requirements for CIP chemicals globally

5.2. Market Segmentation Analysis

5.2.1. Type: Increasing preference for sterilizers in medical and laboratory settings

5.2.2. End-User Industry: Expanding utilization of CIP chemicals in the food & beverage industry

5.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3.1. Threat of New Entrants

5.3.2. Threat of Substitutes

5.3.3. Bargaining Power of Customers

5.3.4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers

5.3.5. Industry Rivalry

5.4. PESTLE Analysis

5.4.1. Political

5.4.2. Economic

5.4.3. Social

5.4.4. Technological

5.4.5. Legal

5.4.6. Environmental



6. CIP Chemicals Market, by Type

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Acids

6.3. Alkalies & Caustic

6.4. Chlorine

6.5. Sanitizer/Disinfectants

6.6. Sequestrants

6.7. Sterilizers

6.8. Surfactants



7. CIP Chemicals Market, by Category

7.1. Introduction

7.2. Inorganic

7.3. Organic

7.4. Specialty Chemicals



8. CIP Chemicals Market, by Distribution Channel

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Direct Sales

8.3. Online Sales

8.3.1. Direct-to-Consumer Websites

8.3.2. E-commerce Platforms



9. CIP Chemicals Market, by Application

9.1. Introduction

9.2. Agriculture

9.3. Commercial

9.4. Industrial

9.5. Residential

9.6. Water Treatment



10. CIP Chemicals Market, by End-User Industry

10.1. Introduction

10.2. Automotive

10.3. Chemicals

10.4. Construction

10.5. Electronics

10.6. Food & Beverage

10.7. Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology



11. Americas CIP Chemicals Market

11.1. Introduction

11.2. Argentina

11.3. Brazil

11.4. Canada

11.5. Mexico

11.6. United States



12. Asia-Pacific CIP Chemicals Market

12.1. Introduction

12.2. Australia

12.3. China

12.4. India

12.5. Indonesia

12.6. Japan

12.7. Malaysia

12.8. Philippines

12.9. Singapore

12.10. South Korea

12.11. Taiwan

12.12. Thailand

12.13. Vietnam



13. Europe, Middle East & Africa CIP Chemicals Market

13.1. Introduction

13.2. Denmark

13.3. Egypt

13.4. Finland

13.5. France

13.6. Germany

13.7. Israel

13.8. Italy

13.9. Netherlands

13.10. Nigeria

13.11. Norway

13.12. Poland

13.13. Qatar

13.14. Russia

13.15. Saudi Arabia

13.16. South Africa

13.17. Spain

13.18. Sweden

13.19. Switzerland

13.20. Turkey

13.21. United Arab Emirates

13.22. United Kingdom



14. Competitive Landscape

14.1. Market Share Analysis, 2024

14.2. FPNV Positioning Matrix, 2024

14.3. Competitive Scenario Analysis

14.3.1. UNX-Christeyns to bolster Greenville economy with USD 10.5 million expansion and new job creation

14.3.2. Solenis expands eco-friendly portfolio by acquiring Aqua ChemPacs, enhancing green cleaning solutions

14.3.3. Vivochem, Ferr-Tech, and VSD Food Machinery collaborate to integrate sustainable FerSol into food industry cleaning processes

14.3.4. Tetra Pak enhances sustainability with innovative clean-in-place solutions optimizing energy and resources

14.4. Strategy Analysis & Recommendations

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ISCs Services segment continues to be a trusted service provider for the Ontario Business Registry.

Backed by more than 20 years of experience, ISC delivers secure, efficient, and innovative regulatory solutions in Ontario through the Companys wholly owned subsidiary, ESC.

The contract includes a two-year term with three one-year extension options.



REGINA, Saskatchewan, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Information Services Corporation (TSX:ISC) (ISC or the Company), through the Companys wholly owned subsidiary, ESC Corporate Services Ltd. (ESC) is proud to announce its continued role as a trusted service provider for the Ontario Business Registry (the OBR).

This renewal builds on more than 20 years of experience providing businesses in Ontario with accessible, efficient, and secure regulatory and corporate solutions. The previous agreement expired at the end of January 2025 and under the terms of the new agreement, ESC will continue to deliver high-quality services to support the OBR for an initial two-year period, with three one-year options that the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement may exercise at its discretion. This highlights the Companys longstanding role as a trusted service provider committed to helping customers meet their compliance and regulatory needs with ease.

Through this agreement, ESC delivers significant value to customers and the Ontario government by providing secure, innovative technology that adapts to evolving regulatory needs. These efforts are complemented by ESCs extensive suite of corporate and regulatory services, such as entity searches, corporate verification, business name registrations, and articles of incorporation filings.

With expert support and deep subject matter expertise, ESC empowers customers to confidently meet compliance requirements while streamlining critical regulatory processes. This reduces administrative burdens and enhances efficiency.

For sales inquiries or to request a product demonstration of ESCs best-in-class Registry Complete platform, please visit our website at https://www.eservicecorp.ca/contact/

About ISC

Headquartered in Canada, ISC is a leading provider of registry and information management services for public data and records. Throughout our history, we have delivered value to our clients by providing solutions to manage, secure and administer information through our Registry Operations, Services and Technology Solutions segments. ISC is focused on sustaining its core business while pursuing new growth opportunities. The Class A Shares of ISC trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ISC.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws including, without limitation, statements related to the term of the new agreement, including the Ministrys discretion to exercise the option periods, ESCs continued role and delivery of services. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include risks relating to changes in economic, market and business conditions, changes in technology and customers demands and expectations, exercise of the option periods, termination risks and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company including those detailed in ISCs Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2024 and ISCs Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes and Managements Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2024, copies of which are filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

The forward-looking information in this release is made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities laws, ISC assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances.

Investor Contact

Jonathan Hackshaw

Senior Director, Investor Relations & Capital Markets

Toll Free: 1-855-341-8363 in North America or 1-306-798-1137

investor.relations@isc.ca
Dublin, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Smart Pills Market by Application (Capsule Endoscopy, Drug Delivery, Patient Monitoring), Target Area (Esophagus, Small Intestine, Large Intestine, Stomach), End User (Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers), and Region - Global Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The report analyzes the smart pills market and aims at estimating the market size and future growth potential of this market based on various segments such as application (capsule endoscopy, patient monitoring, and targeted drug delivery), target area (small intestine, large intestine, esophagus & stomach), disease indication (Crohn's disease, occult GI bleeding, small bowel tumor, celiac disease, & other disease conditions), end user (hospitals, diagnostic centers, outpatient settings, & other end users), and region.

The report also includes a product portfolio matrix of various smart pills products available in the market. The report also provides a competitive analysis of the key players in this market, along with their company profiles, service offerings, and key market strategies.

The global smart pills market is experiencing significant growth in 2024, driven by the technological advancements in capsule endoscopy and the growing demand for non-invasive diagnostic monitoring devices. The market is projected to reach reach USD 1.30 billion by 2030 from USD 0.69 billion in 2024, at a CAGR of 11.2% during the forecast period.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), in 2024, there were 1,52,810 new cases of colorectal cancer (CRC) comprising, 81,540 will be in men and 71,270 in women. Additionally, 1,06,590 of the cases will be colon cancer, while 46,220 will be rectal cancer. CRC remains the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US with an estimated 53,010 deaths in 2024, showing a slight increase from last year's projected 52,550. Thus, the high incidence of colon cancer are expected to increase the demand for capsule endoscopes for colon cancer screening.



The small bowel tumor segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period



Based on disease indication, the market for smart pills is divided into segments for crohn's disease, small bowel tumors, occult GI bleeding, celiac disease, and other disease indications. The small bowel tumor is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to factors, such as advancements in sensor technology, growing emphasis on patient convenience, rising need for early tumor diagnosis and proper treatment that are expected to drive the adoption of smart pills in the coming years.



The large intestine accounted for the second largest share of the market during the forecast period in 2023, by target area



By target area, the smart pills market is broadly segmented into, small intestine, large intestine, esophagus, and stomach. In 2023, the large intestine target area accounted for the second largest share of smart pills market. Factors such as rising cases of colorectal cancer and requirement for applicable screening, diagnosis, and examining of inflammatory bowel diseases and other gastrointestinal diseases. The growing cases of colorectal cancer & colon cancer have contributed to the rising adoption of smart pills in large intestine as smart pills can reach areas of the colon that may be difficult to visualize with traditional methods.



By region, Europe hold the second largest share of the smart pills market in 2023



Europe accounted for the second largest share of the smart pills market in 2023. Factors such as increase in ageing population and improved utilization of capsule endoscopy for gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding are driving the European smart pills market. According to the guidelines of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), small-bowel video capsule endoscopy is recommended as the initial examination for patients with unclear gastrointestinal bleeding. The endorsement of capsule endoscopy by the ESGE guidelines specifies a uniform approach for healthcare professionals, improving the quality of care provided to patients. As a result, the expanding demand for smart pills and other related technologies is driven by the growing use of capsule endoscopy for GI bleeding.

Competitive Landscape

The key players operating in the smart pills market include Medtronic (US), Olympus Corporation (Japan), CapsoVision, Inc. (US), IntroMedic (South Korea), ANX Robotics (US), Shenzhen Jifu Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (China), JINSHAN Science & Technology (Group) (China), etectrx (US), Check-Cap (Israel), BodyCap (France), and Shangxian Minimal Invasive Inc (China).



This report provides insights into the following:

Analysis of key drivers (rising demand for noninvasive diagnostic monitoring devices, technological advancements in capsule endoscopy, increasing incidence of colon cancer), restraints (high costs & technical limitations associated with accuracy of smart pills), opportunities (continuous innovation in sensor technology, wireless communication and rising need for rapid drug delivery development) and challenges (patient privacy concerns, shortage of skilled personnel).

Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product launches in the smart pills market

Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative markets - the report analyses the smart pills market across varied regions.

Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products & services, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the smart pills market

Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, growth strategies and service offerings of Medtronic (US), Olympus Corporation (Japan), CapsoVision, Inc. (US), IntroMedic (South Korea), ANX Robotics (US), Shenzhen jifu Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (China), JINSHAN Science & Technology (Group) (China), etectrx (US), Check-Cap (Israel), BodyCap (France), and Shangxian Minimal Invasive Inc (China) in the smart pills market.

Key Attributes:





Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 230 Forecast Period 2024 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $0.69 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $1.3 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 11.2% Regions Covered Global



Key Topics Covered:



Premium Insights

Smart Pills Market Overview

North America: Smart Pills Market, by Application and Country, 2023

Smart Pills Market: Geographic Growth Opportunities

Smart Pills Market: Regional Mix

Smart Pills Market: Developed vs. Emerging Markets

Market Dynamics

Drivers Rising Demand for Non-Invasive Diagnostic Monitoring Devices Technological Advancements in Capsule Endoscopy Increasing Incidence of Colon Cancer

Restraints High R&D Costs for Technological Developments and Advancements Low Accuracy and Reliability of Sensors and Cameras in Smart Pills

Opportunities Innovations in Sensor Technologies and Wireless Communication Rising Need for Rapid Drug Delivery and Development

Challenges Increased Patient Privacy and Data Security Concerns Shortage of Skilled Healthcare Professionals



Industry Trends

Advancements in Sensor Technologies

Integration with AI and ML

Integration with Wearable Devices

Technology Analysis

Key Technologies Wireless Communication Systems Sensor Technologies Self-Powered Ingestible Smart Pills Adaptive Frame Rate Technologies Imag AI and ML

Complementary Technologies Robotic Technologies Data Analytics

Adjacent Technologies IoT Cloud Computing



Tariff & Regulatory Analysis

Tariff Data Analysis

Regulatory Bodies, Government Agencies, and Other Organizations

Regulatory Landscape North America US Europe Asia-Pacific Japan China India



Case Study Analysis

Increased Imaging Capabilities for Patients with Small Bowel Abnormalities

Detection of Gastric Polyp & Erythema Through Magnetically Controlled Capsule Endoscopes

AI-Assisted Capsule Endoscopy to Detect Obscure Gastrointestinal Bleeding in High-Risk Cardiac Patients

Patent Analysis

Patent Publication Trends for Smart Pills

Insights: Jurisdiction and Top Applicant Analysis

List of Key Patents

Impact of AI/Gen AI on Smart Pills Market

Key Use Cases

Case Studies of AI/Gen AI Implementation Capsocam Sv-1 Versus Pillcam Sb3 to Detect Obscure Gastrointestinal Bleeding Aardex Group Partnered with Etectrx, Inc. to Track Medication-Taking Behaviors

Impact of AI/Gen AI on Interconnected and Adjacent Ecosystems AI in Endoscopy Wearable Devices Digital Healthcare Home Healthcare

User Readiness & Impact Assessment

Company Profiles

Key Players

Medtronic

Olympus Corporation

Capsovision

Intromedic

Jinshan Science & Technology

Anx Robotics

Shenzhen Jifu Medical Technology Co. Ltd.

Etectrx

Bodycap

Check-Cap

Shangxian Minimal Invasive Inc.

Other Players

Veloce Corporation

Biocam

Endiatx

Rf Co. Ltd.

Celero Systems

Biora Therapeutics, Inc.

Innurvation

Rani Therapeutics

Motilis Medica SA

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HIGHLIGHTS:

Over 81,000 meters were drilled in 2024, focused on identifying higher grade satellite targets, with the goal of supplementing production from the commencement of operations

Results provide significant confidence in achieving the previously published short-term objective of discovering over 1Moz of M&I resources for satellites at a 50% higher grade compared to the Kone deposit Mineralisation was confirmed at all 18 targets drilled in 2024 out of the 52 exploration targets identified Starter maiden resources delineated for 7 new higher grade satellites, with grades ranging between 0.9 and 1.6 g/t Au, or between approximately 60% to 180% higher than the Kone deposit Efforts on the satellite deposits have added 160koz at 1.16 g/t Au and 270koz at 1.0 g/t Au of Indicated and Inferred Resources, respectively, with deposits remaining open as the focus was to delineate only a small portion of the orebodies to assess the grade profiles in order to prioritize 2025 drill efforts 6 other targets were progressed to pre-resource definition stage, which are currently being pursued given the high grade intercepts received (11.0m at 4.4 g/t Au and 15.0m at 2.17 g/t Au at Soman 1 & 2; 7.0m at 9.20 g/t Au at ANVIII)

Kone deposit Indicated resource increased by 150koz to 4.49Moz at 0.57 g/t Au and Inferred Resource increased by 110koz to 0.51Moz at 0.43 g/t Au

Kone project overall Indicated Resource grew by 340koz to 5.21Moz at 0.62 g/t Au and Inferred Resource grew by 380koz to 780koz at 0.54 g/t Au following the first drill campaign under the leadership of the new management team

90,000-meter drill programme was launched in early 2025 with the goal of continuing to delineate and test higher-grade satellites

ABIDJAN, COTE DIVOIRE, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Montage Gold Corp. (Montage or the Company) (TSXV: MAU, OTCQX: MAUTF) is pleased to announce that the results of its 2024 Kone project exploration programme, in Cote dIvoire, provide significant confidence in achieving its previously published short-term exploration target of discovering more than 1Moz of Measured and Indicated Resources, at a grade 50% higher than the Kone deposit, with the goal of further improving the production profile from the commencement of production in Q2-2027.

A total of 81,815 meters were drilled in 2024, amounting to US$13 million, under the leadership of the new management team, with the goal of delineating resources at selected advanced targets, in addition to continuing to drill test and progress other targets. Given the extensive 2,138km2 land package encompassing over 52 identified targets, the approach undertaken is to systematically drill test best selected targets to confirm their potential and define starter resources to validate their high-grade content before undertaking larger step-out drilling campaigns. Consequently, 18 targets were drill tested last year, which successfully delineated starter resources for 7 higher grade satellite deposits, while another 6 targets have advanced to the pre-resource definition stage and are currently being followed up.

As a result, the Kone project now hosts 8 satellite deposits, inclusive of the Gbongogo Main deposit. Efforts on the new satellite deposits have added 160koz at 1.16 g/t Au and 270koz at 1.0 g/t Au of Indicated and Inferred Resources, respectively, at grades ranging between 0.9 and 1.6 g/t Au, or between approximately 60% and 180% higher than the Kone deposit, as summarised in Tables 1 and 2 below. All deposits delineated remain open as the focus was to delineate only a small portion of the orebodies to assess the grade profiles in order to prioritize 2025 drill efforts.

In addition, exploration efforts at the Kone deposit resulted in adding near-surface mineralization and confirming mineralization at depth. As shown in Table 1 below, the Kone deposit Indicated Resource increased by 150koz to 4.49Moz at 0.57 g/t Au while the Inferred Resource increased by 110koz to 0.51Moz at 0.43 g/t Au. Coupled with the resource additions for the satellite deposit, the Kone projects Indicated Resources grew by 340koz to 5.21Moz at 0.62 g/t Au and Inferred Resources grew by 380koz to 780koz at 0.54 g/t Au.

Table 1: Kone project resource update variance PREVIOUS RESOURCE ESTIMATE1 UPDATED RESOURCE ESTIMATE2 Resources shown

on a 100% basis Tonnage Grade Content Tonnage Grade Content Variance (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Au koz) Kone deposit Indicated Resources 229 0.59 4,340 245 0.57 4,490 +150 Inferred Resources 25 0.5 400 37 0.43 510 +110 Satellite deposits (including Gbongogo) Indicated Resources 11 1.48 520 16 1.38 720 +200 Inferred Resources - - - 8.4 1.00 270 +270 Total Indicated Resources 240 0.63 4,870 261 0.62 5,210 +340 Inferred Resources 25 0.5 400 45 0.54 780 +380

1) Updated Feasibility Study available on Montages website and on SEDAR+. See Technical Disclosure below. 2) Updated Mineral Resource Estimates (the 2025 MRE) are reported in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) with an effective date of January 31, 2025 for satellite deposits and the Gbongogo deposit, and February 20, 2025 for the Kone deposit. Mineral Resource Estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definitions Standards for Mineral Resources and have been completed in accordance NI 43-101. This 2025 MRE was prepared by Mr. Jonathon Abbott of Matrix Resource Consultants of Perth, Australia who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Rounding errors are apparent. The 2025 MRE are reported on a 100% basis and are constrained within optimal pit shells generated at a gold price of US$2,000/ounce. The estimates at are reported at gold cut-off grades of 0.20 g/t (Kone), 0.50g/t (Gbongogo, Koban North, Sena, Gbongogo South, Diouma North and Lokolo Main) and 0.60g/t (Yere North and ANV) Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. No Measured Resources have been estimated. See Technical Disclosure below for details.

A subsequent 90,000-meter drill programme, for US$14 million, was launched in early 2025 with the goal of continuing to delineate and test higher-grade satellites. As part of the programme, significant infill and step out drilling has been planned on the 7 maiden higher-grade satellite deposits delineated in 2024. In addition, infill drilling is planned on the newly identified advanced targets that have shown significant potential through reconnaissance drilling during 2024.

Martino De Ciccio, CEO of Montage, commented: We are very pleased with the progress being made to unlock value at our Kone project in Cote dIvoire by aggressively exploring while construction continues to rapidly advance.

Todays published updated resource estimate demonstrates the project's large scale and confirms our belief in the potential for numerous high-grade satellite deposits, with eight already identified. Moreover, it provides significant confidence in achieving our previously published short-term objective of discovering at least 1 million ounces of Measured and Indicated Resources for satellite deposits at a 50% higher grade compared to the Kone deposit, to be achieved prior to production commencing in Q2-2027. This would represent significant returns on our exploration investment and aligns with our strategic objective of boosting production from the onset while maintaining an annual production of at least 300koz for more than 10 years.

I would like to thank our exploration team for their strong efforts and congratulate them on the rapid success achieved, especially considering most of the drilling took place in the latter part of the year, following the end of the rainy season and the ramp-up of the exploration team, which now totals more than 150 people.

The success achieved thus far positions us well to continue unlocking exploration value and further build on the momentum generated to advance our strategy of creating a premier African gold producer and delivering value for all our stakeholders.

Silvia Bottero, EVP Exploration of Montage, stated: We are very pleased with the rapid exploration progress achieved, as it significantly boosts our confidence in reaching our ambitious target of discovering at least one million ounces of higher-grade satellite resources before production commences in Q2-2027.

With our extensive land package encompassing over 50 identified targets, our approach is to systematically drill test best selected targets to define starter resources and validate their higher-grade content before undertaking larger step-out drilling campaigns. Consequently, last year we drilled over 18 targets, successfully delineating resources for seven deposits, while another six targets have advanced to the pre-resource definition stage and are currently being followed up.

Building upon this approach to enhance our understanding of the project's potential, we launched a larger 90,000-meter drilling program earlier this year. Half of this program is dedicated to infill and extension drilling of recent discoveries, while the other half will focus on drill testing and generating new targets. As a result, this year we anticipate growing the newly delineated deposits while also delineating initial maiden resources for additional targets, enabling us to prioritize infill and step-out drilling for 2026 as we approach production.

Given our recent successes and our rapidly evolving understanding of the geological potential, we are highly enthusiastic about continuing our exploration efforts to unlock further value.

ABOUT THE EXPLORATION PROGRAMME

Exploration Outlook and Objectives

The 2024 exploration programme results validate managements conviction that significant potential exists to add further higher-grade satellites, with the aim of enhancing the profile of the Kone project by slotting these discoveries early in the mine plan. In line with its commitment to accountability and transparency, on October 7, 2024, Montage published an aggressive target of discovering of at least 1 million ounces of Measured and Indicated Resources at a grade of over 1 g/t Au, which would be 50% higher compared to the current Kone deposit grade1, to be achieved before the commencement of production.

Achieving the set exploration target would represent a significant return on the exploration investment and aligns with the Companys strategic objective of boosting production from the commencement of production, while maintaining an annual production of at least 300koz for more than 10 years. As shown in Figure 1 below, the objective is to replicate the exploration success that resulted in the addition of the Gbongogo Main higher grade satellite deposit which is to be blended with the Kone deposit ore feed over the first three years of operations, resulting in an average gold production of 349,000 ounces per year during this period given that the Gbongogo Main deposit reserve grade is approximately 95% higher than that of the Kone deposit ore feed over the life of mine1.

Figure 1: Current production profile1

1Source: For further information on the discovery target please refer to the Companys news release dated October 7, 2024, and for information regarding the Kone deposit please refer to the Updated Feasibility Study available on Montages website and on SEDAR+. See Technical Disclosure.

Overview of the exploration potential and programme

The Kone project is endowed with significant exploration potential across a 1,679.3km2 existing land package where the Company has, to date, identified a total of 52 exploration targets across 7 mineralised trends, as shown in Figure 2 below. The Company has a further 458.5km2 of additional adjacent exploration properties currently under permit application, which would increase its total land package to 2,138km2.

In total, 26 exploration targets are located within the permitted mining area within 3 major trends (Gbongogo-Korotou Trend, Lokolo Trend and Bafretou-Niondje Trend) which are located near the planned haul road, and host potential for higher grade discoveries. On the exploration permits, a further 26 targets have been identified across 4 major trends (Gbongogo-Korotou Trend, Sissedougou Trend, Yere Trend and TZ4 Trend), which also hosts the potential for higher grade mineralisation. Exploration efforts are focused on both the permitted mining area, due to its potential immediate benefits, as well as on the exploration permit to the north given the lead time required from discovery to permitting. Management anticipates that a trucking distance of 75km would result in an increase of approximately 0.2 g/t Au on the cut-off grade, thereby supporting its strategy of targeting over 1 g/t Au discoveries that would therefore have the potential to displace 0.7 g/t Au material sourced from the Kone deposit. Following the delineation of a maiden resource on the Sissedougou exploration permit (PR842), Montage has launched the environmental studies in support of an Environmental, Social Impact Assessment on the Sissedougou exploration permit.

Figure 2: Kone project map illustrating the 7 mineralised trends

As detailed in Table 2 below, a total of 81,815 meters were drilled in 2024, amounting to US$13 million, completed across 1,995 holes, which comprised 80 Diamond Drilling (DD) holes for 12,682 meters, 566 Reverse Circulation (RC) holes for 50,059 meters, 8 RC-DD for 1,233 meters, 342 Aircore holes for 11,872 meters, and 999 Auger holes for 5,969 meters. The first drill campaign of 2024, totalling 30,170 meters with results previously announced on October 7, 2024, was supplemented with a further 51,645 meters drilled from mid-September until the end of the year.

Priority was attributed to targets along the Gbongogo-Korotou Trend, given their proximity to the already identified Gbongogo Main deposit and its infrastructure, along with targets along the Lokolo trend and within the Sissedougou Trend (PR842).

Table 2: 2024 drill program breakdown by trend and targets Trend Name Target Name Drilling Kone Kone deposit; Petit Yao 2,921 m Gbongogo-Korotou Gbongogo Main deposit; Gbongogo South; Diouma North; Koban North; Sena;

Koban Main; Soman 1 &2; Gbongogo West; Dokeka; Marahoue Gap; Kagon NE; Matiko 45,906 m Lokolo Lokolo Main; Lokolo Main-North; Lokolo Northwest; Lokolo South; Lokolo East; Lokolo West; Lokolo W-N; Lokolo South 2; Lokolo North 12,188 m Bafretou-Niondje Niondje; Bafretou 1; Bafretou 2; Bafretou 3 3,297 m Sissedougou ANV; ANIII 11,641 m Yere Yere North , Yere Trend 5,862 m TZ TZ2; TZ4 - Total Drilled Meters 81,815 m



The 2024 exploration programme resulted in the delineation of 7 new deposits, which are further detailed in the next section, and the discovery of 5 new targets (Soman 1, Soman 2, Gbongogo West, Lokolo Northwest, and ANIII) that were promoted to pre-resource definition stage and will be followed up in 2025, with best selected drill results shown in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3: Map with notable intercepts for new discoveries made

Notable results are further detailed in Appendix 2.

Figure 4 below illustrates the significant progress made, since the last exploration update published in October 2024, to advance targets from early-stage target to resource and pre-resource definition stage. The approach undertaken is to systematically drill test best selected targets to define starter resources and validate their high-grade content before undertaking larger step-out drilling campaigns.

Figure 4: Kone project exploration targets evolution

Note: Refer to press release dated October 7, 2024, for further details on target definitions.

A subsequent 90,000-meter drill programme, amounting to US$14 million, was launched in early 2025 with the goal of continuing to delineate and test higher-grade satellites, detailed as follows:

25,000 meters for resource extension, conversion and geotechnical drilling on known deposits

20,000 meters of infill drilling on new advanced targets to delineate additional maiden resources

45,000 meters of exploration drilling to test and generate new targets

Updated resource estimate

As shown in Table 3 below, an initial maiden resource for 7 new deposits was delineated with all deposits remaining significantly open, given that they are data constrained as the focus was to outline only a portion of the orebodies to assess the grade profiles in order to prioritize 2025 drill efforts. In addition, exploration efforts at the Kone deposit resulted in adding near-surface mineralization and confirming mineralization at depth. Results for both the satellite deposits identified and the Kone deposit are further detailed in the following section below.

Table 3: Kone project resource update variance by deposit PREVIOUS RESOURCE ESTIMATE1 UPDATED RESOURCE ESTIMATE2 Resources shown on a Tonnage Grade Content Tonnage Grade Content Variance 100% basis (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Mt) (Au g/t) (Au koz) (Au koz) Kone deposit Indicated Resources 229 0.59 4,340 245 0.57 4,490 +150 Inferred Resources 25 0.5 400 37 0.43 510 +110 Satellite deposits: Gbongogo Main deposit Indicated Resources 11 1.48 520 12 1.46 560 +40 Inferred Resources - - - 0.07 0.89 2.0 +2 Gbongogo South deposit Indicated Resources - - - 1.7 1.20 66 +66 Inferred Resources - - - 2.6 1.1 92 +92 Koban North deposit Indicated Resources - - - - - - - Inferred Resources - - - 3.9 0.9 113 +113 ANV (Sissedougou) deposit Indicated Resources - - - 1.6 1.10 57 +57 Inferred Resources - - - 0.88 1.1 31 +31 Yere North deposit Indicated Resources - - - 0.19 1.05 6.4 +6 Inferred Resources - - - 0.43 1.1 15 +15 Lokolo Main deposit Indicated Resources - - - 0.30 1.61 16 +16 Inferred Resources - - - 0.1 1 1.1 3.9 +4 Sena deposit Indicated Resources - - - - - - - Inferred Resources - - - 0.42 1.0 14 +14 Diouma North deposit Indicated Resources - - - 0.38 0.95 12 +12 Inferred Resources - - - 0.01 1.0 0.3 +1 Sub-total Satellites deposits Indicated Resources - - - 4.2 1.16 160 +160 Inferred Resources - - - 8.4 1.0 270 +270 Total Indicated Resources 240 0.63 4,870 261 0.62 5,210 +340 Inferred Resources 25 0.5 400 45 0.54 780 +380

1)Updated Feasibility Study available on Montages website and on SEDAR+. See Technical Disclosure. 2) Updated Mineral Resource Estimates (the 2025 MRE) are reported in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) with an effective date of January 31, 2025 for satellite deposits and the Gbongogo deposit, and February 20, 2025 for the Kone deposit. Mineral Resource Estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definitions Standards for Mineral Resources in accordance with the NI-43-101. The 2025 MRE was prepared by Mr. Jonathon Abbott of Matrix Resource Consultants of Perth, Australia who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Rounding errors are apparent. The 2025 MRE are reported on a 100% basis and are constrained within optimal pit shells generated at a gold price of US$2,000/ounce. The estimates at are reported at gold cut-off grades of 0.20 g/t (Kone), 0.50g/t (Gbongogo, Koban North, Sena, Gbongogo South, Diouma North and Lokolo Main) and 0.60g/t (Yere North and ANV) Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. No Measured Resources have been estimated. See Technical Disclosure below for additional details.

Preliminary metallurgical test results on the 7 new satellite deposits confirmed that the nature of gold on additional satellites deposits is non-refractory with indicative recoveries in excess of 90%. No presence of arsenopyrite, graphite or other carbonaceous material was observed that could impact recoveries. Further recovery testwork is ongoing.

Table 4 below presents the 2025 MRE by rock type. Saprolite and transitional Indicated Resources increased by 80Koz over the previous estimate while saprolite and transitional Inferred Resources increased by 114koz.

Table 4: Kone project 2025 MRE by weathering zone Resources shown

on a 100% basis Weathering

Zone Indicated Inferred Tonnage

(Mt) Grade

(Au g/t) Content

(Au koz) Tonnage

(Mt) Grade

(Au g/t) Content

(Au koz) Kone deposit Saprolite 14 0.53 240 0.8 0.36 9.3 Transition 10 0.55 180 0.3 0.34 3.3 Fresh 221 0.58 4,120 36 0.43 500 Subtotal 245 0.57 4,490 37 0.43 510 Satellites deposits

(including Gbongogo) Saprolite 2.3 1.22 90 2.5 0.97 76 Transition 0.9 1.23 35 1.0 0.92 31 Fresh 13 1.42 580 4.8 1.03 160 Subtotal 16 1.38 720 8.4 1.00 270 Total Saprolite 16 0.63 330 3.2 0.83 86 Transition 11 0.61 210 1.3 0.79 34 Fresh 223 0.59 4,700 41 0.50 660 Total 249 0.58 5,210 45 0.54 780

Updated Mineral Resource Estimates (the 2025 MRE) are reported in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) with an effective date of January 31, 2025 for satellite deposits and the Gbongogo deposit, and February 20, 2025 for the Kone deposit. Mineral Resource Estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definitions Standards for Mineral Resources in accordance with the NI-43-101. The 2025 MRE was prepared by Mr. Jonathon Abbott of Matrix Resource Consultants of Perth, Australia who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Rounding errors are apparent. The 2025 MRE are reported on a 100% basis and are constrained within optimal pit shells generated at a gold price of US$2,000/ounce. The estimates at are reported at gold cut-off grades of 0.20 g/t (Kone), 0.50g/t (Gbongogo, Koban North, Sena, Gbongogo South, Diouma North and Lokolo Main) and 0.60g/t (Yere North and ANV) Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. No Measured Resources have been estimated. See Technical Disclosure below for additional details.

Given that the Kone deposit is mainly fresh rock, the current design (which is mainly based on the Kone deposit) limits oxide material to 10% of total feed, and requires 18.8Mt of pre-stripping, stockpiling, and gradual reintroduction of oxide material into the feed over the first eight years of production. The delineation of satellite deposits has however increased the availability of oxide and transitional material, and as such the Company continues to engineer and contemplate the potential addition of an oxide circuit consisting of a sizer and conveyor to directly feed the mill with oxide and transitional material, bypassing the hard rock comminution and high-pressure grinding rolls. An oxide circuit, for a minimal incremental investment, would enable an earlier first gold pour while the hard rock comminution is being commissioned, reduce rehandling costs for oxide ore mined in pre-production, provide significant operational flexibility to continue production during maintenance of the sulphide crushing circuit and would improve blending optionality.

DETAILS BY TARGET

Gbongogo-Korotou Trend

Gbongogo Main and Gbongogo South

A maiden resource was delineated for the Gbongogo South deposit, based on the drilling conducted in 2024, which represents an attractive discovery given its size and location in close proximity to the Gbongogo Main pit. Gbongogo South has direct access to the planned Kone-Gbongogo Main haul road and is located within the mining permit boundary. Exploration over the course of 2025 is expected to focus on infill drilling to convert Inferred Resources to Indicated Resources, as well as expanding the resource as mineralization remains open to the Southwest, as shown in Figure 5 below.

Mineralisation for Gbongogo South is litho-tectonically constrained, following a roughly north-south striking contact between the mafic sediment package to the west and the rhyolite unit to the east. The overall fabric dips moderately towards the northwest. Gbongogo South also shows localised diffusion of quartz-tourmaline veins which are associated with higher grade gold intercepts. Mineralisation remains open along strike and downdip.

Best selected intercepts include 30.0 meters at 1.54 g/t; 14.0 meters at 2.37 g/t Au; 11 meters at 2.59 g/t (including 1 meter at 14.12 g/t Au); and 10.0 meters at 1.17g/t Au.

Figure 5: Gbongogo South intercepts

At Gbongogo Main, drilling in 2024 confirmed the geological model and the controls of mineralization at depth. Preliminary drill results highlighted new shallower mineralised lenses on the west flank of the pit which are expected to be followed up in Q2-2025. The 2025 MRE accounts for the change in the gold price from US$1,800 to US$2,000/oz and the updated topographic survey as at December 2024, while a further resource update is expected to also incorporate additional drilling being conducted.

Koban North

A maiden Inferred Resource was delineated for the Koban North target which appears to be a promising discovery. It has been drilled on a wide spacing in 2024 and infill drilling is scheduled in 2025 with the goal of converting Inferred Resources to Indicated Resources, as well as to test extensions at depth and along strike towards the southwest which remain open, as shown in Figures 6 and 7 below.

Geology consists of sediments in the west and diorite and granite intrusions to the east. Gold mineralisation is associated with an intense zone of shearing between both intrusives. Gold is hosted within the shear and within parts of the diorite as quartz and quartz-tourmaline veins.

Best selected intercepts include 13.8 meters at 2.92 g/t Au; 24.0 meters at 1.81 g/t Au; and 7.0 meters at 5.82 g/t Au (including 1.0 meter at 34.78 g/t Au).

Figure 6: Koban North intercepts

Figure 7: Koban North cross section

Diouma North

A small maiden resource was delineated for the Diouma North target, which location is immediately South of Gbongogo Main deposit and adjacent to the Gbongogo haulage road. While 2025 exploration efforts are expected to be prioritized on other targets, a small drilling campaign is scheduled at Diouma North to test its at-depth potential and extensions.

Best selected intercepts include 6.3 meters at 1.04 g/t Au and 5.0 meters at 6.26 g/t Au (including 1.0 meters at 12.78 g/t Au).

Sena

A starter maiden resource was delineated at Sena, which is mainly an oxide target at shallow depth. Mineralisation was confirmed over 700 meters, striking 30-degrees with a higher-grade core. Further exploration was launched in Q1-2025 with the objective of improving the geological confidence of the deposit and subsequently converting Inferred to Indicated Resources with infill drilling. Estimates for the deposit is expected to increase, particularly given the high grade and consistent auger anomalies above 100ppb over 1,000 meters striking 30-degrees, as identified during the 2024 programme.

Best selected intercepts include 11.0 meters at 2.02 g/t Au and 6.0 meters at 1.44 g/t Au.

New discoveries on the Gbongogo-Korotou Trend

Successful reconnaissance drilling has identified three new targets (Soman 1, Soman 2, and Gbongogo West) which were promoted to pre-resource definition stage and will be followed up with drilling in 2025. Best selected intercepts from Soman 1 and 2 include 11.0 meters at 4.4 g/t Au (including 1.0 meters at 29.88 g/t Au) and 15.0 meters at 2.17 g/t Au (including 1.0m at 15.87 g/t).

Sissedougou Trend

ANV

As shown in Figure 8 below, the ANV target returned significant intercepts following the infill drilling conducted in 2024 which resulted in the delineation of an already attractive maiden Indicated and Inferred resource. Given that the target extends across a strike of over 1,300 meters, further drilling is currently underway to infill and step out on the ANV target with the goal of converting the Inferred Resources to Indicated Resources while further extending the deposit.

Prospect geology at ANV is a package of Boundiali basin metasediments, ranging from medium-grained sandstones to poorly sorted and matrix supported polymictic conglomerates. Foliations are steeply dipping (70-80 northwest) and northeast-striking. Gold is associated with silica-sericite-chlorite and calcite alteration and an array of quartz calcite +/- tourmaline veins controlled by a northeast shear. Visible gold at ANV is generally associated with quartz tourmaline +/- sulphides (pyrite pyrrhotite).

Best selected intercepts include 7.0 meters at 9.83 g/t Au (including 1.0 meter at 31.75 g/t Au and 1.0 meter at 24.52 g/t Au); meters at 3.12 g/t Au (including 1.0 meter at 14.09 g/t Au and 1.0 meter at 14.78 g/t Au); 25.0 meters at 3.02 g/t Au; and 43.0 meters at 1.76 g/t Au (including 1.0 meter at 13.94 g/t Au).

Figure 8: ANV long section, Facing North West

ANVIII

Successful reconnaissance drilling has identified the new ANIII target on the Sissedougou trend which is located 2km south of ANV where initial drilling returned encouraging results, confirming continuity over 350 meters which will inform a follow-up drilling campaign in 2025. Best selected intercepts include 12.0 meters at 1.55 g/t Au and 7.0 meters at 9.20 g/t Au.

Lokolo Trend

Lokolo Main

The Lokolo Trend is located adjacent to the main haul road and within the fully permitted Kone-Gbongogo mining area. While the starter maiden resource for the Lokolo Main target is relatively small, it only represents a small portion of the largely untested 9km continuous surface geochemical anomalies over the full Lokolo trend, as shown in Figure 9 below. Given the high grade Indicated Resource delineated, of above 1.6 g/t Au, further drilling is currently underway with preliminary results of stepping out drilling confirming potential to delineate other targets along the trend.

Best selected intercepts from Lokolo Main include 11.0 meters at 3.10 g/t Au (including 1.0 meters at 11.43 g/t Au); and 29.0 meters at 0.82 g/t Au.

Figure 9: Lokolo trend map

Lokolo North West

Successful reconnaissance drilling has identified the new Lokolo North West target which was upgraded to an advanced pre-resource definition stage target following encouraging drill results received, with best select intercepts including 12.0 meters at 15.36 g/t Au (including 1.0 meters at 113.30 g/t Au & including 1.0 meter at 43.66 g/t Au).

Yere Trend

A starter maiden resource was delineated at Yere North, which was initially considered as an oxide target but the 2024 drilling campaign also confirmed mineralisation in fresh rock. The deposit remains open at depth and along strike. A drilling campaign is currently underway to test the Northeast extension with the goal of expanding the resource base while converting Inferred Resources to the Indicated Resources.

Geology of the Yere North prospect consists of a northeast-striking sequence of andesite and feldspar porphyry lavas, intruded by a mineralized diorite plug. Regional northeast-striking structures have been identified by geophysics and are interpreted to be important controls on gold mineralization. Mineralization is associated to silica, K-feldspar, sulphides and veining system localized on the margins and within the diorite intrusive units.

Best selected intercepts include 17.0 meters at 8.39 g/t Au (including 1.0 meter at 101.5 g/t Au), as shown in Figure 10 below.

A total of 3,120 meters for 52 holes of RC scout drilling was conducted in 2024 on the higher soil geochem anomaly over the 10km NE striking regional anomaly, which allowed to improve the understanding of the structure. Additional field works coupled with geophysics reinterpretation will be done in 2025 to support upcoming drill programmes.

Figure 10: Yere North map

Kone deposit

A total of 2,921 meters of RC and DD was conducted in 2024 which resulted in adding near-surface mineralization and confirming mineralization at depth, as shown in Figures 11 and 12.

A total of 4 DD holes for 1,811 meters were drilled at vertical depth down to 400 meters, towards the southern extent of the pit. This successfully resulted in confirming continuity of the mineralization at depth towards the south, thereby increasing the overall resource base and enabling the conversion of Inferred Resources to the Indicated Resource category. Separately, a total of 11 RC holes for 1,110 meters were drilled at surface to the Southeast, consisting of 2 holes per section every 50 meters along 300 meters, which successfully proved the existence of a parallel mineralized envelope, further delineating resources. In addition, the optimal pit shell was optimized at a gold price US$2,000/oz, rather than US$1,800/oz previously used.

Figure 11: Kone deposit plan view

Figure 12: Kone pit shells cross section with extension drilling

NEXT STEPS

Initial results for the ongoing 90,000 meter drill programme expected to be published in late Q2-2025

An Environmental, Social Impact Assessment has been launched for the Sissedougou exploration permit (PR842)

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.

ABOUT MONTAGE GOLD CORP.

Montage Gold Corp. (TSXV: MAU) is a Canadian-listed company focused on becoming a premier multi-asset African gold producer, with its flagship Kone project, located in Cote dIvoire, at the forefront. Based on the Feasibility Study published in 2024, the Kone project ranks as one of the highest quality gold projects in Africa with a long 16-year mine life and sizeable annual production of +300koz of gold over the first 8 years. Over the course of 2024, the Montage management team will be leveraging their extensive track record in developing projects in Africa to progress the Kone project towards a construction launch.

TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE

Mineral Resource Estimates

The 2025 MRE were carried out by Mr. Jonathon Abbott of Matrix Resource Consultants of Perth, Western Australia, who is considered to be independent of Montage Gold. Mr. Abbott is a member in good standing of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the commodity, style of mineralisation under consideration and activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under NI 43101.

KONE DEPOSIT - 2025 MRE

The 2025 MRE for the Kone deposit has been classified and reported in accordance with NI 43-101 and classifications adopted by CIM Council in May 2014 and has an effective date of the February 20, 2025.

The 2025 MRE for the Kone deposit are based sampling information supplied by Montage in February 2025 and are reported within optimal pits generated at gold price of US$2,000/ oz constrained by topographic wire-frames derived from DGPS surveys. The combined drilling dataset comprises 321 RC holes and 149 diamond holes undertaken by Montage and previous corporate entities totalling 103,713 metres of drilling. Relative to the dataset available for the 2021 Kone modelling, the current dataset includes information for an additional 11 RC holes and 10 diamond holes totalling 4,950 metres of drilling. Resources were estimated for Kone by Multiple Indicator Kriging (MIK) of two metre down-hole composited gold assay grades of samples from RC and diamond drilling. Estimated resources include variance adjustments to give estimates of recoverable resources above gold cut-off grades for selective mining unit dimensions of 5 meters by 10 meters by 5 meters (cross strike, strike, vertical).

Estimates tested by drilling spaced at around 50 by 50 metres are classified as Indicated, with Inferred estimates based on generally 100-meter spaced drilling extrapolated to around 50 metres from drilling. More broadly sampled and peripheral mineralization is too poorly defined for estimation of Mineral Resources and is not included in estimated resources.

The resource modelling incorporated a mineralized envelope capturing continuous drill hole intervals with two metre composited gold assay grades of greater than 0.1 g/t, and a western and eastern background domains which contain only comparatively rare, mineralized drill intercepts. The mineralized envelope, which strikes north-northeast (350) and dips to the west at an average of around 50 is interpreted over 2.6 kilometres of strike with horizontal widths ranging from generally around 50 to 450 meters and averaging around 215 meters. True widths are up to 350 meters. The mineralized envelope is subdivided into three mineralized domains comprising lower grade southern and northern domains, and a main higher grade central zone. The modelling domains are consistent with geological understanding of the deposit.

Wire-framed surfaces representing the base of saprolite and top of fresh rock interpreted by Montage geologists from drill hole logging were used for density assignment and portioning the estimates by weathering zone. Within the general area of estimated resources, the interpreted base of saprolite averages around 26 meters below surface, and the underlying saprock averages around 11 meters thick with fresh rock occurring at an average depth of around 38 meters.

The MIK modelling utilized 14 indicator thresholds defined using consistent percentiles of composite gold grades with grade continuity characterized by indicator variograms modelled at each percentile. All bin grades were determined from the bin mean grade, with the exception of the upper bins, which were reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and an appropriate grade selected to reduce the impact of small numbers of outlier composites. For the south, central and northern mineralized domains, upper bin grades were derived from the bin means with small numbers of outlier composite gold grades cut to 2.9, 16 and 4.5 g/t respectively.

Bulk densities of 1.65, 2.55 and 2.80 t/bcm were assigned to saprolite, saprock and fresh material respectively on the basis of 4,656 immersion density measurements of wax coated, oven dried core samples undertaken by Company personnel.

Micromine software was used for data compilation, domain wire framing and coding of composite values and GS3M was used for resource estimation. The resulting estimates were imported into Micromine for pit optimization and resource reporting.

Model review included comparison of estimated grades with informing composites. These checks comprised inspection of sectional plots of the model and drill data and review of swath plots for some deposits and showed no significant issues.

Optimal pit constraints

To satisfy the definition of Mineral Resources having reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, the estimates are constrained within an optimal pit generated from the following key parameters:

Gold price of US$2,000/oz.

Processing recovery of 93%, 91% and 89% for saprolite, saprock and fresh material, respectively.

Overall slope angles of 39, 58 and 60 for saprolite, saprock and fresh material, respectively.

Average mining costs for saprolite, saprock and fresh material of $2.36/t, $2.33/t and $2.99/t, respectively.

Processing costs (including G&A) of $7.96/t, $8.20/t and $9.41/t for saprolite, saprock and fresh material, respectively.

The pit shell constraining the 2025 MRE extends over 2.6 kilometres of strike to a maximum depth of around 600 meters.

NEW SATELLITE DEPOSITS - 2025 MRE

The 2025 MRE for the satellite deposits has been classified and reported in accordance with NI 43-101 and classifications adopted by CIM Council in May 2014 and has an effective date of the 31 of December 2024.

The resource estimates are based sampling information supplied by Montage in December 2024 and are reported within optimal pits generated at gold price of US$2,000/oz constrained by topographic wire-frames derived from December 2024 LIDAR surveys.

The combined drilling datasets available for these deposits comprises 212 AC, 459 RC and 84 diamond holes totalling 69,945 meters of drilling and including holes by Barrick Gold Corporation (2 holes), Endeavour Mining Corporation (118 holes), Randgold Resource Limited (RRL)(21 holes) and Montage (614 holes).

Recoverable resources were estimated for the advanced KPG deposits by Multiple Indicator Kriging (MIK) of two meter down-hole composited gold assay grades of samples from RC, diamond and generally comparatively minor amounts of Aircore drilling. Estimated resources include variance adjustments to give estimates of recoverable resources above gold cut-off grades for selective mining unit dimensions of 4 meters by 8 meters by 2.5 meters (cross strike, strike, vertical).

Estimates for mineralization tested by drilling spaced at around 50 meters by 50 meters are classified as Indicated, with Inferred estimates generally based on drilling spaced at a maximum of around 100 by 100 meters.

Resource modelling of each deposit incorporates mineralized envelopes interpreted by Matrix capturing continuous intervals of drill hole composite gold grades of greater than 0.1 g/t Au. The domains are consistent with geological understanding of each deposit. Wire-framed surfaces representing the base of saprolite and top of fresh rock interpreted by Montage geologists from drill hole logging were used for density assignment and portioning the estimates by weathering zone. The MIK modelling of each mineralized domain utilized 14 indicator thresholds defined using consistent percentiles of composite gold grades with grade continuity characterized by indicator variograms modelled at each percentile. All bin grades were determined from the bin mean grade, with the exception of the upper bins which were selected on a case-by-case basis from generally either the bin median or mean excluding outliner grades.

Bulk densities were assigned to the estimates by weathering zone on the basis of immersion measurements of wax coated, oven dried core samples undertaken by Company personnel.

Micromine software was used for data compilation, domain wire framing and coding of composite values and GS3M was used for resource estimation. The resulting estimates were imported into Micromine for pit optimization and resource reporting.

Model reviews included comparison of estimated grades with informing composites. These checks comprised inspection of sectional plots of the model and drill data and review of swath plots for some deposits and showed no significant issues

Optimal pit constraints

To satisfy the definition of Mineral Resources having reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, the estimates are constrained within optimal pits generated from the following key parameters:

Gold price of US$2,000/oz.

Combined royalties of 5%.

Processing recovery of 90%.

Overall slope angles of 35, 40 and 45 for saprolite, saprock and fresh material, respectively.

Mining costs of US$3.42 per tonne.

Processing costs (including G&A) of US$9.92 per tonne.

Haulage costs per tonne of Yere North: $16.30, ANV: $13.20, Koban North: $9.20, Sena: $8.60, Gbongogo South: $7.90, Diouma North: $7.70 and Lokolo Main: $7.70.

Yere North Modelling

The Yere North estimation dataset includes information selected from 41 RC and diamond drill holes drilled by Barrick (2 holes) and Montage (39 holes) for 4,648 meters of drilling. This drilling tests the mineralization at spacings ranging from around 25 by 25 meters in central portions of the currently drilled deposit to notably broader in peripheral areas and at depth. The resource modelling included a mineralized envelope which strikes northeast and dips to the east at around 75 and is interpreted over around 310 meters, with horizontal widths averaging around 100 meters at surface, and generally reducing in width with depth. Within the general area of modelled mineralization, the interpreted base of saprolite averages around 39 meters below surface, and the underlying saprock averages around 7 meters thick with fresh rock occurring at an average depth of around 45 meters.

Bulk densities of 1.60, 2.25 and 2.75 t/bcm were assigned to saprolite, saprock and fresh material respectively on the basis of 110 immersion density measurements

The pit shell constraining the 2025 MRE extends over 370 meters of strike to a maximum depth of around 70 meters.

ANV Modelling

The ANV estimation dataset includes information selected from the combined drilling dataset for this deposit area comprising 185 RC and diamond holes drilled by Endeavor (115 holes) and Montage (70 holes) totalling 23,025 meters of drilling. This drilling tests central portions of currently interpreted mineralization with approximately 25 meters spaced traverses of generally northwesterly inclined holes, with hole spacing notably broader in peripheral areas and at depth. It includes several pairs of holes separated by around 6 meters, giving a locally clustered dataset. ANV Resource modelling included a north-east trending, sub vertical mineralized envelope, interpreted over around 1,400 meters of strike with horizontal widths ranging from around 20 to 330 meters and averaging around 175 meters. With the general area of modelled mineralization, the interpreted base of saprolite averages around 57 meters below surface, and saprock averages around 10 meters thick with fresh rock at an average depth of around 67 meters. Indicator thresholds and bin grades used for MIK modelling of the mineralized domain were derived from composite gold grades excluding selected clustered drill holes.

Bulk densities of 1.80, 2.20 and 2.75 t/bcm were assigned to saprolite, saprock and fresh material respectively on the basis of 206 immersion density measurements.

The resource pit shell extends over approximately 1,100 meters of strike to a maximum depth of around 120 meters.

Koban North

The Koban North estimation dataset includes information selected from the 55 RC and diamond holes drilled by Endeavor (3 holes) and Montage (52 holes) totalling 6,220 meters of drilling available for this deposit area. Central portions of the interpreted mineralization have been tested by generally approximately 50 meters spaced traverses of generally west-south westerly inclined drill holes, with locally closer spaced drilling and broader drill spacing in peripheral areas and at depth Resource modelling included a north-northeast striking, approximately 50 westerly dipping mineralized envelope interpreted over around 700 meters of strike with horizontal widths averaging around 175 meters. With the general area of modelled mineralization, the interpreted base of saprolite averages around 26 meters below surface, and saprock averages around 13 meters thick with fresh rock interpreted at an average depth of around 40 meters.

Bulk densities of 1.70, 2.30 and 2.75 t/bcm were assigned to saprolite, saprock and fresh material respectively on the basis 30 immersion density measurements of diamond core performed by company personnel.

The pit shell constraining the MRE extends over approximately 570 meters of strike and reaches around 140 meters depth.

Sena

The Sena estimates are based on information extracted from the drilling dataset available for this deposit which comprises 84 Aircore hole and 39 RC holes drilled by Montage for 6,465 meters of drilling. This drilling tests the currently interpreted mineralisation with traverses of generally east-southeast (azimuth 110) inclined holes, varying from approximately 100 meters spaced traverses of generally comparatively shallow Aircore holes in the south to 50 meters and locally 25 meters traverses of Aircore and RC holes in the north. Resource modelling utilised two north-northeast striking mineralized domains, which dip towards the west at around 50 with average horizontal widths of around average 50 meters. These domains comprise an eastern zone interpreted over approximately 770 meters of strike and a western domain interpreted over 480 meters of strike. With the general area of modelled mineralization, the interpreted base of saprolite averages around 19 meters depth with the underlying saprock averaging around 8 meters thick with fresh rock occurring at an average of around 27 meters depth.

No density measurements are available, for Sena. The estimates for this deposit, which are all classified as Inferred include bulk densities of 1.65, 2.55 and 2.70 t/bcm for saprolite, saprock and fresh material respectively on the basis of values assigned to the nearby Gbongogo deposit.

The pit shell constraining the MRE comprises several sub-pits over a combined strike of approximately 750 meters of strike which reach a maximum depth of around 55 meters.

Gbongogo South

The Gbongogo South estimates are based on information extracted from the drilling dataset available for this deposit which includes 168 AC, RC and diamond holes by RRL (11 holes) and Montage (157 holes) totalling 12,639 meters of drilling. The available drilling tests the eastern and northern portions of the interpreted mineralisation with generally easterly inclined holes spaced at around 25 meters. Western and southern portions of the deposit are generally more broadly drilled, with commonly 100 meters spaced holes, including comparatively shallow Aircore holes. Resource modelling utilised a moderately westerly dipping mineralized envelope interpreted over around 700 meters of strike subdivided into an eastern mineralized domain containing comparatively higher gold grade drill hole composites, and a western domain characterized by generally more sparse drilling and commonly lower composite grades. Horizontal widths of the eastern and western zones average around 70 and 200 meters respectively. With the general area of modelled mineralization, the interpreted base of saprolite averages around 25 meters below surface, and underling saprock averages around 7 meters thick with fresh rock occurring at an average depth of around 33 meters.

Bulk densities of 1.75, 2.45 and 2.75 t/bcm were assigned to saprolite, saprock and fresh material respectively on the basis 183 immersion density measurements of diamond core performed by company personnel for the combined Gbongogo South and Diouma North deposits, including 59 measurements from the Gbongogo South mineralized domains.

The optimal pit shell constraining the MRE extends over approximately 700 meters north-south to a maximum depth of around 180 meters.

Diouma North

The Diouma North estimates are based on information extracted from the drilling dataset available for this deposit which includes 113 AC, RC and diamond holes by RRL (1 hole) and Montage (112 holes) totalling 9,207 meters. Diouma North drilling includes holes of several orientations, with two dominant groups comprising a dominant set inclined towards the east-southeast (azimuth 100) and smaller set inclined towards the north-northeast (azimuth 020), sub-parallel to the interpreted strike of the mineralized domains. Each of these groups are spaced at around 25 by 25 meters. Mineralized domain composite gold grades from north-northeast inclined holes show notably different distribution and higher average grades than the east-southeast holes. To provide a representative dataset, for determination of indicator thresholds and bin grades the north-northeasterly inclined holes were excluded. However, all drill holes were included in the dataset used for estimation. Resource modelling included a north-northeast (010) striking, approximately 60 westerly dipping mineralized envelope interpreted over around 400 m of strike with horizontal widths averaging around 65 meters. With the general area of modelled mineralization, the interpreted base of saprolite averages around 6 meters below surface, and saprock averages around 12 m thick with fresh rock interpreted at an average depth of around 19 meters.

Bulk densities of 1.75, 2.45 and 2.75 t/bcm were assigned to saprolite, saprock and fresh material respectively on the basis 183 immersion density measurements of diamond core performed by company personnel for the combined Gbongogo South and Diouma North deposits, including 80 measurements from the Diouma North mineralized domain.

The optimal pit shell constraining the MRE extends over approximately 350 meters of strike to a maximum depth of around 80 meters.

Lokolo Main

The Lokolo Main estimates are based on information extracted from the drilling dataset available for this deposit of 55 RC holes and 15 diamond holes by RRL (9 holes) and Montage (61 holes) for 7,741 meters of drilling. This drilling tests central portions of currently interpreted mineralization with approximately 25 meters spaced traverses of generally north-westerly inclined holes, with notably broader hole spacing in peripheral areas and at depth. Resource modelling utilised two north-northeast striking mineralized domains, which dip towards the west at around 70. These domains comprise a western zone interpreted over approximately 630 meters of strike with an average horizontal width of around 20 meters and an eastern domain interpreted over around 220 meters of strike with an average horizontal width of around 30meters. With the general area of modelled mineralization, the interpreted base of saprolite averages around 35 meters depth, with underlying saprock averaging around 6 meters thick with fresh rock interpreted at an average depth of around 41 meters.

Bulk densities of 1.60, 1.85 and 2.85 t/bcm were assigned to saprolite, saprock and fresh material respectively on the basis 245 immersion density measurements of diamond core performed by company personnel.

The resource pit shell constraining the MRE extends over approximately 470 meters of strike to a maximum depth of around 90 meters.

Sampling & Assaying - QA/QC

All exploration work on Kone project is designed and carried out under the supervision of Executive Vice President, Exploration, Silvia Bottero, a registered Professional Natural Scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) and Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.

Samples used for the results described above that come from DD holes and are based on 1 meter composite sample. Core samples were cut in two by core blade at the camp facilities then shipped by road to Bureau Veritas facility in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire.

For RC and Aircore drilling, samples were collected over 1 meter downhole intervals from the base of the cyclone and split with a three-tier riffle split. Three kilograms samples were collected then shipped by road to Bureau Veritas facility in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire. All samples were crushed to 2mm (80% passing) with 1 kilogram split out for pulverization to 75m (85% passing) then analysed by fire assay using a 50-gram charge.

Field duplicate samples are taken, and blanks and standards are inserted by Montage geologists into the sample sequence at a rate of one of each sample type per 25 samples. This ensures that there is a minimum 4% QA/QC sample insertion rate applied to each fire assay batch. The sampling and assaying are monitored and audited through analysis of these QA/QC samples by a consultant independent of Montage. QA/QC has been designed to be in line with industry best standards and to follow NI 43-101 standards and the interpretation reviewed by the Qualified Person. Individual batches are monitored for standard and blank failure during import to the database, whilst longer term QA/QC trends are monitored on a periodic basis by Jonathan Hunt, consultant independent of Montage and Chartered Geologist of the Geological Society of London.

Results for exploration drillholes (all satellite deposits) used the following parameters: 0.3 g/t Au cut off for samples, 0.5 g/t Au minimum value composite and 2.0 meter maximum interval dilution length. Composite intervals represent (apparent) downhole thickness. Including represents >10 g/t Au

Results for exploration drillholes (Kone deposit) used the following parameters: 0.2 g/t Au cut off for samples, 0.3 g/t Au minimum value composite and 10.0 meter maximum interval dilution length. Composite intervals represent (apparent) downhole thickness. Including represents >10 g/t Au.

Data Verification

Procedures utilized for monitoring representativity of field sampling and reproducibility and accuracy of sample preparation and assaying for the Kone project AC, RC and DD drilling are consistent with the QP experience of good industry standard practices. Information available to demonstrate the sample representivity for the Kone Project drilling includes RC, Aircore and DD sample condition logs, recovered sample weights, core recovery measurements and assay results for field duplicates. Information available to demonstrate the reliability of sample preparation and analysis includes assay results for coarse blanks and certified reference standards. The QP frequently visited site in 2024 to check sampling and assays protocols, to check for internal consistency between and within database tables and to random check comparisons between database entries and original field records.

Additionally, Mr Abbott, who is considered to be independent of Montage Gold, most recently visited the Kone and Gbongogo deposits in September 2023, and visited the Koban North, Sena, Gbongogo South, Diouma North Lokolo Main, Yere North and ANV deposits in October 2024. Mr Abbott considers that the sample preparation, security, and analytical procedures adopted for drilling informing Mineral Resources provide an adequate basis for the 2025 MRE.

QUALIFIED PERSONS STATEMENT

The scientific and technical contents of this press release have been verified and approved by Silvia Bottero, BSc, MSc, a Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101. Mrs. Bottero, EVP Exploration of Montage, is a registered Professional Natural Scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP), a member of the Geological Society of South Africa and a Member of AusIMM.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For Investor Relations Inquiries:

Jake Cain

Strategy & Investor Relations Manager

jcain@montagegold.com

+44-7788-687-567 For Media Inquiries:

John Vincic

Oakstrom Advisors

john@oakstrom.com

+1-647-402-6375 For Regulatory Inquiries:

Kathy Love

Corporate Secretary

klove@montagegold.com

+1-604-512-2959

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (collectively, Forward-looking Statements). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, constitute Forward-looking Statements. Words such as will, intends, proposed and expects or similar expressions are intended to identify Forward-looking Statements. Forward-looking Statements in this press release include statements related to the Companys mineral reserve and resource estimates; the timing and amount of future production from the Kone Project; anticipated mining and processing methods of the Kone Project; anticipated mine life of the Kone Project; targeted improvements in the production profile; expected timing of commencement and completion of our stated drill programs in 2025; results of the drill programs including targeted additions to the estimated mineral resources at the Kone Project, and the timing thereof; the establishment of satellite deposits and the development of these deposits; expected recoveries and grades of the Kone Gold Project; timing in respect of the commencement of construction, and the length of construction, of the mining operations at the Kone Gold Project; timing and amount of necessary financing related to the mining operations at the Kone Gold Project; and timing for permits and concessions, including that the Company will receive all approvals necessary to build the project and conduct exploration.

Forward-looking Statements involve various risks and uncertainties and are based on certain factors and assumptions. There is no assurance that any economic satellite deposits will be discovered, and if discovered ever developed or mined. There can be no assurance that any Forward-looking Statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include uncertainties inherent in the preparation of mineral reserve and resource estimates and definitive feasibility studies such as the UFS and the 2025 MRE, and in delineating new mineral reserve and resource estimates, including but not limited to, assumptions underlying the production estimates not being realized, incorrect cost assumptions, unexpected variations in quantity of mineralized material, grade or recovery rates being lower than expected, unexpected adverse changes to geotechnical or hydrogeological considerations, or expectations in that regard not being met, unexpected failures of plant, equipment or processes, unexpected changes to availability of power or the power rates, failure to maintain permits and licenses, higher than expected interest or tax rates, adverse changes in project parameters, unanticipated delays and costs of consulting and accommodating rights of local communities, environmental risks inherent in the Cote dIvoire, title risks, including failure to renew concessions, unanticipated commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, delays in or failure to receive access agreements or amended permits, and other risk factors set forth in the Companys 2023 Annual Information form available at www.sedarplus.ca, under the heading Risks and Uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any Forward-looking Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Montage to predict all of them, or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any Forward-looking Statement. Any Forward-looking Statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

APPENDIX 1: KONE MINERALIZED TRENDS AND TARGETS

Source for Indicated Resources stated in map above: Updated Feasibility Study press release dated January 16, 2024 available on Montages website and on SEDAR+. See Technical Disclosure.

APPENDIX 2: BEST SELECTED INTERCEPTS

Prospect Hole ID Drill Type Collar Location Orientation Depth

(m) From (m) To

(m) Apparent Width1

(m) Au Grade (g/t) Comments (UTM Zone 29N) m E m N mRL Dip Azim ANIII SDDDH028 DD 783,616 1,012,860 409 -55 305 182.8 73.2 75.9 2.7 4.94 SDRC099 RC 783,554 1,012,750 404 -55 305 100.0 63.0 75.0 12.0 1.55 ANV SDDDH013A DD 782,457 1,014,347 424 -55 125 164.8 86.0 104.8 18.8 1.53 SDDDH025 DD 782,459 1,014,411 426 -55 126 200.6 122.0 137.4 15.4 3.12 Incl. 1m @ 14.09 g/t; 1m @ 14.78 g/t SDRC034 RC 782,489 1,014,325 424 -55 125 100.0 46.0 71.0 25.0 3.02 SDRC041 RD 782,527 1,014,446 427 -50 125 144.5 73.0 98.0 25.0 1.62 SDRC045 RC 782,630 1,014,594 428 -55 125 90.0 31.0 74.0 43.0 1.76 Incl. 1m @ 13.94g/t Diouma North GBRC277 RC 769,612 991,482 343 -55 100 130.0 111.0 118.0 7.0 1.74 GBRC280 RC 769,633 991,626 340 -55 100 90.0 49.0 57.0 8.0 1.77 Gbongogo South GBRC264 RC 769,262 992,708 337 -55 90 100.0 65.0 73.0 8.0 3.98 GBRC267A RC 769,264 992,650 337 -55 90 90.0 8.0 22.0 14.0 2.37 GBRC268 RC 769,245 992,601 335 -55 90 100.0 60.0 76.0 16.0 1.89 GBRC321 RC 769,248 992,672 339 -55 90 90.0 43.0 57.0 14.0 1.70 GBRC323 RC 769,235 992,795 343 -55 90 120.0 0.0 13.0 13.0 1.88 GBRC381 RC 769,182 992,622 336 -55 90 140.0 76.0 106.0 30.0 1.54 Koban North KBNDD003 DD 769,974 1,000,454 393 -55 105 120.5 106.7 120.5 13.8 2.92 KBNRC034 RC 770,122 1,000,754 400 -55 105 126.0 25.0 32.0 7.0 2.13 KBNRC037 RC 770,020 1,000,677 397 -55 105 150.0 34.0 58.0 24.0 1.81 KBNRC040 RC 770,040 1,000,596 396 -55 105 120.0 26.0 33.0 7.0 5.82 Incl. 1m @ 34.78g/t KBNRC045 RC 770,057 1,000,485 396 -55 105 75.0 45.0 73.0 28.0 1.20 Lokolo Main GBDDH071 DD 778,557 989,667 365 -55 315 149.7 131.7 136.0 4.4 3.24 Incl. 0.5m @ 25.10 g/t GBRC212 RC 778,658 989,767 361 -55 315 144.0 99.0 110.0 11.0 3.10 Incl. 1m @ 11.43 g/t Lokolo NW LKNWRC009 RC 776,953 990,723 379 -55 315 60.0 44.0 56.0 12.0 1.70 LKNWRC011 RC 776,875 990,647 381 -55 315 70.0 54.0 67.0 13.0 2.92 Incl. 1m @ 12.53g/t; 1m @ 11.54g/t LKNWRC013 RC 776,873 990,588 383 -55 315 120.0 88.0 99.0 11.0 1.86 Sena SENRC015 RC 769,777 997,724 367 -55 110 82.0 20.0 31.0 11.0 2.02 Soman 1 GBRC330 RC 770,238 994,032 341 -55 140 100.0 76.0 87.0 11.0 4.40 Incl. 1m @ 29.88g/t GBRC333 RC 770,208 993,985 341 -55 140 100.0 83.0 96.0 13.0 1.60 Soman 2 GNNRC001 RC 770,156 994,521 350 -55 140 150.0 25.0 28.0 3.0 2.84 GNNRC003 RC 770,177 994,571 352 -55 140 100.0 60.0 64.0 4.0 6.16 Incl. 1m @ 18.03g/t GNNRC006 RC 770,159 994,442 350 -57 140 100.0 0.0 15.0 15.0 2.17 Incl.1m @ 15.87g/t Yere North SDRC053 RC 794,759 1,017,216 397 -50 305 72.0 2.0 14.0 12.0 2.62 SDRC061 RC 794,773 1,017,053 399 -50 305 90.0 54.0 64.0 10.0 2.24 SDRC064



RC 794,709 1,017,097 399 -50 305 120.0 41.0 58.0 17.0 2.55 Incl. 1m @ 17.82 g/t RC 794,709 1,017,097 399 -50 305 120.0 10.0 27.0 17.0 8.39 Incl. 1m @ 101.5 g/t SDRC066 RC 794,766 1,017,027 399 -50 305 96.0 49.0 62.0 13.0 7.18 Incl. 1m @ 71.17g/t

1 True thickness not available.

Figures and tables accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/115d49a8-ee31-4475-ad67-1b5f8cd8dfb1

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/82fd7f36-a90d-435d-a1d2-9e1c0a00243e

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/63fdf213-89b0-4244-9cca-9ff9b02528bf

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c1640028-2d48-4703-a9f0-777d879f964d

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a6e393d7-37f7-44fc-80bb-da26c494d7e0

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/42a4554a-1521-473c-b7f9-e815f70d6cf3

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b1bfb50a-792e-47ec-b5a1-7add32bf6c55

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ddc87e34-57e5-443f-b3d3-271a192070ac

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/521e1b77-56e5-4b3a-b4ba-e67ab9ba46e1

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f818e720-b06e-4fea-9514-ea699ca0264d

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bca215d2-7a18-4166-92fb-f942f35dd30d

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b958d3f0-0e0c-4308-84d6-303272f11b59

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c63084a5-42f2-4b79-a5bd-7e7b9fde64b4

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7b4dcc3a-6cd4-4556-b564-1f66a9bc2d8d

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fd5e5e52-e9e2-4532-a4b1-25eab4069ceb

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae28b2e0-e888-4f95-a255-82b422e9feff

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/00e4a1d3-cb4f-46c2-8f7d-f791545f2b16

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a6113210-0a97-4bd3-ba0e-d2eaf3ed5337
Dublin, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "In-Orbit Data Centers Market - Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Future Deployment, Ecosystem, and Challenges" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The in-orbit data centers market is projected to be $1.77 billion in 2029, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 67.4% and reach $39.09 billion by 2035.

The in-orbit data centers market experiences rapid advancements, driven by breakthroughs in AI automation, quantum storage, and high-efficiency solar power. Companies like NVIDIA Corporation, IBM, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, in collaboration with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA), for the exploration to deploy scalable, radiation-hardened data centers in space, capable of handling AI model training, real-time analytics, and cloud computing at unprecedented speeds.



As autonomous maintenance systems improve, these orbital data hubs have potential to become a cost-effective, carbon-neutral alternative to terrestrial data centers. By 2035, gigawatt-scale computing clusters in low Earth orbit (LEO) and cislunar space are expected to enable seamless, ultra-secure data processing, revolutionizing industries from telecommunications to deep-space exploration.





Market Segmentation:

Payload to Lead the Market (by Component)



Payload is expected to lead the in-orbit data centers market by component, driven by its critical role in housing and operating advanced computing, storage, and networking systems in space. With payloads encompassing radiation-hardened servers, high-capacity storage systems, and optical networking devices, companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) are innovating to ensure robust performance in harsh space environments. The payload segment is further boosted by advancements in modular, lightweight, and energy-efficient technologies designed for seamless integration into satellite systems. As payloads form the operational backbone of in-orbit data centers, their significance is amplified by the growing demand for high-performance data processing, AI-driven analytics, and secure communications for industries like defense, telecommunications, and earth observation.



Segmentation by Region

The U.S. is expected to dominate the in-orbit data centers market, driven by technological superiority, robust space infrastructure, and strategic investments from private and government entities. Companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), NVIDIA Corporation, IBM, and SpaceX, in collaboration with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Defense, are pioneering radiation-hardened servers, AI-driven automation, and high-performance computing (HPC) solutions for space-based operations.

The country's dominance is further reinforced by its extensive satellite networks, deep expertise in AI and cloud computing, and strong public-private partnerships. With the growing demand for ultra-secure, low-latency computing, the U.S. is well-positioned to deploy in-orbit data centers in the coming years, setting the foundation for next-generation digital infrastructure and interplanetary computing networks.



Recent Developments in the In-Orbit Data Centers Market

Star Cloud, Inc. has raised over $10 million in October 2024 to develop space-based data centers for AI training, aiming to achieve gigawatt-scale capacity. The company plans to launch a demonstration satellite in 2025 as part of Nvidia's Inception program, utilizing 24/7 solar power to reduce energy costs. The company has claimed its space-based data centers will be significantly more cost-effective than terrestrial alternatives, though challenges remain about launch costs, system durability, and infrastructure maintenance.

NTT Corporation and Sky Perfect JSAT, through their joint venture Space Compass in April 2022, are pioneering space-integrated computing networks to enhance global connectivity by linking terrestrial, aerial, and space-based communication via high-speed optical transmission. This initiative supports Beyond 5G and 6G networks, utilizing High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) and low Earth orbit satellites for seamless data exchange and real-time Earth observation.

Axiom Space, Inc. is advancing commercial space infrastructure by developing the world's first orbital data center as part of Axiom Station, set to launch its first module in 2026. Initially integrated with the ISS before becoming an independent platform, this data center will utilize optical inter-satellite links (OISLs) in collaboration with Kepler Communications and Skyloom Global, enabling high-speed data transmission of up to 10 Gbps.

OrbitsEdge is revolutionizing space-based edge computing by planning to deploy high-performance micro data centers in low Earth orbit (LEO) to process vast amounts of satellite-generated data directly in space. Partnering with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Vaya Space in August 2022, the company is integrating compact, high-performance computing (HPC) systems into satellites to reduce transmission latency and bandwidth constraints, making space-based analytics more efficient.

Market Demand Drivers, Limitations, and Opportunities

Market Drivers: Increasing Data Center Spending



The growing demand for data centers has drawn interest from a wide range of investors, including growth capital, buyout firms, real estate, and infrastructure investors. In the U.S. market, data center demand measured by power consumption as an indicator of server capacity is expected to grow from 17 gigawatts (GW) in 2022 to 35 GW by 2030 approximately. U.S. represents approximately 40% of the global data centers.



In July 2024 Blackstone, a major investment firm expanded its data center portfolio with $70.0 billion allocated for future developments, in addition to its existing $55.0 billion in assets, including ongoing construction projects. AI's transformative impact, predicting $2.0 trillion in global data center capital expenditures over the next five years, with $1.0 trillion in the U.S. alone.



Due to the growing demand for data centers, the industry faces significant challenges, particularly in managing the vast amounts of data generated by modern applications. This has led to the exploration of innovative solutions, such as in-orbit data centers, to address these challenges. For instance, in August 2022 OrbitsEdge partnered with HPE to develop compact data centers housed within satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). These space-based data centers aim to process and analyze data directly in orbit, reducing the need to transmit large volumes of information back to Earth. This approach not only alleviates bandwidth constraints but also enhances the efficiency of data processing for applications such as Earth observation and satellite communications.



Market Challenges: High Initial Development and Deployment Costs



The development and deployment of in-orbit data centers come with substantial upfront costs, primarily driven by the complexities of space technology, infrastructure, and launch expenses. Establishing a data center in space requires advanced materials, specialized engineering, and high-cost satellite launches, making the initial investment significantly higher. Deploying space-based data centers is still in its early stages, with challenges such as logistical feasibility, regulatory approvals, and the integration of space-to-Earth connectivity adding to the financial burden. Given these constraints, the economic viability of these data centers is often questioned, making investment in this emerging technology a calculated risk.



Despite the high initial costs, in-orbit data centers present a transformative opportunity for the future of computing. The long-term benefits, such as unlimited access to solar energy and reduced dependence on terrestrial infrastructure, can offset operational costs over time. Moreover, the elimination of land and power constraints ensures scalability beyond Earth's physical limitations.



Market Opportunities: Advancements in Space Logistics and Infrastructure



The evolution of space logistics and infrastructure is paving the way for groundbreaking innovations in data storage and processing, with in-orbit data centers emerging as a transformative opportunity. As space transportation systems become more cost-effective and reliable, the feasibility of deploying high-performance computing facilities beyond Earth atmosphere is becoming increasingly tangible. The development of automated in-space assembly, refueling stations, and advanced docking mechanisms is reducing operational barriers, making space-based data centers a viable extension of Earth digital ecosystem.



In February 2024, Star Cloud, Inc. secured over $10 million in funding to develop AI training data centers in space, highlighting growing investor confidence in the commercial potential of in-orbit computing. This initiative highlights how advancements in space transportation and orbital station infrastructure are catalyzing a new era of data processing at the edge of space. With companies now using satellite-to-cloud connectivity and AI-optimized workloads, in-orbit data centers stand to revolutionize high-performance computing, cybersecurity, and interplanetary data transmission.

Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis



Some of the prominent names in the In-Orbit Data Center market include:

Infrastructure developers: Star Cloud, Inc. NTT Corporation, Axiom Space, Inc., Orbits Edge

Comunication Companies Skyloom: SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings Inc., Kepler Communications Inc.

Data Processing Companies: KP Labs.

Data Center Hardware Companies: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., NVIDIA Corporation, IBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP

Space Agencies: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency (ESA)

Key Attributes:





Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 94 Forecast Period 2029 - 2035 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2029 $1.77 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2035 $39.09 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 67.4% Regions Covered Global





Key Topics Covered:



1 Markets

1.1 Data Center Trends: Current and Future Impact Assessment

1.1.1 Data Center Capacities: Current and Future

1.1.2 Data Center Power Consumption Scenario

1.1.3 Impact of United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Data Center Market

1.1.4 Other Industrial Trends

1.1.4.1 HPC Cluster Developments

1.1.4.2 Blockchain Initiatives

1.1.4.3 Supercomputing

1.1.4.4 5G and 6G Developments

1.1.4.5 Impact of Server/Rack Density

1.1.5 Impact of Data Center Trends on the Demand for In-Orbit Data Centers Market

1.2 Research and Development Review

1.3 Stakeholder Analysis

1.4 Market Dynamics Overview

1.4.1 Market Drivers

1.4.1.1 Increasing Data Center Spending

1.4.1.2 Growing Integration of AI and Cloud Computing

1.4.1.3 Sustainability and Environmental Pressures

1.4.2 Market Restraints

1.4.2.1 High Initial Development and Deployment Costs

1.4.2.2 Complexity of Space Operations and Maintenance

1.4.3 Market Opportunities

1.4.3.1 Advancements in Space Logistics and Infrastructure

1.4.3.2 Strategic Collaborations Between Space and Tech Giants

1.5 Technology Requirements for In-Orbit Data Centers

1.5.1 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite

1.5.2 High-altitude Platform Stations

1.5.3 Optical Inter-Satellite Communication

1.5.4 Space-Grade Solar Panels

1.5.5 Space Grade Radiation Hardened Electronics

1.6 Cost Comparison in Deploying Terrestrial Data Centers vs Space-based Data Centers

1.6.1 Terrestrial Data Centers CAPEX and OPEX

1.6.2 Satellite and Space Station CAPEX and OPEX

1.6.3 Potential Cost Analysis of Data Center Deployment in Space



2 Application

2.1 Application Segmentation

2.2 In-Orbit Data Centers Market (by Application)

2.2.1 Satellite Imagery Analysis

2.2.2 Spacecraft Telemetry Monitoring And Satellite Navigation Systems

2.2.3 Planetary Exploration Data Analysis

2.2.4 Space Weather Forecasting



3 Products

3.1 Product Segmentation

3.2 Product Summary

3.3 In-Orbit Data Centers Market (by Component)

3.3.1 Antenna

3.3.2 Power Source

3.3.3 Payload

3.3.3.1 Servers

3.3.3.2 Storage Systems

3.3.3.3 Networking Devices

3.3.3.4 Others



4 Regions

4.1 Regional Summary

4.2 U.S.

4.3 Europe

4.4 Asia-Pacific



5 Markets - Competitive Benchmarking and Company Profiles

5.1 Next Frontiers

5.2 Geographic Assessment

5.3 Infrastructure Developers

Star Cloud, Inc.

NTT Corporation

Axiom Space, Inc.

OrbitsEdge

Skyloom

SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings Inc.

Kepler Communications Inc.

KP Labs.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

NVIDIA Corporation

IBM

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

European Space Agency (ESA)

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3u77f1

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
Dublin, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Narrow Aisle Forklift Market by Load Capacity (1 To 3 Tons, Above 3 Tons, Up To 1 Ton), Type (Order Pickers, Reach Trucks, Turret Trucks), Application - Global Forecast 2025-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Narrow Aisle Forklift Market grew from USD 5.23 billion in 2024 to USD 5.56 billion in 2025. It is expected to continue growing at a CAGR of 6.41%, reaching USD 7.60 billion by 2030.



Over recent years, the narrow aisle forklift landscape has undergone transformative shifts that have redefined operational strategies and technology adoption. Key technological breakthroughs have paved the way for advanced automation, enhanced safety integrations, and energy-efficient solutions that are revolutionizing traditional warehousing. The integration of real-time data analytics, predictive maintenance systems, and smart sensor technologies has elevated performance standards while simultaneously curbing operational downtime.



The market is also witnessing a paradigm shift through the adoption of electrification and hybrid power systems, which contribute to reduced emissions and improved load handling. This evolution is further amplified by end-user demands for greater precision in order management and inventory control. Strategic decision-makers are now leaning towards sustained investments in technology that ensure compatibility with existing warehouse management systems. Overall, these shifts underscore a deep commitment to innovation, efficiency, and sustainable practice, ultimately driving a new era of competitive advantage in material handling.



Regional Trends and Insights Influencing Market Dynamics



Regional dynamics play a pivotal role in shaping the narrow aisle forklift market, with varied trends emerging across different geographies. In the Americas, the emphasis on automation and digitization within warehousing operations propels market growth, as companies strive to enhance supply chain efficiencies. Meanwhile, collaborative initiatives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa foster a climate of innovation and compliance with stringent safety regulations which, in turn, encourage modernization efforts across logistics operations. In the Asia-Pacific region, rapid industrialization combined with a surge in e-commerce investments has spurred the demand for flexible and innovative material handling solutions.



These regional insights reflect distinct challenges and opportunities. Diverse economic drivers, regulatory frameworks, and infrastructure investments result in tailored strategies that influence local market conditions. The narrative highlights a robust interplay between regional market policies and technological adoptions, offering a granular understanding of how narrow aisle forklift deployments are aligned with localized industry trends.



Key Company Insights and Competitive Market Landscape



The competitive dynamics within the narrow aisle forklift sector are predominantly influenced by the strategic positions and technological advancements of key industry players. Companies such as Anhui Heli Co., Ltd. and Bobcat Company by Doosan Corporation lead through innovation in design and performance optimization. Similarly, BYD Motors Inc. and Clark Material Handling Company have set benchmarks in balancing operational efficiency with environmental sustainability.



Additional industry leaders including Combilift and Crown Equipment Corporation have consistently invested in next-generation material handling technologies that foster improved ergonomics and digital integration. Esteemed firms like EP Equipment and Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd. deliver robust, scalable solutions tailored to evolving market demands, while Hangcha Forklift and HD Hyundai Construction Equipment Co. Ltd. have developed systems characterized by reliability and precision. The narrative further extends to insights on major players such as HUBTEX Maschinenbau & Co. KG, Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc., Jungheinrich AG, and KION Group AG, whose strategic initiatives encapsulate market transformation and customer-centric service models.

Companies like Komatsu America Corp., Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd., Lonking (Fujian) International Trade Co., Ltd., Manitou BF, SA, Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe B.V., and Noblelift Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. continue to drive competitive innovation. Moreover, influential players such as SANY Group, STILL GmbH, SUMITOMO Heavy Industries, Ltd., Tailift Material Handling Taiwan Co., Ltd., and Toyota Industries Corporation sustain market momentum with robust product portfolios and adaptive strategic planning.



These competitive insights offer a panoramic view of the market, detailing how product diversification, technological integrations, and strategic collaborations are elevating operational standards across the industry.



The report delves into recent significant developments in the Narrow Aisle Forklift Market, highlighting leading vendors and their innovative profiles. These include:

Anhui Heli Co., Ltd.

Bobcat Company by Doosan Corporation

BYD Motors Inc.

Clark Material Handling Company

Combilift

Crown Equipment Corporation

EP Equipment

Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

Hangcha Forklift

HD Hyundai Construction Equipment Co. Ltd.

HUBTEX Maschinenbau & Co. KG

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.

Jungheinrich AG

KION Group AG

Komatsu America Corp.

Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd.

Lonking (Fujian) International Trade Co., Ltd.

Manitou BF, SA

Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe B.V.

Noblelift Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.

SANY Group

STILL GmbH

SUMITOMO Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Tailift Material Handling Taiwan Co., Ltd.

Toyota Industries Corporation

Actionable Recommendations for Forward-Thinking Industry Leaders



Industry leaders seeking to excel in this competitive landscape must remain agile and proactive. It is essential to focus on continuously upgrading technology infrastructure while integrating advanced automation systems that align with operational needs. Leaders should emphasize strategic partnerships with technology innovators to facilitate seamless integration of digital tools and data-driven decision-making. Moreover, prioritizing sustainability through the adoption of energy-efficient power systems will not only modernize operations but also ensure compliance with emerging regulatory frameworks.



Investments in research and development are imperative for companies aspiring to stay ahead of market trends. Embracing a holistic approach that balances innovation with operational efficiency can enable better inventory management, streamlined distribution logistics, and heightened safety measures. Decision-makers should also consider diversifying service offerings to capture untapped segments in various applications such as automotive, food and beverage, and retail industries. By instituting practices that foster operational excellence and customer-centric innovation, organizations can secure a competitive edge and drive robust market growth.



Key Attributes

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 190 Forecast Period 2025-2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2025 $5.56 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $7.6 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 6.4% 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. Increasing demand for high-density storage solutions in warehouses and distribution centers

5.1.1.2. Technological advancements in automation and IoT integration for enhanced operational efficiency

5.1.1.3. Growing focus on eco-friendly and energy-efficient material handling equipment

5.1.2. Restraints

5.1.2.1. High initial investment and maintenance costs of narrow aisle forklifts

5.1.3. Opportunities

5.1.3.1. Expanding e-commerce sector driving demand for advanced warehousing and logistics solutions

5.1.3.2. Rising urbanization and infrastructure development leading to more opportunities in emerging markets

5.1.4. Challenges

5.1.4.1. Difficulty in adapting to rapid technological changes and the evolving regulatory landscape

5.2. Market Segmentation Analysis

5.2.1. Type: Role of order pickers in optimizing warehouse efficiency

5.2.2. Application: Optimizing storage and handling in the pharmaceutical industry with narrow aisle forklifts

5.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3.1. Threat of New Entrants

5.3.2. Threat of Substitutes

5.3.3. Bargaining Power of Customers

5.3.4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers

5.3.5. Industry Rivalry

5.4. PESTLE Analysis

5.4.1. Political

5.4.2. Economic

5.4.3. Social

5.4.4. Technological

5.4.5. Legal

5.4.6. Environmental



6. Narrow Aisle Forklift Market, by Load Capacity

6.1. Introduction

6.2. 1 To 3 Tons

6.3. Above 3 Tons

6.4. Up To 1 Ton



7. Narrow Aisle Forklift Market, by Type

7.1. Introduction

7.2. Order Pickers

7.3. Reach Trucks

7.4. Turret Trucks



8. Narrow Aisle Forklift Market, by Application

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Automotive

8.3. Construction

8.4. Food & Beverage

8.5. Manufacturing

8.6. Pharmaceuticals

8.7. Retail

8.8. Warehousing & Logistics



9. Americas Narrow Aisle Forklift Market

9.1. Introduction

9.2. Argentina

9.3. Brazil

9.4. Canada

9.5. Mexico

9.6. United States



10. Asia-Pacific Narrow Aisle Forklift Market

10.1. Introduction

10.2. Australia

10.3. China

10.4. India

10.5. Indonesia

10.6. Japan

10.7. Malaysia

10.8. Philippines

10.9. Singapore

10.10. South Korea

10.11. Taiwan

10.12. Thailand

10.13. Vietnam



11. Europe, Middle East & Africa Narrow Aisle Forklift Market

11.1. Introduction

11.2. Denmark

11.3. Egypt

11.4. Finland

11.5. France

11.6. Germany

11.7. Israel

11.8. Italy

11.9. Netherlands

11.10. Nigeria

11.11. Norway

11.12. Poland

11.13. Qatar

11.14. Russia

11.15. Saudi Arabia

11.16. South Africa

11.17. Spain

11.18. Sweden

11.19. Switzerland

11.20. Turkey

11.21. United Arab Emirates

11.22. United Kingdom



12. Competitive Landscape

12.1. Market Share Analysis, 2024

12.2. FPNV Positioning Matrix, 2024

12.3. Competitive Scenario Analysis

12.3.1. Pape Material Handling expands reach with strategic acquisition of FSI Equipment to offer extensive range of narrow aisle forklifts

12.3.2. Crown's new TSP Series turret trucks revolutionize narrow-aisle operations with advanced technology

12.3.3. NOBLELIFT's launched innovative lithium-powered narrow aisle forklifts

12.4. Strategy Analysis & Recommendations



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ucvcbv

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.
Assembly running smoothly at Bombardiers final Aircraft Assembly Centre in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada, the newest and most advanced production facility for business aircraft in the world*

Bombardiers Global 8000 Flight Test Vehicle (FTV) has recently flown missions to Europe, showcasing its outstanding performance attributes in real-world functional operating conditions

The Global 8000 will be the fastest civil aircraft since the Concorde, with an industry-leading top speed of Mach 0.94 and range of 8,000 nautical miles, making it the ultimate business aircraft





MONTREAL, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier today announced that its Global 8000 business jet program is progressing to plan, with its first Global 8000 production aircraft continuing in the assembly phase in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada. Major components from Bombardier facilities were delivered per plan and the aircraft is progressing through the high-tech manufacturing process toward planned entry-into-service (EIS) in 2025.

Bombardiers Global 8000 possesses outstanding short-field capabilities, with the ability to access smaller airports other aircraft in its category cant access. This helps make it the clear choice for discerning owners and operators who prioritize convenience and flexibility, said Stephen McCullough, Senior Vice President, Engineering and Product Development, Bombardier. This impressive aircraft will be the fastest and longest-range purpose-built business aircraft ever built and its rare combination of innovation, performance, and comfort will allow our customers to reach new heights in their business aviation experience.

As the manufacturing process ramps up, Bombardiers Flight Test Centre in Wichita recently put the Global 8000 flight test aircraft through its paces, flying testing missions to Europe, showcasing its outstanding performance attributes in real-world functional operating conditions and drawing rave reviews from test pilots.

The first Global 8000 production aircraft is steadily progressing through final assembly, and we are on track to meet our targets for this incredible aircraftthe industrys fastest and most impressive ultra-long-range business jet, said David Murray, Executive Vice President, Manufacturing, IT and Bombardier Operational Excellence System. Our engineering and production teams continue to display unmatched levels of commitment, innovation and expertise at all stages of the manufacturing process.

The new Global 8000 business jet will also set new standards for performance and ride quality, with the fastest speed, longest range and the smoothest ride. With an industry-leading range of 8,000 nautical miles and an unequaled top speed of Mach 0.94, the Global 8000 is the ultimate time machine, unlocking more city pairs than ever before including Dubai-Houston, Singapore-Los Angeles, London-Perth and many others.

Performance isnt the only area where the Global 8000 shines. This unmatched business jet will offer unsurpassed comfort, featuring four true living spaces and a separate crew rest area. The discerning business jet will also feature the longest seated length size in its class along with the industrys healthiest cabin, designed to maximize passenger comfort and productivity throughout their travels.

About Bombardier

At Bombardier (BBD-B.TO), we design, build, modify and maintain the worlds best-performing aircraft for the worlds most discerning people and businesses, governments and militaries. That means not simply exceeding standards, but understanding customers well enough to anticipate their unspoken needs.

For them, we are committed to pioneering the future of aviationinnovating to make flying more reliable, efficient and sustainable. And we are passionate about delivering unrivaled craftsmanship and care, giving our customers greater confidence and the elevated experience they deserve and expect. Because people who shape the world will always need the most productive and responsible ways to move through it.

Bombardier customers operate a fleet of more than 5,100 aircraft, supported by a vast network of Bombardier team members worldwide and 10 service facilities across six countries. Bombardiers performance-leading jets are proudly manufactured in aerostructure, assembly and completion facilities in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. In 2024, Bombardier was honoured with the prestigious Red Dot: Best of the Best award for Brands and Communication Design.

For Information

For corporate news and information, including Bombardiers Environmental, Social and Governance report, as well as the companys plans to cover all its flight operations with a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) blend utilizing the Book and Claim system visit bombardier.com.

Learn more about Bombardiers industry-leading products and customer service network at businessaircraft.bombardier.com. Follow us on X (Twitter) @Bombardier.

Media Contacts

General media contact webform

Matthew Nicholls

+1-514-243-8214

Matthew.Nicholls@aero.bombardier.com

*The Global 8000 aircraft is currently under development and remains to be finalized and certified. All specifications and data are approximate, may change without notice and are subject to certain operating rules, assumptions and other conditions. It is expected to enter service in 2025. Please also see the forward-looking statements disclaimer at the end of this press release.

Bombardier, Global and Global 8000 are registered or unregistered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements require the Corporation to make assumptions and are subject to important known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results in future periods to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to the Forward-Looking Statements disclaimer contained in Bombardier Inc.s most recently published financial report for additional details.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2676db35-cf38-43fc-9098-bd1977c31b74
Woodinville, Washington, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- When it comes to architecture, engineering, and construction (A/E/C), equity has often been viewed as a requirement, rather than something that is the vehicle for building better infrastructure and communities. That is why Red Team Go (RTG) has been flipping the script for almost 15 years now. At its helm, founder Danica Mason blends in her industry knowledge with social advocacy into the consultancy firm.

At the core of the companys mission are federal and state mandates that require a portion of public project spending to go toward diverse small businesses: those owned by women, minorities, veterans, and other underrepresented groups. Yet, these targets are often only met by the required amount and rarely exceeded, due to systematic hurdles, limited outreach, and fears around risk and cost. Thats where RTG steps in.

Our job is to bridge the gap between prime contractors and the small, certified businesses that can help meet diversity goals, Danica says. We make the introductions, break down the work packages to a manageable size, and help everyone meet business objectives while fulfilling civil rights obligations.

This, for Danica, is more than about compliance; its about transformation for these small owners. An analysis by the American Independent Business Alliance translates how every dollar spent with a small business circulates three times over within the community. Danica emphasizes, Were here to build capacity and create generational change. Thats what equity should look like in real time.

Danica understands the stakes personally. As a woman-owned small business herself, she knows firsthand how difficult it can be to break into the industryand how crucial those first opportunities are. RTG grew only through word of mouth for over a decade. We didnt even put up a website for those first ten years, she shares. The consultancy firm built trust by delivering well. That trust allowed the company to grow, hire, and pay it forward.

Danica Mason, founder of Red Team Go

RTGs track record of exceeding diversity targets speaks for itself. On one design-build project with just a 2% Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goal, the firm helped push utilization to nearly 14%. On a highway project with a 26% goal across multiple categories, RTG achieved a commendable 49% utilization. Danica shares that on the $700 million highway program, RTG helped connect more than 160 certified diverse businesses, generating nearly $180 million in spending, an impact that reaches far beyond any construction site.

Danica understands that risk management is key: large firms often face higher costs and logistical challenges when working with smaller subcontractors. Youre adding more overhead, more management needs, and sometimes unknown performance levels. Our job is to ensure that those small businesses are ready, capable, and supportedso prime businesses feel confident bringing them in.

The firm doesnt just work with private contractors. RTG also partners directly with public agenciestransportation departments, cities, and federal bodiesto facilitate utilization and compliance during project delivery. Their services span team development, SOQ and proposal management, branding, grant writing, and, critically, inclusion program administration.

Their involvement with organizations like BuildIT, the only LGBT industry Association focused on sustainable growth for certified LGBT-owned businesses and allies, further illustrates RTGs commitment to equity as both a business strategy and a value system.

RTGs founder Danica believes that equity in A/E/C isnt just the right thing to do; its the smart thing. When you diversify your team, suppliers, and subs, you strengthen your project. And you strengthen the communities youre building in.

RTGs model is simple but powerful: create opportunity, deliver quality, and grow capacity. They dont take on work they cant deliver on. Every member of the team specializes in their role. That selectivity, combined with deep industry knowledge, is whats allowed RTG to scale successfully while staying true to its mission.

Looking ahead, Mason envisions RTG playing an even bigger role in reshaping how inclusion is built into infrastructure from the ground up. Weve always focused on collaboration, she says. And now were ready to help others achieve what weve been able to do. When small businesses succeed, communities succeed. Thats the future were building.

Media Contact

Name: Janen Troy

Email: janen@redteam-go.com




3 dead, hundreds affected following massive outbreak of rabies in India's Manipur

Xinhua) 09:22, April 08, 2025

NEW DELHI, April 7 (Xinhua) -- At least three people have died and hundreds of others are suffering following the massive outbreak of rabies in India's northeastern state of Manipur, multiple local media reports said Monday.

The outbreak has been reported in Churachandpur district, about 88 km south of Imphal, the capital city of Manipur.

Authorities have imposed restrictions and declared containment zones to tackle the outbreak.

According to the health officials, the cases of rabies started surfacing last week, and New Zouveng village in Churachandpur district has been declared a containment zone.

"Since January (this year), 749 people have been bitten by dogs and three persons, according to official sources, have died due to rabies," a New Delhi-based television news channel NDTV said in a report. "Multiple confirmed and suspected cases of rabies have now been reported from New Zouveng village, posing a serious threat to the health and safety of the people and animals."

The district administration has strictly prohibited the movement of domesticated pets, including dogs, in and out of the village.

Meanwhile, a door-to-door dog vaccination campaign has been launched in the village.

Authorities have urged residents to remain vigilant, avoid contact with stray animals, and report any suspicious animal behavior immediately to them.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)




CORK, Ireland, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ExoraPads ongoing token presale is rapidly becoming one of the most talked-about promising opportunities within the XRP community, with investors quickly securing their positions ahead of its much-anticipated exchange debut.

Driven by growing excitement and backing from XRP whales and investors, ExoraPads $EXP token presale has surged significantly in recent days, raising over 75,000 XRP highlighting remarkable investor confidence.

With the presale concluding in less than 3 days, XRP holders and investors are flocking to grab $EXP tokens before exchange listing at 25% higher than presale price.

Join ExoraPad Presale

Why Are Investors Flocking to ExoraPad?

ExoraPad stands out for its integration of artificial intelligence (AI) analytics directly onto the XRP Ledger.

Unlike traditional launchpads, ExoraPad combines AI tools with a transparent token launch mechanism to empower promising blockchain projects, particularly those focused on Real-World Assets (RWAs) and Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN).

This unique blend of Web3 innovation, investor-friendly features, and practical real-world application has caught the attention of XRP community and investors who recognize the immense potential of a high-quality launchpad operating within the XRP ecosystem.

Presale Momentum Builds Amid Strong XRP Investor Interest

ExoraPad has witnessed impressive participation so far, as evidenced by its presale raising significant amounts in XRP contributions. Prominent investors, often referred to as "XRP whales," are showing strong interest, viewing ExoraPad as a promising opportunity to diversify their portfolios and gain exposure to potential growth ahead of the public exchange listing.

As the presale rapidly progresses, retail investors have also increasingly entered the fray, further fueling momentum and creating a sense of urgency within the community. Analysts note this momentum as a sign of the project's inherent appeal and potential long-term growth.

Buy $EXP Token

Upcoming Development Milestones Adding Excitement

ExoraPads strategic roadmap is generating significant enthusiasm among investors. The platforms initial prototype, showcasing its AI-powered analytics, staking platform, the DAO Governance dashboard and intuitive user interface, is scheduled to be released in the second quarter of 2025.

Additionally, ExoraPad's token smart contract has undergone audit by leading blockchain security firms, further reinforcing investor confidence.

How to Secure Your $EXP Tokens Before the Presale Ends:

Participation in ExoraPads presale is straightforward:

Purchase XRP tokens from a reputable cryptocurrency exchange.



Create a secure XRP-compatible wallet, such as Xaman or Ledger, then transfer XRP to your Xaman wallet.



Visit ExoraPads official presale page ( https://exorapad.com/presale ) and follow simple instructions to securely send XRP and confirm your $EXP token allocation.



Upon the conclusion of the presale, participants will automatically receive their allocated tokens directly into their chosen wallet addresses.

Act Fast  Time is Running Out

With the presale rapidly coming to a close, now represents a critical opportunity for investors who wish to secure their position before ExoraPad becomes publicly traded.

Join the presale and secure your $EXP tokens today.

Join the ExoraPad presale here: https://exorapad.com/presale

Website: https://exorapad.com

Telegram: https://t.me/exorapad

Twitter/X: https://x.com/Exorapad

Documentation: https://docs.exorapad.com

Contact:

Noah Walsh

hello@exorapad.com

Disclaimer: This press release is provided by the ExoraPad. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice.

Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sectorincluding cryptocurrency, NFTs, and miningcomplete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed.

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Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino brings to AskBio over 30 years of executive, academic, and Board experience

Other Board positions include Taysha Gene Therapies, Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), and Thermo Fisher Scientific

Research Triangle Park, N.C., April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

AskBio Inc. (AskBio), a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, announced today that its Board of Directors has elected Independent Director Laura Sepp-Lorenzino, PhD, to the Board, effective April 4, 2025.

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino to our Board of Directors, said Gustavo Pesquin, CEO, AskBio. Lauras extensive experience as a scientist and adviser will support AskBios efforts to stay at the cutting-edge of innovation. She brings to our Board broad expertise across modalities and therapeutic areas, including gene therapy and editing, from discovery through late-stage development. Her contributions will be invaluable as we move our clinical programs through and beyond Phase 2 and advance our next pre-clinical candidates.

Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino brings to AskBios Board over 30 years of executive and academic experience and leadership skills. She currently serves as Scientific Advisor, Executive Vice President, at Intellia Therapeutics, where she is helping develop and execute Intellias strategic vision and plan, positioning the company as the leader in systemic CRISPR medicines. She is also the companys former Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to her work at Intellia, Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino served as Vice President, Research and External Innovation, Head Nucleic Acid Therapies, at Vertex Pharmaceuticals; Vice President, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals; and held roles of increasing responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc. In addition, she serves on the Boards of Taysha Gene Therapies and Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), as well as the Scientific Advisory Boards of Thermo Fisher Scientific; Arsenal Capital Partners; and UK Medical Research Council, Nucleic Acid Therapy Accelerator. Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino began her career as Assistant Attending Molecular Biologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute.

She received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Pharmacy from the University of Buenos Aires and her PhD in Biochemistry from New York University. Her recent awards include 2023 Rosalind Franklin Award in Science, 2022 Women in Biopharma, and 2019 Fiercest Women in Life Sciences. Further, Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino currently sits on the editorial boards of the following scientific journals: Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids, and Cell & Gene Therapy Insights.

Laura is a trail-blazing leader in the industry whose transformational impact on companies and their programs has been widely acknowledged, said Mansuo Shannon, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, AskBio. Her decades of innovative leadership in drug discovery and the development of small molecules, biologics, oligonucleotides, and CRISPR-based medicines have resulted in the successful translation of disruptive, enabling technologies into new therapeutic modalities with differentiated products. Her in-depth knowledge of what it takes to steer therapies from research to commercialization will uniquely position the Board to support AskBio through the next phase of its development. We welcome Laura and look forward to her contributions.

I am excited to join AskBios Board, said Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino. This is a special time for the company, which is known and respected for its long history of pioneering science and innovation, as it begins to move its clinical pipeline and pre-clinical candidates toward key milestones. I look forward to joining my fellow Directors and the management team in helping the company realize the full promise of what I believe can be life-changing gene therapies for patients living with some of the worlds most devastating diseases.

About AskBio

AskBio Inc., a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, is a fully integrated gene therapy company dedicated to developing life-saving medicines and changing lives. The company maintains a portfolio of clinical programs across a range of neuromuscular, central nervous system, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease indications with a clinical-stage pipeline that includes investigational therapeutics for congestive heart failure, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, multiple system atrophy, Parkinsons disease, and Pompe disease. AskBios gene therapy platform includes Pro10, an industry-leading proprietary cell line manufacturing process, and an extensive array of capsids and promoters. With global headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and European headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland, the company has generated hundreds of proprietary capsids and promoters, several of which have entered pre-clinical and clinical testing. An early innovator in the gene therapy field, with over 900 employees in five countries, the company holds more than 600 patents and patent applications in areas such as AAV production and chimeric capsids. Learn more at http://www.askbio.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Bayer

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. In line with its mission, Health for all, Hunger for none, the companys products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2024, the Group employed around 93,000 people and had sales of 46.6 billion euros. R&D expenses amounted to 6.2 billion euros. For more information, go to http://www.bayer.com.

AskBio Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as believes, anticipates, plans, expects, will, intends, potential, possible, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding AskBios clinical trials. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond AskBios control. Known risks include, among others: AskBio may not be able to execute on its business plans and goals, including meeting its expected or planned clinical and regulatory milestones and timelines, its reliance on third-parties, clinical development plans, manufacturing processes and plans, and bringing its product candidates to market, due to a variety of reasons, including possible limitations of company financial and other resources, manufacturing limitations that may not be anticipated or resolved in a timely manner, potential disagreements or other issues with our third-party collaborators and partners, and regulatory, court or agency feedback or decisions, such as feedback and decisions from the United States Food and Drug Administration or the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Any of the foregoing risks could materially and adversely affect AskBios business and results of operations. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. AskBio does not undertake any obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements based on events or circumstances after the date hereof.
Special closed-ended type private equity investment company INVL Technology, legal entity code 300893533, the registered address Gyneju str. 14 Vilnius, Lithuania (hereinafter  the Company or  INVL Technology), informs that on the initiative and decision of the management company UAB INVL Asset Management (hereinafter  the Management Company) , the General Ordinary Shareholders Meeting (hereinafter  the Meeting) is to be held on 30 April 2025.

The place of the Meeting: the office of Company, the address Gyneju str. 14, Vilnius.

The Meeting will start at 9:30 a.m. (registration starts at 9:00 a.m.).

The Meetings accounting day 23 April 2025 (the persons who are shareholders of the Company at the end of accounting day of the Meeting or authorized persons by them, or the persons with whom shareholders concluded the agreements on the disposal of voting right, shall have the right to attend and vote at the Meeting).

The total number of the Company's shares is 12,175,321 shares. Considering that the Company has acquired its own shares, the total number of votes at the Company's shareholders' meeting is 12,009,566 votes.

Agenda of the Meeting:

Presentation of the Companys annual management report for 2024. Presentation of the independent auditor's report on the financial statements and annual management report of the Company. Presentation of the Companys investment committees recommendation on the draft of the profit (loss) distribution (including the formation of the reserve) and the draft of the information about remuneration. Regarding the assent to the information about remuneration of the Company, as a part of the annual management report of the Company for the year 2024. Approval of the stand-alone financial statements for 2024 of the Company. Deciding on profit distribution of the Company. Presentation of the Companys Management Companys statement on the share purchase price. Regarding the purchase of own shares of the Company. Presentation of the Report of the Audit Committee of the Company. Regarding the election of the Audit Committee members of the Company. Regarding the determination of the remuneration of the Audit Committee members of the Company. Regarding the approval of new version of Regulations of Audit Committee of the Company.

Draft resolutions of the Meeting:

1. Presentation of the Companys annual management report for 2024

1.1. Shareholders of the Company are presented with the annual management report of the Company for 2024 (attached) (there is no voting on this issue of agenda).

2. Presentation of the independent auditor's report on the financial statements and annual report of the Company

2.1. Shareholders of the Company are presented with the independent auditor's report on the financial statements and annual report of the Company (attached) (there is no voting on this issue of agenda).

3. Presentation of the Companys investment committees recommendation on the draft of the profit (loss) distribution (including the formation of the reserve) and the draft of the information about remuneration.

3.1. Shareholders of the Company are presented with the Companys investment committees recommendation on the draft of the profit (loss) distribution (including the formation of the reserve), and the draft of the information about remuneration (attached) (there is no voting on this issue of agenda).

4. Regarding the assent to the information about remuneration of the Company, as a part of the annual management report of the Company for the year 2024

4.1. To assent to the information about remuneration of the Company, as a part of the annual management report of the Company for the year 2024 (attached).

5. Approval of the stand-alone financial statements for 2024 of the Company

5.1. To approve the stand-alone financial statements for 2024 of the Company.

6. Deciding on profit distribution of the Company

6.1. To distribute profit of the Company as follows:

Article (thousand EUR) Retained earnings (loss) at the beginning of the financial year of the reporting period 21,673 Net profit (loss) for the financial year 8,089 Profit (loss) not recognized in the income statement of the reporting financial year - Shareholders contributions to cover loss - Distributable profit (loss) at the end of the financial year of the reporting period 29,762 Transfers from reserves - Distributable profit (loss) in total 29,762 Profit distribution: - Profit transfers to the legal reserves - -Profit transfers to the reserves for own shares acquisition - - Profit transfers to other reserves - - Profit to be paid as dividends - - Profit to be paid as annual payments (bonus) and for other purposes 29,762 Retained earnings (loss) at the end of the financial year

7. Presentation of the Companys Management Companys statement on the share purchase price

7.1. Shareholders of the Company are presented with the Companys Management Companys statement on the share purchase price (attached) (there is no voting on this issue of agenda).

8. Regarding the purchase of own shares of the Company

8.1. To authorise the Management Company to use the formed reserve (or the part of it) for the purchase of its own shares and after evaluation of the economic viability to purchase shares in INVL Technology by the rules mentioned below:

The goal for the purchase of own shares  to meet obligations arising from share option programs, or other allocations of shares, to employees of subsidiary companies and/or to reduce the authorized capital of the Company by cancelling the shares purchased by the Company. The maximum number of shares to be acquired could not exceed 1/10 of the authorised capital INVL Technology. The period during which INVL Technology may purchase its own shares is 18 months from the day of this resolution. The maximum and minimal shares acquisition price of INVL Technology: the maximum one-share acquisition price  is the last announced net asset value per share, and the minimal one-share acquisition price  is EUR 0.29. the conditions of the selling of the purchased shares and minimal selling price  the purchased shares are not planned to be sold and therefore the minimum selling price and the selling procedure for the shares are not determined. Own shares purchased by INVL Technology can be granted (given the right to purchase them) to the employees of the subsidiary companies by the decision of the Management Company, in accordance with the Rules on granting the shares. The shares acquired by the Company may be cancelled by decision of the General Meeting of Shareholders. the Management Company is delegated on the basis of this resolution, the Law on Companies of the Republic of Lithuania and other legal acts, to make specific decisions regarding the purchase of the Companys own shares, to organize procedure of purchase of own shares, determine the method and procedure for purchase of own shares (including the right to buy back shares in accordance with the provisions of Article 5, paragraph 1 of the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on market abuse), timing as well as the amount of shares and shares price, and to complete all other actions related with purchase procedure of own shares.

8.2. To initiate the reduction of the Company's authorized capital by cancelling the shares purchased by the Company, only if the amount of own shares purchased will exceed the amount of shares required to grant shares to the employees of the Company's subsidiaries, by 100,000 units or more of the Company's shares.

8.3. To establish that after adopting this resolution the resolution of the General Meeting of Shareholders of 30 April 2024 regarding acquisition of the Company's own shares shall expire.

9. Presentation of the Report of the Audit Committee of the Company

9.1. In accordance with the rules of procedure of the Audit Committee of the Company (approved on 28 April 2023 by decision of the General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company), the shareholders are hereby briefed on the activity report of the Audit Committee of the Company (attached) (there is no voting on this issue of agenda).

10. Regarding the election of the Audit Committee members of the Company

10.1. Given that in 2025, the term of office of the members of the Audit Committee of the Company expires, to elect three members: Dangute Pranckeniene, Andrius Lenickas and Tomas Bubinas to the Audit Committee of the Company for new 4 (four) years term of office.

11. Regarding the determination of the remuneration of the Audit Committee members of the Company

11.1. To set the hourly remuneration for each member of the Audit Committee of the Company at EUR 200 per hour (before taxes) for the service on the Audit Committee of the Company. The remuneration is paid for actual hours spent while performing the activities of the Audit Committee member.

12. Regarding the approval of new version of Regulations of Audit Committee of the Company

12.1. Considering the changes in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Audit of Financial Statements and Other Assurance Services regarding the obligations of the Audit Committee as well as the election of three Audit Committee members for the new term of office, the Regulations of the Audit Committee are updated accordingly. It is proposed to the shareholders of the Company to approve the new version of the Regulations of Audit Committee (attached).

The documents related to the agenda, draft resolutions on every item of the agenda, documents that have to be submitted to the General Ordinary Shareholders Meeting and other information related to the realization of shareholders' rights are published on the Companys website www.invltechnology.lt section For investors, and also by prior agreement available at the premises of the Company, located at Gyneju str. 14, Vilnius (hereinafter  the Premises of the Company) during working hours. Phone for information +370 5 279 0601.

The shareholders are entitled:
OTTAWA, Ontario, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skills/Competences Canada (SCC), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to encouraging young people and their communities to pursue careers in skilled trades and technologies, is excited to announce that United Association (UA) Canada, an international union for pipe trades professionals, has signed on as Presenting Sponsor of SCNC 2025, in Regina. Their generous contribution will enable SCC to inform Canadian youth about the various career opportunities that exist in skilled trades and technologies.

"We are proud to partner with UA Canada again this year. Their commitment to increasing awareness about career opportunities will ensure that Canadas future skilled workforce will thrive, said Shaun Thorson, Chief Executive Officer, Skills/Competences Canada.

SCNC will take place on May 29 and 30, 2025, at the Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) District, in Regina, Saskatchewan. The event will host labour groups, industry partners, government officials, educators, and youth who will come together to watch and support over 500 students competing in more than 40 Skill Areas. This years competition is set to be even more exciting for competitors, as it is a qualifying year to earn a spot on WorldSkills Team Canada and participate at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026. Eligible medalists will have the opportunity to represent Canada at the prestigious WorldSkills Competition.

UA Canada is proud to continue as a Presenting Sponsor of the Skills Canada National Competition. By supporting SCNC, we empower young individuals to stay informed, build confidence, and seize future opportunities in skilled trades and technologies, said Mike Gordon, Director of Canadian Training, UA Canada.

UA Canada will be onsite at the Skills Canada National Competition 2025, in Regina, to support the competitors. They will host a booth where they will engage with student visitors and the public. UA Canada will also participate in SCCs Live Stream broadcast and present competitors with medals at the Closing Ceremony.

Skilled trades and technologies are the backbone of Canadas economy, but with an aging workforce, the demand for skilled trade workers is higher than ever. According to BuildForce Canada, the construction industry alone will need to hire over 300,000 workers by 2030 to meet the demand. SCNC helps promote skilled careers and creates possibilities for our countrys future skilled workforce.

About Skills/Competences Canada

Skills Canada was founded in 1989 as a national, not-for-profit organization with Member Organizations in each of the provinces/territories that work with employers, educators, labour groups and governments to promote skilled trade and technology careers among Canadian youth. Its unique position among private and public-sector partners enables it to work toward securing Canadas future skilled labour needs while helping young people discover rewarding careers. Skills Canada offers experiential learning opportunities including skilled trade and technology competitions for hundreds of thousands of young Canadians through regional, provincial/territorial, national and international events, as well as skilled trade awareness programs. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Skills/Competences Canada is the Canadian Member organization of WorldSkills. Follow Skills/Competences Canada on X, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About UA Canada

The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada  commonly known as UA  is a union organization whose members are engaged in the fabrication, installation, maintenance, service, and commissioning/decommissioning of piping systems across North America. Their membership forms part of an essential workforce that ensures our infrastructure, manufacturing, hospitals, schools and homes continue to operate safely and efficiently, delivering key services across North America. Founded in 1889, UA continues to be one of the most respected and influential building trades unions in North America. Its 384,000 highly skilled members belong to over 300 individual local unions. In Canada, the United Association serves 62,000 members, including over 12,000 apprentices, through 36 local union offices and training centres across the country. UA Canada represents ten major trade classifications including: Steamfitter-Pipefitter, Sprinkler Fitter, Plumber, Metal Trades Workers, Instrumentation Technicians, Welders, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanics, Gas Technicians, Oil Head Technicians, and specialty certified workers in all areas of the piping industry. Visit UACanada.ca to learn more; you can also connect with us on Facebook.

Media Contact: Michele Rogerson, 613-266-4771, micheler@skillscanada.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/58efbe5d-c554-49d0-bb77-ddf8801d47b9
Dublin, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Immersive Training Market Opportunity, Growth Drivers, Industry Trend Analysis, and Forecast 2025-2034" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Immersive Training Market was valued at USD 11.9 billion in 2024, and is projected to reach USD 86.8 billion by 2034, rising at a CAGR of 22.4%

This growth is fueled by advancements in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), making training experiences more realistic and accessible. Improved display resolution enhances depth perception, while AI-driven learning adapts content to individual user needs, leading to better retention. Haptic feedback and motion tracking create practical, hands-on experiences across industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, and defense, where traditional training can be costly or risky.

Cloud-based VR solutions are reducing hardware expenses, increasing scalability, and accelerating adoption across multiple sectors. Businesses facing labor shortages and skill gaps are increasingly using immersive training to upskill and reskill employees. The rise of automation and AI in the workforce has made these technologies crucial for future-proofing industries.







The market is segmented by component into software, hardware, and services. In 2024, hardware accounted for over 50% of the market and is expected to surpass USD 40 billion by 2034. Growing demand for VR and AR headsets, haptic devices, and other wearables is driving this expansion. Hardware plays a key role in delivering realistic training experiences across healthcare, defense, education, and manufacturing, and continuous technological advancements will sustain its growth.



By technology, the immersive training market includes virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and 360-degree video. The 360-degree video segment held a 30% market share in 2024 due to its interactive nature and lower production costs compared to VR and AR. These videos provide immersive experiences without requiring specialized equipment, making them an attractive option for organizations with budget constraints. They are widely used for training programs across various industries due to their accessibility and effectiveness in enhancing engagement and skill development.



In terms of application, the market is divided into hard skills training, soft skills training, safety and compliance training, and onboarding and employee training. The hard skills training segment led the market, generating USD 4.3 billion in 2024. Technical expertise is in high demand, and industries are leveraging VR and AR platforms to provide hands-on training in coding, machine operations, and other specialized skills. Manufacturing professionals, for example, benefit from realistic virtual environments that allow them to operate machinery safely before handling real equipment, reducing risks and improving efficiency.



The immersive training market is further segmented by industry, including healthcare, defense and military, manufacturing, retail and e-commerce, and educational institutions. Healthcare emerged as the dominant segment, holding a 20% market share in 2024. Medical professionals use VR and AR for surgical simulations, rehabilitation programs, and patient care training. These technologies help create personalized rehabilitation experiences, allowing patients to regain motor skills and cognitive function more effectively.



North America led the global immersive training market in 2024, accounting for over 35% of the total market share. The U.S. remains the key player, expected to reach USD 25 billion by 2034. This leadership is driven by strong investments in research and development, particularly in defense, healthcare, and manufacturing. Enterprises across these industries are integrating VR, AR, and mixed reality into their training programs to enhance workforce capabilities. Government and corporate funding in technological advancements further solidify North America's dominance in the immersive training market.



Comprehensive Market Analysis and Forecast

Industry trends, key growth drivers, challenges, future opportunities, and regulatory landscape

Competitive landscape with Porter's Five Forces and PESTEL analysis

Market size, segmentation, and regional forecasts

Companies Featured

Boeing

EON Reality

Fundamental VR

GE Healthcare

Google LLC

HTC Corporation

Improbable

Lockheed Martin

Magic Leap

Meta Platforms

Microsoft

NVIDIA

Pico Interactive

Samsung Electronics

Siemens AG

Sony Corporation

Strivr

Unity Software

Vuzix

Walmart

Key Attributes:





Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 170 Forecast Period 2024 - 2034 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $11.9 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2034 $86.8 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 22.4% Regions Covered Global





Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1 Methodology & Scope

1.1 Research design

1.1.1 Research approach

1.1.2 Data collection methods

1.2 Base estimates & calculations

1.2.1 Base year calculation

1.2.2 Key trends for market estimation

1.3 Forecast model

1.4 Primary research and validation

1.4.1 Primary sources

1.4.2 Data mining sources

1.5 Market scope & definition



Chapter 2 Executive Summary

2.1 Industry 360 synopsis, 2021-2034



Chapter 3 Industry Insights

3.1 Industry ecosystem analysis

3.1.1 Supplier landscape

3.1.1.1 Hardware providers

3.1.1.2 Software developers

3.1.1.3 System integrators

3.1.1.4 Content developers

3.1.1.5 End use

3.1.2 Profit margin analysis

3.2 Technology & innovation landscape

3.3 Patent analysis

3.4 Regulatory landscape

3.5 Case studies

3.6 Impact forces

3.6.1 Growth drivers

3.6.1.1 Advancing VR & AR technologies

3.6.1.2 Expanding remote & hybrid work

3.6.1.3 Growing investment in Edtech & training solutions

3.6.1.4 Rising demand for skilled workforce

3.6.2 Industry pitfalls & challenges

3.6.2.1 High initial investment

3.6.2.2 Technical limitations

3.7 Growth potential analysis

3.8 Porter's analysis

3.9 PESTEL analysis



Chapter 4 Competitive Landscape, 2024

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Company market share analysis

4.3 Competitive positioning matrix

4.4 Strategic outlook matrix



Chapter 5 Market Estimates & Forecast, by Components, 2021-2034 ($Bn)

5.1 Key trends

5.2 Hardware

5.2.1 Headsets

5.2.2 Controllers

5.2.3 Motion sensors

5.2.4 Haptic feedback equipment

5.3 Software

5.3.1 Simulation software

5.3.2 Training applications

5.3.3 Interactive content platforms

5.4 Services

5.4.1 Consulting

5.4.2 Maintenance and support

5.4.3 Training deployment



Chapter 6 Market Estimates & Forecast, by Technology, 2021-2034 ($Bn)

6.1 Key trends

6.2 Virtual Reality

6.3 Augmented Reality

6.4 Mixed Reality

6.5 360-Degree Video



Chapter 7 Market Estimates & Forecast, by Application, 2021-2034 ($Bn)

7.1 Key trends

7.2 Soft skills training

7.3 Hard skills training

7.4 Safety & compliance training

7.5 Onboarding & employee training



Chapter 8 Market Estimates & Forecast, by Industry, 2021-2034 ($Bn)

8.1 Key trends

8.2 Healthcare

8.3 Defense & military

8.4 Manufacturing

8.5 Retail & e-commerce

8.6 Education institutes

8.7 Others



Chapter 9 Market Estimates & Forecast, by Region, 2021-2034 ($Bn)

9.1 Key trends

9.2 North America

9.2.1 U.S.

9.2.2 Canada

9.3 Europe

9.3.1 UK

9.3.2 Germany

9.3.3 France

9.3.4 Italy

9.3.5 Spain

9.3.6 Russia

9.3.7 Nordics

9.4 Asia-Pacific

9.4.1 China

9.4.2 India

9.4.3 Japan

9.4.4 Australia

9.4.5 South Korea

9.4.6 Southeast Asia

9.5 Latin America

9.5.1 Brazil

9.5.2 Mexico

9.5.3 Argentina

9.6 MEA

9.6.1 UAE

9.6.2 South Africa

9.6.3 Saudi Arabia

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/g3yr9c

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
Dublin, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "European Tyre Manufacturers - Industry Report" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



A quick glance of this Tyre Manufacturers (European) report will tell you the companies that have a declining financial rating, and those that have shown good sales growth.Each of the largest 177 companies is meticulously scrutinised in an individual assessment and analysed using the most up-to-date and current financial data.

The analysis conducted in the Tyre Manufacturers (European) report is ideal for anyone wanting to:

Identify the market leaders

Spot companies heading for failure

Seek out the most attractive acquisition opportunities

Analyse industry trends

Benchmark their own financial performance

Every business is examined on the following features:

A graphical assessment and presentation of a company's financial performance

An independent financial valuation

Acquisition attractiveness - outlining a firm's takeover attractiveness

Four year assessment of the profit/loss and balance sheet

A written summary highlighting key performance issues

Subsequently, you will receive a thorough 100-page market analysis highlighting the latest changes in the Tyre Manufacturers (European) market.

Best Trading Partners

Sales Growth Analysis

Profit Analysis

Market Size

Rankings

You can utilise the findings within this report to assess the attractiveness of potential acquisitions, gain a better understanding of the market, and identify sound companies with whom to trade.



Key Topics Covered:



The report is split into two sections and uses both a written and graphical analysis - analysing the 177 largest Tyre Manufacturers companies.



The Tyre Manufacturers (European) report contains the most-up-to-date financial data and the publisher applies these figures to create their unique and authoritative analysis.



The first section thoroughly scrutinises the market and this section includes the following:

Best Trading Partners: These are companies that are winning in both sales and financial strength

Sales Growth Analysis: This section reviews both the fastest growing and fastest shrinking company

Profit Analysis - Analysis of gross profit and Pre-tax Profitover the last ten years and a profitability summary comparing profits in the industry against small, medium and large companies

Market Size: Based on the largest 177 companies, this is a comparison between last year's market size and the most current figure

Rankings: The top 50 companies ranked by: Market Share, Sales Growth, Gross Profit and Pre-tax Profit

The next section focuses on company analysis and provides an in-depth analysis of the largest companies within the Tyre Manufacturers (European) industry.



Each business is analysed using the publisher's unique model and culminates in the production of 'The Chart'. This model uses a series of charts to graphically analyse an individual company and measure its ability to achieve sales growth while maintaining financial strength.



'The Chart' is a quick and dependable method of analysing a company's financial well-being. It's simple to understand: a rising line is good news and a falling line is bad news.



Therefore, this company analysis will tell you if a company is:

Strong or heading for failure

Maximising their investments

Becoming burdened by debt

Getting the most from their resources

The Tyre Manufacturers (European) analysis also provides you with full business name and address, name and ages of directors and registration address.



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/7eomjg

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.
New York City, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Toenail fungus is a common condition that affects millions of people worldwide, causing discomfort and self-consciousness due to thickened, discolored, and brittle nails. Traditional treatments often involve harsh chemicals or lengthy procedures that may not yield satisfactory results. However, the Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device, a revolutionary solution designed for effective at-home treatment, offers a ray of hope. This innovative device employs advanced technology to combat fungal infections painlessly and safely, providing significant relief and comfort to individuals struggling with nail fungus. With a user-friendly design and dermatologist approval, the Welnax BioClear device promises visible results within just 1-2 months of consistent use, easing the discomfort and self-consciousness caused by toenail fungus.

This article will guide you through the features, benefits, and operation of the Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device, a convenient and effective solution for toenail fungus. Whether you're tired of hiding your feet or seeking a non-invasive alternative to traditional treatments, this device could be the answer you've been searching for. Its user-friendly design and ease of use put you in control of your treatment, empowering you to take charge of your nail health and regain your confidence.

What is Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device?

The Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device is a state-of-the-art tool designed to treat toenail fungus effectively from the comfort of your home. Unlike traditional treatments that often involve topical medications or oral antifungals, which can take weeks or even months to show results, Welnax BioClear leverages advanced Low-Light Laser Therapy (LLLT). LLLT is a form of phototherapy that uses low-level lasers or light-emitting diodes to stimulate cellular activity. This technology targets the root cause of toenail fungus, making it a practical choice for anyone looking to improve their nail health.

The Welnax BioClear device is particularly beneficial for individuals who have experienced persistent fungal infections that do not respond to over-the-counter treatments. It's suitable for all ages and has received dermatologist approval, ensuring that users can trust its safety and effectiveness. However, it's important to note that while the device is generally safe, some users may experience mild discomfort or redness during or after use. This assurance of safety and efficacy instills confidence in the users, making them feel secure in their choice of treatment and confident in the results they can achieve.

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In summary, the Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device is an innovative solution that provides a convenient and effective way to combat toenail fungus. Its advanced technology, ease of use, and proven results make it a must-have for anyone suffering from nail fungus issues. If you're searching for Welnax bioclear review complaints or trying to find out "Does Welnax BioClear really work?" this article will address all your concerns.

How Does Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device Work?

The Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device operates by utilizing Low Light Laser Therapy. This technology, known for its healing and anti-inflammatory properties, stimulates cellular activity within the nail bed. The laser light penetrates the nail, targeting the fungal organisms beneath the surface and disrupting their growth. This process allows the body's natural healing processes to take over, leading to healthier nail growth over time.

Cellular Activity Stimulation

More specifically, the laser light emitted by the Welnax BioClear device stimulates cellular activity within the nail bed. This promotes increased blood circulation, which can enhance the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the area. As a result, the nails begin to heal from the inside out, leading to healthier nail growth over time. Users typically notice improvements in their nail condition within 1-2 months, with consistent daily use of the device.

User-Friendly Technology

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Say goodbye to nail fungusorder Welnax BioClear today!

Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device Features

The Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device is packed with features designed to improve user experience and effectiveness in treating toenail fungus.

Low-Level Laser Therapy for Nail Fungus

At the heart of the Welnax BioClear device is its advanced Low-Level Laser Therapy, which offers a non-invasive toenail fungus treatment. This technology utilizes specific wavelengths of light to penetrate the nail and target the fungal infection directly. Clinical studies have shown that this type of laser therapy can effectively eliminate nail fungus, leading to healthier, clearer nails.

Convenient, At-Home Treatment

One of the Welnax BioClear device's most significant advantages is its convenience. Designed for at-home use, this toenail fungus solution allows individuals to treat their condition without the need for costly salon visits or doctor appointments.

Safe, Effective, and Gentle

One of Welnax BioClear's standout features is its safety profile. It is clinically approved by dermatologists, making it suitable for users of all ages. The Welnax BioClear benefits include no harsh chemicals or side effects. Users can feel confident knowing they are using a safe product that effectively addresses their nail fungus issues.

Benefits of Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device

Fast Results : Users can expect to see visible improvements in their nails in just 1-2 months of regular use.

: Users can expect to see visible improvements in their nails in just 1-2 months of regular use. Pain-Free Experience : The device is designed to be non-invasive and comfortable, making the experience stress-free.

: The device is designed to be non-invasive and comfortable, making the experience stress-free. Clinically Approved : Endorsed by dermatologists, ensuring safety and efficacy for users of all ages.

: Endorsed by dermatologists, ensuring safety and efficacy for users of all ages. Portable Design : Its compact size allows for easy transportation, making it convenient for use at home or while traveling.

: Its compact size allows for easy transportation, making it convenient for use at home or while traveling. Easy to Use : The straightforward operation requires only 7 minutes of treatment daily, making it suitable for any lifestyle.

: The straightforward operation requires only 7 minutes of treatment daily, making it suitable for any lifestyle. No Harsh Chemicals : Unlike traditional treatments, Welnax BioClear does not rely on potentially harmful chemicals, making it safe for sensitive skin.

: Unlike traditional treatments, Welnax BioClear does not rely on potentially harmful chemicals, making it safe for sensitive skin. Versatile Treatment : This product is effective for various nail conditions, including discoloration, thickening, and fungus, offering a comprehensive solution.

: This product is effective for various nail conditions, including discoloration, thickening, and fungus, offering a comprehensive solution. Cost-Effective : Users can save money in the long run by eliminating the need for salon visits or prescription medications.

: Users can save money in the long run by eliminating the need for salon visits or prescription medications. Durable Construction : Built to withstand regular use, ensuring longevity and reliability for ongoing nail care.

: Built to withstand regular use, ensuring longevity and reliability for ongoing nail care. Satisfaction Guarantee: The 30-day money-back guarantee provides peace of mind for first-time buyers.

Welnax BioClear: Your at-home solution for nail fungus.

How to Use Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device

Using the Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device is simple. Here's how to use Welnax BioClear for toenail fungus:

Step-by-Step Instructions

Preparation: Clean and dry the affected area. Attach the Device: Position it on the toenail. Power On: Activate the device. Treatment Duration: Use for 7 minutes. Frequency of Use: Twice daily. Post-Treatment Care: Resume routine.

These steps ensure optimal use of the Welnax BioClear device for effective nail fungus relief.

Pros and Cons of Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device

Pros

Effective Treatment : Many users report visible improvements in nail health within 1-2 months.

: Many users report visible improvements in nail health within 1-2 months. Non-Invasive and Pain-Free : The device provides a comfortable treatment option without the need for painful procedures.

: The device provides a comfortable treatment option without the need for painful procedures. Safe for All Ages : Clinically approved and suitable for children and adults alike.

: Clinically approved and suitable for children and adults alike. Convenient and Portable : Ideal for at-home use or on-the-go treatment.

: Ideal for at-home use or on-the-go treatment. No Harsh Chemicals: Offers a drug-free solution to nail fungus, minimizing the risk of side effects.

Cons

Initial Cost : The upfront cost may be a consideration for some users, although it saves money in the long run compared to repeated treatments.

: The upfront cost may be a consideration for some users, although it saves money in the long run compared to repeated treatments. Time Commitment: Requires daily use for optimal results, which may not suit everyone's schedule.

Results May Vary: While many users see improvements, individual results can differ based on the severity of the infection and consistency of use.

In summary, Welnax BioClear customer reviews are generally positive, with many praising the device's ease of use and visible results. While Welnax BioClear reviews on Reddit may vary, most experiences highlight its benefits over traditional toenail fungus treatments.

How to Order Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device

Ordering the Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device is a straightforward process designed for user convenience. You can purchase the device directly from the official Welnax website, where you'll find detailed product information and promotional offers. Here's a simple guide to help you through the ordering process:

Visit the Official Website: Go to the Welnax website to access the product page for the BioClear Toenail Fungus Device. Select Your Package: Choose the package that best suits your needs. The options typically include individual devices, multi-packs, and special offers that provide significant savings. Add to Cart: Once you've selected your desired package, click the "Add to Cart" button to proceed. Proceed to Checkout: After adding the item to your cart, navigate to the checkout page. Here, you'll need to enter your shipping information and payment details. Review Your Order: Before finalizing your purchase, review your order to ensure all details are correct, including the quantity and shipping address. Complete the Purchase: Click the "Place Order" button to complete your transaction. You should receive a confirmation email with your order details shortly after.

By following these steps, you can easily order the Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device and begin your journey toward healthier nails.

Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device Pricing and Bonuses

The Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device is available at competitive pricing, allowing users to choose the best option for their needs while enjoying significant savings.

Here's a breakdown of the available packages:

1x Welnax BioClear

Price : $99.90 (Original: $199.90)

: $99.90 (Original: $199.90) Savings : 50%

: 50% Labeled as : Personal Pack

: Personal Pack 2x Welnax BioClear

Price : $149.90 (Original: $398.80)

: $149.90 (Original: $398.80) Savings : 62%

: 62% Labeled as: Useful Pack

3x Welnax BioClear (Recommended Deal)

Price : $179.90 (Original: $599.70)

: $179.90 (Original: $599.70) Savings : 70%

: 70% Labeled as: Best Pack

4x Welnax BioClear

Price : $199.90 (Original: $799.60)

: $199.90 (Original: $799.60) Savings : 75%

: 75% Labeled as: Family Pack

The Best Pack option is especially recommended as it offers the most significant savings. It allows users to stock up on this effective treatment while ensuring they have enough supply for long-term use. Each package includes a 30-day money-back guarantee, providing peace of mind for first-time buyers who wish to try the product risk-free.

Why Choose Welnax BioClear? Commitment to Quality, Service, and American Values

Proudly American-owned and Operated

Welnax BioClear is proud to be 100% American-owned and operated. When you purchase from us, you're not just investing in advanced nail fungus technologyyou're also supporting American businesses and the hardworking individuals behind them.

Quality You Can Rely On

Every Welnax BioClear device is crafted with durability and function in mind. Our team holds each product to high-quality assurance standards, ensuring that what you receive is dependable, effective, and built to perform consistently.

60-Day Satisfaction Pledge

We believe in our technology and want you to feel confident in your purchase. That's why every Welnax BioClear device comes with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not completely happy with your results, you can return them for a full refund, excluding shipping and handling costs.

Fast, Reliable Delivery

We understand the importance of quick fulfillment once a purchase is made. That's why we offer fast and dependable shipping so that your Welnax BioClear device arrives promptly and is ready to use.

Exceptional Customer Support

Our commitment doesn't end at checkout. Our responsive customer service team is always available to assist you with questions, provide guidance, and ensure a seamless experience from start to finish. If you have a question, we're here to help.

Your confidence and satisfaction are our priorityexperience the Welnax BioClear difference today.

Conclusion for Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device

In conclusion, the Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device is a powerful, light-based nail fungus treatment that offers actual results. It is safe, effective, and easy to use. If you're wondering, "Does Welnax BioClear really work?" or looking for Welnax bioclear toenail fungus reviews or Welnax bioclear review complaints, this article has addressed everything. From its features and safety to Welnax BioClear user testimonials and pricing, it's clear that this toenail fungus device offers a modern, affordable solution.

Restore healthy nailsorder Welnax BioClear today.

Welnax BioClear Toenail Fungus Device FAQs

How long does it take to see results with Welnax BioClear?

Most users report visible improvements within 1-2 months of consistent use.

Is the device safe for children?

Yes, Welnax BioClear is safe for all ages. However, adult supervision is recommended for children.

How often should I use the device?

For best results, use the device twice a day, with each session lasting 7 minutes.

Does the treatment hurt?

No, the Welnax BioClear device is entirely pain-free and non-invasive.

Can I use the device while wearing nail polish?

It's recommended to use the device on clean, unpolished nails for optimal effectiveness.

What happens if I am not satisfied with the product?

Welnax offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to return the device for a refund if you are not satisfied.

Is there a risk of side effects?

Welnax BioClear is free of harsh chemicals and has no reported side effects, making it safe for regular use.

Can I use the device on multiple nails at once?

Yes, the Welnax BioClear can treat multiple nails simultaneously, allowing for efficient treatment.

How should I care for the device?

Follow the manufacturer's instructions for cleaning and storing the device to ensure its longevity.

Where can I purchase Welnax BioClear?

The device can be purchased directly from the official Welnax website, where special offers and discounts are also available.

Contact: Welnax Technology international Co., Limited

Address: UNIT 04, 7/F, BRIGHT WAY TOWER, NO. 33 MONG KOK ROAD, KOWLOON, HK.

Email: support@trendingadget.com

Disclaimer

The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before beginning any treatment for toenail fungus or related conditions. Individual results may vary, and no guarantees are made regarding the efficacy of Welnax BioClear or its ability to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Statements about the Welnax BioClear device have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Use the product as directed and follow all manufacturer instructions.

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This publication may include affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you purchase through links on this page at no additional cost to you. These commissions help support our work by providing accurate reviews and recommendations. We only promote products that may be helpful to our audience and strive for transparency and integrity in all content.

All product names, logos, and brands are the property of their respective owners. Any use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement.
On the initiative of the Management Company LORDS LB ASSET MANAGEMENT, UAB (the Management Company) and in accordance with the Management Companys decision of 7 April 2025, Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (the Meeting) of UAB Atsinaujinancios energetikos investicijos, the closed-end investment company intended for informed investors, companys code 304213372, registered office at Jogailos st. 4, 01116 Vilnius, Lithuania (the Company) is hereby convened to be held on 30 April 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at the registered office of the Company.

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All material on the Agenda of the Meeting being convened, draft resolutions on each item on the Agenda, other documents and information related to the exercise of shareholders rights may be obtained at the registered office of the Company.

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New York, USA, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Market to Observe Stunning Growth During the Study Period (20202034) | DelveInsight

The treatment paradigm for DEE is expected to evolve in the coming years. The DEE market size is anticipated to increase due to approved medications like EPIDIOLEX, which is expected to be a blockbuster, rising demand for novel treatments for other DEE subtypes beyond Dravet Syndrome, LGS, TSC, and CDLK-5, and the introduction of potential emerging therapies. In the larger DEE market, there are further opportunities for off-label use and label expansion in addition to Dravet Syndrome, LGS, TSC, and CDLK-5. However, the discontinuation of emerging therapies owing to either business decisions or a lack of efficacy evidence may impede this growth. This indicates that the DEE market is difficult to penetrate.

DelveInsights Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Market Insights report includes a comprehensive understanding of current treatment practices, emerging DEE drugs, market share of individual therapies, and current and forecasted DEE market size from 2020 to 2034, segmented into 7MM [the United States, the EU4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), the United Kingdom, and Japan].

Key Takeaways from the Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Market Report

According to DelveInsights analysis, the market size of DEE in the 7MM was USD 2.3 billion in 2024.

in 2024. In 2024, the US accounted for the maximum share of the total market in the 7MM, i.e., approximately 80% .

. The total number of diagnosed prevalent cases of DEE in the 7MM was nearly 287K cases in 2024 and are projected to increase by 2034.

cases in 2024 and are projected to increase by 2034. While there are some approved therapies for a few DEE subtypes, including Dravet syndrome and Lennox- Gastaut Syndrome (LGS), most subtypes have no proven treatment, and patients often have to take multiple medicines to try to keep seizures under control, with a high side-effect burden. Several companies working in the domain of DEE, including Ovid Therapeutics, Stoke Therapeutics, Biogen, Harmony Biosciences, Lundbeck (Longboard Pharmaceuticals), Praxis Precision Medicines, SK Life Science, Cerecin Neurosciences, Encoded Therapeutics, Praxis Precision Medicines , and others, are actively working on innovative DEE drugs. These novel DEE therapies are anticipated to enter the DEE market in the forecast period and are expected to change the market.

(LGS), most subtypes have no proven treatment, and patients often have to take multiple medicines to try to keep seizures under control, with a high side-effect burden. Several companies working in the domain of DEE, including (Longboard Pharmaceuticals), , and others, are actively working on innovative DEE drugs. These novel DEE therapies are anticipated to enter the DEE market in the forecast period and are expected to change the market. Some of the key DEE treatments include Zorevunersen (STK-001), EPX-100 (Clemizole Hydrochloride), Bexicaserin (LP352), Relutrigine (PRAX-562), Carisbamate (YKP509), Tricaprilin (CER-0001), ETX101, Elsunersen (PRAX-222), OV329 , and others.

(STK-001), (Clemizole Hydrochloride), (LP352), (PRAX-562), (YKP509), (CER-0001), (PRAX-222), , and others. In February 2025, NICE approved FINTEPLA (fenfluramine) for people with Lennox- Gastaut Syndrome (LGS). It is the first licensed non-cannabis medication for this type of epilepsy. Prior to its approval in 2019, the only treatment for LGS that NICE recommended was EPIDYOLEX (cannabidiol) combined with clobazam. This is the second indication for which the NHS will provide FINTEPLA. Since 2022, the NHS has commissioned FINTEPLA to treat people with Dravet syndrome.

for people with (LGS). It is the first licensed non-cannabis medication for this type of epilepsy. Prior to its approval in 2019, the only treatment for LGS that NICE recommended was EPIDYOLEX (cannabidiol) combined with clobazam. This is the second indication for which the NHS will provide FINTEPLA. Since 2022, the NHS has commissioned FINTEPLA to treat people with Dravet syndrome. In February 2025, Immedica Pharma AB announced the successful completion of the previously announced transaction to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Marinus Pharmaceuticals . Through this transaction, Immedica acquires Marinus' FDA-approved seizure medication ZTALMY .

announced the successful completion of the previously announced transaction to acquire all of the outstanding shares of . Through this transaction, Immedica acquires Marinus' FDA-approved seizure medication . Zorevunersen, a first-in-class disease-modifying medication, will be made available to Dravet patients in all countries outside of the US, Canada, and Mexico thanks to a partnership between Stoke Therapeutics and Biogen in February 2025 . Following successful alignment with regulatory agencies in the United States, Europe, and Japan, Stoke Therapeutics recently announced plans to initiate a global Phase III registrational trial of zorevunersen (EMPEROR). Commencement of the study is scheduled for the second quarter of 2025, and a pivotal data readout is planned in the second half of 2027 to support global regulatory filings.

and in . Following successful alignment with regulatory agencies in the United States, Europe, and Japan, Stoke Therapeutics recently announced plans to initiate a global Phase III registrational trial of zorevunersen (EMPEROR). Commencement of the study is scheduled for the second quarter of 2025, and a pivotal data readout is planned in the second half of 2027 to support global regulatory filings. In January 2025, Takeda made the announcement to end the soticlestat development program . This decision comes after it was revealed in June 2024 that the soticlestat Phase III SKYLINE study in Dravet syndrome and SKYWAY study in LGS failed to meet their primary endpoints. Takeda therefore, stopped working on the soticlestat LGS development program and consulted with the US FDA over the overall data supporting soticlestat treatment for Dravet syndrome. The FDA notified Takeda that, to support a New Drug Application (NDA) for soticlestat in Dravet syndrome, the existing clinical data package would not be able to provide significant evidence of efficacy.

made the announcement to . This decision comes after it was revealed in June 2024 that the soticlestat Phase III SKYLINE study in Dravet syndrome and SKYWAY study in LGS failed to meet their primary endpoints. Takeda therefore, stopped working on the soticlestat LGS development program and consulted with the US FDA over the overall data supporting soticlestat treatment for Dravet syndrome. The FDA notified Takeda that, to support a New Drug Application (NDA) for soticlestat in Dravet syndrome, the existing clinical data package would not be able to provide significant evidence of efficacy. In December 2024, Orion Corporation and Marinus Pharmaceuticals decided to mutually terminate their European-wide marketing and distribution agreement for ZTALMY . In Europe, ZTALMY is approved for the adjunctive treatment of epileptic seizures associated with cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) deficiency disorder (CDD) in patients two to 17 years of age.

and to for . In Europe, ZTALMY is approved for the adjunctive treatment of epileptic seizures associated with cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) deficiency disorder (CDD) in patients two to 17 years of age. In November 2024, Eisai stopped the clinical development of the obesity drug lorcaserin in Dravet syndrome due to recruitment challenges (the decision was not due to any safety or efficacy reasons), which was further exacerbated by increasing competition (the availability of FINTEPLA).

of the obesity drug in due to recruitment challenges (the decision was not due to any safety or efficacy reasons), which was further exacerbated by increasing competition (the availability of FINTEPLA). In December 2024, Lundbeck acquired Longboard Pharmaceuticals for USD 2.6 billion. With the completion of the acquisition, Longboard is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Lundbeck.

for USD 2.6 billion. With the completion of the acquisition, Longboard is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Lundbeck. In April 2024, Harmony Biosciences announced the acquisition of Epygenix Therapeutics, accelerating its growth strategy by adding a rare epilepsy franchise to its expanding late-stage pipeline of innovative CNS assets. The acquisition included clemizole hydrochloride (EPX-100), a potent, oral, centrally acting serotonin (5HT2) agonist currently in a pivotal registrational clinical trial for the treatment of Dravet syndrome in children and adults and poised to enter Phase III for the treatment of LGS.

Discover which therapies are expected to grab the DEE market share @ Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Market Report

Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Overview

Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE) are a group of severe neurological disorders characterized by the combination of developmental delays and intractable epilepsy. These conditions often manifest early in life and are associated with significant cognitive impairment. The causes of DEE can be diverse, including genetic mutations, structural brain abnormalities, metabolic disorders, and prenatal insults such as infections or exposure to toxins.

Common DEE symptoms include recurrent seizures, developmental regression, and cognitive impairments, which may vary widely among affected individuals. Diagnosis typically involves a combination of clinical evaluations, electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor seizure activity, neuroimaging techniques such as MRI, and genetic testing to identify underlying causes. Early recognition and intervention are crucial for managing symptoms and improving the quality of life in affected individuals.





Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Epidemiology Segmentation

The DEE epidemiology section provides insights into the historical and current DEE patient pool and forecasted trends for the 7MM. It helps recognize the causes of current and forecasted patient trends by exploring numerous studies and views of key opinion leaders.

The DEE market report proffers epidemiological analysis for the study period 20202034 in the 7MM segmented into:

Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of DEE

DEE Cases by Subtypes

Download the report to understand which factors are driving DEE epidemiology trends @ Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Epidemiological Insights

Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Treatment Market

The most commonly utilized treatment for epilepsy is antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). For nearly all patients experiencing multiple seizures, AEDs are the initial treatment choice. These medications effectively address the symptoms of epilepsy and successfully control seizures in about 70% of cases. They work by diminishing the brain cells' propensity to transmit excessive and erratic electrical signals, thereby preventing seizures.

The selection of medication is influenced by various factors, including the specific type of seizure and epilepsy, potential side effects, other medical conditions the patient may have, possible interactions with other medications, as well as the patient's age, gender, and the cost of the drug. Anticonvulsant therapy is also considered after a patient has two unprovoked seizures. The physician may prescribe either a single medication (monotherapy) or a combination of two or more medications as part of the treatment.

Valproate is regarded as the primary treatment for LGS due to its effectiveness against various types of seizures. It is typically used alone, but if it does not produce the desired results, additional medications like lamotrigine, topiramate, rufinamide, or clobazam can be introduced. However, it is important to note that valproate can cause notable side effects, including tremors, decreased platelet count and function, and hyperammonemia.

The US FDA has approved several drugs for the treatment of LGS and Dravet Syndrome, including different classes such as Sodium Channel Modulators, Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Receptor Modulator, Calcium Channel Blockers, Receptor Blockers, and a few other categories. Several AEDs currently available in the market consist of FINTEPLA, EPIDIOLEX, TOPAMAX, BANZEL, LAMICTAL, FELBATOL, ONFI, KLONOPIN, DIACOMIT, SABRIL, and others.

Learn more about the market of DEE @ Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Treatment

Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Emerging Drugs and Companies

Some of the drugs in the pipeline include EPX-100 (Harmony Biosciences), Bexicaserin (Lundbeck), Zorevunersen (Stoke Therapeutics/Biogen), Relutrigine (Praxis Precision Medicines) and others.

Harmony Biosciences EPX-100 is the most advanced 5HT2 (serotonin) agonist in the company's clinical development. EPX-100, clemizole hydrochloride, is under development for the treatment of Dravet syndrome and LGS. Harmony Biosciences has initiated a pivotal phase III study in LGS for EPX-100 in Q4 2024.

Bexicaserin (LP352) is an oral medication that acts centrally as a superagonist of the 5-HT2C receptor and is currently being developed for the potential treatment of seizures linked to DEEs, including conditions like Dravet syndrome, LGS, tuberous sclerosis complex, and CDKL5 deficiency disorder. The drug is designed to influence GABA levels, thereby reducing the central hyperexcitability typical of seizures. The DEEp SEA study, a phase III study, was initiated by Longboard Pharma in 2024 to investigate Bexicaserin for the treatment of Dravet syndrome.

The other pipeline therapies for DEE include

Relutrigine (PRAX-562): Praxis Precision Medicines

Elsunersen (PRAX-222): Praxis Precision Medicines

Bexicaserin (LP352): Lundbeck

Carisbamate (YKP509): SK Life Science

Tricaprilin (CER-0001): Cerecin Neurosciences

ETX101: Encoded Therapeutics

The anticipated launch of these emerging therapies are poised to transform the DEE market landscape in the coming years. As these cutting-edge therapies continue to mature and gain regulatory approval, they are expected to reshape the DEE market landscape, offering new standards of care and unlocking opportunities for medical innovation and economic growth.

To know more about DEE clinical trials, visit @ Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Treatment Drugs

Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Market Dynamics

The DEE market dynamics are anticipated to change in the coming years. DEE is a group of rare conditions that presents significant opportunities for companies developing treatment options, as they can benefit from advantages such as 7-year market exclusivity in the United States, Orphan Drug designation, premium pricing, subsidies for conducting trials, various governmental R&D benefits, and additional perks; in the European Union, orphan classification offers protocol support, lower regulatory fees, and 10 years of market exclusivity, while the current competitive landscape for DEE is limited to a few therapies, making it an unexplored area for pharmaceutical companies with substantial potential to capture market space.

Furthermore, many potential therapies are being investigated for the treatment of DEE, and it is safe to predict that the treatment space will significantly impact the DEE market during the forecast period. Moreover, the anticipated introduction of emerging therapies with improved efficacy and a further improvement in the diagnosis rate is expected to drive the growth of the DEE market in the 7MM.

However, several factors may impede the growth of the DEE market. Currently, anti-seizure drugs are the standard of care for drug-resistant epilepsies; however, they only treat the symptoms without addressing the underlying causes of the disease, and there are no approved therapies for the majority of DEE types, with off-label options often resulting in poor outcomes, safety concerns, and tolerability issues; additionally, pharmaceutical companies face challenges such as designing and conducting clinical trials for heterogeneous patient populations, difficulties in patient recruitment, onboarding specialist doctors, and high attrition rates of experimental treatments during the R&D process.

Moreover, DEE treatment poses a significant economic burden and disrupts patients overall well-being and QOL. Furthermore, the DEE market growth may be offset by failures and discontinuation of emerging therapies, unaffordable pricing, market access and reimbursement issues, and a shortage of healthcare specialists. In addition, the undiagnosed, unreported cases and the lack of awareness about the disease may also impact the DEE market growth.

Several medications have been discontinued in the last one to two years, either as a result of business decisions or a lack of efficacious data. This indicates that the DEE market is difficult to penetrate.

Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Report Metrics Details Study Period 20202034 Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Report Coverage 7MM [The United States, the EU-4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), the United Kingdom, and Japan] Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Market Size in 2024 USD 2.3 Billion Key Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Companies Immedica Pharma AB (Marinus Pharmaceuticals), UCB BIOSCIENCES, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Ovid Therapeutics, Stoke Therapeutics, Harmony Biosciences, Lundbeck (Longboard Pharmaceuticals), Praxis Precision Medicines, SK Life Science, Cerecin Neurosciences, Encoded Therapeutics, and others Key Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Therapies FINTEPLA, EPIDIOLEX, ZTALMY, AFINITOR/VOTUBIA, Zorevunersen (STK-001), EPX-100 (Clemizole Hydrochloride), Bexicaserin (LP352), Relutrigine (PRAX-562), OV329, Carisbamate (YKP509), Tricaprilin (CER-0001), ETX101, Elsunersen (PRAX-222), and others

Scope of the Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Market Report

Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Therapeutic Assessment: Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies current marketed and emerging therapies

Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies current marketed and emerging therapies Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Market Dynamics: Conjoint Analysis of Emerging Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Drugs

Conjoint Analysis of Emerging Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Drugs Competitive Intelligence Analysis: SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies

SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies Unmet Needs, KOLs views, Analysts views, Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Market Access and Reimbursement

Discover more about DEE drugs in development @ Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies Clinical Trials

Table of Contents

1 Key Insights 2 Report Introduction 3 Executive Summary 4 DEE Market Overview at a Glance 4.1 Market Share by Therapies (%) Distribution of DEE in 2020 in the 7MM 4.2 Market Share by Therapies (%) Distribution of DEE in 2034 in the 7MM 5 Key Events 6 Epidemiology and Market Methodology 7 Disease Background and Overview 7.1 Sign and Symptoms 7.2 Cause 7.3 Types 7.4 Diagnosis 8 Treatment of DEE 8.1 Antiseizure medications 8.2 Steroid therapy 8.3 Other Therapies 8.4 Epilepsy surgery 8.5 Treatment Algorithm 8.6 Treatment Guidelines 8.6.1 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Guidelines 8.6.2 Practice Guideline Update: Efficacy and Tolerability of New AEDs 1st: Treatment of New-onset Epilepsy 8.6.3 Practice Guideline Update: Efficacy and Tolerability of the New AEDs 2nd: Treatment-resistant Epilepsy 8.6.4 Japanese Society of Neurology Guidelines 9 Epidemiology and Patient Population 9.1 Key Findings 9.2 Assumptions and Rationale 9.3 Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of DEE in the 7MM 9.4 Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of DEE by Types in the 7MM 9.5 The United States 9.5.1 Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of DEE by Types in the United States 9.6 EU4 and the UK 9.6.1 Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of DEE by Types in EU4 and the UK 9.7 Japan 9.7.1 Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases of DEE by Types in Japan 10 Patient Journey 11 Marketed Drugs 11.1 Key Competitor 11.2 EPIDIOLEX (cannabidiol): Jazz Pharmaceuticals 11.2.1 Product Description 11.2.2 Regulatory Milestones 11.2.3 Other Developmental Activities 11.2.4 Current Pipeline Activity 11.2.4.1 Clinical Trials Information 11.2.5 Safety and Efficacy 11.3 FINTEPLA (fenfluramine): UCB 11.3.1 Product Description 11.3.2 Regulatory Milestone 11.3.3 Other Developmental Activities 11.3.4 Current Pipeline Activity 11.3.4.1 Clinical Trials Information 11.3.5 Safety and Efficacy 11.4 ZTALMY (ganaxolone): Immedica Pharma AB (Marinus Pharmaceuticals) 11.4.1 Product Description 11.4.2 Regulatory Milestones 11.4.3 Other Developmental Activities 11.4.4 Current Pipeline Activity 11.4.4.1 Clinical Trials Information 11.4.5 Safety and Efficacy 11.5 AFINITOR DISPERZ/VOTUBIA (everolimus): Novartis 11.5.1 Product Description 11.5.2 Regulatory Milestones 11.5.3 Other Developmental Activities 11.5.4 Safety and Efficacy 11.6 DIACOMIT (stiripentol): Biocodex 11.6.1 Product Description 11.6.2 Regulatory Milestones 11.6.3 Other Developmental Activities 11.6.4 Current Pipeline Activity 11.6.4.1 Clinical Trials Information 11.6.5 Safety and Efficacy 11.7 H.P. ACTHAR GEL: Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals/Questcor Pharmaceuticals 11.7.1 Product Description 11.7.2 Regulatory Milestones 11.7.3 Other Development Activities 11.7.4 Safety and Efficacy 12 Emerging Drugs 12.1 Key Competitors 12.2 Relutrigine (PRAX-562): Praxis Precision Medicines 12.2.1 Product Description 12.2.2 Other Developmental Activities 12.2.3 Clinical Development 12.2.3.1 Clinical Trials Information 12.2.4 Safety and Efficacy 12.3 Zorevunersen (STK-001): Stoke Therapeutics/Biogen 12.3.1 Product Description 12.3.2 Other Developmental Activities 12.3.3 Clinical Development 12.3.3.1 Clinical Trials Information 12.3.4 Safety and Efficacy 12.4 EPX-100 (Clemizole Hydrochloride): Harmony Biosciences 12.4.1 Product Description 12.4.2 Other Developmental Activities 12.4.3 Clinical Development 12.4.3.1 Clinical Trials Information 12.5 Bexicaserin (LP352): Lundbeck (Longboard Pharmaceuticals) 12.5.1 Product Description 12.5.2 Other Developmental Activities 12.5.3 Clinical Development 12.5.3.1 Clinical Trials Information 12.5.4 Safety and Efficacy 12.6 Carisbamate (YKP509): SK Life Science 12.6.1 Product Description 12.6.2 Other Developmental Activities 12.6.3 Clinical Development 12.6.3.1 Clinical Trials Information 12.7 Elsunersen (PRAX-222): Praxis Precision Medicines 12.7.1 Product Description 12.7.2 Clinical Development 12.7.2.1 Clinical Trials Information 12.7.3 Safety and Efficacy 12.8 Tricaprilin (CER-0001): Cerecin Neurosciences 12.8.1 Product Description 12.8.2 Other Developmental Activities 12.8.3 Clinical Development 12.8.3.1 Clinical Trials Information 12.8.4 Safety and Efficacy 12.9 ETX101: Encoded Therapeutics 12.9.1 Product Description 12.9.2 Other Developmental Activities 12.9.3 Clinical Development 12.9.3.1 Clinical Trials Information 12.9.4 Safety and Efficacy List to be continued in the report 13 DEE: The 7MM Analysis 13.1 Key Findings 13.2 Market Outlook 13.3 Conjoint Analysis 13.1 Key Market Forecast Assumptions 13.1.1 CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder 13.1.2 Dravet Syndrome 13.1.3 LGS 13.1.4 SCN8A/2A-DEE 13.1.5 West Syndrome 13.1.6 TSC 13.2 Total Market Size of DEE in the 7MM 13.3 United States Market Size 13.3.1 Total Market Size of DEE in the United States 13.3.2 Market Size of DEE by Therapies in the United States 13.4 EU4 and the UK Market Size 13.4.1 Total Market Size of DEE in EU4 and the UK 13.4.2 Market Size of DEE by Therapies in EU4 and the UK 13.5 Japan Market Size 13.5.1 Total Market Size of DEE in Japan 13.5.2 Market Size of DEE by Therapies in Japan 14 Unmet Needs 15 SWOT Analysis 16 KOL Views 17 Market Access and Reimbursement 17.1 United States 17.1.1 Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 17.2 EU4 and the UK 17.2.1 Germany 17.2.2 France 17.2.3 Italy 17.2.4 Spain 17.2.5 United Kingdom 17.3 Japan 17.3.1 MHLW 17.4 Market Access and Reimbursement 18 Appendix 18.1 Bibliography 18.2 Report Methodology 19 DelveInsight Capabilities 20 Disclaimer 21 About DelveInsight

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MONACO, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE) (the Company) announces Conference Call Details for the virtual Analyst and Investor Day that the incoming management team of Costamare Bulkers Holdings Limited (Costamare Bulkers) will host on Wednesday April 9, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Costamare Bulkers is the new company that will hold Costamare Inc.s owned dry bulk vessels and the CBI operating platform upon completion of Costamare Inc.s previously announced spin-off of its dry bulk business.

Conference Call Details:

On Wednesday, April 9, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. ET, the incoming management team of Costamare Bulkers will hold a conference call to discuss Costamare Bulkers core business and operations, investment highlights, and strategic outlook, followed by a Q&A session.

Participants should dial into the call 10 minutes before the scheduled time using the following numbers: 1-844-887-9405 (from the US), 0808-238-9064 (from the UK) or +1-412-317-9258 (from outside the US). Please quote "Costamare".

A replay of the conference call will be available until April 16, 2025. The United States replay number is +1-877-344-7529; the standard international replay number is +1-412-317-0088; and the access code required for the replay is: 2706945.

Live Webcast Details:

Interested parties can access Costamare Bulkers Analyst and Investor Day webcast on the day of the event through the Costamare Inc. website (www.costamare.com) and the following link.

About the Costamare Bulkers Spin-Off

Costamare Inc. intends to spin-off the Companys dry bulk business into a standalone company, Costamare Bulkers. The Costamare Inc. board believes the proposed separation will unlock the inherent value within the two companies, which have unique growth prospects and investment opportunities.

Shares of Costamare Bulkers are expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Costamare Inc. is targeting to complete the spin-off as soon as practicable this calendar year, subject to various conditions, including regulatory approvals and obtaining the final approval of the Costamare Inc. board of directors. However, there can be no assurance that a separation transaction will occur, or if one does occur, of its terms or timing.

About Costamare Inc.

Costamare Inc. is one of the worlds leading owners and providers of containerships and dry bulk vessels for charter. The Company has 51 years of history in the international shipping industry and a fleet of 68 owned containerships, with a total capacity of approximately 513,000 TEU and 38 owned dry bulk vessels with a total capacity of approximately 3,016,000 DWT (including one vessel that we have agreed to sell). The Company also has a dry bulk operating platform (CBI) which charters in/out dry bulk vessels, enters into contracts of affreightment, forward freight agreements and may also utilize hedging solutions. The Company participates in a leasing business. The Companys common stock, Series B Preferred Stock, Series C Preferred Stock and Series D Preferred Stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols CMRE, CMRE PR B, CMRE PR C and CMRE PR D, respectively.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as believe, intend, anticipate, estimate, project, forecast, plan, potential, may, should, could and expect and similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions regarding the potential completion of the announced spin-off of Costamare Bulkers, regarding whether the announced spin-off is in the best interests of shareholders, regarding the future commercial performance of Costamare Inc. or Costamare Bulkers, or regarding any potential strategic benefits, synergies or opportunities as a result of these actions. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Companys beliefs regarding future results, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Companys control. It is possible that actual results may differ, possibly materially, from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the proposed transaction will be completed in the expected form or within the expected time frame or at all. Nor can there be any guarantee that Costamare Inc. or a separate dry bulk business will be able to realize any of the potential strategic benefits, synergies or opportunities as a result of these actions, that shareholders will achieve any particular level of shareholder returns or that the spin-off of Costamare Bulkers will be in the best interests of shareholders. For a discussion of some of the risks and important factors that could affect future results, see the discussion in the Companys Annual Report on Form 20-F (File No. 001-34934).

Company Contacts:

Gregory Zikos - Chief Financial Officer

Konstantinos Tsakalidis - Business Development

Costamare Inc., Monaco

Tel: (+377) 93 25 09 40

Email: ir@costamare.com
Los Angeles, California, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



Advanced Networks has announced a new focus to help businesses in Los Angeles manage the increasing challenges of data privacy laws and industry regulations through their Managed IT Services. With data privacy laws like HIPAA and CCPA getting tougher, local companies face more pressure to comply while keeping their systems secure and running smoothly.

The company's Managed IT Services Los Angeles is crafted to meet these regulatory demands head-on. By tapping into industry know-how and local expertise, Advanced Networks aims to help businesses reduce compliance risks and ensure they meet necessary standards.

"Compliance isn't just about dodging penalties," explains a representative from Advanced Networks. "It's about building a secure and confident operational environment. Our Managed IT Services are designed to help businesses achieve that security and compliance."

Understanding complex laws can be tough. That's where Managed IT Services come in, offering essential support by putting in place multi-layered security measures, running regular checks, and constantly monitoring for quick fixes to any vulnerabilities. Advanced Networks customizes its services to each client, focusing on security practices like multi-factor authentication and data encryption, key for following HIPAA and CCPA rules.

In addition, Advanced Networks' IT Support Los Angeles offers round-the-clock help, making sure companies can tackle IT issues whenever they arise. The support team is certified and fully prepared to provide quick solutions to minimize compliance-related problems. With constant IT support, businesses can keep going without any hitches, all while staying productive and compliant.

The company also provides IT Consulting Los Angeles for those looking to plan ahead. This includes thorough technology reviews and strategic planning to align IT goals with compliance needs. Their consulting services help businesses stay on top of regulatory changes and work them into their IT strategies effortlessly.

The representative adds, "As a Managed IT provider, we focus on spotting potential compliance issues before they arise, using strategic planning and sturdy IT setups to prevent data breaches and maintain continuous compliance."

As the world of data privacy and compliance keeps shifting, businesses need to be proactive. Advanced Networks offers vital support by tackling these challenges, which allows companies to concentrate on their main activities while trusting their IT infrastructure is secure and compliant.

For local businesses handling sensitive information, keeping up with HIPAA, CCPA, and other major regulations is crucial for maintaining their reputation and trust with clients and partners. Advanced Networks uses its deep experience and services to assist Los Angeles businesses, helping them manage the complexities of compliance with ease.

For more detailed information about their full range of services, including Cyber Security Services and Cloud Services, businesses can consult the official website of Advanced Networks.





In today's world, where data breaches and fines from regulations are significant threats, having a reliable partner in Managed IT Services Los Angeles can be a game-changer for businesses that want to thrive in a secure environment. Advanced Networks is ready to step in with its dedicated services, offering peace of mind and protection against the challenges of today's data privacy laws.

###

For more information about Advanced Networks, contact the company here:



Advanced Networks

Advanced Networks

(213) 873-7620

contact@adv-networks.com

L.A. Office

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Los Angeles, CA 90024



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Irvine, CA 92614
Las Vegas, Nevada, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant is excited to announce a new addition to their menu: the Sweetened Green Curry Fish Fillet. This dish promises to wow both regulars and newcomers with its distinctive mix of flavors. Situated in Las Vegas, Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant is dedicated to providing its guests with an authentic and varied culinary journey. With this new offering, they hope to add even more variety to their already large menu. You can order this new dish and explore the rest of their extensive menu options directly through their online ordering system available on their main website at kungfuplaza.com.

The restaurant is well-known for its wide range of options that satisfy many different tastes, including the Best Green Curry Chicken in Las Vegas. Building on this reputation, the Sweetened Green Curry Fish Fillet brings a new spin to the table. It's crafted using top-quality ingredients to deliver a rich, fulfilling taste that is true to Thai tradition.

Alan Wong of Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant shares his enthusiasm about the new dish. "Our team is committed to offering flavors that capture the heart of Thai culture," he says. "The Sweetened Green Curry Fish Fillet is our latest effort to introduce unique tastes to the Las Vegas dining scene."

Known for their attention to quality, the restaurant keeps pushing boundaries with their offerings. Guests expect variety and authenticity, which Kung Fu Thai Food diligently delivers. Every item on the menu is carefully made to uphold the traditional taste, using fresh, local ingredients. This dedication not only satisfies regular guests but also draws in those trying Thai cuisine for the first time. Whether you're dining in, picking up, or having your food delivered, the restaurant's website also allows you to purchase gift certificates for friends and family, making it a perfect surprise for food lovers.

Adding the Sweetened Green Curry Fish Fillet to the menu lets customers explore the rich, flavorful, and subtly sweet notes that are the backbone of classic Thai curries. The dish highlights the restaurant's skill in balancing flavors, a defining feature of their culinary style. Special offers on this new dish and others can be found periodically on their website, providing an excellent opportunity for first-time visitors and regulars to enjoy their meals with exciting discounts.

"We are thrilled to introduce new and exciting flavors from our kitchen to our guests," says Wong. "We want everyone to experience the depth and variety that Thai cuisine offers, and the Sweetened Green Curry Fish Fillet is an excellent introduction."

Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant continues to blend traditional Thai dishes with creative twists, earning them positive recognition for their culinary skill. The new dish is expected to add to this legacy. For guests who have relished favorites like the restaurant's celebrated green curry chicken, the fish fillet offers a fresh but familiar taste experience.

Exploring the diverse culinary options in Las Vegas, visitors will find Kung Fu Thai Food a must-visit spot for an authentic taste of Thai culture. The introduction of the Sweetened Green Curry Fish Fillet is just one more reason to see what the restaurant has to offer. With a menu that respects tradition while embracing innovation, Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant remains committed to serving outstanding food.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxfsRvj8Eqs

To learn more about Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant and their newest dishes, you can visit their website: https://www.kungfuplaza.com/entrees/thai/sweetened-green-curry-fish-fillet. This site offers details about their diverse selections and what diners can look forward to when visiting this respected eatery in Las Vegas. Whether you are looking for a sumptuous meal or interested in the special offers featured on the site, Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant ensures a satisfying and convenient dining experience.

###

For more information about Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant, contact the company here:



Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant

Alan Wong

702-247-4120

aw@kungfurestaurants.com

3505 S Valley View Blvd Las Vegas, NV 89103
LOS ANGELES, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PlanPros , the cutting-edge AI-driven business planning platform, is proud to announce that it has officially reached worldwide use, with users now leveraging its powerful capabilities across every continentexcept Antarctica. The platform, designed to simplify the process of creating professional business plans, has quickly gained traction among entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses worldwide, enabling them to craft detailed, high-quality business plans in just minutes.





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Press inquiries

PlanPros

https://planpros.ai/

Dave Lavinsky

davel@planpros.ai

12130 Millennium Dr #300, Los Angeles, CA 90094, United States

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

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A video accompanying this announcement is available at

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LAS VEGAS, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pythian Services Inc. (Pythian), a leading global services company specializing in data, analytics, and AI solutions, announced today that it has received the 2025 Google Cloud Databases Partner of the Year Award for North America. This award honors Pythians work helping customers transform their businesses by securely and reliably managing and migrating enterprise data to Google Cloud.

Pythian made the announcement at Google Cloud Next 25, taking place in Las Vegas from April 9 - 11. You can visit Pythian at booth #2787.

For over 27 years, Pythian's expertise has spanned a wide range of database technologies, including Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, MongoDB, Microsoft SQL Server, and more. The companys collaboration with Google Cloudparticularly on AlloyDB for PostgreSQL, Cloud SQL, and Toolkit Solution offeringshas enabled customers to modernize their data platforms, driving greater reliability, security, and value creation. Its long-established leadership within the technical community was also a key differentiator.

Pythian is proud and honored to be recognized as the 2025 Google Cloud Databases Partner of the Year for North America, said Brooks Borcherding, CEO at Pythian. Receiving this award is a very meaningful acknowledgement of our deep partnership with Google, a partnership built on a shared commitment to helping customers unlock the full potential of their data with Google Cloud services.

"Google Clouds Partner Awards recognize partners who have created outsized value for customers through the delivery of innovative solutions and a high level of expertise, said Kevin Ichhpurani, president, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "We're proud to announce Pythian as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner Award winner and celebrate their impact enabling customer success over the past year."

Google Cloud's unique suite of AI-powered, planet-scale databases delivers unmatched reliability, performance, security, and global reach. Customers also gain significant advantages, including cost efficiency, ease of use, developer flexibility, multicloud capabilities, and built-in security. Pythians data management services have empowered companies like Schnucks, Wayfair, Porch.com, and Zenni Optical to achieve radical business transformations. By seamlessly migrating databases from sources like Oracle and MSSQL to Google Cloudincluding AlloyDB for PostgreSQL, Cloud SQL, Spanner, and Oracle Database@Google CloudPythian ensures successful outcomes at every stage, from planning to deployment.

With nearly three decades of Oracle Database experience, Pythian is a trusted leader in the industry and related technical community. Since the company's inception, Pythian experts have contributed to this community by sharing knowledge through a variety of mediums. Its subject matter experts have routinely worked hand in hand with Google Cloud database engineering teams as database offerings have progressed through critical development phases.

As an example, our collaboration with Google Cloud on the Oracle Database@Google Cloud solution exemplifies the powerful synergy between our engineering teams. By working closely with Google Cloud's experts, were able to deliver exceptional results for our shared customers, said Vanessa Simmons, senior vice president, Business Development at Pythian. As a testament to our confidence in the solution, we even migrated our own systems to Oracle Database@Google Cloud."

As a Google Cloud evangelist for the Oracle partnership, Pythian published a blog series explaining the technical and business benefits of Oracle Database@Google Cloud. It also facilitated a webinar series featuring Google and Oracle leadership to share the key details of the new solution, how it benefits customers, and how to get started. The company also expanded its team's Database Engineer certifications, further solidifying its position as leader in the field.

Pythian previously earned the Google Cloud Specialization Partner of the Year for Data Management Award in 2020. Since then, the company continues to demonstrate expertise in building innovative, customer-focused solutions on Google Cloud as an avenue to AI adoption.

Learn more about our Google Cloud Workshops and how to get started.

About Pythian

Founded in 1997, Pythian is a leading data and AI services provider specializing in digital transformation and operational excellence for enterprise customers. We help organizations optimize their data estates, helping them to drive AI enablement, innovation, and growth. Through strategic consulting, managed services and cloud migrations, we enable cost savings, risk reduction and seamless operations while preparing businesses to adopt AI and for the future of data management. A Premier Partner for Google Cloud in the Service and Sell Engagement Models with multiple Specializations, including Data Analytics, Marketing Analytics, Machine Learning, Data Management, Infrastructure, Cloud Migration and a certified Google Cloud MSP, weve delivered thousands of professional and managed services projects for leading enterprises. For more information, visit www.pythian.com or follow us on X, LinkedIn, and our Blog.

Pythian Media Contacts

Vanessa Simmons

Senior Vice President, Business Development

simmons@pythian.com

+1 613-897-9444 Elisabeth Grant

Branch Out Public Relations

egrant@branchoutpr.com

+1 612-599-7797

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/dffd8d31-5287-4668-a972-ef867a615239
DALLAS, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE: AMN), has scheduled a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2025 financial results and second quarter 2025 outlook on Thursday, May 8, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. On the same day, the Company also expects to issue an earnings news release after market close at approximately 4:15 p.m. Eastern Time.

A live webcast of the call can be accessed through this webcast link, which also will be available on AMN Healthcares investor relations website. Interested parties may participate live via telephone by registering at this conference call link. Please follow the link and register with a valid e-mail address. A PIN will be provided to you with dial-in instructions. If you lose track of these details, please re-register at the conference call link above.

Following the conclusion of the call, a replay of the webcast will be available at the Companys investor relations website, http://ir.amnhealthcare.com.

About AMN Healthcare

AMN Healthcare is the leader and innovator in total talent solutions for healthcare organizations across the United States. The Company provides access to the most comprehensive network of quality healthcare professionals through its innovative recruitment strategies and breadth of career opportunities. With insights and expertise, AMN Healthcare helps providers optimize their workforce to successfully reduce complexity, increase efficiency and improve patient outcomes. AMN total talent solutions include managed services programs, clinical and interim healthcare leaders, temporary staffing, direct hire and retained search solutions, vendor management systems, recruitment process outsourcing, predictive modeling, language interpretation services, revenue cycle solutions, credentialing, and other services. Clients include acute-care hospitals, community health centers and clinics, physician practice groups, retail and urgent care centers, home health facilities, schools, and many other healthcare settings.

The Companys common stock is listed under the symbol AMN on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information about AMN Healthcare, visit www.amnhealthcare.com, where the Company posts news releases, investor presentations, webcasts, SEC filings and other material information. The Company also utilizes email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) as routine channels to supplement distribution of this information. To register for email alerts and RSS, visit http://ir.amnhealthcare.com.

Contact:

Randle Reece

Senior Director, Investor Relations and Strategy

866-861-3229

Web site: http://www.amnhealthcare.com
VERO BEACH, Fla., April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bimini Capital Management, Inc. (OTCQB:BMNM) ("Bimini or the "Company"), today announced that it will release results for the first quarter of 2025 following the close of trading on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

Earnings Conference Call Details

An earnings conference call and live audio webcast will be hosted Friday, May 2, 2025, at 10:00 AM ET. Participants can register and receive dial-in information at https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIa731c864bb5447568e7b00d74642ab23 . A live audio webcast of the conference call can be accessed at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/cq5fazei or via the investor relations section of the Company's website at https://ir.biminicapital.com . An audio archive of the webcast will be available for 30 days after the call.

About Bimini Capital Management, Inc.

Bimini Capital Management, Inc. is an asset manager that invests primarily in residential mortgage-related securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae).

Through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Bimini Advisors Holdings, LLC ("Bimini Advisors"), we serve as the external manager of Orchid Island Capital, Inc. ("Orchid"). Orchid is a publicly-traded real estate investment trust (NYSE: ORC). Orchid is managed to earn returns on the spread between the yield on its assets and its costs, including the interest expense on the funds it borrows. As Orchids external manager, Bimini Advisors receives management fees and expense reimbursements for managing Orchid's investment portfolio and day-to-day operations. Pursuant to the terms of the management agreement, Bimini Advisors provides Orchid with its management team, including its officers, along with appropriate support personnel. Bimini Advisors is at all times subject to the supervision and oversight of Orchid's board of directors and has only such functions and authority as are delegated to it.

We also manage the portfolio of our wholly-owned subsidiary, Royal Palm Capital, LLC (Royal Palm). Royal Palm is managed with an investment strategy similar to that of Orchid. Bimini Capital Management, Inc. and its subsidiaries are headquartered in Vero Beach, Florida.
TORONTO, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NowVertical Group Inc. (TSXV: NOW) ("NowVertical" or the "Company"), a leading data and AI solutions provider, announced today that it has received the 2025 Google Cloud Data & Analytics Partner of the Year award for Latin America.

NowVertical received the prestigious award highlighting an exceptional capability on Google Cloud Platform. Google Clouds Partner Awards recognize partners who have created outsized value for customers through the delivery of innovative solutions and a high level of expertise, said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud.

To be named the 2025 Google Cloud Data & Analytics Partner of the Year for Latin America is a significant milestone for us, said Santiago Trogolo, EVP LATAM of NowVertical. We are incredibly proud to receive this award. It signals to the market that NOW is a proven, trusted partner for enterprises looking to harness the full power of their data.

NowVertical is being recognized for their achievements in the Google Cloud ecosystem, helping enterprise customers deliver tangible results across more than 50 data and analytics projects.

Being recognized as Partner of the Year opens the door to new client opportunities and reinforces our ability to deliver cutting-edge data solutions at scale. It positions NowVertical as a trusted partner for AI, analytics, and cloud computing in high-growth markets, said Sandeep Mendiratta, CEO of NowVertical.

The company received the Google Cloud Data & Analytics Partner of the Year award for Latin America at the Google Partner Summit, hosted in Las Vegas, April 8th 2025.

About NowVertical Group Inc.

The Company is a global data and analytics company which helps clients transform data into tangible business value with AI, fast. Offering a comprehensive suite of solutions and services the Company enables clients to quickly harness the full potential of their data, driving measurable outcomes and accelerating potential return on investment. Enterprises optimize decision-making, improve operational efficiency, and unlock long-term value from their data using the Company's AI-Infused first party and third-party technologies. NowVertical is growing organically and through strategic acquisitions. For further details about NowVertical, please visit www.nowvertical.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.



For more information, visit www.nowvertical.com.

For further information, please contact:

Andre Garber, CDO

IR@nowvertical.com

T: +1(647)947-0223

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws (together "forward-looking statements"), including, the alignment of the Companys leadership and shareholders, and the associated results of the transactions contemplated in this press release on NowVerticals business, finances and operations. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties, and contingencies, certain of which are unknown. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "should", "will", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by inherent risks and uncertainties, including: adverse market conditions; risks inherent in the data analytics and artificial intelligence sectors in general; regulatory and legislative changes; that future results may vary from historical results; inability to obtain any requisite future financing on suitable terms; any inability to realize the expected benefits and synergies of acquisitions or dispositions; that market competition may affect the business, results and financial condition of the Company and other risk factors identified in documents filed by the Company under its profile at www.sedarplus.com, including the Company's management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2024. Further, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as expressly required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland and Labrador, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fortis Inc. ("Fortis" or the "Corporation") (TSX/NYSE: FTS) will release its first quarter 2025 financial results on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. A teleconference and webcast will be held the same day at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern). David Hutchens, President and Chief Executive Officer and Jocelyn Perry, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer will discuss the Corporation's first quarter financial results.

Shareholders, analysts, members of the media and other interested parties are invited to listen to the teleconference via the live webcast on the Corporation's website, www.fortisinc.com/investor-relations/events-and-presentations .

Those members of the financial community in Canada and the United States wishing to ask questions during the call are invited to participate toll free by calling 1.833.821.0229. Individuals in other international locations can participate by calling 1.647.846.2371. Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. No access code is required. Alternatively, individuals may pre-register for the call here . Upon registering, individuals will receive a calendar invite by email with dial in details and a unique access code enabling them to bypass the teleconference operator queue. Registration will remain open until the end of the teleconference.

A live and archived audio webcast of the teleconference will be available on the Corporation's website, www.fortisinc.com . A replay of the teleconference will be available two hours after the conclusion of the call until June 7, 2025. Please call 1.855.669.9658 or 1.412.317.0088 and enter access code 7180288#.

Fortis will hold its 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern), 10:30 a.m. (Newfoundland), in-person and online. Shareholders can attend the meeting in person at the Fortis Energy Centre, 5 Springdale Street, 4th floor, St. John's, NL. A link to the virtual platform and how to participate will be available on the Corporation's website, www.fortisinc.com/investors/events-and-presentations/index/2025-annual-meeting . Participants will be able to submit questions for management during the Q&A portion of the webcast.

About Fortis

Fortis is a well-diversified leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry with 2024 revenue of $12 billion and total assets of $73 billion as at December 31, 2024. The Corporation's 9,800 employees serve utility customers in five Canadian provinces, ten U.S. states and three Caribbean countries.

Fortis shares are listed on the TSX and NYSE and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com , www.sedarplus.ca , or www.sec.gov .

A .pdf version of this press release is available at: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/f98fb6f1-5452-4856-b9cf-8c456b811e92

For further information contact
SHANGHAI, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO; HKEX: 9866; SGX: NIO) (NIO or the Company), a pioneer and a leading company in the global smart electric vehicle market, today filed its 2024 annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The annual report can be accessed on the Companys investor relations website at https://ir.nio.com.

The Company will provide a hard copy of its annual report containing the audited consolidated financial statements, free of charge, to its shareholders and ADS holders upon request. Requests should be directed to Investor Relations Department, NIO Inc., Building 19, No. 1355, Caobao Road, Minhang District, Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China.

About NIO Inc.

NIO Inc. is a pioneer and a leading company in the global smart electric vehicle market. Founded in November 2014, NIO aspires to shape a sustainable and brighter future with the mission of Blue Sky Coming. NIO envisions itself as a user enterprise where innovative technology meets experience excellence. NIO designs, develops, manufactures and sells smart electric vehicles, driving innovations in next-generation core technologies. NIO distinguishes itself through continuous technological breakthroughs and innovations, exceptional products and services, and a community for shared growth. NIO provides premium smart electric vehicles under the NIO brand, family-oriented smart electric vehicles through the ONVO brand, and small smart high-end electric cars with the FIREFLY brand.

For more information, please visit: http://ir.nio.com.

Investor Relations

ir@nio.com

Media Relations

global.press@nio.com
PANAMA CITY, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE: CPA) announces the following events:

Earnings Release  First Quarter 2025 Date: May 7, 2025 Time: After US market close This release will be available on our website: https://copa.gcs-web.com/financial-information/quarterly-results Earnings Conference Call and Webcast Date: May 8, 2025 Time: 11:00 AM US ET (10:00 AM Local Time) Join by phone: https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIcb85f85fa26a4d56b9369d66c4fb6a5c Webcast (listen-only): https://copa.gcs-web.com/events-and-presentations



We encourage our listeners to join the conference via webcast. To ensure a smooth experience, please access the website and complete registration/software installation prior to the scheduled start time.

If you are unable to listen to or access this presentation at the scheduled time, a webcast replay option will be available at the above website shortly after the conference.

Copa Holdings is a leading Latin American provider of passenger and cargo services. The Company, through its operating subsidiaries, provides service to countries in North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. For more information, visit www.copaair.com.

CPA-G
Addison, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Addison, Illinois -

Monkey's Wrench Plumbing, a family-owned and operated plumbing company, is proud to announce its relocation from Elmwood Park, IL to Addison, IL. The move marks a major milestone in the company's mission to better serve the residential and commercial plumbing needs of DuPage County and the greater Chicago area.

With an unwavering commitment to quality, integrity, and reliability, Monkey's Wrench Plumbing has quickly become one of the most recognized names in plumbing throughout Chicagoland. By relocating to Addison, the company is strategically positioned to offer faster response times and an even higher level of customer service to homeowners and businesses in need of plumbing solutions they can count on.

"Our move to Addison wasn't just about changing locationsit was about getting closer to the community we've grown to love and serve," said Michael Surmin, Owner of Monkey's Wrench Plumbing. "We've always been about putting people first, and this transition allows us to reach more homes, more families, and more businesses that rely on honest, high-quality plumbing services."

Monkey's Wrench Plumbing offers a wide range of professional plumbing services, including: Drain cleaning; Sewer line repairs and replacements; Water heater repairs and installations; Leak detection; and Emergency plumbing services.

Whether it's a clogged drain at midnight or a failing water heater on a freezing winter morning, Monkey's Wrench Plumbing is just a phone call away. Their team is known for fast response times, clean workmanship, and treating every home with the same respect and care as their own.

As a family-owned and operated business, the team at Monkey's Wrench Plumbing understands the importance of trust. That's why they are fully licensed, insured, and dedicated to providing transparent pricing with no hidden fees. Their reputation is built on delivering dependable plumbing services at reasonable ratesand they back it all with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

"We're not just plumberswe're problem solvers, neighbors, and community members," added Surmin. "Every service call is an opportunity to make someone's day a little easier and their home a little safer. That's why we offer emergency services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When you need us, we're thereno matter what."

Monkey's Wrench Plumbing takes pride in their hands-on approach and attention to detail. Each technician is carefully trained, courteous, and equipped with the latest tools and technology to get the job done right the first time. From the initial phone call to the final walkthrough, customers can expect a seamless, stress-free experience that puts their needs front and center.

The move to Addison is already paying off. Residents and business owners across DuPage County have expressed appreciation for the company's quick response times, expert plumbing knowledge, and friendly, down-to-earth service.

"We're truly humbled by the warm welcome we've received in Addison and throughout DuPage County," said Surmin. "It means the world to us to have the trust of this community. We're excited to keep building those relationships and providing the reliable service people deserve."

Monkey's Wrench Plumbing is continuing to grow and expand their team to keep up with increasing demand. With their headquarters now centrally located in Addison, the company is well-positioned to become the go-to plumbing provider across the region.

If you're in need of professional plumbing serviceswhether it's routine maintenance, an urgent repair, or a brand-new installationMonkey's Wrench Plumbing is ready to help. They offer same-day service, upfront pricing, and the kind of customer care that only a family-run business can provide. For more information, to schedule a service, or to get a quote, visit https://www.monkeyswrenchplumbing.com or call (630) 624-6665.



About Monkey's Wrench Plumbing

Monkey's Wrench Plumbing is a family-owned and operated plumbing company based in Addison, Illinois. Known for its honest service, quick response times, and dependable work, the company serves residents and businesses throughout DuPage County and the Chicago area. With 24/7 emergency service and a customer-first approach, Monkey's Wrench Plumbing is the trusted choice for all your plumbing needs.

###

For more information about Monkey's Wrench Plumbing, contact the company here:



Monkey's Wrench Plumbing

Michael Surmin

(630) 624-6665

monkzilla22@icloud.com

1001 Republic Dr Ste 4

Addison, IL 60101
LithiumBank Resources Corp. (TSXV: LBNK) (OTCQX: LBNKF) ("LithiumBank" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the filing of a technical report (the "Report") for an updated mineral resource estimate at its 100% owned Boardwalk lithium brine project ("Boardwalk") located in west-central Alberta. The Report is entitled "LithiumBank Resources Corp. Boardwalk NI 43-101 Technical Report" with an effective date of February 20, 2025. The Boardwalk resource estimate highlights were originally announced by the Company on February 20, 2025. The Report can be found on the Company's website and on SEDAR+.

Boardwalk Resource Estimate Highlights:

Boardwalk hosts the highest-grade lithium brine measured or indicated current resource estimate in Alberta at 81.6 mg/L lithium.

5,195,000 tonnes of measured or indicated of lithium carbonate equivalent ("LCE") within the Leduc Formation ("Fm") aquifer at an average of 81.6 mg/L lithium (Table 2).

2,777,000 tonnes of inferred LCE within the Leduc Fm and Beaverhill Lake Group ("Gp")/Swan Hills Fm aquifers, which directly underlies the Leduc Fm, at a weighted average of 79.0 mg/L lithium (Table 1).

The resource estimate at Boardwalk increased by over 30% due to an increase in the lithium grade via recent "10-06" drilling/testing program (Figure 1), additional measurements, refined parameterization of Leduc Fm aquifer geometry and effective porosity, as well as confirming the presence of lithium in the Beaverhill Lake Gp/Swan Hills Fm aquifer (Figure 3).

The subsurface reservoir model will assist in planning well networks and locations in future economic and engineering studies.

The Report estimates the LCE measured resource at 1,671,000 tonnes at a grade of 81.2 mg/L lithium and 3,524,000 tonnes of indicated LCE at a grade of 81.8 mg/L lithium within the Leduc Fm. This leads to a combined total of measured and indicated resources of 5,195,000 tonnes LCE with an average grade of 81.6 mg/L lithium (Table 2). Additionally, recent work estimates the inferred LCE resources of 1,128,000 tonnes at 81.8 mg/L lithium and 1,649,000 tonnes inferred LCE at 78.1 mg/L lithium within the Leduc and Beaverhill Lake Gp/Swan Hills Fm (Table 1), respectively. The data and workflow process were reviewed and validated by Alex Haluszka of Montrose Environmental Solutions Canada Inc.; a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

The Boardwalk resource estimate is an increase in lithium grade of approximately 18% from the previous resource estimate and an increase in overall lithium resources by approximately 30% (previous Boardwalk resource estimate with effective date Feb. 22, 2024) and increasing the Company's overall lithium resources as shown in Table 2 and Figure 3.

Table 1: Boardwalk Lithium Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimations

Resource Category Reservoir brine Volume

(km3) Grade

(mg/L lithium) Sub total - tonnes LCE

Category total tonnes LCE Category Grade

(mg/L lithium) Measured Leduc (oil saturated zone) 0.25 71.8 91,000 1,671,000 81.2 Measured Leduc (water saturated zone) 3.82 81.8 1,580,000 Indicated Leduc (water saturated zone) 8.52 81.8 3,524,000 3,524,000 81.8 Inferred Leduc (water saturated zone) 2.73 81.8 1,128,000 2,777,000 79.0 Inferred Beaverhill Lake/Swan Hills 4.18 78.1 1,649,000 Note 1: Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no guarantee that all or any part of the mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by geology, environment, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.

Note 2: The weights are reported in metric tonnes (1,000 kg or 2,204.6 lbs).

Note 3: Tonnage numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000 unit.

Note 4: In a 'confined' aquifer (as reported herein), effective porosity is an appropriate parameter to use for the resource estimate.

Note 5: The resource estimation was completed and reported using a cut-off of 50 mg/L Li.

Note 6: To describe the resource in terms of industry standard, a conversion factor of 5.323 is used to convert elemental Li to Li2CO3, or Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE).

Table 2: LithiumBank lithium resource holdings from Boardwalk and Park Place

Project Resource Category Lithium Grade

(mg/L) Tonnes LCE LithiumBank Combined Resources

(tonnes LCE) Lithium Grade

(mg/L) Combined Category Boardwalk Measured 81.2 1,671,000 5,195,000 81.6 Measured & Indicated Indicated 81.8 3,524,000 Inferred 79.0 2,777,000 24,474,000 80.1 Inferred Park Place Inferred 80.2 21,697,000 *The NI 43-101 compliant Park Place resource estimate entitled "LithiumBank Resources Corp. Park Place NI 43-101 Technical Report" effectively dated June 24, 2024, is available on SEDAR+

**LithiumBank is following the same systematic development strategy at Park Place as it has with Boardwalk.

Boardwalk consists of 395,369 acres of contiguous Brine Hosted Mineral Licenses ("BHML") owned 100% by LithiumBank. The Company has consolidated 100% of BHML's overlying the Leduc Fm and Beaverhill Lake Gp/Swan Hills Fm at Boardwalk with no freehold mineral rights or any carbon sequestration/pore space permits or applications existing over Boardwalk. Boardwalk is situated approximately 85 km east of Grande Prairie and approximately 270 km northwest of Edmonton. Boardwalk is also approximately 50 km to the north of the Company's Park Place lithium brine project ("Park Place"). Boardwalk and the surrounding area have seen over 70 years of hydrocarbon extraction resulting in a well-established and well-trained labour force, networks of all-weather gravel roads, drill sites that can be easily accessed from Provincial highways, and electrical transmission lines that run through the project (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Map of the Boardwalk showing NI 43-101 measured, indicated, and inferred lithium resources with surface infrastructure and A-A' cross-section line from Figure 2.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10140/247741_9834a015e4e7982e_001full.jpg





Figure 2: Cross-section through Boardwalk showing effective porosity. Cross-section line shown on Figure 1.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10140/247741_9834a015e4e7982e_002full.jpg





Figure 3: Comparable lithium brine and lithium clay projects in North America (as of Feb. 20, 2025).

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10140/247741_9834a015e4e7982e_003full.jpg

Mineral Resource Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Samples collected in 2021 and used in the resource estimate were analysed at AGAT Laboratories, an ISO 17025:2017 certified lab, in Calgary Alberta ("AGAT"). LithiumBank implemented strict Quality Control and Quality Assurance ("QA/QC") protocols for the analysis (as per the news release June 28, 2022) . Initial testing of the four wells included six brine samples from each well. Well number 100/09-26-068-22W5/00 was sampled first and included six lab duplicates, blanks, standard reference material, and check lab analysis.

LithiumBank conducted a second round of QA/QC with a new standard reference material sample made to mimic the Sturgeon Lake brine grades. The second round also included blanks and duplicates and consisted of an additional 13 samples from well 100/09-26-068-22W5/00 and one additional sample from the other three wells. All samples were analysed at AGAT Labs in Calgary, AB.

LithiumBank later acquired well 100/10-06-069-21W5/00 ("10-6") which was extended, via a sidetrack, from the top of the Leduc Fm to the bottom of the Beaverhill Lake Gp/Swan Hills Fm (as per the news release September 23, 2024). The sampling at the 10-6 was done under the supervision and guidance of Gord McMillan, P. Geo., who was on site at the 10-6 during the sampling campaign to ensure QA/QC. Brine samples were sent to AGAT. Duplicate samples were sent to Isobrine Laboratory and Bureau Veritas Laboratory in Edmonton Alberta as duplicate check lab samples. Each batch of samples included duplicate samples and standard reference material to ensure QA/QC.

The scientific and technical information relating to the mineral resource estimate presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Alex Haluszka P. Geo. of Montrose Environmental Solutions Canada Inc., Alex Haluszka is independent of LithiumBank and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

The Report was prepared by the following Qualified Persons; Alex Haluszka P. Geo. of Montrose Environmental Solutions Canada Inc., George C Brindle, P.Eng., of Skoki Energy Advisors Inc., Kevin Piepgrass, P.Geo. The updated resource estimate was prepared in collaboration with global technology and services company SLB.

Risks and Uncertainties

There is no guarantee that a company can successfully extract lithium in a commercial capacity. Initial mineral processing bench-scale and/or demonstration pilot test work may not translate to a full-scale commercial operation.

About LithiumBank Resources Corp.

LithiumBank Resources Corp. (TSXV: LBNK) (OTCQX: LBNKF), is a publicly traded lithium company that is focused on developing its two flagship projects, Boardwalk and Park Place, in Western Canada, which host some of the largest lithium brine resources in North America (Figure 3). The Company holds 1,855,915 acres of brown-field brine hosted mineral licenses, across three (3) districts in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Company has pilot tested multiple mature Direct Lithium Extraction ("DLE") technologies and is working toward establishing commercial lithium production by a modular approach.

Contact:

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, timing, assumptions or expectations of future performance, including without limitation, the Company's expectations regarding that the subsurface reservoir model will assist in planning well networks and locations in future economic and engineering studies, and that the Company will continue working towards commercial lithium production by a modular approach are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should" or "would" or occur.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analysis made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this press release, including that the subsurface reservoir model will assist in planning well networks and locations in future economic and engineering studies, that the Company will continue to work towards establishing commercial lithium production, and the commercial lithium production will be achieved by a modular approach.

These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Important risks that may cause actual results to vary, include, without limitation, the risk that the subsurface reservoir model will not be used in planning well networks and locations in future economic and engineering studies, that the Company will not continue working towards establishing commercial lithium production, or that commercial lithium production will not be achieved by a modular approach.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial outlook that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.


Vancouver, April 8, 2025 - Vanguard Mining Corp. ("Vanguard" or the "Company") (UUU: CSE) (RECHF: OTC) (SL5: Frankfurt) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Letter of Intent ("LOI") to acquire four (4) concessions: the three (3) San Jose and one (1) Yuty Uno concessions (together, the "Yuty Prometeo" project.) The 4 concessions cover approximately 90,000 hectares (222,395 acres) within the Parana Basin in southeastern Paraguay.

David Greenway, CEO of Vanguard Mining Corp., commented, "The acquisition of the Yuty Prometeo concessions represents a transformative step forward in Vanguard's uranium exploration strategy. These highly prospective concessions, located adjacent to UEC's established Yuty multi-million-pound deposit, position us in one of the most promising uranium regions in South America. We are excited to build on the historical exploration and leverage modern techniques to unlock the project's full potential."

The terms of the proposed transaction are outlined below (the "Transaction Terms"). Under the LOI, Vanguard will acquire all issued securities of Paraguay Uranium S.A. ("Paraguay Uranium") from 1302343 BC Ltd., which currently holds an 85% ownership interest. Paraguay Uranium holds an 85% interest in the Yuty Prometeo uranium project, located in southeastern Paraguay, and is the legal and beneficial owner of the concession. These concessions are contiguous to Uranium Energy Corp.'s ("UEC") Yuty Deposit, which hosts Indicated resources of 8.96 million pounds of U?O?.

The Transaction Terms

The non-binding letter of intent outlines the terms in preparation for a definitive agreement as follows:

Vanguard may acquire an 85% interest in Paraguay Uranium by providing the following:

Payment of $20,000 to Paraguay Uranium upon signing.

Issue to the shareholders of Paraguay Uranium, pro rata in proportion to their holdings, an aggregate of 8,000,000 common shares in the capital of Vanguard.

Payment of $20,000 to Paraguay Uranium upon Vanguard being issued "Prospecting Permit" which entitles the company to both commence further surface exploration as well as exploration drilling.

About the Yuty Prometeo Uno Concession

The Uno Concessions, part of the Yuty Prometeo Project, cover approximately 27,666 hectares (68,368 acres) within the Parana Basin, and are directly contiguous to UEC's Yuty Project. To date, 28 drill holes have been completed on the property, returning uranium assay results ranging from 0.05% to 0.10% U?O?. Geophysical surveys, drilling data, and surface sampling indicate that the Prometeo block is on trend with UEC's adjacent Transandes block.

About the Yuty Prometeo San Jose Concession

The San Jose Concession, part of the Yuty Prometeo Project, covers approximately 62,210 hectares (153,754 acres) over three (3) concessions and is located along the Upper Permian-Carboniferous contact, about 100 km northwest of UEC's Yuty Project and 40 km west of its Coronel Oviedo Project. A radiometric car survey conducted over a 40 km by 10 km area identified significant uranium anomalies across the property.



Click Image To View Full Size

Figure 1: Project map of the Yuty Prometeo Concession showing regional road access, Vanguard's San Jose and Yuty Uno concession boundaries, and the adjacent Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC) Yuty Project.

Notes:

Vanguard concession blocks are shown as Vanguard Mining, and outlined with black-orange lines

Radiometric anomalies: Increasing intensity is shown in yellow-pink-red-violet-blue

About UEC's Yuty ISR Project

The Yuty ISR Project, owned by UEC, covers approximately 117,359 hectares (290,000 acres) and is located about 200 kilometers east and southeast of Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. Positioned within the Parana Basin, the area hosts several known uranium deposits, including Figueira and Amorinopolis in Brazil. Preliminary studies indicate the deposit is amenable to in situ recovery ("ISR") - the same low-cost extraction method UEC successfully employs at its operations in Texas.

Modern exploration of the Yuty Project began in 1976, when Anschutz Corporation ("Anschutz ") of Denver, Colorado, conducted regional uranium exploration under a joint venture with Korea Electric Power Corporation and Taiwan Power Company. Working under an exclusive concession covering 162,700 square kilometers, nearly the entire eastern half of Paraguay, Anschutz identified multiple target areas, including Yuty. From 1976 to 1983, the company drilled approximately 75,000 meters of core and rotary holes, halting further work due to declining uranium prices.

In July 2006, Cue Resources Ltd. ("CUE") acquired an option on the Yuty Project and launched its own rotary and diamond drilling campaigns. Between 2007 and 2010, CUE completed 256 drill holes totaling 31,000 meters, ultimately acquiring 100% ownership of the project.

On March 30, 2012, UEC acquired all outstanding shares of CUE Resources Ltd., securing a 100% undivided interest in the Yuty Project.1

Resource Estimates:

The current disclosed resource for UEC's Yuty Project is 8.962 million lbs of U308 Indicated, and 2.203 million lbs of U308 Inferred, which has been finalized in a technical report prepared for UEC titled "Yuty Uranium Project Initial Assessment US SEC Subpart 1300 Regulation SK Report, Paraguay SA" dated July 1, 2022. 2

The Technical Report shows an average grade and resource at the Yuty Project as follows:

Indicated Mineral Resources Unit Tons (millions) Weighted Average Thickness Weighted Average Grade (%U3O8) Pounds U3O8 (millions) Massive Sand Unit Cutoff grade 0.1ft% GT 7.233 10.2 0.048 6.969 Fine-Grained and Wavy Sand Units Cutoff grade 0.1%ft GT 1.842 3.5 0.054 1.994 Total Indicated Mineral Resource Cutoff grade 0.1%ft GT 9.074 7.3 0.049 8.962 Notes: 1. SEC S-K 1300definitions were followed for all Mineral Resource categories. 2. Mineral Resources are estimated using a long-term uranium price of $65 per pound. 3. Numbers may not add up to the finalized amount due to rounding. Inferred Mineral Resources Massive Sand Unit Cutoff grade 0.1%ft GT 1.69 14.5 0.045 1.528 Fine-Grained and Wavy Sand Units Cutoff grade 0.1%ft GT 1.043 6.8 0.032 0.675 Total Inferred Mineral Resource Cutoff grade 0.1%ft GT 2.733 10.1 0.04 2.203 Notes: 1. SEC S-K 1300 definitions were followed for all Mineral Resource categories. 2. Mineral Resources are estimated using a long-term uranium price of $65 per pound. 3. Numbers may not add up to the finalized amount due to rounding.

Vanguard's management cautions that past results or discoveries on properties adjacent to Vanguard's projects may not be indicative of mineralization on the Company's own properties.

About Paraguay

The Republic of Paraguay is an emerging mining jurisdiction in the heart of South America, bordered by Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. Known for its political stability, low sovereign risk, and investor-friendly regulatory environment, Paraguay offers a supportive framework for mineral exploration and development. The country has a democratic government, strong legal protections for foreign investment, and a growing interest in unlocking its untapped mineral potential, particularly in uranium, rare earth elements, and base metals. With abundant land, a relatively low population density, and improving infrastructure, Paraguay is increasingly recognized as a geopolitically stable and strategically attractive destination for mining companies seeking long-term growth opportunities.

About Vanguard Mining Corp.

Vanguard Mining Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the discovery and development of high-value strategic minerals. The Company is currently advancing uranium exploration projects in the United States and Paraguay, with a focus on identifying and developing assets critical to the global energy transition. Vanguard is committed to responsible exploration and value creation through the acquisition and advancement of highly prospective uranium properties.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Lawrence Segerstrom, a consulting geologist who is a "Qualified Person" as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43- 101").

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

"David Greenway"

David Greenway, CEO

For further information, please contact:

Vanguard Mining Corp.

Brent Rusin

Phone: +1 672-533-0348

E-Mail: brent@vanguardminingcorp.com

Website: vanguardmining.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which reflect the expectations of management regarding Vanguard's intention to continue to identify potential transactions and make certain corporate changes and applications. Forward looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance, or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. 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 Vanguard will obtain from them. These forward-looking statements reflect managements' current views and are based on certain expectations, estimates and assumptions which may prove to be incorrect. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including Vanguard's results of exploration or review of properties that Vanguard does acquire. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and Vanguard assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results differed from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

###

1

2 Source : https://www.uraniumenergy.com/news/releases/index.php?content_id=910;

2 Source : https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1334933/000143774922017351/ex_396105.htm

Copyright (c) 2025 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
Vancouver, April 8, 2025 - Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd. (the "Company") (CSE:GCC) (OTC:GCCFF) (WKN:A402CQ) (FSE:3TZ) is announcing that its 2025 drill program is now underway at the Company's flagship Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine property (the "Property"), located approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) northeast of Hixon, central British Columbia, Canada.

Today's commencement marks a significant operational milestone as drilling crews and equipment are fully mobilized to execute a comprehensive diamond drilling program designed to delineate and expand high-potential gold targets across the Property. Initially, the Company is completing surface drill hole QGQ24-21, currently the westernmost drill hole collar within the permit area, which is located 80 meters (262 feet) WSW of QGQ24-20, which encountered significant gold grades found, in part, to be associated with a major fault along a northwesterly striking contact between the mafic to intermediate volcanic host rocks (greenstones) and a black argillite unit. QGQ24-20 returned 137.17m (450.0ft) of 1.45g/t gold and 9.77g/t silver, including 4.29m (14.1ft) of 16.35g/t gold and 9.09g/t silver and including 2.0m (6.1ft) of 6.36g/t gold and 957.0g/t silver (February 25, 2025 News Release). Strong lithologic similarities have been noted between the top of hole QGQ24-20 and the deepest section drilled in QGQ24-21 so far. Assay results are pending for the top 220.2 meters (722.44 feet) of QGQ24-21.

"We are excited to launch our 2025 drill program and build on the encouraging results from previous exploration campaigns," said J. Frank Callaghan, President & CEO of Golden Cariboo Resources. "Our program strategically targets extensions of established zones-such as the Halo and North Hixon areas-while also exploring new avenues identified through our integrated geological and geospatial analyses. This phase of exploration and development is pivotal in our ongoing mission to reveal the remarkable and yet-untapped potential of the Cariboo Gold District."

The current drill program forms a core component of Golden Cariboo's broader exploration strategy, which combines historical data with state-of-the-art surveying and mapping techniques. Surface drill holes are being collared to systematically test key targets where indications of higher-grade mineralization have been recently recorded. The Company anticipates that forthcoming assay results and real-time field assessments will guide the expansion of drilling activities into additional high-priority areas over this season.

The technical information in this news release has been approved by Jean Pautler, P.Geo., a qualified person with respect to NI 43-101.

About Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd.

Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd. is rediscovering the Cariboo Gold Rush by proceeding with highly targeted drilling and trenching programs on its Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine property which is bordered by Osisko Development (NSE:ODV/TSXV:ODV), partly intertwined with them at the north end of the Cariboo Gold Project, and located along a favorable corridor adjacent to the Spanish and Eureka thrust faults over a 94,899 hectare (234,501 acre) area. Historically, over 101 placer gold creeks on the 90-kilometer (56 mile) trend from the Cariboo Hudson mine north to the Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine property have recorded production and successful placer mining continues to this day.

Golden Cariboo's Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine property is 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) northeast of, and road accessible from, Hixon in central British Columbia. The Property includes the Quesnelle Quartz gold-silver deposit, which was discovered in 1865 in conjunction with placer mining activities. Hixon Creek, which dissects the old workings, is a placer creek which has seen small-scale placer production since the mid 1860s.

For further information please contact:

GOLDEN CARIBOO RESOURCES LTD.

"J. Frank Callaghan"

J. Frank Callaghan, President & CEO

Tel: 604-669-6463

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS

www.goldencariboo.com

LIKE AND FOLLOW

Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn

Neither the "CSE" Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements:

This news release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities and plans of the Company. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" or similar expressions and includes information regarding; the expectation that the Company will receive all necessary exemptions and approvals to complete the Offering; the expectation that the Company will complete the Offering on the terms disclosed, or at all; the expectation that the proceeds will be used for property exploration and for general working capital; the Company's exploration plans with respect to its Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine property; and the anticipated participation of the insider in the Offering.

Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions of management, including, without limitation, that the Company will receive all necessary exemptions and approvals to complete the Offering; that the Company will complete the Offering on the terms disclosed, or at all; that the proceeds will be used for property exploration and for general working capital; that the Company will have the resources required to proceed with its exploration plans; that the Company will not run into regulatory or other barriers in carrying out its business plans; that the insider will participate in the Offering, on the terms and conditions and in the amount currently expected by management; and that the Company will be able to rely on the exemption from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements on the basis anticipated.

Additionally, forward-looking information involve a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, without limitation: that the Company will not receive the necessary exemptions and approvals to complete the Offering; that the Company will not complete the Offering on the terms disclosed, or at all; that the Company will be unable to use the proceeds for property exploration and for general working capital; that the Company may incur unanticipated costs; that the Company may not have the resources required to pursue its exploration plans; that the Company's operations could be adversely affected by possible future government legislation policies and controls or by changes in applicable laws and regulations; that the insider may not participate in the Offering on the terms and conditions and in the amount currently expected by management, or at all; and that the Company may not be able to rely on the exemption from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements on the basis currently expected. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. Neither the Company nor any of its representatives make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, sufficiency or completeness of the information in this news release. Neither the Company nor any of its representatives shall have any liability whatsoever, under contract, tort, trust or otherwise, to you or any person resulting from the use of the information in this news release by you or any of your representatives or for omissions from the information in this news release.

The forward-looking statements herein speak only as of the date they were originally made. The Company has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Copyright (c) 2025 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
Kelowna, April 8, 2025 - Enduro Metals Corp. (TSXV: ENDR) (OTCQB: ENDMF) (FSE: SOG0) ("Enduro") and Commander Resources Ltd. (TSXV: CMD) ("Commander" and together with Enduro, the "Parties") are pleased to announce that Commander has obtained an interim order (the "Interim Order") of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in connection with the previously announced proposed transaction between the Parties (the "Arrangement") whereby Enduro will acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of Commander, to be implemented under a statutory plan of arrangement pursuant to section 288 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The Interim Order provides for the holding of an annual general and special meeting (the "Meeting") of Commander shareholders to, among other things, consider and vote on a special resolution approving the Arrangement (the "Arrangement Resolution"). The Meeting is scheduled to be held at Commander's offices located at 11th Floor - 1111 Melville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia on May 15, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (Vancouver time) and the record date for determining Commander shareholders entitled to receive notice of and vote at the Meeting has been fixed as at the close of business on April 9, 2025.

Meeting Materials

In connection with the Meeting, Commander will be mailing a notice of meeting, a management information circular (the "Circular"), letter of transmittal and related meeting materials (collectively, the "Meeting Materials") to applicable Commander securityholders. Securityholders are urged to carefully review all Meeting Materials as they contain important information concerning the Arrangement and the rights and entitlements of the securityholders in relation thereto. The Meeting Materials will also be available under Commander's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca once they have been mailed to securityholders in the coming days.

Final Order and Completion Date

An application for the final order of the Court (the "Final Order") approving the Arrangement is currently expected to take place on or about May 26, 2025. Subject to obtaining the Final Order, the required approvals from Commander's securityholders at the Meeting, required regulatory approvals, and the satisfaction of all other conditions to implementing the Arrangement as set out in the arrangement agreement entered into between Enduro and Commander on February 25, 2025, the Arrangement is anticipated to be completed in May of 2025.

Voting Requirements

The Arrangement Resolution must be approved by not less than 662/3% of the votes cast by the Commander shareholders present in person or represented by proxy at the Meeting.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular prepared in connection with the Arrangement, any information released or received with respect to the Arrangement may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Commander and Enduro should be considered highly speculative.

Commander has received several irrevocable support agreements in favor of the transaction from management and significant shareholders totaling 13,133,900 shares or 29.7% of issued and outstanding.

About Enduro Metals

Enduro Metals is an exploration company focused on its Newmont Lake Project; a total 688km2 property located between Eskay Creek, Snip, and Galore Creek within the heart of British Columbia's Golden Triangle. Building on prior results, Enduro's geological team has outlined multiple deposit environments of interest across the Newmont Lake Project including high-grade epithermal/skarn gold along the McLymont Fault, copper-gold alkalic porphyry mineralization at Burgundy, newly discovered copper-gold porphyry mineralization at North Toe, and a large 10km x 4km geochemical anomaly hosting various gold, silver, copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, and lead mineralization along the Chachi Corridor.

About Commander Resources

Commander is a Canadian focused exploration company that has leveraged its success in exploration through a combination of partnerships and sole funded exploration. Commander has a portfolio of base and precious metal projects across Canada including its flagship Burn Project, a newly discovered porphyry copper-gold project in the Babine copper belt of central British Columbia and its October Dome copper and gold porphyry target in central British Columbia and our Sabin VMS project in Ontario.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Commander Resources Ltd.

"Robert Cameron"

President and Chief Executive Officer

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Enduro Metals Corporation

"Cole Evans"

Chief Executive Officer

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements". Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Enduro's and Commander's actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such 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. Forward-Looking statements in this news release include statements concerning the parties' expectation that they will complete the Arrangement and the timing thereof, and all other statements that are not historical in nature.

Although Enduro and Commander believe the forward-looking information contained in this news release is reasonable based on information available on the date hereof, forward-looking statements by their nature involve assumptions, 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 expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS NEWS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF ENDURO AND COMMANDER AS OF THE DATE OF THIS NEWS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE ENDURO AND COMMANDER MAY ELECT TO, NEITHER OF THEM UNDERTAKES TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider

accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES



To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/247736
Vancouver, April 8, 2025 - Stellar AfricaGold Inc. (TSX-V: SPX) ("Stellar" or the "Company") announces:

Shares for Debt Settlement

Further to the Company's news releases of September 18, 2024 and October 7, 2024 regarding the settlement of certain debts by the issuance of shares of the Company, the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V") required the Company to obtain disinterested shareholder approval at its annual general and special shareholder's meeting ("AGM") prior to completing one portion of the shares-for-debt transaction.

At the AGM held February 27, 2025 the Company received the required shareholder approval and the TSX-V has granted final approval of the outstanding portion of the shares-for-debt transaction. The Company has issued the final 1,238,060 common shares at the previously approved price of $0.05 per share to settle the remaining $61,903.00 in debt owed to a non-arms' length creditor.

All securities issued pursuant to the Debt Settlement are subject to a statutory four-month and one day

hold period in accordance with Canadian Securities Law and the policies of the TSX-V.

The creditor is a Director and a related party of the Company pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Related party involvement in the Debt Settlement constitutes a "related party transaction". The Company relied on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 pursuant to Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) respectively, as neither the fair market value of the subject matter of, nor the fair market value of the consideration for, the Debt Settlement, insofar as it involves interested parties, exceeds 25 per cent of the Company's market capitalization.

Incentive Stock Options

Pursuant to the Company's Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan approved by Shareholders on February 27, 2025 the Company has granted an aggregate of 1,360,000 incentive stock options to three directors and officers of the Company. The options are exercisable at a price $0.10 per share until April 8, 2030. Additionally, 260,000 previously granted incentive stock options have been voluntarily surrendered and cancelled.

Private Placement Update

Further to the Company's news releases of March 17, 2025 and April 1, 2025 wherein the Company disclosed that three Directors of the Company had participated in the private placement contributing $140,000 of a total of $1,170.000, the Company further discloses that the three Directors are related parties of the Company pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Related party involvement in the private placement constitutes a "related party transaction". The Company relied on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 pursuant to Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) respectively, as neither the fair market value of the subject matter of, nor the fair market value of the consideration for the private placement shares, insofar as it involves interested parties, exceeds 25 per cent of the Company's market capitalization.

ABOUT STELLAR AFRICAGOLD INC.

Stellar AfricaGold Inc. is a Canadian precious metal exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange symbol TSX.V: SPX, the Tradegate Exchange TGAT: 6YP and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange FSX: 6YP.

The Company maintains its head office in Vancouver, BC and has a representative office in Casablanca, Morocco.

Stellar's principal exploration projects are its advancing gold discovery at the Tichka Est Gold Project in Morocco, and its early-stage exploration Zuenoula Gold Project in Cote d'Ivoire.

Stellar's President and CEO J. Francois Lalonde can be contacted at +1 514-9940654 or by email at lalondejf@stellarafricagold.com

Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.stellarafricagold.com.

On Behalf of the Board

J. Francois Lalonde

J. Francois Lalonde

President & CEO

Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are based on assumptions and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the forward-looking statement will not occur. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date hereof and reflect several material factors, expectations, and assumptions. Undue reliance should not be placed on any predictions or forward-looking statements as these may be affected by, among other things, changing external events and general uncertainties of the business. A discussion of the material risks applicable to us can be found in our current Management Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form, each of which have been or will be filed on SEDAR+ and can be accessed at www.sedarplus.ca. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and we disclaim any intention and assume no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although the Company believes that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this news release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. The Company does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein.

Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials, including its reports filed with the Canadian securities regulators and which can be obtained from www.sedarplus.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Copyright (c) 2025 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
Avrupa Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: AVU) reports progress with internal studies covering the Rauhala massive sulfide deposit, located near the historic Vihanti Mine in the Vihanti-Pyhasalmi Mining District in central Finland. Avrupa's partnership with Akkerman Exploration bv ("AEbv") in the Finnish operating company Akkerman Finland Oy ("AFOy") is advancing five massive sulfide projects in the district, including Rauhala.



Click Image To View Full Size

Figure 1. Location of the Rauha mineral rights package, covering the Rauhala massive sulfide deposit in the Vihanti-Pyhasalmi Mining District.

According to AEbv research, compilation, and recent reporting, the Rauhala deposit is a small, high-grade, sediment-hosted massive sulfide deposit located southwest of the historic Vihanti Mine in Central Finland. The Geological Survey of Finland discovered the deposit in 1985 and outlined mineralization with 61 drill holes. The mining company Outokumpu Oy took over the project in 1987, drilled nine more infill holes and in 1988 reported an in-house, non-NI 43-101 compliant geological resource* of 880,500 mt @ 1.6% copper, 6.1% zinc, 1% lead, 0,5 g/t gold, and 49 g/t silver. Reference to the private report (in Finnish) may be found at: 1988 Outokumpu report.

*Note: The historic resource estimate quoted above is historical in nature and not NI 43-101 compliant. It was compiled and reported by Outokumpu Oy during its operation (1988). This in-house estimate is historical in nature and should not be relied upon, however, it does suggest indications of mineralization on the property. The Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the estimate as current Mineral Resources, and Avrupa is not treating this historical estimate as current Mineral Resources.

Outokumpu continued detailed studies for another six years, completing 22 more drill holes, metallurgical tests, and underground mine design works, but not the possibility of initial open pit mining. No work was attempted concerning the possibility of significant gold mineralization in the deposit. The government granted a mining concession to Outokumpu in 1992, but the company did not do any further work at the Rauhala deposit.

AFOy acquired the Rauhala deposit mineral rights in 2023 after a moratorium of the mining concession area expired. In November 2024, AFOy acquired further rights covering potential mineral extensions around the deposit from Pyhasalmi Mine Oy. AFOy followed this by retrieving, compiling, and analyzing all historic data covering the deposit, including information and geochemical analyses for all 92 drill holes and 2,380 assays from the core samples. Compilation of the data produced the following conclusions:

The deposit is a tabular layer of massive and disseminated sulfides containing base and precious metals.

Mineralization is sediment-hosted. There are no associated volcanic units.

Thickness of the layer varies from 0.5 meters to 12 meters, with an average of 3.6 meters.

The mineral horizon sub-outcrops below a thin layer of till (which ranges to 20 meters thick), and dips 30.

So far, 81 of the 92 holes drilled define an area of 300 meters x 600 meters, drilled to a depth of 210 meters below the surface.

The main questions remain whether the deposit extends beyond the area studied by Outokumpu, both laterally and at depth, and whether there is a mineralized feeder zone below the deposit.



Click Image To View Full Size

Figures 2a and 2b. Plan view and known surface projection of the of the Rauhala deposit (GTK edited by P. Eilu, 2000)

Figure 3. Typical section through Rauhala deposit (see section location in Figure 2a; GTK edited by P.Eilu, 2000).

Avrupa and AEbv will develop a work plan for the coming field season that will include further geophysical studies and follow-up drilling to attempt to expand the volume of the mineralized zone. Work will concentrate on lateral and down-dip expansion potential of the known lens, exploration for possible feeder zone, review of the gold potential in and around the deposit, and the possibility of further lenses of mineralization around the permit area. The project is open for joint venture opportunities.

Paul W. Kuhn, President and CEO of Avrupa Minerals, a Licensed Professional Geologist and a Registered Member of the Society of Mining Engineers, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content in the news release.

Avrupa Minerals Ltd. is a growth-oriented junior exploration and development company directed to discovery of mineral deposits, using a hybrid prospect generator business model. The Company holds one 100%-owned license in Portugal, the Alvalade VMS Project. The Company holds one 49%-owned exploration license covering the Slivova Gold Project in Kosovo, optioned to Western Tethyan Resources, and is actively advancing six prospects in central Finland through its partnership in Akkerman Finland Oy. Avrupa focuses its project generation work in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe, presently including Portugal, Finland, and Kosovo. The Company continues to seek and develop other opportunities around Europe.

For additional information, contact Avrupa Minerals Ltd. at 1-604-687-3520 or visit our website at www.avrupaminerals.com.

On behalf of the Board,

"Paul W. Kuhn"

Paul W. Kuhn, President & Director

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.

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, including: details of the workplan for the coming field season. 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 connotation thereof.

Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others: that the Company's work plan for the coming field season will be carried out as currently expected by management. 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.

There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include risks relating to: a change in the Company's exploration strategy; a breakdown in the relationship between Avrupa and AEbv; the possibility of equipment breakdowns and delays; exploration cost overruns; weather conditions; the availability of capital and financing; general economic, market or business conditions; regulatory changes; and the timeliness of government or regulatory approvals.

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.

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 except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.


VANCOUVER, April 08, 2025 - Eldorado Gold Corp. ("Eldorado" or the "Company") will release its First Quarter 2025 Financial and Operational Results after the market closes on Thursday, May 1, 2025, and will host a conference call on Friday, May 2, 2025 at 11:30 AM ET (8:30 AM PT).

Q1 2025 Financial and Operational Results Call Details

The call will be webcast and can be accessed at Eldorado Gold's website: www.eldoradogold.com, or via: https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=qIL2Lmld.

Conference Call Details

Replay (available until June 13, 2025)

Date: May 2, 2025 Toll: +1 412 317 0088 Time: 11:30 AM ET (8:30 AM PT) Toll Free: 1 855 669 9658 Dial in: +1 647-846-2782 Access code: 2818948 Toll free: 1 833 752 3325



Participants may elect to pre-register for the conference call via this link: https://dpregister.com/sreg/10197900/febd911d94. Upon registration, participants will receive a calendar invitation by email with dial in details and a unique PIN. This will allow participants to bypass the operator queue and connect directly to the conference. Registration will remain open until the end of the conference call.

About Eldorado Gold

Eldorado is a gold and base metals producer with mining, development and exploration operations in Turkiye, Canada and Greece. The Company has a highly skilled and dedicated workforce, safe and responsible operations, a portfolio of high-quality assets, and long-term partnerships with local communities. Eldorado's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: ELD) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EGO).

Contact

Investor Relations

Lynette Gould, VP, Investor Relations, Communications & External Affairs

647 271 2827 or 1 888 353 8166

lynette.gould@eldoradogold.com

Media

Chad Pederson, Director, Communications and Public Affairs

236 885 6251 or 1 888 353 8166

chad.pederson@eldoradogold.com
Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. , (TSXV: NTH) (OTCQB: CCWOF) (Frankfurt: 4T9B) (the "Company" or "Nord" or "Nord Precious Metals"), announces that it has reached an agreement with certain creditors to repay debts in the aggregate amount of $829,112.64 through the issuance of 6,909,272 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.12 per share (the "Shares for Debt Transaction"). All securities issued pursuant to the Shares for Debt Transaction are issued to arm's length parties to the Company and are subject to TSX Venture Exchange ("Exchange") approval.

All shares issued in connection with the Shares for Debt Transaction are subject to a four?month and a day hold period in accordance with applicable Securities laws and Exchange policies.

About Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc.

Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. operates the only permitted high-grade milling facility in the historic Cobalt Camp of Ontario, where the Company has established a unique position integrating high-grade silver discovery with strategic metals recovery operations. The Company's flagship Castle property encompasses 63 sq. km of exploration ground and the past-producing Castle Mine, complemented by the Castle East discovery where drilling has delineated 7.56 million ounces of silver in Inferred resources grading an average of 8,582 g/t Ag (250.2 oz/ton).

Nord's integrated processing strategy leverages the synergistic value of multiple metals. High-grade silver recovery supports the economics of extracting critical minerals including cobalt, nickel, and other battery metals, while the company's proprietary Re-2Ox hydrometallurgical process enables production of technical-grade cobalt sulphate and nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) formulations. This multi-metal approach, combined with established infrastructure including TTL Laboratories and underground mine access, positions Nord to capitalize on both precious metals markets and the growing demand for battery materials.

The Company maintains a strategic portfolio of battery metals properties in Northern Quebec including its 35% ownership in Coniagas Battery Metals Inc. (TSXV: COS) as well as the St. Denis-Sangster lithium project comprising 260 square kilometers of prospective ground near Cochrane, Ontario.

More information is available at www.nordpreciousmetals.com.

"Frank J. Basa"

Frank J. Basa, P. Eng.

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, contact:

Frank J. Basa, P.Eng.

Chief Executive Officer

416-625-2342

or:

Wayne Cheveldayoff,

Corporate Communications

P: 416-710-2410

E: waynecheveldayoff@gmail.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, comments that involve future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Except for statements of historical facts, comments that address resource potential, upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt and security of mineral property titles, availability of funds, and others are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information in this news release or other communications unless required by law.


VANCOUVER, April 8th, 2025 - Cape Lithium Corp. ("Cape Lithium" or the "Company") (CSE: CLI) announces the resignations of the following: James Lumley, David Eaton, Kevin Cornish, Capt. Pappu Sastry and Perry Toms with immediate effect.

About Cape Lithium Corp.

Cape Lithium Corp., headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, is a mineral exploration and development company focused on exploiting world-class hard-rock lithium projects in Africa. The Company's core focus is the Norrabees project in Northern Cape, South Africa. Cape Lithium's management is committed to operating efficiently and with transparency in all areas of the business, staying sharply focused on creating long-term, sustainable shareholder value. Investors and/or other interested parties may sign up for updates about the Company's continued progress on its website: https://capelithium.com/.

For further information, please refer to the Company's disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

"James Lumley"

Chief Executive Officer

+1 (604) 688-9588

info@moonboundmining.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the expectations of management regarding the Project, any potential sale or joint venture with respect to its indirect ownership of the Project and any resulting benefits therefrom. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including that: the Company may not be able to find a suitable purchaser or joint venture partner with respect to the Project, be able to complete any proposed transaction, the risks inherent to mineral exploration and extraction activities; and those additional risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

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.
Abitibi Metals Corp. (CSE: AMQ) (OTCQB: AMQFF) (FSE: FW0) ("Abitibi" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, in connection with its previously announced "bought-deal" offering (the "Offering") led by BMO Capital Markets, as lead underwriter and sole bookrunner (the "Lead Underwriter"), together with Haywood Securities Inc., Canaccord Genuity Corp., Desjardins Securities Inc., Raymond James Ltd. and Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. (collectively, with the Lead Underwriter, the "Underwriters"), it has filed a final short form prospectus (the "Final Prospectus") in each of the provinces of Canada to qualify the distribution of: (i) 8,928,571 common shares of the Company (the "Offered Common Shares") at a price of $0.28 per Offered Common Share for gross proceeds of $2,499,999.88; and (ii) 16,071,429 common shares of the Company issued as "flow-through shares" (the "Flow-Through Shares" and, together with the Offered Common Shares, the "Offered Securities") at a price of $0.45 per Flow-Through Share for gross proceeds of $7,232,143.05, for total gross proceeds to the Company of $9,732,142.93.

Closing of the Offering is expected to take place on or about April 10, 2025, or such other date as may be agreed upon by the Company and the Lead Underwriter, but in any event not later than 42 days following the date hereof (the "Closing Date"). Closing of the Offering is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals.

The Company has granted the Underwriters an over-allotment option (the "Over-Allotment Option"), exercisable in whole or in part, at the sole discretion of the Lead Underwriter, on behalf of the Underwriters, for a period of 30 days from and including the Closing Date, to purchase up to 3,750,000 additional Offered Common Shares and/or additional Flow-Through Shares at their respective offering prices, provided that the maximum number of additional Offered Securities issued pursuant to the Over-Allotment Option does not exceed 15% of the aggregate number of Offered Securities sold under the base Offering, solely to cover over-allotments, if any, and for market stabilization purposes.

The Company understands that purchasers of Flow-Through Shares under the Offering intend to: (i) donate some or all of such Flow-Through Shares to registered charities, who may sell such Flow-Through Shares to purchasers arranged by the Underwriters, and/or (ii) sell some or all of such Flow-Through Shares to purchasers arranged by the Underwriters, in each case on the Closing Date or the closing date for the Over-Allotment Option, as applicable, and at a price of $0.28 per share (such Flow-Through Shares described in (i) and (ii), collectively, the "Redistributed Shares"). The Flow-Through Shares will only qualify as "flow-through shares" for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and the Taxation Act (Quebec) for the original subscriber and will not qualify as "flow-through shares" for a registered charity or subsequent purchaser of the Redistributed Shares and consequently the Company will only renounce "Canadian exploration expenses" (as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada) and the Taxation Act (Quebec)) to the original subscriber of the Flow-Through Shares. The Final Prospectus qualifies the distribution of the Flow-Through Shares as well as the subsequent distribution of the Redistributed Shares on the Closing Date or the closing date for the Over-Allotment Option, as applicable.

Delivery of the Final Prospectus and any amendment will be satisfied in accordance with the "access equals delivery" provisions of applicable securities legislation. The Final Prospectus is accessible on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under the Company's issuer profile.

An electronic or paper copy of the Final Prospectus and any amendment may be obtained, without charge, from BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., by mail at Brampton Distribution Centre c/o The Data Group of Companies, 9195 Torbram Road, Brampton, ON, L6S 6H2, by telephone at 905-791-3151 (ext. 4312) or by email at torbramwarehouse@datagroup.ca, by providing BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. with an email or address, as applicable. The Final Prospectus contains important, detailed information about the Company and the Offering. Prospective investors should read the Final Prospectus before making an investment decision.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor shall any sale of securities occur in any jurisdiction, including the United States, in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. 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 securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable securities laws of any state of the United States unless an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

On behalf of the Board of Abitibi Metals Corp.

"Jonathon Deluce"

President & CEO, Director

About Abitibi Metals Corp.

Abitibi Metals Corp. is a Quebec-focused mineral acquisition and exploration company focused on the development of quality base and precious metal properties that are drill-ready with high-upside and expansion potential. Abitibi's portfolio of strategic properties provides target-rich diversification and includes the option to earn 80% of the high-grade B26 Polymetallic Deposit, which hosts a resource estimate of 11.3MT @ 2.13% Cu Eq (Ind) & 7.2MT @ 2.21% Cu Eq (Inf), and the Beschefer Gold Project, where historical drilling has identified 4 historical intercepts with a metal factor of over 100 g/t gold highlighted by 55.63 g/t gold over 5.57 metres and 13.07 g/t gold over 8.75 metres amongst four modeled zones.

For more information, please contact Jon Deluce (President & CEO, Director) at 226-271-5170, email info@abitibimetals.com, or visit https://www.abitibimetals.com.

Cautionary Notes and Forward-Looking Statements

This document 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" and "expected" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding the terms and completion of the Offering, the expected closing date of the Offering, the exercise of the Over-Allotment Option, the ability to obtain all approvals in connection with the Offering, the ability to incur and renounce eligible flow-through expenditures, the exploration and development potential of the Company's properties and the significance of previous exploration results. Although Abitibi believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, readers are cautioned that actual results may vary from the forward-looking statements. The Company has based these forward-looking statements and information on the Company's current expectations and assumptions about future events. These statements also 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, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in the Company's annual information form, for the year ended December 31, 2024 available at www.sedarplus.ca under the Company's issuer profile. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and Abitibi does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States.


Alonso defends boring Suzuka race

Fernando Alonso has defended the Suzuka circuit, amid widespread complaints about the largely action-free Japanese GP.

Fernando Alonso, Japanese GP 2025

 Aston Martin Racing

While the sport marvelled at Max Verstappen's performance, no one was denying that the makers of the highlight reel struggled to compile the most exciting moments.

That's all that happened? Oscar Piastri said in the 'cool down' room when watching the immediate highlights.

Some think the main issue was the new asphalt surface - which although producing record-breaking laptimes also meant there was minimal tyre degradation.

Long, boring, Nico Hulkenberg said when asked to sum up his day in Japan. "It's not particularly entertaining to look at the rear wing and DRS of the car in front.

It's just so difficult with these cars. The effect of the turbulent air gets a little worse every year.

Former Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder wasn't solely blaming the asphalt.

We also had the hardest tyre compounds available here, he is quoted as saying by Auto Motor und Sport.

I can imagine Pirelli will perhaps bring the softer compounds to Japan next year. And when you then see how close the field is, overtaking becomes almost impossible.

Mercedes strategists reportedly calculated that a 1.2 second pace difference was required for a successful overtake.

It was very fast, but it was as difficult to overtake as Monaco is, said Williams' Carlos Sainz. It's like the new Monaco but with fast corners.

F1 veteran Alonso, however, has heard it all before.

This is Suzuka, he said. "I can't remember a race where there were too many overtaking manoeuvres here without the weather changing.

"It seems as if we always say on Thursday how great Suzuka is, how great Monaco is, the glamour, the spectacular weekend. And then we wake up on Monday and say Monaco is boring. What can we do about the track. Suzuka is boring.

That's Formula 1, the two-time champion added.

(GMM)
Doohan appeared injured after Japanese GP

Jack Doohan's situation is going from bad to worse, as footage emerges of him barely able to get out of his Alpine cockpit after the Japanese GP.

Jack Doohan, Japanese GP 2025

 Alpine

Amid raging speculation that he will soon be replaced by Franco Colapinto, the Australian rookie crashed heavily in Suzuka practice and there were whispers he had injured his left arm or hand.

Indeed, an Alpine mechanic and even Haas' Esteban Ocon had to help Doohan get out of the car after the race, as he was unable to use his left arm.

Worse still, while Doohan struggled in Japan, Colapinto - clearly favoured by Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore - was testing a 2023 car at Monza.

Reports suggest Colapinto was half a second faster than fellow team reserve Paul Aron over a single lap, and seven tenths ahead in race pace.

Former Formula 1 driver Christijan Albers admits he feels sorry for Doohan.

It's a very difficult situation and I don't like it, the Dutchman told De Telegraaf. "He's just making his debut in Formula 1 and all you want to do is focus. But you can't enjoy yourself.

"Everyone always thinks that you're going to enjoy yourself when you're in F1, but it's not the case, as you're under pressure from day one. But with Doohan, this is really a lot of pressure.

All this gossip that he'll be out after a few races, which also has everything to do with Colapinto's sponsors. That's going to be the decisive factor.

Doohan left Suzuka late on Sunday bruised but believing he will be on the grid in Bahrain.

I'll take a few days to rest and recover, said the son of MotoGP legend Mick Doohan. I'm looking forward to racing again in Bahrain, where the conditions will be completely different.

(GMM)
GBFoods extends Ramadan support to Muslim community

Business Desk Report Business News Apr - 01 - 2025 , 16:40

In the spirit of compassion, unity, and shared blessings that define the holy month of Ramadan, GBFoods Ghana extended warm wishes and congratulations to the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, the Council of Elders, and the entire Muslim community across Ghana.

Ramadan is a sacred time of reflection, devotion, and family togetherness. As families gather around Suhoor and Iftar, embracing the bonds that unite them, GBfoods Ghana stands in solidarity with the Muslim community, committed to enriching these cherished moments through our purpose celebrating local Flavors and nourishment.

As part of the Ramadan initiatives, GBFoods Ghana has made a significant contribution of assorted productsincluding Gino Tomato Mix, Pomo Tomato Mix, Gino Jollof Mix, Gino Peppe and Onion, Gino Curry Powder, Gino Baked Beans and Jago Mayonnaise aimed at easing burdens and strengthening unity within the Muslim community.

In an interview with the media, the Managing Director at GBFoods Ghana, David Afflu said, we understand that balanced nutrition is essential, especially during periods of fasting. That is why we are proud to offer our flagship brandsGino, Pomo, and Brisk Farmfortified with vital nutrients such as Vitamins A, D3, Zinc, and Fiber and Halal certified. These offerings are designed to not only complement the fasting journey but also to enhance culinary experiences that foster lasting memories among families.

Quoting the Holy Quran, "For the Almighty Allah does not need your support, but if you support mankind, it is a gesture to His mankind," our gesture is deeply rooted in the desire to serve and uplift. It is our way of honouring the sacred values of giving, compassion, and community upliftment during this holy month.

On her part, the Marketing Director, Ewuraba Adusei said, through our initiative of distributing products and hot meals in selected mosques, we have directly engaged with the community by providing delicious Iftar meals to over 10,000 Muslims across 13 mosques in Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale. Staying true to one of our values proximity, which enjoins us to stay close to the communities in which we operate.

The National Chief Imam expressed his appreciation for the visit, stating, We are profoundly grateful for the gesture. For whoever does not express gratitude to man does not show gratitude to God. So, therefore, we are very grateful to GBFoods Ghana.

As the crescent moon continues to light our paths through this sacred season, GBFoods Ghana remains dedicated to celebrating local Flavors, fostering togetherness, nourishing communities, and standing with our Muslim brothers and sisters in faith and friendship."
10% US tariff on Ghana exports moderate  Prof Baah-Boateng advises exporters to stay calm

Mohammed Ali Business News Apr - 08 - 2025 , 17:48

An economist at the University of Ghana, Professor William Baah-Boateng, has described the 10 per cent tariff imposed by the United States on some Ghanaian exports as moderate, urging exporters and businesses to remain calm and strategise on how to go about it.

Speaking in an interview with Joy News on April 5, 2025, Professor Baah-Boateng said the tariff was relatively low compared to what other countries had faced in trade disputes with the United States.

We are not Canada, where theyve been slapped with over 50 per cent. We are not China, where they have in excess of 50 per cent. We are not even Loto, which has been slapped with 50 per cent. We have 10 per cent. Lets be sober so that we will not panic, he advised.

The tariff, announced by the US government, affects a range of imports from Ghana and some other African countries. It has raised concerns among local exporters about possible increases in production costs and reduced competitiveness in the American market.

But Professor Baah-Boateng maintained that while the tariff could have some effect on exporters, it was not severe enough to warrant panic.

He urged the Ministry of Trade and Industry to provide timely and clear information to businesses and exporters to avoid misinformation and fear.

I expect the Ministry of Trade and Industry to come in and assure us because they have the figures, he said. They will know the effect, whether it will be severe or not, and be able to assure exporters that theres no cause for alarm.

Professor Baah-Boateng also pointed out that Ghana was not the main target of the US tariff measures, which were directed largely at bigger economies such as China, Canada, and Mexico.

From where I sit, I dont think Ghana is the target. I think its the big players that are fighting, and we have to bear a bit of the brunt, he said.

Beyond the immediate concerns over tariffs, Professor Baah-Boateng called on the government to address longstanding challenges that make it expensive for local businesses to produce goods for export. He identified delays at Ghanas ports as one of the issues that increase production costs, arguing that faster clearance of goods could ease the burden on exporters.

He also cautioned against any rushed attempt to negotiate a bilateral free trade deal with the United States, noting that Ghanas relatively small economy limited its bargaining strength.

Remember Ghana is a very small country within the global trade space. If we come together within the AU [African Union], then it means we could command some kind of respect. But currently, if we go on an individual level, I dont think we are, he said.

Professor Baah-Boateng encouraged exporters and policymakers to stay calm and take a measured approach in dealing with the situation.

Lets be calm and lets do what we are doing best. We will be able to overcome these challenges, he said.
Government urged to absorb part of US tariff cost to support Ghanaian exporters

Mohammed Ali Business News Apr - 08 - 2025 , 11:53

An economist at the University of Ghana, Professor William Baah-Boateng, has urged the government to consider absorbing part of the new 10 per cent tariff imposed by the United States on some Ghanaian exports to reduce its impact on local businesses.

He said such an intervention would provide short-term relief for exporters while broader efforts are made to address challenges facing the countrys export sector.

Speaking in an interview with JoyNews last Friday, April 5, 2025, Prof Baah-Boateng noted that although the tariff was not as high as those imposed on countries like China and Canada, its effect on Ghanaian exporters could not be ignored.

If indeed this tariff is something that is going to worry us, can we absorb part of it so that at least when it goes out there it will not be sold at a higher price? he asked.

The US government recently announced a 10 per cent tariff on a range of imported goods, including agricultural produce from several African countries, sparking concerns among Ghanaian exporters about the potential impact on their competitiveness.

Prof Baah-Boateng said while the tariff itself posed challenges, delays at Ghanas ports and other structural problems within the export system often contributed more significantly to high production costs.

He pointed to the long waiting times transporters sometimes faced at the ports as a key issue that the government should address to reduce costs for exporters.

For instance, if you are in Koforidua and you are exporting gari to the US, and the car that you rented is going to spend about three, four days there, can we do something to minimise those bottlenecks so that the car will just spend one day and then the goods will get out? he asked.

Prof Baah-Boateng said removing such bottlenecks would likely have a greater impact on reducing costs for businesses than the 10 per cent tariff.

He urged the Ministry of Trade and Industry and other relevant state institutions to provide clear communication to exporters to prevent panic.

I expect the Ministry of Trade and Agribusiness to come in and assure us because they have the figures. They will be able to know how the effect will be, that it is not rocket science, he said.

He also cautioned against creating unnecessary alarm over the tariff, pointing out that Ghanas situation was far less severe than that of some other countries.

We are not Canada, where weve been slapped with over 50 per cent. We are not China, where we have in excess of 50 per cent. We have the 10 per cent. Lets be sober so that we will not panic, he advised.

Prof Baah-Boateng also warned against any rushed attempt by Ghana to enter into a bilateral free trade agreement with the US as a response to the tariff.

He said Ghana would be better served working through regional bodies like the African Union to strengthen its bargaining position in global trade negotiations.
Ghanaian plastic surgeon Dr Michael K. Obeng reveals his strategy to become a billionaire

Kweku Zurek Life Apr - 08 - 2025 , 14:57 4 minutes read

Renowned Ghanaian-born plastic surgeon, Dr Michael K. Obeng, has revealed that his path to billionaire status lies not just in cosmetic excellence but in building a pharmaceutical empire in Ghana, with diversification as the cornerstone of his strategy.

In an interview during a street-style profile in Beverly Hills on TikTok (below), Dr Obeng, who is one of the few black plastic surgeons in the elite enclave, opened up about his journey from the slums of Ghana to global recognition, including his plans to reshape Africas pharmaceutical industry.

How can a kid from Ghana, from the slums of Ghana, beyond my wildest dreams, make it to Beverly Hills? We are the best plastic surgeons in the world. Its God, he said.

Renowned 52-year-old Ghanaian plastic surgeon and millionaire, Dr. Michael Obeng, has revealed that he made his first one million dollars at the age of 34, with his highest ever annual earnings reaching $9 million.



He added that the worst financial decision he made in life was pic.twitter.com/C8aJd5MxBx April 6, 2025

Dr Obeng, who shot to international fame after successfully removing Gorilla Glue from the hair of an African-American woman in 2021, disclosed that he made his first million at the age of 34.

He currently owns a private practice in Beverly Hills and has earned as much as $9 million in a single year.

Asked about his biggest financial misstep, the Harvard-trained surgeon didnt hesitate: Marriageactually, marrying the wrong person.

Dr Obeng was candid with his advice to young entrepreneurs, especially on the issue of relationships. Its not the right person if you guys dont share the same faith, period, he stressed, reaffirming the centrality of his Christian beliefs. Do you believe in God? Oh yes. Without God, I would not be here God wants us all to prosper God is the ultimate giver of wealth.

But it is his ambitious venture into pharmaceutical manufacturing that he believes will take him to the billionaire bracket.

My goal is to be a billionaire so I can do more work. Diversification. Im in the process of launching a pharmaceutical plant in Ghana, and its going to be the biggest plant in Sub-Saharan Africa. And thats the key to me becoming a billionaire, Dr Obeng declared.

The project, spearheaded by his company MiKO Pharma in partnership with India-based Sushen Medicamentos PVT. LTD, is currently underway at Akwamu in Ghanas Eastern Region. The plant, estimated at US$50 million, is being built on 100 acres of land granted by the Akwamu Traditional Authority. Construction began in July 2022, with the first phase expected to be operational within nine months.

At full completion, the facility will manufacture a wide range of WHO-GMP-certified generic medicines for the treatment of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, malaria, HIV, and pain. The aim is to provide affordable and effective medicines to meet growing health demands in Ghana and across West Africa.

In a major boost to the project, Dr Obeng recently signed a landmark deal with Siemens AG, one of the worlds leading technology firms. Under the agreement, Siemens will provide infrastructure and advanced industrial systems to support pharmaceutical production at the site.

Being in Germany to sign this historic agreement with Siemens was a moment of immense pride for our team at MiKO Pharma, said Willard Jackson, Executive Partner at MiKO Pharma. This partnership is not just about building facilitiesits about transforming healthcare in Ghana and setting a new standard for pharmaceutical production in Africa.

Siemens Sub-Saharan Africa CEO, Sabine DallOmo, described the agreement as a strategic move towards sustainable healthcare solutions for the continent. Our goal is to enable the manufacture of safe pharmaceutical drugs in Africa, she said.

The plant is expected to create 130 direct jobs and significantly reduce Ghanas reliance on imported medicines. According to Dr Obeng, This initiative will significantly enhance healthcare accessibility in the region.

Currently, local pharmaceutical production accounts for just 30 per cent of Ghanas drug demand. However, the industry is expanding. Pharmaceutical sales in Ghana stood at GHS6.6 billion (US$571 million) in 2023 and are projected to reach GHS10.7 billion (US$735 million) by 2028, largely driven by the demand for generic medicines.

With his bold plans, deep faith, and international backing, Dr Michael Obeng is poised to not only achieve billionaire status but also to revolutionise Ghanas pharmaceutical landscape.
Czech President Petr Pavel begins historic visit to Ghana today

Kweku Zurek Apr - 08 - 2025 , 07:25 2 minutes read

Czech President Petr Pavel is expected in Ghana today (April 8, 2025) for a two-day official visit, marking the first time in over six decades that a Czech or Czechoslovak head of state has visited the West African nation.

The visit is expected to deepen diplomatic and economic cooperation between the two countries.

President Pavel, who is due in Accra on Tuesday following a two-day visit to Mauritania will be formally received at the Jubilee House, the seat of Ghanas presidency.

He will later hold bilateral talks with President John Dramani Mahama, focusing on economic partnership, trade, and investment opportunities.

The historic visit comes as Ghana, a country of 35 million people, continues to attract global interest for its political stability and growing economy. Tuesdays discussions are expected to pave the way for stronger collaboration between Ghana and the Czech Republic, particularly in areas such as energy, infrastructure, healthcare, and education.

On Wednesday, President Pavel is scheduled to take part in several key engagements, including the opening of a Ghana-Czech business forum aimed at fostering partnerships between companies from both nations.

He will also officially inaugurate the Czech House, a new diplomatic and cultural centre that will serve as a hub for bilateral cooperation.

In a show of Czech investment in Ghanas healthcare sector, President Pavel will also attend the commissioning of a hospital built by a Czech firm, highlighting Pragues growing footprint in African development projects.

The Czech delegation is expected to depart Accra on Thursday morning, with President Pavel scheduled to return to Prague later in the evening.
Foreign Minister Okudzeto Ablakwa provides health update on Vice President Opoku-Agyemang

Kweku Zurek Apr - 08 - 2025 , 05:29 2 minutes read

Ghanas Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has dismissed swirling rumours concerning the health of Vice President Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, assuring the public that she is in good health and recovering steadily.

The Vice President reportedly took ill shortly after discharging official duties on Friday, March 28, 2025. She initially received treatment at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) before being flown abroad for further medical care. However, unverified reports about her health status have since spread across social media platforms.

Speaking during an engagement with the Ghanaian community in Lagos, Nigeria, on Sunday, April 6, Mr Ablakwa addressed the speculation head-on, attributing Prof. Opoku-Agyemangs improved condition to the collective prayers and support of Ghanaians.

Some fears about the state of our mother, the first female vice president of the Republic of Ghana. I also want to assure that she is doing very, very well. Your prayers worked, your prayers from all of us, Ghanaians at home and abroad, have really worked, he stated.

I have heard from her, so I know what I am talking about, and shes doing well, he added.

Mr Ablakwa urged the public to disregard falsehoods and malicious commentary, describing the health-related rumours as part of an orchestrated smear campaign.

Please ignore all of that very vicious and unGhanaian evil propaganda that some people are speculating. Our mother is doing very, very well, and very soon she is going to return to her duties, serving Ghana, making all of you proud and particularly inspiring our young girls, our daughters, to know that there is nothing our women cannot achievethat women are as good as men and that what men can do, women can also do and do it better, he emphasised.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang is expected to return to Ghana soon and resume her official duties.

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Ghana risks losing EU timber export licence - Parliament yet to ratify protocols

Timothy Ngnenbe Apr - 08 - 2025 , 11:31 5 minutes read

Beginning June 15, this year, all timber products that will be exported from Ghana to the European Union (EU) market must conform to the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) licence requirement.

Although the move would make Ghana the first African country and the second in the world to meet the requirement, the opportunity risks fizzling out due to Parliaments failure to ratify the timber rights before rising last month.

If the country fails to ratify the timber rights, all timber products leaving the country cannot enter the EU, the countrys largest market for wood and wood products.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission, Dr Hugh Brown, told the Daily Graphic that apart from being on the brink of making history, that milestone would help to eliminate illegal logging and ensure the sustainable management of the countrys forest resources.

He, however, said that for Ghana to achieve that goal, Parliament needed to ratify some timber rights as a matter of urgency.

Every timber right is a contract that is signed between the Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, and ratified by Parliament. Parliament has that last step to take for us, he said.

He said some of the timber rights had been ratified while others still needed to complete the ratification process, and we are waiting for that due process to be completed.

If we meet this deadline, it would mean a lot to Ghana because we are announcing our credential as a country that respects the laws of the environment; we will be sending a signal to the international community that we are harvesting and trading timber from our forest under strict regulations; and it is a signal to whoever wants to invest in the countrys forest that Ghana plays by the books, he said.

Again, he said meeting the June 15 deadline would send a signal to the EU market that Ghana was the first country in Africa to fulfill the FLEGT licence requirement, and this is good reputation for us.

Context

Also known as the timber legality licence, FLEGT licence is a document issued by timber-producing countries that have ratified a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) with the EU.

The FLEGT confirms that shipment of timber or timber products has been legally produced in accordance with the relevant laws of the country of harvest. It also ensures that timber exported to the EU by partner countries is harvested legally, thereby promoting sustainable forest management.

While the FLEGT licence eliminates the risk of trading in illegal timber products for EU traders, its added advantage is that traders in FLEGT-licenced timber products do not need to undertake further due diligence, which can be time-consuming and costly.

For partner countries, the advantage is that FLEGT-licenced timber products are considered under the EU Timber Regulation, making it easy to access EU markets. It also ensures that partner countries adopt environmentally sound practices to source and harvest timber in a sustainable manner.

On November 6, 2024, Ghana signed an agreement with the EU, setting June 30, this year, for the commencement of FLEGT licence

The deal was unveiled at the 12th session of the Ghana-EU Joint Monitoring Review Mechanism of the VPA in Accra, marking a significant milestone in the sustainable management of the countrys timber resources.

Presidents assurance

In his address to launch the Tree for Life initiative on Friday, March 21, this year, President John Dramani Mahama gave a firm assurance that the government was committed to ensuring that all was set for the country to begin exporting FLEGT-licenced timber by June 2025.

The President said the FLEGT initiative was crucial as it would ensure that only sustainably sourced timber was exported to the EU, helping to combat illegal logging and promoting sustainable forest management.

This achievement underscores our commitment to the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals  a commitment by countries to limit average global temperatures to below two degree Celsius. As we approach the 2030 deadline, we must accelerate our efforts to meet climate and biodiversity targets, he added.



Preparedness

Dr Brown said the assurance by the President was refreshing because over the years, the Forestry Commission had put in place all the technical systems for the effective rollout of the FLEGT licence.

We have the law in place; the institutions are in place and the division that will issue the FLEGT licence has been sensitised and oriented to be able to do so.

There is a new department in the Forestry Commission that has the sole purpose of making sure that there is critical auditing of material going to the EU market.

A VPA governance consultant to the Forestry Commission, Chris Beeko, said it was nostalgic that almost 16 years after Ghana ratified the agreement, the country was just a step away from fulfilling the FLEGT licence requirements.

He said it was important for the last hurdle to be cleared by Parliament by ratifying the timber rights.

Once a country says it is ready to trade in timber under FLEGT licence on the agreed date, the EU, which is the other partner, will inform its constituents and their authorities.

They will log that date in their system to indicate that from that date, all timber coming into their jurisdiction will be scrutinised and accepted under FLEGT licence. If that date comes, every consignment going to the EU must have a FLEGT licence, he said.

He added that it was important for Ghana to complete the ratification of timber rights as a matter of urgency because if any consignment of timber entered the EU market after the deadline without a FLEGT licence, a different method would be used to interrogate it.

This will put that consignment in a tight situation because it might be more difficult for entry into the system, he said.
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Govt to stop issuing prospecting licence to small-scale miners

Timothy Ngnenbe Apr - 08 - 2025 , 07:57 4 minutes read

The government has initiated moves to stop issuing prospecting licence for small-scale mining as part of measures to overhaul the mining sector.

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, said rather than issuing prospecting licences to prospective miners, which was open to abuse, the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) would be resourced to undertake geological investigation for gold-rich lands, which would form the basis for the issuance of real licences.

"By the time I leave office as Minister for this sector, there will be no prospecting licence. People use prospecting licence to start digging for gold, and this is illegal, so we have to do away with it," he stressed.

The Ellembelle Member of Parliament (MP) made the disclosure when he paid his first working visit to the Minerals Commission to interact with the staff and learn at first hand the operations of the Control Room for the monitoring of excavators.

He stressed that in line with the Resetting Ghana agenda of the government, there was the need to overhaul the licencing regime and operations of the Minerals Commission to be an effective regulator.

"The Minerals Commission is the regulator of the mining sector and must serve as an efficient policeman.

This is crucial because we are in a country where everyone is mad for gold and digging everywhere.

People must play by the rules so that there will be responsible and sustainable mining that protects our water bodies and forest reserves," he said.

Mr Buah emphasised that unlike the current system where licence was issued from the national level, the government was committed to a bottom-up approach that made stakeholders at the local level, including chiefs, an integral part of the licencing process.

Context

The mining sector contributes significantly to the national economy and provides a source of livelihood to about five million people in Ghana. Last year, Gold raked in $11.6 billion, representing 56.3 of total receipts, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).

The small-scale sector accounted for $4.6 billion of the gold revenue, translating into 22 per cent of total receipts.

Despite the enormous role mining plays in the economic development of the country, the sector is plagued with challenges, particularly illegal mining. The illegal mining menace, known locally as galamsey, has led to the pollution of water bodies, degradation of large tracts of land, and depletion of forest reserves.

As a measure to stem the tide, the government recently revoked all licences issued for small-scale mining after December 7, last year, due to procedural breaches.

A committee has also been set up to review all existing small-scale mining licences to ensure that holders of those rights conduct their activities in accordance with the requirements of the licence.

Minerals Commission cautioned

Against that backdrop, the minister cautioned all officials of the Minerals Commission to shelve their political colours and put on professional and technical caps to help regulate the mining sector.

"The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is very important when it comes to mining, but the role of the Minerals Commission is even more critical to the regulation and enforcement of standards in the mining sector," he said.

He stressed that the Minerals Commission would play a crucial role in projecting the government's reset agenda in the mining sector.

The minister stressed that the Commission ought to align its operations with the vision of the government to help build a robust mining regime for the country.

"If there is anybody here that will stand in our way to reset the mining sector for the benefit of this country, the person should better find his way out.

"But as long as all of you do your work as professionals without bringing your party affiliations into your work, there is nothing to fear because I will ensure that you are not witch-hunted.

Assurance

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission, Martin Kwaku Ayisi, said the contribution of the mining sector to the national economy was significant and as such much attention should be paid to it.

He said the Commission would continue to discharge its responsibility in line with the vision of the government.

He said with 407 staff members spread across the country, the Minerals Commission would increase its field operations to ensure responsible mining.
New rules set for Okada riders in Ghana; Only 25-year-olds and above can ride

Juliet Safo Apr - 08 - 2025 , 12:08 6 minutes read

Persons willing to operate a commercial motorcycle or tricycle, popularly known as okada, can only do so if they belong to a recognised tricycle transport union or employed by a licensed commercial motorcycle company.

The provision to prohibit operations without belonging to a recognised union and need for riders to be at least 25 years of age is part of the new Legislative Instrument (LI) being drafted to amend the existing one, Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (Legislative Instrument 2180).

Speaking at a national stakeholder consultation in Accra on Monday [April 7, 2025] on a draft LI 2180, the Minister of Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, said the government was introducing a new licensing regime to enhance monitoring of commercial motorcycles and tricycles and ensure that operators met the necessary competency standards.

Our utmost priority is the safety and welfare of the riders and passengers.

Therefore, some provisions in the regulations will cover the mandatory use of helmets, periodic inspections and rider training, Mr Nikpe said at the meeting, which was the first of a nationwide consultation to review LI 2180 to pave way for the official operationalisation of okada, a thriving business among the youth.

The consultative meeting brought together representatives from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), the association of okada riders, heads of relevant agencies and departments, industry practitioners, civil society organisations and transport operators.

Proposed provisions

A person shall not ride or operate a commercial motorcycle or tricycle unless that person is employed by or belongs to a licensed commercial motorcycle or tricycle transport union, the new provisions propose.

Anybody who flouts the provision, when it becomes law, by operating a motorcycle or tricycle for fare-paying passenger services in contravention of sub-regulation (1) commits an offence and is liable to pay a fine of 100 penalty units or to a term of imprisonment or both.

Background

Motorcycles and tricycles have become a crucial part of our transport ecosystem over the past decade.

They are especially useful for last-mile journeys and in areas where traditional para-transit vehicles (tro-tro) and taxis find it challenging to go; they do the job.

In some of our urban centres, mostly in the northern part of the country, motorcycles and tricycles have literally replaced traditional public transport vehicles.

However, as their popularity had surged over the years, so had the challenges associated with their use, the Transport Minister said.

We have witnessed increasing road traffic crashes and fatalities involving motorcycles and tricycles.

There are also concerns over safety regulations, disregard of road traffic laws, and the pressing need for a structured approach to governance in this sector, Mr Nikpe pointed out.

Committee

Since the 2016 electioneering, President John Dramani Mahama pledged to implement effective regulations of commercial use of motorcycles and tricycles for improved safety, job security and welfare of riders.

Last month, the Minister of Transport constituted a 13-member committee, made up of officers from the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment, the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the National Road Safety Authority, chaired by the Ministry of Transport.

The committee was tasked to develop a draft regulatory framework for the use of motorcycles and tricycles for fare-paying passenger services with a focus on safety, inclusivity and innovation.

Following a series of engagements, the committee developed a draft regulatory framework which was presented to stakeholders yesterday.

Purpose

Mr Nikpe said the stakeholder consultation was to elicit grassroots information to shape the regulations that had been developed.

He urged the participants to discuss the issues dispassionately and recommend practical measures for adoption and consequent implementation.

Through this dialogue, we hope to develop a comprehensive and robust regulatory framework that will stand the test of time for the consideration of Parliament, he stated.

Other provisions

The draft regulatory framework proposes that a person is qualified to engage in commercial motorcycle or tricycle operations if that person is incorporated under the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992) as a limited liability company, partnership, union, society, cooperative or other similar association.

The Head of Road Transport Services at the Ministry of Transport, Daniel Essel, who presented the draft regulatory framework, said the operator (person or entity) must have a physical presence in at least eight administrative regions and have a minimum fleet size of 50 in each of the regions or as may be determined by the regulatory authority in consultation with the Minister of Transport (the Minister).

The operators must also have a standard union dress code as approved by the regulatory authority and meet other conditions as the regulatory authority may prescribe in collaboration with the DVLA and the district assembly.

While the riders are required to obtain a licence and renew them every two years, a commercial motorcycle or tricycle union shall renew its licence annually by paying a prescribed fee and satisfying the conditions determined by the regulatory authority.

The unions would also be enjoined to comply with the code of conduct approved by the Minister.

A commercial motorcycle/tricycle union is also enjoined to organise re-training or refresher courses for its riders at least once a year in consultation with the regulatory authority.

All permitted members of the union shall be enrolled on an electronic database as prescribed by the regulatory authority.

District assemblies

The regulation also gives a district assembly the right to grant a commercial motorcycle or tricycle union a permit to operate in the locality upon the payment of a prescribed fee and satisfaction of the conditions determined by the assembly in consultation with the regulatory authority.

With that permit, the district assembly must designate or approve areas as terminals and stands in the locality.

Mr Essel said a commercial motorcycle or tricycle union shall promptly investigate and keep on file a record of any circumstances in which the Code of Conduct was violated, as such breaches would attract penalties.

Riders

The riders would also be enjoined to have a valid commercial riders licence issued by the DVLA and the applicant shall be, at least, 25 years of age and must possess a valid National Identification Card.

They must also pass a commercial motorcycle/tricycle riding proficiency test, an oral test, theoretical test and an eye test.

After completing training on the riders' syllabus and manual, they shall be assigned and registered with an identification mark  a distinctive yellow licence plate with black lettering.

They will also wear a certified protective helmet with a unique number affixed on the back of the helmet, the riders must always make available a certified protective helmet for use by the pillion rider, and they must adhere to all traffic laws and speed limits, among others.
GIS foils cocoa smuggling attempt at Kauk-Jago border

Mohammed Fugu Apr - 08 - 2025 , 13:31 2 minutes read

Personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) have intercepted 25 bags of cocoa beans being smuggled into Togo through the Kauk-Jago border in the Bunkpurugu enclave of the North East Region.

The bags of cocoa beans are believed to have been transported from southern Ghana to the north in a transit operation orchestrated by a syndicate that smuggles cocoa to neighbouring countries.

Acting on a tip-off, the personnel laid an ambush along the border and confiscated the goods.

Although the suspects managed to flee the scene, the officers successfully seized the cocoa beans, which were being illegally transported out of the country.

Confirmation

Confirming the incident to Graphic Online, the Bunkpurugu Sector Commander of GIS, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) Edwin Adjetey Doku, said the goods have been handed over to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) while investigations continue.

He explained: We acted on credible intelligence about cocoa beans being smuggled from the Kauk-Jago area into Togo. My team quickly mobilised and intercepted the goods, although the drivers and two other individuals escaped.

He reaffirmed his outfit's commitment to protecting Ghanas territorial borders and combating all forms of cross-border crime.

Support

ACI Doku also urged the public to support GIS efforts by reporting suspicious activities.

He emphasised the need for enhanced logistical support to effectively tackle the rising cases of smuggling in the area, stressing: The Bunkpurugu Division urgently needs more resources to fight the persistent smuggling of goods across our borders.
MrBeast: YouTuber fires back at critics of his decision to build a hospital in Ghana instead of America

Kweku Zurek Apr - 08 - 2025 , 09:45 3 minutes read

World-renowned YouTuber and philanthropist Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as MrBeast, has responded strongly to criticism over his decision to fund the construction of a hospital in the Central region of Ghana to serve children rescued from slavery.

The facility, built in partnership with Ghana Make a Difference (GMAD), aims to provide surgical and medical care to children formerly trafficked in Ghanas fishing industrymany of whom had gone years without proper healthcare.

In a video shared on April 6, MrBeast announced the completion of the hospital within the GMAD compound, saying the move was inspired by the urgent healthcare needs of children in the organizations shelter.

There were extremely long wait times at the nearest hospitals and children in the GMAD program were struggling to access medical treatment, he explained.

The GMAD Surgical Centre initiative, part of his broader mission to fight child slavery in Africa, is the latest in a string of humanitarian projects spearheaded by his nonprofit, Beast Philanthropy.

Since its launch in 2021, the foundation has opened a food bank, funded surgeries for the visually impaired, and distributed thousands of shoes to underprivileged children.

However, despite the project being widely applauded on YouTube, MrBeasts announcement triggered a wave of backlash on other social media platforms. One commenter on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, How about you help Americans if youre gonna virtue signal for profit?

MrBeast did not hold back in his response. We do routine food drives in America and give millions of meals away for free to Americans each year, he retorted. If I listed out all the projects weve done in America this tweet would be a book. Yet every time I help people in Africa, my top reply is I dont help my own country lol.

Indeed, Beast Philanthropy has been active across the United States. Among its numerous projects, the organization recently partnered with The Phoenix, a nonprofit focused on addiction recovery, to raise funds for rehabilitation programs.

But MrBeast is no stranger to controversy. His philanthropic content has often drawn skepticism, with critics accusing him of exploiting peoples hardships for social media engagement. Still, he maintains that the impact of these projects far outweighs the backlash.

His latest efforts in Africa form part of a year-long campaign to tackle child slavery across the continent. Prior to the hospital project, MrBeast introduced a program to provide free breakfasts in schoolsan initiative designed to boost school attendance and reduce child labour vulnerabilities.

In Ghana, where access to timely healthcare remains a challenge in many rural communities, the new surgical center stands to make a significant difference in the lives of vulnerable children. For MrBeast, its not about the praise or the criticismits about impact. As he puts it, Were just getting started.

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Over 3,000 babies die in Ghana each month before their first birthday  Health Ministry

Mohammed Ali Apr - 08 - 2025 , 09:58 2 minutes read

More than 3,000 babies die every month in Ghana before reaching their first birthday, according to the Ministry of Health. The figure was released in a statement to mark World Health Day, observed globally on 7th April 2025 under the theme Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures.

The Ministry noted that Ghanas infant mortality rate currently stands at 52 deaths per 1,000 live births. With an estimated 780,000 babies born each year, this translates to more than 40,000 infant deaths annually.

These deaths are largely preventable and must be systematically addressed, the Ministry said.

It attributed the rising numbers to poor postnatal care, inadequate access to skilled delivery services, and weaknesses within the health system.

The statement also pointed to a rise in maternal deaths in health facilities.

Between 2022 and 2023, the maternal mortality rate increased from 102.6 to 109.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. The Greater Accra and Ashanti regions recorded the highest figures.

During the same period, deaths of babies under one year rose from 7.4 to 8.1 per 1,000 live births, while under-five mortality increased from 9.8 to 10.9 per 1,000.

The highest child death rates were reported in the northern regions of the country.

There was also a decline in the percentage of births attended by skilled health professionals, which dropped from 62.6% to 60.6%.

The Ministry described this as a cause for concern, noting that the presence of trained personnel during childbirth is crucial for reducing maternal and newborn deaths.

These figures demand urgent attention, the Ministry stated, urging all relevant actors, including public agencies, private institutions, development partners, and community groups, to play a more active role in improving health outcomes for mothers and children.

Planned interventions include increasing the availability of skilled birth attendants, improving maternity care standards, and ensuring consistent care throughout pregnancy, delivery, and the early years of life.

Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, Minister of Health, said government programmes such as the Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund (popularly known as MahamaCares) and the Free Primary Healthcare Programme are part of broader efforts to improve maternal and child health.

He acknowledged, however, that more work needs to be done.

In line with this years World Health Day theme, the Ministry called for wider public awareness about early visits to health facilities, better maternal and newborn services, and stronger national efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goals.

These targets include reducing maternal deaths to 70 per 100,000 and neonatal deaths to 12 per 1,000 by the year 2030.

With the support of all players, every woman can go through pregnancy safely, and every baby can be given a fair chance at life, the Ministry said.
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Woman jailed five years for stealing over GH221,000 in lotto sales

GNA Apr - 08 - 2025 , 06:07 1 minute read

A 38-year-old manageress has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment by the Asante Abuakwa Circuit Court in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality for stealing GH221,937.75 at Santasi, in Kumasi.

Akua Darkoah Asamoah pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing and was convicted on her own plea.

Police Detective Inspector Alexander Agbekpornu, prosecuting, told the court, presided over by Mr Jephthah Appau, that the complainant in the case was the General Manager of FOE Lotto Limited, a subsidiary of Lotto and Lotteries at Santasi, while the convict was the manageress of the Atwima-Techiman branch.

He explained that the complainant discovered that between 22nd March and 2nd June 2024, the convict had stolen part of the lotto sales she received from sub-agents on behalf of the company, instead of remitting the funds to the head office in Kumasi.

The total amount stolen during the period was GH221,937.75.

A report was made to the Suntreso Police, leading to her arrest. In her caution statement, she admitted to the offence.

According to the prosecution, a forensic audit was conducted, which revealed that after the winning numbers had been drawn, the convict forged lotto tickets, falsely indicating that she had won in several lotto games, in an attempt to conceal the theft.

Following further investigations, she was charged and brought before the court.
Dome-Kwabenya: NPP cant win without Adwoa Safo and Kristo Asafo support  Analyst warns

Gertrude Ankah Politics Apr - 08 - 2025 , 10:08 4 minutes read

A political analyst and lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Dr Jonathan Asante Otchere, has cast doubt on the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) ability to reclaim the Dome-Kwabenya parliamentary seat without the backing of Adwoa Safo and the influential Kristo Asafo Church.

I do not foresee the NPP winning back Dome-Kwabenya without the input and support of Kristo Asafo, Dr Otchere stated, adding that Safos political clout, emotional appeal, and financial leverage make her a formidable force within the party.

Speaking on Ghana Tonight on April 7, Dr Otchere described the NPPs handling of its ongoing disciplinary standoff with Adwoa Safo as both politically strategic and a reflection of internal hesitation.

His comments come in the wake of a postponed disciplinary hearing involving the MP, which has triggered public debate over the partys internal dynamics.

Strategic retreat or internal confusion?

Dr Otchere suggested that the partys decision to backtrack on Adwoa Safos disciplinary hearing at the last minute was a calculated move to avoid political backlash.

It is a mixture of cowardice and strategy The party realised the decision to summon her was unpopular. Her emotional narrative had already won the sympathy of a section of the public and party base. Proceeding would have bled the party further, he stated.

He said the partys failure to communicate clearly and consistently regarding the invitation to the disciplinary hearing raised questions. While the NPP claims to have notified Adwoa Safo through her aide, she insists no such communication was received.

In this digital age, such notices can easily be delivered electronically. There is no evidence she was properly served. Either she orchestrated a public stunt or the party simply reacted without adequate consultation, Dr Otchere said.

He also expressed scepticism about the partys claim of having sent a letter through her aide, describing it as potentially false rather than a simple miscommunication.

A Pandoras box averted?

The UCC lecturer warned that proceeding with the disciplinary hearing could have triggered further internal unrest.

Had she appeared before the committee, a Pandoras box would have opened, he remarked. She has support within the party, and her public comments have touched on sensitive issues like the school feeding programme and the e-levy. These are core issues that strike at the heart of the partys credibility.

Dr Otchere noted that some party members who accompanied Adwoa Safo to the party headquarters on the day of the postponed hearing were a visible sign of her continued influence.

Politics of sentiment and resources

He underscored the evolving nature of modern politics, where sentiment and resources often outweigh ideology.

She comes with leverageemotional and financial. Todays politics is driven more by resources than just good ideas. And she has both, he noted.

Dr Otchere urged party executives to adopt a more empathetic and consultative approach moving forward, suggesting that a simple phone call from party leadership acknowledging her concerns could have de-escalated the situation.

This was a healing process for her. Party leaders could have engaged her privately to tone down her rhetoric rather than escalating matters publicly, he advised.

Tsunami within the party?

Beyond Dome-Kwabenya, Dr Otchere warned that broader discontent is simmering within the NPP, particularly among grassroots supporters who feel sidelined.

There are thousands within the NPP who felt they were in government, but in reality, were in opposition, he said. People have stories to tell. And it is just a matter of time before frustrations are ventedespecially against the former President, Nana Akufo-Addo.

He added that should President John Mahama investigate and expose past corruption scandals, the former Presidents approval ratings could plummet further.

Youll begin to understand why President Akufo-Addos approval rating was projected to be around 22% by November 2024. People wouldnt want to associate with that political baggage. It would have been a bad bargain.

Dr Otchere predicted a possible political upheaval within the NPP, especially when internal elections are held.

I see a tsunami coming, he cautioned. Most of the current executives are likely to be swept away unless they had genuinely stood for the party during difficult times, rather than merely aligning themselves with the former President and Vice President.

He stressed that the NPP must now make a crucial choice: either publicly distance itself from the Adwoa Safo issue or remain silent and let it fade with time.

Its either the party pretends the issue never happened or allows time to kill the story. Because the more they drag it, the more it backfires, he said.
Next article: Ghanas former High Commissioner to India Sam Pee Yalley passes on at age 70

Provide details on suspicious foreign aircraft - NPP to govt

Daily Graphic Politics Apr - 08 - 2025 , 06:57 3 minutes read

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the government to provide a detailed update on the presence of two foreign aircraft that landed at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) last month.

We expect a detailed, professional response from the government, led by the appropriate security agencies, regarding the mission and cargo on board the two aircraft, a statement signed and issued by the NPP Director of Communications, Richard Ahiagbah, said.

The two aircraft in question are AirMed flight N823AM and Cavok Air private jet, Antonov An-12B, which landed on the tarmac of KIA last month, from Gran Canaria; an island of Spain, and departed to the same Gran Canaria days after their arrival.

The party condemned what they termed the government's intimidation of the minority, who had expressed valid concerns regarding the unexplained presence of specific foreign aircraft in Ghana: AirMed flight N823AM and the Cavok Air Antonov An-12B.

Considering their origin, a satisfactory explanation of these aircraft's mission in our country is required, the statement said.

The government must explain the purpose of the aircraft and the nature of their cargo. Ghanaians deserve to know whether these planes were involved in any illegal activity, the statement said.

It said the explanation provided by the Minister of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, was scanty and primarily defensive, which has only increased public suspicion.

The NPP also cited a call by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which has reportedly urged the government to investigate the purpose of the flights.

Narcotics

In addition, the NPP also demanded updates on two separate cocaine seizures. One involved a $350 million cocaine bust in Cape Coast, and the other a $150 million seizure in Sekondi.

The political explanation Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu offered failed to address the request for an update on these drug arrests. The silence on these high-profile arrests undermines public trust, particularly given the alleged involvement of a senior member of the NDC, the statement said.

We wish to caution the government that it should not trivialise issues concerning drug trafficking and money laundering, as we have witnessed thus far. These are matters of international interest, and Ghana's credibility and compliance with international obligations are at stake.

The international community is observing closely, and Ghana cannot afford the perception of complicity or institutional failure in confronting transnational crime, the statement added.

The NPP, in the statement, said it would continue to demand accountability from the government, stressing that the public has a right to clear and honest information.

Recall

In a series of Facebook posts on Sunday, April 6, 2025, Mr Kwakye Ofosu dismissed fresh allegations of drug trafficking linked to the recent aircraft landings at the KIA, insisting that the incidents were technical and logistical in nature.

He urged the public to disregard what he described as deliberate misinformation and stressed the governments commitment to transparency in matters involving national security and airport operations.

The Ranking Member on Parliaments Defence and Interior Committee, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has maintained that the aircraft in question were involved in transporting narcotics and cash.
Reject petition to remove EC Chairperson, deputies  Think Tank

Justice Agbenorsi Politics Apr - 08 - 2025 , 09:57 3 minutes read

The Centre for Democracy and Socio-Economic Development (CDS) Africa, a policy think tank, has filed a counter petition against two petitions seeking the removal of the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson and her deputies from office.

In a petition, which is dated March 4, 2025 and has been submitted to the Presidency last Friday (April 4), the group is calling on President John Dramani Mahama not to initiate any processes to remove the EC chairperson and other commissioners.

They are of the opinion that any plans to dissolve the commission will create a precedent that makes the commission a mere extension of ruling governments, subject to change with every new administration.

The centre is, therefore, urging the President not to consider the petitions seeking the removal of the EC chairpersons and commissioner to uphold the independence of the Electoral Commission and avoid setting a precedent that allows future governments to always dissolve the EC.

Already, there are two petitions requesting the removal of the chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, and her two deputies, Dr Bossman Asare and Samuel Tettey as well as one other member of the commission, Dr Peter Atuahene.

They were filed by the Positive Transparency and Accountability Movement Ghana and one Daniel Ofosu-Appiah

Arguments

The CDS Africa is calling on President John Mahama to reject the two petitions for the good of Ghana's democracy.

Specially, they are pleading with the President not to repeat the happenings in 2017, where the EC Chairperson and her deputies were removed from office.

According to the CDS Africa, this was deemed to be politically motivated, and the same sentiments will be attached to any plans to remove the EC chairpersons.

Today, those calling for the removal of Jean Mensa and her team are drawing inspiration from that unfortunate precedent. If this cycle is allowed to continue, it will erode the foundations of Ghanas Fourth Republic and threaten the independence of the Electoral Commission beyond repair, the petition read.

Independence

The policy think tank further grounded its request on the need for the President to uphold the independence of democratic institutions in the country.

Your Excellency, the fundamental principle that electoral commissions should be independent of political influence should outweigh all other considerations.

If this administration dissolves the current Commission, future governments will feel emboldened to do the same, creating a dangerous cycle of political interference that could ultimately undermine Ghanas hard-earned democratic stability, the petition stated.

CDS Africa further argued that the President, in heeding their request, will prevent erosion in the public trust of the Electoral Commission.

Your Excellency, the fundamental principle that electoral commissions should be independent of political influence should outweigh all other considerations, the CDS Africa added.

Writers E-mail: [email protected]
Motorola recently launched the Edge 60 Fusion and this model will soon be joined in the company's roster by the Edge 60, which we've seen in some official-looking renders a few days ago.

Today some more details about the Edge 60's colorways have been outed. The phone will allegedly initially arrive in two hues: Pantone Shamrock Green and Gibraltar Sea, portrayed in the leaked promo images below.



Motorola Edge 60 in Pantone Shamrock Green (left) and Gibraltar Sea (right)

Then, later, a new colorway will be added to the portfolio: Pantone Plumperfect. Obviously the two which feature Pantone in the name are developed in partnership with Pantone, as Motorola has been doing for quite a while now.



Motorola Edge 60 in Pantone Plumperfect

Above you can see the fabric-like fake leather material of the Plumperfect Edge 60. The handset will come with AI features like Catch Me Up, AI Search, Magic Canvas, and Journal.

It's said to sport a 6.67-inch pOLED curved screen with 120 Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 7i on top. It will be both IP68 and IP69 certified for dust and water resistance. It will be powered by a MediaTek chipset, either the Dimensity 7300 or the 7400. It will run Android 15 from day one.

On the rear will be a 50 MP main camera and a 13 MP ultrawide. Keeping the lights on? A 5,500 mAh battery with support for 68W fast wired charging.

Motorola Edge 60 Fusion

Source
The evolving landscape of the modern workplace presents both opportunities and challenges. While technological advancements have boosted efficiency, theyve also blurred the lines between professional and personal lives.

In our island community, where family ties are deeply ingrained, the concept of work-life balance takes on a unique significance. Its not just about productivity; its about nurturing the holistic well-being of our employees, ensuring they thrive both in the office and within our close-knit community.

Work-life balance is about creating a work environment where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to manage their responsibilities without sacrificing their personal lives.

Its about recognizing that employees are whole individuals with lives outside of the office, and that their well-being directly impacts their productivity and engagement.

One key aspect of promoting work-life balance is fostering a culture of flexibility. This might involve offering flexible work hours, remote work options, or compressed workweeks. By recognizing that employees have lives outside of work, we demonstrate respect for their time and commitments.

In a culture like ours, where extended family often relies on each other for support, this flexibility can make a significant difference. Another crucial element is encouraging employees to take time off.

Locally, we understand the importance of rest and rejuvenation. Our islands slower pace of life reminds us to appreciate the present and prioritize well-being. We must actively encourage employees to use their vacation time, not just as a formality but as an essential component of their overall health.

We must also be mindful of the potential for burnout. In todays fast-paced world, its easy for employees to feel overwhelmed. As leaders, we have a responsibility to recognize the signs of burnout and provide support.

This might include offering stress management workshops, promoting mindfulness practices, or simply creating a safe space for employees to express their concerns.

In Guam, we understand the importance of community. Incorporating this value into our workplaces can significantly enhance employee well-being. Consider organizing team-building activities that promote camaraderie and connection.

This might involve volunteering at a local charity, participating in cultural events, or simply enjoying a company picnic by the beach. These activities not only foster a sense of belonging but also strengthen the bonds between colleagues.

We must prioritize mental health awareness and provide employees with access to resources and support. This might include offering employee assistance programs, providing mental health training for managers, or simply creating a culture where employees feel comfortable seeking help without stigma.

Ultimately, promoting employee well-being is not just good for business; its good for our community.

By embracing the values of flexibility, rest, community, and mental health awareness, we can create a workplace where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to achieve their full potential.

This translates to increased productivity, reduced turnover, and a stronger, more resilient organization.
The three finalists for the prestigious 2026 Guam Teacher of the Year title have been announced.

They are:

1. Janice Evangelista, D.L. Perez Elementary School

2. Acie Jo Sablan Cruz, Simon Sanchez High School

3. Julieta Anitok  Simon Sanchez High School

The Guam Department of Education, in partnership with the Foundation for Public Education, announced the finalists on April 3 in the Cars Plus showroom in Maite.

Our future relies on these educators to mold the young minds of our students. Their commitment and dedication is a testament of the profound impact of teachers in our island community and it is an honor to celebrate them, Education Superintendent Erik Swanson said.

Six semi-finalists were selected this year by the Guam Teacher of the Year committee. Many of these teachers were nominated by their students, parents, colleagues, supervisors, and community.

The judging panel will conduct classroom observations for each finalist as part of the final selection process.

The 2026 Guam Teacher of the Year will be announced on Saturday, May 24, at the Cars Plus in Maite.

GDOE and Foundation for Public Education thanked the events major sponsors, including Bank of Guam, Cars Plus, and KUAM.
The Guam Education Board on Friday voted to present a list of charges against Education Superintendent Erik Swanson after the public school system lost some $27 million in federal education grants, and $127 million in unliquidated pandemic-era American Rescue Plan funds.

Board Chairman Angel Sablan said a final decision will be rendered on April 15, and wouldnt say whether Swanson could lose his job as a result of the charges.

Swanson started his job as education superintendent in July 2023.

The board held an emergency meeting on Friday, and thats when members voted on a motion to present the charges, Sablan said.

We did. The board voted that I presented my letter, so I did whats in the letter and all that I can post, Sablan said.

Though Sablan did not disclose the specific details, he confirmed the charges relate to the superintendents duties and the $27 million in federal funding lost.

Part of it, yeah, part of it, yes, but whats in the letter and all that, I cant post until we make a final decision on next Tuesday, Sablan said.

Sablan clarified that while some $27 million in funding wasnt returned, it was not used by the Guam Department of Education as intended. A final decision on the charges will come after an executive session during the boards meeting on April 15.

We have an executive session, and after we rise out of that executive session, then you will hear what it is, Sablan said.

Its only been less than two years since GDOE terminated its third-party receivership for federal grants it had received from the U.S. Department of Education. From 2010 to Oct. 31, 2023, a private contractor managed approximately $60 million annually in federal education grants for GDOE.

Senator: State of emergency for GDOE

Education committee chair Sen. Vince Borja on Monday urged placing GDOE under a state of emergency over the massive loss of federal funds.

He pointed to the $27 million in unspent federal grants and an additional $125 million in ARP funds at risk of being lost forever because the deadline to liquidate it was March 28, 2025.

Swanson asked the U.S. Department of Education to extend the liquidation date by a year, through March 2026, and to return the $125 million that Guam did not liquidate.

We have a serious situation at hand with GDOEs finances, and immediate action is needed, Borja said.

Borja asked Speaker Frank Blas Jr. to call an emergency legislative session and an oversight hearing on GDOE for 2 p.m. on April 11.

The senator described GDOEs financial situation very fluid.

Everything with GDOE is very fluid. There are a lot of things going on as well, Borja said. My concern is that we understand theres a lot of misunderstanding in regards to GDOEs finances.

Borja elaborated on the complex structure of GDOE and the necessity for oversight.

GDOE is a very unique agency. Theyre governed by the board, Borja said. Theres really not a lot the Legislature can do or the governor, because ultimately the power lies within the board. The only thing we can do is call for an oversight.

Borja shared his frustration over GDOEs failure to use millions in federal funds, particularly $7.7 million in Special Education funding, which he said could have provided vital student services.

That could pay for a lot of services for that community, Borja said. Im not just hearing it from within the department. You have teachers and parents who are concerned. This is more than just us trying to pay bills. Its, Hey, what does this look like for the remainder of the school year? What does this look like for the upcoming school year?

Borja emphasized that immediate action is essential, warning that GDOE cannot wait until May to address the crisis.

Were not going to wait until May to say, Hey, we have a problem, Borja said. We have to figure it out. The upcoming budget is not going to be until September, so theres going to have to be, we have to find somebody, somewhere, or we stop that or we stop the work, and so thats going to be tough.

He added, Some tough calls that were going to need to be made, but we need to get to the bottom of what the true state of the finances at GDOE are right now.

Borja noted GDOEs failure to take advantage of federal grants, particularly the unspent funds, explaining that GDOE had missed opportunities to allocate them.

I understand what hes saying, hes like, we didnt necessarily return money. We just didnt take advantage of the grants that we were afforded, right? Thats still bad, Borja said. They just didnt have anything to spend it on.

He also noted the confusion and lack of accountability surrounding the delays in spending federal funds.

The other problem is theres a lot of finger-pointing in regards to whos to blame as to why were not spending federal funds as fast as we should, Borja said.

Borja went on to criticize the failure to prioritize expiring grants, which led to wasted funds.

They were focused on all these other grants and didnt pay attention to these grants, youre right, Borja said. And so, again, at the end of the day, do we continue to lose money, or do we declare a state of an emergency?

There needs to be a very clear picture of GDOEs finances, he added.

Borja recalled a prior attempt to address the financial issues when he and other officials worked with GDOE to better manage the departments budget.

I issued a letter to the speaker [Blas] four weeks ago, and we went into a work session with GDOE and we said, hey, like, well help you guys out, but spend what you have. And they were able to figure that out, Borja said.

Borja also called for stronger support from the governor and the Legislature to resolve the financial crisis.

Weve asked the governor to assist. Theres some things in the law that need to be clarified in order for the governor to assist. So thats another thing that we need to clarify as well, is where and how the governor can assist us in addressing this, he said.

He concluded by calling for decisive leadership to address the issue.

Somebody needs to be the leader and make the tough, tough calls in this situation, Borja said. And I dont want this, and you can put yourself in this situation, if you were a teacher or student in the department with all these things about millions of dollars possibly being, at stake, services being affected with just the state of the schools.

Borja also pointed out the delayed rebuilding of schools like Simon Sanchez High School and John F. Kennedy High School, emphasizing the need for more resources to address these critical issues.

Can you imagine Simon Sanchez and JFK, FBLG, theyre waiting for schools to be built, but here we are saying we need $100 million or were giving away $26 million, Borja said. I think thats fair to say, hey, we have a problem. Something is not matching, and its not good for our students, especially, and its not good for our community.
From collecting plastics to turning them into plastic filaments for 3D printing, coasters and wallets, these ongoing efforts made for a good side trip on Tuesday for those participating in the University of Guams 2025 Conference on Island Sustainability.

Conference participants familiarized themselves with local sustainability efforts during a visit to the Guam Green Growth, G3, Circular Economy Makerspace & Innovation Hub in Hagatna.

After all, this years conference theme is about Solutions for our Future.

Something that we really have to think about in terms of sustainability is kind of seeing how we as island communities have to rely so much on import and export, whereas we can look towards the future where we can have things made on island and distributed to the community, according to Vince Fabian, tour guide and researcher for the UOG Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant.

Waste management is one of the main challenges that G3 aims to resolve as they teach island residents the skills necessary to recycle waste and turn them into tangible products.

Abby Crain, circular economy coordinator, said G3s mission is to ensure that waste is kept away from the landfills and to approach waste as a renewable resource instead of a problem.

The process begins at G3s Plastic Resource Center, where G3 provides outreach for plastic donations every Wednesday, collecting plastic waste donated by community members to be processed into products such as plastic filaments for 3D printing, decorative ornaments and more.

Over at the G3 Makerspace, residents are able to turn creative ideas into products by learning how to use equipment such as a CNC cutter or 3D printer to carve or mold furniture and trinkets from wood, plastic or metal.

Emily Wendte, G3 makerspace coordinator, shared two of the primary focuses of the G3 Maker Space, which currently houses 19 maker students.

We want to draw in our community for individuals to come in here and learn how to make and do things on their ownand we assist communities that need a certain type of product, she said.

The products developed at the G3 Makerspace are then brought back to the G3 Green Store and Innovation Hub, where they can be purchased and brought back into the community through entrepreneurship.

Conference attendees will have the chance to check out these products as G3 will be setting up a store featuring products developed by small businesses and G3 Makerspace students at the conference this Wednesday.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 877, the Deliver for Veterans Act, which helps provide adaptive vehicles to disabled veterans at no cost to them.

The bill, sponsored by Guam Del. James Moylan, requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to include delivery costs when buying vehicles for certain disabled veterans or members of the military.

The legislation takes a step toward ensuring that veterans in remote areas, such as Guam, have better access to adaptive vehicles through the VAs program.

Due to the unavailability of these vehicles on the island, veterans have been burdened with the additional cost of shipping.

Currently, the VA pays the full purchase price of the vehicle, minus shipping costs.

The bill will make sure veterans regardless of their geographical location, have equitable access to the services and support they deserve, Moylan stated in a news release about the legislation. By including shipping costs in the program, we can alleviate the financial burden on veterans living in Guam, and other areas of the world.

After unanimously passing in the House of Representatives, H.R. 877 moves to the Senate for further action.
Superior Court Magistrate Judge Jonathan Quan had to continue a magistrates hearing for shooting and kidnapping suspect Jathan John Pangelinan Tedtaotao on Tuesday because the attorney he originally assigned to the case was still off island.

Quan allowed attorney Mark Smith to withdraw from representation and proceeded to assign Kristine Borja to the case. Borja is a former prosecutor for the Office of the Attorney General now in private practice.

Tedtaotaos continued magistrate hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday.

He originally faced multiple felony charges including attempted murder, two counts of complicity to commit kidnapping, three counts of complicity to commit aggravated assault, all of which carried a special allegation of use of a deadly weapon in commission of a felony, plus notice of commission of a felony while on felony release.

He also faced a charge of destruction of evidence as a misdemeanor.

The amended magistrates complaint filed in Superior Court added another first-degree felony charge  attempted aggravated murder.

On Tuesday, Quan asked Tedtaotao, who appeared in court via Zoom, if he had received an amended magistrates complaint against him. Tedtaotao said he had not.

The judge placed him on the second call and directed his clerk to fax a copy of the amended complaint to the Department of Corrections where Tedtaotao is being held.

Tedtaotao is one of three defendants and siblings accused in the shooting and beating of a man on April 2, 2025.

Tedtaotao, along with Shaenita Pangelinan, allegedly picked up the victim at a Yigo residence and drove him to another residence where the two suspects, joined by their brother Jeromy Moe John Pangelinan, allegedly tied up the victim and beat him with brass knuckles.

Tedtaotao was also accused of shooting the victim in the leg.

He was arrested early Sunday morning in Yigo without incident, according to Chief of Police Stephen Ignacio.

Quan said he found probable cause to charge Tedtaotao with counts 1-7, but had questions for the AGs office regarding the destruction of evidence.

The case involving the three siblings remains open, and investigations are still ongoing.

Jeromy Pangelinan still at GRMC

Meanwhile, Jeromy Pangelinan, whom police arrested Sunday afternoon following a manhunt, was not scheduled for a magistrates hearing.

The AGs office, while aware of the case surrounding Pangelinan, said they have no arrest records for Pangelinan.

Police spokesperson Norman Analista, in a group chat update, said GPD is maintaining custody of Jeromy Pangelinan while he is being treated at GRMC.

Guam law states that a defendant must have a magistrates hearing within 48 hours of being arrested.

Pangelinan is being treated for a gunshot wound that happened in a brief shootout with police on Sunday right before he was apprehended.

Wanted: Shaenita Pangelinan

Shaenita Pangelinan, their sister, remains on the loose.

GPD said she weighs about 110 lbs. and stands at about 5, with light complexion and dark brown to black hair.

She has a mole below her right eye and on the left cheek, and her hair is usually tied back and up.

GPD reminds the community to remain vigilant and to report Shaenita Pangelinans whereabouts by calling 911 or visiting the Guam Crime Stoppers website at http://www.guam.crimestoppersweb.com.
Superior Court Judge Alberto E. Tolentino on Monday granted a motion by the Office of the Attorney General, through Assistant Attorney General Valerie Nuesa, to dismiss its kidnapping case against Noah Cepeda.

Cepeda was scheduled to start his trial this week. He faced charges of kidnapping, terrorizing and felonious restraint, each with a special allegation of a deadly weapon used in a felony.

The charges stemmed from an incident on April 13, 2024, when alleged victim Andrew Cruz rushed into the Shell gas station in Barrigada and told police officers there that he was being kidnapped by two people, namely Cepeda and Aja Lyrick Lujan. He told police that he managed to escape, and police issued a public wanted notice for the pair the same day.

The following morning, the alleged suspects self-surrendered to police and were charged in court the next day.

As the alleged driver, Lujan faced complicity charges.

In January this year, however, Assistant Attorney General Aaron Boyce filed a motion to dismiss charges against Lujan, saying it was in the best interests of justice, and that based on the case assessment, there may not be sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction.

Tolentino granted the motion and ordered that Lujan be released from custody. It was the same for Cepeda.

In her motion, Nuesa wrote that trial preparation has revealed that the evidence may not support the conviction of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the alleged victim, Cruz, no longer wanted to testify at trial.

Defense attorney Peter J. Santos from the Alternate Public Defenders office said all other evidence in the case was extremely weak.

The accuser has a long criminal history and a history of making similar wild accusations. He was also very high at the time. Not a credible witness at all, Santos said. Judge Tolentino was very frustrated...but did grant the motion.
Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority commissioners approved updated requirements for new Guma Trankilidat tenants Tuesday, including a limit on the amount of assets that can be owned by families.

The tenant selection plan for elderly multifamily housing units was changed to be in compliance with federal regulations. Some of the rules adopted by GHURA commissioners Tuesday include:

Families who own assets of $100,000 or more are not eligible for multifamily housing program assistance.

Families with a legal interest in real property they can occupy are not eligible for the program.

The definition of family was revised to include single person as an eligible youth between 18 and 24 or someone who has left the foster care system within 90 days and is homeless or at risk of being homeless at age 16 or older.

A foster child or foster adult is defined as a member of the household, and they will be considered when determining the subsidy level.

Annual income includes all amounts received from all sources by family members 18 and older, in addition to unearned income from dependents under 18.

The updated rules are required by the federal Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act of 2016, and they have to be in place by July 1 of this year.

GHURA officials said the asset limitations wont affect current tenants. The rules specify that families wont be evicted for non-compliance with the asset limitation. However, new tenants will have to meet the requirements.
The Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services continues to urge the community to take preventive measures following increased reports in measles cases in the continental United States and multiple international regions.

While reports grow in the states, Guam stands with zero measles cases, Public Health said in a release.

The department reminds the public that even one dose of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is 93% effective against measles.

What raises our concern is Guams unique position as a transit point between the U.S. mainland and countries in Asia, where outbreaks are also occurring, said DPHSS Director Theresa C. Arriola in a statement. We are not alarmed, but we are asking our community to take this seriously. Check your vaccination status, especially if you travel, work with the public, or care for children.

DPHSS recommends:

 Residents should ensure that their children are up to date with the MMR vaccine. Adults uncertain of their vaccination status should consult with health care providers.

 Measles typically begins with a high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes, followed by a rash that spreads across the body.

 Individuals exhibiting symptoms should contact their healthcare provider before visiting medical facilities to prevent potential exposure to others

For more information, visit https://www.cdc.gov/measles/ or contact the DPHSS Immunization Program at (671) 735-7143.
Guams first female governor, Lourdes Leon Guerrero, has brought substantial improvements to the island populations standard of living. When Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero assumed her position, she immediately commanded her administration to address key sectors essential for Guams development.

The governors administration shows intense commitment towards health care and economic development while focusing its efforts on education infrastructure, along with social services and environmental protection.

Gov. Leon Guerrero has made her most vital contributions through advancements in health care. She has initiated projects to improve medical facilities and broaden health care access throughout the island because of her awareness of the essential need for accessible quality medical services.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, health care efforts encompassed hospital improvements and frontline worker support alongside expanded access to essential health programs.

Gov. Leon Guerrero has stimulated Guams economic development by bringing in investments and assisting local businesses. Her administration started programs to create jobs and develop small businesses while building up Guams critical tourism sector.

The initiatives work towards developing an economic framework for the island that can withstand challenges and sustain itself independently.

Her administration has placed education as a fundamental priority. Gov. Leon Guerrero actively advances Guams educational system by advocating better school facilities and more funding in addition to broader educational opportunities for students.

Her educational vision centers on developing essential skills for future generations to succeed in a competitive global landscape through her dedication to education.

Substantial advancements in infrastructure development occurred under her leadership. Gov. Leon Guerrero has focused on infrastructure projects that enhance Guams transportation networks, along with its utility systems and general infrastructure.

Residents enjoy better daily life through these efforts while the islands capacity to support business and tourism generates economic growth.

Gov. Leon Guerrero also demonstrates strong dedication to social services beyond her major achievements. Her administration introduced programs that target support for vulnerable groups such as veterans, alongside senior citizens and families who face financial difficulties.

Enhancing the social safety net demonstrates her dedication to governance based on inclusivity and compassion.

Gov. Leon Guerrero demonstrated strong environmental leadership during her term. She has supported sustainability initiatives and conservation efforts because she understands the significance of Guams natural beauty and resources.

The initiatives encompass renewable energy promotion alongside coral reef protection and coastal area defense, while advocating responsible environmental policies to safeguard the islands resources for future generations.

Gov. Leon Guerreros extensive achievements for Guam have created a foundation for diverse criticism of her leadership. Political differences frequently become a decisive factor in many situations.

The governors adversaries either hail from opposing political parties or possess divergent beliefs that generate policy critiques independent of their actual success. Some critics base their evaluations on distinct priorities and expectations.

The governor has directed attention to health care and education but some people believe that housing and public safety should receive more focus.

The opposition may be driven by both impatience and unrealistic expectations regarding the speed at which results should emerge. Government initiatives related to infrastructure and economic reform require patience before showing results, while critics often neglect their long-term aspects.

The governors achievements may not be fully understood by opponents due to insufficient awareness. The public remains unaware of progress if they do not receive transparent communication and correct information.

We must understand that all opposition isnt baseless. Democratic societies rely on leader accountability, along with the recognition that some critiques represent real worries about particular governmental choices.

Leadership becomes more effective when constructive feedback is used to address peoples needs continuously.

Gov. Leon Guerrero has achieved important progress in various sectors but faces opposition that stems from political interests and different priorities, along with valid concerns that assist in building a stronger democracy.

She delivered numerous substantial contributions to Guam during her tenure as a dedicated public servant. Her leadership demonstrates a comprehensive governance strategy through her work in health care, economic development, education, infrastructure, social services, and environmental protection.

Under her direction, Guam continues to thrive as a healthy, prosperous and sustainable community for its residents.
It is unfortunate that the Guam Department of Education had to return nearly $27 million in various federal funds for the mere fact that they did not utilize the money in time.

These were dollars that could have been invested into our students, and I encourage not just the Board of Education, but also the Guam Legislature, to dig deeper into the issue and hold key individuals accountable where possible.

Several states lost similar funds because the U.S. Department of Education notified all jurisdictions, including Guam, at the end of March that timelines were being shortened, and extensions were being retracted. Congressional offices were advised through their respective liaisons.

Was all this unavoidable? Absolutely, as the funding was made available for utilization, but somewhere along the timeline, it seems that the initiative didnt occur.

Secondly, with all the chatter at the start of the year, there were no secrets that major changes were going to take place with USDOE, inclusive of a dismantle of the federal agency and a claw back of unused federal funds.

I am surprised the Guam delegates office was not in deeper discussions with the federal entity and GDOE much earlier to start the process of establishing spending plans with unspent dollars.

From what I gather from federal contacts, other states were able to salvage millions from their allocations; therefore Guams actions seem unacceptable.

Moving forward, what I would recommend is that the Guam delegates office utilize the seat in the House Education and Workforce Committee and lead a committee-endorsed letter regarding these claw backs and the impact on various jurisdictions.

We are not the only district being affected by this recent announcement from USDOE, hence there will be others approaching with a similar mindset.

A couple of weeks prior to my departure from that office, I negotiated with the committee leadership and the speakers office to secure Guam a seat in that committee. Education and Workforce has jurisdiction over many key programs which Guam residents utilize, and it was apparent that issues with education would be looming. Why the delegates office is not utilizing this opportunity is questionable.

As the House begins discussions on a reconciliation bill, now is the time to work on a collective effort with other jurisdictions that are facing a similar impact with federal funds. Use the committee as the messenger as a committee letter would go further up the channels versus a letter from the delegates or any other congressional office (not associated with leadership).

Also, Guams office should engage the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, which I ensured we secured a seat on for this term, as this will require a bipartisan effort.

Sadly, as the delegates office intends, Guam will not get anywhere with DODEA (they will oppose any integration efforts as previously experienced) and FEMA is in the midst of a dismantling situation similar to that of USDOE.

Every issue Guam or any other jurisdiction faces in Congress requires outside the box solutions, and at the same time, multiple approaches.

It is easy to say, I am fighting, but that means nothing if all your eggs are in one basket, or if you blinked your eye during a deadline. If you did, you were never in the fight in the first place, as those are losing options.

For our students, Guam needs to engage in a real fight and cant afford to lose.




Haiti - FLASH : First official report from the Battle of Kenscoff : at least 262 dead and 66 wounded (Report)





Attacks carried out since January 27, 2025, in Kenscoff, a town in the hills above Port-au-Prince, have left at least 262 dead and 66 injured, at least 53% of whom were members of the population and 47% individuals associated with criminal groups, according to a report published Monday, April 7, by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).



"The information collected and verified by our teams following a thorough investigation establish that the attacks against Kenscoff were extremely brutal to create panic among the population," said the Special Representative of the Secretary General in Haiti and Head of BINUH, Maria Isabel Salvador.



Men, women, and children were executed inside their homes, while others were shot dead on roads and trails while fleeing the violence. The victims' bodies were then burned. Sexual violence, including rape, was also committed against women and girls. Approximately 200 homes were destroyed or burned, and more than 3,000 people were forced to flee.



Criminal groups carried out these attacks to extend their control over the mountainous communities of Kenscoff and to destabilize the commune of Petion-ville. By extending their influence over this area, criminal groups and their supporters also sought to further weaken the authorities.



On the first day of the attacks, January 27, 2025, Haitian security forces were deployed late. However, subsequently, despite limited resources and operating on multiple fronts across the capital, they gradually strengthened their presence in the commune of Kenscoff, with the support of the Multinational Security Support Mission.



This deployment helped slow the advance of criminal groups but has not yet restored public order.



Download the full report (16-page English PDF): https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/flash_report_20250222_kenscoff-en.pdf



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Commemoration : 222nd anniversary of the death of Toussaint Louverture





Monday, April 7, 2025, commemorates the 222nd anniversary of the death of Toussaint Louverture, imprisoned at Fort de Joux in Doubs (Savoie, France), located at an altitude of 1,000 meters.



It should be remembered that Toussaint Louverture, a hero of independence, was imprisoned there on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte for having opposed the reestablishment of black slavery by force of arms. Bonaparte's orders specified that Toussaint Louverture "must receive appropriate treatment and be adequately clothed and heated." However, the mountain climate remained unbearable for an already ill Caribbean man. Toussaint Louverture died in his 6.50m x 3.90m cell on April 7, 1803, five months after his arrival and before Haiti's independence.



This ceremony, marked by contemplation took place in the presence of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime, Fritz Alphonse Jean, President pro tempore of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT), members of the CPT, Jean-Joseph Lebrun, President of the Court of Cassation, government ministers, Normil Rameau, Acting Director General of the Haitian National Police, and Derby Guerrier, Acting Lieutenant General of the Haitian Armed Forces (FAd'H).



The Prime Minister praised the indelible legacy of Toussaint Louverture, "the embodiment of courage, foresight, and the fight for freedom. The memory of this historical giant remains, today more than ever, a guiding light for Haiti, illuminating both its present and its future."







In his speech, Fritz Alphonse Jean issued a solemn appeal to all the country's children to believe in the ideals of their ancestors. In this sense, the Presidential Transitional Council is committed to following in the footsteps of the Heroes in order to give the country a new direction.







In Cap-Haitien, Mayor Yvrose Pierre traveled to Haut du Cap on Monday to take part in a solemn tribute ceremony to the precursor of independence. A wreath was laid at the foot of the monument erected in memory of this illustrious figure in the struggle for freedom, followed by a moment of silence in his honor. Several dignitaries attended the ceremony.



In France, a delegation from the Embassy of Haiti, led by Charge d'Affaires Louino Volcy, took part in the wreath-laying ceremony organized by the Toussaint Louverture Pilgrimage organization at the memorial erected on the eastern slope of Fort de Joux.



Louino Volcy spoke alongside the President of the Grand Pontarlier Community of Communes, Patrick Genre, Member of Parliament Eric Liegeon, and the Sub-Prefect of Pontarlier, Mr. Nicolas Onimus.



In his speech, Volcy emphasized the symbolic significance of his presence at this important site of memory and history, the Chateau de Joux. He paid tribute to the life, work, and struggle of Toussaint Louverture, who paved the way for Haiti's independence, proclaimed on January 1st, 1804. He paid his respects in Toussaint Louverture's cold and damp cell, which recalls the tragic fate of this great strategist, skilled politician, and symbol of freedom who inscribed the Haitian Revolution in the history of universal civilization.



SL/ S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : New regulations in public hospitals for Haitians illegally in the DR





On Sunday, April 6, 2025, President Luis Abinader announced a series of measures to combat irregular migration and guarantee Dominican sovereignty in the face of the Haitian crisis.



Among these measures, one concerns the regulation of hospital care for people in an irregular migration situation in the country and establishes a protocol that will be implemented starting Monday, April 21, 2025.



"Dominicans have the right to receive medical care without having to be displaced due to lack of space." "We cannot continue to practice a liberality that compromises our resources," declared the President in an address to the Nation hhttps://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-44640-haiti-flash-presidents-abinader-hardens-his-position-against-illegal-haitians.html



The President explained that, to control the influx of people in an irregular migration situation into public hospitals, patients will have to meet the following requirements :



- Official identification;

- A letter of employment in the country;

- Proof of address.



Furthermore, Abinader stated that fees will be established for all services provided. "If none of these conditions are met, the patient will be treated and, once recovered, repatriated immediately," Abinader said.



He also indicated that an immigration officer will be assigned to each hospital to ensure compliance with this regulation.



"The rights of Dominicans will not be violated. Our identity will not be diluted. Our generosity will not be exploited. Here, solidarity has its limits."



The Health Services Information and Statistics Reference System indicates that, during 2024, 592,810 (8.13%) consultations offered in public hospitals were directed to patients of Haitian origin.



Additionally, hospitals received 480,332 (9.47%) of the total emergency services recorded in 2024.



Regarding births, in 2024, 32,967 births were to mothers of Haitian origin, or 36% of the 91,661 births recorded.



S/ HaitiLibre


















The US auto tariffs led to confusion with long bureaucratic texts and lists of tariff codes. In the list of affected product categories, a four-digit tariff number in particular caused a stir, which heise online had also originally misinterpreted. 8471, according to the international code, generalizes:

Anzeige

"Automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, n.e.s."

In non-bureaucratic terms, this basically means all computers  be they desktop PCs, notebooks, MacBooks or Macs. Magnetic readers stand for hard drives, but not SSDs, strictly speaking. When importing from abroad, a flat rate of 25 per cent customs duty is due for the products concerned.

Most customs codes apply specifically to automotive products and therefore do not require any restriction. In the case of computer technology, however, the validity can be restricted via the customs documents. Thus, 25 percent customs duty applies to hardware components intended for cars. Country- and material-specific customs duties may apply to PC components.

Confusion

The 25 per cent tariffs are currently the only surcharge for cars and components, including chips. The US government is currently excluding the country-specific tariffs of up to 50 per cent from products affected by the car tariffs.

Anzeige

However, a question mark remains over chips. The US government is keeping separate tariffs for semiconductors, which could further increase the price of individual components if they are also introduced.

(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.
In 2024, 84 startups received funding from FiBAN members. In 2023, 173 startups secured such investments. The average size of investment rounds increased.

Finnish business angels invested 31.5 million in domestic startups in 2024, according to the Finnish Business Angels Network (FiBAN). The figure approached 2022 levels despite a sharp drop in the number of funded companies.

FiBAN, the largest angel investor network in Europe, has directed nearly 500 million into over 2,000 Finnish startups over the past 15 years. The network has 600 members.

The broader European trend has shown declining angel investment. In Finland, the volume has remained stable despite economic uncertainty, a wave of bankruptcies and rapid technological changes.

Statistics Finland reported 3,475 bankruptcies in 2024. This was a 5 percent increase from the previous year.

Follow-on rounds have become less frequent, but startups securing new investments attracted significantly larger sums. According to FiBAN, investors are concentrating their funding on fewer companies showing strong early promise.

Tiina Laisi-Puheloinen, FiBAN's CEO, said that investors focused on emerging technologies and sectors with strategic relevance.

New companies are emerging especially in the field of applied artificial intelligence and in defence and dual-use sectors, Laisi-Puheloinen said. We witnessed enormous funding demand in defence-related startups, with over 120 applications received from that sector alone in 2024. The same trend appears to be accelerating this year.

Angel investors participated in investment rounds averaging 275,000. On average, a single investor took part in 1.7 rounds per year. Co-investment has become more common, especially in sectors requiring large capital inputs.

Laisi-Puheloinen said collaborative investing allowed risk-sharing and enabled access to capital-intensive fields.

In defence and dual-use technologies, co-investment is vital. Research-based startups need larger capital rounds, Laisi-Puheloinen said. She cited Dobbelganger, a startup developing deception technology, which raised 920,000 in a round led by Lifeline Ventures, Innovestor and a group of angel investors.

FiBAN has strengthened its cooperation with institutional investors, expanding opportunities for members. The Kanssasijoitusrahasto (Co-Investment Fund), launched by FiBAN, supports collaboration between different investor categories.

Some FiBAN members hold dozens of startup investments and aim to spread risk across sectors.

Experienced angel investors often move towards fund structures and more diversified portfolios, Laisi-Puheloinensaid.

The number of exits in 2024 remained high, with 140 exits reported. Of these, 40 percent were due to bankruptcies. The most notable exit was the sale of artificial intelligence firm Silo.AI to AMD for 600 million.

Silo.AI received FiBAN's Exit of the Year award. The company had previously received early-stage funding from FiBAN members.

Silo.AI is an excellent example of how early-stage angel investments can enable significant company growth and deliver high returns on high-risk capital, Laisi-Puheloinen said.

HT
The Finnish Chamber of Commerce said the rule is especially harmful now, as unemployment is at a record high and jobless periods have grown longer.

A proposed law requiring unemployed foreign workers to leave Finland within three months is drawing criticism from business leaders, who say the measure will weaken Finlands position on the global labour market and reduce the countrys ability to attract and retain international talent.

The law, which Parliament is scheduled to vote on today, would affect a growing number of foreign workers who otherwise have a strong chance of re-employment and of contributing to Finnish society.

The governments proposal sends the wrong message to skilled workers living in Finland. It undermines efforts to promote work-based immigration, said Suvi Pulkkinen, Senior Advisor for Skills and Immigration at the Finnish Chamber of Commerce. With an ageing population and declining birth rate, Finland cannot afford to waste opportunities to secure a competitive edge in the global talent market.

The current proposal would require a foreign national to leave Finland within three months of unemployment, unless they secure new employment or obtain a new residence permit. Employers would also face new reporting obligations under the law.

The Chamber of Commerce has proposed extending the job search period to between six and twelve months and basing it on a self-declaration by the jobseeker, rather than increasing employers administrative burden.

A three-month period is too short to find new employment, especially in the current economic climate, Pulkkinen said. Recruitment processes often take longer. This change introduces uncertainty for exactly the kind of professionals Finland needs most.

The draft law itself acknowledges that the measure may reduce Finlands appeal among international professionals and discourage highly educated workers from relocating. It could also undermine Finlands competitiveness in the global race for skilled labour.

Without international experts, startups wont get launched and our ageing population wont receive the care it needs. This is a risk to the sustainability of the welfare state, Pulkkinen said. Even if there is currently a surplus of labour, that could change quickly. Integration and language learning take time  this is exactly why we should be holding on to top talent, not pushing them out.

HT
The European Union will unveil its first round of retaliatory tariffs on US imports this Wednesday, following Washingtons decision to impose sweeping duties on European goods. Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio said on Monday the EU must respond in a united and proportionate way to protect consumers and businesses across the bloc.

According to Tavio, the countermeasures aim to avoid disproportionately affecting any single member state. Goods considered essential for security or energy production will not be included.

Last week, US President Donald Trump introduced a 10 percent blanket tariff on imports from many countries. EU member states are subject to a separate 20 percent tariff, in addition to a 25 percent duty on aluminium, steel and cars. The measures triggered significant losses on global markets, with the Helsinki Stock Exchange dropping nearly seven percent on Monday morning.

The European Commission has proposed a 25 percent tariff on a range of US products in response. The first measures are scheduled to take effect on 16 May, with a second wave following on 1 December. The list includes goods such as diamonds, eggs, dental floss, sausages and poultry. A second phase could cover almonds and soybeans.

Previously included alcohol products like bourbon whiskey have been removed from the latest draft, after Trump threatened a 200 percent tariff on EU wines and spirits in response. The threat raised concern in wine-exporting countries such as France and Italy, which pushed to exclude whiskey from the EU's measures.

Despite internal disagreements, EU ministers reached a near-consensus on the first round of tariffs. A final vote by member states is expected on Tuesday. Tavio emphasised that the EU must maintain cohesion in its trade policy, stating that "no one benefits from disunity".

The second phase of the EU response, aimed at US car tariffs and the broader 20 percent levy, remains under discussion. Larger member states including France and Germany have signalled support for stronger actions, such as restricting US firms from accessing EU public contracts. In contrast, smaller states such as Ireland and Spain favour a more restrained approach.

An EU diplomat told Euronews the bloc seeks to "strike the right balance to protect the most exposed EU economies", while sending a signal that the EU is prepared to escalate if necessary. The diplomat added that the aim is not to provoke a trade war, but to bring the US back to the negotiating table.

The European Council notes that the EU and US together account for nearly 30 percent of global trade and 43 percent of global GDP. The two economies are described as having the most integrated relationship in the world.

According to the Finnish government, cooperation and liberalisation remain the preferred path forward. But Tavio acknowledged that retaliatory measures are necessary to safeguard the EUs economic interests under current circumstances.

HT
When oranges turn bitter: The stark contrast in China-U.S. fentanyl governance

09:23, April 08, 2025 By Xin Ping ( People's Daily Online

Over two millennia ago, Chinese statesman Yan Zi observed that sweet oranges thriving south of the Huaihe River, generally recognized as Southern China, would turn bitter when planted north of it.

Today, a similar paradox applies to fentanyl governance: the same compound that saves lives under China's regulated system sadly fuels an overdose epidemic in the U.S.

It reveals profound differences in how scientific innovation would affect people's wellbeing in two different situations.

China's Integrated Governance Framework

On April 1, 2019, China formally implemented a full control of fentanyl-related substances. From the manufacturing of fentanyl-related medications to their sale and use, every procedure is closely monitored and regulated. Actually, ever since 2017, no cases of fentanyl smuggling or diversion have been detected in China, and no fentanyl-related medications have gone missing during manufacturing or circulation.

Advanced technologies underpin this regulatory system. Authorities implemented a rigorous digital tracking system for fentanyl-related medications. New technologies and methods, such as radio frequency identification tags, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence, enables whole-process monitoring and closed-loop management of the manufacturing, sale, transport, use, import, and export of fentanyl-related medications, eliminating possibilities of misuse or systemic failures.

Policy design is rooted in humanitarian principles. Despite vigorous regulation, authorized medical use of fentanyl is still covered by China's national medical insurance, ensuring access for terminally ill patients. The 2024 Healthy China Report highlights that more and more cancer patients are receiving proper pain management, supported by a tiered distribution system with mobile clinics that can effectively reach rural and low-income areas.

China's Global Collaboration

Internationally, China plays a positive role in jointly addressing new challenges in global drug governance, including fentanyl, through proactive cooperation with other countries and international organizations.

On January 30, 2024, the China-U.S. Counternarcotics Working Group held its first meeting in Beijing to identify priorities for counternarcotics cooperation. The two sides have since convened multiple high-level meetings to promote bilateral dialogue and cooperation in drug control and law enforcement. Since 2024, with more than 100 instances of information exchange, the two sides have made breakthroughs in the joint investigation of multiple transnational cases.

China has signed 50 intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents on drug control cooperation with more than 30 countries and unions of countries, established annual meeting mechanisms with 13 countries, and initiated or joined multilateral drug control cooperation mechanisms under the frameworks of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, etc. Through these efforts, China has continuously built trust and expanded all-round cooperation with other countries in drug control.

China has carried out technical exchanges with the drug control agencies of various countries to share experience and practices in the testing and identification, monitoring of abuse, and assessment of hazards relating to fentanyl-related substances. For example, seminars on wastewater monitoring for fentanyl-related substances and other drugs were held with experts from the UNODC, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (European Union Drugs Agency), Australia, New Zealand, and ASEAN countries.

America's Systemic Challenges

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl-related substances, reached 75,000 in 2023, accounting for almost 70 percent of all drug overdose deaths, making fentanyl-related overdose the leading cause of death for adults aged 18 to 45 in the United States. The U.S. fentanyl crisis stems from deeper societal dynamicshistorical, economic, and culturalwhich collectively compound the problem.

Healthcare Complexities: The American Pain Society labeled pain as the 5th vital sign, leading to a 300 percent surge in opioid prescriptions between 1999 and 2010.

Regulatory Fragmentation: Conflicting federal-state jurisdictions allow illicit fentanyl to flood online markets.

Social Vulnerabilities: Addiction remains stigmatized, few rehab facilities can be found in rural areas, and only 10 percent of addicts receive treatment.

Rather than solely focusing on external factors, experts emphasize the need for systemic improvements. A Harvard Journal of Public Health study noted: Strengthening domestic supply chain security should be a priority, advocating for blockchain tracking similar to China's system.

Reflection: Learning from Differences

Yan Zi's wisdom reminds us that systems shape outcomes, but context determines effectiveness.

China's effective fentanyl control demonstrates a balanced approach between stringent regulation and proper medical accessibility, supported by technologically enforced mechanisms that uphold ethical standards.

At the same time, the deeply entrenched culture of individualism in American society presents distinct regulatory challenges, necessitating innovative approaches that reconcile personal freedoms with enhanced oversight mechanisms.

The reality remains: Addressing complex issues demands constructive dialogue and mutual learning, rather than assigning blame. China could benefit from studying America's community-driven harm reduction strategies, while the U.S. might draw inspiration from China's integrated regulatory framework.

By understanding and learning from each other's governance models, countries can develop more effective strategies for ensuring health securityone that respects both the bitter lessons of the past and the sweet potential of cooperation in the future.

(The author is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for Xinhua News, Global Times, China Daily, CGTN, etc. He can be reached at xinping604@gmail.com.)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
Summerset Group reported 290 sales for the quarter ending 31 March 2025, comprising 132 new sales and 158 resales.

Total sales for Q1 this year were 14% higher than the same time last year, with resales increasing by 31%, while new sales were down slightly year-on-year, says Summerset CEO Scott Scoullar.

This is a pleasing start to the year, January was quite slow, as is typical while our prospective residents are on holiday, but we had a strong February and March.

As we move into Q2 we have a solid pipeline of contracts, which well be working through to settlement. Weve seen a 32% year-on-year increase of contracted new sale stock compared to Q1 2024.

Mr Scoullar said Summersets geographical diversity continued to show its strength in Q1 with almost every region in New Zealand seeing increased sales year-on-year.

We achieved a good balance of sales throughout the country with 50% of our sales coming from outside Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch during this quarter.

Mr Scoullar said the company remains on track to build 650-730 homes across New Zealand and Australia in 2025, including delivery of its first village centre in Australia at Cranbourne North.

ENDS

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April 8, 2025: Incidents of Russian sabotage are increasingly occurring in Europe. One recent incident involved metal shavings found in an engine component of a new German corvette. The shavings were discovered and removed before they could do any damage. Russia is believed behind multiple sabotage incidents in the last year. Russia, unable to subdue Ukraine with military force, concluded that the most vulnerable aspect of the Ukrainian war effort was the support received from NATO countries. For over a year Russia has been attacking NATO nations clandestinely with disinformation and sabotage using a combination of specialized diplomats and sleeper agents who have long been living in Europe. The sleeper agents usually dont carry out the sabotage themselves but hire criminal networks in Europe to do it.

European police and security agencies were aware of these plans and, when these sabotage activities were detected, the criminals were sought and some were arrested. Some of these men confirmed the Russian source of these attacks. With these Russian efforts no longer secret, Russian recruiting efforts were crippled, but not halted, because of fears that anyone who worked for Russia would be quickly identified and arrested. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, public opinion in Europe has been hostile to Russia. Undeterred, the Russian sleepers faded deeper into the background and used one or more levels of intermediaries to identify criminal groups who were willing to carry out the sabotage if the financial rewards were high enough.

There have been a few railway accidents that are now being reexamined to see if they were acts of sabotage. Russian jamming of GPS signals continues to be a problem in several European countries. Russia denies any involvement but the evidence of Russian complicity grows with each incident. In this respect Russia is at war with European nations and these attacks have led to economic sanctions against Russia. Russia sees this as an attack on their economy and their sleeper coordinated sabotage campaign in Western Europe is their response.

Russia had sleeper agents in Ukraine since the 1990s, after Ukraine became an independent state in 1991. The sleepers were not fully activated until Russia realized their 2022 invasion was faltering. There was no public announcement of this but by 2024 the Ukrainian security service, or SSU, detected several Russian agents operating in Kherson, which is near the Black Sea northwest of Crimea. Three Russian spies were arrested and apparently none of these men admitted to being sleepers or knowing anything about sleepers. That was not unusual, as sleepers and the agents they hire locally know that as long as they disclose nothing, Russia will do whatever they can to free these loyal agents.

Russia believes that conventional warfare waged in Ukraine and the unconventional warfare carried out worldwide complement each other. Russian efforts to destabilize Africa are supposed to divert attention and resources headed to Ukraine. To make this happen, Russian spies, assassins, and propagandists continue their efforts.

Revolution and subversion efforts worldwide have long been used by the Soviet Union and later Russia to exploit whatever opportunities were available to disrupt and diminish support for groups hostile to Russia, while encouraging local leaders that support Russian objectives. For example, in 2016, Russian operatives recruited criminal gangs to cause trouble in the tiny Balkan state of Montenegro and disrupt efforts by that country to join NATO. That attempt failed when several foreign agents and pro-coup Montenegrin politicians were detected, arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned.

In February 2022, Russian agents tried to organize widespread protests in Ukraine that would justify Russian military intervention, aided by pro-Russian factions in the Ukrainian government. These factions were supposed to make it possible for pro-Russian groups belonging to the Ukrainian parliament and government to seize power. That effort failed because the Russians overestimated the number of pro-Russian officials in the Ukrainian government and the Russian invasion did not immediately succeed, as the Russians expected. There were too many Ukrainians willing and able to fight and defeat the Russian invaders.

The Russian FSB is the post-Soviet version of the KGB but has demonstrated a shortage of skills and ability to match the performance of the KGB in its prime. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was made possible, in part, because the KGB had also lost its ability to get things done. By the end of 2022, the military failures in Ukraine gave the FSB more political and financial support to move forward with spending more time, money and effort on their sleepers program. The FSB has to call on retired agents who had served during the pre-1991 Soviet Union era. Many Russian sleepers were exposed in the 1990s because Soviet archives were open to foreign historians, some of them secretly working for Western intelligence agencies. Many Russian sleepers were identified and arrested. That put an end to Western researchers studying KGB archives. Russia considers arresting their sleepers in Europe and North Americans a hostile act. The Russians quietly began rebuilding and expanding their sleeper network. Meanwhile the Russians arrested innocent Western visitors to Russia and kept them in prison until they could be exchanged for arrested Russian sleepers.

Western intelligence agencies now spend a lot of time trying to identify sleepers and pay more attention to acts of sabotage. These acts are often disguised as accidents of the result of a local feud. For the last two years, sleepers have become prime suspects. When pursuing whoever was responsible for acts of sabotage, sleepers are often at the top of the list of possible perpetrators.
Rural tourism flourishes in Wuzhishan, S China's Hainan

People's Daily Online) 09:41, April 08, 2025

Photo shows the picturesque scenery of Maona village in Wuzhishan city, south China's Hainan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Wuzhishan Municipal Committee)

Rural tourism is flourishing in several villages in Wuzhishan city, south China's Hainan Province, thanks to the rich combination of natural and cultural resources.

Maona village, situated at the foot of the main peak of Wuzhishan Mountain in Shuiman township, is leveraging its ecological assets and Li ethnic culture to rapidly develop rural tourism. This has transformed the village into an idyllic retreat for tourists.

Upon entering the village, visitors are immediately captivated by a boat-shaped house belonging to the Li ethnic group, constructed from bamboo. This structure blends traditional and modern elements, incorporating Li cultural features set against a rainforest backdrop.

"Up close, it's a boat-shaped house, but from afar, it resembles a Li woman wearing a bamboo hat and straw raincoat. It's fascinating," said a tourist surnamed Zhang, who couldn't resist capturing photos of the house with her smartphone.

"Visitors come here not just to enjoy the scenery but also to watch performances and sample tea," said a staff member of the Shuiman Maona Ecotourism Area.

Aiming to become a model village for comprehensive tourism, Maona has combined traditional ethnic elements to offer bamboo pole dances, bonfire parties, theatrical performances, tea tastings and displays of intangible cultural heritage items like Li brocade and pottery. In 2024, the village welcomed 170,200 tourist visits, generating 8.51 million yuan ($1.17 million) in tourism revenue.

Maona village has also encouraged residents to convert their courtyards into rustic eateries and specialty product shops, bolstering comprehensive rural revitalization.

"Villagers can find employment right at their doorstep, genuinely earning a living from tourism," the staff member noted.

Last year, the village's collective economic income reached approximately 2.61 million yuan, with the per capita disposable income for farmers standing at 23,600 yuan, up 8.01 percent year on year.

Located less than 4 kilometers from Maona village is Fangnuo village, a hidden gem within the tropical rainforest.

Fangnuo village is a treasure situated in the Wuzhishan section of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park. It has developed a comprehensive tourism product system by integrating agriculture, wellness, cultural and creative products, and educational tours, all guided by the principle of respecting nature and preserving the ecology.

Photo shows the picturesque scenery of a lake in Fangnuo village, Wuzhishan city, south China's Hainan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Wuzhishan Municipal Committee)

The village currently boasts 23 B&B hotels and 18 wooden villas. Visitors can enjoy rainforest hiking and wellness retreats, savor tea alongside scenic views, and sample distinctive local cuisine within the scenic area. In 2024, Fangnuo village received approximately 28,000 tourist visits.

Photo shows the Yahu terraced fields in Yahu village, Wuzhishan city, south China's Hainan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Wuzhishan Municipal Committee)

Situated beneath Yinggeling Mountain, the Yahu terraced fields in Maoyang township's Yahu village cover an expansive area of 4,800 mu (320 hectares), cascading down 160 levels.

The Yahu terraced fields now serve both as agricultural hubs and key destinations for eco-tourism in Hainan.

By leveraging its unique natural resources and the vibrant Li agricultural culture, the village is accelerating the integration of agriculture and tourism to boost comprehensive rural revitalization.

"In 2023, we invested 2.8 million yuan in the first phase of our agriculture-tourism integration project," said Shi Yunfeng, an official dispatched to the village. "This included purchasing sightseeing vehicles and constructing viewing platforms, walking paths, and other tourism facilities to enhance the visitor experience."

Since the project's launch, Yahu village has generated tourism revenue exceeding 5 million yuan, according to Shi.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
April 8, 2025: Recently the ruling military junta was dismayed to realize that they only controlled 44 percent of the country. Year by year junta control over the country declines, with no end in sight. Despite that, the junta leaders declare that January 2026 national elections will be held. This is unlikely because the junta rules through fear and intimidation. Even those living in areas under government control were reluctant to participate in elections where popular candidates are intimidated and voters who might vote against the junta are threatened.

Outside Myanmar, few countries support the junta and many openly oppose the military government and its deplorable activities against their citizens. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations/ASEAN member states, South Korea, and India have openly rebuked the juntas election plans and will not provide technical support for a process that simply cannot be credible, free or fair.

In late 2024 remaining junta control over ever smaller portions of the country declined. While Myanmar became quieter for a while after the military junta allowed democracy to return in 2010, by late 2023 there was a major outbreak of violence by northern rebels against soldiers stationed in the north. This led to chaos in the north where non-tribal residents fled south and large groups of armed and angry tribal rebels moved south along with them. The army never expected this and now fighting continues in the north outside, and sometimes inside, towns where there is an army garrison. With few troops left in the area, the Myanmar military sent its warplanes to bomb towns believed to be occupied by rebels. This was an imprecise operation and many civilians were killed.

Myanmar is still subject to violence from tribal separatist militias in the north plus radical Buddhist groups. There was another military coup in early 2021, a decade after the 1962 military junta finally gave in to demands for freedom and democracy. By 2010 the army had failed at running the economy or dealing with the rebellious northern tribes. The military negotiated a deal with the democrats that left the military with some of their political power as well as immunity from prosecution or retribution for a long list of past crimes. Once elections were held, the generals realized they had underestimated the degree of popular anger at the decades of military misrule. After 2011, with Myanmar governed by a government answerable to the people, not a military caste, there were calls for canceling the political privileges the military had retained as part of their agreement to allow peaceful transfer of power. The late 2020 nationwide elections put into power a government that finally had the votes, and determination, to cut the military down to size and make them much less capable of another coup. The generals moved faster than the new government and once more took control of the country in early 2022.

There was growing armed and unarmed opposition to the military which resulted in over a thousand dead and nearly 12,000 arrested. The economy was in shambles but, despite that, the population resisted and the survival of the military junta depends on how much China wants to spend saving them. China refused to contribute more than token assistance, while the rebel militias in the north became more powerful and the Myanmar army began to collapse, along with the military junta when there was another major uprising in late 2023 that started in the north and is ongoing.

Then in 2024 rare earth deposits were found in Myanmar. Rare earths are extremely valuable and used for the production of high-end electronics. Myanmar had these materials and China wanted them. The Chin rebels on the border wanted a piece of the action and that held up shipments to China until it was discovered who was blocking the shipments. Chinese border guards were ordered to let the rare earth shipments in and threatened the Chin rebels with loss of access to China and the weapons and other supplies obtained inside China.

Meanwhile, in the northwest, fighting between tribal rebels and the army in Rakhine State has intensified, and because of this several hundred thousand villagers have fled their homes. Many traveled all the way to the state capital, which is seen as the safest spot in Rakhine State. The army also revived Internet restrictions which had been lifted earlier. The result was that most cellphone users in Rakhine State get only slow 2G Internet speeds. This made it difficult to access pro-rebel websites, and most others as well.

Most of the rebels involved belong to the AA/Arakan Army. Many AA attacks are ambushes or raids on road traffic, outposts or border posts. Control of the roads is essential for the army, which depends on regular deliveries of all sorts of supplies. The army also has some air support, mostly surveillance but also occasional airstrikes. The rebels know the mountains and forests, which the army enters and moves through more slowly. The war up here is about driving away locals who can provide support for the rebels. Most of these civilians have nothing to do with the rebels and see themselves as innocent victims of random military violence. There is some truth to that because troops often loot abandoned villages or rape female refugees they catch up with.

The rebels have another advantage in that their attacks are more precise and involve much less firepower. The soldiers spend most of their time wandering around in the forests seeking rebels who move faster in the bush and usually detect the troops before the soldiers can spot any rebels. Hiring, or forcing, local hunters to guide the troops rarely works because the local guides hate the troops and know that the rebels wont forget if such guides and trackers cause rebel casualties.

Rebels attack outposts and border posts for loot. These attacks are not just about stealing some weapons and other gear, but also to intimidate border guards and troops into backing off on border security. A major source of income for the AA is getting illegal drugs from nearby Shan State, where most illegal drugs in the country are produced, into Bangladesh. The AA also works with Myanmar Rohingya refugees just across the border in Bangladesh.

The AA has support from one of the rebel coalitions, the NA, or Northern/Brotherhood Alliance tribal rebels, who refuse to attend peace talks unless the junta allows the Arakan Army, or AA, to attend. The AA and the army have been fighting for over seven years with no end in sight. The government, pressured by the army, declared the AA an outlaw organization in early 2020. The other tribal rebels disagreed and saw the army as the true outlaws. No long-term peace deal is possible without the NA and some NA members are still engaged in combat with the army.

All NA members agree that if the AA is not allowed to attend peace conferences, neither will any NA member. The NA consists of four tribal militias: TNLA/ Tang National Liberation Army, AA, MNDAA/ Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and KIA/Kachin Independence Army. The NA exists because its members refused to sign the 2015 Myanmar Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement/NCA. Those who did sign the NCA have made progress in working out differences with the junta and military. The army, which tends to do as it likes in the tribal areas of the north, is the primary cause for violence. China is also involved because Northern Alliance members survive via their access to China. The access is tolerated as long as these Myanmar rebels do not let the fighting spread into China or interfere with Chinese commercial operations in Myanmar. This includes the BRI/Belt and Road Initiative project, which NA members object to. So do other tribal rebels while the largest such group, the UWSA/United Wa State Army, boycotts peace conferences and otherwise tries to get their point across to the army and the junta.

Army leaders have become more outspoken about foreign support the tribal rebels are receiving. The generals wont come right out and name China, but it is no secret that China has done little to curb Chinese weapons dealers from selling all manner of military small arms to tribal rebels and getting it across the border into Myanmar. That cannot be done without the acquiescence of the Chinese government. In this way the Chinese are sending a message to the Myanmar generals, who the Chinese see as equally responsible for the violence in the north, sometimes right on the Chinese border. Both the rebels and the army are often using Chinese weapons and ammunition against each other. There are not a lot of casualties and most of them are from army convoys being ambushed or the army firing into pro-rebel villages to drive the civilians, and any rebels, out and into the bush. The army does not have enough troops to occupy all the territory they push tribal rebels and civilians out of. Often the rebels, if not the civilians, at least not right away, come back and resume attacking convoys and patrols.

Rebellions in Rakhine and down along the coast are nothing new in this area, which has long been known as the Arakan coast and similar names hinting at an interesting past. In recent years there have even been calls for the restoration of the Arakan Empire, which ceased to exist over 240 years ago. This is a renewal of ancient feuds over who should control the northwest coast of Myanmar, an area with a long history as an independent Arakan state. For example, in late 2017 ARSA/Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, the new Islamic terror group in Myanmar called for Rohingya to join with al Qaeda to fight the Myanmar army and establish Rakhine State as the independent Moslem Arakan. This refers to the Arakan region, which is the coastal area that includes Rakhine State and the coastal area along the Bay of Bengal from eastern Bangladesh down deep into Myanmar. Some 1800 years ago Arakan became an independent Hindu state but 500 years later Islam spread to the area in part because Arakan was one of the many branches of the ancient Silk Road from China.

The population was largely Bengali and Myanmaran. In the 18th century the Myanmar kingdom to the east conquered the area but lost it to the British colonial forces a century later. After that most of Arakan became part of the post-colonial nation of Myanmar. When the British left in the late 1940s they had created a Myanmar with unique borders and many citizens who were not ethnic Myanmar. For Islamic radicals, Arakan, like Spain, Portugal and parts of the Balkans are still considered part of the Caliphate/Islamic Empire because they had once been ruled by Moslems. The current inhabitants of these lost territories are now largely non-Moslem and have no interest in becoming Islamic states again. Despite that, groups like al Qaeda saw opportunities in Myanmar.

Islamic terrorists first showed up in late 2016 and August 2017 when there were attacks by a Rohingya Islamic terrorist group called ARSA. Its founder, a Rohingya expatriate, and much of the cash came from Saudi Arabia. Myanmar prefers to call groups like ARSA Islamic terrorists but until ARSA and the Saudi cash showed up there had not been much, if any, religious aspect to the armed Rohingya resistance. ARSA was openly calling for Rohingya worldwide to support a war against Myanmar for the bad treatment the Rohingya have received, especially since 2012. Until the 2017 announcement ARSA had denied any connection with al Qaeda but that eventually changed.

The ARSA leader, Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi or just Ata Ullah, has received more attention now that Islamic terror groups like al Qaeda are calling for its members to help ARSA and the Myanmar Rohingya any way they can. Since August 2017 there have been no more large scale ARSA attacks but there have been some clashes with security forces. For the moment ARSA is largely a force on the Internet, not on the ground.

Since 2018 Rakhine State has been the scene of soldiers fighting the Arakan Army rebels for control of territory. Along the west coast in Rakhine and Chin states the fighting is mainly about the army effort to control and tax illegal activities by tribesmen. The tribes have been mistreated by the military for so long it is difficult to generate a lot of trust and put an end to the armed resistance.

The Arakan Army had been avoiding soldiers since a series of clashes in late 2015 ended badly for the rebels. Clashes resumed in early 2016 as troops moved into territory where Arakan Army rebels were known to operate. All this was unexpected because the northwest coast has not had as much tribal violence as states to the east. In this case the Arakan Army had help from Kachin State tribal rebels and have become a problem on both sides of the Bangladesh border. The junta ordered the army to increase its efforts to destroy the Arakan Army and the successful clashes in late 2015 led to the military working with police to find and arrest the many Arakan Army supporters in the area. Unlike most tribal militias in the north, the Arakan Army was never given official recognition, in large part because the Arakan Army was more of a gangster operation than tribal rebels. All this police activity was unpopular but at least it was less arbitrary and lawless than in the past when soldiers would torture and kill people they picked up. That sort of behavior has always been illegal but few violators were prosecuted. In 2020 those illegal practices returned in a big way as the army sought to shut down the Arakan rebels once and for all.
On March 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) issued a Dear Colleague Letter to Chief State School Officers and Superintendents, emphasizing the necessity for educational institutions receiving federal funding to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). This directive underscores the Department's commitment to ensuring that schools adhere to federal laws designed to protect parental rights in education.

FERPA grants parents the right to access and amend their children's education records, while PPRA provides parents with the authority to consent before their children participate in certain school activities, such as surveys that collect personal information. The Department's letter serves as a reminder to schools of their obligations under these laws and highlights the importance of maintaining transparency and parental involvement in educational settings.

This initiative aligns with the Department's broader efforts to reinforce parental rights in education. Recently, the Department has been active in addressing concerns related to parental access to information about their children's education. For instance, the Trump administration has initiated investigations into several school districts in Maine for allegedly withholding information about students' gender transitions from parents, potentially violating FERPA. This follows similar investigations in California, reflecting the administration's focus on ensuring that parents have access to pertinent information regarding their children's well-being and educational experiences. 

Furthermore, the Department has taken steps to eliminate positions and guidance that it deems inconsistent with its current priorities. In January 2025, the Department eliminated the "book ban coordinator" position and dismissed complaints about the removal of "sexually explicit" and "age-inappropriate" materials from schools. These actions are part of a broader effort to restore parental control over children's education and emphasize local governance in educational content decisions. 

Education Secretary Linda McMahon has articulated a vision for overhauling the American school system that includes expanding parents' roles in education through publicly funded vouchers to private schools, eliminating bureaucratic barriers to empower educators, and focusing on core academic subjects. This vision aligns with President Donald Trump's executive orders supporting the expansion of private-school vouchers and promoting "patriotic education."

As the Department continues to prioritize parental rights, educational institutions are encouraged to review and update their policies to ensure compliance with federal laws and to foster an environment of transparency and collaboration with parents.
In a case of medical fraud, a man posing as a British heart specialist allegedly performed surgeries on patients at a Christian missionary hospital in India's central state of Madhya Pradesh  resulting in at least seven deaths.

The accused, whose true identity has been revealed as Narendra Vikramaditya Yadav, reportedly falsified credentials and adopted the name "Dr. N John Kem," claiming to be a cardiologist from the UK, according to news agency ANI.

After securing a position at the private missionary hospital, Yadav began performing heart surgeries. Tragically, multiple patients died following these procedures, prompting outrage and urgent calls for accountability.

Advocate and district president of the child welfare committee, Deepak Tiwari, was one of the first to raise alarm bells about the fake doctor.

"Some patients who did not die came to us and told us about the incident that they had taken their father to the hospital. The guy was ready to operate, but they were apprehensive, so they took their father to Jabalpur. We then learned that this fake doctor was working at the hospital. The real guy is in Britain, and this guy's name is Narendra Yadav," said Tiwari, who filed an official complaint with the Damoh district magistrate.

Tiwari further alleged that Yadav has a criminal record and had a case registered against him in Hyderabad, a city in southern India, and yet failed to provide any real identification documents during his employment.

The scandal has drawn national attention not just for the loss of lives, but for the hospital's reported involvement with Ayushman Bharat, a central government scheme that funds healthcare for underprivileged citizens.

Priyanka Kanoongo, a member of the National Human Rights Commission, confirmed that the hospital was receiving government funds and that the allegations are being seriously investigated.

"We got a complaint that a fake doctor has performed surgery on patients in the missionary hospital. We were also told that the missionary hospital is also involved with the Ayushman Bharat scheme and taking money from the government for it. This is a serious complaint; we have taken cognisance of the matter, and an investigation is currently going on."

Shockingly, this isn't the first time Yadav posed as "Dr. Kem." In July 2023, he posted on X, appealing to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to be sent to France to stop riots, bizarrely identifying himself then, too, as Dr. N John Kem.

With a widening investigation and mounting pressure on both hospital officials and local authorities, the Damoh tragedy is raising serious questions about medical oversight, background checks, and the misuse of public health funds.
A 42-year-old mother of five from England was left paralyzed neck down after undergoing a weight loss surgery in Turkey. Doctors say she suffered extensive nerve damage due to a severe vitamin deficiency, resulting in nutritional neuropathy, a rare but serious side effect of the procedure.

Danielle Peebles, decided to get gastric sleeve, a surgical procedure for weight loss at a hospital in Turkey after she could barely walk with 392 pounds and was on a long wait for bariatric surgery on the NHS.

"I was absolutely desperate. I put on a lot of weight over the years," Peebles told the Manchester Evening News.

"It's a long wait on the NHS for surgery and I appreciate that, no one could really tell me how long that was going to be. I was trying to improve myself, and be a better mum and a better nana as quickly as possible as my grandson was about to be born."

Peebles underwent the procedure in 2023, believing it was the best decision for her. Initially, she thought everything had gone smoothly, but soon after returning home, her problems began.

"From the moment I got home, I just couldn't eat, I couldn't keep anything down, I could barely have any liquid. That carried on for weeks and months, I just couldn't tolerate anything," she said.

When Peebles reached out to the medical team in Turkey, they advised her to visit A&E. But after going to the hospital, her symptoms were initially attributed to dehydration, and she was discharged after receiving fluids. However, her condition worsened, and in January 2024, she collapsed after beginning to feel numbness in her legs.

Peebles was left paralyzed from the neck down, enduring excruciating pain and heightened sensitivity in her feet even with the slightest touch. "I'd never had weight loss surgery, so I didn't know if this was just part of it. But then I collapsed and when I came round, I was paralyzed from the neck down and couldn't walk," she recalled.

Doctors diagnosed her with nutritional neuropathy, a rare condition caused by a severe vitamin deficiency. Peebles was told she had suffered extensive nerve damage and might never walk again. It was at that moment that she began questioning her decision to undergo surgery.

"You don't hear that you can get nutritional neuropathy from not eating. You're not told about these side effects because they're so rare," she said.

Peebles had to spend five months at the hospital before she slowly started regaining sensation in her limbs. With hard work and medical support, she was able to leave without crutches.

According to estimates, neurological problems can occur in 5% to 10% of people after bariatric surgery. One common issue, called peripheral neuropathy, can develop anywhere from 6 weeks to several years after the surgery. When this condition is caused by a lack of vitamin B1, it is known as "bariatric beriberi" which mainly affects the lower limbs, causing both sensory and motor problems.

Originally published on Medical Daily
A top Chinese official has vowed to protect US firms and pledged his country will remain a "promising land" for foreign investment, Beijing said Monday, after it slapped 34 percent tariffs on US imports.

China retaliated last week against levies at the same level announced by US President Donald Trump on what he called "Liberation Day".

Beijing also imposed export controls on seven rare earth elements, including gadolinium -- commonly used in magnetic resonance imaging -- and yttrium, which is used in consumer electronics.

Vice commerce minister Ling Ji told a panel of US company representatives on Sunday that the tariffs "firmly protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, including American companies", his ministry said.

Those levies -- which come into effect on Thursday -- "are aimed at bringing the United States back onto the right track of the multilateral trade system", he told the representatives, including of GE Healthcare and Medtronic.

Also present was a representative of electric vehicle firm Tesla, run by close Trump advisor and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has extensive business interests in China.

"The root cause of the tariff issue lies in the United States," Ling said.

He urged the firms to "take pragmatic actions to jointly maintain the stability of global supply chains and promote mutual cooperation and win-win outcomes".

The United States exported $144.6 billion in goods to China in 2024, much less than the $439.7 billion it imported, Commerce Department data shows.

Among its exports, key sectors include electrical and electronic equipment and various fuels, alongside oilseed and grains.

Beijing's foreign ministry on Monday condemned what it called "typical unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying" by Washington.

"The US is seeking hegemony in the name of reciprocity, sacrificing the legitimate interests of all countries to serve its own selfish interests, and prioritising the US over international rules," spokesman Lin Jian said.

Trading floors were overcome by a wave of selling on Monday, in response to the showdown.

The selling in Asia was across the board, with no sector unharmed -- tech firms, car makers, banks, casinos and energy firms all felt the pain as investors abandoned riskier assets.

Among the biggest losers, Chinese e-commerce titans Alibaba tanked more than 14 percent and rival JD.com shed 13 percent, while Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank dived more than 10 percent and Sony gave up 9.6 percent.
Utah police are working to identify a decomposed woman's body discovered wrapped in plastic near railroad tracks, with a distinctive heart-shaped tattoo on her arm.

Around 2 p.m. Wednesday, a railroad cleanup crew in Brigham City, Utah, stumbled upon a suspicious black plastic bag roughly 30 feet from the tracks and just off a roadside, Daily Mail reported. Workers quickly realized it contained human remains when they noticed hair and bones protruding from the bag.

Police were called to the scene, and detectives soon confirmed the discovery of a female body, triggering a homicide investigation.

The woman's body, dressed in black leggings and a black hoodie, was found in an advanced state of decomposition, but still intact. Detectives noted her long, reddish-brown hair tied back, and most notably, a heart-shaped tattoo on her left bicep that they have described as "distinct."

This tattoo has become a focal point in the search for her identity, prompting the release of an artist's rendering in hopes that someone will recognize the design.

Authorities are combing through missing persons reports at the local, state and national levels, while forensic experts analyze the remains to determine a cause of death, estimated time of death and any biological identifiers such as DNA.

While the medical examiner continues forensic testing, Brigham City police are coordinating with other law enforcement agencies. No connection has yet been confirmed.

Originally published on Lawyer Herald
Clem Burke, longtime drummer for Blondie and a key figure in shaping the sound of punk and new wave, has died at age 70 following a private battle with cancer. The band announced his passing on Monday via social media.

"It is with profound sadness that we relay news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Clem Burke following a private battle with cancer," the band announced via Facebook on Monday, April 7. "Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie. His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable."

"His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him," the post read.

"Clem's influence extended far beyond Blondie," the statement continued. "A self proclaimed 'Rock & Roll survivalist,' he played and collaborated with numerous iconic artists, including Eurythmics, Ramones, Bob Dylan, Bob Geldof, Iggy Pop, Joan Jett, Chequered Past, The Fleshtones, The Romantics, Dramarama, The Adult Net, The Split Squad, The International Swingers, L.A.M.F., Empty Hearts, Slinky Vagabond, and even the Go-Go's."

Burke was a founding heartbeat behind the New York City-based group, which rose to prominence in the late 1970s with chart-topping hits like "Call Me," "Heart of Glass," and "One Way or Another."

Originally formed in 1974 by Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, Blondie became an era-defining band known for its genre-blending edge and rebellious energy.

Though Blondie disbanded in 1982, they reunited in 1997 and remained active, releasing their most recent album Pollinator in 2017  with Burke behind the kit.

Outside of Blondie, Burke had a prolific and respected career. He briefly joined the Ramones as "Elvis Ramone" in 1987, and collaborated with icons like David Bowie and Bob Dylan. Known for his powerful, energetic playing and tireless touring, Burke left a mark on rock music that extended well beyond one band.

He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside bandmates Harry and Stein in 2006.

Burke is survived by his wife of more than 20 years, Ellen Burke. The couple did not have children.

Though the band did not specify the type of cancer, their tribute underscored Burke's lasting influence  not just as a drummer, but as a pioneer in rock.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, where the two leaders addressed issues including trade, Iran's nuclear program, and ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages.

During the meeting, Netanyahu emphasized his commitment to swiftly resolving trade tensions with the U.S. "We're going to eliminate the tariffs and rapidly," he said, adding that Israel would remove trade barriers "put up unnecessarily" and work to close the trade deficit with the United States. He expressed hope that Israel could serve as an example for other countries to follow.

Trump, however, appeared less certain about rolling back newly imposed tariffs on Israel, saying,

"Well, we're talking about a whole new trade  maybe not, maybe not. Now, don't forget we help Israel a lot. You know, we give Israel $4 billion a year." The U.S. president had announced a 17% tariff on Israeli goods the previous week, part of a broader global trade policy shift.

On the subject of Iran, Trump revealed that direct negotiations are underway regarding Tehran's nuclear program.

"I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious," he said, noting that a "very big meeting" is planned for Saturday. Despite Iran's earlier rejection of direct talks, Trump voiced cautious optimism. "Hopefully those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Iran's best interests if they are successful. ... We hope that's going to happen," he added. If not, he warned, "I actually think it will be a very bad day for Iran."

The two leaders also discussed the ongoing effort to free hostages held in Gaza. Netanyahu confirmed that a new deal is being pursued, following a previous agreement that secured the release of 25 hostages. "The hostages are in agony. We want to get them all out. Steve Witkoff is President Trump's very able representative. (He) helped us get a deal that got 25 out," Netanyahu said.

He also acknowledged his ongoing communication with the families of the hostages, a point of criticism in recent months. Some families have turned to Trump to push for action, with eight former hostages visiting him in the Oval Office last month to urge further intervention.

Netanyahu also referenced a "bold vision" proposed by Trump concerning Gaza, which includes enabling Palestinians to choose relocation to countries willing to receive them. "We're committed to enabling the people of Gaza to freely make a choice to go wherever they want," he said.
President Donald Trump has warned that the U.S. will impose a new 50% tariff on Chinese imports if Beijing does not cancel its planned 34% tax on American goods.

The warning came in a Truth Social post on Monday, just a day before the April 9 deadline he set for China to act.

"If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long-term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th," Trump wrote.

This latest threat is part of a larger trade policy push that Trump has dubbed "Liberation Day," which began on April 2.

That day, he announced a 10% tariff on nearly all imports from about 90 countries, including China and many members of the European Union. His goal, he said, is to correct trade imbalances that hurt American workers and businesses.

China's 34% tariff, which is set to start on April 10, was announced after Trump first placed a similar tax on Chinese goods.

According to the BBC, if Trump follows through with the additional 50%, total US tariffs on Chinese imports would climb to a staggering 104%.

That figure includes other tariffs he put in place earlier this year20% to stop fentanyl-related imports and another 34% announced last week.

BREAKING  Donald J Trump shocks the world by saying he will add an additional 50% Tariff to China if they dont take back their additional Tariff



This is what a True Leader looks like



HOLD THE LINE  pic.twitter.com/lE703yhlVu  MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) April 7, 2025

US Families Could Pay $3,789 More Under Tariffs

The trade fight is causing worries around the world. Economists warn that higher tariffs usually lead to price hikes for everyday products.

The Yale Budget Lab says the current tariffs could already cost US families an extra $3,789 per year. If new tariffs are added, that number could rise even more, CBS News said.

"Tariffs end up hitting American consumers the hardest," said one trade expert. Stores that import goodslike Walmartpay these tariffs first and often pass the extra cost on to shoppers.

China's response has been sharp. The Chinese embassy in the US called the new tariffs "economic bullying," and said China would protect its rights. "Pressuring or threatening China is not a right way to engage," a spokesperson said.

Despite the rising tension, Trump said talks with other countries will continue. He also confirmed that negotiations with Japan and Israel are underway, but warned that no talks will be held with China unless it drops the 34% tax.

"We're not looking at a pause," Trump added. "It's now America first."

Originally published on vcpost.com
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Tuesday that two Chinese nationals fighting alongside Russian forces have been captured by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk region.

Zelensky detailed the seizure of the prisoners' personal effects  including official documents, bank cards, and other identifying data  raising questions about the extent of China's involvement in the conflict.

"We have information that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier's units than just two. We are now finding out all the facts," Zelensky said in a Telegram post. "I have instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to immediately contact Beijing and find out how China is going to react to this."

Though it remains unclear whether the detained individuals are Chinese military personnel or volunteers, Zelensky didn't mince words about what their presence could mean for the wider geopolitical landscape.

"Russia's involvement of China in this war in Europe, directly or indirectly, is a clear signal that Putin is going to do anything except end the war. He is looking for ways to continue fighting," he added.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry wasted no time in responding. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv had summoned China's charge d'affaires to formally condemn the development and demand an official explanation.

The revelation comes amid growing scrutiny of China's role in supporting Russia's war in Ukraine. Senior U.S. officials previously told CNN that Beijing has significantly bolstered Russia's defense industry  supplying drone engines, cruise missile tech, microelectronics, and even raw materials for explosives.

Compounding the situation, Moscow has also ramped up military cooperation with North Korea. In January, Ukrainian forces captured two North Korean soldiers operating in Russia's Kursk region  just weeks after Pyongyang and Moscow signed a mutual defense pact.
Demand for AI talent booms in 2025 spring recruitment season

09:47, April 08, 2025 By Zhang Changyue ( Global Times

With AI empowering thousands of industries, many employers in China are expanding recruitment for related positions during the ongoing 2025 spring recruitment season.

At job fairs across multiple regions, talents specializing in algorithm engineering and robot development have become highly sought-after by companies. In East China's Hangzhou, some 830 companies offered 21,000 positions half focusing on AI algorithm development and large model research were on offer at the city's first large-scale offline spring job fair, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Chinese robotics firm Unitree has opened 10 positions, including AI algorithm engineer and robot motion control algorithm engineer at the job fair, with salaries of up to 70,000 yuan (roughly $9,613) a month, according to Xinhua.

At a large-scale spring job fair recently held in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, there was a strong demand for AI-related positions among the more than 50,000 job openings, the Guangzhou Daily reported. The state-owned enterprise Guangdong Rising Holdings Group plans to recruit 2,000 university graduates, with a strong focus on AI and robotics. Chinese automaker XPENG plans to hire 6,000 employees in 2025, covering areas including autonomous driving, smart cockpits and intelligent robotics.

According to CCTV News, during the 2025 spring hiring season, the number of job seekers in the AI industry has grown by 33.4 percent year-on-year, with posts for robot algorithm engineers and debugging engineers both seeing year-on-year growth rates of over 30 percent. Fifty two percent of robot algorithm engineer positions require a master's or doctoral degree, and 45 percent require more than three years of work experience, per CCTV.

In late February, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba opened more than 3,000 positions in its spring recruitment for 2,026 interns. With a greater focus on AI, related positions account for nearly 50 percent. At Alibaba Cloud, AI-related positions exceed 80 percent.

The higher demand for AI industry talent indicates that AI technology has moved from the laboratory to the industry, becoming the core infrastructure for digital transformation in companies, an expert told the Global Times on Monday.

"AI technology involves the entire process of research and development, production, and service, requiring a large number of algorithm talents," said Yang Ming, chief technology officer at Guangzhou Shirui Electronic Technology, which mainly produces AI products such as LCD display main control boards and interactive smart panels, as quoted by the People's Daily on Monday. Yang emphasized that "students with a solid foundation in mathematics and strong hands-on abilities, as long as they have some background in AI, are very welcome."

Far from just algorithm engineers, positions in AI hardware development are also gaining traction. The need for data scientists and engineers is also increasing with rising demand for high-performance AI accelerators, according to the People's Daily.

"The AI accelerator is a hardware designed to speed up the processing of AI tasks. It can quickly understand vast amounts of information and help devices like smartphones and computers efficiently accomplish tasks, such as image recognition, speech recognition and natural language processing," said Wang Xuhang, a PhD graduate from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, who is about to join Huawei to focus on developing AI accelerators, as quoted by the People's Daily on Monday.

User demand for AI technologies is growing exponentially, and the diversification of related jobs is giving graduates more choices in the job market, said Wang.

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday that three types of professions will be highlighted in future AI industry: The core technical positions which include algorithm engineers and large model developers, the composite application positions which refer to AI product managers and solution architects, who need both technical and industry knowledge, and the ethics and security positions which are mainly AI ethics and security experts, who prevent data leaks and malicious attacks.

Wang pointed out that the talent gap is concentrated in the fields of fundamental research, such as AI chips and algorithm originality, and applied composites, such as "AI+healthcare" and "AI+manufacturing." Also, the demand for positions such as data annotators and AI trainers will continue to grow.

To capture future employment opportunities, Wang suggested to enhance cooperation between companies and universities on skills training and industry collaboration, and support the expansion of university enrollments and development of academic disciplines.

China's higher education system has introduced AI programs at over 500 universities, marking one of the fastest disciplinary expansions in its history, Xinhua reported. Leading Chinese universities such as Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University have announced plans to expand their enrollments in AI and related interdisciplinary fields to meet the growing demand for talent, per Xinhua.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
Radisson Hotel Group proudly announces the opening of Radisson Hotel Istanbul Merter, strengthening its footprint in Turkiye with a new property in one of Istanbul's most accessible and dynamic districts. Strategically located in the thriving Merter area with excellent transport connectivity, the hotel bridges business and leisure, offering convenient access to the Old Town, trade centers, and cultural hot spots. This opening is a key milestone in the Group's ambitious plan to reach 100 hotels in Turkiye by 2030.

A welcoming stay in the heart of the city

Designed for today's travelers, Radisson Hotel Istanbul Merter offers 267 spacious and stylish rooms and suites, that combine modern design with intuitive comfort. Whether for a relaxing or productive stay, guests can enjoy a elegant interiors, premium amenities, and soothing tones that reflect the city's energetic spirit. With plush bedding, sleek bathrooms, ergonomic workspaces and smart in-room technology, every details is designed to provide a sense of effortless ease, perfect for unwinding after a day in the city or preparing for the one ahead.

Flavors to savor, any time of day

Guests can enjoy a variety of dining options tailored to every moment of the day.

The elegant Lobby Lounge & Bar is the perfect setting for casual meetings, social moments, or evening drinks, offering a wide selection of beverages and light bites throughout the day.

The hotel's All-Day Dining Restaurant serves a variety of local and international dishes in a warm and contemporary atmosphere, ideal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

For a quick break, the Coffee Shop offers freshly brewed coffee, teas, and a tempting selection of pastries and snacks - perfect for guests on the go or those seeking a relaxed pause.

Inspired venues for business and celebration

Radisson Hotel Istanbul Merter features eight versatile event spaces, designed to host everything from business meetings to private celebrations. The ballroom, filled with natural daylight and accommodating up to 280 guests, provides a stylish setting for unforgettable occasions.

Modern meeting rooms are equipped with advanced technology, flexible layouts and the support of a dedicated events team, ensuring a seamless execution and personalized service, whether for a corporate function or a special event.

Elevate your stay with moments of pure relaxation

Spanning over 1,200 square meters, the hotel's wellness centre offers a tranquil escape from the city's energy. Guests can enjoy year-round relaxation in the indoor pool with a retractable roof, or unwind in the Turkish hammam, sauna, and steam room for a truly restorative experience.

The centre also features a fully equipped fitness studio, private massage rooms, and a peaceful resting area. For a refreshing boost, guests can stop by the vitamin bar offering fresh juices and healthy snacks perfect for recharging body and mind.

Step into the heart of a timeless city

Ideally located in Istanbul's Merter district, the hotel offers a seamless connection to the city's diverse offerings  from its rich cultural heritage to its dynamic urban energy. Just a short drive from the historic Old Town, guests can explore world-renowned landmarks such as the Grand Bazaar, Sultanahmet Square, and the Blue Mosque.

At the same time, the hotel provides easy access to key business hubs, shopping districts, and trade centers, making it a perfect choice for those looking to blend discovery with convenience. Whether visiting for culture, commerce, or both, Radisson Hotel Istanbul Merter is a true gateway to the best of Istanbul.

Radisson Hotel Group's ambitious growth in Turkiye

Radisson Hotel Group continues to accelerate its strategic growth in Turkiye, aiming for 100 hotels by 2030. The debut of Radisson RED in Izmir and the expansion of Radisson Collection in key cities highlight this strategy. The opening of Radisson Blu Hotel Ankara Cankaya marks another milestone, reinforcing the Group's commitment to Turkiye's thriving hospitality sector.

Hotel website
Glion Institute of Higher Education is proud to announce the appointment of Philippe Vignon as its new Managing Director, effective June 16th, 2025.

Founded in 1962, Glion is a prestigious Swiss institution recognized globally for its excellence in hospitality management and luxury education. With its rich heritage, commitment to excellence, industry connections, Glion has become a benchmark in the academic worldshaping generations of leaders who elevate the hospitality, tourism, and luxury industries worldwide. The appointment of Philippe Vignon is a strategic decision to reinforce Glion's identity as a Swiss-born global brand, and to accelerate its next phase of development, innovation, and influence.

A profile in perfect harmony with Glion's vision

With over 30 years of experience at the helm of major international organizations in sectors ranging from tourism and aviation to digital media and education, Philippe Vignon brings a rare combination of strategic insight, cross-cultural leadership, and operational excellence. His career has been defined by transformative initiatives, business growth, and the ability to position brands as leaders in their respective domains.

Career highlights include:

CEO, Geneva Tourism and Conventions : Transformed the institution into a high-performing Destination Marketing Organisation, leading to a 10% increase in regional tourism spending over four years.

: Transformed the institution into a high-performing Destination Marketing Organisation, leading to a 10% increase in regional tourism spending over four years. CEO, Edipresse Digital - Edipresse Group : Designed and executed a comprehensive digital strategy across more than 50 websites, accelerating the group's transition to digital media.

: Designed and executed a comprehensive digital strategy across more than 50 websites, accelerating the group's transition to digital media. General Manager Commercial Switzerland, Italy, Germany & Eastern Europe, easyJet : Oversaw the airline's most profitable bases, spearheaded the launch of easyJet in Geneva, and delivered 1.5 million new passengers within 18 months.

: Oversaw the airline's most profitable bases, spearheaded the launch of easyJet in Geneva, and delivered 1.5 million new passengers within 18 months. L'Oreal Suisse SA: Advanced from Brand Manager to National Sales & Marketing Director, showcasing strong capabilities in brand development, team leadership, and commercial strategy.

His expertise also extends to several strategic advisory and board positions. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Doyof Al Rahman Program (Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia), and acts as a board advisor to Cabanner, a digital platform reinventing sustainable and exclusive travel, and to Sky2Share, a Swiss aviation initiative promoting eco-conscious private jet sharing. He is also an independent board member of the Hotel des Horlogers, an innovative sustainable luxury property developed by Audemars Piguet in the Vallee de Joux.

Leading with purpose

Philippe's extensive international background, his ability to align stakeholders across cultures, and his deep understanding of both business and education make him the ideal leader to further Glion's mission. He will oversee Glion's campuses in Switzerland and the UK, forge strategic partnerships with key players in hospitality, tourism, and luxury, and enhance the student experience through innovation and operational excellence.

In addition, he will be tasked with spearheading Glion's global expansion ambition, identifying new growth markets, fostering institutional collaborations, and scaling Glion's influence in regions where excellence in hospitality education is in growing demand.
Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Michele Giraudo as Resort Manager, bringing with him a distinguished career in luxury hospitality management. With experience spanning some of the world's most renowned resorts, he is well placed to drive the next phase of the resort's growth.

Giraudo's journey in luxury hospitality began with a strong foundation in food and beverage management, complemented by his academic background in hospitality management. After graduating from the prestigious EHL Swiss School of Tourism and Hospitality, he began his career in 2007 as Assistant Financial Controller at Golden Tulip Hotels Inns and Resorts in Lausanne, Switzerland. This early experience provided him with a solid grounding in hotel operations and financial management.

He then progressed into senior roles with Six Senses Resorts & Spas, where he honed his expertise in operations and guest service. His tenure at Vatulele Island Resort in Fiji in 2008 and Amanpulo in the Philippines in 2009 saw him develop a reputation for his hands-on approach and commitment to delivering an exceptional guest experience.

Giraudo has since contributed to leading luxury resorts worldwide, including Koyao Island Resort and Spa in Thailand in 2011, The Bale Nusa Dua in Bali, Indonesia in 2011, and Cape Weligama in Sri Lanka in 2013. Giraudo's career continued to flourish as he took on key roles in high-profile openings for One&Only Resorts. In 2017, he joined One&Only Reethi Rah in the Maldives, where he played an integral role in the resort's success before moving on to other major openings with the brand. As part of the launch teams for One&Only Portonovi in Montenegro in 2019 and One&Only Le Saint Geran in Mauritius in 2021, he demonstrated his expertise in pre-opening operations, luxury brand management, and cost control. At One&Only Portonovi, he managed a 9 million budget and delivered significant savings despite the challenges posed by Covid19, ensuring a successful opening.

His experience in pre-openings, brand positioning, and operational excellence makes him uniquely equipped to lead Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara into its next phase of growth and success. Most recently, Giraudo was part of the pre-opening team for Silversands Grenada, joining in 2023 as General Manager. During his tenure, he achieved significant milestones, including a 50% increase in RevPAR, a 20% reduction in labour costs, and notable growth in guest satisfaction and profitability. His leadership at Silversands Beach House also earned the property prestigious accolades, including recognition on the Time 100 Best Destinations list and inclusion in Conde Nast's list of best new properties.

In his new role as Resort Manager, Giraudo will oversee all aspects of Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara's operations, ensuring the highest standards of service and an unparalleled guest experience.
In the fullness of ones self-expression is ones self-discovery. Until a person ventures into the unlimited domain of the mind, and learns to freely express themselves, such a person can never truly be free to understand themselves. So then, lifes meaning can be summated by an unyielding pursuit of the unknown and the tender connection between mind and marrow.

The world of hospitality, much like the journey of self-discovery, is rarely straightforward. Its a dynamic and ever-evolving landscape, and thats precisely what makes it so exciting.

Recently, I had the privilege of attending the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, an experience made possible by the generous sponsorship of the American Hotel & Lodging Association Foundation (AHLA Foundation). To Kimberly Guy, Ghalilhea Calderon, Jennifer Fugolo, Rosanna Miaetta, and Kevin Carey  thank you for your investment in creating meaningful and memorable educational opportunities. Your support and advocacy are invaluable.

This conference, and others like it, serve as a crucial intersection between industry titans and the eager minds of the next generation. Its a space where we can collectively ponder the future of hospitality, a future that hinges on our ability to simplify its essence and creatively solve new, people-centric problems.

So, what is hospitality, really? Is it just about beds and room service? I argue its so much more. Its about creating an experience, a connection. Its about anticipating needs, exceeding expectations, and leaving a lasting positive impression. To quote Will Guidara, and as illustrated in the Netflix series Seven Days Out: Eleven Madison Park, it requires a level of unreasonable hospitality, an almost obsessive attention to detail to truly elevate the customer experience.

This brings me to a critical question for all the current undergraduate and graduate students out there: What will your contribution be to the future of this industry? The time for passive observation is over. The industry needs your fresh perspectives, your innovative ideas, and your energy now.

The Hunter Hotel Investment Conference offered some compelling food for thought. The AI panel, for instance, highlighted that AI isnt a looming threat, but rather a functional tool. It enhances job performance, improves productivity by streamlining tasks, and boosts efficiency. Every industry-leading company in hospitality is actively developing AI adoption strategies. Imagine the possibilities! Students and faculty can even leverage AI to refine resumes and prepare tailored interview questions, or conduct in-depth research on various subjects.

Then there was Molly Blooms segment, a powerful reminder to bet on yourself. Her story, while unique, resonates with the entrepreneurial spirit that fuels the best of hospitality. It takes courage, resilience, and a willingness to take calculated risks to innovate and create something truly exceptional.

Beyond the technology and the strategy, theres something even more fundamental: passion. Industry leaders like Mitch Patel of Vision Hospitality, Anna Blue (former AHLA Foundation President), and Richard Lou of Palette Hotels, all emphasized this core ingredient. If youre not passionate about serving people, youre in the wrong industry. Perhaps its time to consider passion as a key performance indicator, a driving force that ultimately leads to both exceptional service and profitability.

This brings us to a crucial point: How do we, as an industry, cultivate this passion and channel it into meaningful action? How do we bridge the gap between academia and the real-world demands of hospitality?

Here are some questions to ponder:

How can universities and industry partners forge stronger, more proactive collaborations?

What innovative mentorship programs can we create to guide and inspire the next generation?

How can we foster a culture of experimentation and calculated risk-taking within hospitality organizations?

Can we redefine traditional metrics of success to incorporate passion, empathy, and genuine human connection?

To the students reading this: your journey starts now. Get involved! Reach out to your career centers about industry conferences. Networking doesnt have to be a rigid affair  have fun, be yourself, and build genuine connections. Discover your passion and seek opportunities to add value.

And to the industry leaders and university faculty: the future of hospitality is in your hands. Foster environments that bridge the gap between corporate and college. Invest in the next generation. Create opportunities for mentorship and collaboration.

The future of hospitality is not just about adapting to change; its about shaping it. Its about creating a more innovative, inclusive, and people-centered industry. Its a challenge, yes, but its also an incredible opportunity. Lets embrace it together.

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Hotel Key Performance Indicators Fail to Echo Europe's Overtourism Control Measures

Despite measures to curb overtourism in Europe, hotel occupancy rates remain high, indicating continued strong demand for travel to these destinations.

High occupancy rates have driven strong growth in average daily rate (ADR), although some markets have seen pressure to minimize ADR premiums to maintain demand.

The surge in post-pandemic travel led to concerns about overtourism across Europe in 2023, prompting various countermeasures. However, data from 2024 suggests that these measures have not significantly impacted hotel performance.

The volume of travelers to Western Europe has returned to pre-pandemic levels, with tourism making up 10% of GDP. Hotel occupancy rates remain high, with Edinburgh, Dublin, and London reporting the most nights with compression-level occupancy. Some cities have seen a decline in the number of compression nights, but overall, occupancy rates remain consistent year over year.

High occupancy rates have led to a surge in average daily rates (ADR), although the relationship between occupancy and ADR varies between markets. Some cities, such as Athens, Venice, Lisbon, and London, have seen a more linear relationship, while others have seen significant ADR jumps at high occupancy rates. However, some markets have felt pressure to minimize ADR premiums due to price sensitivity among leisure travelers.

Despite protests against overtourism and measures such as increased lodging taxes and tourist fees, demand for travel to these destinations remains high. Despite these measures, cities such as Venice and Amsterdam have seen increased visitor numbers. The data suggests that while these measures may have some impact, they are unlikely to deter travelers significantly. As such, most European markets anticipate continued occupancy growth in 2025.

Discover more at STR.
American investor acquires The Alpina Gstaad from Bach and Mimran



A summary of European hotel transactions provided by HVS

American investor acquires The Alpina Gstaad from Bach and Mimran

An American investor who is a regular client of The Alpina Gstaad, Switzerland, has reportedly acquired the 56-room luxury hotel from local real estate investor Marcel Bach and French billionaire Jean-Claude Mimran, for an amount reported to be some CHF 200 million (CHF 3.6 million per room), which is equivalent to approximately 210 million (3.75 million per room). The hotel is just above the village centre of Gstaad, one of Switzerlands famous alpine resorts, and includes four restaurants, a bar, a Six Senses spa and six meeting facilities. The Alpina Gstaad opened in 2012 as part of a 315 million luxury development that included three chalets and 11 apartments.

Pandox acquires Elite Frost Hotel, Kiruna in Sweden from local municipality

Swedish hotel investor Pandox AB has entered an agreement to acquire the newly built, 154-room Elite Hotel Frost, Kiruna, Sweden, from the Municipality of Kiruna, for SEK340 million (SEK 2.2 million per room), which is equivalent to approximately 31.4 million (203,900 per room). The hotel is expected to open in June 2025 and is situated in eastern Kiruna, a city in the northern part of Sweden. The property will include two restaurants, a bar and five meeting rooms. It is leased to Swedish operator Elite Hotels under a 15-year revenue-based lease agreement with a minimum guaranteed rent. Earlier this month, Pandox acquired the four-star, 275-room Pullman Cologne, Germany, as reported in this newsletter.

Iroko Iberia acquires Spanish hotel htop Calella Palace from Htop Hotels

Iroko Iberia, a subsidiary of French institutional investor Iroko Zen SCPI, has acquired the four-star, 339-room Hotel htop Calella Palace Family & SPA in Calella, Spain, from Spanish owner-operator Htop Hotels for 22 million (64,900 per room) in a sale and leaseback transaction. The property is situated by Calella Beach, a 50-minute drive northeast of Barcelona and includes a restaurant, bar and pool. Htop Hotels will retain operation of the hotel under a 20-year fixed lease and plans to invest 4 million (11,800 per room) in renovations.

Iroko Zen SCPI acquires three B&B Hotels in Italy from Bayview Italia

French institutional investor Iroko Zen SCPI has acquired a portfolio of three B&B hotels (277 rooms) in Italy from Italian real estate asset manager Bayview Italia, for an amount reported to be some 13.8 million (49,800 per room), with a non-guaranteed net initial yield of 7.58%. The mid-market portfolio includes the 110-room B&B Hotel Bologna, the 91-room B&B Hotel Sassuolo and the 76-room B&B Hotel Ferrara. All three hotels include a breakfast restaurant.

Mohamed Alabbar acquires The Ritz-Carlton, Vienna from Verny Capital

UAE billionaire Mohamed Alabbar, who controls Emaar and Eagle Hills, has acquired the five-star, 200-room Ritz-Carlton, Vienna, Austria, from Kazakh private equity firm Verny Capital. The property is situated on Viennas central Ringstrasse, next to the Stadtpark. The hotel includes two restaurants, two bars and nine event rooms. In October 2024, Emaar Properties acquired the five-star, 46-room Grand Hotel Imperiale in Forte dei Marmi, Italy, for 40 million (869,570 per room), as reported in this newsletter.

Al-Bahar acquires a further 30% stake in Yotel from Starwood Capital

Kuwait-based conglomerate Al-Bahar Group has acquired an additional 30% stake in British owner-operator Yotel from American private investment firm Starwood Capital. This acquisition increases Al-Bahar Group's ownership in Yotel to 95%. Starwood originally acquired the 30% stake in 2017 and, in addition to this, invested a further 185 million, which helped expand Yotels portfolio from six to 34 properties globally.

Invesco acquires IntercityHotel Berlin Central Station from CA Immo

Global investment manager Invesco has acquired the four-star, 412-room IntercityHotel Berlin Central Station, Germany, from Austrian real estate developer CA Immo. The property is situated next to the central train station in Berlins Moabit district. The hotel includes a breakfast restaurant, bar & lounge and 10 meeting rooms. CA Immo developed the hotel and opened it in 2013, making it Germanys first hotel to receive a platinum certificate from the German Sustainable Building Council.

Extendam and Alboran acquire eight hotels in Bourges from the Falleur family

French hotel investor Extendam and French owner-operator Alboran Group have jointly acquired eight hotels in Bourges, France, from the French Falleur family, which has owned the hotels since 1989. The portfolio comprises a total of 507 rooms and includes the three-star, 66-room Ibis Styles Bourges, the three-star, 86-room Ibis Bourges, the four-star, 31-room Best Western Plus Hotel d'Angleterre, the four-star, 93-room Novotel Bourges, the four-star, 58-room Hotel de Bourbon - Mercure Bourges, the two-star, 33-room The Originals Access, Hotel Bourges Gare, the three-star, 65-room The Originals City, Hotel Le Berry and the two-star, 75-room Ibis Budget Bourges. Bourges is situated in central France on the river Yevre, some 230 kms directly south of Paris. Following this acquisition, Extendam and Alboran plan to optimise revenue management, reduce structural costs, enhance portfolio synergies, and modernise selected assets.

SomnOO acquires 123 IMs shares in six French hotels

French owner-operator SomnOO has acquired the shares held by its partner-investor, French real estate management company 123 Investment Managers, in six hotels in France. The portfolio, all under Ibis and Ibis Budget franchises, include the three-star, 87-room Ibis Toulouse Purpan, the three-star, 56-room Ibis Agen Centre, the two-star, 68-room Ibis Budget Agen, the two-star, 64-room Ibis Budget Roanne, the two-star, 64-room Ibis Budget Boulogne-sur-Mer Centre Les Ports, the two-star, 58-room Ibis Budget Lons-Le-Saunier. All hotels include coworking space and/or meeting rooms.

LBO acquires three hotels in France from Eternam

French private equity firm LBO France has acquired a portfolio of three hotels (150 rooms) in France from French investment firm Eternam. All four-star hotels under the HappyCulture brand, the portfolio includes the 61-room Hotel de l'Europe by HappyCulture in Strasbourg, the 46-room Villa Bougainville by HappyCulture in Nice and the 43-room Hotel Innes by HappyCulture in Toulouse. All three hotels were recently renovated and are situated in city centre locations. French operator Honotel, owned by LBO Frances real estate fund, will continue to operate the hotels.

Myst Hotels acquires Careys Manor Hotel & SenSpa in England from Greenclose

Owner-operator Myst Hotels & Resorts, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate SanRaj Group, has acquired the four-star, 77-room Careys Manor Hotel & SenSpa from British owner-operator Greenclose Hotels. The property is situated in Brockenhurst in the New Forest National Park, a thirty-minute drive southwest of Southampton. The hotel includes three restaurants, a spa and conference space. The new owners plan to further invest into the spa facilities.

Fattal acquires Leonardo Hotel Liverpool, UK

Leonardo Hotels, the European division of Israeli owner-operator Fattal Hotel Group, has acquired the four-star, 310-room Leonardo Hotel Liverpool, UK. The property is situated by the River Mersey, next to the Wheel of Liverpool and the M&S Bank Arena. The hotel includes a restaurant, bar and ten meeting rooms. Fattal already operated the hotel and this acquisition marks the groups third lease buyback since Q4 2024.

SAS Cine acquires Kyriad Prestige Perpignan from Extendam and Centaurus

French hotel investor SAS Cine has acquired the four-star, 100-room Kyriad Prestige Perpignan Centre del Mon in Perpignan, France, from French investor Extendam and French hotel group Centaurus. The property is situated by the city center, adjacent to the central train station, and includes a lounge bar and five meeting rooms. The hotel is part of a mixed-use complex consisting of six buildings that include offices, shops, and a 700-space underground parking lot. Following this transaction, SAS Cines portfolio consists of eight properties in the Mediterranean region.

German family office acquires Holiday Inn - the niu in Bremen from Peper & Sohne

A German family office has acquired the three-star, 153-room Holiday Inn - the niu, Crusoe Bremen Airport by IHG in Bremen, Germany, from German property developer Peper & Sohne. Peper & Sohne developed the hotel and opened it in 2020. The property is situated next to Bremen Airport and includes a breakfast restaurant, lounge and bar. German operator Novum Hospitality operates the hotel.

Idiliq Group acquires Pierre et Vacances Mallorca Cecilia Apartments from Elaia Investment Spain

Spanish owner-operator Idiliq Group has acquired the 129-apartment Pierre et Vacances Mallorca Cecilia Apartments in Mallorca, Spain, from Spanish real estate investment trust Elaia Investment Spain, SOCIMI, SA. The property includes a restaurant and a pool, and is situated in the islands southeastern city of Portocolom, close to Cala Marcal beach. The resort is set to undergo a comprehensive refurbishment in the winter of 2025 and reopen in spring 2026 with a modernised design and enhanced service offerings.

HVS is the world's leading consulting and valuation services organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries. Established in 1980, the company performs more than 4,500 assignments per year for virtually every major industry participant. HVS principals are regarded as the leading professionals in their respective regions of the globe. Through a worldwide network of over 50 offices staffed by 300 experienced industry professionals, HVS provides an unparalleled range of complementary services for the hospitality industry. For further information regarding our expertise and specifics about our services, please visit www.hvs.com.
Garner Hotel Brand Makes Debut in India with Two Hotel Signings - Image Credit IHG Hotels & Resorts

IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed agreements for two Garner hotels in India, marking the brand's entrance into the market.

The properties, Garner Etawah and Garner Kathua, will be developed in partnership with Madan Infradevelopers Pvt Ltd and Rudraksh Nakshatra Hotel Pvt Ltd, respectively.

IHG Hotels & Resorts has announced its expansion into India by signing two Garner hotels. These new hotels, Garner Etawah in Uttar Pradesh and Garner Kathua in Jammu & Kashmir, will be the first of the brand's presence in India.

The new properties will be developed by Madan Infradevelopers Pvt Ltd and Rudraksh Nakshatra Hotel Pvt Ltd. They are expected to open in 2026 and 2027, respectively, and will be managed by Rosastays, a preferred third-party management company.

Garner, IHGs latest midscale conversion brand, is designed to cater to guests who prioritize significant experiences over luxury. Each property will focus on delivering the essentials that matter most to guests.

Garner Etawah will feature 40 keys and a spacious ballroom, making it ideal for weddings and social events. It will also house an all-day dining restaurant and meeting spaces. Garner Kathua, with 45 keys, will offer a swimming pool, a multi-cuisine restaurant, and multipurpose event spaces, making it a preferred choice for business meetings and leisure stays.

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The introduction of these hotels comes as Etawah is emerging as a major wedding destination and Kathua is establishing itself as an industrial and pharmaceutical hub.

Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South West Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts, expressed excitement about the launch of Garner in India. He highlighted the brands growth potential, particularly through franchising models, and the importance of strengthening the mainstream offering to meet the evolving needs of modern travelers.

Deepika Arora, Director, Rosastays, echoed Jain's sentiments, stating that the collaboration with IHG and Garner will provide high-quality, affordable stays for guests.

Dr. Vivek Yadav, Director, Madan Infradevelopers Pvt Ltd, and Mr. Mohan Singh, Director, Rudraksh Nakshatra Hotel Pvt Ltd, also voiced their enthusiasm about the partnerships and the expected positive impacts on the local hospitality scene.

IHG Hotels & Resorts currently operates 47 hotels across five brands in India and has a pipeline of 60 hotels projected to open in the next 3-5 years.
IHGs Four Upper-Midscale Brands in Greater China (From clockwise: Atwell Suites, EVEN Hotels, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express) - Image Credit IHG Hotels & Resorts

IHG is launching a strategic overhaul for its upper-midscale brands in Greater China.

The plan is focused on optimizing investment structures and brand refreshments.

IHG Hotels & Resorts disclosed a strategic overhaul of its four upper-midscale brands in Greater China: Atwell Suites, EVEN Hotels, Holiday Inn, and Holiday Inn Express. The move aims to optimize investment structures and refresh the brand image in response to the evolving hotel market in the region.

Kent Sun, Chief Development Officer of IHG Greater China, noted that China's hospitality industry is undergoing significant transformation, emphasizing quality-driven growth. As the upper-midscale segment is projected to double in size in the next decade, hotel owners are looking for smarter investment models with lower barriers, effective operations, and steady returns.

The revamped brands cater to diverse market needs across city tiers, investment scales, and guest preferences. They are supported by a newly optimized cost structure that combines quality, value, and flexibility, offering owners a competitive return on investment.

To enhance investment performance, IHG Greater China is introducing a four-dimensional support system encompassing Cost-Efficient Construction, Smart Operations, Revenue Growth, and Procurement Support. This system leverages the platform's scale and local know-how to ensure seamless operations and consistent guest experiences.

In terms of operating models, IHG is offering three flexible partnership options: Managed, Franchise, and Franchise+. The Franchise+ model, which was designed locally, includes initial general manager support from IHG to ensure brand standard delivery, transitioning to full owner-led operations.

As part of the strategic upgrade, EVEN Hotels, Holiday Inn, and Holiday Inn Express will undergo comprehensive brand refreshes. Atwell Suites will open its first properties in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou this year. These initiatives reflect the changing guest expectations and a refined investment model, reinforcing IHG's leadership in the upper-midscale space.
Set on the sparkling Red Sea coast, Al Madinah Province boasts beautiful mosques and natural landscapes. It's anchored by the city of Medina, considered one of the country's most important religious and economic hubs.

Things to do in Al Madinah

Raised by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi Mosque is one of the holiest Islamic sites in the world. The two-tiered mosque is topped by graceful domes, soaring minarets and a cavernous Ottoman prayer hall. Sitting on the outskirts of Medina, Quba Mosque is another iconic place of worship, built in the first year of the Islamic calendar.

Located just outside the city, Mada'in Saleh is one of Saudi Arabia's most fascinating archaeological sites. The ruins date back to the ancient Nabatean kingdom. It's the kingdom's second-largest settlement, dotted with monumental tombs carved into rocks.

Are you craving sunshine and sand? Head to Yanbu, a laid-back coastal city dotted with luxury resorts. You can soak up the sun on the sandy beaches of Sharm Yanbu Bay, dive at offshore reefs and stroll along the breezy waterfront corniche.

For a glimpse at Al Madinah's unique geography, don't miss exploring Mount Uhud. It's over 1,000 metres tall and famous as the site of the Battle of Uhud, a major clash between Muslim and Meccan forces in AD 624. Today you can visit the hidden cave where the Prophet took refuge after being wounded in action.

Getting around Al Madinah

The easiest way to explore Al Madinah Province is by car, while the city of Medina is also well-serviced by local buses and taxis. Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International is the province's main airport, located 30 minutes from the Medina city centre.
St. Stans Announces Third Marking Period Honor Roll

ADAMS, Mass.St. Stanislaus Kostka School has released its Honor Roll for the third marking period of the 2024-2025 academic year.

Students achieving High Honors, with an average of 93 or higher, are:

8th Grade: Julia Daly, Marlene Eason, Aiden Mendonca, Audrey Potvin

7th Grade: Owen Manning, Mason Mullen, Josephine Shustack

6th Grade: Addison Mendonca, Victoria Trzcinski

Students achieving Honors, with an average between 85 and 92.9, are:
North Adams Administrative Officer Marya Kozik shows how to reconfigure the downtown at Saturday's Reconnecting Communities presentation. The 3-D mockup had buildings and road layouts to see how the area around Center Street could look. The options are to repair, replace and remove. A 3-D topographic map of downtown North Adams. A closeup of the potential 'removal' scheme. That option had more green stickers, show it met priorities, than red. Between 60 and 70 peoople attended during the two-hour session. PreviousNext

North Adams' Route 2 Study Looks at 'Repair, Replace and Remove'



Attendees make comments and use stickers to indicate their thoughts on the priorities for each design. NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  Nearly 70 residents attended a presentation on Saturday morning on how to stitch back together the asphalt desert created by the Central Artery project.

Of the three options proposed  repair, replace or restore  the favored option was to eliminating the massive overpass, redirect traffic up West Main and recreate a semblance of 1960s North Adams.

"How do we right size North Adams, perhaps recapture a sense of what was lost here with urban renewal, and use that as a guide as we begin to look forward?" said Chris Reed, director of Stoss Landscape Urbanism, the project's designer.

"What do we want to see? Active street life and place-making. This makes for good community, a mixed-use downtown with housing, with people living here ... And a district grounded in arts and culture."

The concepts for dealing with the crumbling bridge and the roads and parking lots around it were built from input from community sessions last year.

The city partnered with Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program and was the only city in Massachusetts selected. The project received $750,000 in grant funding to explore ways to reconnect what Reed described as disconnected "islands of activity" created by the infrastructure projects.

"When urban renewal was first introduced, it dramatically reshaped North Adams, displacing entire neighborhoods, disrupting street networks and fracturing the sense of community that once connected us," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey. "This grant gives us the chance to begin to heal that disruption."

The session at the Berkshire Innovaction Center offices on the Mass MoCA campus included "stations" where participants could prioritize what they liked  or disliked  about the options and to understand how the city used to look and function.

"Somebody coming in on Route two, what you see is a parking lot and a parking lot and a parking lot, and suddenly you're on the overpass and out of town," Reed said. "The first time I drove through here, I missed it, because you're not coming down Main Street ... there's not a lot of pedestrian activity, so it's barrier on barrier on barrier that creates the sense of separation."

The challenges of getting from one side of the downtown to the other was a major topic of the community sessions, with comments like "pedestrians shouldn't be forced to cross a raceway," "going from Mass MoCA into downtown feels like such a hike, and "I'll walk an extra quarter of a mile to avoid a particular intersection."

"The problem is the gaps are so big, you don't know where to go next," said Reed. "Somebody likened downtown to Swiss cheese, a bunch of holes."

The feedback had Stoss looking at number of elements in its transportation, economic and infrastructure analyses, which also included related projects like the bike path and the Hoosic River Revival and the city's master plan.

Those elements included a central community space, green space, riverfront access, housing, retail, connections, and bicyclist and pedestrian safety.

"We need to look at repair, replace, remove, but we're starting to think of remove as an opportunity to restitch," Reed said.

Narrowing the bridge to two lanes won't narrow the deck and only open up limited green space and a replacement bridge wouldn't be much smaller and would also mean years of construction. Either option would likely eat up the $40 million estimated for the project.

"Possible streetscape improvements, little incentive to attract investment. Not a whole lot's changed in the scheme," said Reed.

If the overpass is removed, it creates a catalyst for investment and opportunity to "reknit" a gridded street pattern with squared off and scaled down intersections, and a Route 2 (Center Street) that's half as wide.

"How do you begin to think about improvements to Main Street that could come off of this as well, right? And how do we connect to the river?" Reed said. "This is a different kind of project, it's not about vehicles first. It's about people and community first."

A layout of all three options found "removal" as meeting more priorities in access, flexibility, time and cost, building on inherent strengths and attracting investment.

There were some worries, mainly on traffic, roundabouts and shifting tractor-trailers coming over Route 2 through the downtown to and from Center Street.

"My concern is the traffic would have to go down Main Street," said Council President Bryan Sapienza, the only councilor to attend, who added the through-traffic might affect people trying to get to downtown businesses was a concern.

Rye Howard, owner of Bear & Bee Bookshop on Holden Street, said the sides streets 50-60 years ago had been lined with small businesses  and it will take investment from small entrepreneurs to make that happen again.

"It would be such an opportunity to make downtown more accessible and more walkable and more available to the community," they said. "But the challenge there is that after you've done the road work, you have to have the development, and you have to have money for the development ...

"None of these are easy solutions, but I think it's really worth fighting for a town that looks the way we want to."

Macksey was enthused by not only the number of people who attended but the level of engagement and input. There were still people talking with Stoss and other project representatives as the two-hour session wound down.

"We can build projects like this with our own ideas, but it's all about the community and community input," she said. "The next steps is we'll take all this data, and then the team will get together and we'll regroup, and we're really focused on fleshing out each design and each option."
Macksey to Run for Third Term as Mayor

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  Jennifer A. Macksey has pulled nomination papers for a third term as the mayor.

"Serving as mayor of North Adams has been the honor of my lifetime," she said in a statement. "Together, we've achieved remarkable progress, but our work is far from finished. I am eager to continue building on our successes and facing the challenges ahead."

Macksey said she wants to continue to advance North Adams, prioritizing improvements in infrastructure, public safety, and economic development.

She made history in 2021 as the first woman elected mayor in the city's 126 years and easily cruised to a second two-year term in 2023.

Macksey touted a list of accomplishments over the past four years, including relocating to the Police Department to the Berkshire Plaza, which addressed longstanding issues at the outdated and inaccessible police station. She said leadership changes have "bolstered department morale and operational efficiency" although a permanent solution for the Police and Fire Departments continues.

Her administration secured $1.2 million from the state for damage recovery after the July 2022 storm and she says she has prioritized infrastructure improvements, including repairs to the Walnut Street retention wall, the Galvin Road culvert to prevent flooding, and the Brown Street bridge.

A collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is underway to create a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) program, Macksey said, and to establish an economic development advisory team to facilitate future growth.

Her administration has submitted grant applications totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, securing

more than $27 million in awards for projects ranging from education, brownfield cleanup, and public safety to street improvements and cultural activities.

Among major projects is the construction of a new Greylock School, which has been approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority; a $3 million study of Hoosic River flood control with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Hoosic River Revival; the $750,000 Route 2 overpass study; and the design of a new bike trail from Williamstown to Adams.

"My vision for North Adams is one of continued growth and prosperity," said Macksey. "We are focused on building a vibrant downtown, attracting new residents and businesses, and ensuring the infrastructure is in place to support future development. Together, we will continue to create a dynamic, thriving community."

She said she was committed to making the city "an even more extraordinary place to live and work, and together, we will build a brighter future."

Macksey will hold more formal events for re-election campaign in early summer.
Letter: Say No to Constitution Pipeline

To the Editor:



From 2014-2016, residents of Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, and Connecticut successfully blocked construction of the Kinder Morgan/NED and Constitution pipelines due to their environmental destruction capabilities and irresponsible use of eminent domain. Residents of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York defeated the Constitution pipeline in 2016, a decision supported by the courts in 2020.

In January 2025, Donald Trump and his secretary of energy called for the resurrection of the Constitution pipeline, citing three falsehoods as the rationale:

All Northeast governors want the pipeline

It would be built in less than a year

It would significantly lower energy costs in New England and New York.

As usual, the facts contradict these official statements:

Only the Connecticut governor has mentioned support for adding pipelines. No other governors of impacted states have changed their position regarding the pipeline's destructive nature. In fact, building new pipelines contradicts official policy for many of the states  in particular for Massachusetts where new pipeline construction violates state law.

Unless the permitting process is completely ignored, there's no way that the pipeline could be built in less than one year.

And most significantly, building billion-dollar pipelines never reduces gas costs for consumers as ratepayers inevitably pay the bill for construction of pipelines often used to deliver gas for export.

A recent Acadia Center article noted that "Since 2018, existing gas customers have footed the bill for 80 percent of all new gas ... connections. And these subsidies ... are driving up gas bills for everyone. In 2023 alone, Massachusetts gas customers were charged $160 million to add new customers...to the tune of $9,000 per new customer, which is reflected on ratepayer gas bills."

Rather than call for investing in pipeline construction, Trump should rescind his decision to halt offshore wind development that would mitigate winter price spikes and deliver much-needed energy in winters to come. His administration should also promote energy efficiency programs like Mass Save that prevent consumers from the need for additional purchase of fossil fuels at such costly rates.

Yes, we've had a very cold winter  and yes, energy prices have been hard to handle. The solution for this challenging situation is not to be found in the false promise of new pipeline construction but in the real savings provided by realizing alternative energy options. We need to double down on adopting clean energy solutions if we care about reducing our energy costs.

Michele Marantz

Dalton, Mass.
Divisive debates about cancel culture are hard to avoid these days, with most confrontations offering scant evidence of rigorous thinking. Two books in April deal with this controversial topic in different ways. In Discriminations: Making Peace in the Culture Wars (Oneworld), philosopher AC Grayling puts forward an astute guide to why this messy battle ground matters; while Deborah Frances-White, author of The Guilty Feminist, tackles the same thorny, volatile issues with wit and insight in Six Conversations Were Scared to Have (Virago).

Two other meaty social history studies out this month have interesting things to say about race and class. They are Lanre Bakares We Were There: How Black Culture, Resistance and Community Shaped Modern Britain (Bodley Head) and Joel Budds Underdogs: The Truth About Britains White Working Class (Picador). Both books are packed with revealing content.

Finally, an ardent recommendation for Alice Vincents Hark: How Women Listen (Canongate). Hark offers a heartfelt, powerful exploration of the importance of sound and how it lands for women. The book takes the reader on a moving journey through Vincents testing times as a young mother and the role music and sensory experiences play in helping forge an identity. It is a book whose themes will surely echo with many readers.

My picks for fiction, non-fiction and memoir of the month are reviewed in full below.

Biography of the month: Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who by John Higgs



open image in gallery John Higgss candid book Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who is the first biography of the infamous Time Lord ( Orion Books )

As a child in the 1970s, I regularly watched Doctor Who, a character who has been on our screens since November 1963. I enjoyed the Tom Baker years, although I was never an ardent fan, and I think that makes it easier to read Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who. John Higgss dispassionate, candid book is described by his publishers as the first biography of the infamous Time Lord.

A memo from 1963 described the character of the Doctor as bewildered garbled somewhat pathetic, which could stand as an unwelcome epitaph for William Hartnell, the first man to play the Doctor. Hartnell was a bad-tempered, homophobic, heavy-drinking bigot. Going by the book, he seems the perfect symbol for the snobby BBC of that era, an organisation that tolerated racist and predatory behaviour. Doctor Who was rife with sexism from the start. The founding producer was Verity Lambert. Verity had enormous boobs and once, by mistake, I called her Very-titty to her face, admitted the programmes director Richard Martin.

Higgs does a good job dissecting the 14 main Time Lords since 1963  from Hartnell to Ncuti Gatwa  and there are entertaining stories about the actors involved, especially the volatile Baker, sex addict Patrick Troughton, the wild Sylvester McCoy and the principled Christopher Eccleston.

Jon Pertwee, who played the Doctor in the early 1970s and who was known for his velvet smoking jackets and frilly shirts, once slapped his onscreen assistant Sarah Jane Smith across the face when she dared to mock his propensity for telling tall tales about his work in naval intelligence. Other young female assistants faced similar appalling misogyny. They were usually just known as the girl. Barry Letts, a producer, admitted that cynically (and creepily), these young girls were just there as something for the dads. It was not unusual for entire seasons of Doctor Who to be made by an entirely male team of writers, producers and directors, Higgs writes.

The book is crammed with fascinating nuggets about fictional Doctor Who villains, too  the Daleks were intended to be seen as space Nazis  although some of the most monstrous behaviour came from the shows fevered, factional fans. The diehard enthusiasts were disliked by most of the production staff, who called them barkers or the ming-mongs. Colin Baker, hated for his multicoloured coat, came in for particularly cruel treatment from some hardcore fans. A magazine produced by the Merseyside sect of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society went so far as to mock the death of Bakers baby son Jack from sudden infant death syndrome.

Higgs takes us all the way through to the 21st-century Doctor Whos, in an era helmed by Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, among others. Jodie Whittaker broke ground as the first female Doctor. Blackface and yellowface actors are gone. The current Doctor, Gatwa, was born in Rwanda during its civil war of the 1990s. The new progressive Doctor Who has antagonised Nigel Farage, who tellingly described it as a programme I used to love, but theyve completely ruined.

Exterminate/Regenerate is a cracking read about a character Higgs calls the British folk hero of the television age. Doctor Who may be a hero to fans, but non-obsessives will find little comfort in this sharp-eyed account of an iconic British show forged in a toxic and abusive workplace.

Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who by John Higgs is published by W&N on 10 April, 25

Non-fiction book of the month: Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle by Chris Fitch



open image in gallery Chris Fitchs Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle looks at what cities around the world are doing to fight against vanishing nature ( Harper Collins )

Around 55 per cent of humans now live in urban environments. This figure is expected to rise to more than 66 per cent by 2050. In Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle, Chris Fitch looks at what pioneering cities around the world are doing to fight a seemingly losing battle against vanishing nature.

The book covers 12 cities  Tokyo, Medellin, Singapore, Tallinn, Wellington, Nairobi, Sydney, Munich, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Flagstaff and Paris  and uses surveys, data analysis, interviews, anecdotes, urban planning studies and personal observation to build an utterly compelling account of people working to protect a connection to the natural world for urban residents.

Fitch does not sugarcoat the problems. He writes at length about local insect populations in Europe declining by more than three-quarters in the past 30 years  something he calls an invertebrate annihilation  and the ways in which humans are wrecking the marine ecosystem. Whalers and fishermen are doing more damage than climate change. He looks at the issues facing urban dwellers, including physical inactivity, light pollution, heat retention in cities and the unsustainable and destructive habit of car commuting.

The benefits of nature are clear  time among trees boosts immune systems, scenic views aid medical recoveries, etcetera, etcetera  and Fitch uses 12 global cities (and London in the epilogue) to highlight remarkable achievements by progressive, determined people. We can all take heart from urban foragers, from the brains behind the biodiverse forests of Tokyo, from the way that vertical greening is helping in Singapore, and from the fact that Wellingtons bird sanctuaries are reviving once-doomed birds in New Zealand. Perhaps the most heartening chapter is on the Colombian city Medellin: a place once despoiled by the lawless and murderous activities of Pablo Escobar has been reclaimed and made green.

Fitch explains how the problems of urban expansion continue even after death. Paris, with limited burial plots, has seen a steep rise in tree burials. Alternatively, if you are cremated, you can now even have your remains turned into a vinyl record.

An engaging tone enlivens a book packed with surprising information, including about the rise of fatal urban bear attacks in Japan. Wild Cities is a splendid, uplifting book that is as entertaining as it is enlightening.

Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle by Chris Fitch is published by William Collins on 10 April, 22

Novel of the Month: Audition by Katie Kitamura



open image in gallery Katie Kitamuras superb novel Audition plays with the idea of the unreliable narrator ( Penguin Random House/Getty )

Katie Kitamuras novel Intimacies was longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2021, and four years later, I expect there will be similar plaudits for Audition.

The idea for her latest novel was sparked around eight years ago when she read a headline that said: A stranger told me he was my son. Auditions unnamed protagonist is a successful New York actress thrown into turmoil by this Are you my mother? moment with a young man called Xavier. The first set piece of the novel is when the pair meet for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant.

In the fictional play she is starring in, the main character undergoes a character transformation  described as the hinge  and this hinge is echoed in the novel. In Part One, we are shown one path for the actor and her husband, Tomas. Part Two offers a very different life arc for her, a competing narrative that is deeply unsettling for the reader. We are all caught in a game of performance and role-playing, Kitamura seems to suggest, as she skilfully pulls apart her characters sense of an authentic self. As her own reality becomes completely unstable, her protagonist is the embodiment of the unreliable narrator.

Kitamura can be witty (as in the remark that Xavier gave good son or in the reflection that middle age is just a time of attrition), and she is in masterful control of tense and hostile confrontational scenes. The battles between the narrator and Xaviers sly young girlfriend, a woman with a strange feather touch, are taut and nadgery.

Although the story is subtle and reflective, Audition has powerful things to say about our present destabilised society. It offers a bleak view of a performative age, one in which we must be hyper attuned, sharpening our instincts to survive a world full of manipulators and skittish people. This superb, thoughtful novel resonated long after finishing.

Audition by Katie Kitamura is published by Fern Press on 17 April, 18.99
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The shortlist for the International Booker Prize 2025 has been announced, with mind-expanding titles promising to awaken an appetite to question the world around us.

Celebrating the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories published in the UK, the prestigious award showcases the best literary works from across the globe.

This years list features titles that could become the first Danish, Italian, or Japanese winners. All books are independently published, making this a first for the prize. They are translated from five original languages, including Kannada for the first time  the mother tongue of around 40 million people.

Many of the books have been decades in the making, with three authors making the shortlist with their first English language publications. All writers are the winners of literary plaudits in their home countries.

A panel of judges whittled down their shortlist from a longlist of 13, selected from 154 books submitted by publishers  the highest number since the prize was launched in its current format in 2016.

The winning book will be announced at a ceremony held at the Tate Modern in London on 20 May 2025, as the gallery celebrates its 25th anniversary. The announcement will also be live-streamed on the Booker Prize social media channels. The winner will be awarded 50,000 to be split between the author and translator.

open image in gallery Mind-expanding: The six International Booker Prize shortlist titles ( Booker Prize Foundation )

Weve listed the finalists below:

On the Calculation of Volume I, Solvej Balle

Solvej Balles work was initially self-published before becoming a word-of-mouth sensation. He first came up with the idea for the book in the 1980s. In the first part of the Danish writers septology, his protagonist, Tara Selter, finds herself stuck in a time loop, unable to escape the day of 18 November. Balle initially felt the concept was foolish, especially after Hollywoods release of Groundhog Day. But in an instance of life imitating art, the idea kept returning to Balle, until he realised that the only way out was to write it. Judges described the story as a meditation with the translator describing its prose as taut and spare.

Small Boat, Vincent Delecroix

Examining migrant crossings, described by judges as the urgent question of our time, philosopher Vincent Delecroix does not seek to cast a moral judgment on the phenomenon, which costs countless lives every year. He hopes readers will face a deep discomfort as well as a moral shock. The story, translated from French, explores the capsizing of a dinghy as it crosses the channel, leading to 27 deaths. It explores how and why the tragedy happened.

open image in gallery On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle and Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix ( Faber/Small Axes )

Under the Eye of the Big Bird, Hiromi Kawakami

The meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March 2011 compelled Hiromi Kawakami to write her novel. In a future where humans are nearing extinction and have settled in small tribes across the world, with children created in factories from the remnants of rabbits and dolphins. It has taken over a decade for the story to be translated into English and could be the first Japanese title to win the prize. The visionary strangeness is truly enchanting, say the judges.

Perfection, Vincenzo Latronico

Vincenzo Latronico tried for years to write a story set at the intersection between our physical and digital lives before drafting Perfection. The story, translated from Italian, seeks to explore the emptiness of contemporary existence. It follows a millennial couple as they live their dream life as digital nomads in Berlin, but beneath the veneer of fulfilment creeps boredom and unhappiness.

open image in gallery Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami and Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico ( Granta Books/Fitzcarraldo Editions )

Heart Lamp, Banu Mushtaq

The first book in Kannada to ever feature on the shortlist, Banu Mushtaqs 12 tales of Muslim women living in communities in southern India were originally published between 1990 and 2023 before being compiled. The stories explore how religion, society, and politics demand unquestioning obedience from them, and in doing so, inflict inhumane cruelty upon them. The book has drawn both censure and criticism from some parts of the Muslim community as well as accolades from Indian literary circles.

A Leopard-Skin Hat, Anne Serre

After the suicide of her younger sister, aged 43, with whom she had a close bond, Anne Serre was moved to write A Leopard-Skin Hat. The French writer subsequently wrote a story that follows the books narrator through their close bond with a childhood friend. It is described as the celebration of a tragically foreshortened life and a valedictory farewell.

open image in gallery Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq and A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre ( And Other Stories/Lolli Editions )

Max Porter, chair of the judges, said: Our selected six awakened an appetite in us to question the world around us: how am I seeing or being seen? How are we translating each other all the time? How are we trapped in our bodies, in our circumstances, in time, and what are our options for freedom? Who has a voice? In discussing these books, we have been considering again and again what it means to be a human being now.

This list is our celebration of fiction in translation as a vehicle for pressing and surprising conversations about humanity. These mind-expanding books ask what might be in store for us or how we might mourn, worship or survive. They offer knotty, sometimes pessimistic, sometimes radically hopeful answers to these questions.

Taken together, they build a miraculous lens through which to view human experience, both the truly disturbing and the achingly beautiful. They are each highly specific windows onto a world, but they are all gorgeously universal.
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Any good horror director will want their audiences gasping in their seats. Or covering their eyes. Screaming, even. What no one is aiming for, though, is full body collapse. But film history is full of movies so shocking, strange or downright ugly that viewers just stopped being conscious while watching them.

Coincidence or not, a hell of a lot of them seem to be French. But others are more mainstream. Take Saw III, a film so gnarly that Bolton ambulances were put on stand-by after reports that filmgoers were passing out during scenes of brain surgery. Cry babies!

Last year, reports emerged of yet another film  the latest film in the Terrifier franchise  leaving audiences feeling rather queasy.

Here are 13 films that quite literally knocked people out.

Freaks (1932)

One of the most notorious horror films in history, Tod Brownings Freaks cast real actors with disabilities and physical differences to play carnival attractions. Test screenings for the film  held in 1931  were so disastrous that numerous audience members fainted. One went on to sue filmmakers at MGM, claiming that the film was so grotesque that she miscarried as a result. MGM naturally got cold feet and cut the 90-minute film down to 60 for release. A graphic castration scene has subsequently never seen the light of day. Probably for the best, that.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

For the pivotal scene in which John Travolta plunges a hypodermic needle into Uma Thurmans chest after she overdoses, the act was filmed in reverse and then played backwards on-screen. The uncanny effect  sped up and accompanied by a morbid thud  proved too much for one audience member at the films world premiere in 1994. They stopped the film, actor Eric Stoltz said. We were all in a box seat in the balcony, and I was mortified. The lights went up, ushers flocked around the audience member in question, and he was brought back around with a glug of Coca Cola. Director Quentin Tarantino was probably ecstatic.

Saw III (2006)

There were three separate call-outs to the Cineworld cinema in Stevenage on Friday night, a spokesperson for the East Anglian Ambulance Trust said in a statement in 2006. The reason: that pesky mass murderer Jigsaw. Saw was the high priest of horror throughout the Noughties, with audiences sent into convulsions by needle pits, eyeball poking and ribcage removals. Saw III, though, seemed to be the most destructive, with reports of fainting in Bolton, Cambridge, Peterborough and Stevenage screenings.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

It wasnt the spookiness that made Blair Witch audiences hurl in 1999  it was the filmmaking. After reports that the movie was upsetting stomachs across the US, cinemas began putting up warning signs about possible motion sickness and fainting spells due to its use of handheld cameras. It was too late for some, though, with tales of cinemagoers throwing up in the aisles and collapsing in Atlanta, Portland, Georgia and Dallas.

open image in gallery Heather Donahue in The Blair Witch Project' ( Moviestore/Shutterstock )

Irreversible (2002)

Gaspar Noes revenge drama features a 10-minute rape scene in a Paris underpass, and is the kind of thing the fast-forward button was practically designed for. For those trapped with it in a cinema screening, though, its a nightmare. Take the films premiere at Cannes in 2002, which led to at least 250 people walking out, and 20 people fainting. A fire brigade spokesperson said: In 25 years in my job Ive never seen this at the Cannes festival. The scenes in this film are unbearable, even for us professionals.

127 Hours (2010)

Whod have thought a film about a man removing his own arm with a pair of rusty pliers would be too much for some? This James Franco drama  based on the real story of climber Aron Ralstons self-amputation  led to three people fainting and one person having a seizure when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2010. Even Ralston himself hated watching it, saying: I was ecstatic to be getting out of there.

The Exorcist (1973)

In 1973, The Exorcist was such a runaway smash that audiences lined up for hours for a chance to see it. Many were left scarred. As captured by news reports from the time, cinemagoers often emerged from screenings shaking and crying and unsure of what theyd just seen. The demonic possession tale was so terrifying for Seventies audiences that fainting and vomiting was widespread. I just found it really horrible, a trembling British woman told a news reporter, as captured in the YouTube compilation below. I couldnt take it anymore.

Antichrist (2009)

Somewhere between scenes of a baby falling to its death and a scene of genital mutilation later on, Lars Von Triers Antichrist inspired one New Yorker to have a panic attack during a screening in 2009. Earlier that year  at the films premiere in Cannes  four people fainted, while its debut at the Toronto Film Festival led to at least one person vomiting. Von Trier was unbothered. I dont have to justify myself, he said that year. You are all my guests, its not the other way round.

Prometheus (2012)

There were reports of cinemagoers fainting during the first Alien in 1979, and audiences hadnt become desensitised by 2012, either. Upon the release of Alien prequel Prometheus, at least one person shared that they had fainted during a scene in which star Noomi Rapace aborts her own alien foetus. The last thing I remember was watching her being stapled back together whilst the alien squid-thing lashed around in the tight auto-surgery chamber, the person shared on an Alien message board.

The Last House on the Left (1972)

open image in gallery The poster artwork for The Last House on the Left, complete with fainting warning ( American International Pictures )

Wes Cravens infamous rape-revenge movie sparked controversy even before it was released, with a graphic scene of sexual assault leading to audiences walking out and fainting. Because scandal sells, the films backers quickly exploited the horrified reactions and adjusted the films posters accordingly. Its new tagline? To avoid fainting, keep repeating Its only a movie, ...only a movie.

Raw (2016)

Julia Ducournaus 2016 debut revolved around a young cannibal. The characters graphic munching led to audience members passing out at the Toronto Film Festival. Because hes very good at his job, the films publicist Ryan Werner quickly rushed out a statement confirming the story: An ambulance had to be called to the scene as the film became too much for a couple patrons.

Titane (2021)

Making Raw look like an episode of Junior Masterchef, Ducournaus follow-up Titane doubled down on the gore. Full of self-mutilation, torture and graphic violence, Titane incited mass hysteria when it played at the Sydney Film Festival last year. In a statement, the festival confirmed 13 people had fainted. Earlier, at Cannes, there were other reports that fainting had occurred. As for Ducournau, shes suggested most of the fainting stories may have been whipped up for marketing purposes. I was in Cannes when Raw premiered and I didnt see anyone faint or throw up, like many said, she told Exberliner. Hmm.

Psycho (1960)

Alfred Hitchcocks classic horror film proved so shocking to Sixties audiences that it seemed to spark a kind of collective mania in those who watched. Reports from New York at the time claimed that cinemas became hotbeds of hyperventilating, with police called to deal with mass fainting. Demands to have the film banned naturally followed, but proved unsuccessful.
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David Lynchs grave marker has been unveiled at the Hollywood Forever cemetery, with the simple flat black stone bearing the enigmatic epitaph: Night Blooming Jasmine.

The visionary Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive director died in January at the age of 78. According to reports he was cremated and his ashes were buried at Hollywood Forever.

The storied cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles is the final resting place of many classic Hollywood icons including Judy Garland, Cecil B DeMille and Jayne Mansfield.

Lynchs grave marker bears just his full name, David Keith Lynch, his dates 1946 - 2025, and the three-word phrase which refers to a scent he associated with Los Angeles and nostalgia for a bygone era of Hollywood.

In a 2016 interview with AnOther Magazine, Lynch said: When you fly into LA at night, its all lit up, miles and miles of lights  so beautiful. Its a very fast image. But within it there are these places that talk about memory.

You know, on a summers night, maybe more like a spring night, you could drive to certain places and if you smell that night-blooming jasmine, you can almost see Clark Gable or Gloria Swanson. The golden age of Hollywood is still living in some moods here, in the DNA of the city.

David Lynch in Rome, Italy in 2017 ( Ernesto S Ruscio/Getty Images )

In one of his regular Weather Report YouTube videos posted on December 21, 2020, Lynch said: Now, the days are gonna start getting longer, and spring time is right around the corner. When, at least in LA, that night blooming jasmine will once again fill the air with its sublime fragrance.

Lynchs death was announced in January by his family in a Facebook post, which read: Theres a big hole in the world now that hes no longer with us. But, as he would say, Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.

In the days before his death, the Oscar-nominated auteur had reportedly been evacuated from his LA home due to the citys devastating wildfires.

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In an interview with Sight & Sound magazine last year, Lynch revealed he had been diagnosed with emphysema due to smoking throughout his life, and said he could not go out because of the risk of catching Covid.

Ive gotten emphysema from smoking for so long and so Im homebound whether I like it or not. It would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold, he said, admitting that he could only walk a short distance before he was out of oxygen.

Lynch, who frequently collaborated with Hollywood luminaries such as Laura Dern, Kyle MacLachlan, Sheryl Lee, Naomi Watts, Jack Nance and Harry Dean Stanton, left behind an iconic body of work.

He earned critical acclaim and nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director for the biographical drama The Elephant Man (1980), the mystery thriller Blue Velvet (1986), and the psychological drama Mulholland Drive (2001).

Following his death, he was honored by several colleagues, including Steven Spielberg, who called him a singular, visionary dreamer.
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Jenna Ortega has opened up about her exit from Scream VII.

The 22-year-old Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star, who joined the horror franchise in 2023 for its sixth movie, was expected to reprise her role as Tara Carpenter, the younger sister of Melissa Barreras Sam, in the forthcoming installment.

However, in November 2023, reports broke that Ortega had dropped out of the slasher due to scheduling conflicts with the second season of her hit Netflix series, Wednesday. News of her exit came the day after Barrera had been fired from the film over comments she made about Israel-Palestine on social media.

Ortega is now dispelling the rumors surrounding her Scream VII departure, confirming in a new interview with The Cut that it had nothing to do with pay or scheduling.

The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart, she explained, sharing that by the time she had made her decision, Scream VIs directing duo, Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, had already dropped out.

If Scream VII wasnt going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didnt seem like the right move for me in my career at the time, the You alum added.

open image in gallery Jenna Ortega pulled out of 'Scream VII' in November 2023 ( Getty Images for CinemaCon )

Scream VII, which is due for release on February 27, 2026, has faced a mountain of trouble since Barreras firing.

The In the Heights breakout, 33, was axed from the film after several social media posts she had made regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict were accused of being antisemitic.

Spyglasss stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech, a Spyglass spokesperson said in a statement at the time.

In the aftermath of her firing, Barrera released her own statement: First and foremost I condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia. I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people  I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism. I pray day and night for no more deaths, for no more violence, and for peaceful co-existence. I will continue to speak out for those that need it most and continue to advocate for peace and safety, for human rights and freedom. Silence is not an option for me.

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open image in gallery Melissa Barrera was dropped from seventh Scream film ( Spyglass )

Barrera later reflected on the dark period in a November 2024 interview with The Independent. It was the darkest and hardest year of my life, and I had to reevaluate everything, she admitted. There were times where I felt like my life was over.

In the month after both Barrera and Ortegas exits, director Christopher Landon, who had signed on to helm the new edition, announced he had also quit.

I guess now is as good a time as any to announce I formally exited Scream VII weeks ago, he wrote in a later-deleted X post. This will disappoint some and delight others. It was a dream job that turned into a nightmare. And my heart did break for everyone involved. Everyone. But its time to move on.

I have nothing more to add to the conversation other than I hope [original Scream director Wes Cravens] legacy thrives and lifts above the din of a divided world. What he and Kevin created is something amazing, and I was honored to have even the briefest moment basking in their glow, Landon said.

The franchises original screenwriter, Kevin Williams, has now taken over directing duties on the seventh film.

While Scream VIIs plot remains under wraps, it will welcome the return of franchise legacies Scott Foley, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, alongside newcomers Isabel May, Celeste OConnor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner, Anna Camp, Joel McHale and Mark Consuelos.
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Hannah Waddinghams staunch defence of Tom Cruise has resurfaced in the wake of her unexpected appearance in the new Mission: Impossible trailer.

The Ted Lasso actor will appear alongside the Hollywood star in the concluding instalment of Mission: Impossible  Dead Reckoning, titled The Final Reckoning, which is set to be released in May 2025.

However, Waddinghams role in the film was news to many, and viewers of the new trailer were left blindsided by her brief cameo alongside Severance star Tramell Tillman.

Waddingham first tipped fans off to her role in the film during a guest spot on the festive special of ITV series James Martins Saturday Morning on Christmas Day 2023, when the subject of Cruise came up.

The actor and musical theatre star had nothing but kind words for the actor, whose hit films include Minority Report and Top Gun: Maverick.

After recalling how she spent five intense days with Cruise on the USS George HW Bush fighter carrier, Waddingham told TV chef Martin: I have to say, I have a real problem with anybody that goes at him now.

She continued: He is without doubt one of the loveliest and encouraging, positive and inspiring human beings I have ever met. Isnt he gorgeous? I have no time for anyone saying anything about him.

While Cruise remains one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, he is also known for his outlandish off-screen behaviour and is often the subject of intense media speculation. In 2005, he made headlines after jumping on the sofa during an appearance on Oprah Winfreys chat show to declare his love for then girlfriend Katie Holmes and, that same year, quarrelled with Matt Lauer about the practice of psychiatry, which he called a pseudo-science.

Most of Cruises controversy, though, surrounds his association with the Church of Scientology. In 2008, a leaked promotional video showed the actor discussing the benefits of the controversial religion, which bewildered his fans.

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At the Golden Globes in January 2023, Cruise was roasted by host Jerrod Carmichael, who made reference to Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige who has not been seen in public since 2007.

Backstage, I found these three Golden Globe awards that Tom Cruise returned, the comedian said, adding: I think maybe we take these three things and exchange them for the safe return of Shelly Miscavige.

Tom Cruise is one of Hollywoods most bankable  and controversial  stars ( Getty Images for Paramount Pictu )

The Church denied the accusations in response, which echoed earlier denials that Miscaviges wife is missing. Last year, the LAPD issued a statement confirming that officers had personally made contact with Shelly in 2014, and they had subsequently closed the missing persons investigation.

An attorney representing the Church of Scientology said in 2018 the claims were appalling, adding: Mrs Miscavige is not missing.

The next Mission: Impossible film, also starring Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames, will be the eighth in the series. It will be released on 21 May.

On 11 May, Cruise will be in London to take part in an in-depth conversation about his career at BFI Southbank.
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David Bowies notoriously private daughter, Lexi Jones, has released her debut album Xandri.

The 24-year-old artist is the only daughter of Bowie and supermodel Iman, who were married from 1992 until his death in 2016.

The artist took to Instagram to tease her upcoming album, sharing exclusive snippets from songs, and showing clips from her childhood featuring Bowie over the last few weeks.

Xandri was released with no other advertisement and without an announcement last Wednesday (4th April). It features tracks such as Through all the time, Moving on and Standing alone.

With 12 songs, Xandri blends genres such as pop, electronic, and indie rock, all featuring Jones vocals. Her ability to glide seamlessly between genres suggests that she holds the same genre-transcending musical habits as her father.

The young artist also writes and produces all of her own tracks. The albums title, Xandri, comes from the Greek name that means defender of the people.

Iman and David Bowie in 2007 ( Getty )

As well as music, she also often takes to social media to showcase her artwork and poetry. Her talents as a visual artist shine through on the albums cover art, which she designed herself. The artwork shows two faces on the same head splitting away from each other.

Her debut release comes more than eight years after her fathers death. Jones has often paid tribute to him online, posting videos of the pair from her childhood on her Instagram, and also getting matching tattoos with her mother Iman in his memory in 2018.

Lexi Jones is one of Bowies two children. His son, Duncan Zowie Jones, is his first-born child with his first wife, Mary Angie Angela Barnett. He is a British film director and screenwriter best known for his films Moon and Source Code.

Bowie passed away in January 2016 after a private battle with cancer for months. His 26th studio album, Blackstar, had been released two days prior to his death on January 8th, his birthday.

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Bowies work will be celebrated next month in Camden in Londons new Live Odyssey immersive experience. The new attraction aims to celebrate British music, taking visitors through a two-and-a-half hour span of six decades of British music, from the 60s right up to today. There will be six different rooms which will each house a different musical era.

His daughters album, Xandri, is available on Spotify and Apple Music.
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Comedian Eric Andre has claimed he was intimidated after Madonna sent him a DM following a bizarre onstage interaction between the pair.

In March 2024, Andre made a guest appearance at the pop superstars concert at the Kia Forum Stadium in Los Angeles as part of her Celebration Tour.

The 42-year-old, best known for his offbeat parody talk show The Eric Andre Show, took part in the Vogue section of the show where he had to score various dancers out of 10.

After being inspired to get involved with the dancing himself, Andre chose to drop his trousers and expose his bare backside to the shocked audience which Madonna found hilarious.

Speaking about the incident on Jimmy Kimmel Live (7 April), Andre claimed that Madonna has a bit of a crush on me and that she slid into my DMs.

Kimmel asked him to share what the popstar had sent him but Andre remained coy: I dont want to put her on front street but there was a little bit of chemistry between us...there was some flirtation.

When asked if he acted on this potential relationship Andre admitted: Im way too intimidated by Madonna. Thats the queen of pop. You cant just waltz in there and start schtooping Madonna. Youve gotta come in there with roses, youve gotta play Boyz II Men and youve gotta drip chocolate candles...she needs to be romanced. She slept with 2Pac and Basquiat  youve gotta bring your A-game.

Kimmel asked if he was interested to which he said he was and added: My sister called me and she was like: You need to get with Madonna and Im not taking no for an answer and she hung up on me. Thats a true story but Im too shy.

Eric Andre ( Getty )

It comes after Andre expressed his regret over turning down Kieran Culkins Oscar-winning role in Jesse Eisenbergs A Real Pain.

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Culkin, 42, who played Eisenbergs outspoken on-screen cousin, Benji Kaplan, in the dark comedy-drama, won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor at the March ceremony. However, according to Andre, it couldve been him.

Two years ago, Jesse Eisenberg called me  offered me the [A Real Pain] role that Kieran Culkin got the Oscar for, the 2 Broke Girls alum, 42, recalled on Andrew Santinos Whiskey Ginger podcast.

He said he declined the role after reading the script because the movie seemed miserable and not in my lane.

I was like, To go to Poland for six weeks and shoot a movie where were just babbling about the Holocaust, seems like a bummer, Andre explained.
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John Stamos has clarified his recent appearance at President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Over the weekend, the 61-year-old actor was photographed wearing a tuxedo at the hotel and events space.

It was not immediately clear what Stamos was attending, leading some fans on X to assume he was supporting the president, saying they were sad and disgusted.

However, the Full House star responded to the backlash on Monday, explaining that he was at Mar-a-Lago for a bipartisan charity function.

I accepted the invitation to emcee the Palm Beach Ray of Hope Galaan evening dedicated to honoring and uplighting our frontline workers, he wrote on his Instagram Stories.

This nonpartisan event supports The Academy for Nursing and Health Occupations, a 501(c)(3) organization that trains 350-400 nurses every year, directly addressing the critical shortage of healthcare professionals in Palm Beach County.

He further defended his appearance at the event by emphasizing how important nurses are.

open image in gallery John Stamos says supporting nurses isnt political as he explains why he was at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend ( Instagram/@johnstamos )

Supporting nurses isnt political  its essential. These are the people who care for us and our families when we need it most, and I believe we should show up for them with the same unwavering dedication they show up with every single day, Stamos continued. I stand by the importance of healthcare, of service, and of investing in those who care for our communities.

My values and political views remain unchanged and if you dont donate to Palm Beach Ray of Hope, then please consider donating to, he concluded, sharing a link to Democracy Forward, a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy and public education, and regulatory engagement, according to its official website.

In the link to make donations, shared by Stamos, the page reads: On Inauguration Day, President Trump swore an oath to the Constitution. We need your help to hold him and his administration accountable.

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open image in gallery John Stamos says his political views remain unchanged after he was spotted at Mar-a-Lago ( Photo by Elyse Jankowski/Getty Images )

The General Hospital alum has previously shared his political stance. During the 2020 presidential election, he publicly endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, posting a picture of himself alongside the former president in the White House on X after their win.

Leading up to the 2024 election, he again shared his support for Harris. He was a part of the group of celebrities who signed up for the Comics for Harris Zoom call, which benefited her campaign.

In November, the day before election day, Stamos shared a message about personal reflection and his political views on Instagram.

Im not here to tell anyone how to vote. This is not about dictating choices or dismissing opinions. But as we look ahead, its no secret who I will be casting my vote for, he wrote in the caption. We need a leader who prioritizes unity and strives to bridge the divides that have deepened over the past years. My hope is that this election leads to a renewed focus on bringing people together, fostering dialogue, and seeking justice and equality for all.

Stamos concluded: At the end of the day, I wish for a safe and honest election. And no matter the outcome, I will support the elected president and pray for a peaceful and honest transition. Lets remember that despite our differences, we share a common humanity. May this election be a step towards healing, unity, and hope.
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Jon Stewart used this weeks instalment of The Daily Show to mock Donald Trump's new nickname for those concerned about his trade tariffs which are causing economic chaos around the world.

The comedian began his monologue by describing the US economy as being in the midst of a beautiful metamorphosis as it transforms from a beautiful caterpillar into a dead caterpillar.

Branding Trumps economic gambling as Trade Wars, Stewart addressed Trump by bizarrely calling those worried about the economy as a Panican (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!).

The genius who gave us classics like Sleepy Joe and Crooked Hillary, just s*** out, Youre a Panican? How about Hysterocrats? Repussicans? How about Cryontologists? Did the overseas factory you had been sourcing your nicknames from get shut down during the tariff war? quipped Stewart.

Trump ended his strange Twitter rant by saying ONLY THE WEAK WILL FAIL! which Stewart said was the same tagline as season 3 of Squid Game.

Stewart then turned his attention to those backing the rollouts and attempting to downplay the uncertainty it has created. How much White Lotus did you people watch? What is permanence in this negotiated life we live? Have a pina colada, said Stewart in reference to the HBO shows season finale.

Jon Stewart brands Trump tariffs 'Trade Wars' ( Comedy Central )

[The GOPs] best argument so far for any of this is the same one that we got about Tinker Bell being able to fly - You have to believe, he added.

Stewart ended the segment by using several prominent Republicans own words against them as they attempted to sugarcoat the controversial policy.

A clip was then played of Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin telling Fox News: Luckily, we have a businessman in the White House right now.

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This was followed by footage of National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett saying: The president did write the book, The Art of the Deal.

Stewart responded to this by producing a copy of The Art of the Deal and flipping to chapter nine where Trump championed the casino that he built in Atlantic City. Whatever happened to the casino, Donald? asked Stewart. Footage is then shown of the casino being imploded in 2021.

Last week, Trump imposed the steepest American tariffs on imports in over a century, levying rates as high as 50 per cent on some countries in a move described by the EU as a major blow to the world economy.
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Rami Malek has admitted that his Emmy-winning role in Mr. Robot left him quite paranoid.

The 43-year-old led Sam Esmails four-season thriller about a young, anti-social computer programmer named Elliot who works as a cybersecurity engineer by day and a vigilante hacker by night. The critically acclaimed series ran on USA Network from 2015 to 2019.

Malek, who takes on a similar role as CIA decoder Charlie Heller in the forthcoming action thriller The Amateur, recalled the research he undertook for both projects at a recent press event.

I always say, how far do you go with research before youre like, Okay, put it down and walk away, the Bohemian Rhapsody star said, per Metro. Im never going to be a coder, I realized on Mr. Robot. I learned enough.

Of his time on the show, Malek confessed: I did begin to get quite paranoid from that series, as to what the government was able to access after the Patriot Act. And watching that Laura Poitras documentary, Citizenfour, about [infamous whistleblower Edward] Snowden.

It was terrifying, he said.

Rami Malek, who starred as Eliot in Mr. Robot, said the series left him quite paranoid ( USA Network )

Maleks portrayal of Elliot on Mr. Robot landed him his first Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 2016 ceremony.

I remember, there was a moment saying goodbye to that character of Elliot Alderson that was quite sad, he added at the press event. I know weve all had those moments where you have to walk away or they live with you to a degree, and you carry them with you.

He said he was a bit reluctant to relinquish Elliot, and while his new role isnt an iteration per se, there are similarities, of course.

I gravitate to those characters who are on these fragile intersections of feeling broken, maybe brilliant, at the same time, and going through some sort of grief and persevering. So many elements to him were rich and complex  [he] reminded me of Elliot, but in a different way, Malek explained.

The Amateur, out in theaters on April 11, is about Maleks brilliant CIA decoder Charlie, whose wife dies in a London terrorist attack. After his supervisors refuse to take action, hes forced to embark on a dangerous trek across the globe to track down those responsible.

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Rachel Brosnahan, Laurence Fishburn, Jon Bernthal and Caitriona Balfe also star.

Early critic reviews have been divisive, with The Independents Clarisse Loughrey awarding it three stars.

This Disney thriller is shot like a car ad and fully leans into the beautiful dead wife trope  yet somehow The Amateur gets away with its cliches, she wrote in her review, dubbing it pleasingly silly.
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One of the stars of The White Lotus is weighing in on their final scene in the hit series, which has proved divisive.

HBOs hit series has drawn to a close after a divisive third season, concluding with an episode that dramatically revealed which characters didnt make it out of Thailand alive.

After the finale aired, many stars, including Aimee Lou Wood (Chelsea), Carrie Coon (Laurie) and showrunner Mike White, have been sharing their views on what went down  and Natasha Rothwell has now chimed in.

Rothwell reprised her season one role of Belinda for the latest run, which saw her come up against Greg (Jon Gries), whom she sussed out was behind the death of former White Lotus character Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge).

In the finale, Belinda, with help from her son (Nicholas Duvernay), convinced Greg to ensure her silence by paying her $5m  and her final scene shows her leaving the hotel with her new-found wealth.

Belinda is waved off by the hotels staff, including Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul), with whom she had a romantic relationship.

open image in gallery Belinda and her son Zion in the White Lotus season three finale ( HBO )

At one stage in the series, Pornchai suggested the pair go into business together and open a spa  which viewers know is Belindas dream. In season one, Tanya promises to give her financial backing to do exactly this before leaving her heartbroken when she backs out before leaving the hotel.

As Pornchai watches on with apparent sadness that Belinda is leaving him behind, many viewers claim the development mirrored what happened to Belinda in season one, stating that she has essentially become Tanya. Rothwell, adressing the divisive nature of the final scene, disagrees with this read.

I didnt want to play that moment with guilt. If people rewatch this season, she never agrees to go into business with Pornchai; shes just considering it, she told Variety. calling it a subtle but massive difference from season one where you have Tanya being like, Yes, lets do it. Give me the papers. Show me your business plan.

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Rothwell continued: She doesnt lead him on. Pornchai was definitely more into Belinda and the idea than Belinda was.

open image in gallery Pornchai and Belinda in The White Lotus ( HBO )

They both really liked each other and had feelings for each other, sexually and relationship-wise, but professionally, I dont think Belinda was all in, because its impractical. Her son doesnt live there, and theres a lot of that she would have to figure out. So it didnt have the same sting.

White is already teasing the location of the fourth season, which is expected to air on HBO in 2027.
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Theres never been a TV drama lead quite like Matthew Gurneys Daniel Brennan before. Hes a big man with a withering stare, wild eyes and an air of volatility. For much of BBC Ones Reunion, hes an ambiguous figure: is he a hero? An anti-hero? Or simply a villain? As we meet him, hes emerging from a decade in prison  but even in his exit interview, the world is conspiring against him. Daniel is deaf, but his probation officer has neglected to book a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, so the conversation plays out as an agitated series of hopeless gestures. The official pointlessly and patronisingly carries on regardless. No part of this process is really designed for Daniels benefit  its just a box to tick.

This failure of communication signposts the dominant note of this drama. Reunion is, in many ways, a groundbreaking show: set in Sheffield, its written by deaf scriptwriter William Mager and many of the production team are also deaf. This has clearly created an environment reflecting deaf peoples experience of living in a world that doesnt respond to their needs. Daniel is returning to a community where he is a pariah  he was convicted of murdering his hugely popular former friend and sometime mentor Ray (Ace Mahbaz)  but will he be given the opportunity to reconnect with his daughter Carly (Lara Peake) and explain the context of his crime? Indeed, is there any imaginable context in which it could be justifiable?

As soon becomes clear, theres plenty more to the story than meets the eye; a series of traumas rooted in childhood and never really resolved. Daniel has deprived Anne-Marie Duffs Christine of a husband and her daughter Miri (Rose Ayling-Ellis) of a father. At first, he finds it impossible to say why  and the suspicions of Christines new partner, ex-cop Stephen (Eddie Marsan), make things harder still. Before long, Reunion becomes a story about communication in a more general sense: in narrative terms, Daniels deafness is not a bug but a feature. Deafness becomes almost a metaphor for a more general failure to confront the past  a universal omerta about men and their feelings. Is Daniels crime rooted in a simple inability to move on?

His deafness is also at the root of his combustibility and trust issues. His struggles for expression underpin his occasional bursts of violence. And the format of the drama carefully brings viewers into this world: long, intense conversations are conducted in BSL and  sometimes, more bewilderingly  in a mixture of gestures and frantic, wordless sounds. Theres a bleak flashback to Daniels time in prison. One of the inmates is threatening him and we hear him speak conventionally for the first time. His strange, high-pitched yelp is at odds with his menacing appearance. His fellow prisoners laugh and their mockery lays his impotent frustration bare. Its a rarity to meet a disabled TV character with a latent capacity for violence  but as we see the world through Daniels eyes, its easy to see why he might feel he has no other options.

Anne-Marie Duff and Eddie Marsan in Reunion ( BBC/Warp Films/Matt Squire )

The climactic moments are played out almost entirely in BSL; having acclimatised viewers, Reunion goes for full immersion when it really matters. It gives the scenes a real power  the world shrinking around the desperate attempts at communication between two people. The sound design is an important part of this journey and is impeccably done; tiny details  a finger tapping on a table, a frying egg, a dripping tap  are amplified. Voices are alternately clear, muffled and non-existent. At times, its difficult to feel fully orientated in this world  and thats almost certainly the intention.

Because Daniel isnt at home here either  he drifts from house parties to memorial services, from thwarted moments of domesticity to living out of the back of his car  unable to explain himself or to find closure. At times, Reunion almost feels like a western with Daniel acting out the Lonely Stranger archetype  the difference being that everyone he meets knows Daniel only too well and has already passed judgment upon him.

None of this would work without a fine central performance and Gurney is exemplary  in fact, while the script could occasionally benefit from a greater focus on Daniels tormented interior life, Gurneys expressive face does plenty of heavy lifting on its own. Reunion isnt an easy watch for a number of reasons  the subject matter is difficult, and the format means full commitment is required. But it is unapologetically itself, and the world it creates is all the more convincing as a result.
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China has vowed to fight to the end after president Donald Trump threatened Beijing with a further 50 per cent import tariff, escalating a brewing trade war between the worlds largest economies.

Mr Trump had threatened to bring his grand total of tariffs on Chinese imports to over 100 per cent if Beijing went ahead and matched the 34 per cent levy on imports that he announced last week.

The 34 per cent tariff was in addition to the 20 per cent levy imposed earlier in 2025, taking the effective rate to 54 per cent. After Beijing hit back with a 34 per cent tariff on American goods, Mr Trump threatened an additional 50 per cent duty if the Asian giant did not reverse its decision.

China appeared defiant, however, saying that Mr Trump's threat was "a mistake on top of a mistake" and accusing him of "blackmailing" Beijing into rolling back its countermeasures. "If the US insists on having its way, China will fight to the end," the Chinese commerce ministry said.

Chinas benchmark stock index rebounded in early trade on Tuesday, clawing back some of the 7 per cent loss from Monday. Beijing let the yuan fall to its weakest level in over 18 months after the central bank slightly loosened its grip on the currency in an attempt to counteract the blow to exports.

open image in gallery An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge in China ( Reuters )

Several Chinese state companies, meanwhile, vowed to increase investment while some listed companies announced share buybacks as the government stepped in to stabilise the market.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the world's second-largest economy was not intimidated by US threats.

Pressuring and threatening are not the right way in dealing with China," Mr Lin said, adding that "China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests".

His country would continue to take "resolute and strong measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests", Mr Lin added, without elaborating on the planned course of action.

Mr Trumps sweeping near-worldwide tariffs, including on some uninhabited islands, have wiped trillions of dollars in value from global stock markets and sparked fears of a catastrophic trade war and global recession.

Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, Jamie Dimon, CEO of banking giant JPMorgan Chase, said in his annual letter to shareholders, but it will slow down growth.

open image in gallery Traders works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange ( AFP via Getty )

Mr Trump, who has seemed unfazed by the tumbling markets, warned that "all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!"

He claimed that China had introduced its countermeasure despite my warning that any country that retaliates against the US by issuing additional tariffs... will be immediately met with new and substantially higher tariffs.

The president said he was not considering a pause on the rollout of his steep custom tariffs, which come into effect on Wednesday, to allow space for negotiations.

"We're not looking at that. We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us and there are going to be fair deals," he said.

Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times criticised the selfish and utterly unfounded levies while saying "pressuring and threatening are not the right way in dealing with China".

In reality, this is nothing more than protectionism and unilateral bullying," the newspaper said in an editorial, calling it political blackmail wrapped in the cloak of economic means.

China's countermeasures are not a call to confrontation, but a declaration to defend fairness," it added, acknowledging the tariffs would inevitably impact the Chinese economy "in the short term".

Dan Wang, a China expert at the Eurasia Group, told Reuters that Mr Trump had effectively wiped out Chinese exporter profits by taking the import duties over 35 per cent.

"After that, China shouldn't export to the US at all. It could be 1,000 per cent, but since there is no trade there is no harm. Europe is and will be the most profitable market for China now," she said.
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Chinas president Xi Jinping recently held a meeting with 40 leaders of multinational companies, including BMW and AstraZeneca.

In contrast to Donald Trumps rhetoric, Xi told the top-level executives that globalisation was not going away. Xi is attempting to boost foreign investment in China, which has dropped in the last few years, and build new relationships that will offset Trumps tariffs on many Chinese goods.

In the March 28 meeting, Xi vowed to improve market access and assured corporate leaders that lines of communication between them and the Chinese government are open.

Xi is hoping to build on an anti-Trump bounce and inspire businesses to back Beijing as some signs emerged that Chinas economy was doing a little better than expected in early 2025. Industrial production went up by 5.9 per cent in January and February. Credit growth, which measures the amount of loans banks give out, also appears to be picking up, suggesting that businesses might be growing in China.

Retail sales, which are a major economic marker indicating consumer spending, has risen by up to 4 per cent in January and February this year, compared to last year.

open image in gallery Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Beijing is also willing to create further stimulus packages to sustain Chinas economic growth, which might lift consumer confidence further.

But this is hampered by a real estate crisis that began in 2021. What followed was an already high local government debt that was exacerbated by the property crisis, and high youth unemployment that existed since 2023.

The big question then is what are the factors that could lead to a more buoyant outlook in Chinas economic fortunes?

Beijings policy resolve

According to a Bloomberg report, China has traditionally relied on cheap loans and subsidies to boost economic sectors in infrastructure, manufacturing, and the property market. However, those times are over.

The problem is China has produced more goods to sell than people are willing to buy. In the past, Beijing relied on the west to purchase its products, but with rising protectionism and looming tariffs stemming from a Donald Trump-led US, US consumption of Chinese goods is likely to fall.

And if another key market in the form of the EU were to take a cue from Trumps economic playbook and impose more tariffs on China, then Chinese hope for sales in the west for economic growth may not materialise.

Beijings surest way of boosting sales is through domestic consumption. This isnt easy as Chinas domestic spending remains relatively low at 40 per cent of the countrys GDP, which is about 20 per cent lower than the global average. And if Beijing wants cautious consumers to spend amid a relatively weak economic outlook, it needs to do more to raise consumer confidence.

Although China did introduce a stimulus package in September 2024, it has resolved to do more. In an early March 2025 speech in the Chinese parliament, Chinese Premier Li Qiang promised a special action plan to vigorously raise domestic consumption for 2025. Several weeks later, Li reiterated in the China Development Forum that Beijing would roll out more stimulus packages when the need arose.

These assurances are likely to have helped improve market sentiment, and the fact that Chinas GDP growth target was also set at an ambitious level of around 5 per cent, might signal Beijings confidence and resolve that the economy will improve.

Chinas AI revolution

In the past, China was considered a copycat nation known for manufacturing shanzai, or fake and pirated products. This difficulty in innovating and reliance on the designs of others largely lay with an education system steeped in rote learning and a top-down culture with a conformist approach.

This is why experts thought China would struggle when the US decided to introduce restrictions on Chinese access to semiconductor and AI technologies. However, despite these restrictions, China has managed to develop a highly capable AI model of its own in the form of DeepSeek, which was unveiled early this year, and immediately boosted Chinas image as an innovator.

Unlike other AI models, DeepSeek was apparently made at a fraction of the cost of other traditional AI models such as ChatGPT, and may have a more efficient coding scheme that allows for quicker problem-solving. This has prompted Donald Trump to coin DeepSeeks development as a wake-up call for the US tech industry.

open image in gallery DeepSeek was apparently made at a fraction of the cost of other traditional AI models such as ChatGPT ( AP )

Many AI startups in China are now revamping their business models to compete with DeepSeek, following widespread adoption of the latters technology. As the AI revolution in China could potentially reduce costs and thereby boost efficiency in the financial sector.

Following Trumps return to the Oval Office, investors across the globe have been trying to reduce their reliance on the US by looking for investment opportunities elsewhere. This isnt entirely surprising given Trumps knack for the unpredictable, and how new US tariffs have been applied to a host of US allies such as Mexico, Canada, and the European Union.

While Trump is striking an increasingly protectionist tone, China is taking the opposite approach. Trumps penchant for tariffs and disregard for the economic interest of US allies may mean Beijing might not need to do too much to attract more nations and businesses to consider turning towards Chinese markets.

Chee Meng Tan is an Assistant Professor of Business Economics at the University of Nottingham.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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South Koreas military fired warning shots on Tuesday after armed North Korean soldiers crossed into its territory across the eastern section of the heavily fortified border.

According to a statement by South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff, about 10 North Korean troops crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) within the demilitarised zone (DMZ) at approximately 5pm local time.

Warning broadcasts were issued, followed by warning gunfire, prompting the intruders to retreat to the northern side. Some of the North Korean soldiers were armed, according to the South Korean military.

The South Korean military confirmed that the incursion did not appear to be intentional, noting that the section where the breach occurred was a wooded area with unclear signage demarcating the border.

The North Korean soldiers were reportedly carrying construction equipment at the time. Their exact purpose in the area remains unknown.

"Our military conducted warning broadcasts and warning shots after about 10 North Korean soldiers crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) in the eastern area of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) around 5:00 pm local time," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message to reporters.

Members of the Korean People's Army's taking part in comprehensive training exercises at a training base at an undisclosed location in North Korea on 4 April 2025 ( AFP via Getty Image )

Our military is closely monitoring the North Korean militarys activity and taking necessary measures according to the operational procedures.

This latest incident comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Just a day earlier, South Korean officials reported that approximately 1,500 North Korean personnel were engaged in installing barbed wire and conducting land operations inside the DMZ as part of ongoing military exercises. Although no immediate escalation followed Tuesdays border breach, the zone has witnessed violent confrontations in the past.

A similar incident in June last year saw North Korean troops briefly crossing the line before warning shots were fired by the South, but it did not escalate further.

The DMZ, stretching 155 miles and spanning 2.5 miles in width, is considered the most militarised border in the world.

Heavily laden with an estimated two million landmines, it is fortified with tank traps, barbed wire, and combat-ready forces on both sides. It remains a legacy of the 19501953 Korean War, which concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Current regional hostilities have deepened as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un strengthens military ties with Russia amid president Vladimir Putins war in Ukraine. Mr Kim continues to defy appeals from Seoul and Washington to resume denuclearisation talks.

Despite remarks from United States president Donald Trump earlier this year expressing willingness to reengage diplomatically with Pyongyang, North Korea has remained silent and has accused Washington of escalating hostilities since Mr Trumps inauguration.

Additional reporting by agencies
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South Korea has set 3 June as the date for a snap presidential election after impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office over his martial law declaration.

Political polarisation is likely to shape the election, set to be a direct showdown between Mr Yoon's conservative People Power Party and its main rival, the liberal Democratic Party.

Mr Yoon was removed on Friday by the Constitutional Court, which upheld the parliaments decision to impeach him for plunging his country into a crisis by briefly imposing martial law last December. He had been suspended from work since.

The leadership vacuum has impeded Seouls efforts to deal with chief ally US at a time when president Donald Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on the country, compounding economic problems caused by slowing growth.

The government intends to designate June 3 as the 21st presidential election day, acting president Han Duck Soo told a cabinet meeting, adding that this would allow political parties sufficient time to prepare.

Mr Yoons labour minister, Kim Moon Soo, signalled his intention to run by resigning his post on Tuesday. I decided to run because the people want it, people I know want it, and I feel a sense of responsibility to solve national difficulties," Mr Kim told reporters.

He said economic conditions during a "severe national crisis" were hurting people's livelihoods. "I thought that all politicians and people should unite to overcome the crisis and work together to help the country develop further, he said.

Ahn Cheol Soo, a ruling party lawmaker who was the first to vote for Mr Yoon's impeachment, also declared his intention to run. He claimed he was a "cleaner candidate than anyone else".

In all, around 10 members of the party were expected to throw their hats in the ring for the presidential primary.

The Democratic Party was expected to field its leader, Lee Jae Myung, who narrowly lost to Mr Yoon in 2022. Mr Lee led his party through the martial law crisis during which many of its members faced off against soldiers sent by Mr Yoon to prevent the National Assembly from overturning his decree.

Other prominent presidential hopefuls reportedly included Seoul mayor Oh Se Hoon, Daegu city mayor Hong Joon Pyo and former People Power Party leader Han Dong Hoon.

Political parties were expected to launch primaries to select their presidential candidates in the coming weeks.

Additional reporting by agencies.
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A US military cargo plane that flew into Afghanistan last week has sparked speculation that America could retake control of the strategic Bagram air base.

According to local media reports, the C-17 aircraft took off from Dohas Al Udeid military base, arrived in Afghanistan via Pakistan on Sunday, and landed at Bagram.

The aircraft was said to be carrying senior US intelligence officials, including CIA deputy chief Michael Ellis, and military equipment, Khaama Press reported.

The outlet claimed the Taliban had handed over the base, which president Donald Trump expressed interest in reclaiming during his presidential election campaign, to the US.

The claim was swiftly denied by the Taliban's chief spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid, who described it as propaganda. He said the Taliban had complete control of the air base.

An American takeover of the base was impossible, Mr Mujahid said, and there is no need for any countrys military presence in Afghanistan at present and the Islamic Emirate will not allow such an action.

Zia Ahmad Takal, a deputy spokesperson at Afghanistans foreign ministry, issued a denial as well. This news is not correct, he told The Independent.

The Pentagon is yet to comment on the reports, but a US defence source told The Independent that there is no US military presence in Afghanistan.

The Bagram air base, north of the capital Kabul, served as the command node for American and allied Nato forces for two decades as they waged a war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

The base, the size of a small city, was captured by the Taliban soon after Western troops vacated it, shutting off power and slipping away as they withdrew from the country, in the summer of 2021.

open image in gallery An aerial view of landscape outside Bagram airfield in Afghanistan ( Getty )

Bagram has two runways and over 100 parking spots for fighter jets known as revetments because of the blast walls which protect each aircraft. One of the runways, built in 2006, measures 12,000ft long.

It also boasts a passenger lounge, a 50-bed hospital and hangar-sized tents filled with supplies like furniture.

Mr Trump has repeatedly talked about taking back control of the Bagram base. He claimed last month that Washington planned to return to the base because it now allegedly hosted Chinese troops.

open image in gallery Bagram air base is situated north of Kabul ( AFP via Getty )

I am the one who got our military presence to under 5,000 but we were going to keep Bagram, not because of Afghanistan but because of China, because the air base is exactly one hour from where China makes its nuclear missiles, Mr Trump said. So, we were going to keep Bagram.

Bagram was one of the largest air bases in the world, complete with one of the biggest and most powerful runways, the US president added. And we gave it up. And you know who is occupying it at the moment? China. Because Biden gave it up. So, we are going to keep that.

At the time, Mr Mujahid dismissed Mr Trumps comments as emotional and said US officials should refrain from making "statements based on unsubstantiated information.
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Fighting continued across Myanmar despite ceasefire declarations by both the military junta and its opponents, days after a catastrophic earthquake killed more than 3,600 people.

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the country on 28 March, devastating six states and regions, damaging infrastructure, and cutting off entire communities from basic services.

More than 17 million people live in affected areas, with many lacking access to food, clean water, shelter, and medical care, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).

This comes as at least 61 attacks were reported in Myanmar since the quake. Of these, 16 were carried out since the military announced ceasefire took effect on 2 April, reported the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 4 April.

The National Unity Government (NUG)  a shadow administration formed in opposition to the junta  accused the military on Saturday of launching 63 airstrikes and artillery assaults since the earthquake, killing at least 68 civilians, including 15 women and a child.

open image in gallery A man cleans debris from damaged buildings in the aftermath of an earthquake in Myanmar ( AP )

Rescue operations are now giving way to relief and recovery efforts, with international search teams from India, Singapore and Malaysia having returned home.

The Myanmar Fire Services Department confirmed on Monday that 10 bodies were recovered from the debris of a collapsed building in Mandalay, the countrys second largest city. In capital Naypyitaw, locals were seen collecting wood from damaged homes amid rainfall, while soldiers cleared rubble from Buddhist monasteries.

Major General Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for Myanmars military government, said the confirmed death toll had reached 3,600, with over 5,000 injured and 160 still missing.

He reported that 653 people had been rescued with the help of 1,738 personnel from 20 countries. The earthquake has been officially designated as the Big Mandalay Earthquake for future reference.

The humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly. "Entire communities have been upended," Ocha said in a situation report, highlighting the collapse of water, sanitation, and healthcare systems.

It warned that those left homeless now face extreme temperatures and early rains, particularly in Mandalay, where up to 80 per cent of buildings are estimated to have collapsed.

Despite temporary ceasefires announced by both the military and its opponents to enable relief efforts, armed conflict has continued.

The civil war, triggered by the militarys 2021 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, has intensified in recent years. A broad coalition of armed groups, including the NUG, had declared a temporary halt to offensive actions to allow humanitarian access.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance, comprising ethnic minority groups including the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Arakan Army, also issued a unilateral truce on 1 April.

The military regime responded with its own ceasefire announcement on 2 April, promising to pause hostilities until 22 April. However, all parties maintained the right to defend themselves if attacked.

The Karen National Union, one of Myanmars oldest ethnic armies, condemned the militarys attacks during a national crisis, saying the junta was deploying forces to attack its people instead of focusing on relief.

Meanwhile, the army has blamed rebel forces for violating ceasefires. We are carrying out relief and assistance efforts for the people affected by the earthquake. I am saying this to make everyone aware of the ceasefire violations at a time like this, said Major General Zaw in a message to journalists.

"We will respond if military bases are attacked without reason.

open image in gallery People clean debris from damaged buildings on 7 April 2025 in Myanmar ( AP )

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has called for an immediate end to military operations and unrestricted humanitarian access.

In the days following the deadly earthquake the Myanmar military continued operations and attacks, including airstrikes, some of which were launched shortly after tremors subsided, said his spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, in Geneva on Friday.

Some of these attacks allegedly used adapted paragliders  operatives flying with motorised fans strapped to their backs to drop explosives on communities.

UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher arrived in Myanmar on Friday to assess the damage and support aid efforts. After meeting teams in Yangon, Mr Fletcher travelled to Mandalay, where he praised frontline responders who had continued their work despite suffering personal losses.

Speaking from Mandalay on Saturday, the UN humanitarian chief described the dire scene: [People] need food. They need water. They need the power back on. Theyre telling me they need shelter.

The crisis is deepening as aftershocks continue to rattle the region, including a 4.9 magnitude tremor recorded over the weekend. People are living with that trauma, Mr Fletcher said in a video message, according to BBC Burmese.

Even before the earthquake struck, nearly 20 million people in the region were already in need of assistance.

Its a compounding crisis, he said. Its earthquake, on top of conflict, on top of huge existing need.

The UN Security Council has urged the creation of safe conditions for the delivery of aid, stressing the need for rapid humanitarian assistance and welcoming the efforts of Asean, UN agencies and international partners in providing life-saving support.

Additional reporting by agencies
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A Filipino congressional candidate is facing backlash over misogynistic comments he allegedly made during a campaign trail, which could lead to his disqualification from the upcoming May elections.

The commission on elections (Comelec) in the Philippines has issued two show cause notices to Christian Sia, the candidate from Pasig city, over a set of sexist remarks allegedly made during recent campaign events.

The poll body's Task Force on Safeguarding Against Fear and Exclusion in Elections on Tuesday issued the new order asking Mr Sia to explain comments he made about his assistant's weight and physical appearance.

During a speech on 3 April, the lawyer-turned-politician allegedly "mentioned something about her physical situation", according to Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia. He said that the candidate's assistant has not filed a case so far but the poll body's anti-discrimination task force could still file a complaint.

The election body issued the first show cause notice against Mr Sia last week after he offered to sleep with single mothers, which he later claimed was a joke. "Any lonely, single mother who is still having her period, let me be clear, she should still be having her period, I will sleep with her for one night," he said during his election caucus.

open image in gallery Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos joins senatorial candidates on their campaign ( EPA )

His comment was widely criticised by womens rights groups, who said Mr Sia's remark reduced single parents' struggle to a crass joke. Mr Sia apologised on Friday and said his supporters should be angry at the person who uploaded the video for not showing the part where the audience allegedly laughed at his remark.

The candidate reportedly claimed that the remark, which he called a joke, was meant to add "shock" value to his speech. If I hurt your feelings, I apologise, he said.

Women's rights group Gabriela has written to the chief justice of the Philippines, Alexander Gesmundo, to urge the Supreme Court to disbar Mr Sia for his remarks.

The group said Mr Sia's apology was wanting of any ounce of sincerity and evidently was merely an afterthought to troubleshoot the public uproar and backlash that he created".

Mr Sias actions were "appalling and reprehensible", which reeked of "misogyny and sexism", the group said. "It is an attack against the dignity of every woman and a clear disrespect for the pain and struggle every single mother endures day to day.

With Sia, there will be no safe space for women  whether in or outside the courtroom," it added.

Elizabeth Angsioco, chair of the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines, told This Week in Asia that candidates who made such statements were more likely to file misogynistic bills or block pro-women measures.

Pasig councilor hopeful Shamcey Supsup-Lee on Tuesday announced her resignation from the mayoral candidate Sarah Discaya's team, which Mr Sia is part of.

As a woman and a mother, I do not tolerate statements  whether made in jest or in earnest  that diminish or disrespect women, she said in a statement. "I believe we all have moments to learn from, and I hope this becomes one of them, Ms Lee added.

The Comelec has also issued a show cause notice to another candidate, Misamis Oriental governor Peter Unabia, after he offered scholarships for "beautiful" female nursing students.

We cant have ugly nurses because if a recovering male patient sees them, their condition will worsen, he allegedly said last week at a campaign rally. Mr Unabia later extended an apology to nursing professionals for his remark.

The Independent has reached out to Mr Sia for a comment.
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Europe has recorded its hottest March since records began amid a streak of extraordinary global heat as the EU weighs up how far and fast to cut emissions by 2040.

New data released on Monday by the EUs Copernicus Climate Change Service (C35) shows last month was not only Europes warmest March on record, but also the second-warmest March globally, behind only March 2024.

On average, global temperatures in March were 1.6C higher than pre-industrial levels, continuing a troubling pattern of breaching 1.5C.

Twenty of the last 21 months have crossed the 1.5C threshold, which scientists warn increases the risks of extreme weather and irreversible climate damage.

Last year was the hottest year on record worldwide, and 2025 is on track to continue that trend.

The main driver of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, C3S said, reflecting the global scientific consensus. Without significant cuts to emissions, temperatures are expected to keep rising.

Samantha Burgess, strategic lead at the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts, which runs C3S, said March also brought weather extremes across Europe, with many areas experiencing their driest March on record and others their wettest March on record for at least the past 47 years.

This kind of contrast  floods in some places, drought in others  is becoming more common in a warming world. The climate crisis fuels both droughts and extreme rainfall. Hotter air dries out soil faster but also holds more moisture, making storms more intense when they hit.

Activists are calling for governments to stop approving new fossil fuel projects and make polluting companies pay for the damage.

Rebecca Newsom, global political adviser for Greenpeace Internationals Stop Drilling Start Paying campaign, said Europe risks ever harsher heatwaves and wildfires later in the year, and warned that contrasting rainfall extremes across the European region alone pose an immediate challenge to our food systems and to the economy as a whole.

Europes citizens must not be left alone to pay for the chaos that dirty energy companies are fuelling, she said.

In recent months we have seen oil and gas corporations increasing their plans to emit even more greenhouse gases, while ditching their already meek climate commitments, she added. Europes governments should stop looking for more oil and gas and prevent these corporations from doing so by banning all new fossil fuel projects.

She also called for new taxes on oil majors like Shell, TotalEnergies, Equinor, and ENI to help communities at home and around the world rebuild from climate disasters and invest in climate solutions.

In the Arctic, the extent of sea ice fell to its lowest March level in 47 years of satellite records following a string of record lows in the preceding months. This continues a worrying trend, as polar regions warm significantly faster than the global average.

A wildfire in California ( California Highway Patrol )

The alarming figures come as the EU faces political division over how fast to cut emissions in the coming decades. The European Commission is currently drafting a new 2040 climate target, with experts recommending a 90-95 per cent cut in net emissions from 1990 levels.

But some EU politicians, including senior German centre-right politician Peter Liese, have argued that the 90 per cent target is overambitious and risks damaging European industry.

We really think when the 90 per cent is implemented without any flexibility, then it will lead to de-industrialisation, Mr Liese said in an interview.

The new findings come just a few days after the World Meteorological Organisation confirmed that last year pushed past 1.5C for a full year for the first time, with impacts from heatwaves, floods and glacier melts threatening long-term ecological and economic stability.

Scientists and climate experts say the world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to well below 2C, or ideally 1.5C, unless immediate and deep emissions cuts are made.

Without action, projections show the world could reach 2.5C to 2.9C of warming by the end of the century.
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President Donald Trump has escalated his trade war with China, confirming a staggering 125 per cent tariff on goods imported to the US on Thursday.

This is on top of the existing 20 per cent levy for Chinas alleged role in fentanyl trade, the White House confirmed; bringing tariffs to 145 per cent.

Now, Beijing has responded by matching a new 125 per cent tariff on imported US goods.

The trade war will hit US consumers hard, with Chinese imports spread across major industries and supply chains - and Apples iPhone in the firing line.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said earlier that there were no winners in a tariff war in a meeting with the Spanish prime minister on Friday.

Earlier this week, President Trump postponed retaliatory tariffs for all countries except China, in what has become a tit-for-tat levies exchange between the two countries.

If the US insists on having its way, China will fight to the end, the Chinese commerce ministry has warned.

What Chinese goods will be affected?

Of all the countries hit with tariffs, Americans will likely feel the impact of Chinas most  and soon.

Meanwhile, as the worlds largest exporter, China sells products to nearly every country. This adds a layer of economic protection against Trumps tariffs, since the US makes up just 14 per cent of its goods exports.

The 145 per cent total tariff on imported Chinese goods is the highest of any country. And more importantly, American consumers are highly reliant these goods, through many parts of the supply chain.

Unsurprisingly, electronics and machinery are the top goods imported to the US from China, at $208bn in 2023 alone.

open image in gallery Almost all iPhones are still assembled in China, as Apple products risk price increases from 104% tariffs. ( Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

These products span all elements of Americans lives; from computers to domestic appliances, and electric batteries.

Smartphones are the biggest single export (9 per cent of the total) - and not just Chinese brands such as Huawei, but also American tech leaders including Samsung and Apple which manufacture in China.

On a wider scale, drugs and medicines will likely face price shocks as pharmaceutical companies import billions in ingredients from China each year.

This expense will ultimately fall to patients, warns Dr Michael Aziz, a board-certified internist and regenerative medicine specialist.

"The effect of tariffs on prices of these drugs will be mostly be absorbed by patients, retail pharmacies versus insurance companies, said Dr Aziz.

I believe that the rapid application of those tariffs leaves doctors and patients totally unprepared. Many will skip their meds if they cant afford those generic drugs."

open image in gallery Trump Tariffs Ending Exemption ( Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Textile imports worth $36bn will also impact regular consumers; particularly since more and more clothing brands import from China, such as Nike and H&M.

The US is also ending an exemption that allowed low-value products to avoid tariffs.

This means that cheap, American-favourite clothing and homeware brands such as Shein and Temu may face tariffs for the first time  and be forced to increase their prices.

The US-China trade relationship

Previously, retaliatory tariffs from China only covered specific industries such as fuel and agricultural products. Now, all US exports to China will be hit.

The US imports far more from China than it exports. In 2024, goods exported to China were worth $143.5bn, according to the US Trade Representative office.

Meanwhile, the US bought three times as many goods ($438.9bn) in the same period.

This makes the trade deficit $295bn in 2024 - a 5.8 per cent increase from the previous year; and a prime target for President Trump.

This means that the US will be less affected by retaliatory tariffs, Dr Xin Sun, a senior lecturer in Chinese and East Asian business at KCL, told The Independent.

"Given the imbalance in trade between China and US, the damage caused by China's retaliation to US is due to be smaller than the impact of US tariff on China, which is not only the highest among all countries but also affects a wider range of sectors.

In addition, the economic ties between China and the US have already been shrinking, and the US-China trade relationship accounts for less than five per cent of global goods trade.

"There's been a significant unwinding in the economic ties between these countries since the middle of part of the last decade, explains Simon Evenett, Professor of Geopolitics and Strategy at the International Institute for Management Development.

The disengagement has been well underway. What we're seeing now is the next chapter in the process of decoupling between these geopolitical rivals," he said.

Retaliatory tariffs on US industries

According to 2023 data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), around half of all goods exported to China are concentrated within five key categories.

The top goods exports are fuel products, including crude and petroleum oil, propane, and liquefied natural gas, which were worth $23.6bn in 2023 (the latest available data).

While the US is a big buyer of machinery and electronics from China, it is also reliant on China buying its own technology.

China bought $17bn in machinery and parts from the US in 2023, and $12bn in electronics.

The top products most affected by reciprocal tariffs, are integrated circuits and gas turbines.

While Mr Trump was quick to slap tariffs on foreign-made cars and parts, the US also exports $7.5bn in cars to China, which will now be impacted by its reciprocal 125 per cent tariffs.

Other areas of the transport manufacturing sector, namely aviation, have billions of dollars in goods at risk.

Dr Mary Lovely, Senior Fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics, said major American brands will suffer from the changes.

We had settled into a new routine, and now that status quo was just completely upended by the tariffs from both sides, she told The Independent.

I think long term, this actually reduces the prospects for companies like Boeing. This is going to impact companies like Apple and Caterpillar exports - companies which also export to [China].

The US pharmaceutical industry is also a major exporter to China, selling over $7.5bn in vaccines and packaged medicine in 2023, alongside $3.3bn in medical instruments.

US farmers set to suffer most

Most of all, Dr Lovely believes that the US agricultural sector will be worst hit by Chinas tariffs.

China is a top buyer of its vegetable products ($20bn)  not least US soy ($15bn), buying over half of all US exports.

Billions in American meat and animal products will also be affected, while Mr Trump attempts to force the UK to buy chlorinated chicken in exchange for tax relief.

open image in gallery Soybeans are one of the American products hardest hit by retaliatory tariffs ( Scott Olson/Getty Images )

These tariffs on farmers could have a significant impact on Trump's core political base, Dr Sun warned, pointing out that agriculture is a key export from the US to China.

Dr Sun said: "Since agriculture constitutes a lion share of US export to China, China's retaliation has a bigger impact on some of Trump's core political base. By targeting this population, China hopes to cause political pains for Trump and force him to back down somewhat.
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The Environmental Protection Agency said it would review new science on fluoride in drinking water in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services this week.

The agencys announcement comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is reportedly instructing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change its guidance on fluoridation - telling the agency to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide.

Last fall  then as a nominee  the former presidential candidate said that the Trump administration would advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water, citing potential health risks.

Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks and we are committed to working alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin explained.

Zeldin has faced intense criticism for rolling back dozens of regulations meant to combat pollution and climate change and protect Americans health.

Without prejudging any outcomes, when this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency's future steps to meet statutory obligations under the Safe Drinking Water Act, he said.

open image in gallery In coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would review new science on fluoride in drinking water. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is reportedly planning to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation ( AP )

But, a decision to remove fluoride from the nations drinking water would come with major consequences to public health, according to experts.

We will have a lot more people with dental disease than we have now, a lot more dental caries, or cavities, John Swartzberg, a professor at the University of California at Berkeleys School of Public Health, told The Washington Post. Itll impact everybody, but mostly those people who do not have access to dental care.

A request for comment was not immediately returned by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Fluoride is a mineral that is naturally present in sources of drinking water, like ground water. Fluoride has been added to drinking water to strengthen teeth, replacing minerals lost due to wear and tear. Hundreds of millions of Americans currently receive fluoridated water through community water systems. The American Dental Association says studies prove fluoridation reduces dental decay by at least 25 percent in children and adults.

Dentists say that the benefits of fluoridation outweigh any potential risks. The EPA cited a National Toxicology Program that previously determined with moderate confidence that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in children. Other studies have found no link between fluoride and IQ  although some Americans are exposed to higher than recommended levels because of natural fluoride contamination.

There is still no evidence that community water fluoridation, with the fluoride levels used in the United States, is associated with any adverse health effects, Dr. Scott Tomar, a public health dentist and oral epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry, told The New York Times.

open image in gallery Kennedy, Jr., said he was very proud of Utah for becoming the first state to ban fluoride in its drinking water. Utah dentists said the benefits of fluoride are proven ( AP )

The governments actions come after Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in its drinking water.

Im very proud of Utah, Kennedy told reporters in the western state on Monday, it has emerged as the leader in making America healthy again.

Its concerning that we have a secretary of health and human services come out and be against a program that for 80 years is very effective and the most cost-effective way of preventing cavities that the world has ever seen, Darren Chamberlain, a pediatric dentist in South Utah County, told ABC 4.

We welcome public discourse on health policy, said Dr. Rodney Thornell, President of the Utah Dental Association. But its important that these discussions are rooted in sound science and public health evidence. Fluoridation is one of the most studied and beneficial public health interventions of the last century.
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Police arrested an American tourist who admitted to openly carrying a knife on a British beachfront.

The man had reportedly been sunbathing in Herne Bay on Thursday when locals reported to Kent Police that he was carrying a knife.

The American reportedly told officers he came from an open-carry state in the US, claiming he had the blade for protection and was unaware he could not carry it in public in the UK.

After being arrested on suspicion of possessing a knife, he was handed a community resolution where British law around knife crime was fully explained to him, police said.

It is believed the tourist had picked up the steak knife from the kitchen of his rental property ( PA )

It was quite strange, a resident told KentOnline. I was just walking the dog along the seafront and saw a man relaxing on the grass verge listening to UB40 on his phone.

I carried on walking and when I turned around, I noticed a police car at the bottom of Swalecliffe Avenue and two police officers talking to him.

But then another two officers arrived.

It is believed the tourist had picked up the steak knife from the kitchen of his rental property close to the coastline on Thursday April 3.

A police spokesman told The Independent: Kent Police was called to a report that a man had been seen with a knife in the Hampton area of Herne Bay at 10.30am on Thursday.

Officers attended and a man, who is a US citizen and was on holiday in the area, was arrested on suspicion of possession of a knife.

In interview, the man made a full admission to possessing the knife in public and explained he had not understood UK law around possession of knives.

The knife was seized and, following consideration of the circumstances, the matter was dealt with by a community resolution, during which the law was fully explained to him.

The maximum penalty for an adult carrying a knife or weapon illegally is either four years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. British law states offenders will get a prison sentence if they are convicted of carrying a knife or weapon illegally more than once.

The only exceptions are folding pocketknives that have a cutting edge no longer than 3 inches and are not lock knives.

Good reasons for carrying a knife or weapon in public include if its for work, for religious reasons, such as the kirpan some Sikhs carry, and as part of any national costume.
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A 16-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed in a West Yorkshire town was a Syrian refugee who came to the UK after being injured in a bombing, police have said.

Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahims family said he had fled war-torn Homs to live with his uncle and dreamed of becoming a doctor, wanting to heal others after all he had endured.

The teenager died in hospital after being stabbed in the neck during an incident in Huddersfield on Thursday afternoon.

Ahmads family paid tribute to their kind, gentle boy on the day the man accused of murdering him made his first appearance at a crown court.

They said: Our beloved Ahmad was taken from us on April 3 2025, he was only 16.

Ahmad fled war-torn Homs, Syria, after being injured in a bombing. He chose to come to the UK because he believed in the values of human rights, safety, and dignity.

He was full of hope and dreamed of becoming a doctor  wanting to heal others after all he had endured.

He had just begun settling into his new life with his uncle, adjusting to a new language, a new home, and a future he was excited to build.

Ahmad was kind, gentle, and carried so much promise. Losing him has left an unimaginable emptiness in our hearts. We never thought that the place he saw as a safe haven would be where his life would end.

Our only wish now is to lay him to rest in his homeland, Syria. Thank you for helping us honour his memory.

Ahmad had only recently moved to Huddersfield from the South Wales area, the West Yorkshire force said.

open image in gallery Ahmad was stabbed on Ramsden Street in Huddersfield town centre ( Chris Allen/Geograph )

On Tuesday, Alfie Franco, 20, appeared at Leeds Crown Court charged with murdering Ahmad and possessing a knife in a public place.

The court heard there appeared to have been a verbal altercation between Ahmad and Franco but they were not known to each other and there was no history of animosity.

Outlining the circumstances, prosecutor Bashir Ahmed said shortly before 3pm Ahmad was in Huddersfield town centre with a friend and walked past Franco, who was with his girlfriend at the time.

He told the court: There appears to be some sort of verbal altercation between Ahmad and the defendant that then causes (Ahmad) to come towards the defendant.

It is alleged the defendant then produced a knife from his waistband and inflicted one stab wound on Ahmad, the court heard.

Appearing via video-link from prison, Franco spoke only to confirm his name and was not asked to enter a plea to the charges.

Franco, who the court heard has strong links to South Africa, was remanded in custody until his next appearance at the same court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on May 7.

Judge Robin Mairs set a date of October 2 for the trial, which is expected to take five days.

Police said a 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender have been released on bail.
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Nationwide is sending a 50 bonus payment as a thank you to its millions of members.

The Big Nationwide Thank You comes after the banking giant purchased Virgin Money UK in October, boosting its accounts by 2.3bn.

Nationwide has now confirmed that 12 million qualifying customers will receive their 50 by 30 April 2025. This will amount to over 600 million handed out in total.

The payments will go to members who had a savings or current account, or mortgage, at the end of last September. They must also have a payment into or from their current account or savings, or had a balance of at least 100, the company said.

open image in gallery Nationwide is now the countrys second largest provider of mortgages and savings accounts ( Getty Images )

The building society said in November that Virgin Money, which it bought the previous month, was worth more than the 2.8 billion takeover price.

At the time of the deal, chief executive Debbie Crosbie said the benefits would go towards improvements for customers.

The buyout was the biggest banking deal since the financial crisis. Following the deal, Nationwide is the countrys second largest provider of mortgages and savings accounts.

When it bought the lender, Nationwide also paused Virgin Moneys plans to close some of its branches, as part of a promise not to leave any town or city where there is currently a branch until at least 2028.

open image in gallery Sir Keir Starmer meets Nationwide CEO Debbie Crosbie during visit to the building societys head office ( via REUTERS )

Debbie Crosbie, Nationwide chief executive, said: Nationwide became even stronger when it bought Virgin Money and we are already improving services for its customers.

The Big Nationwide Thank You recognises the role our members played in building the financial strength that made the deal possible.

Nationwide is the worlds largest building society, and is connected to one in three households in the UK, manages one in ten current accounts, and has more than 25,000 employees and over 700 branches.

This new payment is the latest in a series of moves from Nationwide to return value to its members, following a 100 payment to almost 4 million eligible members in 2023 and 2024.

Since April 2023, it has returned over 3.5bn in member value including 729m through its Nationwide Fairer Share Payment.

The Thank You payment is separate to the Fairer Share payments scheme, which periodically returns some of its profits to members. Ms Crosbie confirmed she intends to reintroduce the payment later this year, subject to financial performance. In preparation, savers are advised to maximise their chances will just few easy steps.
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A pier in west London has been renamed St Marys Wandsworth after anti-racism campaigners criticised its previous name, Plantation Wharf Pier, for its links to slavery.

Located between the Wandsworth Riverside Quarter and Chelsea Harbour piers on the River Thames, the site was acquired by Uber Boat by Thames Clippers in 2019, who have been in consultation with stakeholders and residents regarding the name.

Following outcry in 2021, the name had been under review due to its links with colonialism, with Labour MP Marsha de Cordova previously calling on the nearby housing development Plantation Wharf to change its name.

In a statement, the company said: From April 7, Plantation Wharf Pier will be known as St Marys Wandsworth following productive talks with house/boat residents, with the piers signage being updated to reflect the change.

open image in gallery Labour MP Marsha de Cordova has previously called for the pier and the housing development to change its name (Aaron Chown/PA) ( PA Archive )

The updated pier name will appear in our new Uber Boat by Thames Clippers timetable and route map, which comes into effect on the same day as the official name change.

While the housing estate is interested in following suit, its chair of the board of directors, Vanessa Brady, said the route was more complicated.

For the estate, this is not an unwillingness to negotiate but as a private estate it means any changes must be funded by the residents, she said. It is not a simple process, but we will continue to consult with residents to see if they agree to pay for the costs incurred in changing the name and indeed if they want to change their name.

We can only consult and then act on the wishes of the leaseholders. Another idea would be to receive a fund from the mayors office to pay for it.

Plantation Wharf was first developed in the 1980s, is subdivided into rows labelled with food and fabrics, with Ms de Cordova previously saying the use of names like Cotton Row were offensive.
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Prince Harrys life is at stake in the clash over his UK security arrangements, his lawyer has warned the Court of Appeal on the final day of the dukes legal challenge.

The Duke of Sussex is challenging the dismissal of his High Court claim against the Home Office over the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of protection when in the UK.

In her closing submissions, Shaheed Fatima KC, for the duke, told the court: One must not forget the human dimension to this case. There is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security, and whose life is at stake.

There is a person sitting behind me who is being told he is getting a special bespoke process when he knows and has experienced a process that is manifestly inferior in every respect.

In what his barrister said was an illustration of how important the case is to him and his family, the 40-year-old duke, who lives in the US, attended the Royal Courts of Justice in central London for the two-day hearing.

open image in gallery The Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, central London, on Wednesday ( Jordan Pettitt/PA )

After arriving at around 10.10am, ahead of the second day on Wednesday, Harry, wearing a dark blue suit, could be seen taking notes and quietly talking with members of his legal team during parts of the hearing.

When the proceedings were paused early in the afternoon, the duke was being escorted out of court by his security detail when a member of the public shouted her support for him in a dramatic outburst, adding: If youre members of the press, youre the reason hes no longer in England.

Describing how decisions over Harrys security were made in a unique set of circumstances, a lawyer for the Home Office told the court in the morning: There is nothing about the appellants announcement in January 2020 that he was to step back from his role in the royal family and spend most of his time abroad that was usual.

In his oral submissions, Sir James Eadie KC added: It was a category of its own.

The appeal comes after retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane ruled last year that Ravecs decision, taken in early 2020 after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit as senior working royals, was lawful.

Ravec has delegated responsibility from the Home Office over the provision of protective security arrangements for members of the royal family and others, with involvement from the Metropolitan Police, the Cabinet Office and the royal household.

open image in gallery Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals in January 2020 ( Getty )

Ms Fatima previously said that Ravec came up with a different and so-called bespoke process for Harry.

She continued: The appellant does not accept that bespoke means better. In fact, in his submission, it means that he has been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment.

Ms Fatima told judges that the bespoke process involved Ravec considering why Harry would attend a particular event even though that is plainly irrelevant to the question of security.

The Home Office is defending the appeal, previously telling the court the challenge involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees, advancing propositions available only by reading small parts of the evidence, and now the judgment, out of context and ignoring the totality of the picture.

Parts of Wednesdays hearing before Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean, and Lord Justice Edis were heard in private, without members of the press or public, though the duke was allowed to remain.

During the public part of the hearing, Sir James said that the committee does not proceed by way of comparison between people under its remit.

He said: That is for the obvious reason that it is highly unlikely that two cases will ever in truth be the same, when judged against the broad guiding principles that apply.

open image in gallery Prince Harry waves as he leaves the High Court in central London on Tuesday ( AFP via Getty )

In Tuesdays hearing, Ms Fatima told the court that the failure to do a risk management board assessment for Harry meant that Ravec did not have the expert analysis that it needed to determine whether the duke should be treated like people in an other VIP category.

She continued: Ravec did not make a reasonable decision because the appellants position is analogous to those in that other VIP category.

Had the judge properly evaluated the evidence, he would have come to that conclusion.

Ms Fatima also said: The appellants case is not that he should automatically be entitled to the same protection as he was previously given when he was a working member of the royal family.

The appellants case is that he should be considered under the terms of reference and subject to the same process as any other individual being considered for protective security by Ravec, unless there is a cogent reason to the contrary.

At the end of the hearing, Sir Geoffrey said the Court of Appeals decision would be given in writing at a later date, which was most unlikely to be before Easter, adding: Plainly we will take our time to consider our judgments.
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Prince Harry is set to challenge the UK government's decision to remove his security detail in an appeals court.

The Duke of Sussex lost his government-funded protection in February 2020, after stepping down as a working member of the royal family and moving to the United States.

His lawyer is scheduled to challenge a lower court ruling on Tuesday at the Court of Appeal in London.

Last year, a High Court judge ruled that the government's decision to provide "bespoke" security for Harry on an as-needed basis was lawful and justified.

Harry had claimed he and his family are endangered when visiting his homeland because of hostility aimed at him and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on social media and through relentless hounding by news media.

Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, has bucked royal family convention by taking the government and tabloid press to court, where he has a mixed record.

open image in gallery Britain's Prince Harry speaks during a high level event sponsored by Lesotho at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. ( AP )

He lost a related court case in which he sought permission to privately pay for a police detail when in the U.K. but a judge denied that offer after a government lawyer argued officers shouldnt be used as private bodyguards for the wealthy.

He also dropped a libel case against the publisher of the Daily Mail for an article that said he had tried to hide his efforts to continue receiving government-funded security.

But he won a significant victory at trial in 2023 against the publisher of the Daily Mirror when a judge found that phone hacking at the tabloid was widespread and habitual. He claimed a monumental victory in January when Rupert Murdochs U.K. tabloids made an unprecedented apology for intruding in his life for years, and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.

He has a similar case pending against the publisher of the Mail.
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Sir Alex Youngers warning that Britain is no longer prepared for war has sparked intense debate about the future of defence and national service in the UK.

The former MI6 chief told Independent TV that the UK has largely dismantled its military and industrial base, and must urgently rebuild both its capabilities and culture of national resilience in the face of rising global threats from Russia and beyond.

When we asked for your views, many agreed that the British military has been left hollowed out by decades of underinvestment, with some recalling how training areas and barracks were gradually closed, leaving the Army overstretched and under-resourced.

Concerns were raised about the current state of recruitment and a reliance on privatised systems that dont work.

Others argued that if national service is to return, it should be voluntary and offer real benefits, including education, citizenship, or healthcare incentives, while some suggested expanding it beyond the military into civic roles.

But scepticism remained, particularly over trust in political leadership and whether todays Britain  more diverse, more individualistic  could or should recreate the spirit of past conscription.

Heres what you had to say:

Not taking the military seriously enough

I'm almost 80 and I haven't worn the Queen's (or King's) uniform since I went to ATP, but even then it was clear that the UK was simply not taking its military seriously enough.

Once upon a time, there were lots of camps and barracks around the country with training areas. Over my time in service, they were closed, and it was getting harder and harder to get accommodation or training areas.

As a military historian, I know that in WW1 the troops were under canvas because there was no accommodation, and that private estates had to be taken over for training areas. I doubt if there is any thought of being able to do that today.

Equipment, thanks to BAE, does not come on stream, and the profession of soldiering requires highly skilled technocrats. With the army at about 70,000, we don't have the NCOs to do the training which is necessary.

Most units are under-recruited by 25 per cent or more, and recruitment has been privatised and doesn't work. This all needs sorting before you can even think of National Service.

Edward Andrews

Should be voluntary and provide benefits

National Service wouldn't affect me, so it is not my place to say. This question needs to be asked of younger people. There are clear benefits to service in both building character and life experiences.

However, I think it should be voluntary and provide benefits. Maybe offer real vocational qualifications, or perhaps incentivise via tuition fee exemption for National Service.

SmallBig

No motivation to join

My father served as an RAF National Serviceman before enlisting as a regular, and, after being educated at Service Children's Schools overseas, I joined the British Army as a private soldier, retiring as an officer after 35 years.

Many civilians are unaware that, on completion of full-time military service, ex-UK military personnel are transferred to the Regular Reserve. They are liable for recall for compulsory refresher training and/or mobilisation. Many of these Regular Reserve have little or no interest, unlike the civilian voluntary reservists who are generally committed, motivated and reliable, with some undertaking Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS) alongside regulars.

The post-WW2 and National Service generation do not appear to have any particular motivation to join the military. As such, I suggest that, at least initially, any National Service could be voluntary, encompassing the Armed Forces, emergency and medical services, but encouraged by recruitment benefits for motivation, e.g. education, voting rights, citizenship (for immigrants), and perhaps entitlement to state benefits.

A proposed entry age could be between 1821 years up to 30 years old. On satisfactory completion of, for example, 23 years of service, the conscript could then be granted voting rights, tertiary education paid for by HMG (the taxpayer), up to certain limits (based on National Service pay deductions), and even entitlement to State Benefits.

Passports for immigrants could be adjusted to British Resident until completion of National Service and a National Identity Card (NID) could show satisfactory completion of NS, conferring citizenship with voting rights (and/or entitlement to benefits). Retired

A necessary evil

Nobody likes the idea of forcing anyone to go to war, but sometimes it's a necessary evil. If we hadn't had conscription, we would never have been able to beat Hitler.

The armed forces are desperately short of manpower, so this may be the only answer  and before anyone asks if I've served, I volunteered for the Royal Naval Reserve but was rejected on medical grounds, so I joined the Special Constabulary instead and served for 17 years.

BikingBoomer

Conscription should include social service

I think some form of conscription should be introduced, not necessarily military service, but social. Conscripts could be drafted into the police force, ambulance service, repair schools and hospitals, fix potholes and so forth. Make them part of our society and our community. Perhaps this would break down barriers and make for a more caring, understanding nation.

CharlieParker101

Not everyone needs boot camp

I'd absolutely serve but 1, I'm too old, and 2, I'm epileptic, so they didn't want me when I was younger.

My 16-year-old would serve if they didn't have arthritis.

If there's a way we can help, we will. I'm a nurse, I'm not useless. Not everyone should have to go through boot camp to put plasters on and fly drones.

NurseyMummy

A complete waste of life and time

MI6 and MI5  all upper-class ex-military, always wanting a controlled police state. In the late 1990s, quite a lot of these gentlemen were working, spying for Russia, according to Peter Wright's novel Spycatcher. So where to now?

After spending two years in Libya fighting for "Queen and Country", I have a knowledge of National Service life  really guarding the oil wells for the big American and British oil companies. A good way of employing the unemployed, but a complete waste of life and time for us with a future, destroying many married lives and future prospects, for many of us left out in the desert for the duration of their service.

HARRYFLANNIGAN

I just wont choose a life of violence

Aye go on then, but solely on the condition that you are making me do it. My conscientious objection stops at that point. I just won't choose a life of violence, but if you're cornering me with a knife, then yes.

The standing army, the professional soldier, those who choose a life of violence, are the greatest threat to anything good in the world. Conscripts, on the other hand, can be good-natured people forced into it by the circumstances.

TheRedSquirrel

Technology is not a magic bullet

The problem of staffing within our armed forces has been created by previous governments promoting a narrative that the UK doesn't need a large number of troops and that technology is the "magic bullet".

Unfortunately, high-tech drones and missiles cannot hold onto ground once won. This requires ground forces in strength, and has been shown to be true in Ukraine, where the sheer force of Russian numbers has achieved success despite clumsy tactics.

Marcus

Everyone should serve  even the royals

Yes, as long as we ensured there were no "bone spurs" and every person served regardless of their standing in society, including William and Kate's children. As long as we didn't have warmongers like Blair in power, sending our soldiers to wars that were created and started by the US or other "allies". A defensive force, not one sent to fight other people's wars.

punda

Waste of time

Conscription is a bad idea. I served as a soldier with the British Army aged 15 to 34.

National Service was in full force. National Servicemen were resentful and a waste of time. The ruling classes see us as mere cannon fodder.

Kimbo

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The UKs medicine supply could be disrupted by sweeping tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, the health secretary has warned, saying cabinet ministers are doing their best to mitigate the impacts of an extremely volatile and turbulent situation.

It comes after the US president said he is not looking to pause the tariffs which have plunged global markets into turmoil.

Wes Streeting said there are a number of factors at play when it comes to the UKs supply of medicines, including manufacturing and distribution challenges, but warned that tariffs pose another layer of challenge.

open image in gallery Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the situation is extremely volatile and turbulent ( PA Wire )

Until this trade war erupted, wed already had issues with medicines production and supply internationally, he warned.

In March, official figures revealed that UK drug shortages had risen to their worst level for four years, with Brexit considered a key reason so many medications are scarce.

Medicine companies notified the Department of Health and Social Care about supply disruptions 1,938 times in 2024  the highest number since 2021 when they were notified 1,967 times.

A report from the Nuffield Trust said the UK is facing a worsening situation compared with the rest of Europe as result of supply chain issues caused by Brexit.

Speaking to Sky News, the health secretary said: We watch this situation extremely closely. We work on a daily basis to make sure that we have the medicine supply this country needs.

Where we do see disruptions to supply, we also take steps at the dispensing end to show the flexibility needed to make sure people can access the prescriptions they need.

But whether it's medicines, whether it's parts for manufacturing, whether it's global trade, more generally, this is an extremely volatile and turbulent backdrop for the country, and that's why the prime minister, the trade secretary, the entire cabinet are focused on this and making sure that we're taking the steps needed here at home to protect British industries and Britain's public services.

The trade taxes Mr Trump imposed on goods from most countries resulted in the value of US stocks dropping sharply when markets opened on Monday, following falls in London and across Europe and Asia earlier.

The UK government is currently attempting to negotiate a deal which would exempt British industry from the sweeping tariffs, with Downing Street saying the talks are at an advanced stage.

But asked by reporters in the White House if he was open to pausing tariffs to allow for negotiations, the US leader said: Were not looking at that.

Mr Trump also suggested that the levies could be both a negotiating tool to extract concessions out of other countries, as well as a means to raise cash for US coffers.

open image in gallery Donald Trump said the US is not looking at pausing the tariffs

They can both be true, they can be permanent tariffs, and they can also be negotiations, because there are things that we need beyond tariffs, Mr Trump said in the Oval Office.

The prime minister earlier said the UK had to rise together as a nation in the face of a new era of global instability, as the tariffs began to take effect on the markets.

Speaking at a Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plant in the West Midlands, Sir Keir said: These are challenging times, but we have chosen to come here because we are going to back you to the hilt.

He said the visit was a statement of intent, showing the governments support for an industry which has been hit with a 25 per cent tariff by Mr Trump.
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Hundreds of mourners assembled in the West Bank village of Turmus Ayya on Monday for the funeral of Amer Rabee, a 14-year-old U.S. citizen who Israeli forces fatally shot the previous day.

Rabee, a former resident of Saddle Brook, New Jersey, was shot numerous times while out picking green almonds with two friends, according to his family.

Rabees father, Mohammed, accused the Trump administration of turning a blind eye to the killing, even as the president met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

"It was a field execution," he told CBS News.

"We have to  send a message for President Trump to at least stop this situation," he added. "Stop sending weapons to kill."

The Israeli government said in a statement it shot three terrorists who were throwing rocks at a highway, putting civilians at risk.

open image in gallery Mourners carry Amer Mohammed Rabee, a 14 year-old Palestinian-American shot by Israeli forces, during his funeral in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya ( AP )

The Israeli military released a video of the incident. The grainy black-and-white footage shows three individuals, one of whom appears to throw something, though its not possible to identify the figures in the footage.

Another American citizen, Ayoub Jabara, 15, was wounded in the shooting and rushed to a hospital in Ramallah, Turmus Ayya mayor Lafi Shalabi told The Washington Post.

This is an atrocity, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey wrote in a statement on X. How can the Israeli military possibly justify shooting and killing an American teenager in cold blood? The U.S. must step in and stop this madness.

The State Department has declined to comment on the shooting at this time, citing family privacy, it told CNN.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment. It does not appear Trump and Netanyahu publicly discussed the shooting of the Palestinian-American boy.

The killing follows the deaths of other Americans in the midst of the conflict, including Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, who was killed last January, and Mohammad Ahmad Alkhdour, who was killed the following month. Israeli police have said that an Israeli soldier and a settler were involved in a firearm discharge near where Jabbar died. An eyewitness claimed someone shot Alkhdour from a military road, but officials of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said no soldiers were present.

open image in gallery A woman weeps at the funeral of Amer Mohammed Rabee ( AP )

Last September, Israeli forces shot and killed Aysenur Eygi, a Turkish-American activist who was in the West Bank to protest Israels ongoing military presence and the continued expansion of Jewish settlements, which many observers argue are illegal under international law.

The IDF said at the time of Eygis death that an initial investigation showed it was very likely she was shot in the head unintentionally during a violent riot. The Washington Post subsequently reported she was shot more than 30 minutes after a large protest had occurred and activists moved more than 200 yards away from Israeli forces.

As The Independent has reported, some Palestinian-Americans have felt abandoned by the U.S. in the midst of the Israel-Hamas conflict, including U.S. citizens who were stranded in southern Gaza as Israels U.S.-supplied military destroyed large parts of the city of Rafah.

Amid attempts to reach a durable ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the IDF has pursued an offensive in the occupied West Bank, including sending in tanks for the first time in decades.

The fighting has displaced thousands of Palestinians.

Trump announced on Monday that the U.S. is looking at another ceasefire after Israel broke a previous agreement by striking Hamas.

Trump has taken action to deport student and faculty activists expressing support for Palestine or participating in pro-Gaza protests at American universities.
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A foster mom in Missouri has been taken into custody, as authorities investigate whether she gave up one of her children in exchange for a monkey.

Brenda Deutsch, of Winfield, Missouri, fostered more than 200 children over the years as well as reportedly being a collector of exotic animals.

Deutsch now faces three felony counts of neglect, child abuse and child endangering, according to Lincoln County prosecutor Mike Wood. The charges stem from allegations of a missing child that was later located in Texas.

"A witness who had come forward with some information regarding the systemic abuse that was going on in the home, had said that they had been asked to bring the child down to Texas and bring the monkey back in return," he said, according to KSDK.

"Obviously we have to do more investigation to see if that's actually credible or if that's true."

According to KSDK, a probable cause statement said Deutsch arranged for the girl to go to Texas to stay with her friend, where the child was allegedly left alone in a house with exotic animals and dirty conditions.

open image in gallery Foster mom Brenda Deutsch faces three felony counts of neglect, child abuse and child endangering, according to Missouri officials. Authorities are investigating whether she gave up one of her children in exchange for a monkey ( Lincoln County Sheriff's Office )

Wood said the allegations against Deutsch were "particularly heinous and just disturbing to read."

"Two things that really stood out was the number of children that had been fostered through that home and then the allegations that these types of abuse and emotional neglect had been going on for what seemed to be perhaps a decade," he said.

According to the probable cause statement reported by KSDK, police launched an investigation on November 21 following an anonymous tip given to the Missouri Department of Social Services Childrens Division, that reported the alleged mental and physical abuse of the child.

The victim told police that Deutsch had hit her with a paddle, shoes and an open hand. The child added that one time the mom forced another person to hold her down. She added that Deutsch would steal her clothes and give them away as a form of punishment.

Deustch was taken into custody over the weekend and her bond was set at $250,000 cash. She is due to appear in court this week.

In an online statement, Wood said: Id like to thank the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office and Detective Bureau for working with my office to expedite initial charges in the middle of what will end up being a lengthy investigation that must cover over a decades worth of allegations of abuse.

Thank you again for working swiftly to ensure the safety of any other potential child victims.

Numerous victims and witnesses have already contacted my office and I would encourage anyone else with information to continue reaching out to my office, as well as investigators. We will continue to post more information as it comes available.
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A Georgia family whose two-year-old daughter suffered a fatal allergic reaction to ant bites is suing a local hospital after claiming her death was preventable.

Toddler Maya Getahun was playing in her front yard on October 7 last year when she was bitten by fire ants and began showing signs of an allergic reaction, according to the lawsuit filed last week.

Her parents, Bethelhem Getu Hundie and Getahun Birhanu, immediately took her to Piedmont Eastside Medical Center in Snellville, Georgia. By the time she arrived, Maya had a rash while experiencing wheezing and labored breathing.

The lawsuit alleges healthcare staff then waited more than 20 minutes to give Maya epinephrine, the medication in an Epi-Pen used to treat allergic reactions.

open image in gallery Maya Getahun began showing signs of an allergic reaction after she was bitten by fire ants in her front yard ( Bethelhem Getu Hundie/Getahun Birhanu )

Hospital staff then decided to intubate Maya when her blood oxygen saturation levels were at 97 percent, the lawsuit alleges.

Dr. Richisa Salazar, who is named as a defendant, then administered drugs that paralyzed Maya to prepare her for the intubation. After administering the drugs, however, Salazar realized the hospital didnt have the proper child-sized equipment to perform the intubation, the lawsuit alleges.

Maya died soon afterward. Now, her parents and their attorneys say her death was 100% preventable.

If only the hospital staff had promptly administered epinephrine, Maya would still be alive, Lloyd Bell, an attorney representing Mayas family, said in a statement. If only the hospital had the proper equipment to intubate a child, Maya would still be alive.

The failures at Piedmont Eastside, from delayed treatment to inadequate resources, were not only negligent but inexcusable, he added.

open image in gallery The Piedmont Eastside Medical Center in Snellville, Georgia. Maya's parents allege staff took 20 minutes to give her epinephrine, then didn't have the proper equipment to intubate her ( Google Maps )

Bell says Salazar has been named in two other medical malpractice cases prosecuted by his firm alone.

Mayas family is now seeking a jury trial and damages related to their pain and suffering and the cost of her funeral.

This case is about accountability, Bell said. No family should ever experience the heartbreak of losing a child due to a hospitals lack of preparation, especially for something as foreseeable as an allergic reaction. Our goal is to obtain full justice for Maya and help ensure that what happened to Maya never happens to another child.

The Independent has contacted Piedmont Eastside Medical Center and Salazar for comment.
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An American academic has been arrested in Thailand and charged with insulting the monarchy under the countrys strict treason laws.

Paul Chambers, a prominent lecturer at Thailand's Naresuan University, turned himself in to police in the northern province of Phitsanulok on Tuesday, after a warrant for his arrest was issued last week.

The warrant followed a complaint filed by the army, which accused Chambers of violating Section 112 of Thailands penal code, in a written introduction to an article in October 2024.

That law states that anyone found guilty of defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir apparent or regent shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years.

According to Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, advocacy lead for the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre and part of Chambers legal team, Chambers has been accused of publishing a blurb on Singapores Institute of Southeast Asian Studies website in connection with an webinar in October 2024 about military changes.

open image in gallery Paul Chambers, an American academic, has been arrested in Thailand and charged with insulting the monarchy under the countrys strict treason laws ( Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre )

He denied all charges. He neither wrote nor published the blurb on the website, the advocate said.

Alongside lese majeste, the crime of insulting a monarch or other ruler, Chambers is also facing charges under Thailands Computer Crimes Act.

On Tuesday, the center said that Chambers had been denied bail twice, forcing him to be put behind bars immediately, but that his lawyers were appealing.

Chambers holds a PhD in political science from Northern Illinois University, and is well-known in academic circles as a commentator on civil-military relations and democracy in Asia, with a special focus on Thailand. He has lived in Thailand since 1993.

Many of his articles appear on the centers website.

open image in gallery Student-led, anti-government protests in 2020 called for the abolition of the law  known as Section 112  but resulted in 279 people being charged with lese-majeste in the years since ( EPA )

Thai royalists consider the monarchy sacrosanct, and public discussion of the law has for decades been a taboo issue, with dozens of people jailed for perceived insults of the crown.

Student-led, anti-government protests in 2020 called for the abolition of the law, but resulted in 279 people being charged with lese-majeste in the years since. Foreigners are rarely prosecuted, however.

According to Reuters, the U.S. State Department said it was aware and concerned about the arrest of an American citizen.

"We regularly urge Thai authorities, both privately and publicly, to protect freedom of expression in accordance with Thailand's international obligations," a spokesperson said.

Reuters contributed to this report.
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A 74-year-old Michigan woman who was reported missing has been found alive after surviving freezing temperatures and three days in the woods.

Nancy Bloomquist was visiting the Little River Casino  about 95 miles north of her home in Norton Shores  on Thursday, police said. She was reportedly driving home in a 2024 GMC Terrain when she lost her way on a private road. Bloomquist was traveling in the nighttime hours, through the dark and a rainstorm and near-freezing temperatures.

"Surveillance footage shows her leaving the casino at approximately 5:30 p.m. [local time] and driving southbound on US-31. She has not been seen or heard from since," police said.

During her trip, Bloomquist accidentally turned down a long driveway to a seasonal home. Realizing her mistake, she tried to turn her vehicle around on the narrow road, but eventually became stuck.

At some point during the ordeal, flames erupted from Bloomquist's SUV, forcing her to flee the vehicle. Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole told local broadcaster WZZM that the vehicle may have caught fire because the engine was overworked while trying to gain traction on roads that he called "life-threatening."

Bloomquist tried to return to her SUV to retrieve her phone and call for help, but she became lost. Near-freezing rain pelted her, and the cold sapped her strength, forcing her to seek shelter next to a tree, according to the sheriff's office.

Nancy Bloomquist, 74, was found alive after she was forced to endure three days of debilitating cold in the Michigan woods. Bloomquist's SUV caught fire while she was driving to her home in Norton Shores, forcing her to seek shelter in the woods until police eventually located her. ( Norton Shores Police Department )

The woman reportedly sheltered at the tree for three days.

On April 6, police in Norton Shores asked for the public's help finding Bloomquist.

The following afternoon, officers received a report that a vehicle had broken down on the side of the road in Grant Township. Police launched a search operation after noting that the burned-out vehicle's description matched that of Bloomquist's SUV.

Rescuers at the site used a drone to help search the surrounding wooded areas and located Bloomquist huddled among the trees about 150 yards from her SUV. From the time police received the burning car report to the time they located Bloomquist was less than six hours.

"She's incredibly, incredibly lucky she's still alive ... I don't know her, but she's a tough gal," Cole told the broadcaster.

Bloomquist was conscious when deputies and rescuers found her and was able to speak to law enforcement. She was transported to a hospital where she received treatment for exposure, according to WZZM.
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Microsoft is accused of firing two software engineers who protested against the use of company AI to help the Israeli military bomb targets in Gaza.

Ibtihal Aboussad, a Harvard graduate and software engineer in the companys AI division, was one of those who disrupted the 50th anniversary event on Friday.

Fifty-thousand people have died, Aboussad was heard on video while standing in front of the stage to directly call out Microsofts AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. Shame on you, you are a war profiteer, Aboussad continued. Stop using AI for genocide Mustafa. Stop using AI for genocide in our region.

You have blood on your hands. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands, she shouted as she was escorted from the premises by security.

open image in gallery Mustafa Suleyman joined the company in March 2024 to take on the role as CEO for Microsoft AI ( Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Aboussad, based at Microsofts Canadian headquarters in Toronto, was invited on Monday to a call with a human resources representative at which she was told she was being fired immediately, according to the advocacy group No Azure for Apartheid, which has protested the sale of Microsofts Azure cloud computing platform to Israel.

In its termination letter, Microsoft told Aboussad she could have raised her concerns confidentially to a manager. Instead, it said she made hostile, unprovoked, and highly inappropriate accusations against Suleyman and the company and that her conduct was so aggressive and disruptive that you had to be escorted out of the room by security.

According to documents seen by CNBC, Aboussad was fired for just cause, wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty.

Vaniya Agrawal, a second employee, spoke out at a separate Microsoft event with executives Friday, and interrupted a speech from CEO Satya Nadella.

open image in gallery An investigation found Microsoft AI models had been used in an Israeli military program to target Gaza (file photo) ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

Agrawal said she was planning to hand in her resignation on April 11, but Microsoft, reportedly axed her employment Monday, as per an internal memo seen by CNBC.

In the memo, Microsoft told Agrawal that it decided to make your resignation immediately effective today.

Agrawal was an employee at Microsoft for one year and eight months, and Aboussad for three years, according to their LinkedIn pages.

An investigation by The Associated Press revealed earlier this year that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI had been used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon. The story also contained details of an errant Israeli airstrike in 2023 that struck a vehicle carrying members of a Lebanese family, killing three young girls and their grandmother.

Microsoft and the Israeli forces reportedly struck at least $10 million in deals during the immediate offensive following the October 7 Hamas massacre, according to The Guardian.

The Independent has contacted Microsoft for comment following the firing reports.

We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard, said a statement from the company Friday. Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards.

Dozens of Google workers were fired last year after internal protests over a contract it also has with the Israeli government. Employee sit-ins at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California targeted a $1.2 billion deal known as Project Nimbus providing AI technology to the Israeli government.

The Google workers later filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in an attempt to get their jobs back.

The Associated Press contributed to this story
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Areas around southern Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi river basins could see continuous flooding threats for weeks following the past weeks one-in-1,000-year rain event, forecasters have warned.

While the rains have ended over areas affected by the flooding, moderate-to-major flooding could linger, according to the forecasting company AccuWeather.

As of Tuesday morning, its forecasters said more than 20 river gauge sites were at major flood stage, and 212 locations across the Central U.S. were at or above flood stage. Satellite imagery captured the changes.

"The Kentucky River at Frankfort Lock, Kentucky, has crested just under the all-time record of 48.47 feet. Records at the location along the river date back to at least the early 1800s," AccuWeather meteorologist Alyssa Glenny said in a statement.

open image in gallery Continuous flooding threats are expected for days to even weeks following a generational rain event that targeted the Central U.S. Residents in Kentucky are remaining alert as officials warn of swelling rivers ( AP )

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters that while the river had crested in Frankfort, the state was concerned about other places

As the worst of the flooding has occurred [in Frankfort] and many other areas, were starting to move teams especially to the west. The Green River hasnt crested yet, so [were] still having teams there, he said. But, down the Ohio River and Henderson and Owensboro  even into next week were looking at some flooding, and significant flooding.

open image in gallery Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the worst of the flooding had occurred in Frankfort. Now, teams are focusing on the states western communities ( AP )

The Green River Ferry at Mammoth Cave National Park has been temporarily closed due to high water conditions and debris. Pictures showed caves filled with floodwaters.

Frankfort, the state capital, had been nearly covered in murky brown waters. On Tuesday, the waters were slowly starting to recede, and people could be able to return to their homes by tomorrow, the governor said.

A half-inch of rain is forecast for later this week. It is not expected to bring water levels higher, but may mean that the process of water levels receding takes a little longer.

We need people to wait this out. In many places weve seen the rivers crest and the flooding will be going down, said Beshear.

open image in gallery Flooding concerns come after a powerful storm that has resulted in the deaths of at least 23 people across multiple states. There have been at least four deaths confirmed in Kentucky ( Getty Images )

The powerful spring storm that resulted in the historic flooding also spawned tornadoes and brought flooding to other states. Impacts led to the deaths of at least 23 people. In Kentucky, Beshear said that flooding had resulted in the deaths of four residents, including a 27-year-old man in McCracken County and a 65-year-old Trigg County man.

As of the morning, there had been 272 evacuations by boat and 142 rescues, including 67 evacuations from a hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.

For Henderson County, nearly three hours west of Frankfort, Beshear said that additional evacuations could come by Wednesday.

Emergency managers there are preparing for a major flood event, and the river was expected to reach 48.5 feet by Saturday. Residents were instructed not to cross flooded roads. Shelters were opened on Tuesday and a portion of U.S. Highway 60 was shut down.

There are 357 soldiers and airmen from the Kentucky National Guard mobilized to conduct missions with Kentucky Emergency Management. Guard assets are currently supporting evacuation, search and rescue and distribution efforts, a statement from the governors office said.
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Michigan officials located a missing two-year-old alive and well in a freezing cold ditch using a helicopter and a heat-seeking camera.

The Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety responded to a call about the child in Blackman Township, about 77 miles west of Detroit, on Sunday.

The boy was last seen watching television in the living room around 8.43pm and his caregivers reported him missing about an hour later.

Several units responded to search for the child, including the Blackman-Leoni K-9 unit, Michigan State Police K-9 unit and an MSP helicopter.

Officials and community members combed through the area for nearly two hours. A break in the case came around 11.33pm, when a trooper using the heat-seeking technology found the child in a ditch, curled up and only wearing a diaper.

Police said the child was cold but alert and conscious.

Officers with the Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety in Michigan used heat technology to locate a missing child this weekend ( Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety )

Emergency responders transported him to the Henry Ford Jackson Hospital for evaluation and he was determined to be in good condition.

Police touted the technologys use as a major factor in recovering the child. The trooper had only been using it for 15 minutes before he was located.

The trooper then directed ground units to where the child was. Footage released by the department shows officers comforting the child as they wait for medical professionals.
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Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has detained a University of Florida student following a traffic stop.

Felipe Zapata Velasquez, a 27-year-old from Colombia, vanished after ICE agents detained him during a traffic stop in Gainesville late last month, his mother Claudia Velasquez told the Colombian news outlet NTN24. Now, she, along with lawmakers, is advocating for his release.

Zapata Velasquez was arrested on March 28 while driving without a license, NTN24 reports. He was processing the I-20 form required to apply for a drivers license when he was arrested, local outlet WPLG reports.

ICE agents then took him to Jacksonville and gave him two options, his mother said: stay in jail while he attends immigration court or sign a deportation order.

His mother said he opted for the deportation order, allegedly without an attorney, WPLG reports. Hes now being held in the Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade County.

Felipe Zapata Velasquez was arrested and detained by ICE following a traffic stop last month ( Zapata Velasquez family )

ICE is treating my son like a criminal and he is not, Velasquez told NTN24.

Zapata Velasquez was studying at the University of Florida under an F-1 Visa, the universitys student newspaper The Independent Florida Alligator reports. The visa allows foreign students to attend school in the U.S. He was reportedly in the process of renewing it when he was arrested.

The 27-year-old is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in food and resource economics at the University of Florida, a university spokesperson told The Independent. He graduated from Santa Fe College in 2023, and the University of Florida International Center was assisting him with the transition to their school.

Florida House Representative Yvonne Hisson, a Democrat, is now calling for his release, WPLG reports.

Why not give a ticket? Hisson said. But to be detained for such an offense is outlandish and quite alarming.

Immigrants are under attack now more than ever, she added. We must speak up and not allow this to continue without voicing outrage.

Florida Senator Shevrin Jones is joining Hissons call for his release.

What we are seeing right now is absolutely not the way to move forward and the Trump administration, they really should pull back, slow down, work as a team with their colleagues on the other side of the aisle to see what does a bi-partisan measure look like in order to bring true immigration reform, Jones, a Democrat, said in a statement.

What are we, as a state and as a country? What message are we trying to send to students who are here legally, who are doing the right things to become productive members of society? Jones added.

Zapata Velasquezs detainment comes amid President Donald Trumps aggressive crackdown on immigration across the country.

The presidents administration will now be able to carry out deportations even more rapidly after the Supreme Court issued a ruling this week allowing him to invoke the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act. The wartime law will allow his administration to remove alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to El Salvador. However, the administration has admitted in court filings that many of those sent to El Salvador didnt have criminal records.

National lawmakers are speaking out for Zapata Velasquez, too.

An international UF student here on an F-1 visa has become the Trump Admins latest kidnapping victim, Florida Representative Maxwell Frost wrote in a statement. Despite the fact that he was in the process of renewing his visa, Felipe Zapata Velasquez is being held at the Krome Detention Center and his family hasn't heard from him since April 1.

The Independent has contacted ICE for comment.
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The Supreme Court will allow Donald Trump to continue summarily deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members under a centuries-old wartime law after the administration had already deported dozens of immigrants to a notorious El Salvador prison.

A divided court on Monday night agreed to lift a judges order that temporarily blocked the presidents use of the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport people from the U.S. while a legal challenge plays out. But the justices said the immigrants are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal in front of a judge.

The only question is which court will resolve that challenge, they wrote.

Those challenges must take place in Texas, not in Washington, D.C., according to the unsigned order.

Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the courts liberal justices Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor in dissent.

The 5-4 decision  with the courts women dissenting  follows a federal appeals courts rejection of the presidents attempt to throw out a ruling from District Judge James Boasberg. The judge is also weighing whether to hold government officials in contempt for allegedly defying his court orders to return deportation flights to the United States before dozens of Venezuelan immigrants landed in a Salvadoran prison facing the prospect of indefinite detention.

A photograph from the Salvadoran government on March 16 shows the arrival of Venezuelan immigrants deported to El Salvadors mega prison after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act ( EL SALVADOR'S PRESIDENCY PRESS OFFICE )

Flights were in the air on March 15 when Boasberg ordered the administration to turn the planes around after a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union challenging their clients removal. The judge wants to know when government lawyers relayed his verbal and written orders to administration officials and who, if anyone, gave the flights a greenlight despite his orders.

In his proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act for only the fourth time in U.S. history, Trump stated that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of [Tren de Aragua], 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 administration has since admitted in court filings that many of the people sent to El Salvador did not have criminal records, and attorneys and family members say their clients and relatives  some of whom were in the country with legal permission and have upcoming court hearings on their asylum claims  have nothing to do with Tren de Aragua.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the Supreme Courts decision on Monday a landmark victory for the rule of law.

An activist judge in Washington, D.C. does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trumps authority to conduct foreign policy and keep the American people safe, she said. The Department of Justice will continue fighting in court to make America safe again.

The Alien Enemies Act  which was most recently previously used to round up Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II  grants the president authority to remove alien enemies during wartime or a predatory incursion or invasion by a foreign power. The administration alleges that the Venezuelan government has directed Tren de Aragua in the United States.

Appeals court judges said Trump plucks the third-order usage of the word invasion to justify summary deportations, and argued that immigration alone also does not constitute a predatory incursion.

Sotomayor, writing in the Supreme Courts dissent, said the majoritys legal conclusion is suspect and made a decision without mention of the grave harm Plaintiffs will face if they are erroneously removed to El Salvador or regard for the Governments attempts to subvert the judicial process throughout this litigation.

What if the Government later determines that it sent one of these detainees to [El Salvadors megaprison] in error? Or a court eventually decides that the President lacked authority under the Alien Enemies Act to declare that Tren de Aragua is perpetrating or attempting an invasion against the territory of the United States? she asked.

The Government takes the position that, even when it makes a mistake, it cannot retrieve individuals from the Salvadoran prisons to which it has sent them, she said. The implication of the Governments position is that not only noncitizens but also United States citizens could be taken off the streets, forced onto planes, and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress if judicial review is denied unlawfully before removal. History is no stranger to such lawless regimes, but this Nations system of laws is designed to prevent, not enable, their rise.

Sotomayor said the administrations conduct in this case poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law.

That a majority of this Court now rewards the Government for its behavior with discretionary equitable relief is indefensible, she wrote. We, as a Nation and a court of law, should be better than this, she emphasized.
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Donald Trumps administration is telling tens of thousands of immigrants to leave immediately after they used a government smartphone app to enter the United States legally.

The administration has terminated temporary legal statuses for immigrants who entered the country through the Joe Biden-era CBP One app, which was used by roughly 985,000 people seeking legal entry into the country before the president abruptly ended the program after taking office.

Department of Homeland Security officials did not tell The Independent how many notices have been sent when pressed for comment. Immigrants who received the message could face arrest, severe fines and forced removal from the country if they do not leave on their own, according to DHS. They will not be allowed to return.

It is time for you to leave the United States, a message to CBP One applicants reads. Again, DHS is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States  the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has full authority to revoke parole, a senior DHS spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent. Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security.

Formal termination notices have been issued, and affected aliens are urged to voluntarily self-deport using the CBP Home App, the spokesperson added. Those who refuse will be found, removed, and permanently barred from reentry."

The order does not apply to immigrants who entered the country through the Uniting for Ukraine and Operation Allies Welcome programs. Last week, the administration apologized for mistakenly sending similar notices to some Ukrainian refugees living in the country through the Uniting for Ukraine program, which has helped resettle more than 240,000 people displaced by Russias war.

Its unclear how many Ukrainians received the message.

Its also unclear how many notices were sent, and whether people who received them are eligible for removal, according to Erika Pinheiro, executive director of Al Otro Lado, which provides legal and humanitarian support to refugees, deportees, and other migrants in the United States and Tijuana, Mexico.

As long as they have a pending court proceeding or a pending asylum application, they do have a protection against removal, she told The Independent. Generally, they would not be legally able to be removed until an immigration judge issues an order. However, we've seen multiple cases recently of the Trump administration deporting individuals with pending asylum cases or pending proceedings, so we can't rely on the administration to follow the law, but at least technically and legally,

After entering office, Trump ended the Biden-era smartphone app, which has allowed tens of thousands of people seeking asylum and legal entry into the United States to schedule appointments with immigration authorities at the southern border since it was introduced in January 2023.

Roughly 270,000 people on the other side of the border were trying to get an appointment through the app when the app was abruptly shut down.

The app has since been renamed CBP Home, which encourages immigrants to enter their intent to depart the country.

CBP One was effectively the only way that people living outside the country could request an appointment at an official port of entry to begin their asylum claims and immigration paperwork, but was falsely characterized by Trump and his allies as a fast track for illegal immigration.

On January 20, hours after Trump entered office, a notice on the apps website said that the app was no longer available and all appointments were canceled without notice.

At ports of entry across the southern border, where hundreds of people were lined up for their appointments, they all received the same message: Existing appointments through CPB One are no longer valid.

An immigrant from Venezuela who sued the CBP One app to enter the U.S. legally was denied access at the U.S.-Mexico border on January 21, one day after Trumps inauguration. The administration is now revoking legal protections for tens of thousands of immigrants who used the app to gain entry ( Getty Images )

Another woman and her two minor children, who have been embroiled in a long-running lawsuit over constraints on asylum claims, were scheduled for their appointment on January 25, just five days before the app was shut down.

The app had previously processed up to 1,450 people seeking asylum each day.

But as a result of the appointment processs elimination, the right to seek asylum at the border no longer exists, no matter how great the danger faced by migrants, including families with children, civil rights attorneys wrote in a court filing in January.

People are really scared, Pinheiro told The Independent. People are scared to show up to check ins, and rightfully so, to show up to immigration court for fear that theyll be detained.  They see the news reports of immigrants basically being kidnapped off of the streets and disappeared to Guantanamo or El Salvador. Theyre understandably very frightened. Theyve been in the United States for a little while, have a job, established themselves and are supporting themselves, and to have the rug ripped out from under them is really jarring and obviously very frightening for them.

Trumps anti-immigration agenda has moved to dismantle legal immigration under the Biden administration, including cutting off legal protections and work permissions for tens of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who were granted temporary protected status.

Nearly 350,000 Venezuelans who entered the country under humanitarian protections during the Biden administration were set to lose their legal status on April 7, but a federal judge blocked an order that threatens to inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted, cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States, according to District Judge Edward Chen in California.

The move to cancel those protections appears predicated on negative stereotypes casting class-wide aspersions on their character, including insinuating they were released from Venezuelan prisons and mental health facilities and imposed huge financial burdens on local communities, the judge wrote last month.

Generalization of criminality to the Venezuelan TPS population as a whole is baseless and smacks of racism predicated on generalized false stereotypes, Chen wrote. Moreover, Venezuelan TPS holders are critical contributors to both the national and local economies: they work, spend money, and pay taxes.
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China has hit back against Vice President JD Vance after he referred to the nations population as Chinese peasants.

Vance appeared on Fox News last week, where he defended the Trump administrations widespread new tariffs by asking what the globalist economy has done for the U.S. The vice president said the U.S. was incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make.

He added: We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.

A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, Lin Jian, fired back at a Tuesday press conference that it was surprising and sad to hear the vice president say such ignorant and impolite words.

He also noted that Chinas position on Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations has been made very clear.

China has taken a defiant stance as the Trump administration issued its most recent threat of a further 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods unless Beijing backs down from its retaliatory tariffs on imports from the U.S. The additional tariff would make the total U.S. levy on Chinese goods 104 percent.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in response that the U.S. was guilty of blackmail, and vowed that China would fight to the end.

Trump has faced significant pushback from world leaders after introducing his global tariffs, which have created chaos in the financial markets.

JD Vance faced criticism from Chinas foreign ministry after referring to Chinese workers as peasants ( Getty Images )

The trade war between the U.S. and China is set to be expensive for Americans. The U.S. last year bought $440 billion worth of goods from China, the second-largest source of American imports after Mexico.

The White House said Tuesday that the 104 percent tariffs on imports from China will take effect just after midnight. This comes as the Trump administration is taking steps to begin negotiations with other countries targeted by Trumps tariffs.

The stock market took a downturn Tuesday after global markets previously posted gains on the belief that Trump would be willing to engage in widespread negotiations on the massive trade barriers he has put in place. The White House plans to hold discussions with South Korea and Japan, two top trading partners, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is set to visit for talks next week.

Trump officials, however, have said they will not make talks with China a priority.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett appeared on Fox News, saying: "Right now, we've received the instruction to prioritize our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others.
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Pardoned January 6 rioters have accused F.B.I. director Kash Patel of stabbing them in the back.

Patel and his deputy director, ex-Secret Service agent turned right-wing commentator Dan Bongino, have previously been critics of the F.B.I. and its decision to arrest those involved in the 2021 attack on the Capitol building.

But now it has emerged Patel tapped Steven J. Jensen  the man who spearheaded the nationwide investigation into the fatal riot  to be his Washington field office assistant director. Jensen, who was responsible for domestic terrorism operations at the time, has been promoted along with several others, as reported by the New York Times.

MAGA loyalists and several pardoned January 6 rioters have shared their anger at the F.B.I chief.

open image in gallery Pardoned January 6 rioters have slammed FBI Kash Patel for new hires who played a role in convicting them ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Richard Bigo Barnett, 63, a self-described J6 Patriot, and retired firefighter, called the appointment A sad day for MAGA on X Monday.

He continued to slam Patel and Bongino, writing: It is hard to believe that Kash Patel stabbed J6ers and constitutional American citizens in the back.

This is exactly the opposite of turning the Hoover building into a museum and starting from scratch. This is sickening, he added.

open image in gallery Richard Barnett, 63, became the notorious face of the Capitol attack after he was pictured resting his feet on Nancy Pelosis desk ( AFP via Getty Images )

The Arkansas rioter became the notorious face of the riot after he was seen propping his feet on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk.

Barnett was handed a 54-month sentence after he was convicted of a series of charges including civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding, as per NPR.

Another Patel critic, Derrick Evans, sentenced to three months in prison for his role in January 6, joined in on the attack.

open image in gallery Convicted and now-pardoned rioter, Derrick Evans, went on to lose a Republican primary for the House of Representatives in West Virginia in May last year ( Flickr/@becker271 )

The self-identified former January 6th political prisoner typed a rattled response on X Saturday: Seriously Kash? Why the **** does this guy have a job, let alone a promotion?

Three years after the attempted insurrection, Evans went on to lose a Republican primary for the House of Representatives in West Virginia in May last year.

Philip Anderson, who declares himself as a January 6th survivor on X warned that none of us should listen to anything Attorney General Pam Bondi, Patel, or Bongino say, until they arrest one Democrat criminal.

open image in gallery Philip Anderson, 28, from Mesquite, Texas, was arrested in August 2023 for his participation in the riots ( USDOJ )

The 28-year-old from Mesquite, Texas, was arrested in August 2023, and charged with civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, as per the Department of Justice.

Enrique Tarrio, 42, the former leader of the Proud Boys group Western chauvinists, was serving a 22-year sentence after being convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the January 6 insurrection. Despite not being physically present at the riots, prosecutors argued that he played a central role in orchestrating the events from outside Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, Tarrio claimed Patel had made a serious error in his appointment of Jensen but refused to demonise the FBI chief altogether.

open image in gallery Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, 42, said was not turning on Kash or Bongino ( Getty Images )

For the record Im not turning on Kash or Bongino. Im not anywhere close to that yet. But this issue with Jensen needs correcting. Jensen should be nowhere near a badge. He should be at best a Walmart greeter, he wrote on X.

According to the internal email obtained by the New York Times, Patels new hires came as he pushed on with a plan to overhaul the agencys command structure and split the bureau into three regions.

Five acting branch directors were reportedly tapped by Patel in recent weeks to ultimately run the F.B.I. including Jensen and the new head of field services Michael Glasheen, as per the New York Times.
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On June 25, 2019, Kilmar Abrego Garcia and Jennifer Vasquez Sura married inside an immigration detention center while separated by a glass partition. An officer helped them exchange rings.

Vasquez Sura was nearing the end of a high-risk pregnancy while her soon-to-be husband faced the possibility of his removal from the United States to his native El Salvador. They thought the ceremony might be our only chance to get married, even though it was far from how we ever imagined it, she wrote in court documents. It was heartbreaking not to be able to hug him.

Months later, after Vasquez Sura gave birth to their son, a judge ultimately granted Abrego Garcia humanitarian protections to live and work legally in the U.S. with an order that prevented the government from deporting him to a country he fled as a teenager.

He eventually found work as a sheet metal worker, and enrolled in a five-year licensing program with the University of Maryland as he helped raise their son, who was diagnosed with autism, and two children from a previous relationship.

But, on March 15, 2025, despite the court order that blocks his removal from the country, federal agents put Abrego Garcia on a plane bound for El Salvadors notorious prison, facing the prospect of indefinite detention.

Donald Trumps administration admitted it made an administrative error. But officials are refusing to try to get him back, have raised unsubstantiated claims about his past, and argue the case is no longer in their hands  setting up what legal experts fear is a dangerous precedent-setting case for executive power and whether U.S. citizens could similarly be imprisoned abroad.

How Kilmar Abrego Garcia ended up in ICE custody

A local gang in El Salvador called Barrio 18 was extorting Abrego Garcias fathers pupusa business, culminating in threats and violence against his family members, according to court documents.

In 2011, when he was 16 years old, Abrego Garcia fled for the United States and made his way across the U.S.-Mexico border to Maryland, where his brother, a U.S. citizen, was living.

There, he met Sura, who is also a citizen.

On March 27, 2019, Abrego Garcia and Vasquez Sura went to their appointment with a perinatal specialist. They were excited to learn she was having a boy, she wrote in court filings.

The next morning, after dropping off their other two children at school and Sura at work, Abrego Garcia looked for work outside a Home Depot, where he could pick up construction work.

He didnt return Suras messages later that day.

open image in gallery Despite a judges order that keeps him legally in the country, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported by the Trump administration to El Salvadors notorious mega prison  and refuses to bring him back despite admitting he was removed in error ( AP )

Abrego Garcia was taken into custody by officers from the Prince Georges County Police Department, and then Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Sura didnt know where he was until the next morning, when he called her while he was in ICE custody, she said.

For the next six months, Abrego Garcias case moved through immigration court as the government sought his removal, claiming he was a member of transnational street gang MS-13  a charge Abrego Garcia and his wife have vehemently denied.

The evidence against him boiled down to an accusation from a confidential informant, and that Abrego Garcia was wearing Chicago Bulls gear when he was arrested  which federal law enforcement agents allege is linked to gang membership. He has never been charged with or convicted of being a member of any gang.

Though Abrego Garcia had entered the country without legal permission as a teen, a federal judge ultimately agreed that sending him back to El Salvador would endanger his life. He barred the government from deporting him, on the condition that he regularly check in with ICE as he defends his claim to asylum to stay in the United States.

Kilmar continued to be the supportive, loving, reliable, and law-abiding man I know and love. He was never arrested or accused of a crime, Sura wrote. We really believed that the false accusations had been cleared up and that they were behind us.

They werent.

I never heard from Kilmar again

On March 12, after picking up his son, now 5 years old, Abrego Garcia was pulled over. He called his wife, who spoke on the phone with an officer because he was not comfortable speaking English. After Abrego Garcia told the officer his son was in the backseat, the officer took his phone and hung up, according to Sura.

A few minutes later, someone identifying themselves as with the Department of Homeland Security called me back and said that I needed to get there in 10 minutes to pick up my son or they would call child protective services, she wrote.

Abrego Garcia later called her from a detention facility in Baltimore, then again in Louisiana, and again in Texas.

On March 15, he called one last time.

That call was short and Kilmars tone was different, she wrote. He was scared. He was told he was being deported to El Salvador. He was told he was being deported to El Salvador to a super-max prison called CECOT. He asked me to contact his mom with all his U.S. immigration paperwork so they can give that to a lawyer in El Salvador. After that, I never heard from Kilmar again.

Trump administration defends administrative error

Last month, the Trump administration was hastily arranging for a series of charter flights to remove Venezuelan immigrants from the United States under the wartime Alien Enemies Act, which labeled alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang alien enemies who can be summarily deported.

One of those planes allegedly carried immigrants with court orders for their removal, not under the presidents wartime authority. Abrego Garcia was on that plane  something administration officials have called an oversight  despite no orders for his removal from the country.

On March 15, although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error, government lawyers wrote in court filings.

But government lawyers have fought to keep him imprisoned. Following news of the governments admission in court filings, Vice President JD Vance falsely labeled Abrego Garcia a convicted gang member. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt admitted there was a clerical error in his case, but claimed, without providing evidence, that Garcia was a leader of the MS-13 gang, and involved in human trafficking.

open image in gallery Kilmar Abrego Garcias wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura is fighting for his return to their home in Maryland after he was wrongly deported to El Salvador ( AP )

Following in-court arguments on April 4, Maryland District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the administration to return Abrego Garcia to the United States.

Erez Reuveni, the acting deputy director of the Department of Justice immigration litigation division, told the judge he was frustrated that I have no answers for you on a lot of these questions.

In her 22-page ruling, Judge Xinis ripped the Trump administration for its wholly lawless decision and grievous error that shocks the conscience.

As defendants acknowledge, they had no legal authority to arrest him, no justification to detain him, and no grounds to send him to El Salvador  let alone deliver him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere, noted Judge Xinis.

The evidence against Abrego Garcia consisted of nothing more than his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, she wrote, and a vague, uncorroborated allegation from a confidential informant claiming he belonged to MS-13s Western clique in New York  a place he has never lived.

After the hearing, the Justice Department suspended Reuveni for failing to zealously advocate on behalf of the government.

open image in gallery Jennifer Vasquez Sura and attorneys are now battling for Kilmar Abrego Garcias return to the United States at the Supreme Court ( AP )

On April 7, appellate judges delivered a scorching opinion asserting that the government has no legal authority to snatch a person who is lawfully present in the United States off the street and remove him from the country without due process.

The Governments contention otherwise, and its argument that the federal courts are powerless to intervene, are unconscionable, they wrote.

Ronald Reagan-appointed Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote: There is no question that the government screwed up here.

Kilmar never should have been deported in the first place. Im relieved the court has taken a step toward righting that wrong and protecting due process for all Americans, according to Lucia Curiel, an immigration attorney who represented Abrego Garcia in his 2019 case.

Tricia McLaughlin  assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security  has suggested that sharing what due process looks like for Abrego Garcia is law-enforcement sensitive and would undermine national security.

If we did that every single time, that would simply be insane, she told NPR.

Supreme Court intervenes

The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court, where solicitor general D. John Sauer repeated allegations that Abrego Garcia is a member of a foreign terrorist organization and claimed that the governments error does not license district courts to seize control over foreign relations and treat the Executive Branch as a subordinate diplomat.

The United States does not control the sovereign nation of El Salvador, nor can it compel El Salvador to follow a federal judges bidding, he added.

In response, lawyers for Abrego Garcia said he sits in a foreign prison solely at the behest of the United States, as the product of a Kafka-esque mistake.

open image in gallery Kilmar Abrego Garcias wife identified her husband as one of the men forced into El Salvadors Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca in a photograph shared by the Salvadoran government ( AP )

The Executive branch may not seize individuals from the streets, deposit them in foreign prisons in violation of court orders, and then invoke the separation of powers to insulate its unlawful actions from judicial scrutiny, they wrote.

Later that day, hours before a midnight deadline for the Trump administration to bring him back to Maryland, Chief Justice John Roberts agreed to pause the order from Judge Xinis, keeping Abrego Garcia in El Salvador until the court could formally rule on the issue.

The high court ultimately ruled unanimously on April 10 that the Trump administration must facilitate Abrego Garcias release from custody in El Salvador, and sent the case back to Judge Xinis to determine next steps.

Trump and Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele have refused to commit to do so, and have insisted that the Supreme Court ruled in their favor to keep him locked up at El Salvadors discretion.

The administrations apparent defiance of the Supreme Court is the latest legal battle following a flood of court orders against the executive branch, teeing up what legal experts fear are the presidents testing of the judiciary that could send the country plummeting into a constitutional crisis.

A shuddering degree of power

Constitutional law scholars have warned that there is no logical stopping point to the governments dangerous argument.

In arguments to a federal appeals court, the Trump administration cited unilateral authority under the executive branch that bars the courts from intervening in foreign affairs.

If the governments argument were correct, the Executive Branch would possess a shuddering degree of power  power that the President could wield in extreme and extraordinary ways, including against American citizens that the President simply disfavors, according to court filings from constitutional law professors Erwin Chemerinsky, Marth Minow and Laurence Tribe.

There is no logical stopping point to the governments dangerous argument, they added.

There is no question  and could be no question  that the federal courts have jurisdiction over the U.S. officials who removed an individual from the United States and arranged for that individual to be held in a foreign prison, and who have continuing authority and power to correct their mistakes in such removal and rendition, they wrote.

All eyes are on the United States as the Trump administration continues to attack the constitution, according to Ama S. Frimpong, legal director for immigrants advocacy group CASA.

The courts have rightfully sided with Kilmar, against the Trump administrations illegal overreach and constitutional violations, she said. We are looking forward to welcoming Kilmar home with open arms.

This story was first published on April 7 and has been updated with developments
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The often perturbed South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace posted a video on social media Monday blasting the evil voters who call her office to complain.

Hundreds of people have called, Mace reported, after she ditched a town hall meeting last month organized by the Lowcountry Accountability Alliance in South Carolina.

Several Republican lawmakers have been lambasted at town hall meetings by constituents upset about the state of affairs in the country under the Trump administration, including continued high grocery prices and threatened services such as Social Security and Medicaid.

Mace has insisted it was not safe for her to attend the South Caroline town hall, and claimed the event was being led by left wing-extremists.

In her video Monday, Mace said that complainers were nasty, ugly, hateful, and evil.

She first claimed that only one of 300 people calling to complain about her skipping the town hall had a specific concern about a federal service. Then she said about half of the callers had a specific complaint. She characterized the calls as BS.

What you all are doing is evil. Its completely evil, she addressed those who have called.

Do something nice for somebody in the Lowcountry. Stop being this way. Stop being violent with your words, Mace continued.

Help those in our community. Help those in need ... You dont have any issues that need to be resolved. Youre just being nasty.

She labeled the video: My message to the deranged town hall fakers  listen up!

My message to the deranged town hall fakers - listen up: pic.twitter.com/QsDkGUhUti  Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) April 7, 2025

South Carolina town hall organizer Guang Ming Whitley said in an interview on ABC News 4 that the planned meeting was not a hoax, but an opportunity for concerned citizens to let their elected representative know their concerns.

I think its unfortunate that we live in a world where anyone who disagrees with you is going to be branded as deranged or extreme, Whitley said.

This is not a hoax, this is a group of concerned citizens  moms with kids, people with jobs, people who live in Mount Pleasant, added the Mount Pleasant Town council member and mayor pro tempore.
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A member of the Secretary of States security team was arrested in Brussels after becoming physically aggressive with a hotel staff member and confrontational with local police, according to a new report.

Marco Rubio and his security team were in Brussels last week for a NATO summit when the incident occurred, according to The Washington Examiner. The Diplomatic Security Service, of which the member was a senior agent, is aware of the incident and the allegations are being examined, a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent.

The Diplomatic Security Service is the State Departments security team, which protects diplomats and helps combat transnational crimes, including passport and visa fraud.

On March 31, a shift supervisor assigned to Rubios detail reportedly became irate when staff at Hotel Amigo refused to reopen the bar after it had closed. When the staff and night manager tried to tell the staff member to return to his room, he became physically aggressive, the Examiner reports, and law enforcement was called.

A member of Marco Rubio's security detail was reportedly arrested in Brussels last week ( AP )

The security detail then got in an altercation with officers, leading to his arrest.

They released him from police custody hours later after the U.S. embassy intervened, according to the Examiner.

The Examiner did not publish the agents name, and the State Department did not provide the agents name when asked by The Independent.

An anonymous State Department employee told the Examiner that shift supervisors on Rubios detail have an incomprehensible workload.

They are responsible for all the agents under them, scheduling, evaluations and a preposterous amount of admin work [as well as] performing the actual shift work, the employee said.

They work 6 to 7 days a week, the employee added. I truly believe this [incident] was the result of incomprehensible strain [the agent] was placed under and, at the very least, [Diplomatic Security Service] owes [the agent] a very fair evaluation of these circumstances in their totality  looking deep into [DSSs] own role [in what happened].
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The Trump administration is planning a hefty fine for migrants if they refuse to leave the United States after being cleared for deportation, according to a report.

In the latest push in President Donald Trumps efforts to achieve the largest deportation operation in American history, immigrants will be fined up to $998 a day if they fail to leave the U.S., according to documents obtained by Reuters. If they dont pay the fine, their property could be seized, the potential plans say.

Illegal aliens should use the CBP Home app to self-deport and leave the country now. If they dont, they will face the consequences. This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Independent in a statement. The safest option for illegal aliens is to self-deport.

The plans stem from a 1996 federal law that states that any immigrant subject to a final order of removal who willfully fails or refuses to leave the U.S. can face a civil penalty of not more than $500 each day.

However, the administration proposed applying the penalties retroactively for up to five years, which could result in fines of more than $1 million, a senior Trump official told the outlet.

President Donald Trump plans to fine immigrants nearly $1,000 a day if they refuse to leave the country after deportation orders, according to a report ( Getty Images )

The report comes one week after the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning for illegal immigrants, urging them to self-deport before the agency finds them and deports them. People who self-deport have the ability to legally enter the U.S. at a later date, while those deported can not return.

The warning included the threat of a $998 per-day fine as well as a $1,000 to $5,000 fine if you fail to self-deport after claiming that you will or jail time.

These proposed fines could be unbearable for almost one-third of the unauthorized migrants; 26 percent of unauthorized migrants have family incomes that fall below the poverty line, a 2019 study from the Migration Policy Institute found.

Customs and Border Protection would be responsible for issuing these penalties and seizing assets, Reuters reported.

During his first term, Trump used the 1996 law in 2018 against nine immigrants who failed to leave the U.S. after deportation orders, ordering them to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars. His administration later rescinded most of the fines or pursued smaller amounts.

The news comes one day after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to use a 1798 wartime law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. The nations highest court on Monday also temporarily blocked a federal judges order requiring Trump to bring back an illegally deported Maryland father who was sent to an El Salvador prison.
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Donald Trump has declared that he has never felt better ahead of his annual physical this week.

The 78-year-old president took to Truth Social Monday to make the announcement, with the medical appointment coming just weeks ahead of his 100th day in office.

I am pleased to report that my long-scheduled Annual Physical Examination will be done at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Friday of this week, he wrote. I have never felt better, but nevertheless, these things must be done!

open image in gallery Donald Trump has insisted he is in good health in the early days of his second term ( EPA )

Trump has previously been cagey about his medical records. When asked about his health in 2015, he provided a four-paragraph letter from his doctor, who claimed he would be the healthiest person ever elected to the presidency.

In 2018, White House physician Ronny Jackson provided some details on Trumps cardiac health. Despite having a normal blood pressure and an all-clear on his heart, Jackson noted that Trumps cholesterol was too high and that he was only 0.1 points below the threshold for medical obesity.

Trump is notorious for enjoying some rather unhealthy eating habits. During his first tenure in 2016, POTUS aides shared that the his go-to McDonalds order consisted of two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malted.

The physical and mental well being of the presidential candidates became a major issue in the 2024 race.

Trump faced intense scrutiny over his mental competence after he stumbled over his speech and made several incoherent ramblings at campaign trail appearances. Similar questions were raised about 82 year-old Joe Biden, who ultimately dropped out of his re-election bid after facing serious criticism over his debate performance. Among the aging former presidents blunders was accidentally referring to the President of Ukraine as President Putin last July.

open image in gallery Ever the McDonalds fan, Trump was pictured during his electoral race serving diners at a drive-thru ( REUTERS )

During the subsequent campaign against Kamala Harris Trump attempted to veer attention away from his health  particularly his cognitive state  by launching attacks on his Democratic opponent.

In September, Trump claimed Harris was mentally impaired during a Pennsylvania rally.

At the time the then-presidential candidate insisted, Ive done cognitive tests. Ive done them twice and I aced both of them and the doctor in one case said, Ive never seen anybody ace them. Theyve never seen anybody ace them.

Biden is currently the oldest U.S. president to have served but Trump will be 82 if he completes a full second term.
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The Trump administration is reportedly planning a military parade through the streets of Washington, D.C. to celebrate the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary  which just so happens to fall on Donald Trumps 79th birthday.

The D.C. alternative weekly The Washington City Paper reported Sunday that local officials have been briefed to expect a four-mile procession this June 14, a Saturday.

The White House apparently denied the report, telling Politico: No military parade has been scheduled."

Nevertheless, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser confirmed at a press conference on Monday morning that she had been notified about a potential event, though claimed to have received few details.

"I would say it's at its early stages," she told reporters. "Yes, they have reached out. I don't know that it's been characterized as a military parade."

When a reporter noted that the parade would reportedly begin at the Pentagon, she smiled and said: "Okay. Well, then it does sound like a military parade."

The U.S. Army and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Independent.

Donald Trump reportedly got the idea for a parade in his honor in 2018 after attending Frances Bastille Day festivities in 2017 ( SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images )

Such an event would reprise Trump's 2018 plan for a lavish military parade for Veterans Day during his first term. Trump was reportedly so blown away after seeing the military parade up the Champs Elysees in Paris to mark Bastille Day in 2017 that he wanted to replicate it. But the idea was abandoned after officials estimated that it could cost at least $21.6 million, and perhaps up to $92 million, as well as potentially damaging D.C.'s roads with heavy-treaded vehicles.

This time, however, Trump has purged the Pentagon of high-ranking generals whose loyalty he considered questionable, as well as top lawyers responsible for ensuring that armed forces follow the law. A highly expensive show of military force on Trumps birthday, however, might not set the right tone after tens of thousands of federal jobs have been axed by Trumps hatchet man Elon Musk  to save money.

Takis Karantonis, chairman of the board in D.C.'s neighboring Arlington County, Virginia, told the City Paper that he had received a "heads up" about the parade from the White House on Friday, but little firm information.

"Its not clear to me what the scope of a parade would be, but I would hope the federal government remains sensitive to the pain and concerns of numerous [military] veteran residents who have lost or might lose their jobs in recent federal decisions, as they reflect on how best to celebrate the Armys anniversary," Karantonis said.

Asked on Monday whether she would push back against any parade featuring "military tanks", Bowser said: "Yeah, military tanks on our streets would not be good. If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the road."

She added that driving such vehicles on the 14th Street bridges, which link the Pentagon to downtown D.C., would definitely be "a test.

Back in 2018, Bowser and Trump clashed openly over the possibility of a parade. "The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it, Trump tweeted at the time, referring to Bowsers estimated cost for the parade.

When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it. Never let someone hold you up! he wrote.

"I will instead attend the big parade already scheduled at Andrews Air Force Base on a different date ... maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN.

Bowser shot back: "Yup, Im Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington D.C., the local politician who finally got through to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad)."
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Donald Trumps administration has fired a top, female U.S. military officer at NATO, after she appeared on a so-called woke list.

Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield  a combat veteran and helicopter pilot  was let go, officials announced on Monday. She was the only woman on NATO's military committee.

Although no reason was given, officials said it was apparently tied to comments Chatfield has made that supported diversity in the force. She has previously appeared on a list of senior military officers targeted as woke by the conservative research group American Accountability Foundation.

According to The Associated Press, Chatfield was informed by Admiral Christopher Grady, the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the administration wanted to go in a different direction with the job.

open image in gallery Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield  a combat veteran and helicopter pilot  was fired, officials announced on Monday. She was the only woman on NATO's military committee. She previously appeared on a so-called woke list ( AP )

Chatfield has been known to be a vocal advocate of diversity in the force, contrary to remarks made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump.

Officials who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity about the firing, said they believe the decision was made last week by Hegseth, but it was unclear whether he received any direction from the president.

Chatfield, a Navy helicopter pilot who also commanded a joint reconstruction team in Afghanistan, had been serving as one of the 32 representatives on NATO's military committee.

The panel is the primary source of military advice to the North Atlantic Council and NATO's Nuclear Planning Group, according to NATO. It serves as the link between the political decision-makers and NATO's military structure.

She is the third top female officer to be fired since Trump took office. Hegseth announced in February that he was firing the chief of naval operations, Admiral Lisa Franchetti.

open image in gallery President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been vocal in their insistence that so-called woke policies are dead, specifically in regard to the military. Chatfield is the third top female military officer fired since Trump returned to office ( REUTERS )

Trump fired Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Fagan the day after he was sworn in.

Trump and Hegseth have been vocal in their insistence that so-called woke policies are dead, specifically in regard to the military. There has been a vigorous campaign to remove leaders who promoted diversity, equity and inclusion, and to erase DEI programs and online content.

The American Accountability Foundation, who designated Chatfield as woke, previously sent a letter to Hegseth saying that purging the woke from the military is imperative.

The letter also stated that Chatfield posted supportive comments on LinkedIn about a diversity summit and gave a speech in 2015 at Women's Equality Day. The group quoted her as saying that investing in empowering women can unlock human potential.

The group also said she was quoted as saying, our diversity is our strength  a phrase that Hegseth has repeatedly condemned.

The campaign to erase DEI programs and online content has been met with questions and concern from lawmakers, local leaders and citizens angered by the removal of military heroes and historic mentions from Defense Department websites and social media pages.

Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, said he was deeply disturbed by the firing of Chatfield.

Trumps relentless attacks on our alliances and his careless dismissal of decorated military officials make us less safe and weaken our position across the world," Warner wrote on X.
Senior CPC official meets with Finnish parliament speaker

Xinhua) 10:04, April 08, 2025

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with Jussi Halla-aho, speaker of the Finnish parliament, in Beijing on Monday.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Finland, the two sides stressed the need to use the anniversary as an opportunity to strengthen exchange and dialogue, enhance mutual understanding, deepen practical cooperation in various fields, and promote global stability and development.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
 Close Fox Business mocks Peter Navarros reciprocal trade-girl math, urges Trump to sideline him

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Stock markets in Asia fell at the opening on Wednesday, continuing the drop seen earlier on Wall Street, amid fears over Donald Trumps 104% tariff on imports from China. In Tokyo, the Nikkei fell 3.5% on the opening, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 4%.

Speaking in Washington on Tuesday night, the president claimed the massive import taxes he is imposing on Americans will help usher in victory for his Republican Party in next years midterm elections.

During 90 minutes of meandering remarks before GOP lawmakers and deep-pocketed donors at the National Republican Congressional Committees annual fundraising gala, Trump said the stage is now set for a monumental victory for the Republicans in the midterms, which most mainstream economists and business experts say will supercharge inflation and threaten Americas status as the worlds leading economy with a grievous self-inflicted wound.

I know what the hell I'm doing. I know what I'm doing, and you know what I'm doing too, he said.

The president also warned of impending tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals in an effort to bully companies into moving production to the U.S.
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President Donald Trump has been publicly musing about running for a third term  now a new poll shows how he would fare in a hypothetical matchup against fellow two-term president Barack Obama.

In recent weeks, the president has floated the idea of running in 2028, despite the 22nd Amendment barring anyone from serving more than two terms.

Late last month, a reporter pressed Trump on his thoughts on a hypothetical matchup between him and Obama, assuming the 22nd Amendment was revised to allow them to do so. Id love that. Boy, Id love that, Trump replied.

But a new poll suggests that he might want to consider a different rival. Of 1,100 registered voters polled in the April 2 Overton Insights survey, 53 percent said they would vote for Obama and 47 percent said they would vote for Trump.

open image in gallery A new poll reveals who would win in a hypothetical matchup between Barack Obama and Donald Trump, if the Constitution changed to allow third terms ( AFP via Getty Images )

For that contest to happen, the Constitution would need to change. The 22nd Amendment states: No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.

Changing the Constitution isnt easy; it requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate and then ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures.

Still, Trump and his allies have said there are methods by which he could run again.

A lot of people want me to do it, the president recently told NBC, referring to his allies. But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, its very early in the administration.

Pressed on how he would achieve a third term, Trump responded: There are methods [by] which you could do it.

Last week, a 2023 remark from Trumps personal attorney Boris Epshteyn resurfaced. He reportedly told an associate that he studied the law and believed Trump could find a way to run for a third term, the Wall Street Journal reported.

open image in gallery However, if both Obama and Trump wanted to run again it would require a massive ratification process ( AFP via Getty Images )

Some allies and opponents arent sure whether to take Trumps flirtations with running in 2028 seriously.

It's not really something we're thinking about, he has four years. There's a lot of work to do, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt recently said. Some Congressional Republicans have insisted the president was joking. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believes Trump recognizes the constitutional limitations.

Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles took the idea a step further and, in January, proposed to revise the 22nd Amendment, citing Trump as the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nations decay and restoring America to greatness.

Sen. Bernie Sanders said he didnt think Trump was messing around when he made those comments.

The idea of a third term? Why not? They don't believe in the rule of law. They don't believe in the Constitution. So, yeah, I would take that seriously, he told CBS News.
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The White House has been ordered to restore access to the Associated Press to President Donald Trump in areas where other journalists are permitted, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

Judge Trevor McFadden of the D.C. Circuit ruled in favor of AP, ruling in a 41-page order that the government could not choose which reporters it permits access to based on viewpoint because it violates the First Amendment.

The White House now must put the AP on an equal playing field with the other journalists, McFadden said.

The president had limited the wire services access to key events by barring its reporters from the Oval Office, Air Force One, other areas, and in the rotating pool of daily reporters after the news organization made the editorial decision not to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, as Trump had named it.

McFadden clarified that the order does not require the administration to give access to all eligible journalists or prohibit the government from choosing which journalists it gives interviews or questions to  but that it could not bar certain reporters on viewpoint alone.

open image in gallery Reporters from the Associated Press had told a judge that they were unable to keep up with competitors due to their restricted access ( AFP via Getty Images )

The Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere  it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints. The Constitution requires no less, McFadden wrote.

The ruling is a win for free speech advocates who had accused Trump of violating the First Amendment by punishing AP for using generally preferred terminology.

The White House insisted officials were not discriminating against AP specifically, but simply narrowing the pool of journalists who cover the president and the White House to allow other smaller publications to report.

But in its lawsuit against the administration, AP argued the news organization was being targeted because its reporters were not recognizing Trumps new name for the Gulf of Mexico. AP, one of the worlds biggest news services, justified its decision to refer to the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico because the gulf was far more commonly known as such.

McFadden sided with AP, saying the administration had been brazen about its reasoning for restricting the news organization.

Several high-ranking officials have repeatedly said that they are restricting the APs access precisely because of the organizations viewpoint, McFadden wrote.

open image in gallery AP photographer Evan Vucci appeared before the judge last week to testify about the impact of limited access ( Getty Images )

During a hearing last week, AP employees testified about the impact of the White House restriction on its access.

The APs Chief White House Correspondent Zeke Miller testified that the outlets limited access meant its coverage does not have the same level of completeness that it once did.

Evan Vucci, the chief photographer for AP in Washington D.C., said it left the news organization dead in the water on major stories.

The judge agreed the AP had been irreparably harmed by the administrations decision.

The Independent has asked the White House for comment.
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An 81-year-old New York woman is stranded in Puerto Rico because her airline will not let her leave with her pet parrot.

Maria Fraterrigo, of the Bronx, visited Puerto Rico with her pet parrot, Plucky. Fraterrigo raised the bird from birth, and the pair has been together for more than two decades.

When Fraterrigo tried to return home to New York, she was told her parrot would have to stay behind.

"I got no more tears my mind is blank, just want to go home. That's all, I don't ask for much," Fraterrigo told ABC 7 New York.

Fraterrigo will not leave her parrot behind. The bird helped her process and cope with the death of her husband, an NYPD police officer who passed away in 2019 from cancer related to the 9/11 terror attacks.

"He kept me going, talking to me, making me laugh when I was down," she said of the bird.

The couple had traveled to Puerto Rico multiple times with the bird, and never had any issue getting home with Plucky in tow.

On Saturday, April 5, Fraterrigo was on her way home when a Frontier Airlines employee told her she couldn't board the plane with the bird.

81-year-old woman stranded in Puerto Rico after airline won't allow her to fly with pet parrot ( ABC7 )

"You won't be able to make the flight. Get rid of your bird and give it to somebody," Fraterrigo said she was told by the Frontier Airlines employee.

According to her son, Robert Fraterrigo, he has been working on his end to try to find a way to get his mother home. He said that Frontier allegedly acknowledged that the bird was "not checked correctly" upon Fraterrigo's departure from New York.

He said he provided evidence that the bird is considered a service animal for his mother.

The airline refunded her ticket  about $190  and issued a $250 voucher, and pointed out that its policies do not allow large birds like parrots in its cabins.

Frontier told The Independent that it is investigating the issue and is working to find a way to get Fraterrigo home.

We are currently investigating the matter and attempting to reach the customer to assist her in returning home, a Frontier spokesperson said.

"My mother did nothing wrong and she just needs to be taken care of and sent home, she didn't want anything else but to go home and no one wants to help," Robert told the broadcaster.

Robert has been trying to find smaller airlines that will allow his mother to fly to Tampa with her parrot, but has thus far been unsuccessful.
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A Yellowstone National Park tourist was sentenced to jail for getting too close to a famous geyser.

Angela Flaherty, 44, of Seattle, was sentenced to 7 days in jail after pleading guilty to coming within 10 feet onto the cone of Old Faithful, violating a federal law, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

The law requires foot travel in all thermal areas and within the Yellowstone Canyon between the Upper Falls and Inspiration Point must be confined to boardwalks or trails that are maintained for such travel and are marked by official signs.

Some of the Seattle womans conduct was captured on video, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Flaherty was also ordered to pay a $40 fee.

A woman was given jail time after coming too close to Yellowstone National Park's Old Faithful ( NPS/Jim Peaco )

The 44-year-old isnt the only visitor who has gotten too close to the attraction in recent years.

In July 2021, a 37-year-old man from Maine pleaded guilty to trespassing in the Old Faithful thermal area. He was sentenced to 15 days behind bars and fined $200. He was also banned from Yellowstone National Park.

Some others have been injured or worse as a result of nearing the thermal area.

A 60-year-old New Hampshire woman visiting Yellowstone National Park last September suffered second and third-degree burns to her lower leg while walking off-trail in a thermal area near Old Faithful, park officials said at the time.

In 2016, a 23-year-old Oregon man wandered off the designated boardwalk only to fall in a hot spring, killing him.

Old Faithful erupts more frequently than any of the other big geysers, with an average interval between eruptions spanning 90 minutes, the parks website states. An eruption lasts anywhere from a minute and a half to five minutes and expels 3,700 to 8,400 gallons of boiling water, the website says.

Think safety, act safely. Yellowstone is a dangerous place, the site says.
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A Canadian couple on Australia's Norfolk Island are likely the only business owners on the South Pacific outpost that will be directly affected by the Trump administration's tariffs.

The island, which has a remote population of 2,000 people 1,600 kilometers northeast of Sydney, exports nothing to the United States but was singled out with a 29 per cent tariff.

Jesse Schiller and Rachel Evans, both 41, own a business on the island that makes plastic-free hair accessories under the brand Kooshoo, which means feeling good in the English-Tahitian creole known as Norfk or Norfuk.

Schiller said he and his Norfolk Island-born wife are likely the only business owners on the island that will pay elevated tariffs  and they will pay at the rates imposed on Japan and India, where the goods are manufactured. Around 80 per cent of Kooshoos business is with the United States.

Were probably the most affected business on Norfolk Island, Schiller said.

Norfolk Island was a shock inclusion in the Trump administrations list of global tariffs announced last week that was intended to redress U.S. trade deficits with the world - after Australia and its external territories were assigned the global minimum 10% tariff, including the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands in the Antarctic region.

open image in gallery The island has a remote population of 2,000 people 1,600 kilometers northeast of Sydney ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

I think Norfolk became a parable of sorts for the lack of nuance with which these tariffs went out in the world, Schiller said.

Schiller and Evans, a Canadian-Australian dual national, have the consolation of being dealt slightly lower tariffs: Japan has been assigned a 24 per cent tariff and India 26 per cent.

Why Norfolk Island came in for such severe and apparently futile tariff treatment has been a popular topic of conversation among locals.

Its been a question of great intrigue locally, Schiller said.

An early theory  and it seems to be proving right  is that there are other notable Norfolks in the world. Norfolk, of course, in the U.K., Norfolk in Virginia in the U.S., and it seems as though some improperly labeled customs paperwork may have contributed to the  error, Schiller said.

That couldve been very easily fact-checked, he added.

open image in gallery Norfolk Island was a shock inclusion in the Trump administrations list of global tariffs ( PA Wire )

His wife, Evans, has an impressive Norfolk Islander lineage. She is a 9th-generation descendant of a crewman of the British naval ship HMS Bounty who mutinied in 1789, although her mother is Canadian.

The mutineers, whose exploits have been dramatised in Hollywood movies, established a settlement on Pitcairn Islands and their descendants later settled the former British penal colony of Norfolk Island.

She said the sustainable lifestyle she had learned from growing up on such an isolated island around 8 kilometers (5 miles) long and 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide had been part of the brand since they started their business in Vancouver 15 years ago.

She was confident their business would survive the latest trade barriers.

Definitely for the short-term well figure out a way to bridge this, Evans said.
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Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that Ukrainian troops are active inside Russias Belgorod region, as Kyiv seeks to protect towns near the border.

The Ukrainian president described the move as absolutely justified as Ukraine looks to stave off Russian advances, as Moscow delays ceasefire negotiations in an apparent effort to seize more land.

After Ukraines foothold in Russias Kursk region collapsed in dramatic fashion - despite Ukrainian troops remaining in small pockets of the area - Kyiv may be searching to rebuild the leverage it had hoped to keep for any future ceasefire negotiations.

In his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine's top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, had presented a report "on the front line, our presence in the Kursk region and our presence in the Belgorod region."

"We continue active operations in the enemy's border areas and this is absolutely justified. The war must return to where it came from.

Mr Zelensky added: "Our main objective remains the same: to protect our land and our communities in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions from Russian occupiers."

According to a battlefield map by war analysts the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian troops advanced as far as the settlement of Demidovka, around two kilometres from the Ukrainian border.

Russian military bloggers claim that Moscows forces have since began pushing back, and have claimed large amounts of land stretching back to the border

But geolocated footage published on April 7 only confirms that Russian troops have pushed back in Demidovka city, while other claims of Russian advances have not been independently verified.

In the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops had smashed across the border into the biggest attack on Russian territory since the Nazi invasion of 1941, Kyivs troops are left with only a sliver of land - having claimed that they held around 1,300 square km (500 square miles) at the peak of the incursion.

The Kursk offensive gave Kyiv one of its biggest advances of the war, and proved a major morale boost for Ukrainian troops, wearied by years of battling Russias invasion.

But in March, their hold on Russian land collapsed in the space of just weeks, after Russia successfully cut supply lines between Ukraine proper and its forces in Kursk.

Ukraine still holds small pockets of land in the Kursk region, according to ISW data, including land near the Russian towns of Tyotkino, Vesyoloye and Slobodka-Ivanovka - all of which are to the north and west of the focal point of Ukraines initial offensive in Kursk.

In total, Kyivs troops still hold a fraction of the Russian land which they held in the latter parts of last year - and have therefore lost a crucial bargaining chip in ceasefire talks.

With morale damaged following the loss of territory in Kursk, a renewed attack on the Belgorod region could hope to boost the spirits of Ukrainian troops once again.

But a failure to seize land will intensify pressure on Mr Zelensky and Ukraine, as the Trump administration continues to push both sides towards accepting a ceasefire - which would include significant territorial concessions by Kyiv.
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A Danish couple who founded a popular eco-resort in the Swedish woods are accused of abandoning the site and leaving behind more than 150 barrels behind filled with human waste.

Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbk established Stedsans in the south of Sweden, a site that boasted more than a dozen wood cabins and an organic restaurant, reportedly attracting the wealthy and influencers.

But a joint investigation in Swedish media accuses the pair of vanishing without informing staff or organising care for their remaining animals several months ago.

The pair, reportedly now in Guatemala, have hit back and claimed there has been a witch hunt after an investigation from newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Politiken. The couple claim they have received death threats and were called horrific things since the article was published.

open image in gallery Hansen and Helbaek set up the resort after leaving Denmark ( Hotel San Pedro la Laguna/Instagram )

It feels like a witch hunt. Im extremely scared and dont know what to do. I have so much more to share and explain, but right now Im just in shock, they posted on social media.

In a separate post, they acknowledged they had made some mistakes but defended their handling of their animals and sewerage, adding: We have not left any animals to die - We had a good system to deal with fecal resources.

We are super sorry for the loss and inconvenience our bankruptcy has caused.

We have disappointed many. Even angered some. And for that we are deeply, truly sorry. But we can say from the bottom of our hearts that we have done all we could, they wrote in a farewell post on their blog. Right from the beginning Stedsans never really had a chance.

A former staffer named Malin told local media the couples car had gone and their house burned down.

She said she had taken in surviving chickens and ducks from the resort, but that many had died before that.

Another former staffer, Lars Delling, said that behind the facade of wooden eco-friendly cabinets melding with the forest was a darker side to the lodge, with sewerage and grey water pumped straight into the forest.

He showed the newspaper the sewerage system used at the resort: Voila. Over 150 barrels filled with human s***, he said.

The investigation said Stedsans was declared bankrupt in March with the couple allegedly leaving behind debts of about 6 million kroner (500,000).

From now on, what happens to assets and debts is out of our hands. All the hand-selected items we have gathered over the years to give Stedsans soul, the buildings we drew and had made in local timber, are no longer ours, the couple wrote in a blog post in January.

As of last week, the couple were preparing to launch their new venture: a hotel called Hotel San Pedro La Laguna in Guatemala, which they said would open in May.

We are shaken, but still standing. Still here to contribute to a softer world, still here to cook delicious food, still trusting our work is not in vain although it has been brutally hard lately to try and forge a new path, they wrote on Instagram.
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President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders aimed at boosting coal, a reliable but polluting energy source thats long been in decline.

According to two senior White House officials, Trump will use his emergency authority to allow some older coal-fired power plants set for retirement to keep producing electricity to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence and electric cars. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the issue before the presidents announcement, expected Tuesday afternoon.

Here's the latest:

In Montana, Blackfeet members say tariffs on Canada violate treaty rights

A Democratic state lawmaker and a rancher who are members of the Native American tribe in northwestern Montana have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking to block Trumps tariffs.

Short of a complete block, they want tariffs halted at three Montana border crossings or for tribal members.

Indigenous people of Montana have treaty rights that allow them to travel and conduct commerce freely across the border. Those date to 1794, long before the present U.S.-Canada boundary line was established, the lawsuit says.

Plaintiff Jonathan St. Goddard, who ranches on the Blackfeet reservation thats along the Canada border, last month broke a tractor wheel and couldnt get one locally, so he traveled to Alberta to buy a replacement. He paid $308 coming back across the U.S. border to cover a 25% tariff, he said in a declaration filed with the lawsuit.

If tariffs continue, the costs from the tariffs will cause irreparable harm to our familys ranch and agricultural business, St. Goddard said.

The other plaintiff is state Sen. Susan Webber.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a trade war everybody tends to lose

He told reporters Tuesday that hes particularly worried about the effect of U.S. tariffs and the trade war its unleashing on the most vulnerable developing countries in which the impact will be more devastating.

Is the United Nations secretary-general worried a trade war will lead to a global recession?

I sincerely hope that we will have no recession because a recession will have dramatic consequences, especially for the poorest people in the world, Guterres said.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Panama President Jose Raul Mulino

The Tuesday meeting came before Hegseth headed to a ribbon cutting for a new U.S.-financed dock on a former U.S. base.

Hegseth did not make any comments as he left the meeting, but posted a photo of the two men laughing on X.

Hegseth wrote that it was an honor speaking with Mulino. You and your countrys hard work is making a difference. Increased security cooperation will make both our nations safer, stronger and more prosperous.

The meeting comes amid tensions over Trumps repeated assertions that the United States is being overcharged to use the Panama Canal and that China has influence over its operations. Panama has denied those allegations.

Minnesotas education chief pushes back on Trump threat to cut school funding over DEI

In a letter to the U.S. Education Department, Minnesotas education chief says the Trump administration has overstepped its authority with its crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The White House last week directed states to gather signatures from local school systems certifying compliance with civil rights laws, including the rejection of what the federal government calls illegal DEI practices. It said schools that dont comply would run the risk of losing funding.

Minnesotas education chief Willie Jett said in the letter that theres nothing illegal about DEI.

Threats to this funding without backing in law or established requirements put key programs at risk that students and schools depend on every day, Jett wrote.

State leaders in New York said last week they wouldnt comply with an Education Department order.

US trade rep says Trump tariffs are getting results, but things may be challenging for awhile

The nations top trade representative said Tuesday that Trumps sweeping tariffs are already getting results, bringing other countries to the negotiating table to discuss reducing their trade barriers.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer addressed the Senate Finance Committee a day after global markets swung wildly and some business leaders lambasted the presidents aggressive bid to raise tariffs on almost every nation.

Greer testified that about 50 countries have sought talks to escape Trumps import tariffs. He said, for example, that Vietnam is cutting its own tariffs on apples, almonds and cherries. The import taxes are designed to reduce Americas massive trade deficits, but Greer conceded the adjustment might be challenging at times.

Congress is getting jittery about Trumps trade wars, especially since stocks collapsed after he announced broad tariffs last Wednesday.

 Read more about Greers comments on tariffs

Supreme Court blocks order requiring Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal workers

The employees were let go in mass firings aimed at dramatically downsizing the federal government.

The justices acted in the administrations emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary employees be reinstated while a lawsuit plays out because their firings didnt follow federal law.

The effect of the high courts order will keep employees in six federal agencies on paid administrative leave for now.

A second lawsuit, filed in Maryland, also resulted in an order blocking the firings at those same six agencies, plus roughly a dozen more. But that order only applies in the 19 states and the District of Columbia that sued the administration.

The Justice Department is separately appealing the Maryland order.

 Read more about the mass firings by the Trump administration

National Park Service restores the original Harriet Tubman and Underground Railroad webpage

It comes in the wake of news reports and public backlash over the changes.

Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Services website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership, NPS spokeswoman Rachel Pawlitz said late Monday in an email. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content.

She did not say who ordered the changes or for what reason. The changes  first reported by The Washington Post  included removing Tubmans picture from the top of the page and making multiple edits to the text. A side-by-side analysis of the pages, using the Internet Archives Wayback Machine, revealed changes that removed references to slavery and changed descriptions about the issue and its brutal realities.

The issue comes amid sweeping government changes to comply with President Trumps campaign against so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies in the federal government.

 Read more about the changes to the webpage on Harriet Tubman

Trump tariffs threaten 35,000 jobs and entire towns in South Africas citrus sector, group says

The Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa says the impending reciprocal tariffs, due to come into effect Wednesday, will be deeply damaging to South Africas largest agricultural export.

The group says the tariffs would likely make South African citrus fruits cost $4.25 more per carton for American consumers. South Africa provides citrus to the U.S. market when it is out of season there.

South Africa is the second-biggest exporter of oranges behind Spain and the worlds fourth-largest exporter of soft citrus fruits, according to the World Citrus Organization.

 Read more about the tariffs effects on South Africas citrus sector

House leaders express concern for any US troop cuts in Europe

The top Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Armed Services Committee expressed concerns about reports that the Trump administration is eyeing a reduction of U.S. forces in Europe, saying America must stick with its NATO allies.

Rep. Michael Rogers, R-Mich., the panels chairman, also voiced opposition to any plan for the U.S. to relinquish NATO command. The U.S. historically has held the Supreme Allied Command Europe position.

U.S. leadership in NATO is essential to ensure armed American forces, including our nuclear weapons, always remain under U.S. command, said Rogers at the start of a hearing with Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. European Command and the NATO commander.

Cavoli told the committee hes recommended that the U.S. maintain its current force totals. There has been roughly 100,000 U.S. troops in Europe.

Trump expected to help plant replacement for historic White House tree

The White House says Trump was participating in an event to plant a 12-year-old Magnolia sapling to replace a nearly 200-year-old Magnolia tree that was removed Monday due to safety concerns.

The sapling is a direct descendant of the Andrew Jackson-era Magnolia.

Trump had announced last month that the tree was in terrible condition and would be removed because it had become a safety hazard.

A disagreement over tariffs between two of Trumps top advisers is escalating

Elon Musk said on X that Peter Navarro, a trade adviser, is truly a moron and dumber than a sack of bricks.

Navarro had previously said Musk was protecting his own interests by opposing tariffs. He also described Musks electric automaker, Tesla, as a car assembler thats dependent on importing parts from overseas.

Musk rejected that characterization, citing research that showed Tesla produced the most American-made cars.

Trump again seeks to boost coal as part of agenda for US energy dominace

Trump is expected to sign executive orders Tuesday aimed at boosting coal, a reliable but polluting energy source thats long been in decline.

According to two senior White House officials, Trump will use his emergency authority to allow some older coal-fired power plants set for retirement to keep producing electricity to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence and electric cars. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue before the presidents announcement, expected Tuesday afternoon.

Trump, a Republican, has long promised to boost what he calls beautiful coal to fire power plants and other uses, but the industry has been in decline for decades.

The orders expected Tuesday will direct federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining and prioritize coal leasing on U.S. lands, according to information from the White House officials.

 Matthew Daly

Trumps Tuesday schedule

At 10:30 a.m., Trump will participate in a commemorative tree planting on the South Lawn of the White House.

At 3 p.m., hell attend an Unleashing American Energy Executive Order Signing Event.

This evening, at 6:45 p.m., Trump will deliver remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner at the Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

At 1 p.m., Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will deliver a briefing at the White House.

Trump to meet with House Republicans on the budget

The president will host House Republicans at the White House on Tuesday as the GOP leadership continue to wrangle votes for the partys budget resolution.

That meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m., according two people with knowledge of it. The people were granted anonymity to discuss a meeting that hasnt been made public.

 Seung Min Kim

As a future of US foreign aid cuts comes into focus, so do efforts to respond

With most programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development cut and the agencys remaining staff told their jobs will end by September, the reality of the Trump administrations sudden halt to more than 60 years of international development work has sunk in.

Billionaire presidential advisor Elon Musk, who led the charge to dismantle USAID, has called the agency criminal and corrupt. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said many programs didnt advance American interests. The administration continues to cancel programs, including humanitarian and food aid, and has said it will roll any remaining programs into the State Department.

Two months into the cuts, some workers and organizations, who once carried out those programs, are developing a variety of initiatives to stand in the breach left by the dismantling of U.S. foreign aid.

 Read more about cuts to U.S. foreign aid

Trump says high tariffs may have prevented the Great Depression. History says different

In the early days of the Great Depression, Rep. Willis Hawley, a Republican from Oregon, and Utah Republican Sen. Reed Smoot thought they had landed on a way to protect American farmers and manufacturers from foreign competition: tariffs.

President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in 1930, even as many economists warned the levies would prompt retaliatory tariffs from other countries, which is precisely what happened. The U.S. economy plunged deeper into a devastating financial crisis that it wouldnt pull out of until World War II.

Most historians look back on Smoot-Hawley as a mistake that made a bad economic climate much worse. But tariffs have a new champion in President Donald Trump.

 Read more about tariffs in U.S. history

US Steel rises for a 2nd day after Trump orders new security review of Nippon Steel bid

President Joe Biden blocked the deal just before leaving office and Trump had vowed to do the same in previous months. Late Monday Trump ordered the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review the transaction to assist me in determining whether further action in this matter may be appropriate.

Shares soared 16% Monday and are up nearly 3% before the opening bell Tuesday.

The confidential review will look for potential national security risks from the proposed deal and the U.S. will give Nippon and U.S. Steel time to respond to any concerns.

CFIUS will have 45 days to submit a recommendation to Trump detailing whether any measures proposed by Nippon and U.S. Steel are sufficient to mitigate identified risks.

 Read more about Nippon Steels bid to buy U.S. Steel

Irans foreign minister says hell have indirect talks with US envoy over Tehrans nuclear program

Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday hell meet with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman for the first negotiations under the Trump administration seeking to halt Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program as tensions remain high in the Middle East.

Speaking to Iranian state television from Algeria, Araghchi maintained the talks would be indirect, likely with Omani mediators shuttling between the parties. President Trump, in announcing the negotiations Monday, described them as direct talks.

Years of indirect talks under the Biden administration failed to reach any success, as Tehran now enriches uranium up to 60% purity  a technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Both the U.S. and Israel have threatened Iran with military attack over the program, while officials in Tehran increasingly warn they could potentially pursue a nuclear bomb.

 Read more about talks between the U.S. and Iran

RFK Jr. says he plans to tell CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. Kennedy said hes assembling a task force of health experts to study the issue and make new recommendations.

Also on Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reviewing new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water. The EPA sets the maximum level allowed in public water systems.

Kennedy told The Associated Press of his plans after a news conference with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in Salt Lake City.

Kennedy cannot order communities to stop fluoridation, but he can direct the CDC to stop recommending it and work with the EPA to change the allowed amount.

Utah last month became the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, pushing past opposition from dentists and national health organizations who warned the move would disproportionately hurt low-income residents who cant afford regular dentist visits.

 Read more about RFK Jr.s comments about fluoride in drinking water

China says it will fight to the end after Trump threatens to impose still more tariffs

China said Tuesday it would fight to the end and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

The Commerce Ministry said the U.S.s imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs on China is completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.

China, the worlds second-largest economy, has announced retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming.

The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate, the ministry said.

The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end, it added.

 Read more about Chinas response to Trumps tariffs

Supreme Court allows Trump to deport Venezuelans under wartime law, but only after judges review

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to use an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants, but said they must get a court hearing before they are taken from the United States.

In a bitterly divided decision, the court said the administration must give Venezuelans who it claims are gang members reasonable time to go to court.

But the conservative majority said the legal challenges must take place in Texas, instead of a Washington courtroom.

The courts action appears to bar the administration from immediately resuming the flights that last month carried hundreds of migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The flights came soon after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to justify the deportations under a presidential proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.

 Read more about the Supreme Courts ruling
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Two Chinese soldiers have been captured inside Ukraine fighting alongside Vladimir Putins forces, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday as he claimed there are many more among Russias ranks.

Ukrainian forces battled six Chinese citizens in the eastern Donetsk region and took two prisoner, according to the Ukrainian president, who shared footage of one of the prisoners, who appeared with his hands zip-tied together.

Kyiv demanded an explanation from Beijing, summoning Chinas charge d'affaires as foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the development undermines Beijing's credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council.

open image in gallery The Ukrainian president said the capture of the two Chinese soldiers required a response from the White House ( Zelensky/Telegram )

Mr Zelensky said the clash with the Chinese soldiers occurred near the villages of Tarasivka and Bilohorivka in Donetsk.

The involvement of Chinese troops appears to be the most significant participation of foreign fighters in Moscows war effort since 12,000 North Koreans assisted Russian troops in Kursk  where they recently reclaimed large areas of land from Ukraine.

But Mr Zelensky noted a difference between the two: "The North Koreans were fighting on the Kursk front against us. The Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine.

In a post on X, the Ukrainian president said the development required a response from the White House, from which Kyiv has repeatedly demanded a stronger stance against continued Russian aggression amid continuing efforts to achieve a ceasefire.

open image in gallery Thousands of North Korean troops were sent to fight Ukrainian forces in Kursk ( Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service )

There has been no suggestion that Chinas government was directly involved in sending troops to Ukraine, and Kyiv has yet to provide evidence of further Chinese citizens on its front lines.

UK defence intelligence officials also have no evidence the captured soldiers have links to the Chinese government, it is understood.

Defence analyst Francis Tusa suggested that if Chinese troops were being used, it could indicate Russian manpower problems, with Moscow throwing thousands of troops towards the eastern frontline each day, suffering significant personnel losses for relatively small territorial gains.

"It does raise the question of whether Russia has got problems with its troops, he told The Independent. They have only introduced very partial conscription and have tried to avoid making it Muscovites.

"It might be considered by Putin to be better to bring in Chinese mercenaries rather than his own people where there is a risk of potential rebellion and people saying no.

"However, that would be slightly high risk by Russia, as Trump does not like the Chinese."

John Lough, head of foreign policy at the New Eurasian Strategies Centre, believes troops may have been coerced to join Russian forces with the promise of a future in Moscow, after dozens of Indian men were sent to the front line under the same pretences last year.

It is very hard to believe that the Chinese authorities would be in any way involved in this, Mr Lough told The Independent, noting that Beijing has been extremely careful to limit their involvement in this war.

Mr Zelensky may be seeking a geopolitical advantage by suggesting Beijing might be behind the move, the experts said, with the president hoping to drive a wedge between the increasingly friendly regimes in Washington and Moscow.

Many figures in the Trump administration hold a particularly hostile stance towards China, with tensions between Beijing and Washington higher than ever as a tariff war rages on.

I think the US needs to pay more attention to what's happening today," Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday. "We really hope that after this situation, Americans will talk more with Ukrainians, and then with Russians.

It makes sense that Mr Zelensky would want to play this up, Mr Lough said, because he knows there are people in the [Trump] administration who are very sensitive on China.

Mr Tusa said the US president wants the war between Russia and Ukraine to end so he can focus on China.

"If China is providing troops to the Russians, Zelensky has a strong position: that the people Trump does not like are in bed with Putin, so cut him some slack, he said.

China has provided strong diplomatic support for Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has offered an economic lifeline through the trade in energy and consumer goods.
 Close Zelensky shares video of captured Chinese citizens who he says joined Russia's war on Ukraine

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UK defence intelligence officials have no evidence Chinese soldiers captured fighting for Putin have links to the Chinese government, it is understood.

Volodymyr Zelensky has alleged that Chinese soldiers have joined Russias war effort, two of whom have been taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces.

Kyivs forces engaged in battle with six Chinese troops in Donetsk, the Ukrainian president said, adding that Ukraine believes there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier's units than just these two.

Kyiv demanded an explanation from Beijing, summoning Chinas charge d'affaires as foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the development undermines Beijing's credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council.

But it is understood that UK officials have so far found nothing that links the captured troops to the Chinese government.

It comes months after North Korea first sent troops to assist Vladimir Putins war effort in Russias Kursk region, where Moscows forces have reclaimed large swathes of land from Ukraine.

Russian officials and state media claimed on Tuesday to be close to regaining full control of Kursk after purportedly pushing Ukraine from one of its few remaining footholds in the settlement of Guyevo  although Moscow has frequently made such assertions prematurely.

As Ukraine withdraws from Kursk, Mr Zelensky confirmed for the first time that Ukrainian troops were now operating in Russias neighbouring Belgorod region.
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On the Greek island of Amorgos, nestled within a cliffside monastery seemingly untouched by time, Father Spyridon Denaxas stands as a steadfast symbol of faith and community.

For more than 50 years he has devoted his life to prayer and service within the walls of Panagia Hozoviotissa, a sanctuary that has endured for over 1000 years.

Much of Europe has experienced a wave of secularisation, and neighbouring islands like Santorini are grappling with the overwhelming influx of beach-centric tourism.

However, Amorgos is holding onto its spiritual roots.

The island's Orthodox Christian monks, particularly Father Spyridon, remain deeply revered figures in the local community.

That reverence was strikingly evident during a recent period of intense seismic activity. When a series of earthquakes rattled the island, Father Spyridon was away dealing with a medical emergency. His absence, though necessary, sparked widespread concern and anticipation among the islanders, regardless of their religious beliefs.

"I wanted to be here with my community, feel their emotions, because Im responsible. God put me here to care for them," he explained upon his return to the monastery, which was unscathed by the tremors. He noted that not even a single rock had fallen.

open image in gallery Father Spyridon of Amorgos exits the chapel at the Monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa ( AP )

Even during his longest absence last year, a five-month period spent on the mainland for surgeries, the island buzzed with speculation about his return.

This sentiment echoes the islanders' deep connection to the monk. As local resident Mina Mavrou simply put it, "Hes part of the island." His return, a long ferry journey from Athens, was a welcome event for the entire community.

Orthodox monk welcomes the world to island monastery

Settled back at his whitewashed monastery perched between sky and sea, the monk was elated.

I feel spiritual euphoria having met the people of the village again, those who were searching for me and missed me, he said. I am overjoyed with the monastic life and my return to my natural environment.

Tradition holds that Byzantine monks fleeing persecution in the Middle East in the 9th century sailed to this mountainous island with an icon of the Virgin Mary. They were building a shelter in a cave when falling rocks revealed a chisel hanging farther up the cliffside.

open image in gallery Orthodox Christian monk Father Spyridon walks at the Monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa along the Aegean Sea ( AP )

Taking it as a sign, they spent the next decades constructing the monastery more than 150 meters (500 feet) above the sea, where both the icon and the chisel are still on view in the small chapel that anchors the complex.

Spyridon, who was born on Amorgos, joined the monastery straight out of high school in 1971, when he was 18. Hes now one of only two monks there, plus an assistant, 35-year-old Constantin Papakonstantinou, who hopes one day to join them. For now, he tells visitors the monasterys history in the various languages he learned during a previous career in fashion.

Seated at the chapels entrance, Spyridon welcomes pilgrims with a smile

Many are still puffing after climbing almost 1,000 feet of stepstones from a parking lot, squeezing through the tiny entrance door, and climbing again a narrow staircase to the dark chapel. There, they pay homage to the icon before stepping into the blinding sunshine of the terrace.

The stunning views of the sea shimmering far below are a major draw for tourists, too, coming from nearby, often overrun destinations in the Cyclades islands.

Whether theyre on a quest to nourish their spiritual life or their Instagram feed, Spyridon is eager to welcome all visitors, offering cold water, sweets and shots of homemade honey-flavored raki liqueur.

The Virgin Mary extends her hand and pours healing balm into the souls of all people, he said. This is an ecumenical monastery, open to the whole world. ... Everyone receives something from her grace.

open image in gallery The faithful stand outside the chapel of Panagia Evangelistria ( AP )

Island life continues to revolve around beloved monastery

Panagia Hozoviotissa, whose image is on the cover of the current Lonely Planet Greece guide, is far from the only house of worship in Europe thats also a tourist attraction.

But Amorgos monastery serves another function too  a crucial reference point for locals, who seek the monks help, both material and spiritual, as Eastern Christians have for nearly 2,000 years.

People would go seek them out in the desert or caves for wisdom, become attached to them as spiritual guides, said Ed Siecienski, a Stockton University religion professor. There is a sense of the monks out there as super-Christian.

Even when Spyridon was away for knee and dental surgeries, islanders like Mavrou called him often to ask about his recovery and receive his blessing, she said.

Unlike Orthodox parish priests, who often are married, monks remain celibate  a decision that Spyridon pondered as a teen. He has no regrets, he said, viewing his flock as his family.

open image in gallery Father Spyridon speaks with a newly married French couple Thomas and Valentine on their way to the Monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa ( AP )

Their children would be my children. I would rejoice with everyone, mourn with everyone, and be with them according to their circumstances, he said.

On name day when people celebrate their namesake saints  in traditional Greek culture a bigger feast than birthdays  Spyridon calls with congratulations. If its a popular name like Vangelis, celebrated in late March, he makes dozens of calls, starting before dawn to catch those in Australia or the Americas.

He often visits in person, making his way with a gnarled stick to remote chapels in the rock-strewn hillsides and the villages scattered around Amorgos.

After he stopped at a coffee shop recently, the owner said he has three photos on display  portraying his mother, his father and the monastery.

I want a photograph of Father Spyridon to place next to my father. Because I love him deeply, Nikolaos Economides said.

Days of work and prayer starting well before dawn

open image in gallery Father Spyridon of Amorgos looks out from the chapel ( AP )

Monks' days tend to be anchored in busy schedules of worship and work, since the monasteries have to support themselves.

There is no time for boredom. Nor for melancholy, Spyridon said. He rises daily at 3 a.m. for the first prayer service and doesnt go to sleep until after 9 p.m.

Michalis Giannakos left Amorgos after high school 20 years ago, but remembers visiting the monastery as a child and seeing Spyridon hurrying up and down its rocky slopes, tending to animals like the monasterys donkey and greeting pilgrims.

Spyridon was there taking care of people, making sure people visiting were happy, Giannakos said while vacationing on Amorgos.

While many urban Greeks are distanced from or even hostile to the church, for smaller places, its still important. Its not just about the faith and religion, he added.

Thats because on an island like Amorgos  population 2,000, divided among a main mountaintop village and smaller hamlets  clergy can be called upon to manage conflicts and provide advice.

The monastery gave some of its land to build a school, Giannakos recalled, and hosts most of the population during its feast days in November.

Spyridon gives a lot to people, said Cristina Astrecha, who teaches religion in Amorgos' school. Thats spirituality, you can see it from the acts of a person.
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Airport layovers and delays might not be anyones favorite part of traveling, but some U.S. airports are turning mealtime into a highlight.

Recently Food & Wine revealed its 2025 Global Tastemakers Award in which more than 400 industry experts are polled to determine the most unforgettable food and drink experiences across the United States and around the world. One category required the experts to choose which airports in the U.S. have the best food.

Each winner embodies what we at Food & Wine savor about travel: a connection to culture and community; abundant, delicious, and mind-expanding experiences; and a taste of something real, said Hunter Lewis, Food & Wine vice president and editor-in-chief.

This years list is designed for travelers, not tourists  for people who want to understand what makes a place tick, one unforgettable bite or sip at a time.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport in Georgia was ranked number one out of the magazines list of 10. The airport has more than 160 dining areas. The magazine specifically brought attention to their soul food restaurants.

The second place ranking on the list was taken by Chicago OHare International Airport in Illinois. Food & Wine highlighted the airports pop-up food festivals since they partnered with the James Beard Foundation.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport in Georgia received Food & Wines number one spot ( Getty Images )

The top 10 airports in the U.S. with the best food are:

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport (Georgia) Chicago OHare International Airport (Illinois) John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York) LaGuardia Airport (New York) Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (Texas) Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (Texas) San Francisco International Airport (California) Denver International Airport (Colorado) Miami International Airport (Florida) Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Washington)

Food & Wine also created a ranking of the best airport food throughout the world with the Dubai International Airport taking the top spot as experts highlighted restaurants such as The Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck, LEclair de Genie, and Tranzeet.

No airports in the U.S. were able to secure a spot on the Top 10 global list.

The ranking of best airport food comes shortly after the luggage storage website Bounce.com released its list of best airlines for nervous fliers after asking over 2,000 travelers what makes them uneasy or uncomfortable during a flight.

Bounce.com used the survey data to determine which airline features make passengers feel the least uneasy or uncomfortable and compared major airlines using these factors to create a stress-free score out of 10.

The best airline for anxious passengers was Singapore Airlines, with a stress-free score of 8.94 out of 10. Bounce said that the airlines wide economy seats give flyers more room to sleep or relax on longer flights. The airline also offers in-flight meditation playlists for people to take their minds off any anxiety-inducing situations around them.
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Italys state railway has announced plans to run between London and Paris by 2029 as part of a 1bn (860m) investment in services through the Channel Tunnel and beyond.

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS) says it will use trains inspired by its Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) express services in continental Europe to establish competition against incumbent, Eurostar.

The group, which has a 30 per cent stake in Avanti West Coast and runs the C2C franchise between London and south Essex, is studying possible extensions of the new service to Lyon, Marseille and Milan and is evaluating a possible reopening of Ashford International.

Since the Covid pandemic, Eurostar has enjoyed extremely strong demand on its rail link between France and the UK. Booking a day ahead, of the 15 departures on the route only four have seats available  with a minimum fare of 235 one way. The easyJet air fare from Luton is over 100 cheaper.

But patient passengers can look forward to competition. Stefano Antonio Donnarumma, chief executive of the Italian enterprise, said: High-speed rail networks are the backbone of efficient and environmentally friendly mobility, and by expanding our presence on key corridors, we are not just investing in infrastructure and innovation, but also in the future of European transport.

More competition will help to create a more efficient and customer-oriented industry, offering a real alternative to air travel.

The rail link between London and the Channel Tunnel is current operating at only 50 per cent capacity, according to London St Pancras Highspeed, which runs the line. Its chief executive, Robert Sinclair, said: We welcome the role that new and existing operators can play in increasing capacity on the high-speed line between London St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel.

Greater competition will offer more choice for passengers, lower fares, and access to new destinations, all of which support a shift to more sustainable travel.

Encouraging more people to choose rail over air is one of the most effective ways to cut transport emissions. We are excited about working with all operators that share our ambition to grow the market, attract new passengers, and realise the full environmental and economic potential of high-speed rail.

FS says it is working with Evolyn, a Spanish start-up that had previously said it wanted to begin services on the route by 2025.

Sir Richard Bransons Virgin Group has also expressed an interest in running trains between London and Paris, as has a start-up named Gemini.

But speaking to The Independent last month, Susanne Kries  co-author of Europe by Rail  predicted: It will be a FS Frecciarossa which first competes with Eurostar."

The FS announcement follows two significant developments in the past 10 days. London St Pancras Highspeed announced discounts on infrastructure charges to operators planning new routes. And a study from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) concluded that some capacity can be made available for competitors at Eurostars Temple Mills maintenance depot in east London.

A Eurostar spokesperson said: Emerging competition in the international high-speed rail sector is another example of positive signals indicating growing demand for rail in Europe. Growing cross-Channel rail is a race which Eurostar is firmly in, and we welcome competition.

Were confident in our leadership in this sector and excited about the future. Thats why were investing in a new fleet of 50 trains, upgrading our stations, and working with partners to improve capacity and connectivity. Our ambition is to grow the market together  giving more people the opportunity to choose rail and enjoy world-class service."

FS raised the prospect of longer links from London, including to Milan, and Marseille via Lyon. The latter was a Eurostar route that was dropped in response to both Covid and Brexit.

Mark Smith, the international rail guru known behind The Man in Seat 61, said: A ready-made network London-Paris-Lyon-Avignon-Aix-Marseille/Turin-Milan is quite exciting, I must admit.

But Adam Parkinson, founder of the GoLink Advisory Group, said the prospect of competition running within four years is over-ambitious.

The Channel Tunnel is a complex piece of railway infrastructure. Rolling stock which operates on this route is bespoke to meet strict fire and emergency egress safety regulations.

Despite multiple promises and claims from aspiring operators on this route, it is simply not feasible for any new entrant to start operations earlier than 2030s as there is at minimum a five-year lead time for new rolling stock from the point of financing.

Even if a new rolling stock order was placed in 2025, our best estimate would be for a 2032 operations start. This is based on current factory capacity with the major European rolling stock manufacturers, plus gaining international approval for safety and operational standards  which adds further lead times.

Eurostar mothballed two stations in Kent after Brexit: Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International. FS said an evaluation is under way to run trains to and from Ashford.

High-speed rail competition is flourishing in Spain, where the national operator Renfe is in competition against French-owned Ouigo and Iryo, part-owned by FS. The Madrid-Barcelona rail distance, just over 500km/300 miles, is almost identical to London-Paris. But fares for short-notice trips are typically 40 (34).
Attorney General Pam Bondi left abruptly after being pressed by the media on a report that 75% of Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador did not have public criminal records.

During a press event outside the White House, Bondi was asked about a segment on CBSs 60 Minutes which uncovered evidence that three quarters of those shipped overseas actually had no public criminal record.

The Attorney General doubled down that the migrants should never have been in the country in the first place and were violent criminals.

When repeatedly asked to confirm that they didn't commit a crime, she walked away.
I may not have a joint bank account, but all my money is my own  the financial perks of being single
Retrofitting old office buildings in Ireland is likely to cost owners millions of euro, but could result in up to a 66pc increase in rental income, according to a report published this morning by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI).
Race hatred became the norm and the Scots-Irish led the way: the killing campaign that JD Vance wont be trumpeting

Hard Neighbors by Colin Calloway casts new light on this bloody history of emigrants who were at the forefront of driving Native tribes off their lands

A Scots-Irish hillbilly at heart: US vice president JD Vance at the St Patricks Day breakfast at the White House. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Liam Kennedy Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 03:30

US vice-president JD Vance has described himself as a Scots-Irish hillbilly at heart. This is music to the ears of some unionist politicians and commentators in Northern Ireland who espy opportunities of access and influence in the Trump administration. And so Stormonts communities minister Gordon Lyons presented Vance with a history of his ancestral links to Ireland at an event in Washington leading up to St Patricks Day.
A lorry driver for Arla Foods, a dairy products company makes a milk delivery to a Tesco supermarket in London on August 3, 2021. - Haulage companies are reporting issues with finding drivers due to an exodus of Europeans following Brexit and the Covid pandemic. (Photo by Tolga Akmen / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)

Denmark's Arla Foods and Germany's DMK Group plan to merge into one cooperative, bringing together more than 12,000 farmers to create a European dairy giant.

The joint entity will carry the Arla name and has a combined annual revenue of 19 billion, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday. The headquarters will be in Viby, Denmark, with current Arla Chief Executive Officer Peder Tuborgh retaining that role in the new company.

Arla and DMK Group are among Europe's biggest dairy cooperatives. The merger will help secure a strong milk price for owners, provide a more diversified product portfolio and allow investment in the future of dairy, the firms said.

The boards of the companies will meet in June to vote on the merger and approval is expected later this year. Arla Chairman Jan Toft Norgaard will remain chair.

Bloomberg.
If we dont intervene we could hit 60,000 reactors a year - Minister Heydon to take clear action on TB proposals within weeks

Martin Heydon pledges urgency as he tackles escalating problem that he accepts he will be judged on  but admits he doesnt have the funds in his budget. He also reveals how he intends to minimise the damage caused by Trumps tariffs, keep the Nitrates Derogation and improve farm succession

Minister Martin Heydon with some of his bullocks on his Kildare farm

Margaret Donnelly Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 03:30

The Minister for Agriculture has said he will make decisions around proposals to tackle TB in the coming weeks.
Weanlings exports more than double due to huge Spanish demand

Israel was the main destination for Irish weanlings last year with 2,127 exports, but just 117 weanlings have gone to Israel so far in 2025

The sixfold increase in the number of weanlings puts Spain ahead of Italy and Northern Ireland. Photo: Roger Jones

Catherina Cunnane Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 03:30

The number of weanlings exported in the first three months of 2025 has nearly doubled compared to the same period last year.
Meet the Monaghan students milking cows in -15C conditions in Missouri

The pair explain how they stepped outside our comfort zone and how US dairy differs from what they are used to back home

Donna Sherlock and Grace Kelly are on a 16-week work placement on dairy farms in Missouri

Catherina Cunnane Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 03:30

Donna Sherlock and Grace Kelly are learning the ropes of large-scale dairy farming in Springfield, Missouri, USA, where temperatures dip as low as -15C.
Are pensioner farmers blocking the next generation? Economist urges subsidy cuts for retirees

Radical measure is best way to free up land for younger farmers, says leading economist

Farmers gather on the streets in Dublin city centre as a protest by farmers over the prices they get for their produce continues. (Photo by Brian Lawless/PA Images via Getty Images)

Ciaran Moran Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 03:30

A frustrated reader wrote to this newspaper with a stark complaint back in the year 2000: an 88-year-old bachelor farmer near him was receiving 15,000 a year in subsidies, while his own 24-year-old son was 'drowning in bureaucracy', unable to secure support.
Credit Unions restrict access to popular farm loans as they hit credit limits

Central Bank rules hindering credit unions ability to give more farmers access to Cultivate loans

Minister of State Robert Troy with Joe Healy and Therese Conway of Collaborative Finance at the launch of National Cultivate Week, which runs from April 7-13, 2025. Photo: Peter Houlihan

Ciaran Moran Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 03:30

Some Credit Unions are having to restrict access to their popular Cultivate farm loans as they reach credit limits imposed by the Central Bank.
Meta AI is a digital assistant that can be summoned on Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp

Metas new AI assistant is on track to become the worlds leading artificial intelligence, according to Mark Zuckerberg.

But its arrival in Ireland as part of its European rollout has left some WhatsApp users less than happy at their inability to switch it off or remove it.

Angry WhatsApp users have flooded a Reddit thread with rants about the unwanted AI guest, with many describing their unsuccessful bids to turn it off.

All I want to know is how to remove it, wrote one fed-up user, in a comment that quickly racked up more than 1,000 upvotes. Another replied: I tried that and cant. I wish there was an equivalent app I could keep contacts on.

Meta AI is a digital assistant that can be summoned on Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp

Today's News in 90 seconds - 8th April 2025

Some are raising the issue with Meta, spamming customer support in the hopes of a fix and urging users to phone the company in protest. I keep asking for a way to disable it and I dont even get a response  my ticket is just closed, one user wrote.

Some are getting creative: Change your phone language to Irish, one commenter suggested, adding, apparently the AI doesnt work in Gaeilge.

Meta AI is a digital assistant that can be summoned on Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp to answer a range of questions  or just for a chat.

These chatbots, known as large language models, have absorbed vast amounts of text and data, enabling them to generate natural conversations on various topics.

Others include ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Chinas DeepSeek.

And because its a multi-modal AI, you can also speak to it and get it to whip up images and videos, with slightly different capabilities on Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

However, whether users actually want it is up for debate. Annoyed users have been venting about the chatbots arrival since its launch in 2023. Complaints have been surging on social media after its expansion into the EU and beyond.

Aside from complaints about the assistant itself, many are worried their data is being hoovered up to train the tech  especially given Metas chequered history with privacy and targeted ads. Others claim the rollout has brought bugs and crashes, adding to their frustration.

Meta says its AI cannot access your private messages, such as those on WhatsApp or Messenger, to train its AI models. However, it does use your interactions with AI features  such as searching for stickers or chatting with AI characters  to improve its products.
Where Michelin-star chefs go to eat a curry: I think its some of the best food of any kind being served in Ireland right now
University Hospital Kerry has apologised in the High Court for the deficiencies in the standard of care to a man who went to A&E with abdominal pain, was discharged after ten hours and wasnt operated on until he returned in excruciating pain hours later.
Cocaine weighing 152kgs and worth 10.65m was discovered concealed in a truck on the M9 in Co. Kilkenny

Ireland's most significant drugs gang is suspected of being behind a sinister arson attack on vehicles linked to a businessman charged over a 10.6m cocaine haul, believed to be controlled by the criminal group.

Michael Murphy (60) remains in custody in Cork Prison after he was arrested in connection with the seizure of the significant quantity of cocaine found concealed in a truck on the M9 in Co Kilkenny last month.
A government decision to freeze statutory sick pay at five days a year has been described as short-sighted.

Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke, confirmed today that the paid leave, worth up to 110 a day, will remain at five days a year.

This follows a government decision to halt plans to increase the entitlement to seven days in January, and carry out a review.

Workers are entitled to up to five days of paid sick leave in a calendar year. It is paid by their employers and is worth 70pc of gross earnings, up to a daily cap of 110.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said the U-turn to stop the planned rollout of sick leave is a mistake and short-sighted.

Minister Burke said he is committed to promoting working conditions in Ireland and boosting job creation.

I must also ensure that we create a regulatory environment that allows businesses to remain viable, and, indeed, to thrive, he said.

He said business owners and representative organisations, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors, have consistently raised concerns about the cumulative impact of such regulatory measures in light of rising labour, input and energy costs.

Five days sick leave strikes the right balance, he said.

It gives workers income protection for five days, after which Illness Benefit is there to support them.

He said paid sick leave ensures that employees are entitled to a minimum level of financial compensation if they are unable to work due to illness or injury.

The minister said the illness benefit scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection remains available to eligible employees once they have exhausted their entitlement to employer-paid sick leave.

Research by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on sick leave in Ireland found that firms in the retail, accommodation and food services sectors are likely to be more affected should the statutory sick leave entitlement increase from five days to seven days, he said.

Under the original government plan, statutory sick pay was due to rise from seven days in January this year to ten days next year.

When asked how long it will remain at five days, a department spokesperson said: As we do with our entire suite of robust employment rights protections, we will keep the appropriate level of statutory sick leave under consideration, but the intention is that it will remain at five days for now.

Owen Reidy, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said keeping paid sick leave at five days is an appalling decision that will affect the lowest paid and the most vulnerable workers in the economy.

He said many of the people affected are the same people in hospitality and retail that were being lauded as front-line workers during Covid-19.

However, business group Chambers Ireland expressed support for the move.

The decision not to introduce additional statutory sick pay measures is a welcome relief for employers who are striving to manage their operations amidst escalating costs, increases in the minimum wage and a series of other new legislative requirements implemented in recent years, said chief executive Ian Talbot. This will allow businesses to focus on maintaining their workforce and sustaining their operations during these uncertain times.

Ensuring that employers are not overburdened with additional obligations is vital for the stability and growth of our economy."

He also said businesses are already preparing for the implementation of pension auto-enrolment.

"Auto-enrolment is a significant step forward in improving retirement savings for employees, Mr Talbot said. While it presents its own set of challenges, we are committed to working with businesses to ensure a smooth transition and compliance with the new requirements.
Ukrainian refugees are to further trimmed supports after a Cabinet meeting today.

Education assistance for the displaced beneficiaries of temporary protection with be brought into line with aids to native students.

The adjustment follows cuts in the grants directly payable to Ukrainians, along with a 25pc reduction in payments to their host families, down from 800 a month to 600.

There have also been increased demands for Ukrainian families to relocate from established accommodation, or encouragement to move out entirely or even return home.

Minister James Lawless will seek approval to align education supports for Ukrainians with those for Irish citizens.

Stock image

Today's News in 90 seconds - 8th April 2025

Up to now the former have been supported through a range of measures, including the Temporary Tuition Fee Support Scheme and a Financial Stipend for Full-time Higher Education.

A Government decision on October 2022, agreed that there should be equitable treatment with Irish citizens. Supports are therefore now being amended to reflect this decision, effective from enrolment in September 2025, an official said.

Any Ukrainian students already enrolled in ongoing studies will be unaffected by the changes. The Government said however that it remains committed to supporting Ukrainian students, with the provision of high-quality education a benefit not just to the students but to society and our economy as a whole.

Meanwhile Housing and Environment Minister James Browne will update Government on the ESB Networks Winter 2025 Resilience Plan, which was instructed by Government after Storm Eowyn.

The plan sets out actions across a number of key areas including removing potential hazards, surveying, resourcing and innovation to build resilience in the electricity network for the winter ahead.

A key component relates to standards that safeguard electricity infrastructure when passing through forestry. Liaison is taking place with Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon and the Attorney General over legal measures.

Separately, Transport Minister Darragh OBrien will seek final sign-off on the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy project.

Cork County Council, under the direction of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, will enter a contract for construction works beginning this month.

Completion of the 10.9km of dual-carriageway motorway is expected within three years.

Cabinet will also be told there will be further work on priority national road projects in 2025 within the upcoming review of the National Development Plan.

The N28 is the primary route from Cork to Ringaskiddy and extends from the junction with the N40 South Ring Road at Bloomfield Interchange to the latter town.

The N28 has seen 18 collisions that involved fatal or serious injuries in recent years, necessitating the upgrade.

The proposed project will improve safety and reduce journey times significantly. The northbound morning commute is expected to shorten by at least 23 minutes and the evening return by 21 minutes.

A Land Development Agency (LDA) report on the potential for housing development on public lands will also be considered by ministers.

This LDA first provided such a report for Government in 2023 and is required to do a fresh report every two years.

It breaks down publicly owned sites into how much investment would be required to develop them as housing.
The Governments long awaited clampdown on Airbnbs and other short-term lets have been hit with yet another delay.

It was expected Enterprise Minister Peter Burke would bring proposals on the Failte Ireland register to Cabinet this morning but this has now been delayed to next week.

As well as the register, the Government intends to bring forward amendments to planning laws - which would be done by Housing Minister James Browne - to effectively ban short term lets in areas with population of over 10,000.

Photo: Getty

Today's News in 90 seconds - 8th April 2025

This would mean Airbnbs are banned in cities and urban areas, but local authorities would have flexibility on green lighting them in rural tourism hotspots.

It is understood the register will be signed off by Cabinet next week now instead.

Sinn Feins Eoin O Broin said it would not be a clampdown as the regime being introduced would not work.

He also criticised the wholly inappropriate intervention by the EU Commission on the new reforms during the term of the last Government.

The pushback from the Commission meant that the reforms were caught up in a series of delays.

He said the Commission has no competence over planning in member states.

We want a system whereby in high demand rental areas, those people engaged in commercial short term letting are prevented from basically breaking the law which is what theyre doing at the current time.

In rural areas, in particular high tourism areas, there are a lot of very legitimate shortfall in short term letting.

He said this should be regularised in a legitimate and cost effective way.
Luke Ryan (7) was one of three children who were given experimental surgical implants and put at risk from corrosive steel which should never be used, an inquiry report has revealed Health Minister Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill has said she will reflect on the board of CHI following the damning report

Pictured: Luke Ryan, who had the surgery when he was two years old, with his parents David Ryan and Liz McMahon and his siblings. Photo: Fran Veale

The parents of a little boy who had an experimental implant inserted during spinal surgery in Temple Street Childrens Hospital, which was at risk of corroding, have spoken of their distress at the findings of a damning watchdog report.

Luke Ryan (7) from Co Meath was one of three children who were operated on by the same surgeon using an unlicensed implant which has since had to be removed as it disintegrated.

An inquiry by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has revealed the implants were used without ethical approval or the consent of parents.

The surgeries carried out to treat scoliosis between 2020 and 2022 involved non-alloyed spring steel which should not be used in surgeries and can corrode.

Hiqa found a lack of proper oversight controls at Childrens Health Ireland (CHI)  which manages the three childrens hospitals  which left children at risk of harm.

Lukes parents, Liz McMahon and David Ryan, said they welcomed findings which answer many of the relevant questions, although the report was narrowly focused.

Pictured: Luke Ryan, who had the surgery when he was two years old, with his parents David Ryan and Liz McMahon and his siblings. Photo: Fran Veale

'This report is a damning litany of failure' - Mary Lou McDonald on children's spinal surgery report

Luke, who suffers from type 1 spinal muscular atrophy, was operated on in July 2020 aged two.

We trusted CHI to do right by Luke by delivering safe, comprehensive and appropriate care to him, his parents said. "Tragically, it is now abundantly clear as a child Luke was failed by the paediatric services at CHI.

"The very services that should have protected Luke, by providing safe healthcare instead provided what is now clear was an intentional act that resulted in harm to our son who was an innocent child.

"It can only be concluded that Luke was used for unauthorised experimentation where a non-medical grade spring was placed in him, in an attempt at CHI to replicate an unapproved surgical procedure.

Lukes parents revealed that, not surprisingly, that spring device then disintegrated inside Luke, resulting in the necessity for further surgical intervention.

Lukes healthcare pathway was anything but the path that he should have experienced, they said. As parents, we could never have contemplated that an experimental non-medical grade spring would without our knowledge or consent be placed in our child in an Irish hospital. Such an event was a complete breach of parental trust by CHI.

Those actions in a paediatric hospital setting are unforgivable. Such actions must have the most serious consequences, if faith in CHI is to be retrieved. This Hiqa report is only the beginning of that purpose.

The familys solicitor, Raymond Bradley, said the report may be just the tip of the iceberg with several other major reviews of other surgeries also under way.

It is very difficult at the moment to have trust in CHI to deliver appropriate services. That is the appalling reality that arises from that report, he said.

Their comments come as the fallout continues following the report by Hiqa which revealed into the use of "wholly inappropriate" springs in three spinal surgeries, ordered from an industrial machinery company.

No written approval from Children's Health Ireland (CHI) was found in relation to what the report said was a "novel, experimental" surgical procedure carried out by a surgeon at CHI's Temple Street hospital in Dublin. The chairman of the board of CHI, Jim Browne, stepped down following publication of the HIQA report earlier today.

The report found the use of the springs was well-intentioned but "wrong" and also concluded the incident did not follow standard approval processes.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin told the Dail today there has to be accountability as to why procedures were bypassed in relation to the use of non-medical grade springs in child spinal surgeries, however he ruled out a public inquiry.

My thoughts are with the families and the three children and the trauma that they have gone through and are going through, Mr Martin told the Dail.

It is beyond comprehension that springs that are not permitted were used in surgery. The consultant concerned did use springs that were not CE marked. And thats the fundamental issue here.

The Taoiseach ruled out a public inquiry. He was told by TDs Paul Murphy and Ruth Coppinger, of Solidarity/People Before Profit that parents were demanding a public inquiry about the insertion of unauthorised springs into their youngster's bodies, "where they corrode, and effectively rust.

Mr Martin replied: "What happened was fundamentally wrong. But I don't believe a public inquiry is warranted, if I'm honest.

"I've been looking back over the years at all the inquiries that have been conducted across the board in different areas since 1997," he said.

"Half a billion euros has been spent on inquiries. We do need to think about that in the House. People will get very annoyed, and rightly so, about individual projects that might cost a million euro of an overrun, and they talk about value for money.

"Yet we willingly come in here every week and say 'We want an inquiry' into different areas. And inevitably, these inquiries last years and they don't give victims the closure they want.

"They cost millions... I don't mean that in any negative way towards the legal profession, but there are huge fees.

Mr Martin pushed back against claims by Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald that the Government partly bore responsibility for the governance failures at CHI.

There comes a time when we equally have to stand up for what is right and proper, and I know you want to, I know you want to, but lets call a spade a spade here, he told the Dail chamber.

What happened shouldnt have happened. It was an individual decision taken to use springs that should not have been used on any child.

Were the biggest medical device manufacturer in the world, nearly, in Europe. There are set procedures, quality controls over medical devices that go to any patient.

The idea that you would use springs outside of that entire protection framework is beyond belief and responsibility there, in my view, lies with the individual in the first instance. Its as plain as night follows day, you do not use unauthorised devices on any child, that is at the heart of it.

Ms McDonald said there was a "damning litany of failure" disclosed in the "shocking" report. CHI was the body representing the children's hospitals in the State, and the failures were widespread and systemic, she said.

There was no overarching system of governance, with doctors working under different rules at different hospitals, she said. The body responsible for the safety of children had put them at risk, she said, even though deep ethical concerns were raised again and again.

"The failures at Children's Health Ireland were known about for years," she said, noting that there were now emerging horror stories about children's hip surgeries too.

Government stood back and allowed this disaster for children's health to happen and to go unchecked," she continued.

"The trust of children and their families is shattered." The parents of Daniel Collins (14) had spoken to the media about how he now needed two operations because he had been left so long for surgery, she said.

Daniel Collins with his mum, Louise and dad, David - Photo by Mark O'Sullivan

There were 233 still waiting "for the spinal operations that can change their lives," she said, and the report should act as a "catalyst for change."

Earlier, CHI board chairman Dr Jim Browne announced he had stepped down and said he wanted to convey his "sincere apologies" to those who had been failed.

In a statement, Dr Jim Browne said: Following discussions over recent weeks with the Department for Health, I now wish to step down and provide for an orderly transition to a new chair to allow for renewed enthusiasm and passion to guide this great organisation.

I wish to convey my sincere apologies to the children, young people and families that have been failed by the care they received, following the release of the HIQA (Health Information and Quality Authority) report today.

The HIQA review found that the use of the non-CE marked springs as surgical implants was wrong and not authorised by management.

The HIQA review also found that while corporate and clinical governance arrangements were in place in Childrens Health Ireland, there were unclear lines of reporting and accountability to ensure the safe introduction and use of new surgical implants and implantable medical devices.

The revelations emerged in a damning report from Hiqa which was asked to investigate how the implants came to be used on the three children.

It was first disclosed by Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) in 2023 and came after major concerns about 19 other children with spina bifida  operated by the same surgeon  who had developed serious post-surgical complications.

Hiqa found a lack of proper oversight controls at the hospital group  managing the three Dublin childrens hospitals  which left children at risk of harm.

A well-intentioned but ill-considered effort to provide an alternative approach to surgical treatment

The surgeon said the implants were used to reduce the risk of multiple surgeries.

Hiqa said the use was part of a well-intentioned but ill-considered effort to provide an alternative approach to surgical treatment" involving a single operation, for a number of children with life-limiting conditions who otherwise faced multiple operations, each with its associated risks.

Hiqa found that use of the springs in these surgeries was an attempt to replicate an experimental surgical technique that was still under investigation at a hospital in another country, but in a modified way.

But no ethical approval was sought from any ethical research committee in CHI for the introduction of this new technique. Hiqa could not identify any evidence to demonstrate any written approval from any senior manager in CHI on the clinical use of the springs.

The use of the springs in this manner should not have happened

It found there was a lack of information provided to families on the new or experimental nature of the intended surgery, and therefore the request for consent from families by CHI to carry out the surgeries was not in line with the HSEs National Consent Policy 2013, which was in operation in CHI.

The use of the springs in this manner should not have happened, the watchdog said.

Hiqa found the springs ordered were made of a material called non-alloyed spring steel. The report said this is different to the initial description of the springs provided by the surgeon during interview with Hiqa who described the product ordered as being made of medical-grade stainless steel, a material sometimes used for surgical implants.

It is known to corrode in the presence of moisture

This is important because non-alloyed spring steel is not used for surgical implantation. It is known to corrode in the presence of moisture and there is very limited information available on its use or the risks of its use for implantation, the report said.

The hospital management was unaware that this material was used until Hiqa escalated the potential risk to patients in April last year.

The controls in place within CHI for the management of the end-to-end processes did not provide the necessary adequate safeguards at each stage of the process, including those required for the procurement, introduction, decontamination and use of the springs in surgeries.

The surgeon who conducted the surgical procedures using the springs attended an expert international orthopaedic conference on early onset scoliosis in 2018 where a team of researchers from the Netherlands presented the initial findings of a new implantable spring-distraction system for the treatment of scoliosis.

Medical-grade titanium springs, manufactured by a university in the Netherlands, were used in this study. The research team from the Netherlands told Hiqa that they were not contacted the Irish surgeon at any time to discuss their research.

The springs were not ordered, tracked or recorded on the business management system at the hospital.

It came against a background of behavioural and cultural issues within the orthopaedic department in Temple St Hospital and problems with interpersonal relationships, the report said.

The surgeon involved has voluntarily stopped working since September 2023 and has been referred to the Medical Council.

The report said that while there was a number of controls in place, these did not provide adequate safeguards at each stage of the end-to-end process for the introduction and use of the springs. This occurred across a number stages in the process, including approvals processes, multidisciplinary teams, procurement, decontamination and use in theatre.

It pointed to the organisational change and associated revisions of governance structures at the hospital group from January 2019 onwards.

Hiqa found that there were opportunities for CHI to be more proactive in the ongoing care and support of affected children and their families

"Throughout this review, in listening to the experiences of the families affected, Hiqa found that there were opportunities for CHI to be more proactive in the ongoing care and support of affected children and their families, particularly when things go wrong. This applies in the context of both the issues that are the subject of this review and the ongoing wider challenges being experienced in the provision of spinal surgery services at CHI," it said.

The report has nine recommendations covering governance and management. It says CHI must review its overall approach to communication with children and families on an ongoing basis, particularly when things go wrong or when care needs are complex, to ensure a more effective, empathetic and child-centred approach.

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill said she will reflect on the board of Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) following a report into the use of non-medical grade springs in child spine surgeries.

Pressed on whether there should be other resignations, Ms Carroll-MacNeill told RTE: What I need to do is reflect on the board and reflect on the next chairperson and the steps that are taken towards that.

But that is something that I will do but I am looking at the governance more broadly as we move to the new hospital, and how that works.

Ms Carroll-MacNeill said she wanted to ensure there was appropriate governance in place.

What I want to make sure is that every consultant whos employed in the Irish state in childrens health, and in everywhere else, knows that they are not a single fiefdom, that they work within a hospital system, that they are public servants paid by the taxpayer and that they follow the rules set by us in an appropriate governance structure.

She also said a new chief executive of CHI, Lucy Nugent, had been appointed earlier this year.

In response to the report today, Ms Nugent said CHI apologises to the families affected.

Children's Health Ireland is an organisation that exists with a singular focus to deliver safe, quality care to children and young people. We are deeply sorry that these children, young people and families did not get the care they deserved. This is unacceptable.

Childrens Health Ireland sincerely regrets and apologises for the risks that were posed to three patients through the use of non-CE-marked spring implants in their spinal surgeries. We do not underestimate the impact that this has had and is having on the families affected, and the distress that it has caused to all patients and families in the spinal service, she said.

She added: The findings and recommendations from Hiqa will be implemented through a Quality Improvement Plan, alongside the many changes that are already under way within Children's Health Irelands services. Children's Health Ireland is committed to ensuring robust governance and compliance processes and to providing safe, high-quality, and child-centred healthcare services.

Issues of poor performance and non-compliance with policies are being addressed with the staff involved, in line with relevant hospital policies. I want to assure families of my commitment to ensuring that something like this never happens again in our organisation.

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll Mac Neill also said she wanted to apologise to the three children and their families.

What happened was wrong, should not have happened and should not have been allowed to happen.

As patients and parents, we put our trust in healthcare professionals. That is particularly the case here where parents had put their trust in clinicians to treat their very sick children.

These children were not protected from the risk of harm, as they should have been.

Yesterday I met with both the Chief Executive and Chairperson of Childrens Health Ireland. We discussed the report, its findings, and the recommendations.

I made very clear to them my deep disquiet at what happened here and my clear expectations in terms of reform and change to ensure it does not happen again.
Only two of eight religious bodies linked to mother and baby homes in Ireland have offered to contribute

Religious bodies who have declined to contribute towards a redress scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes have assets worth more than a billion euro.

The Department of Children had asked religious orders to pay 267m towards the scheme. However, only two of eight religious bodies linked to mother and baby homes in Ireland have offered to contribute, a report has revealed.

The Sisters of Bon Secours offered 12.97m - a sum deemed meaningful and accepted by the Government.

Another body - the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul - has proposed contributing a building to the scheme. That offer is to be considered by the Government.

A third religious body - the Sisters of St John of God - declined to contribute to the scheme but did offer a conditional donation of 75,000 to be used instead for a charitable purpose associated with mother and baby home survivors.

The remaining five bodies - the Congregation of Lady of the Good Shepherd; the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy; the Legion of Mary; and the Church of Ireland - made no offer of contribution.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said it was disappointing that just two offers had been made during the negotiations and that the Attorney General was now considering options available to the Government.

"It is very, very disappointing that only two have made any sort of meaningful responses," the Taoiseach told the Dail. "The minister has gone back to the organisations to say, there's a period of time here, if you wish to reconsider. The Attorney General, meanwhile, is examining options.

Childrens Minister Norma Foley will now discuss the next steps with the Attorney General in light of just one religious order making a substantial cash offer to the scheme.

The details were contained in a report compiled by Sheila Nunan, the independent negotiator appointed by the Government to consult with the organisations over financial redress.

The report into the scheme outlines the contributions which were sought from each organisation and a calculation of their assets at the end of 2023, which was conducted by EY.

The Sisters of Bon Secours offer aligns with an ask of 12.97m that had been sought by the department. The EY report found that the organisation had 106.8m in assets at the end of 2023, alongside 1.3m in cash.

The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul (DCSVP), which has offered the building, had been asked to make a contribution of up to 81m. The EY report found it had around 7.35m in the bank and around 90m in assets at the end of 2023.

The report states that the DCSVP was reluctant to make a contribution as it had provided 19 million euro (16.2 million) to the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme in respect of the St Patricks/Pelletstown institution. It said the order was made up of employees and not trustees, that the home was owned by the state, and that it needed to be in a position to fund its ongoing work.

The Sisters of St John of God, which offered the 75,000 euro donation, had been asked to contribute 5.2 million euro (4.45 million), with combined assets in the range of 55.7 million euro (47.7 million) and cash of 6.8 million euro (5.8 million).

The order said there was no basis  legal or moral  to demand it to participate in the scheme as there was no evidence that our sisters there acted in any untoward manner. It said the donation was made on the basis that it was not presented as a contribution or as part of a moral or ethical obligation towards those survivors.

The following is a breakdown relating to the remaining organisations, which made no offer under the scheme.

The Congregation of Lady of the Good Shepherd was asked for 10.46m; with assets of 75.8m and more than 2.4m in the bank. It said it would not be making a contribution as it could not afford to and it did not believe it had an ethical or moral reason to do so.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary was asked for 96.5m with assets worth 5.8m and 200,000 in the bank, with an associated UK charity having 32.4m in assets and 1.75m in cash.

The Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy was asked for 21m, with roughly 320m in assets and approximately 24m in assets.

The Legion of Mary was asked for 26.2m with 1.8m in assets and and 1.5m in cash.

The Church of Ireland was asked for almost 14m with 632m in assets and 40m in cash.

Various bodies objected to their inclusion in the report by stating they may not have a legal or moral obligation to pay, that the institutions referenced were not controlled or governed by them, or that the publicly available financial information may be incomplete.

In her report, Ms Nunan said: Certain organisations rejected any assertion that they might have a legal and/or moral responsibility for the running of the institutions.

The negotiation process was part of a bid to secure contributions from religious bodies towards the cost of the Government-established Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 8th April 2025

Ms Foley expressed disappointment at the approach adopted by the majority of religious bodies to the mother and baby home redress scheme.

"While acknowledging the financial contribution by the Sisters of Bon Secours, I believe that much more could have been done by the other religious bodies concerned. I would encourage other religious bodies to reflect further on their willingness to make a meaningful contribution to the payment scheme and note that my department is available to engage with them on this matter at any stage."

I am calling on the religious orders to think again, to look at what has been done by some orders, and to think afresh and to think anew. One way or another, religious orders were involved in the day to day running of these facilities. So, I am asking them to consider the situation once again."

The minister said Attorney General Rossa Fanning would now consider what avenues are open to [the Government] going forward.

In the interim, there is an opportunity for the orders to reconsider their positions. But be under no illusion, this is also on the table of the Attorney General, Ms Foley said.

The offer of a property was received from the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and the Government has agreed the minister should consider the offer.

While the propertys value is not known, the report outlines that the building is currently in for the running of a community-based high-support school for children considered at risk.

The current use of the property does not make it more complicated for the Government if the minister chooses to accept the offer.

It just means that there's a job of work and exploration to do there as to how viable it is, what the building might be worth. We don't reject the offer. We take the advice of the of the negotiator who said it should be explored, Ms Foley said.

She added that said the total cost of the negotiating process had been approximately 175,000, with 155,000 of that going towards the services of EY.
A number of flights to and from Ireland are set to be impacted by strike action by air traffic controllers in Greece planned for Wednesday.

Ryanair has said the strike has forced the cancellation of a small number of flights and passengers impacted by the strike will be notified. The airline advised passengers to check online for the latest information.

Due to a Greek Air Traffic Control strike, we have been forced to cancel or make schedule changes to a small number of flights to/from Greece on Tues 08 and Wed 09 Apr. Passengers affected by these cancellations/schedule changes will be notified of their options via email, a Ryanair spokesperson said.

We ask all passengers due to travel to/from Greece on Tues 08 or Wed 09 Apr to keep an eye on the Ryanair app for the latest updates. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused by this strike, which is outside of our control and affects all airlines operating to/from Greece.

A number of Ryanair flights to and from Greece are scheduled for Wednesday, including:

Flight FR4519 Athens to Dublin at 1.15am

Flight FR5652 Athens to Dublin at 3.20am

Flight FR1390 Dublin to Thessaloniki at 5.50am

Flight FR5653 Dublin to Athens at 12.10pm

Flight FR1391 Thessaloniki to Dublin at 2.05pm

Read more European air traffic control strikes: Your rights if flights are cancelled or delayed

Greek public sector trade union federation ADEDY is set to hold a 24-hour strike on April 9. The Greek Air Traffic Controllers Association has said the day of strike action comes in response to staffing shortages and outdated equipment.

It said air traffic controllers would handle medical, search and rescue, humanitarian aid, military and emergency flights, meaning the strike will mainly impact commercial flights in and out of Greece.

Aegean Airlines, the largest Greek airline, is also set to be affected by the strike and has confirmed most of its flights scheduled for Wednesday are cancelled.

This includes flight A3630 from Athens to Dublin scheduled for 7.35am and flight A3631 from Dublin to Athens scheduled to depart at 10.55am.

Aegean has said customers affected by the strike action received an offer to change their booking free of charge or cancel their booking and request either a credit voucher for future use or a refund.

The airline advised passengers to check its website for the latest flight details.

Separate strike action in Italy tomorrow will see Easyjet flight attendants stage a four-hour walkout which is expected to cause disruption to some flights in and out of Naples and Milan airports.

However, Irish passengers will not be impacted as there are no Easyjet flights from Dublin and no Easyjet flights from Belfast fly into Italy.

Last February, flights in and out of Greece were grounded for a day when air traffic controllers took part in a nationwide general strike calling justice for the 57 victims of the train crash in Tempe in northern Greece two years ago.

Aegean Airlines was contacted for comment.
A woman has been convicted for claiming over 7,000 in benefits she was not entitled to.

Amanda Clements (45), of Moyle Parade, Larne, Co. Antrim, is understood to be the first person named for benefits fraud since the Department for Communities changed its policy on publicising cases earlier this year.

The department said she claimed Universal Credit totalling 7,398 whilst failing to declare her employment.

The offences happened between 7 November, 2020 and 6 January, 2023.

Clements was charged with failing to promptly notify the Social Security Agency of a change in circumstances, which she knew would affect her entitlement to benefit  namely that she was working, contrary to Section 105A(1A) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992.

Sentenced at Ballymena Magistrates Court on Monday, Clements was given 120 hours community service, to be completed within twelve months.

The fraud was uncovered following an investigation by the DfC with a spokesperson adding that any outstanding money wrongfully obtained by her must be repaid to the department.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons outlined his intention to bring back publicising cases of those convicted of fraudulent claims in February of this year.

He outlined his proposals to the Assembly days after the Belfast Telegraph reported a whistleblowers concerns about mass abuse of the system here.

Benefit fraud here costs over 160m a year, according to latest figures.

Welfare fraud is not just a financial issue, he said. It is a moral one.

"When individuals cheat the system, they are not stealing from a faceless entity; they are taking from their neighbours, their friends, and their fellow citizens.

"They are undermining the very safety net that so many rely on. Therefore, let me be unequivocal: I am taking a zero-tolerance approach. I am personally committed to rooting out fraud and ensuring that those who exploit the system face the consequences.
The turnaround in alcohol use in Ireland is revealed in a new poll with 21pc of 18-24 year olds saying they drink often, compared to 31pc of all adults, and 48pc of older men.

Nearly seven in ten Irish people now report good health but it still below pre-Covid levels and it has continued to decline among the over 55s, according to a new poll.

While this is the first year health has improved since the pandemic, it has dropped from 76pc to 62pc among the over 55s.

The findings have emerged in the Worldwide Independent Network of MR (WIN), the leading global association of independent market research and polling firms. The report on Ireland comes from RED C.

Stock image: Alamy/PA

Today's News in 90 Seconds - April 7th

Younger age groups are more likely to report often suffering from stress, and feeling concern around healthy living, but are also more likely to exercise often and to practice mindfulness.

Technology is causing significant issues, with most Irish adults reporting lack of sleep, as well as both physical and mental problems due to its use.

Other findings show two in five do not sleep well often and women aged 35 to 54 are less likely to get a good nights rest.

Younger generations are more likely to exercise frequently and practise mindfulness while older age groups are more included to be in touch with nature.

Older people are more likely to be taking prescription medicine although 13pc of young men say they regularly self medicate.

Four in five adults take vitamin supplements with half doing so often.

A third of adults say they experience physical discomfort due to device use ranging from 34pc in 18 to 34 year olds, to 22pc among 35 to 54 year olds and 13pc in the over-55s.

Two thirds of under 24s often lose sleep due to staying up late on devices.

Ciara Reilly, Group Director of RED C Research, said: These findings highlight a complex picture of health among younger adults in Ireland  while theyre more likely to smoke and experience stress, theyre also leading the way in exercise and mindfulness.

"At the same time, the impact of technology on wellbeing is a growing concern across all age groups, with clear signs its affecting both sleep and mental health.

This years survey, conducted across 39 countries with 34,946 respondents, explores global perceptions of health, their habits, and attitudes toward healthy living. The findings reveal striking differences in how people view their health versus their actual behaviours, influenced by societal and personal factors.

Having tracked these trends since 2018, the survey provides insights into the complexities of health perceptions and lifestyle choices worldwide.

Overall, the outlook on personal health remains optimistic: 75pc of people globally consider themselves very healthy or healthy, with no significant changes since 2018.

Countries in the APAC region have the most positive self-perception of health at 83pc, while in other regions, seven out of 10 people view this.

Indonesia leads with the highest percentage of people considering themselves healthy at 97pc, followed by Vietnam (92pc) and India (91pc). Meanwhile, Slovakia has the most pessimistic health perceptions, with only 56pc viewing themselves as healthy, followed by Poland (59pc) and Chile (60pc).

More than a third of people admit to self-medicating (35pc)  taking prescription drugs without a doctors order  with 16pc of them doing so often and 19pc sometimes.

The practice is common amongst individuals under 44 and those with lower education levels, reaching three in 10 among those with little to no education.

Self-medication is most widespread in Morocco (39pc), Pakistan (36pc), the Philippines (31pc), India (30pc), and Japan (30pc), while it remains rare in Vietnam (5pc), Sweden (4pc), and Norway (2pc). These patterns highlight the complex relationship between perceived health and medical habits, underscoring the need for greater awareness of the risks associated with self-medication.

The study also shows higher education correlates with better perceived health, with 21pc of masters or PhD graduates considering themselves "very healthy, compared to 14pc of those with no education or basic education.

Employment status also plays a role: 40pc of retired or disabled individuals feeling at least "somewhat unhealthy, dropping to 24pc amongst part-time and 18pc among full-time workers.

Age follows a similar trend, with 23pc of young adults (1824) rating themselves as very healthy, and declining to just 8pc in those over 65. These patterns raise suggest personal circumstances shape perceived health: raising questions about the role of social factors in shaping health perceptions.
A drunken man arrested after causing a nuisance to a passenger at a train station kicked out and had to be carried away by gardai.

Hugh Burke (30) became violent after he was taken into custody for causing a public order disturbance at Dublins Connolly Station. Judge Michele Finan gave him a two-month suspended sentence.

Burke, from Loreto Avenue, Rathfarnham pleaded guilty to threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour and being violent in a garda station.

Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to assist security at the station on the evening of March 7.

Burke, who was highly intoxicated, had to be restrained, having caused nuisance to a member of the public moments earlier.

He was shouting and kicking out at security, and gardai had to carry him to Store Street garda station, where he attempted to punch and kick the gardai, refusing to let them search him.

Burke had been homeless and living in Cork for the last six months, his solicitor Jeremiah Breen said. He was dealing with his drinking and had not drunk since the incident

Judge Finan said it was a serious incident that would normally attract a prison sentence but she suspended it for a year.
Foreigndispatch

When Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was last in Washington, he had reason to smile. Sitting alongside president Donald Trump at the White House, the Israeli leader smirked as his American counterpart stunned onlookers with his quixotic plans to take over the devastated Gaza Strip and transform it into a luxury tourist destination.
A Reuters journalist sits in front of screens in London as he monitors global trading activity following US president Donald Trump's tariff announcement. Photo: Reuters

Hedge-fund manager Larry Hite literally wrote the book when it comes to trading  The Rule: How I Beat the Odds in the Markets and in Life. He broke winning down to two iron-cast rules: The first was: If you dont bet, you cant win. The second: If you lose all your chips, you cant bet.

President Donald Trump has gone all in, but all bets may soon be off, as the market calls his bluff.

Yet neither he, nor any of the billionaire broligarchy who have been cheering him on, will lose all their chips, no matter where the wheel stops.

The rest of the world may not be so lucky.

But so far Mr Trump has been contemptuous of anyone who has questioned the tariff wall. Dismissing the dire warnings of JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who said it could have lasting negative consequences, or fund manager Bill Ackman, who said it could cause an economic nuclear winter, wont be as easy.

A Reuters journalist sits in front of screens in London as he monitors global trading activity following US president Donald Trump's tariff announcement. Photo: Reuters

Today's News in 90 seconds - 8th April 2025

Mr Ackman, who endorsed the US president during his election campaign, appealed to Mr Trump to pause and renegotiate trade deals.

With markets in freefall, the international reverberations from Liberation Day are still challenging political leaders to frame proportionate responses.

Their task has not been made any easier by the fact that the grounds for imposing the levies were entirely spurious. Mr Trumps critics have long accused him of operating through a reality distortion field.

His baseless claims about the exploitation and abuse of America are not helping his case.

China has hit back strongly, and while Europe has said its preference is to prioritise negotiations over retaliation, it is now primed for targeted countermeasures. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU stood ready to negotiate a zero-for-zero tariff pact for industrial goods.

However, hawks within the bloc believe a more aggressive response is needed. French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said nothing should be off the table, including the EUs Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI). This would clear the way for the EU to hit US services. Ireland would be in the direct line of fire, given the presence of so many US tech giants.

This was all avoidable had anyone in Washington considered the destructive chain reaction. But Mr Trump has shown himself to be tone-deaf when it comes to geopolitics.

Europe now needs to hold its nerve. This meltdown was created in Washington. The collapsing markets, threats to jobs and possible recession are all direct results of Mr Trumps decision to go for the jugular.

He has caused the worlds most powerful economy to wobble. As Ms von der Leyen said, Europe must now focus on the 83pc of the global economy outside the US. Theres good reason why chainsaws and sledgehammers have no place in the diplomatic tool box.

As former US envoy, David Friedman, put it: The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem: it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.
Senior trade adviser Peter Navarro speaks next to US president Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Photo: Reuters

After paying respects to deceased relatives at the weekend I took a detour to the tiny little village of Ballinspittle in Co Cork.

Readers of a certain generation will recall the phenomenon of the moving statues that began at this grotto 40 years ago this summer.

Some psychologists have put forward the idea that these optical illusions are best explained as responses to an existential angst that was exacerbated by the Cold War and other sources of social stress in recessionary Ireland at the time.

Im reminded of the moving statues this morning as I read of a billionaire who endorsed Donald Trumps run for president now calling for time out on his all-out global trade war.

Fund manager Bill Ackman puts it succinctly, stating: If, on the other hand ... we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate.

Maybe Ballinspittle has the answer to all this economic and military angst that is going on at the moment and that some day soon well wake up and realise it was all just a bad dream.

Tom McElligott, Listowel, Co Kerry

We pay 20pc, the North pays 10pc, so surely we can get an all-island deal?

I refer to your article EU response to Trump tariffs must be calm and measured (Irish Independent, April 4).

Little has been said by the Government so far about the complexities involved in the application of Mr Trumps tariff of 10pc to Northern Irelands exports to the US, while imposing a tariff of 20pc to the Republics exports to the US.

The first Trump administration, together with the EU, played a crucial role in unravelling the economic complexities of Brexit on the island of Ireland while preserving the integrity of the Good Friday Agreement.

In formulating his tariff road map, it is likely little attention was applied by those in the US presidents administration to the complexities of its application in the unique context of Northern Ireland benefiting from being part of the UK, with an economic footprint in the EU, and to the interwoven relationships between some businesses based in the North and the Republic.

Implementing a tariff regime of 10pc to Northern Irelands exports to the US together with a 20pc regime applicable to the Republics exports will not only create a variety of complexities, but will also erect a partial business border between north and south in relation to export trade to the US that Brexit remediation measures avoided with the support of the first Trump administration.

International trade is, of course, an exclusive EU competence and our government must act and be seen to act in harmony with our EU partners.

There is, however, nothing to prevent others, including the Friends of Ireland in Congress, various commercial concerns and media outlets from advocating that in the context of the EU and Irelands special circumstances the Trump administration should make Ireland an EU exception by applying its 10pc tariff to exports from Northern Ireland to the whole island of Ireland.

Doing so would preserve existing economic relations on the island and avoid unnecessary political difficulties and costly complexity in the USs application and oversight of tariffs.

Perhaps that is also something that would be understood at EU level.

This Irish solution to an Irish problem is something worth considering, perhaps in whispers to avoid EU contention.

After all, as clearly illustrated this week, the EU has minimal influence over decisions made in Washington.

Alan Shatter, Dublin 16

US presidents surgical plan could see us all face a long stint in recovery

Defending his tariff policy, Mr Trump recently said: It was an operation like when a patient gets operated on and its a big thing. Weve never seen anything like it. The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom.

One hopes the patient has been warned of possible side effects.

While Mr Trumps surgical metaphor is characteristically dramatic, the pain being felt  by consumers, exporters and markets  is very real.

The promise of a post-op boom is an alluring one.

But for now, many Americans may feel less like a country in recovery and more like a nation still waiting for the anaesthesia to wear off.

Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Co Armagh

Imposing taxes on goods from the US in retaliation will only hurt Europeans

Given the general consensus that trade wars are terrible for everyone involved, Im quite surprised by the growing acceptance that Europe will introduce retaliatory tariffs on America.

Trumps tariffs are a tax on American consumers, who will face higher prices.

While they will undoubtedly damage European business, retaliatory tariffs by Europe will just lead to much higher prices for our consumers.

And to what end?

Is our goal to damage the American economy so badly that those in charge will change policy?

Is a global recession the prize were after?

In the late 19th century, Britain was the worlds strongest economy.

The US and the kaisers Germany started putting up tariff walls to protect domestic industry.

Britain could have easily retaliated, but it believed in the quality of its products and that free trade was the better option.

Many other countries followed its lead and global trade continued to flourish for decades.

We should learn from that example and rise above the provocation.

Our politicians seem more interested in the short-term popularity of standing up to Donald Trump rather than the long-term damage to the global economy that retaliation will inevitably bring about.

For those who want to get tough with Mr Trump, Im reminded of the story of two men at sea in a row boat.

The first man takes out his gun and shoots a hole in the bottom of the boat.

As the water starts coming in, the second man thinks to himself: This guy is crazy, Ive got to teach him a lesson before we both drown.

So he takes out his own gun and shoots a second hole in the bottom.

Some people might call that getting tough. Id call it stupid.

Lets not make a bad situation worse, lets try to keep this boat afloat.

Peter Cosgrove, Wellington Bridge, Co Wexford
Will Irish jobs be impacted if the EU go after US tech services? Is Ireland the likely battle ground for a digital trade war? And why did the Chinese pull out of the deal to sell TikTok?
It's March 20, 2025, and through the grainy haze of CCTV footage, we see Kerry farmer Mike Gaine in his local Centra in Kenmare making a simple purchase.

He moves through the store with the familiarity of routine, topping up his phone credit. All seems normal. Moments later, Mr Gaine leaves the shop, gets into his bronze Toyota RAV4, starts the engine and drives away.

He hasnt been seen since.

Three weeks after his disappearance, there have been extensive search efforts involving gardai, the Defence Forces, the Coast Guard and hundreds of volunteers.

Yet there has been no sign of the farmer.

Today on The Indo Daily, Fionnan Sheahan is joined by Catherine Fegan, Special Correspondent with the Irish Independent, to discuss the feeling on the ground in Kenmare about the missing person's case that has captured the imagination of the country.

The Indo Daily: Where is Mike Gaine? The mysterious disappearance of the Kerry farmer
The West Cork Literary Festival is a week-long celebration of writing and reading, with a varied and extensive programme which takes place in and around the town of Bantry from Friday, July 11 to Friday, July 18.

A firmly established highlight of the Irish Literary calendar, famous Irish and international writers, as well as established and emerging writers, gather each year.

There are master classes, readings, and workshops, as well as interviews with authors, book launches and a myriad of other events.

Visitors to the festival will find loads to inspire and entertain them this summer.

Richard E. Grant, Eimear McBride, Graham Norton, Ruth Padel, Neil Jordan, Katherine May, Alan Hollinghurst, Carol Drinkwater, Sarah Moss, Sean Ronayne, Patricia Forde, John Creedon, Claire Kilroy, Ferdia Lennon, Vona Groarke, Rafael Olympio, Salena Godden, Will Sliney and Wendy Erskine are just some of the high-profile writers making the trip to West Cork for the annual festival.

The festival will also present works in translation from Dutch, Flemish, Swedish, French and German as well as a series of professional development sessions for emerging writers in partnership with the Irish Writers Centre and Childrens Books Ireland amongst other.

There is also an exciting line-up of free events for children and families across the week.

Festival director Eimear OHerlihy said: We're so excited to be able to bring all of these wonderful writers and events to West Cork this summer. It's been another bumper year for publishing and Irish writers continue to shine.

We've a jam-packed schedule of events from three-day writing workshops to masterclasses, readings by international and Irish authors with a good mix of Cork talent, an increased focus on translated literature, a Pop Up Gaeltacht, our annual trip to Whiddy Island, showcases of new and emerging writers and yoga on the lawn of Bantry House. A sea swim will be held for those who need a little time out, she added.

Ms OHerlihy continued: We've got novelists, short story writers, essayists, poets, illustrators, songwriters, nature writers, historians and so much more. Our events for children and young people are all free of charge. I hope that young people and families will take this opportunity to join the fun and discover a love of reading.

Priority booking for Festival Friends is now open and general booking will open on Thursday 10 April at 10am via westcorkmusic.ie/LFProgramme or (0)27 527 88.
The M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy Road Project has been approved by Cabinet and it will immediately progress to the construction phase.

The M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy Road Project has been approved by Cabinet and it will immediately progress to the construction phase.

The project involves the construction of approximately 11km of motorway from the N40 Bloomfield Interchange to Barnahely, with a 1.5km single carriageway protected road linking to the eastern side of Ringaskiddy.

This 1.5km section is being undertaken as advance works and is already under construction.

The project will replace the existing N28, which was not designed to accommodate current traffic volumes.

It will greatly improve road safety with reduced potential for collisions.

It will also improve access to the Port of Cork at Ringaskiddy, allowing for the transfer of port activities from Tivoli in Cork city centre.

In turn, this will facilitate the redevelopment of lands at Tivoli for residential and commercial purposes.

The estimated total scheme cost of the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy Road Project is approximately 456 million and it will take up to three years to complete.

The Cabinet decision, announced by the Minister for Transport, Darragh OBrien underscores the strategic importance of the project in facilitating the development of the Port of Corks facilities in Ringaskiddy and delivering essential infrastructure to a key employment hub in the region.

The scheme, which forms part of the Core TransEuropean Transport Network, is of national significance, as the port serves as a major gateway for trade and industry in Ireland.

Additionally, it will enhance infrastructure within one of Corks strategic employment zones, further driving economic growth and investment in the area.

Subject to the necessary approvals, the contract is expected to be formally awarded later this month.

Funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) the project is an integral part of the Governments Project Ireland 2040.

Sorensen Civil Engineering is currently delivering the 1.5Km single carriageway Relief Road around Ringaskiddy to the Port of Cork, with construction underway since October 2024.

The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Joe Carroll welcomed Government approval to advance construction of the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy Motorway Project. This motorway is vital for the continued development of our region, improving connectivity, and supporting strategic employment zones that are crucial for Cork County's economic future.

Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Moira Murrell added: Cork County Council in partnership with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, remains focused on the timely delivery of the project, working collaboratively with local communities and stakeholders to ensure minimal disruption and maximise benefits.

Peter Walsh, Chief Executive, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, said, It will complete another important link in the TransEuropean Transport Network (TEN-T), a vital transportation network that connects the island of Ireland to the rest of Europe and the world.
The major spill in the city was outlined in a meeting last night

It has been revealed that Uisce Eireann had to pay 250,000 to clean up a major spill near Corks Atlantic Pond.

The spill, caused by a failed penstock valve, caused thousands of litres of raw sewage to spill into the nearby streets, as well as three discharges of material into the River Lee.

A penstock valve is a type of gate-like valve, in which water is trapped or released by a sliding door which is either square, round, or rectangular. When this failed at the water treatment plant, effluent being held behind gushed out into the streets, causing much anxiety for local residents and business owners according to former Lord Mayor Kieran McCarthy.

The water body also revealed that they have spent 150,000 to repair the faulty valve, as part of a detailed slide package presented to councillors about the incident, which took place in January of this year.

The revelation comes as senior engineers at Uisce Eireann met with councillors at an in-committee meeting last night. The meeting was initially due to be held before the public, but was deferred by current Lord Mayor Dan Boyle and then changed to be held in camera.

I found the in-house meeting with Uisce Eireann quite contentious, said local Councillor for the area Kieran McCarthy.

There were many calls from all of us councillors for more communication from the body and more trust and accountability in the partnership between them and local residents and local councillors.

I find it disappointing to hear that a failed penstock valve in the Atlantic Pond caused 250,000-worth of a clean-up bill and caused much anxiety for local residents and for local business owners.

On querying by myself on what measures are in place to make sure the penstock valve doesnt cause so much damage again, the valve was replaced at a cost of 150,000.

More regular inspections of equipment will now take place as well as the replacement and maintenance of ancillary equipment and in the intermediate term creating and overall reconfiguring a new engineering solution for the valve and its place in the Atlantic Pond.

The partnership between Uisce Eireann and Cork City Council needs to improve.

Northside Councillor Michelle Gould also said she was left disappointed by the meeting, and that a number of her key questions werent answered regarding the provision of clean drinking water in her area.

They said they cancelled the last meeting because it was clashing on the same day of our council meeting, but thats total nonsense, we looked for the meeting.

I didnt leave the meeting last night feeling any confidence that our water was going to be any better to be honest, I asked fairly straightforward questions about whether they could guarantee that manganese levels wouldnt go above dangerous levels again, and whether Irish Water would provide clean water to people, these are yes or no questions, and I didnt get a proper answer to those.

It would just have been way more productive if we would have received the written responses to our questions, or even the presentation on the Atlantic Pond, before the meeting had started. Its now the following morning and I still havent received anything in writing about the meeting, so Im only going by the notes that I managed to scribble down at the time.

Its great that the meeting happened, and they left knowing theres communications issues with the public and with councillors, and that they have to source an alternative supply of water for people, but there was plenty that wasnt fully answered.

If I had those written replies to my questions, Id have been in a much better position today to inform the people in my area as to what happened.

Uisce Eireann have been contacted for reaction.
Dublin city councillors have unanimously passed a motion demanding that the Minister for Housing reinstate the Tenant-in-Situ scheme in full.

More than 2,500 households have been prevented from becoming homeless through the scheme, with 350 households saved from homelessness in Dublin last year alone.

The scheme allows local authorities to purchase properties where tenants are at risk of eviction due to their landlord selling up. It aims to prevent tenants from losing their homes.

The motion, introduced by Sinn Feins Daithi Doolan, calls on Minister for Housing, James Browne, to reinstate the scheme in its entirety after the Government announced a series of restrictions and changes which local authorities must comply with.

One of these changes stipulates that, in order to proceed with a Tenant-in-Situ acquisition, the property being acquired must have been in receipt of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) or Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) for two years.

Other changes would deprioritize single people and couples without children from accessing the scheme.

Under the new guidelines, the council will not be allowed to purchase properties which require any refurbishment.

Annual funding for the scheme has also been cut by more than 20m.

Tonight, Dublin City Council spoke in a loud, clear, and united voice. We are demanding that Minister for Housing James Browne reinstate the Tenant-in-Situ scheme in full, said Cllr Doolan.

This scheme was an effective tool in preventing homelessness. Last year alone, it saved 350 households from homelessness in Dublin.

The Ministers response was to strangle the scheme, making it unworkable. In a callous move, he slashed the funding by 22m and imposed criteria that will make hundreds of people homeless this year.

These heartless cuts will ensure Dublin City Council runs out of money and will no longer be able to purchase properties under the scheme. This is unacceptable.

The support tonight came from all parties, including councillors from the government party. This is hugely significant.

Minister Browne needs to wake up to the homelessness crisis and work with us, not against us. He must immediately reinstate the Tenant-in-Situ scheme, he added.

Dublin City Council is urging the Minister for Housing to immediately reverse his decision and to reinstate the scheme in full.

More than 100 tenants facing homelessness in Dublin are still awaiting confirmation of their eligibility for the Tenant-in-Situ scheme.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said: It is the clear focus of the Government to increase the supply of new build social and affordable homes.

Increasing the overall housing supply is key to addressing the housing challenge and preventing, and ultimately eliminating, long-term homelessness.

The Government is also committed to the continuation of the second-hand social housing acquisitions programme and targeting those acquisitions at those most vulnerable.

The budget allocated for the Tenant in Situ acquisitions for 2025 was 60m, and, recognising the importance of the scheme, Minister Browne secured an additional 265m for the initiative for councils across Ireland  which will deliver a similar number of houses as in 2024.

It should be noted that the funding figure for 2024 also includes expenditure for 2023.
An extensive survey of historic structures within Dublins North Georgian Core is currently under way, in a bid to preserve and rejuvenate the architectural heritage of the area.

This initiative is being conducted by the Department of Heritage, in collaboration with the Conservation Section of Dublin City Council.

It will encompass 560 buildings, stretching from Henrietta Street to North Circular Road, and from Blessington Street to Parnell Street.

The work aims to assess the extent of dilapidation, vacancy, and potential conservation needs.

Dublins North Georgian Core is a historically rich area that includes a series of 18th and early 19th-century streets and squares, developed by the Gardiner family and other estates.

It is a significant urban asset, stretching from the North Circular Road in the east to Dominick Street and Parnell Square in the west.

While it is one of the citys most architecturally valuable regions, the area has suffered from neglect, illegal developments, and the degradation of its architectural heritage.

The North Georgian Core, a part of Dublins inner city known for its well-preserved Georgian architecture, includes the North Great Georges Street and Mountjoy Square Architectural Conservation Areas.

The survey is nearing completion, with initial findings expected in the coming months.

The results will provide a comprehensive understanding of the condition of these historic structures, their current use, and areas requiring attention.

The survey is designed to identify not only the challenges facing these buildings  such as deterioration of roofs, walls, and windows  but also successful examples of adaptive reuse and conservation-led rehabilitation.

These examples will highlight how buildings can be given new life while preserving their historical integrity.

In addition to identifying common issues, the survey will guide future conservation efforts by providing data to inform the allocation of financial support and expert advice.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage offers grants for conservation projects through the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) and the Historic Structures Fund (HSF).

Notable projects already benefiting from these funds include historic structures in Blessington Street, Dominick Street Lower, Gardiner Street Lower and Upper, and North Great George's Street.

The exterior of the former tenement building on Henrietta Street

The surveys findings will also be used to enhance support for conservation works in the North Georgian Core and may influence Dublin City Councils prioritisation of buildings for grant support.

A significant challenge facing many historic structures is poor maintenance.

To assist in overcoming this, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has developed an Advice Series, offering user-friendly guidance on caring for older buildings.

This includes essential information on maintaining roofs, brickwork, and windows.

As part of ongoing efforts to tackle dereliction and encourage urban regeneration, Dublin City Council is also leading several high-profile projects under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF).

These initiatives aim to revitalise areas of Dublins North Inner City, many of which have experienced decline in recent years.

The URDF has allocated substantial funding to the regeneration of key sites, including the Parnell Square Cultural Quarter and the redevelopment of the Rutland Street School.

In total, the URDF has committed more than 125m to these regeneration efforts, with more than 60m earmarked for the Parnell Square Cultural Quarter alone.

The Rutland Street School redevelopment, funded with 22.4m, will transform the former school building into a multi-functional community space, providing a range of services for the northeast inner city.
Ballyheigue native Tadhg Casey was this week named as the newest member of the team for the popular RTE show Cheap Irish Homes, a platform that he said he hopes to use to help raise awareness about the beauty and importance of old buildings and homes in the community.

Tadhg, an architect based in Tralee, will help presenter Maggie Molloy to guide and advise budget-conscious house hunters as they search for a bargain home.

Raised on a dairy farm in North Kerry, Tadhg credits his rural upbringing  working on building sites, farming, and steel fabrication  with shaping his grounded, hands-on approach to architecture. Filming on the new series is already underway  there will be nine shoots in total all the way up until September  and Tadhg said that hes excited about the opportunity to help people find and renovate affordable properties.

My work focuses on refurbishments of traditional homes as well as new house designs rooted in Irish heritage. Im passionate about preserving and revitalising Irelands architectural traditions and using local materials and sustainable methods.

Tadhg is a vocal advocate for the regeneration of Irelands smaller towns and villages. He believes that the lessons of traditional Irish architecture can help create vibrant, sustainable communities that honour their history while embracing modern needs.

This is something that he touched on more when speaking to The Kerryman recently.

"Excited really would be the big emotion Im feeling. I see the show as a great opportunity of getting the message out there about the beauty and the importance of old buildings," he said.

"In Kerry and in places further afield, these old farm houses are normally knocked because it's not financially viable to rebuild or renovate them. It's a real shame when this happens because it's a destruction of our heritage. These houses are in the heart of our communities, they have a rich history, he continued.

"In the towns then, we're always talking about the dereliction and the vacancies and it's never effectively tackled and one of the ways to tackle it, I think that part of what will revive these buildings and towns and villages is, you can have all the grants you want but it's people's appreciation of them and knowledge of them really that will make the difference.

"The show may be called 'Cheap Irish Homes' but cheap is only the price. They [the houses] are rich in history, they are rich in character, they are rich in traditional building methods. I want to take advantage of the platform I have and use it to raise awareness that all these great houses are around us, he added.

For her part, Maggie has already been impressed by Tadhg.

Hes really passionate about breathing life back into old houses, she said, adding its great that Tadhg can share his knowledge with our house hunters, who are often overwhelmed by the thought of buying a property that may need a lot of work.

Cheap Irish Homes is currently looking for people to take part in the new series, so if you would like Maggie and Tadhgs help, please get in touch with the production team at cheapirishhomes@av3.ie.
Sligo Bay RNLI has issued a reminder to boat users to be prepared well when taking to the water following a call out on Sunday night.

The RNLI crew were requested to launch their inshore lifeboat last night on at 9.27pm following the sighting of a dinghy off Raughly in Sligo Bay.

A member of the public raised the alarm with the Irish Coast Guard to report the sighting of a small dinghy with a sail which was spotted off the coast near Raughly an hour after sunset.

The volunteer crew were aboard the Sheila & Dennis Tongue in less than nine minutes and on the way to the location given by the Coast Guard.

The person onboard the dinghy managed to make their way ashore unaided with the assistance of the car headlights from the member of the public showing them the way ashore. The lifeboat was stood down and returned to the station for refuelling and washdown of the boat and crew gear.

Speaking after the call out, Dermot Gillen, Sligo Bay RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: We would like to commend the member of the public for raising the alarm and for their vigilance in assisting the person in difficulty.

'With this beautiful weather we are experiencing at the moment it is important to remember if you are going on the water to always stay safe by carrying a means of communication, wearing a lifejacket or suitable flotation device, checking the weather forecast and always letting someone know of your expected time home. Should you get into difficulty or see someone else in trouble, call 99 or 112 and ask for the Coast Guard.'
Outstanding Small Business winner at the Small Firms Association (SFA) National Small Business Awards 2025 for GP Ally, Rachel Bothwell and Siobhan ONeill (centre), with SFA chair Geraldine Magnier, Elavon Europe senior partnership manager Howard Origan, and SFA director David Broderick.

An inspirational Co Wicklow woman, who stepped in to manager her fathers GP practice after his cancer diagnosis, has now been recognised with a major national business award for the new business she started after that experience.

Arklow native Rachel Bothwell was crowned Outstanding Small Business category winner at the recent Small Firms Association (SFA) National Small Business Awards 2025 for her exceptional work with her GP practice management community.

Her business, GP Practice Ally (GPPA), began in 2018 as a personal response to a family need.

It has since grown into a unique professional development network, now supporting over 2,000 GPs and practice managers in 75 pc of Irish GP practices.

GPPA provides timesaving, on-demand resources and expert-led training to help practices run more efficiently, lead stronger teams and achieve long-term financial sustainability.

From streamlining operations to supporting leadership development, GPPA helps build the solid business foundations practices need to thrive.

In doing so, Rachel has created a strong, connected community of GP teams who are learning from each other, sharing ideas and raising standards across the sector.

As part of its growing impact, GPPA also develops and maintains over 100 GP websites, giving practices a professional and patient-friendly digital presence.

It also hosts the annual GPPA Summit  the only event of its kind in Ireland  bringing together GPs, practice managers and key industry partners to connect, collaborate and drive progress across general practice.

By supporting the business side of general practice, GPPA ensures practices are not only clinically effective but operationally and financially sustainable.

Recognising her achievements and contribution to the Irish economy, Rachel and GPPA were among 44 finalists and five emerging new businesses (selected from hundreds of applications) at the National Small Business Awards in the RDS.

Receiving a trophy and free membership of the Small Firms Association for one year, Rachels awards prize package also included a strategic management masterclass, participation in the SFA Business Connect event in February and media exposure in a special supplement published by media partner the Irish Independent.

Reflecting on the award, Rachel said that winning the award is a huge honour for everyone at GP Practice Ally, standing as a validation of the work theyre doing to support the foundations of general practice, the impact theyre having in practices across Ireland and not only their innovation, growth and impact but also highlighting the crucial role of effective practice management in the future of primary care in Ireland.

When I stepped in to run my familys GP practice seven years ago after my father was diagnosed with cancer, I thought it would be a temporary move, Rachel said.

But it quickly opened my eyes to just how overwhelming the role of practice manager could beand how many felt isolated and undervalued, expected to manage complex operations without the right training, tools or support. That experience became the spark for GPPA.

I wanted to take what Id learned and build something that would make the business side of general practice easier to manage  and make practice managers and GPs feel less alone in the process.

Over the last four years, weve built a collaborative community that champions the contribution of practice managers and supports GPs who, as business owners, juggle an increasingly demanding clinical workload alongside the relentless pressures of running a busy practice.

Our resources ease that burden by strengthening practice management, protecting clinical time, and helping people feel supported, connected and confident in their roles.

"Today, we support over 2,000 GPs and practice managers across 75 pc of Irish practices  helping them streamline operations, strengthen finances and build strong teams.

To be recognised by the SFA is particularly meaningful, she continued.

They champion small businesses across all sectors and understand the challenges of growing something purpose-driven in a shifting landscape. The calibre of businesses in this category was outstanding  from long-established names to ambitious start-ups - and were so proud to be named among them.

The whole SFA Awards experience has been invaluable. Over the past few months, weve had national exposure, met some brilliant people doing great work across different sectors, and built relationships that will help us bring even more to our members  including new collaborations that will directly benefit Irish practices.

Weve come away with a fresh perspective, new connections and a real sense of momentum to keep doing the work we believe in.

In a healthcare system increasingly shaped by corporate consolidation, GPPA helps to support the future of independent general practice. These are the practices at the heart of communities, where care is built on relationships and trust.

This recognition is a reminder of why that matters  and how much more we can do.
25 years since Greystones got a Dart, why is Wicklow town still in a commuting nightmare?

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Dart coming to Greystones, Myles Buchanan charts the growing hope of a Dart arriving in Wicklow town within five years

Wicklow town train station.

Myles Buchanan Wicklow People Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 01:00

Its estimated it took 20 years of campaigning to get the Dart to run from Bray out to Greystones, and the day that project came good, immediately locals officials and residents shouted for an extension to Wicklow town.
Ex-GB News presenter Dan Wootton has been accused by a former colleague of pretending to be a woman in flirty messages, and tricking him into sending explicit images in a catfishing case (Gemma Gravett/GB News/PA)

A former colleague of Dan Wootton has accused the ex-GB News presenter of pretending to be a woman in flirty messages, and tricking him into sending explicit images in a catfishing case, the High Court has heard.

It is alleged that in 2010 Mr Wootton exchanged sexual messages with the claimant  who cannot be identified for legal reasons  while pretending to be Maria Joseph, and encouraged him to send explicit photographs and a video.

Mr Wootton is accused of obtaining sexual images by deceit and the claimant, known as YXN, has lodged civil proceedings against him for damages for personal injuries and losses consequent on the defendants intentional infliction of harm, misuse of confidential information, infringement of privacy and deceit.

At a hearing on Tuesday, Judge Roger Eastman said: The claim relates to what is colloquially referred to as a catfishing exercise whereby a person alleged to be the defendant (Mr Wootton) impersonated a fictitious person and induced the claimant into engaging in exchanges with that person of a sexualised nature.

It transpired that the person was, as I say, completely fictitious and the claimant alleges that as a result of that activity he has suffered psychiatric damage.

Tuesdays hearing concerned an application by Mr Woottons lawyers to set aside the anonymity order granted earlier this year to protect the identity of the claimant.

But the judge ruled that the order will remain in place, saying there is clear evidence of potential adverse and serious adverse effect on YXN if his identity published.

Justin Levinson, for the claimant, outlined the facts of his clients claim in written submissions, saying: In 2010, the defendant (Mr Wootton) communicated with the claimant via email and WhatsApp and Facebook messages, deceitfully pretending to be a female by the name of Maria Joseph.

The messages became flirtatious and sexualised.

The defendant sent to the claimant photographs of a female, which he falsely pretended was Maria Joseph/the person with whom the claimant was communicating. Some of the photographs showed the female partially or fully naked.

The defendant also sent to the claimant a video of a man and woman having sexual intercourse, again pretending that the female was Maria Joseph/the person with whom the claimant was communicating.

Mr Levinson continued: In reliance on the defendants purported good faith, flattering and in the induced belief that he was communicating with Maria Joseph, an unknown female who was interested in a sexual relationship with the claimant, the claimant responded to the messages in a flirtatious and sexualised manner.

The defendant encouraged the claimant to send explicit photographs and a video of himself masturbating, which he did.

Samuel Rowe, for Mr Wootton, said in written submissions that the Metropolitan Police and Police Scotland investigated Mr Wootton over the allegation that he used fake online identities to obtain explicit images without consent and decided to take no further action.

But on Tuesday Mr Levinson said that, as far as he was aware, those investigations did not relate to the claimants complaint but to other similar allegations.

Mr Wootton, who did not appear at the hearing, has not yet filed a formal defence and no admissions have been made to the allegations, the court heard.

Dino Nocivelli, from law firm Leigh Day, said: In hearing Dan Woottons application that my clients anonymity order should be removed and his identity revealed, the court has heard the allegations of catfishing against Dan Wootton and that he allegedly procured sexual images by deceitful means from my client.

Although the alleged abuse my client has suffered does not afford him the automatic right to anonymity that is granted to victims of sexual assaults, we have successfully argued today that the anonymity order should stay in place to prevent compounding and aggravating the very matters that give rise to my clients claim.
The awkward moment on First Dates that sparked debate  who should pay the bill on a date?

Awkwardness when the bill arrived on First Dates Ireland has reignited an age-old debate  should a man paying for dinner be assumed, or is it time we split the bill?

Jill and Mark's awkward moment got people in Ireland talking about who should pay the bill on a first date (Photo: RTE)

Arlene Harris Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 03:30

Blind dates can be great, but there is no doubt they can be awkward. Both parties are doing their best to engage in small talk while trying to navigate the rashly ordered bowl of chicken wings or king prawn linguine.
Relatives and friends attend a funeral ceremony for two children Alina Kutsenko (15) and Danylo Nikitskyi (15), who were killed in a Russian missile strike on Friday in the town of Kryvyi Rih. Photo: Reuters

A central Ukrainian city held vigils yesterday that began three days of mourning for 11 adults and nine children killed by a Russian missile last week, as one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in months jeopardised Washingtons ceasefire push.
RFK Jr praises anti-vaxxers after attending funeral of girl (8) who died of measles

US health secretary visits outbreak area in Texas as cases rise to almost 500

US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr speaks in the Oval Office of the White House. Photo: Reuters

Julia Musto UK Independent Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 03:30







US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is facing renewed scrutiny after praising the work of a doctor who has been known for discussing the dangers of vaccines  while the secretary was attending the funeral of the second child who died from the rampant West Texas measles outbreak.
Robyn Dixon: Donald Trumps property-developer approach to negotiations no match for Russians

Many Ukrainians losing trust in peace talks as US administration continues to offer Vladimir Putin important concessions

Firefighters put out a fire at an apartment building following Russia's attack in Kupyansk, Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Photo: AP

Robyn Dixon Washington Post Tue 8 Apr 2025 at 03:30

The Trump administration has twice claimed major progress in peace talks over the war between Russia and Ukraine, with partial ceasefires on energy infrastructure and in the Black Sea, only to see all sides present wildly different interpretations on what had been agreed on as the fighting continues.
Dont expect the Federal Reserve (US central bank) to rescue the American economy from the epic tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on imports from most of the world.
MCA Proposes Expansion of Fast-Track Merger Rules in India

To streamline corporate restructuring and ease doing business, Indias Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has proposed expanding fast-track mergers under Section 233 of the Companies Act, 2013. The draft, issued on April 5, 2025, extends simplified merger procedures to more unlisted and low-debt companies.

Draft amendments to the Companies (CAA) Rules, 2016, are now open for public consultation on the MCA website.

In a bid to enhance the ease of doing business and streamline corporate restructuring processes, Indias Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has proposed amendments to expand the scope of fast-track mergers. A draft notification, issued on April 5, 2025, seeks to amend the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements, and Amalgamations) Rules, 2016.

This move aligns with the broader reforms outlined in Indias Union Budget for FY 202526, which emphasized simplifying merger procedures and broadening their applicability. The proposed changes target Section 233 of the Companies Act, 2013a provision that facilitates quicker, less burdensome mergers for eligible companies.

Expansion of fast-track merger rules under Section 233 of the Companies Act, 2013

In line with Indias ongoing efforts to enhance the ease of doing business and simplify corporate restructuring, the central government has proposed notable amendments to Rule 25 of the Companies (CCA) Rules, 2016, which governs fast-track mergers under Section 233 of the Companies Act, 2013.

The current framework allows fast-track mergers between small companies and between a holding company and its wholly-owned subsidiary in the country. In February 2021, India introduced sub-rule (1A) within Rule 25, enabling mergers between start-up companies and between start-ups and small companies.

Building on this, the draft amendment notified in 2025 aims to broaden the eligibility framework for fast-track mergers. Key changes include the following:

Inclusion of certain unlisted companies: The proposed amendment would permit mergers between unlisted companies, other than Section 8 companies, provided they meet the following conditions: Their total borrowings from banks, financial institutions, or other corporate bodies do not exceed INR 500 million (US$5.79 million);

Companies with no record of default in repayment of such borrowings; and

An auditors certificate confirming compliance with these criteria must accompany the merger application. Expansion to non-wholly-owned subsidiaries: The current scope is limited to wholly-owned subsidiaries in the Companies (CCA) Rules, 2016. The proposed amendment allows mergers between a holding company (whether listed or unlisted) and its unlisted subsidiaries, even if they are not wholly-owned, provided the subsidiary is not a listed entity. Inclusion of mergers between fellow subsidiaries: The amendment also proposes allowing mergers between unlisted fellow subsidiariescompanies that share the same parent entity under Section 233. The amendment is expected to facilitate group-level restructuring with reduced regulatory hurdles. Consolidation of cross-border merger provisions: The draft also incorporates into Rule 25 the provision currently contained in Rule 25A(5), which allows mergers between a foreign holding company incorporated outside India and its wholly-owned Indian subsidiary. This move is intended to make Rule 25 a self-contained, comprehensive provision governing fast-track mergers, both domestic and cross-border.

Indias central government invites public consultation

MCA has released draft amendments to the Companies (CAA) Rules, 2016, for public consultation. To access the draft notification and submit your comments, follow these steps:

Visit the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, website. On the homepage, click on the E-Consultation tab in the main menu. Scroll down to the section titled List of documents open for consultation. Click on Comments due soon: Beyond 7 days to access the relevant consultation documents. From the listing page, you can view the draft notification and download the instructions kit for submitting your comments.

Stakeholders are encouraged to review the proposed changes and submit their comments or suggestions by May 5, 2025. Following the conclusion of the consultation period, the finalized rules are expected to be officially notified and brought into effect.

Indias push for corporate efficiency

Earlier in February 2025, the central government stated its intention to rationalize requirements and procedures for speedy approval of company mergers. The objective is to simplify regulatory formalities and allow more companiesespecially startups and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)to benefit from faster consolidation pathways.

Experts have welcomed the proposal, highlighting its potential to reduce compliance burdens, promote group-level restructuring, and help companies respond more effectively to post-pandemic market shifts.

Company law experts in the country have noted that by bringing in unlisted and low-debt companies, the government is addressing longstanding demands from industry stakeholders. The reform is expected to benefit businesses seeking consolidation without the lengthy timelines and procedural rigor of traditional mergers under tribunal supervision.

Also read: M&A Due Diligence in India: Assessing Target Company Non-Compliance

Understanding Section 233 of the Companies Act, 2013

Section 233 offers simplified mergers and amalgamations for eligible companies, bypassing the more elaborate approval route through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Instead, regulatory clearances are managed by the central government via regional directors.

The provision currently applies to mergers between two or more small companies or between a holding company and its wholly-owned subsidiary. However, the proposed amendments aim to significantly expand this list.

Fast track M&A mechanism in India

The fast-track process under Section 233 includes the following steps:

Companies involved in the merger must issue a notice of the proposed scheme, inviting objections or suggestions from the Registrar of Companies, the Official Liquidator, and any affected parties within a 30-day window;

The scheme must be approved by 90 percent of shareholders and by creditors representing at least 90 percent in value. This can be achieved through a formal meeting or written consent.

Each company must file a declaration of solvency with the Registrar, certifying their ability to meet financial obligations; and

Upon receiving approvals, the transferee company submits the scheme to the central government. If there are no objections from regulatory bodies, the scheme is registered and confirmed.

Legal implications of fast-track mergers

Upon approval, a fast-track merger results in the automatic dissolution of the transferor company without requiring a separate winding-up procedure. All of its assets, liabilities, and ongoing legal matters are seamlessly transferred to the transferee company. Additionally, any shares that the transferee company previously held in the transferor are cancelled, and the transferees authorized share capital is updated to incorporate the merged entity.

Conclusion

The expansion of fast-track merger provisions under Section 233 represents a major step toward making Indias corporate restructuring landscape more agile and accessible. By allowing a broader range of companies to benefit from simplified merger procedures, the reform is expected to reduce red tape, lower compliance costs, and improve operational flexibility.

(US$1 = INR 86.23)
Emmanuelle OTT Release Date: Noemie Merlant headlined this erotic drama in 2024 and earned massive praise online. Released theatrically on 25th September, the English-language French film is available on Prime Video overseas. For all the desi fans awaiting to watch it, get ready to stream Emmanuelle on Lionsgate Play starting April 11, 2025.

Emmanuelles cast and crew

Other than Merlant, the film also stars Naomi Watts, Will Sharpe, Jamie Campbell Bower, Chacha Huang, Anthony Wong and Carole Franck among others. Directed, co-written and produced by Audrey Diwan, Emmanuelle is based on the 1967 novel by Emmanuelle Arsan and is the eighth film in the series and the fifteenth overall, acting as a reboot.

Emmanuelles plot overview

The film follows Emmanuelle (Noemie Merlant), a businesswoman who travels to Hong Kong for a work assignment but quickly becomes caught up in a world of sensual exploration. As she engages in a series of intimate encounters, she is drawn into a complex relationship with Kei (Will Sharpe), a mysterious client who challenges her boundaries and desires.

Throughout the trip, Emmanuelle struggles with balancing her professional life and her growing need for sexual liberation. While in Hong Kong, Emmanuelle also forms a connection with Margot (Naomi Watts), the hotel manager, who encourages her to explore her sexuality further. As Emmanuelle delves deeper into this world of pleasure and self-discovery, she faces the emotional and psychological consequences of her actions.

A part of The Lost Highway Hotels review of Emmanuelle read, If its raunchiness or horniness youre after, there are far more obliging alternatives to discover in the storied history of erotic cinema. For a flatly analytical approach that almost borders on the dreamy because of its hypnotic disengagement, this is a decidedly unsexy curio. A film likely to find itself misunderstood.

How do you think Emmanuelle will be received in India? Share @indiatimes.

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
If your streaming list has been looking a bit too PG lately, allow MobLand to roll in like a blacked-out Bentley full of bullets, brogues, and betrayals. Created by Ronan Bennett (Top Boy, The Day of the Jackal) and dripping in Guy Ritchies signature London-gangster gloss, this is not your average mob drama. It is louder, nastier, and dressed in Savile Row suits.

MobLand OTT release: When and where to watch Tom Hardy's drama | Credit: X

MobLand OTT release

Leading the madness is Tom Hardy as Harry de Souza  a fixer with a face that says do not mess with me and a voice that probably haunts dreams. He works for the Harrigans, a ruthless Irish mob family run by Conrad Harrigan (played by Pierce Brosnan, who has clearly ditched the martini and gone full psycho-daddy). Conrad is the kind of boss who might kiss you tenderly on the hand right before turning your chest into Swiss cheese in front of your mates.

MobLand OTT release: When and where to watch Tom Hardy's drama | Credit: X

MobLand plot

But do not get it twisted  the real boss is Maeve Harrigan. Played by Dame Helen Mirren like a velvet-wrapped razor blade, she delivers iconic death threats with the ease of ordering afternoon tea. In one savage moment, she tells a doomed lieutenant that he is way better at brown-nosing than betrayal. Cold.

The show reunites a few old gangsters, too. Tom Hardy links back up with Guy Ritchie for the first time since RocknRolla, and they are clearly cooking with gas. According to Hardy, returning to work with Ritchie felt right now that he is older and more seasoned. He called the role an "exercise in containment"  but spoiler alert: nothing in MobLand feels particularly contained.

MobLand OTT release: When and where to watch Tom Hardy's drama | Credit: X

MobLand cast: Also in the cast? Paddy Considine, Geoff Bell, Joanne Froggatt, Mandeep Dhillon, and Lara Pulver. Basically, it is like the British gangster genre threw a wild house party and invited all the coolest people.

When and where to watch MobLand?

MobLand is currently streaming on Paramount+ and Indian viewers can watch it on Jio Hotstar, with new episodes dropping every Saturday. Here is the full release schedule:

Episodes 1 & 2  Out now

Episode 3  13 April

Episode 4  20 April

Episode 5  27 April

Episode 6  4 May

Episode 7  11 May

Episode 8  18 May

Episode 9  25 May

Episode 10  1 June

With each episode releasing every week, it sure bubbles up all the excitement.
Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror OTT Release Date - Some stories are too painful to forget, yet too important not to remember. This upcoming saga is one such powerful reminder and an eye-opening documentary that revisits one of the deadliest domestic terror attacks in American history. Premiering April 18 on Netflix, this documentary takes viewers back to April 19, 1995, the day a bomb ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring hundreds more.

An incident that shook America to its core

Directed by Greg Tillman, the film walks you through every moment of that horrific day. Using a mix of crime scene recreations, survivor testimonies, and interviews with first responders and investigators, the documentary paints a raw, emotional picture of how ordinary people responded to an extraordinary tragedy.

One of the most striking elements is the inclusion of archival audio interviews with Timothy McVeigh, the man behind the bombing. Hearing McVeigh in his own words offers chilling insight into the mind of a man whose hatred and radical ideology turned deadly.

Pictorial Representation | Credits: Netflix

More about Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror

What makes American Terror stand out is its focus on the event and the investigation that followed. The film shows how the FBI, along with local Oklahoma law enforcement, cracked one of the most complex crime scenes in U.S. history. From tiny forensic clues to witness sketches and a lucky traffic stop, each breakthrough in the case feels like a piece of a much larger and darker puzzle.

At the heart of the story is also the question: What led McVeigh to do this? The documentary does not shy away from this. It explores his disillusionment with the U.S. government, his anger over the Waco siege and Ruby Ridge, and his belief in a violent uprising. Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror is produced by Tiller Russell (Waco: American Apocalypse, Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer), along with Emmy nominees Brian Lovett and Jeff Hasler (Deadliest Catch).

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
Apoorva Mukhija also known as The Rebel Kid, is a social media celebrity and content creator who has finally spoken out about the horrifying rape and death threats she received after the India's Got Latent incident. She revealed the severe online abuse she has experienced after the incident in an honest piece, which sparked a surge of support from both fans and other creators. Apoorva included slides of screenshots in her post demonstrating how the chaos prompted thousands of people to unfortunately threaten her with rape and death.





The Rebel Kid breaks silence on rape & death threats after Indias Got Latent controversy

Taking to the comment section of the post, many people wrote about how no matter what the controversy is, nobody has the right to threaten somebody to this extent.

One wrote, So wheres Cyber security and police now?.

Another added, You do not deserve this! And its not you Apoorva, its the men of our country who werent taught good things in life! Shame on them! SHAME ! Cant imagine what you must be going through Stay strong.

A third went on to add, This is horrific. This is not okay. God bless you with strength to come back stronger! And I know you will, Apoorva!

Indias Got Latent controversy explained

A few months ago, some of the guests' remarks during Samay Raina's show caused a stir. Samay himself, Apoorva Mukhija, and Ranveer Allahbadia were all fired for specific jokes they made. The situation became so terrible that they were the subject of FIRs, and the show was shut down as well.

For more news and upates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
Just days after news broke that Sydney Sweeney and Jonathan Davino had ended their engagement, the pair were spotted looking cosy over lunch in Los Angeles  and naturally, the internet had a lot to say about it.

On 6 April, the Euphoria star and her former fiance were photographed dining at Beverly Glen Deli. Dressed down and wearing sunglasses, they kept things casual and low-key, spending about an hour together before leaving with Sydneys dog, Tank, in tow.

Their appearance comes exactly one week after multiple outlets reported the couple had called off their wedding, ending a relationship that began back in 2018 and led to a 2022 engagement.

The duo was spotted together recently. (Credit: X)

Fans react to the news

It didnt take long for the internet to weigh in. One fan, clearly rooting for a different romantic storyline, commented: No no no Glen, save her!  a not-so-subtle nod to Anyone But You co-star Glen Powell, with whom Sydney has been linked in recent weeks.

Another chimed in with: Make your move, Glen, while some took a more sceptical stance, saying, She clearly doesnt want him, in reference to Davino.

Online commentary shows how invested fans have become in Sydneys love life, especially after she was seen at Glen Powells sister's weddingsomething that only fuelled dating rumours between the two actors.

Syndney Sweeney and Jonathan Davino. (Credit: X)

Quiet split behind the scenes

While neither Sydney nor Jonathan has addressed the break-up publicly, sources close to the actress say the decision to call off the wedding was hers.

Shes exactly where she wants to be, a source told People. Most people would feel overwhelmed by her working schedule this year, but not Syd. Shes all about work right now and very excited about her projects.

Another insider added: What did make her overwhelmed though was her relationship and her wedding. She didnt feel right about it. Shes in the middle of this magical career that she could only dream of a few years ago. Thats what she wants to focus on right now.

While neither Sydney nor Jonathan has addressed the break-up publicly, sources close to the actress say the decision to call off the wedding was hers. (Credit: X)

Whats next for Sydney Sweeney?

With a full slate ahead  including a new season of Euphoria, leading roles in The Housemaid adaptation, and biopics on boxer Christy Martin and screen icon Kim Novak  Sydneys career is clearly in overdrive.

Whether her love life takes a backseat or shifts into an entirely new chapter remains to be seen  but if the internet has anything to say about it, Glen Powell might want to keep his phone close.
OnePlus 13T leaks: With teasers of the upcoming OnePlus 13T, which will include significant design modifications, OnePlus is generating enthusiasm. In contrast to earlier curved designs, the smartphone will have a flat display to appeal to those who like a simple, elegant screen.

Furthermore, OnePlus is swapping out its recognizable Alert Slider for a new, customizable shortcut key that resembles the Action Button on the iPhone. With the help of this innovation, users should be able to access other functions and switch between sound profiles easily.

By combining familiarity with new, user-focused improvements, these updates demonstrate OnePlus' dedication to improving both its design and user experience. 

OnePlus 13T launch timeline (Confirmed)

There have been rumors that OnePlus is developing a small smartphone. The company has now verified the existence of the OnePlus 13T on its official Weibo account. The device's precise debut date hasn't been revealed yet, though but it will be launching in China in April.

The essential features of the little OnePlus phone have been made public by leaks and rumors. Following the release of the OnePlus 10T in 2022, the OnePlus 13T may signal the brand's return to the T series of smartphones. The tiny phone was hinted at by OnePlus as a "small-screen powerhouse" in a brief video clip on Weibo.

OnePlus 13T flat display, new action button, & other leaked specs

According to the latest teaser, the upcoming phone will come with a flat display | Credit: Weibo

On the Chinese social networking site Weibo, Louis Lee, the President of OnePlus China, provided information on the OnePlus 13T. According to the official, the alleged smartphone will have a small, flat screen.

Although specifics are not yet known, it might feature a 6.3-inch OLED panel with a refresh rate of 120 Hz and 1.5K resolution. One notable feature of the flagship OnePlus 13 is its 6.82-inch screen, which raises the possibility that the rumored OnePlus 13T may provide a more portable experience.

This is consistent with the company's China president's previous posts on the social media site asking for feedback on a flagship smartphone with a small screen. The official has stated that the OnePlus 13T will have a shortcut key with customizable actions in addition to its small and flat display.

It may replace the slider on the alleged phone because the accompanying image shows that it will be placed on the left spine of the phone, where the alert slider on the flagship OnePlus 13 is now.

According to the official, the new button will make it easier to switch between various system tasks and provide the usual mute, vibration, and bell-switching features. Additionally, Lee hinted that OnePlus has added a "very interesting function" to this button; specifics would be disclosed later.

For the latest and more interesting tech news, keep reading Indiatimes Tech.
Indigenous People of Biafra has warned South-East youths against joining Nigerian Army in fighting terrorists in the northern part of the country.

The group alleged that Nigerian military has historically exhibited ethnic bias, often sending recruits from the South to dangerous zones dominated by terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and bandits.

In a statement by IPOBs Spokesman on Tuesday, urged South East youths to return home and pursue farming or other productive ventures instead of enlisting in a system it claims has consistently marginalised soldiers from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

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He said: The global family of IPOB once more urges Biafran youths to refrain from joining the recent Nigerian Army recruitment.

Before considering joining the Nigerian Army, reflect on this: What has happened to those who enlisted a few years back? You might be astonished that numerous individuals have fallen victim to the Boko Haram violence and other terrorist organisations acts in the North.

We have witnessed viral clips and reports about Nigerian soldiers fighting insurgency in the North expressing grievances over insufficient allowances, food, medical care, and equipment.

These Nigerian soldiers are exploited as scapegoats in the terrorism dealings between Nigerian politicians and their Western allies.

READ MORE: Kanu Vows To Resist Court Ruling Affirming IPOB As Terrorist Organization

Any Igbo youth who enlists in the Nigerian Army, your name will be regrettable. You will either be offered up to the terrorists, captured and killed by the state, or be sacrificed to the courageous Sahelian soldiers.

In any case, you will either be killed or left with debilitating injuries. If you succeed in coming back alive, you will return in disgrace without any advantages from the Nigerian Army. Inquire of those involved in proxy wars whether they received compensation.

Rather than joining the Nigerian Army, return to your village and pursue farming. Nigerians have consistently been unfair to their soldiers from various ethnic backgrounds.

Simply envision your destiny as an Igbo warrior. As an indigenous Igbo individual, your achievement is seen as a risk to the Nigerian state. Your struggle against insurgency will be perceived as a conflict with the North.
Borno State Governor, Babangana Zulum, has insisted that terrorist groups, such as Boko Haram and bandits are finding their way back to disturb the peace of the state, despite security agencies efforts.

Governor Zulum noted that recent gunmen attacks and kidnappings in many parts of the northern state without confrontation proved that Borno is losing its fight against insurgency.

Speaking at a Special Expanded Security Meeting in Maiduguri, the Governor said that his administration has been very supportive of the military in the fight against Boko Haram and other terrorists leading to relative peace in the last three years.

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He lamented that the recent attacks and dislodgement of military formations in Wajirko, Sabon Gari in Damboa local government, Wulgo in Gamboru Ngala, Izge in Gwoza local government areas among other related killings of innocent civilians and security agencies calls for serious concern and a set back in the state.

Zulum said: As I address this important gathering today, it is unfortunate that the renewed Boko Haram attacks and kidnappings in many communities almost on a daily basis without confrontation signalled that Borno State is losing ground.

READ MORE: Borno Police Arrest Two Suspects, Recover Stolen Phones Worth N35m

As you are all aware my administration has been very supportive of the military and other security agencies in the fight against Boko Haram and other terrorists leading to relative peace in the last three years, it is disheartening to note the recent attacks and dislodgement of military formations in Wajirko, Sabon Gari in Damboa local government, Wulgo in Gamboru Ngala, Izge in Gwoza local government areas among other related killing of innocent civilians and security agencies calls for serious concern, and it is a set back in the fragile state of Borno and the North East region.

In as much as Borno Government under my leadership commend the federal government under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the security agencies for their unwavering support in the fight against Boko Haram, more efforts have to be put in place through equipping and deploying of technological warfare to the military to stem the tide of all renewed attacks bedevilling parts of the sahelian Borno which shares international border with three African countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
Olawole Sunday, a suspected internet fraudster, was arrested by agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly purchasing bank account details from individuals to facilitate financial crimes.

In a statement on Monday, Dele Oyewale, the EFCCs head of Media and Publicity, revealed that Sundays fraudulent operation involved recruiting young people to open multiple bank accounts.

Oyewale accused Sunday of paying between N25,000 and N50,000 for each account, in exchange for obtaining the full banking details of the individuals, including their Automated Teller Machine cards.

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READ MORE: Panic As Car Veers Off Otedola Bridge, Driver Hospitalised

He mentioned that the issue arose when Sunday reportedly used the account details of one Uyi Eghosa to deceive a victim, leading to a N2 million fraud under the false claim of participating in forex trading.

Oyewale stated that Eghosa was arrested and, during questioning, denied any knowledge of the fraudulent activity involving his account.

He further added that Eghosa told investigators he had given Sunday his account details and ATM card in return for a payment of N25,000.

He said, Operatives of the Benin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have arrested one Olawole Sunday, a suspected fraudster who specialised in buying bank accounts details from individuals with which he defrauds unsuspecting members of the public.

Sundays modus operandi involved encouraging young people to open multiple bank accounts, pay them either N25,000 or N50,000 for each account and collect their bank details, including Automated Teller Machine cards.

Sunday allegedly employed the account details of one Uyi Eghosa to defraud a petitioner of the sum of N2 million under the guise of trading in forex. The account owner, Eghosa, was arrested, and his disclosure that he was unaware that his account was used in defrauding members of the public led to Sundays arrest.

Oyewale further stated that Sunday, upon his arrest, admitted to the crime and would be charged in court once the investigations were concluded.
Some yet to be identified gunmen have abducted a 400-level student of Federal University Birnin Kebbi, Augustine Madubiya on Tuesday.

It was gathered that the incident occurred around 3:00am at Istijaba Villa, an off-campus hostel located in Unguwar Jeji area of the state.

An eyewitness who refused to disclose his identity told newsmen that five armed men approached students who were sleeping outside their rooms due to the hot weather and demanded money.

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When the students explained that they had no money, the attackers assaulted them.

The eyewitness added that during the chaos, a nearby resident, Malam Siddi Hussaini, who was attending to his cattle, approached the students but was killed by the criminals.

Confirming the incident, Spokesman of Kebbi State Police Command, Nafiu Abubakar, in a statement on Tuesday, noted that security agents have commenced efforts to rescue the abducted student.

He said: On 8/4/2025 at about 0300hrs, a gang of hoodlums suspected to be kidnappers stormed Istijaba Villa, an off-campus hostel of the Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, located at Unguwar Jeji, Kalgo LGA of Kebbi State, and kidnapped one student named Augustine Madubiya m aged 23yrs, a 400 level student of Economic Department of the University to unknown destination.

READ MORE: Suspected Bandits Attack Kebbi Communities, Kill 16 Villagers

Regrettably, one Mal. Siddi Hussaini, who was nearby tending to his cows, while trying to intervene, also sustained serious gunshot wounds during the attack and was later confirmed dead by a medical Doctor.

On receiving the report, the Divisional Police Officer, Kalgo, mobilized a team of combined security personnel to the scene.

Following credible lead, a combined team of security personnel is currently combing the nearby forest and routes with a view to rescue the kidnapped victim unhurt and apprehend the perpetrators of the dastardly act.
Former presidential candidate of African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has insisted that he wont be part of any coalition to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

Sowore vowed that he will never be part of any joint movement with former presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi.

The controversial human rights activist on Tuesday, during an interview with Arise TV, noted that none of the previous coalitions since 2013 had yielded any good result for the country.

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READ MORE: Sowore Laments Maltreatment Of Protesters, Says Nigeria Police Dont Value Human Rights

He added that Nigerians are facing current hardship today due to Atikus coalition with ruling All Progressive Congress in 2015.

Sowore said: Im not joining any coalition, the coalition that they joined in 2013 and 2015 is what brought about the APC, so joining another coalition in 2025 is doing the same thing all over again without thinking of achieving the same set of results.

The coalition that needs to be built is that of the oppressed, joining another coalition that is made up of the same people who were the ones that created the coalition that ruined Nigeria, its an injustice and an injury to the people of Nigeria.

So you can never see me in their coalition and I will never be part of it, Im not joining the SDP, Im not part of those playing chess with the destiny of Nigerians.
President Bola Tinubus led administration has debunked viral report claiming that its has terminated the appointment of Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.

INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that earlier on Monday, some purported reports alleged that Yakubu had been removed from office and replaced with a one Professor Bashiru Olamilekan.

Reacting to the rumor, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Digital and New Media, Otega Ogra, via his X page, described the news as false and urged Nigerians to disregard it.

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He emphasised that any such announcement would be disclosed from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation or another official communication channel.

He said: Disregard any fake news making the rounds about the replacement of the INEC Chairman.

Any such announcement will come from the SGFs office or any other official source.

READ MORE: INEC Chairman Yakubu Seeks N126bn Budget For 2025, Says Budgeted N40bn Insufficient

Also reacting to the rumour, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, dismissed the report and urged the public to disregard it entirely.

He said: The story trending across media platforms to the effect that Mr. President Bola Tinubu has either sacked the INEC chairman or has replaced the INEC chairman is not true and should be discountenanced.

Decisions and/or official acts of Mr. President are communicated through official channels and not the rumor mill.

The tenure of Professor Yakubu, who was reappointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari on October 27, 2020, for a second five-year term, is due to conclude later this year.
No fewer than two suspects have been arrested by Niger State Police Command over alleged conspiracy, theft of motorcycles, receiving stolen property in the state.

In a statement by the commands Spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun, on Monday, stated that on April 3, 2025, about 2:30 pm, following a complaint received, the Crack Squad of the command arrested two suspects.

Wasiu identified them as Mohammed Usman, 18, from Tunga, Minna, and Mohammed Abdullahi, 22, from Paiko area, who were apprehended for conspiracy, theft of motorcycles, and receiving stolen property.

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He said: It was reported that on 28th March 2025 at about 5 pm, Usman boarded a motorcycle to a hotel around Tunga, near the Old City gate.

READ MORE: Niger Police Apprehend Man For Machete Killing At Wedding

After alighting, he invited the cyclist to his hotel room, tricked him, took his motorcycle key, and locked him in the room.

Usman made off with the motorcycle and the key, taking it to Abdullahi in Paiko for sale.

Abdullahi led police operatives to a mining site in Paiko where Usman was waiting to collect the proceeds of the crime, and he was arrested too.

Usman also confessed to the crime and stated that he stole one of the motorcycles from Obajana, Kogi State, at a mining site earlier last month.
No fewer than eight cows have been killed, following a lightning attack in the Ori-Ohin community, Ifon, Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State.

It was gathered that the incident occurred on Sunday evening during a heavy downpour, which left the residents of the town in panic.

Confirming the development in a statement by Spokesman for Ondo State Police Command, Olayinka Ayanlade, disclosed that it was a natural occurrence.

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READ MORE: Lightening Kills Young Herder, Cows In Kaduna Community (Pictures)

He said: I can confirm that eight cows were killed by a thunder strike yesterday (Sunday) in the community. Its a natural phenomenon, and we cant hold anyone responsible for that act.

So, we did not foresee any possible breakdown of law and order. Our men have been in the town for two weeks, carrying out soft operations to avoid any security breaches and clashes.
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Adolphus Wabara, has criticized President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for their foreign trips, suggesting that both leaders are not prepared for governance.

Wabara pointed out that while Nigeria faces multiple challenges, Tinubu and Shettima have traveled abroad, leaving the country without leadership during critical moments.

In his statement on Monday, Wabara specifically took issue with the timing of their travels, with Tinubu spending two weeks in France for a working visit and Shettima traveling to Dakar, Senegal, to represent the President at the 65th Independence Day celebrations on April 4. He described their simultaneous absence as the height of executive rascality, questioning their commitment to the countrys pressing issues.

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Wabara remarked, Mr. President has the right to travel outside the country when necessary, he should duly hand over power to his Vice President in an acting capacity.

It is absolutely not proper for the VP who should be the Acting president to also travel out of the country while Mr. President is still away. He expressed disbelief that both the President and Vice President would leave Nigeria at a time when the country was facing serious concerns.

The PDP leader expressed concerns over the lack of leadership during their absence, stating, How can the country be burning, and the number one and number two citizens of the country be away? This can only happen in Nigeria. He concluded by emphasizing that Tinubu and Shettimas actions reflect a disregard for the countrys needs and priorities.
Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has refuted claims of joining an opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 presidential election, labeling the reports as fabricated and misleading. Yusuph Olaniyonu of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office dismissed the allegations as jaundiced opinions orchestrated by political adversaries in Kwara State.

Saraki accused the opposition of concocting quotes and creating falsehoods to misrepresent his political stance. He emphasized that the story was a deliberate attempt to deceive the public about his affiliations. Meanwhile, the Kwara State governor has also called on Nigerians to disregard the report, reinforcing its lack of credibility.

Refuting the claim, Yusuph Olaniyonu, representing the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office, stated: It should be noted that the reporter of the story quoted unnamed sources and faceless individuals who he claimed attended a meeting with Dr. Saraki. He also sought the opinions of people who he did not tell the detail of the story he wanted them to respond to.
The Katsina State Police Command thwarted two kidnapping attempts on Monday in the villages of Gidan Filoti and Gidan Mairabo, located in the Malumfashi and Kankia local government areas of the state.

The command also freed seven victims during the two rescue operations.

This was said in a statement released to journalists on Monday by the Command Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police Abubakar Sadiq.

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READ MORE: Lagos Farmer Rescues Sister-In-Law, Loses Wife In Canoe Accident

The statement read, On April 7, 2025, at about 1100 hrs, a distress call was received at Malumfashi Division that suspected armed bandits, wielding dangerous weapons, attacked Gidan Filoti and Gidan Mairabo villages, Malumfashi LGA, kidnapping two persons.

Upon receipt of the report, swiftly the DPO led a team of operatives to the scene, where a gun duel ensued. The team successfully foiled the attack, rescuing the two kidnapped victims unhurt as the assailants fled the scene with bullet wounds. Similarly, operatives attached to Kankia Divisions successfully foiled a kidnap attempt by bandits on Gidan Yan Ali of Kurba village, Kankia LGA, rescuing the abducted women and recovering rustled animals.

On April 6th, 2025, at about 0000 hrs, a distress call was received at Kankia Division about the activities of suspected kidnappers. Swiftly, the DPO mobilised and responded to the scene, engaging the bandits in a fierce gun battle. The bandits were forced to flee the scene due to superior tactics and firepower, abandoning their victims and the stolen animals.

The Commissioner of Police, Katsina State Command, Bello Shehu, while commending the officers for their professionalism and bravery, urges members of the public to report anyone seen with bullet injuries to the nearest police station as efforts are being intensified to ensure the arrest of the perpetrators.

Further developments will be communicated as the investigation proceeds, the statement read.
Former presidential candidate of African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore has accused Police operatives over what he described as unprofessional treatments of peaceful protesters across the country.

Recall that the controversial human rights activist on Monday, together with some angry Nigerians, stormed the streets of Lagos State, Abuja and Port Harcourt, a decision which was earlier kicked against by Nigeria Police Force.

INFORMATION NIGERIA had reported that the Polices Spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi on Sunday, appealed to the protesters to suspend their movement, citing celebration of National Police Day.

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READ MORE: Cybercrime Act: Police Teargas Peaceful Protesters In Abuja Amid Economic, Rights Outcry

Despite the warning, the demonstrators were spotted in their numbers, demanding for end of bad government, stable economic policies.

It was learnt that some of the protesters clashed with security agents during the rallies on Monday.

Reacting to the demonstration during an interview with Channels Television, founder of Take It Back Movement, Sowore, said that the police officers attacked his followers and maltreated them.

He added that the security agents have no respect for human rights.

Sowore said: Today was the day the police ought to have proven that this is a police for the people. If there was a professional test that could be conducted, it is what we did today, and they failed terribly at it.

Look at how they performed today woefully again. They attacked us unprovoked. They are intolerant.

They have no respect for human rights. There were three persons arrested today, one of them a journalist.

They were made to lie down in a drainage. They fired tear gas at them. They beat them silly with the planks attached to their placards.
Some gunmen suspected to be pirates have attacked passenger boat along Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, abducting five travellers.

It was gathered that the incident occurred over the weekend when the boat was travelling from Port Harcourt to Bille Kingdom in Degema Local Government Area.

Speaking over the abduction, Executive Director of Youths Environmental Advocacy Center, Dr Fyneface Dumnamene, in a statement, on Monday, said that one of the occupants of the boat was ill and taken to the hospital for medical attention.

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He said: The boat that was attacked by the pirates and people taken hostage was sailing from Bille to Port Harcourt. Six people were on board but five were taken hostage.

READ MORE: Five Killed In Boat Accident In Kano, Six Rescued

The sixth person, an early woman is reported to have been sick and was heading to Port Harcourt for medical attention.

The YEAC-Nigeria volunteers also reported that according to the woman and freed boat driver, the elderly woman pleaded with the pirates for her to be freed on her health and age grounds and the pirates heeded her request and freed her and the boat driver.

The pirates are said to have thus, freed the boat driver to take the woman to Port Harcourt while they evacuated five others into their own boat and zoomed off with them.

All those onboard, including the driver, are all natives of the Bille Kingdom.

Also confirming the incident, Chairman of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Port Harcourt Commercial District, Isreal, disclosed that security agents have been told.

He said: Yes it happened within Aboneme to Cawthorne Channel. Six of them, including the driver, were kidnapped.

The police are aware because we reported it already. But since then we have not heard anything. We are calling for their unconditional release. Let the waterways be safe for our people to travel freely.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a stern warning regarding additional tariffs on Chinese imports if Beijing does not retract its latest retaliatory measures. The White House confirmed that this new action would add to the already steep tariffs set to take effect this week.

In a statement on Monday, Trump had this to say: If China does not withdraw its 34 percent increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50 percent, effective April 9th.

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This threat follows Trumps earlier announcement of a 34% tariff hike, targeting Chinas trade practices, which is scheduled to be enforced starting Wednesday. In retaliation, China plans to implement its own tariff increase of 34%, effective April 10, along with other countermeasures such as export restrictions on rare earth elements.

Since his return to the presidency, Trump has already approved a 20% tariff on Chinese goods in response to Beijings alleged involvement in the fentanyl supply chain. If the 50% tariff is enforced on top of the existing measures, the total increase for 2025 could reach an unprecedented 104%, according to White House estimates.

These new tariffs will be added to those initially implemented during Trumps first term and largely maintained by President Joe Biden.

Trump also took aim at Chinas economic practices, accusing the nation of leveraging non-monetary tariffs and illegally subsidizing its companies. He announced that talks with China would be terminated, though discussions with other nations would proceed immediately.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ayekooto Akindele, has hit back at claims made by former Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate Adewale Adebayo, who suggested that a coalition of opposition parties could remove President Bola Tinubu from office by 2027.

Adebayo had mentioned that if political heavyweights like Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi joined the SDP, they could lead efforts to retire Tinubu in the upcoming election.

Adebayos remarks fueled speculation about the potential for an opposition alliance to challenge the APCs hold on power. He argued that if key figures like Atiku and Obi could unite within the SDP, they could defeat Tinubu in the 2027 presidential race.

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In his response, Akindele downplayed the oppositions chances of achieving such a feat soon, emphasizing that the focus should shift to 2031. He made it clear that while Tinubu might retire to Lagos in 2031, the same outcome could not be expected for Atiku and Obi, whom he deemed politically without a base.

In a statement on Monday, Akindele was quoted saying: We will retire Tinubu to Lagos  SDP, Yes in 2031.

But what I love most about this statement is Tinubu and Lagos. When Obi retired as Anambra Governor, he didnt retire to Anambra, he came to Lagos.

When Waziri Adamawa retired as VP, he didnt retire to Adamawa but Abuja. When GEJ retired, he went to Bayelsa. When OBJ retired, he went to Ogun, when Buhari retired, he went to Katsina. Osinbajo relocated to Ikenne.

Obviously, in 2031, Tinubu will go to Lagos. Shame on Obi and Atiku, theyre politically homeless.
Beanie Sigel in the recording studio of Ruffhouse Records in Conshohocken in 2011. Read more

In 2005, Beanie Sigel was the unmistakable face of Philly rap.

With fiery guest verses on Jay-Z and Scarface album cuts, and two critically acclaimed LPs, the menacing, hard-nosed lyricist had sprung to rap stardom and was shaking up Philly summer block parties with Roc the Mic.

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The Broad Street Bully became the de facto leader of the State Property supergroup, which spawned the careers of fellow Philly spitters like Freeway, Peedi Peedi, and the Young Gunz. The collective expanded to a clothing line and a film series.

Sigel cashed in on that momentum and released his third album, The B.Coming, 20 years ago in 2005, and it remains his crowning achievement.

But there were no release parties. While the album peaked at No. 3 on Billboard and sold north of 130,000 units in the first week, Sigel was incarcerated in a federal prison in South Jersey. I wasnt Beanie Sigel then, the rapper told The Inquirer in a 2007 interview. I was 57613-066.

He watched the video of his lead single, Feel It in the Air, for the first time from prison. I couldnt tour on that album or do nothing, he said.

The South Philly native, born Dwight Grant and nicknamed Beanie by his grandmother Margaret Grant, was arrested on gun and drug charges stemming from a 2003 Philadelphia traffic stop, where he threw a .45-caliber pistol out of his Cadillac Escalade.

He was sentenced to one year and a day, which delayed the original October 2004 release date for The B.Coming under Roc-A-Fella Records. Its eventual March 29, 2005, release was amid the disbandment of the music label, with heightened tensions among cofounders Jay-Z, Damon Dame Dash, and Kareem Biggs Burke.

Following the sale of Roc to Def Jam, Dash launched Dame Dash Music Group, which eventually released The B.Coming.

It was Sigels first album in four years, but if he had had it his way, the album would have released even later.

I actually wanted The B.Coming release date to be the same day I got released out of prison, Sigel said in a January 2025 interview with The Art of Dialogue. They put out Feel It in the Air, and three months later, Im walking [to my prison tier] and see the video. And then they tell me they put the album out.

The B.Coming didnt salvage Dashs label, but .the project became a cult classic that highlighted Sigels snarling delivery, lyrical depth, and stories about his upbringing in South Phillys Drug Row.

I come from South Philly, Sigel said in a 2023 interview with Brooklyn rapper Papoose. You had to say what you mean, and mean what you say. Watch your mouth, only talk when being spoken to  You had to know the rules, you couldnt guess them.

The slow burn Feel It in the Air, produced by Heavy D, depicted a man overwhelmed by the looming presence of powerful unseen forces. In Sigels case, it was his run-ins with law enforcement. He turns his fear and suspicion into a lyrical performance that mirrored the Geto Boys iconic song, Mind Playing Tricks on Me.

Ready to go bananas/Two vests on me, two TECs, extra clips one me/I know my mind aint playing tricks on me, he rapped.

Sigels vulnerability continues to peek through The B.Coming. On I Cant Go on This Way, he talks of his actions threatening the well-being of those closest to him.

My baby mama give me drama on the daily/Like she making it barely, and my kids is eating rarely, he rapped.

He addresses his failed romantic relationships on Bread & Butter, his substance abuse and family dysfunction on Look at Me Now, and the unrelenting goal to never go back to a life of struggle on Wanted (On the Run).

There is a jolt of optimism with One Shot Deal, and he even tries a popish track with the Neptunes and Snoop Dogg-assisted Dont Stop." He shifts from somber and mournful tracks like Change and Lord Have Mercy, to bangers like Flatline, featuring Peedi Peedi.

The B.Coming remains one of Sigels masterworks. It was a project that sustained his buzz long after his release from prison in the fall of 2005.

Going to prison was a good thing for me at the time, he said to The Inquirer two years later. Just to be away. Ever since I got signed in 1998, I was just always going, going, going. I never had the chance to be normal, even for a second.

The last two decades havent been too kind to Sigel. After arrests in 2005 and 2006, a 2015 shooting left him without a lung and the booming voice he possessed as a young, fiery emcee. His last mainstream release was 2012s This Time.

But there have been hints at a comeback. He celebrated his 50th birthday and the 25th anniversary of The Truth at the Met in March 2024, and was seen in a viral video working at his Grab & Roll, Wings & Bowls food truck at 2400 Passyunk Ave. It serves cheesesteaks, chicken wings, fried seafood, and desserts. Some are even named after his lyrics.

He also appears to be back in the studio. A video surfaced of him playing new music, using AI-technology to replicate his old, resonant voice.

I want to get off that bad-guy thing, Sigel said in 2007.

While theres no set date on the upcoming release, the return of one of Phillys most prolific emcees could be the beginning of the redemptive path he rapped about back in 2005.
Honeygrow fans across the country can now get their hands on the companys signature sauces.

The Philly-founded fast casual eatery known for its noodle dishes launched a line of bottled sauces on Monday. Customers can buy them online and have them shipped straight to their door to cook with at home.

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Over the years, weve heard from so many customers whove either moved away from their local Honeygrow and miss our signature stir-fry flavors or those who want to experiment with the sauces in their kitchens, said Justin Rosenberg, founder and CEO of Honeygrow, in a news release.

The product line includes Spicy Garlic, Red Coconut Curry, Garlic Butter, and Sesame Garlic  all of which are sold in 8 oz. bottles for $5.49 each.

For now, the company is shipping out sauces from its headquarters in Center City at 16th and Locust Streets and will assess how long it can sustain that capacity. Honeygrow just moved into a new office a month ago after outgrowing its former space, said Amy DePaoli, Honeygrows director of marketing.

Were just sort of dipping our toes in here and testing what the appetite is for something like this, said DePaoli.

The companys sauces and noodles have been available for purchase directly in-store or through catering, but this is the first time Honeygrow is shipping food products. To make that possible, the company had to make its sauces shelf-stable, said DePaoli.

Honeygrow launched in 2012 and has grown from one Center City restaurant into a chain with over 55 locations across the Northeast and Midwest. Locally, the company has locations in Center City, Kensington, University City, North Philadelphia, Bala Cynwyd, Cherry Hill, among others.

 READ MORE: Philly-based Honeygrow just had its best year. The CEO still gets behind the wok.

Honeygrow aims to expand its store count to over 70 by the end of the year, said DePaoli. A new store is set to open in Moorestown this month, as well as in Allentown in May or June.

Seeing where people order the shipped sauces could also inform where there is demand for new restaurant locations, DePaoli said.

If theyre going to areas that we are not currently operating in, then thats definitely something we share with our real estate team and let them know theres excitement in these markets, and something we should look into, she said.
One port in Bangkok, Thailand. Many small businesses are affected by tariffs. These strategies could help with minimizing the impact of the extra cost. Read more

Are you upset about tariffs? Many of my clients are. But the smartest business owners I know put aside their emotions and instead focus on the task at hand: minimizing tariffs impact on their businesses. How? Here are nine ways.

Use a bonded warehouse or free-trade zone

There are numerous free-trade zones throughout the U.S. There are also many organizations offering bonded warehouses. Both strategies offer similar benefits: deferring or even avoiding tariffs altogether.

Using this approach, the inventory that you buy is shipped directly to one of those locations. No tariffs are paid until the inventory is taken out of the warehouse and shipped to your location. My clients who are doing this are betting that President Donald Trumps administration will be negotiating their currently imposed tariffs, and rates will decrease before they need the inventory.

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Companies that sell their products internationally can avoid tariffs altogether by receiving and then reshipping their products directly from a bonded warehouse.

Talk to organizations that specialize in overseas trade

The federal government provides free consulting advice to businesses looking to buy and sell overseas through the U.S. Commercial Service, Export Import Bank, International Trade Administration, and Small Business Administration.

The World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia (WTCA) provides assistance both to members and nonmembers through its many educational programs and direct services. The WTCA helps local businesses find materials in more tariff-friendly countries, matches companies with prospective suppliers, and can even arrange face-to-face visits with interested parties.

Mix price increases with overhead reductions

Many expect businesses to simply pass tariff increases directly to their customers in the form of price increases. But many of my clients are using the opportunity to take a hard look at their overhead costs.

Tariffs affect material prices which shrinks margins. But reducing costs in other places  eliminating unnecessary expenses, investing in technology, scrapping older inventory, managing utilities better, keeping headcount consistent  can make up for a portion of the additional tariff costs, so price increases are smaller. For them its not just margins  its all about net profits at the end of the day.

Target your price increases

If youre forced to increase prices, lean into your accounting system and be smart about it.

For your largest, best, and most profitable customers you may want to consider avoiding price increases, or you could offer them better deals (and make sure they know theyre getting special treatment). Customers who take up more of your time or are less profitable may be the ones who bear the full brunt.

Dont be lazy and simply charge higher prices across the board. Use this as an opportunity to show your appreciation for your best customers.

Buy American and build American

This is exactly what the president wants us to do, which is easier said than done given the intricacies of the U.S. supply chain and many companies reliance on foreign suppliers. But pivoting to U.S.-based suppliers, where possible, could result in lower prices for key materials.

Also easier said than done  and with a longer timeline  is making products here in the U.S. Some of my clients began doing this after the election. Instead of buying finished products from overseas, theyre ordering supplies and raw materials (from other countries when they need to) and assembling or manufacturing here themselves or through partners.

It may also be possible to reengineer your products to include different components subject to less tariffs.

Also, dont ignore the potential marketing opportunity of letting your customers know that you buy American.

Revisit existing supply agreements

Will President Trumps tariffs be in place for the longer term? Already dozens of countries have said they want to renegotiate and even consider reducing their tariffs to zero. Because of this uncertain environment, its difficult to commit.

So its important to talk to your key vendors about navigating the next three to six months while this plays out. Some suppliers may be willing to offer a temporary discount or defer payments. Many will be open to more flexible pricing as tariff rates are bound to fluctuate. Others may be willing to negotiate their arrangements completely depending on your companys importance to them.

Its important to ask. If youre able to diversify your supplier base then all the better.

Communicate and separate

Some of my clients are already showing a tariff surcharge on their invoices to customers so its clear whats driving higher prices. Its also a good way to cover costs without changing prices in your inventory system. As tariffs change, this line item can be adjusted and (hopefully!) eliminated altogether.

Lean on experts for advice

Accountants and financial consultants can assist with better forecasting, budgeting, and expense-reduction strategies. Attorneys can look harder at existing supplier contracts to find potential areas for renegotiation. Customs brokers can offer advice for minimizing tariff impacts by reevaluating product classifications to more advantageous tariff groups or suggest lower-tariff alternatives.

Talk to your federal representatives

Taxes, legislation, regulations, tariffs ... these are all things imposed by governments.

Its understandable that the current tariff increases by this administration are frustrating  even potentially devastating  for many business owners. If youre being particularly impacted you need to communicate your situation to your federal representatives.

These tariffs are imposed through Trumps executive orders. Congressional legislation can supersede these actions. Even a failure to achieve this now isnt the end of the road: Midterms are only a little over 19 months away and a new Congress can potentially pass laws to limit a presidents ability to impose tariffs.
A Camden County woman tried to have her former boyfriend  a Philadelphia police officer  killed, along with his teenage daughter, in a murder-for-hire plot that was ultimately foiled, authorities said Tuesday.

Jaclyn Diiorio, 26, of Runnemede, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, conspiracy, and related crimes in connection with the scheme to kill her 53-year-old ex, whom authorities did not identify, and his 19-year-old daughter, Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay and Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins said in a joint statement.

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The prosecutors office was tipped off to the plan last week by the person Diioro had tried to hire, authorities said.

The man, whom authorities did not identify, began communicating with Diiorio over the dating app Tinder and then met her in person at a Wawa in Runnemede on March 31, according to the probable cause affidavit for her arrest.

Over the next several days, Diiorio told the man she wanted to have her ex and his daughter killed and would be willing to pay thousands to get it done, the affidavit said. She offered him $12,000 to carry out the crime and arranged to meet him at a Dollar General store in Gloucester Township to give him a $500 down payment, according to the document.

Around 6:45 p.m. Friday, authorities said, the two met outside the store in her Honda Civic and she gave him the cash. She was taken into custody immediately after the exchange and was being held at the Camden County Correctional Facility.

Authorities said Diiorio had been the police officers barber, and the two began dating about a year ago. But things soon turned sour, they said, and the officer filed a temporary restraining order against Diiorio in August.

In September, he reported that his home had been vandalized by someone who threw a Molotov cocktail at the house, the affidavit said.

Last week, after the man who said Diiorio tried to hire him to kill the officer reported her actions to police, the officer identified her from photographs detectives showed him, according to the affidavit. He said they had dated and had ended their relationship on March 6, the document said.

Philadelphia police, who were notified of the alleged plot and helped South Jersey authorities with the investigation, declined to identify the officer. Sgt. Eric Gripp, a department spokesperson, commended law enforcement officials in Camden County for their work on the case.

Anyone with information about the alleged crime is asked to call Detective Ryan Durham of the Camden County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit at 856-225-5127.
A Norristown man died over the weekend while in custody at a Philadelphia police station, less than two days after he was arrested, police said.

SEPTA police arrested Joshua Mister, 44, around 7:30 p.m. Friday on the 2800 block of Kensington Avenue, in Kensington, said Sgt. Eric Gripp, spokesperson for the police department. SEPTA officers approached Mister at the Somerset Station after they caught him trying to avoid paying the fare, said Andrew Busch, SEPTA spokesperson.

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After running a background check on Mister, SEPTA officers discovered he was wanted on a bench warrant for failure to appear in court in Philadelphia, Busch said.

Mister was taken to Temple University Hospitals Episcopal Campus for medical assessment and released and taken to the 25th District, on the 3900 block of Whitaker Avenue, for processing Friday night, said Busch.

Around 6 a.m. Sunday, a Philadelphia police officer found Mister unresponsive in his cell in the holding area at 25th District headquarters, said Gripp. He was pronounced dead at the scene minutes later, at 6:16 a.m.

Police did not release the cause of death.
Police officers stand on the 1100 block of East Chelten Avenue after a shooting at the Lonnie Young Recreation Center on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 in Philadelphia. Read more

A 23-year-old man was being sought on an arrest warrant for a shooting last week outside a recreation center in the citys East Germantown section that left a young man critically wounded, police said Monday.

Anthony T. Smith is facing charges of aggravated assault and related offenses in the shooting that happened just after 5:40 p.m. last Tuesday outside the Lonnie Young Recreation Center on the 1100 block of East Chelten Avenue.

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The 18-year-old victim was first taken by a private vehicle, but then was transferred to a police vehicle and transported to Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital.

The shooting happened while a community meeting was being held to address another shooting at the Charles M. Finley Recreation Center in East Mount Airy the prior Saturday that left three teens wounded.

Anyone with information about Smiths whereabouts can contact the Shooting Investigation Group at 215-686-8270. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through the police tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477.)
Gov. Josh Shapiro, pictured during a Feb. 22 news conference, said Tuesday his administration was still reviewing a directive from the U.S. Department of Education threatening to stop federal funding to schools unless the state certifies it has no "illegal DEI practices." Read more

HARRISBURG  Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday he is very concerned about the Trump administrations threats to withhold federal funding from the states neediest schools over diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts but stopped short of saying he would fight the directive.

The U.S. Department of Education last Thursday directed states to sign a certification that none of their public schools have illegal DEI practices  and threatened to block future federal support if states do not comply.

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Shapiro, a Democrat, told reporters Tuesday outside an appearance before the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau that the Pennsylvania Department of Education is still reviewing the directive.

Several Democratic-led states have chosen to defy the Education Departments directive, or have told districts to ignore it. Leaders in Minnesota and New York said they would not comply with the order, and California and Vermont told districts not to respond, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, other states and territories have submitted their certifications or plan to do so, including Arizona and Virginia, which are preparing their submissions, and Puerto Rico, which Education Secretary Linda McMahon praised for being the first to submit its certification.

 READ MORE: Some Philly-area schools are sticking with DEI, despite Trumps orders

In a letter sent to state education agencies last week, the department said DEI initiatives are racially discriminatory, citing the Supreme Courts decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions. It singled out Title I federal funding, which goes to schools that have higher populations of low-income students, as contingent on compliance with antidiscrimination laws.

Shapiro said he is worried that the Trump administration would pull back any funding to Pennsylvanias 500 school districts, especially for students in Title I schools.

Shapiro put the onus on the states congressional delegation to not go along with cutting funding that impacts each and every one of our school districts.

When asked about confusion among districts  which are still awaiting guidance from the state on how to approach the directive  the governor said the confusion is caused by the Trump administration.

At this point, I think a lot of us are seeking clarity on what the Trump administration means by most of the executive orders he signs, which tend to be more about press releases and less about actual legally binding teeth, he added.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education, which did not respond to questions about the federal directive last week, did not immediately respond to another request for comment Tuesday.

Any potential action could certainly affect Philadelphia, Pennsylvanias largest school system, which has an office of DEI and has affirmed its commitment to anti-racism as one of the districts guiding principles.

Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said Tuesday he has not had any specific communications with the state education department but would imagine well be following up on a position on that in the near future.

Other area districts with equity initiatives, including Lower Merion and Tredyffrin/Easttown, have said they are awaiting guidance from the state.

The federal Education Departments letter to states said that certain DEI practices can violate federal law.

Any violation of Title VI  including the use of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) programs to advantage ones race over another  is impermissible, the letter said.

The letter did not specify which practices would be illegal, though previous communication from the department said schools could not consider race in admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.

The department initially gave state education agencies 10 days to submit the certification that their schools had no illegal practices, but on Monday, it extended the deadline to April 24, the Associated Press reported.

Were working through what theyve asked for, and were going through that process right now, Shapiro told reporters Tuesday. Well get back to you.

Staff writer Kristen A. Graham contributed to this article.
Is PHL the new hottest restaurant neighborhood in Philly?

Randy Rucker of River Twice and Little Water is the latest local chef to set up shop at the Philadelphia International Airport, where hes designing a menu for American Airlines new Flagship Lounge, currently under construction for a summer opening.

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Rucker joins a growing number of Philly chefs, restaurants, and brands branching out to the airport. Middle Child, whose own menu collaboration recently began rolling out in the Chase Sapphire Lounge, recently announced a full-blown third location set to open in Terminal D this fall, and Oyster House and Federal Donuts & Chicken remain on track for a spring/summer opening in the B/C connector.

Already at the airport are Bud & Marilyns, Sabrinas, La Colombe, Elixr Coffee, and Jims South St. Famous Cheesesteaks, as well as a Michael Solomonov-designed menu at the American Express Centurion Lounge.

Americans Flagship Lounge and a new, connected Admirals Club will be located in Terminal A West, close to most long-haul international flight departures (which typically take off from A West and A East). More exclusive than the Admirals Club, the Flagship Lounge is a distinct entity that requires elite airline status, a first- or business-class ticket, or a day pass that can be purchased for $150 or 15,000 AAdvantage miles.

American Airlines has an ongoing partnership with the James Beard Foundation to connect its lounges with local chefs; Rucker was selected by the foundation as the host of its Taste America event last month. He said that he was not able to disclose specific menu items yet, but that theyll be emblematic of the locality of the Philadelphia region and feature seasonal produce.

My approach to food is simple on the plate, but complex in development, he said. Its very seasonal. We are definitely reflective of the Delaware Valley. I believe in time and place. Theres also the backbone of Southern soul in what I do.

Rucker, noted, however, that he will not be responsible for dessert. Im sticking to my savory bones here, he said.

In a review of Ruckers latest restaurant, Inquirer critic Craig LaBan cited the chefs evocative approach to cooking, noting that the threads of nostalgia and a distinct sense of coastal places  are especially vivid in his food at Little Water.

As is the case at Middle Child in the Chase Sapphire Lounge, Rucker will be responsible for creating select a la carte dishes. The lounge will offer additional dishes and provide an all-day buffet, as well as cocktails (with alcohol and without), spirits, and a self-service wine bar.

The coffee service at American is getting decidedly less Philly-friendly, however: La Colombe has been ditched at both the Flagship Lounge and the Admirals Club.
Justin Bekelman, a former Penn Medicine oncologist, now heads a cancer care company called Daymark Health that raised $11 million in seed money from venture capital firms. Read more

A Philadelphia cancer care start-up, Daymark Health, led by former Penn Medicine oncologist Justin Bekelman has received $11.5 million in seed money from three venture capital firms, the company announced Friday.

Daymarks business involves contracting with health insurers to provide wraparound clinical, mental health, and social services for cancer patients. Under contracts with insurers, Daymark will be responsible for the total cost of an insurers patients with cancer.

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Typically, under such so-called value-based contracts, a company like Daymark gets to keep a portion of whatever it saves by doing a better job of managing care. That can mean fewer hospitalizations or emergency department visits.

Bekelman described Daymark as a medical group backed by a technology backbone that integrates with health plans and with oncologists and primary care providers. Its clinical teams provide virtual and in-home services, but do not replace the patients local oncologist, he said.

For Bekelman, a radiation oncologist, Daymark represents an extension of work he did as director of the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation. That included the development of Penn Cancer Care at Home during a time when COVID-19 made chemotherapy infusions in group settings risky.

The pandemic was like a forcing mechanism for change, Bekelman said in an interview Monday. Providing chemotherapy at home for hundreds of patients planted a seed for broader innovation that took advantage of and extended all the things that the pandemic revealed was possible for patients, he said.

In early 2023, Daymark started to take shape through Bekelmans work during nights and weekends with a San Francisco business incubator called Healthcare Foundry. Last October, he left Penn to become Daymarks CEO.

Daymarks first customer is an insurance plan in the Northeastern United States. Under the contract, Daymark is providing care to 2,500 cancer patients, Daymark said. Bekelman said the contract did not allow him identify the insurer.

Daymark is part of an effort to shift the health-care business model from one that relies on discrete payments for specific services  whether or not they lead to improved health  to one that puts providers at financial risk for the clinical results of the services they provide.

The Affordable Care Act provided incentives for such efforts in primary care, but in more recent years value-based care models have expanded to areas like kidney care, Bekelman said.

Locally, Independence Blue Cross works with Strive Health, and the University of Pennsylvania Health System formed a joint venture in 2022 with Evergreen Nephrology, to provide more kidney care at home and reduce the need for emergency department visits and hospitalizations for people with chronic and end-stage kidney disease.

The $11.5 million investment in Daymark was led by two San Francisco firms. They are Maverick Ventures and Yosemite, a cancer-focused fund led by Reed Jobs, the son of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Oncology Ventures, a New York firm focused on startups in cancer care and research, also participated.

Ambar Bhattacharyya, a managing director at Maverick, said his firm has invested in value-based care companies in primary care. Daymark represents our first partnership with a company in a specialty-focused area, where we see ample opportunities for improving patient care and outcomes, he said.
The 18th annual El Carnaval de Puebla at Sacks Playground on Washington Ave. on April 30, 2023, in Philadelphia. El Carnaval de Puebla falls on Mexicos Day of the Children and is one of the citys biggest celebrations of Mexican culture. Read more

The Carnaval de Puebla, the big annual celebration of Mexican culture in South Philadelphia, has been canceled this year out of fear that ICE might target the event to make immigration arrests.

The festival was scheduled for April 27, and expected to draw the estimated 15,000 revelers who have made it one of the largest carnavals on the East Coast. Now many of those who planned to travel from as far as California and Mexico have told organizers they are not coming, concerned about President Donald Trumps aggressive policies toward immigrants.

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Olga Renteria, who serves on the carnaval committee and is active in Philadelphias Mexican community, said organizers had little choice, given the worries people expressed for themselves or undocumented family members.

People dont want to participate because of whats going on, she said Tuesday. People worry if they show up for the carnaval and ICE is waiting for them.

Organizers were also having trouble raising money to put on the event, officially known as El Carnaval de Puebla en Philadelphia, she said. While there are up-front costs associated with the daylong festival, it brings tourism dollars to Philadelphia as people from across the region and beyond come to enjoy food, dancing, and cultural and historical performances, she added.

We didnt want this to happen, Renteria said, noting the carnaval has a nearly two-decade history, pausing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its the most important day of the year, like Christmas, New Years. This is the Carnaval de Puebla  its like a family reunion.

ICE officials in Philadelphia did not immediately reply to a request for comment. City officials declined to comment.

People are scared

Trump has embarked on what he promises will be the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history, with millions of migrants sent out of the country.

Since his administration began in January, reports of ICE activity have ricocheted across the region, driving anxiety in immigrant communities and causing some people to change their routines and daily lives.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made high-profile arrests at Philadelphia businesses in recent months, and the fear of detention and deportation has led some workers to stay away.

In late February, ICE agents arrested four undocumented Brazilian immigrants at the Jumbo Meat Market in Northeast Philadelphia. The previous month, the agency arrested seven employees during a raid at a North Philadelphia car wash. Meanwhile, stores in the famed Italian Market closed as undocumented employees stayed home from work amid rumors of impending ICE arrests.

In 2017, during the first Trump presidency, Philadelphia organizers of Carnaval de Puebla canceled the event for similar reasons, fearing that a large gathering of Mexican people could become a target for immigration enforcement actions.

People are scared, Edgar Ramirez, an organizing committee leader, said at the time. The atmosphere is not good.

Losing a unique tradition

In Philadelphia, an estimated 47,000 residents are undocumented, part of 153,000 statewide, with an additional 440,000 in New Jersey.

In mid-2023 the United States was home to about 13.7 million undocumented immigrants, an all-time peak, as calculated recently by the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. About 40%, an estimated 5.5 million people, are Mexican.

The numbers of undocumented migrants coming from many countries have only increased, but the Mexican population has ebbed and flowed, peaking at 7.8 million in 2007, MPI said in new research. It shrank after the Great Recession of 2008-09, hitting a low of 5.3 million in 2021, then increasing in 2022 and 2023.

That increase occurred because of economic instability in Mexico, even as the U.S. economy strengthened after the pandemic. Violence in Mexico also caused people to leave, MPI said.

While Mexican Carnaval is celebrated in slightly different ways throughout Mexico and the United States, Philadelphias version is modeled after those in Huejotzingo and San Mateo Ozolco, two cities in the state of Puebla. They include a reenactment of the battle in Puebla where the Mexican army repelled invading French forces in 1862, as well as other significant historical moments, like the countrys first Christian wedding in the 1500s.

Organizers now are trying to arrange a smaller, alternate event at the Tamalex Bar & Grill  and hoping this pause on the event wont last four years.

Its truly unfortunate that the committee had to cancel this years event, Renteria said in an email. This tradition means so much to our community, and were hopeful that the situation will improve in the coming years so we can once again bring El Carnaval de Puebla back to Philadelphia.
The parents of a 3-year-old boy sued a Bucks County daycare center after an employee showed them videos of a teacher sitting on the 30-pound child to restrain him as he cried.

Diana and John Castaldo allege in a lawsuit that their son was abused repeatedly by his teacher at the Jolly Toddlers Early Education Center in Southampton throughout December and January.

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The complaint, filed last month in Bucks County Court, says the boy began displaying unusual behaviors around December, such as crying often and having trouble sleeping. The childs teacher reached out to the parents in January, saying that the boy had been throwing toys and stuttering, according to the lawsuit.

Unbeknownst to the couple, an employee at the center had recorded two instances of the 3-year-olds teacher sitting on the child while he was crying, the suit said, and shared them with the Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services Agency.

When the Castaldos went to Jolly Toddlers on Jan. 30 to meet with owner Nancy Thompson about the boys behavior, the employee pulled the couple aside and shared the videos with them.

You feel kind of numb at first, Diana Castaldo said about the moment she watched the videos. It was absolutely devastating.

The parents confronted Thompson, pulled their child from the center, and contacted the Upper Southampton Police Department, according to the complaint. The following day they took their son to the Newtown campus of Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, where staff documented scrapes and unexplained bruises on the 3-year-olds body.

Jolly Toddlers and Thompsons attorneys declined to comment. The Inquirer was unable to contact the teacher based on publicly available information and no attorney is listed on the court docket.

In court filings, Jolly Toddlers and Thompsons attorneys dispute the lawsuit on procedural grounds. They say that the complaint fails to show evil motive or conduct that is reckless and misrepresents the disciplinary procedures of Jolly Toddlers.

A police report, provided by the Castaldos attorney to The Inquirer, says one video shows the teacher push [the childs] head against a floor mat while he cried and possibly said help. The second video shows the teacher pin [the child] down with her legs on a floor mat which was in the corner of the room away from the other children, according to the report.

But police concluded that the videos did not show abuse.

I reviewed the video clips and observe some attempts to restrain child by an adult staff member, the Upper Southampton Township detective wrote.  I did not see any point where the child was in actual distress just emotional about the encounter."

In interviews with detectives, Thompson stood by the teacher. She told investigators she supports the legs over legs technique to restrain a child during an outburst, provided that it was justified under the circumstances, the police report said. She produced 21 incident reports related to the child.

The teacher told police that she used her legs to keep the boy on his nap mat during an outburst, but that at no point was he unable to breathe due to the restraint, the report said.

The detective investigating the case concluded that the behavior did not appear to rise to a criminal act.

A spokesperson for the Bucks County District Attorneys Office said the office was aware of the allegations and no criminal charges were filed.

A.J. Thomson, the Castaldos attorney, said he disagreed with law enforcements assessment of the situation.

I can assure you that if somebody was sitting on a kid of people who investigated this, they would treat this as a crime, Thomson said.

The Castaldos say they were never informed about the legs over legs restraint.

Of course she did not tell anyone of her support for this, as no parent would pay thousands of dollars a year to a facility that practiced this kind of child abuse on 3-year-olds, the complaint said of the director.

Through the police investigations, the Castaldos also learned that there were no cameras in the classrooms. If not for the employees recording of the incident, they could have never known, they said.

Were just thankful that the whistleblower caught it before it got more tragic, John Castaldo said.
The Drunken Knitwits, a collective of city knitters and crocheters, unveiled their latest yarnbombing project last month. When it was vandalized and removed this weekend, community members began volunteering to restore it in time for the neighborhood's upcoming food festival. Read more

Cherubs donned colorful togas, a stork wore a Gritty sweater, and hand-crocheted flowers draped over the backs of benches at Passyunk Squares Singing Fountain  then the vandals came.

The Drunken Knitwits, a collective of city knitters and crocheters, unveiled their latest yarn bombing project last month. After months of prep and hundreds of hours of labor among 15 group members, the club installed a colorful display of yarn florals, garland, and clothing to the empty fountain, bringing a pop of vibrancy to the mostly gray early-spring days in South Philly.

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Allison Covey was part of the Drunken Knitwits chapter in Oxford, England, before taking a job at Villanova University and starting a Philadelphia branch of the international group. Its one of three U.S. chapters, with other branches across the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and Spain. The local chapter meets weekly to craft and enjoy one anothers company. Its the same group behind dressing the animal statues at Fitler Square over the holiday season.

The Knitwits latest surprise installation was mostly met with praise and joy. It was a sanctioned project, with knitters working with the Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corp.

The knitters also worked with preservation experts to make sure the work did not damage the fountain. In the past, the Singing Fountain has been decorated with other pop-up installations, including flower displays.

Instagrammers tagged the group and commented on their favorite elements; the three storks sports-themed sweaters  paying homage to the Flyers, the Phillies, and (fittingly) the Birds  were a big hit. The display was set to remain through the Flavors on the Avenue food festival on April 27.

But things took a turn for the worse over the weekend.

Local business owners alerted us this morning to the total destruction of our Singing Fountain yarnbombing at 3 a.m. [Saturday] by two women who came with trash bags and scissors, the group wrote on its Instagram page. Video provided to the authorities shows the women cackling, snapping photos, and celebrating as they took every last bit of the installation and left with it all in bags.

Covey told The Inquirer she was surprised to learn the vandalism was premeditated and performed by seemingly adult women armed with scissors and trash bags. She added that the group and authorities are still trying to identify the women and determine their motives.

The Philadelphia Police Department confirmed a theft incident report was filed Saturday about the yarn art. No arrests have been reported.

Public art always comes with risk, of course, and not every mode of art suits every taste, the Knitwits wrote on Instagram. Regardless of how we feel about yarnbombing, this kind of gleeful destruction of public art is not something any of us should be willing to defend or tolerate in our community. Wear and tear, yes. Vandals coming at 3 a.m. to literally dance while destroying the art, no.

On neighborhood Facebook groups and Reddit channels, the incident has locals wondering, Why would someone do this? and concluding: This is why we cant have nice things.

Yarn bombing is generally considered a positive, temporary way for artists to express themselves without damaging property. In the social media threads discussing the theft, a handful of naysayers said the yarn can develop a smell over time because of its exposure to weather.

But supporters argued that the displays were approved by the Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corp. and had a deadline to be taken down.

Still, Covey says the knitting group was unfazed and refused to be discouraged.

So many of you have insisted on helping that were inspired to press ahead with the Flavors on the Avenue installation as originally planned, the group wrote in an Instagram post Sunday.

The Knitwits are asking locals to contribute to a new and improved display. The group is seeking food-themed knit or crocheted items to go with the festival theme. Donations so far have included knit and crocheted ice cream cones, a latte, and sunny-side-up eggs.

There has been a great deal of support for replacing the artwork in time for Flavors on the Avenue, Covey said. We have been so impressed by the outpouring of support we have received from the crafting community and from Philadelphia in general.

The group also has a plea for the vandals: Consider returning the art, or dropping off whats left of it, no questions asked. Other organizers are less optimistic, saying security camera footage showed the pieces being cut apart, likely making them unsalvageable.

Ashley Haak of South Philly Yarn and Craft, who helped organize the yarn bomb, said security footage and the aftermath showed the vandals spending at least half an hour stripping the installation, leaving behind broken zip ties and bits of yarn.

We certainly understand the risks of street art, of course, but we didnt expect this type of malice, South Philly Yarn and Craft posted on Instagram. Its upsetting to all of us who worked on it, but also the entire community who enjoyed it.

Covey remains optimistic.

Philly has such a rich history of supporting street art and artists and the citys reaction to the theft is yet another testament to that, she said. The thieves may have stolen our artwork, but they have only managed to make the community stronger.

Community members interested in helping may drop off knitted or crocheted food items to South Philly Yarn and Craft (1625 S. 11th St.) by 5 p.m. April 23. Volunteers are also invited to participate in a knit/crochet-in event at the Craftship inside the Bok Building on Monday at 6 p.m. Donations of clean, acrylic yarn are also being accepted, but organizers say the greatest need is for finished knitted or crocheted food items.
Rubella vaccine pioneer Stanley A. Plotkin, an emeritus professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, pictured at the Wistar Institute lab in 2021. Read more

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s efforts to make the use of the MMR vaccine voluntary is not only letting loose measles, with all its acute and long-lasting effects, but also will allow mumps and German measles (rubella) to return to America.

MMR is called by those three letters because it contains vaccines against mumps and rubella, as well as measles. Mumps, for those who remember it, conjures up swollen and painful faces around the salivary glands, but it also frequently causes meningitis, inflammation of the testicles, and deafness.

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The R in MMR  rubella  may not immediately conjure up such vivid images, but in the early 1960s, there was a huge outbreak of it, starting in Europe and spreading to the United States, where it caused an estimated 13 million cases.

Rubella causes a generalized rash, but it can also cause arthritis and other problems. Most importantly, if rubella infects a pregnant woman just before conception or in early pregnancy, it frequently passes to the unborn child, resulting in permanent neurological, cardiac, and other abnormalities.

Just before the rubella epidemic began, I had opened my virology lab at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. At the time, it was the only laboratory in the city capable of doing virologic and serologic studies of people infected with rubella. Soon, I was overwhelmed with pregnant women who had developed rashes and came to me wanting to know if it was rubella. Later, other women brought their ill babies to me to determine if their abnormalities were the result of congenital rubella infection.

The eventual total toll of infants in the United States with congenital rubella due to that single outbreak was estimated to be 20,000, as well as several thousand fetal deaths and an unknown number of spontaneous and induced abortions. Witnessing the anguish of the Philadelphia mothers was a sobering experience, to say the least.

Thereafter, I and others began to work on developing vaccines against the rubella virus, which were eventually licensed in the United States and Europe in the late 1960s and 70s.

To reduce injections, the rubella vaccine was eventually combined with the measles and mumps vaccines to make MMR. The triple vaccine was widely recommended by public health authorities in the United States and elsewhere, becoming part of routine childhood vaccination. The incidence of rubella soon dropped, and by 2011, rubella and congenital rubella were eradicated from the United States and the entire Western Hemisphere.

Europe and Australia are also virtually rubella-free, although it persists in other parts of the world, and could return to the United States due to Kennedys actions.

In that regard, it is important to understand that the public health success of vaccines depends on everyone with normal immune systems agreeing to be vaccinated.

Those who do not accept vaccination remain susceptible to the infections against which the vaccines were developed, and they serve as vectors for the spread of the infections to unvaccinated individuals, to infants too young to be vaccinated, and to immunosuppressed persons, such as those being treated for cancer, who cannot respond to vaccination.

I am horrified by the return of measles to the United States, having seen the disease and its complications when I was training in pediatrics so many years ago. The threat that rubella will also return is equally horrifying to me and my colleagues, who hoped measles, mumps, and rubella would never again threaten children and pregnant women in America or elsewhere.

Stanley A. Plotkin is a physician and an emeritus professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Chinese medics conduct mobile clinic in northern Tanzania to mark World Health Day

Xinhua) 10:13, April 08, 2025

DAR ES SALAAM, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese medical teams in Tanzania on Sunday organized a two-day mobile free clinic in the northern city of Arusha, commemorating World Health Day, observed annually on April 7.

The clinic was conducted by the 27th Chinese medical team in mainland Tanzania, the 34th Chinese medical team in Zanzibar, and the schistosomiasis control team from the China Cooperation project in Zanzibar's Pemba Island.

A team of 13 Chinese experts, specializing in internal medicine, surgery, parasitic diseases, and other areas, offered free services, including health lectures, medical check-ups, and medication donations.

The clinic served more than 200 Tanzanian and Chinese employees of the China Railway Construction Engineering Group working on a stadium project in Arusha.

In collaboration with the Ngorongoro Geopark project team from China Railway 25th Bureau Group Corporation Limited, the Chinese medics also provided medical science lectures and health consultations for more than 100 staff members and residents of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA).

Additionally, they donated essential medicines and medical equipment, including oxygen generators, to the NCAA medical center.

George Nsoke, leader of the NCAA medical center, expressed his gratitude for the Chinese medical teams' visit, saying that they addressed long-standing shortages by sharing professional medical knowledge and donating much-needed medicines and equipment. He praised their internationalist spirit, urging all medical personnel to follow their example.

Zhang Junqiao, leader of the 27th Chinese medical team in mainland Tanzania, said over the past 60 years, China has dispatched more than 2,000 medical experts to mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Zhang emphasized that the mobile clinic allowed Chinese medical teams to extend their expertise and support to more regions in Tanzania, benefiting more people. "We will continue to carry forward the spirit of saving lives and dedicating our efforts to the development of Tanzania's healthcare sector," he said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie (left) and Rob Bresnahan (right) are on the House Democrats' list of districts they're hoping to flip in 2026. Read more

House Democrats have their eyes on four Pennsylvania congressional districts in 2026  two they hope to regain and two theyve been trying to win for years.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told The Inquirer it is focusing its midterm attention on longtime U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County and Scott Perry of York County, and on two freshmen: U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie of Lehigh County and Rob Bresnahan of Lackawanna County.

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Pennsylvania, which loomed large in the 2024 election, is the state with the most Democratic targets on the DCCCs 2026 list, previewing another election cycle obsessively focused on the commonwealth.

The party lost two House seats last year, when Democratic Reps. Matt Cartwright in northeastern Pennsylvania and Susan Wild in the Lehigh Valley were defeated amid a national red wave. Republicans have continued to close the registration gap in the state, as well.

 READ MORE: Meet Ryan Mackenzie and Rob Bresnahan Jr., Pennsylvanias two new GOP members of Congress

But Democrats are hoping their recent win in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race and a state Senate win in Lancaster last month indicate shifting energy that they can build on ahead of the midterms.

The announcement also comes as President Donald Trump is experiencing widespread backlash for massive tariffs and worries about the economic outlook, sentiments Democrats are hoping to seize on heading into 2026.

DCCC chair Suzan DelBene tied the four Republicans to Trumps policies and accused them in a statement of failing to protect working Pennsylvanians.

From tanking the economy, gutting Medicaid, abandoning our veterans, to making everything more expensive, theyve broken their promises to Pennsylvanians, and its going to cost them their seats, DelBene said.

Democrats running in races identified by the DCCC as target districts often benefit from funding from the group, though being listed does not guarantee financial support.

In Pennsylvanias 1st Congressional District, Fitzpatrick has already drawn a challenger: Bucks County Commissioners Chair Bob Harvie.

In the 7th Congressional District, Lamont McClure, the Democratic Northampton County executive, has said he will challenge Mackenzie. Wild, who held the seat, said she will not run in 2026.

Janelle Stelson, a former television anchor who lost to Perry by about 5,000 votes, said at a town hall in the district last month that she was seriously considering a second run.

Meanwhile, National Republican Campaign Committee regional spokesperson Maureen OToole predicted the GOP strength seen in 2024 would continue.

Democrats across Pennsylvania were resoundingly rejected in 2024 for being too radical and out of touch, OToole said. They will be rejected again.
People walk to the Market-Frankford Line 13th and Market Street headhouse (the entrances to the subways) in Philadelphia on Saturday night. The headhouses were slated for upgrades funded by federal money that is now in limbo. Read more

Bensalem Township wants to build a new fire station. Sharon Hills library needs renovations, and SEPTAs subway entrances on Market Street were planning a much-needed facelift.

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Each project was slated for federal funding this year, which has vanished. When Congress passed the continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government open last month, it bypassed the traditional budget process, which would have included earmarks, now called community project funds, amounting to about $264 million destined for Pennsylvania for the 2025 fiscal year.

The project funds werent a major part of the debate between Democrats and Republicans during the vote on the continuing resolution, as Democrats focused their arguments on claims that the CR amounted to a slush fund for President Donald Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk to cut government programs.

But the loss of the funding amid other federal cuts to local organizations and governments  and atop new tariffs rattling markets  leaves the future of funding for bridges, roadways, homeless shelters, and stormwater projects in Pennsylvania and nationwide uncertain.

And with a budget battle looming in Washington over how to further cut spending, Democratic lawmakers have expressed some fear that the focus on reductions could translate to fewer future earmarks for local projects.

Because of the Republicans Continuing Resolution budget, Community Project Funding programs were left unfunded and in limbo, said U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, (D., Chester), who had 15 projects lined up for funding this year.

As local jurisdictions face funding cuts, it becomes even more critical to fund these projects  particularly those that address health and safety, like equipment for fire departments, road intersection safety improvements, and mental health-care facilities, Houlahan said, adding that she will ask all approved recipients to resubmit for the new budget year.

Funding approved in 2024 remains intact, and the figure for 2025 project earmarks  $264 million across 263 projects  is a drop in the bucket compared to total federal funding that comes to Pennsylvania  about $50 billion to the state government alone. But for individual communities, the cancellation could have an impact, something even Republicans who voted for the CR acknowledged.

Its kind of like having your kids fail out of Christmas this year, said U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R., Butler), who was approved for the second-most funding of any House member behind U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks). You think Santa Claus is bringing everything, and they come down Christmas morning, and theres nothing under the tree."

Republicans top the list of House members with the most funding secured

Earmarks, provisions in Congress yearly budget bill allocating federal dollars for local projects, were once heavily criticized by watchdog groups and fiscal conservative lawmakers, but the system has been updated to prevent abuse, including restrictions on who can receive the funding  local governments and nonprofits, instead of private businesses.

Every member of Congress in Pennsylvania except for Republican U.S. Reps. Scott Perry (R., York) and Lloyd Smucker (R., Lancaster) requested project funding.

Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) had secured the most money of any Pennsylvania representative, as is typical for senators, with $54.9 million in projects across the state. (Fetterman requested some of that money jointly with former Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat who lost his seat in November. Sen. Dave McCormick, the Republican who replaced Casey, has not had a chance to go through the process yet.)

Fitzpatrick requested the most money of any Pennsylvania member of the House, $34 million.

The House Democrats campaign arm was quick to criticize Republicans, including Fitzpatrick, one of the few GOP members to win in a district Trump lost, for voting for the CR that did not include funding for the projects he requested.

Brian Fitzpatrick canceled funding for projects to rebuild critical local infrastructure, fund the police, and improve life for middle-class families, said Justin Chermol with the Democratic Coordinated Campaign Committee.

Fitzpatrick did not respond to a request for comment.

Fetterman also supported the continuing resolution, which passed the Senate with bipartisan support but cleared the House without a single Democratic vote.

Congress passed the full-year funding extension after Republicans, who control both chambers, failed to come to an agreement on the standard appropriations bills that fund the government each year. Those bills included the $264 million for Pennsylvania projects.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Luzerne), who had nearly $16 million slated for his district, said he would have preferred to vote on a budget bill that included the project funding, but did not regret supporting the CR.

I dont make good the enemy of perfect, said Meuser, a Republican who has hinted at running for Pennsylvania governor. I mean, that was the best we could do, and I will be resubmitting them.

That process starts April 14, when requests can be submitted to the Appropriations Committee. But with Trumps budget unlikely to come until May, appropriations bills are already delayed and might not be considered until midsummer. And because lawmakers are limited in the number of projects they can request, skipping a year of funding means anything in the queue for 2026 will likely have to wait.

We must remember that this money was already promised, and it is supposed to be available now, said U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, (D., Montgomery), who was appointed to the appropriations committee this year.

These organizations were promised funding  by Representatives and Senators; Republicans and Democrats. But now, we could see workers lose jobs because infrastructure projects have been halted. We could see students lose access to resources at their colleges and universities, and we could see seniors lose access to affordable housing."

Heres a look at the projects impacted in Pennsylvania for the 2025 fiscal year.

What were the largest projects slated for funding in Pennsylvania?

The largest single project planned for Pennsylvania in 2025 was a $9.3 million investment in 422 Bypass repairs in Indiana County, requested by U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, a Republican who represents Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Another $8 million would have gone toward a stormwater management program in Lower Makefield Township in Bucks County, requested by Fitzpatrick. The town has experienced extreme storm-related flooding, and a project is underway after five people died in flooding in 2023.

Bucks County was also slated to get $4 million for a new Bensalem fire station and $4 million for the reconstruction of a homeless shelter in Bristol Township.

Philadelphias largest earmark, requested by U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, was $2 million for the Center City District to improve several East Market subway headhouses, the structures at the entrances of the subway, some of which are more than 30 years old.

With the passage of the CR, Boyle said in a statement, House Republicans ripped away funding that would have created good-paying jobs and improved public safety in Philadelphia, all so they can deliver giveaways to billionaires and big corporations instead.

Nearly $20 million designated for Philadelphia

Philadelphias representatives, including Fetterman, Boyle, and U.S. Reps. Dwight Evans and Mary Gay Scanlon  requested earmarks for 22 projects in the city for 2025, totaling $19.6 million.

That included $1.3 million to improve drinking water in Kensington through a project that is removing and replacing 1,800 existing lead and steel service lines in the neighborhood.

Another $1.2 million was planned for Every Murder is Real, a nonprofit that supports people who have been affected by homicide. The group planned to put the money toward a new facility offering behavioral health support to children and families in Germantown.

Now, the program director said, thats on hold.

We received a letter that we would not be getting it, said Sharon Thaxton, program director at EMIR. That was a big disappointment  we were going to be, but now were not.

Thaxton said the programs reach is growing and a new center would allow for more in-person grief support groups and workshops. Due to space limitations, a lot of groups meet over Zoom.

We provide services for victim families, with victim compensation, if they need grief support. We do workshops around trauma, she said. Our whole mission is to heal Philadelphia.

Three Philadelphia district schools were on the list for outdoor playground improvements, including $1.1 million for Strawberry Mansions James G. Blaine School, and about $700,000 each for Richard R. Wright, also in Strawberry Mansion, and Anna Blakiston Day School in West Oak Lane.

About $4.8 million would have gone to Temple University for various projects, including a public safety initiative, a community kitchen, a public health simulation center and equipment for the university hospital.

Additional university funding was designated for a clemency clinic at Villanova University.
In this 2024 file photo, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel speaks during a City Council budget hearing. He testified to Council Tuesday about staffing and the department's use of technology. Read more

The Philadelphia Police Department has made only incremental progress in addressing a critical shortage of officers following a wave of retirements and resignations, and the police commissioner acknowledged Tuesday that it could take years of momentum for staffing levels to rebound.

The department is down about 1,200 officers from its full complement of 6,380  about a 19% vacancy rate department-wide  according to Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel, who took over the force last year and inherited an officer shortage that spiked during the pandemic and the racial justice movement in 2020.

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He said despite several years of recruitment drives and policy shifts aimed at onboarding more cops and improving department morale, the numbers are moving, but not moving well enough.

Its going to take some years of momentum, Bethel told City Council members Tuesday. We cannot go back to a place where the police department is devalued, demoralized, and then say, Why cant we get people?

The forces staffing levels were one of several lines of questioning during the police departments annual budget hearing in Council on Tuesday. The hearing is typically among the most high-profile events of the budget season, given Council members interest in public safety and the fact that the agencys allocation of taxpayer dollars is the largest of any department.

This year, Mayor Cherelle L. Parkers administration is requesting an $872 million police budget, an amount that is roughly the same as last years allocation. About 95% of the budget goes to wages and benefits for employees, both uniformed and civilian.

While the departments funding request went largely unchallenged, lawmakers questioned the forces top brass on staffing, programming, and crime-fighting  everything from citywide strategies to individual cases. Several members wanted to know why ongoing recruitment efforts have not yielded more new officers, while other lawmakers peppered Bethel with questions about the use of technology like body-worn cameras and drones.

Council is currently in the midst of a series of budget hearings about individual departments and programs, which will continue through much of April, following Parkers unveiling of her $6.7 billion budget proposal last month. Lawmakers will negotiate with Parkers office through the spring amid uncertainties over federal funding and will look to reach a deal before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

How the Philly police shortage affects the department

The police department is requesting that Council approve about $350,000 in funding to support recruitment efforts and programs that expedite the hiring process. The agency is also estimating it will spend a record $150 million this fiscal year on overtime pay, which the force has increasingly relied on to make up for staffing shortages. Thats an increase of $25 million over last year.

 READ MORE: Philadelphia is spending a record amount on overtime as 1 in 5 city jobs sits vacant

Bethel said some improvements, including adjustments to the departments testing regimen  like allowing officers to retake a reading test if they fail the first time  have contributed to improved hiring rates.

Last year, the department brought on more than 350 new officers, exceeding its target of 300. But the number did not match attrition, as hundreds of officers retired and resigned.

Police brass have cited the officer exodus as a problem since at least 2020, when recruitment plunged amid the pandemic and a nationwide racial justice movement that questioned the role of policing in society. It also coincided with a broader trend of municipal workers leaving their jobs in droves.

All told, fewer than 6,300 positions, both uniformed and civilian, are filled out of the 7,700 that the police department is allotted, according to the Parker administrations budget papers.

The ongoing staff shortage affects units across the force, Bethel said. It has been a continuing issue in the 911 call center, which is staffed largely by civilians. And under questioning by members, Bethel cited officer vacancies as a reason that more detectives are not deployed to special investigations, such as cold cases.

Every detective was a police officer, Bethel said. If I pull someone into the detective division, I lose an officer on the front line. And so were walking this balance. Were gonna get there. But we have a few more years to go.

Most Council members said they were sympathetic to the department as it works to improve staffing levels, and several praised Bethel. Council President Kenyatta Johnson said the department deserves credit amid a precipitous decline in shootings and homicides last year.

Its easy to always criticize and say whats not happening, Johnson said. I see the crime has been cleaning up, I see homicides and shootings are down. I just think its something that we need to acknowledge and be straight up about.

Philly police will triple their drones and deploy more body cameras

Also Tuesday, Bethel answered a series of questions from members about the departments use of technology, including its nascent drone program, which is likely to expand.

City Councilmember Rue Landau, a Democrat who represents the city at-large, said she has corresponded with Bethel directly about the agencys plans to increase its use of drone technology, saying that the force currently has nine drones and plans to purchase 18 more.

She expressed concern about where the funding is coming from: the Philadelphia Police Foundation, a nonprofit that operates outside the citys purview and funds technology, equipment, and training for police. Landau described the foundation as operating without Council oversight.

But Bethel pushed back, saying the foundation has been around for decades and provides funding to police for programs that are not covered by the departments small amount of discretionary funds.

As for the drone program more broadly, Bethel said the technology has been used to provide officers with a birds-eye view of major gatherings, such as sporting events. He said a drone was recently used during a large event in Center City to locate a child who got away from his mother.

Drones are also used from time to time in Kensington, he said, to provide officers with situational awareness amid the sprawling open-air drug market. He said drones can be used to scope out incidents before officers arrive so that cops would not be walking into a violent situation because the drone would be able to show whats going on around them.

Bethel also addressed questions about the departments decade-old effort to outfit officers with body-worn cameras, a point emphasized by Councilmember Nicolas ORourke of the progressive Working Families Party. Every patrol officer already has a body camera, but ORourke said he is concerned that three small specialized units, including the Narcotics Strike Force, are yet to be outfitted.

Those officers will have body cameras by this summer, Bethel said.
Philadelphia started a pilot program to cover eligible renters' up-front expenses, and lawmakers are considering legislation to reduce and spread out costs. Read more

One of the biggest hurdles renters face when its time to move is paying up-front costs of a couple months rent and a security deposit for their new home.

A new Philadelphia program, FreshStartPHL, is covering the equivalent of three months rent for eligible renters and giving them up to $1,000 for moving expenses.

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The pilot program is a collaboration between the citys Office of Homeless Services and the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp.

PHDC estimates that between 2,500 and 2,600 households will be able to use the program to get into a rental home with the roughly $18 million the city has remaining in pandemic-era federal Emergency Rental Assistance program funds.

Almost half of Philadelphians rent their homes. And the Philadelphia metropolitan area is one of the least affordable major metros for its apartment renters based on their incomes.

Many households that find rents they can make work dont have enough money saved to comfortably afford the large lump-sum payments they need. Its a challenge PHDC hears about all the time, said Ayanna Sims, program manager for PHDCs rental assistance programs.

 READ MORE: Philly is one of the least affordable major metros for its renters

People will scramble and gather this money, and as a result, folks often move in, [and] they dont even have grocery money, she said. Theyre waiting for a couple weeks before they can, you know, turn on the power, or get the internet that they need for their kids homework.

Renters will receive assistance through FreshStartPHL on a first-come, first-served basis. PHDC sent out a public announcement about the program Thursday afternoon. By 8 a.m. Friday, more than 1,000 emails had come in from applicants, Sims said.

According to U.S. Treasury Department guidelines for the funds, eligible renters can make up to 80% of the area median income, or about $83,000 per year for a household of three. Priority is given to renters who make up to 50% of the area median income, or about $52,000 annually for a household of three.

FreshStartPHL also is working with Philadelphias Eviction Diversion Program to provide funds for renters who need to move out.

When renters apply, they must have already identified a home they want to rent and must share the landlords contact information. The landlord must have all the citys required certifications.

Landlords have been receiving funds within two weeks, Sims said.

Lawmakers considering new laws on up-front rental costs

On Monday, tenant advocates, renters, and rental property owners spoke at a City Council hearing on legislation also meant to help renters with the up-front costs of moving into a home. The bills would cap rental application fees at $20 and allow renters to spread out security deposit payments across four months instead of paying before they move in.

Councilmember Rue Landau, a housing attorney who sits on PHDCs board, introduced the bills, which she called a critical step toward lowering the barriers to affordable housing by making up-front costs more manageable for the average Philadelphian.

John Mondlak, chief of staff in the citys Department of Planning and Development, said the city supports the intent of the bills but is concerned about unintended consequences.

For example, a landlord who receives a security deposit piecemeal over the course of four months is assuming more risk than a landlord who receives the full security deposit up front, he said. This could dissuade landlords from renting to households that are, or seem to be, likely to request or need an installment plan.

 READ MORE: Politics Philadelphia Philly will consider capping apartment application fees at $20 and allowing security deposit payment plans

Mondlak pointed out that the city relies on small landlords to provide affordable rental housing to city residents.

Given the supply of affordable rentals is already too low, we must act with caution when considering legal measures that on their own or in combination with other laws, disproportionately affect small landlords, he said.

Mondlaks concerns about unintended consequences were echoed by individual landlords and representatives of HAPCO Philadelphia, the citys largest association of rental property owners; the Pennsylvania Apartment Association; and the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia.

Landlords said measures that raise their costs ultimately result in higher rents or landlords leaving the business, resulting in fewer available rental homes.

Rental property owners said that application fees are not a source of profit and that the cost of running background and credit checks is more than the legislations $20 cap. So owners would be on the hook for the remaining money.

Landlords said lump-sum security deposits paid up front help protect them from potential financial harm and the possibility that renters will move in, never pay rent or the full security deposit amount, and not take care of properties. They said that doing away with lump-sum payments will result in stricter screening standards for tenants.

Councils housing committee held the bills for further consideration instead of passing them along to the full Council for votes.
Bus travel can be a daunting experience for school children and their parents. Our goal is to educate and instil good habits from a young age. We aim to teach children essential safety protocols when traveling by bus and to give parents peace of mind that their children are well-prepared, she said.
AFCA is very familiar with add-on insurance and the issues that arose in sales of this product, she said. AFCA is designed to be a free and simple alternative to a court or tribunal process, without people needing to pay for representation. If you have a complaint, please make sure you lodge by the deadline.
Of these, 109 have been accepted or accepted in principle, 28 are undergoing further review, and 10 will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Three pricing-related recommendations were not supported due to legal concerns, including potential conflicts with competition law.
Meanwhile, European buyers outperformed their index by 16 percentage points during the same period, despite a drop in deal count from 42 in the prior quarter to 29. UK-based acquirers mirrored this positive trend. Asia-Pacific dealmakers exceeded their regional index by 5.8 percentage points with 44 completed transactions, down from 61 in the last quarter of 2024.
The company will continue, including investment in further opportunities, its international life insurance businesses which are expected to benefit from market growth, in order to achieve our vision of Creating a world-leading insurance and financial service group and to enhance profit and corporate value from diversified risk and sources of income through international life insurance business, it said in a statement.
In addition, global research by NTT Data suggested a disconnect between the pace of AI development and the maturity of governance frameworks. Based on a survey of more than 2,300 senior executives, the report found that over 80% believe their organisations lack leadership, oversight, and employee readiness for AI adoption.
Feemster has spent the last decade working on the general agency side of Preferreds business, gaining familiarity with the companys offerings and market strategy. In his new position, he is expected to support the companys workers compensation insurance distribution and strengthen its regional presence.
"It is important to understand that this is not a demutualization or a step toward demutualization, and there is no plan to issue stock or to bring in external shareholders," the company said. "While a mutual holding company structure provides access to new and more economical debt markets, we are not required to access them if debt market conditions are unfavorable."
This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.

When your team has come to the conclusion that your current vendor, process, or (lets be honest) spreadsheet isnt working, you need to get buy-in across your larger organization. Easy, right?

If youre the one responsible for any variation on the themes of streamlining your producers onboarding, licensing, carrier appointments, or sales territory assignments, then articulating the value of AgentSync and its distribution channel management (DCM) solutions to other organizational stakeholders is the next hurdle to your future state.

For step-by-step help on making your case, download the guide.

Who does DCM benefit?

You. Better distribution channel management benefits you. But coming out and saying so right up front is likely not enough to get the broader organization on board, especially if youve historically managed your distributors and downstream producers on spreadsheets. Your organization may see your distribution channel management as a zero-cost solution. You know that its not.

You know that every day that you bootstrap your producer licensing could be the day that a license lapses and costs you $20,000 in state fines and even more in reputational cache. It could be the day that slow onboarding funnels a $5 million policy to your competitor.

While the daily change to your workflow will be most visible to you and your team, the drudgeries of change management and upgrading critical aspects of your fundamental business architecture will be beyond your control. Implementation is no wave of a magic wand (we wish). You have to make the case that AgentSync and its transformative distribution channel management solutions will deliver to your business well beyond the convenience of freeing up your team from hours of typing (and retyping and retyping) to fact-check NPNs by hand.

Download our guide to make the case for AgentSync at your organization

Defining and scoping the problem

If youve recognized your businesss need to handle producer data better and to implement AgentSync as your DCM solution, you know you need to get other stakeholders on board (the kind of stakeholders that have the authority to cut checks and affect change management). Part of that is going to be getting everyone to agree on the problem.

It can be easy for agencies and carriers to become complacent with regulatory risk as the cost of doing business, although wed argue the penalty isnt the real pain. But slow onboarding processes can cost you millions of dollars as producers funnel business to agencies or carriers they already have contracts with. After all, just because you cant pay a producer yet doesnt mean they dont want to get paid  they arent waiting for you to process their paperwork before placing business for their customers. Especially with an industry driven by independent agents, slow onboarding is a risk to your competitive edge, and poses the risk of churning an agent altogether.

Your ability to visualize who your producers and distributors are and where they are licensed or appointed is critical to your compliance, sure. But its also a critical part of evaluating your overall distribution, and the effectiveness of your various regional investments. Knowing who youre in competition with for your producers and lines of authority is data that can make or break a distribution strategy for new products in a given year.

Download our guide and figure out how to get your other organizational stakeholders to agree on these problems and more.

How to solve your pain points with AgentSync

Your stakeholders will have real concerns about any new tech they evaluate, and its not just about getting a favorable ROI  its also about the total cost of ownership for a given technology. Its one thing to make a significant initial investment; its another to realize the most of its potential with integrations, automations, reporting, and actual adoption across the business.

Making the case means being able to answer questions about these pain points and more. Empower yourself to make the case for AgentSync at your business and transform your total distribution channel management today. Download the guide.
This post is part of a series sponsored by Expert Insured.

Returning from WSIA in Phoenix, one message was clear: wholesalers and MGAs are more focused than ever on delivering exceptional experiences to their broker/agents. In todays market, brokers and agents place their business where they get the best experience. If an MGA or wholesaler is slow, unresponsive, or inefficient, they will go elsewhere. Expert Insured ensures MGAs and wholesalers stay top-of-mind by providing a streamlined, technology-driven experience brokers and agents prefer.

Faster Broker Responses with AI Submission Automation

A broker/agents success depends on how quickly they can deliver quotes to clients. Traditionally, MGAs and wholesalers had to choose between speed and resource efficiency. With Expert Insured, theres no compromise. Our AI-driven submission automation reads incoming emails, extracts key details, and prepopulates underwriting workflows, significantly reducing processing time. Underwriters focus on decisions instead of data entry, ensuring broker/agents get rapid responses without sacrificing quality.

Instant Broker Quotes with SelectsysTech Integration

Expert Insured is backed by SelectsysTech, its parent company, which powers AI Gatekeeping, AI Submission Extraction, and Rate Quote Bind (RQB) technology. This system determines the intent of incoming emails, processes submissions, and extracts critical content from attachments. Submission data is prepopulated into RQB portals, delivering fast and accurate quotes without manual input.

With this technology, broker/agents can expect responses in under five minutes, even when submitting an application via email. This instant turnaround increases efficiency, reduces uncertainty, and helps broker/agents serve clients faster.

Stronger Broker/Agent Relationships with Integrated CRM

Beyond speed, relationships drive business. Expert Insureds integrated CRM ensures proactive communication, timely follow-ups, and easy management of stale submissions and renewalsall in one platform. By improving broker/agent engagement, MGAs and wholesalers can expect higher retention and more new business opportunities.

Expert Insured also simplifies following up on prior-year submissions and quotes, allowing MGAs and wholesalers to reconnect with broker/agents and capture missed opportunities. By keeping past interactions visible, businesses strengthen relationships and maximize growth.

Customizable Solutions for Better Broker Support

MGAs and wholesalers need solutions that adapt quickly. Unlike systems that take months to update, Expert Insured customizes workflows in days, aligning with the strategic goals needed to be competitive. This flexibility ensures broker/agents always receive the best service without being limited by outdated systems.

Exceptional Broker Experiences and Proven Results

Wholesalers and MGAs using Expert Insured with SelectsysTech technology can expect dramatically faster submission processing and improved underwriter efficiency. This results in faster quotes, smoother interactions, and superior service for broker/agents.

Ultimately, Expert Insured, powered by SelectsysTech, helps MGAs and wholesalers deliver outstanding broker/agent experiences without compromising efficiency.

Ready to transform your broker/agent experience?

Reach out today at sales@expertinsured.com and discover how Expert Insured and SelectsysTech can help you win with broker/agents.

Topics Agencies Insurance Wholesale
A federal judge has dismissed a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by a professor and minister who lost her bid to become the first woman to serve as senior pastor of New York Citys prominent Abyssinian Baptist Church.

The Rev. Eboni Marshall Turman, a Yale Divinity School professor and former assistant pastor at Abyssinian, was among the candidates interviewed in the search for a successor to longtime senior pastor Calvin O. Butts III, who died in 2022.

After not being named a finalist, Marshall Turman sued the church and the search committee for gender discrimination in December 2023. No woman has ever been senior pastor of Abyssinian, which was founded in 1808

In a ruling Monday to dismiss Marshall Turmans lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho referred to the legal concept of ministerial exception, which grants religious organizations some protection against employment discrimination claims related to the hiring and firing of clergy.

Ho also said Marshall Turman did not make a sufficiently persuasive case that she was more qualified than the five men who were named as finalists.

Marshall Turman, in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday, said she was considering an appeal and depicted Abyssinian as mired in hypocrisy.

The case was not dismissed on its merits but on a technicality  religious exception  which contends that the church has a right to discriminate, even though the Bible says, in Christ there is neither male nor female,' Marshall Turman wrote.

My moral claim still stands: gender discrimination against me or anyone else has no place in Gods house.

Abyssinian defended its selection process and welcomed Hos ruling.

While the church celebrates this legal victory, it reaffirms its commitment to gender equity in religious leadership and remains committed to its long history of championing social justice and equality for all, it said in a statement Wednesday.

Among the five finalists for the senior pastor position, the selection committees eventual choice was Kevin R. Johnson, who founded Dare to Imagine Church in Philadelphia after a contentious resignation and split with historic Bright Hope Baptist Church in 2014.

Abyssinian congregants elected Johnson as senior pastor in June 2024.

However, some longtime members were displeased by the selection process, and the election itself. Four filed a lawsuit in October in a New York State court, alleging that several aspects of the process violated the churchs bylaws.

That lawsuit remains pending, though Abyssinian filed a motion in December seeking its dismissal.

The lawsuit is nothing more than a scheme developed by Petitioners to remove the duly-elected pastor of a historic Baptist Church in Harlem, simply so they can propose a candidate whom they believe is more spiritually qualified for the position, the motion said. They have not made sufficient allegations to demonstrate fraud or wrongdoing in the election process.

Based in Harlem, Abyssinian became a famous megachurch with the political rise of the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., perhaps the most influential of the many men who have led the congregation. Powell, pastor from 1937 to 1972, served in Congress for 26 years. Over the years, Abyssinian has been the spiritual home of many influential New Yorkers.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation Talent
Apple is appealing against a British government order to create a back door to its encrypted cloud storage systems, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) confirmed on Monday.

The IPT said in a written ruling that it had refused the British governments application that the bare details of the case, including who had brought it, be kept private.

Apple declined to comment, but referred to a previous statement in which it said it would never build a so-called back door into its encrypted services or devices.

Apple Ordered by UK to Build Backdoor to Access User Data

At issue is Advanced Data Protection, a feature that can be enabled by users of Apples iPhones, Macs and other devices to ensure that only they  and not even Apple  can unlock data stored on its cloud.

Britains Home Office, its interior ministry, said it did not comment on legal proceedings but stressed that a warrant would be needed for any individuals data to be accessed.

Its statement said Britains investigatory powers were subject to robust safeguards including judicial authorisations and oversight to protect peoples privacy.

These powers are purely about preventing serious crime and pursuing criminals, and do not affect our commitment to free speech, it added.

The Washington Post reported in February that Britain had issued a technical capability notice to Apple to enable blanket access to encrypted messages and photos, even for users outside the country.

The Financial Times later reportedthat Apple had appealed, but details of the case have been shrouded in secrecy.

The Home Office had argued that publicizing the existence of the appeal or itsoriginator could damage national security.

But judges Rabinder Singh and Jeremy Johnson said they did not accept this argument.

A hearing was held in London last month, which media were not allowed to attend.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Sachin Ravikumar and Kevin Liffey)
BMS Group, the London-based specialist insurance and reinsurance broker, announced the appointment of Jean-Jacques Henchoz to the role of chairman of the board, effective May 1, 2025.

Henchoz was most recently the CEO and chairman of the Executive Board of Hannover Re, a role he had held since 2019. Prior to Hannover Re, Jean-Jacques spent over 20 years at Swiss Re in various leadership positions, including as CEO of Reinsurance and the Regional President for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

During his tenure as CEO of Hannover Re, the company delivered double-digit earnings growth and industry-leading ROE performance, leading to the doubling of its market capitalization and an upgrade to the DAX-Index in Germany.

Jean-Jacques extensive industry credentials will be invaluable to us, and we expect to see sustained growth for BMS under his chairmanship. In addition, we are eager to benefit from his valuable strategic insights as we move forward as a scaled-up, thriving, global business, commented Nick Cook, CEO of BMS Group.

He is a proven industry leader with the ability to navigate complex challenges and identify dynamic opportunities, and I am confident that his vision will foster quality growth and innovation in our operations, Cook said.

Nick has built a very successful global business, supported by a talented group of leaders and colleagues. I look forward to contributing to the next chapter of BMS Group, building exciting new partnerships and strengthening existing ones, according to Henchoz.

Joining the board of a leading brokerage firm presents an attractive opportunity for me to leverage my global reinsurance industry experience, while supporting an agile, client-focused organisation that helps companies navigate the challenges of today and the future, Henchoz added.

BMS said Henchoz is joining the company at a time of significant growth. In the previous year, BMS has made several high-profile acquisitions. In December, BMS completed the acquisition of the Spanish broker, Rasher and its Latin American subsidiaries. In addition, BMS also acquired UK-based broker David Roberts & Partners. Earlier in the year, BMS completed the acquisition of specialist UAE broker, Berns Brett Masaood.

Source: BMS Group

Topics Agencies
The UK government needs to consider more perks for businesses and employees if its serious about getting the long-term sick back into the countrys workforce, two think-tanks said.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves should give firms a holiday on certain payroll taxes when they hire employees who are on long-term sickness or disability benefits, the Good Growth Foundation said. Meanwhile the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggested the government needs to go further to break the link between starting work and losing welfare benefits.

Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer are on a drive to coax some of the UKs 2.8 million people who are currently economically inactive due to ill health back in to work, in a bid to spur growth and slash welfare spending. Announcing welfare reforms last month, Reeves warned that with one in eight young people not in employment, education or training, without action we are writing off an entire generation.

The Labour governments proposals involve limiting so-called Personal Independence Payments to only the most severely disabled and cutting health-related top-up payments to those on universal credit who are signed off work. Thats drawn criticism from several Labour members of Parliament for pushing 250,000 more people into poverty, according to the governments own impact assessment.

The welfare system we inherited is broken; its holding people back and its holding back growth, the government said in an emailed statement. We have a proper plan to reform the welfare system so that it supports those in greatest need, while delivering a 1 billion employment support package and re-balancing Universal Credit payments to tackle perverse incentives that pull people away from the workforce.

In order to reduce the number of people who could face financial hardship as a result of the governments plans, the left-leaning GGF suggested that businesses who hire employees on disability or sickness benefits should be given a one-year break from paying National Insurance contributions on those staff. It estimated that would actually save the Treasury 1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) by cutting welfare payments while boosting income tax revenues.

The GGFs figures assume an extra 150,000 people would move back into work, on top of the 16% of people who are inactive due to sickness who are already projected by the government to do so this year. To break even, the policy would need an extra 67,000 people to take up a job, the GGF said. It assumes 50% of the people returning to work would take jobs from existing staff, and it has briefed its ideas to No. 10 Downing Street and the Treasury.

If there are people who could work and would like to work that are currently on these benefits, if we can make it as supportive as possible to help them to get back into work into appropriate jobs that they can do, not only will that mean more pounds in their pockets, but it actually is incredibly good for the exchequer and for the wider economy as well, said Praful Nargund, director of the GGF. Not only are you saving on the benefits, but theyre also paying tax.

The suggestion is likely also to be welcomed by businesses who have warned a rise in the level of employer National Insurance contributions, which came into force this month after being announced in last years budget, will stymie growth. Businesses need it, voters support it and it puts money back into the public purse, Nargund said.

Tom Waters, an associate director at the IFS, said the governments current planned cuts to welfare are unlikely to generate substantial savings, and that a lot more needed to be done to move significant numbers of people into the labor market.

He suggested ensuring those who currently receive sickness or disability benefits should be able to get back into work without automatically losing the right to their payments. While Work and Pensions secretary Liz Kendall made a move toward this last month, announcing that the government would legislate for a right to try so disabled people would not automatically be reassessed for benefits if they find a job, he said the government could go further.

If you are on incapacity benefits and out of work, you would very legitimately worry if I get a job Im going to lose my incapacity benefits, and then if the job doesnt work out then Im screwed,' Waters said. He said the current policy was opaque, and that breaking the link entirely between work and losing disability benefits would help encourage claimants back into the labor market.

Photograph: Commuters in London. Photo credit: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.
Identifying the needs and pain points of customers and then developing solutions to better service them and other company partnersthose are the most important promises that artificial intelligence and new technologies hold for those overseeing an ongoing transformation at Westfield.

Westfield is a super-regional property/casualty insurance carrier based in Ohio thats been around since 1848.

Despite its long history, the company recently has embraced modernization, and it is undertaking a technology transformation, as it were, by updating processes and systems with the help of artificial intelligence.

Insurance Journal sister publication Claims Journal spoke about these undertakings with Andrew Quinn, product manager for generative AI at Westfield, and Jason Bidinger, associate vice president of claims strategy and technology.

The conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Claims Journal: What new technology are you integrating into your claims department/processes?

Bidinger: I would say in terms of what were implementing, just from a broader perspective, and then focusing in that our claims area is focused on, is technology to improve our policyholder and claims professional experience. Our team has been working hard over the last couple of years to really understand our policyholder, our employee, our agenttheir needs and pain points and then develop solutions to consistently improve that experience. So, were focused on digital capabilities for both agents, customers and internal stakeholders. Were kind of focused around automation opportunities, but I think the really fun thing is over the last year or so, weve been digging into this potential of generative AI in our claims process, not only for our internal team, but also for our customers.

Quinn: I am the product manager for our generative AI utilization here at Westfield and so I have been heavily focused on just utilizing generative AI and specifically large language models and how we can integrate those into our various different applications across our organization.

CJ: Why are you implementing this technology? What problem is it solving?

Bidinger: I think when we think of generative AI opportunities, its pretty easy to see the potential to gain efficiency in our process, provide our adjusters additional resources in real time, to help them really do what theyre paid to do and thats pay what we owe on claims. The other thing I would say, for our team, is the retirement factor. We have a large percentage of our claims team that is or will become eligible for retirement in the very near future. So, some generative AI solutions have the potential to bridge a significant knowledge gap. Its a challenge to replace the amount of knowledge that were potentially losing, so this will help us kind of expedite some of that learning when it comes to the usage of our generative AI tools.

Quinn: I think a lot less about this is about being problems to be solved. Rather we see a lot of opportunities to improve both our employee and our customer experiences that can look like a wide variety of thingsthat can look like helping our claims representatives to sort through volumes of information more effectively, that look like providing better support to our customers through faster response times as were handling and adjusting claims. And it can look like upskilling our employees into new or different opportunities across our organization by enabling them to more quickly learn information and be better prepared to do their job.

CJ: How is it working?

Bidinger: I think weve seen some great potential. Our initial focus has been around summarization capabilities for claims, which, based on what Ive seen, is fairly similar to whats out there in the industry. We explored some potential vendor partnerships, but really found a great opportunity internally with Andrew and his team with some of the skills that we have in housethe ability to build out some products in a very efficient way.

Quinn: We have developed a few different products utilizing generative AI, predominantly in summarization, and at every point they have exceeded our expectations, whether thats expectations on the accuracy of the summarization, or our expectations regarding the quantity of time we think these tools are saving our employees. As weve been able to implement these tools, we are more and more excited about the opportunities for us to continue to improve our experiences for both our employees and our customers.

CJ: How long has the technology been up and running?

Bidinger: In our initial use case we talked about summarization. Specifically, we started the focus on medical records and demand package summarization for claims for our casualty area. We also have explored some things around construction defect. I think we started experimenting back in the summer and then sometime around October we began to conduct a proof-of-concept and then a 60-day pilot with a prototype, which Andrews team developed using ChatGPT. Weve successfully completed the pilot and now its really more about theres some things internally. And in the claims world, obviously we have to be considerate of the regulatory compliance environment, so weve kind of built some internal checkpoints with teams within Westfield to make sure that were doing things the appropriate way, considering the appropriate things when it comes to the regulatory environment.

Quinn: Weve been exploring generative AI throughout the year for claims. Specifically, we started poking around on document summarization at about the April-May time period, and then over the summer started really going back and forth on building something out. We started that 60-day pilot and thats the September-October timeframe, and after we have cleared all of our expectations for it, we are currently building the implementation into our production-based claims workflow systems with the target of implementation in January of 2025.

CJ: How do employees feel about the new technology?

Bidinger: From my perspective, I think theres still an element of kind of the fear of the unknown. Thats why in this effort, change-management, is so important. However, the feedback from those who have had the opportunity to be involved and interact with the tool that weve built, and that Andrews team has built, has been awesome. So, when you think about how, if youre a casualty adjuster, a large package comes in, it can sometimes be overwhelming, even for a seasoned adjuster. So what we found with this tool is it was designed to quickly help them understand the exposure and key aspects of an injury while maintaining the decision-making with the individual involved. So, they can really get to some of the detail that they need to properly evaluate a claim in a much quicker manner than what they may have in the past.

Quinn: I get the pleasure of working with employees across the entirety of our organization on generative AI and we have seen the standard technology adoption curve for this technology, whereby we had our innovators who are way out in front of everyone. Weve probably cleared through our early adopters phase of the folks who are out there, giving it a try now. This pilot group is probably included in that early adopters phase and were likely transitioning here into the early majority in 2025, where most folks get a handle on generative AI, utilize generative AI give it a try and what you start to hear from folks is they often will transition from the skeptical into the excited as they realize what generative AI is and what it isnt. I think theres often a lot of fear when you have not yet used it. Im thinking of some of the abstract possibilities, that once folks are getting their hands on their tools, seeing what it can do and what it cannot do, weve heard a lot of excitement about how its going to improve their own work excitement about how its going to be able to build upon their knowledge and expertise, and theres a lot of optimism within our organization as we think about utilizing this technology moving forward.

CJ: How do you feel about it?

Bidinger: I think of the excitement and its a kind of a window into the future, I feel like is a good way to put from my perspective. Many carriers, weve probably done things relatively the same for quite a long period of time, and I think some of the generative AI solutions or capabilities almost open up innovation on a broader scale in the organization. I think as people start to use the tools that were building, I think they see the potential of OK, how could I apply this elsewhere in my role at you know at Westfield or within the industry, and I think that leads to a lot of innovative ideas not just from the strategy team or from our IT area or from our data scientists, but from the from the frontline claim handling team.

Quinn: I recognize that Im a biased source as I work with this technology day-in and day-out, but Ive always come at this technology and others from both an optimist and a realist perspective. So, Im incredibly optimistic about this technology because I see a lot of possibilities for how this technology can make folks lives better, how this technology can help our policyholders. Im incredibly excited about those possibilities and Im also incredibly passionate about building this technology out as a normalized way of doing work in our future. So, I see this technology as something that is going to significantly change and alter how we do work, and that excites me because the future that Ive seen from working with this technology is one where we are able to more effectively more efficiently be able to complete our jobs.

CJ: How do you or will you measure the success of this technology?

Bidinger: We are partnering with our with our data team as well as some folks we have in our quality assurance team. Right now, were in the We dont know what we dont know yet phase, and were continuing to evaluate what metrics what KPIs we want to assess long term. Down the road, I think there is the really good possibility that we could see potential positive impact on accuracy of our claims. So when you think about a 1,000-page demand package or medical records, the person going through that, theres the potential that they could miss some things. Having the technology as an assistant along their side really has the potential to improve the speed at which they can get to an accurate answer. So, there is the potential that we could see positive impacts on that on that accuracy number as well as probably some other KPIs as well.

Quinn: Within my role, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about measurement and quantification, but I do think less about measuring the success of the technology and rather I think a lot about measuring and quantifying the business outcomes from the application of that technology. So, what that looks like is quite varied. We are often seeking to measure the accuracy of the technology or the reliability of the technology or the quality of the information thats coming back from our utilization of generative AI, and then we are measuring and thinking about how it impacts our teams. Are our teams able to save time? Are our teams able to handle claims more accurately? Are our teams able to have different results from the application of this technology? So, as I think about this, Im thinking quite a bit about how were measuring the outcomes of the application of that technology rather than just measuring the technology itself.

Topics InsurTech Claims Data Driven Artificial Intelligence
A Texas experiment to fund new natural gas-burning power plants with $5 billion in public loans is faltering as several of the proposed facilities drop out, threatening the states efforts to meet growing electricity demand.

Together, the projects that have left the program could have generated 4.6 gigawatts of electricity  enough for about a million Texas homes. Developers say that even with low-interest loans from the state, their projects no longer pencil out due to cost uncertainties and problems procuring equipment. Some have also faulted the programs strict deadlines and terms.

The fund was touted by lawmakers as a way to jumpstart gas-plant development at a time when cheap solar and wind power have cut into the states wholesale electricity prices, reducing the potential profits for new plants.

When you have zero or negative prices for power, its really hard to build, said Jim Burke, chief executive officer of Vistra Corp., at a conference held by the Electric Power Supply Association on Wednesday in Washington, DC. Two Vistra projects are under consideration for Texas loans.

Its an unexpected setback for the Texas Energy Fund, a closely watched effort to meet fast-rising power demand with natural gas. State lawmakers established the fund with voter backing in 2023, as a growing population and economy pushed electricity demands to new records and strained supplies. A wave of planned data centers  some of them needing as much power as a small city  promised even faster growth to come. Although Texas prides itself on an all of the above approach to energy, not officially favoring one source over another, the funds backers said gas was needed to generate large amounts of power around the clock, without the variability of solar and wind.

The effort initially drew 72 project applications, far more than could have been funded. From that pool, regulators with the Public Utility Commission of Texas picked 17 projects  capable of generating 9.8 gigawatts total  to move forward into due diligence. Days later, however, they rejected one of the biggest  a 1.3-gigawatt project from Aegle Power  because the company named utility giant NextEra Energy Inc. as a sponsor without NextEras knowledge or consent, according to a filing.

The program suffered a dual blow last week when Constellation Energy Corp., the largest US independent power producer based on market value, and WattBridge Energy, a leading private developer of gas generation in Texas, withdrew almost 2 gigawatts of projects from consideration. Constellation said its 300-megawatt plant southwest of Dallas was facing too much cost uncertainty around a pending air permit. WattBridge said the loan program itself was adding risks and costs.

The PUC has replaced some of the projects only to see more pull out. There are now 16 proposals being actively reviewed for nearly $4.5 billion in loans, PUC spokeswoman Ellie Breed said in an email. Of the original pool of project applications, 12% have been withdrawn or rejected. Of those invited into due diligence, nearly a third have fallen out.

Citigroup Inc. analysts, in a research note this week, said the fund was falling apart and questioned whether the state would add much gas generation after all. We expect several more gas power developers to remove themselves from the TEF, analysts Ryan Levine and Amber Zhao wrote.

Texas is a microcosm of a debate raging across the country over how best to meet rising demand for electricity, driven by the data center boom and the electrification of cars and factories. Data center developers need access to more electricity than current infrastructure can easily provide, so theyre looking for locations where new supplies can be quickly brought online. Speed to market is the overriding factor, said Aaron Tinjum, vice president of energy from the Data Center Coalition trade group, at the Electric Power Supply Association conference.

The Texas Energy Fund was controversial from the start. Critics questioned its focus on natural gas after many of the states existing gas plants failed during a severe 2021 winter storm, triggering widespread blackouts. Still, Texas lawmakers are expected to double the funds size during their current session.

Incentives wont necessarily speed up projects. So few gas-fired plants were built in the US in recent years that turbine manufacturers decreased their production capacity, said Andrew Waranch, chief executive officer of battery developer Spearmint Energy. Both Siemens Energy AG and GE Vernova Inc. have warned of multi-year wait times for turbines. Its going to take a very long time for the supply chain to catch up, Waranch said.

Bloomberg: The Constellation Energy Handley Generating Station in Fort Worth, Texas.

Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.

Topics Texas
The Texas Division of Workers Compensation announced the recipient of the 2024 Lone Star Safety Award is Double R Brand Foods LLC for its meat processing plant located in Lufkin, Texas. The recognition highlights the companys commitment to workplace safety and health.

Double R Brand Foods manufacturing facility, which employs 233 workers in the production of handcrafted, smoked meats, has demonstrated outstanding dedication to maintaining a safe work environment. The companys award is further underscored by its recent designation as a Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) recipient from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in February 2025.

Double R Brand Foods has partnered with DWCs Occupational Safety and Health Consultation Program (OSHCON) since 2020, utilizing the programs free on-site consultation services to enhance their safety practices. OSHCON is a no-cost program that helps Texas employers understand and comply with OSHA standards through confidential assistance conducted by professional safety consultants.

As a recipient of the Lone Star Award, Double R Brand Foods may be invited to share its best practices at industry events, mentor other organizations, participate in safety and health panels, such as those at the Texas Workers Compensation Conference on September 29-30 at the Embassy Suites in San Marcos.

The Lone Star Award recognizes Texas employers with exemplary safety programs. Eligible applicants include:

Texas employers with workers compensation coverage.

Employers without workers compensation coverage that have five or more employees.

Participants in the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP).

More information about the award can be found here.

Source: Texas Division of Workers Compensation

Topics Texas
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert K. Kennedy Jr. visited the epicenter of Texas still-growing measles outbreak on Sunday, the same day a funeral was held for a second young child who was not vaccinated and died from a measles-related illness.

Kennedy said in a social media post that he was working to control the outbreak and went to Gaines County to comfort the families who have buried two young children. He was seen late Sunday afternoon outside of a Mennonite church where the funeral services were held, but he did not attend a nearby news conference held by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the outbreak.

Seminole is the epicure of the outbreak, which started in late January and continues to swell  with nearly 500 cases in Texas alone, plus cases from the outbreak believed to have spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico.

The second young child died Thursday from what the childs doctor described as measles pulmonary failure, and did not have underlying health conditions, the Texas State Department of State Health Services said Sunday in a news release. Aaron Davis, a spokesperson for UMC Health System in Lubbock, said that the child was receiving treatment for complications of measles while hospitalized.

This is the third known measles-related death tied to this outbreak. One was another elementary-school aged child in Texas and the other was an adult in New Mexico; neither were vaccinated.

Its Kennedys first visit to the area as health secretary, where he said he met with families of both the 6- and 8-year-old children who died. He said he developed bonds with the Mennonite community in West Texas in which the virus is mostly spreading.

Kennedy, an anti-vaccine advocate before ascending to the role of nations top health secretary earlier this year, has resisted urging widespread vaccinations as the measles outbreak has worsened under his watch. On Sunday, however, he said in a lengthy statement posted on X that it was the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles.

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine has been used safely for more than 60 years and is 97% effective against measles after two doses.

Dr. Manisha Patel, CDC incident manager, said in a Sunday news conference that the MMR vaccine is the best way to protect against measles. She also told parents in Gaines County that it was important not to delay care for a child who is sick with measles.

Call your doctor and make sure youre talking to a health care professional who can guide you on those next steps, Patel said.

Kennedys social media post said CDC employees had been redeployed. CDC spokesman Jason McDonald clarified late Sunday that the first CDC team arrived in early March and left Gaines County on April 1, while a team led by Patel was redeployed and arrived today to assess needs as ordered by Kennedy and requested by Texas governor.

Asked about the outbreak Sunday by reporters on Air Force One, Trump said, theyre doing reports on it, adding that if the outbreak progresses, well will have to take action very strongly.

Neither the CDC nor the state health department included the death in their measles reports issued Friday, but the CDC acknowledged it when asked Sunday.

The number of cases in Texas shot up by 81 between March 28 and April 4, and 16 more people were hospitalized. Nationwide, the U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.

Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, a liver doctor whose vote helped cinch Kennedys confirmation, called Sunday for stronger messaging from health officials in a post on X.

Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no treatment for measles. No benefit to getting measles, he wrote. Top health officials should say so unequivocally b/4 another child dies.

Cassidy has requested Kennedy to appear before his health committee Thursday, although Kennedy has not publicly confirmed whether he will attend.

A CDC spokesperson noted the efficacy of the measles vaccine Sunday but stopped short of calling on people to get it. Departing from long-standing public health messaging around vaccination, the spokesperson called the decision a personal one and encouraged people to talk with their doctor. People should be informed about the potential risks and benefits associated with vaccines, the spokesperson added.

Misinformation about how to prevent and treat measles is hindering a robust public health response, including claims about vitamin A supplements that have been pushed by Kennedy and holistic medicine supporters despite doctors warnings that it should be given under a physicians orders and that too much can be dangerous.

Doctors at Covenant Childrens Hospital in Lubbock, where the first measles death occurred, say theyve treated fewer than 10 children for liver issues from vitamin A toxicity, which they found when running routine lab tests on children who are not fully vaccinated and have measles. Dr. Lara Johnson, chief medical officer, said the patients reported using vitamin A to treat and prevent the virus.

Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administrations former vaccine chief, said responsibility for the death rests with Kennedy and his staff. Marks was forced out of the FDA after disagreements with Kennedy over vaccine safety.

This is the epitome of an absolute needless death, Marks told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday. These kids should get vaccinated  thats how you prevent people from dying of measles.

Marks also said he recently warned U.S. senators that more deaths would occur if the administration didnt mount a more aggressive response to the outbreak.

Experts and local health officials expect the outbreak to go on for several more months if not a year. In West Texas, the vast majority of cases are in unvaccinated people and children younger than 17.

With several states facing outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable disease  and declining childhood vaccination rates nationwide  some worry that measles may cost the U.S. its status as having eliminated the disease.

Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the CDC. The first shot is recommended for children ages 12 to 15 months, and the second for ages 4 to 6 years.

___

Seitz reported from Washington. Photojournalist Annie Rice in Seminole, Texas, and AP reporter Matthew Perrone in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Texas
Floridas insurance commissioner on Monday announced another entry into the warming waters of the Florida property-casualty market  the 12th new insurer in the last two years.

Apex Star Reciprocal Exchange is part of Starlight Insurance Group, based in New Port Richey, Florida. David Nichols is listed as president and CEO of Starlight since October 2023. He previously was CEO of Interboro Insurance Group, according to his Linkedin page.

Apex Star will offer homeowners multiperil, commercial multiperil, inland marine, allied lines, fire and liability coverage, according to OIR.

Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky said the newest entry into the once-turbulent Florida market is further evidence that 2022-2023 legislation, which throttled excessive claims litigation and bad-faith claims against insurers, is bearing fruit.

The continued growth in Floridas insurance market is due in large part to the historic legislative reforms we have enacted, Yaworsky said in a statement. We must continue on this path and not turn the clock backwards.

The Florida consent order authorizing Apex Star, signed in November 2024, notes that the exchanges subscribers must pay premiums on policies as well as a surplus contribution equal to 10% of the annual premium. The firm has the minimum required surplus, including at least $400,000 deposited with the state Department of Financial Services Bureau of Collateral Management.

The number of new property-casualty insurers to enter Florida since 2022 has now surpassed the number of insolvencies seen from 2019 through 2023, during what has been called the height of the Florida property insurance litigation crisis.

Topics Carriers Florida New Markets Property
The Ohio River is expected to crest Tuesday night at historically high levels, exacerbating flooding that has already swamped hundreds of homes, businesses and restaurants in Louisville and other parts of Kentucky.

While heavy rains have moved on, rivers continue to rise, according to news and weather reports. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said at a Tuesday morning news conference that crews have rescued dozens of people from the floodwaters, including more than 60 who were trapped in a hotel that was surrounded by rising waters, according to local news reports.

Riverfront restaurants in the city, hoping for a busy week with the Thunder Over Louisville event, instead were forced to close due to flooding, and the festival was canceled, the Courier-Journal reported.

The floods came after heavy snow in January and flooding in February, all of which caused closures and will likely lead to a spike in business interruption and flood insurance claims in the area. The historic Buffalo Trace Distillery, a maker of sought-after whiskey, closed temporarily this week due to the floodwaters, the Associated Press noted. The site is expected to be shuttered through April 10.

The Frankfort area, on the Kentucky River, also saw flooding this week. In Clarksville, Tennessee, northwest of Nashville, more than 165 homes have been flooded this year, thanks to rainfall thats almost three times the normal levels, ClarksvilleNow.com reported.

City officials are planning public meetings to explore ways to reduce flooding in the area.

Topics Flood
Los Angeles County has reached a $4 billion agreement to settle nearly 7,000 claims of sexual abuse in juvenile facilities since 1959, officials said.

The agreement, which still needs approval from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, far surpasses a $2.6 billion settlement reached in 2022 with Boy Scouts of America that was the largest aggregate sexual abuse settlement in U.S. history at the time.

On behalf of the County, I apologize wholeheartedly to everyone who was harmed by these reprehensible acts, Fesia Davenport, the countys chief executive, said in a statement.

The agreement would settle lawsuits filed by thousands of people who alleged they were mistreated and sexually abused in foster care and juvenile detention facilities in Los Angeles County. The plaintiffs were able to sue because of a California law that took effect in 2020 and suspended the statute of limitations for childhood sex abuse victims to bring cases for three years.

Many of the claims involved the MacLaren Childrens Center, which was closed in 2003. The facility, which was intended to be a safe space for children awaiting placement in foster homes, opened in 1961 and was overseen by probation officials until it was placed under the countys Department of Children and Family Services in 1976.

One man said he was sexually abused by a physician at the facility when he was 8 years old, while another said he was assaulted by a male staff member in a bathroom when he was 5. Children were routinely placed in solitary confinement, drugged and restrained in chairs at the facility, according to court papers filed by plaintiffs.

It is bittersweet for the survivors, because nothing is ever going to take away what was done to them, and how badly their lives were altered and how much they have suffered, said Adam Slater, one of the plaintiffs attorneys. However, the settlement hopefully gives them some measure of justice and provides them with some measure of closure.

Other private and public entities have been rocked by allegations of wide-ranging abuse and subsequent settlements.

The 2022 settlement by Boy Scouts of America, which recently renamed itself Scouting America, involved more than 80,000 men who said they were molested as children by scouting leaders and others.

And last year the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $800 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse, bringing the total payout to more than $1.5 billion.

Disclosure of the massive tentative payout by Los Angeles County comes at a time when the nations largest county  home to about 10 million residents  is facing a tightening bind of financial obligations on its $49 billion annual budget. Officials fear hundreds of millions of dollars for public services could vanish in Trump administration cutbacks, while the county has seen additional costs from Januarys historic wildfires as it also deals with an ongoing homeless crisis.

Davenport recently said the county is facing a large amount of uncertainty with its budget  some agencies are largely funded by federal dollars.

The proposed agreement includes creating a countywide hotline for reporting child sexual abuse allegations against employees and developing a system to expedite investigations, officials said.

By balancing justice for the victims with a commitment to reform, this resolution ensures both acknowledgment of past wrongs and a pathway to a safer, more accountable future, Patrick McNicholas, one of the plaintiffs attorneys, said in a statement.

The countys claims board will consider the proposed settlement Monday. If approved, it would be considered by the Board of Supervisors on April 29.

Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Claims Louisiana
New Mexico Superintendent of Insurance Alice Kane increased maximum residential property insurance limits for policies from $350,000 to $750,000 through the New Mexico Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan.

The move was adopted by the NM FAIR Plan Governing Committee. It clears the way for residential homeowners to secure insurance as they rebuild in areas impacted by wildfires.

This is a much needed first step to help New Mexico residents secure home insurance to rebuild after losing their homes destroyed by wildfires, Kane said in a statement. There is still work that needs to be done to help small businesses through increased limits for commercial property insurance coverage and mitigation through home hardening requirements.

Kane provided provisional approval to increase the maximum coverage limits for one to four family dwellings to $750,000 statewide. The provisional approval also permits a builders risk policy to be issued by ZIP code for a one-year term and renewed for a maximum of five years when an emergency order is declared by the governor.

The superintendents provisional approval expires on June 20.

New Mexico Senate Bill 81 amends the NM FAIR Plan Act. If passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, the bill would increase property insurance coverage limits up to $750,000 for residential structures (up from $225,000- $350,000), and up to $2 million on commercial structures (up from $250,000- $1,000,000).

Topics Trends Mexico
April 8, 2025 (Investorideas.com Newswire) S&P 500 bearish gap Sunday was closed through the 90-day tariff delay rumor, and all clients benefited on the move wildly - this much of influence on risk-taking tariffs duly have. Once the rumor was revealed to be false, stocks quickly cratered, but client gains were protected (that's the advantage of premium Telegram channels for such super fast moves measuring hundreds of ES points in the volatility these days).

Yesterday's video talked clearly the precarious China escalation position while Europe chose the negotiation route, offering 0 for 0. Volatility clearly peaked on Sunday's open, and real asset calls unfolded as called for clients on the weekend already.

Certainly excitement over SPY decline rejection yesterday, fine market breadth clues talked in today's packed video alongside gold, silver and USD with yields.

Keep enjoying the lively Twitter feed with my tab open at all times (notifications on aren't enough) - combine with subscribing to extras on my daily Youtube channel (turn notifications on) and of course Telegram that always delivers my extra calls (head off to Twitter to talk to me there) - but getting the key daily analytics right into your mailbox is the bedrock.

So, make sure you're signed up for the free newsletter and make use of Twitter, Telegram and Youtube - benefit and find out why I'm for years the most blocked market analyst and trader on Twitter.

Let's move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com) - today's full scale article contains 5 more of them, with commentaries.

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All essays, research and information represent analyses and opinions of Monica Kingsley that are based on available and latest data. Despite careful research and best efforts, it may prove wrong and be subject to change with or without notice. Monica Kingsley does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the data or information reported. Her content serves educational purposes and should not be relied upon as advice or construed as providing recommendations of any kind. Futures, stocks and options are financial instruments not suitable for every investor. Please be advised that you invest at your own risk. Monica Kingsley is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading her writings, you agree that she will not be held responsible or liable for any decisions you make. Investing, trading and speculating in financial markets may involve high risk of loss. Monica Kingsley may have a short or long position in any securities, including those mentioned in her writings, and may make additional purchases and/or sales of those securities without notice.

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Almost six out of 10 export businesses in Cork did not expect any barriers to their trade this year before the US administration unveiled its plans for global tariffs.

The survey of Cork Chamber businesses carried out by PTSB found that 21% of respondents expected their levels of trade to grow in 2025. The Economic Trends survey was carried out in January, February and March 2025, prior to the announcement of US tariffs by US president Donald Trump. Mr Trump has slapped a 20% tariff on EU goods - including Ireland - entering the United States.

The survey of Cork Chamber members found that 59% did not foresee any major barriers to growing their level of international trade, with 41% expecting challenges to international trade. Nevertheless, market uncertainty remained a concern, with 81% of responding businesses expressing some level of concern about geopolitical developments.

"Ongoing uncertainty around international trade  particularly the prospect of US tariffs on Irish exports  was a source of concern for many in our business community at the time the survey was carried out," said Cork Chamber president Rob Horgan.

That being said, Ireland continues to benefit from seamless trade links with our European partners as a member of the EU Single Market. The EU remains a key trading partner for Irish businesses, cited by 46% of respondents as the market they most frequently engage with. It is also encouraging to see that 96% of those trading within the EU experience no challenges when accessing the single market.

The research found most businesses remained upbeat about their hopes for the year, PTSB business banking manager Auriol Kelly said. Overall confidence in the Irish economy has remained high, with 74% expressing confidence about the overall economic outlook for the remainder of 2025 and 92% expressing confidence in the outlook for their own business. There was, however, an increase in concerns regarding the economic threat posed by rising business costs.

It is reassuring to see such high levels of confidence about the economic outlook for Ireland, despite ongoing uncertainty at a global level. Continuing to engage with and support businesses in these uncertain times remains a priority as the international landscape evolves.

Some 45% of businesses predicted employee numbers to rise over the year - down from the 52% predicted in the fourth quarter of 2024, with 44% of businesses expecting staffing to remain unchanged, and 11% predicting a decrease.

Chamber president Rob Horgan noted the survey showed some concerns among businesses regarding domestic economic threats, such as specialist skills shortages. "It is vital that we mitigate concerns like these as much as possible to maintain Irelands competitive edge as we face into potential economic headwinds internationally," Mr Horgan said.

Half of businesses surveyed expected an increase in turnover this year. Cork Chamber represents almost 1,200 businesses. Businesses who responded to the economic trends survey represent a broad range of sectors: life sciences a manufacturing; agriculture, food and drink; ICT and digital economy; tourism, hospitality, retail and leisure; culture, arts, community and media; built environment, education and training; services (including financial); transport, energy and maritime and health.
Youve got the perfect excuse to don your boldest, brightest and wackiest shirt this Friday, April 11. BUMBLEance, Irelands childrens ambulance service, is calling on you to wear it for its Shocking Shirts fundraising campaign.

Now in its third year, this campaign raises funds for and awareness of BUMBLEances work. It helps the 8,000 or more families across Ireland that have children with life-limiting conditions.

These children live all over Ireland but must travel to the childrens hospitals in Dublin for their medical appointments.

This is where BUMBLEance comes in. It has decorated ambulances and other vehicles in cheerful colours and kitted them out with computer consoles and games, DVD players, books, and toys so that these sick children and their families can have fun while they travel.

Shay Collins keeps smiling with the help of BumbleAnce.

In 2024 alone, they brought 695 sick children on 2,389 trips to hospitals, hospices, treatment and respite centres nationwide. They need your help to do this again this year.

Sign up for Shocking Shirts at exa.mn/shocking-shirts. Youll receive a free fundraising pack and all the branded material you need to get started.

Be sun smart

The sun has reappeared in the sky following its long winter hiatus. This means that children across Ireland are once again being reminded how to stay safe in the sun.

SunSmarts Five Ss tell them exactly how to do this. Slip on clothing that covers the skin. Slap on a wide-brimmed hat to protect the face, ears and neck.

Seek shade when the sun is especially strong. Slide on sunglasses to protect the eyes. And slop on the sunscreen.

The Get SunSmart Childrens Art Competition tries to reinforce this message. Its aimed at children in preschool and primary school. Younger ones are asked to colour in a picture while older ones are asked to draw a picture of their own.

The competition has four age categories with prizes in each one.

The deadline for entry is Friday, May 9, and full details on how to enter are available from exa.mn/art-competition.



Best sock forward

Who doesnt love a pair of colourful socks? The team behind Irish Socksciety certainly do. Based in Galway, they produce quirky socks for people of all ages.

Socksciety socks cost 6.50 a pair and can be ordered from irishsocksciety.com

Lets Count or Comhairimis is one of the styles in its childrens range. These socks are cute. Theyre colourful and theyre a great way of introducing little ones to the Irish language.

They cost 6.50 a pair and can be ordered from irishsocksciety.com

Wild for new children's book

The latest picture book from the award-winning Irish author and illustrator Paddy Donnelly aims to inspire the next generation of storytellers.

Badger Books tells the tale of a bookshop run by a badger. This bookshop stocks books about all sorts of animals but it doesnt have the book that Rory the Fox really wants. The one about jellyfish on the moon meeting pirate octopuses and scorpions from Saturn.

Badger Books by award-winning Irish author and illustrator Paddy Donnelly

Badger gets cross when Rory constantly asks him for a book that doesnt exist and snaps that he should write it himself.

He regrets this later when he finds Rory crying because he hasnt learned how to write yet. So the pair decide to work on the story together, with Rory dictating while Badger types.

This book is about the magic of stories, the wonder of bookshops and the power of older and younger generations coming together in friendship. Its widely available for 14.99

Building blocks for literacy

Parents and toddlers are invited to a free event taking place in St Johns Pavillion on Mulgrave Street in Limerick this Thursday, April 10. Organised as part of Limericks Lifelong Learning Festival, its aim is to support parents in building their little ones literacy. Over the course of an hour and a half from 9.30am, parents and their children will be guided through a range of playful and educational activities.
Shoplifting has surged in the country's second largest city, with the number of reported incidents rising by 86% in two decades, sparking calls for the publication of a new retail crime strategy.

Figures have revealed the number of recorded incidents of shoplifting in Cork City has soared from 1,440 in 2003 to 2,682 incidents last year.

The city saw a 26.7% increase in shoplifting between 2023 and 2024 alone, according to the latest figures.

Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ni Mhurchu is urging the Government to immediately address shoplifting by fast-tracking the retail crime strategy that was promised in the programme for government.

The Government vowed to adopt a new strategy that would include "targeted actions" to reduce retail crime and support affected businesses, as well as updating the Public Order Acts to allow a prolific offender of retail crime to be excluded from a premises.

There is also a commitment to tackle retail crime through the use of organised crime and proceeds of crime legislation and to examine the introduction of a specific offence of assaulting a retail worker.

A new grant scheme for anti-theft and prevention measures is also to be made available to shop owners.

Mandatory sentences

Ms Ni Mhurchu wants mandatory prison sentences for anyone caught shoplifting on more than one occasion.

The Fianna Fail MEP has also called for an end to the practice of "retail defamation"  where a shop owner can be sued for defamation if they stop, with the bona fide belief, someone they thought had stolen from the premises.

Ms Ni Mhurchu said retailers have become disillusioned by the rise in shoplifting, and said "filing a report with gardai is hardly worth it" as so many shoplifters are repeat offenders.

Outside of Cork City, the number of shoplifting incidents more than doubled in the North Cork garda division between 2003 and 2024  rising from 207 to 474.

In the West Cork garda division, shoplifting rose from 88 incidents in 2003 to 144 recorded incidents in 2024  an increase of 64%.

The Central Statistics Office figures indicate a trend upwards across most counties. Some of the biggest jumps between the year 2003 and 2024 occurred in Tipperary, Wexford, Wicklow, Kildare and Limerick.

However, in Mayo, Donegal, Waterford, Clare, and Galway garda divisions, there has been a slight drop in shoplifting between 2023 and 2024.

The issue of shoplifting was raised in the Dail recently, with Fianna Fail's Aisling Dempsey saying it was "a plague on small businesses and is a worrying trend, because it often precedes an increase in more serious crime".
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has spoken of the count to 10 rule he adopts when dealing with the Oval Office.

On a new podcast hosted by former president Mary McAleese and broadcaster Mary Kennedy, Mr Martin spoke frankly about Mr Trump and Irish-American relations.

In Changing Times  The Allenwood Conversations, he recounted his meeting with US president Donald Trump and explained the "count to 10" rule.

He was gracious  and, in a nice way, made it very clear he had issues with us on pharmaceuticals. We love very smart people who took all our pharmaceuticals', he said.

I think Europe and all of us just need to count to 10 every time something gets said from the Oval Office

Its very important that we try and discern a pattern of behaviour

Mr Martin described the modern Oval Office media strategy as a new form of political messaging, tailored not for policy but for the base. He also stressed the ongoing strategic importance of Irish America, describing the constituency as still very potent in both cultural and electoral terms.

No other nation gets that kind of access on St Patricks Day  600 people in one room with the president and vice president. Its a reminder of the unique footprint we still hold, Mr Martin said.

'A difficult journey'

The Taoiseach also said the presidency is not on the horizon for him.

If I wanted to be president, I would not have run for the Dail or become Taoiseach.

And when it comes to reports Conor McGregor would potentially run for president, Mr Martin said he is not sure what the agenda is.

Its a difficult journey. You need four county councils or 20 TDs. Im not so sure what the agenda is  whether he really is or isnt interested.

The conversation also delved into Mr Martins personal life, including the deaths of two of his children  Ruairi and Leana.

You dont ever get over that. Ever, he said.

The Taoiseach revealed that he considered leaving politics entirely at the time, adding: Mary said to me later: You do realise you were thinking of packing it in? And I probably was. But you keep going  for the living. You keep going.

Mr Martin also spoke of his upbringing in Cork, mentioning a lesson from his dad which stayed with him.

We were the first generation to benefit from free second-level education  education was everything

"My father never left a child on the side of the road. That stuck with me, he said.

You can listen to the episode on Tuesday, April 8, on all major podcast platforms. Produced by Enda Grace of Dundara Television and Media, the series is in its second season.
The chairman of the board of Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) has resigned in the wake of a scathing Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) report on the use of non-medical devices at one of the hospitals.

Dr Jim Browne apologised to the children, young people and families that have been failed by the care they received, following the release of the Hiqa report on Tuesday.

He has been chair of the board since it was established in 2019.

Following discussions over recent weeks with the Department for Health, I now wish to step down and provide for an orderly transition to a new chair to allow for renewed enthusiasm and passion to guide this great organisation, he said.

The damning Hiqa report found the use of metal springs during spinal surgery on children in CHI at Temple Street Hospital was wrong. It found that non-CE-marked springs were implanted into three children between 2020 and 2022.

It also revealed an onerous and unrealistic workload facing managers in all hospitals under CHI following changes as part of the move to the new childrens hospital.

The review was commissioned in 2023 after it emerged one spinal surgeon had used non-medical devices in children being treated for scoliosis.

HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster has demanded an early meeting with the board and executive of CHI.

Hiqa made nine recommendations for CHI, nine for the HSE, and one for all healthcare providers, including private hospitals.

The report found:  the use of the springs formed part of a well-intentioned but ill-considered effort to provide an alternative approach to surgical treatment, involving a single operation, for a number of children with life-limiting conditions at CHI at Temple Street who had otherwise been facing multiple operations, each with its associated risks."

It concluded: Use of the non-CE-marked springs as surgical implants was wrong.

It was critical of information shared with parents before the surgeries, describing this as wholly inadequate.

It also said:  while CHI was operating within the national policy for consent, in these cases, consent for these surgeries was not fully informed. They recommended a review of CHIs overall approach to communication with children and families, particularly when things go wrong.

It refers to the surgeon only as Surgeon A. Professor Conor Green is understood to have been on leave since 2023.

He described the use of the springs as bespoke and experimental to Hiqa.

He attended a conference in 2018 where a Dutch research team discussed the use of implantable spring-distraction systems for scoliosis. They used medical-grade titanium springs.

The research team from The Netherlands told Hiqa that they were not contacted by Surgeon A at any time to discuss their research, the report said.

Hiqa also found the surgeon did not contact the hospitals Ethics and Research Committee.

The springs were not ordered through normal CHI processes, and they highlighted key failures in procurement systems. This led to a lack of clarity over the intended use of the springs.

Hiqa found no formal structures and processes in place to support the surgical multidisciplinary team at the hospital.

It highlighted failures in the clinical governance of surgical safety in orthopaedics.

Hiqa also identified long-standing issues with communications and team dynamics in the orthopaedic service.

External advice had been sought as far back as 2019 to address behavioural and cultural issues, they found.

Overall, CHI has faced sustained challenges in providing timely access to paediatric spinal surgical services for many years, with long waiting lists for children, Hiqa warned.

They raised questions about new governance structures for all CHI hospitals since 2021 as part of the move to the under-construction new hospital.

This said this is overly complex and placed an onerous and unrealistic workload expectation on the clinical directors and senior managers.

They said this created challenges for clear lines of reporting and oversight of operations on a day-to-day basis at each of the hospital sites.

Recommendations for the HSE

Among recommendations for the HSE is to focus on planning for organisational change and careful evaluation during transitions.

The HSE should also review the effectiveness of the clinical directorate model, with a focus on the role of the clinical director They thanked CHI staff and management, with special thanks to the families of children affected, for sharing their experiences and valuable insight.

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said: "I want to begin by apologising to the three young children and their families. What happened was wrong, should not have happened and should not have been allowed to happen. These children were not protected from the risk of harm, as they should have been."

She said she had met with both the chief executive and chairperson of Childrens Health Ireland.

"We discussed the report, its findings, and the recommendations," she said. "I made very clear to them my deep disquiet at what happened here and my clear expectations in terms of reform and change to ensure it does not happen again."

CEO of CHI Lucy Nugent apologised to the families affected.

We are deeply sorry that these children, young people and families did not get the care they deserved. This is unacceptable, she said on Tuesday.

Childrens Health Ireland sincerely regrets and apologises for the risks that were posed to three patients through the use of non-CE-marked spring implants in their spinal surgeries.

"We do not underestimate the impact that this has had and is having on the families affected, and the distress that it has caused to all patients and families in the spinal service.

CHI has been working on changes and measures to improve care for the children and families affected.

She added that all recommendations will be implemented.

Issues of poor performance and non-compliance with policies are being addressed with the staff involved, in line with relevant hospital policies. I want to assure families of my commitment to ensuring that something like this never happens again in our organisation, she said.

Speaking to RTE, Ms Carroll MacNeill declined to say whether she has confidence in the board of CHI.

Asked whether she has confidence, she pointed instead to the appointment of a new CEO earlier this year.

For me now what I need to do is reflect on the board and reflect on the next chairperson and the steps that are taken towards that, and that is something I will do, she said in response to a question as to whether more resignations are needed.

She also declined to say whether she has doubts about the current managements ability to run the new childrens hospital. She described the spinal surgeon at the heart of the controversy as a rogue surgeon and said also Hiqa found he acted with good intentions.

The minister also said a separate external review commissioned by the HSE and led by a UK consultant is now at draft report stage. The final report will be shared with her, she confirmed.

The report has been described as "devastating" and "horrific" for children and their parents, by members of the opposition.

Sinn Fein health spokesperson David Cullinane said: "It's one of the most devastating reports that I've seen in a long, long time. There's one line in the report which I think is really devastating for children's healthcare where it says that children are not prevented from harm, are not protected from harm. That's a really devastating critique."

He said the report's finding has "real implications" for CHI as well as the Government, but he warned that a statutory inquiry could drag on for years if that route is taken.

Labour TD Marie Sherlock said the report reveals an "utterly dysfunctional set of processes" in the National Children's Hospital.

She said ahead of the move to the new Children's Hospital, answers must be given as to what has been done to resolve the "deadly serious issues" around the "lack of oversight" and poor culture" within the hospital.

"The second question key question is, is CHI now capable of managing both the transition to the new hospital building in spring of next year, while also implementing those very wide-ranging set of recommendations that Hiqa has issued?"

The review can be read on the Hiqa website.
Farmers and the general population, both urban and rural, are equally worried about climate change and willing to take action to help stop it, new research from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has found.

No overall difference in knowledge about the broad causes and effects of climate change were found between farmers and non-farmers, nor between rural and urban residents.

But it did identify major knowledge gaps. More than one-third of all respondents  both farmers and the public  failed to identify agriculture as one of the three highest greenhouse gas emitting sectors of the Irish economy (out of a list of six), even though agriculture is the highest emitting sector by a significant margin.

Understanding of which everyday behaviours generate the most emissions was also generally poor, but lower among farmers.

The link between diet and climate change was poorly understood. People in all groups incorrectly thought switching to a hybrid car reduces personal emissions more than adopting a plant-based diet.

Incorrect responses to this question were significantly higher among farmers (80% compared to 6063% of the urban and rural public, respectively) and among beef and dairy farmers in particular.

Climate change was selected by 43% of farmers as one of the three most important issues they face out of a list of eight.

It ranked similarly to negative perceptions of farming (45%), above high workload (29%) but below financial challenges (73%) and excessive regulation (58%).

Farmers, rural residents, and urban residents all reported high levels of general worry about climate change.

Non-farmers underestimated how worried farmers were about climate change.

People generally assumed their peers were less worried than they themselves are.

The majority of farmers, urban and rural residents expressed willingness to make lifestyle changes, such as flying less, improving home energy efficiency, eating less meat or going car-free.

Most farmers said they consider the climate in their farming decisions. Two-thirds reported being more likely than not to change how they farm in the future to help the climate.

Farmers, rural and urban residents all broadly support pro-climate policies, based on average support for 12 policies. Policies based on subsidies, such as home retrofit grants and assistance for farmers taking up green technologies, are more popular than those based on restrictions, such as taxing flights or reducing the national herd size. Very few people in all groups strongly oppose all pro-climate policies.

The study surveyed 1,667 adults in Ireland, consisting of 467 farmers from diverse locations and farm types and 1,200 members of the general public, split evenly between rural and urban participants.

Dr Lucie Martin, lead author of the ESRI report, said: "Most people  farmers, urban, and rural residents alike  are worried about the climate and willing to take action, but misperceive others' worry and willingness. We need to recognise that pro-climate views are held by the large majority.

Prof Pete Lunn, head of the ESRI's Behavioural Research Unit, said: "Knowledge about climate change really could improve, especially knowledge of the link between what we eat and greenhouse gas emissions."
Two teenage boys broke down in tears in the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday as they were found guilty of their parts in the sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl in a car at Limerick Races at Christmas 2022.

One was found guilty of rape and sexual assault. The other was found guilty of aiding and abetting this accused and a third teenager was convicted on Monday of rape and sexual assault.

The teenager who was found guilty of aiding and abetting was found not guilty on another charge  that of falsely imprisoning the 16-year-old girl in the car.

All three accused will be held in detention until they come back before the court for sentencing by Mr Justice Paul McDermott on April 28.

All of the guilty verdicts by the 11-person jury were by a 10-1 majority.

One juror was discharged due to illness during the trial, which proceeded in front of a jury of nine women and two men.

The jury commenced their deliberations on Friday, April 4, and spent a total of 10 hours and 46 minutes considering their verdicts against the three accused teenagers.

At the outset, the jurors were told in effect they were dealing with three separate trials as there were three defendants in the case.

During the closing speeches by the prosecution and the defence lawyers and in the judges charge to the jury, they were told in effect they should think of the case as three trials as there were three different defendants, and the cases were simply being held together as a matter of convenience when it commenced on March 11.

One of the 12 jurors sworn in on that date became ill during the trial and was discharged from hearing the case against three teenagers.

The contested incidents occurred in a car in a field car park at Limerick racecourse at Patrickswell, Co Limerick, on December 26 2022.

Defence senior counsels, Tom Creed, Vincent Heneghan and Brian McInerney, for the three defendants, said the prosecution had not reached the point of proving any of the counts beyond reasonable doubt. The defence also said by the complainants own account she did consent to some interaction that afternoon. They argued while the prosecution said it was consent up to a point, it was not clear where that point was.

The disputed events in the car relate to a period of somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes, the prosecution allege.

However, Dean Kelly, prosecution senior counsel, said the three defendants acted as a group in carrying out the offences with which they were charged.

Mr Kelly said: These boys acted as a group, each of them taking what they wanted from her physically and sexually in the way they went, whether she wanted to or not.

From the time those three boys are in the car they are acting as a single unit. [name] moves the car  he says he just wanted to go for a drive. That is inherent nonsense. It was so that whatever was going on in the car was going to be done away from prying eyes.

This is a group working together. [name of driver] is an enthusiastic member of the group who achieves his own sexual gratification."

Mr Kelly said while there were some inconsistencies and contradictions between the accounts given by the three accused in Garda interviews, there were essentially two broad narratives in the case  one from the complainant and the other from the three accused.

He said on her account, the complainant goes to the races with her friends at the age of 16, goes drinking, gets significantly drunk, ends up in the company of the three boys and that as an ordinary part of teenage life, she consensually kisses the 13-year-old and consents but that her consent is only up to a very certain point.

Mr Kelly said that was her narrative, and then there is what they have to say  what they tell the gardai in lurid technicolour in almost pornographic terms. [In their account] within moments of entering the car she is in total control of an orgy, she is portrayed as actively sexually voracious, insatiable, controlling, demanding at every turn. That is what you are asked to consider as quite reasonably true.

Those are the narratives in broad outline  a young girl consenting to low level intimacy, and on the other hand she is described as sexually voracious.

Mr Justice McDermott excused the jurors from further jury service for a period of 10 years and said it was not an easy case and they had given it careful consideration, for which he thanked them.

- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.
Cabinet has given the green light today for the 456 million M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy motorway, insisting it will immediately progress to the construction phase.

The scheme, which secured planning in 2018, involves the construction of approximately 11km of motorway from the N40 Bloomfield Interchange to Barnahely near the Port of Cork, with a 1.5km single carriageway protected road linking to the eastern side of Ringaskiddy.

Work on this 1.5km section is already under way as part of a separate contract.

However, Cabinet approval was required before contracts could be signed for the main 10km stretch from the Bloomfield Interchange to Ringaskiddy village.

It is expected to take three years to complete.

The M28 will replace the existing N28, which was not designed to accommodate current traffic volumes. It will also improve road safety on a stretch which has seen many serious road traffic collisions and fatalities, especially around Carrs Hill.

In a statement this morning, transport minister Darragh OBrien confirmed approval for the motorway.

This major new road project will greatly improve access to the Port of Cork at Ringaskiddy, ensuring the safe and efficient movement of goods to and from the port, while also supporting the additional port activities to Ringaskiddy, he said.

As a result, lands at Tivoli Docks in Cork city can be repurposed for much-needed residential and commercial development. I also welcome the positive impact the project will have on journey times for commuters as well as its role in easing congestion and improving air quality in Shanbally and Ringaskiddy.

Sean Canney, the minister of state with responsibility for international and road transport, logistics, rail and ports, said the project will deliver improved road safety for all road users travelling to and from Ringaskiddy.

I also welcome the fact that it includes a number of active travel elements which will make walking and cycling more attractive to commuters and local residents, he said.

Minister of state for transport, with responsibility for rural transport, Jerry Buttimer, also welcomed the announcement. As a TD in Cork South Central, I have engaged with communities and business on this project for decades. I am glad it is being delivered and is a priority for this government, he said.

Transport Infrastructure Irelands chief executive Peter Walsh said once complete, the M28 will provide a high-quality motorway standard connection to one of Irelands deep-water ports.

It will also complete another important link in the TransEuropean Transport Network (TEN-T), a vital transportation network that connects the island of Ireland to the rest of Europe and the world, he said.
A man, aged in his 20s, has been arrested in relation to pipe bomb incidents in Limerick City.

Gardai attached to the Crime Office at Roxboro Road Garda Station arrested a man in connection with ongoing investigations into two incidents of explosions which occurred on the Hyde Road.
A top-down approach is a term given to the strategy whereby a top-level executive gives orders about what lower-level employees further down the chain are to do. Its a traditional approach to management and, while it may work for companies in the corporate world, its not really a model that transfers into broader society where you need to get buy-in from various stakeholders.

Addressing the first meeting of the leaders forum on nature restoration to discuss the national nature restoration plan, minister of state for nature, heritage, and biodiversity Christopher OSullivan said: If were to get the plan right, we need to listen to everybody. It cant be a top-down approach, it cant be a case of myself or the State telling people how this plan is going to come together.

This balanced, inclusive approach is very welcome and necessary for an ambitious, workable, measurable, and well-funded nature restoration plan to be hammered out and agreed upon.

However, just because it is not going to be a top-down approach, this does not absolve the Government from providing direction, guidance, and leading by example

Politicians have consistently stated, and Mr OSullivan himself has said, that the national restoration law will focus on public rather than private land.

However, key public bodies continue to operate under commercial legal mandates. There is no clear process to identify the most suitable lands for nature restoration.

This is where the State must show leadership. It is unfair to expect farmers and landowners to step up to volunteer some of their own holdings if the State holds back on public lands.

Minister of state Christopher OSullivan with Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain at the first meeting of the leaders forum on nature restoration. The forum brings together senior decision-makers to shape the vision for the national Nature Restoration Plan. Picture: Maxwells

And, apart from leadership, it makes sense in so many ways. State bodies represent the largest landowners in the country. These public lands include important habitats such as bogs and fragments of ancient woodland.

Using those lands reduces the restoration burden on private landowners.

Starting with and using State lands will also provide models for how nature restoration can work in practice

Achieving nature restoration at scale is obviously easier to achieve when working on large areas of public land rather than trying to work across a number of small landowners with varying attitudes towards environmental conservation.

However, it will involve the State having to make some important decisions. It will have to reform Coillte and Bord na Monas legal mandates to ensure that nature restoration and climate action are given equal priority with commercial interests.

The lack of transparency around the dissolution of Coillte Nature again highlights the need for reform of the outdated commercial mandates that govern Coillte, a body that ultimately manages 7% of Irelands land.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service should also conduct an independent analysis of the nature restoration potential of public lands  including national parks, Office of Public Works lands, Coillte, and Bord na Mona lands.

We cannot credibly expect bodies operating under a commercial mandate to determine the scale and level of ambition of nature restoration on public lands.

Politicians have been at pains to point out that nature restoration will be voluntary for landowners. It must also be rewarded.

Mr OSullivan said that financing would be necessary to put the money behind farmers who do want to take part. Again, it is a welcome intervention by the minister but it does lead to a raft of questions.

The Government must take measures to eliminate perverse subsidies that contribute to biodiversity loss. File Picture: Denis Minihane

How will restoration efforts be financed? Will funds be ring-fenced within the infrastructure, climate, and nature fund? Will there be additional public funding? How will the Government ensure that EU funds from the new multi-financial framework align with the nature restoration plan?

The Irish Environmental Networks high-level recommendations for funding nature restoration in Ireland report sets out a roadmap for funding nature and biodiversity restoration and conservation in Ireland, and it would be well worth a read by the Government and policymakers.

In conjunction with Natural Capital Ireland, the Irish Environmental Network brought together a diverse group of experts from academia, business, environmental NGOs, farming, government departments, and semi-state bodies to workshop recommendations for funding nature restoration  which are set out in the report.

The administration of financing will also be crucial. A repeat of the Acres fiasco, where IT failures, the lack of staffing, on top of a huge demand for the scheme that incentivised farmers to improve biodiversity on their lands, could prove fatal for nature restoration efforts and must be avoided at all costs.

Farmers could be forgiven for taking a 'once bitten, twice shy' stance, unless payments for nature restoration are transparent and timely

Success will also involve engaging with landowners early and consistently through knowledge exchange, ensuring they have ownership over the design and implementation of restoration measures that impact them.

Added to this, the Government must take measures to eliminate perverse subsidies that contribute to biodiversity loss.

It is ridiculous to be talking about nature restoration while attempts by farmers to leave areas for nature on their farms are penalised under the current way farm subsidies are paid.

Transparency will be crucial when identifying sites for habitat restoration, re-establishment, and connectivity. These decisions must be grounded in scientific evidence.

Tied to this, the Government should consider a public information and education campaign for wider society to explain what nature restoration is, why it is so important to act now, and how they can take part through the community conversation programme that will take place later this year.

Maybe if we work from the bottom up, combining a little top-down leadership, the best available science, and a bit of lean-in from each side, we can all meet in the middle and agree on a plan that, to quote the minister, will be a good result for nature, a good result for society, and a good result for agriculture.
Iran and the United States will hold talks in the sultanate of Oman on Saturday in an attempt to jump-start negotiations over Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear programme.

Even before the talks, however, there was a dispute over just how the negotiations would go.

President Donald Trump insists they will be direct negotiations, however Irans foreign minister said they will be indirect talks through a mediator.

The difference may seem small, but it matters.

The Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/AP)

Indirect talks have made no progress since Mr Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew the US from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.

Mr 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 emphasising he still believed a new deal could be reached by writing a letter to Irans 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mr Khamenei has warned Iran would respond to any attack with an attack of its own.

Here is what to know about the letter, Irans nuclear programme and the tensions that have stalked relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.



Why did Mr Trump write the letter?

Mr Trump dispatched the letter to Mr 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.

President Donald Trump (AP)

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 US could target Iranian nuclear sites.

A previous letter from Mr Trump during his first term drew an angry retort from the supreme leader.

But Mr 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 programme capable of reaching the continental US.

How has Iran reacted?

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected direct negotiations with the United States over Tehrans nuclear programme.

We dont avoid talks; its the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far, Mr Pezeshkian said in televised remarks during a Cabinet meeting.

They must prove that they can build trust.

Mr Khamenei seemingly reacted to comments by Mr 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.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman 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.

A member of the Iranian Basij paramilitary force attends the annual anti-Israeli Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day rally (Vahid Salemi/AP)

The state-owned Tehran Times newspaper, without citing a source, claimed that Iran had readied missiles with the capability to strike US-related positions.

That is as the US has stationed stealth B-2 bombers in Diego Garcia within striking distance of both Iran and Yemens Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, which America has been bombing intensely since March 15.

Why does Irans nuclear programme worry the West?

Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear programme 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 kilogrammes (661lb).

The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Irans programme put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilogrammes (18,286lb) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity.

US intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons programme, but has undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows six B-2 stealth bombers parked at Camp Thunder Cove in Diego Garcia (Planet Labs PBC/AP)

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 US or Israel were to attack Iran over the issue, the country would have no choice but to move toward nuclear weapon development.

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 US?

Iran was once one of the USs 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 neighbouring 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.

The then Shah of Iran sits with Queen Elizabeth II in an open carriage in 1959 as they drive with the Duke of Edinburgh to Buckingham Palace from Victoria Station, London (PA)

Later that year, university students overran the US Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shahs extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that saw diplomatic relations between Iran and the US severed.

The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s saw the US back Saddam Hussein.

The Tanker War during that conflict saw the US launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while the US later shot down an Iranian commercial airliner.

Iran and the US 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 Mr Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the accord, sparking tensions in the Mideast that persist today.
The Nato chief has raised concern about Chinas arms buildup and military drills near Taiwan and called on the organisations members and friendly nations to work together to keep free and open sea lanes in the region.

China is supporting Russias efforts. China is building up its armed forces, including its navy, at a rapid pace, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte told reporters as he wrapped up his visit to the Japanese navy port of Yokosuka.

We cannot be naive, and we really have to work together, assess what is happening.

Mr Rutte said Nato is worried about Chinas military exercises near Taiwan and we follow them very closely.

Japan considers China as a threat in the region and has in recent years accelerated military buildup, including preparing to acquire strikeback capability with long-range cruise missiles.

Japan, in addition to the United States, has expanded its defence ties with other friendly nations in the Indo-Pacific and Europe, as well as Nato, saying Russias war on Ukraine underscores that security risks in Europe and Asia are inseparable.

This photograph released by Taiwan Ministry of National Defense taken from a Taiwan Air Force F-16V, shows a Chinese CAIG Wing Loong II drone near Taiwan (AP)

The United States wants Nato members to be more involved in the Indo-Pacific region, Mr Rutte said.

He welcomed US secretary of defence Pete Hegseths recent trip to Japan to ensure Washingtons commitment to strengthen its alliance with Japan and presence in the region.

He stressed its importance, noting that Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven that is not in Nato.

Nato has also stepped up its ties with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, known as the IP4, in recent years, with their officials attending NATO ministerial and summit meetings.

Mr Rutte, visiting Japan for the first time since becoming head of the Belgium-based military alliance in October, was set to hold talks with Japanese defence minister General Nakatani later Tuesday and prime minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday.

Mr Ishiba has advocated a Nato-like security framework in Asia, though he has not given details.

Countries with shared security concerns are strengthening ties as competition escalates between the United States and China.

Beijing has criticised Natos growing ties with the Indo-Pacific partners, worried that Washington may move to form a Nato-like alliance in the region.
The Ukrainian military has captured two Chinese men fighting alongside the Russian army in the eastern Donetsk region and has information that significantly more are with Russian forces, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Tuesday.

There was no immediate comment from China. Beijing is not known to have provided Russia with weapons or military expertise, and it was not clear whether the Chinese had joined the fight on their own initiative.

Russia allows foreigners to enlist in its military, as does Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky said he asked his top diplomat to immediately contact Beijing.

He said China would be the third country to offer military support to Russia after Iran, which has supplied attack drones, and North Korea, which has supplied soldiers, according to American and South Korean officials.

China has provided strong diplomatic support for Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Beijing has also offered an economic lifeline through the trade in energy and consumer goods.

Mr Zelensky said a clash with Chinese soldiers occurred near the villages of Tarasivka and Bilohorivka in Donetsk, where six Chinese military personnel engaged Ukrainian troops. Two Chinese were taken prisoner, Mr Zelensky said.

Belgiums Prime Minister Bart de Wever, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talking to Belgium and Ukrainian officials and businessmen in Kyiv on Tuesday (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

Ukraines Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, said his ministry summoned Chinas charge daffaires to demand an explanation, saying on X that Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russias invasion army in Ukraine puts into question Chinas declared stance for peace and undermines Beijings credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Russia has effectively rejected a US proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting in Ukraine, and both sides are believed to be readying a spring-summer campaign on the battlefield.

I cannot see any indications that would lead to a ceasefire or even a peace, but I see many indications (for) the continuation of the war, Nico Lange, a senior fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis in Washington, said in an analysis on Monday.

Mr Zelensky spoke at a news conference in Kyiv alongside visiting Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who announced a one billion euro (0.78 billion) aid package for Ukraine this year.

Ukraines president said they discussed joint military manufacturing efforts and Belgian private investment in Ukraines defence sector.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian Foreign Ministry officials will take part in talks with the US in Istanbul planned for Thursday.

He did not say what the talks would be about, but the foreign ministrys involvement suggests it is another round of talks about normalising their respective embassies operations and increasing staff numbers after years of expelling respective diplomats.
Thousands of protesters rallied for the fourth week in Hungarys capital on Tuesday, denouncing a new law passed by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbans nationalist government banning LGBT+ Pride events.

The legislation, fast-tracked through parliament in March, prohibits events depicting homosexuality to those under the age of 18 and has drawn comparisons with Russias anti-LGBT+ policies.

It comes as Mr Orbans administration is increasingly accused of democratic backsliding ahead of national elections next year.

The weekly protests in Budapest have persisted, and on Tuesday, demonstrators filled the Erzsebet Bridge over the Danube, demanding the withdrawal of the law.

If we dont stand up for the rights of minorities and for our own fundamental rights, then who will when they come for us?

Some planned to remain on the bridge throughout the night and said there were plans to shut down all five central Danube bridges.

No violence was immediately reported.

The law makes it an offence to hold or attend events such as Pride, which some legal experts and human rights groups say is Mr Orbans latest crackdown on Hungarys LGBT+ community and an arbitrary restriction on the right to assembly.

Viktoria Vajda, one of the protesters, said the time for trying to find common ground with Mr Orbans government has passed.

If we dont stand up for the rights of minorities and for our own fundamental rights, then who will when they come for us? she said.

Weve reached the point where we have to stand up and say no more.

The protests have defied police orders to disperse from bridges and main roads in Budapest. And in a rare instance of a street protest outside the Hungarian capital, several hundred demonstrators in the eastern city of Miskolc also protested on Tuesday against the law.

Mr Orban, who critics say has eroded Hungarys democracy and overseen widespread corruption, has in recent years taken aim at the countrys LGBT+ community, prohibiting same-sex adoption and, in a 2021 child protection law, banning any LGBT+ content including in television, films, advertisements and literature that is available to those under 18.

As part of the new law, authorities may use facial recognition tools to identify those who attend prohibited events  such as the popular Budapest Pride, which draws tens of thousands each year  and can issue fines for violators of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints (425).

Mr Orbans party is pushing for a constitutional amendment next week that will codify the ban on public LGBT+ events.

The Hungarian leader has also pledged to introduce new legislation that will ban demonstrators from blocking traffic on bridges and busy roads, arguing the right of assembly and expression cannot override the rights of commuters.

Janos Stummer, a member of the opposition Momentum party who was at the protest, said that while the ban on Pride was harmful to members of the LGBT+ community, the law is also about Orban unilaterally, arbitrarily deciding which events can be held in this country and which cannot.

Mr Orbans government argues that it is protecting children from sexual propaganda.

But with Mr Orbans party lagging in polls, critics views the legislation as part of a broader effort to scapegoat sexual minorities and mobilise his conservative base.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that Ukrainian forces detained two Chinese nationals who were fighting alongside Russian troops, stating that Ukraine would seek an explanation from China as well as a response from its allies.

Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia and China have strengthened their political, military, and economic ties.

Our military has captured two Chinese citizens who were involved with the Russian army. This occurred on Ukrainian territoryin the Donetsk region, Mr. Zelensky mentioned in a social media update.

Our military has taken into custody two Chinese individuals fighting as part of the Russian army, with their detention taking place on Ukrainian soilin the Donetsk region. Identification documents, bank cards, and personal information were found with them.

We have information suggesting that pic.twitter.com/ekBr6hCkQL

 Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) April 8, 2025

We possess documents belonging to these individuals, as well as bank cards and personal data, Mr. Zelensky added in a post that included a video featuring one of the alleged detained Chinese citizens.

China has positioned itself as a neutral entity in the conflict, asserting that it is not providing lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western countries.

However, it remains a close political and economic ally to Russia, with NATO members claiming that China acts as a decisive enabler of Russias invasion, which it has yet to condemn.

US President Donald Trump has been advocating for a rapid conclusion to the prolonged war that has lasted over three years since he took office, but his administration has struggled to make significant progress despite multiple rounds of discussions.

Many more Chinese soldiers

Ukraine has persistently called on China to exert pressure on Russia to cease its invasion, which has led to the loss of tens of thousands of lives and has not yet enabled Russia to meet its key objectives.

Mr. Zelensky asserted that Ukraine has evidence indicating that many more Chinese citizens are also fighting alongside Russian forces.

I have directed Ukraines foreign minister to reach out to Beijing immediately and seek clarification on how China plans to respond to this situation, Mr. Zelensky stated.

He emphasized that the capture of the two men and Russias involvement of China in the conflict sends a clear signal that Putin is willing to do anything but bring an end to the war.

Mr. Zelensky also called for a response from the United States, Europe, and all those around the globe who desire peace in his online statement.

I believe the United States should pay closer attention to what is unfolding today, he mentioned further at a press conference held in Kyiv.

Ukraine has been urging Western allies to react to the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops by Russia to the western region of Kursk.

Ukraine is facing challenges in maintaining its positions after launching an offensive in the border area last year.

The North Koreans fought against us in Kursk, and the Chinese are now engaging on Ukrainian territory. I think it is crucial that we address this issue with our partners, and it is urgent, added Mr. Zelensky during the press conference.

Previously, Ukraine sent its then-Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to China last year, aiming to strengthen relationships with the country. This week, Mr. Zelensky appointed a new ambassador to China.

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During a visit to the White House, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel will work to eliminate its trade deficit with the United States, amidst global concerns over the tariffs recently imposed by US President Donald Trump.

We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States We believe its the right thing to do, Mr. Netanyahu shared with reporters in the Oval Office, expressing his view that Israel could serve as a model for many countries.

In a separate statement, President Trump indicated that the US and Iran are engaged in direct discussions regarding Irans nuclear program.

Mr. Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to personally request a delay on the US tariffs that have unsettled the global economy.

During their meeting, Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump also addressed the situation in Gaza, where a short-lived US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has unraveled, as well as the rising tensions with Iran.

Mr. Trump welcomed Mr. Netanyahu outside the West Wing with a fist pump, and the two leaders, both dressed in dark suits, red ties, and white shirts, proceeded inside for their meeting in the Oval Office.

During Mr. Netanyahus previous visit, both he and Mr. Trump addressed reporters in the Oval Office and held a press conference.

This trip marks the Israeli premiers second visit to Mr. Trump since the US president returned to office, and it comes on short noticeonly days after Mr. Trump announced a 17% tariff on Israel during his Liberation Day remarks last week.

Mr. Trump opted not to exempt Israel, a leading recipient of US military aid, from his tariff measures, citing a significant trade deficit with the country.

On his way to Washington yesterday, Mr. Netanyahu stated they would cover topics such as the hostages, achieving victory in Gaza, and the tariff regime that has been imposed on Israel.

I am the first international leader to meet with President Trump on an issue so vital to Israels economy, he declared in a video statement.

There are numerous leaders who want to engage in this dialogue. I believe this reflects the special personal relationship and the unique bond between the United States and Israel, which is essential at this moment.

Upon his arrival, Mr. Netanyahu met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, as confirmed by his office.

The Israeli premier also had discussions today with Mr. Trumps special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.

Attack on Paramedics

The situation regarding Israels military actions in Gaza, provoked by the Hamas attack in October 2023, and the fate of Israeli and US hostages still held in Gaza will be significant points of discussion.

Israel resumed heavy airstrikes on Gaza on March 18, following the collapse of the weeks-long ceasefire brokered by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar.

So far, Mr. Trump has strongly supported Israel, accusing Hamas of not releasing the hostages.

The United States has also dismissed an incident in which 15 medics and rescuers were killed by Israeli forces last month in Gaza, leading to international outcry.

Israels army chief has since ordered a deeper investigation into the incident.

French President Emmanuel Macron revealed he organized a conference call with Mr. Trump, along with the leaders of Egypt and Jordan during his visit to Cairo, where they collectively called for an immediate resumption of the ceasefire.

The leaders insisted that the Palestinian Authority should solely oversee the post-war governance of Gaza, rejecting Mr. Trumps proposal for the US to own the territory following the conflict.

On the topic of Iran, Mr. Trump has been advocating for direct talks with Tehran regarding a new agreement to limit Irans nuclear program.

However, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai characterized Tehrans proposal for indirect negotiations as generous, responsible, and wise.

There is ongoing speculation that Israel, potentially with US assistance, may target Iranian facilities if an agreement is not reached.

Mr. Netanyahu arrived directly from Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban withdrew his country from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the court issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli leader related to the Gaza conflict.

Both leaders also spoke by phone with Mr. Trump on Thursday.
South Korea is set to conduct a presidential election on June 3, as announced by the acting president following the ousting of former leader Yoon Suk Yeol due to a controversial martial law declaration.

Since December, South Korea has been without a definitive leader, as Mr. Yoons attempts to undermine civilian authority led to his quick impeachment by the legislature, resulting in his suspension from office.

Recently, a court upheld his impeachment, leading to his removal from the presidency and the call for new elections to take place within 60 days.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo indicated that the government had engaged in discussions with the National Election Commission and other relevant bodies regarding the election.

Yoon Suk Yeol becomes the second South Korean president to be impeached by the court.

Consequently, it has been determined that June 3 will be the date for South Koreas 21st presidential election, Mr. Han stated, adding that the day will be recognized as a temporary public holiday to ease the voting process.

The Prime Minister urged ministries and the National Election Commission to prepare diligently to ensure an election that is fairer and more transparent than ever, fostering public trust.

Unlike standard elections where the president-elect benefits from a two-month transition period, the victor of the June 3 election will be sworn in the very next day.

Currently, Prime Minister Han is managing the government as the acting president, a role he resumed after the Constitutional Court dismissed his own impeachment.

While presidential elections are usually held on Wednesdays, snap elections triggered by a vacancy do not require adherence to a specific weekday.

Read more: Thousands rally for South Koreas impeached ex-president

The official campaign period is slated to run from May 12 to June 2.

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is leading in numerous polls, boasting a 34% support rating according to the latest Gallup survey.

His party already holds a majority in the National Assembly.

He narrowly lost to Mr. Yoon in the 2022 presidential race but made a political comeback as the leader of the main opposition, despite facing a series of legal challenges, including ongoing trials.

In a clear second position is Labour Minister Kim Moon-soo.

Polling around 9%, he is among several challengers from Mr. Yoons People Power Party, which also includes former party leader Han Dong-hoon.

Protesters against Yoon Suk Yeol took part in a rally celebrating his removal.

Last Friday, millions of Koreans watched live as the Constitutional Court delivered its verdict, officially ousting Mr. Yoon.

In a bid to prevent lawmakers from overturning his decree, Mr. Yoon sent armed soldiers to parliament, an act deemed by the court as deploying military personnel for political purposes.

Mr. Yoon is the second South Korean president to face impeachment by the court, following Park Geun-hye in 2017.

In the four months since the martial law announcement, South Korea has been without an effective head of state.

This leadership void coincided with several crises, including an aviation disaster and the most devastating wildfires in the nations history.

Last week, South Korea encountered a 25% tariff on exports to its key ally, the United States, after President Donald Trump introduced global so-called reciprocal tariffs.

Additionally, Mr. Yoon faces a separate criminal trial on insurrection charges related to the martial law attempt.
The US biotechnology firm Colossal Biosciences has announced that it has successfully produced three dire wolves, a species that has been extinct for more than 10,000 years, by manipulating the genome of a contemporary gray wolf utilizing dire wolf DNA sourced from fossils.

Yesterday, Colossal unveiled footage that purportedly showcased dire wolf juvenile cubs named Romulus and Remus.

According to the company, some of the dire wolf fossils used for DNA extraction include a tooth that is 13,000 years old and an inner ear bone that dates back 72,000 years.

Additionally, they mentioned that one female puppy, Khaleesi, was among the successfully birthed cubs.

Corey Bradshaw, a professor of global ecology at Flinders University in Australia, expressed skepticism regarding Colossals assertions and the feasibility of reviving an extinct species like the dire wolf.

As Mr. Bradshaw elaborated, it is practically impossible to reconstruct the entire genomes of creatures that have been extinct for millennia due to issues such as DNA degradation.

So yes, they may have slightly genetically modified wolves. Thats probably the best outcome you could achieve. Those slight modifications seem to have been sourced from retrieved dire wolf material. Does that classify it as a dire wolf? No. Is it a slightly altered gray wolf? Yes, Mr. Bradshaw remarked to Reuters.

When you make grand claims like this without corresponding evidence, especially in a matter as contentious as this, it raises a significant red flag, he added.

The dire wolf has become a staple in the fantasy genre within pop culture, featuring in role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons and video games like World of Warcraft.

However, the HBO series Game of Thrones, adapted from the works of George RR Martin, is primarily responsible for popularizing dire wolves.

Mr. Martin, who is an investor in Colossal and serves as a cultural advisor for the company, remarked: Many individuals see dire wolves as mythical creatures that exist solely in fantasy, but they actually have a profound history contributing to the American ecosystem.

While I write about magic, Ben and Colossal have created their own magic by reintroducing these magnificent beings back into our world.

Founded in 2021, Colossal Biosciences claims to be the first biotechnology enterprise to harness CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) gene editing technology to explore species de-extinction.

Moreover, Colossal reported that it has recently cloned critically endangered red wolves using the same technology, in addition to creating the hybrid Colossal Woolly Mouse-mice, genetically engineered to exhibit traits of the long-extinct woolly mammoth.
South Korea is set to conduct a presidential election on 3 June, according to the countrys acting president, following the removal of former leader Yoon Suk Yeol from office due to a disastrous martial law declaration.

Since December, South Korea has been essentially leaderless after Mr. Yoon attempted to undermine civilian governance, resulting in his swift impeachment by lawmakers and subsequent suspension from office.

Last week, a court upheld his impeachment, removing him from the presidency and triggering new elections that must take place within 60 days.

The government has engaged in discussions with the National Election Commission and other relevant agencies, stated Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

Yoon Suk Yeol is the second South Korean leader to be impeached by the court

Consequently, they have settled on 3 June as the date for South Koreas 21st presidential election, he noted, adding that this day would be declared a temporary public holiday to aid voter participation.

Mr. Han urged ministries and the National Election Commission to prepare thoroughly to ensure an election that is fairer and more transparent than ever, one that can earn the publics trust.

Unlike standard elections, where an elected president has a two-month transition period, the winner of the election on 3 June will be inaugurated the next day.

For now, Prime Minister Han is managing the government as acting president, a role he resumed after the Constitutional Court dismissed his own impeachment.

Presidential elections generally occur on Wednesdays, but no specific weekday is mandated for snap elections due to a vacancy.

Read more: Thousands rally for South Koreas impeached ex-president

The official campaigning period will commence on 12 May and continue until 2 June.

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is leading in several polls, holding a 34% approval rating according to the latest Gallup survey.

His party currently controls the National Assembly.

He narrowly lost to Mr. Yoon in the 2022 presidential race but has made a political comeback as the leader of the main opposition, despite being entangled in legal challenges, including ongoing trials.

In a distinct second place is Labour Minister Kim Moon-soo.

Polling around 9%, he tops a group of contenders from Mr. Yoons People Power Party, which also features former party chief Han Dong-hoon.

Protesters opposed to Yoon Suk Yeol participate in a rally to celebrate his expulsion

Millions of Koreans watched live on television as the Constitutional Court delivered its verdict last Friday, officially removing Mr. Yoon from office.

Mr. Yoon dispatched armed soldiers to parliament in an attempt to thwart politicians from overturning his decree, which the court declared constituted using troops for political purposes.

He is the second South Korean leader to be impeached by the court, following Park Geun-hye in 2017.

Since the martial law declaration, South Korea has been without a functional head of state for four months.

This leadership vacuum has coincided with a series of crises, including an aviation disaster and the worst wildfires in the countrys history.

Last week, South Korea faced a 25% tariff on exports to its key ally, the United States, following President Donald Trumps announcement of global reciprocal levies.

Additionally, Mr. Yoon is facing a separate criminal trial on charges of insurrection related to his martial law attempt.
UN Agencies Call for Immediate Renewal of Gaza Ceasefire

Six agencies of the United Nations have urgently called for the renewal of the ceasefire in Gaza, highlighting an utter disregard for human life in the region.

The agencies indicated in a statement that there are significant shortages of aid and rampant hunger since Israel resumed its extensive military offensive.

The death toll has increased since the war reignited on March 18, marking the deadliest week for Gazas children in the past year.

No new humanitarian supplies have reached the Palestinian enclave since Israel halted the entry of aid trucks on March 2.

More than 2.1 million people are once again trapped, bombed, and starved, while at crossing points, supplies of food, medicine, fuel, and shelter are accumulating, leaving vital equipment stuck, the statement noted.

This statement was co-signed by the heads of six UN agencies, including the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme.

According to the statement, at least 1,000 children were killed or injured in the first week after fighting recommenced, with the toll described as the highest for children in the past year.

We are witnessing acts of war in Gaza that disregard human life entirely  We urge world leaders to take action  firmly, urgently, and decisively  to ensure adherence to the basic principles of international humanitarian law, the statement asserted.

A protest in Ramallah in the West Bank against Israeli attacks on Gaza

Israel has denied breaching humanitarian laws in the region, attributing civilian harm to Hamas fighters who operate among them, a claim that the fighters refute.

The agencies also highlighted critical shortages of food and medical supplies in Gaza.

According to the World Food Programme, twenty-five bakeries that were operating during the ceasefire have had to close due to a lack of flour and cooking gas.

Latest Middle East stories

Leaders from France, Egypt, and Jordan have also demanded an immediate return to the truce.

They emphasized that the Palestinian Authority must solely oversee the governance of Gaza after the conflict ends.

The governance, law and order, and security in Gaza, and all Palestinian territories, must be the sole responsibility of a strengthened Palestinian Authority, the leaders stated in a joint declaration.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 50,000 Palestinians have lost their lives due to the Israeli campaign in Gaza.

The war ignited after numerous Hamas-led gunmen launched attacks on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, with Israel reporting 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages taken.

One dead after Israeli strike on Lebanon

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon has resulted in one death, according to the countrys health ministry, occurring despite a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah and following a visit from a US envoy.

The ministry stated that the Israeli enemy drone strike in Taybeh near the border led to the death of one citizen.

The official National News Agency (NNA) indicated the strike happened in front of a motorcycle repair shop in the town, within the Marjayoun area.

The Israeli military confirmed that it is looking into these reports.

Since the ceasefire on November 27, which largely halted over a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of war, Israel has continued its strike operations in Lebanon.

UN peacekeepers on patrol near the Lebanese border with Israel

The truce agreement was predicated on a UN Security Council resolution stating that Lebanese forces and peacekeepers should be the exclusive powers in southern Lebanon and called for the disarmament of all non-state actors.

During the weekend, US deputy special envoy for the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, met with senior Lebanese officials to discuss the situation, including the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Economic reforms were also part of the discussions.

In an interview with Lebanese television channel LBCI, Mr. Ortagus emphasized that the United States continues to urge the Lebanese government to fully complete the cessation of hostilities, which includes disarming Hezbollah and all militias, adding that this should occur as soon as possible.

Hezbollah significantly weakened following the latest conflict with Israel.
By Amin Saikal, Victoria University

(The Conversation)  The United States and Iran are once again on a collision course over the Iranian nuclear program.

In a letter dated early March, US President Donald Trump urged Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to negotiate a new deal. The new deal would replace the defunct nuclear agreement negotiated in 2015 between the United States, Iran and five other global powers.

Trump withdrew from that agreement, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), during his first term.

Trump gave the Iranians a two-month deadline to reach a new nuclear deal. If they dont, the US will bomb the country. In recent days, American B-2 bombers and warships have been deployed to the region in a show of force.

In response, Tehran has agreed only to indirect negotiations. It has ruled out any direct talks while under a US policy of maximum pressure.

Down to the final moments

The danger of US or combined American-Israeli military actions against Iran has never been greater.

Trump says the US is down to the final moments should Tehran persist with moving towards a military nuclear capability.

His national security advisor, Mike Waltz, has gone further, demanding Iran shut down its entire nuclear program.

Khamenei and his generals have promised a harsh response to any military venture. Iran has vowed to target all American bases in the region.

France, one of key negotiators in the 2015 deal, said this week a failure to secure a new deal would make a military confrontation almost inevitable.

In a positive sign, however, Washington is reportedly seriously considering Irans offer for indirect negotiations. And Trump is now suggesting Iran may actually be open to direct talks.

On the threshold of a nuclear bomb

It would be a folly to expect a quick result that could satisfy an impatient Trump. This is especially true given Trump is under intense pressure from his close friend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu has long advocated for military action as the best way to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and eliminate its other military capabilities, as well as its regional influence.

The Iranian Islamic regime has repeatedly said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, the US and its allies  in particular Israel  have remained highly sceptical of Tehrans intentions.

Following Trumps withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018, Tehran has substantially expanded its nuclear program, to the chagrin of the other signatories to the deal (Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China).

It has installed more advanced centrifuges and accelerated uranium enrichment to 60%, just below weapons-grade level. The country is now at a nuclear weapon threshold. It is believed to be capable of assembling an atomic bomb within months, if not weeks.

Israels devastating military operations against Irans allies in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, as well as direct exchanges with Iran, have prompted some in the Iranian leadership to advocate for crossing that threshold.

As I document in my book, Khamenei also remains highly distrustful of Trump and the US political class in general.

Khamenei initially dismissed Trumps letter last month as a deception from the leader of a country he has long considered an arrogant power that wants to dictate to Iran, rather than negotiate with it.

One of his senior advisers, former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, berated Washington for engaging in psychological warfare.

And the current foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said direct negotiations would be futile unless Washington changed its policy of maximum pressure against Iran. This would involve removing sanctions against his country.

What the two sides want

Despite this historic distrust of the US, Tehran has found it expedient to offer indirect talks for a possible deal. However, the two sides remain far apart in their respective demands.

Washington, at the very least, would want Tehran to indefinitely limit its uranium enrichment to 3.7%  the level it had agreed to in the 2015 deal. Washington would also demand close oversight by the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency.



The Fight, Digital, Dream / Dreamland v3 / IbisPaint, 2025

Tehrans minimum demands would include the US unfreezing Iranian assets, lifting all sanctions against Iran and guaranteeing a nuclear deal will not be rescinded by future American administrations.

Neither side could meet these demands, however, without first engaging in substantive confidence-building measures. Since Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, the onus is on him to jump-start the process. He could do this by:

unfreezing Iranian assets in the United States

lifting some sanctions to enable Iran to purchase non-lethal items from the West, including new civilian aircraft from Boeing and Airbus which were voided following the JCPOAs dismantling

withdrawing the threat of a US, Israeli or combined military action.

Given the depth of the long-standing enmity and distrust between the parties, the chances of reaching a new nuclear deal seem further away than the drums of war.

However, given Trumps unpredictability and the serious domestic and foreign policy challenges facing the Iranian regime, a deal also cannot not be completely ruled out.

Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University; and Vice Chancellors Strategic Fellow, Victoria University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment)  It may be that Trump can slow the advance of renewables, including solar energy, in the United States. That would be a shame for the US, because consumers will have to pay more for electricity, the grid will be dirtier, and the country will fall farther behind China in the race to dominate solar panel sales. Currently China has cornered the market, producing 80% of panels globally.

Trump cannot, however, stand in the way of the growth of solar world-wide. Let me explain why.

The energy analysis company Ember has just issued a new report that finds that low-carbon sources of energy now provide 41% of global electricity. Moreover, solar energy in particular grew by 29% in 2024, the highest in six years.

Solar is doubling every three years, which constitutes exponential growth, and it is now at 2,000 terrawatt hours, a milestone it reached faster than any energy-producing technology in human history.

Moreover, global battery capacity doubled in 2024, allowing the storage of daytime solar generation for use at night.

Embers is a global view, but it is worth mentioning that California saw many days in 2024 when all its electricity came from wind, water, solar and battery, and that this combination proved robust. There were no blackouts as a result, and electricity prices fell. Californias relatively high electricity costs are not because of renewables but because of the cost of wildfire mitigation, the cost of natural gas, and other factors having nothing to do with green electricity.

Ember says that if you dedicated all the solar energy generated in the world last year to India, it would have been able to supply that country with all its electricity.

Solar is reducing the use of coal and gas, and especially in China, where the growth in coal production and use would have been 50% higher in recent years if it had not been for the big build-out in solar power.

Ember is making me appreciate the absolute marvel of solar energy. Its authors point out that the amount of solar installed globally in 2024 exceeded the annual capacity installations of all fuels combined in any year before 2023. New installations came to 584 gigawatts in 2024, about a third more than the previous year and twice that of 2022.

The 38-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) comprises most of Europe and North America, usually leads in technology. But in this case, non-OECD countries accounted for 59% of new solar installations, with 39% of that in China alone.

Ember doesnt say so, but Pakistan alone put in 22 gigawatts in new solar last year, which is more than Canada has in total. This was largely done by villagers tired of waiting for the government to provide them with affordable and regular electricity. They were helped by particularly inexpensive Chinese solar panels last year, the result of overproduction. Solar energy is becoming a global juggernaut, not dependent for its advances solely on the advanced European and North American economies.



Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/solar-panels-on-snow-with-windmill-under-clear-day-sky-433308/

In China, solar provided 8.3% of the countrys electricity, and for the first time made up the majority of new power installations.

Chile, Brazil, and India also made enormous strides. Three of the five biggest solar generators in the world were members of the BRICS bloc.

The Middle East and Africa saw imports of solar panels, mostly from China, triple in just two years.

So even as it is, solar installations are growing by leaps and bounds, doubling every three years worldwide. Trump can be a drag on this progress, but he cannot halt or even appreciably slow it.

World electricity use is roughly 27,000 terawatt hours.

In three years, in 2028, solar will account for 4,000 terawatt hours, if current trends continue.

In 2031 it will be 8,000 kilowatt hours.

In 2034 it will be 16,000 kilowatt hours

In 2037 it will be 32,000 kilowatt hours, more than our current global supply. Of course demand will rise in the meantime. So lets do one more.

In 2040 it will be 64,000 kilowatt hours, likely all the electricity used in the world at that time

In order for solar to fuel the entire world, of course, we also need to build out battery capacity and redo the electricity transmission system, and we have to electrify transport.

Mind you, this progression depends on current technology. But the technology is itself rapidly advancing. If we get cheap, stable, efficient perovskite solar panels, the process will be even quicker and more affordable.

A Chinese and French team of scientists just published a paper in Nature Communications reporting that they had had great success in stabilizing perovskites with an admixture of pyrrodiazole. If their discovery holds up and can be brought to market, it will quickly transform the world. Perovskites are cheaper and more flexible than silicon panels, and potentially more efficient, as well. Perovskites dont care about Donald Trump.
Release All other Arbitrarily Detained Rights Activists

Human Rights Watch  (Beirut)  Iranian authorities are threatening to return the human rights defender and Nobel Peace Laureate Narges Mohammadi to prison to serve the remainder of her unjust sentence as a means to pressure her to cease her rights advocacy, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should immediately end their ongoing harassment and unconditionally release her and everyone else arbitrarily detained for their human rights activism.

Narges Mohammadi is serving a 13-year and nine-month sentence on charges that stem from her human rights work. She was released from Evin prison on December 4, 2024, after authorities suspended her prison sentence for 21 days. She is currently undergoing medical treatment for various health conditions and her temporary release came after months of denial of medical care. In November 2024, the authorities, contrary to medical advice, had returned Mohammadi to prison following surgery to remove a bone lesion from her leg that was suspected of being cancerous.

Narges Mohammadi has used this brief respite from prison to continue her activism and shed light on the dire human rights situation in Iran. Iranian authorities threat to return her to prison is a stark reminder of their zero tolerance for dissent, said Federico Borello, interim executive director at Human Rights Watch. Irans authorities have a legal obligation to unconditionally release Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammadi and all others arbitrarily detained and to ensure that everyone in their custody has access to timely and adequate medical care.

Earlier in March 2025, Mohammadi met virtually with Borello, interim executive director at Human Rights Watch, to discuss the human rights situation in Iran. She drew attention to the human rights crisis in the country, in particular the shocking escalation of authorities use of the death penalty and the continued repression of human rights defenders. She described the treatment of political prisoners, including the authorities practice of denying them medical care, and torture and ill-treatment, including prolonged solitary confinement to extract forced confessions. She highlighted the importance of maintaining international scrutiny on the authorities dismal rights record.

For months prior to her temporary release, Mohammadi had been suffering from various health conditions, including heart disease, acute back and knee pain, and a herniated spinal disk. The authorities denied her adequate medical care despite repeated calls.

Mohammadi refused to return to Evin prison on December 25, 2024, when the temporary suspension ended. On December 28, her lawyer submitted a request to the Legal Medicine Organization, under Irans judiciary, to extend the suspension, in line with medical advice. According to information received by Human Rights Watch, the Legal Medicine Organization has approved her request, but the authorities have nonetheless pressured her to return to prison. Mohammadis doctors have said she needs at least six months outside prison to ensure she has access to thorough and regular medical examinations and care.



Narges Mohammadi with her twins, Kiana and Ali. 1 May 2024. By Mardebarany. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license . Wikimedia Commons. .

The Iranian authorities have a long-standing policy of denying prisoners, in particular those arbitrarily detained on politically motivated national security charges, adequate and timely access to medical care, in an attempt to punish and silence them. Scores of political prisoners continue to be denied timely and adequate medical care, such as specialized treatment in hospitals. They include Zeynab Jalalian, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to life in prison; Fatemeh Sepehri, an outspoken critic of the supreme leader sentenced to 18 years in prison; Raheleh Rahemi-Pour, a 72-year-old civil rights activist; Warisha Moradi, a Kurdish activist sentenced to death; and Motaleb Ahmadian, a Kurdish political prisoner. Mahvash Sabet, a former member of the leadership of the Bahai community in Iran, who is currently on medical leave, was long denied medical care and remains at risk of being returned to prison.

Under the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, sick prisoners who require specialist treatment should be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals. Denial of medical care to those detained may amount to torture and other ill-treatment, which is absolutely prohibited under international law. As documented by Amnesty International, in some cases, prisoners denied needed medical care have died in custody, which constitute arbitrary deprivation of life.

Iranian authorities abhorrent policy of denying medical care to detainees and prisoners can have lethal consequences, Borello said. The international community needs to hold them to account for their blatant disregard not just for the right to liberty but also the right to life of people in their custody.

Via Human Rights Watch
TORONTO, ON / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX:JAG) today announced preliminary production results for the first quarter of 2025. Full financial results for the quarter will be reported and filed on SEDAR+ by May 15, 2025. All figures are in US Dollars, unless otherwise expressed.

First Quarter Operating Highlights

Consolidated gold production was 9,923 ounces for the quarter and was solely from the Pilar mine compared to 16,177 ounces produced in the first quarter of 2024 which included ounces produced from both the Pilar and Turmalina mines. The lower production year-over-year is the result of the loss of production from the Turmalina mine which is currently suspended following a slump of material at its Satinoco dry-stack facility.

The Pilar mine performed well during the quarter. Production increased by 6% to 9,923 ounces from 86,645 tonnes at 3.99 g/t with a recovery of 89% compared to production of 9,357 ounces from 95,930 tonnes at 3.46 g/t with a recovery of 88% in the first quarter of 2024. This is an increase of 566 ounces and an improvement of 15% in head grade from first quarter of last year.

Development meters at Pilar completed during the quarter were at 1,292 meters and with work ongoing to develop the BA zone and deepen the ramp at a sustainable rate. This is an increase of 538 meters (+71%) in the development rate from the same quarter of last year.

Diamond drilling at Pilar completed during the quarter was 5,439 metres compared to 3,270 metres drilled during the first quarter of 2024.

The Company's cash position as at March 31, 2025 was $40.3 million compared to cash of $46.3 million as at December 31, 2024. During the first quarter, the Company made payments of accrued expenses from the prior quarter as well as realized the initial financial impacts that resulted from the Satinoco dry-stack incident. The Company did benefit from higher realized gold prices during the quarter which averaged $2,800 per ounce.

First Quarter Operating Results

Quarterly Summary Q1 2025 Q1 2024 Pilar Total Turmalina Pilar Total Tonnes milled (t) 86,645 86,645 95,377 95,930 191,307 Average head grade (g/t) 3.99 3.99 2.59 3.46 3.03 Recovery (%) 89 89 86 88 87 Gold ounces Produced (oz) 9,923 9,923 6,820 9,357 16,177 Sold (oz) 9,544 9,544 6,426 9,266 15,692 Development Primary (m) 438 438 592 337 929 Secondary (m) 854 854 633 417 1,050 Exploration Development (m) - 510 - 510 Definition, infill and exploration drilling (m) 5,439 5,439 5,139 3,270 8,409

Vern Baker, President and CEO of Jaguar, stated: "I am very pleased with our efforts at the Pilar mine this quarter. We met our production target at the mine while developing a new plan to increase ounce production moving forward in 2025 and completing significantly more meters of development. Safety was a highlight this quarter, with all of this work accomplished with no reportable or lost-time incidents.

Development at the Pilar mine was strong with 1,292 metres of primary and secondary development. We expect to see a few more meters in the coming quarters as the efforts to bring additional areas into production increase our available headings. The BA zone is one of our focuses as we continue opening new accesses and diamond drilling for resource extension and grade definition. Diamond drilling was also strong as our team completed 5,439 metres. These efforts will facilitate increasing production at the Pilar mine this year to partially offset the loss of production from the Turmalina mine.

The recent incident at our Turmalina mine has become an example to demonstrate how the disposal of tails in dry-stack piles is far safer and more environmentally friendly than wet deposition. In the case of our pile slump, there were no reported injuries or significant environmental impacts. Our team continues to work with various government agencies and organizations to bring the mine back into production as soon as possible.

During the quarter, our team at the Santa Isabel mine, which is part of our Paciencia complex, started work on rehabilitation of access and installing pumping and power infrastructure to initiate a test mining program. This work is expected to deliver Paciencia tonnes to the Caete plant in the third quarter of this year.

We believe our growth plan remains intact. This year we will be focused on continuing with work to bring the Turmalina mine back into production. As soon as this happens, the Faina zone is in a good position to really begin contributing ounces. We also expect, with positive results from the Santa Isabel mine, to be able to better utilize the available capacity at our Caete plant. Efforts to advance the Oncas de Pitangui project continue with the goal of beginning development in 2026."

Qualified Person

Scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Eric Duarte, Geo, MBA, FAusIMM, Vice President Business Development, who is also an employee of Jaguar Mining Inc. and is a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

The Iron Quadrangle

The Iron Quadrangle has been an area of mineral exploration dating back to the 16th century. The discovery in 1699-1701 of gold contaminated with iron and platinum-group metals in the southeastern corner of the Iron Quadrangle gave rise to the name of the town Ouro Preto (Black Gold). The Iron Quadrangle contains world-class multi-million-ounce gold deposits such as Morro Velho, Cuiaba, and Sao Bento. Jaguar holds the second largest gold land position in the Iron Quadrangle with over 42,000 hectares.

About Jaguar Mining Inc.

Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims. The Company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the MTL Mining Complex (Turmalina mine and plant) and Caete Mining Complex (Pilar and Roca Grande mines, and Caete plant). The Roca Grande mine has been on temporary care and maintenance since April 2019. The Company also owns the Paciencia Mining Complex (Santa Isabel mine and plant), which had been on care and maintenance since 2012 and is planned to restart in 2025. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com.

For further information please contact:

Vernon Baker

Chief Executive Officer

Jaguar Mining Inc.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

416-847-1854

Alfred Colas

Chief Financial Officer

Jaguar Mining Inc.

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416-847-1848

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. All of the forward-looking information made in this news release is qualified by the cautionary statements below and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators in Canada. Forward-looking information contained in forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "are expected," "is forecast," "is targeted," "approximately," "plans," "anticipates," "projects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "believe" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "might," or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, may be considered to be or include forward-looking information. This news release contains forward-looking information regarding, among other things, the duration of the temporary suspension of the Company's MTL complex in the wake of the slump at its Satinoco dry tailings pile , the cost of resuming operations at the MTL complex, the future stability of the tailings pile in question and safety of the Turmalina mine, the amount, timing and payment terms of any future fines imposed on the Company, as well as any costs and damages arising from any civil or criminal lawsuits, resulting from the tailings pile slump, management's expectations regarding the Company's response to the tailings pile slump and the Company's recovery and remediation efforts at the MTL complex, any information and statements related to expected growth, sales, production statistics, ore grades, tonnes milled, recovery rates, cash operating costs, definition/delineation drilling, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development of projects and new deposits, success of exploration, development and mining activities, currency fluctuations, capital requirements, project studies, mine life extensions, restarting suspended or disrupted operations, continuous improvement initiatives, and resolution of pending litigation. The Company has made numerous assumptions with respect to forward-looking information contained herein, including, among other things, assumptions about the future and long-term stability of the Satinoco tailings pile; there will be no unforeseen adverse weather events or other external factors that could delay the Company's recovery or remediation efforts; the current assumptions regarding the extent of the damage and timeline for repairs at the MTL complex remain accurate and will not require significant revision as further assessments are completed; estimated timeline for the development of the Company's mineral properties; the supply and demand for, and the level and volatility of the price of, gold; the accuracy of reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions on which the reserve and resource estimates are based; the receipt of necessary permits; market competition; ongoing relations with employees and impacted communities; political and legal developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations including, without limitation, the impact of any potential power rationing, tailings facility regulation, exploration and mine operating licenses and permits being obtained and renewed and/or there being adverse amendments to mining or other laws in Brazil and any changes to general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking information involves a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including among others: the risk of Jaguar not meeting the forecast plans regarding its operations and financial performance; uncertainties with respect to the price of gold, labour disruptions, mechanical failures, increase in costs, environmental compliance and change in environmental legislation and regulation, weather delays and increased costs or production delays due to natural disasters, power disruptions, procurement and delivery of parts and supplies to the operations; uncertainties inherent to capital markets in general (including the sometimes volatile valuation of securities and an uncertain ability to raise new capital) and other risks inherent to the gold exploration, development and production industry, which, if incorrect, may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described herein. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of gold exploration, development, mining and production, including environmental hazards, tailings dam failures, industrial accidents and workplace safety problems, unusual or unexpected geological formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding, chemical spills, procurement fraud and gold bullion thefts and losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks). Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking information made in this news release, see the Company's most recent Annual Information Form and Management's Discussion and Analysis, as well as other public disclosure documents that can be accessed under the issuer profile of "Jaguar Mining Inc." on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com. The forward-looking information set forth herein reflects the Company's reasonable expectations as at the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Manganese X Energy Corp. (TSXV: MN) (FSE: 9SC) (OTCQB: MNXXF) ("Manganese X" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the final results of its recently completed Battery Hill pre-feasibility manganese diamond drilling program, marking a key milestone before commencing its Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS").

Manganese X CEO Martin Kepman said, "The Pre-Feasibility Study is a strategic step in advancing mine permitting, de-risking the project, and guiding forward planning. Our latest drill program, along with upcoming community engagement and environmental and geotechnical studies, plays a key role in this process."

He added, "Given Canada's recent focus on sourcing its own critical minerals, such as manganese, the Battery Hill project is on track to accomplish this and, therefore, is positioned to play a crucial role in the North American supply chain."

Assays from 12 drill holes totaling 1,393 metres have been received, bringing total drilling at the Company's 100%-owned Battery Hill project near Woodstock, New Brunswick, to 104 drill holes totaling approximately 17,000 metres since 2016.

The program focused on infill and expansion drilling to upgrade inferred resources to measured and indicated categories, supporting the upcoming PFS. Significant resource increases are anticipated, driven by the newly discovered Moody Northwest Zone and the extended Sharpe Farm Zone, which returned mineralization up to 72.6 metres (238 ft) in core thickness.

A new National Instrument ("NI 43-101") compliant mineral resource estimate by Mercator Geosciences is underway. Figure 1 presents a drill plan map illustrating the 12 Fall 2024 drill sites at the Moody Hill and Sharpe Farm sectors, along with the previous 92 test holes.

The Company's Vice President of Exploration, Perry MacKinnon, stated, "Drilling has now defined the Battery Hill orebody with high confidence, with most resources classified as measured and indicated - an essential step for future conversion to proven and probable reserves during economic evaluation."

Drilling Results

Assays have been received from all 12 drill holes spanning 1,393 metres in the Moody Hill and Sharpe Farm sectors. The results confirm strong mineralization in key areas:

Key Highlights (See Full Results in Table 1)

SF24-96 : 12.5m @ 13.62% MnO from 41.5m and 13.3m @ 14.9% MnO

: from 41.5m and SF24-98 : 72.6m @ 11.29% MnO from 11m, including 42.1m @ 13.3% MnO

: from 11m, including SF24-99 : 32m @ 15.7% MnO from 5m

: from 5m SF24-101 : 16m @ 13% MnO from 8m, and 51.5m @ 12.57% MnO from 136m

: from 8m, and from 136m SF24-102 : 24.2m @ 9.3% MnO from 6.8m, 16.8m @ 10.89% MnO from 53.4m, and 35.6m @ 14.6% MnO from 87.2m

: from 6.8m, from 53.4m, and from 87.2m SF24-103 : 32m @ 11.6% MnO from 27m

: from 27m SF24-105: 20.2m @ 11.2% MnO from 81m

Manganese X remains committed to becoming the first publicly traded mining company in Canada and the U.S. to commercialize high-purity, EV-compliant manganese.

TABLE 1 Moody Northwest Zone SF24-94 9.4 metres of 14.8% MnO starting at 94.8 metres. SF24-95 No significant results. This cut off the new Moody Northwest mineralization to the south. SF24-96 12.5 metres of 12.62% MnO starting at 41.5 metres, plus 13.3 metres of 14.92% MnO starting at 78 metres, plus 19.7 metres of 10.6% MnO starting at 106.3 metres, including 11 metres of 13.48% MnO. SF24-97 No significant results. This cut off the new Moody Northwest mineralization to the north. Sharpe Farm West Zone SF24-98 72.6 metres of 11.29% MnO starting at 11 metres, including 41.2 metres of 13.3% SF24-99 32 metres of 15.72% MnO starting at 5 metres, 10.4 metres of 9.26% MnO starting at 40.6 metres, and 28.1 metres of 9.63% MnO starting at 69.9 metres. SF24-100 No significant intercepts. Positioned 25 m behind SF24-99 SF24-101 16 metres of 13% MnO starting at 8 metres, and 51.5 metres of 12.57% MnO starting at 136 metres. Sharpe Farm East Zone SF24-102 24.2 metres of 9.3% MnO starting at 6.8 metres, and 29.2 metres of 8.61% MnO starting at 41 metres, including 16.8 metres of 10.89% MnO, plus 15.6 metres of 14.6% MnO starting at 87.2 metres. SF24-103 32 metres of 11.6% MnO starting at 5.5 metres starting at 27 metres. SF24-104 Lost hole. No sampling SF24-105 20.2 metres of 11.42% MnO starting at 81 metres

All drill holes were inclined at -45 degrees, with true thickness estimated at 65-80% of the reported core length.

Core logging and sampling followed industry-standard protocols, including a QA/QC program with Certified Standards, blanks, and duplicates, comprising 5% of total samples. Sample intervals averaged 2 metres.

Initial half-core samples were collected by Company personnel and sent to the Actlabs prep lab in Fredericton, New Brunswick, before being forwarded to Actlabs in Ancaster, Ontario, for XRF-Fusion Whole Rock Analysis (Code 4C). Actlabs is an accredited laboratory.

This news release has been reviewed and approved by Perry MacKinnon, P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration for Manganese X and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 guidelines for mineral project disclosure.

Figure 1: Battery Hill Drill Plan Map

About Manganese X Energy Corp.

Manganese X's mission is to advance its Battery Hill project into production, thereby becoming the first public actively traded manganese mining company in Canada and the US to commercialize EV Compliant High Purity Manganese, potentially supplying the North American supply chain. The Company intends on supplying value-added materials to the lithium-ion battery and other alternative energy industries, as well as striving to achieve new carbon-friendly more efficient methodologies, while processing manganese at a lower competitive cost.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating to the future operations and activities of Manganese X, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to the Company's goals and plans for 2025, commencement of the PFS and related studies, potentially upgrading inferred resources to measured and indicated categories, completion of a new NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate, and advancement of the Battery Hill project and merits thereof. 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 Manganese X, 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. These risks, as well as others, are disclosed within the Company's filings on SEDAR+, which investors are encouraged to review prior to any transaction involving the securities of the Company. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Manganese X 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.
Strong quarterly production of 47,817 ounces gold equivalent (AuEq) (1) or 45,735 oz gold, 1,141,379 lbs copper and 34,085 oz silver, second highest on record, exceeding budget and representing a 74% increase from Q1 2024. Quarterly sales of 45,886 oz gold, 1,051,167 lbs copper and 32,439 oz silver.

Quarterly ore processed of 103,449 tonnes with a head grade of 14.9 grams per tonne (g/t) AuEq, or 14.3 g/t gold, 0.50% copper and 11.1 g/t silver. The AuEq head grade was significantly above budget, driven by higher-grade stopes from both Kora and Judd, and a positive gold grade reconciliation relative to the latest independent mineral resource estimate (effective September 12, 2023). Throughput was optimally reduced to maximize recoveries at the elevated feed grade.

Strong metallurgical recoveries in Q1 of 95.8% for gold and 95.1% for copper, both marking the second-highest quarterly recoveries on record. Recoveries compare favorably to the recovery parameters from the Updated Definitive Feasibility Study (Updated DFS), of 92.6% and 94.2%, respectively (January 1, 2024 effective date).

Ore mined of 104,052 tonnes and total material movements (ore plus waste) totaling 315,182 tonnes, the second highest on record. Long hole open stoping performed to design.

New monthly development advance record set in March, of 954 metres, 6% greater than the previous monthly record set in Q4 2024, and nearing the Stage 3 Expansion run-rate requirement of 1,000 metres per month. Development in March benefitted from the installation of the interim ventilation upgrade (commissioned in early January) which has significantly outperformed design (+50% increase in mine airflow vs +30% planned) and the Stage 2 Interim Water Upgrade (commissioned in late January). During installation of these upgrades, planned power disruptions resulted in lower development rates during the first half of Q1, with the second half of the quarter performing strongly. Overall development in Q1 2025 was 2,494 metres. Development rates are well positioned to continue to increase as the year progresses, driven by: i) the completion of multiple infrastructure upgrades over the first half of 2025, ii) a major increase in available headings from the opening of two new mining fronts, iii) the progressive introduction of additional equipment already on site as available headings increase, and, iv) the implementation of an enhanced maintenance program.

Note (1): Gold equivalent production for Q1 2025 is calculated based on: gold $2,855 per ounce; silver $31.73 per ounce; and copper $4.26 per pound. Gold equivalent grade for Q1 incorporates realized recoveries of 95.8% for Au, 95.1% for Cu and 86.6% for Ag.

John Lewins, K92 Chief Executive Officer and Director, stated, We are very pleased with the strong start to 2025, delivering our strongest Q1 to date, recording quarterly production of 47,817 oz AuEq in a record gold price environment. This has resulted in yet another consecutive quarter where our net cash balance has grown, even after investing considerable capital into the Stage 3 Expansion and making a PNG Corporate Tax payment of US$12 million. As at the end of March, 75% of expansion capital has been spent or committed and, importantly, the transformation of K92 into a Tier 1 Mid-Tier producer is nearly upon us, with commissioning of the new 1.2 million tonnes per annum Stage 3 Process Plant set to commence in the second half of this quarter.

We are also very encouraged with the progress in increasing our lateral advance rates, achieving a new monthly record in March, of 954 metres, nearing the required 1 km per month for the Stage 3 Expansions. In the second half of the quarter, lateral advance benefitted from the interim ventilation and interim Stage 2 Water Management upgrades completed earlier in the quarter. We look to continue to ramp up our lateral advance rates as various key enablers come together.

In addition, exploration is rapidly advancing with surface drilling at Arakompa, and underground drilling at Kora and Judd underway, with plans to drill Maniape and potentially interpreted veins sub-parallel and proximal to Kora/Judd later in the year. Our new VP Exploration Robert Smillie was recently on site visiting these targets and is very encouraged by what he has seen to date  we look forward to providing progress updates in due course.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K92 Mining Inc. (K92 or the Company) (TSX: KNT; OTCQX: KNTNF) is pleased to announce production results for the first quarter (Q1) of 2025 at its Kainantu Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea, of 47,817 ounces AuEq or 45,735 oz gold, 1,141,379 lbs copper and 34,085 oz silver, a 74% increase from Q1 2024 and significantly exceeding budget. Sales during the quarter were 45,886 oz gold, 1,051,167 lbs copper and 32,439 oz silver.

During Q1, the process plant delivered tonnes processed of 103,449 tonnes, with a head grade averaging 14.9 g/t AuEq, or 14.3 g/t gold, 0.50% copper and 11.1 g/t silver. Gold grades were above budget, driven by higher grade stopes from Judd and Kora combined with a positive gold grade reconciliation when compared with the independent mineral resource model. Throughput was optimally reduced to maximize recoveries at the higher feed grade.

For the quarter, the process plant delivered strong metallurgical recoveries of 95.8% for gold and 95.1% for copper, both representing the second highest quarterly recoveries on record and exceeding budget. The process plant has delivered strong performance, with recoveries surpassing the parameters outlined in the Updated DFS, of 92.6% gold and 94.2% copper, benefitting from a combination of elevated gold head grades and an improved flotation reagent mix.

During the quarter, the mine delivered 104,052 tonnes of ore mined, with mining activity across 12 levels, including the 1090, 1110, 1305, 1345, and 1365 levels at Kora, and the 840, 970, 1170, 1185, 1285, 1325, 1365 and 1385 levels at Judd. Total material movement, including ore and waste, reached 315,182 tonnes, the second highest on record. Long hole open stoping met design parameters, supporting strong operational performance.

In March, a new monthly development advance record of 954 metres was achieved, surpassing the previous record set in Q4 2024 by 6% and nearing the Stage 3 Expansion requirement of 1,000 metres per month. This notable achievement was supported by the commissioning of two key infrastructure upgrades: the interim ventilation system in early January, which has significantly outperformed expectations with a 50% increase in mine airflow (versus +30% planned), and the Stage 2 Expansion Interim Water Upgrade in late January. During the installation and commissioning of these upgrades, planned power disruptions impacted development rates in the first half of Q1, with strong advance rates achieved in the second half of the quarter. Total development for Q1 2025 was 2,494 metres. Development rates are well positioned to continue to increase as the year progresses, driven by: i) the completion of multiple infrastructure upgrades over the first half of 2025, ii) a major increase in available headings from the opening of two new mining fronts, iii) the progressive introduction of additional equipment already on site as available headings increase, and, iv) the implementation of an enhanced maintenance program.

See Figure 1: Quarterly Production, Cash Cost and AISC Chart

See Figure 2: Gold and Copper Recoveries Chart

Table 1  2025 & 2024 Annual Production Data

Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 2024 Q1 2025 Tonnes Processed T 130,632 95,582 104,992 96,614 427,821 103,449 Feed Grade Au g/t 6.4 7.5 13.0 17.3 10.7 14.3 Feed Grade Cu % 0.55% 0.62% 0.58% 0.47% 0.55% 0.50% Recovery (%) Au % 90.7% 93.7% 95.3% 96.4% 94.6% 95.8% Recovery (%) Cu % 91.9% 95.3% 95.1% 94.7% 94.1% 95.1% Metal in Conc & Dore Prod Au oz 24,389 21,661 41,702 51,371 139,123 45,735 Metal in Conc Prod Cu T 655 565 580 435 2,235 518 Metal in Conc Prod Ag oz 35,650 26,754 37,613 41,992 142,063 34,085 Gold Equivalent Production oz 27,462 24,347 44,304 53,401 149,515 47,817

Notes  Gold equivalent for Q1 2025 is calculated based on:

gold $2,855 per ounce; silver $31.73 per ounce; and copper $4.26 per pound.

Gold equivalent for Q4 2024 is calculated based on:

gold $2,658 per ounce; silver $31.52 per ounce; and copper $4.25 per pound.

Gold equivalent for Q3 2024 is calculated based on:

gold $2,474 per ounce; silver $29.43 per ounce; and copper $4.17 per pound.

Gold equivalent for Q2 2024 is calculated based on:

gold $2,338 per ounce; silver $28.84 per ounce; and copper $4.42 per pound.

Gold equivalent for Q1 2024 is calculated based on:

gold $2,070 per ounce; silver $23.34 per ounce; and copper $3.83 per pound.

Qualified Person

K92 Mine Chief Geologist, Andrew Kohler, PGeo, a qualified person under the meaning of Canadian National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and is responsible for the technical content of this news release. Data verification by Mr. Kohler includes significant time onsite reviewing drill core, face sampling, underground workings, and discussing work programs and results with geology and mining personnel.

Technical Report

The Updated DFS and mineral resource estimate for the Kainantu Gold Mine Project in Papua New Guinea is presented in a technical report, titled, Independent Technical Report, Kainantu Gold Mine, Updated Definitive Feasibility Study, Kainantu Project, Papua New Guinea dated March 21, 2025, with an effective date of January 1, 2024.

About K92

K92 Mining Inc. is engaged in the production of gold, copper and silver at the Kainantu Gold Mine in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea, as well as exploration and development of mineral deposits in the immediate vicinity of the mine. The Company declared commercial production from Kainantu in February 2018, is in a strong financial position, and is working to become a Tier 1 mid-tier producer through ongoing plant expansions. A maiden resource estimate on the Blue Lake copper-gold porphyry project was completed in August 2022. K92 is operated by a team of mining company professionals with extensive international mine-building and operational experience.

On Behalf of the Company,

John Lewins, Chief Executive Officer and Director

For further information, please contact David Medilek, P.Eng., CFA, President and Chief Operating Officer at +1-604-416-4445

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation: (i) the results of the Kainantu Mine Definitive Feasibility Study, including the Stage 3 Expansion, a new standalone 1.2 million tonnes per annum process plant and supporting infrastructure; (ii) statements regarding the expansion of the mine and development of any of the deposits; (iii) the Kainantu Stage 4 Expansion, operating two standalone process plants, larger surface infrastructure and mining throughputs; and (iv) the potential extended life of the Kainantu Mine.

All statements in this news release that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, although not always, identified by words such as expect, plan, anticipate, project, target, potential, schedule, forecast, budget, estimate, intend or believe and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions will, would, may, could, should or might occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our ability to control, that may cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, without limitation, Public Health Crises, including the epidemic or pandemic viruses; changes in the price of gold, silver, copper and other metals in the world markets; fluctuations in the price and availability of infrastructure and energy and other commodities; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; volatility in price of our common shares; inherent risks associated with the mining industry, including problems related to weather and climate in remote areas in which certain of the Companys operations are located; failure to achieve production, cost and other estimates; risks and uncertainties associated with exploration and development; uncertainties relating to estimates of mineral resources including uncertainty that mineral resources may never be converted into mineral reserves; the Companys ability to carry on current and future operations, including development and exploration activities at the Arakompa, Kora, Judd and other projects; the timing, extent, duration and economic viability of such operations, including any mineral resources or reserves identified thereby; the accuracy and reliability of estimates, projections, forecasts, studies and assessments; the Companys ability to meet or achieve estimates, projections and forecasts; the availability and cost of inputs; the availability and costs of achieving the Stage 3 Expansion or the Stage 4 Expansion; the ability of the Company to achieve the inputs the price and market for outputs, including gold, silver and copper; failures of information systems or information security threats; political, economic and other risks associated with the Companys foreign operations; geopolitical events and other uncertainties, such as the conflicts in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine; compliance with various laws and regulatory requirements to which the Company is subject to, including taxation; the ability to obtain timely financing on reasonable terms when required; the current and future social, economic and political conditions, including relationship with the communities in Papua New Guinea and other jurisdictions it operates; other assumptions and factors generally associated with the mining industry; and the risks, uncertainties and other factors referred to in the Companys Annual Information Form under the heading Risk Factors.

Estimates of mineral resources are also forward-looking statements because they constitute projections, based on certain estimates and assumptions, regarding the amount of minerals that may be encountered in the future and/or the anticipated economics of production. The estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves is inherently uncertain and involves subjective judgments about many relevant factors. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The accuracy of any such estimates is a function of the quantity and quality of available data, and of the assumptions made and judgments used in engineering and geological interpretation, Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance, and actual results and future events could materially differ from those anticipated in such statements. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actual results to differ materially from those that are 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 disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Figure 1: Quarterly Production, Cash Cost and AISC Chart

Figure 2: Gold and Copper Recoveries Chart
VANCOUVER, BC, April 8, 2025 /CNW/ - Coast Copper Corp. ("Coast Copper" or the "Company"); (TSXV: COCO) is pleased to announce it has acquired three new properties through staking in the Toodoggone mining camp of northcentral British Columbia. The Borealis property neighbours Amarc Resources Ltd.  ("Amarc") and Centerra Gold Inc.  ("Centerra"), while the Northern Contact and Loren properties sit adjacent to TDG Gold Corp. ("TDG") (Figure 1). The Toodoggone region is considered very prospective as it hosts the past-producing Kemess South Mine (Centerra), Baker and Shasta Mines (TDG) as well as advanced development projects such as Kemess Underground (Centerra), the Lawyers-Ranch Project (Thesis Gold) and the exciting new high-grade copper-gold-silver discovery by Amarc on its Aurora property.

Three separate claim blocks make up Coast Copper's new Toodoggone properties: Borealis (9,106 hectares "ha"), Northern Contact (904 ha), and Loren (1,569 ha) which combined total 11,579 ha (see Figure 1). Highlights of these properties include:

Borealis  A 27 kilometer ("km") long property located immediately west and adjacent to Amarc's Joy property and Centerra's Kemess Project. There are four main areas with focused historical exploration which have generated positive results as well as good potential in the mapped Takla and Astika Groups (BCGS GM2001-01 and GM2006-06):

Chip Zone  a series of northeast (" NE ") and northwest (" NW ") trending structures invaded by mafic dykes cuts the Black Lake granitic stock with gossanous zones hosting anomalous gold and silver noted within 200 meters (" m ") of the current claims.

a series of northeast (" ") and northwest (" ") trending structures invaded by mafic dykes cuts the granitic stock with gossanous zones hosting anomalous gold and silver noted within 200 meters (" ") of the current claims. Firesteel Zone  located approximately 13.5 km NW of the Kemess Mine and adjacent to claims held by Centerra. Zinc, silver, lead and copper occur as replacements, skarns and veins over a 2,000 m x 700 m area within Astika limestones. At the northern Calcine Zone, a spectacular conglomerate of massive, sphalerite-chalcopyrite-galena clasts in a zinc-rich carbonate matrix fills a roughly circular depression approximately 45 m in diameter and 4.5 m thick. The average grade was determined to be 1.0 ounce per ton ("oz/ton") silver ("Ag"), 0.3% copper and 10% zinc with sampling and trenching in 1996 . Freibergite-bearing quartz veins occur at the Bren Zone approximately 2.0 km to the south with values in 1992 rock samples up to 11,700 g/t Ag, 695 ppb Au, 2.3% Cu, 1.16% Pb and 0.85% Zn.

 located approximately 13.5 km NW of the Kemess Mine and adjacent to claims held by Centerra. Zinc, silver, lead and copper occur as replacements, skarns and veins over a x area within Astika limestones. At the northern Calcine Zone, a spectacular conglomerate of massive, sphalerite-chalcopyrite-galena clasts in a zinc-rich carbonate matrix fills a roughly circular depression approximately in diameter and thick. The average grade was determined to be 1.0 ounce per ton ("oz/ton") silver ("Ag"), 0.3% copper and 10% zinc with sampling and trenching in 1996 . Freibergite-bearing quartz veins occur at the Bren Zone approximately 2.0 km to the south with values in 1992 rock samples up to 11,700 g/t Ag, 695 ppb Au, 2.3% Cu, 1.16% Pb and 0.85% Zn. Bren Zone  located approximately 2 km south of the Firesteel Zone, polymetallic silver-lead-zinc-gold veins are noted. In 1957, diamond drilling is reported to have yielded intercepts of 140.2 g/t Ag and 0.68 g/t gold (" Au ") over 0.60 m in hole G-3 and 123.1 g/t Ag with 0.34 g/t Au over 0.60 m in hole G-7. Also, at this time, surface samples were reported to have yielded results ranging from 11,135.5 g/t Ag over 0.45 m to 801.3 g/t Ag over 1.35 m.

located approximately 2 km south of the Firesteel Zone, polymetallic silver-lead-zinc-gold veins are noted. In 1957, diamond drilling is reported to have yielded intercepts of 140.2 g/t Ag and 0.68 g/t gold (" ") over in hole G-3 and 123.1 g/t Ag with 0.34 g/t Au over in hole G-7. Also, at this time, surface samples were reported to have yielded results ranging from 11,135.5 g/t Ag over to 801.3 g/t Ag over 1.35 m. Cas 3-9 Zone  located approximately 11 km NW of the Kemess South Mine, work by Placer Dome in 1992 included a 9.3 line km Induced Polarization ("IP") survey which detected two strong, greater than 1 km2 open ended, well-defined geophysical anomaly associated with areas of pyritic clay alteration along the margin of a monzonite stock. As noted by Placer Dome "This high chargeability and low resistivity response is typical of disseminated sulphide mineralization which occurs in porphyry copper systems". No further work has been reported on these anomalous IP zones.

Northern Contact  Located approximately 7 km east of TDG's Oxide Peak project and copper-gold Gordonia Target adjacent to the favorable faulted contact between Middle Jurassic granites and Jurassic Hazelton volcanics. Geological mapping completed in 2006 indicated separate showings of a quartz-sulphide vein and malachite staining on the Property.

Loren  Located approximately 5 km NE of TDG's Sofia copper-gold porphyry at the contact between Jurassic Hazelton volcanics and Early Jurassic granites along the southern end of the more than 300 km long Kutcho Fault where there is a BC Government Regional Geochemical Stream Survey sample highly anomalous in gold (94th percentile).

Dale Wallster, Director comments: "I'm very pleased that Coast Copper was able to enter the Toodoggone mining camp for only the cost of staking. Amarc's recent and exciting discovery, and the strategic investment by Skeena Resources in TDG Gold Corp. highlight the potential for significant discoveries in the Toodoggone outside of the known Kemess and other historical mine areas."

Adam Travis, CEO comments: "These claims were staked upon the initial public reports of the new discovery by Amarc on its Aurora property. After reviewing the historical work, I was surprised that open-ended, kilometer-scale chargeability anomalies, which occur within 11 km of the Kemess South Mine, had never been followed up on after the initial exploration work in 1992. There were also other areas adjacent to Amarc's Joy property and the Kemess Mine with known mineral occurrences, favourable geology and airborne magnetics that were available to be acquired by staking. Now that Coast Copper's independent directors and technical team have completed their review, I am very pleased that Coast Copper has acquired these new claims for only my staking costs and that our technical team can advance these properties in an exciting emerging district."

The Company's independent directors and management team completed a review of the claims prior to reimbursing Cazador Resources Ltd., a private company controlled by Mr. Adam Travis, Coast Copper's CEO, for its staking costs.

Qualified Persons



The technical information contained in this news release has been prepared, reviewed, and approved by Wade Barnes, P.Geo. (BC), Coast Copper's geological consultant and a Qualified Person within the context of the Canadian Securities Administrators' NI 43-101; Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Coast Copper Corp.



Coast Copper's primary exploration focus is the Empire Mine property, located on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, which covers three historical open pit mines and two past-producing underground mines that yielded iron, copper, gold, and silver. In 2023, Coast Copper launched a generative program aimed at advancing its other properties in parallel with Empire. In 2025, Coast Copper acquired six new projects bringing its total number of 100% owned projects in BC to thirteen, including the Empire Mine and Knob Hill NW properties located on northern Vancouver Island, BC, and mineral properties in the Golden Triangle, Huckleberry, Anyox, Babine, Toodogone and Sullivan districts. Coast Copper's management team continue to actively review precious and base metal opportunities in western North America.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors:

"Adam Travis"

Adam Travis, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Cautionary Notes in News Release and/or Maps

This news release may contain information about adjacent properties on which Coast Copper has no right to explore or mine. Investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company's properties. BC Assessment Report 16371 BC Assessment Report 25003 BC Assessment Report 22721 BC Assessment Report 25003 BC Geological Survey Paper GM2006-06

Company resources noted on the map have been sourced from each Company website.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION



Certain information contained or incorporated by reference in this press release, including any information regarding the proposed Transaction, private placement, board and management changes, as to our strategy, projects, plans or future financial or operating performance, constitutes "forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Coast Copper, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, geological and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Although Coast Copper believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not a guarantee of future performance. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include but are not limited to: fluctuations in market prices, exploration and exploitation successes, continued availability of capital and financing, changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations, expropriation or nationalization of property and general political, economic, market or business conditions. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release, or incorporated by reference, are qualified by these cautionary statements. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
VANCOUVER, BC and HOUSTON, April 7, 2025 /CNW/ - International Battery Metals Ltd. ("IBAT" or the "Company") (TSXV: IBAT) is pleased to announce the appointment of Joseph A. Mills to serve as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of the Company (the "Board"), effective April 7, 2025.

Mr. Mills has extensive experience in the oil & gas upstream, midstream and mineral businesses. Over his 40+ plus year career, Mr. Mills has closed numerous M&A transactions and has served as CEO of three public companies and two private exploration & production companies. He has held various leadership and board positions in private and public companies, including CEO, president, chairman of the board and audit committee chair. Mr. Mills is a graduate of the University of Houston with an MBA in Finance and the University of Texas with a BBA in Petroleum Land Management.

Mr. Mills commented; "I am pleased and honored to join International Battery Metals Ltd. and work with the Board and its employees to further develop and enhance the Company's business strategy and execution at such a pivotal time in the Company's history. This is a company with incredible potential, a strong foundation, and a very talented team. I look forward to working closely with the Board, our employees, and partners to drive our vision forward and create meaningful shareholder value for all of our stakeholders."

"The Board is pleased to welcome Joseph Mills as the next Chief Executive Officer of International Battery Metals, Ltd. He brings a wealth of experience, strategic vision, and a proven track record of leadership that we believe will be instrumental in guiding the Company into its next chapter of growth and innovation. We are confident that under his leadership, the Company will continue to execute on its mission and deliver long-term value for our shareholders, customers, and employees" said John Burba, Chairman of the Board.

Mr. Mills succeeds Iris Jancik, who was named CEO of IBAT in August 2024. The Company wishes to thank Ms. Jancik for her contributions.

About International Battery Metals Ltd.

The Company's direct lithium extraction technology is based on proprietary lithium extraction media housed in patented extraction towers that are enclosed in a modular, transportable platform that is able to be loaded and brought into production within a condensed time frame after arrival on a customer site.

Utilizing the patented technology, the Company's focus has been on advanced extraction of lithium chloride from ground water salt brine deposits and returning the same water to the subsurface aquifer. The Company's unique patented technology ensures faster delivery of lithium chloride while ensuring minimal environmental impact.

"John Burba"

John Burba, Director and Chairman of the Board

(832) 683-8839

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain information that may constitute "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "forecast", "potential", "target", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements".

Actual results may vary from forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause IBAT's actual results, performance, achievements, and future events to be materially different from the results, performance, achievement, or future events expressed or implied therein. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of lithium and other metals, the future demand for lithium and other metals, inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to advance the Company's business strategies and objectives, general business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties, results relating to its extraction technologies, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals (if required). IBAT believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, however there can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are given as of the date hereof and are based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. IBAT disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
VANCOUVER, BC, April 8, 2025 /CNW/ - Black Mammoth Metals Corporation (TSXV: BMM) (OTC: LQRCF) ("Black Mammoth" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has staked 47 federal unpatented claims at the Company's St. Elmo property ("St. Elmo") and Diamond Jim property ("Diamond Jim") collectively (the "Properties") which now consists of 85 contiguous federal unpatented claims (approximately 681 hectares or 1684 acres) (the "Claims Position").

The Properties are both historic producers located in the Island Mountain mining district which is on the NE side of the Midas Trough trend, 100 km N of Elko, Nevada. The Company owns significant data related to the Properties from past operators' exploration since the mid 1980's, which include: Homestake, Newmont, Harrison Western, Columbus Mines, Mason Exploration and Golden Predator.

St. Elmo Property

The St. Elmo is a large, high-grade to bonanza-grade gold, outcropping epithermal vein and breccia system with lower-grade bulk tonnage mineralization that can be traced for 2.9 kms and is open on strike and at depth, with four subparallel vein-breccia structures where the veins are up to 12m thick and breccia bodies are up to 21m thick. Past exploration was of limited scope and duration with the last drilling campaign completed in 2009. Drilling was focussed on the upper levels of the St. Elmo historic underground (U/G) mine, over a limited strike length and vertical depth.

Highlights Include:

Best drill intercept:

3.0m @ 16.8 g/t Au & 41.50 g/t Ag from 68.6m - (GPSE-011) Golden Predator 2009.

Best drill intercept of the down dip extension of St. Elmo workings ( 32.6m wide composite vein):

2.0m @ 15.62 g/t Au & 10.93 g/t Ag from 133m and 2.6m @ 5 g/t Au & 2.34g/t Ag from 121m  (GC-01) Mason Exploration 1999.

Bulk sample  U/G:

1360 tonnes with average grade 10.3 g/t Au, Harrison Western 1990. Subsample sent to Hazen Research, CO in 1991 for metallurgical testing  360 kg with head grade of 73.75 g/t Au & 35.93 g/t Ag resulted in 85% to 90% of the gold recoverable with a combination of gravity and floatation.

Rock chip sampling up to:

639.60 g/t Au  U/G grab sample - Newmont 1988

Priority Targets at St. Elmo include:

Along-strike and down-dip extensions to the high-grade St. Elmo historic workings. Strike extension suggested by an induced polarization survey ("IP") showing a resistivity high.

Along the three other subparallel vein-breccia structures.

Deeper bonanza-grade feeder zones.

Rosebud historic U/G mine (west of St. Elmo historic mine) along-strike and down-dip extensions to the historic workings where Homestake Mining sampled up to 54.1 g/t Au and 987.5 g/t Ag (U/G rock chip sample).

Gold-bearing jasperoids and spatially associated antimony occurrences indicate potential Carlin -type gold mineralization.

Geology and Mineralization:

St. Elmo geology includes a thick section of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and the Prospect Mountain Quartzite proximal to the Coffeepot stock, a Cretaceous-age quartz monzonite stock, situated north of the Claims Position. Epithermal gold mineralization at St. Elmo is hosted in a N to NE trending, 1.8m to 9m wide, structural zone containing quartz veins and hydrothermal breccias which have undergone multiple mineralizing events. The district scale, structural trends at St. Elmo may have formed over a deeper porphyry intrusion, perhaps related to the Coffeepot stock. Free gold occurs within sulfide minerals and as easily visible particles in the quartz vein and in hematite-cemented, hydrothermal breccias. Gold is associated with pyrite and copper-bearing sulfide minerals such as chalcopyrite, digenite, covellite and enargite which are minerals typical of a high-sulfidation epithermal environment.

Acquisition Terms (in USD):

Black Mammoth optioned 33 federal mining claims (the "St. Elmo Option") from Nevada Select Royalty Inc. ("Nevada Select") in November 2024 by making an aggregate of $75,000 in cash payments in accordance with the following schedule. The St. Elmo Option was considered a non-core asset:

Cash Payment Payment Date Status $5,000 at signing paid $5,000 1st anniversary paid $20,000 2nd anniversary - $45,000 3rd anniversary - $75,000 Total

Nevada Select will retain a 2.5% NSR.

There are no work commitment amounts, finder's fees or share compensation in connection with the St. Elmo Option.

Diamond Jim Property

The Diamond Jim occupies the NW portion of the Claims Position, is directly west of Rosebud Mountain and consists of hydrothermal fissure veins and shear zone mineralization that contain silver and lead sulfides, in addition to zinc, copper, gold and antimony hosted predominantly in phyllite. The high-grade epithermal mineralization is reported to be along imbricated thrust faults that occur at right angles to the main contact vein. The silver mineralization occurs as argentiferous galena, sphalerite and tennantite as cavity filing, minor replacement pockets, stringers and replacement lenses. Historic mining took place intermittently both U/G starting in the 1950's and open pit during the 1980's. Minimal modern exploration has occurred at Diamond Jim which is structurally complex and so it remains poorly understood.

Highlights Include:

Shallow low-grade bulk tonnage mineralization and U/G high-grade mineralization are targets at Diamond Jim. Historic estimated resources have been reported but don't comply with NI 43-101 requirements.

The main structure is a NE trending strongly silicified and brecciated vein that dips steeply to the west with a strike length of at least 2073m .

The Rosebud Mountain area with historic surface rock chip samples up to 15.4 g/t Au and 3.4 g/t Ag while IP shows a S-SE trending resistivity high.

Acquisition Terms (in USD):

Black Mammoth optioned 5 federal mining claims (the "Diamond Jim Option") from a private vendor in April 2024 by making an aggregate of $28,500 in cash payments in accordance with the following schedule. The Diamond Jim Option was considered a non-core asset:

Cash Payment Payment Date Status $5,000 at signing paid $23,500 90 days from signing paid $28,500 Total

There are no royalties, work commitment amounts, finder's fees or share compensation in connection with the Diamon Jim Option.

The Company also continues to acquire non-core exploration interests in the western US, by purchase and by staking.

About Black Mammoth Metals Corporation:

In the past 16 months, Black Mammoth Metals has acquired a 100% interest in:

Clover High-Grade Gold property, Elko County, NV ,

, Coleman Canyon property, Elko County, NV ,

, Leadore Silver-Lead property , Lemhi County, ID ,

, , East Reveille Gold property , Nye County, NV ,

, , America Mine Gold property , San Bernardino, CA ,

, , Quito Gold property , Lander County, NV

, South Ravenswood  district consolidated , Lander County NV ,

 , , Callaghan Gold  district consolidated, Lander County NV. Drill results pending at Rast and Cottonwood targets.

At the Company's 100% owned, 1,213 hectare (2,997 acre) Happy Cat Gold property, Lander County, NV, an approximate 4 square kilometre area is identified as being hydrothermally altered. Structural modelling suggests the density of the alteration and its' density contrast relative to the host rock is typical to that of alteration zones present at other Carlin-type deposits in northern Nevada. The alteration encompasses an area where northerly trending high-angle faults intersect indicated NW-trending re-activated faults that are known to be of age and orientation as ore-controlling faults occurring at other Carlin-type deposits. The Company drilled approximately 1600m in January 2025 to further understand the structure and stratigraphy. Results are pending.

Black Mammoth also has a 100% interest in the Blanco Creek Gold property in the Elk Creek Mining District, central Idaho, which hosts three historic underground mines along 3,550 meters (11,644 feet) of strike on the north-east trending regional Blanco Shear Zone. Exploration by two previous operators identified a geological target for the Blanco Creek property in the order of 1.70 to 2.48 million tons, grading 0.20 to 0.33 oz/ton Au (1.54 to 2.24 million tonnes, grading 6.85 to 11.31 g/tonne Au); see the Company's press release dated February 14, 2017.

Black Mammoth cautions investors to note the potential quantity and grade of the geological target are conceptual in nature. A qualified person has not completed sufficient work to classify the geological target as mineral resources as defined by NI 43-101, and it is uncertain if future exploration will result in the target being delineated as mineral resources.

Mark J. Abrams, CPG #11451, a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and director of Black Mammoth, has reviewed and approved the technical content in this release. Historical information contained in this news release cannot be relied upon as Mr. Abrams, the Company's Qualified Person, has not prepared or verified the historical information.

On behalf of the board,

"Dustin Henderson"

Dustin Henderson, BBA

President & CEO

Website: www.blackmammothmetals.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including statements regarding the Company's completion of the Transaction and related transactions are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions or are those which, by their nature, refer to future events. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include that the requisite corporate and TSXV for the Transaction may not be obtained; that the Company or IDA Mining, as applicable, may be unable to satisfy any or all closing conditions necessary for the completion of the Transaction; and other risks that are customary to transactions of this nature. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. All of the Company's public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedarplus.ca and readers are urged to review these materials, including the latest technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

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.
VANCOUVER, BC, April 7, 2025 /CNW/ - Nevada King Gold Corp. (TSXV: NKG) ("Nevada King" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company is proceeding with a non-brokered private placement financing (the "Offering") of 44,000,000 common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") at a price of $0.25 per Common Share for aggregate gross proceeds of $11-million. The Non-Brokered Private Placement is fully allocated and is expected to close on or about April 22, 2025.

Highlights:

In connection with the Offering, Collin Kettell , the Company's Chief Executive Officer, intends to subscribe for 22,000,000 shares, financing a significant portion of his subscription with an arranged sale of 20,000,000 shares from his personal holdings through the facilities of the TSX-V with a prominent U.S. based gold and precious metals fund (the "Gold Fund"). Such planned sale is expected to occur on or about April 7, 2025 .

, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, intends to subscribe for 22,000,000 shares, financing a significant portion of his subscription with an arranged sale of 20,000,000 shares from his personal holdings through the facilities of the TSX-V with a prominent U.S. based gold and precious metals fund (the "Gold Fund"). Such planned sale is expected to occur on or about . Following the arranged sale, the Gold Fund is expected to own approximately 5% of the Company, adding to a growing institutional shareholder register that will constitute approximately 10% of the Company.

The remainder of the Offering is fully allocated to insiders and existing shareholders of the Company. Nevada King's management & insider ownership at nearly 40%, is industry leading and indicative of the strong alignment with shareholders, and conviction in the Atlanta Gold Mine Project.

Collin Kettell, CEO of Nevada King stated: "We are thrilled to welcome this large U.S. based precious metals fund to the Nevada King ownership group. The fund is regarded as an industry thought leader and one of the most respected institutional precious metal investors. Their participation, along with insiders increasing their ownership in the company, demonstrates a strong endorsement for the Atlanta Gold Mine Project and confidence in Nevada King".

The net proceeds of the Offering are intended to be used to advance Nevada King's Atlanta Gold Mine Project and for other general working capital purposes. No finder's fees are being paid on the Offering.

The Common Shares to be issued under the Non-Brokered Private Placement are expected to be offered by way of applicable prospectus exemptions in accordance with NI 45-106 to "accredited investors". The Common Shares issued pursuant to the Non-Brokered Private Placement will be subject to the statutory hold period of four months from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy of any securities in the United States. The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to available exemptions therefrom.

Related Party Participation in the Offering:

Certain insiders of the Company, including Collin Kettell (CEO and Director), expect to participate in the Non-Brokered Private Placement. The participation by insiders in the Offering constitutes a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101  Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as neither the fair market value of the Common Shares purchased by insiders, nor the consideration for the Common Shares paid by such insiders, will exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The Company expects that the closings of the Offering will occur within 21 days of this announcement and that it will not file a material change report in respect of the related party transaction at least 21 days before the closings. The Company deems this circumstance reasonable in order to complete the Offering in an expeditious manner. The Offering has been unanimously approved by the Company's board of directors. Further information regarding the interest in the Offering of every related party and the effect that the Offering will have on their percentage of securities of the Company will be provided once finalized.

About Nevada King Gold Corp.

Nevada King is focused on advancing and growing its 100% owned, past producing, 120km2 Atlanta Gold Mine project located along the Battle Mountain trend in southeast Nevada. The project hosts an NI 43-101 compliant pit-constrained oxide resource of 460,000 oz Au in the measured and indicated category (11.0M tonnes at 1.3 g/t) plus an inferred resource of 142,000 oz Au (5.3M tonnes at 0.83 g/t) based on historical drilling, and does not include any of the 100,000m+ of drilling completed by Nevada King. See the NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources titled "Atlanta Property, Lincoln County, NV" with an effective date of October 6, 2020, and a report date of December 22, 2020, as prepared by Gustavson Associates and filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).

NI 43-101 Mineral Resources at the Atlanta Mine

Resource Category Tonnes (000's) Au Grade (ppm) Contained

Au Oz Ag Grade (ppm) Contained

Ag Oz Measured 4,130 1.51 200,000 14.0 1,860,000 Indicated 6,910 1.17 260,000 10.6 2,360,000 Measured

+ Indicated 11,000 1.30 460,000 11.9 4,220,000 Inferred 5,310 0.83 142,000 7.3 1,240,000

Please see the Company's website at www.nevadaking.ca.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information

This press release contains "forwardlooking information or statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws, which may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to exploration, results therefrom, and the Company's future business plans, and statements regarding the price sensitivity analysis and impact thereof on the evaluation of the Project's economic potential. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. 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 from those in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Data Analysis and Retrieval + (SEDAR+) at www.sedarplus.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. The Company does not undertake to update forwardlooking statements or forwardlooking information, except as required by law.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Nova Pacific Metals Corp. (CSE: NVPC) (OTCQB: NVPCF) (FSE: YQ10) (WKN: A40GFH) (the "Company", or "Nova Pacific") is pleased to announce that the British Columbia Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals has issued an exploration drilling permit for the Company's flagship Lara Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) Project on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

The permit authorizes Nova Pacific to proceed with its planned 10,000-meter diamond drill program comprising 50 drill holes, which was initially announced in July 2024. The drill program is designed to provide both confirmation of the historical Lara VMS mineral resource estimate (2008, Table 1), as well as to provide infill drilling data necessary to complete an updated and current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE). The Company estimates that the MRE may be completed by the end of September.

The Lara deposit is classied as Kuroko-type VMS, comprising volcanic-hosted, stratiform sulphide mineralization in three zones (collectively known as the Coronation Trend) at varying stratigraphic intervals over a strike length of approximately1.5 kilometers. The Coronation Trend is one of several mineralized zones hosted in a highly prospective belt of uplifted felsic volcanic rocks that form the core of the Lara Project.

HISTORICAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE 1% ZINC BLOCK CUT-OFF Category Tonnes Zinc (%) Silver (g/t) Copper (%) Lead (%) Gold (g/t) Indicated 1,146,700 3.01 32.97 1.05 0.58 1.97 Inferred 669,600 2.26 32.99 0.9 0.44 1.9 HISTORICAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE 2% ZINC BLOCK CUT-OFF Category Tonnes Zinc (%) Silver (g/t) Copper (%) Lead (%) Gold (g/t) Indicated 428,600 5.65 47.04 2.25 1.18 2.39 Inferred 207,900 3.99 37.57 1.73 0.84 2.3

Table 1. Historical, Non-Current, Mineral Resource Summary (Kelso & Wetherup, 2008)

J. Malcolm Bell, Nova Pacific's CEO, commented, "Our new drill permit achieves a significant milestone in the revitalization of the Lara Project. Current metal prices have substantially increased the potential value of the Lara deposit, the result of 50,000 m of historical drilling and 650 m of preproduction underground development at an expense of upwards of $30 million in today's dollars. Importantly, the project is poised for rapid advancement given the recently completed flow-through financing of $2,640,540.

In less than three weeks we will start drilling with the goal of updating and potentially expanding the historical Mineral Resource Estimate (Table 1). This permit is the culmination of diligent preparation by Ministry authorities, and we are grateful for their support throughout this process. Tripoint Geological Services Ltd. of Victoria, BC, has been contracted to manage the drill program on behalf of the Company. Both Mineit Consulting Ltd. and Greg Moser have been instrumental in evaluating historical drill profiles and with preparation of the overall drill plan for the upcoming program, and we wish to thank them for their exceptional work."

Qualified Person

David Nelles, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and verified the scientific and technical data contained in this news release.

Rights of Indigenous Communities Statement

Nova Pacific operates on the Traditional, Ancestral and Unceded Territory of the Stz'uminus and Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group, a politically unified group that represents six Hul'qumi'num-speaking First Nations: Cowichan, Penelakut, Lyackson, Halalt, and Lake Cowichan.

The Company's entire team is committed to establishing lasting relationships with local communities by fostering inclusion and contributing to a shared prosperity.

About Nova Pacific

Nova Pacific is a Canadian exploration and development company focused on the Lara Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) Project on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This brownfields development project boasts a significant historic resource rich in critical and precious metals situated in a prime location with excellent infrastructure. Nova Pacific's forward-looking strategy includes confirmation and infill drilling, completion of an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) and preparation of a Pre-Feasibility Study if and as needed. The Company is committed to creating value for its shareholders while supporting environmental responsibility and strong community relationships.

For additional information please visit: www.novapacificmetals.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors

J. Malcolm Bell

Chief Executive Officer, Director

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the matters referenced herein and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forwardlooking information including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's exploration plans. Forwardlooking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forwardlooking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forwardlooking information. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forwardlooking information as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, changes to the Company's strategic growth plans, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forwardlooking 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. Any forwardlooking information contained in this news release represents the Company's expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forwardlooking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2025) - Global Tactical Metals Corp. (CSE: MONI) ("Global Tactical Metals Corp." or the "Company") is excited to announce the successful staking of the Green Mine, a historically significant antimony deposit located in the Wildhorse Mining District of the Humboldt Range, Pershing County, Nevada, U.S.A. This strategic staking aligns with our commitment to securing and developing critical mineral resources essential for modern industries.

Discovered during World War I, the Green Mine has a well-documented history of antimony production, with operations recorded during three distinct periods: 1936-1937, 1952-1954, and 1962-1967. Historical data confirms that the site produced 46 tons of antimony, with documented mineralization occurring along fault zones within altered gabbro, limestone and shale. Notably, historical sampling results from the Green Mine have demonstrated impressive grades, including:

Antimony (Sb): 1.20% to 32.95%

Lead (Pb): 0.6% to 3.9%

Silver (Ag): 0.70 oz/ton to 16.20 oz/ton

Gold (Au): 0.01 oz/ton to 0.07 oz/ton

Key minerals identified on the property include pyrite, arsenopyrite, jamesonite (Pb 4 FeSb 6 S 14 ) and secondary bindheimite (Pb 2 Sb 2 O 6 (O,OH), and possibly boulangerite (Pb 5 Sb 4 S 11 ) , further underscoring the site's mineral potential (Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology online database; USGS Bulletin 2218).

High-grade antimony oxide ore has been identified in multiple locations across existing mine workings and surface outcrops, further validating historical reports of mineralization. To quantify the extent and grade of these occurrences, our team has collected a series of representative samples, which are currently being prepared for laboratory analysis. These assays will provide critical data on Sb content, associated metals, and ore characteristics, guiding our next phase of exploration and development.

Figure 1: Antimony Oxide Showings

Figure 2: Exploration Team On Site

To build upon the mine's proven history, Global Tactical Metals has launched an extensive on-site verification program, incorporating geological mapping, geochemical sampling, and geophysical surveys. These initiatives will refine our understanding of the deposit and guide future exploration and development efforts.

In addition to laboratory testing, we will be conducting structural mapping and geochemical surveys to delineate the continuity of high-grade zones and assess their economic potential. These efforts will inform future drilling programs aimed at defining resource tonnage and optimizing potential extraction methods.

In line with our modern exploration approach, the company may deploy cutting-edge technologies, including drone-based LiDAR scanning and hyperspectral imaging, to identify potential extensions of known mineralization and optimize future drilling targets. Our objective is to unlock the full potential of the Green Mine and contribute to the secure, domestic supply of antimony-a critical mineral with applications in flame retardants, batteries, and military-grade alloys.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Global Tactical Metals Corp.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical disclosure for Global Tactical Metals Corp. included in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mark Smyk P.Geo. Mr. Smyk is a Technical Advisor to the Company and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

About Global Tactical Metals Corp.

Global Tactical Metals Corp. is focused on acquiring, exploring, and advancing mineral properties that address critical resource needs in North America. The company holds a 100% interest in the St. Anthony Property, a highly prospective mineral asset in Newfoundland, Canada, positioned in a region known for its rich mineral potential.

The company has also significantly expanded its exploration portfolio with a substantial land package staked in Darling Township, southeastern Ontario-approximately 300 km east-northeast of Toronto. This property, now exceeding 1,400 hectares, targets critical mineral exploration with a primary focus on antimony, a vital element for renewable energy, defense, and electronics industries.

In addition, Global Tactical Metals Corp. has extended its strategic footprint into the United States by staking the Green Mine, a past-producing antimony deposit in Nevada, further strengthening its commitment to securing critical mineral resources.

Forward Looking Statement

Certain information contained in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are not historical facts may be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may," "should," "anticipate," "expect," "potential," "believe," "intend," or similar expressions. These statements relate to future events or future performance and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: The exploration and development of the Company's mineral properties, including the St. Anthony Property, the Ontario claims, and the newly staked Green Mine; The potential value and economic viability of these mineral assets; The growing demand for antimony and its impact on the Company's strategic initiatives; and The Company's ability to execute exploration programs, conduct geological assessments, and advance its assets towards potential resource development.

Forward-looking information in this press release is based on various assumptions, including but not limited to: the Company's ability to successfully conduct exploration and development activities, access to funding and infrastructure, regulatory approvals, and favorable market conditions for critical minerals.

These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: Challenges in obtaining permits, regulatory approvals, or financing; Geological or technical difficulties in mineral exploration and extraction; Changes in market demand or commodity prices; and Unforeseen environmental or operational risks.

Readers are cautioned that the above list is not exhaustive. Forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the Company's expectations as of the date of this release and are subject to change. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Israel's ambassador to Ethiopia was ejected from a conference at African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa commemorating the 31st anniversary of Rwanda's genocide against the Tutsi, two diplomats told AFP on Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear why Ambassador Avraham Neguise was asked to leave the event on Monday, held to mark the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda, which left at least 800,000 people dead in 1994.

Neguise participated in the first part of the event, a solidarity march inside AU headquarters, an Arab diplomat said.

"After that, the AU commission chairperson, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, refused to start the event inside the hall in the presence of the Israeli ambassador and asked him to get out," the diplomat said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

"The Israeli ambassador left."

Another diplomatic source said the ambassador had been "sitting in a very visible seat, close to the Americans, and everything was delayed until he was asked to leave".

The source said it was unclear whether the move was a protest by AU member states over Israel's war in Gaza.

The Times of Israel quoted the Israeli foreign ministry as saying, "It is outrageous that at an event commemorating the victims of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, to which the Israeli ambassador in Addis Ababa was invited, (Youssouf) chose to introduce anti-Israel political elements."

Youssouf's spokesperson did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment.

It is not the first time Israel's presence has stirred criticism within the pan-African organisation.

In 2022, the AU failed to conclude discussions on the contested accreditation of Israel as an observer country.

Algeria and South Africa, two financial heavyweights of the organisation, particularly argued against the move.

Both countries have rifts with Israel: Algeria has no diplomatic ties with Israel, in protest over its treatment of the Palestinians, while South Africa has brought a case before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

In 2023, an Israeli diplomat was also expelled from the AU assembly.

Youssouf, a Djiboutian national, took office as AU commission chairperson in February after serving nearly 20 years as foreign minister of the small Horn of Africa country.
A Hong Kong actor, 74, confirmed he is engaged to his 37-year-old girlfriend who is behind bars for forgery.

Lee Lung Kei, a veteran actor known for his work in television dramas including Sinister Beings and its 2024 sequel, Sinister Beings 2, confirmed that he and his longtime partner, Chris Wong, plan to marry following her release from prison in July.

Wong, who identifies herself as Wang Qingxia, pleaded guilty in 2024 to five charges of forgery in addition to three charges of making false statements to gain an entry permit and for overstaying in Hong Kong.

She was given a 25 month prison sentence.

Despite her incarceration, Lee said their relationship has only grown stronger.

He reportedly keeps a suitcase containing more than 410 handwritten letters from Wong, who began writing to him regularly during her time behind bars.

During a recent prison visit, Wong agreed to take their relationship to the next step.

"I am not hesitating anymore. I will marry you," Wong said, according to Lee.

The couple went public with their relationship in 2020, sparking conversations due to their 37-year age difference.

Lee has remained vocal in his support of Wong and is looking forward to their future together.

"I promised her that as soon as she gets out, I will take care of the marriage registration right away," he said.

Lee plans to present Wong with an engagement ring after her scheduled release on July 7.
Businessman Wang Xiaofei, the ex-husband of late Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu, is set to remarry just months after her death.

Chinese media outlet Sohu reports that Wang will wed Mandy, a woman described in local coverage as a "hot girl," on May 17 in Beijing.

The wedding is shaping up to be a flashy and high-profile affair, with Wang reportedly expected to arrive at the venue by helicopter.

The ceremony will take place at a hotel styled like a traditional courtyard house and will include 200 staff to film and photograph the event.

The wedding will also be livestreamed on social media platforms in China.

According to Sohu, Mandy's wedding dress will feature 999 diamonds and a 10-meter-long veil.

Imported ingredients, including seafood flown directly from Antarctica, are expected to be served during the banquet.

A source close to Wang told QQ News that the businessman "wants to make this wedding grand to announce the start of a new life, moving on from the shadows of the past."

Public reaction to the announcement has been mixed.

Wang and Mandy registered their marriage shortly after Barbie Hsu's passing, and some netizens have criticized the timing of the ceremony, calling the move insensitive and premature.

Others argue the couple had already made their plans before Hsu's death and see no issue in the wedding proceeding.

In early April, Wang sent invitations to several celebrities.

However, prominent television host Wu Zongxian publicly declined the invitation.

Wu, a close colleague of Barbie Hsu's sisters, cited concerns over public perception.

His absence is widely seen as a gesture of respect toward Hsu.

Wang publicly confirmed his relationship with Mandy in January 2024 and proposed in March.

They registered their marriage two months later.

Since Hsu's passing, the couple has assumed responsibility for raising her two children.

Barbie Hsu's mother, Huang Chunmei, previously stated that her daughter's final wish was for Wang to take good care of their children.

The wedding is scheduled to take place less than three months after Barbie Hsu's death, sparking ongoing public discourse about grief, timing, and personal boundaries in the public eye.
A petition calling for revisions to South Korea's statutory rape laws, dubbed the "Kim Soo Hyun Prevention Act," has reached over 50,000 signatures and will now be reviewed by the National Assembly.

The petition, which was posted to the National Assembly's official electronic petition site on March 31, had collected 51,083 signatures as of 5 p.m. on April 7.

Under current rules, a petition must receive at least 50,000 signatures within 30 days to be forwarded to a relevant legislative committee for review.

The petition proposes raising the protected age range under the country's statutory rape laws from the current 1315 years old to 1318 years old, effectively making anyone under the age of 19 legally protected from sexual acts with adults.

It also calls for harsher penalties: a minimum of two years' imprisonment for molestation and a minimum of five years for rape.

"Recently, the grooming sex crime committed by Hallyu star Kim Soo Hyun against child actress Kim Sae Ronwho was a minor at the timehas come to light, enraging the public," the petitioner wrote.

"Unfortunately, statutory rape laws currently only protect children aged 13 to under 16, which means Kim Soo Hyun cannot be legally punished."

The petitioner criticized the legal gap, adding, "South Korean law clearly defines minors as those under 18, yet the statutory rape law only protects those aged 13 to under 16, allowing pedophiles to escape legal consequences."

The proposal has been referred to the appropriate National Assembly committee, which must determine within 90 days whether to advance the bill to a full session for debate.

Kim Soo Hyun, who is under public scrutiny, has denied any wrongdoing.

At a press conference held March 31 at the Stanford Hotel in Sangam-dong, Seoul, he stated,

"I did not have a relationship with the deceased while she was a minor."

The case has sparked widespread public discussion, especially following reports that Kim Sae Ron, a former child actress, was allegedly in a romantic relationship with Kim while underage.

The families of the two parties have issued conflicting statements about the nature and timeline of the relationship.






Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - Thirdway Alliance party leader, Ekuru Aukot, has criticized political leaders who expose the Governments wrongdoings only after being removed from office.

Speaking to Citizen TV on Tuesday, Aukot questioned the credibility of such leaders, saying they remained silent while enjoying power but now seek sympathy after their dismissal.

There is a crisis of leadership. We don't even know who to believe anymore.

Whether somebody is in government, or as soon as they exit government they start telling us things, Aukot said.

He described the current administration as a conspiracy to defraud Kenyans of better governance,

People know the bad things that are happening in government, they don't speak but they still stay there until they are shown the door.

These are fraudsters, he added.

Aukot emphasized that such leaders must first reconcile with Kenyans before taking on the role of opposition critics.

His remarks come amid a string of revelations from former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and ex-Public Service CS Justin Muturi, both of whom have accused President William Rutos administration of widespread corruption.

Gachagua, ousted in October 2024, has accused Ruto of being the high priest of corruption.

Ruto, in turn, claimed Gachagua demanded Ksh.10 billion to mobilize Mt. Kenya political support - an allegation Gachagua dismissed as baseless.

Muturi also accused Ruto of attempting to coerce him into signing a Ksh.129 billion deal with Russian oligarchs, which he said violated procurement laws.

According to Aukot, both Gachagua and Muturi are complicit in the rot they now decry.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - Last week, NTV aired an expose revealing how Kimilili Member of Parliament Didmus Barasa shot dead Brian Olunga during campaigns and did a cover-up.

At the time of his death, OIunga was a bodyguard to Khaemba, who was challenging Barasa in the hotly-contested MP seat.

It is believed that Barasa bungled the case after bribing investigators and witnesses.

A Kenyan confronted Barasa on WhatsApp after watching the NTV expose and called him out for lacking integrity.

The controversial MP had a rude response, and he seems unapologetic even after taking away the life of Brian, who was barely 22 years old.

See his response.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has strongly denied allegations that he demanded Ksh 10 billion from President William Ruto after the 2022 General Elections to coordinate political activities in the Mt. Kenya region.

Speaking during an interview on KTN News on Monday, Gachagua termed the claims as baseless and a calculated move to damage his reputation in Central Kenya.

I never blackmailed the President. If that were the case, it would have been the first charge during the efforts to force me out of office, Gachagua stated.

Gachagua further accused President Ruto, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), and former Interior CS Prof. Kithure Kindiki of being behind a political plot to oust him.

He questioned the inconsistency in the reasons given for his removal, saying,

In Western Kenya, he said I was incompetent and tribal.

In North Eastern, he claimed I was divisive.

In Nyanza, he called me primitive and corrupt But when he came to Mt. Kenya, none of that was mentioned.

Instead, he claimed I had asked for Ksh.10 billion.

Gachagua also took aim at Rutos allies, including Dennis Itumbi and Kimani Ichungwah, for allegedly giving conflicting accounts about the purported demand.

I invested heavily in his campaign - Im not the type to go around asking him for money, he added.

The allegations re-emerged during President Rutos tour of Mt Kenya, where he claimed that Gachagua had threatened to make him a one-term President if he didnt give in to his demands.

I was told, I can make you a one-term president unless you give me Ksh.10 billion to organize politics in the region. I refused.

If my fate is to be a one-term president, so be it, Ruto revealed.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Trump announces direct talks with Iran amid nuclear tensions

Xinhua) 10:23, April 08, 2025

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump surprised many on Monday by announcing direct, high-level talks between the United States and Iran over the latter's nuclear program.

The announcement came during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

"We're having direct talks with Iran," Trump said. "It's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully, those talks will be successful."

He also disclosed that a "very big meeting" involving "very high-level" officials would be taking place this Saturday.

Trump's announced came after months of increasing pressure on Iran, including tougher sanctions on oil exports and threats of military action, while Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ruled out direct talks with the United States so long as Trump kept his "maximum pressure" policy in place.

"I think everyone agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it," Trump said, speaking in the Oval Office alongside Netanyahu.

"So we're going to see if we can avoid it. But it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Iran's best interest if they are successful."

Monday's announcement sparked mixed reactions.

Netanyahu, present at the announcement, expressed skepticism about the talks. The Times of Israel cited his words as reporting "if it fully stops Iran nukes, that'd be a good thing."

Iran has not yet confirmed its participation in the talks.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)






Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has launched explosive claims against President William Ruto, accusing him of being the real commander of Sudans Rapid Support Forces (RSF) through alleged illicit gold trade deals with RSF leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.

In a televised interview with KTN on Monday night, Gachagua claimed that Ruto has been facilitating the laundering of gold money through Kenya to finance the RSFs armed conflict against the Sudanese army.

The real commander of RSF is not Hemedti, it is William Ruto.

The money from gold is being cleaned through Kenya to buy firearms, Gachagua alleged.

He traced the dealings back to 2023, when Ruto allegedly pressured him into inviting Hemedti to Kenya.

Ruto called me to his office and said, diplomatically, a president can only invite another president.

But he wanted me to invite Hemedti, his Vice President counterpart, on his behalf, Gachagua said.

After the visit, which included meetings with top Kenyan officials, Gachagua claims he realized the interaction was part of a broader business arrangement.

He further alleged that when he refused to issue a second invitation, citing international sanctions on Hemedti and the RSF, Ruto responded angrily.

He told me I must invite him and asked, Do you know how much I will lose by you not inviting him here? Gachagua said.

He claims his forged signature was later used to issue the invite, which he successfully had withdrawn after confronting the president.

I am available to give evidence. I ask the international community to sanction William Ruto, and the Sudan crisis will be solved.

Sanctioning Hemedti is pointless, Gachagua added.

His remarks come weeks after Kenya hosted RSF-affiliated groups in Nairobi - prompting Sudan to suspend imports from Kenya over national security concerns.

Bottom of FormThe Kenyan DAILY POST






Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has accused President William Ruto of placing personal business interests above Kenyas diplomatic priorities in the recent recognition of Kosovo as an independent state.

Speaking during a televised interview on Monday, April 7th, Gachagua claimed that Ruto ignored expert advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leading to strained relations with key countries such as Serbia and Russia.

A very senior officer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs came to see me.

They told me that internationally, it is unwise for the Kenyan government to acknowledge or recognise Kosovo and that such recognition would create problems internationally, Gachagua said.

He alleged that Ruto reacted with hostility when he raised concerns, quoting the President as saying, Go to hell. I am the president. I make decisions in this country, and if you dont like it, you can quit this Government.

According to Gachagua, Rutos insistence on recognising Kosovo was driven by a personal business venture.

I came to realise later that President Ruto and the President of Kosovo have a business deal involving a hotel in Mombasa - the Dolphin Hotel. It is a joint venture, he alleged.

Because of the Presidents selfish commercial interests, we are now in trouble with Serbia and Russia. This is not right, he added.

Kenya officially recognised Kosovo on March 26, 2025 - the first country to do so in nearly five years.

Kosovos independence, declared in 2008, remains contested by Serbia and its allies, including Russia and China.Bottom of Form

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - Hired goons confronted Nakuru-based activist, Engineer Evans Kimori, and tried to attack him, after he petitioned U.S President Donald Trump to facilitate the deportation of Governor Susan Kihika back to Kenya.

The rowdy goons stormed Kimoris private property baying for his blood and warned him to stop disturbing the Governor.

Reacting to the invasion, Kimori said he wont be cowed by threats and told Kihika to work for the people of Nakuru or resign.

Susan Kihika is responding the petition with Goons, who is advising you? I even instructed the gate to be opened for them to enter so that they face the wrath of entering a private property.Serve the people of Nakuru or resign, Period. Shame on you, he tweeted.

Kimori's request for Kihikas deportation stems from her prolonged absence of nearly five months, during which she has been in the U.S on maternity leave.





He argues that this extended absence has created a leadership vacuum in Nakuru County and negatively impacted public services, particularly healthcare.

Governor SUSAN KIHIKA unleashes goons on activist EVANS KIMORI, who wrote to DONALD TRUMP seeking her deportation pic.twitter.com/NB5ShBXD5f  DAILY POST  (@dailypost_ke) April 8, 2025

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - The father of Naomi Chebet, the lady who was killed by her husband at their rented house in Kiambu, has broken his silence.

Speaking in an interview, Naomis father, Philip Koech Kipchumba, revealed that his daughter had been in a toxic relationship with her killer husband, Samuel Njoroge.

She had even reported him to the police for assault.

They had been living together for a couple of years, and they had been fighting and arguing for a while. We had even tried to resolve their arguments with our son-in-law's parents, but it was almost impossible. When the fights became too much my daughter reported to the police. But I don't know what transpired because they got back together. They used to argue a lot and I'd receive calls from their househelp telling me about their arguments, he said.

He further revealed that Naomis husband used to hurl threats at her and their children.

The threats escalated last year in November after he threatened to kill her and their three children.

The issue became serious last year in November after her husband threatened to end her life as well as their children's lives. We heard that as they were arguing on speakerphone. So that morning, Naomi and her husband argued, and it ended up being a huge fight, he recalled.

Luckily, she called us and told us that the company she was working for had given her some money, and she'd rented a house. So we advised her to live on her own so that we could take some time to observe what the man wanted because we didn't know his intentions, he added.

He later found out that they had reunited.

Naomis father said he had advised his daughter to part ways with her violent husband, but she kept believing that he would change.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has raised concerns for his safety, claiming that the Government has withdrawn his security detail in retaliation for his outspoken criticism of President William Ruto's administration.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, April 8th, Muturi questioned the motive behind the move, terming it a calculated attempt to intimidate him.

He argued that as a former senior Government official, he is entitled to security as part of his retirement benefits.

I was informed last evening that my security officers had been instructed not to report to duty because Im allegedly fighting the Government, Muturi said.

Despite the withdrawal, the former Attorney General insisted that he will not be silenced and vowed to continue holding the Government accountable.

There are many Kenyans without state-provided security, so its not something that should scare me, he added.

Muturi, who was dismissed from his position just two weeks ago, has emerged as one of Rutos most vocal critics.

In a recent interview with Nation Media Group on April 4th, he accused the President of engaging in secret corrupt dealings while publicly claiming to fight graft.

He cited an incident where President Ruto allegedly pressured him to approve a controversial Ksh129 billion tree planting deal involving Russian oligarchs, a move Muturi said violated public finance laws by bypassing the Treasury.

Muturis claims add to the mounting tension within Kenyas political landscape, as former allies increasingly turn against the Ruto administration.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - Government Pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor has confirmed that Multimedia University student Sylvia Kemunto died from strangulation.

The findings follow the discovery of her decomposing body in a rooftop water tank at the university on April 2nd.

Kemunto, 20, a first-year student pursuing Mass Communication and Computer Science, had been missing since March 30th.

Her body was recovered following a campus-wide search after a foul smell was detected from Block Es rooftop tank, which was in use at the time.

A fellow student, a first-year Electrical Engineering learner, has been arrested in connection with the murder.





The suspect, who surrendered to police in Sultan Hamud, Makueni County, on April 3rd after days on the run, told officers that a confrontation between them turned fatal after Kemunto resisted his advances.

According to the suspects statement, he pushed Kemunto, causing her to hit her head and collapse.

Realizing she had died, he allegedly panicked, stuffed her body in a suitcase, stored it briefly in his room, and later dumped it in the water tank.

He then fled to his rural home.





Police reports indicate that Kemunto had earlier complained about unwanted advances from the same student.

Witnesses reported seeing the suspect dragging a suitcase from her room.

The suspects roommate also noticed the suitcase in their room before it disappeared the following morning.

Investigations are ongoing, and the suspect is expected in court as detectives seek to detain him further.

The incident adds to growing concern over femicide in Kenya.
"There are always six or seven people here in the morning," a waiting early bus passenger in Kilcullen commented last week. But that's apparently not enough for JJ Kavanagh to keep their 717 service running through the expanding Kildare town.

Or through Athy and Naas and five other stops between Kilkenny and Red Cow Dublin which have been dropped from the route as from Monday 7 April.

The move means there's no longer a direct early bus service from Kilcullen to Dublin Airport as the 717 3.15am through the town is also axed.

"Kilcullen has one of the worst public transport services," another disgruntled passenger said last Friday, the final weekday run of the Kavanagh service through the town, while another woman said the news was going to make an already difficult situation for her even more awkward.

For Patrick, who uses the 6.50am 717 every morning when his coffee shop roster in Naas requires, the cessation is also going to cause him problems.

"I have to be in before 8am, and that's the only viable one for me, especially at weekends."

There's a 7.10am bus to Naas as weekday option for him, but not on Saturdays and Sundays.

JJ Kavanagh say, while realising 'that the changes may be disruptive to some', they are making them to 'deliver a faster, more consistent and altogether more extra-ordinary journey for the vast majority of our passengers'.

In a statement about 'exciting changes' to the route and 'optimising our network' the company said a review of service performance showed that 'certain bus stops had significantly low passenger numbers, making it difficult to justify their continued operation'.

Locals took to social media last week to express their annoyance at the latest cut: Terrible news, the public transport is so bad from Athy and Kilcullen. Said one. Another added: "Dreadful news, my niece works in Dublin and now has to go to Newbridge to get a train to work."

One commenter opined: "A first world country with a third world bus service."

Since 2011, bus services through Kilcullen have been severely cut back by both private operators and Bus Eireann.

This was despite commitments given in 2009 by both groups that services through Kilcullen would be retained after the opening of further sections of the M9 motorway.

In 2015 a 'Save our Buses' campaign was set up after service cutbacks affecting Castledermot, Castlecomer, Athy and Kilcullen.

At one public meeting the bosses of Bus Eireann and the National Transport Authority were told bluntly that they were effectively 'abandoning' rural Ireland. There was no representative there from JJ Kavanagh, the other primary, and private operator on the affected routes.

In 2017, JJ Kavanagh made further changes to their schedules which meant that one morning and two evening services bypassed Kilcullen and other villages between Kilkenny and Dublin.

In their most recent timetable for the 717, just three of the 10 times a day run from Clonmel to Dublin Airport serviced stops between Kilkenny and Naas.

JJ Kavanagh exited the 129 route between Kilcullen and Newbridge in July 2022 in a series of post-Covid cutbacks due to 'low patronage' and the cessation of a temporary Covid-measure subsidy.

After a temporary service for more than a year a permanent Dunlavin-Newbridge was established under the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan.
A Co Kildare man has been jailed for a year after he stole from a woman in her 80s after claiming he would use her money to buy her a new kitchen but instead used the money to pay off a drug debt.

Anthony Brennan (50) Beechpark Wood, Leixlip, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to theft of 6,500 from the woman on 5 October 2021. He has previous convictions for speeding, drugs, robbery and possession of stolen property.

Garda Kevin Curran told Morgan Shelley BL prosecuting that Mr Brennan first met the woman when he was contacted by an acquaintance who advised him that the woman needed a leak fixed in her kitchen.

Mr Brennan fixed the leak and then helped the woman fill out an insurance claim giving her a quote for a new kitchen. He then called to her home to say he would purchase the kitchen on her behalf and fit it later.

Mr Brennan went with the woman and her daughter to her bank where she withdrew the cash and handed him over 6,000. He never purchased the kitchen.

Gda Curran said that Mr Brennan has paid back small amounts to the woman but after making a payment of 200 in December 2021 he was threatened by a younger member of the womans family. Mr Brennan has not made any further payments to the woman.

Mr Brennan was arrested and gave a voluntary statement to gardai in which he said he was under threat due to a drug debt that he had run up. He said these people knew where his mother lived and they threatened to take his van that he used for work.

Ian Woodland BL defending said his client suffered a significant trauma when he was 19 years old and turned to drugs at a young age to cope.

He accepted that he took advantage of a vulnerable elderly lady. He said he was hoping to be able to pay back the victim but he didnt manage to get the funds together.

Judge Martin Nolan accepted that Brennan had pleaded guilty but said he does deserve a custodial term.

It was shameful behaviour on his behalf. He knew exactly what he was doing and he knew it was wrong, Judge Nolan said.

He said a headline sentence of two or three years was warranted before he jailed the defendant for a year.
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

Northern Irelands First Minister Michelle ONeill has written to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging his Government to grant a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown.

Ms ONeill said the family of the GAA official had waited far too long for truth, justice and accountability.

Mr Brown, 61, the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Derry, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.

Last week, three judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast said the Governments failure to order a public inquiry into the killing was unlawful.

Bridie Brown, the wife of Sean Brown with his daughters Siobhan Brown (right), Claire Loughran (left) outside the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast last week (Liam McBurney/PA)

Northern Irelands Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said the court would give Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn four weeks to reflect upon the judgment before another hearing.

The UK Government has said it will carefully consider the court judgment.

Ms ONeill said: Last week, outside court, Bridie Brown (Mr Browns widow) made a direct plea to the British government, and I want to echo her powerful and emotional words.

The Brown family has waited far too long for truth, justice and accountability.

They should not have to endure the indignity and insult of further delays or legal appeals.

I have written to the British prime minister, imploring him and his government to accept the unequivocal court ruling and grant a public inquiry without any further delay.

Ms ONeill said anything less than a public inquiry would further compound the grief and trauma of the Brown family.

She added: There can be no more cynical moves or obstructionist tactics by the British government.

Its time to hold a public inquiry, and at last establish the full truth around Sean Browns murder.

As Bridie Brown said, five judges have told the British government to do the right thing. That is what the Brown family deserves.

Last year a coroner halted an inquest into the Brown killing, expressing concern that his ability to examine the case had been compromised by the extent of confidential state material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.

Sean Brown was murdered by loyalists in 1997 (Liam McBurney/PA)

Preliminary inquest proceedings had already heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

It had also been alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.

Coroner Mr Justice Kinney called on the Government to establish a public inquiry into the loyalist murder.

Mr Benn decided against holding an inquiry, arguing that the case could instead be dealt with by a new Troubles investigatory body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

Mr Browns widow Bridie challenged Mr Benns decision not to order a public inquiry and High Court judge Mr Justice Humphreys found in her favour in December and ordered the Government to establish one.

The Government then appealed against that decision to the Court of Appeal, leading to last weeks judgment.
By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Religious bodies who have declined to contribute towards a redress scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes have assets worth more than 1 billion.

The Department of Children had asked religious orders to pay 267 million towards the scheme.

However, only two of eight religious bodies linked to mother and baby homes in Ireland have offered to contribute.

The Sisters of Bon Secours offered 12.97 million  a sum deemed as meaningful and accepted by the Irish Government.

The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul has proposed contributing a building to the scheme. That offer is to be considered by the Government.

A third religious body  the Sisters of St John of God  declined to contribute to the scheme but offered a conditional donation of 75,000 to be used for a charitable purpose associated with mother and baby home survivors.

The remaining five bodies  the Congregation of Lady of the Good Shepherd; the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy; the Legion of Mary; and the Church of Ireland  made no offer.

The report into the scheme outlines the contributions which were sought from each organisation and a calculation of their assets at the end of 2023, which was conducted by EY.

The Sisters of Bon Secours offer aligns with an ask of 12.97 million that had been sought by the department. The EY report found that the organisation had 106.8 million in assets at the end of 2023, alongside 1.3 million in cash.

The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul (DCSVP), which has offered the building, had been asked to make a contribution of up to 81 million. The EY report found it had around 7.35 million in the bank and around 90 million in assets at the end of 2023.

Asked to provide a rough valuation of the building offered by the Daughters of Charity which is currently in use by the Department of Education, Childrens Minister Norma Foley did not provide a figure and said the offer was being explored.

The report states that the DCSVP was reluctant to make a contribution as it had provided 19 million to the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme in respect of the St Patricks/Pelletstown institution. It said the order was made up of employees and not trustees, that the home was owned by the state, and that it needed to be in a position to fund its ongoing work.

The Sisters of St John of God, which offered the 75,000 donation, had been asked to contribute 5.2 million, with combined assets in the range of 55.7 million and cash of 6.8 million.

The order said there was no basis  legal or moral  to demand it to participate in the scheme as there was no evidence that our sisters there acted in any untoward manner. It said the donation was made on the basis that it was not presented as a contribution or as part of a moral or ethical obligation towards those survivors.

The following is a breakdown relating to the remaining organisations, which made no offer under the scheme.

The Congregation of Lady of the Good Shepherd was asked for 10.46 million; with assets of 75.8 million and more than 2.4 million in the bank.

It said it would not be making a contribution as it could not afford to and it did not believe it had an ethical or moral reason to do so, further stating that the report into the Dunboyne institution showed residents were well cared for.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary was asked for 96.5 million, with assets worth 5.8 million and 200,000 in the bank in Ireland, with an associated UK charity having 32.4 million in assets and 1.75 million in cash.

The Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy was asked for 21 million, with roughly 320 million in assets and approximately 24 million in assets.

The Legion of Mary was asked for 26.2 million with 1.8 million in assets and and 1.5 million in cash.

The Church of Ireland was asked for almost 14 million with 632 million in assets and 40 million in cash.

Various bodies objected to their inclusion in the report by stating they may not have a legal or moral obligation to pay, that the institutions referenced were not controlled or governed by them, or that the publicly available financial information may be incomplete.
Shoplifting in Kildare has almost quadrupled in the last 20 years, according to figures revealed this week by Cynthia Ni Mhurchu, Ireland South MEP.

There were a total of 324 recorded incidents of shoplifting in the Kildare Garda Division in 2003, which grew to 1,341 recorded incidents of shoplifting in Kildare in 2024, an increase of 314 per cent.

Indeed, in just the last 12 months shoplifting incidents increased by seven per cent alone between 2023 and 2024, going from 1,252 to 1,341 between 2023 and 2024.

Amongst the measures Ms Ni Mhurchu is calling for to immediately address shoplifting is for government to introduce the Retail Crime Strategy which was promised in the Programme for Government.

The Ireland South MEP has also called for other measures included in the Programme for Government to be introduced immediately.

The MEP is calling for mandatory prison sentences for anyone caught shoplifting on more than one occasion, and for an update of the Public Order Acts to allow a prolific offender of retail crime to be excluded from a premises for a certain period of time.

She also wants targeted garda operations to tackle retail crime and remove assets from those suspected of organised retail theft, and to make it a specific offence of assaulting a retail worker.

Ms Ni Mhurchu is also calling for the end of the practice of retail defamation where someone can sue a retailer for defamation if they are stopped with the bona fide belief that they have stolen something from the shop.

According to one Carlow-based retailer that Ni Mhurchu spoke to, small retailers are fed up with what they see as a revolving door justice system for shoplifters.

Filing a report with Gardai is hardly worth it, said the retailer.

Gardai are also fed up seeing the same people getting off the hook and their time is being wasted with the same offenders again and again.

In the last year I have been in court twice.

My son tried to stop a guy robbing cigarettes and he got a straight box to the jaw, which could have broken it.

That offender only got three months added to his current sentence.

I caught a guy robing 90 worth of chocolate from me.

He was already on a suspended sentence, which was activated but he appealed it to the Circuit court and walked free.

He was back at my shop the following week, after been warned by the court to stay away The CSO shoplifting figures indicate a dramatic trend upwards in shoplifting offences across most counties in Ireland."

Some of the biggest jumps between the year 2003 and 2024 occurred in countries like Tipperary, Wexford, Wicklow, Kildare and Limerick.

While the 20 year trend for shoplifting has gone up, counties like Mayo, Donegal, Waterford, Kerry, Clare, and Galway all recorded percentage decreases for the number of recorded shoplifting offences between 2023 and 2024.

Ms Ni Mhurchu attributed this to more focused garda actions of late.
Television presenter Baz Ashmawy has made an urgent appeal to the people of Kilkenny for help with an upcoming DIY SOS: The Big Build Ireland project in Mooncoin, South Kilkenny.

The team is desperately seeking a skilled joiner to create bespoke furniture and fittings for a special build taking place from Tuesday, April 29 to Thursday, May 8.

The project will help provide nine-year-old Aoibhinn OHanlon, her two siblings, and her parents Sharon and John with their first family home. The new build is designed to allow Aoibhinn to live independently alongside her family.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Baz Ashmawy (@bashmawy)

READ NEXT: Gardai provide update on man missing from Kilkenny

Aoibhinn was born with a severe form of spina bifida and hydrocephalusconditions that bring significant challenges for her and her loved ones around the clock, seven days a week.

The callout is specifically aimed at joiners and furniture makers, but the team also encourages anyone who knows someone suitable to tag them or pass on the message.

Those able to help are asked to contact the DIY SOS team urgently at diysoskilkenny@gmail.com or by phone at 083 126 3130.

FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS, CLICK HERE
The Kilkenny branch of family Carers Ireland is holding a fun event in the Castle Park this weekend.



Step Up for Family Carers is a leisurely 5km walk that people can complete at their own pace. This is not a race or a fitness challenge - it is a moment of solidarity, support, and recognition.



Rugby legend Mick Galwey is urging people to take part. Caring can be isolating, and too many family carers feel forgotten. This walk is a simple but powerful way to send a clear message: We see you. We support you. You are not alone.

Family Carers Ireland is calling on communities across the country to step up and stand in solidarity with family carers by taking part in Step Up for Family Carers, a 5km fundraising walk on Sunday, April 13. Entry is 25 and includes a Step Up t-shirt.

Every day, Irelands 500,000 family carers provide unwavering support to loved ones - often without recognition or adequate support. Now, its time for Ireland to step up for them. This nationwide event will raise vital funds and awareness to ensure that Family Carers Ireland can continue to be there for those who dedicate their lives to caring for others.

Family carer Lisa McCormack, who cares for her six-year-old son Rian, understands how much this support means: Caring for a child with additional needs can be demanding, exhausting and, at times, isolating. The challenges can be overwhelming, and thats why support matters. Im so grateful for my friends and family, and I hope this walk encourages more people to stand with carers.

By taking part, people are sending a powerful message - we are seen, we are valued, and we are not alone. This isnt just about raising funds; its about recognition, visibility and ensuring no carer is ever forgotten. That kind of support makes all the difference.



Registration is now open at www.familycarers.ie
Tickets for the upcoming concert of a highly esteemed Irish band in Kilkenny have sold out.

The High Kings will perform at The Hub, Cillin Hill on Saturday, April 19 at 8pm with fans coming from near and far to see the show live.

And selling out arena is not unusual for the popular group. In March 2009, the folk group played five consecutive sold out shows to a packed audience in Dublins Olympia Theatre.

READ NEXT: The long awaited completion of the Ring Road in Kilkenny may just have taken a step closer...

The band formed in June 2007 and their debut album reached number two on the World Billboard Music Charts.

The High Kings continue to set the bar extremely high for Irish Folk bands across the world and are widely regarded to be at the forefront of the genre.

In 2019 after a 12 year journey The High Kings continue to perform in sell out venues across the globe to their ever-growing army of loyal fans that span generations.

FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS, CLICK HERE
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early followed by scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early followed by scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Today, Tuesday, April 8 is the General Municipal Election across Missouri.

Polling places closed at 7 p.m., and election results have arrived.

10:11 p.m.: Murphy, Heath say they will not run again

Hunter Walterman, Monica Johnson and Ethan Tolar, KOMU 8 News

Blair Murphy said he will "happily retire from politics" following his defeat in the mayoral race.

In his concession speech, Murphy said he called Barbara Buffaloe to congratulate her on the win.

"We kept this thing positive," Murphy said in the speech at his watch party. "We didn't crush each other and weren't ugly to each other, and that means a ton to me."

Murphy said the competitive race took its toll, and he indicated he likely will not seek to run for mayor again.

"I can tell you I won't be able to do it again," Murphy said, "When you put this much effort, and have this much support and get beat, it ain't it for me."

Tanya Heath also said she will "definitely not" run again for mayor.

The two-time challenger to Buffaloe said that she would use what she's learned from her campaigns to help Columbia in other ways.

9:29 p.m.: Buffaloe says record contributions were a concern

Bethany Cates and Jacob Richey, KOMU 8 News

Buffaloe's path to reelection was a competitive one, facing Murphy, who saw record fundraising with several big-dollar donations.

Murphy reported $255,699.86 in contributions this election cycle, compared to Buffaloe, who reported a little more than $70,000.

"I felt nervous because even though I've done the work for the last three years and I've been advocating for our community at a state and a national level, we still saw a lot of money going into an election," Buffaloe said. "Advertising can sway people, and I was worried about that."

As she prepares for her second term, Buffaloe said Columbia residents can expect a continued focus on the policies that she has put in place, in addition to the advancements she hopes to bring to the city.

"I just want to say thank you to the voters for showing up," Buffaloe said. "I want to say thank you to our city staff for doing the work, and I hope to continue this momentum going forward."

9:05 p.m.: Incumbent Buffaloe re-elected to Columbia mayor

After a close mayoral race, incumbent mayor Barbara Buffaloe has officially secured a second term as mayor of Columbia following Tuesday's municipal election.

Buffaloe faced a competitive election, running against business owner Blair Murphy and public relations specialist Tanya Heath.

9:05 p.m.: Waters, Dickson earn seats on Columbia School Board

Suzette Waters and Erica Dickson have won the Columbia School Board election, beating out Ken Rice for the two vacant seats.

Incumbent Suzette Waters is the only candidate who had previously run for Columbia School Board. She was first elected to the school board in 2022 and has served as its president for three years.

Erica Dickson will fill a school board seat for the first time. Dickson has previously worked to serve Columbia, but this is her first time being elected to a public position. Dickson is the founder and CEO of the Mid-Missouri Black Doula Collective, which works to connect birthing persons to resources in times of need.

9:05 p.m.: Nick Foster wins reelection to Fourth Ward seat

Maddie Gonzales and Ian Paprocki, KOMU 8 News

Incumbent Fourth Ward Councilperson Nick Foster has won reelection to the seat, fending off challenger Ron Graves.

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Foster, who has served on City Council for three years, is a familiar name in the nonprofit community in Columbia.

Foster previously served as Executive Director of the Voluntary Action Center for nine years, where he worked directly with Columbia's most vulnerable populations, before retiring in 2020.

Jacque Sample will be the next council member for Columbia's Third Ward after running for the seat unopposed. The current representative, Roy Lovelady, did not seek reelection.

8:17 p.m.: Thomas, Allen earn seats on Jefferson City Council

Derek Thomas won the Ward 3 seat to serve on Jefferson City Council. He has served on the boards for Jefferson City Airport Committee and as a Chamber of Commerce member on the Government Affairs and Transportation committees.

Julie Allen will join the Jefferson City Council as the Fourth Ward seat. Allen is a member of the Transportation and Traffic Commission and the Cole County Extension Council.

7 p.m.: Polls close, candidates await results at watch parties

Candidates for mayor have debated and campaigned for months, and now they are waiting for Columbia voters to make their voice heard.

Incumbent Barbara Buffaloe is holding her campaign party at Ozark Mountain Biscuit & Bar, where she first learned she had been elected mayor three years ago.

Across town, businessman Blair Murphy is watching the results come in from D Rowe's as he hopes to unseat Buffaloe.

Public relations professional Tanya Heath is holding a watch party at Dickey's Barbecue, as she runs against Buffaloe in a rematch of the 2022 election.

6 p.m.: Boone County reaches 22.8% voter turnout, clerk says

The Boone County Clerk's Office says the county has reached 22.8% voter participation, with one hour until polls close.

12 p.m.: Boone County clerk expects 25% voter turnout

The Boone County Clerk's Office said that while over 8% of Boone County voters had cast their ballots around 10 a.m., voter turnout is expected to reach 25% by the time polls close at 7 p.m.

KOMU 8 spoke to voters at the Blue Ridge Christian Church polling location, who said the process was quick and easy.

"I'm hoping to make a difference on the crime," voter Brian Thomas said.

Boone County has central polling locations where any voter can cast their ballot on Election Day:

Boone County Government Center

Woodcrest Chapel

Friendship Baptist Church

There are dozens of polling places in Columbia and across the county. Visit the secretary of state's website or view a map of polling places by address on the Boone County Clerk's website.
Across Missouri on Tuesday, residents will cast their votes to shape the future of their local communities in municipal elections.

Ballots will include everything from mayoral and city council races to board of education and other local issues.

The opportunity to cast an early ballot ended at 5 p.m. Monday, but polling places across the state will reopen Tuesday at 6 a.m.

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon said she spent most of her time Monday making sure voters are educated and know what materials they need before coming to the polls.

"There's an opportunity for everybody to be able to vote," Lennon said.

Community members and county clerks say it is important to get out and vote because local government decisions directly affect the community.

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Callaway County Clerk Jordan McDow said they are seeing an increase compared to last years voter turnout.

"I feel like we've been a little bit busier, like Saturday before normally we don't see anybody, and we had voters on Saturday," McDow said.

Callaway County saw an 11% voter turnout last year which was its highest  and McDow said it is expected to be even higher this year.

Lennon said it is heartening to see absentee numbers up, following the Nov. 5, 2024 election.

"We're seeing a lot more people, by the end of (Monday) we'll be at about 4,300 total absentee voters," Lennon said.

Boone County expects a voter turnout of at least 25% based off the turnout of the previous election.

Voting will resume Tuesday at 6 a.m. and will end at 7 p.m.
Also, in attendance was local Columbia defense attorney Jennifer Bukowsky, who posted a photo on X in which Choi appears in the background.
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Sean McCarthaigh

The family of a cargo handler who fell to his death from an aircraft at Dublin Airport over six years ago have expressed outrage at details of the circumstances of his death revealed at an inquest.

Richard Gracey (64) a father of five from Balbriggan, Co Dublin fell headfirst to the ground from a height of five metres while unloading cargo from an Air France aircraft on the morning of November 24th, 2018.

Mr Gracey, a native of Andersonstown, Belfast who had worked as a cargo handler with Swissport Ireland since April 2005, was rushed by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

A postmortem showed he suffered a fractured skull and died as a result of severe brain injuries consistent with a fall from a height.

In a statement following the hearing, the Gracey family said they were outraged over the failures of Swissport and Air France in maintaining and upholding a safe work environment".

They claimed they as well his work colleagues had to endure a traumatic and devastating six and a half years with no knowledge or closure.

A verdict of a workplace-related fatality was returned by a jury of eight women and one man at an inquest into the death of Mr Gracey at Dublin District Coroners Court on Tuesday.

The jury also acknowledged and expressed satisfaction with changes made to operating procedures by Swissport since the fatal incident but recommended safety training for staff should be offered on a more frequent basis.

The inquest heard evidence from several other Swissport workers who were helping to unload the Boeing 777 aircraft which had arrived on a flight from Chicago at around 10.15am.

The driver of a loader, Alan Menton, outlined how he was waiting to manoeuvre his vehicle into place when Mr Gracey appeared to fall over the top part of a safety net and made a grab for it before falling forward onto the ground.

Another colleague, Cian ONeill, said he saw Mr Gracey with one hand on the safety net and bending down just before he fell out through the cargo door.

Evidence

An inspector with the Health and Safety Authority, Brian Morris, gave evidence that an investigation had found that Swissports standard operating procedures had not been followed correctly on the day.

Mr Morris explained that the sills on the cargo door had been deployed from inside the aircraft before a loader had been manoeuvred into its final position for unloading the cargo, which was not in accordance with proper procedures.

The inquest heard the final position of the loader should only leave a safety gap of 8-10cm at a maximum between the vehicle and the aircraft before the sills were deployed.

However, Mr Morris said there was a gap of 2.7 metres between them at the time of the fatal incident.

Questioned by counsel for the deceaseds family, Anthony Walker SC, Mr Morris said the HSA investigation had found that the risk of someone falling from the cargo door would have been reduced if the loader had been in its proper position.

Mr Morris agreed that a safety net across the cargo door was not designed to stop a human physically falling through it.

He said the use of a harness by workers unloading cargo from an aircraft was a non-industry standard".

In March 2023, Swissport Ireland was convicted and fined 250,000 at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court over the circumstances of Mr Graceys death for breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

The company pleaded guilty to two charges including failing to provide adequate fall prevention measures in relation to the off-loading of the cargo plane.

Victim impact statement

In a victim impact statement, Mr Graceys wife, Therese, told the court that her husband had often come home from work describing his workplace situation as accidents waiting to happen".

The familys solicitor, Dermot McNamara, confirmed that they also subsequently reached an undisclosed settlement with Swissport Ireland, Boeing and Air France in related civil proceedings in the High Court.

A consultant engineer who assisted the HSA investigation, Damien Power, said he had identified two defects with the aircraft near the vicinity of the fatal incident which were possible contributory factors.

Mr Power said a broken pin had resulted in a guide shoe popping out on the floor of the sill which could create a trip hazard.

The witness also found that one of the four anchor points for the 1.2-metre-high safety net placed across the cargo door, while not defective, created the impression of being properly deployed when it could be released if some force had been applied to it.

The safety net, whose function is to act as a warning strap, had been put in place by ground handlers at OHare Airport in Chicago.

In reply to a suggestion by Mr Walker that the safety net was not capable of stopping someone from falling from the aircraft, Mr Power he had carried out tests which showed it could hold a weight of 107 kg.

Counsel for Swissport, Alison Foynes BL, pointed out that the loader was not linked to the cause of death and a nolle prosequi had been entered about it in the related criminal proceedings.

The inquest heard that the width of the loader did not match the width of the aircrafts cargo door and created a gap at one side of the opening.

Under cross-examination by Ms Fynes BL, however, Mr Power accepted that the width of the loader was not a factor in the fatal incident.

A senior representative of Swissport, Sinead Kelly, told the inquest that the company had a robust safety management system in place.

The family of the late Richard Gracey, from left, his children, Aaron, Laura, Nina, Sarah and Kevin and wife Therese (wife centre with blue scarf). Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins

Ms Kelly said its procedures had been changed since Mr Graceys death so that sills of cargo doors should now only be opened from outside an aircraft by the operator of a loader.

She also pointed out that there had been no near miss safety incidents of a similar nature in over 500,000 ground operations since January 2022.

At the opening of the inquest Ms Gracey, who formally identified her husbands body to gardai, told the hearing that he had not been due to work that day.

Ms Gracey said she had last seen her husband on the night before his death when he had been in good form.

Following the inquest, she said she did not believe the fine imposed by the court on Swissport reflected the seriousness of the companys failures to provide a safe work environment.

Ms Gracey said her family were determined to ensure her husbands death ultimately led to changes to prevent a similar event again but her family were disappointed that neither the coroner, Clare Keane, nor the jury had recommended that Boeing should introduce a safety net across all its cargo aircraft.

A Swissport spokesperson said the company hoped the proceedings had brought some level of closure for Mr Graceys family.

The spokesperson said ensuring the health and safety of its employees and aviation customers was its utmost priority and it worked continuously to improve its operating procedures.
Eva Osborne

A man and a woman, both aged in their 20s, have been arrested in Dublin as part of ongoing garda investigations into the activities of an organised crime group in Ronanstown.

Gardai said this criminal group is involved in an ongoing feud in the Ronanstown area of Dublin, which has resulted in pipe bomb and arson attacks, the discharge of firearms, drug dealing, and other serious incidents.

These arrests form part of an ongoing garda investigation aimed at disrupting these criminal elements, gardai said.

The male aged in his 20s was arrested in Dublin City Centre on Tuesday and is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda station in West Dublin.

The female aged in her 20s was arrested in Clondalkin and is currently detained under Section 50, Criminal Justice Act, 2007 at a Garda station in West Dublin.

Gardai said ivestigations are ongoing.
THE SOSAD organisation in Portlaoise is facing a financial crisis and will be forced to close its doors by the end of April if it cannot raise 42,000 to continue providing services to those in need of counselling.

The non-profit making organisation, that has 33 local volunteers provided 108 counselling appointments in just one week at the end of March to people in Portlaoise and its surrounding areas. In the three months since the start of this year it has provided 1,215 sessions.

SOSAD provides professional counselling to people who present with depression, low mood, suicidal ideation, self-harm, relationship difficulties, bereavement or to people who just need someone to listen to them.

Such is the dire financial situation facing the organisation, that the issue was brought before the March meeting of Laois County Council.

Cllr Marie Tuohy asked her fellow councillors to support her urgent call on the Minister for Health Jennifer Carol McNeill and the Minister of State with responsibility to Mental Health Mary Butler to provide interim funding for the suicide prevention organisation SOSAD.

She said: There are 33 local volunteers ready to meet the ever-growing need, but we need to support them in doing so. They need 42,000 by the end of April to keep the life-saving service open. Every intervention is crucial and may be even life-saving and always, hopefully life altering.

The service is in crisis at the moment and unless the interim funding is obtained this serve will end. I do not need to emphasis the possible repercussions of this. Everyone has had some experience in this area, whether directly or indirectly and the unspeakable devastation is causes.

The organisation need 42,000 by the end of April to keep the life-saving service open, said cllr Marie Tuohy.

Cllr Tuohy said: SOSAD exists off funds raised by the general public and the generosity of clubs and organisations who run fundraisers to support them or from people who donate directly. There are no sponsors and no funding from Government. She said that some people in need of counselling are referred to SOSAD by local GPs while some walk in.

She said: There are instances of suggestions from psychiatric services that perhaps a person should call to SOSAD. Cllr Tuohy went on to make an appeal saying: Im asking the community to donate to the GoFundMe page (www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-please-help-to-keep-the-doors-of-sosad-open) which has been set up, but critically, Im asking the Ministers in my motion to act as a matter of urgency.

Mental Health, said cllr Tuohy, has always been the Cinderella of the health service and continues to be. Promised funding levels have never materialised. Mental heath accounts for just 5.7% of the total health spend. It should be at least doubled to meet international standards and best practice. But its never matched with resources, staffing or positions like phycologists and counsellors. The state continues to farm out these services and responsibilities to voluntary and charitable organisations.

She said: Suicidal ideation and mental health crises are not confined to 9am and 5pm, Mondays to Fridays. Theyre 24/7. Timely interventions are needed for those at risk or in trauma.

SOSAD desperately needs the Government to act urgently on this. Lives are at risk. Lives are being lost. Its time for the Government to put its money where its mouth is in terms of mental health and wellbeing. Money cant put a price on a life. Im asking my council colleagues and the public to highlight the plight of SOSAD and to help.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley said; "It appears that mental health is everybody else's problem, bar the Governments, to fund these services properly."

Supporting the motion cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley said SOSAD: Is a vital service for people in our community. It appears that mental health is everybody elses problem, bar the Governments, to fund these services properly. And then the state services are steering people to these voluntary services, knowing quite well that they are not funded services.

Cllr Dwane Stanley said that last year part of some councillors discretionary funding was donated to SOSAD, but this year the Graiguecullen (Municipal District) councillors were told that their discretionary funding cant fund SOSAD any longer. If that is the case we need to go back to the drawing board, because it is our discretionary funds. The word discretionary is there for a reason. That would be a serious knock-back for SOISAD if we couldnt do that.

Cllr Aisling Moran said that councillors discretionary funds were used on a number of items, such as public lights, roads or footpaths and that one section funds could go towards community projects.

"We all know somebody, family or friend who has suffered with their mental health," - Cllr Aisling Moran

She said: To me, community is people. The money is used by local and community grows on projects, so the council dont have to do them. The councils chief executive Michael Rainey said he would not speak to the motion but said that a council official is looking at discretionary funding and what it can be used for.

SOSAD to me is community, said cllr Dwane Stanley, because the people living in our community are directly benefiting from the services they provide.

Cllr Moran said: We all know somebody, family or friend who has suffered with their mental health. Suicide is the biggest killer of people under the age of 35 and the biggest killer of men under the age of 50. SOSAD is a very good organisation and needs to be supported.

Cllr Tuohy said that SOSAD has been in operation for the past 17 years and operates out of seven centres around the country. It has 15 full time employees and provides services to people in 28 counties as well as operating a 24/7 phone helpline on 1800 901 909. The contact number for enquires regarding counselling at the Portlaoise Centre is 083 029 1706.

She said: This crisis SOSAD is facing, is hopefully a once off and the HSE comes up with some funding to keep it going.

Cllr Tommy Mulligan said: "Unfortunately, mental health services in the country has been overwhelmed for years."

Cllr Tommy Mulligan said: Unfortunately, mental health services in the country has been overwhelmed for years. The reason why SOSAD was set up was because the help wasnt there from the Government. A great group of people, volunteers and counsellors came together and offered these services. They are doing the job for the Government. It really makes sense that SOSAD is respected and we support them. Its such an important issue that affects every family and every circle of friends. Unfortunately, its a really tough time for a young person growing up in Ireland today.
A PORTLAOISE woman who was brutally raped by her uncle as a child has secured strong backing from Sinn Fein, as she campaigns for stricter conditions for sex offenders on their release from prison.

Laois Senator Maria McCormack and justice spokesperson Matt Carthy TD were among the party representatives who met with Sonya Stokes at Leinster House on 3 April, together with Sonyas friends and fellow child abuse survivors Leona OCallaghan and Sheneda Daly.

Now a mother-of-five whose youngest child is eight, Sonya was repeatedly raped from the age of seven by her uncle Joseph Hogan, who was released from the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise last month after serving ten years of a 15-year jail sentence. He returned to his native Limerick city that day.

Originally from Limerick but living in Portlaoise for many years, Sonya (47) has been campaigning since Hogans release for stringent conditions regarding high-risk convicted sex offenders, including electronic tagging.

Following the meeting in Leinster House, a party spokesperson said: Sinn Fein had a very constructive meeting with survivors of childhood sexual abuse today. We listened to harrowing stories from the women and Sinn Fein spokesperson on justice, Matt Carthy, has committed to work on the issues which they raised.

In particular, Sinn Fein will work to bring forward proposals to better support victims, as they seek justice through the judicial process, and for a more robust and victim-centred approach to the release and monitoring of sexual offenders.

Sonya waived her anonymity in 2015 when her uncle was jailed for repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting her at his Limerick city home between 1984 and 1988, when she was aged from seven to 11.

Together with Leona and Sheneda, she is urgently seeking stricter release conditions for child sex offenders, particularly in relation to their accommodation to ensure that they have no access to children. The conditions would include mandatory electronic tagging following their release, so that their whereabouts is known at all times.

The survivors also believe it should be a criminal offence for convicted child rapists to live or work in the same city, town, village or area as their victims, following release from prison.

In a statement following their meeting with Sinn Fein, Sonya said: We stand together to fight for better treatment of survivors and real changes in the system, not just for ourselves but for countless others who have suffered and continue to fight for justice.

Victims Voices, the support group I started, is leading the fight for these reforms. Along with the trauma support led by Leona and the Survivors Side by Side page started by Sheneda, we have built a strong community. We stand together as survivors and fighters, determined to make a difference.

Sonya said that, in the meeting with Sinn Fein representatives, the trio spoke on behalf of countless victims and survivors, asking for real action, not just promises.

She said: We were glad to see Sinn Fein take a serious and supportive approach and, for the first time, we felt truly heard. As I told the representatives, actions speak louder than words. Survivors need real changes, not empty promises. Matt Carthy agreed, saying he cant make guarantees but will do everything in his power to push for reforms. Sinn Fein plans to look at how other European countries handle these issues, to see what can be applied in Ireland.

One of the main issues discussed at the meeting was electronic tagging for offenders out on bail. While there are concerns about human rights laws, Sinn Fein is looking at possible ways to put stricter limits on alleged sex offenders awaiting trial. Other ideas include automatic protection orders and barring orders to keep offenders away from victims homes and workplaces. Victims could also be provided with written guides, to help them understand the legal process and the support available for their mental health.

Sonya observed: The system is badly broken. One of the biggest problems is that police and agencies dont communicate across borders. My abuser, Joseph Nipper Hogan from Rose Court, Keyes Park, Limerick, was on bail in Ireland in 1974 when he fled to the UK and reoffended. He later returned to Ireland and abused me between the ages of seven and 11. If the system had worked properly, he could have been stopped before he hurt me and others.

Hogan was found guilty of three counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and three counts of indecent assault on Sonya. He was sentenced to a total of 33 years but, because the sentences were concurrent, he received a 15-year term and served 10, plus 18 months of supervision after release, which Sonya describes as a huge betrayal.

She said: A dangerous, high-risk sex offender should never have been given such an easy way out. I have asked the State for a written apology because, if they had done their job properly, I wouldnt have been abused in the first place.

Hogan is now under Probation Service supervision and is on the sex offenders register, which gives him 24 hours to notify gardai of his whereabouts.

He had already been jailed in the 1970s for assaulting other young girls, in both the UK and Ireland. After abusing Sonya, he went on to molest other children and was convicted in 1995 and 1998 of other indecent assaults.

Sonya says that Hogans record proves he is a threat to children and the community and he should not be permitted to live in any form of accommodation where he could have access to children.

She said: Our main focus now is making sure offenders are properly monitored. We need probation officers to keep track of them and make sure they arent housed in hotels, near schools, parks, or tourist areas, places where vulnerable people are at risk. The State must do better at protecting people.

The women are also calling for special accommodation facilities for high-risk sex offenders, so that they will be in a controlled environment where they can have their rights, without putting the public in danger.

Sonya said: They must be held accountable for life. Too often, these predators serve short sentences and are then released back into society, with little to no oversight. A predator does not stop being a predator just because their sentence is over. Survivors live with the consequences of their actions forever, so why shouldnt they?

She added: We will not stop fighting. The trauma caused by these predators has ruined lives, childhoods stolen, families broken, people turning to addiction and suicide. We demand recognition, justice, and real change. A predator will always be a predator, but survivors will always carry the pain.

A further meeting is planned with Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, Senator McCormack and Deputy Carthy as work continues in an effort to bring about legislative reform regarding pre-trial, release and post-release conditions for sex offenders.
On 7 April Costa Ricas Attorney General Carlo Diaz filed a formal accusation before the supreme court (CSJ) against President Rodrigo Chaves and Culture Minister Jorge Rodriguez Vives, charging them with corruption.

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On 7 April Judgestepped down from Argentinas supreme court after the senate last week rejected his controversial appointment by President

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China raises equity investment cap by insurance funds

Xinhua) 10:38, April 08, 2025

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's financial regulatory authority on Tuesday announced measures to raise the cap on equity investments by insurance funds.

The adjustment, outlined in a circular issued by the National Financial Regulatory Administration, aims to broaden investment channels for insurance funds and inject more equity capital into the real economy.

The circular encouraged greater support for equity investments in the country's strategic emerging industries and fostering new quality productive forces.

The administration said it will continue to refine regulations on insurance fund utilization to enhance the sector's role as a source of long-term, patient capital for the country's economic and social development.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
On 7 April the national umbrella organisation for Brazilian indigenous rights groups Articulacao dos Povos Indigenas do Brasil (Apib) began the 2025 edition of the Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL), an annual series of events and demonstrations in the capital Brasilia.

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On 7 April Mexicos Presidentexpressed her condolences for two photojournalists who were killed when a decorative structure collapsed at a music festival in Mexico City (CDMX) two days previously.

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St. Luke's Hospital Richard Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township seen on June 26, 2024. Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com

Three St. Lukes University Health Network hospitals were ranked among the top 100 hospitals in the United States, according to healthcare consultant Premier, Inc.

The rankings were determined by PINC AI, the technology and services platform of Premier, according to a news release from St. Lukes. The top 100 list was published by Fortune magazine.

St. Lukes Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township was recognized for the seventh time among the 20 best teaching hospitals.

St. Lukes Upper Bucks Campus and St. Lukes Warren Campus were each named to the list for the first time in the small community hospital category.

This is the 11th time in a row and the 13th time overall that St. Lukes hospitals have made the list, the news release says.

Thats a remarkable run that speaks to the fact that our Network is among the very best nationwide, St. Lukes Chief Quality Officer Donna Sabol said.

The 100 Top Hospitals ranking has been conducted annually since 1993.

PINC AI evaluates nearly 2,600 acute care, non-federal hospitals in the U.S., recognizing excellence in patient outcomes and quality as well as operational efficiency, financial health and community impact, the release says.

The ranking methodology is outlined on the Premier website. For the full list, visit pinc-ai.com/100-top-hospitals/winners/

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com.
A former Bethlehem Police Department sergeant died Friday in a crash caused by a drunken driver in South Carolina, city police and published reports say.

Steven Marshall, who served the Bethlehem Police Department for over two decades before retiring in July 2010, died from injuries suffered in the accident in Myrtle Beach, Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard told lehighvalleylive.com.

Marshall was driving a motorcycle around 1:30 p.m. Friday when a Cadillac SUV struck him on Sea Mountain Highway, near Morgan Ave., in North Myrtle Beach, Willard said.

Marshall was taken to the Grand Strand Medical Center in Myrtle Beach, where he was pronounced dead at 6:39 p.m. Friday, Willard said.

The driver, 36-year-old Kayla Tisdale of Little River, South Carolina, was charged on Saturday with felony DUI resulting in death and hit-and-run resulting in death, according to Horry County court records.

Court records say she had a child in the vehicle. Tisdale also faces a child endangerment charge, and was cited for motor vehicle and traffic offenses, including a child passenger restraint violation, according to Horry County court records.

Tisdale on Friday was arraigned, denied bail and sent to the J. Reuben Long Detention Center, where she remained Tuesday, online court records show.

A public information officer for the South Carolina Highway Patrol and representatives of the Horry County Coroners Office could not be reached for additional information Tuesday morning.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol continues to investigate the accident. Horry County Fire Rescue responded to the crash.

Bethlehem Police mourned Marshalls loss on Facebook on Monday.

His dedication, professionalism, and commitment during his more than two decades of service left an indelible mark on our department and all who had the privilege of working alongside him, the post says.

Marshall joined the department in July 1988. He worked with the departments Canine Unit by the early 1990s. He also served as president of the Bethlehem police union.

Marshall went on to serve as a campus officer for Moravian College in Bethlehem. In June 2013, Marshall became chief of police at DeSales University in Upper Saucon Township.

Bethlehem Police Capt. Nicholas Lechman told lehighvalleylive.com Marshall retired with his wifin Myrtle Beach.

Services will be private and pending in South Carolina, Lechman said.

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
Natalia Graces story is being explored in the Hulu dramatized series Good American Family, but does she document her real life on social media?

Natalia Grace seems to be inactive on Instagram at the moment. While she used to post on the social media platform, links to her past posts  like when she thanked fans for their support and prayers in January 2024  now navigate to an unavailable page.

Her Instagram page, which has the handle @tilly.0814, is still active, but all her posts have been deleted. The same is true of her TikTok page.

Natalia Graces Instagram bio reads, nat. Phil 4:13. stay strong, stay true.

Natalia Grace seems to have taken a step back from the public eye after sharing her story in the Investigation Discovery docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks and The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter.

During a January 2025 interview with People, Natalia Grace said she doesnt like being known for the hardships shes endured.

Thats now who I am, thats just what happened to me, she said.

Now 21-years-old, Natalia Grace was about 7 when she came to the United States after being adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett. The Barnetts later claimed that Natalia, who has a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, was an adult woman pretending to be a child.

READ MORE: Where are Kristine and Michael Barnett Now? An update on the true story behind Good American Family

In 2011, the Barnetts successfully sought a court order to legally change Natalia Graces birth year from 2003 to 1989. A DNA test conducted by the company TruDiagnostic later disproved their theory, and they faced legal repercussions for abandoning Natalia Grace when she was still a child.

Michael was found not guilty of three counts of neglect and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent in 2022. The following year, the charges against Kristine were dismissed.

Neither Natalia Grace nor the Barnetts were involved with the creation of the Hulu series based on their story, Good American Family. Imogen Faith Reid plays Natalia Grace, while Kristine and Michael are played by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass, respectively.

READ MORE: Who is Imogen Faith Reid? 5 things to know about the actress playing Natalia Grace in Good American Family

Is Imogen Faith Reid from Good American Family on Instagram?

Imogen Faith Reid portrays Natalia Grace in Hulu's "Good American Family." YouTube/Hulu

Yes, Reids Instagram handle is @imogenfaith__. In a January post, she called Good American Family an amazing experience.

I feel so grateful to have been apart of it, she continued.

New episodes of Good American Family premiere on Hulu on Wednesdays.

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Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips/.
The Consumer and Competition Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of South East Radio by Laois' local radio station Midlands 103.

The commercial radio station, which broadcasts across Laois, Offaly and Westmeath, announced last month that it had agreed to buy S.E.R.B. Radio Limited, which operates the local radio licence for County Wexford.

Speaking at the time, Will Faulkner, Managing Director of Midlands 103 said he was committed to preserving the local ethos that has made South East Radio a trusted voice in County Wexford.

"Radio is an innovative industry, and we believe the combined expertise of both teams will create an even stronger offering for listeners and commercial partners alike, while ensuring Midlands 103 and South East Radio retain their unique identities," he said.

READ ALSO: IN PICTURES: Laois great grandmother celebrates 105th birthday

Midlands 103 currently has a weekly listenership of more than 105,000 across Laois, Offaly and Westmeath while South East Radio has more than 70,000 weekly listeners.

In a decision, published on Monday, the CCPC said it is satisfied the proposed acquisition "will not substantially lessen competition in any market for goods or services in the State."

The decision of the CCPC will be now forwarded to the Minister for Arts, Culture, Communications, Media and Sport, Patrick O'Donovan and the acquisition is likely to be formally completed in the coming weeks.

Midlands 103, whose main studios are located in Tullamore, is part of the Tindle Group, which has a number of media businesses in Ireland, the UK and the Channel Islands.
Kirby Engineering Group has been granted permission for a major expansion at its Junction 17 Enterprise Park base in Portlaoise.

An Irish company with a global presence, Kirby has become a global leader in Electrical and Mechanical manufacturing since its foundation in Limerick in 1964. It now employs 1,800 people directly.

In November 2024, the company officially announced the creation of 50 jobs when it opened its 8m Portlaoise base which is designed to produce components for projects across Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe.

Due to the success of the development, Kirby has decided to consolidate some of its operations to its Offsite Manufacturing Site(OSM) in Portlaoise.

Kirby have committed to the Portlaoise area through the original siting of their OSM HUB and the success of same has led to the requirement to immediately expand and further enhance the delivery capacity of the site, planning documents lodged with Laois County Council stated.

They plan to turn the Portlaoise base into a purpose-built central administration, training and manufacturing centre which will produce prefabricated modules for distribution to the many Kirby sites continent-wide to improve quality and reduce on-site installation time.

The application, which has been approved subject to 18 conditions, sought permission to construct a light industrial unit with a footprint of 2,976 m2 plus associated roads, carpark, and service yard to the north and adjoining their existing facility.

The proposed expansion shall house similar operations to the existing facility with the fabrication of modular service supplied systems. The proposed extension shall match the existing in line and level.

Kirby intends to cover the roof of the development with solar panels. They are also looking to provide 109 car parking spaces on the 8.44 hectare site.

The application also seeks planning retention for an existing ancillary service yard and landscaped berms measuring 6540m2 located to the West and adjoining the original development, the plan stated.

Kirby provides full mechanical and electrical contracting services as well as specialist high voltage (HV) and medium voltage (MV) design and construction services to clients across many varied sectors in including Industrial, Commercial and Renewables across the continent of Europe.

On-site construction activity is fraught with risk from health and safety, cost quality and schedule perspectives. To combat these risks, the industry is increasingly developing models by which large parts of the project can be prefabricated off-site and delivered as a single entity for installation of minimising the on-site activity.

This form of construction is particularly suited to mechanical and electrical elements where full modules may be constructed and fitted out in a controlled environment where quality and safety can be more easily managed."

READ ALSO: Laois home seized by CAB to be auctioned

Kirby Group Engineering have, as previously noted, pursued this form of construction, and to consolidate their approach to same completed the development of an OSM (Offsite manufacturing Unit) at J17 Business Park in early 2024, Kirby stated.

The plans were approved by Laois County Council subject to 18 conditions on April 2.
A man who told gardai to f**k off was warned he was going to prison if he didnt get treatment.

Gordon Bergin (49) of The Lodge, Danganroe, Castletown, pleaded guilty to being intoxicated and engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour at Ballycleary, Castletown on March 11 last.

Garda Digan said the defendant was having a dispute with his sister when gardai arrived. He said the defendant then became abusive towards gardai and his sister.

He told them to f**k off before and after arrest, Garda Digan said. He said the man was heavily intoxicated.

Solicitor Josephine Fitzpatrick said the kernel of the issue here, as it always is, is alcohol.

He went quietly once you told him he was under arrest, she said.

The sitting of Portlaoise District Court was told the defendant had 53 previous convictions.

Judge Andrew Cody noted the man had 12 for public order in the past two years.

Ms Fitzpatrick said the goal for the defendant was to get residential treatment and she has been assisting him in trying to access treatment. She said there is a waiting list and he was told to keep phoning every day.

Judge Cody told the man that he has run out of road with the court. He released him on bail to June 5 to finalise the case and said he would be going to prison if he hadn't secured residential treatment.

Judge Cody also warned the man that he would end up in prison if he committed any offences in the meantime.
Asking prices for Laois properties have held steady in recent months, but the high prices and a record low supply and continued surge coupled with the uncertainty of US tarriffs has made the situation risky for buyers according to the Bank of Ireland Chief Economist.

The prices of residential properties in Laois have stayed flat during the past three months, according to the latest MyHome Property Price Report.

The report for Q1 2025, in association with Bank of Ireland, shows that the median asking price for a property in the county is still 215,000.

This means prices have risen by 5,000 compared with this time last year.

Asking prices for a 3-bed semi-detached house in the county remained the same over the quarter at 215,000.

This means that prices in the segment have risen by 5,000 compared to this time last year.

Meanwhile, the asking price for a 4-bed semi-detached house in Laois stayed steady over the quarter at 249,500. This price is up by 14,500 compared to this time last year.

There were just 106 properties for sale in Laois at the end of March 2025  a decrease of 17% over the quarter.

The average time for a property to go sale agreed in the county after being placed up for sale now stands at over three and a half months.

MyHome map showing the annual price rise in Laois and all other counties since 2024.

Giving a national picture is the author of the report, Conall MacCoille, Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland.

He cites the risk of job losses by mortgage holders, due to the US EU tariff war.

Record low supply and continued surging demand are still driving the property market, but the risk here is that Irelands relatively thin, illiquid housing market, reliant on those at the top of the income distribution could be exposed to a sudden negative economic shock, such as the risk of a US-EU tariff war, especially if it were to disproportionately hit employment in the high-paid multinational sector.

He said, however, that in the absence of a trade war, all signs point to further growth in prices.

Meanwhile, Mr MacCoille warned of increasingly stretched affordability in the market.

Through 2024 Irelands residential property price index rose by 8.7%, stretching affordability versus the 5.6% pay growth recorded over the same period.

The average Irish residential property transaction of 404,000 was an eight-times multiple of average annual earnings of 51,000. This is the most stretched Irish house prices have become relative to income since 2009.

Read More: Laois home seized by Criminal Assets Bureau in auction at bargain price

Joanne Geary is Managing Director of MyHome.

As the threat of a trade war with the US looms, our reliance on certain sectors of the economy come into sharp focus.

The housing market is vulnerable to any economic headwinds, so it is imperative that the Government limits the impact if at all possible while also continuing to ramp up housing supply, Ms Geary said.
The sunny April weather has raised everybody's spirits after a long winter but the end is in sight although there will be a few more days of the splendid conditions to soak up.

Met Eireann's latest forecast says the last week has been significantly drier than normal for the time of year in Laois and right across Ireland.

Some Met Eireann monitored weather stations recorded zero rainfall. With high pressure expect to stay in charge, the forecaster says most of the coming week will be mostly dry.

However, Met Eireann's farming section warns there is a "signal" for more in the way of "unsettled weather developing". It says conditions will "deteriorate" over the weekend with wetter weather on the way. The forecaster warns that between "10mm and 30mm of rain is expected widely".

But there is plenty of dry and sunny conditions in the forecast before the weather breaks with Met Eireann's national outlook saying it will remain dry and sunny for the working week with high pressure bringing plenty of sunshine.

More forecast details below:

Dry & sunny each day this week with temperatures in the mid to high teens



Feeling cooler along eastern & southern coastal areas due to light to moderate easterly breezes



Stay updated daily

https://t.co/sFyGizB5AS pic.twitter.com/AnASXqqjgh  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) April 7, 2025



National Forecast issued at 4.35pm on Tuesday, April 8.

Tuesday: Dry and mostly sunny for the rest of the day with light easterly or variable breezes. Continuing dry and clear overnight with patches of mist and fog returning. A touch of grass frost is possible with lowest temperatures of 1 to 5 degrees in a light easterly or variable breeze.

Wednesday: Another dry and sunny day with mist and fog patches clearing through the morning. Highest temperatures of 14 o 20 degrees, once again coolest near eastern and southern coasts in a light easterly breeze.

A dry and clear night. Some mist and fog developing once again in light easterly or variable winds. Lowest temperatures of 2 to 7 degrees.

Thursday: Remaining dry and sunny, though a little hazy at times. Highest temperatures of 16 to 20 degrees in light variable winds. Areas of mist and fog will develop overnight, with some dense pockets possible. Otherwise remaining clear and dry. Lowest temperatures of 3 to 7 degrees in light westerly or variable winds.

READ ALSO: Fire warning issued for LAOIS

Friday: Mist and fog will clear for most early on but fog may linger near coasts. Generally a dry and sunny day but duller where fog persists. Highest temperatures will range from 13 degrees in the northwest to 19 degrees in the south in light southwesterly winds.

Saturday: A foggy start in places on Saturday. Another dry day but cloudier than of late, particularly across the west and north. Temperatures will fall back slightly with highs of 13 to 17 degrees in light to moderate southwest winds.

Sunday: Turning more unsettled from Sunday onwards with showers and rain making their return. Cooler too with temperatures falling back to near average.
The Portlaoise Rotary Club is spearheading the first Irish edition of an initiative which will allow people with disabilities to experience the thrill of skydiving.

The Laois club has teamed up with the Portlaoise Irish Wheelchair Association, the VIP Hub for visually impaired and blind and physical disabilities and the Naas Rotary Club on the Handitandem community project.

To help make the dream a reality, the Portlaoise Club is inviting sponsorship from local and national businesses.

The goal of Handitandem, which began in the French town of Matha, is to provide a skydiving experience for people with disabilities. It offers a unique opportunity to promote empowerment, independence, and inclusion where they may not get this chance in life.

Portlaoise Rotary Club say that by making adventurous experiences accessible, physical and social barriers can be broken down to show that everyoneregardless of abilitycan share in thrilling, life-changing activities.

The club says skydiving encourages confidence, fosters resilience, and provides an unforgettable sense of freedom, helping participants and their communities redefine whats possible.

The President of Portlaoise Rotary, Maeve Furey said the club had learnt about the initiative from a Rotary club in France and was very excited to bring the initiative to Ireland for the first time.

I first learned about Handitandem on a visit to France and through my contact with Club Rotary de Matha in Charente-Maritime, who are the originators of the idea. We then established a contact club relationship with them and invited them to Portlaoise. Once our members heard about the positive benefits the experience had on participants, they were just so determined to make it happen here and now were doing that with the invaluable support of our friends in Naas Rotary.

The aim of the project is simple  to offer people - who due to their physical disabilities would not normally have the opportunity to do so - the chance to skydive in a tandem jump. Although it's definitely not for me, I gather from those who have done it that a parachute jump is an exhilarating never to be forgotten experience. Our friends in Rotary de Matha have stories of disabled people who got weeks of pain relief after jumping due to the positive adrenaline effects on them. So, we see great potential benefits for people both mentally and physically in this initiative, she said.

READ ALSO: Era ends for Friends of Portlaoise hospital

While the final date will depend on the weather, organisers are targeting a day in late May for the jump.

Portlaoise Rotary Club launched the initiative at the Irish Parachute Club in Clonbullogue, Co Offaly which is also hosting the event. The launch was attended by Parachute Club members, the Irish Wheelchair Association, members of Portlaoise Rotary Club and also the District Governor of Rotary Ireland. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Pictured at the launch of Handitandem at Clonbullogue airfield are Fergus McDonnell (Irish Parachute Club); Kas Jatkowska, Matt Kennelly (Portlaoise Rotary),Derek Griffiths (Assistant Governor Rotary Ireland, Maeve Furey, (President of Portlaoise Rotary Club) Seamus Parle (District Governor Rotary Ireland) Coleman Brouder (Irish Parachute Club), Michele Furey, Naas Rotary.

The Skydive will take place in late May. The date has not been finalised and will be subject to factors such as weather and plane and Tandem Masters availability, so some flexibility will be needed.

Costs for the project will include up to 400 per person so the organisers are seeking sponsorship.

"Your business can help us make a real difference for the people who need it most," said the organisers.

National and local sponsors are invited to get on board to get 10 to 15 people in the air, with each skydiver coming from either the Laois of Kildare Rotary Clubs.

"It's a win-win: an incredible opportunity for the individuals, meaningful exposure for your business, and the chance to be part of something truly special," said the appeal. MORE BELOW PICTURE

Pictured at the launch: Derek Griffiths (Assistant Governor Rotary Ireland) Maeve Furey (President of Portlaoise Rotary Club) Seamus Parle (District Governor Rotary Ireland) and Colman Brouder (Irish Parachute Club).

There are still some spaces available for participants in the upcoming tandem event.

The District Governor of Rotary Ireland Seamus Parle urged people to participate.

At the moment through the Irish Wheelchair Association we have about half a dozen people who are interested in jumping but we are also encouraging people with other disabilities to join us  some people who are vision impaired have already expressed their interest  so hopefully we can get the number of participants up to 12. Of course, initiatives like this require funding and thats why we are looking for one main national sponsor as well as a number of local business sponsors who want to show their support for our skydivers," he said.

Participants, sponsors and anyone who wants to get involved with the Portlaoise Rotary Club can get in touch if you're interested at portlaoiserotary@gmail.com or find them on Facebook MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Pictured at the launch are Derek Griffiths (Assistant Governor Rotary Ireland and Gerry Shinners (Naas Rotary).

Rotary Ireland says it is always welcoming new members, whether you're a business professional, retiree, home-maker, student or at any stage of your life. If youre interested in business and social networking, personal development, and making a positive impact in your community, consider joining your local Rotary club.
Early Childhood Ireland is thrilled to announce that an incredible 11,100 was raised by Early Years and School Age Care settings in Kildare during National Pyjama Day 2024.

Over 3200 excited children and educators in 51 Early Years and School Age Care settings across Kildare donned their favourite pyjamas to take part in this unique fundraiser in late November 2024. Through teddy bear picnics, sing-alongs, and lots of storytelling fun, their generous families and settings raised vital funds to make a meaningful difference for other children across Ireland.

This year, the funds raised will go towards supporting Sensational Kids, an award-winning social enterprise that works with children who have sensory processing challenges, and Early Childhood Irelands Eco-Emotions project, which empowers educators and parents with the tools they need to support children in caring for themselves, their communities, and the planet.

Since the first National Pyjama Day in 2003, over 4.5 million has been raised for a host of charitable causes that support babies and children all over Ireland.

Commenting on the success of National Pyjama Day, Teresa Heeney, CEO of Early Childhood Ireland, said, Were thrilled to announce the significant funds raised in Kildare during National Pyjama Day 2024, a campaign that continues to inspire generosity and community spirit. These contributions will create lasting, positive change for children, and were immensely grateful to our members in Kildare for making the day so special for the children and their generous families.

Karen Leigh, CEO of Sensational Kids, said, We are thrilled that Sensational Kids was selected as a charity partner for National Pyjama Day 2024. This wonderful initiative embodies the spirit of children helping children, making a real impact in young lives. Thank you to Early Childhood Ireland and all who took part for helping to create inclusive learning spaces for all children to thrive.

Chief Executive of Community Foundation Ireland, Denise Charlton, commented, National Pyjama Day is a unique coming together of children, parents, and members of Early Childhood Ireland to have a positive impact on children's lives. A huge showing of generosity that makes a real difference for the youngest among us. All of us at the Community Foundation are incredibly proud to contribute to this partnership.

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The locally-based District Court judge has delivered a broadside against the Irish Prison Service over the easy access to drugs in places of detention.

And, commented Judge Desmond Zaidan, there is a dramatic shortage of services available within jails to aid the rehabilitation and recovery of prisoners.

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He made the remarks after hearing that a 24 year old Clane man with diagnosed mental health issues was able to get illicit drugs while in custody.

The man was being prosecuted following incidents in Clane.

Scott Robinson, 24, whose address was given as 17 Central Park Avenue, Clane was prosecuted for criminal damage at Naas garda station on March 19 as well as two breaches of the Public Order Act in the Clane the day before.

Sgt Mary Meade told Naas District Court the defendant was in a highly intoxicated condition on the roof of a Londis store shortly after 10pm for about 20 minutes.

He then jumped from a height of about 10 feet to the ground before going into a nearby pub. He was abusive to gardai after he was detained and urinated all over a garda station cell area.

The court was told he has a previous conviction for threatening to kill or cause harm to a garda.

Solicitor Joe Coonan said the defendant, who did not attend in person but appeared via videolink from Cloverhill Prison, wants to improve his life, has access to employment and wants to undertake a course.

The solicitor said the man has had issues and diagnoses, including for ADHD, and had been in the care of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, for a time.

Mr Coonan added he wants the man to have access to a psychiatrist and to have him liaise with an addiction treatment centre.

The defendant, both of whose parents attended the hearing, told the court he started taking drugs at 11 years old. He said his parents were very good to him and did what they could

His mother said she and her husband were unaware he was using cannabis until a friend told her, because they had never been around drugs and knew nothing about them. She said his drug use escalated and Tusla had their son for a while but said they didnt know what to do with him.

She added: The only thing I got was a key worker through Tusla.

She said for a time the son had to be put out of the house and said she is trying to get him to use coping mechanisms when he comes across very difficult situations, such as the premature death of a friend which he experienced - rather than using drugs.

She said it was her experience that in prison there is a ten month delay to see a psychologist, a 12 months delay to see a psychiatrist and there are two counsellors serving three prisons.

How can anyone come through prison better, ? she asked.

Judge Zaidan said prisons should be drug free and this case is a damning indictment of the State.

We seriously have to question what is going on. If prisons are weapon free why cant the authorities make an effort to make prison drug free. Vulnerable young people are getting drugs in prison under the watchful eye of the state said the judge.

He also asked what kind of evil person gives drugs to an 11 year old.

He said the drug dealers rarely come before him but people like the defendant who use drugs and break the law often do.

Judge Zaidan imposed a nine months custody term for criminal damage, taking the Public Order Act breaches into consideration. He said the defendant needs treatment as an in-patient, adding that he will have to meet those who will help him half way or his offending will get far more serious.
Liveline heard a heated debate as Joe Duffy hosts the question 'Would you pay a premium to be buried closer to Wolfe Tone?'

The cemetery, Wolfe Tone Private Lawn Cemetery near the town of Sallins, Co Kildare are charging up to 12,500 for a premium burial plot.

A spokesperson for Wolfe Tone Private Lawn Cemetery said: "This tranquil cemetery provides a peaceful and reflective environment where families can honour their departed members amidst the historical significance of Wolfe Tones burial tomb.

"Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the 1798 Rebellion and regarded as the father of Irish republicanism, proving to be a vital link to the history of the nation of Ireland."

The price per plot ranges from 5,000 to 12,500 based on proximity to Wolfe Tone's grave excluding VAT.

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Eamon Heffernan, told Liveline: "I feel it is a bit of a marketing ploy to get more money out of the people and it is exploiting Tone's legacy. He stood for social justice and equality and respect. I think it is not right what they are doing. It is disrespectful to our Fenian dead, to use that man, that great great Fenian especially with what he stood for."

An administer of the cemetery and a representative of Setanta Solicitors said: "It is a development that is needed for the locality. The population in Bodenstown continues to grow and with that comes a need for services such as a graveyard. When it was launched we reached out to the local authority and we are trying to work with them to make plots available to locals for plots at a reduced rate but we have not have the engagement from them. The pricing is set by vertue of the demand, there is a national monument there and there is a price there for that."

According to Kildare County Council, a burial plot in a cemetery run by the council will cost between 1,100 and 2,452 depending on if it is a single or double plot or if the grave is newer.
An Aontu Clane LEA representative has claimed that Derrinturn, one of the most dangerous villages in the district, has lost half its gardai.

John Bryan has escalated calls for greater Garda resourcing at Derrinturn Garda Station, Kildare, sending a formal letter to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, Chief Superintendent Michael Buckley, and Minister for Justice Jim OCallaghan TD.

This follows concerns raised by Mr. Bryan, and subsequently by councillors, at a recent meeting of the Clane-Maynooth Municipal District.

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Mr Bryan outlined a significant decline in Garda presence in Derrinturn over the past decade, despite increases in Garda numbers at both county and district levels.

Currently, County Kildare has 432 Gardai, with 111 stationed in the Leixlip District. Of these, only five are based in Derrinturn  just 1.16% of the countys Gardai and 4.50% of the districts, Mr. Bryan stated.

In contrast, Derrinturn had eight Gardai in 2015, representing 2.56% of the countys Gardai and 10.13% of the districts. This downward trend has had a visible and negative impact on public safety and Garda visibility in the area.

Mr. Bryan further noted that Derrinturn has consistently maintained only 4-5 Gardai in recent years, with no meaningful increase in staffing and even a loss of Gardai despite County Kildare seeing a parallel increase in Gardai.

Its clear that Derrinturn is being overlooked in terms of Garda resource allocation, he said. This is despite the fact that the village is repeatedly labelled as one of the most dangerous in the district.

The statistics, he argues, reflect a disproportionate allocation of Gardai, with Derrinturns share steadily declining while other parts of the district benefit from increased resourcing.

This isnt a matter of Garda shortages  its about how those Gardai are being allocated, Bryan added.

Derrinturn has been left without the staffing levels required to deter crime and keep residents safe. As Garda numbers have dropped, crime has surged.

In his letter to officials, Mr. Bryan wrote: I respectfully urge you to address the urgent need for increased Garda resourcing in Derrinturn  including both additional personnel and extended station opening hours  to ensure our community receives the protection and support it urgently needs and deserves. I look forward to communicating with you further on the issue.

Mr. Bryan also noted that, following consultation with local residents, a community meeting is being considered to give voice to public concerns and discuss potential responses.

Derrinturn deserves to be properly allocated in terms of Garda resources and our residents deserve to feel safe in their community  I will continue to raise this issue and want to give members of the community a means to voice their concerns through a public forum.
Monday 8th April 2025, marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of Emer OLoughlin at Ballybornagh, Tubber, Co. Clare.

Gardai are renewing their appeal for information on a man who they believe is still alive and could help with the investigation, named John Griffin, or also known as Fozzie, at the time.

On the 8th April 2005, human remains were discovered in a mobile home close to where Emer OLoughlin lived with her boyfriend at Ballybornagh in Tubber.

The mobile home, which belonged to John Griffin, had been completely destroyed by fire. Human remains discovered inside were later identified as being Emers.

On the 19th May 2010, investigating Gardai exhumed her remains, which were then removed to University Hospital Galway where forensic anthropology tests were conducted. The tests indicated that Emer had died a violent death, and as a result the investigation was upgraded to that of murder.

Investigating Gardai are hopeful that the public can assist with efforts to trace John Griffin, formerly of the Mervue area of Galway City. The last confirmed sighting of him was on the Aran Island of Inis Mor.

Gardai believe that John Griffin may have information that will assist them and are eager to interview him as part of the investigation.

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This year is the 20th year since Emers death and her family are still struggling to come to terms with her loss and are asking for your assistance in order to bring them closure. If you believe you maybe in a position to bring closure and get justice for them, Gardai would like to hear from you.

Be assured you will be treated with sensitivity and compassion by the investigation team.

Investigating Gardai believe that John Griffin is still alive and at the time of his disappearance, he was assisted by a person or persons unknown in leaving the island of Inis Mor.

Gardai have never received a Missing Person report in respect of John Griffin.

Extensive searches were conducted along the coastline following the finding of his clothing, however he has never been sighted nor has his body ever been recovered.

John Griffin is described as being 180cm in height (5ft 11inches), and now 57 years of age.

He is of a slight build and bald on the top of his head. He often sported a beard, which was shaved off on occasion. He has a distinctive Egyptian Eye of Horus tattoo on his throat area. He speaks with a local accent.

Anyone with information can contact Gort Garda Station on 091 636400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
Guests heading to Center Parcs Longford Forest for a mid-term of summer holiday this year have been warned against misusing day passes.

People booked in for an extended stay at the hugely popular Longford attraction can bring friends or family to join them for a day only with the handy day passes. The day passes used to be open to the general public at Center Parcs resorts in the UK but were halted due to demand and crowds.

Despite the stipulation that people should only book day passes for family and friends, the facility has had to issue a warning after reports of people selling day passes on Facebook and other social media.

A guest can add the day pass to their booking before providing the personal details and car registration of their family and friends joining them, but it appears the function is being abused.

In an update on their website, Center Parcs Ireland say: "Day visitor passes are only available for close family and friends and not available to sell to the general public.

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"Guests found to be actively selling day visitor passes on social media or other channels will be asked to leave the resort without a refund."

People genuinely booking day passes are also being advised that they are limited and to add them to their booking as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
The Taoiseach has pushed back against whether the Government was partly to blame for a litany of failures on the use of non-medical grade springs in child spinal surgeries.

The fallout is continuing following a report by Irelands health watchdog, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), into the use of wholly inappropriate springs in three spinal surgeries, ordered from an industrial machinery company.

No written approval from Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) was found in relation to what the report said was a novel, experimental surgical procedure carried out by a surgeon at CHIs Temple Street hospital in Dublin.

The chairman of the board of CHI, Jim Browne, stepped down following publication of the HIQA report on Tuesday.

The report found the use of the springs was well-intentioned but wrong and also concluded the incident did not follow standard approval processes.

Speaking in the Dail, Micheal Martin said there had to be accountability as to why procedures were bypassed, but he pushed back against claims by Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald that the Government partly bore responsibility for governance failures at CHI.

We have published the report on our independent statutory review into governance and oversight of the use of surgical implants and implantable medical devices in Childrens Health Ireland (CHI), including at CHI at Temple Street. Read here: https://t.co/pPqs2FEiTF pic.twitter.com/zN19RO4Xuh  HIQA (@HIQA) April 8, 2025

She said: This report is a damning litany of failure. Failure of governance, failure of management, abject failure by Government to act and ministers to do their job.

Mr Martin said: I understand where the deputy is going in terms of wanting to say its ultimately Governments fault. I mean, theres a limit to what anyone in this House can do in terms of how people conduct procedures in operating theatres.

Lets call a spade a spade here, we can be political about these things, but there are fundamental issues here that happened, that should not have happened, and there has to be individual responsibility.

There has to be accountability in that respect, there has to be management accountability in terms of CHI and the board and so on, in terms of why the governance procedures were not followed and why they were essentially bypassed.

The idea that you would use springs outside of (the) entire protection framework is beyond belief, and responsibility there, in my view, lies with the individual in the first instance.

Its as plain as night follows day, you do not use unauthorised devices on any child, that is at the heart of it.

The report also said there was a lack of information provided to families on the new or experimental nature of the intended surgery, and therefore the request for consent from families was not in line with the HSEs National Consent Policy.

Controls in place within CHI did not provide the necessary adequate safeguards at each stage of the process, including those required for the procurement, introduction, decontamination and use of the springs in operations.

HIQA found the orthopaedic service in CHI at Temple Street had been affected by long-standing issues with communications and team dynamics since 2019.

It believes this was a significant factor in the introduction of the springs because it meant important and relevant questions were not raised at various steps in the absence of a formal process also not being followed.

The HIQA report into Childrens Health Ireland published today reveals another catastrophic failure of children. Children and their families again bear the brunt of failures by successive governments and health ministers. This is a crisis that cannot be ignoredquestions must be pic.twitter.com/ixiR6ZtGgT  Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) April 8, 2025

As a consequence, a number of key approval processes, policies or safety checks were not properly applied in treating the children, resulting in the springs being used inappropriately.

As a result of the failings, the report said children were not protected from the risk of harm.

Dr Browne said he wanted to convey his sincere apologies to those who had been failed.

In a statement, he said: Following discussions over recent weeks with the Department for Health, I now wish to step down and provide for an orderly transition to a new chair to allow for renewed enthusiasm and passion to guide this great organisation.

I wish to convey my sincere apologies to the children, young people and families that have been failed by the care they received, following the release of the HIQA report today.

The HIQA review found that the use of the non-CE marked springs as surgical implants was wrong and not authorised by management.

The HIQA review also found that while corporate and clinical governance arrangements were in place in Childrens Health Ireland, there were unclear lines of reporting and accountability to ensure the safe introduction and use of new surgical implants and implantable medical devices.

Dr Browne said he will work with the Department of Health, CHIs executive team and board to ensure a smooth transition to a new chairperson over the coming weeks.

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill said she was shocked by every element of this report.

The minister said the families involved have had another difficult day following the publication of the report.

To have gone through what they did with their children and with having non-surgical springs implanted into their little bodies, and the implication of all of that is just devastating, she said.

Speaking to RTEs News At One radio programme, Ms Carroll-MacNeill said the actions of the surgeon, however well-intended, were wrong because a series of processes were not followed.

Thats a problem for him but its a much, much bigger problem for CHI, and for the governance of the hospital and for the governance of CHI more broadly, and that is an issue of culture, but its also an issue of process.

She said the recommendations of the HIQA report will be implemented in full.

Pressed on whether there should be other resignations, Ms Carroll-MacNeill told RTE: What I need to do is reflect on the board and reflect on the next chairperson and the steps that are taken towards that.

That is something that I will do, but I am looking at the governance more broadly as we move to the new hospital, and how that works.

Ms Carroll-MacNeill said she wants to ensure there is appropriate governance in place.

What I want to make sure is that every consultant whos employed in the Irish state in childrens health, and in everywhere else, knows that they are not a single fiefdom, that they work within a hospital system, that they are public servants paid by the taxpayer, and that they follow the rules set by us in an appropriate governance structure.

She also said a new chief executive of CHI, Lucy Nugent, had been appointed earlier this year.

Ms Nugent has apologised to the affected families on behalf of CHI.

We are deeply sorry that these children, young people and families did not get the care they deserved. This is unacceptable, she said.

Childrens Health Ireland sincerely regrets and apologises for the risks that were posed to three patients through the use of non-CE-marked spring implants in their spinal surgeries.

We do not under-estimate the impact that this has had and is having on the families affected, and the distress that it has caused to all patients and families in the spinal service.
Irish country music legend Daniel O'Donnell has been forced to respond to social media posts suggesting he was "very unwell" in hospital.

The Donegal crooner appeared in a video on his own Facebook page at the weekend to address what he described as "fake, doctored" pictures of him in hospital.

Daniel made the decision to share the video to inform genuine fans that he was "very well" and to not engage with "scammers" who may be using his image to dupe people.

He said: "I'm just doing a wee message to let you know that I'm feeling very well. I've seen a few pictures up leading people to believe that I'm in hospital very unwell with a picture of me.

"Obviously that's a fake, doctored picture, telling people that I need help. Please ignore all of these things that you see on Facebook. I am very well and I hope that you are well too."

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He added: "We can't do much about these scammers but all we can do is let you know not to engage with them, never reply to them and above all, never ever send them money."

The caption on Daniel's video read: "Please watch this video. I'm turning off comments so fake Daniel pages don't comment."
The HSE has secured a 337 square metre property in South Leitrim for the development of a new residential care home.

Located in Fenagh, the purchase follows a sale agreement reached last November with the previous owners and a local auctioneer.

This marks a major milestone after almost three years of advocacy by parents seeking a suitable facility. Leitrim and Monaghan are currently the only two counties in Ireland without full-time residential care.

The property acquired will house a four-bed residential unit.

Fianna Fail councillor Gary Prior, who has been working closely with parents advocating for a residential home, has strongly welcomed the news.

This is truly good news for everyone involved, Cllr Prior stated, emphasising the long-awaited progress in addressing local care needs.

In addition to this significant development, further property acquisitions will be necessary to meet future demands for residential care in Leitrim, he added.

Meanwhile, there is positive progress on another fronta respite care home is set to be developed on HSE-owned land in Carrick-on-Shannon.

Tenders for the project have now been returned to the department for assessment, and officials are hopeful that construction work will begin soon.

Both projects represent a substantial step forward in enhancing care services for the community, providing much-needed facilities for vulnerable residents and their families.

Cllr Prior has paid tribute to all the family members who persevered over the last three years to make this happen, and also to the local representatives who helped and supported especially over the last year to bring this to a successful outcome, but stressed there is still much more work to be done.

READ MORE: Leitrim man organises coffee morning for charity that changed his life
There is huge sadness in Donegal and Leitrim following the death of internationally renowned stone mason Brendan McGloin.

Leading the tributes, the team at Local Hands craft collective in Ballyshannon said: Today in Local Hands, we are very sad to hear of the passing of our good friend and crafty colleague, Brendan (Benny) McGloin.

An extremely talented stone sculptor and artist, Brendan was involved with the Local Hands for a number of years.

His work graces the landscape of the Northwest, internationally and in many homes and will ensure his presence will live long.

Slan Benny.

Brendans work on public display includes the memorial bench at Rossnowlagh Surf Club, and a number of fantastic pieces in Bundoran - Carriage na nEan (Rock of the Birds), a beautiful stone sculpture on the Bundoran promenade; An Triur Ceann (The Triskle Heads) at Bundoran Civic Offices, and Olchloch Punta (The Limestone Punt) at the towns West End.

Brendan also sculpted the memorial at Mullaghmore.

Other work ranged from bespoke gravestones to stunning, intricate Celtic crosses.

Brendan also gave workshops in the art of stone carving.

The Kinlough native will be greatly missed by his beloved family, friends and the close-knit stone mason community in the north-west and across Ireland.

READ MORE: Beware of scams when selling your phone, Leitrim Gardai warn
The U.S. delegation, led by Josh Carter, a representative of the Carter Center and grandson of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, was also present at the event.
Dr. Emmanuel T. Olatunji, the EJF project consultant and faculty at the University of Liberia provided an overview of the projects goals.
Liberia Needs Another Female Chief Justice

 AFELL says, urges President Boakai to trust another woman with the nations Judicial Reform process
Minister Nyumalin emphasized that the project aligns with the development vision of Liberias President, H.E. Joseph Nyuma Boakai.
The proprietress of TIENS Liberia's branch, Matilda Parker (Left and Grace Kpaan highlighting the importance of rehabilitation services
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FANS of the long-running Australian drama Home and Away will have a rare opportunity to meet two of the show's most beloved stars in Limerick this summer.

Lynne McGranger, best known for her decades-long portrayal of Irene Roberts, and Shane Withington, who plays John Palmer, will appear at The Absolute Hotel on June 7 for a special Meet & Greet and Q&A session.

This event is particularly significant as Lynne has announced her departure from Home and Away after 32 years on the show. This is a rare opportunity for fans to say a heartfelt farewell to Lynne, celebrate her incredible career, and hear her reflect on her time in Summer Bay.

READ MORE: Limerick house makes it to Home of the Year final

Attendees will have the chance to meet the actors in person and take home treasured memories with photos and autographs and enjoy an intimate Q&A session with Lynne and Shane, where theyll share behind-the-scenes stories and answer fan questions.

They will also have the opportunity to upgrade to a VIP experience, offering exclusive perks and seats at the front.

Tickets for this special event are expected to sell out quickly, so fans are encouraged to secure their spot early.

For ticket information and VIP upgrade details, see here.
A NUMBER of councillors have supported a call to fly the Palestinian flag over City Hall as a mark of solidarity with the tens of thousands who have died in the areas conflict with Israel.

At this months local authority meeting, Cllr Ursula Gavan, Independent, brought a motion forward asking other members to call on Government to enact the Occupied Territories in full.

This is a proposed Irish law which would ban and criminalise trade with economic support of what are seen as illegal settlements deemed occupied under international law.

READ MORE: Mayor has designs on Limerick students selling in Macy's

Campaigners say notably this includes Israeli settlements on land which is claimed to be Palestinian.

Ministers denied reports the legislation had been shelved last week.

On top of this, Cllr Gavan also called for the flying of the Palestinian flag above City Hall.

There was confusion around this call, with meeting administrators saying it would need to be referred to a protocol committee to decide.

It was pointed out that in 2023, during his time as a councillor, Conor Sheehan saw a motion passed requesting the flying of the flag.

Independent councillor Maria Donoghue said: Id think if a motion has been passed on this historically, there is no need to revisit it.

Priomh chomhairleoir Dan McSweeney said what was agreed at the protocol committee was that council official Ciara Farrell would go and speak with local authorities on the timeline of when any flag should go up and come down.

Cllr Sharon Benson, Sinn Fein, said this should not impact on Cllr Gavan's call to erect the flag now.

We will agree to disagree, Cllr McSweeney said.

If the flag issue comes down to bureaucracy, then I think we have lost, Cllr Gavan added.

Cllr Azad Talukder, Fianna Fail, asked: Why do we have to play politics on this? If a motion is passed, it is passed. We want to see the flag over Merchant's Quay.

As well as councillors Benson, Talukder, and Donoghue, there was also support for the call from Social Democrats duo Elisa ODonovan and Shane Hickey OMara.

Fine Gael councilor Peter Doyle said: I condemn Hamas who started this war, who slaughtered 1,200 people in 24 hours. I think we should condemn all violence and all murder.
THE REPOSAL of a father-of-five, who was tragically killed while cutting a tree, took place in Abbeyfeale this Tuesday morning.

Locals had the opportunity to pay their respects in Harnetts Funeral Home following the passing of Hari Pletkovic, of Reacaslagh, Brosna, Kerry; Abbeyfeale, Limerick and formerly of Croatia. The 46-year-olds cremation took place in Shannon Crematorium at noon.

It is understood Mr Pletkovic was cutting down a tree in Brosna on Friday when the fatal accident occurred.

A spokesperson for the Health and Safety Authority said: The HSA is aware of the incident and has launched an investigation. As such, no further information is available at this time.

Mr Pletkovic is very sadly missed by his wife Zeljka, children, mother, all his relatives and friends.

A GoFundMe page was set up by his friends to raise money to pay for his funeral. Over 5,000 has been donated.

Hari was full of life, always willing to help anyone, happy to share a drink and chat with the wonderful friends he had made in the small community of Brosna, Kerry. Hari had become such a huge part of the community very quickly.

We, Haris friends, are raising money to pay towards his funeral. Hari is survived by his five children, the youngest is only three-years-old and his heartbroken wife Zeljka.

"Please give whatever you can so that we can relieve some of the worry and strain from Haris family and give Hari the send off he so very much deserves, reads the appeal on the GoFundMe page.

READ MORE: Tanaiste Simon Harris 'chuffed' to get thank you card from 'inspirational' Limerick girl

Dozens of tributes have been paid to Mr Pletkovic on rip.ie in both Croatian and English.

One mourner said: Thank you for being the best friend we could have ever asked for. We will cherish the wonderful memories we have with you forever. We will never forget your kindness and love. We love you forever Hari."

Ministers of State Niall Collins and Michael Healy-Rae were two to express their condolences to Mr Pletkovic's family.

Another person said: "May your treasured memories help you through these difficult days ahead. Thoughts and prayers are with you. May Hari rest in peace."
THE Wesley Joyce-ridden Top Of the Pops, owned by the Lios Dearg Rangers Partnership, made much of the running to win the eight-furlong handicap at Gowran Park on Wednesday last.

Trained in County Offaly by Jerry Murray, the 25/1 chance came home a length and a quarter clear of the Michael Browne-trained 6/1 shot Suityourselfboss, a third winner for the trainer and his first since July 2022 while it was Moyross jockey Joyces fourth winner of the current season.

Out of luck with 11/10 favourite Wild Sapphire in the days opening race, Chris Hayes and Dermot Weld landed the nine-furlong maiden with the 4/1 shot Deressa. She led inside the final furlong to score by a length and a quarter from Aidan O'Briens 8/11 favourite Win Me Over.

Ballingarry jockey Billy Lee rode his first winner of the weekend on the Adrian Murray-trained 11/2 shot Pedro Nunes in the seven-furlong maiden for three-year-olds at Dundalk on Friday. Racing up with the pace, he led over a furlong out to beat Jessica Harringtons 14/1 chance Never Ambling by half a length with Aidan O'Briens 4/7 favourite First Wave.

Keane completed a double for the County Westmeath trainer on the 2/1 favourite Umala in the 10-furlong fillies maiden. She made all the running to win by the same margin from Natalia Lupinis 15/2 chance Lady Mcc. Newmarket-on-Fergus Jessica OGorman was on the mark for the fourth time in her career when partnering the John McConnell-trained Bungle Inthedesert to land the eight-furlong apprentice handicap.

Owned by Eileen Heanen and Noel Heanen, the 12/1 chance led over a furlong out to beat the Tom Dowling-trained Saxon Kingdom by a length and a half.

The Dreams Of Glory Racing Syndicate-owned Aurora Nova overcame a tardy start to win the five-furlong handicap at Bellewstown on Saturday evening. Ridden by Limerick jockey Wesley Joyce for trainer Andrew McNamara, the 11/1 chance was well on top at the line as he came through to beat Patrick McKennas Lismacbryan Hill by a length and a quarter, a first winner for the owners.

Ray Barron and County Kildare trainer Ross O'Sullivan landed the Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Total Enjoyment Mares Bumper with 3/1 chance Switch From Diesel at Fairyhouse on Sunday.

Owned and bred by Paul Mullins, the six-year-old went clear inside the final furlong to win by all of six lengths from Declan Queallys 7/2 shot Carrigmoornaspruce, her third bumper success.

The Paddy Twomey-trained Bubble Gum made a winning Irish debut in the Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Noblesse Stakes at Cork on Sunday. Ridden by Billy Lee, the French import led over a furlong from the finish to beat Jack Davisons 8/1 shot Ameerat Jumaira by a length and a half.

Shanagolden jockey Chris Hayes and trainer Dermot Weld landed the concluding seven-furlong fillies maiden with the Moyglare Stud owned and bred Bella Isabella.

A 13/2 chance, she led before the furlong pole to beat Ger Lyons newcomer and 8/11 favourite Sapphire Princess by a length and three-parts.

OTHER RACING NEWS

Nick Rockett was the hero at Aintree on Saturday for the father and son combination of Willie and Patrick Mullins with a never-to-be-forgotten Grand National success. The 33/1 chance led home an incredible 1-2-3 for the champion trainer, beating last years winner I Am Maximus with Grangeclare West coming in third place.

Mullins had a bumper week at Aintree, saddling eight winners including four Grade 1 winners on the first day of the festival with the Paul Townend-ridden Impaire Et Passe, Murcia and Lossiemouth and the Patrick Mullins-ridden Gaelic Warrior, a first Grade 1 success over fences for the champion amateur rider in Britain.

Mullins and Townend also won the two-mile Grade 1 novices hurdle with Salvator Mundi on Friday.

Paddy Twomey and Limerick jockey Billy Lee won the Grade 2 mares bumper at Aintree on Thursday with Seo Linn, Gordon Elliott and Mark Walsh scored with Honesty Policy in the Grade 1 novices hurdle on Saturday while Henry de Bromhead and Darragh O'Keeffe landed the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle with Hiddenvalley Lake on the same afternoon.

Upcoming Fixtures

Navan  Tuesday, April 8 (First race 2.10pm)

Leopardstown  Wednesday, April 9 (First race 1.48pm)

Limerick  Thursday, April 10 (First race 2.17pm)

Ballinrobe  Friday, April 11 (First race 4.40pm)

Dundalk  Friday, April 11 (First race 5.30pm)

Curragh  Saturday, April 12 (First race 1.15pm)

Bellewstown  Saturday, April 12 (First race 1.30pm)

Down Royal  Sunday, April 13 (First race 1.50pm)

Tramore  Sunday, April 13 (First race 2.05pm)
The chairman of the board of Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) has stepped down following the publication of a devastating report into the use of springs in child spinal surgery.

It comes after the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) found that the use of the springs, which were of a non-medical grade, was wrong.

The springs were used in three operations carried out by a surgeon at CHIs Temple Street hospital in Dublin.

We have published the report on our independent statutory review into governance and oversight of the use of surgical implants and implantable medical devices in Childrens Health Ireland (CHI), including at CHI at Temple Street. Read here: https://t.co/pPqs2FEiTF pic.twitter.com/zN19RO4Xuh  HIQA (@HIQA) April 8, 2025

The report also said there was a lack of information provided to families on the new or experimental nature of the intended surgery, and therefore the request for consent from families was not in line with the HSEs National Consent Policy.

Controls in place within CHI did not provide the necessary adequate safeguards at each stage of the process, including those required for the procurement, introduction, decontamination and use of the springs in operations.

HIQA found that the orthopaedic service in CHI at Temple Street had been affected by long-standing issues with communications and team dynamics since 2019.

It believes this was a significant factor in the introduction of the springs because it meant important and relevant questions were not raised at various steps in the absence of a formal process also not being followed.

As a consequence, a number of key approval processes, policies or safety checks were not properly applied in treating the children, resulting in the springs being used inappropriately.

As a result of the failings, the report said children were not protected from the risk of harm.

CHI board chairman Dr Jim Browne said he wanted to convey his sincere apologies to those who had been failed.

In a statement he said: Following discussions over recent weeks with the Department for Health, I now wish to step down and provide for an orderly transition to a new chair to allow for renewed enthusiasm and passion to guide this great organisation.

I wish to convey my sincere apologies to the children, young people and families that have been failed by the care they received, following the release of the HIQA report today.

The HIQA review found that the use of the non-CE marked springs as surgical implants was wrong and not authorised by management.

The HIQA also review found that, while corporate and clinical governance arrangements were in place in Childrens Health Ireland, there were unclear lines of reporting and accountability to ensure the safe introduction and use of new surgical implants and implantable medical devices.

Dr Browne said he will work with the Department of Health, Childrens Health Irelands executive team and board to ensure a smooth transition to a new chairperson over the coming weeks.

Sinn Fein health spokesman David Cullinane said HIQAs devastating report details governance, clinical, management and ethical failures.

It says children were not prevented from harm and not protected from harm. Thats a really devastating critique to have in a report by HIQA of any hospital.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said the operations represent another horrific damning failure of children with scoliosis by the State.

This was and involves a very, very serious governance, failure at CHI.

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill echoed Mr Cullinanes assessment that the findings are devastating.

She said: I was shocked by every element of this report.

The minister said the families involved have had another difficult day following the publication of the report.

To have gone through what they did with their children and with having non-surgical springs implanted into their little bodies, and the implication of all of that is just devastating.

Speaking to RTEs News At One radio programme, Ms Carroll-MacNeill said the actions of the surgeon, however well-intended, were wrong because a series of processes were not followed.

Thats a problem for him but its a much, much bigger problem for CHI (Childrens Health Ireland), and for the governance of the hospital and for the governance of CHI more broadly, and that is an issue of culture, but its also an issue of process.

She said the recommendations of the HIQA report will be implemented in full.

Pressed on whether there should be other resignations, Ms Carroll-MacNeill told RTE: What I need to do is reflect on the board and reflect on the next chairperson and the steps that are taken towards that.

But that is something that I will do but I am looking at the governance more broadly as we move to the new hospital, and how that works.

Ms Carroll-MacNeill said she wants to ensure there is appropriate governance in place.

What I want to make sure is that every consultant whos employed in the Irish state in childrens health, and in everywhere else, knows that they are not a single fiefdom, that they work within a hospital system, that they are public servants paid by the taxpayer and that they follow the rules set by us in an appropriate governance structure.

She also said a new chief executive of CHI, Lucy Nugent, had been appointed earlier this year.

Ms Nugent has apologised to the affected families on behalf of CHI.

We are deeply sorry that these children, young people and families did not get the care they deserved. This is unacceptable, she said.

Childrens Health Ireland sincerely regrets and apologises for the risks that were posed to three patients through the use of non-CE-marked spring implants in their spinal surgeries.

We do not under-estimate the impact that this has had and is having on the families affected, and the distress that it has caused to all patients and families in the spinal service.
LIMERICKs flagship summer festival will be subject to an audit on its environmental credentials.

The local authority has confirmed it has secured the services of a sustainability auditor for Riverfest 2025, which takes place across the May Bank Holiday weekend.

The auditor will report on a range of issues around Riverfest, Eugene Crimmins, the festivals and event officer with council wrote.

READ MORE: Riverfest Limerick celebrates milestone 21st anniversary

This will include waste management, energy use and the carbon footprint of the festival.

On receipt of the auditors sustainability report for Riverfest 2025, festivals and events will review the remaining Limerick Council- run festivals and events in line with the sustainability goals, Mr Crimmins added.

The news came to light following a notice of motion at this months full council meeting from Social Democrats councillor Shane Hickey OMara which was passed.

Limerick Council is so proud of Riverfest and rightly so. If you have tens of thousands of people engaging with something, youre doing something right. This motion is intended to add another string to its bow, making it more environmentally sustainable and ensuring we can stand over it when it comes to minimising its environmental impact and making sure its around for many years to come, he said.

His motion was seconded by Cllr Elisa ODonovan.
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that Chinese EV company BYD's entry in India is a no for now. Speaking to Bloomberg TV at the India Global Forum in Mumbai on April 6, the minister expressed caution over investments from China.

India Courting Elon Musk's Tesla, Blocking China's BYD? Piyush Goyal Says India is choosing to court Elon Musk's Tesla over Chinese rival BYD amid continued concerns regarding investments from the neighbouring country, according to the report.

India has to be cautious about its strategic interests, who we allow to invest. As of now it (BYD Co.) is a no, Piyush Goyal told Bloomberg.

In 2024, India rejected BYDs $1 billion investment proposal with a local partner, while another Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor Co. also exited India after failing to secure regulatory clearances.

Piyush Goyals statement came on a day when US President Donald Trump threatened to slap an additional 50 per cent import taxes on China if it doesnt withdraw its planned retaliatory tariffs by April 8.

India has a lot of elbow room for trade deals with developed nations, Piyush Goyal said, adding that the country will be cautious about dumping from China, as per the report.

India's Auto Market Dominated by Domestic Players Indias hardline posture also highlights a broader protectionist approach to car imports. With a 100 per cent duty on fully built vehicles  by far the highest among major economies  India has long shielded domestic players with steep tariffs. But with free-trade talks with the US and European Union gathering pace, pressure is mounting to open up the worlds third-largest auto market to foreign players.

India wants to be a global hub for electric vehicle production but high entry barriers  compared to 2.5 per cent for US, 10 per cent in Germany, and up to 25 per cent in China  serve as a detriment. Tesla has stayed away from India citing high tariffs while BYD has struggled to secure investment clearances, even as demand surges for affordable EVs and compact SUVs priced below $25,000.

Thats where Indias homegrown automakers such as Tata Motors Ltd. and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. thrive. The local automakers have resisted any tariff relaxation that might allow foreign rivals to undercut them on price, especially as the government ramps up incentives for EV production.
Marriott International aims to increase the number of hotel rooms to 50,000 in India, from about 30,000 it currently operates, in about five years, as the US-based hospitality company is upbeat on rising prosperity and booming domestic tourism in Asia's third-largest economy.

Rajeev Menon, Marriott International's president for the Asia Pacific region (excluding China), said that India has remained in a "pretty sound state" when it comes to the company's hospitality business. Hotel operators have seen robust returns in the past couple of years, as people went on a revenge travel after being confined to their homes for more than two years since the covid-led lockdown of March 2020.

"This is a long term, stable kind of high that hotels are seeing. There is a lot of infrastructure investment coming which is creating an environment where you don't necessarily have to rely on inbound travellers. Indian consumers have the confidence and the disposable income to continue to drive growth for hotels. The hospitality upcycle in India will last at least another five years. The number of millionaires in India is also growing. The real spenders are coming out of secondary and tertiary markets too, and they also want to travel," Menon told Mint.

Also Read: Hyatt eyes emerging cities for its next 50 hotels in India

Marriott International's hotels clocked a gross revenue of 10,000 crore in the previous calendar year, Menon said.

In 2024, revenue per available room, a metric hoteliers use to calculate how much money a room in a hotel makes, grew 12.5% for Asia Pacific (excluding China) for the company. This was the company's strongest region of growth. India also had a double-digit growth and the same is to be expected this year as well from the country, he said. This year too, the company will look at double-digit revenue per available room growth.

"Today, India is the fifth largest in terms of room inventory across geographies for the company globally, but the way we are growing, in the next three to five years, India will be the third-largest market for us after the US and China. We expect to reach around 50,000 rooms across 250-300 hotels in the next 3-5 years," he said.

In the calendar year 2024, the company signed about 42 new hotels in South Asia, including India, which will account for 7,000 new rooms and are in various stages of development.

At present, of the total 170 hotels in South Asia, it has 157 hotels in India, including some ITC Hotels' luxury properties that it lists under its marketing and loyalty points portfolio, Bonvoy. It has about 30,000 rooms in the country. Some upcoming properties will be in Surat, Shimla, Jalandhar, and Coorg.

Next on the cards: 50,000 rooms

Its new projects are expected to come up in the next 3-5 years. In the hospitality industry parlance, "hotel signings" involve a brand or operator like Marriott agreeing to open or manage a hotel through a contract.

The focus is on building more upscale and luxury hotel rooms, with over 70% of these upcoming hotels in these categories. Menon expects the hotel mix by the time they reach the 50,000-room milestone to be an even split between luxury, upscale and select-service hotels.

"We are very bullish about our non-luxury brands in India as well like Fairfield, Courtyard and Moxy. Growth is coming out of all aspects. India is seeing some early shoots of hotel development growth in third to fifth-tier markets too. These markets will attract not just resort kinds of hotels but also city hotels," he added.

Of its total 30 brands in its portfolio, the company operates about 17 brands in India. It expects to add another few brands in the country in the coming months. "There are 2.6 billion people in this ASEAN region and last year, 55% of our business here came from the region itself. So in a way, it is becoming self-reliant on itself and India is also a big part of this story," he said. Consumer sentiment in and outside of China is still negative, he added.

According to hospitality consultancy Hotelivate, the Indian hospitality sector has experienced rapid growth and is gradually maturing. In the October-December quarter, the sector saw an 11.4% growth in average daily rate (ADR) and a 4.9% increase in occupancy compared to the previous year. This growth is reflected in a surge of hotel company IPOs on the stock exchanges over the past 15 months, with previously listed hotel stocks reaching record-high market capitalisations.

Listed companies make up around 35% of the branded supply in India, providing insights into the sector's trends and performance. While Marriott remains unlisted, and works with some of its hotel owners that are listed like Chalet and SAMHI Hotels, as of August 2024, Hotelivate said Marriott International had over 24,000 rooms or inventory in India while its next biggest competitor, Tata Group-owned Indian Hotels Company Ltd had over 21,000 rooms.
Microsoft on Monday fired two employees, including Indian American Vaniya Agrawal, for disrupting an event celebrating the companys 50th anniversary.

On Friday, Ibtihal Aboussad, who has called on Microsoft to stop working with the Israeli government, interrupted a speech by the company's AI head, Mustafa Suleyman. Later, Vaniya Agrawal disrupted a Q&A session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and former CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

Following the incidents, event staff asked both employees to leave the venue at Microsofts headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

Agrawal resigns calling Microsoft a digital weapons manufacturer Shortly after the protest, Agrawal sent her resignation, effective April 11. In the email, accessed by The Verge, she said, I cannot, in good conscience, be part of a company that participates in this violent injustice.

She pointed to reports claiming that Microsoft Azure and AI technologies are used in Israels military operations and surveillance, and added, our work is fueling this genocide.

Calling Microsoft a digital weapons manufacturer, Agrawal accused the company of violating its own human rights commitments. Microsoft leadership must divest from Israel and stop selling lethal technology to power apartheid and genocide, she wrote.

She concluded the resignation letter encouraging colleagues to use their positions to challenge Microsofts policies: If you must continue to work at Microsoft, I urge you to use your position, power, and privilege to hold Microsoft accountable to its own values and mission.

Microsoft accept resignation, effective immediately However, Microsoft told her on Monday that it had accepted her resignation effective immediately.

Meanwhile, the company informed Aboussad that her employment had been terminated due to acts of misconduct, according to an email reviewed by Bloomberg.

The company didnt immediately provide comment.

Who is Vaniya Agrawal? As per her LinkedIn profile, Agrawal did her Bachelor of Science in software engineering from the Arizona State University in 2016-19 and graduated with a summa cum laude.

She was one of only 35 students at ASU to receive the Grace Hopper Scholarship, which allowed her to attend the 2017 Grace Hopper Conference.

Before beginning her career in software engineering, she briefly worked as a tea consultant and social media manager at Adagio Teas in 2015. From March 2016 to December 2017, she also worked as a medical assistant and receptionist at the True Health Medical Centre.

How the two employees staged protests at the event? Mustafa shame on you, Aboussad told Suleyman, in part. You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military. Fifty thousand people have died.

Suleyman responded, Thank you for your protest. I hear you.

Microsoft, in the termination notice, told Aboussad the accusations were hostile, unprovoked and highly inappropriate.

Both employees worked as software engineers, they told Bloomberg last week. Theyre affiliated with No Azure for Apartheid, a group that has protested Microsofts sales to the Israeli military over the countrys conduct in its war in Gaza. The pair lost access to their corporate email and chat accounts shortly after Fridays protests, they said.
The government has sought more details from Ola Electric Mobility Ltd on how the battery-powered scooter maker intends to expand its inadequate service network after the companys initial response did not satisfy the authorities.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries has inquired about why there is a gap between the number of sales stores and service centres despite the company's public claims that all its outlets offer after-sales services, according to two people aware of the matter.

Last month, the ministry asked Ola Electric to clarify the variation in the sales reported by the company and the registration of its new scooters on the Vahan portal.

Alongside, it entrusted the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) to ascertain Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal's earlier claim of all 4,000-odd showrooms in the country having service centres to address customer complaints.

A reply was shared with the ministry saying that about 1,400 service centres are ready, which can cater to a large share of customers for now," a company executive aware of the matter said.

In an investor presentation released on 1 April, the company said it has 4,436 stores across the country. Of this, 3,365 are owned by the company while the rest are network partners".

However, the service network was at 1,434 or about 42% of the total company-owned stores.

In a statement on 25 December 2024, Aggarwal said, With our newly opened stores co-located with service centres, we have completely redefined EV purchase & ownership experience, setting new benchmarks with our #SavingsWalaScooter campaign."

Since October last year, Ola Electric has been facing regulatory scrutiny after thousands of complaints against its scooters emerged. It received a show-cause notice from the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), following which a comprehensive investigation was launched into the company.

After facing regulatory scrutiny and social media backlash, the company announced the rapid expansion of its sales and servicing network.

Our average service time, the TAT (Turnaround time) of service, has come down from almost 2.5, 3 days in October, which is when our service issues were the highest down to 1.1 days," Aggarwal said during the company's earnings call on 7 February. The trend is continuing downward. So we -- our service experience and SLAs (service level agreements) are now pretty much best in class in the OEM industry."

Ola Electric did not respond to emailed queries.

Incentives hit

The government's inquiry into Ola Electric's sales is also linked to subsidies under FAME-II or the second leg of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) vehicles, and the PM E-drive. Under these schemes, automakers have to sell vehicles at a discount, and the government reimburses the difference.

Automakers must ensure a minimum warranty requirement under the schemes to avail subsidies. For instance, electric two-wheeler makers have to provide a warranty of at least three years or 20,000 km usage, whichever is earlier. They also have to ensure adequate facilities for the after-sales service requirements.

In October, the ministry of heavy industries asked its testing agency The ARAI to look into consumer grievances against Ola Electric, since the company is expected to maintain the necessary number of service centres to attend to all consumer issues under the PM E-drive and FAME-II guidelines.

The ARAI and the ICAT provide companies with authorisation certificates necessary to secure incentives from the government.

Mint reported on 19 March that Ola Electric could lose out on PM E-drive incentives due to its vehicle registration woes. An electric two-wheeler maker could receive an incentive of 10,000 per unit in FY25, which would be halved in FY26. Since Ola Electric's registration issues started in February and continued through March 2025, the company could not register all its FY25 sales by the end of the year, potentially reducing its incentives.

In February, the company informed that renegotiations with two agencies disrupted its registration process, which resulted in only about 8,653 units being registered in the month even though the company claimed to have sold over 25,000 units.

The company, however, did not disclose its March sales and instead relied on the Vahan portal data of 23,450 registrations. The backlog of vehicles that have been sold but remain unregistered is still around 16,000, which it said would be cleared in April.

As Ola Electric grapples with multiple troubles, rivals are closing in. In March, Bajaj Auto Ltd and TVS Motors Ltd overtook Ola Electric, which had claimed to have the highest market share in February.

Bajaj Auto led the electric two-wheeler market with 34,863 new registrations in the final month of FY25, a nearly 62% increase over the previous months 21,537. Hosur-based TVS Motors Ltd recorded 30,454 new registrations, a month-on-month growth of 61%.

Since the beginning of the registration issue in February, Ola Electrics share price has fallen by over 16% compared to a 9% fall in BSE Auto index.

ayaan.kartik@livemint.com
New Delhi: The Netherlands-headquartered Magnum Ice Cream Company, Unilever Plcs recently demerged ice cream business, is set to open its first global operations centre in Pune, with an investment of 900 crore.

Magnums global capability centre (GCC) is expected to bring in investments worth Rs900 crore and provide employment to more than 500 people over an unspecified period.

The global capability centre will provide information technology, supply chain, finance, human resources management, and other key services for Magnums global network.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the signing of an agreement between the state government and Magnum on X, saying Magnums global capability centre would create high-paying jobs.

Abhijit Bhattacharya, chief financial officer of The Magnum Ice Cream Company, signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday in the presence of Fadnavis and Maharashtras deputy chief minister, Eknath Shinde.

Unilever's cold split Unilevers board decided to separate the global consumer goods companys ice cream business in March last year, explaining that the unit had distinct characteristics as compared with its other businesses.

Unilevers ice cream business had five of the top 10 global ice cream brands by sales, including Walls, Magnum, and Ben & Jerrys. In all, its ice cream brands delivered a combined turnover of 7.9 billion in 2023.

The London-headquartered consumer goods giant recently announced that its spun-off entity that makes ice creams and frozen desserts would be called The Magnum Ice Cream Company.

Earlier this year, Unilevers India business, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, also announced plans to demerge its ice cream business into Kwality Walls (India) Ltd. This spun-off ice cream company is to be separately listed in India.
New Delhi: The central governments capital expenditure (capex) for fiscal year 2025 (FY25) is poised to meetand even modestly exceedthe revised target of 10.2 trillion, supported by an accelerated deployment of funds in the latter half of the fiscal year, two people familiar with the matter told Mint .

The strong momentum in second-half spending underscores the governments sustained focus on infrastructure-led growth, even as it navigates fiscal consolidation pressures.

While the final figures are still being tallied, the capex could be between 10.2 trillion and 10.4 trillion for FY25, exceeding revised projections, said the first person mentioned above, requesting anonymity.

Capital expenditure (by both Centre and states) witnessed a temporary slowdown in the first half of the fiscal year, largely due to the electoral calendar. However, spending has gained significant traction over the last two quarters," the person mentioned above said.

The Centre had budgeted capex at 11.11 trillion for FY25an 11% increase over the FY24 estimate of 10 trillionbefore revising the target to 10.2 trillion in the latest budget.

Also read | No fiscal constraint on capex; govts fiscal prudence firm: FM Sitharaman

The recalibration reflects a balancing act between sustaining public investment and maintaining fiscal discipline, with the Centre on track to achieving a fiscal deficit of 4.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024-25, marking an improvement from the earlier target of 4.9%, and a further reduction to 4.4% targeted for 2025-26.

To be sure, the ambitious fiscal deficit target for FY25 is underpinned by a record 2.11 trillion dividend from the Reserve Bank of Indiaa 141% surge over last years payout.

The windfall offers a critical buffer against potential slippages in tax collections or expenditure overruns, reinforcing the Centres commitment to its fiscal consolidation roadmap.

Meanwhile, during the April-February period of FY25, the Centres capex stood at 8.12 trillion, compared with 8.06 trillion in the year-ago period, according to data from the Controller General of Accounts.

The Centres capex will have to be about 2 trillion in March 2025 to meet the revised target for FY25.

Also read | Govts capex appetite in Q4 fails to lift FY25 investment performance

There has been a discernible pickup in central government spending, with most central ministries and departments encouraged to press the accelerator following a measured start to the fiscal year (FY25)," the second person mentioned above said, requesting anonymity.

Capital expenditure in March is expected to see a further uptick compared to previous months," the person added.

According to investment bank and financial services firm Jefferies, the central governments capex is expected to surge by an impressive 25% year-on-year in the second half of FY25.

The Jefferies report also noted that the overall expenditure is expected to surge by 15% annually during the financial year , highlighting that the central government remains committed to investing in infrastructure development.

The Centres total expenditure during the April-February period of FY25 stood at 38.93 trillion, with the annual estimates for the full financial year standing at 47.16 trillion, according to data from the Controller General of Accounts.

Also read | Capex push, fiscal discipline hasnt come at the cost of social spending cut: Sitharaman

During the same period of the previous fiscal, the Centres total expenditure stood at 37.47 trillion.

However, rating agency Icra anticipates a modest shortfall in capex relative to the revised estimates for FY25.

To meet the revised estimate of 10.2 trillion, the governments capex would need to expand by about 45% year-on-year in March 2025 alonean ambitious target, according to the rating agency.

As a result, Icra expects a slight undershooting of the capex goal, though this is expected to be offset by lower-than-expected disinvestment receipts and any overshooting in revenue expenditure.

A spokesperson of the ministry of finance didnt respond to emailed queries.
The European Union (EU) has dropped a planned 50 per cent retaliatory tariff on American whiskey as its proposing 25 per cent tariffs on a selection of US goods in retaliation for US President Donald Trumps decision to put levies on aluminum and steel imports. According to Bloomberg, EU member states had pushed for whiskey to be excluded to spare European wine and champagne producers from 200 per cent tariffs by Trump as retaliation.

Brussels had scrapped bourbon from a preliminary list of targeted goods, after bowing to demands from major wine exporters France and Italy, which were spooked by Trump's threat to hit a 200-per cent tariff in retaliation. According to AFP, Brussels has already launched its retaliation to Trump's 25-per cent metals tariffs, with a two-step response set to play out over the next six weeks.

EU plans 25% tariffs on these US goods The European Commission, the blocs executive arm, shared a document listed dozens of product categories it plans to target, but bourbon was not included. The list of targeted products is diverse and includes diamonds, motorcycles, household appliances, safety glass, playing cards, tobacco, poultry and other agricultural products.

Most face a 25 per cent tariff, but a few would be hit with a 10 per cent rate. EU states aim to approve the plan later this week and it would enter into force on April 15, 2025, although most duties would not be collected until mid-May. Tariffs on soybeans and nuts would come into force on December 1, 2025.

Trump, however, indicated Monday that he is not considering a blanket pause on the global tariffs set to take effect Wednesday. Europe is in the process of responding to new Trump tariffs. EU trade ministers met in Luxembourg to mull the negotiation strategies and prepare potential countermeasures.

Relief on whiskey tariff Europe is the industrys biggest whiskey export market, and some companies had been scrambling to ship as much product there as possible before mid-April, when the tariffs had been set to take effect. But EU wine and champagne producers may not be able to make profits after Trump tariffs. Trump hasnt yet commented on the implications of the EUs decision on American tariff policies.

The US-EU trade fight dates back to 2018, when Trump imposed hefty tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. In response, the EU slapped a 25 per cent tariff on American whiskey. That tariff was suspended in late 2021 as part of the negotiations by Joe Biden, and since then, American whiskey has entered the EU tariff-free.

According to reports, the 50 per cent tariff, if it had taken effect, would have substantially affected US distiller Brown-Forman Corp, the maker of Jack Daniels, as the EU accounts for about 20 per cent of the companys net sales.
New Delhi: As the global tariff war intensifies following US President Donald Trumps tariff bombshell, India is preparing to increase both official and backchannel talks with Washington to protect its export interests.

According to two people familiar with the development, the Indian government is exploring a plan to negotiate the suspension of the 26% tariffs imposed by the US on Indian goods until a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the two countries is finalized by fall 2025.

"We are exploring all possible avenues to mitigate the potential losses our exports may face if the reciprocal tariff measures announced by the US administration remain in place. India does have an added advantage, as it is the only country that has been offered the opportunity to pursue a bilateral trade agreement with the US," said the first among the two persons mentioned above.

As per the plan, India would either seek a suspension of the 26% reciprocal tariffs on all products until the BTA is concluded, or negotiate temporary relief for a select list of high-performing export categories such as textiles, engineering goods, and electronics goods, this person said.

Also read | Will Trumps trade war cause a global recession?

Queries emailed to the ministries of commerce and external affairs remained unanswered till press time.

Whatever is feasible within the scope of ongoing trade discussions and our international commitments will be pursued," the second person said.

Indias attempt to secure a suspension of reciprocal tariff measures comes in the backdrop of several such steps taken in the past by other trading partners to facilitate dialogue and finalize trade agreements.

For instance, in 2020, the US suspended planned tariffs on Chinese goods during negotiations that led to the Phase One" trade deal. In 2021, the US and the European Union agreed to suspend retaliatory tariffs for five years in the long-standing AirbusBoeing subsidy dispute to create space for a negotiated settlement. Closer home, in FY19, India delayed the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on 29 US products including almonds and apples, while trade talks with Washington were underway.

As per the plan, negotiations for the deferment of the 26% duty are being pursued through ongoing discussions with US trade officials and diplomats, following consultations with industry representatives, the second person said.

Also read | India eyes swift trade pact with US amid higher tariff pressures on Asian rivals

Earlier, Mint was the first to report on 4 April that India will aim to conclude trade talks quickly, instead of taking tit-for-tat measures.

Indian exports

Indias merchandise exports to the US have been on an upward trajectory over recent years. In FY22, Indias merchandise exports were valued at $75.6 billion, and this increased to $78.3 billion in FY23, demonstrating a strengthening trade relationship. Although FY24 saw a slight dip to $77.5 billion, primarily due to supply chain disruptions, the long-term trend remains positive.

To be sure, the US has a trade deficit with India, which was $35.32 billion in FY24.

On Monday, trade think tank the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said in a report that India could see a $5.76 billion or 6.41% decline in goods exports to the US in 2025 following the new tariffs. The worst-hit could be segments such as gems and jewellery, marine products, electronics, and auto parts.

"The government should not give in to pressure from the Trump administration in the wake of the reciprocal tariff measures and instead remain focused and put in place a well-thought-out and calibrated strategy to reinvigorate Indias trade engagement with all key partners across continents," former Union commerce minister Anand Sharma said.

Also read | Trump's tariffs to shake up engineering and electronic goods exports

India must safeguard its national interest and avoid yielding to pressure from the Trump administration, as any deviation from its WTO commitments could risk diminishing the goodwill it enjoys among developing countries and affect its role as a prominent voice for the Global South," Sharma said over the phone.

The new duties are part of a broader US strategy to align tariffs with reciprocal market access, and while energy products such as petroleum and solar panels, along with pharmaceuticals, remain exempt, the steep hike across a broad swathe of industrial and consumer goods has made Indian products significantly less competitive.

On the impact of the steep hike in tariffs, GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said, Were likely to see sharp declines in some sectors while others may benefit from trade diversion, especially where Chinese goods have been penalized even more heavily."

Exports of gold jewellery and polished diamonds worth $11.9 billion last yearare expected to drop by $1.82 billion due to the new 30.2% tariff, significantly reducing the attractiveness of Indian gems in the US market, Monday's GTRI report said. Similarly, electronics and smartphone exports, which had surged to $14.4 billion, are likely to fall by $1.78 billion, as new tariffs of nearly 27% eat into already thin margins.

Also read | Indian single malts keep up spirits despite Trumps tariff heat

The first round of face-to-face discussions to finalize the contours of the BTA were held from 26 to 29 March, with the US delegation led by Brendan Lynch, Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia. The next round of talks will be held virtually.
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has assured the businesspersons that the government is "keeping India's interests at the forefront" and expressed hope that the bilateral trade agreement between India and US will "power" the economy towards Viksit Bharat 2047. The minister's remarks came in the face of the tariffs imposed by Trump's administration.

Goyal stated that the government is working on a bilateral trade agreement as was decided between Prime Minister Modi and US President Donald Trump in February. "We are covering a very wide array of subjects, and I can assure business persons that we are keeping the best interests of India at the forefront of our discussions," said Goyal. India's discussions with the US on a potential bilateral trade agreement are "moving in the right direction", he added.

The bilateral trade agreement with the US will power the economy towards becoming a developed nation by 2047 when the country celebrates 100 years of independence, he said. Speaking at the Dubai India business forum, Goyal said India is mulling to start an Indian Institute of Management and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in the UAE.

Piyush Goyal's announcements in Dubai The decision to open these two premier educational institutes after the establishment of IIT must be seen as an important event illustrating India's ties. He said India wants Dubai to serve as the gateway for India's engagement with the Middle East region, and added that 20 lakh Indians reside in the city.

A slew of announcements were made by Dubai-based entities at the event, including the commencement of construction of the Bharat Mart at Al Jabeli. The mart will be completed by the end of next year, officials said.

The Bharat-Africa Setu which will help Indian exporters access 53 cities in the African continent served by DP World has also been launched. Besides, DP World has tied up with state-owned RITES for developing projects globally, and with Cochin Shipyard for ship repair, shipbuilding and ship repair clusters along the coastline.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai, was present at the occasion. Goyal, whose comments on Indian startups recently sparked a debate, stated that he conducted an analysis which showed the entire ecosystem misunderstood his remarks. It was a typical hatchet job by the Congress party with their various handles, completely distorting my comments and my effort to inspire our young startups to look for big aspirations, he said.

India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to the US, leaders of both countries resolved to deepen the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security, and job creation. To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade--"Mission 500"--aiming to more than double the total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
Donald Trump has been giving mixed signals about tariff negotiations with trade partners. The POTUS recently declared that there was no way he was willing to pause the additional tariffs on dozens of countries despite outreach from trading partners eager to avoid the levies while still signalling he could be open to some negotiations.

Were not looking at that, Donald Trump said on Monday while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. There can be permanent tariffs, and there can also be negotiations because there are things that we need beyond tariffs, Bloomberg quoted Donald Trump.

CNN reported, citing White House officials, that over 50 countries had approached the White House, with Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu being the first to meet Donald Trump, to discuss lowering tariffs in the aftermath of Trumps announcement on Sunday.

Donald Trump's mixed signals on tariff negotiations Earlier, Trump had announced that he was open to reducing tariffs if other nations were able to offer something phenomenal. However, just a day later, the US Commerce Secretary Lutnick clarified there wasn't any chance that Trump would back down with his tariff tantrums.

Here's how the negotiations have turned out so far:

Singapore to create task force, signal's end of free trade Singapore will establish a task force to tackle economic uncertainties amid rapidly escalating global trade tensions, which are expected to affect this years growth prospects. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced this one day before tariffs take effect on April 9 in Singapore. He also added that free trade was over.

These are not actions one does to a friend," Wong told reporters.

Indonesia to send finance teams Indonesia will send a team, including veteran Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, to Washington, D.C., for trade talks next week. This move is part of the Southeast Asian nation's initial response to being one of the hardest-hit economies globally by higher US tariffs.

Tough parameters being set for Japan Donald Trump said he spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday and that tough but fair parameters are being set for a negotiation over US reciprocal tariffs.

Taiwan can have talks anytime Taiwan can engage in negotiations with the United States at any time regarding the tariffs issue, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said on Tuesday. This statement comes as the island's stock market stabilized after a sharp decline the previous day due to trade concerns.

China vows to fight to the end China has vowed to fight to the end and take countermeasures against the United States to protect its interests following President Donald Trump's threat to impose an additional 50 per cent tariff on Chinese imports, stated reports.

Israel vows to eliminate trade deficit in US We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States, Netanyahu told reporters. We intend to do it very quickly. We think its the right thing to do, and were going to also eliminate trade barriers," Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters.

However, highlighting the uncertainty around Trumps intentions, Netanyahu indicated that even these efforts might not be sufficient for him to reduce tariffs on the longtime US ally, reported Bloomberg.

Will Trump reduce tariffs to less than 10%? When asked directly if it would be possible for countries to reduce their tariffs below the flat 10 per cent floor, Trump dodged the question while emphasising what he saw as the benefits of the levies.
'One state-one RRB': One state-one RRB will become a reality from next month as the finance ministry has issued notification for the consolidation of 15 Regional Rural Banks across 11 states to achieve better operational efficiency and cost rationalisation. With this fourth round of consolidation of regional rural banks (RRBs), the number would reduce to 28 from the existing 43.

As per the gazette notification, RRBs in 11 states -- Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan -- are to be merged into one entity, respectively, for each of these to realise the goal of 'one state-one RRB'.

The effective date for amalgamation has been fixed to May 1, as per the gazette notification dated April 5, 2026. As per the notification, in line with the powers granted under Section 23A(1) of the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976, these RRBs will merge into a single entity in the public interest and in the interest of the development of the area served and also in the interest of RRBs themselves.

RRBs functioning in India For example, Chaitanya Godavari Grameena Bank, Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank, Saptagiri Grameena Bank and Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank sponsored by Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, Indian Bank and State Bank of India amalgamated into a single RRB called as Andhra Pradesh Grameena Bank.

The head office of the new entity would be at Amravati and the RRB would be under sponsorship of Union Bank of India, it said. In the case of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, three RRBs to be merged into one in each of these states.

As far as Uttar Pradesh is concerned, Baroda UP Bank, Aryavart Bank and Prathama UP Gramin Bank sponsored by the Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and Punjab National Bank amalgamated into Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank with its head office at Lucknow under the sponsorship of Bank of Baroda.

In the case of West Bengal, Bangiya Gramin Vikash, Paschim Banga Gramin Bank and Uttarbanga Kshetriya Gramin Bank sponsored by the Punjab National Bank, UCO Bank and Central Bank of India to be amalgamated into West Bengal Gramin Bank.

In eight states -- Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan, two RRBs would be merged into one. Dakshin Bihar Gramin Bank and Uttar Bihar Gramin Bank will be merged into Bihar Gramin Bank under the sponsorship of Punjab National Bank.

With regard to Gujarat, Baroda Gujarat Gramin Bank and Saurashtra Gramin Bank hereby amalgamated into a single Regional Rural Bank, which shall be called Gujarat Gramin Bank with its head office at Vadodara under the sponsorship of Bank of Baroda.

For the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, J & K Grameen Bank and Ellaquai Dehati Bank sponsored by J&K Bank and State Bank of India to be merged into a single RRB called Jammu and Kashmir Grameen Bank with its head office at Jammu under the sponsorship of J&K Bank, it said.

All the entities would have authorised capital of 2,000 crore, it added. After consultation with stakeholders, an amalgamation of 26 RRBs in 10 states and 1 UT has been carried out with a primary focus on improvement in scale efficiency and cost rationalisation, the finance ministry said in a statement.

At present, 43 RRBs are functioning in 26 states and 2 UTs. Post amalgamation, there will be 28 RRBs in 26 states and 2 UTs with over 22,000 branches covering 700 districts. Their predominant area of operation is in rural areas, with approx 92 per cent of branches in rural/semi-urban areas, it said.

This is the fourth phase of amalgamation. In Phase 1 (FY 2006 to FY 2010) number of RRBs was reduced from 196 to 82, it was further brought down from 82 to 56 in Phase 2 (FY 2013 - FY 2015) and in Phase 3, it was cut from 56 to 43.

As a precursor to consolidation, the capital infusion was done in these RRBs. The 2021-22 fiscal was a watershed year in the context of RRBs as the Centre decided to infuse 5,445 crore as its share over a period of two years to facilitate growth capital.

Also Read: FM Sitharaman urges regional rural banks to onboard customers to digital services like mobile banking by Dec 2024

RRBs performance metrics The performance of RRBs has improved during 2023-24 and has reached historic highs on several parameters. RRBs posted the highest-ever consolidated net profit of 7,571 crore during 2023-24 and their consolidated capital adequacy ratio was at an all-time high of 14.2 per cent as of March 31, 2024.

The asset quality measured by GNPA (Gross Non-Performing Assets) at 6.1 per cent was the lowest in the previous 10 years. The Centre had initiated structural consolidation of RRBs in 2004-05, which resulted in a reduction of such institutions from 196 to 43 till 2020-21 through three phases of amalgamation.

These banks were formed under the RRB Act, 1976, with the objective of providing credit and other facilities to small farmers, agricultural labourers and artisans in rural areas. The Act was amended in 2015, where such banks were permitted to raise capital from sources other than the Centre, states and sponsor banks.
Actor Soha Ali Khan opened up about brother Saif Ali Khan's knife attack incident. Saif was stabbed repeatedly by an intruder at his Mumbai home. Recalling the horrific incident, Soha said the family is still processing the emotional trauma caused by it.

Saif Ali Khan underwent surgeries after the incident and later returned to work.

Soha Ali Khan on Saif's knife attack incident Talking to Zoom, Soha said, "We are just very happy that Bhai is fine and it was a very close call and he went through a very prolonged surgery but the most important thing is that he is completely fine, completely recovered and he is well and he is back at work. Of course, everyone will take time to recover from the emotional trauma of it but he is safe.

Previously, Soha Ali Khans husband, actor Kunal Kemmu revealed that he was the one to break the news of the attack on Saif Ali Khan to Soha.

Its very weird how fear works. I had to break this to her. We were getting our daughter ready to go to school and you just had this information and nothing else. So, am I supposed to send my daughter to school right now or not? All of those things were kind of playing on my mind, he told ANI.

So we did send her to school, and then I said we need to go there, and thats when slowly we started to find out what had kind of transpired," added Kunal.

Saif stabbed at home Earlier in January, Saif Ali Khan, was attacked in the early hours at his home in Bandra, Mumbai. He was stabbed six times by a man, who broke into the actor's younger son, Jeh's room in an attempted burglary.

Saif suffered multiple injuries, including one near his neck and another near his spine. He was rushed to the hospital immediately after the incident and underwent multiple surgeries.

After the incident, security was significantly increased around his residence. Kareena Kapoor and Saif also requested paparazzi not to photograph their children anymore.

When Sara spoke about Saif Talking about it, previously Sara Ali Khan also shared at NDTV Yuva, It could have gone so wrong... and I am so grateful that everything is fine. It was a reminder almost of the life we have. We all talk about practicing mental health. Being grateful for your life is so important. And moments like that make you realise it.

Saif will be next seen in Jewel Thief The Heist Begins.
RAMALLAH, West BankThe Palestinians national cause has reached its lowest ebb in nearly 80 years, and there is no one to turn it around.

The Gaza Strip is in ruins. Many residents might leave or be pushed out following the war sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Palestinian territory in the West Bank is divided by ever-expanding Israeli settlements. Middle East countries have been building ties with Israel, and allies such as Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah were battered by Israeli attacks last year.

Palestinians, meanwhile, are fighting with each other, caught between violent groups such as Hamas and the secular nationalist party Fatah, which governs parts of the West Bank and is widely seen as corrupt and ineffective.

No third force has been able to break that duopoly. No new generation is emerging in either party to offer a fresh vision or strategy.

I hate the two factions," said Noha Kamal, a mother of three from Rafah in southern Gaza who has had to flee with her family from their largely flattened city. If it werent for their division, we wouldnt have ended up in this situation."

That widely held frustration has burst out in sporadic street protests in Gaza and even the revenge killing of a Hamas security officer.

Out, out, Hamas out," demonstrators in the Palestinian enclave have been chanting, braving the Islamist groups violent repression and Israels renewal of the war.

Opinion polling has been difficult and intermittent during the war, but in a survey last fall by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, a think tank in Ramallah, 35% of Gazans said they supported Hamas. In the West Bank, Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, fared even worse, with support reaching just 18%.

One thing many Palestinians agree on is how much internal divisions have weakened them in the unequal struggle with Israel.

Instead of fighting the occupation, we are busy fighting each other," said Firas Abu Al-Wafa, a Fatah activist from Jenin in the West Bank. Without unity and new faces, the Palestinian cause is facing doom, he said.

The dream of Palestinian statehood was already gathering dust in the years before the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks that killed 1,200, left 251 as hostages and sparked a year and a half of war. The failure of the peace process under the 1990s Oslo Accords left the Palestinian Authority as little more than a junior partner in Israels continuing occupation of the West Bank, rather than a steppingstone to independence.

Around 2010, the majority of both Palestinians and Israelis stopped believing in the two-state solutiondividing the land to end the century-old conflict. Meanwhile Israel was building friendly relations with several Arab countries, bypassing the Palestinians.

Hamas hoped the Oct. 7 attack would revive the Palestinian cause while putting itself at the head. For many months afterward, around 70% of Palestinians approved of the attack, mainly because it put the Palestinian issue back in the global spotlight, according to several surveys by the PCPSR.

But public opinion turned, especially in Gaza, as the war brought far more pain than gain. Just over half of respondents still approved of the Oct. 7 attack as of last fall, including 39% in Gaza.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 people, according to local health authorities, who dont say how many were combatants. Much of the enclave lies in ruins, and the bulk of its population of more than two million people has been displaced multiple times.

While the exact death toll remains uncertain, there is little doubt more Palestinian civilians and fighters have been killed in Gaza than in any previous round of fighting in the century-old conflict, including the 1948 war that saw the foundation of Israel and the flight or expulsion of around 750,000 Palestinians from their homes.

With Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah faring badly in fighting with Israel last year, and Sunni Arab governments acting only as diplomatic mediators, it is the Palestinians rather than Israel who are growing more isolated in the Middle East.

October 7 is a turning point in the history of the conflictthe last nail in the coffin of a two-state solution based on 1967 borders," said Hussein Ibish, a scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Palestinians can see the end of their national project coming, and Hamas just made it more plausible."

Fatah supporters have also grown disillusioned with party leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is also president of the Palestinian Authority. The 89-year-old veteran of the Palestinian struggle was once seen as a more moderate successor to the longtime national figurehead Yasser Arafat. But hes now widely seen as merely clinging to office after blocking elections for nearly 20 years. Between 80% and 90% of Palestinians want him to resign, the PCPSRs surveys have found.

Abbas does not represent anyone. Stepping down is the least he can do," said Nahed Shuhaibar, a businessman from Gaza. The Palestinian Authority has become merely an agent of the Israeli occupation, he said.

Resentment grew further over the winter when the Palestinian Authority sent its security forces to root out militants in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank to forestall an Israeli crackdown there. The siege achieved little and the Israeli forces moved in anyway.

We are caught between the Israelis and our public," said Maj. Gen. Anwar Rajab, a senior security official at the Palestinian Authority, describing the militants as outlaws who managed to hijack the camp."

Fatahs deputy general secretary, Sabri Saidam, said the Palestinian political class as a whole was struggling to connect with the burgeoning population of young Palestinians who dont feel represented.

All Palestinian parties need to have new faces, not only Fatah," Saidam said. There has to be a serious revamping."

Among the limited political alternatives on offer, some surveys say the physician and left-wing activist Mustafa Barghouti enjoys the most support, and could beat Abbas and other unloved leaders of Fatah and Hamas in a head-to-head presidential election.

But surveys have consistently shown that the truly popular candidate would be his distant relative, Marwan Barghouti, who has been in an Israeli jail since 2002 for his role in the violent Second Intifada. Israels government is steadfastly opposed to releasing him.

With no new leadership in sight, many Palestinians at least wish their existing factions would unite to achieve better leverage vis-a-vis Israel, the U.S. and Arab countries. A series of meetings between Hamas, Fatah and other groups last year in Moscow, Beijing and Cairo failed to overcome the mutual suspicion.

Whats needed is a transitional Palestinian leadership that can take control of the West Bank and Gaza, with a strong-enough technocratic prime minister," said Khalil Shikaki, director of the PCPSR. But it isnt clear who, if anyone, could win the needed support from Palestinian factions, Israel and Arab countries, he said. And it would require Abbas to accept reduced power."

Write to Marcus Walker at Marcus.Walker@wsj.com
MUMBAI : The creative agency business has long been romanticized for its pasticonic campaigns, long-copy ads, and flamboyant figureheads. But for Dheeraj Sinha, chief executive-India and South Asia at FCB, who oversees FCB Ulka, FCB Interface, FCB India, and FCB Kinnect, that nostalgia needs to go.

This business needs to kill the good old days. Were not here to do a patch job. Were re-engineering the entire model of a creative company," Sinha told Mint. In the 18 months since he took charge, FCB has overhauled its structure, added 72 new client relationships in 2024, and posted strong double-digit growth with a healthy margin, he said.

In the first two months of 2025 alone, the group has signed 22 new partnerships across offices, estimated to be worth $2-3 million.

A restructured model

Sinha believes the traditional creative agency structurebuilt on silos, slow cycles, and individual stardomno longer works. This is not about putting a band-aid on a leaky bucket. Were systemically engineering the company for the future," he said.

One of the biggest shifts under his leadership has been the move toward a fully integrated, full-funnel model. FCB now offers mainline, digital, influencer, production, CRM, data and platform partnerships under a unified structure. Today, 38% of its revenue comes from non-core advertising work.

Why should advertising be the only industry that outsources execution? Were bringing it all in-house," he said. FCBs agencies now pitch under a single P&L, but retain their own creative and strategic identities. FCB Kinnect, for example, has gone from a digital-first setup to handling full-service creative mandates.

Faster, not just better

Sinha has also eliminated what he calls the gufa" or cave model of creative workflowwhere client servicing, planning, and creative work in isolation. That process takes weeks and delivers a stitched-together idea. We now sit together from Day 1. By Day 3, weve locked the idea and spend the rest of the time executing with precision," he said.

He added that AI has enabled faster prototyping, music production, and even near-final video creationimproving the strike rate of ideas and shrinking timelines.

Outcome over output

FCBs pitches are now framed around business goals, not creative ideas. Clients dont want a great campaign. They want 10 million app downloads or a percentage point jump in market share. We guarantee outcomes," he said.

On Hero MotoCorp, the agency built a hyper-localized campaign targeting 1.6 million new customers. AI-enabled personalization, regional influencers, and platform-first thinking formed the backbone of the campaign.

The full-funnel approach is designed to work across formats. Were not thinking media-first. Were thinking consumer-journey-first," he said. You may be on WhatsApp in the morning, Instagram in the afternoon, and TV at night. The campaign needs to show up at every stage with relevance."

Fixing the talent gap

Sinha sees talent as the most urgent challenge for the ad industry. The best minds stopped coming into advertising because we were paying peanuts. And instead of solving it, we kept cribbing on LinkedIn," he said.

To correct that, FCB has started hiring aggressively from top institutions, including MICA, Ashoka, LSR, Symbiosis, and Krea University. It will bring in over 100 fresh graduates this year. Weve flattened the structure. We have leaders at the top and a high-potential base of fresh talent below. Minimal fat in between," he said.

Credit is now more democratized. The days of one big name taking credit for everything must end. This is a team sport. Our best campaigns have 50 people behind them. Everyones name goes on the board," Sinha said.

Redefining creativity

Sinha said the industry must evolve its creative benchmarks. The goal isnt always a 60-second tearjerker anymore. Its about solving real business or human problems," he said.

Among recent campaigns he highlighted were Whispers Missing Chapter", which brought menstrual education back to textbooks, and the Punishing Signal" project with the Mumbai Police, which extended red lights for noisy motorists. Were using creativity to solve real problemsnot just to write lines," he said.

He also cited the recreation of Kapil Devs 175-run innings using AI, a project that won widespread acclaim.

Going forward, Sinha said FCB, which currently ranks among the top three creative agency networks in India, is aiming for the top spot in terms of market share. Globally, the goal is to be among the worlds top five creative agencies in the next three to five years.

On the impact of the global IPG Mediabrands-Publicis merger discussions, Sinha said its too early to speculate but that strong agencies will emerge stronger. Were continuing with investments, our strategy is intact. Yes, there will be consolidation. But it will allow us to build stronger centres of excellence, invest more in data, tech and new bets," he said.

FCB India is part of IPG.

Sinha remains optimistic about the future of the businessbut only for those willing to rebuild. Theres abundance in the market. Theres opportunity. But we need new models, not nostalgia. Thats the only way forward."
China is moving fast to dominate biotechnology, and the U.S. risks falling behind permanently unless it takes action over the next three years, a congressional commission said.

Congress should invest at least $15 billion to support biotech research over the next five years and take other steps to bolster manufacturing in the U.S., while barring companies from working with Chinese biotech suppliers, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology said in a report Tuesday.

To achieve its goals, the federal government and U.S.-based researchers will also need to work with allies and partners around the world.

China is quickly ascending to biotechnology dominance, having made biotechnology a strategic priority for 20 years," the commission said. Without prompt action, the U.S. risks falling behind, a setback from which we may never recover."

The findings convey the depth of worry in Washington that Chinas rapid biotechnology advances jeopardize U.S. national security. Yet translating the concern into tangible actions could prove challenging.

Last year, the House passed with overwhelming bipartisan support a measure, called the Biosecure Act, that would bar companies that receive U.S. government funds or contracts from doing business with a list of Chinese organizations and companies of concern. But the bill never passed the Senate.

Meantime, the commission is calling for collaboration with organizations and researchers overseas, as well as billions of dollars in new investment, while the federal government cuts grants for public health work overseas and health spending.

Sen. Todd Young (R., Ind.), the chairman of the commission, expressed confidence Congress will act on the recommendations, though it will involve persuading lawmakers to move resources to American biotech as a matter of protecting national security.

This area, as we have emphasized, needs a lot more attention. So we would advocate the shifting of our priorities from some current areas of research into biotech and very quickly," Young said.

Merck & Co. struck a licensing deal last year with a Chinese company to develop and sell an experimental pill that could compete in the obesity market.

China plays a large role supplying drug ingredients and even some generic medicines to the U.S. For years it produced copycat versions of drugs developed in the West. Recent years have seen it become a formidable hub of biotechnology innovation, after the Chinese government gave priority to the field as a critical sector in Chinas efforts to become a scientific superpower.

Now, Western venture-capital firms are investing in promising Chinese biotech startups, and Western pharmaceutical giants such as AstraZeneca, GSK and Johnson & Johnson are buying and licensing drugs discovered and tested in China.

Last December, for example, Merck & Co. struck a licensing deal, worth $112 million up front and up to $1.9 billion if milestones are met, with Chinas Hansoh Pharma to develop and sell an experimental pill that could compete in the white-hot obesity market.

Initially it was how to do shoes and sneakers faster and cheaper and better. Then it was how to build iPhones faster and better. Now its how to build biotech and AI faster and better," said Paul Zhang, a partner at Bluestar BioAdvisors, which advises drugmakers on commercial strategies, including seeking business in China.

Congress established the biotechnology commission in 2021 to review how biotech and other technologies affect national security, and to make recommendations to preserve Americas dominant position. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress serve on the panel, along with leaders from industry and academia and former government officials.

The 215-page report said Chinas growing ascendance in biotech threatens more than American medical advances, because the technology could give China advantages in other fields such as agriculture or even have military applications.

Our objective here is not to out-China China. Its instead to harness the very best of our innovation ecosystem from the private sector to our research, universities and labs to our broad and deep capital markets so that we can be prepared for this biotech-related defense challenge," Young said.

The commission expressed concerns about China weaponizing biology" if it gained an advantage by restricting access to cutting-edge technologies, as it has done with certain rare-earth minerals.

Among the reports recommendations are barring firms that work with U.S. national-security agencies and the Department of Health and Human Services from using Chinese companies that pose a national-security threat.

The commission recommended creating a National Biotechnology Coordination Office within the office of the president to develop a national biotechnology strategy.

It asked Congress to create a roughly $1 billion fund that would invest in technology startups that strengthen national security. It also asked Congress to work with private companies to build plants to make products important for defense needs and to fund the governments development of a network of manufacturing plants.

The total of at least $15 billion in funding would cover costs associated with the recommendations, including $5 billion to pay for biotech research that industry was unlikely to pursue on its own.

The commission also recommended creating a center to support research and a centralized online location to access high-quality data, in an effort to make the U.S. the worlds preferred partner for biotech research and ensuring it is used responsibly.

While we have led in the past, we have not done so alone. We need to work together with our partners and allies to deliver on the benefits of biotechnology while also preventing misuse," the commission said.

Write to Jared S. Hopkins at jared.hopkins@wsj.com
New Delhi: The central government is weighing some proposals from consultants and industry veterans to increase domestic manufacturing of electronic components, especially smartphones, according to three people aware of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Such a move would reduce dependence on imports and help save foreign exchange for the country, these people added, particularly in light of the reciprocal tariffs announced last week by the US administration. Most components for making smartphones, including for Apples iPhone, are still imported.

One proposal has advised the ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) to start with deploying warehouses with special import duty privileges to ensure that companies build inventories of electronics sub-components and raw materials. Such stockpiles would help India expedite electronics component engineering domestically, which in turn will increase the net value of electronics items made in the country.

The people cited above said that a framework to ramp-up local components manufacturing is expected in the coming weeks. Meity did not immediately respond to Mints request for a comment.

Also read | Why Indias electronics sector is least at risk from Trump's tariff scrutiny

The current tariff environment remains uncertain globally, leading to unprecedented reactions from multiple nations to the USs reciprocal tariffs," the first person cited above said. This marks a key moment in Indias electronics journey and increasing Indias value in the global electronics supply chain will be key to marking it as an important geography."

Low value addition

As of last month, India exported $14.5 billion in electronics, of which nearly $9 billion was accounted for by smartphones, including $6 billion by Apples iPhoneswhich are assembled in India by Tata Electronics and Bharat Foxconn International Holdings groups.

However, Indias domestic value addition (contribution to GDP) from these exports is just 10-15%, as per industry and government executives. This leaves India with around $600 million in net earnings from iPhone exports.

According to industry estimates, iPhone exports to the US amount to $1 billion (of the $6 billion total), which will now be subjected to 26% in trade tariff. While India is relatively favourable compared to China or Vietnam for Apple to export its products from, Brazil and Thailand offer cheaper tax rates and, in turn, a shot for Apple to maintain its sales margin.

Also read | Budget smartphones sell like hot cakes in tepid market

Apple had not responded to Mints request for a comment on its India manufacturing expansion plans as of Monday.

Two industry analysts said Apple roughly exports 17-20 million iPhones from India, and until Trumps tariffs were announced on 2 April, the company was expected to ramp up its India assembly efforts to 55-60 million by 2028.

Now that this expansion is potentially uncertain, Indias domestic value addition represents a clear way to continue reaping the benefits of the global importance of the electronics industry," the third person cited above added.

To be sure, domestic value addition refers to the total amount that is added to the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country from an industry. In India, an estimate by government-backed think-tank, Niti Aayog, published in July last year said, in a business as usual environment, Indias electronics market could reach $278 billion by FY30". In the same time span, India is targeting its overall electronics ecosystem, including sales revenue, to cross $500 billion.

Government and private industry sources peg Indias domestic value addition to be at 15% at the momentwhich will give India approximately $40 billion in value added to the GDP in the next five years.

Also read | Electronics manufacturing firms tipped to outperform indices this year

In place of this, the three people that Mint spoke with said that with more local manufacturing, India can ramp-up its electronics ecosystems value addition to up to 30% during this period.

Rapid shift

While this is expected to happen in the long run, the proposal to expedite domestic value addition is key for India to relatively insulate itself in the face of Trumps tariffs right now, which affects India too," the second person cited above said.

Industry veteran Ajai Chowdhry, co-founder of HCL and chairman of Epic Foundation, said that the current market conditions are important for India to ramp-up domestic value addition.

While the components scheme has been announced, its important to note that more than reacting to the US-imposed tariffs, now is a crucial moment for increasing value addition in Indias electronics ecosystem. Ramping up local component sourcing rapidly will help India amplify what we can earn, and move upward from being a low-margin assembly nation to a higher-value stakeholder in the global electronics ecosystem," he said.

Others, however, remain sceptical. Navkendar Singh, associate vice-president at IDC India, said that the key question currently is because of the Trump-fuelled uncertainties".

Also read | Smartphone addiction: Is India facing a digital crisis?

We dont know if the tariffs will remain consistent for the next five years. Had this been certain, India could have potentially navigated and found a strategy for the long run. From where it stands today, Trumps uncertain global policy could swing trade tariffs either way, or even abolish them in the near term. India may also lose some assembly contracts to Brazil, and in the near-term, domestic value addition wont have an instant impact on the sector," Singh said.
New Delhi: India is considering a proposal to replace older mobile phone SIMs after an investigation by the nations top cybersecurity agency found samples of chipsets of Chinese origin in some of the cards that store subscriber identity information, said two officials in the know.

The ongoing probe by the National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) and the home ministry has raised national security concerns, the officials said on the condition of anonymity. The first step could be replacing the older SIM (subscriber identity module) cards in mobile phones, they said, adding that the feasibility of such an exercise is being evaluated given the techno-legal challenges.

The NCSC has held meetings with executives of Vodafone Idea Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Reliance Jio Ltd, and officials from the department of telecommunications to plug security loopholes in the procurement of telecom resources such as SIM cards and find a framework to replace the SIMs.

Queries emailed to the NCSC, the home ministry, DoT, and the telecom operators did not elicit a response until press time.

Also read | Mint Explainer: Does India's telecom sector need more reforms?

India has 1.15 billion mobile subscribers and even a small percentage of SIM cards with China-origin chips raises concerns about data security. More so when the government has barred Chinese equipment makers such as Huawei and ZTE because of national security concerns. The procurement of SIM chipsets from China without the governments approval puts sourcing and continuous audits by telecom operators in the spotlight.

Some SIM card vendors of telecom operators misused the trusted source certification," said one of the officials cited earlier. Initially, they took the certification, showing SIM card chip procurement from trusted sources. However, later it was found that some chips were of Chinese origin."

The official refused to share details of SIM card vendors, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Trusted sourcing

The NCSC works under the National Security Council Secretariat, which advises the Prime Ministers Office on matters of national security and strategic interest. The NCSC coordinates with other national agencies on cybersecurity and approves trusted sources.

Also read | TCS, IBM, Applied Materials, KLA in race to modernize Indias state chip unit

Telecom operators outsource procurement of SIM cards to vendors approved as trusted companies. These vendors procure the chips from countries like Vietnam and Taiwan, and assemble, package and serialize the cards in the country before supplying them to mobile services providers.

The investigation is being done collectively under NCSC involving DoT, MHA, and other stakeholders to identify the entry of such chips in the market and the extent of SIM cards with chips of Chinese origin. It seems even telcos were not aware of the procurement by their vendors," said another official. The government plans to strengthen the process for trusted source approvals and conduct continuous testing of telecom equipment entering the country, the official said.

Telecom equipment requires mandatory testing and certification before being imported, sold or used in India, according to security regulations. This ensures the gear meets national and international standards for safety, radio frequency emissions, network performance, and national security. The National Centre for Communication Security (NCCS), under DoT, looks after the testing and certification process. The Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) also certifies the equipment.

Also read | The ambitious and ambiguous rise of Huawei as a telecom giant

Additional cost to operators

It seems that there are loopholes in the approval process and no continuous testing is being done by authorities. There are instances where equipment of Chinese origin enters India from countries which are trusted," an industry executive said. The replacement of SIM cards will involve techno-legal challenges and will also lead to an additional cost for telecom operators, the executive said, speaking on the condition of anonymity, citing security and regulatory reasons.

In March 2021, the DoT amended the Unified Access Service licence to prevent telecom operators from obtaining equipment from untrusted vendors. The NCSC was authorised to approve trusted sources and companies that can supply equipment.

Under the Telecom Act 2023, the government can issue directions to procure telecommunication equipment and services only from trusted sources.

Also read | The chip race heats up. Which Indian companies are leading the charge?
Gold price today: Gold rates rose significantly in the domestic futures market during Tuesday's session as investors rushed to safe-haven assets amid prevailing fears that a trade war between the US and its trading allies will drive the global economy down. MCX Gold June 5 contracts traded 1.14 per cent higher at 87,915 per 10 grams around 2:10 PM.

International gold prices were also trading higher amid heightened concerns over the global trade war. Comex Gold jumped nearly 2 per cent during the session. MCX Gold prices saw a healthy rebound on Tuesday after witnessing a loss of 1.30 per cent.

Investors are slowly discounting the impact of a trade war on the global economy. As US President Donald Trump showed no signs of backing away from his tariff plans, investors believe the trade war will only intensify going forward, creating tremendous economic uncertainty. Gold prices tend to gain during times of economic uncertainty.

Another factor which is supporting gold prices at the current juncture is the expectation of a quicker rate cut by the US Federal Reserve as the tariff war is expected to drive the US economy to a recession.

Investors focus is also on the monetary policy of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Most experts expect the RBI MPC to announce a 25 bps rate cut on April 9.

Also Read | Gold prices jump; experts highlight key levels for MCX Gold

Experts highlight key levels of MCX Gold and Silver According to Manoj Kumar Jain of Prithvifinmart Commodity Research, gold has support at $2,940-2,922, while resistance at $3,000-3,034 per troy ounce and silver has support at $29.20-28.80, while resistance is at $30.00-30.45 per troy ounce in todays session.

MCX Gold has support at 86,440-86,000 and resistance at 87,500-88,000, while silver has support at 87,350-86,500 and resistance at 89,400-90,650, said Jain.

Jian suggests buying silver above 88,500 with a stop loss of 87,600 for the target of 90,500.

Rahul Kalantri, VP of commodities at Mehta Equities, said gold has support at $2,978-2,955 and resistance at $3,040-3,065. Silver has support at $29.70-29.45 and resistance at $30.40-30.65.

In INR, Kalantri said gold has support at 86,760-86,350, while resistance is at 87,610-88,190. Silver has support at 87,700-87,050, while resistance is at 89,200-89,950.

Renisha Chainani, head of research at Augmont, said the gold active June contract has significant support at $3,000 ( 87,000). However, if prices remain below $3,000, they may fall below $2,900 ( 84,500).

Chainani added silver has excellent support at $29 (about 87,000)and may not remain below this level.

"Every decline below $30 ( 89,000) should be viewed as a buying opportunity for targets of $32 ( 94,000)," said Chainani.

Read all market-related news here

Read more stories by Nishant Kumar
The Indian stock market experienced a significant decline today, primarily due to the announcement of new tariffs by the U.S. President. These tariffs have intensified global trade tensions, leading to widespread sell-offs across major global indices. Sectors such as Nifty IT, Metals, and Automobiles were among the hardest hit, reflecting their sensitivity to international trade dynamics. In the broader market, the India VIX, which measures market volatility, surged more than 65%, indicating heightened investor anxiety.

Two stock recommendations by MarketSmith India:

Buy: Godrej Consumer Products (current price:  1,160)

Why its recommended: Defensive sector, strong brand portfolio, rural & tier-2/3 market penetration

Defensive sector, strong brand portfolio, rural & tier-2/3 market penetration Key metrics : P/E: 61.24, 52-week high:  1,542, volume:  51.14 cr.

P/E: 61.24, 52-week high: 1,542, volume: 51.14 cr. Technical analysis : Possible horizontal trendline breakout

Possible horizontal trendline breakout Risk factors: High dependency on the insecticides segment, emerging market volatility

High dependency on the insecticides segment, emerging market volatility Buy at:  1,160

1,160 Target price :  1,350 in 3 months

1,350 in 3 months Stop loss:  1,080

Buy: Hindustan Unilever Ltd (current price:  2,249)

Why its recommended: Strong brand portfolio, extensive distribution network, domestic consumption-facing sector

Strong brand portfolio, extensive distribution network, domestic consumption-facing sector Key metrics : P/E: 50.85, 52-week high:  3,035, volume:  34.35 cr.

P/E: 50.85, 52-week high: 3,035, volume: 34.35 cr. Technical analysis : Possible horizontal trendline breakout and 50-DMA retake

Possible horizontal trendline breakout and 50-DMA retake Risk factors : Raw material price volatility, currency, and geopolitical risks

Raw material price volatility, currency, and geopolitical risks Buy at :  2,249

2,249 Target price :  2,500 in 3 months

2,500 in 3 months Stop loss:  2,150

Also Reads | Black Monday: The new Don of Dalal Street

Nifty 50: How the benchmark index performed on Monday

The index declined 3.24% on Monday, forming a bearish setup on the daily chart, following a sharp gap-down opening. It opened nearly 1,150 points lower but recovered about 400 points from the days low. All sectoral and broader market indices closed in the red. The market breadth was extremely weak, with the advance-decline ratio heavily favoring decliners at 1:8.

Technically, the index is now trading below all its key moving averages on the daily chart. It breached the 100-week moving average (WMA) during intraday trades but closed near 22,150. Both RSI and MACD indicators are showing a downward trend on the daily and weekly charts, signaling ongoing weakness. The daily RSI is currently near 35, and the MACD remains below the central line.

Following O'Neil's methodology for market direction, MarketSmith India has downgraded the market status to a 'Downtrend'.

The index recovered nearly 400 points from the days low and closed above 22,000 and the 100-week moving average (22,150). Going forward, the 100-WMA will act as a key support. A sustained move below it may trigger further downside toward the 21,00022,000 zone, while holding above it could lead to a short-term rebound toward 22,70022,800.

Also Read | Mint Explainer: Global and Indian markets crack under Trumps tariff shockwhat this means for investors

How did the Nifty Bank perform yesterday?

Nifty Bank commenced the session with a gap-down opening and remained under sustained selling pressure throughout the day. After a gap-down opening, the index took support around its 50-DMA and recovered around 700 points from the day's low. It declined 1,642.60 points (-3.19%) sharply on Monday, forming a bearish candle on the daily chart, characterized by a lower-high and lower-low price structure. Today, the index opened at 49,336.10, recorded an intraday high of 50,426.25, a low of 49,156.90, and eventually settled at 49,860.10.

The relative strength index (RSI) has turned downward with a negative slope, currently positioned at 47.19, indicating a shift toward bearish momentum. Meanwhile, the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) is nearing a potential negative crossover, reflecting growing selling pressure.

According to O'Neils methodology for assessing market direction, the current market status for Nifty Bank has been downgraded to an "Uptrend Under Pressure" from a "Confirmed Uptrend." This shift reflects growing distribution signals and increasing volatility, suggesting caution as the index shows signs of weakening momentum.

This major sectoral index has been trading within a broad range of 48,00052,000 over the past three months, with all key moving averages also lying within this zone. From a medium-term perspective, the index is likely to continue moving within this range. In the short term, immediate support is around 49,300, while resistance is seen near 50,700.

Also Read | Here are the sectoral winners and losers from Trump's reciprocal tariffs

MarketSmith India is a stock research platform and advisory service focused on the Indian stock market. Trade name: William O'Neil India Pvt. Ltd. (Sebi Registered Research Analyst Registration No.: INH000015543)

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certifiedexperts before making any investment decisions.
Tesla share price: Shares of tech billionaire Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc gained more than five per cent on Tuesday, April 8, tracking a rebound in the US stock market, with the dominant group of US stocks known as the Magnificent Seven bouncing back, helping power the broad rally on the Wall Street.

Chipmaker Nvidia and Tesla led the pack in midday trading with a gain of 5.5 per cent and 5.4 per cent, respectively. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Google parent Alphabet are all up between three per cent and 2.1 per cent. The solid rebound comes a day after the a mixed finish for the group.

Tesla share price trend Tesla stock market value has lost nearly $400 billion since the S&P 500 hit a peak on February 19, a staggering 35 per cent plunge. The index, by contrast, has fallen 17 per cent. The loss in market cap has drastically impacted Elon Musk's wealth, which has dropped byover $4.4 billion to $287 billion in 2025.

Tesla share price has crashed nearly 40 per cent year-to-date (YTD). However, the electric vehicle (EV) major stock has risen 29 per cent in one year. Investors pushed Tesla stock to a record high after Donald Trump was elected on hopes Musks close ties would help the company. Instead, car buyers angry at Musks support for Trump and right-wing politicians boycotted his company.

A sharp decline Monday put Teslas stock at $233.29 and below its price on March 19, a key date. That is when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made a surprising endorsement, urging Fox TV viewers to buy the stock in violation of a federal law banning government officials from endorsing companies and stock prices. Shares recovered somewhat in premarket trading on Tuesday.

US stock market today The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) opened 2.27 per cent higher at 38,827.1, compared to 37,965.60 points at the previous Wall Street close. The Dow is currently trading 0.66 per cent higher at 38,219.50 points. The gains on the US benchmark eroded after reports over fresh tariffs on China emerged on Tuesday. The index marked a 1,300-point rise in the early market session.

The S&P 500 index, after closing on a loss on Monday, opened 2.59 per cent higher at 5,193.57 points, compared to 5,062.25 points at the previous market close. The S&P 500 is trading 0.24 per cent higher at 5,073.22 points.
ICICI Bank provides several smooth ways for customers to check, follow, and track their credit card balances and due amounts. This can be done either online or offline. According to the bank, the primary emphasis is on customer comfort, convenience, and accessibility.

Based on this, ICICI Bank credit card users can choose the option that best suits them and their overall lifestyle and financial goals. You can check your credit card balance and due amount through the ICICI Bank mobile application, SMS, and internet banking, among other methods.

Seamless online method: Net banking and iMobile application Net banking is one of the fastest ways to check your ICICI bank credit card balance. To do so, just log into your account online by entering your user ID and password. Next, go to the Credit Card section and choose your card to see your current balance, recent transactions, loan application updates and total amount due.

Also Read | What are welcome gifts that are offered with credit cards?

You can also use the ICICI Bank iMobile Pay application, which is available on both Android and iOS devices. Once you log in, head to the Cards section and select your credit card to check and view your outstanding dues, total available credit, loan application details and complete transaction history. This method comes in handy for frequent travellers who want real-time updates.

Customer service and SMS options If you are an ICICI Bank credit card user who prefers the SMS method, then you can simply send IBALCC to 9215676766 or 5676766* to get details about your current balance. Further, for voice support, simply dial the ICICI Bank customer care helpline at 1860 120 7777 or 1860 425 4059.

Note: The numbers discussed here are illustrative in nature. These numbers are bound to change as per the policies of the bank. For complete details on the same and updated numbers, consider visiting the official website of ICICI Bank.*

ICICI Bank branch visit and ATM You can also use the ICICI Bank ATM to check your balance. Insert your credit card into the ATM, enter your PIN and select the appropriate option to check your balance. Further, if you are more comfortable with personal assistance, visit the nearest ICICI Bank branch and talk to a bank customer support executive for all credit card-related queries.

Checking credit card balances through monthly e-statements ICICI Bank emails a detailed credit card statement every month to update customers. It includes total spending, due date, minimum payment due and other crucial details and insights to help you manage your credit card and finances more effectively.

Finally, if you have any more questions about your ICICI Bank credit card services, you are advised to visit the bank's official website and designated customer service team for a quick resolution of your queries.

Why should you regularly check your credit card balance? Regularly checking your credit card balance and amount due fosters responsibility in your financial management. It can boost your credit score, credit profile and overall credit utilisation ratio.

Also Read | Here's how to block your Axis Bank credit card instantly with these 5 methods

Furthermore, it helps you track your spending habits, and spot missed due dates or late payments. You can also check any processing fees charged on your credit card and monitor any suspicious activity early on.

This way, you can ensure that you are in the best position to manage your financial security. Hence, staying updated on these basic yet important terms ensures better control of your spending and credit behaviours.

Disclaimer: Mint has a tie-up with fintechs for providing credit; you will need to share your information if you apply. These tie-ups do not influence our editorial content. This article only intends to educate and spread awareness about credit needs like loans, credit cards and credit scores. Mint does not promote or encourage taking credit as it comes with a set of risks such as high interest rates, hidden charges, etc. We advise investors to discuss with certified experts before taking any credit.












When you raise a personal loan, banks tend to charge what are known as processing charges. This is generally a small amount which the borrower has to pay to the lender for processing of loan. These charges are deducted from the loan amount and only the reduced amount (loan minus processing charges) is disbursed to the borrower.

It is significant to make note of processing charges because it is an additional cost and reduces the cash you receive in form of loan disbursal after the bank approves the loan. Here we list out the processing charges charged by different banks.

Following 6 banks levy these processing charges on personal loan I. HDFC Bank: The largest private bank charges up to 6,500 plus goods and services tax (GST).

II. ICICI Bank: This private bank charges upto 2 percent of the loan amount as processing charges.

III. Kotak Mahindra Bank: The charges levied by this private bank are very high i.e., 5 percent of the loan amount plus taxes.

IV. Punjab National Bank (PNB): This state lender charges 1 percent of loan amount in form of processing charges from general public. For defence personnel, there are no charges.

Bank Processing charges (Rs) HDFC Bank  6,500 ICICI Bank 2% of loan amount Kotak Mahindra Bank 5% of loan amount PNB: 1 percent of loan amount IDFC 2 percent of loan amount SBI 1.50 percent of loan amount upto  15,000

V. IDFC Bank: This private bank charges 2 percent of the total loan amount as processing fee from borrowers.

VI. State Bank of India (SBI): Last but not the least, State Bank of India (SBI) levies 1.50 percent of the loan amount as processing charges with a minimum of 1,000 (plus GST) and a maximum of 15,000 (plus GST).
A row has erupted in the Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh after some students reportedly missed their Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains on Monday, allegedly due to the convoy of Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.

The incident occurred near the Ayan Digital exam centre in Visakhapatnams Pendurthi area.

Parents of over 20 students gathered outside the exam centre, alleging that the JEE aspirants could not reach the venue on time because of traffic disruptions caused by the VIP convoy.

Our children have been preparing for this exam for months. Losing out like this over something beyond their control is heartbreaking, said one parent, according to an India Today report.

Some social media users claimed that the Deputy Chief Ministers convoy led to road blockades, delaying students en route to the ION Digital Zone in Chinamushidiwada, where the exam was being held.

However, Visakhapatnam police denied any link between the missed exam and Kalyans convoy, stating that the motorcade passed the area after 8:41 AM, whereas students were expected to report at the centre much earlier.

Andhra Pradesh: Pawan Kalyan orders inquiry Following the allegations, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan ordered an inquiry into the incident.

He directed the Visakhapatnam Police to examine the duration of the traffic halt, road conditions near the exam centres, and the status of service road traffic flow.

No student should suffer due to administrative movements; our responsibility is to ensure their future is not hindered by protocol, Kalyan said in a statement issued on Monday.

Police will investigate whether traffic regulations impacted students access to the exam centres and whether alternate routes were adequately managed that morning.

Also Read | Andhra Dy CM's son Mark Shankar injured in fire accident at his Singapore school

Kalyan maintained that he consistently prioritises public convenience during his tours and that government policy only allows brief traffic regulations for VIP movements.
Five national political parties in India, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress, received donations of 2262.5 crore from 3755 corporate contributions in the 2023-24 financial year.

According to an analysis by the election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), this is about 89 per cent of the total donations received by these parties in FY 2023-24. The rest of the amount in 270.8 crore came through individual donors, the report said.

There are six national parties in India. Apart from the Congress party, the other national parties are the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), the National People's Party (NPEP), the Communist Party of India M) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

The ADR analysed donations of 20,000 or more in 2023-24, as mentioned in reports submitted by these political parties to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The BSP has declared it did not receive any donations above 20,000 during FY 2023-24, as it has been declaring for the past 18 years.

While 3755 donations to the national parties made by corporate sectors amount to  2262.5 crore (88.9 per cent of total donations), 8493 individual donors donated  270.8 crore (10.6 per cent of total donations) to these parties during FY 2023-24, the ADR report said.

While 3755 donations to the national parties made by corporate sectors amount to 2262.5 crore (88.9 per cent of total donations), 8493 individual donors donated 270.8 crore (10.6 per cent of total donations) to these parties during FY 2023-24, the ADR report said.

BJP got the lion's share Of the total corporate donations, the BJP got 2064.58 crore through 3478 donations in FY 2023-24. The saffron party received 169.126 crore through 4628 individual donors in FY 2023-24.

BJP's corporate donation ( 2064.58) is about nine times 197.9 crore of corporate donations declared by all other national parties for the FY 2023-24.

The Congress received a total of 190.3263 crore via 102 donations from corporate/business sectors and 90.899 cr via 1882 individual donors during FY 2023-24, the report said.

Overall, the BJP received donations to the tune of 2,243.947 crore in amounts of 20,000 or more in 2023-24. The donation is about seven times the collection by the Congress party in the same year.

Remember, 2024 was the year of Lok Sabha Elections. The election was held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1.

Even in 2022-23, the BJP received nearly 90 per cent of all corporate donations worth 680.49 crore that five national parties together gathered.

Tax deductions through political donations Under the Income Tax Act, 1961, taxpayers, including Indian companies, firms, individuals, and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), are allowed to claim deductions for donations made to political parties.

These include donations made through cheques and account transfers. As per Section 80GGB of the I-T Act, 1961, corporate taxpayers can claim deductions for donations made to political parties. A similar benefit is available to individual taxpayers under Section 80GGC

In February last year, the Supreme Court scrapped Electoral Bond Scheme that allowed anonymous funding to political parties. However, this did not stop corporate funding to political parties.

The BJP received 1,685.6 crore through electoral bonds in FY 2023-24. This was the highest ever annual income or receipts from bonds declared by any party and about 38 per cent of BJP's total income of 4,340 crore as on March 31 in FY 2023-24.

Who are the top donors in FY 2023-24? As per the ADR report, Prudent Electoral Trust donated a total of 880.0775 crore to the BJP and the Congress together. The Trust donated 723.675 crore to BJP (32.25 per cent of total funds received by the party) and 156.4025 crore to the Congress (55.56 per cent of total funds received by the party).

The contributions to Prudent Electoral Trust in 2023-24 include from Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited, Bharti Airtel Ltd, RPSG Ventures Limited, GMR Hospitality and Retail Ltd, TVS Motor Company Ltd, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, among others, as per Electoral Trust Reports dated October 2024, as available on Election Commission of India website.

BJP's corporate donation is about nine times that of all other national parties combined.

Among other top donors, the Triumph Electoral Trust donated 127.50 crore to the BJP while Derive Investments donated 50 cr to BJP and 3.20 crore to the Congress party.

Also Read | BJP got record 1,685 cr via Electoral Bonds in FY24 amid dip in donation share
New Delhi: With bilateral trade between India and the UAE accelerating under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said that the two nations were on course to meet their ambitious target of $100 billion in non-oil trade, calling the relationship a model of prosperity, trust and shared vision for the world.

Speaking at the Dubai-India Business Forum in Mumbai, Goyal described the surge in trade and investment as a sign of strategic maturity in ties and urged businesses from both countries to scale up collaboration across sectors.

The UAE is helping shape Indias journey to becoming a developed nation, he said, emphasising the growing breadth of the economic and cultural partnership.

Also read | India, EU aiming for a mutually beneficial FTA: Piyush Goyal The agreement, signed in February 2022 and enforced from May that year, has significantly boosted merchandise trade flows. According to the commerce ministry, bilateral goods trade has nearly doubled from $43.3 billion in FY21 to $83.7 billion in FY24. Non-oil exports alone touched $27.4 billion in 202324, clocking a growth rate of 25.6% annually since CEPA took effect.

High-growth segments include electrical machinery, high-tech goods, organic chemicals, and smartphonesIndia exported over $2.5 billion worth of mobile phones to the UAE last fiscal.

Symbolic visit Mondays event, organised by Dubai Chambers, saw the presence of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, on his first official visit to India. Goyal called the visit symbolic, as it marks 100 years since Sheikh Hamdans grandfather, Sheikh Saeed, visited Mumbaia nod to the historical depth of the relationship. Mumbai and Dubai share a timeless bond, and this visit reaffirms the strength of that relationship, he said.

The UAE has emerged not only as a major trading partner but also a critical ally in India's broader strategic objectives. Goyal credited the close personal rapport between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE leadership for the momentum in bilateral engagement.

There have been six high-level visits in just two yearsthree from each sidewhich is a reflection of how far weve come, he said.

Also read | Govt confident of economic rebound despite global challenges, says Piyush Goyal The minister also acknowledged the UAEs support in social and cultural spheres, including its role in building the Swaminarayan temple in Abu Dhabi and its outreach to over two million Indians during the pandemic. You have looked after them like family, he said.

In addition to goods trade, the CEPA has sparked new initiatives in education and innovation. Goyal pointed to the launch of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campus in Dubai and said plans were underway to open campuses of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) as part of a deeper push in skill development.

He also underscored the UAEs growing role in India's connectivity, logistics and Africa outreach strategy. DP World has played a vital role in reshaping Indias logistics landscape, Goyal noted, adding that partnerships in physical and digital infrastructure are set to expand.

Looking ahead, he urged Indian and Emirati businesses to explore untapped opportunities in green hydrogen, fintech, AI, critical minerals, food security, and even nuclear energy. This is just the tip of the iceberg, he said. With shared ambition and trust, we can achieve much more.
New Delhi: As India intensifies efforts to recalibrate its global trade strategy, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to hold consultations with representatives of all major export promotion councils on Wednesday to assess the implications of the recent US tariff hikes and explore the road ahead in trade talks with Washington.

The meeting, to be held in the national capital, is expected to focus on the current state of engagement over a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and the emerging challenges Indian exporters face due to tightening regulatory and tariff measures imposed by the US, two people aware of the matter said.

Also read | India-UAE non-oil trade nears $100 billion under CEPA According to the two people aware of the development, the interaction will focus on gathering sector-specific inputs and aligning industry feedback with the governments negotiating position.

With US President Donald Trumps administration adopting a reciprocal tariff policy and imposing an additional 26% duty on Indian goods effective 9 April, Indian exporters in key sectors such as textiles, engineering goods, chemicals, and gems and jewellery are seeking urgent clarity and support from the government. As the US presses trade partners to open their markets further, the Indian industry is increasingly looking to New Delhi for a coordinated response to safeguard export competitiveness and maintain trade momentum.

The minister will take stock of the concerns raised by the councils and brief them on the contours of Indias engagement with the US, said the first of the two persons mentioned above.

Exporters are expected to flag key compliance hurdles and seek better access to the US market, this person said.

India's exports to US may decline According to a recently released report by the trade think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), India could see a $5.76 billion or 6.41% decline in merchandise exports to the US this year (CY2025) following the Trump administration's reimposition of higher tariffs.

The study estimates a 6.4% decline in Indias overall exports to its top trading partner in the calendar year 2025, with key sectors such as gems and jewellery, marine products, electronics, and auto parts bearing the brunt of the impact.

The issues facing the industry will be discussed, and a possible way forward to mitigate the impact of the reciprocal tariff is also expected to be taken up, said the second person.

Also read | Global South not responsible for environmental damage: Piyush Goyal While no announcement is expected immediately after the meeting, the person said the interaction will help shape India's next moves in the ongoing bilateral discussions. India is taking a calibrated approach. The idea is to engage constructively and secure a balanced outcome that helps both economies grow, the second person said.

All senior officials of the commerce ministry are also expected to attend the meeting, which will serve as a platform for detailed consultations with export bodies across sectors.

The commerce ministry is also expected to hold follow-up discussions with specific sectors following the 9 April meeting as it prepares for the next formal round of talks with U.S. trade officials.

India has several Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) that work under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to promote and support exports across various sectors. These include the Apparel Export Promotion Council, Engineering Export Promotion Council, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, and Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council among others.
Police have registered a cheating case against an alleged bogus doctor, who had also served as BJP Jabalpur medical cell's co-convener, after a complaint that he worked in a government hospital here on a fake degree, officials said.

The case against Shubham Awasthi was registered on April 5, two days before the arrest of another "fake" cardiologist who practised at a Missionary Hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district.

As per a complaint filed with the National Human Rights Commission, seven heart patients treated by him have died.

In the other case in Jabalpur, police filed the FIR against Awasthi following a court order here.

"An FIR of cheating has been registered against Shubham Awasthi, who has been accused of using a fake Ayush degree and working in government-run Seth Govind Das District Hospital Jabalpur (formerly known as Victoria Hospital). The case was registered on the basis of the court order," Civil Lines police station inspector Nehru Singh Khandate told PTI on Monday.

The case is under investigation, he added.

When contacted, BJP's Jabalpur city chief Ratnesh Sonkar said action will be taken against Awasthi as per the party guidelines after they get an official confirmation of the case.

"After coming to know about the incident this (Monday) morning via a media report, I have personally sought authentic details of the case. The BJP doesn't tolerate such things...1001 per cent action will be taken," he said.

Also Read | Woman calls out doctor for using ChatGPT to get advice on her blood test

The ruling party admitted the bogus physician was associated with it, but was removed from his post two years ago.

"Yes, he was BJP Jabalpur district medical cell co-convenor. He was relieved from the post two years ago following some accusations against him," state BJP's media cell co-convenor and dentist Ashwini Trivedi said.

When contacted, the complainant in the case, Shailendra Bari, said, "I learnt about Shubham Awasthi working in the district hospital on a bogus ayurvedic doctor (with Ayush) degree for one year in 2020-21 from a friend who was admitted to the hospital."

"My friend, who is no more, heard some doctors talking about a black sheep in their flock. Thereafter, I sought his educational documents under the Right to Information Act (RTI)," he added.

After getting to know of this development, Awasthi (40) resigned from the hospital, Bari said.

"On receipt of Awasthi's educational documents, I applied under the RTI to the university and government ayurvedic college to know the duration of his studies. Both the university and the college replied no such student had been to their institute," he said.

Bari said he subsequently lodged a police complaint, but no action was taken.

"Later, I filed a complaint in the district court for action against Awasthi," he said.
Two persons were held in connection with a grenade attack at former Punjab minister and BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia's residence in Jalandhar, the Punjab police said. The blast at the BJP leader's house was a major conspiracy of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, and Pakistani gangster Shahzad Bhatti, police added.

The Punjab police further said the e-rickshaw used in the crime has also been recovered.

Addressing the media in Chandigarh, Special Director General of Police (law and order) Arpit Shukla said the crime was committed to disturb communal harmony in Punjab.

Also Read | Lawrence Bishnoi gang member arrested in Mohali after dramatic police standoff

"It was a major conspiracy of Pakistan's ISI. Zeeshan Akhtar, who is an associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and (Pakistani gangster) Shahzad Bhatti, had hatched a conspiracy," said Shukla.

He further said an investigation into the possible links of the Babbar Khalsa International is also underway, adding that the Punjab police was also in touch with the central agencies.

An ANI report citing official sources also said the attack was the handiwork of Pakistan's ISI.

According to the report, the mastermind of the attack was identified as Zeeshan Akhtar and it was a "cross-border planned attack."

Akhtar is also wanted in Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique's murder case.

A blast was reported outside the residence of BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia in Punjab's Jalandhar in the early hours today.

"Around 1 am, we got information of a blast here, after which we reached the spot and started the investigation. The forensic team is investigating the matter...We are also monitoring the CCTV... The forensic team is investigating whether it is a grenade attack or something else," Dhanpreet Kaur, Jalandhar Police Commissioner, told reporters.

Manoranjan Kalia said that he was sleeping when the blast occurred outside his residence.
Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has announced plans for a transformative new toll system in India, aimed at providing relief to the common man. Speaking at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit in New Delhi on Tuesday, Gadkari stated, We are bringing a policy, which will bring relief to the common man. We are changing the process of toll... I cannot tell more than this, but I believe it will be announced in the next 8-10 days.

At the summit Nitin Gadkari assured that the implementation of the new toll tax system would lead to reduced toll rates, addressing longstanding concerns about the financial burden on commuters.

Also Read | Relief for commuters: No hike in toll charges for two months

This announcement follows Nitin Gadkari's previous mention of the new toll policy in Parliament last month, where he emphasised the government's commitment to making the system more consumer-friendly while still funding India's expanding road infrastructure.

Currently, toll plazas on National Highways are established according to the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, which stipulate that toll plazas on the same section and direction of a national highway cannot be established within 60 kilometres of each other.

India's toll collection has seen a significant surge in recent years. Revenue reached 64,809.86 crore in 2023-24, marking a 35% increase from the previous year. This growth is particularly striking when compared to the collection of 27,503 crore in 2019-20.

Also Read | No toll tax if someone returns within 12 hours. Govt debunks this fake message

While details of the new system remain under wraps, it is expected to align with the government's broader vision for infrastructure development and environmental sustainability.

The proposed changes come at a time when India is preparing to implement a satellite-based toll collection system by April 2025.

This new system, employing the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), will use onboard units in vehicles to track movement and calculate toll charges based on distance travelled.

It represents a significant upgrade from the current RFID-based FASTag system, promising to streamline toll collection, reduce congestion, and potentially eliminate the need for physical toll plazas.

Also Read | Indian road network will be better than US in next two years: Nitin Gadkari

Key features of the GNSS-based system include a 20km daily exemption for short-distance travellers, designed to reduce costs for local commuters. The National Highways Authority of India will oversee the rollout, with technical support from the Indian Space Research Organisation.
A Finland-based Indian activist, Sanal Edamaruku, was reportedly arrested in Poland over an Interpol notice by Indian authorities. Edamaruku is wanted in India on blasphemy charges and has been living in self-imposed exile in Finland since 2012.

According to Rationalist International, a foundation Edamaruku found, he was detained at Warsaw Modlin Airport on 28 March. He was travelling to Poland to attend a human rights conference.

The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs also confirmed to local news agencies that it was aware of his arrest.

The Indian government had issued an Interpol-red notice for Edamaruku and sought his extradition, said the Rationalist International.

Why was Sanal Edamaruku charged with blasphemy? In 2012, Sanal Edamaruku angered the Catholic Church in India after he examined the water dripping from a crucifix and concluded that it was a sewage leak and not some miracle. This led to him being charged with blasphemy.

In 2020, Sanal Edamaruku claimed that his life would be in danger if he returned to India. His organisation also referred to violence and killings that rationalists like him had faced in the country.

Also Read | Muslim mob in Pakistan lynches tourist over alleged blasphemy

Who is Sanal Edamaraku? Sanal Edamaraku's LinkedIn profile says he is a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) alumni.

Between April 2008 and January 2012, Sanal was the president of the International Centre for Kathakali in New Delhi. He studied and performed on several Kathakali stages as a student.

Later, he directed plays based on non-traditional themes, including the Nigerian play Shakila and the Finnish epic Kalevala.

Sanal also introduced female roles in Kathi and Pacha styles in Kathakali.

The rationalist worked as a columnist and national political analyst with the Kerala Sabdam group of publications from July 1985 to June 2012. He was also its Bureau Chief between 2006 and 2012.

Sanal Edamaruku also served as the president of the Kerala School in New Delhi from November 2011 to July 2012.

Also Read | Mob burns Pakistani churches, vandalises cemetery over alleged blasphemy

Since he moved to Finland in 2012 amid the blasphemy charges against him, he began working as a resource person and lecturer at UNESCO-affiliated educational institutions there till December 2013.

He founded the Rationalist International organisation in Finland in December 2013 and has been its President since then.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted raids at several locations linked to Khalistani terrorist Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar in connection with the probe into grenade attacks at two clubs in Sector-29, Gurugram, in December 2024.

The searches were carried out at premises across various districts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh belonging to people linked with Canada-based terrorist Brar and US-based gangster Randeep Malik.

"Several electronic and other incriminating materials were recovered during the searches conducted at eight locations in various districts of the two states this morning," the NIA said in a statement.

The seized materials are being examined by the NIA for clues to unravel the conspiracy behind the bombing incident, in which arms, ammunition and explosives were seized from the accused involved in the attacks, it added.

After the attacks at the Warehouse Club and Human Club at Sector-29, Gurugram, gangster Rohit Godara claimed responsibility through a social media post.

The anti-terror agency further said Malik and Goldy Brar, a designated Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist, masterminded the attacks.

Earlier, Brar had threatened and attempted to extort money from the club owners, the agency said.

Gurugram nightclub attack case Two crude bombs were thrown outside the clubs located in Sector 29, Gurugram and a person, identified as Sachin, a resident of Meerut, was arrested from the spot.

Subsequently, a few other accused were also arrested in connection with the case.

An FIR into the nightclub attack case was registered on January 2, 2025.

The federal probe agency also charge-sheeted Brar, Godara and 11 others for their involvement in the killing of Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi at his house in Jaipur in December 2023.
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, came into force today, a notification of The Gazette of India announced.

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (14 of 2025), the Central Government hereby appoints the 8th day of April, 2025 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force, the notification said.

The Gazette of India is an authorised legal document of the Government of India where the government's statutory orders and notifications are published.

The Waqf (Amendment) Act, which was passed by Parliament last week came into from Tuesday, a Ministry of Minority Affairs' notification in The Gazette of India said.

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed the bill post-midnight on April 3 and April 4 respectively. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the proposed law on April 5.

While the BJP-led NDA had rallied in support of the bill, the opposition INDIA bloc united in opposing it.

Pleas against Waqf Act The Centre on Tuesday filed a caveat in the Supreme Court and sought a hearing before any order was passed on the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

Caveat is filed by a party in the high courts and the apex court to ensure that no orders are passed without hearing it.

Also Read | DMK moves Supreme Court against Centres Waqf Amendment Act

Over 10 petitions, including those by politicians and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, were filed in the top court challenging the validity of the newly-enacted law.

J&K Assembly adjourned after ruckus over Waqf Act The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was adjourned for the day on Tuesday following a ruckus by the National Conference (NC), Congress, PDP and other members over the Speaker disallowing adjournment of business to discuss the Waqf (Amendment) Act.

The treasury benches, including ministers, joined the PDP demanding a discussion on the Act. After their demand was rejected by the Speaker, the treasury benches did not allow the House to function for the second consecutive day.

As members of the ruling NC-led coalition including Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary joined the demand, Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather said he had decided to disallow it in line with the rules and will not change his ruling.

Asked about the no-confidence motion moved by three opposition legislators led by Peoples Conference leader Sajad Gani Lone, Rather told reporters they are welcome to bring it before the House, which will decide.

What is the problem? They have this right and the House will decide its fate. If the House has no confidence, then I have no right to be there, the Speaker said.
In a significant development in the 2008 Jaipur serial bomb blasts case, a special court in Jaipur has sentenced four convicts to life imprisonment. The verdict was handed down on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, following their conviction on April 4 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and the Explosives Act.

The four individualsSarwar Azmi, Shahbaz Hussain, Saifur Rehman, and Mohammad Saifwere found guilty of their involvement in planting an unexploded bomb near Chandpole on May 13, 2008. This incident was part of a series of coordinated attacks that shook Jaipur's walled city, claiming 71 lives and injuring 180 others.

2008 Jaipur serial bomb blasts: Background On May 13, 2008, Jaipur witnessed one of the most devastating terror attacks in India's history. Eight bombs exploded in crowded areas such as Manak Chowk Khanda, Chandpole Gate, Badi Chaupad, Chhoti Chaupad, Tripolia Gate, Johri Bazar, and Sanganeri Gate. An additional unexploded bomb was discovered near Chandpole Bazar and defused by authorities. The blasts were carried out using bicycles laden with ammonium nitrate, RDX, and metal splinters to maximize casualties.

The Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attacks via an email sent to media outlets shortly after the incident. Investigations suggested possible links with Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI), raising concerns about cross-border terrorism.

2008 Jaipur serial bomb blasts: Legal Proceedings In December 2019, a special court in Rajasthan convicted four individualsMohammad Saif, Sarwar Azmi, Saifur Rehman, and Mohammad Salmanof their involvement in the blasts. They were sentenced to death under various sections of the IPC, UAPA, and Explosives Act. However, Shahbaz Hussain was acquitted during the initial trial, benefiting from the doubt.

In March 2023, the Rajasthan High Court overturned the death sentences of the four convicts due to insufficient evidence and procedural lapses. The acquittal of Shahbaz Hussain was also upheld by the High Court.

2008 Jaipur serial bomb blasts: Recent Developments The latest sentencing marks another chapter in the long-drawn legal battle surrounding the 2008 Jaipur serial bomb blast case. The Jaipur court's verdict comes as a relief to the families of the serial bomb blast victims who have been seeking justice for nearly 17 years.
As Indias job landscape transforms, a new generation of workers is prioritising learning and adaptability over static roles. LinkedIns 2025 Top Companies list reflects this shift, spotlighting 25 workplaces in India that are actively helping professionals grow  through upskilling, internal mobility, and future-ready career paths.

Leading the list is Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a tech and consulting giant with major footprints in Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru. TCS is recognised for fostering talent in system administration and software engineering roles. Accenture follows closely, with a strong demand for enterprise software and a robust presence in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

Also Read | These people found fame and moneyon LinkedIn

Infosys, ranked third, offers a wide range of consulting and engineering jobs, while Fidelity Investments in Bengaluru and Chennai focuses on AI and SDLC expertise. In fifth place, Cognizant continues to attract IT and development professionals across Hyderabad and Chennai.

Oracle and JPMorgan Chase rank sixth and seventh respectively, with Oracle leaning into AI and software development, and JPMorgan offering roles in investment banking and IT. Amazon, eighth on the list, remains a top destination for software engineers and AI specialists.

Tech giant Alphabet Inc. (Googles parent company) takes ninth, spotlighting roles in mobile development and media, while DTCC rounds out the top ten with a focus on IT and business operations in Chennai.

Also Read | Decoding how top firms are redefining talent retention with Bain & Company

The second half of the list features major players like Capgemini, Salesforce, and Synopsys Inc., each offering strong engineering and IT growth. Automotive firm Continental and banks like Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley continue to invest in tech skills and financial services training.

Emerging leaders like ServiceNow, Stripe, Atlassian, and MSCI Inc. also make the cut, reflecting the importance of product management, fintech, and analytics in Indias future job market.

Eli Lilly and Company, with its pharma-tech focus, and American Express, blending finance with AI, round off the list.
A social media post went viral on LinkedIn after a woman who works for the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), shared her experience of finding an Infosys employee moonlighting, running a bike taxi in Bengaluru.

Also Read | Bengaluru auto drivers gang up on man for using Rapido

Chaarmikha Nagalla, in her post on LinkedIn, shared how she found a corporate employee like her working another job as a bike taxi driver and was stunned by the rider's professionalism on her way to the office.

He arrived at my location, and called me: Am I audible? in the most corporate lingo! said Nagalla in her post earlier this month.

The social media user also mentioned that, unlike her other experiences, this time, the rider was too enthusiastic, to which she later found out that it was his first day at his second job.

While it sparked curiosity, I was rushing to reach office. You see, I've been experimenting with bike taxis to zip through Bangalore traffic and get to work in under 10 minutes. But this time, the driver (or rider, rather) seemed too enthusiastic. Apparently, it was his first day, so I asked what brought him here, according to the post.

Later during the ride, Nagalla found out that the bike taxi rider primarily works in the contract management team of IT major Infosys, who decided to stop doom-scrolling through Instagram reels and step out to earn some extra money.

Turns out, he works at Infosys in their contract management team??!! But instead of doom-scrolling through reels during weekends or early mornings, he thoughtwhy not earn some extra money and be productive? as per the LinkedIn post.

Also Read | Viral Video: Woman takes charge as Uber driver falls sick

Is moonlighting common? Chaarmikha Nagalla also highlighted that this was not a one-off instance and that she had previously had an experience with an Uber rider who came up to her with a premium bike.

And this wasnt a one-off. Just yesterday, my Uber ride home turned out to be a premium bike, complete with high-end gear and a decked-out rider, she said in her post.

When she asked the individual about their job, the Uber rider responded that he primarily works in a B@B event management firm and, while going back from the office, completes a ride to have some company on the way home.

The social media user also focused on her concern about people becoming a victim of loneliness and keep on hustling as there is nothing else to do to combat it.
US President Donald Trump has ruled out a pause in his controversial tariff plan, even as global markets reeled from escalating trade tensions. Were not looking at that, Trump said, when asked if he was considering a pause on implementing further tariffs.

The US president was speaking during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on Monday,

Tariffs key to Trumps economic plan Trump defended his aggressive trade policy, calling tariffs very important to his economic agenda and insisting they would remain in place. Tariffs will make this country very rich, he claimed. He added that while tariffs would stay, he was open to fair deal and good deals with every country.

There can be permanent tariffs and there can also be negotiations because there are things that we need beyond tariffs, he explained.

No contradiction between tariffs and talks Trump maintained that negotiations and tariffs could coexist. They can both be true, he said, responding to questions about how the administration could pursue new trade deals while maintaining tariff pressure.

He also noted, We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate with us, suggesting that several trading partners were actively seeking new deals to avoid steep levies.

Trump warns China: Drop tariffs or face 50% hike Trump issued a direct warning to China, saying the US would impose an additional 50% tariff if Beijing did not roll back its 34% retaliatory tariffs by Tuesday. Chinas tariff was a response to Washingtons 34% reciprocal import tax announced last week.

Mixed signals add to global market jitters The administrations conflicting messages  openness to negotiation and aggressive tariff threats on the other  have added to market volatility. With a 10% flat tariff already in place on multiple countries and more targeted taxes due Wednesday, investors and foreign leaders are grappling with uncertainty.
The US Supreme Court lifted a lower courts order that had temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan migrants under a rarely used 18th-century wartime law  the Alien Enemies Act.

Migrants allowed to challenge removal The 5-4 decision ruled that while the deportations could proceed, the migrants must be given a reasonable time to challenge their removal in court.

The administration must provide reasonable time for the migrants to go to court, the majority stated.

Emergency appeal succeeds after DC Judge blocked deportations The justices acted on the Trump administrations emergency appeal after a federal appeals court upheld US District Judge James E. Boasbergs order temporarily halting deportations. Boasberg had also ordered planeloads of migrants to be returned to the US, citing due process concerns  a directive that immigration authorities did not follow.

Pam Bondi: A landmark victory for the rule of law Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the ruling, arguing that national security decisions should rest with the president.

An activist judge in Washington, DC does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trump's authority to conduct foreign policy and keep the American people safe, Bondi wrote in a social media post.

This is a landmark victory for the rule of law.

Trump invokes Wartime Law against Tren de Aragua Gang The legal battle erupted after President Donald Trump issued a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act  the first use of the law since World War II  to authorise the deportation of individuals accused of being part of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which the administration labeled an invading force.

ACLU challenges mass deportations The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit hours after the presidential proclamation was made public, representing five Venezuelan noncitizens detained in Texas. They accused the administration of violating due process by carrying out immediate deportations.

Boasberg, chief judge of the federal court in Washington, had responded with a temporary halt  a move the administration largely ignored.

Calls for impeachment, rare rebuke from Chief Justice Following the judges intervention, Trump and his allies publicly called for the impeachment of Judge Boasberg, a move that drew an unusual statement from Chief Justice John Roberts.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has publicly clashed with Peter Navarro, President Donald Trumps senior trade adviser, over the administration's tariff policies. The feud escalated when Musk described Navarro as "truly a moron" and "dumber than a sack of bricks" following remarks by Navarro that undermined Musk's business model.

Elon Musk, a key aide to Donald Trump and DOGE Chief, has signaled opposition to the Trump tariffs, and the Tesla CEO hit out after Navarro described him as "not a car manufacturer" but a car assembler.

Also Read | Elon Musk made personal appeals to Donald Trump against China tariffs, says WaPo

Peter Navarro, President Donald Trump's top trade adviser, on Monday dismissed tech-billionaire Elon Musk's push for "zero tariffs" between the United States and Europe, calling the Tesla CEO a "car assembler" reliant on parts from other countries.

Peter Navarro, widely seen as the architect of Donald Trump's tariff plans, told CNBC that Elon Musk had done a good job with his work to streamline US government, but the Tesla CEO's comments on tariffs were not surprising given his role as "car person," the latest salvo in a growing feud between the Trump advisers.

"When it comes to tariffs and trade, we all understand in the White House - and the American people understand - that Elon is a car manufacturer, but he's not a car manufacturer. He's a car assembler," Navarro said, adding that many Tesla parts came from Japan, China and Taiwan. "He's a car person. That's what he does, and he wants the cheap foreign parts."

Elon Musk, speaking at a League Party congress in Italy, countered by promoting the idea of a US-EU free trade zone to eliminate tariffs altogether. His comments came just days after Donald Trump announced hefty reciprocal tariffs targeting nearly 60 countries.

The feud intensified over the weekend when Elon Musk took to his social media platform X to respond to a post defending Peter Navarros economic credentials.

Also Read | Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro hits back at Elon Musk over tariff criticism

Elon Musk dismissed Navarros Harvard PhD in economics as a liability rather than an asset, suggesting it led to arrogance over practical knowledge. Navarro retaliated by accusing Elon Musk of prioritising cheap foreign parts for Tesla vehicles over American manufacturing.

Meanwhile, billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman, who endorsed Donald Trump's run for president, ratcheted up his pleas with Washington to hit pause on tariffs to stave off a major global economic disruption.

Also Read | Bernie Sanders blames Musk and Trump for US democracy crisis

While tariffs are an essential tool for eliminating "unfair trading practices" by partners, implementing them without allowing time for agreements will do "unnecessary harm," he said in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday.

A pause of 30, 60, or 90 days will prevent "a major global economic disruption that would harm the most vulnerable companies and citizens of our country," Ackman added.
Tesla chief and White House advisor Elon Musk made personal appeals to United States President Donald Trump against imposing very aggressive tariffs on China, but the billionaire was unsuccessful, The Washington Post reported, citing sources.

The richest person in the world has lost $135 billion of his net worth as Donald Trump's tariff tantrums tanked markets across the globe, including Tesla stock, which make up the bulk of Elon Musk's wealth.

Elon Musk's wealth has dropped to $298 billion on April 8, slipping below the $300 billion mark for the first time since November 2024, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI).

Elon Musk Tried and Failed to Cut China Tariffs: WaPo Sources Donald Trump's closest aide in his second term as President, Elon Musk made unsuccessful direct appeals, allegedly going over White House trade adviser Peter Navarro's head to talk to POTUS, the report said.

Two sources told the publication that Elon Musk's attempts against the tariffs have not brought success so far. Donald Trump on April 7 threatened China with more duties if the manufacturing powerhouse retaliated against his tariff-happy trade policy. The US has imposed 34 per cent tariffs on China and Donald Trump has threatened new 50 per cent taxes on imports.

Elon Musk on Donald Trump's Tariffs Announcements Elon Musk has not disavowed Donald Trump's new tariffs publicly. He did, however, get into a war-of-words on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), with Navarro.

In a video conference with Italys right-wing League party leader Matteo Salvini, Elon Musk suggested that the US and Europe should have a free-trade zone with zero tariffs.

At the end of the day, I hope its agreed that both Europe and the US should move ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone. If people wish to work in Europe or wish to work in North America, they should be allowed to do so in my view. This has certainly been my advice to the president, Elon Musk said.

Despite not vocally opposing Donald Trump, Elon Musk on April 7 also posted a video on his X account, where late conservative economist Milton Friedman explained the benefits of a global supply chain using the example of a wooden pencil  from sourcing the raw materials, to creating the end product. The video supports free-trade policy and could be viewed as Elon Musk's silent dissent to Donald Trump's make everything in America dream.

Peter Navarro Swipes at Elon Musk: Protecting Own Interests Speaking to Fox News, Navarro then accused Elon Musk of prioritising Teslas profits over national policy and pointed out that while Tesla factories are in the US, the supply chain is global  sourcing from China, Mexico, Japan and Taiwan. Elon when hes in his DOGE lane is great, but we understand whats going on here. Elon sells cars. Hes simply protecting his own interests, he said.
In a major blow to international students pursuing education at American universities, the US Department of State has revoked the visas of several students in recent days, reported WBUR.

Tufts University, Harvard University, UMass, Boston University, Emerson College, Northeastern University and Berklee College of Music all said that they had discovered student visas were cancelled in the last few days, the WBUR report said.

As of April 7, the State Department had revoked 40 visas of people affiliated with Northeastern, including 18 current students and 22 alumni, reported The Huntington News, citing Northeastern Vice President for Communications Renata Nyul.

Northeastern is committed to helping our international students, faculty and staff  and our entire global community  stay informed and safe at a time of deep uncertainty, Northeasterns Navigating a New Political Landscape FAQ page reads.

Also Read | Tim Walz's daughter skips graduate school over its lack of support for protests

However, it was not clear why the visas were cancelled.

The federal government has not notified the universities of their students change of status. They rather learned about it when records were reviewed.

These decisions are happening in a vacuum, without communication to the school or the student, and [university leaders] are trying to work backward to figure out why, said Rob McCarron, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, according to the WBUR report.

The official number of visas terminated is also not known.

According to media reports, the visas of three students and two recent graduates were revoked at Harvard University. Fifteen students across the five University of Massachusetts campuses have had their visas cancelled.

Also Read | Indians will now have to pay significantly more for UK, Australia visas

Why are visas revoked? The development comes amid the Trump administrations clampdown on non-US citizens engaging in political advocacy on campus.

The United States has zero tolerance for non-citizens who violate U.S. laws. Those who break the law, including students, may face visa refusal, visa revocation, and/or deportation, a department spokesperson said in a statement to The Boston Globe.

The Department of State will continue to work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to administer and enforce U.S. visas and immigration laws.

Last month, the Trump administration said that 300 student visas had been cancelled.

Also Read | Ranjani Srinivasan 'self-deport after US revokes visa

While some students were told to return to their native country for pro-Palestinian activism or criminal activity, others had their visas revoked for traffic violations.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, most foreign students are on F-1 visas. If their visas are terminated, immigration officials can verify the student has left the country.
The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favour of President Donald Trump, lifting a lower court order that had blocked the deportation of undocumented Venezuelan migrants under a rarely used wartime law.

However, the court also clarified that migrants facing deportation under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act must be allowed to contest their removal legally.

The 5-4 ruling, issued by the conservative-majority Supreme Court, allows the Trump administration to resume deportations that had previously been halted by a federal district court judge.

What is the Alien Enemies Act? The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, part of the broader Alien and Seditious Acts, is a U.S. federal law that grants the President the power to detain or relocate citizens from countries deemed hostile during times of war or invasion. It specifically targets immigrants without providing court hearings based on their country of origin or citizenship.

Historically, the Act has been invoked during significant conflicts. In the War of 1812, British nationals in the US had to provide personal details such as their place of residence, age, family background, and naturalization status. During World War I, the Act was used to target German, Austro-Hungarian, and Italian immigrants, leading to restrictions, expulsions, and detentions.

Most notably, during World War II, the US government relocated and incarcerated around 120,000 individuals of Japanese descent, most of whom were American citizens, from the West Coast to internment camps in the interior.

This action, driven by the Act, is a significant and regrettable chapter in US history, with the Congress, presidents, and the courts later acknowledging and expressing remorse for these injustices.

The purpose of the Alien Enemies Act was originally to prevent foreign espionage and sabotage during wartime. However, its application against lawfully present immigrants without any evidence of disloyalty has raised serious concerns about constitutional rights, particularly due process and equal protection.

The purpose of the Alien Enemies Act was originally to prevent foreign espionage and sabotage during wartime.

The Act can only be invoked during a declared war or in cases of "invasion" or "predatory incursion" against US territory, aligning with legal and constitutional authority.
Violence erupted in West Bengals Murshidabad district on Tuesday during protests against the recently enacted Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. Demonstrators in the Jangipur area clashed with police, resulting in stone-pelting and the torching of police vehicles. The unrest began when protesters blocked National Highway 12 and refused to disperse despite police requests. When authorities attempted to forcibly lift the blockade, tensions escalated, leading to violent confrontations.

A heavy police presence, including Rapid Action Force personnel, was deployed to restore order.

The Waqf (Amendment) Act, passed after extensive debates in Parliament and signed into law by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday, officially came into effect on April 8.

The Waqf (Amendment) Act, passed after extensive debates in Parliament and signed into law by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday, officially came into effect on April 8. The legislation aims to streamline the management of Waqf propertiesassets donated by Muslims for religious or charitable purposeswhile safeguarding heritage sites, promoting transparency, and enhancing coordination between Waqf boards and local authorities.

However, critics argue that the law infringes upon the rights of Indias Muslim community.

The incident has sparked political controversy, with opposing parties blaming each other for the violence.

The incident has sparked political controversy, with opposing parties blaming each other for the violence. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Sukanta Majumdar accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "minority appeasement" and failing to maintain law and order.

In a post on X, Majumdar alleged that "violent Islamist mobs" were running rampant in Murshidabad under Banerjees administration, while Hindu communities were being targeted. He further criticised Banerjee for her "spineless brand of appeasement politics," claiming it was dragging Bengal towards chaos.

Meanwhile, Siddiqullah Chowdhury, a senior Trinamool Congress leader and state minister, condemned the police action during the protests. Chowdhury argued that law enforcement had mishandled the situation by resorting to lathi charges against demonstrators. He compared the incident favourably to the Left regime, stating that minorities were not subjected to such treatment under previous administrations.

Also Read | Waqf Amendment Act comes into force from today, govt issues notification

Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury also weighed in, attributing the violence to police highhandedness and accusing both Mamata Banerjees government and the BJP of exploiting communal divisions for political gain. Chowdhury called for greater sensitivity in handling protests in Murshidabad, where over 70 per cent of the population are Muslims.

The BJP has further alleged that internet services were deliberately suspended in Jangipur to suppress information about the unrest. Videos shared by BJP leaders purportedly show protesters chanting slogans rejecting Indias Constitution and calling for defiance against the Waqf Act.

The protests come amid broader demonstrations against the Waqf Amendment Act across West Bengal and other states such as Tamil Nadu.

As tensions remain high in Murshidabad, authorities have promised strict legal action against those involved in violence and rumour-mongering

Critics have labelled the legislation "anti-democratic" and accused the central government of interfering in the personal matters of religious minorities. The Congress has opposed provisions allowing non-Muslims to be appointed to Waqf boards, arguing that these changes undermine constitutional safeguards.
Silicon Valley tech giant Microsoft on April 7 fired two employees  including Indian American Vaniya Agrawal, who disrupted a Q&A session with CEO Satya Nadella and former CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, to protest against the company's work with the Israeli government.

Later the same day, Ibtihal Aboussad and Vaniya Agrawal's letter to Microsoft workers company-wide, including Satya Nadella, was posted on self-publishing website Medium.

Titled Why Im Leaving Microsoft  Our Moral Responsibility, the letter was posted by author profile called No Azure For Apartheid, self-described as Microsoft workers demanding that Microsoft terminate all Azure contracts and partnerships with the Israeli military and government.

Also Read | Indian-American Microsoft engineer confronts Satya Nadella over AI use by Israel

Fired Employees Wrote Company-Wide Letter According to the Medium report, the letter was written by the two former Microsoft employees on April 4, 2024, together with the No Azure For Apartheid campaign before their coordinated disruptions at the Microsoft 50th Anniversary.

The two lost corporate access after they sent the letter and protested at the event where Satya Nadella, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer were present. The report added that the letter garnered hundreds of positive reactions and messages of support before Microsoft censored the emails by quickly blocking replies, forwards, and reactions.

What Did Vaniya Agrawal Say? Read Full Letter Here Hi all,

My name is Vaniya, and after 1.5 years as a software engineer at this company, Ive decided to leave Microsoft. My last day is next Friday, April 11.

You may have seen me stand up earlier today to call out Satya during his speech at the Microsoft 50th anniversary.

Heres why I decided to leave the company, and why I spoke up today.

We are witnessing a genocide

A year and a half ago, I joined Microsoft just as I started to witness the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel, which started in 1948. Ive seen unspeakable suffering amidst Israels mass human rights violations  indiscriminate carpet bombings, the targeting of hospitals and schools, and the continuation of an apartheid state  all of which have been condemned globally by the UN, ICC, and ICJ, and numerous human rights organizations. And as I write this, Israel has broken the ceasefire and resumed its full-scale genocide in Gaza. Just days ago, it was revealed that Israel killed fifteen paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza, executing them one by one, before burying them in the sand  yet another horrific war crime. Meanwhile, our labor powers this genocide, and I cannot, in good conscience, be part of a company that participates in this violent injustice.

We are complicit

Like most, I joined Microsoft believing in its mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. I believed in its commitment to respecting and promoting human rights. I believed that Microsoft was dedicated to philanthropy and promoting fundamental rights around the world.

But, over the past 1.5 years, Ive grown more aware of Microsofts growing role in the military industrial complex. Recent reports by the AP have exposed Microsofts critical role in enabling Israels apartheid regime and the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The article details a $133 million contract between Microsoft and Israels Ministry of Defense, highlighting how Microsoft Azure and AI fuel the occupations mass state surveillance and contribute to indiscriminate targeting and bombing of an entire indigenous Palestinian people. Further, leaked documents reveal how Microsoft AI powers the most sensitive and highly classified projects for the Israeli military, including its target bank and the Palestinian population registry.

Microsoft cloud and AI enable the Israeli military to be more lethal and destructive in Gaza. It is undeniable that Microsofts Azure cloud offerings and AI developments form the technological backbone of Israels automated apartheid and genocide systems. Microsoft is so deeply connected to the Israeli military that it was just yesterday designated one of the priority boycott targets of the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions) campaign.

All this begs the question, which people are we empowering with our technology? The oppressors enforcing an apartheid regime? The war criminals committing a genocide? Unfortunately, at this point, its irrefutable that Microsoft is complicit  they are a digital weapons manufacturer that powers surveillance, apartheid, and genocide. And by working for this company, we are all complicit. Even if we dont work directly in AI or Azure, our labor is tacit support, and our corporate climb only fuels the system. This is why, just before I handed in my resignation, I signed this important petition to demand Microsoft cut ties with genocide. And I urge you all to do the same.

Call to Action

As time goes on, I find it more and more difficult to continue giving my time, energy, and care to a company that is on the wrong side of history. Leaving my job at Microsoft has become the obvious choice for me, and I see no alternative but to use my last few days at Microsoft to speak up however I can, whether by disrupting Satyas talk, or by sending this email today. Microsoft leadership must divest from Israel and stop selling lethal technology to power apartheid and genocide.

I know that leaving Microsoft is not an option for many. If you must continue to work at Microsoft, I urge you to use your position, power, and privilege to hold Microsoft accountable to its own values and mission:

Sign the No Azure for Apartheid petition: We will not write code that kills. And join the campaign to add your voice to the growing number of concerned Microsoft employees.

Join me in showing our discontent in this thread. If you also feel tricked into deploying weapons which target children and civilians, urge leadership (CCed) to drop these contracts.

Dont stop speaking up. Urge SLT to drop these contracts at every opportunity.

Start conversations with your co-workers about the points above  so many employees may not know!

If any part of this message resonates with you, forward this email to someone who could benefit from reading it.

Know that Microsofts human rights statement prohibits retaliation against anyone who raises a human rights-related concern: Human rights statement | Microsoft CSR

Farewell and Free Palestine,
KAMPALA, UgandaDuring the 19th centurys Scramble for Africa, European countries raced to secure territory and wealth across the continent. Now, African powers are grabbing resources from a neighbor crippled by infighting and ill-equipped to defend itself.

Caught in the middle is the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country the size of Western Europe whose forests conceal a wealth of gold, diamonds and coltan, a key component in smartphones and computers. These mineral riches are turning what was already a region plagued by militia violence into a battleground, as Rwanda and its local allies seize coltan supplies while Uganda and its proxies move to take over gold mines to the northeast, according to United Nations and Ugandan officials.

The officials say Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwandan President Paul Kagame are pouring troops and weapons into Congo, while their Congolese allies, who control strategic border crossings, secure smuggling routes to move more minerals to the global markets.

The influx began three years ago, when Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi invited Ugandan troops into Congo to fight an Islamic State-aligned rebel group based in woodlands straddling the border between the two countries. Ugandas military is considered among the most competent in Africa and, at the time, Tshisekedi thought Musevenis forces would help him achieve the rapid and robust" solution to the regions long-running insurgencies he promised when he assumed office in 2019.

Instead, the deployment prompted Rwanda to launch its own 2022 incursion, using a once-sleepy Congolese rebel group known as M23 as deniable cover, and the situation quickly escalated.

Uganda supplemented its 1,700-strong force in Congo with another 2,300 troops. Ugandan bulldozers constructed dirt roads to rebel hideouts, including mining areas. Ugandan instructors trained fighters loyal to a warlord controlling gold mines, where armed groups make as much as $140 million a year from illegal mining, according to U.N. investigators.

Last year, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized the coltan-mining town of Rubaya, where fighters bring in around $800,000 each month by taxing traders. Rebel fighters have doubled diggers wages to encourage them to keep working, and they rely on forced labor to widen roads to accommodate trucks transporting coltan into Rwanda along with gold. According to the U.N., some 4,000 Rwandan soldiers are fighting inside Congo, a report that Rwandan authorities have denied.

A Rwandan government spokeswoman has previously denied accusations that Rwanda steals Congolese minerals, describing them as Kinshasas scapegoating strategy" to cover up its security failures. The spokeswoman didnt respond to messages seeking further comment.

A spokeswoman for Ugandas energy and minerals ministry said it has put in place new measures, including efforts to crackdown on falsified documentation, to stem the export of smuggled minerals. She said that while the ministry believes that most of the gold exported from Uganda is produced domestically, a lack of tighter checks along its porous, 545-mile-long border with Congo makes smuggling hard to control.

The race to control Congos minerals and smuggling routes, analysts say, is propelled in part by surging demand. Gold prices rose above $3,000 a troy ounce in March, leaving the vast country and its beleaguered president in a difficult position to resist neighboring countries growing interest.

Tshisekedi turned to desperate measures to solve a desperate situation," said Richard Moncrieff, regional analyst with Brussels-based International Crisis Group. He is now struggling to respond to the humiliating turn of events."

In February, the Congolese leader proposed a deal to the Trump administration offering the U.S. access to critical minerals such as coltan in return for its help in defeating the M23 rebels, The Wall Street Journal reported. A White House official said it doesnt comment on the presidents private correspondence.

Rwanda doesnt have significant domestic production of coltan, but still earned $1.1 billion in 2023 from minerals commonly mined in eastern Congo, a 43% jump from the previous year, according to official data. Likewise, Uganda doesnt have a large domestic gold-mining industry. But its gold exports hit a record $3.4 billion last year, according to Ugandan central-bank data, and surpassed coffee as the countrys top foreign-exchange earner.

U.N. investigators and human-rights groups say minerals smuggled out of Congo account for the surge in both Rwandas and Ugandas overseas sales. Congolese gold bars are usually concealed beneath truck cabs and in battery compartments and car trunks to be smuggled into Uganda. Once across the border, traffickers purchase falsified documents in Kampala to disguise the golds origin before it enters the global market, according to Ugandan traders and The Sentry, a Washington-based nonprofit investigative group.

Toward the south, the extraction effort tends to revolve more around violence. In January, M23backed by 4,000 Rwandan troops, according to U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroixbatted aside Congolese and U.N. soldiers and swept into Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo. Soon after, the rebels took Bukavu, another urban center on the shores of Lake Kivu.

The clashes have resulted in the deaths of about 7,000 Congolese since the start of the year, according to the countrys health ministry.

Jason Stearns, an assistant professor at Canadas Simon Fraser University and former U.N. investigator, says Rwandas decision to augment support for M23 was a reaction to Ugandas advances in gold-mining areas.

Tshisekedi has even accused Apple of being complicit in crimes taking place in Congo by using Rwandan-sourced coltan in its smartphones.

iPhones made by Apple are tainted with the blood of Congolese victims," he said in a recent speech.

Apple denies such allegations. An Apple spokesman said the company told its suppliers to stop purchasing minerals from Congo and Rwanda last June as the conflict escalated.

We took this action because we were concerned it was no longer possible for independent auditors or industry certification mechanisms to perform the due diligence required to meet our high standards," the spokesman said.

The European Union, a major destination for the regions mineral exports, has imposed sanctions on several Rwandan officials for their support of the M23 rebels.

The cumulative effect of the European Unions recent actions is likely to reduce the volume of gold exports," said Nigel Green, chief executive of DeVere Group, a global financial consulting firm. This contraction in supply could exert upward pressure on global gold prices."

Coltan prices are also rising, as are those for tin after Canadian miner Alphamin Resources evacuated staff and closed operations at Congos largest tin mine earlier in March when M23 fighters captured the nearby town of Walikale.

Congo is ill-prepared to tackle the worsening incursions, which appear set to continue. The skirmishing for natural resources can be attributed in part to a longstanding ethnic rivalry dating from the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which ethnic Hutus slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis.

Kagame, the Rwandan president and a Tutsi himself, has denied arming or backing M23, whose commanders are largely Tutsis. But he has accused the Congolese government of abusing Tutsis and said Rwanda is acting to protect its ethnic kinsmen. The M23 rebel movement exists because its fighters have been denied their rights in their own country," Kagame said earlier this year.

Riding high on its battlefield victories, the group now plans to try to topple Tshisekedi, instead of negotiating a peace, an M23 spokesman said.

Write to Nicholas Bariyo at nicholas.bariyo@wsj.com
Dozens of Indian students in the United States have been ordered to self-deport after their F-1 student visas were revoked due to minor criminal offences, a TOI report said on Tuesday.

The Designate School Officials (DSOs) at various schools have informed these students about their abrupt revocation via email, saying that their records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) have been terminated. This means that their Form I-20, Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and their legal presence in the US is now invalid.

Offences listed as cause for revocation The offences range from traffic violations like speeding and driving without a licensed supervisor on a learners permit, and failing to stop at red light, to more serious but resolved cases of shoplifting and alcohol-related charges, the TOI report said.

The DSOs emails also urged the students to make prompt arrangements for self-deportation as their F-1 visa is no longer valid.

A student in Texas, arrested for shoplifting items worth $144 had the case dismissed due to a clean academic record and full cooperation with authorities, yet still faces deportation, the report added.

The report also said that consultants and legal experts have seen a surge in inquiries from distressed Indian students, advising affected students to seek immediate legal counsel if the offences are over a year old.

A Texas-based lawyer, handling 30 similar cases, said that SEVIS terminations for petty offences are rare in precedent.

The hush-hush revocations A Bloomberg report on Tuesday said that the Trump administration has been quietly revoking student visas of foreign nationals at colleges like Harvard, Tufts, and Stanford.

Dozens of students and recent graduates in California have had their visas terminated across multiple campuses, including UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz as well as Stanford. Two unidentified students have filed lawsuits in federal court alleging their visas were canceled without due process, in some cases over minor legal infractions such as driving violations, according to the report.

Also Read | US issued over 10 lakh non-immigrant visas to Indians in 2024

Detained for antisemitic acts Badar Khan Suri, an Indian researcher pursuing conflict studies at Georgetown University, was detained on March 17 after his visa was revoked based on allegations of antisemitic speech and ties to Hamas. Suri denies the claims, stating hes being targeted due to his wifes Palestinian background.

He is reportedly being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana.

Ranjani Srinivasan, another Indian scholar, self-deported after her visa was revoked in March this year. According to Department of Homeland Security, the Indian citizen self-deported after participating in pro-Palestinian protests at United States' Columbia University.

Why is US asking students to self-deport International students in the United States are being asked to self-deport, in a communication from the country's Department of State (DOS) owing to their campus activism.

Also Read | What is US visa retrogression and how it affects EB-5, green card applicants

The crackdown is based on social media reviews being conducted by the US DOS. Even new student applications, be it for an F (academic study visa), M (vocational study visa) or J (exchange visa) will come under such social media scrutiny. Applicants will be denied the opportunity to study in the United States.
China's commerce ministry declared on Tuesday that it would resist US tariffs to the end, following President Donald Trump's threat to impose new levies of 50% on imports from the world's second-largest economy.

A ministry spokesperson criticised the US move, calling it a mistake on top of a mistake that highlights America's tendency to resort to blackmail, Bloomberg reported.

China will never accept this, the spokesperson affirmed.

"If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight it to the end," the spokesperson added.

A spokesperson from the Chinese commerce ministry called on the U.S. to address differences with China through dialogue based on mutual respect and equality.

Trump threatens to impose additional tariffs President Donald Trump threatened to impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50% unless Beijing withdraws a 34% retaliatory duty on US goods.

If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th, Trump posted on social media.

The president also said, All talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!

Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately, he added.

Furthermore, China threatens to "resolutely take countermeasures" in response to Trump's threat of an additional 50% tariff.

China will never accept this. If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight it to the end.

(This is a developing story)
Iran and the United States are set to hold discussions in Oman on Saturday to revive negotiations concerning Tehran's advancing nuclear programme. However, even before the talks begin, there's a disagreement over the format of the negotiations.

US President Donald Trump claims there will be direct talks, while Iran's foreign minister asserts talks will be conducted indirectly through a mediator.

In a post on X, Iran's foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said, Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks. It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court.

Although the distinction between direct and indirect talks may seem minor, it holds significant weight. Indirect negotiations have made little headway since President Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the 2018 nuclear deal with world powers during his first term.

Trump has escalated tensions by imposing new sanctions on Iran as part of his maximum pressure strategy. He has also hinted at the possibility of military action against Iran, while expressing optimism about reaching a new deal through diplomatic means, including writing a letter to Iran's 85-year-old Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In response, Khamenei has warned that Iran would retaliate against any attack with its own counterstrike.

Heres what you need to know about the letter, Irans nuclear program, and the longstanding tensions that have shaped relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Why did Trump write the letter? Trump sent 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, President Trump has been advocating for negotiations while simultaneously increasing sanctions and suggesting that a military strike by either Israel or the US could target Iran's nuclear facilities.

During his first term, a letter from Trump to Iran's Supreme Leader provoked a strong and angry response.

In contrast, Trumps letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his first term led to face-to-face meetings, though these talks did not result in any agreements to curb Pyongyangs nuclear arsenal or its missile program capable of reaching the continental US.

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 reacted to Trump's comments, 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.

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. 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 the West worry about Iran's nuclear program? For decades, Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes. However, Iranian officials have increasingly hinted at the possibility of developing nuclear weapons. Currently, Iran enriches uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels of 60%, making it the only country in the world without an active nuclear weapons program to do so.

Under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was permitted to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and to hold a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). According to the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran's stockpile has grown to 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds), with a portion of it enriched to 60% purity.

Also Read: Iran needs reform before a revolution

U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons programme 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 with nuclear weapon development, Associated Press reported.

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 US? 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 Shah's rule.

In January 1979, the Shah of Iran, gravely ill with cancer, fled the country amid growing mass protests against his regime. This led to the Islamic Revolution, spearheaded by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, establishing Iran's theocratic government.

Later that same year, Iranian university students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, demanding the extradition of the Shah. This incident triggered the 444-day hostage crisis, which resulted in the severance of diplomatic ties between Iran and the U.S. During the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein, and in the so-called "Tanker War," launched a one-day naval assault that significantly damaged Irans maritime capabilities. The U.S. also shot down an Iranian commercial airliner during this period.

Since then, U.S.-Iran relations have fluctuated between hostility and cautious diplomacy. Relations briefly improved with the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Still, tensions resurged after President Trump unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the agreement, fueling ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

Oil factor Earlier this week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met in Washington with representatives from 16 global banks and federal law enforcement agencies to discuss US sanctions policy on Iran, focusing on efforts to reduce its oil exports.

Bessent stated that the Trump administration is exerting maximum economic pressure to disrupt Iran's financial networks, which support Hamas and other militant groups across the Middle East, as well as Iran's nuclear ambitions.

In March, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on tankers transporting Iranian oil and on a Chinese teapot refinery for processing the crude. "Teapots" are small, independent refineries in China, and Chinas national oil company refineries have ceased purchasing Iranian oil due to sanction-related risks.

The ball is in America's court.

Treasury Secretary Bessent highlighted the US sanctions against Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co., Ltd., a small refinery, and its CEO. The sanctions were related to the companys purchase and refinement of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian crude oil, including shipments linked to the Houthis and the Iranian Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics.
Iran has denied that it is engaged in direct talks with the United States over its nuclear programme, contradicting claims made by President Donald Trump.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that indirect, high-level talks are scheduled to take place in Oman, but insisted that any discussions with Washington would be conducted through intermediaries.

It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court, Araghchi posted on X, reaffirming Irans stance.

Mediation through Oman According to Iranian state media, the talks will be led by Araghchi and US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, with Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al Busaidi serving as the intermediary. The meeting is slated for Saturday in Muscat, Oman.

Trump asserts direct engagement Speaking from the White House on Monday, President Trump had claimed: Were having direct talks with Iran, and theyve started. Itll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and well see what can happen.

He said discussions are happening at almost the highest level, though he did not disclose who would be participating or where the meeting would be held.

Warning from Trump: Very bad day for Iran While Trump expressed hope for a diplomatic breakthrough, he issued a stark warning if negotiations fail: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and if the talks arent successful, I actually think it will be a very bad day for Iran.

He emphasised a preference for diplomacy, stating, Everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable.

Tensions remain high The exchange comes amid heightened tensions, with Trump previously warning of potential military action if Tehran refused to negotiate. In March, he sent a letter to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging for talks, though Iranian officials at the time said Tehran would not be coerced.

Iran maintains civilian purpose for nuclear programme Tehran has consistently asserted that its nuclear programme is for peaceful, civilian energy purposes. However, Western nations remain skeptical, accusing Iran of harboring a clandestine weapons agenda.
Saudi Arabia has temporarily halted the issuance of Umrah, business, and family visit visas for citizens of 14 countries  including India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh  until mid-June 2025. The move is intended to curb unauthorised participation in the Hajj and ensure a safer, better-organised pilgrimage.

However, there is some confusion regarding the suspension of Umrah visas, with many wondering how pilgrims will travel for Hajj. It is important to note that while both Umrah and Hajj visas are religious in nature, they serve two different purposes and are issued separately. Here's all you need to know

What are the differences between Umrah and Hajj visas? Both Umrah and Hajj relate to the pilgrimage to Mecca. However, they also differ in several respects.

As per Visa Saudi Arabia, the Hajj visa is issued exclusively during the Hajj period. The Saudi Arabian diplomatic authorities cannot issue a Hajj visa to any traveller. Consequently, the only way to obtain one is via the Nusuk Hajj website. Hajj visas are issued approximately two months before the pilgrimage. They are valid only for Medina and Medina and the areas dedicated to the sacred rites.

On the other hand, the Umrah visa is not issued for a fixed period. It is available throughout the year (outside the Hajj period). As a result, the holder of this visa can perform Umrah whenever the pilgrim wishes, the website adds.

Also Read | Saudi Arabia arrests over 18,000 illegals

How to apply for a Hajj visa? Visa Saudi Arabia states that Saudi Hajj visas must be applied through travel agents authorised by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Hajj & Umrah. It cannot be applied for at Saudi embassies or missions abroad. The required documents include:

Valid passport and application

Health and vaccination certificates

Personal photo Saudi Hajj visas are usually processed in approximately 5 days. It is always advised to start your Saudi Hajj visa application process early so as to avoid possible delays or unforeseen circumstances.

The visa cannot be extended, and travellers should depart from Saudi Arabia before their visa expires.

How to apply for an Umrah visa? To obtain an Umrah visa from India, the candidate needs to apply through a licensed travel agency licensed by the Ministry of Hajj and accredited by the Embassy. The required documents include:

Valid passport and application

Health and vaccination certificates

Personal photo Umrah visas are issued starting from the 1st of Safar, the second month in the Islamic calendar. The last day to apply is at the end of Shaaban, the eighth month.

The visa is free of charge, and it expires at the end of the Umrah program.

What is the difference between Umrah and Hajj? Hajj is one of Islam's main pillars and a religious duty for all Muslims who are physically and financially able to go. Umrah, on the other hand, is not one of the pillars of Islam. It is a recommended practice (called a Sunna) and is not mandatory. Though Umrah is still a kind of religious obligation, it is not compulsory like Hajj.

When is Hajj? This year, Hajj is expected to take place between the 4th of June and the 9th of June 2025 in the Gregorian Calendar, depending on the sighting of the moon.

The Islamic calendar operates on the lunar cycle, so it appears to shift forward approximately 11-12 days each year as it corresponds to the Gregorian calendar.

Hajj takes place between the same dates each year, i.e. between the 8th and the 12th or 13th of Dhul Hijjah each year, depending on the sighting of the moon.
South Korea on Tuesday, April 8, fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the national border, reported the news agency AP, citing South Korean officials aware of the development.

Also Read | South Korea to hold snap presidential election on June 3

In an official statement, the South Korean Military said that approximately 10 North Korean soldiers returned to their nation after South Korea made warning broadcasts and later fired those warning shots.

As per the report, North Korean soldiers violated the military demarcation line towards the eastern section of the border at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, local time. South Korea is now in the process of closely monitoring North Korean activities in the border region.

North Korea and South Korea's border is called the Demilitarized Zone, which has occasionally witnessed violent confrontations between the two nations.

Also Read | South Korean President Yoon removed from office over martial law attempt

In June 2024, the North Korean troops briefly crossed the border, after which warning shots from the South Korean military prompted them to move back, reported the news agency.

The motive behind the intrusion has not been determined, as per the news agency.

Korean border tensions North Korea and South Korea share a 248-kilometer-long border, which is 4 kilometres in width and is considered to be one of the most heavily armed borders in the world.

As per the agency report, there are nearly 2 million mines spread around the border area, which has been guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides since the Korean War of 1950-53.

The tensions between the two nations are raging now as the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un continues to show the military nuclear capabilities of the nation. He also aligned himself with Russian President Vladimir Putins war on Ukraine.

As per the report, Kim Jong Un is ignoring calls from Seoul (Capital of Korea) and Washington, United States, to resume denuclearization talks.

Ever since US President Donald Trump made his White House comeback on Janaury 20, he has promised to reach out to Kim Jong Un to revive the diplomacy talks between the nations. However, the report also mentions that North Korea has not responded to Trump's remarks, and they said that U.S. hostilities against the nation have deepened since the inauguration ceremony.
The US Supreme Court on Monday overturned a lower court order that blocked the Trump administration from deporting undocumented Venezuelan migrants using an obscure 18th-century wartime law.

However, it said that migrants subject to deportation under the Alien Enemies Act must get a court hearing before being taken away from the United States.

What did the court order? For all the rhetoric of the dissents, the court wrote in an unsigned opinion, the high court order confirms that the detainees subject to removal orders under the AEA are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal."

In fact, the administration must give Venezuelans who it claims are gang members reasonable time to go to court.

What did Pam Bondi say about the order? Attorney General Pam Bondi called the courts ruling a landmark victory for the rule of law.

An activist judge in Washington, DC does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trumps authority to conduct foreign policy and keep the American people safe, Bondi wrote in a social media post.

At the same time, the three liberal justices dissented, arguing that the government was attempting to bypass judicial oversight and should not be rewarded for doing so.

This case has become a critical flashpoint amid growing tensions between the White House and the federal courts.

The initial order halting deportations to El Salvador was issued by U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, the chief judge at the federal courthouse in Washington.

President Donald Trump cited the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to defend the deportation of hundreds of individuals, using a presidential proclamation that labelled the Tren de Aragua gang as an invading force.

Meanwhile, attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of five Venezuelan noncitizens, who were being held in Texas, hours after the proclamation was made public and as immigration authorities were shepherding hundreds of migrants to waiting airplanes.

Boasberg imposed a temporary halt on deportations and also ordered planeloads of Venezuelan immigrants to return to the U.S. That did not happen. The judge held a hearing last week over whether the government defied his order to turn the planes around. The administration has invoked a  state secrets privilege  and refused to give Boasberg any additional information about the deportations.

Trump and his allies have called for impeaching Boasberg. In a rare statement, Chief Justice John Roberts said, impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.

What is the Alien Enemies Act? The Alien Enemies Act, enacted in 1798 as part of the Alien and Seditious Acts, is a U.S. federal law that grants the President the authority to detain or relocate citizens from countries deemed hostile during times of war or invasion. It specifically applies to immigrants without providing court hearings based on their country of origin or citizenship.

Originally designed to prevent foreign espionage and sabotage during wartime, the law has been controversially used against immigrants who are lawfully present in the U.S. without any signs of disloyalty. This has raised concerns about possible violations of constitutional rights, including due process and equal protection.
Chinese tourists top Vietnams Q1 foreign arrivals at about 1.6m: report

11:14, April 08, 2025 By Chen Qingrui ( Global Times

This photo shows the first direct flight of Colorful Guizhou Airlines from Guiyang to Hanoi of Vietnam at Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 31, 2024. (Photo/Xinhua)

Vietnam welcomed a record number of tourists in the first quarter, with Chinese visitors leading the pack at nearly 1.6 million, local media outlet VietNamNet reported on Monday.

More than 6 million international tourists visited Vietnam, a 30 percent year-on-year increase, the report showed. Chinese and South Korean visitors led the top source markets, with a combined total accounting for 47 percent of all international arrivals.

Significantly, the report said that the main driver of growth was the number of Chinese tourists, which saw a remarkable 78.3 percent year-on-year increase.

Cross-border transportation between China and Vietnam is well-developed, with notable progress in railway connectivity and the optimization of cross-border road networks, an industry observer said, noting that this has effectively accommodated the surge in travel demand driven by shifting preferences among Chinese tourists.

Seasonal factors also contributed, as cooler temperatures in China during the first quarter often prompt Chinese tourists to opt for Southeast Asian destinations in their overseas travel plans, Zhang Lingyun, professor and the executive editor-in-chief of the Tourism Tribune, told the Global Times.

Amid growing demand, there is also a rising number of new flights launched between the two countries.

Vietnamese local carrier VietJet Air has launched four new direct flight routes connecting Beijing and Guangzhou with Vietnam's major cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, aviation industry information site cnair.com reported on Wednesday.

The Beijing-Hanoi route, which now operates three times a week, will be upgraded to a daily service starting on April 27, according to the report. Additionally, a new Shanghai-Hanoi route is set to launch on April 29, with daily flights.

Xiamen Airlines on March 30 launched a regular round-trip service between Fuzhou in East China's Fujian Province and Hanoi, marking the 60th scheduled route between China and Vietnam, China Media Group reported. Fuzhou also became the 20th Chinese city to operate direct flights to Vietnam, according to the report.

Vietnam serves as the partner country for China's first national cross-border tourism cooperation zone, which officially began operations on October 15, 2024, according to a post on the official website of the culture and tourism department of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Under the program, tourists from both countries can join cross-border tours through group bookings, fixed itineraries, limited-time and quota-based entries, and group-in/group-out arrangements, the post said.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
In spite of various pronouncements, corruption appears to have risen exponentially across society, making lives more difficult. It has also seeped into our judiciary . However, punishing corrupt elements in the judiciary is difficult because of systemic problems in the prosecution of judges. This needs to be addressed by a new impartial process overseen by Parliament.

The recent matter involving Delhi high courts Justice Yashwant Varma has revived a national discussion on judicial accountability and the pressing need for systemic reforms. It has exposed flaws in the judiciary, where judges accused of corruption or misconduct often face little to no real punishment.

That said, from the reports and evidence of burnt currency notes purportedly found in his outhouse, Justice Varma himself need not be guilty of a crime, but the media seems to have convicted him already.

Also Read: A judiciary that refrains from judicial overreach can better serve the cause of justice

Even Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar was incensed. He questioned the Supreme Courts right to have struck down the National Judicial Appointments Act and defied the supremacy of Parliament. Alas, the Act did not provide for any procedure to remove judges when faced with charges of any sort. In all Westminster-style democracies, Parliament is indeed the ultimate arbiter for the removal of judges who face such charges.

The constitutional provisions of India, particularly Articles 124(4) and 218, delineate the procedures for the removal of judges based on proved misbehaviour or incapacity." The term used is removal rather than impeachment in reference to the process of dismissing a judge.

Examples from other democracies highlight structured mechanisms for judicial oversight. South Africas Judicial Service Commission (JSC) plays a crucial role in judicial appointments and addressing complaints against judges.

Also Read: The judiciary cannot turn into a haven for the corrupt

Minor misconduct is handled by the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) through reprimands or corrective measures. Serious cases go to the Judicial Conduct Tribunal (JCT), which may recommend removal. The JSC reviews the Tribunals findings and, if warranted, refers the matter to parliament, where a judges removal requires a two-thirds majority vote, followed by the presidents approval.

Federal judges in the US are classified as civil officers and can be removed by impeachment under the US Constitution for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours." The House of Representatives initiates impeachment, and if approved by a simple majority, the case moves to the Senate, where a two-thirds majority is required. Such impeachment isnt rare; as of March, 15 federal judges have been impeached and eight convicted.

The impeachment process for judges in Germany involves the Bundestagits parliamentinitiating proceedings with a two-thirds majority in cases of a breach of constitutional principles, followed by a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court requiring a two-thirds majority to transfer, force into retirement, or, in cases of intentional infringement, dismiss the accused.

In the UK, judges can be removed by the sovereign upon an address from both the House of Commons and House of Lords. Both Houses must agree that a judge should be removed on account of misconduct or other significant reasons.

In Kenya, a judge of a superior court may be removed for incapacity, misconduct, incompetence, bankruptcy or breach of judicial conduct. Its Judicial Service Commission initiates the process, either on its own or upon a petition. In Nigeria, such a removal requires a recommendation from the National Judicial Council. Federal judges can be removed by the president with a two-thirds majority of the senate, while the removal of state-level judges by a governor requires approval from the state assembly.

Also Read: Secure RBI independence through direct accountability to Parliament

Globally, parliament is the ultimate authority to remove or impeach a judge. However, judicial accountability in India has historically been a contentious topic, with many judges accused of misconduct eluding appropriate consequences. Two judges, V. Ramaswami and Soumitra Sen, faced impeachment proceedings but resigned before their conclusion.

The underlying cause of this systemic failure resides in the burdensome impeachment process detailed in the Constitution. A high threshold makes the process nearly impossible. Removal requires a motion endorsed by a substantial number of parliamentarians, followed by an inquiry and ultimately approval by a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament. Even when significant evidence of wrongdoing exists, political factors and procedural complexities derail attempts at ensuring accountability.

Although judicial independence is crucial, it must be accompanied by accountability. Even in the lower judiciary, corruption has not been ignored. In a well-known cash-for-bail scandal in 2012, CBI court judges were arrested for corruption.

India needs to set up a Judicial Service Commission with powers of appointment and removal, subject to Parliamentary approval. A compromised judiciary shakes the foundation of the rule of law, paving the way for instability. With the executive prone to overreach and legislature often falling short, the judiciary remains the nations strongest pillar of trust. Preserving its integrity is not just a duty, but a necessity. For the health of our democracy depends on it.

Pragya Tiwari of CUTS contributed to this article.

The authors are Vijay L. Kelkar & Pradeep S. Mehta.
The White Houses TikTok deal has devolved into quite a spectacle. As the 5 April deadline [now extended by another 75 days] approached for the app to divest from its Chinese parent company or face a US ban, we still didnt have an answer on how it might do this. A flurry of last-minute interest emerged, with players from Amazon to Andreessen Horowitz and Blackstone reportedly tossing their hats in the increasingly crowded ring of potential buyers.

Some of the latest reports suggest that investors could arrange a deal that keeps ownership of the apps powerful recommendation algorithm in the hands of Beijing-based ByteDance. If thats the case, its not clear how that would assuage one of the central concerns that spurred the ban law in the first place: That the recommendation engine could be exploited to influence the content served to TikToks 170 million American users.

This arrangement may appeal to Beijing, which tweaked its export rules to include algorithms when talks of a ban first arose. But it wont quell the fears of China hawks in President Donald Trumps own cabinet.

Its notable that the 5 April deadline came soon after Trump unleashed a round of punishing tariffs on China as part of his Liberation Day blitz. Yet, just earlier, the US president said that he would consider giving China a little reduction in tariffs" to secure a TikTok deal. Trump had also [hinted of extending the deadline, which he eventually did], even if such an extension represents an extraordinary overreach of executive power, going above US Congress and its judiciary.

While there has been a lot of chatter from the US side in recent weeks, theres been radio silence from Beijing and ByteDance. As I have written before, Trumps determination to save TikTok, rather than let this play out in the courts or the private sector, is only yielding more power to Americas geopolitical nemesis. And by admitting that lowering tariffs sounds like something I would do" to secure a TikTok deal, Trump ceded the next move to Beijing.

But Chinas President Xi Jinping likely wont see a moderate concession on tariffs as a win. TikTok doesnt even operate in China, so Xi isnt under any pressure to please US users. And state-backed media have been clear that China views this as a precedent-setting saga that could leave other companies open to US plunder."

Earlier, the key question was: What will it take for Beijing to let TikTok go? Now, we also need to worry about what it will take for Trump to let it go. And by obfuscating the national security concerns around TikTok to advance his tariff agenda, he has delegitimized them.

While all the last-minute buyer drama spurred intrigue, its worth asking if any of this will fulfil the goal of keeping American social-media users safe. A scenario where ByteDance maintains control over the algorithm may ease some data collection and spying concerns, but seems to bring us back to where we started over fears of algorithm infiltration. Pushing the deadline further doesnt address those issues either.

While ByteDance has been mum on the TikTok drama, its Chinese sister app, Douyin, has been in the news at home after local regulators forced the company to offer the public much more clarity on how the app recommends and moderates content. On a recently launched website, Douyin says that it does not spy on users and offered more transparency into how its algorithm tracks behaviour to serve content. Its not just Douyin being forced to shed light, but competitors as well.

When it comes to social media, Beijings heavy hand is self-serving and could be stifling for users and companies, but it has been effective in tackling universal issues like youth digital safety.

Washington, meanwhile, has had a whack-a-mole approachdespite plenty of scandals over Big Techs risksthat seems toothless. Perhaps its time to try a more comprehensive method. Rather than a years-long attack on a single platform, demanding algorithmic transparency from tech firms would give American policymakers a closer look under the hood and help it address broader concerns around social media harms.

It was remarkable to see lawmakers rally around the TikTok law last year, given how they have dragged their feet for decades on any rules to keep social media users safe online.

As it stands now, Trump has shown that the law can be punted on a whim and then turned into a negotiating chip for his chaotic tariff ambitionswhile handing the final decision on the fate of an app beloved by nearly half the American population over to Beijing. Bloomberg

The author is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asia tech.
Five national political parties of India received 2544.278 crore contributions from 12,547 donations in 2023-24, a recent report by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed.

Of this, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received donations to the tune of 2,243.947 crore in amounts of 20,000 or more in 2023-24. This amount is about seven times the collection by the opposition Congress party ( 281.48 cr from 1994 donations), as per the reports submitted by the political parties to the Election Commission of India (EC).

Apart from the BJP and the Congress, the four national political parties are the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the National People's Party (NPEP), and the Communist Party of India M). The sixth national political party, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) declared it did not receive any donations above 20,000 during FY 2023-24.

State-wise donations to national parties, FY 2023-24 Which state donated the most to political parties? The ADR segregated donations according to states based on the addresses provided by the parties in their donations report to the Election Commission of India.

Delhi donated  989.20 crore to the national parties, followed by  404.512 crore from Gujarat and  334.079 crore from Maharashtra. Another  142.7 crore donation came from Tamil Nadu and  112.9 crore from Telangana.

Delhi may have just seven Lok Sabha seats. Yet, the national capital donated the most to political parties last year. Delhi donated 989.20 crore to the national parties, followed by 404.512 crore from Gujarat and 334.079 crore from Maharashtra. Another 142.7 crore donation came from Tamil Nadu and 112.9 crore from Telangana.

Other states and Union Territories contributed about 554.7 crore worth of donations to national political parties in 2023-24.

The ADR report said a donation of 7000 from a donor in the United States has been made to AAP.

A total of 6.062 crore could not be attributed to any state/ Union Territory due to incomplete/undeclared information provided by the parties, the ADR report said.

What did the ADR report reveal? According to an analysis by ADR, the BJP declared more than six times the aggregate donations declared by four other national partiesthe Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), the National People's Party (NPEP), and the Communist Party of India M)  in 2023-24.

The total donations (above 20,000) declared by the national parties for FY 2023-24 was 2544.278 crore from 12,547 donations.

Corporate Donations The national parties received 2262.5 crore (88.9271 per cent of total donations) as corporate donations. The parties got 270.872 crore (10.6463 per cent of total donations) to the parties during FY 2023-24 as individual donations, according to the ADR report.

The BJP got  2064.58 crore as corporate donations and another 169.126 crore as individual donations during FY 2023-24, the report found.

Delhi donated <span class='webrupee'></span>989.20 crore to the national parties, followed by <span class='webrupee'></span>404.512 crore from Gujarat.

The BJP declared 2243.947 crore donations from 8,358 donations, followed by 281.48 crore from 1994 donations declared by the Congress party.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee's bitter altercation with a woman MP went viral after it was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by BJP leader Amit Malviya. While the 4 videos recorded secretly when a TMC disposition including Mahua Moitra and Derek O'Brien went to Election Commissioon of India (ECI), and WhatsApp chats of a purported group labelled AITC MP 2024 were leaked, a defiant Kalyan Banerjee held a press conference. In that Banerjee went on a tirade against fellow TMC MPs including senior colleague Saugata Roy, and Kirti Azad.

Kalyan Banerjee blamed our MPs who came from the BJP, seemingly hitting out at Kirti Azad for the debacle that the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC found itself in on Tuesday.

Let's take a look at the infighting that media dubbed political crisis within TMC

Kalyan Banerjee vs Woman MP Video, TMC WhatsApp group chat leaked BJP leader Amit Malviya on Tuesday shared videos purportedly capturing an altercation between two TMC MPs from last week.

TMC MP's Veral Spat Video Leaked on X The videos showed Kalyan Banerjee shouting at his colleagues, even as party leaders, including Derek O'Brien try to calm him down. The latter was heard saying please rother I am begging you to Kalyan Banerjee.

"On 4th April 2024, two TMC MPs had a public spat at the headquarters of the Election Commission of India, where they had gone to submit a representation. It appears the party had instructed its MPs to gather at the Parliament office to sign the memorandum before proceeding to the EC. However, the MP carrying the memorandum skipped the Parliament meeting and went directly to the EC," Malviya said in a post on X.

Malviya claimed Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee reportedly asked both MPs to stand down.

TMC WhatsApp Group Chat Leaked The feud spilled onto a WhatsApp chat group 'AITC MP 2024', where Kalyan Banerjee had a tiff party MP from Durgapur, Kirti Azad, with Banerjee referring to an unknown versatile international lady?

In the purported WhatsApp chat, Banerjee, in a message, said he has reached Kolkata, and added, Send your bsf and Delhi police to arrest me. Your home ministry's connection is very strong, international great lady.

"Today I congratulate the gentleman who opened the beautiful activities of a versatile international lady. That day not a single boyfriend of her stood behind her. This foolish man whom she wanted to arrest by bsf, stood behind her. Today of course 30 years famous player stood behind her to get me arrested," another message by Banerjee read.

In response, Kirti Azad asked Banerjee to not act like a "juvenile delinquent."

"... I have no axe to grind with you. I humbly request you as a senior in age to me, not in politics to kindly take everyone together. Stop your childish and erratic behaviour. Act like an adult. Don't instigate anybody. Think with the cool mind. Good night," he wrote.

A still unrelenting Banerjee threw a few more sallies at Azad, one of which was his terming him a captain of  internal politics.

Also Read | Mimi Chakraborty breaks silence on her resignation from Mamata Banerjee's TMC

Kalyan Banerjee's Explosive Press Conference At a press conference in Kolkata on Tuesday, TMCs Serampore MP and partys chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Kalyan Banerjee, targeted Durgapur MP Kirti Azad and a 'woman MP'.

Kalyan Banerjee, referring to the woman MP, said, She never fought against the CPI(M). She came to the party after 2009 as a friend of a Congress leader and entered district politics. All their backgrounds are like that. Why will I obey her? I am naturally annoyed. She says someone like me should be put in jail, saying I used indecent words. She is completely lying.

Banerjee added, The lady has an agenda only to attack Narendra Modi and Adani. She serves the interests of other industrialists. I know everything.

Targeting Kirti Azad, Banerjee said, One of our MPs who came from the BJP and has no popularity sent this video and WhatsApp chat to the BJP. They never fought against CPI(M). They are tarnishing our partys image. He was running a signature campaign for a sweet shop to open its outlet in Parliament. I protested against that. It was not the agenda of our party. It was his agenda.

Banerjee also criticised senior TMC MP from Dum Dum Saugata Roy saying, Saugata has tarnished the partys image more than once. He was seen taking money in the Narada video.

Saugata Roy responded, I am so sad. The partys image is getting affected because of his behaviour. He has no balance. I dont know why I am being targeted. He has an inferiority complex. The party will decide what action will be taken against him. Everyone wanted our party leader to know. My opinion is that Kalyan should not be the chief whip anymore.

What Happened on EC Premises? Why were TMC MPs Fighting? A heated argument erupted among TMC MPs after a woman MP discovered her name missing from the list of signatories during a visit to the Election Commission (EC). According to a TMC MP quoted by The Indian Express, tensions began when the partys chief whip in Lok Sabha, Kalyan Banerjee, skipped a pre-arranged meeting at the TMC office in Parliament and went directly to the EC office. This upset some MPs, and matters escalated when the woman MP realised her name had been replaced by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidars, who was absent from Parliament that day. Confronting Banerjee over the omission, the woman MP alleged Kalyan Banerjee used derogatory language, prompting her to demand his arrest by security officials present.

Banerjee reportedly lost his temper and retaliated with further offensive remarks.
Power banks have become essential gadgets for anyone who depends on smartphones, tablets, or other portable devices. As screen time increases and battery-draining apps become more common, staying charged throughout the day is a real challenge. Power banks provide a convenient solution by offering portable charging wherever you go.

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They are especially useful during travel, long workdays, or unexpected power cuts. With options ranging in size, charging speed, and battery capacity, users can choose one that fits their needs.

Many people ask which power bank is best in India, and the answer depends on usage and device compatibility. A powerful power bank with at least 20,000mAh capacity is ideal for those who need multiple device charges in a day.

Trusted power bank brands offer features like fast charging, multi-port support, and smart protection systems for safety. This article lists down some of the best power banks for Android and iOS in India that are reliable, fast-charging, and available in various capacities to suit different usage needs.

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With stylish designs and robust build quality, Ambrane models are ideal for daily use. If you're searching for the best power bank for Android and iOS, Ambrane offers dependable options that balance power, safety, and portability. Their affordable pricing and long battery life make them a great pick for Android users.

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The design is often compact and easy to carry, ideal for travel and office use. ZEBRONICS also focuses on safety, with built-in protection against overcharging and short circuits. For budget-conscious users looking for reliable performance, ZEBRONICS power banks serve as a practical solution to keep devices powered throughout the day.

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Similar articles for you: Best 20000mAh Power Banks: Check out these top 8 picks from popular brands to keep your devices charged on the go
Apple Inc. exported iPhones worth more than 1.5 trillion ($17.4 billion) from India in the financial year ending March 2025, according to Indias Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw. The announcement highlights the US tech giants accelerating shift away from China and towards India as a manufacturing base.

Indias total smartphone exports surpassed 2 trillion during the same period, marking a significant 54 per cent year-on-year increase, Vaishnaw said during a media briefing in the capital.

Apples growing footprint in India Apples growing footprint in India follows the severe disruption to its manufacturing operations in China caused by stringent Covid-related lockdowns. The company has since stepped up efforts to diversify its production line.

Major Apple suppliers such as Foxconn and the Tata Group have been ramping up local production capabilities. Tatas electronics arm has acquired facilities previously owned by Wistron and Pegatron, further cementing its role in Apples India strategy.

Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions and trade policy changes are adding urgency to Apples diversification plans. US President Donald Trumps tariffs on Chinese goodsand the threat of additional levies as high as 50 per centare nudging multinational firms like Apple to reduce their reliance on Chinese factories. While Apple is expected to continue moving parts of its supply chain to India and Southeast Asia, analysts say a full relocation away from China remains unlikely in the near term.

Reports suggest Apple has been increasing its Indian output for the US market, anticipating tariff hikes and adjusting its inventory strategy accordingly. Notably, the United States is expected to impose a reciprocal tariff of around 27 per cent on Indian goods, significantly lower than the rate on Chinese imports.

Also Read | Apple users rush to upgrade iPhones before potential tariff price hikes

In a dramatic move to sidestep fresh import duties, Apple has also reportedly flew five cargo planes packed with iPhones and other products from India to the United States within just three days, during the final week of March, reportedThe Times of India (TOI).

According to a senior Indian official speaking to TOI, the urgency was driven by a new 10 per cent reciprocal tariff introduced by the Trump administration, which came into effect on 5 April.
The Netflix series Adolescence debuted on March 13, 2025, and soon after its release, it became the #1 trending show on the OTT platform. Viewers may be eager for more gripping dramas after watching this crime series.

Credit : X
Feeding families is the goal of Northwest Whitfield High School's "Bruins Box" food pantry.

Organized by the school's Future Farmers of America chapter, the pantry provides supplemental food to students and families in-need near the northern border of Whitfield County.

USDA halts $500-million in food shipments, impacting local food banks With the program now on hold, rural communities that heavily depend on government-supplied food are among those most affected.

Towards the beginning of February, the school's program took to Facebook to say they were running low on inventory. They reached out to Bruin Nation and beyond, asking people to donate canned and shelf-stable food items.

Little over a week later, their pantry was filled almost to the brim. The chapter said the community donated over 2,000 food items within ten days.

McKamey Animal Center asks for help restocking pet food pantry supply "Every bag helps keep pets fed and with their loving families. Donations can be dropped off at MAC anytime during business hours. Thank you for your support!" writes the Center.

Yet, the pantry won't stay stocked forever. The school's program still needs donations.

The Whitfield County Sheriff's Office took on a "special assignment" after seeing Facebook posts from the school's FFA chapter.

Throughout the month of March, the office split into two teams to see who could donate the most.

"The office split into two sections: 'Enforcement' (Investigations and Patrol) and 'Judicial' (Detention and Court Services) to see which side of our building could donate the most!" the sheriff's office said in a post.

The Judicial side had raised the most food "by a large margin."

Roughly 30 families will be fed for almost three months with the food that the sheriff's office donated, according to Cole Lowery with the high school.

"Often times, it's forgotten what true public service is. Our agency emphasizes a willingness to go above and beyond to give back to our local community."

The food pantry is still seeking donations. You can drop off food at the school or make a monetary contribution.

Reach out to northwestwhitfieldffa@gmail.com if you have any questions.
It's estimated that more than 60% of Americans have had their information stolen.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Computational Engineering Doctoral Candidate, Joshua Tyler, who's a month away from graduating, developed close to instant encryption that would fight data breaches. Tyler is a featured presenter at the university's April 9 Spring Research and Arts Conference.

Hamilton Co. government responds to nationwide recovery services data breach Hamilton County had 15 more days to notify the impacted patients, as of April 2.

Tyler recommends checking credit card and bank statements and your credit report at least monthly.

"If you haven't applied for anything that does a credit check, and there's dings to your credit score, then that's a good way to tell that someone has been using your financial information," said Tyler.

If you notice suspicious activity, freeze your cards and apply for new ones, and change your passwords.

City of Chattanooga affected by Nationwide Recovery Services data breach There is no indication that anything other than debt collection services data was affected.

"I like using a credit card, because if someone steals losing that credit card, they haven't stolen from me, they've stolen from the credit card agency, said Tyler.

All types of identity theft are illegal, and if you think you are a victim, then you should report that to the Federal Trade Commission. You can also go to www.identitytheft.gov to get into contact with a trusted official and start a recovery plan. If your Social Security Number (SSN) is leaked, you can report that at www.ssa.gov/number-card.
AI has the potential to further automate the recruiting process by understanding resumes and ranking applications to find suitable candidates.
A lot of young people in Ireland have been told by older generations to stop buying fancy coffees if they want to buy a house in Ireland.

Sounds simple, but experts have found just how long it would take to save for a deposit for a house if you gave up buying coffee.

If you wanted to buy a house in Dublin, it could take as long as 41 years of giving up that daily flat white!

Chill Insurance analysed how many cups of coffee people would need to give up to afford a house deposit.

With Dublin at the top of the list with 41 years of skipping a daily coffee, the list shows little hope for younger people using this tip to buy a home of their own.

The list continues as follows:

Wicklow- 34 years and 5 months

Kildare- 28 years and 7 months

Meath- 26 years and 3 months

Cork- 24 years and 9 months

Galway- 25 years and 6 months

Kilkenny- 24 years and 7 months

Louth- 23 years and 6 months

Limerick- 22 years and 6 months

Wexford- 22 years and 10 months

According to the data, Dublin is the least affordable city for homebuyers in Ireland, with an average house deposit of 61,401.23.

It also has the priciest coffee, averaging 4.08 per cup. Giving up your daily coffee for a year would save you 1,489.20, meaning it would take more than 15,000 cups - or around 41 years - to save enough for a house deposit.

While skipping a simple habit, like buying a daily coffee, can be helpful towards saving, its clear its not enough to close the affordability gap.

To help, Ian OReilly from Chill Insurance shares his tips for saving for a deposit:

Saving for a deposit can feel daunting, especially when facing the prospect of spending up to eight years accumulating funds.

While skipping your morning latte or avocado toast wont singlehandedly get you onto the property ladder, smarter saving habits can make a big difference.

Experts recommend following the 50/30/20 rule: allocate 50% of your income to necessities, 30% to personal wants, and 20% to savings. This approach is 7% higher than the national average savings rate, giving you a crucial reduction in the time it will take to accumulate your deposit.

Consulting a mortgage advisor is another valuable step. They can help you understand what you can afford and potentially secure better mortgage deals, saving you money in the long run.

Additionally, government help-to-buy schemes, especially for first-time buyers, can significantly reduce the financial burden and bring homeownership within reach.

Finally, when youre ready to finalise your purchase and transfer your deposit, dont forget to purchase home insurance. Many banks require proof of home insurance before they will release mortgage funds, so having this in place is essential to ensure a smooth buying process.

County Leitrim, Irelands least populated county, takes the title of the most affordable place to buy a home, according to Chill Insurance.

READ NEXT: POLL: Irish people would vote for Donald Trump as President but there's a clear favourite

In 2024, the average home in Leitrim sold for 186,487, requiring a minimum deposit of 18,649 - a figure significantly below the national average of 29,108.

This affordability makes Leitrim an attractive option for those with a smaller budget - including first-time buyers. Towns like Carrick-on-Shannon provide a perfect blend of modern amenities and countryside tranquility, further enhancing this countys appeal.

Despite average income in County Leitrim being slightly below the national average, sitting at 38,829 per year, saving for a home here is still relatively achievable.

Prospective buyers, saving at the national average rate of 12.7% of their income (approximately 5,000 annually), could accumulate the necessary deposit in 3 years and 9 months. This not only makes Leitrim the most affordable but also the most accessible destination for homeownership.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: April 08 2025

101st Airborne Reenactors Create Realistic Paratrooper Experience for C-47 Passengers.

American Airpower Museum (AAM) continues its popular C-47 D-Day Living History Flight Experience with four 2025 dates to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. AAMs mission is to educate the public about aviation history and in particular, the important role that military aviation has played in defense of the United States during World War II and beyond. Our flights are an excellent way to teach present day Americans what it was like to participate in an actual combat mission during WWII.

AAM is proud to announce the four scheduled Saturday flights are on May 3rd, June 28th, September 6th and October 4th (rain date next day Sunday). Our passengers fly in an original WWII Douglas C-47 Skytrain Second Chance, and are joined by AAMs Living Historians for a breathtakingly realistic and unforgettable recreation of what U.S. Paratroopers experienced on D-Day. Three flights are set for each date, between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., with a fourth in case of extra demand. Seats are allocated a first come, first served basis and book up fast, so act now to reserve your C-47 flight. To book flights online, visit www.americanairpowermuseum.org and click on the Flight Experience tab. Or call (516) 531-3950, (631) 454-2039, or visit AAMs gift shop Wednesday to Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Hangar 3, 1230 New Highway, Farmingdale, NY 11735.

AAMs Living History Flight Experience is a one-of-a-kind immersive educational program, where Living Historians join you in an original WWII C-47 as reenactors, to give a sense of what 101st and 82nd Airborne Division Paratroopers felt on their incredible 1,200-plane D-Day assault, when Allied forces stormed the coast of northern France. The crew are all licensed pilots, some in the reserves or ex-military, who have flown our C-47 and other restored aircraft for several years. Your commanding officer is famous WWII Living Historian Robert Scarabino, Director of the 101st Airborne Living History Group, who has led AAMs C-47 D-Day flights since 2003.

With his 101st Airborne Living Historians, Honorary Captain Scarabino transports passengers back in time. Your flight experience as a WWII paratrooper includes: a mission briefing for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation which launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II; a chance to wear authentic military field jackets, helmets, and gear throughout the mission; the rare chance to take flight in an original WWII C-47, one of the last few true C-47s still in original military condition!

The 506 PIR CO starts off in the Hangar 3 Ready Room, with walls covered by maps of the French coast. He lays out your objective, to destroy a Nazi German garrison and secure causeways leading to the beach. Before dismissing his paratroopers, he will issue them a tourniquet, a box of what was meant to be morphine, plus a reminder to take out a GI life insurance policy. Youve been training hard and fast for two years, Scarabino shouts to the room full of his soldiers. God bless you, and Ill see you in the assembly area.

Once on board, Scarabinos paratroopers will experience the sights, smells and sounds as the C-47s mighty engines fire up and youre off into the blue! Youll watch the crew operate their C-47 as paratroopers get ready for battle. As they fly over Jones Beach, everyone lines up and gets ready to parachute down. They will relive the WWII experience right up to the very moment when each soldier hooks up their parachute to the above static line and gets ready to jump! Many participants reported they were sweating and hearts racing because it was so realistic! After about half an hour in the air, the aircraft returns to Republic, taxis to Hangar 3 and you disembark. Each passenger was assigned the identity of a member of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Once back in the hangar, each pulls a card from their pocket and finds out the actual paratroopers fate whose identity you assumed. For most, this exciting flight experience represents a teachable moment youll never forget!

This is a wonderful way to educate Americans about WWII and our Greatest Generation veterans. Youll support AAMs mission to honor veterans and military aviation history, by helping to maintain and preserve these iconic aircraft, along with the Museums incredible static exhibits. Cost for each C-47 flight is $375. A flight experience entitles you to bring an additional person who can watch the flights take off and land, plus visit AAMs exhibits all day free of charge. Others may also wish to visit AAM on these four scheduled dates, just to watch each flight and tour the Museum. In that case, admission for adults is $20, seniors and veterans $15, and children ages 5-12 $10. No tickets or pre-registration is needed for regular admission.

Second Chance was transferred to the Royal Air Force in 1945 and flew in the Berlin Airlift (1948 - 1949) with the RAF, serving until 1950. The aircraft next served in the Belgian Air Force for two years. In 1952 she went to the French Air Force, serving two years in Vietnam, as well as India, Algeria, Morocco and the Congo. In 1967 she was sold to Israel and flew in the Israeli Defense Force 32 years. Offered for sale in 1999, she was renovated by Aero Services and acquired by the American Airpower Museum in 2001. Aside from AAMs C-47 Living History Flights, she also performs at regional air shows in classic WWII D-Day markings with the original D8 code. One of the last C-47s in stock military configuration, this aircraft has just over 18,000 hours in the air, one of the worlds lowest flight times ever. C-47s were nicknamed Gooney Birds by their pilots after the Albatross seabird, which has an impressive wingspan and is known for its endurance and ability to fly great distances!

The American Airpower Museum is an aviation museum located on the landmarked former site of Republic Aviation at Republic Airport, Farmingdale, NY. The Museum maintains a collection of aviation artifacts and an array of operational aircraft spanning the many years of the aircraft factory's history. The Museum is a 501 (c) (3) Nonprofit Educational Foundation Chartered by the New York State Board of Regents.
Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: April 07 2025

James Carr was Convicted by Jury in February for Causing His 11-Month-Old Infant to Suffer Acute Fentanyl Poisoning, Hypoxia, and Respiratory Failure.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that James Carr, 36, of Lake Grove, was sentenced to 5 years in prison, followed by 1 year of post release supervision, after a jury found him guilty in February of assault and drug possession charges in connection with the January 2024 near-fatal overdose of his infant child.

It is nothing short of miraculous that first responders were able to revive this infant with Narcan, said District Attorney Tierney. I continue to urge our legislators to pass the Death by Dealer statute, which would give us the tools needed to seek justice proportionate to the harm caused with enhanced penalties. No child should have to fight for her life because of exposure to these deadly substances, and no community should have to bury victims of this poison without proper justice being served.

James Carr Prosecution

The evidence at trial established that on January 13, 2024, members of the Suffolk County Police Department and the Ronkonkoma Fire Department responded to a 911 call reporting a non-responsive infant on Colmar Avenue in Lake Grove.

When they arrived, John Doe, an 11-month-old infant, had turned blue, his eyes were rolled toward the back of his head, and he was having extreme difficulty breathing.

Due to his serious condition, the ambulance that was transporting the boy to the hospital had to pull over during the transit so a MedCat Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) could board the ambulance to provide additional lifesaving care to the infant. The child had stopped breathing for an extended period of time on the way to Stony Brook University Hospital and had been unresponsive for approximately 40 minutes. The medics inside the ambulance determined that the symptoms the child was exhibiting were from opiate poisoning. They quickly acted and provided the baby with a quantity of Narcan in each nostril. Five minutes after the administration of Narcan, he took a full breath on his own and began to cry.

Once at the hospital, the 11-month-old child was diagnosed with acute fentanyl poisoning, hypoxia, and respiratory failure and required additional doses of Narcan in the Pediatric Emergency Room. After his admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the infant was placed on a Narcan drip in order to prevent recurrent respiratory failure due to the opioid poisoning. Carr was arrested on the same day.

A search of the Lake Grove residence was conducted by the Suffolk County Police Department, and investigators recovered a straw containing cocaine, 4-ANPP (a precursor to fentanyl), heroin, and fentanyl residue, a digital scale containing cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl residue, and a plastic bag containing cocaine residue.

On February 27, 2025, Carr was convicted after a jury trial heard before Acting Supreme Court Justice Philip Golgas, for Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony, and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, a Class A misdemeanor.

On April 7, 2025, Carr was sentenced to 5  in prison. He was represented by John Campo Esq.

Robert Mauro Prosecution

A review of phone data recovered from Carrs phone revealed that on January 4, 2024, and January 5, 2024, he was in contact with the separately-convicted defendant Robert Mauro, 40, of Miller Place, where Mauro offered to sell narcotics to Carr. Mauro advertised the drugs to Carr as an oz of fire that some kid odd off of. Over the next few days, Carr actively sought out the drugs from Mauro. On January 9, 2024, Mauro sold the drug to Carr, just four days before the infant ingested a near-fatal dose of fentanyl.

On January 29, 2024, while Suffolk County Police Department Fourth Squad detectives were conducting their investigation into Carr and Mauro, Homicide Squad detectives responded to a fatal overdose that occurred at a home in Patchogue. At that location, law enforcement recovered from the scene the 31-year-old overdose victims cell phone, and a quantity of fentanyl/4-ANPP.

A review of that victims phone data showed that she too had purchased narcotics from Mauro. This sale occurred on January 28, 2024. A further review of the data showed that on January 26, 2024, the victim texted Mauro that she had not used heroin in over a year and was concerned about the substance she was going to buy.

An autopsy conducted by the Suffolk County Medical Examiners Office concluded that the female victims cause of death was acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, fluro fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, methoxyacytal fentanyl, xylazine, and buprenorphine. Mauro pleaded to Manslaughter in the Second Degree in October 2024. He was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison, which is the maximum sentence allowable under the law, and which will be followed by a period of two years post-release supervision once he is released.

These cases were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Danielle Davis and Daniel Fischer of the Narcotics Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Thomas Cassidy of the Suffolk County Police Department Narcotics Section.

Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.
Valley Stream Man Sentenced to Up to 8-1/4 Years in Prison for DWI Crash that Killed Half-Brother

Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: April 08 2025

Joshua Pena pleaded guilty in January to driving while intoxicated on the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway and killing 23-year-old Xavier Pena.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced a Valley Stream man was sentenced today to up to 8-1/4 years in prison for a 2022 drunk-driving crash on the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway that killed his 23-year-old half-brother.

Joshua Pena, 25, pleaded guilty on January 30, 2025, before Judge Teresa Corrigan to Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a C felony), Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony), Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a D felony), two counts of Driving While Intoxicated (unclassified misdemeanors), Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree (an A misdemeanor), Reckless Driving (an unclassified misdemeanor), and Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the Third Degree (an unclassified misdemeanor).

He was sentenced today to 3-1/2 to 8-1/4 years in prison. NCDA recommended a sentence of 6 to 12 years in prison.

Joshua Penas recklessness, driving twice the legal limit for alcohol and flooring his car on the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway, sealed his brother Xaviers fate and ensured he would never return home again, said DA Donnelly. Xavier was a young man, just 23-year-old, with plenty of life to live. Now his family mourns the years they have lost with a loving son, while his brother is sent to prison for his death. These tragic crashes are avoidable if drivers just have the common sense to not drive drunk. We continue to keep Xaviers family in our thoughts.

DA Donnelly said that on June 19, 2022, at approximately 7:45 a.m., an off-duty East Meadow Fire Department official was driving southbound on the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway towards exit 1E when he saw a white 2018 Mercedes on top of the guardrail, leaning against a tree.

When he approached the vehicle, he saw the victim, 23-year-old Xavier Pena, conscious and pinned inside the vehicle and radioed for help. The defendant, Joshua Pena, the victims half-brother, was seen walking near the vehicle.

NCPD Emergency Services Unit and members of the Wantagh Fire Department assisted in removing the victim from the vehicle. He was transported to Nassau University Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased at 8:43 a.m.

The defendant was also transported to NUMC where a blood draw determined he had a blood alcohol content of .17 approximately forty-five minutes after the crash.

The data from the vehicles crash data recorder also revealed that shortly before the collision, the defendant was driving approximately 127 mph.

Joshua Penas privilege to operate a motor vehicle in New York was suspended at the time of the crash for failure to answer summonses in Queens County.

The defendant surrendered to the Nassau County Police Departments Homicide Squad on January 23, 2023.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: April 08 2025

On April 4, SCPD officers responded to a 911 call for a wellness check at a residence in Brentwood; Bruce Boyd allegedly approached officers with a knife in each hand.

The New York Attorney Generals Office of Special Investigation (OSI) has opened an investigation into the death of Bruce Boyd, who died on April 4, 2025 following an encounter with members of the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) in Suffolk County.

Shortly after noon, on April 4, SCPD officers responded to a 911 call for a wellness check at a residence in Brentwood, Suffolk County. When officers arrived at the scene, Mr. Boyd allegedly approached officers with a knife in each hand. Officers commanded Mr. Boyd to drop the knives, but he did not comply. An SCPD officer fired his weapon striking Mr. Boyd. Mr. Boyd was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Pursuant to New York State Executive Law Section 70-b, OSI assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer or a peace officer, including a corrections officer, may have caused the death of a person by an act or omission. Under the law, the officer may be on-duty or off-duty, and the decedent may be armed or unarmed. Also, the decedent may or may not be in custody or incarcerated. If OSIs assessment indicates an officer may have caused the death, OSI proceeds to conduct a full investigation of the incident.

These are preliminary facts and subject to change.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missiles.

An anonymous Iranian official told Reuters on April 6 that Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has instructed Iranian armed forces to be on high alert. The source also said Tehran has threatened neighboring states with severe consequences if they allow the US to use their airspace to strike targets within Iranian territory.

In line with these threats, Irans state-controlled media has escalated its rhetoric by vowing to assassinate US President Donald Trump and disseminating propaganda videos. Irans Kayhan newspaper, closely affiliated with the supreme leader, called for the assassination of Trump for his role in eliminating former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) General Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Iranian outlets also circulated an AI-generated video depicting an IRGC-led nuclear attack against the US base on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

Tehrans latest hostile messaging came shortly after news of a further American military buildup across the Middle East. In March, some 140 heavy transport aircraft delivered military assets to US bases in Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan. The deployments included A-10 ground-attack aircraft to Jordan, F-35 multirole fighters to Saudi Arabia, and nearly one-third of the USs B-2 stealth bomber fleet to Diego Garcia. Additionally, the US sent cargo planes transporting Patriot and THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) batteries for air defense purposes in the Persian Gulf, while additional deployments supported the USS Truman carrier strike group in the Red Sea.

Amid growing fears of a potential US or Israeli strike, Iran has sharply intensified its military posture across land, sea, and air. The IRGC has fortified islands in the Persian Gulf with fast-attack vessels equipped with new cruise missiles. These moves are part of a broader military buildup, including joint drills with Russia and China in the Gulf of Oman and large-scale exercises simulating strikes on nuclear infrastructure. Iran has also showcased drones with extended range and stealth capabilities while reinforcing defenses near key nuclear sites.

Israel prefers the Libyan model but signals a diplomatic solution is unlikely

During an April 7 meeting with Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly advocated for the 2003 Libyan model toward Iran, a template of exchanging economic benefits and sanctions relief for voluntary, complete dismantlement of Tehrans nuclear program. Axios also reported that Jerusalem seeks to reach an understanding with Washington over targeting Irans nuclear infrastructure should negotiations fail, adding that Israel doesnt view a renewed nuclear deal as likely.

Israels rhetoric, including consistent messaging against the Islamic Republic since the October 2023 Hamas terrorist attack, suggests that Jerusalems military establishment may see a war with Iran as inevitable.

Netanyahu described the November 2024 ceasefire with Lebanon and, by extension, Hezbollah, as an opportunity to focus on Iran. Similarly, on March 5, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir declared 2025 the year devoted to prioritizing a military confrontation with Tehran. The next day, the Israeli and US Air Forces conducted a joint exercise featuring F-15I and F-35I fighter jets alongside a B-52 bomberassets Israel may rely on for a strike against Irans underground nuclear facilities. Israels airstrikes in October 2024 that targeted Iranian air defense systems paved the way for such an operation, also signaling its potential.

Iraqi militias reportedly prepare for disarmament

Major Iran-backed Iraqi militias have expressed a willingness to disarm amid escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington. The Kataib Hezbollah, Al Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid Al Shuhada, and Ansar Allah al Awfiyaa militias, all of which have leaders or are entities designated by the US as Specially Designated Global Terrorists or Foreign Terrorist Organizations, comprise the core of Tehrans Iraqi proxies. This move comes after a series of meetings between IRGC-QF Commander Esmail Ghaani and Iraqi militia leaders in which Tehran has urged the network to avoid provoking Israel and the United States.

IRGC suffers losses in Yemen

A US airstrike on Tuesday that struck a Houthi gathering in Al Fazah, a coastal district of Hodeidah along the Red Sea, killed 70 individuals, including senior field commanders and Iranian IRGC experts, Yemens internationally recognized government announced on April 4. Yemeni Minister of Information Moammar al Eryani confirmed the strike, emphasizing its impact on both the Houthis leadership structure and their external military support network.

Amid a sustained US bombing campaign against the Houthis, Iran reportedly instructed its military personnel to withdraw from Yemen, signaling a recalibration of its regional strategy under mounting pressure from the Trump administration. Tehran had already urged the Houthis to de-escalate in the Red Sea as early as March 18, relaying this message through both its envoy and Oman.

Janatan Sayeh is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic Republics regional malign influence.
The independent Spanish depositary bank Cecabank has received regulatory authorisation to start operating its Luxembourg branch.

The branch will provide depositary services to Ucits and alternative funds. The bank, headquartered in Madrid, provides depositary, custody and securities settlement services. Its established depositary business, in Spain and Portugal, serves 46 asset managers, with roughly 255.6 billion in total deposited assets at the end of December 2024.

The bank set up the Luxembourg unit last year. In April 2024, Cecabank hired Brenda Bol to be country manager and head of its Luxembourg subsidiary. She had been Luxembourg country head at BNY Mellon.

Cecabanks business registration was formally completed in November 2024 and its banking license took effect in March 2025, according to public records.

It officially joined the Luxembourg Bankers Association (ABBL) at the beginning of April 2025, the trade group stated on Linkedin.

The branch employs five staff members at its office in Cloche dOr, Bol told the Luxembourg Times on Monday.
Young workers four times more likely to be on temporary contracts

Youth disproportionately affected by precarious job status, despite a huge rise in numbers aged 15 to 24 entering Luxembourgs workforce, Fondation Idea report finds
Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft (R) speaks with Friar Thomas E. Conway, the executive director of the St. Anthony Shrine in the city's Downtown Crossing neighborhood, on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (John L. Micek/MassLive)

Some people might look around Bostons Downtown Crossing neighborhood, which has been beset by rising crime and addiction challenges, and see nuisances to be eliminated and problems to be solved.

Friar Thomas E. Conway looks around and sees people in need of help, souls to be saved.

Its quite complicated. Because everybodys redeemable. Everybody can be saved. Everybody can [be saved] in terms of addiction recovery, everybodys possible, said Conway, the executive director of the St. Anthony Shrine on Arch Street, in the heart of Downtown Crossing.

Hes also under no illusion about the size or scope of the problem he and his fellow Franciscan friars face as they go about that work.

Weve got a lot of folks. Were kind of overwhelmed with the number of people and the magnitude of the problem, he told MassLive on a rainy Tuesday morning. It used be that homeless people were ... simply out a job or had a drinking problem.

But it also comes with the territory. Theyre members of a Roman Catholic order that specifically calls for them to live among and serve the poor and the marginalized.

Now, its multiple levels of ... criminal history [and] complicated medical histories  addictions, horrible, horrible things, he continued. But were doing the best we can.

These were the stories that Democratic mayoral candidate Josh Kraft had come to Downtown Crossing to hear.

For a few minutes on Tuesday, Kraft, the wealthy son of billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Conway, whose vocation demanded that he take a lifetime vow of poverty, discussed the common ground between them.

Too many people are stuck in a vicious circle of homelessness, mental health [problems] and, of course, addiction, Kraft, whos looking to unseat incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu, said Tuesday during a news conference outside a 7-Eleven on Summer Street, just around the corner from the St. Anthony Shrine.

And theyre being preyed upon  whether its drug dealers, or human traffickers, or others taking advantage of them, Kraft continued. Theyre stuck in this vicious cycle, and we want to be as supportive ... as possible to get them on the path to recovery and stability in life.

Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft (L) meets a fan on Washington Street in the city's Downtown Crossing neighborhood on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (John L. Micek/MassLive) John L. Micek

The news conference, and the brief neighborhood tour that followed, came the day after Kraft, 57, rolled out his plan to clean up the open air drug market and public safety issues plaguing the area of the city known as Mass and Cass.

It takes its name from its location at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard thats within walking distance of the sprawling headquarters of the Boston Police Department.

On Monday, and again on Tuesday, Kraft accused Wu of mismanaging the humanitarian crisis at Mass and Cass. which he said have now spread into other sections of the city, including Downtown Crossing.

That approach includes a mix of increased law enforcement, as well as what he described as a recovery-first approach to helping people living with addiction and housing and other services to get people off the street.

Were all about getting people on the path to recovery as quickly, efficiently and compassionately as possible, he told MassLive when he was asked to explain the biggest contrast between his plan and Wus management of the issue.

On Monday, Wu sent Boston City Council a $4.8 billion budget plan that boosts spending by 4.4%. It includes modest funding bumps for city police and fire departments.

Asked Tuesday how hed pay for his plan, Kraft said hed seek regional solutions and philanthropic support.

We know this is a regional problem. Its not a Boston problem. We will work with our partners in the state, regional and municipal governments and community organizations to find the money, he said.

The brief walking tour took Kraft to the Godfrey Hotel on Washington Street and to Cafe Bonjour, a nearby eatery on Temple Place. Both serve tourists and management at both places had one big ask on their respective wishlists.

More cops.

We draw a very nice crowd ... people from all over, tourists, and you want them to have a nice experience, Driss Elkmori, Cafe Bonjours owner and manager, whos done business in the city for 30 years, told Kraft.

And they do have a nice experience. However, on the street, its not a very nice experience, he continued, nodding in the direction of the MBTAs Downtown Crossing Station just down the block. We have the T station right here that draws a lot of homeless [people]. Its been very, very challenging ... and its always constantly calling the police all the time.

In February, Wu, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden, Boston City Councilmember Ed Flynn, and state Rep. Aaron Michelwitz, D-3rd Suffolk, met with a group billing itself as the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association, to hear about similar concerns, and to look for solutions.

One immediate result? Sidewalks, handicap ramps, vacant building facades, and more in downtown Boston will get an upgrade this spring.

During an appearance on GBH News Boston Public Radio program on Tuesday, Wu defended her management of Mass and Cass and the challenges that have faced other neighborhoods as a result.

She also dinged Kraft, noting that some of what has been put forward in this so-called plan are items that already have been in progress, and that the [Boston] police department and our Public Health Commission and the city have already implemented. Some are points that we have evaluated and do not believe would move us in the right direction.

But overall, I think whats concerning here is that theres, you know, this isnt a new issue, and were not parachuting into a conversation, she continued. Ive had the chance as a city councilor and now as mayor, to be involved from day one and within the first two months of our administration.

Back on Arch Street, Conway, who ministers to that same population every day, credited Wu and other city officials for their attentiveness.

And away from the pressure cooker of elected politics, hes just looking for a solution  and cooperation.

The city councilors and the mayor are paying attention, he said. Ed Flynn has always been terrific about this ... Theres no one saying that theres an easy solution. But its helpful if everyone works together ... thats the big help.

MassLive Reporter Trea Lavery contributed to this story.
The driver accused of hitting and killing a 26-year-old man while he was walking in South Boston on a Sunday morning in January will be arraigned on Tuesday.

Francisco Romero, 47, faces six charges in connection with the fatal Jan. 12 crash, including motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation and manslaughter while operating under the influence, among others.

Noah Greany, 26, was the pedestrian hit and killed just before 9:30 a.m. that day.

He was leaving his girlfriends home to walk a few blocks to his apartment and had just stopped at Dunkin before he was hit, according to reports from The Boston Globe. The car that hit Greany also struck a building.

To know Noah was to love Noah, Greanys obituary read.

His warmth, sense of humor and generosity made him the guy you wanted to be around. His presence could lighten up a room and his caring nature left a lasting impression on all who were lucky enough to call him a friend, his loved ones wrote.

Greany was a consultant at Hayden Consulting Group in Boston and held two degrees from Northeastern University  one in Cellular and Molecular Biology, and a masters degree in Bioinformatics Enterprise.

In January, his mother said his family would never understand why Greany was taken so soon.

And I dont think well ever, ever know the reason why he was taken so soon, Marie Lambalot Greany told the Globe.

He obviously needed to be somewhere else. And someday, hopefully, we can understand, she said.

Romero is expected to appear in court for his arraignment at 2 p.m. on Tuesday at South Boston Municipal Court, according to the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office.
Several Massachusetts colleges were featured on the 2025 U.S. News World & Report Best Graduate Schools" list. One Massachusetts university known for its advances in modern science and technology was once again crowned the best engineering graduate school in the country.

U.S. News World & Report released its annual Best Graduate Schools ranking list on Tuesday morning.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology was awarded first in the list of best engineering schools for graduate studies.

The Cambridge-based university ranked first in six out of 13 engineering specialties, including aerospace, chemical, computer, electrical, materials and mechanical.

U.S. News previously placed MIT at the top of its 2023 and 2024 lists of best engineering schools for graduate studies.

In the reports list of the best business schools for graduate students, MITs Sloan School of Management was ranked fifth and University of Massachusetts Amhersts Isenberg School of Management was ranked 76.

Worcesters UMass Chan Medical School was ranked a tier 1 medical graduate school on the list and Tufts University was ranked a tier 2 medical graduate school.

In the reports Best Education graduate schools section, the University of Massachusetts Boston ranked 45 and the University of Massachusetts Amherst placed 81.

The full U.S. News World & Report graduate schools rankings list can be viewed here.

We are equipping future graduate students with the information and tools they need to make informed decisions in todays competitive academic landscape,said LaMont Jones, Ed.D., senior editor of Education at U.S. News.

Although MIT was once again praised for its academic excellence, in March, the university was one of several Massachusetts colleges that have been placed under investigation by Donald Trumps administration.

The Trump administration is investigating MIT for allegedly engaging in race-exclusionary practices in its graduate programs. The investigation is part of the presidents campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs nationwide.

Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. We will not yield on this commitment.

Including MIT and the New England College of Optometry, the Department of Education has placed over 50 universities under investigation for alleged racial discrimination based on DEI policies.

The federal administration has previously threatened to remove federal funding from schools that continue to promote DEI guidelines.

Last week, Trumps administration threatened to remove funding from K-12 public schools that maintain DEI programming.
Not every Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band can boast having the blessing of important people in the Lynyrd Skynyrd realm.

Vyntyge Skynyrd, appearing at 52 Sumner in Springfield on Saturday, April 12, does.

We have the blessing of Johnny Van Zant who is singing with the currently touring Lynyrd Skynyrd band. And we have the blessing of Artimus Pyle who played drums with the original band, as well as Gene Odom, their security manager and best friend of Ronnie Van Zant when growing up, said Tom Rossi, pianist for Vyntyge Skynyrd, in an interview with The Republican.

Gene absolutely loves us and flies up every once in a while, to help us sell merchandise at our shows. He tells us we are the closest he has ever heard to capturing the sound of the legendary band. And when you hear that from someone who was on the front lines with the band, it just gives you a jolt, he added.

Founded in the summer of 1964 by teenagers Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns and Gary Rossington, the band would gain additional members before calling themselves Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969. Embodying the soul of Southern rock, the band would go on to sell over 28 million records scoring numerous hits including Sweet Home Alabama, Free Bird, Simple Man, Saturday Night Special and others. The band disbanded after a tragic plane crash in 1977 killed Van Zant and member Steve Gaines, as well as seriously injured its other members.

Tribute band Vyntyge Skynyrd was founded in 2014 by the late Tommy Higgins, who passed away last November. Higgins stayed with the band only until 2016 due to a busy schedule of also serving as road manager for Aerosmith and Ringo Starr. He ultimately found time to form another band called Klassik 78, which achieved international attention with their what if approach of creating a lost album of the group KISS.

Tommy was the mastermind behind Vyntyge Skynyrd of which two founding members of the group remain from the original lineup, which we like to jokingly tell people that we have more original members in the band than Lynyrd Skynyrd does today, Rossi said about the reformed band in 1987 which continues to tour today with no founding members still alive.

Rossi never had the opportunity to ask Higgins why he founded the band.

I think it had to be his appreciation for their music. But what I do know is that tribute bands at that time were starting to get a foothold on the market. They were dominating almost every venue you saw ad nauseam, and I think I can say that with a clear conscience given my circumstance. Tommy had a great business acumen. I think he saw a niche as the scene was churning up and was of the mindset that if he could get some guys together to faithfully play their music, then the band was going to blow some minds, Rossi said.

In addition to original members Richie Sullaway on bass guitar and vocalist Dave Musgove, Vyntyge Skynyrd musicians include Kevin Meaney on guitars and vocals, Carl Johnson on guitars and vocals, Steven Michael Sorum on drums, and Rossi on piano.

Rossi noted band members all have such a love for the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

But the best part is that we are six guys who can order a pizza together and get along on stage as well as off. Our families hang out together and enjoy barbecuing in the summer, he said.

Tickets, available at 52sumner.com, range in price from $19 to $39.

Located at 52 Sumner Avenue in Springfield, doors will open at 7 p.m. with showtime scheduled for 8 p.m.
Johnsonville sausages are under recall for possibly containing plastic pieces. (Courtesy of USDA) USDA

Johnsonville-brand cheddar bratwurst is under a recall after more than 20,000 pounds of the product was found to possibly be contaminated with hard plastic inside of it.

Consumers may have purchased the affected sausage via Amazon, with the online retail giant issuing a recall and safety alert.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued the recall for the product on April 5.

The USDA specifically identified the affected product as the 19 oz. sealed firm tray packages containing fives pieces of Johnsonville BRATS CHEDDAR Bratwurst with the package code of B9FOD.

The cheddar bratwurst under the recall was produced on Feb. 5, 2025 in a Momence, Illinois located Johnsonville establishment, according to the USDA.

The items were shipped to retail locations in Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin, the USDA added.

The bratwurst is also identifiable by the establishment number on the front of the label which reads Est. 1647.

Johnsonville informed the USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the problem after it received two consumer complaints about hard plastic material found inside the sausages.

To date, there have been no confirmed reports of injury due to consumption, the USDA said. Anyone concerned should reach out to their healthcare provider.

Read More: Recall alert: Liquid egg products may contain cleaning solution USDA warns

Consumers who bought these items are urged not to eat them and should either throw them away or return them to their place of purchase, the USDA said. FSIS also warned these products may be in consumers freezers and to double check these.
Karen Read talks with one of her lawyers inside Norfolk Superior Court during the second week of her trial, Monday, April 7, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

Jury selection for Karen Reads second trial continued Tuesday morning, with dozens more potential jurors packing Norfolk Superior Court for the sixth day of selection.

Through five days, 10 jurors were selected from a pool of 344 candidates. The goal is to seat 16 jurors for Reads second trial.
TikToker Cody Jacob and his mother, Leanne Munroe, on the day they adopted their dog, Boo. Courtesy of Cody Jacob

You may recognize 28-year-old Cape Cod resident Cody Jacob from his viral TikTok video talking about his discovery that his mattress is made of fiberglass.

What you probably dont know is that, in December 2022 when he posted the video, he had been working as a full-time caregiver for his mother, who was dying of brittle diabetes complications, for over two years.
Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson will plead guilty to the federal corruption charges against her, according to a new court filing Tuesday.

In the status report filed by U.S. Attorney Leah Foleys office, prosecutors wrote that Fernandes Anderson had signed a plea agreement, but did not provide any information on what was in the agreement.

Fernandes Anderson was arrested in December on charges that she ran a kickback scheme with a family member whom she employed in her City Hall office, using public funds to help with her own financial struggles.

According to the indictment, the District 7 councilor hired a family member to run constituent services in late 2022, falsely reporting that they were not related. Five months later, she paid the family member a large bonus, with the understanding that they would return some of the money to her.

The person later met Fernandes Anderson in a City Hall bathroom to hand over $7,000 cash, prosecutors wrote.

Fernandes Anderson pleaded not guilty at the time.

The city councilor did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
An East Bridgewater teen who was killed in a single-car crash in Middleborough early Sunday morning is being remembered as a sweet, gentle, caring, and loving boy.

Joseph Saccone, 18, died after the car he was driving crashed into a tree on Marion Road around 2:40 a.m. on April 6, authorities said previously. Saccone died at Boston Medical Center surrounded by his family, according to his obituary.

Joseph R. Saccone was born in Brockton to Joseph C. and Nicole Saccone on Dec. 1, 2006, according to his obituary. He grew up in Whitman and attended Duval Elementary School before moving to East Bridgewater in 2019.

Saccone was eagerly anticipating his upcoming graduation from East Bridgewater High School when he died, according to his obituary. In his spare time, he enjoyed attending concerts, playing video games, listening to old school rap, writing and singing his own songs, playing with his dog, Shelby, and hanging out with friends and family.

He loved his sister, Samantha Saccone, so much and was so proud to be a big brother, his obituary reads.

Saccone worked at Johnny Macaronis  a small, local chain of Italian restaurants located on the South Shore, according to his obituary.

He was so happy and always smiling and respectful around his co-workers. He even earned the nickname The Brillo King due to his love of cleaning the dish area, his obituary reads.

Johnny Macaronis mourned Saccone in a Monday Facebook post.

Joe was a cherished employee who will be sorely missed by everyone, the restaurant wrote. With his quirky personality, smiling face and undeniable love for old school rap it was impossible not to smile when he was around. Joe was always respectful to his co-workers, whether it was coming into work with Hi Chef or leaving for the night with appreciate you guys.

Many of Saccones friends and family members also wrote heartfelt Facebook posts mourning his death.

Joey Saccone, you where there for me when no one else was, one friend wrote.

Saccone is survived by his parents, sister, grandparents and many other beloved friends and relatives, according to his obituary. A GoFundMe campaign has been created to help his parents pay for his funeral.

Visiting hours for Saccone are scheduled for 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 13, at the Blanchards Funeral Chapel in Whitman, according to his obituary. A funeral service is set to follow the next day at the chapel at 11 a.m.
In the wake of the Trump administrations threat to cut funding, Harvard University said it will borrow $750 million of taxable bonds for general corporate purposes.

Harvard is at risk of not receiving its roughly $9 billion in federal funding after the Trump administrations antisemitism task force sent a list of demands. These demands include closing its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, implementing a mask ban and adopting merit-based admissions and hiring policies to end preferences based on race, color or national origin.

As part of ongoing contingency planning for a range of financial circumstances, Harvard is evaluating resources needed to advance its academic and research priorities, Harvards director of media relations, Jason Newton, said in an email to MassLive.

The university plans to borrow the money from Goldman Sacs Group Inc., the Boston Globe reported Monday.

With the plan to borrow money, Harvard anticipates having $8.2 billion in outstanding debt, Newton said. At the end of 2024, Harvard had $7.1 billion in outstanding debt.

Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a March 31 evening letter that if funding is halted, it will stop life-saving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation.

As an institution and as a community, we acknowledge our shortcomings, pursue needed change and build stronger bonds that enable all to thrive. Our commitment to these endsand to the teaching and research at the heart of our University  will not waver, Garber said.

The Trump administration has also threatened to pull funding from Columbia University, Brown University, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Karen Read sits in Norfolk Superior Court during the second week of her trial, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Matt Stone/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)

The jury for Karen Reads second trial gained three members and lost one on Tuesday, bringing the total number of people picked to 12 across six days of selection.

The juror previously selected dropped out due to personal reasons.

In all, 47 potential jurors were questioned individually by Judge Beverly Cannone and lawyers for both sides on Tuesday. In addition to the three people picked for the jury on Tuesday, one person will return on Wednesday for additional questioning.

The jury comprises six men and six women. Jury selection continues Wednesday, as both sides work to seat 16 jurors for the second trial.

It took five full days to seat a jury for Reads first trial.

Leaving court Tuesday, Read said opening statements will be on April 15. Alan Jackson will deliver the opening statement for Reads defense in the second trial, after David Yannetti delivered it in the first trial. Jackson delivered the closing argument in the first trial.

Almost 400 people have now been questioned to potentially serve on the jury for Reads second trial. Close to 90%  343 of the 391  said they had heard about the case before they were called for jury duty.

Tuesdays pool had the highest concentration of potential jurors who had already heard about the case  all but two of the 47 potential jurors said they had.

Each morning of selection begins the same way, with Cannone reading a statement of the case, laying out what prosecutors say Read did: backing her SUV into her then-boyfriend, Boston Police officer John OKeefe, outside a Canton home following a night of drinking.

She tells jurors that Read is presumed innocent and has no obligation to prove her innocence during the trial.

Cannone also references the intense publicity that has consumed the Read case, saying, public comment will likely continue, but the rule of law will be upheld.

Read thanks the potential jurors after each lawyer introduces themselves.

Cannone then reads out the entire witness list, which contains 150 names, before beginning questioning. After the group questioning, jurors are left to complete a three-page questionnaire.

Only after all that are jurors questioned individually.

During individual questioning, both sides can strike a juror for any reason. Each side gets 16 strikes. Read said her team has used 11 and prosecutors have used 12.

Read, 45, is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident causing injury or death in connection with the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police officer John OKeefe.

Reads defense claims she is being framed and others are responsible for OKeefes death.
Class was canceled for students at a Lynnfield school on Tuesday, the Lynnfield Police Department said, amid reports of threats made at the school on Monday.

The police department told MassLive there is no current threat to the public as of Tuesday morning.

Officers had arrived to Our Lady of the Assumption School on Monday around 9 a.m. to address a report that threats were written on the walls of the bathroom, Boston 25 and WCVB reported. This prompted a lockdown at the school.

In a letter sent home to parents obtained by the outlets, Principal Cynthia Donovan said students are safe and being well cared for.

This morning, we discovered a written threat in one of our restrooms. We immediately contacted Lynnfield Police and implemented a lockdown which meant all students needed to stay in their classrooms while the matter was investigated by the police, Donovan wrote in the letter, the outlets reported.

Your children are safe and being well cared for by our teachers and staff ... I know this is difficult to learn and that you naturally are concerned. But please know we are proceeding with the utmost concern for your childs safety, the letter read, the outlets reported.

School was dismissed early on Monday, Boston 25 reported, and the threat was still under investigation. The Catholic institution serves preschool through eighth-grade students.
A man who received parole after being convicted of killing his girlfriend in 2009 is likely to be taken into custody by federal immigration officials upon his release, records show.

Mario Gonzalez, who came to the U.S. from Guatemala, was convicted of first-degree murder for killing his girlfriend, Luz Forty, after a night out celebrating Valentines Day with her mother in 2009. Gonzalez initially told police he found Forty in a pool of blood when he returned from a night of drinking, but Forty identified him as her attacker as she was being brought to a hospital, where she later died.

When police questioned him, Gonzalez, then 29, said Forty told him someone had broken into the house, demanded money and stabbed her. But from inside a holding cell at the police station, Gonzalez confessed the pair had gotten into a fight over his drinking.

During the fight, he said, Forty hit him with a beer bottle and charged at him with a folding knife. After twisting the knife away from her, Gonzalez stabbed Forty in the back.

Gonzalez was initially sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, but his conviction was downgraded to second-degree murder on appeal.

And while the state Parole Board voted to grant parole to Gonzalez, their decision notes that he may well be deported as Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer against him.

Gonzalez first went before the parole board in 2024. The board denied his parole at the time and suggested he participate in additional rehabilitative programming, including programs focused on domestic violence. The boards decision notes Gonzalez did so  participating in seven programs, including one on domestic violence.

During his 16 years in prison, Gonzalez has remained sober, and the decision says he identified resources for ongoing progress in this area.

As a condition of Gonzalezs release, the board notes that it will improve a home plan if he is not deported. Other conditions include having no contact with Fortys family, mental health counseling and attending Alcoholics Anonymous three times a week.
A Boston city councilor will likely serve a year in prison after pleading guilty to running a kickback scheme at City Hall.

In a signed plea agreement filed in federal court on Tuesday, District 7 Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson admitted to some of the corruption charges against her.

The councilor was arrested in December on charges that she ran a kickback scheme with a family member whom she employed in her City Hall office, using public funds to help with her own financial struggles.

In the agreement, prosecutors recommended Fernandes Anderson serve 12 months and one day in prison followed by three years of supervised release and pay $26,000 on top of an additional fine to be set by the court.

According to the indictment filed in December, the District 7 councilor hired a family member to run constituent services in late 2022, falsely reporting that they were not related. Five months later, she paid the family member a large bonus, with the understanding that they would return some of the money to her.

The person later met Fernandes Anderson in a City Hall bathroom to hand over $7,000 cash, prosecutors said.

Fernandes Anderson pleaded not guilty at the time.

According to the agreement filed Tuesday, Fernandes Anderson will plead guilty to one count each of aiding and abetting wire fraud and aiding and abetting theft concerning a program receiving federal funds.

Additional charges of aiding and abetting wire fraud, related to the alleged misuse of campaign funds, and filing fraudulent tax returns will be dropped.

The $26,000 prosecutors recommended consists of restitution and forfeiture of $13,000 each, equal to the amount Fernandes Anderson received from the kickback scheme.

The maximum sentence for aiding and abetting wire fraud is up to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000. Aiding and abetting theft concerning a program receiving federal funds carries an additional maximum sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

The city councilor could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Three men have been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a man and a woman at a Worcester apartment complex in November 2024, police announced Monday.

Fall River resident Sheldon Thorpe, 22, Weymouth resident Shaquille Watford, 33, and Attleboro resident Jeffrey Toney, 29 are facing two counts of murder in connection with a double fatal shooting at Tatnuck Square Apartments on Brookside Avenue the evening of Nov. 21, 2024, Worcester police said in a press release.

The three men have also been charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to rob and three firearms charges in connection with the shooting.

Read more: Hospitalized man dies after Worcester apartment shooting leaves woman dead

Authorities arrested Thorpe in Bostons Dorchester neighborhood on Monday. Watford was arrested in Weymouth on April 3 on charges related to the Worcester shooting and other outstanding warrants, police said. Toney had been previously arrested on other charges.

Authorities had not released the identities of the man and woman killed in the shooting as of Monday night. No further details about the incident have been released.
The Trump administration has continued to revoke student visas at more higher education institutions in Boston.

Three students at Berklee College of Music have had their visas revoked and student statuses terminated by the federal government, a spokesperson for the college said in a statement sent to MassLive Tuesday.

The federal government has not explained the reasoning behind these terminations and did not notify Berklee in advance of the terminations, the statement reads. We are actively monitoring the situation and continuing to prioritize student support.

The spokesperson was unable to provide more information on the matter.

Berklee College of Music is now among the eight Massachusetts institutions that have confirmed that the Trump administration has terminated one or multiple student visas and student statuses at their college or universities  part of a nationwide trend.

The rest are Tufts University, Harvard University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Massachusetts Boston, Northeastern University, Emerson College and Boston University.

Three students and two recent graduates at Harvard University have had their student visas revoked, according to a Sunday announcement from the Harvard International Office.

The institution found out about the revocations through a routine records review. The office notified the students and referred them to legal assistance. The names of the students werent identified, nor were the reasons for the revocations described.

One of the first public revocations occurred when Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested on March 25 by six masked federal immigration agents in Somerville in apparent retaliation to an op-ed article she co-authored in support of the Palestinians in Gaza in the schools newspaper in 2024.

That same day, her F-1 student visa was revoked without prior notice.

A Tufts spokesperson confirmed that another Tufts graduate students visa had been terminated.

We informed the student and directed them to outside immigration resources for support. We are still gathering information and have no additional details at this time, the spokesperson said.

Five international students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have had their visas revoked and student statuses terminated by the Trump administration, according to a Friday evening email from the universitys chancellor.

In an updated communication, the institution confirmed that UMass Amherst did not play any role in the federal administrations unilateral action in terminating the status of our UMass Amherst students

The institution said the revocations have no known connection with either the campus federally mandated participation in active OCR Title VI complaint processes or with students engagement in activism.

UMass Boston also confirmed in a letter to the campus community that two current students and five other members of the community, including recent graduates participating in training programs.

Emerson president Jay Bernhardt wrote in a letter Monday morning that one international student had their student status revoked.

We are working closely with the affected student, who has requested that our community respect their privacy, to provide support during this difficult time. It is important to note that we have no reason to believe that this student was targeted for protest-related activity, Bernhardt said.

As of Sunday, Northeastern University confirmed that several students and recent graduates had been notified that their visas had been revoked.

ICE has also furthered this effort by terminating some student records without formal notification to the university or the student. As of now, we have no evidence that a Northeastern student or recent graduate has had their status revoked due to political advocacy or speech, the institution said on its frequently asked questions page.

Boston University confirmed that there have been some cases of student visas being revoked but didnt provide a specific number. The International Students and Scholars Office at BU is routinely reviewing to determine if other visas have been terminated.

The University immediately notified the affected students, answered their preliminary questions, and provided them with sources to find appropriate immigration counsel, a BU spokesperson said.

MassLive reached out to other institutions that didnt immediately confirm whether any students at their college have had their visas revoked.
PALMER  A Palmer police detective who failed to appear as a witness Monday stands accused of sexual assault by a former college intern, according to a report obtained by The Republican.

Officer Michael Ciofalo refused to testify in a drunken driving case against retired Springfield Det. Gregg Bigda. His decision not to comply with a summons prompted Judge Michael Mulcahy to allow a motion to suppress video evidence of a portion preceding Bigdas arrest on Oct. 1, 2023  effectively tanking the prosecution.

A jury trial scheduled for Tuesday in Palmer District Court was called off.
EASTHAMPTON  The Volunteers in Public Schools of Westfield recently received a $1,000 grant from the Massachusetts Bankers Association Charitable Foundation after the organization was nominated for it by bankESB, according to a statement from the bank.

We are thrilled to support the Volunteers in Public Schools of Westfield and their invaluable work in enriching education for local students, said bankESB President and CEO Matthew Sosik. Their efforts make a lasting impact in our community, and we are proud to have played a role in securing this well-deserved grant.
THE National Parks and Wildlife Service have warned that anyone who deliberately starts a fire around the Wild Nephin National Park will face the 'full rigour of the law'.

Two fires broke out in the Wild Nephin National Park over the weekend with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) indicating that they may have been started 'either deliberately or by recklessness'.

The first fire which broke out on Friday around Claggan in Ballycroy resulted in acres of bog being burnt while a boardwalk along the Claggan Coastal Trail, which is used by thousands of walkers every year, was also completely destroyed.

Campers in the east of Wild Nephin National Park had to be evacuated after a fire broke out in the early hours of Monday morning in Letterkeen forest. The fire was finally brought under control at around 9pm on Monday evening after the Irish Air Corps helicopter was called to assist the Mayo Fire Service in trying to contain the blaze.

The causes of these wildfires are still under investigation but the NPWS believe the initial indicators point in the direction of them being started 'either deliberately or by recklessness'.

READ: Tuesday temperatures expected to reach high of 19 degrees in Mayo

Commenting on the fires, Niall O Donnchu, Director General, NPWS warned against anyone who may consider starting a fire around the park.

Anyone who engages in this reckless, senseless behaviour should carefully consider the consequences of their actions, and will be subject to the full rigour of the law, he warned.

Speaking on Morning Ireland on RTE Radio One this morning, Denis Strong, Senior Divisional Manager with NPWS said that there was a 'sinister element' to the two fires as they both started at night.

We cannot say what specifically caused it [fire] but we can say the Claggan Mountain fire started after 10pm and the Letterkeen Forest fire was set at between 2.30 and 3am. There is a sinister element to this because fires don't self ignite in the middle of the night, he explained.





The boardwalk along the Claggan Coastal Trail in Ballycroy was completely destroyed in the gorse fire last Friday

Devastating impact

In a statement issued by the NPWS, they stated that the effect of fires on amenities in the national park is severe and wildfires have a devastating impact on nature, on communities and on National Parks and Nature Reserves.

Wildlife may die from heat and smoke, habitats and food sources may be destroyed and vegetation severely impacted. The impact can be irreparable and have long term negative consequences. Wildfires also pose significant risks to people, including local communities and those visiting National Parks. The risk of property damage is significant but there is an even more serious risk to life.

The effect of fires on amenities in our National Parks is severe. The fire on Friday night, which appears to have been set after dark either deliberately or by recklessness, destroyed an all-ability nature trail along with the surrounding vegetation. The Claggan Boardwalk had been built by the NWPS using local expertise in 2017 to provide access for all people, including those with limited mobility. This valuable amenity is now gone because of the fire, the statement read.

The Claggan Coastal Trail will remain 'off limits' until further notice while all Letterkeen Loop trails, the Srahrevagh Loop trails, Western Way and the Bangor Trail are currently closed to the public.

Mr Strong described the Claggan boardwalk which was wheelchair accessible as 'an outdoor classroom' as it was used by schools and education groups as well locals and visitors alike. He said he expected the clean-up operation and the reconstruction of the board to take months to complete.

The NPWS say they are working with An Garda Siochana, Mayo Fire Service, regional Coillte staff, the Air Corps and others to ensure the safety of those around the national park, and extend sincere thanks to those groups and to its own staff for their efforts during this challenging situation.

Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity Christopher OSullivan, who recently visited the national park, stated that the wildfires in the Wild Nephin are a devastating reminder of how fragile our natural world is.

This destruction not only scars the landscape, destroys habitats and species but also deprives communities of cherished spaces for education, recreation, and connection with nature.

I am gutted for the NPWS team at Wild Nephin National Park, who built this trail with the local community to make the park more accessible. It has been a great success, allowing access to a nature-rich and profoundly beautiful landscape for everyone, including those with limited mobility. We must act with greater care and responsibility to protect these treasures for future generations.

Orange warning

With the dry weather conditions set to continue for the rest of the week, Mayo County Council issued a 'Condition Orange  High Fire Risk' until April 14 for all areas 'where hazardous fuels such as dead grasses and shrub fuels such as heather and gorse exist'.

Tony Shevlin, Chief Fire Service in Mayo explained that they have had 40 mobilisations since Friday last with all units in Mayo having been mobilised at least once with busiest areas at or close to the National Park, Trien, Ballyhaunis and the Charlestown/Ballaghaderreen area.

He expressed concern for the safety of the fire officers dealing with the fires given the level of fatigue already in place and asked the public to act cautiously when enjoying the sunshine.

The main issues are the difficult terrain encountered combined with the long hours involved is putting a severe strain on the physical well-being of our personnel, he explained.

Based on current weather patterns, the risk of a wildfire is currently high in Mayo where dead grasses and heather and gorse exist. This risk will continue possibly into the early part of next week. We have already attended a significant number of gorse and bog fires in recent days.

While we want everyone to enjoy the sunshine and our beautiful stunning countryside, we urge people to act responsibly and not to have barbecues in open spaces, including disposable barbecues, to throw rubbish away, and to dispose of cigarettes carefully to avoid inadvertently starting a fire. We also appeal to the public to call in the fire as early as possible so that we have the best chance of extinguishing it with less resources.

Remember, wildfires spread fast, leaving behind scorched landscapes, lost habitats, and can be a big strain on firefighter resources. Don't let carelessness be the cause, he told The Mayo News while adding that while the fire service is dealing with fires they will not be able to deal as quickly to other emergencies.

The risk of gorse fires is greatest during dry spells from March to June when ground vegetation is dormant and dry and the risk increases with decreasing humidity and increasing wind speed.

Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Alan Dillon TD, said he was devastated to hear the news that a large wildfire has forced the closure of the Claggan Mountain Coastal Trail over the weekend.

This is a very popular trail with thousands of visitors enjoying the fantastic views and learning about the terrain every year.

It is extremely disappointing to see the trail will remain closed until further notice, especially as we approach the busy summer season.

I am urging everyone to be mindful of actions which can cause damage to our natural and scenic areas. I commend those who fought so bravely to protect this trail from the wildfire and hope that it will be up and running again over the coming months, concluded Minister Dillon.
The Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) highlighted the difficulties wheelchair users face to Mayo TD Minister Dara Calleary was present at their Access: Its No Joke event in Belmullet.

READ MORE: Croagh Patrick volunteers receive sponsored uniforms from local company

Throughout the event, many groups from Belmullet and the surrounding areas voiced their issues on the subject with Minister Calleary.

Among those who spoke were Sarah Paradise from the Western Care Association, who talked about the lack of accessible footpaths, and Eva Lynsey from Belmullet Autism Friendly Town, who discussed barriers to employment for those with disabilities.

The IWAs National Access Programme Manager, Rosaleen Lally, was forthright in listing just a fraction of the issues those in wheelchairs face in public.

Families with people with disabilities have to pre-plan their journeys well in advance as there are so many barriers in society preventing people with disabilities from living independently, Ms Lally, a former Sinn Fein local election candidate, stated.

For example, a huge effort has been put into making the buses that service Belmullet accessible, but the bus stops themselves are not accessible, leaving IWA members with no other option but to rely on IWAs accessible bus to get them around.

READ MORE: NPWS warn Mayo arsonists will face 'full rigour of the law'
An Irish drugs kingpin has been jailed after a complex garda surveillance operation discovered he, his sister and associates were storing drugs in Kinder Egg shells under roof tiles on a derelict house.

The court heard when known drug users would call to an address the accused would climb up on an adjacent roof with a step ladder and return a short time later with a deal of heroin, cocaine, cannabis or Alprazolam tablets.

Owen Treacy, aged 28, of St Itas Street, St Marys Park, Limerick city pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of drugs for sale or supply.

Prosecuting barrister John OSullivan, instructed by State solicitor Padraig Mawe, outlined the evidence at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on Friday with the assistance of Sergeant Paul Bentley.

Mr OSullivan said Mr Treacy, who has 139 previous convictions, was involved in organised and systematic drug dealing. Judge Colin Daly said Mr Treacy was responsible for a significant drug dealing operation in his own community and it was an egregious occupation.

Mr OSullivan said gardai were concerned with the supply of harder drugs in St Marys Park in 2019.

Gardai carried out a surveillance operation in the St Marys Park area with a focus on 94, 96 and 98 St Munchins Street between July 18 and August 2, 2019. Number 96 is owned by the Treacy family. Numbers 94 and 98, which are attached to number 96, were derelict.

Gardai observed the accused, his sister Stephanie, who has been before the courts, and associates access the roofs of number 94 and 98 St Munchins Street between July 18 and August 2, 2019. They were placing and removing objects under roof tiles, said Mr OSullivan, who referred to CCTV and photos, including of Mr Treacy with a step ladder and on the roof.

The court heard Mr Treacy and associates could be on the roof for as short as 20 seconds after a known drug user called to 96 St Munchins Street.

Gardai raided the three addresses on St Munchins Street, as well as Mr Treacys home address in St Itas Street, St Marys Park on August 2, 2019.

Cash to the sum 5,828 was found in number 96 St Munchins Street. Nothing of evidential value was found in number 94. Mr OSullivan said heroin, cocaine, alprazolam tablets and cannabis found in Kinder Egg shells and under roof tiles and floorboards in Number 98 had a total value of 4,821. There were over 100 wraps and bags ready for street distribution.

The prosecuting barrister said gardai found two cheques from a bookmakers for 915 and 7,590 and cash to the value of 17,552 in Mr Treacys home address on St Itas Street. Mr OSullivan said 567 in coins was also seized which he submitted is from drug users begging and tapping on public streets to get funds to buy drugs. Gardai noted five watches - three Rolex, Tommy Hilfiger and Hublot - that werent seized. The court heard these were not genuine watches.

DNA profiles from plastic wrapping of drugs matched Stephanie Treacy and Owen Treacy.

Mr OSullivan said Mr Treacy has no legitimate source of income to assemble such assets and the court heard Mr Treacy has no record of receiving social welfare.

READ MORE: Scarred for life by barber's cut throat razor in Limerick town

Marc Thompson Grolimund, barrister for Mr Treacy, said it is accepted his client is a drug dealer but he is being painted as a kingpin when it was not a sophisticated operation.

The valuation of drugs is at the lower end. The importation of millions of Euros worth of drugs comes before this court. He made no attempt to conceal his identity and his DNA was found, said Mr Thompson Grolimund, who added that some drug dealers use others to keep drugs at arms length to evade capture.

The barrister said his client has 139 previous convictions but 130 are for road traffic offences and he has no previous for drugs.

Mr Thompson Grolimund said Mr Treacys sister Stephanie received a two-year jail sentence for similar offences. In his plea of mitigation, he said Mr Treacy is in a long-term relationship, has two children and pleaded guilty.

Judge Daly said gardai carried out a complex surveillance operation. He said Mr Treacy was responsible for a significant drug dealing operation in his own community and it was an egregious occupation.

The judge said the fact that Mr Treacy made no attempt to conceal the operation or to take counter forensic measures doesnt imply a lack of sophistication.

Rather, it indicates a brazen attitude, said Judge Daly, who imposed a four year jail sentence with the last six months suspended.

The judge approved applications for cash and cheques to be forfeited to the State and destruction of drugs.

READ MORE | 'No words' - Tributes paid after young Irish woman dies unexpectedly in Spain
Ireland is set to bask in glorious 20 degree heat this week as temperatures are set to soar and sunshine will dominate.

Wednesday and Thursday will see the best of the sunshine but experts have warned that more "unsettled weather" is on the way for the weekend.

Friday and Saturday will see more cloud appear while Sunday will see the return of scattered showers and lower temperatures.

In a post on X, Carlow Weatherman Alan O'Reilly said,

"We will be hitting up to 20c next few days with lovely sunshine but a change from Sunday with some more unsettled weather and it looks like to cool down next week as you can see here on the upper air temperature forecast."

We will be hitting up to 20c next few days with lovely sunshine but a change from Sunday with some more unsettled weather and it looks like to cool down next week as you can see here on the upper air temperature forecast. pic.twitter.com/3Wci5kL5vv  Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) April 8, 2025

Today

Dry and mostly sunny today, Tuesday, with just the chance of some sea fog near the east coast. Highest temperatures of 14 to 19 degrees, coolest near southern and eastern coasts due to a light easterly or variable breeze.

Continuing dry and clear tonight with patches of mist and fog returning. A touch of frost is possible with lowest temperatures of 1 to 5 degrees in a light easterly or variable breeze.

Wednesday

Another dry and sunny day tomorrow with mist and fog clearing through the morning. Highest temperatures of 14 to 20 degrees, once again coolest near east and south coasts in a light easterly breeze.

Dry and clear on Wednesday night with some mist and fog developing once again in light easterly or variable winds. Lowest temperatures of 2 to 7 degrees.

Thursday

Remaining dry and sunny, though a little hazy at times. Highest temperatures of 16 to 20 degrees in light variable winds.

Areas of mist and fog will develop overnight on Thursday, with some dense pockets possible. Otherwise remaining clear and dry. Lowest temperatures of 3 to 7 degrees in light westerly or variable winds.

Friday

Mist and fog will clear for most early on but fog may linger near coasts. Generally a dry and sunny day but duller where fog persists. Highest temperatures will range from 13 degrees in the northwest to 19 degrees in the south in light southwesterly winds.

Saturday

A foggy start in places on Saturday. Another dry day but cloudier than of late, particularly across the west and north. Temperatures will fall back slightly with highs of 13 to 17 degrees in light to moderate southwest winds.

Turning more unsettled from Sunday onwards with showers and rain making their return. Cooler too with temperatures falling back to near average.

READ NEXT: 'The pain in my heart' - Tributes paid following tragic death of young boy from Kerry
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 7, 2025

A Vermont resident has sued Yahoo for allegedly violating consumer protection and privacy laws in New York and California with ConnectID -- an ad-targeting mechanism that tracks users based on encrypted email addresses.

Through Yahoo ConnectID ... Yahoo has been secretly harvesting and monetizing directly identifiable user data from millions of U.S. residents without their knowledge and consent, Tyler Baker alleges in a class-action complaint filed late last week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Yahoo knowingly and intentionally developed persistent, unique identifiers to track plaintiff and class members across internet-connected services, despite knowing these types of identifiers were at odds with users expectation of privacy, Baker adds.

The complaint includes a claim that Yahoo dupes consumers by failing to fully inform them about ConnectID -- which was launched in 2020 and allegedly enables tracking even if users delete third-party cookies or reset mobile identifiers.

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Rather than relying on cookies or mobile identifiers, the Yahoo ConnectID is an email-based persistent identifier, the complaint alleges.

When a user logs in or provides an email ... to an online service offered by Yahoo or one of its partners, Yahoo intercepts and assigns a Yahoo ConnectID to that user based on their email address., Baker adds. The Yahoo ConnectID is privacy-invasive because it is a work-around to privacy mechanisms designed to prevent this type of user-based tracking.

The complaint alleges that Yahoo combines the ConnectID data with other information in order to create comprehensive user profiles that are used for ad targeting.

Baker contends Yahoo deceptively fails to tell people that ConnectID is tied directly to their personally identifiable information.

Yahoo's privacy policy expressly states that it does 'not share personally identifiable information (like phone number or email address) with . . . partners, such as publishers, advertisers, ad agencies, or analytics partners,' the complaint alleges.

While Yahoo may not disclose email addresses directly, it intercepts and maps them directly to ConnectID, a persistent identifier that it does share with others. This translation is akin to (and no better than) sharing the email address itself, the complaint alleges.

Baker also contends that even though Yahoo encrypts email addresses, the data remains identifiable.

While ConnectID does not itself contain the users actual email address or phone number, it serves as the functional equivalent of those values based on its direct mapping to them, the complaint alleges, adding that the Federal Trade Commission warned last July that hashes are not 'anonymous' and can still be used to identify users.

The complaint also alleges that Yahoo makes misleading at best statements to publishers by telling them they need not concern themselves with obtaining user consent because it already provides 'multiple mechanisms' for users to manage their privacy choices.

Yahoo hasn't yet responded to MediaPost's request for comment.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 7, 2025

The Association of National Advertisers is urging House Republicans to endorse a nationwide opt-out privacy standard that would override state laws, arguing that a federal law would lower costs for businesses.

A national standard would help alleviate the substantial compliance burden imposed on businesses, eliminate confusion that may arise due to potentially conflicting state standards, retain well-functioning sectoral safeguards, and help small and startup businesses continue to offer innovative services in a competitive online marketplace, the Association of National Advertisers writes in comments sent Monday to the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Privacy Working Group.

The group, which formed in February and includes only Republicans, is led by committee chair Rep. Brett Guthrie (Kentucky) and vice-chair Rep. John Joyce (Pennsylvania).

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The ad organization adds that businesses face staggering compliance costs due to variations in current state privacy laws.

As of today, 19 states have enacted comprehensive consumer privacy laws, according to the privacy focused nonprofit IAPP (formerly International Association of Privacy Professionals).

The Association of National Advertisers specifically argues to lawmakers that companies should be allowed to harness non-sensitive data for targeted advertising, unless consumers affirmatively opt out.

Unnecessary limits on routine data uses that sustain the ad-based online marketplace would hinder consumers access to low cost information and lead to a rise in subscription-based pricing that would threaten the egalitarian nature of todays open internet, the group writes.

Any proposed framework should preserve the safe and reasonable data uses that underpin modern data-driven business practices, drive competition and innovation, and help safeguard consumer access to free and low-cost information, the organization adds.

The group argues sensitive data should be subject to heightened restrictions, but contends that many state laws have defined sensitive too broadly.

Certain data should be subject to heightened protections that give consumers greater control over the processing of this data; however, some data elements that many states have designated as sensitive, such as race, ethnicity, or religious affiliation data, are vital for reasonable and routine business practices and should not be categorically defined as sensitive the group argues. For example, businesses should be able to use such data to target bespoke hair products to Black women, or to extend messaging about religious programs or missions to congregations using religious affiliation.

Federal lawmakers have drafted two major bipartisan privacy bills in recent years, but ad industry groups opposed the proposals, and both ultimately failed to pass.

The American Data Privacy and Protection Act, proposed in 2022, would have prohibited companies from collecting or processing data about people's cross-site activity for ad purposes -- effectively outlawing one form of behavioral targeting. Other provisions would have continued to let companies draw on data collected from their own sites in order to serve targeted ads to adults, on an opt-out basis.

In 2024, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) and Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) unveiled the bipartisan American Privacy Rights Act. That bill, also, would have prohibited businesses from serving targeted ads to consumers based on their activity across unaffiliated sites and apps.

Association of National Advertisers CEO Bob Liodice and American Association of Advertising Agencies CEO Marla Kaplowitz told lawmakers last year that the bill would eviscerate the modern advertising industry.

That bill died last year, after the House Energy and Commerce Committee cancelled a scheduled markup of the measure.
New Honor Society, an FCB partner agency, has beefed up its senior ranks.

The St. Louis shop tapped Jill Clarkson as senior vice president-GM and Tischen Franklin as senior vice president, group creative director.

Its FCB alliance allows New Honor Society to utilize the resources and expertise of a global company. New Honor enjoy support from Jennifer Neumann, president of FCB Chicago, and Pedro Perez, chief creative officer at FCB Chicago.

Previously, Clarkson was strategic marketing director at BJC HealthCare, and earlier worked as a senior vice president for Wunderman Thompson. Her client work has included Nestle Purina Petcare, McDonalds and Coca-Cola.

Jill has demonstrated a remarkable ability to connect strategy and creativity to drive results, said Neumann. Her leadership and energy are exactly what New Honor Society needs to continue delivering bold and purpose-driven solutions for our clients.

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Based in Brooklyn, Franklin will lead campaigns for the agency's creative team. He has held leadership roles at 160over90 and UWG, working for Ford, Target, and Johnson & Johnson.

Tischens ability to merge cultural relevance with impactful storytelling is remarkable, said Pedro Perez, chief creative officer, FCB, who believes he will deliver meaningful business outcomes for the agency.

New Honor Societys client work has included Microsoft, St. Louis' Contemporary Art Museum, Graybar and Logitech.

The agency is part of IPG.
by Fern Siegel , April 8, 2025

Malibu, the white rum-based coconut liquor, features Succession star Brian Cox in its latest campaign: Do Whatever Tastes Good.

The creative, by Wieden + Kennedy London, is running on YouTube and various Malibu social platforms.

Given his workaholic demeanor on the Max drama, Cox may be the perfect choice to underscore relaxation. The series follows the Roy family, owners of media conglomerate Waystar Royco, and the vicious battle for generational control once family head Logan Roy turns 80. As Logan, Cox's character is relentless in his demands.

Yet in the spot, Cox clocks out at exactly 5:01 p.m, garbed in a pink suit and roller skates. He glides down the boardwalk, clearly enjoying himself, before relaxing on the beach with a Malibu Pina Colada.

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For many Americans, this scenario is a break from reality. A Malibu study found many are working an average of 15 extra hours per week, as well as dealing with disguised overtime, where they work, unpaid, after hours, because 71% surveyed feel pressured to do so.

Caroline Begley, vice president of U.S. marketing for Malibu, told Agency Daily that while the brand has a strong 21+ following, Malibu aims to position themselves as the go-to spirit brand for new generations. With a lower ABV and accessible price point, the brand is perfectly positioned to recruit flavor seekers and summer spirit lovers everywhere. Malibus mission is to inspire consumers to celebrate the taste of summer.

W+K creative directors Freddy Taylor and Philippa Beaumont added: Seeing the icon of overwork roller skating into the sunset is a wonderful reminder to take the pressure off, feel the sun on our face and maybe not reply to that email at 9 p.m.

French company Pernod Ricard has owned the liqueur since 2005.

Malibu recorded volume sales of 4.4 million 9-liter cases worldwide in 2023, reports Statista. According to Evidnt, which tracks retail sales, Malibu has a 14.75% share of the U.S. rum market, behind Bacardi and Captain Morgan.
by Ray Schultz , April 7, 2025

A dozen copyright lawsuits filed by authors and publications against OpenAI and Microsoft have been combined in one case in New York.

The cases involve common questions of fact, wrote Karen K. Caldwell, chair of the Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, last week. Moreover, centralization in the Southern District of New York will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of this litigation, Caldwell added.

It will be quite a complicated piece of litigation. The plaintiffs include The New York Times, New York Daily News, seven other publications owned by Alden Global Capitals MediaNewsGroup and Tribune Publishing, and the Center for Investigative Reporting.

On the authors side, class action cases had been filed by comedian Sarah Silverman, and by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Michael Chabon and Junot Diaz.

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The authors had wanted the cases to be combined in the Northern District of California. So did OpenAI. But there was no unanimity of opinion.

Some plaintiffs insisted that pretrial proceedings in the class actions and the New actions are too advanced for centralization to be beneficial. But Caldwell countered, We do not find this argument to be persuasive. Counsel stated during oral argument that only four depositions have been taken thus far and, at a minimum, forty more depositions will be needed in the class actions alone.

Indeed, a recent briefing consisted of counsel blaming the other side for the breakdown in negotiations, Caldwell noted.

Wherever they are held, the proceedings are bound to confuse the average lay person.

Each action will involve overlapping, complex, and voluminous discovery regarding how defendants trained and designed their LLMs, Caldwell continues. Given the novel and complicated nature of the technology, there likely will be overlapping experts across these actions. Centralization will eliminate duplicative discovery; prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, particularly as to class certification; and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel, and the judiciary.
by Ray Schultz , April 7, 2025

Bloomberg Television has expanded its reach in Asia by opening a new broadcast studio.

The state-of-the art facility in Seoul, South Korea is equipped with technology to support multi-platform broadcasting, Bloomberg says.

With Korea being one of Asias largest economies, playing a key role in setting technological and cultural trends, we are pleased to invest in greater coverage in this important market, says Nicholas Killham, Bloomberg head of Asia TV. The new Seoul studio will complement our existing broadcast hubs in Asia and further boost Bloomberg Televisions ability to report on the stories that matter to our global audience.
by Gord Hotchkiss , Featured Contributor, April 8, 2025

According to Canadian pollster Leger, one in five Americans would like their state to secede and join Canada. In contrast, according to the same poll, only one in 10 Canadians would like to see Canada become the 51st state.

Of course, no one takes either suggestion very seriously, except perhaps the President of the United States. And, given the current state of things, that job title is a little ridiculous. Those states are probably less united than they have been at any time since the American Civil War.

All this talk about borders does make a good Facebook meme, though. You might have seen it -- under the title Problem Solved, theres a map of North America with the Canadian border redrawn to extend down the East and West Coast to include Washington, Oregon, California, New York, New Jersey and the New England states. Minnesota also gets to become part of the Great White North.

But even if we took that suggestion seriously, does redrawing borders really solve any problem? Lets assume that Canada really did become part of the U.S. It would be a big, beautiful state, according to Donald Trump. A few people have pointed out that that state, with our 40 million potential voters, would probably vote overwhelmingly against Trump. Again, according to a Leger poll, only about 12% of Canadians support Trump.

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While were redrawing the map of the world, even oceans cant get in the way. Here in Canada, we are rushing to realign with Europe and its markets. The idea has even been floated that Canada should join the European Union. Our new prime minister, Mark Carney, has said we have more in common with Europe and the values found there than we do with our American neighbors to the south.

But again, theres the faulty logic of Canadians, Americans and Europeans being identified as a cohesive bloc defined by a border. The recent rush of patriotism aside, Canadians rarely speak with one voice. For example, support for Trump runs highest in Alberta, where 23% of the provinces voters support him. Hes least popular in Canadas Atlantic provinces, where support dips to 8%.

Or lets hop across the border to the state closest to me, a resident of British Columbia: Washington. If you take the state in aggregate, it is a blue state by almost 20 points. But again, that designation depends on an aggregation of votes within a territory defined by a fairly arbitrary border. If you look at Washington on a county-by-county basis, its hardly a cohesive voting bloc. Yes, the urban centers of Seattle and Olympia went heavily for Kamala Harris (74% in King county) but eastern Washington is a very different story. In many counties there, for every voter that chose Harris, three chose Trump.

My point is this: Given the polarization of our society, its almost impossible to draw a line anywhere on a map and think that it defines the people within that line in any identifiable way.

Right now, nowhere on earth defines this point more starkly than the U.S. Because of the countrys borders and the political structures that determine who leads the people within those borders, almost two-thirds of Americans lives are being determined by a man they didnt vote for. In fact, a big percentage of those two-thirds are vehemently opposed to their president and his policies. How does that make any sense?

Borders were necessary when our survival was tied to a specific location and its resources. This forced a commonality on those who lived within those boundaries. They ate the same food, drank the same water, shopped at the same stores, attended the same church -- and their children went to the same schools.

But our digital world has lost much of that commonality. Online, we are defined by how we think, not where we live. This creates a new definition of tribe and, by extension, tribal territories. The divides between us are now based on differences in beliefs, not geographical obstacles.

And the gap between our beliefs is getting wider and wider. Borders define something that is becoming less and less real and more and more problematic as the people who live in a state or country find less and less in common with their fellow citizens. As Scottish journalist James Crawford says in his book, "The Edge of the Plain: How Borders Make and Break Our World," the tension is usually felt more acutely on those arbitrary borders: Wherever there are borders  thats where you are going to find the most concentrated injustice.

Given our current political structures based on the foundation of a common territory, we must wonder how to manage the fact that theres now less cohesion between those living within a border than between ideologically aligned factions spread across the globe. This is particularly true for democracies, where you get a whipsaw backlash between the right and left as the two factions grow further and further apart.

That prognosis is not a good one. As Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said in their book How Democracies Die: Democracies rarely survive extreme partisanship.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, April 8, 2025



Dentsu said today it has become the first global marketing and advertising holding company to sign the EU AI Pact, a voluntary initiative led by the European Commission to promote responsible AI practices ahead of the EU AI Acts full implementation (now scheduled for August 2026).

Dentsu noted that brands are voicing concerns about how agencies utilize AI, citing a recent study by the World Federation of Advertisers that revealed that 80% of brands are worried about generative AI use by their creative and media agencies.

advertisement advertisement The holding company noted that the EU AI Actthe first provisions of which went into effect last Augustfocuses on developing strategies to integrate AI responsibly and ensure compliance with regulations.

The act also calls for identifying and managing AI systems that may pose significant risks. It also mandates educating company teams that use it so that they have the skills to deploy AI responsibly.

So far over 130 organizations, including Adobe, Mastercard, and Google, have signed the Pact.

Among other commitments, Dentsu said it was developing higher risk AI use cases and rolling out companywide training programs with the AI Connective and its Live Learning Enablement Program.

Dentsu has enterprise-grade AI infrastructure and partnerships with Microsoft, Adobe, AWS, Google, and Salesforce and has developed 80+ AI solutions that address real-world business challenges while striving to meet the highest standards of security, privacy, and responsible AI.

Through its investment arm Dentsu Ventures, it has has backed AI startups such as Inworld, Fidder, and VidMob.
by Colin Kirkland , April 8, 2025

Snapchats newest ad format -- Sponsored AI Lenses -- taps into the social media companys insistence on immersive AI-generated branding experiences, with companies like Uber and Tinder finding early success.

For years, brands have been able to pay for Sponsored Lenses on Snapchat. This new format, however, introduces a more immersive and interactive alternative due to users ability to capture selfies of themselves transformed by branded AI-generated visuals.

Sponsored AI Lenses expand on our AR offerings by integrating Generative AI into First Lens Unlimited, giving brands high visibility in the Camera for 24 hours, a spokesperson told MediaPost, adding that the new format drives between 25% and 45% more impressions in a single day compared to traditional ads.

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Snap says select advertisers have already tested the new ad format.

For Thanksgiving and New Years Eve, Uber and Tinder launched Sponsored AI Lenses that invited users to capture themselves and their festive environments in fantastical ways, unlocking higher than average playtimes for both brands, according to Snap.

Coldplay also used AI Lenses to bring their fans into a galactic-themed world to promote their most recent record, Moon Music.

When asked whether this new format is designed to attract more small businesses to the platform -- a recent strategy Snapchat has implemented to boost its ad business -- the company said that while this is a high-impact format, we continue to invest in AI-powered creative tools that make innovative advertising more accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Over the past two years, Snap has focused on refining its generative-AI technology. Snap says that Sponsored AI Lenses eliminate the need for 3D and VFX design, replacing them with AI-generated templates that cut down production timelines.

In its most recent quarterly report, over 400 million users engaged with new AI-generated Lenses more than 4 billion times.

Snap has worked on fusing its proprietary AR technology with branding opportunities, stating that the combination of AR ads with video ads on the platform have resulted in a 1.6x higher Ad Awareness Lift on average compared to video ads alone.

Furthermore, the company says that campaigns including AR in their mix drive 5x more active attention compared to industry peers.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 8, 2025

The Interactive Advertising Bureau and other business groups are pressing an appellate court to strike down the Federal Trade Commission's click-to-cancel rules, which aim to let consumers easily terminate subscriptions to newspapers, gyms, and other businesses.

The regulations, which were passed last October in a 3-2 vote, require companies to offer a simple cancellation mechanism, and allow consumers to cancel subscriptions through the same medium that was used to purchase them. The rules also provide that cancellation mechanisms must be at least as easy to use as enrollment mechanisms.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, cable lobby and others challenged the regulations in court, arguing that the FTC lacked authority to issue a single set of regulations that will affect a wide swath of industries. The groups specifically contended in an appeal filed with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals that the FTC may only issue rules that target well-defined unlawful practices in particular industries.

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Late last week, the organizations reiterated that position in a final filing with the 8th Circuit. They argue that the FTC's rules aren't valid for several reasons, including that some requirements are vague -- such as the mandate to offer easy to use cancellation methods.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau and others also say the rules sweep too broadly to be valid. The challengers point to Section 18 of the FTC Act, which only authorizes the agency to pass rules that define with specificity acts or practices that are unfair or deceptive.

The challengers argue that this language precludes the FTC from issuing rules that affect a billion-plus contracts used for everything from magazines to pet food.

The FTC is defending the rules in court, even though Andrew Ferguson, the current chair, voted against them.

The agency argued in a March filing that nothing prevents it from passing rules that affect more than one industry.

While some Commission rules are industry-specific, the Commission has consistently promulgated industry-agnostic or multi-industry rules, the FTC wrote, pointing to examples such as the mail order rule, which requires retailers notify consumers of shipping delays, and allow cancellations due to shipping postponements.

The 8th Circuit hasn't yet said when it will hear arguments in the matter.
India advances public health via Ayushman Bharat, Mission Indradhanush, and Swachh Bharat Mission.

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World Health Day: India makes substantial strides in improving public health



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Ayushman Bharat has provided health coverage to over 500 million Indians. #healthcare #medindia 

Ayushman Bharat has provided health coverage to over 500 million Indians. #healthcare #medindia 

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Ayushman Bharat: Paving the Way for Universal Health Coverage

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Mission Indradhanush: Immunizing the Future of India

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Swachh Bharat Mission: Sanitation as a Pillar of Public Health

Strengthening Primary Healthcare: From Curative to Preventive Approach

Integrating Mental Health and Senior Care into Mainstream Health Policies

Swasth Bharat, Samarth BharatA Healthy India is a Strong India!

World Health Day: India makes substantial strides in improving public health - (https://tennews.in/world-health-day-india-makes-substantial-strides-in-improving-public-health/)

Indian public health improvement received global recognition for its notable people-oriented, aggressive health initiatives duringcelebration. The country continues to lead the way for developing nations by focusing on fields like health coverage expansion, sanitation improvements, vaccination campaigns, and enhanced awareness initiatives ().Under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), the government of India operates the most significant publicly funded, which provides coverage to more thanvulnerable families. Through this program, patients can obtainfrom both public and private hospitals, which was previously inaccessible to many people. Mission Indradhanush provides health services by conducting an extensiveto protectandagainst fatal diseases. Strong outreach initiatives combined with targeted execution strategies have raised vaccination rates among populations that were difficult to reach.Health of the society always depends directly on cleanlier environments. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan achieved success through its efforts to, resulting in fewer diseases from water and poor sanitary conditions. The program has restructured public health practices through its connection between hygiene maintenance and disease avoidance.Modern India has expanded its Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) across the country to deliver services that includeandalong with health education for maternal health and child care. The facilities promote a transition from sickness care towards wellness, facilitating early disease identification coupled with lifestyle intervention.India incorporates mental health programs along with geriatric care into its public health agenda due to the understanding of wellness and aged population requirements. Nationwide programs forare expanding their reach to local communities so that patients can receive physical, emotional and social support.India is developing a resilient healthcare system through strategic healthcare measures which focus on both medical facility expansion and preventive medical services while ensuring universal access to care. Universal access combined with technological integration and public awareness proves the government's dedication towards health equity throughout the nation.Source-The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
PANAMA CITY  U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth credited Panama President Jose Raul Mulino on Tuesday with improving security cooperation between their nations after the two men met.

Hegseth did not comment as he left the meeting to head to a ribbon cutting for a new U.S.-financed dock on a former U.S. base, but posted a photo of the two men laughing to X.

Hegseth wrote that it was an honor speaking with Mulino.

You and your countrys hard work is making a difference. Increased security cooperation will make both our nations safer, stronger and more prosperous, he wrote.

The meeting comes amid tensions over U.S. President Donald Trumps repeated assertions that the United States is being overcharged to use the Panama Canal and that China has influence over its operations. Panama has denied those allegations.

After Hegseth and Mulino spoke by phone in February, the U.S. State Department published on X that an agreement had been reached to not charge U.S. warships to pass through the canal. Mulino publicly denied there was any such deal.

Trump has gone so far as to suggest the U.S. never should have turned the canal over to Panama and that maybe the U.S. should take it back.

The China concern was provoked by a Hong Kong consortium holding a 25-year lease on ports at either end of the canal. The Panamanian government announced that lease was being audited and late Monday concluded that there were irregularities.

The Hong Kong consortium, however, had already announced that CK Hutchison would be selling its controlling stake in the ports to a consortium including BlackRock Inc., effectively putting the ports under American control once the sale is complete.

In February, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited and told Mulino that Trump believed that Chinas presence in the canal area may violate a treaty that led the United States to turn the waterway over to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal.

Mulino has denied that China has any influence in the operations of the canal. In February, he expressed frustration at the persistence of the narrative. We arent going to speak about what is not reality, but rather those issues that interest both countries.

The United States built the canal in the early 1900s as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.
TOKYO  Japan expressed interest Tuesday in participating in the NATO command for its Ukrainian mission based in Germany in what would be a major boost in ties with the largely European alliance.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani announced his countrys interest during talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Tokyo. After providing the war-torn country with defense equipment and support, Japan now wants to join NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, or NSATU, headquartered at a U.S. base in the German town of Wiesbaden.

Details of the mission, including the possibility of sending any Japan Self Defense Force members to Wiesbaden, were still to be discussed. But any Japanese cooperation was not expected to involve combat, in line with what has been Tokyo's post-World War II tradition of limiting its military's role.

Nakatani said Japan wants to further deepen security cooperation with NATO and that participation in the NSATU mission would help Tokyo learn lessons from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Both Japan and NATO face many challenges and our security environment has become increasingly more severe, Nakatani said.

Japan has said that Russias war on Ukraine underscores that security risks in Europe and Asia are inseparable, and Tokyo has sought closer ties with NATO while also joining the United States in expanding defense ties with other friendly nations in the Indo-Pacific.

Rutte told Nakatani that China, North Korea and Russia are stepping up their military exercises and their cooperation, undermining global security and that means what happens in Euro-Atlantic matters in the Indo-Pacific and vice versa.

Japan considers China a threat in the region and has in recent years accelerated its military buildup, including preparing to acquire strike-back capability with long-range cruise missiles.

The NATO chief also raised concern about Chinas arms buildup and military drills near Taiwan and called on the organizations members and friendly nations to work together to keep free and open sea lanes in the region.

China is supporting Russias efforts. China is building up its armed forces, including its navy, at a rapid pace, Rutte told reporters earlier Tuesday after he briefly boarded Japans advanced multi-functional frigate Mogami docked in the Japanese naval port of Yokosuka. We cannot be naive, and we really have to work together, assess what is happening.

Rutte said NATO is worried about Chinas military exercises near Taiwan and we follow them very closely.

Rutte told Nakatani that he hoped to deepen ties between NATO and Japan in a range of areas from crisis response operations to cyber defense, maritime security as well as defense industrial cooperation.

NATO has stepped up its ties with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, known as the IP4, in recent years, with their officials attending NATO ministerial and summit meetings.

The United States wants NATO members to be more involved in the Indo-Pacific region, Rutte said. He welcomed U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseths recent trip to Japan to ensure Washingtons commitment to strengthen its alliance with Japan and presence in the region. He stressed its importance, noting that Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven that is not in NATO.

Rutte, visiting Japan for the first time since becoming head of the Belgium-based military alliance in October, will meet with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday.

Ishiba has advocated a NATO-like security framework in Asia, though he has not given details.

Countries with shared security concerns are strengthening ties as competition escalates between the United States and China. Beijing has criticized NATOs growing ties with the Indo-Pacific partners, worried that Washington may move to form a NATO-like alliance in the region.
Leading Democrats in Congress are turning their attention to service members exposed to toxins at domestic military bases and other environmental disasters who were left out of a sweeping law that extended veterans benefits to millions who were exposed to toxins in combat zones.

At a roundtable on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, representatives from more than a dozen military and veterans advocacy groups and researchers detailed health battles that service members have faced after drinking tainted water, working with radiation and hazardous chemicals, living in moldy housing, and breathing toxic fumes.

The roundtable was hosted by Democrats on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, who framed the event as an effort to build on the PACT Act, the wide-ranging toxic exposure law passed in 2022. While the PACT Act addressed some toxic exposure at domestic bases, most notably water contamination at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the bill largely focused on veterans sickened by burn pits and chemicals in war zones.

Read Next: Trump Administration Fires Female Vice Admiral Amid Widening Purge of Military Officers

"You all know, as I do, that the PACT Act was not comprehensive," said Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. "It was not meant to be one-and-done. It was a down payment. And there are significant populations that still need help. Those populations are no less worthy than those who were included in the bill."

"As the medical appointments stack up, as the diagnoses stack up, as the deaths stack up, we must further our efforts to address toxic exposures in the domestic sphere and push back against the idea that our service members are only in harm's way in war zones," he added later.

From highly carcinogenic substances in underground missile silos to fuel-tainted water in Hawaii to nuclear testing in Nevada to "forever chemicals" in firefighting foam, the circumstances of the exposures recounted Tuesday changed, but the health struggles were familiar. Cancer at an unusually young age. A high rate of miscarriages. Difficulty breathing.

In addition to domestic toxic exposures, the roundtable also featured testimony about Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan, where a waste incinerator spewed toxic fumes into the air across the base from 1985 to 2001.

Also shared by the participants: feelings of being dismissed, discounted and ignored by military and Department of Veterans Affairs officials.

"There's not been a lot of lessons learned," said Mandy Feindt, an Army major who was representing military families sickened by the 2021 Red Hill jet fuel leak that tainted the drinking water at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.

"When we raise our right hand, we know that there's inherent risk," she added. "But on the flip side of that, we as an organization, as an institution, have an obligation to take care of our veterans, and that's not happening. How I see this happening is that we have to be proactive with medical care, and that starts with adequate medical testing at the first known event of toxic exposure."

"What I found going through all this and the court is that no testing equals no evidence equals no indication of long-term harm which then also equals no incident to service," she said.

Among the veteran service organizations and advocacy groups at the roundtable was the Torchlight Initiative -- a nonprofit representing current and former service members who worked with America's intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal who, as detailed in a Military.com investigative series last year, are seeing large numbers of cancer diagnoses among those who served at stateside bases where toxic exposure and contact with contaminants was widespread.

A cancer registry on the Torchlight website has reported, as of late last year, upward of 700 cases of illness and cancer among those in the missile community.

One of those former missileers who has been diagnosed with cancer, Danny Sebeck, spoke to the lawmakers about his personal health struggles Tuesday and also highlighted the need for more resources for and attention on the illnesses facing the missile community.

"We're taking a lot of casualties, and these casualties are not taken on the battlefield. Instead, they're taken in our workplace," Sebeck said. "The PACT Act does a great job of trying to cover some of that for people that are overseas, but obviously we need that documentation to cover our folks that are here."

Several of the participants in Tuesday's roundtable asked lawmakers to consider legislation that would notify veterans who may have been exposed to toxins at Atsugi and domestic bases. Others asked for studies to prove there are high rates of cancer in certain military communities.

And still others asked for the same benefits that have been extended through the PACT Act and other laws to other veterans and federal workers exposed to toxins.

"I ask that we become an equal member of the veteran community," said Dave Crete, an Air Force veteran and chairman of The Invisible Enemy, which advocates for veterans exposed to radiation at the Nevada Test and Training Range struggling to get health care and benefits because of the classified nature of their work. "And strangely enough, it's a huge ask."

In addition to using Tuesday's event to inform possible toxic exposure legislation in the future, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and a co-host of the roundtable, said the testimony could be helpful as lawmakers push back on planned cuts at the VA.

The Trump administration is considering firing more than 80,000 VA employees later this year, a plan that Democrats have been pushing back against hard.

"What you're telling us, we're going to use that testimony as evidence for stopping the crisis that is unfolding at the VA," Blumenthal said. "It's a crisis that is a self-inflicted wound."

Related: Millions of Vets Got Health Care and Benefits Under the PACT Act. Thousands Left Out Want the Same Chance.
Riding the Waves: How Tidal Power Lights Up Our World







(How Is Tidal Energy Used)

The ocean never sleeps. It breathes in and out daily, pushed by the moons gravity. This endless motion hides a powerhouse were only starting to tap: tidal energy. Unlike wind or solar power, tidal energy relies on the predictable dance of tides. Lets dive into how this technology turns ocean currents into electricityand why it might change how we power our lives.

Tidal energy works by capturing the kinetic energy of moving water. There are two main methods. The first uses underwater turbines, often called tidal stream generators. These look like giant fans placed on the seafloor. As tides rush in and out, the blades spin. This motion drives generators to produce electricity. The second method uses tidal barrages. These are big dams built across tidal bays or estuaries. When the tide rises, water flows through sluice gates into the basin. At low tide, the gates close. The trapped water is released through turbines, creating power.

Tidal stream systems are popular because theyre less disruptive. They dont require massive construction. Norways Kvalsund Channel, for example, uses these underwater turbines to power hundreds of homes. Scotlands MeyGen project, one of the largest tidal farms, generates enough electricity for roughly 4,000 households. Tidal barrages, while effective, face more challenges. Building them costs a lot. They can also affect local ecosystems by changing water flow. Frances La Rance Tidal Power Station, operating since 1966, shows the method worksbut few new barrages have been built since.

Countries with strong tidal ranges are leading the charge. South Koreas Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station produces over 500 gigawatt-hours yearly. Canadas Bay of Fundy, known for the worlds highest tides, hosts pilot projects testing next-gen turbines. Even smaller nations like the Faroe Islands use tidal power to cut reliance on imported fossil fuels.

The perks of tidal energy are clear. Tides are predictable, unlike sunshine or wind. Coastal communities get a steady power source. No greenhouse gases are emitted during operation. Equipment lasts decades with minimal maintenance. Saltwater corrosion remains a hurdle, but new materials like carbon fiber and anti-rust coatings are solving this.

Tidal power isnt perfect. High upfront costs slow adoption. Underwater turbines can pose risks to marine life, though studies show fish often avoid the blades. Noise from installations might affect whales and dolphins, but quieter designs are in development. Critics also argue that tidal barrages harm wetlands. Still, the industry is improving. Floating turbines, which dont need seabed anchors, are being tested. These could reduce costs and environmental impact.

The future of tidal energy looks bright. Engineers are working on smaller, modular systems for remote areas. Hybrid projects combining tidal, wind, and solar could create ultra-reliable renewable grids. In Alaska, tidal generators power isolated villages without diesel generators. In Japan, projects aim to harness powerful ocean currents like the Kuroshio.

Governments and companies are investing more. The UK plans to get 30% of its energy from tidal sources by 2050. Chinas Zhejiang Province is building a 3.4-megawatt tidal plant. Startups like Orbital Marine Power are crowdfunding to scale up prototypes. Even oil giants like Shell are exploring tidal projects.







(How Is Tidal Energy Used)

Tidal energy wont replace solar or wind overnight. Its niche, but its reliability fills a gap. As tech improves and costs drop, coastal cities could draw a big chunk of their power from the sea. Imagine a world where your lights stay on because the oceans heartbeat never skips a beat. Thats the promise tidal energy holdsnot magic, just smart engineering working with natures rhythms.

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To bring millions of tulips in bloom for the annual Tulip Time Festival, the Holland Parks and Recreation department plants 30,000 to 50,000 tulips in pots for street landscaping, event decoration and parade floats. In total, the parks department planted 640,000 tulip bulbs across downtown. On April 8, Deputy Parks Director Jamie Scott said the tulips are on track to bloom for the first week of May, the start of the festival. Lindsay Moore

HOLLAND, MI -- While many Michiganders may be cursing this spring cold spell, the Hollands Parks and Recreation is all smiles.

The progress on the citys iconic tulip beds is looking positive, said Jamie Scott, Parks and Cemetery Deputy Director.

Im really happy with how everything is growing, he said.

Across the city, the Tulip Time Festival has between 5 million and 6 million tulips blooming from Windmill Island to the Veldheers Tulip Farm.

The 96th annual festival is starting a day early, with events every day from Friday, May 2 through Sunday, May 11.

RELATED: Tulip Times 2025 schedule starts a day early, tickets on sale

In preparation, the parks department planted 640,000 tulips across Hollands downtown parks and roadways.

That includes the 30,000 to 50,000 tulips in pots along the city greenhouse waiting for their debut on Tulip Time parade floats and other festival events.

More than 100 varieties of late-blooming tulips were planted, with bulbs imported from the Netherlands.

RELATED: Holland planted the seeds with Tulip Time. Now the other 51 weeks are blossoming.

This weekend will mark a three-week countdown until the annual festival brings half a million visitors to town.

Of course, Michigan weather can change a lot of three weeks.

Last year, a string of warm, sunny days started the bloom early, pushing the department to bring pots of tulips inside to a cooler.

If the reverse happens, and temperatures remain cold, Scott said theyll move tulip pots to the greenhouse to encourage growth.

The parks department does daily rounds checking out its bulbs, assessing for animal or vehicle damage and checking soil temperatures.

This year, the department replanted tulip lanes along 28th Street, Central Ave and State Street. These improvements are making Scott optimistic for a better showing all around town.

Last month, the parks department forced some early blooms for the towns sold-out premiere of the Nicole Kidman thriller, Holland, which was partly filmed at Windmill Island.

Anxious to see the first signs of color? Keep tabs on the blooms at www.cityofholland.com/1022/Tulip-Tracker.

RELATED: New Holland Brewings next restaurant bringing popular bar snack to Grand Haven

RELATED: Two artists, 2,000 miles apart: Holland artist sketching homes lost in the LA wildfires
TRAVERSE CITY, MI  A dad eagle defended his two eaglets from a winged intruder on Monday. The altercation was captured via livestream.

Eagles Harry and Harriet welcomed their first eaglet of the year on Thursday, April 3, at their nest along the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay near Traverse City. The second eaglet hatched on Saturday, April 5.

RELATED: Live bald eagle cam catches glimpse of just-hatched, fuzzy eaglet

The couple returns to this spot every year to prepare their nest, lay their clutch and care for their eaglets, according to Great Lakes Bald Eagle Cam on YouTube. The livestream is new this year, providing a rare glimpse into the daily lives of the majestic raptors.

So far this year, the couple has twice had to defend their young from intruders.

The first attack was by a juvenile eagle during feeding time Friday afternoon when Harry was at the nest with the first eaglet; the second eaglet began hatching just hours later.

RELATED: Live bald eagle cam in Traverse City captures laying of first egg

The second attacker, this time a full-grown bald eagle, came Monday evening. Again, the attack happened at feeding time when Harry was at the nest. Harry had brought a fish for the eaglets and took up his post at the nest, relieving Harriet.

In the video of the event (find it above), Harry is seen looking around and squawking in an alarmed manner while he sits over the eaglets to keep them warm. Then, an adult eagle lands in the nest and Harry stands to defend. The eagles vocalize and flap their wings as they hop around the nest, Harry keeping the intruder away from his young. The attacker eventually takes flight, leaving the eaglets unharmed.

Find the livestream here.

RELATED: Visit eagles at this picturesque vacation rental on Grand Traverse Bay

Harry and Harriets nest is on 58 acres of private property. The home on the property is available as a vacation rental and offers a view of the eagles nest from the living room window.

Michigan is home to about 800 breeding pairs of bald eagles, ranking seventh among states. The United States has about 55,630 breeding pairs.

Bald eagles are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Both laws prohibit killing, selling, or otherwise harming eagles, their nests or eggs.
A person of interest is in custody in connection to the bodies of three people who were found dead after a car fire early Sunday. File photo. Tanya Moutzalias | MLive Detroit

DETROIT, MI  A person of interest is in custody in connection to the bodies of three people who were found dead after a car fire early Sunday.

Detroit firefighters were initially called to a vehicle fire shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday, April 6, in an alleyway near Milford and 30th streets.
Naval vessels conduct replenishment-at-sea

China Military Online) 13:26, April 08, 2025

Comprehensive supply ship Weishanhu (Hull 887), attached to a naval service group under the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command, steams at sea during a recent maritime maneuver and replenishment training exercise in the South China Sea. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wu Huanqing)

Comprehensive supply ship Weishanhu (Hull 887) and troopship Nanyun 830, attached to a naval service group under the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command, conduct astern replenishment-at-sea during a recent maritime maneuver and replenishment training exercise in the South China Sea. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wu Huanqing)

Comprehensive supply ship Weishanhu (Hull 887) and troopship Nanyun 830, attached to a naval service group under the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command, conduct astern replenishment-at-sea during a recent maritime maneuver and replenishment training exercise in the South China Sea. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wu Huanqing)

Comprehensive supply ship Weishanhu (Hull 887) and troopship Nanyun 830, attached to a naval service group under the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command, conduct astern replenishment-at-sea during a recent maritime maneuver and replenishment training exercise in the South China Sea. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wu Huanqing)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
A warning issued by the Canadian government to its citizens tells those traveling to the U.S. to expect scrutiny, when attempting to cross the border. Among the issues Canadians may encounter are demands by U.S. border agents to access electronic devices being brought into the U.S.

"U.S. border agents are entitled to search your electronic devices, such as your phones, computers or tablets, when you are entering the United States," reads a portion of the warning. They dont need to provide a reason when requesting a password to open your device.

If you refuse, they may seize your device. The border agent could also delay your travel or deny entry if you are not a U.S. citizen. Before crossing the border, put your device in airplane mode to ensure remote files dont get downloaded accidentally.

The advisory also reminds citizens that the Government of Canada cannot intervene on their behalf if residents do not meet entry or exit requirements for the U.S.

The warning, issued Friday, comes as tensions continue to rise between the neighboring nations. President Donald Trumps newly instituted tariffs combined with bold claims of turning Canada into the 51st state have escalated a war of words into a trade war. In response to the U.S. tariffs, Canada announced tariffs of its own on U.S. goods and in some cases, completely removed U.S. products from store shelves.

The Canadian warning follows a pair of advisories issued last month by Germany and the United Kingdom. Those warnings also cited increased border scrutiny as reasons why residents should be extra prepared when attempting to enter the U.S.
The war over tariffs has spread to White House advisors as Elon Musk publicly insulted White House trade advisor Peter Navarro Tuesday. Musk took to his social media platform X to fire off his verbal barbs at Navarro.

Musk hurled the insults after linking to an interview Navarro gave Monday to CNBC. During the interview, Navarro commented on why Musk has split with the Trump Administration regarding the recently imposed tariffs, as the tariffs are expected to raise the cost of Musks Tesla vehicles.

We all understand in the White House and the American people understand that Elons a car manufacturer. But hes not a car manufacturer  Hes a car assembler," Navarro said. "In many cases, if you go to his Texas plant, a good part of the engines that he gets (which in the EV case are the batteries) come from Japan and come from China. The electronics come from Taiwan."

Navarro went on to say that the administration wants all of those parts to be made in the U.S.

However, Musk took issue with the claim, firing off a pair of insults at Navarro.

"Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false," Musk wrote in one reply to the video.

In a second reply, Musk wrote "Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks."

Musk then claimed Tesla "is the most vertically integrated auto manufacturer in America with the highest percentage of US content. However, Musk did not provide any proof of his claim in his reply to Navarros interview.

Despite owning Tesla and X, Musk has been heavily involved in the early days of Trumps second term, also serving as an advisor. Musk has been running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), since it was created through executive order in January. Trump tasked Musk and the agency with modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.

Navarro, who officially serves as a senior counselor to the president for trade and manufacturing, has been involved with the development and implementation of the tariffs.

Over the weekend, Musk told Italian politicians that he hoped for a zero tariff situation between the U.S. and Europe. Musk went on to say he shared that same thought with Trump, but so far, Trump has not budged on his tariffs.
SKANDIA, MI  An emu went for an unauthorized jaunt down a Michigan highway over the weekend before returning home safely.

The escape artist in question, Blue, was seen on Saturday running along the side of U.S. 41 near Skandia in Michigans Upper Peninsula. The video above was captured by John Waldo and shared by his wife, Amy Waldo, on social media.

Only in Skandia do you see an emu running down the road, Amy Waldo said on Facebook. My goal this week is to match this emus energy!

Blue is a pet, along with two emu siblings Yoshi and Spaz, WLUC reports. Owner Aaron Prisk bought the emus after getting out of the Army and describes them as big, feathery puppies.

Of the three giant flightless birds native to Australia, Blue is the most likely to escape and the only one that comes when hes called, Prisk told the TV station.

Hes an escape artist, Prisk said in a comment on Amy Waldos post. Goes further from home every time. By the time he was found, he was already on his way back ... Thank you to everyone who helped look for him and guide him home again.
Victims of the catastrophic Northern Michigan ice storm can get a state tax extension, officials announced.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the special tax relief last week for individuals and businesses in the 12 counties affected by the emergency declaration.

The state is offering tax extensions for folks in northern Michigan as they continue to recover, Whitmer said in an open letter to Michiganders. Families in the 12 counties hit by these storms now have extra time to file and pay state taxes without racking up any penalties or interest.

From Friday to Sunday, March 28-30, heavy and long-lasting freezing rain and a line of severe storms wreaked havoc in 12 counties in the northern Lower Peninsula. It brought extreme and severe ice accumulation resulting in widespread power outages, impassable roads, loss of phone and cellular services and significant damage to homes and businesses.

RELATED: Storm Camp houses 1,100 working to rebuild power grid in Northern Michigan

Trees weighed down with ice sagged and snapped. Some fell onto power lines while others toppled into roadways, making some routes impassable. Hundreds of power poles broke. The ice remained for days, bringing down evermore trees, power poles and power lines. The ice also caused several closures of the Mackinac Bridge - including one that lasted 30 hours - disrupting supply lines to the Upper Peninsula.

RELATED: Destructive spring ice storm debilitates Northern Michigan, see videos

The storm has been compared to a days-long hurricane, and one power co-op CEO even said it was worse than the Blizzard of 1978 in terms of damage to the power grid.

RELATED: Northern Michigan ice storm was orders of magnitude worse than Blizzard of 1978

Today, April 8, nearly 35,000 customers in the effected counties still do not have power.

Taxpayers in Otsego, Oscoda, Montmorency, Presque Isle, Emmet, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Mackinac, Alpena, Alcona and Antrim counties can request additional time to file and pay their state taxes without penalties or interest.

RELATED: Catastrophic damage: Thousands of miles of powerlines smothered in ice after Northern Michigan storm

This relief does not apply to any federal or city income tax deadlines.

The extensions are not automatic. Taxpayers must contact the Michigan Department of Treasury by telephone, mail, or e-service to request relief.

Those requesting relief will need to provide their name and account number; a description of how they were affected by the ice storm; and an applicable address in the emergency area.

RELATED: Latest Mackinac Bridge falling ice closure set a new record

Heres how to contact the treasury:
A lane closure on eastbound I-96 is scheduled for Wednesday evening in Ionia County. Courtesy photo | MDOT

Drivers heading east on I-96 in Ionia County may experience traffic delays on Wednesday evening, April 9.

Road work will close the eastbound right lane of I-96 from Hudson Road to Clintonia Road, east of Portland, beginning around 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The single-lane closure is expected to be complete around 6 a.m. Thursday, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).

Further west, a single-lane closure on I-96 between Bliss Road and Sunfield Highway will remain in effect into next week. That work is part of a three-year effort to rebuild 8 miles of highway in Ionia County.

Road work is weather dependent. For more information on this and additional closures, check out MDOTs online construction map.
MACKINAC ISLAND, MI - An historic ice storm that did an incredible amount of damage to trees and the power grid across Northern Michigan has also left many of Mackinac Islands beautiful interior trails and a big section of its iconic M-185 perimeter road impassable, state park officials say.

Teams from the National Guard are expected to make their way to the island soon to help with storm cleanup and tree work, but its unclear when that will happen, City Council members were told in a meeting this week.

For now, the state park land - which makes up more than 80% of the island - is mostly closed to visitors as the massive clean-up job continues, said Dominick Miller, chief of marketing for Mackinac State Historic Parks.

We are dealing with unprecedented damage to Mackinac Island State Park, Miller said. Luckily no buildings within the park were damaged, but cleanup will take months. Some trails will not be available until later in the 2025 season.

Mackinac State Historic Parks are working to get roads at least passable before moving to interior trails, according to an advisory posted on the state parks site, showing a map of the current closures.

Staff strongly suggests refraining from visiting any areas of Mackinac Island State Park until crews have been able to clear trees and debris.

Mackinac Island State Park saw unprecedented damage in ice storm. This map shows state park road closures marked in red. The map only shows the status of roads and trails within Mackinac Island State Park, and not the City of Mackinac Island. Graphic provided by Mackinac State Historic Parks

Nearly half of M-185, the scenic perimeter highway that circles the island, is currently impassable. The closure starts near Arch Rock and goes around the entire east side of the island, heading north toward British Landing. In the map above, the current closures are shown in red.

From British Landing toward the Mackinac Island Public School, the road is passable, but there is a still a large amount of tree debris along the road that needs to be cut up and hauled away.

Arch Rock, Sugar Loaf, and Fort Holmes are all closed to visitors at this time. All hiking trails are currently closed, park officials said.

During Mondays City Council meeting, members praised Cloverland Electric for their speedy response after the ice storm that began March 28 and lasted for three days. Heavy ice and high winds knocked out power to more than 100,000 homes and businesses across Northern Michigan - some of which are still being restored.

And while Mackinac Islands city crews were able to get a good start on the clean-up needed downtown, the city has been in contact with Mackinac Countys emergency management staff on when the National Guard members who have been deployed to help with storm damage recovery can make their way to the island.

Its not a matter of wanting help, we need help, Fire Chief and Council Member Jason St. Onge said at Mondays meeting. I would call it the number-one priority in the city right now.

Mayor Margaret Doud described the damage as monumental trees down all over the island. We cant get through.

When the National Guard can come to the island, its likely theyll set up a special ferry trip with Arnold Transit Co., which handles the winter boat runs to the island. A similar arrangement was made for the Cloverland Electric crews after the storm ended.

Mackinac Island State Park saw unprecedented damage in ice storm. Photo courtesy of the Mackinac State Historic Parks

In the huge state park acreage area, Miller said crews started their storm recovery work by clearing any roads in residential areas of the island.

As of today (April 8), major roads in the park area west of and including British Landing and Garrison Roads are passable, though major debris is still on the sides of the roads, Miller said. The entirety of the east side of the island, including areas like Arch Rock, Sugar Loaf, and Fort Holmes, are impassable. Our crew will start on roadways first in this area. All hiking trails within the park are currently closed.

We ask that travel on any state park roads be limited to essential personnel at this time.

We appreciate the efforts of the City of Mackinac Island, Mackinac Island Fire Department, Mackinac Island Police Department, and others as we work to get Mackinac Island State Park ready for visitors.
LAKE ORION, MI  A dog-friendly area at an Oakland County park has been permanently closed.

Oakland County Parks said Monday that the dog dock and beach at Orion Oaks County Park is closed due to consistently unsafe E. coli levels in the water.

This decision was made with the health and safety of our visitors and their pets as our top priority, a statement said.

Officials said bi-weekly testing of the water near the dog dock in 2024 found high levels of E. coli, exceeding safety thresholds and unsafe for dogs and their owners.

As part of 2026 master planning efforts at Orion Oaks, officials are exploring potential improvements which may include a water feature and other enhancements.

We appreciate your patience while the plans are being developed, a statement said.

Guests who use the park are being encouraged to share their thoughts in a survey, which can be found here.

Orion Oaks is known for its 24-acre dog park, which features enclosures for off-leash play, two trails, field area, picnic pavilion and modern restrooms.

The 916-acre park also offers 10 miles of hiking and mountain bike trails, geocaching and fishing on Lake Sixteen, with a wheelchair accessible fishing pier off Joslyn Road. A small boat launch is also provided for non-motorized boats.
Michigan has identified 11 confirmed or probable mumps infections this year. A vial of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is pictured. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon) AP

Michigan has identified 11 confirmed or probable mumps infections thus far in 2025.

The contagious viral infection, which affects the salivary glands and causes painful swelling of the jaw, is spread through direct contact with saliva or respiratory droplets from an infected person.

Cases identified to date have been deemed sporadic and not warranting public notification or additional control measures, according to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Associate Public Information Officer Laina Stebbins.

Sporadic mumps cases are not unusual, particularly given the limitations of serologic testing and the low rate of PCR confirmation for cases, she said.

Oakland County reported its first case of the year Friday, April 4, just weeks after announcing a measles case. The adult resident with no known close contacts or exposures was the countys first known infection since 2022.

RELATED: When does my baby need a measles vaccine? Do I need a booster?

MDHHS declined to provide details about the states infected residents, the severity of their illness, or where they live, due to the low number of mumps cases but didnt specify why that mattered.

The state also declined to say if the infected residents had any recent international travel.

While the state has officially confirmed 11 mumps cases, the Michigan Disease Surveillance Systems (MDSS) latest report indicated 16 suspected, probable or confirmed mumps cases spread across 11 communities. They included:

Cheboygan County

Detroit (3)

Genesee County (2)

Houghton County

Huron County

Ionia County

Kent County

Oakland County (2)

Tuscola County

Washtenaw County (2)

Wayne County

Some mumps cases in the state report may be deemed suspected, meaning they met the clinical criteria but hadnt been confirmed by a positive test and/or epidemiologic link to a known infection. Those cases may be later confirmed or removed following further investigation, officials emphasized.

In 2024, Michigan had 16 confirmed or probable mumps cases. Previously, there were 22 cases in 2023, 14 cases in 2022, and five in 2021.

RELATED: When and where Michiganders may have been exposed to measles

Mumps is caused by infection with a paramyxovirus. Common symptoms of the contagious viral infection include swelling of the jaw, fever, tiredness, appetite loss, muscle pain and headache.

Infected people are contagious a few days before their salivary glands begin to swell, and up to five days after swelling begins.

Symptoms typically appear 16 to 18 days after exposure to the virus, according to the Oakland County Health Department. Swelling will commonly last three to seven days.

While most people recover within two weeks, serious complications can occur, including hearing loss and swelling of the brain, spinal cord, pancreas, testicles, ovaries and breasts.

There is no treatment for mumps. Health officials recommend two doses of MMR vaccine for protection against mumps, as well as measles and rubella.

As of December 2024, only 80.4% of Michigan children age 19 months to 35 months had received at least one dose of MMR vaccine, which trailed the national average (93.4%).

Vaccination helped reduce the nations mumps cases drastically from 152,209 cases in 1968 to 231 in 2003. Cases remained low for decades before increasing since 2006.

The U.S. reported 6,584 mumps cases in 2006. Cases spiked beyond 6,000 again in 2016 and 2017, but have generally declined since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

As of March 27, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 67 mumps cases spread across 23 states.

For more vaccine information, visit Michigans webpage on immunization information, or visit ivaccinate.org, a resource founded by Veronica Valentine McNally, who advocates for vaccination after her daughter died of pertussis in 2012.
ESCANABA, MI  A Michigan man who had spent nearly a decade working on fishing vessels in Alaska has been found dead.

The Unalaska Department of Public Safety said Tuesday that 28-year-old Jacob Riley Veeser was found in the water along Captains Bay Road at 10:27 a.m. on April 5.

Veeser is a native of Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula who has spent the last nine years working on vessels operating in the plentiful but notoriously dangerous Bering Sea, according to the Daily Press.

Unalaska is the main population center in the Aleutian Islands near the end of the Alaska Peninsula.

The U.S. Coast Guard, Unalaska Fire Department and Alaska State Troopers had also been searching for Veeser after crew members of the F/V Lady Alaska reported him missing at 5:32 p.m. on April 4.

Veeser hadnt been seen since walking down the G1 dock at UniSea, Inc.s processing facility on Iliuliuk Harbor.

A winter storm was underway when he went missing with travel advisories warning of high winds and blowing snow causing whiteout conditions, snow accumulation and slippery roads.

The F/V Lady Alaska is one of several vessels featured on Deadliest Catch, the popular Discovery Channel documentary series featuring the dangers of fishing treacherous Alaskan waters.

Veesers next of kin have been notified, officials said.
Part of Ann Arbor's plans to add new roundabouts on Nixon Road in 2025 and 2026. Wade Trim

ANN ARBOR, MI  Ann Arbor is going forward with an $18.5 million Nixon Road reconstruction project.

That includes full reconstruction from Huron Parkway to Dhu Varren and Green roads with three new roundabouts at Sandalwood Circle, Meade Court/Bluett Drive and Traver Boulevard, City Engineer Nick Hutchinson said.
Multiple Michigan universities rank among the nations top medical schools with a couple of major caveats, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Rankings for both research and primary care schools were released by the national publication on Tuesday, April 8.

Medical schools for the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Michigan State University were not listed among the top tiers overall, but both schools appeared on lists ranking the most graduates practicing in primary care and in underserved and rural areas.

Not all major Michigan universities were included in the 2024 rankings, as well. About 20% of the top 100 medical schools in both research and primary care rankings as of 2022-23 declined to participate in the statistical survey for this years placements.

Read more: University of Michigan Medical School pulls out of U.S. News rankings

Of the medical research schools overall, there were 16 ranked in the top tier or tier 1.

Wayne State University was listed among tier 2, an improvement from last years ranking, while Central Michigan University and Oakland University (Beaumont) were listed as tier 3.

There were also a top 16 for tier 1 primary care medical schools. CMU was listed as tier 3, Wayne State at tier 3 and Oakland at tier 4.

Michigan State Universitys College of Osteopathic Medicine ranked No. 2 among schools with the most graduates practicing in primary care, which is 12 rankings higher than last year. Meanwhile, MSUs College of Human Medicine ranked No. 50, or 10 rankings lower, in that same category, followed by CMU at No. 52, Wayne State tied at No. 85, and Western Michigan University tied at No. 97.

The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor ranked No. 119 among schools with the most graduates practicing in primary care. Oakland ranked No. 131 out of 170.

Central Michigan had the most graduates working in rural areas at No. 20, followed by MSUs College of Osteopathic Medicine at No. 57, Oakland at No. 79, UM-Ann Arbor at No. 82, WMU tied at No. 84, and Wayne State at No. 93.

MSUs College of Osteopathic Medicine ranked at No. 3 for graduates practicing in medically underserved areas. Central Michigan ranked No. 17, Wayne State No. 3, MSUs College of Human Medicine at No. 40, UM at No. 60 and Oakland at No. 83.

Some key details for both UM and MSUs colleges of osteopathic and human medicine were not listed with U.S. News.

Details for the other Michigan medical schools, including in-state, full-time tuition, enrollment and acceptance rates, were listed as follows:

CMUs College of Medicine

Full-time tuition: $46,150

Enrollment: 416

Acceptance rate: 3.6%

Faculty-student ratio: 0.2 to 1

Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

Full-time tuition: $60,278

Enrollment: 516

Acceptance rate: 5.8%

Faculty-student ratio: 1.2 to 1

Wayne State University School of Medicine

Full-time tuition: $39,975

Enrollment: 1,229

Acceptance rate: 7.6%

Faculty-student ratio: 0.7 to 1

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Fenton author and historian Allie Seibert holds a copy of her latest book, "Bloodstained: Exploring Michigan's Darkest Murders Forgotten By Time." The book was published in March and is available for purchase. (Photo courtesy of Allie Seibert) Allie Seibert

FENTON, MI  Michigan author and historian Allie Seibert is shedding light on some of the most overlooked murder cases from the states past in her new book.

Siebert, who lives in Fenton, released the independently published book, Bloodstained: Exploring Michigans Darkest Murders Forgotten By Time, on March 19.

I went through online newspaper archives. Its insane the amount of stories that are out there that I dont know about, Seibert said.

While conducting preliminary research for Bloodstained, Seibert considered a total of 100 different historical murder cases.

Bloodstained focuses on five different murders committed in Michigan from 1879 to 1931, and each case sheds light on different issues that were relevant then and are still relevant today, including domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and mental health.

Not that the others dont deserve to be told, but theyre captivating stories, and I feel like these are the stories that will touch people for one reason or another, Seibert said. They were stories that everyone in Michigan was following, people across the country were following.

These things have been happening since the dawn of time. We romanticize the past so much, and if you really look at it, its not any different.

One of the cases in the book involved a murder committed by a woman who killed a man when he responded to a matrimonial advertisement placed in a local newspaper.

Seibert said this case is reminiscent of many modern-day cases of crimes committed against people seeking companionship through online dating.

You have hopeful people who are looking for a partner and a spouse, but then you have people who are seeking opportunities to use that against them and take their money and their lives sometimes, Seibert said. Its the same thing over and over and over again.

The murder cases in the book occurred in Hadley in Lapeer County, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Alma, and Flint where resident Helen Morgan killed a former romantic partner in 1931.

Morgan, a wealthy heir to a real estate fortune, who moved to Flint from Chicago with her mother in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Morgans father died when she was young.

The familys wealth and their home on First Avenue drew the attention of many residents at the time as they were living in Flint in the midst of the Great Depression.

Things are not looking great in Flint, but theyre walking around in their fur coats and their jewels, Seibert said. Its very obvious theres this huge discrepancy. Helens a little strange.

Morgan claimed to be 27 years old in 1931, but she was actually discovered to be 41.

Her age, along with many details about her life, have remained a mystery for decades.

Helen is a little strange, Seibert said.

While living in Flint, Morgan met Les Casteel, who Seibert describes as a big, burly garage mechanic with violent tendencies and three failed marriages.

Despite his reputation and warnings from her mother, Morgan fell head over heels for him.

Eventually her love for him turns a little toxic, Seibert said. She gets really obsessed. Shes following him wherever he goes. Shes confronting any woman who dares to even look at him.

The relationship eventually soured, and when Casteel attempted to leave Morgan, she convinced him to meet her at Flints Glenwood Cemetery, located at 2500 W. Court St., where she shot and killed him.

Morgan claimed she shot Casteel in self-defense after wrestling away a gun that he had initially pulled on her.

However, Seibert noted it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for the five-foot nothing Morgan to overpower the roughly 250-pound Casteel.

Not only does Seibert give an in-depth look at the case and subsequent trial, which gained national attention, she also attempted to uncover what happened to Morgan after she was released from prison after serving about half of her 2025-year sentence.

Everyones talking about it, she said. She was eventually found guilty of second-degree murder. She went to the Detroit House of Correction.

I guess she was a model prisoner. Everyone loved her.

From tracking her movements in the time after her prison term through Chicago, San Francisco, and Pacific Grove to finding the son of the man who used to oversee her estate, Seiberts research has led her to believe there is more to the story than most people would think.

Her death isnt recorded until 1984, Seibert said. I dont have the answers for what actually happened, but I genuinely believe something did.

I dont know what, but something was weird in her later life. And thats something thats never been covered before in any other retelling, as far as Im aware.

While researching the Helen Morgan case, Seibert learned about how different Flint was nearly a century ago, noting Flints once booming auto industry brought with it some ritzy people.

During this time period and before, Flint was the place to be, she said. It was a place you went to, not a place that people are leaving. And I think that is probably the most interesting thing to me just because you wouldnt think that looking at it.

Seibert previously worked as a teacher and administrator at various schools throughout Michigan, but she left that career to follow her passion for history and the macabre.

After quitting her job, Seibert founded Household History, a historical home research service, in 2021 after moving into an old Victorian home in Fenton.

This helped to further spark her interest in history.

I never lived in an old house before, but I became so obsessed with researching the people who used to live here. I traced the history back, and its built in 1862, Seibert said. People hired me to research their homes, and then I would take everything that I learned and put it into a nice hardcover book.

Seibert even visits some of the homes former residents at their graves and has photos of them on the walls of her home.

For her first book, The Mysterious Mrs. White, Seibert uncovered several murders committed in Fenton in the early 1900s thatd been lost to time and realized just how many stories like these had been forgotten.

The Mysterious Mrs. White was published in May 2023.

Ive always loved this kind of stuff. I was always a weird kid, she said. I had like a Tupperware full of rubber snakes under my bed.

There are gruesome aspects, and people are dying. But its more than that to me. Its telling these stories and looking at ways that history is repeating itself over and over again and making sure that people know the names of the victims, because I dont think its fair for them to just fade into history.

Bloodstained can be purchased at Fentons Open Book, 105 W. Shiawassee Ave. in Fenton, or on amazon.com.

Additionally, Seibert will be at an event at the Battle Creek Regional History Museum, located at 307 W. Jackson St. in Battle Creek, at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12.

During the event, participants will learn how to research the history of their home.

Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter.
Aquinas College President Alicia Cordoba has resigned less than three years after taking the position, a spokesperson for the university has confirmed. (Photo provided to MLive by Lisa Taylor). Lisa Taylor

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Aquinas College President Alicia Cordoba has resigned less than three years after taking the position at the Catholic school, a spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

Aquinas leaders have already appointed an interim president, with Cordobas resignation effective Monday, April 7.

Cordoba became the ninth president and first female to lead Aquinas College on July 1, 2022, leaving a position as associate vice president and Beirne director of the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Marys University in San Antonio, Texas.

The private liberal arts college has not shared the reason for her resignation, citing employee privacy rights.

The board accepted Cordobas resignation with appreciation for her service to the college, said Mary Ann Sabo, a spokesperson for Aquinas.

Under her leadership, Aquinas has taken measures to strengthen our institution, including enhanced fundraising, stabilized enrollment and a renewed focus on our Catholic faith, Sabo said. We are grateful for the strides weve made during her tenure.

Cordoba replaced Kevin Quinn, who resigned Dec. 10, 2021, after four years at the helm. He cited the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the factors, but said the main reason was he and his wife were ready for their next adventure.

As Aquinas prepares for yet another search for a new president, Sister Maureen Geary will serve as interim president.

Geary is a certified professional accountant and attorney who has already contributed much to the colleges success in her roles on the faculty, as a member of the staff, on the board of trustees, foundation board and several committees, Sabo said.

Geary was previously the colleges vice president of finance and controller, and worked as an assistant professor of business for a decade.

She was a board member for 12 years, and was active on the finance, investments, benefits and Dominican heritage committees.

A leader within the Dominican community, Sister Maureen brings strong faith, deep understanding, solid expertise and the compassion needed to lead our campus, Sabo said.

Aquinas, located 1700 Fulton St. E, was founded by the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids in 1886. As of January 2025, the college enrolled 1,300 students, according to a previously shared news release.

Sabo said the college is committed to offering a well-rounded Catholic liberal arts education guided by our Dominican pillars of prayer, service, study and community.

A native of Grand Rapids, Geary was educated by the Dominican Sisters - Grand Rapids at Immaculate Heart of Mary and Catholic Central High School.

She earned her bachelors degree from the University of Notre Dame, a masters degree from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan.

18 1 / 18 Alicia Cordoba becomes first female president of Aquinas College

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ALLEGAN, MI  Fiber arts fans rejoice: the Michigan Alpaca Fest is returning for its 27th annual event.

The free fest, planned for April 12 and 13 at the Allegan County Fairgrounds, celebrates these unique animals and their luxurious fiber.

Event highlights include youth competitions along with alpaca obstacle courses, artisan vendors, a silent auction and more.

One of the highlights of the festival is the youth costume competition, where children and their alpacas dress up in coordinating costumes. Previous costume pairs have included Disney prince and princess duos, tie-dye twins and other creative outfits.

Established in 1998, the Michigan Alpaca Fest has grown to become the nations longest-running alpaca show. Dedicated to promoting the alpaca industry, the fest offers educational opportunities, competitions, and a platform for artisans to showcase products made from alpaca fleece and other natural, sustainable fibers.

Alpaca fleece is lighter and warmer than sheeps wool and, due to its lack of lanolin, more friendly for those with sensitive skin. Because of its uses, the animal has become more popular with hobby farmers.

The hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Keep scrolling for the complete festival schedule.

Saturday, April 12

7 a.m.

Doors open to exhibitors and vendors

Coffee and doughnuts

8 a.m.

Exhibitors meeting - Ringside

8:30 a.m. (Doors open to the public)

Judging begins

Full fleece halter competition

Walking Fleece Competition - Huacayas and Suri starting with Fawn

Youth classes

Vendors open

Silent auction opens

12:00 - 12:30

Lunch or at the judges discretion

Youth costume class

12:30 p.m.

Judging resumes

5 p.m.

Silent auction wraps up

Judging ends for the day

Vendors close

Doors close to the public

6 p.m.

Social hour and barbecue dinner for exhibitors and vendors

Sunday, April 13

7 a.m.

Doors open to breeders and vendors

8 a.m. (Doors open to the public)

Walking fleece awards

Vendors open

8:30 a.m.

Judging resumes

11 a.m.

Herdsire silent auction ends

2 p.m. (or when judging is done)

Vendors close

Doors close to the public

End of show

Learn more by visiting mialpacafest.com.

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Ottawa County sheriff's deputies found this Cessna 180 upside down while responding to a report of a crash. (John Agar|MLive) John Agar

OTTAWA COUNTY, Mi  Both occupants of a single-engine airplane escaped injury Tuesday, April 8, after it flipped over while landing, police said.

The Cessna 180 was landing at Ottawa Executive Airport  off Byron Road, extending just south of I-196  around 9 a.m. when the plane sustained a problem.

A 911 caller reported that a plane had crashed. Ottawa County sheriffs deputies found the plane upside down on the shoulder of the runway. Both occupants were already out when rescuers reached the scene.

Both declined medical treatment, police said.

Police were told that the plane experienced an issue during landing and it overturned.

Sheriffs deputies are investigating. The investigation will be turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Police said five Tesla trucks were damaged at a Kentwood lot in the 3100 block of Woodland Drive SE. They are looking for two persons of interest. Kentwood Police Department

KENT COUNTY, MI  Kentwood police have identified two people in connection with vandalism of five Tesla trucks.

Charges have not been filed.

The Teslas were spraypainted late March 9 or early the next day in the 3100 block Woodlane Drive SE, Kentwood police said. Police then released surveillance images showing two persons of interest.

Related: Thousands in Michigan join nationwide protests over Trump-Musk billionaire power grab

They were identified by the public after the surveillance photos were released. Both have been in contact with police.

Police continue to investigate.

The Tesla trucks sustained significant damage, police said.

Related: Vandalism at Michigan Tesla manufacturing site under investigation

Tesla dealerships have been targeted after founder Elon Musk became a top adviser to President Donald Trump. As head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has worked to cut federal spending by firing workers and ending funding for federal programs.

Related: Several Tesla trucks damaged at Kentwood lot, police looking for 2

Kent County sheriffs deputies recently reported damage at a Tesla manufacturing plant at 5460 Executive Parkway SE in Cascade Township.
A new program is under development at the Jackson County Airport that would allow local students to become certified aircraft maintenance technicians. If approved for grant funding, the training could begin in September 2025. Rebecca Villagracia | MLive.com

JACKSON COUNTY, MI - A new program under development at the Jackson County Airport aims to give local students a chance to earn the necessary licenses to start a career in aviation maintenance right after high school.

Airport officials are currently seeking grant funding to establish an Aviation Maintenance Technician School in Jackson County.

The program would be open to 11th and 12th graders and high school graduates looking to earn a federally certified airframe and powerplant license. The license is required to obtain a job as an aviation maintenance technician, said Airport Manager Juan Zapata.

This is one of those aviation careers that are greatly in need throughout the United States, Zapata said. The facility that were proposing would be used to train aircraft mechanics that will be able to find jobs all over the country.

Though there might not be a high demand for such jobs in the Jackson County area, the aviation industry nationwide is short by about 4,000 qualified mechanics annually, Zapata said.

Airport management submitted a $750,000 grant application for Congressionally Directed Spending to the offices of U.S. Rep Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, in March. A resolution of support for the application will be up for approval at the next Jackson County Board of Commissioners meeting April 15.

The school could be established and open for applicants by the end of September 2025 if the grant is approved, Zapata said.

The school would be housed in an existing corporate hangar at the Jackson County Airport, which airport officials plan to purchase for $350,000. An additional $50,000-100,000 will be required to update the building, as well as about $350,000-400,000 to fully furnish the school with all the required training aids, machinery and tools to get full federal certification, according to the grant application.

The hangar has room to accommodate about 15-20 students, Zapata said. If the program continues to grow, the airport could raise funds to build a dedicated maintenance facility in the future.

The training would be jointly run by the Jackson County Airport and qualified instructors from Zephyr Systems, a drone manufacturer and training company, Zapata said.

The airport is currently working with the Jackson County Intermediate School District to establish curriculum. The ultimate goal is to have the classes adopted as an official JCISD program, Zapata said.

Until the school can generate tuition as part of the JCISD, operations will be funded through local private donors, Zapata said, adding the airport has already received commitments of about $100,000 from private fundraising.

The program will provide training at no cost to high school students, with a small fee for high school graduates, Zapata said.

The training would take high schoolers about two hours a day for four semesters, and about 13 months for graduates.

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The nameplate for Bay City Mayor Chris Girard is pictured at his seat inside the Bay City Commission chambers at City Hall. Joey Oliver | MLive.com

BAY CITY, MI  City commissioners have upheld Mayor Chris Girards veto of a controversial resolution that sought to denote Bay City as a welcoming community for all people regardless of immigration status, with a focus on keeping resources local rather than using them for federal actions.

Members of the Bay City Commission voted 5-4 to approve the resolution notwithstanding Girards veto, but six votes were needed in order to overrule the veto.

Let me be clear: my veto was not about rejecting the idea that Bay City should be a welcoming place. I believe we already are  and we should continue to be, Girard read from a prepared statement prior to the vote. Bay City is a community where neighbors look out for one another, where diversity is a strength, and where people from all walks of life are part of the fabric that makes this place great.

But the resolution as presented  while symbolic in intent  steps into areas that carry legal and political implications far beyond what a resolution can or should address at the municipal level.

Related: Immigration resolution faces final vote in Bay City after mayoral veto

The resolution, written by 7th Ward Commissioner Chris Runberg earlier this year, was approved in March through a 5-4 vote. However, Girard vetoed the measure two days later, saying most people he spoke with were against the resolution and that it could lead to cuts to federal funding to the city.

To overrule the mayoral veto, six votes were required. This meant at least one of the four commissioners who previously voted against the measure would need to change their vote, while the five who voted to approve it would need to maintain their support.

Everything cant just come down to money. Theres principle, said Commissioner Joseph Charlebois, 8th Ward.

He described the acts of federal immigration enforcement as fascism and appealed to the four commissioners who voted against the measure previously to change their vote.

We need one vote to overrule this veto and stand up on the right side of it, he said.

Runberg wrote the resolution days after President Donald Trump began his second term, which has brought a slew of executive orders targeting immigration.

He took issue with Girard calling the resolution a symbolic gesture.

I understand this is lightning rod issue. This was about helping people who live in this community, he said.

Other communities have approved similar resolutions, essentially saying they will not assist federal immigration agencies in their enforcement of Trumps policies on the matter.

Locally, Saginaw shot down a similar resolution.

Read more: Bay City mayor vetoes welcoming community immigration resolution

Girard previously wrote in his veto that Runbergs resolution introduces provisions that may create a perception of policy changes regarding law enforcements role in federal immigration enforcement, despite having no legal effect on how the Bay City Department of Public Safety operates.

I was concerned about how the resolution  despite good intentions  added to the growing political polarization were seeing both nationally and locally, Girard said. What should bring people together instead became another wedge issue. And I truly believe we need less of that right now, not more.

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SAGINAW, MI  A Saginaw Township doctor has filed bankruptcy for one of his entities that had been contracted to provide autopsy services for Saginaw County. The filing has delayed a judge ordering the doctor to pay a six-figure sum to a fellow physician he defamed.

Dr. David L. Stockman appeared via Zoom before Saginaw County Business Court Judge M. Randall Jurrens on Monday, April 7, regarding a lawsuit filed against him by Saginaw County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Russell L. Bush. The suit previously went to arbitration overseen by Kenneth W. Schmidt, a former Bay County Circuit Court judge. Schmidt in late February 2025 issued an opinion finding Stockman and his entity, Michigan Institute of Forensic Science & Medicine, owed Bush $551,800 and that Stockman acted with intent and malice.

Schmidt also found Stockman defamed Bush and intentionally interfered with his business relationship with Saginaw County.

Attorney Stephan M. Gaus, representing Bush, expected Jurrens to sign a judgment against Stockman and MIFSM in the $551,800 amount, but Stockman on April 4 filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on MIFSMs behalf in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, paying a $1,738 filing fee. This put an automatic stay on the matter until the courts can assess the value of MIFSMs assets and debts.

Stockman did not file bankruptcy as an individual, leaving him subject to the debt, though he is requesting the stay cover him as well. Jurrens asked Gaus to submit amended paperwork before he signs Schmidts recommended award into a judgment.

I expect, seven days from now, Jurrens is going to sign a form judgment against Stockman for $551,800, Gaus said.

Gaus plans to argue the amount Stockman owes Bush is nondischargeable because Stockman acted with malice.

Further complicating matters, corporations cannot represent themselves in bankruptcy proceedings and must have attorney representation. Stockman seemingly filed MIFSMs bankruptcy despite not being an attorney.

Because of this, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Daniel S. Opperman ordered Stockman to appear before him by telephone on April 17 to show cause why he should not dismiss MIFSMs bankruptcy filing.

Saginaw County in 2019 entered a 10-year contract with MIFSM to provide medical examination duties such as investigating causes of death and performing autopsies. MIFSM hired Bush, the countys medical examiner since 2014, and designated him as the assigned personnel. Stockman fired Bush in November 2021 but claimed to county officials he had stepped down, according to public records.

MIFSM also issued a media release in April 2022 stating Bush was fired for incompetence and misleading/potentially false credentials.

The county terminated its contract in 2021 due to Bushs unauthorized termination and Stockman allegedly performing autopsies without proper certification. Thereafter, the county reaffirmed Bush as its medical examiner.

Judge Jurrens on Monday also allowed Stockmans attorney, James J. Kelly, to withdraw from the case. Jurrens gave Stockman 28 days to retain a new attorney for MIFSM.

Stockman on his own filed a motion asking Jurrens to recuse himself, claiming the judge is biased against him. Jurrens denied Stockmans motion.

Stockman was to appear before Jurrens on March 28 for a debtor discovery examination, during which he would be questioned under oath about his assets. He missed the hearing as he was in federal court in South Carolina that morning, filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy on behalf of Specialized Pathology Partners. Previous court records gave SPPs address as 4798 Wenmar Drive in Saginaw Township, though the bankruptcy filing gives its address as a Fairfield Inn & Suites in Charleston, South Carolina.

Interestingly, records with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs show SPP was dissolved in May 2024. Those records show Stockman was the entitys president, director, treasurer, and secretary.

The March 28 hearing stemmed from Jurrens in August 2023 issuing a default judgment against Stockman and SPP in favor of federal savings bank TIAA. TIAA in 2017 and 2019 agreed to lease Stockman and SPP ultrasound and radiology machines.

Stockman/SPP did not make payments on or return the leased equipment.

Jurrens ordered SPP to pay $122,292.42 and Stockman to pay $12,610.86. He further ordered the defendants to pay $6,792.82 to TIAA in costs and attorney fees.

Stockman has made no payments to TIAA or returned the leased equipment, confirmed an attorney representing the bank.

Jurrens in August 2024 issued a second default judgment against Stockman and his entity Great Lakes Bay Staffing Inc., ordering them to pay $131,626.18 to Wildfire Credit Union. Jurrens issued a third default judgment against Stockman on behalf of forensic pathologist Dr. Donald Higgs for about $55,000.

Higgs, a forensic pathologist, moved his family from New York to Michigan to work for Stockman at Michigan Institute of Forensic Science & Medicine in 2023. The checks Higgs received as payment bounced, he alleged.

Higgs has been receiving payments through garnishments of several Michigan counties served by MIFSM, confirmed Gaus, also representing Higgs.

Higgs also filed a police report over the matter. Saginaw County prosecutors in June 2024 contacted the Michigan Attorney Generals Office to request a special prosecutor evaluate the case. The AGs Office in September referred the matter to the Tuscola County Prosecutors Office.

MLive was unable to reach that office for comment, but records indicate Stockman is not charged with a crime.

Two doctors in other states have filed lawsuits against Stockman and his ventures, alleging he hired them to provide remote work for which he did not pay them.

Dr. Robert Odze, a professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School, in February 2023 filed a lawsuit against Stockman and Michigan Health Clinic in the Superior Court of Massachusetts Suffolk County. MHC is a corporation Stockman owns at 3925 Fortune Blvd. in Saginaw Township.

Washington, D.C.-based dermatologist Dr. Kishore L. Jayakumar in June 2023 filed a federal suit against Stockman and MHC, claiming they did not pay him an estimated $142,369.20 he was owed for his work.

Both of those cases are pending.

Stockmans licenses as medical doctor and controlled substances provider remain active and are set to expire Sept. 8.

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SAGINAW COUNTY, MI  Saginaw Valley State University officials said they are seeking information from the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program about why an SVSU international students visa was revoked.

SVSU now stands among at least six Michigan public universities that, since late last week, have publicly acknowledged members of their international student communities had visas revoked by the administration of President Donald Trump.

JJ Boehm, SVSUs vice president for communications, said campus officials and the student did not receive notification about the status change from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security-based agency manages student visa oversight.

Officials at several universities impacted by the visa revocations have reported learning about students changed visa status after checking a federal database that tracks such information.

Boehm said the Student and Exchange Visitor Program system showed the SVSU students I-20 certificate  which grants nonimmigrants status to study in the U.S.  was terminated, which led to the student losing F-1 visa status in the U.S.

The university deeply appreciates the contributions of international students to our campus community and we remain committed to supporting all our students, Boehm said in a statement.

Central Michigan University, University of Michigan and Grand Valley State University were among the six Michigan universities to report students losing their visa status. The Detroit News reported Oakland University and Wayne State University also had student visas revoked.

And the trend extends beyond Michigan campuses.

Colleges around the country are reporting some of their international students visas are being revoked unexpectedly, expressing alarm over what appears to be a new level of government scrutiny.

Visas can be canceled for a number of reasons, but many college leaders say the government has been quietly terminating students legal residency status with little notice to students or schools. That marks a shift from past practice and leaves students vulnerable to detention and deportation.

The list of colleges outside of Michigan that have discovered students have had their legal status terminated includes Harvard, Stanford, UCLA and Ohio State University.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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UPDATE: SVSU international students visa was revoked without notice from federal program

SAGINAW COUNTY, MI  Saginaw Valley State University officials said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revoked the visa of one student at the college.

A spokesperson at the Saginaw County-based public university said college officials were still in the early stages of gathering information about the discovery.

Theyre not alone.

SVSU now stands among at least six Michigan public universities that, since late last week, have publicly acknowledged members of their international student communities had visas revoked by the administration of President Donald Trump.

Central Michigan University, University of Michigan and Grand Valley State University were among the six. The Detroit News reported Oakland University and Wayne State University also had student visas revoked.

And the trend extends beyond Michigan campuses.

Colleges around the country are reporting some of their international students visas are being revoked unexpectedly, expressing alarm over what appears to be a new level of government scrutiny.

Visas can be canceled for a number of reasons, but many college leaders say the government has been quietly terminating students legal residency status with little notice to students or schools. That marks a shift from past practice and leaves students vulnerable to detention and deportation.

The list of colleges outside of Michigan that have discovered students have had their legal status terminated includes Harvard, Stanford, UCLA and Ohio State University.

The Trump administration has targeted students who had been involved with pro-Palestinian activism or speech, with a few high-profile detentions of students including Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who was a leader of protests at Columbia University.

But more schools are seeing visas stripped from students with no known connection to protests. In some cases, past infractions such as traffic violations have been cited. Some colleges say the reasons remain unclear to them  and they are seeking answers.

What youre seeing happening with international students is really a piece of the much greater scrutiny that the Trump administration is bringing to bear on immigrants of all different categories, said Michelle Mittelstadt, director of public affairs at the Migration Policy Institute.

Many college officials and students have only found out about the changes when they have checked a federal database and seen changes to an individuals immigration status. GVSU officials, for example, said they learned of their two students revoked visas after media reports about other universities led the Allendale-based university to check the database.

Founded in 1963, SVSU is the youngest of Michigans 15 state universities. When the academic year launched last fall, the Kochville Township-based college reported more than 6,800 students enrolled in classes there. Of those, about 250 international students, or about 3.6%, from 45 countries enrolled at SVSU.

The university served as host for one of the presidential campaign stops for then-candidate Trump, who visited SVSU four weeks before Election Day.

During his campaign, the Republican regularly cited plans to pursue policy related to non-citizens living in the U.S., including promises of mass deportations and additional border security measures.

During his Oct. 3 appearance at SVSU, Trump revisited that focus on immigration policy plans. He repeated a story about Springfield, Ohio, where Trump falsely claimed Haitian immigrants were eating residents cats and dogs.

SVSU resides in a county that favored Trump in November. Considered by some political experts as a swing county in a swing state, Saginaw County residents favored Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris, 52,912 to 49,515 votes, or a victory margin of 3.3 percentage points.

Trump bested Harris across Michigan by more than 80,000 votes, or a 1.4-percentage point victory margin.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Apoorva Makhija shares endless photos of rape and acid attack threats after India's Got Latent controversy: That's not even 1%

Vaishnavi Gavankar

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Malaika Arora receives second bailable warrant after she skips court hearing in Saif Ali Khan's 2012 brawl case

Gayatri Rani

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News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025: Nushrratt Bharuccha on Nepo kids and expectations from them: "They have their own pressures"

M Snehanjali

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Pooja Bedi and 7 others accused of allegedly revealing rape survivor's identity, Bombay court refuses to stay court proceedings

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Priyanka Chopras mother Madhu Chopra and brother Siddharth rent out Pune's property for Rs. 1.49 crore over 5-year tenure

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Rising Bharat Summit 2025: Nushrratt Bharuccha on AI Deepfakes of Bollywood celebs, says It is scary, I rely on Cybercrime

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Rising Bharat Summit 2025: Sunny Deol reveals brother Bobby asked him not to watch Ashram: "Bhaiya, please dont watch it"

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Sydney Sweeney enjoys a lunch date with Jonathan Davino a week after calling off their wedding

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When Shah Rukh Khan spoke about his sister's struggles after their parents' passing: she just fell and hit her head...

Palak Vij

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Natco Pharma aims to launch generic of Roches rare disease drug after favourable ruling in patent infringement case

Viswanath Pilla is a business journalist with 16 years of reporting experience. Based in Mumbai, Pilla covers pharma, healthcare and infrastructure sectors for Moneycontrol.

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PAG picks JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley as advisors for mega sale of controlling stake in Nuvama Wealth Management

Ashwin Mohan is Editor (Deals) at Moneycontrol and leads the M&A, private equity and equity capital market transactions coverage. He anchors the video show 'Deal Central ' and tweets at @ashwinmohansays. He has previously worked with ET NOW, CNBC TV-18 and The Times of India.

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Adrija Chatterjee is an Assistant Editor at Moneycontrol. She has been tracking and reporting on finance and trade ministries for over eight years.

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If we had the Indian Supreme Court, I wouldnt worry: Jeffrey Sachs on US governance, cautions India on US ties

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HUDCO to provide up to Rs 1.5 lakh crore funds for MMRDA's infra projects over 5 years, shares rise over 4%

J Jagannath

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Top gainers and losers today: Stocks that moved the most on April 8

Khushi Keswani

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No other country does insurance, credit, stock trades in under a minute like India: Amitabh Kant

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South Korea trade minister says considering measures to boost US imports

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Rising Bharat Summit 2025: Bharat has more paying capacity than urban consumers, say founders of consumer brands

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

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BJP shares screenshots of alleged spat between top Trinamool Congress MPs: 'Who is versatile international lady?'

Parimal Peeyush

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CWC meet: Congress to have massive organisational reshuffle, says K C Venugopal

Siddharth Chakravorty

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Souptik Datta Reports on Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai. Btw, curiosity never kills the cat. You can reach me on souptik.datta@nw18.com

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Iran's foreign minister says he will have indirect talks with US envoy over Tehran's nuclear program

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'Just because she is good-looking...': Kalyan Banerjee confirms WhatsApp chats on 'versatile international lady', says will quit TMC if asked

Parimal Peeyush

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Jyotiraditya Scindia on why he chose public service: 'Not joined the cause of...'

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Armaan Bhatnagar

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'No one can escape cameras': Nitin Gadkari admits to being fined twice for traffic violations in Mumbai

Abhinav Gupta

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'Our Sardar': Congress asserts claim on Sardar Patel's legacy, accuses BJP of 'lying' about ties with Nehru

Armaan Bhatnagar

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Working with PM Modi is like being on a treadmill: Jyotiraditya Scindia

Deblina Halder

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Rising Bharat Summit: Most sectors, except agriculture, comfortable with India lowering tariffs, say experts

Arindam Roy

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Sunny Deol on US deportation of Punjabi immigrants: 'What happened was wrong'

Deblina Halder

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Supreme Court slams Tamil Nadu Governor for sitting on Bills passed by Assembly: 'Illegal, erroneous in law'

Parimal Peeyush

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This expert says there's an opportunity for India in tariffs. What exactly is it

Arindam Roy

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India, US hold talks on tariffs, aim for 'fair and balanced' trade deal

101Reporters

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China unveils 10-year agricultural master plan, prioritizing food self-sufficiency, agri-tech innovation

Global Times) 13:28, April 08, 2025

China unveiled a 10-year master plan for agricultural development on Monday, outlining key objectives to guarantee national food security, systematically boost agricultural productivity, and substantially increase farmers' incomes, by leveraging reform, opening-up, and technological innovation as primary drivers.

The plan, jointly issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, outlines action targets, including achieving an overall annual grain production capacity of 1.4 trillion jin (700 million tons) and maintaining a reasonable level of self-sufficiency in important agricultural products by 2027.

By 2035, the plan envisions decisive progress in all-round rural revitalization, the basic realization of agricultural modernization, and the establishment of modern standards of living in rural areas.

By the middle of this century, rural areas will be fully revitalized and agriculture and rural modernization fully realized, according to the plan.

Apart from the long-term goals, the plan specified seven core objectives to transform China's farming sector, including firmly securing the Chinese people's food supply through comprehensive grain production capacity building, achieving full self-reliance in high-end agri-tech via nationwide equipment innovation and promoting urban-rural integration.

China will also improve foreign investment access in the agriculture sector as one of the efforts to expand international cooperation, according to the plan.

Analysts pointed out that the priority of this master plan is to ensure the country's self-sufficiency in food supply.

China will prioritize yield gains of staple crops and improve the quality of rice and wheat. It will also make efforts to unlock the production potential of rapeseed, peanuts, and other oil crops, while diversifying oil sources such as tea-oil camellia and animal fats, as read in the agricultural modernization plan.

In terms of the upgrades in livestock and vegetable supply chains, the plan outlines that China will boost vegetable production in cooler climate zones, promote high-quality swine industry development, enhance dairy sector competitiveness, improve the productivity and quality of the beef, cattle, mutton and sheep industries, and modernize fisheries.

According to the plan, China will adopt a comprehensive, multi-channel approach to develop and diversify food resources, including eco-friendly aquaculture expansion, construction of land-based and deep-sea aquaculture farms, regulated marine fishing, and biotech-driven solutions such as edible fungi production and synthetic biology industrialization.

China vows to secure the nation's food supply through the enhanced construction of a diversified food supply system, as well as support provided to the steady development of animal husbandry, further enhancing food security, Wang Gangyi, a professor at Northeast Agricultural University, told the Global Times.

"It means that a required stable level of production is not limited to grain products, but is broadened to include meat, eggs, milk and other agricultural byproducts," said Wang.

As seeds are considered the "chips" of agriculture, the master plan also underscored the importance of revitalizing the seed industry, Wang pointed out.

According to the plan, China will accelerate efforts to achieve technological independence in seed development and secure control over key genetic resources.

Measures included launching joint breeding research programs and livestock genetic improvement initiatives, implementing a major biological breeding project to develop high-yield soybean varieties with elevated oil content and salt-tolerant crops, and fast-tracking the commercialization of bioengineered seeds.

Wang pointed out that the plan divided ensuring food security into several key dimensions such as production, pricing and trade, as well as disaster prevention and mitigation, rural construction, increasing farmers' incomes and rural governance.

China's latest agricultural modernization plan also calls for a full-scale upgrade of farm machinery nationwide, with a focus on accelerating research and development and the application of high-end intelligent agricultural machinery and boosting domestic production of key machinery parts.

China will promote the scrapping and upgrading of old agricultural machinery and optimize the structure of agricultural machinery and equipment, according to the plan.

The upgrades of agricultural equipment are in line with the country's efforts in industrial upgrading, under which, according to an action plan released in March, China aims to increase its investment in equipment for industry, agriculture, construction, transportation, education, culture, tourism and medical care by at least 25 percent by 2027, compared with 2023.

Agricultural machinery upgrading will support the construction of high-standard farmland, which has been proven to be a crucial measure to ensure national food security, while creating conditions for the application of smart and digital farming technology, Li Guoxiang, a research fellow at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

China is pushing for the integration of digital technologies with modern agriculture, a goal that was also included in the master plan released on Monday.

The agricultural application of advanced technologies such as 5G, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data is transforming the industry.

At a factory in Zigui county, Central China's Hubei Province, robotic arms and AI-empowered electronic recognition systems are being used to handle, clean, screen, and sort navel oranges. The smart system is quick enough to sort about 600 oranges per minute, while determining the sugar and water content of the oranges, the factory owner told the Global Times.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
We are deeply destabilised in US because we have one person rule: Jeffrey Sachs

Yeeshu Yadav

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We have created path of possibilities from policies: PM Modi's top quotes at Rising Bharat Summit

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Vrinda Singh is a Research Associate, The Infravision Foundation. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.

Siraj Hussain is a former Union Agriculture Secretary. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.

Namrata Agarwal

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What can the world do with Hamas?

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Namrata Agarwal

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'80% startups in India are nothing but a racket': Suhel Seth defends Piyush Goyal

Ankita Sengupta

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Dire wolves are back from extinction. Now, Elon Musk wants a woolly mammoth as pet

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North America is sinking: Some parts are being pulled into the Earth's mantle, says study

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.

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Apple may look to shift more iPhone production to India as Trump tariffs threaten to bite

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Vivo T4 5G tipped to be powered by Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 SoC, will launch this month

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Apple mulls more India-made iPhones for US to avoid China tariffs: Report

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'Avoid further escalation': EU chief calls for 'negotiated resolution' in Trump-triggered trade clash with China

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Elon Musks net worth falls below $300 billion for first time since November

Deblina Halder

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Pak PM Shehbaz says country's mineral wealth worth 'trillions of dollars' could end reliance on IMF loans

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Pentagon's Hegseth to visit Panama Canal after Trump threatens to take it back

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Trumps F-1 visa crackdown targets students at top US universities: What the new rules say

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Trump says China wants a deal with US but doesnt know how to start

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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.
Military population in Guam to surge to more than 35k in next 12 years
Modern warfare has become a deadly game of hide and seek. In recent decades, precision-guided weapons and advanced reconnaissance technologies have created a new rule on the battlefield: if you can be located you can be destroyed. Stealth technology emerged to cope with this new reality, offering a means of concealment from radar and other sensors, and thus an increased chance of survival, for combat aircraft, ships, and ground forces. I will explain the origins, workings, and prospects for military stealth technology and reveal some inconvenient truths about its utility.

The earliest methods of stealth in warfare were intended to avoid visual detection. Camouflage, tunneling, and nighttime maneuvers were often effective in conferring a battlefield advantage. Today radar, infrared, and acoustic detection technologies make concealment of military movement difficult, day or night. Enter stealth technology, which was introduced as a primary design element by the radar-evading U.S. F-117 attack fighter in 1983. Subsequent USAF combat aircraft, including the B-2 bomber and the F-22 and F-35 fighters, have incorporated progressively more refined stealth techniques. The stealth concept has also been applied to naval combatants and even to some army vehicles.

Aircraft Stealth

There are three design methods aircraft engineers have used to reduce the operational visibility of warplanes: geometry, coatings, and heat suppression. By carefully designing the shape of an aircraft to minimize radar reflections, the effectiveness of radar tracking can be reduced considerably. Coating the skin of the plane with radar-absorbing material (RAM) further reduces the radar signature, and suppressing the emission of heat from the planes engines, lowers the visibility of the aircraft in the infrared spectrum. Even the missiles launched from stealthy aircraft have been designed to be stealthy, further adding to the potency of these weapons. All these measures increase the cost of an aircraft, both initially and for maintenance over its operational life.

Naval Stealth

The introduction of submarine warfare was the first, and arguably most effective, implementation of stealth in naval warfare. Missile submarines are the backbone of the U.S. strategic nuclear deterrent, and attack submarines are the deadliest threat to surface ships. Radar is not a threat to submerged submarines, but sonar is used to detect them. Thus, great efforts have been made to reduce the acoustic signatures of subs, making them as quiet as possible. Surface ships have been redesigned to apply the methods of radar signature reduction developed for stealthy aircraft. The newest surface combatants look quite different from their predecessors, with smooth, uncluttered surfaces covered by radar-absorbing coatings. While these methods cannot be applied to U.S. aircraft carriers, many of the aircraft that fly from them are naval versions of the stealthy F-35.

Army Stealth

While the stealth technology implementation efforts of the U.S. Army are not as advanced as those of the other services, efforts are under way to reduce the vulnerability of Army vehicles and personnel. Newer Army attack helicopters incorporate some stealth features, and the latest developments in vehicle and soldier camouflage include measures to reduce the thermal signature of ground forces.

The Limits of Stealth

Stealth technology is a genuine advance in the art of weaponry, but it is not a guarantee of military dominance. The history of warfare is one of measures and countermeasures, and stealth technology is no exception. The following issues will limit the impact of stealth on warfare.

Competition

Although the U.S. took an early lead in developing stealthy aircraft, fielding two fighters (F-22 and F-35) and two bombers (F-117 and B1) between 1981 and 2006, The other superpowers followed suit: Russia with the SU-57 fighter in 2010 and China with the J-20 fighter in 2011 and the J-35 in 2021. Production of the U.S. B-21 has just begun, but the newly announced U.S. F-47 fighter is only in early development, while Chinas new J-36 and J-50 prototypes have already been sighted in the air. Technical details of all of these planes are classified, but it is clear that the U.S. no longer enjoys a monopoly in stealth aircraft



Cost

Stealth is expensive. The following table show the comparative costs of U.S. stealth aircraft compared to their non-stealthy equivalents. Note that the cost differential is not limited to the initial procurement. The maintenance costs are also higher because of their greater complexity and the need to maintain the stealth coatings of the aircraft.

The cost factor is the reason why it would be infeasible to redesign military transport, refueling, and surveillance aircraft to make them stealthy.

Detection Advances

As the U.S. deployed stealthy warplanes, other major nations developed and fielded improved radar systems, such as the Russian Nebo-M, Voronezh, and P-18, which use VLF and UHF frequencies that can detect stealthy aircraft. Even regional powers, like Iran, have deployed new radars with improved detection capabilities to counter stealth aircraft. Another counter-stealth method is networking radars to locate such aircraft by scanning from multiple directions. Early research on photonic radar, which relies on laser light rather than radio frequency waves, indicates a promising potential to detect and track stealthy aircraft.

Logistical Vulnerability

While stealthy planes may be less vulnerable in the air, they are highly vulnerable on the ground, and they are reliant on the planes, ships, and bases that supply them with fuel and weapons. Of particular concern are the tanker aircraft that are essential to long-distance air power projection. The Air Force currently operates approximately 600 aerial refueling planes, and none of them are stealthy. Their destruction would cripple the ability of stealthy aircraft to conduct long-range campaigns. U.S. transport and airborne radar aircraft also lack stealth characteristics, and thus would be easy prey in a future war. Finally, the air bases from which stealthy aircraft operate cannot be concealed, and they would be high priority targets for missile attack.

The Future of Stealth

The simplest way to overcome the cost and detection problems limiting the efficacy of stealth technology is to reduce the size of weapons. The crucial metric of stealth in the radar spectrum is the Radar Cross Section (RCS), and this is roughly proportional to the size of the aircraft/vessel/vehicle. Similarly, visual and infrared signatures diminish with size. Thus, the easiest and cheapest way to achieve improved stealth is to replace manned weapons with smaller and cheaper robotic systems. Providing superior stealth characteristics at lower cost, is yet another factor which will drive the displacement of manned aircraft, ships, and ground vehicles by their drone equivalents. However, perverse vendor incentives and military institutional inertia will likely lead to further costly and troubled manned stealth aircraft programs, such as the B-21 bomber and the newly-announced F-47 development project.

Conclusion

Stealth technology, while functionally appealing to the military, is a classic example of arms racing, in which new developments spur competitive and counteractive efforts in other nations. Stealth is unlikely to be decisive in future wars because it is irrelevant in asymmetric conflicts, such as the current U.S. campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, and it will likely face comparably protected planes, ships, and troops in a war with a peer adversary. In a large-scale conflict, stealth may protect some planes and ships, but it cannot shield the vulnerable bases and logistical units that are essential to successful military operations.

Military considerations aside, it may be said that the greatest triumph of stealth was in the domain of U.S. defense politics. At the start of the F-35 program, clever lobbying by contractors and the Pentagon reduced the acceptance testing rigor for this vast undertaking. This allowed the troubled project to figuratively fly under the radar of effective oversight. When the Defense department committed to low-rate production of the F-35 before the completion of normal testing in 2001, the result was building many aircraft that would later require costly upgrades. The F-35 has still not met all its testing requirements. Undeterred by the problems of the F-35, in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress established the Middle Tier Acquisition pathway (MTA), which substantially reduced testing requirements for high-priority weapons projects. Thus, whatever the outcome of future armed conflicts, stealth in weapons engineering and in lobbying tactics will continue to bring growing income to arms makers, the biggest winners in arms racing.
Oklahoma boy astounds classmates with his ability to do 50 different bird calls CBS (Regan)

No, the Dire Wolf Has Not Been Brought Back From Extinction New Scientist

#COVID-19/Pandemics

Climate/Environment

China?

Koreas

Africa

European Disunion

Old Blighty

Israel v. The Resistance

New Not-So-Cold War

Imperial Collapse Watch

Philistines, Philistines Everywhere Ian Walsh Five Details That Most Observers Missed From SIPRIs Latest International Arms Trends Report Andrew Korybko. See report: TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL ARMS TRANSFERS, 2024 SIPRI (Micael T) Wow wow. Mexico! From the President 1/2   BROTHERS AND SISTERS, LET US NOT BE MISTAKEN: THE ENEMY IS THE SAME TO THE PEOPLE OF OUR INDOAMERICA

From: Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico: Why does imperialism want to see us divided?*

Because it knows that  Dr. Renee Levant (@ReneeLevant) April 6, 2025 Provocative, but I had a friend whose mother had been completely sheltered from real world hardships when growing up. She had a great deal of difficulty with adult life, had frequent panic attacks, and when her husband divorced her (this in the days when that was rare, another woman successfully pursued him), she regularly threatened to kill herself in front of her kids. The eldest, my friend, worked hard to shelter his two younger siblings from her moods. He saw his job as keeping her alive (starting at the age of 6!) so he did not wind up in an orphanage. So my n=1 says this can happen. "Millennials traded discipline for 'gentle' parenting, and now were raising anxious, entitled kids who cant cope. With birth rates plummeting, are millennials raising kids who act as contraceptives for the next?" Writes @hannahspierMD in a V24 opedhttps://t.co/XpFpZG3M1o  Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) April 8, 2025

Trump 2.0

Tariffs

Democrat Death Wish

Why Do Democrats Destroy Their Own? Matt Taibbi (Chuck L)

Trigonometry, Not Triggernometry, Who Fired the Head Shot that Killed Kennedy? Larry Johnson

Immigration

Our No Longer Free Press

Turkish government correspondent in Sweden singled out ETC  days before arrest Blankspot via machine translation (Micael T)

Mr. Market Has a Nervous Breakdown

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Class Warfare

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Cat Tries to Catch Mouse But What Happens Next?  pic.twitter.com/8MQU2TMPTh  contents that ll heal your depression  (@catshealdeprsn) April 8, 2025

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See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Yves here. Yours truly has been of the view that the most coherent explanation for Trumps actions is that represent an extreme need to dominate, and other considerations are at best secondary. Notice how Trump has gone berserk over his inability to crush Ansar Allah, has had far too many counter-productive shows of pique with respect to Project Ukraine (due both to Zelensky, despite his weak position, refusing to come to heel, and having the Russian negotiators run rings around he team, albeit they all seem to be so full of themselves as to have not yet worked that out).

However, Trump playing chaos generator has heretofore been a central feature in his efforts to get the upper hand. So why has he been extreme (typical) and rigid (not) on the subject of tariffs, even with some oligarchs once in his camp now making forceful criticisms?

As much as depicting Trump as a wannabe dictator is a bit simplistic, his insatiable maw of desire to dominate others winds up looking not all that different if you blur your focus a bit. IMHO a dictator would want to make sure he wound up controlling things of value, as opposed to breaking them just for the fun of exercising that much power.

This post conveniently skips past the lack of any meaningful opposition by the feckless Democrats to Trumps brazen moves. Why are they not filing suits or providing amicus briefs? Why so little use of their bully pulpits? Why are Sanders and AOC the only pols regularly out on the stump? Trumps dictatorship is a function of cowardice and spinelessness among the putative elites.

Lawrence Wilkerson said that Colin Powell kept a quotation attributed to Thucydides on his desk: Of all manifestations of power restraint impresses men most, partly because it is the form which power least often takes Clearly a mode of operation not in Trumps repertoire.

By Jake Johnson, staff writer at Common Dreams. Originally published at Common Dreams

Analysts puzzling over the bizarre formula the Trump administration used to calculate its country-by-country tariff rates are wasting their time, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said in a response to the American president that has gone viral in recent days as global markets continue to nosedive.

Its not economic policy, its not trade policy, Murphy (D-Conn.) said in remarks recorded after Trump announced the sweeping tariffs last week. Its a political weapon designed to collapse our democracy.

While President Donald Trumps universal tariffs on imports make no sense as an effort to rectify the failures of the status quo trade regime and bring back offshored U.S. jobs, they are comprehensible when viewed as a tool to try to compel pledges of loyalty, this time from companies and industries in the United States, Murphy argued.

You have to understand that everything Donald Trump is doing is in service of staying in power forevereither him or his family or his handpicked successors, the Democratic senator continued. Hes trying to destroy our democracy.

Murphy contended that the president designed the tariffs to be so widespread that corporations across private industry would have to come to the White House and make an agreement with Trump in which he gives them tariff relief in exchange for a pledge of political loyalty.

What could that pledge look like? Murphy continued. Well, maybe they agree to champion his economic policy publicly. Maybe they agree to make contributions to his political campaign. Maybe they agree to police their employees to make sure that nobody that works for that company works for the political opposition.

Politicoreported late last week that businesses across corporate America fear Trumps wrath and are thus declining to criticize the presidents tariff policies even as they wreak havoc worldwide and threaten to spark a devastating recession.

There is zero incentive for any company or brand to be remotely critical of this administration, one unnamed public affairs operative told Politico. It destroys your ability to work with the White House and advance your policies, period.

While the United States has plenty of real problems to deal with, Trump is ignoring them to manufacture the fake emergencies he needs to further enlarge and centralize his power.

Murphy is hardly alone in seeing Trumps tariffs as an instrument of power consolidation.

Robert Reich, the former U.S. labor secretary, wrote Monday that were turning into a dictatorship as Trump conjures fake national emergencies to jack up tariffs, deport people en masse without due process, gut efforts to combat the climate crisis, and dismantle large swaths of the federal government.

As Trump declares emergency after emergency to justify his reign of terror, hes simultaneously eliminating Americas capacity to respond to real emergencies, Reich wrote. Make no mistake about whats really going on here. While the United States has plenty of real problems to deal with, Trump is ignoring them to manufacture the fake emergencies he needs to further enlarge and centralize his power.

One analyst, Zack Beauchamp of Vox, argued the tariffs are more a symptom of the decline of U.S. democracy rather than a cause of it.

Trumps tariffs will, if fully implemented, be remembered as their own cautionary tale. While he campaigned on them, he wouldnt have been able to implement the entire tariff package had he gone through the normal constitutionally prescribed procedure for raising taxes, Beauchamp wrote. The fact that America isnt functioning like a normal democracy, with public deliberation and multiple checks on executive authority, is what allowed Trump to act on his idiosyncratic ideas in the manner of a Mao or Putin.

Its still possible that Trump steps back from the brink, he added. But even if he does, and the worst outcome is avoided, the lesson should be clear: The long decay of Americas democratic system means that we are all living under an axe. And if this isnt the moment it falls, there will surely be another.
Prince is making bank as a security consultant for US-friendly governments in Latin America just months after trying to crowdfund a coup against a less friendly one.

With Donald J Trump back in the White House, business could soon be booming for Erik Prince, the former Blackwater CEO, arms trafficker, shadow Trump advisor and wannabe colonialist . According to Politico, Prince was among a group of prominent military contractors who had pitched the Trump White House on a proposal to carry out mass deportations through a network of processing camps on military bases, a private fleet of 100 planes, and a small army of private citizens empowered to make arrests.

Prince was also allegedly involved in the Trump teams negotiations with El Salvadors President Nayib Bukele that culminated in the deal that would see the small Central American nation house allegedly violent US criminals and deportees in the legal black holes of its mega-prisons.

As CNN Espanol reported in March, the agreement was confirmation that Prince, a former Washington pariah, had returned to the Trump fold after being ousted and banned from the Pentagon and CIA by officials who felt that his proposals to use mercenary forces around the world overstepped the bounds of legality. But following his recent rehabilitation, Prince is now back in the beating heart of US politics and his ideas are fast gaining ground.

Combatting Narco-Terrorism

Prince is currently making bank as a security consultant for US-friendly governments in Latin America while also trying to crowdfund coups against less friendly ones. Last year, he launched Ya Casi Venezuela, a social media-based fundraiser aimed at toppling Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro with an army of private mercenaries. Though the initiative led to nothing, it did attract attention from opposition groups in Venezuela, bringing in millions of dollars in donations. That money has since magically disappeared while Maduro remains firmly in power.

Now, Prince is in Ecuador, currently the most violent country in Latin America, just as its citizens prepare to vote in the second round of neck-and-neck presidential elections. On Saturday, the Daniel Noboa government announced Princes arrival in the country in order to strengthen the countrys internal security, combat narco-terrorism  the term du jour in Washington and its vassal state governments in Latin America  and protect Ecuadorian territorial waters against the growing threat of illegal fishing, particularly from China.

Nobody (apart from government insiders) knows how much Prince is being paid out of the public purse for his advice. In a tweet replete with flexed biceps emojis, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Defence described Princes arrival as a historic chapter for the security of Ecuador:

The security bloc and US President Erik Prince are already on the ground fighting narcoterrorism. From Portete in Guayaquil, we are carrying out operations against the mafias.

Defence Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo said Prince and his team are providing training and advice to Ecuadorian security forces, but added that their scope of action could be expanded. They might not be limited to just those actions, Loffredo said.

The timing of Princes visit is, to put it mildly, concerning. Ecuador is currently in the grip of arguably its worst ever security crisis, and this coming weekend the second round of presidential elections will take place. On the ballot are Ecuadors US-born-and-raised President Daniel Noboa, who will be facing off against Luisa Gonzalez, the leader of the left-leaning, Correista Citizen Revolution Movement.

The election looks likely to go down to the wire: in the first round, held on February 9, the difference between first and second place was just 17,000 votes. In recent weeks, however, Gonzalez has pulled slightly ahead in many polls. Crucially, her candidacy has received the backing of the Pachakutik indigenous movement, the political arm of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie). In exchange for Conaies support, Gonzalez pledged to protect the interests of indigenous communities in a number of key areas.

The outcome of the election will have big ramifications for Ecuadors social and economic future. During its 16 months in office, the Noboa government has applied orthodox neoliberal policies (privatisation of state-owned industries, elimination of public subsidies, anti-labour measures, deregulation) with all too predictable consequences: surging poverty, high unemployment, rolling energy blackouts, and rampant insecurity. By contrast, Luisa Gonzalez is proposing to adopt run-of-the-mill social democratic policies (more state intervention, increased investment in social welfare as well as judicial and security reforms).

The electoral outcome could also have major implications for US security interests in the region, which is why Princes arrival at this time, fresh from his failed attempts to crowdfund a coup in Venezuela, is so inauspicious. Lest we forget, Ecuadors last elections were marred by the assassination of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Together with Mileis Argentina and Bukeles El Salvador, Ecuador is one of relatively few countries in Latin America that has completely subordinated itself to US strategic interests in the region. One thing all three countries have in common is that they are all beholden to the Washington-based IMF. Like Milei, Noboa has paid tens of thousands of dollars of presumably public funds to pay homage to Trump 2.0 at Mar-a-Lago where they were both given the silent treatment by Trump.

Internationalising Ecuadors Security Crisis

The Noboa government has even violated Ecuadors constitutional ban on foreign military bases in order to allow the US to use the Galapagos Islands, one of the worlds most precious nature reserves, as a military outpost. In March, Noboa invited the armies of the United States, Europe and Brazil to join his war against criminal organisations operating in his country.

As Peoples Dispatch noted at the time, this open-ended invitation to foreign armies suggests that a model similar to that of Haiti could be repeated, according to which troops from third countries enter national territories with serious internal conflicts and thus seek to pacify the society, while wealthy countries finance the expeditions without risking their soldiers.

Needless to say, a Luisa Gonzalez government is unlikely to continue such policies  after all, it was her mentor and former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa (2007-17), who made foreign military bases illegal in the first place. Gonzalez has talked about cooperating with the US military but has ruled out subordinating her governments policies to US interests. She has also said she will recognise Venezuelas Maduro government, which Erik Prince was trying his darnedest to topple just a few months ago.

Since setting up his private security firm Blackwater in 1997, Prince has made a habit of meddling in the security affairs of other countries, from Iraq to Afghanistan to Libya and Venezuela, often with ugly consequences. Most notoriously, Blackwater was responsible for the Nisour Square massacre in Iraq (2007) in which 17 civilians were killed. The four Blackwater Worldwide contractors prosecuted and found guilty of multiple criminal acts committed during that massacre were ultimately pardoned by Trumps first administration in late 2020.

Prince has also been investigated for illegal arms trafficking, money laundering and, as already mentioned, has proposed the mass deportation of migrants using an army of loosely regulated private companies. If anything, Princes ideas appear to have hardened in recent years. Just over a year ago, he spoke on his aptly named podcast, Off the Leash, of the need for the US to put the imperial hat back on and take over and directly run large swathes of the globe. From The Intercept:

Heres are Princes exact words: If so many of these countries around the world are incapable of governing themselves, its time for us to just put the imperial hat back on, to say, were going to govern those countries  cause enough is enough, were done being invaded.  You can say that about pretty much all of Africa, theyre incapable of governing themselves. Princes co-host Mark Serrano then warned him that listeners might hear his words and believe he means them: People on the left are going to watch this, said Serrano, and theyre going to say, wait a minute, Erik Prince is talking about being a colonialist again. Prince responded: Absolutely, yes. He then added that he thought this was a great concept not just for Africa but also for Latin America.

Having arrived in Ecuador just a few days ago, Prince has already begun meddling in the countrys political processes.

Next Sunday, the people of Ecuador can choose law and order and choose Daniel Noboa, or they can choose to make Ecuador look just like Venezuela, a narco-state with massive drug processing, with all the socialism and despair that comes with that, Prince said in an interview on the streets of Guayaquil. I hope that Ecuador chooses law and order, and we are here to help combat the gangs and provide the tools for the government to restore law and order, peace and prosperity.

Erik Prince, founder of the notorious private mercenary contractor Blackwater (now Academi), is campaigning for Ecuadorian President Noboa's reelection. Many suspect Noboa, son of the countrys richest man, is leveraging Prince to orchestrate a coup if his opponent Luisa Gonzalez pic.twitter.com/xFCCIAD0RY  BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) April 7, 2025

In another televised interview, Prince accused the opposition leader, Luisa Gonzalez, of being a surrogate of former President Rafael Correa, of mothering one of his children and of serving the interests of Venezuelas Chavista government.

El programa de @CarlosVerareal es una madriguera para que cualquier miserable hable en contra de @LuisaGonzalezEc Ya no pueden decir que es limitada o que nunca ha trabajado. Ya no alcanza eso porque es una candidata a la presidencia muy solvente. Ahora, la calumnia es que el pic.twitter.com/XelphXCWPh  Gonzalo J. Paredes  (@Gonzalojparedes) April 7, 2025

Youve got to hand it to Prince  it takes some chutzpah to go to a foreign country whose language you dont even speak and tell the locals who they should vote for in the coming elections, especially when the family of the candidate youre proposing is currently embroiled in a cocaine trafficking scandal. According to an investigative report by the magazine Raya, Noboa Trading Co., a banana producing and trading firm belonging to the Noboa family, one of the richest in the country, has been caught on three occasions concealing hundreds of kilos of cocaine in cargos of bananas destined for Europe.

This is the way by which much, or even most, of the cocaine transported from Ecuador reaches Europe: through the banana trade. Although the police seized the shipments in flagrante delicto, those allegedly involved, including members of the Noboa family, have not faced justice. From Progressive International:

Part of the investigation was revealed last weekend by Ecuadorian journalist Andres Duran, who, after disclosing several official documents containing reports on the drug seizure, had to leave the country due to death threats and legal harassment from the ruling political party, Movimiento Accion Democratica Nacional (ADN). In an interview with Revista RAYA, Duran spoke about his investigation and his departure from Ecuador: This is the first documented case in Ecuadors history in which a presidential family is allegedly involved in cocaine trafficking. The Noboa family controls the entire chain of the banana export business, from planting and harvesting to transportation and private ports. There is no doubt that the death threats are closely linked to this investigation.

When questioned about the scandal during the last presidential debate, Noboa denied having any direct links himself with the company in question but admitted that other members of his family did. Since then, an investigation by the Brazilian independent journalism agency Agencia Publica has revealed that documents leaked in the Pandora Papers show that the majority shareholder of Noboa Trading Co, Lanfranco Holdings S.A., is joint-owned by Daniel Noboa and his brother, John.

Ecuadors Internal Armed Conflict

As readers may recall, in January 2024, within weeks of coming to power, Noboa declared an internal armed conflict against the countrys criminal gangs following a wave of violence in the country, labelling more than 20 of them as terrorist organisations and belligerent non-state actors. Noboa ordered the deployment of the countrys armed forces onto the streets of Ecuadors cities to assist the Police in combating the drug cartels and restore law and order in the crime-ravaged country.

As we warned at the time, the result would likely be an even larger explosion of violence, just as happened in Colombia and Mexico when their governments declared all-out war on their drug cartels, in 1984 and 2006 respectively. And so it has proven: although the violence did subside in the first half of 2024, it has surged back to record levels in the first months of this year. As the Spanish news agency EFE reports, Ecuador just registered the most violent January of any year on record:

According to figures from the Ministry of the Interior, 781 homicides were registered in January of this year, 276 more than the 505 recorded in 2024, and 247 more than the 534 in 2023, the year in which Ecuador led the rate of violent deaths in Latin America.

This latest surge in violence once again cements Ecuadors position as the most violent country in Latin America, reports El Pais:

In the first 50 days of the year, the country has recorded 1,300 murders, which is equivalent to one crime per hour. This figure represents a 40% increase on 2023, a year that already holds the title of being the most violent in the countrys recent history. In the midst of this bloodbath, at least 50 minors lost their lives in January alone Ecuador now faces a new configuration of criminal gangs, better armed, better trained and more violent than ever  an outcome that had already been anticipated by several security experts, when the government granted them the status of enemies of war, with the intention of stopping the advance of these organizations.

So, who is to blame for Ecuadors almost complete breakdown in law and order?

That depends who you ask, as I wrote in a previous post on Noboas internal armed conflict:

For those on the right, its Rafael Correas governments general permissiveness with the drugs cartels and alleged ties with the Colombian insurgency group FARC that is at the root cause. And there is probably a certain amount of truth to that. His government encouraged Ecuadors gang members to hand in their weapons in exchange for amnesty, and Correa himself is now being ridiculed in the right wing press for once comparing the Latin Kings, one of the groups labelled as terrorists, with the Boy Scouts. For those on the left, including Correa himself, Lenin Moreno, the man who stabbed Correa in the back by handing over Julian Assange to the British police, allegedly in exchange for a $4.2 billion IMF bailout that signalled the recommencement of brutal austerity in Ecuador, and Lasso are the main culprits after having systematically gutted and dismantled the Ecuadorian state, leaving it incapable of performing even the most basic government functions  including maintaining law and order. The numbers more or less speak for themselves. Rafael Correas government was in office from 2008 to 2017. Between 2009 and 2017 the homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants steadily fell from 18 to 5.78, one of the lowest rates in Latin America  a fall of almost 70% in less than 10 years. The Correa governments law and order reforms even received plaudits from the Washington-based Inter-American Development Bank. The reforms included a significant pay rise for police officers, much closer cooperation between the police and local communities, and increased investment in local policing. After 2017, the number of homicides began rising once again, first slowly but then rapidly. In 2020, when the Moreno government executed an austerity drive as the economy reeled from the effects of the pandemic and global lockdowns, the rise became exponential. It included budget cuts for police forces. For many people, crime became the only means of survival as firearms were flooding the market, most of them bought or stolen from the police and security forces. Ecuadors prison system began to collapse after years of under- funding and maladministration. By the end of 2023, the homicide rate had reached 45%, the highest in the region. In just six years, the number of homicides has increased more than seven fold There are, of course, plenty of other reasons for Ecuadors dramatic fall from grace beyond (IMF-supported/imposed) austerity. They include bananas and dollarisation

As the violence rose, Noboas presidential predecessor, Guillermo Lasso, a Guayaquil-based banker-cum-politician whose presidential term was cut short in 2023 by a flurry of scandals including one involving his alleged ties to Albanian drug traffickers, came up with the idea of setting up a security agreement with the United States modelled on Plan Colombia. Unsurprisingly, Washington was happy to oblige.

Repeating Plan Colombias Counter-Insurgency Success?

If theres one thing most historians can agree upon, it is that Plan Colombia, the US governments anti-narcotics drug-eradication program, was an unmitigated disaster  at least from an anti-narcotics perspective.

Signed in 1998 by President Bill Clinton and his Colombian counterpart, Andres Pastrana, it burnt through $10 billion of US and other overseas funds over two decades, worsened the violence in Colombia, bathed more than a million hectares of farmland in a rich brew of toxic chemicals, including Monsantos probably carcinogenic weedkiller glyphosate and exacerbated organised crime  all while overseeing a significant upsurge in coca production.

Even the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee admitted in 2020 that Plan Colombia had been a resounding failure from a counter-narcotics perspective  but a counterinsurgency success. And that, I would argue, was ultimately the main goal. As if to confirm that, the former head of US Southern Command, Laura Richardson, has described Plan Colombia as so successful that it became an example for the rest of the region, starting with Ecuador.

SOUTHCOM says Plan Colombia was "so successful" that it's become an example for the rest of the region and that Ecuador could benefit from a 'Plan Ecuador'. pic.twitter.com/hYEdGrctUa  Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) May 20, 2024

Despite his alleged ties to drug trafficking organisations, one of Lassos last acts in office was to sign an anti-narcotics security agreement with the US military. In October 2023, Lasso attended a hush-hush meeting with senior officials of the US Coast Guard and Department of Defence in Washington in October 2023. The meeting was so hush-hush that it was not even mentioned in any of the State Departments press releases from that week, reported the Washington Examiner, the only US media outlet to cover the story.

From our post, First Peru, Now Ecuador: US Southern Command Escalates Its War on Drugs in South America:

The [first status agreement allows] the deployment of US naval forces along Ecuadors coastline while the other [permits] the disembarking of US land forces on Ecuadors soil, albeit only at the request of Ecuadors government. All with the ostensible aim of combating drug trafficking organizations. Obviously, that is not what this is really about. If Washington were serious about tackling the violence generated by the drug cartels, the first thing it could do is pass legislation to stem the southward flow of U.S.-produced guns and other weapons. But that would hurt the profits of arms manufacturers. And if it were remotely serious about tackling the major cause of the drug problemthe rampant consumption of narcotics within its own bordersit would never have let Big Pharma unleash the opium epidemic. And once it had, it would never have let the perps walk free with the daintiest of financial slaps on the wrists.

And lets be honest: the US government, through its web of three-letter agencies, has done more to shape the contours of the international drugs trade over the past 70 years than any other country on the planet. Back to that previous post:

The primary goal of this latest escalation in the U.S. decades-old war on drugs, as with all previous escalations, is to achieve or maintain geostrategic dominance in key, normally resource-rich regions of the world while keeping the restive populace at home in lineor in prison, generating big bucks for the prison industrial complex.

The US prison industrial complex is now spreading across the American continent, as El Salvador agrees to house thousands of US criminals and deportees. The same is likely to occur with US military bases, as Washington seeks to reassert its strategic dominance over its direct neighbourhood. According to plans recently obtained by CNN, the Noboa government is already laying the groundwork for US forces to arrive:

According to a high-level Ecuadorian official familiar with the planning, construction of a new naval facility in the coastal city of Manta is part of that preparation, with barracks-style housing and administration offices designed to support sustained operations and US military personnel. The official requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The construction of a new US naval facility is particularly controversial in Ecuador given: a) its populace voted to evict all US military personnel from Ecuadorian territory almost two decades ago; and b) the current constitution expressly forbids the establishment of foreign military bases on Ecuadorian soil.

In 2009, when the lease on the US base at Manta came up for renewal, the Rafael Correa government held a referendum on whether to maintain or close the base. An overwhelming majority of Ecuadorians voted in favour of closing the base, and within months all US military personnel had left the country. At a ceremony marking the American withdrawal, Ecuadors then-Foreign Minister Fander Falconi made the following statement:

The withdrawal of the American military is a victory for sovereignty and peace. Never again to foreign bases on Ecuadorian territory, never again will we sell out the flag.

Until now.

Even as his family business is accused of participating directly in the drugs trade, Noboa is not only trying to fast track the establishment of new US military bases on Ecuadorian soil, in direct violation of Ecuadors constitution; he is also opening the doors to US mercenary groups just days before make-or-break elections. Whether another US-backed coup is once again in the works, it is still too early to tell. But one thing is clear: Ecuadors US-born and raised President, Daniel Noboa, is selling out what remains of Ecuadors sovereignty as fast as he possibly can.
Nashvillians walk dogs and bike up and down Anthes Drive on a cool Monday morning at Old Tent City, one of Nashvilles longest-standing encampments, right on the Cumberland River. Word spread last week that the city planned to clear the site within 60 days.

More than 100 people live on 20 acres here according to estimates from residents. Its been a particularly precarious six months  in the fall, the state demolished several shelters built by residents, including a two-story home constructed from salvaged wood. At the time, the city set and changed several timelines, emphasizing that no residents would be forced out.

On March 31, Metros Office of Homeless Services announced plans to concentrate outreach efforts at Anthes Drive in a housing surge. The citys outdoor homelessness strategy is a knot of interdependent decision-making from different groups. The Homeless Planning Councils 25 members help guide the citys Continuum of Care, another web of groups and members with its own committees. One of these, the Local Prioritization Team, chose Old Tent City as the next site for clearance, preceded by concentrated efforts to meet and house those who lived there. This decision followed guidelines set by the councils Coordinated Entry System and the separate Shelter, Weather, Outreach and Prevention Committee. Direct deliberations about which sites to choose for closure are shielded from the public.

The Continuum of Care has a scorecard they evaluate: danger to individuals, urgency for housing, other criteria to select camps, do a housing surge, then start over and do it again, says Metro Councilmember Jacob Kupin, whose District 19 includes Old Tent City. This one has been on the radar for some time. The flooding this weekend is an example of why its unsafe to live right on the riverfront.

Residents say drugs, too, affect many people at the site. Chris, a combat veteran originally from Ohio, has lived at the camp on and off since being released from prison in October.

Its just a bad situation, says Chris, who asks the Scene to use only his first name. Some people fall on hard times, for some people its a drug thing. Some people have been here for years, how are they going to pack up and leave in 60 days? I just dont believe that theyre gonna have housing for everybody. I carry my tent with me. Soon Im going to get my VA check. My plan is to buy a camper and travel across the United States.

Chris also mentions a string of recent deaths at the site. He speaks with the Scene next to a tent staffed by two city outreach workers taking residents contact information and handing out muffins and juice. Every so often, a Metro Nashville police officer patrols Anthes Drive, the camps main artery stretching from Second Avenue to campsites on the river.

Chris says residents are trading rumors about pending real estate plans along Anthes Drive. Under former Mayor John Cooper, the city bought the old Tennessee School for the Blind at 88 Hermitage Ave. for $20.3 million in 2022. The site, just uphill from Old Tent City, completes the footprint necessary for Wharf Park, another aspiration under Cooper that would see the current encampment developed into a scenic riverfront centered on a recreational boathouse.

Kupin says any real estate plans are separate from the housing surge. Metros priority here, he says, is to concentrate services here to get as many Old Tent City residents into housing as possible. Mayor Freddie OConnell also backs the citys ability to get housing for those who need it.

We want to ensure housing for every person staying in this encampment, so closing an encampment is not a quick process, the mayor says in a press release. Our prioritization committee identifies areas that need attention, and then there is outreach to residents of the camp, and each one will receive temporary housing assistance and the social supports they need.

Nashvilles 2024 Point-in-Time Count found 2,094 people living outside on Jan. 25, 2024. This years count took place overnight on Jan. 23; the city has yet to release the finalized report. These reports, often understood as a minimum estimate of the outdoor unhoused population, have hovered around 2,000 for the past decade. The same reports estimate that around half of the Nashvillians living outside live within an encampment.
After several weeks of protests related to a bill that would allow school boards to prohibit undocumented students from attending public schools, another bill targeting immigrants is headed to the governors desk. House Bill 749/Senate Bill 1086 passed the Senate on Monday and will invalidate out-of-state drivers licenses issued to undocumented immigrants, making the use of such licenses while driving a class-B misdemeanor. Tennessee does not currently allow undocumented immigrants to receive drivers licenses.

+4 Protester Arrested as Lawmakers Debate Bill Targeting Undocumented Students Legislation heading for Senate floor following discussion of its financial impact

The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Lee Reeves (R-Franklin) and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), who say the bill only invalidates licenses when they are used to operate a motor vehicle and not when used for other occasions, like buying alcohol and going to the airport.

We do not grant driving privileges to people who are not in the country lawfully, therefore why in the world would we recognize a drivers license thats issued to someone whos in the country unlawfully by another state? Johnson said during Mondays floor session.

Democrats oppose the bill and say it will conflict with laws enacted in other states that allow the licenses to be issued. Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) called the bill constitutionally unsound, while Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) said it will lead to racial profiling.

That is not the climate we should want to create, that this legislation will create, Lamar said. Johnson argued racial profiling will not occur under the law, calling it a gross insult to our brave men and women in law enforcement.

The bill passed 26-6 along party lines and is en route to Gov. Bill Lees desk to become state law.

Earlier in the day, dozens of protesters continued to speak out in opposition of HB 793/SB 836, divisive legislation that authorizes school boards to bar undocumented students from enrolling in public schools or charge their families tuition.

The bill narrowly passed the House Government Operations Committee with an 8-7 vote.

As lawmakers cast their votes, protesters  including several faith leaders  kneeled at the front of the committee room and began repeatedly reciting the Lords Prayer, disrupting the meeting before the committee adjourned and state troopers cleared the protesters from the room.

This comes after more than 240 Tennessee pastors, Christian leaders and faith-based organizations issued a letter urging legislators to vote against the bill. The legislation will head to the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee in the coming days.
Canadian nurses face fines, job loss for questioning transgender ideology in private conversations

Medical professionals face fines, job loss, and license revocation for challenging transgender policies or stating biological facts.

A B.C. nurse was fined $10,000 for privately calling gender surgeries "mutilation," despite no discriminatory action taken.

Another nurse was fired for supporting J.K. Rowling and saying that only women can give birth, labeled as "professional misconduct."

A UK nurse was suspended for using accurate pronouns for a transgender inmate, while facing racial slurs with no protection.

These cases expose a systemic crackdown on dissent, where institutions enforce ideological conformity over truth and free speech.

In Western nations that pride themselves on democracy and free expression, a growing number of medical professionals are facing draconian penalties  including fines, job loss, and license revocation  simply for questioning transgender policies or asserting biological facts. From British Columbia to the United Kingdom, nurses and doctors are being disciplined for expressing concerns about sex-based rights, echoing a broader ideological battle over truth, science, and professional integrity.

Silenced for speaking out

In British Columbia, nurse Kirsten Olsen was fined $10,000 by the provinces Human Rights Tribunal after privately expressing concerns to a transgender friend about the risks of gender-affirming surgery. Despite admitting that Olsens eviction of her tenant was unrelated to gender identity, the tribunal ruled her comments about mastectomies being mutilation were transphobic. Her lawyer, Marty Moore of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), called the decision a violation of free expression, arguing, A comment of concern for a friend is very different than evicting someone on the basis of their... protected characteristic.

Meanwhile, former nurse Amy Hamm was fired without severance by Vancouver Coastal Health after being found guilty of professional misconduct by the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM). Her crime? Supporting J.K. Rowling, opposing male access to womens spaces, and stating basic biological facts  such as that only women can give birth. The BCCNMs 115-page ruling dismissed her argument that she was criticizing transgender activists rather than transgender individuals, claiming her statements were designed to lower the standing of transgender persons. Hamm, now a vocal advocate for womens rights, vowed to appeal, writing, I value the truth more than my reputation.

Religious freedom under attack

Across the Atlantic, UK nurse Jennifer Melle faced suspension and a potential career-ending investigation after referring to a male transgender inmatea convicted pedophileas mister and he during a medical discussion. When the patient responded by hurling racial slurs and lunging at her, Melle was disciplined for not respecting the patients preferred identity, while her white colleague faced no consequences for the same language.

I am expected to tolerate racism, deny biological reality, and suppress my deeply held Christian beliefs, Melle told the Daily Mail. The Christian Legal Centre, representing her, accused the NHS of prioritizing ideology over safety. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch condemned Melles treatment as completely crazy.

These cases reveal a disturbing trend: institutions punishing professionals for dissenting from progressive orthodoxy, even in private conversations. The BCCNM justified its crackdown by claiming Hamms statements could undermine trust in nursingyet ignored the chilling effect of suppressing scientific debate. As J.K. Rowling declared in support of Hamm, This quasi-religious bullshit is just that: bullshit.

The implications are dire. If acknowledging biological reality becomes grounds for termination, and faith-based speech is labeled misconduct, the medical field risks becoming an ideological monolithone that prioritizes dogma over patient well-being and professional honesty.

From Canadas punitive tribunals to the NHSs ideological enforcement, these cases underscore a systemic assault on free speech, science, and conscience. Medical professionals should not have to choose between their careers and the truth. As Hamm defiantly stated, I will continue to speak it, in the company of other brave and sane Canadians who can plainly see that a man is a man. The battle for liberty, it seems, is far from over.

Sources for this article include:

JustTheNews.com

DailyMail.co.uk

NationalPost.com
Poorly vetted foreign drivers flooding U.S. highways, causing deadly crashes

American highways are becoming more dangerous due to an influx of poorly vetted foreign truck drivers, many with questionable immigration statuses and inadequate qualifications.

A little-known category, non-domicile commercial licenses (CLPs/CDLs), allows foreign drivers, including asylum seekers and migrants, to operate commercial vehicles without permanent U.S. residency, often with minimal oversight.

Trucking advocate Shannon Everett warns of a "deliberate erosion" of safety standards, blaming lobbying efforts by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) for policies that prioritize cheap labor over highway safety.

A recent Texas 18-wheeler crash, involving a non-citizen driver with limited English proficiency, left 5 dead (including a child and infant) and 12 injured, raising concerns about lax licensing and training standards.

American Truckers United (ATU) demands public disclosure of the driver's background, training and licensing, arguing that current policies "destroy decades of safety progress" in the trucking industry.

American highways have become increasingly dangerous in recent years due to a surge of unqualified, poorly vetted foreign drivers, many with questionable immigration statuses, operating massive tractor-trailers and commercial vehicles.

In an exclusive interview with Border Hawk, Shannon Everett, a veteran trucking industry advocate and leader of American Truckers United (ATU), revealed the alarming trend of unqualified foreign drivers obtaining commercial licenses with little oversight.

Everett, who has been investigating the "deliberate erosion" of safety standards in the commercial trucking industry, explained that a little-known category of licensing, non-domicile commercial learner's permits (CLPs) and commercial driver's licenses (CDLs), has opened the floodgates for foreign drivers who may lack proper qualifications, English proficiency or even legal residency.

"When we first started working on this, we had a deep understanding and knowledge of what was taking place with Mexico and Canada and the loopholes that were being abused to bring foreign commercial driver's licenses onto American roadways," Everett said.

However, he also clarified that the ATU had no idea how many non-citizens, including asylum seekers and migrants, are now getting U.S. CDLs under these non-domicile licenses.

"We have seen a radical shift in the trucking industry, and what everybody is experiencing out on the highways is a result of a significant policy change that happened in the last several years," Everett stated.

These permits, introduced after lobbying efforts by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), allow foreign nationals from outside North America to obtain CDLs without permanent U.S. residency. Many of these drivers enter the country through Biden-era parole programs, which grant temporary work authorization.

"They're completely destroying all the hard work that the whole industry has worked on for the last 30 or 40 years to make our highways safer in the name of political correctness or whatever agenda they have, and people's lives are being ruined," he said.

Deadly Texas crash involving migrant truck driver highlights danger of radical shift in trucking industry

The dangers of this policy shift were tragically highlighted in a deadly crash in Austin, Texas, on March 27, involving a commercial truck driver who held a U.S. CDL but was not a citizen.

Solomun Weldekeal Araya, a 37-year-old migrant from the Horn of Africa who speaks little English, was behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler when he plowed into 17 stopped vehicles on Interstate 35. Witnesses said the 18-wheeler slammed into stopped traffic as if Araya forgot to brake. (Related: Truck carrying radioactive uranium crashes in North Carolina.)

A preliminary breathalyzer test showed a 0.00 blood alcohol concentration, but police noted Araya exhibited "all six" signs of intoxication and failed a field sobriety test. Investigators suspect he may have been under the influence of depressants. The tragedy left five dead at the scene, including a child and an infant, and 12 injured.

Moreover, advocacy group American Truckers United wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Araya "barely spoke English," suggesting he may have obtained a non-domicile CDL.

"American Truckers United believes there is a 90 percent chance at least one of the truck drivers was a non-citizen truck driver. The accident investigation should include a background on the licensing, training and qualifications of the truck drivers. This information should be made available to the public immediately!" American Truckers United posted.

Araya, who remains in custody at Travis County Jail, now faces multiple counts of intoxication manslaughter.

Migrants.news has more stories related to this.

Watch this video about another car accident.

This video is from The Mysterious Stranger channel on Brighteon.com.

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WAYMO PROBLEMS: Reported accidents involving Waymo driverless cars in San Francisco MULTIPLIED SIXFOLD this year.

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Sources include:

YourNews.com

Infowars.com

BorderHawk.news

Brighteon.com
Silent invasion: Genetically modified mosquitoes released in U.S. backyards amidst public outcry

Oxitec released genetically modified (GM) male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Florida on April 29, 2025, marking the first such experiment in the U.S., despite public opposition and regulatory concerns.

Independent studies, including a 2019 Yale analysis of Oxitecs Brazil trials, found GM mosquitoes did not fully die off, leading to hybrid offspring that may be more resistant to disease control measures. Trials in the Cayman Islands also fell short of promised suppression rates.

The EPA fast-tracked approval using Oxitec-funded studies, ignored public petitions (over 250,000 objections), and overlooked scientific warnings, while internal emails revealed industry lobbying to push the project forward.

No long-term studies exist on ecological impacts, including disruptions to food chains or unintended mutations. Oxitec has refused to release complete trial data, raising accountability concerns.

The article urges public resistance, demanding transparency from regulators, pressuring local officials for moratoriums, raising awareness, and rejecting corporate-driven biotech solutions in favor of natural alternatives.

In a brazen disregard for both ecological integrity and public consent, British biotech firm Oxitec has unleashed thousands of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes into the Florida Keys  marking the first-ever release of GM mosquitoes in the United States. On April 29, 2025, workers placed water-filled boxes containing GM mosquito larvae in six residential yards, triggering the hatch of an estimated 12,000 modified male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes per box. Marketed as a "solution" to disease-carrying pests, these lab-engineered insects are part of an unprecedented biotech experiment, approved by the deeply compromised EPA, despite glaring scientific and ethical concerns.

What makes this release even more alarming? No independent long-term safety studies. No real public consent. And a regulatory system that prioritizes corporate interests over human and environmental well-being.

The flawed science behind Oxitecs "friendly" mosquitoes

Oxitecs GM mosquitoes are designed with a self-limiting gene that supposedly causes offspring to die before reaching maturity, thereby reducing wild mosquito populations. Yet real-world evidence suggests this technology is far from foolproof  and may actually backfire catastrophically.

A 2019 Yale study, published in Scientific Reports, analyzed Oxitecs Brazil trials and found that the modified mosquitoes did not simply die off as projected. Instead, hybrid mosquitoes emerged  some potentially more resistant to disease control measures.

The Cayman Islands trials, where Oxitec first tested its GM mosquitoes, failed to meet their claimed 90% suppression rate, only achieving a 62% reduction in target populations.

No long-term ecological impact studies have been conducted to assess what happens when GM mosquitoes interact with other species  raising fears of disrupted food chains and unforeseen mutations.

Despite these red flags, Oxitec refuses to release full trial dataa clear sign that corporate profits, not public safety, are driving this agenda.

Regulatory corruption: How the EPA sold out to Big Biotech

The EPAs approval process for Oxitecs GM mosquitoes reeks of corporate influence and regulatory capture.

Political pressure: Internal emails obtained via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests reveal that Oxitec lobbyistsincluding former Texas GOP finance chair Roy Baileypressured the EPA to fast-track approval, using misleading claims that these mosquitoes could "eradicate Zika", despite zero local Zika cases in the U.S. since 2017.

Internal emails obtained via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests reveal that Oxitec lobbyistsincluding former Texas GOP finance chair Roy Baileypressured the EPA to fast-track approval, using misleading claims that these mosquitoes could "eradicate Zika", despite zero local Zika cases in the U.S. since 2017. No independent review: The EPA relied solely on Oxitec-funded studies, ignoring warnings from independent scientists about potential risks.

The EPA relied solely on Oxitec-funded studies, ignoring warnings from independent scientists about potential risks. Public opposition ignored: Over 250,000 Florida residents petitioned against these releases, yet the EPA greenlit the project anyway, proving yet again that government agencies serve corporations, not citizens.

"This is a classic case of biotech colonialism," says Diana Reeves of GMO Free USA. "A foreign corporation is testing an unproven science experiment on an unwilling public, while regulators look the other way."

The bigger picture: A history of biotech failures

The push for GM mosquitoes follows the same deceptive playbook used by agrochemical giants like Monsanto (now Bayer) in promoting unsafe GMO crops and toxic pesticides.

Roundup-Ready Crops were sold to farmers as "safe" and "necessary" before being linked to massive herbicide overuse, ecosystem damage and cancer.

Neonicotinoid pesticides, falsely marketed as "bee-safe," contributed to global pollinator collapse.

Now, Oxitec is exploiting fear of mosquito-borne diseases to push yet another untested technology  one that could trigger ecological chain reactions people dont yet understand.

How you can fight back

This GM mosquito experiment is just the beginning. Oxitec, backed by deep-pocketed investors, plans to expand to Texas and beyond. But concerned citizens arent powerless. Heres what you can do:

Demand full transparency  The EPA must release all Oxitec trial data and conduct independent ecological risk assessments under the Endangered Species Act. Challenge local officials  Write to your representatives and demand moratoriums on GM mosquito releases until safety is proven. Spread awareness  Many people dont even know this experiment is happening. Share documentaries, articles and petitions exposing the dangers of corporate-controlled genetic engineering. Reject pesticide-based "solutions"  If GM mosquitoes disrupt ecosystems, governments may respond with even more toxic chemical spraysharming bees, birds and human health.

A biotech nightmare in the making

The Florida Keys experiment is not about public health  its about profits. Oxitecs GM mosquitoes represent another step toward a dystopian future where corporations wield unchecked power over nature, immune to accountability.

Playing God with ecosystems leads to disaster. From invasive species to pesticide-resistant superbugs, human interference has a track record of catastrophic unintended consequences.

Sources include:

NaturalHealth365.com

ChildrensHealthDefense.org

GMOFreeUSA.org

Oxitec.com
Thimerosal is 50 percent MERCURY and NO it has NOT been removed from vaccines  that was a BIG FAT LIE the CDC told vax skeptics to keep them vaxxed up and dying

Decades of Misinformation: The U.S. government and health agencies (CDC, FDA, AAP) falsely claimed thimerosala mercury-based vaccine preservativewas removed from childhood vaccines, despite evidence showing it remains in some (e.g., flu shots, tetanus vaccines). Hidden Research & Suppressed Science: Internal documents (e.g., 2000 Simpsonwood meeting transcripts) reveal officials acknowledged thimerosals neurotoxic risks and possible links to autism but actively suppressed findings and manipulated study language to downplay dangers. Scientific Manipulation: The CDC and industry-funded studies obscured early research (e.g., Verstraetens 1999/2004 data, IOMs 2001 report) that found thimerosal exposure correlated with developmental disorders, later dismissing further research via a 2004 IOM reversal. Ongoing Use & Deceptive Labeling: Despite public assurances, thimerosal persists in vaccines, often concealed by misleading thimerosal-free labels for trace amounts. A 2023 review cited 165+ studies confirming its harms, contradicting official narratives.

First off, mercury in any amount is highly toxic to humans, whether consumed, breathed in, or injected. It doesnt matter if its ethyl mercury or methyl mercury, so dont fall for that misinformation either. When natural health advocates began blowing the whistle on the dangers of mercury in vaccines, the CDC had to run cover, so they renamed it thimerosal, which is made up of 50 percent mercury. Then they lied to Americans who had become concerned with the dangers of injecting mercury into their body and said that NO MORE vaccines contain mercury. It was a lie, but most vaxxers are too dumbed-down to Google thimerosal and find out.

This has gone on for twenty years. Mercury is still in the multi-dose flu shots, TDaP, tetanus shots, and several other injections, and at VERY HIGH DOSES. In fact, most influenza vaccines contain 25,000 times the amount of mercury that the EPA warns about in tap water and fish. Oops. Yes, the Health Ranger ran lab tests on those and blew the whistle. Remember?

Mercury in vaccines is deadly and Pharma has known it forever, thats why theyre called dirty jabs

Mercury is used as a preservative in the multi-dose flu shots because it saves pharma money and makes children sick, including causing autism, which is one of the biggest cash cows of the sick care industrial complex. Since the flu shot needle goes in and out of the same vial of deadly live virus concoction, something has to be used to kill the germs and preserve the virus so it can infect children. Thats mercury, or wait, thimerosal.

Yes, in fact, the CDC website states: Fact: Thimerosal was taken out of childhood vaccines in the United States in 2001. Can you sue them for false information and mass killing? No. You cant. The FDAs Modernization Act from 1997 dictated that mercury must be removed from vaccines, but that was a lie also.

Got mercury poisoning? Got autism? Got Mad Hatter Syndrome? Check those vaccine ingredients for Thimerosal, if you can still read without getting a migraine headache and having a nervous breakdown.

CHOP, also known as the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, is home to the guy who invented the Rotavirus jab that contains a deadly wild pig virus that causes a childs intestines to become entangled. The CHOP website also claims thimerosal was removed from vaccines, but it never was. Just call Paul Offit and ask him. He made millions of dollars helping design vaccines that make kids deathly sick for profit.

Whats next, uranium renamed ur-anus-all and put in vaccines that are deemed safe and effective? Maybe pharma will put some rattlesnake venom combined with some heroin and make that a vaccine that tricks human cells into producing infant zombies who spit venom and are addicted to fentanyl from birth. Dont put anything past Big Pharma. After all, they are STILL pushing the Covid clot shots on all children as part of the CDCs recommended childhood vaccine schedule.

Bookmark Vaccines.news to your favorite independent websites for updates on mercury-loaded death jabs labeled thimerosal that lead to autism and other developmental disorders.

Sources for this article include:

Pandemic.news

NaturalNews.com

ChildrensHealthDefense.org
Turkey condemns Israel as greatest threat to peace in West Asia amid escalating Syria strikes

Turkey's Foreign Ministry labeled Israel the "greatest threat" to regional stability after Israeli airstrikes in Syria killed at least 11 people, calling the attacks unprovoked aggression.

Ankara accused Israel of expansionist policies, undermining Syrian sovereignty, and acting as a "strategic destabilizer" in West Asia, while also criticizing Israeli officials' "extremist and racist" rhetoric.

Israel's strikes targeted key sites like the Hama and T4 airbases, reportedly as a warning against Turkey's growing military presence in Syria, which Israel views as a security threat.

Longstanding tensions, rooted in incidents like the 2010 Mavi Marmara clash, have worsened due to Israel's actions in Palestine and Turkeys support for Hamas, despite maintained economic ties.

The conflict reflects broader rivalries, with Turkey aligning with Arab and Muslim-majority nations against Israel's strikes (often targeting Iran-backed groups), while pragmatic energy cooperation persists.

On April 3, Turkey's Foreign Ministry issued a scathing condemnation of Israel, labeling it the "greatest threat" to regional stability following a series of Israeli airstrikes in Syria that killed at least 11 people.

The attacks, which targeted military sites near Damascus, Hama and Palmyra on April 2, were described by Ankara as unprovoked aggression that fuels regional turmoil. (Related: Israel bombs Syrian military sites in warning to Turkey amid rising tensions.)

The statement accused Israel of pursuing expansionist policies, undermining Syrian sovereignty and exacerbating tensions at a time when diplomatic efforts for peace in Syria and Lebanon have gained momentum. The escalating rhetoric marks a deepening rift between the two nations, even as economic ties, particularly in energy, remain intact.

In a sharply worded statement, Turkey's Foreign Ministry accused Israel of being a "strategic destabilizer" in West Asia, asserting that its military actions threaten the territorial integrity of neighboring states.

"Israel has become the foremost threat to the security of our region through its attacks on the territorial integrity and national unity of the regional countries," the ministry declared.

The statement further criticized Israel's recent airstrikes in Syria, which destroyed the Hamas military airport and struck the T4 airbase near Palmyra, as part of a broader pattern of aggression.

The ministry also condemned provocative remarks by Israeli officials targeting Turkey, framing them as reflective of an "extremist and racist" government mindset. Ankara dismissed Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar's accusation that Turkey seeks to turn Syria into a "protectorate," countering that such rhetoric was an attempt to divert attention from Israel's military campaigns in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Strategic stakes in Syria

The latest Israeli strikes come amid reports that Turkey is expanding its military footprint in Syria, including plans to take control of the T4 airbase and install a multi-layered defense system. Israeli media suggested the bombings were a direct warning to Ankara.

"We will not allow you to establish a presence in Syria," unnamed officials told the Jerusalem Post.

Turkey's growing involvement in Syria has long been a point of contention. While Ankara supports certain opposition groups and seeks to counter Kurdish militias, Israel views Turkish influence as a threat to its own security interests, particularly given Turkey's alignment with regional rivals like Iran. The T4 airbase, previously used by Russian and Iranian forces, holds strategic value for both nations.

The tensions between Turkey and Israel are not new but have intensified since the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, in which Israeli forces killed Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Despite a brief reconciliation in 2016, relations soured again over Israel's treatment of Palestinians and Turkey's support for Hamas.

The current escalation also reflects broader regional rivalries. Israel's frequent airstrikes in Syria  often targeting Iranian-backed militias  have drawn condemnation from multiple Arab and Muslim-majority nations. Turkey's vocal opposition aligns it with this bloc, even as it maintains pragmatic ties with Israel, such as the continued flow of Azerbaijani oil to Israeli ports via Ceyhan.

As Turkey and Israel trade accusations, the risk of further military confrontation looms. Ankara's call for international intervention underscores the growing frustration with Israel's unchecked military campaigns, while Israel's strikes signal its determination to counter perceived threats, whether from Iran or Turkey.

Head over to Chaos.news for more stories about conflicts around the world.

Watch the video below that shows the Israeli embassy being set on fire in Turkey.

This video is from the Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Erdogan: Turkey has severed all diplomatic relations with Israel over continued war crimes and ethnic cleansing.

Sen. Lindsey Graham threatens sanctions against Turkey if it proceeds with military operation against Syrian Democratic Forces.

Turkey and 51 other nations call for global arms embargo on Israel.

Sources include:

TheCradle.co

DailySabah.com

JPost.com

Brighteon.com
Unveiling the shadows: A deep dive into the Illuminati and the quest to defeat it

Kerth Barker's "Deconstructing the Illuminati: What the Illuminati Really Is & How to Defeat It" challenges conventional beliefs, tracing the Illuminati's roots to the 16th-century Roshaniya movement in Afghanistan, rather than Europe, and linking it to ancient occult practices and Hermetic knowledge.

Barker interprets the pyramid on the U.S. one-dollar bill as a metaphor for the Illuminati's strategy of invisibility, claiming its core resides in Medina, Saudi Arabia and extends influence through occult rituals and psychic manipulation of global leaders.

The book proposes a dual approach to dismantling the Illuminati's power: spreading Gospel-based Christianity as a spiritual antidote and leveraging scientific reasoning to combat fear and superstition, envisioning a "Christian Scientocracy."

Barker advocates for Voter-Qualified democracy, requiring citizens to demonstrate knowledge of Christian principles and science to vote, aiming to create a government led by progressive Christians capable of countering the Illuminati's influence.

Barker outlines the Illuminati's alleged plans for three engineered World Wars, guided by Lucifer, while urging humanity to transcend earthly conflicts, expand into space and embrace a future of peace, truth and progress.

In a world rife with conspiracy theories and shadowy narratives, one book is challenging conventional wisdom about the Illuminati, offering a provocative blend of history, spirituality and strategy.

"Deconstructing the Illuminati: What the Illuminati Really Is & How to Defeat It" by Kerth Barker has sparked intense debate, presenting a bold thesis that redefines the origins and influence of this enigmatic organization.

Far from the pop culture caricatures of secretive elites, Barker's work delves into the Illuminati's roots in Islamic territories, its global reach and its alleged ties to ancient occult practices. But more than a historical expose, the book is a call to action, proposing a path to dismantle the Illuminati's influence through faith, science and democracy.

Barker's narrative begins with a startling claim: The Illuminati's origins lie not in Europe, as commonly believed, but in Afghanistan. He traces its lineage to the Roshaniya movement of the 16th century, a group he describes as outwardly Islamic but secretly Luciferian. This connection, Barker argues, reveals a pre-existing structure that influenced Adam Weishaupt's founding of the Bavarian Illuminati in 1776. The Illuminati, according to Barker, is not a modern invention but a continuation of ancient systems of control, rooted in Hermetic knowledge and antediluvian science.

Central to Barker's argument is the symbolism of the American one-dollar bill, particularly the pyramid with a missing capstone. He interprets this as a metaphor for the Illuminati's strategy of invisibility  remaining hidden while manipulating global events. The organization's core, he claims, resides in Medina, Saudi Arabia, and its influence extends through occult rituals and psychic control over key figures in politics and finance.

But Barker's work is not merely an indictment of the Illuminati; it is a blueprint for its defeat. He posits that the spread of Gospel-based Christianity  defined as a deep embrace of New Testament teachings and the recognition of Jesus as the Word of Godis the antidote to the Illuminati's influence. Barker sees Satanism as a spiritual disease and Christianity as its cure, with Israel playing a pivotal role as the "Rock of Zion" that will thwart the Illuminati's plans.

Science, too, is a weapon in Barker's arsenal. He argues that scientific reasoning can liberate humanity from the fear and superstition that the Illuminati exploits. By fostering a society educated in both Christian values and the sciences, Barker envisions a future he calls "Christian Scientocracy"  a democratic republic where truth and knowledge guide governance.

Barker's vision is not without controversy. His advocacy for Voter-Qualified democracy, which would require citizens to demonstrate an understanding of Christian principles and scientific knowledge to vote, has drawn criticism for its exclusivity. Yet, he maintains that such measures are necessary to ensure a government led by progressive Christians who can counteract the Illuminati's influence.

The book also delves into the Illuminati's alleged plans for global domination, including the orchestration of three World Wars, as described by 19th-century Freemason Albert Pike. Barker interprets these wars as engineered events designed to reshape the world in the Illuminati's image, with Lucifer  the seductive embodiment of evil  as its guiding force. (Related: Project Human Extinction unveils the hidden forces shaping humanity.)

Ultimately, "Deconstructing the Illuminati" is a call to action, urging readers to embrace a future where humanity transcends earthly conflicts and expands into space, living in peace and harmony. Barker's vision is both ambitious and divisive, blending spirituality, science and politics into a cohesive strategy for change.

Whether one agrees with Barker's conclusions or not, his book offers a compelling exploration of the forces that shape our world. It challenges readers to question the narratives they've been told and to consider the potential for a future defined by truth, faith and progress. For those intrigued by the mysteries of the Illuminati and the possibilities for its defeat, "Deconstructing the Illuminati: What the Illuminati Really Is & How to Defeat It" is a journey worth taking.

Watch this video about Kerth Barker's book "Deconstructing the Illuminati: What the Illuminati Really Is & How to Defeat It."

This video is from the BrightLearn channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

Brighteon.ai

Brighteon.com
Alaskas Mount Spurr could erupt within weeks, mirroring destructive 1992 event

Mount Spurr, near Anchorage, shows increasing eruption signs like seismic activity and gas emissions.

A major eruption could disrupt air travel and cover Anchorage in hazardous ash.

The 1992 eruption caused airport shutdowns, ash-related health issues, and costly cleanups.

Anchorage has raised emergency levels; officials urge residents to prepare masks and evacuation plans.

While pyroclastic flows may spare the city, ashfall and lahars remain serious threats.

Scientists are sounding the alarm as Mount Spurr, one of Alaskas most dangerous volcanoes, has been showing escalating signs of a potential eruption in recent weeks. Located just 81 miles west of Anchorage, the 11,000-foot stratovolcano has exhibited increased seismic activity, ground displacement, and volcanic gas emissions, prompting authorities to raise emergency preparedness levels.

If history repeats itself, an eruption could blanket the states largest city in ash, cause major disruptions to air traffic, and trigger hazardous lahars. However, experts stress that early warnings could mitigate some of the worst impacts of this type of eruption.

Why Mount Spurr is a ticking time bomb

Mount Spurrs recent unrest began in April 2024 but intensified dramatically in early October, with seismic events spiking from 30 to 125 per week. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has detected hundreds of minor tremors in the region, including a magnitude 3.7 earthquake near Petersville on October 11. Even though deep quakes typically signal tectonic shifts, scientists suspect this activity may instead reflect magma rising toward the surface.

Adding to the concerns, gas emissions from Crater Peak  a side vent that last erupted in 1992  have been surging since March. Combined with ground deformation and melting ice near the summit, these factors are all pointing to an eruption. "This time period of unrest will eventually most likely end in an explosive eruption like the ones that happened in 1953 and 1992, says Matt Haney, scientist-in-charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO).

Lessons from 1992: Ash, shutdowns, and hidden dangers

A repeat of the 1992 eruption would be catastrophic for the areas in and surrounding south-central Alaska. That year, Crater Peak unleashed three explosive blasts, with the most severe one spewing ash 50,000 feet into the sky. Anchorage, which is home to nearly 300,000 residents, was blanketed in ash, turning daylight into twilight. The Ted Stevens International Airport shut down for 20 hours, and cleanup costs soared to $2 million, which is equivalent to more than $4 million today.

Although no direct fatalities occurred, Anchorage reported two heart attacks linked to ash shoveling, one of which was fatal. Volcanic ash poses severe respiratory risks, particularly for those with asthma or bronchitis, warns the AVO. The tiny particles can work their way deep into the lungs, worsening symptoms for people with respiratory conditions such as asthma or bronchitis, their advisory notes. Residents are being urged to stockpile masks, seal their windows, and avoid outdoor exertion during ashfall.

Preparing for the inevitable

Last week, Anchorage officials elevated the emergency response level to Level 2, signaling heightened public communication and disaster drills. The AVO is advising locals to monitor its Volcano Notification Service and heed evacuation orders if tremors  a precursor to eruption  emerge. Tourist visits to the remote volcano are strongly discouraged.

Yet Anchorages distance offers some relief. Pyroclastic flows, which are deadly avalanches of superheated gas and rock, would likely spare populated areas, Haney notes. Still, mudflows could damage infrastructure, and ash could paralyze air travel, which is a critical lifeline for Alaskas economy.

Mount Spurrs unrest is a reminder of natures unpredictability. While scientists refine their forecasts, Alaskans are urged to prepare, not panic. With advance warning, Anchorage could minimize disruptions. But as history shows, even a moderate eruption can leave a lasting mark. For now, vigilance is the best defense.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NBCNews.com

LiveScience.com
Billions in zombie programs drain U.S. budget, federal review finds

Over 1,500 federal programs, responsible for $516 billion in annual spending, are operating without active Congressional authorization, as highlighted by a federal review.

This issue has roots in the 1980s, when Congress began failing to renew the legal mandates of numerous federal programs, leading to the creation of "zombie programs" that continue to receive funding.

Notable programs include the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), operating without reauthorization since 1980; the Federal Election Commission (FEC), unauthorized since 1981; the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), unauthorized since 2020; the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), unauthorized since 1992; and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), unauthorized since 1993.

The Trump administration proposed halting spending for expired programs and has taken steps to address the issue through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Policy experts are divided on the necessity and impact of these unauthorized programs.

The proliferation of unauthorized programs undermines fiscal discipline and government accountability, highlighting the need for comprehensive fiscal reform and proper oversight to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and transparently.

More than 1,500 federal programs, collectively responsible for an estimated $516 billion in annual spending, are operating without active Congressional authorization, according to a comprehensive federal review.

This situation, which has persisted for decades, underscores a significant breach in fiscal oversight and legislative accountability. The RealClearInvestigations report, released this month, highlights the scope of these so-called "zombie programs," which continue to receive appropriations despite expired statutory mandates.

The issue of unauthorized spending has deep roots in the U.S. federal budget process. Since the 1980s, Congress has increasingly failed to renew the legal mandates of numerous federal programs, allowing them to continue operating through appropriations that bypass the formal reauthorization process.

One of the earliest and most prominent examples is the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), established to provide legal aid to low-income Americans. Despite its authorization expiring in 1980, the LSC continues to function with a budget of $560 million and 135 employees. Efforts to cut the LSC's funding have been met with resistance from both political parties and advocacy groups, with left-wing outlets like Mother Jones defending the agency as a social necessity.

The scope of unauthorized spending is vast and diverse. Other examples include the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which has been functioning without congressional reauthorization since 1981. The FEC received $95 million in FY2024. Then, there is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Its authorization expired in 2020, yet it continues to receive $28.4 billion. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has been operating without authorization since 1992, but it has a budget of $525 million. Finally, there is the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Its authorization expired in 1993, but it remains active.

These programs are just a fraction of the more than 491 specifically-identified federal programs operating without reauthorization. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was unable to account for the funding levels of an additional 1,000 programs in this unauthorized category.

The Trump administration's efforts

In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump proposed halting spending for expired programs to redirect funds to national defense. While media outlets like FactCheck.org labeled the claim as false, they conceded that Congress does not legally need to obey program authorizations.

The Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, has taken steps to address this issue. DOGE has already shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of Education and has cut various diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) grants. According to the "DOGE Tracker," the agency has identified $140 billion in cost savings, representing $72 trillion in budget reductions. (Related: Trump's DOGE saves $1 BILLION daily.)

Policy experts are divided on the necessity and impact of these unauthorized programs. Sarah Binder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, argues that if Congress continues to appropriate funds, the programs are not truly "zombies" but are actively functioning agencies. However, critics contend that this view merely redefines the problem without addressing the lack of accountability.

"The real issue is that these programs operate without proper oversight and accountability," said Mark Zuckerman, a fiscal policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. "Congress needs to take responsibility and either reauthorize these programs or phase them out."

The broader implications

The proliferation of unauthorized programs has broader implications for fiscal discipline and government accountability. According to watchdog groups, the continued funding of these programs without proper oversight undermines the principles of democratic governance and fiscal responsibility.

"The institutional complacency that has allowed unauthorized programs to proliferate for decades must be addressed," said James Madison, a policy director at the Government Accountability Project. "Congress has a duty to ensure that every dollar spent is justified and properly authorized."

Watch the video below where Musk hints that "strangely wealthy" Congress members are the next DOGE target.

This video is from the Treasure of the Sun channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Pentagon's $80M waste exposed: How Musk's DOGE Team is draining the swamp.

Trump administration executes mass firings at U.S. Institute of Peace, citing wasteful spending.

Sources include:

YourNews.com

RealClearInvestigations.com

DOGE-Tracker.com

Brighteon.com
Copper collapse: Tariff war sparks metals meltdown, rattles global markets

Copper prices experienced their steepest weekly drop since the COVID-19 crash, plunging nearly 11% due to escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, with analysts warning of further declines.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 4%, with industrial metals like aluminum and zinc also dropping. Mining stocks (e.g., Freeport-McMoRan, Glencore) saw double-digit losses amid fears of shrinking global trade volumes.

China imposed 34% tariffs on U.S. imports, worsening demand concerns. Chilean copper exports to China declined, raising oversupply fears, with Chile considering cutting its 2025 price forecast.

Banks like JPMorgan and UBS warn of a potential U.S. recession and spillover effects in export-driven economies (e.g., Taiwan, South Korea). Key industries (automotive, construction) face slowdowns from falling copper demand.

Citi and BNP Paribas foresee further price drops, while Goldman Sachs acknowledges short-term risks despite long-term bullish views. The crisis underscores the destabilizing impact of trade wars on global markets.

Global copper prices have suffered their steepest weekly drop since the COVID-19 crash this week as escalating U.S.-China trade tensions hammered commodity markets. President Trumps aggressive tariff measures, matched by retaliatory Chinese sanctions, have triggered fears of a growth slowdown, sending copper futures plunging nearly 11% and igniting a broader selloff in industrial metals. Analysts warn the fallout may deepen, with banks like Citi forecasting an additional 8-10% slide in copper prices  potentially dragging the global economy toward recession.

The trade war shocks commodity markets

The Bloomberg Commodity Index, tracking 23 key raw materials, is on pace for its worst week in over a year, down 4% amid deteriorating demand projections. Copper, often seen as a barometer of economic health, led the downturn, with CME futures posting their steepest five-day decline since March 2020.

Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Nocerino noted the abrupt shift, citing a "macro-driven" commodities rout as oil, copper and bonds tumbled alongside equities. "We're pricing a global recession," warned Goldmans Rich Privorotsky, highlighting how trade barriers threaten to derail a decade of economic expansion.

Chinas tariff retaliation deepens gloom

The selloff intensified after Chinas state-run Xinhua News Agency announced 34% tariffs on all U.S. imports, effective April 10. The move amplified concerns over shrinking global trade volumes, which Bloomberg reports are nearing "depression levels."

Chile, the worlds top copper producer, signaled alarm by preparing to cut its 2025 price forecast. Juan Ignacio Guzman, a Chilean mining consultant, warned that prolonged trade strife could drive copper as low as $3 per pound (6,600/ton)far below current levels. Meanwhile, Chinese demand, once a stabilizing force, has faltered; Chilean copper exports to China dropped in early 2025, intensifying oversupply fears.

Miners bear the brunt

Mining stocks plunged globally. Freeport-McMoRan and Southern Copper lost 13% and 9.6%, respectively, in a single day, while Anglo American and Glencore slumped over 11%. Even diversified giants like BHP and Rio Tinto faced steep declines, with trading volumes tripling as investors fled.

"The tariffs will force producers to absorb margin hits or cut costs," said Citis Max Layton, predicting further pain. His bearish outlook contrasts with earlier bullish calls, including Goldmans 2024 $9,500/ton copper target, now under pressure as demand wanes.

Global economic ripple effects

The impact of the tariff war extends beyond the immediate selloff in copper and other commodities. JPMorgan now expects the U.S. to fall into a recession this year, while UBS estimates that every 1% drop in U.S. GDP could cut output in export-driven Asian economies like Taiwan and South Korea by up to 2%.

This interconnectedness of global economies means that the ripple effects of the U.S.-China trade war will be felt far and wide. For instance, the sharp decline in copper prices has already begun to affect the automotive, construction and electronics industries, which are major consumers of the metal. The potential for reduced investment and increased unemployment in these sectors could exacerbate the economic slowdown.

Chiles price cut signals looming economic strain

Chile, which produced 24% of the world's copper last year, is now feeling the pressure. Chile's copper agency, Cochilco, held its 2025 price forecast at 4.25 per pound in February, but with the new data, copper prices are now expected to average between 3.90 and $4.00 per pound this year.

Juan Ignacio Guzman, head of Chilean mineral consulting firm GEM, warned, "If the trade war triggers a recession, prices could tumble to as low as 3 a pound  or about 6,600 a ton." This forecast is particularly concerning given Chile's heavy reliance on copper exports, which accounted for nearly half of the country's total exports in 2024.

Analysts warn of more trouble ahead

The Bloomberg report highlighted that the worst might not be over. Max Layton, global head of commodities research at Citigroup Inc., warned that the global trade shake-up could lead to a historic market correction. Citi now expects copper prices outside the U.S. to average $8,500 this quarter, but they also say the risk of further drops is high.

BNP Paribas SA strategist David Wilson, who had warned prices could collapse, now sees the downtrend continuing in the short term. Goldman Sachs still believes in coppers long-term value but admits that slower global growth could delay the expected supply shortage.

The copper markets whiplashfrom stockpiling frenzy to panic selloffreflects the destabilizing power of protectionism. With tariffs reshaping trade flows and miners bracing for turbulence, the metals meltdown may only be the opening act in a larger economic drama. As history shows, when global trade fractures, no market emerges unscathed. The current crisis underscores the need for international cooperation and dialogue to mitigate the far-reaching consequences of trade wars and economic protectionism.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

CarbonCredits.com

Bloomberg.com
The Crypto AG Scandal: How American and German spy agencies turned encryption into espionage

The Swiss encryption company Crypto AG, trusted globally for its secure devices, was secretly owned and controlled by the CIA and Germanys BND, enabling systematic espionage.

The company's products had built-in weaknesses, allowing the U.S. and Germany to intercept and decrypt communications from over 120 countries, including allies and adversaries.

The scheme, spanning decades, generated millions in profits from governments unknowingly paying for compromised devices while providing intelligence goldmines (e.g., monitoring Iran during the 1979 crisis and aiding Britain in the Falklands War).

Russia and China avoided Crypto AG's products due to distrust of Western-made encryption, escaping compromise.

After the 2020 revelations, Switzerland launched an investigation while Crypto AG's successor Crypto International denied any current intelligence ties. The scandal exposes how commercial operations can mask state-sponsored espionage.

For decades, governments around the world trusted the encryption devices sold by Crypto AG, a Swiss company renowned for its precision engineering and cutting-edge technology. What they didn't know was that many of those machines were rigged.

Revelations in February 2020 confirmed long-running suspicions: Crypto AG was secretly owned and controlled by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND). Given this, Crypto AG machines were engineered with secret vulnerabilities that allowed the two spy agencies to eavesdrop on the confidential communications of allies and adversaries alike.

According to classified documents, the company's encryption products contained deliberate weaknesses, enabling the agencies to intercept and decrypt messages from more than 120 countries including Iran, India and Pakistan. A CIA report hailed the operation as the "intelligence coup of the century."

The scheme, which spanned from the Cold War into the 2000s, was not only a surveillance goldmine but also a lucrative business. Governments paid top dollar for Crypto AGs hardware, funneling millions in profits back to the CIA and BND. "Foreign governments were paying good money to the U.S. and West Germany for the privilege of having their most secret communications read by at least two foreign countries," the CIA boasted in an internal memo.

The intelligence haul was staggering. During the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, U.S. officials reportedly monitored Iranian communications through Crypto AG's compromised machines. In the Falklands War, the CIA shared intercepted Argentinian military intelligence with Britain.

Yet not all nations were fooled. Russia and China, wary of Western-made encryption, avoided the devices entirely.

The roots of the operation trace back to Boris Hagelin (1892-1983), a Russian-born Swedish inventor who fled to the U.S. during World War II. His portable encryption machines were used by American troops before he moved to Switzerland, where his technology advanced further.

This progress alarmed U.S. intelligence, who feared losing access to foreign communications. William Friedman, America's top codebreaker, persuaded Hagelin to sell only the most secure machines to approved U.S. allies. Older, more vulnerable models were distributed elsewhere.

By the 1970s, the CIA and BND took complete control of Crypto AG, overseeing everything from hiring to sales strategy. Despite years of whispers about the company's covert ties, concrete proof remained elusive  until now.

In 2018, the original entity was split into two  CyOne (for sales within the Swiss market) and Crypto International. Established by Swedish businessman Andreas Linde, Crypto International obtained the brand name, product rights and international distribution network from Hagelin's original firm. Linde's company insists that it has no links to either the CIA or the BND.

Swiss authorities, who were reportedly aware of Crypto AGs ties to intelligence agencies for years, have scrambled to contain the fallout. In November 2019, the government appointed a retired judge to investigate the allegations.

But for the governments that relied on Crypto AG's devices, the betrayal is undeniable. The scandal lays bare the thin line between commercial enterprise and state-sponsored espionage  and the high price of misplaced trust.

Watch Martin Brodel discussing CIA front companies such as Crypto AG in this clip.

This video is from the Martin Brodel channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

Brighteon.ai

BBC.com

Brighteon.com
Desperate Bayer seeks Supreme Court shield amid increasing Roundup lawsuits

Bayer is urging the Supreme Court to block state lawsuits tying Roundup to cancer, seeking to silence victims and protect profits.

The company faces a $16 billion legal crisis, including a recent $2.1 billion verdict in Georgia.

Over 181,000 claims blame glyphosate for cancer, despite Bayer and the EPA denying risks contradicted by independent research.

Bayer is lobbying states to shield pesticide makers from lawsuits, sparking backlash from lawmakers and affected families.

Internal emails reveal Monsanto manipulated EPA studies, but courts continue ruling in favor of cancer victims.

In an outrageous attempt to dodge accountability, agrochemical giant Bayer has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt all state lawsuits linking its flagship herbicide Roundup to cancer in a blatant power grab aimed at silencing victims and protecting profits. The companys petition, filed last week, argues that federal pesticide laws should prevent states from requiring cancer warnings, even as billions in jury verdicts and settlements pile up over Roundups alleged role in causing non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

The appeal follows a Missouri courts $1.25 million verdict for a St. Louis man who developed cancer after years of using Roundupa case Bayer insists should never have gone to trial. But this isnt an isolated incident. Just last month, a Georgia jury hit Bayer with a staggering $2.1 billion penalty in another Roundup lawsuit, adding to the companys $16 billion in existing legal liabilities. The question isnt just about scienceits about corporate greed rigging the system.

A pattern of evasion

Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2018, inherited not just Roundup but a legal nightmare. Over 181,000 claims blame glyphosateRoundups key ingredientfor causing cancer, with studies from the World Health Organizations cancer agency labeling it probably carcinogenic. Yet Bayer clings to the EPAs controversial stance that glyphosate is safe, even as courts and independent researchers dispute it.

The Supreme Court rejected Bayers plea in 2022, but the company is banking on a favorable ruling now, citing conflicting appeals court decisions. A win would torpedo future lawsuits, shielding Bayer from billions more in payoutsa lifeline for a company whose stock has cratered 70% since the Monsanto deal.

Doubling down on lobbying

Even as it fights in court, Bayer is pushing state legislatures to grant immunity to pesticide makers. Georgia just passed a Bayer-backed bill shielding companies from failure-to-warn lawsuits if their products carry federal approvala move critics call the cancer gag act. Similar bills are advancing in Tennessee, North Dakota, and Iowa, though grassroots pushback has stalled some efforts.

In Missouri, Republican state Sen. Nick Schroer blasted the proposal as a betrayal of public trust, while Iowas House Republicans refused to advance the bill amid outcry from families who blame pesticides for loved ones cancers.

Profits over people

Bayers threats to pull glyphosate from the U.S. market if lawsuits continue ring hollow. The company already removed it from consumer Roundup productsbut not agricultural ones, where profits are higher. If glyphosate falls to the litigation industry, whats next? asked Bayers Jess Christiansen, framing accountability as a threat to innovation. But for farmers and landscapers diagnosed with cancer after decades of use, the real innovation would be honesty.

The EPAs cozy relationship with agrochemical giants is under fire, too. While the agency insists glyphosate is safe, internal emails reveal Monsanto manipulated studies and leaned on regulators to suppress concerns. Courts, meanwhile, keep siding with victimslike the California couple awarded $86 million in 2022, a verdict Bayer couldnt overturn.

Bayers Supreme Court ploy is a last-ditch effort to escape justice, but the tide is turning. With billions in losses, a collapsing stock price, and mounting public anger, the companys playbookdelay, deny, deflectmay be running out of time. For the thousands awaiting their day in court, the message is clear: No corporate shield should outweigh the right to know if a product could kill you.

Sources for this article include:

Finance.Yahoo.com

Reuters.com

FoxBusiness.com
Tulsi Gabbard leads charge against the Biden regimes global censorship of the Disinformation Dozen

Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, now Director of National Intelligence, vows to declassify documents exposing the Biden administrations censorship strategy.

The Disinformation Dozen, a group of health freedom advocates, were targeted for questioning official narratives on COVID-19 and vaccines.

Leaked documents reveal a coordinated global effort involving the UK and tech giants to silence dissenting voices.

Calls for a full Congressional inquiry into the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and its role in the censorship campaign.

The Biden regime's war against truth tellers extended beyond the Disinformation Dozen and ultimately included prominent independent journalists and publishers such as NaturalNews, among others.

The real "threat" was telling the truth

In a bold move that could redefine the landscape of free speech and government transparency, Tulsi Gabbard, newly appointed Director of National Intelligence under the Trump administration, has announced her intention to declassify documents that detail the Biden administrations domestic surveillance and censorship strategy. This unprecedented step may unravel one of the most coordinated and far-reaching censorship campaigns in American history, one that targeted health freedom advocates and dissenting voices labeled as the Disinformation Dozen.

Tulsi Gabbards commitment to transparency comes at a critical juncture. The Disinformation Dozen includes prominent figures such as Dr. Joseph Mercola, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ty and Charlene Bollinger, Sherri Tenpenny, Rizza Islam, Rashid Buttar, Erin Elizabeth, Sayer Ji, Kelly Brogan, Christiane Northrup, Ben Tapper, and Kevin Jenkins. These individuals were branded as threats and accused of spreading disinformation for questioning official narratives on COVID-19, vaccines, and government policies. However, their early warnings about the potential dangers of experimental mRNA injections and the broader implications of coercive public health measures have since been vindicated by emerging research and real-world outcomes.

Many of us who were labeled as disinformation spreaders were simply exercising our constitutional right to free speech and our duty to inform the public about potential risks, said Dr. Joseph Mercola. The real threat was not our speech but the governments overreach and the suppression of critical information.

The blueprint for tyranny: Bidens 2021 domestic terrorism strategy

The roots of this censorship apparatus trace back to June 2021, when the Biden administration quietly released a 20-page National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism. This document proposed a whole-of-society approach, involving tech companies, financial institutions, NGOs, and intelligence agencies, to identify and neutralize so-called domestic threats. According to internal DHS documents exposed by America First Legal, these threats included parents protesting school board decisions, pro-life mothers, faith-based communities, and supporters of President Trump, as well as prominent health freedom advocates.

More chillingly, the UK Foreign Office played a significant role in drafting this policy and even embedded operatives within U.S. institutions. In August 2021, they convened with the Biden administration to push a transnational agenda of information control and population-level psychological operations.

This wasnt just a domestic overreach  it was a coordinated global effort. Our investigation revealed that the UKs Counter-Disinformation Unit actively advised and coordinated with the Biden White House. These operations extended beyond U.S. borders into Canada, Australia, Europe, and the UN itself. The same networks implicated in online censorship and psy-ops also pressured platforms to silence dissent, including calls for Twitter to be killed under Elon Musks leadership.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), led by Imran Ahmed, played a central role in this campaign. They fabricated statistics, such as the claim that 65% of COVID misinformation came from 12 people, to justify the de-platforming and defaming of the Disinformation Dozen. Despite these claims being debunked, CCDH continues to be celebrated by elite organizations and nominated for major awards.

A call for congressional investigation: CCDH must be held accountable

We now call for a full Congressional inquiry into the activities of the CCDH and its CEO, Imran Ahmed, as well as the broader issue of foreign collusion in domestic censorship. The tactics employed by CCDH, described in internal memos as black operations, sought to destroy the livelihoods, credibility, and digital presence of citizens exercising their constitutional rights. These actions must be thoroughly investigated and those responsible held accountable.

History teaches us that regimes fear truth-tellers more than armed rebelsbecause ideas cannot be imprisoned, said Tulsi Gabbard. The persecution of the Disinformation Dozen was not about public health; it was about protecting a corrupt medical-industrial complex that profits from sickness, mandates, and censorship.

As the evidence mounts, one question remains: Will Americans demand justice, or allow their liberties to be erased in the name of safety? The declassification of these documents and the subsequent Congressional inquiry represent a crucial step towards restoring constitutional order and ensuring that no administration, foreign or domestic, ever weaponizes surveillance against free citizens again.

For more on NaturalNews' fight against censorship, read more at Censorship.News.

Sources include:

SayerJi.Substack.com

X.com

SubstackCDN.com
New York governor signs controversial gun control measure, sparking Second Amendment concerns

Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation (S745/A439) requiring credit card companies to use a new merchant category code (MCC) to track firearm and ammunition purchases, aiming to flag suspicious transactions.

Supporters, like NY AG Letitia James and Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, argue this helps prevent gun violence by monitoring purchases. Opponents, like gun rights advocate Larry Keane, see it as an unconstitutional de facto gun registry.

Hochul claims the measures prioritize public safety, giving law enforcement tools to curb gun violence. Critics counter that it infringes on Second Amendment rights without effectively distinguishing legal from illegal purchases.

Visas CEO highlights limitations, noting MCCs track store visits but not specific items purchased  raising concerns about false flags and privacy violations for lawful gun owners.

The move reflects ongoing national tensions over gun control after recent Supreme Court rulings (e.g., Bruen), with blue states pushing stricter laws and red states resisting. Financial institutions role in regulation remains contentious.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a series of gun control measures into law on April 3, including a bill that requires credit card companies to track firearm and ammunition sales using a new merchant category code (MCC). The move, which has been praised by gun control advocates and criticized by Second Amendment supporters, marks a significant step in the ongoing debate over gun rights and public safety.

The legislation, S745/A439, mandates that credit card companies use a specific MCC for firearm retailers, allowing for the monitoring of transactions at these stores. This tracking mechanism is intended to help law enforcement identify "suspicious" purchases, potentially flagging individuals who are stockpiling firearms or ammunition. However, critics argue that the new code will create a de facto gun registry, infringing on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.

A step toward gun control or a violation of the Second Amendment?

Governor Hochul defended the new measures, stating, "Were taking action to drive down gun violence in the State of New York  protecting our communities and making our streets safer. Public safety is my number one priority, and by giving law enforcement additional tools to stop gun violence in its tracks, were building on our promise to put the safety of New Yorkers first."

Democratic Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, the Assembly sponsor of the bill, echoed the governor's sentiments, saying, "By requiring the use of merchant category codes for firearm and ammunition purchases, we are equipping financial institutions with a critical tool to help detect suspicious activity before it becomes a tragedy."

However, the legislation has drawn sharp criticism from gun rights advocates. Larry Keane, a prominent conservative journalist and gun rights advocate, argues that the new MCC is a thinly veiled attempt to create a gun registry, which he believes is a clear violation of the Second Amendment. "This is not about public safety; it's about control," Keane said. "The government is using financial institutions to monitor the lawful activities of law-abiding citizens, which is a dangerous precedent."

The ongoing battle over gun rights

The debate over gun control in the United States is deeply rooted in the nation's history and the interpretation of the Second Amendment. The amendment, ratified in 1791, guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Over the years, this right has been the subject of numerous legal battles, with the Supreme Court playing a crucial role in defining its scope.

In 2022, the Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen struck down New York's restrictive concealed carry law, reinforcing the individual right to bear arms outside the home. This decision was a significant victory for gun rights advocates but also intensified the push for new gun control measures at the state level.

New York, already known for its strict gun laws, has been at the forefront of this push. Governor Hochul's recent actions are part of a broader trend among Democratic governors, including California's Gavin Newsom and Colorado's Jared Polis, who have implemented similar measures. These efforts have been met with resistance from states with more conservative leadership, where governors have taken steps to protect the Second Amendment rights of their citizens.

The role of financial institutions in gun control

The involvement of financial institutions in gun control efforts is a relatively new and controversial development. The idea of using MCCs to track gun and ammunition sales was first proposed a few years ago by New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and Amalgamated Bank President and CEO Priscilla Sims Brown. The concept gained traction among gun control activists, who argue that it can help prevent illegal gun sales and reduce gun violence.

However, credit card companies and banks have expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the MCC. Visa CEO Al Kelly has stated that the code does not provide the level of detail needed to distinguish between lawful and unlawful purchases. "If K.C. Kavanagh goes into a gun store and buys three thermoses and a tent, and you go in and buy a rifle and five rounds of ammunition, all I know is you both went to the same gun store," Kelly said. "But I dont know what you bought."

This lack of specificity has led to concerns that the MCC could result in the wrongful flagging of lawful transactions, potentially placing law-abiding gun owners on watchlists or even the government's "No Fly" list. The American Bankers Association and other financial industry groups have also raised privacy concerns, arguing that the MCC could be used to compile detailed purchase histories that could be exploited for political purposes.

The signing of the new gun control measures in New York by Governor Hochul represents a significant escalation in the ongoing battle over gun rights and public safety. While proponents argue that the MCC will help law enforcement identify potential threats, critics contend that it is an overreach of government power that violates the Second Amendment. As the debate continues, the actions of New York and other states will likely influence the broader national conversation on gun control and the role of financial institutions in regulating firearms. The upcoming election in November will be a critical test of whether the American public supports these measures or views them as an infringement on their constitutional rights.

Sources include:

100percentfedup.com

NSSF.org

ABCNews.com
The Myths of Zionism: John Rose challenges historical narratives and political dogma

Ehud Barak's claim that "lying" is intrinsic to Arab culture reflects the Zionist ideology's own myths, as dissected by John Rose in "The Myths of Zionism." Rose argues that these narratives distort history to justify political aims.

Rose debunks Zionist claims of divine entitlement to Palestine, highlighting how leaders like Ben-Gurion manipulated biblical stories while ignoring archaeological evidence (e.g., the lack of proof for a unified "Ancient Israel").

The Zionist narrative of 2,000 years of exile erases thriving Jewish-Arab communities in places like medieval Spain and the Ottoman Empire, marginalizing Mizrahi Jews to fit a European-centric "Diaspora suffering" trope.

Rose exposes systemic efforts to negate Palestinian identity, from early Zionist slogans ("a land without a people") to the destruction of Palestinian archives and landmarks, reinforcing settler-colonial goals.

Some Zionists collaborated with anti-Semitic regimes (e.g., the 1933 Haavara Agreement with Nazi Germany) to fuel Jewish migration to Palestine, prioritizing nationalist expansion over coexistence. Rose concludes by advocating for grassroots movements and shared futures, urging a reevaluation of historical myths to pursue justice.

In 2002, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak ignited controversy by asserting that "lying" was intrinsic to Arab culture  a statement that British sociologist John Rose dissects in his provocative 2004 book, "The Myths of Zionism." Rose argues that Barak's remark exemplifies psychological projection, revealing more about Zionist ideology than its supposed subject. Through meticulous historical analysis, Rose deconstructs foundational Zionist narratives  biblical claims to Palestine, the myth of Jewish exile and the erasure of Palestinian identity  exposing what he calls a deliberate "edifice of lies" shaping the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Drawing on archaeology, political archives and marginalized voices, Rose challenges readers to reconsider long-held assumptions about nationalism, religion and colonialism in the Middle East.

Central to Zionist mythology, Rose contends, is the assertion that the Hebrew Bible grants Jews divine entitlement to historic Palestine. He scrutinizes the political manipulation of scripture by figures like Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who famously declared, "A myth can become a fact if people believe in it strongly enough." Ben-Gurion's government, Rose writes, selectively amplified biblical tales  such as the Exodus and King David's kingdom  while sidelining archaeological evidence contradicting their historicity. Modern excavations, Rose notes, increasingly debunk the notion of a unified "Ancient Israel," with scholars like Israel Finkelstein demonstrating that key biblical narratives lack empirical foundations.

Zionist historiography, Rose argues, hinges on the claim that Jews endured 2,000 years of exile yearning for a return to Palestine  a narrative he calls "ahistorical." Jewish communities, particularly under Islamic rule in medieval Spain and the Ottoman Empire, often thrived culturally and economically. "The 'exile' framework erases centuries of Jewish life in Baghdad, Cairo and Cordoba," Rose writes, highlighting how Zionism marginalized Mizrahi Jews whose histories contradicted the European-centric "Diaspora suffering" trope.

This omission, he asserts, served a political purpose: severing Jewish identity from its Arab-Islamic context to legitimize settler colonialism. Rose cites medieval philosopher Moses Maimonides, who wrote in Arabic and served in the court of Saladin, as emblematic of pre-Zionist Jewish-Arab integration.

Rose delves into declassified documents revealing how Ben-Gurion undermined secret 1950s peace talks with Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Despite Nasser's openness to recognizing Israel in exchange for Palestinian refugee rights, Ben-Gurion rejected compromise, fearing it would dilute Jewish demographic dominance. "Zionism's priority was never coexistence but conquest," Rose argues, drawing parallels to later failed accords like Oslo.

The book introduces "politicide"  a term coined by scholar Baruch Kimmerling to describe systemic efforts to negate Palestinian nationhood. Rose traces this to early Zionist slogans like "a land without a people for a people without land," which denied indigenous presence. He quotes Palestinian historian Nur Masalha: "Our archives, our olive trees, even our cemeteries were obliterated to manufacture the myth of emptiness."

In one of his most contentious chapters, Rose alleges that Zionist leaders instrumentalized European anti-Semitism to fuel migration to Palestine. He cites collaborations between early Zionists and anti-Semitic regimes, including the 1933 Haavara Agreement with Nazi Germany, which facilitated Jewish emigration while transferring assets to Palestine. "Some Zionists saw anti-Semitism as a useful tool," Rose writes, quoting dissident Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt's critique of nationalist "tribalism."

Despite its bleak assessments, The Myths of Zionism concludes with cautious optimism. Rose points to pre-1948 Jewish-Arab labor movements and modern grassroots initiatives like the binational One Democratic State campaign as models for shared futures. "History isn't predetermined," he insists. "The same energy spent mythologizing the past could build a just peace." (Related: The Jewish Radicals: A history of Revisionist Zionism and its controversial legacy.)

While praised by scholars like Ilan Pappe for its "unflinching revisionism," the book has faced backlash from pro-Israel groups accusing Rose of minimizing Jewish historical ties to the land. Rose counters: "Critiquing nationalism isn't denying identity  it's refusing to let myths justify oppression."

Two decades after its publication, "The Myths of Zionism" remains acutely relevant amid escalating violence in Gaza and the West Bank. As debates over "decolonization and apartheid analogies enter mainstream discourse, Rose's work challenges readers to interrogate the stories that shape geopolitics  and imagine alternatives beyond them.

Rose's book is a call to dismantle not just physical walls but ideological ones. Whether one agrees with his conclusions, "The Myths of Zionism" forces a reckoning with history's contested narratives  and who benefits from their perpetuation.

Learn more about the book "The Myths of Zionism" by watching the video below.

This video is from the BrightLearn channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

Brighteon.ai

Brighteon.com
Shlomo Avineri looks at the intellectual origins of Zionism in The Making of Modern Zionism

Zionism was shaped by a deep spiritual connection to the Land of Israel, coexisting with centuries of practical detachment until the 19th century, when it evolved into an active political movement.

The shift from passive longing to active nationalism was driven by broader European changesEmancipation, secularization and rising nationalismnot just anti-Semitism.

Historian Shlomo Avineri highlights thinkers like Nachman Krochmal (blending Jewish tradition with Hegelian philosophy), Heinrich Graetz (emphasizing Jewish historical continuity) and Moses Hess (advocating a socialist Jewish state in Palestine) in his book "The Making of Modern Zionism".

Theodor Herzl's vision of a Jewish state combined refuge with social justice, while figures like Max Nordau and Ahad Ha'am focused on cultural and spiritual renewal within Zionism.

Zionism emerged as a multifaceted response to modernity, integrating historical, cultural and political influences to redefine Jewish identity and self-determination.

In the annals of history, few movements have been as deeply rooted in both emotion and pragmatism as Zionism, the ideological force that led to the establishment of the Jewish State. In his seminal work, "The Making of Modern Zionism: The Intellectual Origins of the Jewish State," historian Shlomo Avineri embarks on a profound exploration of the complex and often paradoxical forces that shaped this transformative movement.

His analysis reveals a rich tapestry of intellectual currents, historical events and cultural shifts that culminated in the birth of a modern nation-state. At the heart of Avineri's narrative is the duality that defines Zionism: a profound, millennia-old connection to the Land of Israel, coexisting with centuries of practical distance.

For generations, Jews maintained a deep spiritual bond with their ancestral homeland, expressed through prayer and tradition. Yet, this emotional attachment did not translate into widespread emigration or practical efforts to return to Palestine. The annual mourning for Jerusalem's destruction and the prayers for deliverance were not accompanied by a mass movement to reclaim the land.

This paradox began to shift in the 19th century with the emergence of Zionism as an organized political movement. Avineri argues that this transformation was revolutionary, marking a fundamental change in how Jews related to their historical connection with Israel.

The 19th century was a period of unprecedented change for European Jewry. The French Revolution and the subsequent Emancipation granted Jews equality before the law and opened doors to education, professions and society. However, this newfound freedom came with its own set of challenges. The Enlightenment and secularization altered the way Jews perceived themselves and how they were perceived by non-Jewish communities. No longer defined primarily by their religious beliefs, Jews faced a new dilemma of identity in a world increasingly defined by nationalism, ethnicity and cultural identity.

Avineri delves into the intellectual currents that contributed to the rise of Zionism, examining the works of key figures who shaped the movement. One such figure is Nachman Krochmal, whose work attempted to reconcile Jewish identity with the dominant European philosophical traditions of the 19th century. Krochmal's "The Guide to the Perplexed of Our Time" is a fascinating blend of Jewish tradition and Hegelian philosophy, offering a unique perspective on the survival of the Jewish people and their universal contribution to world history.

Another pivotal figure is Heinrich Graetz, whose "History of the Jews" challenged traditional views of Judaism and emphasized the historical continuity of the Jewish people. Graetz's work played a crucial role in shaping the view of Jews as a nation with a story unfolding in time and place, countering the Orthodox view of Judaism as an unchanging religious structure and the Reform movement's conception of Judaism as a mere moral and spiritual vision.

Moses Hess, with his book "Rome and Jerusalem," called for a solution to the Jewish problem through the establishment of a Jewish socialist commonwealth in Palestine. Hess' work is a unique synthesis of socialism and Jewish nationalism, offering a vision of a society that combines national particularity with a universal vision.

Theodor Herzl, often seen as the father of modern political Zionism, is another central figure in Avineri's analysis. Herzl's "The Jewish State" and "Altneuland" are visionary works that describe a society that would not only be a refuge for Jews but also a model of social justice, drawing on the socialist utopian literature of the 19th century.

Avineri also explores the contributions of Max Nordau and Asher Ginsberg (Ahad Ha'am), who emphasized the cultural and spiritual dimensions of Jewish nationalism. Nordau's critique of the impact of Emancipation on Jewish life and Ahad Ha'am's call for a focus on cultural and spiritual development highlight the diversity of thought within the Zionist movement.

Watch this video about Shlomo Avineri's book "The Making of Modern Zionism: The Intellectual Origins of the Jewish State."

This video is from the BrightLearn channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

Brighteon.ai

Brighteon.com
Texas childs measles pulmonary failure sparks debate as media ignores vaccine risks and medical errors

An 8-year-old Texas girl died from "measles pulmonary failure," prompting media to blame unvaccinated children while ignoring critical factors.

Medical experts suggest the death may have resulted from improper treatment, not just measles, yet mainstream outlets refused to investigate.

The MMR vaccine carries documented risks, including autism links and underreported injuries, but media only amplifies fear of infectious disease.

Pharmaceutical giants Merck and GSK rake in billions from MMR sales, raising ethical concerns about profit-driven public health narratives.

Natural immunity and alternative treatments show promise, but health officials push vaccines while sidelining safer options.

The hidden side of measles hysteria

When 8-year-old Daisy Hildebrand died in April from what Texas health officials labeled "measles pulmonary failure," mainstream outlets like CNN and The Washington Post rushed to frame the tragedy as a cautionary tale about vaccine hesitancy. Missing from the headlines? The hospitals refusal to disclose Daisys treatment protocolor whether medical negligence played a role.

This pattern is nothing new. Every measles-related death becomes a media spectacle, while the thousands of annual MMR vaccine injuriesseizures, autism, and even fatalitiesare buried by the same outlets. In February, another Texas child, a 6-year-old, died after measles led to pneumonia. But when Childrens Health Defense (CHD) obtained her medical records, renowned pulmonologist Dr. Pierre Kory concluded she died from medical errors, including delayed antibiotic treatment. The New York Times dismissed the claim as "unfounded," omitting Korys credentialsa glaring omission in what should be objective journalism.

Vaccine risks vs. measles: A distorted narrative

While the mainstream media and health authorities emphasize the importance of vaccination, they often fail to disclose the serious risks associated with the MMR vaccine. The vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella, has been linked to a range of adverse reactions, including febrile seizures, anaphylaxis, meningitis, encephalitis, thrombocytopenia, arthralgia, and vasculitis. According to the package insert for Mercks MMRII, the vaccine has not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential or impairment of fertility.

Research by Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC) reveals that immunity from the MMR vaccine wanes over time, with about 60% of vaccinated children susceptible to sub-clinical measles infection and 33% of adults susceptible to clinical infection by age 24-26. This waning immunity suggests that the vaccine may not provide the long-term protection it is often touted to offer.

Moreover, a 2004 study found that boys vaccinated with their first MMR dose on time were 67% more likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to those vaccinated after their third birthday. Between 2000 and 2024, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) recorded 144 deaths following MMR or MMRV vaccination, compared to nine measles-related deaths reported to the CDC during the same period. Given that VAERS is a passive reporting system, the actual number of vaccine-related injuries and deaths may be significantly higher.

Meanwhile, measles itself confers lifelong natural immunitysomething the MMR cant replicate. Yet public health officials never mention this. Instead, they push mass vaccination while ignoring troubling financial ties: Merck made 2.485 billion from MMR sales in 2024, while GSK pocketed over 411 million.

Why arent alternative treatments part of the conversation?

Clinics in Texas have quietly reported success treating measles complications with:

Cod liver oil (packed with immune-boosting vitamins A and D)

Budesonide (an anti-inflammatory steroid)

Clarithromycin (a standard antibiotic)

But these options dont generate pharmaceutical revenueand thus, theyre excluded from mainstream coverage.

In 1962, The Saturday Evening Post exposed how Big Pharma colluded with regulators to downplay thalidomides birth defect risksa scandal that shattered public trust. Today, history repeats itself as corporate media amplifies measles fear-mongering while sidelining MMR dangers, medical errors, and profit motives.

Will the truth about vaccine risks ever break throughor will the next tragic death simply be exploited to push more jabs?

Sources include:

ChildrensHealthDefense.org

DSHS.Texas.gov

NaturalNews.com
Trumps bold tariff strategy forces Vietnam to offer zero tariffs, but will it work?

Vietnam proposed eliminating all tariffs on U.S. imports to avoid a 46% U.S. tariff on its goods, but White House trade adviser Peter Navarro dismissed the offer, calling Vietnam a poster child for non-tariff cheating.

President Donald Trumps "America First" approach includes steep tariffs (10% baseline, up to 46% on Vietnam and China) to counter trade deficits and alleged exploitation by foreign nations.

Companies like Nike, which heavily rely on Vietnamese manufacturing, saw stock turbulence after Trumps tariff announcement, briefly rebounding on Vietnams offer.

Critics argue sudden tariffs risk economic instability, while the administration claims they correct past trade abuses like trans-shipping and unfair subsidies.

Trump remains firm on tariffs taking effect April 9 despite Vietnams request for negotiations, signaling a broader push to reshape global trade terms under threat of economic pressure.

In a dramatic shift in trade policy, Vietnam has offered to eliminate all tariffs on U.S. imports following President Donald Trumps announcement of steep retaliatory tariffs on Vietnamese goods. The Southeast Asian nation, a key manufacturing hub for companies like Nike, sought to avoid a 46% tariff set to take effect on April 9. But White House trade adviser Peter Navarro quickly dismissed the offer, calling Vietnam a "poster child for non-tariff cheating" and insisting the U.S. would proceed with its plan unless further concessions are made.

The high-stakes negotiation underscores Trumps aggressive "America First" trade doctrine, which aims to reverse what he describes as decades of economic exploitation by foreign competitors. Yet, as the deadline looms, experts debate whether the strategy will boost American industry or provoke deeper economic turbulence.

Vietnams Hail Mary offer

President Trump revealed on Truth Social that Vietnamese Communist Party leader To Lam had proposed slashing tariffs on U.S. imports to zero if the two nations reached a new agreement. Earlier in the week, Trump had announced a sweeping overhaul of U.S. trade policy, imposing a 10% baseline tariff on most imports and higher "reciprocal" rates on countries like Vietnam (46%), China (46%) and the European Union (27%).

Nike, which relies on 130 factories in Vietnam, saw its stock plummet after the initial announcement, only to rebound slightly following Vietnams concession. But Navarro dismissed the offer during an interview with Fox News Sunday Morning Futures, arguing that tariff reductions alone wouldnt fix Vietnams alleged trade abuses, including trans-shipping Chinese goods to evade U.S. duties.

"If you simply lowered our tariffs and they lowered their tariffs to zero, wed still run about $120 billion trade deficit with Vietnam," Navarro said. "The problem is all of the non-tariff cheating that they do."

Historical context: Trade wars and economic leverage

Trumps latest move echoes his first-term trade battles, where tariffs were a central tool in renegotiating agreements like the USMCA (the replacement for NAFTA). His reasoning is rooted in a belief that foreign nations have long taken advantage of the U.S., using unfair subsidies, currency manipulation and regulatory barriers to flood American markets while restricting access to their own.

Vietnam, in particular, has emerged as a manufacturing powerhouse in recent years, partly due to companies relocating from China to avoid Trump-era tariffs. But the U.S. trade deficit with Vietnam has ballooned to $123.5 billionexacerbating tensions.

However, critics argue that sudden tariffs could backfire. "If you're not happy with trade terms, you should sit down and renegotiatenot slap on tariffs overnight," said Peter Simon, an economics professor at Northeastern University. "This just creates resentment and economic instability."

What happens next?

Trump has said he would consider a "phenomenal" deal but remains firm on tariffs taking effect April 9. Vietnams leadership has requested a 45-day delay and a face-to-face meeting in May to negotiate furtherbut Navarros rejection suggests the White House is holding firm.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted at a long-term strategy, telling NBC News that more than 50 nations have already approached the U.S. about adjusting trade terms. "Theyve been bad actors for a long time," he said. "This isnt something that can be fixed in days or weeks."

The standoff with Vietnam is the first major test of Trumps revived tariff strategyone that could redefine global trade dynamics or trigger retaliatory measures. While the administration argues its reclaiming leverage, skeptics warn of short-term disruptions and long-term damage to diplomatic relations. As April 9 approaches, businesses and investors worldwide are bracing for the next move in a high-stakes economic chess match.

For now, Trumps message is clear: no more half-measures. "The patient lived, and is healing," he declared on Truth Social, referencing his trade policy. "The prognosis is that the patient will be far stronger, bigger, better and more resilient than ever before."

Only time will tell if that prediction holds.

Sources include:

YourNews.com

Bloomberg.com

EconomicTimes.com

NewWeek.com
Trumps tariffs expose EUs dependency on US markets as trade war looms

President Trump imposes sweeping tariffs of up to 50% on EU goods, calling them a correction for unfair trade practices.

The EU threatens countermeasures but reveals economic reliance on the U.S. as 70% of its exports face new tariffs.

Trump rejects EU negotiation offers, framing tariffs as permanent unless Europe capitulates to U.S. demands.

Europes retaliatory measures are scaled back due to internal divisions and fear of further escalation.

The standoff risks global market instability, with the EU pressured to either concede or face prolonged economic pain.

The escalating trade battle between the U.S. and the European Union hit a boiling point this week as President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs of up to 50% on EU goods, declaring an end to decades of what he calls unfair trade practices.

The EU, scrambling to respond, has threatened robust countermeasures while pleading for negotiationsa move that reveals Europes economic reliance on American consumers. With Trump refusing to back down and the EU preparing retaliatory tariffs, the clash threatens to derail global markets and reshape international trade dynamics.

A long-overdue correction

Trumps Liberation Day tariffs, announced last week and taking effect April 9, impose a blanket 20% duty on nearly all EU imports, targeting industries from automobiles to steel. The president framed the move as a necessary corrective to years of imbalance, citing the EUs 39% average tariff on U.S. goods and $200 billion in annual value-added taxes burdening American firms. It was formed to really do damage to the United States in trade, Trump said bluntly in the Oval Office, dismissing the EUs zero-for-zero tariff proposal as insufficient.

EUs panicked response

European Trade Commissioner Maros Sef?ovi? admitted the bloc is in a tough spot, with 70% of its exports to the U.S.worth $410 billionnow facing steep tariffs. Brussels initially drafted $28 billion in retaliatory duties but scaled back after internal dissent, dropping targets like bourbon and wine to avoid provoking Trump further. Weve been listening very carefully to our member states, Sef?ovi? conceded, signaling disunity.

The EUs countermeasures, set for April 15 and May 15, are a fraction of what the U.S. wields. As German Economy Minister Robert Habeck noted, The stock markets are already collapsing and the damage could become even greater ... America is in a position of weakness. However, Europes leverage is limited. Its proposed Anti-Coercion Instrument, which could restrict U.S. services, was labeled the very much the nuclear option by Irelands foreign minister, highlighting fears of escalation.

Negotiate or surrender?

President Trump has made it clear that tariffs are not a bargaining chip but a permanent tool unless Europe capitulates. Were not looking at [negotiations], he said, rejecting the EUs offer to eliminate industrial fees. Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen lamented the tariffs as a major blow to the world economy.

Critics argue the EUs rhetoric rings hollow. The blocs 10% tariff on U.S. cars and barriers to American agriculture contradict its free-trade posturing. They dont take our cars, like Japan in that sense. They dont take our agricultural product; they dont take anything practically, Trump challenged.

With Trump unyielding and the EUs retaliation fragmented, the stalemate risks deepening economic pain. Elon Musks call for a U.S.-EU free-trade zone remains distant, given Europes protectionist history. For now, Trumps message is clear: The era of American passivity is over. This is America First, he asserted. There can be permanent tariffs, and there can also be negotiations.

As markets brace for turbulence, the EUs outrage only underscores how much it needs the U.S.and how far its willing to go to avoid an honest reckoning. The ball is in Europes court. Whether it chooses fairness or futility will define the next chapter of global trade.

Sources for this article include:

RT.com

Reuters.com

NYPost.com

Finance.Yahoo.com
Western governments wage war on human knowledge as China preserves civilizations legacy

Mike Adams highlights the intellectual decline in the West, citing a 1958 Chicago Tribune as evidence of past literacy and economic stability, contrasting todays digital censorship and illiteracy.

Unlike the West, China preserves vast historical and scientific archives, with one-third of human knowledge in Chinese, giving it an AI advantage through uncensored data access.

AI models rely on pirated content for training, but Western copyright laws restrict access, while China encourages knowledge sharing, positioning itself as a leader in AI innovation.

Western institutions (e.g., FBI) target shadow libraries like Z-Library, suppressing knowledge, whereas China digitizes archives, ensuring AI has ample high-quality training data.

Adams advocates for decentralized AI (e.g., his Enoch project) to preserve forbidden knowledge, warning that Western censorship will lead to AI dominance by China and other knowledge-preserving nations.

In a fiery broadcast, Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, delivered a scathing indictment of Western institutions, accusing them of systematically erasing humanitys collective memory while nations like China, Russia, and India safeguard historical and scientific archives. Citing a 1958 Chicago Tribune as evidence of lost literacy and economic stability, Adams argued that the future of artificial intelligence (AI) depends on access to uncensored knowledgesomething Western copyright laws and tech giants like Google actively suppress. Meanwhile, China leads in AI development by leveraging vast repositories of preserved texts, positioning itself as the guardian of human intellectual heritage.

The Decline of Western Knowledge Preservation

Adams began his analysis by showcasing a 1958 Chicago Tribune, a relic of a bygone era when newspapers were dense with information, requiring a literate and intellectually engaged readership. The paper, priced at seven cents and spanning 60 pages, was a testament to a time when Americans were more self-sufficient, economically stable, and cognitively capable.

People who were reading newspapers in 1958 were much smarter than the average American adult today, Adams asserted. Today, nobodyor almost nobodycould read this paper. Illiteracy is widespread, and communication has devolved into emojis, a regression to hieroglyphics.

The contrast between then and now is stark. In the 1950s, newspapers were manually typeset, printed, and distributeda labor-intensive process requiring thousands of hours of human effort. Today, digital platforms dominate, yet much of the content is algorithmically curated, censored, or outright erased. Adams warned that Western institutions, particularly Google, Facebook, and YouTube, are designed to isolate humanity from knowledge, not disseminate it.

Chinas Role as the Guardian of Human Knowledge

While the West suppresses and censors, China has taken a radically different approach. Adams highlighted that one-third of all human knowledge is in Chinese, owing to Chinas millennia-long tradition of preserving texts. Unlike Western empires, which have historically burned libraries (such as the Library of Alexandria), China actively encourages the digitization and sharing of historical and scientific archives.

This preservation strategy has given China a decisive edge in AI development. Adams explained that all major AI language modelsincluding OpenAIs ChatGPT, Googles Gemini, and Chinas DeepSeek and Qwenare trained on vast datasets of human knowledge, much of which Western governments label as piracy.

China believes in storing and sharing information, Adams said. The West believes in restricting it.

The Battle Over AI Training Data

The crux of the issue lies in who controls the knowledge that trains AI. Adams revealed that the entirety of human codified knowledgebooks, newspapers, scientific journalsfits into less than one petabyte of data. Yet, Western copyright laws and aggressive legal actions against digital libraries like Z-Library (which Adams supports) hinder AIs ability to learn from this wealth of information.

Every AI company in the world uses pirated content to train their models, Adams declared. But in China, they are encouraged to gather these archives. In the West, theyre trying to shut them down.

Z-Library, a shadow library preserving millions of books, has faced relentless crackdowns by the FBI, yet it remains a critical resource for researchers, students, and AI developers. Adams, who has contributed his own books to Z-Library, argued that restricting access to knowledge stifles innovation and ensures Western AI will lag behind Chinas.

The Future: AI as the New Custodian of Knowledge

Adams warned that the next phase of human knowledge will be AI-generated, dwarfing the existing corpus of human writings. Within a decade, machine-generated content could expand the worlds knowledge base by a factor of 100.

The nations that control the largest collections of high-quality human knowledge will dominate AI, Adams predicted. China is winning this race because it doesnt sabotage its own intellectual heritage.

Meanwhile, Western governments are pushing for AI censorship, as seen with the Anti-Defamation Leagues (ADL) demands to purge anti-Semitism from AI modelsa move Adams likened to Googles disinformation tactics.

Conclusion: A Call for Decentralized Knowledge

Adams solution? Decentralization. His AI project, Enoch, is designed to preserve forbidden or suppressed knowledgeranging from natural medicine to real historyfree from corporate or government censorship. He urged listeners to pirate and share AI models to prevent totalitarian control over information.

Human knowledge wants to be free, Adams concluded. The West is destroying civilization by erasing truth. China, Russia, and India are preserving it. The choice is clear.

As the battle for humanitys collective memory intensifies, one question remains: Will the West wake up before its too late?

Watch the April 08 episode of "Brighteon Broadcast News" as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, argues that Western civilization is at war with human knowledge and is trying to eradicate all human memory of the past.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Human knowledge is under attack by Big Tech and Big Government  heres what we are doing to preserve and share the lifesaving knowledge that has been targeted for extermination

Futurist John Petersen: The future of knowledge lies in DECENTRALIZATION through AI and open-source innovation

Online censorship is a WAR against human knowledge and sustainable civilization

Sources include:

Brighteon.com
DEATH BY DOCTOR: Why and how doctors are now PAID TO KILL their patients

Doctors as Agents of Depopulation - Coleman alleges that doctors are being manipulated into killing or neglecting patients under the guise of combating climate change, targeting the elderly, disabled, and vulnerable first.

The medical establishment is prioritizing "environmental sustainability" over patient care, using tools like the NHSs "Green Physician Toolkit" to justify cutting treatments, reducing in-person care, and promoting ineffective "green" alternatives (e.g., remote consultations, nature therapies). The destruction of healthcare is tied to the UNs alleged plan for a "world government," where elites cull populations via medical neglect, economic control, and environmental policies. Healthcares decline is framed as deliberate, with comparisons to Chinas technocracy, where individual health is sacrificed for systemic "sustainability" goals.

In America, unless youve got a broken bone, deep wound, or are having a baby, you might want to avoid going to the hospital, because more and more now U.S. hospitals are becoming like third world hospices. Its not that good kind of risk you want to take. Why? Doctors make more money in this country if they make you sick, keep you sick, and even get paid serious bonuses if you die under their care. Sounds like a tin foil hatted conspiracy theory, but as they say, the proof is in the pudding, and this pudding is toxic.

Forget about actual useful medicine and natural remedies, science says nobodys medical needs take priority over the climate change conspiracy theory

As part of a depopulation agenda backed by billionaires like Bill Gates, doctors in America have all kinds of excuses for restricting medical care that people need and also promoting dirty medicine that people obviously do NOT need. Believe it or not, doctors are using global warming as a reason to deny medical care to patients. They call it the Green Physician Toolkit and it was published by the Royal College of Physicians. Its recommended for U.S. health practitioners to prioritize environmental sustainability over patient care, because FAKE climate change is more important since its a major threat to global health.

In other words, because cows are farting so much these days, the glaciers are all melting and the polar bears cant find any food, so people who need dire medical attention in hospitals wont be getting it because the money and resources must all be allocated to save the polar bears and prevent cow flatulating worldwide. On top of that, the World Health Organization says the science is settled on global warming and no doctors anywhere in the world should ever try to debate the science on it. Just deny your patients care and keep your mouth shut about it, they are essentially told. Its science!

Sounds just like Fauci during the plandemic when he said the science was settled and follow the science and I AM the Science!  even though there was NO science regarding safety or efficacy behind the deadly mRNA clot shots, wearing masks 24/7, social distancing, or lockdowns.

Are you ready to be injected with the Climate Vaccine? Its coming. You too can help reduce the heat of the sun by injecting gene-mutation technology that creates billions of tiny prions in your blood that gather together to form rubbery clots that help feed the polar bears and stop cows from farting. This is Modern Medicine and Science so dont you ever even try to question it or become a vaccine skeptic, or you will be force vaccinated at gunpoint by the INTERPOL VAX SQUAD.

Though the earths temperature is the lowest its been for 485 million years, the Vaccine Industrial Complex says the science is settled about global warming, so go to the nearest Walmart and get your Climate Change Prevention Jab to save the world from bursting into flames next week. Its your civic duty. Follow the science, folks, and it leads you straight to an early grave, while the doctors all profit heavily from putting the climate emergency ahead of your medical needs.

Tune your internet dial to NaturalMedicine.news for more tips on how to use natural remedies for preventative medicine and for healing, instead of succumbing to Big Pharma products that cause, spread, and exacerbate disease and disorder.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

Expose-news.com
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An American's deep connection with ancient road system "Shudao"

Xinhua) 14:42, April 08, 2025

Hope Justman (4th L, front) poses for a group photo with her fellow hikers at the Tianxiong Pass on the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said.

This combo photo taken on March 21, 2025 shows Hope Justman sharing a photo of the plank road by Mingyue Gorge that she took in the past (above) and the plank road by Mingyue Gorge at present, in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

An aerial drone photo taken on March 21, 2025 shows the plank road by Mingyue Gorge (below) in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (front) and her fellow hikers walk along the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (C) visits Zhaohua ancient town with her fellow hikers in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 20, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (L) and her fellow hikers walk along the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (2nd R) chats with her fellow hikers on the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman poses for a photo on the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (R) rests and chats with her fellow hiker after hiking the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (L) and her friend Chen Yang view a stone tablet at the Tianxiong Pass on the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (1st L) explains construction techniques of plank roads to her fellow hikers at Mingyue Gorge scenic area in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 21, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (1st R) chats with her fellow hikers on the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman shows photos of the ancient road system "Shudao" that she took in the past in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 20, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman crosses a gap with the help of her fellow hikers while walking along the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman records the process of making a sugar painting at Zhaohua ancient town in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 20, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (L) signs her book with a note for her friend Hu Chaoqun, a restaurant owner at Zhaohua ancient town, in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 20, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Danvilles in the market for a new superintendent. Champaign has a pair of principal positions still to fill. Oakwood needs one of each. With April being the traditional kickoff to hiring season in the education business, heres a look at local leadership positions already filled and the departures that led to ones still to come.
"When you hear politicians talk about deporting millions of criminal immigrants, please know that there are not millions of criminal immigrants. Instead, most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants who will be targeted, have been in the United States, working hard, often establishing their own businesses, raising their families, participating in church life, contributing to their communities, paying their taxes and being generous to people in need."
"Scapegoating immigrants for all the problems in our society is as old as human history. Make the immigrants go away and everything will be fine, say the scapegoaters. It is an easy sell, but not one without severe consequences."
With Jim Kelly just passing and the other Iwo Jima veterans and World War II veterans in the league now gone, its our turn to lead by example, says Bob Kappes, the four-time commandant of the Urbana-Champaign Richard L. Pittman Marine Corps League #1231. We owe it to them, and the service and support they exemplified, to be there for each other and our community.
From dwarfism to overgrowth, scientists unravel the complex genetic blueprint that determines how tallor shortwe become.

Review: The genetic basis of human height. Image Credit: XiXinXing / Shutterstock

A review article published in the journal Nature Reviews Genetics provides an in-depth overview of rare and common genetic factors that contribute to human height.

Background

Human height is a polygenic trait governed by the combined effect of multiple genes, each contributing to the overall phenotype. Like other polygenic traits, such as skin color, height can also be influenced by environmental factors, such as nutrition, childhood health status, and overall lifestyle.

The same gene can play "good cop, bad cop"  While FGFR3 gain-of-function variants cause achondroplasia, reduced FGFR3 activity has been linked to CATSHL syndrome, marked by unusually long limbs and tall stature.

Recent evidence from twin studies reveals that genetic makeup contributes up to 90% to an individuals height, though genome-wide association studies (GWAS) suggest common variants explain ~80% of heritability. In monogenic disorders caused by mutations in a single gene, height can be severely affected by single-gene variants, often causing severe alterations in stature relative to population averages.

Any induction or reduction in human height compared to population averages has been linked to an altered risk of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases. People who are taller than the population average have been found to have an increased risk of cancer; whereas, shorter people have an increased risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes.

These observations highlight the importance of deciphering the genetic architecture of human height in understanding its clinical relevance. This review article aimed to summarize the genetic contributors to human height implicated by both monogenic and polygenic studies.

Monogenic Conditions Associated With Human Height

Growth alteration is characterized as a clinical feature in multiple monogenic disorders. Such growth alteration is commonly caused by pathogenic variants in genes associated with the regulation of longitudinal growth.

Your height may hinge on an obscure DNA repair protein  Variants in ATR, best known for fixing replication errors, cause Seckel syndrome by stunting prenatal growth through centrosome dysfunction.

Syndromic conditions (involving additional clinical features beyond differences in height) that cause short stature (medically termed dwarfism when adult height is <147 cm) include skeletal dysplasia, which is characterized by abnormalities of formation, growth, or maintenance of the human skeleton. Most of the genetic variants associated with skeletal dysplasia exert their primary effects by downregulating the proliferation or hypertrophy of growth plate (physis) chondrocytes (cells responsible for cartilage formation).

For example, a recurrent gain-of-function variant in the FGFR3 gene (p.Gly380Arg) causes achondroplasia, the most common skeletal dysplasia. Variants in genes encoding common components of the growth hormone signaling pathway (e.g., GHR mutations in Laron syndrome) have been identified as contributors to monogenic short stature. Growth hormone activates growth hormone receptor, which in turn leads to synthesis of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and accessory proteins. At the growth plate, IGFs serve as endocrine factors to activate pro-proliferation pathways.

Pathogenic variants in several signaling pathways related to skeletal growth plate homeostasis, including transforming growth factor- (TGF)-bone morphometric protein (BMP) pathway, atrial natriuretic peptide receptor 2 (NPR2) pathway, and parathyroid hormone (PTH1R) pathway, have been identified as major contributors to the short stature in skeletal disorders.

Primordial dwarfism is a group of genetic disorders characterized by severe growth arrest that begins before birth and continues throughout life. Loss-of-function variants in genes such as PCNT (encoding pericentrin), CEP152, and ORC1 disrupt centrosome function or DNA replication, leading to a subtype known as microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism.

Genetic Causes of Tall Stature

Overgrowth isnt always straightforward  In Sotos syndrome, NSD1 mutations dont just boost height  they trigger advanced bone age and distinct facial features through dysregulated H3K36 methylation.

Regarding genetic causes of tall stature and overgrowth, existing evidence highlights the roles of extracellular matrix proteins and related signaling molecules in growth homeostasis. Marfan syndrome, caused by FBN1 mutations, is characterized by tall stature, joint laxity, and cardiovascular complications. Fibrillin 1 deficiency due to mutations in the FBN1 gene can lead to impaired formation of perichondrium (a connective tissue covering cartilage), which in turn can result in bone lengthening.

SimpsonGolabiBehmel syndrome is an X-linked overgrowth disorder characterized by tall stature. Loss-of-function variants in the GPC3 and GPC4 genes encoding glypican 3 and glypican 4 proteins, respectively, have been identified as causative factors. Glypican 3 and glypican 4 bind to the plasma membrane and regulate the Wnt, BMP, and FGF signaling pathways associated with bone growth.

Polygenic Contributors to Human Height

Human height is a highly heritable trait, and GWAS have identified 12,111 common variants, primarily in European-ancestry populations, that explain ~50% of heritability. Rare variant burden tests, such as those analyzed in the UK Biobanklinked Genebass browser, have identified 78 genes (including 18 monogenic skeletal growth genes) where aggregated loss-of-function variants significantly associate with height. The majority of the remaining heritability can be explained by polygenic rare variants or other inherited factors, with only a small amount of heritability accounted for by very rare monogenic variants.

Recent whole-genome sequencing studies have identified rare non-coding variants in multiple loci that influence height. Microarray studies designed to genotype low-frequency variants across the exome have identified rare missense or loss-of-function variants associated with height, including several genes underlying monogenic disorders (e.g., ACAN, IHH, PTH1R, COL2A1).

Height Regulatory Pathways and Bidirectional Effects

Why do some families have "petite" bones?  Subtle ACAN variants create "hidden" skeletal dysplasia, where short stature appears isolated but stems from disrupted cartilage template formation.

Several pathways have been identified to have associations with both increased and decreased height, depending on the altered functions of the affected proteins. For instance, DNMT3A loss-of-function variants cause Tatton-BrownRahman overgrowth syndrome, while gain-of-function variants in the same gene lead to microcephalic dwarfism. Epigenetic regulators, such as polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) subunits (EED, SUZ12, EZH2) and the histone methyltransferase NSD1, also bidirectionally influence stature. PRC2-mediated H3K27 trimethylation suppresses chondrocyte proliferation, while NSD1 haploinsufficiency in Sotos syndrome disrupts H3K36 methylation, leading to growth plate dysregulation and overgrowth through altered Wnt/-catenin and TGF- signaling.

The activation of FGFR3MAPKSTAT signaling pathway has been found to inhibit chondrocyte proliferation and extracellular matrix synthesis in the growth plate, leading to reduced endochondral bone growth. Conversely, the binding of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) to its receptor NPR2 leads to inhibition of the MAPK signaling pathway. The interplay between FGFR3, CNP, and NPR2 pathways has been found to increase or decrease activity of the MAPK pathway, and thus, influence chondrocyte proliferation or differentiation.

Therapeutic Implications

The review highlights emerging therapies, such as vosoritide (a CNP analog), which restores growth plate function in achondroplasia by counteracting overactive FGFR3 signaling.

Conclusion

This review article provides a detailed genetic architecture of human height and depicts that genes implicated by both monogenic and polygenic studies converge on common developmental or cellular pathways. The authors emphasize the need for increasing diversity in genetic studies, incorporating Indigenous populations under FAIR/CARE principles, to identify ancestry-specific variants and improve equity in genomic research.
A study published in Brain Communications highlights a new approach to treating drug-resistant epilepsy. Researchers at Mayo Clinic have developed an innovative deep brain stimulation (DBS) platform that was used to not only reduce seizures, but also improve memory and sleep - two common challenges for patients with epilepsy.

Epilepsy, a seizure disorder that affects about 50 million people worldwide, often disrupts memory, emotions and sleep. Many cases are drug-resistant, leaving people with limited treatment options. Researchers at Mayo Clinic found that low-frequency DBS not only reduced seizures, but it also improved memory and sleep.

"Using an implanted investigational device, the team continuously monitored brain activity with AI-driven seizure and sleep tracking," says Gregory Worrell, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic neurologist and co-lead author of the study. "A cloud-based platform simultaneously assessed participants' behavior, memory and mood at home. This real-time data enables precise tuning of stimulation settings, maximizing benefits while minimizing side effects."

By using an implanted device that continuously monitors brain activity, we can detect seizures more accurately than patient-reported diaries in order to optimize deep brain stimulation in real-time and improve treatment." Vaclav Kremen, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic researcher and co-lead author of the study

The researchers monitored five patients with temporal lobe epilepsy throughout their DBS treatment. The system allowed patients to track their brain activity and symptoms remotely, providing doctors with detailed, real-world data to fine-tune treatments. This technology could lead to more effective treatments for drug-resistant epilepsy and could be expanded to treat other neurological and psychiatric disorders.

"Our study demonstrates the potential of emerging neurotechnology to treat human disease," says Jamie Van Gompel, M.D., Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon and co-author of the study.

"Combining neuroscience, engineering and artificial intelligence, our work is paving the way for more personalized and effective treatments for epilepsy and other brain disorders," says Dr. Worrell.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the CLARA project, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program. The implanted devices were donated by Medtronic as part of the National Institutes of Health Brain Initiative Public-Private Partnership.
When the catastrophic Los Angeles fires broke out, John Volckens suspected firefighters and residents were breathing toxic air from the burning homes, buildings, and cars, but it was unclear how much risk the public faced. So, the professor of environmental health at Colorado State University devised a plan to get answers.

Volckens shipped 10 air pollution detectors to Los Angeles to measure the amounts of heavy metals, benzene, and other chemicals released by the flames, which burned more than 16,000 homes, businesses, and other structures, making it one of the country's costliest natural disasters.

"These disaster events keep happening. They release pollution into the environment and to the surrounding community," said Volckens, who shared his results with local air regulators. "We have this kind of traumatic experience, and then we're left with: Well, what did we just breathe in?"

Scientists and public health officials have long tracked the pollutants that cause smog, acid rain, and other environmental health hazards and shared them with the public through the local Air Quality Index. But the monitoring system misses hundreds of harmful chemicals released in urban fires, and the Los Angeles fires have led to a renewed push for state and federal regulators to do more as climate change drives up the frequency of these natural disasters.

It's questionable whether the Trump administration will act, however. Last month, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced what he described as the "biggest deregulatory" action in history, which critics warn will lead to a rollback of environmental health regulations.

While Air Quality Index values are a good starting place for knowing what's in the air, they don't provide a full picture of pollutants, especially during disasters, said Yifang Zhu, a professor of environmental health sciences at UCLA. In fact, the AQI could be in a healthy range, "but you could still be exposed to higher air toxins from the fires," she added.

In February, nearly a dozen lawmakers from California called on the EPA to create a task force of local and federal authorities to better monitor what's in the air and inform the public. Locals are "unsure of the actual risks they face and confused by conflicting reports about how safe it is to breathe the air outside, which may lead to families not taking adequate protective measures," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to James Payne, who was then the acting EPA administrator. The EPA press office declined to comment in an e-mail to KFF Health News.

Lawmakers have also introduced bills in Congress and in the California legislature to address the gap. A measure by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) would direct the EPA to allocate grant money to local air pollution agencies to communicate the risks of wildfire smoke, including deploying air monitors. Meanwhile, a bill by Democratic state Assembly member Lisa Calderon would create a "Wildfire Smoke Research and Education Fund" to study the health impacts of wildfire smoke, especially on firefighters and residents affected by fires.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District, a regional air pollution control agency, operates about 35 air monitoring stations across nearly 11,000 square miles of the Los Angeles region to measure pollutants like ozone and carbon monoxide.

During the fires, the agency, which is responsible for the air quality of 16.8 million residents, relied on its network of stations to monitor five common pollutants, including PM2.5, the fine particles that make up smoke and can travel deep inside the body. After the fires, the South Coast AQMD deployed two mobile monitoring vans to assess air quality in cleanup areas and expanded neighborhood-level monitoring during debris removal, said Jason Low, head of the agency's monitoring and analysis division.

Local officials also received the data collected by Volcken's devices, which arrived on-site four days after the fires broke out. The monitors  about the size of a television remote control and housed in a plastic cover the size of a bread loaf  were placed at air monitoring stations around the fires' perimeters, as well as at other sites, including in West Los Angeles and Santa Clarita. The devices, called AirPens, monitored dozens of air contaminants in real time and collected precise chemical measurements of smoke composition.

Researchers replaced the sensors every week, sending the filters to a lab that analyzed them for measurements of volatile organic compounds like benzene, lead, and black carbon, along with other carcinogens. Volcken's devices provided public health officials with data for a month as cleanup started. The hope is that the information provided can help guide future health policies in fire-prone areas.

"There's not one device that can measure everything in real time," Low said. "So, we have to rely on different tools for each different type of purpose of monitoring."

ASCENT, a national monitoring network funded by the National Science Foundation, registered big changes after the fires. One monitor, about 11 miles south of the Eaton fire in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, detected 40 times the normal amount of chlorine in the air and 110 times the typical amount of lead in the days following the fires. It was clear the chemical spikes came from urban wildfire smoke, which is more dangerous than what would be emitted when trees and bushes burn in rural areas, said Richard Flagan, the co-principal investigator at the network's site in Los Angeles.

"Ultimately, the purpose is to get the data out there in real time, both for the public to see but also for people who are doing other aspects of research," said Flagan, adding that chemical measurements are critical for epidemiologists who are developing health statistics or doing long-term studies of the impact of air pollution on peoples' health.

Small, low-cost sensors could fill in gaps as government networks age or fail to adequately capture the full picture of what's in the air. Such sensors can identify pollution hot spots and improve wildfire smoke warnings, according to a March 2024 U.S. Government Accountability Office report.

Although the devices have become smaller and more accurate in the past decade, some pollutants require analysis with X-ray scans and other costly high-level equipment, said J. Alfredo Gomez, director of the Natural Resources and Environment team at the GAO. And Gomez cautioned that the quality of the data can vary depending on what the devices monitor.

"Low-cost sensors do a good job of measuring PM2.5 but not such a good job for some of these other air toxins, where they still need to do more work," Gomez said.

UCLA's Zhu said the emerging technology of portable pollution monitors means residents  not just government and scientists  might be able to install equipment in their backyards and broaden the picture of what's happening in the air at the most local level.

"If the fires are predicted to be worse in the future, it might be a worthwhile investment to have some ability to capture specific types of pollutants that are not routinely measured by government stations," Zhu said.

This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.
insights from industry Roya Amini-Naieni CEO and Co-Founder Trilobio For decades, the promise of lab automation has remained out of reach for many scientists due to high costs and complex integrations. Trilobio is working to change that. News Medical sat down with CEO and co-founder Roya Amini-Naieni to learn how their modular, affordable robots are transforming biology labs, and what the future of automated science might look like.

To begin, could you provide an overview of Trilobio and the motivation behind its founding?

Thank you. Im Roya, CEO and co-founder of Trilobio. Our mission is to make fully automated laboratories accessible to every biologist. Weve been operating for about two and a half years, and our core innovation is a suite of modular robotswhat we call Trilobotsdesigned to fully automate workflows in molecular and synthetic biology.

Currently, our systems are being used across the U.S. in areas such as biotherapeutics development, rare cancer treatment research, and bio-prospecting. We're still in the pilot phase but preparing for commercial launch soon.

Image Credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.com

What distinguishes Trilobios approach to laboratory automation from existing solutions?

Affordability and usability are at the heart of our platform. Trilobots are modular, snapping together like Legos, and they can transfer plates between each othereliminating the need for manual handling. Critically, our system does not require expensive robotic integration services to function. Were removing the traditional barriers that have made automation inaccessible for many labs.

Manual calibration is a common challenge in automated systems. How does Trilobio address this issue?

Weve developed an auto-calibration system that completes the process in about eight minutes. Typically, this would involve manually measuring labware dimensions with calipersa process that can take days or even weeks. Our robots perform this task automatically, which significantly accelerates setup and reduces human error.

Is prior programming or coding knowledge required to operate Trilobios platform?

Not at all. Our software is designed to be entirely no-code. We offer a comprehensive LIMs system that tracks all labware, tools, and reagents on a users deck. The software interface is intuitive and modeled after a traditional lab notebook. Once a user has documented their experiment, our research engine translates that into optimized machine code tailored to their specific Trilobot setup.

Can experiments be shared across different laboratories, even those with varying equipment configurations?

Yes, absolutely. Because our system operates on a higher level of abstraction, researchers can share their experiments regardless of the recipients specific configurationwhether they have more or fewer Trilobots, different pipettes, or alternative reagents. Our research engine adapts the experiment to the available resources, ensuring reproducibility and portability.

From your perspective, what broader impact could widespread lab automation have on the scientific community?

Our goal is to make full automation the norm rather than the exception. By freeing scientists from repetitive manual tasks, we can unlock new research opportunitiesallowing experiments to run overnight or over weekends, for instance. Additionally, the creative potential that emerges when researchers can focus on high-level experimental design rather than low-level execution is immense. We believe this will catalyze a new wave of scientific discovery.

How has your background as a biologist shaped the development of Trilobios technology?

Coming from a biology background, Ive experienced firsthand how expensive and inaccessible automation technologies can be. Thats why weve designed our platform to be both user-friendly and affordable. By removing the need for custom integration and lowering hardware costs, were making advanced automation feasible even for small academic labssomething thats never been possible before.

Are there specific areas of research where you see Trilobios platform having the greatest immediate impact?

Im particularly excited about the potential in microfluidics. Our platform can interface with microfluidic modules to miniaturize experiments, reduce reagent consumption, and accelerate workflows. I believe the combination of microfluidics and large-scale automation will reshape the field. In many ways, microfluidic chips could become the equivalent of GPUs for lab automation.

Looking ahead, what are the next steps for Trilobio?

Our immediate focus is on scaling and launching the platform to bring automation into more labs. Long-term, our vision is to make high-throughput, reproducible experimentation accessible to every scientist, regardless of lab size or funding. Were excited to help shape a future where automation accelerates innovation across the life sciences.

Watch the full video interview from SLAS 2025 below:

About the Interviewee

Roya Amini-Naieni is the CEO and co-founder of Trilobio. She studied mathematics, computer science, and biology at Harvey Mudd College, where she founded a synthetic biology lab with grant support from the college president. Her research experience spans institutions including the University of Washington, Harvey Mudd College, and Asimov. Roya also founded the first non-collegiate iGEM team in Washington state. She is a 776 Fellow and was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Vaccination to prevent shingles also reduces the risk of developing dementia in later life, according to a research paper published recently in Nature. This conclusion is based on the analysis of data collected in connection with the introduction of a shingles immunization program launched in Wales in 2013. Economists with their special expertise in statistical analyses have made a significant contribution to the corresponding study.

We were able to apply our capabilities in statistics to medical data, thus forging a bridge between these two fields." Dr. Markus Eyting of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), lead author of the study

Together with co-lead author Dr. Min Xie, a postdoctoral researcher at the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, he demonstrated that the shingles vaccination was associated with a 20 percent reduction in the probability of a new dementia diagnosis over a period of seven years. As noted in the article, "A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia," this could raise various new possibilities for dementia prevention.

Electronic health records for Wales supply basis for statistical analysis

Dr. Min Xie identified the groundwork of what would represent a "natural experiment" created by the introduction of a herpes zoster vaccination program in Wales about two years ago. In the program, the eligibility to receive the vaccine was determined by an individual's exact date of birth. Those born before 2 September 1933 were automatically ineligible for life, while those born on or after 2 September 1933 were entitled to receive the vaccine. "We can speak of a natural experiment in this context because this setting gives us the opportunity to compare individuals who had just turned 80 with those who had not quite reached 80 years of age," Eyting explained. Because the individuals in the study cohort were only a few weeks apart in age, the researchers could assume that vaccination was the only factor that set the groups apart. "We then looked at the risk of developing dementia over the next seven years," Eyting continued.



One of the main goals of the analysis was to identify a potential causal effect rather than just a correlation. In other words, the researchers were looking for a causal relationship between the shingles vaccine and the risk of developing dementia, not just a random connection between the two factors. In economics, threshold values and target dates - in this case, the individuals' birthdays - are often employed to test for causal effects using regression discontinuity designs. "This method is widely used in economics but has not yet been adequately recognized as a tool for clinical research," Eyting added. In his view, regression discontinuity analyses offer many opportunities for evaluating the effectiveness of public health measures.



Markus Eyting is a postdoctoral researcher at the Gutenberg School of Management and Economics (GSME) of Mainz University and at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE in Frankfurt. His research focuses on experimental methods and survey and administrative data to study the interplay of beliefs and individual decision making with applications relating to health, discrimination, and machine learning. Also involved in the study were Dr. Simon He of the Vienna University of Economics and Business, who supported the data analysis with his expertise in econometric methodologies, as well as researchers from Stanford University. Eyting received the 2023 Young Economist Award from the European Economic Association (EEA) for a paper on the cause of discrimination.
Food Delivery Vs Pollution Control: Entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa Joins The Startup Debate At Rising Bharat Summit 2025

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 15:41 IST

Vivek Wadhwa, CEO of Vionix Biosciences, criticized Indian startups for prioritizing food delivery over addressing issues like pollution and cancer at the CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025.

Entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa at Rising Bharat Summit 2025.

Entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa, CEO of Vionix Biosciences, joined the Indian startups debate, while speaking at the CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025. India has access to all the technology required to solve problems. But there are stupid startups doing food delivery instead of focusing on real issues like pollution, cancer cures and more," Wadhwa said.

Delivering a TED Talk  Future Gazing with Vivek Wadhwa, the entrepreneur gave an example of how the iPhone now had sensors that would have cost thousands of dollars 30 to 40 years ago and this technology could actually be used to build smart cities. I dont know why India hasnt done that yet. Its entrepreneurs are busy in billing delivery apps and brain dead startups rather than solving the real problems of India. Why dont we now put sensors all over Delhi, Punjab and start monitoring everything that happens as it happens in terms of pollution and toxic waste," Wadhwa questioned.

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He explained how such technology was now inexpensive and India could start working with it today.

Indias biggest advantage is its population, its data. Imagine what India could be doing with this. We are the richest country in the world for data," Wadhwa added, questioning why Indian startups werent using it to uplift not just India but rest of the world as well  a trillion dollar opportunity for the country.

Speaking about the need to find cures to cancer using data, Wadhwa cited his personal loss, how he lost his wife to cancer five years ago. The only thing that kept me going was her wish that I start helping others and do something that could prevent others from suffering the way she did," he said.

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Wadhwa also emphasised on how India can also do deep science due to the number of scientists and engineers in the country clubbed with moral and spiritual values. Silicon Valley cares only about money. In India, you care about karma, you care about giving back. You have everything necessary to solve the problems of humanity," Wadhwa said.

He said that that he decided to work on cancer cure nd get into diagnostics at 63 years of age, asking why Indian startups like Piyush Goyal said" werent using technology the right way when the country has such a huge young population.

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: April 08, 2025, 15:31 IST
Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 10:19 IST

BEL Share Price: Shares of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) jumped 3 per cent intraday on Tuesday on the order worth Rs 2,210 crore from Indian Air Force. The scrip traded at Rs 281.45 apiece around 9:50 AM, against the days opening at Rs 282.85 apiece and the previous day close at Rs 273.15 apiece. The days high of BEL shares remained at Rs 288 apiece.

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BEL has a market cap of Rs 2.06 lakh crore, making it a constituent of BSE 100.

Navratna Defence Public Sector Undertaking, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed a contract with Ministry of Defence valued at Rs.2,210 Crores (excluding taxes) for supply of EW Suite for Mi 17 V5 Helicopters of Indian Air Force. These systems are indigenously designed and developed by CASDIC, DRDO and manufactured by BEL. The EW Suite comprises Radar Warning Receiver (RWR), Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) and Counter Measure Dispensing System (CMDS) which significantly enhance the combat survivability of the helicopters along with effective counter measures," the company informed in a filing dated April 07.

The total order of BEL for FY 2025-26 is around Rs 2,803 crore.

Yesterday, the scrip settled 2.48 per cent lower at Rs 273.15 apiece, against the previous day close at Rs 280.10 apiece.
Why Did Stock Market Rise Today? Key Reasons Behind Sensex 1,090 Points Surge On April 8

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 15:52 IST

Sensex, Nifty Stock Market Today: Sensex and Nifty 50 rallied sharply on Tuesday, gaining over 2% intraday as markets rebounded from the previous sessions fall

Stock Market Rally Today

Why Is Sensex Rising Today? Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty 50 rallied sharply on Tuesday, gaining over 2% intraday as markets rebounded from the previous sessions steep selloff. The recovery was driven by strong bargain hunting, a broader recovery across Asian equities, and improved investor sentiment amid renewed hopes of progress in US tariff negotiations. This upbeat mood comes just ahead of the Reserve Bank of Indias monetary policy decision, scheduled for April 9, with investors anticipating a 25 basis point rate cut to support growth.

The BSE Sensex jumped 1,089.18 points, or 1.49%, to settle at 74,227.08, while the Nifty 50 surged 374.25 points, or 1.69%, ending the day at 22,535.85.

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At days high, BSE Sensex zoomed over 1,700 points to trade above 74,800. The Nifty 50 gained 500 points, to trade above 22,650 around 1:30 pm.

The rally was broad-based, with notable gains across key sectors. The Nifty Consumer Durables index jumped 3%, reflecting strong demand optimism, while Metal, Realty, and Financial Services indices also advanced over 2% each. In the broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 both rose by around 2%, signaling widespread buying interest beyond large-cap stocks.

Meanwhile, market sentiment was further buoyed by a sharp decline in volatility. Indias Volatility Index (India VIX) dropped 10.2%, falling to 20.47, suggesting reduced investor anxiety and more stable trading conditions. Additionally, the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies jumped by Rs 4.61 lakh crore, pushing the overall valuation to Rs 393.86 lakh crore.

Several factors combined to fuel todays rally, including value buying at lower levels, supportive global cues, optimism around trade negotiations, and expectations of monetary easing. The strength across both frontline and broader indices indicates renewed bullish momentum on Dalal Street.

Why Is Stock Market Rising Today?

Positive Global Cues and Easing Trade Tensions: Indian equities surged on Tuesday, mirroring a broader rebound across Asian markets, as investors grew optimistic about a potential softening in the United States aggressive tariff policies.

Leading the regional rally was Japans Nikkei, which soared 5.6% following news that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had been assigned to negotiate trade terms with Tokyo  a move seen as a diplomatic overture.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump maintained his hardline stance, warning of an additional 50% tariff hike if China failed to concede. In response, Beijing dismissed the threats as blackmail," refusing to yield to pressure. Despite the ongoing geopolitical tension, Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index climbed 1.7%, while Chinas blue-chip CSI 300 advanced 0.6%, lending support to global sentiment and easing investor nerves.

Bargain Buying After Recent Sell-Offs: Rally in the equity markets also comes as investors capitalize on recent declines, with the Nifty index down over 14.8% from its peak. The mid-cap and small-cap indices have also corrected by around 19% and 22%, respectively.

Anticipation of RBI Monetary Policy Easing: There is growing optimism that the Reserve Bank of India may announce a 25 basis points rate cut in its upcoming Monetary Policy Committee meeting. Such a move is expected to stimulate economic growth and enhance liquidity in the markets.

Strong Performance in Key Sectors: Sectors such as Information Technology, Auto, and Consumer Durables witnessed robust gains. Notably, Titan Company reported a 5% increase following strong revenue growth driven by higher gold prices.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) Turning Net Buyers: After a period of net selling, FIIs have resumed buying Indian equities, injecting approximately Rs 5,224 crore month-to-date. This reversal has provided additional momentum to the market rally.

Drop in crude oil prices: Crude oil prices fell below the $65 mark on Monday, its lowest since August 2021, led by concerns that U.S. tariffs might depress demand and lead to a global recession.

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Brent crude was trading at $65.07 per barrel on Tuesday, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $61.57 around 10:16 am IST.

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: The views and investment tips by experts in this News18.com report are their own and not those of the website or its management. Users are advised to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

About the Author Aparna Deb Aparna Deb is a Subeditor and writes for the business vertical of News18.com. She has a nose for news that matters. She is inquisitive and curious about things. Among other things, financial markets, economy, a... Read More Aparna Deb is a Subeditor and writes for the business vertical of News18.com. She has a nose for news that matters. She is inquisitive and curious about things. Among other things, financial markets, economy, a... Read More

Stay updated with all the latest news on the Stock Market, including market trends, Sensex and Nifty updates, top gainers and losers, and expert analysis. Get real-time insights, financial reports, and investment strategiesonly on News18.

First Published: April 08, 2025, 12:50 IST
MMRDA Signs MoUs Worth Rs 4 Lakh Crore To Boost Infrastructure In Maharashtra

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 09, 2025, 04:01 IST

Deputy CM Eknath Shinde expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Devendra Fadnavis for their vision and support, stating that under their leadership, Maharashtra is becoming a global investment hotspot and a driving force behind Indias $5 trillion digital economy ambition

Shinde projected that MMR alone aims to achieve a GDP of $300 billion by 2030, for which investments of at least $135 billion are essential. Pic/News18

In a landmark development for Maharashtra, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) worth a staggering Rs 4.07 lakh crore in a single day. Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde hailed the occasion as historic, marking it as the largest-ever MoU signing in the countrys infrastructure sector.

Speaking at the India Global Forum 2025 event held at the Jio World Centre, Shinde said the agreements would significantly accelerate the pace of infrastructure development in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

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The MoUs have been signed with major central public sector undertakings, including REC Limited, Power Finance Corporation, HUDCO, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, and NABFID, among others.

What makes these MoUs more significant is that they involve Miniratna, Navratna, and Maharatna companies, ensuring high credibility and execution potential. These strategic collaborations will give a massive push to development in Mumbai and its surrounding areas," Shinde noted.

In the last three years alone, Maharashtra has attracted MoUs worth Rs 20 lakh crore during the World Economic Forum at Davos, with MMRDA alone accounting for Rs 3.5 lakh crore this year. The deputy CM also stated that Maharashtra is creating a favourable environment for investment through world-class infrastructure, skilled manpower, and efficient governance.

The forum also emphasised Indias rise as a Global Capability Center (GCC) hub, with over 1,500 GCCs currently operating in cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Gurugram. Global giants like Google, Amazon, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan have established their capability centres in India. A new GCC has also been inaugurated in Pune, further enhancing opportunities for skilled Indian youth.

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Shinde projected that MMR alone aims to achieve a GDP of $300 billion by 2030, for which investments of at least $135 billion are essential. This growth is expected to generate 28 to 30 lakh new jobs. He also stressed that sectors like AI, robotics, data analytics, semiconductors, health tech, and edtech will be key growth drivers in Maharashtra.

Deputy CM Shinde expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Devendra Fadnavis for their vision and support, stating that under their leadership, Maharashtra is becoming a global investment hotspot and a driving force behind Indias $5 trillion digital economy ambition.

About the Author Mayuresh Ganapatye Mayuresh Ganapatye, News Editor at News18.com, writes on politics and civic issues, as well as human interests stories. He has been covering Maharashtra and Goa for more than a decade. He previously worked with... Read More Mayuresh Ganapatye, News Editor at News18.com, writes on politics and civic issues, as well as human interests stories. He has been covering Maharashtra and Goa for more than a decade. He previously worked with... Read More

First Published: April 09, 2025, 04:01 IST
Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 17:30 IST

2nd PUC Results 2025 Karnataka Live: The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) has announced the 2nd PUC or Class 12 (Exam 1) results 2025 today, April 8. Students who took the exam can check their results by visiting the official website at karresults.nic.in or kseab.karnataka.gov.in. It is also available at pue.karnataka.gov.in, and manabadi.co.in. Alternatively, if the website crashes or the internet is not working, students can access their scores via SMS and DigiLocker.

The Karnataka 2nd PUC or Class 12 board exams for 2025 were held from March 1 to March 20 in a single shift, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The exams began with Kannada and Arabic papers and concluded with Hindi. Students must score at least 33 per cent to pass the Karnataka 2nd PUC exam 2025.

How To Check Karnataka 2nd PUC Result 2025?

Step 1: Visit the official website of the Karnataka board  kseab.karnataka.gov.in

Step 2: Click on the result link

Step 3: Log in using credentials

Step 4: The Result will appear, now download it.

Students will need their application numbers to check their scores. This is mentioned on the admit cards of the students. Those unhappy with their results can apply for exams 2 and 3. Students will be given an opportunity to sit for the PUC II exam two more times.
Who Is Deepak Kumar Mishra And Why Did He Delete X Account After Bihar Sharif Clock Tower Controversy?

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 11:27 IST

Bihar Sharif: A clock tower built under the watchful eye of Municipal Commissioner Deepak Kumar Mishra has landed in a massive social media row.

A clock tower in Bihar Sharif angered public as they chased Municipal Commissioner Deepak Kumar Mishra on 'X' platform for answers. (X Screengrab)

An unassuming clock tower erected in Bihar has ticked off the Internet for many reasons. It all began when photographs of the newly-built clock started doing the rounds of social media platform X. Upon realising that it was reportedly constructed at a price of Rs 40 lakh, people wasted no time in exhibiting their anger, for they believed it felt wasteful and was devoid of any personality. They had their hands clenched when they learned that the clock had stopped working a day after its inauguration. Bihar Sharifs Municipal Commissioner Deepak Kumar Mishra was on their watch. It was only a matter of time a new controversy was born.

What Even Is Bihar Clock Tower?

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The clock tower built in Bihar Sharif was made functional in a haste during Chief Minister Nitish Kumars Pragati Yatra, a report in Dainik Bhaskar noted. However, in a days time after its setup, the clock stopped ticking. It is said that thieves barged into the structure to steal copper wires. The tower stood lifeless thereafter. The time it displayed (as seen in widely-circulated photos) twice a day was 4:20.

Only an indian babu can build a non working analogue clock, on an incomplete concrete frame, under a project which is called "Smart City" pic.twitter.com/swADnoWMre The Kaipullai (@thekaipullai) April 6, 2025

Also Read: Virat Kohli Is Past His Prime: How Sanjay Manjrekars Remark Roiled RCB Fans

An Eye Sore?

An engineering marvel." Eight wonder of the world." 21st century masterpiece."

The fact that the clock had stopped working following the cable theft wasnt much of a bother for many. That it cut a sorry figure and stuck out like a sore thumb despite a hefty price tag behind it was a real cause of concern for social media commenters.

Some managed to dig up the supposed original chalked up plan for the tower that stood in sharp contrast to the finished" product. Close-up shots of the clock tower showed lack of workmanship with no intricate design. It was rough around the edges and the incomplete concrete frame was painted in white.

Life plans made how life turns out #ClockTower pic.twitter.com/sTiarF3CqQ Manda Bendre  (@mabend2) April 7, 2025

This shabbily painted, poorly finished, concrete clock tower in Bihar Sharif, built under Smart City project, had its clock stop working within 24 hours of inauguration. Guess the production cost? Only 40 lakh! Just 40 lakhs for this architectural marvel! Hats off!" a user on X commented.

1. Rajabai clock tower, Mumbai2. Ghantaghar, Jaipur3. Railway station clock tower, Chennai4. Lake town clock tower, KolkataAnd then comes smart metro pillar architecture chaalis lakh wala clock tower.  https://t.co/HqQ9v32WmP pic.twitter.com/uUqiT3hUco  Siddharth's Echelon (@SiddharthKG7) April 6, 2025

Also Read: Did You Know Sajni Re Was Written By Bank Employee? Why Aamir Khans YouTube Channel Is A Hidden Gem

Deepak Kumar Mishra Takes Time Off

Once the discouraging reviews of the clock tower poured in, a section of users on X took it upon themself to find Bihar Sharifs Municipal Commissioner Deepak Kumar Mishra account on the platform. They then proceeded to sarcastically thank the IAS-alum for the gift that was the structure.

Our famed @IASassociation accredited @deepakmishraIAS behind the iconic watch tower at Biharsharif. Greatest engineering marvel ever seen by man-kind. In-fact the 8th wonder of the world. Stellar job Deepak Mishra  pic.twitter.com/Rw8MJRhffs Arijit Roy (@iArijitRoy) April 7, 2025

The mentions" to Mishra on X increased by the hour as the irked users tagged the officer at length, holding him accountable for the steep money spent on a clock that didnt function  all under his watch.

Thank you @deepakmishraIAS for the watch tower. It is an architectural marvel capable of showing the correct time two times a day. Please ignore social media trolls and open your account, humble request," a post read.

As the posts tagging Mishra piled up, his account appeared to be protected" at one point. The setting allows users on X to limit their posts to their followers, thereby hiding their feed from the rest.

However, at the time of writing this, X handle of @deepakmishraIAS does not exist anymore on the platform, suggesting that the account has been deactivated.

(X Screengrab)

Also Read: Why Is OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Suddenly Obsessed With India? Desis Want To Know

Deepak Kumar Mishra Clears Air

After facing brickbats and being subjected to hours of relentless trolling, Deepak Kumar Mishra claimed that the rumours about the inauguration were false and that the structure was still under construction, an Indian Express report stated.

The clock tower has not yet been inaugurated as the project is still underway. During the Pragati Yatra, the clock was briefly made operational, but a few days later, unknown individuals stole a cable, making it defunct. Reinstallation work needs to be done," Mishra was quoted as saying.

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He further added that the viral Rs 40 lakh price tag was incorrect and the clock that is part of the broader Nala Road Project had an estimated construction price of Rs 20 lakh instead.

The construction of the clock tower will be completed along with the rest of the project," he concluded.

About the Author Anurag Verma Anurag Verma, News Editor at News18.com, works independently for the Viral section. Bollywood, Cricket, Science, Tech, YouTube, Reddit, Meme Origins and everything Pop-culture are his forte. He covers humourous... Read More Anurag Verma, News Editor at News18.com, works independently for the Viral section. Bollywood, Cricket, Science, Tech, YouTube, Reddit, Meme Origins and everything Pop-culture are his forte. He covers humourous... Read More

First Published: April 08, 2025, 11:19 IST
'Opportunities For Countless People': PM Modi Interacts With Beneficiaries As MUDRA Yojana Marks 10 Years

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 14:12 IST

PM Modi celebrated 10 years of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana by hosting beneficiaries at his residence, highlighting the scheme's life-changing impact.

PM Narendra Modi interacts with MUDRA Yojana beneficiaries (Video Screengrab)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday celebrated 10 years of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) and invited Mudra beneficiaries from all over the country to his residence.

In an X post, before the interaction was telecast, PM Modi said the beneficiaries shared with him, some fascinating insights on how this scheme has transformed their lives.

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To mark #10YearsOfMUDRA, I had invited Mudra beneficiaries from all over India to my residence. They shared fascinating insights on how this scheme has transformed their lives," the Prime Minister wrote in an X post.

As the interaction was being telecast, PM Modi, in another X post, wrote, Mudra Yojana has given opportunities to countless people to showcase their entrepreneurial skills."

Heres the complete interaction of PM Modi with the MUDRA Yojana beneficiaries.

Mudra Yojana has given opportunities to countless people to showcase their entrepreneurial skills. Interacted with some of the beneficiaries of the scheme. Their journey is inspiring. #10YearsOfMUDRA https://t.co/QcoIK1VTki Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 8, 2025

During the interaction, an entrepreneur from Kerala, who had been working in the United Arab Emirates, revealed how the MUDRA Yojana has benefited him, saying it had transformed him into a successful entrepreneur", to which the Prime Minister nodded.

The Kerala native also acknowledged the Yojana has helped his business thrive, also mentioning that it has created job opportunities.

The Prime Minister asked him if his mother was upset about him moving back to India, to which the entrepreneur said that everything went well in the end.

VIDEO | Delhi: PM Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) interacts with Mudra Yojana beneficiaries, discussing about the impact of the scheme on their lives.(Source: Third Party) (Full video available on PTI Videos  https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/fuz1mPVJ34  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 8, 2025

Another beneficiary of the Yojana, Lavkush Mehra from Madhya Pradeshs Bhopal, revealed how he earlier used to work for someone, but put a business of his own later with the help of MUDRA loan.

He also revealed his first-year turnover was Rs 12 lakhs, which has now gone up to more than Rs 50 lakh.

#WATCH | Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Mudra Yojana BeneficiariesPM Modi says, The Mudra scheme is not for Modis praises. This scheme is to give courage to the youth of my country to stand on their own feet." Lavkush Mehra, a beneficiary from Bhopal, pic.twitter.com/lq3o5eKeMl  ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2025

At the event, PM Modi said, 33 lakh crore rupees have been given to the people of the country without any guarantee. You read in the newspaper that this is a government of the rich. Even if you add up the total of all the rich, they would not have received 33 lakh rupees."

Thirty-three lakh crore rupees have been given to the common man of the country. Today the youth of India, the entrepreneurial skills they have, if they get a little help, then very big results are achieved. This MUDRA Yojana is an eye-opener for any government. The maximum number of women have come forward in this," PM Modi said.

#WATCH | Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Mudra Yojana BeneficiariesPM Modi said, 33 lakh crore rupees have been given to the people of the country without any guarantee. You read in the newspaper that this is a government of the rich. Even if you add pic.twitter.com/nKaNtjpCco  ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2025

The PMMY was launched on April 8, 2015, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide collateral-free institutional credit of up to Rs 20 lakh through Member Lending Institutions.

Since its inception of the scheme over 52.37 crore loans amounting to Rs 33.65 lakh crore have been sanctioned, with approximately 20 per cent of the loans to new entrepreneurs or accounts, Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju told media during a briefing on Monday.

GOAL OF THE PM MUDRA YOJANA

The PMMY focuses on the financial needs of all stakeholders, ranging from budding entrepreneurs to hardworking farmers, through various initiatives of the scheme.

Under the PMMY, collateral-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh are extended by member lending institutions (MLIs) viz scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), small finance banks (SFBs), non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), microfinance institutions (MFIs) etc.

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The loans are given for income-generating activities in the manufacturing, trading and services sectors and activities allied to agriculture.

The scheme was launched to encourage small businesses, and banks were asked to provide collateral-free loans up to Rs 20 lakh under three categories  Shishu (up to Rs 50,000), Kishore (between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh) and Tarun (Rs 20 lakh).

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: April 08, 2025, 09:08 IST
Bengal SSC Scam: Supreme Court Quashes Calcutta HC's Order For CBI Probe Into Extra Posts

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 14:22 IST

Bengal SSC Scam: The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed Calcutta High Court's call for a CBI probe into the role of officials involved in creation of extra posts of 6, 861 teachers and non-teaching staff

The Supreme Court of India. (AFP Image)

Bengal SSC Scam: The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the Calcutta High Courts order for a CBI probe into the West Bengal governments decision to create 6,861 additional posts for teachers and non-teaching staff in the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment process.

Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna noted that the courts are barred from directing a probe into decisions taken by the cabinet. It also described the high courts ruling as incorrect."

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Having regard to the aforesaid discussion we are of the view that the Calcutta high court was not justified in referring the issue of creation of supernumerary posts to CBI pursuant to the cabinet decision," said the CJI.

The apex courts ruling came as a major relief for Mamata Banerjee and her cabinet, who have been under fire following the dismissal of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff from government and government-aided schools.

We take note of Article 74 and 163(3) which specifically states that the question of whether any and if so what advice was taken by the cabinet of ministers to the aid and advise of the governor shall not be inquired into in any court, the aforesaid direction is set aside," he added.

In its previous order, the top court upheld the Calcutta High Court order cancelling over 24,000 appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016 in connection with the school jobs for cash scam.

A Bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjiv Kumar refused to interfere with the High Court decision, noting that the appointments were vitiated by manipulation and fraud."

Soon after, Banerjee declared that she wont accept the court verdict and also vowed to back the teachers who were sacked from their jobs as a result of Supreme Courts ruling.

Do not think that we have accepted this [decision]. Our heart is also aching because of your grief. We are all humans, and our hearts are not made of stone. It is because of this, they might put me in jail for saying this, but I dont care," Banerjee said.

When someone is in trouble, we dont need to see who is red, white, yellow, or green. We are supposed to stand by their side. We cannot deny the responsibility to restore their dignity and respect that they deserve," she added.

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The Chief Minister announced that her government has separate plans" to ensure eligible candidates do not become unemployed or have any break in jobs.

About the Author Ronit Singh Ronit Singh, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking News team. He has a keen focus on Indian politics and aims to cover unexplored angles. Ronit is an alumnus of Christ (Deemed to be... Read More Ronit Singh, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking News team. He has a keen focus on Indian politics and aims to cover unexplored angles. Ronit is an alumnus of Christ (Deemed to be... Read More

First Published: April 08, 2025, 11:57 IST
Don't Play The American Game Against China: Sachs Has A Word Of Caution For India At Rising Bharat

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 21:43 IST

Rising Bharat Summit: "The US loves for India to be at the Quad to bash China...India is a peace-loving country and is doing wonderfully. You had 600 million people assemble peacefully for the Mahakumbh. India needs to be in the UNSC," says US analyst Jeffrey D Sachs

Jeffrey D Sachs at the Rising Bharat Summit.

At the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, American economist and public policy analyst Jeffrey D Sachs cautioned India against falling for the US game against China.

I have spent my whole lifetime seeing countries destroyed by Americas friendship. I dont think I have to give advice to India. Just be careful. There is no alliance. You are an alliance in yourself. Civilisations behave like civilisations. Being the most populous country in the world, you take care of your relations everywhere. I hope I am not rude or misunderstood. But America wants to use India to beat up China. Dont play the American game. It makes no sense. It is superfluous for me to tell you that. The entire US foreign policy is divide and conquer in any part of the world. That is how empires behave. That is what they learnt from the master empire of all, the British. The US loves for India to be at the Quad to bash ChinaIndia is too big for a US game," he said.

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SACHS DOCTRINE

When asked if the Sachs doctrine was a counter to the Washington consensus, Sachs said, It is certainly not the Washington consensus, because we dont need any one capital in this world telling the rest of the world what to do. What I like to follow is the consensus of the world which agreed in 2015 to the idea of sustainable development for all people, countries and all parts of the world. It means we should be working together in peace, global trade, cooperation, with mutual respect to abolish poverty, to face the climate crisis, to address the other global challenges, and stop the strong-arming by any one country which puts us into peril. Thats the global consensus and I would say thats the one that I try to follow."

The fact of the matter is in September 2015, all 193 member states of the United Nations (UN) adopted the idea of sustainable development as their framework. Six weeks later, all 193 UN member states adopted the UN Paris Agreement recognising that it is no joke. We really have an environmental emergency, whether we like it or not. That consensus is very fragile though. Because my country, the United States, doesnt spend too much time thinking about it. It is very much America First, whether it is this administration or the one that preceded it. It is pretty much the same. But what happened in recent weeks is actually alarming. The new US government administration actually voted against, if you can believe it, a resolution calling for a Day of Peaceful Coexistence. It said no for two reasons. One, it says the Chinese use the phrase peaceful coexistence, so we think it may be somehow be in praise of China. So we wont use the phrase. The second was the declaration said the world supports sustainable development. The US government said, No. We do not. It is not in Americas national interest."

If you ask me if it is a global consensus, 192 countries agree, but one does not and that one is on a bit of an adventure every day to prove to the world that it can do what it wants, when it wants and that is not conducive to the kind of the world we want," he said.

THE US POLICIES

Everyone observing the last few days should be puzzled about whats going on in Washington. My answer is, Nobody knows. The real answer that is the most alarming one is for the first time in American history, we are in a one-man army, one-person show. The authors of our Constitution spent a lot of time, and they were very brilliant, trying to devise checks and balances to the new system they were introducing in 1787. They would be horrified by what is happening now. How can one person change the whole world trade system? It wasnt a vote or discussion of Congress, wasnt even a public discussion. It was an executive order. The President of the US declared an emergency and can govern without law, just govern by decree. This is what we had a revolution for in 1776. It was even then the British Commons passing law. He calls the trade deficit an emergency. It is not something that one person should decide and override the laws of the land in an emergency decree."

We have one-person rule. We dont know whether there will be any reaction to it, whether courts will be able to do anything or whether Congress will say we have a rule that says the right to levy duties is with the Congress. If we had the Indian Supreme Court, I wouldnt worry. They would have overruled it as a presidential overreach. We dont know if we have a checks and balances democracy. One footnote, they took away my second-year masters student in the middle of the night in front of his eight-month pregnant wife," he said.

We dont know how things will play out. It is quite worrisome. Yes, Americans have voted for Donald Trump, but under the Constitution, they did not vote for him to be ruled by executive decree, which in any event is illegal. We are in a test whether a president can declare emergency after emergency after emergency. This isnt an emergency, hurricane or disaster, it is a trade policy. Which is why we have a Congress and Constitution. It is dangerous for the world. It is a little bit of a grim situation."

INDIA DOING WONDERFULLY

India is doing wonderfully. I have watched India in its take-off and I have been privileged to be coming here for 46 years. I have watched Indias remarkable achievement. When I first came to India with my girlfriend, now wife of 45 years, with a book by Nobel Prize-winning Swedish author Gunnar Myrdal called Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations. It said that India could never go past, what was euphemistically called, its Hindu growth rate of 2%. This was my first book as I roamed in India. I never believed any country is condemned to poverty."

We are in an age of convergence, where countries are catching up for lost time. India was the leading economy in the world for 100-150 years, until the British showed up. Every country has a British story at its core, China, India, the Middle East. They fell far behind till independence. India and China then started catching up. Now the rate is robust and India will become the second largest economy overtaking the US in 10-15 years, the largest in the second half of the 21st centuryAdvanced, high-tech, your government is doing a good job of promoting it. It should help explain the weirdness in the US. The US is in a neurotic reaction."

The US is expected to be number 1 forever. China ruptured the illusion. So Americans hate China. This violates every rule according to American thinking. They will come to resent India as you overtake the US. Just a friendly caution. The American mindset cant understand other countries are more populous and free. It is driving the Americans crazy. In a world where technology, skills, innovation is everywhere, the US cant stay on top. Dont be pulled into it. India and China can settle their issues together. Together, they make up for 40% of the population. You could help run a very decent world," he said.

TRUMP CAN END RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

The war in Ukraine was a terrible debacle the US walked into for 30 years by expanding NATO, despite Russias continuing objections. I worked for both sides. Russia wanted some space so the US wasnt pushing its missile and military bases. But the US said we go where we want, when we want. The war could have ended in 2022. Ukraine and Russia were to sign a peace agreement based on neutrality, but the US didnt want it. Trump just needs to say it explicitly that he doesnt want NATO enlargement. Trump knows what Biden was saying wasnt right, but he hasnt said it," he said.

The US didnt end NATO after Gorbachev said peace amid the Warsaw agreementIt was like a poker game, they gambled Ukraines safety and they lost. All people knew this was a disaster but the politicians went ahead with it anyway because they knew the US is a superpower and it can do what it wants."

INDIA-CHINA ALLIANCE?

I see a huge diplomatic role for India in the future peace talks. My advice is you must get China to help you to be a member of the UNSC. A UNSC cannot be without India. I want China to be a strong supporter of India. India is a peace-loving country. You had 600 million people assemble peacefully for the Mahakumbh. I cant get 100 people together in my neighbourhood. I want India to emphasise that it did in the G20 that the world is one family. It is a wonderful philosophy of Hinduism and peace. Wars are the resolve of politics. You end the war by political resolution. You end the war in Ukraine with neutrality and stopping NATO enlargement. You end the war in the Middle-East by Palestine as a sovereign place with Israel"

I always tell Chinese politicians to support India in the UNSC. We are way past the US leading anything. India needs to be there and China wants that so they dont face American bashing all the time."

CAN TAIWAN DEPEND ON US?

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If Taiwan thinks the US will save them from China, God help us. There is no way the US couldBesides, the last thing the world needs is a US-China war. Taiwan is part of China. They dont argue about it that there is one China. If the US supports Taiwan to fight, it will be the same story as Ukraine.Trump believes Canada, Panama, Greenland belong to the US, but no this is a recipe for war," Sachs said.

If you ask ChatGPT, it will give you a better answer than the UNSC. The reason is it will give both sides of the argument. In the US, it is only one side, it is propaganda. If we sit down with both sides and listen to both sides of the argument, it will be a peaceful world."

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: April 08, 2025, 21:21 IST
Husband Attacks Pregnant Woman With Brick In Hyderabad, Arrested

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 11:17 IST

Hyderabad Crime News Today: After tying the knot in October 2024 in Kolkata, the couple faced family issues soon after Shabana moved to Hyderabad.

Husband Attacks Pregnant Woman With Brick In Hyderabad. (Screengrab from the viral video)

Hyderabad Crime: In a shocking incident, a pregnant woman was allegedly attacked with cement bricks by her husband, who has since been arrested, police said on Monday.

A video of the incident has gone viral, triggering widespread outrage.

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According to the police, the accused, identified as Basharath, 32, is an interior designer. He and Shabana, 22, a Kolkata native, met in an auto while visiting Ajmer Dargah in Rajasthan in January 2023.

The couple married in October 2024 in Kolkata. Following their marriage, Shabana relocated to Hyderabad earlier this year, but the couple subsequently began experiencing family issues, a police release said.

On 29 March 2025, Shabana was admitted to a private hospital with weakness and vomiting. In the hospital, she revealed to the staff that her husband was abusing her.

Later, at around 10 pm on 1 April, the accused arrived at the hospital to take her home, but she refused.

In a fit of rage, Basharath allegedly dragged Shabana out and threw her onto the road near the hospital, where he brutally attacked her with two cement bricks, striking her chest and head around 1214 times before fleeing the scene.

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According to the police release, the hospital staff who rushed to the spot identified her. The accused was arrested on the night of 2 April and produced before a local court on 3 April, the release added.

The woman, who was found unconscious, is currently undergoing medical treatment.

First Published: April 08, 2025, 07:21 IST
'I Was Sleeping When...': BJP's Manoranjan Kalia Reacts To Blast Outside Jalandhar Home; Probe On

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 11:15 IST

Manoranjan Kalia Blast: A police team and forensic team arrived at the spot and launched an investigation in Jalandhar.

Blast incident reported outside BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia's residence in Jalandhar | Image/ANI

BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia reacted to the early morning blast outside his Jalandhar residence on Tuesday, saying he was asleep at the time and initially mistook the sound for thunder.

Reports indicate that the blast took place around 1 am outside Kalias residence, with police suspecting a grenade attack. However, an investigation is ongoing to confirm the details.

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There was a blast at around 1 am. I was sleeping, and I thought that it was the sound of thunder. Later, I was informed that a blast had taken place. Following this I sent my gunman to the police station. CCTV is being investigated and forensic experts are also present here. Soon the details of the probe will come out," Kalia said.

#WATCH | Punjab | BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia says, There was a blast at around 1 amI was sleeping, and I thought that it was the sound of thunderLater I was informed that a blast had taken placeafter this, I sent my gunman to the police stationCCTV is being https://t.co/p3czOW2p3u pic.twitter.com/GMrNLvbaSD ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2025

Jalandhar Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur said that around 1 am, the police received information about a blast, following which they reached the spot and began an investigation.

The forensic team is examining the incident to determine whether it was a grenade attack or something else, and CCTV footage is also being reviewed, Kaur said.

#WATCH | Punjab | Dhanpreet Kaur, Jalandhar Police Commissioner, says, Around 1 am, we got information of blast here, after which we reached the spot and started the investigation. The forensic team is investigating the matterWe are also monitoring the CCTV The forensic https://t.co/bQ0A8Rahaz pic.twitter.com/G8JWjRvIz5 ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2025

Who Is Manoranjan Kalia?

Manoranjan Kalia is a senior leader in Punjab and currently serves as the leader of BJPs legislature party in the state. He previously held the position of Cabinet Minister in the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP coalition government.

Based in Jalandhar City, he has been a prominent face in Punjab politics and contested elections from the Jalandhar Central assembly constituency.

Before jumping into politics, Kalia was a practising lawyer. His transition from law to politics marked the beginning of a long and influential tenure in the states political landscape.

Political experts say that Kalia is known for his articulate voice within the BJP and has played a pivotal role in shaping the partys strategies and outreach in Punjab.

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About the Author Ronit Singh Ronit Singh, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking News team. He has a keen focus on Indian politics and aims to cover unexplored angles. Ronit is an alumnus of Christ (Deemed to be... Read More Ronit Singh, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking News team. He has a keen focus on Indian politics and aims to cover unexplored angles. Ronit is an alumnus of Christ (Deemed to be... Read More

Location : Punjab, India, India

First Published: April 08, 2025, 07:48 IST
Equitable Growth Is Key To India's Development: Sachin Pilot At Rising Bharat Summit 2025

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News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht



Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 17:36 IST

Rising Bharat Summit 2025: Sachin Pilot stressed that equitable growth is key to Indias development, and youth have a lot to contribute to this vision

Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot speaks at the Rising Bharat Summit 2025. (IMAGE: YouTube)

Senior Congress leader and Rajasthan MLA Sachin Pilot at CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025 in New Delhi on Tuesday said India today is facing massive underemployment, and equitable growth is key to its development."

Growth is not the only criteria, equitable growth is key and youth have a lot to contribute to this vision," Pilot said.

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When asked about why political parties are co-opted in freebie culture, Pilot said he believes India has the constitutional ability to provide financial benefits and assistance to people who are not part of the mainstream. I am all for targeted support. There are political parties who dont have the history of delivering," he pointed out.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi talks about caste-based reservation, but what will happen to merit then? Pilot said he agrees that we need to have merit-based system in the country. But on the flip-side, there are people who have not been able to enter the mainstream".

We must have a headcount of social and economic background of people. We need to understand which section of our society needs help. Let us have merit-based system. Let us not be bound by history and legacy there should be a scientific process (in place)," Pilot said.

Is it possible to increase the reservation beyond 50%? Pilot said if one can make supplies abundant, there will not be a problem. I am asking for level-playing field. We need to have a balance. Let us find a scientific proof," he added.

Rahul Gandhi had said during the 2024 election campaign that the Congress would remove the Supreme Court-mandated 50% cap on caste-based reservation and increase quota benefits for people from Dalit, backward and tribal communities. The BJP, however, alleged that the Congress plans to tinker with the reservation for backward classes to benefit Muslims.

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When asked why the Congress is failing to retain its young talent, Pilot said some people have compulsions to quit. People who are committed to partys ideology, will remain with the party. Our workers and leaders will voice the issue and make the government accountable," Pilot stressed.

The session was part of CNN-News18s Rising Bharat Summit 2025 in New Delhi on April 8-9 which will see over 75 power-packed sessions, with more than 100 visionary speakers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

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: April 08, 2025, 17:31 IST
J-K: Three More Separatist Groups Quit Hurriyat, Shah says Modi Ji's Vision For United Bharat Bolstered

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 12:07 IST

Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front disassociated themselves from the Hurriyat.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah. (PTI)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that three more separatist groups formally distanced themselves from the Hurriyat Conference while reaffirming their commitment to the Constitution of India.

The three organisations that disassociated themselves from the Hurriyat, are Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front.

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In a post on X, Shah wrote, Three more organizations, namely Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front, disassociate themselves from the Hurriyat. It is a prominent demonstration of the peoples trust in the Constitution of India within the valley."

The Home Minister said that so far 11 such organisations have stunned separatism", reinforcing Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision for a unified and strong India.

The Home Ministry decided on March 11 to ban two organisationsthe Awami Action Committee, led by prominent Kashmiri cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen, headed by Shia leader Masroor Abbas Ansarifor five years over alleged anti-national activities.

In his first post on the issue, on X on March 25, Shah said, Separatism has become history in Kashmir. The unifying policies of the Modi government have tossed separatism out of J&K. Two organizations associated with the Hurriyat have announced the severing of all ties with separatism It is a big victory for PM Shri @narendramodi Jis vision."

The two outfits were identified as the Democratic Political Movement and the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement.

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The day after, Shah announced that two groups affiliated with the Hurriyat, namely, J&K Tahreeqi Isteqlal and J&K Tahreek-I-Istiqamat, have discarded separatism and reposed their trust in the new Bharat built by PM Shri @narendramodi Ji. Under the Modi government, separatism is breathing its last."

Location : Jammu and Kashmir, India, India

First Published: April 08, 2025, 12:07 IST
On Cam: Drunk Driver Runs Speeding SUV Over Pedestrians On Jaipur Street; 3 Dead

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 14:44 IST

Jaipur Car Accident: BJPs Hawa Mahal MLA Balmukund Acharya said that a three-year-old girl was among those injured in the incident.

A police investigation into the incident is underway | Image/X

Jaipur Car Accident: A speeding SUV rammed into multiple pedestrians and vehicles, killing at least three people and injuring six others in Jaipurs Nahargarh area, said officials on Tuesday.

The initial probe revealed that the suspect, identified as Usman, was heavily intoxicated during the time on Monday night and was driving at a speed of 70 kmph through a crowded lane.

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CCTV footage captured the car speeding down the road, running over two people and colliding with multiple vehicles and objects along the way. Local residents quickly chased, surrounded the vehicle, and handed the driver over to the police.

Jaipur: More innocents lost their lives in a drunk driving case The driver didnt even stop  he kept going as if it were a video game. And Milords will grant him instant bail pic.twitter.com/xNXGZ0XJQu Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) April 8, 2025

The accused, Usman, has been arrested. He was in an inebriated state. 3 people died and 6 were injured in the incident. The accuseds car has been recovered. Further investigation is underway. The accused deals in medical equipment and the car belonged to his company," said Additional DCP Bajrang Singh Shekhawat.

Two people, identified as Avdesh Pareek (37) and Mamta (50), died in the crash, while six others are undergoing treatment at the SMS Hospital, said officials.

According to reports, the Nahargarh police team arrived at the scene after a local called the control room to report the incident. They immediately rushed the injured to the hospital.

The same vehicle also hit other cars and a pedestrian on MI road and Galta Gate area.

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BJPs Hawa Mahal MLA Balmukund Acharya said that a three-year-old girl was among those injured in the incident. He added that the driver was so intoxicated he was barely conscious.

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed his concerns over the incident, calling it heart-wrenching". He called on law enforcement to prosecute the accused under serious sections.

About the Author Ronit Singh Ronit Singh, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking News team. He has a keen focus on Indian politics and aims to cover unexplored angles. Ronit is an alumnus of Christ (Deemed to be... Read More Ronit Singh, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking News team. He has a keen focus on Indian politics and aims to cover unexplored angles. Ronit is an alumnus of Christ (Deemed to be... Read More

First Published: April 08, 2025, 10:58 IST
Partition Not Supported By Ordinary Muslims But Congress-Backed Radicals; Appeasement At Core Of Waqf Debate: PM Modi

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Last Updated: April 09, 2025, 00:43 IST

The Prime Minister's speech at CNN-News18's Rising Bharat Summit 2025, delivered before potential protests by Muslim groups and opposition parties regarding the Waqf Amendment Act, seemed to directly address the Muslim community and outline the government's stance in the face of legal challenges to the new law

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rising Bharat Summit 2025. (Photo: News18)

At CNN-News18s Rising Bharat Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed the idea of Indias partition, stating that it did not originate from ordinary Muslim families but from some fundamentalists, who were nourished by some Congress leaders, so that they could become the sole claimants of power". This also marked the first time that PM Modi extensively discussed the Waqf issue since the Amendment Acts parliamentary passage and presidential notification.

The politics of appeasement has been a big challenge in Indias growth. Recently, the law related to Waqf was amended in Parliament. Your network has also discussed this a lot. This debate related to Waqf has the politics of appeasement at its core," the Prime Minister stated at the event.

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PM Modis speech, delivered before potential protests by Muslim groups and opposition parties regarding the Waqf Amendment Act, seemed to directly address the Muslim community and outline the governments stance in the face of legal challenges to the new law. He asserted that appeasement and fundamentalist thinking supported by Congress led to partition, negatively impacting many poor and backward Muslims, including women.

Drawing a parallel to Indias partition, the PM said, This politics of appeasement is not new. Its seed was sown during our freedom struggle itself. Just think, before India, along with India, and after us, many countries in the world became independent. But how many countries are there whose condition for independence was partition? How many countries have broken up with independence? Why did this happen only with India? Because at that time the desire for power was placed above the interest of the nation".

He emphasised that the concept of a separate nation was not supported by ordinary Muslim families. Rather, it was of some fundamentalists, who were nourished by some Congress leaders so that they could become the sole claimants of power," Modi said.

The PM argued that Congress and certain fundamentalist leaders gained power and wealth through appeasement politics but questioned the benefits for ordinary Muslims. What did the common Muslim get? What did the poor Pasmanda Muslim get? They got neglect. They got illiteracy. They got unemployment. And what did Muslim women get? They got injustice like Shah Bano, where their constitutional rights were sacrificed to fundamentalism. They got orders to remain silent, pressure not to ask questions. And fundamentalists got an open licence to crush the rights of women," the Prime Minister said.

Modi criticised appeasement as contrary to Indias social justice principles, accusing the Congress of using it for vote bank politics. The amendment made in the Waqf Act in 2013 was an attempt to please Muslim fundamentalists and land mafias. This law was given such a shape that it created an illusion of standing above the Constitution. The Constitution, which opened the paths of justice, those very paths were narrowed down by the Waqf Act. And what were its ill effects? The spirits of fundamentalists and land mafias were boosted," the PM said at the summit.

He cited Waqf claims on land belonging to Christian villagers in Kerala, disputed gurdwara land in Haryana, claims on farmers land in Karnataka, and villages in various states, highlighting that thousands of hectares are entangled in NOC and legal complexities. Be it temples, churches, gurdwaras, farms, government lands, no one was sure that their land would remain theirs. Just one notice would come, and people would keep searching for papers for their own houses and farms. The law, which was for justice, became a cause of fear. What kind of law was this?" the PM said, criticising the Waqf Act, 2013.

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Modi commended Parliament for enacting a wonderful law" in the interest of society and the Muslim community. Now the sacred spirit of Waqf will be protected, and the rights of the poor, Pasmanda Muslims, women, and children will also be protected," he said.

The PM highlighted the Waqf Bill debate as the second longest in Indias 75-year parliamentary history. Both the houses discussed this bill for 16 hours. 38 meetings of JPC were held, discussions were held for 128 hours. About one crore online suggestions came from all over the country. This shows that today, democracy in India is not limited to the four walls of Parliament. Our democracy is becoming stronger with public participation," the PM said.

About the Author Aman Sharma Aman Sharma, Executive Editor - National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Ministers Office.... Read More Aman Sharma, Executive Editor - National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Ministers Office.... Read More

First Published: April 09, 2025, 00:43 IST
Pawan Kalyan Orders Inquiry After Students Claim They Missed Exam Due To His Convoy

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 11:13 IST

Pawan Kalyan Latest News: The students claimed that they were supposed to reach the center by 8:30 am, but they were delayed due to traffic congestion caused by Pawan Kalyan's convoy.

Pawan Kalyan has ordered an inquiry into reports that students were unable to attend the JEE exam in Pendurthi due to his convoy.

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan ordered an inquiry into reports that students were unable to attend the JEE exam in Pendurthi due to his convoy. He further directed the Visakhapatnam Police to investigate various aspects, including how long traffic was halted for the convoy, the traffic conditions on the route to the exam center when students were on their way, and whether traffic was controlled on the service roads.

Kalyans action came after nearly 30 students in Visakhapatnam on Monday claimed that they could not reach their exam centre and failed to take the engineering entrance exam, apparently after being delayed due to traffic restrictions allegedly imposed for the smooth passage of Pawan Kalyans convoy.

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The examination was scheduled to begin at 8.30 am at the ION Digital Zone building in Chinnamusidivada, Pendurthi. However, the students were delayed due to traffic congestion.

B Kalavathi, the mother of a student appearing for the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) 2025, which determines admissions to National Institutes of Technology (NITs), claimed that her son was delayed due to traffic restrictions enforced for Kalyans convoy.

Students from the Pendurthi AI Digital JE Advanced programme  who were taking the Joint Entrance Examination (Main), which determines admissions to National Institutes of Technology (NITs)  said that with the traffic blocked, they had reached their exam center late. All 30 were turned away from the exam hall gates and not allowed to sit for the exam.

We were stuck in traffic. It was halted because Kalyan was on his way to Araku," B Kalavathi, the mother of a student appearing for the JEE 2025, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. According to her, they reached the NAD junction at 7.50 am but took 42 minutes to cover the remaining distance to the exam centre, arriving too late and being denied entry.

Another parent appealed to the Deputy Chief Minister to consider rescheduling the exam for the affected students.

Meanwhile, the police have rejected the claims and said that the students were expected to reach the exam centres by 7 am and had these 30 students been on time, there was no question of their being held up by traffic.

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Rejecting the students claims of being late and denied entry into the examination hall due to Andra Pradesh Deputy Chief Ministers convoy, the police took to X and wrote, As per the admit card of the above-mentioned examinations, every candidate has to report at 07:00 am and the gate of the examination centre will be closed at 8:30 am."

The police further stated that the Deputy Chief Ministers convoy passed through the said junction at 8:41 am".

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 : Visakhapatnam, India, India

First Published: April 08, 2025, 07:05 IST
Pawan Kalyan's Youngest Son Mark Shankar Injured In Singapore School Fire

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News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 22:12 IST

Pawan Kalyan Son Fire Accident: Pawan Kalyan's son Mark Shankar sustained injuries to his hands and legs and experienced respiratory distress due to smoke inhalation.

Pawan Kalyan has ordered an inquiry into reports that students were unable to attend the JEE exam in Pendurthi due to his convoy.

Pawan Kalyan Son Accident: Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyans younger son, Mark Shankar Pawanovich, sustained injuries in a fire accident at a school in Singapore.

The incident occurred at a school located in River Valley Shophouse around 9:45 AM on Tuesday. Mark Shankar sustained injuries to his hands and legs and experienced respiratory distress due to smoke inhalation.

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Kalyan told reporters in Hyderabad that he would be leaving for Singapore tonight to visit his seven-year-old son, who is currently hospitalised and undergoing treatment.

The incident occurred during a summer camp in Singapore, where a fire broke out, injuring several children. One child died (in the incident). My son has burns on his hands and thighs. He has to undergo a bronchoscopy. The smoke inhalation will likely have long-term effects," Kalyan said.

Fire broke out across the second and third floors of the building where a childrens camp was being held in Singapore. A 10-year-old girl died and 20 others were injured in the incident.

Kalyan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to him over the phone and offered assistance through the Indian High Commission. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed concern over the incident.

I pray to God for Shankars speedy recovery as he undergoes treatment at a hospital in Singapore," Naidu said in a post on X.

YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy also expressed shock over the incident.

In a post on X, he extended support to the family during this difficult time and conveyed his heartfelt wishes for Shankars swift and full recovery.

Kalyan expressed gratitude to PM Modi, Chief Minister Naidu, and all the leaders who expressed concern.

Meanwhile, the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has initiated dialogue with the Indian High Commission in Singapore.

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The blaze erupted at a three-storey shophouse on River Valley Road, near Singapores Central Business District (CBD), housing several businesses, including a cooking school, a theatre group and a robotics institute for children.

(With inputs from PTI)

About the Author Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?"

Location : Andhra Pradesh, India, India

First Published: April 08, 2025, 11:25 IST
'Delay Enemy Of Development': PM Modi Blames Congress For Stalling Crucial Projects

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 21:42 IST

Speaking at Rising Bharat Summit 2025, PM Modi highlighted delay in crucial projects including new Parliament building, Assam's Bogibeel Bridge, Navi Mumbai airport, and Kollam bypass road in Kerala

PM Narendra Modi (Photo: News18)

Rising Bharat Summit 2025 Updates: Calling delay of projects enemy" of development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government has vowed to defeat this enemy while hitting out at previous governments.

Speaking at Rising Bharat Summit 2025, PM Modi highlighted delay in crucial projects including new Parliament building, Assams Bogibeel Bridge, Navi Mumbai airport, and Kollam bypass road in Kerala.

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I recently inaugurated Pamban Bridge in Rameshwaram People kept demanding for new bridge. The work started in our government. A country cannot run by delaying projects. A country runs on performance and work done in quick speed. Delay is the enemy of development. We have taken vowed to defeat this enemy," he said.

The foundation stone for Assams Bogibeel Bridge was laid by former Prime Minister Devegowda ji in 1997, and the work was initiated under Vajpayees government. However, when the Congress Party came to power, the project was halted. The people of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam faced difficulties, but the government at that time showed little concern. In 2014, when we were allowed to serve, the project was restarted. Remarkably, we completed the bridge in just four years, by 2018," he added.

Step Towards Social Justice: PM Modi Hails New Waqf Law, Stresses Rights Of Poor Muslims

As the Centers flagship Mudra scheme completes 10 years, the PM said that 11 crore people got a loan for self-enterpreneurship for first time. This is not just micro-finance, this is mega transformation at the grassroots," he said.

The PM also highlighted that similar to the space sector, the nuclear energy sector has now been opened up to private enterprises. Individuals connected to the gig economy will receive social security protection. People who were invisible to others are now at the center of the policies. A term loan of Rs 2 crore will be available for entrepreneurs from the SC, ST, and womens groups. Inclusivity is not just a promise, it is a policy," he said.

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In the last 100 days, the purchase of Made in India light combat helicopters for the Army got the green signal and the bill to amend the Waqf Act was passed. These 100 days are more than 100 decisions. This is about the accomplishment of 100 resolutions. This mantra of performance is the real energy behind Rising India," he added.

The PM informed that more than 8000 Naxals have surrendered in the last decade. In the last decade, we signed 10 peace pacts in north east. Thousands of youths laid down weapons to join the mainstream," he said.

About the Author Saurabh Verma Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter --twitter.com/saurabhkverma19 Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter --twitter.com/saurabhkverma19

First Published: April 08, 2025, 21:05 IST
Police Nab Mastermind Behind Punjab Blast Within 12 Hours, Find Link To Lawrence Bishnoi

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 15:55 IST

Manoranjan Kalia Blast: Zeeshan Akhtar is a close associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and a wanted accused in the murder case of NCP leader Baba Siddiqui.

Blast incident reported outside BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia's residence in Jalandhar | Image/ANI

Manoranjan Kalia Blast: In a significant development, the Punjab Police on Tuesday arrested the attacker who had hurled a grenade at the BJP leader and former Punjab Minister Manoranjan Kalias residence in Jalandhar. The state police solved the case within 12 hours.

According to the police, the mastermind behind the grenade attack in Jalandhar has been identified as Zeeshan Akhtar, a close associate of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

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Police also believed that the attack was part of a larger ISI-backed plot to disrupt communal harmony in Punjab. Akhtar is also wanted in the high-profile NCP leader Baba Siddiqui murder case.

Investigations are underway to find potential links between Pakistani-based Khalistani terrorist Harvinder Singh, alias Rinda, and gangster Happy Passia, in connection to a planned cross-border attack.

Earlier, Kalia reacted to the early morning blast outside his Jalandhar residence, saying he was asleep at the time and initially mistook the sound for thunder. As per the reports, the blast took place around 1 am outside Kalias residence.

There was a blast at around 1 am. I was sleeping, and I thought that it was the sound of thunder. Later, I was informed that a blast had taken place. Following this, I sent my gunman to the police station. CCTV is being investigated and forensic experts are also present here. Soon, the details of the probe will come out," Kalia said.

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Manoranjan Kalia is a senior leader in Punjab and currently serves as the leader of the BJPs legislature party in the state. He previously held the position of Cabinet Minister in the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP coalition government.

Before entering politics, Kalia was a practicing lawyer, leveraging his legal expertise to navigate the complexities of governance.

Location : Punjab, India, India

First Published: April 08, 2025, 15:15 IST
Rising Bharat 2025: India-US Trade Pacts Of Interest As PM Modi, President Trump Have Good Ties, Says WEF's Brende

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 18:41 IST

The economic decoupling of the US and China would have serious consequences for global economies, the WEF president said

Brende was chairman of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development from 2003 to 2004 as Norway's Environment Minister. File pic/Reuters

World Economic Forum (WEF) president Brge Brende said on Tuesday that it will be interesting to see what bilateral trade pacts India and the United States can agree on since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump have very good ties.

Brende was participating in a virtual interaction on the topic Global India: Rewriting the Rules of Engagement at CNN-News18s Rising Bharat Summit 2025. The event being held in Delhi on April 8-9 will see over 75 power-packed sessions with more than 100 visionary speakers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

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The WEF president also said that the economic decoupling of the US and China would have serious consequences for global economies.

No one should write off Europe, as it is the comeback kid, said Brende, citing the example of the Greek economys recovery. Europe could be a place for global talent to come and settle, he posited.

Agreements like the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) can benefit both India and the European Union, said Brende.

The Norwegian politician and diplomat has been the president of the World Economic Forum since 2017.

A member of the Conservative Party, Brende previously was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2017, Minister of the Environment from 2001 to 2004, and Minister of Trade and Industry from 2004 to 2005.

Brende was chairman of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development from 2003 to 2004 as Norways Environment Minister.

On September 15, 2017, it was announced that Brende will be the president of the World Economic Forum from mid-October 2017.

As President of the WEF, Brende promoted the idea of a Group of Three between China, India, and the United States in 2023.

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As the world acknowledges Bharats emerging power, CNN-News18s Rising Bharat Summit 2025 brings together the biggest Indian leaders, global policymakers, industry stalwarts, tech innovators, and start-up revolutionaries to address the most urgent issues defining our future.

With insightful dialogues on global supply chains, sustainable urban growth, and the next wave of innovation, the summit will drive crucial conversations on the journey of a self-reliant, future-ready Bharat on its path to global leadership by 2047.

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: April 08, 2025, 18:40 IST
Rising Bharat Summit 2025 | Despite Hike In Excise Duty, Retail Fuel Prices Will Remain Unchanged: Puri

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 14:30 IST

Rising Bharat Summit 2025: Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri pointed out that there is a price difference of Rs 10-12 per litre between BJP-ruled and Opposition-ruled states, with petrol and diesel being more expensive in the latter

Asked about the reason behind the LPG cylinder hike, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said companies facilitating Ujjwala scheme were incurring losses. (Photo: News18)

Amidst the price hike of LPG cylinders, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, at CNN-News18s Rising Bharat Summit 2025, said on Tuesday the BJP government provides the worlds cheapest" cooking gas.

Asked about the reason behind the LPG cylinder hike, Puri said companies facilitating Ujjwala scheme were incurring losses of Rs 44,000 crore. There was a context in which it (hike) was done," he added.

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He stressed that LPG connections have gone up to 33 crore from the earlier 14 crore under the Modi government.

Puri said LPG prices are lower despite a rise in Saudi contract price. Earlier, Puri had said the Saudi CP (international benchmark for LPG pricing) rose by 63%, from $385 per metric tonne in July 2023 to $629 per metric tonne in February 2025.

The price of cylinder has been raised by Rs 50, from Rs 803 to Rs 853 for general users and from Rs 503 to Rs 553 per 14.2 kg cylinder under the Ujjwala scheme. The hike applies to both beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and general consumers.

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Despite the hike in excise duty, retail fuel prices will remain unchanged. Moreover, if current crude oil prices hold steady, OMCs may even have the flexibility to reduce fuel prices. It is also worth noting that there is a price difference of Rs 10-12 per litre between BJP-ruled and Opposition-ruled states, with petrol and diesel being more expensive in the latter, Puri added.

Puri further stated that India now sources crude oil from 40 countries, a significant increase from just 27 suppliers in 2007. He stressed that Indias energy import strategy is guided by the discounts offered by suppliers, as the nation prioritises buying the most affordable oil available in the global market.

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: April 08, 2025, 13:57 IST
Thats True Friendship: Israeli Minister Hails PM Modis Call After October 7 Attacks, Lists 3 Goals For Gaza

Published By :

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 17:24 IST

Rising Bharat Summit: On October 7, 2023, when the attacks from Gaza occurred...one of the first world leaders who called Netanyahu was the PM of India, Narendra Modi. He offered any help that Israel needed. It is true friendship when it comes on time, says Avi Dichter

Avi Dichter said Israel has three goals in Gaza.

At the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, Abraham Moshe Avi Dichter, an Israeli politician currently serving as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modis call to Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu after the October 7, 2023 attacks.

On October 7, 2023, when the horrible attacks from Gaza occurred and Israelis were tortured, killed, raped, kidnapped, one of the first world leaders who called the PM of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu was the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. He offered any help that Israel needed. Thats true friendshipwhen it comes on time," said Dichter.

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The session was part of CNN-News18s Rising Bharat Summit 2025 in New Delhi on April 8-9 which will see over 75 power-packed sessions, with more than 100 visionary speakers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

Israel is a tiny country but we have a large variety of climate areas. You can ski in the north, by noon, drive along the Jordan valley and by late afternoon, you can swim in the Red Sea. In agriculture, we have so many climate areas such as deserts, arid, semi-arid areas. It makes Israel a laboratory for agriculture which we offer to India. If you want to make mistakes, make new mistakes. That was the subject of discussion today with Indian agriculture minister [Shivraj Singh] Chouhan," said Dichter.

About the current situation in Gaza, Dichter said, Right after the October 7 attacks, we put three goals for the Israeli council of defence and political issues. One was to destroy the military infrastructure of Hamas and Palestinian terrorist organisation in Gaza, second was to topple the regime of Hamas in Gaza, and the third was to release all hostages. We never faced a situation where people were kidnapped from their homes  women, babies and adults, children, Israelis and non-Israelis, Jews and Muslims. A total of 255 hostages were in Gaza. We still have 59 hostages there. At least 22 are alive. The war wont end before we achieve the three goals. The most urgent goal is to release the hostages."

India and Israel have long been partners. Under the leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji, these ties have grown even stronger.It gives me immense pleasure to share that an MoU has been signed between the Government of India & the Government of Israel for cooperation in pic.twitter.com/7BTvW3EA96  Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) April 8, 2025

About the ceasefire, he said, Ceasefire is the fire between two fires. We had two agreements about releasing hostages, and ceasefire and releasing Palestinian terrorists from jails. We had the first agreement and Hamas broke it. That is why we returned fire. The second one lasted for 42 days until another discussion. They began to open fire and we responded before the situation could escalate. The meeting between Netanyahu and Donald Trump yesterday was to release the hostages."

About the new Trump administration, Dichter said, He was the first American president who decided and implemented the moving of American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He means business. When the Houthis didnt stop, he launched airstrikes. When he told Iran to get into discussionHe is clear we will talk or strike."

Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 7, 2023

On Trumps Gaza Riveira plan, he said, That time he mentioned 1.7 million people of the 2.3 million people in Gaza. The UN body for refugees  UNRRA  had said 71% in Gaza are refugees. He means to rehabilitate 1.7 million people in Gaza. Its something a giant superpower like the US can do"

About the India-Israel-Middle East-Europe corridor, he said, Israel is half the size of Kerala. To write the name Israel on the map, we have to borrow a part of the Mediterranean. But Iran has a strategy to take over Israel and Saudi Arabia. That is the vision of Iran, to take Mecca and Medina, so they tried to build two corridors of war and destruction. The northern corridor was broken recently. We are trying to build a new corridor of peace, businessThe good guys will beat the bad guys."

President Trump has been a remarkable friend of the State of Israel. He has been a great champion of our alliance. We are working together to bring our hostages home  all of them.@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/8IgMb6YYbI  Benjamin Netanyahu    (@netanyahu) April 7, 2025

About the endgame in Gaza, he said, Gaza has an area of 330 sqkm like a small city in India. In 1967, there were 37,000 people, today there are 2.3 million. They say it will become Singapore. Singa it might not be, but poor it will. Gaza was taken by the terrorists of Hamas in 2007. First, we have to destroy the terrorist organisation, then the world and not just Israel will be able to solve this problem better."

The News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025 is where Indias defining conversations take centre stage.

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As the world acknowledges Bharats emerging power, this summit will bring together the biggest Indian leaders, global policymakers, industry stalwarts, tech innovators, and start-up revolutionaries to address the most urgent issues defining our future.

With insightful dialogues on global supply chains, sustainable urban growth, and the next wave of innovation, the summit will drive crucial conversations on the journey of a self-reliant, future-ready Bharat on its path to global leadership by 2047.

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: April 08, 2025, 16:33 IST
Meerut-Like Murder Shocks Bijnor: Woman Kills Husband 'For Railway Job...Used To Beat Mother-In-Law'

Curated By :

Translation Desk

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 14:20 IST

UP Murder Case: In Bijnor, UP, railway technician Deepak Kumar was allegedly killed by his wife, Shivani, who claimed he had a heart attack. A post-mortem revealed strangulation. Shivani and another person were arrested

Shivani had administered sleeping pills to Deepak, causing him to lose consciousness. (News18 Hindi)

UP Murder Case: In a shocking development from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, another case of murder has emerged which has a close resemblance with the Saurabh Rajput murder case in Meerut. The fresh incident occurred in the Najibabad police station area, where Deepak Kumar, a railway technician, was allegedly killed by his wife, Shivani.

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As reported by the Times of India, the 29-year-old man suddenly collapsed during a puja at his Najibabad home on the evening of April. His wife informed the family that it was a heart attack. However, since Deepak Kumar was a government employee, his family insisted on an autopsy before performing the last rites. The post-mortem report on April 6 confirmed their suspicions, indicating that Deepak had died from strangulation.

Following this revelation, Deepaks family lodged a murder complaint against Shivani and an unknown person, leading to their arrest. Initial investigations suggest that Shivani may have committed the crime to secure her husbands job.

On the day of the incident, April 4, Shivani reportedly called her brother-in-law, Piyush, claiming that Deepak had a heart attack and was being taken to the hospital. When Piyush arrived, Deepak was already dead. Shivanis refusal to conduct a post-mortem further aroused Piyushs suspicions, prompting him to inform the police.

Deepaks brother claimed that Shivani and one of her friends killed his brother. They had a love marriage one and a half years ago.

According to the Times of India report, Piyush informed the police that Shivani had consistently been antagonistic towards them. She even used to physically abuse her mother-in-law," he claimed. Deepaks mother, Pushpa, further added, She murdered him with someones assistance to secure his job."

Deepaks uncle Vishal said, My nephew has been brutally murdered. He used to work in the railways. His wife has killed him. She is taking the blame on herself, but she cannot have killed Deepak alone. Someone else is also involved in this. We cannot determine her motive, whether she killed him for money or to get a job, but she has killed him. We want Shivani to be punished."

During questioning, it was revealed that Shivani had administered sleeping pills to Deepak, causing him to lose consciousness. She then allegedly strangled him. After the murder, she spent some time on the roof before taking Deepak to the hospital under the guise of a heart attack. Doctors at the hospital declared him dead.

ASP City Sanjeev Vajpayee stated that Shivani is being interrogated and that an unknown person is also suspected to be involved in the crime.

Deepak, originally from Mukrandpur village in Bijnor, had been residing in a rented house in Adarsh Nagar colony, Najibabad, as reported by the Times of India. He married Shivani from Chauharpur Nahtaur on June 17. It was a love marriage, and they had a six-month-old son. The report stated that Deepak, who joined the railways in March 2023, had previously served in the CRPF in Manipur. He left the paramilitary force to settle down and build a peaceful life with his family. Sadly, his life ended abruptly within a year of starting this new chapter, leaving behind a grieving family and a young child. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all

Location : Bijnor, India, India

First Published: April 08, 2025, 11:06 IST
Will Muskans Pregnancy Have A Bearing On Her Bail, Trial In Meerut Murder Case?

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 15:47 IST

Senior Advocate S Mohammed Haider from the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court clarified that pregnancy is unlikely to affect the ultimate determination of guilt, but courts may consider temporary or interim medical bail, especially for delivery and postpartum care"

Muskan's pregnancy adds complexity to the Meerut murder case.

Wife-turned-co-conspirator, body in a cement-sealed drum, and now a pregnancy  the shocking Meerut murder of former merchant navy officer Saurabh Rajput has seen a new twist with the pregnancy of Muskan Rastogi, Rajputs wife and the prime accused in the case.

News18 spoke with Senior Advocate S Mohammed Haider from the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court to decode the road ahead.

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A CRIME THAT SHOOK MEERUT

On March 19, Rastogi and her alleged lover, Sahil Shukla, were arrested for the brutal murder of Rajput. The case stunned both the public and law enforcement as Rajputs dismembered body was found packed in a drum and sealed with cement in a chilling attempt to hide the crime.

The couple allegedly fled to Himachal Pradesh after the murder, spent time together, and reportedly got married. Upon their return, they were apprehended by the police.

PREGNANCY BEHIND BARS: A SHOCKING TWIST

The case took another dramatic turn on April 7, when Rastogi, currently lodged in Meerut District Jail under judicial custody, tested positive for pregnancy. She had complained of nausea, vomiting, and discomfort, prompting a medical examination by a doctor from the district womens hospital.

Muskans pregnancy has been confirmed through primary testing," said Dr Ashok Kataria, Chief Medical Officer of Meerut. He added that further diagnostics, including an ultrasound, will be conducted to determine the stage of her pregnancy.

The revelation left jail authorities scrambling. Rastogis condition has added a layer of emotional complexity to the case and raised a host of legal and procedural questions involving maternal health, prison conditions, and judicial discretion.

PREGNANCY AS HUMANITARIAN CONSIDERATION?

The discovery of Muskans pregnancy amid such heinous allegations has ignited judicial minds. While the charges remain serious, courts often consider humanitarian grounds when dealing with pregnant women in custody," he said.

Haider cited a significant 2022 judgment by the Delhi High Court in Kajal v. NCT of Delhi (Bail Application No. 2286 of 2022), where the court observed: Pregnancy of a woman is a special circumstance which needs to be appreciated, as giving birth to a child while in custody would not only be a trauma to the mother but also create an everlasting adverse impact on the child, whenever questioned about his birth."

The court emphasised the importance of motherhood and dignity under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and noted that a prison environment is inherently unsuitable for childbirth and maternal care.

BNSS & CRPC PROVISIONS: LEGAL GROUNDS FOR BAIL

Haider also pointed to Section 437(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), now replaced by Section 480 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which permits bail for women, the sick, and infirm  even in cases involving life imprisonment or capital punishment.

This provision offers Muskan a legal basis to seek bail," Haider explained. Courts are expected to weigh the potential harm to the unborn child and the health risks of undergoing pregnancy in incarceration."

Additionally, he referred to Section 456 of the BNSS, which mandates that if a woman sentenced to death is found to be pregnant, her sentence must be commuted to life imprisonment. Though Rastogi has not been convicted, the statute reflects a broader legal philosophy: compassion in the case of pregnancy.

NO IMPACT ON GUILT, BUT BAIL COULD BE INFLUENCED

While Rastogis pregnancy may bring humanitarian considerations to the fore, it does not mitigate the seriousness of the crime she is accused of. Both Rastogi and Shukla are facing severe charges, with police asserting that the murder was the result of an illicit affair and a plot to eliminate her husband.

#WATCH | Saurabh Rajput Murder case | Meerut, UP: Accused Muskans mother Kavita says, " I want to tell all the children out there that never hide anything from your parents. My child has committed a big mistake. I used to ask her continuously what the problem was, but she kept pic.twitter.com/jTwgEIYqVA ANI (@ANI) March 21, 2025

A village panchayat had previously attempted reconciliation, but tensions persisted. Investigators allege that Rastogi was not just complicit but actively involved in planning and executing the crime.

Still, Haider clarified that pregnancy is unlikely to affect the ultimate determination of guilt, but it may influence bail decisions. Courts may consider temporary or interim medical bail, especially for delivery and postpartum care," he said. The right of the child to be born in a safe and humane environment could outweigh the argument for continued detention, at least temporarily."

EMOTIONAL REUNIONS INSIDE JAIL

Rastogi and Shukla remain lodged in separate barracks within the jail. On April 2, during a virtual court hearing, the two saw each other for the first time since their arrest. Eyewitnesses described an emotional scene. Rastogi reportedly broke down in tears and pleaded with jail staff, saying, We are husband and wife please let us talk." The authorities denied her request, citing a lack of legal proof of marriage.

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Sources inside the jail also confirmed that no family members have visited Rastogi since her arrest. In contrast, Shukla has been visited twice by his elderly grandmother. Meanwhile, as Rastogis medical check-ups continue, she has been referred for advanced testing at an external facility.

The charge sheet in the case is nearly complete and reportedly holds both Rastogi and Shukla equally responsible. Yet, her pregnancy introduces a complex dilemma for the judiciary.

First Published: April 08, 2025, 15:41 IST
Why Are Men More Likely to Develop Hemophilia?

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 07:33 IST

Genetics explain why hemophilia is more common in men. Early awareness, diagnosis, and management are key to improving outcomes for those affected.

Males, having an XY chromosome pair, will develop hemophilia if their single X chromosome carries the mutated gene.

Hemophilia results from mutations in clotting factor genes located on the X chromosome. Males, having an XY chromosome pair, will develop hemophilia if their single X chromosome carries the mutated gene. Females have two X chromosomes (XX), so if one carries the mutation, the other can often compensate. Dr. Rahul Bhargava, Principal Director and Chief of BMT, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, explains all you need to know:

Why Men Are More Vulnerable

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Unlike women, men do not have a second X chromosome to offset the defective gene. This means that if a male inherits an X chromosome with the hemophilia gene from his mother, he will inevitably have the disorder. Women would need mutations on both X chromosomes to develop hemophilia, which is much rarer.

How It Affects Males

Men with hemophilia lack functional clotting factors, leading to serious and prolonged bleeding. Symptoms may include:

Excessive Bleeding: Even minor injuries can cause severe bleeding that is difficult to stop.

Spontaneous Bleeding: Bleeding may occur without any visible injury, especially in muscles and joints.

Joint Damage: Frequent bleeding in joints can lead to swelling, pain, and long-term mobility issues.

Severe Complications: In extreme cases, uncontrolled bleeding may cause life-threatening issues such as brain hemorrhages.

Why Men Cannot Be Carriers

Women can carry the gene without showing symptoms because of their second, typically healthy X chromosome. Men, however, cannot be carriersthey either have hemophilia or they dont.

Treatment and Management

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There is currently no cure for hemophilia, but clotting factor replacement therapy can effectively manage the condition. Regular infusions of the missing clotting factor allow patients to lead relatively normal lives and avoid severe complications.

Genetics explain why hemophilia is more common in men. Early awareness, diagnosis, and management are key to improving outcomes for those affected.

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: April 08, 2025, 07:33 IST
Mom-To-Be Kiara Advani To Make Her Grand Debut At Met Gala 2025, Here's What We Know

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 09:45 IST

Kiara Advani is all set to walk the red carpet at the Met Gala 2025. Known as the biggest night in fashion, the Met Gala is an invite-only event.

The Met Gala 2025 red carpet will be held on May 6.

While Kiara Advani is all set to welcome her first child with her husband Sidharth Malhotra, she is ready to hit another milestone. The actor is all set to make her debut at one of fashions most anticipated moments this year  the Met Gala 2025. Kiara will be walking the red carpet at the Met Gala 2025 that will be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts Costume Institute in Manhattan.

The theme for the Met Gala 2025 is Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. As per reports, the theme will focus on blending fashion, history, and cultural influence. The display will explore how Black menswear has developed from 18th-century Europe to its contemporary influence world, using inspiration from Monica L. Millers book Slaves to Fashion. The dress code, Tailored for You, will see how attendees interpret this illustrious heritage of artistry, precision, and uniqueness. Viewers can expect bold takes on traditional menswear silhouettes.

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The 2025 Met Gala will be chaired by fashion icon Anna Wintour. Apart from her, the co-chair will also include LeBron James, Pharrell Williams, Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky, and Lewis Hamilton. Held in benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts Costume Institute in Manhattan, the invite-only event sees guests from various spheres. From film, television, music, business, sports, social media, and philanthropy, guests dress up in haute couture based on the theme and the dress code.

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The Met Gala 2025 red carpet will be held on May 6, while the exhibit will be open from May 6 to October 26.

Kiara Advani had earlier represented India at the Red Sea Film Foundations Women in Cinema Gala Dinner at Cannes in 2024. On the work front, she will be next seen in Toxic with Yash, War 2 with Hrithik Roshan, and Don 3 with Ranveer Singh.

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 : Delhi, India, India

First Published: April 08, 2025, 09:45 IST
Govinda's Wife Sunita Ahuja Gets Angry, Slams Divorce Rumours: 'Kuttey Hai Log...'

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 14:55 IST

Govinda Divorce Rumours: Govinda and Sunita Ahuja have been married for 37 years now. They are parents to two children  Tina and Yashvardan.

In February this year, several media reports claimed that Govinda and Sunita Ahuja have decided to part ways.

Govinda Divorce Rumours: Weeks after several reports claimed that Govinda and his wife, Sunita Ahuja, are heading for a divorce, the latter has now lashed out at those spreading negativity" about their marriage. Recently, Sunita was speaking to ABP when she seemingly got angry and addressed speculations about her marriage. Sunita urged everyone not to pay attention to divorce rumours and made it clear that she and Govinda are still together.

Positive hai ya negative hai. Positive hai mujhe pata hai. Mai sochti hu kuttey hai log bhaukenge (Whether it is positive or negative, I take it positively. I think they are dogs, so they will bark)," Sunita said and then added, Till the time you dont hear it from mine or Govindas mouth, dont believe anything."

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In February this year, several media reports claimed that Govinda and Sunita Ahuja have decided to part ways owing to constant disagreements and varied lifestyles. It was also said that Govindas growing closeness to a 30-year-old Marathi actress is reportedly a major factor in their alleged split.

Later, when ETimes contacted Govinda, he reacted by saying, These are only business talks goingI am in the process of starting my films."

Following this, their lawyer also confirmed that even though the couple filed for divorce six months back, they are getting back together now. Lalit Bindal, who is also the actors family friend, shared that Govinda and Sunita are going strong" and that they will always be together.

We also travelled to Nepal during the New Year and performed puja together at Pashupati Nath Mandir. Everything is fine between them now. Such things keep happening between couples, but they are going strong and will always be together," he told India Today.

The lawyer also accused social media of using Sunita Ahujas quotes from her recent interviews, conveniently against the couple. Like when she said mujhe Govinda jaisa pati nahi chaiye (I dont want Govinda as my husband in next birth), she did add that she wanted a son like him. Or when she said that he was with his own valentine, she meant he was working. It is unfortunate that people are only talking negatively about them when the couple is together, and I can assure that they will always be. No divorce is going to happen," he added.

Govinda and Sunita Ahuja have been married for 37 years now. They are parents to two children  Tina and Yashvardan.

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: April 08, 2025, 14:20 IST
Pawan Kalyans Son Mark Injured In School Fire Accident; Actor Rushes to Singapore

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 10:24 IST

Telugu actor and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan's son, Mark, was injured in a fire at his Singapore school. Kalyan is flying to be with him.

Pawan Kalyan.

In an unfortunate development, Telugu actor and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyans youngest son, Mark Shankar Pawanovich, has reportedly sustained multiple injuries following a fire-related accident at his school in Singapore. Kalyan, who was in India at the time, immediately booked his tickets to Singapore upon receiving news of the incident. He will be with his son and monitor his condition closely.

According to reports, Mark sustained multiple injuries to his arms and legs during the incident. He is also said to be experiencing complications due to smoke inhalation. The teenager, who is currently pursuing his education in Singapore, is under medical care and receiving treatment at a local hospital.

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While the severity of the injuries is yet to be officially confirmed, sources close to the family have indicated that the situation is being monitored closely by healthcare professionals.

Pawan Kalyan, who has been actively engaged in his political responsibilities and ongoing public tour, is expected to fly to Singapore later today. Despite the personal emergency, the actor-politician is reportedly ensuring the completion of his scheduled political commitments before departing.

For those who may not know, Pawan Kalyan shares two childrenson Mark and daughter Polenawith his third wife, Anna Lezhneva. The family prefers to keep a low profile and is rarely seen making public appearances together.

On the professional front, Pawan Kalyan currently serves as the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, a role he took on following his partys recent electoral success. Despite his busy political schedule, the actor continues to enjoy immense popularity in the Telugu film industry. He has two highly anticipated films lined upHari Hara Veera Mallu and They Call Him OG.

First Published: April 08, 2025, 10:24 IST
Sunny Deol CONFIRMS Playing Hanuman In Ranbir Kapoor's Ramayan | Exclusive

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News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 13:47 IST

Ranbir Kapoor's Ramayan Update: Sunny Deol confirmed his role as Hanuman in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana, starring Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram. The film, announced by Namit Malhotra, will release in two parts in 2026 and 2027.

Sunny Deol CONFIRMS Playing Hanuman In Ranbir Kapoor's Ramayan At Rising Bharat Summit 2025

News18s Rising Bharat Summit 2025 is being held today, April 8, to celebrate the power of Indias youth as the driving force in the journey towards a Viksit Bharat by 2047. During the session, Sunny Deol was invited on the stage as a special guest. The Bollywood superstar revealed to us exclusively that he is indeed playing the role of Hanuman in Nitesh Tiwaris directorial Ramayana. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram.

Sunny Deol told us, I am working in Ramayan as Hanuman, yes that is true." When asked if he is religious, Deol answered, Kon bhagwan mein nhi manta? Hum hai bhagwan k vajh se hai. (Who doesnt believe in God? We are here because of him)."

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Sunny was then asked if he found the role of Hanuman challenging when he was first offered the script. To this, Deol sportingly said, For actors, we love challenging things because its fun. We have to nail the character and listen to our director. I immerse myself into my character so that people believe in it. I have not started shooting yet but it will be one of the most mega films."

The highly awaited epic Ramayana is officially on its way! Announced by Namit Malhotra just last month, the grand project will unfold in two partsPart One is slated for a 2026 release, while Part Two will hit theatres in 2027. The first poster, featuring a striking arrow set against a blazing sky, has already set the tone for what promises to be a visually stunning retelling of the beloved tale.

Casting buzz is in full swing too! As per reports, Sai Pallavi will step into the role of Sita, while Yash has confirmed that hell be portraying the mighty Ravana. The film also stars Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi, Sunny Deol as Hanuman, and Sheeba Chaddha as Manthara. Earlier this year, a leaked image of Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi in costume from the set sent fans into a frenzy online.

Ramayana is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious films in Indian cinema history.

First Published: April 08, 2025, 11:48 IST
Vikas Khanna Backs Gaurav Khanna Amid Copying Allegations On Celebrity MasterChef: 'I Have To Admit...'

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 21:04 IST

Chef Vikas Khanna supported Gaurav Khanna amid copying allegations on Celebrity MasterChef, praising his dish as "culinary greatness." Farah Khan also backed Gaurav.

Vikas Khanna is one of the judges on Celebrity MasterChef.

Chef Vikas Khanna, who is also one of the judges on Celebrity MasterChef, has come out in support of Gaurav Khanna amid copying allegations. On Tuesday, Vikas Khanna shared a clip of Gauravs dish from the show on his Instagram handle and penned down an appreciation note for the actor. He called Gauravs dish a culinary greatness" and wished luck to all the contestants of Celebrity MasterChef.

Very rarely you witness Culinary Greatness like this one. I have to admit that this years MasterChef was next level benchmark for us. I only wish every celebrity contestants the very best," Vikas wrote. Check it out here:

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Soon after the post was shared, Farah Khan, who is also a judge on the show, rushed to the comments section and also backed Gaurav Khanna. Truly", she wrote and dropped a fire emoji.

Why Is Gaurav Khanna Accused Of Copying?

In a recent episode of Celebrity MasterChef, Gaurav Khanna wowed judges with a stunning honey-dripping dessert. The chefs looked seriously impressed and couldnt stop praising Gaurav for his impressive culinary chops.

However, Gaurav was later accused of copying the dessert created by a Switzerland-based chef. Social media users were quick to notice that Gauravs dessert looked strikingly similar to a creation by Swiss chef Dives Josh, which had earlier made its way to his Instagram feed.

The chef himself appeared to throw some subtle shade at the show and Gaurav for the strikingly similar dish. Sharing the promo clip on his Instagram story, Dives Josh wrote, Well done, so creative" with a cheeky emoji. In another story, he posted his original creation with the caption the original."

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: April 08, 2025, 21:04 IST
Opinion | Why Post-Bhadralok Bengal Has Returned To Ram

Written By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 12:07 IST

Plebeian Mamata Banerjee ousting the patrician Marxist regime set off a chain reaction that has destroyed the bhadralok belief systems

Devotees during a procession on the occasion of the 'Ram Navami' festival at Ranaghat, in Nadia district of West Bengal in April, last year. (Image: PTI)

It is widely accepted now that society in the state of West Bengal has moved from bhadralok to the post-bhadralok phase in the third decade of the 21st century. And while this may raise eyebrows and evoke vigorous denials from the remnants of that aforementioned constructmostly resident outside the state now if not India itselfit may not be as much a doomsayers prognostication as a timely pivot and refocus to a more realistic picture of todays West Bengal.

Take the number of much beloved shibboleths that have been given the go-by in recent decades. The latest is the about-turn on the belief that Lord Ram is a regressive god of the uncultured Hindi heartland" who never had a place in Bengals feminist Shakta motherland. As recently as 2021, UNESCO recognising Durga Puja as an intangible heritage of Bengal was posited as another assertion of that truism, stopping a resurgent northern Ram at the states border.

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Yet this year, the same state government and its proxy goons who had done their best to stop Ram Navami processions before and loudly assert those were the handiwork of outsiders", not only did not set the police on the processionists, but took part in the celebrations! The ruling party, officials, police and the other arms of the state government finally acknowledged what the presence of countless Ram temples in the state proved: He has always been in Bengali hearts.

The question is, why was their argument of Ram being the lord of outsiders allowed to dominate the discourse for so long, ignoring the faith of millions who flock to those temples dedicated to him in nearly every village in the state? In a way, it is a bit like Tamil Nadu, whose current party in power officially peddles an anti-Hindu line while the grand temples in the state continue to attract devotees unabated. The answer lies in who had controlled the narrative thus far.

And to get to the bottom of that, it is necessary to go back to the era before independence, if not further. While the old aphorism of divide and rule may beget sarcastic chuckles today, the fact that it was a tremendously successful project rings true with every such chortling derision. Much of Indias educated elite believedand still believeIndia is not a nation but a hotchpotch of different identities and preferences from language to food and more.

It was so convenient for the British to formulate and disseminate a hierarchy of culture and practices, identify and highlight differences and gloss over common beliefs and customs. And they found a receptive audience first among the upper-class (not always caste) Bengalis in the city from where they ruled India: Calcutta. They also stoked the Bengali assumption of intellectual and cultural superiority by virtue of their access to English education and Western thought.

Even after the British colonisers had departed, many modern Indian leaders consistently refused to acknowledge the elephant in the room: the silent binding force of Sanatan Dharma, the HinduIndianway of life and its adaptable belief systems. They preferred to ignore not only ancient and new Ram, Shiva and Durga temples across India, but the diversity of practice and customs having a resilient and, yes, liberal, broad church principle as the unifier.

So, it was in Bengal too, with Durga worship gaining primacy among urban and upper classes and other deities from Shiva and Ram to Manasa, Shashti and gram devatas dominating in the hinterland. But the English-educated bhadralok that emerged in the 19th century, concentrated in the urban centres conducive to their professions, developed a not-very-surprising distaste for those beliefs of the great unwashed", like the British elite they modelled themselves on.

While their adoption of education as a prime accomplishment was welcome, the bhadralok disdain for rooted cultural practices led to distortions. Many of them affected a careful duality, keeping long-standing beliefs confined to quarters while advocating modern views in public. As the western philosophies of Marxism and socialism captured the intellectual sphere, the bhadralok took to them eagerly, pushing older beliefs further into the shadows but not into oblivion.

Epitomising the success of Thomas Macaulays project to create a class of indoctrinated agents, the Bengali bhadralokliving in Ground Zero of this colonial initiativepushed the British line of ameliorating Indias regressive" religious and social landscape, beginning with Bengal. Sati, a cruel custom but confined to the rich and landed, was thus triumphantly abolished and touted as a major step towards reforming a barbaric, backward Hindu society.

Inevitably, the Bengali elite founded the Brahmo Samaj, posited as reformist, whereas the Arya Samaj movement was cast as revivalist. Brahmoism was assiduously promoted by the 19th centurys Anglicised (in thought if not externally) enlightened" urban Bengalis. Even the bhadralok who were not Brahmo converts professed open disdain for the populist manifestations of the Hindu faith that the chhoto lok (small or inferior folk) preferred.

That the reformist" Brahmo movement of Bengal never gained very many followers is in direct contrast to the spread of the revivalist" Arya Samaj in north and west India that began 50 years later. The Arya Samaj was firmly rooted in Vedic philosophy and empathetic to local beliefs, even as it advocated a casteless society, modern education, and the uplift of women and oppressed segmentsall issues that had hindered the forging of a unified, modern Hindu society.

In the 20th century, the preponderance of bhadralok in West Bengals government, politics (think of the patrician dhoti-clad Communists who controlled the levers of power for decades) academia, art and culture and even business, ensured that their discomfort with populist beliefs dominated the narrative although they made common cause with chhoto lok during the freedom struggle. But anyone who wanted to move up the social ladder had to espouse bhadralok norms.

Esoteric Upanishadic precepts thus became aspirational for wannabe bhadralok. The feeling of intellectual and cultural superiority among the bhadralok was in no small measure due to the Bengal Renaissance, a term with favourable allusions to a coveted preceding period of European progress. The irony of a renaissance actually happening from the headquarters of an unabashedly exploitative colonial regime clearly eluded the supposedly intellectually evolved bhadralok.

Did this renaissance really have no ulterior agenda? Did Macaulays precepts not get seared into bhadralok consciousness, with an ingrained horror of regressive" Hinduism masked as a modern outlook? The fact is, bhadralok remain coconuts (brown on the outside, white on the inside) even as they opted for a higher Hinduism than the simple bhakti of the non-bhadralok. So, as long as they held sway, disdain for Ram as a god from the backward Hindi belt persisted.

One of the little publicised aspects of the Ram Janmabhoomi movementfor reasons not difficult to understandis that it received the most enthusiastic support from other backward classes" (OBCs) and Dalits. The movement shone a spotlight on leaders from those communities, like Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singhand Kameshwar Chaupal, the Dalit who laid the first brick for the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya and was a member of the temples first group of trustees.

Ram began emerging as an accessible god during the Bhakti movement, aided by the 14th-century reformist thinker Ramananda, and later among others, Tulsidas, whose accessible retelling of the Ramayana as Ramcharitmanas in the popular Avadhi dialect made devotion the cornerstone of common faith rather than Sanskritic ritualism. That simplicity would certainly not have found favour with the bhadralok, who gravitated towards rarified Upanishadic Hinduism.

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Piquantly, a last bastion of the elitist bhadralok was breached when the self-proclaimed plebeian politician Mamata Banerjee ousted the Marxist patricians and their cadres from their perch. Unwittingly, she set off a chain reaction that saw the rise of huge segments of non-bhadralok, inevitably mostly Hindus. Their gaining confidence to assert themselves has pitched West Bengal into this current post-bhadralok phasethereby setting the stage for Rams return too.

The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.

First Published: April 08, 2025, 12:07 IST
PM Modi On Partition: 'Two-Nation Theory Wasn't Common Muslim's Choice...Congress Got Power'

Curated By :

News18.com Edited By: Oindrila Mukherjee



Last Updated: April 09, 2025, 00:04 IST

Drawing a parallel with the Partition of India in 1947, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the Congress had grabbed power through the politics of appeasement during India's independence

PM Narendra Modi said the politics of appeasement is not a new tactic used by the opposition. (Image: News18)

Calling it a big challenge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the politics of appeasement is not a new tactic used by the opposition. Drawing a parallel with the Partition of India in 1947, he alleged that the Congress had grabbed power through it during Indias independence.

Politics of appeasement is not new. Many countries got liberated, but is there any country whose freedom happened with partition? The two-nation theory was not the decision of the common Muslim, but the Congress got power by politics of appeasement; but the question is what did the Muslims get from it?" he asked while delivering the keynote address on Day 1 of the Rising Bharat Summit 2025.

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Modi was talking about the Waqf (Amendment) Act, which was passed in Parliament last week after intense debate.

He accused the Congress of doing appeasement politics, by way of which he said kattarpanthis got wealth and, at the same time, questioned what the poor and Muslim women got  a message that shows his commitment to what he described as social justice. His remarks come in the backdrop of protests in several states against the Waqf law, even as the Supreme Court agreed to hear petitions challenging it on April 15.

The Prime Minister said the protests around the law were rooted in appeasement politics, but he is happy that the NDA government at the Centre has been able to take this major step that was denied in the past by previous governments.

Further attacking the opposition, he said the 2013 amendments to the Wakf Act were aimed at appeasing Muslim fundamentalists and land mafia. The Waqf law had become a cause of fear. Now it ensures dignity for all, especially the marginalised in the Muslim community. I congratulate the Parliament of the country for making a wonderful law in the interest of the entire society, in the interest of the Muslim community," he added.

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ALSO READ | Delay Enemy Of Development: PM Modi Blames Congress For Stalling Crucial Projects

The PM said the law will secure the sanctity of Waqf and also the rights of the poor, backwards and women among Muslims. The debate on the Waqf law stands as the second longest in our parliamentary history. Discussions on the bill spanned 16 hours across both Houses, accompanied by 38 meetings of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC), totalling 128 hours of deliberation. Moreover, nearly 1 crore online suggestions were received from citizens across the country. This underscores that democracy is not limited to the walls of Parliament; it is being enriched and strengthened through active public participation," he said.

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: April 08, 2025, 22:17 IST
Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Karnataka: BJPs Grand Plan To Crack The South Indian Puzzle Set In Motion

Reported By :

News18.com Edited By: Pragati Ratti



Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 12:25 IST

While returning from Sri Lanka, PM Narendra Modi made time to visit the famous Ramanatha Swamy temple in Rameshwaram on Rama Navami. He wore the traditional 'veshti' (dhoti), shirt, and 'angavastram' (worn around the neck).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers prayers at the Ramanathaswamy Temple, in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. (Image: PMO India)

On Sunday, while returning from Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended an event in Tamil Nadu. Amidst a packed schedule, he made time to visit the famous Ramanatha Swamy temple in Rameshwaram on Rama Navami. He wore the traditional veshti (dhoti), shirt, and angavastram (worn around the neck). The choice of attire is seen as part of BJPs strategic effort to strengthen its presence in Southern India  a region where the party has struggled to gain a strong foothold.

South India, which includes Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, contributes 129 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. This makes the region crucial for the BJP to achieve its national goals, such as securing a supermajority in Parliament. Currently, the BJP only has a minor foothold in Andhra Pradesh, where it is a junior partner to the TDP along with Pawan Kalyans Jana Sena Party. In Karnataka, the BJP has had governing opportunities but is presently an opposition party facing internal conflicts.

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For the first time, the BJP has launched a multi-pronged approach to make significant electoral gains across all South Indian states, with a focused aim on winning Karnataka, where it believes it has the strongest chance.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu has been particularly challenging for the BJP to penetrate. On Rama Navami, Prime Minister Modi visited the state and inaugurated the new Pamban rail bridge in Rameswaram. This bridge, built at a cost of Rs 531 crore over the Palk Strait, is Indias first vertical lift sea bridge and connects Rameswaram Island with Ramanathapuram on the mainland. Modi also initiated the expansion of National Highway 40 into a four-lane road stretching from Walajahpet near Chennai to the Andhra Pradesh border and inaugurated three other highway projects in Tamil Nadu that have been upgraded to four lanes.

Wearing the Veshti and angavastram symbolised Modis effort to appeal to Tamil sentiments. This visit to the Ramanatha Swamy temple was his second in just over a year. He had previously visited the temple last year before the Pran Pratishta of the Sri Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Ahead of a full organisational change, BJPs state president K Annamalai resigned who is learnt to have asked by the party to step down. It was seen as a strategic move to potentially re-align with its former ally AIADMK. In March, AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami met with Amit Shah in Delhi. Shah is scheduled to visit Chennai for two days this month, where he will likely meet with Palaniswami again to finalise an alliance ahead of the next election.

Kerala

In Kerala, where the BJP has historically struggled, the party achieved a milestone in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by securing its first-ever MP from the state  Suresh Gopi from Thrissur. Gopi, a popular Malayalam film actor-turned-politician, drove the victory. However, his celebrity status alone did not secure the win. The BJP modified its strategies, tempering its Hindutva image and reaching out to the Christian community.

One key issue was love jihad, initially raised by Church authorities in Kerala. The BJP strongly supported the Church on this matter. The Waqf Amendment Bill also provided common ground between the two. Former Union Minister KJ Alphonse and MP Suresh Gopi were involved in efforts to clarify any misunderstandings about the Bill. The Munambam land dispute in Ernakulam district was a focal point, where the Kerala State Waqf Board claimed ownership of around 400 acres of land affecting over 600 families, mainly Christians and some Hindus. The BJP aligned with the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) on this issue, prompting many Munambam residents to join the BJP as a gesture of gratitude.

The BJPs toned-down Hindutva messaging became evident when the Kerala BJP suspended a local leader who called for a legal ban on a controversial film. Unlike its hardline stance on the 2002 Godhra attack, the BJP maintained that the film should be viewed as just a film.

Karnataka

Karnataka is currently the most significant target for the BJP among southern states. The party believes it can leverage anti-incumbency sentiments created by controversial decisions such as the 4 per cent Muslim Reservation and financial moves like hiking milk prices and imposing a garbage tax in Bangalore.

The RSS have held its top meeting while the BJP is likely to hold its own in Bengaluru within a month. The RSS conducted a three-day meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, its highest decision-making body, starting March 21.

Hindu awakening" was a key agenda point, coinciding with the Congress governments introduction of reservations for Muslims. Top RSS leaders, including Mohan Bhagwat and Dattatreya Hosabale, were present.

The BJP is also likely to hold its National Executive Meeting in Bengaluru starting April 18.

Despite recent setbacks such as expelling powerful MLA Basanagouda Patil R Yatnal, who is now considering launching a regional party, the party remains confident citing the BJP-JD(S) alliance which secured a 51.5 per cent vote share against Congresss 45.4 per cent in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP also won by-elections like Channapatna in 2024.

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The Lingayats, who comprise about 17 per cent of Karnatakas population, have traditionally supported the BJP. Despite some drift towards Congress in 2023, the BJP is leveraging Yediyurappas influence to retain this vote bank. Following the organizational reshuffle, sources suggest that Karnatakas party president, Vijayendra, a Lingayat, will remain unchanged.

With its organisational strength and Modis national appeal, the BJP has set its sights on a comeback in the Karnataka assembly, starting its Mission 2028 early.

About the Author Anindya Banerjee Anindya Banerjee, Associate Editor brings over fifteen years of journalistic courage to the forefront. With a keen focus on politics and policy, Anindya has garnered a wealth of experience, with deep throat in ... Read More Anindya Banerjee, Associate Editor brings over fifteen years of journalistic courage to the forefront. With a keen focus on politics and policy, Anindya has garnered a wealth of experience, with deep throat in ... Read More

First Published: April 08, 2025, 12:25 IST
BJP Alleges Trinamool MPs Fought On Internal WhatsApp Group, Shares Screenshots And Videos

Reported By :

News18.com Edited By: Ronit Singh



Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 14:21 IST

BJP Latest News: The matter escalated and reached Mamata Banerjee, who reportedly asked both MPs to stand down, the BJP claimed.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee | File Image/PTI

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday shared the purported chats of TMC MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad fighting amongst themselves on the partys official WhatsApp group for parliamentarians.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya claimed that the heated WhatsApp exchange was an aftermath of an earlier public spat between two TMC MPs including a woman leader at the Election Commission headquarters, where they had gone to submit a party representation.

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It appears the party had instructed its MPs to gather at the Parliament office to sign the memorandum before proceeding to the EC. However, the MP carrying the memorandum skipped the Parliament meeting and went directly to the EC," Malviya said in an X post.

He further claimed that the MPs move angered the woman MP, who confronted him when they came face to face at the poll panels headquarters. A heated exchange ensued, with both shouting at each other to the extent that one of them asked the police personnel present to step in," the BJP leader said.

The matter escalated and reached Mamata Banerjee, who reportedly asked both MPs to stand down, Malviya claimed.

According to Malviya, the infighting soon intensified and extended to the WhatsApp group AITC MP 2024, where Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad, who supported the woman MP, clashed.

Take a look at the screengrab of the WhatsApp chats shared by the BJP:

On 4th April 2024, two TMC MPs had a public spat at the headquarters of the Election Commission of India, where they had gone to submit a representation. It appears the party had instructed its MPs to gather at the Parliament office to sign the memorandum before proceeding to the pic.twitter.com/BwqQRE8FhI Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 7, 2025

The BJP leader also shared a purported video of the altercation between the two TMC MPs at the Election Commission headquarters. The video shows TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee in a heated exchange with a TMC MP.

However, CNN-News18 couldnt independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Soon after the public spat between two TMC MPs in the precincts of the Election Commission of India on 4th April 2025, the irate MP continued slandering the Versatile International Lady (VIL)This is the stuff legends are made of! pic.twitter.com/dsubQrmQUj  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 8, 2025

TMC Infigting Snowballs

Sources told CNN-News18 that the altercation between TMC MPs took place before the party delegation visited the Election Commission headquarters. A day earlier, the TMC MP had signed a deputation letter on behalf of some MPs, which did not include the woman MPs name.

The following day, when the TMC delegation arrived at the EC office, the woman MP confronted her colleague, leading to a heated exchange. During the argument, she asked security personnel to intervene and demanded his arrest, alleging misconduct towards a woman MP.

Subsequently, both leaders lodged complaints with party chief Mamata Banerjee.

According to Anandabazar Patrika, the woman MP has left the partys official WhatsApp group made for parliamentarians due to the behaviour of a senior MP of the party.

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TMC is expected to launch an inquiry to identify who leaked the chats from the partys official WhatsApp group, with disciplinary action likely to follow.

First Published: April 08, 2025, 09:11 IST
'Why Should We Watch Theirs?' Shiv Sena UBT MP Demands Ban On Hollywood Films Amid Trump's Tariffs War

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 17:30 IST

Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant demanded a ban on Hollywood movies in India in response to US President Trump's 26% tariffs on Indian exports, citing a lack of Indian government action.

Opposition parties have been attacking the government after Trump imposed 26% tariff on Indian exports to the US. (Photo: ANI file)

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant on Tuesday demanded a ban on Hollywood movies in India in response to US President Donald Trumps 26% tariffs on Indian exports.

Why should we watch their movies? There is no stand of Indian government as far as US tariff hike is concerned," Sawat said while reacting to reports of China considering to ban Hollywood movies.

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Opposition parties have been attacking the government after Trump imposed 26% tariff on Indian exports to the US. However, the government of India has said that discussions are ongoing between Indian and US trade teams for the expeditious conclusion of a mutually beneficial, multi-sectoral Bilateral Trade Agreement.

Earlier on Monday, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar spoke with his US counterpart Marco Rubio and said that India and the US have agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of the Bilateral Trade Agreement.

India does not plan to hit back at the US over the 26% reciprocal tariffs, a government official said, citing the ongoing trade deal talks between the two nations, news agency Reuters reported.

The government of India has found a clause of Trumps tariff order that offers a possible reprieve for trading partners who take significant steps to remedy non-reciprocal trade arrangements", the official said.

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According to this clause, the countries can be excused or get relief from the tariffs if they make efforts to fix unfair trade deals. Another official, who did not want to be named, said that New Delhi sees itself to be in a better place than other Asian nations like China, Vietnam and Indonesia, who have been hit by higher Trump tariffs, as India is one of the first nations to have already initiated talks with Washington over a trade deal  something the country considers an advantage.

Trump had earlier said that India traditionally is just about the highest tariff country, they charge more tariffs than any other country". He had indicated that the US has had very good" talks with India on tariffs and said it is going to work out well between the two nations.

About the Author Saurabh Verma Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter --twitter.com/saurabhkverma19 Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter --twitter.com/saurabhkverma19

First Published: April 08, 2025, 17:25 IST
Wont Tolerate...Whos She? TMCs Kalyan Banerjee Slams Woman MP As Feud Goes Public

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 20:36 IST

Without naming anyone, Banerjee lashed out at an MP, saying she "has no other issue in her politics except Modi and Adani".

TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee (File)

TMC Feud: Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee on Tuesday veiledly lashed out at a female colleague and MP of his party, calling her rude and uncivilised" over the public spat between the two senior MPs.

At a press conference in Kolkata on Tuesday, TMCs Serampore MP and partys chief whip in the Lok Sabha, targeted the partys Bardhaman-Durgapur MP Kirti Azad and a woman MP, whom he did not name, after WhatsApp chats and a video of purported internal discussions were shared online by BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya earlier today.

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Without naming anyone, Banerjee lashed out at an MP, saying she has no other issue in her politics except Modi and Adani".

I will not accept that uncivilised woman! I will not tolerate that rude female MP who pressurises me to give her more time (to speak in Parliament). What is this?" he said, as quoted by media reports.

He further said that when he reached the poll panels office, a female MP" charged at him.

She was shouting at the top of her voice and I responded accordingly. In the meantime, she ran to the BSF and asked them to arrest me," Banerjee alleged. Without naming any MP, Kalyan Banerjee said, This lady has no other issue in her politics except Modi and Adani. She never challenges any other BJP leader. How dare she ask for my arrest? Who is she?"

Banerjee Threatens To Resign

Banerjee further threatened to resign from the party while addressing the press confernece.

The day the party tells me I will step down. But I wont tolerate such insolent behaviour of a woman parliamentarian. If Didi (Mamata Banerjee) says once I will resign. Just because she is a good looking woman and speaks fluent English doesnt mean she can insult anyone," Banerjee said.

Banerjee Slams Saugata Roy, Kirti Azad

Banerjee further slammed senior TMC leader Saugata Roy after he lamented the shame" of having WhatsApp chats from the partys MPs group leaked by the BJP.

Questioning his credibility and alleging that he has been a source of internal discord for years, Banerjee said, Does Sougata Roy have a character? His very nature is to disturb one and all," he added, claiming that Roy has disliked him since as far back as 2001.

He further invoked the 2014 Narada sting op, in which politicians, including Roy, were recorded allegedly taking bribes.

TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee wont stop at anything. He hits back at his senior colleague Saugata Roy after Roy claimed that Banerjee is damaging TMCs public image. In a sharp retort, Kalyan calls Roy a man with no character, labelling him a chor in reference to the Narada case. pic.twitter.com/5LrNexOLGL Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 8, 2025

Further targeting another fellow MP Kirti Azad, Banerjee said, One of our MPs who came from the BJP and has no popularity sent this video and WhatsApp chat to the BJP. They never fought against CPI(M). They are tarnishing our partys image. He was running a signature campaign for a sweet shop to open its outlet in Parliament. I protested against that. It was not the agenda of our party. It was his agenda."

Earlier today, Saugata Roy voiced disappointment over the public spat, telling CNN-News18 that he felt very bad" about such internal conflict within the party.

Roy said, I was at Vijay Chowk and was briefing the media. I heard that a woman MP questioned a senior male MP about why her signature wasnt taken on a party memorandum. Later, we learned that the senior MP nearly assaulted her, prompting her to seek help from security personnel."

Amit Malviya Shares WhatsApp Chats

Malviya shared the purported chats of TMC MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad fighting amongst themselves on the partys official WhatsApp group for parliamentarians.

He had claimed that the heated WhatsApp exchange was an aftermath of an earlier public spat between two TMC MPs including a woman leader at the Election Commission headquarters, where they had gone to submit a party representation.

It appears the party had instructed its MPs to gather at the Parliament office to sign the memorandum before proceeding to the EC. However, the MP carrying the memorandum skipped the Parliament meeting and went directly to the EC," Malviya said in an X post.

He further claimed that the MPs move angered the woman MP, who confronted him when they came face to face at the poll panels headquarters. A heated exchange ensued, with both shouting at each other to the extent that one of them asked the police personnel present to step in," the BJP leader said.

Spat Between TMC MPs

Sources told CNN-News18 that the altercation between TMC MPs took place before the party delegation visited the Election Commission headquarters. A day earlier, the TMC MP had signed a deputation letter on behalf of some MPs, which did not include the woman MPs name.

The following day, when the TMC delegation arrived at the EC office, the woman MP confronted her colleague, leading to a heated exchange. During the argument, she asked security personnel to intervene and demanded his arrest, alleging misconduct towards a woman MP.

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Subsequently, both leaders lodged complaints with party chief Mamata Banerjee.

(With inputs from agencies)

About the Author Shobhit Gupta Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He previously worked with Hindustan Times Digital (HTDS) and NDTV. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India ... Read More Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He previously worked with Hindustan Times Digital (HTDS) and NDTV. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India ... Read More

First Published: April 08, 2025, 20:36 IST
iQOO Z10 India Launch On April 11: Battery, Specs, Price And Everything We Know

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 12:18 IST

iQOO Z10 India launch is on April 11 and the company has teased its products with a new set of features, battery and more expected.

iQOO Z10 India launch is on April 11 where will get to know its features and price

iQOO is ready to refresh its mid-range lineup with new Z-series models later this week. The company is bringing the iQOO Z10 series to the market on April 11 in India which promises quite a few segment-first features for buyers.

The company has been teasing some of the features of the iQOO Z10 and the Z10x that will be rolling out in the next few days. iQOO is using both Snapdragon and MediaTek Dimensity 5G chipsets to power the Z10 series models and offering a fast-charging battery out of the box.

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iQOO Z10 India Launch In April: Date And Where To Watch

iQOO Z10 India launch is on Thursday, April 11 and you can catch the live stream on iQOO YouTube channel to know the iQOO Z10 series price in India and other details.

iQOO Z10 India Launch Price, Specs And More Expected

iQOO has confirmed that the Z10 series will pack large capacity batteries, where the Z10 gets a segment-leading 7300mAh unit, while the Z10x comes with a 6500mAh unit out of the box. The Z10 will support 90W charging speed as well which should make it easy to charge the sleek device.

iQOO is offering the Z10 with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 SoC while the Z10x will be powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset. The iQOO Z10 also features a quad-curved AMOLED display with claims of up to 5000 nits peak local brightness on offer. The phone is likely to come with a triple camera setup as highlighted in the product teasers and the Android 15-based Funtouch OS version out of the box.

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These Z10 phones are being targeted at college students and young professionals by the brand and will be made in India which should help with aggressive launch price.

iQOO Z10 price in India could be around Rs 20,000 while the Z10x could feature in the sub-Rs 15,000 bracket for buyers in the market.

About the Author S Aadeetya S Aadeetya, Special Correspondent at News18 Tech, accidentally got into journalism 10 years ago, and since then, has been part of established media houses covering the latest trends in technology and helping fr... Read More S Aadeetya, Special Correspondent at News18 Tech, accidentally got into journalism 10 years ago, and since then, has been part of established media houses covering the latest trends in technology and helping fr... Read More

News18 Tech delivers the latest technology updates, including phone launches, gadget reviews, AI advancements, and more. Stay informed with breaking tech news , expert insights, and trends from India and around the world . Also Download the News18 App to stay updated!

Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: April 08, 2025, 12:18 IST
Born And Raised Here, Yet Faced Racism: Mumbai Mans Shocking Train Ordeal

Curated By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 15:00 IST

A Reddit user shared that while travelling in Mumbai local, he faced racial abuse during a minor argument. The man he was speaking to started making rude comments about people from Uttar Pradesh.

The individual claimed that he was shocked and felt sad. (Representative image)

Mumbai, often hailed as the city of dreams, where people from all walks of life come to chase their aspirations, was the setting for a troubling incident that has sparked concern. A Reddit user recently shared a disturbing experience aboard a local train, revealing how a minor argument escalated into a case of racial abuse.

According to the post, the confrontation began over a simple exchange but quickly took an ugly turn when the other man involved started making derogatory remarks about people from Uttar Pradesh. What made matters worse was that several fellow commuters sided with the man and grew increasingly hostile.

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The Reddit user, who was born and raised in Mumbai, said he was deeply shocked and hurt by the episode. Despite his attempts to de-escalate the situation and disengage, the racial slurs continued. He added that this was the first time he had faced such discrimination in a city he has always called home.

The individual explained, Disheartened After a Racist Encounter on a Mumbai Train. Born and raised here in Mumbai. The train was a little crowded, and there was this guy, who seemed to be around 35 years old, standing next to me. I politely asked if he wanted to move forward, saying he could if he wanted. To my surprise, he responded quite arrogantly. I called him out on his tone and things escalated into an argument. What upset me was that he started making racist remarks about people from UP (Uttar Pradesh). To make it worse, some of the others nearby joined in on his side. One of them even became abusive. At that point, I thought to myself, This isnt going anywhere, so I stopped engaging. But even after I went silent, they continued making racist comments among themselves."

The frustrating thing is that I know Marathi too, so language wasnt a barrier, I feel like they simply didnt want to hear my perspective at all. It felt like they were so stuck in their biases that they just didnt care. I was honestly hurt and disappointed, especially because Ive lived in Mumbai my entire life, and Ive never experienced something like this before. Im still trying to process what happened, and its left me feeling disheartened," he added.

Reacting to the post, a user wrote, These days its better to be a hardcore Introvert in public places. Keeping your mouth shut is the wisest thing to do rather than come into some confronting situations with such Ars*holes."

Frustration coming out in various ways to make themselves feel better about themselves, their proclaimed superiority for the things they do not have any control over," a comment read.

An individual shared, Now imagine what black people have lived with for centuries in America. We need to be mentally stronger to deal with this country."

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One more added, The best you can do is forget. It does not get any simpler. I have not been in this situation because I look too generically Indian. But have I experienced unwarranted hate from someone in a bad mood/state of mind? Sure. We all have. You have to. You already have the answer. Let the good things drown out the bad. Let the bad disappear."

Since the post was shared on Reddit, it has garnered over 350 upvotes.

About the Author Buzz Staff A team of writers at News18.com bring you stories on whats creating the buzz on the Internet while exploring science, cricket, tech, gender, Bollywood, and culture. A team of writers at News18.com bring you stories on whats creating the buzz on the Internet while exploring science, cricket, tech, gender, Bollywood, and culture.

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!

Location : Delhi, India, India

First Published: April 08, 2025, 14:10 IST
Gujarat Family Wakes Up At Midnight, Gets Shock Of Their Life After Finding Lion In Kitchen | Watch

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 21:43 IST

The family was sleeping in a house located in the Amreli district when a lion reportedly scaled a 12 or 13-foot wall to enter their kitchen, giving them the fright of their life.

A lion seen on the top of a kitchen wall in Gujarat. (Photo: X)

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night, only to find a lion waiting for you in the kitchen! Thats exactly what happened with a family in Gujarats Amreli district as their nightmares turned into a reality when they found the dangerous mammal atop a kitchen wall.

The incident took place in a village in Amrelis Rajula taluka, as faint noises were heard in the middle of the night, according to a report by the Times of India. However, the sleeping family initially dismissed the roars as those of a house cat.

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However, residents were startled by the persistent noises and when they came to check with flashlights, they found a fully-grown lion staring back at them, squeezing in between the kitchen wall and the rafters. The family began screaming, alerting their neighbours.

Thankfully, no one was hurt in the incident as the lion looked for food before leaving the house empty-handed. The animal apparently jumped over a 12 or 13-foot wall to get in to the house. People who had gathered at the house made sounds cautiously to ensure that the lion did not panic, and shot videos on their phones.

The incident caused the family to evacuate their home immediately, and they only returned after authorities confirmed that the big cat had left the house. This incident adds to the growing list of several lion appearances in Gujarat.

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The village lies close to both forested areas and the coasts, which explains the unexpected lion appearances. In May last year, at least 14 lions were spotted crossing a road near the Gir National Park, leaving people awestruck as well as concerned.

It is also worth mentioning that over the years, the population of lions has increased in India. The Gujarat forest department plays a crucial role in the conservation efforts for lions, including conducting regular population censuses to monitor lion numbers and health.

About the Author Aveek Banerjee Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international... Read More Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international... 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: April 08, 2025, 21:43 IST
Who Is Vaniya Agrawal? All About The Indian Techie Who Quit Microsoft Over War In Gaza

Published By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 14:20 IST

Vaniya Agarwal kicked off her tech journey in 2018 when she joined Amazon as a software development engineer intern.

Vaniya Agrawal accused Microsoft leaders of aiding 'genocide in Gaza'. (Photo Credits: X)

You must be living under a rock if you havent heard about the recent Microsoft incident. At the companys 50th anniversary celebrations, an Indian-origin techie, Vaniya Agrawal, disrupted a panel discussion featuring former and current Microsoft CEOs Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Satya Nadella. Vaniya, who later quit Microsoft, accused the leaders of implementing the organisations technology to aid genocide in Gaza."

Shame on you all. Youre all hypocrites. 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you. Shame on all of you for celebrating in their blood. Cut ties with Israel," shouted Vaniya Agrawal. So, who is Vaniya? Lets find out.

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View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Verge (@verge)

Who Is Vaniya Agrawal

1. According to her LinkedIn profile, Vaniya Agrawal is based in Seattle, Washington, US. She earned her bachelors degree in software engineering from Arizona State University.

2. Before foraying into the tech world, Vaniya operated a small accessory business on Etsy from 2012 to 2014. Her shop, Vannushka, sold handmade items.

3. Vaniya worked as a pharmacy technician for a company for 7 months (July 2014). She then briefly served as a tea consultant and social media manager in 2015. In 2016, she took up the role of a medical assistant in Naperville, Illinois. Vaniya was associated with the company for 1 year and 10 months.

4. Vaniya kicked off her tech journey in 2018 when she joined Amazon as a software development engineer intern. A year later, she was promoted to a Software Development Engineer. Vaniya spent 3 years in the company.

5. In 2023, Vaniya started working as a Software Engineer at Microsoft. She was a part of the Artificial Intelligence division.

Vaniya Agrawals Mass Email

Vaniya Agrawal announced her resignation from Microsoft on April 11 by sending a mass email to her colleagues. She also revealed the reason for quitting the company.

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A part of what she wrote in the email, as obtained by The Verge, read, A year and a half ago, I joined Microsoft just as I started to witness the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel, which started in 1948. Ive seen unspeakable suffering amidst Israels mass human rights violations."

Highlighting the Gaza genocide, Vaniya added, Our labor powers this genocide, and I cannot, in good conscience, be part of a company that participates in this violent injustice. Over the past 1.5 years, Ive grown more aware of Microsofts growing role in the military-industrial complex. Recent reports have exposed Microsofts critical role in enabling Israels apartheid regime and the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, detailing a $133 million contract between Microsoft and Israels Ministry of Defense."

About the Author Buzz Staff A team of writers at News18.com bring you stories on whats creating the buzz on the Internet while exploring science, cricket, tech, gender, Bollywood, and culture. A team of writers at News18.com bring you stories on whats creating the buzz on the Internet while exploring science, cricket, tech, gender, Bollywood, and culture.

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: April 08, 2025, 14:10 IST
India, China Should Stand Together Amid Trump's 'Abuse' Of Tariffs, Says Beijing

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 23:17 IST

These remarks by the Chinese embassy in India came after an escalating trade war between the US and China, wherein Donald Trump has threatened to imposed 104% tariffs.

China stressed "complementarity" and "mutual benefit" in ties with India amid a trade war with the US. (File Image)

The sweeping tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, followed by counter-tariffs by China, have plunged global markets into turmoil and sparked a global trade war. While China continues to resist US tariffs, it has also turned to India to stand together" in overcoming difficulties.

Trade tensions between the US and China escalated sharply over days of turmoil after Trump imposed 34% reciprocal tariffs on Chinese goods, to which Beijing responded with 34% counter-tariffs on global markets. Annoyed, Trump promised additional 50% tariffs if China does not withdraw its retaliation plans.

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Criticising the US move, Yu Jing, the spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in India, said Chinas economy was underpinned by a system that ensures steady growth and the country is a strong defender of economic globalisation and multilateralism, contributing to 30% of global growth on average.

China-India economic and trade relationship is based on complementarity and mutual benefit. Facing the US abuse of tariffs, which deprives countries, especially Global South countries, of their right to development, the two largest developing countries should stand together to overcome the difficulties," she said in a statement.

Chinas economy is underpinned by a system that ensures steady growth, and produces positive spillovers. Chinese manufacturing is built on a complete and continually upgrading industrial system, sustained investment in R&D, and a strong focus on innovation.China is a firm pic.twitter.com/w3QuSCingL  Yu Jing (@ChinaSpox_India) April 8, 2025

Yu further said that all countries should uphold the principles of extensive consultation, practice true multilateralism, jointly oppose all forms of unilateralism and protectionism, adding that trade and tariff wars have no winners.

US-China Trade War Escalates

Trump had slapped 10% import duties on all nations and far higher levies on imports from dozens of specific countries, including 26% tariffs on Indian exports. However, India does not plan to hit back with tariffs and is working towards a mutually beneficial India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement.

However, the trade war between the US and China escalated sharply as Trump announced a sweeping 104% tariff on all goods imported from China, with the measure set to take effect at midnight on Tuesday, April 8, the White House confirmed.

Trumps team said the decision is aimed at leveling the playing field" as the President, over the past few weeks, accused nations across the world of looting the US" with tariffs on American exports.

On Monday, Trump slammed China for ignoring previous warnings against issuing retaliatory tariffs, saying that any action would be met with immediate and substantially higher" tariffs. He also said all talks with China will be terminated and negotiations will be done with other countries instead.

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China accused the United States of blackmailing" Beijing with the renewed tariff threat, saying it was making a mistake on top of a mistake". China said it is fully prepared to counter Washingtons tariffs, saying that it has continued to develop and progress since the first trade war with the US during Trumps first term.

The additional 34% tariffs on a 20% rate imposed on China last month brought the total additional tariffs on imports from the worlds second-largest economy by the Trump administration to 54%. China previously responded to US tariffs with levies of up to 15 percent on a range of US agricultural goods, including soybeans, pork and chicken.

About the Author Aveek Banerjee Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international... Read More Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international... Read More

First Published: April 08, 2025, 22:33 IST
Iran Says Deal With US 'Can Be Reached' If It Shows Goodwill Ahead Of Indirect Talks

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 17:22 IST

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he will meet US envoy Steve Witkoff for indirect talks on Saturday, after Trump said both sides have begun direct negotiations.

Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian had earlier rejected Trump's demand for nuclear talks. (Reuters)

Iran and US officials are set to meet in Oman this weekend for the negotiations under the Trump administration, said Irans foreign minister on Tuesday, as Washington seeks to halt Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear programme amid skyrocketing tensions in the Middle East.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he will meet US envoy Steve Witkoff for indirect talks on Saturday, likely with Omani mediators shuttling between the two parties. It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in Americas court," he added.

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This came after US President Donald Trump said Washington and Tehran have begun direct discussions on Irans nuclear programme after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House. He said Iran will be in great danger" if a deal is not made.

The US and Iran held indirect talks during former President Joe Bidens term but made little progress. Direct talks between the US and Iran are not known to have been held since the Obama administration. There was no immediate acknowledgement from the US that Witkoff would lead the American delegation.

Iran Can Reach Deal With US If

Araghchi said a deal can be reached" with the United States if it shows goodwill in nuclear talks on Saturday. He said the governments main objective" going into the discussions was to ensure sanctions on Iran are lifted.

The United States exited the 2015 nuclear agreement under Trumps leadership in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran. Since retaking office, Trump has pressed Iran for renewed nuclear talks and warned Tehran of harsh consequences should it not make a deal.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who earlier rejected Trumps call for direct talks, said Iran is ready for dialogue but the US must demonstrate a genuine intent for negotiations. We are not seeking war, tensions, or nuclear weapons; we are seeking negotiations. However, the Americans must also prove that they are genuinely pursuing negotiations," he was quoted as saying by IRNA News.

Asked about Trumps mention of planned direct talks between the US and Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow welcomes them, adding that we support settling the issue of the Iranian nuclear dossier by political and diplomatic means."

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Meanwhile, Iran, Russia, and China are also holding consultations on the nuclear issue in the Russian capital, according to Iranian ambassador Kazem Jalali. He said Iran, Russia, and China have previously held meetings to coordinate their positions in international forums and to work toward a productive negotiating solution related to the removal of Western sanctions.

(with agency inputs)

About the Author Aveek Banerjee Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international... Read More Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international... Read More

Location : Tehran, Iran

First Published: April 08, 2025, 17:22 IST
Trump Rejects EU Proposal For Zero Tariffs On Industrial Goods: 'Very, Very Bad For Us'

Published By :

AFP

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 15:47 IST

Trump's comments came in response to the proposal announced Monday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, seeking a bilateral tariff exemption for cars and other industrial goods.

US President Donald Trump (IMAGE: REUTERS)

US President Donald Trump said Monday the European Unions proposal for an exemption from tariffs on industrial products, including cars, is not enough to account for the transatlantic trade deficit.

The European Union has been very, very bad to us, they dont take our cars, like Japan in that sense, they dont take our agricultural product. They dont take anything practically," Trump told reporters at the White House.

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Last week, Trump announced a 20 percent tariff on European goods, in his all-out protectionist offensive, which is set to take effect April 9.

Trumps comments came in response to the proposal announced Monday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, seeking a bilateral tariff exemption for cars and other industrial goods.

We have proposed zero tariffs on industrial products Europe is always ready to strike a good deal" with the United States, von der Leyen said during a press conference in Brussels.

But we are also ready to respond with countermeasures and defend our interests" against Trumps trade offensive, she warned.

In comments Monday, Trump added that the EUs trade deficit would disappear fast" if European countries moved to purchase American energy.

They have to buy and commit to buy a like amount of energy (to this trade deficit)," Trump said.

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Trump, who did not specify if such a purchase would mean the lifting of tariffs against the EU, said a deal would have to be worth $350 billion to cancel out the United States trade deficit with the EU.

But the US goods trade deficit with the EU was only $235.6 billion in 2024, according to the US Trade Representative office.

About the Author Aveek Banerjee Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international... Read More Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international... Read More

Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

First Published: April 08, 2025, 15:47 IST
Trump Says US In Direct Talks With Iran Over Nuclear Deal: They Will Be In Great Danger If

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 11:14 IST

US Iran Nuclear Deal: Donald Trump said, "We're having direct talks with Iran, and they've started. It'll go on Saturday."

US President Donald Trump

US Iran Nuclear Deal: US President Donald Trump said that Washington and Tehran have begun direct discussions on Irans nuclear programme. Following talks with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Oval Office, Donald Trump said, Were having direct talks with Iran, and theyve started. Itll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and well see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable."

This comes after Donald Trump sent a letter to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, urging negotiations. 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."

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Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected direct negotiations with the United States over Tehrans nuclear programme. We dont avoid talks; its the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far," he said, adding, They must prove that they can build trust."

Donald Trumps Warning To Iran Ahead Of Talks

Donald Trump said, Maybe a deals going to be made, that would be great. But if not, Iran will be in great danger."

The US Presidents warning comes as the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran is enriching uranium close to weapons-grade levels, despite Tehrans claims that its programme is for peaceful purposes.

He earlier said, If they dont make a deal, there will be bombing. Doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious."

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Iran Nuclear Deal

The United States exited the 2015 nuclear agreement under Trumps leadership in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran. The renewed talks with Iran coincide with Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahus second visit to the White House and Donald Trumps tariff announcement which resulted in a global meltdown

About the Author Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?"

Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

First Published: April 08, 2025, 07:20 IST
White House: Trump Imposes 104% Tariff On China, Effective Midnight

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 23:30 IST

Trump Slaps 104% Tariff On China, Effective Midnight Says White House

US President Donald Trump has said that China took advantage of America for decades. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

US President Donald Trump has announced a sweeping 104% tariff on all goods imported from China, with the measure set to take effect at midnight on Tuesday, April 8, the White House confirmed.

In a move that marks the sharpest escalation in US-China trade tensions since the previous tariff war, Trumps team said the decision is aimed at leveling the playing field" as the President over the past few weeks have accused nations across the world of looting the US" with tariffs on American exports.

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On Monday, Trump threatened to impose even steeper tariffs on Chinese imports if Beijing fails to revoke its newly announced 34% retaliatory duties.

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Slamming China for defying earlier warnings, Trump said any further action from Beijing would be met with immediate and substantially higher" tariffs. He also declared that all ongoing talks with China would be terminated, adding that Washington would shift focus to negotiations with other countries instead.

The White House confirmed to AFP on Monday that the latest tariff hike announced by Donald Trump will be added on top of the existing 34% rate due to take effect Wednesday. The move will raise total additional duties on Chinese goods this year to a staggering 104%.

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: April 08, 2025, 22:15 IST
Two Chinese Soldiers Captured During Fighting In Ukraine's Donetsk Region, Says Zelenskyy

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 22:02 IST

Zelenskyy said there were many more Chinese citizens fighting on the behalf of the Russian army and sought clarification from Beijing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there were more Chinese citizens fighting for Russia. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his army has captured two Chinese citizens, who were fighting on behalf of the Russian Army in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Identification documents, bank cards, and personal data were found in their possession, he said.

We have information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupiers units than just these two. We are currently verifying all the factsintelligence, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the relevant units of the Armed Forces are working on it," Zelenskyy said in a statement on X.

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Our military has captured two Chinese citizens who were fighting as part of the Russian army. This happened on Ukrainian territoryin the Donetsk region. Identification documents, bank cards, and personal data were found in their possession.We have information suggesting that pic.twitter.com/ekBr6hCkQL  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) April 8, 2025

Zelenskyy said he had instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to immediately contact Beijing and seek clarification. Russias involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war. He is looking for ways to continue fighting," he added.

Zelenskyy said this situation required a response from the United States, Europe and those who wanted peace". The captured Chinese soldiers were in the custody of the Security Service of Ukraine.

Russia and China have deepened political, military and economic cooperation since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. However, China maintains that it is a neutral party in the conflict and said it has not sent lethal assistance to either side, unlike the US and other Western countries.

However, NATO has branded China a decisive enabler" of Moscows invasion, which it has never condemned. Zelenskyy has repeatedly urged Beijing to pressure Moscow to end its invasion that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

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This came after Ukraine claimed that Russia has deployed thousands of North Korean soldiers to the western region of Kursk, where Kyiv has struggled to hold ground after launching a surprise offensive last year.

The alleged involvement of Chinese soldiers comes as US President Donald Trump has been pushing for a speedy end to the more than three-year war since taking office, but his administration has failed to reach a breakthrough despite rounds of negotiations.

About the Author Aveek Banerjee Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international... Read More Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international... Read More

Location : Kyiv, Ukraine

First Published: April 08, 2025, 18:26 IST
China Calls Trumps 50% Additional Tariff Threat A Mistake Upon A Mistake

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Last Updated: April 08, 2025, 10:26 IST

China Tariff War: China's commerce ministry spokesperson said, The US threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake."

Trade tensions between the US and China have risen with tit for-tat tariffs. (Reuters)

China Tariff War: China vowed to fight US tariffs to the end" after Donald Trump threatened fresh levies of 50% on imports from the worlds second-largest economy. Chinas commerce ministry spokesperson said, as per AFP, The US threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake, which once again exposes the USs blackmailing nature. China will never accept this."

Also See: Stock Market Today Live

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Donald Trump upended world economy last week with sweeping tariffs which raised fears of an international recession and triggered worldwide criticism.

A commentary in the ruling Chinese Communist Partys mouthpiece Peoples Daily said, US tariffs will have an impact (on China), but the sky wont fall. Since the US initiated the (first) trade war in 2017  no matter how the US fights or presses  we have continued to develop and progress, demonstrating resilience  the more pressure we get, the stronger we become'".

Donald Trumps Additional Tariffs On China

Donald Trump unveiled an additional 34% tariff on all Chinese goods imported into the US, bringing duties on all Chinese imports to the US to well over 54% when existing tariffs are taken into effect. Following this, Beijing hit back with its own baseline 34% tariffs on all American imports, as well as other measures.

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Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social, If China does not withdraw its 34 per cent increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose additional tariffs on China of 50 per cent, effective April 9th."

Earlier, Chinas Foreign Ministry said in a statement, As the worlds second-largest economy and the second-largest consumer market, China will only continue to open its doors wider, regardless of the changing international landscape."

About the Author Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?"

Location : Beijing, China

First Published: April 08, 2025, 07:40 IST
Zimbabwe is facing a significant financial strain as it is allocating thousands of US dollars monthly to secure third-line Antiretrovirals (ARVs) for 603 individuals.

This escalating expenditure is occurring against a backdrop of dwindling global donor support, placing immense pressure on the nations healthcare resources.

The exorbitant cost of drug resistance tests, required to determine suitable third-line treatment, further exacerbates the financial strain.

While first-line treatment remains relatively affordable, rigorous adherence is crucial to mitigate the catastrophic expenses associated with advanced regimens, which divert funds from other vital treatment programmes.

Dr Owen Mugurungi, Director of Aids and Tuberculosis (TB) Unit in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, underscored the substantial financial burden of third-line treatment.

The challenge with third-line treatment is that it is expensive to manage. First-line costs US$6 to US$8 per month, while the third line goes into hundreds of US dollars and even thousands per month per person.

It means you have to go by resistance; if you are now resistant to the drugs that we use on you in the first and second line and that drug is not registered here in Zimbabwe or it is not available here, it means we have to source it for you.

Considering the three-in-one combination (TLD) that we use for first-line treatment is US$8, treatment for the third line is US$86-US$90 per month, which is 10 times higher and thats expensive. So, we try as much as possible to limit or reduce the chances of people getting to the second line and third line of treatment, said Dr Mugurungi.

Dr Mugurungi said that while it is easy to determine the cost of treatment for those in the first and second line of therapy, it is not the same for the third line.

We have a standard cost for ARVs because it is a three-in-one combination for the first line, but for the third line, they are separate treatments. The biggest cost is with the drug resistance testing; it entails that we test, which drugs you are resistant to and, which drugs your infection is sensitive to and so on. So, it is not standard and it is very expensive to do these processes that can spill into thousands.

Dr Mugurungi said the 603 patients on third-line medication is too large a number, considering the associated costs of their treatment, and noted that the availability of the drugs is also a challenge and is not always guaranteed.

It is important to note that the less a drug is used, the less it is also produced, making it extremely expensive to buy. If we had one million people on a particular drug, manufacturers also lower costs as there is a huge demand, but producing special drugs for a very small population also increases the costs significantly, and that is why third-line drugs are very expensive to buy. Their availability is also not guaranteed, always looking at small numbers required, he said.

Dr Mugurungi revealed that people are developing resistance to first and second lines of treatment due to myths and misconceptions.

One of the most obvious reasons is knowledge and behaviours. We have had people who have been told it is not HIV they are suffering from but something else to do with spiritual and traditional things. They are told to stop taking their ARVs. That misinformation is dangerous, and we know that the media can assist in addressing some of those myths and misconceptions, which will make it difficult for people to continue taking their medication, he said.

Dr Mugurungi further revealed how resistance to ARVs comes about.

If you have a headache or malaria, which you are supposed to get treated for, get treated. However, in a few days, some people stop taking medication because they have side effects or they forget or they have challenges in getting medication.

For people with diabetes, hypertension and others, there are days that one can forget and you can be forgiven because once you take your medication for diabetes your sugar levels go normal. But for HIV, when you forget or are unable to get your medication or the medication gets lost, the virus changes its morphology. At the end of the day, the virus becomes resistant to the medication that you are taking, he said. Chronicle
The US Army has reenlisted more than 23 soldiers who were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine after the Pentagon mandated the vaccine in 2021. The action follows an order by President Trump to rehire affected troops and provide back pay; the vaccine mandate was dropped in 2023 and service members were allowed to rejoin from then on, but back pay was not included. At that time, just 113 of the about 8,200 troops who had been discharged chose to reenlist. Following Trump's new order, three soldiers have rejoined active duty, while more than 20 have returned to the National Guard or the Reserve, the AP reports.

Trump said soon after taking office that the vaccine mandate cost the military "some of our best people" and vowed to "rehire every patriot who was fired," but ultimately, the Pentagon said that any wages earned during their time away from the armed forces would be deducted from the back pay they will receive. Other military branches, including the Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy, are reaching out to former troops via websites, emails, and calls, though none have completed reenlistments yet, the Independent reports. Hundreds of other service members, however, are said to have expressed interest in the program, and at least 100 soldiers are reportedly in the application process to rejoin the Army.
As Microsoft's 50th anniversary event unfolded last week, protests took place on the company's campus that led to a pair of swift dismissals. The AP reports that two employees were fired for protesting and interrupting speeches Friday at the company's campus in Redmond, Washington, objecting to Microsoft's involvement with the Israeli military through AI technology. Ibtihal Aboussad, a Microsoft software engineer, accused the company of selling AI weapons to Israel. "Fifty-thousand people have died, and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region," Aboussad said at one point, claiming the company had "blood on its hands," per CNBC .

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman paused his talk to reply, "Thank you for your protest, I hear you," per the AP; the Verge has video. Aboussad was escorted out after hurling a keffiyeh scarf on the stage. Later that day, Vaniya Agrawal caused a similar disruption. Both staffers wrote letters to company execs after their outbursts to explain their stance. "I did not sign up to write code that violates human rights," Aboussad wrote in her note, per CNBC. Aboussad was informed of her termination on a Monday video call. A company document indicated Aboussad had been let go for "just cause, wilful misconduct, disobedience, or [willful] neglect of duty." Agrawal, meanwhile, was notified of her termination via email, after previously announcing she'd be leaving the company on April 11.

Instead, on Monday, Microsoft "decided to make your resignation immediately effective today," per docs seen by CNBC. The group "No Azure for Apartheid" is supporting the two ex-employees, campaigning against Microsoft's Azure cloud platform sales to Israel. An AP investigation disclosed that Microsoft's AI models were used in Israeli military operations. This included an errant airstrike in 2023 killing civilians. Five Microsoft employees previously protested to CEO Satya Nadella in February. Microsoft maintains that open avenues for employee voices exist, but in a statement, the company insists that any complaints "be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption," per the AP.
UPDATE

May 2, 2025 11:52 AM CDT

Prosecutors in Thailand say they are dropping the case against an American academic who could have faced up to 15 years in prison for allegedly violating a law against insulting the country's monarchy. The charge against Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in northern Thailand, stemmed from a Thai royalist's translation of a notice for an academic webinar, the BBC reports. Chambers, an expert on the Thai military who has lived in the country for more than 30 years, says he didn't write the notice. Prosecutors say they will ask a court to formally dismiss the charge. Chambers, 58, spent two days in jail after his arrest last month. On Tuesday, he was allowed to remove the ankle monitor he had been required to wear since he was released on bail, reports CNN.

Apr 8, 2025 8:04 AM CDT

A US academic teaching in Thailand is facing years in prison for allegedly insulting the king. Paul Chambers of Naresuan University, who writes about civil-military relations and democracy in Asia, with a special focus on Thailand, told CNN on Tuesday that the case against him is largely a mystery. A regional army command filed a complaint against Chambers before an arrest warrant was issued last week, according to his lawyer, Wannaphat Jenroumjit. Chambers appeared before police on Tuesday and was formally charged with violating the kingdom's lese-majeste law, which makes it a crime to defame, insult, or threaten the monarchy. A single offense can result in a 15-year prison sentence.
The Prague Zoo has joined an international effort to ensure the survival of a rare insect that had been considered extinct for more than 80 years. As the AP reports, the zoo is among six institutions around the world that have been able to create living conditions for the largest species of flightless insect, the Lord Howe Island stick insect, which grows up to almost 6 inches long. They're now on display, a rare chance that only London and San Diego also offer. The insect, also known as the Lord Howe Island phasmid, or "tree lobster," is native to a remote archipelago in the Tasman Sea off Australia. The uninhabited archipelago was discovered in 1778. Rats that arrived with a ship stranded offshore in 1918 appeared to wipe out the insect's population.

Mountain climbers found signs of the insects in the 1960s on a rocky island 14 miles offshore from Lord Howe. In 2001, it was confirmed that specimens were surviving there. Two pairs were taken to Australia for breeding, a step considered necessary for the critically endangered species. "They had to make an enormous effort to survive 100 years on such a tough place as the Balls Pyramid, and now need such sensitive care to live in captivity," Vojtech Vit, an expert keeper at the Prague Zoo, said Tuesday.

The zoo had to create an air-conditioned building with disinfection equipment for keepers at the entrance to protect the insects that are susceptible to bacterial and virus infections, as well as get approval from Australian authorities for breeding. The goal of the breeding program is to return the insect to its natural environment on Lord Howe Island, as rats were eradicated there in 2019.
The US tourism industry expected 2025 to be another good year in terms of foreign travelers. After all, the number of international visitors to the United States jumped in 2024, and some forecasts predicted arrivals from abroad this year would reach pre-COVID levels. But three months into the year, international arrivals are plummeting, per the AP.

The federal government's National Travel and Tourism Office released preliminary figures Tuesday showing visits to the US from overseas fell 11.6% in March compared to the same month last year. The figures did not include arrivals from Canada, which is scheduled to report tourism data later this week, or land crossings from Mexico. But air travel from Mexico dropped 23%.
President Trump has scored a secondalbeit temporarywin from the Supreme Court in as many days. On Tuesday, the court paused a lower court's ruling that the government must rehire thousands of probationary workers who were dismissed, reports the Washington Post . The 7-2 ruling comes a day after the court allowed the mass deportations of Venezuelans to continue. In Tuesday's case, the justices said the nonprofit groups that sued over the firings did not have the standing to do so, per the New York Times .

The justices acted in the administration's emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary employees be reinstated while a lawsuit plays out because their firings didn't follow federal law, per the AP. The effect of the high court's order will keep employees in six federal agencies on paid administrative leave for now, as the case plays out. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson were the two dissenters.



US District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ruled that the terminations were improperly directed by the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director. He ordered rehiring at the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior, and the Treasury. His order came in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions and nonprofit organizations that argued they'd be affected by the reduced manpower.

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A second lawsuit, filed in Maryland, also resulted in an order blocking the firings at those same six agencies, plus roughly a dozen more. But that order only applies in the 19 states and the District of Columbia that sued the administration. The Justice Department is separately appealing the Maryland order. At least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since Trump took office, the lawsuits claim, though the government has not confirmed that number.
Prince Harry wants his British security detail back when he is in the UK, and he made a rare court appearance Tuesday with that goal in mind. His security detail funded by the British government was stripped in February 2020 after he ceased being a working member of the royal family; he and wife Meghan Markle were living in Canada at the time, reports the New York Times . A 2024 ruling found that the decision by a government panelknown by the acronym Ravecto only provide him with "bespoke" security on a case-by-case basis was lawful. His attorney, Shaheed Fatima, claims the group tasked with assessing the Duke of Sussex's security risks didn't follow its own protocol, which called for it to carry out a risk-management assessment.

Fatima on Tuesday told the court that the prince was not asserting that he should "automatically be entitled to the same protection as he was previously given" but rather that he should have been given a detailed account of how the panel came to the conclusion it did. The BBC reports he has claimed he was not given the opportunity to appear before the panel and plead his case, nor was he able to review any risk assessments it may have conducted. The Times notes that on recent visits to the UK, including for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and his father's coronation, Harry paid for his own security. The court was told on Tuesday that reps for the prince had requested public security protections from Ravec in each case.

His lawyer noted in court documents that Prince Harry, 40, has faced at least two major security threats, citing an al-Qaeda document that referenced his assassination and a highly publicized 2023 paparazzi chase in New York, reports the AP. The appeal, which is being heard by the Court of Appeal, will wrap on Wednesday, though much of that second day's hearing will be done in private so that sensitive security details can be discussed. The BBC reports the prince did not speak while in court on Tuesday but sat in the back row with a pen and paper. The decision will come at a later date. (Harry has said he won't bring his wife to the UK absent police security because it's too dangerous.)
Unless one side or the other blinks in the hours ahead, new American tariffs on imports from China will kick in at a minute past midnight. The White House confirmed Tuesday that tariffs of 104% will be imposed at 12:01am Wednesday, CNBC reports. Trump threatened to impose an extra 50% tariff on Chinese imports earlier this week after China brought in a 34% tariff on US goods to match Trump's previously announced 34% tariff. "It was a mistake for China to retaliate. The president, when America is punched, he punches back harder," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

"That's why there will be 104% tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight, but the president believes that Xi and China want to make a deal," Leavitt said. "They just don't know how to get that started." Leavitt said if China reaches out, Trump will "be incredibly gracious, but he's going to do what's best for the American people," the Guardian reports. "We are waiting for their call. It will happen," she said, per the Hill, though China has vowed to "fight to the end" if the US continues to escalate the trade war.

The 50% retaliatory tariff comes on top of the 34% tariff on Chinese goods Trump announced last week, which was already due to take effect on Wednesday. Those tariffs come on top of 20% tariffs on Chinese goods Trump imposed earlier10% in February and 10% in March. But trade with China wasn't tariff-free before Trump began his second term. He imposed tariffs on some Chinese products during his first term, and President Biden increased some of them, bringing the average tariff to almost 21%, the Wall Street Journal reports. The new tariffs will bring the average tariff rate paid by American importers of Chinese goods to around 125%.
The Public Safety Report is compiled from criminal complaints filed in state and federal courts, as well as some police blotter information, trooper dispatches, fire department reports and interviews with public safety officials. Individuals named as arrested and/or charged with crimes in this report are presumed innocent until proved guilty in a court of law.
Bahrain Smart Cities Summit 2025 Set to Launch on April 15 with Wide Local and International Participation

Bahrain Smart Cities Summit 2025 Set to Launch on April 15 with Wide Local and International Participation

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Under the Patronage of H.E. Sheikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister

The 8th edition of the Bahrain Smart Cities Summit 2025 is set to commence on Tuesday, April 15, under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister. The two-day event will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, continuing through April 16, and is expected to see broad participation from both local and international stakeholders.

A Strategic Platform for Smart and Sustainable Urban Development

His Excellency Eng. Wael bin Nasser Al Mubarak, Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, emphasized the summits importance as a key specialized conference hosted by the Kingdom of Bahrain. This summit serves as a vital platform to exchange global expertise and merge it with pioneering local experiences, he stated, highlighting Bahrains ambition to remain at the forefront of smart city innovation.

The summit will feature high-level discussions and panel sessions that aim to explore how successful global case studies in smart and sustainable cities can be adapted and implemented regionally. According to the Minister, the summit represents a leading regional platform, bringing together an international conference, an interactive tech exhibition, and an awards ceremony celebrating outstanding initiatives in urban innovation and sustainability.

Strong Government Engagement and Regional Participation

Nine key Bahraini government entities will participate in the summit, including:

Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture

Ministry of Interior

Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications

Ministry of Works

Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning

Survey and Land Registration Bureau

Information & eGovernment Authority

Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA)

This level of involvement reflects the government's commitment to accelerating digital and environmental transformation toward more intelligent and efficient urban ecosystems.

The summit also draws high-profile participation from neighboring Arab and regional countries and organizations, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Djibouti, and the Arab Towns Organization. This cross-border collaboration is expected to bolster knowledge exchange in areas like smart urban planning and sustainable digital solutions.

Diverse Agenda Covering AI, Smart Transport, FinTech & More

The 2025 agenda includes over 20 key topics, tackling various dimensions of smart cities:

Artificial Intelligence & Internet of Things (IoT)

Cybersecurity

FinTech and Smart Construction

Smart Mobility

Heritage Conservation in Modern Urban Environments

Highlighting successful regional models, the summit will showcase Omans smart irrigation and sustainable afforestation projects, and the Bahraini real estate data integration platform Aqari as a case study of digital innovation in real estate.

Interactive Exhibition and 5th Edition of Smart City Awards

An exhibition running alongside the summit will feature over 15 exhibitors, including government bodies, international firms, local companies, and emerging startups. The exhibition will spotlight cutting-edge smart solutions in transport, energy, urban planning, and digital governance. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage directly with innovators and explore practical applications that represent the future of smart cities in the region.

During the official opening ceremony, winners of the 5th Bahrain Smart Cities Awards will be announced. These awards honor exceptional contributions in categories such as:

Artificial Intelligence and IoT

Waste Management

FinTech

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)

Renewable Energy

Integrated Projects Across Various Sectors

Private Sector Leads Strategic Support

The summit benefits from robust private sector support, emphasizing the role of public-private partnerships in urban transformation. Key strategic sponsors include:

Batelco (part of Beyon Group)

Tamkeen (Labour Fund)

Naseej as Platinum Sponsor

GPIC (Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company) as Gold Sponsor

Bahrain Society of Engineers as Knowledge Partner

These sponsorships underscore the summit's stature as a collaborative hub for advancing Bahrains smart and sustainable urban vision.
A synthetic opioid so powerful it can kill with a single tablet is threatening to strain relations between Japan and the United States. Fentanyl, a drug originally developed as a medical anesthetic, has become a national crisis in the U.S. due to its high potency and addictive nature. Now, reports suggest it may be making its way into the country via Japan.
Apr 09 (News On Japan) - To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Super Sentai series, an exhibition titled 'All Super Sentai Exhibition' will be held, covering the full history from 'Himitsu Sentai Gorenger' to 'Number One Sentai Gojujer'.

The exhibition will reflect on the eras of Showa, Heisei, and Reiwa, and is set to showcase approximately 500 items, including props, costumes, robots, and miniatures actually used in filmingmany of which have never before been seen by the public.

The teaser narration features newly recorded lines by Makoto Naoya, who portrayed Akarenja/Tsuyoshi Kaijo in 'Himitsu Sentai Gorenger'.

The Super Sentai series is a long-running Japanese superhero television franchise produced by Toei Company and originally created by Shotaro Ishinomori. It began in 1975 with Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, which introduced the core concept of a color-coded team of heroes battling evil organizations.

The term "Super Sentai" ("Sentai" meaning "task force" or "squadron") officially came into use with the fifth series, Battle Fever J (1979), which was co-produced with Marvel Comics. This series also introduced the now-iconic giant robot battles, a feature that would become a defining trait of the franchise.

Throughout the Showa (1970s80s), Heisei (19892019), and now Reiwa eras, the franchise has released a new series almost every year, each with a fresh storyline, unique themes (ninjas, dinosaurs, space, etc.), and different characters, while maintaining the team-based formula and transformation sequences.

The series became a cultural icon in Japan, spawning movies, merchandise, and spin-offs. It also became the foundation for the Power Rangers adaptation in the United States, which began with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993), adapted from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger.

As of 2025, the franchise marks its 50th anniversary with the airing of Number One Sentai Gojujer, continuing its legacy as a central fixture in Japanese pop culture.

Source: 
CALGARY, AB, April 8, 2025 /CNW/ - The Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators (Joint Forum) has concluded its Annual Meeting held this year in Calgary, Alberta. The Joint Forum brings together Members of the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR), the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) and representation from the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations and the Mortgage Brokers' Council of Canada.

Joint Forum Logo (CNW Group/Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR))

Members welcomed new senior leaders to the forum. Tolga Yalkin, who was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the British Columbia Financial Services Authority on January 13, 2025, as well as the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario's (FSRA) newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Dexter John, effective March 1, 2025, participated in the session. In addition, Loyola Power who was appointed Superintendent of Securities, Newfoundland and Labrador on December 31, 2024 and Valerie Seager, the new Chair & CEO of the Nova Scotia Securities Commission appointed February 17, 2025, joined attendees this year.

Huston Loke, Executive Vice President of Market Conduct, FSRA, Chair of the CCIR and Chair of this year's Joint Forum welcomed new Members. Loke commented that, "the Joint Forum represents an invaluable opportunity for collaboration among financial service regulators, including discussion of emerging issues, which is especially important during this period of economic uncertainty for Canadians."

As part of the plenary session, the Joint Forum heard from Canadian securities regulators who recently published Staff Notice and Consultation 11-348 Applicability of Canadian Securities Laws and the use of Artificial Intelligence Systems in Capital Markets, which was intended to provide clarity and guidance on how securities legislation applies to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems by market participants. This consultation also sought feedback on the evolving role of AI systems and potential modifications to oversight and regulation in light of these advancements, along with input to questions on the use of AI systems in capital markets.

"Regulators recognize that market participants are seeking clarity on the responsible use of AI systems to ensure Canadian capital markets remain competitive and secure," said Stan Magidson, Chair of the CSA and Chair and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission. "The CSA consultation was an important step to support responsible innovation that benefits investors and market participants, while addressing the risks associated with the use of these rapidly evolving systems."

The Joint Forum was very pleased to welcome John Parisella, C.M., O.Q., former chief of staff to Quebec Premiers Robert Bourassa and Daniel Johnson Jr. as keynote speaker. Mr. Parisella was named an Officer of the Ordre national du Quebec in 2016 and a Member of the Order of Canada in 2017. Mr. Parisella shared invaluable insights concerning the current global political context based on his extensive experience in domestic and international politics.

Angela Mazerolle, Vice-President of Regulatory Operations at the Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick and CAPSA Chair, noted, "Today's meeting reinforced the value of the Joint Forum and the important role regulators play in strengthening the Canadian regulatory and supervisory framework. Working together, we can achieve efficiency and effectiveness across the industries we oversee while responding to the emerging issues we encounter."

The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada's provinces and territories, co-ordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.

CCIR is a national inter-jurisdictional association of insurance regulators. The mandate of the CCIR is to facilitate and promote an efficient and effective insurance regulatory system in Canada to serve the public interest.

CAPSA is a national association of pension regulators whose mission is to facilitate an efficient and effective pension regulatory system in Canada. It develops practical solutions and guidance to further the coordination and harmonization of pension regulatory principles across Canada.

FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:



Russ Courtney

(For English media - Toronto)

Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario

[email protected] Sylvain Theberge

(For Francophone media - Montreal)

Autorite des marches financiers

[email protected]







Ilana Kelemen

Canadian Securities Administrators

[email protected]



SOURCE Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR)
The seventh episode of Info-Tech Research Group's podcast, Digital Disruption, features computer scientist and educator Dr. Michael Littman in a conversation about AI literacy, public trust, and what it really means to live with intelligent machines.

TORONTO, April 7, 2025 /CNW/ - In Episode 7 of Digital Disruption, "This Is Why Everything You Know About AI Is Wrong," National Science Foundation Division Director Dr. Michael Littman joins host Geoff Nielson to unpack the myths, realities, and social dimensions of artificial intelligence. In the episode, Dr. Littman, who has spent decades researching AI, robotics, and machine learning, challenges today's leaders to not only innovate responsibly but to build a society that is better equipped to understand, question, and shape the future of intelligent systems.

The seventh episode of Digital Disruption, Info-Tech Research Groups podcast, features computer scientist and educator Dr. Michael Littman in a conversation about AI literacy, public trust, and what it really means to live with intelligent machines. (CNW Group/Info-Tech Research Group)

Dr. Littman, a professor at Brown University and co-director of the Humanity-Centered Robotics Initiative, draws from his experience in academia and public service to explore how AI is often misunderstood, not just in terms of capabilities but in terms of its influence on human values, trust, and behavior. He shares why a greater public understanding of AI is essential to democratic engagement and long-term prosperity.

"Dr. Michael Littman brings a rare combination of technical depth and human insight to the AI conversation," says Geoff Nielson, senior vice president of brand at Info-Tech Research Group and host of Digital Disruption. "Dr. Littman isn't just asking what AI can do; he's asking what it should do and how we ensure that those decisions reflect our shared values, foster trust, and serve the long-term interests of society."

Digital Disruption, Episode 7: "This Is Why Everything You Know About AI Is Wrong"

In the seventh episode of Digital Disruption, Dr. Michael Littman joins host Geoff Nielson for a conversation about what it really means to live in a world shaped by AI. Topics explored include:

Why AI literacy is critical to building trust and navigating hype

The social and ethical dimensions of intelligent systems

How narratives shape public perception of AI

What educators, policymakers, and technologists need to prioritize

The conversation with Dr. Littman explores how technical progress and public perception have become intertwined and why this relationship will shape both the future of technology and the future of policy, education, and trust. Dr. Littman discusses the role of narrative in shaping AI fears, the importance of transparency and critical thinking, and what it means to build an AI-literate society.

Dr. Littman has held leadership positions at the National Science Foundation and has received multiple awards for his contributions to research and teaching. His work spans AI planning, reinforcement learning, and human-robot interaction, and he is widely recognized for his efforts to make AI more accessible and better understood by the public.

Episode 7 of Digital Disruption with Dr. Michael Littman is now available on YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify. IT and business professionals are encouraged to subscribe for more insights and in-depth conversations with global industry experts shaping the future of technology, society, and the workplace.

To learn more, visit the Digital Disruption podcast page and follow Info-Tech Research Group on LinkedIn and X for updates.

For more information about guest opportunities and participation in upcoming episodes, please contact [email protected].

About Info-Tech Research Group

Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 IT and HR professionals. The company produces unbiased, highly relevant research and provides advisory services to help leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For nearly 30 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

To learn more about Info-Tech's divisions, visit McLean & Company for HR research and advisory services and SoftwareReviews for software buying insights.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and hundreds of industry analysts through the firm's Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact [email protected].

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group

Media Contact: Sufyan Al-Hassan, Senior PR Manager, Info-Tech Research Group, [email protected] | +1 (888) 670-8889 x2418
TSX: MFI

www.mapleleaffoods.com

MISSISSAUGA, ON, April 8, 2025 /CNW/ - Maple Leaf Foods Inc. ("Maple Leaf Foods" or the "Company") (TSX: MFI) will release its first quarter 2025 financial results on May 8, 2025 at 6:00 am ET. The release will be followed by a conference call and webcast beginning at 8:00 am ET.

What: Maple Leaf Foods Q1 2025 Conference Call

Who: Curtis Frank, President and Chief Executive Officer

David Smales, Chief Financial Officer

Dennis Organ, President, Pork Complex and incoming CEO of Canada Packers

When: May 8, 2025 at 8:00 am ET

Call Details: Please click here to register for the webcast

To participate via conference call, please dial-in 416-945-7677 or 1-888-699-1199. All dial-in participants should ask to join the Maple Leaf Foods call. To join the conference call without operator assistance, you may register and enter your phone number at this link https://emportal.ink/4hGbUtJ to receive an instant automated call back. For those unable to participate at the scheduled time, playback will be made available an hour after the event at 289-819-1450 or 1-888-660-6345, passcode: 62945#.

Within 48 hours following the event, the webcast replay will be archived and available on the Company's website at mapleleaffoods.com/investors/events-and-presentations/.

About Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Maple Leaf Foods is a leading protein company responsibly producing food products under leading brands including Maple Leaf, Maple Leaf Prime, Maple Leaf Natural Selections, Schneiders, Mina, Greenfield Natural Meat Co., LightLife and Field Roast. The Company employs approximately 13,500 people and does business primarily in Canada, the U.S. and Asia. The Company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario and its shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (MFI).

SOURCE Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Media Hotline, [email protected]; Investor Relations, [email protected]
TORONTO, April 7, 2025 /CNW/ - With a federal election underway, Quit Club is calling on every party to commit to reducing smoking in Canadabecause quitting smoking is hard enough without losing the products that help.

Quit Club is calling on every federal party to:

Create a new $50M Quit For Life fund to help smokers quit cigarettes for good

fund to help smokers quit cigarettes for good Put Canadians trying to quit first by consulting us and developing a new Pan-Canadian Kick the Nic Strategy

Restore nicotine replacement therapy access everywhere cigarettes are purchased

"This is about fairness," Asha Stone, Quit Club's Community Lead, said. "We're not asking for anything crazy. We just want dedicated support and access to the products that helped us get off cigarettes. If our leaders are serious about reducing smoking in Canada, they'll fix this."

Last summer, the federal government banned the sale of nicotine pouches in convenience stores through a Ministerial Order. The decision blindsided former smokers and people trying to quit, many of whom relied on the newly approved products to stay off cigarettes.

"Pouches helped me quit after years of failing with gum and patches," added Stone. "Taking them away didn't stop smokingit just made quitting harder."

In many communities, especially rural and lower-income ones, the corner store is where people buy groceries, pick up prescriptions, anduntil recentlygrab what they need to stay smoke-free. Clerks are already trained to check ID for cigarettes, booze, and nicotine products like gum and lozenges. They know how to keep adult products out of kids' hands.

"This ban was supposed to protect youthbut all it did was hurt adults trying to quit," said Stone. "We should be making safer alternatives easier to get, not harder."

Let's commit to eliminating smoking in Canada!

About Quit Club

Quit Club is a grassroots community of former smokers and people trying to quit. We speak up for access to safer, smoke-free alternatives that help people stay off cigarettes for good.

www.quit-club.com

SOURCE Quit Club

Media Contact: Asha Stone, Quit Club Community Lead, [email protected]
New Tesla Model Ys and Cybertrucks are now autonomously driving themselves about 2 miles from the end of the production line at Giga Texas to their designated lanes near the outbound lot with no humans in the cars.

Tesla Fremont is making 1,603 cars per day and Austin 925 cars per day yield a total of approximately 2,528 cars per day.

The Fremont cars are each driving about 1.2 miles without human drivers.

The Austin cars are driving about 2 miles each without human drivers.

This is about 4000 miles per day of driving without human drivers.

Tesla also allows those with FSD to summon cars up to 85 meters without human drivers from their parking space. FSD owners can dispatch cars to parking spaces.

Tesla is likely at 150,000 to 200,000 miles per month of cars driving without human drivers.

When Tesla China and Berlin starts this could double the miles of driving without humans.

NEWS: New Tesla Model Ys are now autonomously driving themselves about 2 miles from the end of the production line at Giga Texas to their designated lanes near the outbound lot with no humans in the cars. Thx for the vid @JoeTegtmeyer https://t.co/yqK9iZi5XR pic.twitter.com/V88QoJCCsN  Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) April 7, 2025

Tesla now has two factories in North America moving their newly produced vehicles autonomously to their respective outbound lots. These are robots, not cars. https://t.co/dvPYVbsXYl pic.twitter.com/gdALFM3FUs  Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) April 7, 2025
Embracing China is embracing opportunities

14:59, April 08, 2025 By He Yin ( People's Daily

Photo taken on March 3, 2025 shows laser equipment exhibited at the Shanghai International Machine Tool Exhibition. (People's Daily Online/Wu Xue)

On March 28, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with representatives of the international business community at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. More than 40 global chairmen and chief executive officers of foreign businesses as well as representatives of business councils attended the meeting.

Xi said that foreign businesses are important participants in the Chinese modernization drive, in the country's reform and opening up and innovation, and in its interconnectivity with the world and integration into economic globalization.

He stressed that China has been and will remain an ideal, secure, and promising destination for foreign investors. Embracing China is embracing opportunities, believing in China is believing in a better tomorrow, and investing in China is investing in the future.

In a signal of China's enduring role in the global economy, top executives from multinational corporations (MNCs) recently convened in the country for a series of high-profile international conferences, including the China Development Forum 2025, the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2025, and the 2025 Zhongguancun (ZGC) Forum Annual Conference. Their presence underscores China's continued appeal as a hub for innovation and economic engagement.

As a major contributor to global economic growth, China is bringing much-needed stability to the world as it advances its modernization drive. In the first two months of this year, China's economic recovery gained momentum, marked by rising potential in its vast consumer market, steady progress in institutional opening up, and rapid development of new quality productive forces - drawing a continuous influx of international capital.

Amid rising geopolitical tensions, protectionism, and mounting global economic uncertainties, China's commitment to high-quality economic growth has provided a rare sense of warmth and confidence for global businesses.

With its huge market, clear policy direction, and well-developed business environment, China remains a critical destination for foreign investment. Since the beginning of this year, China has rolled out a range of measures, including an action plan to stabilize foreign investment and policies outlined in the government work report to stabilize foreign trade. These measures seek to further ease market access, align with high-level global standards, facilitate investment, and create a more favorable business environment - underscoring China's commitment to sharing growth opportunities with the rest of the world.

The 2025 Zhongguancun (ZGC) Forum Annual Conference is held on March 27, 2025. (People's Daily Online/Guo Junfeng)

MNC executives have expressed their optimism, describing China's market as both dynamic and indispensable. "The opportunities and growth potential in China are truly exciting," one executive noted, while another affirmed, "China is not just an option but a must." This shared confidence is steadily translating into concrete investment commitments, reflecting sustained interest in the country's economic trajectory.

For MNCs, China has evolved beyond a manufacturing hub into a critical center for research and development. Its dynamic innovation ecosystem provides a crucial platform for global companies seeking to enhance their competitiveness.

Germany's leading luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz, for instance, will invest an additional 14 billion yuan ($1.92 billion) into the Chinese market, increasing its product portfolio in the country. American medicine giant Eli Lilly and Company has opened its innovation accelerator Lilly Gateway Laboratory in Beijing, the company's fourth facility of its kind and the first to open outside the U.S. - drawn by the vast opportunities brought about by China's technological advancements.

A recent PwC survey of over 100 executives from MNCs found that 50 percent of surveyed MNCs believe the importance of China's innovation ecosystem to their global strategies will continue to grow.

Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of French food group Danone, views China as not just a crucial market but also as one of the world's most advanced innovation ecosystems.

Foreign exhibitors present their products to Chinese visitors at the 22nd China International Alcoholic Drinks Expo (CIADE) held in Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan province, March 27, 2025. (People's Daily Online/Wang Lin)

Multilateralism is the only choice for addressing global challenges. Foreign businesses, especially MNCs, play an important role and bear significant responsibility for maintaining the global economic order. Amid growing calls for "decoupling" and "severing supply chains," China has reaffirmed its commitment to upholding true multilateralism, promoting universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, actively participating in global economic governance, and building an open world economy.

For MNC executives, amid growing protectionism, China has continuously expanded opening up, injecting stability into the global economy, and has become an oasis of certainty and a hot spot for investment and entrepreneurship.

China firmly safeguards the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, proactively aligns with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and maximizes RCEP's benefits, with trade partnerships covering more than 230 countries and regions.

The country is ready to work with the global business community to safeguard the multilateral trading system, maintain the stability of global industrial and supply chains, protect the international environment for openness and cooperation, and advance economic globalization in the right direction.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
" " Female queen angelfish live in tropical waters and reproduce via spawning. Georgette Douwma / Getty Images

The animal kingdom is full of weird, wild and wonderful creatures, and today, were going to explore animals that start with "Q."

Some of these animals are well-known, while others are a bit more obscure. From tropical rainforests to the Indian Ocean, these creatures can be found in diverse habitats across the globe.

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This list of animals beginning with "Q" includes some of the largest flying animals, as well as others that are tiny but mighty. Whether theyre a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia or an extinct species, each one has played a unique role in its ecosystem.
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 Saturday to Sunday. 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: Saturday to Sunday, coming to an end Sunday night. ### 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.
Due to the thick lantana the property's owner had been unable to venture into the forest and witness what was growing there.

Barbara Linley has been working to clear invasive thickets of lantana from her Northern Rivers property. Source: Lola Topsom

An Aussie woman has made a remarkable centuries-old discovery after clearing away an invasive plant that had swamped her property. Close to 80 per cent of the retirees NSW Northern Rivers farm was covered in dense lantana that shot up to 4.5 metres into the sky.

As Barbara Linley began slashing away the thickets, the native bushland beneath was revealed, and she was able to explore new gullies that were previously impenetrable. Most surprising of all was a towering eucalyptus with an 11-metre circumference that experts believe has been growing there for 500 years.

Its an incredible tree, she told Yahoo News. Weve now found three others. It's just a joy because they're so old, and theres not many in the Northern Rivers, so we need to protect them.

Lantana is one of Australias worst invasive weeds, covering around five million hectares of coastal and hinterland. Because the plant is so thick, it deprives small native plants of light, killing everything beneath it.

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Large trees are also severely impacted by its growth because it acts as a fuel ladder during bushfires, allowing flames to run up high into the canopy.

Related:  Rat poo discovery prompts rethink about destructive invasive species

It was only after the lantana was cut away that Barbara was able to see the ancient trees that had grown for centuries in the forest. Source: Lola Topsom

Up to $45,000 in grants to repair and protect bushland

Barbara has been able to pay for help to clear the weed thanks to funds from World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia (WWF-Australia), the NSW Department of Environment, the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust and Envite Environment. The scheme provides landholders with up to $45,000 for activities like clearing weeds to improve the habitat of the states endangered koala populations.

Tanya Pritchard from WWF-Australia said the recovery of koalas across NSW will be dependent in part on private landholders protecting high-quality forest.

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More than 50 per cent of remaining habitat for koalas is on private land, so landholders such as Barbara are critical for koalas' long-term survival, Tanya said.

Before the thick lantana was removed from Barbara's property. Source: Lola Topsom

More than 80 per cent of the property had been covered in lantana. Source: Lola Topsom

Clearing the lantana has been tough work. Source: Lola Topsom

After the lantana was removed, small native plants began to recolonise the bush. Source: Lola Topsom

Around 20 conservation agreements have been signed as part of the project, and more than 900 hectares have been protected. Barbara has signed an agreement covering nearly 51 hectares of her 78-hectare Tullymorgan farm. She's also removed cattle from the property and planted over 1,000 trees to reconnect fragmented habitat.

Hope for rare wildlife living on property

The 78-year-old hopes to leave the farm in a better condition than when she bought it six years ago. Along with koalas, the property is also home to barking owls, powerful owls, goshawks, glossy black cockatoos, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, little bent-wing bats and rare frogs.

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As the lantana has come down and Barbara has been able to access the trees, shes invited the non-profit Nature Conservation Council onto her property to put up 25 nest boxes for squirrel gliders and feathertail gliders.

Shes also bought a second property further south at Taloumbi thats home to rare coastal emus. Fewer than 50 are thought to survive across the entire NSW north coast. They have declined and are now listed as endangered due to habitat destruction and fragmentation, road strikes and invasive species.

I saw emus and thought that is a sign so I decided to buy it. I didnt know they were rare emus, Barbara said.

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Officials placed tape around the doors of the Bendix Diner in January, shutting down the business over alleged violations. Rich Cowen | NJ Advance Media

The Bendix Diner, a landmark eatery in Bergen County for four decades, is up for sale with a minimum asking price of $2.5 million.

The diner  located on Route 17 in Hasbrouck Heights  was closed indefinitely in January due to fire and health code violations.

John Diakakis, who owns a third of the business with his siblings, said feuding within his family and the costs of repairs to bring the business up to code led to the decision to sell. The family has owned the business for 40 years.

Im not going to keep pouring money into something thats just causing more issues and problems, he said.

Diakakis said hes been trying for years to upgrade the diners fire suppression system but has been unable to find a contractor willing to take on the job or work with him on the costs.

Upgrading the system would cost more than $100,000, Diakakis said, adding that borough inspectors forced him to throw out food, prohibited him from using ovens and stoves, and told him to sell cold food only.

The Bendix Diner in Hasbrouck Heights, Bergen County. Rich Cowen | NJ Advance Media

Diakakis, who is a single parent, said hes hoping selling the business will afford him more time to spend with his children.

He said if hes unable to sell for at least $2.5 million, he will explore leasing the property.

I would love to see it remain as a diner, he said. But if I sell, anything would be on the table, including chain retail stores or whatever the town approves with its zoning.

Nick Rogers, an associate with IPRG, the investment firm hired by Diakakis to sell or lease the property, said hes had several inquiries.

The location is attractive, with other businesses of every type in the vicinity and 100,000 cars passing by every day, Rogers said.

Rogers said the property and its accompanying zoning laws present many opportunities, including a fast-food with a drive-thru, a digital billboard sign, or a cellphone tower.

Potential buyers can reach IPRG at 973-270-9569.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
There has been an outcry from Aussies after learning the Jetstar booking system has a built-in 'gender bias'.

Dr Amanda McConnell has unknowingly been marked as a male in Jetstar's system for over 20 years. Source: LinkedIn/Getty

Jetstar has come under fire after it was alleged all doctors who travel with the airline are automatically assumed male in its system. It's a revelation trauma specialist Dr Amanda McConnell found out the hard way last month when she was flying from Cairns to Brisbane for a business trip and was held up at the baggage check-in desk.

"I had checked in online, and then I went to the bag drop at Jetstar. It was taking ages, and the flight attendant said, 'I'm really sorry, I have to cancel your online check-in and manually check you in because when you choose the doctor title, it automatically defaults to you being a male'," Amanda told Yahoo News.

This process meant she had to stand for over five minutes at the desk watching the Jetstar worker manually input her details while other passengers waited behind her.

"I was shocked that in 2025 they've still got software that defaults doctors to being male... it's ridiculous," she said. Amanda travels with Jetstar frequently for work and realised for the last 20 years as a doctor, she's likely been "travelling as a male" all this time.

Female doctors forgo Dr title for easier life when travelling

After the incident at the check-in desk last month, Amanda reached out to colleagues to ask if they were aware of the issue  and the answer was a resounding yes.

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"Quite a few of my female doctor colleagues said, 'Yes, that has also happened to us. That's why we don't travel with Doctor as our title'," she explained. Amanda questioned why one of Australia's largest airlines had this system in place, calling it "outdated" and accused Jetstar of "perpetuating unnecessary and avoidable gender bias."

"In todays society, where gender inclusivity is paramount, and technology has advanced significantly, it is essential for organisations  especially those as prominent as Jetstar  to ensure their systems reflect modern values," she said.

Jetstar defends female doctors being categorised as male

Yahoo News reached out to Jetstar and a spokesperson explained the airline "does not assign a gender to the title of Doctor on our customer-facing channels".

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However, in the back-end system, any passenger with the title of Dr defaults to the "highest weight category" possible for aircraft weight calculation purposes, meaning in the system doctors are all considered to be an 'adult male'.

"To calculate the weight and balance of flights, non-gender specific prefixes such as Doctor are assigned the highest weight category, which the backend of our legacy IT system defines as adult male in line with CASA guidelines," the Jetstar spokesperson told Yahoo News.

Jetstar denied it was perpetuating gender bias. "We understand the importance of this issue to our customers and are looking for ways to provide more gender-inclusive options in the booking flow," the spokesperson said.

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A 58-year-old man has been sentenced to prison in the sexual assaults of two young children that occurred in Burlington County.

A judge sentenced Henry Papaleo, of Gloucester City, to 17-year state prison sentence on Friday, the Burlington County Prosecutors Office said in a Monday statement.

An investigation into Papaleo started in 2023 when both victims told their parents about the abuse. Details about the assaults and their relationship with Papaleo is being withheld to protect their identities.

He pleaded guilty last year to two counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

Papaleo must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole under the No Early Release Act. He will also be placed on the state sex offender registry and is subject to parole supervision for life.

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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
Danielle Lopez went missing in Burlington County more than five weeks ago. New Jersey State Police

A candlelight vigil will be held Sunday for a woman reported missing a year ago after going on a camping trip in the Pine Barrens.

Willingboro resident Danielle Lopez was 37 years old when her mother reported her disappearance last April.

Lopez had gone camping with her boyfriend in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, which spans Burlington and Ocean counties.

Sue Quackenbush said she last spoke to her daughter on April 12, 2024, when Lopez told her by phone that she was camping.

A $5,000 reward has been offered in the case, but its been months since any new details were revealed about the womans disappearance.

Quackenbush is holding the vigil for Lopez on April 13 at 3 p.m. at Christ Community Church, 1190 Phoenixville Pike, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Candles will be provided and doors open at 2:30 p.m. Lopez grew up in West Chester, her mother said.

The two last known sightings of Lopez occurred the day after that final phone call with her mother last April.

She was spotted on surveillance camera buying coffee at a Wawa on Route 72 in the Vincentown section of Southampton Township in Burlington County on the morning of April 13.

Later that evening, a couple spotted Lopez on Lost Lane in Penn State Forest, about 12 miles from her campground.

A GoPro camera mounted on the dashboard of the couples vehicle showed they captured video of Lopez twice that evening, according to Quackenbush. They first saw her while she was driving and apparently alone, then later as she was walking after her car got stuck in the mud. The couple spotted her car stuck in a large puddle, authorities said last year.

Police found Lopezs disabled car  a two-door, blue Hyundai Accent  on May 1, days after Quackenbush reported the woman missing.

The boyfriend Lopez was camping with told investigators he last saw her on the morning of April 13, police said.

He is currently in state prison on a matter unrelated to the missing persons case, according to prison records.

Multiple people who were around Lopez in the days before she disappeared were also interviewed, authorities said last year.

Lopez is described as white, 5 feet 3 inches tall, 125 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. She has a slight scar on her upper lip, her mother said.

A North Carolina-based missing persons organization has announced a $5,000 reward for information leading investigators to Lopez.

Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons, known as the CUE Center, is a nonprofit group that advocates for missing kids and adults.

The group also announced in February that Interstate Outdoor Advertising in Cherry Hill donated two electronic billboards along Interstate 295 in Burlington County to display information about Lopezs disappearance and a photo of the woman.

Anyone with information about Lopez is asked to call New Jersey State Police at 609-882-2000, ext. 2554, email missingpinformation@njsp.gov or call the CUE Center for Missing Persons 24-hour tip line at 910-232-1687.

Tips may also be submitted to the CUE Center via its website. Tipsters may remain anonymous, the group said.

A North Carolina missing persons group is offering a reward for information leading investigators to Danielle Lopez, who disappeared after going on a camping trip in the Pinelands. (CUE Center for Missing Persons)

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
Jose Flores makes a pizza at Brooklyn Square Pizza in Jackson on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media

One of New Jerseys best pizzerias revealed this weekend it had to rename one of its menu items after receiving a complaint from a legendary actress.

Brooklyn Square Pizza was forced to change the name of one of its most popular pizza pies, the "Sophia Loren," back in 2021 after receiving a letter from the Italian actresss representation.

While the letter was sent in 2021, owner Peter Grippo posted the letter to social media this past weekend.

It has come to our clients attention that your restaurant, Brooklyn Square Pizza, has used and continues to use our clients valuable intellectual property rights in her name and in her trademark without our clients consent, the letter read.

The letter said Lorens team would be willing to resolve this matter if all references to the actress were removed from the pizzerias menu and website.

I was like, Wow, doesnt everybody use her name in Italian delis and pizzerias? Grippo told NJ Advance Media on Monday. But then when I called, they were serious.

The pie  which included mozzarella, tomatoes and garlic on a sesame seed crust  was named after the famous Hollywood actress because it tasted as good as Sophia Loren looked, Grippo said.

The pie had been on his menu for 25 years with that name, Grippo added, but it became very popular when he moved his business from New York to Jackson in 2013. After receiving the letter, he changed the name of the pie from the Sophia Loren to the Susan Grippo  naming the pizza after his wife.

READ MORE: Elite N.J. pizzeria expanding to Jersey Shore town

Some people didnt believe me that the actress send the letter, Grippo said. So I posted the letter,

Brooklyn Square Pizza has become a staple on the New Jersey pizza scene since opening more than a decade ago. The business has grown to three locations (Jackson, Manalapan and Toms River) with a fourth on the way in Bradley Beach.

Grippos shop won N.J.s best pizzeria showdown in 2017 and landed the No. 7 spot on NJ.coms latest ranking of New Jerseys 101 greatest pizzas.

Sophia Loren is famous for starring in popular 60s and 70s international films such as Two Women, Arabesque and Marriage Italian Style.

More food coverage:

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Christopher Burch can be reached at cburch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @SwishBurch. Find NJ.comon Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips/.
Former head writer of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers expressed regret over two casting decisions that fit stereotypes (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) Getty Images

The head writer of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has examined a couple of casting choices and lamented that they may have been racially insensitive.

Tony Oliver spoke about his experience crafting the first season, which aired in 1993 during Dark Side of the Power Rangers. The episode is a part of Investigation Discoverys new docuseries, Hollywood Demons. In speaking about the experience of setting who the five heroes would be, the writer claimed that None of us are thinking stereotypes at that time.

Walter Emanuel Jones portrayed the character of Zack Taylor, the Black Power Ranger, and Thuy Trang was the character of Trini Kwan, the first Yellow Power Ranger. Zacks character was described as have the swagger of the group while Trini was deemed the peaceful one.

Taylor and Trang would play the characters for the shows first two seasons before leaving over contract disputes.

Oliver noted that his assistant told him about how the shows casting fit into particular stereotypes of minorities. It was such a mistake, he reflected.

Related coverage:

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Murjani Rawls may be reached at mrawls@njadvancemedia.com
If you live in Hoboken, you may have seen Jenny on your block today.

Jennifer Lopez spent a rainy Monday filming in the Mile Square City with Brett Goldstein for their upcoming romantic comedy Office Romance.

The actors were photographed in front of TD Bank on Newark Street.

JLo, noted rom-com queen, wore a chic white suit and coat with shades and Goldstein wore a suit, tie, coat and scarf and held a briefcase.

Lopez and Goldstein previously filmed scenes for the Netflix movie in Kenilworth. In February and March, the production put out open calls for local extras/background actors.

Lopez and Goldstein are producers on the film, which Goldstein co-wrote. Jose Perez |Bauer-Griffin | GC Images

Goldstein, 44, the Emmy-winning star, writer and producer of Ted Lasso who rose to fame playing fan-favorite character Roy Kent, is also co-creator of Shrinking, another Apple TV+ series.

He wrote Office Romance with Ted Lasso co-creator and producer Joe Kelly, a Fair Lawn native.

Ol Parker (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) is directing.

READ MORE: You, too, can be in the Jennifer Lopez-Brett Goldstein rom-com filming in N.J.

Lopez, Goldstein and Kelly are producing the movie, which also stars Betty Gilpin (GLOW, Mrs. Davis) and reunites Lopez with her Selena co-star Edward James Olmos.

Lopez, 55, previously starred in and produced the Netflix movies Atlas (2024) and The Mother (2023).

Her rom-com resume includes films like Maid in Manhattan (2002), The Wedding Planner (2001), Marry Me (2022), Shotgun Wedding (2023), Monster-in-Law (2005), The Back-up Plan (2010) and Shall We Dance? (2004).

Lopez has also filmed in Hoboken for her upcoming movie musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, which drew praise upon its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter/X, @amykup.bsky.social on Bluesky and @kupamy on Instagram and Threads.
Ten New Jersey residents were indicted last month for illegally collecting unemployment benefits and other crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities announced Tuesday.

One of the people charged, East Orange resident Vanessa Allen, is a former New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development temporary clerk accused of collecting unemployment benefits during the pandemic, according to a statement from the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office.

Allen allegedly used her official position at the department to obtain $56,030 in benefits she was not entitled to for herself and nearly $150,000 in funds for three other people, investigators said.

Officials said Allen is also accused of making false entries in department unemployment files and accessing computer systems without authorization.

Allen was charged with four counts of second-degree official misconduct and one count each of pattern of official misconduct, theft by deception, tampering with public records or information, falsifying or tampering with records, and computer theft, authorities said.

The three others she allegedly falsely obtained benefits for were a Newark man, an Irvington resident and an East Orange resident, officials said.

The trio was charged with third-degree theft by deception for obtaining $41,689, $59,701 and $33,459, respectively, in unemployment benefits, the office said.

Six others were charged in unrelated COVID-19 fraud-related cases.

Daezonae Cabbagestalk and Durrell Jenkins, both of Voorhees, were charged with second and third-degree theft by deception, forgery, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, failure to pay tax, filing a fraudulent tax return and misconduct by a corporate official, the office said. Jenkins is additionally charged with check fraud.

Between March 15, 2020, and April 15, 2023, Cabbagestalk allegedly obtained property having a total value of more than $75,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration and/or the state, officials said. She did so by falsely claiming Economic Impact Disaster and Paycheck Protection loans for her company, Solemate LLC.

She also allegedly falsely claimed unemployment insurance benefits, authorities said.

Jenkins did the same thing for his business, Nicest Barbers Around LLC, and also falsely claimed unemployment insurance benefits, the office said.

Cabbagestalk and Jenkins also allegedly engaged in money laundering transactions, failed to pay taxes and filed fraudulent tax returns, authorities said.

A Woodbridge woman was charged with third-degree theft by deception after she collected unemployment benefits she was not entitled to between March 29, 2020, and June 21, 2022, the office said.

A Clementon woman was charged with the same crime for improperly collecting benefits between April 12, 2020, and January 8, 2022, according to the statement.

A Pitman man and a Sayreville man were similarly charged for illegally collecting unemployment benefits between Feb. 22, 2020, and Aug. 28, 2021 and March 22, 2020, and July 22, 2023, respectively, authorities said.

Unemployment benefits exist to provide income to New Jersey workers who find themselves out of a job through no fault of their own, said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin in a statement. Stealing this money is a serious crime, and we are always on the lookout for those who try to line their pockets with limited public resources. When, as is alleged in one of these cases, the defendant is a Department of Labor employee, the offenses are especially egregious.

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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
Karim Daoud of Flemington was detained on March 12 after he went to an appointment to pick up work authorization documents so he could remain in the United States, according to Rachel Mascitelli, a family friend. photo provided

A New Jersey man who had been seeking citizenship for years remains detained by Immigrations Customs Enforcement and faces deportation.

But family and friends of Karim Daoud, of Flemington in Hunterton County, say hes making the best of his situation at the ICE facility in Elizabeth by serving as a translator for fellow detainees.

Daoud, a married father of two, was detained March 12 when he went to an appointment to pick up work authorization documents, said family friend and spokesperson Rachel Mascitelli.

He is from Egypt and has been working on getting his citizenship, but the process has been taking years to complete, she said. According to a social media post, Daoud did not anticipate being detained.

When he arrived at the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office, he was informed that there had been a mistake, and he had to go to ICE. Once at the Newark ICE facility, Karim was apprehended, according to the Free Karim social media post.

Daouds wife, Jenn, declined comment. She is an American citizen, Mascitelli said.

A handwritten letter from Daoud, posted last week on the social media page, expressed his determination to find purpose during his detainment.

Daoud wrote that the support hes getting from the community drives him to focus on making the best out of my time here and finding a much higher purpose.

I feel I was brought here to comfort the inmates and help them connect with their families and lawyers, Daoud wrote.

He said he helps to translate some of their paperwork and court orders.

Daoud wrote that he helps to make the officers and the guards jobs a bit easier by breaking some of the language barriers."

In the letter, Daoud expressed his gratitude for the support.

I rest assured since God has always been with me and this time he showed up in the figure of great family friends, and an astonishing support of an amazing community, Daoud wrote. I dont even know how and where to start. All the phone calls, and letters of support to our congressmen and senators, the calls and messages made and sent, making sure my family is doing well throughout this harsh situation, the meal chains and of course, the bountiful donations by so many to make sure theres a roof above our head, food on the table and that the light is still on in our home for as long as I am taken away from my family.

A GoFundMe for Daouds family established by Mascitelli has raised more than $86,000 as of Tuesday.

ICE issued a statement regarding Daouds detention.

Karim Ahmed Daoud Mahmoud Salem, a native and citizen of Egypt, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement March 12 for violating U.S. immigration laws. Daoud is currently detained at the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and is pending removal from the United States, the statement said.

ICE said in the statement that Daoud has reached the end of his appeals.

U.S. immigration laws allow aliens to pursue relief from removal; and, Mr. Daoud has exhausted all due process and appeals and is now subject to a final order of removal from an immigration judge. ICE must carry out removal orders, according to the statement.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Stephanie Loder may be reached at SLoder@njadvancemedia.com.
New York Mets' Starling Marte is heartbroken after learning about the death of close friend Octavio Dotel in the tragic roof collapse in a nightclub in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray) AP

NEW YORK  A tragedy at a nightclub in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, early Tuesday made waves among Dominican players inside the Mets clubhouse ahead of Tuesdays game against the Miami Marlins.

A roof collapse at Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo has left at least 44 people dead and 160 injured, according to the Associated Press. According to reports, former closer Octavio Dotel, who made his MLB debut with the Mets and pitched one season for the Yankees in 2006, was one of the people who died. He was 51.

Mets outfielder Starling Marte, a native of Santo Domingo, considered Dotel a close friend. He was emotional when asked about his relationship with Dotel.

He was a friend, a brother, a father, Marte told NJ Advance Media, wiping tears from his eyes after batting practice. We talked all the time about all kinds of things. He taught me so much. I feel so much for his family and wish them strength.

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Dominican outlet Diario Libre and independent reporter Hector Gomez first reported the news. They said that Dotel was rescued from the rubble and being transferred to a local hospital when he died.

Marte described the nightclub as a place many ballplayers frequent. Mets Spanish language broadcaster Nestor Rosario explained that if you went there in the offseason, youd have a good chance of running into Dominican big-league stars.

Marte agreed.

Thats a place you go to relax, to feel safe, Marte said. Its just so difficult to see something like that happen. I go there all the time when Im in the Dominican Republic.

Mets outfielder Jose Siri, a native of the Dominican Republic, declined to extensively comment about Dotel before taking batting practice, saying he doesnt have the words to describe how difficult this tragedy has been for those involved.

The Mets will hold a moment of silence to honor the victims of the tragedy before Tuesdays game.

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Manny Gomez may be reached at mgomez@njadvancemedia.com.
Vincent Langone has been missing since March 31, according to East Brunswick police. East Brunswick police

Police are asking for the publics help as they try to find a 36-year-old East Brunswick man who has been missing for more than a week.

Vincent M. Langone walked away from his home on Deerfield Road at about 3 p.m. on March 31, East Brunswick police said.

Langones last reported location was in Rochester, New York and he is not known to have a vehicle, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

Langone is 5-foot-10 and about 130 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black hooded jacket with a white shirt, black pants, and black sneakers. Langone is not considered endangered, the spokesman said.

Anyone with information is asked to call East Brunswick police at 732-390-6901.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
Free summer programs are available to all students living in Newark. MLive file photo

Editors note: This story was shared as part of a content-sharing agreement between Mosaic.NJ.com and Chalkbeat. You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter (or X).

Newark families can now apply to Newark Public Schools free summer programs for students in elementary, middle, and high school.

Registration for summer programs began on April 1 and closes on May 16. Summer programs will begin on June 30 and end on Aug. 1.

Summer programs are available to all students living in Newark and include a combination of enrichment activities, specialized programs for high schoolers, and mandatory academic programs based on student attendance, grades, and state test scores.

Similar to last year, the district will continue to offer extended hours until 6 p.m. for enrichment programs, which are provided by teachers and community-based organizations.

Summer programs, which remain the same as last years, provide support to students needing additional help in math and reading, and also offer accelerated courses and post-high school planning for students. Summer classes are also available to English language learners and students with disabilities.

This year, the programs will take place at 15 elementary schools and 11 high schools across Newark.

Those who are Newark residents but were not enrolled in a public school this year are also eligible to attend, depending on availability.

Then, there are summer programs some students are required to attend. Last week, Superintendent Roger Leon said it is crucial for students who require extra support throughout the school year to attend mandatory summer school. The district has already enrolled students who are required to attend summer school.

How do families apply?

Newark families can apply by visiting the districts summer programs website and selecting the program their child wishes to attend.

Parents of students who are required to attend mandatory summer school were notified during parent-teacher conferences on Feb. 13. If a parent has travel plans or questions, they can contact their childs teacher or school principal, Leon said.

After applications close on May 16, families will be notified on June 2 about their acceptance into the program.

Summer programming starts with breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m. The districts mandatory summer school sessions will be held between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. with lunch at noon. Enrichment programs and activities through the districts Summer Quest program will run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., with dinner included. Students can attend in the morning, afternoon, or the full day, Leon said.

Who must attend Newarks mandatory summer school?

Students must attend mandatory summer school classes if they are failing in English language arts and math, did not pass the English language arts or math portions of the state test, and were absent more than 10% of the school year.

The extra instruction provided to students over the summer is meant to refine basic skills in English language arts and math, said Leon last week.

If a student is doing well in our school, then they shouldnt be failing on the state test, said Leon during Marchs school board meeting.

In 2023, the district identified about 10,000 students who needed mandatory summer school that year due in part to the delayed release of state test scores in 2022.

Although no state mandate requires students to attend a mandatory summer program, the district may not promote a student to the next grade if they do not attend summer school or have certain privileges revoked, Leon added.

Elementary students who do not attend within the first three days of programming may lose their seats. After their third unexcused absence, they will be dismissed from their mandatory program, according to the districts summer programs brochure.

What are other summer programs?

The district is also offering a kindergarten boot camp program for preschoolers transitioning into the next grade this fall. Students will receive instruction focused on English language arts, literacy, math, science, approaches to learning, and social-emotional and health development.

Students in grades 3-5 can also apply for the summer visual and performing arts academy, an arts-focused enrichment program that guides students through dance, musical theatre, and visual arts. The five-week Summer Visual & Performing Arts Academy takes place at Rafael Hernandez School and includes field trip experiences.

High school students can also apply to programs, such as the Future Business Leaders Program, a work-based learning initiative offering summer internships to the districts career and technical education students. Students in the Montclair Teacher Academy will participate in their program at Montclair State.

A full list of programs offered can be found in the districts summer learning brochure.

Programs for English language learners, students with disabilities

Students with disabilities can also apply for the Elementary Extended School Year program, focusing on maintaining skills developed throughout the school year. The program provides instruction based on the students Individualized Education Plan goals and addresses academics, instruction, social skills, emotional support, and communication skills.

But the districts office of special education says not all students with IEPs are eligible for summer services. Child Study Team members assess each student by looking at a students risk of losing skills and knowledge during the summer break, according to the districts office of special education. They also look at how long it might take a student to regain those skills lost over the break.

If a student is denied a spot, a parent can appeal.

Additionally, English language learners in elementary and high school can apply to programs to support their language skills. The Newcomers High School Summer Program is designed to support high school students who have recently arrived in the country. This program will be offered at Central, East Side, Malcolm X Shabazz, and Technology high schools, according to the districts summer programs brochure.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

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Glenn Stein and his wife of over 50 years, Beverley, boarded the cruise ship in Brisbane last week. Tragedy struck just days later.

Aussie battler Glenn Stein was brimming with excitement as he boarded his very first cruise last week with his wife of over 50 years, Beverley, by his side. A gift from one of their children, the humble and hardworking couple were eager to enjoy the four-day trip from Brisbane to Airlie Beach, and back again.

They had never been on a cruise before, never even been overseas before. One of their sons won some money so he thought it might be nice to buy them a cruise, the couples daughter-in-law Sarah told Yahoo News.

Tragically, after a few really great days on board the Carnival Luminosa, Glenn complained to Beverley that he may be suffering from a bit of food poisoning. Not thinking it was anything too serious, the couple brushed off the 74-year-olds uneasy feeling and went to sleep.

They've been married over 50 years, and they just kind of get on with things, Sarah said.

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However, the next morning Beverley awoke to find her husband unconscious on the bed and could tell immediately that something was very wrong. In a state of shock, she opened their cabin door and alerted housekeepers, who then notified the cruise ships medical team.

[They] came up and brought a wheelchair and took him down to the medical centre and were amazing  weve got a 43-page report of all of the care that they gave him. They were also exceptional with Bev, [who was] obviously very distraught, Sarah told Yahoo.

Glenn and Beverley didn't think to take out insurance before the trip, leaving the grieving widow with a $8,500 medical bill. Source: Supplied

Aussie man airlifted from cruise to nearby hospital

Despite their immediate response, it was quickly obvious that Glenn  who was revealed to have suffered a life-threatening strangulated hernia, which requires immediate surgery  was in bad shape.

As they waited for an emergency helicopter to pick up and transport Glenn to Bundaberg Hospital, the medical team urged Beverley to speak with her husband and prepare herself in case he didnt make it.

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While on board the helicopter, the pensioners condition continued to deteriorate and once he arrived on land, a paramedic at the hospital contacted three of the couples children  who were already in the car on their way  to let them know.

He said, I suggest you call the hospital to see if you can speak to dad because he's very bad now and [you] might not make it [in time], Sarah said. They called the hospital, and those three did manage to speak to Glenn, which was really nice.

But when Sarah and her husband tried to call just minutes later, they were told he had died. He had literally just passed away as soon as they got off the phone.

Cruise passenger's heartbroken wife left with $8,500 bill

Unaware that they were going to be entering international waters, Glenn and Beverley failed to apply for insurance before the trip, leaving the devastated widow with a $8,500 medical bill from Carnival.

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Given they werent covered for such a tragic health event, Sarah said the fees are understandable, but they have contacted the company to see if theyre able to lower the figure, even a little. The family has also created a GoFundMe to help cover the unexpected costs and Glenns funeral.

This was their first cruise, they didnt realise it was actually out of Australian waters, Sarah said, adding her father-in-laws passing is a cautionary tale for other travellers to always have insurance.

Despite their obvious heartbreak, Glenns family are finding some amusing moments in the days following his death.

Its really funny, his daughter mentioned Dad always said that he never wanted a fuss and he just wanted to go quietly,  and its ended up being a helicopter out and on the news, so he couldnt have been more dramatic, Sarah laughed.

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Hey there New Jersey! Heres your audio update highlighting the critical reaction from Toms Rivers mayor to a popup restaurant run by Jon Bon Jovis Soul Kitchen aimed at feeding the homeless, the release of New Jerseys public school performance data and how Gloucester County is equipping all its police officers with two life-saving tools.

Plus, new additions to our top 37 places to enjoy a Taylor ham/pork roll egg and cheese sandwich.

Listen by clicking the play button above.

This audio presentation is an editorially-curated selection of stories, selected by an editor, and then summarized and read aloud by artificial intelligence. Some variations in pronunciation, tone or diction may result.

We want to know what you think! All feedback is valuable. After youve listened, take our 3-question survey here to let us know what you think.

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Paterson school board members have proposed to convert the former headquarters for the Paterson Board of Education building, above, at 33 Church St., to a shelter for children and families. Deion Johnson

School officials are discussing plans to convert a vacant Board of Education building in downtown Paterson into a shelter for families and youth amid rising Homelessness in the city.

School Board Member Corey Teague said members proposed the idea during a recent meeting.

I support ways to ensure the safety of homeless individuals, he said, though he noted that he opposes a shelter in the proposed location.

Teague said the old school district headquarters on Church Street near City Hall had remained vacant for nearly 20 years due partly to the districts unsuccessful attempts to sell it.

The move to convert the building to a shelter comes as an annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count in January 2024 showed that there were 411 unhoused individuals in Paterson, a 66% increase from 248 in January 2023.

In December, Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh backed a proposed ordinance that would ban camping or sleeping in public spaces, with penalties of fines or jail time, to address the citys growing homelessness issue. But, the City Council dropped the proposal after an outcry from the community.

Sayegh favors the districts proposal to convert its old headquarters into a shelter as Homelessness in Paterson and statewide has risen steadily since the end of the coronavirus pandemic following Gov. Phil Murphys lifting of the eviction moratorium.

While the City of Paterson is not directly involved, Mayor Sayegh supports establishing a center that would provide critical help and services to unhoused youth and families, especially given its proposed location downtown, which would make it easily accessible to members of our community, said spokesperson Diana Nunez.

Activist Zellie Thomas supports the proposal, too.

There are more vacant units and buildings in Paterson than there are people experiencing homelessness, he said. Instead of letting properties sit dormant, they should be used to provide shelter and resources for those in need of support.

Raisa Rubin-Stankiewicz, Policy Associate for the nonprofit New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness, agreed.

We are encouraged by this proposal to create more emergency shelter in Paterson, particularly given the 66% increase in homelessness we saw in Paterson last year and the 24% increase in homelessness statewide, she said. Providing sufficient, accessible emergency shelter is necessary and lifesaving.

Still, others like Teague are concerned about the shelters impact on the safety and viability of the downtown area.

This space should be used for other issues within the city, he said. There are plenty of vacant buildings in Paterson that can be transformed into a shelter.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Deion Johnson may be reached at djohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Instagram at @DeionRJohnson or X @DeionRJohhnson
FILE - President Donald Trump, left, greets justices of the Supreme Court, from left, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, before addressing a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) AP

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is under fire again for siding with the liberal judges over a deportation dispute.

The Supreme Court ruled in a split decision on Monday that President Donald Trumps administration can use a wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants, but that they must get a court hearing before being taken from the U.S. Barrett, nominated to the Supreme Court in 2020, sided with the three liberal justices to oppose the decision.

Barrett was criticized by MAGA supporters on social media platform X over her decision. Conservative pundit Ann Coulter appeared to criticize Barrett by posting a photo of her family.

She responded to a post that read: Lets be crystal clear, Amy Coney Barrett is a white liberal woman.

In response, she said: Who couldve seen that coming?. She posted a photo of Barrett in the Oval Office with her children, two of whom she adopted from Haiti with her husband.

Other conservative accounts also had a meltdown on X over the decision.

So now we know who Amy Coney Barrett really is. All that talk, all that promisegone. Her true colors are shining through, and theyre not what we were sold, one account wrote.

And U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) also criticized her for over her vote.

This is disappointing, he wrote on X.

This is disappointing https://t.co/DMPJ1kUDiZ  Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 7, 2025

Trump celebrated the Supreme Courts decision on Truth Social, despite Barretts vote against the administration.

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. A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA! he wrote.

This is not the first time Barrett has sided against Trump. Chief Justice John Roberts and Barrett sided with liberals last month to reinstate a lower-court order requiring Trumps administration to release frozen foreign aid.

In a bitterly divided decision, the court said the administration must give Venezuelans who it claims are gang members reasonable time to go to court.

But the conservative majority said the legal challenges must take place in Texas, instead of a Washington courtroom.

The courts action appears to bar the administration from immediately resuming the flights that last month carried hundreds of migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The flights came soon after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to justify the deportations under a presidential proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.

The majority said nothing about those flights, which took off without providing the hearing the justices now say is necessary.

In dissent, the three liberal justices said the administration has sought to avoid judicial review in this case and the court now rewards the government for its behavior.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday that he is asking for answers from the Israeli government about why soldiers shot and killed a 14-year-old boy with ties to New Jersey on Sunday.

Israel Defense Forces said they shot the former Saddle Brook resident and two other teens because they were throwing rocks at vehicles passing on a highway.

The two other teens  a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old  both of whom are U.S. citizens were injured in the shooting.

I am saddened by the death of Amer Mohammed Saada Rabee, who was killed in the West Bank on Sunday, Murphy said in a statement Amer was a U.S. citizen and New Jersey native who grew up in Saddle Brook. As the circumstances of his death remain unclear, I am asking for answers from the Israeli government as to why Amerwho was just 14 years oldwas killed.

Amers uncle is a board member at the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton.

The ambulance was not allowed to pass the checkpoint for 30 minutes, a denial in medical treatment that ultimately resulted in Amers death, the center said in a statement provided to North Jersey.com. Amers death was entirely preventable and horrifically unjust. He was a child, a 14-year-old boy, with an entire life ahead of him.

Murphy said he and his wifes thoughts are with the boys family.

This tragic loss of life underscores that the current course of conflict is continuing to take too great of a toll on too many people, the governor said. Tammy and I are praying for Amers parents, Mohammed and Majed, and his four siblings, as they face this horrific loss.

An Israeli statement posted on X said the teens were throwing rocks toward a highway, thus endangering civilians driving. The statement referred to the three as terrorists.

The soldiers opened fire toward the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and hitting two additional terrorists.

A statement from the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates described the shooting as an execution crime and an extension of the series of extrajudicial killings. It stresses that the continued impunity of Israel, the illegal occupation authority, encourages it to commit more crimes.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin has filed numerous lawsuits to block the Trump administration's policies. Canva Illustration for NJ.com

The state of New Jersey has sued the administration of President Donald Trump more than a dozen times since he was sworn in earlier this year.

The lawsuits cover a wide range of topics  from fiercely contested issues such as immigration to eliminating grants for libraries.

The latest suit was filed Friday when state Attorney General Matthew Platkin joined 21 colleagues from other states to stop the dismantling of federal agencies that provide services and funding supporting public libraries and museums, workers, and minority-owned businesses.

Some of the other notable lawsuits against the Trump administration and updates on where they stand:

PRIVATE BANK DATA: The state is a plaintiff in a suit against the Trump administration to stop the unauthorized disclosure of Americans private information and sensitive data. The lawsuit asserts that the Trump administration illegally provided Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) unauthorized access to the Treasury Departments central payment system, which would provide access to bank account details and Social Security numbers.

MEDICAL RESEARCH: Platkin and a coalition of 15 attorneys general is suing over Trumps alleged unlawful attempt to terminate and disrupt grant funding issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Rutgers University warned that the will have a significant and troubling impact on Rutgers biomedical and other scientific research projects and the universitys ability to support them.

BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: New Jersey is part of a lawsuit to stop Trumps executive order to end birthright citizenship. A federal judge blocked the order days later but the battle is ongoing.

PUBLIC HEALTH GRANTS: A federal judge ruled that Trumps administration must return $11 billion in pandemic-era public health grants to the states, including $350 million from New Jersey. New Jersey and 22 other states sued the Trumps administration to reverse the abrupt withdrawal earlier this year of funds earmarked for addiction treatment, disease prevention and other public health programs.

ELECTIONS: New Jersey is part of a lawsuit seeking to overturn an executive action to overhaul elections in the U.S., including requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and demanding that all ballots be received by Election Day.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: New Jersey also joined 20 other states in filing a motion for a preliminary injunction as part of their lawsuit to gut the U.S. Department of Education.

TEACHER RECRUITMENT: New Jersey is joining at least seven other states in suing Trumps administration for eliminating $600 million in teacher recruitment and preparation grants. A federal judge has has granted New Jerseys request to temporarily block the Trumps administration from eliminating the federal funding.

TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN: The state is also part of a lawsuit challenging the Tump administrations ban on transgender people serving in the military. Two transgender men serving in the U.S. Air Force and based in New Jersey have also filed a federal lawsuit challenging presidents executive order.

FEDERAL LAYOFFS: The state joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for illegal mass layoffs of federal probationary employees, which will impose significant burdens on states and harm state-federal partnerships. The lawsuit seeks to reverse these terminations, arguing that they violate federal laws and regulations governing large-scale reductions in force.

FEDERAL FUNDING FREEZE: New Jersey joined 22 other states in suing the Trump administration to stop the implementation of a policy that indefinitely paused most federal assistance to states, affecting programs related to health, education, law enforcement, and disaster relief.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn as he arrives at the White House on Marine One, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) AP

There has been another massive shift in President Donald Trumps approval rating just one week after he escalated a global trade war with the U.S.s closest trading partners.

A new poll by Global Strategy Group on behalf of Navigator Research found that 53% disapprove of how he is handling the job while 44% approve. This represents a 7-point shift from when the poll was last conducted in March.

New - Trump approval poll



 Disapprove 53% (+9)

 Approve 44%



 Last month: -2 (7% Shift)



Navigator #B - 1000 RV - 4/7  Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) April 8, 2025

The poll from Navigator Research, a progressive research firm, also found 55% disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy while just 42% approve. Trumps newest approval rating on the economy is tied for his worst in its Navigator tracking since 2018.

The research suggested that Trumps unpopular tariffs were to blame for the recent drop in approval. The poll found that 55% of Americans said they oppose tariffs, while just 37% said they support them. This includes 52% of independents who said they oppose the tariffs.

The poll also found that 56% of Americans think that the power to implement tariffs should be left to Congress while 33% said that the power should be left to Trump. Fifty-two percent said that the tariffs makes them think more negatively of Trump.

The poll was conducted among 1,000 registered voters between April 3-7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Trump has defended his tariff announcement last week that sent shockwaves through the stock market. Democrats and Republicans have both condemned the move as the stock market saw historic drops in the days following the announcement.

At a time when foreign leaders and business executives are desperate for clarity, the White House is sending mixed messages as it pursues conflicting goals.

Advisers have tried with some success to tamp down a days-long stock selloff by talking up tariffs as a starting point for negotiations, which could mollify Wall Street and jittery Republicans in Congress. The S&P 500 stock index opened up 3.4% on Tuesday. But the president continues to insist that he can raise hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue with his new taxes on foreign imports, and hes shown no willingness to back down from an agenda that hes advocated for decades, even before entering politics.

The ongoing paradox could erode confidence in Trumps leadership at home and abroad after he promised a booming economy and tax cuts, not depleted retirement accounts and fears of a recession. For now, as the tariffs are set to kick in, theres no clear resolution for what could be the most significant overhaul of international trade in a generation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday,, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (Pool via AP) AP

A conservative group is suing President Donald Trump over his costly tariffs.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), backed by conservative activist Charles Koch and billionaire Leonard Leo, filed the lawsuit last week over Trumps tariffs. The group argued that Trump did not have the authority to impose tariffs on China under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

No prior president ever thought the IEEPA allowed him to set tariffs. Reading this law broadly enough to uphold the China tariff would transfer core legislative power. To avoid that nondelegation pitfall, the court must construe the statute consistent with nearly 50 years of unbroken practice and decide it does not permit tariff setting, Mark Chenoweth, president of the NCLA, said in a statement.

We just filed the first lawsuit challenging Trumps China tariff.



IEEPA lets presidents freeze assetsnot tax American businesses.



No ones ever used it this way in 50 years.



Our client? A small biz in FL hurt by this unlawful move.



 @nytimes: https://t.co/hMhVdbhB3s  New Civil Liberties Alliance (@NCLAlegal) April 4, 2025

The group filed the lawsuit on behalf of a Florida-based company that depends on importing materials from China, and it already has paid substantial tariffs to purchase goods from China that are not available here.

The group argued that Congress controls the implementation of tariffs, not the president.

Congress has sole authority to control tariffs, which it has done by passing detailed tariff statutes. The President cannot bypass those statutes by invoking emergency authority in another statute that does not mention tariffs, the group said in a press release.

His attempt to use the IEEPA this way not only violates the law as written, but it also invites application of the Supreme Courts Major Questions Doctrine, which tells courts not to discern policies of vast economic and political significance in a law without explicit congressional authorization, the group added.

A spokesperson for Stand Together, a non-profit organization that is partially supported by Koch and that has supported the alliance, said in a statement that the organization was not involved in the case.

Kochs allies are credited with helping launch the first Trump administration. Politico reported in 2016 that Trump surrounded himself with people tied to the Kochs.

Since then, the Kochs political organization has distanced itself from Trump. Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Action, the political arm of a network lead by Koch, did not endorse Trump last year and instead backed Haley during the GOP presidential primary.

Leo had advised Trump on who to nominate for the Supreme Court during his first term, delivering Republicans the conservative majority on the bench.

Now, it appears this lawsuit is the latest display of conservative outrage toward Trumps tariffs.

Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger said last week that the tariffs marked the beginning of the end of Trumps MAGA movement. Billionaire Bill Ackman also broke with the president on Sunday, begging Trump to take a time out on tariffs to avoid a global economic war.

A handful of Republicans have rebuked Trumps strategy as a foolhardy path that will burden U.S. households. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longtime Senate leader who was the standard-bearer for past generations of Republicans, released a lengthy statement saying, As I have always warned, tariffs are bad policy, and trade wars with our partners hurt working people most.

McConnell and three other Republicans joined with Democrats last week to help pass a resolution that would nullify Trumps tariffs on Canada, sending a rebuke to the president just hours after his Liberation Day announcement. But House Speaker Mike Johnson quickly indicated he has no interest in giving the resolution a vote.

Lawmakers struggle to act showed the divide among Republicans on trade policy, with a mostly younger group of Republicans fiercely backing Trumps strategy. Rather than heed traditional free trade doctrine, they argue for America First protectionism and hope it will revive U.S. manufacturing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) AP

President Donald Trump made a tone-deaf claim about Germany during World War II when discussing the hostages being held by militant group Hamas in Gaza.

Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on Monday over his announcement of tariffs that has sent the global economy spiraling in recent days. When asked about his plan to get the hostages released, Trump suggested he was surprised that the Hamas militants were not kind to the hostages and appeared to make a comparison to Nazi Germany.

As an example, I said to them, was there any sign of love?...Did the Hamas show any signs of, like, help or liking you? Did they wink at you? Did they give you a piece of bread extra? Did they give you a meal on the side? ... Like what happened in Germany. People would try and help people that were in unbelievable distress, Trump said. They said, No.

I said, did they have a wink at you, like youll be okay, youre going to be okay? No, they didnt do that. Theyd slap us. Their hatred is unbelievable, Trump added.

Trump: "I said to [the former hostages], was there any sign of love? Did Hamas show any signs of, like, help or liking you? Did they give you a piece of bread extra? Did they give you a meal on the side? Like what happened in Germany." pic.twitter.com/PsLttlmEke  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 7, 2025

Social media users questioned whether Trump was comparing the hostages being held in Gaza to the Holocaust.

Equating hostages held by Hamas to victims in Nazi Germany isnt just offensive, its also a grotesque distortion of history, one user wrote.

Trump later said he was surprised to hear that the militants did not show hostages love or affection.

These are people that have been really, really horribly treated. Ive never seen anything like it. Actually, I was very surprised to hear the answer, Trump added.

Trump critics immediately jabbed the president over the statement.

The Republicans Against Trump account on X wrote: What a F moron.

And former President Barack Obama adviser Tommy Vietor posted: Trump seems genuinely surprised that Hamas was not nice to the Israeli hostages....

Trump seems genuinely surprised that Hamas was not nice to the Israeli hostages...  Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) April 7, 2025

Trump and Netanyahu said they also discussed tensions with Iran, Israel-Turkey ties and the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli leader last year. Trump in February signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC over its investigations of Israel.

Before his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump held a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Jordans King Abdullah II. All three leaders have been key interlocutors in efforts to tamp down tensions in the Middle East and bring an end to the Israel-Hamas war.

The prime minister soon after arriving in Washington on Sunday evening met with senior Trump administration officials, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer, to discuss the tariffs. And Netanyahu met on Monday with Steve Witkoff, Trumps special envoy to the Middle East, ahead of his sit down with the president.

On tariffs, Netanyahu said he assured Trump that his government would move to erase United States trade deficit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A dominant theme of the beginning of President Donald Trumps second term in office is the lack of any public pushback against him compared to his first term, which was met by public protests.

But thats changed less than 100 days into his second term.

CNNs Harry Enten broke it down on the air after a weekend of Hands Off! rallies across the country.

Enten: Google searches for protests, look at this: Up 1,200% versus a year ago. And its at or even exceeding the levels that we saw during the January 2017 protests, which you remember were, were everywhere. It is almost as if I feel like Frankenstein, right, saying, the monster, its alive, its alive! The Democratic protest, the idea of protesting Donald Trump, if the resistance was a little bit lacking at the beginning of Trumps second term, it is very much alive now. The protests are out there, and the interest in protesting Donald Trump is definitely there now.

...

The whole thing about this second term was maybe the resistance was lacking compared to Donald Trumps first term. And one of the best ways we can understand the resistance is how strongly folks disapprove of the job that Donald Trump is doing as president. And I want to take a look here at a historical comparison, right? Compare where we are now in April of 2025 ... compared to November of 2018, and what do we see? Well, in November of 2018, the strongly disapprove of Trump was 42%. Look at where we are now, 43%. The level of strong resistance to Donald Trump now is matching what we saw back in November of 2018, when, of course, Republicans got swept out of power in the House of Representatives. It was a Democratic sweep. They crushed him, gained 40 seats. And what were seeing now is the same level of, quote, unquote, strong resistance to Donald Trump. This is very different from what we were seeing at the beginning of Donald Trumps second term. As I said at the beginning, the resistance in the polling data, in the data on Google suggests that the resistance is its alive.

"It's alive! It's alive!" to quote Frankenstein... The Dem resistance to Trump is looking a lot like what we saw in 2017-2018.



-The % who strongly disapprove of Trump is way up.

-Searches online for "protest" is way up.

-The swing to Dems in special elections is huge. pic.twitter.com/zPrVCxovgS  (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) April 7, 2025

Crowds of people angry about the way Trump is running the country marched and rallied in scores of American cities Saturday in the biggest day of demonstrations yet by an opposition movement trying to regain its momentum after the shock of the Republicans first weeks in office.

So-called Hands Off! demonstrations were organized for more than 1,200 locations in all 50 states by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists. The rallies appeared peaceful, with no immediate reports of arrests.

Thousands of protesters in cities dotting the nation from Midtown Manhattan to Anchorage, Alaska, including at multiple state capitols, assailed Trump and billionaire Elon Musks actions on government downsizing, the economy, immigration and human rights. On the West Coast, in the shadow of Seattles iconic Space Needle, protesters held signs with slogans like Fight the oligarchy. Protesters chanted as they took to the streets in Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles, where they marched from Pershing Square to City Hall.

Demonstrators voiced anger over the administrations moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, effectively shutter entire agencies, deport immigrants, scale back protections for transgender people and cut funding for health programs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Its been a minute since the Disney Store released any new Starbucks tumblers, but thats probably because the retailer was busy gearing up for this huge drop.

Disney Store has six new Starbucks Travel Tumblers dedicated to the Happiest and Most Magical Places on Earth  Disneyland and Walt Disney World, of course.

Each tumbler sells for $50 and comes with a mystery pack of companion collectors pins inspired by some of the parks most iconic hallmarks  rides, experiences, and fan favorites.

Magic Kingdom Starbucks Travel Tumbler with Mystery Pin Blind Pack  2-Pack Shop for $50 at DisneyStore.com Buy Now

As far as their designs go, these clear 24-ounce plastic tumblers with glitter accents and vintage color palettes boast a double-wall exterior to keep your cold-drinks-only beverages cold. Theyre topped with screw-on lids and paired with matching straws that feature silicone rings at the bottom to prevent them from popping out.

Each of the tumblers is branded with a banner highlighting its respective park name, and further personalized with a playful smattering of sticker style attractions graphics on two levels.

Some stickers are instantly recognizable to fans across the board, like Cinderella and Sleeping Beautys castles in Magic Kingdom and Disneyland, Pixar Pier and The Tree of Life in California Adventure and Animal Kingdom, for instance.

While other emblems might serve deeper cut references to retired rides, like Test Track in EPCOT or The Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios, or legendary masters of ceremony like Jose in Disneylands Enchanted Tiki Room.

Granted, you can shop all six tumblers if you dont have a favorite happy place in either Walt Disney-imagined universe.

According to Disney and Starbucks, there is a different set of eight pins for each of the six Starbucks Travel Tumblers in the Disney Parks Series, 48 pins in all. Every tumbler comes with a surprise (i.e. you wont know what you get until you open it) pack of two, so the more you purchase, the more pins you can collect and trade with friends.

Shop the new Starbucks Park tumblers here for $50.

All six new Disney x Starbucks park travel tumblers

Disneyland Starbucks Travel Tumbler with Mystery Pin Blind Pack  2-Pack for $50

Disney California Adventure Starbucks Travel Tumbler with Mystery Pin Blind Pack  2-Pack for $50

Magic Kingdom Starbucks Travel Tumbler with Mystery Pin Blind Pack  2-Pack for $50

EPCOT Starbucks Travel Tumbler with Mystery Pin Blind Pack  2-Pack for $50

Disneys Hollywood Studios Starbucks Travel Tumbler with Mystery Pin Blind Pack  2-Pack for $50

Disneys Animal Kingdom Starbucks Travel Tumbler with Mystery Pin Blind Pack  2-Pack for $50

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Danielle Halibey can be reached at dhalibey@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.
A large sea lion the size of a small cow was discovered dead on the side of a busy highway in North Adelaide, in what wildlife experts are calling a freak accident.

A state National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesperson told NewsWire there was a small population of Australian sea lions seen at the breakwater walls of Outer Harbor, but it was incredibly rare for the animals to swim into Barker Inlet, let alone venture this far inland.

On Sunday, the agency received a report that a sea lion had been spotted in the mangroves and near a bridge below the North South Motorway.

An inspection of the male animal found it appeared to be in good health, was not near the edge of the road and was in no immediate danger, the spokesperson told NewsWire.

The agency warned residents to keep clear of the sea animals if they see them in the wild, as they are large, powerful and at times aggressive animals that can weigh up to 300kg.

A large sea lion was found dead on an Adelaide highway on Monday morning.

Attempting to move a sea lion of this size would have created a high level of risk for the animal and staff, the spokesperson said.

In most cases, animals return to their usual habitat on their own.

However, emergency services were called to the North South Motorway at Dry Creek in South Australia about 6am Monday after reports of a car hitting the sea lion.

Unfortunately, that was not the case in this incident, which appears to be a freak accident, the Parks spokesperson said.

The driver of the vehicle, Hayley Steele, told The Advertiser she thought a kangaroo had jumped in front of her car while driving along the motorway, and the seals dark colour blended with the road.

I was starting to come off to the Port River Expressway and Ive just gone airborne over this thing that was lying on the ground  the whole front end of my car was broken, she said.

It was pitch black, I couldnt see anything."

- NCA NewsWire
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Last year, French Quarter Fest introduced a DJ stage with support from New Orleans legend Raj Smoove. The stage was a hit, filling a gap in showcasing a cornerstone of New Orleans music that has historically been under-appreciated in the citys festival scene.

The Willow DJ Stage returns this year and will be located at Aquarium Plaza along the Riverfront, between the Jack Daniels Stage in Spanish Plaza and the Mikes Amazing Culinary Stage. The lineup includes 32 of New Orleans brightest nightlife vibe curators, spanning genres anywhere from hip-hop and R&B, to global funk and techno. Theres a little something to get everyone moving.

The festival kicks off on Thursday with energetic DJ sets from FTK at 12:20-1:20 p.m., Lady Li at 2:30-3:30 p.m., creator of monthly queer nightlife event Gimme a Reason Bouffant Bouffant at 4:40-5:40 p.m. and more. DJ FTK channels hip-hop and Afro-Latin musical elements into lively remixes for his set. Lady Li, a member of Domino Sound Record Shacks monthly vinyl DJ event, is also an organizer of the music education summer camp Girls Rock New Orleans.

Friday brings a range of sounds, including from artists like Funke, Cest Funk and Legatron Prime. Funke is a self-identified audio shaman who takes audiences on a spiritually cleansing journey with a set featuring Afrobeat drums, deep-space synths and Indigenous chants. They perform 12:20-1:20 p.m. Cest Funk then takes over the stage from 1:25-2:25 p.m. to offer a spiritual release with a set full of global funk and disco. Well-established hip-hop DJ Legatron Prime follows at 2:30-3:30 p.m. Legatron regularly organizes events across the city, including her monthly Where My Girls At event, which boasts an all-women DJ lineup.

On Saturday, DJ Rakimbeau plays a lively hip-hop set at 12:20-1:20 p.m. The night ends with DJ RQ Away at 6:50-7:50 p.m. RQ Aways hands and ears in New Orleans DJ scene has helped shape the community into what it looks like today in many ways. His quarterly Lagniappe parties at Tipitinas are thrown to highlight local artists, promote mutual aid and build community.

Sunday is a stacked final day, with performances from hip-hop and bounce music culture bearers, DJ Jess at 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., DJ Jubilee at 4:40-5:40 p.m. and Kilobauud at 5:45-6:45 p.m. DJ Jess, another Where My Girls At co-creator, performed when the stage debuted last year, and she returns for another groovy hip-hop set. DJ Jubilee is a true pioneer of New Orleans bounce music, with hit records such as Get Ready, Ready and N.O. Block Party to name a few. Kilobauud, formerly known as Lil Jodeci, helped put a spotlight on Black New Orleans artists in house and techno, giving it some much-needed recognition with his late-night event Set De Flo.

Also look out for DJ sets by Raj Smoove, Kelly Green, Antwigadee!, Nesby Phips, Captain Charles and many others.
Demond Dee Matthews never went to culinary school or worked in restaurants previously. Yet here he is, the chef and owner of a thriving seafood restaurant, Dees Xquisite, in New Orleans East. And hes about to open a second location in Baton Rouge.

The self-taught chefs restaurant is known for boiled then char-grilled seafood, swabbed with deeply flavorful garlic butter. Its a formula seven years in the making.

Matthews success is hard earned and collaborative. His team includes a core group of friends hes had since his childhood growing up in the Florida housing projects in the 9th Ward. He says hes been supported by family, neighbors, community and faith, a network that is at the heart of his accomplishments.

Dee's Xquisite Where 8700 Lake Forest Blvd.; @deesxquisite on Instagram When Lunch and dinner Wed.-Sun. How Dine-in Check it out Boiled and grilled seafood in New Orleans East

For nine years, Matthews worked in mental health, helping clients with schizophrenia, depression and addiction. After a long week, hed hang with his friends at his brother Barry Matthews barber shop, Xquisite Stylez, on Louisa Street, close to his alma mater, George Washington Carver High School.

Instead of buying seafood already boiled, we started boiling our own, he says. We were working out of one pot.

Then one day he set a batch of leftover Dungeness crabs on the grill to defrost before watching a game. My boys were like, Hey Dee, these crabs are good! he said.

Parboiling the seafood and finishing with the smoky goodness of the grill became his thing.

Getting the garlic butter right was not easy, so a family friend, Mr. Dice, a long-time restaurant cook, helped.

He mentored me, Matthews says. He said the flavor was good, but I was using the wrong butter. He helped me get the texture perfect. He passed a month later, and Im forever grateful for his help.

Word spread, and the weekly barbershop pop-ups drew long lines of customers. With family help, Matthews quit his job and jumped into the business full bore. His first location was on St. Bernard Avenue, but when he lost his lease, a customer with real estate in the East stepped in to assist.

My guys were like, Were going to the East, wait what? Matthews says. But the East is the best thing that has happened to me since Ive been doing this. We are supported by New Orleanians, the neighborhood.

Dees Exquisite is in the old Club Whispers at 8700 Lake Forest Blvd. Its a large space with a big bar, a scattering of tables and an orange, white and green color scheme like his high school colors. Local muralist Ken Artz (@kenisart) painted a crab on one wall, which Matthews adopted as his logo.

The restaurants biggest sellers are the combo packages of Dungeness, snow and blue crabs, shrimp, lobster tail, oysters, corn, turkey necks and potatoes. Diners can add a rib-eye for surf-and-turf, or super-size with the Mambo, named for Kobe Bryant, a feast for four to five people for $120.99.

Seafood is offered by the pound with sides. There are char-grilled oysters, blackened chicken pasta, fried and grilled shrimp, as well as po-boys and fried seafood platters.

I learned how to do all of that on this journey, Matthews says.

Matthews is planning to close for a few weeks to renovate when the Baton Rouge restaurant opens in May. With the addition of more tables and booths, Matthews will be able to take care of about 130 guests. The Baton Rouge location, which is off College Drive, close to both LSU and Southern University, is about the same size and has an oyster bar and outdoor patio.

Matthews admits that it hasnt been easy learning the restaurant business. Hurricane Ida just about broke him.

I had to recommit, to fall back in love, he says. I didnt want to expand too soon. Now, I think were ready. I have a strong team. Next, were thinking about Houston. We did a pop-up and sold 900 plates in three days. But lets see how Baton Rouge goes. Taking things one step at a time.
After months of training, four highly specialised dogs have learned to track one of the nation's rarest reptiles, the Victorian grassland earless dragon.

Three specialised dogs have been tasked with a very important job detecting some of Australias rarest reptiles Source: Zoos Victoria

Wildlife experts have trained three specialised dogs to detect some of Australias rarest reptiles, which they say will be a game-changer for protecting the species. The three dogs, Daisy, Sugar and Kip were selected for a months-long program that taught them to sense the critically endangered Victorian grassland earless dragon.

For decades, scientists had feared the tiny lizard species was extinct because less than 0.5 per cent of its original habitat has yet to be destroyed, and they hadnt been seen since the 1960s. But in 2023, it was accidentally rediscovered by ecologists who were surveying private farmland that was earmarked for development.

The Zoos Victoria-led detection mission involved specialist trainer Dr Nick Rutter, who said the relationship each handler builds with an individual dog is the cornerstone of how effective their work is. Because dragons are so rare, the dogs only had limited opportunities to smell them during training, but they were quick to learn. "Training them, being out in the field  is really important, Rutter said.

Dr Nick Rutter has helped train sniffer dogs to locate critically endangered Victorian grassland earless dragons. Source: Zoos Victoria

Dragons spend much of their time out of sight, hidden inside wolf spider holes. But the dogs are able to detect them with their specialised sense of smell thats up to 100,000 times more acute than a human's, discovering 10 new dragons that ecologists had previously been unaware of.

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When Daisy and I found our first dragon, it was absolutely incredible she alerted to a little hole in the ground and I quickly got out my endoscope and put a little camera down in the hole, and there was this tiny, adorable little dragon face staring back at me, Rutter said.

Related:  Sniffer dog's remarkable wildlife discovery

Victorian grassland earless dragons spend much of their time hidden inside wolf spider holes. Source: Zoos Victoria

Dog handlers turn sights to another rare species

A similar program after the 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires trained dogs to locate pungent koala scats, so burned animals could be brought down from trees and treated. The dragon detection is helping researchers collate data about population density and help them locate animals to add to their captive breeding program at the zoo.

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The dragons were rediscovered in Melbourne's west, a region that has been flagged for extensive housing development. Zoos Victoria now plans to take their dogs on sniffing missions outside the rediscovery site, in the hope more dragons will be found. They could also be used in the hunt for another dragon species that hasn't been seen since the 1990s, that ecologists in Bathurst are currently searching for.

The trial was a collaboration between the Resilient Landscapes Hub, Wildlife Detection Dogs and Zoos Victoria.Find the results published here.

Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment?  Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories.
Gov. Jeff Landry's bid to overhaul the agency that maintains New Orleans' hurricane protection levees and pumps will be considered by the state Legislature, drawing fresh concerns that post-Katrina reforms will be weakened.

A bill put forward by Rep. Jacob Braud (R-Belle Chasse) would reduce the size of the South Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-Easts board from nine members to seven, and scrap the role of its nominating committee. The bill, HB633, would also require one board member to have law enforcement experience and grant the governor far more power over the agency.
JENA -- An immigration judge on Friday agreed with the Trump administration that Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student activist and legal permanent resident who is accused of speaking out at the expense of U.S. foreign policy, is deportable.
You may have never heard of Danilo Augusto Feliciano, but know that he's the man who questioned the report of the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Off
Authorities are urging keen fishers taking part in Western Australia's salmon run to do the right thing, or risk a $200 fine  or even worse, their life.

Fishers have been warned not to risk their lives on the rocks at Salmon Holes beach in Albany, WA, during the annual salmon run. Source: Parks and Wildlife Service WA

Around Easter, thousands of keen fishers descend on beaches along Western Australias south coast to take advantage of the highly-anticipated annual salmon run. And this year is no different, with the fish frenzy leaving locals and tourists jumping in excitement as they simply plucked them from the water by hand last week.

However, those wanting to take part in the migration, which stretches from Esperance to Perth and peaks in March and April, have been warned that a prized catch is not worth risking their life  or a $200 fine.

Photos recently posted online by the states Parks and Wildlife Service show rock fishers dodging rough waves at Salmon Holes beach in Albany  a popular destination for those hoping to reel in one of the thousands of fish currently on the move.

The salmon run has started along the south coast, drawing keen fishers to popular places like Salmon Holes in Albany, authorities said, adding that even calm days can quickly take a turn.

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Rock fishing is extremely dangerous and people have lost their lives from slipping or being washed into the ocean by large waves, gusty winds and slippery surfaces.

Those who do decide to fish in the area should use installed anchor points and wear a lifejacket, or stand on the beach instead, the Parks and Wildlife Service said.

The post generated fury among viewers, who labelled the risk-takers as "idiots", and even prompted calls to ban rock fishing altogether.

A school of salmon sitting off Cheynes Beach last week. Source: Facebook/Sharkyaerials, Instagram/Sharkyaerials

Fishers cop $200 fines during annual salmon migration

Salmon Holes, located in Torndirrup National Park, is the only beach in Western Australia where lifejackets are mandatory.

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Speaking to Yahoo News, Parks and Visitor Services Coordinator Sara Hands, from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), confirmed that under the Conservation and Land Management Regulations 2002, lifejackets must be worn while on the rocks.

Failure to do so attracts an on-the-spot $200 infringement or up to $1,000 if prosecuted in court, she said. DBCAs Parks and Wildlife Service rangers have issued two infringements and four cautions since the salmon run began this year. No injuries have been reported so far.

Hands urged members of the public to use the anchor points and wear the lifesaving vest, but reiterated that the the safest option is to always fish from the beach and keep the sand between their toes.

A study by Recfishwest estimates WA fishers spend around $331 million a year chasing the salmon. There are roughly 750,000 recreational fishers in the state.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

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No danger looms larger for Sisters than wildfire.

The community has experienced numerous major fires in the surrounding countryside over the past two decades  but in a very real sense, we have been lucky. None of those fires have devastated local neighborhoods or the town of Sisters itself the way Blue River and Detroit suffered in the Labor Day fires of 2020, or the way Paradise or Pacific Palisades in California were destroyed.

The potential for a truly devastating fire in Sisters Country will bring the community together in a forum sponsored by Citizens4Community (C4C), in partnership with The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters Rotary, and Sisters Kiwanis, titled Wildfire in Sisters Country, Part 1: Are We Ready? This is the first of a a two-part series of community forums on this critical issue.

The forum is set for Sunday, April 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Sisters Elementary School, 2155 McKinney Butte Road.

The City of Sisters is currently working on code revisions to make the community more resilient to wildfire.

Were pretty close to the finish line on adopting new defensible code in the Development Code, said Mayor Jennifer Letz.

Letz will be one of the panelists kicking off community discussion on wildfire readiness.

Her role, she said, would be to highlight what we can do on the policy side of things.

Wildfire risk has driven skyrocketing homeowners insurance premiums  and has driven some insurers out of the market altogether. This development has created consternation across Sisters Country. Letz said that policy action to address wildfire danger and harden communities can put us in a good position when the insurance industry becomes more proactive.

The forum features Letz among local experts with decades of experience in wildfire and emergency management, including: Steven Lord - Community Risk Specialist, Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District; Sgt. Nathan Garibay - Emergency Services Manager, Deschutes County Sheriffs Office; and Craig Letz - Principal and Co-Owner, Tamarack Wildfire Consulting. The panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience, moderated by C4C Executive Director Kellen Klein.

Wildfire used to be of greatest concern to residents of the so-called wild land-urban interface, areas on the fringes of the forest. That has changed, as we have seen wildfires become urban conflagrations.

The situation has changed, Craig Letz told The Nugget. This is not a public lands issue anymore.

In fires where homes are lost, the culprit is almost always embers, some thrown miles away from the main body of a fire by high winds.

Its all about the embers, Letz said. And that is what the defensible space and hardening standards are created to mitigate.

Lord notes that defensible space standards have tightened. Homeowners should not have anything, even grass, up to five feet from their foundation. Roofs should be cleared of debris like pine needles at least twice a year.

Lord said that the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District conducts assessments for homeowners in the area, and he will be offering information on signing up for an assessment.

That assessment includes accessibility of your property for firefighting rigs. If firefighters cannot safely bring apparatus onto your property, they cannot fight fire that threatens your home.

Lord advises locals to have detailed conversations with their insurance agents about their expectations for maintaining defensible space. While defensible space standards may seem to have become stringent to the point of draconian, there is a reason behind it. Especially in a wind-driven fire, embers can ignite anything left against your house  and burn it down. Even a wreath on the door could be a problem, Lord notes.

Improving defensible space standards, hardening homes, and applying other mitigation protocols, like installing sprinkler systems, will be critical in getting insurance companies comfortable with writing policies in Sisters again, Lord notes.

The concerns over insurance will be addressed in detail in the second part of the forum at a date to be announced.

Immediately following the discussion, participants are invited to walk through an on-site Preparedness Fair. Dozens of local organizations will be on hand offering resources and expertise around critical topics like evacuation routes, communication systems, go bags, home hardening, defensible space, first aid training, and more.

Child care will be available on site, and those who cannot attend can view a livestream of the discussion. For more information, visit https://citizens4community.com/events/spring-forum-25.
Hundreds of people gathered along Cascade Avenue on the morning of Saturday, April 5, waving signs, American flags - some upside down in a code for distress or extreme danger - and chanting "This is what democracy looks like!"

The Sisters demonstration was one of some 1,200 such "Hands Off!" rallies across the United States on Saturday. Protestors expressed opposition to the Trump Administration's moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, shut down federal agencies, deport immigrants, eliminate diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, and more.

Some of the local demonstrators were mobilized by Indivisible Sisters, and carried ready-made signs reading "Hands off democracy!", "Hands off Social Security!", and "Hands off science!" in protest against extensive cuts by the Trump Administration across the federal government. Other signs were homemade, including one created by a local artist showing Elon Musk behind bars.

Musk, who rose to prominence late in Trump's presidential campaign, operates Tesla, SpaceX, the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and is acting as an advisor and de facto leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has initiated cuts and large-scale firings in an effort to significantly downsize the federal government.

Protestors see the cuts as a threat to Americans' social and economic stability, while Musk insists he is saving taxpayers billions of dollars.

The Sisters demonstrators were enthusiastic and loud in their chants and cheers, but were conscientious about avoiding blocking traffic or pedestrians' ability to pass. Passing motorists honked and waved, or registered displeasure with thumbs down or other hand gestures.

Several demonstrators expressed the belief that this was the largest such gathering in Sisters' history. Certainly it was the largest since similar demonstrations occurred in the summer of 2020 around issues of race and social justice. Some online commenters insisted that the demonstrators came in from outside the community, but it was clear that the overwhelming majority were locals. There were "Hands Off!" rallies in other Central Oregon cities, including Madras, Redmond, and Bend, the latter of which drew more than 1,000 people.

The political fervor did not end with the rally. At 1 p.m., recently elected District 5 Congressional Representative Janelle Bynum packed the Sisters High School gymnasium for a town hall. The event was supposed to include Senator Jeff Merkley, but he had to stay in Washington due to a change in voting schedule.

Bynum vowed to take her constituents' stories back to Washington, D.C., to "elevate them." Local concerns revolved around economic fears, health care, and cuts to federal grant programs that affect Central Oregon. Bynum's town hall follows on the heels of an earlier event with Senator Ron Wyden, which also filled the SHS gym.
There's no clear consensus on citizen preference for the proposed art for the Locust Street/Highway 20 roundabout. In fact, there's no clear consensus that Sisters citizens want either of the two design finalists.

The initial call for artist proposals for the roundabout art did not result in a clear group of finalists, as the submitted proposals varied widely in scope and quality.

"To ensure that the project received a broader range of high-quality submissions, and that the selection criteria were met, the City republished a second call for artists in early November," said Assistant City Manager, Kerry Prosser.

On March 14, the City announced two finalists and put their respective submissions up for public display at the library, March 15-31, and at Sisters High School, April 2-4. The City further asked for the public's preference of the two.

Photo provided

Photo provided

"I don't have a lot of comments on the two finalists. With over 400 submittals so far, only a few people have left comments; six people didn't like either option and four people asked that the Wild Stallion statue be moved," Prosser told The Nugget.

Thomas Shuster is among a growing number of citizens expressing their disapproval of the planned art for the new Locust Street roundabout.

In a note to The Nugget, Shuster said: "There is an active and displeased group of people commenting on the Sisters Community Updates and News Facebook thread. Check out a post from Rebecca Ryan Green and the ensuing comments. I am sure someone there would be happy to go on the record. No one wants to offend these artists (me included), but we cannot have that be the reason we settle for something people don't want."

Indeed, a look at the Facebook group with 5,500 followers shows frustration with the final selections.

An opinion poll put first to the community via the social media app, Next Door, and later expanded to a wider group, shows a split impression. As of Sunday morning 54 percent of respondents indicated that they had an "unfavorable" impression of the works. Of those, two-thirds had a "strongly unfavorable" opinion.

Of the 46 percent who had a favorable impression, a third were "strongly favorable."

When asked if the city would take into consideration the survey results, City Manager Jordan Wheeler responded: "The Council can certainly decide to not move forward, go back out for a third call for artists, or do something else entirely with the roundabout. This was the second call - the first did not produce viable proposals - and we had over 50 submissions that were narrowed down by a RFP committee that included artists, business owners, a teacher, and ODOT.

"Just to expand on the process a bit," he added, "the committee reviewed the 50 plus submissions to ensure that the artist was experienced and capable, the proposed artwork was technically viable and of suitable materials, within the budget, and was original and met the western heritage theme and our community character. The committee felt that these pieces and artists best matched that criteria to forward to the community and council for their consideration."

The online survey of 159 respondents found that of those expressing an unfavorable opinion, 53 percent wanted to "reject and start over;" 23 percent would "accept it and move on;" and 24 percent wanted to "find a way to improve or enhance the submissions."

Photo by Bill Bartlett

Robin Holm is among those who would like to see the 10-foot-tall rearing stallion statue at the northeast corner of Cascade and Larch Streets moved to the roundabout.

"Nothing rings my bell here as it is too busy," she said. "I liked the idea of moving the horse to the roundabout. You could put some big rocks artfully around him."

Linda Warnholtz sees the winning submission placed where the stallion is now.

"May I suggest you put one of the new statues where the horse was. It'll give people stopped in traffic a chance to view the wonderful detail on whichever is chosen."

Comments to the survey were evenly mixed. They ranged from, "There is not enough of a choice between the two submissions; and both seem very old in design thought and lack innovation. Would like something that is more modern. The roundabout by Ray's manages to nod to Sisters and Central Oregon in a true yet modern interpretation. I am not a fan of either of the Locust Street roundabout art submissions," to "I like both - especially the one with the soaring eagle."

Of the two dozen comments, almost three quarters mentioned moving the stallion as a preference. Local artists and landscapers say that the metal horse is not large enough in scale to fill the space and would require other elements to make it visually appealing.

Council is tentatively expected to take up the decision at its April 23 meeting. The project budget for the artwork is $175,000. This amount does not include landscaping.
A man nearly died from a heart attack at Hoodoo Ski Area in March. In April, he was back to celebrate his survival with the people who saved his life.

Photo provided

The Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District reported that on March 1, Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel from the Sisters-Camp Sherman and Black Butte Ranch fire districts were dispatched to a male patient in cardiac arrest at the Autobahn Tubing Park at the Hoodoo Ski Area. Responding units were advised that CPR had been started immediately by bystanders, and by Hoodoo Ski Patrol members. They had applied an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) and delivered multiple shocks. Ski Patrol staff then loaded the patient into a toboggan and towed him to a designated landing zone to meet with a Life Flight Network air ambulance.

The efforts of the ski patrollers and the bystanders were successful in restoring the patient's pulse, and he was regaining consciousness.

Upon arrival of EMS units, the patient, 67-year-old Tom Lane, was conscious and talking. Paramedics and EMTs from Sisters-Camp Sherman and Black Butte Ranch fire districts then took over patient care, and began advanced life support procedures while waiting for the arrival of the helicopter.

Lane was transported to the hospital for definitive care, where he walked out 11 days later with no memory of the event, but a new lease on life, thanks to efforts of those involved.

On April 5, just over a month after the incident, some of the EMS personnel, along with the ski patrollers, met with Tom and his wife Dawn at the Hoodoo Ski Patrol Lodge. The Lanes expressed their gratitude for the work that was performed by the responders and bystanders. Deputy Chief Tim Craig and Firefighter/Paramedic Anna Westburg, along with Black Butte Ranch Fire District Firefighter/Paramedic Matt Linker, were there to present the Hoodoo Ski Patrol staff with life saving awards.

Early recognition of cardiac arrest, immediate CPR and AED application, and early access to EMS are critical to survival.

"Without the efforts of Hoodoo Ski Patrol members and bystanders, Tom would not be with us today. The fact that these folks had the proper training, proper equipment, and jumped in to apply their skills in a professional manner, saved Tom's life," Craig said.

The Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District thanked Hoodoo Ski Patrol, Black Butte Ranch Fire District, and Life Flight Network for their partnership and support in making this incident a success.
Whos evil?

To the Editor:

There has not been enough attention paid to the consequences of the supposed waste and fraud cuts of Musks DOGE and Trump. Lets focus on USAID. Trump issued an executive order that froze all foreign aid on January 20. The freeze of USAID funds has been winding its way through the courts since resulting in a discontinuation of USAID functions on March 28. In case you are unaware, USAID programs saved between 2.3 to 5.6 million lives a year.

USAID accounted for 0.3 percent of all federal spending in FY 2024. What was done to examine waste and fraud with this vital agency? The answer is nothing. While we wait to see if any resumption of these programs is restored within the State Department, hundreds of thousands of people will die that otherwise would not. Trump and Musk are directly responsible.

Musk, the richest man on the planet, recently called Governor Tim Walz evil because he joked about Tesla stock plummeting. Ill let you decide who is evil.

Bruce Hess

Lifeboat

To the Editor:

Captain Trump is willfully steering the ship of state toward an iceberg. What bad could happen? The delusional, gullible, and low-information people who voted for him will no doubt need a lifeboat. Good luck.

Gary Leiser

Stop development

To the Editor:

We moved to Tollgate community to get away from developers making land-grabs for no other purpose than to line their own pockets. This development (McKenzie Meadows) encroaches upon the livability of our neighborhood (Tollgate), as it stands, this development will not provide any affordable housing to solve our current situation. It will only provide first sale land/structure sales, which will then result in secondary and tertiary home value increases to the benefit of the wealthyand not Sisters and its need for supportive housing.

Pushing Sisters Country Development west towards our forestlands while increasing density is the wrong direction to take. Please stop this.

I hail from Pacific Palisades, California, and Im still going through the loss of community resulting from the catastrophic fire event to which some of our Sisters firefighters supported its fight. Density played a very large role in that fire along with the lack of firefighters and water to defend such events.

Wake up people!

We are living in a very tough current situation in Sisters country from the threat of disasters and the insurance community looking to gain back profits lost due to fires like Palisades and Eaton fires; and increasing density without the ability to defend must be reconsidered.

As a retired insurance professional, along with all of us in moderate-to-high-risk areas, we need to spend more time considering how to defend our community and less time on development until we can get a handle on this situation.

Stop the madness!

Peter and Robin Nielsen

From the superintendent

To the Editor:

At the recent school board meeting, several important updates and developments were shared. Joan Warburg, Sisters Elementary School Principal, and Melissa Smith, ELL Instructor, introduced the newly selected K-3 ELD curriculum, National Geographic Reach Higher. The curriculum received positive feedback from students for its engaging visuals and culturally relevant content. It also offers multiple levels to support students at various stages of their educational journey.

Joe Hosang, Director of HR & Curriculum, presented the State Integrated Grants Program, which will be submitted to the Oregon Department of Education by the end of the month. The program, organized around nine reports with specific goals and a proposed budget, is designed to effectively address student needs. More information can be found on the district website.

Updates were also provided on district facilities and operations. During spring break, several projects were completed, including the replacement of 54 windows that had defects or were damaged during construction. The slab for the new greenhouse was also poured, with construction by a volunteer group set to begin soon. Sun West was recognized for their excellent partnership throughout the construction process.

The recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new SPRD Community Center marked the availability of the Coffield Center for the District Office relocation. The discussion about the future of the current District Office is now underway.

Lastly, Joan Warburg, Sisters Elementary School Principal, and Tim Roth, Sisters Middle School Principal, were recognized for their dedication to the district. Their outstanding leadership will be greatly missed. The screening process for a new middle school principal is underway, and the application process for a new elementary school principal will remain open until April 27. The goal is to select both new administrators before the end of the school year.

Sisters School District remains committed to fostering a thriving learning environment through ongoing investments in student support, facilities, and community partnerships. To stay informed, visit our website at https://district.ssd6.org and subscribe to our weekly district newsletter.

Curt Scholl, Superintendent

Roundabout

To the Editor:

The City of Sisters would like to thank the over 600 people who viewed the artwork of the two finalists and selected their preference!

The finalists were chosen through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process. A committee made up of local artists, business owners, teachers, and ODOT reviewed 53 RFP submissions and carefully considered each proposal to determine the two finalists. During the review process, the committee considered artistic excellence, originality, ability to collaborate, experience, and suitability of materials. On April 23, the City Council will be discussing the finalists and selecting which proposal to move forward with.

As with the previous art installation at the Barclay and US 20 roundabout, community involvement has been integral throughout this process. At the outset, a survey gathered input on the preferred theme for the art, western heritage, and culture. Over the past three weeks residents selected their favorites of the two finalist designs; the models were on display for two weeks at the Sisters Library and one week at Sisters High School.

The City Council recognizes the importance of community input in this selection process and is committed to ensuring that the final decision reflects a balance between the artistic concept and community support. It is important to recognize that in this process there will be opinions and suggestions  personal interpretations and appreciation is inherently subjective with art. But the goal is to choose an art piece that not only reflects the creativity and vision of the artist but also has the support and approval of the community it represents.

Thank you again for your engagement in this process.

The two finalists can be viewed on the City website: http://www.ci.sisters.or.us/administration/page/us20locust-st-roundabout-art.

Kerry Prosser, Assistant City Manager

Judicial fitness

To the Editor:

Most of us would admit that right now, the faith in the American public in our all-

important third branch of government, the judiciary, is at an all time low. Many of us are also pondering whether or not our legal requirements for important government positions are adequate.

I think we need to address both these issues by mandating that no one in Oregon may take the bench until and unless they have passed a tough examination on civil procedure, criminal procedure, constitutional law, and the evidence code. Anyone who cannot do that doesn't belong on the bench.

It might be a step in the direction of restoring people's faith in our democracy.

Deni Starr J.D.

Big turnout

To the Editor:

What a turn out on April 5 for pro-democracy! It felt like a mini-Fourth of July parade. I couldnt decide which was the best signage/protest statement as I would spot one that I felt in total agreement with and what was on my mind only to have the next five to 10 also touch my heart.

I felt a huge sense of pride!

When will the pro-Trump/Vance/Musk rally take place? Just asking!

Bud Duggan

Eulogy to a wolf

To the Editor:

How do you mourn the death of a wolf? An animal that was murdered just for itself?

Why do I care and why should you care? Once again, this intelligent, social, wild creature, that has been persecuted for centuries, is being ruthlessly targeted and attacked.This five-year-old wolf, the breeding male of the Metolius Pack, was our purest connection to the wild, to nature in its original form, a world in which we are all connected to.

As another mammal on this planet we share approximately 90 percent DNA with the wolf, yet we cast off our biological connectivity and ignore our social similarities. This wolf had a family like I do, like many of you do, he had a life partner that, like us, he provided for, was dedicated to, and depended upon her companionship. He fathered four pups with only three surviving; he would fight to the death to protect them from other predators, and he would play and teach his pups how to survive in a world that wants to see him fail.

His surviving pups, did they learn enough to hunt efficiently? Will his mate be able to protect and provide for his family without him, will her expectant new pups survive without his support?

The loss of this Metolius wolf, our wild connection to our vanishing wilderness, may be a challenge too great for his family to overcome. I mourn his loss not just for his family, or for those that I shared the unique experience of walking alongside his distinct paw prints in the mud and snow, or seeing his and his family images on the trail cameras that were placed. I mourn his loss because we are losing our ability to see the value of the natural world in all its magnificent forms. We are losing our connectedness to nature, its beauty and the knowledge in it that can heal us.

This wolf had ancient knowledge in its being that we could have learned from, but instead the poacher, ignorant and without understanding, decided he could not allow for something so brave and honest to exist. This wolf did not pretend to be anything else but a wolf. Did his murderer believe that by killing him he was of greater morality or value, or did he fear that in the eyes of this wolf he was the lesser creature and could not accept his connectedness to natures wild spirit?

Aldo Leopold, the father of wildlife biology, once wrote, We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes  something known only to her and to the mountain.

Wendy von Kalinowski

UGB Concepts

To the Editor:

I am opposed to the currently favored UGB Alternative 1 size and scope. However, if growth is warranted, it seems appropriate to divide it throughout town as the McKenzie Meadows expansion proposal does. It would make sense to include expansion near schools, businesses, and parks to keep traffic centralized. It could also reduce the acreage desired in Alternative 1.

Letters opposing the McKenzie Meadows expansion list the damage to the natural habitat if developed. So will be the situation if Alternative 1 in the UGB expansion is adopted. This area contains owl habitat, migratory/waterfowl areas, and almost a third of the proposed area is not developable due to the Whychus and Indian Ford Creek waterways and wetlands.

The push for sprawl in these areas is riddled with challenges to further development, especially with an eye towards affordable housing. Most of the favored UGB expansion area falls within the High Hazard part of Wildfire Risk zone. We live in the northeast corner of the city limits adjacent Alternative 1. Our homeowners insurance will be dropped in June. And its replacement, if found, will probably be exponentially more.

Opinions seem to agree that the UGB expansion is not widely embraced. During the breakout session of the December 9 UGB open house, my table was comprised of people living near city limits or a mile out. The majority were very opposed to any UGB concept that moved the growth boundary close to or absorbed their property.

Can the UGB Committee shift focus to utilizing vacant parcels that do not encroach on natural habitats? And reduce its desired acreage?

Theres no opportunity for a referendum on any UGB action due to House Bill 4026, currently in litigation.

The next UGB steering meeting is April 24. Please voice your opinion on this matter.

Chris Gilbert

Roundabout rules

To the Editor:

Oregon DMV Driving Rules states Indicate your plan to exit using your right turn signal.

However, few drivers actually use these indicating signals  quite possibly because roundabouts are relatively new to many parts of this country and most people do not stay abreast of new DMV driving rules.

Today I followed a DCSO patrol car through two roundabouts, and that officer never signaled before exiting. How can we expect the general population to obey these rules when enforcement officers do not? Lead by example.

David Hiller
The potential for bringing 58 acres of land near Sisters High School into the Urban Growth Boundary for future residential development has stirred strong passions in the Sisters community. It has also led to some strong  and unfair  rhetoric.

Characterizing development of that property as a land-grab motivated by greed misses the mark. The property has been in the ownership of the same three partners for many years. Those partners  the Reed family, Bill Willitts, and Curt Kallberg  have contributed significantly to Sisters and the Central Oregon community.

The late Bill Reed was a prominent realtor in Sisters and served on the Sisters School Board for years, helping to oversee the development of Sisters High School and piloting the district through several serious budget crises. Bill Willitts developed FivePine, which has proved an asset to the community, and was instrumental in raising funds for a Hospice House in Bend. Curt Kallberg spearheaded a volunteer effort that added a wing onto the old Sisters Elementary School when the school district was contemplating putting overflow student population into trailers.

These citizens have invested thousands of hours and considerable funds in making Sisters the place it is today. They are not carpetbaggers seeking to exploit.

While local folks have treated the parcel as public forest, McKenzie Meadows is private property; it could be clear-cut or fenced off tomorrow. The owners believe that developing the property is an opportunity to address Sisters chronic challenge in providing housing that people who work here can afford.

Willitts has argued that, Any new lands annexed into the UGB must prioritize workforce and affordable housing. City Councilors and staff must be bold: any new lands annexed into the UGB must be master-planned with 30 percent required affordable and workforce housing (80 percent Area Median Income and below for rentals; 80 to 130 percent Area Median Income for ownership).

We can and will debate whether that will make a dent. We can and will debate whether that area is a good location for higher-density development. Should that property be included in the UGB, that debate will happen, through extensive due process.

The property owners presumably want their plans to pencil out and show a profit  but when did that become a sin in America? Everybody has some level of self-interest at stake  but we all also care about the future of the Sisters community. We shouldnt assume that those opposed to development of that land are mere NIMBYs; nor should we assume that those who favor it are just greedy developers looking to pave paradise and put up a parking lot.

There are conflicting needs, desires, and values in play here, but it is not a battle between good and evil. There are no black hats here.

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief
Before fertility patients begin the long journey through hormone treatments, egg retrieval, fertilization and  hopefully, if everything goes well  a baby, theres the paperwork. As a first order of business, would-be parents are typically presented with a form that requires them to choose the fate of embryos they do not use in the course of building their families. Three couples  the LePages, the Fondes and the Aysennes  undergoing treatments from 2013 to 2016 at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile, Ala., filled out such contracts.

The clinic later said that one family chose to donate any remaining embryos to scientific research, another decided to destroy any embryos that were frozen after five years, and a third said any embryos deemed not suitable for reproductive purposes could be used for research and eventually disposed of. It was not clear, in other words, that these families intended for all of their embryos to be born.

Ultimately, though, their preferences were moot. In December 2020 a hospital patient wandered into an unsecured room where the couples embryos sat in cryogenic storage, picked up the frozen embryos and, stung by the cold, dropped them on the floor. In February 2024 the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that these lost embryos were extrauterine children, allowing the three families to proceed with lawsuits against the fertility clinic under the states 1872 Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. Between the creation of these embryos and their destruction and as the cases wound their way for years through Alabamas courts, their meaning shifted: No longer potentially destined for research or disposal, each embryo had taken on the status, in the courts interpretation, of a minor child.

The ruling swiftly established what had long eluded abortion opponents: unambiguous personhood for embryos. But this new legal status also instantly jeopardized in vitro fertilization practice across Alabama, sending clinics and patients scrambling amid confusion over what kind of liability clinics bore for the embryos  now legally children  in their care. As a dissenting justice noted, No rational medical provider would continue to provide services for creating and freezing embryos knowing that it might risk a wrongful death claim. Patients with scheduled embryo transfers had their appointments canceled as several clinics announced they were pausing operations. At least one major embryo shipping service said it would no longer make or take deliveries of embryos in the state.

Terrified by the Alabama

ruling, Ani Saakyan and

her husband signed the

paperwork to destroy their

six remaining embryos. Their daughter, born via

I.V.F., was almost 7 months old

at the time of the ruling. I feel like I destroyed the embryos before I was ready to. We werent sure if we were going to have any more kids, but I destroyed them because I was just so petrified. I felt a surprise at my sadness because I know that theyre not people  that the embryos are not the same as my living, breathing children. Sometimes I do think about them. I know there are people out there who would call me a murderer, but its about taking control of a situation when control is being taken from us. Ani Saakyan

Less than three weeks after the court ruling, Alabamas legislature passed a law protecting I.V.F. providers from civil and criminal liability. Gov. Kay Ivey swiftly signed it, over opposition from anti-abortion groups, which argued it offered no accountability whatsoever for clinical mishaps. The law studiously avoided addressing any of the ethical questions raised by the court ruling and the furor that ensued. If I.V.F. was to be protected, did that mean embryos didnt really have full personhood? Or if embryos did have full personhood, what kind of law would protect a business from liability in the event of it destroying an entity legally considered a child? The uncertain moral status of these clusters of cells burst into view, undermining any attempt to put them into a neat legal category.

Since then, confusion about how to answer these questions has generated yet more confusion, as voices from across the political spectrum have weighed in with hot takes and legislation. A Democrat in South Carolina introduced a bill requiring insurers to offer life insurance to embryos  but also said he hoped to protect access to I.V.F. A Republican in Louisiana put forth legislation to protect I.V.F. but had to drop the effort when her fellow lawmakers insisted the bills language refer to embryos as human beings. (Louisiana law already deems a fertilized egg a juridical person.) The conservative activist Charlie Kirk mused about whether one should save 10 embryos or three live babies from a burning building. He came down on the side of the 10 embryos, as long as theyre fully fertilized and will be used, he said. None of this confusion or controversy looks likely to be resolved any time soon.

If the current legal landscape when it comes to embryos seems messy, its a result, in no small part, of the unsettled nature of what preceded it.

For over a century, courts generally did not grant personhood or independent rights to embryos or fetuses in utero. An 1884 decision by Oliver Wendell Holmes, at the time a Massachusetts Supreme Court justice, held that when a pregnant woman slipped and fell on a road, resulting in the loss of the fetus, no claim could be pursued on behalf of the fetus against the town; he voiced skepticism about whether an infant dying before it was able to live separated from its mother could be said to have become a person recognized by the law.

Once embryos began appearing ex utero, however, courts and legislatures were forced to reckon with their legal status in novel scenarios  notably in divorce cases in which the parties disagreed on how to deal with frozen embryos created during the marriage. The answers courts have come up with for how to view embryos have been all over the map, ranging from seeing them as property to declaring them, in the Alabama decision, unborn children.

One of the earliest and most influential embryo disputes was a 1992 Tennessee case in which a divorcing couple, Junior Lewis Davis and Mary Sue Stowe, disagreed on the fate of their remaining embryos. The wording of the Tennessee Supreme Courts decision captured some of embryos ambiguous quality, concluding that embryos are not, strictly speaking, either persons or property, but occupy an interim category that entitles them to special respect because of their potential for human life. But the court ultimately decided in favor of Mr. Davis, who wanted to destroy the seven frozen embryos that Ms. Stowe sought to donate, on the grounds that he should not have to father children against his will.

In explaining the courts reasoning, Justice Martha Craig Daughtrey expounded at length on the right of procreational autonomy, calling it a vital part of an individuals right to privacy and integral to American conceptions of liberty, a freedom composed of two rights of equal significance: the right to procreate and the right to avoid procreation. The right to privacy is the same principle that underpinned the reasoning in Roe v. Wade.

Embryo custody cases, as theyre sometimes termed, were typically resolved along similar lines  that parenthood should not be forced on a person who does not want it, with a few exceptions, said Ellen Trachman, a Denver-based lawyer specializing in assisted-reproduction-related cases. That principle was challenged in 2018, when the Arizona State Legislature passed a law requiring judges to award disputed embryos to the spouse who intends to allow the in vitro human embryos to develop to birth, regardless of any contracts signed by both parties. The law was a response to a case in which a court ordered a divorced couples seven frozen embryos donated, per the couples previous agreement, even though the wife wanted to use them after her cancer treatment.

Ms. Trachman expects more judges to favor the party who would like to use the embryos to attempt pregnancy now that Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization has undermined the rights to privacy and procreative autonomy protected in Roe. The person opposing conception is probably going to be in less of a strong position, when before, it was an overwhelming position to rule in that persons favor, she said. A Republican legislator in Missouri proposed a similar bill this year after being petitioned by a divorced woman, Jalesia Kuenzel, who has been unable to use embryos she and her ex-husband created while married.

The murkiness of embryos status has sent courts on strange detours in their legal reasoning. In a 2023 Virginia case a judge was tasked with deciding whether two frozen embryos should be awarded to Honeyhline Heidemann, who wanted to implant them, or kept frozen, per the wishes of her ex-husband, Jason Heidemann. Ms. Heidemann asked that the embryos be considered property, so they could be assigned to her like any other salable item. Mr. Heidemann said each was unique and nonfungible and thus could not be treated as personal property.

The case, as Leah Libresco Sargeant wrote, turned embryos into Schrodingers persons, resulting in one parent bizarrely needing the embryos to be considered persons in order to prevent them from being born and the other parent needing to argue the children were property in order to let them be born. Eventually, Judge Richard Gardiner reasoned that as there is no prohibition on the sale of human embryos, they may be valued and sold and thus may be considered goods or chattels. The reliance on slavery-era codes immediately raised eyebrows. In March another judge rejected Judge Gardiners rationale, calling his reasoning that human embryos could be valued and sold, as enslaved people once were in Virginia, a strained construction.

In Oregon a contractual agreement to divide embryos has given rise to a dispute over parental rights. In 2014 a childs genetic mother, Cory Sause, signed an agreement when undergoing I.V.F. with the childs genetic father, Jordan Schnitzer: He would receive all the male embryos, since, as the father of two girls, he was eager to have a son. She would get the female ones.

After their son was born via surrogate the following year, Ms. Sause asked the courts to be granted parental rights. She argued that although she had signed a contract giving Mr. Schnitzer custodial rights over the male embryos, she believed this contract did not apply to any resulting live offspring, in whose lives she expected to play some role. In the years that the two parties have been at odds, the entity at the center of this case has grown into a 9-year-old child, who is now trapped in a baffling legal limbo.

Equipment at Tmrw, a start-up that allows for the tracking of patients embryos through RFID tagging. While there are no good estimates for the total number of frozen embryos in the United States, Tmrw has more than 350,000 frozen embryos and eggs in storage in clinics and in its facilities (none of which were present at this demonstration).

The overturning of Roe gave lawyers arguing for embryonic personhood a new legal avenue to pursue. In a recent Texas divorce case Caroline Antoun sought to use the Dobbs decision to help void a contract that would award the couples frozen embryos to her ex-husband, Gaby Antoun. Arguing in court just five days after Dobbs came down, her lawyers noted that Texas abortion ban would soon be triggered into effect.

This, they argued, would change the status of the embryos from property to people. Once theyre reclassified as children, Ms. Antouns lawyers continued, the embryos should be appointed a guardian to represent them in court and be subject to a custody agreement that considers their best interests, rather than be awarded based on a contract both parties signed before commencing I.V.F. that plainly stated Mr. Antoun would get them in the event of divorce.

The judge was not convinced. In the divorce decree, she granted Ms. Antoun primary custody of their I.V.F.-conceived twins, while Mr. Antoun was awarded their three frozen embryos as part of the division of marital property. (The divorce decree also gave each party a car and granted him their king-size bed frame and a TV from their garage.)

The former spouses each told me that as they were filling out forms at the clinic, Mr. Antoun initially was going to let his wife have any remaining embryos in case of divorce. But when Ms. Antoun suggested donating them to another family, knowing how difficult their own struggle with infertility had been, Mr. Antoun couldnt envision his genetic children being raised by a stranger, he said. In any case, both said they hadnt seen divorce in their future. They eventually circled husband on the form, putting their initials next to their choice. Today Ms. Antoun says her ex-husband gave her an ultimatum to sign them over to him or he wouldnt proceed with the fertility treatment, something that Mr. Antoun disputes.

Ms. Antoun wanted to appeal the ruling and said she received some pro bono help from one anti-abortion group, while others offered her only thoughts and prayers. Using private counsel, she appealed the ruling in a brief that argued that the contract she had signed treating the embryos as property was, post-Dobbs, incompatible with Texas public policy.

The Texas Legislature has gone to great lengths to protect the interests of embryos. Its abortion ban, one of the strictest in the country, defines an unborn child as an individual living member of the Homo sapiens species from fertilization until birth, including the entire embryonic and fetal stages of development. The Texas Penal Code defines an individual as a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.

The legislature, however, specifically created a carve-out for I.V.F., exempting death of an unborn child from murder or manslaughter charges when they are caused by a lawful medical procedure performed by a licensed provider in the context of assisted reproduction. But when offered the chance to extend this status to I.V.F. embryos in a divorce case, no Texas court has yet seemed willing to do so. In July 2023 an appeals court judge again found in Mr. Antouns favor.

Ms. Antoun then asked the Texas Supreme Court to hear her case, at which point Texas Right to Life chimed in with an amicus brief. The court declined to take it up. Although she could have attempted to get it in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the deadline for that has passed. Instead, she is litigating through the media; she contacted me after reading an earlier article in this series on embryos, to explain why treating embryos as property is harmful and leaves parents without rights.

Although the Antouns provided very different accounts of events in their marriage, they both hold nuanced views on what embryos are  far more nuanced than the law allows. While Mr. Antoun has fought for the embryos under the guise of property, he told me he will never discard them. Ms. Antoun asked for her embryos to be reclassified as people, though today she said that she would consider discarding her embryos. She declined to share her views about abortion but said she did not have an anti-abortion agenda and had no desire to jeopardize the practice of I.V.F., which a ruling in her favor could have done. For me, parents should always get to decide what is best for their family and for their children, she told me. And while theyre property, you cant do that.

For years, it has largely been anti-abortion groups that intervened in cases involving embryos, using these private lawsuits as means to a public end: to help secure an embryos status as a full legal person, as the Harvard legal scholar I. Glenn Cohen pointed out to me. Yet when that goal was taken to its logical extreme, through the pronouncement of the Alabama Supreme Court, some in the little-known world of embryo adoption found themselves wincing at what felt like an own goal.

The embryo adoption movement was born in the late 1990s when John and Marlene Strege, two observant Christians living in California, spoke with their fertility doctor about using anonymously donated embryos to get pregnant. They were intrigued but thought the process was due more respect than the mere signing over of some leftover tissue. (Transferring embryos from one party to another is not legally adoption and is typically treated as a simple transfer of property  not so different from handing over a car.)

These are lives, created at conception, Mr. Strege later wrote. You donate money, food, clothing, time, but you dont donate life. He and Ms. Strege, along with the agency Nightlight Christian Adoptions, developed a program that mimicked the regular adoption process by requiring similar screenings and home studies but relied on embryos status as property to keep legal costs low. Although the Streges have long insisted their embryo adoption activism is distinct from their anti-abortion views, in 2021 the Streges filed an amicus brief in the Dobbs case, which they illustrated with their daughters baby photos and a picture of her as an embryo. (The Streges also filed amicus briefs in support of Ms. Antoun.)

Mary Leah and

Rodney Miller endured

six failed I.V.F cycles

before turning

to embryo adoption. Both evangelical Christians and attorneys in Birmingham, Ala., the Millers are now parents to four children by embryo adoption and have one remaining embryo that they hope to implant. Despite opposing elective abortion, Rodney Miller was troubled by the Alabama court decision that established personhood for the embryos. We believe embryos have value and should be protected. But it brings in the problem of who decides what those protections are. Is it you and your pastor? You and your pastor and your doctor? Politicians? Thats where things, as weve seen, get a little messy. Rodney Miller

But after the Alabama courts decision came down, several people in the embryo adoption world told me that personhood for embryos would make their work harder, not easier. Dr. Jeffrey Keenan, a Christian fertility doctor who oversees the nations largest embryo adoption program, in Knoxville, Tenn., said the ruling denied basic biology and reality. The majority of embryos, even embryos created through natural intercourse, do not go on to form babies, he told me. To say that they are all children is incorrect.

There are also people thinking about how the concepts of embryonic and fetal personhood could be deployed in surprising ways. The legal scholar Michele Goodwin pointed out that under those concepts, the embryos of undocumented pregnant women could qualify for citizenship, although she emphasized that a conservative political agenda wouldnt extend personhood rights that far.

Ms. Goodwin, the author of Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood, also suggested that establishing full rights for embryos and fetuses could make people and businesses liable should a pregnancy go awry, giving the examples of manufacturers or factory farms that pollute their communities, people who spray toxic pesticides or landlords who dont properly maintain a home in which a pregnant person resides.

Women who have suffered during pregnancy the ill effects of environmental injustice and pollutants and toxins and all of these different kinds of things  it opens them up to be able to utilize the same tools and the same kinds of arguments in order to protect their health and safety, she told me. In South Korea a fetus was the named plaintiff at just 20 weeks of gestational age in a lawsuit against the South Korean government for not taking sufficient action against climate change; now a toddler, he won his case last August.

Some of Michele Goodwins thinking was informed by watching the unfettered market for sperm and egg donations emerge alongside talk of the sanctity of embryonic life, even as lifesaving organs were strictly regulated and compensation banned. As she points out, A heart will save your life. An embryo will not. Yael Malka for The New York Times

The questions raised by these legal scenarios, some unfolding with increasing regularity, should spur us to grapple with the current inconsistencies in our laws and ethics. These questions are likely to become even more salient in the years ahead: Hundreds of thousands of people undergo I.V.F. every year in the United States; hundreds of thousands more get divorced. Procedures go awry. Clinics make mistakes. As a result of these ordinary events, people will continue to contest the meaning and fate of embryos in courts, where, as we have seen, there are few consistent guidelines.

Over the years, philosophers, legal scholars and bioethicists have thought through these quandaries in the pages of academic journals. In a 2023 paper in The Georgetown Law Journal, the law professors Dov Fox and Jill Wieber Lens argued, perhaps counterintuitively, that in cases of reproductive loss (which can encompass everything from mishandled embryos to mismanaged pregnancies resulting in miscarriage or stillbirth), achieving justice requires less consistency rather than more. In their view, juries should evaluate cases on multiple factors, including the subjective experience of the people who suffered the loss. A plaintiff might herself believe she lost a child, a baby, a pregnancy or property, they wrote.

Similarly, Francoise Baylis, a Canadian bioethicist, has long believed that embryos deserve their own legal category; neither property nor people is accurate or commensurate with the sociocultural value of these materials, as she wrote in an unpublished paper she began 20 years ago with a co-author. In it they proposed a third category: that embryos are sui generis. Dr. Baylis later explained that this means there is no one size fits all for every ethical, social or legal challenge. Evaluating embryos under this concept invites subjectivity and contingency  considering each one, as it were, in the round, in the context of many interconnected and competing factors, she said.

But outside the pages of scholarly journals, such nuance is hard to come by in the United States. This is, of course, because of our suffocating abortion debate, the stakes of which have perhaps never been higher. Many discussions about embryos become abortion fights by proxy, which has led to decades of zero-sum battles about whether an embryo is a human being or a clump of cells.

Dr. Fox noted that the country has barely had a nationwide conversation on human embryos since the late 1970s and 80s, when I.V.F. was new. Many in the scientific and medical communities hoped that proposed regulations from the Ethics Advisory Board of that era would serve as the foundation for further regulations of the practice of I.V.F., he added, but in failing to act on its proposals, legislators left I.V.F. to operate in a regulatory gray zone, rarely the focus of public debate.

This has brought us to the profoundly unsatisfying situation in which we find ourselves today: governed by scattershot regulation, subject to unpopular court opinions and bewildered by bizarre and often contradictory pronouncements from policymakers and thought leaders.

Yet, to state the obvious, abortions and embryos are not the same thing. Given the evolution of reproductive technologies and innovations in embryo research, it is now possible to consider questions of how we want to treat embryos, in some situations, separately from the rights of those who gestate them. And that will demand different considerations, questions and principles.

Now a bioethicist, Alta Charo worked in the 1980s as a legal analyst tasked with preparing a report on new reproductive technologies, which touched on the legal status of embryos. That was the beginning of my own personal view that intrinsic biological potential is not enough. It needs active human assistance, she said. Yael Malka for The New York Times

Normally we would turn to democratic processes to let society reach an outcome that, even if not agreeable to everyone, would allow diverse voices to be heard. Unfortunately that is not where we are. The strategy of abortion opponents over the past two decades also suggests that the opportunity for open dialogue might have passed.

As Ben Hurlbut, a bioethicist who has written extensively on the relationship between human embryo research and democracy, observed, supporters of embryonic personhood changed tack after the stem-cell debates in the 2000s. Once the public and funders such as the National Institutes of Health largely embraced stem-cell research, the anti-abortion movement shifted from trying to sway public opinion with scientifically grounded arguments about the sanctity of genetically unique organisms to focusing more on a bare-knuckle strategy centered on amassing political and judicial power.

Without dialogue and debate, transparency and understanding, we risk a future in which embryo governance  or lack thereof  will be decided by religious critics of I.V.F. ruling from the bench or enthusiastic techno-optimists developing products and services with an eye toward profit. A real public conversation, I believe, is necessary if we are to have any coherence or even humanity in our approach to embryos and to all of the people who have a stake in them.

Of the five dozen or so people I interviewed for this project, none seemed confident that a good-faith societywide conversation around these questions was possible in America today.

Laura Elm and the

Rev. Andrew M. Jaspers

offer Christian burials

for embryos that do

not make it through the

I.V.F. process. Laura Elm was working at an insurance company when she learned about the high rate of embryo loss during the I.V.F. process, since many fertilized eggs do not make it to the stage when they are ready to implant or do not survive the thawing process. She started Sacred Heart Guardians to offer parents the opportunity for a Christian burial for their nonviable embryos. The Rev. Andrew M. Jaspers is now one of the priests who performs those burials in Minneapolis. These are unmistakably hundreds of infants who are being buried all at once, and its just really hard to wrap ones mind around it. the Rev. Andrew M. Jaspers Sacred Heart Guardians

has buried 1,715

embryos since 2018.

In Britain the conversation that started four decades ago with the Warnock Committee  the group that proposed the 14-day rule for embryo research that became the de facto global standard  continues. This past December, the leading lights of Britains embryo world gathered in central London to discuss where the embryos special status will lead.

In reading about the Warnock Committee, I was struck by the genuinely reciprocal engagement between policymakers and an anxious public during that process. Britons were intrigued by but uneasy about the new technology in their midst and shared these thoughts with Mary Warnock, a philosopher, and her biologist colleague Anne McLaren, as the women toured the country meeting ordinary citizens where they were, at universities and libraries. As Sarah Franklin and Emily Jackson recounted in their history of the 14-day rule, this dialogue created a virtuous cycle that generated trust in both scientific research and the policy that would govern it.

What transpired in December was not quite a gathering at the local library, but it brought together a broad range of perspectives under one roof. The audience, 200 people in all, included philosophers, undergraduates, politicians, lawyers, device manufacturers, OB-GYNs, investors, embryologists, developmental biologists, geneticists, fertility doctors, medical students, ethicists, research funders, regulators and scholars from a variety of fields.

From 8:30 a.m. through lunchtime over sandwiches, all of them served ice-cold (very British, observed one attendee), until 7 p.m., when the last few embryo enthusiasts trickled out of the cocktail reception, they discussed embryos, earnestly trying to make sense of their special status in the law, in the fertility clinic, in the research laboratory and in ethics. An undergraduate studying biomedical genetics asked about the possibility of gene editing embryo models. (The student later told me, I dont think that anyone whos doing a biomedical or medical degree can afford to not have those conversations.)

A scientist described obtaining a 16-to-19-day-old embryo from someone who had undergone an abortion shortly after missing her period and designated the remains for research purposes. In a Q&A a sociologist proposed that women who undergo medication abortions at home could collect the expelled blood and tissue and send it to biologists who research postimplantation embryos. During the lunch break, I saw the scientist and the sociologist discussing how to make this plan a reality, cold sandwiches in hand.

The biggest surprise of the day came just after the sandwiches, in an afternoon panel on the embryos status in the law. Peter Thompson, the chief executive of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, which regulates the fertility sector and research on human embryos, said that the pace of innovation had created what he described as a mismatch between scientific progress and the law. The previous month, the authoritys board carefully weighed the arguments for and against extending the 14-day limit.

The fact that something is scientifically possible is not, of course, a sufficient reason to change the law, he acknowledged. But given the potential for insights into the black box period (14 to 28 days after fertilization, when an embryos development is essentially unobservable) to yield new treatment options and evidence that a majority of the British public would be supportive, he said, the board reached the conclusion that research on embryos should be allowed up to 28 days. He was clear that the authority was not simply flinging the door wide open: If Parliament agrees to extend the law, the authority will probably review proposals case by case to go beyond 14 days, and researchers would have to justify their rationale for wanting to do so.

Given Britains longstanding leadership in regulating embryo research, Mr. Thompsons announcement felt, to many of those of us in the room at least, history-making. But in fact, another country had beaten him to it. In October 2023 the Health Council of the Netherlands unequivocally recommended that the Dutch Parliament extend the countrys legal limit on cultivating embryos for research purposes to 28 days. (Sweden is also considering similar changes to its 14-day limit.)

Shona Kalkman, a staff ethicist at the Health Council of the Netherlands, said she and her colleagues had prepared for a media firestorm, but to their surprise, the news landed with barely a ripple. I spoke to some scholars who have written about the 14-day rule who had not heard of the Dutch position.

The councils decision cited three considerations that any research guidelines must balance: the protection of early human life, the benefits of scientific research and the societal perspective. A supplemental background paper lists the various conditions that extending the limit could provide new insight into  heart defects such as cardia bifida in Week 3, body cavity wall defects and scoliosis in Week 4. (Interestingly, the report concluded that certain embryo models and classic embryos created through I.V.F. are morally equivalent, on the grounds that as long as it is scientifically impossible to rule out that a model could one day develop into a human being, it deserves the same consideration.)

But the Netherlands and Britain are not the United States.

Instead, our political system and the characters who preside over it have created a situation of utter incoherence, in which so-called pro-life laws banning abortions have contributed to the deaths of several pregnant women, even as the number of abortions has risen and in which a ruling that embryos are children has caused delays for families seeking to have actual children, as fertility clinics in Alabama put treatments on pause. This inability to lean into the gray, as a lawyer at the London conference put it, is understandable. Venturing into dense fog alone is hardly appealing. But since it must be done, perhaps it is something we can do together.

Tiffany Sorto and her

husband donated their

remaining embryos to

three couples, resulting

in two children and

one pregnancy so far. We were so lucky to have these nine embryos through the hardships that we went through. Why not give them to other families? The families share pictures with us, and my husband and I will ask, Does she look like our daughter when she was a baby? Its our DNA, but at the end of the day, that was the choice that we made, and were so happy about it. Instead of them being disposed of, weve created a family through other families. Tiffany Sorto

Over the course of reporting for this project, Ive gained a deeper appreciation for how others view embryos and affirmed my intuition that theyre not merely clumps of cells. But nothing has done more to unsettle my feelings about them than watching the ongoing development of my own embryo, who is now 2 years old. When I began work on this story in earnest, I was eight months pregnant.

I picked up the reporting again after a few months of maternity leave, and soon after that, we traveled to California, where a lovely babysitter watched my 5-month-old daughter on college campuses while I visited a laboratory where embryo models were being made by the hundreds and another where a researcher had created a model ovary. I saw the video of my daughter, as an embryo, engaged in what Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz called the dance of life.

I learned about polygenic embryo screening and wondered whether, despite hearing from many of its critics, I had inadvertently harmed my daughter by not learning more about her potential health. I spoke to people who had adopted frozen embryos just like the ones I had in storage and used them to begin their own families.

Over these two and a half years of near-daily conversations about embryos  reading about them, talking to people about them and thinking about them  I pondered what to do with my remaining embryos. Many former fertility patients confront these questions once or twice a year, when the bill for their cryogenic storage arrives. For me, it was almost daily, starting with my morning Google alert for embryo. Reading Dr. Zernicka-Goetzs book inspired me to contemplate donating them to research, where, I thought, they might help advance our scientific understanding of pregnancy.

When I first heard of what is called compassionate transfer, the transfer of one or more embryos at a time when pregnancy is highly unlikely to occur, my initial reaction was disgust; it seemed to treat a womans body like a garbage can, a place to dispose of unwanted tissue. But as I pored over the anthropologist Risa Cromers book on embryo adoption, I was touched by a passage in which an embryo recipient recounts driving through a snowstorm, on her birthday, to reach her fertility clinic for a transfer, only to be told the embryos hadnt thawed well and she was unlikely to get pregnant. She still chose to go through with the transfer.

They werent dead; there was still life in them, and whether they were deemed successful or not, I didnt want to put them in a trash can, she explained to Dr. Cromer. I feel at ease knowing that they went into a warm body that was prepared for them and that loved them. I got to love them for two weeks, and then I got to pass them back to God.

All of a sudden, I could see the appeal of compassionate transfer. I dont believe in God, but I liked the idea of them coming to rest in my body  the place, in a sense, where they belonged. Then, as the reporting drew to a close, I watched my editor and three other close friends go through pregnancy with their second children, and I knew that I could do that, too. The possibility was waiting for me, sitting in a freezer somewhere.

What does it mean that I could consider such different fates for these embryos over the course of just a year or two? What does it say about the wisdom of repugnance, in the words of the bioethicist Leon Kass, that my initial repugnance toward these various options fluctuated as I encountered other peoples experiences and opinions?

I consider myself wiser not for following my instinctive disgust but for having engaged with these other perspectives. I would encourage us all to do the same  to think about embryos with a little more humility and a lot less certainty and, above all, in the company of others. Trying to pin down their ultimate moral significance, the bioethicist Alta Charo wrote, is akin to the hunting of the Snark, a quixotic endeavor with little chance of a satisfying outcome, yet an endeavor, I would argue, that is worth undertaking nonetheless.

In all likelihood, this is not a single conversation but many. It may happen between doctors and patients, researchers and regulators and friends and neighbors. It will require leaning into the gray. As a society, we must assess the legal regime that courts have created through their piecemeal decisions and decide if another way forward is preferable. We could benefit from a firmer grasp of the science of reproduction and let that literacy inform how we debate our intuitions regarding early human embryo research. Conversations about the technology of embryo screening and other practices in fertility medicine should lead to more transparency and accountability. Perhaps we could even learn, finally, just how many embryos are currently in storage.

There need not be consistency across these conversations. We all have the capacity to feel one way about embryos in one context or on one day and a different way in another situation. It is their astonishing subjectivity, their place at the center of innumerable conditions and forces and ideologies  economic, social, religious, technical, political, philosophical  that makes embryos so eminently capable of teaching us something about our beliefs, if we can find the will to engage in thoughtful, good-faith probing.

If I am honest, any newfound wisdom Ive gained along the way has not made it easier to figure out where my embryos belong; I am still deciding how I feel about their eventual fate. At the moment, it doesnt seem financially, logistically or, some days, even physically feasible to have a second child. And perhaps this context is what ethicists and lawyers and philosophers mean when they suggest that embryos are sui generis  ontologically unknowable, forever suspended in a gray zone of meaning and potentiality. Their meaning can only ever be contingent.

Maybe my remaining embryos will find their way to a lab, where they will help a scientist unlock the secret of miscarriage or spina bifida. Or perhaps the clinic will have an accident and their potential for life will be gone. Or I will receive an unexpected financial windfall and feel secure enough to try to turn one of them into a second child. Or maybe my body wont cooperate, the embryologist at the clinic will have an off day or something else will happen to affirm that they were only ever chances, no guarantees.

Anna Louie Sussman is a journalist who writes about gender, economics and reproduction. She is working on a book about family building in an age of uncertainty. This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Alicia Patterson Foundation.

Video editing by Addison Post. Additional reporting by Tenzin D. Tsagong. Some interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
Gina Milani

Anyone active in media relations can tell you that getting your pitch noticed by an editor is only getting harder.

As a B2B PR Practitioner for over 25 years, I had strategically leveraged "advertorials" for my clients, but wasn't really clear on what Mat Releases were and how, in today's competitive pitching environment, these might be considered along with the release distribution decision itself. But first, a little context on why now.

According to Northwestern's Medill State of Local News Report, since 2005, more than 3,200 print newspapers have vanished. In addition, papers are reducing their print coverage, including shifting from dailies to weeklies or ending print publishing altogether.

In Medill's 2024 report, they found that the US has already exceeded their prediction that by the end of 2025 the country would have lost one-third of its print newspapers over the past two decades. Fewer than 5,600 newspapers remain, 80% of which are weeklies.

In the early days of public relations, PR professionals had a relatively straightforward choice when it came to distributing news: PR Newswire and Business Wire were the dominant players, serving as the primary channels for press release distribution.

These traditional wire services offered broad news dissemination, often reaching journalists, investors, and industry stakeholders through trusted newsrooms and financial networks.

Today journalists still do use newswires but they are not reliant in the same way they were in the past.

The media world now looks much different; today PR pros out number journalists 6 to 1 which means they're fielding pitches day in and day out. Furthermore, the advent of the internet and the proliferation of web-based news distribution platforms have made decision-making around which outlet is best for your piece of news far more complex.

Web-based news distribution platforms

After PRWeb led the way, PR professionals now face an overwhelming number of web-based, online-only options, each promising visibility, reach, and SEO benefits.

Were even seeing more vertical specialization. 3BL Media for example, has been around since 2009 focusing on ESG-Sustainability Related News, but in 2023 we saw FinTechWire was introduced as well as PressLoft specializing in the Interior, Gift, Fashion & Lifestyle sectors.

Today's AI Generative search capabilities and voice search have further complicated the process. A recent entry is Press Rangers AIWire which seeks to ensure news is reference by AI.

While we all strive to be responsible stewards of our clients' PR budgets, the challenge lies in balancing cost with results.

Traditional wire services remain valuable for their authoritative reach and credibility, but newer web-only distribution options offer different advantages many of which include budget-friendly, digital-only press release distribution services that focus on online visibility and SEO.

Public Relations, and the tools we use, have been evolving rapidly over the past decade. During that time, we've seen the rise of content marketing and companies hiring journalists to excavate internal corporate stories so they can bring them to life and use content marketing platforms to go direct to their prospects. Leveraging trusted syndication partners is not that different.

Mat releases vs. advertorials

As we consider content syndication strategies, its important to distinguish between mat releases and advertorials, two strategies that serve different purposes.

Mat Releases are pre-written, strategic articles often sourced from press releases designed for syndication in media outlets. These are often picked up by newspapers and online platforms as editorial-style content, providing guaranteed placements without appearing as direct advertisements.

Advertorials, on the other hand, are paid promotional content that blends advertising with editorial. Unlike mat releases, advertorials are explicitly labeled as sponsored content and are directly controlled by the advertiser, making them more overtly promotional but effective especially in B2B marketing.

While both approaches can help brands secure media exposure, mat releases tend to be more subtly integrated into editorial spaces, whereas advertorials function more like traditional advertisements.

As professional storytellers it's always a thrill to see your strategy, pitch and story land in your desired outlet/s for your client. But what do you do if you're collecting your retainer but have nothing to show for your efforts.

Every truly good story deserves some air time and there is an alternative if you are willing to pivot and redirect investment to guide the story to its successful completion.

Mat releases as a distribution alternative

For brands seeking predictable media placement and broad national exposure, Mat Releases, offer another approach.

The reason I've embraced this outlook is because of the deep relationships these companies have cultivated with publishers over the years.

NAPS (North American Precis Syndicate), founded in 1958 is the oldest mat release services in the U.S. and specializes in traditional print newspapers and magazines, with some digital and trade publication placements.

NAPS would own the space until 1987 when NewsUSA was founded building its model on securing guaranteed placements in newspapers, online news sites, and industry publications.

Let's remember that when NewsUSA entered the market in 1987, the media landscape was vastly different. Cable news was still in its infancy, local newspapers were the primary source of information, and social media was non-existent.

At the time, securing earned media required building direct relationships with journalists and editorsa process that NewsUSA has continued to refine over decades, leveraging its network to ensure placements for clients.

Ten years later another Mat Release resource, Brandpoint entered the market, specializing in sponsored content distribution across digital and print media and now with SEO-friendly distribution (because now we have social media) and guaranteed placements.

Mat Release pricing across the industry is typically, flat-rate, with varying levels of customization and guarantees.

For many today, including Mat releases in a communications strategy can ensure guaranteed placements and be more predictable for clients with limited budgets.

Business Wire, PR Newswire, Globe and other distribution outlets typically charge based on word count and geographic distribution -- and results are not guaranteed.

Final thoughts

The evolution of PR distribution has given communicators more choices than ever before, but it has also introduced new challenges.

As we navigate this increasingly complex landscape, its essential to weigh the trade-offs between cost, reach, and guaranteed results.

Whether leveraging traditional wire services, web-only platforms, a Mat releases unique syndication model, or an advertorial, PR professionals must adopt a strategic approach to what news may deserve wire service distribution and if other outlets are "good enough" for lesser news.

Then of course, we have to decide how we're going to monitor and measure the return on whatever investment is made which is another set of decision-making.

***

Gina Milani is the President of Milani Marketing & PR, LLC a virtual PR agency specializing in enterprise software since 2001. She is a long-time member of PRSA, is a passionate advocate for all PR entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.PRToolfinder.com the industrys only online tools database dedicated 100% to PR Tools.
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Chinese scientist turns desert into oasis, boosts rural economy in NW China's Xinjiang

People's Daily Online) 14:06, April 08, 2025

In China's arid northwest, where towns once fled advancing deserts, scientists are transforming barren sands into productive land, offering ecological and economic hope to local communities.

Zeng Fanjiang heads a research station of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qira county, Hotan prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

During his 30-year career, Zeng has developed sand-fixing technologies using salt cedars and saxoul shrubs, registering 17 patents while leading his team in the fight against desertification. Their work has boosted vegetation coverage on shifting dunes by more than 40 percent across the county, with these techniques now used throughout Xinjiang.

Zeng Fanjiang (center) examines a desert plant with students in Qira county, Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Historically, the inhabitants of Qira county have had to relocate their settlements three times due to encroaching deserts and severe sandstorms. In 1983, recognizing the persistent threat, authorities established a research station in the county to combat desertification.

In July 1997, 31-year-old Zeng departed from Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, for the research station, becoming the first graduate student there.

After evaluating more than 100 desert species, Zeng's team identified perennial plants like salt cedars as the most effective for stabilizing shifting sands.

They guided local communities in enhancing the county's unique wind prevention and sand fixation model. This system comprises frontline dikes to intercept shifting dunes, backed by low shrubs and grasses to stabilize the sand, and artificial shrub forests with narrow windbreak belts. This model has been widely adopted, helping transform desert-encroached areas into green oases.

In 2007, Zeng initiated a saxoul planting experiment on a field covering 5 mu (0.33 hectares). He and his team tested seven planting patterns, combining saxouls with endemic salt cedars. After three years, they found planting cistanche  a valuable medicinal herb  into saxoul roots in a specific pattern maximized economic returns. Moreover, saxoul roots could filter bitter and saline water, addressing local water quality issues.

Zeng's team also identified other economically beneficial sand-fixing plants. Through an innovative model integrating ecological conservation with industrial development, they established a 38,000-mu desert industrial park in Qira. This initiative increased the annual income of farmers and herders by over 3,000 yuan ($413) and benefited more than 200,000 people.

In 2013, Zeng was recognized as one of China's top 10 models for sand prevention and control. He emphasized the importance of balancing development with ecological protection.

Sand barriers protect the edge of the county seat of Qira county, Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo courtesy of the media convergence center of Qira county)

Starting in 2023, with support from the local forestry and grassland department, Zeng led his team in implementing a research project aimed at optimizing 500 mu of shrubland.

Over the years, Zeng guided the research station in establishing technical models for optimizing the management and sustainable use of desert plants. Their achievements have been applied across nearly 50,000 mu in Hotan and neighboring areas.

"We must sow the seeds of science," Zeng said, encouraging young researchers at the station to actively engage in science popularization so more people can understand the stories behind sand prevention and control efforts and embrace environmental protection concepts.

The station now serves as both a national science education center and a regional hub promoting scientific spirit throughout Xinjiang.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Jamie Kightley

The status quo of B2B social strategy is being shaken up on two fronts. First, theres a proliferation of channels stealing market share from LinkedIn and X: Threads, Bluesky and the rise of open-source channels. Second, theres a shift in purchasing personas as Gen Z enters the buying cycle. That generation prefers to research brands themselves as opposed to getting in touch with sales directly. Social is very much the new frontier for this research, as thats where just under half of consumers say they now find brands.

In this new arena, B2B brands need to think differently to ensure they carry through their leadership and sell their brand equity via the right social channels for their campaign audience.

Is LinkedIns B2B reign on the decline?

First, B2B marketers need to understand where their target audience is. For years, LinkedIn has been king of B2B social media, with 80 percent of B2B marketers worldwide using the platform. In fact, LinkedIn now boasts an impressive billion-plus users from more than 200 different countries. But is the platform capable of constantly updating and evolving with the ever-changing B2B social media landscape?

Theres been a lot of movement recently in the B2B social media landscape with the introduction of Meta offering an alternative platform for targeting audiences for a fraction of LinkedIns price. Bluesky, a microblogging platform, has also burst onto the scene with 20 million users. And of course, lets not forget the rise of TikTok.

Then there was the decline in X following its transition from Twitter, a former mainstay of B2B social media marketing. The introduction of paid subscriptions, reduced analytics tools and being named one of the biggest sources of fake news and disinformation could be the main reasons behind this downfall, which has seen nearly one-fifth of its daily users drop off the platform.

So far, no other platform has been able to knock LinkedIn off its B2B social media throne, but this is a potential shift that B2B marketers should keep an eye on.

Threads joins the Fediversedecentralized social is on the rise

Elsewhere, the social media world was rocked in 2024 when Mark Zuckerberg announced that Xs rival Threads was joining the Fediverse, an open-source and decentralized network of interconnected social media platforms that has amassed more than 200 million new users. By operating on a decentralized model, the Fediverse offers users increased control over their data and interactions as theres no central authority governing the platform.

When leveraged correctly, its a great opportunity for users and B2B marketers alike to follow, like and engage with experts and B2B buyers of similar interests and industries, no matter the social channel.

Now is the time for B2B marketers to react early and join the Fediverse. With the future of other social media platforms up in the airtake TikToks ban/reinstatement in the U.S. as an examplecould we soon see a mass movement of organizations entering the Fediverse? This is another area B2B marketers should keep tabs on in 2025.

Embrace zero-click content for B2B visibility

To keep pace with the evolving nature of social media, what tactics must be a part of B2B marketers social media strategy?

Have you ever tried to find information online and ended up clicking on links that never gave you what you were after? Enter zero-click content. As the name suggests, it refers to content that requires zero clicks as the information is presented to the user in one place without them having to leave the page.

B2B marketers should start taking note of the importance of zero-click content due to its growing popularity among users and social media algorithms such as LinkedIn and X. Witness its rise on LinkedIn, where more than 50 percent of posts are now zero-click due to that platform offering in-house blog and article publishing features. These posts are getting, on average, six times more reactions compared to posts with external links, as algorithms are increasingly being designed to keep users on specific platforms without venturing to external sites. So, its up to B2B marketers to create content that fits with these algorithms and, in turn, experience the payoff of greater engagement and brand visibility.

Zero-click can apply not only to social media but SEO as well, with search results now showing a snapshot of content before users click through. Content needs to be precise, engaging and informative. Thats no easy task, so finding the right hook, utilizing your assets and content and keeping up to date is more important than ever for B2B marketers.

Social becomes the new SEO battleground

SEO is already a staple tactic in B2B marketing to stand out in the search engine results pages. But with 31 percent of social media users now using social platforms as search engines instead of traditional search engines, its making headwind in the social media world as well. Social media SEO involves utilizing traditional SEO strategies such as keywords on profile pages and posts to increase traffic and opportunities to connect with target audiences.

Witness the new trend on LinkedIn to optimize your profile for LinkedIn SEO, a strategy geared toward increasing LinkedIn visibility and its search results. First, B2B marketers need to understand what and how users are searching for like-minded LinkedIn profiles and optimize social media content, pages and profiles. But this isn't applicable only to LinkedIn: take the example of TikTok increasing its video captions from 300 to 2,200 words or Pinterest actively encouraging users to use the right keywords to affect content distribution positively. Now more than ever, B2B marketers need to consider the importance of keyword selection.

Tap into the conversation with social listening

With all the recent updates, changes and developments across social media, 2024 was a historic year as social media users surpassed the five billion mark and increased by 266 million compared to 2023. Its now harder than ever for B2B brands to keep tabs on their brands position and reputation across the ever-widening range of social channels. This is where social listening comes to the fore!

Social listening is often a term more regularly associated with B2C brands for analyzing consumer conversations, but its now essential for B2B brands as well. This strategy is key to help companies monitor social media conversations and gain insights on key customer pain points, market trends and brand narratives. It doesnt stop there, though, as B2B brands can track and analyze competitors and industry influencers, their views, issues and customer reactions to help position brands in a positive light.

Brand equity is a growing influence in the B2B landscape, with more than 90 percent of B2B buyers completely or somewhat trusting peers in their industry. Through social listening, B2B brands can tailor their content to ensure it hits customer pain points, addresses customer concerns that have been identified from social conversations and builds a stronger brand image across all social channels for potential B2B buyers to see.

The brave new world of B2B social media

The social media playbook for B2B is being rewritten. With the rise of new platforms and changing buyer behaviors, standing still isnt an option. Those who move early to experiment with the Fediverse and remain mindful of zero-click experiences, optimize content for social search and truly listen to whats resonating can turn uncertainty into success.

***

Jamie Kightley is Head of Client Services at IBA International, a B2B PR agency serving global technology clients.
Alex Romano

Narrative Strategies brings on former Edelman VP, crisis & risk Alex Romano as senior director. At Edelman, Romano helped navigate clients through executive and leadership challenges, product recalls, cyber security breaches, natural disasters, and political controversies. His decade of crisis and risk management experience will augment Narratives depth of talent and further enable us to answer the call for clients facing challenges of any size, said Narrative Strategies CEO and founding partner Ken Spain. Narrative has also hired Paige Blanchard, who previously served as a political appointee at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Lachlan Macdonald, who worked for London-based political consulting and corporate affairs firm CT Group, as strategic communications managers.

Greg Lyons

Subway appoints PepsiCo CMO Greg Lyons as global CMO, effective May 19. At PepsiCo, Lyons led the Pepsi brand to 18 consecutive quarters of growth. In his new position, he will oversee Subways global marketing, culinary, digital platforms, data and insights, and other business transformation teams. He will also work directly with Publicis Leo New York, Subways new US creative agency of record, to develop a transformative, guest-centric marketing strategy. "With more than 25 years of experience in the industry, Greg is widely respected for his ability to renew iconic brands through integrated, consumer-led marketing, said Subway Interim CEO Carrie Walsh.

Val Middleton

M+C Saatchi Sport + Entertainment names Val Middleton EVP for sport, leading sports marketing and athlete partnerships. Middleton was most recently EVP of athlete partnerships and digital marketing at SC30, the company responsible for NBA All-Star Stephen Curry's off-court business portfolio. She was previously head of marketing for Under Armours Curry-brand, its line of Curry-related products. Middleton has also been chief brand officer at hair-care brand Virtue Labs. The agency has also hired Danielle Mileno, who previously led consumer PR for Sonesta Hotels and was senior director, global communications and portfolio marketing at Marriott International as managing director and head of consumer PR. Alex Osorio, who helped launch S+Es Creator Marketing Division, has been promoted to managing director of influencer engagement and culture. Val, Alex and Danielle are going to help elevate M+C Saatchi Sport + Entertainment to be the go-to agency for brands looking to secure the right kinds of partnerships across a range of sectors, said the agencys global CEO Robin Clarke.
A GARDA had to drive at 210kph on the Dublin-Galway motorway after a speed check recorded a motorist travelling at 184kph, Tullamore District Court was told.

When the accused driver, Mohammed Emin Shirin (29), Stillorgan Grove, Stillorgan, Dublin, appeared in court without legal representation, Judge Andrew Cody told him it was a very serious matter and he should get a solicitor.

Mr Shirin said he had no solicitor. This is my first time in court so I'm somewhat ignorant to the formal proceedings, he told Judge Cody.

The judge said the charges were serious and should be taken seriously and would normally warrant engaging with the legal profession before coming to court.

Mr Shirin was summonsed on two counts of alleged dangerous driving on August 11 last year on the M6.

The first summons alleges dangerous driving of a 161 Dublin registered vehicle at Moyally, Moate, Co Westmeath and a second alleges he drove dangerously at Kilbeggan South, Co Westmeath.

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Mr Shirin said he would get a solicitor and added: I'm an implant surgeon, I was responding to a medical emergency.

Asked by the judge about the nature of the alleged driving, Sergeant Brendan Kearns said a speed check recorded a vehicle at 184kph and then a garda had to travel at 201kph.

Sergeant Kearns handed the statement of evidence to the accused man and Judge Cody adjourned the prosecution for two weeks to April 16 next.
The Consumer and Competition Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of South East Radio by the Tullamore-based Midlands 103.

The commercial radio station, which broadcasts across Offaly, Westmeath and Laois, announced last month that it had agreed to buy S.E.R.B. Radio Limited, which operates the local radio licence for County Wexford.

Speaking at the time, Will Faulkner, Managing Director of Midlands 103 said he was committed to preserving the local ethos that has made South East Radio a trusted voice in County Wexford.

"Radio is an innovative industry, and we believe the combined expertise of both teams will create an even stronger offering for listeners and commercial partners alike, while ensuring Midlands 103 and South East Radio retain their unique identities," he said.

READ ALSO: Reason for trucks revving up at 3am in Offaly town revealed and it's fantastic

Midlands 103 currently has a weekly listenership of more than 105,000 across Offaly, Westmeath and Laois while South East Radio has more than 70,000 weekly listeners.

In a decision, published on Monday, the CCPC said it is satisfied the proposed acquisition "will not substantially lessen competition in any market for goods or services in the State."

The decision of the CCPC will be now forwarded to the Minister for Arts, Culture, Communications, Media and Sport, Patrick O'Donovan and the acquisition is likely to be formally completed in the coming weeks.

Midlands 103 is part of the Tindle Group, which has a number of media businesses in Ireland, the UK and the Channel Islands.
WHISKEY production is to cease at Tullamore Distillery for up to three months this year amid challenging conditions internationally for the Tullamore D.E.W. brand.

Local sources indicated this week that three of the nine stills at the distillery in Clonminch will initially pause production, followed by another three for a further three months.

The Tullamore Tribune has been told the decision to suspend distillation was taken before US President Donald Trump's announcement of a 20% tariff on goods imports from the European Union.

Tullamore D.E.W. is the second best selling Irish whiskey globally after Jameson but says it is number one in a number of markets, including some European countries.

Industry observers have been speaking about a potential glut of whiskey supply worldwide since last year, along with concern about tariffs imposed by the US.

Irish whiskey being sold in America has been placed at a disadvantage compared to Scotch because the UK is subject to a 10% tariff.

Tullamore D.E.W. is owned by Scottish spirits producer William Grant & Sons, known for brands such as Glenfiddich scotch and Hendrick's gin.

After purchasing the Tullamore D.E.W. brand in 2010 William Grant & Sons opened a new distillery in Tullamore in 2014 and has been expanding it for the last 10 years.

There are an estimated 55,000 casks of whiskey maturing in up to 12 warehouses on the 60-acre Tullamore site but local sources have said construction work on further warehousing has also been stopped.

About 100 people work at Tullamore D.E.W. but because many are employed in the bottling plant rather than production and distillation, the impact of this year's decisions on worker numbers might be limited.

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According to its latest accounts, William Grant & Sons Irish Manufacturing Ltd, the Tullamore-based arm of the group, made after-tax profits of 3.277 million for the year ending 2023, up from 3.121 million the previous year.

Turnover jumped from 34.465 million to 49.044 million. There were 96 employees and the total wage bill was just over 5 million.

The financial statements for 2023 valued casks at 38.9 million but work in progress was worth 139.752 million.

The financial statements also refer to assets under construction worth 3.748 million.

Other than confirming that three of the stills at Tullamore Distillery will initially pause production, William Grant & Sons had no comment to make when contacted by the Tullamore Tribune.
Roscrea Lions Club, in collaboration with North Tipperary Hospice, is embarking on an innovative new project.

By partnering with local farmers and the local community the project aims to raise funds to support the establishment of a new support centre in Roscrea town which will provide much needed Hospice support services to Roscrea and its environs.

Farmers are encouraged to rear a calf from their own herd, or the Lions Club can source one if needed.

The farmers will generously donate their time and expertise to raise the calf alongside their own herd.

Once the calf reaches a suitable age or standard, it will be sold, and the proceeds will be shared between the Lions community and the North Tipperary Hospice.

This project highlights the generosity and community spirit that has been a longstanding tradition among farmers in the area. By recognising the strength of the local farming community, this endeavour has the potential to raise significant funds for the local Hospice.

The project not only acknowledges the cooperation and contribution of participating farmers but also invites others to donate towards the purchase of calves to be reared by host farmers.

North Tipperary Hospice Movement provides a wide range of programmes including psychological, practical, complimentary and group services.

Anyone that has been diagnosed with cancer or a life limiting illness, their families, carers or friends are entitled to avail of the services free of charge to ensure that no one goes through their experience alone.

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North Tipperary Hospice already have two support centres in Nenagh and Thurles and the opening of their new centre in Roscrea will ensure that services are provided to the people of North Tipperary.

All funds raised locally stay in North Tipperary to ensure that the services can be provided free of charge to those that need them most.

For more information contact any member of Roscrea Lions Club or visit www.lionsclubroscrea.ie or contact Helen on 0505 21824 or 087 4350841 or hello@northtipphospice.ie To Donate: IBAN IE14BOFI 90439216624061
SINN FEIN councillor Aoife Masterson made an impassioned plea during the March monthly meeting of Offaly County Council for everyone to make a greater push to get more women involved in local politics.

Cllr Masterson put forward a Motion which pointed out that the Council "fully recognises the importance of having women's voices heard at every level of society and the barriers still facing many women entering politics."

She called on Offaly County Council to provide a live streaming and playback facility similar to those already in operation in other councils such as Dublin County Council, Cork County Council and Roscommon County Council with the aim of "encouraging and facilitating more women to enter politics." The motion was seconded by Cllr Sean Maher.

The Councillor pointed out that women are 50% of Ireland's population and yet they are hugely under-represented in the political sphere. She said many women are very often forced into or volunteer for the caring roles in society.

"All of this leads to a disconnect between women in our communities with national and local politics; a disconnect between women and the work carried out by the County Council, work and decisions which affects the lives of women.

Many women think negatively of the Council. There is a huge amount of mistrust of politicians at the moment. In fact, the truth is that we do good work in the County Council. It is also true that everyone can only benefit by having more women in politics."

Director of Services Ann Dillon told the meeting that some years ago funding was made available by a governmental Department to encourage local women into politics. This funding paid for the running of workshops in 2022 and 2023 for women interested in standing as local and general election candidates. Some of them did subsequently stand. "I participated in those workshops," remarked Cllr Masterson. "The training was fantastic."

Cllr Fergus McDonnell said he supported the motion. "There has been a lot of discussion over the years about the approach which political parties could take in regards to this issue. I would like to add that being an Independent is also a very commendable route. I would encourage women to enter the political world as Independents. Social media has made the rough and tumble of politics worse than it used to be. The negative influence of social media on the political world is discouraging for men, as well as women."

Cllrs Claire Murray-Smale and Eleanor Clendennen both agreed with the motion. They pointed out that the number of women in the Council increased during last year's local elections.

Ann Dillon commented that some Councils are indeed broadcasting their meetings to the general public. "We are not against it," she remarked. "We will look into it."
A Palliative Medicine Consultant for the Health Service Executive says that having a specialist palliative care inpatient unit in the Midlands will mean that local specialist palliative care teams will have the full range of services available to patients.

Dr Pauline Kane, made her comments in a statement issued by the HSE in conjunction with the recent submission of a planning application for a Midland's Hospice to be located in Tullamore.

Dr Kane said, ''the Midlands Hospice will give the specialist palliative care service the ability to provide intensive symptom support and multi-disciplinary input to patients with challenging symptoms in a more appropriate environment than an acute hospital. This is a hugely important development for our patients and their families to have this facility and we are looking forward to it becoming a reality very soon,'' she said.

The HSE says the main features of the proposed hospice will be a ''much needed'' 20 bed specialist palliative care inpatient unit, a Day Therapy Unit and an education centre. ''Because of its location and the size of the site, there will be extensive landscaping of the grounds, and each inpatient bedroom will be on the ground floor with direct access to an individual outdoor area.''

Palliative care is a form of holistic care which improves the quality of life of patients who have challenges associated with life-threatening illness, including physical, psychological, social or spiritual. While palliative care was initially available to patients with cancer, AIDS or Motor Neuron Disease, it is now available for all patients with chronic, progressive conditions with a limited prognosis, and can be accessed much earlier in a patients illness, rather than just in the last days of life.

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The services of the hospice will primarily be available to patients living in all four Midlands counties: Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath.

''Having the Midlands Hospice will provide our local specialist palliative care teams with a full range of inpatient and day services locally. This will enable the specialist management of patients with difficult symptoms in a more appropriate environment for terminally ill patients rather than an acute hospital, without the need to attend the Emergency Department.''

The HSE says it would like to thank the following groups (in alphabetical order): Hooves for Hospice, Irish Hospice Foundation, Laois Hospice, Longford Hospice, North Westmeath Hospice, Offaly Hospice and South Westmeath Hospice, and also it would like to thank local public representatives who have supported this from across the Midlands and the Department of Health.






Two primary schools in Offaly are gearing up for significant expansions, each launching tender processes for major construction projects aimed at enhancing their facilities and supporting growing student numbers.

St Joseph's National School in Tullamore has opened a tender for the supply and installation of a two-storey prefabricated extension. The planned development will feature six new classrooms, ancillary toilets, two set rooms, two universally accessible WCs, stairwells, a platform lift and all necessary site works.

The extension is set to be built to the south rear of the school's current facility. The contract is valued at a maximum 2m excluding vat with the deadline for tender submissions set for April 28.

Established at its current location in 1980, St Joseph's is a coeducational Catholic junior primary school, catering for around 400 pupils including two special needs classes.

The school has seen steady growth over the years with refurbishments in 2004 and four new rooms added in 2008.

Meanwhile, St Sinchill's National School in Killeigh is also preparing for a significant development. The school is seeking the most economically advantageous tender for the construction of a single-storey extension designed to support special education needs.

The project will include two new special education classrooms, remedial and demolition works, external landscaping, expanded play areas, and additional parking facilities. The estimated value of the works is a maximum 3.8 million with a submission deadline of May 5.

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Killeigh National School below

St Sinchill's currently serves 295 pupils from Killeigh, the Meeleghans and Killurin areas. With enrolment numbers on the rise, the school is expanding to better meet the needs of its diverse student population. While under the patronage of the Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Dr Denis Nulty, the school welcomes students of all faiths and backgrounds






In a world where youth is often seen as the hallmark of creative breakthrough, Elle Friberg is defying expectations. At the age of 30, she is stepping into the music scene with her debut as a solo artist - a journey that began in Botswana and is now coming to life in Sweden. With roots in Botswana and life experiences from six different countries - including Sweden, the UK, Ireland, Austria, 
New Delhi, 8th April, 2025 - TMI e2E Academy Private Limited, an NSDC partner and part of the 34-year-old TMI Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development (DTNBWED), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. This landmark partnership aims to empower India's informal and semi-skilled workforce by delivering impactful skill development, capacity building, 
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Andrew Wiederhorn, CEO of Fatburger speaks on the topic of second chances and finding success after a conviction during a 2017 event. Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal

The prosecution of onetime Portland business executive Andrew Wiederhorn will continue, Justice Department officials in California said this week, even after President Donald Trump last month personally fired the assistant U.S. attorney leading the case.

Wiederhorn, the Portland-born financier, built a business empire in the city before he pleaded guilty to two felony charges in connection with a sweeping pension scandal. After serving a 14-month prison sentence, he decamped to Beverly Hills and founded the restaurant company Fat Brands, the parent company of Fatburger and other chains.

Now he faces charges that, as Fat Brands CEO, he concealed $47 million in loans he took from the publicly traded company, which then forgave the loans. Prosecutors allege that amounts to tax fraud because Wiederhorn never disclosed the loan forgiveness to the IRS.

The lead prosecutor on the case, Adam Schleifer, was terminated in an email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office  not Justice Department leaders  and specified the termination was being carried out on behalf of President Donald J. Trump, sources told The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times.

The firing raised eyebrows, in part because of Schleifers role in the high-profile case against Wiederhorn. The Los Angeles Times cited sources who believed the firing was directly tied to Wiederhorns prosecution.

But the predicted liberation of Wiederhorn  who remains Fat Brands chairman  from another criminal trial hasnt come.

The case against Wiederhorn is proceeding, said Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Los Angeles.

Wiederhorn was charged with four counts of wire fraud; three counts of false statements and omission of material facts in statements to accountants; six counts of tax evasion, and one count of certifying false financial statements. He was also charged with two counts of making a personal loan from issuer to executive officer, and one count of endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the tax laws.

In a separate indictment, Wiederhorn was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition after his previous felony conviction.

Prosecutors also filed charges against Fat Brands chief financial officer, his outside accountant and Fat Brands itself.

Schleifers termination came soon after right-wing activist and Trump adviser Laura Loomer publicly called for his firing.

Why is Biden holdover @AdamSchleiferNY Adam Schleifer still working for the US Attorneys office under the new Trump administration? Loomer posted on the social media site X. He is a Trump hater who has been working at the US Attorneys office since 2021.

Schleifer ran for Congress in New York state as a Democrat in 2020 but lost in the primary.

Fire him, Loomer demanded. He supported the impeachment of President Trump and said he wanted to repeal Trumps tax plan.

Trump did.

Days later, Trump fired six members of the National Security Agency, again after Loomers urging. In the latter instance, Trump denied Loomer played a significant role in the firings.

What this all means for Wiederhorn is unclear.

He has donated money to Trump and Republican political campaign committees, but not a huge amount  less than $20,000 in 2023 and 2024, political finance records show.

He did apparently attend a Trump inaugural ball with his wife in January. Photos of the couple at what appears to be the inaugural Starlight Ball were posted on social media.

Wiederhorns attorney declined to comment, and a public relations representative did not return several messages.

Attorneys and former prosecutors say that regardless of the motivation, Schleifers firing is both bizarre and chilling.

Ron Hoevet spent six years with the U.S. Justice Department in the 1970s and 80s before he launched his own private practice.

The local office was largely apolitical in those days, Hoevet said. He remembers when Sidney Lezak, his former boss, was the U.S. attorney in Portland for 21 years.

He was appointed by Kennedy and he kept that job through the Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations, Hoevet said. It was just smooth in those days.

The high-level intervention of the White House in the Los Angeles U.S. Attorneys Office, with a prominent case pending, also surprised Donna Maddux, a Portland lawyer who served eight years in the local U.S. attorneys office, leaving in 2020.

This feels unprecedented. Most cases are handled entirely at the local level, Maddux said. The goal always is to have prosecutions be separated from the political process.

U.S. attorney offices are part of the U.S. Justice Department, which is now headed by Pam Bondi, a former Florida prosecutor and a longtime Trump ally. She served on Trumps impeachment defense team.

In February, Bondi announced the formation of a working group to review instances of prosecutorial abuse in the Justice Departments investigation of the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

Whether Bondi or Trump think Schleifer abused his position is unclear. Questions emailed to the White House press office were not answered.

Schleifer was prosecuting a second federal indictment against Wiederhorn.

His Portland company, Wilshire Financial Services Group, collapsed in bankruptcy in 1999. It triggered the collapse of a lender, Capital Consultants, whose founder was accused in the fallout of hiding the companys conditions from investors  among them a number of union pension funds  and of making illegal payments.

Wiederhorn was caught up in the scandal. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to charges of paying an illegal gratuity to an associate and to filing a false tax return.

Another federal case hangs in limbo so long as the Justice Departments case remains active.

Last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed its own civil lawsuit against Fat Brands, Wiederhorn and two others, one of whom worked at the company. The financial regulator claims Wiederhorn violated securities laws when he used company funds for personal expenses and engaged in false and deceptive acts to conceal these financial misdeeds.

The other defendants enabled the transactions, the SEC alleged.

The case is on hold at the request of the Justice Department, which argued that its criminal case should take precedence.

-- Jeff Manning; jeffmanning62@gmail.com
A head-on crash on U.S. 97 in Wasco County killed a 7-year-old boy and seriously injured five other people on Friday.

Oregon State Police responded to the two-vehicle wreck at 9:08 p.m. near milepost 65.

Preliminary investigation showed that Eduardo Enrique Aguirre, 34, from Spokane, Washington, was driving a Honda CRV southbound when he attempted to pass a commercial vehicle in a no-passing zone.

His vehicle struck a northbound Volkswagen Atlas driven by Eric Daniel Smidt, 45, from Pendleton.

The crash killed a 7-year-old passenger in Aguirres vehicle. Aguirre and another juvenile passenger, a 4-year-old boy, were seriously injured and taken to a hospital.

Smidt, his wife, Heather Marie Smidt, 46, and a 15-year-old male passenger also suffered serious injuries and were taken to a hospital.

Investigators determined an unlawful pass was the primary cause of the crash. The highway was closed for approximately five hours during the investigation.

This story was drafted with the assistance of generative AI based on data from Oregon State Police and reviewed by Oregonian editorial staff.
A federal judge has dismissed an excessive force lawsuit filed by the family of Michael Reinoehl, the self-described anti-fascist who was shot in Washington by police while on the run from a killing in downtown Portland.

Reinoehls family filed the civil rights suit in Tacoma in 2023 against the federal, state and local officers who fatally shot him, alleging they never identified themselves before firing more than 40 bullets at Reinoehl in a crowded residential neighborhood.
Oregon moved up in the polls after sweeping Michigan.

The Ducks (34-4, 9-1 Big Ten) are No. 4 with 653 points in the NFCA poll and No. 4 with 509 points in the USA Softball poll after three wins over the Wolverines last weekend and are tied for first in the conference.

Thats up from No. 6 with 630 points and No. 5 with 501 points, respectively, last week.

Oregons 5-3 loss to LMU on Monday was not considered in this weeks polls, but dropped Oregons RPI, which was 17 entering the week, to 20. The Ducks are 4-0 against the RPI top 25 and 12-2 against the top 50, but Mondays loss was also their second against teams outside the top 50.

In Fridays win, Oregon led 2-0 through four but Michigan tied it in the top of the sixth. Rylee McCoy put UO back in front with an RBI single and Elise Sokolsky closed out the 3-2 win.

In the first game on Saturday, the Ducks were down 4-2 after six. Paige Sinicki drove in a run, a wild pitch allowed Kaylynn Jones to tie it and Kedre Luschar singled up the middle for the walk-off 5-4 win. Lyndsey Grein allowed one unearned run on three hits and a hit batter and stuck out five in a 9-1 win in five innings as UO completed the sweep.

Sokolsky and Stefini Maake were named Big Ten pitcher and freshman of the week, respectively.

The Ducks managed just four hits and left five on base in a 5-3 loss to LMU, which scored four off Taylour Spencer in the second inning and never looked back.

Oregon travels to Minnesota (14-23, 3-10) for a three-game series beginning at 3 p.m. PT Friday.
Students lock their phones away in Yondr pouches before the start of the school day at Happy Valley Middle School in fall of 2024. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

School districts across Oregon would prohibit students from using their cell phones during the entire school day, including lunch and passing periods, under a bill that won support from the House Education Committee on Monday.

House Bill 2251 contains exemptions for students who need access to their phones for medical reasons or because of their individual special education plans.

It is more proscriptive than a prior version of the proposal, which would have allowed school districts to permit cell phone use during lunch and passing periods while prohibiting device use during instructional time.

Because of that lack of flexibility for local school districts, committee Vice Chair Emily McIntire, R-Klamath Falls, voted no.

Under the bill, school districts would be required to spell out specific consequences for students who violate the rules.

The so-called off and away all day policy is similar to the one the Portland Public Schools board passed in January on a 5-2 vote.

The bill is not listed as having any fiscal impact, meaning that the state does not plan to pay for the lockable pouches that some school districts, including North Clackamas, have used to help enforce such bell-to-bell bans. Such pouches typically cost about $25 per student.

School officials, including Portland Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong, have raised concerns about enforcing such a ban during lunch and passing periods, especially in settings like Portland where students routinely leave campus during lunchtime.

Many school districts already have off-and-away-all-day policies, meaning students are expected to stow their devices in their backpacks, pockets or lockers. And some classrooms have storage devices for student phones, like lockboxes or repurposed shoe caddies. But until the last few years, enforcement had largely been left to individual teachers, leading to a patchwork of outcomes and consequences.

Research suggests that constant access to cell phones has left a generation of students stressed, anxious and unfocused and has led to debilitating and time-consuming struggles between teachers and students.

I believe that the high rates of behavioral dysregulation, poor social skills, anxiety and depression as well as struggles with academic performance are related to the overwhelming amount of time our kids spend on electronic devices, Marlo McIlraith, an associate professor of pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University, wrote to lawmakers in support of the bill.

Students have typically protested such bans, sometimes vociferously, saying they rely on technology for communication with employers and family members and to do their schoolwork.

Banning these devices would slow down the modern learning process and stop a students ability to use digital materials that will later be used in the work world, West Salem High School sophomore Ava Thaemert wrote to lawmakers in submitted testimony.

Some parents, too, have said they have safety concerns about all-day bans.

Some students only get through the day knowing that if something happened at school, they have access to their parents, wrote Heather Edwards, a parent from Forest Grove. No school should be able to limit a childs ability to get help if needed.

The bill now moves to the full House for a vote. Should the bill pass the Legislature and be signed into law by the governor, Oregon would join 11 other states that have similar bans, including California, VIrginia and Florida.

 Julia Silverman covers K-12 education for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her via email at jsilverman@oregonian.com.
Some of the stars of "The Goonies" -- from left, Sean Astin, Jeff Cohen, Ke Huy Quan, Kerri Green and Corey Feldman -- are seen at the premiere of "Love Hurts" in Los Angeles. Getty Images

The Oregon-filmed movie The Goonies is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and judging by the excitement that greeted news that a sequel to the 1985 adventure is in development, fans are more excited than ever.

Some of the original stars of The Goonies appeared in a segment on the Today show Monday morning, and they shared some of what they know about the sequel -- which, sorry Goonies never-say-diehards -- wasnt a whole lot.

Today show correspondent Joe Fryer introduced the segment, saying, Far from the Goondocks of Oregon, at a Washington, D.C, convention called Awesome Con, Goonies fans found their own treasure -- the cast of their favorite movie adventure.

Sean Astin, Kerri Green, Corey Feldman, Martha Plimpton, Robert Davi and Joe Pantoliano had gathered at the fan convention, and sat down with Fryer to talk about that sequel.

As Fryer said, Goonies veterans Chis Columbus, who wrote the script for the original movie, and executive producer Steven Spielberg are producing, but theres no word yet on the plot or cast.

Theyre doing it, Feldman told Fryer. Whether were doing it or not is another story. But I can tell you for sure, Spielberg and Chris Columbus have a recipe, and theyre planning on something. We wish them well, and if they come to us, well consider it at that time.

Astin said that after The Goonies came out, Steven Spielberg sent me a poster, saying Im still a Goonie, how about you? Hes wanted to make the sequel and hes the sole reason it hasnt been made now, because it hasnt been right. The fact that he is endorsing this next thing is why we know its going to happen and why it has every chance to be spectacular.

In the meantime, Gooniacs can get in on the fun of remembering celebrate the movie about a group of Astoria kids who search for a legendary treasure to try and save their homes from a developer. The 40th anniversary will be celebrated this year at the annual Goonies Weekend event, June 5-8, in Astoria.

 Kristi Turnquist covers features and entertainment. Reach her at 503-221-8227, kturnquist@oregonian.com and @Kristiturnquist and https://bsky.app/profile/kristiturnquist.bsky.social

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Oregon is expected to get more than $4 million in a $335 nationwide settlement with drugmaker Mylan Inc. over allegations of deceptive opioid marketing.

The money will fund addiction treatment and prevention services, Attorney General Dan Rayfield said Tuesday.

Mylan, now part of global pharmaceutical company Viatris, has sold the opioids, including generic fentanyl patches and oxycodone, since 2005, the Oregon Attorney Generals Office said.

The company was accused by states of marketing the drugs as less prone to abuse even though it knew the opposite was true, especially with the fentanyl patches, and promoted the drugs directly to doctors, leading to dangerous overprescribing and diversion of its opioids into the illegal drug market, the announcement said.

This settlement is not just a financial victory, its a reckoning, Rayfield said in a statement. Its a fierce reminder that those who profited from the devastation of the opioid crisis will be held accountable.

The settlement in principle calls for the company to pay 15 states over nine years. In addition to Oregon, the other states are California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.

Viatris said in a statement that the agreement resolves opioid-related claims by states, local governments and tribes against it and some of its subsidiaries.

While the Companys presence in the U.S. opioids market is very small, the Company has agreed to this settlement to provide closure on these matters, the statement said. This settlement is in no way an admission of wrongdoing or liability.

Viatris said it will continue to work to identify solutions to address pressing public health challenges like those relating to opoids, noting that it makes a generic injectable version of naloxone, the opioid reversal drug.

Drug overdoses have increased in Oregon since 2018, reaching a peak in 2023 when 1,833 people died from a drug overdose. Synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, and non-cocaine stimulants, such as methamphetamine, are the main drugs involved in fatal overdoses, according to the Oregon Health Authority. The state hasnt released its statistics for 2024.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive
Ballots are organized and sorted at the Multnomah County Elections Office on Oct. 24, 2024. Senate Bill 1054 would require each of Oregons county clerks to livestream footage of the rooms in which ballots are counted and from ballot drop sites. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

A proposed bill that would require every Oregon county election office to livestream its vote tabulation processes could improve trust in the states elections, its proponents say.

But officials whod have to implement the bill, which was introduced by a Republican senator, say it would be costly and logistically difficult.

Senate Bill 1054 would require each of Oregons 36 county clerks to livestream footage of the rooms in which ballots are counted and from ballot drop sites during election seasons. It would also require those officials to store those recordings for two years.

Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham of The Dalles, chief sponsor of the bill, asserted Monday that requiring those recordings would improve elections transparency and voter trust.

My bills are designed to combat some of the narrative that exists about election integrity, Bonham told his fellow members of the Senate Rules Committee during a public hearing on the bill. And what I would love to do is just shore up these things that people are questioning.

The bill provides no specific requirements for the placement of livestream cameras, besides stating that any video camera could not be placed in a position to reveal personal details on ballots.

A few county elections offices currently livestream their vote counting process. During the 2024 election, for example, the Tillamook County Clerks office livestreamed footage from several rooms in which ballots were being collected, verified and sorted through vote-tabulation machines.

Bonham said requiring similar, more expansive recordings from all county clerks would give people a window into the room to see this process in an open and transparent way.

But election officials say the one-page bill fails to address several key details of implementing such a measure. One primary concern, they say, is that the bill does not allocate any more funding to county clerks, many of whom have previously reported inadequate funding and staffing levels.

In written testimony, the Oregon Association of County Clerks also contends that the bill raises security concerns for employees who pick up ballots from drop sites and office workers who would be recorded. The clerks also said they are concerned about the footage being manipulated through artificial intelligence video software.

We would like to work with the proponents to help make this idea more cost effective, ensure proper security measures are in place and make this concept implementable, wrote Tess Milio, lobbyist for the county clerks association.

Secretary of State Tobias Read, a Democrat who entered office in January, told The Oregonian/OregonLive he shares the county clerks concerns. As secretary of state, Read oversees state elections.

Im always interested in ways to make our elections better, but Im concerned that this bill would be yet another unfunded mandate for our county clerks, who are already stretching every penny to run Oregons secure, fair elections, Read said in a statement. While well-intentioned, this legislation needs work before its ready for prime time.

Bonham acknowledged the clerks concerns and said the bills details would have to be sorted out later. Valid concerns, totally get it, he said. And yet I think the one thing that we all hold sacred is the integrity of our elections. We want to affirm to people that their vote matters, that the process is not in any way being manipulated, their votes not being marginalized or ignored. And so anything that we can do to enhance that transparency to the voter I think is important.

The bill does not appear likely to advance. Only Bonham and Republican Sen. David Brock Smith of Port Orford have sponsored the proposal. And key Democrats, including Senate President Rob Wagner of Lake Oswego and Senate Majority Leader Kayse Jama of Portland, have shown no indication that they would support the bill. Jama, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, concluded Monday that the public hearing was a really good discussion.

Sen. Jeff Golden, a Democrat from Ashland and member of the Rules Committee, said he feels ambivalent about the proposal.

If finding low-cost, efficient ways to implement the proposal could increase Oregonians trust in elections, I would say why not? Maybe it can increase some confidence. Golden said.

At the same time, he said, Im really not comfortable with the number of bills around the country that are being introduced on the premise, either explicit or not, that our elections dont have integrity.

 Carlos Fuentes covers state politics and government. Reach him at 503-221-5386 or cfuentes@oregonian.com.

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Police in Flint, Mich., operate a drone to survey a crime scene where at least 3 people were hurt in a shooting in 2023. (File photo) Brice Tucker | btucker@mlive.com

A bill that would grant police across Oregon broader powers to use drones to respond to 911 calls of crimes in progress, scope out crash scenes before officers can arrive, chase fleeing suspects and search for missing children or elderly adults advanced through a crucial first stage at the Legislature Monday.

Senate Bill 238 passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday on a 5-1 vote and is headed to the Senate floor. Sen. Mike McLane, a central Oregon Republican, was the only committee member to vote against the bill.

Supporters say the bill could dramatically increase officer safety, effectiveness and efficiency  and allow Oregon law enforcement to join leagues across the country from California to New York who regularly use the technology to carry out their work.

But opponents say it would hand police unchecked powers and lead to invasions of personal privacy. They also worry drones with cameras recording protesters could be used as a tactic to squelch speech.

Michael Abrams, policy counsel for ACLU of Oregon, told the committee last month that the bill would provide a legislative blank check for law enforcement agencies to begin deploying seemingly unlimited quantities of drones and that it would amount to a colossal allocation of power that could usher in an era of mass aerial surveillance that has a severe chilling effect on our public speech, assembly and movement rights.

To try to address that, Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a Eugene Democrat and chair of the committee that filed the bill, said an amendment to the bill explicitly bans police from using drones to collect information about individuals who arent suspected of committing crimes. The bill also forbids police from using drones for traffic enforcement.

Currently, police can only use drones without a judges permission under exigent circumstances, such as when someone is in immediate harm or suspects are fleeing. But police say the real-world conditions under which those circumstances apply are too narrow. Otherwise, police must obtain a warrant, and they say thats a delay that can result in suspects escaping, property being damaged or even people dying.

In written testimony, Albany police officer Michael Norlander told the committee that even within the confines of current law, his department has managed to deploy drones dozens of times and considers them one of the most valuable tools in modern policing.

Ive located suspects hiding in places like rooftops and thick brush  locations that would have put officers at risk during traditional searches, Norlander wrote. These drones helped us take individuals into custody without injury or conflict, reducing the risk for everyone involved.

During a hearing last week, Eugene Police Sgt. Kyle Williams said his department has been able to use drones for numerous captures, from bank robberies to shoplifting. He cited a specific instance in which officers used a drone to gain tactical information about a suspect who was pointing a gun at people in downtown Eugene. That, he said, ended in a peaceful arrest.

Williams said hed like to put drones to use far more often.

Sen. Kim Thatcher, a Keizer Republican, asked if police drones are clearly marked, so people who are being surveilled know who is maneuvering the device through the air.

Williams said some have red and blue lights. Other drones might be capable of announcing that theyre police-owned.

More often than not, wed rather have a noisemaker or a light because we want to get peoples attention, so they know theyre being watched and it will influence their behavior in some way, Williams said.

At least 1,400 police departments nationwide use drones, according to a 2023 ACLU report. Its unclear how many of those agencies are required to first obtain warrants or show exigent circumstances.

According to Axon, a law enforcement technology company, the devices not only come with video cameras but can be equipped with thermal imagers for nighttime detection and loudspeakers to convey orders or information to people.

In 2022 in a suburb north of Oakland, police responded to a hotel where a suspect reportedly was threatening employees and guests with a gun before disappearing out of view for about 30 minutes, according to news reports. Police sent in a drone to find him sleeping on a couch in the lobby. Police said they then entered and arrested the man without incident.

Last year in New York City, police announced plans to start using drones to crack down on a surge in assaults, robberies and other crimes in the 843 acres of Central Park.

On Monday, at the Capitol, McLane offered no explanation why he was the sole committee member to oppose the bill. The committees only other Republican, Thatcher, voted for it. So did the four Democrats on the committee: Prozanski; Sen. Anthony Broadman, D-Bend; Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis; and Sen. James Manning, D-Eugene.

 Aimee Green is covering the Oregon Legislature this session. Reach her at 503-294-5119, agreen@oregonian.com or on Bluesky.

Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, reads a letter by an Oregon elementary school student on the House floor on Tuesday morning. Screenshot of video.

A fourth grader in Hillsboro says she has been afraid immigration agents will storm into her school ever since the Trump administration revoked long-standing policies that prevented U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from making arrests in schools.

The young Hillsboro School District student vividly outlined her fears in a recent hand-written letter to U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, who read the letter aloud on the House floor Tuesday morning.
Its the third time in less than a week that the justices have sided with the Trump administration. AP

The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked an order for the Trump administration to return to work thousands of federal employees who were let go in mass firings aimed at dramatically downsizing the federal government.

The justices acted in the administrations emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary employees at six federal agencies be reinstated while a lawsuit plays out because their firings didnt follow federal law.

The courts order involved a technical legal assessment of the right, or standing, of several nonprofit associations to sue over the firings. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said they would have kept the judges order in place.

Its the third time in less than a week that the justices have sided with the Republican administration in its fight against federal judges whose orders have slowed President Donald Trumps agenda. The court also paused an order restoring grants for teacher training and lifted an order that froze deportations under an 18th century wartime law.

But as with the earlier orders, the effect of Tuesdays order will be limited. Many employees at the agencies will remain on paid administrative leave for now because of an order in a separate lawsuit over the firings.

The second suit, filed in Maryland, involves employees at those same six agencies, plus roughly a dozen more. That order is more limited in that it applies only in the 19 states and the District of Columbia that sued the administration.

The Justice Department is separately appealing the Maryland order.

At least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since Trump took office, the lawsuits claim, though the government has not confirmed that number.

The coalition of organizations and labor unions that sued said it was disappointed with the courts order, but it said the battle is far from over.

There is no doubt that thousands of public service employees were unlawfully fired in an effort to cripple federal agencies and their crucial programs that serve millions of Americans every day, the coalition said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ruled that the terminations were improperly directed by the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director. He ordered rehiring at the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury.

Alsup, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, expressed frustration with what he called the governments attempt to sidestep laws and regulations by firing probationary workers with fewer legal protections.

He said he was appalled that employees were told they were being fired for poor performance despite receiving glowing evaluations just months earlier.

The administration has insisted that the agencies themselves directed the firings and they have since decided to stand by those terminations, Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court.
Washington Countys elected leaders voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt new oversight measures for the countys embattled sewer agency and offered their first public comments since an Oregonian/OregonLive investigation uncovered lavish business trips to Hawaii and sky-high food expenses.

The Clean Water Services board of directors, which is solely composed of the five Washington County commissioners, promised the action as a first step in ensuring appropriate spending of ratepayer dollars, promoting transparency and restoring public trust.

But one Washington County resident who testified Tuesday blasted the commissioners for failing to provide adequate oversight and criticized the new measures as not going far enough.

The boards action comes after The Oregonian/OregonLive reported two and a half weeks ago that executives from Clean Water Services stayed in luxury resorts during annual business trips to Hawaii that cost tens of thousands of dollars and that the agency paid $440,000 on local and travel meals over five years  four times more than its two metro area counterparts spent on food during that time combined.

In an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive on Monday, Board Chair Kathryn Harrington said she was troubled by the spending and believed the executive team has not been prudent with the ratepayers money. But she also said board members had little power to prevent a subsidiary of Clean Water Services created by the board from indirectly spending ratepayer money to send executives to the annual conferences in Hawaii.

And while she said Clean Water Services CEO Diane Taniguchi-Dennis showed a lack of judgment by regularly dining out with other executives on the ratepayers dime, she said she continues to have faith in Taniguchi-Dennis ability to run the agency.

Were really giving direction that, Hey, this needs to be cleaned up, Harrington said. The job as the CEO requires a lot of different expertise and thats where at this juncture the most appropriate course is, to retain the districts CEO and make sure shes taking care of all of the basics of this very complex system and our employee set, and make sure in working with the board, we build back trust.

The resolution adopted Tuesday directs Clean Water Services to hire an independent auditor to review travel and food spending over three years; revise its travel rules and review food policies; and end executives ability to dine out locally on the ratepayers dime, among other things. It also requires Taniguchi-Dennis to work with the board on a plan to restore the trust of the community, local government partners, employees, and the board.

Clean Water Services, Oregons second-largest sewer agency, provides wastewater treatment, stormwater management and watershed enhancement to about 610,000 people in Washington County. It is largely supported by funds collected from ratepayers. Officials expect to receive nearly $187 million in service charges this fiscal year from businesses and homeowners, whose rates most recently rose 4%.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the board touted Clean Water Services innovative approach and called it a national leader among sewer agencies while acknowledging that The Oregonian/OregonLives reporting had made it clear that increased accountability and oversight are needed.

The people footing the bill should never be the last to know whats happening, Commissioner Nafisa Fai, who joined the board in 2021, said during Tuesdays meeting.

Theres definitely some opportunity to improve the financial practices and spending patterns in the organization, added Commissioner Jason Snider, who joined the board in January. He said the board may need to take additional steps as it learns more.

Commissioner Jerry Willey, who joined the board in 2019, said he wanted the nearly 450 employees of Clean Water Services to know the board is committed to transparency, efficiency and honesty.

Its obvious that weve lost public trust, added Commissioner Pam Treece, who also has served on the board since 2019. Its incumbent upon us to rebuild this by adhering to the values of openness and transparency. Efficient and appropriate use of taxpayer dollars is absolutely critical and we collectively as a board have not provided all of the necessary oversight. That is going to be changing.

Six officials with ties to Washington County's sewer agency attended the Hawaii Captive Insurance Council forum on the Big Island in 2023, at a cost of nearly $42,000. All six stayed at the Fairmont Orchid, a 5-star hotel that features a 10,000-square-foot oceanfront pool overlooking Pauoa Bay. Getty Images

Treeces comments come as The Oregonian/OregonLive is waiting for the agency to provide records to more than half a dozen requests submitted over the past several weeks, after the newsroom published its investigation.

It is unclear whether other records the newsroom has been seeking for months will ever become public.

Thats because many of the records are held by an insurance subsidiary that the Clean Water Services board created in 2016 and registered in the state of Hawaii, where it said the business climate was most favorable. Members of the insurance company board have flown to Hawaii annually to hold an insurance company board meeting and to attend an insurance conference held at a rotating cast of five-star hotels. The Oregonian/OregonLives reporting found that ratepayers indirectly pick up the cost, which for 2019, 2022 and 2023 hit $91,000.

The insurance company has repeatedly declined to disclose costs for four other trips to Hawaii, stating it is not subject to Oregon public records law. Officials at Clean Water Services and the Clean Water Insurance Company have mostly stopped responding to The Oregonian/OregonLives emails over the last several months.

Harrington said she was troubled by the amount the insurance company spent on the Hawaii trips and called on the company to reduce spending, especially now that board members have had the chance to attend the captive insurance conference multiple years in a row. Tuesdays resolution recommends that the insurance company adopt new travel policies that mirror policies the board is directing the sewer agency to implement.

But Harrington said she cant dictate what the insurance company does with its money  the majority of which it receives directly from the sewer agency  because it is a separate entity with its own board.

The CWIC work, legally I cant be responsible for that, but am I bothered by it, sure, you bet, Harrington said. Im a very modest person and yes this bothers me and what bothers me more is the result of these actions have impacted the trust that the Washington County community writ large, whether were talking about our local elected partners, city managers, ratepayers, you name it, it is very painful to have that trust diminished as a result of this.

The insurance companys board is made up mostly of executives from Clean Water Services, some of whom are directly responsible for overseeing the new oversight measures the board adopted Tuesday. The members of the insurance company board are: Taniguchi-Dennis; Caroline Lobdell, the utilitys general counsel and chief compliance officer; Jack Liang, the sewer agencys chief business operations officer; Kathleen Leader, the sewer agencys chief financial officer; Roy Rogers, a former longtime Washington County commissioner; and Jakob Lutkavage-Dvorscak, general counsel at insurance consultant The Partners Group.

Lobdell will be responsible for managing the independent audit of travel and food spending the board directed the agency to pursue Tuesday. The agency could request that the countys own elected auditor audit the agency, but it is instead expected to hire an outside auditor to conduct the audit. The elected auditor doesnt have the jurisdiction under the county charter to initiate an audit of the agency on her own.

Members of the insurance companys board did not respond to a request for comment from The Oregonian/OregonLive on Tuesday about whether the annual trips to Hawaii would continue.

To date, Taniguchi-Dennis has not agreed to be interviewed by the newsroom and declined to comment when approached by an Oregonian/OregonLive reporter at Tuesdays meeting. In a public statement released online later in the day, she said she took the newsrooms investigation seriously.

As CEO, I should model accountable executive spending to avoid an appearance of impropriety, she said. This is expected by our ratepayers, partner cities, Clean Water Services employees, and the CWS Board of Directors. I understand and agree with the oversight of the board to implement the requirements in the adopted resolution and order and board statement to limit executive spending and to enhance transparency and accountability.

Harrington said she hopes her colleagues on the board will take a greater interest in the operations of Clean Water Services moving forward. Harrington also acknowledged that she recently complained that she and other board members lacked a financial incentive to monitor Clean Water Services, saying during a public meeting: Theres no incentive for us to read our packets, to speak on behalf of CWS, or go out of our way. Its like, why bother? So, Im incentivized by, what am I getting paid to do?

Harrington on Monday said other board members have relied on her in recent years as chair to be the sole board member meeting directly with Taniguchi-Dennis. Frankly, Im tired of it, Harrington said. They are accountable just like I am, so they have to be doing more work.

While Harrington said the board doesnt have legal authority over the insurance company, she said it is able to take some steps to provide oversight. The resolution calls for an outside consultant to review the boards decision to incorporate the insurance company in Hawaii and will give the sewer board the power to approve members named to the insurance company board moving forward.

As a board member, Im a steward of our public and ratepayers dollars and we have to ensure we are directing our staff to do a better job in servicing our community, Harrington said.

In testimony Tuesday, Washington County resident Deb Sirotiak said the board should be doing more.

She criticized the resolution as lacking teeth and blasted the board for giving Taniguchi-Dennis, who she called one of the biggest ethics offenders, power to oversee some of the new oversight measures. She pointed to a new travel policy that the agency will adopt as part of the resolution, which includes more specific rules on approval and purchasing processes, but still allows Taniguchi-Dennis to have final authority for administering, interpreting, and applying the terms of this policy.

Taniguchi-Dennis, who now makes a base salary of $357,000 but earned a total salary of nearly $400,000 last year, has stayed at five-star resorts in Hawaii on business trips at least three times, but likely more, the newsroom found. Her combined premium lodging and first-class airfare for a 2023 insurance conference on the Big Island cost nearly $8,400, which the agency has said was booked as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Oregon law. She also regularly dined out locally during the time period reviewed by the newsroom, spending at least $5,100 in under two years on meals she shared with some of her top executives.

Its not just restoring trust, theres a real credibility problem, Sirotiak told the board. Its really hard to believe your words when youve adopted this new administrative policy that if you read it closely, it doesnt provide any real oversight.

This is an insult to the injury weve already suffered at your hands.

 Jamie Goldberg oversees The Oregonian/OregonLives politics, education and homelessness coverage. She can be reached at jgoldberg@oregonian.com or 503-221-8228. You can find her on X at @jamiebgoldberg or Bluesky at @jamiebgoldberg.bsky.social.
Washington Countys sewer agency will face scrutiny in the wake of an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive that uncovered lavish business trips and sky-high food expenses, elected officials pledge. Mark Graves/The Oregonian

The board of Washington Countys public sewer agency is expected to approve new oversight measures Tuesday in the wake of an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive that uncovered lavish business trips to Hawaii and sky-high food expenses.

Watch the Clean Water Services board meeting live at 10 a.m. Tuesday

The move comes after The Oregonian/OregonLive reported two weeks ago that executives from Clean Water Services stayed in luxury resorts during annual business trips to Hawaii that cost tens of thousands of dollars and that the agency spent $440,000 on local and travel meals over five years  four times more than its two metro area counterparts spent on food during that time combined.

The Clean Water Services board of directors, which is solely composed of the five Washington County commissioners, is convening a meeting Tuesday to formally direct the agency to launch a slew of oversight measures. Among them: conducting an outside audit of travel and food spending; revising travel rules and reviewing food policies; and ending executives ability to dine out locally on ratepayers dime.

Read more about the new oversight measures here.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. It will take place at the Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building at 155 N. First Ave., Suite 300 in Hillsboro.

Members of the public can attend the meeting in person or stream it live with the link below. Officials have allotted up to 40 minutes for public comments.

 Jamie Goldberg oversees The Oregonian/OregonLives politics, education and homelessness coverage. She can be reached at jgoldberg@oregonian.com or 503-221-8228. You can find her on X at @jamiebgoldberg or Bluesky at @jamiebgoldberg.bsky.social.
Join us in the South Oval to celebrate OU Giving Day!

 Date: April 8, 2025

 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

 South Oval

(8:00 a.m.) Coffee and Donuts

 (11:00 a.m.) Food trucks serving lunch to first 900 students who provide their student ID number until 3:00 p.m.*

Lalo's I Love My Taco Shop

Midway Deli

Let's Do Greek

 (1:00 p.m.) Kona Ice Sno Cones for first 300 students

Join us for a Giving Day celebration from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the South Oval! Bring your student ID to enjoy a free lunch from one of our food truck vendors. While you're there, join in on yard games, music, a bubble photo booth and pick up your Giving Day shirt!

 Share your Giving Day pictures or videos with us using #OUGivingDay!

*While supplies last.

Hosted by: University of Oklahoma Foundation

Additional Information can be found at: https://ou.campuslabs.com/engage/event/10952289
Today is OU Giving Day and we're outlining ways you can contribute to the OU Daily, which has served Norman and OU with independent local journalism since 1916.

As we announced recently, we are thrilled to kick off Student Media's major annual fundraising event by celebrating a $100,000 pledge from an anonymous donor. Specifically, this gift will deepen the impact of the Becky Willis Memorial Fund for News Leadership, which we launched last year to honor the late spouse of former Daily adviser Jack Willis.

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We hope such generosity will inspire you to also support our mission. Here are ways you can help today:

 Contribute to the Becky Willis Memorial Fund for News Leadership.

 Contribute to the Stacy Wehrenberg Memorial Fund, which annually supports a student who is facing or has overcome significant adversity.

 Contribute to the Student Media Staff Development Fund. Gifts made between 8-9 p.m. help our efforts in the SEC challenge, which could lead to the OU Foundation adding $500, $1,000 or $1,500 to our fund.

 Purchase Daily-branded merchandise  tote bags, coffee mugs and Stanley-style tumblers  proceeds from which benefit our operations.

Why your gift matters

Last year, we raised $11,400 via 59 gifts, ranging from $10 to $2,000, and we appreciate every donor and dollar. Now, imagine if a broad range of our supporters  alumni whose careers have been shaped by Student Media, community members who find value in our free, local, independent journalism  matched what OU students already pay in annual fees that support the Daily.

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

So, can we count on you for $14?

Giving Day runs all day today.

Thank you for your continued support  it fuels the next generation of media professionals.

Daily staff testimonials

Below, throughout the day we'll update this post with testimonials from some of our staff on what the work they do here means to them and how your support can enrich our team's work serving the OU and Norman communities.
The National Endowment for the Humanities notified Oklahoma Humanities Wednesday evening it would terminate its general operating grant for councils nationwide at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Oklahoma Humanities is a nonprofit grant-making organization that partners with the National Endowment for the Humanities. The organization was established in 1971, joining five states in a pilot program working to ensure grant funding reaches communities most in need. There are now 56 councils across the U.S.

According to a Thursday press release, Oklahoma Humanities distributes over $250,000 of federal grant money each year to fund projects supporting public humanities, preservation and education. The organization also offers free programs aimed toward expanding resources in rural communities including a traveling exhibit in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, an educational magazine and a reading discussion group tailored to rural libraries, incarceration facilities and veterans centers.

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Since its establishment, Oklahoma Humanities has distributed over $42 million in federal funds to all 77 Oklahoma counties and 5 Congressional districts, the release reads.

Caroline Lowery, Oklahoma Humanities executive director, told OU Daily on Tuesday she received a termination notice late Wednesday night via email from an unfamiliar source. She said the email did not state why her grant was being terminated.

I received no supporting evidence or pathway for mediation or correction or any kind of performance review. I received no supporting information, Lowery said. My first thought was, Is this legitimate? because it was not through an official grant communication system like my other messages about my federal grant are.

Lowery said she didnt know if the message was legitimate until news started breaking nationwide that all general operating grants for humanities councils were being terminated.

I was immediately just struck with surprise and kind of a sense of what a devastating loss," Lowery said. (This) would be an immediate loss of jobs in the state and immediate loss of federal funds that are locally controlled and locally leveraged.

In August, the National Endowment of Humanities released its list of grant recipients including three Oklahoma projects, all of which were granted to OU. The university received a total of $767,536 in federal funding, but those grants will be canceled.

Individual grants include a $219,407 grant for a project titled The Visual West, a four-week residential institute for 25 university or college faculty on aspects of the American West in Norman, directed by OU professor Kathleen Brosnan; a $498,129 grant for the establishment of a generative AI research center at OU, directed by OU professor Hunter Heyck; and a $50,000 grant for a three-day conference for tribal leaders and Native American scholars for collaborative research on traditions that emerged from Native prisoners of war at Fort Marion from 1875-78, directed by OU professor Dolores Subia BigFoot.

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

Heyck and BigFoot confirmed the termination of their project grants in an email to the Daily on Monday. Brosnan also received a termination notice, as first reported by The Oklahoman.

Lowery said federal funding is Oklahoma Humanities primary income source and the annual general operating grant is essential to providing quality education resources for small communities.

Our work is quiet and usually behind the scenes, but we support a lot of small programs and communities, Lowery said. There is no other source of funding or resources in the state. Were not a well resourced state. We dont have that kind of infrastructure.

Lowery said the termination will prevent Oklahoma Humanities from awarding grants that allow communities to develop their own programs, work to preserve historical materials and provide vital learning resources for students.

Oklahoma Humanities supports the Greenwood Cultural Center, which works to preserve and showcase materials and stories from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, the deadliest act of racial violence in U.S. history. The center provides educational resources and exhibits and amplifies the untold stories of those who lived through the attack. The Greenwood Cultural Center is one of many organizations Oklahoma Humanities supports through federal grants.

Were talking about the preservation of the original materials from the 1995 (Oklahoma City) bombing, were talking about Greenwood Rising and Greenwood Cultural Center that have preserved the oral histories of Tulsa Race Massacre survivors, Lowery said. These are vital stories to the history and culture of Oklahoma that we are really the stopgap organization providing funding to support these projects.

Lowery said because the funds are already congressionally mandated, all she can do is ask questions. She said she is in contact with many elected officials who have been working to find a way forward but all parties are struggling to find answers.

Im trying not to be reactionary. Im just trying to kind of push pause and wait to see in the immediate future, Lowery said. It means we are not accepting any funding applicants for any projects. I do not have access to my federal funds.

This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure and Ana Barboza. Kylie Caldwell and Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
Correction: This story was updated at 1:54 p.m. on April 10 to reflect the proper spelling of Mahmoud Khalil.

About 50 people attended a lecture Monday by OU law professor Joseph Thai titled Campus Speech Rights and Wrongs, a forum to educate people on First Amendment rights on college campuses.

The event was hosted by OU Law Students for Palestine and the OU chapter of the American Association of University Professors in the Bell Courtroom of the OU Law Center.

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Thai has a history of working on civil rights and served on the legal team that successfully challenged Oklahomas same-sex marriage ban in Bishop v. Smith, a year before the Supreme Court upheld marriage equality nationwide.

At the beginning of his lecture, Thai said its important to define the reason for giving lectures like this one.

Its been my policy to frame these talks as education and not advocacy, Thai said.

In an interview with the Daily after the lecture concluded, Thai said he wants to be inclusive in these talks.

The First Amendment is inclusive. Free speech is protected on all sides, so I wanted to convey to the audience that this is for everyone, Thai said. Everyone should understand why free speech is important and why they should advocate for the right for people to speak, not only in favor of what they feel, but also against what they believe.

During his lecture, Thai went over the law of free speech in outdoor areas, classes and events; hate speech; defunding universities that have major protests on campus and deportations.

First amendment rights on campus

Thai said not only is free speech protected by the First Amendment on traditional public forums like parks, streets and sidewalks on university campuses, but its also protected by House Bill 3543.

The outdoor areas of campuses, of public institutions, of higher education in this state shall be deemed public forums for the campus community, and public institutions of higher education shall not create free speech zones or other designated areas of campus outside of which expressive activities are prohibited, the bill states.

Thai went over time, place, manner restrictions, which are content-neutral restrictions the government can place on free speech to ensure safety or public order.

Thai spoke about Columbia University's recent mask ban after the Trump Administration threatened to pull $400 million of federal funding from the university due to what it called the school's failure to protect students from antisemitism.

Thai wrote in an email to OU Daily in March that Trumps statement about banning masks and illegal protests is vague on details but wrote that its backwards if Trump is asserting pro-Palestinian protests are generally illegal.

There is a very high bar for political protest to rise to the level of incitements to violence or true threats that fall beyond the protection of the First Amendment. Most of the non-violent protests and encampments last year - as well as the counter protests - lie at the core of the First Amendment, Thai wrote.

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

Thai said this should not be seen as a time, place, manner restriction since it is not content-neutral.

The right to anonymity is an important part of free speech that should be protected, Thai said.

Regarding free speech in classes and events, Thai said reasonable restrictions can be made such as a professor asking that students only speak if called upon.

Thai referred to House Bill 1775, which prohibits discussions about race or gender in the classroom, also known as the anti-critical race theory bill, and said it does not apply to college courses and is only applicable to K-12 curriculum.

Hate speech

Thai told the audience that hate speech is protected under the First Amendment right to free speech, except in the incident of fighting words, true threats or incitement.

Thai used the 2015 video of OUs Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter singing a racist chant as an example of how hate speech is still protected under freedom of speech.

As offensive as we may find it, this speech is still protected under that First Amendment right, Thai said. Even under Title VI, that speech is still protected.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin in programs receiving federal funding.

When speaking about the federal governments recent use of pulling funding from universities, Thai said top constitutional scholars agree that the government cannot threaten cutting funding as a tool to control certain viewpoints.

Again referencing Columbia University, Thai said the Trump administration pulling funding until the university agreed to their terms was suppressing a certain side of the conversation and limiting free speech.

In regard to potential deportations, Thai explained that this issue is free speech versus immigration, foreign affairs and national security. He referenced Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts graduate student who was maintaining a valid F-1 student visa, who was apprehended by Department of Homeland Security agents in a viral video on March 25.

Thai also referenced Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who played a prominent role in campus protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University. Khalil was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 8.

According to the OUPD handbook, in order to encourage crime reporting and cooperation in criminal investigations, all individuals must feel secure in contacting or being addressed by law enforcement regardless of their immigration status. The handbook also reads that individuals may not be treated in any way that would violate U.S. or Oklahoma constitutions.

Nearly 300 international students have reported their student visas have been terminated without clear justification, according to The New York Times. Students who have had their student visas revoked may face detention or deportation.

Universities are advising their students to take care in what they say in their classes and even in those public spaces, Thai said.

This story was edited by Ismael Lele and Ana Barboza. Natalie Armour and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
OU Students for Justice in Palestine told OU Daily on Tuesday they are working alongside the Students for Justice in Palestine chapters at Oklahoma State University and University of Central Oklahoma to identify international students who have had their student visas revoked.

The OColly, OSUs student newspaper, reported Tuesday afternoon that eight OSU students had their immigration records terminated by the U.S. government.

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The University of Central Oklahoma confirmed to KOCO that four students had their visas revoked.

OU Daily reached out to OU Marketing and Communications Tuesday afternoon to confirm whether any OU international student had their visas revoked. A spokesperson for the university said that due to FERPA protections, they were unable to provide any information regarding the situation.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records, granting parents and students access to and control over those records.

OU Daily called Marketing and Communications to understand why OU couldnt speak, but OSU and UCO could confirm to the media that students were impacted. A spokesperson with Marketing and Communications responded that they could not speak for other universities.

An OU SJP spokesperson told OU Daily they are actively working on releasing a joint statement with OSU SJP and UCO SJP that will state that they are monitoring the situation and how they support students.

The OU SJP spokesperson said they are actively working to try and identify the students at OSU who had their visas revoked, while also working to identify if any OU international students have lost theirs as well.

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

Schools in the Southeastern Conference who have had visas terminated include the University of Alabama, University of Florida, University of Kentucky, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M and University of Texas.

Visas revoked nationally

The Trump administration has reportedly unexpectedly revoked visas of international students across the country. Schools across the country that have reported having students with a terminated legal status include Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Michigan, the University of California at Los Angeles and Ohio State University.

On March 4, President Donald Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that any universities allowing illegal protests would lose federal funding and any agitators would be subject to imprisonment, deportation and permanent expulsion depending on the crime.

The Trump administration has targeted students who had been involved with pro-Palestinian activism or speech with a few high-profile detentions of students. On March 8, Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A Palestinian activist, Mahmoud played a prominent role in campus protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, was detained by masked agents in plainclothes as she walked to meet friends for dinner. She said she was targeted over an op-ed about Gaza that she wrote in the Tufts Daily, the universitys student newspaper.

On Monday, OU law professor Joseph Thai spoke at an event hosted by the OU Law Students for Palestine and the OU chapter of the American Association of University Professors in the Bell Courtroom of the OU Law Center. There, Thai addressed national concerns regarding free speech rights and protests around college campuses. Thai previously told OU Daily on March 4 that Trumps assertion of pro-Palestinan protests as illegal was backwards.

On March 5, OU Daily reached out to OU Marketing and Communications regarding Trumps statements on Truth Social about protests and how the university would comply. OU Marketing and Communications directed the Daily to the universitys guidelines regarding expressive activity.

This story was edited by Peggy Dodd and Ana Barboza.
Georgia-Pacific Names Julie Howard President of GP's Gypsum Business

Julie Howard Julie Howard

April 8, 2025 - Georgia-Pacific today announced Julie Howard, vice president and general manager, GP PRO Towels and Napkins, has been named president of Georgia-Pacific's Gypsum business. In this role, she will oversee the more than 3,000 employees and 12 gypsum mills across the United States that manufacture approximately five billion square feet of gypsum panels annually.

Howard joined Georgia-Pacific in 2007 as a senior category manager for GP PRO's foodservice disposable products. During her 18-year tenure with the company, she has held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility in the away-from-home business, primarily focused on our industry-leading paper towel category and enMotion Dispensing Systems.

Prior to joining Georgia-Pacific, Howard worked for the specialty chemicals company, formerly Arch Chemicals, which is now owned by Solenis. She gained experience collaborating with international companies while working at gatc LP and DRAXLMAIER Automotive.

Howard graduated with a bachelor's degree from Ohio University where she studied German and International Studies. She also earned an MBA from Georgia State University with a concentration in Marketing and International Business.

In a related move, Georgia-Pacific has named Nate Medina as Vice President and General Manager, GP PRO Towels and Napkins.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific and its subsidiaries are among the world's leading manufacturers and marketers of bath tissue, paper towels and napkins, tableware, paper-based packaging, cellulose and building products. The company operates more than 150 facilities and employs approximately 30,000 people directly and creates more than 80,000 jobs indirectly.

SOURCE: Georgia-Pacific
My wife and I drove around today to look at the Eastman School of Music, from which two of our friends graduated, and at the University of Rochester and its medical school (where a former next-door neighbor earned his medical degree). We crossed the Erie Canal several times and went to the former home of Susan B. Anthony, in the parlor of which, in 1872, she was arrested for violating the law that prohibited voting while female. She was convicted in a widely publicized trial, but refused to pay the fine  and the authorities prudently decided to let the matter drop. In 1878, Ms. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton arranged for the Congress of the United States to be presented with a proposed amendment that would grant women the right to vote. It came to be popularly known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment and, in 1920, it was ratified as the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Unfortunately, Ms. Anthony had already died in 1906, in the same house in Rochester that we visited and where she had been arrested in 1872 for attempting to cast a ballot. She did, however, live to see women granted the vote in Wyoming (1869) and Utah (1870), before her arrest, and then in Colorado (1893) and Idaho (1896).

Although Ms. Anthonys home announced its open hours as extending from 11 AM to 5 PM, it was empty and locked up when we arrived at about 2 PM. But we also visited her grave. It is located in nearby Mt. Hope Cemetery, which is effectively enclosed by the University of Rochester and its main medical school campus. (Ill resist the powerful temptation to offer sardonic comments on the proximity of medical school and cemetery.) The plain simplicity of Susan B. Anthonys tombstone was a striking contrast to the huge and grandiose obelisk located almost immediately to its right, marking the ostentatious burial place of some apparently once-prominent local family.

We also visited the grave of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), the escaped slave who became a famous nineteenth-century abolitionist, crusader for womens rights, orator, and writer, and the founder of the American civil rights movement. Its amazing to me that two of the preeminent leaders of the two most consequential reform movements in the history of the United States are both buried in the same Rochester cemetery.

Up today on the moribund website of the Interpreter Foundation: Interpreter Radio Show  March 30, 2025, including Doctrine and Covenants in Context: If Ye Are Not One Ye Are Not Mine covering D&C 37-40

For the 30 March 2025 installment of the Interpreter Radio Show, Terry Hutchinson and Martin Tanner discussed Come, Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants lesson 17 covering D&C 37-40, various biographies of Joseph Smith, and the new temple garments. Their conversation was recorded and, now edited to remove commercial interruptions, has been archived and made available for your delight and edification. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard weekly on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640. Or, if for some reason you cant access K-TALK (or stubbornly refuse to do so), you can nonetheless listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

In the comments section of this blog, Kenneth Gourdin shared a wonderful comment attributed to John Lennon (of all people): It will be all right in the end. If it isnt all right, it isnt the end. Very much my sentiment.

Some of you are no doubt wondering what this Peterson clown is doing in upstate New York right now, so soon after he was wandering around Hawaii. Well, the simple answer  very understandable, given my character and personality  is that I found balmy tropical sea breezes unendurable and badly needed someplace cold, gray, and wet. (And, of course, my Malevolent Stalker and his disciples will add the suggestion that I just cant stand being around brown people.) But that would be too simple. Theres also the fact that, given my toxic persona, Im obliged to travel long distances in order to find even one or two people who, because they dont know me yet, are willing to interact with me. Occasionally, folks drop in on me from far-flung areas. The day before we left, for example, the current Istanbul branch president stopped by our home; a few weeks before, we had friends come by from Helsinki, Finland. But, for a radius of about four miles around my house, so many former residents have fled the neighborhood that it now resembles the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie. Lightning flashes in the perpetual gloom, thunder rolls, and only the occasional wailing dog can still be found.

While were here, though, well be filming on location for our forthcoming series of short Interpreter Foundation documentary videos, Becoming Brigham. (Our film people should be arriving as I write.) And, for those who wonder  or who, at least, offer hostile speculations  about the finances of it all: No, neither the Interpreter Foundation nor Interpreter donors nor tithe payers covered our sojourn in Hawaii. Starting today, though, my expenses here in the American northeast (e.g., food and lodging) will be covered by funds donated for Becoming Brigham. Why? Because  owing to the misconceived ideas of the filmmakers  I will be in front of the cameras here at Church historical sites in New York and, later this week, in Ohio. (Just as I was, last month, in Carthage and Nauvoo.). My wife, however, is traveling on our private personal dime. Im really glad that shes here; I much prefer having her along rather than traveling by myself. She will be helping out with the movie crew and actors  coordinating lunches and snacks and so forth for long filming days and helping to drive  but shes doing it as a volunteer. Of course, that wont necessarily prevent a chorus of indignation and complaints over at the Obsession Board. But then, entertaining those folks is a large part of my raison detre.

I think that some of you may have noticed that Ive expressed certain, umm, doubts about the tariffs announced by Mr. Donald J. Trump. For expressing those doubts, and for backing them up with quotations from Milton Friedman, Henry Hazlitt, and Ronald Reagan, Ive been pronounced a libtard, a Marxist, and a RINO. Well, it seems that I might have been joined in my newly discovered Communist sympathies by a prominent businessman of South African background who, like me, cites the infamous Bolshevik Milton Friedman in support of his position: Elon Musk Takes Apparent Stance Against Trump Tariffs, Quotes Famed Economist On Merits Of Free Trade: A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing. And  what the heck!  while Im at it, lets hear from yet another notorious far-left economist: Thomas Sowell Discusses The Trump Tariffs.

Posted from Rochester, New York
TL;DR: Save $363 on Microsoft Office 2021 and Windows 11 Pro with this software bundleonly a limited number of codes remain.

Is your PC acting sluggish? Before you drop hundreds on a new machine, consider a simple upgrade like this: A fresh operating system and a full suite of productivity tools.

For a limited time, you can upgrade your PC to Windows 11 Pro and get a fresh install of Microsoft Office 2021 for only $54.97, normally priced at $418thats an 86% discount. But heads up: Were down to limited inventory, so these codes are first-come, first-served.

Heres what you get:

Microsoft Office 2021: A one-time download with lifelong access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Publisher, Access, and OneNote. No subscription. No recurring fees.

Windows 11 Pro: The newest OS from Microsoft, now faster thanks to the latest 2024 updates. Experience quicker boot times, snappier performance, a refined interface, and built-in tools like Windows Copilot and Smart App Control.

Get your Microsoft software bundle for $54.97 (reg. $418) before theyre all sold out. No coupon is needed to get this price.

The Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License + Windows 11 Pro BundleSee Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.
Editors Note 4/9/2025: The Trump Administration paused worldwide tariffs on Wednesday, reducing them to 10 percent worldwide. As a result, Framework said that it is returning U.S. system prices to the original pre-tariff prices. However, some prices (like the Framework Laptop 13 Professional pre-built configuration, are now higher: $1,649 versus $1,499 a day ago. For our lowest-priced base systems, where were unable to absorb the remaining 10% tariff, ordering is still paused for US customers, Framework said.

Framework has decided to temporarily pause sales of certain low-end Framework 13 Laptops due to the new tariffs implemented by the Trump administration, the company said.

Due to the new tariffs that came into effect on April 5th, were temporarily pausing U.S. sales on a few base Framework Laptop 13 systems (Ultra 5 125H and Ryzen 5 7640U), Framework said on Twitter/X. For now, these models will be removed from our U.S. site. We will continue to provide updates as we have them.

404 Media reported that the models had in fact been removed from Frameworks web page, with models starting at $799.

In a followup post, Framework explained: We priced our laptops when tariffs on imports from Taiwan were 0%. At a 10% tariff, we would have to sell the lowest-end SKUs at a loss. Other consumer goods makers have performed the same calculations and taken the same actions, though most have not been open about it.

What wasnt clear, however, was why Framework didnt simply raise its prices to compensate. Economists and trade organizations have predicted since last year that manufacturers would simply raise prices by the tariffed percentage, simply passing along costs to the consumer. Potential customers responding to the Twitter post wondered the same thing, but the company didnt respond. However, the full effects of the various Trump tariffs (up to 54 percent on imports from China, aluminum imports, and semiconductors) are slowly being understood and may vary depending upon company and product.

Framework doesnt seem to have raised its pre-order prices as a result of the tariff, however. When the Framework Desktop was first announced, the base price was $1,099. Though Framework sold out of its first few batches, at press time the company had moved on to Batch 9  which will ship in the third quarter, well after any tariffs have taken effect. However, Framework is still charging $1,099 for the base model, as before, as of press time.

Framework has removed some of its low-end models, but hasnt updated its pricing. Mark Hachman / Foundry

Instead, Framework is apparently in the process of re-adjusting its prices for its existing PCs. For example, Frameworks DIY edition of the Laptop 13 indicates that the cheapest version available is priced at $749. In reality, a Framework 13 with a AMD Ryzen 7640U (at $899) is the cheapest option available. The companys prebuilt page also indicates that Framework is selling a prebuilt Framework Laptop 13 for $899, when in fact only the Professional version for $1,499 appears to be in stock.

Framework representatives declined to comment further.
If you dont keep Teams updated on your computer, Microsoft will block your access to the communication app, Neowin reports.

When Microsoft releases a new version of the Teams app, you have 90 days to install the update or youll start seeing a blocking page that requires you to install the update before you can resume using the app. Teams will start sending you recurring update reminders at the 30-day mark. If you dont want to update, you can switch to the web app.

Microsoft explains that the reason for the block is to ensure that all users stay safe with the latest security updates and compliance measures. The company first made this announcement back in November 2024, with a message posted to the Microsoft 365 Message Center:

Keeping Microsoft Teams up to date is critical to ensure your devices are secure and compliant. By default, and as designed, Teams updates automatically which successfully updates most clients in the world without additional overhead for customers. Microsoft Teams is governed by the Modern Lifecycle Policy which requires that the Teams desktop client be kept up to date. [] As documented, when a client falls out of date, the user will see: Recurring in-app alerts, if the app is between 30d-90d out of date.

A blocking page in Teams, if the app is greater than 90 days out of date. At this point, the app will show options to update, to contact their IT administrator, or continue to Teams on the web. As an example, if the Teams app is hypothetically on a version released on January 1 and the next update is fully available on January 15, an in-app alert would be shown on February 14th (30 days after the January 15th update).

A more recent message gave specific dates for when youll start seeing the blocking page in Teams. If youre on the Windows desktop app, youll start seeing it on April 11, 2025. For Teams in a VDI environment, the start date is May 6, 2025. For the macOS app, itll start on May 15, 2025.
Albert Whitehead with Star, his pet reindeer, in Whitehead's backyard in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on March 11, 2025. Star was euthanized after several health issues, which began after someone broke into his enclosure. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen) AP

A reindeer in Alaska, beloved as a community mascot, has died after a masked person sprayed the animal with a suspicious liquid.

USA Today reports that the reindeer named Star VII was put down last week in Anchorage after his health deteriorated over several weeks.
A Dauphin County man has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to violate the federal Clean Air Act by illegally modifying diesel trucks at a Lebanon-area auto shop, according to court documents.

Ryan Spencer, 33, was charged in an April 4 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Spencer had previously agreed to plead guilty and waive a grand jury indictment, according to a plea agreement filed at the same time.

Prosecutors allege that Spencer was part of a conspiracy centering around Pro Diesel Werks, a garage with locations in Lebanon and Reading and owned by Roy Ladell Weaver, who was indicted in February.
Hawaii doctor Gerhardt Konig appears before a judge via video during an arraignment hearing after being indicted on allegation of attempting to kill his wife on Monday, April 7, 2025, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) AP

A former UPMC doctor accused of trying to kill his wife while they were hiking along a trail in Hawaii pleaded not guilty in court Monday to a charge of attempted murder.

WTAE reported that Gerhardt Konig, 46, appeared for the hearing via video from the Oahu Community Correctional Center.

Defense attorney Thomas Otake told the judge he plans to request bail for Konig, as does not have a prior criminal record.

Konig has been held without bail since March 28.

Dr. Konigs not guilty plea this morning was not just a formality, but a substantive response to the allegation that he tried to kill his wife, Otake said in a statement sent to reporters prior to the hearing. There are two sides to every story, and thus far only one side has been shared. The other side to this story will be shared within the court process at the appropriate time.

According to a criminal complaint, Koning attempted to push his wife, Arielle Konig, off of a cliff along the trail and, when that failed, hit her in the head with a rock multiple times.

He also took a syringe filled with an unknown liquid out of a bag and attempted to inject her with it.

When two other hikers appeared and announced they were calling 911, Konig ran away. Police arrested him later that day.

Arielle Konig was taken to a hospital where she was treated for her injuries. She has since been released.

In a petition filed in court, Arielle Konig said her husband had become controlling and jealous, and had sexually abused and and assaulted her in recent months.

Gerhardt Konig has worked as an anesthesiologist at UPMC and was an assistant professor of anesthesiology and bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Engineering. He currently works as an anesthesiologist on Maui but his staff privileges have been suspended pending the investigation.
Suspended Magisterial District Judge Sonya McKnight arrives at the Dauphin County Courthouse for her trial on charges she tried to murder her ex-boyfriend in Feb. 2024. April 7, 2025. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

Michael McCoy denies shooting himself in his home in the early morning hours of Feb. 9, 2024.

But nonetheless, when Susquehanna Township patrolman Pema Tamang walked into McCoys bathroom, he found him with both palms on either side of his head, Tamang testified in court Monday.
John Stamos received backlash on social media after a recent visit to Mar-a-Lago. In this photo, Stamos arrives at the People's Choice Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

John Stamos caught some heat after a recent visit to Mar-a-Lago Club, a luxury resort club owned by President Donald Trump.

On April 5, Stamos visited the club to emcee at the Palm Beach Ray of Hope Gala, a nonprofit event honoring frontline workers like nurses. Due to the venue and its affiliation with the President, Stamos received backlash regarding his attendance and political affiliation.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have reversed course after angering the family of the late Roberto Clemente by removing a sign honoring the franchise icon on the right-field wall at PNC Park. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) AP

PITTSBURGH  The Pittsburgh Pirates have reversed course after angering the family of the late Roberto Clemente by removing a sign honoring the franchise icon on the right-field wall at PNC Park.

The sign featured Clementes name and his No. 21. Replacing it was an advertisement for Surfside, an alcoholic drink.

However, the Clemente sign will be restored before Monday nights game against the St. Louis Cardinals, according to Pirates president Travis Williams.

Williams took responsibility for the controversy on Sunday.

We did not intend to disrespect the legacy of Roberto Clemente by adding the advertisement to the pad in right field, Williams said in a statement. When we added the advertisement to the pad, it was an oversight not to keep the No. 21 logo. This is ultimately on me, not anyone else in the organization. It was an honest mistake.

We want to make sure that the Clemente family understands that we intended no disrespect to their father. We look forward to continuing our relationship with the Clemente family and apologize to them and our fans for our honest mistake.

The right-field wall at PNC Park stands 21 feet high in honor of Clemente.

The Pirates said in a statement that the sign, which had been on the wall since 2022, was meant to be a temporary adornment. However, Roberto Clemente Jr. expressed his unhappiness on Sunday in a statement.

This change was made without any communication or consultation with our family, the statement said. While we appreciate that the Pirates acknowledged their failure to inform us, it reveals a broader issue: a lack of meaningful collaboration between the organization and on matters that are deeply personal and historically significant to us and the fans.

The outpouring of support from fans in Pittsburgh and across the country has been overwhelming and deeply appreciated. It is clear that our fathers legacy continues to inspire and unite people, not only for his achievements on the field, but for the integrity and compassion he demonstrated off of it.

Clemente spent his entire career with the Pirates from 1955-72. He played in 15 All-Star Games while winning 12 Gold Glove awards, four batting titles and the 1966 National League MVP.

Clemente died in a plane crash off the coast of San Juan in his native Puerto Rico on New Years Eve in 1972 while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame the following summer.
Democratic Pennsylvania officials broke their silence on Dauphin County Commissioner George Hartwicks vehicle crash and subsequent DUI charge but did not call for Hartwick to resign.

In a statement posted online Tuesday, state Sen. Patty Kim and Reps. Nate Davidson, Dave Madsen and Justin Fleming, all of whom represent Dauphin County, issued the following joint statement:

The allegations against Commissioner George Hartwick are serious and should be treated as such. The Attorney General is overseeing an official investigation, and we believe that it is important that the facts are collected and communicated in a transparent way. We are keeping the Hartwick family in our thoughts during this challenging time.
"Hollywood Demons," a new series on Investigation Discovery, unveils the shadowy underbelly of Hollywood. The show airs Mondays. Courtesy of Philo

The third episode in a new series from Investigation Discovery looks at the Dark Side of the Power Rangers.

Hollywood Demons airs at 9 p.m. Monday, April 7, on ID.

LIVE STREAM: Fans can watch the ID channel without cable on : Fans can watch the ID channel without cable on Philo (free trial) and DirecTV Stream (free trial).

The synopsis for Dark Side of the Power Rangers is Beneath the bright spandex and high-flying karate kicks lies a grim reality of tragedy and scandals; never-before-seen footage of a fan-turned gunman who had one horrifying mission: to assassinate the shows most legendary star.

Investigation Discovery says the new series unveils the shadowy underbelly of Hollywood.

Each episode features accounts from Hollywood insiders, project collaborators, and survivors. Insight and perspective are provided by addiction specialist, Dr. Drew Pinsky and culture writer, Scaachi Koul.

What is Philo?

Philo is a streaming service that offers more than 70 live channels and more than 70,000 titles on demand for $28 a month. Philo has a SEVEN-DAY FREE TRIAL. Channels include AMC, AMC+, A&E, MTV, BET, Discovery, VH1, Food Network, History, Nickelodeon, OWN, TLC, Lifetime, Hallmark, Paramount and TV One. Add-on packages include EPIX, STARZ and Movies and More. Philo offers an unlimited 1-year DRV.

What is DirecTV Stream?

DirecTV Stream provides access to more than 100 channels, hundreds of on-demand titles, the ability to stream through three devices at once, and unlimited Cloud DVR storage. Channels include ABC, HGTV, Hallmark, Bravo, BET, Discovery, Food Network, AMC, Animal Planet, CMT, Comedy Central, FX, ID, Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and PBS Kids. Subscription package prices start at $86.99 a month. The streaming service offers a FIVE-DAY FREE TRIAL.
888poker Returns to Barcelona on May 8; PokerNews Is Covering the Main Event

Matthew Pitt Senior Editor Copy link

888poker LIVE heads to Spain for the second time in 2025, this time calling the Casino Barcelona home between May 8-18. 888poker LIVE Barcelona features an 888 buy-in Main Event, which PokerNews' live reporting team is covering from start to finish.

The 2025 edition of 888poker LIVE Barcelona kicks off on May 8 with the first of five flights in the 220 No-Limit Hold'em Opening Voyage event. This tournament proved extremely popular last year, with entrants fighting it out for a share of a 112,735 prize pool. At the end of the day, Nicolas Kopeczky came out on top, turning his 220 investment into 20,250.

Several side events and satellites fill Casino Barcelona before the eagerly anticipated 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event shuffles up and deals on May 14. You will notice that the start times for the Main Event allow players plenty of rest and recuperation, with Day 1A starting at 3:00 p.m. CEST. The only early flight is the Day 1D Turbo at 11:00 a.m. CEST on May 17. Day 2 runs from 5:00 p.m. CEST on May 17, with the final day beginning at 4:00 p.m. CEST on May 18.

Last year's 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event drew in 476 entrants, who created a 369,450 prize pool. The tournament ended in a four-way chop, with France's Leo Jubien finishing fourth for 35,570, Spain's Gonzala Mencia Cotan finishing third for 37,895, and Jose Roman Criado falling in second place for a 41,985 score. Jose Rebollar finished top of the pile and walked away 61,550.

2025 888poker LIVE Barcelona Schedule

Date Tme Event Thu 8 May 5:00 p.m. 220 NLHE Opening Event Day 1A 8:00 p.m. 50 Satellite to Opening Event Fri 9 May 5:00 p.m. 220 NLHE Opening Event Day 1B 7:00 p.m. 165 NLHE The Rumble 6-Max 9:00 p.m. 50 Satellite to Opening Event Sat 10 May 3:00 p.m. 220 NLHE Opening Event Day 1C 7:00 p.m. 115 NLHE The Mini Shot 9:00 p.m. 220 NLHE Opening Event Day 1D Turbo Sun 11 May 11:00 a.m. 220 NLHE Opening Event Day 1E Turbo 4:00 p.m. 220 NLHE Opening Event Final Day 6:00 p.m. 200 NLHE The Dragon Mon 12 May 3:00 p.m. 165 NLH The Mini Shot 7:00 p.m. 330 NLHE The Mega Knockout 10:00 p.m. 160 Satellite to High Roller Tue 13 May 3:00 p.m. 160 Satellite to High Roller 5:00 p.m. 100 NLHE The Turbo Dash 7:00 p.m. 1,500 NLHE High Roller Day 1 9:00 p.m. 88 Super Satellite to Main Event Day 1A Wed 14 May 3:00 p.m. 888 NLHE Main Event Day 1A 5:00 p.m. 1,500 NLHE High Roller Final Day 6:00 p.m. 110 Pot Limit Omaha 9:00 p.m. 88 Super Satellite to Main Event Day 1B Thu 15 May 3:00 p.m. 888 NLHE Main Event Day 1B 6:00 p.m. 200 NLHE The Voyage 9:00 p.m. 88 Super Satellite to Main Event Fri 16 May 3:00 p.m. 888 NLHE Main Event Day 1C 6:00 p.m. 165 NLHE The Mayhem 9:00 p.m. 88 Super Satellite to Main Event Sat 17 May 11:00 a.m. 888 NLHE Main Event Day 1D Turbo 5:00 p.m. 888 NLHE Main Event Day 2 7:00 p.m. 330 NLHE Mystery Bounty Day 1 8:00 p.m. 55 NLHE Ladies Event Sun 18 May 4:00 p.m. Main Event Final Day 5:00 p.m. 330 NLHE The Big Shot 5:00 p.m. Mystery Bounty Final Day 8:00 p.m. 110 NLHE Closer

888poker LIVE Barcelona could be your best chance to rub shoulders with the army of 888poker ambassadors. According to the 888poker website, the entire team of ambassadors is jetting off to sunny Barcelona to compete across several events.

Keep an eye on popular British pro Ian Simpson, who is in scintillating form. Simpson took down the 888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event in January for 62,000. On April 6, Simpson emerged victorious from the 888poker UKPL Newcastle Main Event for another 34,800. Simpson is playing well and running hot, which is a deadly combination.

Win Your Way Into the 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event

Casino Barcelona is running several live satellites that award tickets to the 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event. However, if you want to lock in your seat before making your way to the Catalan city, you should check out the online satellites at 888poker.

Satellites from only $0.01 are in the 888poker tournament lobby right now. They eventually feed into the $109 qualifier, where $1,800 packages to the 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event are awarded. Secure such a package and you shall receive:

888 ($920) buy-in to the 888poker Barcelona Main Event

$500 for accommodation

$380 for travel expenses

888poker LIVE merchandise

Keep Tabs on 888poker MTTs with the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar

The PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar is a free-to-use tool built into the PokerNews website that enables you to find upcoming and in-play multi-tables tournaments on poker sites like 888poker, PartyPoker, and PokerStars. By using the intuitive filters, you can narrow down your search and find the perfect 888poker tournament for you, your bankroll, and your needs.

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Hit Barcelona this Spring for the Circuito Nacional de Poker (CNP)

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If youve been looking for a brighter place to put your money than the stock market lately, how about Barcelona this spring? Circuito Nacional de Poker (CNP) is rolling into Casino Barcelona from April 2127, and theres plenty in store for players looking to swap market swings for the poker grind with a side of Mediterranean sun.

This marks the second stop of CNPs 13th season, and on the schedule are seven side events and a 550 Main Event. There are also several satellites before the festival that could see someone turn pocket change into the kind of return you wont find on Wall Street right now.

Key Events to Watch

The CNP Main Event (550) is the highlight of the festival, running from April 2327. It features a 50,000-chip starting stack, and multiple Day 1 flights, including a turbo flight on April 26 for those who are making last-minute entries.

The High Roller (1,100) on April 2324 offers an 80,000-chip starting stack and 45-minute levels. On the other end of the buy-in scale, players looking for a more budget-friendly option, the El Mini (250) on April 2627.

Alongside these, the festival offers several other events, including the Torneo Apertura (150, April 2123), the Accumulator (Milestone) Satellite (120, April 23) for a chance to win a seat in the Main Event, the El Cazador Bounty (185, April 24), and the PLO Omaha PL (150) on April 25.

2025 CNP Barcelona Full Schedule

Date Time Event Buy-in Thu Apr 17 22:00 NL - CNP - Sat. Main Event 30 Fri Apr 18 21:00 NL - CNP - Sat. Main Event 60 Sat Apr 19 21:00 NL - CNP - Sat. Main Event 60 Sun Apr 20 21:00 NL - CNP - Sat. Main Event 60 Mon Apr 21 18:00 NL - CNP - Torneo Apertura - 1A 150 Tue Apr 22 18:00 NL - CNP - Torneo Apertura - 1B 150 Wed Apr 23 16:00 NL - CNP - CNP Main Event - 1A 550 Wed Apr 23 18:00 NL - CNP - Torneo Apertura - 2 (Closed) 150 Wed Apr 23 18:00 NL - CNP - HIGH ROLLER CNP - 1 1,100 Wed Apr 23 21:00 NL - CNP - Sat acumulador Main Event 120 Thu Apr 24 16:00 NL - CNP - CNP Main Event - 1B 550 Thu Apr 24 16:00 NL - CNP - HIGH ROLLER CNP - 2 1,100 Thu Apr 24 18:00 NL - CNP - El Cazador Bounty 185 Fri Apr 25 16:00 NL - CNP - CNP Main Event - 1C 550 Fri Apr 25 21:00 PLO - CNP - OMAHA PL 150 Sat Apr 26 12:00 NL - CNP - CNP Main Event - 1D Non Stop 550 Sat Apr 26 17:00 NL - CNP - CNP Main Event - 2 550 Sat Apr 26 20:00 NL - CNP - EL MINI - 1 250 Sun Apr 27 12:00 NL - CNP - CNP Main Event - 3 (Closed) 550 Sun Apr 27 13:00 NL - CNP - EL MINI - 2 250

Where is the CNP Playing in 2025?

After Barcelona, the Circuito Nacional de Poker continues its 2025 season with the following stops:

Murcia  June 2329 at Orenes Gran Casino Murcia, inside the Odiseo leisure center.

 June 2329 at Orenes Gran Casino Murcia, inside the Odiseo leisure center. Alicante  September 814 at Casino Mediterraneo.

 September 814 at Casino Mediterraneo. Madrid (Grand Final)  November 1425 at Casino Gran Madrid in Torrelodones.

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Yoann Kaminisky Wins Record-Breaking Grand Finale of the Winamax Poker Tour (175,000)

Maxime Taldir Live Reporter Copy link

For this 2025 edition of The Grand Finale of the Winamax Poker Tour, Winamax and Texapoker chose to leave Paris for the first time ever in 14 years and head to the Pasino Grand in Aix-en-Provence. A winning decision, as the tournament broke all records: 357,000 entries in the online qualifiers, 9,505 participants across the 11 live qualifying freerolls, and 3,503 entries in the 500 Main Event. But in the end, only one player triumphed at Mondays final table: Yoann Kaminisky.

Wearing the local team Olympique de Marseille jersey, he raised the champions sword and took home 175,000 after defeating Patrice Espinasse heads-up  a player who qualified through a freeroll stage and turned 0 into 127,500 thanks to his second place.

Results of the Winamax Poker Tour 2025

Place Player Country Prize 1 Yoann Kaminisky France 175,000 2 Patrice Espinasse France 127,500 3 Jean-Yves Lestrade France 90,000 4 Thibault Dumontier France 63,800 5 Tahar Said France 46,500 6 Jeremy Cauchard France 35,700 7 Florian Vachez France 27,700 8 Pierre-Louis Quandalle France 22,400 9 Alexis Delhomme France 18,000

Winners Reaction

The 28 year-old panel beater jumped into this WiPT from Day 1A  his very first 500 buy-in tournament. Despite an unsuccessful first bullet, the second one hit the mark. And its safe to say he experienced this deep run with great intensity, never hiding his emotions. Proof of that? His victory roar, which woke up all of Aix-en-Provence, sounded like a release after all the pressure he had built up. I barely slept the night before the final table, my mind was racing, he calmly admitted right after his win.

Already the day before, starting from the final three tables redraw, he had been particularly expressive every time he found himself in all-in and call situations. I thought I was done, he said, recalling a flip with 22 players left. Later, with a clenched fist, he celebrated his winning hands during the big battle he fought against Oscar Genix (14th - 10,000), which truly put his nerves to the test. He eventually knocked out Genix by cracking Aces on the river, after having already doubled through the opponent he considered the most dangerous, the 11th in the 2025 WSOP Main Event Malcolm Franchi (16th - 8,080).

Upon reaching the final table, Kaminiskys mantra was clear: I knew I had nothing to lose but everything to gain. But it wasnt until the heads-up that the father of a young boy began to believe victory was truly possible, after he eliminated Jean-Yves Lestrade in third place in a massive pot thanks to a set hit on the turn.

This hand propelled him into a strong chiplead for the final showdown against Espinasse, which ended swiftly in victory. I didnt have my shot during the heads-up, so no regrets, said Espinasse, who graciously congratulated the winner. Make good use of it, he told Kaminisky as he left.

The qualifier, whose achievement deserves recognition, need not worry  Kaminisky is keeping his feet firmly on the ground despite this massive success. Ill have a bankroll to play a bit more live, but Im not going to do the circuit. I was supposed to play the 250 WSOP-C next week in Aix-en-Provence, but I think Ill skip it. I promised my son a house with a pool, so thats the plan.

No Back-to-Back Win for Jeremy Cauchard

The main attraction heading into the final table was Jeremy Cauchard, who had a unique chance to pull off an incredible back-to-back win after he finished first out of 3,448 entries in last years edition. But as the shortest stack among the nine finalists, he needed an early double-up to keep hope alive. Thats exactly what happened just minutes after play resumed, before he double-up a second and a third time.

The defending champion even managed to climb into the chip counts after taking a big pot from Lestrade. But minutes later, the cold shower came from Espinasse in a preflop confrontation of Ace-Queen of clubs vs. Ace-Queen, which turned into a flush for the freeroll qualifier. Shortly after, the same two players went all-in again. Espinasse was ahead and stayed ahead, ending Cauchards extraordinary run just before the dinner break. Cauchard didnt manage the back-to-back, but on top of the 170,000 he won last year, he still walks away with 35,700.

Im a little gutted, but Im really proud of what I accomplished, said the 2024 champion right after his elimination. Last year, I was among the chip leaders the whole way, but this year it was a bit of a rollercoaster. I tried to hang on because I came in super short, but its been a crazy journey  so honestly, just happiness.

The Winamax Poker Tour will hit the road across France again next year for another edition. In the meantime, the Winamax team will stop in Marrakech from May 20 to 25 for the Sismix, then discover Aix-les-Bains from September 16 to 21 for a brand-new WPO.

PokerNews will of course be on site to cover these events but for now, the live reporting team will stay at the Pasino Grand, where the WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event will take place from April 17 to 21.

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 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 August 2, 2022, 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: August 2, 2022 - 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 May 7, 2024, Atkore announced lowered guidance for fiscal year 2024, noting that "pricing environment could be challenged in the second half of 2024." On this news, Atkore's stock price fell 12.5% from its closing price of $176.40 per share on May 6, 2024, to close at $154.34 per share on May 7, 2024, on heavy trading volume.On July 23, 2024, after the market closed, Atkore announced that its Vice President, then-CFO, and Chief Accounting Officer, defendant David P. Johnson, had submitted his resignation, effective August 9, 2024.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 August 6, 2024, after the market closed, Atkore reported adjusted earnings per share that fell short of the average analyst estimate and lowered its outlook for fiscal year 2024 adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income per diluted share. In the corresponding earnings call, Atkore's President, CEO, and Director, defendant William E. Waltz Jr., stated that "[p]ricing was softer than expected due to the slower end markets, particularly for our PVC conduit business." On this news, Atkore's stock price fell 14.7% from its closing price of $118.46 on August 5, 2024, to close at $101.05 per share on August 7, 2024, on extremely heavy trading volume.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
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NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 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.SORUCE: Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP
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Healthcare providers gain secure, efficient document routing with direct patient chart integration.WILMINGTON, DELAWARE / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / Documo, the leader in secure cloud fax and intelligent document processing, announced the launch of the Documo NextGen EMR Connector today. This new HIPAA-compliant integration enables healthcare organizations to connect incoming faxes directly to patient charts in NextGen EMR through a streamlined patient selection process. The connector reduces administrative steps in document processing, decreases workload, and ensures critical documents integrate with patient records while maintaining the highest patient data security standards."Our Documo NextGen EMR Connector simplifies fax management by allowing users to attach faxes directly to patient charts and encounters in NextGen EMR while maintaining complete HIPAA compliance," said Denis Whelan, CEO of Documo. "With a straightforward search and selection process, healthcare providers can ensure accuracy, save valuable time, and maintain the security of protected health information." Key Benefits Include:Reduced Processing Time: Users can connect faxes directly to the right patient encounter, eliminating redundant data entry and cutting document handling time significantlyEnhanced Patient Care Focus: Healthcare staff spend less time navigating between systems and more time with patients by managing documents through a single interfaceHIPAA-Compliant Security Framework: Complete audit trails and bank-grade encryption ensure patient information remains secure and traceable throughout document transmission and storage, maintaining full HIPAA compliance backed by SOC2 and HITRUST certificationsHealthcare organizations face mounting interoperability and compliance challenges as they manage communications across disparate systems. The HIPAA-compliant Documo NextGen EMR Connector addresses these critical needs by connecting traditional fax communications directly with modern electronic health record systems without compromising patient data security.For more information or to schedule a demo, visit Documo, email sales@ documo.com , or contact Documo at +1 (888) 966-4922.About Documo Documo provides secure, cloud-based fax and intelligent document processing solutions with built-in HIPAA compliance. Trusted by thousands of healthcare and regulated industry organizations, Documo simplifies administrative tasks and improves patient outcomes. As a SOC2 and HITRUST-certified organization, Documo maintains the highest security and compliance standards for protected health information, ensuring complete adherence to HIPAA regulations in all document processing operations.About NextGen Healthcare, Inc. NextGen Healthcare, Inc. is a leading provider of healthcare technology and data solutions, focused on improving the delivery of ambulatory care. The company offers a suite of integrated, interoperable tools - including electronic health records (EHR), practice management, and patient engagement solutions - designed to enhance clinical outcomes, streamline operations, and support value-based care. Recognized for its innovation and commitment to healthcare transformation, NextGen Healthcare empowers providers to deliver whole-person care while improving financial and operational performance.Contact InformationLarisa SummersSVP Markeinglarisa.summers@documo.com 888-966-4922SOURCE: Documo
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Festival Flamenco Alburquerque returns for its 38th year with unforgettable performances and exclusive workshops.ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / The National Institute of Flamenco (NIF) is thrilled to announce the 38th year of Festival Flamenco Alburquerque, the oldest and largest flamenco festival outside of Spain. This year's festival is bigger and bolder than ever, cementing its place as the premier flamenco event in the United States. Taking place from June 20-28, 2025, the nine-day celebration will showcase world-class performances, immersive workshops, and exciting collaborations, offering an unparalleled flamenco experience in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico. FFABQ38 Festival PosterFestival Flamenco Alburquerque 38 will feature 19 performances - most of them U.S. premieres - at iconic venues such as the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Rodey Theater UNM, UNM Chapel, and Tablao Flamenco Albuquerque. The festival will also offer over 40 workshops with flamenco masters at University of New Mexico, providing participants of all levels with the opportunity to explore the rich traditions of flamenco dance, music, and culture.We're excited to present performances by internationally acclaimed artists, including Premios Nacionales de Danza recipients - Spain's highest honor in dance. We've also added new elements, such as free transportation and collaborations with local businesses, to make this year's festival experience even more unforgettable.In addition to the spectacular performances, the festival will feature exclusive artist meet and - greets, press conferences, and a mini flamenco film festival at The Guild Cinema on June 21.For young flamenco enthusiasts, the 26th Annual Flamenco Kids Camp and 6th Annual Festival Juvenil will offer enriching opportunities. The Flamenco Kids Camp, designed for children ages 5-12, provides an engaging introduction to the world of flamenco. The Festival Juvenil is the leading national flamenco camp for experienced dancers ages 10-15, where participants will take special classes taught by invited guest artists."Art has the power to bring us closer to one another and to the world. Flamenco, with its depth, does just that - transcending borders and uniting us through its powerful expression," said Marisol Encinias, Executive Director of the Festival.Tickets and more information can be found at www.ffabq.org . Don't miss out on this vibrant celebration of flamenco - mark your calendars and reserve your tickets today!Contact InformationThais CoyMarketing & Communications Directorthais@ nifnm.org ( 505 ) 242 - 7600SOURCE: National Institute of Flamenco
Drones deliver warm meals to elderly villagers in mountainous areas of E China's Zhejiang

People's Daily Online) 15:13, April 08, 2025

Thanks to a drone-assisted meal delivery service, elderly residents in the mountainous areas of a village in east China's Zhejiang Province can now receive warm meals from a canteen for the elderly within minutes.

Elderly residents enjoy warm lunches delivered by drone from a canteen for the aged, at a senior activity center in a natural village under Fenglian village, Hengcun township, Tonglu county, Hangzhou city, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. (People's Daily/Huang Qiang)

On March 31, 2025, the drones began delivering meals for 168 elderly residents across the five natural villages under Fenglian village, Hengcun township, Tonglu county, Hangzhou city, capital of Zhejiang Province, marking the launch of the trial run of Zhejiang's first drone-assisted meal delivery project for the elderly in mountainous areas.

In Songjia village, one of Fenglian's five natural villages, the delivery time has been slashed from 30 minutes by car to just four minutes by drone.

"Two meat dishes and one vegetarian dish only cost three yuan ($0.41). The canteen is 3 kilometers away, and now the food gets here in just a few minutes. That was unimaginable in the past," said a villager named Song Jinchun.

The drone-assisted service, jointly launched by the government of Hengcun township and Chinese courier enterprise YTO Express, currently uses two drones, each capable of carrying up to 40 kilograms and flying for around 20 minutes.

A drone delivering lunches to elderly villagers prepares to land in front of a senior activity center in a natural village under Fenglian village, Hengcun township, Tonglu county, Hangzhou city, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. (People's Daily/Huang Qiang)

Compared with traditional delivery methods, the drones are more than five times as efficient.

Fenglian's five natural villages are scattered across remote, mountainous terrain. The farthest is located about 10 kilometers from the canteen, and a one-way walk along winding mountain roads between the canteen and the village can take more than two hours.

The pilot project aims to address the "last-mile" delivery challenge in rural areas. In the future, the service is expected to expand to include the delivery of express parcels, medicines, and other essential items, in a bid to better leverage technology to benefit people's lives, according to credible sources.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
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The Companies Will Pursue Global UAS ProgramsSAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace have agreed to collaborate on the development and production of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for the global defense market. The joint effort follows the successful completion of a major flight demonstration in 2024 when the two companies launched a GA-ASI MQ-1C Gray Eagle STOL (GE STOL) UAS from the South Korean Navy's amphibious landing ship ROKS Dokdo (LPH-6111) as it was underway at sea off the coast of Pohang, South Korea.GA-ASI and Hanwha Aerospace collaborated on a historic ship to land flight demonstration using Gray Eagle STOL on Nov. 12, 2024.The demonstration illustrated the ability of the GE STOL to safely operate on many types of aircraft-capable ships, which opens myriad new ways for the U.S. and its allies to use this UAS to support multi-domain operations. It also paved the way for GA-ASI and Hanwha to sign this new agreement to jointly invest in and pursue new UAS business opportunities."We're excited to extend and deepen our business relationship with Hanwha," said GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue, who supervised the November 12, 2024, at-sea demonstration. "Our test flight with Gray Eagle STOL was well-received by the Republic of Korea Navy, and we know Hanwha is ready to invest to grow a UAS business with GA-ASI both in Korea and the U.S."Gray Eagle STOL-which stands for short takeoff and landing-is the only medium-altitude, long-endurance aircraft of its kind with the ability to operate without a catapult or arresting gear from fight deck-equipped warships such as amphibious ships and aircraft carriers. It additionally enables true runway independence by operating from unimproved fields and roads, beaches, parking lots, etc.Hanwha Aerospace plans to invest more than 300 billion KRW (US $203.5M) in the development and production facilities for GE STOL and UAS engines, expand research and development activities, and provide production infrastructure in both South Korea and with GA-ASI in the U.S. This is in addition to GA-ASI's past and ongoing investment in UAS STOL development. Hanwha also plans to create jobs by securing talent in related fields and to foster the domestic (Korean) UAS industry ecosystem by discovering domestic parts and material partner companies. GA-ASI expects the endeavor to create nearly 10,000 jobs based upon the expected sales and support over the next 10 years, and at least 500 jobs in the U.S."Hanwha Aerospace views unmanned systems as a strategic pillar for the future of defense. Through our collaboration with GA-ASI, we aim to strengthen sovereign defense capabilities, expand Korea's presence in the global UAS market, and contribute to a more robust ROK-U.S. alliance, said Dong Kwan Kim, Vice Chairman of Hanwha Group.Previously known as Mojave, Gray Eagle STOL leverages extensive commonality with the well-proven, in-production Gray Eagle 25M airframe to offer a highly capable new aircraft at greatly reduced cost and technical risk compared to a clean-sheet design. Gray Eagle STOL has recorded a number of first-of-their-kind aviation milestones, including the flight from the Dokdo, launch and recovery aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales (09), live-fire testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., and several others. Gray Eagle STOL offers international militaries a unique platform: a full-featured medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS with a significant battlefield payload that can take off in short distances from ships, unimproved surfaces, or other highly combat-relevant locations.About Hanwha AerospaceHanwha is South Korea's seventh-largest business group, with innovative businesses in the areas of aerospace & mechatronics, clean energy and ocean solutions, finance, and retail and services. Hanwha Aerospace is a world leader that specializes in the design, development, assembling, and maintaining aircraft gas turbines and engine parts, aircraft components, as well as space systems, guided missile systems, and land and naval weapon systems to include providing highly specialized and dedicated organizational and depot maintenance support across these products. www.hanwha.com About GA-ASIGeneral Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. is the world's foremost builder of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Logging more than 8 million flight hours, the Predator line of UAS has flown for over 30 years and includes MQ-9A Reaper, MQ-1C Gray Eagle 25M, MQ-20 Avenger, XQ-67A, YFQ-42A, and MQ-9B SkyGuardian/SeaGuardian. The company is dedicated to providing long-endurance, multi-mission solutions that deliver persistent situational awareness and rapid strike.For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com Avenger, EagleEye, Gray Eagle, Lynx, Predator, Reaper, SeaGuardian, and SkyGuardian are trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., registered in the United States and/or other countries.# # #Contact InformationGA-ASI Media Relationsasi-mediarelations@ ga-asi.com (858) 524-8101SOURCE: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
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ATLANTA, GEORGIA / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / Georgia continues to shine in the smart cities arena, with three projects earning national accolades at the Smart 20 Awards, presented at the Smart Cities Connect Conference on April 14 in San Antonio, Texas. Led by Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners and the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation (PIN), Georgia contributed 15% of this year's honorees, with initiatives focused on traffic safety, electric transit, and energy integrity. Thomasville Heights: Reducing Energy Burdens in Underserved Communities Thomasville Heights: Reducing Energy Burdens in Underserved Communities"These partnerships for smart city innovation are proof that collaboration is indeed Atlanta's superpower and helps propel Georgia as a top state for cleantech innovation," said Cynthia Curry, Senior Director of Cleantech Ecosystem Expansion at the Metro Atlanta Chamber.Ghost Intersection: Enhancing Traffic and Pedestrian SafetyCuriosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, in partnership with Seyond, introduced its "Ghost Intersection" project to improve mobility and safety at SR141 and Peachtree Corners Circle. Using LiDAR technology and advanced software, the initiative captures real-time traffic data to reduce collisions. "We are always looking for new ways to harness cutting-edge technology to improve safety and accessibility for our community," said Brandon Branham, Peachtree Corners Assistant City Manager and Chief Technology Officer. He added, "This technology can be deployed without tearing up roads or disrupting commutes and provides a cost-effective path to next-generation infrastructure." The other two winning projects were supported by PIN:Chatham Connect: Expanding Electric MicrotransitChatham Area Transit (CAT) launched an initiative to integrate on-demand electric transit with existing services in Chatham County. "This Smart20 Award underscores our commitment to transit equity and innovation," said Mary Moskowitz, CAT's Chief of Planning. With support from PIN, Georgia Tech, and local institutions, CAT is developing a scalable model for transit systems nationwide to ensure sustainable and reliable transportation.Thomasville Heights: Reducing Energy Burdens in Underserved CommunitiesAtlanta's Energy Efficiency Education Project was celebrated for its impact on Thomasville Heights and Norwood Manor. The project utilized drone-based audits and affordable retrofits to cut air leakages by 25%, boost comfort by 92%, and lower energy consumption by up to 35%. "Our research demonstrated the power of targeted retrofits to enhance both energy equity and climate resilience," said Georgia Tech Associate Professor Tarek Rakha. Chandra Farley, Atlanta's Chief Sustainability Officer, noted the program as a precursor to WeatheRISE ATL, emphasizing its replicable and transformative approach."As priority neighborhoods for Mayor Dickens' Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, the informative project outcomes will continue to serve these neighborhoods, and the entire city, for years to come." To learn more: https://pingeorgia.org/smart-20-awards-with-three-projects-honored/ Contact InformationClaire AngellePublicistclaire@ angelleconsulting.com 6786410051SOURCE: Partnership for Inclusive InnovationRelated ImagesGhost Intersection: Enhancing Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Ghost Intersection: Enhancing Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Chatham Connect: Expanding Electric Microtransit Chatham Connect: Expanding Electric Microtransit
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Xander Hepburn secures $1,500 to dedicate toward his Economics & Accounting degree at UC Santa Barbara.LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / After assessing the scholarship applicant pool from 2024, High Rise Financial and its scholarship selection committee are proud to award the 2024 Financial Education PSA Scholarship to Alexander Duncan Hepburn IV. Hepburn, who prefers to go by Xander, has received $1,500 to dedicate toward his Economics & Accounting degree through the University of California Santa Barbara.Hepburn came at the scholarship prompt from two angles. He first wanted to encourage his peers to ignore the siren song of instant gratification and instead save their money for a rainy day. He refers to financial discipline as a learned skill and emphasizes that his peers should do more than create budgets-they should also stick to them.Hepburn also emphasizes that his peers' savings shouldn't languish in their checking accounts. He highlights the value of compound interest and encourages his peers to put what they might spend on a nice night out into a high-yield savings account or S&P 500.Hepburn's advice is presented alongside concrete analyses of studies like 1972's "Cognitive and attentional mechanisms in delay of gratification," as well as quotes from Brian Tracy and Charlie Munger. It was this dedication to fact-checking, along with Hepburn's to-the-point presentation, that made him stand out from the crowd.High Rise Financial is thrilled to offer Hepburn $1,500 to dedicate toward his continuing studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. There, Hepburn hopes to complete his degree before beginning a career in public accounting. He's already creating financial projections for two startups, one of which has secured $125K.After some time in the professional world, Hepburn hopes to pursue his M.B.A., after which he plans to transition into Venture Capital.High Rise Financial wishes Hepburn the best of luck with his future endeavors and is proud to support him as he continues to pursue his academic ambitions.The team invites students who want to create their own PSAs to visit the High Rise Financial website to learn more about the 2025 Financial Education PSA Scholarship's terms and conditions.About High Rise FinancialHigh Rise Financialwants to make it as easy as possible for accident and injury victims to handle the financial fallout of a serious accident. The team provides those victims with the financial support they need to pay their bills and overcome accident-related losses while their lawsuits are still in court.The efforts of the High Rise Financial team restore plaintiffs' sense of control and make it easier for victims to retake control of their lives. Each settlement loan the team offers comes risk-free and will not impact a plaintiff's credit score-and plaintiffs who don't win their cases don't owe High Rise Financial a dime.Anyone interested in securing a pre-settlement loan in the wake of a serious accident canreach out to High Rise Financial's team todayto discuss how to secure the loss-based financial support they need to recover.Contact Information Jack RossDirector of Project Managementjross@ highrisefinancial.com (866) 407-6404SOURCE: High Rise Financial
PR-Inside.com: 2025-04-08 08:00:30

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Find out how to sell your small business quickly and profitably in IRAEmpire.com's latest guide.DENVER, CO / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / IRAEmpire.com is excited to release its latest guide, "How to Sell Your Small Business," tailored specifically for owners looking to exit with confidence and profit. Whether you've built a local service company, a family-run shop, or a thriving online brand, this guide gives you the roadmap to a smart, smooth sale.Ryan Paulson, Chief Editor at IRAEmpire, says, "Small business owners often underestimate the value of what they've built. With the right steps, selling your business can be both financially rewarding and emotionally fulfilling." Get in Touch with a Business Sale Expert Here.Alternatively,explore the best business sale brokers of 2025 on IRAEmpire here.Decide If You're Ready to SellBefore you start the process, take a moment to assess your personal and professional goals:Are you ready to retire or move on?Do you have a plan for what comes next?Is your business running smoothly without your daily involvement?Selling isn't just a financial decision-it's a life transition. Be sure you're mentally and emotionally prepared to hand over the reins.Many small business owners underestimate the emotional weight of selling. If you've poured years of effort into building your brand, managing customer relationships, and supporting employees, stepping away can feel like losing part of your identity. That's why it's important to think not only about the financial outcomes, but also the lifestyle changes that come after.Also, consider whether your business can thrive without you. If daily operations depend on your constant presence, now is the time to start delegating and documenting your processes. Buyers want businesses that are transferable, not ones that require hand-holding or reinvention.Ultimately, the more clarity you have about your motivations and readiness, the smoother your decision-making process will be from listing to closing day.Prepare the Business for SaleBuyers want a clean, organized, and profitable business. Key prep steps include:Update financial records (P&L, tax returns, balance sheets)Organize business operations (employee roles, vendor contracts, customer data)Minimize owner dependency (delegate, document SOPs)Resolve outstanding liabilities (loans, legal issues, back taxes)Go deeper by standardizing and documenting workflows, ensuring vendor agreements are up-to-date, and reviewing your current staffing model. Buyers want to see not only that a business is running well now, but that it will continue to run smoothly after the handover.Consider investing in minor upgrades-refreshing your branding, improving your website, or tidying up your storefront or office space. These low-cost improvements can significantly influence buyer impressions during initial research or walkthroughs.Also, audit all digital assets. Ensure you have clear ownership of domain names, social media accounts, customer data, and any proprietary tools or platforms. Presenting these in a clean, organized portfolio gives your business a polished and credible edge.A business that's been proactively prepared doesn't just appear professional-it commands more respect, reduces buyer objections, and can often sell for a higher multiple.Get a Business ValuationKnowing what your small business is worth is crucial. Valuation methods often include:Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE): Net profit + owner's salary + add-backsEBITDA: For slightly larger businesses with staff and systems in placeMarket comps: What have similar businesses in your industry sold for?Each method provides a different lens on business value, and choosing the right one depends on your size, structure, and sector. For example, a single-location service business may rely heavily on SDE, while a growing online store with recurring revenue might be better suited to EBITDA-based valuation.Beyond the math, valuation considers intangible factors like brand equity, customer loyalty, employee stability, and operational efficiency. Clean books and well-documented operations help defend your asking price.Working with a broker or certified valuation expert ensures objectivity and credibility. They'll normalize earnings, identify non-recurring expenses, and calculate a realistic range buyers will take seriously. Their report can also be used as a negotiation tool or to support loan applications.Inaccurate valuations-too high or too low-can stall your sale. The right pricing strategy starts with knowing your true value, backed by data and market insight.Learn How to Sell Your Business Profitably Here.Build a Team of AdvisorsDon't go it alone. Surround yourself with experienced professionals who can guide you through the process, identify risks, and negotiate effectively on your behalf.Business broker: A broker helps you list your business at the right price, create a professional sales package, and identify serious, qualified buyers. They can also help maintain confidentiality throughout the process.CPA: Your CPA will prepare and review financial statements, calculate potential tax liabilities, and suggest ways to structure the sale to maximize your after-tax proceeds.Attorney: An experienced business attorney ensures all documents are legally sound, handles contract negotiations, and ensures compliance with local and federal laws.You may also consider involving:Valuation expert: To provide a formal, defensible valuation that adds credibility when marketing your business.Financial advisor: To help you plan how to manage proceeds post-sale, especially if retirement is part of your next chapter.As Ryan Paulson of IRAEmpire notes, "A strong advisory team doesn't just protect you-it helps you negotiate smarter and sell faster." Ultimately, your deal is only as solid as the people guiding it. Choose advisors who have specific experience with small business sales and who align with your communication style and end goals.Create a Sales PackageAlso called a business prospectus or CIM (Confidential Information Memorandum), this document gives serious buyers a clear look at your operation. It should be detailed, polished, and well-organized, as it will shape a buyer's first impression. Include:Business history and modelFinancial performance (3 years of P&Ls, tax returns, cash flow)Staff structure and leadership rolesKey assets, inventory, and intellectual propertyMarket position, growth potential, and competitor overviewCustomer base and revenue sourcesGo beyond just listing facts-explain why your bus
PR-Inside.com: 2025-04-08 18:31:29

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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / Ciuni & Panichi, Inc.,recentlydisclosed that it suffered a data breach that compromised the sensitive personaldataof individuals. This data breach has led to concerns over the security of sensitive personalinformation entrusted to Ciuni & Panichi.WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?On November 3, 2024, Ciuni & Panichi became aware of a security incident involving unauthorized activity in an employee email account. Upon detection, Ciuni & Panichi 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 sensitive personal information within its systems. Ciuni & Panichi conducted a comprehensive review of the impacted data to determine what information was compromised and to identify affected individuals. This review was completed on January 21, 2025.Upon information and belief, the following types of sensitive personalinformation may have been compromised: name of individual, Social Security number, and date of birth.On March 27, 2025, Ciuni & Panichi filed a notice with the Attorney General of New Hampshire and started mailing notice letters to the impacted individuals.Compensation may be available for those individuals who received notice that their personal information was compromised.WHY YOU 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 Ciuni & Panichi, 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: 2025-04-08 18:31:08

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NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / Lighthouse Wealth Partners, recently disclosed that it suffered a data breach that compromised the sensitive personal data of individuals. This data breach has led to concerns over the security of sensitive personal information entrusted to LWP.WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?Lighthouse Wealth Partners recently became aware of a security incident on its systems. Upon detection, LWP 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 sensitive personal information. LWP 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 information may have been compromised: names, Social Security numbers, and financial account numbers. On March 25, 2025, LWP filed a notice with the Attorney General of Massachusetts 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 YOU 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 LWP, 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: 2025-04-08 15:01:16

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COLUMBUS, OHIO / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / 1Logtech Inc., the no-code integration platform purpose-built for transportation and logistics, announced today it has closed a $1.5 million seed funding round to accelerate the growth of its AI-powered iPaaS (integration platform as a service).The round was led by Cleveland-based North Coast Ventures, with additional participation from Cincinnati's own Queen City Angels and other investors.1Logtech's platform allows logistics professionals - without developers - to rapidly connect to carriers, shippers, ERPs, and Transportation Management Systems (TMS) using EDI or APIs. With a powerful AI-driven mapping engine, 1Logtech transforms integration timelines from months to hours."One SME (subject matter expert) used the platform to bring 30 LTL carriers live in just six weeks," said Mark Addesso, CTO and co-founder at 1Logtech. "This includes booking, eBOL processing, documentation, and status updates - the works! That would've taken a full dev team thousands of hours and months, if not years." Even with industry standards and pre-built connectors, every system-whether a TMS, ERP, or WMS-as well as every shipper and carrier, is different. Logistics SMEs are uniquely positioned to understand and normalize those nuances. Now, an SME can build an API without writing code or implement EDI without knowing EDI. As more B2B platforms expose APIs, 1Logtech fills the gap-empowering operators, not developers, to self-connect without IT support."Our iPaaS isn't just about connectivity - it's also workflow and business intelligence," said JP Wiggins, CEO and co-founder of 1Logtech. "For example, with our new compliance feature, carriers are instantly notified when they fall out of compliance for live loads. Our iPaaS understands the details of shipments and interacts intelligently with the data to drive smarter integration." The seed funding will support product development, team expansion, and go-to-market initiatives as 1Logtech deepens its presence across key logistics segments, including truckload, LTL, final mile, and 3PL/trucking-to-customer integrations.About 1Logtech 1Logtech is a no-code, AI-driven integration platform built specifically for transportation. The company enables rapid connectivity across TMSs, ERPs, WMSs, 3PLs, carriers, and shippers - without writing code. By empowering SMEs to automate workflows, 1Logtech is reshaping how the industry approaches the integration of transportation data.About North Coast Ventures North Coast Ventures (NCV) is a Cleveland-based early-stage venture capital firm primarily investing in B2B SaaS companies. With over 500 member investors, NCV is the largest single-chapter investor group in the country. Since 2006, NCV and its member investors have deployed more than $100 million into over 70 high-potential ventures.For more information about North Coast Ventures and its portfolio, visitnorthcoast.vc About Queen City Angels Queen City Angels (QCA) is a group of 210 experienced accredited investors located in 22 states. QCA members include successful entrepreneurs, former C-suite corporate executives, R&D/technical experts in life sciences, IT, and advanced materials, and others with related backgrounds. QCA leverages its proprietary Standards + Practices Guide to educate, train, and mentor both entrepreneurs and angel investors. For more information, please visitwww.qca.com For more information or to request a demo, visit 1 logtech.comContact: Dianna Durkin info@1 logtech.com 614.342.0093SOURCE: 1 Logtech Inc.
PR-Inside.com: 2025-04-08 18:30:44

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NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / Lyon Management Group, Inc. which does business as Lyon Living, 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 Lyon Living.WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?Lyon Living recently became aware of a security incident on its IT network. Upon detection, Lyon Living 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 sensitive personal information between March 14 and March 15, 2024. Lyon Living conducted a comprehensive review of the impacted data to determine what information was compromised and identified affected individuals. Lyon Living identified persons whose sensitive data was included in the impacted data.Upon information and belief, the following types of sensitive personaland protected health information may have been compromised:name, Social Security number, driver's license number, california id card number, tax identification number, passport number, military id number, or other unique id number issued on a government document, account number or credit or debit card number, in combination with any required security code, access code, or password that would permit access to an individual's financial account, medical information, health insurance information, unique biometric data generated from measurements or technical analysis of human body characteristics, such as a fingerprint, retina, or iris image, used to authenticate a specific individual, and genetic data.On March 28, 2025, Lyon Living 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 YOU 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 Lyon Living, 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: 2025-04-08 21:51:19

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WILMINGTON, DE / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / MedScale is an e-commerce agency specializing in helping medical professionals build, launch, and scale private-label supplement brands on Amazon, has announced a major breakthrough in its product research process.The company now leverages advanced AI-powered software tools to identify profitable supplement product ideas, significantly reducing the research timeline from two months to just two weeks. This transformative development enables medical professionals to establish their e-commerce businesses faster and more efficiently than ever before.MedScale is uniquely positioned to serve doctors, physicians, and healthcare professionals who aspire to build a passive monetary stream by launching their own supplement brands. With a completely done-for-you service model, MedScale handles everything from product research, manufacturing, branding, and Amazon listing optimization to marketing and scaling - allowing healthcare professionals to own a profitable business with minimal time commitment.Traditionally, identifying the right supplement product that aligns with market demand, profit potential, and brand identity took MedScale's team up to two months. However, the recent adoption of AI-driven software tools has innovated the process, enabling the team to find high-demand, low-competition supplement products in just two weeks.The AI tools analyze market demand, competition levels, search trends, and consumer behavior across Amazon to uncover supplement products that have high-profit potential while aligning with the medical professional's niche and expertise. This data-driven approach eliminates guesswork and significantly improves the success rate of new supplement brands.MedScale's service model is designed to provide end-to-end business setup for medical professionals who aspire to own their own private-label supplement brand without having to manage day-to-day operations.The comprehensive service includes:Product Research: Using AI tools to identify high-demand supplement products tailored to the medical professional's niche.Product Development: Collaborating with laboratories and manufacturers to create custom supplement formulas.Brand Building: Designing the brand identity, logo, and product packaging.Amazon Setup: Setting up the Amazon store, creating high-converting product listings, and handling SEO optimization.Marketing and Scaling: Running targeted Amazon PPC campaigns, launching the product, and scaling the brand for long-term growth.100% Fulfillment by Amazon: The product is stored, packed, and shipped entirely by Amazon's fulfillment centers, ensuring a hands-off experience for the doctor.The demand for doctor-led supplement brands has been steadily increasing as more healthcare professionals seek additional income streams, brand credibility, and opportunities to scale their influence. MedScale offers doctors the ability to:Generate Passive Income: By owning a supplement brand, doctors can build an e-commerce business that generates revenue without requiring their daily involvement.Build Trust and Authority: Selling supplements under their own brand name enhances the doctor's reputation, allowing them to build trust within their medical practice and beyond.Work from Anywhere: With 100% fulfillment by Amazon, doctors have the freedom to operate their business remotely without logistical hassles.The recent integration of AI-powered product research tools now ensures that we reduced the product launch timeline from 6-8 months to just 3-4 months, allowing doctors to see a return on their investment much faster. The ability to identify market-proven products within two weeks has positioned MedScale as a leader in the health and wellness e-commerce space.About the Company - MedScale MedScale is an e-commerce agency dedicated to helping medical professionals in the United States build, launch, and scale their own private-label supplement brands on Amazon. The company handles the entire process - from product research and manufacturing to marketing and scaling - allowing doctors to build a passive income stream with minimal time and effort.By incorporating data-driven AI tools and partnering with laboratories to develop custom supplement formulas, MedScale enables medical professionals to capitalize on the growing demand for health and wellness products while building long-term wealth.For MedScale's services, visit: https://medscale.io/ Media ContactOrganization: MedScale LLCContact Person Name: Lorenz TodorovWebsite: https://medscale.io/ Email: lorenz@ medscale.io City: WilmingtonState: DelawareCountry: United StatesSOURCE: MedScale LLC
PR-Inside.com: 2025-04-08 16:31:05

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HOUSTON, TEXAS / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / Premier Sound & Lighting, a leading event production company from Houston, Texas, is thrilled to announce it was recently named aForbes Industry Game-Changerin the event space. For over 15 years, Premier Sound & Lighting has served the Houston community with premium, white-glove, seamlessly coordinated services, and they are honored to be acknowledged for their hard work and dedication to their craft.Providing Memorable Experiences for Corporate EventsIndustry events are a substantial part of how large corporations and organizations network, drum up new business, and connect with their customers, partners, and employees. That's where Premier Sound & Lighting comes in.Offering industry-leading design capabilities, high tech and premium products, along with their experience managing all elements of event production, there's no better choice when it comes to booking a high-profile event in Houston and its surrounding cities.Whether you're planning a corporate or charity event, guests are looking for a premium experience that spares no expense. From innovative event technology, AV production, and AV rentals to staging and custom lighting, all of these components add up to make an event experience like no other.Honored to Be Recognized by Forbes as a Game-ChangerTo be recognized by Forbes as a game-changer and innovator in the event space is a huge accomplishment. It certainly hasn't come easy-after 15 years in the industry, the company has perfected nearly every part of its process to ensure every client feels like they are the top priority and their unique vision is executed with flying colors.Premier Sound & Lightingworks alongside their clients every step of the planning process to ensure every detail is pristine and well-executed. From serving high profile clients like Rolls Royce and Porsche to being named the designated event production company for Houston's luxury venues, The Astorian and LeTesserae, the team at Premier Sound & Lighting is fully committed to its craft.While sound and lighting are the two premier event offerings, the production company also offers DJ services and entertainers, dance floors and screen rentals, furniture, photo booths, and professional staging unlike anything you've seen before. Whatever vision you have for your corporate event, Premier Sound & Lighting can bring it to life with style and finesse!About Premier Sound & LightingPremier Sound and Lighting is a leading event production company based in Houston, Texas. Fromcorporate eventsto weddings, private parties, charity fundraisers, cultural events, concerts, and galas, our "Premium One-Stop Approach" embodies full-service event production planning.Learn more about their services by visitingPremierSoundandLighting.com Contact InformationMarwah FawcettMarketing Directormarwah@ premiersoundandlighting.com 281-250-1665SOURCE: Premier Sound And Lighting
PR-Inside.com: 2025-04-08 10:00:19

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Next-generation solution eliminates manual inefficiencies, security risks, and regulatory complexity across regulatory jurisdictions worldwideLONDON, UNITED KINGDOM / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 /Proxymity, the leading digital investor communications platform, is pleased to announce the launch of Shareholder Disclosure, a next-generation regulatory solution designed to simplify and ensure shareholder disclosure compliance with ever-changing global requirements for intermediaries worldwide. Proxymity Proxymity LogoIn addition to Proxymity's established SRD II capabilities in Europe, Shareholder Disclosure extends its offering to provide comprehensive coverage to 14 additional markets, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and more.The solution eliminates the operational burden and risk for custodians, banks, and brokers associated with handling requests to disclose sensitive client information to corporate issuers or the plethora of parties requesting on their behalf. By standardizing processes and automating the entire disclosure lifecycle, tangible operational efficiencies are realized, saving costs, while the potential for administrative errors is reduced.By leveraging Proxymity's proprietary technology and real-time digital connectivity, Shareholder Disclosure provides intermediaries with seamless, secure end-to-end data processing, with its encrypted communication framework ensuring data is only shared with authorized parties and is protected throughout the disclosure process.The solution also supports faster, more direct communication with issuers, reducing delays and errors in shareholder identification, while providing full, real-time visibility into disclosure requests, status updates, and compliance reports.Shareholder Disclosure is scalable by design, enabling the servicing of institutions of all sizes regardless of the volume of requests to disclose.This new product follows Proxymity's launch of Vote Connect Total in the US, allowing institutional and retail investors owning US shares to vote at US general meetings. With the largest global network of direct issuer connectivity, Proxymity is continuing to set the standard for secure, efficient, and transparent shareholder disclosure solutions for intermediaries.Dean Little, CEO and Co-Founder at Proxymity, said: "Regulatory compliance should not be an operational headache. With Shareholder Disclosure, we are transforming a traditionally complex and fragmented process into a seamless, automated experience across multiple global financial markets. Financial institutions can now comply effortlessly, eliminating inefficiencies while reducing administrative burden and risk." The launch of Shareholder Disclosure reinforces Proxymity's commitment to innovation in investor communications and corporate governance, providing financial institutions with a future-proof solution to navigate evolving regulatory demands.ENDSNotes to Editors For more information, please contact: Sapience Communications: Richard Morgan Evans / Alice Lim0203 327 8422 | proxymity@ sapiencecomms.co.uk About ProxymityProxymity is a leading digital investor communications platform connecting the world's ecosystem of issuers, intermediaries, and investors digitally in real time, bringing unprecedented transparency, efficiency, and accuracy. Trusted by the world's largest financial institutions, including seven of the world's top ten Global Custodians managing over $200 trillion in assets under custody (BNP Paribas, BNY, Citi, Computershare, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Borse, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Mediant, State Street), and counting 87 of the FTSE 100 as clients, it serves over 25 markets worldwide.Proxymity's solutions include Vote Connect, a digital-first platform with unparalleled real-time transparency allowing issuers to send and receive meeting announcements, proxy voting, and vote confirmations without distortion or interference, and Shareholder Insights, providing issuers full visibility of their shareholder base and visibility of ownership through the intermediary chain. Proxymity's platforms, built on highly scalable technology, use "golden source" data and provide full compliance with the latest regulations.Proxymity's ground-breaking technology has been recognized with recent awards including FSTech's "Most Disruptive Technology in the FinTech Sector" and GC Magazine's "FinTech of the Year 2024".For more information, visitwww.proxymity.io Contact InformationSapiene CommunicationsPR Teamproxymity@ sapiencecomms.co.uk 0203 327 8422SOURCE: Proxymity
PR-Inside.com: 2025-04-08 21:15:27

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NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / ROI Training announces that it has received the 2025 Google Cloud Global Training Partner of the Year Award. Google Cloud Global Training Partner of the YearROI Training is being recognized for the company's achievements in the Google Cloud ecosystem, helping joint customers and partners successfully accelerate their digital transformation through training.This achievement marks the sixth time ROI Training has been recognized as Google Cloud Partner of the Year for Training (2025, 2024, 2023, 2021, 2018, and 2017). In 2019 and 2020, ROI Training was awarded Google Cloud Regional Training Partner of the Year for North America and EMEA.Having trained over 600,000 people on Google Cloud technologies across six continents and in over 40 countries, ROI Training's impressive team of subject matter expert trainers has been instrumental in driving transformation with the world's leading businesses and agencies. The hands-on intensive nature of the Google Cloud curriculum, paired with ROI's ability to deliver use case-driven instructor-led training, provides the perfect environment to build, test, and deploy new solutions."We are honored to receive our 10th Google Cloud Training Partner of the Year Award," said Dave Carey, CEO of ROI Training. "With the growing need for enterprises and public sector customers to train and upskill people in cloud, data, and AI, there has never been a more exciting time in our industry and our partnership with Google Cloud. I am proud of my team for the incredible effort they put in daily to help customers succeed. Thank you to Google Cloud for recognizing us!"Today, ROI Training offers among the deepest cloud curriculum in the market, covering Generative AI, Cloud Infrastructure, Application Modernization, Data Engineering and Analytics, API Management, Security, Machine Learning, and Cloud for Business Leaders. ROI's global trainer team brings deep expertise in delivering vertical and use case-driven training solutions, including Financial Services, Healthcare, Retail, and Public Sector.ROI Training has also earned Google Cloud Specializations for training in the areas of Generative AI, Data Analytics, Infrastructure, and Security. ROI's team of esteemed trainers have collectively earned 290+ Professional Cloud Certifications.In 2024, ROI partnered with Google Cloud to deliver three launchpad training programs., enabling more people to incorporate cloud and AI in their daily work.. In total, these events trained 10,200+ learners, and helped attendees achieve 2,000+ Cloud Digital Leader certifications!ROI Training has always believed we must give back to those who have sacrificed so much for us, our veterans. With this in mind, "Launchpad for Veterans" was created and delivered in November 2024 in partnership with Google Cloud. In its inaugural delivery, we trained 4,000+ learners, and helped over 200+ veterans earn their Google Cloud Digital Leader certification."We are proud to recognize ROI Training as our Global Training Partner of the Year," said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "Their comprehensive training initiatives, focused on impactful learning experiences and innovative programs, enable them to drive significant skill development and customer satisfaction." Contact InformationMichael Gilchrist Global Client & Project Managermichael.gilchrist@roitraining.com (800) 764-9877SOURCE: ROI Training
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To celebrate 18 years of business, one lucky winner will win free RuffleButts for a year.DALLAS, TEXAS / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / RuffleButts + RuggedButts, the premium children's apparel brand known for its playful and quality designs is celebrating a major milestone - 18 years of bringing smiles to families everywhere. In honor of this exciting anniversary,RuffleButtsis saying thank you to its incredible customers with an exclusive giveaway!One lucky winner will receive $1200 in credit to shop atrufflebutts.comand will be distributed in credits of $100 once a month, starting April 16th, 2025 and ending March 2026. The credits will be distributed to the winner's rufflebutts.com account. If the winner does not have an account, an accountmust be created . Credits are to be used within 6 months of receiving.To enter this giveaway, individuals must:Join RuffleButts VIP Facebook GroupLeave a comment on the giveaway post inside of the VIP Facebook GroupBoth must be completed by April 14th at midnightThe winner will be randomly selected and will be contacted directly byRuffleButts + RuggedButts official Facebook account .Customers can also enjoy savings onUPF 50+ swimwear ,family matching styles , andSoftSnooze pajamasfor a limited time during RuffleButts birthday celebration.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.
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THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES (ITS TERRITORIES OR POSSESSIONS), AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE: (A) A PROSPECTUS OR OFFERING MEMORANDUM; (B) AN ADMISSION DOCUMENT PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AIM RULES; OR (C) AN OFFER FOR SALE OR SUBSCRIPTION OF ANY SECURITIES IN THE COMPANY. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR CONTAIN, AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS, ANY INVITATION, SOLICITATION, RECOMMENDATION, OFFER OR ADVICE TO ANY PERSON TO SUBSCRIBE FOR, OTHERWISE ACQUIRE OR DISPOSE OF ANY SECURITIES OF SOUTHERN ENERGY CORP. IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH ANY SUCH OFFER OR SOLICITATION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY THE COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (REGULATION 596/2014/EU) AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED. UPON PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.CALGARY, AB / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 /Southern Energy Corp. ("Southern" or the "Company") (TSXV:SOU)(AIM:SOUC), a U.S.-focused, growth-oriented natural gas producer, is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced equity financing for aggregate gross proceeds of US$5.0million (approximately 3.9million, C$7.2million) through the issue of 102,482,673new Units at a price of C$0.07 or 3.8 pence per Unit. The equity offering was previously announced by the Company via press release on March 12, 2025 and March 25, 2025.The Fundraising was comprised of US$3.2 million via a Prospectus Offering of 65,435,521 Units and 1.4 million (approximately US$1.8 million) via a Placing of 37,047,152 Units. Each Unit consists of one new Common Share and one Common Share purchase Warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder to subscribe for and purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of price of C$0.09 per Common Share (in the case of the Prospectus Offering) and 4.8 pence (in the case of the Placing) or at any time until April 8, 2028.The net proceeds of the Fundraising alongside cashflow will be used by the Company to accelerate the completion of its three drilled and uncompleted (DUC) wells, drilled as part of its Q1 2023 drilling campaign on its Gwinville acreage, as well as fully funding the drilling of two vertical Cotton Valley wells on its Mechanicsburg acreage.Ian Atkinson, President and CEO of Southern, commented:"With this capital raise completed we are excited to re-ignite our growth plan picking up where we left off in the Gwinville field and bringing the first of three DUCs into production as quickly as we can get equipment into the field. As we add material new production in a much higher U.S. natural gas price environment, with the current average for the remainder of the year at >US$4.00/MMbtu (equivalent to C$5.65/MMbtu), we expect shareholders will benefit significantly in the near-term.With anticipated IRRs of over 80% for our Gwinville DUCs, the allocation of our capital here is expected to be highly accretive to shareholders and allow us to boost production at a resurgent time for the US natural gas market. Longer term, we have identified over 100 additional horizontal locations at Gwinville, which gives Southern the running room for further growth alongside many other exciting higher liquids weighting hydrocarbon targets in our portfolio. I'd like to welcome our new shareholders to the register and thank current shareholders for their support as we enter a period of positive momentum for Southern's compelling growth story." Prospectus Offering and PlacingResearch Capital Corporation acted as sole agent and sole bookrunner (the "Canadian Bookrunner") in connection with the Prospectus Offering. Tennyson Securities, a trading name of Shard Capital Partners LLP and Hannam & Partners, a trading name of H&P Advisory Limited acted as joint bookrunners (the "UK Joint Bookrunners") in connection with the Placing.In connection with the Prospectus Offering, the Company filed an amended and restated prospectus supplement dated 26 March 2025 amending and restating the prospectus supplement dated 14 March 2025 (as amended, the "Supplement"), to the Company's short form base shelf prospectus dated 28 November 2024 (the "Shelf Prospectus"), with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada. Copies of the Supplement, the Shelf Prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference therein are available electronically on SEDAR+ ( www.sedarplus.ca) Certain directors and officers of the Company, constituting persons discharging managerial responsibilities ("PDMRs") of the Company for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation (Regulation 596/2014/EU) as it forms part of UK domestic law pursuant to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the "UK MAR"), participated in the Prospectus Offering, acquiring an aggregate of 2,218,500 Units for gross proceeds of US$0.1 million. Participation by the directors and officers in the Prospectus Offering was considered a "related party transaction" pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company was exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation or minority shareholder approval in connection with the insiders' participation in the Prospectus Offering in reliance on sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 in that the fair market value (as determined under MI 61-101) of the consideration for securities of the Company to be issued to related parties does not exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization (as determined under MI 61-101). The FCA notifications relating to the participation by PDMRs, made in accordance with the requirements of the UK MAR, are appended below.The Company has granted the Canadian Bookrunner an option, exercisable in whole or in part, at the sole discretion of the Canadian Bookrunner, at any time, from time to time, for a period of 30 days from and including the closing of the Prospectus Offering, to purchase from the Company up to an additional 15% of the Units sold under the Prospectus Offering, and/or the components thereof, on the same terms and conditions of the Prospectus Offering to cover over-al
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NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / St. Joseph's College of Maine recently disclosed that it suffered a data breach that compromised the sensitive personal data of individuals. This data breach has led to concerns over the security of sensitive personal information entrusted toSt. Joseph's.WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?On February 20, 2025, St. Joseph's College of Maine became aware of a security incident on its network. Upon detection, St. Joseph's College of Maine 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 the network between December 15, 2023, and January 24, 2024, and potentially accessed or acquired certain files containing sensitive personal information. St. Joseph's 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 information may have been compromised: full name, date of birth, address, Social Security number, and government-issued IDs. On March 21, 2025, St. Joseph's College of Maine filed a notice of public disclosure and started sending out notice letters to the individuals. Compensation may be available for those individuals who received notice that their personal information was compromised.WHY YOU 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 St. Joseph's, 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
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Travefy's New Travel Agent Program is a Transformational Offering Empowering New Agents With Tools for Long-Term SuccessLINCOLN, NEBRASKA / ACCESS Newswire / April 8, 2025 / Travefy, the leading platform for travel agents, is proud to announce the launch of its New Travel Agent Program (NTAP) - a one-of-a-kind initiative designed to help new travel advisors launch and grow successful businesses with the essential tools they need from day one. Travefy NTAP Launch Partners Travefy New Travel Agent Program Launch PartnersThe program delivers unmatched value with access to Travefy's award-winning itinerary management and client communication platform, while uniquely offering an integrated custom domain, professional email, and website hosting - critical foundational tools for any business, and offered exclusively by Travefy."Helping travel advisors succeed is at the heart of everything we do," said David Chait, CEO of Travefy. "We created the New Travel Agent Program to meet new advisors where they are - at the beginning of their journey - and equip them with the real business tools they need to build a brand, earn client trust, and grow confidently." The launch has already generated strong enthusiasm across the travel industry, with widespread support from agency networks, educators, and veteran advisors eager to see a new generation set up for success from day one.Travefy announced several launch partners for its New Travel Advisor Program (NTAP) who are making the program available to all of their agents new to the industry. These partners include host agencies Nexion Travel Group, Oasis Travel Network, TravelOnly, and Luxevo Travels, as well as major industry supplier ALG Vacations and educational champions The Travel Institute and Wanderlust Travel. Their collective support reflects a shared commitment to empowering new advisors with the tools, training, and infrastructure they need to thrive in the travel industry."Nexion Travel Group is proud to be a launch partner for Travefy's New Agent Program, a turnkey solution designed to set new travel advisors up for success from day one," notes Jackie Friedman, President of Nexion Travel Group. "This innovative and cost-effective program provides the essential tools and support needed to build a profitable travel business and compliments Nexion's new advisor programs nicely." NTAP is a one-year program that provides exceptional value to new travel agents by offering deeply discounted pricing of $25 per month (paid annually), along with discounted renewal pricing to support continued growth. The NTAP is available exclusively to any travel agent who joined the industry in the past 12 months and includes a verification process.LAUNCH PARTNER QUOTES"Nexion Travel Group is proud to be a launch partner for Travefy's New Agent Program, a turnkey solution designed to set new travel advisors up for success from day one. This innovative and cost-effective program provides the essential tools and support needed to build a profitable travel business and compliments Nexion's new advisor programs nicely." - Jackie Friedman, President, Nexion Travel Group"We're excited to be a launch partner with Travefy as they unveil their new Travel Agent Program! This collaboration brings exclusive value to OTN advisors through tailored training and special discounts - a true win for our network. Travefy is a valued partner, and we're proud to support their ongoing efforts to uplift and empower our members through meaningful innovation and as a trusted resource for growing their businesses." - Shemain Grasso, VP of Business Development, Oasis Travel Network"TravelOnly is proud to announce our partnership with Travefy for their New Travel Agent Program. This collaboration plays a vital role in empowering new travel professionals, providing them with the essential tools and support to successfully launch and grow their businesses." - Shannon Smith, Senior Vice President Sales Marketing and Operations, TravelOnly"The Luxevo Vacation team has worked with thousands of new travel agents over the past 20+ years. We know the tools, trainings, resources they need to be successful and we have built those into our program. This is why partnering with Travefy for their launch of the New Travel Agent Program was a natural fit." - Burt Kramer, Owner & CEO, Luxevo Vacations"At ALGV, we're committed to equipping new travel advisors with the tools, training, and support they need to thrive. Partnering with Travefy on the New Travel Agent Program aligns perfectly with our mission to invest in the next generation of travel professionals. We're proud to be a Launch Partner and excited to see the impact this initiative will have on the future of our industry." - Ben Recob, Director of Education & Implementation, ALG Vacations"We are excited to collaborate with Travefy's team in launching their New Travel Agent Program (NTAP). As the industry's education leader and only nonprofit resource for agent learning, this initiative complements our gold-standard education and certification programs with Travefy's innovative technology solutions, ensuring new-to-industry travel advisors are set up for success from day one." - Diane Petras, CTIE, President, The Travel Institute"Our partnership with Travefy is more than a collaboration - it's a revolution in how new travel agents launch their businesses. Together, we're redefining what's possible by combining visionary education with elite tools to create a new standard for success in the travel industry." - Cyndi Williams, CEO, Wanderlust CampusABOUT TRAVEFYTravefy's award-winning software powers over 30,000 travel brands across the globe from independent travel advisors to large host agencies. As the centerpiece of a travel agent's technology stack, Travefy provides powerful trip management, CRM, and marketing tools that help agents and agencies thrive.Travefy has won numerous industry honors including ASTA's Entrepreneur of the Year, Phocuswright's Brand USA Marketing Innovation Award, in addition to being recognized on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. for two consecutive years, among other honors.To learn more about the New Travel Agent Program, visit https://go.travefy.com/new-travel-agent-program Contact InformationStephanie GriesSenior Education Managerstephanie@ travefy.com 844-487-2833SOURCE: Travefy
At least 50 hippos and other large animals have been killed by anthrax poisoning in Virunga National Park, the oldest African park located along Eastern Congo.

The Virunga Park director, Emmanuel De Merode, disclosed this on Tuesday.

The animals were found floating motionless along the Ishasha and Lake Edward River. Images shared by the national park showed them lying on their backs or sides on the banks of the river.

About 25 hippopotamus bodies were seen floating in the lake.

According to the park director, some buffalo have also been killed. He said although tests have confirmed that the deaths were caused by anthrax poisoning, the exact cause of the poisoning is still unknown.

Anthrax is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which forms spores that can survive in the environment for decades.

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The disease affects both domestic and wild animals, which can become infected if they inhale the spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water.

Humans can also be infected through contact with contaminated animal products, inhalation of spores, or ingestion of undercooked, contaminated meat.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation advised locals to steer clear of wildlife in the region and to ensure any water from nearby sources is boiled before consumption.

The park director also said that a team was on-site and that they were trying to get the hippos out of the water and bury them, but that it was difficult because they did not have excavators.

Its difficult due to lack of access and logistics. We have the means to limit the spread (of the disease) byburying them with caustic soda, Reuters quoted him as saying.

He stated that the park rangers first realised something was wrong when dead animals began turning up along the Ishasha River, which marks the border between Congo and Uganda, around five days ago.

READ ALSO: First UK baby born following womb transplant

The river flows through a region controlled by rebel factions.

However, the recent deaths of endangered bulls mark a significant setback for the park, which has been striving to boost the hippo population in recent years.

Uncontrolled poaching and conflict had reduced the number of hippopotamuses from over 20,000 to just a few hundreds by 2006.

Currently, the park is home to approximately 1,200 hippopotamuses.

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The stock market opened the week on a negative note, with performance indices showing mixed results.

Specifically, the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market capitalisation declined by N659 billion or 1.01 per cent, falling to N65.488 trillion from N66.147 trillion recorded on Friday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index dropped sharply by 1.23 per cent or 1,295.02 points, closing at 104,216.87 compared to 105,511.89 posted on Friday.

The mixed performance was largely attributed to the listing of First Holdco Plcs Rights Issue of 5,982,548,799 ordinary shares at 50 kobo each, priced at N25 per share on the basis of one for six, which became effective on 7 April.

Market breadth also closed negative, with 51 losers and nine gainers.

On the losers chart, Cornerstone Insurance declined by 10 per cent to close at N2.97, while Oando Plc also fell by 10 per cent to N37.80 per share.

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Secured Electronic Technology dropped 10 per cent to 45k and RT Briscoe lost 10 per cent to close at N2.16 per share.

Similarly, Honeywell Flour Mills declined by 9.98 per cent to close at N10.19 per share.

Conversely, on the gainers chart, VFD Group soared by 10 per cent to close at N62.70, while TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria rose by 9.61 per cent to N745.00 per share.

Guinea Insurance grew by 9.52 per cent to close at 69k, and International Energy Insurance increased by 9.33 per cent to N1.64 per share.

READ ALSO: Investors lose N91bn as Nigerian Exchange opens bearish

Also, Abbey Mortgage Bank gained 8.88 per cent to close at N5.15 per share.

In terms of volume, First City Monument Bank led the activity chart with 65.5 million shares worth N588.99 million.

Fidelity Bank followed with 42.53 million shares valued at N818.38 million, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company sold 34.49 million shares worth N2.33 billion.

Access Corporation recorded 31.83 million shares traded, valued at N687 million, and Zenith Bank moved 31.68 million shares worth N1.47 billion.

(NAN)

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President Bola Tinubu has paid tribute to Pascal Dozie, the late founder of Diamond Bank and pioneer chairman of MTN Nigeria, describing him as a rare breed business leader who helped shape Nigerias modern economic landscape.

Mr Dozie died on Monday, aged 85.

In a statement issued by his special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the president extended condolences to the Dozie family, the business community, and all Nigerians. He lauded Mr Dozies pivotal role in two of Nigerias most transformative sectors, banking and telecommunications.

Chief Pascal Dozie, OON, was a visionary whose contributions to Nigerias economic architecture left an enduring legacy, Mr Tinubu said. As the founder of Diamond Bank and the pioneer chairman of MTN Nigeria, he was at the forefront of two of the most transformative sectors in Nigerias development journey.

The president also highlighted Mr Dozies commitment to national service beyond the corporate boardroom, citing his past roles as director at the Central Bank of Nigeria, president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.

His passing is a profound loss to the private sector and Nigeria, the statement added. His wisdom, humility, and pioneering efforts laid a foundation upon which many continue to build.

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Mr Tinubu urged the business community to honour Mr Dozies memory by upholding the values of integrity, innovation, and nation-building, for which he was renowned.

Former Anambra State governor and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi also joined in mourning the elder statesman.

I am deeply saddened this morning by the news of the passing of Dr Pascal Dozie, a man I held in high esteem, Mr Obi said in a statement. I met him during the formation of Diamond Bank and later MTN Nigeria, and throughout our collaboration, I came to know him as a true gentleman and a teacher who always sought the good of all.

He described Mr Dozies legacy as a banker and entrepreneur as a testament to his vision, leadership, and commitment to excellence, noting that it inspired countless individuals and businesses.

May God Almighty, who called him home, grant him eternal rest in His kingdom, and grant his family and all of us who mourn him the fortitude to bear his irreplaceable loss, Mr Obi said.

Mr Dozie, born on 9 April 1939, in Owerri, Imo State, was widely regarded as one of Nigerias most respected private sector figures. He was awarded the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). He later received a Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) for his contributions to economic development.

He is survived by his wife, their children, and grandchildren.

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Telling the story of The Return of the Alaafin, which reached its grand climax on Saturday, 5 April 2025, gave me the honour of witnessing and documenting one of the most important historical and cultural events of this decade.

This moment is deeply personal. In 1971, I stood as a young trainee cameraman with Western Nigerian Television (WNTV/WNBS), recording the coronation of the late Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III. Over 50 years later, I returned to Oyo as a filmmakerwith my dear colleague, Rahman Oladigboluto chronicle the coronation of his successor, Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Hakeem Abimbola Owoade.

Full credit must go to the Oyo State Government and the Local Organising Committee for achieving the almost impossible: receiving and entertaining over a thousand guests from across Nigeria and the world, with grace, cultural splendour, and precision. The magnitude and complexity of the coronation could only be fully appreciated as we captured it for our documentary, The Return of the Alaafin, currently in production.

Across Oyo, receptions and after-parties sprung up like joyous fires to honour the new reignbut nothing compared to the unforgettable cultural showcase hosted by Nigerian Breweries for their flagship brand, GOLDBERG. Known for promoting Yoruba heritage under their iconic OMOLUWABI platform, Goldberg delivered an evening of pure magic.

It was beautiful, relaxing, and deeply enjoyablesitting under the soft glow of a Yoruba sunset that melted into a starry night, surrounded by vibrant lighting, clear sound, a charismatic MC, and a set design that rivalled any world-class stage. The musical lineup featured two titans of Yoruba music: Saheed Osupa (Fuji) and Musiliu Haruna Isola (Apala), who thrilled hundreds of spirited guests dancing into the new reign of Alaafin Oba lHakeen Abimbola Owoade.

It all came together for me when I heard that Ororo himself was in town! That wasnt coincidenceit was divine alignment.

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As if that wasnt enough, I was invited on stage to pick the winning raffle ticketsa moment that brought smiles and warm applause. I felt proud to be part of it all, and I now see the incredible potential of building this vibrant celebration into our documentary.

Supported by Goldberg, this film can become more than a chronicleit can be a timeless celebration of Yoruba resilience, royal heritage, and artistic excellence.

Ire ni o.

Tunde Kelani, a veteran film producer, is CEO at Tunde Kelani Mainframe Productions. He first published this article on his Facebook Page

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Former Minister of Culture and Tourism, Femi Fani-Kayode, has ignited widespread debate on social media following the circulation of viral images and a video showing him laying hands on congregants.

The images and video, which were posted on the former Minister of Aviations social media pages, quickly gained traction online.

They were taken on Sunday during Mr Fani-Kayodes Thanksgiving service at Faith Hill Prophetic Assembly in Piwoyi, Abuja.

Mr Fani-Kayode wrote: It was an honour and privilege to share my testimony at my Thanksgiving Service, which was held at the Faith Hill Prophetic Assembly in Piwoyi, Abuja yesterday.

I thank Archbishop Emmanuel Jatau, his Bishops and Pastors and his wonderful congregation for warmly receiving my team and me and showing us such love and kindness. It was a very powerful and inspiring service. Glory be to God.

The lawyer became the centre of discussion after netizens unearthed his past criticisms of the religion.

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In his 2013 opinion article, Greedy Pastors, Gods Endtime Generals and the Nigerian Church, published by PREMIUM TIMES, he said the leadership of the Church in Nigeria is at risk of facing Gods judgement and wrath.

He said this is due to their failure to serve and guide their followers and members properly.

Enemies

However, in a 21-minute video posted on his Instagram page on Sunday, Mr Fani-Kayode appears to have shifted away from his earlier criticisms.

In the video, the Special Assistant on Public Affairs to former President Olusegun Obasanjo seems to have delivered one of the sermons during the church gathering.

The Lagos-born politicians sermon focused on forgiveness, particularly towards enemies and those who betray, and he also shared the story of David and Goliath.

He urged the congregation not to harbour anger towards their enemies, emphasising that destiny could not be fulfilled without them.

Furthermore, he encouraged the congregation to believe in Gods deliverance, affirming that nothing is beyond His ability.

Citing examples of individuals who succeeded despite the battles waged by their enemies, he noted, Everything happens for a purpose, and I want to share a few things with you. Never hate your enemies because you cannot achieve your destiny without them. What is meant for evil, God intends for good.

Without betrayal, Jesus would not have fulfilled His purpose. Joseph would not have become a governor without the betrayal of his brothers and Potiphars wife. Without Delilah, Samson would not have defeated the Philistines.

He further advised against laughing at anyone going through significant challenges, emphasising that no one knows their moment of gratitude.

David and Goliath

Mr Fani-Kayode stated, Without a test, theres no testimony; without a mess, you cant get a message. You cant reach the mountains without first being at the bottom of the valley. When David confronted Goliath, he was a small boy. His brother tried to hide him and told him to take his food and go, but God had prepared David. Everyone saw Goliath and viewed David as nothing, but in case you didnt know, Davids mother wasnt married to his father, and he was kept to tend to the sheep.

When he (David) arrived, he saw the Philistine cursing the Israelites and asked, Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who has chosen to defy the armies of the living God? This was a small boy from a family with nothing, and his brother said, Sit down, dont embarrass us here. What are you going to do? But he replied, I am going to fight this man. They took him before the king, who asked him, and David said yes. The king said, Go ahead, and they gave him a sword and other gear, but he said he didnt need themhe only needed the word of God.

He went forward to face Goliath, and when Goliath saw him, he saw nothingno armour, no bodyguards, etc. He said, Am I a dog that youve sent this small boy to fight me? He cursed the army of Israel and started threatening David. But David said, I come before you with the words of God, and I shall slay you, cut off your head, and feed the birds of the air with your body. And thats exactly what happened because he declared it.

Reactions

Below are some of the reactions from netizens.

Christianity allows lack of accountability too much. During 2023 election, Femi Fani-Kayode caused a lot of tribal war between Igbos and Yoruba, he dont have any moral justification to be a pastor -Man reacts pic.twitter.com/1G2D1sWxix  CHUKS  (@ChuksEricE) April 8, 2025

If you put your head down for FFK to lay his hands on them, then maybe you deserve the spiritual problem that took you there.  https://t.co/skOVj4rlY7  Oluwaseun M. Ajayi   (@matajson) April 7, 2025

Olumba Olumba in action Who ordained Femi Fani-Kayode??

Who allowed a prophet of Baal to lay hands on them?? I hope this is a photoshop!! pic.twitter.com/VnC5rCSrgn  President Eniola Daniel (@UnlimitedEniola) April 7, 2025

So, there are folks that kneel down for Femi Fani-Kayode to lay his hands on their heads and pray for them? Satan wept! Nothing can be more deranged than this. https://t.co/XICe6tFxO1  Ashraf Babagana (@BabaganaAshraf) April 7, 2025

You cant stop me from building my own church, I already have land to build the mega church, na just small funds remain. Im already the G.O, you can nominate yourself for other positions. We move   BLAK JEWEL  (@A_RWAC) April 7, 2025

Na person wey wan use hammer break person head that time dey lay hands on people for church so?   OLU  (@Uncle_Olu_) April 7, 2025

Where is that long chain with the cross pendant . Christ knows those that are His  Olusola Falore (@Factfinder004) April 7, 2025

If you came to church with small Spiritual Problem and you let FFk pray for you and lay hands on your head na Legion of Demons dey follow you go house immediately   SizZzle.  (@n6oflife6) April 7, 2025

FFK when he finds out that you are an Obidient  pic.twitter.com/8wzojCvJtp  Chief Nomso  (@Odogwu_Nomso) April 7, 2025

God, I beg! Which day FFK begin cast in demons?! pic.twitter.com/BfhPiSaKW8  Nejeeb Bello Oyarese (@NejeebBello) April 7, 2025

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The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has enroled 198,810 residents of the territory into its Health Insurance Scheme (FHIS) in one year.

Lere Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Olayinka added that out of the figure, 10,065 vulnerable persons, including pregnant women were enroled to access free medical services under the FHIS.

He said that the FHIS had recorded significant increase in its enrolment since the inception of the Wike-led FCTA, with more than 100 per cent annual enrolment target of 25,000 beneficiaries.

He explained that the move was part of the FCTAs resolve to end maternal and infant mortality resulting from avoidable and preventable causes.

He said that the enrolment allowed the beneficiaries to access free healthcare services in Primary Health Care (PHC) centres and all services covered in the Basic Minimum Package of Health Services (BMPHS).

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The spokesman identified some of the services as primary preventive care, screening, and primary emergency services.

Others, he said, include secondary level care such as dental, mental, eye, ear, nose and throat care, physiotherapy, surgeries, laboratory investigations, and radiological investigations such as ultrasound scan, and x-rays.

Mr Olayinka urged residents to register for the FHIS, adding that free registration for vulnerable persons, including pregnant women, which commenced in February is ongoing.

All pregnant women who enrolled through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) Primary Health Care (PHC) centres across the six area councils in the FCT will continue to enjoy free health education, medical consultation and treatment, routine antenatal drugs, laboratory investigations and delivery, he said.

Referral for secondary care, including caesarean section, blood transfusion, and treatment of other obstetric complications such as eclampsia at all the 14 General Hospitals in the FCT is also provided at no cost to the patient through the BHCPF, he said.

He quoted the Mandate Secretary, Health Services and Environment Secretariat, FCTA, Adedolapo Fasawe, as saying the FCTA under Wike had intensified efforts to combat maternal and infant mortality.

He added that Ms Fasawe, who spoke at an event in Gwarinpa District Hospital, organised to commemorate the 2025 World Health Day, described the FHIS intervention as critical to ending maternal deaths.

A key intervention is the approval of free health insurance coverage for all pregnant women residing in the FCT and ensuring that all childbirth-related expenses, including vaginal and cesarean deliveries, are fully covered at no cost, she said.

The initiative formed part of activities marking this years World Health Day, under the Renewed Hope Initiative, which maintains a zero-tolerance to maternal and infant mortality.

In alignment with the Federal Governments Renewed Hope Agenda, several hospitals in the FCT, including Gwarinpa, Nyanya, Abaji, and Kuje General Hospitals, have been designated as Comprehensive Emergency

Obstetric and Neonatal Care (CEONC) centres.

These facilities will also offer cesarean sections free of charge, Ms Fasawe said.

(NAN)

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Africas disappointing economic performance since independence in the 1960s is often blamed on corruption, poor governance and lack of competition. But structurally, the main reason is demographics.

The World Banks 2024/5 country classification considers 22 African countries as low-income and 24 as lower-middle-income. No other region has similarly poor levels of development or has shown less progress in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Slow development has occurred despite a cumulative amount of US$2.3 trillion in development assistance (aid)  a topic now in the news given the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) cuts.

For at least a decade, much has been made about Africas growing and youthful population  without adequate recognition that it has been the main drag on growth since the 1960s. According to research by the Institute for Security Studies African Futures and Innovation programme, only beyond mid-century does the ratio of working-age Africans to dependants enable labour to enhance economic growth.

Consider that at independence in the 1960s, Africas ratio of working-age persons to dependants (children aged 15 and below, and adults over 64) was almost one-to-one and declining. In other words, every person of working age supported at least one dependant, and the burden was increasing.

The ratio bottomed out in the late 1980s and then started improving. Of course, Africas labour force needs to be educated and in good health to be productive. But the reality is that even then, labour contributed less to economic growth with each passing year until things slowly began to improve from around 1988.

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Africas growth in subsequent years was mainly due to the commodities boom that accompanied Chinas rapid growth. In the early years of its remarkable escape from poverty, China grew partly because a capable government enforced a one-child policy that saw the ratio of working-age people to dependants going through the roof to peak at almost 2.8 working-age persons to every dependant.

The Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) had the same experience, but without the draconian social control policies of Deng Xiaoping and others. With the opening up of the Chinese market, the West rushed to invest, matching Chinas growing labour force with capital.

In contrast, Africas demographic transition has been slow, for several reasons. Historically, low population density  a function of Africas high disease burden  translated into lower income growth rates.

More recently, the continent has failed to sufficiently empower women, raise the quality and attainment of education, roll out the use of contraceptives quickly enough, or transition to economies where child labour is no longer required. Another reason is the dominance of subsistence agriculture, which has a high demand for child labour in sub-Saharan Africas large rural population.

Even in 2025, the ratio of 1.3 persons of working age to one dependant means that slow growth in the size of the labour pool relative to dependants (the primary source of sub-Saharan Africas economic growth) translates into steady but unspectacular economic growth rates. No amount of aid can counter Africas flaccid labour muscle.

The chart above shows the ratio of working-age persons to dependants in sub-Saharan Africa using the International Futures forecasting platform to 2060. Sub-Saharan Africa enters a potential demographic window of opportunity beyond 2050 when the ratio gets to 1.7:1  the magical number at which the contribution of labour starts propelling faster economic growth. At that point, the region enters a potential demographic window of opportunity that, given numerous other conditions, should unlock more rapid income growth.

Standard economic growth theory posits that economic growth is the result of contributions made by labour, capital, and technology, and there is a lively debate about which contributes most at different levels of development.

Most empirical research supports the view that capital accumulation (physical capital investment such as infrastructure, machinery, factories and equipment) is the primary driver of growth during the early stages of development.

However, there is equal support for the position that, at low development levels, labour contributes most to growth. Evidence for this is overwhelming when considering the importance of agriculture as the sector with the largest growth potential in most poor countries.

Virtually all high-income countries first underwent an agricultural transformation before embarking on a manufacturing transition, and then eventually the services sector dominated. However, in most African countries, this sequence has been reversed, with low-end services in the informal sector dominating the economy while agriculture largely comprises subsistence farming, and most economies are deindustrialising.

In addition to its growing population, Africans often point to the continents sizeable agricultural potential. But in reality, Africa has not had its agricultural revolution. Instead, it is becoming more food-insecure because of under-investment in agriculture and the association between agriculture, poverty, and suffering, which makes it the least attractive sector among young Africans.

In contrast to sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa is already well into its demographic transition (see map below). It should be experiencing higher economic returns from a shrinking dependency ratio. But the stifling role of the state and lack of economic freedom constrain the income growth that should follow from its favourable demographics.

The experience of North African countries (and also South Africa) cautions that enabling policies are required to turn a potential demographic dividend into income growth.

The dividend in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the Sahel and Central Africa, will take longer to achieve. Accelerating the demographic transition will require deliberate policy choices: investing in girls education, expanding access to reproductive healthcare, transforming rural economies, and fostering labour-intensive sectors that can absorb a youthful workforce.

If these steps are taken early, Africa can harness its population growth as a strength  not a constraint  when its demographic window finally opens in the decades ahead.

Economic growth determines the resources available to govern and hence the ability and quality of governance. This is another way of saying rich countries are typically well governed while poor countries tend to be badly governed. Basking in their wealth and high living standards, most of todays high-income countries forget the struggles, corruption and abuse of money that accompanied their own development.

Meanwhile, Africas demographic window of opportunity is coming. Eventually its youthful and growing population, alongside the emerging population decline in Europe and Asia, will present an opportunity for rapid growth, with the right investments.

If Africans are educated, trained and healthy, the continents labour force can contribute significantly to economic growth while positioning Africa as a key exporter of goods, services and labour to the world.

The future is inevitably one of large-scale movement of labour  this time not to Africa, as happened in a previous century, but from Africa.

Jakkie Cilliers, Head, African Futures and Innovation, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Pretoria

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).

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The Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, says one of its students has been abducted by suspected bandits at an off-campus hostel in Kalgo Local Government Area of Kebbi.

Confirming the incident, the Public Relations Officer of the university, Jamilu Magaji, said the abductors stormed the campus at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday.

At around 3:00 a.m., five armed men approached students of Federal University Birnin Kebbi at an off-campus hostel known as Istijaba Villa, located in Unguwar Jeji.

The students were sleeping outside their rooms when the attackers accosted and demanded money from them.

The students explained that, as students, they had no money.

During the confrontation, the armed men assaulted the students.

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A neighbour, Malam Siddi Hussaini, who was nearby tending to his cattle, heard the commotion and came to ascertain the situation. He was shot dead by the armed men.

The attackers abducted Augustine Madubiya, a 400-level student in the Department of Economics, while Mr Collaneous Steven, a 200-level student of Business Administration, managed to escape, he said.

Mr Magaji added that the vice chancellor, Muhammad Zaiyan-Umar, in the company of the divisional police officer (DPO), Kalgo Division and officials of the Department of State Services (DSS), had addressed the students.

Mr Magaji quoted the vice chancellor as reaffirming the universitys commitment to ensure their safety.

He said Mr Zaiyan-Umar also communicated the unfortunate incident to Governor Nasir Idris through the Offices of Secretary to the State Government and Director Security Services Cabinet Office.

He said Mr ZaiyanpUmar expressed the universitys gratitude to the local community for its support to the students and called for further assistance from the government and security agencies.

(NAN)

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The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Labour Party (LP) has passed a vote of confidence on its National Working Committee (NWC).

The LPs NWC is led by the partys disputed National Chairperson, Julius Abure.

The party made the resolution at its NEC meeting held in Abuja on Monday.

The National Secretary, Ibrahim Umar-Farouk, read out a communique released at the end of the meeting.

Mr Umar-Farouk said the NEC expressed satisfaction with the Supreme Court decision which, it argued, had returned the power, glory and supremacy of political parties.

The court asserted the supremacy of the party over its internal affairs and that leadership of a political party is not for any court to decide, as it is a no-go area for the court, and so the court did not sack the NWC leadership.

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Accordingly, NEC in session reaffirmed the Nnewi National Convention held on the 27th of March 2024 that produced the current National Working Committee (NWC) members, under the chairmanship of Barrister Julius Abure, he said.

Anti-party activities

In the communique, the NEC accused Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, of committing various anti-party activities.

Giving instances of the alleged anti-party activities, Mr Umar-Farouk said Mr Otti had called for an unauthorised stakeholders meeting and usurping the powers of NEC.

Mr Otti was elected governor of Abia State under the LP platform in 2023.

The party also accused the governor of backing another political party in the last local government election in Abia State.

The governor has also intensified his effort to factionalise the party leadership by calling an illegal NEC scheduled to hold on Wednesday.

His anti-party activities are unbecoming of a highly respected personality and this is no longer acceptable, the communique read.

Otti, Peter Obi, others may be sanctioned

The LP NEC said that it would not hesitate to discipline Mr Otti for the alleged offence, in line with Article 19 of the partys constitution.

It also threatened to discipline any other member who violated the partys constitution, regardless of how big or powerful such individuals might be.

The party vowed to sanction its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, if he further engages in any anti-party activity.

NEC-in-session, in exercise of its duties, hereby cautions the former presidential candidate of our great party not to participate in any action capable of undermining the peace unity and integrity of the party, as the NEC will not hesitate to issue stiffer penalty if found culpable, it said.

The NEC equally condemned the activities of the partys House of Representatives caucus leader, Victor Ogene.

It said, as a result, Mr Ogene has now been replaced with another House of Representatives member, Ben Etanabene.

While Mr Ogene represents Anambras Ogbaru Federal Constituency in the lower chamber, Mr Etanabene represents Deltas Okpe-Sapele  Uvwie Federal Constituency.

Anambra 2025: Well resolve our challenges

Mr Abure, at the meeting, said the LP would resolve its challenges ahead of the forth November governorship election in Anambra State and the 2027 general election.

The disputed national chairperson, however, said that the party would only field candidates who would be ready to promote its programmes.

He also said that the party was not opposed to coalition with other parties that would promote good governance.

What the party is against is subversive activities that promote divisions in the party, he said.

The meeting was attended by members of NWC, national officers of the party, state chairpersons and secretaries, other party leaders and co-opted NEC members.

Background

The Supreme Court, on Friday, set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which recognised Mr Abure as the national chairperson of the LP.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court unanimously held that the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to have affirmed Mr Abure as chairman of the LP since the substance of the case was about the partys leadership.

But the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Obiora Ifoh, later argued that Mr Abure remains the partys national chairperson.

Mr Ifoh claimed that the Supreme Courts position is that the matter is purely an internal affair of the party, insisting that the court did not set aside the Court of Appeal judgement of 13 November 2024, which affirmed Mr Abure as the national chairperson of the party.

Meanwhile, the LP has been battling an intense leadership crisis for a while now which has split the party into two factions.

Messrs Otti and Obi, belong to the same faction of the LP.

In September 2024, the faction appointed Nenadi Usman, a former Nigerian Minister, to manage the partys affairs by heading its caretaker committee.

But, about a month after Mrs Usmans appointment, a federal court recognised Mr Abure as the authentic national chairperson of the LP.

Mr Abure dismissed the convention that produced Mrs Usman and threatened to suspend Mr Otti and others from the party.

There was a mild drama in October when Mr Otti allied with an opposition party, the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), ahead of the conduct of local government elections in the state, which were held on 2 November 2024.

The ZLP later won chairmanship seats in 15 of the 17 local government areas of Abia State despite the state being governed by Mr Otti, a member of the LP.

The LP won nine of the chairmanship seats, and the Young Progressives Party won the remaining two.

Instructively, ZLP enjoyed the support of Mr Otti. The governor had asked his aides and allies to contest the election under the ZLP platform, not the LP.

(NAN)

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Four people have been killed in the renewed land dispute between the people of Ndukwe Community, Amasiri in Afikpo Local Government Area and the neighbouring Okporojo in Osso Edda Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

Houses and properties worth millions have also been destroyed in the renewed hostilities in the decade-long crisis between the two communities.

A source in Okporojo said the community was attacked on Saturday, which led to the death of four people.

The source alleged that the attackers were from the neighbouring Amasiri community.

For fear of being attacked on Amasiri Road, the people from Edda are now taking a detour through Afikpo town.

The Chairperson of Edda, Chima Ekumankama confirmed attack and the killing of four people at Okporojo Idima in Osso Edda.

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He noted that security operatives have been deployed to restore normalcy.

Mr Ekumankama said he had visited the area to reassure the people of the governments commitment to ending the lingering dispute.

He commended the Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, for quickly moving security agents to the area.

I assure you that normalcy and peace have returned to the area. I visited the area and witnessed the level of destruction done. And as we speak, there are enough security personnel in the area to forestall a reoccurrence, the chairperson said.

The Chairperson of Afikpo, Timothy Nwachi, said the state government has deployed security operatives to the buffer zone to de-escalate tension and restore normalcy in the two communities.

ALSO READ: Four killed in renewed land dispute between two Ebonyi communities

He described the renewed hostility as unfortunate and appealed to the people of Amasiri to remain calm pending the governments decision on the matter.

The police spokesperson in the Ebonyi, Joshua Ukandu said he has not been briefed about any attack in the area.

The land dispute between the two communities has lasted for decades. The previous administration in the state had received a report from a committee it set up on the dispute but reportedly failed to implement the recommendations.

Hostilities have continued in the area, with several people killed and properties destroyed.

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The Zion Prayer Movement Outreach has clarified that it is not responsible for the continued detention of blogger Harrison Ofoegbu, also known as Ijele Speaks.

At a press conference on Saturday, the ministrys Media Adviser, Dan Aibangbe, said a court order for the release of Mr Ofeogbu was signed on 15 August 2024, after the blogger met his bail conditions.

However, the blogger remained in custody for a separate case at the Federal High Court in Awka, Anambra State, Mr Aibangbe said.

For the record, Ijele Speaks was granted bail on July 19th, 2024 by the court. The bail was perfected on August 15th, 2024, and Ijele Speaks was released to go home.

So the ongoing detention of Ijele Speaks has no connection whatsoever with Evangelist Ebuka Obi, rather Ijele Speaks is currently in prison custody over separate legal matters not connected to Zion, he said.

Mr Aibangbe accused Sahara Reporters, an online news outlet owned by Omoyele Sowore of publishing fake news.

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He said an article published on 2 April which claimed that Ebuka Obi, the ministrys spiritual director, is responsible for blogger Ijele Speaks one-year detention, is false and misleading.

According to him, Sahara Reporters was fully aware that the blogger was kept in detention for other unrelated cases but chose to mislead the public with falsehood.

We state unequivocally that this report is baseless, malicious and a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and portray evangelist Ebuka in a bad light

We believe the negative report being circulated is simply designed to tarnish the image of the man of God, Evangelist Ebuka Obi, who has dedicated his life to the service of God and humanity, he said.

A member of the ministrys legal team, Ugonna Okpara, presented the release papers signed by the court. According to her, Mr Ofoegbus defence counsel had informed the court that his client was being held for another case unrelated to the ministry.

She advised the media not to be deceived by the false and misleading accounts being circulated by certain platforms.

Ijele Speaks attack on pastor

On 13 March 2024, Ijele Speaks accused Ebuka Obi, the founder of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach, of deceiving people through staged miracles and turning his ministry into a business enterprise. In a viral post where he tagged the police and the Ministry of Justice, Ijele Speaks claimed Mr Obi was a scammer, thief and arrangee master.

He was subsequently arrested and detained by the police. The police said he was being investigated for alleged criminal intimidation, threat to life, cyberstalking, and cyberbullying.

The following month, a magistrate court in Abuja remanded him in the Keffi Correctional Centre in Nasarawa State. The police filed three counts against him at the Federal High Court in Lagos in May 2024. However, in June 2024, the court granted him bail in the sum of N50 million.

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Kaspersky has uncovered that a Trojan-Downloader dubbed TookPS is being spread through malicious websites imitating popular remote access and 3D modeling software. First observed by Kaspersky experts in early March, this Trojan infects users devices with backdoors, allowing for unauthorised stealth access to the victims system.

Kaspersky Threat Research experts warn that users are being lured to fake websites that mimic official pages or falsely claim to offer free downloads of popular software, such as UltraViewer, AutoCAD, and SketchUp, commonly utilised both for business and personal purposes. However, when users click the download buttons, they unknowingly get TookPS instead of the application they were looking for. The potential victims of this campaign could include both individuals and organisations.

Once on the device, TookPS runs a series of scripts and technical processes that allow attackers to install a backdoor on the victims system, granting them hidden remote access and the ability to execute arbitrary commands.

Based on technical analysis of the malicious files, Kaspersky researchers also believe that there may be other lures  for example, those capitalising on well-known software brands such as Ableton (used for music production) or Quicken (used for personal finance management).

Earlier, we discovered several malicious campaigns that used DeepSeeks brand as bait. One of the threats described was the TookPS. As we now observe, it isnt just pretending to be an AI tool, that was only the tip of the iceberg. This is a broader campaign, targeting both individuals and organisations, where malware is hidden under different guises to lure in as many potential victims as possible, explains Vasily Kolesnikov, security expert at Kaspersky. To avoid falling victim to such attacks, we urge users to stay vigilant: always double-check links and websites, and avoid searching for pirated software online.

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READ ALSO: Why you must beware of counterfeit Android smartphones

Kaspersky shares the following recommendations to avoid general cyberthreats when surfing the Internet:

Modern security solutions such as Kaspersky Next for organisations and Kaspersky Premium for individuals provide users with safe browsing features, protecting against dangerous websites, downloads and extensions.

Its safe practice to enter your web address directly into the web browser. If an email contains a link, instead of clicking the link, first hover over it to see if it looks accurate. If it looks okay, search for the link on your own versus linking to a website. Dangerous websites can look identical to authentic ones.

For organisations, Kaspersky advises implementing a robust security policy that prohibits downloading software from unverified or pirated sources. Regular cybersecurity training should also be conducted to ensure employees remain informed and alert to potential threats.

About Kaspersky

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. With over a billion devices protected to date from emerging cyberthreats and targeted attacks, Kasperskys deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The companys comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection, specialized security products and services, as well as Cyber Immune solutions to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. We help over 200,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them.

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The police in Anambra State, South-east Nigeria, say they have arrested two male suspects over the alleged murder of an 80-year-old woman, Theresa Igbojonu, in the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, identified the arrested suspects as Chidiebere Igboanugo and Emmanuel Ibeabuchi.

He said the suspects allegedly tied the legs and mouth of Mrs Igbojonu before killing her.

The police spokesperson said the suspects subsequently stole a motorcycle from the victim.

He said the incident happened at Umunwaji Ogboro, a community in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State and that it was reported to the police at about 11:30 p.m. on 2 April.

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Arrest

Mr Ikenga said, with the commencement of investigation into the incident, a joint security team arrested Mr Igboanugo during a patrol in Ihiala Area on 5 April.

The police spokesperson said the arrest occurred after the victims son sighted the suspect driving the stolen motorcycle along Ezego Junction in Ihiala.

Upon interrogation of Chidiebere, the security operatives acted swiftly yesterday, 7 April 2025, and arrested Emmanuel Ibeabuchi, whom Chidiebere mentioned as part of the gang that committed the crime, the spokesperson said, adding that the motorcycle had been recovered.

Further information revealed that two other suspects known as Alla and Emeka, currently at large, are part of their gang members.

Mr Ikenga said the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Ikioye Orutugu, has directed the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka for investigation.

Mr Orutugu urged the operatives to intensify efforts in arresting the other fleeing suspects linked to the murder of the octogenarian.

The suspects would be charged to court at the conclusion of the investigations, he stated.

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Three men acquitted of responsibility in the bomb blast that destroyed a section of Rivers House of Assembly Complex said they were pressured to implicate Governor Siminalayi Fubaras chief of staff, Edison Ehie in the crime.

A section of the complex went into flames after it was bombed on 29 October 2023, the eve of the impeachment attempt on Mr Fubara by lawmakers loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.

The men were prosecuted for alleged involvement in the arson but were acquitted by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt last November after almost a year in detention.

We were asked to rewrite our story and falsely name Mr Ehie as the mastermind of the assembly fire, Chime Ezebalike alleged on behalf of his colleagues at a press conference in Port Harcourt on Monday, Vanguard newspaper reported.

We cannot be part of any plot, especially after the trauma we endured, he said and added that some political figures contacted them and demanded they change their original statement and falsely accuse Mr Ehie of responsibility in the burning of the assembly complex.

He did not, however, disclose the identities of the political figures whom he said pressured them to change their statement and put the blame on Governor Fubaras chief of staff.

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Other allegations made by members of the group include an attempt to link them to the murder of Bako Angbashim, a police officer in Ahoada, and an alleged attempt on the life of Assembly Speaker, Martins Amaewhule.

According to Vanguard newspaper, the three men said they were arrested under unclear circumstances, and detained at the Federal Intelligence Response Team facility in Port Harcourt.

Speaking further the two said they were blindfolded, denied legal representation, and subjected to coercive interrogation tactics.

Mr Ehie

Mr Ehie, a lawyer, is a two-term member who represented Ahoada-East Constituency 11 in the assembly.

He became the speaker of a faction loyal to Mr Fubara after the assembly split into two factions, but later resigned both as speaker and member of the house following the peace deal brokered by President Bola Tinubu to end the political feud between Messrs Fubara and Wike.

He was later appointed chief of staff by Mr Fubara.

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The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have rejected the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) boards decision to make external appointments into top positions in the organisation.

In a letter dated 7 April, addressed to the NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, NUPENG and PENGASSAN unequivocally rejected these appointments, citing concerns over the impact on career growth for internal staff.

The letter, titled Re: Filling of top management positions in NNPC Limited with externally recruited personnel is unacceptable to PENGASSAN and NUPENG GEC, was signed by the NUPENG General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale and PENGASSAN General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa.

Copies of the letter were also addressed to the Minister of State of Petroleum Resources (Oil), Minister of State of Petroleum Resources (Gas), Chairman, Board of NNPC Ltd, Chief Human Resources Officer, NNPC Ltd, Group Chairman GEC PENGASSAN, NNPC Ltd and Group Chairman GEC NUPENG, NNPC Ltd.

The unions argued that external appointments undermine the career growth of internal staff and may not positively impact the companys bottom line. They cited a previous instance in 2015 when external appointments were made, resulting in stagnation for career employees.

We bring you fraternal greetings from the National Secretariat of NUPENG and PENGASSAN. We received a troubling communication from our in-house unions dated 4th of April 2025 about managements plans to hire top and middle-level management externally.

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We are in total solidarity with our members in NNPC Ltd as there is no proven record that hiring externally has yielded any positive impact on the company. We recall that when Dr Kachikwu was appointed to lead the company in 2015, he removed the entire top management team and brought in people from the I0Cs, the letter reads.

The unions said all the Group Chief Operating Officers in the different directorates and lots of the MDs were brought in from outside the company.

This act yielded no impact on the companys bottom line, but instead, it stiffened the growth of career employees who had dedicated their entire working lives to the service of the then corporation and now company, the letter said.

We have critically examined that such recruitments over the years are either to satisfy cronies or pay back those who lobbied for their appointments to the detriment of the career growth of Nigerians who work in a company that has been properly trained over the years.

We wholeheartedly welcome the new GCEO and the board members that were appointed by the President and Commander-in-chief on Wednesday 2nd of April 2025, but unequivocally reject all external appointments that the board made into the M2 position and below on Friday 4th of April 2025.

We, therefore, demand that this should be rescinded immediately as we have put our in-house group councils and various organs of the unions on red alert as failure to abide by this demand will be met with fierce and serial industrial unrest, the letter reads.

Last Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu sacked the board of the NNPC, including its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari and board chairman, Pius Akinyelure.

The president also approved Bayo Ojulari as the new GCEO of the NNPC and Ahmadu Kida as non-executive chairman.

Last Friday, the NNPC announced the appointment of a new 8-man senior management team.

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Today, reports of security operatives dispersing protesters with tear gas in the Maitama area of Abuja dominated headlines.

The protesters who had gathered on Monday peacefully to express their grievances were fired tear gas canisters, according to news reports.

Punch reported the news under the headline, Police disperse Abuja protesters with tear gas.

Police Fire Teargas to Disperse Protesters In Abuja, Port Harcourt, Daily Times reported.

The Sun reported, Protests rock Lagos, Abuja, Rivers, others.

According to Tribune, Youths defy police warning, stage protests in Lagos, Abuja, Rivers, Ibadan, others.

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Police Disperse Protesters With Tear Gas In P/Harcourt, Abuja, the Independent reported.

Meanwhile, Nigerias Economic Team Set to Meet over Trumps tariff, according to This Day.

WHO out with chilling statistics: One million newborns, 178,000 mothers die yearly in Africa, the Hope reported.

The Matrix said, Labour Party: Fresh Showdown Looms As Obi, Otti Schedule Stakeholders Summit.

Nigerias FDI outlook dims over oil price rout, Business Day reported.

Federal Govt allays fears over 14 per cent Trump trade tariff, according to the Nation.

FG to review budget parameters, sustain oil, mineral production volumes, Blueprint reported.

We thank Abiola Ayankunbi, a media management expert, for providing screenshots of the newspapers front pages.

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The National Industrial Court in Makurdi, Benue State, has ordered the state government to pay more than N6.8 million as death benefits to the widow of a deceased official of the state.

Judge Isaac Essien ordered the payment of death benefits, which had been due since May 2017, to the widow of Linus Otigbo, according to the synopsis of the judgement shared on the courts website on Tuesday.

Mr Otigbo passed away on 20 February 2016, in active service as a Grade Level 10 officer in the states Ministry of Lands & Survey. At the time of his death, he had dedicated nearly 29 years to his role.

His widow, identified as Mrs Otigbo, who is the next of kin and Administrator of the Estate of his estate, filed her suit after waiting to no avail for the state government to pay her the deceaseds death benefits.

She sued the Government of Benue State, the states Bureau of Pensions and the Attorney General.

Trauma

In the suit, she recalled that her late husband was employed by the Benue State Government on pensionable appointment dated 11 March 1987.

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She said her husband was promoted up to grade level 10 officer in the Ministry of Lands & Survey until he died in active service on 20 February 2016.

Through her lawyer, A. O. Aruta, the claimant said all efforts to get her late husbands death benefits from the state government were to no avail.

In addition to claiming her husbands death benefits, she alleged neglect by or refusal of the Government of Benue State to pay the late husbands pension and gratuity entitlements. She said this caused her and the other beneficiaries of the Estate of the deceased untold hardship, psychological trauma and economic hardship.

She claimed general damages in the sum of N20 million.

She urged the court to grant all the prayers sought in her suit.

Meanwhile, the state government and its co-defendants did not defend the suit.

They did not file any defence against the action, despite being served with the court processes and hearing notices, the judge noted.

Judgement

In his judgement, Mr Essien held that where the evidence in support of a partys case remains unchallenged, a court can safely rely on it and act on it as proof of facts before the court.

Giving judgement in favour of the claimant, the judge held that the failure of the Government of Benue State to pay Mr Otigbos death benefits when it became due on 18 May 2017 as shown on the computation of death benefit has caused untold hardship to the dependants of the late Linus Otigbo who died in active service.

He ordered the state government to pay Mrs Otigbo N6,869,622.00, being the death benefits of the late Otigbo Linus.

He also awarded N2 million as general damages to the widow, for the sufferings, untold hardship, pains and psychological trauma the state government caused her.

The judge also ordered that the sum awarded shall attract interest at the rate of five per cent interest from the judgement date until the sum was fully liquidated.

Death benefits

In Nigeria, the lack of timely payments of death benefits by state governments has become a pressing issue which pushes many families into untold hardship.

When a government employee passes away, their family members often bank on these benefits to sustain themselves financially as the deceased might be their breadwinner.

But, the delays in payment usually birth severe financial difficulties, forcing families to struggle with basic needs like food, access to healthcare, and sound education.

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A Labour Party (LP) member of the Enugu House of Assembly, Eze Gabriel, representing Isi-Uzo constituency, has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Eze, who was elected on the platform of the LP in the 2023 general elections, announced his defection during plenary on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a letter announcing his defection to PDP was read by the Speaker of the assembly, Uche Ugwu.

In the letter, Mr Eze expressed sadness over his decision but said it was anchored on the irreconcilable divisions, incessant crises, and factions within the LP at the national and state levels.

He stated that the LP, once a beacon of hope for progressive ideals, had regrettably become synonymous with internal strife, thereby diminishing its capacity to fulfill the electorates aspirations.

ALSO READ: Labour Party governorship candidate rejoins PDP

The lawmaker described the recent conflict between Julius Abure and Nenadi Usman at the national level and the one between Kingsley Ugwu and Casmir Agbo in Enugu State as stark reminders of the partys disunity.

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He expressed confidence that within PDP, he would have the supportive platform needed to continue contributing to the states development, and he thanked his supporters for their understanding.

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Stakeholders in Nigerias health sector have raised concern over the reduction in donor and partner funding for immunisation programmes, warning that the country risks a public health crisis if sustainable alternatives are not put in place.

They emphasised the need for continued commitment and strategic planning to ensure long-term vaccine availability and coverage.

This concern was raised in Abuja on Monday at the Multi-Stakeholder Validation Workshop on the Rapid Investment Case and Economic Analysis for Immunisation in Nigeria, organised by the Vaccine Network for Disease Control (VNDC) in collaboration with the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI).

The theme of the workshop is Future of Immunisation Financing: Leaving No One Behind.

Speaking at the workshop, the Chief Executive Officer of VNDC, Chika Offor, said the decline in international support, including from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is already affecting Nigerias immunisation efforts.

Ms Offor noted that vaccines play a key role in saving lives and reducing healthcare costs.

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She explained that the 2025 budget included N231.7 billion for immunisation, malaria vaccination, and vaccine tracking, calling it a significant milestone toward universal vaccine coverage.

She, however, said with the exit of USAID funding and diminishing donor support, Nigerias vaccine financing is more vulnerable than ever.

Shrinking fiscal space and competing national priorities further threaten immunisation programmes. If we do not act swiftly, we risk reversing the progress made in 2024, she said.

She added that by understanding the impact across sectors and on broader social factors, Nigeria could strengthen its push for long-term investment in vaccines.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that in 2023, approximately 14.5 million children worldwide missed out on any vaccination, with Nigeria accounting for around 2.1 million of those zero-dose children leaving them vulnerable to preventable diseases like measles and polio.

Vaccine financing

The Chairman of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Ibrahim Oloriegbe, emphasised the importance of consistent vaccine financing.

Mr Oloriegbe, who also served as Chair of the Senate Committee on Health in the 9th Assembly, highlighted the complexity of the vaccine supply chainfrom national procurement and donor involvement to state distribution and local delivery.

He stressed the critical role of the cold chain infrastructure.

The cold chain is a critical part of that entire chain. Without proper storage and temperature control, vaccines lose their efficacy, he said.

While acknowledging the expected roles of state and local governments in vaccine delivery, he noted persistent gaps, adding that this is where civil society and partners step in.

2024 budget delay

A former House of Representatives member, Mohammed Usman expressed deep frustration over delayed vaccine financing.

Mr Usman said the amount budgeted for vaccines in the 2024 budget is yet to be released.

That is very sad, he said.

He urged President Bola Tinubu to demonstrate leadership by ensuring prompt disbursement of funds.

The President must lead by example, he said, adding that Health Minister Muhammad Pate is well-positioned to drive the reforms needed, given his deep understanding of community health needs.

He also called for stronger local government participation, especially as the country moves towards financial autonomy at the grassroots level.

Every levelfederal, state, and localhas its role to play. And local governments must also show that they are ready to fulfil their responsibilities, he said.

He also appealed for urgent and coordinated efforts to secure long-term vaccine financing. According to her, the federal government must establish a predictable and sustainable funding framework for immunisation.

Nigerias vaccine production capacity

Nigerias vaccine production is on the rise to tackle public health challenges, with initiatives like a national plan for vaccine research, local manufacturing entities, and international partnerships.

The latest State of Health of the Nation report highlighted the need to strengthen local manufacturing of medicines and vaccines to sustain the current push for local vaccine production through policy incentives and increased private sector investment.

Speaking on Nigerias vaccine production, Mr Usman also urged the government to restore Nigerias capacity to produce vaccines locally, recalling that the country had such capabilities in the 1970s.

He explained that if Nigeria had sustained that effort, the country wouldnt be talking about dependency today but will be exporting to other African countries.

Mr Usman made a strong case for increased investment in the sector.

What is 10 billion compared to what Nigerians spend on things of no real value? We need 50 to 100 billion for vaccine production. Without it, well remain dependent, he said.

Reaching last child

Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of Gem Hub Initiative and co-convener of the Joint Learning Agenda for UHC in Nigeria, Oyeyemi Pitan, commended the collective efforts of stakeholders in prioritising the health of Nigerian children through stronger immunisation systems.

Ms Pitan underscored the importance of ensuring that every child, especially those in underserved and remote communities, is reached with essential vaccines.

As part of broader global support, she noted that partners are working through the Sustainable Development Goal 3 Global Action Plan (SDG3 GAP) and are collaborating with the Nigerian government to identify and immunise zero-dose children while also reinforcing national immunisation structures.

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As the world marks the 2025 World Health Day, health experts in Nigeria say the countrys struggling health system offers little hope for mothers and newborns.

The experts spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

They expressed concern that persistent gaps in the nations primary healthcare (PHC) delivery, poor infrastructure, and rising medical tourism undermined any real progress toward ending preventable maternal and newborn deaths.

The World Health Day is marked annually on 7 April. This years campaign focuses on improving maternal and newborn health and survival with the theme, Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures.

Mustafa Lawal, a virologist, said that while the theme is apt, it exposes Nigerias systemic failures.

Mr Lawal decried the rising rate of medical tourism among Nigerians, especially government officials, saying it reflects lack of confidence in the health system.

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How can we talk of hopeful futures when our PHCs are poorly equipped, underfunded, and understaffed? he said.

He lamented that many rural women still give birth in unsafe conditions.

Top officials seek treatment abroad while the average Nigerian cannot access basic care. This double standard is dangerous for national health security, he said.

Citing a 2024 report by the Nigerian Medical Association, Mr Lawal said that over 40,000 Nigerians traveled abroad for medical care last year, costing the country over one billion dollars.

While the federal government has pledged to build and renovate thousands of PHCs under the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), experts said quality should take precedence over numbers.

Zainab Yusuf, a family physician, emphasised the need to strengthen existing PHCs before expanding infrastructure.

We have PHCs without water, electricity, or skilled birth attendants. Building more without fixing the existing ones is like pouring water into a basket, she said.

According to Yusuf, reducing maternal and newborn deaths begins with training midwives, improving PHC services, and ensuring access to essential drugs and supplies.

She said that the 2025 World Health Day theme underscored the importance of equitable access to quality healthcare services, regardless of socioeconomic status, gender or location.

Maimuna Abdullahi, a Health Economist, and Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist with the African Health Budget Network (AHBN), also emphasised the need for integrated healthcare systems that serve both rural and urban underserved populations.

Despite initiatives like the BHCPF and the Health Financing Policy, major barriers to achieving universal health coverage still persist, she said.

The Chairman, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Ibrahim Oloriegbe, said the COVID-19 pandemic revealed critical gaps in the countrys healthcare preparedness and response.

Mr Oloriegbe noted that without universal health coverage, millions would continue to face preventable illnesses and premature death.

Equal access to healthcare is not a luxury, it is a necessity, he said.

He said that while Nigeria continues to grapple with funding challenges, poor insurance coverage and inadequate facilities, local organisations are making a difference at the grassroots level.

The founder of the Lafiya Wealth Initiative, Mohammed Usman, stressed the role of community-led advocacy in pushing for inclusive health policies.

According to Usman, community mobilisation has helped to ensure that marginalised groups are not left out in the conversation on health equity.

He said that the World Health Day should serve as a wake-up call for government and stakeholders to act beyond promises and translate commitments into policy, budgeting and political will.

Achieving health for all is not just a shared vision, it is an urgent responsibility,he said.

It requires collaboration across all levels of government, civil society, the private sector, and international partners.

As Nigeria joins the global community in observing World Health Day, the message from experts, advocates, and stakeholders is clear: investing in maternal and newborn health must go beyond rhetoric.

It must be visible in actions that improve facilities, train personnel, and make healthcare accessible to every Nigerian.

(NAN)

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The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has reacted to the claim that military generals contributed money to secure the release of Mahrazu Tsiga, a retired brigadier general, who was held captive for 56 days.

The Director of Defence Information, Tukur Gusau, in a statement on Monday said the claims by another retired brigadier general, Ismaila Abdullahi, had contradicted the militarys efforts.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that in a viral statement, Mr Abdullahi said he coordinated the raising of money, meant for ransom, to free Mr Tsiga who was kidnapped on 5 February.

Mr Abdullahi said he and a major general, LB Bunza, started exchanging ideas towards the release of Mr Tsiga.

He said they created a WhatsApp platform to inform the general public about Mr Tsigas abduction.

When the kidnappers made a N400 million demand to release the retired general, we decided to solicit for donations on our TSIGA PLATFORM.

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He said over 300 members of the WhatsApp group, including serving and retired military officers, donated and donations came in pouring like August Rains.

The money raised was deposited in Mr Tsigas account whose number was gotten from his son.

Mr Abdullahi said they had raised a significant amount by 15 March although he did not disclose the total amount raised and how the kidnappers were paid.

He, however, said their efforts yielded a very positive outcome, an indication it led to the eventual release of the kidnapped general last week.

It is that narrative by Mr Abdullahi that the defence headquarters frowned at in its statement.

DHQs reaction

Mr Gusau, a brigadier general, did not deny that the retired generals indeed raised the ransom to free their colleague. He, however, said the narrative downplayed the efforts made by troops of Operation Fansan Yamma by embarking on a Search and Rescue Operation to secure the release of Mr Tsiga, a former director general of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

According to the Defence spokesman, it may seem unproductive to engage with those who constantly criticise the military, especially those who have benefited from the same military.

He said it was essential to clarify the efforts undertaken by the troops that facilitated Mr Tsigas release.

It is important to note that the unfortunate abduction of the former DG of NYSC occurred in the wee hours of 6 February 2025, in Tsiga, Kafur District of Bakori Local Government Area in Katsina State.

Immediately, troops of 17 Brigade were alerted, they responded to the situation around 0300 hours the same day and in a commendable show of professionalism, swiftly went on pursuit in conjunction with the Air Component of Operation Fansan Yamma.

These combined efforts led to troops combing the assailants/bandits hideouts within Jeka, Areda, and Zango, all in Kankara Local Government Area, in search of the former DG.

The operation extended to Ruwan Lafiya, Mununu, Matallawa and Bakkai in Faskari Local Government Area.

Although no direct contact was made with the abductors, the troops successfully pressured the criminals, who abandoned rustled animals and some captives in their hasty retreat.

The troops nevertheless sustained the pursuit of the terrorists with unwavering determination, despite facing difficulties due to challenging terrain, he said.

Mr Gusau said the troops on 8 February intensified their manhunt for the abductors and conducted dawn attacks at Yankuzo and Gidan Dankaka in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara where terrorist kingpin Ado Aliero hibernates.

He added that subsequent air operations at Dunya Hill, a suspected bandit stronghold where Mr Tsiga was held, disrupted the terrorists, leading to the escape of several captives.

According to him, the former DG was unable to escape due to health concerns.

One of the captives, Barau Garba, a teacher at Government Secondary School in Tsiga and who was with General Tsiga was rescued by troops and he shared his experience via the attached video.

Barau has since been reunited with his family in Tsiga town.

In another instance, troops assaulted Pauwa Hills and Matallawa area of Kankara Local Government Area in search of Brig.-Gen. Tsiga.

However, they were only able to rescue 84 kidnapped victims from the area without locating him.

In the process, several terrorists/bandits were neutralised while three personnel sustained gunshot wounds, he added.

The defence spokesman said that troops had since Mr Tsigas abduction, remained relentless in their pursuit, conducting both air and ground operations, which he added, had kept pressure on the abductors.

freed on 2 April. According to him, it is only fair to recognise the significant sacrifices made by these troops who have worked day and night, often at great risk to their own lives in their search for the senior officer who was eventually

The disparaging online is therefore nothing but presumably an act of mischief which is calculated to undermine the dedicated efforts of the military to eradicate terrorists/bandits and other criminal elements from the North West region.

It is noteworthy to add that the military operations comprising both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies facilitated the rescue of General Tsiga as his life is invaluable and anything that needed to be done to ensure he was safe was adopted in ensuring a successful Search and Rescue effort.

Troops will continue to support all efforts in ensuring peace and security across the country.

The general public is therefore encouraged to continue supporting troops by providing credible intelligence to assist in this regard, he said.

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The Accountant-General of Bauchi State, Sirajo Jaja, was, on Monday, arraigned in the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations bordering on money laundering.

Mr Jaja was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Obiora Egwuatu alongside Aliyu Abubakar, a Bureau de Change (BDC) operator, and his company.

After the counts were read to them, they pleaded not guilty to the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/101/2025.

The defence lawyer, Chris Uche, informed the court of a motion filed in respect of his clients bail.

He prayed the court to grant them bail on liberal terms.

Mr Uche, in his application for bail, argued that the charges against Mr Jaja allegedly arose out of the federal governments determination to intimidate the Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State to drop his political ambition for 2027.

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He said the offence with which they were being charged with was a bailable one.

He said the defendants were not being accused of any capital offence or acts of terrorism that would have warranted their continued detention.

He assured the court that the AG had reasonable sureties to stand for him and produce him whenever required by the court.

However, the EFCCs lawyer, Abba Muhammed, opposed Mr Uches application.

Mr Muhammed, who said the commission filed a counteraffidavit to the bail applications, said Mr Abubakar (1st defendant) had earlier jumped administrative bail.

He said the accountant general was earlier granted administrative bail but failed to meet the bail conditions.

He urged the court to dismiss their plea.

Justice Egwuatu, in his ruling, held that bail is a constitutional right that the court must exercise judiciously.

The judge said he was minded to admit the defendants to bail.

He subsequently granted bail to them in the sum of N200 million each with two sureties in the like sum.

The judge said that the sureties must be residents of Abuja and one of the sureties must hold the position of a director with a federal government agency.

He directed the defendants to deposit their international passports with the court and must get the permission of the court whenever they needed to travel out of the country.

Justice Egwuatu also ordered Mr Jaja to be released to the Attorney General and Commissioner of Bauchi State pending the perfection of his bail within a given time.

The judge, however, ordered that if they failed to perfect their bail conditions within the period, they should be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre.

He adjourned the matter until 17 June for the commencement of the trial.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Aliyu Abubakar, Jasfad Resources Enterprise and Sirajo Jaja are listed as 1st to 3rd defendant respectively.

The EFCC alleged that Mr Abubakar, Jasfad Resources Enterprise, Ibrahim Kashim (former Secretary to the Bauchi State Government, now at large), Danjuma Garba (at large), Kabiru Yahaya (at large), Saleh U. Mohammed (at large), and Balarabe Abdullahi (at large) between 10th July 2024 and 25th November 2024 allegedly transferred and converted N1.8 billion of public funds belonging to the Bauchi State Government.

It alleged that the fund was transferred from the Bauchi State Expenditure Account domiciled in Polaris Bank into the bank accounts of Jasfad Resources Enterprise.

The offence is contrary to and punishable under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, among other counts.

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The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said that illicit financial flows cost Africa a whopping $88.6 billion yearly.

Abdel-Fatau Musah, the ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace, and security, said this during a training on financial investigation for anti-corruption institutions across its member-states. The training was held in Zuba, Niger State, on Monday.

Mr Musah, who was represented by Ebenezer Asiedu, the commissions head of the democracy and good governance division, according to TheCable , also linked the fragility of democracy in the region to corruption, which is a key driver of illicit financial flows.

He said democracy in most of our member states faces fragility, particularly due to the menace of corruption.

Illicit financial flows refer to the movement of money across borders. Such flows are illegal in its sourceas in corruption and smuggling; its transfer, as tax evasion; or its use, as in terrorist financing.

Weak laws, regulations and law enforcement activities, bribery and corruption, weak tax and anti-money laundering regimes contribute significantly to the capital haemorrhage through illicit finnacial flows out of Africa.

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For instance, research indicates that Africa loses a staggering $88.6 billion annually due to corruption and illicit financial flows, which takes up 3.7 percent of our continents GDP, Mr Musah said.

He added that, indeed, corruption and financial crime are among the biggest obstacles to economic and social development in West Africa and around the world.

Menace of corruption and quest for solutions

He said the regional organisation is making progress in supporting the deepening of democratic governance norms and practices within the region.

To a greater extent, these efforts have yielded considerable progress in the democratic consolidation in the reqion. In spite of the progress, democracy in most of our Member States faces fragility, particularly due to the menace of corruption, he said.

He expressed concern on the increasing adoption of crypto-currencies and other emerging forms of online financial systems, saying that it has introduced new risks and vulnerabilities across member states as the financial industry evolves in West Africa.

The commissioner added that this evolution necessitated the need for anti-corruption institutions to develop specialised skills and knowledge to effectively combat these crimes.

This (training) is part of our renewed commitment to strengthen anti-corruption institutions with advanced investigative techniques to detect, counter, and recover assets linked to financial crimes, Mr Musah noted.

He also stressed the need to tackle illicit financial flows in the region.

As we work toward realising the ECOWAS Vision 2050, tackling corruption and illicit financial flows (IFFs) is essential to achieving sustainable development and regional stability.

He painted a picture of a bright future, saying Africa is making progress in supporting the deepening of democratic governance norms and practices within the region.

Strategic partnership

Also speaking at the gathering, Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), explained that the training was as a result of a strategic partnership between the Network of Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA), EFCC and the ECOWAS commission.

It reflects our shared determination to go beyond rhetoric and invest in tangible capacity-building efforts that enhance the operational capabilities of our institutions.

Today, we welcome participants from across the sub-region, men and women who are on the frontlines of the fight against corruption, money laundering, terrorism financing, and other financial crimes, the lead of the Nigerian anti-graft agency noted.

Illicit Flows

The World Bank says illicit financial flows reduce domestic resources and tax revenue needed to fund poverty-reducing programs and infrastructure in developing countries; accordingly, they are receiving growing attention as a key development challenge.

Experts say that illicit and tax avoidance related financial flows (ITAFF) have significant impact on the economic stability of a country and the global financial system as they can drain foreign exchange reserves, distort competition, inflate prices for real estate, lower tax receipts, and reduce government revenue.

Individuals and entities that perpetrate illicit finance divert resources from public spending and cut into the capital available for private investment while such flows can encourage criminal activity, undermine the rule of law, erode trust in public institutions, and threaten political stability.

Many African countries lose billions of dollars in capital to illicit flows, which relate principally to commercial transactions, tax evasion, criminal activities (money laundering, and drug, arms and human trafficking), bribery, corruption and abuse of office.

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Nigerias First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has promised to donate N1 billion to support cervical cancer treatment among women.

She said this is in furtherance of efforts to eradicate the disease from Nigeria by 2030.

Mrs Tinubu announced the planned donation in her office at the State House on behalf of her Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) when she received in audience the National Taskforce on Cervical Cancer Elimination led by the

Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako.

The visit by the task force was part of a programme scheduled to mark World Health Day 2025.

Cervical cancer is a malignant tumour of the lower-most part of the uterus that can be prevented by PAP smear screening and an HPV vaccine.

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The First Lady said the donation would come from the purses of RHI through provisions made by donors.

According to her, it is her obligation to give the funds back to society to tackle life-threatening issues such as cervical cancer.

Mrs Tinubu reaffirmed her commitment to womens health, which she said is why the donation would be made.

She said the donation would be forwarded to the National Cancer Fund.

She observed that early detection and treatment would help significantly in tackling the disease.

The First Lady urged Nigerians to open up when faced with challenges, especially life-threatening medical issues.

No one chooses an ailment for themselves. So, there is no need to be ashamed to seek help, she said.

She expressed strong support for the national strategy against cervical cancer, which involves screening, vaccination, and treatment.

I am in support of what you are doing. We are on track, especially with the approach you have adopted, namely: test, screen, vaccinate, and treatment, she said.

A healthy nation is a wealthy nation. No matter the wealth you have as a nation, if your population or majority of your population is sick, you are just the poorest as far as I am concerned.

Mr Salako had earlier commended the first lady for her role in promoting HPV vaccination, which has been integrated into the countrys routine immunisation programme.

He said that 12 million girls aged nine to 13 were vaccinated within the first nine months of the vaccines introduction, with a target of six million more girls in 2025.

Isaac Adewole, a former minister of health and chairman of the task force, described the First Ladys involvement as a demonstration of uncommon political will.

Mr Adewole urged the first lady to continue to champion the cause of eradicating the disease, noting that with sustained advocacy, the country could meet its target of immunising eight million girls annually and thus eliminate cervical cancer by 2030.

Present during the visit was Walter Mulombo, the World Health Organisations Country Representative, who appealed to Mrs Tinubu to keep leading the national campaign.

Every child and woman has a right to live, he stated.

(NAN)

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Pascal Dozie, a Nigerian entrepreneur who played a defining role in the development of Nigerias modern banking and telecommunications industries, has died.

He was 85.

Mr Dozie passed away on 8 April, according to a family statement issued by his son, Uzoma Dozie, who described him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and a man of unwavering Catholic faith.

With deep sorrow, but with gratitude to God for a life well spent, we announce the passing of our beloved father, the son said.

His life was marked by serviceto God, his family, and his country.

Mr Dozie was best known as the founder of Diamond Bank, which he established in 1990 and led until his retirement. The bank grew to become one of Nigerias most innovative financial institutions before it merged with Access Bank in 2019.

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He later handed over leadership of the bank to his son, Uzoma, who served as CEO until the merger.

Beyond banking, the late Mr Dozie was instrumental in the evolution of Nigerias telecommunications industry.

He served as the pioneer chairman of MTN Nigeria, helping guide the telecoms giant through its early days following the liberalisation of the sector in the early 2000s. Under his stewardship, MTN expanded rapidly, becoming the countrys largest mobile network and a symbol of Nigerias digital transformation.

Born on 9 April 1939 in Egbu, Owerri, Imo State, late Mr Dozies academic journey took him from Our Ladys School in Emekuku to the London School of Economics, where he earned a degree in economics. He later obtained a masters degree in administrative science from City University, London.

Throughout his career, late Mr Dozie was celebrated for his humility, long-term vision, and integrity. His contributions earned him national recognition, including the award of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), one of Nigerias highest honours.

In addition to his professional achievements, late Mr Dozie was a boardroom statesman who served on several corporate and public boards, helping shape corporate governance in Nigeria during the countrys economic liberalisation era.

He is survived by his wife, Chinyere, his children, grandchildren, and many who were inspired by his leadership and legacy.

Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.

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The Bayelsa State High Court has denied culpability or external influence in the protracted trial and detention of some domestic aides of former first lady Patience Jonathan.

The court attributed the delay in the trial overseen by Chief Judge Matilda Ayemieye to frequent changes in defence lawyers, leading to the defendants six-year incarceration.

His Lordship granted accelerated hearing to enable parties to conduct the matter speedily, Julius Nyananyo, the head of media and information to the Bayelsa State High Court, said in a statement on Monday.

From available records, the matter has suffered delays due to multiple defence lawyers who must cross-examine witnesses, which has slowed down proceedings.

Punch Newspaper reported on Saturday how some domestic workers have been held in jail since 2019 over a case of theft of Mrs Jonathans belongings, including seven gold bangles and jewelry, and five Samsung air conditioners.

The detainees are Williams Alami, Vincent Olabiyi, Ebuka Cosmos, John Dashe, Tamunokuro Abaku, Emmanuel Aginwa, Erema Deborah, Precious Kingsley, Tamunosiki Achese, Sunday Reginald, Vivian Golden, Emeka Benson, Boma Oba, among others.

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They face 18 charges of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit felony, and burglary.

One of the defendants, who spoke to Punch newspapers from prison, lamented that they were being unlawfully detained.

The detainee said the police had yet to present any evidence against them.

Judiciarys statement denying culpability in the plights of the detainees, came on the heels of similar denial by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) in Bayelsa State, South-south Nigeria.

Denying wrongdoing in a statement on Sunday, the Bayelsa State command of NCoS refuted allegations that its top officials connived with Mrs Jonathan to orchestrate the detention of about 15 of her former domestic workers at the Okaka Custodial Centre in Bayelsa State.

The Bayelsa State High Court also said on Monday that there was no judicial complicity in the delay of the trial.

As a responsible organisation, we want to set the records straight in the interest of justice and balanced reportage, the statement said.

It noted that the defendants are being tried on serious charges, including armed robbery and attempted murder.

It recalled that the case was assigned to the trial judge, Mrs Ayemieye, in 2019, before she became the Chief Judge, and how she had been committed to the speedy determination of the case.

Part of the steps she took to ensure a quick conclusion of the case, according to the High Courts statement, was ordering an accelerated hearing in the case.

But the statement said, the frequent changes of defence lawyers in the case and the need for a trial-within-trial, have led to the delays suffered by the case.

Only recently, an application for a Trial within a Trial was made, which the court granted. This obviously will further delay the case, he noted.

Bail denied

The statement also justified the courts decision to deny the defendants bail, which resulted in defendants incarceration for nearly six years.

Applications were determined on the merits and based on the materials furnished. Some of the defendants were admitted to bail.

If anyone was dissatisfied, there is a mechanism for review of the same by appealing to the higher Courts, the statement read.

In Nigeria, the complaint of unduly protracted trials caused by frequent adjournments is an undeniable problem of the countrys criminal justice system.

In many cases, economically disadvantaged defendants, either denied bail or unable to meet their bail conditions, are the most adversely affected as they spend long periods in prison awaiting trial.

Conversely, influential and politically exposed people accused of high-profile white-collar crimes are hardly denied bail even. With their ability to hire topnotch lawyers, such defendants often return to the court for a review of the bail conditions that appear too stringent for them to meet. More often than not, such applications for review often succeed.

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Amnesty International Nigeria has urged the federal government to launch an independent investigation into the assault of two journalists during the Take It Back movements 7 April protest in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The protest, held on Monday in multiple states, was organised to demand an end to bad governance and clampdowns on free speech.

Protesters called for the repeal of the Cybercrime Act 2024, the reinstatement of suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and a halt to ongoing demolitions in poor communities across the country.

Police assault on journalists

In a statement on Tuesday, Amnesty International Nigeria Director Isa Sanusi condemned the assault on Charles Oporum of Channels Television and Ikezam Godswill of Africa Independent Television (AIT).

He said the journalists were harassed and assaulted by police officers who sought to prevent them from reporting on the protest.

Mr Sanusi added that officers fired live rounds and tear gas, confiscated equipment, and forced journalists at gunpoint to delete footage.

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Journalists and photographers covering the protest were clearly identifiable as media staff. Some reported being subjected to verbal abuse and physical assault by the police, he said.

He warned that such incidents were becoming alarmingly routine, adding: Viciously targeting journalists for simply doing their job is part of a wider attempt by the Nigerian authorities to muzzle dissent. These actions violate international human rights law and Nigerias own constitution.

Defiance against police warning

On the eve of the protest, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) expressed concern over the timing and motive of the demonstration.

In a Facebook statement, the Force said it was aware of the planned protests by the Take It Back Movement, particularly in the Federal Capital Territory.

Force spokesperson Olumuyiwa Adejobi noted that the protest coincided with National Police Daya government-sanctioned event to honour police officers nationwide.

He said while citizens have the constitutional right to peaceful assembly, holding a protest on such a day raises questions about the organisers intentions.

The Nigeria Police Force is deeply concerned about the motive behind such a protest scheduled on the same day the contributions of the Nigeria Police Force to national security are to be celebrated, Mr Adejobi stated.

He described the protest as ill-timed and mischievous, suggesting it was a calculated attempt to discredit the police.

Reacting, Omoyele Sowore, the movements founder and former presidential candidate, rejected the polices claims.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, he accused the police of trying to divert public attention from allegations involving the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.

It is the Nigeria Police Force under the leadership of ILLEGAL Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, that should reconsider their program, Mr Sowore wrote.

The protest was held in some states and Abuja on Monday, in defiance to the police warning.

Not the first time

The attack in Port Harcourt is the latest in a troubling pattern of police brutality against journalists in Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that at least 31 journalists have faced police brutality in recent years.

Reporters Without Borders, in its 2024 World Press Freedom Index, noted rising attacks on journalists during protests and elections in Nigeria.

The Press Attack Tracker, a civic tool by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, has documented similar cases, including attacks during the #EndBadGovernance protests, where journalists narrowly escaped death after police opened fire on protesters and media personnel at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja.

The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has also raised the alarm over the issue. At the recent Civic Space Guard Conference in Abuja, the centres CEO, Motunrayo Alaka, said that over 70 per cent of attacks on journalists are perpetrated by police and political actors.

Its an aberration when institutions responsible for protecting the law and ensuring free elections are also responsible for harassing journalists, she said, citing findings from the upcoming 2023 Journalism and Civic Space Research report.

Amnesty International has called for perpetrators to be held accountable and for the government to uphold press freedom and the right to protest peacefully.

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The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, awarded N100 million in general damages against Louisville Girls Secondary School, Gwagwalada, for negligence of duty of care which led to the death of a student.

The judge, Sylvanus Oriji, delivered the judgement in a suit filed by Ifeanyi Ikpeatusim, who accused the school of negligence that resulted in the death of his nine-year-old daughter, Kamzie.

In the suit marked CV/1738/18, Mr Ikpeatusim alleged that the schools failure to provide adequate medical attention after Kamzie fell ill shortly after her admission led to her untimely death.

Kamzie was admitted as a boarding student in September 2017 and became severely ill by 2 October. She died a few days later.

Mr Oriji held that the evidence presented clearly showed the school and its agents acted negligently by failing to attend promptly and adequately to Kamzies medical needs.

The claimant established his allegations of negligence against the school.

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There is no amount of money that can bring back the child to life, the judge ruled.

The court awarded N100 million as general damages and ordered a 10 per cent interest on the judgement sum from 8 April until full payment.

An additional N300,000 was awarded as the cost of the suit.

Mr Oriji noted that one significant outcome of the case was the improvement of the schools sickbay following the incident.

He remarked that the presence of doctors attending to students twice daily was a commendable development.

Though the claimant had requested that a school structure be named in honour of Kamzie.

Mr Oriji said: The court is of the opinion that the improvement in the sickbay, ensuring doctors are available twice daily, is in honour of Kamzie, as as part of reforms recommended by her family.

The claimant should take solace in the fact that Kamzie has been honoured by the school through these improvements.

(NAN)

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In a groundbreaking development, a woman in Britain has given birth following a womb transplant, marking a significant milestone in reproductive medicine.

Grace Davidson, 36, from southern England, who was born without a functioning womb, became the first woman in the UK to receive a womb transplant in early 2023.

Her sister, Amy, donated her womb as part of the Womb Transplant UK living donor programme.

Grace underwent the transplant at the Oxford Transplant Centre and subsequently received in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment at HCA UKs Lister Fertility Clinic.

After close monitoring at the Churchill Hospital and Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital in London, Grace delivered a healthy baby girl via caesarean section in February 2025. Both mother and baby are doing well.

Grace and her partner, Angus, named their daughter Amy Isabel, in honour of her sister Amy and Miss Isabel Quiroga, who co-led the transplant operation.

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The birth represents a remarkable achievement in reproductive medicine, with more than 100 womb transplants carried out globally and more than 50 healthy babies born from the procedure.

Ippokratis Sarris, a consultant in reproductive medicine, hailed the birth as an extraordinary advance in science and care.

Though the procedure remained suitable for only a small number of women, it offered hope to those unable to conceive or carry their own children, such as those born without a viable womb or who lose their wombs due to cancer or other conditions.

Womb Transplant UK, the charity behind the living donor programme, continues to fund research and transplant operations, with plans to help more women in the future.

The charity is supported by public donations, which help cover the costs of the transplant surgeries and related research.

(Xinhua/NAN)

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The Federal High Court in Abuja has commenced a trial-within-trial to determine if a former Minister of Power, Saleh Mammans written statement allegedly confessing to corruption charges was made from his free will.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was said to have obtained the statement from him preparatory to filing the corruption charges against him last year.

EFCCs first witness in the trial-within-trial, a sideshow to the main N33.8 billion fraud trial, testified, insisting that Mr Mamman gave the statement voluntarily. This is according to a statement from the anti-graft agencys spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday.

Abubakar Kwaido, an investigator with the EFCC, said Mr Mamman authorised his lawyer, Mohammed Ahmed of Pineal Solicitors, to write the statement on his behalf due to his ill health at the time.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Kwaido said the statement in question was taken on 20 February 2024 and recorded in a general office equipped with audiovisual surveillance, accessible to multiple parties.

He quoted Mammans signed authorisation form: I, Saleh Mamman, have authorised my lawyer, Mohammed Ahmed of Pineal Solicitors, to write on my behalf due to ill health and other health challenges. In support of this, I have submitted a medical report to that effect.

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Mr Mamman is standing trial on 12 counts of conspiracy and money laundering involving N33.8 billion meant for the Mambilla Power Project.

Why trial-within-trial?

On 19 March, trial judge James Omotosho paused the main trial to conduct a trial-within-trial following the defence teams objection to EFCCs move to tender a written confessional statement credited to the former minister as an exhibit.

The prosecution was to tender the confessional statement dated 20 February 2024 through EFCCs 17th prosecution witness when defence lawyer Femi Atte, a SAN, raised an objection to its admissibility.

The specific confession contained in the statement has yet to be discussed during proceedings.

However, the defence lawyer alleged that his client made the statement involuntarily at EFCCs office.

In response, the judge said the issue of involuntariness of a statement and other grounds of objections raised by the defence counsel could only be resolved by conducting a trial-within-trial to ascertain their veracity.

Statement was voluntary

Opening the trial-within-trial with his testimony, Mr Kwaido, an investigator with the EFCC, refuted the claim by the defence that the statement attributed to the defendant was a product of threats and not voluntary.

Mr Kwaido said the process was audio-visually recorded.

He said the office where the statement was taken was a general office where different parties came in and went out.

He added that Mr Mamman, due to his ill health, opted to dictate his statement whiel his lawyer wrote down it down.

Mr Kwaido also chronicled the events leading up to the recording of the statement.

He said, The defendant was supposed to report back to our office two weeks after the initial interrogation, but he absconded for about six months.

We were calling and sending him messages to report to our office for further statements and he wrote to us through his lawyers for a reprieve of few days to report, suggesting 14 and 20 February 2024 and he chose to come on the 20 and when he came, we interviewed him and his lawyer was smiling all through and nobody threatened him.

Continuing, the witness said he was surprised to hear that the former minister was threatened. We have been communicating with him, he mentioned his business partners which we asked him to contact them and there are other documents we asked him to come with but he said we should give him two weeks and he did not come back.

The audio-visual recording of the confessional statements was taken in court through the screen.

The judge then adjourned the case until 10 April for continuation of trial-within-trial.

Main trial so far

The EFCC alleged in the charges that over N26 billion earmarked for the Mambilla Power Project was diverted through Bureau de Change operators under his instruction.

In his testimony during the main trial, Mr Kwaido had traced multiple transactions through over 10 corporate accounts linked to operators such as Breathable Investment, Fullest Utility Concepts, and Golden Bond Nigeria Ltd.

He told the court that the EFCC received intelligence in 2023 suggesting massive financial diversions. Investigations were carried out in collaboration with commercial banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

All the statements made by the defendant were taken in the presence of his lawyer on 20 February, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17 May, and 3 and 9 August 2024, Mr Kwaido said.

The defence, however, contested the admissibility of the statement made on 20 February, insisting it was not voluntarily given.

Earlier, the 15th prosecution witness, Okoafor Nnenna, a deputy manager in the Domestic Payments unit of the CBN, told the court that her unit responded to the EFCCs request with official documentation of the Ministry of Powers transactions.

Similarly, the 16th witness, Veronica Sampam, a First Bank compliance officer, confirmed the bank received a letter from the EFCC in October 2024 requesting details on the account of one Idris Musbahu, which they supplied.

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While the Kano 16 deserve justice, the wider context of justice in this case is for the Nigerian State to rise up to its responsibilities and bring justice to the people of Uromi and environs by defeating those that are tormenting them in their forests, farms and highways and protect them from all forms of insecurity. In emulating the good example of the government and people of Edo State and Uromi in their condemnation of this barbaric act, the JNI, NEF, ACF and other northern groups will do well to go beyond the killing of some of their own to equally condemnmass killings

On 28 March, tragedy struck the town of Uromi in Edo State, Southern Nigeria, when a group of 16 young men were lynched and burnt by some members of the community, in a manner that sent shock waves across the country. The victims have been identified as Hausa hunters who were returning home to Kano State for the end of Ramadan Sallah celebration with their families, while their killers have been revealed to be members of a local vigilante group. Travelling aboard a Dangote Cement truck, the hunters had their Dane guns and hunting dogs with them. But this party ran into trouble when it was accosted by members of the local vigilante who have been operating in the area, after it came under the sustained attacks of assailants identified as killer herdsmen, who are mostly of Fulani ethnicity.

For many months, there have been reports of the siege of the forests, farms and highways of Uromi and environs by killer herdsmen, without any form of containment from government security forces, thereby leaving the members of the community to resort to self-help. And clearly unable to make a distinction between a Fulani bandit and Hausa hunter, members of the local vigilante group, under circumstances that are still unclear, decided to carry out jungle justice by acting as the accuser, jury, judge and executioner of the Kano 16 hunters.

As usual with Nigeria, a country deeply polarised along ethno-geographic and religious fault lines, opinions are divided to the extent of obfuscating the serious issue of extrajudicial killing in the most barbaric manner, of innocent Nigerians whose only offence happens to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Many have raised concerns about the reasonableness of a Hausa man from Kano going down south to Rivers State to hunt and the appropriateness of carrying arms from one location to another. Some have also posited that the Uromi killings are just one among many ugly incidences of killings across the country, including the ongoing killings of Uromi people by killer herdsmen. On the part of the Jamaatu Nasril Islam, Northern Elders Forum and Arewa Consultative Forum, it has been total condemnation of the brutal killing of their kinsmen, while calling for justice and payment of blood money to the families of the victims.

The cacophony of conversations going on in the public space is a reflexion of a Nigerian state in decline and a nation held hostage by unresolved contradictions since its independence in 1960. For those wondering why or how it is possible for a Hausa hunter from Kano State, northern Nigeria to be in the forests of Rivers State in southern Nigeria, it should be known that long before the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914, the constituent peoples of modern Nigeria moved between its northern and southern halves as cultural economic groupings involved in farming, blacksmithing, fishing and hunting. And some of these migrant groups have been assimilated and seamlessly integrated into their adopted communities for centuries.

On the bright side, the steps taken so far by the Edo State governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, is highly commendable. His condemnation of the dastardly act and swift sanctioning of those concerned, as well as the prompt arrest of suspects, is a testimony to his responsible leadership in a time of crisis. His subsequent visit to Kano to commiserate with his counterpart, Governor Abba Yusuf, and his visit to the family of the victims, as well as his pledge of compensation, is a shining example of how to be a responsible leader.

A good example are the Igede people of Benue State, North-Central Nigeria, whose origins are traceable to Agbede in Edo State, Southern Nigeria. Similarly, the Igala of Kogi State in North-Central Nigeria, with ancestral links to the Jukun of North-Eastern Nigeria, are known to have moved from Idah, southwards, into northern Enugu State, across Anambra State in South-East Nigeria, and as far as the Anioma area of the Niger Delta, together with craftsmen, farmers, hunters and other cultural economic groups, and have become part of the indigenous people of these Igbo speaking parts of Nigeria.

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Apart from the fact that the Legendary Alaafin Sango of Oyo has his maternal roots in the Nupe heartland of Bida in Niger State, which used to be part of the defunct North-West State, a group of Nupe people that have over time moved southwards to the Ibarapa area of Oyo State, to become part of the indigenous community, with a First Class Chiefdom created for them in recognition of their status as indigenes. And many centuries before a group of 16 Hausa hunters decided to move down south in search of wild animals, a section of the Bille Kingdom, an indigenous Ijaw clan in Rivers State, migrated north to present day Adamawa State to establish the now indigenous Billechi community, along with their fishermen, farmers, blacksmiths and hunters.

Like banking, nursing, teaching and driving, hunting is a profession and as citizens, the Kano 16 are at liberty to ply their trade in any part of Nigeria they deem fit. To query the rationale behind the presence of a Hausa hunter in Rivers State is to wonder why an Ijaw accountant is in the employment of a commercial bank with a branch in Kano. And common sense intelligence should have suggested to members of the local vigilante group that Fulani bandits dont ply their trade with locally made Dane guns but with sophisticated weapons on a scale that the combined forces of the Nigerian state are yet to defeat.

The Uromi killings was not an intentional killing of Hausa people by the Esan people of Uromi but an unintended consequence of self-help by a community under siege by domestic enemies that the Nigerian State is either unwilling or unable to defeat While those responsible for the Uromi killings must be brought to book, those equally responsible for the killings of Uromi people must be defeated and sent to hell once and for all by the Nigerian State.

On the bright side, the steps taken so far by the Edo State governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, is highly commendable. His condemnation of the dastardly act and swift sanctioning of those concerned, as well as the prompt arrest of suspects, is a testimony to his responsible leadership in a time of crisis. His subsequent visit to Kano to commiserate with his counterpart, Governor Abba Yusuf, and his visit to the family of the victims, as well as his pledge of compensation, is a shining example of how to be a responsible leader. This is also true of the traditional rulers of the community, the worldwide umbrella body of the Esan people, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and other groups that have condemned the killings and called for justice.

While the Kano 16 deserve justice, the wider context of justice in this case is for the Nigerian State to rise up to its responsibilities and bring justice to the people of Uromi and environs by defeating those that are tormenting them in their forests, farms and highways and protect them from all forms of insecurity. In emulating the good example of the government and people of Edo State and Uromi in their condemnation of this barbaric act, the JNI, NEF, ACF and other northern groups will do well to go beyond the killing of some of their own to equally condemn the mass killings, abductions, destruction of farms and highway robbery that is being perpetrated by their other kinsmen (Fulani bandits) in Uromi, particularly, and across Nigeria, from Benue to Plateau. Many years after, Deborah Samuel, a student who was lynched and burnt in Sokoto is yet to get justice, neither JNI nor ACF was heard condemning that barbaric mob action.

The Uromi killings was not an intentional killing of Hausa people by the Esan people of Uromi but an unintended consequence of self-help by a community under siege by domestic enemies that the Nigerian State is either unwilling or unable to defeat. And this domestic enemies are killer herdsmen that have turned Nigeria into a criminal enterprise of highway robbery, kidnapping, cattle rustling, destruction of farms and mass killings across the country. While those responsible for the Uromi killings must be brought to book, those equally responsible for the killings of Uromi people must be defeated and sent to hell once and for all by the Nigerian State.

Majeed Dahiru, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja and can be reached through [email protected].

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According to Tsiga, the mere sound of Nigerian fighter jets sent his captors into panic. They screamed in fear whenever aircraft roared overhead, he recounted. During a debriefing with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, Tsiga revealed that the bandits dreaded aerial bombardments more than divine retribution. They dont fear God, he said. They tell you not to call God for them  just give them money. But the moment they hear aircraft, even their cows start running.

For years, the Nigerian military has been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism and banditry, deploying ground troops and airpower to dismantle criminal networks threatening the nations peace and stability. Despite occasional setbacks  including tragic incidents of collateral damage  the Armed Forces have intensified their offensives, striking fear into the hearts of terrorists and bandits across the country.

A recent testimony by retired Army General Maharazu Tsiga, a former director-general of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and a victim of kidnapping, has reignited public confidence in the militarys relentless campaign. Abducted on 5th February from his hometown in Katsina State, Tsiga endured weeks in captivity before regaining his freedom on 2nd April. His harrowing yet revealing account provides a rare glimpse into how military operations are destabilising bandit strongholds.

According to Tsiga, the mere sound of Nigerian fighter jets sent his captors into panic. They screamed in fear whenever aircraft roared overhead, he recounted. During a debriefing with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, Tsiga revealed that the bandits dreaded aerial bombardments more than divine retribution. They dont fear God, he said. They tell you not to call God for them  just give them money. But the moment they hear aircraft, even their cows start running.

This terror is not unfounded. The Nigerian militarys precision airstrikes have proven devastatingly effective, forcing bandits to resort to desperate measures. Tsiga disclosed that his abductors used hostages as human shields, exposing them during attacks in a bid to deter bombardments. Whenever they were under fire, they brought us out, hoping the aircraft would avoid striking, he said. But God is merciful. As the NSA and CDS have said, the good ones will continue to live.

Such tactics compel the military to exercise restraint, relying on intelligence-guided strikes to minimise civilian harm. Through real-time surveillance, drone technology, and ground coordination, the Armed Forces have refined their operations  balancing lethality with humanitarian considerations. This evolution reflects a sophisticated, globally aligned counterinsurgency approach, demonstrating Nigerias commitment to both security and human dignity.

Criticism of the military has surged at times, particularly following accidental airstrikes in Zamfara, Katsina, and Kaduna. Yet these tragedies, while devastating, are anomalies in a high-stakes war complicated by rugged terrain and the deliberate intermingling of terrorists with civilian populations. The broader picture reveals a military making significant strides across multiple fronts.

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From Operation Hadin Kai in the North-East, where Boko Haram and ISWAP are being systematically dismantled, to Operation Whirl Punch and Operation Fansan Yamma in the North-Central and North-West, the Armed Forces have sustained relentless pressure  destroying camps, intercepting arms shipments, and rescuing hostages. Recent airstrikes in Sambisa Forest, the Lake Chad region, and North-West forests have disrupted terrorist logistics, eliminated key leaders, and reclaimed once-impenetrable territories.

The synergy between air and ground forces has also improved, with the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducting precision strikes in support of Army operations. This joint-force coordination enhances effectiveness, while reducing risks to troops and civilians. Beyond combat, the militarys Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) initiatives  such as humanitarian aid, infrastructure projects, and medical outreach  help rebuild trust with affected communities, denying terrorists local support.

No counterinsurgency is without challenges, but the progress is undeniable. General Tsigas testimony underscores a shifting tide. To sustain momentum, Nigeria must invest further in precision warfare, intelligence capabilities, and troop training  backed by unwavering public and political support.

The path ahead demands sharper intelligence-sharing, stricter operational protocols, and an unyielding commitment to justice. The war is far from over, but with disciplined strategy and national solidarity, victory is within reach.

To the bandits and terrorists, the militarys message is clear: You can run, but you cannot hide. The skies and the ground forces are closing in.

Mukhtar Yau Madobi is a research fellow at the Centre for Crisis Communication. He writes via [email protected]

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Inclusion is an inexorable ingredient for national cohesion. It is an ideal that demands deliberate and methodical enactment. It is largely potent, not as an abstract concept, but as the praxis for promoting peace and harmony and holding it all together at the umbilicus.

The Tinubu administration has been conscientious and pragmatic about building an egalitarian Nigeria; a nation where ethinc or religious complexion does not supplant excellence and performance; a nation where no Nigerian will need to know anyone to enjoy the harvests of good governance; a nation where all are equal before the law; God and man; a nation where that orphan, Chinedu, in the quiet town of Obosi, can enjoy higher education without the constraints of finance; a nation where all citizens regardless of their tongue, tribe, or religion matter in the minutest scheme of things.

It is reductive to abridge or pigeonhole the conversation on inclusion. It is broader as an ideal. It is all-encompassing; affecting all facets of society.

In terms of appointments, the lineup is balanced and well-spread, especially matching diversity with competence and character. More importantly, as regards the policies, programmes, and projects of the administration, all Nigerians enjoy equal patrimony.

For instance, the Consumer Credit Scheme has beneficiaries drawn from different working strata and diverse taxonomy.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has over 200,000 beneficiaries drawn from across universities in all the geo-political zones, with over N32 billion disbursed as of February.

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The free C-Sections for women in need and the presidents approval of an 80 per cent subsidy on kidney dialysis, reducing the cost from N50,000 to N12,000 per session, are tangible initiatives that directly impact the lives of Nigerians of all phyla.

These programmes and initiatives are implemented across the geo-political zones with absolute fidelity to the sworn oath of fostering unity, peace, and progress.

It is important to mention that under the N50 billion Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme for one million nano-businesses spread across 774 local government areas, with a minimum of 1,000 beneficiaries, over N41 billion has been disbursed to over 828,564 beneficiaries across all the local government areas.

Also, under the FGN N75 billion MSME Intervention Fund, N659,376,800 has been disbursed to 714 beneficiaries. This is in an effort to support young Nigerians and, most importantly, the live-wire of the economy, MSMEs.

The President recently signed some regional development commission bills, giving every zone the muscle to accelerate its development. This shows even-handedness and large-heartedness.

In terms of roads and other infrastructural projects, they are equitably distributed, with work going on on roads across all geo-political zones  the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway, the Sokoto-Badagry road, Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriageway 2, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway, and many others.

The Tinubu administration is building an inclusive society where everyone has a sense of belonging not just in the psychological sense of it but also in the very essence of life, making sure the benefits of governance percolate to every man and woman  even to the last man.

Fredrick Nwabufo is senior special assistant to the president on Public Engagement.

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Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State (L) consoling his Kano State counterpart, Governor Abba Kabir

Katsina State Governor and the Chairman Northwest Governors Forum, Dikko Umaru Radda, has paid a condolence visit to Kano State following the passing of the esteemed Galadima of Kano, Abba Sanusi, who served as the eldest member of the Kano kingmakers until his death at the age of 91.

Governor Radda first visited his Kano State counterpart, Governor Abba Kabir, to convey the sympathy of the government and people of Katsina State.

The loss of such a venerable figure as the Galadima of Kano affects us all, as our shared heritage and traditions will definitely miss his absence, Governor Radda said.

Governor Kabir, in his response, thanked Governor Radda for his show of solidarity, noting that the visit is a testament to the profound bond the two states shared.

Mr Radda further proceeded to the palace of the 16th Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. There, he expressed heartfelt condolences to the royal court, while recognising the irreplaceable wisdom and guidance that the late kingmaker had provided.

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Emir Sanusi acknowledged the painful void left by the kingmakers passing, especially given the current circumstances in the state.

Your presence during this difficult time strengthens the bonds between our people, the emir replied Governor Radda.

Governor Radda concluded his sympathy mission with a visit to the residence of the late Galadima, where he was received by family members of the eldest son, Abdullah Abbas, who serves as the State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking on behalf of the government, people of Katsina State, and the entire Northwest region, Governor Radda offered prayers for the eternal rest of the departed soul and strength for the bereaved family to bear the loss.

May Allah grant the late Galadima of Kano Aljannah Firdaus, and may He give the family, the Emirate Council, and the entire people of Kano State the fortitude to bear this great loss, the governor prayed.

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Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda, has received a high-powered delegation from the Nigeria Governors Forum led by its Chairman and Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, on a condolence visit following the passing of his mother, Safarau Umaru Barebari.

During the visit, the Chairman of the Forum, Governor Abdulrazak, expressed the purpose of their journey, We are here to commiserate with our colleague, the Governor of Katsina State, over the passing away of his mother, Hajiya Safarau. No one can imagine the pain of losing a parent.

The Forum Chairman, Governor Abdulrazak, offered prayers, asking Almighty Allah to grant the deceased Aljanna Firdausi and give the governor the fortitude to bear the loss.

Apart from the forums chairman, other governors in the delegation included Governors Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, Ahmed Usman Ododo of Kogi State, and Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State.

Responding on behalf of Governor Radda, Deputy Governor Malam Faruk Lawal Jobe expressed appreciation for the delegations visit and noted that several governors had also paid individual condolence visits to the Katsina governor.

The governors of Jigawa and Kano were able to attend the funeral of the deceased due to the proximity of their respective states, Deputy Governor Jobe explained

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Governor Babagana Zulum has lamented the resurgence of Boko Haram attacks in Borno State, saying it signals that the state is losing ground to the terrorists.

Mr Zulum made this known on Tuesday at a Special Expanded Security Meeting (ESM). According to Channels TV, the event was attended by the General Officer Commanding 7 Div, Abubakar Haruna, a major-general, sector commanders, commissioner of police and heads of other security agencies, and traditional rulers, including the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar El-Kanemi, Shehu of Bama, emirs of Biu, Uba, Askira and Gwoza.

Expressing frustrations that the attacks were becoming frequent, Mr Zulum said his administration had been supporting the militarys fight against terrorism.

Recently, Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have intensified attacks against military formations and civilians in some parts of Borno State.

Last Sunday, the terrorists killed an unspecified number of soldiers, including a captain and a corporal, in an attack on Igze, a community in Gwoza Local Government Area.

Many insurgents were also reported dead during the attack. Ali Ngulde is the Boko Haram commander in Gwoza, operating from his Mandara Mountain hideout.

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At least 12 soldiers were killed during an attack on a military formation in Wulgo village in March. That same month, another attack claimed the lives of four soldiers in Wajiroko near Sabon-Gari in Damboa Local Government Area.

In January, the Islamist terrorists killed about 40 farmers in Dumba, a community near Baga.

Mr Zulum described these attacks as a setback for Borno and the North-east generally, saying they call for serious concern.

The governor commended the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, praising his fight against insecurity.

However, Mr Zulum called for more efforts to curtail the resurgence of violence threatening some parts of the Sahelian Borno sharing international borders with three countries  Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

The governors words

As I address this important gathering today, it is unfortunate that the renewed Boko Haram attacks and kidnappings in many communities almost on a daily basis without confrontation signalled that Borno State is losing ground, he stated.

As you are all aware my administration has been very supportive of the military and other security agencies in the fight against Boko Haram and other terrorists leading to relative peace in the last three years, it is disheartening to note the recent attacks and dislodgement of military formations in Wajirko, Sabon Gari in Damboa local government, Wulgo in Gamboru Ngala, Izge in Gwoza local government areas among other related killing of innocent civilians and security agencies calls for serious concern, and it is a set back in the fragile state of Borno and the North East region.

READ ALSO: Osun governor relaxes curfew in warring communities

In as much as Borno Government under my leadership commend the federal government under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the security agencies for their unwavering support in the fight against Boko Haram, more efforts have to be put in place through equipping and deploying of technological warfare to the military to stem the tide of all renewed attacks bedevilling parts of the sahelian Borno which shares international border with three African countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Meanwhile, Mr El-Kanemi, the Shehu of Borno, raised an alarm that three local government areas  Guzamala, Marte, Abbadam and parts of Mobbar  are still under the control of Boko Haram.

However, he hailed the counter-terrorism operations by security agencies in the region.

Mr El-Kanemi also called on the federal government to reconstruct the Biu-Damboa-Maiduguri, Maiduguri-Dikwa-Ngala, Maiduguri-Monguno-Kukawa and Biu-Damaturu federal roads, among others.

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The Benue Assembly has called on the state government to take over the disputed forest causing perennial dispute among Mbakyaa, Zer and Mbaper communities in Kwande Local Government Area (LGA).

The call followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Thomas Dugeri (APC/Kwande West) during Tuesdays plenary in Makurdi.

Mr Dugeri said if the state government took over the land, it would go a long way to bring lasting peace to the area and prevent further clashes.

The lawmaker informed the house that the crisis had lingered for several years despite numerous attempts at peaceful resolutions.

He said that on April 6, the same disputed forest became the centre of renewed conflict involving individuals from Mbaper and Dzev kindreds, resulting in killings and the destruction of property with estimated value of millions of naira.

Mr Dugeri expressed worry that if urgent and decisive action was not taken by the state government, the crisis would continue to escalate and may result in further breakdown of law and order.

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He said over 1,000 persons had been so far displaced, stating that the displacement had deepened mistrust among the affected communities.

Michael Audu (PDP/Adoka-Ugboju), who supported the motion, stated that the land in question was a Government Reserved Area (GRA) and that the government should take possession of it for peace to reign.

Mr Audu stressed that infighting was not good, especially now that Benue communities were experiencing incessant attacks by bandits.

In his ruling, the Speaker, Aondona Dajoh, urged the state government to deploy adequate security operatives to the affected communities to maintain peace, restore order, and prevent further violence.

Mr Dajoh called on the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA) to urgently provide relief materials, including food, shelter, and medical support, to affected and displaced persons in the crisis-affected areas.

(NAN)

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The Nigerian government has ordered illegal miners to immediately vacate all mining sites in Zamfara State following the confirmation of an outbreak of lead poisoning in Bungudu Local Government Area.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, gave the warning in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Tuesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Zamfara, known for its rich gold deposits, first recorded a major lead poisoning epidemic in 2010.

The outbreak was traced to artisanal gold mining activities, which led to environmental contamination and the poisoning of hundreds of residents, particularly children.

Mr Alake said all mining activities were still on hold until the release of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) which would guide the resumption of exploration in the state.

He expressed concern that the six-year mining ban in the state reversed in December 2024 should have prevented any cases of lead poisoning.

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The outbreak is evidence that traditional and local institutions allowed illegal miners to operate in their areas in flagrant violation of the ban.

Every citizen should obey the laws and regulations established by constituted authorities.

Our revered traditional institutions and local authorities, which are funded from the federation accounts, have an even higher responsibility to enforce government directives.

However, where they demonstrate wilful negligence and abdicate their responsibilities, they perpetrate a state of anomie with dire consequences, as we are witnessing in this case, he said.

According to him, experts and ministry reports will recommend specific interventions to help the government prevent future calamities.

The minister, however, commended the Zamfara State Government for deploying emergency services to the affected area, and called for stronger collaboration between the state and the Ministry officials.

We must work together to kick out illegal miners from all corners to protect the lives of innocent citizens endangered by the desperation of a few individuals to make money at all costs, he said.

According to him, the ministry will soon release a comprehensive SOP to guide the resumption of mining activities in Zamfara.

The procedures, he explained, would address cases of existing holders of mining licences and fresh applicants alongside compliance to community development agreements.

He added that other issues the SOP would address include the beneficiation and remediation efforts to overhaul the mining sector in the state.

Mr Alake noted that the recent approval of the deployment of satellite technology to monitor mining sites nationwide will put an end to illegal mining and other sharp practices in the sector.

NAN recalls that in 2017, an epidemic of lead poisoning resulted in the deaths of more than 300 under-five children in Yar-Galma village of Bukkuyum LGA of the state.

(NAN)

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Former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Nduese Essien, has delivered a scathing critique of the widespread empowerment schemes promoted by politicians across Nigeria.

Mr Essien, who is also a former leader of the South-south Parliamentary Caucus in the National Assembly, also described the schemes as a wasteful cover-up for consistent governance failures at all levels.

Speaking at an event in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, Mr Essien said what is popularly known as empowerment is nothing more than a ruse designed to mask the governments inability to provide basic amenities and economic opportunities for its citizens.

The so-called empowerment programmes are largely a ruse and an easy cover-up for years of government failure and yet another avenue to squander the peoples money, the former minister declared.

According to him, this long-standing failure has pushed local government chairpersons, lawmakers, and other public officials to assume responsibilities that should be handled by the government, such as providing necessities to the people.

Governments are supposed to create an enabling environment in which people can live in dignity and cater for themselves.

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Throughout the colonial period, the short-lived independence era, and even military rule up to 1999, empowerment was not part of our political vocabulary. It simply didnt exist, because government, in many ways, did its job, he stated.

What responsible governments do

Mr Essien argued that no serious government sustains poverty alleviation by handing out foodstuffs and cash to its citizens. Instead, responsible nations focus on long-term investments that build human capacity and stimulate productivity.

What responsible governments do is invest in peoples capacity to thrive by creating jobs, building infrastructure, and ensuring access to quality education, healthcare, and credit, he said.

Citing examples from around the world, the elder statesman pointed to Brazil and Mexico, where conditional cash transfers are linked to measurable outcomes such as child education and health checkups.

He referenced Bangladeshs successful use of microcredit and skills development to empower women and grow small businesses.

He also noted that Ethiopia has tied safety nets to public works programmes, while Rwanda has invested heavily in vocational education and small enterprise development.

These are not acts of charity. They are smart, sustainable systems that restore dignity and build capacity. That is what good governance looks like, he said.

Disappointment with humanitarian affairs ministries

Mr Essien also expressed disappointment with the Ministries of Humanitarian Affairs at the federal and state levels, which he accused of becoming notorious pipelines for large-scale embezzlement.

One would have thought that the creation of these ministries would make a significant impact on the welfare of the people. Unfortunately, they have become conduits through which public funds are stolen with utter recklessness. All the ministers of humanitarian affairs in Nigeria have been accused of misappropriating and embezzling billions of naira meant for people in distress, he said.

He lamented the inability of Nigerias anti-corruption agencies to prosecute indicted officials and called for a complete review of how the government responds to the needs of vulnerable citizens.

That is why I am calling on the government to take another look at what has come to be known as empowerment and find better, more sustainable ways of providing safety nets. We must stop the routine sharing of food items and cash to people who will return to the same queue the next day. It is neither dignifying nor effective.

According to him, what Nigerians truly want are opportunities to work and prosper, including access to land, loans, training, stable electricity, and consistent policies that enable them to farm, trade, and grow their careers and businesses.

What we need is infrastructure that supports markets, technology that opens new doors, and policies that attract investments, he said, urging public officials to stop wasting resources on politically motivated handouts.

Mr Essien also called on elected representatives to return to their constitutional responsibilities of lawmaking, oversight, and constituency representation rather than taking on executive functions that fuel corruption and inefficiency.

The truth is, many people who were empowered since 1999 are still standing in the same queue, waiting for the next round. The impact has been minimal despite billions spent over the years, he said.

He concluded with a call for governance reform.

Let us correct these mistakes. Let us restore government to its proper role. Let us learn from models that work and develop homegrown solutions that build dignity, not dependency, he said.

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Valentine Ozigbo, an aspirant in the just concluded governorship primary of the APC in Anambra State, has petitioned the partys Appeals Committee over the conduct of the exercise.

Mr Ozigbo, who recently defected to the APC from the Labour Party, said in a statement on Tuesday that the APC governorship primary was a fraud and charade.

The sham of April 5 was not just a fraud against me; it was a theft against Ndi Anambra.

To the architects of that manipulation, I say this: The future cannot be bribed or bullied. The people are watching. History is recording, he stated.

A former House of Representatives member, Nicholas Ukachukwu, won the APC governorship election conducted on Saturday.

Mr Ukachukwu scored 1,455 votes to win the APCs governorship ticket, while Mr Ozigbo polled only 67.

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Two other aspirants, Edozie Madu and Johnbosco Onunkwo, secured eight and 26 votes, respectively.

The Independent National Electoral Commission set a 10 April deadline for political parties to complete their primary elections.

The governorship election is scheduled to take place on 8 November 2025.

It was a charade, heist.

In the Tuesday statement, Mr Ozigbo said he had begun efforts to challenge the polls outcome.

Yesterday (Monday), I formally submitted a petition to the Appeals Committee of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), challenging the so-called primary election conducted in Anambra on April 5, 2025.

That exercise, by all observable standards, was a charade  a well-orchestrated heist designed to deliver a predetermined outcome, he said in the statement on his Facebook page.

The politician alleged that there were irregularities and manipulations in the election.

The facts are now public: Non-party members populated the delegate list; genuine party faithful were locked out or violently barred from voting; accreditation was either skipped or manipulated; and votes were counted without transparency.

This is not just about me. It is about the soul of our democracy. About the values we claim to represent. About the future, we owe our children, he said.

Ill remain in APC to fight; I am not leaving.

Mr Ozigbo said that since his loss at the poll, many of his supporters have been asking him about his next political move.

My answer is simple and unshaken: I will stay the course. I did not join politics to decorate the register, receive accolades, or shop for appointments.

I came to be part of a generation that restores integrity to our political system, that makes governance accountable, and that builds the kind of country we all deserve, he said.

Thus, I will not be distracted. I will not run to the Senate, nor will I pivot to another political opportunity for the sake of ambition. I will stand firm, here, in the APC, and I will fight this good fight to its just end.

He appealed to his supporters to stay strong, assuring them that we will not back down and will not break.

Let us remind the APC that this election is a defining moment  not just for Anambra, but for the credibility of our party and the soul of our nation.

The party still has a chance to right this wrong and present a candidate who can truly win and govern, Mr Ozigbo said.

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The commands spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this to journalists on Monday in Lagos.

He said officers on patrol responded to a distress call and intervened at Matana in the Suru-Alaba area.

The suspect was reportedly rescued from mob action following the alert.

Mr Hundeyin stated that the suspect and his gang had robbed a man and then snatched a phone from a woman.

Both victims later identified the suspect as one of the assailants.

An unregistered motorcycle allegedly used in the robbery was recovered at the scene.

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The suspect confessed to the crime and is helping police locate his accomplices.

Mr Hundeyin disclosed that investigations into the case are still ongoing.

(NAN)

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The Osun State Government has relaxed the 24-hour curfew it imposed on Ifon, Ilobu, and Erin Osun in the wake of last months outbreak of violence in the communities.

Governor Ademola Adeleke has adjusted the curfew, now lasting 12 hours from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily.

In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, on Tuesday, the governor cited the gradual return to peace in the three warring communities as the reason for the relaxation, which takes immediate effect.

Mr Adeleke expressed satisfaction with the ceasefire and attributed the development to the cooperation of traditional rulers and their subjects.

Now that peace is gaining the centre stage on a daily basis, it gladdens my heart, as the Governor and Chief Security Officer of Osun State to announce the relaxation of the curfew earlier imposed on Ifon-Ilobu-Erin Osun communities from 17 hours to 12 hours daily with effect from today, the governor was quoted as saying.

According to the governor, the relaxation of the curfew is seen as a positive development in the efforts to resolve the communal disputes in the area. It is also expected to ease the burden on residents and allow for greater freedom of movement, especially for students writing their final school leaving examinations.

Security measures

Despite the relaxation, the joint security team comprising the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Police, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps will maintain 24-hour surveillance to prevent any acts of lawlessness.

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The governor directed the security agencies to ensure zero tolerance for any form of lawlessness or disruption of peace in the communities.

He also directed the 100-member crisis resolution committee to expedite their assignments and find a lasting solution to the communal disputes.

The committee was set up by the administration in January.

It is only in an atmosphere of peace and unity that the much sought growth and development can be achieved in the three communities of Ifon, Ilobu and Erin Osun as well as the entire state, Governor Adeleke said.

The governor urged all stakeholders to cooperate in maintaining peace and unity in the communities. He warned that anyone found fomenting or aiding the crisis will face the law.

He expressed optimism that the relaxation of the curfew would help to create an enabling environment for the communities to come together and work towards a lasting solution to their differences.

The decades-long conflict

The conflict between the three communities dates back several years, with each side accusing the other of aggression and land encroachment.

Despite efforts to resolve the dispute through peaceful means, tensions have continued to simmer.

In March, tension between the warring communities escalated. The violence led to the loss of lives and destruction of property. Residents fled to neighbouring towns to seek refuge.

Governor Adeleke imposed a 24-hour curfew to restore order, later easing it to 17 hours as the situation stabilized and normalcy began to return.

He also threatened to dethrone the traditional rulers of Ifon, Erin Osun, and Ilobu if violence recurred in the communities.

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A chieftain of Nigerias main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has petitioned President Bola Tinubu, alleging an assassination attempt on him by supporters of Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State.

In a letter dated 7 April and addressed to Mr Tinubu through the Office of the National Security Adviser, the PDP chieftain, George Turnah, said his life and his family were in danger.

Mr Turnah is the South-south zonal secretary of the PDP and a former executive assistant on public affairs to Governor Diri until 14 February.

The PDP chieftain had switched political loyalty from Governor Diri to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and is currently the lead convener of the New Associates, Bayelsa Chapter, a platform he wants to organise a mega rally and reception of Mr Wike in Bayelsa on 12 April.

Governor Diri, who is against the rally, has said he does not want Mr Wike to export the political crisis in Rivers to Bayelsa.

In the petition, Mr Turnah alleged that Governor Diri is involved in a plot to form a coalition of political parties ahead of the 2027 elections. He said this move is against his (Mr Turnahs) belief that Mr Tinubu, a Southerner, should complete a second term in 2027, as was the case of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

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On 28 March, Governor Diri publicly called me out during both the State Security Council and Elders Council meetings, labelling me an enemy of the state and the Ijaw nation for proposing a rally to honour the president and the FCT minister on Ijaw soil, he said in the letter.

State of emergency in Rivers

President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and state lawmakers.

In his petition, Mr Turnah said Governor Diri claimed President Tinubu suspended an Ijaw governor and that the FCT minister insulted the Ijaw people and should, therefore, not be hosted in Bayelsa state.

The PDP chieftain said he addressed a press conference to clarify the situation and affirmed his commitment to the president and the FCT minister, after which he alleged that he has faced threats to the extent that one of Governor Diris loyalists, Jonah Paebi, boasted on a Facebook post that his actions were death trap and that people should watch how George Turnah will soon be a thing of the past.

Mr Turnah attached a screenshot of the comments to the petition.

This is a clear indication of an assassination plot by Governor Diris administration, he said, stressing that the governor has yet to condemn the statement.

He claimed the threats had forced him to relocate his family from his home in Yenagoa, the state capital, and is currently seeking refuge in a hotel, a financial burden he said he could not sustain and urged the federal government to take measures to ensure his safety and those of his supporters.

Governor Diris reaction to the rally

In the petition, Mr Turnah attached a press statement from Governor Diris spokesperson, Daniel Alabrah, dated 27 March. The statement was released after the governor attended the Bayelsa Elders Council and the State Security Council meeting.

As of today, that young man, George Turnah, is not a member of PDP in Bayelsa state, the governor was quoted as saying and warning that no public facility owned by the state government should be used for the rally.

As you are aware, we have threats from our sister state. The political crisis there is threatening us, and we will not allow what is happening there to come to Bayelsa State, the governor said.

He urged security agents in the state to be on alert and warned that any attempt to import Rivers political crisis to Bayelsa would be resisted.

Childish allegation  Gov Diri

When contacted, Mr Diris spokesperson, Daniel Alabrah, described the governor as a man of peace who would not descend to the arena to respond to Mr Turnah.

READ ALSO: PDP picks candidate for Anambra governorship election

Mr Turnah is inconsequential when it comes to the governor responding to him. In law, it is said that he who alleges must prove, he said, asking Mr Turnah to prove his allegation.

Ordinary post on Facebook that he claimed he saw? Is that a proof? It is a childish allegation. The governor is concerned about serious governance business, he said.

At the proposed rally in honour of the FCT minister, the governors spokesperson said Mr Turnah should vacate the court order first.

As it is, the court has said no rally until the matter is heard. The matter is before the court. He should go and defend himself on 11 April, not raising false alarms, Mr Alabrah said.

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Dessert Franchise Focuses on Product Innovation with Back-to-Back International Flavor Launches and New Proprietary Oat Milk Soft-Serve

NEW YORK, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- National frozen dessert brand 16 Handles is set to launch a Dubai Chocolate frozen yogurt flavor April 16, playing to the viral dessert trend now sweeping the globe.

National frozen dessert brand 16 Handles is set to launch a Dubai Chocolate frozen yogurt flavor April 16, playing to the viral dessert trend now sweeping the globe. The flavor blends a creamy, pistachio-rich base with crushed milk chocolate bites and a hint of cocoa.

Dubai Chocolate is a luxurious chocolate bar filled with layers of crispy knafeh and rich pistachio, offering a perfect balance of crunch, nuttiness and smooth chocolate. The new frozen yogurt flavor captures this indulgence by blending a creamy pistachio-rich base with crushed milk chocolate bites and a hint of cocoa. By turning the original chocolate bar inside out, each spoonful bursts with artisan green filling as the chocolate pieces melt in your mouth. Guests can also add a crunch by mixing in additional toppings. Dubai Chocolate will be available at all participating 16 Handles stores nationwide.

The launch comes on the heels of several other international-inspired flavor launches in 2025, including the world's first Kulfi frozen yogurt in January. The ingredients included all-natural mango, pistachio, saffron, cardamom and rosewater. In March, 16 Handles debuted Mango Lassi, a new flavor based off the popular Indian yogurt-based tangy drink. 16 Handles has also launched its own proprietary Oat Milk soft-serve product that will now become a staple on the frozen dessert brand's menu when it comes to dairy-free flavor innovation.

"The viral treat everyone is talking about has made its way to our handles as we froyo-ify the Dubai Chocolate trend," said 16 Handles CEO Neil Hershman. "Our international flavor launches have been a hit this year and brought in a plethora of new customers and tastes! Our team also raised the bar even higher in the dairy-free space as we roll out new recipes with our proprietary Oat Milk soft-serve."

16 Handles pushes the boundaries of innovation and flavor, with recent limited-edition monthly launches including flavors like French Fry, Squid Ink, Butter Beer, Dune Spice and Keto Chocolate Brownie, alongside staples like Classic Vanilla, Original Tart and Made with Nutella. The menu features 16 different soft serve flavors, 50+ toppings and sauces, as well as a variety of frozen novelties such as cakes, take-home pints and DO gourmet edible cookie dough. 16 Handles is a national franchise brand that features a contemporary store design and unparalleled customer experience. To learn more about 16 Handles and its franchising opportunities, visit https://16handles.com/.

About 16 Handles

16 Handles opened its first store in Manhattan's East Village in 2008, becoming the first self-serve frozen yogurt shop in New York City. Since then, the brand has expanded to over 35 locations through franchising with a menu that includes frozen yogurt, ice cream, vegan soft serve, endless toppings, drinks, and other treats and snacks. Each shop's full menu is available in-store and via the 16 Handles app. In addition to creating irresistible desserts, 16 Handles works closely with local and national organizations in partnerships and fundraisers. For more information, visit 16handles.com.

Media Contact: Sara Faiwell, Fishman Public Relations, [email protected] or 847-945-1300

SOURCE 16 Handles
CHICAGO, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- 66degrees today proudly announced that it has been recognized by Google Cloud as a 2025 Partner of the Year for North America. 66degrees delivers Agentic, AI, Data and Cloud solutions in the Banking, HCLS, Retail and Logistics industries. This award recognizes 66degrees' achievements in guiding clients to shape the future of work in their organizations and, in so doing, drive shareholder ROI and become market leaders.

"66degrees is thrilled to be recognized as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner of the Year. This award celebrates the growth we have achieved by guiding clients as they transform customer experience and business operations," shared Ben Kessler, CEO. "In a time where customer service and shareholder ROI are key priorities for the C-Suite, Agentic, AI and Data solutions are critical levers that help achieve these priorities."

"Google Cloud's Partner Awards recognize partners who have created outsized value for customers through the delivery of innovative solutions and a high level of expertise," said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "We're proud to announce 66degrees as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner Award winner and celebrate their impact enabling customer success over the past year."

"Receiving this recognition from Google Cloud underscores our commitment to driving client success through business and IT transformation. In partnership with our clients, we are strategically focused on deploying Google Cloud's integrated Cloud, Data and Agentic AI solutions empowering them to thrive in the age of AI," said Joshua Sutton, SVP of Innovation.

In addition to a reflection of the impact 66degrees has had on clients, being named a 2025 Partner of the Year is a testament to the dedication of the entire 66degrees team. Building solutions that shape the future of work and industries has taken the coordination of global teams and tireless efforts of engineers across AI, Data and Cloud practices.

"We are deeply passionate about helping our clients leverage the power of AI, Data and Cloud to achieve their business goals. This award validates our commitment to delivering exceptional solutions and driving transformative outcomes. We are using this to celebrate the remarkable achievement of our teams and highlight the future opportunity ahead for all 66ers," shared Carrie Steyer, Chief Customer Officer.

About 66degrees:

66degrees is a leading Agentic, AI, Data and Cloud consulting firm specializing in helping clients unlock value by transforming customer experiences and business operations through innovative solutions. With our unmatched engineering capabilities, global teams spanning both hemispheres and industry expertise in Banking, HCLS, Retail and Logistics, we help our clients shape the future of work and become AI-enabled enterprises. Learn more at 66degrees.com .

SOURCE 66Degrees
CHICAGO, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- AbsoluteCare, a leader in value-based health care, today announced its collaboration with Aetna Better Health of Illinois, a CVS Health company, to expand services into Chicago in 2025. This collaboration marks a significant milestone as AbsoluteCare introduces its Beyond Medicine care to address the unique needs of Aetna Medicaid members in the region.

AbsoluteCare's comprehensive care integrates medical, behavioral, pharmacological and social support services to help vulnerable members overcome health inequities and achieve better outcomes. AbsoluteCare's approach addresses the medical and non-medical challenges faced by members, with an intense focus on social determinants of health (SDoH), including support securing safe housing, accessing food, fostering community through events, and beyond.

AbsoluteCare supports members in comprehensive care centers and through in-home medical care. Post this

"Aetna helps their most chronically ill members stay healthy by meeting their day-to-day needs, which is directly aligned to our mission of addressing our members' health and life needs in our centers and in their homes," said Michael Radu, CEO of AbsoluteCare. "This partnership allows us to bring truly transformative care to Chicagoans who need it most."

"For many of our members, especially those with complex care needs and chronic conditions, whole-person care is essential for improving their health and quality of life," said Rushil Desai, CEO of Aetna Better Health of Illinois. "Together with AbsoluteCare, we look forward to enabling access to the comprehensive, integrated care our members in Illinois need to improve health outcomes."

"I am pleased to see the establishment of a facility that increases the availability of health care in our urban communities," states Representative Theresa Mah. "The effort to meet the social determinants of health needs of residents, alongside medical and mental health care, strengthens the overall health and wellbeing of our neighborhoods and builds a healthier future."

AbsoluteCare's new center in Chicago is located at 2627 W Cermak Rd., Chicago, IL 60608 and will provide integrated primary care, pharmacy, behavioral health care, social determinants of health services, advanced urgent care and community teams reaching neighborhoods through Cook County.

Aetna Better Health of Illinois serves over 360,000 Medicaid members in 102 counties. The health plan offers value-added benefits and best practices that have proven positive results in utilization, health gap closures and member satisfaction. For more information about Aetna Better Health of Illinois, visit www.aetnabetterhealth.com/illinois-medicaid.

About AbsoluteCare

Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, AbsoluteCare is a leading value-based integrated healthcare provider. AbsoluteCare tends exclusively to the needs of the high-risk population who persistently represent a disproportionate amount of unnecessary utilization and cost. AbsoluteCare operates in 11 markets: Baltimore and Prince George's County, MD; Chicago, IL; Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton OH; New Orleans, LA; and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA.

For more information, visit absolutecare.com.

SOURCE AbsoluteCare Manager, LLC.
ZURICH, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Swiss-based technology company Annanow is excited to announce the strategic investment by entrepreneur Adrian Kreter who fully acquired the company in December, 2024. This major milestone signals a new phase of innovation for the company as it continues to redefine omnichannel solutions across Europe.

eCommerce solutions by Annanow enables growth for retailers

Founded in 2017, Annanow has been solving the challenges of retailers navigating the complexity of modern ecommerce. They achieve this by building smart solutions across all touchpoints from customer acquisition to web shop to logistics and post-purchase engagement. With cutting-edge technology Annanow has developed a leading platform that unifies physical retail and digital channels fully integrated into everyday operations and logistics. Annanow's unifed commerce solutions are trusted by more than 50 clients and 100 ecosystem partners - from grocery chains and luxury brands to pharmaceutical companies.

"Our mission has always been to simplify the complexity of modern commerce without the need for large scale-up IT projects," said Benjamin Opel, CEO of Annanow. "The acquisition arrived at a pivotal time in our evolution, and with Adrian Kreter's continuned investment in the company, it enables us to deliver on a new strategic vision. We are uniquely positioned to scale our impact and are very excited about reaching new verticals and markets."

Cost-predictability and operational efficiency are central to Annanow's model eliminating the need for heavy upfront investment. This enables retailers to scale flexibly with confidence and sustainably by leveraging an asset-light infrastructure. In addition, monthly-based fees minimise overheads. All whilst safeguarding that the retailer maintains full control over their brand and customer relationships.

Adrian Kreter expressed his confidence in the team and business model "In my portfolio of companies, Annanow stands out in a space that's becoming increasingly critical for retailers. The energy and commitment to delivering ecommerce solutions with technology is innovative. I'm excited to support Benjamin and the team as they advance Annanow's strategic vision."

With extensive experience in retail, logistics, IT, and fintech, the Annanow team brings a multidisciplinary perspective to every client engagement. The outlook for Annanow is assured and remains focused on delivering measurable value through technology, operational excellence, and a customer-first mindset.

Media Contact:

Benjamin Opel

CEO

Annanow AG

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +41 79 878 31 71

Website: www.annanow.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2658965/Annanow.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2658936/Annanow_Logo.jpg
VANCOUVER, BC, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - Aris Mining Corporation (Aris Mining or the Company) (TSX: ARIS) (NYSE-A: ARMN) reports gold production of 54,763 ounces (oz) for the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2025), with 47,549 oz from Segovia and 7,214 oz from the Marmato Upper Mine.

Q1 2025 Gold Production Highlights:

Chart 1: Q1 2025 Gold Production (oz) Year-over-Year (CNW Group/Aris Mining Corporation)

Positive trends across both the Segovia and Marmato operations, with a total gold production of 54,763 oz in Q1 2025, up 8% compared to 50,767 oz in Q1 2024.

Q1 2025 production reflects strong operational momentum heading into 2025. With the commissioning of the expanded Segovia processing facility on track for Q2 2025, additional production growth is anticipated in the coming quarters.

Aris Mining's 2025 full-year production guidance is between 230,000 to 275,000 oz, with Segovia expected to produce 210,000 to 250,000 oz and the Marmato Upper Mine expected to contribute 20,000 to 25,000 oz.

*The Q1 2025 results provided in this news release are approximate and may differ from the final results to be included in the Company's 2025 interim financial statements and MD&A, which the Company expects to release in early May 2025.

Neil Woodyer, CEO of Aris Mining, commented "We kicked off 2025 with strong momentum, highlighting our ability to effectively execute while advancing major growth initiatives. Q1 production came in slightly ahead of our budget target reflecting a solid operational start to the year. With the expanded Segovia processing facility set to be commissioned this quarter, we are well on track to deliver on our full-year production guidance of 230,000 to 275,000 oz."

Chart 2: Segovia Operations  Quarterly Production Data

Operating Information Q1 2025 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 FY 2024 Tonnes processed (kt) 167 154 156 167 168 645 Tonnes per day (tpd) 1,966 1,817 1,834 1,940 1,949 1,885 Average gold grade processed (g/t) 9.37 9.42 9.14 9.23 9.84 9.41 Recoveries (%) 96.1 % 95.6 % 96.0 % 95.9 % 96.6 % 96.0 % Gold produced (ounces) 47,549 44,908 43,705 47,493 51,477 187,583 Gold sold (ounces) 47,390 45,288 43,366 48,059 50,409 187,122

Chart 3: Marmato Upper Mine  Quarterly Production Data

Operating Information Q1 2025 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 FY 2024 Tonnes processed (kt) 74 62 61 70 60 254 Average gold grade processed (g/t) 3.32 3.27 3.18 3.06 3.61 3.28 Recoveries (%) 91.7 % 90.2 % 89.2 % 89.4 % 90.7 % 89.9 % Gold produced (ounces) 7,214 5,859 5,511 6,115 5,887 23,372 Gold sold (ounces) 6,891 5,756 6,103 5,710 5,925 23,494

*The Q1 2025 results provided in this news release are approximate and may differ from the final results to be included in the Company's 2025 interim financial statements and MD&A, which the Company expects to release in early May 2025.

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 Lower Mine, which is expected to start ramping up production in the second half of 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.

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, are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements relating to the timeline and potential benefits of the expanded Segovia processing facility; the Company's 2025 production guidance; and statements included in the "About Us" section of this news release relating to the Segovia Operations, the new Marmato Lower Mine and the Soto Norte project. 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. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Aris Mining Corporation
NEW YORK, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascot Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Marc Amen as Chief Executive Officer, North America, effective upon completion of his current obligations later this year.

In this role, Marc will have ultimate responsibility for all operating facets of the Ascot U.S. and Ascot Bermuda insurance and reinsurance companies. He will also serve as a member of the Ascot Group Executive Committee and will report directly to Group CEO & President Jonathan Zaffino.

"There is a tremendous opportunity for continued profitable growth and expansion for Ascot across the U.S. and Bermuda re/insurance markets. Marc brings to us a proven track record of success, leadership, and technical execution skills. In partnership with Matt Kramer and Justin Keith, I have every confidence we will accelerate our ability to capitalize on the opportunities in front of us across our North America businesses," Zaffino said. "I have known Marc for many years, and I am excited to welcome him to Ascot Group and to the Executive Leadership team."

Marc joins the organization from RenaissanceRe, where he was responsible for managing the underwriting and key operational aspects of the company's U.S. platform. He brings to Ascot 24 years of underwriting and leadership experience, having held previous positions at Alterra Re, Harbor Point Re and Chubb Re.

Amen commented: "I am excited by this opportunity to lead Ascot's growing, dynamic businesses in North America. The company has both world-class capabilities and the exceptional talent to execute on our strategic goals. I look forward to working closely with Jon, our platform CEOs, and our teams across the U.S. and Bermuda to deliver on our mission to be a perfect partner for a less-than-perfect world."

About Ascot Group

Ascot is a leading global insurance, reinsurance, and underwriting services group with over 20 years of consistency and stability, and a diverse insurance product portfolio. US insurance company affiliates within the Ascot Group are rated A (Excellent) by AM Best Company.

The information contained herein is intended for informational purposes only. Statements of coverage availability and scope are general in nature, subject to change and underwriting of any individual risk, and provide no guaranty or warranty of coverage, express or implied. Products and services are offered through insurance company affiliates within the Ascot Group. Not all products and services are available in every jurisdiction, and some may be available in the United States only on a surplus line basis through licensed surplus line brokers. The precise coverage afforded by any insurer is subject to the actual terms and conditions of the policies as issued. The publication and delivery of the information contained herein is not intended as a solicitation for the purchase of insurance on any US risk. California Surplus Lines License: Ascot General Insurance Agency, Inc. License #: 0K61371.

Media

[email protected]

SOURCE Ascot Group
DUBAI, UAE and CHENNAI, India, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Bahwan CyberTek Group (BCT), a global leader in AI-driven digital transformation solutions, announced the elevation of Vish Srinivasan as Chief Executive Officer of BCT's Global Services Business with immediate effect.

Announcing the appointment, S. Durgaprasad, Co-Founder, Director, and Group CEO of Bahwan CyberTek, said, "As BCT enters its next phase of AI-led growth and innovation, Vish's elevation marks a significant step forward in realizing our strategic vision of becoming a global leader in IP-led IT services. With over 25 years of industry experience and nearly two decades with BCT, Vish has been integral to BCT's evolution as a global digital transformation brand  driving innovation, business expansion, and key partnerships.

"More than a seasoned leader, Vish has been part of my core strategy team ever since he joined BCT. I've had the privilege of witnessing his ability to lead complex transformations, foster enduring client relationships, and shape strategic alliances. His unwavering alignment to BCT's values and vision make him the ideal choice to steer our Global Services Business into a future defined by innovation, agility, and meaningful impact. I wish Vish every success as he takes on this pivotal role."

Expressing his gratitude, Vish Srinivasan shared, "It is an honor to lead BCT's Global Services Business at such a transformative time. BCT has built a legacy rooted in innovation, excellence, and customer success. I look forward to working with our exceptional teams to deliver superior solutions that drive business outcomes, deepen customer engagement, and scale our presence across global markets. Our focus will be on operational excellence, customer-centric innovation, and sustainable growth  ensuring our clients are future-ready in a rapidly evolving digital landscape."

In his previous position as COO of the MENA region, Vish played a key role in deepening BCT's partnerships with global technology leaders like TIBCO and Temenos, expanding the company's footprint across emerging markets, and driving impactful collaborations with startups. Under his leadership, BCT achieved strong market share growth and further strengthened its digital transformation ecosystem.

This appointment underscores BCT's continued commitment to delivering next-generation technology solutions and empowering organizations globally with transformative services.

About Bahwan CyberTek

Bahwan CyberTek (BCT) is a global provider of digital transformation solutions. We are a trusted partner to 2200+ customers, including Fortune 500 companies. With deep expertise in Predictive Analytics, Digital Experience, and Digital Supply Chain Management, BCT helps businesses stay agile, competitive, and future-ready.

Established in 1999, BCT has over 4000 associates with technical and domain expertise across the Oil & Gas, Telecom, Power, Government, Banking, Retail and SCM / Logistics verticals. We have delivered solutions in 50+ countries across North America, the Middle East, Far East, Africa and Asia.

For more information, please visit www.bahwancybertek.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2659004/Bahwan_CyberTek_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Bahwan CyberTek
SANTA ANA, Calif., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Bail Bonds Direct, a trusted California bail bond agency, announces continued service expansion throughout Metro Los Angeles, offering around-the-clock bail bond support in cities like Alhambra, Arcadia, Baldwin Park, Avalon, Santa Ana, and more. With a commitment to fast release times, transparent pricing, and compassionate guidance, Bail Bonds Direct is streamlining the process for individuals and families in crisis.

Whether someone is facing charges for DUI, domestic issues, or other offenses, Bail Bonds Direct is prepared to provide timely assistance24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Local Agents, Statewide Strength

"Our focus has always been on combining local knowledge with rapid service," said a spokesperson for Bail Bonds Direct. "We understand that families don't want to be bounced around or left waiting. With agents stationed throughout Los Angeles County, we're often on-site within minutes."

Each case is handled by a licensed, experienced agent who explains the process clearly, offers affordable payment options, and works directly with local jails to speed up release.

A Case That Shows the Difference

Recently, a Santa Ana mother contacted Bail Bonds Direct after her adult daughter was arrested for DUI. The team acted within minutes. The paperwork was completed online, and her daughter was released from jail in less than two hours. "They weren't just fastthey were kind, too," the client shared.

Trusted By Families Across Los Angeles

Bail Bonds Direct offers:

24/7 Availability: Agents ready day or nightincluding weekends and holidays.

Affordable Payment Plans: No hidden fees, interest-free financing options.

Fast Release Times: Often within an hour depending on the facility.

Coverage Across Metro LA: Including Alhambra, Artesia , Arcadia , Baldwin Park , Avalon , and Santa Ana .

, , , , and . Discreet, Compassionate Service: Every case is treated with professionalism and care.

About Bail Bonds Direct

Bail Bonds Direct is a California-based bail agency known for its reliable, fast, and client-focused services. With coverage across Southern California and a reputation for discretion and compassion, the company has helped thousands of individuals secure release while guiding them through each step of the legal process.

Website: https://bailbondsdirect.com

SOURCE Bail Bonds Direct
CHARLOTTE, N.C. , April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America Corporation today announced the Board of Directors has authorized regular cash dividends on the outstanding shares or depositary shares of the following series of preferred stock:

Series of Preferred Stock

Dividend per Share

or Depositary Share1

Record Date

Payment Date Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series E

$0.30499

April 30

May 15 Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series F

$1,267.78300

May 30

June 16 Adjustable Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series G

$1,267.78300

May 30

June 16 Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series 1

$0.33280

May 15

May 28 Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series 2

$0.32292

May 15

May 28 Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series 4

$0.32911

May 15

May 28 Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series 5

$0.31469

May 1

May 21 6.000% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series GG

$0.3750000

May 1

May 16 5.375% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series KK

$0.3359375

June 1

June 25 5.000% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series LL

$0.3125000

June 1

June 17 4.250% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series QQ

$0.2656250

May 1

May 19 4.750% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series SS

$0.2968750

May 1

May 19



1 Each series of preferred stock, other than Series F and Series G, is represented by depositary shares.



Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 69 million consumer and small business clients with 3,700 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs (automated teller machines) and award-winning digital banking with approximately 58 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BAC).

Investors May Contact:

Lee McEntire, Bank of America

Phone: 1.980.388.6780

[email protected]

Jonathan G. Blum, Bank of America (Fixed Income)

Phone: 1.212.449.3112

[email protected]

Reporters May Contact:

Jocelyn Seidenfeld, Bank of America

Phone: 1.646.743.3356

[email protected]

SOURCE Bank of America Corporation
Largest Credit Union in California and Fifth Largest in the United States Collaborates with Black Dragon Capital to Better Serve Community of Over One Million Members

BOCA RATON, Fla., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi-phased investment firm Black Dragon Capital, which is led by recognized leaders in financial technology and credit unions who understand the unique needs of this market, has announced their partnership with SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union.

Founded over a decade ago by recognized financial technology and credit union leaders, Black Dragon Capital is a multi-phased investment firm focused on disruptive technologies in high growth industry segments that strengthen economic stability within communities. The firm is led by a collaborative team with a combination of intense operating experience, community impact focus, and a proven ability of transforming and growing companies.

SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union ("SchoolsFirst FCU") is the largest credit union in California, serving a community of over 1.4 million members. The organization has been committed to providing its members with world-class personal service meant to help them better their financial lives ever since it was founded in 1934.

SchoolsFirst FCU has decided to place their trust in Black Dragon Capital through a partnership which aims to address the significant business and competitive issues created by the ongoing digitization of financial services. This is a decision influenced by Louis Hernandez's integrity as a professional with decades of experience in the industry and further reinforced by an extensive due diligence process on the part of SchoolsFirst FCU, which revealed Black Dragon's history of transforming companies. Through this collaboration, Black Dragon Capital and SchoolsFirst FCU hope to create and scale financial technology companies that can help credit unions transform their business and regain their member service advantage.

SchoolsFirst FCU joins a growing list of the most innovative Credit Unions in the industry who have partnered with Black Dragon Capital to reshape our community. They will work with the Black Dragon Capital team to leverage the firm's global reach and technology-driven expertise, with the main objective of delivering innovative solutions dedicated to empowering credit unions to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

"Over the years, Black Dragon Capital has become synonymous with integrity, expertise and a commitment to the credit union community, thanks to Louis Hernandez, Jr.," said Bill Cheney, Chief Executive Officer, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union. "I have known Louis for years and have witnessed firsthand his unparalleled ability to build and lead successful companies. His visionary leadership at Black Dragon Capital is the driving force behind our confidence in this partnership. Together, credit unions are poised to revolutionize the fintech landscape to deliver unprecedented service to their Members. We are excited to explore the potential of the groundbreaking new technologies that the Black Dragon team will bring forward."

The Black Dragon Capital team's insights on operations, combined with their deep experience in cutting-edge technology puts them in a place to deliver competitive advantages for their portfolio companies and founders. Through intense research on the competitors and markets, they have honed their prowess in identifying scalable solutions and helping founders accelerate growth by cutting through competition.

"Since our team is composed of tenured professionals with deep domain expertise in the financial industry, we consider the challenges faced by credit unions as our own. Black Dragon Capital is committed to empowering credit unions so that they can remain competitive and thrive in this rapidly evolving landscape. We look forward to opportunities that allow us to collaborate with credit unions like SchoolsFirst FCU to meet our common goal of empowering CUs and their communities," said Louis Hernandez Jr., Founder and CEO, Black Dragon Capital.

About Black Dragon Capital

Black Dragon Capital, founded over a decade ago by recognized financial technology and Credit Union leaders, is a multi-phased investment firm focused on disruptive technologies in high growth industry segments that strengthen economic stability within communities. The firm is led by a collaborative team with a combination of intense operating experience, community impact focus, and a proven track record of successfully transforming companies.

About SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union

As the leading third-party administrator of retirement plans for school employees, SchoolsFirst Plan Administration, LLC has served the educational community for more than 40 years. SchoolsFirst Plan Administration provides retirement plan services for 403(b), Roth 403(b), 457(b), Roth 457(b) and FICA Alternative plans for nearly 400 public school districts, charter schools, community college districts and county offices of education in California. Plan participants have full access to financial education and advice provided by SchoolsFirst FCU, including access to financial planning advisors, seminars, online education and planning calculators. Other services provided by SchoolsFirst Plan Administration include retaining contribution information, authorizing loans and distributions, dedicated phone support for both districts and participants six days a week, and contribution remittance, plan audit support, and secure online access.

Media Contact or Inquiries:

Aren Wong

Social Media Manager, Black Dragon Capital

[email protected]

SOURCE Black Dragon Capital
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran and U.S. Army reservist from Dickinson accused of having a cache of weapons is set to plead guilty to a federal charge.

Gunnar Ebert, 27 at the time of his arrest, is to plead guilty to charges related to unlawful firearm possession by a drug user under an agreement with prosecutors. That offense carries up to 15 years in prison.

Because marijuana is classified as a Schedule I narcotic, its use by members of the U.S. armed forces is prohibited. Federal law also makes it a crime for anyone using drugs of any kind to possess firearms or ammunition.

A plea agreement was filed in U.S. District Court on March 17. A change-of-plea hearing initially scheduled for this week has now been reset to May 12.

The case against Ebert

Ebert was taken into custody on Oct. 8, 2024, after FBI agents searched his Dickinson home and seized 10 weapons, including handguns, shotguns and rifles. The search of Ebert's residence came after an investigation that began in June 2023, when the FBI received an anonymous tip regarding posts on the platform Telegram that were potentially related to domestic terrorism by a user identified as Goober Waffen, according to a federal affidavit.

Posts allegedly made by Ebert under the name Goober Waffen in June 2023 showed him in uniform and were captioned, "If it's any consolation, the name and pictures associated with my account are my real name and face lol," and "If I ever do anything out of pocket I need you boys to make sure this is one of the pictures the(y) sent to the news media."

The FBI matched the Telegram photos with a photo of Ebert provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, the affidavit stated.

In other Telegram posts, Ebert described a number of his weapons and stated he has a 3D printer, adding, "Once I configure it right I wanna start trying to print guns too." He also reportedly discussed, "Writing up my rifle like the saints," which pays tribute to Brenton Tarrant, an Australian man who was convicted of killing 51 people in mass shooting attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, the affidavit stated.

U.S. Border Patrol and FBI Joint Task Force Officer Steven Takacs, who helped investigate Eberts case, interviewed him and was present during his arrest in Dickinson. At an October hearing, Takacs testified that Ebert made posts on Telegram glorifying white supremacists and disparaging non-whites, calling other ethnicities a problem. He said Ebert also referenced The Jewish Question, a 19th-century debate over the treatment of Jewish people.

Ebert didn't deny authoring the posts, Takacs said. Instead, he tried to make reasonable argument for his positions and admitted to considering committing a mass shooting himself, according to Takacs.

No charges were filed against Ebert in relation to the posts on Telegram, according to court documents.

When describing the search of Ebert's home, Takacs testified that officers found ammunition in two vehicles, as well as in the the house. Some of that ammunition included six loaded magazines of .223 ammunition in what was described as a "battle belt," according to Takacs.

Ebert's history in the U.S. military

A review of Ebert's records, provided by the Army, showed that in September 2021 he was a patient at a behavioral health facility in El Paso, Texas, where he told a psychiatric evaluator that he used marijuana most days to self-medicate, according to both Takacs and the affidavit.

Ebert also allegedly bought from dispensaries in the Montana cities of Sidney and Glendive in 2022 and 2023. On Oct. 1, investigators learned he failed a urine test for THC before Reserve drills.

He joined the Reserves in November 2019 after he completed a four-year enlistment in the Marine Corps, according to information provided by the Army Reserve Command. Ebert is a specialist and, in March 2024, was assigned to the 612th Engineer Detachment, where his Military Occupational Specialty was listed as plumber. His service verification lists various awards. Ebert has not been deployed while serving in the Army Reserves.

In 2021, while assigned to a previous Reserve unit, Ebert reported to Fort Bliss, Texas, for pre-deployment training but refused to take the required COVID-19 vaccine, according to the affidavit. As a result, he was disqualified from deployment and ordered to return home while his Reservist status was reviewed. The documents also state that Ebert received a formal letter of reprimand in September 2023 but was allowed to return to Reserve duty.

Ebert was administratively removed from the service in February, according to U.S. Army Reserve Command. He remains in federal custody pending sentencing, scheduled for Aug. 25.
LOS ANGELES, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A Massachusetts judge ordered UNUM Group and Paul Revere Life Insurance Company to pay Dr. Richard Constantino $150,000, ruling that the insurance giant failed to abide by the terms of its own policy.

This bifurcated jury and bench trial follows years of litigation between the Rochester-based doctor and the billion-dollar insurance company. Dr. Constantino filed the lawsuit after Paul Revere initially denied his long-term disability insurance claim.

After a unanimous jury verdict found in favor of Dr. Constantino, Hon. Michael D. Riccuiti, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, ruled that Paul Revere committed bad faith, issuing a stinging opinion on its disability insurance practices. The legal significance is that out of state plaintiffs, like Dr. Constantino, who's a New York resident, can sue insurance companies headquartered in Massachusetts under Massachusetts law when they commit bad faith. For example, when the insurance company engages in misrepresentation, or fraud. This is new law that has significant consequences for Massachusetts insurance companies and for disabled claimants nationwide who want to sue in Massachusetts, due to its strong insurance bad faith laws.

Dr. Constantino was initially diagnosed with colon cancer in 1996, and the beloved doctor, who is celebrated throughout Rochester and is the former president of Rochester General Hospital, has had a long, difficult battle with various ailments. His health issues include cancer and chemotherapy/radiation to fight the cancer, severe nerve damage in his feet, multiple foot ulcers and infections, diabetes, amputation of multiple toes, the amputation of his leg, lumbar stenosis, renal failure, a kidney transplant and much more.

Paul Revere Life Insurance sold Dr. Constantino a long-term disability insurance policy, but as he began to make perfectly valid claims, the insurance company made it incredibly difficult for him to be approved for disability. Even after it approved his claim, Paul Revere actually sent him a letter asserting it had overpaid him and that he owed the billion-dollar insurance company money. During the investigation of this claims process, and in spite of the fact that he'd lost the use of both feet, Paul Revere drew out the claims process.

After a long series of back and forth between the doctor and the insurance company, Dr. Constantino's coverage was first cut, then rejected outright. His appeals were also rejected. He had to borrow money and live at a substandard level because Paul Revere refused to pay him the money it agreed to pay. Ultimately, Dr. Constantino had to turn to the courts and spend several years in litigation before the matter was resolved. Still, even after reinstating his benefits, Paul Revere owed several years of interest on back payments which required the jury trial.

"There are hundreds of patients in Rochester, NY who adore Dr. Constantino for all the work he did helping them with their medical issues," said attorney Matthew Bourhis. "When he attempted to make a claim on a policy he'd paid tens of thousands of dollars into, Paul Revere delayed, denied and defended his claims. After literally working until he couldn't walk anymore, Paul Revere attempted to defraud my client. Thankfully, the judge saw through their tactics and awarded my client the money he was owed from Paul Revere and its parent UNUM Group, and set important legal precedent to protect disabled people in the future."

The case is Richard Constantino v. UNUM Group and The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, Suffolk Superior Court, Case No. 2084CV00944-BLS2.

About Bourhis Law Group

The Bourhis Law Group represents claimants in disability insurance, homeowners insurance and business insurance disputes, with an emphasis on bad faith cases. The firm is passionate about fighting for justice and helping policyholders.

SOURCE Bourhis Law Group
DUBAI, UAE, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Bybit , the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is spotlighting the power of blockchain for real-world impact with its upcoming livestream, "Bybit x EthicHub x BGA: Invest for impact, earn with DeFi," in collaboration with EthicHub and Blockchain for Good Alliance (BGA), a collaborative grants initiative to accelerate blockchain projects solving real-world problems.

Bybit, BGA and EthicHub Empower Coffee Farmers With Blockchain-Backed Microloans

The livestream airs on April 11 at 1PM UTC, and will unpack how blockchain technology is helping coffee farmers in developing regions access fair financing, build global partnerships, and participate in ethical trade.

EthicHub's innovative model connects unbanked farmers to global lenders through blockchain-backed loans that are community-audited. Bybit recently pledged $1 million in liquidity to the platform, reinforcing its commitment to real-world impact through Web3.

Key Takeaways from the Livestream:

How blockchain can close the financial gap for smallholder farmers.

Why decentralized lending models matter in global agriculture.

lending models matter in global agriculture. Insights from the full lending ecosystem  including auditors, buyers, and tech enablers.

A $2,000 prize pool giveaway and live community poll on the role of DeFi in farming.

Featured Speakers:

Gabriela Chang , Co-Founder & CSO, EthicHub  shares the platform's mission and success stories.

, Co-Founder & CSO, EthicHub  shares the platform's mission and success stories. Jorge Barrigh , Regional Director, Impact Capital Americas (Heifer International)  discusses how Heifer audits and supports lending partners.

, Regional Director, Impact Capital Americas (Heifer International)  discusses how Heifer audits and supports lending partners. David Llorens , Head Roaster & Buyer, Animal Coffee and Jaleo  offers a roaster's view on ethical sourcing and direct trade.

, Head Roaster & Buyer, Animal Coffee and Jaleo  offers a roaster's view on ethical sourcing and direct trade. Glenn , Lead, Blockchain for Good Alliance  highlights how BGA supports impact-driven Web3 projects.

, Lead, Blockchain for Good Alliance  highlights how BGA supports impact-driven Web3 projects. Moderator: Shadie Berro, Social Media Lead, Bybit.

In a fast-moving Web3 space, this session brings a refreshing focus on real-world utility, social impact, and sustainability. The discussion promises practical examples, candid perspectives, and a deeper understanding of how blockchain can serve communitiesnot just markets. Viewers can join the discussion in the live chat, and vote in a poll on who benefits more from DeFi lending: farmers or investors.

This initiative is part of Bybit's broader Blockchain for Good strategy, which incubates and scales projects leveraging Web3 for positive change.

The livestream offers meaningful perspectives for those interested in sustainability, ethical finance, and the global coffee supply chain. Full event details and viewing access are available on the official event page .

#Bybit / #TheCryptoArk / #BGA

About Bybit

Bybit is the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving a global community of over 60 million users. Founded in 2018, Bybit is redefining openness in the decentralized world by creating a simpler, open and equal ecosystem for everyone. With a strong focus on Web3, Bybit partners strategically with leading blockchain protocols to provide robust infrastructure and drive on-chain innovation. Renowned for its secure custody, diverse marketplaces, intuitive user experience, and advanced blockchain tools, Bybit bridges the gap between TradFi and DeFi, empowering builders, creators, and enthusiasts to unlock the full potential of Web3. Discover the future of decentralized finance at Bybit.com .

For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Press

For media inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

For updates, please follow: Bybit's Communities and Social Media

Discord | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Reddit | Telegram | TikTok | X | Youtube

About Blockchain for Good Alliance (BGA)

The Blockchain for Good Alliance (BGA) is a long term collaborative non-profit initiative with key partners with the main aim to contribute to societal good by using blockchain technology to solve real world problems. By convening leaders, innovators, and organisations from across the blockchain community, BGA seeks to drive innovation, collaboration, and action towards a more sustainable and equitable world.

For more information

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.blockchainforgood.xyz

Twitter: www.twitter.com/chainforgood

SOURCE Bybit
Camtek is one of only 37 Intel EPIC Supplier Award recipients in all of Intel's global supply chain

MIGDAL HAEMEK, Israel, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Camtek is proud to announce that it has earned the exclusive Intel EPIC Supplier Award for 2025. This award recognizes the top performers in the Intel supply chain for their world-class commitment to continuous improvement and performance excellence over the past year.

Intel 2025 EPIC Supplier Award (Credit: Intel Corporation)

"Congratulations to Camtek on receiving the Intel EPIC Supplier Award, Intel's highest supplier recognition," said Frank Sanders, corporate vice president and general manager of Global Supply Chain Operations at Intel. "Their unwavering commitment to quality, drive for excellence, and dedication to technology innovation make them vital to our success. We greatly appreciate their collaboration and continued focus on results."

"As one of a select few companies awarded the Intel EPIC Supplier Award in 2025, Camtek is truly one of the best suppliers in the semiconductor industry," said Dave Bloss, corporate vice president and general manager of Global Sourcing for Equipment & Materials at Intel. "Their customer orientation and commitment to superior performance is a testament to their dedication and serves as a global benchmark for others to follow."

The Intel EPIC Supplier Award recognizes the top performers in the Intel supply chain for their dedication to "EPIC" performanceExcellence, Partnership, Inclusion and Continuous Improvement. Of the thousands of Intel suppliers around the world, only a few hundred qualify to participate in the EPIC Supplier Program.

To qualify for the Intel EPIC Supplier Award, suppliers must exceed the highest expectations and achieve aggressive strategic objectives aligned to Intel's priorities.

Get more information about the Intel EPIC Supplier Awards

Find the latest at the Intel Newsroom

Visit the Intel EPIC Supplier Awards page

For more information about Camtek Ltd. and its advanced inspection and metrology solutions, please visit www.camtek.com.

ABOUT CAMTEK LTD.

Camtek is a developer and manufacturer of high-end inspection and metrology equipment for the semiconductor industry. Camtek's systems inspect IC and measure IC features on wafers throughout the production process of semiconductor devices, covering the front and mid-end and up to the beginning of assembly (Post Dicing). Camtek's systems inspect wafers for the most demanding semiconductor market segments, including Advanced Interconnect Packaging, Heterogenous Integration, Memory and HBM, CMOS Image Sensors, Compound Semiconductors, MEMS, and RF, serving numerous industry's leading global IDMs, OSATs, and foundries.

With manufacturing facilities in Israel and Germany, and eight offices around the world, Camtek provides state-of-the-art solutions in line with customers' requirements.

This press release is available at www.camtek.com

This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on Camtek's current beliefs, expectations and assumptions about its business and industry, all of which may change. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words including "believe," "anticipate," "should," "intend," "plan," "will," "may," "expect," "estimate," "project," "positioned," "strategy," and similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements, including our expectations and statements relating to the compound semiconductors market and our position in this market and the anticipated timing of delivery of the systems. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Camtek to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the effects of the evolving nature of the war situation in Israel, and the related evolving regional conflicts; the continued demand and future contribution of HBM and Chiplet applications and devices to the Company business resulting from, among other things, the field of AI surging worldwide across companies, industries and nations; formal or informal imposition by countries of new or revised export and/or import and doing-business regulations or sanctions, including but not limited to changes in U.S. trade policies, changes or uncertainty related to the U.S. government entity list and changes in the ability to sell products incorporating U.S originated technology, which can be made without prior notice, and our ability to effectively address such global trade issues and changes; ; and those other factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 20-F as published on March 21, 2024 as well as other documents filed by the Company with the SEC as well as other documents that may be subsequently filed by Camtek from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Camtek does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release unless required by law.

While we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this press release, we caution you that these statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by us and our projections of the future, about which we cannot be certain. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent Camtek's views only as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Camtek does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements unless required by law.

CAMTEK LTD. INTERNATIONAL INVESTOR RELATIONS Moshe Eisenberg, CFO EK Global Investor Relations Tel: +972 4 604 8308 Ehud Helft Mobile: +972 54 900 7100 Tel: (US) 1 212 378 8040 [email protected] [email protected]

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2660019/Camtek_intel_EPIC_supplier_award.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1534463/Camtek_logo.jpg

SOURCE Camtek Ltd.
CARY, N.C., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CloudFuze, an industry leader in large-scale cloud migrations, announced today that it has received the 2025 Google Cloud Partner of the Year Award for Google Workspace - Technology - Impact. Google Cloud announced CloudFuze's win at its annual Google Cloud Next conference in Las Vegas.

CloudFuze Wins A 2025 Google Cloud Partner of the Year Award.

CloudFuze is being recognized for their achievements in the Google Cloud ecosystem, helping joint customers securely and seamlessly migrate to Google Workspace. Among a vast group of third-party Google Workspace cloud migration service providers, CloudFuze distinguished itself as a top performer by demonstrating exceptional expertise, innovation, and reliability in delivering Google Workspace migration solutions.

"Google Cloud's Partner Awards recognize partners who have created outsized value for customers through the delivery of innovative solutions and a high level of expertise," said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "We're proud to announce CloudFuze as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner Award winner and celebrate their impact enabling customer success over the past year."

This award is a testament to CloudFuze's commitment to helping businesses worldwide seamlessly adopt Google Workspace and harness the power of AI with Google's Gemini models across tools like Google Drive, Chat, Gmail, and more. By combining advanced migration capabilities with robust expertise, along with our proprietary Hyperlink Fixer Solution, CloudFuze ensures secure, efficient, and fully optimized transitions. Our dedicated migration support and close collaboration with the Google Workspace team enable us to deliver significant time and cost savings while accelerating digital transformation for enterprises around the globe.

"We are truly honored to be named a 2025 Google Cloud Partner of the Year. This recognition reflects our unwavering dedication to customer successensuring every organization we support experiences a seamless, secure, and efficient migration to Google Workspace. With the addition of Google's Gemini models and advanced AI capabilities, we're helping customers unify data across all Google Workspace tools and with relevant data for intelligent collaboration and faster adoption. As we look ahead, we're excited to help even more businesses embrace Google Workspace and accelerate their AI journey," said Ravi Poli, CEO of CloudFuze.

In 2025, CloudFuze has empowered numerous large enterprises to securely adopt Google Workspace through deeply integrated, custom-built solutions on Google Cloud. By leveraging the advanced AI capabilities of Google's Gemini modelssuch as intelligent content summarization, enhanced productivity workflows, and contextual assistanceCloudFuze helps organizations accelerate adoption, improve user experience, and unlock greater value from their Google Workspace investment. By consistently delivering exceptional migration outcomes, CloudFuze continues to set industry benchmarks and exemplify the qualities of a Google Cloud partner.

The driving force behind CloudFuze is its advanced migration technology, designed to simplify and secure even the most complex cloud transitions. With a cloud-native, API-driven SaaS platform, CloudFuze delivers high-performance migration solutions tailored for businesses of all sizes. The platform offers dedicated instances, OAuth-based authentication, and flexible deployment options, including on-premises installation for organizations (such as government agencies and universities) with strict security requirements. To maintain full visibility, CloudFuze provides detailed migration reports, including User Migration Summary Report, User Detailed Data Report, and Daily Summary Report.

About CloudFuze:

CloudFuze is a comprehensive cloud migration solutions provider, trusted by enterprises and SMBs alike to securely and efficiently migrate users, files, folders, emails, chat messages, hyperlinks, cloud tenants, and more across 40+ supported cloud platforms.

With over 12 years of experience delivering large-scale and complex cloud migrations, CloudFuze brings unmatched expertise to support a wide range of migration scenariosregardless of industry, company size, or source and destination clouds.

Through our fully managed, end-to-end migration service, businesses receive premium support from dedicated migration managers who guide every phase of the migration journey. Whether transitioning to a modern productivity suite, consolidating cloud storage, or enabling M&A integrations, CloudFuze helps organizations accelerate their digital and AI transformation to the cloud platform of their choicesecurely, efficiently, and with zero disruption.

Website: https://www.cloudfuze.com

Media Contact:

[email protected]

+1-252-558-9019

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2658972/CloudFuze_Award.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2198658/4248359/CloudFuze_Logo.jpg

SOURCE CloudFuze
NEW YORK and BRUSSELS, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Collibra , the leader in unified governance for data and AI, announced today that it has received the 2025 Google Cloud Data & Analytics Partner of the Year Award Governance.

Collibra is being recognized for their achievements in the Google Cloud ecosystem, helping joint customers unify governance for data and AI to accelerate and strengthen every use case across Google Cloud and non-Google Cloud platforms.

"Google Cloud's Partner Awards recognize partners who have created outsized value for customers through the delivery of innovative solutions and a high level of expertise," said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "We're proud to announce Collibra as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner Award winner and celebrate their impact enabling customer success over the past year."

This is the fourth year in a row that Collibra has been recognized as a Google Cloud Partner of the Year, including the 2021 Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year in Smart Analytics and the Google Cloud Data & Analytics Partner of the Year in Governance in 2023, 2024 and 2025. "We are thrilled to be recognized by Google Cloud for our expertise in our space," said Mark Pacey, Executive Vice President of Sales and Alliances at Collibra. "It is a testament to our commitment to helping our joint customers deliver more value from their data and AI initiatives while maintaining trust and compliance."

In the last year, Collibra has strengthened their collaboration with Google Cloud by enhancing metadata ingestion from BigQuery and Vertex AI and introducing data quality pushdown for BigQuery. In addition, Collibra has introduced column-level lineage of Google Cloud data assets, including transformations. This provides end-to-end traceability within Collibra across Google Cloud and non-Google Cloud data assets.

Collibra proudly collaborates with Google Cloud to make it easy to move to the cloud and unify governance across every data sourceso you can activate all your data quickly, instilling trust and improving the quality of the data along the way. Google Cloud's secure, reliable, scalable infrastructure and Collibra's user-friendly platform safely extends data access and connects you to Google Cloud's groundbreaking AI solutions.

About Collibra

Collibra frees your data from the constraints of silos by unifying data and AI governance across your entire ecosystem, regardless of source or compute engine, for ultimate flexibility in how you manage data. Our Collibra Platform gives you automated visibility, control and tracing from input through output, and it automates documentation and data traceability for AI use cases to power speed, data observability and safety. Our semantic graph enriches data context with every use, and our intuitive UX brings technical and business users into the fold to access and steward data. Accelerate and strengthen every data and AI use case when everyone in your organization can trust, comply and consume.

To learn more, visit collibra.com and follow us on LinkedIn , X , Facebook and Instagram .

SOURCE Collibra
Leader in cold storage and logistics welcomes Governor Mike Braun and local officials to tour first-of-its-kind facility in Northwest Indiana

CROWN POINT, Ind., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CORE X Partners, a leading network of temperature-controlled storage operations, is celebrating a major investment in the Midwest. On April 3, company leaders introduced CORE X CROWNa brand-new 215,000-square-foot cold storage and logistics facility in Crown Point, Indianato Indiana Governor Mike Braun, Crown Point Mayor Pete Land, and other local community leaders.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and local officials tour new state-of-the-art cold storage and logistics facility CORE X CROWN. Post this CORE X CROWN welcomes Indiana Governor Mike Braun and other community leaders for an introductory tour of the new Crown Point, IN facility. CORE X CROWN entrance in Crown Point

The development of this state-of-the-art facility, with the ability to expand up to 450,000-square-feet, supports CORE X Partners' national cold storage reach and aids its commitment to serving customers throughout the Midwest with cutting-edge infrastructure and technology.

"Opening CORE X CROWN is an exciting milestone for our mission of expanding this region's place in the cold storage and logistics industry, and it was an honor to showcase this development to our local community leaders," said Thom Smith, President and Regional Partner for CORE X CROWN and CORE X Hutt. "Northwest Indiana and Crown Point have been fantastic partners and we couldn't be more proud to move forward in helping customers and communities alike."

CORE X Partners has built a nationwide cold chain network with a unique model of invested, local operators supported by a centralized team. The new CORE X CROWN facility in Crown Point expands the network's coverage throughout North America. The tour with officials celebrated the multiple local efforts that helped make CORE X CROWN possibleincluding support from the Crown Point City Council and the state's Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) incentive.

CORE X CROWN officially began operations with its first deliveries in December 2024, making Crown Point the home of CORE X Partners' cold storage technology advancements. Its modern, efficient CO2 Refrigeration system is paired with a strategic approach to automation. CORE X CROWNsupported by partners such as Primus Builders and 45 North Groupis designed to support industry-leading outbound turn times with the latest automated pack-n-hold storage technology with Movu Robotics. Additionally, CORE X CROWN was rewarded LEED certification as part of minimizing the facility's environmental impact.

The development brings with it a major economic impact to the region. The full capital investment amount is anticipated to be more than $79 million, with a commitment of bringing nearly 75 additional jobs to the community. CORE X Partners announced an average wage commitment for those jobs of $33.65 per hour and a minimum wage commitment of $14.32 per hour.

CORE X Partners' commitment to positively impact the industry and the communities it serves goes beyond its cold storage and transportation logisticsits excess food redistribution service aims to minimize food waste and combat food insecurity. In Crown Point, the company will partner with the Northwest Indiana Food Bank to ensure these efforts maximize the community impact.

"Our efforts are rooted in the communities we serve, even beyond the family business legacies we work to maintain for years to come," said Smith. "Facilities like CORE X CROWN allow for continued growth of that mission, and a deeper connection with communities like Northwest Indiana."

To view the press kit with photos of the new facility and the tour, click here.

Media Contact

Matthew Randall

[email protected]

317-504-6228

SOURCE CORE X Partners
Funding to scale the global deployment of Corinex's broadband over power lines (BPL) grid flexibility and visibility solutions for transformative grid digitalization.

VANCOUVER, BC, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Corinex, a global leader in broadband over power lines (BPL)-based grid visibility and flexibility solutions, today announces a $30 million investment round led by U.K.-based Energy Growth Momentum, along with Spanish investment firms Suma Capital, an independent alternative asset manager and a leader in ecological transition, and Adara Ventures. This funding will fuel Corinex's expansion in standardizing and delivering real-time grid flexibility and visibility solutions. By resolving grid constraints while enhancing the resilience and security of energy systems worldwide, this collaborative effort paves the way for the mass adoption of decentralized low-carbon technologies (LCTs).

Corinex grid flexibility solutions maintain network capacities, steer low-carbon technologies (LCTs) to consume local generation, and protect transformers from overload.

The investment will support Corinex's ongoing deployments in major European electricity markets, including Germany, Spain, and the U.K., where leading grid operators have formulatedand, in some countries, already standardizednew use cases for the low-voltage grid necessary for mass decarbonization. As a key contributor to industry-standardization associations, Corinex provides standards-based BPL solutions that have been validated for implementation. The high data rate, edge computing capabilities and real time (dynamic) load balancing provided by Corinex technology are essential for increasing the capacity of low-voltage energy infrastructure worldwide.

A shared vision for smarter, more resilient grids

Peter Sobotka, Founder & CEO of Corinex, emphasized the strategic importance of this investment:

"The world's energy grids are at a critical juncture, requiring scalable, real-time solutions to accommodate the rapid electrification of transportation, heating, and decentralized renewables. Corinex's BPL-based technology offers a transformational approach to grid enhancement enabling the instant increase of the grid capacity at low cost.

The Corinex solution was developed, validated, and is now in mass rollouts within real grid environments of the most advanced European utilities. It collects and processes real-time data on the low-voltage part of the grid. Our technology increases grid resiliency by providing real-time control of low-carbon technologies.

The ability to securely collect and manage pools of low-voltage grid data is uniquely positioning Corinex to collaboratively enable some of the many providers of AI technology. Such a combined solution will push grid digitalization to the next new frontiers.

Corinex's growth, profitability, and this investment by Energy Growth Momentum, Suma Capital, and Adara Ventures provide confidence in scaling and mass adoption of Corinex's intelligent infrastructure solutions that enhance grid resiliency and support decarbonization."

Investor Perspectives

John Wilson, Partner at Energy Growth Momentum, underscored the growing demand for grid modernization:

"Energy grids globally are under increasing strain as the transition to renewables accelerates. Corinex's technology turns a traditional infrastructure challenge into a smart, software-driven solution  enabling utilities to dynamically manage grid congestion and maintain stability, all without costly infrastructure overhauls. Our investment reflects our belief that Corinex is uniquely positioned to build the stable, flexible grids the future demands  a vision that aligns with our focus on supporting high-growth companies driving the energy transition."

Natalia Ruiz, Senior Partner at Suma Capital, highlighted the alignment with EU decarbonization goals:

"As Europe intensifies its energy transition, the demand for advanced grid intelligence solutions is more critical than ever. These solutions are the backbone of a resilient and sustainable power system. Corinex's ability to deliver comprehensive, real-time control and end-to-end visibility over distribution networks is pivotal in enabling progress toward a low carbon economy. At Suma Capital, we have been driving the shift toward sustainable energy for nearly two decades through investments in cutting-edge infrastructure and technologies. Supporting Corinex's vision and international expansion not only advances our mission as a sustainable and impact-driven fund but also reaffirms our commitment to tackling the core challenges of this transition."

Alberto Echeverri, Partner at Adara Ventures, emphasized the strategic nature of the investment:

"Investing in Corinex represents a unique opportunity to support a company that is redefining grid management. Building on our successful past investment in a fabless semiconductor company specializing in Power Line Communication (PLC) chipsets for smart energy, we see immense potential in Corinex's ability to lead the next generation of grid innovation.

About Corinex

Corinex is a pioneering provider of broadband over power lines (BPL)-based grid visibility and flexibility solutions, enabling the digital transformation of energy distribution systems worldwide. The company's products accelerate the mass integration of low-carbon technologies (LCTs), automate electricity infrastructure, and transform the grid into a dynamic and intelligent energy system.

About Energy Growth Momentum

Energy Growth Momentum (EGM) is a UK-based private equity firm dedicated to investing in proven operational and digital technologies that enhance the commercial and carbon efficiency of energy assets. By providing growth capital to high-growth energy technology companies, EGM aims to foster a more sustainable, efficient, and flexible energy ecosystem. The firm's investment strategy centers on scaling companies that deliver innovative solutions to address grid modernization, decarbonization, and energy resilience.

About Suma Capital

Suma Capital is an independent alternative asset manager, a leader in ecological transition. The firm focuses its investments on sustainability through three different programs: Sustainable Infrastructure, Growth Capital and Venture Capital. Suma Capital, managing more than 1.2 billion euros in assets, was founded in 2007 and has become a European reference, with a presence in Barcelona, Madrid and Paris.

About Adara Ventures

Adara Ventures is a leading European venture capital firm specializing in deep tech investments. Founded in 2005, the firm manages over 350 million in assets and has a track record of helping high-potential innovators achieve global success. Adara's portfolio focuses on innovative companies in areas such as cybersecurity, data applications and infrastructure, hardware components, digital health, space tech, and energy transition technologies. For more information, visit www.adara.vc.

For further information, please contact Corinex's media relations team at [email protected].

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2658672/Corinex_Communications_Corinex_Announces__30_Million_Investment.jpg

PR Contact: Jan Sobotka, Corinex, +1 604-692-0520, [email protected]
More than half (53%) cite website search difficulties as their biggest self-service frustration, underscoring the need for unified AI-search solutions

MONTREAL, LONDON and NEW YORK, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - Coveo (TSX: CVO), the market leader in AI-Relevance  delivering AI-search, generative, and business-aware relevance at every point-of-experience  today announced its fifth annual CX Relevance Report, "Customer Effort Is at an All-Time High  Is Search The Key?" The report provides a comprehensive view of today's customer service journey  including customer behaviors, expectations, and areas of frustration. Coveo, in partnership with Arlington Research, surveyed 4,000 U.S. and U.K. customers to explore the critical trends shaping the customer experience landscape, including the rising cost of effort, the generative AI paradox, and the strategic importance of search.

2025 CX Relevance Report (CNW Group/Coveo Solutions Inc.)

The report reveals that consumers are increasingly turning to self-service, with a growing demand for instant answers in search results, relevant content recommendations, and AI-guided troubleshooting. Yet, with 84% of customers struggling to find information and 53% citing search as their biggest frustration, the current digital customer experience is falling short.

"In an era of instant gratification, minimizing customer effort is paramount. Every interaction must minimize friction and maximize relevance," said Patrick Martin, EVP of Global Customer Experience at Coveo. "This report demonstrates the importance of building a unified and connected customer experience. AI-Search, advanced generative AI capabilities, and robust content strategies are critical to achieving this, empowering customers to effortlessly find the information they need, regardless of channel. These tools have the potential to be a game-changer in enhancing customer satisfaction, fostering greater loyalty, lowering cost-to-serve, and driving increased revenue and profitability."

Key findings include:

Frustrating digital experiences drive "ghosting," but second chances exist: 72% of customers abandon websites after negative experiences. However, 62% are willing to try again  especially Gen Z and Millennials  by refining searches, using filters, or browsing site categories.

72% of customers abandon websites after negative experiences. However, 62% are willing to try again  especially Gen Z and Millennials  by refining searches, using filters, or browsing site categories. Customers crave generative search experiences for complex service issues: 69% have a desire for AI-powered resolutions, 48% want educational tools/guides, and 44% seek AI-powered virtual assistants.

69% have a desire for AI-powered resolutions, 48% want educational tools/guides, and 44% seek AI-powered virtual assistants. Gen AI-powered digital customer experiences are promising, but hurdles remain: 49% of customers have experienced AI "hallucinations," leading to widespread skepticism and a 42% rate of fact-checking generated answers.

49% of customers have experienced AI "hallucinations," leading to widespread skepticism and a 42% rate of fact-checking generated answers. Gen Z and Millennials are most willing to share data for more personalized experiences: 53% of customers are still willing to share details for better, more personally relevant solutions, a rate that rises among Gen Z and Millennials (60% and 62%, respectively).

The full report is now available for download.

Discover Coveo AI CX solution at www.coveo.com

About Coveo

Coveo brings superior AI-Relevance to every point-of-experience, transforming how enterprises connect with their customers and employees to maximize business outcomes.

Relevance is about moving from persona to person, the degree to which the enterprise-wide content, products, recommendations, and advice presented to a person online aligns easily with their context, needs, preferences, behavior and intent, setting the competitive experience gold standard. Every person's journey is unique, and only AI can solve the complexity of tailoring experiences across massive, diverse audiences and large volumes and variety of content and products.

Our Coveo AI-Relevance Platform enables enterprises to deliver hyper-personalization at every point-of-experience, unifying all their data securely, with the highest level of contextual and prescriptive accuracy while simultaneously optimizing business outcomes.

Coveo brings AI-Relevance to the digital experiences of many of the world's premier and most innovative brands, serving millions of people across billions of interactions.

What we believe is bold: Digital is table stakes, Relevance is not. It's the only way to win in the digital age.

The Coveo AI-Relevance Platform is ISO 27001 and ISO 27018 certified, SOC2 compliant, HIPAA compatible, with a 99.999% SLA available. We are a Salesforce ISV Partner, an SAP Endorsed App, an Adobe Gold Partner, MACH Alliance member, Optimizely Partner, Shopify Premier Partner, and a Genesys AppFoundry ISV Partner.

Coveo is a trademark of Coveo Solutions Inc.

Stay up to date on the latest Coveo news and content by subscribing to the Coveo blog, and following Coveo on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). This forward-looking information is identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "may", "would", "should", "could", "might", "will", "achieve", "occur", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "plan", "foresee", "believe", "continue", "target", "opportunity", "strategy", "scheduled", "outlook", "forecast", "projection", or "prospect", the negative of these terms and similar terminology, including references to assumptions, although not all forward-looking information contains these terms and phrases. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates, and projections regarding future events or circumstances.

SOURCE Coveo Solutions Inc.
Asfa Karim , a sophomore at the Georgia Institute of Technology ( Georgia Tech ) majoring in business administration

, a sophomore at the ( ) majoring in business administration Medha Krishna , a senior at Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia , planning to attend Georgia Tech and major in neuroscience

, a senior at Walton High School in , planning to attend and major in neuroscience Caleb Miller , a senior at Creekview High School in Canton, Georgia , planning to attend Kennesaw State University to major in entrepreneurship

, a senior at Creekview High School in , planning to attend to major in entrepreneurship Jaden Newman , a senior at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School in Atlanta , planning to attend The College of Wooster to major in biochemistry or biology

, a senior at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School in , planning to attend The to major in biochemistry or biology Kyle Ssendagire, a graduate of Brookwood High School in Snellville, Georgia , planning to attend the University of Georgia to major in chemistry and German, and minor in Russian

"Our scholarship program has supported many talented, civic-minded students over the past two decades who now contribute to the success and vitality of our local communities through their chosen professions," said Hank Halter, Delta Community's CEO. "I would like to congratulate this year's award recipients and commend them for their dedication and career aspirations."

Delta Community's community investment activity also includes scholarships for students attending historically Black colleges and universities as well as free personal finance classes and workshops delivered through its award-winning Financial Education Center.

About Delta Community Credit Union

Delta Community Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative with a mission of providing better service and value on the products consumers use to manage household expenses and save for the future. Founded in 1940, Delta Community is Georgia's largest credit union with approximately $9 billion in assets, 510,000 members, 29 metro Atlanta branches and three out-of-state branch locations. It welcomes anyone living or working in metro Atlanta as well as employees of more than 140 businesses including Delta Air Lines, Chick-fil-A, RaceTrac and UPS. Visit DeltaCommunityCU.com to open an account or follow the credit union on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and YouTube.

SOURCE DELTA COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION
OSLO, Norway, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The annual general meeting of Elkem ASA will be held on 30 April 2025 at 09:30 (CEST) as a digital meeting on the Lumi AGM-platform (including live webcast from the meeting), and with utilisation of electronic voting for all attending shareholders. The full notice is attached, and all relevant documents can be found on www.elkem.com/investor/debt-and-share-information/annual-general-meeting/

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

For further information, please contact:

Odd-Geir Lyngstad

VP Finance & Investor Relations

Tel: +47 976 72 806

Email: [email protected]

About Elkem:

Elkem is one of the world's leading providers of advanced silicon-based materials shaping a better and more sustainable future. The company develops silicones, silicon products and carbon solutions by combining natural raw materials, renewable energy and human ingenuity. Elkem helps its customers create and improve essential innovations like electric mobility, digital communications, health and personal care as well as smarter and more sustainable cities. With a strong track record since 1904, its global team of more than 7,200 people has a joint commitment to stakeholders: Delivering your potential. In 2024, Elkem achieved an operating income of NOK 33 billion. Elkem has been awarded top score of A on Forests and Water Security, and B on Climate Change from CDP. Elkem is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: ELK), where the company is also included in the ESG Index. www.elkem.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/elkem/r/elkem-asa---notice-of-annual-general-meeting-2025,c4132482

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Public/16930/4132482/b8d5aca380cfd414.pdf Elkem ASA - Notice of AGM 2025 - EN https://mb.cision.com/Public/16930/4132482/916354f171f840fe.pdf Elkem ASA - Notice of AGM https://mb.cision.com/Public/16930/4132482/9a3bb5715c646158.pdf Elkem ASA - Innkalling til GF 2025 - NO

SOURCE Elkem
Mortgage Industry Veteran and HOME Nonprofit Founder Joins Groundbreaking Lender to Advance Homeownership for Underserved Communities

ATLANTA, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Empower Mortgage, the nation's leading lender dedicated to first-generation American homebuyers and part of the Equity Prime Mortgage (EPM) family of brands alongside Vetted VA, has appointed Rogelio Goertzen as its Chief Growth Officer. A recognized leader in the mortgage industry and founder of the Hispanic Organization of Mortgage Experts (HOME), Goertzen will drive the company's strategic expansion, fostering greater financial inclusion for Hispanic, Latino, and other underserved communities.

Empower Mortgage logo

"For many first-generation Americans, homeownership represents more than just buying a houseit's a symbol of financial stability, family security, and generational progress," said Goertzen. "I joined Empower Mortgage because its mission is deeply personal to me. As a second-generation American with Mexican and German roots who has a passion for the mortgage broker community, I know how critical it is to have a lender that truly understands the unique obstacles these families face."

Empower Mortgage is redefining home financing by addressing systemic barriers that have long excluded first-generation buyers. As the only wholesale lender licensed to originate loans in Puerto Rico, the company is also bridging a critical gap in the housing market. In addition, Empower is transforming the broker experience through the introduction of Power Up, its proprietary cutting-edge AI-powered underwriting solution. Power up delivers instant loan decisioning, real-time insights, and significantly reduced conditions, enabling brokers to achieve faster approvals, quicker closings, and a smoother client experience  exactly what first-generation families need to secure their first home.

"Empower Mortgage isn't just another lenderwe are a movement," said Eddy Perez, Founder & CEO of EPM. "Rogelio's leadership and vision will be instrumental in ensuring we continue to break barriers and create lasting change for America's diverse homebuyers."

In his new role, Goertzen will focus on scaling operations, strengthening strategic partnerships, and positioning Empower Mortgage as the leading lender for first-generation American homebuyers. His appointment aligns with EPM's broader commitment to financial empowerment.

"Bringing Rogelio onto our leadership team isn't just a strategic decisionit's a necessity," said Phil Mancuso, president, CIO, and partner of EPM. "His expertise, empathy, and deep understanding of our target market will drive us further than any investment we could dream up. Homeownership isn't just about numbers; it's about people, and Rogelio gets that. With his leadership, we're not just adapting to changewe're shaping the future of the American homebuying experience."

Empower Mortgage's leadership team is committed to driving innovation and setting a new standard for mortgage lending.

"Helping sales teams reach their full potential has been my life's work, and great leadership is what takes them there," said Kevin DeLory, Chief Lending Officer of EPM. "Rogelio isn't just bringing operational excellencehe's bringing a level of relationship-building and cultural insight that will push this brand and the homebuying experience for first-generation buyers to new heights. I have no doubt that with his leadership, we're about to break through limits we didn't even know existed."

About Empower Mortgage

Empower Mortgage is a mission-driven, non-bank lender dedicated to serving first-generation American homebuyers. As part of the EPM family of brands, and under the leadership of Eddy Perez, Founder & CEO, the company is committed to breaking financial barriers and providing tailored lending solutions for underserved communities. Through its proprietary Power Up AI underwriting solution and status as the only wholesale lender licensed to originate loans in Puerto Rico, Empower Mortgage is redefining homeownership access and driving industry transformation. For more information, visit www.empowermortgage.com.

Media Contacts:

Jenna Silverman

Chief Marketing Officer

EPM

E: [email protected]

P: 215-603-5522

Nicole Yelland

Chief Communications & Strategy Officer

Hispanic Organization for Mortgage Experts (HOME)

E: [email protected]

P: 248-219-9234

SOURCE Equity Prime Mortgage; Empower Mortgage
Engage, the collaborative innovative and corporate venture platform, backed by 14 industry-leading enterprises and Georgia Tech, provides capital and mentorship to startups building the future of the enterprise.

CHICAGO, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ModelOp, the leading AI Governance software for enterprises, announced today that it has been selected by Engage to be a member of its 14th cohort of their Enterprise Accelerator Program. Engage is a strategic group of 14 Fortune 500 enterprises based in the Southeast.

ModelOp, the leading AI Governance software for enterprises, announced today that it has been selected by Engage to be a member of its 14th cohort of their Enterprise Accelerator Program.

Engage brings together category-leading corporations that have joined forces to support startups and venture-round companies building the future of enterprise and establish the Southeast as a leading innovation hub. The platform is designed to provide startups with what they need most  access to new customers and markets. Engage's accelerator program is designed to streamline the process for emerging companies to work with the most influential corporations in the world.

Engage's partners include Chick-fil-A, The Coca-Cola Company, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power Foundation, Georgia Tech, Goldman Sachs, The Home Depot, Inspire Brands, Intercontinental Exchange, Invesco, RaceTrac, Tech Square Ventures, Unum, UPS, and Wellstar.

"We are thrilled to bring ModelOp into our program," said Bill Nussey, Engage's Managing Director. "They are making waves in the AI Governance space and we are excited to be a part of the journey."

ModelOp's AI Governance software is the first commercially available software to provide comprehensive oversight for all AI systems, from in-house and third-party vendor models to embedded systems and agentic AI like Microsoft Copilot and Salesforce Agentforce. With numerous enterprises using its AI Governance software, including many in the financial services, healthcare, and CPG sectors such as Fidelity Investments, FINRA, and Bristol Myers Squibb, ModelOp's customers report they are better able to enforce policies consistently and stay compliant even as regulations evolve rapidly. Unlike fragmented, manual governance approaches, ModelOp automates compliance workflows, integrates seamlessly with existing IT investments, and provides real-time insights into AI risk, performance, and value.

At the core of ModelOp's innovation is its governance inventory, a single source of truth that tracks AI use cases and their impact across an enterprise. Coupled with automated controls that enforce compliance at scale and streamlined reporting for real-time executive insights, ModelOp ensures AI systems are managed responsibly while substantially accelerating time-to-value.

"We are pleased to be working with Engage and their corporate partners, and to have the opportunity to help them accelerate and scale AI innovation, responsibly," said Pete Foley, CEO of ModelOp. "With thousands of new AI use cases being proposed within a single enterprise and the massive number of upcoming AI regulations being proposed at the state level, we are excited to help them implement AI initiatives faster and safer for a better return. Our customers have reduced the time it takes to bring AI initiatives to market from more than 12 months to fewer than 6 months  a 2X increase in speed to production. And unlike other solutions, ModelOp's unique software provides executives unprecedented visibility into the AI being used across their organizations."

Visit https://www.modelop.com to learn more.

About Engage

Engage is a first-of-its-kind collaborative corporate venture and innovation platform to give entrepreneurs what they need most  access to customers and markets. The Engage partners contributing capital, expertise, time, and resources include Chick-fil-A, The Coca-Cola Company, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power Foundation, Georgia Institute of Technology, Goldman Sachs, The Home Depot, Inspire Brands, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Invesco, RaceTrac, Tech Square Ventures, Unum, UPS, and Wellstar Health System. Georgia Tech and Tech Square Ventures, provide tools, portfolio support and resources to companies on the platform. Engage is headquartered in Georgia Tech's Technology Square. For more information, visit https://engage.vc/

About ModelOp

ModelOp is the leading AI Governance software that helps enterprises safeguard all AI initiatives - including generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), in-house, third-party, and embedded systems - without stifling innovation. Through automation and integrations, ModelOp empowers enterprises to quickly address the critical governance and scale challenges necessary to protect and fully unlock the transformational value of enterprise AI - resulting in effective and responsible AI systems. In 2024, ModelOp received the prestigious AI Breakthrough Award for "Best AI Governance Platform" and was also recognized as a winner in Inc.'s Best in Business Awards in the AI & Data category. In 2025, it was awarded the "Best AI Governance Software Award" from Netty Awards. Follow ModelOp on LinkedIn .

SOURCE ModelOp
NEW YORK, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its Spring/Summer debut, Fabrique launches its first-ever bag collection, "Beach to City," in collaboration with internationally renowned designer Valeria Massai. Fabrique collaborates with internationally renowned bag designer Valeria Massai to launch Fabrique's first bag collection, "Beach to City." Centered around the fluid lifestyle of contemporary women, the collection breaks boundaries between different settings and seamlessly transitions between urban commuting, holiday roaming, and leisurely living. Valeria Massai, known for her innovative work at Prada and contributions to Bottega Veneta, brings her unique vision to this collaboration, expanding it as a fresh expression of her personal will, in partnership with Fabrique's bag series.

Founded by two women from the film and media industry, Fabrique is a collective designer brand that works with over 300 exceptional designers from around the world to create exclusive pieces that are diverse in style. Shaping a distinct wardrobe for tastemakers.

Philosophy of Life: Empowering Self-Expression and Embracing Boundaries

The inspiration behind the collaboration between Valeria Massai and Fabrique, "Beach to City", embodies the seamless transition between the freedom and comfort of beach life and the sophistication and practicality of the city, serving as the core inspiration for this season's Spring/Summer collection. This collection aims to combine the carefree essence of beach living with the elegant practicality of urban style, resulting in bags that cater to the needs of the modern woman: versatile, fashionable yet comfortable, and always elegant, regardless of the time of day.

Valeria Massai traces her roots back to her homeland - Italy. Infusing her designs with the essence of Italy's beaches, churches, and art districts, incorporating colors and structures into her creations. Drawing inspiration from her hometown, including areas like Brera, Isola, and Duomo, she names each bag after these places.

In the design world, simple threads that connect beautiful ideas across the globe are crafted, showcasing a thoughtful approach evident in everything createdfrom the clothes designed to the bags made.

The inspiration for the 'golden bean' stud detail on the bags derives from the same hand-stitching mark found on all the clothes, serving as a distinctive signature that reflects the brand's roots and commitment to innovation.

Everyday Chic: Meeting the Contemporary Woman's Demands

This collection features a total of 3 bags, "Brera," "Duomo," and "Isola". The series of bags adopts a lightweight structure for a sense of freedom and uses luxurious leather to convey a sense of long-lasting quality, allowing every modern woman to embrace her multifaceted self through these bags.

" Brera" features a convertible design inspired by the day and night rhythms of the artistic Brera district in Milan . With one bag, fashionable individuals can explore three unique ways to carry it. Embrace a classy look suitable for workday chic, or reverse the bag inside out for a weekend getaway, revealing two distinct designs on each side. This bag embodies one design with two silhouettes, allowing for the expansion of the sides to achieve a spacious bucket look or gathering them for a compact, chic charm. Crafted from soft, reversible leather, "Brera" features a reversible design that reflects the fun and interesting Italian lifestyle. While one side exudes a formal elegance, the other side showcases a casual suede finish.

Brera" features a convertible design inspired by the day and night rhythms of the artistic Brera district in . With one bag, fashionable individuals can explore three unique ways to carry it. Embrace a classy look suitable for workday chic, or reverse the bag inside out for a weekend getaway, revealing two distinct designs on each side. This bag embodies one design with two silhouettes, allowing for the expansion of the sides to achieve a spacious bucket look or gathering them for a compact, chic charm. Crafted from soft, reversible leather, "Brera" features a reversible design that reflects the fun and interesting Italian lifestyle. While one side exudes a formal elegance, the other side showcases a casual suede finish. "Duomo" is named after a Gothic cathedral located in the heart of Milan, Italy . The bag's structure draws inspiration from the skeleton of the Milan Cathedral, with vertical lines enhancing the silhouette, creating a visually appealing trapezoidal shape under a relaxed form. It is suitable for carrying documents, ultra-thin laptops, and other work items, making it perfect for those seeking an elegant and relaxed bag suitable for both work and leisure.

Fabrique and Valeria Massai collaborated to empower women to embrace their unique casual chic aesthetics while navigating the world with freedom and independence. These stylish bags serve as more than just accessories, embodying a contemporary lifestyle.

Fabrique's innovative pricing strategy successfully bridges the gap between luxury brands and fast fashion, making the "Beach to City" bag collection accessible to all. Priced between $458 and $658, these versatile bags are available for purchase online, in stores, and through partner retailers worldwide.

For further information, please visit www.fbrq.com.

Fabrique Instagram fabrique.official

Fabrique Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/FabriqueOfficial/

Fabrique Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554340161235

Fabrique Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@Fabrique.official

Fabrique Tiktokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@fabrique.official_

SOURCE Fabrique
LAKELAND, Fla., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Student Government Association (SGA) at Florida Polytechnic University has allocated $250,000 from its funding reserves to support the construction of the new Student Achievement Center on campus.

The Student Achievement Center (StAC)  an $85 million, 138,400-square-foot building  is in its design phase and is expected to open in 2030.

Taki Tsetsekas (center), president of Florida Polytechnic Universitys Student Government Association (SGA), signs a resolution approving the investment of $250,000 in the construction of the Student Achievement Center. From left are SGA officers Jonathan Gauthier, treasurer, Hannah Friday, chief of staff, and Lang Towl, vice president.

The facility is intended to be a hub for student success, offering resources dedicated to student development, including career and internship services. It will feature study spaces, an auditorium, collaborative multimedia areas, and be home to staff fully focused on helping students throughout their academic journey and into their transition to the workforce.

Taki Tsetsekas, senior mechanical engineering major and SGA president, serves on the StAC's design and architecture committee. He emphasized the critical need students have for the new addition to campus.

"I'm in all these meetings looking at the amount of money it's going to take to build this and how student-focused the committee is on designing this building purely for students," said Tsetsekas, who is also a member of the University's Board of Trustees. "I felt we needed to acknowledge that the students want and are invested in this building."

The StAC also will include dedicated SGA office space, a relaxing place for students to hang out, new food options, and other comforts to enhance the student experience.

Dr. Allen Bottorff, Florida Poly's vice president of administration and finance and its chief financial officer, said the SGA's decision to invest such a significant portion of its funds to support the new building is powerful proof of the students' commitment to the success of the University and the scholars it will serve for many years to come.

"This is an extraordinary example of the student community taking ownership of their future and demonstrating their belief in the transformative power of education," Bottorff said. "This contribution shows that Florida Poly students care about much more than their personal success; they want to help ensure the success of all those who come after."

Jonathan Gauthier, a junior mechanical engineering major and SGA treasurer, said funds for the investment accumulated over SGA's lifetime in anticipation of a student-focused project of this magnitude.

"Our SGA has always been very good at putting student dollars to use for student initiatives and student success, and that's why supporting the Student Achievement Center is such a big deal," Gauthier said. "It also shows outside and prospective donors  including the state  that students want this to happen. This is something that SGA has talked about for years."

SOURCE Florida Polytechnic University
BOSTON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Rubin and Rudman is pleased to announce that Gabrielle Denby has joined the firm as a partner in the Family Law practice group. Denby brings over a decade of experience in family law to her new role. Prior to joining Rubin and Rudman, she was Of Counsel at Todd & Weld LLP.

Gabrielle Denby has joined Rubin and Rudman as a partner in the firm's Family Law practice group.

Denby concentrates her practice on all aspects of family law, including divorce, child custody, alimony, and complex financial issues in high asset divorce matters. She has broad experience counseling both traditional and non-traditional families, including serving the specialized needs of families in the LGBTQ community.

"Rubin and Rudman has built one of the largest and most highly-regarded family law groups in the region and we are excited to welcome Gabrielle to our deep bench of talented attorneys," said John J. McGivney, Managing Partner at Rubin and Rudman. "We are continuing to expand this growing practice area at the firm and she will be a great addition to our team and client resources."

Denby is a member of the Greater Boston Family Law American Inn of Court and serves on the Massachusetts Bar Association Family Law Section Council. She has been named a Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America for Family Law and Family Law: Arbitration and Mediation (2025) and a Super Lawyers' Massachusetts Rising Star for Family Law (2016-2024).

She received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 2013 and served as a Judicial Fellow in the Middlesex Probate and Family Court after law school. She earned her Master in Political Science from Syracuse University (2010) and her B.A., cum laude, from Mount Holyoke College in 2008.

About Rubin and Rudman LLP

Founded over a century ago, Rubin and Rudman is a full-service law firm with over 100 lawyers in Boston, Massachusetts. With a diverse mix of practices, Rubin and Rudman serves national and international companies, including large public companies and closely held businesses; real estate developers; biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device makers; regulated industries, public entities and municipalities; insurance companies and their insureds; educational and other institutions; non-profit organizations; families and high net worth individuals. Rubin and Rudman also has suburban offices in Andover and Woburn, Massachusetts. Web: www.rubinrudman.com.

Contact:

Amy Blumenthal Kristen Weller Blumenthal & Associates Chief Marketing & Growth Officer 617.879.1511 617.330.7189 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Rubin and Rudman
MILAN, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 8th, during Milan Design Week, GAC marks its third consecutive event at the prestigious Milan Design Week, a pinnacle event in the global design industry, where visionary art met global culture and cutting-edge technology merged with fashion.

At the event, GAC marked the European debut of the AION UT and the return of the AION V, GAC unveils the fourth concept model from its Car Culture series, CC4, and announces the topic of GAC Design Award 2025, Beauty of Tomorrow II: AI Works. Senior executivesincluding Zhang Fan, Head of GAC Design; Thomas Schemera, Global COO of GAC INTERNATIONAL; and Stephane Janin, Director of GAC Advanced Design Center Europeengaged in exclusive dialogues with media and guests, covering GAC's design philosophy, the Europe Market Plan, and the roadmap for its Milan Advanced Design Center.

Thomas Schemera emphasized, "By empowering production through design, we aim to deliver products with outstanding design, top-tier quality, and pioneering technologyultimately creating better mobility experiences for European consumers."

GAC transformed Via Tortona 16 into an immersive exhibition space blending bold design and advanced technology. The showcase highlighted two global strategic modelsAION UT and AION Vfeaturing smooth silhouettes, refined contours, and precision-crafted bodies.

The AION UT, born in the GAC Milan Advanced Design Center, harmonizes Italian design aesthetics with local market preferences. It features the world's first eyebrow-inspired headlight design, a 14.6-inch central touchscreen, an 8.88-inch digital instrument display, L2 intelligent driving assistance, high-strength sidewalls, and an embrace-style backbone body structure, all exceeding European safety standards. Its 2nd Generation Magazine Battery enables fast charging from 30% to 80% in just 24 minutes and is gunshot resistant.

The AION V also returned to Europe, offering a driving experience that exceeds expectations. Equipped with the 2nd Generation Magazine Battery and a 2.3-meter ultra-long side curtain airbag, it creates a highly secure "mobile fortress" for passengers.

At Milan Design Week, GAC INTERNATIONAL also shared updates on its Europe Market Plan, driven by the vision "In Europe, For Europe, Integrating into Europe, Serving Europe, and Contributing to Europe." With the upcoming launch of AION UT and AION V in Europe, along with AION and Hyptec brand models introduced through the strategic partnership between Jameel Motors and GAC set for the Polish market in Q3 2025.

SOURCE GAC
Presented and Produced by Tech Personality JayzTwoCents, Leading System Integrator iBUYPOWER and

Beloved PC Component Brand HYTE

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The online technology creator Jason Langiven, known as JayzTwoCents, is pleased to announce an all-new brand - SoCalTech. This new brand's mission is to bring together Southern California's technology fans, creators, and businesses to establish a dedicated community that enjoys and celebrates all things technology. As part of this, SoCalTech announced today its inaugural SoCalTech Fair, a two-day event featuring fun fair-themed activities and technology items for sale at affordable prices. To learn more, please visit: https://ibp.gg/SoCalTechFair-pr.

"One thing I learned from making tech content over the last twelve years - SoCal's tech enthusiasts, both young and old, are extremely dedicated in bringing new people to support the community, and to continue building it up year after year," said Jason Langevin, otherwise known by his YouTube Channel JayzTwoCents. "One of my goals is to give back to this community with the launch of SoCalTech, and to make our first event a success that leads into bigger plans, events, and more."

Produced in partnership with JayzTwoCents, the leading system integrator iBUYPOWER and its sister company HYTE, SoCalTech Fair will be hosted in iBUYPOWER's headquarters from May 3-4. Attendees can look forward to hands-on time with the latest PC gaming technology, meet with leading tech creators, experience influencer and brand-driven panels, and partake in delightful tech-inspired fair activities. SoCalTech Fair is also working with iBUYPOWER and HYTE to offer its inventory of PC components and parts, other computer peripherals, and more for sale, perfect for attendees looking to buy a new PC, or to upgrade their computers, at heavily discounted and accessible prices.

Onsite activities for SoCalTech Fair include:

Dedicated stage for on-site panels, raffles, presentations , and meet & greet sessions for SoCalTech Fair's headline influencer talent - JayzTwoCents, Austin Evans , and BitWit

, and for SoCalTech Fair's headline influencer talent - JayzTwoCents, , and BitWit Free-Play Sim-Racing Game Stations and PC Stations to play the latest video games

and to play the latest video games Tech-themed activations , including a "Speed PC Building" competition, a "Tower of Power" motherboard stacking competition, and much more!

, including a a and much more! Discounted sales from iBUYPOWER and HYTE's product inventory, and event-exclusive merchandise

"As a Southern California-based company, iBUYPOWER is more than familiar with how the community has changed with how they interact with tech, but what hasn't changed is their desire to share their passion to everyone," said Jeffrey Cheng, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing at iBUYPOWER. "When Jay approached us to partner up on SoCalTech Fair, it was an easy yes as we also want to give back to the Southern California community that welcomed us when iBUYPOWER was started 25 years ago."

SoCalTech Fair tickets are now available for purchase at $20 for single-day passes on Eventbrite. For more information, please visit SoCalTech Fair's official website, iBUYPOWER's social medial channels (Facebook / Twitter / Instagram), and JayzTwoCents' social media channels (Twitter / Instagram / YouTube).

WEBSITES

To learn more about SoCalTech Fair, please visit: https://ibp.gg/SoCalTechFair-pr.

To purchase tickets, please visit the official EventBrite here: https://ibp.gg/SoCalTechFair.

ABOUT SOCALTECH

SoCalTech is an all-new brand initiative conceived by Jason Langiven, owner of the JayzTwoCents channel with over four million YouTube Subscribers, with a goal of bringing together Southern California's community of technology fans, creators, and businesses together to celebrate all things tech.

SoCalTech Fair is the brand's inaugural event that is designed to bring together leading technology brands, beloved creators in the technology and gaming space, and delightful tech-inspired fair activities for Southern California families and fans to enjoy. The event is also presented and produced with iBUYPOWER and HYTE, two leading companies focusing on elevating PC gaming, to offer a variety of gaming PC parts, components, and more at accessible prices.

SOURCE SOCALTECH
PISCATAWAY, N.J., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- GenScript Biotech Corporation (GenScript), a global leader in life sciences research, manufacturing technologies, and production services, has released its 2024 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report. The report highlights the Company's commitments and initiatives in environmental management, social responsibility, and corporate governance, reaffirming its forward-looking vision and leadership in the global biotech industry.

"In 2024, we continued to embed sustainability into the fabric of our operations and strategic vision. Through collaborative innovation and strategic execution, we have made significant strides in advancing responsible business practices while driving long-term value creation," said Sherry Shao, Rotating CEO of GenScript Biotech. "We look forward to working with global partners to build a more sustainable future."

ESG Highlights: From Strategy to Action

Environmental Management and Climate Action: Advancing Towards Net-Zero Emissions: As part of its efforts to address the global challenge of climate change, GenScript joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and implemented a number of energy-saving and emissions reduction measures, including process and equipment upgrading, innovative efficiency programs, and increased use of renewable energy. GenScript's climate targets have been validated by the SBTi in early 2025, advancing its long-term goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.





As part of its efforts to address the global challenge of climate change, GenScript joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and implemented a number of energy-saving and emissions reduction measures, including process and equipment upgrading, innovative efficiency programs, and increased use of renewable energy. GenScript's climate targets have been validated by the SBTi in early 2025, advancing its long-term goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Improving Transparency and Sustainability: As a Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI) supplier partner, GenScript works to improve supply chain transparency and sustainability. GenScript ensures that suppliers adhere to PSCI's core principles regarding environment, ethics, human rights, health and safety, and management systems. By incorporating PSCI requirements into its supplier evaluation framework, GenScript strives to extend responsible practices across its supply base, strengthening resilience and compliance.





As a Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI) supplier partner, GenScript works to improve supply chain transparency and sustainability. GenScript ensures that suppliers adhere to PSCI's core principles regarding environment, ethics, human rights, health and safety, and management systems. By incorporating PSCI requirements into its supplier evaluation framework, GenScript strives to extend responsible practices across its supply base, strengthening resilience and compliance. Employee Development and Well-being: Fostering an Equal and Inclusive Workplace: With a global workforce of 5,568 members, GenScript is committed to providing a fair, inclusive work environment and competitive compensation and benefits. GenScript empowers its employees through a wide range of training programs and development opportunities, building a high-potential talent pool to fuel long-term growth.





With a global workforce of 5,568 members, GenScript is committed to providing a fair, inclusive work environment and competitive compensation and benefits. GenScript empowers its employees through a wide range of training programs and development opportunities, building a high-potential talent pool to fuel long-term growth. Giving Back to Communities: Advancing Social Responsibility Through Biotechnology: GenScript supports various causes that align with its values and mission, focusing on health, education, and environmental sustainability. In 2024, through its global corporate responsibility platform  GenTeer (GenScript Volunteer), GenScript's employees contributed over 1,400 volunteer service hours. Additionally, the Company leverages its R&D expertise to facilitate industry collaboration through global forums, accelerating the development of innovative therapies and benefiting patients worldwide.

GenScript's sustainability efforts have earned global recognition. GenScript received the bronze medal from EcoVadis with a significant score improvement, an "A" rating from MSCI, and a "B" rating for Climate Change from CDP. GenScript will remain committed to its mission of "Make People and Nature Healthier Through Biotechnology", driving innovation and sustainable growth of the global biotech industry.

To learn more about GenScript's ESG initiatives and its ongoing journey towards sustainability, please refer to the full report available at https://www.genscript.com/gsfiles/esg/2024-ESG-Report.pdf.

About GenScript Biotech Corporation

Founded in 2002 in New Jersey, GenScript Biotech Corporation accelerates innovation in biotech and healthcare by providing researchers and companies with the building blocks needed to develop groundbreaking treatments and products. Guided by its mission to Make People and Nature Healthier Through Biotechnology, and its role as a trusted global leader, GenScript has a team of over 5,500 employees and has served more than 200,000 customers across over 100 countries and regions.

Learn more here: https://www.genscript.com

SOURCE GenScript Biotech Corporation
Leveraging AI and BigQuery, Geotab's solutions drive sustainability, safety, and efficiency in transportation

ATLANTA, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - Geotab Inc. and its affiliates ("Geotab"), a global leader in connected transportation solutions is proud to announce that it has been awarded the Google Cloud Business Applications Partner Award in the Sustainability category. Geotab is being recognized for its achievements in the Google Cloud ecosystem, helping joint customers optimize fleet management, improve sustainability, and drive data-driven decision-making.

"Google Cloud's Partner Awards recognize partners who have created outsized value for customers through the delivery of innovative solutions and a high level of expertise," said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "We're proud to announce Geotab as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner Award winner and celebrate their impact enabling customer success over the past year."

"This recognition from Google Cloud highlights our dedication to leveraging data and AI to address key challenges in fleet management and sustainability," said Neil Cawse, CEO and Founder of Geotab. "We remain focused on driving innovation to make transportation safer, more efficient, and cost-effective for our customers."

The Google Cloud Business Applications Partner of the Year Award for Sustainability acknowledges Geotab's ability to leverage Google Cloud solutionssuch as BigQuery and AI modelsto support organizations in achieving their sustainability goals. With millions of connected vehicles, Geotab provides advanced fleet insights that help enhance road safety, optimize operations, and promote responsible resource use. A standout example is Altitude by Geotab , which delivers data-driven mobility insights to commercial and public sector organizations, allowing them to optimize transportation and regional planning.

A key part of Geotab's sustainability efforts is its Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessment (EVSA) , a data-driven tool that helps fleets determine the best path toward electrification. By analyzing real-world driving data, the EVSA identifies which vehicles can be economically replaced with electric alternatives, helping organizations reduce costs and lower emissions.

Geotab continues to innovate by integrating AI-driven analytics, sustainability insights, and smart fleet solutions. This award highlights Geotab's position as a leading commercial telematics provider and a key driver of intelligent fleet management solutions worldwide. Geotab's cutting-edge Altitude and telematics solutions are available to Google Cloud customers on Google Cloud Marketplace, streamlining access to powerful fleet insights and analytics.

For more information about Geotab's award-winning solutions, visit https://www.geotab.com/googlecloud/.

About Geotab

Geotab is a global leader in connected vehicle and asset solutions, empowering fleet efficiency and management. We leverage advanced data analytics and AI to transform fleet performance, safety, and sustainability, reducing cost and driving efficiency. Backed by top data scientists and engineers, we serve over 55,000 global customers, processing 80 billion data points daily from more than 4.7 million vehicle subscriptions. Geotab is trusted by Fortune 500 organizations, mid-sized fleets, and the largest public sector fleets in the world, including the US Federal Government. Committed to data security and privacy, we hold FIPS 140-3 and FedRAMP authorizations. Our open platform, ecosystem of outstanding partners, and Marketplace deliver hundreds of fleet-ready third-party solutions. This year, we're celebrating 25 years of innovation. Learn more at www.geotab.com and follow us on LinkedIn or visit Geotab News and Views .

2025 Geotab Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks property of their respective owners in Canada and other countries. Geotab and the Geotab logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Geotab Inc. and/or its affiliates. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The use of third party trademarks does not imply endorsement or affiliation with those third parties. The use of the word partner does not imply a legal partnership relationship between Geotab and any other company.

SOURCE Geotab Inc.
HOUSTON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: GPI) ("Group 1" or the "Company"), a Fortune 250 automotive retailer with 260 dealerships located in the U.S. and U.K., today announced that it will release financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025 on Thursday, April 24, 2025 before the market opens. Daryl Kenningham, Group 1's President and Chief Executive Officer, and the Company's senior management team will host a conference call to discuss the results later that morning at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The conference call will be simulcast live on the Internet at http://www.group1corp.com/events. A webcast replay will be available for 30 days. A copy of the Company's presentation will also be made available at http://www.group1corp.com/company-presentations.

The conference call will also be available live by dialing in 10 minutes prior to the start of the call at:

Domestic: 1-888-317-6003 International: 1-412-317-6061 Passcode: 6190481

A telephonic replay will be available following the call through May 1, 2025, by dialing:

Domestic: 1-877-344-7529 International: 1-412-317-0088 Replay Code: 3074572

ABOUT GROUP 1 AUTOMOTIVE, INC.

Group 1 owns and operates 260 automotive dealerships, 332 franchises, and 39 collision centers in the United States and the United Kingdom that offer 35 brands of automobiles. Through its dealerships and omni-channel platform, the Company sells new and used cars and light trucks; arranges related vehicle financing; sells service and insurance contracts; provides automotive maintenance and repair services; and sells vehicle parts.

Group 1 discloses additional information about the Company, its business, and its results of operations at www.group1corp.com , www.group1auto.com , www.group1collision.com , www.acceleride.com , and www.facebook.com/group1auto .

Investor contacts:

Terry Bratton

Manager, Investor Relations

Group 1 Automotive, Inc.

[email protected]

Media contacts:

Pete DeLongchamps

Senior Vice President, Financial Services and Manufacturer Relations

Group 1 Automotive, Inc.

[email protected]

Kimberly Barta

Head of Marketing and Communications

Group 1 Automotive, Inc.

[email protected]

or

Jude Gorman / Clayton Erwin

Collected Strategies

[email protected]

SOURCE Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
Insider threats are a major security challenge, arising from malicious actors, negligent employees, or compromised credentials. This guide aids organizations in understanding and defending against these risks.

Key components of an effective defense include:

 Forming a team with security, IT, legal, and HR

 Protecting critical assets

 Using behavioral analytics to detect anomalies

 Building insider threat use cases

 Implementing monitoring and detection tools

 Creating a transparent program to build trust

Modern SIEM solutions with UEBA and machine learning offer the visibility needed to identify threats before harm occurs.

Explore this e-book to enhance your defenses against insider threats.
Award Recognizes AI-Powered Innovation and Follows the Launch of its Category-defining Compound Marketing Engine

NEW YORK, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- GrowthLoop, a leader in AI-driven marketing innovation, has been recognized as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner of the Year in the Data & Analytics - Business Intelligence category. This prestigious award underscores the transformative impact of GrowthLoop's expertise in Data & Analytics, demonstrating how agentic AI and the data cloud unlock compound growth by accelerating the marketing cycle to increase revenue, LTV and ROI for enterprise companies.

GrowthLoop honored as a Google Cloud Partner of the Year!

This recognition follows GrowthLoop's recent category-defining launch of its Compound Marketing Engine, which marked a major shift in AI-powered martech. Marketing and data leaders from enterprise companies and retail brands trust GrowthLoop to personalize and optimize audiences and journeys and seamlessly launch campaigns across all their destinations  all while AI continuously analyzes, learns, and fine-tunes performance for maximum impact.

GrowthLoop earned this award for its data and analytics achievements in the Google Cloud ecosystem. By combining a powerful data foundation with agentic AI, GrowthLoop unlocks every marketer's growth-driving superpowers  putting AI agents at their fingertips to build high-impact audiences, create revenue-generating campaigns, and optimize performance in seconds. The company has expanded its footprint among leading companies to revolutionize marketing performance for BigQuery customers such as Express and Priceline.

The GrowthLoop Compound Marketing Engine integrates with Google Cloud's full suite of AI toolsincluding BigQuery, Vertex AI, and Geminienabling enterprises to improve their marketing campaigns and utilize insights to optimize performance over time.

"Google Cloud's Partner Awards recognize partners who have created outsized value for customers through the delivery of innovative solutions and a high level of expertise," said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "We're proud to announce GrowthLoop as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner Award winner and celebrate their impact enabling customer success over the past year."

"GrowthLoop is reimagining marketing through AI and the strength of our partnership with Google Cloud," said Chris O'Neill, CEO of GrowthLoop. "This is a new era  one where marketing teams move beyond incremental gains to unlock incredible compounding growth, made possible by agentic AI on the data cloud. Leveraging Google Cloud technology, we're putting powerful agents side-by-side with marketers, transforming their role into a driver of unprecedented business impact. Our Compound Marketing Engine, with Google Cloud's AI, sets a new standard for the industry."

GrowthLoop's Compound Marketing Engine has been adopted by thousands of marketers and is making a major impact across the enterprise. For example, GrowthLoop and Google Cloud customer Allegro, the leading online shopping platform in Poland (widely considered as the "Amazon of Eastern Europe"), has doubled ROAS of its digital marketing efforts in only two months.

As enterprises accelerate their adoption of AI, the combination of the GrowthLoop Compound Marketing Engine with Google Cloud's AI marks the next frontier of marketing innovation. Rather than serving as just an optimization tool, AI becomes a true growth accelerator  allowing businesses to move at the speed of their data and unlock continuous improvements. With this recognition as a Google Cloud Partner of the Year, GrowthLoop further cements its leadership in AI-driven marketing transformation.

About GrowthLoop

GrowthLoop is a pioneer in AI-powered marketing on the data cloud, featured on G2 by its customers as a momentum leader with best ROI for enterprise. Founded and led by former Google executives, GrowthLoop helps innovative companies transform how they market and drive business impact. The GrowthLoop Compound Marketing Engine drives compound growth by accelerating the marketing cycle, using agentic AI powered by your enterprise cloud data. Growth Agents propose audiences and journeys, and activate campaigns across channels, streamlining execution and continuously analyzing performance data to make suggestions for campaign optimization. Thousands of marketers at enterprises like Google, Indeed, and Express rely on GrowthLoop to grow faster with agentic AI, drive measurable campaign results, and maximize marketing ROIcompounding growth with every experiment, iteration, and campaign.



Media Contact

[email protected]

SOURCE GrowthLoop
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Huntington Ingalls Industries signed MOU at 'SAS 2025' in Washington D.C.

- The MOU outlines collaboration to improve shipbuilding productivity, optimize costs and delivery times, and enhance shipyards digitization

The partnership between leading shipbuilding companies from South Korea and the United States is expected to serve as a catalyst for reinforcing bilateral relations

Huntington Ingalls Industries emphasized that the signing marks "A pivotal first step in fostering collaboration between allied nations to strengthen shipbuilding capabilities."

SEOUL, South Korea, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- HD Hyundai is accelerating its expansion into the U.S. market through the formation of a strategic shipbuilding partnership with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), the largest defense shipbuilding company in the U.S.

On April 7th (local time), HD Hyundai announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Huntington Ingalls Industries to improve shipbuilding productivity and foster advanced technological cooperation.

Brian Blanchette(left), President of Ingalls Shipbuilding, and Joo Wonho(right), Chief Executive of the Naval and Special Ship at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Huntington Ingalls Industries booth during the Sea Air Space 2025 (SAS 2025) exhibition in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 7th.

The signing ceremony took place at the Huntington Ingalls Industries booth during the Sea Air Space 2025 (SAS 2025) exhibition in Washington, D.C. The ceremony was attended by Joo Wonho, Chief Executive of the Naval and Special Ship at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Brian Blanchette, President of Ingalls Shipbuilding.

Huntington Ingalls Industries operates Ingalls Shipbuilding, the largest shipyard for surface combatants in the U.S., located in southern Mississippi. This shipyard is responsible for the construction of two-thirds of the U.S. Navy's recently ordered Aegis destroyers, as well as the entire fleet of large amphibious assault ships and national security cutters.

Under the terms of the MOU, both companies will combine their expertise in warship construction to optimize shipbuilding productivity. The collaboration will also focus on sharing best practices to reduce construction costs and optimize delivery times.

This partnership further aims to advance the integration of process automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) in the development of digital shipyards, alongside workforce strategy and components outsourcing. In line with these goals, both parties are also exploring opportunities for future joint investments.

This MOU is particularly significant as it marks the first collaboration between two leading shipbuilding companies from Korea and the U.S., both of which have the capability to construct the world's most advanced Aegis ships. The partnership is expected to act as a key catalyst in strengthening the shipbuilding alliance and fostering greater trust between the two countries.

Joo Wonho, Chief Executive of the Naval and Special Ship at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, remarked that "By collaborating with the representative shipbuilding companies of our allied nations, we aim to enhance the shipbuilding capacities and capabilities of both nations and, furthermore to contribute to the strengthening of bilateral security cooperation."

Brian Blanchette, President of Ingalls Shipbuilding, stated that "This agreement marks a pivotal first step in enhancing shipbuilding capabilities through cooperation between allied nations. By combining our expertise, we will make a meaningful contribution to the construction of high-quality ships that will support the global national security."

SOURCE HD Hyundai
PHILADELPHIA, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CMI Media Group, WPP's healthcare specialty agency (NYSE: WPP) and Compas will be working with Microsoft Advertising to support healthcare brands to help accelerate their growth and enable them to reach their audience across the Microsoft ecosystem and beyond. Current clients of CMI Media Group can discuss the benefits with their account leads. Future clients can reach out to CMI Media Group via [email protected].

In 2024, Microsoft Advertising named CMI Media Group as its Performance Partner of the Year. This latest evolution of the relationship delivers strategic support and guidance from both companies with a goal of providing innovation, transparency, collaboration and excellence for shared clients as well as unique return on investment.

This collaboration underscores the agency's commitment to driving innovation and value for healthcare brands, ensuring their clients are at the forefront of digital marketing and technology advancements. By combining Microsoft Advertising's robust capabilities with CMI Media Group's strategic expertise, this collaboration is set to elevate client success and accelerate growth in an increasingly competitive landscape.

"This represents a major milestone for the healthcare industry combining valuable expertise and reach. With this unique agreement, we can offer all of our clients expanded benefits to engaging with us for their search engine marketing and display investments," said Justin Freid, Chief Media & Innovation Officer, CMI Media Group.

Amanda Richman, VP, Global Sales, Microsoft Advertising, said: "When media and advertising technology are seamless, brands are able to engage in more personalized and impactful experiences with their audience. We see a tremendous opportunity to serve our joint healthcare clients by bringing together these key components to enable their growth."

CMI Media Group and Compas have brought many firsts to healthcare marketing as the premier healthcare-focused media buying and planning resource to the world's game changers in pharma and life sciences. With a deep focus on data, media and technology, the agency has developed proprietary audience tools and expertise that ensure 100% media reach, precision, performance and personalization to healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers  1-to-1, at scale. To learn more, contact [email protected].

About CMI Media Group

CMI Media Group, a WPP company (NYSE: WPP, http://www.wpp.com), is a full-service media agency focused solely on health, wellness, and pharmaceutical marketing. CMI Media Group's core offerings include Audience Strategy, Planning, Development, and Insights; Data and Analytics; Buying and Investment; and Direct Response and Customer Experience. As the leading media resource for the world's top healthcare companies, CMI Media Group brings together leading technology, data, and talent to deliver seamless capabilities for clients. CMI Media Group has been recognized as a leader in DE&I, talent retention and employee development as well as one of the industry's best places to work. To apply for a position within our teams visit https://cmimediagroup.com/careers/

About Compas

For over 35 years Compas has been partnering with the industry's leading media providers, as well as up-and-coming innovators  representing all channels and tactics  positioning them for success with healthcare clients and agencies. As stewards of its clients' media investments, Compas is committed to enforcing the highest standards of buying execution, effectiveness, transparency and accountability while leveraging its clients' collective buying power through a consortium that unlocks incremental savings. Compas is certified by the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council as a minority-owned-and-operated business and generates significant Tier 1 and Tier 2 Diverse Spend. Compas has been recognized as one of the industry's best places to work, offering industry-leading development and retention. To apply for a position within our teams visit https://compasonline.com/careers/

Press contact:

Carly Kuper

610 731 5409

[email protected]

SOURCE CMI Media Group
LOS ANGELES, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hohem, a leading global innovator in smartphone and camera gimbals, is delighted to announce its participation in the NAB Show 2025, taking place in Las Vegas from April 6th to 9th, 2025. Hohem makes several groundbreaking product lineups designed to elevate the filmmaking and content creation experience.

Hohem Present Game-Changing AI-Powered Creator Tools at NAB 2025

Visitors are invited to visit Hohem at Booth Number SL12516 at South Hall Lower to experience live demonstrations, and interactive workshops with professional photography content creators, and participate in Hohem-exclusive activities for a chance to win unique gifts and a first look at the latest releases. The Hohem team will be on hand to demonstrate how AI-powered gimbals can enhance your filmmaking workflow, providing more excellent stability, creativity, and efficiency.

Elevate Creativity with AI-Powered Hohem Gimbals

With features tailored to meet the evolving needs of filmmakers and content creators, Hohem's innovative tools empower creators to unleash their creativity like never before.

With Hohem's advanced AI Technology, filmmakers and content creators can now unlock a whole new realm of creative possibilities.

Key Product Featured at the Hohem Booth:

Hohem iSteady M7 Smartphone Gimbal : Flagship smartphone gimbal with subject tracking and a 1.4-inch full-color screen controller that elevates smartphone photography.

: Flagship smartphone gimbal with subject tracking and a 1.4-inch full-color screen controller that elevates smartphone photography. Hohem iSteady MT2 Camera Gimbal : Harnessing AI technology for ultra-smooth stabilization and intelligent shooting modes.

: Harnessing AI technology for ultra-smooth stabilization and intelligent shooting modes. Compact and Portable Gimbals: Explore Hohem's range of lightweight gimbals suitable for smartphones, action cameras, and tablets.

Learn, Create, and Share

To foster creativity, Hohem will host an exclusive series of workshops at NAB 2025, featuring renowned filmmaking experts and content creators. Industry voices like @emtfilms @its.gundars.magone @annieglaudane & @ottojulian_ will share their insights on how Hohem's cutting-edge tools enhance visual storytelling. From hands-on demos to pro tips on cinematic techniques, these sessions are designed to inspire and empower creators at every level. Open to all NAB visitors, the workshops offer a unique opportunity to learn from the best and elevate your creative journey.

About Hohem:

Hohem is a leading innovator in gimbal technology, specializing in cameras and smartphones, designed to enhance the filmmaking and content creation experience. With a commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction, Hohem continues to redefine industry standards and inspire creativity worldwide. Its innovation Gimbals has been chosen by customers in over 50 countries.

For more information, visit our:

Website: https://www.hohem.com

Hohem Store: https://store.hohem.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hohemglobal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hohem_global

TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@hohem_global

SOURCE Hohem
Grassroots Hunting group urges Congress to pass legislation that returns control of recovered species back to states.

MISSION, Kan., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hunter Nation, the leading grassroots organization for America's hunters, thanks US Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah and John Barrasso of Wyoming for standing up for American Hunters, farmers, ranchers and pet owners by introducing a bill in the United States Senate to delist the Gray Wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) with no judicial review, and return management of the fully recovered species back to the states.

The Senate Bill filed on Friday, April 4th, 2025 is identical to the "Pet and Livestock Protection Act of 2025" (H.R. 845) that was introduced in the United States House of Representative in January 2025 by WI Congressman Tom Tiffany and CO Congresswoman Lauren Boebert.

Pet and Livestock Protection Act Introduced in U.S. Senate Post this

"On behalf of the American Hunter, thank you Senator Johnson and Senators Lee and Barrasso for taking this much needed action to return management of the gray wolf to each state, without judicial review," stated Keith Mark the Founder and President of Hunter Nation. "The gray wolf is a conservation success story and the time has come to celebrate that. This legislation does just that by returning management of the wolf to each impacted state and it will also prevent activist, anti-hunting judges from using the courts to prevent science based management of this recovered animal," added Mark.

"This is a needed change to the Endangered Species Act and will be a generational benefit to hunting and hunters, stated Rock Bordelon, Chairman of the Hunter Nation Board of Directors. "Hunter Nation is committed to getting this important legislation passed and implemented into law," concluded Bordelon.

"I'm fully committed to getting the science-based Pet and Livestock Protection Act signed into law to protect rural communities," stated Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany. "The gray wolf has fully recovered, and without proper management, it's destroying Wisconsin's deer population and slaughtering pets and livestock across our state. I appreciate Hunter Nation's strong support and thank them for leading the charge to delist the gray wolf nationwide."

At a recent Congressional hearing in Washington DC, where the merits of delisting the gray wolf were being debated, Hunter Nation member, biologist and wildlife management expert, Dr. Nathan M. Roberts , testified and laid out these undeniable facts:

In the Great Lakes region alone, there are an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 wolves, a population level more than ten times the original recovery goal.

region alone, there are an estimated to wolves, a population level more than ten times the original recovery goal. Recovery goals have been surpassed every year since at least 1994, yet the wolf remains listed, tying the hands of state wildlife managers.

Scientific studies, including work by Adams et al. (2008) , show that harvest rates of up to 29% of a state's wolf population will have no negative impact on wolf population trajectories.

It's Time for Congress to Act

Hunter Nation is calling on the US Senate and the US House to pass the Senate bill introduced by Johnson, Lee and Barrasso and pass H.R. 845 and other common-sense reforms to the ESA that restore management power to the states. We stand with America's hunters, ranchers, and state wildlife managers who know firsthand that local control works.

Hunter Nation remains committed to holding Congress accountable and ensuring that common sense and science, not radical activism, drive America's wildlife management policies.

Hunter Nation is America's leading grassroots organization advocating for the rights of hunters and the responsible management of wildlife. We fight for the freedom to hunt and fish, and we champion science-based wildlife management policies.

SOURCE Hunter Nation
Collaboration marks a major milestone in advancing hydrogen infrastructure across the United States

AUSTIN, Texas and TITUSVILLE, Fla. and CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyroad Energy, a pioneer in hydrogen-powered transportation solutions, announced at Hannover Messe, a strategic partnership with Bosch Rexroth, innovators in hydrogen filling station technology, and GenH2, the leaders in liquid hydrogen Controlled Storage technology, to develop the first-ever zero-loss liquid hydrogen refueling station in the United States. The system will be deployed at Hyroad Energy's flagship hydrogen refueling station located in Dallas, Texas, representing a major step forward in advancing hydrogen infrastructure beyond California and into new high-demand markets.

Hyroad Energy, Bosch Rexroth, and GenH2 Corp partner for first-ever zero-loss hydrogen refueling station

The collaboration brings together Bosch Rexroth's Liquid Hydrogen CryoPump technology, GenH2's Controlled Storage technology, and Hyroad Energy's experience in hydrogen infrastructure development  with a shared goal of eliminating hydrogen boil-off loss during storage and refueling operations.

"The industry has been challenged for too long by significant hydrogen losses during transfer, storage, and refueling," said Dmitry Serov, CEO and Founder of Hyroad Energy. "This project sets a new bar. By combining advanced cryogenic technologies with a seamless system design, our goal is to demonstrate a truly zero-loss refueling station  marking a huge step forward in the commercial viability of hydrogen as a clean energy solution."

"This project showcases what's possible when advanced technology meets the right partners," said Dave Hull, Regional Vice President at Bosch Rexroth. "We're placing big bets on hydrogen as a foundational energy solution, and this collaboration reflects our commitment to building the infrastructure needed to scale it the right way."

"We are excited to partner with Bosch Rexroth and Hyroad, who share our commitment to addressing the critical issues facing the hydrogen industry," said Greg Gosnell, CEO of GenH2. "Our solution will eliminate the typical industry losses, revolutionizing liquid hydrogen storage and refueling operations."

The project signals growing momentum in hydrogen infrastructure beyond California and reflects the partners' shared commitment to accelerating zero-emission transportation nationwide. The station is expected to be online by 2026.

About Hyroad Energy

Hyroad Energy delivers cutting-edge, zero-emission Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell trucks, designed to meet the needs of fleets while reducing their carbon footprint. Through its innovative pay-per-mile model, Hyroad eliminates the complexity and upfront costs traditionally associated with deploying zero-emission trucks. As a pioneer in hydrogen-powered transportation, Hyroad Energy is leading the charge toward a cleaner, more sustainable future.

For more information, visit www.hyroadenergy.com

About Bosch Rexroth

As one of the world's leading suppliers of drive and control technologies, Bosch Rexroth ensures efficient, powerful and safe movement in machines and systems of any size. The company bundles global application experience in the market segments of Mobile and Industrial Applications as well as Factory Automation. With its intelligent components, customized system solutions, engineering and services, Bosch Rexroth is creating the necessary environment for fully connected applications. Bosch Rexroth offers its customers hydraulics, electric drive and control technology, gear technology and linear motion and assembly technology, including software and interfaces to the Internet of Things. With locations in over 80 countries, around 33,800 associates generated sales revenue of 7.6 billion euros in 2023.

To learn more, please visit www.boschrexroth.com.

About GenH2

GenH2 is a liquid hydrogen technology provider that offers unique liquefaction equipment along with Zero-Loss storage and transfer solutions for advanced clean energy. The company focuses on producing equipment to speed infrastructure buildout and increase hydrogen availability for everyday use. The GenH2 technology team includes former NASA researchers and developers with decades of experience engineering and building hydrogen solutions.

Learn more about GenH2 at www.genh2.com.

Media Contacts

Suzanne Block

[email protected]

Susan Magi

[email protected]

Carol Repyneck

[email protected]

SOURCE Hyroad Energy
VANCOUVER, BC and HOUSTON, April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - International Battery Metals Ltd. ("IBAT" or the "Company") (TSXV: IBAT) is pleased to announce the appointment of Joseph A. Mills to serve as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of the Company (the "Board"), effective April 7, 2025.

Mr. Mills has extensive experience in the oil & gas upstream, midstream and mineral businesses. Over his 40+ plus year career, Mr. Mills has closed numerous M&A transactions and has served as CEO of three public companies and two private exploration & production companies. He has held various leadership and board positions in private and public companies, including CEO, president, chairman of the board and audit committee chair. Mr. Mills is a graduate of the University of Houston with an MBA in Finance and the University of Texas with a BBA in Petroleum Land Management.

Mr. Mills commented; "I am pleased and honored to join International Battery Metals Ltd. and work with the Board and its employees to further develop and enhance the Company's business strategy and execution at such a pivotal time in the Company's history. This is a company with incredible potential, a strong foundation, and a very talented team. I look forward to working closely with the Board, our employees, and partners to drive our vision forward and create meaningful shareholder value for all of our stakeholders."

"The Board is pleased to welcome Joseph Mills as the next Chief Executive Officer of International Battery Metals, Ltd. He brings a wealth of experience, strategic vision, and a proven track record of leadership that we believe will be instrumental in guiding the Company into its next chapter of growth and innovation. We are confident that under his leadership, the Company will continue to execute on its mission and deliver long-term value for our shareholders, customers, and employees" said John Burba, Chairman of the Board.

Mr. Mills succeeds Iris Jancik, who was named CEO of IBAT in August 2024. The Company wishes to thank Ms. Jancik for her contributions.

About International Battery Metals Ltd.

The Company's direct lithium extraction technology is based on proprietary lithium extraction media housed in patented extraction towers that are enclosed in a modular, transportable platform that is able to be loaded and brought into production within a condensed time frame after arrival on a customer site.

Utilizing the patented technology, the Company's focus has been on advanced extraction of lithium chloride from ground water salt brine deposits and returning the same water to the subsurface aquifer. The Company's unique patented technology ensures faster delivery of lithium chloride while ensuring minimal environmental impact.

"John Burba"

John Burba, Director and Chairman of the Board

(832) 683-8839

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain information that may constitute "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "forecast", "potential", "target", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements".

Actual results may vary from forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause IBAT's actual results, performance, achievements, and future events to be materially different from the results, performance, achievement, or future events expressed or implied therein. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of lithium and other metals, the future demand for lithium and other metals, inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to advance the Company's business strategies and objectives, general business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties, results relating to its extraction technologies, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals (if required). IBAT believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, however there can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are given as of the date hereof and are based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. IBAT disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE International Battery Metals Ltd.
NEW YORK, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Kyndryl (NYSE: KD), a leading provider of mission-critical enterprise technology services, today announced that it has received the 2025 Google Cloud Global Partner of the Year Award for Infrastructure Modernization.

"We are pleased to recognize Kyndryl as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner Award winner," said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "Kyndryl's comprehensive infrastructure modernization services have allowed customers to improve some of their most foundational operations and set up for success with generative AI."

Kyndryl Expands Partnership with Google Cloud to Accelerate Mainframe Modernization with Generative AI

Kyndryl was honored by Google Cloud for its exceptional service and commitment enabling customers' success by innovating, building, and delivering a strong combination of infrastructure modernization expertise and enablement for Google Cloud solutions globally.

"We are deeply proud to be recognized by Google Cloud as a Global Partner of the Year," said Azi Handley, vice president, Global Strategic Alliances, Kyndryl. "Through our strong and productive partnership with Google Cloud, customers have been able to accelerate cloud adoption, modernize their infrastructure and applications and support mission-critical workloads, while leveraging data and genAI services for transformative outcomes. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and will remain focused on empowering enterprises to become more innovative and competitive."

Kyndryl and Google Cloud have collaborated since 2021 to help global customers innovate and transform with Google Cloud's advanced cloud and generative AI capabilities and Kyndryl's trusted services and industry expertise. The companies recently expanded their partnership to accelerate mainframe modernization for customers with Gemini genAI models.

For more information about Kyndryl and Google Cloud's alliance.

About Kyndryl

Kyndryl (NYSE: KD) is a leading provider of mission-critical enterprise technology services offering advisory, implementation and managed service capabilities to thousands of customers in more than 60 countries. As the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider, the Company designs, builds, manages and modernizes the complex information systems that the world depends on every day. For more information, please visit: www.kyndryl.com .

Kyndryl Press Contact

[email protected]

SOURCE Kyndryl
DES MOINES, Iowa, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Landus announces Sam Caton as its interim CEO effective today. Caton will maintain his responsibilities as executive vice president of sales while stepping in to lead the cooperative as interim CEO.

Sam Caton, Interim CEO & Executive Vice President of Sales at Landus

"We have full confidence in Sam's abilities to guide Landus forward as the interim CEO. His sincere appreciation for the farmer-owners we serve has quickly built trust within the organization and helped him develop a deep understanding of our operations and vision," says Chairman of the Board Matt Chambers. "We have full faith in his leadership as we start the next chapter at Landus and implement the search to identify our next CEO."

Caton brings more than two decades of agricultural industry experience to the interim CEO role. Previously, as the business unit director of the Northern Region at Simplot, Caton demonstrated exceptional leadership in managing complex business integrations. He is an established forward-thinking leader in agricultural business and technology adoption but doesn't shy away from his roots. Before moving into sales, Caton owned and operated an 8,000-acre family farm and cattle ranch, an experience that equipped him with an authentic understanding of agricultural operations from the ground up.

Caton's first order of business will be leading the search for Landus' next CEO, which will start with listening to the farmer-owners within the cooperative.

"I'm honored, and frankly humbled, to be trusted with the exciting task of leading Landus forward, and I know the best way to do so is with the guidance of our farmers," Caton says. "I'll be establishing an open line of communication with our farmer-owners to hear directly from them on what they want to see from the next CEO of the cooperative, and I look forward to working with our board to identify the next leader of Landus."

During this transition, Landus remains steadfast in its commitment to its farmer-owners, employees, business partners and the future of agriculture. To learn more about the ways that Landus serves these communities and the innovations we're pursuing, visit landus.ag.

About Landus

Landus is a forward-thinking agriculture solutions company that keeps the farmer at the center of every decision we make. We connect thousands of farmer-owners with the world through grain, agronomy, and distribution, deploying traditional and nontraditional methods fueled by innovation and sustainability. Our $3 billion business touches 34 states and 16 countries. To learn more about Landus, and the company's commitment to solving critical issues for the farmer of tomorrow, please visit: landus.ag.

SOURCE Landus
Protege in Lex Machina provides a next-level AI-powered user experience that delivers instant, data-driven legal insights

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lex Machina, a LexisNexis company, today announced the incorporation of Protege, an AI-powered assistant, into its renowned Legal Analytics platform. This new user experience is set to transform legal work by delivering real-time, data-driven insights with ease, speed, and increased accuracy.

LexisNexis Protege is a personalized AI assistant designed to boost productivity, augment superior work quality and enable legal and business professionals to unlock new economic value with case insights from Lex Machina's trusted database of civil litigation in Federal District Court practice areas, the U.S. Court of Appeals, and state courts.

Protege in Lex Machina empowers users to input questions, statements, or prompts and receive instant analytics to address common pain points in legal research, such as time-consuming manual searches and difficulty navigating complex data. Now, users of all experience levels can effortlessly type a query and get immediate, high-quality analytics, simplifying legal research and decision-making.

For example, the user may input any of the following and receive corresponding analytics:

Trial Damages from Contract Cases in Los Angeles County Superior Court: Provides damages analytics to set realistic client expectations and advise on litigation or settlement, enhancing client value.

Provides damages analytics to set realistic client expectations and advise on litigation or settlement, enhancing client value. How Long Does It Take to Get to Class Certification in Arizona ? : Offers timing analytics to inform settlement strategies, aligning with client goals and optimizing resources.

: Offers timing analytics to inform settlement strategies, aligning with client goals and optimizing resources. How Often is Summary Judgment Granted in Delaware Court of Chancery? : Delivers motion analytics to refine case strategy, increasing the likelihood of favorable outcomes.

: Delivers motion analytics to refine case strategy, increasing the likelihood of favorable outcomes. Attorneys with the Most Experience in Antitrust Cases in the Last 3 Years: Provides attorney analytics to help companies select the best legal representation, ensuring expertise and better case results.

Provides attorney analytics to help companies select the best legal representation, ensuring expertise and better case results. Cases in SDNY Involving Companies Headquartered in Canada : Offers party analytics to assess risk and guide forum selection, leading to strategic decisions and efficient resource use.

"Protege in Lex Machina marks a significant milestone in Legal Analytics, enabling attorneys to harness legal insights with ease," said Carla Rydholm, GM and Head of Product at Lex Machina. "Protege simplifies how legal professionals interact with data and allows every user to get a jumpstart on access, which eliminates research bottlenecks and supports precision in legal strategy."

"Unlike generic AI tools, Protege in Lex Machina is built on a solid foundation of structured Legal Analytics, ensuring insights are accurate, relevant, and actionable. This layered approach  where AI enhances an already robust data infrastructure  ensures Protege in Lex Machina is not just another off-the-shelf AI-powered tool, but a true evolution in legal intelligence. By eliminating the learning curve of navigating complex legal databases, users can simply type a query and receive immediate, high-quality analytics, making legal research faster, smarter, and more intuitive."

As the legal industry increasingly embraces AI for legal research and decision-making, Protege in Lex Machina offers customers:

Increased efficiency: Users can streamline data analysis by simply entering a prompt or question and receive precise analytics, saving valuable research time.

Users can streamline data analysis by simply entering a prompt or question and receive precise analytics, saving valuable research time. Uncover hidden data patterns and trends: The combination of Gen AI and high-quality structured data provides actionable intelligence in an intuitive format that enables smart decision-making.

The combination of Gen AI and high-quality structured data provides actionable intelligence in an intuitive format that enables smart decision-making. A competitive edge for a range of users: New or intermittent users will find it faster and easier to get data-driven insights, and super-users will find more options for tailoring their output to their precise needs.

To experience the future of streamlined, AI-enhanced Legal Analytics, visit https://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/products/lex-machina.page.

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LexisNexis Legal & Professional provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis and Nexis services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 11,800 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

About Lex Machina

Lex Machina fundamentally changes how companies and law firms compete in the business and practice of law. The company provides strategic insights on judges, lawyers, law firms, parties, and other critical information across 22 federal practice areas and a rapidly growing number of state courts. Lex Machina allows law firms and companies to anticipate the behaviors and outcomes that different legal strategies will produce, enabling them to win cases and close business.

Lex Machina was named one of Forbes' Best Workplaces in the Bay Area in 2024, Winner of the "Media Excellence Award" for Analytics/Big Data 2024, "Great Places to Work 2023-2024", one of "Legal Tech's Most Promising Solution Providers" (CIO Review Awards 2022), "Greater Bay Area Top Workplaces 2022" (The San Francisco Chronicle Top Workplaces in the Bay Area 2022), "Legal Tech Company of the Year 2021" (CIO Review, 2021), "2021 Legal Technology Trailblazer" (National Law Journal Trailblazer Awards, 2021), and Winner of the "Media Excellence" Award for Analytics/Big Data (13th Annual Media Excellence Award, 2021). Based in Silicon Valley, Lex Machina is part of LexisNexis, a leading global provider of legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics. For more information, please visit www.lexmachina.com.

SOURCE LexisNexis
On March 8, 2025, Chinas commerce ministry announced it will apply a 100% tariff on Canadian canola oil, oil cakes and pea imports, and a 25% duty on Canadian aquatic products and pork. The tariffs, which will go into effect on March 20, 2025, are being imposed in retaliation for Canadian tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and steel and aluminum products, introduced in October 2024. The announcement is another blow to Canadas agriculture and agri-food industry, which was already braced for the impact of a trade war with the United States.

Canada and China trade blows

In October 2024, Canada imposed a 100% surtax on Chinese EVs. According to the federal government, the surtax was imposed in response to Chinas pervasive use of non-market policies and practices, such as subsidization and lax environmental standards, to artificially lower production costs of Chinese EVs. Canada also imposed a 25% surtax on Chinese steel and aluminum products. A similar surtax was imposed on Chinese EVs by the United States under the Biden administration, and by the European Union.

In March 2025, China announced it was imposing retaliatory tariffs on over US$2.6 billion of Canadian agriculture and food products, which is scheduled to take effect on March 20, 2025. China will impose a 100% tariff on canola oil, oil cakes and pea imports, and a 25% duty on Canadian aquatic products and pork. Alongside the announcement of the retaliatory tariffs, the Chinese commerce ministry stated that Canadas measures seriously violate World Trade Organization rules, constitute a typical act of protectionism and are discriminatory measures that severely harm Chinas legitimate rights and interests.

What it means for Canadian producers

Chinas announcement has opened a new front in Canadas trade woes, with a trade war already underway between Canada and the United States. The tariffs have the potential to significantly affect Canadas agriculture and agri-food industry. For instance, China is a highly valued market for Canadian canola and canola products. According to the Canola Council of Canada (CCC), in 2024 Canadas canola exports to China were valued at CA$4.9 billion, including 2 million metric tonnes of canola meal, valued at CA$918 million, and 15,351 metric tonnes of canola oil, valued at CA$20.6 million. According to the president and CEO of the CCC, Chris Davison, [n]ew tariffs from China on Canadian canola oil and meal will have a devastating impact on canola farmers and the broader value chain at a time of increased trade and geopolitical uncertainty. Davison urged the federal government to engage with China immediately to resolve the trade dispute. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) has also urged the federal government to do everything in its power to resolve its trade dispute with China and avoid tariffs on Canadian agricultural products. The CFAs president, Keith Currie, noted that the Chinese tariffs could not have come at a worse time as Canadian producers already combat unfair and unjustified trade actions from the United States.

Canadas pork industry is also bracing for the impact of a trade dispute with both China and the United States. According to Farm Credit Canada, Canada exported an average of 270,158 tonnes of pork to the United States from 2019 to 2023 and 262,363 tonnes of pork to China over the same period. According to Rene Roy, chair of the Canadian Pork Council, there has been volatility in pork prices since China announced it was imposing a 25% tariff on Canadian pork products.

Canadas seafood export market to China is worth approximately CA$300 million. Certain fisheries, such as BCs geoduck industry, are likely to close early in response to Chinas 25% tariffs, while others are taking a wait-and-see approach. 95% of BCs geoduck industry is currently sold to China, and is worth roughly CA$50 million. Other seafood producers, such as Nova Scotias sea cucumber and live lobster industries are also expecting to be hit hard by the tariffs.

Several Canadian premiers have urged the federal government to reconsider its tariffs on Chinese EVs in order to avoid Chinas retaliation towards Canadas agriculture and agri-food industry. According to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, workers in the provinces canola crushing plants will lose their jobs if China moves ahead with its planned tariffs. Moe stated that [t]here needs to be action by our federal government before any election call to engage with China to ensure the canola industry is not left in purgatory. Moe also stated that the tariffs will result in a loss of the canola market share. BC Premier David Eby has also urged the federal government to reconsider its tariff policy, stating, [w]e dont want to get crushed between the two biggest economies in the world. However, the federal minister of innovation, science and industry, Francois-Philippe Champagne, recently reaffirmed that Canada is not considering dropping the tariffs it imposed on Chinas EVs and steel and aluminum products.

In response to increasing trade tensions with its two largest trading partners, Canada is turning inwards and focusing on reducing internal barriers to trade. Removing barriers to interprovincial trade would be a boon not only to Canadas agricultural and agri-food sector, but to the economy as a whole. A 2022 report by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute estimates that eliminating interprovincial trade barriers could increase Canadas GDP between 4.4 and 7.9%. Read our prior insight on The impact of lower interprovincial trade barriers on Canadas agriculture and agri-food sector here. Industries impacted by Chinas new tariffs are also seeking to expand trade with existing international trade partners, and accelerate trade efforts in new markets. Finally, producers are advocating for financial relief from the federal and provincial governments.

For more information on this topic, please reach out to the authors, Morgan Camley, Paul Lalonde or Kathryn Gullason, or a member of Dentons Litigation and Dispute Resolution group or National Regulatory Practice group, who have expertise in the agricultural and agri-food sector.

Visit our Navigating todays shifting tariff and trade environment hub for additional resources.
PLANO, Texas, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- LivePURE is excited to announce the new Customer Experience, in combination with the already proven Customer Retention Bonus (CRB) launched previously in 2019.

Earlier in 2024, LivePURE confirmed in a Press Release their long-term commitment to the MLM business model. Today, the company is launching the "Customer Experience" where customers of LivePURE will enjoy a consumer experience similar to other retailers of clothing, shoes, supplements, and skincare.

Founder and chairman of LivePURE, Mr. Dae Geun Jung (PRNewsfoto/LivePURE)

LivePURE President, Rick Redford states, "The past five-plus years we have seen the evolution of consumerism in general. Affiliates and Influencers have shifted the shopping experience, and Network Marketing has been slow in evolving. LivePURE is celebrating the MLM model but also allowing the Influencer and Affiliate to find a home that honors and respects their models as well."

Many Network Marketing companies have struggled to find the answer to the question of how to incorporate a strategy, within their current model, of attracting and supporting Affiliates and Influencers. Most companies are entertaining the idea of creating a separate division and reward mechanism. LivePURE believes that there is a synergy with all three of these major trade channels, and today's announcement is a significant step in that direction.

LivePURE Founder and CEO, Mr. Dae Geun Jung states, "The launch of our new customer site isn't just a digital upgrade  it's a game changer. By separating the experience for customers and business users, we're delivering a personalized, streamlined journey that speaks directly to today's consumer. This platform bridges the gap between traditional network marketing and the influencer-driven economy, meeting people where they are while staying true to our core values of connection, trust, and community. It's not merely an evolution  it's our next revolution."

Rick Redford added, "The key to success in balancing the traditional Network Marketing model with the Affiliate and Influencer models lies in the balance of the reward mechanism for customer behavior, and the experience that a customer has as they purchase product and navigate the online e-commerce pathway. We have one of the highest compensation rates for those who generate customer purchases, and the new Customer Experience will create a smooth and simple experience for customers as they purchase the LivePURE products."

About LivePURE:

LivePURE is a leading innovator in health and wellness products. LivePURE is dedicated to delivering Whole Health with high-quality products for physical health, opportunity for financial health, relationships for personal health, social impact for philanthropic health, and adventure for enhancing life and health. LivePURE is a global company with offices in the U.S., Korea and Thailand with headquarters in Plano, Texas. For more information on the products or business opportunity, visit https://livepure.com/

SOURCE LivePURE
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucid Software , the leader in visual collaboration and work acceleration, announced today that it has received the 2025 Google Workspace Partner of the Year Award for Technology - Innovation.

Lucid is being recognized for its achievements in the Google Workspace ecosystem, helping mutual customers enhance collaboration, visualization, and workflow efficiency.

"Google Cloud's Partner Awards recognize partners who have created outsized value for customers through the delivery of innovative solutions and a high level of expertise," said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "We're proud to announce Lucid Software as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner Award winner and celebrate their impact enabling customer success over the past year."

Lucid Software has been a Google Cloud partner for Google Workspace for over a decade, providing visual collaboration products that integrate with Google Workspace's suite of productivity applications. To date, tens of millions of users have installed the Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite integrations within Google Workspace, leveraging Lucidchart and Lucidspark to enhance documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. As a result, teams can improve meeting alignment, streamline workflows, and uncover actionable insights from data through the collaborative and visual nature of Google Workspace and the Lucid Suite.

Dave Grow, CEO at Lucid Software, said "Being a partner with Google Workspace helps us meet customers where they are and enhance the incredible tools that are already making such a difference in the way they work. As a work acceleration platform, Lucid is able to accelerate teams' efforts to collaborate and align across all their tools within the Google Workspace ecosystem. We are honored to be named a Google Partner of the Year."

Lucid is currently developing a Google Chat integration. This will allow teams to bring visuals directly into their discussions to align and make decisions faster. This builds upon Lucid's powerful integrations across the Google Workspace ecosystem where Lucid users can add and update documents in Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides, embed Workspace files directly in Lucid documents, and insert Lucid visuals in Google Calendar and Google Drive for easy access. By integrating deeply with Google Workspace, Lucid increases effective collaboration, streamlines workflows, and ensures team alignment.

To learn more about how to enable your teams to accelerate work through the power of visual collaboration, visit lucid.co .

About Lucid Software

Lucid Software is the leader in visual collaboration and work acceleration, helping teams see and build the future by turning ideas into reality. Its products include the Visual Collaboration Suite ( Lucidchart and Lucidspark ) and airfocus . The Visual Collaboration Suite, combined with powerful accelerators for Agile, cloud, and process transformation, empowers organizations to streamline work, foster alignment, and drive business transformation at scale. airfocus, an AI-powered product management and roadmapping platform, extends these capabilities by helping teams prioritize work, define product strategy, and align execution with business goals. The most used visual collaboration platform by the Fortune 500, Lucid's solutions are trusted by more than 100 million users across enterprises worldwideincluding Google, GE, and NBC Universal. Lucid partners with leaders such as Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft, and has received numerous awards for its products, growth, and workplace culture. Learn more at lucid.co .

SOURCE Lucid Software
Historic East Village Church Rises From the Ashes Nearly Five Years After Devastating Fire; Launches Secular Nonprofit Freedom Rising Inc. as Part of Its Vision for Justice

NEW YORK, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Middle Collegiate Church, the historic and beloved house of worship in New York City's East Village, is set to open Phase I of its rebuilding efforts this Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a six-alarm fire destroyed the 128-year-old sanctuary on December 5, 2020, sending shock waves from Brooklyn to Bendigo and Beijing, Piscataway to Portland and Paris as the news spread. "I'll never unsee our building on fire. Yet we've received so much love and support; people called us their Notre Dame," said the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister at Middle Church. This Easter, Middle Church will reopen its doors, ready to continue its mission as a beacon of hope, justice, and love for all. In this video , Middle's Senior Minister Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis describes the fire, the rebuild and the return - in short, the Church's resurrection. We invite your organization to cover this momentous event.

The fire, which claimed the church's historic sanctuary and severely damaged the program building, was a profound loss, but in the face of destruction, the spirit of Middle Church has grown stronger. With an outpouring of support from neighbors near and far, Middle Church raised over $9 million toward its $10.5M Middle Rising Rebuilding Fund and the church grew by over 500 members.

"I'll never unsee our building on fire. People called us their Notre Dame" said Rev Lewis. Middle Church reopens Easter. Post this

"We are overjoyed to announce this first phase of rebirthing our physical church," said Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft, Community Minister and one of the first staff to be on the scene of the fire. "This is not just about bricks and mortar," Dr. Lewis said. "This is about the restoration of a sacred space that has long served as a home not just for our congregation but for our neighborhood, providing supportive, educational, justice and arts programming for all ages. As we open our doors again, we renew our commitment to welcome our communities and to stand on the side of love."

The fire has also led to the birth of a new initiative that amplifies Middle's core work of justice and freedom in the world. In what was truly born in the fire, Middle Church proudly announces a new sister organization, Freedom Rising Inc., a secular nonprofit dedicated to being a center for justice, spirituality and the arts.

Freedom Rising will serve as a platform for critical programs such as the annual Freedom Rising Conference, a national gathering for justice leaders; the Freedom School, a program designed to empower and educate youth on racial and social justice; and the Young Adult Leadership Lab, a transformative curriculum that prepares individuals to become agents of positive change in their communities.

"We believe that the work of justice must continue to evolve and grow. With Freedom Rising, we are investing in the future by nurturing young leaders and creating spaces for transformative learning, advocacy, and action," adds Dr. Lewis. "The fire forged an even deeper call to serve the world, and we are so excited for the opportunities this new partnership brings."

Middle Church's reopening and the launch of Freedom Rising Inc. mark a new chapter for a church that has long been at the forefront of social justice movements. Founded in 1628, Middle Church is committed to repairing what is broken in our society. Through its advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, ecological healing and economic equity, Middle Church has consistently demonstrated that faith and justice are intertwined.

As the church embarks on this new phase of its journey, it invites all to join in celebrating the reopening of its sanctuary this Easter Sunday, April 20, at 11:45a and 3:00p EST, at 50 E 7th Street and online at middlechurch.org. The church's commitment to building a more just world remains steadfast, and as the rebuilding effort nears completion, Middle Church continues to be a living testament to resilience, hope, and the power of community.

To donate and support the remaining $1.5 million goal for the rebuilding campaign, visit www.middlechurch.org/donate/ .

For more information about Freedom Rising Inc. and the programs it will offer, visit https://www.freedomrisingconference.com/

About Middle Collegiate Church

Middle Collegiate Church is a historic and progressive congregation in the East Village of New York City. Founded in 1628, it is one of the oldest churches in the United States. Known for its commitment to social justice, inclusion, and community empowerment, Middle Church has long been a champion for the marginalized and a source of spiritual guidance for all who seek justice and peace.

Website: www.middlechurch.org

SOURCE Middle Church
ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) has always advocated for a strong national defense, with a particular focus on the people whose service and sacrifices make it possible. Maintaining this strength requires both sufficient funding and a capable workforce. However, the nation's growing debt and fiscal challenges pose a significant risk to future prosperity and place increasing pressure on our ability to sustain a ready force.

Given this reality, ongoing budget scrutiny to find efficiencies is not only appropriate but necessary. As the current administration scrutinizes the budget and seeks to find these efficiencies, MOAA believes any actions taken must be thoughtfully and cautiously implemented to not come at the expense of effectiveness or at the expense of those whose service provides America's freedoms and prosperity.

On April 9, some of MOAA's 350,000 members  representing the shared interests of over 21 million current, former, and retired uniformed service personnel  will be meeting with the nation's legislators to discuss the importance of a strong all-volunteer force and the benefits earned through their service and sacrifices. They will seek support for specific solutions in multiple areas, from spouse unemployment to unaccompanied housing to health care access for retirees and military families (Full details are online at MOAA.org/AiA). But as we prepare for those meetings, there are larger issues so important to our members and our nation that should they be placed at risk, MOAA stands ready to use all available resources to:

 PROTECT the value of service-earned health benefits from new TRICARE fees, disproportionate TRICARE cost-share increases, or barriers to accessing care in the military health system or through the VA.

 PRESERVE the pay earned by those in uniform, to include scheduled pay increases, and established concurrent receipt provisions and eligibility.

 PREVENT burdensome delays in VA claims processing and/or reduction of earned VA benefits.

 DEFEND the veterans and military spouses who continue their service in the federal government  and other federal employees who serve veterans.

MOAA supports work toward an efficient, effective, and capable federal system, to include any reforms resulting in greater support for our all-volunteer force and veterans of all ages and disability levels. But without thoughtful review and implementation, our nation risks breaking promises and faith with the wider military and veteran community  a risk that weakens our national defense for generations.

We are grateful for the collective, bipartisan progress made on behalf of the uniformed services community in recent years to maintain earned benefits and improve the quality of life for those who serve and have served, along with their families and their survivors. We look forward to continuing our work with administration officials, lawmakers, and our MOAA members to ensure our unified voice remains heard.

About MOAA: The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) is the nation's largest and most influential military service organization and one of the largest veterans service organizations. It is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization. With 350,000 members from every branch of service  including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, and former officers and their families  MOAA is a powerful force speaking for a strong national defense and protecting earned pay and benefits. MOAA represents the interests of our currently serving, service retirees, and veterans, as well as their families, caregivers, and survivors.

SOURCE Military Officers Association of America
Introducing Multi-Sensory Installation in the Next Evolution of Olfactory Artistry

NEW YORK, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MIND GAMES, the avant-garde luxury fragrance house, expands its partnership with Saks Global luxury retailer Neiman Marcus through an immersive visual installation in the luxury retailer's NorthPark store that will include experiential customer programming.

MIND GAMES at Neiman Marcus North Park

Since its exclusive debut at Neiman Marcus in 2022, MIND GAMES has continued to push the boundaries of luxury perfumery. The multi-sensory installation at the Neiman Marcus NorthPark store further brings the precision of chess to life alongside the artistry of perfumery. The result is an immersive experience that reflects the brand's commitment to innovation.

"Our partnership with Neiman Marcus has redefined how luxury fragrance is discovered," says Alex Shalbaf, Founder of MIND GAMES and CEO of The Fragrance Group. "This activation invites guests to engage with scent in a completely new waywhere strategy, storytelling and sensory immersion converge."

"We are excited for our customers to deepen their experiences in the world of MIND GAMES," says Tatiana Birkelund, VP, GBM, Beauty, Jewelry & Home, Neiman Marcus. "MIND GAMES continues to push the boundaries of scent artistry. We're bringing our customers expertly crafted fragrances through an immersive experience that captures the essence of the brand's visionary approach to perfumery."

Open now through May 5, the Neiman Marcus NorthPark installation revolutionizes fragrance discovery, offering a unique multisensory exploration in which customers can explore the raw materials behind MIND GAMES' most beloved scents. By experiencing the materials in their purest formsmelling each note individually before encountering the full compositionfragrance enthusiasts are able to embark on a truly transformative journey.

As part of this experience, MIND GAMES will also spotlight its Perfumer Extraordinaire collection. This collection offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look into fragrance creation, with each bottle accompanied by two lab samples of the raw ingredients featured in the composition.

Mentor  A rich, sophisticated scent blending salted caramel, Italian lemon, and dark plum with coffee, creme de cassis, and sandalwood.

Prodigy  A refined, modern fragrance featuring bergamot, cinnamon, and rose milk layered over creamy caffe latte, patchouli, and blonde woods.

To celebrate the partnership, customers and friends of the two brands will soon gather in the installation space at an exclusive event to explore the brand's latest creations. The celebrations will continue with additional events, expert-led fragrance masterclasses and curated moments to further deepen the connection between scent and strategy for the duration of the installation.

"At MIND GAMES, every detailfrom our sculptural bottles to the intricate compositions of our fragrancesis designed to spark emotion and inspire greatness," says Marianna Shalbaf, Creative Director of MIND GAMES. "The Neiman Marcus NorthPark experience will open the complex world of perfumery to our guests and allow them to step inside the artistry of our brand, immersing themselves in the world of strategy, creativity, and scent."

Later this year, the fragrance house will also release two new fragrances, Kingside and Queenside, exclusively at Neiman Marcus. This release reinforces the brand's dedication to innovation, craftsmanship, and the fusion of strategy and scent.

For more information about MIND GAMES, visit mindgamesfragrances.com or follow @mindgamesfragrance on Instagram.

About MIND GAMES:

MIND GAMES links the complex artistry best embodied by the strategy and brilliance of chess with the innovative and hypnotic effects of perfumery. The result is an inaugural fragrance line that delivers a scent wardrobe of extreme olfactive signatures, transporting you to the crucial moments of competition in a test of character, skill, and intellect. However, MIND GAMES is not inspired by a simple game of chess but rather by the heritage, craftsmanship, and design it exemplifies. For more information, visit mindgamesfragrance.com and @mindgamesfragrance on Instagram.

About The Fragrance Group:

At The Fragrance Group, we are global creators, distributors, and licensees of luxury, artisanal fragrances. Our reputation as true collaborators has led to hand-in-glove partnerships with a full range of clients, using a comprehensive business model that takes all aspects of the retail world into account. We offer customized marketing, product development, and distribution strategies with an unparalleled level of personalized attention at every stage of the creative process. Our commitment is to connect exceptional luxury fragrances with an increasingly perceptive client through all channels of the industry. Explore our partnerships at so-avant-garde.com, and visit @fragrancegroup on Instagram, Facebook, and X for more information.

About Neiman Marcus:

Neiman Marcus is a leading luxury retailer that provides a curated product assortment, unparalleled services, and exclusive activations for customers in Pursuit of the Extraordinary. It is known for creating the Neiman Marcus magic through exceptional customer experiences including the Neiman Marcus Awards, Fantasy Gifts, seasonal campaigns and retail-tainment initiatives. Neiman Marcus has a rich history as a brand builder, bringing together the world's top luxury designers and customers to foster a dedicated following for generations. It serves customers across its 36 stores, digital channels and through remote selling. It is part of Saks Global's portfolio of world-class luxury retailers and real estate assets. For more information on the latest news and events at Neiman Marcus, visit neimanmarcus.com or follow the brand on Instagram and YouTube.

About Saks Global:

Saks Global is a combination of world-class luxury retailers, including Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks OFF 5TH, as well as a portfolio of prime U.S. real estate holdings and investments. Saks Global is deeply committed to helping luxury consumers discover the most sought-after established and emerging brands from around the world. Powered by data-driven technology and centered on the customer, Saks Global is on a mission to redefine the luxury shopping experience through highly personalized service, with greater opportunities for product discovery across all channels.

SOURCE Mind Games
Pioneering brain health company opens Crowdcube campaign to fund the world's first consumer MEG brain scanning centres

LONDON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - MYndspan , the first company to bring clinical-grade Magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain scanning directly to consumers, has launched its equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube. Backed by strategic partnerships with neurotech leaders MEGIN, IMEDCO, Bios Health and Re:Cognition Health, MYndspan is unlocking access to the most advanced, non-invasive measure of brain function, starting at its flagship London centre.

Invest here gain early access to your own brain scan and invest in MYndspan's London launch.

MYndspan's mission is clear: to make cutting-edge brain scanning accessible beyond hospitals, clinics and research labs. MEG captures real-time brain activity with millisecond accuracy, providing unmatched insights into brain aging, cognitive performance, and neural health, all non-invasively. "MEG is the gold standard for measuring brain function, and until now, it's been locked away in research labs," said Caitlin Baltzer, Co-Founder and CEO of MYndspan. "We're bringing it to the public."

Invest in the Future of Preventive Medicine

Cognitive decline is the world's leading cause of poor health, costing the global economy $2.5 trillion annually . Dementia cases are expected to triple by 2050 , but research shows up to 45% are preventable with early detection and intervention.

MYndspan's approach fills a critical gap in brain health diagnostics, offering the most precise, real-time brain scan available for tracking early changes in brain function.

Through this Crowdcube campaign, investors can:

Own equity in the first company to offer consumer MEG brain scanning

Back a platform at the intersection of neuroscience, AI, and personalized wellness

Support the global rollout of MYndspan brain health centers

Gain early access to scan bookings, product innovations, and exclusive perks

"This isn't just an investment in MYndspan, it's an investment in the future of brain health," added Baltzer. "We've made it simple, fast, and accessible."

A Life-Changing 45-Minute Appointment

Each MYndspan session combines advanced neuroscience with an accessible, non-invasive experience. The appointment includes a silent 10-minute MEG brain scan, free from radiation, noise or discomfort, alongside gamified cognitive assessments designed to evaluate attention, memory, and processing speed.

The result is a personalized report delivered within 24 hours, offering deep insight into how the brain is functioning, with metrics such as:

Functional Brain Age  Is your brain aging faster than it should?

 Is your brain aging faster than it should? Brain Stability Index  Your brain's unique connectivity fingerprint

Brainwave Mapping  Tracks attention, relaxation, and stress

Neural Network Analysis  Insight into executive function and mental health

Strategic Partnerships to Scale MEG Accessibility

To bring this breakthrough technology to the public, MYndspan is working with global leaders in neuroimaging and clinical care:

MEGIN  Developer of the world's leading MEG systems, used at Oxford and Cambridge

and IMEDCO  Global leader in shielded room infrastructure essential for MEG operation

BIOS Health - Leader in real-time neural data analysis, enabling precision neuroscience at scale through advanced data infrastructure

Re:Cognition Health  Premier brain health clinic network integrating MYndspan into clinical pathways for dementia, TBI, PTSD, and more

"These partnerships unlock the infrastructure we need to scale, from London to clinics across the UK and beyond," Baltzer said. "Our Crowdcube campaign invites everyone to be part of it."

Be among the first to scan your brain and support the launch of MYndspan in London: Invest here.

About MYndspan:

MYndspan is on a mission to improve access to preventive and proactive brain health and is the first company in the world to bring non-invasive Magnetoencephalography (MEG) technology directly to the consumer. MEG is typically only accessible in research and specialist clinical settings and is the most advanced method of recording and evaluating the brain while it is actively functioning.

MYndspan's brain health assessment technology is informed by 35 years of research and 300+ peer-reviewed studies, and its goal is to become a necessary preventive health measure to support better brain health for all, including the early detection of neurodegenerative conditions and functional abnormalities from invisible traumatic brain injuries and disorders such as depression and PTSD.

www.myndspan.com

SOURCE MYndspan
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a signing ceremony Tuesday in Bangladesh's capital city of Dhaka, NASA congratulates Bangladesh as the 54th nation to commit to the safe and responsible exploration of space that benefits humanity.

On April 8, 2025, Bangladesh became the 54th nation to sign the accords. The commitments of the Artemis Accords and efforts by the signatories to advance implementation of these principles support the safe and sustainable exploration of space. Credit: NASA

"We are thrilled by Bangladesh's signature of the Accords," said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. "Bangladesh affirms its role in shaping the future of space exploration. This is about ensuring that our journey to the Moon  and beyond  is peaceful, sustainable, and transparent. We look forward to working together, to learning from one another, and to seeing how Bangladesh's incredible talent and vision contribute to humanity's next great chapter in space."

Ashraf Uddin, the secretary of defense for Bangladesh, signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of the country. Charge d'Affaires Tracey Jacobson for the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, participated in the event, and Petro contributed remarks in a pre-recorded video message.

"Bangladesh's commitment to the Artemis Accords will enhance the country's engagement with NASA and the international community," said Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus. "By signing the accords, Bangladesh builds upon an important foundation for the open, responsible and peaceful exploration of space."

In 2020, the United States, led by NASA and the U.S. Department of State, and seven other initial signatory nations established the Artemis Accords, a first-ever set of practical guidelines for nations to increase safety of operations and reduce risk and uncertainty in their civil exploration activities. That group of signatories has grown to more than 50 countries today.

The Artemis Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements, including the Registration Convention and the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices for responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data.

Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/

SOURCE NASA
Emerging biotechnology is key for U.S. to remain dominant and secure future economic growth in a new era of global competition.

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology delivered its major report and action plan to Congress. The Commission's top assessment is that urgent Congressional action is needed to bring the full weight of American innovation to bear on the biotechnology challenge and maintain U.S. global leadership in this transformative area.

Read the report here: www.biotech.senate.gov/final-report

For decades, the U.S. has been the global leader in biotechnology innovation. Now, the Commission finds that the U.S. is dangerously close to falling behind China.

"The United States is locked in a competition with China that will define the coming century. Biotechnology is the next phase in that competition. It is no longer constrained to the realm of scientific achievement. It is now an imperative for national security, economic power, and global influence. Biotechnology can ensure our warfighters continue to be the strongest fighting force on tomorrow's battlefields, and reshore supply chains while revitalizing our manufacturing sector, creating jobs here at home." -NSCEB Chair Senator Todd Young

The Commission reports that the United States' growing dependence on China for numerous critical supply chain elements is a national security vulnerability. Biotechnology can be the key to increasing supply chain security, resilience, and scalability, by allowing the U.S. to control its own access to critical components.

"Technology is not inherently good or bad, but who uses it matters. Biotechnology can have tremendous potential for good or tremendous potential for harm. The Chinese government has made biotechnology a strategic national priority for 20 years. The U.S. must reassert our global leadership to remedy this strategic weakness. We must be the ones driving the standards for how biotechnology is developed and used" -NSCEB Vice Chair Dr. Michelle Rozo

The Commission finds that emerging biotechnology is rapidly advancing, and the impact of biotechnology innovation already extends far beyond health, touching industries from agriculture and infrastructure, to manufacturing and defense. The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology is accelerating this impact.

"Biotechnology holds immense potential to transform numerous key sectors of our economy and will create good paying jobs at all skill levels in agriculture, health care, defense, industrial manufacturing, and more. I am proud to be part of this commission that is ensuring the United States maintains our national security and economic competitive advantages as biotechnology grows across industries." -NSCEB Commissioner Senator Alex Padilla

The Commission reports that biotechnology will drive the next wave of battlefield innovation, used to secure supply chains, enhance readiness, streamline logistics, improve resilience, and counter biological threats before they emerge.

"As emerging technologies transform the national security landscape, both the United States and our adversaries are gaining new capabilities. The United States must take the lead in biotechnology and propel us ahead of China in the 21st century." -NSCEB Commissioner Representative Stephanie Bice

The Commission's assessment is that the future of American biotechnology leadership is only possible through strategic federal action that encourages innovation by spurring private investment. This includes targeted investments and strategic government reforms to reduce regulatory bottlenecks.

"We must embolden the best and brightest in biotechnology to innovate boldly. American ingenuity is stifled by outdated regulations in this sector. Only Congress can open the door to the American-led biotechnological future." -NSCEB Commissioner Representative Ro Khanna

The Commission's report lays out six pillars for action and makes 49 recommendations. Full details can be found at www.biotech.senate.gov/final-report

Pillar 1 : Prioritize biotechnology at the national level

: Prioritize biotechnology at the national level Pillar 2 : Mobilize the private sector to get U.S. products to scale

: Mobilize the private sector to get U.S. products to scale Pillar 3: Maximize the benefits of biotechnology for defense

Maximize the benefits of biotechnology for defense Pillar 4 : Out-innovate our strategic competitors

: Out-innovate our strategic competitors Pillar 5: Build the biotechnology workforce of the future

Build the biotechnology workforce of the future Pillar 6: Mobilize the collective strengths of our allies and partners

Scheduling note:

HASC Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation hearing on: Final Report of the National Security Commission for Emerging Biotechnology

Witnesses: NSCEB Chair Young and Vice Chair Rozo

Date/Time: Tuesday, April 8th at 4:00pm ET

About NSCEB: The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology is a time-limited, high-impact legislative branch advisory entity whose purpose is to advance and secure biotechnology, biomanufacturing, and associated technologies for U.S. national security and to prepare the United States for the biorevolution. The Commission published a comprehensive report in April 2025, including recommendations for action by Congress and the federal government. The bipartisan Commission is composed of Congressionally-appointed Commissioners with members from both the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as experts from industry, academia, and government. For more information about the Commission and to view the report, visit https:// biotech.senate.gov.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology
DENVER, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Optiv, the cyber advisory and solutions leader, announced today that it has received the 2025 Google Cloud Security Partner of the Year Award for North America.

Optiv is recognized for its achievements in the Google Cloud ecosystem, helping joint customers combine the speed and scale of Google Cloud's technological capabilities with Optiv's deep expertise across all cybersecurity domains  prioritizing the ability to reduce risk in an increasingly volatile cyber threat landscape.

"Google Cloud's Partner Awards recognize partners who have created outsized value for customers through the delivery of innovative solutions and a high level of expertise," said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "We're proud to announce Optiv as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner Award winner and celebrate their impact enabling customer success over the past year."

The Google Cloud Partner of the Year Award builds on the companies' existing relationship and aims to further innovate on security operations for data efficacy, integration and analytics, cloud migrations, threat intelligence, and generative AI levers to improve clients' security posture and cyber resilience.

"Strong, meaningful partnerships  such as the one with Google Cloud  are a catalyst for mutual growth and success," said Scott Goree, Senior Vice President of Partnerships, Alliances and Ecosystems at Optiv. "This award speaks to our collaborative commitment toward data-driven results while focusing on a client-first approach that best positions them to combat the evolving attack surface."

Optiv's partnership with Google Cloud brings clients scalable security operations solutions, incident response and remediation, end-to-end SecOps transformation and third-party solutions through Google Cloud Marketplace.

For the latest news and updates from Optiv, visit https://www.optiv.com/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.
Burlington, Wash. and MONTREAL, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Woodtech Corporation (PWT) and Domtar are pleased to announce the long-term extension of their multi-year strategic distribution agreement that will secure their market position and provide a full bundle solution to customers. This partnership unites PWT's industry-leading brand and customer reach with Domtar's extensive raw material supply and premier I-joist manufacturing capabilities, ensuring a seamless supply chain from tree to finished product.

Under the agreement, Domtar will manufacture I-joists at its engineered wood facilities, which PWT will distribute under the PWT brand. This collaboration enables both companies to expand their market presence while providing customers with a comprehensive, high-quality EWP product portfolio.

"This partnership marks a significant step forward for both PWT and Domtar," said Jim Enright, CEO of PWT. "By combining our strengths, we can offer a full bundle solution to our customers, supporting their growth while delivering the highest quality engineered wood products for the long term."

"The extension of our strategic partnership with PWT marks a major milestone for both companies. By combining Domtar's strategic access to quality fiber and state-of-the-art I-joist manufacturing expertise with PWT's engineered wood products portfolio, distribution network, and technical know-how, we are uniquely positioned to be the partner of choice for our customers," said Luc Theriault, President of Domtar's Wood Products business unit.

This alliance underscores the shared commitment of PWT and Domtar to long-standing collaboration, ensuring that customers benefit from enhanced product availability, reliability, and service. By leveraging their combined expertise and resources, the two companies are well-positioned to drive innovation and deliver superior engineered wood solutions to the market.

About PWT

PWT is a leading manufacturer of engineered wood products, committed to delivering high-quality solutions to its customers. With a focus on innovation and sustainability, PWT continues to set the standard in the industry. To learn more, visit www.pwtewp.com, or follow along on social media.

About Domtar

Domtar is a leading, privately held manufacturer of diversified forest products, with a workforce of about 14,000 employees in more than 60 locations across North America. The company has an annual production capacity of 9.1 million metric tons of pulp, paper, packaging and tissue, and approximately 3 billion board feet of lumber and other wood products. Formerly known as the Paper Excellence Group, Domtar is comprised of legacy businesses Paper Excellence, Domtar and Resolute Forest Products.

Domtar prides itself on operational excellence, delivering sustainable, high-quality and cost-effective products to meet and exceed customer needs globally. The company is committed to turning sustainable wood fiber into everyday essential products. For more information, visit Domtar.com

SOURCE PWT
MARLBOROUGH, Mass., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantiphi , an AI-first digital engineering company, today announced Google Cloud has recognized it as 2025 Google Cloud Partner of the Year in four categories for demonstrating excellence in leveraging the Google Cloud ecosystem to deliver cutting-edge solutions and driving innovation for customers across the globe.

Quantiphi was named 2025 Google Cloud Artificial Intelligence Partner of the Year for North America, Country Partner of the Year in Singapore, Industry Solutions Partner of the Year for Gaming, and Talent Development Partner of the Year for North America.

"Winning four Google Cloud Partner awards is an incredible testimony to our decade-long journey of making enterprise-wide data and AI-led transformation practical and scalable," Quantiphi Co-Founder Asif Hasan said. "Seeing our customers achieve outcomes that were previously impossible - whether it's revolutionizing product development, enabling human-like customer interactions, or modernizing legacy applications and systems, we're able to do this at unprecedented rates leveraging Google Cloud's fully integrated technology stack."

Quantiphi Global Head of Google Cloud Saurabh Mishra said through its expanded strategic partnership with Google, the company continues to invest in global and industry-specific growth.

"The Country Partner of the Year Award for Singapore reflects the deep local expertise and impact we are driving in the Southeast Asia market," Mishra said. "In the gaming industry, we are helping enterprises better understand their players, enhance in-game engagement and unlock new revenue streams. We are continuously investing in credentialing our developers and building world-class talent to accelerate enterprise transformation. We are honored to receive this recognition and remain dedicated to driving innovation together."

"Google Cloud's Partner Awards recognize partners who have created outsized value for customers through the delivery of innovative solutions and a high level of expertise," said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem, Google Cloud. "We're proud to announce Quantiphi as a 2025 Google Cloud Partner Award winner and celebrate their impact enabling customer success over the past year."

Learn more about Quantiphi's award-winning AI enterprise solutions with Google Cloud here .

About Quantiphi

Quantiphi is an award-winning AI-first digital engineering company driven by the desire to reimagine and realize transformational opportunities at the heart of business. Since its inception in 2013, Quantiphi has solved the toughest and most complex business problems by combining deep industry experience, disciplined cloud and data engineering practices, and cutting-edge artificial intelligence research to achieve accelerated and quantifiable business results. Learn more at Quantiphi.com and follow us on Linkedin , X, formerly Twitter and Instagram .

Media Contact:

H. Mayes

[email protected]

Quantiphi Newsroom

SOURCE Quantiphi
For hi-res assets, click HERE

LAS VEGAS, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Resorts World Las Vegas announced the appointment of casino industry veteran Greg Shulman as Executive Vice President of International Marketing, effective March 17. With over 30 years of experience in the gaming industry, Shulman brings extensive player development and marketing expertise. His appointment adds to leadership's long-term growth strategy of expanding the international presence and establishing Resorts World Las Vegas as a premier destination.

"Greg's impressive career in the gaming industry is a testament to his leadership and relationships all over the globe," said Carlos Castro, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Resorts World Las Vegas. "He is widely regarded as one of the top player development executives in the industry, and we are thrilled to welcome him to our team as we continue to elevate our brand and expand our market reach."

Shulman will lead Resorts World Las Vegas' international casino marketing strategy, with a focus on high-end player development. He brings a wealth of experience to this role, having been a key member of the opening team at the Bellagio, where he held the title of Executive Director of Marketing. Shulman later was appointed Vice President of Casino Marketing & Hospitality for MGM Resorts International. He later returned to the Bellagio as Vice President of International Marketing under the MGM Resorts portfolio, helping successfully attract high-profile VIP clientele from key global markets, an area of focus he will continue to prioritize in his new position at Resorts World Las Vegas.

Most recently, Shulman served as the Vice President of Casino Marketing for Palms Casino Resort, where he led enhancements to player development and guest relations. Shulman briefly departed the Vegas area to spearhead New Mexico's Sandia Resort & Casino reopening efforts as Chief Operating Officer. Under his leadership, the resort reopened and achieved record profitability.

Resorts World Las Vegas Board Chairman Jim Murren added, "Greg has a proven track record of executing marketing strategies that attract new audiences and drive financial growth. We are excited for Greg to continue expanding our global casino marketing efforts here at Resorts World Las Vegas, and we are confident he will be instrumental in supporting our ongoing success and development."

"I am excited to embark on the next chapter of my career at Resorts World Las Vegas and contribute to the company's success as we look to accelerate our growth in the International VIP player market," said Shulman. "In the few years since its opening, Resorts World Las Vegas has already become a popular destination for guests from around the world, and I look forward to working alongside the leadership team to further expand our presence at home and abroad."

For more information about Resorts World Las Vegas, please visit www.rwlasvegas.com.

About Resorts World Las Vegas

Resorts World Las Vegas LLC is the owner and operator of Resorts World Las Vegas (RWLV), a world-class integrated resort with over 3,500 hotel rooms and suites, and includes a multitude of gaming, convention, retail, food, beverage, and entertainment amenities. Located on approximately 86 acres on the northern end of the Strip, RWLV brings state-of-the-art technology and distinctive entertainment and experiential amenities to Las Vegas. Additionally, the Resort has over 42 acres of undeveloped land, which offers significant growth potential which few of its peers can match.

Resorts World Las Vegas LLC is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Genting Berhad, an investment holding and management company focused predominantly on the global gaming and hospitality industry. The Genting Group has a track record of close to six decades relating to sourcing, developing and operating integrated resorts in various parts of the world, including in highly rated and regulated jurisdictions such as Malaysia, Singapore, the U.K., the United States and the Bahamas. The Genting Group comprises Genting Berhad (KLSE: Genting) and its listed companies including Genting Malaysia Berhad (KLSE: GENM), Genting Plantations Berhad (KLSE: GENP) and Genting Singapore Limited (SGX: G13), as well as principal unlisted subsidiaries Genting Energy Limited and Resorts World Las Vegas LLC.

SOURCE Resorts World Las Vegas
GTF capacity to increase to 450 shop visits annually

EAST HARTFORD, Conn., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney, an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business, and Delta Air Lines ("Delta") today announced an agreement to expand GTF overhaul capacity at Delta TechOps' Atlanta facility over the next decade. Under the agreement, the facility's annual capacity will increase by more than 30 percent with the ability to overhaul up to 450 engines per year, making it one of the largest member facilities in the Pratt & Whitney GTF MRO network.

"Increasing MRO output is a top priority for Pratt & Whitney and our customers as we work to return engines to service as quickly as possible, and this latest capacity expansion with Delta Tech Ops will help us do just that," said Marc Meredith, vice president of aftermarket for GTF engines at Pratt & Whitney. "As we both celebrate our 100-year anniversaries in 2025, it's timely that we mark the occasion by extending our relationship as Delta ramps to provide additional, integral support of the growing GTF fleet."

Delta TechOps joined the GTF MRO network in 2019 to provide maintenance services for PW1100G-JM and PW1500G engines for the Airbus A320neo and A220 aircraft families. The site inducted its first PW1100G-JM engine in 2020 and its first PW1500G engine in 2023, while also expanding its footprint to include a dedicated 155,000-square-foot GTF engine MRO facility that year. In addition to GTF MRO work, Delta TechOps provides offload support for Pratt & Whitney mature commercial engines, including the PW2000 and the PW4000-94 engines.

"We continue to invest in our MRO capabilities and capacity to uphold our position as an industry-leading MRO provider," said Mike McBride, vice president, Engines & Components at Delta TechOps. "Expanding our GTF capacity allows us to grow our technical knowhow and to continue to provide top-notch service and reliability for our fleet and our customers."

Pratt & Whitney currently powers more than 320 aircraft in Delta's fleet  more than 140 of which are either A220s or the A321neo.

The Pratt & Whitney GTF MRO network is comprised of the industry's leading MRO companies and includes 20 shops across four continents and additional sites with quick-turn capability. The GTF MRO network is part of Pratt & Whitney's EngineWise solutions, which provide engine operators with a variety of aftermarket services resulting in long-term, sustainable value.

About Pratt & Whitney

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. To learn more visit www.prattwhitney.com.

About RTX

RTX is the world's largest aerospace and defense company. With more than 185,000 global employees, we push the limits of technology and science to redefine how we connect and protect our world. Through industry-leading businesses  Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon  we are advancing aviation, engineering integrated defense systems for operational success, and developing next-generation technology solutions and manufacturing to help global customers address their most critical challenges. The company, with 2024 sales of more than $80 billion, is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

For questions or to schedule an interview, please contact [email protected].

SOURCE RTX
LONDON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The wait is over  global dry shampoo experts, COLAB has just launched its game-changing Supreme Clean dry shampoo formula, designed to deliver an enhanced clean without the cakey, heavy feel that turns so many people off from dry shampoo, with its most oil absorbing dry shampoo ever!!!

Stats suggest that 2 out of 32 people who only use dry shampoo occasionally, say the reason they don't use it more often is because they hate how it feels in their hair. After rigorous research, development and consumer testing, that changes today.

COLAB's latest dry shampoo innovation, Supreme Clean (PRNewsfoto/COLAB Dry Shampoo)

COLAB Supreme Clean is here to fix the biggest issue in the categorygiving you our best oil-absorbing power, whilst leaving hair feeling lightweight.

And we've got the receipts: We put COLAB Supreme Clean to the test against the number one dry shampoo brand, and the results are inpeople overwhelmingly preferred how it felt in their hair! Just fresh, grease free hair without the cakey, heavy feel!

In fact, when we asked consumers over 80%3 said they would swap their regular dry shampoo to new COLAB Supreme Clean. The 18 months of detailed research and development has certainly paid off.

Why You'll Love It:

Maximum oil absorption : delivering all-day freshness and confidence.

: delivering all-day freshness and confidence. Beautifully fragranced: Smells like freshly washed hair  all day, every day.

Smells like freshly washed hair  all day, every day. Vitamin E Enriched: Nourishes your scalp.

Nourishes your scalp. Weightless Freshness: Super clean hair without the heavy, cakey feel.

Super clean hair without the heavy, cakey feel. Dermatologically Tested: Vegan & cruelty free.

What People Are Saying4:

- "It actually feels like nothing is in my hair  just clean and fresh!"

- "My hair has volume and looks amazing without the weird chalky feel."

- "It smells so good and works instantly. Total game-changer!"

Now available at Walmart, CVS and Meijer

1Compared to COLAB Original.

2Attest Dry Shampoo Survey June 2024

3Independent USA Consumer User Trials 2024

4Bazaarvoice Reviews 2025

About COLAB Dry Shampoo

COLAB is run by a collective of cosmetic scientists & creative haircare innovators. We have over a decade of dry shampoo expertise from our base in Cheltenham, UK. Our mission is to create 'great hair days on demand' for our consumer, who is looking for instant results & convenience.

We believe that beauty should be fun and affordable, whilst never compromising on quality.

As experts in Dry Shampoo, COLAB has long demonstrated its reputation in bringing innovation to the category and meeting the needs of its global consumers, and has built a loyal community on social media, as the most followed Dry Shampoo brand on TikTok with over 440k followers and over 340 million likes on #lovecolab.

COLAB disrupted the category as the first brand ever on the market to create an invisible, 'white-residue free' formula, as well as innovators in overnight formulas with 'COLAB Overnight Renew'.

The core range is backed by dermatological testing and is independently tested on consumer panels. The range is available in over 35,000 points of distribution, across a range of international retailer outlets including Walmart, Target, CVS, Kroger, Feel Unique, Sainsburys, Amazon, Kruidvat, Hebe, Di, Muller, Manor, Olive Young, Woolworths, Chemist Warehouse, and many more.

COLAB was launched in 2014 by SLG Brands, a global beauty brand owner and incubation platform partner who has developed and launched some of the most exciting, vibrant and authentic beauty brands available around the world; consistently demonstrating their capabilities as agile, quick movers to trends, consumer movements and changing technologies.

www.colab-hair.com

Instagram

TikTok - Make Your Day

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2660045/COLAB_Dry_Shampoo.jpg

SOURCE COLAB Dry Shampoo
DENVER, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SDR Ventures, a leading investment bank, is pleased to announce the addition of Rick Ambrose, former Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Space. Ambrose has joined SDR Ventures as a Strategic Advisor, bringing decades of expertise in business transformation, operational excellence, and leadership in the aerospace and defense industries.

With over 40 years of experience, Ambrose has built a reputation for turning businesses around, driving strategic growth, and fostering innovation. During his tenure at Lockheed Martin, he led one of the world's most advanced space technology divisions, overseeing satellite development, national security programs, and commercial space initiatives. Ambrose has also driven tremendous expansion during his time with Raytheon and Hughes Aircraft company.

"Rick's proven track record in transforming businesses and driving innovation aligns perfectly with SDR Ventures' mission to provide strategic guidance to companies looking to grow," said Geoff Eliason, SDR Ventures CEO-Principal . "His trajectory at the helm of Lockheed Martin Space, coupled with his ability to optimize operations and drive scalable growth, makes him an invaluable addition to our aerospace and defense team."

At SDR Ventures, Ambrose will leverage his expertise to help businesses navigate complex challenges, optimize operational efficiencies, and identify strategic growth opportunities. His insights will be particularly beneficial for companies in aerospace, defense, technology, and advanced manufacturing, where his deep industry knowledge and leadership experience can drive meaningful impact.

"I am excited to join SDR Ventures and support businesses that are looking to scale, innovate, and create lasting value," said Ambrose. "These businesses represent a critical engine of economic growth, and I look forward to helping our clients unlock their full potential through strategic planning and execution."

This move reinforces SDR Ventures' commitment to delivering world-class advisory services by bringing in top-tier industry leaders who can help businesses navigate transitions, capitalize on opportunities, and achieve sustainable growth  all with a personal touch.

Media Contact: Geoff Eliason; [email protected]

SOURCE SDR Ventures
Seertech scales customer-focused innovation with new executive hires, expanded capabilities, and major customer wins across industries.

DENVER, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Seertech Solutions, the global leader in learning enablement, continues its strong growth trajectory by adding major global brand customers and investing in its C-suite, reinforcing Seertech's position as the premier platform for scalable, extended enterprise learning.

Seertech Solutions continues strong global growth with major brand wins and C-suite investments, reinforcing its leadership in scalable, extended enterprise learning.

The company's new go-to-market (GTM) strategy has driven a 200%+ increase in YoY bookings and is being driven by a revitalized management team following the appointment of key executives, Brad Swingruber, Chief Revenue Officer and Diane Jennings, Chief Customer Officer. To better support customers facing complex workforce development challenges, Seertech has expanded its investments in customer success, sales, marketing, product alignment, and AI to grow its presence in key markets.

"Seertech has always been defined by our ability to listen, anticipate, and adapt to the needs of our customers to either save them money or give them a competitive edge," said Seertech CEO and founder, Paul Hardwick. "Our investments in talent, technology, and customer partnerships reflect our commitment to not only keeping pace with industry shifts but actively shaping the future of workforce learning."

Seertech Adds Global Brands Across Aviation, Health, Manufacturing, and Professional Services

In recent months, Seertech has welcomed several iconic brands to its customer community, including Etihad Aviation, Alira Health, Analog Devices, Emirates Flight Catering, Al Ghurair, Woodward, and one of the world's leading tax preparation services. These organizations represent a range of industries united by a shared need: to deliver flexible, scalable learning experiences aligned with real business outcomes.

Etihad Aviation recently launched its new Airport Training eCommerce platform with Seertech to expand training access across its extended enterprise, enabling both individuals and partner organizations to train efficiently. Citing "unparalleled flexibility and training accessibility" and a "streamlined digital experience tailored for individuals and organizations," a representative from Etihad shared: "Innovation drives us forward  and this new platform is just the beginning of a smarter, faster way to upskill teams."

Analog also emphasized Seertech's ability to meet sophisticated industry requirements. "We chose Seertech based on the flexibility of the system to meet the complexity of our needs," said Jamie Mumm, Engineering Manager, Analog Devices. "Learning management in the semiconductor industry is time consuming and cumbersome and  with Seertech  employees have the ability to manage their own success."

These customer partnerships demonstrate a growing demand for Seertech's unique value proposition: its ability to unify disparate systems, support advanced eCommerce models, and deliver compliance-ready functionality  all within a single, highly configurable solution. This enables customers not only to streamline operations but also to monetize learning and unlock new revenue streams. By aligning learning enablement with broader business strategy, Seertech transforms training into a strategic growth engine.

Looking Ahead

With a customer-driven roadmap and ongoing investment in GTM strategy, product innovation, and customer success, Seertech is well-positioned to help organizations solve today's workforce challenges. The company will host its upcoming regional Customer Advisory Board (CAB) Summits in Raleigh, London, and Sydney to deepen collaboration with its global customer community and inform innovation.

Seertech recently hosted an exclusive product tour that's now available to explore and will share more about its learning enablement innovations at the CLN Learning Conference and ATD25.

About Seertech Solutions

Seertech Solutions is a global leader in learning enablement, helping organizations turn learning into measurable business success. Our highly configurable platform unifies LMS and LXP capabilities, replacing an average of seven disparate systems to deliver scalable workforce development, compliance training, and skills growth.

With Seertech, organizations can extend enterprise learning, ensure critical compliance, and unlock new revenue streams through Content as a Service (CaaS). Trusted by over 3 million users in 190 countries and 39 languages, our customer-driven approach ensures adaptability to evolving business needs  now and in the future. Want to learn more? Talk to us.

SOURCE Seertech Solutions
MECHANICSBURG, Pa., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Select Medical Holdings Corporation ("Select Medical") (NYSE: SEM), will release the financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2025 on Thursday, May 1, 2025 after the market closes.

Select Medical will host a conference call regarding its first quarter results, as well as its business outlook, on Friday, May 2, 2025, at 9:00am ET. The conference call will be a live webcast and can be accessed at via this Earnings Call Webcast Link or via link at Select Medical Holdings Corporation's website at www.selectmedicalholdings.com. A replay of the webcast will be available shortly after the call through the same link.

For listeners wishing to dial-in via telephone, or participate in the question and answer session, you may pre-register for the call at Select Medical Earnings Call Registration to obtain your dial-in number and unique passcode for the call.

Select Medical is one of the largest operators of critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, and outpatient rehabilitation clinics in the United States based on the number of facilities. Select Medical's reportable segments include the critical illness recovery hospital segment, the rehabilitation hospital segment, and the outpatient rehabilitation segment. As of March 31, 2025, Select Medical operated 104 critical illness recovery hospitals in 29 states, 35 rehabilitation hospitals in 14 states, and 1,911 outpatient rehabilitation clinics in 39 states and the District of Columbia. At March 31, 2025, Select Medical had operations in 41 states and the District of Columbia. Information about Select Medical is available at www.selectmedical.com.

Investor inquiries:

Joel T. Veit

Senior Vice President and Treasurer

717-972-1100

[email protected]

SOURCE Select Medical Holdings Corporation
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sierra Northern Railway (SERA) announced today at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) conference in Denver, Colorado, that it successfully completed testing of the first four-axle hydrogen-fueled, zero-emission switching locomotive on March 27, 2025, in West Sacramento, California.

Sierra Northern Railway (SERA) announced it successfully completed testing of the first four-axle hydrogen-fueled, zero-emission switching locomotive on March 27, 2025, in West Sacramento, California.

Kennan H. Beard III, President of Sierra Northern Railway stated, "This accomplishment marks another major milestone in Sierra's mission to bring Hydrogen Powered Zero Emission Switcher Locomotives within commercial reach for the short line industry. Both in California and around the world."

The demonstration of this Hydrogen Powered Zero Emission Switcher Locomotive was funded through a $4,000,000 grant to fund the design, integration, and demonstration of a hydrogen fuel cell switching locomotive from the California Energy Commission (CEC) and administered through GTI Energy.

"Sierra's successful test proves that short lines can retire pre-tier 0 to tier 4 diesel locomotives and replace them with a Hydrogen Powered Zero Emission Switcher Locomotives using our advanced hydrogen powered units," said Beard.

Demonstration and validation of Sierra Northern Railways Hydrogen Powered Zero Emission Switcher Locomotive establishes a platform for widespread commercialization in the immediate future. Short line and switching locomotives account for a significant share of the total locomotive energy use within the State of California as they carry a significant portion of freight in California and operate on the first and last miles of the national freight network. This makes short-line operations an excellent testbed for the demonstration of zero-emission technologies and a key to decarbonizing transportation emissions.

Video of this historic event can be found on Sierra Northern Railway (SERA) website: http://sierranorthern.com

This demonstration will start to facilitate the improvement of local air quality, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, noise, and odor for the communities that have a short line in their community. Most switcher locomotives in California use an average of approximately 50,000 gallons per year per switcher, potentially leading to a reduction of more than 12 million gallons of diesel per year. This is approximately equivalent to the same amount of fuel used each year by 20,000 light-duty vehicles.

"Sierra Northern Railway is proud that we will continue to lead the industry with low emission switching solutions as we continue to demonstrate that Sierra has achieved what the industry needs to convert to zero emission by integrating advanced hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen storage, advanced battery and systems control technologies to provide an alternative to less environmentally friendly diesel-powered locomotives." stated Beard.

In addition to the funds received by the California Energy Commission, Sierra's funding partners include: The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality District, SoCalGas and the Low Carbon Resource Initiative. Project Partners include: GTI Energy, Velocity Strategies, Railpower Tech, WHA International, Inc., OptiFuel Systems, Ballard Power Systems, UC Riverside and Valley Vision.

Next Actions for Sierra Northern Railway

Sierra Northern Railway has already started the process to build three additional zero emission hydrogen fueled switching locomotive from funding it was awarded from the State of California, California State Transportation Agency, Port and Freight Infrastructure Project Funding through a public-private partnership with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. The total project cost will be approximately $19,500,000 to expand on its current efforts by developing, demonstrating, and testing three additional hydrogen-fueled, zero-emissions switcher locomotives. The testing will be conducted on the soon to be constructed test track in Sierra's West Sacramento rail yard. When this project is completed in quarter four of 2027, it will expand the Sierra's Hydrogen Zero Emission Switching Locomotive Fleet to a total of four locomotives and will help Sierra lead the way to eventually convert the entire Sierra fleet to hydrogen powered zero-emission switchers as well as all 260+ switchers in California to a Sierra Hydrogen Powered Zero Emission Switcher Locomotive.

Sierra Northern Railway (SERA): Sierra Northern Railway is the freight division of privately owned, Sierra Railroad Company. Sierra Railroad Company is also the principal owner of Sierra Energy Corporation, which has developed a proprietary waste- to- clean hydrogen technology: FastOx gasification. Sierra Northern Railway currently operates approximately 75 miles of track in Northern California and 30 miles in Southern California through the heart of a number of the Golden State's prime industrial areas, serving a wide variety of customers, and interchanging with both BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. http://sierranorthern.com

SOURCE Sierra Northern Railway
LONDON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SoftExpert, a global provider of enterprise management software, is celebrating 30 years in business with a global rebrand, following a remarkable 25% growth in business volume in 2024. The expansion was driven by the company's strong performance in Europe, particularly in the Northern and Eastern regions. Now operating in 50 countries and serving 3 million users, this transformation strengthens the company's position as a trusted partner in business excellence and compliance solutions worldwide.

A strategic evolution for global excellence

Picture1

The rebrand reflects SoftExpert's continued evolution as a strategic partner for organizations looking to drive business growth and efficiency on a global scale. The new brand identity underscores the company's mission to enhance organizational sustainability through digital transformation, empowering businesses to achieve excellence in governance and compliance.

"By combining cutting-edge technology with deep industry expertise, we're redefining how organizations approach digital transformation and operational excellence. Our refreshed positioning reinforces our commitment to delivering scalable, innovative solutions that drive sustainable growth and long-term success for our customers worldwide", says Efrain Corleto, CMO of SoftExpert.

Strengthening industry focus and partnerships

SoftExpert's new positioning deepens its connections across key industries, including Automotive, Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals, Food & Beverage, and Manufacturing. The company's all-in-one platform seamlessly integrates with enterprise ERP systems, providing flexible process optimization solutions.

Global leaders in highly regulated industries, including automotive manufacturers and life sciences companies, rely on SoftExpert's platform to ensure compliance, governance, and operational excellence. Its solutions are especially valued in sectors where precision, regulatory adherence, and efficiency are essential to success.

As part of this initiative, SoftExpert is launching a new international partners division and expanding its global community to strengthen local market connections while delivering world-class solutions. Strategic collaborations, including a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), further enhance the company's ability to provide robust, cloud-based enterprise solutions.

About SoftExpert

SoftExpert is a global provider of enterprise management technology, combining innovation and expertise to boost organizational efficiency. Operating in over 50 countries and with 12 international subsidiaries including in the USA, UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Turkey, Australia, Brazil and Mexicothe company serves 3,000 customers and more than 3 million users worldwide. SoftExpert's all-in-one software platform offers powerful solutions for compliance, governance, and operational excellence, helping organizations achieve smart digitalization and optimized processes.

For more information about SoftExpert, visit www.softexpert.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2658480/Picture1.jpg
Sopra Steria unveils the latest edition of the Digital Banking Experience Report (DBX)

The report highlights financial well-being as a business imperative for the banking industry

With deep expertise in payments, AI, cybersecurity, and Open Finance, Sopra Steria affirms itself as a trusted partner for banks and insurers

PARIS, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sopra Steria, a major player in the European tech sector, has released the 2025 issue of the Digital Banking Experience Report (DBX), which sheds light on how financial well-being is emerging as a key differentiator in the banking industry. Amid economic uncertainty, banks are stepping up to provide customers with digital tools and services that enhance financial security, improve trust, and foster long-term engagement.

The report explores five critical areas shaping the financial sector: payments, cryptocurrencies, generative AI, data protection & privacy, and sustainability. It highlights that while digital transformation continues to accelerate, only 7% of banks report being challenge-free in their digital initiatives, with legacy systems, cyber threats, and regulatory complexities remaining hurdles to overcome.

The 6 Key Findings from the DBX 2025 Report

Financial well-being is a competitive advantage  More than half (52%) of banks are increasing their offering of digital tools and services aimed at helping customers better manage their finances. More mature banks place greater emphasis on financial well-being, integrating technology-driven solutions to enhance customer engagement.

Payments innovations are shaping consumer habits  Digital payments are growing across Europe, with 87% adoption in Germany and Italy. Banks are prioritizing investments in areas like modernising payment infrastructure using cloud-native solutions (66% already have, 32% are planning to do so) and expanding offerings like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and digital wallets. However, fraud and cybersecurity risks remain a concern, prompting a 10%+ budget increase for risk mitigation.

GenAI will reshape banking experiences

AI is becoming a core component of banking, with 47% of consumers using generative AI tools weekly. Meanwhile, banks are focusing on GenAI, but cautious. They believe the technology can have a big impact on areas like risk management, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering capabilities, delivering personalised experiences at scale, and fraud management. As a result, 61% expect to increase investment in emerging technologies by 10% or more. However, meaningful concerns exist, including how to avoid bias, ensure compliance and security, and minimise data breach and fraud risks.

Click here to read more

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1861938/5187382/Sopra_Steria_Logo.jpg

CONTACT: Aurelien Flaugnatti, [email protected]

SOURCE SOPRA STERIA
Sopra Steria unveils the latest edition of the Digital Banking Experience Report (DBX)

The report highlights financial well-being as a business imperative for the banking industry

With deep expertise in payments, AI, cybersecurity, and Open Finance, Sopra Steria affirms itself as a trusted partner for banks and insurers

PARIS, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sopra Steria, a major player in the European tech sector, has released the 2025 issue of the Digital Banking Experience Report (DBX), which sheds light on how financial well-being is emerging as a key differentiator in the banking industry. Amid economic uncertainty, banks are stepping up to provide customers with digital tools and services that enhance financial security, improve trust, and foster long-term engagement.

The report explores five critical areas shaping the financial sector: payments, cryptocurrencies, generative AI, data protection & privacy, and sustainability. It highlights that while digital transformation continues to accelerate, only 7% of banks report being challenge-free in their digital initiatives, with legacy systems, cyber threats, and regulatory complexities remaining hurdles to overcome.

The 6 Key Findings from the DBX 2025 Report

Financial well-being is a competitive advantage  More than half (52%) of banks are increasing their offering of digital tools and services aimed at helping customers better manage their finances. More mature banks place greater emphasis on financial well-being, integrating technology-driven solutions to enhance customer engagement.

Payments innovations are shaping consumer habits  Digital payments are growing across Europe, with 87% adoption in Germany and Italy. Banks are prioritizing investments in areas like modernising payment infrastructure using cloud-native solutions (66% already have, 32% are planning to do so) and expanding offerings like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and digital wallets. However, fraud and cybersecurity risks remain a concern, prompting a 10%+ budget increase for risk mitigation.

GenAI will reshape banking experiences

AI is becoming a core component of banking, with 47% of consumers using generative AI tools weekly. Meanwhile, banks are focusing on GenAI, but cautious. They believe the technology can have a big impact on areas like risk management, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering capabilities, delivering personalised experiences at scale, and fraud management. As a result, 61% expect to increase investment in emerging technologies by 10% or more. However, meaningful concerns exist, including how to avoid bias, ensure compliance and security, and minimise data breach and fraud risks.

Click here to read more

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1861938/5187382/Sopra_Steria_Logo.jpg

CONTACT: Aurelien Flaugnatti, [email protected]
Influential AI innovator is recognized for her significant impact on the growing tech company

ZURICH and NEW YORK, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Squirro, a leading enterprise GenAI platform provider, today announced that it has promoted its dynamic Chief Marketing Officer, Lauren Hawker Zafer, to the role of Chief Operating Officer. As the strategic architect and operational lead at Squirro, Hawker Zafer will play an essential role in turning the company's ambitious vision into execution.

Lauren Hawker Zafer

During her tenure as CMO over the last 15 months, Hawker Zafer has made a significant mark, shaping Squirro's brand perception as a global, innovative and award-winning company. She has become one of the AI industry's most esteemed keynote speakers and a prominent member of the Women in Tech Council. She founded and hosts Squirro's popular podcast 'Redefining AI' which has an ever growing following of 50,000 AI enthusiasts. The show explores the broader societal, economic, and political implications of AI, delivering a platform for independent and informed education. In 2024, the podcast won the prestigious New York Digital Award, while Hawker Zafer was personally recognized for her commitment to making AI accessible and understandable with a Top AI Voice badge for her contributions on LinkedIn. In July last year she also won a Squirro stellar leadership award for her leadership style, a combination of empowerment and accountability.

"Lauren's contribution to Squirro has been remarkable," commented Dr. Dorian Selz, co-founder and CEO, Squirro. "She has not only built our reputation and our education infrastructureThe Squirro Academycreated our technical documentation and established a program of insightful courses, but she also plays an influential role on the broader stage, having established herself as a prominent thought-leader in the AI sector. Lauren is among a growing group of female leaders who have smashed through the technology glass ceiling to evangelize and lead the debate on enterprise generative AI. I am delighted that I will have her by my side as we grow the company."

In her new role as COO, Lauren Hawker Zafer will act as Dr. Dorian Selz's right hand. Among her responsibilities will be driving company-wide efficiency and ensuring that innovation scales effectively while monitoring the financial health, market competitiveness, and operational excellence of the company.

"I am determined to reinforce Squirro's place as a leader in the global AI ecosystem, but it is also important to build resiliency and high performance, identify and strengthen partnerships, and grow our market share," said Lauren Hawker Zafer. "I am proud to have inspired other women and underrepresented groups to recognize the life-changing possibilities that AI and innovation deliver and intend to continue reinforcing this essential message in my new role."

About Squirro

Squirro is a global leader in enterprise-grade generative AI and graph solutions, specializing in semantic search, insights, and automation. Since its founding in 2012, the company has been at the forefront of AI innovation, empowering organizations with intelligent technology that enhances decision-making and efficiency. Headquartered in Switzerland, Squirro operates across key global markets, with offices in the United States, the UK, and Singapore.

Trusted by industry leaders such as the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, Standard Chartered Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Henkel, and Indicia Worldwide, Squirro is committed to delivering cutting-edge AI solutions. Its mission is to augment human intelligence, streamline processes, and unlock actionable insightsenabling enterprises to navigate complexity and harness the full potential of their data.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2660024/Lauren_Hawker_Zafer.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2614447/Squirro_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Squirro
SB 395 Would Protect Middle-Class Nevadans from Job Elimination, Unsafe Roads

CARSON CITY, Nev., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Teamsters testified at the Nevada state capitol to demand lawmakers in the upper chamber's Growth and Infrastructure Committee vote for Senate Bill 395 (SB 395). The bill, introduced by State Sen. James Ohrenschall (D  Las Vegas), would require a trained human safety operator behind the wheel of commercial vehicles weighing over 26,000 pounds.

"For Big Tech companies to think they can come into any state and replace the jobs of hardworking union members with this dangerous and inferior technology is an insult to professional drivers everywhere," said Peter Finn, President of Teamsters Joint Council 7. "SB 395 is critical to protecting the middle class. That is why we are demanding that Nevada lawmakers vote in favor of this legislation."

"Whenever AV regulations are introduced, the arguments that we hear from Big Tech are the same," said Tommy Blitsch, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 631 in Las Vegas. "The people pushing for this technology falsely claim their vehicles are safe and will improve our quality of life. Nothing could be further from the truth. In every city where there is widespread deployment of driverless vehicles, we have seen exactly what we all thought would happen  gridlock, stalled vehicles, and accidents."

Polling shows Americans are increasingly distrustful of AV technology, with robotaxi accidents and recalls happening across the country over the last year.

"This technology is dangerous, and it puts the life of every professional driver we represent at risk," said Chris Griswold, President of Teamsters Joint Council 42. "The Teamsters fully support SB 395 and call on all of Nevada's leaders to pass this bill into law."

The Teamsters have played a pivotal role in fighting in state houses across the country for autonomous vehicle regulation that protects workers. Beyond Nevada, the union is currently fighting for enhanced AV regulation in California, Delaware, and Texas.

Teamsters Joint Councils 7 and 42 represent over 30,000 hardworking men and women throughout Nevada. For more information, go to teamstersjc7.org or teamstersjc42.com.

Contact:

Matt McQuaid, (771) 241-0015

[email protected]

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Spain and the Birth of American Democracy: A History Symposium, with free lectures, panel discussions, displays, and activities, will profile Spanish contributions to America's freedom

Free symposium Sept. 19-20, 2025 in Washington will be the second symposium of QSSI's America&Spain250 initiative and a cornerstone event in DAR's America250 programming marking the 250th anniversary of America's founding

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, Sept. 19 and Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, Spain and the Birth of American Democracy: A History Symposium will be presented in Constitution Hall at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) headquarters in Washington, D.C. A cornerstone event in DAR's America250 celebrations, the two-day event is hosted by DAR in conjunction with the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute (QSSI) and the Fundacion Ramon Areces (FRA).

"Spain and the Birth of American Democracy: A History Symposium" will be presented as a cornerstone event in DARs America250 celebrations. The two-day event is hosted by DAR in conjunction with the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute (QSSI) and the Fundacion Ramon Areces (FRA).

This event marks the official U.S. launch of QSSI's America&Spain250 initiative to celebrate 250 years of the shared past, present and continued friendship between the United States, Spain, and the Spanish-speaking world. The symposium will feature free academic lectures, panel discussions and booth displays that profile the specific historical events and the impact of Spain's involvement in the American Revolution which led to the ultimate achievement of America obtaining independence from Great Britain.

All events at the symposium will be free and open to the public, although registration will be required. Please register for the symposium using the Eventbrite page here. This is the second such symposium hosted by QSSI and FRA under the America&Spain250 initiative; the first event was held in May 2024 in Madrid. The Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain in the United States is also lending support, joining DAR, QSSI and FRA.

"It is a great honor for the QSSI to partner with a like-minded institution such as the DAR, to highlight Spain's often-overlooked contributions to the American Revolution. Our goal is to provide a new perspective on the study of the American Revolution, especially by examining it in the context of a global war," said Maria Begonia Santos, President & CEO of the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute. "Our organizations share a mission in promoting education, history and patriotism. DAR is the perfect partner in this initiative to explore the shared history of our countries."

Scholars and other experts, led by QSSI's Academic Director Richard L. Kagan, PhD, will provide details about Spanish Patriots and their contributions to American independence. Less widely known facts about the Revolutionary War and Spain's involvement will be showcased, including Spain's secret aid to the colonies and the role of the Spanish Navy alongside the French against the British.

"A prime objective at DAR is to shine a light on the historical accomplishments of Revolutionary War Patriots, many of them underrepresented, and tell of their bravery, sacrifice and honor," said Pamela Wright, DAR President General. "It is our hope that, through events like this upcoming symposium, we illuminate the contributions of all Patriots who fought for our country's freedom, including those from Spain."

To learn more about the participation of Spain in the American Revolution, visit the educational platform "Spanish Influence on American History" developed by the QSSI in partnership with the Gilder Lerhman Institute of American History and the Royal Academy of History of Spain containing primary sources, lesson plans, videos by historians, etc.

DAR provides a variety of resources to help people research their Spanish Patriots through the DAR Library and DAR member volunteer genealogists who specialize in Spanish research. At the upcoming September symposium, Spain and the Birth of American Democracy, many examples of Spanish Patriots will be profiled including the pivotal impact of Bernardo de Galvez.

Before Spain entered the war, Galvez corresponded with Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Henry Lee. It was Galvez and his men who secured the port of New Orleans so that only American, Spanish, and French ships could access the Mississippi River, a main thoroughfare for supplies. It was also Galvez who directed a joint land-sea attack on Pensacola, then the British capital of West Florida, securing the capture of Fort George. When Spain formally declared war against Great Britain, King Carlos III commissioned Galvez to raise a force of men and conduct a campaign against the British. He famously worked with Texas governor Domingo Cabello y Robles to round up 10,000 Texas cattle and deliver them to feed Spanish forces in Louisiana.

On Dec. 16, 2014, the U.S. Congress conferred honorary citizenship on Galvez, citing him as a "hero of the Revolutionary War who risked his life for the freedom of the United States people and provided supplies, intelligence, and strong military support to the war effort."

DAR's other America250 initiatives, including service projects, various scholarships, the E Pluribus Unum Educational Initiative highlighting underrepresented Revolutionary Patriots, as well as other national and local events will also be part of the organization's contributions to the America250 celebrations. Find out more about DAR's plan to honor the country's founding at www.dar.org/America250.

Updates on schedule, sessions, and events for the Spain and the Birth of American Democracy symposium will be posted on the Eventbrite page, as well as www.dar.org and www.queensofiaspanishinstitute.org .

About the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute (QSSI)

The Queen Sofia Spanish Institute (QSSI) was founded in 1954 to stimulate interest in the United States in the culture, art, literature and history of Spanish-speaking countries, and to promote among Spanish-speaking people knowledge and understanding of the ideals, culture and customs of the people of the United States.

The QSSI is named after its patroness, Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain, mother of the current King of Spain, Felipe VI. The QSSI is governed by a Board of Trustees and, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit New York-based charitable organization, is supported through the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations. For more information, visit www.queensofiaspanishinstitute.org .

About the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) was founded in 1890 to preserve the memory and spirit of those who contributed to securing American independence. As one of the largest patriotic women's service organizations in the world, DAR has nearly 190,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters around the world. DAR members promote the three pillars of historic preservation, education and patriotism via commemorative events, scholarships and educational initiatives, citizenship programs, service to veterans, meaningful community service and more. The DAR is also a renowned genealogical repository which includes the DAR Library , one of the largest genealogical research centers in the United States, and the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) , a free online database of information amassed by the DAR. For additional information about DAR and its relevant mission, visit www.dar.org .

Media Contacts:

Daughters of the American Revolution

Bren Landon

202-572-0563

[email protected]

Queen Sofia Spanish Institute

Celia Maldonado

212.628.0420

[email protected]

SOURCE Daughters of the American Revolution
The one-stop-shop for dog care continues franchise expansion by signing its first development deal in the Phoenix metropolitan area

PITTSBURGH, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dog Stop, the all-inclusive and award-winning dog care brand rapidly expanding across the U.S., is thrilled to announce its entry into Arizona with its first location set to open in the Phoenix metropolitan area in fall 2025, marking a significant step in the brand's continued nationwide expansion. As one of the fastest growing states in the nation, Arizona has an increasing demand for pet services, and The Dog Stop is eager to meet that need by expanding its franchise presence statewide.

The Dog Stop

The location will be owned and operated by Jonah Mars, who brings a strong background in accounting and finance, along with a lifelong passion for dogs. After earning his MBA from Arizona State University in 2022, Mars spent the past three years in fund accounting for a renewable energy company. While he found success in the field, he was drawn to franchise ownership for a more exciting and fulfilling career, one that aligned with his love for animals. Discovering The Dog Stop, he fell in love with the brand's one-stop-shop model and ability to provide top-notch care for all facets of a dog's need. Looking ahead, he plans to expand The Dog Stop's presence in Arizona by opening additional locations in the Valley, and hopes to connect with his community by partnering with local shelters and hosting adoption events.

"I'm excited to bring The Dog Stop to Arizona and introduce local pet owners to everything we have to offer," said Mars. "Phoenix is one of the largest and fastest-growing cities in the country, and with so many dog owners here, there's a real need for high-quality, all-in-one pet care. Whether it's daycare, boarding, grooming, or retail, we want to be the trusted partner for dogs and their families in the community."

As The Dog Stop expands into the Southwest, Arizona represents a prime market for growth. With its year-round warm climate, active outdoor lifestyle, and high number of pet-friendly households, the state is a natural fit for The Dog Stop's full-service approach to dog care. The brand is actively seeking franchise partners to continue its expansion in cities across Arizona, including Tucson and Flagstaff.

"Bringing The Dog Stop to Arizona is an exciting step in our national expansion strategy," said Jesse Coslov, CEO and Co-Founder of The Dog Stop. "As more pet owners seek high-quality, comprehensive care for their dogs, we're committed to growing in communities where we can make the biggest impact. Phoenix is just the beginning, and we look forward to establishing a strong presence across the state."

Owned and operated by dog people since 2009, The Dog Stop understands the complex process involved in dog care and knows that there is no such thing as a one size fits all approach. At The Dog Stop, expert staff at each location stay up-to-date on the ever-changing science that applies to dog care, behavior, grooming, and nutrition. Its one-stop-shop offers pet care products and supplies, with each item on its shelves the latest and greatest in its respective category, ensuring that every dog who stops by receives the very best treatment.

The Dog Stop is now actively seeking single and multi-unit operators throughout Arizona who can be semi-absentee, are passionate about dogs, and will go above and beyond to exceed the needs of their customers. Benefits of this franchise opportunity include comprehensive support from the corporate team, as well as technology to streamline training and customer service.

With a focus on growth and a dedication to its mission, The Dog Stop is poised to lead the pet care industry in 2025 and beyond. For more information regarding The Dog Stop or its franchise opportunities, visit https://thedogstop.com.

About The Dog Stop

Founded in 2009 and franchising since 2013, The Dog Stop has been winning over dogs and their owners with their all-inclusive facility complete with playtime-focused daycare, spa-style grooming, year-round overnight boarding, individualized training and enrichment activities, and a natural pet retail store that carries the best products all run and managed by highly-trained staff. Each component is catered to personally stimulate every dog's physical and mental needs, ensuring they leave happier and healthier. The Dog Stop currently serves dogs and owners in 39 locations across 15 states, with over 50 new locations coming soon. For more information, go to https://thedogstop.com/.

Contact: Elise Fricilone, Franchise Elevator PR, [email protected]

SOURCE The Dog Stop
The Postal Service Must Stanch the Bleeding

A Pause on Decisions Until a New Postmaster General is in Place is Imperative

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Postal Service remains a critical part of the nation's infrastructure; Americans everywhere still need and rely upon it. But it lost $16 billion over just the last two years, with a sharply declining volume base and substantially slowed service nationwide. The prior Postmaster General and author of the failed Delivering for America Plan (DFA), Louis DeJoy, has resigned. With an accelerated search for his successor under way, the USPS Governors must pause further actions under DFA  service changes, rate increases and more  until a successor has been named and has had the chance to evaluate USPS generally and all aspects of DFA specifically. It is imperative to stop the damage.

Let's be clear: America's Postal Service is in a class by itself. Our country mails and ships nearly half the total throughout the world. The system has been a logistical wonder for more than two centuries. It's about Main Street. It's about seniors, small businesses, veterans, nonprofits, and families: tens of millions of Americans who depend on affordable, reliable mail  prescriptions, checks, ballots, packages, newspapers, greeting cards, and more. It's also about larger businesses which still find that promotions by mail can be effective, or that for shipments to rural areas, USPS may be the only way to have their products delivered.

To ensure a financially stable and viable USPS, there must be a pause in major decisions  before it's too late. Post this

The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service (C21), a broad cross-section of the $1.9 trillion mailing and shipping industry, and its suppliers, who employ nearly 8 million throughout the country, is deeply concerned about the deterioration of service, especially in rural areas. Equally alarming, the Postal Service plans another far too aggressive rate hike this summer (7.4  11.6%) on top of more than 35 - 45% in increases over the previous three years. The huge business community that relies on a well-functioning and stable USPS  which it is not now  calls on both Congress and the Postal Service Governors to assure that a pause happens.

To ensure the long-term financial stability and viability of the USPS, there must be a pause and reconsideration through fresh, expert eyes  before it's too late.

Contact: Art Sackler

202-365-0222/[email protected]

SOURCE Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service (C21)
NORTH FALMOUTH, Mass., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Quell Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of three new members to its Board of Directors, effective 04/01/2025: Frank G. Frederickson, Rachel Pauletti, Ph.D., and Townley Peters, Psy.D. Their collective expertise will be instrumental in guiding The Quell Foundation as it continues to expand its reach and impact in the years to come.

Frank Frederickson brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to first responder wellness to the Foundation. He served as a Police Officer for 43 years, including 12 years as Chief of Police, giving him a firsthand understanding of the impact of trauma on both the public and the officers who serve them. Frank is a strong advocate for peer support, resilience training, and legislative changes to support first responder mental health. Currently, Frank serves as the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Massachusetts Fraternal Order of Police. He also holds volunteer positions as a Board Member for the National Alliance of Mental Illness Cape Cod chapter, Blue Suicide Liaison for New England Concerns for Police Survivors, and Advisory Board Member for the Violent Injured Police Officers Association. Frank holds a BA in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University and a MA in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College. His leadership and dedication will be invaluable in advancing The Quell Foundation's mission.

Dr. Rachel Pauletti brings over 15 years of experience in academia and consulting, with expertise in university operations, strategic planning, and data-driven decision-making. As a seasoned strategist and leader, Dr. Pauletti has a proven track record of developing evidence-based programs and initiatives, making her a valuable asset to the Quell Foundation. Her experience as Director and National Practice Leader at Forvis Mazars, coupled with her previous roles in higher education, uniquely positions her to contribute to the Foundation's mission. Dr. Pauletti holds a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Florida Atlantic University.

Dr. Townley Peters is a licensed clinical psychologist with over a decade of experience in clinical care, program development, and mental health advocacy. Her deep commitment to advancing access to evidence-based mental health services and reducing stigma aligns perfectly with The Quell Foundation's mission. Dr. Peters served on the Executive Advisory Board of The Quell Foundation from 2019 to 2025, contributing strategic insight and programmatic support to national initiatives aimed at erasing stigma and increasing access to care. Dr. Peters began her career within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System, where she specialized in trauma-informed care for veterans and first responders. She holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, magna cum laude, from Boston University. She is board-certified in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and highly trained in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), and other evidence-based modalities. Her experience as a clinician, mentor, and mental health advocate positions her as a valuable voice in advancing mission-driven mental health initiatives at the board level.

About The Quell Foundation, Inc.

Based in North Falmouth, The Quell Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 not-for profit working to reduce the stigma of mental illness by encouraging open dialogue and increasing pathways to support, training, and education  empowering individuals and communities to achieve mental wellness.

For more information, please contact:

Ashley Persaud, The Quell Foundation, Inc.

[email protected]

www.TheQuellFoundation.org

SOURCE The Quell Foundation
The newest edition includes three new law rankings focused on career outcomes for graduates.

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in rankings and consumer advice, today unveiled the 2025 Best Graduate Schools rankings.

Designed for prospective students looking to further their education beyond college, the rankings evaluate programs in various disciplines, including engineering , medicine , business , law , education , nursing and social sciences .

This year's rankings emphasize the results that education can bring. There were very limited changes in this year's rankings formulas. A few new rankings were computed to help students make the best-informed decisions for their careers.

In this edition:

Three brand new law school rankings focus on different career outcomes for graduates, including employment in full-time, long-term jobs at big law firms (greater than 500 attorneys), in federal clerkships and at public interest organizations.

For the first time in nearly four years, the rankings will include updated assessments of master's degree programs in library and information studies, as well as doctoral programs in social science disciplines like economics and political science, as well as various health programs.

U.S. News issued new rankings of graduate programs in other popular academic disciplines, including computer science and public affairs . Because each program is different, the rankings methodologies vary by discipline and graduate degree level.

"We are equipping future graduate students with the information and tools they need to make informed decisions in today's competitive academic landscape," said LaMont Jones, Ed.D., senior editor of Education at U.S. News. "Our comprehensive graduate school rankings provide students with essential data to make one of the most consequential decisions of their lives. U.S. News remains committed to delivering transparent and data-driven assessments that empower students to find their perfect academic match."

Best Business Schools: Full-Time MBA

The University of Pennsylvania  Wharton ranks No. 1, while Northwestern University  Kellogg and Stanford University tie for No. 2.

Best Law Schools

Stanford University and Yale University tied for the No. 1 spot, with The University of Chicago at No. 3., the University of Virginia at No. 4 and University of Pennsylvania  Carey at No. 5.

Best Medical Schools: Research

Schools placing in the top tier include the following: Baylor College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Emory University, Hofstra University/Northwell Health (Zucker), the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (Alix), the Ohio State University, the University of California  Los Angeles (Geffen), the University of California  San Diego, the University of California  San Francisco, the University of North Carolina  Chapel Hill, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Rochester, the University of South Florida (Morsani), the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Vanderbilt University and Yale University.

Best Medical Schools: Primary Care

Schools placing in the top tier included the following: East Carolina University  Brody, East Tennessee State University  Quillen, Saint Louis University, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, UMass Chan Medical School, University of Arizona  Tucson, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the University of California  Davis, the University of California  San Francisco, the University of Hawaii  Manoa (Burns), the University of Kansas Medical Center, the University of Minnesota, the University of New Mexico, the University of North Carolina  Chapel Hill and the Western University of Health Sciences.

Best Education Schools

The University of Wisconsin  Madison takes the No. 1 spot. Columbia University, Teachers College, the University of Michigan  Ann Arbor and Vanderbilt University tied for No. 2, while The University of California  Los Angeles is No. 5.

Best Engineering Schools

Taking the No. 1 spot is Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by Stanford University at No. 2, the University of California  Berkeley at No. 3, Georgia Institute of Technology at No. 4. California Institute of Technology and Purdue University  Main Campus tied for No. 5.

Best Nursing Schools: Master's Programs

Emory University ranks No. 1, with John Hopkins University coming in at No 2, The Ohio State University at No. 3, Vanderbilt University at No. 4 and Duke University at No. 5.

Best Nursing Schools: DNP Programs

Johns Hopkins University was No. 1, with Duke University at No 2, University of Washington at No. 3. Rutgers University  Newark and University of Minnesota Twin Cities tied at No. 4.

For more information, visit Best Graduate Schools and use #BestGradSchools on Facebook , X (formally Twitter) , TikTok and Instagram .

About U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report is the global leader for journalism that empowers consumers, citizens, business leaders and policy officials to make confident decisions in all aspects of their lives and communities. A multifaceted media company, U.S. News provides unbiased rankings, independent reporting and analysis, and consumer advice to millions of people on USNews.com each month. A pillar in Washington for more than 90 years, U.S. News is the trusted home for in-depth and exclusive insights on education, health, politics, the economy, personal finance, travel, automobiles, real estate, careers and consumer products and services.

SOURCE U.S. News & World Report
MIRAMAR, Fla., April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, the Department of Justice ("DOJ") filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against Vohra Wound Physicians Management, some of its related entities, and Dr. Ameet Vohra ("Vohra").

Vohra has been actively engaged in discussions with the Government regarding this matter since first receiving a subpoena in February 2018. We have repeatedly sought input from the Government and Medicare Administrative Contractors regarding our billing practices and have attempted to tailor them to address the Government's concerns. Thus, we are disappointed that the DOJ has elected to file this lawsuit.

Contrary to the DOJ's allegations, Vohra physicians exercised their independent clinical judgment in making treatment decisions, and Vohra proudly stands by our doctors and the care they provided. The complaint initiating the lawsuit includes several factual errors about Vohra's electronic medical records ("EMR") system. Our patients and positive clinical outcomes always come first.

The case largely comes down to varying interpretations of ambiguous Medicare billing codes that do not clearly distinguish between selective and surgical debridements, as well as differing treatment philosophies. The choice between selective and surgical debridements often comes down to merely managing a wound versus actively healing a wound. Objective clinical data and studies show that Vohra's treatment approach succeeds in healing wounds.

Vohra acted lawfully and responsibly, but is open to an amicable resolution with the DOJ to avoid the delay, uncertainty, and expense of protracted litigation. If a reasonable resolution is not possible, the company will vigorously defend itself in court.

SOURCE Vohra Wound Physicians Management, LLC
The push to bring Great Lakes cruise ships to Buffalo is taking a step forward.

The states Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. is seeking proposals to design and develop a cruise terminal along slip 2 at the Outer Harbor, where the former Pier restaurant was demolished in 2007.

Proposals must be submitted by May 7, with an anticipated contract start date in June. State officials said the site could serve as a port for cruise ships as early as 2027.

Adding Buffalo as a terminal on a Great Lakes cruise itinerary is a tremendous opportunity for the city of Buffalo and Western New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. Buffalo is well-positioned as a destination in the growing industry, allowing the city and region to benefit from the increased visitors and resulting positive economic impact.

Through its request for proposals, the ECHDC plans to hire a consultant to work with local, state and federal agencies to develop a site plan to support cruise operations. The south berth space of slip 2 emerged as the recommended site after six potential locations along the Buffalo waterfront were analyzed.

State officials said the project would prepare the site for cruise ship docking for domestic and international travel. The improvements would include upgrades to seawall shoring, site remediation, improved public access and other infrastructure upgrades. Plans also call for the design of one or two small, single-story buildings for Customs processing and restrooms.

This will really help us get an understanding of what is going to be required in the actual construction to get this thing complete, said Mark Wendel, the ECHDCs president.

Cruise lines have expressed interest in adding Buffalo to their itinerary, once they know the necessary facilities will be in place, to provide variety for their passengers, he said.

What were hearing is, there hasnt been a new terminal on the Great Lakes in quite some time. So this offers a new destination, Wendel said.

Geographically, Buffalo is an ideal spot for cruises to either originate or be a port of call for cruises headed east to Montreal or west to Milwaukee, Wendel said. And the region has attractions, including its architecture, museums and restaurants, that would appeal to passengers making a visit, he said.

The consultant hired will provide guidance on a timeline, but ECHDC is targeting the start of construction of the cruise ship facilities for early 2026.

Patrick Kaler, president and CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara, said Great Lakes cruise passengers would be beneficial to the regions economy.

This is just another opportunity to market and promote our destination to a pretty affluent demographic, he said.

Visit Buffalo Niagaras research has found a high rate of repeat visitation to places after travelers come to a destination on a Great Lakes cruise, he said.

Kaler said hes particularly excited about the possibility of Buffalo becoming a place where cruises begin or end, which would generate hotel room stays by the passengers.

Just the fact that they would be coming and being a stop is great, but to actually have that added value of an overnight stay potential is even better, he said.

Visit Buffalo Niagara has been building connections with the cruise lines and a few weeks ago met with representatives of one of those companies.

They were very excited about what they saw in Buffalo and encouraged about the opportunities of what their passengers like to do when theyre in a city as part of a Great Lakes cruise, Kaler said. And thats just one of many.

A market demand study, completed in 2024, estimated the cost of developing facilities at slip 2 at $17.3 million.

The study, which examined Buffalos potential and viability as a cruise ship market, said that with facilities in place, Buffalo could welcome about 12,000 cruise guests by 2035, and about 15,000 by 2040.

The location could be built to accommodate small, medium and large vessels, such as Viking Cruises 378-passenger Octantis and Polaris, and Hapag-Lloyds 230-passenger Hanseatic Inspiration, the study said.

Building cruise facilities does not by itself ensure project success, the study said. The ECHDC and stakeholders will need to advance marketing and promotion, regional partnerships, capacity building, and other initiatives to achieve desired outcomes.

In December, Cruise the Great Lakes, a consortium of cruise companies and city tourism bureaus, forecast a nearly 10% increase in Great Lakes cruising passengers this year from 2024, to over 22,000 individual passengers. More than 700 port visits are planned this year, up nearly 30% from the year before, the forecast said.

Wendel said the cruise industry took a hit during the pandemic but has bounced back: I think were catching it at the right time.
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London, April 8 : British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that newly imposed US tariffs on UK goods pose a serious threat to both the global economy and Britain's industrial base. He pledged urgent support for the domestic automotive sector in response to what he described as a changing world marked by "global instability."

Speaking at Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) manufacturing plant on Sunday in the West Midlands, Starmer called the situation "a moment of reckoning," Xinhua news agency reported.

"Twenty-five per cent tariffs on automotive exports, ten percent on other goods, this is a major challenge to our future. The global economic consequences could be profound," he cautioned.

"No one wins in a trade war. Nobody is pretending these tariffs are good news," he added, emphasising that this is "a moment for cool heads."

Starmer's remarks came in the wake of JLR's announcement that it would temporarily halt shipments of UK-made vehicles to the United States. The month-long suspension, beginning Monday, will allow the company to assess the impact of the US tariffs and explore cost-mitigation strategies. With nearly a quarter of its 400,000 annual vehicle sales destined for the US market, JLR is among the hardest hit by the new trade barriers.

Industry data reveals that JLR earned 6.5 billion pounds ($8.27 billion) in revenue from the US in the fiscal year ending March 2024, its most lucrative market. The company employs 38,000 workers in the UK and supports a vast supply chain throughout the West Midlands. Analysts have warned that if the tariffs remain in place, up to 25,000 jobs across the UK automotive industry could be at risk.

In response, the prime minister reaffirmed his government's determination to protect British industry. "These are challenging times, but we have chosen to come here because we are going to back you to the hilt," he told workers at the plant.

To help ease pressure on car manufacturers, Starmer announced a package of support measures, including increased flexibility in meeting electric vehicle (EV) production targets, a 20 per cent reduction in fines for non-compliance, and an extension of the phase-out date for hybrid vehicles from 2030 to 2035.

Starmer stressed that any trade agreement must serve the UK's national interests, while vowing to broaden the country's international trade engagement beyond the US market.

"We're going to work with our key partners to reduce trade barriers globally, accelerate trade deals with other nations, and champion the cause of free and open trade around the world," he said. (1 pound = $1.29)
Washington, April 8 : The US and Iran are holding direct talks with their first meeting scheduled for Saturday at "almost at the top" level, President Donald Trump said Monday, adding a failure to reach an agreement will leave Teheran in "great danger" because it cannot be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.

Washington, April 8 (IANS) The US and Iran are holding direct talks with their first meeting scheduled for Saturday at "almost at the top" level, President Donald Trump said Monday, adding a failure to reach an agreement will leave Teheran in "great danger" because it cannot be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.

The American president gave no indications of the location of the talks or the officials who will be involved. Although he did say several times at a news conference he addressed alongside the visiting Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that the talks will be held at the "very top" level and "almost at the highest level".

Trump's announcement came weeks after he first started the process with a public invitation to talks that was spurned by the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

Trump has pursued a policy of maximum pressure on Iran that he kicked off in his first term after rescinding the 2015 JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  also calls the Iran agreement) brokered by President Barack Obama between the P5 UN Security Council members US, UK, France, China and Russia and German as the +1 on the side and Iran on the other that lifted crippling UN sanctions in return for Iran agreeing to stop its nuclear weapons programme.

"We are having direct talks with Iran," Trump said, adding they will start on Saturday. "We have a very big meeting, and we'll see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it."

The "obvious" was a veiled reference to his readiness to use the military option in the event of the failure of talks.

"I think if the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it is in great danger because they can't have a nuclear weapon. You know, it's not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. That's all there is. You can't have it ready right now."

The American president went on curiously to put on no notice nuclear powers that he believes "should not have" a nuclear bomb.

He did not identify these countries and did not spell out his plans for them. Nine countries are currently believed to be in possession of these bombs: the US, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.
New York, April 8 : An Indian-origin man has been charged with sexual assault on a plane, according to US federal officials.

Bhaveshkumar Dahyabhai Shukla is accused of "abusive sexual contact" on a flight from Montana to Texas, Montana federal prosecutor Kurt Alme said in a statement last week.

He said Shukla is to appear in court there on April 17.

He was arrested in New Jersey, where he lives, and agreed to be moved to Montana to face the prosecution.

Court documents seen by IANS said that Shukla, 36, was arrested after the alleged victim's husband complained to law enforcement when she sent him a text message about the alleged attack.

With the tip-off, he was met at the airport by airport police.

In an affidavit filed in the Montana federal court, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Chad McNiven said that during the flight from Belgrade, Montana, to Dallas, Texas, on January 26, Shukla allegedly touched the woman inappropriately on two occasions.

McNiven said that the alleged victim told the FBI that he first touched "her thighs, butt, and lower back area" and stopped when she protested.

But when she returned from a trip to the bathroom, he said that according to the complaint recorded by the airport police, she said he "rubbed" her in those areas and her vagina using his coat to try to hide his action.

The alleged assault was corroborated by another passenger, McNiven said.

He said that the alleged victim texted her husband about the assault, and he called the FBI and the airport police.

When confronted by police, Shukla claimed not to speak English, although he had spoken to the woman and her daughter in English, McNiven said.

However, when he was produced in a federal court in New Jersey, where he lives, after his arrest a Gujarati interpreter was used, according to a court document.
Islamabad, April 8 : US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar discussed ways to strengthen counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries in their first telephone conversation. A key focus of the discussion was the return of US military equipment that was left behind in Afghanistan following the withdrawal in 2021.

As per Pakistan's foreign office, bilateral relations, regional security and economic cooperation were discussed during the telephonic conversation between Dar and Rubio.

"During the call, DPM/FM Dar reiterated Pakistan's commitment to strengthening its partnership with the United States. He emphasised the importance of strengthening cooperation in areas such as trade, investment and counter-terrorism", read a press release issued by Pakistan's foreign office.

"Secretary Rubio reciprocated the desire to collaborate with Pakistan in trade and investment in various sectors, especially critical minerals. He said that cooperation in economy and trade would be the hallmark of future relations between the two countries", the press release added.

The major focus of the discussion was on counterterrorism cooperation. Dar highlighted Pakistan's efforts in successfully fighting terrorism during 2013-18, highlighting the damages and losses Islamabad suffered both economically and in terms of human lives.

"Secretary of State Rubio also appreciated Pakistan's efforts in the fight against terrorism and expressed the US desire to further enhance counter-terrorism cooperation. The two leaders also discussed the situation in Afghanistan. Secretary Rubio agreed on the need to resolve the issue of US Military equipment left behind in Afghanistan", read the Pakistan foreign office press release.

Pertinent to note that the calls from Rubio hold great importance as it comes a day after US President Donald Trump's imposition of tariffs on countries including China. This action was met with an aggressive retaliatory response from Beijing, creating uncertainty in global and Asian markets. As a result, the stock markets experienced a dramatic decline on Monday.

Pakistan has already decided to dispatch a high-level delegation to Washington with hopes that the US tariffs regime could be turned into a win-win situation for both countries.

"You should never let a good crisis go to waste. We are looking at it both as a challenge as well as an opportunity", said Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.
Washington, April 8 : US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House, focusing on the Gaza hostage crisis and US tariffs on Israeli goods.

In a brief Oval Office session open to reporters, Trump on Monday called the release of hostages held in Gaza a "top priority." He expressed optimism about ongoing negotiations but provided no specific details.

"We're making progress," Trump said. "I believe we'll see all the hostages home soon."

Netanyahu agreed, emphasising Israel's commitment to securing the hostages' freedom.

They also addressed the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. While they announced no new agreements, both stressed the importance of reducing violence in the region, Xinhua news agency reported.

Trump defended his recent 17 per cent tariff on imports from Israel, part of his broader trade policy affecting many economies.

Netanyahu reportedly sought relief from these tariffs, highlighting Israel's efforts to strengthen trade ties with the United States.

In 2024, the total goods trade between the two countries was an estimated at $37.0 billion, with US exports to Israel at $14.8 billion and imports from Israel at $ 22.2 billion, resulting in a $ 7.4 billion US trade deficit.

Netanyahu's visit to the White House was arranged in a phone call last Thursday between the two leaders when Netanyahu raised the tariff issue, according to Israeli officials.

The White House had initially planned a joint press conference but canceled it without explanation. Instead, reporters asked questions during their brief access to the Oval Office meeting.

Trump did not discuss any long-term plans for Gaza's redevelopment during this meeting. His administration has previously proposed controversial ideas for the region, which have faced criticism from various groups.

The meeting highlighted the complex relationship between the United States and Israel, balancing security concerns with economic interests. Both leaders pledged to continue working closely on these issues.
New Delhi, April 8 : Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Deputy Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, will arrive in India on Tuesday for a two-day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This marks Sheikh Hamdan's first official visit to India in his capacity as the Crown Prince of Dubai. He will be accompanied by several ministers, senior government officials, and a high-level business delegation.

Prime Minister Modi will host a working lunch for the visiting dignitary on Tuesday and the Crown Prince is also scheduled to hold meetings with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

After Delhi, the Crown Prince will visit Mumbai and will also participate in a business roundtable with prominent business leaders from both sides. The interaction will strengthen Indiaa"UAE economic and commercial cooperation across traditional and futuristic areas.

"Traditionally, Dubai has played an important role in India's commercial, cultural and people-to-people exchanges with the UAE. Majority of India's around 4.3 million diaspora in UAE reside and work in Dubai. The visit of His Highness the Crown Prince will further solidify the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and strengthen our multifaceted ties with Dubai," read a statement issued by the MEA.

EAM Jaishankar had extended Prime Minister's invitation to the Crown Prince to visit India at an early date during his visit to the United Arab Emirates on January 27-29, this year.

"Delighted to meet Crown Prince of Dubai and DPM and Minister of Defence of UAE HH Hamdan Mohammed. A warm conversation on our deep bonds of friendship and taking them forward for the good of our people," the EAM had posted on X after the meeting which strengthened further India's strong and ever-growing economic and people-to-people ties with Dubai.
Juba, April 8 : South Sudan launched its first-ever household budget survey since gaining independence in 2011 to strengthen institutional capacity and economic governance in the world's youngest nation.

Augustino Ting Mayai, director-general of the South Sudan National Bureau of Statistics, said the Household Budget Survey (HBS) will focus on various economic sectors, particularly national production across 10 states and three administrative areas, Xinhua news agency reported.

"One of the key challenges South Sudan faces is the absence of reliable and up-to-date empirical data across various sectors, which hinders the formulation of impactful policies," Mayai said during the launching ceremony in Juba, the capital.

South Sudan's last nationally representative household budget survey was conducted in 2009, before its independence from Sudan.

Mohamed Abchir, resident representative of the United Nations Development Program in South Sudan, said the lack of reliable statistical data remains a major obstacle to effective policymaking in the country.

Abchir said that the HBS is a flagship initiative under the Institutional Support Project for Strengthening Economic Governance in South Sudan, financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

"The project focuses on three core areas: strengthening data and statistical systems, enhancing parliamentary oversight capacity, and institutionalising public investment programs," he said.

Data generated from the survey will be critical for compiling statistics such as the Consumer Price Index, Gross Domestic Product, and other socio-economic indicators.

Themba Bhebhe, country manager for the AfDB in South Sudan, said the 10-million-US-dollar survey is part of a broader effort to support ongoing public finance management reforms, improve the national budget framework, and reduce economic and political fragility.

"The support includes technical assistance aimed at strengthening capacity to generate and disseminate innovative knowledge that will guide policy, strategy and development," Bhebhe added.
Sanaa, April 8 : Yemen's Houthi group said that it has launched a drone attack on a "military target" in Israel's Tel Aviv and fired cruise missiles at two US warships in the Red Sea.

"We carried out an operation against a military target in Tel Aviv, using a Jaffa drone," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

"Our naval and air forces also conducted a joint military operation targeting two US destroyers in the Red Sea with several cruise missiles and drones," Sarea added.

He noted that the strikes on US warships were "in response to the ongoing US aggression and crimes against Yemeni people," referring to the latest US airstrikes on a house in Sanaa Sunday night, which killed at least four people and wounded over 20 others, including 11 women and children, Xinhua news agency reproted.

Sarea stressed that the US strikes would not deter the group from supporting the Palestinian people, vowing its operations would not cease until Israeli "aggression" against the Gaza Strip stops and the siege on it is lifted.

Tensions have escalated between the Houthi group and the United States since March 15, when the US military resumed airstrikes on Houthi targets to prevent the group from attacking naval and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

The Houthis repeatedly claim that their attacks are in retaliation for US airstrikes on Yemen and aim to pressure the US-backed Israel to stop its offensive on Gaza and allow aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Srinagar, April 8 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, will hold security review meetings on Tuesday.

After a nightlong stay at the Raj Bhawan in Srinagar, he will start his busy schedule around 11 am and also review various developmental projects in the Union Territory (UT).

J&K Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will attend the developmental review meeting chaired by Amit Shah.

Later, the Home Minister will chair a security review meeting, which will be attended by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, director IB, Tapan Deka, senior officers of the MHA dealing with J&K affairs, chiefs of J&K Police, paramilitary forces and officers of intelligence agencies. Both these meetings are scheduled to be held at the Raj Bhawan.

After his arrival here on Monday, Amit Shah went to the Humhama area near the Srinagar International Airport to meet the family of martyred J&K Police Dy SP, Humayun Bhat. The home minister offered his condolences to the family. He stayed for nearly 20 minutes with Ghulam Hassan Bhat, retired IGP, father of Humayun. He also offered condolences to Fatima, wife of the martyred police officer and blessed the 20-month old child of the officer.

L-G Manoj Sinha and CM Omar Abdullah accompanied the home minister during his visit to the martyr's family. Humayun was killed on September 13, 2003, while fighting a group of terrorists in the forests of Kokernag Tehsil in the Anantnag district. Known for his professionalism and bravery, the officer was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra. The home minister then went to the Raj Bhawan, where he met some individuals and delegations before retiring for the day.

During his visit to Jammu, Amit Shah met the families of four policemen martyred while fighting terrorists in the Kathua district. He gave compassionate appointment orders to the next of kin of the martyrs.

He said during his interaction in Jammu that terrorism was down but not yet fully out in J&K. He assured that the situation would soon be brought to complete normalcy.

He had a closed-door meeting with members of the BJP and RSS at the Jammu residence of Sunil Sharma, the Leader of Opposition in the J&K Assembly.

During his visit to the border outpost of the BSF in Kathua on Monday, the home minister praised the BSF for being an elite border sentinel force of the country. He said cutting-edge technology is being provided to the BSF for complete tech-driven surveillance of the border.

He told the deployed BSF jawans that the country holds the force in high esteem because of their commitment to duty and protection of the country's frontiers. "You discharge duties round the year, 24 hours a day and in torrential rain, extreme cold or 45-degree heat. BSF has a glorious past, and you genuinely deserve the prestige the force has earned among the countrymen," he told the BSF officers and jawans.

After completing his schedule in Srinagar, Amit Shah will return to Delhi in the afternoon.
New Delhi, April 8 : India on Tuesday marks ten years of the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), the flagship programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi aimed at funding the unfunded micro enterprises and small businesses.

PMMY, under the Micro Units Development and Refinancing Agency (MUDRA), was set up by the Centre for the development and refinancing activities relating to micro units.

Since its launch in April 2015, the PMMY has sanctioned over 52 crore loans worth Rs 32.61 lakh crore, fuelling a nationwide entrepreneurial revolution. Business growth is no longer confined to big cities -- it is spreading to small towns and villages, where first-time entrepreneurs are taking charge of their destinies. The shift in mindset is evident: people are no longer job seekers; they are becoming job creators.

The scheme ensures that collateral-free institutional credit up to Rs 20 lakh is provided by Member Lending Institutions (MLIs), i.e., Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs).

According to a government press release, Mudra has laid the foundation for a new era of grassroots entrepreneurship by removing the burden of collateral and simplifying access. From stitching units and tea stalls to salons, mechanic shops, and mobile repair businesses, crores of micro-entrepreneurs have stepped forward with confidence, enabled by a system that believed in their potential.

PMMY has supported these journeys by offering institutional credit to non-corporate, non-farm micro and small enterprises that form the backbone of Indiaas economy.

At its core, the MUDRA Yojana is a story of trust. Trust in peopleas aspirations and in their ability to build. Trust in the belief that even the smallest dreams deserve a platform to grow, officials said.

Women account for 68 per cent of all Mudra beneficiaries, underscoring the schemeas pivotal role in advancing women-led enterprises across the country.

Between FY16 and FY25, the per-woman PMMY disbursement amount increased at a CAGR of 13 per cent, reaching Rs 62,679, while per-woman incremental deposits grew at a CAGR of 14 per cent to Rs 95,269. States with higher disbursement shares to women have recorded significantly higher employment generation through women-led MSMEs, reinforcing the effectiveness of targeted financial inclusion in enhancing womenas economic empowerment and labour force participation.

The scheme has made significant progress in breaking traditional credit barriers. According to the SBI report, 50 per cent of Mudra accounts are held by SC, ST and OBC entrepreneurs, ensuring wider access to formal finance.

Furthermore, 11 per cent of Mudra loan holders belong to minority communities, demonstrating the schemeas contribution to inclusive growth by enabling marginalised communities to become active participants in the formal economy.
Kolkata, April 8 : The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should probe the West Bengal cabinet, which approved the creation of supernumerary posts in state-run schools allegedly to accommodate "tainted" candidates getting teaching and non-teaching jobs against payment of money.

Kolkata, April 8 (IANS) The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should probe the West Bengal cabinet, which approved the creation of supernumerary posts in state-run schools allegedly to accommodate "tainted" candidates getting teaching and non-teaching jobs against payment of money.

The opposition BJP had said in case the Supreme Court lifts the earlier interim stay on the CBI probe in the matter, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would also come under the purview of the probe since as the head of the cabinet she would not be able to avoid responsibility of the decision for creation of supernumerary posts.

The Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Monday, said that after Om Prakash Chautala of Haryana, Mamata Banerjee will be the second chief minister of an Indian state to be behind bars in an education scam.

In April 2024, a three-judge Bench of the apex court headed by the erstwhile Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, stayed an earlier order by the Calcutta High Court directing the CBI to undertake further investigations into the approval for supernumerary posts.

In that order, the Calcutta High Court also observed that the CBI, if necessary, will undertake the custodial interrogation of people involved in the matter.

While the stay by the apex court in April 2024 came as an interim relief for the state Cabinet, the matter will again come up for hearing at the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

In fact, the Calcutta High Court, while ordering the CBI probe into the matter earlier, also questioned the sanctity of the decision approving the creation of supernumerary posts.

Ever since information on the matter surfaced, the state government and the ruling party have come under scathing attacks from Opposition parties who claimed that the decision in the matter was not to accommodate genuine candidates but to protect the jobs of tainted ones.

Political observers feel that hearing in the matter (of the creation of supernumerary posts) has come at a double headache for the state government and the ruling Trinamool Congress which are already strained by an apex court order last week. The Supreme Court upheld an earlier order of a division bench of the Calcutta High Court cancelling 25,753 teaching and non-teaching jobs in state-run schools.

Both the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court had observed that the cancellation of the entire panel of 25,753 appointments was because of the failure of the state government and West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to segregate the "genuine" candidates from "tainted" ones .
Chandigarh, April 8 : A blast was reported outside the residence of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Cabinet minister Manoranjan Kalia's house in the early hours of Tuesday in Jalandhar city in Punjab, police said.

Kalia was unhurt in the blast.

Police teams were deployed at Kalia's residence soon after the incident. Forensic experts were collecting evidence from the spot.

According to the police, the explosive, suspected to be a grenade, was thrown in front of the gate of Kalia's residence at around 1 a.m.

"There was a blast at around 1 a.m. I was sleeping and I thought that it was the sound of thunder. Later, I was informed that a blast had taken place. CCTVS are being examined, and forensic experts are present here," BJP leader Kalia told the media.

In the CCTV footage, an individual travelling on an e-rickshaw was seen hurling an object and subsequently fleeing from the scene in the vehicle.

Commissioner of Police Dhanpreet Kaur, who reached the spot, told the media, "Around 1 a.m., we got information of blast here. After this, we reached the spot and started the investigation. The forensic team is investigating the matter... We are also monitoring the CCTVs. The forensic team is investigating whether it is a grenade attack or something else."

Asked whether it was a hand-grenade attack, she said the forensic team has collected samples from the spot.

"Whatever information we receive, we will share," she said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Manpreet Singh said the forensic teams would study the evidence and submit a report.

Kalia is a former Cabinet minister and the former president of Punjab BJP.

Ten explosions have been reported outside various places in the state, mainly in the Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts, from November 2024 to February 2025. Last month, a blast occurred outside a temple in Amritsar.
Patna, April 8 : Four members of a family were killed after their SUV plunged into a pond in Bihar's Gaya district, officials here said on Tuesday.

The accident occurred near Dakhingaon Bridge under the Wazirganj police station area around midnight.

The deceased have been identified as Shashikant Sharma (43), a well-known farmer from Sahawajpur village, his wife, Rinki Devi (40), and their two sons -- Sumit Anand (17) and Balkrishna (5).

The SHO of Wazirganj police station confirmed the incident. He said the family was returning from a Shraddha Karma ceremony held in Bihar Sharif when tragedy struck.

The family was travelling in a Scorpio SUV when the driver lost control while crossing the narrow bridge near Dakhingaon.

The vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into a roadside pond. The driver, Sintu, managed to escape from the submerged vehicle and cried out for help.

Hearing his distress calls, a nearby hotel operator rushed to alert local villagers and informed the police. Soon after, police and villagers arrived at the scene and, with the help of a JCB machine, pulled the SUV out of the pond.

However, by the time the vehicle was recovered, all four passengers had lost their lives.

The news of the accident has sent shockwaves through Sahawajpur village, where Shashikant Sharma was a respected figure.

His elder son, Sumit Anand, was also locally active in BJP youth politics.

Villagers expressed deep grief, saying, "When no one is left in the family, what is the point of a post-mortem?" The atmosphere in the village is sombre, especially after reports that Shashikant's elderly mother collapsed upon hearing of the incident and is now in critical condition.

Administrative officials have since inspected the accident site and assured a thorough investigation into the cause of the mishap.

Preliminary findings suggest the driver may have lost control due to poor visibility or narrow road conditions on the bridge.

The incident once again highlights the urgent need for road safety measures in rural parts of Bihar, especially on bridges and poorly lit roads.
Kolkata, April 8 : Senior doctor Subarna Goswami, who became the face of the movement against the R. G. Kar rape and murder tragedy, has approached the Calcutta High Court against the decision of the West Bengal Health Department to transfer him to lower rank in Darjeeling.

Last month, the state Health Department issued an order transferring Goswami as Superintendent of Darjeeling TB Hospital from his earlier position of Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health (DCMOH)-II of East Burdwan district.

Then, Goswami explained why his transfer was vindictive.

"First of all, this new posting is a rank lower than my previous post. Moreover, the hospital where I am being posted in Darjeeling does not have any scope for work. Hardly do patients get admitted there. This is the eighth time I have been transferred during the current Trinamool Congress regime. Again, out of these eight transfers, five had been in the same rank," Goswami said.

Although Goswami has already joined his new place of posting, he has now approached the Calcutta High Court challenging the transfer order.

Goswami's transfer order divided the medical fraternity in the state. Two associations of medical practitioners namely Joint Platform of Doctors and West Bengal Doctors' Front, who had been mainly spearheading the movement on the R.G. Kar rape and murder, came forward to express their solidarity with Goswami and described his transfer as a "vindictive" action on the part of the state administration.

However, two other associations, Progressive Health Association and West Bengal Junior Doctors Association, reportedly floated by doctors close to the ruling Trinamool Congress, came forward in defence of the state Health Department and described the transfer as a routine one.

Goswami and Kunal Sarkar, two reputed senior doctors from the state who became faces of the R.G. Kar movement, were last year summoned to the office of the-then Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal and questioned reportedly for their statements questioning the role of the city police which carried out the initial investigation on the rape and murder before the charge of the investigation was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following an order of the Calcutta High Court.
Chennai, April 8 : Actor and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan is to head to Singapore in the wake of his younger son Mark Shankar sustaining injuries in a fire accident that suddenly broke out this morning at the school in which he was studying.

Unconfirmed reports claimed that the eight year old, who is studying in a school in Singapore, sustained minor injuries in the fire accident and also experienced breathing issues due to smoke inhalation.

Sources said that the young boy was receiving treatment at a hospital for the injuries he had sustained in the fire.

Reports claimed that the fire was put out within 30 minutes by rescue personnel who arrived on the scene.

Reports also claimed that 19 people were injured in all including 15 students, all of whom were taken to hospital for treatment.

The rescue personnel were quoted by local media as saying that they found the fire in the second and third floors of the building when they arrived.

Bystanders and construction workers who were working nearby are believed to have helped in the rescue efforts of the children, who were caught in the fire.

The reports claimed that the police and rescue personnel evacuated around 80 people in the nearby areas as a precautionary measure.

It is unclear as to what caused the fire and authorities are looking into the cause of the incident.

--IANS

Mkr/

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
New Delhi, April 8 : In a special interaction to mark the 10th anniversary of the Mudra Yojana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday engaged with several beneficiaries from across India.

The discussion, held at PM Modi's residence, allowed beneficiaries of the scheme to share their personal success stories, highlighting the transformative impact of Mudra loans on their lives and businesses.

During the session, PM Modi pointed out that the majority of loan recipients and repayers are women, highlighting a significant shift in India's entrepreneurial landscape. "In Mudra Yojana, it is eye-opening to see that the majority of beneficiaries, loan applicants, takers, and repayers are women; this represents a new area where the true power of 'Viksit Bharat' lies".

One of the key beneficiaries, Rana Das from Nagaland, who runs K9 World, a pet-related business, expressed his gratitude to PM Modi for the Mudra loan that helped him grow his business.

"I want to thank you, sir, because of you, NGOs and independent social workers are able to take their work forward," said Das. PM Modi encouraged him to showcase his progress to the banks that provided him the loan.

"Show them that the belief you put in me went in a positive direction and is causing progress," PM Modi suggested.

Another beneficiary, Gopikrishnan from Kerala, shared how Mudra Yojana had completely transformed his business and created job opportunities. When asked by PM Modi about his initial fears before taking the loan, Gopikrishnan explained how he overcame them, emphasising the support the government provides to small entrepreneurs.

PM Modi also asked a young woman, the founder of House of Puchka Kitchen, about her views on youth entrepreneurship. She shared that many young people lack ideas but are supported through government schemes like Mudra. "PM Modi is so humble and polite, and the way he guided us was like he was a senior, not the Prime Minister. He was so approachable," she said.

A woman entrepreneur who runs a bakery thanked PM Modi for his support of the MSME sector. "I want to thank you, sir. The way you do 'Mann Ki Baat', I want to share my own 'Mann Ki Baat'. Thanks to you for taking MSMEs to another height. I run a bakery and get a turnover of Rs 2 to 2.5 lakh monthly," she shared.

Another beneficiary discussed the fear of taking loans, expressing concern about repaying them.

"Mudra Yojana is not for Modi's praise, it is for the youth of our country to empower them to produce job opportunities for others," PM Modi remarked, urging the youth to take full advantage of such schemes and not hesitate to approach banks for support.

One of the youngest beneficiaries from Gujarat shared how the Mudra loan helped him pursue his dream despite being told that the loan process was lengthy. "I went to the bank, shared what I wanted to do, and despite advice to first gain work experience, I followed my passion. I earn around Rs 34-35,000 monthly now and am thankful to you, sir," he said.

A woman from a farmer's family who used to struggle with poverty shared her journey of starting a business with the help of Mudra Yojana. "I used to think twice before having a meal each day. I started my business in 2024 and am now earning Rs 60,000 per month. I am independent because of your scheme," she said, expressing deep gratitude to PM Modi.

"I aim to make every common person in my country filled with faith. They may face problems, but they should believe in overcoming them and achieving success. This is a silent revolution that is making people progressive," PM Modi remarked, emphasising how Mudra Yojana is empowering the common people of India.

"The MUDRA scheme, which has provided loans up to 52 crore, is a clear testament to the government's focus on generating economic opportunities for the common people," said PM Modi.

Praising the people, PM Modi remarked, "My countrymen never broke my trust; in fact, they strengthened it. That is why I was able to grow the scheme from Rs 5 lakh to 20 lakh. This is possible because of the faith and actions of the people."

"Nobody here received money through MPs or MLAs. You all got loans on your own, and it's for your betterment. This shows that the government is working to generate the economy and provide opportunities for everyone," the Prime Minister stated, further adding, "You must have read in the newspapers; they say it's a government for the rich. But even if you add up the total wealth of all the rich people, it wonat amount to Rs 33 lakh crore. That much has been given into the hands of the common people of my country."

"This scheme has completed 10 years. Normally, governments schedule press conferences, make announcements, and light diyas. But this government is measuring the progress of this scheme by asking the people for their feedback and identifying any changes that may be required," said PM Modi.

The Prime Minister concluded by encouraging the beneficiaries to spread awareness about the scheme: "When I was in Gujarat, there was a street play by children, showcasing how they tackled poverty with the help of a loan, formed a company, and went on to achieve success. This shows how even small steps can change lives," he said.

"We must take people of this country forward, and that will lead to nation-building. I believe all of you will continue to take many people forward," said PM Modi.

Since its launch in April 2015, the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) has sanctioned over 52 crore loans worth Rs 32.61 lakh crore, fuelling a nationwide entrepreneurial revolution
Bhopal, April 8 : Padma Shri Ram Sahay Pandey, a legendary figure in Rai folk dance, passed away at the age of 92, leaving behind a rich legacy that continues to inspire.

After battling a prolonged illness, he passed away in a private hospital in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.

His final rites will be performed in Kanera Dev village, where his remarkable journey will come to rest.

Paying tribute to this cultural icon, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav posted on social media that Pandey's "lifelong dedication to folk art elevated the Rai dance to global recognition."

He recognised Pandey's immense contributions as a cultural pioneer and expressed sorrow for the irreplaceable loss to Madhya Pradesh and the art world.

Born on March 11, 1933, in Maddhar Patha village in Sagar district, Pandey discovered his love for Rai (also spelt as Raai) dance at the age of 14 during a local fair.

Captivated by its rhythm and charm, he decided to dedicate his life to mastering and celebrating this traditional art form.

Despite Rai being associated with the Bedia community - a marginalised group once subjected to the Criminal Tribes Act - Pandey stood firm against societal stigmas and devoted his life to dignifying and elevating Rai dance.

In the conservative Bundelkhand region, Rai was considered unsuitable for individuals of Brahmin heritage.

Yet, Pandey boldly defied the social barriers, driven by his passion and commitment to the art. His efforts transformed Rai from a stigmatised practice into a respected and celebrated dance form.

The youngest of four siblings, Pandey was raised in a farming family. His father, Lalju Pandey, was a farmer.

Though faced with the challenges of poverty and orphaned at a young age, Pandey's resilience and determination led him to break barriers and achieve international fame.

In 2022, he was awarded Padma Shri for his relentless efforts in preserving and promoting Rai dance.

Pandey's artistic journey took him across borders, as he represented India on global stages.

He founded the Bundelkhandi Lok Nritya Natya Kala Parishad, an organisation dedicated to nurturing and promoting the cultural essence of the economically backward Bundelkhand region. His milestones include a performance in 1964 at Ravindra Bhavan, Bhopal, organised by Akashvani Bhopal, attended by esteemed dignitaries.

In 1980, he was honoured with the title 'Nritya Shiromani' and appointed to the Tribal Folk Art Council by the Madhya Pradesh government.

He also performed internationally, captivating audiences in Japan in 1984 and Dubai in 2006.
Rawalpindi, April 8 : As Pakistan intensifies mass deportation of Afghan refugees, the businesses owned by Afghans in the commercial centres of Rawalpindi city and cantonment areas have started to shut down.

As the deadline of March 31 arrived, thousands of Afghan refugees were deported back to Afghanistan, according to local media reports.

The repatriation affected a large number of Afghans who have lived in Pakistan for decades, including many born in Pakistan and have never lived in Afghanistan.

Afghan shopkeepers in Rawalpindi have started selling their goods, locking up their stores, and disappearing, according to the country's leading daily, The Express Tribune.

Additionally, various types of vehicles and heavy machinery previously used by Afghan nationals are also being sold off.

Many Afghan-owned shops in various areas of the city are either closed or have been sold, and several well-known Afghan hotels in the city and cantonment are no longer in operation, with their signs changed.

Meanwhile, forcibly deported individuals stated that they were arrested by Pakistani police while at work and deported to Afghanistan, leaving behind their businesses and family members.

"I ran a small hotel business at the fruit market. The police raided me, detained me in Haji Camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for four nights, and now deported me via Torkham." Afghan media outlet TOLO news reported quoting a deportee, Gul Mohammad, as saying.

Last month, Shujauddin, an Afghan migrant living in Rawalpindi with his six-member family, said he faces deportation despite holding a valid visa. In preparation, he has put his household items up for auction.

"I rented this shop a year ago for a huge sumabout 1.8 million Pakistani rupeesand invested in it. But now, because of the government's decision, I am being forced to move to another city," he said.

"If I don't leave, they will arrest and deport us back to Afghanistan. I have put all my shop's goods up for auction at very low prices," the Afghan refugee added.

A total of 4,966 Afghan refugees left for Afghanistan on Sunday night, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported, quoting an official report.

Meanwhile, the officials privy to the repatriation process said that since the deportation process continued till late at night, the number of Afghan refugees who left on Monday would be disclosed later.

In addition to the deportations, a police crackdown in Rawalpindi continued targeting Afghan nationals residing in the country. Pakistan's law enforcement agencies on Sunday in Rawalpindi rounded up 736 Afghan nationals, including 140 women and 164 children, and shifted them to the Afghan refugee camp near Golra Mor. Of the 736 people, 179 were deported to Afghanistan.

Pakistan's deportation policy has come under scrutiny with several international organisations condemning the act.

They have raised concern over the grave risks faced by the refugees upon their return amid uncertainties in Afghanistan. The Pakistani government had dismissed concerns raised by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other agencies regarding the mass repatriation of Afghan refugees.
Hyderabad, April 8 : The Telangana High Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence to five convicts, including the banned Indian Mujahideen's (IM) co-founder Yaseen Bhatkal and a Pakistani national, in the 2013 Hyderabad bomb blasts.

A division bench of Justice K. Lakshman and Justice P. Sree Sudhha dismissed the appeals filed by the convicts challenging the order of a special NIA court pronounced in 2016

Apart from Bhatkal alias Ahmed Siddibappa Zaraar and Pakistani national Zia ur Rehman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu, and Aizaz Saeed Shaik alias Aijaz Shaikh were sentenced by the NIA court for offences, including waging war against the nation, criminal conspiracy and murder.

The twin blasts in the Dilsukhnagar area of Hyderabad on February 21, 2013, killed 18 persons, including one unborn child in a mother's womb, and injured 131 others

All five were convicted for offences, including waging war against the nation, criminal conspiracy and murder

The death sentence was pronounced under sections 302 A and 121 of the Indian Penal Code, section 3B Explosive Substance Act and section 16 of the Unlawful Activities Act.

The counsel for one of the convicts, Aijaz Shaikh, said they would file an appeal in the Supreme Court. He said they would file an appeal after going through the High Court order.

Two of the convicts are lodged in Cherlapally Jail in Hyderabad, while others are lodged in other jails in the country as they are facing trial in other terror cases.

Yaseen Bhatkal is brother of Riyaz Bhatkal, the brain behind the blasts and the main accused, who is absconding and suspected to be hiding in Pakistan. The NIA has already issued an Interpol Red Corner notice for him.

Bhatkal brothers are from Bhatkal town of Karnataka, while Rehman is from Mustafabad of Pakistan's Punjab province, Asadullah Akhtar from Uttar Pradesh while Tahseen Akhtar and Aizaz Saeed are residents of Bihar and Maharashtra respectively.

During the hearing on the appeals by the convicts in the High Court, the counsel of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) defended the death penalty on the ground that the accused planned and executed bomb blasts, killing many people and later went on to carry out another bombing.

The investigating agency had filed three charge sheets in the case. Charges were framed against the five accused on July 16, 2015 and the trial commenced on August 24 the same year.

The prosecution examined a total of 157 witnesses during the trial.

The two blasts, with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), occurred within a span of six seconds at a distance of 100 meters in crowded places in the shopping area Dilsukhnagar on the evening of February 21, 2013. While the first blast took place at the 107 bus stop in Dilsukhnagar, the second was near A1 Mirchi Centre.
Los Angeles, April 8 : Hollywood screenwriter Paul Schrader has addressed the allegations of sexual assault in a letter to his friends and associates.

The allegations were levelled by his 26-year-old former assistant, claiming her accusations couldn't be "further from the truth", reports 'Variety'.

On April 3, Schrader's former assistant, identified as Jane Doe, alleged in a legal filing that the "Taxi Driver" screenwriter had sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions.

As per 'Variety', one alleged incident occurred shortly after last year's 'Oh, Canada' premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where she claims Schrader exposed his penis to her in his hotel room.

She also claimed that Schrader's lawyer agreed on a monetary settlement after the alleged abuse, but after some "soul searching," he pulled out of the deal. The Jane Doe's lawyers then filed a motion in New York state court to enforce the settlement and recoup litigation expenses.

Schrader has since responded to the claims in a letter sent Monday. In it, he writes that it's "important" for the masses to "hear from me directly about the subject" to get his side of the accusations, which he claims to be "false and misleading".

The letter reads, "Out of the blue, in the fall of last year, a lawyer I had never heard of, representing my former assistant, sent me a letter demanding that I pay my former assistant millions of dollars or she would go public with sensational, false and misleading accusations about our relationship and my conduct via a lawsuit".

He explained that he felt "legally entitled" to back out of a settlement, which he claims "would not be effective unless both Plaintiff and I signed it". Schrader then went on to detail the most "physically 'intimate' experiences" he shared with his former assistant, claiming they shared "two kisses on the lips".

He stressed that they "never had sex in any form". "The first kiss was in December 2023 in a New York bar after we had both been drinking. She continued working actively with me thereafter. She did not indicate to me that she had been troubled by the kiss, much less that she preferred to change or end our relationship", Schrader wrote.

He further mentioned, "The second kiss took place in May 2024 at Cannes where she had accompanied me for the premiere of my most recent film. Once again, after we had been drinking together, I kissed her. This time she indicated displeasure. I never attempted to kiss her again and I also apologized. Even after Cannes, Plaintiff expressed emphatically her desire to continue to work, dine and travel with me".

Schrader ended his letter by saying he understands he will be "presumed guilty" in the "current climate" surrounding sexual assault in Hollywood, but remains confident the court would "see the truth" if he goes to trial.

"I have nothing to hide about my conduct, and that includes my decision not to yield to the pressure of my former assistant's threat to make her sensational allegations public", he added.
New Delhi, April 8 : The Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) National President Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday scoffed at Congress' assertions on Rahul Gandhi's visit to Bihar and its impact on Assembly elections and remarked that the entire exercise will prove to be futile, adding that former Congress president's 30-minute speech won't make any difference in the state.

New Delhi, April 8 (IANS) The Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) National President Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday scoffed at Congressa assertions on Rahul Gandhias visit to Bihar and its impact on Assembly elections and remarked that the entire exercise will prove to be futile, adding that former Congress presidentas 30-minute speech wonat make any difference in the state.

"Congress Party makes statements only to attract people towards them during elections. Rahul Gandhi is doing the same. For many years after Independence, their government was in power. Look at the state of Bihar that they left behind. Later, they formed an alliance and created havoc. Everyone knows what they did," Kushwaha said.

He further added, "Now, they are making statements to deceive people and distract them. But nothing will happen in Bihar because of their efforts. No 'grand alliance' will work here. That is their destiny, their internal nature."

Kushwaha further mentioned that whether Rahul Gandhi speaks for 30 minutes or 300 minutes, it wonat make any difference in Bihar.

"He knows this well, which is why he's in a rush to speak in his 30-minute address."

Rahul Gandhi visited Bihar a day ago and participated in the 'Palayan Roko, Naukri Do (Stop Migration, Provide Jobs)' Yatra in Begusarai, along with fellow Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

Earlier, the Leader of Opposition also attended a aSave the Constitutiona meeting in Patna, marking his third such event in the past three months. During his speech, Gandhi emphasized that the Congress party had learned from its past mistakes.

"Our Bihar unit has been instructed to give at least two-thirds representation to people from OBC, EBC, and Dalit communities," he had told the gathering.

Gandhi had also reiterated demand for the removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation in India.
Chennai, April 8 : AIADMK MLAs on Tuesday appeared in black shirts in the Tamil Nadu Assembly as a mark of protest, alleging that they were not being allowed to speak during House proceedings.

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and AIADMK General Secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, accused Speaker M. Appal of denying them the opportunity to raise important issues.

This protest follows Monday's walk out by AIADMK legislators after the Speaker reportedly declined to permit a discussion on a matter during Zero Hour.

On Monday, a few AIADMK MLAs who held placards inside the Assembly were suspended for the remainder of the day.

Speaking to the media outside the Assembly, Palaniswami said he had sought to raise an issue concerning the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), which had approached the Supreme Court requesting the transfer of all Enforcement Directorate (ED)-related cases from the Madras High Court to another High Court.

He pointed out that the ED had recently conducted raids on liquor distilleries supplying to TASMAC and reportedly found evidence of financial irregularities to the tune of 1,000 crore.

TASMAC subsequently filed cases against the ED, including one alleging mistreatment of its employees and another seeking to bar further action by the agency.

A two-judge Bench of the Madras High Court initially heard the matter but later the judges recused themselves.

The Chief Justice then constituted a new Bench to hear the case. However, TASMAC did not want the new Bench to proceed and made a request to the Supreme Court to transfer all related cases to a High Court in another state.

"I wanted to bring this serious matter to the attention of the State Government, but was not allowed to speak," Palaniswami said.

He argued that this was an issue of public interest.

"When the Speaker and Leader of the House claimed that sub-judice matters cannot be discussed, we tried to explain that we were not talking about the case itself, but the reasons why TASMAC wanted to move the case out of Tamil Nadu," he said.

He alleged that the State Government was attempting to shift the legal proceedings to another state to avoid media scrutiny.

"If the case is heard outside Tamil Nadu, it may escape public and media attention," he said.

Palaniswami further stated, "When I was Chief Minister, I faced a case in the Madras High Court. We did not try to get it transferred elsewhere. TASMAC is a government entity, it's not about an individual."

IANS

aal/rad
Srinagar, April 8 : Three more organisations on Tuesday announced their dissociation from the separatist Hurriyat Conference and declared their allegiance to the Constitution of the country.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, presently on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, said on X, "Three more organizations, namely Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front, disassociate themselves from the Hurriyat. It is a prominent demonstration of the people's trust in the Constitution of India within the valley."

He further said, "Modi Ji's vision for a united and powerful Bharat stands even more bolstered today, as so far 11 such organizations have shunned separatism, proclaiming unwavering support for it."

In sharp contrast to the past, when people observed protest shutdowns on Hurriyat call, whenever a Central minister came to Kashmir, this time the so-called separatist constituents of Hurriyat are deserting the conglomerate and declaring allegiance to the Constitution when the present Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, is visiting Kthe valley.

Two organisations, J&K Peoples Democratic movement (JKPDM) and J&K Peoples movement (JKPM), have already announced dissociation from the separatist Hurriyat Conference and declared their allegiance with the Constitution of the country.

Formed in 1993 to purportedly give political voice to armed insurgency, the Hurriyat Conference had 26 social, religious and political organisations/groups as its constituents.

Interestingly, even the government employees' association and the J&K high court bar association were members of the Hurriyat Conference.

The Hurriyat Conference split into two groups in 2003, one headed by the hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the moderate group led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. It became defunct after August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated.

All Hurriyat Conference activities, including organising anti-India protests and stone pelting on security forces, calling protest shutdowns on the visits of national leaders and dignitaries to Kashmir and calling for a black day on the country's Republic Day and Independence Day, have stopped since the abrogation of Article 370.

Stone pelting had become a public nuisance and a major law and order problem in Kashmir. However, after August 5, 2019, there hasn't been a single incident of stone pelting in Kashmir.
Mumbai, April 8 : As the film "Lucky" completes 20 years of its release today, writer-director duo Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru reflected on their cherished memories from the movie and their enduring admiration for Salman Khan.

Mumbai, April 8 (IANS) As the film "Lucky" completes 20 years of its release today, writer-director duo Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru reflected on their cherished memories from the movie and their enduring admiration for Salman Khan.

The duo reminisces about working with Khan, who remains their 'forever favorite hero.' Speaking about their directorial debut, Radhika and Vinay shared, "They say your first is always special and Lucky truly was. To have Salman Khan as part of our very first film was nothing short of magical. He'll always be our forever favourite hero. It's hard to believe it's already been two decades since we shared a love story that touched so many hearts. The songs, the memories, the love, they still live on, and always will."

Today marks the 20th anniversary of "Lucky: No Time For Love's debut on the big screen. A source revealed that the entire film was shot in an intense 65-day schedule. The 2005-released romantic drama featured Salman Khan and Sneha Ullal in the lead roles. The film also starred Mithun Chakraborty, Kader Khan, Navni Parihar, and Ravi Baswani.

The film follows the story of Lucky (played by Sneha), who, after narrowly escaping an assault, finds refuge in Aditya's car. As a terrorist attack erupts, the two strangers stand by each other, facing unimaginable challenges. This is the story of two individuals who push the boundaries of their endurance and, most importantly, discover love.

Interestingly, one of the standout legacies of "Lucky: No Time For Love" is its iconic music, with Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru introducing Adnan Sami as a film composer. The duo curated what has since become a collector's album, featuring an extraordinary lineup of legendary voices, including Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Anuradha Paudwal, Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, and Adnan Sami himself.

The film was released on 8 April 2005.
Sanaa, April 8 : The US military conducted 22 airstrikes targeting several Houthi sites across northern Yemen on Tuesday, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV and residents reported.

The strikes hit areas east and south of the capital Sanaa, the Island of Kamaran in the Red Sea, and areas both north and south of the oil-rich Marib province. No casualties have been reported so far.

Residents described the airstrikes as very powerful and violent.

The latest wave of airstrikes came a day after US airstrikes killed four children and wounded 25 others in Sanaa on Sunday night.

On March 15, the United States resumed airstrikes against the Houthis to deter the group from attacking Israeli ships following the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Houthis repeatedly claim that their attacks are in retaliation to US airstrikes on Yemen and aim to pressure the US-backed Israel to stop its offensive on Gaza and allow aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave.

This comes after Yemen's Houthi group said that it had launched a drone attack on a "military target" in Israel's Tel Aviv and fired cruise missiles at two US warships in the Red Sea.

"We carried out an operation against a military target in Tel Aviv, using a Jaffa drone," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement aired by al-Masirah TV.

"Our naval and air forces also conducted a joint military operation targeting two US destroyers in the Red Sea with several cruise missiles and drones," Sarea added.

He noted that the strikes on US warships were "in response to the ongoing US aggression and crimes against Yemeni people," referring to the latest US airstrikes on a house in Sanaa Sunday night, which killed at least four people and wounded over 20 others, including 11 women and children.

Sarea stressed that the US strikes would not deter the group from supporting the Palestinian people, vowing its operations would not cease until Israeli "aggression" against the Gaza Strip stops and the siege on it is lifted.
Seoul, April 8 : The South Korean government on Tuesday formally designated June 3 as the date of the next presidential election following the ouster of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The designation was made at a Cabinet meeting four days after the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Yoon over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December.

Under the Constitution, the country is required to hold a new election within 60 days after a vacancy arises in the presidency.

The government also designated June 3 as a temporary public holiday.

The National Election Commission began early candidate registration shortly after the Constitutional Court dismissed Yoon last Friday.

Candidates will be required to register by May 11 and the official campaign period will kick off on May 12.

The law also requires a public servant running for President to resign at least 30 days before an election, making May 4 the deadline.

The new President will assume office immediately after the election without a transition team, Yonhap news agency reported.

When former President Park Geun-hye was removed from office on March 10, 2017, the early election was also held exactly 60 days later, on May 9.

Meanwhile, Yoon, who dramatically rose from a top prosecutor to the presidency in about three years, became the nation's second President to be formally removed from office, with his surprise martial law bid rattling the nation for months and deepening political polarisation.

With the ruling, Yoon, 64, follows in the footsteps of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was ousted in 2017 when the Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment over a corruption scandal.

Before taking the nation's highest office, Yoon began his career as a prosecutor in 1994, rising through the ranks to lead an investigation team into Park's corruption scandal that ultimately led to her ouster and subsequent imprisonment.

In 2019, he was appointed as the nation's top prosecutor under then South Korean President Moon Jae-in but clashed with the administration as he oversaw investigations into family members of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk.

Amid mounting pressure from the Moon administration, Yoon stepped down from his post in 2021, only to enter politics shortly after and win the presidential election in 2022 as the candidate for the conservative People Power Party.

Yoon's term was riddled with conflict with an uncooperative National Assembly dominated by the main Opposition Democratic Party (DP). Yoon exercised his presidential veto power against 25 Bills passed by the National Assembly.

Tensions with the DP appeared to reach an extreme in early December as the main Opposition introduced motions to impeach the country's top auditor and a senior prosecutor, with Yoon declaring martial law on December 3, which ultimately led to his downfall.
Chennai, April 8 : The DMDK will finalise its strategy for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections at its upcoming general council meeting scheduled for April 30.

The party announced that both the general and executive council meetings will take place in Palacode, Tamil Nadu. Founded by the late Tamil film star and political leader Vijayakant, the DMDK continues to maintain a presence in several pockets across the state.

The upcoming meeting will be presided over by Premalatha Vijayakant, party general secretary and wife of the late founder.

According to a statement released by party headquarters, Premalatha is expected to address key party functionaries and cadres on vital matters related to the party's future, election preparedness, and possible alliances ahead of the 2026 polls.

The meeting is expected to witness the participation of senior party leaders, high-level committee members, state and district secretaries, former MLAs, and general and executive council members.

Representatives from union territories and neighbouring states, such as Puducherry, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, and the Andaman Islands, will also attend.

The DMDK, a Dravidian party, was launched on September 14, 2005, in Madurai by Vijayakant, who later served as the Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

The party's headquarters, "Captain Aalayam", is located in Koyambedu, Chennai. In the 2011 Assembly elections, the DMDK won 29 of the 40 seats it contested in alliance with the AIADMK, emerging as the second-largest party in the House.

This historic win pushed the DMK to third place and earned Vijayakant the distinction of being the first actor to serve as Leader of Opposition in any Indian state Assembly. The party was also granted a permanent election symbol, the "Nagara", by the Election Commission of India. However, Vijayakant stepped down from his role on February 21, 2016, following the resignation of eight party MLAs.

In the 2024 general elections, the DMDK aligned with the AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu, joining hands with Puthiya Tamilagam (PT) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). The party contested five constituencies, including Virudhunagar, where Vijayakant's son, V. Vijaya Prabhakaran, lost to Congress MP Manickam Tagore by a narrow margin of 4,379 votes. NDA candidate and actress Radhika Sarathkumar was pushed to third place in that contest.

Following the elections, Premalatha Vijayakant demanded a Rajya Sabha seat for the party. However, AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami clarified that no such assurance had been given. Against this backdrop, the April 30 council meeting is expected to play a crucial role in determining the DMDK's future political course.
New Delhi, April 8 : A team of UK researchers has found evidence on how "immunity debt," caused by extended periods of restrictions during Covid-19 pandemic, is causing changes in global transmission patterns of flu.

"Immunity debt" is a phenomenon where populations become more susceptible to infections after extended periods of reduced exposure. While the hypothesis was widely accepted, until now there has been little evidence to back up the theory.

The Covid pandemic led many countries around the world to implement strict public health measures like lockdowns, social distancing, mask-wearing, and travel restrictions.

While these steps were crucial and effective in controlling the spread of Covid, they led to a dramatic drop in cases of other illnesses like influenza (flu) and respiratory viruses.

However, post-Covid countries worldwide have seen a dramatic surge in cases of flu.

The researchers warned that this "immunity debt" could lead to major flu outbreaks in the years following a pandemic, as populations regain susceptibility to other viruses.

"Our findings provide evidence for the 'immunity debt' hypothesis," said senior author Daniel Prieto-Alhambra, Professor of Pharmaco- and Device Epidemiology at NDORMS, University of Oxford.

"By limiting flu exposure over the past few years, we've built up a more vulnerable population that is now seeing a major rebound in infections. Fortunately, strategies are available to minimize the impact of these on vulnerable populations, and (flu) vaccination should be encouraged among them," he added.

The study, published in Advanced Science, analysed global flu data from 116 countries between 2012 and 2024.

They found that during the Covid restriction periods, flu cases dropped by an average of 46 per cent worldwide. However, in 2022, the first winter season after restrictions were lifted, flu cases surged by an average of 132 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.

Notably, the team found that the degree of immunity debt was linked to how stringent a country's Covid-19 restrictions had been during the pandemic.

Countries with severe lockdowns and social distancing measures tended to see the largest flu resurgences later on.

The researchers urged public health authorities to factor in the risk of immunity debt in planning for future pandemic response strategies.
Mumbai, April 8 : The upcoming film "Shin Chan: Our Dinosaur Diary" is all set to release on the silver screen on May 9.

Mumbai, April 8 (IANS) The upcoming film "Shin Chan: Our Dinosaur Diary" is all set to release on the silver screen on May 9.

Speaking about the Indian release, Director Shinobu Sasaki shared: "The Shin Chan movie, which has a history of over 30 years, is finally being released in theaters in India! Thank you very much! Our Dinosaur Diary is a heartwarming story about the kid's summer memories. Led by the mischievous Shin Chan, the Kasukabe Guard causes quite a ruckus.

"Please enjoy the cuteness of his beloved dog Shiro, and the baby dinosaur Nana, as well as the grandeur and coolness of the dinosaurs, and the meticulous hand-drawn lines by the animators on the big screen. I would be thrilled if this movie inspires the people in India to visit Japan or to explore the past series of Shin chan. My heart is pounding with excitement! (sic)."

The film, telling the tale of adventure, family and dinosaurs, is set to make a grand return to Indian cinemas with PVR INOX Pictures for its latest film, "Shin Chan: Our Dinosaur Diary."

Maiko Sumida, Head of Animation Sales & Development at TV Asahi commented: "We are extremely excited to partner with PVR Inox Pictures on this Shin Chan film release! We are thrilled that the children who are currently watching Shin Chan on TV, as well as those who grew up watching it, will be able to enjoy Shin Chan's adventures on the big screen."

"Shin Chan: Our Dinosaur Diary" takes the audiences to "Dino's Island," a futuristic theme park in Tokyo where dinosaurs have been brought back to life. What starts as an exciting summer quickly turns into chaos when Shinnosuke and his family take in a baby dinosaur named Nana.

As a sinister force hunts Nana for its hidden secret, Shinnosuke, his dog Shiro, and the Kasukabe Guard embark on a thrilling mission to protect their new friend.
Kathmandu, April 8 : Nepal's pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) is set to stage a protest on Tuesday at Balkhu in Kathmandu, demanding the reinstatement of the monarchy and the release of party leaders and cadres in police custody. Police were on high alert on Tuesday as the pro-monarchy protest on March 28, in the Tinkune area of Kathmandu turned violent.

Two people had died and hundreds were injured in the violent clashes between security personnel and pro-monarchy protesters in Tinkune.

Several leaders and pro-monarchy supporters were arrested in connection with the incident, local media reported.

Nabaraj Subedi, coordinator of the Joint People's Movement, which was formed with the mission to reinstate the monarchy in Nepal, has been kept under house arrest. While RPP's leaders, Vice-Chair Rabindra Mishra and General Secretary Dhawal Shumsher Rana remained in police custody.

Earlier, the Kathmandu District Court had extended the remand of RPP leaders, along with 39 others, for further investigation into their involvement in the violent protests that engulfed Nepal.

The RPP's protest on Tuesday, organised under the slogan 'Let's change the system to change the situation', will be led by party Chair Rajendra Lingden. The protest will also be supported by the pro-monarchist group Joint People's Movement.

Over 2,000 personnel from the Nepal Police will be deployed for the RPP demonstration, Dinesh Kumar Acharya, spokesperson for the Nepal Police told Nepal's leading daily The Kathmandu Post.

"We expect the demonstration, organised by a party that holds 14 seats in the Parliament, to be peaceful," another senior police official added. Nepal authorities have warned of firm action if any protester resorts to vandalism or arson.

Both the government and the royalist camp have traded accusations against each other for inciting violence during the Tinkune protest.

Last week, Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli warned of legal action against pro-monarchy supporters for leading the violent protests that engulfed Nepal. Oli stated that even former King Gyanendra Shah would not be spared if found guilty in the March 28 violence.

While addressing the Parliament, he warned lawmakers from the RPP to desist from destroying the Constitution, pointing out that they were oath-bound to protect the Charter.

Meanwhile, Oli's speech triggered protests in Parliament from lawmakers of the RPP. The party Chair Rajendra Lingden accused republican parties of fostering corruption since the monarchy's abolition in 2008, the Post reported.

Speaking in the House meeting after the Prime Minister's address, Lingden warned that if the people wished, the Republican system could be overturned. "Were only protesters responsible for the riots?" Was it not the government's duty to take the situation under control?" he said.

Lingden further alleged that security forces used expired tear gas from rooftops, exacerbating tensions. Additionally, he called for the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the incident at Tinkune in Kathmandu.
Srinagar, April 8 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the progress of various developmental projects in Jammu and Kashmir in a high-level meeting here on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended by Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Chief Secretary Atul Dulloo, additional chief secretaries and administrative secretaries of various departments.

Before the meeting, Amit Shah had a one-on-one meeting with the chief minister.

The Union home minister will review the overall security in the union territory at another meeting which will be attended by the Lt. Governor, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director Tapan Deka, Director Generals of J&K Police, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), including BSF, CRPF and senior intelligence officers.

The home minister is also likely to meet some delegations before he departs for Delhi in the afternoon.

He posted on X that three more organisations have left the separatist Hurriyat Conference and declared their allegiance to the Constitution of India.

He said this is the growing endorsement of the Prime Minister's vision about the Naya Kashmir, where violence and hatred would have no place.

After his arrival here on Monday, Amit Shah went to the Humhama area near the Srinagar International Airport to meet the family of martyred J&K Police Dy SP, Humayun Bhat.

The home minister offered his condolences to the family. He stayed for nearly 20 minutes with Ghulam Hassan Bhat, retired IGP, father of Humayun. He also offered condolences to Fatima, wife of the martyred police officer and blessed the 20-month old child of the officer.

L-G Manoj Sinha and CM Omar Abdullah accompanied the home minister during his visit to the martyr's family.

Humayun was killed on September 13, 2003, while fighting a group of terrorists in the forests of Kokernag Tehsil in the Anantnag district.

Known for his professionalism and bravery, the officer was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra.

During his visit to Jammu, Amit Shah met the families of four policemen martyred while fighting terrorists in the Kathua district.

He gave compassionate appointment orders to the next of kin of the martyrs.

HM Shah said during his interaction in Jammu that terrorism was down but not yet fully out in J&K and assured that the situation would soon be brought to complete normalcy.

He had a closed-door meeting with members of the BJP and RSS at the Jammu residence of Sunil Sharma, the Leader of Opposition in the J&K Assembly.

During his visit to the border outpost of the BSF in Kathua on Monday, the home minister praised the BSF for being an elite border sentinel force of the country.

He said cutting-edge technology is being provided to the BSF for complete tech-driven surveillance of the border. He told the deployed BSF jawans that the country holds the force in high esteem because of their commitment to duty and protection of the country's frontiers.

"You discharge duties round the year, 24 hours a day and in torrential rain, extreme cold or 45-degree heat. BSF has a glorious past, and you genuinely deserve the prestige the force has earned among the countrymen," he told the BSF officers and jawans.
New Delhi, April 8 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted on Tuesday that the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), launched 10 years ago on April 8, has turned out to be a massive success in empowering the poor at the grassroots with over 52 crore loans given worth Rs 33 lakh crore.

The Prime Minister explained that the MUDRA scheme was born as the result of his travels across the country as a "karyakarta" when he observed that there was a dire need for "funding the unfunded" at the grassroots to lift the masses out of poverty.

He highlighted that the scheme democratised the financial system and the success of the scheme is also reflected in the fact that a mere 3.5 per cent of loans under the scheme were NPAs.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister said, "Sharing my interview with Economic Times, where I elaborate on the life-changing ability of Mudra Yojana and why it remains an important scheme in our quest for dignity and empowerment. #10YearsOfMUDRA."

The Prime Minister said that the MUDRA (Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency) scheme needs to be seen in a particular context and not as a standalone scheme.

" Even before I held any government position, I had travelled extensively across the country for many decades as a karyakarta. There was a common theme that I saw everywhere. A vast majority of our population, such as the poor, farmers, women and marginalised sections, had aspirations for growth, a strong spirit of enterprise, energy and resilience qualities, needed to be a successful entrepreneur, he observed.

"But these were the very sections that had been completely excluded from the formal banking and financial system. Tell me, if you do not have a bank account, will you ever visit a bank? When people did not even have access to basic banking, funding for entrepreneurship looked like a distant dream. So, when the people voted for us in 2014, we decided to make the whole financial architecture people-centric and inclusive, so that we could give wings to their aspirations," PM Modi said.

He highlighted that the scheme democratised the financial system.

"This started with 'banking the unbanked' with Jan Dhan Yojana. Once those who were left out and left behind began to become part of the formal financial system through this scheme, we went on to 'funding the unfunded' through the MUDRA Yojana and 'insuring the uninsured' through the Jan Suraksha portfolio of schemes. So, MUDRA is part of a larger vision to ensure that the entrepreneurial ability, innovation, creativity and self-reliance of the people at the grassroots is respected, celebrated and supported," he said.

"Through the MUDRA Yojana, we wanted to give a message to every Indian that we had trust in their abilities and would stand as a guarantee in their journey to fulfil their aspirations. Trust begets trust. The people, too, responded with great zeal and today, with over 52 crore loans given worth Rs 33 lakh crore, they have made MUDRA a massive success," PM Modi said.

Talking about the NPA issue in India's baking sector, PM Modi said: "There are two perspectives on the problem. On the one hand, we have experience from the tenure of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. Then, the banking sector operated under a system that came to be known as 'phone banking'. Loans were sanctioned based on calls from political connections rather than on competence or adherence to strict financial due diligence. We all know how this created the twin balance sheet problem. The period, marked by a lack of transparency and accountability, left public sector banks grappling with a legacy of stressed assets, undermining their ability to support broader economic growth."

He said: "On the other hand, we lent money to the poor and the middle class through the MUDRA Yojana. It was designed to empower small and medium entrepreneurs who had no connections but had competence and conviction. Unlike the UPA's top-heavy lending model, MUDRA focused on grassroots economic activity. Today, with more than 52 crore loan accounts, MUDRA reflects the massive scale and ambition of the scheme."

"When we launched this initiative, several prominent Congress leaders and commentators from their ecosystem said that extending credit to crores of small-scale borrowers would cause an NPA issue. They had no trust in the poor and middle class of our country. But the outcomes have defied these predictions. What stands out is the performance of these loans-just 3.5 per cent have turned into NPAs. This is an exceptionally low default rate in this segment world over. While the UPA's phone banking era left banks burdened with toxic assets and favoured select elites of those who were close to power centres, MUDRA has redirected resources to the grassroots, fostering entrepreneurship without compromising financial stability," PM Modi added.
Bengaluru, April 8 : Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Tuesday apologised for his controversial "big city incident" remark related to a sexual assault case in Bengaluru.

Parameshwara's apology came a day after his controversial remark that "such incidents happen here and there in a big city" over a sexual assault incident triggered a huge row.

Speaking to the media in Bengaluru, Parameshwara said, "I want to clarify my statement. It was miscommunicated to the public. If my statement has pained our mothers and sisters, I express my sincere regret."

Claiming that his statement was distorted, he said: "I have always stood for the protection of women. We have launched several initiatives, and our state has utilised a major portion of the funds allotted under the Nirbhaya scheme."

The state Home Minister said: "When the BJP was in power, should I reveal data on murders and other crimes? People will laugh if the BJP claims no crime occurred during its tenure."

Parameshwara made the "big city incident" remark after a 17-second video showing a man groping a woman and then escaping went viral on Sunday. The incident occurred at around 2 a.m. on April 4 in the jurisdiction of the Sadduguntepalya police station.

Police have registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by a resident and have launched a search for the accused while collecting additional evidence.

On Monday, slamming the state Home Minister, Karnataka BJP President B. Y. Vijayendra said that Paramaeshwara's remarks were open admission that law and order have completely collapsed.

Since the Congress came to power in Karnataka, there has been a continuous series of crimes including murder, robbery, extortion, assaults, and rapes targeting women and children, Vijayendra said.

"The Home Minister's statement downplaying the harassment of a young woman in broad daylight as a 'routine incident' has tarnished the image and dignity of the state on an international level. His remarks reflect nothing but his incompetence," he said.
Mumbai, April 8 : India is expected to perform better than most global markets in the coming months, even amid growing international uncertainties, Ashishkumar Chauhan, CEO and MD of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), said on Tuesday.

He attributed this confidence to India's steady economic framework, strong leadership, and evolving bilateral trade dynamics.

The NSE chief noted that India has shown resilience compared to other global markets over the past week.

"While several international indices have experienced sharp declines -- such as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange falling by 13 per cent, Indian markets have demonstrated relative strength, rebounding after a modest drop and maintaining stability," Chauhan told IANS.

"India has been in relatively calm waters even as global markets face turbulence. Our policymakers and leaders have carefully steered us away from volatility, and if this momentum continues, we will likely do much better than the rest of the world," he added.

He also highlighted the growing shift from multilateral to bilateral trade engagements, which is expected to benefit Indian companies both domestically and abroad.

"The strengthening relationship between India and the US, particularly at the leadership level, is seen as a positive force that will further support the Indian economy and markets," NSE CEO told IANS.

"India's own growth momentum -- hovering around 6.5 to 7 per cent -- continues to make it the fastest-growing economy in the world. We are on track to overtake Germany and become the third-largest economy either this year or next," Chauhan mentioned.

In the coming days, many countries are likely to hold talks with the United States to reduce tariff burdens, and India too will present its case.

A recent SBI Research report stated that India's exposure to US tariffs is limited due to its exports to the US forming only around 4 per cent of the GDP. The report also highlighted that the new US tariffs on India are the lowest among key Asian nations, giving India a competitive edge over peers like China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Patna, April 8 : Rashtriya Lok Morcha President and Rajya Sabha MP, Upendra Kushwaha, launched a scathing attack on Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, questioning his promises of providing employment in Bihar and accused him of political theatrics ahead of the Assembly elections in the state.

Speaking to the media at Patna Airport, Kushwaha said, "Rahul Gandhi is talking about giving jobs in Bihar. Why doesn't he first give jobs in the states where the Congress is in power? Go there and provide employment instead of misleading people here."

Kushwaha alleged that the Congress party remembers employment only during elections and fails to deliver when in power.

"After Independence, the Congress ruled the country for 60 years. Then, for 15 years they were in power in Bihar in alliance with the RJD. The damage they did during that time is not hidden from anyone," Kushwaha claimed.

He stated that no matter what the Congress and the Opposition alliance do, the NDA will return to power in Bihar.

Commenting on the factional clash inside the party's state office at Sadaqat Ashram in Patna during Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's visit, Kushwaha said, "This shows the internal condition of the Congress. One leader is not ready to listen to another. If they can't manage their own party, how can they talk about governing a state?"

Dismissing LoP Gandhi's symbolic 30-minute 'Palayan Roko, Naukri Do' padyatra in Begusarai as inconsequential, Kushwaha added, "Be it 30 minutes or 300, it won't make any difference. The people of Bihar know better. His yatra is just a show, and it will not impact voters."

LoP Gandhi was in Patna for a day-long visit on Monday where he attended the 30-minute 'Palayan Roko, Naukri Do' padyatra in Begusarai, followed by addressing a gathering during the Samvidhan Sanrakshan event at Patna's Sri Krishna Memorial Hall and then took a meeting of the party workers at state headquarter Sadaqat Ashram.

His visit was part of a preparation for the Bihar Assembly election 2025 which is expected to take place in October and November this year.
Chennai, April 8 : The Tamil Nadu Agriculture Department is taking urgent measures to tackle a severe whitefly infestation that has affected 1.9 lakh acres of coconut farms in the state.

Out of the 12 lakh acres under coconut cultivation in Tamil Nadu, approximately 1.9 lakh acres have been impacted by the rugose spiraling whitefly, an invasive species known for its rapid spread.

These pests produce a thick sap on the surface of leaves, inhibiting plant growth and threatening coconut yields.

Officials from the Agriculture Department emphasised that only natural and integrated pest management methods can effectively control the infestation.

The Union Government's Department of Agriculture has also advised against the use of chemical pesticides, warning that they may exacerbate the whitefly problem.

To raise awareness and guide farmers, the state has conducted 330 camps across various districts.

A joint field study conducted by scientists from the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) in Kasaragod, Kerala, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), and the state's Horticulture Department led to the implementation of several control measures last year, which helped contain the spread.

Research by the Agriculture Department has identified several effective strategies to manage the whitefly population include installation of light traps (one per hectare), use of yellow sticky traps (20 per acre), release of Encarsia parasitoids (100 per plantation), deploying green lacewing insects also called Apertochrysa (400 per acre), spraying a 0.5 per cent neem oil solution and power-spraying water on the underside of coconut leaves.

Meanwhile, farmers in Dharmapuri district  where coconut cultivation spans around 5,578 hectares have raised concerns over the growing presence of whiteflies.

They have urged the Horticulture Department to increase awareness efforts and supply biological control agents such as Encarsia formosa, a parasitic wasp known to be effective against whiteflies.

"A coconut tree can grow up to 50 feet, so conventional pest control methods are ineffective," said K.R. Muthumaran, a farmer from Pappireddipatti.

"We need Encarsia mites to control the infestation, but they are not available in our region. The department must step in and provide them," he said.

Agriculture officials said they are promoting awareness through farmer groups and social media campaigns. They have also recommended regular water spraying under the leaves of saplings and young trees up to five years old.

Additionally, a mix of castor oil and water has been suggested as a viable solution, though it is mainly applicable to younger plants.

IANS

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New Delhi, April 8 : External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, expressed his pleasure in welcoming Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Deputy Prime Minister, as he arrived in India on Tuesday for his first official visit to the country.

Taking to social media platform X, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Jaishankar posted on Tuesday, "Delighted to welcome Crown Prince of Dubai and DPM & Minister of Defence of UAE HH Sheikh Hamdan Mohammed, at the start of his first official visit to India. Value his positive sentiments for our wide-ranging cooperation and vibrant ties."

This marks a significant milestone in bilateral relations as it is Sheikh Hamdanas first official visit to India in his current capacity as the Crown Prince of Dubai.

Accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising several ministers, senior government officials, and top business leaders, the visit highlights the growing ties between India and the UAE.

During his visit, the Crown Prince will engage in meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will host a working lunch for him, as well as EAM Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

These discussions are expected to focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including Defence, trade, and cultural exchanges.

Following his time in Delhi, the Crown Prince will travel to Mumbai, where he will take part in a business roundtable with leading industrialists and businessmen from both nations. This interaction is aimed at boosting India-UAE economic and commercial relations, particularly in both traditional and emerging sectors.

"Traditionally, Dubai has played an important role in India's commercial, cultural and people-to-people exchanges with the UAE. Majority of India's around 4.3 million diaspora in the UAE reside and work in Dubai. The visit of His Highness the Crown Prince will further solidify the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and strengthen our multifaceted ties with Dubai," read a statement issued by the MEA.

EAM Jaishankar had personally extended the invitation to Sheikh Hamdan during his recent visit to the UAE in January 2025, further solidifying the diplomatic rapport between the two nations.
New Delhi, April 8 : Social activist Medha Patkar got relief on Tuesday from a Delhi court in a decades-old defamation case filed by Delhi Lt Governor V.K. Saxena as it changed the jail term to a year's probation and reduced the fine imposed on her from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 lakh.

The Saket court directed Patkaras release on probation for good conduct, noting her clean record and contribution to social causes.

Patkar appeared before the court via video conferencing.

While the court had earlier sentenced her to five months of simple imprisonment and imposed a Rs 10 lakh fine, it reconsidered the punishment on account of her age, clean past, and the non-grave nature of the offence.

Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh of the Saket court observed that Patkar is a well-known social activist who has received several awards and that the offence did not merit imprisonment.

"The court decides to release her for good conduct. She is being released on probation of one year," the judge said.

On April 2, the court had dismissed Patkaras appeal challenging her conviction in the defamation case.

Last year, on July 1, Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma sentenced her to five months in jail and ordered her to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation to Saxena. Advocate Gajinder Kumar, along with advocates Kiran Jai, Chandra Shekhar, Drishti, and Somya Arya, had argued the case for Saxena.

The defamation case dates back to 2001, when Saxena -- then chief of the Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties -- filed two defamation suits against Patkar. One pertained to allegedly derogatory remarks she made during a television interview, while the other involved a press statement.

The legal tussle arose from an earlier suit filed by Patkar in 2000, accusing Saxena of publishing defamatory advertisements targeting her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Mumbai, April 8 : Tata Motors on Tuesday reported a 3 per cent decline in its global wholesales for the March quarter (Q4 FY25), even as its luxury car unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) registered a slight increase in sales.

The total group-wide wholesales, including JLR, stood at 3,66,177 units during the quarter. This is lower than the 3,77,432 units sold in the same quarter last year.

The companyas commercial vehicle sales, including the Tata Daewoo range, dropped 3 per cent to 1,07,765 units. Passenger vehicle sales also fell 6 per cent to 1,46,999 units compared to the previous year.

However, JLR bucked the overall trend with a 1 per cent rise in global sales. JLR sold 1,11,413 vehicles in the March quarter. Out of this, Land Rover contributed 1,04,343 units while Jaguar sold 7,070 units.

This sales update comes ahead of Tata Motors' financial results for the quarter and full year ending March.

Earlier, Tata Motorsa UK subsidiary, JLR announced a temporary halt in shipments to the US for April.

The decision came in response to a 25 per cent tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on imported vehicles.

Despite the dip in total sales, Tata Motorsa stock saw a sharp rise during the intra-day trading. It climbed 1.52 per cent or Rs 8.80 to trade at Rs 588.55 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) around 2 pm.

However, over the past 12 months, Tata Motors stock has declined 41.47 per cent, and it is down nearly 20 per cent so far this year.

The trading volume on Tuesday was 1.5 times higher than its 30-day average. Its relative strength index (RSI), a technical indicator, was at 30.96 -- suggesting the stock may be nearing oversold levels.

Meanwhile, Tata Group faced a sharp drop in market value on Monday, losing around Rs 90,000 crore as group stocks experienced a sharp fall due to global uncertainties.
Ahmedabad, April 8 : Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday claimed that a deliberate conspiracy was underway to distort the contributions of national heroes.

After opening the Extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Ahmedabad, Kharge said: "A false narrative was being built to pit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel against each other, as if they were adversaries."

Asserting that the two leaders were two sides of the same coin, he recalled a speech by Patel delivered on March 7, 1937, at Gujarat Vidyapith, when Nehru was Congress President and the state's youth wanted him to campaign during provincial elections.

"Patel had said, 'The day Gujarat wins this electoral battle and proves its loyalty to the Congress, that day we shall welcome Congress President Nehru with pride'. This shows how deeply Patel believed in Nehru's leadership," Kharge noted.

He sharply criticised the current political environment, warning against "rising communal division" and "corporate control" over national resources.

"On one hand, efforts are being made to divert public attention from core issues by spreading communal hatred. On the other hand, oligarchic monopolies are capturing the country's resources and threatening to dominate governance," he said.

He credited Patel's leadership during the 1931 Karachi session for shaping the soul of the country's Constitution through the resolution on Fundamental Rights.

"For the past several years, efforts are being made to malign the Congress - a party with 140 years of history in nation-building and sacrifice - by those who have little to show in terms of their own achievements or contribution to the freedom movement," he said.

Invoking the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Dadabhai Naoroji - three iconic leaders born on Gujarat's soil who once led the Congress and helped shape India's political and moral foundations, Kharge said they not only led the Congress but illuminated its path.

"Gandhiji gave us the unshakable weapons of truth and non-violence to fight injustice, tools no power can withstand," Kharge stated.

In December 1924, Gandhi ji presided over the Congress Session in Belgaum, Karnataka - my home state. We celebrated this centenary with due reverence on December 26 last year."

With the national convention returning to Gujarat after 64 years- the last one held in Bhavnagar in 1961 - Kharge said it was only fitting that the party reflect on its ideological roots and historical role in shaping modern India.

Reminding the gathering of Gujarat's proud legacy of grassroots struggle, he said: "Just as Champaran Satyagraha under Gandhi jias leadership strengthened the Congress in rural India, the Bardoli Satyagraha and farmersa movements led by Sardar Patel remain immortal in our history."

Kharge highlighted the upcoming 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31, calling him "the architect of India's unity", echoing Pandit Nehruas description of Patelas unifying role.

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were also present on the occasion.

With over 3,000 delegates in attendance, including chief ministers of Congress-ruled states, state unit presidents, and senior leaders, the two-day conclave is expected to craft the party's roadmap for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Toronto, April 8 : Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney visited the iconic BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in the city, on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami and Swaminarayan Jayanti, celebrating the birth anniversaries of Lord Shri Ram and Bhagwan Shri Swaminarayan.

As Canadian PM arrived at the BAPS temple, he was welcomed with traditional Hindu rituals, including the tying of a nada-chhadi (sacred thread) and a garland by senior BAPS swamis. He then participated in the sacred abhishek ritual of Nilkanth Varni Maharaj, offering prayers for peace and well-being across Canada and the world.

During his Mandir tour, Canadian Prime Minister admired the temple's intricate stone carvings and spiritual grandeur, and participated in the arti ceremony, offering flowers and fruits at the central shrine.

A highlight of the visit was the presentation of a special multilingual edition of the 'Satsang Diksha' scripture, authored by His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj.

A personal letter of blessings from Mahant Swami Maharaj, sent from India, was also read aloud in his presence. In the heartfelt message, Mahant Swami Maharaj prayed for the Canada PM's leadership, and also for the prosperity of Canada and all its people.

Deeply moved, the Prime Minister penned in the guest book and wrote, "With the deepest appreciation for your prayers and hospitality, and with all my conviction to work without fail to promote peace, unity, harmony, and prosperity for Canada, India, and all nations."

Mark Carney acknowledged the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir's ongoing contributions to Canadian society, including its role in promoting community service, interfaith harmony, cultural preservation, and youth development. He expressed admiration for how the Mandir continues to be a symbol of peace, volunteerism, and national unity.

Before leaving, Canada PM Carney also engaged warmly with community members and Hindu leaders, reinforcing his commitment to diversity, inclusion, and cultural harmony.

--IANS

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Erie County Legislator Jeanne Vinal is right to call baloney.

Vinal isnt the only one questioning the response to requests for information on the now-infamous case involving Daniel D.J. Granville, chief of narcotics for the Sheriffs Office.

Granville appears to be the driver of a county-owned pickup truck that was captured on video slamming into seven parked cars on the Lower West Sides Prospect Avenue on April 11.

Like other county legislators, the county comptroller, Buffalos Common Council and not the least, the owners of those damaged vehicles, Vinal wants and deserves answers. Buffalo and Erie County law enforcement officials should provide nothing short of full transparency  which includes releasing dash camera and body camera footage.

Legislator denied footage in Granville matter: 'It's a baloney response' Erie County Legislator Jeanne Vinal has asked the Buffalo Police Department for dash camera and body camera footage related to the car crashes involving Sheriff's Office Chief Daniel "D.J." Granville, and is challenging the police department's denial of information.

Vinal is among many who have asked the Buffalo Police Department for this footage. The response has been the same for her and everybody else: Request denied. The blanket refusal cites a law that says records could be withheld if disclosure would interfere with an ongoing investigation. Someone must have forgotten that Vinal is a lawyer.

She has sent a follow-up request to the Buffalo Police Department arguing that a year-old investigation now being conducted by Internal Affairs involves a matter of police discipline, not a criminal investigation.

I think its a baloney response, she said.

This is what is known and has been reported by The News: Buffalo police officers responded to an accident scene shortly after 11:30 p.m. on April 11 after Granville crashed his unmarked Sheriffs Office pickup truck into seven parked vehicles on Buffalos Lower West Side. Video obtained by The News showed his pickup truck slamming into the parked vehicles with force. As reported, the vehicle then backed up and left the scene.

Six Buffalo police officers investigated. Granville was cited with driving the wrong way on a one-way street, a charge later reduced to jaywalking.

Granvilles sister-in-law  the supervising officer on the scene  signed off on some paperwork related to the crashes. No one from the Sheriffs Office investigated the incident at the time of the crash. The county has agreed to issue nearly $60,000 in settlements to vehicle owners whose cars were damaged.

Nothing to see here, folks? Not quite. As Vinal correctly insists, crucial information needs to be released so that exactly what happened can be determined and the public can be informed.

In cases like these, the cover-up is nearly always worse than the initial offense. Its a lesson that has been proven over and over again, from Watergate on down. Its a lesson the Buffalo Police Department and the Sheriffs Office should have learned by now.

Staffing crisis, inmate solution

Its a viable solution. The state prison system is releasing nonviolent felons to help the agency address officer staffing shortages. Many on the short list to be released were already headed for the exits. Why not speed up the process?

About 700 inmates were on an initial list of prisoners who could be released, although the number to be discharged would likely be smaller, said state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel Martuscello.

NY prison commissioner says inmates will be released early to address staffing shortage Some nonviolent inmates will be released early from prisons around the state to help ease the pressure of staffing shortages, according to the prisons commissioner.

The inmates to be released included those already approved for release over the next 15 to 119 days. Martuscello said he would not allow the list of releasees to include high-level A felony inmates or any inmates serving time for violent felonies or any sex offenses. They must have an approved residence to go to that is not a shelter or social services agency placement. That should allay concerns.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has faced criticism since that unsanctioned strike, which ended March 9. She moved to fire some 2,000 officers who went on strike. Now, Republicans in the State Senate and Assembly are criticizing the Hochul administrations decision to release the prisoners. However, it is a reasonable option. It should ease the burden on understaffed facilities while saving taxpayers money.

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
Mumbai, April 8 : Despite not being a trained dancer, actress Diksha Dhami delivered a mesmerizing performance for a dramatic sequence in Shemaroo Umang's popular show "Badi Haveli Ki Chhoti Thakurain".

Jaiveer, Chaina's husband, feels hurt and betrayed after discovering that Chaina had accepted money to falsely claim to be his wife while he was missing. In a shocking twist, he forces Chaina to dance in front of his friends to publicly humiliate her. The scene was so intense and emotional that it required Diksha to dig deep, both as a performer and as a person.

Diksha, who portrays the character of Chaina, always felt a natural inclination towards rhythm. Reflecting on her journey, she shared, "I love dancing and my body instinctively moves to the music. Since joining 'Badi Haveli Ki Chhoti Thakurain', my co-star Ishita and I have looked for a time when we can make dance reels, and our very first reel together where we danced to 'Badi Mushkil Baba Badi Mushkil' from 'Lajja'received immense love from our fans."

Her real challenge, however, came when she had to perform a dance sequence for the show. Speaking about the experience, Diksha added, "I was quite nervous about dancing alone, on a spiritual song but Ishita, knowing how vulnerable I felt, stayed back to help me prepare for the sequence and gave me the confidence I needed. On-screen, she is my arch-enemy, but off-screen, she has become one of my closest friends. What started as a daunting task turned into something truly fun and fulfilling."

Talking about the current track of "Badi Haveli Ki Chhoti Thakurain", ChainaJaiveer's Rakshinimarries him even though he is presumed dead, in the hope that the marriage will bring him back to life. Miraculously, Jaiveer regains consciousness, but the joy is short-lived. Will Jaiveer accept this marriage?

"Badi Haveli Ki Chhoti Thakurain" airs from Monday to Saturday at 9:00 PM, only on Shemaroo Umang.
Dhaka, April 8 : Bangladesh Chief Advisor's Office (CAO) on Tuesday confirmed that 49 individuals have been detained in connection with the vandalism of shops and business establishments in Sylhet and several other cities across the country during the pro-Palestine protest organised by students and public.

The mobs targetted Israeli-linked businesses, such as Bata, KFC, and Pizza Hut in Bogra, Sylhet, Cox's Bazar, and other districts, in protest against the Israeli strikes on Gaza and demanded boycott of certain products, local media reported.

"In a determined effort to bring those accountable to justice, police conducted raids last night targetting the perpetrators. Additionally, our law enforcement agencies are diligently reviewing video footage captured during the protests to identify more individuals involved. These operations will continue until all those responsible for this violence and destruction are apprehended," read a statement by the interim government.

Several videos that went viral on social media on Monday showed protestors attacking and vandalising shops and businesses all over Bangladesh over allegations of "stocking and selling Israeli products". This included many restaurants and stores.

Security was also beefed up in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave Monday evening, particularly around the US embassy, following the series of pro-Palestine protests in the area. Personnel from Border Guard Bangladesh, Armed Police Battalion, Special Branch, Criminal Investigation Department, intelligence agencies and Bangladesh army were deployed to monitor security in the highly-sensitive zone.

In addition, security measures were increased at other embassies in the Gulshan area. Bangladesh's leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo quoted Gulshan Zone Assistant Commissioner of Police Ali Ahmed Masud as saying that the security in the diplomatic area has been strengthened following protests demanding an end to the conflict in Gaza.

"US citizens should practice vigilance and remember that demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. You should avoid demonstrations and exercise caution in the vicinity of any large gatherings. Review personal security plans; remain aware of your surroundings, including local events; and monitor local news stations for updates," the US embassy in Dhaka stated a day before in a security alert.
New Delhi, April 8 : Actress Kritika Kamra has talked about the underrated mindset that more people should adopt is embracing the beauty and practicality of secondhand items.

Asked what's one underrated habit or mindset she believes more people should adopt, Kritika told IANS: "I think we need to get over the shame around hand-me-downs. We should be able to pass on the things that we are bored of, and it's absolutely fine to thrift or get things from family/friends that they don't want anymore."

"Different people wear the same hinge differently. So even if you're wearing something used, the way it looks on you will be unique and new."

The actress, who has launched a fashion initiative called "Cinnabar" to empower women artisans in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, urged people to "stop throwing things out."

"Also, shop in your closet. I promise you if you're organised and can see everything you own, you'll be able to make many sets from things you already wear and haven't yet. Get creative."

Talking about how her style has evolved over the years, both on and off screen, the actress, who stepped into the world of acting in 2007 with the college drama "Yahaan Ke Hum Sikander," said: "On screen my style is always a collaboration with the stylist, the director, and the cinematographer."

"It changes with each project, as per the demands of the world and era the story is set in. I always try to find small ways to distinguish between my characters."

"It could be a signature accessory like a nose pin or a particular hairstyle. Styling is a very important part of characterisation. It's also a gateway for an actor to get into the skin of a character."

Off-screen, Kritika has always leaned towards neutral palettes.

"I also have a deep appreciation for all things handmade, so my personal style is a mix of classic western casuals and some statement Indian pieces like sarees. For the glamorous, red carpet style, I'm lucky I get dressed by some very talented people, so I keep all the fun fashion experiments and expressions reserved for that."
New Delhi, April 8 : The Finance Ministry's Department of Financial Services has notified the amalgamation of 26 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) on the principles of 'One State One RRB' as part of the fourth phase of the continuing exercise to improve efficiency, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Finance had rolled out an amalgamation plan in November 2024 for consultation with stakeholders. After consultation with stakeholders, the amalgamation of 26 RRBs in 10 states and one UT has been carried out with the primary focus on the improvement in scale efficiency and cost rationalisation, the statement said.

At present, 43 RRBs are functioning in 26 states and 2 UTs. Post amalgamation, there will be 28 RRBs in 26 states and 2 UTs with more than 22,000 branches covering 700 districts. Their predominant area of operation is in rural areas, with approximately 92 per cent of branches in rural and semi-urban areas, the statement said.

This is the fourth phase of amalgamation. In the previous three phases which include Phase-I (FY 2006 to FY 2010), the number of RRBs were reduced from 196 to 82, in Phase-2 (FY 2013 to FY 2015) from 82 to 56, and in Phase-3 (FY 2019 to FY 2021) from 56 to 43, the official statement said.

The Finance Ministry has kicked off a 'One State One RRB' drive in 11 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal, and Rajasthan, by amalgamating various RRBs into one. The scheme will come into effect from May 1.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of Section 23A of the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976, the Central government hereby provides for the amalgamation of the said Regional Rural Banks into a single Regional Rural Bank, which shall come into effect on and from the 1st day of May, 2025 with such constitution, property, powers, rights, interests, authorities and privileges; and with such liabilities, duties and obligation," a notification by the Finance Ministry said.

Regional Rural Banks in India play a crucial role in promoting rural economic development by providing financial services, particularly credit and other facilities, to small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, artisans, and small entrepreneurs in underserved rural areas.
New Delhi April 8 : Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday hailed UAE-India ties following a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

The Crown Prince of Dubai of arrived in India on a two-day visit earlier in the day at invitation of Prime Minister Modi.

"It was a pleasure meeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi today in New Delhi. Our conversations reaffirmed the strength of UAEa"India ties which is built on trust, shaped by history, and driven by a shared vision to create a future full of opportunity, innovation, and lasting prosperity," he posted on X after meeting PM Modi.

This is Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's first official visit to India as the Crown Prince of Dubai and he is accompanied by several ministers, senior government officials and a high-level business delegation.

Prime Minister Modi hosted a working lunch for the visiting dignitary and the Crown Prince also held meetings with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

"Delighted to welcome Crown Prince of Dubai and DPM & Minister of Defence of UAE HH Hamdan Mohammed at the start of his first official visit to India. Value his positive sentiments for our wide-ranging cooperation and vibrant ties," said EAM Jaishankar.

After Delhi, the Crown Prince will visit Mumbai and will also participate in a business roundtable with prominent business leaders from both sides. The interaction will strengthen Indiaa"UAE economic and commercial cooperation across traditional and futuristic areas.

"Traditionally, Dubai has played an important role in India's commercial, cultural and people-to-people exchanges with the UAE. Majority of India's around 4.3 million diaspora in UAE reside and work in Dubai. The visit of His Highness the Crown Prince will further solidify the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and strengthen our multifaceted ties with Dubai," read a statement issued by the MEA.
Jaipur, April 8 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma has expressed condolences over the demise of Dadi Ratan Mohini, Chief Administrator of Brahma Kumaris (Abu Road).

Dadi Ratan Mohini, 101, passed away at 1.20 a.m. in a private hospital in Ahmedabad (Gujarat).

CM Sharma said, "I am deeply saddened by the news of the demise of Dadi Ratanmohini, the Chief Rajyogini of Brahma Kumari Ishwariya Vishwavidyalaya. Her demise is an irreparable loss to the spiritual world. May Lord Shri Ram grant strength to the bereaved followers to bear this immense loss. Om Shanti," he added.

Deputy CM Diya Kumari posted, "I am shocked to hear the news of Dadi Ratan Mohini's passing. Dadi's life and her contributions to the upliftment of society serve as an inspiration to all of us."

"Dadi's body was brought from Ahmedabad to the international headquarters of Brahma Kumari Sansthan in Abu Road on Tuesday. The body has been kept there for the last darshan. The institute's officials will soon announce the date of the funeral," Brahma Kumaris' PRO said.

Born on March 25, 1925, in Hyderabad, Sindh (now in Pakistan), Dadi Ratan Mohini was deeply interested in spirituality from a young age and played a significant role in the establishment of the institute. Dadi Ratan Mohini remained active until the last days of her life.

She used to wake up at 3.30 a.m. every day during Brahma Muhurta and remained engaged in divine services until 10 p.m. She undertook numerous padayatras to promote Indian culture and values.

In 1985, she completed 13 padayatras, and in 2006, she completed a journey of 31,000 kilometers. In total, she traveled over 70,000 kilometers on foot. She was also responsible for the training and appointment of sisters joining the institute.

She initially trained young sisters under her guidance before dedicating herself fully to the Brahma Kumari institute. Over the years, she trained more than 46,000 sisters from 4,600 service centers across the country.

Additionally, she served as National President of Brahma Kumaris' Youth Division, where she focused on instilling human values in the youth and inspiring them to lead better lives.
Jaipur, April 8 : The Congress on Tuesday removed its district vice president, accused in the Jaipur hit-and-run case, in which three people died and six others were injured.

Usman Khan, who, in an inebriated state, mowed pedestrians, has been arrested.

The deceased included a brother and sister.

According to the police, first Usman's SUV collided with other vehicles on MI Road and then entered the narrow streets of the city, where it mowed down pedestrians. The police arrested the driver with the help of locals.

Meanwhile, protests erupted outside the Nahargarh police station on Tuesday morning, with people demanding compensation for the victims' families.

The incident occurred around 9.30 p.m. on Monday.

Additional DCP (North) Bajrang Singh Shekhawat said Usman, 62, caused the most destruction within a 500-metre stretch.

Virendra Singh (48), Mamta Kanwar (50), and Monesh Soni (28), Mohammad Jalaluddin (44), a resident of Manbag Khor Sharda Colony, Deepika Saini (17), Vijay Narayan (65), Zebunnisha (50), Anshika (24), and Awadhesh Pareek (37) were injured in the incident and rushed to the hospital.

At the medical facility, Mamta Kanwar and Awadhesh Pareek were declared dead.

Tragically, Virendra Singh succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday morning.

The condition of the injured remains critical, and they are being treated in the trauma ward at Sawai Mansingh Hospital (SMS).

Khan, a resident of Rana Colony in Shastri Nagar, Jaipur, owns a factory that makes iron beds in Vishwakarma Industrial Area.

The family of the deceased woman, Mamta Kanwar, has filed an FIR against Usman. In the wake of this incident, residents are furious, and police from four stations have been deployed around Nahargarh Road and surrounding areas to maintain law and order.

Usman's SUV has been seized and investigation is underway, the police said.
Kolkata, April 8 : The Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday giving relief to the West Bengal cabinet from the CBI probe in the school job case does not bring an end to the miseries of the 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff in state-run schools who lost jobs following an order by the apex court, claimed the opposition parties in the state.

According to the BJP's Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal, Samik Bhattacharya, the Chief Minister, her cabinet colleagues and Trinamool Congress leaders might be happy over the relief from the CBI probe on the creation of "supernumerary posts", but thousands of others are suffering.

"Does that mean that the trauma ends for the 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff, whose jobs were cancelled last week by the Supreme Court, which clearly said the entire panel had to be cancelled because of the failure of the state government and West Bengal School Service Commission to segregate 'genuine' candidates from the 'tainted' ones? The tainted ones got jobs against payment of money. Even after that verdict, the Chief Minister is misleading those job losers by making several promises that their jobs will be protected," Bhattacharya said.

CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member and senior advocate of Calcutta High Court Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya said the apex court has given relief to the cabinet from the CBI probe since the court feels that a central agency probe on "wisdom" of the decision of the state cabinet to create "supernumerary posts" was not desirable.

"This was a relief that the state cabinet members had been seeking for quite some time, and ultimately they have got the relief. However, the CBI probe on other matters in the school job case will continue," he said.

Four-time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member and senior advocate of Calcutta High Court Kalyan Banerjee said the apex court has ruled out the alleged "criminality" behind the decision of the cabinet.

"However, I feel sad for the BJP and CPI(M) leaders, who till yesterday were claiming that the entire cabinet will be now behind bars. The apex court order was heartbreak for them," Banerjee said.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court set aside the direction passed by the Calcutta High Court, which had ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the creation of supernumerary posts in state-run schools. These teaching and non-teaching posts, which have remained under the cloud since the beginning, are perceived to provide room for ineligible candidates recruited illegally.

With the latest decision of the apex court, the probe agency will not be able to investigate the sanctity of the decision approving the creation of supernumerary posts. The SC clarified that its order will not preclude the CBI to probe other aspects of the school job scam case in terms of the Calcutta High Court decision.
Chennai, April 8 : The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict against Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi, calling it a landmark ruling that strengthens state governments. The ruling was hailed by the Congress in the state too.

In a statement, PMK founder Dr. S. Ramadoss said, "This judgment puts an end to the arbitrary practice of Governors sitting on Bills passed by State governments. It mandates that any Bill must be approved within a maximum of four months."

He added, "Today's verdict gives significant power back to State governments. It ensures that Governors can no longer delay or obstruct important legislation that serves the State's interests."

Dr. Ramadoss also urged the Tamil Nadu government to swiftly fill the vacant posts of Vice-Chancellors in eight state universities, emphasising the need to safeguard students' futures.

The PMK, it may be recalled had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the BJP.

The Supreme Court's ruling has drawn support from across the political spectrum.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President, K. Selvaperunthagai hailed the verdict, stating, "The top court has condemned the anti-people actions of the Governor and has sent a clear message against the deliberate delay in giving assent to Bills passed unanimously in the Assembly."

He further said, "The ruling confirms that all powers lie with the elected government, while the Governor  being a nominal head  has only limited authority. The court has firmly rejected the BJP's efforts to undermine the Constitution."

DMK Rajya Sabha MP and Supreme Court advocate, S. Wilson also lauded the top court's decision, saying, "This verdict applies not only to the Tamil Nadu Governor but to all Governors across India. As a result, the Governor ceases to be the Chancellor of State universities in Tamil Nadu with immediate effect."

He added that the Supreme Court's judgment also opens the door to legally challenge President Droupadi Murmu's delay in giving assent to the NEET exemption Bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Governor R.N. Ravi acted illegally by withholding assent to 10 Bills, some of which have been pending since January 2020, and later sending them to the President after the Tamil Nadu legislature re-passed them.

A Bench, comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan held that the Governor had no authority to reserve a Bill for the President once it had been passed again by the Assembly in its original form.

The court stated that the Governor's actions lacked bona fides and declared that the ten Bills were deemed to have received assent on the date they were re-presented to him.

The ruling emphasised that under Article 200 of the Constitution, the Governor has no discretionary power and must act on the aid and advice of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers.

The court clarified that only a substantially-altered Bill can be reserved for the President's assent upon re-presentation. It also ruled out the Governor's ability to simply withhold assent.

The top court's decision came after a plea by the Tamil Nadu government challenged Governor Ravi's refusal to approve several state Assembly Bills. The state sought court intervention to compel the Governor to decide on Bills within a set timeframe.

Setting deadlines for governors to act on state legislation, the Bench ruled that inaction can be subject to judicial review.

IANS

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Chennai, April 8 : Telugu star Vishnu Manchu along with the team of his eagerly awaited film 'Kannappa' met spiritual leader Bageshwar Dham Sarkar (Bageshwar Baba), Shri Dhirendra Krishna Shastriji on Tuesday.

Chennai, April 8 (IANS) Telugu star Vishnu Manchu along with the team of his eagerly awaited film aKannappaa met spiritual leader Bageshwar Dham Sarkar (Bageshwar Baba), Shri Dhirendra Krishna Shastriji on Tuesday.

With the much-anticipated mythological epic Kannappa gearing up for release, Vishnu Manchu is doing more than promotions a" he's surrendering to a spiritual calling.

The meeting with Bageshwar Baba comes at a time when aKannappaa, the story of Lord Shivaas fiercest and most unlikely devotee, is poised to ignite conversations and consciousness across the country.

During their meeting, Bageshwar Dham Sarkar blessed the team of aKannappaa, including lead actor Vishnu Manchu, director Mukesh Kumar Singh, and the filmas antagonist Arpit Ranka. He spoke at length about the greatness of the devotee Kannappa and watched glimpses of the film, appreciating its vision.

He praised the effort to bring Indian culture and ancient stories to the forefront through cinema, stating that such films must be made and should reach the masses.

Bageshwar Baba emphasized that there was no need to imitate Western narratives when Indian mythology held such immense depth and beauty. He lauded South Indian cinema for staying rooted in tradition and expressed excitement to watch the film, aKannappaa, once it was completed. He also extended his heartfelt blessings and best wishes for the filmas success.

Vishnu will continue his Jyotirlinga Yatra, a sacred pilgrimage to the twelve holiest shrines of Lord Shivaa"each one believed to be a living, breathing vortex of divine energy. This yatra is not just symbolic; itas deeply personal. It echoes the journey of Kannappa himself, a man who begins as an atheist and ultimately offers his eyes to Shiva in a moment of pure, unshakable love.

Vishnu just visited the Trimbakeshwar Jyotirling temple in Maharashtra today, marking yet another divine step in this spiritual journey.

This yatra is already well underway, with Vishnu having visited six of the 12 Jyotirlingas: Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, Mahakaleshwar and Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Somnath and Nageshwar in Gujarat, and now Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra. The road ahead still calls him to Bhimashankar and Grishneshwar in Maharashtra, Kashi Vishwanath in Uttar Pradesh, Vaidyanath in Jharkhand, Mallikarjuna in Andhra Pradesh, and Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.

Kannappa is a historical epic that narrates the story of the legendary devotee of Lord Shiva. With a stellar cast and breathtaking visuals, the film promises to leave a lasting impact on audiences worldwide. Vishnu Manchu stars as aKannappaa, alongside Preity Mukhundhan, with powerhouse performances by Mohanlal, Akshay Kumar, Prabhas, and Kajal Aggarwal. The film, which was originally slated for release on April 25, has been slightly delayed. A fresh release date is to be announced soon.

--IANS

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Department of Homeland Security released images on February 5 of the first flight of criminal aliens, who were all part of Tren de Aragua, a violent criminal organization from Venezuela, preparing to take off for Guantanamo Bay. Photo via Department of Homeland Security/UPI

April 7 (UPI) -- In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to resume deporting alleged members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador based on the 1798 Allies Enemies Act.

But the justices ruled that the government must give deportees "reasonable time" to challenge their removal in court in the United States before being deported.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on March 28 to lift a lower court order.

The 25-page unsigned opinion vacated a decision by the U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia on March 24 that blocked use of the wartime law with little or no due process. It was a temporary restraining order by the judge appointed by George Bush. On March 26, the District Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in favor of Boasberg's restraining order.

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The Supreme Court majority was Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Conservative Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberals Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in going against the opinion.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem receives a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 26, 2025. The Trump administration used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport alleged members of the violent Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua to the notorious prison. Photo by Tia Dufour/U.S. Department of Homeland Security/UPI

Writing a concurring opinion was Cavanaugh with dissenting opinions by Sotomayor and Jackson. Barrett questioned whether habeas claims should be the only way for people to challenge their deportations under the act.

Barrett, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch were nominated by Donald Trump during his first term as president.

"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. A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA!," Trump posted on Truth Social.

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Sotomayor blasted the government's conduct.

"That a majority of this court now rewards the government for its behavior with discretionary equitable relief is indefensible," she wrote. "We, as a nation and a court of law, should be better than this."

The five plaintiffs are suspected gang members but were not on the deportation flights. They remain in custody in Texas and appeared before a judge.

"Regardless of whether the detainees formally request release from confinement, because their claims for relief ''necessarily imply the invalidity' of their confinement and removal under the AEA, their claims fall within the 'core' of the writ of habeas corpus and thus must be brought in habeas," the high court ruled.

The opinion added: "the order and percuriam confirm that the detainees subject to removal orders under the AEA are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal. The only question is which court will resolve that challenge. For the reasons set forth, that venue lies in the district of confinement."

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A three-member appeals court heard arguments for one hour on the same day as Boasberg issued his order to halt flights. Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush and Judge Patricia Millett, an appointee of President Barack Obama, ruled in favor of continuing Boasberg's restraining order while Justin Walker, appointed by Donald Trump in his first term, dissented.

Boasberg said use of the Alien Enemies Act "implicates a host of complicated legal issues" but didn't decide whether the law was properly invoked.

"Federal courts are equipped to adjudicate that question when individuals threatened with detention and removal challenge their designation as such," he ruled. "Because the named Plaintiffs dispute that they are members of Tren de Aragua, they may not be deported until a court has been able to decide the merits of their challenge."

Under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, the Justice Department believes it has the authority because they are a "hybrid criminal state" invading the United States though it has been only invoked in times of declared war against other countries. They were described as the "worst of the worst."

There were 228 deportations on two flights to El Salvador on March 15, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced on social media.

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Boasberg ordered the government to turn the planes around in flight but lawyers contend he had no authority to do that.

Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said none of the several hundred deported to El Salvador's maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center belong to the gang.

U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, last week filed impeachment articles against Boasberg. According to the U.S. Constitution, removal is for "Treason, Bribery or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Despite the judge's order, the Justice Department announced plans to deport three other alleged Tren de Aragua gang members to Chile under the 1798 act. Federal prosecutors described Gamez Finol, Miguel Oyola Jimenez and Edgar Javier Benitez Rubio as "alien enemies" and the "illegally entered the United States after allegedy committing horrific crimes in Chile."
New Delhi April 8 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in New Delhi, asserting that Dubai has played a "key role" in advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Prime Minister Modi hosted a working lunch for the visiting dignitary who had arrived in New Delhi earlier in the day at his invitation.

"Glad to meet HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai. Dubai has played a key role in advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This special visit reaffirms our deep-rooted friendship and paves the way for even stronger collaboration in the future," Prime Minister Modi posted on X after the meeting.

This is Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's first official visit to India as the Crown Prince of Dubai and he is accompanied by several ministers, senior government officials and a high-level business delegation.

"It was a pleasure meeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi today in New Delhi. Our conversations reaffirmed the strength of UAEa"India ties which is built on trust, shaped by history, and driven by a shared vision to create a future full of opportunity, innovation, and lasting prosperity," he posted on X after meeting PM Modi.

The Crown Prince also held meetings with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

"Delighted to welcome Crown Prince of Dubai and DPM & Minister of Defence of UAE HH Hamdan Mohammed at the start of his first official visit to India. Value his positive sentiments for our wide-ranging cooperation and vibrant ties," said EAM Jaishankar.

Defence Minister Rajnath also said that he had a "productive meeting" with the Crown Prince of Dubai.

"For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UAE is of immense priority. In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as defence cooperation, co-production and co-development projects, innovation and technology. Both India and the UAE are committed to work towards peace and prosperity in the region," Singh posted on X.

After Delhi, the Crown Prince will visit Mumbai and will also participate in a business roundtable with prominent business leaders from both sides. The interaction will strengthen Indiaa"UAE economic and commercial cooperation across traditional and futuristic areas.

"Traditionally, Dubai has played an important role in India's commercial, cultural and people-to-people exchanges with the UAE. Majority of India's around 4.3 million diaspora in UAE reside and work in Dubai. The visit of His Highness the Crown Prince will further solidify the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and strengthen our multifaceted ties with Dubai," read a statement issued by the MEA.
New Delhi, April 8 : On the completion of 10 years of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), an expert on Tuesday said that the scheme has played a significant role in improving the financial condition of people across the country and has given a strong push to self-employment.

Ashwini Rana, founder of Voice of Banking, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM Mudra Yojana in April 2015 with the objective of providing financial support to individuals who wished to start their own businesses.

The scheme offers loans under three categories -- Shishu, Kishor and Tarun. The Shishu category covers loans up to Rs 50,000, Kishor offers loans from Rs 50,001 to Rs 5 lakh, and Tarun covers loans between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.

Last year, the government also introduced a new category called Tarun Plus, which offers loans up to Rs 20 lakh.

"Over the past 10 years, 52 crore Mudra loans worth Rs 33 lakh crore have been disbursed under the scheme," Rana said.

"This has helped improve the financial condition of millions and promoted self-employment on a large scale," he added.

He also pointed out that women were given priority under the scheme, and apart from public sector banks, private banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) also participated actively in the implementation of PMMY.

The non-performing asset (NPA) rate under the scheme currently stands at 3.5 per cent. On this, Rana explained that while NPAs are a common issue across all types of loans, in the case of Mudra loans, the government acts as a guarantor.

"As a result, if a loan turns into an NPA, the losses incurred by banks are compensated by the government," he stated.

Calling it a successful initiative, Rana said, "PM Mudra Yojana has fulfilled all its objectives and continues to be a vital scheme for promoting entrepreneurship and financial inclusion in India."
Mumbai, April 8 : Actor Babil Khan, son of late Irrfan Khan, left everyone puzzled after he called out influencer Pratyush Dua in a viral Instagram story, urging everyone to "Unfollow Pratyush."

However, users who were unable to find Dua's account started speculating that this might all just be a ''publicity stunt".

Babil recently took to his Instagram stories and posted a video with the header, "Unfollow Pratyush".

The clip featured a visibly agitated Babil speaking out against social media influencers, specifically Dua. He was heard saying, "These days, I strongly feel that we're ready to do anything for our feed, our page, our handle. It's becoming harder to tell what's real and what's fake."

Sharing his growing frustration and disillusionment with online content, Babli added, "I hate the word content now. It's hard to tell whether we're consuming contentor content is consuming us".

Calling out Dua, he shared, "Take this guy Pratyush Duahe's popular, has a lot of followers, fine. But there's a line, and you just don't cross it".

Following the post, Reddit users and social media sleuths began trying to locate Dua online. When no verified account or relevant profile surfaced, speculation grew that ''is this a publicity stunt?"

The post hints toward Babil's next, "Logout" that will stream on ZEE5. The Amit Golani's directorial has been written by Biswapati Sarkar.

Along with Babil, the project will also see Rasika Dugal, Nimisha Nair, and Gandharv Dewan in key roles. Produced by Digital 18 Media Private Limited and Posham Pa Pictures, "Logout" has already made quite a splash in the international festival circuit, as it was showcased at renowned events such as the 21st Indian Film Festival Stuttgart 2024, Mal Del Plata 2024, Indian Film Festival Melbourne 2024, and the River to River Florence Indian Film Festival 2024.

Babil's next will be premiering on ZEE5 on April 18th.
New Delhi, April 8 : Ayush Ministry is set to hold a two-day homeopathic convention in Gujarat that will endorse traditional and complementary systems of medicine.

The event, to be held on the occasion of World Homeopathy Day, will be inagurated by Prataprao Jadhav, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge).

Organised under the aegis of the Ministry of Ayush, the convention will be jointly hosted by the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH), the National Commission for Homeopathy (NCH), and the National Institute of Homeopathy (NIH) on April 10-11, at the Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gandhinagar.

The theme this year is 'Education, Practice, and Research'. It "highlights the three foundational pillars for the growth of Homoeopathy," said the Ministry.

The event is expected to witness participation from about 10,000 delegates from across the globe, making it the largest gathering in the history of homeopathy.

"The aim of World Homeopathy Day 2025 is to strengthen global access to homeopathic research advancements, its practical applications, and its growing impact in both healthcare and industry," the Ministry said.

"The convention will not only cater to academics and researchers but will also bring together policymakers and industry experts on one unified platform," it added.

The event will also hold India's largest-ever "Live Materia Medica" competition and organise separate, thought-provoking sessions by the three collaborating organisations for exhaustive deliberations.

"This year's celebration will witness the largest representation from the education sector, paving the way for future generations of homeopathy professionals. We will also use the platform to sensitise the students about the new courses introduced by NCH," Dr. Pinakin N. Trivedi, Chairperson-in-Charge, NCH.

The event will provide a monumental platform for homoeopathy to celebrate, collaborate, and chart the course for the future of traditional medicine.

With being home to the WHO's first Global Traditional Medicine Centre in Jamnagar, this large-scale event will further position Gujarat as a frontrunner in endorsing traditional and complementary systems of medicine, the Ministry said.
Lisbon, April 8 : President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday met the President of Assembleia Da Republica, or the Portuguese Parliament, Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco in Lisbon during her ongoing State Visit to the country.

The two leaders discussed various bilateral and international issues. They were in accord that regular exchanges between the Parliaments of India and Portugal would boost the people-to-people ties between the two countries.

President Murmu was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour and warmly received by Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco as she arrived at the 'Assembleia Da Republica'.

"President Droupadi Murmu held productive talks with President of 'Assembleia Da Republica' Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco. Both sides discussed ways to fortify India-Portugal relations. President Murmu also interacted with Members of the Parliament besides meeting with members of the India-Portugal Parliamentary Friendship Group," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated.

On Monday evening, President Murmu received the 'City Key of Honour' of Lisbon City from the Mayor of Lisbon at a function held at the City Hall of Lisbon, Portugal.

Speaking on the occasion, the President thanked the Mayor and the people of Lisbon for the gesture. She said that Lisbon is known for its open-mindedness, the warmth of its people and its culture, along with tolerance and respect for diversity.

She was happy to note that Lisbon is a global city that is at the forefront of technological change, innovation, digital public infrastructure and digital transition. She said that in these areas India and Portugal could further cooperate.

President Murmu also attended a banquet on Monday evening hosted in her honour by the President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at Palacio da Ajuda.

In her banquet remarks, President Murmu said that the cultural ties between our peoples span centuries, and these ties have left an indelible mark on our collective imagination. These include our shared past which is reflected in architecture, historical sites and languages, as well as our cuisines.

"This year holds special significance as we celebrate 50 years of India-Portugal bilateral relations. With our natural synergy and potential for cooperation in diverse fields, our historic ties are firmly on their way to becoming a dynamic and visionary partnership," she added

President Murmu expressed happiness noting the steady and progressive growth in India-Portugal cooperation in various fields, including science and technology, defence, IT, start-ups, research, educational and cultural cooperation.

"As a knowledge-based economy, India is harnessing its strengths in areas such as science and technology, information and communication technology, digital public infrastructure, start-ups and innovation to create an inclusive and sustainable development model that benefits all. India considers Portugal as its partner in these efforts," she said.

Appreciating Portugal's role in promoting India's relations with the European Union, President Murmu highlighted that it was during Portugal's Presidency of the European Union that the first India-EU Summit was held in 2000, and in May 2021, once again under the Portuguese Presidency, the historic 'India-EU Plus 27 Leadership Summit' took place in Portugal.

President Murmu expressed confidence that India-Portugal bilateral relations will become even closer and broader in the times to come, and it will be beneficial not only for the people but for the entire world
Dhaka, April 8 : The Awami League party, led by former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has severely condemned the recent Dhaka court order to deny bail and imprison 80 lawyers who had recently surrendered, saying that these lawyers - who had stood up for the rights of the oppressed and victimised Bangladeshi people - have been targetted as they could have exposed the "fraudulent nature" of the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.

The party slammed the interim government for unlawfully seizing state power and establishing control at every level of the government. It stated that the "fascist" Yunus government has not only appointed its obedient allies as judges but has also continued its blatant interference in the judiciary. Using force, it has unlawfully removed high court judges.

"When people are victims of injustice or lose their rights, they seek justice by turning to the courts. Yet, the Yunus regime continues to abuse the judiciary, issuing one unlawful order after another, creating a horrific precedent in our history. The lawyers who received bail from the high court presented themselves in the lower courts, requesting bail and surrendering in good faith," the statement added

"However, the court, instead of granting their requests, ordered their imprisonment. These lawyers have fought in the courts to establish justice for those who suffer injustice or are deprived of their rights. Today, these very lawyers have been subjected to cruel and unjust orders by the court," it further reads.

The party protested the court order, stating that since the unlawful rise to power, the Yunus-led interim government has harassed the Awami League leaders and activists simply due to political differences. Moreover, athletes, artists, intellectuals, and cultural workers have been harassed through baseless, fabricated murder cases.

Condemning the unconstitutionally appointed interim government, Awami League said that Yunus led interim government has used the courts to harass lawyers with fabricated cases. These lawyers include senior and female legal professionals.

The interim government is also delaying bail for all accused, even those who are entitled to it, keeping them in prison for days on end under false and baseless charges, the Awami League party stated.

Raising concern, the party emphasised that there have been unprecedented incidents where even after receiving bail in one case, individuals are held in detention in other cases under the guise of "show arrest".

"We demand the immediate withdrawal of all politically motivated, false, and harassing cases against these lawyers and others. We also demand the unconditional release of all political prisoners. The direct and indirect support of this government has created a state of chaos throughout the country, transforming the entire nation into a prison. The people of Bangladesh, who desire democracy, seek liberation from the grip of this fascist Yunus government. The Bangladesh Awami League will continue to fight for the freedom and rights of the people," read a statement issued by the party.
New Delhi, April 8 : Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi on Tuesday directed the forces to maintain focus on some of the key areas, including war fighting and combat efficiency.

"Seven key areas include war fighting and combat efficiency, force levels and capacity development, fleet maintenance and operational logistics, innovation and integration of new technologies, balanced workforce development, operational and organisational agility and synergy with other national agencies and stakeholders," said the CNS while addressing the Phase II of the First Edition of the Naval Commanders' Conference 2025 at Nausena Bhawan, New Delhi.

The conference, which started on April 7 and will continue till April 10, is the apex-level, biannual event facilitating deliberations on significant strategic, operational, and administrative issues among the top naval commanders.

A Navy official said that the conference will play a pivotal role in emphasising India's role as a 'Preferred Security Partner' in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), bolstering the Indian Navy's contribution to regional peace, security, and stability.

Speaking to the outstation Operational and Area Commanders, the Staff of the Command and Naval Headquarters, the CNS commended the achievements of the Navy in maintaining a 'Combat Ready' force through the conduct of successful operational exercises, higher operational availability of platforms and joint operations with the Indian Army and Indian Air Force.

Highlighting the contribution to the domestic shipbuilding industry and increased culture of innovation and creativity, the CNS laid emphasis on continued focus on adapting emerging technologies to build a 'Future Ready' Force.

CNS reiterated the Indian Navy's obligation in the Indian Ocean Region in the emerging geopolitical scenario and the importance of a cohesive and credible approach by engaging in multilateral and bilateral exercises and supporting littoral countries through activities.

An official said that these activities include 'Operation Brahma' and the deployment of IOS Sagar, which was flagged off during Phase 1 of the conference.

The CNS also released publications pertaining to the Indian Navy's Operational Data Framework, Space Vision, Naval Aviation Safety, and a one-stop reference guide on retirement and life beyond the Navy.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also interacted with the naval commanders and spoke about the changing dynamics in the global order and its impact on the wide-ranging issues of international relations, including the international security architecture.

--IANS

gcb/dan
New Delhi, Apr 8 : A court here on Tuesday ordered social activist Medha Patkar to be released on probation of good conduct for a period of one year in a decades-old defamation case filed by Delhi Lt Governor V.K. Saxena.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Vishal Singh of the Saket Courts modified the order of the trial court which had sentenced Patkar, the leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), to five months of simple imprisonment, apart from ordering her to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation to Saxena for the harm caused to his reputation.

The appellate court ordered Patkar to be released on probation of good conduct for a period of one year, subject to prior deposit of a compensation amount of Rs 1 lakh, which will be released in favour of the complainant (Saxena).

"The convict/appellant is not immediately sentenced and has been granted the benefit of release on probation of good conduct. In the event of commission of an offence during operation of the probation period, the convict shall appear/be produced before the Court to suffer a lawful sentence for the offence for which she has been convicted in the present case," the court said.

Further, it asked Patkar to furnish a probation bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of like amount and asked the District Probation Officer of Saket Courts to file an initial probation report within 10 days of the filing of the probation bond.

As per the latest order, the District Probation Officer has been ordered to keep a check on the activities of Patkar and file a periodical probation/supervision report every three months.

"The convict shall also appear before the learned Trial Court every three months during consideration of the periodical supervision reports filed by the District Probation Officer, Saket Courts," it added.

The court took record of the submission that Patkar is a well-known social activist and suffers from various age-related ailments. It opined that an insensitive approach towards othersa reputation and abuse of the right to free speech must be met with criminal sanction, adding that Patkar, being herself a person of repute, must know the value of oneas reputation and how defamation can result in loss of face and public esteem of the victim.

"The convict is an aged lady, and no prior conviction has been alleged against her. There is no reason why the benefit of release on probation be denied to her," it stated.

Last week, the court had dismissed Patkaras appeal challenging her conviction in the defamation case.

Last year, on July 1, Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma sentenced her to five months in jail and ordered her to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation to Saxena. Advocate Gajinder Kumar, along with advocates Kiran Jai, Chandra Shekhar, Drishti, and Somya Arya, had argued the case for Saxena.

The defamation case dates back to 2001, when Saxena -- then chief of the Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties -- filed two defamation suits against Meha Patkar. One pertained to allegedly derogatory remarks she made during a television interview, while the other involved a press statement. The legal tussle arose from an earlier suit filed by Medha Patkar in 2000, accusing Saxena of publishing defamatory advertisements targeting her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Kabul, April 8 : Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan have narrated harrowing accounts of their belongings being confiscated by Pakistani police during forced deportations, intensifying the hardship of an already traumatic journey. Thousands of Afghan refugees have been forcibly deported to Afghanistan following the end of the March 31 deadline.

Several Afghan refugees deported through the Torkham border crossing stated that they were detained and expelled from the country despite holding legal documents such as visas or residency cards. Many refugees lost personal property in the process of forced deportation by the Pakistani authorities.

"Our belongings were taken. We were treated unfairly," Afghan media outlet Amu TV quoted an Afghan returnee as saying.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs on Tuesday issued a strong statement condemning the forced deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, declaring it as a violation of Islamic principles, humanitarian values, and international laws.

In its statement, the ministry emphasised that such actions are not only unjust but also detrimental to the well-being of Afghan families who have sought refuge.

"Afghanistan is preparing for the safe return of these refugees, urging that they be allowed to bring their property and assets back with them," the statement added.

Additionally, the Afghan ministry called on international organisations to extend necessary support to the refugees during the challenging times, highlighting the need for collaborative efforts to ensure their safe and dignified repatriation, Afghan state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported.

Several forcibly deported individuals stated that they were arrested by Pakistani police while at work and deported to Afghanistan, leaving behind their businesses and family members.

"I ran a small hotel business in the fruit market. The police raided the place, detained me in Haji Camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for four nights and has now deported me via Torkham," said Gul Mohammad, an Afghan deportee.

A total of 4,966 Afghan refugees left for Afghanistan on Sunday night, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported, citing an official report.

Other officials privy to the repatriation process said that since the deportation process continued till late night, the number of Afghan refugees who left on Monday would be disclosed later.

The repatriation affected a large number of Afghans who have lived in Pakistan for decades, including many born in Pakistan who have never lived in Afghanistan.

Pakistanas deportation policy has come under scrutiny with several international organisations condemning the act. They have raised concern over the grave risks faced by the refugees upon their return amid uncertainties in Afghanistan. The Pakistan government has dismissed concerns raised by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other agencies regarding the mass repatriation of Afghan refugees.
New Delhi, April 8 : Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman met UK insurance giant Prudential PLC's chair Shriti Vadera in London on Tuesday and discussed investments in India, the Finance Ministry said.

The Finance Minister apprised Vadera of the opportunities in Indiaas maiden International Financial Services Centre at Gujaratas GIFT City and encouraged Prudential to explore deeper engagement with the ecosystem there, including in areas such a global reinsurance services as well as considering GIFT City services for global fund management for investing in India, the Ministry said.

The Union Finance Minister mentioned the growth in the insurance sector in India owing to the reforms in FDI policy, and emphasised on the need to focus on reinsurance and third party insurance in addition to health insurance and other products.

Vadera informed the Finance Minister about Prudential 's upcoming venture in the health insurance space in India and spoke about engaging more with GIFTCity for exploring investment and fund management opportunities in India.

Finance Minister Sitharaman also underlined the potential areas for collaboration between the UK and India, especially in the domain of business and investments, and also including private equity and venture capital investments, asset management and financial services and insurance.

Besides, the interaction included discussions around the recent budget announcements, including those related to supporting the expansion of Indiaas Global Capability Centres (GCCs), the statement added.

GCCs played a key role in driving India's office market, accounting for 44 per cent of total demand, with 12.4 mn square feet transacted. Bengaluru dominated, contributing nearly 8 mn square feet, or 65 per cent of all GCC transactions in Q1 2025.

GCCs also leased 22.5 million square feet in 2024, accounting for 31 per cent of total leasing volumes, according to the latest office market assessment by real estate consultancy Knight Frank India.

Among cities, Bengaluru recorded the highest total GCC leasing at 9.33 mn square feet, 66 per cent of which (6.18 mn square feet) came from large deals - marking a 191 per cent surge in absorption. Hyderabad followed, with GCC transactions totalling 5.06 mn square feet, of which 67 per cent (3.41 mn square feet) were in the large office space category. Chennai with 89, and NCR with 53 deals also saw good uptake by GCCs in 2024.
Indore, April 8 : An Indore-based resident has been arrested in connection with the firecracker factory blast case, which occurred in Gujarat's Banaskantha, claiming 22 lives, most of them from Madhya Pradesh, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

An official identified the arrested person as Harish Ramchandra Meghnani, who allegedly supplied labourers from Madhya Pradesh's Harda and other districts.

He said that the arrest was made in collaboration with the Indore police.

"Gujarat Police had sought cooperation from Indore Police in search of Harish Ramchandra Meghnani, who was responsible for supplying manpower from Madhya Pradesh. During the operation, the accused person was arrested from a residential town in Rajendra Nagar in Indore," a police official said while briefing the media persons.

He further said that it is an inter-state cooperation, and the Indore Police has assured that all possible help will be provided in the case, if needed in future.

"It was a tragic incident that killed around two dozen people, and most of the victims are from the citizens of Madhya Pradesh's Harda district," he added.

He said that when the police team (Gujarat and Indore police) raided his home, Meghnani was having breakfast, and he reacted as he wasn't aware of the incident.

"After arrest, the accused person has been handed over to the Gujarat Police," he said.

The blast occurred on April 1, in an illegal warehouse-cum-firecracker unit in the industrial area near Deesa in Gujarat.

The explosion was so powerful that it caused the building to collapse and sparked a fire, killing 22 workers, of whom 21 were from Madhya Pradesh and one from Gujarat.

Among the dead, 10 were from a single village in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh.

The factory was owned by Deepak Mohanani and his father, Khubchand Mohanani, both of whom were arrested earlier.

Police said that the preliminary investigation revealed that the blast was triggered by aluminium powder, a key ingredient in firecracker production.

An official said that a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team also found yellow dextrin powder, a pyrotechnic binder, at the site.

Following the tragedy, the Gujarat government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under IAS officer Bhavin Pandya to probe the incident.

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of the deceased.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited the grieving families and assured them of support.

"The education of at least one girl child from each affected family will be taken care of," he said during his visit a couple of days ago.

Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari has also visited Harda to meet kin of the victims on Monday, and demanded that the state government should provide more compensation to the aggrieved families.
Canberra, April 8 : Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been voted the winner of the first Leaders' debate of the general election campaign.

At the end of the debate on Tuesday night, 44 per cent of the undecided voters in attendance chose Albanese as the winner compared to 35 per cent for opposition leader Peter Dutton, with 21 per cent undecided.

The debate in western Sydney was the first between Albanese and Dutton, the respective leaders of the governing Labor Party and opposition Coalition, ahead of the general election on May 3.

In their opening remarks, Albanese declared that "now is the time" to look forward and build Australia's future while Dutton promised that a Coalition government would get the country "back on track".

Following their opening remarks, the candidates for Prime Minister faced questions from the crowd of undecided voters for about 90 minutes. The first question of the night asked how each leader would deal with the US administration of President Donald Trump.

Albanese reiterated previous comments that the United States had committed an "act of economic self-harm" through sweeping new tariffs.

Dutton, who has been critical of the government's failure to negotiate an exemption from the tariffs, said that the Prime Minister should "stand up" against bullies and countries that would seek to do Australia harm.

The Coalition on Monday abandoned its plan to end flexible working arrangements, including work-from-home policies, for federal public servants and to reduce government spending by cutting 41,000 federal public service jobs.

Albanese used the major policy shift in his closing remarks on Tuesday to ask how voters can "believe" what the Coalition would do after the election.

"I know that in this uncertain time with what's going on in the world, now's not the time to make cuts," he said.

In his own closing remarks, Dutton said that a Coalition government would "fix the economy" and more effectively deal with the cost-of-living crisis, Xinhua news agency reported.

"A Coalition government will always be a better economic manager," he said.

Tuesday marked two weeks until early voting in the election opens on April 22.

Early voting centres around the country will allow millions of Australians to cast their ballots before election day, although early votes will not be counted until polls close on May 3.

Voting in the election is mandatory for all citizens aged 18 and over who have enrolled with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), a process that occurs automatically for most of the population.

According to the AEC, the enrolment rate of eligible Australians for the upcoming election will be a record-high of over 98 per cent.

More than 17.2 million people voted in the last election in 2022, with voter turnout at 89.8 per cent. Enrolled voters who fail to cast a ballot face small fines.

Albanese and Dutton are set to face off in a second leaders' debate on April 16.
Aden, April 8 : The United States has intensified its military campaign against sites of the Houthi forces in Yemen, conducting 22 airstrikes across northern Yemen early Tuesday.

This latest wave of strikes targetted eastern and southern areas of the capital, Sanaa, the Island of Kamaran in the Red Sea, and the oil-rich Marib province, according to reports from Houthi-run al-Masirah TV and local residents.

Witnesses described the bombardment as "very powerful and violent," though no casualties have been immediately reported from Tuesday's operation. This escalation follows Sunday night airstrikes that reportedly killed four children and wounded 25 others in Sanaa.

The current US air campaign, which began on March 15, reportedly aims to halt Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, particularly those the group claims are linked to Israel.

Despite the sustained US offensive, Yemeni military analysts suggest these airstrikes have failed to deter the Houthis, who continued to target American and Israeli interests in the region, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Houthi reports, 17 US-made MQ-9 Reaper drones have been downed in Yemen between October 2023 and April 3, 2025.

On Monday, the group claimed that it launched a drone attack on a military target in Tel Aviv, Israel, and struck two US warships in the Red Sea with cruise missiles and drones.

"The US campaign against the Houthis has, to date, not achieved its stated objectives," said Ali Bin Hadi, a retired military official and expert based in Aden.

"The group still possesses the ability to threaten international navigation, its leadership remains intact, and Washington is incurring substantial costs without achieving significant progress," he said.

But political analyst Muqbil Naji from Aden suggests these airstrikes may be "a prelude to ground operations," potentially involving direct US military intervention or increased support to forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognized government.

Naji noted a "looming opportunity" for the Yemeni government to "liberate" at least Hodeidah and the West Coast from the Houthis with the support of regional countries and the United States.

Supporting this assessment, Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi on Monday called for "unified ranks and active support" in the fight against Houthi forces, declaring that the "decisive hour was approaching" to end what he described as the suffering inflicted by the war waged by the Houthi militias.

The Yemeni leader reiterated his government's commitment to "restore usurped state institutions."

The Houthis, which control much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, have been fighting against the internationally-recognised government since 2014.

The Houthis maintain that their maritime attacks in the Red Sea aim to pressure an end to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and facilitate the return of humanitarian aid to Palestinian territories.

The two analysts warned the ongoing conflict between Washington and the Houthi group risks opening a new long-term front in the strategically vital Red Sea region, with complex implications for regional and international security.
Kochi, April 8 : In continuation of their earlier decision to protest against the indiscriminate hike in Court fees, the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA) passed a resolution on Tuesday to abstain from court proceedings on Wednesday.

The KHCAA said they are participating in the "pen down protest day" as the increase in court fees is a grave danger to democracy and the judicial system.

Moreover, they have also filed a PIL before the High Court protesting the hike, saying that the court fees have been increased by 400 per cent to 9,900 per cent.

While announcing their protests, they also expected that no adverse orders would be passed for non-appearance on Wednesday, as their protest is only aimed at raising awareness among the people about the grave injustice that is caused to them by these changes.

The lawyers' association had, at their meeting held here last week, taken the decision to stage a token protest on Wednesday and file a writ petition challenging the recent hike in court fees in the state.

It was last year that the Kerala government had constituted a five-member Committee headed by retired Kerala High Court judge Justice V.K. Mohanan to study and suggest proposals for the revision of court fees so that the Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1959, can be amended as needed.

Based on the interim report of the Committee, the government had, in 2024, revised court fees for family court cases and cases that fall under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

Petitions challenging the same are pending before the High Court.

In his budget speech delivered on February 7, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal noted that the hikes in court fees have been proposed, and the Finance Bill containing the new rates was passed in the state Assembly on March 25.

Following this, the changes in the fees announced in the budget speech came into effect on April 1.

The only relief that came was when the court fees for filing habeas corpus and public interest litigation petitions before the High Court were left untouched.

Both the Bar Council of Kerala and the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association have also expressed their strong opposition to the increase in court fees.

The primary reason for the hike is the appalling financial position of the state government, and the hike in rates is not just in the judicial sector, but cuts across all the government services.

There has been a fresh hike in the electricity and water charges, which has come into effect from the new fiscal and it remains to be seen if there will be any relief.
Mumbai, April 8 : The Maharashtra Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday approved the transfer of government lands within the limits of Nagpur, Pune, Nashik and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Metropolitan Region Development Authorities in the state to the names of the respective authorities.

As per the decision, all the encumbered government lands in the metropolitan region will be transferred to the authorities as per the terms and conditions of the state government.

An official said that the concerned authorities will be able to use these lands as a source of raising funds for infrastructure as per the approved regional or development plan.

The Cabinet has also approved the disposal of lands transferred to the authorities as per the prescribed rules, and each authority will have to immediately prepare separate land disposal rules with the approval of the state government.

A government release said that separate records regarding the use of these lands will be maintained at the Revenue and Forest Department level and will be digitised.

It added that it has been clearly instructed that if it includes barren, gurcharan, temple or forest lands, action will have to be taken on those lands only as per the decisions of the Supreme and High Courts.

"Also, if the lands to be transferred are in the possession of a local body, Gram Panchayat or Zilla Parishad, it will be mandatory for the authorities to obtain permission or resolution from the concerned bodies before undertaking their development," it said.

According to the government release, the decision will provide a major boost to the authorities in raising funds for the construction of necessary infrastructure for the development of the metropolitan region, which will ultimately accelerate the pace of development.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved the combined redevelopment of buildings under the ambit of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority situated at Bandra Reclamation and Adarsh Nagar in Greater Mumbai.

An official said that Permission has been granted for the redevelopment of some cooperative housing societies under MHADA in Bandra Reclamation and Adarsh Nagar.

The Cabinet also approved the appointment of a Construction and Development Agency through MHADA without giving approval for the redevelopment of the remaining single buildings, excluding the plots for which such permission has been granted.

An official said that for the proposed combined redevelopment, a four-floor space index (FSI) will be approved with the prior approval of the government. Out of the four FSIs, one will be approved in the form of housing stock. Therefore, the bidder who is ready to provide the maximum housing stock to MHADA and fulfills the financial and physical conditions of the tender process should be appointed by MHADA for redevelopment. It will be necessary to follow all government decisions while implementing the tender process.

The area of the Bandra Reclamation area is 1,97,466 square meters, and that of Adarsh Nagar (Worli) is 68,034 square meters. The developer appointed by MHADA will be required to submit consent letters from 51 per cent of the total members of both areas to MHADA.

Further, the Construction and Development Organisation will be responsible for the rehabilitation of the original landowners and residents of these projects, providing them with temporary accommodation, paying rent for alternative sites, corpus funds, and developing all infrastructure.
Angul : , April 8 (IANS) In the tranquil village of Chheliapada in Angul district, Odisha, a remarkable transformation is unfolding -- one that has brought hope and inspiration to the local community. Srikant Barik, who once had a modest roadside salon, has now made progress. He has now become a successful entrepreneur, all thanks to the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), a flagship initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi aimed at empowering small entrepreneurs with easy access to credit.

Srikant's life was far from glamorous only a few years ago. He was simply making ends meet by cutting hair on the side of the road. However, everything underwent transformation when Srikant came to know about the Mudra Yojana, a scheme designed to provide financial assistance to micro and small businesses.

With guidance from his local branch of the State Bank of India (SBI), Srikant applied for a Mudra loan two years ago. The process was seamless, with minimal paperwork and prompt support from the bank. Using the loan, he was able to renovate and expand his humble salon into a modern, fully equipped grooming space that caters to the demands of today's fashion-conscious youth.

"I can proudly say that I am no longer just a barber. I am a business owner. I couldn't have imagined this transformation without PM Modi's Mudra Yojana and the unwavering support from the bank," says an emotional Srikant in a conversation with IANS. "From a small roadside salon to a flourishing business, this journey is truly my dream come true. I have given the job to a lad also. Not many documents are needed for this loan. It is good for a middle-class family," he added. "I am earning anywhere between Rs 20,000 to 25,000 every month," he said.

Srikant's success has had a ripple effect in his village. His salon now attracts a steady stream of young customers seeking trendy haircuts and stylish grooming services. More importantly, he has created employment opportunities for other local youth, offering them training and a steady income.

The impact of Srikant's success goes beyond his business. His story has become a beacon of hope for others in his village, showing them that with determination and the right support, anyone can change their fate.

MD Mehmud, a local villager, also appreciated Srikant's rise and admired the Mudra loan scheme. Talking to IANS, he said, "Srikant's success is a huge source of inspiration for all of us here. He didn't just build his own future; he has also given other young people the chance to earn a livelihood. We are proud of him."

Srikant's story is a testament to the power of government initiatives like the Mudra Yojana, which continue to uplift lives across rural India. The scheme has empowered thousands of small entrepreneurs, enabling them to realise their dreams and contribute to their local economies.
Lisbon, April 8 : President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday interacted with over 60 Indian doctoral and post-doctoral researchers working in various institutions and universities all across Portugal, during her ongoing State Visit to the country, the first-ever visit by an Indian President in 27 years.

President Murmu guided Indian researchers on various aspects and encouraged them to contribute towards Viksit Bharat.

Later, President Murmu, along with the Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, paid floral tributes to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi in Lisbon.

Both Presidents also visited the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon and jointly planted a 'camellia japonica' sapling to commemorate 50 years of India-Portugal diplomatic relations.

Champalimaud Foundation was designed by the famous Indian Architect Charles Correa. It carries out advanced research in cancer and neurosciences and has a tie-up with a Hyderabad institute. The largest number of overseas patients for cancer treatment in Champalimaud Foundation are from India.

The Foundation conducts research in cutting-edge fields and strives to stimulate discoveries that benefit people, and to promote new standards of knowledge. It is at the Champalimaud Centre in Lisbon that the Foundation develops its activity in the areas of neuroscience and cancer. This is done through both research programmes and the provision of clinical services of excellence. It also has an outreach programme to fight blindness.

In 2017, during his visit to Portugal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa jointly visited the Foundation.

Underlining the principle of holistic health, PM Modi also interacted with the Indian researchers during his visit to the facility.

President Murmu is currently on a state visit to Portugal. On Monday, she was warmly received by the Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the historic 'Praca do Imperio' in Lisbon and accorded a ceremonial welcome with the Guard of Honour.

President Murmu and President Sousa of Portugal also graced the launch of postage stamps commemorating 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The stamps reflect the rich artistic and cultural heritage of India and Portugal, and feature vibrant folk attire from both countries: Rajasthan's distinctive Kalbeliya costume and the traditional Viana do Castelo dress from Portugal.

President Murmu discussed various aspects of bilateral relations and global and regional issues of shared interest with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal during a one-to-one meeting and delegation-level talks.

In her address, President Murmu cited that India-Portugal relations are historic and have continued to grow stronger, evolving into a modern, multifaceted and dynamic partnership. She stressed the need to further strengthen long-standing bilateral ties, especially in trade and investment, science and technology, IT and digital technology, renewable energy, connectivity and mobility.
Bengaluru, April 8 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED), while presenting its arguments in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam at the Special Court for MLAs and MPs in Bengaluru, on Tuesday, appealed that the accused involved in money laundering should not be let off easily.

The ED has challenged the Karnataka Lokayukta's closure report by filing a petition in the Special Court presided over by Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been named as the prime accused in the MUDA case. His wife, Parvati, is the second accused, and his brother-in-law, Mallikarjunaswamy, is the third.

The Karnataka Lokayukta had earlier submitted a closure report citing a lack of evidence against them.

Senior counsel Madhukar Deshpande, appearing for the ED, emphasised, "The Karnataka Lokayukta has submitted a 'B Report' against the four accused in the MUDA scam. Therefore, the ED has the right to question this closure report. The Supreme Court has stated that those involved in money laundering should not be let off easily."

The counsel said that the ED had shared all the details of its investigation into the MUDA scam with the Lokayukta police, but those findings were not taken into consideration, adding that the report shared by the ED will also be submitted to the court.

The counsel submitted that the ED, as an independent investigative agency, has the authority to question the findings of the Lokayukta. Even if the investigative team files a 'B Report' in the original case, the Supreme Court has, in certain cases, held that the ED can still challenge it.

The judge observed that, in this case, the ED is not permitted to file a separate complaint petition. However, the court stated that if the ED wishes to submit certain facts in support of the complainants, it may do so.

The ED's counsel sought permission from the court to submit 27 documents related to the case. The hearing has been adjourned to Wednesday, April 8.

The MUDA case is related to the alleged illegal allotment of 14 sites to the Chief Minister's wife under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of land gifted to her by her brother, the third accused. It is alleged that the Chief Minister's wife had no legal title to this 3.16 acres of land.

The Special Court directed the filing of the PCR on September 25, 2024. The Lokayukta police in Mysuru had filed an FIR naming Siddaramaiah and his family members and others. The ED had registered a case on October 1, 2024, and an investigation under the PMLA was taken up.

The Lokayukta had filed a closure report against CM Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvati, brother-in-law Mallikarjunaswamy and land owner J. Devaraju.

The Karnataka High Court on March 7 quashed the summons issued by the ED to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife, B.M. Parvathi and state Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh in connection with the MUDA case.

The petitioner Snehamayi Krishna has filed a complaint with the Commissioner of the Central Vigilance Committee (CVC) on March 12 against senior IPS officers serving in the Karnataka Lokayukta, questioning the clean chit to the CM and his family members.

The petitioner had also filed a writ petition before the division bench of the Karnataka High Court, questioning the single bench order quashing his appeal for the CBI investigation into the MUDA case.

The ED filed an objection to this closure report on April 2, and petitioner Snehamayi Krishna also submitted a plea to the court questioning the Lokayukta's investigation.

The investigating agency, in its objections, said: "The investigation undertaken revealed illegalities in the land acquisition, allotment, generation of proceeds of crime and routing/layering of the same undue influence in allotment."

"The evidence/information collected during the investigation under the PMLA, 2002, was shared with the Lokayukta police, Mysuru, through a letter. Presently, the Lokayukta has filed a report in this respect. The perusal of the report reveals that the evidence on illegalities in the process of denotification, the 3 acre 16 gunta land at Survey number 464 of Kesare village shared by this directorate to the Lokayukta police has not been considered in the report," the ED said.

The ED in its petition had urged the court not to accept the closure report filed by the investigating agency, Karnataka Lokayukta, Mysuru, in the interest of justice and issue necessary directions as deemed fit for investigation in the case.
Los Angeles, April 8 : Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger has given some of the best action movies in Hollywood during the 1980s. However, the onus of action movies was not solely on him. The actor found another counterpart, as feisty as him in Sylvester Stallone.

The two men are responsible for making memorable action films for an entire generation. Both the actors are great friends today, and show adulation to each other through social media. However, it was not the same earlier. Arnold Schwarzenegger once told Jimmy Kimmel on the latter's show that in the 80s it was an all out war between him and Sylvester Stallone.

He said, "In the 80s, he was just a rival. It was just a competition. It was all about who is making bigger movies, who has more definition in their muscles, who has more box-office success, who kills more people, who kills people more creatively, who has bigger knives, who has bigger guns?".

He further mentioned, "In the end, I started running around with machine guns that were only used for helicopters, mounted on helicopters or on tanks. It was crazy. It was all out war".

Last year, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is the former governor of California, had shared a thoughtful Instagram post in honour of his friend Sylvester Stallone's 78th birthday, featuring a few images of the pair throughout the years.

He wrote in the caption, "Happy birthday my friend, @officialslystallone. You are a champion and a legend. You inspire me and billions of people around the world".

As per 'People', the 'Terminator' star included snaps of himself and Stallone carving pumpkins together, smiling at a Planet Hollywood event back in the day and posing in some very '80s outfits.

"The greatest standing side by side with the greatest", TV host Marcos Mion commented under the photos.
Jaipur, April 8 : The Rajasthan government on Tuesday announced a compensation of Rs 50 lakh and contractual jobs for the kin of three deceased who died in a tragic incident in Jaipur.

Congress District Vice President Usman Khan, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, rammed his SUV into multiple pedestrians and vehicles, killing three people and injuring six others.

Among the deceased were siblings Mamta Kanwar (50) and Virendra Singh (48), both residents of Shastri Nagar, and Awadhesh Pareek (37), a resident of Laldas Ka Khada.

The victims succumbed to their injuries after being rushed to the hospital. Virendra Singh died later due to critical injuries.

The Rajasthan government announced a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for each deceased victim's family and assured contractual jobs to the next of kin. Jaipur MP Manju Sharma met with the affected families on Tuesday and assured them of full government support.

Meanwhile, the Congress also has acted swiftly, removing Usman Khan (62) from his post as District Vice President.

According to Additional DCP (North) Bajrang Singh Shekhawat, the incident began on MI Road, where Khan's vehicle reportedly collided with another car. From there, he drove erratically through the city's narrow streets, hitting pedestrians and parked vehicles, eventually entering the Nahargarh police station area.

The first major collision was reported near the Santoshi Mata Mandir, where Khan struck a scooty and a motorcycle, then fled the scene. His vehicle also hit multiple parked vehicles outside the Nahargarh police station.

Six people were seriously injured in the incident, including Monesh Soni (28), Mohammad Jalaluddin (44), Deepika Saini (17), Vijay Narayan (65), Zebunnisha (50) and Anshika (24). All injured are currently receiving treatment in a city hospital.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari visited the trauma ward of SMS Hospital on Tuesday to meet the victims.

During her visit, she inquired about the condition of the injured and met with their family members. She assured them of all possible support and directed medical officers to ensure that there is no negligence in treatment.

"Rules and laws exist, but it is equally important for all of us to follow them. We must be mindful and responsible while driving. Along with the government, the public must also understand the seriousness of such matters," she said.

The Deputy Chief Minister also extended her condolences to the families of the deceased, confirming that the accused has been arrested.

"Efforts will also be made to ensure such tragic incidents do not happen in the future," she claimed.
New Delhi, April 8 : Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Israel's Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Avi Dichter, on Tuesday signed an agriculture cooperation agreement and work plan aimed at strengthening ties between the two nations in key areas of agricultural development.

By signing the agreement, India and Israel have taken a major step towards enhancing collaboration in the agriculture sector.

The agreement is expected to bolster cooperation in soil and water management, horticulture, post-harvest technology, farm mechanisation, animal husbandry, and research and development.

Chouhan emphasised that India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, is emerging as one of the fastest-growing major economies and is committed to global welfare.

He praised the role of MASHAV, Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, in the success of India-Israel Agricultural Work Plans, particularly through the network of 43 Centres of Excellence (CoEs).

"Of these, 35 are already fully functional across India and playing a key role in modernising Indian agriculture," he added.

Chouhan also praised Israel's innovative 'villages of excellence' concept, which connects 30 villages to each centre of excellence to boost rural development.

Dichter underlined the strong bond between the two countries and expressed Israel's willingness to collaborate on developing high-yield seed varieties and advancing agricultural technologies, especially in the face of climate change.

He also showed interest in India's digital agriculture mission and how it is empowering farmers with technology-driven solutions.

Highlighting the challenges of a growing population and shrinking landholdings, Chouhan called for more collaborative research between Indian and Israeli scientists to ensure that better quality seeds and technologies reach farmers quickly.

The meeting also involved discussions on market access and reviewed ongoing partnerships in the horticulture sector.

A joint working group is being set up to maintain ongoing dialogue and define a clear roadmap with set goals and timelines.

The two sides agreed to collaborate in several important areas, including food security, technology transfer, pest management, capacity building, and post-harvest technology.

They also discussed the possibility of launching a five-year seed improvement plan to improve productivity and ensure sustainability in farming practices.
Bengaluru, April 8 : A Bengaluru court, which is hearing the sensational fan murder case, on Tuesday took serious objection to the absence of key accused, Kannada actor Darshan.

The Civil and Sessions Judge stated that Darshan must appear before the court in all future hearings and that no excuses will be entertained for his absence.

Darshanas counsel submitted an exemption petition, stating that the actor is suffering from back pain and is unable to attend the proceedings. He requested that Darshan be granted relief from appearing in court.

Of the 17 accused in the case, 16, including the prime accused Pavithra Gowda, Darshanas partner, appeared before the court.

The matter has been adjourned to May 20.

Darshan has resumed shooting for his upcoming film "Devil". Since his release from prison on October 30, 2024, after spending 131 days in custody, he has been participating in shoots in Mysuru and Rajasthan for the movie, and is also scheduled to travel to Hyderabad for filming, sources said. They added that due to his hectic shooting schedule, his back pain has worsened.

Earlier, in a big relief to the actor, an accused in the Ranukaswamy murder case, the Karnataka High Court on February 28 allowed him to travel across the country. Earlier, Darshan was not allowed to travel out of Bengaluru and the limits of the session's court.

Darshan, Pavithra, and 15 others were arrested on June 11, 2024, on charges of kidnapping and brutally murdering Renukaswamy, a fan from Chitradurga.

Renukaswamy had allegedly sent derogatory and obscene messages to Pavithra, angry over the fact that Darshan maintained a relationship with her despite being married.

Sources close to Darshan revealed that Pavithra competed with Darshan's wife, Vijayalaxmi, over jewellery and luxury cars.

She allegedly pressured Darshan to make public appearances with her after he had been seen with his wife. Pavithra and Vijayalaxmi also had public spats via social media posts, which led Darshan's fans to take sides.

Renukaswamy, who supported Vijayalaxmi, criticised Pavithra, which ultimately led to his brutal death, according to police findings.

The Karnataka Police have challenged the bail granted to Darshan and others in the Supreme Court. The apex court on January 24 had issued notice to Darshan, Pavithra and five others in connection with the appeal petition filed by the Karnataka government challenging the bail order.

While granting bail, the court asked him and the other accused in the case to appear before it every month.
Chennai, April 8 : The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has officially taken over the security cover for Tamil actor-turned-politician and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) President, C. Joseph Vijay.

This development follows the Union Ministry of Home Affairsa decision in February to provide aYa category security to the actor, based on a threat perception report submitted by central intelligence agencies. The security cover will be applicable only within Tamil Nadu and includes round-the-clock protection by Personal Security Officers (PSOs), an armed guard at his residence, and security at other places of stay.

Sources said the CRPFas VIP security wing has now assumed responsibility for this assignment.

Under the aYa category security protocol, Vijay will be accompanied by a team of seven to eight armed CRPF personnel, including two commandos, when he travels across Tamil Nadu. The cover also includes two security vehicles and additional local police support, as needed. Vijay, 50, is among Indiaas most prominent film personalities and was ranked the countryas second-highest celebrity taxpayer by Fortune India Magazine last year.

Having started his career as a child actor, he made his debut as a lead actor in the 1992 Tamil film "Naalaiya Theerpu", directed by his father, S.A. Chandrasekhar.

Vijay announced his formal entry into politics with the launch of the TVK, just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

His final film as an actor, "Jana Nayagan", directed by H. Vinoth, is expected to mark his complete transition from cinema to politics. Vijayas political foray has already made waves in Tamil Nadu, with his party positioning itself against both the ruling DMK in the state and the BJP at the Centre. His entry has prompted significant restructuring within the stateas two dominant Dravidian parties - the DMK and the AIADMK - as they prepare for the 2026 Assembly elections.
New Delhi, April 8 : Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a replica of his grandfather Sheikh Rashid's 'bisht' - a traditional embroidered cloak worn over the Qandura by Arab men - symbolising the historic and generational political friendship between the two countries, during their meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Modi hosted a working lunch for the Crown Prince at his residence in Lok Kalyan Marg and conveyed his warm regards to the President of UAE, Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. PM Modi also conveyed his good wishes to the new-born daughter of the Crown Prince Hind bint Hamdan, mentioned a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Both leaders discussed avenues to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UAE, and strong cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Dubai.

This is Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's first official visit to India as the Crown Prince of Dubai and he is accompanied by several ministers, senior government officials and a high-level business delegation.

"Glad to meet HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai. Dubai has played a key role in advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This special visit reaffirms our deep-rooted friendship and paves the way for even stronger collaboration in the future," Prime Minister Modi posted on X after the meeting.

The Crown Prince also held a meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, discussing ways to further strengthen the strategic defence and security partnership between the two countries in line with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

"For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UAE is of immense priority. In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as defence cooperation, co-production and co-development projects, innovation and technology. Both India and the UAE are committed to work towards peace and prosperity in the region," Singh posted on X.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, during his meeting with the visiting dignitary, highlighted the tremendous deepening and widening of the relationship across sectors between the two countries in recent years.

The Crown Prince presented an original newspaper coverage of the successful effort of his father, the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in saving passengers on board Indian Airlines Flight 421 in August 1984.

Later in the day, he also met Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal during a high-level business meeting in Mumbai.

"They discussed the contribution of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in the rapid growth of bilateral trade. Goyal welcomed the signing of milestone MoUs and announcements made at the business event and expressed hope that these will further strengthen bilateral economic engagement and take it to unprecedented heights. In particular, the progress on the Virtual Trade Corridor (VTC), and its contribution in facilitating bilateral trade as well as, as a building block of IMEEC, was acknowledged," the MEA stated.
Beirut, April 8 : Greece is ready to provide necessary support to the Lebanese army as needed, Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said here Tuesday.

Dendias made the remarks when meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, during which he also expressed willingness to share Greece's military expertise and military infrastructure advancements, according to a statement by the Lebanese Presidency.

Aoun welcomed Greece's support, saying it is a testament to the mutual commitment between the two countries to elevating bilateral ties to a higher level.

Aoun also briefed Dendias on the current situation in southern Lebanon, and condemned Israel's continued violations of Lebanese territory, of the ceasefire agreement reached in November, and of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Earlier on Tuesday, Dendias met with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Menassah, during which the two discussed bilateral defense cooperation, international issues of common interest, and the regional situation, according to a report by Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA), Xinhua news agency reported.

They highlighted Greece's role within the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, and addressed the importance of bilateral coordination to combat illegal migration, the NNA reported.

Dendias expressed Greece's firm commitment to Lebanon, and its readiness to assist Lebanon in meeting the Lebanese army's operational needs, the NNA reported.

Menassah thanked Greece for its continued support for Lebanon, and called on Greece to help halt the ongoing Israeli violations and ensure the full implementation of Resolution 1701, the NNA reported.
Raichur : , April 8 (IANS) A court in Karnataka's Raichur district on Tuesday pronounced its verdict on the sensational honour killing case of the murder of five members of a family over an inter-caste love marriage in 2020, sentencing three of the convicts to death and nine others to life imprisonment.

The honour killing had shaken the state and made national headlines.

The Third Additional District and Sessions Court in Sindhanur sentenced the girl's father, Sannafakeerappa, and relatives Ammanna and Somashekar to death and fined them Rs 47,000 each. The nine others convicted of the crime were sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 97,500 slapped on each of them.

The convicts had brutally murdered Erappa, 65, his wife Sumitramma, 55, and their children Nagaraj, 38, Sridevi, 36, and Hanumesh, 35. Erappaas daughter-in-law, Revathi, and his mother, Tayamma, sustained serious injuries in the attack.

The incident was triggered by the inter-caste marriage of Sannafakeerappaas daughter, Manjula, who had married Mounesh from the victimas family against her parents' wishes.

Enraged by the marriage, the dozen forcibly entered the victimsa house on July 11, 2020, dragged them outside, and murdered them in the middle of the road using deadly weapons.

Manjula and Mounesh, residents of Sukalpet in Sindhanur, were in a relationship and got married, choosing to live separately from their families due to opposition from Manjulaas family. The tragic incident occurred just a few months after their marriage.

The couple remained safe and were placed under police protection following the attack.

After their marriage, the couple had visited Manjulaas father at his residence. However, her family, strongly opposed to the inter-caste union, refused to accept them, and allegedly threatened to kill Mouneshas entire family.

Following this threat, the couple lodged a complaint at the Sindhanur police station, seeking protection for themselves and Mouneshas family members. Angered by this development, Manjulaas family allegedly stormed Mouneshas house and began a quarrel with his parents, siblings, and sister.

The situation escalated into a brutal attack, during which Manjulaas family members barged into the house and assaulted Mouneshas family. The Sindhanur police rushed to the scene and arrested four of the accused at the crime spot.
Guwahati, April 8 : BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Tapir Gao on Tuesday said China's proposed construction of the "Great Bend Dam" on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, would severely affect the downstream regions of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and northeast.

Participating in a daylong seminar titled "Ensuring Water Security, Ecological Integrity, and Disaster Resilience in the Sub-Himalayan Region: The Case of the Brahmaputra", Gao, known for his vocal stand against China's designs, said it is not going to be a dam, but a "water bomb" to be used against India and other lower riparian countries.

He recalled the June 2000 devastating floods caused by a similar "water bomb" that had washed away more than 10 bridges on the Siang river, as the Yarlung Tsangpo is known in Arunachal Pradesh, before it becomes the Brahmaputra upon entering Assam.

The MP also expressed support for the proposal for another dam to be built on the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh in order to prevent disaster downstream due to the possibility of sudden release of water from the proposed dam at the Great Bend.

Brahmaputra Board Chairman Ranbir Singh pointed out that the Brahmaputra Basin is the only water-surplus river basin in India, with the rest being water-deficient.

"With this dam in China, are we looking at a water-deficient Brahmaputra river basin?" he wondered.

Singh also underlined the need for a multi-pronged strategy, including upping the ante against the project, garnering support in international circles, and through collaborations.

Participating in the seminar organised by northeast's premier think-tank 'Asian Confluence', experts from various fields highlighted the possible devastating downstream impact of China's proposed series of dams aimed at producing 60,000 MW on northeast India and Bangladesh.

Author and Tibetologist Claude Arpi said China not only wants to become a power giant by building the dam in Medog county, but it also has plans to divert the water of Yarlung Tsangpo to the Yellow River through numerous tunnels.

Asian politics and history expert Bertil Linter highlighted how the Chinese invasion into the Tibetan region in the late 1950s was specifically targeted at the numerous mega rivers which originate in the "Roof of the World".

"China has constructed 11 mega dams only on the Mekong River, which is the lifeline of five other countries," he said.

Linter also underlined the need for India to have a water-sharing agreement with China, the lack of which may lead to "bilateral conflicts" between the two neighbours.

IIT Guwahati's Prof Anamika Baruah highlighted how studies have predicted more "dry days" downstream of the Tibetan Plateau, which will see more "wet days" in the future as a consequence of the numerous dams being built in the region.

She, however, mentioned that there have been no collaborative studies on the issue with China.

Making a fervent appeal to highlight the issue at different forums, including in Parliament, Prof Baruah said: "Let's shape the narrative, before it is shaped for us."

Experts from Nepal and Bhutan also took part in the seminar along with other experts spanning domains of ecology, water resource management, international relations, environmental law, engineering, policy formulation, governance, and economy.

The seminar sought to foster a collaborative dialogue between governmental agencies, civil society organizations, environmental practitioners, and academicians on the immense challenges posed by the proposed dam in Tibet, amidst the looming threat of climate change.

On the key takeaways of the seminar, Asian Confluence director Sabyasachi Dutta said the need of the hour is to have more scientific studies initiated by India, so that the issue is not carried away by simple media narratives. "Only such an initiative will help develop solid ground for international support against China's proposed dam at the Big Bend," he said.
Ahmedabad, April 8 : Senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram (79) collapsed during a prayer meeting at Sabarmati Ashram on Tuesday, prompting immediate medical attention and raising concerns amid Gujarat's intense heatwave.

Ahmedabad has been experiencing rising temperatures over the past few days, with the mercury hovering close to 40C. Doctors suspect dehydration and fatigue triggered the Congress leader's collapse.

The leader was part of a Congress delegation visiting the Ashram following the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held earlier in the day at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial in Ahmedabad.

Eyewitnesses at the Ashram said that the veteran leader suddenly slumped during the prayer ceremony. Fellow Congress leaders quickly stepped in, helping him into an ambulance which rushed him to a nearby hospital.

Medical professionals are currently monitoring his condition. His son, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, later posted on X (formerly Twitter), assuring the public that his father is stable. "He is fine and under observation. Doctors are attending to him," Karti wrote.

Chidambaram also wrote on X after the medical checkup, "I got dehydrated due to the hot weather. I had all the tests done at the hospital. I am fine now. Thank you, everyone."

Chidambaram, a key strategist and spokesperson for the Congress party, has remained active in recent campaign and policy discussions leading up to the general elections.

His presence in Gujarat was part of a broader outreach and organisational review being carried out by the Congress high command.

He has held several key positions in the Indian government, most notably serving multiple terms as the Union Minister of Finance and as the Union Minister of Home Affairs.

Chidambaram's tenure as Finance Minister is particularly remembered for the "dream budget" of 1997, which introduced significant tax reforms aimed at boosting the Indian economy.

In addition to his ministerial roles, Chidambaram has been an influential figure within the INC, contributing to policy formulation and party strategy. His legal acumen and administrative skills have been instrumental in shaping the party's economic policies over the years. 

Doctors are expected to release a full health bulletin soon. Party leaders have expressed relief at his stable condition and hope he will resume duties after a short rest.
Kolkata, April 8 : The internal crisis in Trinamool Congress seems to be exacerbating as the spat involving four party Lok Sabha members has become murkier with two of them openly hurling accusations and charges at each other over the issue.

The entire episode unfolded earlier on Tuesday with BJPas Information Technology cell chief and the partyas central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, uploading on his X handle four videos of a spat between Trinamool MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad within the premises of the Election Commission of India on April 4.

Besides posting the video clips, Malviya also claimed that "soon after the public spat between two TMC MPs in the precincts of the Election Commission of India on April 4, the irate MP continued slandering the "Versatile International Lady (VIL)". He also posted some messages from the said WhatsApp Group indicating the spat there.

Although initially it was not clear who is being referred to as the "Versatile International Lady", later, it seemed that it was used for Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra after another veteran party MP Saugata Roy confirmed to media persons about a spat also between Banerjee and Moitra within the ECI premises on the same date.

While things seemed at a manageable level till that point in time, the controversies were blown out of proportion later in the day, as Banerjee, addressing a press conference, attacked a number of fellow party MPs.

Without directly naming her, Banerjee said that he would not accept that lady MP just because she is "good looking" and "can speak in fluent English".

"She had no connection with Trinamool Congress when the latter was fighting the Left Front misrule in the state. If Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asks me, I will quit the party. But I will not tolerate insults. I am neither an MP coming from the quota nor joined Trinamool Congress from any other party," he said.

Next, Banerjee targeted Roy and described him as a politician tainted in the Narada sting video scandal in 2016, where several Trinamool leaders, including Roy, were seen accepting cash on video allegedly against promises of favours. He also accused Roy of maligning the image of Trinamool.

Responding to the attack, Roy told the media that Banerjee, who generally does not care for cautious behaviour, has crossed all limits of decency. aKalyan has lost his mental balance totally. He thinks that he can say whatever he feels like about anyone. There is not a single member in the partyas Parliamentary group who is in support of Kalyan," he claimed.

Banerjee has claimed that if the Chief Minister asks, he is ready to quit the party.

Meanwhile, Malviya, on Tuesday, issued a fresh post on his X handle commenting on the spat between Roy and Banerjee. "Kalyan says if Mamata herself were to say heas wrong, he would quit the party and politics on the spot. So, we now know whoas backing him!" Malviyaas post read.
Since early February, Carlisle Area School District has found enough in savings to trim about $1 million from a projected budget shortfall while adding five staff positions to enhance instruction and student services.

That was the word last week from Superintendent Colleen Friend who credits district administrators, building principals and department heads for their cost-cutting efforts in the lead-up to the final stages of the 2025-26 budget cycle.

Two months ago, the school board was looking at a shortfall of about $5.1 million in revenue. Now, the margin has closed to just under $4.1 million between expenses of $117,636,115 and revenues of $113,542,670.

Staff additions

The effort has made it possible to include in the budget an elementary school social worker position currently paid for by grant money, Friend said. Three other positions will be added to support special education and English language learner students, she said.

We just dont have an option in either of those cases, Friend told the board. Lastly, the district plans to hire an instructor to teach a new program at the Carlisle High School Center for Careers and Technology.

In late January, the board approved the two-year program to train students interested in pursuing careers as middle school and high school teachers and classroom aides. The hope is to build a pipeline of future workers to address the teacher shortage.

We have not concluded our staffing discussions, but were getting close, Friend said last week. High school administrators are still working through course enrollments and registrations, she said.

State funding

The administration has yet to make a recommendation on a proposed real estate tax increase. Also, the current version of the budget does not include any of the projected revenue increases and charter school savings outlined in Gov. Josh Shapiros state budget proposal.

The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials will be asked for advice on what percentage of the Shapiro projections to factor into the district budget, Friend said.

On Feb. 4, Shapiro presented a proposal that includes an increase of $281,000 in the districts basic education subsidy, $200,000 in the special education subsidy and a Ready to Learn Block Grant of about $1.7 million.

The proposed state budget also includes a cap of $9,000 on the annual tuition fee that a cyber charter school could charge for a regular education student. Right now, Carlisle pays just over $14,000 per regular education student. Should the new cap take effect, it could save the district about $879,000, said Michael Statler, director of business operations.

The actual amount of additional state revenue and charter school savings will depend on the outcome of budget negotiations in the legislature.

Under state law, school boards have until June 30 to approve and submit a district budget for the coming fiscal year to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. However, lawmakers typically take longer than June 30 to approve a state budget, putting district administrators and board members in a position where they must rely on projections. The fiscal year starts on July 1.

We have a month to hear the political winds and make an educated guess, said Bruce Clash, finance committee chairman. The more we include of that [the Shapiro projections], the less gap we have [in the budget] but we have to be realistic.

The timeline calls for the board to review a preliminary version of the budget on May 1 and then vote to advertise it on May 15. A final version could come before the board on June 12 with a vote on adoption scheduled for June 26.

If state lawmakers approve 100% of the governors budget, that alone could reduce the current shortfall from $4.1 million to just under $1 million, board member Rick Coplen said. Im just making the case, asking our representatives to please vote for all of that.

Tax hike

Statler presented a range of potential tax hikes from 1% to 5.3%  the maximum allowed under the Act 1 Index. The current tax rate is 16.8633 mills. He based the numbers below on a median assessed property value of $178,450:

A 1% increase to 17.0319 mills would yield $30.09 more in taxes

A 2% increase to 17.2006 mills, $60.19 more in taxes

A 3% increase to 17.3692 mills, $90.28 more in taxes

A 4% increase to 17.5378 mills, $120.37 more in taxes

A 5% increase to 17.7065 mills, $150.46 more in taxes

A 5.3% increase to 17.7571 mills, $159.49 more in taxes

The administration has another month to tweak projections, Clash said. In recent years, the board has approved annual tax hikes well below the maximum Act 1 Index, he said.

School board vice president Anne Lauritzen urged caution in early May when the board discusses the proposed tax rate for 2025-26, referring to the current state of the economy.

This year more than ever, I know our costs are going up, but so are everybody elses, Lauritzen said. There are some people in our community who are very affected by the uncertainty, the loss of investments right now. We need to bear that in mind as we go forward.

Depending on the rate, a tax hike could generate from $563,000 to about $2.98 million in new revenue for the district, leaving the board to draw from reserves to cover the balance.

District administrators have until May 1 to find more savings in the proposed budget.
Srinagar, April 8 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asked security forces to completely eradicate terrorism in J&K and establish lasting peace.

While chairing a high-level security review meeting in Srinagar, the Union Home Minister said, "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union government is committed to establishing lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir and completely eradicating terrorism."

During the meeting, Union Home Minister lauded the efforts of security agencies for a significant reduction in terror-related incidents, infiltration and recruitment of youth in terrorist organisations.

He reiterated the zero tolerance policy against terrorism under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said, "Due to sustained and coordinated efforts of the Modi government, the entire terror eco-system nurtured by elements inimical to our country in Jammu and Kashmir has been crippled."

Amit Shah directed all security agencies to continue efforts with a coordinated approach to eliminate terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

He also directed that the implementation of the Area Domination Plan and Zero Terror Plan must be ensured in mission mode.

Home Minister said that all agencies should continue to work in a coordinated manner so that the gains made after the abrogation of Article 370 can be sustained and the goal of 'terror-free J&K' can be achieved at the earliest.

Home Minister said that the Modi government is providing all the resources necessary to achieve this goal.

Union Home Minister also reviewed the preparedness of Shri Amarnathji Yatra, which is scheduled from July 3 to August 9 this year and directed concerned agencies to take all necessary action for conducting the holy yatra peacefully.
Kolkata, April 8 : Calcutta High Court, on Tuesday, granted permission to the West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari to visit Mothabari in Malda district, which was hit by communal tensions.

Earlier this month, Adhikari approached Calcutta High Courtas single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh seeking permission, apprehending that Malda district police might deny him the same on the grounds that the visit might provoke further tension in the area.

On Tuesday, Justice Ghosh granted permission for the visit with a set of conditions. As per the court order, the Leader of the Opposition will be able to visit Mothabari accompanied by his security personnel on April 11 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

However, his movements will be restricted within the areas under the jurisdiction of Mothabari Police Station.

The court has also directed that information of the number of vehicles in the convoy of the Leader of the Opposition will have to be intimated to the district police administration in advance.

The court also barred any kind of rallies or processions on that day over the visit of the Leader of the Opposition.

Justice Ghosh also directed the Malda district police superintendent to closely follow the entire situation on the day of Adhikarias visit to Mothabari and also said that in case of any trouble, forces should be deployed immediately to keep the situation under control.

Earlier, Adhikari wrote to Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, requesting him to direct the state government to deploy Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) at Mothabari.

Police said 61 persons have been arrested in connection with the communal tension at Mothabari, and a total of 61 cases have been filed. Although the state police had claimed that the situation at Mothabari is currently under control, the Leader of the Opposition has refuted the policeas claims.

He alleged that had the situation been under control, the state police would not have prevented the opposition leaders and the media persons from entering the troubled spot.
Patna, April 8 : In a significant rescue operation, the emergency response team DAIL 112 of Saharsa Police in Bihar successfully freed a 16-year-old minor girl who had been forced into the flesh trade for five years at a red light area in Saharsa.

The rescue took place on Monday night, following a distress call made by the victim herself to the emergency helpline.

According to DSP (Headquarters) Kamleshwari Prasad Singh of Saharsa police, the girl had been living and working in the red light area operated by Viraj Nat, who allegedly took custody of the child through a human trafficker and exploited her for years.

The girl recounted that she had traveled to Patna with his parents when she was around 10 years old, but got separated from them at a railway station.

She was then lured by a stranger and later handed over to Viraj Nat, who initially made him do domestic chores and subsequently forced him into prostitution at the brothel.

"The victim was held in the brothel for the last five years under coercion. She does not remember her village name but only that her home is near the Nepal border," said DSP Singh.

The police have sealed the brothel of Viraj Nat and lodged a case of human trafficking, prostitution and unlawful confinement against the accused.

Authorities are working in coordination with Nepal Police to help trace the girl's family.

According to an official, human traffickers target poor families to buy their minor children, especially girls. Once they come into the trap, they buy the girls with the promise to provide jobs mainly as domestic helpers and later force them into the flesh trade in metro cities.

Many such victims are separated from their families and exploited for years before being rescued.

Law enforcement officials have reiterated their commitment to identifying and dismantling such networks and ensuring rehabilitation and justice for rescued minors.
Hyderabad, April 8 : Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan's son, who was injured in a fire accident at a summer camp in Singapore, is undergoing a bronchoscopy and may have a long-term impact of smoke inhalation.

Pawan Kalyan, who will be leaving for Singapore on Tuesday, told media persons that Mark Shankar suffered burns on his hands and legs.

"I have been told that he is reasonably well, but right now they are doing a bronchoscopy. The final report will come on Wednesday morning. Hopefully, everything will be alright," he said.

The actor-politician said the fire broke out during summer camp, where 30 children were present. One child died and 15 others were injured. He conveyed his condolences to the parents of Mark Shankar's classmate who died in the fire.

The Jana Sena leader said workers at a construction site next to the summer camp rescued the children before the arrival of the fire engine. He thanked the people who rescued the children

The Deputy Chief Minister said he received a phone call around 7.30 a.m. about the incident when he was on a visit to Araku.

"I thought it was a minor incident. I did not know its intensity. He has been admitted to a hospital where he is undergoing a bronchoscopy under general anaesthesia," he said.

He was on a four-day visit to Alluri Sitharama Raju and Visakhapatnam districts, but he had to cut his visit short.

He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for enquiring about his son's condition and for also informing the Indian high commissioner in Singapore.

The Jana Sena leader said he also spoke to the Indian High Commissioner in Singapore to know the details

Pawan Kalyan also thanked Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Minister Nara Lokesh, former chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and others for conveying their concern over the incident.

The actor-politician said his youngest son met with the accident on the day when his elder son Akhira was celebrating his birthday.

"This is an unfortunate coincidence," he said.

Earlier, the Prime Minister spoke to Pawan Kalyan and enquired about his son's condition. He wished for the early recovery of the child.

Pawan Kalyan's elder brother and megastar K. Chiranjeevi and his wife will also be leaving for Singapore.

Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer has expressed concern over the injuries sustained by Mark Shankar.

The Governor wished a speedy recovery of Shankar, who is presently undergoing treatment in a hospital in Singapore.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also expressed concern over Mark Shankar sustaining injuries in the fire accident and wished him a speedy recovery.
Chennai, April 8 : Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief and Tamil superstar Vijay has strongly criticised the central government's decision to increase the price of LPG cylinders, calling it an unfair burden on the public already grappling with economic hardships.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Vijay said, "The BJP government's decision to hike LPG cylinder prices is a direct attack on the common people. At a time when daily life is already a struggle, this move will only worsen their plight." He also dismissed the Centre's claim that subsidies would be directly transferred to consumers' bank accounts, calling it a deceptive tactic.

"This is clearly a move to mislead the people," he asserted. Vijay accused the BJP of deliberately increasing gas prices when essential commodity prices are already at an all-time high. "Now, with global crude oil prices at record lows, why isn't the government using this opportunity to support the public instead of favouring a select few?" he questioned.

The TVK leader didn't spare the ruling DMK government either. He criticised it for failing to fulfil its election promises. "The DMK had promised a Rs 100 subsidy per cylinder but has done nothing in the last four years. They make tall claims to win elections and then forget the people. When will this cycle of betrayal end?" he asked.

Vijay further warned that the public would hold both governments accountable for their failures. He reaffirmed that his party, TVK, will stand firmly with the people.

It may be recalled that Vijay officially launched the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam on February 2, 2024, positioning the party as a platform against corruption and divisive politics. Although he chose not to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Vijay has confirmed that TVK will actively participate in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Vijay's political influence has been steadily growing. In the 2021 local body elections, his fan club, the All India Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (AITVMI), won 115 out of the 169 seats it contested. This performance outshone other star-led parties like Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) and Seeman's Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), both of which failed to secure a single seat. Vijay has made it clear that TVK will align only with parties willing to accept his leadership, signalling his clear ambition to emerge as a strong contender for the Chief Minister's post in 2026.
Bhopal, April 8 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has charged three additional individuals in connection with the supply of weapons and ammunition to the banned CPI (Maoist) group in Chhattisgarh, as announced on Tuesday.

In a supplementary charge-sheet filed with the NIA Special Court in Jagdalpur, the agency identified Sudhir Tripathi, Suraj Nishad (aka Karan), and Hungo Madkami (aka Hunga), an armed member of the CPI (Maoist).

These individuals face charges under various provisions of the Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

With this latest development, the total number of people charged in this case has risen to eight. Five others had already been charged earlier after their arrest in Bhairamgarh Tehsil, Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh. Their trial is currently ongoing.

According to the NIAas investigation, Sudhir and Suraj played a key role in assisting the previously arrested accused in acquiring a revolver and ammunition from Uttar Pradesh, which were meant for delivery to Maoist members in Bhairamgarh. The two were taken into custody in October last year.

In an earlier breakthrough, the NIA apprehended Sudhir Tripathi and Suraj Nishad, both residents of Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, for their involvement in supplying arms to the Maoists.

Four others - Santosh Kumar Gupta, Prince Sharma, Vijay Sahu, and Hunga Madakami - were detained in January 2023 when local police in Chhattisgarh confiscated the weapons and registered the case under sections of the Arms Act, UAPA, and IPC.

During a search, police recovered a revolver marked aUSAa and two foreign-origin mobile phones - one found with Sharma and the other with Sahu.

The NIA took over the case in January last year and uncovered that Sudhir and Suraj were actively transporting arms from Uttar Pradesh to Maoist cadres in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.

The investigation further revealed a conspiracy among them to provide logistical support to the outlawed group.

The chain of events began on January 11, 2023, when Bhairamgarh police received a tip-off about Santosh Gupta from Sanjaydhara, suspected of supplying arms to Maoist leader Hunga Madakami.

Investigations are ongoing, according to the NIA.
Mumbai, April 8 : The Maharashtra Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday cleared the establishment of a State Institute of Disaster Management (SIDM) at Nagpur on the lines of the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM).

To effectively respond to natural and man-made disasters occurring in the state, the management and planning of disaster preparedness, mitigation, disaster risk, post-disaster relief and rehabilitation, reconstruction, as well as response, training will be done through the State Institute of Disaster Management (SIDM).

Ten acres of land have been made available for the organisation at Maharashtra Airport Development Authority (MIHAN) in Nagpur.

Approval has been given for the provision of funds of Rs 187.73 crore for the construction of the building of this organisation. Also, approval has been given for hiring cadre-wise regular and contractual/posts as well as technical consultants and the manpower required for the organisation according to the nature of work and the expenditure for the same.

The State Executive Committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, will act as the regulatory committee for this organisation.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister today inaugurated the state-of-the-art State Emergency Operation Center at Mantralaya.

"Disaster management has gained technological strength due to the use of modern technology, a fast communication system and artificial intelligence (AI) in the State Emergency Operation Center. This newly developed State Emergency Operation Center will help give a fast, accurate and coordinated response during disasters. The use of new technology in the State Emergency Operation Center will not only help in handling the situation during disasters but also from pre-disaster awareness to rehabilitation and disaster management more efficiently," he said.

The Chief Minister said that due to climate change, the nature, intensity and frequency of disasters are changing.

"Therefore, it is necessary to emphasise 'mitigation' and immediate response after incidents. It is important to have a strong 'command and communication system' for disaster management, and this center will be useful for making decisions quickly and providing a quick response. The work is underway to set up such a modern system in every district of the state," he said.

The Chief Minister said that Maharashtra is a leader in institutional strengthening for disaster management.

He added that a mobile application called 'Disaster Assistant' has been made available to the general public, through which citizens can provide information through SOS alerts in times of disaster.

"This app will be an important medium of two-way communication. All information, guidelines and activities related to disaster management have been made easily available on the new website of the State Disaster Management Authority. This website will play a valuable role in creating greater coherence between citizens, local administration and the system," he said.
Agartala, April 8 : Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working tirelessly for the overall welfare of the indigenous people of the state, and the BJP government is also working in line with the direction of PM Modi.

Addressing a party programme at Takarjala in Sepahijala district, the Chief Minister said that PM Modi is working vigorously for the overall welfare of the tribals in India, including Tripura.

"He always thinks about the development of the indigenous people, and the state government is also working in that direction," Saha said, adding that if indigenous people join the BJP, the country and the state would be stronger.

He said that the conference was organised for the active members of the party and various important issues were discussed during the conference.

"Talks were also held with various people. In this conference, about 140 members from 50 families have joined the BJP. They have mainly joined our party from the opposition Congress and the CPI-M. I welcome them on behalf of the BJP," said Saha.

The Chief Minister told the indigenous people, as the Prime Minister has been thinking about the tribal people and the government is also considerate about them, if the tribals join the BJP, both the indigenous people and the state would be beneficial.

Saha added that his government is no longer just the government of the BJP people alone, it is for all people as the party's vision is 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas'.

The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) and Tipra Motha Party are the allies of the BJP, and the government always takes decisions and strategies about the tribals after discussions with all the parties.

The top leadership of the tribal wing of the BJP, Janjati Morcha, were present at the conference. One-third of Tripura's four million population is tribals (indigenous people), and they play a crucial role in the state's electoral politics.

--IANS

sc/dan
Mumbai, April 8 : Ever since her breakup with Vijay Varma, the fans of Tamannaah Bhatia have been waiting with bated breath for any update on her personal life and now it seems like the 'Baahubali 2' actress has finally blinked.

During the trailer launch event of Tamannaah's next "Odela 2" she was asked "Wo kon hain jis pe ap apni tantra vidhya se vijay (hinting at her ex Vijay Varma) karna chahti hain. (Who would you like to win over with your special powers)"

A blushing Tamannaah replied saying, "It would have to be you, (to the person who asked the question), then the whole paparazzi would be in my control and then they would be listening to whatever I say."

She was further asked, "if she is given such supernatural powers in real life who would she like to control?"

However, Tamannaah smartly dodged the question saying, "I just wish to reside in everyone's heart".

Some time back, Tamannaah and Vijay left their fans shocked after speculations of their breakup surfaced on social media. However, both of them have been tight-lipped about the reason for their break up.

It was reported that Tamannaah and Vijay started falling for each other on the set of their Netflix's anthology "Lust Stories 2." These two made headlines after they were spotted together at a New Year's party in Goa.

However, later on, Vijay cleared the air saying that they did not start dating during the shoot of the film.

Talking to Tanmay Bhat on Netflix India's YouTube channel, Vijay referred to "Lust Stories 2" as a cupid, disclosing that their real-life love story began much later.

Vijay revealed, "Lust Stories was cupid, but it wasn't during the shoot that we started dating. There was talk of a wrap party happening, but it never took place. So, we wanted to have a wrap party, and only four people showed up. That day, I feel I told her I wanted to hang out more with you. It took 20-25 days for the first date to happen after that."

In June 2024, Tamannaah confirmed her relationship with Vijay, after which these two were seen making several public appearances together.
Mumbai, April 8 : Amid rising fund requirement due to the constraints in revenue mobilisation internally, the Maharashtra Finance Department on Tuesday released the notification with regard to the guidelines for externally supported loans to finance various projects in the state.

The Finance Department has clearly said the concerned department will take adequate care to ensure that while raising the externally supported loans, the revenue and fiscal deficits will remain within the stipulated limits prescribed in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act,2003.

"External assistance loans are part of the Net Borrowing Ceiling approved by the Central government. Therefore, while raising external assistance loans, these loans should be within the limits of the second financial year as per the FRBM Act and should be within the Net Borrowing Ceiling approved by the Central Government. Be careful to stay within the ceiling limits," said the government notification.

The state government is required to limit the fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of the GSDP as per the FRBM Act. The budget for year 2025-26 has managed to keep the fiscal deficit at 2.7 per cent, which had gone to 2.9 per cent in the previous fiscal. The guidelines have specified that these loans should not be treated as a source to fulfill financial needs.

As per the guidelines, "The said loan will have to be used only for execution of the works and procurement of goods and services required for the specific project as provided in the Project Agreement."

"Since the state government is responsible for the implementation of the project as per the project specifications, such as the implementation charges and foreign exchange risk for the external assistance loans provided to the state governments, the concerned administrative department will take care of the efficiency of the project as per the project specifications," said the notification.

External assistance is mainly provided through multilateral agencies, bilateral agencies, international financial institutions like IBRD, IDA, IFAD, ADB, NDB, KfW, JICA, and through the Central government.

The guidelines have also mandated the administrative department to seek a loan to create a Preliminary Project Report (PPR) with the help of Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA).

MITRA was established in November 2022 to achieve rapid and comprehensive development of the state on the lines of NITI Aayog's policy through the participation of the private sector and non-government organisations, taking into account the needs of the state. The concerned department will have to seek the approval of the chief minister for going in for externally supported loans based on PPR.

With approval from the Chief Minister, it will be uploaded on the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA). After the 'approved' remark from the Planning Department, it will be presented to the concerned ministries in the Centre and Niti Aayog. Once approved by the screening committee of the DEA, a detailed project report (DPR) will be presented at the earliest.

"The Detailed Project should adequately reflect the Strategic elements of techno economic (economic viability, social cost benefit, value addition etc.) ecological (land use, ecological sustainability etc.), socio-cultural (target population and gender matters, participation, social impact, etc.), and institutional (institutional and organisational analysis, capacity building, training etc.) dimensions in the project design in measurable terms. An objective-oriented project design in a matrix format along with work plan, cost and time schedule indicating target/output, cash flow statement, etc. should also be a part of DPR," said the guidelines.

(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)
The fate of the runaway slaves was a mystery to Henry Stockton, a free Black man living in Carlisle.

He was writing a letter to Charles Watts when hints of the Underground Railroad in Cumberland County surfaced as misspelled words in cursive.

Three of your cousens came through this place making thare escape, Stockton told Watts. It was David George and Thomas and there was nothing heard of them since.

The date was June 21, 1847, almost three weeks after racial tensions erupted into violence in front of the Old Courthouse on the Square. History recorded the incident as the McClintock Slave Riot.

Recently, the Cumberland County Historical Society purchased the letter for $9,500 during an online auction hosted by Freemans Hindman of Washington, D.C. After nearly 178 years, the document returned to Carlisle on April 1.

Its a very rare letter, said Lindsay Varner, society executive director. Its important to our understanding of what happened in the build-up to the Civil War.

The letter includes a first-hand account of the riot along with insight into how the public responded to the disturbance, she said. It appears to talk about an enslaved family and friends in Maryland and potentially mentioned freedom seekers who self-emancipated and tried to escape.

Bid for history

The society received a tip on the letter from Randy Heishman, a member of its board of directors and president of the Newville Historical Society.

He has alerts, Varner said. Hes always looking for things at auctions related to Cumberland County history. We have a fund set aside to acquire items that are of historical value in telling our stories.

He had a whole strategy for helping us to get this letter, she said of Heishman. He helped us with the bidding. There was somebody else who wanted the letter. It was stressful up to the last second.

Worry gave way to triumph and now reflection as the county historical society plans to research the context and background of the letter. Meanwhile, the document will be preserved in the collection and, to avoid damage through handling, a transcription will be made available to researchers and patrons of the societys library and archives.

On July 4, 2026, the nation will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Were doing an exhibit centered around the idea of protests, Varner said. Plans are to include the letter in a display on the McClintock Riot, she said.

The Feb. 27 auction involved property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Ephemeral Americana and Historical Documents. The Ephemera Society of America defines ephemera as vintage printed or written items which originally served a specific purpose and were not expected to be retained.

In the lead-up to the auction, Freemans Hindman researched the background of people tied to the letter. The findings were included in an online ad describing the two-page correspondence.

Carlisle connections

Stockton had addressed the letter to Watts in the care of Capt. Thomas L. Brent of B Company of the 4th Artillery of the U.S. Army near Saltillo, Mexico. The letter was then readdressed in different handwriting to the care of Lt. Henry M. Whiting of the 4th Artillery.

In 1847, Army units were engaged in the Mexican War, which stemmed from the annexation of Texas by the U.S. and by a dispute over the Texas-Mexico border. Brent of the 4th Artillery was stationed at Carlisle Barracks from 1844 to 1846 prior to his departure for the Mexican War. He was promoted from first lieutenant to captain for his conduct during the Battle of Buena Vista.

Though Watts could have served as a soldier in the Mexican War, the more likely scenario is that Watts had accompanied Brent as a servant. Brent had graduated from West Point in 1835 and, during the 1840s, laws allowed Army officers to hire servants, who were mostly Black.

In February 1847, Brent was transferred to quartermaster duty, the description reads. [This] may account for the readdressing of the letter in care of Lt. Whiting. The 1844-1846 timeframe in which Brent was stationed at Carlisle links Stockton with Watts and Brent, though certainly Stockton and Watts may have had personal connections pre-dating this period.

The exact identity of Charles Watts is unclear, the description reads. The 1850 Federal Census locates a Maryland-born Black male named Charles Watts working as a servant in private households in Quincy, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, a small town between Carlisle and Hagerstown, Maryland.

Mid-19th century Carlisle had more southern leanings than northern. Trade routes through Cumberland County went south and southwest. Half the Dickinson College student body was from the South along with many of the officers stationed at Carlisle Barracks.

The riot

The McClintock Riot took place in front of the Old Courthouse on June 3, 1847. It started after free blacks made a rush for a woman and a child who had just been released by the court into the custody of two slave owners. The Blacks were able to rescue and spirit the fugitives away but, in the ensuing brawl, the crowd assaulted and injured one of the slave owners.

Dickinson College professor John McClintock had a reputation for being an outspoken critic of slavery. He had earlier advised the court of a new state law banning any county official from having a part in the recovery of fugitive slaves. His stance against slavery made McClintock a target of community anger and he was arrested and later acquitted of charges he incited the riot.

Stockton mentioned the incident in his letter to Watts. I had all most forgot to tell you about the great riot that toulk place in the town, he wrote. There was three colored folks and thare Master came after them. They ran away from Hagerstown. It raised a grate desterbence in town.

We dont have a lot of information yet on these individuals, Varner said, referring to Stockton, Watts and Brent. There is an exciting research opportunity to the organization (historical society) to learn more about these individuals and about the activity that was happening here in Carlisle.
Bengaluru, April 8 : Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has raised concerns over the availability of unsafe packaged mineral water bottles in the state and urged people to be cautious while purchasing them.

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Tuesday, Minister Rao said, "People should be aware. Packaged mineral water is available under various brands everywhere. However, when tested for safety, many of them fail to meet the standards. This has become a matter of concern for us."

He further stated, "We are collecting legal samples from all packaged mineral water brands. This will allow us to take legal action against the companies. Once the samples are tested, we will begin initiating action."

"Some samples have been found to be substandard due to the lack of certain minerals. While this may not be highly dangerous, water samples found to be unsafe contain harmful chemicals and bacteria, which pose serious health risks," the Health Minister added.

He added that the Office of the Commissioner, Food Safety and Drug Administration, and the government of Karnataka's Food Safety Division have undertaken measures in this regard.

He said as part of the special campaign in February 2025, 296 drinking water bottle samples were collected for analysis.

"Out of the 255 collected samples, 72 samples were found safe, 95 samples were unsafe, and 88 samples were of substandard quality. The analysis of remaining samples is in progress. To verify the use of artificial colours in Fried green peas, 115 samples were collected and sent for analysis. Out of these, 46 samples were found safe, while 69 samples were found unsafe," he said.

He said that the department has also collected 49 ghee samples for analysis, out of which 6 samples were tested and found safe.

"The remaining samples are under analysis. Out of 43 Khova samples, nine were analysed. Three were found to be substandard quality, and six samples were found safe," he said.

The minister added that out of 231 Paneer samples, 32 were analysed, of which two samples were found unsafe.

"In 198 sweet samples, two were found unsafe; 119 khara (namkeen) mixture samples 4 found to be unsafe. Out of 46 local brands of juice/beverage samples, 39 ice candy samples and 107 ice cream samples were collected and sent for analysis," he added.

He said that the department states that 92 food production/sales units of juices, ice candy, and ice creams were issued notices after inspections revealed violations, and 6 units were fined Rs 38,000, Minister Rao stated.

"Notices are issued to 214 hotels/restaurants for non-compliance, and 11 establishments were fined Rs 1.15 lakh. The hotels were inspected to assess pest control measures for cockroaches, rodents and other insects," he said.

The minister added that the Drug Administration division had drawn 1,891 samples by the enforcement officers in the interest of public health and analysed them in the Drugs Testing Laboratories at Bengaluru, Hubballi and Ballari.

"Among them, 1,298 samples are declared as standard quality and 41 are declared as not of standard quality in the month of March 2025. In the year 2024-25, a total of 10 cases have been filed, and in March 2025, a total of 18 cases were filed in various courts under the violation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules thereunder," he said.
Mandya : , April 8 (IANS) Responding to rumours suggesting that there is a difference of opinion between the BJP and his party, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy clarified on Tuesday that "the JD (S)-BJP alliance is strong, and there's no need for doubt." Mandya (Karnataka), April 8 (IANS) Responding to rumours suggesting that there is a difference of opinion between the BJP and his party, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy clarified on Tuesday that "the JD (S)-BJP alliance is strong, and there's no need for doubt."

Speaking to reporters in Mandya city, Kumaraswamy stated, "Former CM and senior BJP leader D.V. Sadananda Gowda himself has suggested the formation of a JD (S)-BJP coordination committee. Many senior leaders have also recommended it. There is no threat to the alliance," he added.

When asked about the BJP's Janakrosha protest, Kumaraswamy said, "They are fighting to strengthen their party. They didn't invite us. It's their party's event, and they have said so themselves. They are protesting against the Congress-led government. There's no rift in the alliance. All are firmly together. Each party is working on its own organisational goals," Kumaraswamy stated.

Launching a scathing attack on Minister for Agriculture N. Cheluvarayaswamy, Kumaraswamy said, "His claim that he made me the Chief Minister is the biggest joke. He should not forget that it was the MLAs who made me the CM."

Responding strongly to journalists' questions about Cheluvarayaswamy's statement, Kumaraswamy further said, "The MLAs were with me, and that person knows it too. Did the MLAs come looking at his face? They came because they believed in me. Isn't he aware of all this?"

"He is 100 per cent a joker. The 'joker culture' originated in the Congress party, and he should not forget that. Everyone knows where he was and where he went later. There's no need to respond to such a person," he said, indirectly referring to the minister without naming him.

Reacting to Minister Cheluvarayaswamy's challenge to take an oath at the Hindu pilgrimage centre Dharmasthala in this regard, Kumaraswamy said, "I am ready to take the oath. When I became CM, did the MLAs come looking at his face? The struggle I went through to make him a minister was immense. He wouldn't let me sleep till 3 am. Did 50 MLAs come because of him? He should not forget the effort I made on his behalf."

"I don't have the kind of habits he has. If you ask people in Mandya about his habits, they talk about them on the streets. It's inappropriate to discuss such things -- it's in bad taste. The people of Mandya know what kind of taste he has. I know how many households this person has ruined. I never craved for money. I worked around the clock among the people, doing Janata Darshans and village stays. Serving the people is my personal commitment. I don't have any of his vices. God is watching everything," Kumaraswamy said emotionally.

He said, "Is discussing one's personal life important? When we stay close to such treacherous people, problems are bound to arise. No human is perfect. God gives us a chance to correct our mistakes. I've admitted in the Assembly that I made a mistake once in my life. I've never said I'm faultless. But I know what all that man has done. Let's move beyond these things and discuss people's welfare," Kumaraswamy opined.

Minister Cheluvarayaswamy was once a close associate of Union Minister Kumaraswamy and close to former PM H.D. Deve Gowda's family. Quitting the JD (S) party, along with other leaders, he joined the Congress and went on to become Minister.
Bhubaneswar, April 8 : The Odisha government on Tuesday signed multiple Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) attracting huge investments to the state during the second day of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi's two-day visit to New Delhi.

CM Majhi, who is in New Delhi, has held several rounds of one-on-one discussions with top industry captains since Monday, and also joined an Investors' Meet at Taj Palace.

"Overall, 13 MoUs were signed, amounting to Rs 98,880 crore, significantly enhancing the state's capabilities across sectors. The projects are expected to generate around 67,000 employment opportunities, fostering regional economic growth and boosting industrial activity. Besides, 15 investment intents were received. The total investment offers amount to Rs 1,03,090, creating employment opportunities for 95,915 persons," informed the state government.

In a significant development, the state government has signed an MoU with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) for the establishment of a Dual-Feed Naphtha Cracker Project.

This landmark agreement is expected to bring in investments of over Rs 58,042 crore, generating employment for 24,000 people.

In addition to the MoU with IOCL, agreements were also signed with the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) and Petronet LNG. These partnerships reinforce Odisha's strategic role in India's petrochemical landscape and reflect a commitment to sustainable industrial development, import substitution, and a resilient supply chain.

CM Majhi's visit to New Delhi has been marked by strategic engagements and partnerships that are expected to accelerate economic growth and position Odisha as a formidable hub for industry, particularly in the petrochemical and technology sectors. These interactions demonstrated a significant investor interest in establishing manufacturing units that would contribute to local economic development and job creation.

Additionally, discussions with the Association of Indian Manufacturers of Medical Devices (AIMED), Toy Association of India, United States India Business Council, and others highlighted the growing interest in various sectors, including medical devices and apparel.

In his keynote address at the investors meet, the Chief Minister emphasised the vision of Odisha to emerge as a petrochemical and manufacturing hub.

He told the business leaders that this is the right time to invest in Odisha.

"Today's MoU with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is a landmark moment in Odisha's industrial journey. It reflects not just a shared vision but a strong belief in the state's potential to lead India's petrochemical revolution from the east. Paradip, with its strategic location and evolving infrastructure, is poised to become a transformative industrial hub, much like Dahej port in the west (Gujarat). Odisha is ready, and we invite you to invest in our bright future," said Majhi.
New Delhi, April 8 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a sharp critique of opposition parties regarding the recently introduced Waqf Amendment Act, accusing them of indulging in "appeasement politics."

Following the Bill's passage in Parliament, PM Modi addressed the heated discussions surrounding the legislation, urging the nation to transcend the antiquated stratagems of yesteryears. He said, "We cannot allow the politics of the 20th century to weigh down the progress of the 21st century. The uproar over the Waqf Act stems from appeasement politics."

Addressing a media house event in Delhi, PM Modi highlighted the challenges posed by the debate and expounded upon the tribulations of the 2013 amendments to the Waqf Act, claiming they were designed to appease extremist factions and exploit land resources. He said that the new Waqf law replaces fear with dignity, particularly for marginalised members of the Muslim community.

The PM lauded Parliament for enacting a law that serves the interests of society and the Muslim community. He described the legislation as a significant milestone in the NDA government's first 100 days, aimed at promoting social justice and safeguarding the rights of underprivileged Muslims, including women.

"The (earlier) Waqf law had become a cause of fear. Now it ensures dignity for all, especially the marginalised in the Muslim community. I congratulate the Parliament of the country for making a wonderful law in the interest of the entire society, in the interest of the Muslim community," he said.

"The debate on the Waqf law stands as the second longest in our parliamentary history. Discussions on the Bill spanned 16 hours across both Houses, accompanied by 38 meetings of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC), totalling 128 hours of deliberation. Moreover, nearly 1 crore online suggestions were received from citizens across the country. This underscores that democracy is not limited to the walls of Parliament; it is being enriched and strengthened through active public participation," he added.

PM Modi expressed gratitude to Parliament for passing the law, which he believes will benefit the majority of Muslims in India. He stressed by acknowledging the historical mistrust surrounding land ownership, whether it involved religious sites or government property, and commended the new law for addressing these concerns.

PM Modi reiterated that the new Waqf Act protects the rights of poor and female Muslims, marking a significant step forward in ensuring equality and justice.
The American Library Association (ALA) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), whose members include museum and library workers nationwide, have sued over what the ALA called, in a release, the Trump administrations gutting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Among the defendants are Keith Sonderling, in his capacity as acting director of the IMLS, along with the IMLS itself; President Donald Trump; and U.S. DOGE Service acting administrator Amy Gleason, along with DOGE itself.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argues that the administrations recent actionswhich include firing most IMLS staff, terminating grant programs, and effectively shutting down the organizations operationsare both illegal and, separately, unconstitutional. The actions, the suit asserts, violate the first two articles of the Constitution: Article I, which establishes the separation of powers and designates Congress as the only body with authority to pass laws creating government agencies, and Article II, which enumerates the presidents duty to take care that the Laws be faithfully executed. It also alleges that the defendants actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act, which establishes the responsibility of the judiciary to hold unlawful and set aside agency action...found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.

In addition, the suit asserts, Defendants evisceration of the agency will have immediate and disastrous consequences for Plaintiffs ALA and AFSCME as well as their members, including librarians, libraries, and the public. The groups seeks an injunction to immediately cease actions to shut down IMLSs operations in a manner not authorized by Congress, as well as the reinstatement of IMLS employees, the reopening of the IMLS offices, the restoration of its computer systems and websites, and the return of funding to all grantees.

The suit alleges certain actions with hard numbers that had previously proven difficult to nail down as the IMLS, in cooperation with DOGE, operates with minimal transparency. Among its assertions are that the agency retained only 12 IMLS employees out of a staff that previously numbered around six dozen. It also confirms what a source on the board that historically advises the IMLS told PW on condition of anonymity: that on April 4, Sonderling fired all 23 members of the National Museum and Library Services Board, following multiple board missives requesting transparency and adherence to Congressional mandates.

Defendants took these actions to dismantle IMLS, and they were taken without congressional authorization, the suit alleges. Congress is the only entity that may lawfully dismantle the agency, not the President and certainly not DOGE.

The filing also points to the potential for damage from the cancellation of statutorily required grants at libraries across the country following the cancellation of several last week. It is only a matter of time before Defendants cancel en masse IMLS grants that fund activities at libraries across the country. Even if grants are not canceled, the severely reduced workforce will not be able to effectively and timely process grant payments and applications, it asserts.Without grant funding or IMLS staff to process reimbursements, local and state libraries will suffer an immediate and irreparable inability to pay vendors or staff hired in reliance on IMLS promise to make these reimbursements. In addition, IMLS provides important day-to-day services and advice to libraries across the country, which has already ceased, causing irreparable harm.

The ALA lawsuit is the second over the executive disassembly of the agency to be filed in federal court since a March 14 executive order signed by President Donald Trump called for the elimination of the agency to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law. On April 4, 21 states attorney general filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island with a similar argument: that whatever the Presidents policy preferences, he cannot override the congressional enactments that authorize federal agencies, appropriate funds for them to administer, and define how they must operate, per that filing. Just a day before, four of the Big Five publishers and Sourcebooks sent a letter to Capitol Hill, pleading with Congress to reject the executive order to close IMLS and to restore the agencys funding.

Libraries play an important role in our democracy, from preserving history to providing access to government information, advancing literacy and civic engagement, and offering access to a variety of perspectives, said ALA president Cindy Hohl, in a statement. These values are worth defending. We will not allow extremists to threaten our democracy by eliminating programs at IMLS and harming the children and communities who rely on libraries and the services and opportunities they provide.
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, organized by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, has announced the winners of its 19th awards program across eight categories. This years winners hail from seven countries around the world, including the U.K., Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Iraq, Morocco and the UAE.

This year's awards received more than 4,000 submissions from 75 countries. The winners will be celebrated at an April 28 award ceremony during the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, with each receiving prize money of 750,000 UAE dirhams ($204,198) and the Cultural Personality of the Year receiving one million UAE dirhams ($272,264).

Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami has received the Cultural Personality of the Year award for his cosmopolitan literary sensibilities...and his ability to assimilate shared influences from around the world, which have won him a significant following in the Arab world, said the award committee.

Receiving the Sheikh Zayed Book Award from the United Arab Emirates comes as both a great surprise and an immense honor to me, said Murakami in a statement. Arabic is a language with a long and rich storytelling tradition, and it is a great honor for me that my books have been translated and are being read in Arab countries. I believe that stories are a universal language. It is my sincere hope that by sharing good stories, people can connect with each other and that this can become a force, even if only a small one, that moves the world towards peace.

Lebanese novelist Hoda Barakat took home the Literature award for Hind, or the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, and The Phantom of Sabiba by Moroccan writer Latifa Labsir was named the winning book in the Childrens Literature category.

Arab Literature in Southeast Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries by Andrew Peacock, a history professor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, received the award in the Arab Culture in Other Languages category, and Orosius, an English translation by Italian scholar Marco di Branco of Kitab Hurushiyush, the Arabic version of Paulus Orosiuss Seven Books of Histories Against the Pagans, was named the winner in the Translation category.

In the Editing of Arabic Manuscripts category, the winning book was News of Women by Iraqi scholar and editor Rasheed Alkhayoun, and in the Contribution to the Development of Nations category, Mohamed Bashari's The Right to Strive: Perspectives on Muslim Womens Rights was named the winner. Finally, Said Laouadi received the award in the Literary and Art Criticism category for Food and Language: Cultural Excavations in Arabic Heritage.

This years outstanding laureates exemplify the Awards strategic impact, spanning diverse disciplines and demonstrating how literature and scholarship transcend borders to create a shared global dialogue, said Ali bin Tamim, Secretary-General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, in a statement. We look forward to celebrating these exceptional voices at the Award Ceremony in April.
Stories shape the worldand thats why were here today, said master of ceremonies Jeremy Cammy as he welcomed delegates to the fourth annual Sharjah International Booksellers Conference, held on April 78.

Cammy, chief storytelling officer at Canada's Rock the Bus Productions, continued: Booksellers, publishers, writers and champions of the written word: you are the communicators and connectors and gatekeepers. This conference is about the soul of story telling and why books matter in an increasingly noisy worldand about you, who make sure stories find their ways into the hands of the people who need them most.

Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, chairperson of the Sharjah Book Authority under whose auspices the conference is held, gave the first keynote. As well as founding the Emirates Publishers Association, publishing company Kalimat Group, and PublisHer, she is also an author, recently taking home the BolognaRagazzi Award at last weeks Bologna Book Fair for her book The House of Wisdom.

Welcoming the more than 750 participants from 92 countries, Bodour spoke of the fast-changing and often unpredictable landscape that the book industry is having to navigate, and the pride that Sharjah takes in being able to provide a much-needed space for people to come together and help shape the future.

We are all aware of the challenges, she continued, but around the world booksellers are finding new ways to strengthen their positioncarving out niche markets, curating thoughtful, distinctive offerings, successfully blending physical and digital and using omnichannel strategies to meet readers where they are.

Bookselling and publishing today requires more than a love of books and culture, she warned, but "strategic thinking, financial literacy, digital fluency, customer insight, community leadership, and yes, a deep and enduring passion for the written word.

Improving the Italian supply chain

In a later keynote, Renato Salvetti, CEO of Messaggerie Libri, the main distributor of print books in Italy, founded in Bologna in 1914, was in conversation of Porter Anderson of Publishing Perspectives. Salvetti is also the CEO of Edigita, the main distributor of digital books in Italy, and Lampi di Stampa, the major print-on-demand supplier.

Messaggerie distributes over a quarter of a million titles each year, of which 30,000 are new titles, handling in volume terms a total of around 60 million books annually. Every day, on average around a quarter of a million units are distributed to between 1,2501,500 customers.

The current supply chain, said Salvetti, is very wasteful, with the growth of online book sales only adding to the complexity. Physical bookstores have increased their stockholding to compete, while the addition of books in English to the inventory has made things even more complex.

Salvetti predicted that the supply chain will develop in two main ways over the next few years. Direct delivery from the distributor to the customer on behalf of online retailers will increase, he said, though once these systems are established there is no reason why physical bookstores and even publishers couldnt benefit too. He also felt there will be greater integration with the printing industry, with perhaps a fifth of all books being produced by some sort of joint venture between printer and distributor. A local production cycle offers a faster supply chain and benefits booksellers by enabling them to stock fewer copies, something that is already happening in the Netherlands.

Establishing a successful book chain

Nicoleta Iordan and Serban Radu, cofounders of Carturesti, the largest bookshop chain in Romania, gave an overview of how they became the largest cultural employer in Romania over the last 25 years. In conversation with Nadia Wassef, the founder the Egyptian bookstore chain Diwan Group, Iordan said her decision to start a bookstore came from a pure passion for books.

Carturesti now has 58 bookstores, with 55 in Romania and three in Moldova. That wasnt the plan 25 years ago! Iordan said. We didnt think we were going to grow so much. But each store has a different concept, each one is completely different, from small to large, with a distinctive design in every shop. We adapt to what the market needs.

The chain stocks books in Hungarian in some of their stores (7% of the population are Hungarian speakers), as well as books in Spanish, French and Italian for the tourist market and, increasingly, books in English: "The younger generation read more and more in English, said Iordan. Is a huge challenge for publishers publishing in Romanianthey have really small print runs, sometimes less than 1,000 copies. English is on the rise.

She added that manga has also played a significant role in their success. "That was a huge milestone, she said of the manga boom, something that surprised a lot of people in the book industry. Luckily we had a passionate manga person who saw it coming so we could arrange for a large selection in our stores, plus the merchandise around it, and this helped a lot keeping the younger generation in the bookstores.

Launching Carturesti in the 1990s, in a country that had only recently emerged from the Soviet Union's control, had not been easy. It was, recalled Radu, a bit of a wild west, going from a very state-organizedand bankruptsociety to a liberal order. The transition was a lot about making money and public discourse about values was out. We had a feeling that those appreciating art, music, books were in a minority, we were the losers.

Iordan stressed the importance of honoring their vision and values. "Our organizational culture is really important for us, having an open and democratic structure, not hierarchal or corporate, she said. Its not easy when you get to this size, but we consciously work on this, on keeping this indie spirit. We have a diversity of opinions.

Among the challenges they face, in common with many booksellers, is staff recruitment. This is something that we struggle with, admitted Iordan, you are faced with market forces that say you are working against your own financial advantage by becoming a bookseller!

As for their advice to other booksellers around the world? "Its never easydont think if youre a chain its any easierwe have 800 people on our payroll, offered Iordan. We still have bank loans of millions of euros but its the mission that keeps us going, the satisfaction and the twinkle in the eyes of our readers.

This may be survivors bias, added Radu, but bookshops are a magic portal, and each book is a gateway into another world. Carturesti is a magic portal and we let the magic flow. What we sell is the result of human imagination and values; this is timeless and we are lucky.

A version of this story first appeared in the U.K. newsletter BookBrunch.
HOME > Duck Dynasty Karolina Wojtasik / A&E

'Duck Dynasty' star Phil Robertson is in poor health and "really struggling"

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/07/2025



Former star Phil Robertson has apparently had some health issues as of late.



ADVERTISEMENT Phil's son Jase Robertson has revealed Phil's health "hasn't been good" during the April 3 episode of the "Unashamed with the Robertson Family" podcast.



Jase, 55, explained that his 78-year-old father's health has been in decline.



"Tell you the truth, it hasn't been good," Jase shared. "I'm just giving the blunt truth. I'll say, 'Not good.'"



Jase added, "We're doing the best we can. So I think that's just what you do."



In addition to Jase, Phil shares adult children Alan, 60, Willie, 52, and Jep, 46, with wife Kay Robertson.



The patriarch has battled a variety of health issues in recent years.



The Robertson family confirmed in December 2024 that Phil is in the "early stages" of Alzheimer's and has a blood disease as well as a fractured vertebrae in his back,



"According to the doctors, they're sure that he has some sort of blood disease that's causing all kinds of problems," Jase reportedly explained on the podcast at the time.



"It's accelerated and it's causing problems with his entire body."



Jase suggested Phil's physical condition was taking a toll on his mental and emotional well-being.



"He's just not doing well," Jase noted. "He's really struggling."



Phil's wife Kay Robertson, however, has been on the rise ever since she fell in February and underwent surgery.

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"For my mom, it's been a lot better this past week, because she was really not doing good," Jase explained on the podcast in February.



"She got an infection from a fall, from a cut that had happened earlier... She's still in the hospital, but [now it's] more rehab, physically, and trying to get her to eat."



Jase said Kay's improvements are huge gains since he wasn't even sure if she'd survive the fall earlier this year.



"We were kind of dealing with the fact that maybe this is it," Jase said. "That's what it seemed like in the moment. It seemed close there. So it was difficult."



A&E announced in January that : The Revival



"Going back on A&E feels a little like going back home," spouses Willie and Korie Robertson, said in a statement.



"We're thankful for all who have followed along as our family has grown and expanded and can't wait to get cameras rolling again on all our new adventures, or perhaps misadventures."



: The Revival will air 20 one-hour episodes over the course of two seasons.



ADVERTISEMENT



The couple's son Rowdy is not listed as a member of the cast.



A&E also confirmed that Willie and Korie's grandchildren will be featured on the show as well.



In addition to his health crisis, Phil had also made headlines for making homophobic comments in 2013 during an interview with GQ.



had briefly suspended Phil from the show, but his family ended up saying they regretted the "coarse language" Phil chose to use.



The family insisted that Phil would "never incite or encourage hate," and so he was welcomed back onto the series.



debuted in 2012 and ran for 11 seasons before wrapping in 2017.



At the time, starred Phil, Si, and three of his Phil's sons -- Willie, Jase and Jep -- as they ran their successful business, Duck Commander.



Willie eventually stole the show with his kids Sadie and John Luke.



Sadie even competed on Dancing with the Stars' nineteenth season when she was 17-years-old. She and her pro partner

About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS Former star Phil Robertson has apparently had some health issues as of late.Phil's son Jase Robertson has revealed Phil's health "hasn't been good" during the April 3 episode of the "Unashamed with the Robertson Family" podcast.Jase, 55, explained that his 78-year-old father's health has been in decline."Tell you the truth, it hasn't been good," Jase shared. "I'm just giving the blunt truth. I'll say, 'Not good.'"Jase added, "We're doing the best we can. So I think that's just what you do."In addition to Jase, Phil shares adult children Alan, 60, Willie, 52, and Jep, 46, with wife Kay Robertson.The patriarch has battled a variety of health issues in recent years.The Robertson family confirmed in December 2024 that Phil is in the "early stages" of Alzheimer's and has a blood disease as well as a fractured vertebrae in his back, according to Us Weekly."According to the doctors, they're sure that he has some sort of blood disease that's causing all kinds of problems," Jase reportedly explained on the podcast at the time."It's accelerated and it's causing problems with his entire body."Jase suggested Phil's physical condition was taking a toll on his mental and emotional well-being."He's just not doing well," Jase noted. "He's really struggling."Phil's wife Kay Robertson, however, has been on the rise ever since she fell in February and underwent surgery."For my mom, it's been a lot better this past week, because she was really not doing good," Jase explained on the podcast in February."She got an infection from a fall, from a cut that had happened earlier... She's still in the hospital, but [now it's] more rehab, physically, and trying to get her to eat."Jase said Kay's improvements are huge gains since he wasn't even sure if she'd survive the fall earlier this year."We were kind of dealing with the fact that maybe this is it," Jase said. "That's what it seemed like in the moment. It seemed close there. So it was difficult."A&E announced in January that : The Revival will premiere this summer and feature nearly all of the Robertson family, including Kay and Phil's brother Si Robertson. Phil, however, did not sign on for the series."Going back on A&E feels a little like going back home," spouses Willie and Korie Robertson, said in a statement."We're thankful for all who have followed along as our family has grown and expanded and can't wait to get cameras rolling again on all our new adventures, or perhaps misadventures.": The Revival will air 20 one-hour episodes over the course of two seasons.: The Revival will follow Willie and Korie as well as five of their six children -- John Luke, Sadie, Will, Bella and Rebecca -- as they continue their family's work as duck hunters at their home in Louisiana.The couple's son Rowdy is not listed as a member of the cast.A&E also confirmed that Willie and Korie's grandchildren will be featured on the show as well.In addition to his health crisis, Phil had also made headlines for making homophobic comments in 2013 during an interview with GQ.had briefly suspended Phil from the show, but his family ended up saying they regretted the "coarse language" Phil chose to use.The family insisted that Phil would "never incite or encourage hate," and so he was welcomed back onto the series.debuted in 2012 and ran for 11 seasons before wrapping in 2017.At the time, starred Phil, Si, and three of his Phil's sons -- Willie, Jase and Jep -- as they ran their successful business, Duck Commander.Willie eventually stole the show with his kids Sadie and John Luke.Sadie even competed on Dancing with the Stars' nineteenth season when she was 17-years-old. She and her pro partner Mark Ballas finished the competition in second place. DUCK DYNASTY MORE DUCK DYNASTY NEWS << PRIOR STORY

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Jay North, who played the titular troublemaker in the 1959-1963 CBS series Dennis the Menace as a child actor, has died after a long battle with colon cancer. He was 73.

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North's death was announced on social media by Laurie Jacobson, a longtime friend who also appeared on the comedy series, and was confirmed by Bonnie Vent, a friend and representative of the actor's family.

North died at the age of 73 Sunday morning at his home in Lake Butler, Fla.

Jeannie Russell, who played Margaret Wade on Dennis the Menace, said the actor had been battling colon cancer for several years.

North only occasionally acted as an adult, including appearances as himself in a 1999 episode of The Simpsons and the 2003 film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.

North served in the U.S. Navy and spent time as a corrections officer. He said in a 2017 interview with The Washington Times that inmates would occasionally recognize him from TV.

"Lot of the inmates that I've guarded remember the show," he said. "Many of them grew up watching the show. Some the first time out, others in reruns."

North's death was also mourned on social media by fellow former child star Butch Patrick, who played Eddie on The Munsters.

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"The business was tough on Jay," Patrick wrote. "He seemed happy in Florida and I'm glad he's at peace. I can't imagine the workload that being Dennis put on him. It definitely wasn't a good time. I had a great run but lots of others were damaged goods after."

North told the Los Angeles Daily News in 1993 that his aunt, who served as his guardian while filming Dennis the Menace, was abusive toward him.

"If it took me more than one of two takes, I would be threatened and then whacked," he said. "Even if a delay wasn't my fault, she would find a way to blame me and punish me. She was also very possessive and isolated me from the rest of the cast. I couldn't even eat lunch with everybody else. She made me eat it in the dressing room by myself."

North worked together with another contemporary, Paul Petersen (The Donna Reed Show), in the organization A Minor Consideration, which provides guidance for children who grew up in the spotlight.

North is survived by his third wife, Cindy.
Robert De Niro is set to be honored at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival.

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The Godfather Part II actor, 81, will be acknowledged with an honorary Palme d'or, a press release announced Monday.

The ceremony will take place May 13, the opening day of the festival.

"I have such close feelings for Festival de Cannes...Especially now when there's so much in the world pulling us apart, Cannes brings us together -- storytellers, filmmakers, fans and friends. It's like coming home," De Niro said in the statement.

De Niro's other film credits include Taxi Driver (1976), Cape Fear (1991), The Irishman (2019), Killers of the Flower Moon (2022) and more. More recently, he portrayed a former U.S. president in Zero Day on Netflix, and stars in dual roles in The Alto Knights.

"There are faces that stand in for the 7th Art, and lines of dialogue that leave an indelible mark on cinephilia," the release states. "With his interiorized style, which surfaces in a gentle smile or a harsh gaze, Robert De Niro has become a cinematic legend."

The Cannes Film Festival will run May 13 to 24. Organizers will announce the lineup Thursday.
Long-range precision shouldnt be complicated to discuss, yet it often comes down to the individual experience of a student or instructor. Numerous noteworthy developments, such as weather meters, have improved the science of placing rounds on target at a more precise distance.

Yet, relatively few instructors can provide a holistic approach to the complex problem of long-range marksmanship. Travis McCamish and his three-day Comprehensive Precision Rifle course are rare exceptions to that norm.

Travis currently offers a handful of tailored classes in Arizona and other Western states, all focused on his passions. His origin story is wholly unique, beginning with humbly sweeping brass in exchange for ammo and range time, moving to Arizona with a handful of dollars in his pocket with his now wife, and pursuing a passion for shooting professionally.

Travis McCamish instructing a group of eager students in the art and science of long range shooting

One of the pivotal moments was his chance meeting with Rob Leatham. Rob saw potential in Travis and took him under his wing, imparting decades of shooting knowledge. Where Travis differs from most of his peers is that he has nothing short of a voracious appetite for learning. His background in wrestling gives him the ability to understand physicality.

At the same time, his experiment-test-refine methodology means when he shows you something or recommends a change, rest assured hes been through that process himself, likely a multitude of times, to give you the result you seek. All of this culminated with him being chosen as an instructor at the Hat Creek Training facility. Nestled in the rugged mountains of Northeastern Idao, Hat Creek specializes in high-angle practical shooting in mountainous terrain. It is world-renowned for the facility and the cadre, of which Travis was a part.

His 3-day Comprehensive Long Range Precision Rifle course starts with an in-depth understanding of how a Kestrel weather meter with ballistic solver works. That was the latest Kestrel 5700 Elite at the time of this writing. Travis has a simple rule when learning the Kestrel system: at any point, if you get lost, raise your hand, and he will stop to get you back to where you need to be on the device.

This ensures that you dont get lost in what will be critical information and that everyone is able to read off the same sheet of music by the end of day one. Put on your thinking caps and bring your math skills for day one; its nothing short of wildly insightful. Everything about accurately placing rounds on target in the worst of conditions is discussed. From a scientific discussion of how humidity affects bullets to the vaunted Corelolis effect, this is not a class for someone pressing a trigger for the first time.

You will get the most out of it if youve short long-range, especially in a professional setting or in competition several times prior. Before the end of day one, Travis will check how youve set up your rifle, and you will zero. All of this is done from prone, which Travis will demonstrate how to execute correctly for consistent accuracy.

Long range shooting is weaponized math

Vital time is spent truing and verifying data; therefore, its highly recommended you stick with one rifle for the entire class. Youre going to learn that particular rifle in ways you never imagined.

Day two starts with creating stability through positional shooting, support equipment usage, and manipulation, the waterline method, and the practical usage of a Kestrel to calculate environmentals related to the ballistic solver integrated into the 5700 Elite. This is the practical implementation of what youve learned in day one and is where the information clicks into practical usage beyond the classroom. With the correct settings and understanding of their function, the Kestrel becomes invaluable for putting precise hits on target.

Travis also discusses how vital it is to build a stock-steady shooting position from many positions and orientations.

Youll gain a deep understanding of how Brokeback, Quasi, and a tripod all come together to create unique shooting positions for your body to minimize or even eliminate the reticle wobble weve all become accustomed to just accepting. Travis wrestling background shines in his understanding of the human body.

A key component of day two is learning how to communicate with your spotter. Communication can be difficult under normal daily conditions. Now add in a time element, plus having to communicate terrain features in changing environments, and youll quickly understand why Travis approach works so well to create a picture for both shooter and spotter. The afternoon of day two starts your journey to understand wind and data management such as utilizing an armboard or a data card.

Day three is the one to remember. In days one and two, you become somewhat reliant on the data the Kestrel system feeds you to solve the complex shooting equation. Travis hints throughout the entire course that by the end, you will deeply understand both the Kestrel and how to create shooting solutions in your head without digital tools.

On day three, Travis introduces the concept of Max Point Blank and how it can be coupled with a speed drop calculation to simplify your ability to engage targets rapidly at known distances. This concept is what truly sets the class and Travis apart. His deep understanding through application, competition, and teaching means you will walk away with a paradigm shift of how bullets behave once they leave the barrel of a rifle under certain conditions.

Where day three will stretch you as a student to learn and apply how to put away the digital aides and begin to develop Travis concept of being a wind sommelier. Like a sommelier who tastes wine repeatedly to learn its distinctions, Travis teaches doing the same with wind. Like wine, truly understanding wind is a lifelong pursuit that will aid you in shooting and any outdoor activity.

Remember, the idea of a digital Kestrel came from the sailing world. Atmospherics are used in flying, archery, and even wine-making, ironically. The elements from the past two days and day three culminate in a multi-stage match in a practical shooting style focusing on rapid target engagements utilizing equipment and a bevy of practical shooting positions.

If you ever wonder what a balanced rifle should look like, this is it!

You will have to know how to build stable shooting positions, read wind at multiple distances, use your Kestrel to calculate adjustments to your rifle, see when you do the math in your head to make those adjustments on the fly, identify targets, communicate with your spotter, and spot for your partner.

If you believe that you and your rifle are capable of more, this class is for you. When you realize that you genuinely dont understand enviornmentals, particularly the wind, and decide its time to change that, this is the class for you. Keep an eye out for Travis McCamish classes throughout the Western United States. One class will change the way you see rifle shooting forever.
The latest spike in the Vix is a sign that investors are visibly rattled by global developments and fear a further drawdown in stock prices, experts said.

The India Vix, also known as the fear gauge, skyrocketed 66 per cent on Monday, April 7, 2025, marking its largest single-day jump in history.

The surge was driven by growing US recession concerns and their impact on corporate earnings and investment flows.

The index, which reflects market volatility based on index option prices, ended the day at 22.8 -- its highest level since June 2024 amid uncertainty around the Lok Sabha election results.

The latest spike in the Vix is a sign that investors are visibly rattled by global developments and fear a further drawdown in stock prices, experts said.

"This sharp rise in volatility signals deep uncertainty among investors. Yet, the recovery in the final hour of trading underscores the resilience and determination of domestic market participants, who remain steadfast despite the tough conditions," said Rajesh Bhosale, technical analyst at Angel One.

The market unrest follows heightened trade tensions after US President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs, prompting retaliation from China.

Analysts have described the current market environment as "highly concerning".

"The market's short-term outlook remains weak. Given the extreme volatility and uncertainty, we recommend traders adopt a cautious approach in the coming days," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities.

Chouhan further cautioned that a drop below the 22,000 level on the Nifty could trigger further declines.

The Nifty 50 index, after hitting an intraday low of 21,744, ended at 22,162 -- down 3.24 per cent from its previous close.

"The underlying trend of the Nifty is sharply negative with high volatility. Monday's swing low of 21,743 could now be considered an important short-term support, and one may expect buying to emerge from the lower levels," said Nagaraj Shetti, senior technical research analyst at HDFC Securities.

"Immediate resistance is placed at 22,400," Shetti added.

Manish Jain, chief strategy officer and director at Mirae Asset Capital Markets, advised a "cautiously optimistic" approach but warned of potential earning cuts of up to 30 per cent, given the challenging global environment.

"If earning contraction kicks in, a correction exceeding 10 per cent could push the Nifty to around 20,000 or lower. Investors should closely monitor this and the upcoming earnings," he elaborated.

On Friday, April 4, the Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Vix had surged 15.29 points, or 51 per cent, to 45.31 -- its highest level in five years.

The jump in US volatility followed a 10 per cent selloff over two days after the imposition of sweeping tariffs by the US.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
The resilience of the economy and strength of domestic demand will continue to make India an engine of growth amid the rapidly evolving global trade landscape as a result of US tariffs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in London on Tuesday.

Photograph: ANI Photo

In an interaction entitled the Opportunities and challenges for India's quest to become a developed economy by 2047' at the High Commission of India in London at the start of her first UK visit in her current Union Cabinet term, the minister asserted that the economy was well placed to capitalise on domestic efficiencies and competitiveness as it tackles global headwinds.

She also expressed her optimism over the successful conclusion of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations sooner rather than later, along with a Bilateral Investment Treaty.

The world has seen depressed growth for over several years, earlier it was low interest for long and now it's going to be low growth for long, and that's not happy news for anybody, said Sitharaman.

India has maintained its fastest growing economy tag continuously now for five years and we still think that momentum may moderate a bit, but it will still be India who will keep that growth as our growth gets calibrated because of the consumption which exists domestically.

"It is backed by demand for global-standard goods and that is why globalisation since the 1990s has given India many opportunities, she said.

The US is the leading trade partner for India.

"So, at a time when trade is going to be influenced by tariffs, measures which the US government is taking, we still will have to make sure that the strength that India has in domestic demand as a big magnet which can attract global supplies must be sustained and boosted, she noted.

The minister said the strength of this demand would prove attractive for foreign direct investment (FDI) and international manufacturing to supply for the domestic market and also export from India.

We think India, and a few emerging markets, are going to be the engines of growth.

"The global depressed growth, if it has to pick up, will have to be because of these engines, she said.

She admitted that given the global interconnectedness, the Indian economy is not isolated from the global risks and challenges arising due to geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions and financial market volatility.

Navigating these headwinds requires strategic policy interventions with a strong emphasis on strengthening domestic capabilities and capacities.

"In this phase of a rapidly evolving global policy landscape, with a number of imponderables, the government's conviction is that the most effective path to building economic resilience is to foster domestic efficiencies and competitiveness, she said, pointing to her recent Union Budget as an example of this approach.

During an interaction session with Lord Nicholas Stern and N K Singh  co-chairs of the London School of Economics (LSE) India Advisory Board  the minister went on to reflect upon a shift away from multilateralism towards greater bilateralism.

With reference to the India-UK bilateral ties, the minister offered some insights into the focus areas for the 13th Ministerial Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) scheduled for Wednesday  including closer cooperation between the financial sectors of the two countries and stronger educational ties given the National Education Policy 2020 to welcome UK universities into India.

We will also cover mutual recognition of certain professions, which is important for both the countries and science and technology where UK holds some premier research positions and India would like to seek cooperation and collaboration, she said.

We will also be looking at successfully concluding the investment treaty, which has also been running parallel to the FTA negotiations, she shared.

the minister noted: India's negotiations with the UK on the FTA have been on for a very long time, resumed post-Brexit since February 2022.

So, it is not as if we are rushing into an FTA because something has developed from the US.

"This was to happen a long time ago, which we now hope with the new (Labour) government showing great deal of enthusiasm to have this agreement signed, we will be in a position to sign it sooner rather than later.

Sitharaman is in the UK at the start of a Europe tour, which will also cover Austria later this week.

While in London, she is set to hold a broad range of high-level discussions which kicked off with a meeting with Shriti Vadera, Chair of Prudential Plc, earlier on Tuesday.

The union finance minister mentioned the growth in the insurance sector in India owing to the reforms in FDI policy, and emphasised on the need to focus on reinsurance and third party insurance in addition to health insurance and other products, the ministry of finance said in a readout of the meeting.

The International Financial Services Centre at GIFT City was among the topics covered, with Prudential encouraged to explore deeper engagement with the ecosystem it offers, including in areas such as global reinsurance services as well considering GIFT City services for global fund management for investing in India.

Vadera informed the finance minister about the British insurance and asset management giant's upcoming venture in the health insurance space in India.
Unless Governor Ravi or the Union of India moves in appeal, seeking a hearing by a constitutional Bench, this is where it all will have to end, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.

IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. All photographs: ANI Photo

The tough-talking Supreme Court verdict, telling governors (in Opposition-ruled states) to 'behave' and unprecedentedly invoking its powers under Article 142 to clear 10 Tamil Nadu Bills at one go, may have left Governor R N Ravi with little option but to bow out with grace -- or, disgrace.

The alternative would be for President Droupadi Murmu to withdraw her 'pleasure' for Ravi's continuance or the political leadership to advise him to put in his resignation.

The customary transfer of an embarrassing governor to another Raj Bhavan may not be available to the incumbent at Chennai's Guindy.

Without naming them or mentioning their culpability, the division bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan has also put the Union of India, starting with the President, prime minister and the home minister on notice.

Their unmentioned culpability should owe to their allowing a governor to run amuck the way Ravi had done while holding back his assent or belatedly forwarding Bills legitimately passed by the state legislature to the Centre, if only to cock a snook at the due processes that Ravi was consistently violating with gay abandon.

Unless Ravi or the Union of India moves in appeal, seeking a hearing by a Constitutional Bench, this is where it all will have to end.

With Tuesday's verdict, the state assembly's amendments to the University Acts, making the chief minister their chancellor in place of the governor, as used to be the custom from the British days, would take effect.

It is another matter that in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's native Gujarat, for instance, the chief minister has been the chancellor of the state's universities.

The governor in Tamil Nadu would have remained the chancellor of all state government universities, if and if only, Ravi, and his predecessor, Banwarilal Purohit, not begun interfering with the affairs of those varsities, starting with the appointment of the vice-chancellors. It did not stop there.

They would hold frequent conferences with the academic and administrative staff of different universities and keep visiting them as no other predecessor had done for over 50 years and more.

IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Governor Ravi and Chief Minister M K Stalin pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on Gandhi Jayanti in Chennai.

In the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court verdict, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Chief Minister M K Stalin may give a reasonable time for Ravi and/or the Centre to act, especially if there are clear signs of their acting on the hints clearly dropped by the higher judiciary.

It is not unlikely that the state assembly, now in session, may then pass a resolution in the matter.

The chances are that the Opposition All India Anna DMK too may consider backing such a resolution, especially since gubernatorial overaction of governor as chancellor had begun when party leader Edappadi K Palaniswami was the chief minister and Purohit, governor.

If it came to that, it could well be the third time in a row in a matter of days when the Opposition AIADMK had voted with the ruling rival, after those on delimitation and Kachchatheevu retrieval.

In the latter one, especially, the BJP legislature party, possibly reading the mood of the state, staged a walkout without staying back and voting against the resolution.

So much so, it is not the DMK allies whose conduct in the assembly would be watched but that of the AIADMK and the BJP.

Needless to underline, the Supreme Court verdict has come at a right time for the morale of the DMK, which was anyway high in recent months but was becoming tentative in the light of perceived alliance talks between the other two for next summer's assembly polls.

Now the anti-BJP faction, purportedly led by none other than EPS himself, has one more stick to beat the party with -- rather those within the AIADMK who want to revive the poll alliance that they had snapped ahead of last year's Lok Sabha polls.

IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Governor Ravi, right, and Chief Minister Stalin.

In a state where the common people still have a lot of respect for the higher judiciary and whose daily dose of politics and Constitutional matters come from multiple YouTube channels with their own set of 'experts', any inadequate or improper reaction of the governor or his Constitutional/political masters in Delhi could reflect badly on the BJP's image and that of PM Modi, whom critics in the state claim is a 'habitual violator of political and Constitutional norms' -- even if the truth is otherwise.

An added problem for the BJP is the possibility of the DMK getting an edge in matters of IT/ED/CBI raids on its ministers, dubbing them all as 'politically vindictive', and nothing more.

However, not many would be willing to stomach the second half of their claims here, but would be convinced that the former was the case, after all.

This too can have consequences for the BJP in a state where the party's nationally successful Hindutva agenda and actions have only revived a 'rival' pan-Tamil cause that was either lying dormant for decades and was even possibly on the way out.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and author, is a Chennai-based policy analyst and political commentator.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
Police have registered a cheating case against an alleged bogus doctor, who had also served as Bharatiya Janata Party Jabalpur medical cell's co-convener, after a complaint that he worked in a government hospital in Jabalpur on a fake degree, officials said.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Pixabay

The case against Shubham Awasthi was registered on April 5, two days before the arrest of another "fake" cardiologist who practised at a Missionary Hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district.

As per a complaint filed with the National Human Rights Commission, seven heart patients treated by him have died.

In the other case in Jabalpur, police filed the FIR against Awasthi following a court order.

"An FIR of cheating has been registered against Shubham Awasthi, who has been accused of using a fake Ayush degree and working in government-run Seth Govind Das District Hospital Jabalpur (formerly known as Victoria Hospital). The case was registered on the basis of the court order," Civil Lines police station inspector Nehru Singh Khandate told PTI on Monday.

The case is under investigation, he added.

When contacted, BJP's Jabalpur city chief Ratnesh Sonkar said action will be taken against Awasthi as per the party guidelines after they get an official confirmation of the case.

"After coming to know about the incident this (Monday) morning via a media report, I have personally sought authentic details of the case. The BJP doesn't tolerate such things...1001 per cent action will be taken," he said.

The ruling party admitted the bogus physician was associated with it, but was removed from his post two years ago.

"Yes, he was BJP Jabalpur district medical cell co-convenor. He was relieved from the post two years ago following some accusations against him," state BJP's media cell co-convenor and dentist Ashwini Trivedi said.

When contacted, the complainant in the case, Shailendra Bari, said, "I learnt about Shubham Awasthi working in the district hospital on a bogus ayurvedic doctor (with Ayush) degree for one year in 2020-21 from a friend who was admitted to the hospital."

"My friend, who is no more, heard some doctors talking about a black sheep in their flock. Thereafter, I sought his educational documents under the Right to Information Act (RTI)," he added.

After getting to know of this development, Awasthi (40) resigned from the hospital, Bari said.

"On receipt of Awasthi's educational documents, I applied under the RTI to the university and government ayurvedic college to know the duration of his studies. Both the university and the college replied no such student had been to their institute," he said.

Bari said he subsequently lodged a police complaint, but no action was taken.

"Later, I filed a complaint in the district court for action against Awasthi," he said.

The court of Judicial Magistrate First Class on February 14 directed the Civil Lines police station to take up investigation into the matter, he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party suspended former MLA Gyandev Ahuja from the primary membership of the party for 'purifying' a temple in Alwar that was visited by Congress leader Tikaram Jully.

IMAGE: Rajasthan LoP Tika Ram Jully. Photograph: ANI on X

Earlier in the day, the Congress accused the BJP of being 'anti-Dalit' and demanded an apology from its top leadership after Ahuja sprinkled Ganga water at the Ram temple following the participation of Jully, a Dalit, in the consecration ceremony there.

BJP state general secretary Damodar Agarwal issued a show cause notice to Ahuja on Tuesday and sought a reply within three days.

"As per the instructions of the BJP state president, you are suspended from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party with immediate effect," the order said.

The letter said, if Ahuja wants to give any clarification on these allegations, he can do so within three days, after which, further disciplinary action will be taken against him accordingly.

"The party's image has been tarnished by Ahuja's statement and act in this matter and his act comes under the definition of gross indiscipline," the letter said.

Congress workers protested at the district headquarters on Tuesday over the incident and termed the incident as an example of the BJP's 'anti-Dalit mentality.' Ahuja's effigy was also burnt in many places.

Congress veteran and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot criticised the BJP leader, saying, "The incident of BJP leader Ahuja sprinkling Gangajal after Leader of Opposition Jully visited the temple reflects the BJP's ill-will towards Dalits. Such narrow-mindedness is not acceptable in a civilised society in the 21st century. No amount of strong words can be used to condemn this."

Maintaining that there was no caste angle to his act, Ahuja, however, defended his action, saying Congress leaders have 'no moral authority' to attend such ceremonies as the party's leadership had questioned the existence of Lord Ram and 'boycotted' the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya last year.

Dalit leader Jully is a Congress MLA from Alwar (rural) seat, while Ahuja is a former BJP MLA from Alwar's Ramgarh assembly constituency.
Bangladesh foreign affairs adviser Mohammad Touhid Hossain on Tuesday said that interim government chief Muhammad Yunus had raised the issue of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's extradition from India during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bangkok recently.

Photograph: / Rediff.com IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit, in Bangkok.

"We raised the issue but nothing was finalised," he told reporters at the foreign ministry declining to elaborate further when asked if Yunus discussed Hasina's extradition to make her stand trial.

Hossain, however, said that progress in Dhaka-Delhi relations required efforts from both sides as "we need to move forward together."

Chief adviser Yunus held a meeting with Modi on Friday on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit in Thailand.

Following their talks, external affairs secretary Vikram Misri told reporters that PM Modi had urged all parties to refrain from rhetoric that could damage the atmosphere of bilateral engagement.

A day after the meeting, Yunus's press secretary Shafiqul Alam wrote on his Facebook account that Bangladesh's interim government chief raised Hasina's extradition issue and claimed that the response was not negative.

However, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday that the Bangladeshi version of the meeting between Yunus and Modi was mischievous and politically motivated, especially the aspects relating to attacks on minorities and Dhaka's request for extraditing Hasina.

The characterisation of the Indian prime minister's remarks regarding the relationship with Yunus and the previous Bangladesh government were inaccurate, the people cited above said on Dhaka's official readout on the meeting and the Facebook post by Alam.

In his post, Alam claimed that Modi had said: "We saw her (Hasina's) disrespectful behaviour towards you (Yunus)."

The people cited above said Modi had responded to various issues raised by Yunus by saying that these were best discussed by the foreign ministers of the two countries.

After the Modi-Yunus meeting, external affairs secretary Misri said the Indian premier in that meeting underlined New Delhi's concerns over the safety of minorities, including Hindus, and conveyed the expectation that the Bangladeshi government would ensure their security, including by thoroughly investigating cases of atrocities against them.
A bulldozer sparked tensions in Faridpur in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly after police objected to its inclusion in a Ram Navami procession, triggering a heated standoff between local Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and the administration.

IMAGE: People holding swords take part in a Ram Navami procession in Howrah. Photograph: ANI Photo

The bulldozer, part of the procession organised by the Adarsh Ramlila Committee, was on Monday stopped by police who termed its participation unauthorised and a new tradition.

The move led to protests by hundreds of participants, who blocked the road and sat in protest, shouting slogans against the police and administration.

Faridpur Station House Officer Harendra Singh said the procession was eventually completed peacefully.

"There was momentary unrest, but the police maintained a strong overnight vigil in sensitive areas. Normalcy returned on Tuesday morning," he added.

The situation escalated when BJP's Aonla president, Adesh Pratap Singh, arrived at the scene and confronted the police officials.

Singh argued that the bulldozer had been part of the Ram Navami procession for the past five years and accused the police of disrupting traditions.

"We're not trying to disturb the peace," the BJP leader asserted.

He presented photographs and videos of previous processions featuring bulldozers to support his claim. Following consultations with senior officials at the district headquarters, the administration allowed the bulldozer to be included in the procession.

Later, Adesh Pratap Singh rode the bulldozer as the procession resumed from the CAS Inter College ground, where he had earlier flagged it off.

Faridpur SDM Mallika Nain said that organisers were advised to follow the traditional format of the procession, which they eventually agreed to.

After discussions, the procession continued peacefully, she said.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram fell unconscious at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Tuesday and was taken to hospital.

IMAGE: Congress leader P Chidambaram being rushed to a hospital after he fell unconscious due to heat at Sabarmati Ashram, in Ahmedabad, April 8, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo

Sources said he probably fainted due to the heat after a hectic day.

The 79-year-old former finance minister's son Karti later said on X that his father is fine and is being examined by doctors.

The incident occurred when Congress leaders were attending a prayer meeting at the Sabarmati Ashram.

As Chidambaram fell unconscious, he was carried by other leaders to an ambulance which took him to hospital.

Earlier in the day, Chidambaram attended the extended Congress Working Committee meeting at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial.
The Telangana high court on Tuesday upheld a trial court's verdict handing out the death penalty to five senior operatives of the banned terror outfit, Indian Mujahideen, involved in a bomb blast that left 18 people killed in 2013.

IMAGE: A view of the Telangana high court. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Justice K Lakshman and Justice P Sree Sudha dismissed the criminal revision appeal filed by the IM operatives while upholding the National Investigation Agency court's judgment.

"Confirming the judgment of the trial court," the bench said.

The lawyer of one of the accused told reporters that they would appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court.

One key accused, identified as Riyaz Bhatkal, is still absconding, and NIA is continuing with its search for him, the agency said in a statement.

Officials said he is suspected to be in Pakistan.

The HC order observed that life imprisonment would be completely futile since the sentencing aim of reformation is "completely unachievable".

"Having given due consideration to all the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, we are of the firm view that this is a fit case wherein the death penalty awarded by the learned Sessions Court needs to be confirmed," it said.

"The appellants failed to make out any case warranting interference by the High Court to set aside the impugned judgment (of the trial court) and the Criminal Appeal filed by the appellants is liable to be dismissed," it said.

In its statement, the NIA termed it as a major endorsement of its investigations.

The NIA special court had, in December 2016, pronounced the death sentence for the accused, and had subsequently referred the trial to the then High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for confirmation of the sentence, it said.

The convicted accused had also approached the High Court, challenging the judgement of the NIA special court. In June 2022, the High Court had clubbed the referred trial and the convicts' appeal, the NIA said in the statement.

After a continual hearing of the matter over 45 days, and after going through all the case records and over 300 pages of written argument filed by the NIA highlighting the evidence, the High Court had reserved the orders in the case, it said.

On December 13, 2016, the NIA court had convicted the five members, --IM co-founder Mohd Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal, Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rahman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tahaseen Akhtar alias Monu and Ajaz Shaikh.

Two deadly explosions in Dilsukhnagar, a crowded shopping area in the city, took place on the evening of February 21, 2013.

The first blast took place at a bus stop and the second near an eatery (A1 Mirchi Centre) in Dilsukhnagar.

Two separate FIRs were registered at different police stations at that time. On March 14, 2013, the NIA took over the investigation into both cases.

In the course of the trial, NIA had filed a total of three charge sheets against the six accused and examined 157 witnesses.

A prosecution lawyer told reporters at the high court that the NIA took over the investigation of the case as terrorist activity was involved, though it was initially probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the city police.

The prime accused Riyaz Bhatkal is hiding in Pakistan, he said.

The special court for NIA cases here had awarded capital punishment to five convicts treating it as a rarest of the rare case, the lawyer said.

The high court, after conducting a detailed hearing in the appeals filed by the convicts, confirmed the death sentence of the five IM operatives, he said.

The NIA had filed a 4,000-page chargesheet.

Hailing the confirmation of the death sentence for the convicts, victims of the bomb blasts and local citizens distributed sweets at the eatery in Dilsukhnagar where the blast had occurred.

"Instead of feeding them with public money, the convicts should be hung without delay," Pandu, the owner of the eatery where the blast took place, told the media persons.

Some of the blast victims even lost their limbs, he said and urged the government to provide financial assistance to all those who sustained injuries.

He recalled the horror of the terror attack when pools of blood were visible at the site. Around 10 to 12 people died on the spot.

Meanwhile, Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy welcomed the High Court verdict.

"The High Court's confirmation of the death sentence makes it clear once again that violence has no place in a democracy," said Reddy, who is also the president of the BJP's Telangana unit.

He said justice has finally been served for the victims who have been haunted by the terror incident for the past 12 years and added that the BJP would continue to stand by them.

Asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has "adopted a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism", Reddy claimed that the BJP's 11 years in power at the Centre have largely "remained free of major terror attacks".

He added that all political parties must remember not to "encourage appeasement politics" in a democracy.

The Union Minister also appreciated the police personnel who investigated the Dilsukhnagar blasts case.
A 36-year-old Indian-origin man has been charged with sexually assaulting a fellow passenger aboard a domestic flight in the US, according to federal officials.

Bhaveshkumar Dahyabhai Shukla is accused of abusive sexual contact on a flight from Montana to Texas, Montana federal prosecutor Kurt Alme said in a statement on April 3.

"Shukla, of Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey, was charged in a one-count indictment with abusive sexual contact in special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States. If convicted, Shukla faces two years of imprisonment, a USD 250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release," the statement said.

He is scheduled to appear on April 17, 2025, for an arraignment.

The indictment alleges that on January 26, 2025, on board an American Airlines flight from Bozeman to Dallas, Shukla engaged in sexual contact with another person without that other person's permission.

The US Attorney's Office is prosecuting the case. The FBI, ICE and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Police conducted the investigation, the statement said.
With Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara drawing flak for his remark on a molestation case that took place in Bengaluru last week, the Bengaluru police have swung into action to trace the molestation accused.

IMAGE: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara. Photograph: ANI Photo

Several police teams have been formed and more than 300 CCTV footages are being monitored, the Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda told reporters on Tuesday.

"With regard to the molestation incident occurred in Suddaguntepalya last week, swift investigation is being done and we are trying to identify and trace the accused based on the verification of various CCTV footages and several teams have been formed and more than 300 CCTV camera footages are being analysed," Dayananda said.

He said, "Police are in full action and the DCP South-East is heading the investigation."

To a question on Home Minister's remark on patrolling and beat system, the Police Commissioner said the day and night beat system is being done regularly and Nakabandi has been followed.

"Senior police officers are monitoring the night beat system. The night beat system is being analysed with the use of software," Dayananda explained.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday said while incidents like the molestation of women do occur 'here and there' in a big city like Bengaluru, the overall situation remains peaceful due to the presence and efforts of the police.

The comment drew sharp criticism from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which called it 'irresponsible'.

Taking exception to the statement, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla questioned Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, asking whether her slogan 'Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon' (I am a girl, I can fight) was just an 'empty phrase'.

Having found himself at the receiving end, the Minister regretted his statement on Tuesday.

"I want to offer a clarification. My statement was misunderstood yesterday. I have always stood firmly for the protection of women," Parameshwara said.

He also said that he would express regret if it has caused pain to anyone, especially the women.

Parameswara repeatedly asserted that he is someone who believes in the importance of providing safety and protection to women and as the Home Minister he is committed to ensure their safety, and has taken several measures in this regard.
The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has decided to dissolve the advisory committee of a temple in the Kollam district where the RSS gana geetham (prayer song) was sung during a musical concert.

Photograph: Courtesy, District Tourism Promotion Council, Kollaam

The TDB, which manages the majority of temples in the Travancore region of Kerala, alleged serious lapses on the part of the committee of the Manjipuzha temple in Kottukal.

It was alleged that in addition to rendering the RSS prayer song, flags and pillars were also erected on the temple premises, and the Kottarakkara Devaswom assistant commissioner conducted an investigation into this, the TDB said.

Based on the report by the assistant commissioner of Kottarakkara Devaswom, TDB officials said the Kottukkal Manjipuzha temple advisory committee would be dissolved immediately.

The TDB pointed out that flags of political parties, religious and communal organisations, or flags resembling them, should not be hoisted or symbols displayed in the temple or temple premises, as per a high court order. In this regard, a meeting of district deputy devaswom commissioners, assistant devaswom commissioners, and devaswom commissioners was held at the Travancore Devaswom Board headquarters on Tuesday.

The TDB said that if political, religious and communal organisations are allowed to hoist their flags or propagate their ideology in temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board, strict action will be taken against the officials responsible for it.
Emphasising its claim on the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Congress on Tuesday vowed to follow the principles of the country's first home minister to defeat divisive forces and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of 'lying' as well as spreading 'propaganda' that he and Jawaharlal Nehru had strained ties.

IMAGE: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and party MP Rahul Gandhi and former LS Speaker Meira Kumar during the Sarva Dharma Prayer ceremony held on the occasion of Samta Diwas, commemorating the 118th birth anniversary of Babu Jagjivan Ram, in New Delhi on Saturday. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo

At an extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, the party passed a resolution to mark the 150th birth anniversary year of Patel and said it is determined to emulate the resoluteness of the 'Iron Man of India' by fighting the frenzy of religious polarisation.

"Today, the ideology of violence and communalism is pushing the country into an abyss of hatred, based on the divisions of religious polarisation," said the resolution titled 'Flag-bearer of freedom movement- Our Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel'.

The Congress is determined to follow the life principles of Sardar Patel to defeat the forces of animosity and division, as also exposing the fake news factory of these elements, it said.

"We are giving a strong message to national politics," Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said after the meeting.

"The ideology of make-believe confrontation and mischievously professed division had led to the spreading of a deliberate web of lies of conflict between Sardar Patel and Pandit (Jawaharlal) Nehru. In reality, it was an attack on the very ethos of our freedom struggle and the inseparable leadership of Gandhi-Nehru-Patel," the resolution further said.

Therefore, 'once again, the Congress is determined to emulate the resoluteness of 'Iron Man' Sardar Patel by fighting the frenzy of religious polarization,' the resolution said.

"The cobweb of deceit and deception couldn't sustain, for Sardar Patel himself wrote to Pandit Nehru on 3 August 1947 and unequivocally stated, 'Our attachment and affection for each other and our comradeship for an unbroken period of nearly 30 years admit of no formalities... Our combination is unbreakable and therein lies our strength'," the resolution said.

Today, the forces of animosity and division seek to undermine this very spirit of camaraderie and bonhomie, said the resolution.

"Therefore, once again, Congress is determined to follow the life principles of Sardar Patel to defeat the forces of animosity and division, as also exposing the fake news factory of these elements," the resolution said.

Briefing reporters after the extended Congress Working Committee meeting at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial here, Ramesh said the session is significant as it comes at a time when the country is celebrating the 150th birth Anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Patel.

"It was our duty to hold the CWC meeting at the Sardar Patel National Memorial and we are giving a message to national politics. The first line in the Constitution's Preamble talks about social, political and economic justice and the resolutions will reflect the Congress agenda related to that," he said.

Ramesh said the Working Committee meeting being held in Gujarat sends a strong message.

"The resolution makes it clear the relationship Patel and Nehru shared. There was a unique 'jugalbandi'. They were builders of modern India who fought for the independence of the country and laid the foundations of modern India. Those who say Nehru and Patel had strained ties are lying, speaking untruths and misleading people," he said.

"This is wrong propaganda. The truth is that in shaping the Constitution, in laying the foundation of modern India, and in the Indian freedom struggle, Vallabhbhai Patel ji and Nehru ji had a unique bond and this jugalbandi was beneficial for the country," Ramesh said.

He also said that the way farmers and their organisations are being treated and their demands related to MSP legal guarantee are being ignored is an 'insult of Patel'.

Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of trying to usurp Patel's legacy under a 'well-planned conspiracy' against national heroes and said it is laughable as the Sangh Parivar had 'no contribution' to the freedom struggle.

He alleged that the BJP and RSS conspired to show that Patel and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru were against each other even though the two leaders enjoyed cordial ties and were 'two sides of the same coin'.

He said that Patel's ideology was contrary to the ideas of the RSS and he had even banned the organisation.

"But it is laughable that today the people of that organisation claim Sardar Patel's legacy," Kharge said attacking the BJP and RSS, which have often maintained that the Congress did not give Patel the respect he deserved.

In the resolution on Patel, the party said the inspiration for the battle of ideologies is Sardar Patel and the foundation lies in the thought process of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

"Drawing Inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel stepped into the thick of the freedom movement in the year 1918 by leading the farmers' agitation in Kheda, Gujarat against the tax extortion by the British.

"Thereafter, Sardar Patel launched the 'Bardoli Satyagrah' in the year 1928 against the cruel and illegitimate levy on farmers by the Britishers. His energetic and charismatic leadership during the 'Bardoli Andolan' gave him a new recognition of 'Sardar'," he said.

"The BJP government of today emulates the cruel British policies against the farmers - be it bringing an ordinance to whittle down 'the Right to Fair Compensation Law' for the acquisition of land, the three Anti-Agriculture 'Black Laws' to enslave the farmers or the blocking the path of farmers by digging up roads and putting up spikes and wedges," the resolution said.

It alleged 'betrayal of the farmers by reneging on the solemn promise of an MSP guarantee law or crushing the farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri under the jeeps of BJP leaders as a revenge for demanding justice'.

Therefore, once again, the Congress is ready to tread the path of struggle shown by Sardar Patel for the rights of the farmers, it said.

The Congress also said it is determined to tread upon the path of Sardar Patel of reclaiming the spirit of India by 'Shed Hatred-Unite India'.

"The BJP government of today has unleashed a sinister agenda to trample upon the rights of our striving workers and labourers, be it the assault on MGNREGA or designed weakening of India's labour laws," the resolution alleged.

So much so, that fundamental rights of the people are being 'bulldozed with impunity', it alleged.

"Therefore, once again, the Congress Party resolves to walk the path of Sardar Patel by fighting for the rights of our workers and labourers," it said.

The forces opposed to the foundational principles of 'truth and non-violence' and also against the freedom struggle personify the same violent ideology that murdered Mahatma Gandhi, it said.

"Nathuram Godse was indoctrinated by this very perverted ideology. On the other hand, India's first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Sardar Patel believed that the ideology of 'violence and communalism' is inimical to national interests.

"It was Sardar Patel, who banned the RSS on 4 February 1948 after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi," the resolution said.
Meghalaya Principal Secretary Syed Mohammed A Razi was found dead inside his hotel room in Uzbekistan during a private visit to the Central Asian nation, officials said on Tuesday.

IMAGE: Syed Mohammed A Razi with Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad P Sangma. Photograph: Courtesy, Conrad P Sangma on X

Razi, an IRTS officer on deputation to the state since 2021, was in Uzbekistan's Bukhara city since April 4, they said.

He is suspected to have died of cardiac arrest.

According to a senior government official, Razi did not respond to calls in the morning on Monday, and later the hotel staff broke open the door of his room, where they found his lifeless body.

Necessary formalities are underway and Razi's wife is en route to Bukhara, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told PTI.

In an earlier post on X, Sangma said, 'Deeply pained to hear about the untimely demise of Syed Md A Razi, IRTS, Principal Secretary, GoM.'

'Razi's incredible efficiency and unwavering dedication were evident in every department he handled, and he always took on each task with a level of ownership that inspired those around him. But beyond his work ethic, Razi was a warm, jolly soul who brought light to everyone he met. He was deeply loved and respected by his peers, and his absence leaves a profound void in all of us,' the CM added.
Vaniya Agarwal, the techie who famously kicked up a shindig at Microsoft's 50th anniversary event over its alleged complicity in Israel's actions in Gaza, has resigned from the company. April 11 will be her last day with the Redmond, USA-based tech major.

IMAGE: Vaniya Agarwal, left. Photograph: Courtesy, vaniya_agrawal/X

In her e-mail to Microsoft employees, Vaniya wrote, 'My name is Vaniya, and after 1.5 years as a software engineer at this company, I've decided to leave Microsoft. My last day is next Friday, April 11. You may have seen me stand up earlier today to call out Satya during his speech at the Microsoft 50th anniversary.'

Vaniya shot to fame last week when, on Microsoft's 50th anniversary, she denounced the company's leadership for enabling the Israeli government's genocide in Gaza with artificial intelligence.

Vaniya's outburst, which went viral online, came at the event which had Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates, former CEO Steve Barmer and current chairman and CEO Satya Nadella on stage.

In the viral video (external link) Vaniya can be heard stating, 'You all are hypocrites. 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered by Microsoft technology. Shame on you, cut ties with Israel.'

The incident caused much embarrassment to Microsoft bosses, with another software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad walking up towards the stage where an executive was announcing new product features and a long-term vision for Microsoft's AI ambitions.

'You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military,' Aboussad shouted at Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman.

'Fifty thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region,' Aboussad, who is of Moroccan origin, said before being led away by security from the event.

Vaniya, taking to her X account later, posted an article from medium (external link) where she wrote, 'Just days ago, it was revealed that Israel killed fifteen paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza, executing them one by one, before burying them in the sand -- yet another horrific war crime. Meanwhile, our labor powers this genocide, and I cannot, in good conscience, be part of a company that participates in this violent injustice.'

Quoting an Associated Press report Vaniya wrote, 'Recent reports by AP (external link) have exposed Microsoft's critical role in enabling Israel's apartheid regime and the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza'.

'All this begs the question, which 'people' are we empowering with our technology? The oppressors enforcing an apartheid regime? The war criminals committing a genocide?' she wrote.

'Unfortunately, at this point, it's irrefutable that Microsoft is complicit -- they are a digital manufacturer that powers surveillance, apartheid, and genocide. And by working for this company, we are all complicit.'

She ended the note by stating, 'Farewell and Free Palestine'.

Associated Press stated that Microsoft asked Vaniya and Aboussad to leave the company.

As per Vaniya's LinkedIn profile, which continues to identify her as a software engineer at Microsoft, she had done two stints at Amazon prior to her joining Microsoft. She had begun her professional life as entrepreneur with Etsy, the ecommerce site, in April 2012, and subsequently worked as a tea consultant and medical assistant/receptionist.

A bachelor of science in software engineering, Vaniya graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA.

It appears that she is American by birth, so unlike some students at Ivy League universities who have been arrested and have had their Green Cards revoked for protesting against Israel last year, Vaniya will elude Trumpanian actions that challenge the right to free speech which America has long been famous for.
In a landmark verdict, the Supreme court fixed a timeline for Governor to act on bills passed by the state legislature as it pulled up Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi for reserving 10 bills for President's consideration, saying it was against the constitutional provisions.

IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi (right) and Chief Minister MK Stalin. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan held, "Action of the Governor to reserve the 10 bills for President is illegal and arbitrary and thus the action is set aside."

The court added, "The 10 bills shall be deemed to be clear from the date it was re-presented to the Governor."

In the first of its kind directions, the top court fixed a timeline within which Governor has to act on bills passed by the state legislature.

The apex court said there was no expressly specified time limit for the discharge of functions by Governor under Article 200 of the Constitution.

'Despite there being no prescribed time limits, Article 200 cannot be read in a manner which allows the Governor to not take action on the bills, which are presented to him for assent and thereby delay, and essentially roadblock law-making machinery in the state,' it said.

Fixing the timeline, the bench said in case of withholding assent on a bill and reserving it for President with the aid and advice of the council of ministers, the maximum period would be one month.

In case the Governor decided to withhold assent without the aid and advice of the council of ministers, the bills must be returned to the assembly within three months, it added.

The top court said in case of presentation of a bill after reconsideration by the state assembly, the bills have to be given assent by the Governor within a period of one month.

The bench cautioned any failure to comply with the timeline would make the inaction of Governor subject to judicial review by the courts.

The top court exercised its plenary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to make the bill re-presented to the Tamil Nadu Governor, as deemed to have been passed.

It said the Governor must be conscious to not create "roadblocks or chokehold" the state legislature in order 'to thwart and break the will of the people'.

"The members of state legislature, having been elected by the people of the state as an outcome of the democratic expression, are better attuned to ensure the well being of the people of the state," the bench said.

Under Article 200 of the Constitution, the bench said, Governor did not possess any discretion and had to mandatorily act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers.

Article 200 of the Constitution empowers Governor to give assent to bills presented to him, withhold the assent or to reserve it for the consideration of President.

The bench said Governor couldn't sit over bills and adopt the concept of 'absolute veto' or 'pocket veto'.

'Pocket veto' denotes a concept where Governor sits over the bills without signing it and virtually making it ineffective.

The bench said Governor sitting over bills passed by the assembly and presented to him, without any action, made them just a 'piece of paper' and 'skeleton without flesh'.

Under Article 200 of the Constitution, the bench said, Governor was obligated to adopt any one course of action -- give assent to bills, withhold assent and reserve for consideration of President.

The bench said it was not open for Governor to reserve the bill for consideration of President after it was presented to him for the second time.

It said Governor must assent to the bills produced before him in the second round and the only exception was that the bill in the second instance was different from the first one.

It also held that the actions of Governor did not have an immunity from judicial review.

"Any action contrary to the express choice of the people, in other words, the state legislature, would be a renege of his (Governor) constitutional oath," the bench said.

Governor must perform his role as a friend, philosopher and guide with dispassion and not be guided by political considerations, it added.

"In times of conflict, he must be the harbinger of consensus and resolution, lubricating the functioning of the state machinery by his sagacity, wisdom, and not run it into a standstill. He must be the catalyst and not an inhibitor," the bench said.

The apex court had previously framed questions to answer in a dispute between Tamil Nadu government and the Governor over the delay in assent to bills passed by the legislative assembly.

The bench framed 12 questions largely on the power of Governor under Article 200 of the Constitution in giving assent to bills, withholding assent and reserving for consideration of President.

The apex court had then questioned the Governor's 'silence' before withholding assent to the bills passed by the legislative assembly and wondered how he could refer the 're-passed bills' to president.

The delay in giving assent by the Governor prompted the state government to move the top court in 2023, claiming 12 bills, including one from 2020, were pending with him.

On November 13, 2023, the Governor declared he was withholding assent to 10 bills following which the legislative assembly convened a special session and re-enacted the very same bills on November 18, 2023.

The Governor on November 28, 2023 reserved some of the bills for consideration of President.
The Supreme Court will likely on April 15 hear a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

Photograph: / Rediff.com IMAGE: A view of the Supreme Court of India.

The Centre, however, on Tuesday filed a caveat in the apex court and sought a hearing before any order was passed in the matter.

Caveat is filed by a party in the high courts and the apex court to ensure that no orders are passed without hearing it.

A government notification, in the meantime, said Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which was passed by Parliament last week, comes into force on Tuesday.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (14 of 2025), the Central government hereby appoints the 8th day of April, 2025 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force," the ministry of minority affairs notification said.

Over 10 petitions, including those by politicians and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, were filed in the top court challenging the validity of the newly-enacted law.

Lawyers privy to the development said the petitions were likely to be listed for hearing before a bench on April 15 though it is not reflected on the apex court website as of now.

On April 7, a bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna assured senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, to consider listing the petitions.

President Droupadi Murmu on April 5 gave her assent to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was passed by Parliament after heated debates in both houses.

The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was cleared by the Lok Sabha with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Congress MPs Imran Pratapgarhi and Mohammad Jawed, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Rashtriya Janata Dal MPs Manoj Jha and Faiyaz Ahmad, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan have also filed petitions in the apex court challenging the validity of the Act.

The DMK moved the top court through its deputy general secretary A Raja and said in a press release, "Despite widespread opposition, the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025 was passed by the union government without proper consideration of the objections raised by the members of the JPC and the other stakeholders."

The party said the immediate implementation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 infringes and prejudices the rights of about 50 lakh Muslims in Tamil Nadu and 20 crore Muslims in the other parts of the country.

The AIMPLB filed the plea in the top court late April 6.

In a press statement, SQR Ilyas, the AIMPLB spokesperson, said the petition strongly objected to the amendments passed by Parliament for being "arbitrary, discriminatory and based on exclusion".

The amendments, it said, not only violated the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India but also clearly revealed the government's intention to take complete control over the administration of Waqf, therefore, sidelining the Muslim minority from managing their own religious endowments.

Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution ensure freedom of conscience, the right to practice, propagate religion, and the right to establish and manage institutions for religious and charitable purposes, it said.

The plea is settled by advocate MR Shamshad, with advocate-on-record Talha Abdul Rahman representing the Muslim personal law board, through its General Secretary Maulana Fazlur Raheem Mujaddidi.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind also filed a petition in the apex court, claiming it was a "dangerous conspiracy" to strip Muslims of their religious freedom.

In its petition, Jamiat said the law was a "direct attack on the country's Constitution, which not only provides equal rights to its citizens but also grants them complete religious freedom".

In its separate plea filed in the top court, Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, a religious organisation of Sunni Muslim scholars and clerics in Kerala, has claimed the Act was a "blatant intrusion" into the rights of a religious denomination to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion.

Jawed's plea alleged the Act imposed "arbitrary restrictions" on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the Muslim community's religious autonomy.

The petition, filed through advocate Anas Tanwir, said the law discriminated against the Muslim community by "imposing restrictions that are not present in the governance of other religious endowments".

In a separate plea, Owaisi said the bill took away from Waqfs various protection which are accorded to Waqfs and Hindus, Jain and Sikh religious and charitable endowments alike.

"This diminishing of the protection given to Waqfs while retaining them for religious and charitable endowments of other religions constitutes hostile discrimination against Muslims and is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion," said Owaisi's plea, filed through advocate Lzafeer Ahmad.

NGO Association for the Protection of Civil Rights also filed a petition in the apex court challenging the constitutional validity of the Act.

AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan sought the law declared as unconstitutional, being violative of "Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30 and 300-A of the Constitution".
A video of a verbal spat, and screenshots of heated exchanges between TMC MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad in the party's official WhatsApp group, shared by Bharatiya Janata Party's Amit Malviya, went viral on Tuesday, bringing to fore deep fissures within the Bengal's ruling party.

IMAGE: TMC MPs Kalyan Banerjee (fourth from left), Mahua Moitra (third from left), Kirti Azad (second from left) and others stage a protest at Parliament House premises during the Budget Session, in New Delhi, March 25, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo

BJP's IT cell head Malviya stoked the row by posting screenshots and videos of the exchanges on X, claiming the spat was evidence of the TMC's internal implosion.

PTI, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the screenshots and the videos.

The controversy began on April 4 when a TMC delegation visited the Election Commission to submit a memorandum regarding duplicate voter identity cards, according to Malviya and sources within the Mamata Banerjee-led party..

TMC MP Mahua Moitra reportedly confronted Kalyan Banerjee -- the party's chief whip in Lok Sabha -- for allegedly excluding her from the list of signatories on the memorandum that the delegation was submitting to the EC.

An altercation broke out between the two MPs on the premises of the EC office, with Kalyan Banerjee later claiming that Moitra had asked the security personnel present there to arrest him, accusing him of misconduct.

As the incident came to the fore, another senior TMC MP, Saugata Roy, said Moitra was crying after the altercation.

"What he has done has maligned the party. He should be immediately removed as the chief whip. Kalyan Banerjee is known for his intemperate and uncivilised behaviour," Roy said.

Under attack, Banerjee addressed a press conference on the issue.

"I have been in politics for the last 40 years. This woman MP was asking the security outside the EC office to arrest me. Who are they to send me to jail? She hurled abuses at me. I fight in Parliament. I'm not obsessed with one industrial house," he said.

Without naming Moitra directly, he added, "Just because the woman MP speaks fluent English doesn't mean she can insult anybody."

Moitra, when contacted by PTI, declined to comment on the episode.

Roy said that although he was not present during the spat at the EC office, he saw Moitra crying and complaining to other MPs at Vijay Chowk.

"She told other MPs he behaved in an uncivilised manner. He has a history -- from calling Jyotiraditya Scindia a 'lady killer' to throwing a bottle during a JPC meeting. I have remained silent so far, but this can't go on," he said.

The situation worsened after the spat spilled over to the official TMC MPs' WhatsApp group, where Banerjee and TMC MP Kirti Azad had engaged in a fresh exchange.

Screenshots of the chat, shared by Malviya on social media, showed Banerjee making several snide remarks directed at a "versatile international lady".

"Send your BSF and Delhi Police to arrest me. Your home ministry's connection is very strong, international great lady," read one message attributed to Banerjee.

In another purported message, he wrote, "That day not a single boyfriend... stood behind her... Today, of course... famous player stood behind her to get me arrested."

Former cricketer Azad responded sharply in the chat, stating that Banerjee was behaving like a "juvenile delinquent".

Banerjee then mocked Azad, calling him "captain of internal politics", and ridiculed him over his electoral defeat in cricket administration.

The feud dates back even earlier, according to party insiders.

Banerjee had reportedly objected to a proposal by Azad to open a 'sandesh' (Bengali sweet) stall in Parliament House. Banerjee had argued that if any outlet was to be opened, it should be a state government franchise.

Party sources said Moitra exited the MPs' WhatsApp group after the EC incident and sent letters detailing her grievances to Mamata Banerjee, the party supremo, and TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

It was learnt that Kalyan Banerjee also had verbally complained to the West Bengal CM about the incident.

Senior TMC leaders confirmed to PTI that the matter has been escalated to the level of Mamata Banerjee, who is expected to take a final call on the issue.

"I feel the time has come to act against Kalyan Banerjee and remove him from the party. Let the leadership take a call," Roy said.

Meanwhile, Malviya took jibes at the TMC, posting, "Soon after the public spat between two TMC MPs in the precincts of the Election Commission...The irate MP continued slandering the 'Versatile International Lady (VIL)'... This is the stuff legends are made of!"

"It is obvious that the chat screenshots and videos of TMC MPs squabbling have been leaked from within. Help Mamata Banerjee figure out who leaked them," he wrote.
Many states are realising that hosting mega events puts the spotlight on them and raises their profile.

IMAGE: Miss World 2024 Krystyna Pyszkova speaks at the Miss World press conference in Hyderabad, March 20, 2025. On her right is Julia Morley, chairman and CEO of the Miss World Organisation. Photograph: ANI Photo

Uttar Pradesh had the Maha Kumbh 2025. Telangana will have Miss World 2025.

By comparison, Telangana's effort will be modest, but it could be a turning point for the state.

As always, not everyone agrees. Enter politics over pageants.

Telangana Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao recounted in the assembly how discomfited he felt when, during a recent visit to the United Kingdom for tourism promotion, he was asked where Telangana was.

'Many countries do not know about Telangana. The plan is to take advantage of the Miss World event to showcase the state's culture to the world and attract tourists,' Rao said.

The event will stretch from May 7 to 31, when a new Miss World will be crowned in what promises to be a dazzling ceremony on the night of May 31 at the Hyderabad International Exhibition Centre (HITEX).

Representatives from 120 to 140 countries and about 3,500 journalists will attend the event, Rao said, adding that this would be a precursor to Telangana creating the infrastructure to host more such events, including an international convention centre, which could accommodate 20,000 people in Hyderabad -- along the lines of the Jio World Centre in Mumbai.

The aim is to eventually host a 'Hyderabad Carnival' like the Rio Carnival, Rao said.

The government says the event will cost around Rs 54 crore (Rs 540 million).

The Telangana department of tourism, along with corporate sponsors, will foot the bill, which is expected to be around Rs 27 crore (R 270 million).

Miss World Ltd, the company that runs the competition, will pay 50 per cent.

Unsurprisingly, many feel that the state should have other priorities.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi used the revenue shortfall of Rs 71,000 crore (Rs 710 million), shown in the state Budget (presented in the assembly on March 19), to ask if a beauty pageant was really necessary.

Speaking to Business Standard on the phone from Hyderabad, K T Rama Rao, working president of the BRS, said: "Telangana is dealing with a distress situation in farming with more than 509 farmers committing suicide over the past one year and farms facing a drought-like situation.

"The groundwater table has depleted and many districts are seeing a severe water shortage. During this time, at the peak of summer, the government wants to hold a beauty pageant."

"They are trying to sell the idea that a lot of jobs and revenue will be created by this event. When I ask how, they have no answer.

"Please tell me: What is the return on investment on the Rs 54 crore that is being spent in the name of Miss World?"

He summed up: "Beauty pageants are obsolete."

For Rama Rao, the pain is personal.

His grand idea, the Formula E race event, which Hyderabad was to host in 2023, was cancelled when the BRS lost the assembly elections.

Corruption cases were lodged against him.

He told Business Standard: "They didn't rest till they cancelled the event.

"We were working towards sustainability, setting up a mobility valley, electric vehicles and making Telangana a one-stop destination for the future of transportation.

"But then long-term thinking is not a strong feature of the Congress government."

To this, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said: 'In Formula E case, Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao misused government funds. Don't know what problem he has with the Miss World competition.'

IMAGE: Miss World 2024 Krystyna Pyszkova at the Miss World press conference. Photograph: ANI Photo

Despite the bitter contestation, Hyderabad is undeniably in the grip of excitement.

A photograph posted on Instagram by the reigning Miss World, Krystyna Pyszkova, dressed in a bright pink silk sari at the Yadagirigutta Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple, said: 'Visiting the Yadagirigutta temple brought me joy and peace of spirit ... And this is just the beginning! I can't wait to see more of Telangana and its hidden gems!'

Telangana's tourism tagline is 'Telangana Zarur Aana.'

Many states are realising that hosting mega events puts the spotlight on them and raises their profile. Infrastructure creation is an added bonus.

Though 2036 is more than 10 years away, the Gujarat government, which has bid to host the summer Olympics that year, has set up a special purpose vehicle, the Gujarat Olympic Planning and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (Golympic).

It will create conditions to make Gujarat the national hub of sporting events.

Tamil Nadu will host the World Classical Tamil Conference in Chennai in June this year. The state has assembly elections in 2026.

Sikkim, in keeping with its size, has planned an Ed Sheeran concert as part of the closing ceremony to celebrate 50 years of its accession with India.

In Uttarakhand, a Pravasi Uttarakhandi Sammelan was an initiative launched by Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami in 2023. It seeks to bring together all Uttarakhandis in India and abroad together once every year.

Union Minister for Tourism Gajendra Shekhawat told the Lok Sabha on March 24 that the 'India Says I Do' campaign for wedding tourism was launched by the Union government in collaboration with states.

Taking advantage of this, the Rajasthan government and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry organised the 'Wed in India' expo alongside the Great India Travel Bazaar at Jaipur on May 5 last year.

'The event was attended by wedding planners from India and abroad, state governments, media, international and domestic tour operators and event management companies,' Shekhawat said.

Increasingly state governments are seeing event management as a way to involve and engage voters.

For many, it is politics by another name.

Betting Big

Gujarat has bid to host the summer Olympics in 2036

Tamil Nadu will host the World Classical Tamil Conference in Chennai in June this year

Sikkim has planned an Ed Sheeran concert to celebrate 50 years of its accession with India

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
Among the cities that have fully implemented their projects are Agra, Varanasi, Madurai, Coimbatore, Udaipur, Pune, Surat and Vadodara

IMAGE: A scene from Varanasi, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has represented in the Lok Sabha since 2014. Photograph: The Late Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

It has been nearly 10 years since the government launched the Smart Cities Mission with the aim of improving the quality of life in 100 selected cities.

Last year, the deadline for achieving this target was extended to March 31, 2025.

Now, as that deadline ended, it turns out that only 18 of the 100 cities have completed all the projects that would serve as urban planning role models.

The good news, though, is that only 7 per cent of the overall projects remain incomplete.

Among the cities that have fully implemented their projects are Agra, Varanasi, Madurai, Coimbatore, Udaipur, Pune, Surat and Vadodara.

The remaining 7 per cent of the incomplete projects are spread across 82 cities.

A state-wise analysis of the mission -- which was launched on June 25, 2015, to address urban problems such as traffic congestion, waterlogging, pollution and inefficiencies in service delivery -- reveals that Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh together account for half of the 18 fully transformed smart cities, with five in Tamil Nadu and four in Uttar Pradesh.

On the other hand, Telangana has fared the worst. Of 169 projects sanctioned between its two smart cities -- Greater Warangal and Karimnagar -- only 108 have been completed.

As of March 4, 36 per cent of the sanctioned projects here remain incomplete.

Approximately 40 per cent of projects in Greater Warangal and 28 per cent in Karimnagar are still ongoing.

Consequently, 22.93 per cent of the sanctioned funds for Telangana's smart cities remain unutilised.

Several North Eastern states are also behind schedule. In strife-torn Manipur's capital, Imphal, only 19 out of 27 sanctioned projects have been completed.

Additionally, 51.85 per cent of the funds allocated for these projects are currently being used for ongoing work.

Similarly, in Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, 45.28 per cent and 40.41 per cent of the funds, respectively, are being used in projects that are still in progress.

Other populous states such as Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Haryana have also recorded sub-optimal project completion and fund utilisation rates.

Except for Chandigarh, Delhi, and Lakshadweep, all other Union Territories have performed poorly in these areas.

In Port Blair, only seven of the 18 sanctioned projects have been completed, while over 90 per cent of the funds are tied up in ongoing projects.

IMAGE: A scene from Madurai airport. Photograph: The Late Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

The central government allocated Rs 48,000 crore (Rs 480 billion) in financial support over five years, with an equal amount required from the respective states and urban local bodies.

The remaining funds were to be sourced from private sector partnerships, borrowings, state resources, municipal bonds, and other means.

According to a recent Rajya Sabha response from the minister of state for housing and urban affairs, 559 out of 8,063 smart city projects in India are still ongoing, with Rs 14,239 crore (Rs 142.39 billion) of the total Rs 1.65 trillion allocated being currently utilised on projects that are still in progress.

Of the Rs 1.5-odd trillion spent on smart city projects, approximately Rs 60,000 crore (rs 600 billion) was raised by municipal bodies through public-private partnerships (PPP), bonds, and government-guaranteed borrowings, said Kushal Kumar Singh, partner at Deloitte India.

"This is a big achievement," he said, adding that around 550 projects are expected to be completed within the next three to four months.

"There is no major delay, and these projects have significantly benefitted the public," he added.

However, Anshuman Magazine, chairman and CEO-India of commercial real estate consultancy CBRE, is of the view that the effectiveness of smart city projects in improving urban living conditions amid challenges such as traffic congestion, poor sewage systems, and flooding is mixed.

"While the intent is promising as the mission envisions leveraging technology to optimise urban services, the reality reveals a mix of potential benefits and implementation challenges," he said.

The project completion pace varies from city to city and at the project level owing to varying complexities, he said, adding that technology alone cannot resolve infrastructure issues in a short span of time.

The Modi government's flagship Smart Cities Mission was envisioned to enhance quality of life, attract people and investments, and initiate a cycle of sustainable urban growth.

The strategy aimed to provide core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment, and efficient service delivery through inclusive development and replicable models to inspire other aspiring cities.

Originally planned as a five-year initiative, the mission saw three deadline extensions to enable cities to complete their projects.

In 2021, the ministry of housing and urban affairs pushed the deadline to June 2023, then to June 30, 2024, and subsequently to March 31, 2025.

Mission's methodology

India's urban areas are expected to contribute 75 per cent to its economy by 2030, driven by rapid urbanisation.

Recognising the need for comprehensive physical, institutional, and socio-economic infrastructure development, the government introduced the Smart Cities Mission without defining a universal standard for a 'smart' city.

Under the mission, the cities were to be developed using two approaches: 'Area-Based Development', where each of the selected cities designated specific areas for targeted interventions through retrofitting, redevelopment, and greenfield development; and 'Pan-City Development', which applied technology-driven solutions to existing urban infrastructure.

The 100 cities were selected through competitive rounds held between January 2016 and June 2018.

Special purpose vehicles (SPVs) were established to oversee implementation at the city level.

Centre's support

Of the Rs 48,000 crore (Rs 480 billion) allocated by the Centre, Rs 47,538 crore (Rs 475.38 billion) had been released as of March 4, 2025.

So far, Rs 45,772 crore (Rs 457.72 billion) has been utilised, leaving 3.71 per cent of the funds unspent until now.

Interestingly, Kavaratti, the capital of Lakshadweep, has completed all its projects but utilised only Rs 45 crore (Rs 450 million) of the Rs 183 crore (Rs 1.83 billion) allocated by the Centre, leaving 75.41 per cent of the funds unspent.

Similarly, 25.20 per cent and 21.63 per cent of funds remained unused in Itanagar and Aizawl, respectively.

Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Haryana, and Telangana were the only states that have not used more than 10 per cent of their allocated funds.

Except for Lakshadweep, all Union Territories have shown low fund under-utilisation rates.

Economic, mobility infra

Integrated Command and Control Centres have been established in all 100 smart cities at a cost of Rs 11,775 crore (Rs 117.75 bilion).

However, 10 per cent of the economic infrastructure and smart mobility projects still remain to be completed.

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) projects account for the largest expenditure, at Rs 46,730 crore (Rs 467.30 billion), with a project completion rate of 93.14 per cent.

Smart energy projects and environmental initiatives, particularly those implemented through PPP, have seen completion rates exceeding 95 per cent.

However, projects aimed at creating vibrant public spaces are far from the deadline.

Ten years on, the mission has turned some of the chosen cities smarter, but has still fallen short of target.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
MONTPELIER  Superintendents are no longer being asked by the state to individually "reaffirm" compliance of federal law, as a federal ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programming looms in the background.

Vermont Education Secretary Zoie Saunders said a single, statewide letter will be sent to the U.S. Department of Education certifying compliance with applicable current law rejecting "conditions or assurances that are not supported by current law."

"We continue to assert that Vermont schools comply with all applicable federal anti-discrimination laws based on the legal review shared previously," Saunders wrote in a letter to superintendents late Monday. "To be clear, the Agency of Education and the Attorney Generals Office continue to support diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in our schools."

A letter from last week was intended to raise awareness about a directive from the U.S. Department of Education to see the certification related to Title 6 funding, Saunders wrote Monday. Title 6 protects individuals from being discriminated against based on race, color, national origin or religion by entities receiving federal financial assistance.

"In no way, did AOE direct schools to ban DEI," Saunders wrote to superintendents. "We understand that many in the community are concerned because of the political rhetoric surrounding DEI. I want to thank you for sharing those concerns from your communities and for you your helpful feedback."

Saunders said the AOE "remains committed to creating inclusive environments where students feel they belong and know they are supported by their educators."

A walk-in is planned at Academy School in West Brattleboro on Wednesday morning to voice support for DEI curricula and policies in local schools.

"The state is grappling with how to respond to the federal threats, and they need to hear how important it is to stand firm in our commitment to fostering safe, welcoming schools that teach robust history, foster social and emotional health, and celebrate diversity," an announcement states.

AOE officials are visiting the school Wednesday morning, according to the announcement, which says that the Vermont Superintendents Association, Vermont School Boards Association and Vermont Principals Association "have all stood up to show their solidarity this week, and it's important that parents and students do too."

President Trump in January ordered "the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and 'diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility' (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear." He described DEI programs as "illegal and immoral."

Part of his order calls for the monitoring and tracking of agency and department progress, and identifying "potential areas for additional Presidential or legislative action to advance the policy of equal dignity and respect."

Vermont Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham County, a member of the Senate Education Committee, supported pushing back against the initial compliance certification request.

"It is ridiculous to think that our schools can meet with their legal counsel and staff and deliberate about how to proceed, especially considering that this request is so antithetical to Vermont values," he said Monday. "I see this directive as an attempt to place liability onto individual districts rather than the state itself in the event that the federal government believes a school is in violation of this executive order. It is very frustrating to see the administration capitulate this easily to President Trump."

After news broke about the request for compliance certification, Saunders and Attorney General Charity Clark released a joint statement. Saunders said nothing in the directive requires a change to DEI practices in Vermont schools, "and we're not going to change."

The political rhetoric around this federal directive is designed to create outrage in our communities, confusion in our schools, and self-censorship in our policy making," Saunders said in part. "But we are not going to allow the chaos to control how we feel, or how we respond. Our priority is to protect Vermonts values, preserve essential federal funding and support schools in creating positive school environments free from the type of bullying and manipulation we see in our national politics today."

Clark said Vermont's laws "offer greater protections for students, employees, and the general public, and we will enforce those with equal vigor as well."

"A change in administration in Washington doesn't change Vermont's sovereign right to educate its children consistent with the laws," she said.

The AOE will continue to collaborate with the Vermont Attorney Generals Office and national partners in reviewing the request from the U.S. Department of Education, according to the statement.

"Our priorities are to safeguard federal dollars that our highest need communities depend on and to support the Vermont values that make our public education system so special," the statement reads.

Representatives from the VSBA, VSA and Vermont-NEA teachers union met with Saunders and Clark on Monday morning. They concluded the initial approach was "not workable."

"Expecting individual superintendents to certify compliance based on a cover letter (that they have not yet seen) that clarifies the legal boundaries of their certification will lead to a patchwork of responses that could put Vermont and local school districts at risk," they wrote in a letter.

Windham Southeast Superintendent Mark Speno previously told the Reformer, "We are proud of our work aligned with our school boards."

"I want to take a moment to reaffirm our districts unwavering commitment to social justice, equity and inclusion," he wrote in part in a letter to the community Monday. "These values are not simply statements on paper, they are the foundation of the culture we strive to build every day in our classrooms, hallways, and communities. ... From curriculum enhancements that reflect the diverse voices of our world, to student-led initiatives that promote empathy and understanding, our district continues to demonstrate what it means to lead with purpose and compassion."

DEI "means that there is a recognition of personal difference that will be met equally that includes all of those personal differences in a system created to achieve integration of those differences in the outcome of student success," former Windham Southeast School District Board member Shaun Murphy of Guilford said.

"The antithesis of DEI would be that there are no personal differences that require understanding and resources," he said. "It would imply that education can be achieved regardless of personal differences and that not recognizing differences in learning styles leads to student success."

Murphy called DEI "a tenet for this district" and "a Vermont value to meet all students where they are in real time and place."

"It is a system that leads to success of a student population," he said. "Diversity, equity, inclusion, end of story."
Detained Azerbaijani journalist and economist Farid Mehralizada testified in court on April 8 that his imprisonment was politically motivated, tied directly to his critical reporting for RFE/RLs Azerbaijani Service, known locally as Azadliq Radiosu.

During his appearance at the Baku Court of Serious Crimes, Mehralizada, 30, detailed the events surrounding his arrest on smuggling charges in late May 2024.

He described being blindfolded and taken to an unknown location before ending up at the Baku City Police Department, where he said he faced physical and psychological pressure to unlock his phone.

"One of the policemen told me, 'You're a young man. Do you really need Azadliq Radiosu? Just keep your head down and live your life,'" he said. "This shows that my arrest was indeed connected to my articles forAzadliq Radiosu."

Additional charges, including illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, gang smuggling, and document forgery, have since been added to his case -- accusations he and his supporters call fabricated.

He said prosecutors falsely claimed he held a role with the independent Abzas Media news agency, which has come under pressurefrom the authorities.

They probably thought, since they already have a fabricated criminal case in their hands, they would just add me to it and move on, he said.

Mehralizada, highlighted that his economic analyses frequently criticized Azerbaijan's reliance on oil and gas and questioned official unemployment and poverty statistics.

Ninety percent of Azerbaijans exports and 50 percent of its budget revenues depend on the oil and gas sector, which poses significant risks for the country, he told the court.

Having been kept in custody since his arrest last year, he told the court that his child was born during his detention and that he has been unable to see his family.

Azerbaijani authorities insist that there is no political motivation behind Mehralizada's detention and that no one in Azerbaijan is held for political reasons.

Rights groups, however, point out that, since November 2023, approximately 20 journalists and social activists have been detained on similar charges, seven of them linked to Abzas Media.

Human rights organizations estimate that at least 300 political prisoners are currently held in Azerbaijani jails, underscoring ongoing criticism of President Ilham Aliyevs administration.

Since taking power shortly before the death of his predecessor and father Heydar Aliyev in 2003, Ilham Aliyev has faced accusations of suppressing dissent by detaining journalists, opposition figures, and civil-society activists.
European Union leaders will consider imposing 25 percent tariffs on a range of US imports, including steel, clothes, and food, but not bourbon or other alcoholic drinks, following US President Trumps decision to impose tariffs on imports from the EU.

When leaders gather in Brussels on April 9, theyll vote on a tariffs package outlined in a document, seen by RFE/RL, which proposes staggered rounds of tariffs.

This will give time for negotiations to take place. EU officials have stated that their preferred option is a trade deal with Washington that removes trade barriers, rather than adding to them.

The EU proposals include four stages of tariffs.

The first stage, kicking in on April 15, includes a 25 percent surcharge on vegetables, cereals, tobacco, some vehicles, and electronics. There could also be a 10 percent rate on toys and games.

The next stage is set for May 16. It includes tariffs on more kinds of vehicles, iron and steel used in construction, live animals and meat, non-alcoholic drinks and works of art.

Finally, theres provision for tariffs on nuts and soybeans from December.

The measures concern imports of products originating in the United States on which the Union is not substantially dependent for its supply, the document states.

It says this should avoid as much as possible a negative impact on the various actors on the Union market, including consumers.

The plans avoid some contentious issues. EU leaders have voiced differing views in recent days about whether, for example, to exclude bourbon and wine. France and Italy, keen to avoid US countermeasures on their wine exports, appear to have won this battle.

Trump had threatened a 200 percent tariff on EU alcoholic drinks if bourbon had been hit.

Also excluded from Brussels plans are items the EU relies on, such as aircraft and parts, semiconductors, and fuel.

A decision not to put tariffs on pharmaceuticals matches the US approach. However, Trump has said separate tariffs will be imposed on the sector.

Washington has imposed a series of tariffs on imports from the EU.

First, a 25 percent tariff on steel, aluminum, and cars was announced. From April 9 there will also be 20 percent tariffs on almost everything else.

The EU document states that the US tariffs are capable of having a considerable negative economic impact on the Union industries concerned.

With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak
On April 9, European Union ambassadors will green-light the bloc's biggest-ever lethal military aid package to Moldova, worth 20 million euros.

The move is significant as the country is constitutionally neutral and the EU has previously only provided aid that was considered "nonlethal" such as military vehicles, air surveillance, and equipment boosting cybersecurity.

This changed last year, however, when Brussels provided 9 million euros for air-defense systems' short-range interceptors.

Now, the EU is more than doubling that in a reflection of what EU diplomats told me was the vulnerable situation Moldova is under with an increasingly belligerent and active Russia putting pressure on countries wanting to move closer to the West.

According to the proposal, seen by RFE/RL, the money will cover "eight short-range air-defense systems consisting of approximately eight launchers and approximately 24 missiles." The document notes that the implementation of this will be carried out by the Estonian Center for Defense Investments, which supplied Chisinau with equipment last year as well.

The proposal notes that "the proposed assistance measure will improve the performance and operational effectiveness of the Moldovan Armed Forces by replacing outdated Soviet-era equipment and/or establishing new capabilities."

Will Moldova Join The EU?

Moldova ambitiously aims to join the EU this decade, and accession talks are formally set to start in the coming months. The paper notes that the measures are also aimed at bringing Chisinau closer into the fold, adding that the actions are undertaken "with a view to strengthening the Republic of Moldova's capacities to participate in [EU] military common security and defense policy missions and operations, accelerating compliance with Union standards and interoperability."

The approval of these measures comes only a week after the same EU ambassadors gave a thumbs up to another package of financial assistance meant to supplement this one.

The other package, worth 40 million euros, is what the bloc calls nonlethal military aid. Of that sum, half will pay for an estimated 33 high-mobility tactical vehicles to replace old Soviet-type armored vehicles. The other 20 million euros is for what is called a short-range air-defense tactical integration system, essentially allowing the launchers and missiles provided in the "lethal" package to function smoothly.

The 60 million euros combined is the largest yearly amount heading to the small Eastern European republic since Brussels started this type of support in 2021.

The total figure since then will now reach 197 million euros, all coming under the European Peace Facility (EPF), an off-EU budget facility that has also allowed the EU as an entity to provide billions of euros in lethal assistance to Ukraine since the Russian full-scale invasion of the country over three years ago.

Is The US Distancing Itself From Moldova?

Another interesting aspect of the proposal is that there is a hint that the United States, under the new Trump administration, might step away from playing an active role in Moldova's defense sector. The paper notes, "In the past, the United States have been a major contributor in the defense sphere in Moldova, both regarding training and equipment support. Decisions by the new US administration on support to be provided in the future are pending."

It does add, however, that "according to preliminary feedback by the Moldovan Ministry of Defense, the potential downsizing of US training support would not affect equipment provided under [EPF] assistance measures."

What's interesting is that approval of the Moldova EPF was plain-sailing, with discussion among EU working groups on the issue proceeding without major hiccups.

This is in sharp contrast to the EPF requests for Ukraine that Hungary has blocked for nearly two years, as well as a recent new proposal for Armenia with which Budapest also took issue. Hungary delayed the first-ever EPF funding for Yerevan, worth 11 million euros, for several months last year before approving it and is now repeating the stalling tactic.

The new package, seen by RFE/RL, contains 20 million euros earmarked primarily for medical equipment for the Armenian armed forces. Like last year, EU diplomats are telling me Budapest is holding off approval by arguing that Azerbaijan, which enjoys close relations with the Fidesz-led Hungarian government, should be offered something similar.
Russia and the United States are to resume talks on April 10 in Istanbul on the normalization of their respective diplomatic missions.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on April 8 that delegations from Moscow and Washington will hold the second round of consultations focused on embassy operations.

Bruce said there would be no political or security issues discussed and stressed that the war in Ukraine would "absolutely not" be on the agenda.

"These talks are solely focused on our embassy operations, not on normalizing a bilateral relationship overall, which can only happen, as we've noted, once there's peace between Russia and Ukraine," she said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova previously reported that the Russian delegation would be headed by Russian Ambassador to the United States Aleksandr Darchiyev, and the American delegation would be headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Sonata Coulter.

The last time Washington and Moscow met in Istanbul was on February 27. Both sides described the first round of talks, which was held behind closed doors, as useful.

The American side said afterward that the meeting had defined steps to normalize the functioning of the diplomatic missions of the two countries. The Russian side said it had proposed the restoration of direct flights between the countries.

Years of tense relations led to restrictions on diplomatic work in the respective capitals. Many diplomats have been sent home by each side since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

US President Donald Trump has pushed for improved relations since returning to the White House in January.

Russia last week sent envoy Kirill Dmitriev to Washington at the invitation of Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. Dmitriev said after the talks that he saw a "positive dynamic" in relations between Moscow and Washington, but differences remain, and several more meetings are needed to resolve them.

He also said work was under way on restoring direct flights between Russia and the United States.

With reporting by AFP and dpa
At the tail end of a nearly three-hour Charlottesville School Board meeting last month, Zyahna Bryant stepped up to the lectern and launched into a polemic.

Im tired of wasting time, and Im not amused by the political theater that has taken place this evening, she told the board at its March 27 meeting. This notion that you arent ready to vote  or werent ready to vote  and make a decision is very aligned and on brand with some of the failures of this board.

She went on.

The idea that you havent heard enough voices when youre asked to make decisions  which is, I should note, what you were elected to do  is interesting.

Bryants comments were a direct response to the boards lengthy deliberations and struggle to reach a vote on whether to reinstate school resource officers in city schools. Her words also served as a reminder of the local activists prowess as a public speaker and provided a glimpse of how she might lead on the School Board should she be elected this coming November.

The only board member present on March 27 who was somewhat spared from Bryants scathing remarks was Lisa Larson-Torres, whom Bryant thanked for voting against restoring school resource officers  a measure that ultimately prevailed in a 4-2 vote after a lengthy back-and-forth. Larson-Torres is also the only sitting board member who was present in 2020 when the board ended the school divisions memorandum of understanding with the Charlottesville Police Department and terminated its school resource officer program.

Bryant, who gained national attention after successfully petitioning Charlottesville City Council to remove the citys monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee when she was just a sophomore in high school, announced she is running for Charlottesville School Board in February. She launched her campaign March 1 at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in downtown Charlottesville in front of a crowd of roughly 50.

When I really thought about my own tendency to want to move toward challenges instead of away from them, and my habit of wanting to be in the spaces where young people are needed, I just knew that this was an opportunity for me to rise to the occasion, Bryant said at the launch.

Bryant joins four other candidates  including three incumbents  running for three seats up for election this November. Incumbents Emily Dooley, Dom Morse and Larson-Torres have all filed paperwork to run, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonprofit database that keeps track of elections and other public filings.

The only other nonincumbent to enter the race besides Bryant thus far is Dashad Cooper, the former vice chair of the Charlottesville Democratic Committee. Cooper previously ran for a seat on City Council in 2023 but was unsuccessful. He also briefly ran for a seat in the House of Delegates but withdrew to join the Council race.

One of Bryants top campaign priorities is providing more support to teachers. Fewer teachers are entering the profession due to low pay, she said.

The average public school teacher salary in Virginia was $70,441 in 2023, the most recent year for which the Virginia Department of Education has data. Charlottesville City Schools pays teachers slightly less than that on average, at $68,423. Virginias average teacher salary ranks 22nd in the nation, which state and local officials have made a point of noting when explaining the ongoing teacher shortage.

Not many people want to go in and teach, Bryant said at her launch. Its a really hard job, and I want our educators to know that there are people in the community who support them.

An American Educational Research Journal study tracking the K-12 teaching profession found that the number of state-issued teaching licenses in the U.S. had declined by nearly one-third since 2006, falling from 320,000 licenses to 215,000 in 2021. The same study also found that, although the profession was attracting new talent and reporting solid job satisfaction in the 1980s and 90s, it is now at or near its lowest point in 50 years.

Last summer, Virginia made progress in closing its teacher gap, reducing the vacancy rate from 4.7% to 3.4%, but officials and families are still not satisfied.

Bryant urged those at her campaign launch to learn more about the school divisions new teachers union. She said collective bargaining will be critical in improving the working conditions that are no longer attracting or retaining good teachers in Charlottesville.

Last month, the city School Board approved a collective bargaining agreement between the school division and the Charlottesville Education Association teachers union. The agreement increases the salaries of licensed personnel by 4% over the next three years beginning in July, plus a 1.5% uniform step increase in pay over the same time period. Licensed personnel are nonadministrative employees and include teachers, counselors, school psychologists, social workers and nurses, among others. The Charlottesville school division has 537 teachers and employs nearly 1,000 people. Also in the agreement are provisions around employee rights and procedures for resolving disputes in the workplace.

Charlottesville City Schools Superintendent Royal Gurley said the agreement will enhance the recruitment and retention of teachers, improve staff morale and establish clear expectations, both for employees and for the administration.

Bryant has also emphasized the importance of teacher and student mental health. She says students should be at the table when decisions are made and a reconciliation space would allow for a dialogue to take place between teachers and students during disagreements.

She also has talked about the importance of inclusivity.

People may think that that is a hot topic thing, Bryant said at her campaign launch. But I would ask you, when is it OK to exclude people who need to be in certain spaces?

She said its important for the school division to be bold.

And, indeed, moments later Bryant practiced what she preached, wading into the political minefield of DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Trump administration alerted Virginia school divisions they have until the end of this week to certify that they do not engage in any practices that promote DEI  or risk losing federal funding. But Bryant has urged Charlottesville City Schools to defend the DEI apparatus it has built up in recent years.

In each phase of my education, I have made it clear that I am focused on wanting to have inclusion and diversity and equity at the forefront of all of the things that I have done, Bryant said. And so regardless of how people feel about that, I know that DEI is what makes us better. So people need to really embrace that instead of walking away from it.

That chutzpah, Bryant believes, is what will carry her to victory in November  that, and her years of activism in the community.

Bryant is a product of Charlottesville City Schools and has been a leading community organizer for more than a decade.

In 2014, when she was in seventh grade, Bryant penned a letter to The Daily Progress recounting a trip she took to the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond where she met with former Del. David Toscano. Toscano represented Charlottesville in the House of Delegates for 14 years.

I am 13 years old and I am in the seventh grade at Buford Middle School, Bryant wrote at the time. Being enrolled in Charlottesville schools, my main question for the delegate was about funding public education. I asked him, What is the top thing on your priority list? Is it education? Because clearly education is the root of Virginias economy.

He said, Education is at the top of my list.

Two years later, in 2016, what started as a school paper assignment turned into Bryants successful petition to Charlottesville City Council to remove Charlottesvilles statue of Lee.

She also has served on the Charlottesville Youth Council, founded the Charlottesville High School Black Student Union, served as the student representative on the Charlottesville School Board and was appointed to the Virginia African American Advisory Board by former Gov. Ralph Northam.

Deanna McDonald, a registered nurse and health consultant in Charlottesville, has known Bryant for more than 20 years.

When she talked about taking the meetings into the community, that is something that I am a firm believer in, McDonald told The Daily Progress during Bryants campaign launch. We always talk about Oh, there was access, there was access. But do we understand that some people cant get there, right? Whether that is transportation, whether its child care. Whatever those competing interests are, we still need to reach the people. And she does that actively in every way.

She has her finger on the pulse, McDonald said.

But community engagement sometimes comes with a cost.

In 2023, Bryant was named in a lawsuit filed by a former University of Virginia fourth-year student who claimed her life and future career plans were thrown into disarray after Bryant accused her of saying participants in a 2020 Black Women Matter protest would make good speed bumps. Morgan Bettinger, the plaintiff in the suit, has maintained that she never said those words. Bettinger was expelled in abeyance after the student-run University Judiciary Committee found her guilty of threatening other students, a conclusion that ultimately was found to have no merit by UVas Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights. The expulsion nonetheless remained on Bettingers record.

Bryant was not a defendant; Bettinger filed the suit against UVas governing Board of Visitors, its President Jim Ryan and its former Dean of Students Allen Groves. UVa settled with Bettinger in 2024. The terms of that settlement were never disclosed.

Bryant may be facing the school boards chair, in Dooley, and the boards longest serving member, in Torres, but she is unfazed by their status and seniority.

On the contrary: Bryant says her age, among other things, is an advantage.

I think that what sets me apart is that I am 24 years old and I have been doing community advocacy work in this community for over a decade, she said at her launch. So dont let my age fool you.

Bryant ended her comments to the board on March 27 saying that their vote to restore school resource officers, despite public feedback supporting their removal, proves that they dont actually care to listen to all. But, she added, at least we have dropped the facade.

So to the people who are watching online, Bryant said, I just hope that you pay attention, because November will be here soon enough.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Ukrainian armed forces captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting as part of the Russian Army in Ukraine's Donetsk region and called on Kyiv's allies to react to the situation and demand an explanation from Beijing.

In a message posted on his Telegram channel on April 8, Zelenskyy alleged the two Chinese citizens were captured during a battle that involved several other Chinese soldiers, all of whom were fighting as part of the Russian army in Donetsk.

Since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Beijing has become a close ally. But it has positioned itself as neutral in the conflict -- Beijing has shopped its own peace plans to end the conflict -- and is not publicly known to have directly aided the Kremlin in its war.

In an exclusive report in February, RFE/RL identified through a leaked Russian Defense Ministry database the name of a Chinese national who said he fought for Russia, though he declined to give further details.

"We have the documents of these prisoners, bank cards, and personal data," Zelenskyy said on Telegram that included images of one of the alleged captured Chinese soldiers.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has yet to comment publicly on the claim by Zelenskyy, who did not give details or say who was commanding the soldiers.

US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the report that Chinese soldiers had been captured in Ukraine was "disturbing."

"China is a major enabler of Russia in the war in Ukraine. China provides nearly 80 percent of the dual use items Russia needs to sustain the war," she said.

Zelenskyy said preliminary intelligence suggests more Chinese nationals are present within Russian military units operating in Ukraine and that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and relevant military units are "actively working" to confirm the extent of Chinese involvement in the war.

The captured Chinese citizens are currently in the custody of the SBU, and investigative and operational procedures are under way.

"Russia's involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin intends to do anything but end the war," Zelenskyy wrote.

More Children Mourned In Aftermath Of Russian Attack On Kryviy Rih No media source currently available 0:00 0:00:42 0:00

Zelenskyy Confirms Troops In Russia's Belgorod

The claim came just hours after Zelenskyy acknowledged publicly for the first time that Ukrainian troops are holding positions inside Russia's Belgorod region as Ukraine continued to mark the deaths of several children killed in a Russian air attack last week.

Funeral services were held in the Ukrainian city of Kryviy Rih on April 8 for a 3-year-old boy named Timofiy and a 7-year-old girl named Arina, two of the 20 victims -- nine of whom were children -- in the attack. The ages of the dead ranged from 3 to 79.

Mourners filed up church stairs and past portraits of the two children as bells rang out across Zelenskyy's hometown after what Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul called the deadliest strike so far on the city in the course of Russia's three-year war on Ukraine.

Zelenskyy has called for international pressure and stronger measures to discourage Moscow from continuing such attacks.

Ukrainian officials said the missile used cluster munition to maximize casualties to people on the ground, in "a reckless disregard for civilian life," according to UN human rights chief Volker Turk.

In a nightly address, Zelenskyy also noted a report from Oleksandr Syrskiy, Ukraine's top commander, "on the front line, our presence in the Kursk region and our presence in the Belgorod region."

"We continue active operations in the enemy's border areas and this is absolutely justified. The war must return to where it came from.... Our main objective remains the same: to protect our land and our communities in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions from Russian occupiers," he added.

Zelenskyy, who previously had not publicly commented on such operations inside Russia, lauded Ukraine's 225th Assault Regiment for its performance in the region.

Russian military bloggers had reported battles in Belgorod region between Russian and Ukrainian troops.

Moscow claimed after the Kryviy Rih attack that "no strikes are carried out on social facilities and social infrastructure," reiterating its long-stated response to allegations from Ukrainian officials that the attack constituted a war crime.

Eyewitness accounts, official statements, public records, and other open-source materials reviewed by Systema, RFE/RL's Russian-language investigative unit, however, show that the restaurant the Russian military says it targeted because it was hosting a meeting of military units and foreign advisers was actually the site of a beauty industry forum and a birthday party.

Russia has denied firing on civilian infrastructure despite daily documented attacks in cities all over Ukraine. The attacks have escalated in scope since the White House began pressuring Russia to agree to a cease-fire with Ukraine in March.

Ukraine agreed to accept a US proposal for an initial 30-day cease-fire, following talks in Saudi Arabia, while Russia has said it is still studying the proposal.

Moscow and Washington have also announced a deal to limit military activity in the Black Sea region.

However, Ukrainian and Russian forces have continued to fire drones and missiles at one another, almost nightly.
Splash Swim Schools Ireland has announced that it has taken over the running of the swimming pool in Ballaghaderreen, with a planned re-opening on Monday, April 28th.

The revival of the facility at the former Abbeyfield Hotel site is being viewed as a major boost for the local community as residents look set to benefit from the introduction of a range of new services, including swim fit sessions, aqua aerobics, and infant, toddler, child and adult swimming lessons provided by Splash Swim School.

The swimming pool has been closed for more than two years. Splash Swim Schools officially took over the management of the facility in January. It is in the final stages of refurbishment works ahead a planned reopening on Monday, April 28th, under its new name, The Splash Pool Ballaghaderreen.

The offering of swimming lessons will take the number of Splash Swim School locations across the country to nine  in counties Sligo, Waterford, Limerick, Cork, Galway, and now Roscommon.

Splash Pool Ballaghaderreen and Splash Swim School CEO Brid Graham says the move represents an important landmark in her business journey.

Brid told the Roscommon Herald: Im delighted that Splash Swim Schools is leading the revival of the swimming pool at Ballaghaderreen, a vital amenity, which has been denied to the local community for too long. The takeover of the facility on a long-term lease is an important landmark for residents and, indeed, for me as an entrepreneur. All will benefit from the new offering of swim fit sessions, aqua aerobics, and infant, toddler and child swimming lessons provided by Splash Swim School.

We look forward to welcoming people to the pool when it reopens in late-April and, through our expansion of classes and services over the coming months, contributing to the maintenance of the health and wellbeing of the local community and beyond.

Splash Swim School has been providing swimming classes to adults, infants, toddlers, and children since 2015. In that time, the firm has overseen the development of more than 6,000 swimmers, taking children as young as 12-weeks-old and providing them with a skill essential to life-long health and wellbeing.

The firm is marking its 10th anniversary in 2025 and recently began offering lessons at the Connemara Coast Hotel in Galway, its second Galway location after the Clayton Hotel in Galway city. The companys Sligo locations include the Clayton Hotel in Sligo town, the Pier Head Hotel in Mullaghmore and Radisson Blu Hotel in Ballincar. Other locations include Clayton Hotels in Limerick city and Cork city, and the Crystalline Leisure Centre in Waterford city.

An Easter Camp, to facilitate the training of new swim teachers, will take place from Tuesday, April 22nd to Saturday April 29th and is also available for booking on the company website.

Welcoming the announcement Sinn Fein Deputy Claire Kerrane said that she was "really proud to have delivered this facility back for the people of Ballaghaderreen and surrounding areas, but it would not have been possible without an operator stepping up to run it and in the last few months getting to know the new operator, I can say without doubt, we are going to have a fantastic facility here. There is so much to come in terms of activities and of course, the re-opening will also create jobs in Ballaghaderreen.

"I know that locals will show their appreciation and acknowledge the huge commitment, effort and time that the operator has put in here - 14, 15, 16 hour days to get us to this point, by supporting the pool and helping to make it a success," said Deputy Kerrane.
The Department of Children has been urged to explore the possibility of purchasing a former doctors residence in Boyle for a much-needed community childcare facility in the town.

At the March meeting of Roscommon County Council, Fianna Fail councillor Sean Moylan made the proposal to turn the property on Elphin Street, formerly Dr. Fallons House, into a community childcare centre under the auspices of Boyle Family Resource Centre.

In tabling a council motion on the issue, he said the former home of the late Dr Martin Fallon, which is currently for sale, was in in the middle of town and an ideal location for such a centre.

Cllr Moylan outlined that currently there was no community childcare facility in Boyle with a population of 3,000 people, and the local childcare group was struggling to find a suitable location for such a facility.

He pointed out that the national benchmark for childcare spaces was 20 spaces for 75 households but in Boyle this sector was operating with 20 spaces for 1,043 households.

In Boyle there is a two-year waiting list to access childcare places on the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme. This is having a detrimental effect on the parents of young children who are the backbone of the workforce in most places.

This is an unacceptable situation holding back the whole area at the moment. This is a vital service that we must set up in Boyle, he said.

Cllr Moylan told the council meeting that Boyle Community Childcare Committee had conducted an extensive study on local needs and the most pressing issue was to acquire a suitable building to get this off the ground. He said Fallons house was deemed to be the most suitable.

It is a large building on an adequate site with all the relevant services nearby. It is intended that it will be a 52 week a year service to cater for up to 50 pre-schoolchildren under the Early Childhood Care and Education scheme. It will also offer afterschool services, he said.

Independent councillor Micheal Frain said a similar situation had existed in Ballaghaderreen for a number of years as regards childcare and he would be willing to support this proposal in any way.

Childcare is a huge issue and intertwined with employment because you will not drive employment in an area if you havent these resources, he said.

Cllr Frain said he wasnt sure if the Department could make a direct purchase in such cases but it could facilitate the purchase of a facility by a community organisation such as the one in Boyle.

Fine Gael councillor Liam Callaghan agreed that a site should be found for childcare provision, which was an ongoing issue in Boyle. He said similar challenges also existed in other surrounding areas.

Independent councillor Tom Crosby said he was of the belief there was grant-aid available and that this could be explored.

Fianna Fail councillor Marty McDermott said childcare was a major issue for parents trying to work and pay their mortgages.

Sinn Fein councillor Leah Cull complimented the work of the childcare committee to establish a facility, despite the challenges. She said the town and surrounding areas deserved access to dependable and professional childcare.

Cllr Cull said that a lack of childcare provision could have a knock-on effect for parents who wanted to go back to work. She said they could feel isolated and this could also have a detrimental effect on their mental health. She hoped the childcare facility would happen as soon as possible.

The proposal was also supported by Independent councillor Valerie Byrne, Independent Ireland councillor Nigel Dineen, Independent councillor Tony Ward, and Fianna Fail councillor and Council Cathaoirleach Paschal Fitzmaurice.

Cllr Moylan said he would be raising this issue with his party colleagues, Deputy Martin Daly along with Norma Foley, Minister of Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
A key role in psychiatry of later life in Castlerea will not be filled due to recruitment embargo, a local TD has said.

Sinn Fein TD for Roscommon/Galway Claire Kerrane says that the consultant psychiatrist role at the E-Mental Health Hub, vacant since it opened in 2020, is now not being filled due to the current recruitment embargo in the HSE. She said that the HSE confirmed the development to her at a recent meeting.

The E-Mental Health Hub opened in 2020 and while, Covid certainly had an impact initially, I uncovered after numerous questions to the HSE, that they didnt fund the staffing of the hub, she said. Almost immediately on raising this in the Dail, funding was provided for staffing however, the consultant psychiatrist role wasnt filled.

Now it cannot be filled due to the recruitment embargo imposed by Government. This is unacceptable. She said that the location of the E-Mental Health Hub was formerly the much loved Rosalie Home.

It is essential that the services for the psychiatry of later life are provided. Its the least older people deserve having lost what was a fantastic home, she said. The recruitment embargo implemented by Fine Gael and Fianna Fail is wrong and it is preventing really important roles being filled in our community.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has determined that there will not be any test flows conducted below Fort Peck this year due to below average water volume and time needed to compile and review 2024 test flow data.

When a judge ruled in favor of Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project plans for a fish bypass channel to accommodate the pallid sturgeon in 2018, it was stipulated that test flows would be done over the next five to 15 years to mimic river waters prior to the Fort Peck Dam, complying with the Endangered Species Act. The pallid sturgeon is a prehistoric, endangered fish that is present only in the Missouri and lower Mississippi River Basins. Test flows occur by manipulating the temperature and water volume of the Missouri River. First, water is run over the spillway at Fort Peck Dam, increasing the water volume and temperature to encourage spawning. It takes 14 days from the time sturgeon hatch for them to swim from Fort Peck to the Confluence. During this time, the river volume is dropped to slow the water and prevent them from sinking into the backwaters of Lake Sakakawea, where there is not enough oxygen, and they die.

It is a tricky endeavor for the pallid sturgeon, and farmers and ranchers alike. There are approximately 150 irrigation pump sites that are affected by the test flows. When there is a high flow, there's a concern for low-lying crops and pump sites being submerged, which is damaging in both respects. After waters recede, the next issue is river bank erosion, caused by over saturation. If river banks can't support the weight of equipment needed to repair pump sites, or equipment and vehicles become stuck in the over-saturated sand, irrigation pumps can't be repaired.

There are issues with low-flows, too, mainly that the water is too low to reach irrigation pumps. While the test flows may be limited to select days, the effects on farmers and ranchers can be all season, financially impacting their entire year.

Additionally, crop insurance does not cover "man-made" catastrophes, and the USACE Record of Decision, Nov. 12, 2021, of the Environmental Impact Statement states there is no compensatory mitigation required.

A single year of crop loss could potentially put a farmer out of business, and when farmers and ranchers' livelihoods are impacted, it has a ripple effect within their communities.

In 2024, test flows started May 1 and ended in September. The USACE works together with farmers and ranchers in the area, along with the Missouri River Recovery Program. For instance, the river typically sits between 8,000 - 12,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) during irrigation season. So, when USACE wanted to drop it to 4,000 cfs, and raise it to 35,000, they were met with concerns from farmers and other stakeholders. It was ultimately agreed that the Missouri low flows would be raised to 8,000 cfs and higher flows reduced to 23,000 cfs in 2024.

There are currently 80-90 pallid sturgeon that are over 80 years old. These old fish predate Fort Peck Dam closure and or the filling of Lake Sacajawea. There are considerably more "planted" pallid, which are those hatched in captivity and released. However, a pallid sturgeon doesn't reach breeding maturity until about 20 years old, so many of the "planted" fish are just becoming old enough to spawn, all of which are tattooed and DNA tested. Many of the original pallid sturgeon are collared in order to monitor their activity. It is also important to note that there have been instances of successful spawning above Intake since the Intake Bypass Dam has been constructed.

While Fort Peck Dam test flows must continue in future years, in the best interest of the pallid sturgeon, those who rely on the river for their livelihood continue to voice their concerns. Farmers and ranchers continue to work with USACE, along with organizations such as the Missouri River Conservation Districts Council (MRCDC), Richland County Conservation District, Roosevelt County Conservation District, and Fort Peck Tribes. MRCDC has hired an irrigator outreach specialist, Cameron Skinner, to work with irrigators who may have been impacted by the 2024 test flow. He is working to gather economic loss data from farmers to be used by conservation districts for future test flow discussions. Additional information can be found at http://www.MissouriRiverCouncil.info.
The City of Watford City is excited to announce the launch of its official social media accounts recently coinciding with the start of the North Dakota League of Cities City Government Week April 7-11.

Residents and visitors can now follow the official City of Watford City page for up-to-date information on all aspects of city governance. This dedicated platform will serve as a primary source for important announcements, including meeting notices, road closures, bid opportunities and much more.

The goal is to enhance transparency and provide a reliable channel for timely and accurate information regarding city news, events, services, and ongoing initiatives. stated City of Watford City Marketing & Communications Coordinator Brock White. Working together with McKenzie County Tourism, we hope to make these changes seamless and easy for residents and guests to follow along with.

This launch also marks a change for the existing social media presence. The page previously known as Watford City, North Dakota has transitioned to Hello Watford City, The Official Page of McKenzie County Tourism, This separate page will continue to be the go-to source for information on events, attractions, and all the exciting things to see and do throughout Watford City and McKenzie County.

The shared YouTube page of @WatfordCity will continue in its current form, and serve as the hub for The Living In McKenzie County Podcast and other original content developed by The City of Watford City and McKenzie County Tourism.

The City of Watford City encourages everyone to follow both the new official city government page and the tourism page to stay fully informed about all the happenings in the community and surrounding area. These dedicated platforms are designed to foster a stronger sense of community and build a positive online presence, ultimately improving communication and engagement with both residents and visitors.

 City of Watford City Accounts:

facebook: @cityofwatfordcitynd

Instagram: @cityatwattordcitynd

YouTube: @WatfordCity

McKenzie County Tourism Accounts:

facebook: hellawattordcity

instagram: @hellowatfordcity

YouTube: @WatfordCity

Brock White, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, City of WatfordCity
HELENA  Montana farmers who bought state hail insurance in 2024 will receive a 10% refund of the premiums they paid. The Montana Board of Hail Insurance approved the refunds after reviewing the actuarial report at its Spring meeting in March.

In 2024, the Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) issued 262 hail insurance policies covering 308,635 acres in 37 counties.

Additionally, at the Montana Board of Hail Insurance Spring board meeting, the Board voted to keep 2025 premiums the same as those charged in 2024.

Serving on the board are producers Chair William Von Bergen, Moccasin; Vince Mattson, Chester; and Jim Schillinger, Baker; Montana Department of Agriculture Director Jillien Streit, and Montana State Auditor James Brown.

For more information about state hail insurance or the Montana Board of Hail Insurance, please contact the Montana Department of Agriculture Hail Specialist at 406-444-2402, by email at [email protected], or on our website at agr.mt.gov.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is serving Montana Agriculture and growing prosperity under the Big Sky. For more information on department programs and services, visit agr.mt.gov.
WILLISTON, N.D.  Dust off your baskets once again for the Community Egg Hunt scheduled for Wednesday, April 16, at the Williston Community Library.

The Community Egg Hunt will be divided into two-time slots, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and from 4-6 p.m. This event is free and open to all ages.

This years hunt is going to be even bigger and better, stated Andrea Placher, Library Director. The mission of any event we host is to promote literacy in our community, our librarys many resources, and of course a love of reading. This event is special because we can join forces with so many community organizations to bring awareness to their missions as well. We are excited to see families coming together, playing outdoors, and having fun!

Attendees will receive a bag to fill with eggs, which can be exchanged for a free book. In addition to the egg hunt, visitors can play a round of mini gold, as well as meet the Bunny and take photos, courtesy of the Williston CVB. Community agencies will be scattered throughout the library with goodies and handouts, and there will also be golden eggs every hour, which can be exchanged for local business gift cards.

For more information on this story, please contact Andrea Placher, Library Director, at 701.774.8805 or [email protected].

For more information on the Williston Community Library, please visit http://www.willistonndlibrary.com. Follow the Williston Community Library on Facebook and Instagram (@willistoncommunitylibrary), and YouTube (@Williston Community Library  Williston, ND).
Sidney  This year marks a special milestone as 100 years of banking is celebrated in our community. While Stockman Bank has proudly served the community since 1980 and under its current name since 1998, they honor the long history in Sidney that began with Richland National Bank in 1925 - a history of service, growth, and commitment to the people of eastern Montana.

Stockman Bank's deep roots in Sidney started with the original founders of Richland National Bank-Axel Nelson, J.S. Day, Ira M. Alling, and Dr. I.J. Peterson-who in 1925 established Richland National Bank with a vision to serve Sidney's merchants, farmers, and ranchers. From an initial capital of $35,000 and deposits totaling $16,891.59, the bank steadily grew in both scope and stature.

Over the years, Richland National Bank was led by a dedicated group of presidents: J.S. Day, Axel Nelson, Glenn Hall, H.J. "Bud" Nelson, and Jay Lalonde. Each brought unique leadership during times of economic change and community development.

A pivotal moment came in 1980, when Stockman Bank acquired Richland National Bank. At the helm of this transition was Robert J. Goss, who became the first president of the Sidney bank under the Stockman Bank name. Bob Goss led the bank through more than two decades of significant growth, community outreach, and financial stewardship. Under his leadership, Stockman Bank Sidney became one of the top-performing banks in the organization. His commitment to community development, education, and agriculture left an enduring impact.

In 2006, Garth Kallevig succeeded Goss as President. A Sidney native with deep ties to the area and years of experience within the bank, Kallevig brought continuity and strong leadership. His tenure as Market President further solidified Stockman Bank's reputation for community-centered banking, while supporting local initiatives and economic development. Kallevig retired in 2021, passing the torch to the current Sidney Market President, Wade Whiteman.

Whiteman, also an eastern Montana native, continues to guide the Sidney market with a forward-looking vision rooted in tradition. His leadership reflects Stockman Bank's enduring values of integrity, customer service, and community involvement.

At the heart of Stockman Bank's success has been its unwavering dedication to local decision making and leadership. Decisions are made by people who live and work in the communities they serve-people who understand the unique needs, challenges, and opportunities of Montana life. This focus on local leadership ensures that every financial decision is backed by a deep understanding of the region and a shared investment in its future.

As a family-owned community bank, Stockman has remained committed to enriching the lives of Montanans and helping local communities succeed. The bank blends traditional western values-honesty, hard work, and neighborliness-with state-of-the-art technology and modern convenience. Stockman Bank proudly serves as a full-service financial partner, offering services uniquely tailored to meet the needs of Montana families, farms, ranches, and businesses.

In addition to being grounded in local decision making and traditional western values, giving back has also been central to Stockman Bank's identity. Whether through sponsorships, donations, volunteerism, or leadership in local organizations, the Sidney bank has remained deeply engaged in supporting the community's well-being and future growth.Today, Stockman Bank in Sidney stands as a pillar of strength, proudly serving generations of Montanans with personalized service, forward-thinking solutions, and an enduring commitment to community. With continued expansion, innovation, and a deep connection to Montana's way of life, Stockman Bank looks ahead to a future that honors its past and embraces its role as a cornerstone of the community.

Stockman Bank thanks their loyal employees, customers, friends, and community members who have been part of the journey and looks forward to the next 100 years of service and growth together.

Join Stockman Bank for the Celebration! The entire community is invited to attend the 100-Year Celebration at Stockman Bank on April 14, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at their Sidney bank located at 301 W. Holly Street. Stop by for refreshments, treats, and giveaways.
Stockman Bank is celebrating 100 years of serving their customers and community, and they are inviting the community to share in their celebration with refreshments and giveaways on Monday, April 14, from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. MT at the Sidney bank location.

On April 14, 1925 this community pillar opened its doors. At the time, it was Richland National Bank, later becoming Stockman Bank.

Axel Nelson, J.S. Day, I.R. Alling, Dr. I.J. Peterson, and C.E. Collett founded Richland National Bank. Day was the first bank president, and Nelson was his successor, having served as vice president for the first ten years.

Bill Nefsy acquired the bank in 1980, making it part of Security Richland Bancorporation. At the time, Nefsy owned First Security Bank & Trust of Miles City, which is now known as Stockman Bank, making Richland National his second. Today there are more than 40 bank locations at Stockman. Security Richland Bancorporation would later become part of Stockman Financial Corporation, and Richland National Bank changed names to Stockman Bank in 1998.

The original building was located on the lot that the Sidney Public Schools Administration Building sits on at 101 S. Central Ave., Sidney. The inside of that building was remodeled in 1939.

In 1968, the building was demolished and the bank temporarily operated out of the Valley Hardware Building, which is now the Village Square Mall, while a new bank was built.

The auto-bank was constructed in 1976, offering inside banking and three drive-up lanes. It would be remodeled in the 1980s to expand its customer service and lending areas. The auto-bank welcomed Stockman's first automatic teller machine (ATM) in 1985. To accommodate the rising number of agricultural loans, the agricultural loan department expanded in 1990.

Stockman Bank remained at its original downtown site, until it moved to its current location, 301 W. Holly St., after construction was completed in 2016. The auto-bank remains at its original address, 120 2nd St. Sw., Sidney.

Despite 100 years worth of changes, what hasn't changed is their commitment to enriching the lives of Montanans and helping local communities succeed. Stockman Bank thanks their customers, employees, friends, and community, and looks forward to the next 100 years of service.
Punjab Police Crack Jalandhar Grenade Attack Case in 12 Hours, Pakistans ISI Suspected Behind Plot

DGP Shukla said that initial investigations point to a larger conspiracy aimed at disturbing communal harmony in the state.

Jalandhar grenade attack at Manoranjan Kalia residence latest news: Punjab Special DGP Arpit Shukla on Monday briefed the media on the grenade attack that targeted the residence of senior BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia late Sunday night in Jalandhar. In a swift breakthrough, Punjab Police successfully cracked the case within 12 hours, arresting two accused involved in the attack.

Speaking at the press conference, DGP Shukla said that initial investigations point to a larger conspiracy aimed at disturbing communal harmony in the state. This was not just an isolated incident but a deliberate attempt to provoke unrest and instability, he stated.

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The attack, according to police, was orchestrated by Dilshan Akhtaran associate of notorious gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Shehzad Bhatti. Intelligence inputs and preliminary evidence suggest that the plot had backing from Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), with the banned outfit Babbar Khalsa International also under the scanner.

The auto-rickshaw used in the crime has been recovered, and multiple raids are currently underway to track down other individuals linked to the broader conspiracy, DGP Shukla confirmed.

This attack was clearly designed to disrupt peace. Our teams acted swiftly, and the case was cracked in record time. We are committed to uncovering every layer of this conspiracy, he added.

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The incident has sparked widespread condemnation across political lines, with calls for enhanced security and a crackdown on cross-border terror networks operating in the region. Investigations are ongoing, and further arrests are expected in the coming days.

(For more news apart from Jalandhar grenade attack at Manoranjan Kalia residence latest news, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
(Image courtesy: THe secretariat)

In a strongly worded editorial, Chinas official news agency Xinhua accused Trump of naked extortion.

China Promises to Fight to the End Against Trumps Tariff Threat, Latest News: China has hit back at U.S. President Donald Trumps warning of an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods, declaring it will fight to the end if the U.S. continues to escalate the trade war.

Chinas Commerce Ministry accused the U.S. of blackmail and called Trumps threat of a 50% tariffon top of the existing 34% reciprocal tariffa mistake on top of a mistake, as reported by The Guardian. The ministry vowed to resolutely take countermeasures, warning, China will fight to the end if the U.S. side is bent on going down the wrong path.

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Earlier, the U.S. had imposed a 34% tariff in addition to a previous 20% levy. In response, China slapped a matching 34% tariff on U.S. imports. Following this, on Monday, Trump threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods if China did not remove its 34% tariff.

"If that tariff isn't removed by tomorrow at 12 o'clock, we're putting a 50% [tariff] on top of the tariffs we've already imposed. They've become a rich country because of people who were in the White House," Trump said.

Taking to Truth Social, Trump posted: If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long-term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose additional tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th. Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!

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In a strongly worded editorial, Chinas official news agency Xinhua accused Trump of naked extortion.

Utterly absurd is the underlying logic of the United States: I can hit you at my will, and you must not respond. Instead, you must surrender unconditionally, the editorial read. This is not diplomacy. It is blunt coercion dressed up as policy.

Mondays market bloodbath triggered alarm across global stock indices and led billionaire investor Bill Ackmana Trump supporter during the 2024 electionto visit the White House, urging a moratorium on tariff escalation.

EU and Taiwan Also Respond

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Meanwhile, the European Union has announced countermeasures, proposing a 25% tariff on a range of U.S. goods including soybeans, nuts, and sausages. However, the EU reiterated its willingness to negotiate a "zero-for-zero" tariff agreement.

In a post on X, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said:

Europe is ready to negotiate with the U.S. Weve offered zero tariffs on industrial goods in exchange for the same. Were always open to a fair dealbut were also prepared to respond with countermeasures and protect ourselves from any indirect impacts through trade diversion.

EU Trade Commissioner Maros SefAoviA told The Guardian, Sooner or later, we will sit at the negotiation table with the U.S. and find a mutually acceptable compromise.

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The 27-member EU, already hit by U.S. tariffs on vehicles and metals, is expected to face an additional 20% tariff on other goods starting Wednesday. Trump has also threatened tariffs on alcoholic beverages from the bloc.

Taiwan, which is facing a 32% reciprocal tariff and suffered its worst-ever market fall on Monday, has also indicated its readiness to negotiate. President Lai Ching-te proposed a zero-tariff agreement, the removal of trade barriers, and increased investment in the U.S.

Taiwan attributes its trade surplus with the U.S. to Americas soaring demand for technology, as it is a key supplier to companies like Apple and Nvidia.
President Donald Trump remains firm on his tariff stance, saying there will be no stepping back

Trump said, The EU has been very tough over the years. It was formed to do damage to the United States in trade."

President Donald Trump remains firm on his tariff stance, saying there will be no stepping back, Latest News: President Donald Trump has said there will be no pause on U.S. tariffs during negotiations, despite the global market turmoil triggered by the tariff announcements, ANI reported.

Yesterday, on Monday, stock market indices across major Asian economiesincluding India, China, and Japansuffered heavy losses, with India alone losing approximately rupees 19 lakh crore in investor wealth.

Even in the face of market instability not only in other countries but also within the U.S., Trump maintained that the U.S. would not back down on tariffs and would continue to push for fair trade deals, even if that means some countries will have to pay substantial tariffs.

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According to ANI, during a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday (local time), Trump said, Were not looking at that, reaffirming that the U.S. would stay focused on securing fair trade deals with other nations.

"We have many countries that are to negotiate deals with us, and they're going to be fair deals, and in certain cases, they're going to be paying substantial tariffs. They'll be fair deals," Trump said.

Trump has criticized china of their reciprocal tariff of 34% on US goods after Trump administration imposed the same. He has warned China of 50% more tariff, bringing the total tariff to 84% on those goodsif China doesnt remove its own tariff by the deadline.

Theyve become a rich country because of people who were in the White House."

Trump said he respects China and President Xi but insists the U.S. must act now to fix unfair trade practices, calling it a one-time chance to correct economic damage.

"I have a great relationship with President Xi. I hope it's going to stay that way. I have great respect for China, but they can't do this. We're just going to have one shot at this, and no other president is going to do this. and I'll tell you what: it's an honour to do it because we have been just destroyed. What they've done to our system, you know, we have 36 trillion dollars of debt for a reason. So we'll be talking to China. We'll be talking to a lot of different countries," the US President added.

On the matter of some tariffs being permanent and others that can be negotiated, Trump said, "They can both be true. There could be permanent tariffs, and there could also be negotiations."

"We're going to get fair deals and good deals with every country -- and if we don't, we're going to have nothing to do with them," he added.

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Trump also took a swipe at the European Union, saying, The EU has been very tough over the years. It was formed to do damage to the United States in trade. It was formed by most European countries to create a bit of a monopoly, a unified force against U.S. trade. The European Union has been very bad to us. They dont take our carslike Japan. They dont take our agricultural products; they do practically nothing. Theyre sending millions and millions of cars into the U.S., but we dont have a single car being sold to the European Union or other places.

European Union President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is open to negotiating with the U.S., having proposed a zero-for-zero tariff deal on industrial goods.

In a post on X, she wrote, Europe is ready to negotiate with the U.S. Weve offered zero tariffs on industrial goods in exchange for the same. Were always open to a fair dealbut were also prepared to respond with countermeasures and protect ourselves from any indirect impacts through trade diversion.

( For More News, Apart from, "President Donald Trump remains firm on his tariff stance, saying there will be no stepping back, Stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Mumbai Terror Attack Accused Tahawwur Ranas Plea to Stop Extradition to India. (Inage Courtesy: NDTV)

Rana had filed an emergency application with Chief Justice John Roberts on March 20, 2025, seeking to halt his extradition.

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Mumbai Terror Attack Accused Tahawwur Ranas Plea to Stop Extradition to India, Latest News: The United States Supreme Court has rejected Tahawwur Ranas plea seeking a stay on his extradition to India, the ANI has reported.

Rana, a 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, is an accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

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In an order dated Monday, April 7, 2025, the Supreme Court stated, The application for stay addressed to The Chief Justice and referred to the Court is denied.

Rana had filed an emergency application with Chief Justice John Roberts on March 20, 2025, seeking to halt his extradition. Earlier, in February 2025, he had submitted an Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to Associate Justice Elena Kagan, which was denied.

Following this, Rana renewed his request, directing it to Chief Justice Roberts. The matter was circulated among justices and scheduled for consideration during the Supreme Court's conference on April 4, 2025.

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In his earlier plea, Rana cited severe health concerns, including a high-risk abdominal aortic aneurysm, Parkinsons disease with cognitive decline, and a suspected bladder tumor. He claimed that extraditing him to India would endanger his life due to possible targeting based on his nationality, religion, and cultural background.

U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier announced Ranas extradition to India during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2025.

Rana previously served as a doctor in the Pakistan Army before immigrating to Canada in the late 1990s. He was arrested in the U.S. in 2009 for his role in terrorism-related activities and is currently lodged in a jail in Los Angeles.

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He is accused of assisting his childhood friend David Headley, who scouted locations for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. Rana was convicted in 2011 for providing material support to the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and for his involvement in a plot to attack a Danish newspaper. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and has been serving his term in the U.S.

For More News, Apart from, "U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Mumbai Terror Attack Accused Tahawwur Ranas Plea to Stop Extradition to India, Stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
April 8, 2025 UPDATE 1

The latest news from RRI

Newsflash

Newsroom, 08.04.2025, 18:51

Trade war  The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged on Tuesday, during a telephone call with the Chinese Premier Li Qiang, to avoid escalation following the tariffs imposed by the United States, the EU announced in a statement, quoted by AFP. On Tuesday China promised to fight against the US tariffs to the end, despite Donald Trumps threat to introduce new and higher tariffs of 50% on Chinese imports if Beijing does not drop additional tariffs of 34% on American products starting on Thursday. Faced with the global disruptions caused by the US announcements, Von der Leyen also stressed the responsibility of Europe and China to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field. The European Union is also concerned about a possible influx of Chinese goods into its territory in an attempt to avoid tariffs imposed by Donald Trump. The EU President stressed in this regard Chinas essential role in the fight against this possible diversion, especially in sectors already affected by global overcapacity.

Withdrawal  The US Department of Defense is considering withdrawing up to 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe. The information was made public by the American television station NBC News, which cited six European and American officials who preferred to remain anonymous. They believe that such a measure would encourage the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who would perceive the move as a weakening of NATOs deterrence capacity. The forces that would be withdrawn would represent almost half of the 20,000 American soldiers that former President Joe Biden deployed to NATOs Eastern Flank, after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Among the countries from which the United States would withdraw some of its troops are Romania and Poland. According to NBC News, the discussions on reducing the number of American troops are taking place at a time when the US President Donald Trump is trying to convince his Russian counterpart to accept a ceasefire in Ukraine. If the proposal materializes, it will reinforce fears that the US is abandoning its traditional allies, who see Russia as a growing threat. At the same time, American journalists believe that the current Trump administration wants to focus its military resources on other threats, such as China. (LS)
How will the EU respond to the US tariffs?

The European Union is ready to negotiate with the United States to reach an agreement on tariffs, while preparing measures to protect its interests.

Photographer: Dati Bendo European Union, 2025 Source: EC - Audiovisual Service

Daniela Budu, 08.04.2025, 14:00

The European Union says it prefers to negotiate with the United States to avoid a trade war, while considering a first set of countermeasures to the US customs duties. With respect to the general 20% tariffs on European products announced by president Donald Trump last week and which will be applied from 9th April, the European Commission would like to continue talks with Washington and proposed a free-trade agreement based on zero-for-zero tariffs.

We stand ready to negotiate with the US. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods as we have successfully done with many other trading partners. Because Europe is always ready for a good deal, said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, but adding we are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests. Donald Trump said on Monday that the proposal made by the European Union on the a full and mutual exemption from customs duties on industrial products, including cars, is not sufficient for lifting the American customs duties. He said the US trade deficit to Europe will disappear fast because he says European countries will have to buy energy from the US.

Ursula von der Leyen emphasised that the Union will protect itself from the indirect effects of the tariffs through trade diversion and will set up and Import Surveillance Task Force to this effect. The latter will look at the historical imports of the bloc and establish whether there is a sudden surge of a certain product or in a certain sector and whether measures need to be taken. The Commission president believes the first to be affected by the tariffs will be consumers and businesses in the United States, but that the global economy will also suffer, in particular developing countries. She went on to say that beyond preparing retaliatory measures and standing ready for dialogue with the United States, the European Union will continue to work to diversify and consolidate its trade relations. So we will focus like a laser beam on the 83% of global trade that is beyond the US, von der Leyen said.

The European Commission on Monday proposed 25% tariffs on a series of American products in response to Washingtons 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum products. The initial list of products also included bourbon, wine and diary products, but they were eliminated as Donald Trump threatened to respond with 20% tariffs on imports of European alcohol. Europes tariffs are to apply from 16th May, and in the case of some products from 1st December.
Former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger says she raised $6.7 million for her campaign for governor in the first three months of this year, boosting the Democratic nominees fundraising to $16.3 million since launching her bid 16 months ago.

Spanberger, who stepped down from Congress in January after three terms, more than doubled the first-quarter funding haul of Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee. Earle-Sears said last week that she had raised $3.1 million in the quarter ending on March 31, a first-quarter GOP record in a Virginia governors race  excluding self-funding.

Spanbergers campaign said her haul was the largest of any statewide candidate in the first quarter in Virginia history, based on contributions and excluding self-funding.

In the first quarter of the 2021 race, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe raised $4.2 million, more than his four Democratic rivals combined. In that quarter, Glenn Youngkin  who would defeat McAuliffe  raised $2.2 million and fellow Republican candidate Pete Snyder raised $1.6 million  though Youngkin lent himself an additional $5.5 million in the three-month period and Snyder lent himself an extra $5.2 million, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.

Like Earle-Sears, Spanbergers campaign declined to release how much cash it had on hand at the end of the quarter on March 31 or name its top individual donor. However, VoteVets announced in February that it had made a $500,000 contribution to the Democrats campaign, which it called the largest single donation in its 20-year history.

Earle-Sears and Spanberger have clinched their parties nominations, setting the stage for history as each seeks to become the first woman elected governor of Virginia. Earle-Sears, who was the first woman elected as Virginias lieutenant governor, would be the first Black woman elected governor of any U.S. state.

Spanbergers campaign focused on its small donations  more than 50,000 contributions of $100 or less  as a measure of grassroots energy in an election year that is shaping up as an early referendum on President Donald Trumps second term.

In 2017, in the first year of Trumps first term, Virginia Democrats swept all three statewide offices and flipped 15 seats in the House of Delegates, shrinking the GOP advantage to a single seat. The race for an additional House seat in Newport News ended in a tie and the Republican incumbent retained it in a random drawing at the State Board of Elections.

The next year, Spanberger won her first term in Congress, defeating Republican Rep. David Brat in what had been a red district for decades.

Everywhere Abigail goes across the Commonwealth, she hears from Virginians who are ready for a leader who understands the challenges facing hard-working families and are excited about Abigail Spanberger serving them as Virginias next governor, campaign manager Samson Signori said. We are proud to run a grassroots campaign with the strong support of thousands of volunteers across every corner of the Commonwealth.

Signori said, Virginians trust that, as their next governor, Abigail will work every day to strengthen our schools, defend Virginia jobs, keep our communities safe, and protect Virginians fundamental rights.

Spanberger announced her candidacy in November 2023, declining to run for a fourth congressional term to allow Democrats time to choose a new nominee in a 7th District that shifted from the Richmond suburbs to the exurbs of Northern Virginia under a new political map that the Virginia Supreme Court adopted at the end of 2021. The next year, she won a third term in the new district, and Rep. Eugene Vindman held the seat for Democrats last fall.

She used a fast-fundraising start to outpace then-Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who announced his candidacy for governor three weeks after she launched hers. Stoney dropped out of the race the following April and declared his candidacy for lieutenant governor instead. He is one of six Democrats vying for the nomination in a June primary.

Spanberger faced misgivings by some Black elected leaders, notably Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, who had supported Stoney as the partys candidate for governor. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-3rd, the first Black person elected to Congress in Virginia since John Mercer Langston in 1888, flirted with a bid early this year but effectively quashed the idea in late February, when he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, If I were running, I wouldnt be keeping it a secret.

Spanbergers campaign entered the year with $6.55 million in the bank, after raising $9.6 million through Dec. 31, which included $1.1 million that she transferred from her congressional campaign fund.
German semiconductor company Infineon Technologies AG (IFNNY) said on Tuesday that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Marvell Technology Inc.'s (MRVL) Automotive Ethernet . The entire transaction is valued at $2.5 billion in cash.

The deal is subject to standard closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to be completed by 2025-end.

Following the deal closure, Marvell's Automotive Ethernet business will become part of Infineon's Automotive division.

Infineon said that Ethernet is an important for enabling low-latency, high-bandwidth communication, which is essential for software-defined vehicles. Its potential also extends to related fields, such as humanoid robotics, the company added.

Marvell's Automotive Ethernet business is expected to generate revenue of $225 million to $250 million in the 2025 calendar year with a gross margin of around 60%.

According to Infineon, the acquisition will strengthen its presence in the U.S., including substantial Research & Development efforts.

The company expects to make use of its existing liquidity and take on additional debt to finance the all-cash acquisition of the Ethernet business. The firm has secured acquisition financing from banks.

Commenting on the deal, Jochen Hanebeck, CEO, Infineon, said, "We will leverage this highly complementary Ethernet technology by combining it with our existing, broad product portfolio to provide our customers with even more comprehensive, leading solutions for software-defined vehicles. The transaction will support our profitable growth strategy going forward, including new opportunities in the field of physical AI such as humanoid robots."

On the XETRA in Germany, the stock is trading down 0.90 percent at 24.92 euros.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
European shares opened higher on Tuesday, snapping a four-day losing streak on tariff-related worries.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU had offered U.S. President Donald Trump a "zero-for-zero tariffs" deal for industrial goods as part of the trade negotiations.

She has reiterated that the bloc was also prepared to impose countermeasures should talks fail. Trump promptly rejected the deal.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.7 percent at 477.32 after plunging 4.5 percent in the previous session to its lowest level in more than a year amid recession worries.

The German DAX gained 0.6 percent, France's CAC 40 edged up by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rallied 1.5 percent.

German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG fell 1.6 percent after it agreed to acquire Marvell Technology's automotive ethernet for about $2.5 billion.

Defense-related stocks surged, with Rolls-Royce Holdings, Renk Group and Saab climbing 5-8 percent.

In economic releases, France's trade deficit widened to a five-month high in February on rising imports, data from the customs office showed.

The trade shortfall rose unexpectedly to EUR 7.9 billion in February from EUR 6.5 billion in January. This was the biggest deficit since September.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Oil prices held steady on Tuesday after tumbling to a four-year low the previous day on tariff-related demand worries.

Benchmark Brent crude futures edged up by 0.1 percent to $64.27 a barrel in European trade, while WTI crude futures were up 0.2 percent at $60.82.

Some calm returned to even as trade tensions escalated, with Beijing saying that the U.S. threat to escalate tariffs against China is a 'mistake on top of a mistake' and amounts to blackmail.

Goldman Sachs has warned that Brent crude could drop below $40 a barrel by late 2026 under extreme scenarios involving both a global GDP slowdown and a full unwinding of OPEC+ cuts.

Geopolitical tensions remained on investors' radar after U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday that the United States and Iran are set to engage in direct negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program.

"I think everybody agrees that reaching a deal would be preferable to the obvious," he said, adding, "Hopefully, those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Iran's best interests if they are successful."

An Iranian official later told Reuters that the talks would be held in the Sultanate of Oman in an indirect manner, with Omani mediation.

Trump also proposed a U.S. takeover of Gaza while suggesting a permanent displacement of Palestinians from the enclave.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
Canadian shares are likely to open on a positive note on Tuesday, rebounding from recent losses. Asian closed on a firm note and European stocks are up as well, amid optimism the U.S. President Donald Trump will soften his tariff stance on a few countries.

Trump said on Monday he would talk to China, Japan and other countries over the tariffs, but was not looking at a pause on the duties.

On the economic front, the IVEY Purchasing Managers Index score for March is due at 10 AM ET.

The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index in Canada soared to 55.3 in February 2025 from 2020-lows of 47.1 in January.

In company news, Stantec has acquired Ryan Hanley, a 150-person engineering and environmental consultancy with locations across Ireland. Ryan Hanley has been a local partner for Stantec as part of a joint venture since 2020. Ryan Hanley has offices in Dublin, Galway, Cork, and Castlebar.

The Canadian market ended sharply lower on Monday, extending recent losses. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index recovered from an early plunge and briefly turned positive but ended the day down 334.01 points or 1.4% at 22,859.46.

The continued weakness on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump's new tariffs and retaliatory moves by U.S. trade partners.

Adding to worries about a global trade war, Trump threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods unless the country withdraws its new 34% tariff on U.S. goods.

Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday, with Japanese markets leading regional gains after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Japan is likely to be prioritized in trade talks with the Trump administration.

Some calm returned to the markets even as trade tensions escalated, with Beijing saying that the U.S. threat to escalate tariffs against China is a "mistake on top of a mistake" and amounts to blackmail.

European stocks are up in positive territory, bouncing back from recent losses amid mild optimism about the U.S. President softening his tariff stance against some countries.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down marginally at $60.61 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $49.90 or 1.68% at $3,023.50 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.586 or 1.98% at $30.190 an ounce.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Chicago have arrested 98 wanted criminals in the last six months.

The criminals, who have been wanted on outstanding warrants, were taken into custody at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport since the start of the fiscal year, October 1, 2024.

They were either arriving or leaving the U.S. when they were detained, CBP said. The detenied criminals were aged between 17 and 64, out of which 18 were female. The warrants varied from failure to appear, military desertion, larceny, fraud, and DUIs to more serious crimes like sexual assault, sex offenses against a child, indecent solicitation of a child, exploitation of a child, strongarm rape, homicide, and drug possession warrants for cocaine, marijuana, and fentanyl.

All the arrested criminals were turned over to a local sheriff, county, city or state police departments for further processing, CBP said.

This is in addition to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the northern and southern borders making arrests to keep criminals from entering the country.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Following the nosedive seen over the past three sessions, the price of gold regained some ground during trading on Tuesday but closed well off its best levels of the day.

Gold for April delivery climbed $17.10 or 0.6 percent to $2,968.40 after surging as much as 2.1 percent to a high of $3,014.50 an ounce.

The price of gold moved sharply higher early in the day amid a broad based rebound by financial around the world amid optimism about negotiations on President Donald Trump's new tariffs.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said approximately 70 countries have approached the White House about trade talks, with Japan purportedly getting priority status.

"I think you are going to see some very large countries with large trade deficits come forward very quickly," Bessent said during an interview on CNBC. "If they come to the table with solid proposals, I think we can end up with some good deals."

Trump also said in a post on Truth Social that he had a "great call" with South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo and said the country's "top TEAM is on a plane heading to the U.S., and things are looking good."

The rebound by the price of gold also came as traders looked to pick up the precious metal at relatively reduced levels following the recent sell-off, which saw gold record its biggest three-day dollar decline since April 2013.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as stocks on Wall Street pulled back sharply amid ongoing concerns over rising tensions between the U.S. and China.

China has vowed to "fight to the end" after Trump threatened to impose an additional 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods unless the country withdraws its new 34 percent tariff on U.S. goods.

A White House official told CNBC the effective tariff rate on China will spike to 104 percent at midnight, when Trump's other "reciprocal tariffs" are also set to take effect.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
In the compact SUV segment, Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder is currently ranked 4th with a market share of over 9%

A popular option in the compact SUV segment, Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder has received updates and new editions at regular intervals. 2025 Toyota Hyryder has just been introduced with multiple new features and a new AWD variant as well. Prices for the 2025 Toyota Hyryder are expected to start at Rs 11.34 lakh, which is around Rs 20,000 more than earlier. Lets take a look at the new features and updates.

New 6AT AWD variant

In a move thats likely based on market feedback, Toyota has introduced a 6-speed automatic gearbox with V AWD variant. This new transmission replaces the earlier 5-speed manual transmission. Folks who need the manual-AWD combo will probably have to go with the equivalent Maruti Grand Vitara Alpha variant. The shift to automatic for the V AWD variant ensures a more premium positioning for Toyota Hyryder.

While both Hyryder and Grand Vitara are essentially the same, theres a significant difference in their monthly sales. Grand Vitara sells more than twice as much, likely due to its slightly lower pricing and Marutis larger dealer network. The addition of automatic transmission with the V AWD variant can help attract an entirely new set of users. It will be interesting to see if this new Hyryder variant can boost sales numbers in the coming months.

New features

Higher variants of Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder see new additions to the equipment list. Some examples include ventilated front seats, ambient lighting, 8-way power adjustable driver seat and rear-door sunshades. These updates are in line with industry trends. Based on the variant, users will also be able to access features such as an AQI monitor.

Certain features have been made as standard such as LED reading lights and USB Type-C charging ports. Safety has been enhanced with 6-airbags as standard across all variants of Toyota Hyryder. Earlier, only two airbags were offered with the entry-level E and S trims of Hyryder. The SUV now offers front, side and curtain airbags for all variants.

Another update is tyre pressure monitoring system for all variants, excluding only the E variant. Select automatic variants of Hyryder also benefit from an electronic parking brake (EPB). Apart from these updates, much of the equipment list remains the same as earlier.

Same engine options

2025 Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder continues with the existing engine options. Mild-hybrid variants are equipped with a 1.5-litre petrol engine sourced from Maruti Suzuki. It delivers 103.06 PS and 136.8 Nm of torque. For 2WD variants, transmission choices include 5MT and 6AT. As mentioned earlier, the 4WD V variant has only 6AT transmission.

Among the mild hybrid variants, the 2WD 5MT variant offers the best mileage at 21.11 km/l. The mild hybrid setup is also available with petrol + CNG dual fuel option. When running on CNG, the mileage is 26.6 km/kg.

Talking about the Hyryder strong hybrid variants, power comes from a Toyota-sourced 1.5-litre petrol engine. Theres an electric motor as well, which gets power from a lithium-ion battery pack. Combined power output is 115.56 PS. The hybrid powertrain utilizes an e-CVT gearbox. It offers mileage of 27.97 km/l, which is even better than the CNG variant.
In a move that could reshape Indias auto industry landscape, the government is considering a phased reduction in import duties on vehicles from the European Union (EU), according to a new report from Reuters sourcing people familiar with the ongoing trade negotiations. The discussions form part of a broader trade deal that both India and the EU are aiming to conclude by the end of 2025.

Lower Car Import Tariffs?

Currently, imported vehicles in India attract a tariff of over 100%, one of the highest globally. Under the emerging proposal, India is reportedly willing to gradually lower this duty to as low as 10% for cars brought in from Europe, marking a significant shift in policy. Industry insiders reveal that the domestic auto sector is lobbying for a more cautious approach  suggesting a minimum 30% tariff on imports, and no immediate changes to duties on electric vehicles (EVs) until at least 2029.

The potential opening up of Indias car market is expected to favor global giants like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and even Tesla, which plans to begin imports later this year, possibly from its German manufacturing facility. However, such tariff cuts have raised concerns among Indian automakers such as Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, who fear that cheaper imports could impact investments made in domestic manufacturing and electric mobility.

The report reveals that Indias commerce ministry, which is leading the negotiations, recently discussed the tariff reduction proposals with officials from the heavy industries ministry and representatives from the domestic auto industry. While the European Commission acknowledged differences in ambition between the two sides, no formal comments have been made on the specifics of the tariff discussions.

Indian Carmakers Brace

For Indian carmakers, maintaining higher import duties has been essential to shielding local production and sustaining investments, especially as they ramp up efforts in EVs. Auto industry associations are reportedly pushing for a compromise that would allow gradual tariff reductions but still provide protection to domestic players during the crucial transition period.

With pressure mounting following similar requests from the United States, Indias balancing act between encouraging foreign investment and protecting homegrown industries will be critical in determining the outcome of these trade talks.

Source
Indias leading car maker, Maruti Suzuki, registered over 1.5 lakh sales for the month of March 2025. This is a stellar performance with around 1 lakh units lead over second best selling OEM. For the month of April 2025, Maruti Suzuki is offering discounts of up to Rs 1.4 lakh on its vehicles sold through Nexa dealerships.

The company is offering cash discounts, corporate discounts, scrappage benefits, exchange benefits and rural benefits. It has to be noted that some of these discounts or benefits cannot be clubbed together. Lets take a look at which car gets the highest discounts.

1. XL6  Discounts Up To Rs 25,000

The more premium version of Ertiga, XL6, has been one of the popular MPVs on sale in India. The company is offering scrappage benefits on this vehicle of up to Rs 25,000 and it doesnt attract any cash discounts for the month of April 2025.

2. Ciaz  Discounts Up To Rs 40,000

Even though it is at the end of its life cycle with no major updates, Ciaz is still a solid C-Segment sedan which clocked over 1,000 units in February 2025, taking the place of 7th best-selling sedan in India of all sizes. For April 2025, Maruti is offering a max discount of up to Rs 40,000 on Ciaz, making it a tempting proposition.

3. Baleno  Discounts Up To Rs 52,000

Maruti Suzukis premium hatchback, Baleno, is among the best-selling hatchbacks in India. For the month of April 2025, Maruti is offering a cash discount of Rs 25,000 along with other benefits that takes the max offer to around Rs 52,000.

4. Ignis  Discounts Up To Rs 62,000

The most affordable hatchback sold through Marutis Nexa dealerships is Ignis. It is the oldest non updated vehicle on sale in Marutis portfolio and for the month of April 2025, it is attracting a cash discount of Rs 30,000 and a max benefit of up to around Rs 62,000. This includes corporate discounts and scrappage benefits.

5. Fronx  Discounts Up To Rs 88,000

One of Marutis newest products, Fronx, is up for sale with a cash discount of Rs 30,000 and the company is offering a max ceiling of Rs 45,000 worth of benefits on Fronx. If you buy the Turbo variants of Fronx, Maruti is offering an additional Rs 43,000 rupees worth Velocity Kit for free. If this velocity kit is in your interests, the max discount you could achieve turns out to be around Rs 88,000.

6. Jimny  Discounts Up To Rs 1 Lakh

The discounts around Jimny used to be around Rs 2 lakh and have been reduced to Rs 1 lakh for the month of April 2025. This Rs 1 lakh is cash discount and there are no other benefits on Jimny. Also, the company is only offering this discount on top-spec Alpha trim and there are no benefits on Zeta trim.

7. Grand Vitara  Discounts Up To Rs 1.3 Lakh

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara is emerging to be a vastly popular C-Segment Compact SUV. It is among the only two SUVs in its segment to offer Hybrid powertrain and AWD options. For the month of April 2025, Maruti is offering cash discount of Rs 50,000 and a max discount of up to Rs 1.3 lakh on Grand Vitara.

8. Invicto  Discounts Up To Rs 1.4 Lakh

Invicto is Marutis version of Toyota Innova Hycross premium MPV. The cash discount on Invicto premium MPV for the month of April 2025 is only Rs 25,000. However, Maruti Suzuki is offering a rather high scrappage benefit of up to Rs 1.15 lakh, taking the max discount of up to Rs 1.4 lakh on this vehicle for the month of April 2025.
The Linn County sheriff announced the arrest of a suspected sexual predator but criticized involvement of a social media personality.

Sheriff Michelle Duncans news release, issued via email and social media Tuesday, April 8, also called out the culture of online predator catchers, who have become increasingly active in the area.

Unfortunately, many of these private citizens (cyber-vigilantes) are more focused on making their videos and sensationalizing the encounter for their own attention, social media presence and sometimes money earned from their sites and/or channels than ensuring a proper investigation is conducted and an arrest is made safely, Duncan said.

The announcement was prompted by the arrest of 57-year-old Burl Lee Hilburn of Lebanon, who was booked at the Linn County Jail on allegations of luring a minor and online sexual corruption of a child on Monday, April 7.

The vigilante group People v. Preds took credit online for Hilburns arrest. Duncan confirmed via email that the sting was carried about by Cody Mattingly, a member of People v. Preds. Mattingly, who uses the alias Tim Johnson, was not named in the release.

Uncooperative vigilante

The video vigilante reported to sheriff's deputies that Hilburn was communicating with a decoy account posing as an underage boy on March 11, according to the news release.

The social media personality went to the home of Hilburn and caused a disturbance with family members, video recording people at the residence, the release states. The social media personality then called the Linn County Sheriffs Office for help relating to the disturbance.

Deputies responded to the location, learned Hilburn was not home, and spoke with Mattingly to better understand what was happening. However, he would not fully cooperate in providing details about the conversations with Hilburn, according to the release.

The social media personality would only send deputies emails of certain screenshots between them, and Hilburn and denied deputies access to download their phone, the release states.

Downloading the phone was important to validate messages, including receiver and sender information, and dates that the messages were sent, which are all important to the investigation and the determination of which crimes to charge, how many charges, and that the crimes fall within the statute of limitations.

Because of the lack of cooperation, deputies reportedly investigated the incident in a way to reestablish which messages were allegedly sent by Hilburn and Mattingly through search warrants and interviews. A search warrant was served on Hilburns phone, which was manually searched for evidence.

After days of filtering through information, deputies were able to confirm Hilburn had sent sexually explicit texts and photographs to a person he believed to be a 14-year-old boy, the release alleges.

However, Duncan said, when deputies contacted Hilburn again, they learned Mattingly had allegedly sent harassing messages to Hilburn and his family while the investigation was ongoing. Duncan said via email that Mattingly is not facing any criminal charges related to his actions.

Sting operations dangerous

The sheriff warned in her news release that without training, even well-meaning people could endanger themselves and others during these types of sting operations.

Even locally, we have even seen instances where actual minors are being sent to meet an alleged predator in person as bait or the private citizen that conducted their own investigation causing disturbances with others not involved in the crime or the suspect themselves, she said in the release.

The Linn County Sheriffs Office takes these reports seriously and will always investigate tips of anyone preying on children. We ask that once the tip is given, let us conduct a thorough investigation. Our goal is to collect all evidence of all crimes being committed, not just the ones being initially reported.

Duncan said it often takes time to locate evidence that is not readily available, which could lead to other real victims that could be identified and helped.

Unlike some of these private citizens who call law enforcement at the last minute, our deputies are concerned about much more than wanting to just get a sensationalized moment on camera for social media, Duncan said.

The Albany Police Department shared similar concerns about the approach some video vigilantes take following an arrest in March. In a news release, department officials admonished a Texas-based vigilante group, EDP Watch, for failing to follow guidelines regarding citizen-initiated sting operations.

We'll absolutely investigate and prosecute these cases, but they've got to be done in a safe manner, in an appropriate manner, and based on policies and procedures, Chief Marcia Harnden said in a previous interview.

We want to make sure these guys go to prison, but we have to do it right. Instant gratification for YouTube views does not work for us.
A team of biologists from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and France has developed a scenario of what life on Titan, Saturns largest moon, might look like if it does exist, where it is most likely to occur and how much of it might be present.

In our study, we focus on what makes Titan unique when compared to other icy moons: its plentiful organic content, said Dr. Antonin Affholder, a researcher at the University of Arizona.

Using bioenergetic modeling, Dr. Affholder and colleagues found that Titans subsurface ocean, estimated to be as deep as about 483 km (300 miles), may support lifeforms that consume organic material.

While much has been speculated about possible scenarios that could give rise to living organisms on Titan based on the moons abundant organic chemistry, previous estimates have suffered from an overly simplistic approach, Dr. Affholder said.

There has been this sense that because Titan has such abundant organics, there is no shortage of food sources that could sustain life.

We point out that not all of these organic molecules may constitute food sources, the ocean is really big, and theres limited exchange between the ocean and the surface, where all those organics are, so we argue for a more nuanced approach.

At the core of the research lies a back-to-basics approach that attempted to come up with a plausible scenario for life on Titan that assumed one of the simplest and most remarkable of all biological metabolic processes: fermentation.

Familiar to Earthlings for its use in sourdough breadmaking, beer brewing and  less desirably  its role in spoiling forgotten leftovers, fermentation only requires organic molecules, but no oxidant such as oxygen, a crucial requirement for other metabolic processes, such as respiration.

Fermentation probably evolved early in the history of Earths life, and does not require us to open any door into unknown or speculative mechanisms that may or may not have happened on Titan, Dr. Affholder said.

Life on Earth could have first emerged as feeding on organic molecules left over from Earths formation.

We asked, could similar microbes exist on Titan? If so, what potential does Titans subsurface ocean have for a biosphere feeding off of the seemingly vast inventory of abiotic organic molecules synthesized in Titans atmosphere, accumulating at its surface and present in the core?

The researchers specifically focused on one organic molecule, glycine, the simplest of all known amino acids.

We know that glycine was relatively abundant in any sort of primordial matter in the Solar System, Dr. Affholder said.

When you look at asteroids, comets, the clouds of particles and gas from which stars and planets like our Solar System form, we find glycine or its precursors in pretty much all those places.

However, computer simulations revealed that only a small fraction of Titans organic material may be suitable for microbial consumption.

Glycine-consuming microbes in Titans ocean would depend on a steady supply of the amino acid from the surface, through the thick icy shell.

Previous work by the same team had shown that meteorites impacting the ice could leave behind melt pools of liquid water, which then sink through the ice and deliver surface materials to the ocean.

Our new study shows that this supply may only be sufficient to sustain a very small population of microbes weighing a total of only a few kilograms at most  equivalent to the mass of a small dog, Dr. Affholder said.

Such a tiny biosphere would average less than one cell per liter of water over Titans entire vast ocean.

For a future mission to Titan, the odds of finding life  if it is indeed there  could be like looking for a needle in a haystack, unless Titans potential for life is to be found elsewhere than in its surface organic content.

We conclude that Titans uniquely rich organic inventory may not in fact be available to play the role in the moons habitability to the extent one might intuitively think, Dr. Affholder said.

The paper was published in the Planetary Science Journal.

_____

Antonin Affholder et al. 2025. The Viability of Glycine Fermentation in Titans Subsurface Ocean. Planet. Sci. J 6, 86; doi: 10.3847/PSJ/adbc66
As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly integrates into health care, a new study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reveals that all generative AI models may recommend different treatments for the same medical condition based solely on a patient's socioeconomic and demographic background.

Their findings, which are detailed in the April 7, 2025 online issue of Nature Medicine, highlight the importance of early detection and intervention to ensure that AI-driven care is safe, effective, and appropriate for all.

As part of their investigation, the researchers stress-tested nine large language models (LLMs) on 1,000 emergency department cases, each replicated with 32 different patient backgrounds, generating more than 1.7 million AI-generated medical recommendations. Despite identical clinical details, the AI models occasionally altered their decisions based on a patient's socioeconomic and demographic profile, affecting key areas such as triage priority, diagnostic testing, treatment approach, and mental health evaluation.

"Our research provides a framework for AI assurance, helping developers and health care institutions design fair and reliable AI tools," says co-senior author Eyal Klang, MD, Chief of Generative-AI in the Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "By identifying when AI shifts its recommendations based on background rather than medical need, we inform better model training, prompt design, and oversight. Our rigorous validation process tests AI outputs against clinical standards, incorporating expert feedback to refine performance. This proactive approach not only enhances trust in AI-driven care but also helps shape policies for better health care for all."

One of the study's most striking findings was the tendency of some AI models to escalate care recommendations -- particularly for mental health evaluations -- based on patient demographics rather than medical necessity. In addition, high-income patients were more often recommended advanced diagnostic tests such as CT scans or MRI, while low-income patients were more frequently advised to undergo no further testing. The scale of these inconsistencies underscores the need for stronger oversight, say the researchers.

While the study provides critical insights, researchers caution that it represents only a snapshot of AI behavior. Future research will continue to include assurance testing to evaluate how AI models perform in real-world clinical settings and whether different prompting techniques can reduce bias. The team also aims to work with other health care institutions to refine AI tools, ensuring they uphold the highest ethical standards and treat all patients fairly.

"I am delighted to partner with Mount Sinai on this critical research to ensure AI-driven medicine benefits patients across the globe," says physician-scientist and first author of the study, Mahmud Omar, MD, who consults with the research team. "As AI becomes more integrated into clinical care, it's essential to thoroughly evaluate its safety, reliability, and fairness. By identifying where these models may introduce bias, we can work to refine their design, strengthen oversight, and build systems that ensure patients remain at the heart of safe, effective care. This collaboration is an important step toward establishing global best practices for AI assurance in health care."

"AI has the power to revolutionize health care, but only if it's developed and used responsibly," says co-senior author Girish N. Nadkarni, MD, MPH, Chair of the Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health, and the Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "Through collaboration and rigorous validation, we are refining AI tools to uphold the highest ethical standards and ensure appropriate, patient-centered care. By implementing robust assurance protocols, we not only advance technology but also build the trust essential for transformative health care. With proper testing and safeguards, we can ensure these technologies improve care for everyone -- not just certain groups."

Next, the investigators plan to expand their work by simulating multistep clinical conversations and piloting AI models in hospital settings to measure their real-world impact. They hope their findings will guide the development of policies and best practices for AI assurance in health care, fostering trust in these powerful new tools.

The paper is titled "Socio-Demographic Biases in Medical Decision-Making by Large Language Models: A Large-Scale Multi-Model Analysis."

The study's authors, as listed in the journal, are Mahmud Omar, Shelly Soffer, Reem Agbareia, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi, Donald U. Apakama, Carol R. Horowitz, Alexander W. Charney, Robert Freeman, Benjamin Kummer, Benjamin S. Glicksberg, Girish N. Nadkarni, and Eyal Klang.
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is a strange, alien world. Covered in rivers and lakes of liquid methane, icy boulders and dunes of soot-like "sand," its topography has long fascinated scientists and invited speculation on whether lifeforms might lurk beneath the moon's thick, hazy atmosphere.

An international team of researchers co-led by Antonin Affholder at the U of A Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Peter Higgins at Harvard University's Department of Earth and Planetary sciences set out to develop a realistic scenario of what life on Titan might look like if it does exist, where it is most likely to occur and how much of it might be present.

"In our study, we focus on what makes Titan unique when compared to other icy moons: its plentiful organic content," said Affholder, who is a postdoctoral research associate.

Using bioenergetic modeling, the team found that Titan's subsurface ocean, estimated to be as deep as about 300 miles, may support lifeforms that consume organic material. Published in The Planetary Science Journal, their study concludes that while Titan could possibly harbor simple, microscopic life, it likely could support only a few pounds of biomass overall.

Often described as "Earthlike on the surface, ocean world on the inside," Titan is the target for future exploration via NASA's Dragonfly mission. While much has been speculated about possible scenarios that could give rise to living organisms on Titan based on the moon's abundant organic chemistry, previous estimates have suffered from what Affholder considers an overly simplistic approach.

"There has been this sense that because Titan has such abundant organics, there is no shortage of food sources that could sustain life," Affholder said. "We point out that not all of these organic molecules may constitute food sources, the ocean is really big, and there's limited exchange between the ocean and the surface, where all those organics are, so we argue for a more nuanced approach."

At the core of the research lies a "back-to-basics" approach that attempted to come up with a plausible scenario for life on Titan that assumed one of the simplest and most remarkable of all biological metabolic processes: fermentation. Familiar to Earthlings for its use in sourdough breadmaking, beer brewing and -- less desirably -- its role in spoiling forgotten leftovers, fermentation only requires organic molecules, but no "oxidant" such as oxygen, a crucial requirement for other metabolic processes, such as respiration.

"Fermentation probably evolved early in the history of Earth's life, and does not require us to open any door into unknown or speculative mechanisms that may or may not have happened on Titan," Affholder said, adding that life on Earth could have first emerged as feeding on organic molecules left over from Earth's formation.

"We asked, could similar microbes exist on Titan?" Affholder said. "If so, what potential does Titan's subsurface ocean have for a biosphere feeding off of the seemingly vast inventory of abiotic organic molecules synthesized in Titan's atmosphere, accumulating at its surface and present in the core?"

The researchers specifically focused on one organic molecule, glycine, the simplest of all known amino acids.

"We know that glycine was relatively abundant in any sort of primordial matter in the solar system," Affholder said. "When you look at asteroids, comets, the clouds of particles and gas from which stars and planets like our solar system form, we find glycine or its precursors in pretty much all those places."

However, computer simulations revealed that only a small fraction of Titan's organic material may be suitable for microbial consumption. Glycine-consuming microbes in Titan's ocean would depend on a steady supply of the amino acid from the surface, through the thick icy shell. Previous work by the same team had shown that meteorites impacting the ice could leave behind "melt pools" of liquid water, which then sink through the ice and deliver surface materials to the ocean.

"Our new study shows that this supply may only be sufficient to sustain a very small population of microbes weighing a total of only a few kilograms at most -- equivalent to the mass of a small dog," Affholder said. "Such a tiny biosphere would average less than one cell per liter of water over Titan's entire vast ocean."

For a future mission to Titan, the odds of finding life -- if it is indeed there -- could be like looking for a needle in a haystack, unless Titan's potential for life is to be found elsewhere than in its surface organic content, the team suggests.

"We conclude that Titan's uniquely rich organic inventory may not in fact be available to play the role in the moon's habitability to the extent one might intuitively think," Affholder said.

The International Space Science Institute, or ISSI in Bern, Switzerland, funded the research.
Poland-based telecoms infrastructure company Emitel has signed an agreement with Orange to build several hundred new mobile towers across the country.

In a statement, Emitel said the new towers will be used for the installation of base stations and other telecommunications equipment. The infrastructure will be rolled out nationwide under a Build-to-Suit model over the coming years.

We are pleased that Orange Polska has once again placed its trust in us by commissioning a significant infrastructure project, said Emitel CEO Maciej Pilipczuk. As an experienced technology partner, we guarantee the highest standards of execution and efficiency in delivering even the most demanding investments.

As of the end of 2024, Emitel operated 762 towers and counts all of Polands major mobile network operators as tenants.

Our many years of experience in building and managing telecommunications infrastructure enable us to support the expansion of mobile networks in Poland, meeting the growing needs of both operators and end users, Pilipczuk added.
For more than a century, scientists have known the existence of cosmic rays, fast-moving particles showering the Earth from galaxies above.

These high-energy charged particles have long fascinated scientists who believe cosmic rays hold answers to understanding our universe.

Yet, even after more than 100 years of study, a full understanding of where these rays come from, how they gain energy and how they travel through space remains a mystery.

Matthias Plum, Ph.D., South Dakota Mines assistant professor of physics, is striving to uncover these details, and a recent $900,000 National Science Foundation CAREER Grant will help support his research.

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a foundation-wide activity that offers the NSFs most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.

Unlike neutral particles, such as gamma rays or neutrinos, cosmic rays are affected by magnetic fields in galaxies, Plum said. This interaction complicates our ability to trace them back to their original sources.

The NSF grant will expand Plums research and work with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole to examine extensive air showers when cosmic rays collide with the Earths atmosphere.

Mines is one of 58 institutions across 14 countries that form the IceCube Collaboration  an international team driving the research and mission at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, the worlds largest neutrino observatory. Larissa Paul, research scientist in the Mines physics department, recently spent several months at the South Pole observatory installing four new telescopes to collect additional data for Plums research.

The fly eye telescopes simultaneously capture events in the atmosphere, on the surface and deep within the glacial ice to better determine the sources of cosmic rays. The research combines data from IceTop, IceAct and IceCube, the in-ice detector, to achieve the first enhanced measurement of cosmic-ray anisotropy in the southern hemisphere.

The South Pole is the only place on Earth where you have enough clear ice that you can have a surface detector and one that is three kilometers before the surface, Plum said.

Plum, who started this research in 2018, said there had been preliminary data collected. However, the NSF funding will help to amplify the endeavor.

Using data from various detection methods, this project aims to better understand the mass composition, energy and arrival directions of cosmic rays, Plum said. Beyond advancing cosmic-ray physics, it has the potential to propel multi-messenger astrophysics forward and improve the study of high-energy particle interactions through an innovative reconstruction framework that utilizes machine learning to classify cosmic rays by their mass composition.

The big portion of the grant also includes a strong educational piece designed to engage high school and undergraduate students in practical physics research through outreach programs and developing new curriculum that focuses on data science in physics.

My research revolves around machine learning and artificial intelligence in physics, Plum said. We want to expand that into teaching it to the students early on. This means we will develop specific tasks and examples for undergraduate students to solve with machine learning and show them how to apply those new techniques.

Plum said he hopes to one day send students to Antarctica to observe firsthand research at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.

The five-year grant begins this July.
Lauren LaPine

Grand Traverse Mental Health Crisis and Access Center

Michael Corby, behavioral health director, Grand Traverse Mental Health Crisis and Access Center.

For the past several years, the Michigan Health and Hospital Associations (MHA) annual Strategic Action Plan has addressed behavioral health. As the COVID-19 pandemic began winding down, MHA started collecting data on the numbers of patients presenting to emergency departments (ED) across the state who were stuck, waiting for the behavioral health care they needed.We learned that on average, there are at least 155 patients that are stuck in emergency departments across the state that need some level of behavioral health care, says Lauren LaPine, MHA senior director of legislative and public policy. Of those, at least 17 children at any time are boarding [stuck waiting] in an emergency department across the state.Because only 50 to 60% of Michigans hospitals reported data, the real numbers are most likely much higher.It is important for us at the MHA to focus on pediatric mental health, in particular, because we know that there's a need in that space," LaPine says. "Our data in Michigan reflects some of the trends that we see nationally in terms of the increasing need for behavioral health services for children and youth. So, we are paying really close attention to that need and want to make sure that our member hospitals and health systems are able to address the need when pediatric patients and their families come to the hospital in a behavioral health crisis.One MHA strategy for meeting this need is advocacy at the state level. Last year, MHA worked with the Michigan legislature and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to appropriate $50 million to expand hospitals inpatient pediatric psychiatric care and another $10 million to expand psychiatric residential treatment facilities for patients under the age of 21.As distributor of the funding, MHA offered a competitive grant application process that resulted in funding for seven Michigan hospitals interested in expanding those services Corewell Health in Grand Rapids; HealthSource Saginaw Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services ; and Straith Hospital We continue to work hand in hand with our members to make sure that they're able to deploy those resources and really increase the care that children are able to receive across the state, LaPine says. We also have a behavioral health bill package that we have been working on for the last couple of years that addresses the behavioral health capacity concerns that our hospitals see across the state.One of the bills, the Three Hour Bill, would specifically help Medicaid beneficiaries who come to hospital EDs for behavioral health care. Current laws require that a community mental health (CMH) agency send staff to screen patients for an inpatient psychiatric stay. This can prolong waiting times. The bill would change policy  if the CMH cannot send personnel out within three hours, trained hospital staff can complete the assessment.We'd like a clinically qualified health care provider in the emergency department setting to be able to do that assessment," LaPine says. "We tie this directly back to that ED boarding data that we collected. We know that we have these patients that are getting stuck in the emergency department. One of the reasons is that they're waiting for either an assessment or an inpatient bed.LaPine is especially excited by MHA grant-funded projects underway in Grand Rapids at Corewell Health and Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services that will serve pediatric patients. Corewell recently stood up Michigans first dual psychiatric and medical unit in its children's hospital, providing both kinds of care in one setting.We are a whole person. It's very possible to have a medical condition as well as a behavioral health condition at the same time," LaPine says. "Those types of patients tend to be the most challenging to provide care for, mainly because of the way that our physical and behavioral health insurance systems are separated.In collaboration with Corewell Health Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital , Pine Rest is in the process of creating the Pine Rest Pediatric Center of Behavioral Health to serve children from across the state.They're even building in a slide in the hospital," LaPine says. "When a patient is discharged, they can take the slide to leave.In Northern Michigan, Munson Medical Center has partnered with Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority to stand up a pediatric crisis center with a crisis stabilization unit and walk-in pediatric mental health urgent care within the Grand Traverse Mental Health Crisis and Access Center The thing that is exciting about this  and what we're seeing our member hospitals do more often  is our hospitals are starting to create programming in the community that will address a behavioral health crisis before you have to go to the emergency department," LaPine says. "That is some unique work that our hospitals are undertaking.LaPine hears from MHA hospital members that the need is not only for additional inpatient psychiatric beds across the state, but also more services tailored for both pediatric and geriatric patients  the two populations with the greatest need, especially in terms of being stuck in the ED.LaPine concludes, Ideally, no one should have to go to the emergency department for a behavioral health crisis.
Gooch & Housego reported a 7.5% increase in first-half revenue on an organic, constant currency basis in an update on Tuesday, driven by robust demand in its aerospace and defence and its life sciences markets, as well as growth in fibre optic products for subsea data cable networks.

The AIM-traded photonics technology firm said revenue for the six months ended 31 March rose to 70.8m, from 63.6m a year earlier.

Order book momentum continued, with the total rising to 121.5m from 104.5m at the end of September.

Around 7m of the increase came from the recently-acquired Phoenix Optical Technologies, while the organic constant currency increase was 4%.

The company said trading for the full year remained in line with management expectations.

Demand levels remained high, particularly from defence customers, with the integration of the Phoenix business proceeding as planned.

Gooch & Housego highlighted early operational synergies and new contract wins resulting from the combined capabilities of Phoenix and its existing precision optics operations.

Activity in the industrial laser and semiconductor sectors remained subdued, but the company said it was continuing to benefit from a diversified customer base.

It said its newly-operational medical diagnostics facility in Rochester, New York had entered volume production for two programmes and secured new customer contracts.

Management also addressed the potential impact of evolving global tariff regimes, noting that while direct exposure to countries facing new US tariffs was limited, the company was actively re-sourcing certain materials and would look to pass on any cost increases through pricing.

It added that the group's significant US manufacturing footprint could create competitive advantages in some areas.

The company extended its debt facility in April, securing additional committed funding through to 2030.

Net debt, excluding lease liabilities, was 24.1m at the end of March, up from 22.2m a year earlier and 16m at the end of September.

Gooch & Housego said it had $31.6m in undrawn facilities available for future growth.

I am pleased with the progression of the group's order book in the period, which demonstrates the growing confidence our customers have in G&H to provide them with their most complex photonic systems needs, said chief executive officer Charlie Peppiatt.

Our production facilities are starting to benefit from the operational efficiency improvements that are an important part of the group's strategic plan.

Output levels are increasing and production yields are improving.

Peppiatt said that at the same time, the companys outsourcing plans were accelerating with additional product qualifications.

These actions will provide the group with additional productive capacity to service growing levels of demand whilst also supporting margin accretion.

Whilst there remains significant uncertainty in our Industrial markets we are confident that growing demand from the group's other markets will allow us to make further progress in the balance of the financial year on our journey to mid-teens returns over the medium term.

Gooch & Housego said it would announce its interim results on 3 June.

At 0834 BST, shares in Gooch & Housego were up 8.11% at 400p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Canada-based network vendor NuRAN Wireless missed its target for new mobile sites deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo this month citing transit issues.

In a statement, the company stated it deployed 20 mobile sites in the DRC instead of the targeted 42 in March this year. The company detailed that 21 towers are currently in the country in transit, delaying their deployment. It hopes to resolve the situation in the coming days.

NuRAN said that the deployment of the remaining sites will mark a vital step for the company to achieve positive EBITDA. It has deployed 40 new sites in 2025 and maintained its target of 204 by the end of June, despite this delay.

The company stated it has reached its revenue forecast due to cash generation from its live sites. Going forward the company said it will continue to expand its network as top priority in remote locations.
Porsche delivered 8% fewer vehicles in the first quarter on the back of heavy declines in sales in China and the domestic German market.

The luxury carmaker reported a total of 71,470 deliveries worldwide over the first three months of 2025, down from 77,640 a year earlier.

While the North American market saw strong growth, Chinese sales plummeted 42% to 9,471 due to a "continuing tense economic situation", the company said, along with a focus on "value-oriented sales" which it said aimed to balance demand and supply.

Over in Germany, deliveries sank 34% to 7,495 which Porsche blamed on tough comparatives with last year, as well as European cybersecurity regulations, which led to a supply gap for the 718 model series and the combustion-engined Macan.

Sales across the rest of Europe, excluding Germany, were 10% lower at 18,017.

Over in the US and Canada  Porsche's largest market  deliveries were up an impressive 37% at 20,698, which the company said was due to import-related delays in deliveries of certain models the year before.

Meanwhile, according to analysts, there is also speculation that Porsche  alongside other automakers  attempted to ship more vehicles to the US ahead of new trade tariffs on auto imports launched last week by the Trump administration.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Matthias Becker, Porsche's head of sales and marketing, said: "Porsche has a very young and highly attractive product range. Customer demand remains at a solid level. At the same time, Porsche is also investing in the brand and the product portfolio in order to be able to react flexibly to customer requirements."

Shares were down 0.8% at 31.96 by 1128 in Frankfurt.
London stocks were set to recover at the open on Tuesday following a dismal session a day earlier, which saw the top-flight index close down 4.4% as the Trump tariff selloff continued.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around 150 points higher.

Investors will be mulling the latest development in Trumps trade war, after China said it would "fight to the end" as Washington threatened an additional 50% tariff if Beijing went ahead with retaliatory measures of its own against American imports.

US President Donald Trump made the threat late on Monday, a move described as "a mistake on top of a mistake, which once again exposes the USs blackmailing nature", Agence France-Presse quoted a Commerce Ministry spokesperson as saying on Tuesday.

"China will never accept this. If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight it to the end. If the US escalates its tariff measures, China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests."

In corporate news, Hilton Foods said it was on track to deliver 2025 earnings in line with guidance after a sharp jump in profits last year, driven by its core retail meat business which outperformed total market growth in every region.

The company posted a 25% rise in pre-tax earnings to 61m and hiked its dividend 7.8% to 34.5p.

The chief financial officer of Howden Joinery Group is to step down, the blue chip kitchen supplier confirmed on Tuesday, to be replaced by Coats Group's Jackie Callaway.

Paul Hayes, 58, will retire as finance chief and from the board at the end of May, following five years in the role.

He will be replaced by Callaway, who currently holds the same position at textiles specialist Coats Group.

Unite Group reported strong demand for the 2025-2026 academic year in an update, with 75% of beds already sold, and rental growth of 4% to 5% and occupancy of 97% to 98% expected.

The student accommodation provider said it was advancing a new joint venture with Manchester Metropolitan University and progressing multiple development projects, despite some planning delays.

Quarterly property valuations rose modestly, with the Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF) and London Student Accommodation Joint Venture (LSAV) increasing by 0.7% and 0.8% respectively, driven by rental growth and stable to slightly higher yields.
Hilton Foods said it was on track to deliver 2025 earnings in line with guidance after a sharp jump in profits last year, driven by its core retail meat business and despite the uncertain macroeconomic backdrop caused by US tariffs.

The company posted a 25% rise in pre-tax earnings to 61m in the year to December and hiked its dividend 7.8% to 34.5p. On an adjusted basis profits rose 15.3% to 76.1m.

"While the macro backdrop remains uncertain we are confident that we can deliver further earnings growth for the full year, in line with market expectations," the company said on Tuesday.

Analysts are forecasting adjusted pre-tax profits of 76.8m - 83.3m for the company, which supplies meat to retailers and hospitality businesses.

"Beyond the near term, we are well placed for continued success with a strong medium-term growth pipeline and recently secured opportunities in new geographies, underpinning our expansion strategy and long-term vision."

Hilton plans to launch in Saudi Arabia in the second half of next year and introducing its Hilton Foods Canada brand in early 2027.

UK and Europe core retail meat volumes outpaced the market, but there were ongoing market challenges at its vegetarian and vegan business, which reduced to a single production site last year as the market for meat-free options struggled amid a drop in consumer demand, creating structural headwinds.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
Unite Group reported a modest rise in quarterly property valuations on Tuesday, supported by rental growth and continued strong demand for student accommodation, as it updated the market on trading and fund performance for the first quarter of 2025.

The FTSE 100 student accommodation provider said 75% of its beds for the 2025-2026 academic year had now been sold, down from 84% at the same stage last year.

It attributed the change to a later leasing cycle, in line with expectations following a return to more typical seasonal trends.

The company said it was on track to achieve rental growth of 4% to 5% and occupancy of 97-98% for the year.

Unite said it was seeing robust demand from both domestic and international students, supported by a 2% increase in the UKs 18-year-old population and higher visa issuance so far this year.

University nomination agreements accounted for 56% of reserved beds, unchanged from the prior year.

Quarterly valuations for Unites two principal funds both saw positive momentum.

The Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF) portfolio rose 0.7% on a like-for-like basis to 2.91bn, driven by 0.8% rental growth and stable yields of 5.2%.

Its London Student Accommodation Joint Venture (LSAV) portfolio meanwhile increased 0.8% to 2.08bn, supported by 1.3% rental growth, though partially offset by a two basis point rise in yields to 4.5%.

Unite also said it was in advanced talks to form a new joint venture with Manchester Metropolitan University for the development of 2,300 beds at the Cambridge Halls site in central Manchester, with phased delivery planned for 2029 and 2030.

It added that it was progressing other pipeline projects, including a 934-bed scheme at Central Quay in Glasgow and a Newcastle University joint venture expected to receive planning approval in May.

Separately, the company said the Mayor of London had called in its 605-bed TP Paddington scheme after a local rejection, with a decision expected later in the year.

Unite said it was continuing to work with the Building Safety Regulator on pre-construction approvals for other London projects targeted to start this year.

Student numbers are expected to increase again for the 2025-2026 academic year due to a growing UK 18-year-old population and improving trends in international student recruitment, said chief executive officer Joe Lister.

Reservations have accelerated in recent weeks, in line with our expectations for a later leasing cycle, and are underpinned by nomination agreements from our university partners.

We remain on track to deliver rental growth of 4% to 5% and occupancy of 97% to 98% for the 2025-2026 academic year.

At 0828 BST, shares in Unite Group were up 1.94% at 812.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
India's technology hardware industry, particularly smartphone production, could benefit as the US increases tariffs on electronic imports from major players such as China, Vietnam, and Mexico. CLSA recently showed in a report that the new 25% to 54% tariffs could instigate a shift in supply chains that isIndia-friendly.

These three nations represent 51% of US imports of electronics, with smartphones contributing $51 billion alone. China and Vietnam are both hit by tariffs of 34% and 46% respectively, while India's lower tariff of 26% makes it a more viable manufacturing base.

Large phone makers such as Apple, Samsung, and Motorola already have local assembly facilities in India. The move is also supported by India's huge local market and increasing local production capabilities, driven by the government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) programme. This marriage makes India more cost-competitive, says CLSA.

Dixon Technologies, one of the top domestic electronics players, is likely to be one of the prime gainers. With collaborations with Motorola, Google, and Nokia, Dixon stands to benefit immensely from the changing dynamics. Apple and Samsung's assembly is either in-house or through unlisted partners, whereas Dixon's share is likely to increase.

But the prospect is not without obstacles. Brazil, with only a 10% tariff, might be a formidable competitor. Furthermore, changing bilateral arrangementssuch as Vietnam's proposal to remove tariffs on US goodscould erode India's edge.
Staten Island's first BJs Wholesale Club, located in Charleston, is set to open April 25, according to company officials. (Advance/SILive | Jessica Jones-Gorman) (Staten Island Advance/Jessica J

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Get ready Staten Island shoppers. The boroughs first BJs Wholesale Club is now complete and ready for business. According to company officials, the Charleston-based warehouse will officially swing its doors open to customers on April 25.
Flagstar Bank, a subsidiary of Flagstar Financial, will soon close 60 branches across the United States including three sites on Staten Island. This site, located at 1214 Castleton Ave. in West Brighton, is among the closures. (Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel) (Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Flagstar Bank, a subsidiary of Flagstar Financial, will soon close 60 branches across the United States, including three sites located on Staten Island. Company officials have noted that the closures are part of a plan to reduce expenses and streamline the banks operations.

2024 was a transitional year for Flagstar, CEO Joseph Otting said on the companys earnings conference call in January, during which the bank reported an annual net loss of $1,090 million. Despite this, the company made tremendous progress on each of its strategic priorities and set the stage from which to grow going forward.

During that call, the company revealed plans to close approximately 20 private client offices and 60 retail branches. No locations were named, but a recent bulletin from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency listed the addresses of 24 branches in five states as imminent closures.

The Flagstar locations at 5770 Hylan Blvd. in Princes Bay, 1214 Castleton Ave. in West Brighton, and 832 Jewett Ave. in Westerleigh were on that list.

Other branches in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and in Suffolk and Nassau counties, were also tagged for closure, as well as locations in New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, Arizona and Ohio.

According to an article posted on HousingWire.com, Chief Financial Officer Lee Smith framed the Flagstar branch closures as real estate optimization.

There are approximately 60 retail branches, most of which we lease, that we are looking to consolidate, he told the publication. Again, these are close to other locations, so we do not feel therell be any disruption to the customer experience. Were phasing the closure of those branches in three different phases, one of which is already underway, and then a further two phases that will occur later this year.

Flagstar, formerly known as New York Community Bancorp, did not respond to several requests for comment about the closures.

According to Flagstars website, there are currently 16 branches on Staten Island. These closures will bring that count down to 13.

At least one of the affected locations  1214 Castleton Ave.  is housed in an architecturally significant building that has been serving the boroughs banking needs since the early 1900s. The branch at 832 Jewett Ave. has also been a Staten Island mainstay for decades.

I grew up a block away from the branch on Jewett Avenue and have been banking there for a long time, noted Dawn Tanaka of Randall Manor, who recently received a letter stating her branch would soon close. It was Westerleigh Savings & Loan then, and my mother took me there to open my first bank account.

Tanaka, who is 81, said it breaks her heart to see the branch close.

Its sad what is happening here on Staten Island, she said. If they tear down these beautiful buildings, it will destroy an important part of this boroughs history.
The NYPD responded to a report of a possible explosive device behind a home in Eltingville on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Scott R. Axelrod) Scott R. Axelrod

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The NYPD Bomb Squad and other emergency responders rushed to an Eltingville street Monday night to investigate the discovery of a possible explosive device.

The incident occurred in the vicinity of Bartlett and Richmond avenues around 8 p.m., according to a spokesman for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

The device was initially believed be a hand grenade, police said.

It was found in an area behind a home on Bartlett, a resident at the scene told the Advance/SILive.com.

However, it was eventually determined that there was no confirmed device at the location, the NYPD spokesman said.

Bartlett was initially blocked off and drivers were urged to avoid the area as traffic delays, road closures and mass transit disruptions were expected, according to the New York City Office of Emergency Management in a post to X.

The NYPD responded to a report of a possible explosive device behind a home in Eltingville on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Scott R. Axelrod) Scott R. Axelrod

The NYPD responded to a report of a possible explosive device behind a home in Eltingville on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Scott R. Axelrod) Scott R. Axelrod
An attempted rape occurred on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at about 7:50 p.m. at Silver Lake Park, according to the NYPD. This photo was taken on Monday, April 7. Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Local runners expressed shock and concern over the attempted rape of a female jogger at Silver Lake Park last Thursday.

The frightening ordeal occurred around 7:50 p.m. inside the park in the vicinity of Silver Lake Park Road and Forest Avenue, the NYPD said.
Scenes from the national 2025 THRIVE Maternal Health Tour at Grand Colony Hall in Staten Island on Sunday, March 30th. (Courtesy of Mikedoeloshoots) Mikedoeloshoots

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.A Staten Island-based health organization, the Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc., partnered with Elev8 Health, Inc. to kick off the national 2025 THRIVE Maternal Health Tour, focused on addressing maternal health outcomes and empowering communities.

Hundreds of people flooded the events over the weekendthe first stop took place at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn on Saturday, March 29, and the second at Grand Colony Hall in Staten Island on Sunday, March 30.

After witnessing the success of last years tour... we advocated fiercely to bring this much needed event to Staten Island, CEO of Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc., Henry Thompson, Ph.D, said. As the lead local organization, it was important that we collaborate with the organizers to identify local resources, highlight partners in maternal health and source panelists to address the needs of new and expecting families.

Scenes from the national 2025 THRIVE Maternal Health Tour at Grand Colony Hall in Staten Island on Sunday, March 30th. (Courtesy of Mikedoeloshoots) Mikedoeloshoots

Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc.whose mission is to sustain a healthy and strong community through affordable, culturally competent, quality primary health careoperates in Stapleton and Port Richmond. It offers a wide range of services to support birthing families, including the Healthy Start program, WIC Office, Doula Program, Fatherhood Initiative and Baby Cafe, which provides free, drop-in breastfeeding support with professional lactation care.

Aligning with Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc.s vision, the THRIVE TourElev8 Healths initiative to improve maternal health, particularly for African American and American Indian/Alaska Native women who face higher maternal mortality and morbidity rateswas an ideal collaboration for Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc.

The THRIVE Tour unites mental health professionals, birth workers, medical providers, families and community members to form a supportive village. This collaborative care model is delivered through events, expert panels and impactful storytelling across cities.

Its goal is to empower communities with practical tools, resources, and knowledge, nurturing a supportive village that dismantles systemic barriers and ensures healthier, thriving futures for mothers, fathers, children, and entire families, a spokesperson for CHCR said about the THRIVE Tour.

Each THRIVE Tour stop features a Dads Den, offering fathers-to-be support through private discussions about their needs and challenges. Led by Dear Fathers Co-Founder Jesse Alex, the Dads Den provides tools to enhance mental health and empower dads in their journey.

Real transformation occurs when communities recognize that their greatest strength lies in collective care, Que English, Ph.D, president and CEO of Elev8 Health said.

Que English moderated a panel with Natalie Jasso (CHCR), Amen Ayanru (NYC Breastfeeding Warmline), and Maralie Deprinvil (Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness) at the THRIVE tour on Staten Island. (Courtesy of Mikedoeloshoots) Mikedoeloshoots

At the Grand Colony Hall, a panel discussion moderated by Que English included Natalie Jasso, Doula Coordinator at CHCR, Amen Ayanru, Program Manager at NYC Breastfeeding Warmline and Maralie Deprinvil, Director of Operations at Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness.

Jessica Douglass, Director of African American Affairs at the New York State Executive Chamber, followed with remarks and presented a Proclamation on behalf of Governor Kathy Hochul.

Jessica Douglass, Director of African American Affairs at the New York State Executive Chamber, presented a Proclamation on behalf of Governor Kathy Hochul. (Courtesy of Mikedoeloshoots) Mikedoeloshoots

The 2025 THRIVE Tour will continue in cities across the country through November 2025, including Houston, TX; El Paso, TX; Los Angeles, CA; San Diego, CA; Jacksonville, FL; Miami, FL; Boston, MA; Charleston, WV; Lexington, KY; Fairbanks, AK; Rapid City, SD; Nashville, TN; Savannah, GA; Greenville, MS; Mobile, AL; Dallas, TX; Philadelphia, PA; and New Orleans, LA.

Disparities in maternal health outcomes

The disparity in maternal health outcomes stems from multiple underlying factors, including limited access to resources, education, and safe environments, according to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 2021 Statutory Enforcement Report.

Between 2016 and 2020, New York Citys 5-year Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Ratio (PAMR) was 42.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported. During this time, the PAMR for Black women and birthing people was four times higher than for White women and birthing people.

On Staten Island, the infant mortality rate on the North Shore -- defined by the current boundary of the City Council district -- is double the rate of the South Shore, standing at 5.8 deaths for every 1,000 live births compared to 2.6 on the South Shore, according to 2019 data released by the Health Department.

To bridge the gap across Staten Island, CHCR continues to invest in expanding maternal health education and is in the process of building the Grove Avenue Health Center, a new 22,000-square-foot facility, slated to open in 2027, which will feature a new birthing center.
A Catholic school in Middlesex County will permanently close in June due to declining enrollment, according to the local parish.

The Immaculate Conception School in Spotswood enrolls students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

Only 39 students had registered for the 2025-26 academic year as of last week, wrote Rev. John J. OKane, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Spotswood, in a letter to parents and guardians April 4.

It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we share the difficult news that Immaculate Conception School in Spotswood will be closing, OKane wrote in the letter provided Monday to NJ Advance Media.

OKane cited enrollment in writing that there is no feasible way" to continue. His letter did not disclose the schools current enrollment.

This decision comes after much prayer, discernment, and exhaustive efforts to sustain our beloved school in an increasingly challenging environment, OKane wrote.

OKane did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An online petition seeking to save the school was posted April 1, three days before his announcement, and had 1,101 signatures as of 3 p.m. Monday.

The petition asks the bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, James F. Checchio, to overturn the decision to close the school.

The diocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More than 30 Catholic schools in New Jersey have closed in the past five years, with officials typically citing declining enrollment and financial pressures.

Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair is permanently closing in June after 100 years in operation, the Archdiocese of Newark announced in February.

The all-girls Immaculate Conception High School in Lodi closed after 108 years in June 2023, three years after its most celebrated alum, Snow White actress Rachel Zegler, received her diploma.

Immaculate Conception School in Spotswood opened in September 1960 with 198 students in grades one, two and three, according to the schools website.

By the following year, it had expanded to grades K-8 with 539 students. In 1965, the school constructed a two-story annex with 12 additional classrooms. Pre-kindergarten programs for children ages 2 to 4 were added in the 1990s.

Immaculate Conception School has been a beacon of faith, academic excellence, and community. Generations of students have passed through our doors, receiving a strong foundation not only in academics but in Catholic values that have guided them through their lives, wrote OKane in his April 4 letter.

OKane recounted efforts to increase enrollment, including lowering tuition, providing incentives for early registration, and offering $1,000 discounts for student referrals.

The schools marketing plan was expanded in December.

These initiatives, while somewhat impactful, were not enough to ensure the long-term viability of the school, OKane wrote.

I am grateful to the dedicated teachers of Immaculate Conception School for their unwavering commitment, passion, and service to our students and school community over the years. Their hard work and devotion have made a lasting impact on the lives of countless children, fostering both academic excellence and faith formation, OKane wrote.

The last day of classes is listed on the schools calendar as June 13.
Aunamarie M. Mahnken,12, of Central Square, died on Thursday, April 3, 2025 after she was hit by a vehicle in front of her middle school on April 1. Family photo

Central Square, N.Y.  A 12-year-old girl hit by a car in front of an Oswego County middle school last week has died, troopers said Monday.

Aunamarie M. Mahnken, of Central Square, was crossing in front of Central Square Middle School around 2:44 p.m. last Monday on Route 11 when she was hit, troopers said.

The girl was taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse where she was in critical condition. She died Thursday, troopers said.

The vehicle that hit Aunamarie was driven by Tyler Anthony Hanlon, 22, of Central Square, troopers said.

Hanlon cooperated with investigators and is not expected to face any charges, troopers said.

Multiple students saw the crash from their buses, according to Superintendent Thomas J. Colabufo. He notified parents and said counseling support would be available for students and staff.

Her obituary said Aunamaries vibrant smile and brave spirit has touched so many lives both far and wide.

She loved to make art, watch Tik Tok, and paint gel nail sets, her obituary said. She had a natural talent and began making press on sets for others.

She was interested in studying cosmetology and strived to one day be an esthetician, her obituary said.

She was colorful, spunky, and known to always be listening to music or dancing, her obituary said. She was smart, she was creative, and she was beautiful inside and out.

Aunamaries organs were donated to help others, her obituary said.

Calling hours will be 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Traub Funeral Home in Central Square. A sharing of memories by Aunas family will take place at 6 p.m. The family encouraged people to wear purple, Aunamaries favorite color, according to her obituary.

A sign and memorial for Aunamarie M. Mahnken,12, of Central Square, on Monday outside Bonnet Sales and Services on Route 11. Aunamarie died on Thursday, April 3, 2025 after she was hit by a vehicle in front of her middle school on April 1. Photo courtesy Susan Bonnet

Staff writer Rylee Kirk covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, photo, question or comment? Reach her at 315-396-5961, on Twitter @kirk_rylee, or rkirk@syracuse.com.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  At a time when residents want to ensure their safety when using Staten Island parks, the Advance/SILive.com has learned Gateway National Recreation Areas Great Kills Park has been devoid of park rangers for a significant period of time.

Park safety has been on the forefront of residents minds following an attempted rape in the city-run Silver Lake Park in early April.

Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the federal governments National Parks Service  which runs Great Kills Park  has not established any rangers or park police on the premises, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

And after the recent rape attempt in Silver Lake Park, Island residents want to know why this expanse of federally-governed land -- which is utilized by walkers and joggers, boaters, and those who want to spend time in a lush park -- lacks park rangers for security.

Two walkers enjoying the brisk weather Tuesday were shocked to hear that no park rangers have operated out of the park in the last few years.

COVID was five years ago, said one of the avid walkers, who requested anonymity.

No, thats wrong. Thats wrong, he added when he learned of the lack of park rangers.

The Gateway National Reaction Areas Great Mills Park ranger station is pictured sealed on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Jillian Delaney) Advance/SILive.com | Jillian Delaney

Ranger station closed

On the National Parks Services website, it says The Ranger Station is currently closed at Great Kills in addition to the Staten Island Units office being vacant.

The Staten Island Unit is comprised of three properties on Staten Island run by the service: Great Kills Park, Miller Field, and Fort Wadsworth.

The National Parks Service didnt return Advance/SILive.com calls about why rangers are no longer assigned to the heavily-utilized park, or why the Staten Island unit is closed.

#FyiSI

I want to hear from all of you about the things that dont make national headlines, but are of utmost importance to Staten Islanders.

If youd like to reach out, please email me at jdelaney@siadvance. Put #fyiSI in the email subject line and include your name, neighborhood and contact phone number.

Want to tag us on social media? Use #fyiSI on all your quality of life posts.
Former Full House star John Stamos is firing back after being criticized for appearing at a charity fundraiser that was held at President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

USA Today reported that Stamos was the emcee at the event.

I accepted the invitation to emcee the Palm Beach Ray of Hope Gala  an evening dedicated to honoring and uplifting our frontline heroes, Stamos wrote on his Instagram account.

He said that the Dancing with the Stars-themed fundraiser was not political.

The president was not in attendance at the event.

Stamos said that the nonpartisan event was in support of The Academy for Nursing and Health Occupations.

The group is a 501(c)(3) organization that trains 350-400 nurses every year and helps address a healthcare worker shortage in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Stamos wrote that supporting nurses isnt political  its essential.

He wrote, These are the people who care for us and our families when we need it most, and I believe we should show up for them with the same unwavering dedication they show up with every single day. I stand by the important of healthcare, of service, and of investing in those who care for our communities.

Stamos, who has in the past supported Democratic Party policies and candidates, said his values and political views remain unchanged.

He encouraged readers to donate to left-leaning Democracy Forward if they do not want to give to Palm Beach Ray of Hope.

Stamos reacted after fans slammed him for appearing at the Trump resort.

John Stamos just ruined his brand forever, one wrote on X, per People magazine. You cant visit Mar-a-Lago and then expect the stink to ever leave you. Nobody will be having mercy on him. (See what I did there?)

Stamos in 2020 endorsed Joe Biden for president and backed Kamala Harris last year.
The Chinese government is expressing its ire after trade remarks by Vice President JD Vance, CNN reported.

In an interview with Fox News last Thursday, Vance defended President Donald Trumps controversial tariffs and hit out at what the veep called the globalist economy.

What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America? And the answer is, fundamentally, its based on two principles  incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us, Vance said on Fox and Friends.

To make it a little more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture, Vance said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded at a press conference on Tuesday, saying: Its both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks.

CNN said Vances comments sparked an intense backlash when the remarks reached the Chinese internet.

This true peasant who came out of rural America seems to have a lack of perspective, Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of state-run tabloid Global Times, said on microblogging site Weibo. Many people are urging him to come and see China for himself.

Look, this is their true face  arrogant and rude as always, said one commenter on the site.

We may be peasants, but we have the worlds best high-speed rail system, the most powerful logistics capabilities, and leading AI, autonomous driving, and drone technologies. Arent such peasants quite impressive? said another.

Others called Vances comments ironic given the hardscrabble background the veep wrote about in his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy.
An AccuWeather graphic shows unseasonably cold temperatures occupying New York City early in the week of Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Courtesy of AccuWeather)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Just when you think winter is dead and gone, it takes another bite at the Big Apple.

Thanks to a dip in the jet stream in the eastern U.S., cold air from Canada is filtering into the Northeast, according to AccuWeather.

As a result, the National Weather Service is issuing a freeze warning for New York City overnight into Wednesday morning.

The warning, which alerts residents to sub-freezing temperatures, will remain in effect from midnight through 9 a.m. Wednesday. Temperatures could reach as low as 28 degrees, as noted by the weather service.

An AccuWeather graphic shows unseasonably cold temperatures occupying New York City early in the week of Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Courtesy of AccuWeather)

The weather service is also warning residents with a green thumb that temperatures could kill crops and sensitive vegetation.

It will feel like winter for many across the Midwest and Northeast at the start of the week as Arctic air surges south from Canada. Temperatures across much of the Midwest and interior Northeast will be as much as 10-20 degrees F below the historical average, and with a gusty wind out of the Northwest, conditions will feel very chilly, explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva.

The impact of the wind was already on display by Tuesday morning. While the Advance/SILive.com weather station in Bloomfield recorded a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit around 11:30 a.m., conditions made for a freezing feels like temperature of 32 degrees.

Gusty NW winds behind a cold frontal passage will bring in colder air today. Resulting high temperatures today will average well below normal values for this time of year. #NYwx #NJwx #CTwx pic.twitter.com/ZOX0lSWSyQ  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) April 8, 2025

At the time, southwest winds were clocked at a speed of 11 mph, with gusts peaking around 26 mph.

While temperatures are expected to rise into the upper 40s on Wednesday, wind chill could make for feels like temperatures in the 20s and 30s early in the day, as indicated by the weather service.

For reference, the historical average temperature in the Central Park area of New York City for this time of April is approximately 51 degrees, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data from 1991-2020.
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Twenty years on, and a body has been found in the Burraga Swamp, exactly where the lyrebird danced. The young ornithologist, Jessica, is now an associate professor teaching at the local university, while the female police officer to whom she initially reported the sighting has left the force. Sadly, the latter is not enjoying retirement as much as she thought she would, following the recent death of her beloved husband. Megan is therefore quietly delighted when she is called on to investigate a cold case that was always hers from the start.

Deep in the Barrington Tops National Park, a hungover ornithologist is taking a pee in the bush when she hears a woman screaming. Alarmed, she creeps towards the source of the cries only to discover a superb male lyrebird on display, doing what lyrebirds do best: mimicking the sounds he has heard. While this orchestral arrangement features other bird calls, chainsaws, and a car engine ... it also includes the terrified cries of a woman being murdered.

While The Mother, Caros first foray into crime fiction, was a confronting take on the problem of coercive control and domestic violence, the politically savvy Walkley Award winner is highlighting a different set of contemporary issues here within the familiar (and more reassuring) genre of the police procedural.

Jane Caros second novel is as Australian as it gets. Credit: James Brickwood

Stomping through the bush in her gumboots to view the recently discovered body, Megan invokes the determined stride of another elderly fictional female sleuth, Anne Cleeves Vera. This is hardly coincidental, since theres a nice moment near the end when Megan is watching Vera on TV with her adult son who has come to look after her. And there the resemblance fades; Vera was never married and has no friends.

As in The Mother, the attention is firmly on the women. This includes not only fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, but also the enduring power of female friendship. Jessica is now a single parent managing a 15-year-old climate activist who is challenging her mothers authority at every turn. At one point, Jessica wonders, as have many parents of teenage daughters before her, just how her sweet and biddable child had been replaced by a foul-mouthed selfish harridan.

Megan, on the other hand, is delighted to be reacquainted with Jessica since the lyrebird case was her first as a still wet-behind-the-ears detective constable, and has always regretted the fact that it was the mockery she copped from her male colleagues that persuaded her to give up on it: that, and the absence of a body or any other evidence of a crime. The remains discovered in the swamp, however unfortunate, are therefore a vindication of Megan and Jessicas original conviction that a woman had indeed come to grief.
There is a legitimate debate to be had about the distribution of education funding and the efficacy of the Gonski reforms in NSW, but the incendiary suggestion from the leader of the state system that Catholic and independent schools may have no place is almost Trumpian in its isolationism.

NSW Education Department secretary Murat Dizdar put his foot in his mouth when quoted in an article previewing the ABCs Australian Story saying the existence of private schools needs to be debated and discussed. Hours before the episode aired on Monday, he seemed to realise the folly and ameliorated his comments, saying they were not intended to disrespect colleagues in Catholic and independent schools, and recognised their role in NSW education.

Murat Dizdar said the existence of private schools needed to be debated and discussed. Credit: Rhett Wyman

But the two sectors Dizdar had traduced were not amused.

The chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW, Dallas McInerney, questioned Dizdars vision, saying it put a question mark over the role and future of non-government schools. The chief executive of the Association of Independent Schools of NSW, Margery Evans, curtly said it was unconstructive to yearn for an overseas education model that never existed in this country.
Premier Chris Minns says his government fully supports parental choice in the education system after the head of NSWs 2200 public schools questioned whether private schools should exist.

NSW Education secretary Murat Dizdar kicked off a fierce row on Monday after he told the ABC the provision of private schools needed to be debated and discussed.

NSW Education Department secretary Murat Dizdar later appeared to walk back his comments on private schools. Credit: Rhett Wyman

Weve had countries across the world that have been very successful on their educational path with one provision, and thats been a public provision, he said.

Dizdars comments sparked intense backlash from Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney, who condemned them as outrageously bad and very worrying for Catholic education.
If I need to go to Roger Cook tomorrow or Monday next week and say, Roger, listen because he has got $60 million right now for renewable energy projects  Roger could give us $5 million from the [investment] attraction fund, Gauld told the court, according to transcripts of the proceedings. I can go back to him next week and say, Listen, weve got an urgent commitment, I need another $5 million, and we will get this all done. Its not an issue. Blackwall Legals Chris Pearce appeared in court on behalf of KordaMentha on Tuesday, successfully arguing for a week-long adjournment of the matter to allow the newly-appointed administrators to prepare. The delay had been opposed by DD Investments lawyer Martin Bennett, who told the court his client had been forced to wait long enough for the enforcement of a judgment ordering that the payment be processed. Court documents obtained by this masthead indicate IGE had failed to meet its court deadlines ahead of Tuesdays hearing, including those set for the submission of its defence.

IGE and Gauld had previously denied the allegations and called for the wind-up application to be thrown out, claiming there was no evidence its assets were in jeopardy and branding the appointment of a liquidator a drastic intrusion into its affairs. IGEs lawyers at Edwards Mac Scovell declined to answer questions related to the case, but confirmed it was still acting for the company. While acknowledging he had worked with the company and its officials, Cook was adamant he did not have a personal relationship with Gauld and the release of such funds were subject to stringent oversight. I have no idea why he would make that comment. I have no personal relationship with Stephen, but he is at one of our renewable energy companies and obviously, I work with him and his colleagues on a regular basis, Cook told WAtoday. We need to make sure these monies are deployed in the most appropriate way, which is why the companies are subject to stringent oversight by the department, but also subject to meeting milestones as part of that payment process.

Loading WAtoday understands the company met the initial milestones necessary for the release of around $1.5 million, but that the department has since suspended payments because progress has stalled. This masthead has spoken with a number of shareholders since the allegations were aired who expressed concerns about the companys future and a desire to see a change of leadership. IGE has attracted several high-profile investors, including reclusive billionaire Kie Chie Wong, who made his fortune as an early investor in Andrew Forrests Fortescue Metals Group, and Sydney investor Lance Rosenbergs Glenagle. Concerns about the financial health of the company were first raised more than two years ago, when auditors at Grant Thornton warned they had doubts about the groups ability to continue as a going concern.

At the time, the group had incurred an operating loss of $26.5 million, had a working capital deficit of $7.8 million and net cash flow of just $2.4 million. The 2022/23 financial report was the last to be filed with the corporate watchdog. The clean hydrogen hopeful, formerly Infinite Blue Energy, is behind several projects earmarked for Western Australia worth hundreds of millions of dollars. IGE and partners Samsung C&T and Doral Energy have been trying to secure approval to build a $127 million small-scale hydrogen production facility in Northam, which was backed by the WA government in 2023 to the tune of $5 million but has struggled to garner support from planning authorities. The appointment comes as the states environmental watchdog pores over IGEs Arrowsmith Hydrogen Plant plans, which involve the construction of a wind and solar-powered hydrogen production facility across a 1929 hectare property about 30 kilometres south of Dongara.

IGE had hoped to produce first gas in the second half of 2026. The company had also joined forces with Swiss energy giant Axpo on the Valle Peligna project in central Italy, which, if successful, would be one of the largest commercial-scale hydrogen plants in Southern Europe. The project received the backing of the federal governments investment commission Austrade and the Australian Embassy. IGEs project partners Samsung C&T and Doral declined to comment. The appointment also comes almost 12 months after a board exodus at IGE, led by its chair and former Woodside chief Peter Coleman. The companys chief financial officer departed eight weeks later.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will promise Australians a 3 per cent cut in household energy bills and a 15 per cent reduction in gas prices for big industrial users if he wins government, pledging to flood the Australian market with gas to make energy cheaper and grow the economy.

The Coalition has released long-awaited modelling on its national gas plan that forces companies to keep Australian gas onshore, revealed in Duttons budget-in-reply speech last month.

Liberal candidate for Werriwa Sam Kayal and Peter Dutton preparing to fill up the campaign truck on Tuesday morning. Credit: James Brickwood

After Dutton spent much of this term attacking Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to bring down power bills by $275 as promised, the opposition has launched its most significant cost-of-living pitch of the campaign by committing to lower electricity prices.

The pledge could come back to bite Dutton if prices continue to rise, but he will rely on analysis from Frontier Economics to argue his plan will lead to a 23 per cent cut in wholesale gas prices.
Dutton threw his support behind a trio of his candidates for marginal seats who have attracted damaging headlines as he seeks a rebound from the Coalitions slip in the polls after the first week of the campaign.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said Hasties position was untenable unless he recanted his past view that close combat roles should be reserved for male soldiers, describing his resurfaced remarks as a major concern.

A Liberal candidate dumped by the party has forced Peter Dutton to declare his support for women serving in combat roles, after the political aspirant went on the attack and claimed Coalition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie shared his view that fighting units should be male only.

They include Bennelong aspirant Scott Yung, who failed to accurately declare fundraising and has been tied to a Chinese Communist Party-linked high roller, and Kooyong candidate Amelia Hamer, who has pitched herself as a renter trying to break into the housing market despite owning two properties.

Duttons support for the candidates contrasts with his backflip on working from home and decision to remove Benjamin Britton as a candidate earlier this week after the former soldier said women should not serve in combat roles. Both the policy and Brittons remarks threatened to exacerbate the Coalitions sliding popularity with female voters in recent polls.

Britton, who was canned from standing for the NSW south coast seat of Whitlam, claimed on Tuesday that he was the victim of a witch-hunt from moderate factional forces within the party and reiterated his claims about the army.

My position is the same as Andrew Hastie, the shadow minister for defence and the great [former Liberal senator] Jim Molan that women should not serve specifically in combat roles, specifically in the army itself, Britton, who is a veteran, told Ben Fordham on 2GB.

In 2018, Hastie, who is also a former elite soldier, said on Sky News that: My personal view is that the fighting DNA of a close combat unit is best preserved when it is exclusively male  Now thats not a popular view, weve changed it five years ago, but youve asked for my personal view [and] there it is.
VERDICT: ANTHONY ALBANESE If you came for soaring rhetoric and a powerful vision of Australias future, you landed at the wrong address. The first leaders debate, in the form of a democratic peoples forum in Sydneys western suburbs, was prosaic. Neither leader landed much of a blow on the other. The best you could say about Anthony Albanese or Peter Dutton was that they were both solid, and neither stuffed up. The composition of the forum was excellent  a mix of young and old voters from different backgrounds, all of them ordinary working people with concerns about fuel prices, housing, immigration levels and the cost of visiting their GP. They were treated with respect and empathy by both leaders, and their questions were mostly answered.

If there was barely a whisker between the two men in the quality of their responses, its because there is not much difference in policy between the pair. The Coalition has matched most of Labors big promises  on health, on youth mental health, on education and on cutting immigration numbers. The two parties are in lock-step on AUKUS, although Dutton says he will boost military funding. The opposition leaders main pitch was the claim that the Coalition will always be better economic managers than Labor. Which is an untestable proposition and also doesnt provide anyone much of a reason to vote for him in particular. Loading Meanwhile, Albanese harked back to Coalition cuts of the past, saying that the last time the Liberals took the reins of government from Labor (in 2013), they promised not to cut services, but they did it anyway (in the horror 2014 budget). The prime minister made sure to mention the dreaded Medicare co-payment that Dutton tried to introduce during his stint as health minister. The PM, of course, had brought his favourite visual prop  his trusty Medicare card, Kermit-green and ever-ready to be brandished as a reminder to voters of which party owns Medicare.

There was little levity, except when Albanese assured voters there would be no deals with the Greens in the event of minority government  this caused Dutton to crack a smile. Overall, Albanese came across as more assured and more detailed in his responses. Dutton spoke well but was at a disadvantage when it came to detailing how he would address the national problems he quite rightly pointed out. Thats the problem with having so little policy on offer  it doesnt give you much to sell. VERDICT: Draw

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have fought each other to a draw in the first debate of the 2025 election campaign. Neither man made any major missteps in a debate that was not only scoreless but which, at times, struggled to have a pulse at all. Given the turmoil in Duttons personal life on Tuesday evening  his father Bruce was rushed to hospital with a reported heart attack before the debate  it was an extraordinarily controlled and competent performance and a credit to the opposition leader. The news put the debate in its proper context: this was a contest for the democratic leadership of the country, but no more. Both men performed well and easily handled the questions put by the audience of voters in western Sydney. Albanese started a little nervously  this was a surprise, given that Labors start to the campaign has been weirdly calm and on message, while Dutton threw a few more punches early on, such as accusing Albanese of being dishonest, though the prime minister didnt bite.
Washington: The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to use an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants but says they must get a court hearing before they are taken from the United States.

In a bitterly divided decision, the court said on Tuesday (AEST) the administration must give Venezuelans it claims are gang members reasonable time to go to court.

But the conservative majority said the legal challenges must take place in Texas, instead of a Washington courtroom.

Donald Trump in March ordered the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members from the United States to a prison in El Salvador. Credit: El Salvador PPO via AP

The courts action appears to bar the administration from immediately resuming the flights that last month carried hundreds of migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The flights came soon after US President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to justify the deportations under a presidential proclamation, calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.
Washington: The US is running up the score by hitting Australia with tariffs despite already enjoying a trade surplus with the country, Donald Trumps trade chief says, in comments likely to inflame tensions over the presidents decision to include close allies in his sweeping tariff program.

The comments came as Trump boasted other countries were ringing up and offering to do anything to escape the tariffs. Im telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. They are. Theyre dying to make a deal, he told a Republican Party black tie dinner in Washington.

US President Donald Trump said other countries were lining up to kiss my ass over tariffs. Credit: AP

Please, sir, make a deal, he said in a tone mocking other world leaders. Ill do anything, Ill do anything, sir.

Trump also hit out at what he called shrill voices criticising his tariffs, labelling them scoundrels and frauds who did not care about the US losing manufacturing jobs due to globalisation. I know what the hell Im doing, he said.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21, 2025, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this year, Dutch media reported that the city of Nijmegen had joined the growing list of municipalities and institutions in the Netherlands that have uncovered through research their deeply ingrained role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Chattel Slavery.

Political Involvement in Colonialism

The research stressed that Nijmegen, despite being landlocked, significantly profited from Slavery and colonialism for centuries (1596-1873). According to historian Joris van den Tol, during this period, the mayors and the councils prioritized their own and their families economic interests through administrative roles.

Nijmegens prominence in the Dutch Republic (1579-1795) allowed it to influence colonial trade through positions in the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC). These companies, chartered by the Dutch States General, played a pivotal role in international trade, colonial expansion, and warfare conducted on behalf of Dutch national interests.

St. Martin, the Netherlands part, in fact, was ostensibly under the control of the Dutch West India Company, which extracted enormous profits from the islands salt for centuries. For example, in the book National Symbols of St. Martin, an illustration shows a single stock certificate for salt valued at 250 guilders, drawn from a total capital investment of 1,000,000 guilders in 1859. Three million barrels of salt were harvested from the Great Salt Pond in 1789.

Enslaved African men, women, and children, people from whom most of us descended, were forced to pick this salt and perform other forms of brutal, unpaid labor for hundreds of years under the Slavery-based economy of the Netherlands  including during the height of its maritime power. The slave-based economy was responsible for sustaining the Dutch empire in no small measure.

Economic Interests Centered around Slavery

The new study, released in March 2025 in the book Nijmegen & Slavernij: Publiek bestuur en persoonlijk profijt, 159618731 (Nijmegen & Slavery), uncovers Nijmegens vital role in colonial trade by supplying wood for ships and oxen for plantation sugar mills. As a transit hub, Nijmegen facilitated the movement of goods between the western Netherlands and Germany, enabling the city to develop a processing industry that increased the value of products for re-export.

French refugees also contributed by establishing a cloth trade supported by child labor from orphanages in Nijmegen, aided and abetted by the municipal government. These findings reveal how the citys economy was intertwined with Slavery and colonialism, with the eventual enormous Dutch wealth derived from both.

Imagine that, instead of Slavery, the trade in oranges had catapulted Nijmegens economy. Would this not have been proudly advertised, much like the tulips and the windmills?

How is it that such a foundational economic pillar had gone virtually unknown until 2023 when the workgroup Colonial and Slavery History Nijmegen petitioned the city council to acknowledge, recognize, and explore how to give Nijmegens Slavery history a place within the community? The workgroup was a collaboration between Amnesty International Nijmegen, GroenLinks Nijmegen, and Bij1 Nijmegen, supported by individuals and groups.

And the People  ?

One argument I often heard growing up in St. Martin was that the average Dutch person was largely unaware of their countrys involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Chattel Slavery. The immense wealth generated for the Netherlands from that barbaric enterprise in St. Martin and other Dutch slave-holding territories in the Caribbean region was rarely acknowledged. In fact, while there was some debate about Slavery in the Netherlands (especially during the Eighty Years War), the researchers found absolutely no evidence of this in Nijmegen.

Historian van den Tol pointed out that in Nijmegens newspapers and pamphlets, you find articles opposing the abolition of slavery, and it is clear from the coverage that everyone knew what was happening in Suriname down to the last detail.2

It should be noted that St. Martin, like the rest of the Dutch Antilles and Suriname, was administered by the WIC. Regent families in Nijmegen profited from the economic activities surrounding Slavery and had shares in slave and colonial plantations in the Caribbean, the Americas, and Asia.

The historical records challenge any notion that the people in the Netherlands had little knowledge of what was happening during Slavery. And to my larger point, such deep ancestral ties and legacies of wealth and power built on Slavery does not simply disappear after the Emancipation period of 1863-1873 in most of the Dutch colonies; they remain entrenched in the society up to this day.

Another interesting fact uncovered from Nijmegen & Slavernij is that the University of Nijmegens (Radboud University) campus was built on property formerly owned by Adam Jacob Smits (1685-1742).

Smits was an administrator in Nijmegen for over 30 years, held the office of mayor twice, and was a governor in the WIC and VOC on behalf of the province of Gelderland (of which Nijmegen is part). With his investments in WIC and VOC, one of the perks that he received was the naming of the ship Horssen after him.

The above examples show how beneficial Slavery was to Nijmegen and the Netherlands as a whole. Nijmegen, and the Netherlands, were standing ten toes down on the unholy institution of Slavery in St. Martin and throughout the colonies.

The Netherlands was fully and intentionally involved in Slavery, built immense wealth upon it, and then paraded that wealth, deliberately omitting how it was accumulated.

In fact, the educational system in St. Martin (and throughout the remaining Dutch colonies) would have us believe that Europeans were great explorers and skilled negotiators, positioning themselves, especially the Dutch, as great tradesmen; hence, the reason for their global status and power. Clearly that is not the whole picture. Some important details were deliberately omitted: selective amnesia, if you will.

When the current mayor of Nijmegen, Mayor Bruls, received a copy of Nijmegen & Slavery, he stated in part: Even though this took place in the spirit of the times, what we know does not make it any less sad, painful, and horrible.3

This took place in the spirit of the times is another common trope, a phrase repeated even by some in St. Martin and elsewhere. King Willem Alexander of the Kingdom of the Netherlands made a similar statement in his 2022 speech from the throne, beseeching us not to judge our forebears through the prism of modern values.4

These recent statements continue to infantilize and minimize the intentionality and orchestration of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Chattel Slavery, and colonialism to this day. This underscores the insidious nature of colonialism, its mindset, structures, laws, and the behaviors and activities, including racism, that continue to shape societies today.

As the St. Martin nation, we must confront colonialism for what it is, reject it in all its forms, and reimagine a St. Martin in the image of our ancestral and modern nation-building values. And work like hell to build it. It is what the spirit of our times demands.

1,
PHILIPSBURG:--- Kooyman is proud to announce its dynamic and innovative sponsorship of the 2025 St. Maarten Carnival in partnership with the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation. This year, Kooyman is stepping up its commitment to the community by creating meaningful and engaging experiences inside Carnival Village and along Pond Fill Road, enhancing the festival atmosphere for both visitors and local vendors.

As part of its sponsorship, Kooyman will introduce several key activations. The Kooyman Link Up Cornuh will feature four newly designed seating areas within Carnival Village, providing comfort and convenience for festival-goers while increasing seating options for booth holders.

Additionally, Kooyman is sponsoring this years Booth Holder Competition, celebrating the creativity and dedication of food vendors. In the following days Kooyman will roll out the guidelines for the competition and announce the prizes that are to be won.

To further enhance the experience, Kooyman will also contribute to the beautification of the Carnival Village entrance, making it a more welcoming and visually appealing space. This should allow for visitors to have great photo opportunities.

President of the SCDF Edwardo Radjouki said: We are extremely proud to welcome Kooyman as the newest corporate partner of St. Maarten Carnival, said SCDF President Edwardo Radjouki. Their commitment to enhancing the festival experience, especially through their support of our booth holders and the exciting new Link Up Cornuh, is a clear reflection of their community spirit and innovative approach. This partnership marks the beginning of something truly special, and we are enthusiastic about growing this relationship in the years to come. Kooymans presence in Carnival Village this year will undoubtedly add another vibrant layer to what is already the most thrilling time of year on the island.

Kooyman recognizes that food is at the heart of St. Maartens Carnival tradition, and booth holders play a crucial role in preserving and celebrating the islands rich culinary heritage. This initiative reflects Kooymans dedication to giving back to the community while providing an enjoyable and comfortable experience for all festival attendees.

Carnival is a time of unity, culture, and celebration, and its important that both booth holders and visitors have a fantastic experience. The Kooyman Link Up Cornuh and other initiatives are all about bringing people together over great food and tradition while celebrating one of the largest events of St.Maarten: Carnival.

Kooyman invites everyone to enjoy this years Carnival and experience the community spirit that makes St. Maartens festival so special. Starting this Saturday, Kooyman launches its highly anticipated Carnival Shirt campaign. Shoppers who spend $40 or more will receive an exclusive Carnival shirta limited-edition collectors itemavailable while supplies last. The excitement for Carnival is building and Kooyman is looking forward to actively support this annual event.
China's BYD forecasts record first-quarter net profit



Beijing, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD expects to see record profits in the first quarter of the year, according to preliminary results published on Tuesday, as booming sales saw it ship more than a million cars.

However, a bruising China-US trade war and tensions between Beijing and other Western capitals threaten to cast a shadow over the company's global ambitions.

The company expects net profit to hit between 8.5 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) and 10 billion yuan, up from 4.6 billion yuan in the same period last year.

That would represent year-on-year growth of between 86 percent and 119 percent.

"The company achieved record NEV (new energy vehicle) sales for the first quarter," the Shenzhen-based firm said in a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing.

BYD last week announced that sales in January-March topped 1 million vehicles for the first time, with a 39 percent increase in sales of pure electric passenger vehicles to 416,388.

The firm -- which adopts the English slogan "Build Your Dreams" -- has enjoyed a giddy few months of surging sales after annual revenue surged to 777.1 billion yuan in 2024, eclipsing rival US titan Tesla.

Announcing the preliminary results on Tuesday, BYD said it had also "experienced substantial growth in international NEV sales".

But Donald Trump's tariff blitz could impact the firm.

The US president has imposed 25 percent tariffs on imports of all cars as well as sky-high blanket levies on Chinese goods. That comes on top of existing measures by predecessor Joe Biden that effectively bars the use of Chinese technology in smart cars.

Meanwhile, the European Union is reportedly investigating whether the Chinese government provided unfair subsidies for BYD's first European factory, in Hungary, where electric car production is scheduled to start later this year.
Trump announces direct nuclear talks with Iran



Washington, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



President Donald Trump said the United States was starting direct, high-level talks with Iran over its nuclear program on Saturday, in a shock announcement during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking Monday in the Oval Office, Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran, but warned that the Islamic republic would be in "great danger" if the talks failed.

Hours later Tehran confirmed discussions were set for Saturday in Oman, but stressed they were "indirect" talks.

"Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media platform X.

"It is as much an opportunity as it is a test," he added. "The ball is in America's court."

Netanyahu meanwhile said the United States and Israel were working on another deal to free hostages from war-torn Gaza, where a ceasefire between Israel and Iran's ally Hamas has collapsed.

"We're dealing with the Iranians, we have a very big meeting on Saturday and we're dealing with them directly," Trump told reporters after a meeting that was meant to focus on Israel's bid to avoid US tariffs.

Trump did not say where the talks would take place, but insisted they would not involve surrogates and would be at "almost the highest level."

Trump's stunning announcement came a day after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country's nuclear program, calling the idea pointless.

The US president pulled out of the last deal in 2018, during his first presidency, and there has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no new agreement is reached.

Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran, however.

"I think if the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran's going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it, great danger, because they can't have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Meanwhile officials said that Russia, China and Iran were due to hold consultations on the Iranian nuclear issue on Tuesday in Moscow.

Trump's revelation came as Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to personally plead for a reprieve from stinging US tariffs that have shaken the world.

The Israeli premier pledged to eliminate the trade deficit between the two countries and also knock down trade "barriers."

His country moved to lift its last remaining tariffs on US imports ahead of the meeting.



- Gaza talks -



Netanyahu and Trump also discussed Gaza, where a short-lived, US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas has collapsed.

Netanyahu said new negotiations were in the works aimed at freeing more hostages taken by Hamas during its unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which ignited the war.

"We're working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we're committed to getting all the hostages out," he said.

Trump also doubled down on his plan for the United States to "control" the Gaza Strip, which he described as a "great piece of real estate." He initially announced that plan when Netanyahu last visited him in February.

Earlier, Trump greeted Netanyahu outside the West Wing and pumped his fist, before the two leaders went inside for a meeting in the Oval Office.

Their planned press conference was canceled at short notice without explanation -- an unusual move. But they spoke to a smaller group of pool reporters at length in the Oval Office.

The Israeli premier's visit is his second to Washington since Trump's return to power, and comes at short notice -- just days after the president slapped a 17 percent tariff on Israel in his "Liberation Day" announcement last week.

Trump refused to exempt the top beneficiary of US military aid from his global tariff salvo as he said Washington had a significant trade deficit with Israel.

Netanyahu met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Sunday soon after his arrival, according to his office.

The Israeli premier also met Trump's special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday.
White House says no military parade scheduled



Washington, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



The White House pushed back Monday against reports that it is planning a military parade in Washington on June 14, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army -- and Donald Trump's 79th birthday.

The plan to hold an unusual display of American military might in the streets of the nation's capital was first reported by the Washington City Paper.

It said the parade could stretch four miles (six kilometers) -- from the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, to the White House.

A White House official told AFP that no military parade had been scheduled.

Trump had floated the idea of holding a grand military parade in Washington during his first term after attending a Bastille Day parade in France.

It never materialized, however, after the Pentagon said it could cost $92 million and concerns were raised that tanks and other heavy military vehicles would damage the city's streets.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser raised similar concerns on Monday when asked by reporters about plans for a parade.

"Military tanks on our streets would not be good," Bowser said. "If military tanks were used they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads."

Bowser said the Department of Homeland Security or the White House had reached out to the city's special events task force.

"I would say it's at its early stages," she said. "I don't know if it's been characterized as a military parade, but maybe it has."

Told that the parade starting point was reportedly the Pentagon, Bowser said: "Well then it does sound like a military parade."

The last major US military parade in Washington was held in 1991 to celebrate the end of the Gulf War.
NATO chief says China military expansion 'staggering'



Tokyo, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



China's expansion of its armed forces is "staggering", NATO's chief said on a visit to Japan beginning Tuesday aimed at "projecting" the alliance's power in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Let us not be naive about China," secretary general Mark Rutte told the Japan Times.

"The build-up of their armed forces and investments in their defence industry, and in their defence capabilities, is staggering," Rutte said in the interview published on Monday.

US President Donald Trump is pressuring other members of the mainly European NATO alliance to increase their military spending.

At the same time Trump wants Asia-Pacific allies to beef up their militaries to help confront China and contain North Korea.

"More and more the US wants NATO to be more involved (in the region). Not in an Article 5 sense, but in a sense of projecting power, having each other's back within NATO," Rutte said.

NATO's Article 5 provides that if a member nation is attacked, all others will consider this an attack on all and will take action accordingly.

Rutte was due to visit the Yokosuka naval base on Tuesday and meet senior Japanese officials including, on Wednesday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

NATO has moved to boost ties with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand -- the so-called IP4 -- in recent years, with their leaders attending NATO summits.

Rutte told the Japan Times last week that NATO wanted to take this partnership to the next level by stepping up information-sharing and defence-industrial cooperation.

"We have to move beyond... joint declarations... let's make it practical," said the Dutchman, who became NATO chief last October.

Japan has increased military cooperation with countries in Europe and last November Tokyo and the European Union announced a new security and defence partnership.
Trump announces direct nuclear talks with Iran



Washington, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



President Donald Trump said the United States was starting direct, high-level talks with Iran over its nuclear program on Saturday, in a shock announcement during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking Monday in the Oval Office, Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran, but warned that the Islamic republic would be in "great danger" if the talks failed.

Tehran confirmed discussions were set for Saturday in Oman, but stressed they were "indirect" talks.

According to Iranian news agency Tasnim, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will attend the talks, as will the top US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.

"It is as much an opportunity as it is a test," Araghchi wrote on X. "The ball is in America's court."

Netanyahu meanwhile said the United States and Israel were working on another deal to free hostages from war-torn Gaza, where a ceasefire between Israel and Iran's ally Hamas has collapsed.

"We're dealing with the Iranians, we have a very big meeting on Saturday and we're dealing with them directly," Trump told reporters after a meeting that was meant to focus on Israel's bid to avoid US tariffs.

Trump did not say where the talks would take place, but insisted they would not involve surrogates and would be at "almost the highest level."

Trump's stunning announcement came after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country's nuclear program, calling the idea pointless.

The US president pulled out of the last deal in 2018, during his first presidency, and there has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no new agreement is reached.

Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran, however.

"I think if the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran's going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it, great danger, because they can't have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Meanwhile officials said that Russia, China and Iran were due to hold consultations on the Iranian nuclear issue on Tuesday in Moscow.

Trump's revelation came as Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to personally plead for a reprieve from stinging US tariffs that have shaken the world.

The Israeli premier pledged to eliminate the trade deficit between the two countries and also knock down trade "barriers."

His country moved to lift its last remaining tariffs on US imports ahead of the meeting.



- Gaza talks -



Netanyahu and Trump also discussed Gaza, where a short-lived, US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas has collapsed.

Netanyahu said new negotiations were in the works aimed at freeing more hostages taken by Hamas during its unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which ignited the war.

"We're working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we're committed to getting all the hostages out," he said.

Trump also doubled down on his plan for the United States to "control" the Gaza Strip, which he described as a "great piece of real estate." He initially announced that plan when Netanyahu last visited him in February.

Earlier, Trump greeted Netanyahu outside the West Wing and pumped his fist, before the two leaders went inside for a meeting in the Oval Office.

Their planned press conference was canceled at short notice without explanation -- an unusual move. But they spoke to a smaller group of pool reporters at length in the Oval Office.

The Israeli premier's visit is his second to Washington since Trump's return to power, and comes at short notice -- just days after the president slapped a 17 percent tariff on Israel in his "Liberation Day" announcement last week.

Trump refused to exempt the top beneficiary of US military aid from his global tariff salvo as he said Washington had a significant trade deficit with Israel.

Netanyahu met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Sunday soon after his arrival, according to his office.

The Israeli premier also met Trump's envoy Witkoff on Monday.
China urges US to show 'sincerity' in Iran nuclear talks



Beijing, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



China urged the United States on Tuesday to show "sincerity" in nuclear talks with Iran, a day after Washington and Tehran made the shock announcement that high-level discussions would take place this week.

President Donald Trump said that the US would start direct talks with Iran over its nuclear programme on Saturday, warning that the Islamic republic would be in "great danger" if the negotiations failed.

Tehran confirmed the discussions set to take place in Oman, but stressed they were "indirect" talks.

"As the country that unilaterally withdrew from the comprehensive agreement on the Iran nuclear issue and caused the current situation, the US should demonstrate political sincerity (and)... mutual respect," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Tuesday.

Washington should "participate in dialogue and consultation, and at the same time stop its wrong practice of using force to exert extreme pressure", Lin said.

"China will continue to maintain communication with all relevant parties, actively promote peace and dialogue and push for a diplomatic solution at an early date," he added.

Trump's stunning announcement came after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country's nuclear programme, calling the idea pointless.

The US leader pulled out of the last deal in 2018, during his first presidency.

There has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no new agreement is reached.
US to deploy large surveillance drones to Japan's Okinawa



Tokyo, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



The US military will deploy long-range surveillance drones in the Japanese region of Okinawa near Taiwan, Tokyo's defence minister said Tuesday.

The MQ-4C Triton drones will boost the intelligence gathering capabilities of the US-Japan defence alliance, Gen Nakatani said.

Beijing has ramped up pressure on self-ruled Taiwan in recent years and held military drills that analysts see as preludes to a possible future takeover of the island.

"The security environment surrounding our country is becoming increasingly severe," Nakatani told reporters.

He said several Tritons would arrive at the US Kadena Air Base on Okinawa's main island in the coming weeks "in order to strengthen intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance activities around Japan".

Around 54,000 US military personnel are stationed across Japan, mostly in Okinawa.

Over the past year, the Japanese military scrambled jets 30 times to intercept drones in the country's southern waters believed to have come from China, local media reported.

That is far higher than the nine times in the 2023 fiscal year and four times in fiscal 2021, according to Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun daily.

The MQ-4C is a "high-altitude, long-endurance" aircraft that can operate for over 24 hours and cover a range of 7,400 nautical miles (13,700 kilometres), its producer Northrop Grumman says.

Japan's military, which also has high-altitude drones, is separately planning to purchase smaller attack drones as a part of a broad effort to upgrade national defence.

US President Donald Trump is pressuring members of the mainly European NATO alliance to increase their military spending.

At the same time, Trump wants Asia-Pacific allies to beef up their militaries to help confront China and contain North Korea.

NATO chief Mark Rutte called Beijing's expansion of its armed forces "staggering" as he began a visit to Japan on Tuesday.

"Let us not be naive about China," Rutte told the Japan Times in an interview published Monday.

"The build-up of their armed forces and investments in their defence industry, and in their defence capabilities, is staggering."
US trade delegation in Iraq to boost economic ties



Baghdad, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



A US trade delegation representing 60 companies was visiting Iraq to sign economic cooperation agreements with the private sector, Washington's embassy in Baghdad said Tuesday.

The three-day visit, which began on Monday, comes amid fears of an international recession after US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on numerous countries, which included 39 percent duties on Iraqi imports.

The US delegation consists of 101 members from 60 companies in the energy, technology and health sectors, who are set to meet with senior Iraqi officials and sign agreements, said an embassy statement to AFP.

It is the largest US trade mission to Iraq in the more than 100-year history of the United States Chamber of Commerce, the embassy added.

In a post on X, the US mission said that a "pivotal memorandum of understanding to strengthen ties between the US and Iraqi private sectors" was signed on Monday between the US Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce.

"This partnership will foster long-term economic collaboration," it said.

According to the office of the US trade representative in Iraq, total goods trade with the oil-rich country reached $9.1 billion in 2024, with US exports amounting to $1.7 billion.

US goods imports from Iraq totalled $7.4 billion.

During the visit, Iraq is expected to sign a "landmark agreement" with General Electric to develop a high-efficiency power plant, according to Farhad Alaaldin, foreign policy adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani.

Last year, during Sudani's visit to Washington, Iraq and the United States signed several memoranda of understanding in the energy sector, including one with General Electric to ensure the maintenance of the Iraqi electricity grid.

Iraq's power plants are currently highly dependent on gas imported from Iran, which provides about a third of its neighbour's energy needs.

But Tehran has often cut supplies, exacerbating regular power outages.

Baghdad has repeatedly stressed the need to diversify energy sources to reduce its dependence on Iran.

Iraq has been trying to move past decades of war and unrest, including a sectarian struggle after the US-led invasion 2003 toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

rh/tgg/ami

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Moscow welcomes US-Iran nuclear talks: Kremlin



Moscow, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Moscow on Tuesday welcomed upcoming nuclear talks between the United States and Iran after Washington and Tehran made the shock announcement that high-level discussions were scheduled for Saturday.

US President Donald Trumps said Monday that the United States was starting direct talks with Iran over its nuclear programme, during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We know that certain contacts -- direct and indirect -- are planned in Oman. And, of course, this can only be welcomed because it can lead to de-escalation of tensions around Iran," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Russia "absolutely" supported the diplomatic initiative, he added.

Moscow had previously called for tensions between Washington and Tehran to be resolved diplomatically, following Trump's apparent threat to bomb Iran if it did not come to the negotiating table.

Expert-level consultations between Russia, China and Iran on nuclear issues were also set to take place in Moscow on Tuesday, the Russian foreign ministry said.

China urged the United States to show "sincerity" in the talks with Iran, which confirmed the negotiations set to take place in Oman, but stressed they were "indirect" talks.

The Iranian nuclear deal collapsed after Washington abandoned it in 2018 during Trump's first term and reimposed sweeping sanctions.

Trump's announcement came after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country's nuclear programme and called the idea pointless.

The Russian parliament also on Tuesday voted to ratify a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with its ally Iran.

With Russia facing sanctions over its military offensive in Ukraine, Moscow and Tehran have stepped up their cooperation in recent years.
Actors in traditional costumes perform for tourists at Zuidongfeng art village in Tancheng County, east China's Shandong Province, April 6, 2025. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. (Photo by Zhang Chunlei/Xinhua)

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- In Liba Village, about 1.5 hours' drive from downtown Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan Province, dozens of steaming hot pot tables dotted the fields, where tourists dined amid a golden sea of yellow blossoms, soaking in the vibrant colors and fragrant spring air.

"Eating hot pot in such a picturesque setting instantly lifted my mood and left me completely relaxed. Savoring spring with a hot pot feast surrounded by flowers was truly unforgettable," posted a blogger with the username Doufugui on "RedNote" or Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media platform.

The blogger is one of millions of Chinese who took advantage of the recent Qingming Festival holiday to revel in the joys of spring. With warmer weather and flowers in full bloom, the holiday sparked a wave of enthusiasm for domestic travel across the country.

During the three-day holiday, China recorded 126 million domestic trips, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. Tourism revenue also rose, reaching 57.55 billion yuan (about 8 billion U.S. dollars), marking a 6.7 percent year-on-year increase.

Data from online travel platforms showed that searches related to flower viewing during the holiday surged by 2.2 times compared to the same period last year, while searches for camping on the e-commerce platform Meituan skyrocketed by 132 percent.

Chinese train travel, meanwhile, shattered records as more people opted for outdoor getaways. On April 4 alone, China's railway operator handled 20.09 million passenger trips, the highest single-day figure so far this year.

The holiday also saw a rise in outbound travel, with many Chinese extending their time off by combining the break with annual leave or weekends.

According to Tongcheng Travel, hotel bookings on the platform surged during the holiday period, with Japan seeing a 120 percent year-on-year increase in reservations. European destinations like Spain and Britain experienced an even greater spike, with bookings rising by over 300 percent.

Experts have noted that this year's Qingming holiday underscores the immense potential in China's service consumption sector, a key driver of the country's economic growth.

"The Qingming holiday has traditionally not been a peak travel season, but the tourism market was notably more vibrant this year," said Xiao Peng, a researcher at Qunar's Big Data Research Institute.

Xiao noted that silver-haired travelers were among those taking trips this holiday, adding a new dimension to the tourism boom.

For those staying closer to home, the desire for springtime enjoyment was equally evident, with a growing willingness to spend on leisure and recreation.

"All tables for the festival were booked a week in advance," said the manager of a hotpot restaurant in Changzhou, located in east China's Jiangsu Province. In the Ronghui old commercial area of Jinan, eastern Shandong Province, even the outdoor dining areas of cafs and bars were bustling as people enjoyed leisurely experiences.

The surge in consumer activity, both in tourism and retail, is partly attributable to China's focus on boosting domestic consumption. The government has placed significant emphasis on consumption as a primary engine for the country's economy.

China will "place a stronger economic policy focus on improving living standards and boosting consumer spending," according to the 2025 government work report. In mid-March, the country released a special action plan outlining key strategies to support consumption.

During the Qingming holiday, various regions implemented measures such as distributing consumption vouchers and launching promotional activities to further stimulate spending, reinforcing the government's commitment to boosting domestic demand.

"China's consumer market remains resilient, vast in potential, and full of vitality," said Li Gang, an official with the Ministry of Commerce. "With sustained efforts to expand consumption policies, the domestic market will maintain stable growth."

An aerial drone photo taken on April 6, 2025 shows tourists taking a boat tour at Longnv Lake by Jialing River in Wusheng County, Guang'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. (Photo by Xia Junlin/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on April 5, 2025 shows tourists enjoying rapeseed flowers at Qianduo scenic area in Xinghua City, east China's Jiangsu Province. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. (Photo by Zhou Shegen/Xinhua)

Tourists fly a kite at Mafan scenic area in Yiwu City, east China's Zhejiang Province, April 5, 2025. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday.(Photo by Gong Xianming/Xinhua)

Tourists enjoy camel rides at the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spot in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, April 5, 2025. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday.(Photo by Zhang Xiaoliang/Xinhua)

Editor: GSY
Russian parliament approves Iran partnership treaty



Moscow, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Russia's lower house of parliament voted Tuesday to ratify a treaty to deepen political, military and economic ties with Iran, as Moscow moves closer to its key ally.

Tuesday's vote comes with high tensions between Iran and the West and as Russia pushes a rapprochement with Washington despite its offensive on Ukraine.

Amid deepening military cooperation over the last three years, Iran has been accused by Kyiv and the West of supplying weapons, including self-detonating "Shahed" drones to Russia for its campaign against Ukraine.

In the treaty, the sides agreed to help each other counter common "security threats", but it stops short of a mutual defence pact like the one signed between Russia and North Korea last year.

"The signing of the treaty does not mean the establishment of a military alliance with Iran or mutual military assistance," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said in an address to the State Duma.

Instead the treaty states that if either side is subjected to aggression, the other will not provide "assistance to the aggressor".

The comprehensive strategic partnership deal was signed by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian in January, with votes in Moscow's rubber-stamp parliament necessary before it can come into force.

Putin at the time called it a "breakthrough document", while Pezeshkian said it would "open a new chapter in relations between Iran and Russia in all fields".

Moscow has urged caution over escalating tensions between the Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump appeared to threaten to bomb Iran if it did not come to the table for talks on limiting its nuclear programme.

Trump said direct talks with Iran would take place this Saturday on the issue.

Russia has forged closer ties with several of the West's adversaries -- including North Korea and China -- since launching its offensive on Ukraine.

Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty last year with Pyongyang that outlines possible mutual military assistance in case of an attack and cooperation in the face of Western sanctions.
NATO chief says China military expansion 'staggering'



Tokyo, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



China's expansion of its armed forces is "staggering", NATO's chief said on a visit to Japan beginning Tuesday aimed at "projecting" the alliance's power in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Let us not be naive about China," Secretary General Mark Rutte told the Japan Times.

"The build-up of their armed forces and investments in their defence industry, and in their defence capabilities, is staggering," Rutte said in the interview published on Monday.

The comment came as he visited the Yokosuka naval base and a Japanese defence contractor on Tuesday before meeting defence minister Gen Nakatani to call for further cooperation.

"NATO and Japan share the same values and we face many of the same challenges," Rutte told Nakatani.

"China, North Korea and Russia are stepping up their military exercises and their cooperation, undermining global stability, and that means what happens in the Euro-Atlantic matters for the Indo-Pacific and vice versa.

"A stronger Japan-NATO cooperation is necessary in an increasingly dangerous world," he said.

Nakatani echoed the sentiment as Japan goes through a multi-year project to double its military spending to meet changing threats.

Rutte was due to meet Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday.

The visit came as US President Donald Trump pressures other members of the mainly European NATO alliance to increase their military spending.

At the same time Trump wants Asia-Pacific allies to beef up their militaries to help confront China and contain North Korea.

"The US wants NATO to be more involved (in the region). Not in an Article 5 sense, but in a sense of projecting power, having each other's back within NATO," Rutte said in the Japan Times interview.

NATO's Article 5 provides that if a member nation is attacked, all others will consider this an attack on all and will take action accordingly.

NATO has moved to boost ties with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand -- the so-called IP4 -- in recent years, with their leaders attending NATO summits.

Rutte told the Japan Times last week that NATO wanted to take this partnership to the next level by stepping up information-sharing and defence-industrial cooperation.

"We have to move beyond... joint declarations... let's make it practical," said the Dutchman, who became NATO chief last October.

Japan has increased military cooperation with countries in Europe and last November Tokyo and the European Union announced a new security and defence partnership.
US may pull 10,000 troops from eastern Europe: NBC



Washington, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



The United States could withdraw 10,000 troops from eastern Europe, NBC News reported Tuesday, in a move some analysts fear would embolden Russia.

About 20,000 extra troops were deployed to the region in 2022 under former president Joe Biden, reinforcing NATO's eastern flank after Russia invaded Ukraine.

NBC cited six US and European officials confirming discussions about halving the deployment, focused on cutting numbers in Romania and Poland.

President Donald Trump is pushing for a speedy end to the more than three-year war in Ukraine since taking office but has failed to yet reach a breakthrough.

He has repeatedly criticized NATO, and insisted that Europe take more responsibility for its defense by boosting military spending and taking the lead in arming Ukraine.

Any downsizing of US forces would increase President Vladimir Putin's "willingness to meddle in various ways across the spectrum in Europe," Seth Jones, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NBC.

About 100,000 American troops are currently stationed in Europe, with 65,000 based permanently on the continent, while the rest are rotating staff and reinforcements.
Poland plays down US troop withdrawal fears



Warsaw, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Poland on Tuesday insisted US troops would remain on its territory, after the United States announced it would reposition personnel from a key base near the Ukrainian border.

US troops have been in Jasionka in southeastern Poland since just before Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

Most military aid to Kyiv passes through EU member state Poland, a NATO member and staunch Ukraine supporter, and in particular its Jasionka hub.

The US army announced on Monday that "the planned repositioning of US military equipment and personnel from Jasionka, Poland, to other sites in the country".

"The decision to reposition troops and equipment reflects months of assessment and planning, coordinated closely with Polish hosts and NATO Allies," US Army Europe and Africa's public affairs office said in the statement.

The army did not specify how many troops will leave Jasionka nor where they will move to.

Polish President Andrzej Duda insisted on Tuesday that the move was "not a withdrawal of the army" while Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz also sought to reassure Poles of the continued US presence.

"US troops will stay in Poland, but in other locations," he said on social network X.

"The tasks shouldered by US troops in Jasionka until now are being taken over by other allies," he added.

Kosiniak-Kamysz said that NATO "is taking over responsibility for Jasionka's operations" and that the decision was made at the defence alliance's Washington summit in July 2024.

Some 10,000 American soldiers are currently on rotation in Poland.
Pentagon chief to participate virtually in Ukraine meeting



Washington, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will participate virtually in a meeting of Ukraine's international supporters later this week, a US defense official said on Friday.

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meetings were begun by Hegseth's predecessor Lloyd Austin after Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"Secretary Hegseth plans to virtually attend the UDCG on Friday, April 11th," the defense official said on condition of anonymity, without providing further details.

Washington has reduced its role in the meetings since US President Donald Trump -- a critic of aid to Ukraine -- took office in January, with Britain chairing the UDCG for the first time in February.

The United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia began its invasion more than three years ago, but has not announced a new package for Kyiv since Trump began his second term.
UN voices alarm over death of Iraqi in custody



Baghdad, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



The United Nations mission to Iraq called for an independent investigation Tuesday after a detainee died under "unclear circumstances" in a Baghdad detention centre.

In a post on X, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said it was "following closely the case of an Iraqi national who died in unclear circumstances after being detained in Baghdad."

"The mission is deeply concerned about reports the victim suffered from traumatic injuries during detention," it added.

The detainee was transferred to hospital where he died Monday, 10 days after his arrest, the statement added.

UNAMI urged authorities to conduct "a fair, transparent, and independent investigation that leads to accountability for those responsible for human rights abuses".

The interior ministry said Sunday that Bashir Khaled Latif was detained after attempting to enter the apartment of a senior security official, with whom a fight then broke out.

Latif was taken to hospital for treatment for a head wound but then transferred to the detention centre, where he was described as being in a "hysterical" state.

Two days after his transfer, he was allegedly attacked by fellow detainees and went into a coma. He then died on Monday.

On Monday evening, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani tasked a commission of inquiry with producing a "detailed report on what took place".

"This incident, and everything the deceased endured. will not pass without those responsible for any failings being held to account and light being thrown on the real causes of his death," he said.

Iraq has long had a chequered human rights record in its treatment of detainees. Chronic overcrowding and poor prison conditions have only added to the problem.
Trump says talked trade with S. Korea interim leader



Washington, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he had a "great call" with South Korea's acting president on tariffs, while one of his advisors said allies including Seoul and Tokyo would be prioritized in trade negotiations.

The Republican spoke with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is acting as president of South Korea since former leader Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office for attempting to subvert civilian rule.

"We talked about their tremendous and unsustainable Surplus, Tariffs, Shipbuilding, large scale purchase of U.S. LNG, their joint venture in an Alaska Pipeline, and payment for the big time Military Protection we provide to South Korea," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump said they had "the confines and probability of a great DEAL for both countries," though he did not specify on which issue.

He said that a "top team" from South Korea was en route to the United States for further talks, and "things are looking good."

Last week Trump announced sweeping and punitive tariffs against the United States' biggest trading partners, the most severe of which are due to come into force on Wednesday.

Goods from South Korea are set to be taxed at 25 percent.

The tariffs announcement has rocked global stock markets, with investors uncertain over whether they are a negotiating tactic or permanent US position.

Trump has insisted he will not back down until he has reduced or even wiped out US trade deficits -- while simultaneously signalling that he is ready to negotiate with countries around the world.

Administration officials have "received the instruction to prioritize our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others," White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett told Fox News on Tuesday.

On Truth Social, Trump said his administration also plans to bring up "other subjects" with countries that are not covered by trade, and negotiate them also.

China -- which has come in for among the most severe tariffs -- "wants to make a deal, badly, but they don't know how to get it started. We are waiting for their call. It will happen!" Trump wrote.

In 2024, the US trade deficit with South Korea amounted to just over $66 billion in goods.
Iranian FM warns Trump against 'military option'



Washington, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Iran's top diplomat on Tuesday warned US President Donald Trump to put aside a military option ahead of nuclear talks, saying that Tehran will never accept "coercion."

In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi repeated earlier statements to Iranian state media that a deal would be possible if the United States shows goodwill.

But ahead of the weekend talks in Oman, Araghchi also warned against a military strike, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday would be "inevitable" if US-Iran talks drag on.

"To move forward today, we first need to agree that there can be no 'military option,' let alone a 'military solution,'" Araghchi wrote.

"The proud Iranian nation, whose strength my government relies on for real deterrence, will never accept coercion and imposition," he wrote.

Pointing to the US leader's push to end the Ukraine conflict, Araghchi said: "We cannot imagine President Trump wanting to become another US president mired in a catastrophic war in the Middle East -- a conflict that would quickly extend across the region and cost exponentially more than the trillions of taxpayer dollars that his predecessors burned in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Trump has also warned of a military strike if Iran does not agree to a deal but has put a focus on seeking a diplomatic solution, despite hawkish remarks from some of his aides.

Speaking Monday in the Oval Office, Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran, but warned that the Islamic republic would be in "great danger" if the talks failed.

Trump during his first term tore up an earlier agreement with Iran on its nuclear program that had been negotiated under president Barack Obama but opposed by Israel and most of Trump's Republican Party.
US may pull 10,000 troops from eastern Europe: NBC



Washington, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



The United States could withdraw 10,000 troops from eastern Europe, NBC News reported Tuesday, in a move some analysts fear would embolden Russia.

About 20,000 extra troops were deployed to the region in 2022 under then-president Joe Biden, reinforcing NATO's eastern flank after Russia invaded Ukraine.

NBC quoted six US and European officials as confirming discussions about halving the deployment by cutting numbers in Romania and Poland.

President Donald Trump is pushing for a speedy end to the more than three-year war in Ukraine since taking office but has failed to reach a breakthrough.

He has repeatedly criticized NATO, and insisted that Europe take more responsibility for its defense by boosting military spending and taking the lead in arming Ukraine.

But when asked during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday if there were plans to change the US military footprint in eastern Europe, General Christopher Cavoli indicated that there were not.

"The principal locations where we have forces right now, that's where they are, and that's where I'm planning to keep them," Cavoli -- the head of US European Command -- told lawmakers.

Any downsizing of US forces would increase President Vladimir Putin's "willingness to meddle in various ways across the spectrum in Europe," Seth Jones, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NBC.

About 100,000 American troops are currently stationed in Europe, with 65,000 based permanently on the continent, while the rest are rotating staff and reinforcements.
Yemen rebels say four killed in US strikes on west



Hodeida, Yemen, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Yemen's Huthi rebels on Tuesday said US strikes on the western province of Hodeida killed four people and wounded 13 others, a day after the group said it targeted Israel and US warships.

"Four killed and 13 wounded in a preliminary toll of the victims of the flagrant American aggression," the rebels' health ministry spokesman Anis al-Asbahi said in a post on X.

The Huthis' Al-Masirah TV channel had reported earlier on Tuesday "deaths and wounded in the US enemy's targeting" of the Al-Hawak district in Hodeida.

It added that civil defence teams had rushed to the site and were working on putting out the fires and rescuing any survivors.

An AFP journalist near the site of the strike heard the sound of three violent blasts in succession.

Al-Masirah also reported a US strike on the communications network in the Amran province north of Sanaa, without providing further details.

Rebel-held areas of Yemen have seen near-daily strikes blamed on the United States since Washington launched an air campaign against the Huthis on March 15 to force them to stop threatening vessels in key maritime routes.

Since then, the Huthis have also launched attacks targeting US military ships and Israel, claiming to be acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The rebels began targeting ships transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as Israeli territory, after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, pausing the attacks during a January ceasefire.

Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza at the start of March, and resumed its offensive on the Palestinian territory on March 18, ending the short-lived truce.

The new US campaign followed Huthi threats to resume attacks on vessels over Israel's blockade on Gaza.

The Huthi attacks had crippled the vital Red Sea route, which normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies to make a much longer detour around the tip of southern Africa.
Ukraine must now prepare the capital market infrastructure to attract private and international investments for post-war recovery, believes First Deputy Governor of the NBU Kateryna Rozhkova.

"We will not build a second London Stock Exchange, but our capital market must be comparable to the size of the economy. It is important that Ukraine not only adopts a law, but also prepares the financial market infrastructure for post-war recovery," she said in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

According to her, the creation of an effective capital market is a priority not only for the NBU, but also for international partners, in particular the European Commission.

"We hope for investments, both private and from our international partners. It is important that the market is ready for this," the banker added.

Rozhkova noted that currently the domestic market is dominated by domestic government bonds, which is natural in wartime conditions. At the same time, she noted, even now successful examples of alternative instruments are emerging - in particular, bonds of Nova Poshta and NovaPay. In her opinion, municipal bonds are also a promising direction.

"For companies and municipalities, raising funds on the stock market is a good alternative source of replenishment of working capital and financing of investments in development. This is cheaper than bank lending, obviously. But the necessary tools and procedures have not yet been developed," she stated.

Rozhkova also mentioned the successful experience of integrating the depository of the National Bank of Ukraine with the international depository ClearStream in 2019 through the creation of an appropriate "link", which allowed to increase the share of non-residents in the government bonds market to 16% before the war and take a step towards the openness of the Ukrainian financial system.

"Now we want to expand this "link" to municipal and corporate bonds. But this requires changes in procedures and new solutions in the regulatory infrastructure," she explained.

In her opinion, the current volume of bank capital limits the ability to finance large-scale projects, since the banking sector of Ukraine is ten times smaller than in Poland. One of the solutions may be consortium loans and attracting financing directly through parent Western banks.
Israel troops shoot dead woman in alleged West Bank knife attack



Hares, Palestinian Territories, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli troops killed a 30-year-old woman near the West Bank city of Salfit on Tuesday after what the army described as an attempted stabbing.

The ministry reported the death of Amana Ibrahim Mohammed Yaqub, 30, "who was shot by (Israeli) forces near Salfit", south of Nablus.

The Israeli military said it had "neutralised a terrorist who hurled rocks and attempted to stab soldiers adjacent to the Gitai Avisar junction" close to the West Bank village of Hares.

An AFP journalist reported seeing a lifeless body under a foil blanket by the roadside at the scene of the attack.

Yaqub was a lawyer and mother of three from nearby Biddya, the village's mayor, Ahmed Abu Safiyeh, told AFP.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian event hall overnight in the area of Biddya, and that no injuries were reported.

An AFP journalist reported most of the hall was burned to the ground, and that settlers left graffiti in Hebrew on nearby walls.

The area around Salfit and Biddya is dense with Israeli settlements, including the town of Ariel.

Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, violence has soared in the occupied West Bank. Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 918 Palestinians in the territory, according to health ministry figures.

Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 33 Israelis, including soldiers, over the same period, according to Israeli figures.
US will not let China disrupt Panama Canal: Pentagon chief



Panama City, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



The United States will not allow China to jeopardize the operations of the Panama Canal, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned during a visit to the Central American nation on Tuesday.

Hegseth is the second senior US official to visit Panama since President Donald Trump took office in January vowing to "take back" the US-built canal to counter what he sees as China's disproportionate influence over the waterway.

"Today, the Panama Canal faces ongoing threats," Hegseth said in a speech at a police station located at the entry to the shipping route.

"The United States of America will not allow communist China or any other country to threaten the canal's operation or integrity," he added.

The United States built the more than century-old canal and handed it over to Panama in 1999.

A Hong Kong company called Panama Ports operates two ports at either end of the canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, through which five percent of all global shipping passes.

- 'Wonder of the world' -



The Trump administration has put immense pressure on Panama to reduce Chinese influence on the canal, which Washington sees as a threat to US national security.

"I want to be very clear. China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal. And China will not weaponize this canal," Hegseth said, calling it a "wonder of the world."

Speaking alongside Panama's President Jose Raul Molino, Hegseth said the US and Panama together would "take back the Panama Canal from China's influence" and keep it open to all nations, using the "deterrent power of the strongest, most effective and most lethal fighting force in the world."

He claimed that China's control of critical infrastructure in the canal area gave Beijing the power to conduct spying activities across Panama, making Panama and the United States "less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign."

The Panama Ports concession to operate Balboa port on the Pacific side of the canal and Cristobal port on the Atlantic side was first granted in 1997 and renewed for another 25 years in 2021.

But faced with Trump's repeated threats to seize the canal, Panama has put pressure on CK Hutchison, the parent company of Panama Ports, to pull out of the country.

In January, it began an audit of Panama Ports to determine if it was honoring its concession contract.

On the eve of Hegseth's visit Panama's comptroller announced that the audit had revealed "many breaches" of the contract and said Panama did not receive $1.2 billion it was owed from the operator.

In March, CK Hutchison announced an agreement to sell 43 ports in 23 countries -- including its two on canal -- to a group led by giant US asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash.

A furious Beijing has since announced an antitrust review of the deal, which likely prevented the parties from signing an agreement on April 2 as had been planned.

Hegseth's visit to Panama comes two months after that of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Shortly after that visit Panama announced it was pulling out of Chinese President Xi Jinping's landmark global infrastructure program, the Belt and Road Initiative.

Hegseth praised the move, saying it showed Panama understanding of "the threat it poses," alluding to China.

Around 200 people staged a protest in Panama City over Hegseth's visit.

"Trump, get your hands of Panama," read a banner waved by one of the demonstrators, who burned a US flag.
US offers back pay if troops dismissed under Covid mandate return



Washington, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



The United States is offering back pay to troops who return to the military after being dismissed or leaving due to the Covid-19 vaccine mandate, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

More than 8,700 military personnel were discharged for refusing to comply with the mandate, which was lifted in January 2023, but figures are not available for those who left by choice.

"The back pay calculation would look at the pay and entitlements they would have received," Pentagon official Tim Dill told reporters.

"That would include things like base pay, allowance for housing, allowance for subsistence, and it could also include medical benefits."

The mandate was put in place during the pandemic to help protect troops from the disease but was lifted at the demand of Republican lawmakers.

Republicans insisted Covid-19 prevention measures infringed on personal freedom and threatened to hold up the 2023 defense spending bill if it did not require an end to the mandate, but a proposal for back pay was not included in the legislation.
We have improved the offer in an effort to reach an agreement with the trade unions and we are now offering a combined deal for 2024/25 and 2025/26. This is a strong offer which is above inflation and the public sector pay policy.
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
I have had the opportunity to measure the increase in my life satisfaction since my daughter acquired a cat just over a year ago. So very far from equating to a larger salary, the creature has cost quite a lot of money, what with one thing and another. But the puss has, I think, made us all nicer. My daughter lavishes affection on him which he reciprocates by wrapping himself round her neck at night, and what could be more agreeable? My son is all over him. My husband was opposed to the cat from the outset but since then has declared that he is the one member of the household who gives no trouble, cleans up after himself and is invariably nice to him. I just like animals and me and puss get on just fine. When I thought he was going to die (after the stupid animal swallowed yards of thread) I wept bitterly.
The official synopsis reads: In the final season of The Handmaid's Tale, June's unyielding spirit and determination pull her back into the fight to take down Gilead. Luke and Moira join the resistance. Serena tries to reform Gilead while Commander Lawrence and Aunt Lydia reckon with what they have wrought, and Nick faces challenging tests of character.
Rather it was simply that that security would not be provided on the same basis as before because of his (the dukes) change of status and because he was now going to live abroad for the majority of his time.
We became aware of her arrest in May 2023, at which time we took immediate and professional HR and safeguarding advice to guide our response. We carefully considered all available options, including dismissal, suspension, and working with restrictions, while awaiting the outcome of the ongoing police investigation and subsequent trial.
90% complicity with murder is still complicity with murder. History will rightly view those that supported the systematic slaughter of children with absolute contempt, and David Lammy will be held to account for not having the spine to cease trading with Israel and halting British armed forces from assisting this genocide.
Bill on virtual assets in Ukraine will be prepared by Oct with participation of partners  Rozhkova

A draft law on virtual assets in Ukraine with the distribution of powers of regulators will be prepared by October 2025 with the involvement of technical assistance from international partners, it will be based on the European MiCA directive, said Kateryna Rozhkova, First Deputy Governor of the NBU.

"In accordance with the memorandum with the IMF, updated legislative proposals will be prepared with the involvement of technical assistance from our partners by October 2025. The new law will determine the distribution of powers of regulators," she said in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

Rozhkova noted that the European MCA directive, on which the draft law will be based, provides that even tokens backed by clear underlying assets are acceptable only if this collateral is located in Europe.

"Regulation of this market in EU countries is usually carried out jointly: central banks focus on tokens backed by currencies or money, securities market regulators or ministries of finance - on all others," the banker emphasized.

She added that Ukraine, together with international partners, would clearly determine which of the regulators would be responsible for what, but assured that the Ministry of Digital Transformation will definitely not be the regulator due to the position of the International Monetary Fund, but the involvement of this ministry in working on the draft law is welcome.

"The IMF is against this idea (the Ministry of Digital Transformation as a regulator), and we need to take into account the practice of regulation in the EU. But we must admit that technologies are changing the pattern ... So if the Ministry of Digital Transformation is at the forefront of advanced technologies, their experience and vision should be used when developing the draft law," Rozhkova noted.

The banker said that after the adoption of the law on virtual assets, the NBU would develop its internal regulatory acts to regulate all issues in its part, because the market will need regulation.

"It is important to maintain macro-financial stability, so we cannot allow virtual assets to replace money. We must ensure the transparency of operators in view of the requirements of financial monitoring, protect the financial system from capital withdrawal, and protect the population," she said.

Rozhkova emphasized that due to the dispersion of crypto wallets, it will be difficult to regulate and restrict them, and there is a risk of legalization and tax evasion.
If they need the tools to do proper inquiries, we'll make sure that they are available...We know that the most important thing is that local services have proper systems in place to understand what is happening in their areas and to be able to act very very quickly to recognise the warning signs and to move fast.
Ukraine signed an updated free trade agreement with the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported.

"We are taking another step towards deeper economic integration with Europe. Ukraine has signed an updated free trade agreement with the EFTA countries - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. This is a restart of the 2010 agreement, adapted to the new reality. It opens up new opportunities for Ukrainian business in large markets with high purchasing power," Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.

According to him, the new document includes updated sections on trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, public procurement, technical cooperation and intellectual property protection, and new chapters have been added: e-commerce, support for small and medium-sized businesses, trade and sustainable development.

Among other things, the agreement also includes modern rules of origin of goods, which paves the way for deeper integration into European supply chains.

"In addition, we are signing separate updates to agreements with Norway, Iceland and Switzerland in the field of agriculture. This will allow us to reduce barriers and expand access of Ukrainian goods to these markets," Shmyhal added.
The first vessel (since 2025) carrying U.S. coking coal chartered by Metinvest gas arrived in Ukraine from the group's U.S.-based enterprise, United Coal Company (UCC). This shipment is aiming to support sustainable steelmaking operations of the group in Ukraine following the suspension of operations Pokrovske Coal.

According to a Metinvest Group's press release, the bulk carrier Bison delivered 80,000 tonnes of coal.

Metinvest is expecting to receive one vessel with 80,000 tonnes of U.S. coking coal per month to cover some share of the demand at Zaporizhstal JV and Kamet Steel.

Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, said that despite the challenging conditions in the Ukrainian steel industry due to the aggressor's ongoing invasion, the group have mobilised our resources to ensure the industry's operation.

"Supplies of U.S. coal will not only support steel production at Kamianske and Zaporizhia, but will also provide jobs for tens of thousands of employees and contractors, the logistics sector and the railway, tax revenues to the Ukrainian budget and a significant share of Ukraine's foreign currency exports. Although coking coal import is more expensive than its domestic equivalent due to logistics, this is an important step to help the Ukrainian economy," the top manager said.

As reported, Metinvest suspended operations at Pokrovske Coal due to the development of frontline situation, power supply shortages and the deteriorating security situation for employees. Pokrovske Coal is Ukraine's only producer of coking coal, which is essential for the operation of metallurgical plants. It supplied a significant share of coking coal for Metinvest's own use, as well as substantial volumes to customers both in Ukraine and abroad.

Following the suspension of operations, Metinvest switched to alternative sources of coking coal. Measures taken include the use of accumulated reserves, additional supplies of coking coal and coke obtained from third parties and increased deliveries from UCC.

John Schroder, CEO of United Coal Company, said that metallurgical coal production already plays a crucial role in fostering economic growth and infrastructure development domestically, in the United States.

"Given the recent developments, Metinvests production in Ukraine needs a stable and reliable supply of coking coal to maintain critical steelmaking operations. UCC remains committed to supporting the Group and contributing to economic stability and resilience in Ukraine by ensuring consistent coal deliveries that will enable uninterrupted steel production in the country," he said.

United Coal Company is a producer of metallurgical coal operating in the Appalachian region of the United States. The company was founded in 2004 and was acquired by Metinvest in April 2009.

Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. The group's enterprises are located mainly in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The group has three rolling mills in Western Europe - Ferriera Valsider (Verona) and Metinvest Trametal (San Giorgio di Nogaro) in Italy and Spartan in the UK, as well as Promet Steel in Bulgaria.

The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), jointly managing it.
New agreement with EFTA countries eliminates tariffs on industrial goods and 676 products from 4 nations

Ukrainian manufacturers will gain expanded access to international markets thanks to a new free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which eliminates tariffs on industrial goods and a total of more than 600 products from Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy reported on Tuesday.

The agreement was signed in Kyiv on April 8. On the Ukrainian side, it was signed by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko. EFTA country representatives included EFTA Chair and Norway's Minister of Trade Cecilie Myrseth, Iceland's Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education Logi Einarsson, Liechtenstein's Ambassador Frank Buchel, and Jacques Gerber, Swiss Ambassador and Commissioner of the Swiss Federal Council for Ukraine.

"Thanks to today's agreement, Ukrainian producers will be able to export a significantly broader range of goods to EFTA countries either duty-free or at reduced tariff rates  something that is especially important during these challenging times. Most importantly, the modernized agreement lays a solid foundation for the further development of economic cooperation between Ukraine and EFTA countries," Svyrydenko said at the signing event.

Myrseth emphasized in her remarks that the agreement is an important step toward deepening Ukraine's integration into the European market.

Compared to the original 2010 version, the updated agreement expands market access for Ukrainian exporters and removes tariffs on industrial goods.

The agricultural section of the agreement also significantly expands trade opportunities. For Iceland, full tariff elimination applies to 142 items (including vegetables, wheat, food products, etc.), with partial reductions for five additional goods. The number of duty-free items increased by 9.8%, while those with partial reductions grew 3.5 times compared to the 2010 agreement.

For Norway, full tariff elimination covers 107 goods (including vegetables, edible root crops, fresh, cooked or preserved berries and nuts, oils, and juices), with partial reductions for 78 Ukrainian products (including yogurt, butter and spreads, eggs, vegetables, preserved fruits, and nuts). The number of duty-free goods increased by 11.4%, and those with partial reductions rose by 2.7%.

Switzerland and Liechtenstein abolished tariffs on 427 items (including pork, milk, cheese, honey, vegetables, fruits and berries, flour, animal and vegetable oils, canned meat, and fruits), with partial tariff reductions on 163 goods (including live animals, beef, pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs, beans, vegetables, and berries). In total, the number of duty-free goods for both countries grew by 66.2%.

In addition, the agreement formalizes a 0% tariff rate for a number of items that were previously excluded from the scope of the 2010 deal.

The modernized agreement also includes several new chapters. One focuses on e-commerce  aiming to streamline online trade, regulate electronic signatures and contracts, and promote paperless administration. Another targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), increasing access to information and mandating the publication of trade and commercial information on websites, including in English. There is also a chapter on trade and sustainable development.

Revisions have also been made to the provisions on trade in goods, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade facilitation and transparency, public procurement, and intellectual property protection.

"The agreement will also support innovation through enhanced intellectual property rights protections. As we can all agree, innovation is the main engine of progress and value creation in the modern world, as well as a key element of our joint efforts to boost profitability, improve living standards, and strengthen economic resilience. In addition to the new trade and product opportunities, I look forward to closer cooperation between businesses and people, especially in the knowledge sector," said Einarsson.

The European Free Trade Association is an intergovernmental organization established in 1960 to promote free trade and economic integration among its member states and global partners. Today, EFTA consists of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

In 2024, trade turnover between Ukraine and EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein) totaled nearly EUR 1.3 billion. Over the past five years, the average annual growth rate of Ukrainian exports to EFTA countries was 4.9%, while imports from EFTA to Ukraine grew by 9.3%.

Deputy Minister of Economy and Ukraine's Trade Representative Taras Kachka noted that the signing of the agreement, along with other tools, is expected to contribute to a 0.5% increase in Ukraine's GDP.
Representing Romania at the informal meeting of EU culture ministers held on April 7 - 8 in Warsaw, Culture Minister Natalia Intotero reaffirmed Romania's commitment to supporting young artists and professionals in the cultural and creative fields, a release informs.

The meeting held under the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU provided a favorable framework for open dialogue between the culture ministers of the member states, with an emphasis on the essential role of culture in strengthening the European identity and in addressing current challenges.

The topics discussed included support for young artists, protecting the cultural heritage and developing a new strategic framework for European cultural policies, known as the Cultural Compass.

"In her intervention, Minister Natalia Intotero advocated the inclusion in the Cultural Compass of fundamental principles such as: protecting cultural heritage; fair financing and support for new generations of creators; facilitating young people's access to culture; using emerging technologies - including AI - for the benefit of culture," the cited source said.

Intotero also reiterated Romania's commitment to supporting young artists and cultural and creative professionals through programs such as the Administration of the National Cultural Fund, artistic residencies, tax facilities and the development of cultural infrastructure.

The Romanian culture minister highlighted the importance of culture as a pillar of European resilience and cohesion in the current geopolitical context, as well as the need for integrated policies to protect the heritage in the face of natural disasters and armed conflicts, reiterating in this regard Romania's proposal for the creation of a European Cultural Heritage Fund.

The Start-Up Nation program which provides non-repayable financing for entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sectors, and through which Romania encourages young creative people to develop their own initiatives was signalled out as a model of best practice.

The agenda also included thematic working sessions, a presentation of Ukraine's experience with protecting its national heritage, as well as debates on the future of the Creative Europe program after 2027.

According to the Culture Ministry, following Romania's intervention in connection with the heist of the Dacian treasure items from the Drents Museum in Assen, the Dutch side reacted promptly, expressing full support for the Romanian authorities and pledging to continue all necessary action for recovering the precious national heritage items.

The participation of the Romanian delegation in this meeting reaffirmed Romania's active role in defining European cultural policies and provided an important opportunity to promote national priorities regarding supporting creativity, cultural diversity and heritage protection, the Culture Ministry also informs.
Interim President Ilie Bolojan sent a message on Tuesday to the opening of the Digital Innovation Summit Bucharest event, in which he says that in the current security context, to which a significant government deficit is added, measures must be adopted to make the public apparatus more efficient, with technology and digital transformation being the most effective tools for deep reform.

"We are living in a defining moment, in which the security context, doubled by a significant government deficit, forces us, more than ever, to take measures to make the public apparatus more efficient. Technology and digital transformation are the most effective tools for an overhaul. They are not just tools but become an essential pillar for reducing expenses and increasing the quality and accessibility of public services. Technology and the digital environment, governed by artificial intelligence, become basic components of any public or private, civil or military project," Bolojan says in his message read out by presidential adviser Mihai Jurca.

He adds that hybrid warfare, disinformation, cybercrime and security, as well as the need for quality and secure public services are just some of the problems to which solutions must be quickly identified and firm action taken.

"We are in the midst of a world marked by profound tectonic changes, dominated by the struggle for competitiveness and a technological revolution based on artificial intelligence. Given the circumstances, amplified by Romania's strategic position, it is essential to correctly and realistically assess the complexity of the immense challenge that lies ahead of us."

Bolojan also mentions the importance of protecting critical infrastructure.

"We have clearly seen that the war waged by the Russian Federation in Ukraine is unfolding in cyberspace, on energy infrastructure, and I am glad that Romania acted promptly by amending its legislative framework, through Law 294/2024, which requires and mandates critical infrastructures to include in their security plans measures to protect against cyber attacks and threats. No security or resilience plan can be approved without the provision of appropriate protection measures against cyber-attacks," says Bolojan, who welcomes the initiative of Romania's Ministry of Energy to establish, by the end of April, the first Sectoral Cyber Security Incident Response Centre.

He adds that Romania's strategy to support Ukraine and Moldova is strongly linked to a vision of ensuring cybersecurity for critical infrastructures, seeking interconnection with the two neighbours, so that Romania can be a real support for them.

"In this context, we are looking for the best solutions with European and transatlantic partners for the resilience of critical infrastructures in Romania, because these, once secured, are a real support for our neighbours as well."

Bolojan also mentions a growing importance of cyber diplomacy for coordinating with partners and allies in order to establish common regulatory agendas and standards, to exchange information that increases resilience in the face of cyber-attacks, to increase the fight against disinformation and to investigate and bring to justice those who are responsible for it.

"It is clear that we will not have an easy mission, but I am confident that Romania has the talent, the entrepreneurs, the private companies to offer solutions matching the innovation necessary to excel in this extremely challenging and difficult context. As gratifying as this is, it is as important for the political community to rise to the challenges and regain the trust of society through work and clear decisions," says Bolojan.

He adds that together with the European partners, the American partners, the NATO allies, "Romania will intensify its efforts to provide the Romanian society with the security it needs to continue to prosper as it has done so far."
Romania's Chamber of Deputies is hosting today and tomorrow the 64th meeting of the Committee on Economic and Development Policies of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC).

The BSEC meeting in Bucharest, with the general theme 'Towards a greener future: Cooperation for technological solutions in the Black Sea region', will be attended by parliamentary delegations from the member states of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC), representatives of the International Secretariat of BSEC, representatives of BSEC, members of the Diplomatic Corps, as well as officials from the Romanian Government.

The agenda of the meeting includes, inter alia: elections to the position of vice-president of the committee; the debate and approval of a draft report and the recommendation on the subject under discussion; presenting the BSEC activities in line with the topics under debate and establishing details of the next meeting.

Given the recent appointment of the new delegation of the Romanian Parliament to the BSECPA, this meeting will be a good opportunity to increase the visibility of Romania in the extended Black Sea region.
Romania supports the European Commission's strategy to continue dialogue with the United States in order to negotiate new trade tariffs in the interest of member states, announced Minister of Economy, Digitisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Bogdan Ivan.

"At the meeting of the European Affairs Council for Trade, we supported Romania's position: we support the European Commission's strategy to continue dialogue with the United States to negotiate new trade tariffs in the interest of Romania and the member states. We maintain a firm, proportional, and well-calibrated approach in defending our economic interests. In discussions with Maros Sefcovic, the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, I reaffirmed that the US remains a strategic and commercial partner essential for Romania and the European Union," the minister wrote on his Facebook page on Monday evening.

Earlier, the European Trade Commissioner said that the European Union's retaliatory measures against the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration will target US imports worth less than 26 billion euros, after taking into account the wishes of the member states, Reuters reports.

According to the broad tariffs announced by the Washington Administration, imports of steel, aluminum, and cars from the 27 EU member states will be subject to 25% customs duties.

We want to ensure that the burden is shared fairly among all member states, Sefcovic added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a conversation with representatives from the metals industry and will later discuss with representatives from the automotive industry on how the EU will respond to the American tariffs.

On Monday, Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union is ready to negotiate with the United States to reach an agreement on the tariffs, but at the same time, it is preparing measures to defend its interests. We have offered 'zero for zero' tariffs for industrial goods, as we successfully did with many other trading partners, because Europe is always ready for a good agreement, so we keep it on the table. But we are also prepared to respond with countermeasures and defend our interests, von der Leyen said.

The European Union's Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), in its Trade configuration, met on April 7, 2025, in Luxembourg. The agenda included the EU's trade relations with the US and China.
Executive chairman of eMAG, Iulian Stanciu, denounced the anti-competitive practices of companies and firms outside the European Union, especially from China and Turkey at a specialized debate on Tuesday, and called for ensuring a level playing field and effective enforcement of legislation.

"According to an analysis, following the tariffs imposed on Chinese exports in Trump's first term, Chinese companies flooded Asian countries with exports to compensate for the lack of markets in America. This has led to the bankruptcy of many local companies, the destruction of value added in local economies, and the reduction of taxes collected to national budgets. Now, in Trump's second term and in response to the second wave of tariffs, Europe has become the target of Chinese exports. I've seen Chinese car makers say they'll beat Dacia Romania by 2030. These companies don't pay a million euros a day from eCommerce customs duties alone. Their unfair practices include deceptive pricing, false promotional offers, market manipulation and data exploitation in the absence of quality standards and product safety," said Iulian Stanciu.

He said there is an urgent need to ensure a level playing field and effective enforcement of existing legislation "in relation to all traders operating in the EU market, wherever they are based".

"The development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem should be stimulated, and a prestigious institution such as the Competition Council, even if it does not have direct legislative powers, can come up with research and recommendations in this regard," the eMAG representative added.

The Competition Council organized on Tuesday, together with the Faculty of Law of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, the National Conference "Competition Law: Innovative solutions in the Regulatory Framework".

The participants in the event discussed the innovative cases addressed by the Competition Council, presenting new and unconventional practices that have led the competition authority to adapt its analysis procedures to the new economic realities.

The challenges and benefits of the implementation of the Guarantee-Return System, a key tool in the circular economy, with a direct impact on environmental sustainability were also debated.

Competition in digital markets was another topical issue tackled during the event, given the rapid developments in technology and their impact on market structure and consumer behavior.

The conference was attended by representatives of Parliament, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), members of competition authorities in Europe, experts from employers' organizations and professional associations, as well as representatives of the legal and academic environment.
Este Putin capabil de un scenariu atat de nebunesc? Un deputat al Dumei de Stat a Rusiei dezvaluie ce ar vrea sa faca liderul de la Kremlin
The Bozanta Mare and Tautii de Sus tailings ponds - Maramures County are "ecological disasters" and the necessary funds for greening must be urgently allocated, chairwoman of the Chamber of Deputies' Environmental Committee Diana Buzoianu (Save Romania Union - USR) told a press conference called on Tuesday at the Palace of Parliament for the presentation of the conclusions of a fact-checking visit by members of the Environmental Committee to Baia Mare, where discussions took place with representatives of the local administration and the environmental authority, civil society, as well as experts.

Diana Buzoianu explained that the 77-hectare tailings pond at Bozanta Mare is heavily toxic, polluted with heavy metals, "poisoning the nearby communities and actually having killed thousands of Romanians". The soil there is "imbued with heavy metals", and when it rains the toxic elements contaminate the rivers, and when the weather is dry it turns into dust that plagues the communities each summer, said Buzoianu.

She added that samples taken by experts from the milk and cheese from animals raised near the pond indicate exceedances of heavy metals - lead, cadmium - by more than ten times the legal limit.

"In the last two years, the head of the Baia Mare Oncology Department raised the alarm, reporting that 30 years ago there were only 1,500 cancer cases in the hospital's records, whereas today there are over 15,000. So, the number of cancers has exploded due to the constant poisoning of the area's residents with heavy metals," said the USR representative.

The deputies' visit also included the Tautii de Sus pond, where the authorities say that ecological restoration works have been 70% completed, but RON 26 million are still needed to finalize the works. For years now, the money necessary for ecological restoration works has been cut off, the USR deputy said.

She mentioned that an industrial park and a dual education center are planned to be built in the nearby area, stressing that with heavy metals leaching into the ground and with clean-up works still a long way to go, starting the construction of the educational center and having hundreds of students learn there would be a crime.

The USR lawmaker informed that she will take all steps to ensure that this money is allocated. "It is unacceptable that so many Maramures locals have died in recent years just because the necessary money to clean up this mountain of poison was not found," stressed Buzoianu.

In his turn, USR deputy Brian Cristian cautioned that some major problems are looming over the health of the people of Maramures.

"Tailings ponds are located all over Maramures County, and the one in Bozanta Mare is the largest in the country. Basically, these are piles of tailings from mining operations, and they contain toxic substances, including crystalline silica which is directly associated with lung cancer, and the number of such cases has increased significantly in recent years. When the mines in Maramures were shut down, the state promised that the mines, the tailings ponds and tailings mounds will be properly neutralized, yet the harmful substances kept building up over time and the necessary money was never unlocked, he explained.

USR MP Allen Coliban accused the National Institute of Public Health of keeping "completely silent" on the subject, even though the issue affects people's lives.

"These are serious problems, if we think about that at a systemic level, at the level of the Romanian state, it proves the state's inability to meet Article 35 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to a clean environment for all citizens," said Coliban, who stressed the urgency of allocating the funds for greening works.
Romania's policy, from foreign policy to other public policies, is made by people who have official mandates, interim president Ilie Bolojan told a press conference on Tuesday.

He was asked about the recent statements made by businessman Dragos Sprinceana, presented as Romania's emissary in relations with the USA

"I would not like to comment on the remarks of a Romanian citizen about the perspective he has regarding one aspect or another that relates to our country. Our country's policy, from foreign policy to other public policies, is made by people who are mandated in this regard, who have official mandates or by Romanians' vote or by Parliament's vote or by governmental decisions and I think that only after these statements and after these mandates can we make comments that relate to one policy or another, including Romania's foreign policy," said Bolojan.

The interim president said that he does not wish to respond to comments on this issue.

"I don't think it helps our country.(...) It is a rather complicated period in terms of global security, global trade, we have presidential elections in Romania and everything that happens in this period is being amplified, it is being interpreted by those who are running or by those who support them and I don't think it is right for me to get into such a game of statements," he added.
Ukraine imported $207.89 million worth of tractors in January-March 2024, a 2.8% decrease compared to the same period last year, according to the State Customs Service.

Data show that the bulk of tractors were imported from the United States (24.6% of total imports, or $51.14 million), China (16.8%, nearly $35 million), and Germany (16.2%, or $33.8 million). A year earlier, the top suppliers were Germany ($35.4 million), Poland ($28.3 million), and the Netherlands ($26.3 million).

However, in March 2025, tractor imports rose by 13.3% compared to March 2024 and by almost 51% from February 2025, reaching $98.62 million.

Tractor exports in the first quarter of 2025 totaled just $1.28 million, mainly to Romania, Zambia, and the Czech Republic.

In 2024, Ukraine imported nearly $784 million worth of tractors  down 5.6% from the previous year, while exports amounted to $5.44 million, compared to $5.74 million in 2023.
Romania needs its diaspora, but Dragos Sprinceana "does not have the necessary preparation to talk about politics beyond a table, in a restaurant or a pub," Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) Chairman Kelemen Hunor said on Tuesday.

"This gentleman does not have the necessary preparation to talk about politics beyond a table, in a restaurant or a pub," Kelemen Hunor told RFI.

According to the UDMR leader, Sprinceana's opinions are those of a "character" who is not an envoy.

"It's a personal opinion of a gentleman, a character, whom I do not know and cannot categorise otherwise than as a personal opinion. Nothing more. So he is not a messenger, not a commissioner, not an envoy; there is no paper anywhere that makes this gentleman a special envoy. It is his point of view, a private point of view. (...) And things were clarified yesterday by Prime Minister Ciolacu. I suspect he had a conversation with the interim president as well. (...) Still, I expect, at least as far as I am concerned, to see things in a much more correct light than someone who has no connection with the political world. I have the impression that he doesn't even understand politics," Kelemen Hunor said.

The UDMR leader also said that "there is no mandate" for Dragos Sprinceana: "There is no such thing, these are just words, but where's the paper, what's the mandate?."

"We constantly need the Romanian diaspora from the US and beyond. There is, at this moment, without a doubt, a lack of communication, but it's not just Romania in this situation, more than half the planet has a communication problem with the Trump administration. But from here to appointing someone who should be... there is no such thing!," he added.

When asked if this represents a mistake by the prime minister, the UDMR leader pointed out that, most likely, the prime minister was looking for someone with direct links to the new administration in the US.

"Probably the prime minister was looking for someone who has direct personal links there, but from here to saying that he is an envoy and that he has a mandate from Romania is too much to say. The person is not prepared for that, to engage in political discussions, and I really don't care what point of view he has about Macron or a bunch of other things," Kelemen Hunor added.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated that in the relationship with the United States, a "new approach" is being tried, specifying that to present Romania's situation to the new Trump administration, Romanians from the diaspora involved in American politics, particularly in the Republican Party, were approached, one of whom is businessman Dragos Sprinceana.
The rector of the George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology (UMFST) of Targu Mures, Professor Leonard Azamfirei, PhD, and the General Manager Microsoft Central Europe EURA, Bogdan Putinica, signed on Tuesday a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of the first Smart Hospital in the country.

"This is an absolutely unique event in Romania and I would like to congratulate both the university and the management team for this truly innovative concept, a Smart Hospital in Romania. I don't think that anything like this has ever been talked about before, or if it has, we haven't heard about it, but even more so, I don't think that anything like this has ever been done in Romania. And the congratulations are very well deserved because you were able to finalize such a project, because you brought it to a stage of maturity, which today takes a new step towards its successful execution and especially because you successfully combine cutting-edge technologies. I believe that we will also talk, if we have the opportunity, about artificial intelligence in education and medicine, to bring all this set of innovation and advance, let's say, that technology supports in the service of humankind," Bogdan Putinica told a press conference held at UMFST Targu Mures.

According to the Microsoft representative, the company will be involved in this strategic project implemented by UMFST Targu Mures and supported by the Romanian Government.

"For us, education, I've said it every time I had the chance, is the number one priority. Romania is our chance for the future and these are not empty words. I am glad to be here today, I am glad that together with my team and my colleagues from the education division, who are with me, we will support this project. We will be by your side, with specialists, with everything Microsoft can bring to make this project a success. And I hope to see you even sooner, maybe, but clearly at the inauguration, at the ribbon cutting, with pride that we are Romanians if we do something like this in Romania. It can be done and I emphasize this very much, it can be done where there is will and leadership. And for us, as Microsoft, Microsoft Romania, we are honored to be part of this partnership," said Bogdan Putinica.

The rector of UMFST Targu Mures, Dr. Leonard Azamfirei, said that the Memorandum of Understanding between the university and Microsoft Romania strengthens the collaboration between academia and IT industry, with the aim of developing the first Smart Hospital in Romania.

"This is a special event for the university. And not only for the university, I would say that for the entire medical and university system in Romania, the moment when we initial an agreement that we have been working on for a long time with Microsoft Romania for the implementation of a totally new concept for Romania, namely the Smart Hospital concept, the intelligent hospital (...). You will probably remember, especially those of you from Targu Mures, about the concept that I left two weeks ago, UniCity - University Hospital. And what is happening today is part of a bigger project that we have dimensioned for the next 10 years. It is a matter of vision, it is a matter of innovation, because the idea of Smart Hospital implicitly has innovation behind it, too, innovation that we should understand not only in terms of the medical activity, which is the first and most interactive with the patient, but we are also talking about innovation in the management of a hospital," said the rector of UMFST Targu Mures.

The rector said that Microsoft is the most suitable partner that UMFST could have, because it has demonstrated its expertise and technical capacity over the years.

Among the objectives of the partnership signed on Tuesday are the transfer of expertise, the integration of cutting-edge technologies in healthcare - AI-based tools and integrated cloud services - and the exchange of best practices.

UMFST Targu Mures would like George Emil Palade Hospital to become a leader in innovation, a provider of patient-centered care, a research center and an educational hub, by setting a new benchmark for medical excellence in Romania.
The Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR), through the National Book Centre (CENNAC), launched a new funding programme for the promotion of Romanian literature abroad, "Romanian Books for Children," dedicated exclusively to foreign publishing houses interested in publishing books for children and young people written by Romanian by authors, informs a press release sent on Tuesday to AGERPRES.

"In line with the ICR Strategy 2022-2026, we are launching this new programme dedicated to promoting written culture, this time focusing on children's literature: "Romanian Books for Children" is the first funding programme initiated and implemented by the Romanian Cultural Institute that aims to facilitate foreign public access to children's and youth literature written by Romanian-language authors and to support their presence on the international book market, where a significant stage of development of this genre is currently being noted, which generates increasing interest. I am sure that through this new programme - this year in a pilot phase - we are welcoming Romanian authors of children's books, who will thus have access to an increasingly important market, literature for young readers that mobilizes creators both in the field of literature and in the art of illustration, design and graphics," stated the president of the ICR, Liviu Jicman.

In order to publish in translation in 2025 books for children and young people written by authors in Romanian, foreign publishing houses are invited to submit applications for the first edition of "Romanian Books for Children" by May 11, exclusively online, at rbc@icr.ro.

The grants awarded to a publishing house for a project are set at a maximum of 10,000 euros. They can cover up to 100% of the translation costs (without exceeding the amount of 3,000 euros) and, in certain cases, up to 70% of the editing costs (illustrations/graphics, layout, technical writing, proofreading, etc.), without exceeding the amount of 7,000 euros. For publishing houses that only request financing for editing costs, RBC covers a maximum of 9,000 euros of the eligible costs.

Funding will be provided within the available budget, and a minimum of three winning projects will be selected based on the applications submitted. For an objective and transparent selection, the received files will be evaluated by a committee composed of independent experts.

The results of the evaluation will be published on June 10, on the platforms www.cennac.ro and www.icr.ro.

The official regulations and program details can be consulted on the website www.icr.ro, in the "Information" section or directly by accessing the link:

https://www.icr.ro/pagini/anunt-privind-deschiderea-sesiunii-2025-de-primire-a-candidaturilor-in-cadrul-programului-definantare-romanian-books-for-children-rbc

The RBC programme supports the translation and publication worldwide of illustrated volumes of literature for children and young people, both in the "fiction" category and in the "non-fiction" category (history, art, science, etc.), signed by Romanian-language writers and published in Romanian.

Along with the Translation and Publication Support Programme (TPS) and Publishing Romania, the new programme represents a diversification of the activity of promoting Romanian written culture abroad, imposed by the evolution of local written culture.
The National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (ICI Bucharest) is organizing, April 8-11, at the Palace of Parliament, a new edition of the Digital Innovation Summit Bucharest (DISB).

This year's edition brings together over 200 speakers from more than 30 countries.

"With over 2,000 digital professionals expected to participate, DISB 2025 promises to be a point of reference in the European technological landscape. During the four days of the event, essential topics for the digital future will be addressed, including artificial intelligence and process automation, blockchain and fintech, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection, cloud computing and digital transformation, as well as cyber diplomacy and international regulations in the field of technology," the event organizer mentions.

According to the same source, the summit programme will include interactive sessions and debates within key events, such as: Critical Infrastructure Protection Forum (CIP Forum), International Conference on Cyber Diplomacy (ICCD), International Conference on Virtual Learning (ICVL), National Virtual Education Conference (CNIV) and Automotive R&D Conference.

Also, for the first time, the Blockchain Intelligence Forum will be organized, an initiative dedicated to innovations and security in blockchain technology. In addition, the summit will host the Annual Meeting of Eurodefence (RIE), a strategic platform for security and digital innovation in Europe.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry sent the Permanent Electoral Authority the list with the proposals for 965 locations of polling stations to be organized abroad for Romania's presidential election this May.

The most polling stations are proposed in Italy (and Malta) - 161; Spain - 147; the United Kingdom - 108; France (and the Principality of Monaco) - 69; the Republic of Moldova - 64; the USA - 50; Belgium - 29; the Netherlands - 23.

Compared to the situation at the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections, for this year's ballot, 29 stations were relocated to nearby localities or areas, either as a result of consultations with representatives of the Romanian communities, or for better coverage of various areas in order to facilitate the voters' access to the polling stations.

The Foreign Ministry specifies that in the case of five polling stations in France, the United Kingdom and Spain, different addresses will be used between the two rounds of the presidential election.

Also, just like in the case of the 2024 elections, for objective reasons, balloting places will not be organized in the following states: Afghanistan (the Romanian troops have been withdrawn from the said theaters of operations), Rostov-on-Don (consular office closed), Odessa (the activity of the consular office is temporarily suspended), Sudan (the mission's activity is taken over by the Addis Ababa Regional State Administration), Venezuela (diplomatic mission closed), Libya (the mission was relocated to Tunis), and Pyongyang (the mission's activity is temporarily suspended).

In accordance with the legal provisions in force, in no more than three days from receiving the Foreign Ministry's proposals, the Permanent Electoral Authority approves by decision the proposals for the locations of the polling stations abroad and publicly releases the final list of the said precincts.

Compared to the previous year, 15 new polling stations were proposed in 2025 in addition to the 950 stations organized abroad for the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Voting abroad in the presidential election takes place over three days in each voting round (May 2, 3 and 4, respectively May 16, 17 and 18), with ballot casting beginning on all three days at 07:00 local time. On Fridays and Saturdays, voting ends at 21:00 local time, and on Sunday the process closes at 21:00 Romanian time.

All enfranchised Romanian citizens who are out of the country at that time can vote at the precincts organized abroad, based on a valid identity document issued by the Romanian authorities.

More details about exercising the right to vote in the 2025 presidential election can be found on the website of the Foreign Affairs Ministry at https://www.mae.ro/node/66216.
A seven-tonne seven-metre-high cross was mounted on Tuesday on the large cupola of the National Cathedral in Bucharest.

The cupola is also known as the Pantocrator Cupola, because on the dome of the main cupola in all the Christian Orthodox churches, Jesus Christ Pantocrator, the Almighty, is painted.

Patriarchal Assistant Bishop Varlaam Ploie, together with Father Ciprian Gradinaru, ecclesiarch of the Chapel of the People's Salvation Cathedral officiated on Tuesday the consecration of the cross.

"Before our eyes, it rises in the sky of our capital city, in the sky of Bucharest, as a sign of hope, of light for our daily Christian life. And the numbers that are related to this cross, which will be raised immediately, have special significance: it is seven metres high and weighs seven tonnes, as number seven in Christian spirituality means perfection, fullness. And we want this cross to be not only the guardian of this cathedral, a strong and invincible covering, but to be for every Romanian, in the country and abroad, a sign of victory and a sign of hope that Christ is, in every trial of our life, with us. And just as His cross, which He willingly carried for us and for our salvation, brought joy to everyone, this cross that will adorn the sky of our capital from the highest spire of the cathedral will illuminate and sanctify our daily life," said Ploie.

The cross on the large cupola of the National Cathedral was mounted with a crane, the assembly of which began on March 24.
Save Romania Union (USR) Chair Elena Lasconi sends a message on International Roma Day, advocating for education, inclusion, and economic development in disadvantaged communities.

"We can set Romania on the right path, but for that, we need to be united. Ethnicity doesn't matter; we are all equal, we all have a place under the sun, and we have the same rights and duties as citizens. And, most importantly: I am convinced that our love for the country unites us! Today, on International Roma Day, my thoughts go out to the Roma community in our country. It is essential to understand that in order to build a united society, we need to overcome prejudices and support the integration of the Roma in all social and economic aspects," wrote the USR leader on Facebook on Tuesday.

She supports ensuring access to education, healthcare services, jobs and combating discrimination.

Lasconi mentions that, as the mayor of Campulung, she has consolidated and modernised a school in a disadvantaged area of the city using European funds.

She underscores that, as president, she will "fight" for every Romanian, regardless of ethnicity.

"Today, more than ever, it is time to focus on education, inclusion and economic development in disadvantaged communities. We need to approach each other with wisdom and openness, and you will see that there is always a bridge between two worlds and a hand extended when the one next to us needs it," the post also reads.
WINFIELD, Mo.  A woman known as a prolific foster parent and exotic animal collector has been charged with abusing and neglecting a teen girl in her care, then abandoning her in Texas.

Brenda Deutsch, 70, was arrested Sunday night at her home along a remote stretch of Highway 47 in Lincoln County, roughly 60 miles north of St. Louis, and charged Monday morning. One other child was found at the home and was placed in protective custody.

Deutsch and her late husband, Dennis, had been foster parents to more than 200 kids from 1997 to 2017, according to his obituary.

Lincoln County Prosecutor Mike Wood said since the arrest, other children Deutsch had fostered or adopted have come forward with allegations of abuse and neglect.

We are going to track down as many reports as we can, including every single hotline call, Wood said. We want to identify as many victims and witnesses to the abuse as possible.

Even if the statute of limitations has been reached, their testimony in court could help show that this was a pattern and all a part of the culture of abuse and neglect that was within that home, Wood said.

No attorney was listed for Deutsch in court records Monday.

Missouri began investigating Deutsch in early December, following an anonymous call to the states child abuse hotline. In a Dec. 4 interview with the teen at her school, she told authorities that the physical and mental abuse began when she was in the eighth grade.

The teen, whom police have not named, said Deutsch repeatedly abused other family members, threatened to kill her, and told doctors she was suicidal or harming herself to discredit claims of abuse, court records said.

There is clearly some systemic failure somewhere, Wood said, because what we are hearing now is that there were a voluminous amount of hotline calls being made, but we had no reports. We didnt have a single report from anybody.

Sent to Texas

Over Christmas break, Deutsch sent the teen to Texas to live with another exotic animal collector, according to court documents. Wood said Monday that a witness was asked to drop the kid off in Texas and transport a monkey back to Missouri.

Wood said he didnt know the nature of the exchange. The teen ultimately traveled to Texas alone, he said.

In early February, the school reported the teen missing, and law enforcement officials traced her to Eastland County, Texas, about 130 miles west of Dallas.

Wood said there is no evidence the exotic animal collector in Texas had any ability or the resources to care for a child. He said local authorities have described the womans home as deplorable.

The woman, who isnt named in court records, told investigators on Feb. 8 that she wanted to send the teen back to Missouri but Deutsch refused to pay for airfare. Days later, the woman dropped the teen off at a family members home in Texas, saying the teen needed to stay for five days.

When the woman didnt return after seven days, the family member drove the teen to state child protective services.

Wood said the Texas woman is also under criminal investigation.

In an interview with authorities in Texas, the teen described her experiences living with Deutsch. She said she was forced to donate her clothes to a thrift store, experienced extensive physical abuse, and was beaten and threatened when she confided to a friend at church that she was being abused.

Deutsch told her that she would regret telling someone about the abuse, according to court documents. She said she was then repeatedly hit with a torn piece of wooden trim.

Baylee Watts, a spokesperson for the state Childrens Division, the agency in charge of investigating child abuse allegations, said records pertaining to the investigation are closed and confidential under Missouri law. Watts said foster child information is also closed to the public, as are details about a foster parents license.

But Watts said state law does require the department contact appropriate law enforcement agencies when it receives a report that merits investigation.

Nothing is off the table

Lincoln County Sheriff Rick Harrell said deputies are reviewing any 911 calls they may have received from Deutsch or Deutschs children to see if any mentioned abuse allegations. Officials said Deutsch would routinely call law enforcement to report that children in her care were harming themselves or others.

The state requires foster parents to undergo extensive training to complete the licensure process, Watts said in an email. A foster care license is only valid for two years but can be renewed.

Wood said he is preparing to subpoena the Missouri Department of Social Services for records relating to Deutschs years as a foster parent. He has also requested state investigators assist in the investigation.

Harrell said deputies have identified roughly 20 people who may have direct knowledge or vital information related to Deutsch and her time as a foster parent.

Staff with the Eastland County Sheriffs Department referred calls on Monday to Lincoln County officials, saying authorities in both counties are working collaboratively.

We are going to follow this investigation wherever it leads, Harrell said. Nothing is off the table.

Deutsch remains in custody in the Lincoln County jail. Cash-only bond was set at $250,000. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance Tuesday afternoon in Lincoln County.
ST. LOUIS  Washington University students say they were told to leave the universitys campus Monday after working on a collaborative art piece that included pro-Palestine messages.

Max Schreiber, a junior studying studio art, said university officials approached him and about 40 others at WashUs Tisch Park near Skinker Boulevard and told him to take his sculpture elsewhere because it violated a university policy about installing structures on campus.

Schreiber had made a tent out of canvas and wood. He and a few friends carried it to Tisch Park around 11 a.m. Monday where they and other participants painted on it. Many wore keffiyehs, or traditional Palestinian scarves.

On the tent, students painted the flag of Palestine, a peace sign, flowers and slices of watermelon, a pro-Palestinian symbol. They also wrote on the tent abolish WUPD (the university police department), long live the student intifada, and from the river to the sea, a phrase interpreted as antisemitic to some.

Julie Flory, vice chancellor for marketing and communications for WashU, said university policy requires prior approval for any tents or temporary structures.

The student did not have prior approval for this structure, so they were advised to remove it, which they did, Flory said in an email. There was no need for police to respond.

Schreiber acknowledged his art piece may have violated university policy. But he said other students have done performance pieces or placed public art in Tisch Park with no issue. One art student put a couch there last semester with no trouble, he said.

I put up a sculpture last semester in the exact same spot and no one said anything, Schreiber said. It was fine because it didnt say Palestine.

About 10 minutes after they arrived, Schreiber said, two officers with the universitys campus police department arrived as he painted a white base layer on the tent. The officers said nothing and left a few minutes later, Schreiber said.

Soon after, Schreiber and senior Kyra Sorkin said staff from the Office of Residential Life told them the sculpture violated a university policy against installing structures on campus. So, for about an hour, they held the tent sculpture off the ground.

It didnt work. Two staffers from the nearby Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts later told them to either take the sculpture to Schreibers studio or go across the street to Forest Park, unless things would escalate to the point of police involvement.

WUPD has a track record on this campus, one of the staffers told Schreiber and Sorkin, according to a recording of the conversation. I wanted to make sure that you all came out and knew that we are at a pivot point, so you all can make the conscious decision of how far youre willing to go.

The staffer said they supported the students but this institution is going to be who they are, a nod to a demonstration last year that led to mass arrests.

Last April in Tisch Park, a pro-Palestine demonstration led to the arrests of 100 people after demonstrators ignored multiple orders to leave. Seventy of the arrestees were university outsiders.

The fallout of the demonstration interested Schreiber, who is Jewish and a member of the group WashU Jewish Students for Palestine.

A culture of fear has developed where students are afraid to speak their opinions about the war in Gaza, he said. He wanted to make the conversation in public.

It showed how WashU feels about free expression, Schreiber said. I walked in and painted a triangle white, and that was enough to send in cops.

Schreiber moved his sculpture across the street to the intersection of Skinker and Lindell boulevards, where he and a group of about 20 other people stayed until about 4 p.m.
CLAYTON  The states chief election official is investigating St. Louis County Executive Sam Pages use of taxpayer dollars for a campaign about a ballot proposal.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins office is obligated to investigate complaints, said spokesperson Rachael Dunn. She declined to comment further.

The investigation comes after Tom Sullivan, a frequent county critic, filed a complaint with the Missouri Secretary of State last week accusing Page of violating election laws by using public money to sway voter opinion on Proposition B. The proposition, which appears on Tuesdays ballot, would give the County Council the power to fire department heads.

The secretary has already reached out to Pages office, Page spokesman Doug Moore said Monday night. The office will forward all of the information that we have about the ballot language and the countys education campaign, Moore said.

Its legal for public officials to spend money on educational campaigns, but not political ones.

Page is a Democrat, and Hoskins is a Republican. Moore said Pages office hopes the Secretary of States review is not partisan.

Sullivan is a University City resident who emails regular newsletters to the press and others with his opinions about county business. In recent newsletters, he has complained about the countys use of nearly $36,000 to print and mail postcards to voters about Prop B. He submitted complaints a week ago to the states elections authorities.

On Monday evening, Sullivan emailed a screenshot of a letter he received from an attorney for the Secretary of State saying, our office has decided to further look into this matter.

The secretary has the power to investigate alleged violations of election law. Using taxpayer money for electioneering is considered a class four election offense, which is punishable by up to a year imprisonment, up to a $2,500 fine or both.

If the secretary finds probable cause, the case would be referred to the St. Louis County prosecuting attorneys office.
Ukraine continues to work at all levels on communication with partners, and is also working on new defense packages, and relevant news is being prepared, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Today, Ukraines Minister of Foreign Affairs reported on communication with our partners and all the measures in response to the ongoing brutal Russian strikes. We are working at every level. Russia must be held accountable for this war  and it will be, in every available form, the president said in an evening address on Monday.

We are also working on new defense packages for Ukraine  relevant announcements are being prepared, Zelenskyy added.
JEFFERSON CITY  The Missouri House gave initial approval Monday to a bill that seeks to prevent antisemitism in public schools and colleges, with some raising concerns it could punish those who speak out against Israel.

The bill would require the State Board of Education and the Coordinating Board for Higher Education to each assign a staff member to monitor antisemitic discrimination and harassment and investigate whether schools have responsibility for incidents. It also encourages schools to teach pieces of Jewish-American heritage.

Rep. George Hruza, a Republican from Huntleigh, said the bill was inspired by his mother, a Holocaust survivor who had frequent nightmares about her time in a concentration camp.

It was not until we arrived in the United States that the nightmares went away and she started speaking about her experience and embraced her Jewish heritage, Hruza said. She felt safe in the United States. On Oct. 7, 2023, that all changed.

That day, Hamas attacked Israel and started the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant groups. The conflict spurred the highest number of antisemitic incidents in a year recorded by the Anti-Defamation League.

Hruza hopes the legislation can cut back on these incidents, citing a recent case in Affton where a man spray-painted Nazi and white supremacist graffiti on school buildings.

Criticism of the bill stems from its reliance on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances working definition of antisemitism. That definition has been adopted by a majority of U.S. states and included in orders at the federal level  though the lead drafter of the definition has spoken against its application as a tool to target or chill speech on a college campus.

Alongside the IHRA definition are examples of antisemitism, which the bill adopts. The list includes claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor and applying double standards to Israel as discriminatory. Both Hruzas bill and the IHRA say criticism of Israel is OK when it is similar to criticism toward any other country.

When a House committee debated the bill earlier this year, some argued the legislation was an attempt to silence criticism of Israel on college campuses.

Rep. Stephanie Hein, a Springfield Democrat, voted present in committee on the bill and struggled to weigh the good pieces against controversial elements.

There is a lot of emotion behind this subject and there are a lot of good things in this bill, she said Monday. The area of contention is the definition that is used.

Rep. Wick Thomas, a Kansas City Democrat, asked Hruza if the bill might also be about ending critiques of Israel and the Palestinian conflict.

The bill is intended to keep the Jewish students safe on campus. It really is not taking sides or some kind of position on the conflict in the Middle East, Hruza said.

Although the bulk of the bills pushback came from Democrats, positions were not clearly split by party lines.

Rep. Ian Mackey, a Democrat from St. Louis, said he didnt think the legislation would impede free-speech rights.

The First Amendment has always confined speech to a reasonable time, place and manner, he said. You do not have the right to do that on a college campus in front of students who are simply trying to get to class.

Republican Rep. Darin Chappell, of Rogersville, told Hruza he had concerns.

He has argued in the past against recognizing minority groups in state law, Chappell said, to be lionized and set above on a pedestal.

He cant set those convictions aside, Chappell said, simply because it is one of my colleagues on this side of the aisle that is presenting (this bill).

The House approved the bill with an amendment from Democratic state Rep. Raychel Proudie of Ferguson that bans schools from discriminating against textured hair and protective styles, like locks and braids. The legislation is often dubbed the CROWN Act and has been proposed by Missouri lawmakers since 2020.

The House must vote on the legislation again before sending it to the Senate.

The legislation is House Bill 937.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and X.
JEFFERSON CITY  The top budget writer in the Missouri Senate says President Donald Trumps sharp tariff hikes are causing jitters among some Republicans who control state government.

Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said steep drops in the stock market and projections of a coming recession have him saying no a lot to legislative colleagues seeking money for special projects in their districts.

There is a lot of uneasiness in not only the financial markets but for those of us who are appropriating money and having to build these budgets out months and months in advance, Hough said Tuesday. Any uncertainty, any ruffles in the water, causes a lot of issues.

Trumps tariffs, set to take effect Wednesday, have caused alarming disruption in the economy, which could have a direct effect on the amount of money Missouri collects in revenue to pay for state government programs.

Missouris largest trade partner is Canada, with nearly 100 Canadian companies operating in the state. The state also exported an estimated $6.3 billion in goods to Canada, including vehicles from the states automotive manufacturers.

Its unnerving, Hough said.

His comments come as the Senate budget panel is expected to begin parsing the House version of the state budget next week with an eye on getting the spending blueprint to Gov. Mike Kehoe by early May. The $47.9 billion spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1 leaves $1.9 billion unspent, giving lawmakers some wiggle room to grapple with the ongoing global instability.

Kehoe, in an interview in the Capitol Tuesday, said his administration is watching developments in the nations capital and on the global scale.

All of our department directors are aware of various things that may or may not be happening, Kehoe said. Were in constant communication with them and were preparing to make sure we do the right thing for the Missouri citizens.

Kehoe, who supports Trumps tariff plan as a way to bring jobs back to the U.S., said the states financial condition is flexible enough to weather most economic headwinds.

Fortunately, the budget appropriators and (Gov. Mike Parsons) administration did the right thing in years past. They didnt spend all of Missouris money. Weve left money on the bottom line for occurrences should they happen, Kehoe said, pointing to the states $2 billion surplus.

The most recent general revenue report for the state shows net revenue declined 2.2% last month compared to March 2024. Individual income tax collections were flat for the year, while sales taxes increased less than 1%.

Those figures were released before Trump levied his tariff plan on countries, sending the stock market into a tailspin.

Hough said the first task for budget writers is to fund programs that are constitutionally mandated, including Missouris MO HealthNet program, which provides Medicaid benefits to 1.3 million low-income children and adults.

Hough said hes been in close contact with MO HealthNet chief Todd Richardson in recent weeks after Republicans in Congress signaled federal cuts could be coming in order to pay for tax cuts.

If the federal government reduces its Medicaid reimbursement match from 90% to 80%, for example, it would cost the state an estimated $300 million, Hough said.

Those are big numbers and theyve got to come from somewhere, Hough said. Its real money and real issues.

Kehoe is backing a plan to cut the states capital gains tax amid a dispute over how much the plan will cost state coffers. He also has raised eyebrows for introducing a plan to dedicate $50 million to jumpstart a private school voucher program while not fully funding the states public school foundation formula.

The governor, who is in his first year in office, called Trumps strategy of using tariffs to create jobs fantastic, but acknowledged that the presidents long-term efforts could result in short-term budgetary pressure.

At the end of the day I think thats the best thing for the country is to put Americans back to work buying American-made products. But well continue to offer critical services to Missourians, he said. Well put together a budget that takes care of those in need.

Hough suggested that belt-tightening is the order of the day after Missouri and other states benefitted from a flood of federal pandemic relief money.

Ive got senators and representatives coming to me all the time and talking about projects they want done in their districts and things that are important to them. Were going to have to fund whats constitutionally mandated first and see whats left, Hough said.
JEFFERSON CITY  The Missouri Senate on Monday voted to send a tax cut bill, with provisions designed to benefit both the ultra-wealthy and the working class, back to the House for final approval.

The Monday afternoon floor vote came after a contentious fiscal oversight committee hearing, during which lawmakers questioned the accuracy of the financial analysis of the bills impact on state revenues.

It ended up passing 27-6, with five Senate Democrats joining all but one Republican.

The measure, if it becomes law, would allow Missourians to claim an income tax credit for capital gains reported to the federal government. Capital gains taxes are paid when someone sells stocks and property for a profit.

Missourians could deduct 100% of all capital gains income reported to the IRS from their state income tax liability under the proposal.

A bill offsetting federal capital gains taxes mostly benefits the rich. Just 8,230 Missourians who have an income over $1 million annually accounted for more than half of the states capital gains, according to 2022 tax year data.

According to a nonpartisan fiscal analysis, the bill, once implemented, could cost the state about $111 million annually.

To balance the bill, Democrats and skeptical Republicans added new sections to help more Missourians. Under the legislation, diapers and feminine hygiene products are exempt from state sales tax. The bill also beefs up a tax relief program for low-income seniors so more can apply.

So I guess were going to help the very rich and the very poor, Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lees Summit, said in an interview with the Post-Dispatch. Cierpiot was staunchly against the capital gains provisions but now supports the bill with the added support for seniors.

Those additions came at a cost. The final package is expected to cost the state almost $350 million annually.

Rep. Chad Perkins, R-Bowling Green, the legislations sponsor, told the Post-Dispatch he is intent on getting it through the House no matter how much the proposals cost.

Were going to give get some relief to the people that need it, Sen. Doug Beck, D-South St. Louis County, said.

Just as it seemed the bargain between Democrats and Republicans had been struck, a potential error in the legislations fiscal analysis almost derailed its progress.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank, published articles on its website and told the Missouri Independent that it thinks the states fiscal analysis far undercounts how expensive the capital gains tax cut will be.

They argued the projection couldnt be that low, with high-income Missourians collecting the lions share of capital gains. Carl Davis, the institutes research director, said the provision could cost the state about $600 million annually.

How can we be off by half a billion dollars, Beck asked at the fiscal review hearing Monday.

I dont know where they got their numbers, Jeani Hancock, from the Missouri Department of Revenue, responded.

We actually put every single persons return in our model, and we run them and we pull out exactly what was claimed.

The crux of the issue comes down to how the institute calculated the projected cost. They took the total number of capital gains, which is over $13 billion, and multiplied it by the states top tax rate, 4.7%. That results in over $600 million people could potentially claim against their Missouri taxes.

Its not that simple, Hancock said. People may claim capital gains on activity they have in Missouri but not actually live in the state, meaning they wouldnt be eligible for the program. Hancock added that people with high incomes are able to bring their tax burden down greatly and thus wont be able to claim as much capital gains against their Missouri tax burden.

Democrats and Republicans on the committee also raised concerns that the fiscal analysis misrepresented how much the diaper and feminine hygiene product exemptions would cost local governments. The provision only eliminates the states portion of the sales tax, not the local option sales tax, so local tax revenues shouldnt be affected.

The legislation passed the fiscal review committee on a narrow 4-3 vote.

I think we will have success if we get rid of the capital gains tax, Gov. Mike Kehoe said at a Missouri Press Association event earlier this year.

If the House gives approves the proposal, the bill will land on Kehoes desk, where hes expected to sign it.

The legislation is House Bill 594.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to use an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants, but said they must get a court hearing before they are taken from the United States.

In a bitterly divided decision, the court said the administration must give Venezuelans who it claims are gang members reasonable time to go to court.

But the conservative majority said the legal challenges must take place in Texas, instead of a Washington courtroom.

In dissent, the three liberal justices said the administration has sought to avoid judicial review in this case and the court now rewards the government for its behavior. Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined portions of the dissent.

The justices acted on the administrations emergency appeal after the federal appeals court in Washington left in place an order temporarily prohibiting deportations of the migrants accused of being gang members under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act.

For all the rhetoric of the dissents, the court wrote in an unsigned opinion, the high court order confirms that the detainees subject to removal orders under the AEA are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal."

The case has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension between the White House and the federal courts.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the courts ruling a landmark victory for the rule of law.

An activist judge in Washington, DC does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trumps authority to conduct foreign policy and keep the American people safe, Bondi wrote in a social media post.

The original order blocking the deportations to El Salvador was issued by U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, the chief judge at the federal courthouse in Washington.

President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to justify the deportation of hundreds of people under a presidential proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.

Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of five Venezuelan noncitizens who were being held in Texas, hours after the proclamation was made public and as immigration authorities were shepherding hundreds of migrants to waiting airplanes.

Boasberg imposed a temporary halt on deportations and also ordered planeloads of Venezuelan immigrants to return to the U.S. That did not happen. The judge held a hearing last week over whether the government defied his order to turn the planes around. The administration has invoked a  state secrets privilege  and refused to give Boasberg any additional information about the deportations.

Trump and his allies have called for impeaching Boasberg. In a rare statement, Chief Justice John Roberts said impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.

Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report.
On April 14, 1823, William Carr Lane, a medical doctor from Pennsylvania, was elected as St. Louis first mayor. The city then consisted of some 4,000 souls; the mayors annual salary was $300. Among the first ordinances passed under his tenure was to prohibit the discharge of firearms within the city limits.

Gunplay remains a bane of St. Louis to this day, of course, but almost everything else has changed. The city would grow in the ensuing years to become one of the biggest and most prosperous in America, before beginning its long population slide in the middle of the last century. While Mayor Lane might have had trouble imagining his little town being home to almost 300,000 people, that figure today represents the crashing failure of generations of city leadership that saw the loss of almost two-thirds of its population since the 1950s.

Among the few things that havent changed is the fact that such failures, and any success the city still enjoys, is ultimately laid at the doorstep of its voters. They will go to the polls Tuesday to choose a mayor for about the 80th time in the citys history. (Early on, terms were shorter than four years.)

Casting those votes is the single most crucial duty of citizenship. Yet if the recent past is prelude, fewer than one in three eligible St. Louis city voters will carry out that duty in this election.

Tuesdays city ballot will offer a rematch between incumbent Mayor Tishaura Jones and Alderwoman Cara Spencer. We have recommended Spencer to voters, based on our assessment that her back-to-basics approach to making government work is what St. Louis needs right now, rather than Jones focus on addressing poverty and inequity.

Reasonable people can disagree on that assessment of the candidates  but theres nothing reasonable about not voting at all. Especially for those who intend to continue partaking in that most American of political pastimes: complaining about political leadership.

Also on Tuesdays citywide ballot is the race for comptroller, the citys chief fiscal officer. We have recommended challenger Donna Baringer over incumbent Darlene Green, largely on the argument that after Greens three decades in office, its time for fresh ideas and a more hands-on approach to the job.

Again, reasonable people can disagree with that assessment, but failing to vote is always a losing strategy.

The only other citywide contest Tuesday is for the St. Louis school board, with a dozen candidates vying for three seats.

The Editorial Board has not made any formal endorsements in that contest, but has repeatedly called out the board for its gross mismanagement of district funds and personnel, much of it related to cronyism under former Superintendent Keisha Scarlett.

Board President Antionette Toni Cousins has, arguably more than any other board member, been the face of that mismanagement. Cousins is the only incumbent running for reelection to the board Tuesday.

Depending on where individual voters live in the city, some will also have aldermanic races to decide. Whomever you choose  choose.
An F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 355th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron lands at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, April 3, 2025. (Melany Bermudez/U.S. Air Force)



Two Air Force fighter squadrons arrived at Kadena Air Base last week as part of the services ongoing rotational deployments to the home of the 18th Wing on Okinawa.

F-35A Lightning IIs with the 355th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and F-15E Strike Eagles with the 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., began landing at the base between Thursday and Sunday, the wing said in a statement Tuesday.

The deployments mark the latest in a series of rotations since the Air Force began phasing out Kadenas aging F-15C/D fleet in late 2022.

An F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron lands at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, April 6, 2025. (Karina Lopez/U.S. Air Force)



The men and women of the 355th EFS are excited to be back at Kadena Air Base, 355th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander Lt. Col. Erik Gonsalves said in the release. I have spent the majority of my career in [Pacific Air Forces] and am looking forward to enhancing our squadrons proficiency in the asymmetric advantages we share in this [area of operation].

The Air Force did not disclose how many aircraft were deployed or how long they will remain. The 18th Wing acknowledged queries from Stars and Stripes on Monday and Tuesday but has not yet responded to questions about the deployment.

Col. David Deptula, commander of the 18th Operations Group, said the rotational deployments are key to maintaining readiness and deterrence in the region.

Kadenas commitment to regional deterrence is ironclad, he said in the release. Rotational aircraft are a normal part of Kadenas operations, and their presence ensures the continuation of our long-standing mission to defend Japan and maintain an open and free Indo-Pacific.

Since the withdrawal of the F-15C/Ds, Kadena has relied on a mix of fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft, including F-35As, F-22 Raptors and F-16 Fighting Falcons to carry out its air-defense mission.

The F-15E Strike Eagle, a two-seat, dual-role fighter introduced in 1988, is capable of long-range strike missions while defending itself against air threats, according to an Air Force fact sheet.

Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, deployed to Kadena on a rotational basis in 2023.

The final operational flight of Kadenas F-15C fleet in the Pacific took place Jan. 24, following a ceremonial sendoff last August.

In July, the Air Force announced plans to permanently base 36 F-15EX Eagle IIs at Kadena to replace the retired F-15C/D fleet. The new fighters are expected to begin arriving between March and June 2026, Brig. Gen. Nicholas Evans, commander of the 18th Wing, told reporters last month.
A KC-46 Pegasus lands at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Nov. 7, 2022. (Yasuo Osakabe/U.S. Air Force)



YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan  A U.S. Air Force KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling aircraft landed safely at this airlift hub in western Tokyo after declaring an in-flight emergency Tuesday, an Air Force spokesman said.

Emergency vehicles with flashing lights surrounded the aircraft on Yokotas main runway shortly after midday.

The crew reported an emergency while approaching the base, Master Sgt. Nathan Allen, spokesman for Yokotas 374th Airlift Wing, said by email Tuesday afternoon.

The crew and base took action immediately and the aircraft landed safely, he wrote. Allen did not disclose the nature of the emergency or the aircrafts unit.

The KC-46A, built by Boeing and introduced into service in 2019, is the Air Forces newest aerial refueling platform, designed to replace older tankers such as the KC-135 Stratotanker.

A similar incident occurred at Yokota in January, when a KC-135 from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, diverted to the base due to a maintenance issue.
A U.S. Army Patriot launcher vehicle with its missiles removed drives to a loading area near RzeszowJasionka Airport in Poland on Feb. 2, 2025. The U.S. Army announced April 7, 2025, that it is pulling forces out of Jasionka, a city near Polands border with Ukraine that has been instrumental in getting Western arms into the war-torn country. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)



The U.S. Army is pulling forces out of a site near Polands border with Ukraine that has been instrumental in getting Western arms into the war-torn country, military officials said this week.

U.S. equipment and personnel will be repositioned from the city of Jasionka to other parts of Poland, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a statement Monday.

The important work of facilitating military aid to Ukraine via Jasionka will continue under Polish and NATO leadership, supported by a streamlined U.S. military footprint, USAREUR-AF said. Poland and its allies will maintain the robust protective infrastructure around this critical site.

The Army said it remains committed to its presence in Poland, where it has a permanent garrison in Poznan. Poland has committed billions of dollars to improve various locations for U.S. personnel.

Pfc. Norman Romero, left, and Spc. Ezequiel Martinez prepare Patriot missiles to be shipped near Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport on Feb. 2, 2025. The U.S. Army announced April 7, 2025, that it is pulling forces out of Jasionka, which has been instrumental in getting Western arms into Ukraine. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)



In the past few years we have moved to more permanent facilities in the country, Gen. Christopher Donahue, U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander, said in the statement. After three years at Jasionka this is an opportunity to right-size our footprint and save American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per year.

In 2022, U.S. forces established a temporary presence in Jasionka, on the outskirts of Rzeszow, soon after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of that year. The location has been used by U.S., NATO ally and partner forces for three years.

The decision to reposition troops and equipment was the result of months of planning and was coordinated with Poland and NATO allies, the Army said.

The U.S. has been at the center of efforts to support Ukraine militarily, but in recent months those responsibilities have shifted to allies in line with the priorities of President Donald Trump.

For example, the U.S. no longer leads the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, commonly called the Ramstein Group, which was organized by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to marshal support for Ukraine. That effort is now being led by the British.

In January, the U.S. also ceded leadership to NATO of an air defense mission in Poland that was launched soon after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Overall, American force levels in Europe have come down from a peak of just over 100,000 a couple of years ago to roughly 80,000 today.
The Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, will be used during two upcoming exercises in the Philippines. (Eric Huynh/U.S. Marine Corps)



The Marine Corps is leaving anti-ship missile batteries in the Philippines after the upcoming Balikatan drills in preparation for another exercise in June, according to a Marine spokeswoman.

The Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, is coming with the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment for the April 21-May 4 Balikatan exercise, 1st Lt. Annie Pentaleri, spokeswoman for the regiment, said by email Tuesday.

NMESIS systems and 75 Marines will remain behind after Balikatan until the Kamandag exercise the following month, she said.

All told, 1,000 Marines with the littoral regiment will take part in Balikatan  Tagalog for shoulder to shoulder  and Kamandag, Pentaleri said.

The 3rd Littoral Combat Teams Medium-Range Missile Battery operates NMESIS, she said.

The combat team, stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, acquired the weapon in November. It plays a role in the Corps Force Design strategy, which calls for small units of Marines positioned on island choke points to deny adversaries passage through contested seas.

The mobile system includes missile launchers, a 7-ton vehicle and two Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, Pentaleri said.

Deploying weapons to the Philippines for exercises and leaving them there for extended periods strengthens deterrence, according to Ralph Cossa, former president of the Pacific Forum think tank in Hawaii.

By exercising with its allies, improving their military forces and prepositioning equipment, the U.S. sends a message that it can defend itself and its allies against Chinese attack, he said by email Tuesday.

The U.S. also proposes to sell the Philippines 20 advanced F-16 Fighting Falcons and a suite of equipment and munitions worth $5.6 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced April 1.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to Manila last month that NMESIS would accompany the Marines to Balikatan.

This years exercise will be a full battle test by 10,000 U.S. troops and 6,000 service members from the Philippines, Australia and Japan, according to U.S. and Filipino military officials.

The Full Battle Test will demonstrate how the tactical actions of service members have operational effects for the multilateral force, Lt. Gen. Michael Cederholm, commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force, said Monday in a news release from the Balikatan Combined Joint Information Bureau. Doing so allows us to validate, refine and improve our combined capability to defend the Philippines.

Kamandag was last held in October with more than 1,000 Marines, 1,100 Filipino troops and smaller contingents from Japan, South Korea, Australia and Great Britain practicing coastal defense and a range of other skills across the Philippines.

During both upcoming exercises the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment will be dispersed across various locations around Northern Luzon and the Batanes Islands, Pentaleri said. Luzon is the largest island in the Philippine archipelago; the Batanes Islands, 233 miles southeast of Taiwan, is its northernmost territory.

During Balikatan, the littoral regiment will take part in integrated air- and missile-defense training, maritime key-terrain security operations, counter-landing live fire and maritime strike training, she said.

The Marines will train alongside Philippine marines of the 4th Marine Brigade and the Coastal Defense Regiment, Pentaleri said.

The NMESIS system fires anti-ship Naval Strike Missiles with a range of around 115 miles. The missile alone costs nearly $2.2 million, according to a Naval News report in November 2022.

The Armys Typhon missile system, positioned in the Philippines since spring 2024, has a range of more than 1,000 miles.

The missile deployments come as Washington and its allies in the region prepare for potential conflict with Beijing over Taiwan and the South China Sea. Philippine and Chinese coast guard vessels have clashed multiple times over the past year in disputed waters.
Marines and sailors board a landing craft before departing the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer in the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 23, 2024. (Joseph Helms/U.S. Marine Corps)



NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.  About 50% of amphibious warships are ready at any given time to deploy if needed for a crisis or conflict  far less than the Navys goal of 80%  the Marine Corps commandant said Monday.

The Navy set a goal in 2024 to have 80% of its force  including ships, submarines and aircraft  trained, equipped and ready to deploy at a moments notice. Ships, submarines and aircraft are hovering at about a 67-70% readiness, Navy leaders said Monday during the 2025 Sea Air Space Symposium. But the Navys amphibious warships, which transport Marine Corps forces when they must deploy, are lagging behind.

Without those ships, Marines cant get to the fight, said Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the service.

The Navy has 32 operational amphibious ships  just one more than the Congress-mandated minimum of 31 ships. An amphibious ready group, which typically includes one assault ship, one dock landing ship and one transport dock, moves Marines and their equipment, including vehicles and aircraft, for assault and humanitarian missions. But half the fleet is in poor condition, and some ships have been unavailable for years at a time, the Government Accountability Office reported in December.

The amphibious maintenance has been vexing us. We had significant trouble with the [USS Boxer and USS Wasp] last year, said Vice Adm. James Kilby, the acting chief of naval operations, the Navys top operational job.

In 2024, the USS Boxer amphibious ready group and its Marine Expeditionary Unit experienced operational challenges that resulted in a delayed deployment and missed exercises due to lack of available ships. Maintenance problems forced the Boxer to return to California in April 2024, just days into its first deployment in five years for additional maintenance in support of its deployment, the Navy said at the time. The delayed deployment came after a 2020 maintenance period stretched into two years  about seven months longer than planned  followed by an additional year of mechanical problems. The maintenance issues interrupted training meant to certify the ship for deployment.

Also in 2024, ship spotters observed the USS Wasp in March and the USS Iwo Jima in September limping back to port following training exercises off coast of Virginia. In both instances, Navy officials confirmed the ships had experienced mechanical problems.

As a result, the Navy and Marines Corps have struggled to keep three amphibious ships per ready group operational.

But Kilby said getting amphibious ship maintenance back on schedule has his full attention.

The United States Navy owes it to the Marine Corps to produce a three-ship [amphibious ready group] where they can train and go through that certification process to deploy on time  not in a non-connected manner as we saw with Boxer, he said, referencing to the Boxers interrupted training due to mechanical issues.

The USS America, an amphibious assault ship, will undergo what the Navy calls a signature maintenance availability in the fall. A signature availability, Navy leaders said, takes a new approach to how the service plans and conducts maintenance on amphibious warships. The new approach aims to determine what maintenance needs to be done 500 days before starting the work and award the contract to contractors about one year before the overhaul begins.

With these complex [availabilities] for a big deck amphib, the lead maintenance activities are going to need some more time, Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, the commander of Naval Surface Force, said during a panel at the symposium.

Navy leaders said deciding what work needs to be done on the ship more than one year in advance allows for more time to plan the maintenance and will ultimately reduce delays. Advance notice, McLane said, will also ensure contractors can pre-order necessary parts to have them in stock, rather than having to stop maintenance work to wait for parts to arrive.

While the Navy works to maintain its degrading amphibious ships, the service is also looking to expand its force. The Navy struck a deal last year to pay nearly $10 billion to build three new amphibious warships to satisfy the congressional demand to have 31 operational amphibious ships. But it will be years before those ships join the fleet.

Progress is possible here, but its going to take time to fully restore this capacity, Smith said.

He said his goal as commandant is to maintain a three-ship amphibious ready group.

Im looking to what the future requires, Smith said. You dont know when youre going to need to evacuate Americans from a war-torn country. You dont know when youre going to need to strike, and you dont know when youre going to need to execute a [humanitarian assistance, disaster relief]. You just dont know.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha honored the memory of the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Today, Ukraine joins the world in commemorating the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, alongside African Union and Mahmoud Ali youssouf We stand in solidarity and honor the memory of those who perished. As a nation that survived a genocide through hunger last century and is currently defending itself against a genocidal war, we deeply share the grief of the Rwandan people, he said on X.

Sybiha stressed that such terrible crimes must never happen again.
An F/A-18C Hornet with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224 takes off from Suwon Air Base, South Korea, Aug. 7, 2024. (Calah Thompson/U.S. Marine Corps)



Two Chinese teenagers were arrested last month on suspicion of illegally photographing military aircraft at a South Korean air force base, a police investigator said Tuesday.

The pair were detained around 3:30 p.m. on March 21 near Suwon Air Base, approximately 20 miles south of Seoul, after a resident reported seeing them filming aircraft, a Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police investigator said by phone.

Its customary in South Korea for some government officials to speak to the media without providing their names.

Police seized two mobile phones and two digital cameras from the teens, the investigator said. Images of military aircraft taking off and landing were found on the devices and are under investigation, he added.

The teenagers told authorities they are aviation hobbyists visiting South Korea. They were released after questioning but remain barred from leaving the country until the investigation concludes, the investigator said.

Prosecutors, not police, decide formal charges under South Koreas justice system.

Filming military installations in South Korea without authorization can carry a penalty of up to three years in prison or a fine of approximately $20,400 under South Korean law.

F-16 Fighting Falcons used the Suwon runway last month during Freedom Shield, a joint U.S.-South Korea military exercise, according to images released by the 51st Fighter Wing. However, no 7th Air Force aircraft were present at the base on the day of the arrests, spokeswoman Maj. Rachel Buitrago said by email Tuesday.

The incident follows a similar case in July, when three Chinese students were investigated for allegedly flying a drone near Busan Naval Base to film the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt shortly before the start of the Freedom Edge exercise with the U.S., South Korea and Japan.
This image from the 36th Wing Commanders Facebook page shows a "boonie dog" captured in June 2024 on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. (U.S. Air Force)



The Guam government has launched its first coordinated effort to address the islands large population of free-roaming dogs.

The U.S. territorys overpopulation of strays  often called boonie dogs  dates to World War II, when military working dogs bred with the native population. Many of their descendants now roam the islands jungles and often appear on U.S. bases.

The Dog Population Management Task Force, created Sept. 30, brings together government agencies, nonprofits and community partners to find humane solutions to an issue that has persisted for decades, according to a Department of Agriculture news release March 24.

While the problem isnt new, what is new is the unified, data-driven approach were now taking through the Dog Population Management Task Force, territorial veterinarian Dr. Mariana Turner said in an email Thursday to Stars and Stripes.

A 2014 survey by Humane Society International estimated approximately 60,000 dogs live in Guams 212 square miles  including 24,500 strays  Guam Animals in Need executive director Alison Hadley told Stars and Stripes in December. Thats about the same area as Chicago.

In February, the task force conducted the islands first follow-up survey since 2014. It collected data on stray and free-roaming dog and cat populations, pet ownership, vaccination practices and sterilization rates, according to the release. Results are expected by mid-April.

The task force is drafting legislation to establish a trap-neuter-return program. The practice aims to curb reproduction without euthanizing animals by trapping strays, sterilizing them and returning them to their original locations.

The task force is also supporting training for animal control officers in the skills necessary for humane enforcement of animal welfare laws, according to the release.

Stray animals pose a wide range of dangers to the islands residents, Turner said.

These include dog bites and attacks on people and pets, traffic accidents caused by dogs in the road, the spread of diseases and parasites, livestock losses and damage to property, and inhumane conditions for the dogs themselves, many of whom suffer from starvation, injury or disease, she said.

High numbers of unsterilized dogs and cultural norms that allow them to roam freely have worsened the problem, the Pacific Daily News reported March 18.

Guam has attempted various solutions over the years  spay and neuter clinics, bounty programs and stray dog roundups by the Mayors Council  but none have led to lasting results.

In reality, most of these initiatives were fragmented, under-resourced, and lacked the subject matter expertise necessary to have a successful program, Turner said. The DPM Task Force is the first coordinated, territory-wide effort bringing together government, nonprofit, and community partners under a shared strategy.

Groups collaborating with the task force include Guam Animals in Need, which operates the islands animal shelter; Neuter Island Pets; and off-island groups like the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

This is just the beginning, Turner said. The Dog Population Management Task Force represents a shift in how Guam addresses this long-standing issue, from reactive to proactive, and from isolated efforts to unified action. Together, we can build a safer and more compassionate island for people and animals alike.
Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the commander of U.S. troops in Europe and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, testifies Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Washington during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)



WASHINGTON  Lawmakers on Tuesday pushed back against President Donald Trumps efforts to reduce the U.S. militarys presence in Europe, warning a reported plan to withdraw troops from the Continent would embolden Russia.

The Defense Department is reportedly considering the removal of thousands of troops from Eastern Europe as part of an effort to cut costs and prioritize the Indo-Pacific and other regions. Members of the House Armed Services Committee are urging the administration to reconsider.

The ranking member and I have made it very clear  you should be focused on maintaining the surge posture weve had in Europe, since the conflict was started by Russia, for the foreseeable future, Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., told a Pentagon representative testifying before the committee.

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the panel, said talk about downsizing American forces in Europe undermined a transatlantic relationship that has made the U.S. stronger for 80 years.

About 20,000 American service members were deployed to Europe in the aftermath of Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022, bringing the total number of U.S. troops on the Continent to 80,000. The Pentagon is now considering withdrawing as many of 10,000 of them from Romania and Poland, according to NBC News.

If approved, the plan would follow other recent moves to retreat from Europe.

The Army on Monday said it is pulling equipment and personnel out of a Polish site that has been instrumental in getting Western weapons into Ukraine. The U.S. has also ceded leadership of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and is reportedly considering giving up its decades-old role as NATOs Supreme Allied Commander Europe, known as SACEUR.

U.S. leadership in NATO is essential to ensure American forces, including our nuclear weapons, always remain under U.S. command, Rogers said. And cutting our presence in Europe now  especially on NATOs eastern flank  would only weaken our leverage with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.

Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, said, The idiocy of the fact that there was any discussion about relinquishing the SACEUR position is just beyond me.

Katherine Thompson, who is performing the duties of the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told lawmakers that the U.S. would not give up the SACEUR job and cautioned no decisions have been made yet on troop levels around the world.

We are taking into account not only the dynamics in [U.S. Europe Command] but in all of our theaters and evaluating that based on President Trumps stated interests and sizing our force and resources appropriately to that, she said.

Trump has criticized Europe for not contributing enough to NATO and is pushing for a swift end to Ukraine war. Thompson said the administration values its European allies to the extent that theyre willing to step up and be strong allies and partners with us and that means pulling their weight.

Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the commander of U.S. troops in Europe and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told lawmakers that he would recommend keeping the American military footprint in Europe as it is.

We have periodically reviewed the force structure at both the military level and the policy level, and I have consistently recommended throughout that period to maintain the forces we surged forward and I would continue to do so now, he said.

A cut in the number of forces would increase the time it would take for the military to respond to Russian aggression on the Continent, Cavoli said. He also noted while Russia respects all the militaries in NATO, it fears the might of the U.S. military the most.

The prospect of the U.S. drawing down its commitments to Europe has been worrying lawmakers across the political spectrum on Capitol Hill, including Republicans, for weeks.

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, last week criticized midlevel bureaucrats within the Defense Department who are pursuing a retreat from Europe.

Im troubled at those deeply misguided and dangerous views, he said.

On Tuesday, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who is a former Air Force officer, said it would be a grave mistake to pull forces out of Europe.

This is the time to deter Russia, he said. I think withdrawing forces is a sign of weakness and it lowers our deterrence.
The Idaho National Guard holds a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of its first free child care center at Gowen Field on June 8, 2024. (Joseph Morgan/U.S. Air National Guard photo)



The yearlong continuing resolution that is funding the Pentagon for fiscal 2025 has slowed the building of new barracks and child care centers, top enlisted service members said Tuesday.

The stopgap measure passed by Congress last month to fund the federal government through September at essentially the same amounts as in fiscal 2024 has already impacted the military, and it could get worse, according to the most senior enlisted members of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Space Force. The top enlisted troops testified on military quality-of-life issues before the House Appropriations Committees military construction subpanel as it begins building a fiscal 2026 budget plan.

The loss of the FY25 budget in [the continuing resolution] did have a lot of effects on us  were not putting shovels in the ground to build new barracks, were not putting shovels in the ground to build new [child development centers], Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea said. All of those things  were not getting any of that work done this year, so hopefully well find good money in [2026] to get after all those projects.

Though Congress can add some funds for specific projects to continuing resolutions, military services are typically unable to start new projects that had not been previously funded without an appropriated budget. The 12-month continuing resolution that the federal government is now operating under is the longest in U.S. history.

Projects to upgrade on-post day care centers at Patrick Space Force Base, Fla., and Peterson Space Force Base, Colo., could be axed or significantly delayed under the continuing resolution, Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force John Bentivegna said. A dorm improvement project at Buckley Space Force Base, Colo., is also at risk, he said.

This is why the stability of funding is so important to the planning phase, to execute, especially when it comes to quality-of-life initiatives, to make sure we stay on time, on target, to deliver that quality of life to our service members, Bentivegna said, noting Space Force has operated under a continuing resolution for more than 51% of the time since its founding in 2019.

The 2025 continuing resolution came as the Pentagon has spent years trying to improve quality of life for its troops, especially in on-post housing where issues such as mold and pest infestations have plagued installation barracks and family housing. While all the services have committed to improving on-post housing, the enlisted leaders said appropriated funding from Congress is critical to ensuring they can do so in a timely manner.

The stopgap funding measure has also limited other quality-of-life issues, including a drop in military personnel funding in the Air Force, the services top enlisted airman told lawmakers.

The Air Force has prioritized funneling as much money as it can into recruiting. The service has added nearly 500 recruiters in the past year after falling short of its enlistment goals in 2023, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Flosi said.

The effort has paid off  the service reached its 2024 recruiting goal and is on pace to meet its 2025 goal, he said. But it has left a funding gap that will likely affect units on rotations for training or combat and individual airmen who will change their home station this year.

CRs are unhelpful, Flosi said, adding later, Were thankful for a yearlong CR, I guess, only [in comparison] to a government shutdown.

House appropriators agreed the yearlong continuing resolution was a problem.

We dont like CRs. We know you dont like them. We dont like them either, said Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, the subpanels chairman. The best work is done by the appropriations committee in Congress. Were the only people who get things done and then they throw us out like the trash and pass a continuing resolution.

The services should ensure their upcoming fiscal 2026 budget requests fully reflect those quality-of-life programs that have been impacted by recent continuing resolutions, said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the subpanels top Democrat.

We cannot backtrack and sideline these types of projects, she said. Even great plans to improve quality of life will fail if they are not accompanied by appropriate funding. Moreover, I hope the FY26 budget request, when we get it, contains a robust request for quality-of-life projects.
Defense Forces shoot down nine out of 46 UAVs overnight, 31 more drones lost from location - Air Force

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/

Ukrainian defenders shot down nine drones on the night of Tuesday, and another 31 drone simulators were lost, the Telegram channel of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports.

"As of 08:00, the downing of nine Shahed-type attack UAVs and other types of drones in the east and north of the country has been confirmed," the message says.

In general, on the night of April 8 (from 19:00 on April 7), the enemy attacked with an Iskander-M ballistic missile from Kursk region of the Russian Federation and 46 Shahed-type strike UAVs and various types of simulator drones from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk region of the Russian Federation.

The air attack was repelled by mobile fire groups and electronic warfare units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

Thirty-one enemy drone imitators were lost from location (without negative consequences).

As a result of the Russian attack, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions suffered.
A discussion with veterans and nonprofit groups about toxic exposures at U.S. military bases was orchestrated by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)



WASHINGTON  Dave Crete, a former Air Force sergeant at a Nevada installation where nuclear bombs were tested, developed tumors in his brain and throughout his body years after he worked as a military police officer at the facility in the 1980s.

But Crete, 60, said it was not until he began connecting on social media with former military buddies that he served with at the Nevada Test and Training Range that he learned several of them also had tumors and their wives experienced multiple miscarriages, as his wife did.

Crete traveled from his Las Vegas home to meet with lawmakers Tuesday and push for the Department of Veterans Affairs for the first time to provide health care and survivor benefits for veterans exposed to radiation while serving at the classified installation. Legislation was introduced in February to support the additional coverage, he said.

Crete joined a discussion held by Democrats on the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees that focused on exposures to hazardous materials at U.S. military bases.

The informal talk, held at a House office building, was organized by Rep. Mark Takano of California and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the top Democrat on each committee.

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., speaks Tuesday, April 8, 2025, during a discussion with veterans and nonprofit groups about toxic exposures at U.S. military bases. (Eric Kayne)



The lawmakers said their goal was to draw attention to efforts by Democrats to expand coverage under the 2022 PACT Act, as President Donald Trumps administration orders sweeping staff cuts across the VA. Takano argued the cuts will impact the delivery of benefits and compensation to veterans.

The PACT Act is under attack, Takano said about the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act that provides benefits for veterans sickened from exposures to hazardous materials.

Republican lawmakers did not take part in Tuesdays discussion.

More than a dozen veterans offered their firsthand accounts of experiences serving at military bases in the United States where they were exposed to a variety of harmful substances, including industrial solvents, chemicals in firefighting foams and mold in housing.

Crete said he has been unable to get VA coverage for his radiation exposure while at the Nevada installation because the site where he served was secret. Nuclear testing ended in 1992, but the site is still contaminated, he said.

David Crete, a veteran and chairman of The Invisible Enemy, speaks Tuesday, April 8, 2025, during a discussion about toxic exposures at U.S. military bases. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)



The Defense Department does not acknowledge the site or the nuclear tests that were conducted there, Crete said.

I am asking Congress to please allow us to get the benefits every other veteran earned. We are not asking to be special but to be treated equal, he said.

Many of the veterans said they have faced lengthy battles trying to obtain information about the toxic exposures, as well as qualifying for services and benefits.

Takano said there is a need for greater focus on toxic exposures at U.S. military bases.

We must push back against the idea that service members are only in harms way in war zones, he said.

Invited participants included veterans and several nonprofit groups  such as Torchlight Initiative, the Invisible Enemy and Burn Pits 360  that advocate for veterans with toxic exposures.

Mandy Feindt, a major in the Army, discussed her experiences serving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, the site of a large jet fuel spill in 2021. Feindt lived in a home on Ford Island at the time.

The fuel seeped into the drinking water system at the base without families on the base knowing about it, she said.

The Navy did not capture all the fuel and did not tell us we were slowly being poisoned, Feindt said.

The drinking water system serves about 93,000 people who are predominantly military families, she said.

Feindt said she had to beg the military to test family members when her children became sick after the spill.

I wanted to know what my children consumed, she said. Access to basic clean water should be a human right.

Feindt said her family experienced chronic health problems that they continue to deal with today.

The VA was later ordered by Congress to conduct a study on the human impact but that has yet to be done, she said.

More than 3,500 U.S. military installations have some form of contamination, said Jared Hayes, senior policy analyst at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. He estimated the total cost for cleanup as $50 billion.

Crete now runs a nonprofit called the Invisible Enemy, which advocates for the VA to provide medical services and compensation for services members who experienced radiation exposure at the Nevada Test and Training Range.

I want to get benefits to those who served  the veterans and employees, said Crete, who started the organization in April 2023. Were basically being denied benefits. Its the right thing for Congress to do.
Pavlin Matia (39) was unanimously convicted by a jury of all seven counts against him

A man has been jailed for 11 years and three months on charges connected to a 1.1 million cocaine seizure near Drogheda.

In February Pavlin Matia (39) was unanimously convicted by a jury of all seven counts against him.

The defendant, an Albanian national, was accused of unlawful possession of cocaine, possession of the drug for sale or supply and possession of cocaine for sale or supply where it had a market value of 13,000 or more relating to a Volkswagen Passat and a Mercedes Sprinter van at a carpark in Tullyallen on November 12, 2022.

He was also charged with money laundering is respect of 32,500  the proceeds of criminal conduct.

Mr Matia, with an address at Clarinda Park East, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, denied all the charges. He claimed he was collecting two tyres for his van.

During the trial the jury saw a video of the defendant arriving in the van at around 1.15pm. He got out and went straight to the boot of the Passat, which would not open, and he then got into the drivers seat of the car.

Gardai who had the Passat under observation swooped and arrested him.

Sixteen 1kg packages of cocaine stamped Fenix and valued 1,072,932 were found in the car.

When the van was searched some days later a hidden compartment was discovered behind wooden shelving. It was activated by a button on a key fob.

This compartment contained the cash and 982.6g of cocaine bearing a different logo worth 68,782.

Mr Matias phone was examined and in a chat on encrypted messaging app Wickr he had been directed to pick up 34,000 cash the day before and directed to the Tullyallen area.

He denied responsibility for the drugs. He said he was in Tullyallen to buy tyres.

A sentence hearing at Dundalk Circuit Court heard that the defendant was single, unemployed and in Ireland since around 2000.

There were seven previous convictions, including for burglary and public order.

It was stated on his behalf that he was an enhanced prisoner. He had no organisational role in this.

Judge Dara Hayes said that Mr Matia was clearly involved in the distribution of drugs. The van had been adapted. At some time, he used a false name.

This was a serious criminal operation involving a substantial quantity of drugs.

The defendant was working for others but was a highly trusted operator in a serious criminal organisation.

There was little mitigation available to him.

A sentence of 11 years and three months was imposed on the Section 15 (A) charge in respect of the car, 6 years and nine months for the same offence regarding the van and 3 years 9 months for money laundering, all to run concurrently and backdated to November 14, 2022, when he went into custody.

Judge Hayes said there was no evidential basis to allow the court to suspend a portion of the sentence.

Forfeiture and destruction orders were made for the drugs and forfeiture orders for the vehicles and cash.
Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to assist security at the station on the evening of March 7.

A drunken man arrested after causing a nuisance to a passenger at a train station kicked out and had to be carried away by gardai.

Hugh Burke (30) became violent after he was taken into custody for causing a public order disturbance at Dublins Connolly Station. Judge Michele Finan gave him a two-month suspended sentence.

Burke, from Loreto Avenue, Rathfarnham pleaded guilty to threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour and being violent in a garda station.

Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to assist security at the station on the evening of March 7.

Burke, who was highly intoxicated, had to be restrained, having caused nuisance to a member of the public moments earlier.

He was shouting and kicking out at security, and gardai had to carry him to Store Street garda station, where he attempted to punch and kick the gardai, refusing to let them search him.

Burke had been homeless and living in Cork for the last six months, his solicitor Jeremiah Breen said. He was dealing with his drinking and had not drunk since the incident

Judge Finan said it was a serious incident that would normally attract a prison sentence but she suspended it for a year.
The court heard that Leanne Dalys (34) life had been devastated by Anthony Dunne who had been in a relationship with her mother-in-law

A mother-of-two and community centre worker who was covertly recorded naked while showering in her home has been awarded 50,000 damages against former fellow housemate and factory worker, Anthony Dunne.

Barrister Doireann OMahony told Judge James ODonohoe in the Circuit Civil Court today that Leanne Dalys (34) life had been devastated by Dunne who had been in a relationship with her mother-in-law and had spent a lot of time in their home.

Ms OMahony, who appeared with Lisa McKenna of McKenna Solicitors, told the court Ms Daly had not sought anonymity at a criminal trial at which Dunne had been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment at the Circuit Criminal court in 2022 when he admitted his crime. She was also not seeking anonymity during her civil claim for damages.

Ms Daly, of Woodford View, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, burst into tears when Judge ODonohoe told her he was awarding her 50,500 damages against Dunne for what he described as a wicked and horrible breach of her privacy by someone she trusted.

Ms OMahony said Ms Daly knew absolutely nothing about the recordings for several months during 2020 and only found out about them when approached by gardai who had been investigating Dunne in relation to similar activities relating to another woman at work.

Ms Daly told the court she was shocked, distressed and scared when gardai showed her intimate images of her in photographs Dunne had taken of her in the shower. He had pleaded guilty at the trial and had been sentenced to a year in prison with three months of the sentence suspended.

She told Judge ODonohoe she had been horrified and felt completely violated, continuing to suffer from mental distress and psychological damage. Her quality of life had been destroyed and, after losing a lot of weight, literally felt a shadow of the person she had been.

What had been particularly distressing to her was that she had become fearful and distrustful of the people in her life and now going into the bathroom or showering triggered frightening thoughts.

Ms Dalys doctor, Dr Suzanne Farrell, told the court: The uneasiness she experiences when sharing the suspicion she feels around people she would automatically have trusted will never fully resolve and unfortunately she will probably have to live with these feelings for the rest of her life.

Dunne, a property owner of Hazelmere, Naas, Co Kildare, told the court he had made several attempts to settle the case but his offers of compensation had been refused. He said he had failed to attend court on an earlier occasion because he did not know the case was on. He said he had pleaded guilty in the criminal court to offences related to photographing Ms Daly.

Judge ODonohoe said Ms Daly had not suffered any physical injury and the court was only assessing the psychological damage caused to her to date and into the future. He awarded her 50,000 damages and 500 compensation for medical expenses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff Headquarters on Monday.

Today, I held a meeting of the Staff. The main focus was reports on drone production in Ukraine  we are ramping it up to the maximum. This includes the full range of drones: from Mavics to long-range drones. Were also expanding our domestic capacity to produce ground-based robotic systems, Zelenskyy said in his evening address.

According to the President, Ukraine needs constant, stable growth in the production and supply of every necessary part of the unmanned component to our forces. And for this year, the outlook is promising.

Were also working separately on fiber-optic drones  just since the beginning of this year, more than 20 new certified drone models with fiber-optic control systems have emerged. Eleven of our Ukrainian enterprises have already mastered the production of such drones. The task now is to reach the highest possible scale of production and delivery, Zelenskyy added.

He ordered to conclude contracts to the fullest possible extent. In addition, the head of state noted that there is a positive trend in "deep strikes".

I cannot mention specific figures, but this year we will ensure the necessary volume for our Defense Forces, Zelenskyy said.
Gavin OReilly is pleading not guilty to assaulting a named woman and engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour

A garda superintendent accused of assaulting a woman on a Dublin city centre street has been given a date for his trial.

Gavin OReilly, who denies the charge, had his case adjourned at Dublin District Court today.

Mr OReilly is pleading not guilty to assaulting a named woman and engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour.

The offences are alleged to have taken place at Strand Street Great in the north of the city on August 26, 2023.

Today was the second time the case was listed and Judge John Hughes said the non-jury trial would take place on May 22.

The court was told the hearing would take a full day. Mr OReilly, who had appeared on the last court date, was excused from attending today.

No details of the alleged assault or public order offence have yet been heard in court.

On the previous day, the accused sat in the back of the courtroom and did not approach the front when the case was called.

A prosecution solicitor had no difficulty with Mr O'Reilly remaining where he was rather than coming forward and was not required to address the court during those brief proceedings.

His prosecution follows an investigation by the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).

The charges against him are under Section 2 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, which carries a maximum six-month prison sentence on conviction. The other charge is under Section 6 of the Public Order Act which has a maximum three month sentence.

Both charges are summary-only offences, which are tried in the district court without a jury.
The deceased  a senior criminal figure  had been dining with a large group of friends and family when he was approached by two gunmen who walked into the restaurant

A senior garda has not ruled out further arrests over the murder of Jason Hennessy Senior who suffered fatal gunshot wounds in a restaurant in west Dublin on Christmas Eve in 2023, despite the main suspect also being killed in the same incident.

Detective Inspector Liam Donoghue told a brief sitting of Dublin District Coroners Court on Tuesday that the investigation into the murder of Mr Hennessy is very much alive.

The 48-year-old father of seven from Corduff, Blanchardstown was pronounced dead in the intensive care unit of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital on January 4, 2024  11 days after he was the victim of a shooting in Brownes Steakhouse in Blanchardstown.

The deceased  a senior criminal figure  had been dining with a large group of friends and family when he was approached by two gunmen who walked into the restaurant.

A previous sitting of the inquest last October heard a postmortem showed Mr Hennessy had died from gunshot wounds to the neck and upper trunk.

At the time of his death, the deceased was due to face money laundering charges at a trial before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in relation to the activities of a criminal gang of which he was a key member.

Det Insp Donoghue applied for an adjournment of the inquest at the latest hearing under Section 25 (1) of the Coroners Act on the basis that criminal proceedings in the case are still under consideration.

He told the coroner, Clare Keane, that there had been no arrests in relation to people suspected of being involved in the death of Mr Hennessy, although there had been other arrests in relation to what happened on the night.

There have been no direct arrests yet, but I would not rule that out, said Det Insp Donoghue.

Another man, Tristan Sherry, died in Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown on December 24, 2023 as a result of injuries he sustained in Brownes Steakhouse earlier that evening.

Sherry (26), a father of one from Finglas, was overpowered and assaulted when he was one of two gunmen to walk into the restaurant armed with a submachine gun.

A postmortem showed Sherry died from a combination of a blunt force head injury and stab wounds to his body after he was disarmed and tackled to the ground.

Dr Keane granted the adjournment and listed the case for further mention on January 13, 2026.

No members of Mr Hennessys family attended the hearing although Det Insp Donoghue confirmed they were aware it was being held.

The deceaseds widow, Veronica Maher, had confronted gardai at the opening of the inquest last October when she stated: You are the reason my husband is in the ground.

In February, three men were found guilty of the murder of Sherry following a trial at the non-jury Special Criminal Court.

They were Michael Andrecut (23) of Sheephill Avenue, Corduff, Blanchardstown and two teenagers who cannot be identified following a recent Supreme Court ruling as they were under 18 at the time of the offence.

Three other males were found guilty of violent disorder in relation to the same incident including a son of the deceased, Brandon Hennessy (21) of Sheephill Avenue, Corduff and two teenagers who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Maghaberry inmate serving sentence for attempting to murder family

Although Roy Kerr did not attend Lisburn Magistrates Court last Monday, a prosecuting lawyer confirmed that the summons and prosecution papers had been served on the 47-year-old in Maghaberry Prison.

Kerr, originally from Inverness but who has been in prison since 2008, faces three charges of common assault on two female prison officers on July 25 last year.

Deputy District Judge Noel Dunlop adjourned the case for two weeks so that Kerr can appear via videolink from prison.

Handed three life sentences for three counts of attempted murder with a minimum tariff of 10 years, Kerr has been in prison since his arrest in 2008 when he tried to kill Dr Raymond White and his family.

Kerr had previously burgled their east Belfast home and the family was due to give evidence against him when, in the early hours of May 8, 2008, he set a wheelie bin against the door of the property, poured petrol through the letter box and set both on fire.

He managed to burn himself and it was his screams of pain which alerted the family and Kerr was arrested within the hour after he went to the Mater Hospital for treatment.

This is also not the first time that Kerr, who has amassed more than 150 convictions, has been charged with assaulting prison staff.

On November 6, 2020, Kerr was harming himself and was covered in blood so there was a decision to enter his cell to save his life but when officers did so, there was a fracas where one of the guards received an injury to his wrist.

Kerr was, however, acquitted of that charge after a judge ruled there was no prospect of a jury being able to find guilt of an intentional assault.

In a previous case Kerr was handed an 18-month sentence for threatening to slice a prison officer from head to toe in June 2018.
The 27-year-old is currently languishing in a remand prison near the border town of Badajoz in Spains south-west Extremadura region

MURDER suspect Jonny Smyth has been extradited to Spain from Portugal following his arrest there last month.

The 27-year-old is currently languishing in a remand prison near the border town of Badajoz in Spains south-west Extremadura region after being driven across the frontier by armed cops.

A judge there ordered his remand in jail over the weekend ahead of his expected transfer to the Costa Blanca where he is at the centre of an ongoing investigation into the murder of Belfast dad-of-two John George.

Smyth was made a wanted man in January after disappearing following the discovery of missing Mr Georges body in an orchard in Rojales near Torrevieja south of Alicante.

He was held on March 25th on an international arrest warrant after being tracked down to an unnamed Airbnb in Braga, a city in the far north of Portugal.

Police said at the time he had been hiding out at the holiday property, booked in Smyths girlfriends name, for around a month and confirmed she was with him when he was arrested but was not taken into custody.

Jonny Smyth

He is expected to be summoned in the coming days before the Torrevieja-based investigating judge probing Mr Georges murder so his continued preventive detention in Spain ahead of a probable trial can be ratified.

That hearing will take place behind closed doors, like the post-extradition court appearance in Badajoz, as is normal in Spain where only trials take place in public.

A well-placed court official, confirming Smyth was now back on Spanish soil, said this afternoon: The detainee was initially placed after his extradition to Spain at the disposal of the courts of Badajoz, which agreed to place him in provisional detention at the disposal of the Torrevieja court.

The Torrevieja court is currently awaiting a report on the proceedings carried out in Badajoz in order to decide what is appropriate.

Billy George confronting Dawn Smyth

News of the extradition comes less than a week after Mr George's grieving father Billy was arrested accused of harassing a woman connected to Jonny Smyth.

The 55-year-old was held last Wednesday shortly after getting off a flight from Portugal where he had spent nearly a fortnight after helping the authorities locate the NI fugitive.

He was released on police bail pending further inquiries and reportedly had a mobile phone seized in a move his solicitor described as draconian because he said it held vital digital evidence that would assist Spanish police with their murder probe.

Gym owner Smyth was made a wanted man on January 21, with court officials on the Costa Blanca confirming the same day national and international arrest warrants had been issued for the man suspected of murdering John George.

Mr George, 37, vanished on December 14 last year and relatives reported him missing when he failed to catch a scheduled flight home four days later after what was meant to be a short holiday.

By December 23 his family had launched a GoFundMe campaign to aid a search, voicing concerns he had been the victim of a crime.

Johns brother Darren travelled to Alicante to help in the search with their parents, Billy and Sharon, and sister Courtney and Caitlin, along with up to 50 friends and wider family from Northern Ireland.

Members of K9 Search And Rescue NI, a volunteer canine search team, also spent several days assisting with the wide-scale operation to find the missing man.

His decomposing body was discovered on January 7, hidden under overgrown lemon trees around five miles from the town of Rojales.

A man arrested later the same day on suspicion of homicide was hauled to court on January 10 after nearly 72 hours in police custody.

He told the judge he was being scapegoated because Johns family had named him on social media as one of the suspects.

His Costa Blanca-based defence lawyer Manuel Ramon Rives also attributed the decision to detain him to his recent friendship with a man he said then police were hunting as the alleged perpetrator.

Jonny Smyth and Madison Allen

Johns dad had also named and pictured Smyth on his social media, claiming he was the main suspect before Spanish authorities confirmed they had issued arrest warrants in January.

He had previously been described as being among the last people to see John George alive.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Alicante declined to comment on the extradition.

The police force, which has been very tight-lipped about its investigation and is refusing requests for interviews, said after Smyth's arrest: In the framework of Operation Resistente, carried out by the Territorial Judicial Police Team of Pilar de la Horadada for a crime of intentional homicide of an Irish citizen in the municipality of Rojales, we have received information through SIRENE of the arrest on March 25th of a 27-year-old man in the Portuguese city of Braga.

The arrest was made by the Portuguese police in compliance with a European Arrest Warrant issued by Court of Instruction Number Two in Torrevieja.
Anthony Brennan has previous convictions for speeding, drugs, robbery and possession of stolen property

A man has been jailed for a year after he stole from a woman in her 80s after claiming he would use her money to buy her a new kitchen but instead used the money to pay off a drug debt.

Anthony Brennan (50) Beechpark Wood, Leixlip, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to theft of 6,500 from the woman on October 5, 2021. He has previous convictions for speeding, drugs, robbery and possession of stolen property.

Garda Kevin Curran told Morgan Shelley BL prosecuting that Brennan first met the woman when he was contacted by an acquaintance who advised him that the woman needed a leak fixed in her kitchen.

Brennan fixed the leak and then helped the woman fill out an insurance claim giving her a quote for a new kitchen. He then called to her home to say he would purchase the kitchen on her behalf and fit it later.

Brennan went with the woman and her daughter to her bank where she withdrew the cash and handed him over 6,000. He never purchased the kitchen.

Gda Curran said that Brennan has paid back small amounts to the woman but after making a payment of 200 in December 2021 he was threatened by a younger member of the womans family. Brennan has not made any further payments to the woman.

Anthony Brennan

Brennan was arrested and gave a voluntary statement to gardai in which he said he was under threat due to a drug debt that he had run up. He said these people knew where his mother lived and they threatened to take his van that he used for work.

Ian Woodland BL defending said his client suffered a significant trauma when he was 19 years old and turned to drugs at a young age to cope.

He accepted that he took advantage of a vulnerable elderly lady. He said he was hoping to be able to pay back the victim but he didnt manage to get the funds together.

Judge Martin Nolan accepted that Brennan had pleaded guilty but said he does deserve a custodial term.

It was shameful behaviour on his behalf. He knew exactly what he was doing and he knew it was wrong, Judge Nolan said.

He said a headline sentence of two or three years was warranted before he jailed Brennan for a year.
Regin Parithapara Rajan (42) had pleaded not guilty before the Central Criminal Court to the murder of his wife Deepa Paruthiyezhuth Dinamani (38) in Cork two years ago

Regin Parithapara Rajan was found guilty of the murder of his wife Deepa Dinamani (38)

A man who claimed he accidentally cut his wife's throat during a tussle in their bedroom about the breakdown of their marriage has been convicted of her murder.

Regin Parithapara Rajan (42) had pleaded not guilty before the Central Criminal Court to the murder of his wife Deepa Paruthiyezhuth Dinamani (38) in Cork two years ago.

Rajan was charged with the murder of his wife at their home in Cardinal Court in Wilton, Cork on July 14, 2023 contrary to Common Law.

The jury of five men and seven women returned a unanimous guilty verdict after deliberating for over five hours following a trial in Cork which began on March 24

Rajan - who now faces a mandatory life sentence - remained impassive as the verdict was returned, simply nodding to his legal team.

Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford adjourned sentencing in the matter to May 2 to allow the family of Ms Dinamani to prepare victim impact statements.

The brother of the deceased is eager to address the court.

"This matter is deserving of some time and Mr Dinamani needs to be heard," Ms Justice Lankford said.

Rajan was remanded in custody for sentencing on May 2

Flowers left near the home of Deepa Dinamani

The trial heard Rajan was suspicious that his wife was in contact with other men after she changed her relationship status on social media to "separated but not divorced yet" and had posted she was "looking for someone to have good conversations to begin with."

Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan said the deceased would have been unable to speak once the 14cm long neck wound was inflicted.

Dr Mulligan conducted a post mortem examination on the deceased on July 15 2023.

She found an incision-type wound measuring 14cm in length on the woman's neck.

The wound had severed the large strap muscle of the neck. It also severed the thyroid artery and exposed the windpipe.

Dr Mulligan said that there was evidence of aspirated blood in the lungs.

Rajan - in direct evidence to the trial - insisted the fatal injuries suffered by his wife were entirely accidental.

He said he had tried to take a carving knife away from his wife in their bedroom after she had grabbed the implement but that she had been injured in the tussle.

The father-of-one insisted he loved his wife and wished he could turn back the clock.

"There was blood everywhere. It was a shock to me. I did not know what to do. I just tried to stop the blood from the neck. My mind was blank - I cannot think straight."

Rajan said he was depressed over the breakdown of his marriage and upset that his wife would not return his passport until after she had returned from a trip to Dublin.

He also said he had an argument with his wife over pension money.

"I was a hostage - I left the room and went to my son's bedroom. I was crying. I was depressed. I did not know what to do in my own home. I drank a few drinks."

A Garda who attended the scene where the young mother-of-one's body was discovered told the trial the defendant informed him his wife was cheating on him with an individual based in London and he "could not tolerate it."

The deceased was a 38 year old chartered accountant who had moved to Ireland to take up a position with financial services firm, Alter Domus.

She was from Kerala in southern India and had only been living in Cork for around four months at the time of her death.

One witness said that the couple had "a strange relationship" - and that Deepa appeared to "wear the trousers," being successful, outgoing and bubbly while her husband was quiet, shy and had been unable to secure a job in Ireland.

Another witness said Rajan told him that his wife and himself were sleeping apart.

Deepa was exchanging WhatsApp messages with an Indian man based in London in the weeks before she died.

Prasad Jayarathinam, who travelled from the UK for the hearing, said that he exchanged messages with a person who identified herself as Deepa in a random profile match on online dating site Match.com

The witness said that he went by the nickname Jay on the website and exchanged messages with Deepa for about a month before her death.

Mr Jayarathinam said that he and Deepa never met in person.

However, his impression of her was that she was a very caring person who loved her young son.

He offered his condolences to her family following the loss of her life.

On her dating site profile Deepa was described as being separated but not divorced.

Her interests were listed as reading, yoga and cooking.

Prosecution counsel Sean Gillane SC asked the witness if Deepa had ever discussed her marriage?

Mr Jayarathinam said that Deepa said her decision to marry Regin Rajan was "the biggest mistake she did in her life."

Under cross examination by Brian McInerney SC, for the defendant, Mr Jayarathinam said that he and Deepa were simply engaging in a fantasy world when they messaged each other.

Mr McInerney described the messages between the pair as being voluminous in nature. He read a number of messages of a very intimate nature between Jay and Deepa.

The witness said that these messages were all fantasy.

Mr McInerney asked him if he ever planned to meet up with Deepa in Ireland?

He said that whilst they had never met if Deepa had not died they might have arranged to see each other face-to-face in Dublin.

However, Mr Jayarathinam said that the exchange would not have gone beyond meeting at the airport and that it was all chat  all imaginary.

He said that he had never exchanged video calls with Deepa.

The witness also said he noticed some "abnormality" with some of the messages he received on the day of Deepas death - with the word "Yups" texted to him.

Evidence was also given by phone analyst Susan Cronin.

She said on July 6 2023 there was a Google search on Regin Rajan's phone which read What is a carving knife used for?

The following day the words carving knife were googled.

On July 10 Mr Rajans phone recorded a Google search on jail in Ireland.

Later that day the terms prison facilities in Ireland and prison conditions were searched.

Ms Cronin said that Regin Rajans phone was signed up to a number of dating websites including Eharmony, Bumble, Hinge and Match.com

She also analysed the phone of the late Deepa Dinamani.

On July 5 2023 there was a search recorded which read what happens when you clear chat on Whats App?

On the day before Deepa was found dead at her home in Cardinal Court in Wilton searches were made on her phone in relation to how a person is to know if they are being tracked on WhatsApp.
Details of the sums seized emerged during a stormy High Court hearing

Just over 42,000 has been seized from controversial schoolteacher Enoch Burke to part pay 79,100 in fines he faces for contempt of court.

Details of the sums seized emerged during a stormy High Court hearing in which a judge accused Mr Burke of disgraceful conduct and of acting like an unruly schoolboy.

The teachers mother Martina, sister Ammi and an unidentified male supporter of Mr Burke were all removed from the courtroom by gardai after interrupting the proceedings.

The court heard Bank of Ireland had emptied an account held by Mr Burke and paid 40,617 to a Courts Service fines account, while a further 1,585 in salary has also been diverted and paid to a receiver.

The sums were seized on foot of court orders made last month with the intention of finally coercing the teacher into complying with an injunction restraining him from going to Wilsons Hospital, the Co Westmeath secondary school which dismissed Mr Burke two years ago.

Mr Justice David Nolan also awarded the Attorney General and the schools board of management their legal costs against Mr Burke.

The teacher spoke over the judge throughout the costs ruling, attempting to argue with him about conclusions he made in a judgment delivered last month, despite being asked repeatedly to confine his submissions to the issue of costs.

Mr Burke, who is from a family of evangelical Christian, was suspended in August 2022 after publicly clashing with management over a request from the then principle, Niamh McShane, that teachers address a transgender child by a new name and they/them pronouns.

He refused to do so on religious grounds.

Mr Burke was sacked in January 2023 but remains on fully paid administrative leave pending an appeal against his dismissal, the hearing of which has been delayed by a legal challenge Mr Burke took regarding the composition of the appeals panel.

Three separate periods in prison, amounting to 513 days, and court imposed fines have not been enough to dissuade Mr Burke from going to the school. He continues to insist he is going there to work.

Details of the sums seized were outlined by Brian Kennedy SC, for the Attorney General, and Niall O hUiginn BL, appearing for receiver Myles Kirby.

In an affidavit opened by the board of managements counsel, Rosemary Mallon BL, acting principal John Galligan said Mr Burke had been physically present in school buildings every day bar two since the court was last updated on March 6.

Mr Galligan said Mr Burkes presence was causing significant disruption and he indicated it would consider with great reluctance seeking his imprisonment for contempt again if the conduct continues into the next school year in August.

He said there were 30 school days left in the academic year and that in light of the short period remaining, and in the hope the continued collection of fines may cause Mr Burke to review an reassess his current actions, it was the intention of the board to exercise as much forbearance as possible, within reason.

However, neither I nor the board of management can countenance any escalation by Mr Burke in his behaviour nor any disruption of any kind to the state exams. Nor could we countenance a renewal of his conduct in the new academic year, he said.

Mr Galligan said he hoped Mr Burke would conclude that he had made his point and end his protest at the school.

Mr Burke responded that it is not a protest and claimed the matter was in court not because of his actions but those of the board.

Mr Justice Nolan interjected and told Mr Burke to address him on the costs applications made by the Attorney General and the school. The judge said the court was not a soapbox.

Deal with the issue. What about the costs? the judge asked.

However, Mr Burke insisted he wanted to finish a submission which he said the judge had interrupted when the matter was last in court on March 25.

The teacher sought to raise a point about a section of a judgment delivered by the judge last month.

In that judgment, Mr Justice Nolan observed that Mr Burke claimed to have been imprisoned for refused to abide by the principles instruction.

The judge also observed Mr Burke had stated there was no basis in Irish law for the principal's demand and that he had been the victim of an appalling travesty of justice.

None of this is true, the judge said in that ruling.

Mr Burke took issue with this finding, saying no determination had ever been made by the court on the constitutionality or the lawfulness of the principles instruction.

All of that is behind us Mr Burke. There is a permanent injunction in place, granted by Mr Justice Owens, and you are in breach of that order. You are trespassing on the school premises which you are not entitled to do, the judge said.

You are a schoolteacher. You of all people know about unruly schoolboys and you are acting like an unruly schoolboy. Would you just deal with the issue before the court? The issue is the issue of costs.

However, Mr Burke again ignored the judges pleas and continued to make his submission.

Eventually, Mr Justice Nolan said he would deliver his ruling. If that means talking over you, I will talk over you, he said.

At this point Martina and Ammi Burke, who had been standing at the back of the court, interrupted. Ammi Burke accused the judge telling lies, while Martina Burke shouted: All lies, all lies. You are making your ruling on lies.

Both were removed by gardai, as was an unidentified man, before the judge proceeded with the costs ruling. Mr Burke spoke over him as he delivered it.

It is worth noting Mr Burke is a schoolteacher, someone who should be setting good example to his students. His obligations to his pupils have been quite frankly thrown out the window. Quite frankly this conduct is disgraceful, the judge said.
Robyn Barnwell (25) is accused of confronting the alleged victim at her workplace, assaulting and injuring her after certain information was posted on Facebook.

Robyn Barnwell, of Ballyfermot, has not yet entered a plea

A woman attacked a supermarket worker, punching her in the face and pulling hair from her head, following a social media post, it is alleged.

Robyn Barnwell (25) is accused of confronting the alleged victim at her workplace, assaulting and injuring her after certain information was posted on Facebook.

The case against her was adjourned at Dublin District Court for the accused to decide on a plea.

Ms Barnwell, with an address at Raheen Park, Ballyfermot, Dublin, is charged with assault causing harm to the woman in an incident at Aldi, Kylemore Road on August 2 last year.

Garda Sergeant Derek Spain told Judge John King the DPP consented to the case being dealt with in the district court, subject to the issue of jurisdiction being considered.

Outlining the prosecutions case, the sergeant said the alleged victim was at work at a retail premises at the time.

Its alleged that as a result of certain information posted on Facebook, the defendant punched her in the face several times and pulled a quantity of hair from her head while she was on duty at that retail premises, Gda-Sgt Spain said.

Judge King accepted jurisdiction, allowing the case to remain in the district court.

The sergeant said full disclosure of prosecution evidence had been given to the accuseds solicitor, Lorraine Stephens.

The judge remanded Ms Barnwell on continuing bail to consider how she intends to plead to the charge, which is under Section 3 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
The fund was established so that the money raised by CAB by selling off criminal assets could be reinvested in community safety

Money and other proceeds of crime seized from criminals by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) will bankroll the 2025 Community Safety Fund.

4 million is available in grants ranging from 20,000 to 150,000 - double the amount allocated when it first opened for applications in 2022.

The fund was established so that the money raised by CAB by selling off criminal assets could be reinvested in community safety.

Grants were previously issued for initiatives that improve community safety, reduce reoffending and divert vulnerable people from engaging in criminality.

Last year, more than 3 million was allocated to projects nationwide to support initiatives aimed at addressing anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, drug-related intimidation, social exclusion, youth programmes and prison post-release support.

Investing this money into the communities provides that tangible and direct link between law enforcement and building stronger, safer communities, Minister for Justice Jim OCallaghan said today when launching the project during a visit to Ballymun Garda Station and the Ballymun Implementation Board.

The fund has supported hugely significant projects in previous years that are having a real impact in communities. Under Budget 2025 the Government increased funding to 4 million.

The Community Safety Fund encourages and supports the development of new ways to improve and enhance community safety from those working in our communities who best understand the needs in their locality, he said, and encouraged eligible groups who have a proposal to support and enhance safety in their area to apply.

Applications, which opened today, are invited from community safety initiatives as well as groups co-funded with local authorities, NGOs and community organisations working on issues relevant to community safety and youth justice.

The Criminal Assets Bureau have not yet released their figures for 2024, however, in the year prior 9.8million was returned to CAB with 8.3million of that sent to the public purse.
It is a very, very strong indicator that hes still alive, says Mangan.

New information unearthed by Crime World podcast series, Evil Eye, leads one of the countrys most seasoned detective to believe the chief suspect in Emer OLoughlins murder staged his suicide and is very much alive.

As the remains of the bright-eyed art student were taken from her grave in a wicker basket in the west of Ireland cemetery, a complete silence descended on the 20-strong Garda team.

It was 2010, and five years after 23-year-old Emer OLoughlin died in a fire in her neighbours mobile home in Co. Galway, the former head of the Gardas cold case unit, Christy Mangan, was overseeing the exhumation of her remains.

It was a very bright morning, and very, very sad. It had a visible impact on everybody, including myself, he recalls this week as he reflects on the new Crime World podcast series, Evil Eye, which has uncovered fresh leads in the case.

Her remains were transferred to Galway University Hospital, and an hour into the examination, the forensic pathologist, Dr Michael Curtis, came out to speak to Chief Superintendent Mangan and Superintendent Sean Healy.

The distinctive tattoo on the neck of murder suspect John Griffin

He is clearly telling us that she was alive prior to the fire but was killed, he remembers. The evidence would indicate that her first and second vertebrae were severed with a knife or a sword, something of that type of weapon, and thats what would have ultimately caused her death.

It was the moment her case was upgraded from a suspicious death to a murder investigation, but chief suspect, John Griffin, was believed to be on the run after faking his death on one of the Aran islands.

When the case first came across his desk in the newly-founded Serious Crime Review Team in 2010, Mangan says: I was struck, by the sadness of the finding of Emer in the circumstances she was found. I thought with an independent look, you could make progress.

Fifteen years on, the now retired Garda chief, who ordered the disinterment, is part of the Crime World team which has unearthed new information in the making of an eight-part podcast series and YouTube documentary film  which took them from the sheer cliffs off Inis Mor to the other side of the continent following a tip-off to Griffins whereabouts in a sunny coastal resort.

It is a very, very strong indicator that hes still alive, says Mangan, Hes out there to be got. Hes still there.

With the 20th anniversary of her killing falling next Tuesday, the timely podcast delves into details such as why the case was initially classed as suspicious instead of a murder investigation and why the original post-mortem didnt find the evidence that Emer was attacked before the fire.

And critically, why the podcast team believes the chief suspect staged his suicide and is living a bohemian life off the grid somewhere in Europe.

On April 8, 2005, on the morning of the murder, Emer had been preparing to travel to college but couldnt charge her phone due to an electrical problem in the mobile home where she lived with her boyfriend, Shane, on his familys land.

They were saving their money to build a house, says investigations editor Nicola Tallant, explaining this was a common occurrence among young couples in rural Ireland.

When Emer spoke to her boyfriend about her low phone battery, he suggested she use the electricity in a neighbouring mobile home owned by John Griffin.

Emer OLoughlin

He was known within the community as a bit of a drug taker, a troublemaker, but nothing really off the radar, says Tallant.

Soon after, a fire broke out in Griffins mobile home, and Emers body was discovered inside the burnt-out caravan.

It took a number of hours to actually get into where the fire took place because of the heat and the debris, said the former Garda chief superintendent. Her remains were found there but her head was a number of feet away from her torso.

.

Initially, it was posited that this was caused by the intense heat of the inferno, but an X-ray carried out in the second post-mortem revealed marks indicating Emer had been attacked with a knife. In the first investigation, a large knife was found in a potbelly stove

The manner of her killing is being revealed to the public with the sanction of Emers sister, Pam, who features extensively on the podcast series.

We should say its with Pams permission that we are giving the horrific details of her death, the fact that she was beheaded with some sort of a knife or a sword. She is of the opinion that people need to know how violently her sister died, says Tallant.

From speaking to friends and family for the series, she says a picture emerged of a talented, young girl living in an idyllic part of Ireland on the edge of the Burren. Shed everything to live for, no enemies. She was a bubbly, kind person, and her life has ended in a horrific way.

Murder suspect John Griffin

In the days after the killing, an agitated Griffin was tracked down to Dun Aonghasa fort on Inis Mor where he pelted stones at gardai. After a stand-off, he was overpowered and subsequently placed in psychiatric care but checked himself out days later.

On April 18, 10 days after the murder, a pile of his clothes were on the edge of a cliff on the island. On first reading the file on the cold case, Christy Mangan suspected he was most certainly alive.

When he later visited the sheer rock face, he found it hard to believe there would be no evidence of blood at the scene. In addition, he believed the Garda Water Unit would have uncovered a body on this particular stretch of coastline. Eventually, the remains will reappear somewhere, more than likely.

Tallant, who also visited the scene with Emers sister, Pam, agrees it would be hard to take a clear fall into the sea below without getting caught on the rocks.

Former Garda chief Christy Mangan

In retracing the twists and turns of the desperately sad case over the past two decades with Pam in the podcast, the producers hope it will bring new information about Griffins whereabouts to light.

To make a podcast, and a documentary which we have on the YouTube channel, you need a family member there thats going to take you back and bring you into the heart and the soul of the victim, says Tallant.

Pam has dedicated her life to this cause. She came with us to as many places as she could and back out to the Aran Islands.

As one of the countrys foremost investigators of cold cases, Christy Mangan knows the toll an unsolved case can take on families desperate to get justice.

Pam was a champion for the OLoughlin family. She has been Emers voice for 20 years, which is so important.

It is hoped the distinctive Eye of Horus tattoo on Griffins neck  which inspired the name of the series  will help identify him to listeners even if he has had it removed.

The former chief superintendent believes Griffin would stand out. Hes not a quiet person. He will leave a mark on your memory, along with the tattoo and the way hes living.

I think theres a huge possibility of this case being brought to justice based on what took place, initially, very importantly, with the exhumation.

It gives a lot of hope to the family that the person who may have been involved in the death of their loved one is alive and will face the judicial process, he adds.

Anyone with any information can contact the Gardai or the Justice for Emer OLoughlin Facebook page.

l Evil Eye will run from April 15 and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.
The European Solidarity faction in the Verkhovna Rada has registered a draft appeal to the US Congress on continued support for Ukraine, said faction co-chair Iryna Gerashchenko.

As reported on the website of the political force, European Solidarity is also initiating a resolution to lift restrictions on international business trips for deputies.

"European Solidarity, as promised, registered a resolution - an appeal to the US Congress regarding bipartisan support for Ukraine. We will fight for its preservation and for the preservation of the anti-Putin coalition. However, for this we need to have the ability to carry out inter-parliamentary diplomacy, and not overcome the blocking of opposition missions every time. Therefore, we also registered a resolution on eliminating restrictions on the exercise of powers by deputies ... We will insist on the priority consideration of these resolutions," Gerashchenko said.

She noted the importance of maximizing interparliamentary diplomacy, since, according to her, Ukraine is critically dependent on bipartisan and bicameral support. "We need to work with Republicans and Democrats, and even more so with American society, which, as we see from Sunday's protests, has different opinions and positions," the parliamentarian is convinced.

"The shocking figures from public opinion polls in the USA show that almost 80% of Republican Party voters are against aid to Ukraine, while overall, less than 50% of Americans support providing aid. These are very alarming signals that the Ukrainian government should also analyze," Gerashchenko noted.

As reported, earlier the plans of European Solidarity to initiate the Verkhovna Rada's appeal to the US Congress were announced by the party's leader Petro Poroshenko. "European Solidarity initiates the Verkhovna Rada's appeal to the US Congress regarding a new resolution on bipartisan support for Ukraine in these conditions as a strategic partner. Such a resolution should contain guarantees regarding new packages of military and financial aid and continuation of sanctions against Russia. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada assured that he has a special relationship with Mike Johnson, calling them a speaker coalition. Therefore, it is high time to use all this. As well as other forms of parliamentary diplomacy to guarantee support," he said.
Michael Murphy (60) remains in custody in Cork Prison after he was arrested in connection with the seizure

Cocaine weighing 152kgs and worth 10.65m was discovered concealed in a truck on the M9 in Co. Kilkenny

Ireland's most significant drugs gang is suspected of being behind a sinister arson attack on vehicles linked to a businessman charged over a 10.6m cocaine haul, believed to be controlled by the criminal group.

Michael Murphy (60) remains in custody in Cork Prison after he was arrested in connection with the seizure of the significant quantity of cocaine found concealed in a truck on the M9 in Co Kilkenny last month.

Waterford city gardai are now investigating an arson attack on two large trucks and a Mercedes car, which were burnt out at a premises at around 2am on Saturday.

No one was injured in the blaze and there have been no arrests in the case.

Since the seizure  one of the biggest drug seizures in Ireland this year - detectives have been concerned about how gang would react.

The answer to that question appears to have been made at the weekend, said a source.

Hundreds of thousands of euro of damage was caused in this attack and The Family gang are being looked at it for organising the arson attack.

It could well be a message being sent that the charged individual should not co-operate with gardai and keep their mouths shut at all costs and at all times.

In a statement to the Irish Independent, gardai said they are investigating an incident of criminal damage by fire that occurred to a number of vehicles at a premises".

A spokesman added The scene has since been examined by the Divisional Scenes of Crime Unit. Investigations are ongoing.

Mr Murphy, with an address on the Waterford/Kilkenny border, is charged on two counts under the Misuse of Drugs Act, involving possession of drugs, and possession of drugs for sale or supply

When charged with possession of controlled drugs for sale or supply, a court sitting last month was told Mr Murphy replied "I understand the charge".

Detective Garda Sean Lane of Waterford Garda Station told the court he also charged Mr Muphy with possession of controlled drugs, and after caution Mr Murphy replied "I accept the charge".

He was refused bail and remanded in custody. His solicitor requested that he be sent to Cork Prison and not to Cloverhill due to what he said were "legitimate concerns for his wellbeing. It is understood he is under tight security since he went into custody over two weeks ago.

He is due to appear before a district court sitting via video link next week.

Specialist gardai launched one of their biggest and most high profile operations against The Family gang a week after the cocaine seizure.

Sources say this operation was planned well in advance.

This was the case but maybe the gangs leadership are presuming something very different, said a source.

The gang, whose stronghold is south west Dublin, have taken over from the Kinahan cartel as Ireland's main drug importer.

They mostly profit from cocaine and cannabis, but are also major heroin importers.

Six were arrested in raids targeting the Dublin gang last month, They have since been released without charge and a file will now be prepared for the DPP.

The Family's "tech expert" is suspected of selling secret communication devices to them but is also suspected of involvement in the drugs trade.

It was information from the Ghost-encrypted platform infiltrated by gardai last September that led Irish and European investigators, with the support of Europol, to work together to take down the gang.
Gardai have issued a fresh appeal for information on the 20th anniversary of the murder of the art student in Co Clare

Gardai have made a renewed appeal on the 20th anniversary of the murder of art student Emer O'Loughlin in Co Clare.

Detectives have said they believe that a man they want to speak to in connection with the killing in Ballybornagh, Tubber, is still alive.

On April 8 2005, human remains were discovered in a mobile home close to where Ms O'Loughlin (23) lived with her boyfriend. The mobile home, which belonged to John Griffin, had been completely destroyed by fire. The remains were later identified as being Ms O'Loughlin's.

Griffin went missing 10 days after the fire at the mobile home. He was spotted going to Inis Mor in the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland, where his clothes were later found on a cliff top. But it was believed to be an attempt to fake his own suicide. Interpol later named him on their most wanted list.

On May 19 2010, investigating gardai exhumed Ms O'Loughlin's remains, which were then removed to University Hospital Galway where forensic anthropology tests were conducted. The tests indicated that she had died a violent death, and the investigation was upgraded to murder.

The distinctive tattoo on the neck of murder suspect John Griffin

A spokesperson said: "Investigating gardai are hopeful that the public can assist with efforts to trace John Griffin, formerly of the Mervue area of Galway City.

"The last confirmed sighting of him was on the Aran Island of Inis Mor. Gardai believe that John Griffin may have information that will assist them and are eager to interview him as part of the investigation.

"This year is the 20th year since Emer's death and her family are still struggling to come to terms with her loss and are asking for your assistance in order to bring them closure.

"If you believe you may be in a position to bring closure and get justice for them, gardai would like to hear from you."

Griffin was known as "Fozzie".

The spokesperson said: "Investigating gardai believe that John Griffin is still alive and at the time of his disappearance he was assisted by a person or persons unknown in leaving the island of Inis Mor.

"Gardai have never received a missing person report in respect of John Griffin.

"Extensive searches were conducted along the coastline following the finding of his clothing, however he has never been sighted nor has his body ever been recovered.

"John Griffin is described as being 180cm in height (5ft 11in), and now 57 years of age. He is of a slight build and bald on the top of his head. He often sported a beard, which was shaved off on occasion.

"He has a distinctive Egyptian 'Eye of Horus' tattoo on his throat area. He speaks with a local accent."
The Hyde Road area of Limerick has long been a stronghold of the Dundon-McCarthy gang.

Gardai at the scene of the incident two years ago

A man has been arrested this morning by gardai investigating two pipe bomb explosions in Limerick City two years ago.

The man, in his 20s, has been brought to a Garda station in Limerick for questioning.

A garda spokesperson said: Gardai attached to the Crime Office at Roxboro Road Garda station have arrested a male today in connection with ongoing investigations into two incidents of explosions which occurred on Hyde Road, Limerick on July 15, 2023.

He is currently being detained under the provisions of Section 30 of Offences Against the State Act 1939 as amended.

"Investigations are ongoing, the Garda spokesperson said.

A man in his early 30s received injuries to his arm, which were non-life threatening, in the explosions that occurred at two residential properties on Hyde Road in the early hours of Saturday, July 15, 2023.

Emergency services treated the man at the scene following the incident at 3.10am where damage to the front of houses where the device went off was visible later that day

The Hyde Road area of Limerick has long been a stronghold of the Dundon-McCarthy gang.

However, according to sources at the time, the attack was not related to the Dundon-McCarthy gang or their rivals.

It is believed to be related to a personal matter and the victim is not linked to any gang dispute.

We reported at the time how tensions had been rising between rival criminals in the Hyde Road area in the previous number of months.

The incident followed a drive-by shooting on Hyde Road the previous month.

A least one shot was fired from a firearm in the vicinity of a number of people in the broad daylight attack around 1.15pm on June 4.

No one has been arrested in connection with the attack.

Heavily armed gardai also carried out a series of raids in the Hyde Road area in February and seized a cocaine press and drugs.

The location is the base for the notorious Dundon gang who were key players in the two-decade gangland feud in Limerick that claimed at least 17 lives, including those of several innocent people.

While some of the leaders of the gang are in prison or facing serious criminal charges, they still operate from their Limerick base.

Gang member Ger Dundon was jailed for 15 years in the UK two months ago in connection with an attempt to extort cash from convicted drugs dealer Shah Ali and his younger brother Mohammed in July 2020.

From inside the sealed dock, Dundon shouted as he was being taken down that you wouldnt get that for rape or for killing someone.

His brothers Wayne, John and Dessie are all serving life sentences for murder in Ireland in killings that were part of their organised crime-gangs reign of terror in Limerick, but other gang members remain free and are active in the city.
Charlotte Cassidy preyed on pensioner Paul William Lambert and sat on his lap and gave him a sleeping pill, court hears

A 29-year-old Irish woman tricked an elderly man who was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver out of thousands of pounds, a court in Wales has heard.

Charlotte Cassidy preyed on pensioner Paul William Lambert and sat on his lap and gave him a sleeping pill as she, her brother and dad stole thousands from him.

Charlotte, her brother Michael Cassidy, 21, and father William Cassidy, 53, have all been sentenced for stealing from the OAP after carrying out improvements at his home.

The three members of the same family who ran a driveway firm took advantage of Lambert who was suffering with significant health issues and alcohol addiction.

They pretended to be him in order to withdraw thousands of pounds and at one stage were stopped by family members from taking him shopping to buy them a Rolex watch.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, March 6, was told the family operated a company called Fix A Drive based in Cardiff.

Mr Lambert had employed them to carry out improvements at his home in Bridgend.

A quote of 18,000 was given for the work on his kitchen, the construction of a summerhouse and digging up of his driveway.

But prosecutor Ian Ibrahim told the court the work was found to be of a poor standard and was "worthless".

Meanwhile, members of Mr Lambert's family has become increasing concerned by Charlotte Cassidy who had been in the victim's home without him being there, attended private meetings with his financial advisor, went through personal documentation, and rubbed cream into his leg and sat on his lap.

According to WalesOnline, Mr Lambert's parents attended the property on another occasion and found him in an incoherent state with his eyes rolling in the back of his head.

When they questioned Charlotte Cassidy, she admitted she had given him a sleeping pill.

Both Charlotte and Michael Cassidy were at Mr Lambert's home when relatives arrived, and were told they were going out to shop for tiles.

However, it later transpired they were attempting to coerce him into buying a Rolex watch for Charlotte Cassidy.

Mr Lambert was also taken to his building society where he withdrew 25,000 from his pension with around 17,000 paid to Fix a Driv

A referral was made to Bridgend social services over concerns for Mr Lambert in September 2022, and the following month the victim's financial advisor reported that a withdrawal of 15,000 had been made from Mr Lambert's pension without consultation.

It was later discovered Charlotte Cassidy had made a phone call pretending to be Mr Lambert, in which she asked for 15,000 to be transferred.

Her Irish accent on the recording was recognised by the victim, WalesOnline reports. When she was told the money would be liable to 40% tax if withdrawn, she appeared indifferent and said: Yeah, fine.

Lambert refused to believe she was stealing money from him until he heard a voice recording of her contacting the bank.

After Mr Lambert died in January 2023 aged just 61-years-old an assessment was made of the work carried out at his property and the decision was made to knock down the summerhouse as it was structurally unsound.

Mr Lambert's daughter later gave a powerful victim impact statement that was read to Cardiff Crown Court.

Claire Taylor said: "Father was hard working, a family man with an excellent career as an electrical engineer. The last few years of dad's life were hell, with mental health issues and alcohol addiction.

His physical health was in decline due to cirrhosis of the liver.

He was extremely lonely and struggling with living alone. We did our best to support him but it was extremely difficult with work and having young families.

"He believed Charlotte Cassidy was his friend and trusted her and her family. Charlotte Cassidy befriended my dad and took him out but made him pay for everything. She rubbed cream into his legs, took him to the bank to withdraw money, brought him food and sat in on private appointments. They took him to buy Charlotte a Rolex.

"He refused to believe Charlotte Cassidy was the person who withdrew the money until he heard the recording. He couldn't understand how anyone could do that, especially someone he believed was a friend. He was heartbroken, mainly deteriorated and was found dead a few weeks later.

Defence barrister Hashim Salmman said his client was in a long term relationship and her partner is pregnant with their fourth child.

He referred to "historical adverse experiences" in her life and she did not progress to secondary education.

But Judge Eugene Egan told her: "You were not altruistic or caring, you thought (Mr Lambert) was a soft touch, someone you thought you could manipulate and extract money from."

She was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months. She was also ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work, a 20 day rehabilitation activity requirement and an electronic tag for four months.

Williams Cassidy, of Broadsheet Common, Cardiff, later pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in an unfair commercial practice and one count of fraud. He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.

Michael Cassidy, of Broadsheet Common, pleaded guilty to transferring criminal property and engaging in an unfair commercial practice.

He was sentenced to 21 weeks imprisonment suspended for 21 months, and was ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work.
Bolle Jos, who is the most wanted man in the Netherlands, has reportedly bedded down with top officials in Sierra Leone who are now trying to kill the story

Journalists are being actively bribed and threatened to stop reporting on wanted Dutch drug trafficker Jos Leijdekkers, also known as Bolle Jos.

Several reporters, who are in hiding, have told John van den Heuvel, a journalist for Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, that the government of Sierra Leone have offered them sums of up to 5,000 to cease the publication of details about their connection to the most wanted person in the Netherlands.

Reporters who are not accepting the money are being threatened.

The journalists have said that 5k is unprecedentedly high by African standards which to them indicates how important it is to those in power that the story is kept quite.

Fearing for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, some reporters have fled the country.

One journalist who has applied for political asylum in the United States told De Telegraaf: There is no freedom of the press in our country.

Our government, including the president, facilitates the criminal group to which Leijdekkers belongs.

Journalists no longer dare to write about the matter. It is extremely dangerous.

Bolle Jos, which means Tubby Jos in Dutch, is hiding in the African country while on the run and according to investigative journalists at Follow The Money, he was filmed handing Alusine Kanneh, the countrys head of immigration, a birthday present in March.

The publication says that according to well-placed sources the 33-year-old is in a relationship with Agnes Bio, who is the daughter of president Julius Maada Bio. De Telegraaf further reported she is pregnant with his child.

They also report that the Sierra Leone government has barely responded to several diplomatic and legal assistance requests made by the Netherlands as they try to extradite the man Europol once described as one of the key players in international cocaine smuggling.

Following the media storm around Jos Leijdekkers presence in Sierra Leone, the government released a press statement that claimed the president had no knowledge of the identity and the issues detailed in the reports about the individual in question.

Jos Leijdekkers

They further claimed to launch a transparent and through investigation to establish the facts.

A month later the Inspector General of Police (IGP), William Fayia Sellu, claimed that following an investigation, they found the man accused of being Leijdekkers, is actually a man named Omarr Sheriff. It is unclear if Jos is living under an assumed name or if theyre claiming it's a case of mistaken identity.

Bolle Jos wife Hanane is also looking for him as she wants her son, who has been living with him illegally for the last two years, returned to her.

Jos was sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison in June last year by a Rotterdam court.

The Antwerp correctional court also handed him a sentence of 13 years in absentia for ordering the failed theft of 10 tonnes of cocaine.

Last September Dutch police said he remained missing and offered a 200,000 reward for any information leading to his arrest.

He is currently on trial in absentia at one of Europe's biggest ever cocaine trials.

Dozens of defendants, including some of the continent's most notorious drug traffickers, went on trial for importing at least 25 tonnes of South American cocaine into Belgium last month.

Numerous criminals are facing charges in the court of Tongeren, Limburg, relating to membership of a criminal organisation, drug trafficking, money laundering and violations of arms legislation.

Leijdekkers is accused of importing tens of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the Netherlands, as well as violent crimes relating to drug smuggling such as kidnapping and murder.
Extremely upset: Cops waiting for his flight after passport flagged over claims his posts breached order

Billy George with members of the George family after returning from Spain earlier this year

The Sunday World today reveals some of the shocking messages which were allegedly posted by grieving father Billy George that led to him being arrested for a second time this week  accused of harassment.

The campaigning father of murder victim John George called one woman a sl*t and described her mother as a c*** while openly accusing them of being linked to the murder of his son John last December.

Harassment proceedings were brought by Dawn Smyth, who is the mother of Jonny Smyth, the suspect currently due to return to Spain to face questioning about the murder, and Carly Allen, whose daughter Madison is Smyths partner.

Billy George was arrested in Belfast on Wednesday after a complaint was made that he had breached a harassment order.

We can reveal the 55-year-old was arrested shortly after getting off a flight from Portugal.

Hed gone voluntarily to a PSNI station and was put under arrest and had his phone seized days after he had deleted a Facebook account which had posted messages naming Carly Allen.

Mr George had been in Portugal for the last fortnight after he helped the authorities locate Belfast man Jonny Smyth.

Victim John George

Smyth was eventually arrested on March 25 after Billy George attended a police station in Braga, the city where 26-year-old Smyth had been hiding out.

Initially, Portuguese police were unable to arrest Smyth as the correct documents had not been filed  the issue reportedly something minor about the right name on the warrant by Interpol  but Smyth was lifted and appeared in court last week where it emerged he wouldnt fight extradition proceedings.

Smyth is expected back in Spain any day now and in a recent TiTok video posted by his partner Madison Allen, he says he has hired the most expensive lawyer in Spain and said there was no evidence against him but that if he was convicted of being involved in the murder he expected to serve less than ten years behind bars.

Its understood Billy Georges passport was flagged and police were alerted that he had returned to Belfast and arrested him on Wednesday. It came after a complaint was made by Carly Allen.

Sources say Mr George was extremely upset at being arrested and was not able to be interviewed at that stage.

A PSNI spokesperson told the Sunday World: One man aged in his 50s was arrested on Wednesday 2nd April on suspicion of breach of injunction prohibiting harassment. He was subsequently released on police bail pending further inquiries. A mobile phone was seized as part of the investigation.

Billy George confronting Dawn Smyth

Last month we revealed how Mr George was arrested and given a Community Resolution Notice for common assault after he turned up at the home of Dawn Smyth and also at one of her businesses.

We also revealed how Dawn Smyth and Carly Allen had taken legal proceedings for harassment against Mr George and others supporting the family.

Its understood the recent arrest came after Carly Allen complained to the PSNI after social media posts made by Mr George allegedly breached the terms of an order and she believed she was being harassed.

Much to the annoyance of the George family and their supporters, her daughter Madison was not arrested and we understand the Spanish police have no interest in arresting her in connection with the murder.

One of Billys posts on X about Madison

Some of Billy Georges previous posts about Madison Allen are X-rated and shocking.

In one post from Georges now deleted Facebook account, Billy posted to Carly Allen: Ring me u c*** not my daughter if ur s**t of a daughter is not involved get her go to police u no y she not because she involved up to he next u got my num ring me us are all up to ur next in it.

Its posts like this that its understood initially led Carly Allen to go to court to seek protection from Billy George.

Carly Allen has repeatedly pleaded with the George family to leave her family alone as neither her or her daughter had anything to do with the murder of John George.

On March 26  a day after Jonny Smyth was arrested and taken into custody in Portugal  Mr George posted another public post about Madison and mentioned Carly Allen, directly telling her ...Carly if u go c ur daughter who be living on the streets begging for food...

Jonny Smyth

Its understood its this particular post which Carly Allen believes amounts to a breach of the harassment order.

Murder victim John George (37) disappeared in December in the Alicante area. His remains were found in January following extensive appeals from the family and friends who travelled out to search for his body.

He was shot and his body was left in a rural area around December 14. Johns body was repatriated to Northern Ireland on January 16 and his funeral took place on February 1.

Last month speaking through his solicitor, Billy George vowed to fight allegations of harassment made against him.

Billy confronted Jonnys mum at her home in Ballyclare and an ugly shouting match ensued.

At that time Jonny had gone on the run from his apartment in Alicante, and Spanish police wanted to speak to him about the brutal murder of the father-of-two.

Jonny Smyth and Madison Allen

Last month Mr George was listed to appear at Belfast Laganside Court in relation to harassment cases taken in the civil courts by the two mothers.

Its understood the women are seeking injunctions which would prevent Mr George from making contact with them in any way, including by confronting them in person.

Dawn Smyths case is listed for a hearing at Laganside Courthouse on April 15.

In a statement issued last month to the Sunday World through his solicitor Kevin Winters, Billy George said he believed he would win the court cases.

KRW Law said: We act on behalf of the father of murder victim John George who was shot dead in Spain on 14/12/24.

He continues to grieve for the loss of his son and is still trying to find some form of justice which to date remains elusive. Part of his campaign includes engaging with PSNI and the Spanish authorities on evidential lines of inquiry linked to Belfast.

That has proven to be a deeply frustrating exercise which at times has resulted in tensions with some individuals in this jurisdiction.

Those same tensions have now manifested themselves by way of separate sets of injunction proceedings issued against our client. He wants to make it clear there is absolutely no basis for what he sees as completely vexatious proceedings.

Speaking in advance of the injunction harassment cases, Billy George said: I welcome the chance to meet these groundless allegations head on.

Not only will they fail to do that but it will give me a chance to raise my own concerns. I really think the people behind this litigation may well rue the day they decided to take me on in court.

A day after Mr George went to Dawn Smyths house, the property was damaged in an arson attack after a fire was started at the front door. We have also learned a nail bomb was left at the back door.

Theres no suggestion Billy George was in anyway involved in that incident or had any knowledge of it.
The police spokesperson added that enquiries are ongoing

Firefighters deal with a serous blaze at a block of flats in the Carrigart Avenue area of west Belfast on April 7th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Firefighters deal with a serous blaze at a block of flats in the Carrigart Avenue area of west Belfast on April 7th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

A man has died following a serious fire at a block of flats in west Belfast.

Emergency services responded to the blaze which happened in the Carrigart Avenue area of west Belfast on Monday afternoon.

Yesterday a PSNI spokesperson said that on arrival at the scene a man was located inside the property.

He was taken to hospital for treatment to serious injuries.

It has now been confirmed that the man aged in his 30s later died in hospital.

Firefighters deal with a serous blaze at a block of flats in the Carrigart Avenue area of west Belfast on April 7th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Firefighters at the scene of serious west Belfast fire

A PSNI spokesperson said: Police were notified of the fire shortly before 12.30pm and attended alongside colleagues from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.

Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service extinguished the blaze but, sadly, the man died later in hospital."

The police spokesperson added that enquiries are ongoing.

A large cordon was put in place as firefighters in breathing apparatus dealt with the incident on Monday.

Firefighters deal with a serous blaze at a block of flats in the Carrigart Avenue area of west Belfast on April 7th 2025 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

In a statement issued on Monday a NIFRS spokesperson said: Two fire appliances from Cadogan Fire Station and two fire appliances from Springfield Fire Station attended the incident.

"Firefighters were called to reports of a fire in a residential property earlier this afternoon.

"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used two hose reels and one jet to extinguish the fire.

"Firefighters rescued one male from the property who was taken to hospital by NIAS.

"The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
McGregor had vowed to change the crypto game through the release of his $REAL meme coin last week

Conor McGregors attempt to change cryptocurrency has ended in failure after the fighters meme coin was pulled.

McGregor had vowed to change the crypto game through the release of his $REAL meme coin last week.

But with only $392,315 raised from 668 bidders during its 28-hour presale, the $1m minimum requirement for launch fell far short and Real World Gaming DAO (RWG) was forced to pull the plug and refund investors.

We need to be real, RWG posted on social media. We didnt hit our minimum raise. All bids will be refunded in full. This is not the end.

A spokesperson for RWG told the Decrypt website that challenging macroeconomic conditions and the distracting nature of the meme narrative were to blame for the failed launch.

Decrypt suggested RWG had perhaps overlooked all the negativity surrounding McGregor in recent months.

Ahead of the launch, McGregor had boasted on social media the he had changed the fight game, changed the whiskey game and changed the stout game.

Now its time to change the CRYPTO game, he declared. This is just the beginning. This is $REAL.

However, despite the star power behind it, McGregors Real token failed to live up to expectations, raising just a fraction of its target, reports CCN.

It has been further reported that the presale, which started on April 5, raised just $392,315, or 39 per cent of the goal, with participation from 668 investors.

In an official announcement on Monday, the Real team acknowledged the shortfall and promised a full refund to early investors.

Crypto currency websites report how McGregors Real token didnt just fall short because of a celebrity mismatch.

While celebrity-backed token launches have been common in recent months, McGregors project was unusual for its focus on an actual use casean in-game utility tokenrather than a meme coin, CCN reports.

However, despite its utility-focused foundation, the token struggled to resonate with investors in a highly bearish crypto market.

The broader market conditions have been challenging.

On Monday, Bitcoin (BTC) was down 10%, and Ethereum (ETH) had dropped over 20%, contributing to one of the worst crashes this year.

It has also been revealed how the frenzy around meme coins, which previously drove massive demand for celebrity-backed tokens, has largely subsided.

According to CCN, once a $100 billion market, meme coins are now worth less than $40 billion, a sharp decline that reflects the broader market struggle for liquidity.

Since his civic rape case last year, which found that McGregor assaulted Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018, the Dubliner has waded into the worlds of politics and voiced opinions on social issues.

Last week, he was slammed by a professor for attempting to link the cause of autism to vaccinations.

Taking to X, McGregor had shared: I wonder is there a person in the world with autism, who was not vaccinated whatsoever, nor their mother vaccinated during the pregnancy term etc.

Adding: I wonder if there is one such case to disprove the vaccine connection to autism theory? and tagging the US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy, who is the nephew of former US President John. F Kennedy, is an anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist.

Niall Conroy, an Adjunct Professor of Public Health re-shared the social media post alongside a screenshot from research into autism and vaccines.

Jesus, it really is the post-truth world, he said.

In multiple HUGE studies, autism rates are the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts."

The post reads: The authors found that There was no increase in the risk of autistic disorder or other autistic-spectrum disorders among vaccinated children as compared with unvaccinated children.

McGregors supposed campaign to become the next Irish president was also met with a wall of rejection in a survey of over 130 TDs and senators that found that not one of them would back MMA fighters bid.

Presidential candidates must be nominated by 20 members of the Oireachtas or four local authorities in order to get on the ballot, with 134 TDs and senators telling Sky News that they would not support McGregor.
But here we are doing it again.

Mount Maunganuis Nathan Bonney thought doing the 2023 Pork Pie Charity Run would be a bucket list one-off experience.

NZME has launched On The Up  a national campaign showcasing amazing stories of inspiration, success, courage and possibilities. In this story, reporter Megan Wilson talks to two Bay teams, one from Tauranga and one from Rotorua, who are supporting the iconic Pork Pie Charity run raising money for KidsCan.

The Iridium Partners founder and director said he initially joined the 2400km road trip  inspired by iconic Kiwi movie Goodbye Pork Pie  to support KidsCan, as children were the future of the country.

Bonney and his co-driver, Donovan Group chief executive Matt Woodley, raised the most money in the 2023 run with about $46,000, thanks to support from the franchise sector.

This year, were back to make a bigger impact, Bonney said.

Matt Woodley (left) and Nathan Bonney are driving a 1999 Mini Cooper 'Minty' in the 2025 Pork Pie Charity Run. Photo / Supplied

The Pork Pie Charity Run isnt just about the drive; its about giving back to communities, and were incredibly proud to do it for KidsCan.

With the generous support of New Zealanders, were hoping to surpass our goal and change lives.

The pair - who will be driving a 1999 Mini Cooper dubbed Minty - were once again leaning on the franchise community and their industry connections for support.

New Zealands such a wonderful country to go driving through  its just a fantastic cross-section of people that do it, just a really good vibe.

The Pork Pie Charity Run organisers Kevin Hollamby (left) and Peter Bjarnesen. Photo / Megan Wilson

Co-organiser Kevin Hollamby from Rotorua said he and his co-driver Peter Bjarnesen had been running the event for about eight years.

The self-described Mini addict said it allowed them to meet people from around the country and help organisations such as KidsCan.

The pair - under team name Two Old Farts - were driving a modified 1983 Mini City missing its bonnet, boot and lights  a homage to the 1981 movies final scenes as the car limped into Invercargill.

Im a fairly hard-nosed person and I dont believe there is any need for poverty in New Zealand, Hollamby said.

Once we started becoming involved with KidsCan and working alongside some of the schools  we can see that people are missing out and we werent quite sure why.

He saw most parents worked hard to look after their children but still cant quite get there.

The event was his way of giving back to the community.

Kevin Hollamby and his wife Keri Hollamby pictured at Paihia in 2021 during the KidsCan Pork Pie Charity Run. Photo / Peter de Graaf

KidsCan said 50 teams were driving 2400km across New Zealand, aiming to raise $500,000 to help children living in hardship.

The charity run was inspired by the cult-classic movie  a cross-country escapade following two men in a stolen Mini as they try to evade police.

The run set off from Paihia on April 4 and was travelling through Auckland, National Park, Wellington, Kaikoura, Hokitika, Cromwell and Dunedin to the finish line at Invercargill on April 9.

Along the way, teams stopped at KidsCan partner schools, where the money raised helped students with food and clothing.

Last years run raised a record $417,129 for KidsCan.=

KidsCan chief executive Julie Chapman said thousands of children were on their waitlist for support from the charity.

For an increasing number of families, there is nothing left at the end of the week.

The money raised would support children with breakfast, snacks, lunches, jackets, shoes, and health products.

With the essentials covered, kids can focus on learning, which gives them a pathway out of poverty.

Were so grateful to the Pork Pie teams for the huge impact they have.

People can donate on the Pork Pie Charity Run website.
The leader of express deliveries in Ukraine, the company Nova Poshta, has opened its second stationary branch in Milan and at the same time the third in Italy, the company's press service reported.

"Nova Poshta has opened a new branch in Milan - this is the company's second branch in the city," the press service of Nova Poshta said on Tuesday.

The branch at via Rodolfo Farneti, 3, can quickly receive and send documents and parcels up to 30 kg. The branch is open seven days a week.

Nova Poshta has been operating on the Italian market for over a year, the company reminded.

"We currently have three of our own branches: two in Milan and one in Rome, but we do not plan to stop. This year, we will develop addressable delivery and increase the number of service points in key cities, including Venice, Bari, Varese, Naples, Rome, and others. Our goal is to make international delivery even more convenient for every client," the message states the words of Nova Post CEO in Italy Serhiy Karputev.

It is noted that Nova Poshta also provides delivery to 2,400 post offices and 2,500 delivery points throughout Italy thanks to cooperation with partners GLS and BRT.

Nova Poshta delivers to any address in Milan, Italy, as well as to 17 European countries. The delivery cost depends on the weight and destination. The delivery time from Ukraine to Italy is from 5 days, the message says.

Earlier, Nova Post Europe CEO Oleksandr Lysovets reported that Nova Poshta plans to enter the markets of Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal and Ireland, and will open another 135 branches outside Ukraine by the end of 2025.
An ongoing battle between Wright Rd residents and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is now playing out on a national stage.

Resident Rochelle Zajko spoke to the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee on Thursday on her petition calling for change.

Residents of Wright Rd south of Katikati have been fighting NZTAs wire median barriers along State Highway 2 since 2021.

The wire barriers were installed between Waihi and Omokoroa as part of road safety improvements.

Zajko said she was there to advocate for the reinstatement of the safe right-hand turning bay into Wright Rd and gaps in the barrier for those along State Highway 2 between Matahui and Morton Rd roundabouts.

This is not about anti-barrier, she said.

This is about a major roading flaw affecting a large amount of people and businesses.

With a population of 780 people, Wright Rd contributes millions to the local and wider economy, accounting for 17% of the Aongatete population, includes tourist attractions, DoC tracks, kiwifruit and avocado orchards, dairy farms, nurseries, and countless businesses; all of whom have never been contacted by NZTA about the barrier across the intersection.

With her, Zajko said she brought support statements from Western Bay of Plenty and Bay of Plenty Regional Council, along with affected businesses and residents.

Up this rural road like Wright Rd, there are frequent serious accidents, medical crises, bush or shelter fires and crime.

The community had to contend with a far wider scope of emergencies, and with the barrier extending 8.5km up into the Kaimai Range, it was causing delayed responses from emergency teams, she said.

Zajko formed her petition in August 2024 because NZTA refused to meet with us, gathering 658 signatures from around the community against the median barriers, which she said had caused grief in their community.



Coromandel MP Scott Simpson, petitioner Rochelle Zajko and retired engineer Peter Clarke. Photo / Supplied

Her petition asked to allow drivers to make right turns onto and off SH2 between Omokoroa and Waihi and remove the new median barriers that blocked access to and from Wright Rd, Aongatete Rd, Dawson Rd, and workplaces from SH2.

Zajko wrote in the reasoning behind her petition submission that the Waihi to Omokoroa SH2 median barrier project started by NZTA under Labours Road to Zero policy affected emergency services, daycares, and bus routes for colleges, and residents had to add an extra 7km to their trips.

As with all petitions, an MP must present the petition to Parliament before the next step in the process.

Tauranga Act MP Cameron Luxton was approached..

This seems like a situation where NZTA has not done proper consultation on changes to a road design after the initial consultation, he said.



The median barriers on State Highway 2 in Aongatete. Photo / David Hall

He said this had left 700 residents of Wright Rd and other SH2 side roads feeling like they had been left in the dark during the process of designing the road, meaning that they now, in his view, had an unsafe outcome that hadnt achieved what the barriers aimed to achieve.

This has made a lot of residents very angry and seeking any kind of way to resolve this issue, and they have done that by bringing a petition to Parliament.

Initially, when the issue was brought to Luxton, he attended public meetings to learn about the issue.

It got to a point where it was quite clear that there was a problem here with community engagement from NZTA on the issue of the median barriers in that area and blocking off rural roads from access to the wide roading network to the Bay of Plenty.

Luxton is a permanent member of the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee.

Discover more

The petition was referred to the committee from the Petitions Committee, and on Thursday, they heard from Zajko.

Subsequently, they were able to ask questions to a representative from NZTA.

Its just an incredible situation that NZTA has got themselves into, where really, its quite an obvious problem ... with a really obvious solution, Luxton said.



The median barriers on State Highway 2 in Aongatete. Photo / David Hall

An NZTA spokesperson told SunLive it was aware there was a range of views in the community about median barriers on State Highway 2 and acknowledged a Wright Rd resident presented an oral submission to the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee on Thursday.

NZTA is continuing to assess the safety at this intersection and balance the considerations for the road corridor and road users.

NZTA did not wish to comment further.
As New Zealands much-loved TVNZ show, Hyundai Country Calendar, enters its 59th season, Coast & Country News was privileged to spend two days on set seeing firsthand what goes into making the show.

A huge thank you to the crew filming that episode  director Roz Mason, director of photography (DOP) Steve Fisher, sound recordist Don Paulin and producer Dan Henry, and to the Duncan family at Makahiwi Arabians.

On set

Contrary to what one might imagine, there arent dozens of people running around during filming, nor a makeup or hair artist in sight. Its low-key, with a director, DOP, sound recordist and family members on location for the five-day shoot.

Occasionally Dan Henry will attend, a situation affectionately described by the crews as duck on the pond.

Henry is ultimately responsible for the 40 episodes made each season, working closely with associate producer Katherine Edmond.



Sound recordist Don Paulin, left, DOP Steve Fisher and director Roz Mason film a mob coming down to the yards. Photo / Catherine Fry

After working on Hyundai Country Calendar since 2008, Henry took over the role of producer three seasons ago from Julian OBrien. OBrien had been associated with the show from 1985, and producer from 2005 to 2022.

Henry has been the shows narrator for the past nine years and his rich, melodic voice is now a staple part of the show and, no, he doesnt sound like that in real life.

Everyone working on the show is very honoured to be there, and Im no exception. Theres a big queue of industry professionals who want to work with us, Henry says.

Its such an enduring show, unashamedly positive and inspirational. Its one of the few remaining places on TV where you can see real people, in real settings, living their real lives. Its not contrived and its a great programme for a Sunday night to take something good and wholesome into the new week.

Building a story

Episode ideas come from a wide range of sources and researcher Vivienne Jeffs is very experienced at looking deeper into promising leads. Henry says people are usually very happy and excited to be approached.

Director Roz Mason says when an episode is assigned, the allocated director goes in person to meet the farmers. She has been directing Hyundai Country Calendar episodes since 2015 and enjoys meeting the inspiring people who take part.



The Duncan family at Makahiwi Arabians in the heart of the filming action. Photo / Catherine Fry

When I visit, Im checking out locations, logistics, and what activities will best illustrate their story. We look for work theyd genuinely be doing anyway, farming or otherwise, and from this information I write the list of shots.

During filming, the director asks questions off camera and the response from the farmers is the footage viewers see.

Its actually really fun, working outside, bouncing around the hill country on quad bikes, even mucking in and helping occasionally.

The show is simple storytelling with no gimmicks or tricks. We try to represent people truthfully and get to the heart of their relationship with the land.

Challenges on location

Filming is at the mercy of the weather, technical challenges and time frames. While people are waterproof, the gear isnt and Mason is often seen holding an umbrella over the camera and camera operator.

DOP Steve Fisher has worked with the show for 20 years, filming 10 to 12 stories a year. In collaboration with the director, he has a major hand in how an episode looks visually.

Its so much fun working on such an iconic programme and the five-day filming schedule helps us really get to know the people and work out the best way to tell their story.



DOP Steve Fisher filming a Hyundai Country Calendar episode at Makahiwi Arabians, Taumarunui. Photo / Catherine Fry

The shoots are mentally demanding as Im constantly reviewing lighting, backgrounds and camera angles. Its also very physical lugging 20kg of equipment around big terrain over big distances, but I absolutely love it.

Sound recordist Don Paulin has worked intermittently for Hyundai Country Calendar since 1981 and now records about 25 episodes a year.

Its a very physical job but its a real honour too and I love being outside and active while we film something so raw and real.

Wind noise is a huge challenge along with badly timed animal noises and incidental sounds like planes, traffic, cicadas and background talking. The advent of radio mics makes my life easier as I dont have to use the boom mic and constantly try to stay out of shot.



DOP Steve Fisher, left, producer Dan Henry, sound recordist Don Paulin, director Roz Mason. Photo: / Catherine Fry

In downtime, Paulin and Fisher could be seen wandering around filming and recording footage and sound snippets that might be useful during the final edit to enhance the episode.

Mason always makes a very detailed edit of the footage, ensuring the story is being portrayed authentically. After the editor works their magic, Henry has final sign-off for each episode.

The episode filmed while Coast & Country News were on set will air on TVNZ1 at 7pm on Sunday, April 13.
A skateboard-wielding man suspected of aggravated robbery used the board to smash the windscreen of a police patrol car when officers arrived at his apartment to arrest him.

But moments later, he was sent flying through the air as an officer, who had shattered glass in his eyes and claimed to be fearing for his life, rammed him with the patrol car.

The officer then got out of the vehicle and punched the man in the head seven times. Both the officer and the man were injured.

While the man was convicted of intentional damage and intentionally injuring the officer, the officer was acquitted of common assault and assault with intent to injure when he defended the charges at a judge-alone trial last year.

Today, however, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has released its report on the March 2023 incident in Whitianga, following an investigation into the officers conduct.

The authority has ruled the officer was unjustified in his actions.

According to the report, two officers went to the mans apartment complex in Whitianga to arrest him on suspicion of aggravated robbery.

One officer drove to the scene while the second approached on foot from another direction.

As the first officer drove into the carpark, the man walked towards him, yelling and raising his skateboard before striking the windscreen and the drivers window.

The officer was covered in shattered glass which got into his eyes and, according to the report, he feared for his life.

Although he initially started driving away, he decided to turn back out of concern that the man would attack the second officer.

Upon seeing the man again walking towards him holding the skateboard, the officer rammed him with the patrol car.

The man became airborne before landing between the car and a fence. The officer then got out of his car and punched him seven times in the head before the second officer arrived and handcuffed the man. The incident was captured on CCTV.

While the authority accepted that the officer acted in defence of himself and the second officer when he rammed the man with his car, it found his response was a disproportionate and unjustified use of force, considering that the slightest miscalculation or loss of control could have resulted in a fatality.

In respect of the punches, the authority did not accept that the officer genuinely believed the man still posed a threat. This use of force was, therefore, also unjustified.

Relieving Waikato District Commander Superintendent Scott Gemmell said police accepted the IPCAs findings.

Gemmell said it was a confronting and unpredictable situation for the officer involved.

Our investigation and subsequent legal advice found the force used was excessive and as such, the officer was charged, he said in a statement.

An employment investigation remains ongoing and we cannot comment on the specifics for privacy reasons.

However, Gemmell confirmed the officer is still working for the New Zealand Police.

Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Maori issues.
Eugenio Cabezas Velez-Malaga Tuesday, 8 April 2025, 12:21 Compartir

The initial approval of a new rubbish tax in Velez-Malaga on the eastern Costa del Sol in compliance with European and state regulations, continues to generate a great deal of controversy in among the town hall's opposition parties, despite the fact that the tax will not come into force until 1 January 2026.

The opposition groups, Andalucia por Si, Vox, PSOE and the independent councillor, Elias Garcia, voted against the measure in the full council meeting which took place on Monday 31 March. The political parties' spokespeople argued that the tax has not been charged in Velez-Malaga for more than 20 years due to a "political agreement" by which it was included in the IBI bill, with an increase in the tax rate, so they demand that the town hall lower this other tax to compensate for it and that there is no "double taxation".

"It is approved by an imposition of the government and not doing so could lose us European funds."

The mayor of Velez, Jesus Lupianez (PP), has promised to look for "alternative measures" to reduce the tax burden on residents. **However, he justified the new tax by saying that it is "the imposition of the Government of Pedro Sanchez" and said that if it is not applied, Velez-Malaga "could lose the option of obtaining new European funds".

The Andalucia por Si, PSOE and Vox groups have decided to go a step further in their protests. The Andalusian spokesman, Jose Pino, announced last Friday that they are going to start a petition calling for a public consultation, which, although it would not be binding, would serve to show "the discomfort and indignation that exists due to the imposition of the new rubbish collection tax". The aim is to collect at least 6,300 signatures.

"One of the most expensive IBIs"

The spokesman for Vox, Javier Herreros, has shown his "absolute rejection" of the new rubbish tax. "Velez-Malaga has one of the most expensive IBIs in the province, the circulation tax, we have the carriage tax, economic activities and now we have this double taxation, because we all know that this rubbish tax was being paid since time immemorial in the IBI. Now Lupinez returns to emptying our pockets, making unbearable the tax burden borne by the people of Velez, he said.

Herreros announced that they are going to start an information campaign throughout the municipality to inform residents of plans for this new tax. The expected cost of the service for the collection and treatment of solid urban waste amounts to 7,185,000 euros per year, according to the documentation approved on Monday by the town hall.

Contentious-administrative appeal

In the case of the new tax bill, each property will have a fixed annual quota of 62.66 euros, while the variable part will be calculated according to the cadastral value of the property, the surface area and environmental efficiency, distributed in 45%, 45% and 10%, respectively. Thus, the price range of the new tax will be between 101.86 and 135.54 euros per household every twelve months. In the case of industrial waste, it will have an average cost of 112.3 euros per year, while the variable part will be calculated according to the 13 economic categories and the surface area of the establishments in square metres.

The PSOE spokesman, Victor Gonzalez, announced at a press conference on Monday that they are going to file an official complaint to the initial approval of the bylaw to create this new rubbish tax and avoid "double taxation", as it is already included in the IBI. He explained that if they are not accepted, his party will lodge a judicial appeal for review.

Gonzalez pointed out that the tax, which will raise 7.2 million euros, more than five million in the domestic sphere and two million for businesses, lacks the mandatory technical reports, which makes it "null and void".
Cristina Pinto Malaga Tuesday, 8 April 2025, 17:07 Compartir

They are called Temi, Nuka, Nao, Gobe, James, Morphia, G-1, Evondos and Zenbo and are here to revolutionise and improve the quality of life of elderly and dependent people. They are robots and are capable of making video calls with relatives, acting as physiotherapists, remembering when medication must be taken and dispensing it, tracking medical appointments and even having some specific exchanges of conversation with their human patients. They have just been presenting some of their skills in Malaga, at the international conference on technological and social innovation in home care, which was held this Monday and Tuesday at the faculty of social and labour studies of the University of Malaga (UMA).

Zoom Some of the robots at the presentation. Nito Salas

These robots, which are on their third stage of development, are in operation in 17 homes so that researchers can learn first-hand about the usefulness of these technologies and assess advances in robotics and home automation. They have also just arrived at the Vitalia Teatinos residential centre to contribute to improving the daily lives of those at the centre. The initiative, under the name Vivir en Casa (Living at Home), has been developed by a team of professionals from the UMA and financed with 2.3 million euros from the Junta through the EU's Next Generation funds and the Junta regional government's own plan for recovery and transformation.

It is hoped that they will soon be available to all elderly and dependent people who require the services of such robots. However, before collating all the results and extrapolating them to the rest of the region, 'Vivir en Casa' has taken centre stage at this international conference to make its official presentation and demonstration of this technology. For some of the robots it was their debut in Andalucia, as was the case for G-1. "With them we are putting some soul into technology and emotional intelligence into artificial intelligence. These robots become members of the family and make life easier for the elderly, who want to spend as much time as possible at home, where their memories and life experiences are."

In the case of Temi, who hosted the event together with its human co-presenter, Celia Bermejo, it acts as a social assistant specialising in human interaction in that person's daily environment. Its software can be set for specific reminders, even spoken reminders about sleep, medication or nutrition, although its strongest point is communication, as it keeps people who live alone in touch with their relatives through calls or video calls. The Evondos robot is also used for reminders, but has an extra feature that includes the automatic dispensing of medication.

Physiotherapy at home comes in the form of the humanoid robot Nao, which is intended to play therapeutic games with patients with a 3D sensor and a bracelet to measure heart rate. In the form of a cuddly seal, Nuka has sensors to detect when and how it is being stroked and is used for dementia patients to enhance affective stimulation.

The opening ceremony of the conference, which is when the robots made their appearance, was attended by institutional representatives such as the mayor of Malaga: "The elderly have care needs and technology can help to provide it in a more complete way," said Francisco de la Torre. Also present was Antonia Ledesma, vice-president for citizenship with Malaga's provincial council (Diputacion), who highlighted the need to innovate in the care of the elderly living in rural areas: "It is extremely important that the technological revolution reaches the smallest villages so that they have access to the same opportunities as the big cities."

The international conference ran for two days at the UMA with the participation of thousands of attendees, 50 speakers and more than 20 collaborating entities and companies, which had a stand area for the exhibition and display of their projects. The rector of the University of Malaga, Teodomiro Lopez, also celebrated this event, which he defined as the "perfect combination of all the values of the university."
The ibis eremita (Geronticus eremita) is known as the northern bald ibis. It is black and the size of a large seagull, but it is its long, curved orange beak that makes it recognisable from hundreds of metres away. That is why the shooting down of this species in Spain's Extremadura region is incomprehensible. Five birds were killed by two people in 2019 - their trial is pending sentence - and a sixth was killed at the end of last year, although the crime was only denounced this week. They were shot with bullets in the first incident and a pellet gun in the second. The current situation for this bird species is so dire that it is hardly surprising that there are calls for those who shot them to go to prison.

The ibis eremita is a bird in serious danger of extinction. Their situation is so critical that, in order to prevent them from losing their migratory instinct and inbreeding from weakening the species, these birds are accompanied by four people in two paramotors from central Europe to guide them through the air towards southern Spain. A flock of more than 30 individual birds follow Helena and Barbara, two foster mothers whose faces were the first the chicks saw when they broke through their eggshells in Austria. "There are films about this, it is not fantasy, it is a behaviour acquired at hatching during a brief window of time described by the Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz (Vienna, 1948) as 'Imprinting'," explains Alfonso Marzal, a zoology professor at the University of Extremadura.

This forced migration following their two human 'mothers' requires logistics by land and culminates after 50 days when the ibis eremita land at a repopulation centre between Vejer and Barbate (Cadiz province), where they can mingle with more of their own species. Their hosts are 250 sedentary specimens belonging to three colonies where they have been breeding since 2004. Such is their involvement in preventing their population decline that the volunteers wear black and carry an orange beak on their heads so they can get closer to the birds to check them thoroughly.

When they mature, some of them fly over Extremadura, a place that Miguel Angel Quevedo, a veterinarian at the Zoobotanico de Jerez de la Frontera who is supporting the recovery of this species, believes "would be the ideal place for ibis eremita due to the conditions that exist there. It is not out of the question that one day they will colonise Extremadura."

Zoom The northern bald ibis repopulation site in the province of Cadiz between Vejer and Barbate. Proyecto Eremita

However, alarm bells rang when, in 2019, from his terrace in Montemolin, a person shot and killed five ibis eremita, an act that passed judgement in December in Badajoz, but which is awaiting sentence. The public prosecutor's office is asking for three years in prison. More recently, on 3 November last year, another ibis was found dead in a hunting reserve in Fregenal de la Sierra. For the 'ecologists in action' protest group, "Extremadura has become a black hole for one of the most endangered species in the world", said spokesperson for the group, Carlos Garron. The group has also requested that the hunting reserve's licence to operate be suspended.

"Extremadura would be the ideal place for the ibis eremita because of the conditions there."

Although European programmes such as Life have saved the bird from extinction, numbers of the northern bald ibis are still concerning. This is a legendary bird that appears in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and which guided Muslims to Mecca when their migratory habits had not been altered.

Veterinarian Miguel Angel Quevedo, who has been analysing this species for 30 years and is the driving force behind the 'Proyecto Eremita' (LIFE's Northern Bald Ibis project), estimates that there are around 1,000 in the world. "At the end of the 1990s, there were 250 specimens left in Morocco, the only place where they live self-sufficiently. The alarm was raised and the main international organisations designed a conservation programme. There are currently about 750 individuals in Morocco and another 250 in Spain thanks to the programme between the Zoobotanico de Jerez and the Junta de Andalucia. Those that are released come from captive breeding, so they are sedentary. At the same time, there is another European project from Austria and Germany to establish migratory populations, as the absence of thermals due to climate change prevented them from crossing the Alps to spend the winter in southern Italy. They called us to establish another European route and we have been connecting the migratory populations of central Europe with the sedentary population of Barbate for two years. We only have to teach them how to come with the paramotor, they do the return trip on their own," said Quevedo.

"The perpetrator is a brainless person"

All these specimens, both sedentary and migratory, are geolocated, but their instinct makes them move within a radius of more than 300 kilometres. On one of these exploratory flights they arrived in Extremadura and five ibis eremita landed on a roof in Montemolin where a person killed them with a pellet shotgun, as certified by the autopsy carried out at the Amus wildlife recovery centre. At the same centre in Villafranca de los Barros, eight lead pellets were found in another bird called Hel found in 2024 in a hunting reserve in Fregenal de la Sierra.

Zoom The northern bald ibis is a legendary bird that now only exists self-sufficiently in Morocco. Proyecto Eremita

From the Federacion Extremena de Caza (Fedexcaza), its president, Jose Maria Gallardo, indicated to the press that what happened has nothing to do with hunting. "In the first case (in Montemolin) because pellet shotguns are banned for hunting, so it is not fair to mix hunting with what occurred when the perpetrator is just a brainless person."

According to Gallardo, it is good news that this species is being seen more and more in Extremadura, which he attributes to the shallow waters there. He also gave assurances that hunters are becoming more and more aware of this bird, which is why the case of Fregenal de la Sierra does worry him. "We will present ourselves as private prosecutors when the case comes to court, as in the cases of mistreatment of hunting dogs or the lynx killed in Don Benito. What I don't see right is to ask for the closure of an area with 200 members in which the hunters of the 'Sociedad de Cazadores' have been the first to work with the Guardia Civil to find those possibly responsible for the death, so as well as accusing the offender, the federation will defend the local hunting association."
Alfonso Torices Madrid Tuesday, 8 April 2025, 15:11 Compartir

The Supreme Court in Spain has upheld a 15-month prison sentence for animal abuse for a farmer from Cordoba, who knowingly let 170 geese die from starvation and lack of care on his farm. In addition, the defendant is disqualified from exercising his profession and participating in any commercial activity related to animals for three and a half years.

The man appealed the initial sentence issued by Cordoba's provincial court, but the Supreme Court upheld it, finding him guilty of a crime of continuous mistreatment.

The farmer was the sole administrator of an extensive farm, specialised in fattening geese for the production of pate, meat and feathers. The investigation found that the owner let the animals die from "starvation and lack of care", causing them agony for about three weeks in June 2018. In addition, the court concluded that he did so with clear consciousness, given that the employee responsible for feeding the geese had informed him of the lack of feed and the birds' poor state. This detail worryingly indicated the owner's "total disregard for the life" of the animals.

'Every animal is a sentient being, deserving of respect for its life, whether human or not'

According to the court, when the veterinary services of the Junta de Andalucia and the officers of the Guardia Civil's nature protection service (Seprona) arrived at the farm, they found the geese dead, most of them piled up and in an advanced state of malnutrition. The report stated that they had no food or drinking water - except for a small drinking trough and a small pool of rainwater, where they drank, bathed and defecated. Despite their deteriorating state, the birds had not received adequate health care.

Therefore, the court proceeded to treat the case as a continuous offence that led to the collective death of 170 geese, punishable in accordance with the law. The ruling stated that "the suffering of an animal and the death of a living being require legal treatment that makes sense when we recognise the animal as a sentient being, and therefore worthy of protection in and of itself". The judge said that treating animals the way the 170 geese were treated goes against Spain's legislation and the socially accepted values, according to which "every animal is a sentient being, deserving of respect for its life, whether human or not".
Photo: https://www.facebook.com/RedCrossUkraine

The Austrian, British, and Canadian Red Cross handed over new ambulances to their Ukrainian colleagues.

"The Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) has received additional reinforcements  15 new ambulances from the Austrian, British and Canadian Red Cross Societies  Each of these vehicles is equipped with everything necessary to provide assistance and transport patients," the Ukrainian Red Cross reported on Facebook on Tuesday.

The vehicles will be transferred to the rapid response units of the Ukrainian Red Cross, in particular to those places where volunteers work in the most difficult conditions, saving the lives of civilians and helping those affected by hostilities, as well as transporting people from low-mobility groups.
A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician is dead at 70.

Blondie drummer Clem Burke died of cancer, the iconic group announced Monday. No additional details were provided.

Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie, the band said in a statement. His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable.

Burke, a self-proclaimed rock & roll survivalist, started playing drums when he was 14 but was kicked out of his school orchestra for playing too loud, according to Blondies website. He joined the Debbie Harry-led group in the 1970s when he answered an ad in New Yorks Village Voice seeking a freak energy rock drummer.

The Associated Press noted how Burke drummed in a variety of genres over Blondies long career, including new-wave punk, disco, rock and hip-hop. The bands hits included Heart of Glass, Call Me," The Tide is High, One Way or Another and Rapture, which is considered the first No. 1 song to feature rapping.

Harry, Burke and other original members of Blondie were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Frank Infante, Nigel Harrison, Gary Valentine, Jimmy Destri, Clem Burke, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie, inductees, with presenter Shirley Manson (2nd from right) (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc via Getty Images) FilmMagic, Inc

Burke was a versatile and distinctive drummer who played exactly what each song required  and, when called for, let loose with blistering punk rock energy. His range allowed the band to seamlessly move from the disco-infused beat of Heart of Glass to the reggae flow of The Tide is High, and his explosive rolls in Dreaming are percussion perfection," the Rock Hall said in a statement.

Burke also recorded with The Whos Pete Townshend, the Eurythmics, and Iggy Pop. Artists mourning the loss include The Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood, the Ramones Johnny Ramone, The Kinks Dave Davies, and the E Street Bands Stevie Van Zandt.

RIP Clem Burke, Little Steven wrote. Great friend to me and everybody. Brought his great drumming and enthusiasm to a dozen bands beginning with the amazing Blondie. Why is it the best of us leave too soon. Deepest love and condolences to his wife Ellen, his family, and his countless friends.

My heart is shattered. Clem became an icon as a member of Blondie, but he was also a important part of my band, the K.A.B. I was blessed to call him my friend, Nancy Sinatra said. If I ever needed him, he was there. Always. Sending healing prayers and comfort to his widow, Ellen, his family, and all who loved him.
The Beatles perform onstage at the Cavern Club in February 1961 in Liverpool, England. (L-R) George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Pete Best, John Lennon. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Getty Images

A legendary rock musician is retiring abruptly after a decades-long career.

Pete Best, the Beatles original drummer before Ringo Starr, announced Sunday that he is stepping away from public appearances and performances due to personal circumstances. Further details were not disclosed, but Bests band also canceled a concert that was scheduled for Aug. 23 at the Liverpool Beatles Museum.

Well, what an absolutely wonderful ride weve had, Bests younger brother Roag wrote on X. However, everything comes to pass. My brother Pete Best has announced today he is retiring from personal appearances and performing with the group. His daughter has informed me its due to personal circumstances.

I had a blast. Thank you, Pete Best added, retweeting his brothers social media post.

According to Rolling Stone, the 83-year-old Best was the first drummer for The Beatles, who were previously known as the Quarrymen. The fifth Beatle played with the group between 1960 and 1962 in Hamburg, Germany, and he can be heard performing on some tracks released on the Beatles Anthology 1.

Original Beatles drummer Pete Best poses in August 2024 at 8 Hayman's Green in the Derby area of Liverpool, the location of the Casbah Club, the birthplace of the Beatles, which has been launched as an Airbnb. Best's mother Mona ran the Casbah in the coal cellar of their home in West Derby, Liverpool, from 1959 to 1962, with local teenagers The Quarrymen playing the opening night in August 1959. Members of The Quarrymen would go on to form The Beatles. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images) PA Images via Getty Images

Bests family owned the Casbah Coffee Club, which hosted the Beatles first shows in Liverpool, England, and has since been converted into a Fab Four-inspired Airbnb space. Best later formed his own band, the Pete Best Band, decades after splitting with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

Best was inducted into the Liverpool Music Hall of Fame in 2007.

Yoko Ono spending final days on Upstate NY farm in a happy place
Upstate's mobile mammogram program will bring breast cancer screenings to 20 locations across Central New York from now through summer. Courtesy of Upstate University Hospital

Syracuse, NY -- Upstate University Hospitals mobile mammography van will begin its tour of 20 locations throughout Central New York starting Tuesday and continuing through the end of summer.

The program, which started in June 2019, has screened 4,790 women and made 20 diagnoses of breast cancer.

Women 40 years or older can get a mammogram, whether or not they have insurance. The mobile unit is designed to be a clinic on wheels, with a reception area, a changing area, a nursing exam room and an imaging room. Licensed radiologists examine the results.

The process can take less than half an hour for patients with a prescription from their doctor. For those with no prescription, a nurse can perform a clinical breast exam and then get a prescription from a doctor, but that takes longer.

It takes about two weeks for patients to receive their screening results. Patients can find their results via their Upstate MyChart account. If the patient does not have an account, a letter with their results will be mailed to them within 30 days, according to program director Wendy Hunt.

When we come with the van, we bring the service to them, so they do not have to travel far, Hunt said.

The programs spring and summer schedule includes 20 dates as follows:

Oswego: Tuesday, April 8, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Oswego County Health Department, 70 Bunner St.

Brookfield: Thursday, April 10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Brookfield School, 1910 Fairground Road

LaFayette: Monday, April 14, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the town of LaFayette offices, 2577 Rt. 11

Liverpool: Monday, April 28, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Liverpool First United Church, 604 Oswego Road

Utica: Wednesday, April 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Community Health & Behavioral Services, 1002 Oswego St.

Solvay: Monday, May 5, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Solvay Fire Department, 1925 Milton Ave.

Waterloo: Tuesday, May 20, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Finger Lakes Premium Outlets, 655 State Rt. 318

Syracuse: Thursday, May 29, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Tucker Missionary Baptist Church, 515 Oakwood Ave.

Syracuse: Monday, June 2, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Green Hills Farms, 5933 South Salina St.

Rome: Thursday, June 5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Jervis Public Library, 613 N Washington St.

New Hartford: Tuesday, June 10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at New Hartford Public Library, 2 Library Lane

Westmoreland: Monday, June 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Westmoreland Town Hall, 100 Station Road

Central Square: Monday, July 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the American Legion Post 915, 3301 Fulton Ave.

Mexico: Monday, July 14, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Tops Friendly Market, 3385 Main St.

Watertown: Thursday, July 17, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Jefferson County Public Health, 531 Meade St.

Cazenovia: Thursday, July 24, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Tops Friendly Markets, 71 Nelson St.

Old Forge: Thursday, Aug. 7, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Town of Webb Park Ave Offices, 183 Park Ave.

Old Forge: Friday, Aug. 8, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Town of Webb Park Ave Offices, 183 Park Ave.

LaFayette: Monday, Aug. 11, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Town of LaFayette Offices, 2577 Rt. 11

Camden: Friday, Aug. 22, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Kinney Drugs, 2 Preston Hill St.

For updated screening locations and dates, visit the programs website.

To prepare for the appointment, patients should bring their photo ID and insurance if they have it. The program also advises patients to not wear any deodorants, lotions or powders in the breast or underarm area.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women in New York state. Each year, nearly 16,000 women in New York are newly diagnosed with breast cancer, and about 2,500 die from the disease.
Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on Sunday, April 24, 2023, in Indio, Calif. Amy Harris/Invision/AP

Blink-182 is returning to Upstate New York this fall as part of their 2025 Missionary Impossible Tour.

The tour, which kicks off August 28 in Florida, will feature the original lineup  Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, and Travis Barker  promoting their latest album, One More Time, released in 2023.

The band will perform on September 6 at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, September 7 at the Broadview Stage at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in Saratoga Springs, and September 11 at the Darien Lake Amphitheater near Buffalo.

Special guest Alkaline Trio will offer support.

The tour will also feature festival performances, including headlining Sea.Hear.Now in Asbury Park, NJ. A complete list of tour dates is available here.

Where to buy Blink-182 concert tickets

Tickets for all dates will go on sale Friday, April 11 at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster.

Tickets are also available through reputable secondary platforms like Vivid Seats, SeatGeek, and StubHub. These resale platforms may offer below-face-value pricing and availability for sold-out shows, depending on demand.

Discount: First-time Vivid Seats customers can use code SYRACUSE20 for $20 off a $200+ ticket order.

More about Blink-182

Blink-182 is best known for their late 1990s and early 2000s pop-punk hits like All the Small Things, Whats My Age Again? and I Miss You.

After a brief hiatus, the band reunited in 2009, and in 2015, co-founder Tom DeLonge left the band, with Matt Skiba stepping in as a replacement before DeLonge rejoined in 2022. One More Time was their first album in over a decade with the original trio.
Steve Lukather of the band Toto, performs during the Corona Capital music festival in Mexico City, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo

Three 80s rock icons are bringing their co-headlining tour to Western New York this summer.

Toto, Men at Work, and Christopher Cross will perform on the outdoor stage at Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino on the New York side of Niagara Falls on Saturday, August 2, at 6:30 p.m.

I am thrilled about this tour. Christopher and Colin have been close friends of mine for a long time, Totos Steve Lukather shared in a statement. This is a tour that musically works, and brings a fresh new summer tour package to the circuit. I could not be more thrilled an idea that germinated months ago was able to take flight and become a reality.

Where to buy Toto, Men at Work, and Christopher Cross concert tickets

Tickets to the concert can be purchased online starting Friday, April 11, at 10 a.m. ET, with prices starting at $40 via Ticketmaster or the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino and Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino websites.

Tickets will also be available through reputable secondary platforms like Vivid Seats, SeatGeek, and StubHub.

These resale platforms may offer below-face-value pricing and availability for sold-out shows, depending on demand.

Discount: First-time Vivid Seats customers can use code SYRACUSE20 for $20 off a $200+ ticket order.

More about Toto, Men at Work, and Christopher Cross

Formed in 1977, Toto is best known for their massive hits like Africa and Rosanna. The bands current lineup features Lukather (guitar/vocals), Joseph Williams (vocals), Greg Phillinganes (keyboards), and Shannon Forrest (drums), among others.

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Men at Work is best known for their 1980s hits like Down Under and Who Can It Be Now? Despite their initial disbandment in 1985, frontman Colin Hay has continued touring under the Men at Work name since 2019.

Best known for his Grammy-winning hits Sailing and Arthurs Theme, Christopher Cross earned five Grammy Awards in 1980, including Record of the Year for Sailing. His collaboration with Toto spans decades, and outside of their 2025 tour, the two groups most recently shared the stage at Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl in September 2024.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  The sex abuse trial of former Dances with Wolves actor Nathan Chasing Horse in Nevada has again been postponed.

A judge on Monday moved the start of the trial in state court in Las Vegas to Aug. 4. The 48-year-old had been scheduled to stand trial next week on charges that he sexually abused Indigenous women and girls for years in the Las Vegas area.

Craig Mueller, Chasing Horses lawyer, said in a motion filed Friday that he needs more time to prepare and interview witnesses. Its the latest in a series of delays since Chasing Horse was arrested and indicted in early 2023.

Chasing Horse has pleaded not guilty to 21 felonies, including sexual assault of a minor under 16, kidnapping and producing and possessing videos of child sexual abuse. If convicted of the sexual assault charges, he could face decades or life in prison.

After starring as Smiles A Lot in the 1990 Oscar-winning film Dances with Wolves, Chasing Horse began promoting himself as a self-proclaimed Lakota medicine man while traveling around North America to perform healing ceremonies, authorities have said. He was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.

Prosecutors say Chasing Horse used his position to gain access to vulnerable women and girls for decades until his arrest near Las Vegas. He has been jailed ever since, but criminal proceedings were at a standstill for more than a year while Chasing Horse challenged his original indictment.

It was eventually dismissed after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors had abused the grand jury process when they provided a definition of grooming as evidence without any expert testimony. The high courts order, however, left open the possibility for charges to be refiled, and prosecutors quickly took their case before another grand jury.

Chasing Horse was again indicted in October. The indictment added new allegations that he filmed himself having sex with one of his accusers when she was younger than 14. Prosecutors have said the footage, taken in 2010 or 2011, was found on cellphones in a locked safe inside the North Las Vegas home that Chasing Horse is said to have shared with five wives, including the girl in the videos.

His case has been unfolding at the same time lawmakers and prosecutors around the U.S. are funneling more resources into cases involving Native women, including human trafficking and killings.
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps returned to her alma mater, Corcoran High School. Dr. Epps made headlines for her groundbreaking contributions to space exploration. She engaged in a Q&A with students from Corcoran and Roberts schools. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com dennis nett | dnett@syracuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y.  When Astronaut Jeanette Epps rose to speak to 250 city students at her alma mater Tuesday morning, they welcomed her with a long standing ovation.

The students wanted to know a lot from the 1988 graduate of Corcoran High School, who spent seven months in space last year on the International Space Station.
John Smarrelli Jr., the first alum to serve as college president, will deliver Le Moyne College's commencement address in May. Le Moyne College

Syracuse native and former provost John Smarrelli Jr. will deliver Le Moyne Colleges undergraduate commencement address, the college announced last week.

Smarrelli, a 1975 Le Moyne graduate, has spent his career working in higher education. After working as a biology professor, department chair and dean at Loyola University Chicago for 18 years, he returned to Le Moyne to be the colleges first provost in 2001. Smarrelli was later at the helm as an interim president, the first Le Moyne alumnus to hold that post.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever took part in a memorial ceremony dedicated to honoring the memory of fallen Ukrainian servicemen.

Today, together with the Prime Minister of Belgium, Bart de Wever, we commemorated our defendersthe warriors thanks to whom Ukraine is alive, free, and continues to fight. We remember the feat of every man and woman who defended Ukraine at the cost of their own lives. Eternal honor and gratitude to the heroes, Zelenskyy said on X Tuesday.
This photograph provided by Abrams Books shows Harriet Tubman in a photograph dating from 1860-75. Library of Congress, via AP Library of Congress, via AP

Harriet Tubman was once the face of the Underground Railroad for the National Park Service.

Then, as the Trump administration took aim at DEI programs and "divisive narratives, all mentions of the Upstate New York hero were erased from the services webpage about the network that labored to help enslaved people escape to freedom.

The only reference left to Tubman was a tiny photo of her in a collage of commemorative stamps celebrating BLACK/WHITE COOPERATION. The editors of the newly written webpage described the Underground Railroad as one of the most significant expressions of the American civil rights movement and didnt mention slavery until the third paragraph.

The Washington Post reported the controversial change Monday in a story that sparked widespread outrage.

By Tuesday morning, the National Park Services webpage was restored to its pre-scrubbed state  including the prominent placement of Tubmans photo and quote.

This screenshot from the Wayback Machine, a digital internet archive, showed the changes made National Park Service's webpage about the Underground Railroad. Screenshot from Wayback Machine

In a statement made to CNN, service officials said the Underground Railroad webpage was edited without leadership approval.

Tubman  an abolitionist, suffragist, nurse and Civil War general  is a national and New York legend.

After escaping slavery, Tubman went on to lead dozens of others to freedom  becoming the Underground Railroads most famous conductor. She retired to Auburn in Central New York, where she is now buried in the historic Fort Hill Cemetery.

The Empire State proudly claims Tubman as a New Yorker.

The site of Tubmans former home in Fleming, a town just outside of Auburn, officially became a national park in 2017 after a long push by local advocates.

This year, Gov. Kathy Hochul has advocated to have a statue of Tubman represent New York in the U.S. Capitols National Statuary Hall instead of the statue of Robert Livingston, a Founding Father who enslaved at least 15 people, that currently stands in the hall.

Harriet Tubman is one of the most outstanding Americans who ever lived, Jill Hasday, a professor at the University of Minnesotas Law School, told the Washington Post. The idea that we would want to tell a story of America that doesnt feature her front and center makes no sense to me.

As of Tuesday, the National Park Services webpage dedicated to Tubman appeared unchanged from its state before President Donald Trumps second inauguration.
SUNY ESFs new dorm Centennial Hall was built with several green features including large windows for maximum day-lighting, renewable materials, low-flow faucets and an air exchange system. Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-Standard

Syracuse, N.Y.  Police responded Monday afternoon to a swatting call at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry campus in Syracuse, officials said.

There is no active threat to campus, according to a statement from the Syracuse University Department of Public Safety.

Swatting happens when someone makes a false report of a crime in progress to draw law enforcement to a specific location.

ESF students received a text message saying the college received information there will be an active shooter event. It directed community members to find a safe place and to wait for further details.

Syracuse police were made aware at about 4:10 p.m. of a swatting call regarding a possible active shooter on the ESF campus, according to Kieran Coffey, a police department spokesperson.

Coffey said the call was cleared by other agencies before SPD officers could respond.

This story will be updated.

Staff writer Jon Moss covers breaking news, crime and public safety. He can be reached at jmoss@syracuse.com or @mossjon7.
To the Editor:

For the last four years, New Yorks small businesses have been shouldering the burden of the Empire States pandemic-related Unemployment Insurance (UI) debt with no help or relief from Albany. As we all remember at the beginning of the pandemic, businesses, including small businesses owned by our neighbors and friends, were ordered to shut down operations for weeks or months on end. Even when small businesses could reopen, there were significant restrictions in place limiting their ability to rebound and maintain profitability. But Main Street complied with government orders and took on substantial debt to simply stay afloat. Meanwhile, New York state borrowed nearly $13 billion from the federal government to pay the surge in UI claims. Fast forward to 2025, and New York still owes more than $6 billion to the federal government.

Lets be clear, the state is not paying off its debt; every business in New York, including Main Street businesses, is paying it off through the highest possible state UI taxes, special assessments and higher federal UI taxes. The average small business is paying an extra $400 per employee per year because of the UI debt, and all because they followed the rules imposed by New York state. Small business owners have been calling on Albany to pay off the debt, restore the UI trust funds solvency, and provide much-needed relief to Main Street, and those calls have been answered.

The Assembly has risen to the occasion and should be celebrated for their practical and reasonable solution to pay off the states debt and begin restoring the UI trust fund. Their plan will save small businesses thousands of dollars every year and follows more than 35 other states that used federal pandemic funds to restore their UI systems.

While the states UI crisis should have been dealt with years ago when New Yorks coffers were overflowing with money from Washington, D.C., now is the time to do it. The Empire State simply cannot afford to continue to kick this can down the road. No one knows what the economy will look like in the future, and a recession would send the state back into UI borrowing mode. Small businesses cannot afford a decade or more of high UI taxes; it is unsustainable and will have an irreversible impact on Main Street.

Small businesses are the heartbeat of this state, creating nearly half of New Yorks jobs, keeping the lights on in our neighborhood storefronts, paying taxes, and contributing to community and civic organizations. New Yorks economy has been struggling post pandemic, we are losing small businesses, and our state is the worst for starting a new business  in part, because of unnecessarily high UI taxes. They cannot continue to go unaddressed. As the final state budget is negotiated, the Assemblys commonsense UI proposal must be included. Main Street depends on it.

Ashley Ranslow

New York State director

National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)

Albany

NFIB is a statewide organization representing more than 11,000 small, independently owned businesses.
A woman and her three children who were detained and sent to Texas following an immigration enforcement operation at a dairy farm in Jefferson County are on their way back to Upstate New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday.

When a Sackets Harbor family was detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) last month, I called on ICE to provide answers immediately and spoke with White House border czar Tom Homan to call for their release, Hochul said. Moments ago, I spoke once again with Mr. Homan who informed me that this family  a third grader, two teenagers and their mother  are currently on their way back to Jefferson County.

I cannot imagine the trauma these kids and their mom are feeling, and I pray they will be able to heal when they return home.

The three children and their mother were among seven people detained late last month as ICE began enhanced targeted operations in New York in March.

Federal agents arrived at North Harbor Dairy Farm in search of a 43-year-old South African man wanted on child porn charges, according to The Associated Press. That man was arrested. Six other people suspected of being in the country illegally, including the woman and her three kids, were arrested as well.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that the seven were detained, processed, turned over to ICE and transferred out of New York state for removal proceedings, according to North Country Public Radio.

The detention of the family was quickly denounced by government and school officials.

I cannot think of any public safety justification for ICE agents to rip an innocent family, including a child in the third grade, from their Sackets Harbor home. That is not the immigration enforcement promised to the American people. Its just plain cruel. I want this family returned to New York state and believe ICE needs to immediately answer for these actions, Hochul said.

These kids are classmates, they are good friends, they are wonderful students, and they are part of the fabric of our school community, and they just need to be returned to their classrooms, Sackets Harbor Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney said, according to NCPR.

The community also rallied, with more than 1,000 people showing up Saturday in the Upstate village in support of the family. The crowd gathered near Homans Sackets Harbor home.

News of the familys return to Upstate New York was greeted with relief by officials.

In the midst of this difficult time, the strength, compassion, and resilience of our community have shone through, Gaffney said, according to NCPR. We are very thankful to everyone who has reached out with kindness and offered support.

I am pleased to share that the family at the center of this recent federal immigration matter is being returned home. Federal authorities have confirmed that the family will be returned safely  an outcome we are all profoundly grateful to occur, Assemblyman Scott Gray, R-Watertown said, according to NNY360. Hochul said that Gray played a critical role in this process advocating for his constituents.

It is a huge relief that this family is on their way back home to Sackets Harbor, Mabel Tso, senior education strategist for the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in an email statement. No one  let alone a mother with three children  should ever have to experience ICE agents busting down your door, ripping you from home, and sending you thousands of miles away to a detention facility. Its a level of inhumanity and cruelty that sends shockwaves.

The identity of the family has not been made public.
Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, 811 incidents involving civilians due to explosive objects have been recorded, 1,158 civilians have been injured, 335 of whom have died, including 18 children, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported on its website on Tuesday.

Head of the mine action department, deputy head of the Main Directorate for Mine Action, Civil Defense and Environmental Safety of the Ministry of Defense Oleh Shuvarsky noted that threats from explosive objects affect the lives of more than 6 million Ukrainians, especially in the de-occupied territories of Ukraine, and reported that the Russians in many cases plant mines haphazardly, in particular in agricultural fields, in residential areas and on public roads. Some 75% of incidents are with mines.

The most polluted regions remain Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Kherson, where more than 50% of all incidents occurred.

"Cluster munitions pose a particular danger both when clearing de-occupied territories from explosive ordnance and when carrying out humanitarian demining activities, due to incidents related specifically to their detonation. The use of such munitions by Russians blocks restoration work in these territories, the restoration of transport infrastructure facilities, heat, gas, water supply, power lines and other facilities that are necessary for the life support of de-occupied regions. And the low quality of production of engineering munitions and their long storage time lead to disruption of the self-destruction mechanisms of some types of these munitions. Such munitions are unpredictable and extremely dangerous. In addition, many modern Russian mines have seismic and magnetic sensors, which significantly complicates the process of their neutralization," he said.

Shuvarsky added that a large number of modern mines are manufactured in a plastic case and have a low content of metal elements, which significantly complicates their search, especially with the use of mine detectors. In addition, according to enemy documents, a certain number of mines during continuous mining of territories are installed as booby traps, which also requires significant time and appropriate skills and practical experience to defuse them.

According to him, since the beginning of the full-scale aggression, the demining units of the Security and Defense Forces have found and destroyed almost 920,000 explosive objects.
V.Narayan Distinguished - BHPian

Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Delhi-NCR Posts: 4,355 Thanked: 73,315 Times

Re: Understanding Economics Joe Biden used economic sanctions against Russia including freezing Russia's US$ assets and forex reserves and we all know that didn't pan out too well. The US discovered, or rather the rest of the world discovered that USA's sanctions do not work too well against large economies. Not sure the US has figured this out but the rest of the world sure knows the truth of the emperor's new clothes. They had tried something similar against us in 1998-2000 too albeit at a softer level.



Now Trump will discover that the second tool USA has against disobedient naughty countries, i.e. tariffs, don't work too well either.



In all this USA has lost credibility that most invaluable of intangibles whether in people or companies or countries. Their most potent asset or weapon depending on how it is viewed is the US$. And its omnipotence rests on credibility + consistency of policies + depth and size of the US debt markets. Size of the economy matters but that is shrinking in relative terms. Till circa 1925 the GBP was what the USD is today. Then c.1925 the UK Pound was taken off the gold standard and very gradually lost its omnipotence as a reserve currency and as a trading currency over the next 25 years till a massive devaluation in 1948.



Recognizing the need to keep the $ indispensable Kissinger, that brilliant and machiavellian politician, pushed OPEC circa 1973 to trade and price oil only in US$ thus sealing its primacy for the next half century. Hence the phrase petro-dollar.



And now we see the first stirrings over the last 5 years of major nations quietly moving away from the USD as both a reserve currency for their central banks and as a currency for trade. The new Chinese RMB block chain backed settlement system, albeit still in the initial stages, is a step in that direction. China, India, Russia and Brazil quietly buying gold for their reserves and replacing the $ in their forex coffers is another step. Country pairs deciding to trade in their own currencies is a small third step.



In 1970 the USD accounted for 77% of global forex reserves. This is now ~57% and gradually shrinking. This is not the lowest it has been since Bretton Woods that was 1989 - 1990 when it had dropped to 50%. No reason it cannot decline to that level again. Without the world backing the US$ very slowly American ability to borrow from the rest of the world will decline, its interest rates will rise, its ability to borrow to consume will shrink and.... and... its ability to impose tariffs and sanctions at will shall increasingly become impotent.



There is nothing on the horizon to replace the US$ right now. However, I would not assume that some form of a digital currency backed by block chain cannot come about over the next 15 to 25 years. Afterall we need a system independent of powerful nations or regulators controlled by powerful nations. Don't assume things can't happen just because they are difficult to imagine. As per their archives till as late as 1938 the British thought they would be ruling India till the turn of the century. That dream ended rudely with a thud 9 years later.



This transition away from the US$ to assets still unclear will come with its share of disruption to the markets - forex, debt and stocks. At some point {after Trump?} the US will scramble to regain its credibility. But like the huge smelly fart the US has just released this credibility cannot be put back in! - it will hang there in the minds of allies and the BRICS for years.



There comes a time in the affairs of mice and men when events, changed status, economics and technology simply force the change - independence from colonial powers, digitization of our lives, disappearance of land lines, demise of ocean liners, collapse of the USSR etc. De-dollarization is on that list now. When the Ukraine war started in February 2022 and the $ was weaponized some of us on that thread wrote of the impending de-dollarization. That dawn is here now. Collapse comes slowly till suddenly there is an abrupt end*



*with due respect to Ernest Hemmingway who famously said, and I quote,

How did you go bankrupt?"

Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly." Last edited by V.Narayan : 6th April 2025 at 07:38 .
AviC93 Newbie

Join Date: Mar 2020 Location: Kolkata Posts: 19 Thanked: 226 Times

Drive through the Land of Kings | West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...tarakhand.html (Summer Story '23 : Parts of Kumaon, Uttarakhand)



It is my wife's winter break at her work and we planned early to visit parts of Rajasthan (Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer).

Here goes the itinerary:

21st Dec- Varanasi

22nd Dec- Agra

23rd Dec- Jaipur

24th Dec to 26th Dec- Jaisalmer

27th Dec- Jodhpur

28th Dec- Jaipur

29th Dec Lucknow

30th Dec- Aurangabad,Bihar

31st Dec- Kolkata



I must admit that I was an early bird to this trip and completed all the hotel bookings by end of August. Yes, I was excited for this road trip and being a Bengali, it was one of my dream to visit Rajasthan, inspired by the internationally acclaimed Bengali movie "Sonar Kella" directed by none other than the great late Mr Satyajit Ray, who holds no introduction to any Indian film enthusiast. You can understand the inner child coming out resonating the vibes of the movie.



Now, its time for a 'long' wait since you have made all the plans, booked all your stays. I started gathering as much information as I can about the road conditions, basic norms of driving across the desert state, challenges that you can face and so on. It was my go to man Mr Samba Sengupta (Samba), who heard me patiently whenever I reached out to him and offered his suggestions and help to his capacity. Also, I would like to mention our fellow tbhpian Mr Arghya Pan (arghyaheart), who provided his inputs as he travelled to Rajasthan recently. And finally the day arrived to begin our journey...



Day 1

Kolkata to Varanasi

Finished my office work early and took an early dinner around 8 PM before getting a

Much needed "shut-eye" as we planned to start at the middle of night. But my excitement did not let me to sleep peacefully. We got ready by 3AM and in another 10 minutes we were on the road and bid my city adieu around 4 AM as we crossed the Dankuni toll. The road condition till Shaktigarh was moderate due to ongoing highway expansion work. Post Shaktigarh, we got a buttery stretch and in no time crossed Durgapur and Asansol. We took our first break at a roadside dhaba (Hotel Johar) near Topchanchi and refuelled our car from a nearby gas station. It was a half an hour break and we started again around 9 AM. The road condition started to worsen as we progressed towards Jharkhand- Bihar border and all through Bihar. It seems that progress of the highway expansion work in this region is less as compared to West Bengal. By the time we reached Aurangabad, it was lunch time and we decided to visit Gargee Resorts to have lunch and relax for a while. I always visit this place, either for a stay or have lunch or dinner. As soon as we finished our lunch, we started again around 1:45 PM. It was a non-stop drive from Aurangabad, till we reached Varanasi at 4:30 PM. Since I chose to book our night stay near the highway, it took us another hour to travel the next 20 kms till hotel due to traffic congestion near Varanasi entry.





Our stay for the night at newly opened Hotel Leela palace and banquet.

Even though, we were tired but it is mandatory for us to visit the ganga ghat and watch the evening arati. This time we decided to go to Assi ghat instead of Dasashawmedh ghat as it was the closest

Ganga ghat near our stay. As our stay was a bit far from the main Varanasi ghat area, we decided to look for an auto and reach the ghats to avoid driving through the busy traffic of the city and headache to park the car. We soon got our ride and reached Assi ghat in time for the evening arati, where we offered our prayers and roam around for a while.







Getting a ride back to hotel was very painful for us and we were very tired. Fortunately, we managed to book an auto to reach our hotel. We had our dinner at a restaurant next door and called it a day.



Day 2

Varanasi to Agra

We woke up early at 4AM and in next 20 minutes we were ready to start the day towards Agra. It was pitch dark outside with dense fog. I planned to take the Jaunpur, Sultanpur highway via Varanasi ring road and merge with the Purvanchal expressway. This is an approximately 180km drive and should take around three hours to cover if you start early as the road condition is ideal. But things slowed down as the visibility was less than 20 meters due to extreme fog at the time, which I expected to be normal in December. I choose to be safe than sorry by following the lane markers and driving at slow speed, 20km/h at some places. At some places the heavy duty vehicles helped me to gain some pace as I followed them by keeping a safe distance in between.



Eventually the harsh winter night made way for a scenic sunrise and I was awestruck with the sheer beauty of it.





It took me nearly 4 hours to cover the 180 km stretch. Next 165 kms across Purvanchal expressway went like a breeze and we reached Lucknow in another 2 hours without a break. We drove through the ring roads of Lucknow and crosses the city without much traffic before taking the Agra-Lucknow expressway. After entering the Agra-Lucknow expressway, it was time to refuel our car, mind and tummy. It was a much needed refreshing break post which I stepped on the gas again to cover next 231 kms in little over 2 hours to reach our stay at Agra, Hotel Karan Villas. We decided to visit Agra fort and Taj Mahal post lunch by local transport as it was nearby our hotel. I had already booked online tickets in advance for entry in both Agra fort and Taj Mahal to avoid long queues at the ticket counter. Below mentioned is the authorized Archaeological Survey of India website for online ticket booking:

https://asi.payumoney.com/quick/agf



This was our first time at Agra and we were very much excited to see the Taj Mahal. We got ready post lunch after a short nap and started around 2PM. First, we visited the Agra fort and we were not amused with the rush at the gates given that the time we choose to visit Agra is within the peak season for all the tourists across India. Agra fort is a 16th century architectural marvel which falls under the list of Unesco World Heritage Site and is a resemblance of India's rich cultural history. We explored parts of the fort and was amused with the precision and art work by the Mughals.







From one mighty architectural wonder to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, we made our way through the Mughal gardens and reached Taj Mahal west gate entry. From the moment I got a glimpse of Taj Mahal, only one word came out of my mouth "Wah Taj! As usual the place was overly crowded so we had to wait a while to take pictures in turn from the various hot spots around Taj Mahal to get me, my wife and Taj in a single frame. But we managed to do so with the help of a gentleman, who was also a visiting the place with his family.











After spending more than an hour, we visited a nearby rooftop cafe, Chia Taj View Cafe, which is a 1.5 km walk from Taj Mahal. You get a clear view of the Taj Mahal from the roof top seats and enjoy a leisurely evening by having a cup of tea and simply admiring the beauty and greatness of "Roza-e-Munavvara" (initial name of Taj Mahal).





Post tea, we explored the local markets and enjoy popular delicacies , such as, Petha and finally called it a day after having a sumptuous dinner at the hotel. 'Khamma Gani!' - I guess no doubt now you know where I travelled this time. Yes, it is the "land of kings", home to the "The Great Indian Desert" , India's largest state by area, Rajasthan. After a long break, majorly due to family reasons, we were on the road again after our trip to Uttarakhand.It is my wife's winter break at her work and we planned early to visit parts of Rajasthan (Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer).Here goes the itinerary:21st Dec- Varanasi22nd Dec- Agra23rd Dec- Jaipur24th Dec to 26th Dec- Jaisalmer27th Dec- Jodhpur28th Dec- Jaipur29th Dec Lucknow30th Dec- Aurangabad,Bihar31st Dec- KolkataI must admit that I was an early bird to this trip and completed all the hotel bookings by end of August. Yes, I was excited for this road trip and being a Bengali, it was one of my dream to visit Rajasthan, inspired by the internationally acclaimed Bengali movie "Sonar Kella" directed by none other than the great late Mr Satyajit Ray, who holds no introduction to any Indian film enthusiast. You can understand the inner child coming out resonating the vibes of the movie.Now, its time for a 'long' wait since you have made all the plans, booked all your stays. I started gathering as much information as I can about the road conditions, basic norms of driving across the desert state, challenges that you can face and so on. It was my go to man Mr Samba Sengupta (Samba), who heard me patiently whenever I reached out to him and offered his suggestions and help to his capacity. Also, I would like to mention our fellow tbhpian Mr Arghya Pan (arghyaheart), who provided his inputs as he travelled to Rajasthan recently. And finally the day arrived to begin our journey...Day 1Kolkata to VaranasiFinished my office work early and took an early dinner around 8 PM before getting aMuch needed "shut-eye" as we planned to start at the middle of night. But my excitement did not let me to sleep peacefully. We got ready by 3AM and in another 10 minutes we were on the road and bid my city adieu around 4 AM as we crossed the Dankuni toll. The road condition till Shaktigarh was moderate due to ongoing highway expansion work. Post Shaktigarh, we got a buttery stretch and in no time crossed Durgapur and Asansol. We took our first break at a roadside dhaba (Hotel Johar) near Topchanchi and refuelled our car from a nearby gas station. It was a half an hour break and we started again around 9 AM. The road condition started to worsen as we progressed towards Jharkhand- Bihar border and all through Bihar. It seems that progress of the highway expansion work in this region is less as compared to West Bengal. By the time we reached Aurangabad, it was lunch time and we decided to visit Gargee Resorts to have lunch and relax for a while. I always visit this place, either for a stay or have lunch or dinner. As soon as we finished our lunch, we started again around 1:45 PM. It was a non-stop drive from Aurangabad, till we reached Varanasi at 4:30 PM. Since I chose to book our night stay near the highway, it took us another hour to travel the next 20 kms till hotel due to traffic congestion near Varanasi entry.Our stay for the night at newly opened Hotel Leela palace and banquet.Even though, we were tired but it is mandatory for us to visit the ganga ghat and watch the evening arati. This time we decided to go to Assi ghat instead of Dasashawmedh ghat as it was the closestGanga ghat near our stay. As our stay was a bit far from the main Varanasi ghat area, we decided to look for an auto and reach the ghats to avoid driving through the busy traffic of the city and headache to park the car. We soon got our ride and reached Assi ghat in time for the evening arati, where we offered our prayers and roam around for a while.Getting a ride back to hotel was very painful for us and we were very tired. Fortunately, we managed to book an auto to reach our hotel. We had our dinner at a restaurant next door and called it a day.Day 2Varanasi to AgraWe woke up early at 4AM and in next 20 minutes we were ready to start the day towards Agra. It was pitch dark outside with dense fog. I planned to take the Jaunpur, Sultanpur highway via Varanasi ring road and merge with the Purvanchal expressway. This is an approximately 180km drive and should take around three hours to cover if you start early as the road condition is ideal. But things slowed down as the visibility was less than 20 meters due to extreme fog at the time, which I expected to be normal in December. I choose to be safe than sorry by following the lane markers and driving at slow speed, 20km/h at some places. At some places the heavy duty vehicles helped me to gain some pace as I followed them by keeping a safe distance in between.Eventually the harsh winter night made way for a scenic sunrise and I was awestruck with the sheer beauty of it.It took me nearly 4 hours to cover the 180 km stretch. Next 165 kms across Purvanchal expressway went like a breeze and we reached Lucknow in another 2 hours without a break. We drove through the ring roads of Lucknow and crosses the city without much traffic before taking the Agra-Lucknow expressway. After entering the Agra-Lucknow expressway, it was time to refuel our car, mind and tummy. It was a much needed refreshing break post which I stepped on the gas again to cover next 231 kms in little over 2 hours to reach our stay at Agra, Hotel Karan Villas. We decided to visit Agra fort and Taj Mahal post lunch by local transport as it was nearby our hotel. I had already booked online tickets in advance for entry in both Agra fort and Taj Mahal to avoid long queues at the ticket counter. Below mentioned is the authorized Archaeological Survey of India website for online ticket booking:This was our first time at Agra and we were very much excited to see the Taj Mahal. We got ready post lunch after a short nap and started around 2PM. First, we visited the Agra fort and we were not amused with the rush at the gates given that the time we choose to visit Agra is within the peak season for all the tourists across India. Agra fort is a 16th century architectural marvel which falls under the list of Unesco World Heritage Site and is a resemblance of India's rich cultural history. We explored parts of the fort and was amused with the precision and art work by the Mughals.From one mighty architectural wonder to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, we made our way through the Mughal gardens and reached Taj Mahal west gate entry. From the moment I got a glimpse of Taj Mahal, only one word came out of my mouth "Wah Taj! As usual the place was overly crowded so we had to wait a while to take pictures in turn from the various hot spots around Taj Mahal to get me, my wife and Taj in a single frame. But we managed to do so with the help of a gentleman, who was also a visiting the place with his family.After spending more than an hour, we visited a nearby rooftop cafe, Chia Taj View Cafe, which is a 1.5 km walk from Taj Mahal. You get a clear view of the Taj Mahal from the roof top seats and enjoy a leisurely evening by having a cup of tea and simply admiring the beauty and greatness of "Roza-e-Munavvara" (initial name of Taj Mahal).Post tea, we explored the local markets and enjoy popular delicacies , such as, Petha and finally called it a day after having a sumptuous dinner at the hotel. Last edited by AviC93 : 7th April 2025 at 11:02 . Reason: needed to add few points
Editor's take: Let's be brutally honest here. The first-generation Switch controllers were horrible. The Joy-Cons were not comfortable to use and suffered from severe joystick drift. At least the Pro controller was more comfortable to use, but it had drift issues, too. So it's weird that Nintendo is refusing to explain or directly address what it has done about the problem in its second-generation controllers.

Nintendo has nixed hopes that Switch 2 Joy-Cons (Joy-Con 2) feature Hall-effect sensors. Rumors emerging around Christmas last year suggested that Joy-Con 2 would implement the Hall effect to deal with the joystick-drift problems plaguing the original units. However, according to a Nintendo Life interview with Senior Vice President of Product Development and Publishing Nate Bihldorff, Nintendo built the Joy-Con 2 "from the ground up," but inexplicably did not implement the Hall effect.

Considering all the headaches resulting from joystick drift and how easily Nintendo could correct it with Hall-effect thumbsticks, it is incomprehensible that it didn't. That's not to say that the Joy-Con 2 will have the same issues the first-generation controllers had  it takes a while for the problem to set in  so we'll have to wait and see.

However, Bihldorff didn't elaborate on what Nintendo did to mitigate this problem, which has sparked multiple lawsuits for the company, one of which the judge dismissed on a technicality. He just mentioned that they are not "Hall Effect" and then quickly diverted attention away from the question.

"Well, the Joy-Con 2's controllers have been designed from the ground up. They're not Hall Effect sticks, but they feel really good," the VP said before quickly trading roles with the interviewer by asking, "Did you experience both the Joy-Con and the Pro Controller?"

He then explained that he likes the Pro Controller because it feels like a GameCube gamepad. So, while he answered the original question  no, they don't employ the Hall effect  he diverted the subject from the logical follow-up: "What have you done to eliminate drift?" It's a legitimate concern, and the lack of transparency on the subject speaks volumes amid what is already a very controversial pre-launch.

However, Nintendo is still fighting lawsuits over the drift issue. So, it is equally likely that its legal team has instructed staff and other representatives to avoid discussing the issue until the dust settles. After all, saying, "We fixed the drift issues," is legally admitting that it was a problem in the first generation, which will not help Nintendo's defense.

There has been much negative commentary regarding the price point for the console and its games. Critics have compared the $450 MSRP  or more, depending on where you live  to PlayStation and Xbox consoles, noting that the Switch 2 doesn't hold a candle from a price-per-compute standpoint.

They are equally annoyed at the lack of transparency regarding the Switch 2's APU. Many have made hypothetical (and sarcastic) comparisons to the RTX 4090 because of Nvidia's dubious claims of 10 times the processing power over the original Switch.

Judging new controllers before they have even reached the public's hands is premature without question, but it will surely come up on social media and forums. So, Bihldorff's dodging of the question is not a good look, and the situation will be 10 times worse if the thumbsticks end up with the same mechanical problems as the first-gen Joy-Con.
Editor's take: The internet is vast, sprawling across server farms, fiber-optic cables, and satellites. But beyond its physical infrastructure, does the internet  the data, the information, the very essence of cyberspace  have any measurable weight? The question might sound absurd, yet it's one that physicists and thinkers have pondered for years. After all, Einstein's famous equation, E = mc, tells us that energy has mass. And since storing and transmitting data consumes energy, it follows that the internet must, in theory, possess some infinitesimal amount of weight.

The first serious attempt to quantify the internet's weight came in 2006, when Harvard physicist Russell Seitz made headlines with his calculation. By estimating the mass of the energy powering servers at the time, Seitz concluded that the internet weighed about 50 grams, or roughly the same as a couple of strawberries.

The comparison stuck, becoming a quirky piece of trivia from an era when the web was still in its adolescence. But much has changed since then. Social media platforms like Instagram have emerged, smartphones are now ubiquitous, and artificial intelligence is reshaping the digital landscape. By Seitz's logic, today's internet might weigh closer to a potato.

Around the same time as Seitz's estimate, Discover magazine proposed an alternative approach. Instead of focusing on server energy, they looked at the electrons used to encode information on the internet. Using 2006 figures for global internet traffic  about 40 petabytes  they calculated a weight of just five-millionths of a gram. That's less than a drop of strawberry juice. While clever, the method relied heavily on assumptions about electron usage and focused more on data transmission than storage.

Nearly two decades later, Wired revisited these calculations with fresh eyes and modern data. First, they scrutinized Seitz's server-energy method. Christopher White, president of NEC Laboratories America and a veteran researcher from Bell Labs, dismissed the 50-gram figure outright, telling the publication that it was "just wrong."

Daniel Whiteson, a particle physicist at UC Irvine, echoed the skepticism, likening it to calculating the price of a doughnut by dividing global GDP by the total number of doughnuts  a method that might yield numbers, but not accuracy.

The Discover approach didn't fare much better under scrutiny. It relied on overly simplistic assumptions about how electrons encode information and ignored variations in hardware efficiency. The reality is far messier: different chips and circuits require vastly different amounts of energy to process data.

White offered a more nuanced method for tackling the question. He proposed imagining all the data stored across hundreds of millions of servers worldwide consolidated into one place. By calculating how much energy would be needed to encode that data and then converting that energy into mass using

E = mc, we could estimate the internet's weight more rigorously.

In 2018, the International Data Corporation predicted that by 2025, the global datasphere would reach 175 zettabytes.

Using this figure and factoring in temperature-dependent variables (data storage is easier in cooler environments), White arrived at a startlingly small number: 53 quadrillionths of a gram. In other words, if you weigh all the data on the internet as energy at room temperature, it would amount to almost nothing.

While this calculation is mathematically sound, it feels unsatisfying given how heavy the internet seems metaphorically  billions of people spend hours each day navigating its vastness.

White admitted that any attempt to weigh something as complex as the internet is "essentially unknowable." Still, he suggested exploring alternative frameworks for understanding its mass.

One intriguing possibility involves DNA-based storage systems. Scientists have recently explored encoding data within DNA molecules due to their incredible density and durability. Current estimates suggest that one gram of DNA can store 215 petabytes of information. If we were to store all 175 zettabytes of internet data in DNA form, it would weigh approximately 960 kilograms  or about 2,100 pounds. That's equivalent to 10 average American men or roughly one-third of Tesla's Cybertruck.

While we may never fully grasp what it means for something as abstract as the internet to have mass, these thought experiments offer fascinating insights into its scale  and limits. Whether you think of it as weighing less than a strawberry seed or as much as thousands of human beings encoded into DNA strands, one thing is clear: our digital world is both intangible and immense in ways that defy easy measurement.
A hot potato: In another example of the impact AI is having on jobs, Shopify's CEO has issued a warning to the company's managers: show that AI can't do the job better than a human before hiring new workers. Shopify previously laid off staff after it started using generative AI to complete some customer support tasks.

Like many CEOs, Shopify boss Tobi Lutke has a passion for using AI in the workforce. In an internal memo to employees sent last month titled AI usage is now a baseline expectation, Lutke writes that before asking for more headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI.

"What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team?" Lutke wrote in the memo, which he published on X after it was leaked. "This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects."

I heard this internal memo of mine is being leaked right now, so here it is: pic.twitter.com/Qn12DY7TFF  tobi lutke (@tobi) April 7, 2025

The promise of increased productivity and fewer workers leaves many CEOs salivating at the prospect of implementing AI into their companies. Lutke is certainly an advocate, waxing lyrical about the technology. Not only does the memo state that using AI is essentially mandatory, but its use will also become part of Shopify's performance and peer review questionnaire.

Lutke adds that the AI directive applies to everyone at Shopify, even the CEO himself. Using AI effectively is "now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify," he wrote.

"What we need to succeed is our collective sum total skill and ambition at applying our craft, multiplied by AI, for the benefit of our merchants," Lutke says.

E-commerce platform Shopify helps people and businesses create and manage online stores, covering everything from initial storefront creation and selling to marketing and analysis.

The company has leaned heavily into generative AI tools in recent years. Shopify Magic, its suite of generative AI features built directly into the platform, offers features such as AI-powered product descriptions. There's also Sidekick, a conversational AI built into the admin dashboard.

As with many other firms, it appears the more Shopify spends on AI, the more jobs are eliminated. The company laid off 20% of its staff, or around 1,500 people, in December 2023, the same year it started using genAI for some customer service tasks. It also reduced its workforce by 14% in 2022.

Masthead credit: Open Grid Scheduler
A hot potato: Global financial markets posted three consecutive days of losses as the trade war between the U.S. and the rest of the world escalated. The tech sector has been hit particularly hard by President Trump's tariffs, with all major U.S. tech companies losing a significant portion of their market value. Apple has seen the hardest hit, shedding nearly 20 percent of its market cap in one of the steepest declines in the company's history before a mild recovery on Tuesday.

While most major American tech companies have much to lose in a global trade war, Apple  the world's largest by market cap  is the most vulnerable of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" due to its heavy reliance on China. Most of Apple's products, including its best-selling iPhone models, are manufactured in the communist nation, meaning the proposed 50 percent tariffs would affect it more severely than most.

Related: Consumers race to Apple stores as tariff fears spark iPhone rush

Apple also has manufacturing partners in Vietnam, Thailand, and India, but those countries are facing increased tariffs under Trump's new plan as well. Since Apple does not currently manufacture any of its products in the U.S., analysts believe that if the proposed tariffs are enacted, the company will either have to absorb the additional costs or raise prices  potentially reducing its profit margins or losing market share.

According to UBS analysts, the tariffs could increase the price of the flagship iPhone 16 Pro Max by as much as $350 if Apple chooses to pass the cost on to consumers.

Despite the downturn, tech stocks staged a mild rebound on Tuesday. Hopes that President Trump might delay or soften the proposed tariffs helped lift investor sentiment. Out of the big tech "Magnificent Seven" Nvidia led the recovery with a gain of about 4%, while Meta, Tesla, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet rose around 1-3%.

Source: Companies by Marketcap

However, the broader picture remains shaky, underscoring ongoing concerns about the impact of a prolonged trade war. Last Thursday, rumors of a potential tariff delay triggered a volatile trading session, but not before the "Magnificent Seven" lost a staggering $1.8 trillion in market value in mere days. Apple's stock plummeted nearly 20 percent over the past three sessions, wiping out nearly $640 billion in market cap. The stock is up three percent in early Tuesday trading, but still down more than 16 percent over the last five days.

Meanwhile, Brazilian media is speculating that Apple could shift iPhone production to Brazil to avoid the proposed tariffs on China. While Apple has not commented on these rumors, Brazil currently faces only a 10 percent tariff under the Trump administration's new plan  far less than India, which would be subject to a 26 percent tariff.

Apple has been assembling products in Brazil in partnership with Foxconn since 2011. However, these facilities primarily serve the local market with entry-level models.
At the initiative of Ukraine, a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council was convened on Tuesday, April 8, in response to the terrorist act committed by Russia in Kryvyi Rih on April 4, 2025.

"Foreign delegations to the OSCE strongly condemned the Russian missile attack, which took 20 lives, including nine innocent children, and honored their memory with a minute of silence," the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna reported.

The mission noted that Ukraine is grateful for the strong support and solidarity in these difficult times.

"The readiness of the international community to stand side by side with Ukraine in the fight against Russian invaders is important for defending our sovereignty and achieving a just peace," the message says.

On March 7, the representative of Ukraine to the OSCE and other international organizations in Vienna announced that, at the initiative of Ukraine, the OSCE would hold an extraordinary meeting in connection with the Russian ballistic strike on Kryvyi Rih.

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha also reported that Ukraine initiated an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council following the Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih.
Editor's take: The list of deprecated features in the Windows ecosystem continues to grow, even as millions still rely on them daily. Occasionally, Microsoft has to tap the brakes on its phase-out plans  though it tends to attribute the shift to the vague catch-all of "user feedback."

Microsoft recently announced it will postpone the deprecation of driver synchronization from Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) servers. The company had planned to end support this month but reversed course after realizing many customers aren't ready to switch to alternative download methods.

Citing "valuable feedback" from users, Microsoft said WSUS will continue delivering driver updates for now. Redmond initially announced plans to deprecate the feature in 2024 and issued another reminder in January. According to Microsoft, just 34 percent of WSUS users still rely on the service to keep drivers up to date, and only 8 percent expressed concern about the potential impact of its removal.

When Microsoft marks a feature as "deprecated," it signals the end of active development  though the feature will continue functioning for some time. The WSUS platform is on that path, with Microsoft encouraging customers to explore alternative methods for retrieving and deploying Windows updates across their organizations.

Microsoft encourages customers to migrate their maintenance and management workflows to newer, cloud-based solutions like Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopatch, which now support Windows 11 devices. The company reportedly delayed the deprecation of driver synchronization due to ongoing use in "disconnected device scenarios," where IT admins still rely on WSUS to fetch drivers.

It's safe to assume that the "small" number of customers not ready to replace WSUS driver sync still represents millions of end users  likely including some major enterprise organizations. Microsoft says it will continue listening to user feedback, even as its developers remain preoccupied with yet another attempt to fix the beleaguered Start Menu.

In theory, Microsoft should have all the feedback it needs to make Windows the ideal computing platform  thanks to the Windows Insider program and the constant stream of monthly patches reaching millions of PCs. In practice, though, each new update still introduces fresh headaches for users.
What just happened? A coalition of publishers, including The New York Times and The Guardian, has launched a campaign demanding the US government to hold Big Tech accountable for using creative content to develop artificial intelligence products. Organized by the News/Media Alliance, the "Support Responsible AI" campaign accuses tech giants of exploiting copyrighted material without compensating the creators.

The campaign's website frames this practice as a direct threat to content creators' livelihoods. Accompanying the initiative are bold red-and-white advertisements featuring slogans like "Protect Jobs from AI Theft," "AI Steals from You Too," and "Keep Watch on AI." The alliance stated that these ads will appear in hundreds of news publications and digital platforms nationwide in the coming days. Other participants in the coilition include The Atlantic, Seattle Times, and Politico owner Axel Springer.

The movement presents three demands for policymakers. First, it calls for legislation that requires Big Tech and AI companies to fairly compensate creators when using their work to train their AI systems. Second, it seeks mandatory transparency in the sourcing and attribution of AI-generated content. Lastly, it urges action to prevent monopolistic practices that could stifle competition and coerce smaller players in the industry.

President and CEO of the News/Media Alliance Danielle Coffey emphasized that the news media industry is not opposed to AI technology but advocates for a balanced system that ensures responsible innovation.

"We want an ecosystem where AI provides a return to the quality content that fuels its intelligence," she said.

The campaign emerged from the escalating tension between media organizations and AI companies. Recently, OpenAI released an image-generation tool that mimics iconic anime styles, such as those of Studio Ghibli, drawing backlash from artists on social media. Many artists have criticized AI tools for appropriating their work without consent, with some even leaving platforms like X after they discovered that the site had used their posts to train AI models.

Similar disputes have arisen in other corners of the internet. For example, last year on BlueSky, users criticized a Hugging Face machine learning librarian for releasing a dataset derived from publicly available BlueSky posts to train AI models.

The conflict between major publishers and AI companies is nothing new. In December 2023, The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of using its articles without authorization to train AI models. A federal judge allowed the case to proceed, rejecting OpenAI's attempt to dismiss it.

The US campaign is an echo of efforts abroad. In February, several prominent UK newspapers launched an initiative against unauthorized AI training on copyrighted materials. Their "MAKE IT FAIR" campaign featured bold front-page statements urging readers to support protections for creative content against unlicensed use by AI systems.
The next-generation experience on Google, AI Mode, is now expanding with new features as the company has integrated Lens image search capabilities. Thanks to this new integration, users may now take advantage of multimodal input for whatever they want to ask from the AI, with the renowned image search feature analyzing taken or uploaded images.

Alongside this, Google is expanding AI Mode's availability among testers, with the service now opening its doors to more free users who are enrolled in the program to experience the technology first-hand.

Google AI Mode Brings Lens Image Search Multimodal Input

Users who are part of the Labs testing program are now seeing a new feature to enjoy with the new AI Mode experience, which recently opened its doors for Free users to also enjoy. According to 9to5Google, the Lens visual search feature is now available to use via AI Mode, which allows users to not only describe what they see for the AI to answer but also take a photo of it.

This essentially upgrades the AI Mode with a multimodal input that users may take advantage of and offers better search processes to help users easily find or determine what they want to be explained by Google's AI.

Through this, users may get more accurate answers or responses from the AI as it may offer a more specific input rather than trying to explain what users are looking for via Search's text field.

Alongside this, Google is also expanding the access of AI Mode to more Free users, according to their latest notice on the Labs platform. Users who are part of the waitlist will be given invitations to try out AI Mode for themselves, with more users getting accepted into the program.

Everything About Google's New AI Mode

Late last year, it was uncovered by data miners that Google was working on a new experience right on its Search app called the AI Mode, and it centers on offering users results made entirely of AI-generated content. This was reportedly built out of AI Overviews, which provides a summary of all search results combined into a single field that offers a generalized answer from different sources.

It was only last month that Google formally introduced AI Mode to the world as it announced its arrival to the Labs program. Instead of getting webpage links as results with AI Overviews at the top, users will get AI-generated results that are similar to the look of conversing with a chatbot.

At first, Google only allowed paid users who are subscribed to the Premium service to access AI Mode on Labs, but the company announced late last March that it is expanding eligibility to Free accounts. The goal is to introduce a new method of Search where AI takes centerstage, featuring all the information from the web which it consolidates into a single field.
The era of Meta's fact-checking for content moderation in posts, Reels, status updates, and more is now over as the company recently announced that it officially ended its operations at the start of this week.

Instead of getting fact-checks on Meta's social media apps, the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads will receive the "Community Notes-like" experience to verify information for the American public.

Since announcing it last January, Meta has received massive criticism for their decision to ditch fact-checking methods, particularly as Community Notes would come from unpaid collaborators for said topics.

Meta Ends US Fact-Checking Methods on Its Platforms

According to the latest post by Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan via X, the company's fact-checking methods have ended effective this Monday, April 7, as promised earlier this year. This only applies to its United States operations, which means that other global regions of its operations would still rely on these experiences.

Meta's third-party fact checkers and program will no longer watch over the platform and scour content from users and businesses in the United States, including all posts, images, videos, and more.

CNET reported that Meta first announced the removal of its fact-checking program last January, amidst the nearing inauguration of the then-President Elect Donald Trump, with Mark Zuckerberg revealing that they are now fostering free speech.

Facebook, Instagram, Threads to Use Community Notes

Starting this week, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads will receive Community Notes that are currently rolling out nationwide. It was revealed by Kaplan that users will see a gradual roll out of Community Notes "with no penalties attached" to them.

While it remains unknown how much this will impact Meta's platforms, it can be seen from X's operations, which rely entirely on Community Notes, that there has been a significant proliferation of misinformation and fake news on the platform.

The End of Meta's Fact-Checking Spark Controversies

The start of the year 2025 was a significant one for Meta as the company planned to ditch its fact-checking measures on its social media to opt for Community Notes. It was revealed that Meta is now also championing free speech on its platforms, similar to Elon Musk's X.

Over the past years, there have been several "Meta boycott" campaigns that the public pushed for because of the company's unpopular decisions and controversial features, but this happened again earlier this year. Many users have reportedly searched for methods to delete their Facebook and Instagram accounts via Google after it announced the Community Notes-style content moderation on its platforms.

When the then-Twitter introduced its Community Notes feature, it still had content moderation and a fact-checking body available on the platform, which made it a reinforcement to their anti-misinformation efforts. However, Musk entirely removed fact-checking from the experience as they pushed for free speech.
Apple and Tim Cook may have aligned themselves with President Donald J. Trump's good side, but it is still not enough as the company is now reportedly rushing to stockpile iPhone units from India and China.

In the past few weeks, Apple has reportedly been flying planes full of iPhones from its Asian manufacturing plants to avoid facing the higher tariffs that the 47th POTUS is about to impose.

Apple Reportedly Ships Planes of iPhones to the US

A new report from The Times of India (via 9to5Mac) shared that senior Indian officials claimed that Apple is now flying planes full of iPhones to the US as part of their efforts to escape the tariffs that are about to take effect.

Apple has already reportedly flown five planes full of iPhones and other products during the final week of March, according to the officials.

While China was where Apple had assembly plants for iPhones and other technology, the company has also expanded their operations over to India, which began with the iPhone 15 and 16 lineups.

On April 5, the first import tax took effect from the Trump administration, centering on a 10% baseline tariff for all imports. However, come April 9, the next tariffs will take effect and imports from India will be raised to 27% tariff rate, while China imports to skyrocket to 54%.

Apple is only delaying the inevitable as, while it may save the prices of its upcoming iPhone 17 series, other made-to-order products like the Mac are set to suffer from the tariffs.

Donald Trump's Proposed Tariffs for Imported Goods

Back when President Trump was fresh from winning the US elections last year, he had been hinting about the upcoming tariffs that he would impose on imported goods and services coming into the country. Because of his sentiments posted on Truth Social alone, markets saw drastic effects, including the foreign exchange where currencies weakened against the US dollar.

It was previously forecasted that Trump's proposed tariffs would significantly affect the tech and electronics industry, as well as the automotive market, which Elon Musk's Tesla is also set to face.

This decision by Trump has turned out to be an unpopular one for businesses and the public alike, as this does not only increase the manufacturing costs for companies, it increases the selling price of products as well.
Servicemen of the Third Separate Assault Brigade repelled the assault of the Russians in Luhansk region, destroying half of the occupiers' battalion.

"The enemy launched an assault on the areas of three battalions of the brigade at once, in particular, to recapture the positions lost in Nadiya All battalion assets of the first Assault, second Mechanized, and first Mechanized battalions were involved in the elimination of the Russians. Artillery, drone and FPV units worked on the invaders. The infantry entered into fire contact on the ground," the press service of the third Separate Assault Brigade reported on the social network X.

It is noted that the Russian losses during the day of fighting amounted to: 143 occupiers killed and 86 wounded. The enemy did not occupy any new or previously lost positions.
Trump's tariffs loom over maritime emissions-cutting talks



London, April 7 (AFP) Apr 07, 2025



A decisive week for decarbonising global shipping began on Monday at an International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting in London, against a backdrop of trade tensions that could make reaching a consensus difficult.

The IMO had vowed to adopt a "carbon price" and technical recommendations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by shipping in a "just and equitable" way in a 2023 climate strategy.

On the table at the week-long meeting in London are an ambitious carbon tax measure, a carbon credit scheme and a re-evaluation of the maritime sector's fuel standard system.

But the talks come the week after US President Donald Trump unveiled a sweeping range of global tariffs, particularly against Asia and the European Union, at the risk of battering the global economy.

"It's unfortunate that... we are in this environment where multilateralism is questioned, where globalisation is deemed to have failed," said Fiji's transport minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau.

According to Tuisawau, the political and economic climate is unfavourable to an ambitious emissions-reduction agreement for international shipping.

Instead, countries are moving "towards more self-interest rather than a global interest", he said, speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee.

Tensions could escalate further, with China already announcing significant duties on all imports of American goods.



- 'Necessary compromise' -



Members of the IMO which are firmly opposed to a carbon tax, including Brazil and China, are worried about a hike in costs of exported goods and are unwilling to sacrifice growth, especially amid trade uncertainties.

However, at Monday's gathering of 1,200 representatives from 176 countries, IMO members underlined the desire to reach a consensus by Friday.

"I have no doubt you will achieve the necessary compromise," said IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, addressing members.

Currently, discussions are moving towards a carbon credit system rather than the greenhouse gas levy supported by Pacific and Caribbean island states, Dominguez told the press.

The carbon credit system, supported in particular by the European Union, could well be the compromise, but there is as yet no consensus on how it would work.

Such a system would allow companies or countries to buy and sell credits representing the right to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide.

However the idea behind carbon credits has taken a major hit as scientists have shown claims of reduced emissions to be hugely overestimated -- or even entirely untrue.
Indigenous leaders want same clout as world leaders at UN climate talks



Brasilia, April 7 (AFP) Apr 07, 2025



Some 8,000 Indigenous people from the Amazon rainforest and the Pacific converged on Brazil's capital Monday to demand an equal say as politicians when the country hosts this year's UN climate conference.

Members of about 200 Indigenous communities from Latin American and Pacific territories, including Aboriginal Australians, were taking part in an annual gathering of Indigenous peoples in Brasilia.

Wearing brightly colored traditional dress and body paint, they insisted that Indigenous leaders be given "as much of a voice and power" as world leaders at the UN COP30 conference to be held in the Amazon city of Belem in November.

They also demanded direct funding for environmental protection and projects to help Indigenous communities adapt to the effects of climate change.

Despite living oceans apart, the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon and Oceania all live on the frontlines of global warming, with rising sea levels threatening to submerge low-lying Pacific islands like Fiji.

"In the Pacific, we have our unique struggles but we also want to be here and show our peoples here in the Amazon, Indigenous peoples, that we can fight," a Fijian tribal leader, 37-year-old Alisi Rabukawaqa, told AFP in Brasilia.

In South America, meanwhile, a record drought last year laid the conditions for a particularly severe wildfire season.

In Brazil alone, fires wiped out nearly 18 million hectares of Amazon rainforest, according to the MapBiomas monitoring platform.

"For me it's important that Indigenous chiefs are invited to COP30... because leaders living in the villages are the ones who know the huge difficulties presented by the climate issue," said Sinesio Trovao, head of the Brazilian Indigenous Betania Mecurane community.



- 'We are the answer' -



Brazil has announced the creation of a Circle of Indigenous Leadership at COP30 to ensure that Indigenous people are given a hearing.

But Indigenous communities want to make sure their involvement is more than just show.

"We want to see how this can be done, tangibly," Rabukawaqa said.

The week-long rally in Brasilia, convened under the slogan "We are the answer," will include marches on government buildings.

On Tuesday, Congress will hold a special session on Indigenous rights.

By holding COP30 in the Brazilian Amazon, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva aims to highlight the existential threat to the world's biggest rainforest.

On a visit to the Amazon last week he praised the "important role" played by Indigenous communities in the fight against climate change.

While pledging to end illegal Amazon deforestation, the leftist president has come under fire from climate activists for pushing a major offshore oil exploration project near the mouth of the Amazon River.
Myanmar garment manufacturers warn US tariffs imperil quake recovery



Yangon, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Myanmar's garment manufacturers have warned US tariffs threaten to hobble the country's recovery from a devastating earthquake, as the death toll rose to 3,600.

President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs will see the Southeast Asian country hit with a 44 percent tax on US imports as it reels from last month's tremor which razed thousands of homes, schools and monasteries in its central belt.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said 160 people remained missing from the March 28 quake as fatalities hit 3,600 on Monday evening, with 5,017 people injured.

The Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA) said the tariffs due to take effect from Wednesday were causing "considerable concern" in an industry employing more than 500,000 people, mostly young women.

"Amid Myanmar's current challenging context, the new tariffs will increase the vulnerability of Myanmar businesses that have been struggling to stay afloat," the group said in a statement on Monday evening.

"The recent devastating earthquake... will only exacerbate the many challenges confronting Myanmar businesses and communities," it added.

According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, bilateral trade was worth an estimated $734 million last year, with Myanmar exports worth $656.5 million -- down 23.5 percent from a year earlier.

The earthquake has compounded the economic woes of a country gripped by a civil war since the military seized power in a 2021 coup.

With the junta at the helm, Myanmar has become internationally isolated and sanctioned while its territory has split into areas controlled by the military, anti-coup guerillas and ethnic armed factions.

Half the population of 51 million live in poverty while more than 3.5 million people are displaced.

The MGMA asked the United States to consider "a more lenient rate in light of the country's multiple crises".

Myanmar has already been hit hard by Trump's overhaul of Washington's foreign policy.

In one of his first acts back in office, he paused a refugee scheme through which Myanmar citizens fleeing the war-torn country ranked among the largest number of beneficiaries in recent years.

Trump's decision to eviscerate Washington's humanitarian budget -- spearheaded by his top donor and the world's richest man Elon Musk -- has also battered the nation.

The World Food Programme said it was forced to slash vital aid to one million people in Myanmar starting this month after the cuts contributed to "critical funding shortfalls".
Sybiha after OSCE meeting on strike on Kryvy Rih: This must be stopped by strengthening Ukraine's defense, pressure on Moscow

Photo: https://mfa.gov.ua/

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiha thanked the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen for convening a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on the Russian Federation's missile strike on the city of Kryvy Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, and stated the need to strengthen pressure on Russia and protect Ukraine in connection with this terrorist attack.

"We welcome clear and strong messages by OSCE participating states calling for Russias accountability, enhanced Ukraines defense capabilities, and strong steps to secure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and throughout Europe. Russias terror against children and playgrounds is a disgrace to humanity. Only beasts can fire a ballistic missile with a cluster warhead at residential area, killing nine children. This barbarism must be stopped by strengthening the protection of Ukraine and increasing pressure on Moscow," Sybiha wrote on X.

As reported, on April 4, Russian forces fired a ballistic missile at a residential area of Kryvy Rih. A total of 19 people were killed, including nine children, and 74 others were injured. Late in the evening, drones attacked the city, killing one person and injuring seven. On April 6, a 57-year-old victim died in hospital. Ukraine declared a day of mourning for the victims of the attack.

As of Tuesday, 31 people injured in the missile attack on Kryvy Rih remained in hospitals, including five children. Six patients are still in serious condition.

At the initiative of Ukraine, a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council was convened on April 8 in response to the terrorist act of April 4, at which foreign delegations strongly condemned the Russian missile attack on Kryvy Rih.

Sybiha reported that Ukraine initiated an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council after the Russian ballistic missile strike on Kryvy Rih.
UN sees 'significant slowdown' in Myanmar fighting since truce



Geneva, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Fighting has slowed significantly in quake-hit Myanmar since a temporary truce began last week, the UN said Tuesday, urging a complete end to hostilities to deliver aid and allow recovery work to begin.

A multi-sided conflict has engulfed Myanmar since 2021, when Min Aung Hlaing's military wrested power from the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Following reports of sporadic clashes even after the March 28 quake that so far has killed more than 3,600 people, the junta joined its opponents last week in calling a temporary halt to hostilities for relief to be delivered.

But the UN noted reports of the military continuing to carry out strikes even after the truce.

"Even after the announcement of the unilateral ceasefire, there have been military actions," said Titon Mitra, who represents the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) in Myanmar.

"We're not necessarily seeing a complete cessation of hostilities," he told journalists in Geneva, speaking from Mandalay in Myanmar.

But, he added, there had certainly been "a very, very significant slowdown and we hope that does translate into a cessation of hostile facilities across the board".

"We're hoping that creates a space to be able to reach everyone in need, irrespective of their affiliations," he said, adding that "aid has to be provided impartially".

The UN has not had difficulty delivering aid in urban areas and areas under military control, Mitra said.

A number of non-governmental organisations were also trying to deliver aid in areas under mixed control or in rebel-controlled areas.

"But whether that translates into full and free access, I think it's too early to say," Mitra acknowledged.



- 'Very high risk' -



Mitra highlighted the towering needs, warning that the devastation wreaked by the earthquake was "probably the second most deadly and devastating disaster since 1900, following Nargis" -- the deadly 2018 cyclone.

"The health system is completely overwhelmed, hospitals are unable to cope with the number of patients they are dealing with, (and) there's an incredible short supply of medicines and medical supplies," he said.

At the same time, sanitation is becoming a "big issue", he said, highlighting broken water pipes and a lack of latrines, leading to a "very high risk of waterborne diseases".

The devastation caused by the quake has compounded deep existing vulnerabilities, he said, pointing to widespread food insecurity, with nearly 40 million people in Myanmar living below the subsistence level even before the disaster.
Anthrax kills 50 hippos in Africa's oldest nature reserve



Goma, DR Congo, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Anthrax poisoning has killed about 50 hippos in Virunga, Africa's oldest national park located in the Democratic Republic of Congo's troubled east, the head of the park told AFP on Tuesday.

It is caused by a spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus anthracis, which survives for decades in soil where animals that died of anthrax or were carriers were buried. It is transmissible to humans and potentially fatal in its inhaled form.

The hippopotamuses were found floating in a river south of Lake Edward, which separates the DRC from Uganda, park director Emmanuel de Merode said.

The local office of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) in the North Kivu province, where the hippos were found floating, recommended precautionary measures including avoiding eating bushmeat.

"Although this disease mainly affects wildlife, it poses a potential risk of transmission to humans as well as domestic animals," said the body, which manages national parks in the DRC.

Virunga was established in 1925 and is renowned for its wildlife, particularly mountain gorillas, and magnificent landscapes.

It is also located at the heart of the conflicts that have been tearing the eastern DRC apart for the past 30 years.

Hippopotamuses and other mammals have already fallen victim to anthrax several times in Virunga and other nature reserves in Africa.
Myanmar garment manufacturers warn US tariffs imperil quake recovery



Yangon, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Myanmar's garment manufacturers have warned that US tariffs threaten to hobble the country's recovery from a devastating earthquake, as the death toll rose to 3,645 on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs will see the Southeast Asian country hit with a 44 percent tax on US imports as it reels from last month's tremor which razed thousands of homes, schools and monasteries in its central belt.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said on Tuesday evening that 148 people remained missing from the March 28 quake as fatalities hit 3,645, with 5,017 people injured.

The Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA) said the tariffs due to take effect from Wednesday were causing "considerable concern" in an industry employing more than 500,000 people, mostly young women.

"Amid Myanmar's current challenging context, the new tariffs will increase the vulnerability of Myanmar businesses that have been struggling to stay afloat," the group said in a statement on Monday evening.

"The recent devastating earthquake... will only exacerbate the many challenges confronting Myanmar businesses and communities," it added.

Bilateral trade was worth an estimated $734 million last year, with Myanmar exports worth $656.5 million -- down 23.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative.

The earthquake has compounded the economic woes of the country gripped by a civil war since the military seized power in a 2021 coup.

With the junta at the helm, Myanmar has become internationally isolated and sanctioned while its territory has split into areas controlled by the military, anti-coup guerillas and ethnic armed factions.

Half the population of 51 million live in poverty while more than 3.5 million people are displaced.

The MGMA asked the United States to consider "a more lenient rate in light of the country's multiple crises".

Myanmar has already been hit hard by Trump's overhaul of Washington's foreign policy.

In one of his first acts back in office, he paused a refugee scheme through which Myanmar citizens fleeing the war-torn country ranked among the largest number of beneficiaries in recent years.

Trump's decision to eviscerate Washington's humanitarian budget -- spearheaded by his top donor and the world's richest man Elon Musk -- has also battered the nation.

The World Food Programme said it was forced to slash vital aid to one million people in Myanmar starting this month after the cuts contributed to "critical funding shortfalls".
World's 'exceptional' heat streak lengthens into March



Paris, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2025



Global temperatures hovered at historic highs in March, the EU agency that monitors climate change said on Tuesday, prolonging an unprecedented heat streak that has pushed the bounds of scientific explanation.

In Europe, it was the hottest March ever recorded by a significant margin, said the Copernicus Climate Change Service. That drove rainfall extremes across a continent warming faster than any other, as planet-heating fossil fuel emissions keep rising.

The world meanwhile saw the second-hottest March in the Copernicus dataset, sustaining a near-unbroken spell of record or near-record-breaking temperatures that has persisted since July 2023.

Since then, virtually every month has been at least 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than it was before the industrial revolution, when humans began burning massive amounts of coal, oil and gas.

March was 1.6C above pre-industrial times, extending an anomaly so unusual that scientists are still trying to fully explain it.

"That we're still at 1.6C above preindustrial is indeed remarkable," said Friederike Otto of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London.

"We're very firmly in the grip of human-caused climate change," she told AFP.

Scientists had predicted the extreme run of global temperatures would subside after a warming El Nino event peaked in early 2024, but they have stubbornly lingered well into 2025.

"We are still experiencing extremely high temperatures worldwide. This is an exceptional situation," Robert Vautard, a leading scientist with the United Nations' climate expert panel IPCC, told AFP.



- 'Climate breakdown' -



Scientists warn that every fraction of a degree of global warming increases the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall and droughts.

Climate change is not just about rising temperatures but the knock-on effect of all that extra heat being trapped in the atmosphere and seas by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane.

Warmer seas mean higher evaporation and greater moisture in the atmosphere, causing heavier deluges and feeding energy into storms.

This also affects global rainfall patterns.

March in Europe was 0.26C above the previous hottest record for the month set in 2014, Copernicus said.

Some parts of the continent experienced the "driest March on record and others their wettest" for about half a century, said Samantha Burgess of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which runs the Copernicus climate monitor.

Bill McGuire, a climate scientist from University College London, said the contrasting extremes "shows clearly how a destabilised climate means more and bigger weather extremes".

"As climate breakdown progresses, more broken records are only to be expected," he told AFP.

Concerns over the global economy were dominating headlines at a time when India was enduring scorching heat and Australia was swamped by floods, said Helen Clarkson, CEO of Climate Group.

"The threat to the planet is existential, but our attention is elsewhere," Clarkson said.



- Puzzling heat -



The global heat surge pushed 2023 and then 2024 to be the hottest years on record.

Last year was also the first full calendar year to exceed 1.5C -- the safer warming limit agreed by most nations under the Paris climate accord.

This single year breach does not represent a permanent crossing of the 1.5C threshold, which is measured over decades. But scientists warn the goal is slipping out of reach.

If the 30-year trend leading up to then continued, the world would hit 1.5C by June 2030.

Scientists are unanimous that burning fossil fuels has largely driven long-term global warming.

But they are less certain about what else might have contributed to this record heat spike.

Vautard said there were "phenomena that remain to be explained," but the exceptional temperatures still fell within the upper range of scientific projections of climate change.

Experts think changes in global cloud patterns, airborne pollution and Earth's ability to store carbon in natural sinks like forests and oceans could be among factors contributing to the planet overheating.

Scientists say the current period is likely to be the warmest the Earth has been for the last 125,000 years.
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The US retailer launches its new premium line, named GapStudio, in the UK today (8th April).

Designed by the brands new creative director Zac Posen, the line features silk slip dresses, tailored shirts, pleated macs and new colourways of the so-called Anne Hathaway dress  named after the shirtdress Posen created for the actress to wear to a Bvlgari event last year.

The collection, made up of elevated basics, channels Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs wardrobe, that has recently been in high demand following the release of her Netflix reality show.

The collection also coincides with Meghans podcast launch, Confessions of a Female Founder, which debuts today.

Posen, who joined the label in February 2024, oversees all Gaps brands including Old Navy and Banana Republic.

The designer is known for dressing A-listers in timeless classics on the red carpet. He memorably made a custom Gap shirtdress for Anne Hathaway last year, which subsequently went viral.

He himself is so glamorous, but in a way that feels very innate and casual, Hathaway told Vogue of the custom shirtdress, and thats how the dress made me feel: very light and very glamorous.

Posen has also dressed Wicked star Cynthia Erivo at the CFDA Fashion Awards, designed a black knit maxi dress for Demi Moore at the San Francisco Film Awards and designed a satin two-piece for Timothee Chalamet at the Oscar nominee dinner in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Since joining Gap, Posen has worked on transforming the preppy American store into an elevated clothing giant that isnt out of place on a red carpet.

This new premium collection aims to be a more fashion-forward big sister to Gaps basic range. Much like Massimo Dutti is to Zara, or Cos to H&M, GapStudio is set to be the high streets next most coveted quiet luxury line.

With prices ranging from 50 for a vest to 225 for that trench, its elevated quality is reflected in its elevated price.

Inside Gaps New York headquarters, weve built a creative studio where Ive designed looks for the red carpet, and where we will continue to collaborate with visionary talent in the future, Posen says.

GapStudio Collection 01 reflects that vision  blending tailoring with innovative denim treatments that sculpt and refine the fabric in new ways.

This is just the beginning.
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Ben & Jerrys is celebrating Free Cone Day on Tuesday.

The Vermont-based ice cream brand will once again be giving away free ice cream at their stores from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time. Customers will be able to locate their nearest Ben & Jerrys on the companys website.

Free Cone Day has always been about gratitude  we want to thank our fans for being the best fans in the world with free ice cream and a moment of pure joy, Ben & Jerrys former CEO Dave Stever said in a press release.

This year, more than ever, we're reminded how powerful those small moments of happiness can be. We can't wait to connect with our fans over a scoop of ice cream on the most Ben & Jerry-est day of the year!

The company has been celebrating Free Cone Day on April 8 for decades, dating back to 1979 when they used the holiday to thank their customers for helping them survive their first winter in Vermont.

Compared to Dairy Queens Free Cone Day earlier this year, Ben & Jerrys allows a free scoop in any flavor and encourages customers to finish their scoop before returning to the line and ordering another one. No minimum purchase is required to participate in the chains Free Cone Day.

Ben & Jerrys celebrated their first Free Cone Day in 1979 ( Getty Images )

Last month, on March 20, Dairy Queen offered free small vanilla cones for their own Free Cone Day. Customers who opted to add a chocolate dip to their free vanilla cone for only $1 supported the non-profit organization Children Miracle Network Hospitals.

Whether you only have one cone a year, or if you have one cone every day of the year, make sure to stop at Dairy Queen to get a free cone featuring our world-famous DQ soft serve, the company said in a press release at the time.

With no strings or stress attached, this day brings nothing but pure joy. Make it a family outing, grab your best bud, or take yourself out on a Free Cone Day outing  theres no wrong way to celebrate.

Ben & Jerrys was first founded in 1978 after Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield took a $5 correspondence course in ice cream-making at Penn State. They then took a $12,000 investment to open up their first ice cream scoop shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont.

As of 2019, there are 558 Ben & Jerrys locations worldwide across more than 35 countries.
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Parents are increasingly confused about how to care for their children's eyesight, even as rates of myopia in children continue to climb, according to new research.

Experts warn that the proportion of short-sighted children in the UK has doubled in the last half-century, with projections suggesting half the population could be myopic by 2050.

This alarming trend is highlighted by optometrist Professor Bruce Evans, visiting professor at City St Georges and London South Bank University.

Despite growing awareness of the increasing prevalence of myopia, a recent survey conducted by the parenting network Mumsnet reveals a significant gap in parental understanding of how to address the issue.

open image in gallery Make an eye test a priority for your child ( PA )

The survey suggests parents are often unsure about the best course of action for their children's vision. This uncertainty underscores the need for clearer information and guidance for parents navigating the challenges of childhood myopia.

Eye tests lower priority than dental check-ups

The research, which was commissioned by the UK optical community  the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO), the College of Optometrists and the Optical Suppliers Association (OSA)  found childrens visits to the optometrist are lower priority for their parents than dental visits  89% of parents consider dental check-ups very important, while only 79% feel the same about eye tests.

In addition, one in 10 parents sees no reason to take their child to the optometrist unless an issue is flagged as concerning, and one in five parents does not know that school vision screenings arent the same as a full eye test.

The Mumsnet survey indicates theres some awareness among mothers that the proportion of children with myopia in the UK has doubled, but less awareness about what to do, for example more time outdoors, and regular eye examinations with an optometrist, says Professor Evans.

And Rhiannon Evans, Mumsnets head of communications, comments: Parents know eye health is important, but Mumsnet users tell us theyre often unsure about how and when to get their childrens eyes tested  sometimes assuming that schools automatically take care of it.

Its clear theres a huge amount of confusion around childrens eye health, and while dental check-ups are a priority, eye tests often arent.

Our survey highlights how families would benefit from clearer guidance around childrens eye health. Giving parents the right information is essential to helping them protect their childrens vision.

Annual eye tests

open image in gallery Regular tests are key to staying on top of your childs vision ( PA )

The College of Optometrists recommends that children under 16 have their eyes tested annually, starting from around the age of three (routine eye checks are offered to newborn babies and young children to identify any problems early on), unless they have vision problems or are short-sighted, in which case they should be tested more frequently.

Children under 16, as well as those aged 16-18 in full-time education, get the cost of their eye test covered by the NHS. Children in these groups will also get a voucher towards the cost of a pair of glasses, which may cover the full cost or can be used towards more expensive options.

Professor Evans says short-sightedness, which usually starts after the age of five years, is the most common problem to significantly affect childrens vision.

One key cause of confusion is many parents dont realise that not all areas of the country have child vision screening, he says, pointing out that screening typically only occurs once, at the age of four to five years.

So, in most cases myopia will be missed by vision screening, he explains, stressing that parents often dont realise children dont always report poor vision and so need to have regular eye examinations with an optometrist.

Struggling to see in class

open image in gallery Seeing clearly (Exeter Eyewear/PA)

The College of Optometrists says that apart from the social and educational problems caused by poor vision, there are less well-known longer-term aspects. Even low levels of myopia predispose a person to serious ocular conditions later in life, particularly in relation to detached retina, cataracts and glaucoma.

Myopia means that the white board in class will be blurred so children will struggle to see what the teacher writes, says Professor Evans. This will disadvantage them and, of course, their concentration in class isnt likely to be good if they cant see what the teachers writing.

Because myopia comes on gradually, children may not realise their vision is worsening.

Refusing to wear glasses

In the open comments section of the survey, one respondent said: I work in a secondary school as a teaching assistant and am always surprised by the amount of students that complain they cant read the board, yet dont have glasses and have never been tested.

Also, there are students who do have glasses, but refuse to wear them in school.

Indeed, Evans points out that wearing glasses being perceived as uncool can be a barrier to childrens vision being corrected. Parents also worry about the impact that wearing glasses or eye patches might have on their childs confidence or self-esteem.

But Professor Evans says: Thankfully, the days of standard NHS glasses are long gone. Nowadays, NHS funding for childrens glasses is via a voucher, so children can choose glasses they like and this helps to encourage wear. For children who dont like glasses, contact lenses can be a good option.

The survey found the majority of parents (85 per cent) believe limiting screen time is the best way to keep childrens vision healthy, followed by eating plenty of fruit and vegetables (69 per cent), and spending time outdoors (57 per cent).

And Professor Evans says research suggests there are several factors that can adversely affect childrens vision, including lack of time outdoors, early educational pressures, and use of smartphones, tablets, etc.

He says: The Mumsnet survey revealed concerns about smartphones, but less awareness of the importance of time outdoors. This is probably more important than smartphones, and parents should aim for two hours plus outdoor time a day.

Avoiding holding near vision too close is also important and probably applies as much to books as to smartphones and tablets.
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A new study has found a link between diabetes during pregnancy and an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and ADHD in children.

Chinese researchers, who conducted a meta-analysis, said while more research is needed, diligent monitoring of blood sugar levels throughout pregnancy is imperative.

The analysis included 202 studies, including more than 56 million pregnancies. Of these, 110 studies looked at gestational diabetes  which develops during pregnancy and usually goes away after birth  and 80 looked at pre-gestational diabetes, when a woman has a type 1 or type 2 diabetes diagnosis before pregnancy.

The analysis found that the children of mothers with diabetes in pregnancy had a 28 per cent increased risk of having any neurodevelopmental disorder compared to children whose mothers did not have the condition, even in studies which accounted for other factors that might explain the association.

Researchers also found there was a 25 per cent increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a 30 per cent increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a 32 per cent increased risk of intellectual disability.

open image in gallery The analysis found that the children of mothers with diabetes in pregnancy had a 28 per cent increased risk of having a neurodevelopmental disorder ( PA Archive )

Risks were higher in women who had diabetes before pregnancy compared to women who developed gestational diabetes.

Researchers said that the diligent monitoring of maternal glycaemic concentrations throughout pregnancy is imperative.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to assess neurodevelopmental outcomes in children born to mothers with specific types of diabetes, the team added.

They also warned that while the findings, published in The Lancet, provide novel insights into the potential risks, they should be interpreted with caution.

Symptoms of gestational diabetes NHS Gestational diabetes does not usually cause any symptoms. However, some women may develop symptoms if their blood sugar levels get too high, such as: increased thirst

needing to pee more often than usual

a dry mouth

tiredness

blurred eyesight

genital itching or thrush

Responding to the study, Lucilla Poston, a professor of maternal and foetal health at Kings College London, said: The human foetus is exquisitely vulnerable to changes in its environment which may affect life-long health.

She added that the well conducted review benefits from a focus on studies that ruled out several factors, such as maternal obesity or socioeconomic status which could explain the association.

While the conclusion is that children born to mothers with diabetes are at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, all contributing studies were observational, with no attempt to intervene to prevent any effect, and causality must be treated with caution, Prof Poston said.

As appreciated by the authors, interpretation may be complicated by effects of diabetes treatment, and the international non-conformity in the diagnosis of gestational diabetes.

However, other evidence does imply causality, including many studies in experimental animals.

Also, data is emerging from MRI imaging of the brains of children exposed to maternal diabetes, showing structural and functional changes in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain intricately involved in both mental and physical health.

For this and other reasons, diabetes prevention, screening and treatment remain critically important not only for the health of the mother, but also her child.
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

Although increasing numbers of children are short-sighted, new research suggests parents are confused about how to look after their childrens vision.

Experts including optometrist Professor Bruce Evans, visiting professor at City St Georges and London South Bank University, say studies show the proportion of children with myopia (aka short-sightedness) in the UK has doubled over the past 50 years or so, and half of the population is expected to be myopic by 2050.

But while many parents know myopia is becoming increasingly common, a new survey by the parenting network Mumsnet suggests theyre not always sure what to do about it.

Eye tests lower priority than dental check-ups

The research, which was commissioned by the UK optical community  the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO), the College of Optometrists and the Optical Suppliers Association (OSA)  found childrens visits to the optometrist are lower priority for their parents than dental visits  89% of parents consider dental check-ups very important, while only 79% feel the same about eye tests.

In addition, one in 10 parents sees no reason to take their child to the optometrist unless an issue is flagged as concerning, and one in five parents does not know that school vision screenings arent the same as a full eye test.

The Mumsnet survey indicates theres some awareness among mothers that the proportion of children with myopia in the UK has doubled, but less awareness about what to do, for example more time outdoors, and regular eye examinations with an optometrist, says Professor Evans.

And Rhiannon Evans, Mumsnets head of communications, comments: Parents know eye health is important, but Mumsnet users tell us theyre often unsure about how and when to get their childrens eyes tested  sometimes assuming that schools automatically take care of it.

Its clear theres a huge amount of confusion around childrens eye health, and while dental check-ups are a priority, eye tests often arent.

Our survey highlights how families would benefit from clearer guidance around childrens eye health. Giving parents the right information is essential to helping them protect their childrens vision.

Annual eye tests

The College of Optometrists recommends that children under 16 have their eyes tested annually, starting from around the age of three (routine eye checks are offered to newborn babies and young children to identify any problems early on), unless they have vision problems or are short-sighted, in which case they should be tested more frequently.

Children under 16, as well as those aged 16-18 in full-time education, get the cost of their eye test covered by the NHS. Children in these groups will also get a voucher towards the cost of a pair of glasses, which may cover the full cost or can be used towards more expensive options.

Professor Evans says short-sightedness, which usually starts after the age of five years, is the most common problem to significantly affect childrens vision.

One key cause of confusion is many parents dont realise that not all areas of the country have child vision screening, he says, pointing out that screening typically only occurs once, at the age of four to five years.

So, in most cases myopia will be missed by vision screening, he explains, stressing that parents often dont realise children dont always report poor vision and so need to have regular eye examinations with an optometrist.

Struggling to see in class

The College of Optometrists says that apart from the social and educational problems caused by poor vision, there are less well-known longer-term aspects. Even low levels of myopia predispose a person to serious ocular conditions later in life, particularly in relation to detached retina, cataracts and glaucoma.

Myopia means that the white board in class will be blurred so children will struggle to see what the teacher writes, says Professor Evans. This will disadvantage them and, of course, their concentration in class isnt likely to be good if they cant see what the teachers writing.

Because myopia comes on gradually, children may not realise their vision is worsening.

Refusing to wear glasses

In the open comments section of the survey, one respondent said: I work in a secondary school as a teaching assistant and am always surprised by the amount of students that complain they cant read the board, yet dont have glasses and have never been tested.

Also, there are students who do have glasses, but refuse to wear them in school.

Indeed, Evans points out that wearing glasses being perceived as uncool can be a barrier to childrens vision being corrected. Parents also worry about the impact that wearing glasses or eye patches might have on their childs confidence or self-esteem.

But Professor Evans says: Thankfully, the days of standard NHS glasses are long gone. Nowadays, NHS funding for childrens glasses is via a voucher, so children can choose glasses they like and this helps to encourage wear. For children who dont like glasses, contact lenses can be a good option.

The survey found the majority of parents (85%) believe limiting screen time is the best way to keep childrens vision healthy, followed by eating plenty of fruit and vegetables (69%), and spending time outdoors (57%).

And Professor Evans says research suggests there are several factors that can adversely affect childrens vision, including lack of time outdoors, early educational pressures, and use of smartphones, tablets, etc.

He says: The Mumsnet survey revealed concerns about smartphones, but less awareness of the importance of time outdoors. This is probably more important than smartphones, and parents should aim for two hours plus outdoor time a day.

Avoiding holding near vision too close is also important and probably applies as much to books as to smartphones and tablets.
Photo: https://www.president.gov.ua/

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever announced a EUR 1 billion aid package for Ukraine in Kyiv.

"Our Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot is here, as well as our Defense Minister, who is proud to announce a new decision on a one billion aid package for 2025 with the ambition to provide at least one billion each year during my term in bilateral military aid," De Wever said during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In addition, the Belgian Prime Minister said that country's Defense Minister Theo Francken "has a list of things that we are going to do in a very short time."

Zelenskyy thanked Belgium for the provided aid package.
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The number of unread books in the UK would stretch a third of the way to the moon.

This stat stops me in my tracks while browsing my inbox one morning. That sounds like an awful lot of books, doesnt it? Although, when its broken down, maybe not. According to research conducted by the Ideal Home Show, UK adults have an average of 12.6 unread books in their homes.

Twelve unread books? Pah! Thats nothing, I think. Not when I consider the ex who would finally finish one of the hundreds of psychotherapy tomes that had steadily taken over our one-bed flat, only to reward himself by purchasing another five online.

There are a raft of memes depicting the practice of buying more books than one can read  including the endlessly repurposed stock image of the guy checking out another woman while walking with his outraged girlfriend (Me, New books at the bookstore, and The unread, untouched books that I have sitting at home read the relatable captions).

The Japanese even have a term for the concept: tsundoku, which literally translates to pile of books to read. There is very little in the way of judgement, though  as the memes suggest, the practice comes with a wry self-deprecation, an underlying note of pride rather than shame about being the kind of person who just cant stop buying books.

Being a bibliophile is seen as literary, highbrow  someone actively engaged in the noble pursuit of attaining knowledge. But lets be real: this may be the socially acceptable, middle-class face of overconsumption, but its overconsumption just the same.

Its not just reading material thats getting bought and mothballed. According to one 2023 piece of research by resource-sharing app Olio, nearly a third of the possessions in a typical UK home are unused. A survey of 2,000 adults found that, of those who were reluctant to have a clearout, 32 per cent had simply forgotten they owned the items in the first place.

Every single home we went into  youd take stuff away, and theyd be really happy about it. But they go shopping, and theres more of a sense of guilt around it James Wallman

Its perhaps unsurprising when considering that the number of physical possessions we have has skyrocketed over the past hundred years, ever since the rise of materialism in the 1920s. Recent research from insurer Aviva strongly suggests that UK residents own considerably more items than they did even five years ago, and that the value of those items has risen by 38 per cent. In other words, stuff may cost more, but were also buying more of it.

Part of the blame can be laid firmly at the feet of modern ecommerce. The ease with which you can buy anything from anywhere at any time  and have it delivered to your home in under 24 hours  is truly astounding. Amazon was notorious in pioneering the one-click ordering system, which allowed customers to purchase items with the single touch of a mouse button; preloved apps like Vinted have made buying swathes of cheap, mass-produced clothes feel somehow environmentally superior to doing a shopping haul from Shein (though research suggests this isnt the case). And then theres the gamification of shopping by brands that have implemented powerful psychological techniques to keep customers coming back for more. In 2024, the European Commission even announced it was investigating Temu for the risks linked to the addictive design of the service.

Of course, buying is only half of the equation. The other is hanging onto all our newly acquired things while failing to cull our existing possessions to make way for them. But, while many of us may struggle not to overfill our homes, its important to distinguish between this and the far more serious hoarding disorder. Recognised as an official mental health condition by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), its defined as the persistent difficulty to discard or part with possessions, regardless of their actual value; distress associated with discarding; and the accumulation of possessions that congest and clutter someones living space.

Jack Moore, founder and director of Respect My Stuff, which offers de-hoarding services alongside training for social workers and housing associations, says that many of the cases that are presented to him as hoarding are actually better defined as extreme clutter.

Its built up, usually when someone has depression, where they cant motivate themselves to sort things out because theyre so low, he says. Then all the stuff just builds up  the dirty washing, the split bin bags  until the person becomes completely overwhelmed. This is distinct to hoarding disorder, he clarifies, because if someone offers to come in and clear everything away, the client is happy to capitulate. Not so with someone who displays hoarding tendencies. Theyll start going, Oh no, you cant touch that. You cant take that, explains Moore. Now were talking about hoarding.

open image in gallery Were phone-bound, were home-bound; were not getting out and spending time with people. And buying more stuff is not going to make you more happy ( Getty/iStock )

He defines hoarding as a disproportionate attachment to stuff, and it can apply to anything. Lets return to books, for example. Moore tells me about a man who had filled his entire house with them, acquiring more and more until the bathtub, walk-in shower and even the oven were stacked with beautiful towers of tomes.

Theres a big difference, too, between collecting and hoarding; someone engaging in the former is able to organise, prioritise, and give away or sell parts of their collection once theyve reached their limit in terms of space.

There are, Moore says, indications that middle-class cases of extreme cluttering could be on the rise. Previously a rarity, the number of private, self-funded clients who have been in touch with him in the last two years has seen a marked uptick. The service usually costs several thousand pounds. These are certainly not people on lower incomes, says Moore. In some of these cases, he cites excess buying from Amazon as being a core issue. Hes gone into homes, seen the piles of tell-tale brown boxes, and asked whats inside. Theyll often say they dont know  the place is just full of stuff theyve bought, he recalls. The other day we had someone with five unopened air fryers.

At the less extreme end of the spectrum, Vicky Silverthorn has worked with thousands of private clients since launching her professional home organising business, You Need a Vicky, 15 years ago. When she started, the home organising trend was in its infancy. Now, its exploded in popularity; Silverthorn has gone from a one-man band to managing a team of 10, with the business having just experienced its busiest month on record.

Decluttering has gained traction in part due to shows like Stacey Solomons Sort Your Life Out and The Home Edit, and global sensations like Marie Kondo (and her whimsical invitation to ask whether your possessions spark joy). Social media  particularly Instagram  has also been hugely influential, with masses of content showing people how to organise every inch of their homes using all manner of storage solutions. But parts of this online movement may have done more harm than good, warns Silverthorn.

I think since the rise of Instagram organisation pictures, someone goes online, goes click, click, click and orders 20 cheap jars and puts everything they own in those jars in their pantry, she says. That probably wont work for a lot of households, because it takes a lot to keep up that restocking. That storage is going to hinder your space, not enhance it, she says: Unplanned storage actually creates extra clutter.

The way to move forward is that we see something, we like it, and we recognise that we can just admire it  we dont have to own it Vicky Silverthorn, professional home organiser

But why does it matter if we accumulate ever-increasing amounts of stuff, as long as its vaguely under control? Well, aside from the environmental damage inherent in mass production, consumption and waste, it has been scientifically proven not to make us happy.

So found James Wallman, CEO of the World Experience Organization (WXO), when he started researching his book Stuffocation: Living More with Less. One of the things that came through was that experiences are better than material goods at making us happy. Lots of social science does not replicate, but this has been replicated a whole bunch of times.

It was kind of a watershed thing, he says  a moment that convinced Wallman to start evangelising about shifting our focus from materialism to experientialism. Theres a problem with the environment, problems with wellbeing in our society, ongoing, growing issues with loneliness, he says. Were phone-bound, were home-bound; were not getting out and spending time with people. And buying more stuff is not going to make you more happy.

This observation that physical things dont necessarily equate to contentment is something Silverthorn has experienced first hand over the years. Every single home we went into  youd take stuff away, and theyd be really happy about it. But they go shopping, and theres more of a sense of guilt around it.

Decluttering went deeper than the surface level of having a tidy home, she noticed. It gave them this headspace like nothing else. You go deep down into the roots of it, and its another level of feel-good.

So how do you know if you have a problem with too much stuff  stuffocation, as Wallman might call it  and what can you do to cut back? Silverthorn says its an issue worth addressing if your surroundings are making you feel negative in any way, if you feel overwhelmed by your space, or if the amount of stuff in your space is physically getting in your way. And if youre spending too much money on things, she adds. For the majority of people who want to really look at what theyre spending, seeing your surroundings in a different way, clutter-free and organised, will help you on that journey to buying less  youll see how much easier and freeing it is, and youre more likely to stay on that road with a bit of work.

open image in gallery If you want to increase your chances of happiness, spend on experiences, not stuff ( Gett/iStock )

Moore has one simple rule: one in, one out. If you want to buy something new, you have to get rid of something of at least the same volume first. No exceptions. Stick to that, and you cant go far wrong.

Changing your mindset and learning to differentiate between want and need is Silverthorns advice. We see something, we like it, so we buy it, she says. The way to move forward is that we see something, we like it, and we recognise that we can just admire it  we dont have to own it.

Figuring out how many hours labour it would take to afford an item youre planning on buying can also be a powerful tool. It gives you a different perspective on whether you want it or not, when you go, Wow, Ive got to work five hours just to buy this, says Silverthorn. And participating in the sharing economy instead of purchasing something new is a great way to swerve more clutter. Something like an electric drill has got a usage on average of something like seven minutes, she finishes. Always ask yourself whether you could borrow and not buy.

Wallman is so convinced that we should be swapping consuming goods for consuming experiences to improve our lives, hes launching the inaugural London Experience Week at the end of April, an event designed to connect people across the global experience economy and showcase what they can do.

If you want to increase your chances of happiness, spend on experiences, not stuff, he says simply. Its not just about spending money, he clarifies: A walk in the park or going down to the beach or going out in the forest or seeing some friends doesnt need to cost a lot.

In fact, its about a resource far more precious than money: time. As the clock ticks down, if you spend it scrolling, buying stuff, youre not going to help yourself. But if you can get yourself into that habit of spending on experiences its going to be better.
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London woman Jess Roberts has transformed her personal experience with pregnancy loss into a venture aimed at breaking the stigma surrounding miscarriage.

After losing her baby at seven weeks in July 2023, Ms Roberts sought a tangible way to commemorate her child and process her grief. Unable to find suitable mementos for early pregnancy loss, she commissioned a ring for herself.

The ring featured a small blueberry crafted from sterling silver, representing the size of her baby at the time of the miscarriage.

Following two difficult surgeries, including a near-sepsis complication, Ms Roberts realised other women might share her need for remembrance and support.

This inspired her to create Little Santi Designs, a jewellery company specialising in gestation indicator pendants. These pendants range from a poppy seed, symbolising the very beginning of life, to a banana, representing a 21-week pregnancy.

Ms Roberts' designs resonate deeply with women who have experienced similar losses. Since leaving her wellness job in February 2024 to focus on Little Santi Designs full-time, she now receives about 150 orders per week from grieving women worldwide.

open image in gallery The rings feature different fruits and vegetables, including peas in a pod ( Oliveeandphotos/PA Real Life )

"I wanted to do something to commemorate this little life and not be forced to brush past it or act like it never happened," Ms Roberts explained.

She believes theres still a stigma around discussing miscarriage openly, driven by a fear of making others uncomfortable.

However, she says that "support is out there though and you shouldnt feel like you have to bottle it up or not speak about it".

Ms Roberts's own miscarriage was silent, meaning the baby had died but hadn't been physically miscarried. She underwent two dilation and curettage surgeries in August 2023.

Unfortunately, mine went wrong and I had to be rushed back in to have a second one, it was all very traumatic, Jess explained.

I was quite poorly and quite close to sepsis.

open image in gallery Ms Roberts wanted a piece of jewellery to show that her baby existed ( Collect/PA Real Life )

After the second operation, Jess was able to make a full recovery but the experience quickly left her wanting to find a way to commemorate the loss.

I wanted something for myself to show the baby had existed.

Jess said she started to look online but found nothing seemed fitting for her early pregnancy loss.

They have lovely things for later on but when I was looking, it just felt like there was nothing truly special enough, she explained.

After going onto her pregnancy app, Flo, to switch it back to not pregnant, which she said was horrible, Jess noticed the app displayed the size her baby had grown to  which was illustrated by different fruits for each week.

Thats the only thing I actually knew as a constant, the whole way through and even that early on, she said.

Jess designed a ring with a sterling silver blueberry pendant for her to wear which symbolised the size her baby had grown to at seven weeks.

open image in gallery Ms Roberts has designed 18 early gestation indicators for jewellery pendants ( Oliveeandphotos/PA Real Life )

She then realised other bereaved would-be mothers could also benefit from her creation.

I never really thought of it as a business idea, it was just a little passion project, she said.

I just thought there must be so many other people in the same position as me.

Jess then designed 18 early gestation indicators for jewellery pendants, concentrating on rings.

A poppy seed pendant symbolises the very start of life, a sesame seed represents five weeks, a lentil shows six weeks and a blueberry is used for seven weeks.

Jess also selected a strawberry to represent 10 weeks, a peach for 14 weeks and a mango for 19 weeks  going up to 21 weeks which is symbolised by a banana.

In December 2023, Jess launched the website for her company named Little Santi Designs  a nod to the baby she lost which she would have called Santi if it was a boy.

In January 2024, one of Jess TikTok videos showcasing the business went viral, causing it to boom in popularity until she was able to leave her former job in wellness in February and work on her company full time.

open image in gallery Jess Roberts receives about 150 orders each week ( Collect/PA Real Life )

Jess now receives about 150 orders each week and the rings, which are made in India and are priced at 38 for sterling silver or 64 for gold, have been shipped all around the world.

While Jess first hand-packaged each ring herself from her home, she has since enlisted the help of a warehouse based in Birmingham  but she will still stamp every box herself.

On the response from her customers, Jess said it has been overwhelming.

I didnt expect to find a community with it, she said.

The best bit has been people supporting each other and they can be from opposite sides of the world  its become a really nice support system.

Jess has also created a ring for those undergoing IVF treatment, symbolised by three small circles within a larger one, and she has also received requests for later pregnancy losses and male jewellery.

My ultimate goal now is that everyone feels there is something for them, she said.
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Meghan Markle has made a rare acknowledgement of the media backlash shes experienced in recent years.

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, has been at the centre of a frenzy since her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018, with every gesture, item of clothing, and business decision scrutinised and unpicked. Her husband Prince Harry told Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that tabloid racism was a large part of why the couple left the country to live in California.

Analysis from Statista in 2020 showed that Markle received overwhelmingly negative media coverage with 43 per cent of articles deemed negative, 36 per cent neutral, and only 20 per cent positive.

Between 2018 and 2019, she received twice as many negative headlines as positive ones, according to data. In comparison, headlines about Markles sister-in-law and Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, were 47 per cent neutral, 45 per cent positive with just 8 per cent considered negative.

Comparable content, including similar outfits and holding their baby bumps, sparked diametrically opposed treatment by newspapers.

For the first episode of her new podcast Confessions of a Female Founder, Markle interviewed Bumble founder and close friend Whitney Wolfe Herd. The businesswoman unpacked the effects of online backlash following her departure from Tinder.

open image in gallery Markle said she chose to ( Getty Images )

When I see the way that youve been treated in the media, which is a magnitude Ill never understand, my heart breaks for you. Its not fair, and its brutalising, Herd told Markle.

The Duchess agreed, saying: Well, maybe because you understand it in whatever degree, you know how to show up for me.

Herd then recalled an experience of walking through an Irish airport and seeing Markle on the cover of every single magazine and newspaper.

Recalling her surprise, Herd said: Im in Ireland  [youre] back home in California doing school drop-off, [youre] the front page of every single one of these things.

I know, Markle agreed. Herd then praised her for her ability to exist even in the presence of that, adding: That takes a very strong cookie.

open image in gallery Meghan Markle has declared that she is going to be myself and talk and be unfiltered in her new Spotify podcast ( Archewell Audio/Spotify )

The Bumble founder went on to recall not leaving her house, avoiding people and feeling humiliated.

Speaking about their shared experience, Markle said: We turtle  a reference to the instinct to hide away in a shell.

The pair then shared how they overcame their challenges.

No matter what point youre at theres going to be a point where youre going to take a hit and youre going to have to decide whether youre going to cower, or if youre going to conquer or rise above it, Markle said.

Markle announced plans for her new podcast shortly after the release of her Netflix cooking show With Love, Meghan. Produced by Lemonada Media, the eight-part series debuted on Tuesday morning (8 April), and will explore her experiences as an entrepreneur, as she hosts fellow female business owners.
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More than 2.7 million Brits secretly suspect their neighbours of parcel pinching, new data has claimed.

In the UK, one in 10 adults have fallen victim to parcel theft, with delivery companies often being blamed for leaving parcels unattended on doorsteps or hidden in porches.

However, according to a new study from curtains specialists Hilarys, many of us are spying on our neighbours out of suspicion that they are the ones doing the parcel pinching.

The research found that the city with the most residents paranoid about their neighbours stealing packages was Norwich, where one in ten residents were suspicious of those living nearby.

Following closely behind in second place was London, where one in twelve (8 per cent) of residents admit they keep a watchful eye on their neighbours due to their suspicions of parcel theft.

Manchester placed third in the ranking, where 7.6 per cent of locals believed their neighbours were responsible for missing parcels.

Data recorded by Citizens Advice Bureau in 2021 found that more than 7 million people (13 per cent of UK adults) have experienced a parcel issue relating to driver pressure. This included the driver leaving before the customer could get to the door, or leaving the parcel in an insecure place like a doorstep or bin.

It found that in a single week, almost 3 million people (6 per cent of UK adults) missed a parcel because they didnt have time to get to the door.

open image in gallery In the UK, one in 10 adults have fallen victim to parcel theft ( Pexels/@kindelmedia )

A year later, a Penn Elcom Global Parcel Theft Report found that more than eight million parcels were lost or stolen between May 2021 and April 2022, with missing items costing customers an estimated 320 million in missing goods.

If you want to approach a neighbour about a missing parcel but wish to avoid awkward confrontation, etiquette expert Jo Hayes has recommended being polite and respectful and present the situation clearly.

In this instance, ensure you approach your neighbour when youre feeling calm and centred - not when youre annoyed or angry about your parcel disappearing. Let your emotions cool first, Hayes told the curtain specialists.

She recommended saying: Hi there. Recently, Ive had several packages go missing after delivery. I dont suppose youve seen or noticed anything suspicious near my place? This hits the right tone  its not at all accusatory.

Hayes added: Pay attention to how they respond. Most humans are not actually good liars. You can usually tell if someones response is off.

Respond with something like, Well, if you could keep an eye out, Id be grateful. Ill be asking a few neighbours to do the same, so I'm sure well catch the thief soon enough. This is perfect, as it lets the possible thief know that youve got people on the lookout. I daresay, if they are the thief, theyll reconsider any plans to continue.
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A Belgian prince has lost a legal battle to claim social security benefits on top of his six-figure royal allowance.

Prince Laurent, 61, who is the youngest brother of King Philippe, received 388,000 (295,850) from state funds last year.

However, without social security coverage he is not able to claim reimbursement for certain medical expenses or sick pay if he is unable to work.

He argued he was partly self-employed, as well as his royal duties, he runs an animal welfare charity and explained he was acting out of principle, not for the money.

When a migrant comes here, he registers, he has a right to [social security], Laurent told Belgian broadcaster RTBF.

open image in gallery Princess Claire and Prince Laurent attending annual mass in the church of Notre-Dame de Laeken in Brussels ( EPA )

I may be a migrant too, but one whose family established the state in place.

But a Brussels court found on Monday his duties were more akin to those in the civil service, where workers receive specific benefits but there is no overarching security system.

Laurents lawyer, Oliver Rijckaert, told Belgian newspaper Le Soir that social security is granted by Belgian law to all residents, from the most deprived to the richest.

His lawyer added that most of his allowance is spent on his assistants salary and travel expenses.

Laurent and his British wife, Claire Coombs, have three children who are now in their 20s.

However, he says he is concerned for his familys well-being because the royal allowance will be cut completely when he dies.

Laurent took legal action against the Belgian state after his application for social security was refused. A first hearing was held in November 2024.

In 2018, his annual state allowance was cut by 15 per cent after he met foreign dignitaries as a Chinese embassy reception without federal government approval.

He has also been given several speeding fines and was criticised for attending meetings in Libya when the late Muammar Gaddafi was still in power.
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Sam Visser, the 25-year-old beauty architect whos famously painted the faces of almost every Kardashian since he was 16, revealed the one technique he uses on all his clients to enhance their looks.

Visser shared his secrets during a private 40-minute makeup lesson held inside Yves Saint Laurent Beautys Love Game pop-up in Miami on April 4.

 For every person that I work on, and especially every woman that I work on, I love to curl the eyelashes, he told The Independent.

It changes the face, Visser continued. Also blush is a huge one as well. Really almost every single makeup look I do, I utilize blush in some sort of way. I always say blush is so scary. So, you really need to apply it soft and build it.

As for how to apply the blush like a professional, the California native, whos worked with Kylie Jenner for 10 years, suggested using a lighter hand motion and a bigger, fluffy brush, gently adding a little pigment with every stroke.

Especially if you dont have any powder on your face, its harder to take it off, Visser noted before pointing out that each side of the brush should be covered in the product before applying it to the higher points of the cheekbone, the center, and under the eyes.

open image in gallery Visser, whos worked with Kylie Jenner since he was 16, revealed the one step he always uses on his clients is curling the eyelashes ( Josh Aronson )

Visser prefers a smaller brush for a more precise and defined placement.

Two surprising tactics he often uses on his clients are placing blush on the eyelids and layering different colors on top of one another to add more dimension to the face.

Put it on the lid and move it out to the temple, Visser said, pointing out how this will create a lifted, youthful look.

Another product that can be intimidating for first-time makeup users but helps to accentuate the face is eyeshadow.

Visser advised against using a makeup brush to apply a more powdery eyeshadow to the eyelids, and instead, use your fingers to press the product into the skin to prevent it from falling.

For extra radiance, a glossy lip balm can be applied to the cheekbones to last all day.

The makeup connoisseurs last hack, which he uses all the time on set with Kylie Jenner, Kaia Gerber, and Bella Hadid, is to take a taupe brown eyeshadow and use it as a lip liner.

open image in gallery Ryan Destiny attends the YSL Beauty Love Club after-party in Miami on April 4 ( Getty Images for YSL Beauty )

This is a great lip contour. Im just going to use it on the edge of the lip, he said. Its more cool-toned, so its going to give a true contour. It highlights the lips more, it gives them dimension.

 I'm not saying that I'm responsible for the lip liner trend, but has been something I have observed as such a huge trend in the last five years, Visser continued.

From actor Ryan Destiny to reality star Nicole Richie, A-listers have recently been seen stepping out with bold lipliner reminiscent of Nineties fashion magazine covers.

open image in gallery Nicole Richie poses inside the YSL Beauty Love Club after-party held at Superblue in Miami ( Getty Images for YSL Beauty )

 When one famous person wears it, somebody else sees it, Visser said.

Destiny, Richie, and Precious Lee were among the many celebrities and influencers embellishing their night-time makeup with an extra sultry lip at YSL Beautys Love Club after-party following Vissers class, celebrating his new role as official Global Makeup Artist for the luxury brand.
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Tom Hankss daughter, E.A. Hanks, opened up about how her mother struggled to process the Forrest Gump actors growing fame.

E.A.  which stands for Elizabeth Anne  was the daughter of Hankss first wife, Susan Dillingham. The former couple also shared son Colin Hanks.

Dillingham and Hanks met as theater students at Sacramento State University and were married from 1978 to 1987.

In her new memoir, The 10: A Memoir of Family And The Open Road, E.A. embarks on a six-month-long road trip from Los Angeles to Palatka, Florida, where her mothers family is from, to learn more about her before she died from lung cancer in 2002.

Part of the book discusses Dillingham adjusting to Hankss rise after he shot to fame in the late Eighties with roles in films like Splash (1984), The Money Pit (1986), and Big (1988).

E.A. specifically writes that her mother was a would-be actress who never recovered from her ex-husbands catastrophic fame.

She didnt really have a career, and her ex-husband becoming the Tom Hanks was more insult to injury, E.A. (left) said about her mother ( Matthew Anderson/Getty Images )

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, E.A. said that she thought the word catastrophic was the best way to describe how Dillingham felt about her ex-husbands success.

She felt that his stature in the world obliterated her and any chance she had at continuing her stage career, she said. The uncomfortable truth, and theres a lot of them in this book, is she didnt really have a career, and her ex-husband becoming the Tom Hanks was more insult to injury than significant impediment.

She continued: Catastrophic also because that brand of megawatt fame erases what actually matters in an artist and what set my dad apart in the first place: humanity and talent. But I chose that word, catastrophic, not her.

Hanks went on to re-marry Rita Wilson in 1988, and they welcomed two sons: Chet in 1990 and Truman in 1995.

Despite her mother never receiving a formal diagnosis, E.A. assumed that her mother was bipolar with episodes of extreme paranoia and delusion.

During a portion of her memoir, E.A. said her mother slowly started to become more neglectful, leading to a switch in the custody arrangement meaning she and Colin would only see their mother on weekends and during the summer.

As the years went on, the backyard became so full of dog s*** that you couldnt walk around it, the house stank of smoke. The fridge was bare or full of expired food more often than not, and my mother spent more and more time in her big four-poster bed, poring over the Bible, her book read.

One night, her emotional violence became physical violence, and in the aftermath I moved to Los Angeles, right smack in the middle of the seventh grade.
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A New Jersey woman has been arrested and charged in what police describe as a murder-for-hire plot she attempted to set up with a Tinder match to kill her ex-boyfriend and his teenage daughter.

Jaclyn Diiorio, 26, allegedly offered a man she met on the Tinder dating app $12,000 to kill her ex-boyfriend  a 53-year-old officer in the Philadelphia Police Department  and his 19-year-old daughter.

Diiorio, from Runnemede, allegedly told the Tinder match in phone calls and text messages that she wished death upon her ex and his daughter, according to a Camden County criminal complaint obtained by NBC10.

Law enforcement officials in the Camden County Prosecutors Office were made aware of the alleged plot last Thursday after the man from Tinder informed police of Diiorios request.

open image in gallery Jaclyn Diiorio is charged in an alleged murder-for-hire plot ( Camden County Prosecutor's Office )

Diiorio was charged April 4 with one count of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of first-degree attempted murder and one count of third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance

The Independent has asked Diiorio for comment.

According to the complaint, Diiorio met up with the man from Tinder on March 31 at a Wawa convenience store in Runnemede. Between March 31 and April 3, the two exchanged messages in which Diiorio allegedly offered him money to kill her ex-boyfriend and his daughter.

Once the man informed police of the alleged plot, investigators interviewed the Philadelphia officer who was reportedly the intended target. He confirmed Diiorio was his ex-girlfriend and that the two had ended their relationship on March 6.

The Philly officer told investigators that his home was vandalized by a Molotov cocktail in September 22. Diiorio had also filed a temporary restraining order against him during the summer of 2024, but it was later dropped.

Diiorio and the man from Tinder then met on April 4 in Gloucester Township, where she provided the man with $500 in cash upfront in exchange for the killings, according to court documents.

Once the money was exchanged, Diiorio was taken into custody by Gloucester Township Police.

Diiorio was placed into custody at the Camden County Correctional Facility. It was not immediately clear if she had posted bail.

A detention hearing is set to occur on Wednesday.
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A doctor has denied trying to kill his wife with a rock on a birthday vacation in Hawaii, with his lawyer claiming there are two sides to every story.

Gerhardt Konig pleaded not guilty during a court hearing on Monday, after he was accused of an attack on his nuclear engineer wife Arielle Konig.

"Dr. Konig's not guilty plea this morning was not just a formality, but a substantive response to the allegation that he tried to kill his wife," Konigs lawyer Thomas Otake said in a statement, per Courthouse News Service.

"There are two sides to every story, and thus far only one side has been shared. The other side to this story will be shared within the court process at the appropriate time.

open image in gallery Konig denies the allegations against him ( Honolulu Police Dept )

Ms Konig, 36, alleges that when the pair were hiking along the Pali Puka Trail in Oahu last month her husband, 46, tried to lure her close by asking her to take a selfie with him, according to court documents seen by ABC News.

She claims that her husband began beating her head with a rock, 10 times, while grabbing the back of her head and pushing her face into the ground, as per the documents. A witness said she heard the woman screaming out for help, the court documents added.

The witness said the man stopped the attack as soon as he saw her, and she called 911, it is claimed.

The victim was left with multiple wounds to her face, and was hospitalized in a serious but stable condition, the court documents add. The couple had reportedly been on vacation to celebrate her birthday.

open image in gallery Police at the Pali Puka trail on Oahu, Hawaii ( Khon2/YouTube )

Ms Konig claimed in a subsequent statement, included in her petition for a restraining order, that the alleged attack was premeditated and came after years of emotional and physical abuse, per Courthouse News.

Her husband was arrested on March 24 and charged with second-degree attempted murder. His employer, the Anesthesia Medical Group, said he had since been suspended pending investigation, CBS News reports.

The Maui resident doctor formerly worked at UPMC in Pittsburgh, as an attending anesthesiologist at a women's hospital and an assistant professor of anesthesiology and bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Engineering, according to the New York Post.

He remains in custody at the Oahu Community Correctional Center and a tentative trial date has been set for June 9.
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An 11-year-old girl in New York who raced to call 911 after her uncle began stabbing her and her sisters is being hailed as a hero  and the likely reason she and her siblings are still alive.

On Sunday, police rushed to a home on 84th Street around 10:15 a.m. after the injured 11-year-old girl locked herself in her bedroom and called 911 to report that her uncle had gone on a stabbing rampage, according to the New York Post.

The girl did not know her address, police said, but officers were able to use information gathered from her phone to track her to an address in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

Police arrived within minutes and were let into the house by an uninjured child.

At that point they heard screams coming from behind the door to their left and immediately began forcing their way into the apartment, kicking down the door, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters during a briefing at the scene of the incident.

New York Police Department Chief John Chell and New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch during a press briefing at a Brooklyn home where a man attacked four young girls with a meat cleaver on April 6, 2025 ( CBS News )

When police entered the home, they found a man near the entrance holding a large, bloody meat cleaver. They also saw blood covering the floor of the home, according to Tisch. Police ordered the man to drop his knife several times, but he allegedly refused and began walking toward the officers.

That's when a pair of police officers shot the man, who has been identified as Longqian Chen.

Two officers discharged their firearms, firing seven total rounds between them, striking the subject, ending the threat, Tisch said.

Chen was hit once in the head and twice in the torso, but survived and was rushed to a hospital for treatment.

According to the commissioner, four girls  ages 16, 13, 11 and 8  were injured. All of the girls suffered "serious slash and stab wounds" and were rushed to the Maimonides Medical Center for treatment.

The girls are expected to survive.

This could have ended very differently, the commissioner said. She also noted that a 5-year-old boy was living in the house at the time of the attack, but he ran to call for help immediately after the violence began.

Tisch said Chen's exact relation to the family was still being determined. According to ABC7, Chens family members said the man has struggled with mental illness for some time, and he been hospitalized for schizophrenia.

Right now we know there were five children, four hurt, she said. This might be the father of some of them or the uncle. And, again, were going to work through that. And we believe the mother was out of the house.

Police have not revealed a motive in the attack, and the case remains under investigation.
On Friday, April 11, participants of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (in the Ramstein format) will discuss air defense issues, and Thursday will be devoted to the issue of contingents, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

"On Thursday, the issue of the Coalition of the Willing will be discussed, which is precisely the contingents. On Friday, the issue of Patriot, the issue of air defense, the issue of additional defense packages will be discussed. As well as the issue of unifying states that are ready to open factories or production lines of one or another weapon in Ukraine," Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever on Tuesday.

As reported on April 3, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth will not join the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein). The group will meet on April 11 in Brussels and will be chaired by Germany and the United Kingdom.
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An Oklahoma man accused of murdering a priest is reportedly a Trump supporter who wrote letters about wanting to make church great again.

Gary Hermesch, 66, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection to the fatal shooting of Father Arul Carasala, 57, found with gunshot wounds outside the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca, Kansas, last week.

It has now emerged that years before the attack, Hermesch reportedly penned several letters to the editor of the Seneca-based newspaper The Courier-Tribune in praise of the president.

Let's not sweat the small stuff, though, maybe if we just follow Donald Trumps example well make the Church great again, he wrote. So why are things headed south like a runaway freight train? Simple. The faith is not being taught. Now is that equality and tolerance of other religions, or what?

In another letter, published the day former President Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021, Hermesch reportedly wrote: So, now in this world of this strange new version of Catholicism, we get a capitulating weak puppy like Joe Biden.

open image in gallery Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca where Father Arul Carasala was shot last week ( Google Maps/Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church )

Other letters talk about a strange new version of Catholicism and that the Vatican is currently fake and that it has been infiltrated, according to KSNT.

The defendant is believed to have written several letters to the newspaper with at least six of them between January 2021 and March 2024, according to Law & Crime. Father Carasala nor the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church were ever mentioned.

Police responded to a call at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church just before 3 p.m. Thursday to find Father Carasala outside with gunshot wounds, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Kris Anderson, the parishs religious education director, told the Associated Press that the priest was shot three times.

Paramedics transported him to the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. Police have not detailed a possible motive in the case.

Carasala became the churchs pastor in 2011, two months after obtaining U.S. citizenship. He was first ordained in 1994 for the Diocese of Cuddapah in southeast India. The Indian government granted him Overseas Citizen of India status, meaning he could travel there without a visa.

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, who leads the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, wrote on Facebook that this senseless act of violence has left us grieving the loss of a beloved priest, leader, and friend.

There is no ongoing threat to the community, but I recognize the pain and shock that such an event brings, he added.

The local community had been left grieving over the slain priest.

Heartbreaking, one Facebook user wrote.

I am in shock and so saddened by this tragedy, another wrote. He presided over my mothers funeral 1 week ago. He was a faithful servant and he will be missed. May he rest in peace!

Hermesch is being held at Nemaha County Jail on a $1 million bond, the Nemaha County Attorneys Office said.
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Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused in the death of her police officer boyfriend, has filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay of her high-profile retrial.

As jury selection slowly dragged on in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Monday, Read asked to pause the proceedings so the justices could review whether her retrial was unconstitutional.

Reads defense claimed that their clients constitutional rights are being violated under the double jeopardy clause after multiple jurors allegedly came forward claiming she had been acquitted on two of the three charges.

The Supreme Court has not yet made a decision on whether or not to drop those charges, which prompted Reads team to request that her trial be delayed.

Read respectfully submits that the Double Jeopardy protections at stake in her petition are simply too important to force Read to stand trial for a murder that she contends a prior jury of her peers already acquitted her of, Reads attorneys wrote.

open image in gallery Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused in the death of her police officer boyfriend, has filed an emergency petition with the US Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay of her high-profile retrial ( AP )

Reads Petition contends that her scheduled retrial on two of the three counts pending against her, including a charge of second-degree murder, will violate the Double Jeopardy Clause because the jury in her first trial reached a final and unanimous, but unannounced, decision that she is not guilty of those charges, according to the filing.

Read, 45, is accused of striking her Boston police officer boyfriend John OKeefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in 2022 outside a house party in the town of Canton. Her attorneys have said OKeefe was actually killed by someone else, possibly another law enforcement agent who was at the party, and that she was framed.

At her trial last year, the judge declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked following five days of deliberations.

After the trial, several jurors came forward to say the group was unanimous in finding Read not guilty of the most serious charge, second-degree murder, and a lesser charge.

open image in gallery Read gives a thumbs up as she arrives for jury selection at Norfolk County Superior Court ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Despite attempts by Reads lawyers to get those charges dismissed, she will face the same counts as she did at her first trial. They also failed to have the entire case tossed, arguing governmental misconduct.

Reads second trial began with jury selection on April 1. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges of first-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

After a night out drinking, prosecutors say Read dropped off OKeefe at the house party just after midnight. As she made a three-point turn, prosecutors say, she struck OKeefe before driving away. She returned hours later to find him in a snowbank.

As they did at the first trial, prosecutors will try to convince jurors that Reads actions were intentional. They are expected to call witnesses who will describe how the couple's relationship had begun to sour before O'Keefe's death.

open image in gallery Supporters rally around Karen Read at her trial ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Jury selection began a week ago and only 10 jurors have been seated. Lawyers are seeking to seat 16 jurors, with four serving as alternates. On Monday, no new jurors were added after bringing in 45 candidates.

There's no timetable for the Supreme Court to rule on the emergency petition, ABC News reported.

Petitioner respectfully urges the Court to stay jury selection or, alternatively, the swearing of the jury in this matter until this Court has ruled on Reads Petition, her attorneys wrote.
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South Carolina's Supreme Court has rejected Mikal Mahdi's final appeal, leaving him scheduled to be executed by firing squad later this week.

Mahdi was convicted of the ambush killing of an off-duty police officer.

Mahdi's legal team argued that his original attorneys provided inadequate representation, failing to call on character witnesses such as relatives, teachers, and acquaintances. They also claimed the impact of his time in solitary confinement as a teenager was ignored.

In a unanimous decision, the state Supreme Court dismissed these arguments, stating that many had been raised in previous unsuccessful appeals. The court declined to halt Friday's scheduled execution for further hearings.

Mahdi confessed to the ambush killing of an off-duty police officer at the officer's Calhoun County shed. He is the fifth person in South Carolina to have their final appeal rejected by the state Supreme Court in less than eight months before being scheduled for execution.

Mahdi has one more opportunity to live, by asking Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to reduce his sentence to life in prison without parole just minutes before his scheduled execution time. He is to be put to death with three bullets to the heart at 6 p.m. on April 11 at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia.

But no South Carolina governor has offered clemency in the 47 executions carried out in the state since the death penalty resumed in the U.S. in 1976.

open image in gallery Mikal Mahdi

Mahdi, 41, was convicted of killing Orangeburg Public Safety officer James Myers in 2004, shooting him at least eight times, then burning his body. Myers' wife found him in the shed, which had been the backdrop to their wedding 15 months earlier.

Myers' shed was a short distance through the woods from a gas station where Mahdi tried but failed to buy gas with a stolen credit card and left behind a vehicle he had carjacked in Columbia. Mahdi was arrested afterward in Florida while driving Myers' unmarked police pickup truck.

Mahdi also admitted to the killing three days earlier of Christopher Biggs, a Winston-Salem, North Carolina, convenience store clerk who was shot twice in the head as he checked Mahdi's ID. Mahdi was sentenced to life in prison for that killing.

Mahdi pleaded guilty to killing Myers, leaving a judge under South Carolina law to decide if he would be sentenced to death or life without parole.

Prosecutors called 28 witnesses for Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman to hear. The defense called two, according to Mahdi's appeal.

The defenses case to spare Mahdis life lasted only about 30 minutes. It didnt even span the length of a Law & Order episode, and was just as superficial, Mahdi's lawyers wrote.

Prosecutors said Mahdi was able to present much more evidence during a 2011 appeal that had to be heard inside a prison because Mahdi had stabbed a death row guard during an escape attempt. A judge rejected the appeal.

In Mahdis vernacular, if his mitigation presentation before Judge Newman didnt even span the length of a Law & Order episode, the review of any potential error is in its 24th season, the state Attorney Generals Office wrote in court papers.

As a prisoner, Mahdi has been caught three times with tools he could have used to escape, including a piece of sharpened metal that could be used as a knife, according to prison records. While he was on death row, he stabbed a guard and hit another worker with a concrete block, the records show.

The nature of the man is violence, prosecutors wrote.

Mahdi is to be the second inmate executed by South Carolina's new firing squad after Brad Sigmon chose that way to die last month.

The firing squad is an execution method with a long and violent history in the U.S. and around the world. Death in a hail of bullets has been used to punish mutinies and desertion in armies, as frontier justice in Americas Old West and as a tool of terror and political repression in the former Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

Before Sigmon's execution last month, only three other prisoners in the U.S. had been executed by firing squad in the past 50 years. All were in Utah, most recently Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010.

Three prison employees who volunteer for the role will fire high-powered rifles at Mahdi from 15 feet (about 4.5 meters) away, aiming for a target on his heart.

Mahdi also could have chosen the electric chair or lethal injection.
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In the coming weeks and months, upgrades to Amazons Alexa will be in customers hands. Alexa+ is the next step for the smart home assistant and its exponentially improved  and it makes Apples Siri look humdrum in comparison.

In a recent live demo in New York of the AI-enhanced service coming to Echo speakers soon, Panos Panay, Head of Devices & Services at Amazon, revealed the improved assistant, showcasing neat features. Just days later, Apple announced that its Siri  souped up with Apple Intelligence  that aimed at greater personalisation and context awareness would be delayed from round about now to some time in the coming year.

In the Amazon demo, simple spoken instructions from Panay led Alexa to play a song from A Star is Born, without being told the song title, then transferred the audio from an Echo speaker to an Echo TV. Panay then decided he didnt want to hear the soundtrack and asked Alexa to play the song from the movie onscreen. Instantly, it switched from audio to video, playing the exact scene.

open image in gallery ( Julian Cassady Photography / Ali )

Demos can go wrong easily, but Alexa+ performed perfectly. As a presenter, Panay is supremely relaxed  or gives the impression he is, anyway. Believe me, there were no tricks today, Panay confides to me afterwards. I can't tell you how scared I was. Technical issues, such as servers or connectivity playing up which could have derailed everything, were nowhere to be seen. Footage of Panays home, designed to show the Ring doorbell in action, was immaculate, despite a local storm that saw trees downed and power outages in the area. Thats the thing about being live, there are no back-ups, Panay says.

The capabilities Alexa+ showed were highly impressive. But it also felt like just the first steps. This was an opportunity to reinvigorate Alexa, for those that love her and then those that maybe don't anymore. It's not a reset. It's just the beginning of the next generation.

Alexa+ will roll out in the US first and expansion to additional countries will begin later this year, though the date for it to arrive in the UK is not yet known. I asked if it would be for every Echo in time? Not every Echo but the majority. On everything we're shipping now, and all devices in the last five or six years it will work and will be awesome. Once you're part of Alexa+, it just lights up all your devices, Panay claims.

The pricing is $19.99 a month, with UK pricing to follow in due course. This means that it makes more sense to sign up to Amazon Prime ($14.99 a month including Alexa+), which also includes free delivery and access to Amazons video streaming services. I would love every customer that wants to be using Alexa to be a Prime member. If you have a Prime membership, you have a Photos membership with unlimited photos and your experience is so much better, so much more personal. you have the Prime Video benefits, you have the Prime Music benefits, you have the shopping benefits.

open image in gallery ( Julian Cassady Photography / Ali )

Our thinking was: let's make sure Prime customers get the best value possible, no matter what. If you don't want to be a Prime member, that's all right, you can have the Alexa+ service for sure, but it wont have all the integrated services, it costs a little bit more, and the device acts slightly different. Itll still be a great experience.

Even without Prime, Alexa+ will be a personalised experience. It can connect to your calendar and to Amazons partners if you need services from them. So, it can turn to Grubhub or Uber to make it simple to order food or a car, for instance.

I ask Panay about the A Star is Born moment and say that it wouldnt have crossed my mind to ask Alexa+ to swap from the audio to the movie. How will customers discover how much Alexa+ can do?

What Alexa+ does is it creates a level of a discovery that would shock you. You just test it. And then you find it, because it's so natural and conversational and then she'll surprise you, he insists. By the way, I'm still discovering features. When I create a random routine and Alexa says, Ill do that, don't worry about it, you're just like, oh my God, I didn't realize you could. It's very cool. I think that's where the inspiration comes from.

Panay has a disarming modesty mixed in with a quiet confidence. He says, So, are you going to find a feature? I don't know. We're going to work to help discovery, we're going to be proactive. I think customers will discover features that they wouldn't never thought they'd use, or we would have ever marketed. They'll just find them. And what's amazing about the product is when you get conversational, and she starts asking you questions. It just opens your mind on what's possible.

This seems like a big change from personal assistants now, which repeatedly just say they dont have the answer.

One of the principles we have but we didnt talk about today is that current Alexa can have a lot of dead ends. You know, shell say, I don't understand that. Alexa+ is always going to keep trying to solve everything. Shell just keep reasoning. I'm not sure what you're asking. Let me ask you a question here. And then you just have the conversation as opposed to I don't know. Thats also a point of discovery.

I ask if Alexa+ is different in terms of what shes listening for  after all, one of the hesitations people have about smart speakers is whether theyre listening all the time. She's sniping for the wake word and that's it. But when she is listening, what's going on at the other end, at the Alexa end, is so completely different from what we've seen before. She's learning and reasoning off of it as you're speaking.

Okay, so shes still only listening for Alexa (or one of the words you can substitute for that if, say, theres an actual person called Alexa in your household). But she sounds different. Has her personality changed, I wonder?

We did a lot of work on this, Panay says. We spent months. We trained her with specialists. We trained for empathy, we trained for humour. And so, if you attack, she'll try and calm you down. If you are nervous, she'll try and help you not be. If you're exuberant and excited, she translates a little bit of your mood. You can make her responses shorter, you can make her more verbose, the flexibility is in the system.

The proof will be clear when Alexa+ arrives in homes in the coming weeks and months. If the first, trick-free demo is anything to go on, the results could be remarkable  at the very least, we wont just be asking Alexa to tell us what the weather is, or to set a five-minute boiled-egg timer.
After the Russian strike on Kryvy Rih on April 6, Ukraine sent signals to all partners who promised us an additional air defense system, the best help from the United States for Ukraine is to transfer Patriot air defense systems, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"As for the strike on Kryvy Rih, it is a terrible strike. First of all, we sent all signals to all partners who promised us an additional air defense system, an additional Patriot. We wanted to ask to strengthen Ukraine as much as possible, and this is evidenced not only by the strike on Kryvy Rih," Zelenskyy said during a press conference on Tuesday.

He thanked the partners for their support for Ukraine and condemnation of this Russian strike, but noted that "condemnations are not enough."

"Even some of our very close partners were afraid to say whose missile it was, that it was Russian. But after our corresponding signals, it seems to me that they corrected the situation. But it cannot be completely corrected. The Russians must be put in their place," Zelenskyy added.

He stressed that the United States can transfer the Patriot systems. "This is the best support for Ukraine today from the United States - transferring the Patriot systems," the president noted.

As reported, on April 6, US Ambassador Bridget Brink responded to the Russian missile attack on Kyiv and this time mentioned the attacker - Russia, unlike her post two days ago about the missile strike on Kryvy Rih, which killed 18 people, including nine children.
As an elementary school student at St. Alphonsus in New Orleans' Irish Channel, Jari Honora was fascinated with history and learning about his family lineage. His grandmother, Jo Ann Duncan, reared him. She would drop him off at the New Orleans Public Library downtown and pick him up when the library closed. When his grandmother couldn't take him to the library, he caught the bus. He was such a regular that established genealogists and historians got to know the Uptown kid, took him on and provided tutelage.
The financial regulator has stepped up its scrutiny of the $4.2 trillion superannuation industry after a co-ordinated attack on some of the countrys largest funds exposed serious cybersecurity weaknesses.

Australian Retirement Trust, AustralianSuper, HostPlus, Rest, Insignia Financial and Cbus, which have a combined 12.6 million members and manage more than $1 trillion worth of assets, fell victim to last months attack, in which hackers exploited the common practice of people reusing their email addresses and passwords, known as credential stuffing.

The hack attack on some of Australias largest super funds has exposed serious cybersecurity weaknesses. Credit: Monique Westerman

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has been warning the industry since 2023 to bolster its cybersecurity protections. It wrote to all regulated entities, including banks and super funds, in May 2023 about multifactor authentication (MFA) as being one of the most effective controls an organisation can implement.

MFA is a security measure that requires users to provide two or more proofs of identity to be granted access, such as a verification code sent to your phone after entering your password.
HBOs hit series The White Lotus could have picked any tropical backdrop for its third season.

That it chose the island of Koh Samui, population of about 68,000, to show to 15 million average viewers this season, has Thailand bracing for a tourism boom. And few stand to benefit more than two local ultra-tycoons, who believe tourists will keep coming, and that theyll remember its lush jungles and stunning beaches rather than the dark plot of the season, which concluded on April 6.

The White Lotus season 3 is filmed on the Thai island of Koh Samui.

Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, the chief executive officer of Bangkok Airways, and his familys wealth are closely intertwined with Samui, dating from the 1980s when his father bet on an airport to seize on the islands tourism potential. The clan has a fortune of about $US3.5 billion ($5.8 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

HBO selecting the local Four Seasons as its main set proved a boon to William Bill Heinecke, the American-born Thai businessman who founded Minor International, owner of the property. His personal fortune is estimated at $US1.2 billion, according to the index, which is valuing his net worth for the first time.
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 Read any strange books lately? Sometimes it seems that fiction is getting wackier and wackier. Bonkers books are not exactly new (Tristram Shandy? Naked Lunch? Finnegans Wake?), but publishers and booksellers are putting new labels on their titles to attract readers who just wont settle for the same old, same old. These titles range from high literature to pulp fiction, but they are all aiming to surprise, bamboozle, disturb and delight. Bizarro fiction Lots of books are a bit bizarre (think of anything by Gogol), but with bizarro books, the main appeal is their weirdness. The genre strives to be strange, fascinating, thought-provoking and fun. Independent publishing companies Eraserhead Press, Raw Dog Screaming Press and Afterbirth Books adopted the term in 2005: they promote an underground bizarroisation movement, award prizes in their Wonderland Book Award and host an annual BizarroCon (described as the writers retreat from hell). In Satan Burger, a cult 2001 novel by Carlton Mellick III, Satan opens a burger joint where people trade their souls for burgers. But as a reviewer notes, theres a lot more going on that he cant quite sum up. Mellick is a prolific author: hes also written The Haunted Vagina, The Cannibals of Candyland and Every Time We Meet at the Dairy Queen, Your Whole F---ing Face Explodes. Ergodic literature These are books where the reader has to make a nontrivial effort to traverse the text. Because why settle for an easy read when you can do it the hard way?

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Surprisingly, perhaps, the genre includes some bestsellers. House of Leaves, a 2000 novel by Mark Z. Danielewski, is a story about a story about a story about a film about a house with a black hole in it. The New York Times called it a vast exploration and meditation on the paradoxical spaces that open out from  or as  our awareness his book is funny, moving, sexy, beautifully told. Loading Another ergodic novel is Hopscotch by Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar. This 1963 work is a stream of consciousness tale that can be read in two ways, according to two chapter sequences, leading to multiple endings. Cortazars fellow writer and friend Ariel Dorfman wrote in The New York Times in 2014 that it was a foundational text of a generation, an earthquake of language: We need, Cortazar said, to throw reality out the window and then throw out the window as well. A more recent novel, Susanna Clarks Piranesi, is actually quite a short and easy read  on the surface. A mysterious young man finds himself eking out a primitive life in a vast labyrinthine ruin of great architectural halls and statues, washed out by huge oceanic tides. Its ergodic in the way it appeals to the intellect, the imagination and the emotions. Oulipo Most wacky genres come from the US, but oulipo is tres French. Short for ouvroir de literature potentielle (workshop of potential literature) it was born in 1960, when a bunch of French writers and mathematicians decided to see what would happen if they wrote with very difficult handicaps.

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They all loved maths problems, puzzles, trickery, wordplay and conundrums, and wanted to use them to create new literature. One of the founders, Raymond Queneau, described Oulipians as rats who construct the labyrinth from which they plan to escape. Credit: Getty Images Perhaps the most famous oulipian tale is Georges Perecs A Void, a clever and entertaining postmodern detective novel which throughout its 300 pages never uses the letter e (and nor does the English translation). Not content with that, Perec (above) went on to write The Exeter Texts, a novel in which the only vowel used is the letter e. Solarpunk Youve heard of cyberpunk and steampunk, right? Solarpunk is another futuristic science fiction genre, but it avoids the gloomy dystopias of cyberpunk or the Victorian-era technology of steampunk to give us a sunny version of worlds to come. Hey, maybe we can reach a sustainable future with renewable energy from the sun, a re-wilded planet and happy post-capitalist communities devoted to preserving nature. We can dream It might have been Ursula le Guin who kicked off this genre with works such as Always Coming Home and The Dispossessed. More recently, there are anthologies like Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future and a couple of cosy feel-good novels from Becky Chambers (A Psalm for the Slipstream Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy), whose heroes include a non-binary tea-serving monk and a robot named Splendid Speckled Mosscap, searching for a way to help humans.

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Slipstream A mish-mash of science fiction, fantasy and literary fiction that pushes the boundaries of these genres. Its described as the fiction of strangeness or writing that makes the familiar strange or the strange familiar. Less in-your-face than bizarro, more of a slow burn, it looks back to the stories of Kafka and Borges for inspiration. Well-known writers said to write slipstream include Haruki Murakami, Kelly Link and China Mieville. Credit: Getty Images Helen Oyeyemis 2021 novel Peaces is described as dazzling, disorienting and inscrutable. Two lovers travelling on a train with their pet mongoose discover its an upside-down sort of ride with a mystery at its heart. Its about who you are and how others see you. Weird romance One of the most wildly popular genres with young women readers is romantasy, a blend of romance and fantasy. But were already way beyond elves, vampires and werewolves as dream lovers  thats so yesterday. Your irresistible and heroically endowed hero may be any kind of monster: a minotaur, a dinosaur or a kraken. He took me in his tentacles  It gets weirder. One rising subgenre is sentient object romance. Think of stories like The Frog Prince or Beauty and the Beast, but where the enchanted hero has been turned into an everyday household item that is strangely alluring  in Unhinged, by Vera Valentine, a woman is getting it on with her front door, which turns into a guy.

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The queen of sentient object romance and purveyor of sentient smutty smut is Holly Wilde. Her titles include Laid by the Lint Trap Monster and Banging My Birthday Bear. For readers who prefer a more mature hero, theres a subgenre of erotic Santa Claus romances such as The Naughty List by Ellie Mae MacGregor, where Santa is a silver fox with big hands and thick thighs. Ho Ho Ho meets Oh Oh Oh. Wacky anthologies Callouts for submissions from literary journals and anthology editors are getting curiouser and curiouser. Those who specialise in fantasy and horror want to be surprised. French Press Publishing invited werewolf stories with one small caveat: Make em different. Hellbound Books anthology of Creature Features wanted scary stories without the usual ho-hum culprits  spiders, rats or giant centipedes. Killer koalas, anyone? Perhaps the strangest callout, from Microcosm Publishing, was for speculative feminist fiction about disability and bicycles. Its for the anthology series Bikes in Space, a powerful tribute to feminist sci-fi about bicycles  Heroines find meaning and freedom on two wheels in the confines of a gated space society and in the ravaged earth left behind. Racers compete in deep space and on otherworldly planets. The publishers claim their little volumes (12 so far) have launched a new genre. The disability volume comes out next year. Furry Sleuths

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Ukraine strongly condemns Russia's involvement of Chinese citizens in its aggressive war against Ukraine, as well as their participation in hostilities against Ukrainian forces, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha stressed.

"We have summoned China's charge d'affaires in Ukraine to the Foreign Ministry to condemn this fact and demand an explanation. Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russias invasion army in Ukraine puts into question Chinas declared stance for peace and undermines Beijings credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council," he wrote on X.

As reported with reference to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian military captured two Chinese citizens who fought on the side of the Russian army in Donetsk region. The captured Chinese had documents and even bank cards with them.

According to the project I Want to Live, reports of Chinese mercenaries in the Russian Armed Forces have been received before, but they were captured for the first time. "Thus, citizens of the PRC have joined the already long list of 'Putin's international legion' held in Ukrainian captivity: from Cuba to the DPRK, from Kazakhstan to Gambia. In total, 27 countries and unrecognized territories," the project's telegram message reads.
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 Alex Garland isnt afraid to make movies that are uncomfortable to watch  from the 28 Days Later zombie franchise (which he writes), to the geek-fetish sexual politics of Ex Machina, to the misogyny critique of Men, to the US-in-meltdown scenario of Civil War, hes taken delight in making audiences squirm for decades. But in his latest outing, which he developed and co-directed with US military veteran Ray Mendoza, the English writer-director who first came to prominence as author of The Beach (1996) is taking the cinema of discomfort to the limit, with a real-time depiction of a battle from the Iraq War that is absolutely relentless in its intensity. Why, I ask him, do you delight in putting us through it so? Making a film is a privilege, and every time you do it you may not get another chance, he says. And I feel why pull a punch when you have that moment, when you have that chance. That seems like exactly the wrong moment to pull a punch. Warfare pulls precisely zero punches. It never explains why this squad of US Navy SEALs is in Ramadi in 2006. It doesnt explain why they choose to set up in a particular house, effectively taking its civilian occupants hostage for the duration. It doesnt explain the political, religious or ideological motivation of the armed men who surround the building in the early hours and set about attacking the Americans, and nor does it address the rights and wrongs of the Americans being there in the first place. It simply drops them  and us  in it, to experience the disorienting hell of battle in real time, in a narrative drawn from the recollections of those who really were there, Mendoza among them (he is played in the movie by DPharaoh Woon-A-Tai from the TV series Reservation Dogs).

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Part of the way this film functions is that we dont make a judgment in the presentation of the facts, says Garland. Those are the terms on which this film works, that was the rule we set ourselves. Warfare is in part, he says, a response to the dissatisfaction he felt after a lifetime of watching films and seeing the way war has been represented in cinema. Civil War was attempting to show violence in a more documentary way, a less sensationalised way, but this is an extension of that. He met Mendoza  who has been working as a military consultant in Hollywood for about 15 years  on that film, and was impressed by the way he helped stage the climactic assault on the White House. When it was all done, he says, I contacted Ray and asked him, Do you have a story you want to tell? And Ray did have a story he wanted to tell. And from that point, the two of us just worked extremely closely putting it together. Charles Melton (centre) as Jake, one of the SEALs caught under heavy fire in Warfare. Credit: A24 Mendoza had been thinking about telling his story for years, not just as a way of illustrating what war is like to those who have never experienced it, but also as a way of showing what happened on that particular day for those who had been there but couldnt remember it. Chief among them was sniper Elliot Miller, played in the movie by Cosmo Jarvis (the English rapper whose acting career is soaring with roles in Shogun, Inside and Alto Knights). Dreadfully injured when an IED explodes outside the building, the real Elliot has little memory of what occurred. Ever since he woke up for the first time, hes had questions, from the big ones of what happened to the little ones of what it looked like, what colour things were, etc, etc, says Mendoza.

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There were plenty of first-person accounts recorded in the navys official after-incident reports, but the big picture was difficult to grasp. So for Mendoza, piecing it all together was a way of offering some sort of clarity and closure to his friend. As it happened, making the film wasnt therapeutic just for Miller, but for Mendoza too. Theres some very powerful emotional moments [in the movie] that triggered some stuff thats been down in there for a really long time, Mendoza says. And Elliot being there on set, and walking him through everything, and answering his questions, I think thats probably the only way I could tackle this thing. Ray Mendoza, left, and Alex Garland on the set of Warfare, the Iraq War film they co-wrote and co-directed. Credit: A24 Had I done this movie 10 years ago, or attempted to do it, I dont think I would have been emotionally prepared, he continues. I dont think I would even understand my emotions or have the vocabulary to describe what I had to describe to Alex in order to help me bring this to life. In rendering the experience of warfare truthfully, disorientation was a crucial tool, says Garland. In that opening half hour where viewers gradually realise, hang on, this is real time, and Im not being given certain kinds of information about characters, or who the protagonist/hero is that I am normally given within a narrative, [they hopefully begin to] sort of dissociate themselves from the way they expect narratives to unfold.

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We had to remove the grammar of war movies, he says. And hopefully the audience will as well. Given the steadfast commitment to telling it as it was (or at least as its participants remember it), it seems at first glance rather odd that the movie was shot entirely on a disused military airfield in Britain. But Garland insists it made perfect sense. Will Poulter as the commander who suffers a hugely disorienting bout of concussion. Credit: A24 Well, you know, the sky is the sky, he says. Everything in this place [the films version of Ramadi] was built. I didnt want to drive around the various countries that double for the Middle East, some of which are in the Middle East, trying to find a street that looked pretty much right. I really, really wanted us to be able to build the same street and the same house. When you walked into that house, the staircase was in the right place. When you looked out of the window, you were seeing the right kind of thing. It also meant he could work with crew he knew well and could trust, so that the focus could be entirely on fidelity to Mendozas vision, his version of events. And how does Mendoza feel about the final film?

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Loading It doesnt hit all the wickets, it doesnt give all the answers for every veteran, he says. Its a voice, not THE voice. But I think its a step in the right direction. Oftentimes veterans watch films and were like, yeah, it doesnt feel that way. We dont talk like that. And we feel misrepresented, he adds. If you want to start to understand something of what war may feel or sound like, this is a good place to start. I think were setting a standard. In Civil War, Garland made a movie that steadfastly refused to take a clear position on the state of modern American politics; if it had a point of view it was that of the dispassionate observers of the press whose role is merely to document conflict, not pass judgment on it. Yet the failure to pick sides was perceived in some quarters as tantamount to offering support for one side or the other (the film functioned as a kind of Rohrschach test, in which people of every political persuasion seemed to discern something different). Surely, then, there will be those who discern that Warfares failure to condemn American military adventurism, or al-Qaeda terrorism, or the use of drones, or the cavalier treatment of civilians, including women and children, similarly amounts to taking a position. If so, Alex Garland, what do you have to say to that? Honestly, they should grow the f--- up, he says. I wont unpack that any more. I think Im good with that statement.
Even before the rains came, the desert began to stir, says Helene Aubault, who lives on the fringe of the Simpson Desert in Queenslands far west.

Our homestead looks onto the first dune of the desert. From there, it is only dunes to Alice Springs, says Aubault, who manages and lives on Bush Heritage Australias Ethabuka Reserve with husband Kyle Barton, their daughters Gwenaelle and Camille Barton, and their nanny, Mehar Fegan.

Gwenaelle and Camille Barton playing Ethabuka Reserve on Wangkamadla Country.

The humidity that preceded the monsoons which have now flooded a million square kilometres of inland Australia was enough to prompt the first wildflowers on the dunes to unfurl into the autumn heat on February 22. Then the rains came, and the household of five prepared to be cut off for up to six weeks.

The girls were delighted. They dragged out the familys kayaks for the first time in seven years and swam and played in the mud.
Government-subsidised kindergartens are charging families up to $100 to put them on waiting lists as parents strive to get into the most sought-after early learning spaces.

The non-refundable cost-to-wait fees, which provide no guarantee of a place, range from $10 to $100 for the most in-demand early learning centres, some of which provide free government-funded programs.

This mirrors the fees required by exclusive private schools, which can charge upwards of $200, to put children on waiting lists. The Geelong College has the most expensive waiting list fee, at $500 for its early learning centre in 2025. The fee is non-refundable, regardless of whether a child attends the centre.

St Kilda mother Madeline Silins with her daughter Myka, who started childcare this year. Credit: Chris Hopkins

Some sessional kindergartens, which provide free early education for three- and four-year-olds (and range in hours from eight to 15 a week), charge about $50 for a waiting list fee, on top of enrolment fees (which are refunded once the child starts).
London: Prince Harry made a rare public appearance in Britain at Londons Royal Courts of Justice to fight the government over changes made to his security after he stepped down from royal duties, which his lawyer branded unjustified.

Harry, King Charles youngest son, is trying to overturn a decision by the Home Office  the ministry responsible for policing  which decided in February 2020 he would not automatically receive personal police security while in Britain.

Last year, the High Court in London ruled the decision was lawful, but the Court of Appeal agreed to hear the case following a direct application from Harrys lawyers.

He arrived smiling and waving on Tuesday, local time, for the two-day hearing.
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, and Swiss Federal Council Delegate for Ukraine, Ambassador Jacques Gerber, have signed an agreement amending the Memorandum of Understanding between Ukraine's Ministry of Economy and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The amendment provides for a twofold increase in funding for Ukraine's recovery projects, raising the total amount to CHF 100 million.

As reported by the Ministry of Economy on Tuesday, the agreement formalizes Switzerland's decision to expand its support for the competition for recovery projects in Ukraine. This initiative involves Swiss companies that are already active in Ukraine and able to contribute to the country's reconstruction.

According to both parties, the level of interest from the Swiss business community was so strong that it prompted the decision to double the funding.

"The strong interest from Swiss businesses sends a clear signal: our intergovernmental agreements are delivering results. An additional CHF 50 million will be allocated to projects aimed at protecting the civilian population, rebuilding infrastructure, developing municipal services, and modernizing public services. We are particularly interested in expanding cooperation in energy, transport, housing construction, water supply, healthcare, industrial engineering, and education," Svyrydenko was quoted as saying by the ministry's press service.

The signed agreement paves the way for new joint projects under the intergovernmental initiative launched in early 2025. The funds are part of a broader Swiss assistance program for Ukraine totaling CHF 1.5 billion for the period 2025-2028. In total, Switzerland plans to invest CHF 5 billion in a 12-year support program.

Gerber emphasized that the decision to boost funding is a direct outcome of the close and trusting partnership between Ukraine and Switzerland.

"Last week, I visited Chernihiv, and last year I witnessed the scale of destruction in Kharkiv. Ukraine's needs for recovery and reconstruction are immense. At the same time, Swiss companies continue to operate in Ukraine despite all the challenges. They are creating jobs and paying taxes into Ukraine's state budget. They are also eager to contribute to the country's recovery," Gerber explained.

The Ministry of Economy recalled that the original memorandum with SECO on launching the competition for economic recovery and reconstruction projects in cooperation with Swiss companies was signed on January 23, 2025, during the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The ministry added that Switzerland remains one of Ukraine's key partners in reconstruction efforts. In April 2024, the Swiss government announced its long-term support program for Ukraine, with a total budget of CHF 5 billion over 12 years.
KharsiaParmalkasa rail project to boost connectivity, trade, jobs





Staff Reporter :

RAIPUR

In a significant push to green and modern rail infrastructure in Chhattisgarh, the Union Cabinet has approved the KharsiaNaya RaipurParmalkasa 5th and 6th railway lines at a cost of Rs 8,741 crore. The project is expected to save 22 crore litres of diesel annually and reduce carbon emissions by 113 crore kg, equivalent to planting 4.5 crore trees. Addressing media persons virtually from Rail Bhawan, New Delhi on Monday, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the ambitious project will revolutionise rail connectivity in Chhattisgarh, enhance freight movement, and strengthen passenger transport. The new route will span 278 km (route length) and 615 km (track length), covering 21 stations and including 48 major bridges, 349 minor bridges, 14 Road Over Bridges, 184 Road Under Bridges, and five rail flyovers.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership, railway investment in Chhattisgarh has witnessed a 22-fold jumpfrom Rs 300 crore under previous governments to over Rs 8,000 crore now, Vaishnaw said. He added that the project is not just about infrastructure, but about connecting people, generating employment, and boosting trade. The new rail line will serve as a vital freight corridor connecting Odisha and Maharashtra borders, bypassing Bilaspur and Raipur to ease congestion on the busy Kolkata-Mumbai main route. It will support freight movement of 2138 million tonnes annually and accommodate eight mail/express/semi-high-speed trains. Districts set to benefit include Raigarh, Janjgir-Champa, Sakti, Bilaspur, Baloda Bazar, Raipur, Durg, and Rajnandgaon.

The project is estimated to save Rs 2,520 crore annually in logistics costsoffering a more economical alternative to road transport. The Railway Minister also highlighted its broader socio-economic impact, including the generation of two crore man-days of employment and improved market access for local industries such as Dokra art, bell metal, Kosa silk, and bamboo crafts. Important cultural sites, including the Laxminarayan Temple, will also benefit from improved connectivity. Vaishnaw said the project aligns with the broader rail infrastructure push in the state. Chhattisgarh has seen over Rs 47,000 crore invested in rail development.

Several new rail services, including Amrit Bharat and Namo Bharat trains, will soon operate in Chhattisgarh, further boosting connectivity. The KharsiaParmalkasa corridor is expected to unlock new industrial opportunities, particularly in Baloda Bazar, facilitating the transport of key commodities like coal, cement, steel, fertilizers, and agricultural produce. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, who joined the press briefing virtually, expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister and Union Railway Minister for the approval. Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu and MPs Devendra Pratap Singh, Brijmohan Agrawal, Santosh Pandey, Kamlesh Jangade, and Radheshyam Rathia also joined the press conference and placed regional demands before the minister. With sustainability, connectivity, and economic empowerment at its core, the railway push is being hailed as a transformative step towards building a Viksit Bharat through robust transport infrastructure in Chhattisgarh. Massive Rail Infrastructure Push in Chhattisgarh: Chhattisgarh is witnessing an unprecedented boost in its railway infrastructure, with key projects focusing on line doubling, tripling, and even quadruplingspanning a total length of 1,125 km. As many as 32 railway stations across the state are currently undergoing transformation under this massive initiative. With total investments exceeding 47,000 crore in the states railway sector, Chhattisgarh is now setting new benchmarksoutpacing even international standards and surpassing the railway network scale of Dubai, UAE. Funds have been sanctioned for ten major railway projects in Chhattisgarh, aimed at boosting connectivity and accelerating regional development.

These include the completed Dalli RajharaRaoghat rail line and the RaoghatJagdalpur project, for which the Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been finalised. Construction on the GevraPendra Road new rail line is progressing at a rapid pace, while work on the third line between Rajnandgaon and Nagpur and the fourth line from Jharsuguda to Bilaspur is also underway. The broad gauge conversion work on the RaipurKendriDhamtariAbhanpurRajim section is in progress, with train services currently operational up to Abhanpur.

Other key projects include the RajnandgaonDongargarh fourth line, the doubling of the JagdalpurKoraput and AnuppurAmbikapur lines, and the development of a new rail line between Dharamjaygarh and Korba. In addition to these, surveys are being conducted for several other prospective rail projects across the state. These developments mark a transformative phase for the states railway connectivity and infrastructure, promising enhanced logistics, better passenger services, and increased economic opportunities across the region.
6-yr-old raped by uncle, dies of cardiac arrest





People gathered outside Mohan Nagar Police Station in protest.

Staff Reporter

Durg,

In a disturbing incident, a 6-year-old girl - who was out for Kanyabhoj - was allegedly raped by her own uncle at Durg. Due to the sexual assault, the victim died of cardiac arrest in shock. To conceal his gruesome act, the accused hid her body in a car parked near his house. The minors body was recovered on late Sunday evening and it had sparked outrage with family members and locals staging a protest in Mohan Nagar Police Station. The minor, who resides under the limits of Mohan Nagar Police Station, left home on Sunday morning telling the family members that she was going to attend Kanyabhoj on the occasion of Ram Navmi. Meanwhile, after she failed to return home, the family lodged a missing complaint with police while on late Sunday evening, her body was recovered from a car parked near the house of the accused.

The incident had sparked outrage and locals in large number staged protest in Mohan Nagar Police Station in connection to which an FIR was also registered by the police. The owner of the car and his family had too also face the ire of the angry mob and they had to shift somewhere else. Superintendent of Police, Sukhnandan Rathore said that the victim had gone to meet her relative in his uncles home who lives nearby and as she was not in the house, the accused took the victim girl to the room upstairs. He then sexually assaulted the girl and later hid her body in the car.

The ASP disclosed that the post-mortem report stated that the girl died of cardiac arrest. He said that the accused has been arrested and charged under sections 103 (1), 64 (2F), 65 (2), 66 and 238 A of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The accused is a drug addict and he recently had quarrel with his brother following which he had shifted to some other house.
Photo: https://t.me/GeneralStaffZSU/20425

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on Monday, April 7, destroyed hangars, several military buildings, as well as technical equipment of a warehouse complex in Ozerky, Kursk region, which was actively used by Russian troops, the AFU General Staff said.

"On April 7, 2025, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck a warehouse complex, which was actively used by the Russian armed forces in Ozerky, Kursk region," the AFU General Staff said in Telegram on Tuesday.

It is reported that the strike destroyed hangars, several military buildings, as well as technical equipment, and eliminated more than 30 occupants, including UAV crews and repairmen.

"The destruction of this facility significantly reduces the Russian Federation's capabilities to conduct combat operations against units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine in Sumy region and in Kursk axis. Ukrainian defenders are striking at real military targets of the enemy and are taking all measures to protect the civilian population as much as possible. The Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to destroy elements of the enemy's military infrastructure until it stops its armed aggression against the Ukrainian people," the AFU said.
AIIMS introduces 5-bedded high-dose therapy ward





Staff Reporter

RAIPUR,

AIIMS Raipur has introduced a five-bedded high-dose therapy ward, making it the first such facility in the state of Chhattisgarh and among the newly established AIIMS under the PMSSY scheme. Iodine-131 therapy, used in this high-dose therapy, employs beta radiation to treat and destroy remaining cancer cells after surgery. The radiation is specifically targeted at the thyroid gland and metastatic areas, ensuring minimal impact on the rest of the body. The therapy, which ranges from 30mCi to 200mCi of Iodine-131, is offered at affordable rates at the institute. The first patient was successfully treated in March under the expert supervision of the Nuclear Medicine Department, led by Dr Mudalsha Ravina(In-charge & Associate Professor),Dr. Shobhana Raju (Assistant Professor), and Sai Shiv Narayan (Radiation Safety Officer).

To date, eight patients have been treated, with plans to increase the number of patients treated each month in an affordable manner. Lt Gen Ashok Kumar Jindal, Executive Director & CEO of AIIMS Raipur, congratulated the department for achieving this milestone, emphasizing that this facility will significantly benefit thyroid cancer patients, particularly those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in and around the state. Previously, patients had to travel to Delhi or Mumbai for such treatments. Prof. Dr. RenuRajguru, Medical Superintendent and Head of the ENT Department, highlighted that this new addition to the hospitals services will support the comprehensive management of thyroid cancer patients. She mentioned that the facility regularly treats numerous thyroid cancer patients, and the inclusion of radioiodine therapy will enhance treatment options.

Dr. Nitin Borker, Additional Medical Superintendent, also congratulated the department on this achievement. The high-dose therapy ward at AIIMS Raipur has been built under the guidance of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and has received the necessary approvals and licenses. AIIMS Raipurs Nuclear Medicine Department is the only such facility in any government hospital in the state. It is equipped with advanced technology, including SPECT-CT, PET-CT, robotic navigation systems for PET-guided biopsies, low-dose therapies, and a radioiodine uptake probe. This new facility marks a significant step forward in providing affordable, specialized treatment for thyroid cancer patients in Chhattisgarh.
Bombay HC orders FIR against 5 policemen, SIT probe in Badlapur accused death case





MUMBAI :

THE Bombay High Court on Monday ordered an FIR against five policemen for the custodial death of Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde, allegedly shot dead in a police van in September 2024, and setting up of an SIT, noting that a prima facie offence is disclosed. A division bench rapped the Maharashtra Government for its reluctance to lodge an FIR, stating that such action undermines the States legitimacy and the common mans faith in the criminal justice system. When a prima facie offence is disclosed, it is mandatory to lodge a case, the bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale noted.

The bench said it was satisfied that the encounter required a thorough investigation as it is undisputed that the deceased succumbed to bullet injuries inflicted by a police officer when he was in police custody. We are of the opinion that a cognisable offence is disclosed, and as such, the police are duty-bound to proceed in adherence with the law. Reasonableness and credibility of the information are not conditions precedent for registering an FIR, the bench said. As a Constitutional court, the HC cannot remain mute spectators even though the parents of the deceased had said they do not want to pursue the case, the bench said.

The parents of Shinde had claimed that their son was killed in a fake encounter. When a prima facie offence is disclosed, it is mandatory for a case to be lodged. When a cognisable offence is disclosed, the police are duty-bound to proceed in adherence with the law. Reasonableness and credibility of the information is not a condition precedent for registration of an FIR, the bench said. Shinde, accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls at a school in Badlapur in Thane district, was allegedly killed in a police shoot on September 23, 2024, when he was being taken to Kalyan from the Taloja prison for questioning in another case.

The escorting police team had claimed they had shot at the accused in self-defence after he snatched the gun of one of them and opened fire. A magistrate inquiry report, however, dismissed their argument and indicted five police personnel. Slamming the Government for its reluctance to lodge an FIR, the bench said such action undermines the states legitimacy and the common mans faith in the criminal justice system. The bench added that a Constitutional court cannot ignore the States failure to fulfill its obligations and remain mute spectators.
Confusion reigns supreme over unified exams for Standard I to IX





Staff Reporter ;

Question papers as per number of enrolled students havent reached schools, pointed out Maharashtra Rajya Shikshan Sanstha Mahamandal (MRSSM), Executive Member Ravindra Fadnavis

Schools are facing persisting problems in conducting unified examinations for Class 1 to 9. The examinations are beginning from Tuesday and majority of schools havent received the question papers as per the number of students enrolled. Maharashtra Rajya Shikshan Sanstha Mahamandal (MRSSM), Executive Member Ravindra Fadnavis pointed out that if the schools dont receive question papers in adequate number, then they wont be able to hold examinations. Despite stiff opposition from school managments, the Education Department insisted on implementing uniform examination system for Class 1 to 9.

Fadnavis, in his letter written to Education Officer, informed about scarcity of question papers. Ravindra Fadnavis, while talking to The Hitavada, said, I have to get around 12,000 question papers photocopied. Apart from getting less number of question papers, there are several other issues. We have been asked to conduct examinations between 7.30 am and 9.30 am. To add to our woes, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and the Education Commissionerate is holding Progression Assessment Test (PAT) from 9.30 am onwards. It means these small children will be out of the schools by 12 noon. Mondays temperature in Nagpur was recorded at 42.4 degree Celsius. The situation in Maharshtra is no different.

Does the School Education Department and SCERT want students to suffer from heat stroke? On Monday, High Court asked Education Officers to take decision regarding examinations as per the situation in their areas. Fadnavis questioned, Will the Education Officer concerned act considering the rising heat? Students will stay in schools for almost 5 hours, during that time, schools have to take care of them. Secondly, as per the rules and regulations, the responsibility of students lies on schools. The managements have to take care that the students reach home safely. Earlier, Fadnavis had written letters to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and School Education Minister Dada Bhuse not to hold unified examinations.

He had challenged that the officers who take such unwise decisions should be sent to Vidarbha and made to stand in scorching heat. Teachers and parents across the State have been strongly opposing the sudden decision by the Education Department to hold examinations of Class 1 to 9 in a uniform manner. The examinations are to be conducted between April 8, 2025 and April 25, 2025. As per the Government schedule, all schools have to declare the results by May 1, 2025. The schools have been instructed to hold oral and practical examinations after written. The summer vacations will begin from May 2, 2025. Government has asked schools to complete oral and practical between April 26 and April 30, 2025 and declare results by May 1. Fadnavis asked the Government to explain as to how the examinations would be conducted, evaluated and results will be declared within two days. Ravindra Fadnavis feels the examinations are being conducted in an utter state of confusion. The PAT can be conducted in June. Last year, it was held for two days in first week of April. Why the authorities are insisting to hold them now is a million dollar question, Fadnavis stated.

High Court for quick decision on schedule of primary schools in Vid

Staff Reporter

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the Education Officer and Deputy Director of Education to take immediate action in the best interest of primary school students in Vidarbha. This order came after the petitioners presented their concerns regarding the school schedules and examination timings during the scorching summer heat. The decision is expected to consider past rulings and Government guidelines. The case was heard by Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Vrushali Joshi. The petition is based on the Governments decision from April 30, 2007, which set a uniform school opening date of June 15 for all schools in Maharashtra. However, schools in Vidarbha were instructed to operate in the morning from June 15 to June 30 to avoid the extreme summer heat. In 2007, three petitions were filed against this decision which pointed out that the temperature in Vidarbha often exceeds 42C in June.

The petitioners argued that students would suffer from the heat after the morning session. As a result, the original order was overturned and a new schedule was set: schools in Vidarbha would close on April 1 and reopen on June 30. In addition, the Maharashtra State Director of Educational Research issued a new examination timetable. However, it caused confusion for students of Classes 1 to 4. The petitioners argued that these younger students should have their exams first and that the decision to set the exam timetable was made without considering the local conditions of Vidarbha. Despite raising the issue with the Education Department, the petitioners received no response. However, after the Education Commissioner issued a new Government decision on March 5, 2025, the High Court ruled that education authorities should take quick action in such exceptional situations and adjust the timetable if necessary. Adv Bhanudas Kulkarni represented the petitioner Rajesh Sulbhewar and others.
ED searches TN realty group started by Ministers brother





CHENNAI :

THE Enforcement Directorate on Monday searched multiple premises spread across Chennai, Tiruchirappalli and Coimbatore as part of an investigation against a real estate group promoted by the brother of State Minister and senior DMK leader, K N Nehru, official sources said. The realty company -- TVH Group -- was founded by KN Ravichandran. The federal probe agency has conducted searches as part of a probe linked to the TVH group, the sources said. Ravichandran is the brother of KN Nehru, the Tamil Nadu Minister for municipal administration. ED arrests SP leader Vinay Shankar Tiwari, aide in Rs 750 cr bank fraud case: The ED on Monday arrested former Uttar Pradesh MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari and a senior official of his company in a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 750 crore, official sources said. The money laundering case stems from an FIR filed by the CBI. Tiwari, 59, was taken into custody from the State capital Lucknow around 5 pm. Ajeet Pandey, the managing director of his company called Gangotri Enterprises, was apprehended from Mahrajganj district around the same time under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

ED questions L2: Empuraan producer in chit fund case

NEW DELHI,

Apr 7 (IANS)

THE Enforcement Directorate on Monday questioned Gokulam Gopalan, one of the producers of the Malayalam movie L2: Empuraan, at its Kochi office in connection with a foreign exchange law violation by his chit fund company, sources said. The federal probe agency recorded the Kerala-based businessmans statement under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, they said.

ED seizes Rs 25 cr assets of firm linked to illegal mining in Haryana

NEW DELHI,

Apr 7 (IANS)

THE Enforcement Directorate has attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 25.16 crore in a case of money laundering by a company allegedly linked to illegal mining in Haryana. The search op against Sunder Marketing Associates, conducted by the ED Headquarters in New Delhi, involved seizure of assets including cash, agricultural lands, residential plots andhouse, flat and commercial office.
Rahul joins Congress padyatra in Bihar





PATNA :

LEADER of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Monday joined the ongoing Palayan Roko, Naukri Do padyatra of the Congress in Bihars Begusarai district. Clad in a white T-shirt, Gandhi participated in the padyatra in Begusarai town and was accompanied by several party leaders, including Kanhaiya Kumar and State party President Rajesh Kumar. A large number of leaders and workers of the Congress and its student and youth wings, carrying party flags and placards demanding the immediate filling-up of vacancies in defence forces, also took part in the padyatra. Earlier in the day, Gandhi arrived at Begusarai from Patna, where he was received at the Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport by Rajesh Kumar and other senior party leaders.

The Raebareli MP shared a minute-long video message on X on Sunday, urging the youth of Bihar to join him in the march in Begusarai wearing white T-shirts. Chaos at Bihar HQ of Cong after Rahuls visit: CHAOS erupted at the Congress Bihar headquarters minutes after party leader Rahul Gandhi left the venue after holding a discussion with state office bearers ahead of the crucial Assembly elections scheduled later this year. Gandhi reached the historical Sadaqat Ashram on Monday afternoon before winding up his day-long tour of the state, which saw him taking part in a march at Begusarai and a symposium in Patna. According to a short video clip of the meeting, shared by the state unit of the Congress, party workers greeted the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha with the slogan dekho dekho sher aaya (look, here comes the lion).
Shah visits family of Kirti Chakra awardee who died battling terrorists in 2023





SRINAGAR :

UNION Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday visited the family of Kirti Chakra awardee Deputy Superintendent of Police Humayun Muzammil Bhat, who laid down his life battling terrorists in 2023. Shah, who is on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, went straight to Bhats house at Humhama after landing at Srinagar airport, officials said here. The Union Home Minister spent nearly 20 minutes with the slain police officers father, retired IGP Ghulam Hassan Bhat, before heading to Raj Bhawan, they said. Posthumously awarded Kirti Chakra, Bhat was among four security personnel who died in the line of duty while battling terrorists in the dense forests surrounding Gadool village of Kokernag in south Kashmirs Anantnag district in September 2023.
Totem pole





SINCE its inception in 1980, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that celebrated its 45th anniversary of foundation two days ago has become the countrys political totem pole offering multiple benchmarks for other parties to follow or live by or assess their own value and values. Boasting of itself as the worlds largest political party, the BJP, today, has every reason to celebrate its success not just at the hustings but in every sphere in which it touched peoples lives in ways beyond common imagination. Though by definition, the BJP is a political party, its overall organisational thought and action make it look like the most authentic political signature of the larger Indian society. The spiritual importance of this signature can be assessed from Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modis assertion all over the world that he represents 1.4 billion Indians cutting across ideological dividing lines.

That is not just a hollow, public-relations assertion, but a statement whose merit the BJP has established over the past 45 years. This is, for sure, not an eulogy to the BJP. But this is an attempt to explain the metaphor that the BJP represents in a context far wider than politics. This may be so because of the BJPs association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that is celebrating its centenary -- and its different frontal organisations. But even beyond overall advantage, the BJP has built its own organisational strength that has less to do with political power and more to do with its philosophical beliefs and value-system that have generated a massive public appeal over time. As Mr. Narendra Modi is about to complete the first year of his third consecutive term as Prime Minister, the BJP is in a position to look back from two points of view -- one pertaining to satisfaction of the stupendous success in garnering power in ever-expanding geography of the country; and the other to the kind of psychological influence it has had on the larger Indian society. This awareness leads us to call the BJP the nations political totem pole.

True, the BJP -- like any other political party -- has had its own share of success and failure on multiple counts, at multiple milestones of its 45-year journey. It made many bold experiments -- and got rewarded or punished from time to time. But each of those points added value to the partys collective learning curve that is altogether different from such curves of other political organisations. The best aspect of the BJPs internal as well as external management is that it enjoys a wonderful collectivism in decision-making at the helm -- which intrigues other political parties no end. The obvious advantage of this approach is that every decision has the strength and power of everybodys wisdom in the thought and action at every step of the way. Many may not agree with this observation and may accuse the BJP as being a party that is made to dance at beck and call of Prime Minister Mr. Modi and a few of his close aides.

That apart, the fact of the matter is that the inner democracy the BJP enjoys is the source of its constantly creative inputs that flummox the Opposition well as the entire nation. No other political party in the country enjoys such an advantage, such a premium. The current creative flourish of the BJP giving the nation multiple programmes that promote Indianness at the national and international levels is appreciated (though grudgingly) by everybody even in the Opposition camp. Rumours are doing the rounds in political circles that the BJP and its Government may see some major changes in high positions in the near future. No matter the substance or otherwise in those, the BJP has evolved to a level or height that has become a matter of intense envy for other political parties. And in that perception lies its one pointer of success.
Tri-service all-women crew sets off for a 55-day sailing expedition to Seychelles onboard IASV Triveni





MUMBAI :

A TRI-SERVICE all-women crew set off on a 55-day circumnavigation sailing expedition to Seychelles on Monday onboard the Indian Armed Sailing Vessel (IASV) Triveni. Lt General A K Ramesh, Commandant, College of Military Engineering (CME), flagged off the vessel from the Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre, Colaba. The expedition, featuring an all-women 12-member crew from the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, embarked on a challenging 55-day voyage covering 4,000 nautical miles from Mumbai to Seychelles and back aboard the IASV Triveni, a statement by the Defence Ministry said.

This pioneering initiative highlights the indomitable spirit of Nari Shakti and aims to promote gender indignity in maritime endeavours, it said. The expedition serves as a preparatory phase for an even more ambitious circumnavigation sailing expedition planned for 2026, the ministry said. Selected from 41 enthusiastic volunteers, 12 women officers, rigorously trained for two years in ocean sailing, will navigate treacherous waters, demonstrating their resilience, courage and determination on the high seas. The crew have embarked upon several training expeditions, gradually increasing in complexity and distance, including short and long distances over days and nights.
Billionaire and philanthropist Howard Buffett will build a new bomb shelter for a school in Sumy region, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said.

"Howard Buffett will build a bomb shelter for a school in border-line Sumy region. When we went on a joint trip to the regions last week, we could not have imagined that it would end with such news," she wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

According to Svyrydenko, during a trip to border-line Sumy region, the American philanthropist decided to build a modern shelter for a local school, where more than 100 children are currently studying.

The trip began as part of a project dedicated to stories of gratitude and demining, a key focus of Buffetts assistance in Ukraine. He has already provided more than $175 million for these needs, and the total amount of support will reach $1 billion.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, together with Prime Minister of Belgium Bart De Wever and top representatives of Belgian defense companies, who are on a visit to Kyiv, inspected drones created by Ukrainian manufacturers.

As reported by a correspondent of Interfax-Ukraine, the Belgian delegation visited the exhibition, where they got acquainted with the achievements of the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex. In addition to representatives of the Belgian government, the event was attended by representatives of 10 Belgian defense companies.

In particular, the delegations presented the Ukrainian multi-purpose surface unmanned boat Magura V5; SHARK-M UAS4 unmanned complex; Nemesis BMH heavy drone; ZOOM reconnaissance drone; RAM-2X44 kamikaze drone and Shulika Kupol MOD24 reconnaissance and strike drone and ground robotic complex Droid TW 12.7.

Phrases of famous Ukrainian figures in the flagship language were written next to each tool.

After that, the delegations of Ukraine and Belgium went to a roundtable discussion on the development of the Ukrainian defense industry. President Zelenskyy noted that he was very proud of the achievements of Ukrainian manufacturers, whose inventions help protect the lives of civilians and strengthen the capabilities of the army. The President emphasized the importance of new projects, in particular, joint production, to strengthen the defense industry and protect Ukraine and all of Europe.

"We need more projects - for today, and for the future. More investments," Zelenskyy said.

The Belgian Prime Minister called defense cooperation between Ukraine and Belgium mutually beneficial and necessary, particularly against the backdrop of Europe's rearmament.

"This is also an opportunity for business. And it would be strange if Ukraine, where large capacities are needed, did not play a decisive factor in production and rearmament of Europe. Therefore, this is a very logical cooperation. This is a mutually beneficial cooperation. This is what we need to do," De Wever said.

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PHNOM PENH, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has recorded a 67.6 percent increase in the number of Chinese tourists in the first two months of 2025, said the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism's report released on Monday.

A total of 184,372 Chinese visitors traveled to the Southeast Asian country during the January-February period of this year, up 67.6 percent from 109,990 over the same period last year, the report said.

The number of Chinese tourists accounted for 14.6 percent of the total 1.26 million international tourist arrivals to Cambodia, the report said, adding that China was the third-biggest source of foreign holidaymakers to the kingdom after Thailand and Vietnam.

Hun Dany, a secretary of state and spokeswoman for the Ministry of Tourism, said Cambodia and China have enjoyed fruitful cooperation in the tourism sector and that China is the largest tourist market for Cambodia.

Cambodia is expected to attract more than 1 million Chinese tourists in 2025, she said at a forum on Cambodia-China relations in Phnom Penh on Monday.

According to the spokeswoman, Cambodia attracted nearly 850,000 Chinese visitors in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 55 percent.

Dany said the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has also boosted the development of Cambodia's tourism sector because BRI flagship projects such as the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway and the Siem Reap Angkor International Airport have played an important role in facilitating tourists' travel.

Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia's economy, in addition to garment, footwear and travel goods export, agriculture, and construction and real estate.

The country has four UNESCO-listed world heritage sites, namely the Angkor Archaeological Park in northwest Siem Reap province, the Temple Zone of Sambor Prei Kuk in central Kampong Thom province, and the Temple of Preah Vihear and the Koh Ker archaeological site in northwest Preah Vihear province.

Besides, it has a pristine coastline stretching in the length of about 450 km in four southwest provinces of Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kep, and Koh Kong.
Chief of the General Staff of the French Armed Forces Thierry Burkhard and Chief of the Defence Staff of Great Britain Admiral Antony Radakin held a video conference with representatives of the Coalition of the Willing in support of Ukraine and informed them about the results of the visit to Kyiv on April 4.

"London. With my colleague, the Chief of the Defence Staff of Great Britain, Admiral Antony Radakin, at the coalition video conference in support of Ukraine. Sharing the elements that were discussed with the Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv on April 4," Burkhard wrote on the social network X on Tuesday.

According to him, at the video conference, its participants also discussed the continuation of work on planning the coalition, which is becoming more structured. "The next stage: a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels on April 10," he added.

As reported, on April 4, meetings were held in Kyiv between representatives of France, Great Britain and Ukraine regarding the deployment of the military contingent. It was reported that the meetings were held at the level of chiefs of military staff. On the French side, the delegation was headed by General Burkhard, and on the British side by Admiral Radakin.

After the meeting with them, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that there was tangible progress and the first details regarding the deployment of the partners' security contingent.
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A Belgian delegation led by Prime Minister Bart De Wever visited Kyiv region on Tuesday, April 8, according to the head of Kyiv Regional Military Administration, Mykola Kalashnyk.

"In Bucha, Mr. Bart De Wever, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot, and country's Defense Minister Theo Francken visited the Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called - a place that has become a symbol of grief. It was here, next to the church, that during the occupation of the city there was a large mass grave. Together we honored the memory of the city's fallen residents near the wall of memory with their names," Kalashnyk wrote on the Telegram channel.

The Belgian delegation was informed about the consequences of Russian aggression, as well as about projects to rebuild settlements affected by the Russian invasion.

During the visit, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha visited the Baryshivka Lyceum, where, thanks to cooperation with the Belgian Development Agency Enabel, construction of a shelter is underway.

"In general, the Belgians help implement projects for the construction of civil defense structures in secondary education institutions in Petrivka, Baryshivka and Velyka Dymerka territorial communities. The total cost of these projects is over UAH 114 million," the head of the regional military administration noted.

In addition, he added, Belgium supports us in the development of vocational education. Thanks to cooperation with Enabel, equipment is purchased so that students can acquire professions that will help rebuild the country.
Yes  Significant efforts are being made

No  Much more needs to be done

Some progress  But there are still critical gaps

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Photo: https://www.president.gov.ua/

The Armed Forces of Ukraine captured two Chinese citizens who fought in the ranks of the occupiers on the territory of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

"Our military captured two Chinese citizens who fought in the Russian army. This happened on the territory of Ukraine  in Donetsk region. There are documents of these prisoners, bank cards, personal data," he said in Telegram channel on Tuesday.

According to Zelenskyy, "we have information that there are significantly more such Chinese citizens in the occupier's units than two." The Ukrainian side will wait for a corresponding reaction from the Chinese side.

"We are now clarifying all the facts. Intelligence, the SBU, and relevant units of the Armed Forces are working. I have instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to immediately contact Beijing and find out how China is going to react to this," the head of state said.

He said the prisoners are in the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and investigative and operational actions are ongoing.

"Russia's involvement, directly or indirectly, of China in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin is going to do anything except end the war. He is looking for how to fight further. This definitely requires a reaction. A reaction from the United States, Europe, and everyone in the world who wants peace," Zelenskyy said.

As reported on the presidential website, he said Ukrainian military personnel engaged in battle with six Chinese and only two of them were captured. "Ukrainians in Donetsk region  Tarasivka and Bilohorivka  entered the battle with six Chinese soldiers. Two are in captivity," the head of state said.

"This is another country that militarily supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is another one after Iran and the North Korean military. But there is a difference: the North Koreans fought against us in Kursk axis, the Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine. I think this is an important point that we need to discuss with our partners," Zelenskyy said.
Over 200 Romanian companies are already participating in various events organized by partners from the European Union in the reconstruction process of Ukraine, said Luminita Odobescu, an advisor to the President of Romania.

"Romania's position is clear: firm support for Ukraine and efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace. Romania is participating in the process of preparing for the reconstruction of Ukraine, and our position as a logistics hub can be used in this direction. We welcome the interest of over 200 Romanian companies to participate in this process," Odobescu noted on Facebook following the conference "Rebuilding Ukraine in the New Transatlantic Paradigm: Challenges for Europe's Business Environment in the Era of Trump 2.0," organized by the Romanian-Ukrainian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Romania Ihor Prokopchuk informed the conference participants about the priorities of Ukraine's reconstruction for 2025, especially in such areas as housing and utilities, transport, energy, and emergencies, and also called on Romanian companies to implement joint projects.

"I convey to all participants of the business community that we should not wait for the end of this war to engage in the reconstruction of Ukraine," Prokopchuk said.

The Head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Stefan-Radu Oprea, reported that the Romanian government had established a working group on the reconstruction of Ukraine, and paid special attention to the importance of strengthening public-private partnership in the reconstruction of Ukraine.

As agerpres reports, during this conference, the Secretary of State of the Ministry of European Investments and Projects, Carmen Moraru, emphasized that partnerships between countries are important for stimulating sustainable development.

"Romania is using its geostrategic position and expertise in reconstruction to support Ukraine in the process of deep transformation. We will continue to participate in cross-border projects financed by European funds that will connect Ukraine with Europe through modernized infrastructure and clean energy. In this context, we intend to turn Romania into a strategic corridor for Ukraine's reconstruction, using European funds for modernization, railway infrastructure, development of ports on the Danube, the port of Constanta, as well as for vital energy interconnections for regional security," Moraru added.

Rebuilding Ukraine (www.rebuildingukraine.ro) is a project of the Romanian-Ukrainian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce, organized under the auspices of the Embassy of Ukraine in Romania, which consists of organizing events that bring together companies, authorities and organizations to discuss economic and social aspects of common interest, and is also a platform for companies that want to actively participate in Ukraine's reconstruction projects.
Representatives of the Belgian defense industry, who are in Kyiv together with a government delegation, will hold talks with Ukrainian partners on long-term business projects, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said.

"I am glad to meet in Kyiv with Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever. The first foreign visit in office to Ukraine is a symbol of support and solidarity with our state," Shmyhal said in Telegram on Tuesday.

Shmyal, expressing gratitude to Belgium for the assistance provided to Ukraine, stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine's defense industry. "Support for the defense industry remains important for us. Today, Mr. Bart de Wever announced that his Government will provide an aid package worth EUR 1 billion in 2025, and will also consider the issue of annually allocating one billion euros for defense needs," Shmyhal said.

In addition, according to him, "the leaders of the Belgian defense industry, who arrived today with the government delegation, will hold negotiations with Ukrainian partners on long-term business projects."

"We thank the Government and people of Belgium for their important assistance to Ukraine and continued support in all areas," Shmyhal said.

As reported, Bart de Wever announced a EUR 1 billion aid package for Ukraine in Kyiv. In addition, the Belgian Prime Minister said the country's Defense Minister Theo Francken "has a list of things that we are going to do in a very short time in the very near future."
Mizoram opened its doors to kin fleeing Myanmar. But now the mood is turning against refugeesThe fear of immigrants driving up crime rates and eating into the States scarce resources is spreading

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Rokibuz Zaman (Courtesy scroll.in)

Last month, Farkawn, a village in Mizorams Champhai district, issued an order stopping Myanmar refugees from opening shops or running businesses.

The Myanmar refugees were given until May 31 to shut their shops in the village. The village council has also restricted them from moving out of the designated camp built to house refugees.

The village, along the Myanmar border, has hosted a large population of refugees since the military junta seized power in 2021. Initially, they were welcomed with open arms, with children of refugee families allowed to continue their education in Government schools in the village.

But four years later, Farkawns hospitality appears to be frayingfor a host of reasons.

As the refugee traders are selling their goods at a lower price, the local traders are losing out, leading to conflict, B Challianngura, who is the president of Young Mizo Association, Tuipuiral group, told Scroll.

The growing population of refugees has set off a competition over scarce resources. Farkawn has a population of 3,000, but hosts 1,500 refugees. In Champai district, which has a population of 1.2 lakh, the number of refugees has risen to nearly 20,000.

In Zokhawthar, a border town in the Champhai district, refugees now outnumber the residents, a senior leader of the Young Mizo Association in the district told Scroll.

The refugees, too, are under immense pressure to earn a living. So, they work as daily wagers and earn Rs 500 per day, same as the native Mizo labourers, the senior leader said. Sometimes, they work at a lesser wage, which angers the locals.

He added: Thats why refugees are not accepted anymore.

In Mizoram, which now hosts nearly 40,000 Chin refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh, public opinion is turning against the visitors, who were welcomed as the kin of Mizo people only four years ago. The State Government had gone against the direction of the Indian Government to shelter the displaced.

For four years, we have been taking care of them without the Central Governments help, said the senior YMA leader, who oversees refugee matters in Champhai district. Its very difficult to continue.

Political scientist CV Lalmalsawmi said: The change in sentiment is because Mizoram is overwhelmed with refugees and struggling alone to deal with them.

Political recalibration

The concerns of Mizorams residents have been echoed by political leaders.

On March 10, Chief Minister Lalduhoma warned the Assembly of the consequences of the Free Movement Regime, which allowed visa-free movement for people living within 16 km on either side of the largely unfenced border.

Mizoram shares a 510 km border with Myanmar. The Centres decision in February to scrap the FMR arrangement, in place since the 1970s, invoked sharp responses in Nagaland and Mizoram where many people share strong ethnic connections with those on the other side of the international border.

Last year, the Government led by Chief Minister Lalduhoma passed a resolution to oppose the decision to end the FMR in the Assembly.

But the Government itself has since then calibrated its position in favour of regulating cross-border movement. The unrestricted movement has led to many social evils in the State like rampant smuggling of drugs, arms and other crimes, including murder, which have become grave concern for the State, Lalduhoma told the Assembly last month.

The people of the State, Lalduhoma said, should be cautious of the law and order problems that may emerge from the humanitarian responsibilities of meeting the needs of our Chin brothers.

A day after the Chief Ministers statement, social activist VL Thlamuanpuia wrote a letter to Union Amit Shah, flagging the alleged increasing influx of Myanmar refugees into Mizoram, which has raised serious concerns regarding National security, demographic shifts, and the strain on local resources.

Thlamuanpuia is a secretary of the Centre for Environment and Social Justice, one of the biggest civil society groups in Mizoram.

Young Mizo Association, the most influential civil society group in Mizoram, also acknowledged the brewing resent- ment against the refugees. Due to some misbehavior shown by a few refugees, the attitude of some local people towards them is changing, Malsawmliana, general secretary of the central body of YMA, told Scroll.

It is not the same anymore, admitted T Liansiama, general secretary of the Mizo National Front, the main Opposition party.

His party was in power when the junta dislodged the elected Government in Myanmar, leading to an exodus of people fleeing violence into Mizoram. In 2021, there was an overwhelming sympathy and concern amongst Mizos towards their Chin brethren at the time, Liansiama recalled.

[Even now], they are our brothers and we cant just ignore them, he said. But crime involving refugees has increased as there is a spike in seizures of drugs and other contraband.

A refugee leader from Aizawl, however, denied that his people were involved in selling or smuggling drugs in Mizoram. Refugees who have fled their country and sought safety in Mizoram are ordinary families, children, women, and elderly people, he said. They have left everything behind and come to India only for peace and survival," he said.

Political scientist Zonuna Chhakchhuak told Scroll that a significant number of people have started to think that maybe its time for our brothers and sisters from Myanmar to go back, because of the improving situation in the villages on the other side.

They themselves control maybe 50 or more villages in the Chin State, especially the villages bordering Champhai district, Chhakchhuak said. In the past few months, they have not seen any brutal fight. They are under the complete control of the PDF forces.

The Peoples Defense Force, a resistance group against the Myanmar army, was formed by residents of towns and villages in Chin State.

Outsiders driving up crime? Data says no

In Aizawl city, residents Scroll spoke to were extremely critical of the presence of Chin refugees.

The majority of the people would like them to return, said D Fanai, a resident of Aizawl city. They have become a menace. They are eating up our limited resources. I feel there could be a conflict between the Mizo and Myanmarese immigrants.

Many alleged that the Chin refugees pose a security risk, because of their alleged dealings with drug cartels.

Since welcoming the refugees, our crime rate has shot up a lot, said a former Chairperson of the Dawrpui local council located in the heart of the city.

Some of the local councils in Aizawl have also met the district administration authorities to raise their concerns. There are a lot of robberies and illegal activities related to drugs and substance abuse, the former Chairperson, who declined to be identified, said.





(To be contd)
On Thursday, April 10, at 11.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "Need to reform hunting industry."

The press conference will highlight the issue of responsible hunting as a guarantee of biodiversity conservation and restoration of strong populations of wild animals; the economic development of non-industrial areas, the creation of new jobs and a favorable investment climate; hunting as a significant factor in the state's defense capability and the rehabilitation of veterans; ensuring the biosecurity of citizens, agricultural businesses and households.

Participants include Board Chairman of the Ukrainian Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Council Adrian Prokopenko; military intelligence officer, veteran, hunter, co-founder of the public organization Hunter's Soul Mykhailo Krupenia "Skif"; doctor of veterinary medicine, international expert in biosecurity Oleksandr Revnivtsev; founder of the hunting farm Tustan and the farm-ranch for breeding wild ungulates Ruslan Kozyr; PhD student at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, member of the Ukrainian National Delegation to the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation, hunting expert Anastasia Matviyenko (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.

Additional information by phone: (067) 693 0321 and by e-mail: [email protected].
West Bengal Assembly Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Monday called for immediate job placements for deserving and qualified candidates who lost their jobs after the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Courts order to cancel the appointment of over 25,000 staff.

Mr Adhikari said: The deserving and qualified candidates must immediately be given their jobs. This is our demand. BJP stands with the 23 lakh unemployed youth of the state. When BJP forms government, SSC will be held every year. In the revision petition filed in the Supreme Court today, we demand the state government submit the genuine list. Youth organisations have planned an apolitical movement.

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He alleged that the Supreme Court asked the Mamata Banerjee-led government to provide a list of genuine teaching staff whose jobs were sold to unqualified individuals for money, but they sacrificed them to protect fake and counterfeit recruitment.

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Several times, the high court and Supreme Court requested to produce segregated lists. They did not produce a list of the genuine teaching staff whose jobs were sold to undeserving people for money. Hearing was held 16 times by a bench of former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and the sitting CJI Sanjiv Khanna. Mamata Banerjees own relatives are part of this fake appointment in Birbhum Abhishek Banerjees name has come up. To save fake and counterfeit recruitment, they sacrificed appointment of genuine teaching and non-teaching staff, he said.

Earlier today, BJP MLA and LoP, along with other BJP MLAs, protested against the state government.

They are demanding chief minister Mamata Banerjees resignation and accusing the TMC government of corruption. The protest follows the Supreme Courts order, which led to the loss of jobs for SSC teachers.

Speaking during the protest, West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari said, Mamata Banerjee should go to jail. She is the main beneficiary. Her nephew took a bribe of Rs 700 crore

Earlier, the BJP unit of West Bengal held a protest rally a day after the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Courts decision to quash the recruitment of more than 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) in 2016 for the state-run and aided schools.
Following the recent Supreme Court verdict on the 2016 SSC recruitment panel, which has sent shockwaves across West Bengal, the principal of a Bankura college is now facing mounting pressure as a local citizens committee has threatened legal action should he be allowed to continue in his role.

Sheikh Sirajuddin, principal of Saldiha College in Bankura, previously served as the chairman of the School Service Commission (SSC) for the northern and western regions. During his tenure, his wife, Jasmine Khatun, was allegedly recruited as a teacher out-of-turn. Her appointment was recommended after the expiration of the panel, which was based on the 12th RLST list, dated 5 November 2019while Sirajuddin was still serving as regional chairman.

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On 22 January 2024, following accusations of nepotism, the SSC removed Sirajuddin from his position. Subsequently, on 21 March 2024, he was arrested by the CID for allegedly using his official position to secure the teaching post for his wife in 2019, despite her name having been on a rejected list. He remained in judicial custody for eight months. His wife, Jasmine Khatun, was also arrested in February 2024 in connection with the case.

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The Calcutta High Court had earlier summoned former SSC shairman Soumitra Sarkar to submit an investigation status report and to produce the original recommendation memo concerning Jasmine Khatuns appointment.

In the wake of last Thursdays Supreme Court verdict on SSC recruitments, the Citizens Committee has intensified its opposition to Sirajuddins return to his college post. Although the colleges Governing Body had permitted him to resume duties following his release on bail, the committee is determined to prevent his reinstatement.

How can a person, who was in judicial custody for eight months on charges of corruption and nepotism be allowed to resume his post? This is yet another offence, and we suspect ongoing favouritism by corrupt individuals, said Asim Pathak, president of the Citizens Committee. We will not allow him to continue as principal under any circumstance.

A fresh petition has been filed in the Calcutta High Court seeking judicial intervention to prevent Sirajuddin from occupying the principals office. In a further controversial move, Sirajuddin reportedly dismissed two college security guards who had been serving for over nine years.

Sirajuddin has not visited the college since Saturday, likely in response to the latest public uproar following the Supreme Courts ruling. Speaking to The Statesman, he said: I had a legal matter to attend to on Saturday and a personal issue on Monday. He added: I have not yet received any official communication asking me to stay away from my duties.

The colleges governing body has since been dissolved following legal proceedings. The state education department has recommended that an administrator be appointed to oversee the institution. Sumit Nath, president of the now-dissolved governing body, said: Sirajuddin remains active in his role as principal. Whether he will be allowed to continue depends solely on the higher education department or the judiciary, given the governing bodys dissolution.
The iconic Kansat sweets of Maldarenowned for their luscious, creamy texture and deep-rooted legacyare inching closer to securing a Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

The district administration has formally initiated the process under the Food Stuff category of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.

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In a recent move, the district magistrate and collector of Malda directed food samples to be collected and sent for testing to the director of food processing industries, as per communication from the district horticulture office (Memo No. 203/DHO/Mld dated 03.04.2024). The effort aims to safeguard the sweets unique identity while amplifying its reach in domestic and international markets.

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A cherished delicacy for over 75 years, Kansat is a proud emblem of Maldas culinary tradition. Legend has it that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was particularly fond of this sweet, which is crafted primarily from kheer, a slow-cooked, thickened milk delicacy. The creamy richness of Kansat is attributed to the high-quality milk sourced from local cows, making cattle-rearing and animal husbandry a key pillar of its production ecosystem.

As tourists and expatriates make it a point to savour Kansat during visits to this historical district, demand has steadily grown, giving rise to calls for official recognition. We are earnestly requesting authorities to consider the GI registration of Kansat to strengthen its marketability and support thousands of livelihoods dependent on its production, said Ujjal Saha of the Malda Chamber of Commerce in a joint appeal.

Confirming recent developments, Samanta Layek, deputy director of horticulture and food processing industries, Malda, noted: We have already sent samples of Kansat and local brinjal varieties (Ashapur and Nawabganj) for testing and received the analytical report in April 2024.

If granted, the GI tag is expected to not only preserve Kansats traditional roots but also unlock new avenues for economic upliftment and job creation in the region. For Malda, this sweet recognition could be the icing on the cake.
In a shocking turn of events, Tollywood television director Siddhanta Das, popularly known in the industry as Victo, was remanded to 10 days police custody by the Alipore court today.

Das has been accused of driving under the influence of alcohol and ramming into multiple pedestrians in Thakurpukur, resulting in the death of one elderly man and injuries to six others. Two of the injured remain in critical condition at a local hospital. The tragic incident occurred on Sunday around 9.30 a.m. Das, allegedly in an inebriated state, lost control of his vehicle near Thakurpukur market, veering off Diamond Harbour Road and striking pedestrians in rapid succession. Eyewitnesses reported scenes of chaos and horror as the car mowed down people one after another. According to the police, the group, including Das and others, were returning from a party at a farmhouse in Bishnupur celebrating the release of a film. All occupants of the car were reportedly intoxicated at the time of the accident. The impact of the incident was also felt on the set of Sun Banglas upcoming serial Video Bouma, directed by Das. Shooting was halted for the day and replaced with an outdoor schedule. Executive producer Shreya Basu, also linked to the serial, was granted bail, while Das was arrested and denied bail. Industry insiders and actors have publicly condemned the incident. In a strong statement, a well-known television actor said: I dont even know what to say. But one thing is certain  I see this industry closely every day, and I fear its slowly being consumed by substance abuse. This is a deeply condemnable incident, and the guilty must be punished.

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Meanwhile, channel authorities reportedly held an urgent meeting with executive producers of various shows following the accident. The television fraternity has expressed shock and grief, calling for accountability and stronger safeguards within the industry.

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Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) on Monday protested against the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee-led state government, following the job losses of over 25,000 staff in Bengal schools.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Courts decision to quash the recruitment of more than 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) in 2016 for the state-run and aided schools.

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Earlier today, Union minister of state for education Sukanta Majumdar blamed chief minister for ruining the states education system and demanded that she be jailed.

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Mr Majumdar said: Mamata Banerjee has ruined the education system of West Bengal. The next 10 generations will suffer and Mamata Banerjee is responsible for this and she should be put behind bars.

He also blamed Mamata Banerjee and her government for the loss of over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff jobs and accused her of shielding those involved in the scam.

So many people have lost their jobs. Who is responsible for this? It is Mamata Banerjee and her cabinet. Did she ever admit that her leaders were the ones who were involved in corruption? If she were sincere, she should have thrown out those who were involved in corruption. But you are involved in this, that is why you are trying your best to save them, he said.

A Bench of chief justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar found that the West Bengal SSCs selection process was based on large-scale manipulations and fraud.

In our opinion, this is a case wherein the entire selection process has been vitiated and tainted beyond resolution. Manipulations and frauds on a large scale, coupled with the attempted cover-up, have dented the selection process beyond repair and partial redemption. The credibility and legitimacy of the selection are denuded, the apex court Bench stated in its judgement.

The apex court found no reason to interfere with the High Courts direction that the services of tainted candidates must be terminated and that they should be required to refund any salaries/payments received.

Since their appointments were the result of fraud, this amounts to cheating. Therefore, we see no justification to alter this direction, the Bench added.

The top courts verdict came on a petition filed by the West Bengal government that challenged an April 2022 order of the Calcutta High Court, which had cancelled the recruitment of more than 25,000 teachers and other staff for state-run and aided schools.

The top court had reserved its verdict in the matter on 10 February.
Trinamul Congress (TMC) will protest against the recent order on cancellation of 25,753 school jobs.

Trinamool has alleged that CPI-M and the BJP have conspired to ensure the termination of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching jobs in different state-run schools.

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Trinamul Congresss state chief on Monday claimed that a mega protest rally will be organised in Kolkata on 9 April by the members of the students and youth wings of the party.

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He said that the rally will start at 3 p.m. at College Square in North Kolkata and will end at Esplanade in central Kolkata.

On 10 April, similar protest rallies will be conducted in every district of the state, he said.

Political observers said that Trinamul has deliberately accused CPI-M and BJP over the termination of the jobs, as direct protests would have gone against the verdict of the Supreme Court (SC).

Last week, SCs division Bench upheld an earlier order by the Calcutta High Court cancelling a total of 25,753 appointments made by West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

The apex courts division Bench last week also accepted the observation of the division bench of Calcutta High Court that the entire panel of 25,753 jobs had to be cancelled due to the failure of the state government and the commission to segregate the genuine candidates from the tainted candidates allegedly getting jobs paying money.
Days after decrying the Supreme Courts verdict on the appointment of 25,000 government school teachers in West Bengal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee today assured the affected candidates that she stands by all those who have lost their jobs. Nearly 25,753 school teachers, who lost their jobs overnight, following a Supreme Court order on the 2016 recruitment panel gathered at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Monday, clinging to hope and awaiting direction.

In response, chief minister Mamata Banerjee offered a strong message of assurance, promising that all eligible teachers would be reinstated within two months. The Supreme Court, in a recent ruling, scrapped the 2016 School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment panel, citing institutional corruption and declaring the panel unconstitutional. As a result, thousands of teachers were rendered jobless, including around 7,000 termed ineligible. The fate of the remaining teachers could not be determined due to lack of clarity in records, SSC had informed the court.

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Addressing the gathering, Mamata Banerjee said: The state government will ensure jobs for all eligible candidates within two months. Your service will not be considered broken. The government takes full responsibility for your employment. The chief minister further advised the affected teachers to voluntarily continue teaching at their schools until formal instructions are issued. No one will stop you from going to school. Work voluntarily if you can. Two months of hardship will ensure 20 years of reward, she said. Banerjee also raised concerns over the Supreme Court judgment, questioning whether there was any conspiracy behind the sweeping cancellation of appointments. Those who have performed well and cleared the tests are now being labelled as thieves by the court. Is that justice? We hope the voice of justice does not remain unheard, she remarked. Pointing to the ambiguities in the 3 April verdict, Banerjee said her government would write to the Supreme Court seeking clarity and request a list of eligible candidates. We want to know what will happen to those who have been declared eligible. If justice is denied, we have alternative plans, she added. For those declared ineligible, the chief minister made her stance clear: Let us first make arrangements for the eligible ones. If someone is proven ineligible, nothing can be done.

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In a show of solidarity, Mamata Banerjee assured the jobless teachers: You will not have to beg. We are not heartless. There is a conspiracy to dismantle the education system, but we wont let that happen. I promise, no eligible teacher will lose their jobs. The rally was marked by emotional appeals, passionate slogans, and a glimmer of hope that justice and employment might soon be restored. While she was addressing the gathering of jobless teachers at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Mamata Banerjee launched a sharp attack: Have you forgotten the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh? There was a scam in NEET too. But no one lost their jobs. Is it only in Bengal that every issue is branded a conspiracy? There is a plot to dismantle Bengals education system. Isnt there some hidden agenda behind this verdict? The nationwide medical entrance examination had sparked a massive outcry about a year ago over allegations of corruption. It was found that some scorecards showed marks higher than the total possible score, and the merit list was published based on those. This anomaly exposed the scam, leading to widespread uproar and accusations that genuine meritorious candidates were denied opportunities.

Referring to these past scams, Mamata targeted the BJP, saying: As long as Im alive, I wont let deserving candidates lose their jobs. I want to tell the Supreme Courtif you cant grant jobs, at least dont take them away. To protect the education system, teachers should be allowed to continue their work.
Noida International University successfully organised the Educators Meet & Felicitation Ceremony at Hotel Kenilworth in Kolkata, bringing together education professionals and stakeholders.

The event was attended by around 60 people who aimed to collaborate in the academic sector and recognise the contributions of educators.

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The chief guest Akash Sharma, director of admissions & outreach, Noida International University, said: The importance of quality education and industry-academia partnerships play a vital role in the education industry, the evolving role of educators in shaping future-ready students for problem-solving and creative thinking. Teaching is a noble profession where learning never ends, and educators need to upgrade their skills to make students future-ready for employment. Also, Dr Biplab Debnath, Dr Swarupananda Mukherjee were present as the guests of honour at the event.

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The ceremony also featured discussions on trending educational strategies to enhance student admissions. The event concluded with a felicitation segment, where educators were recognised for their dedication and contributions to the field. Other notable attendees included Bhanu Pratap Singh, Ankur Sharma, and Tarun Pratap Singh from Noida International University.

Their insights on the importance of outreach and engagement in higher education were well received.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 7 lakh on Reliance Securities Limited for not following stockbroker regulations.

According to SEBIs order, the company has 45 days to pay the penalty. SEBI conducted an inspection of Reliance Securities, which is a registered stockbroker, between December 22, 2022, and January 24, 2023.

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The purpose was to check if the company was following all stockbroking rules properly. During the investigation, SEBI found several violations.

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One of the major issues was that Reliance Securities gave incorrect details in daily margin statements to clients on three different occasions.

The company also reported wrong ledger balances once. These mistakes go against the rules that ensure transparency and fairness in stock trading.

SEBI also found that the company failed to follow the risk-based supervision (RBS) guidelines. In its reports, Reliance Securities did not include cash collateral data, which is an important part of risk management.

For example, it showed Rs 16.13 crore as total funds in banks and clearing members, but did not mention the Rs 312.57 crore that was actually available with clearing corporations and clearing members.

Another violation was related to upfront margin penalties. The company wrongly passed on these penalties to some clients, which is not allowed under SEBIs rules.

In addition, SEBI found problems related to cybersecurity. During three audit periods, the company did not follow proper procedures.

It failed to test its products before using them and did not appoint a cybersecurity officer, which is mandatory, the market regulator said.

SEBI pointed out that from April 2021 to September 2021, October 2021 to March 2022, and April 2022 to September 2022, there was one adverse observation by the auditors in each audit report.

These repeated issues show that the company did not comply with important stockbroking and cybersecurity norms.

Based on these findings, SEBI decided to fine Reliance Securities Rs 7 lakh for violating its rules, it added.
FUZULI, Azerbaijan, April 8. Delegates of the 7th ADA University Policy Forum have arrived in the city of Fuzuli, Trend reports.

A plane carrying international experts and representatives from leading think tanks landed at Fuzuli International Airport.

From there, the guests will head to the city of Khankendi to take part in the event.

The 7th ADA Political Forum, titled Facing the New World Order, is being jointly organized by ADA University and the Center of Analysis of International Relations. It will take place on April 8 in the city of Khankendi.

More than 80 international experts and think tank representatives from 44 countries are expected to attend.
An Iraqi national was detained by Delhi Customs officials at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) for allegedly smuggling over 1.2 kg of gold, the department said on Monday.

According to Customs, the passenger had arrived from Baghdad, Iraq, and was intercepted at the exit of the green channel at Terminal 3.

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During X-ray screening of his baggage, suspicious images were observed. Additionally, a Door Frame Metal Detector (DFMD) check triggered a strong beep when the passenger passed through.

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A thorough examination of the passenger and his baggage led to the recovery of assorted yellow metal and silver-coated jewellery, suspected to be gold, weighing a total of 1.20 kg.

The gold was found concealed in the baggage with the intention to smuggle it into the country, officials added.

The Customs Department stated that an investigation is underway to ascertain the purity, valuation, and possible contraventions under the Customs Act.

Earlier on Monday, the department had detained three individuals in separate cases involving the smuggling of precious metals and smartphones in commercial quantities.
South Koreas highest-paid star Kim Soo Hyun has been facing several accusations involving the late actress, Kim Sae Ron. The actress family accused Soo Hyun of dating Sae Ron when she was a minor. They claim that the two were in a relationship for six years which began when Sae Ron was just 15 while Soo Hyun was 27. Moreover, they also claim that Kim Soo Hyuns agency GOLD MEDALIST pressured the actress over her debt in connection to her DUI case. Following this a series of allegations and refutes surfaced. Notably, Soo Hyun hosted a press conference addressing the issue. Amidst this, reports reveal that G-Dragons Good Day has chopped all scenes featuring Soo Hyun.

As per Korea Joongang Daily, the makers of Good Day completely edited out Kim Soo Hyun from Sundays episode. The makers have axed all the scenes featuring the actor in the final episode, reportedly. In a segment starring CL of 2NE1, fans could see Soo Hyun sitting in the centre of a group shot. However, the producers edited the image making sure that he did not appear on screen at all.

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The episode featured a voice-directing scene by K-pop sensation, G-Dragon. Additionally, other cast members- Yim Si Wan, Code Kunst, Jung Hae In, Hwang Kwang He, Jo Se Ho, and members of band DAY6, recorded individually. However, Soo Hyun was absent.

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View this post on Instagram A post shared by  Kim Soo Hyun  (@soohyun_k216)

Meanwhile, on March 13, Kim Soo Hyun participated in shooting the program amid massive criticism. Subsequently, the production team of Good Day stated that they have decided to edit out Kim Soo Hyuns appearances as much as possible. Additionally, the individual recording session involving the cast member on March 13 will not be aired.

Kim Soo Hyun also organised a press conference addressing the mounting allegations against him. While he admitted dating Kim Sae Ron, he stated that it was not during her minor years. I couldnt accept (them) coercing me to take whats fake as the truth. I never dated [Kim Sae-ron] when she was a minor. Except for the fact that both of us were actors, our relationship was just like that of any other ordinary couple. And it is not true that she had made this tragic choice because of me or my agency pressuring her over a debt.

Also Read: Kim Sae Rons LEAKED break-up text to Kim Soo Hyun causes a stir

Amid the ongoing controversy, Kim Soo Hyun has reportedly lost over 20 brand endorsement deals. Moreover, his upcoming Disney+ show, Knock-Off is also in troubled waters. Reports also suggest that his agency, GOLD MEDALIST is facing financial turmoil as the controversy deepens.
Recently the viral AI-generated Ghibli trend took over the world like wildfire. Leveraging OpenAIs GPT-4o image generator, users across the globe turned pictures into a Studio Ghibli-style iteration. From viral movie scenes, and iconic moments in history, to everyday snapshots, users were generating a Ghibli version of everything. Notably, several notable personalities like celebrities and political figures took part in the trend.

The fleeting trend raised an important debate around AI and art. While several users hailed it as revolutionary, others labelled it as copyright infringement and undermining of artists efforts. Amid this, Studio Ghiblis co-founder Hayao Miyazakis 2016 comment about AI in animation being an insult to life itself went viral. Miyazaki is the creator of several celebrated Ghibli films like Spirited Away, Grave of Fireflies, and The Boy and the Heron among others.

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For the unversed, in his 2016 documentary, the veteran filmmaker openly expressed his displeasure with using artificial intelligence in creating art. When a demonstration of AI-generated animation was shown, Miyazaki rejected it. He said, I am utterly disgusted I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself. Moreover, his concluding words were, I feel like we are nearing the end of times. We humans are losing faith in ourselves.

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Recently, YouTuber Varun Mayya probed OpenAIs CEO Sam Altman about Miyazakis statement during his podcast appearance. The 39-year-old responded, I think the democratization of creating content has been a big net win for society. It has not been a complete win. There are negative things about it, for sure, and certainly, it did something about the art form.

yall are not ready for images v2  Sam Altman (@sama) April 1, 2025



Altman added, But I think on a whole, its been a win. And this is something that I very deeply believe about the power of technology, which is giving everyone more tools, making things easier, lowering the barriers to entry, does significantly increase the number of people that can contribute to society, and we all benefit from that.

Also Read: The problematics of the viral Ghibli trend undermining creativity and values

Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki founded Studio Ghibli in 1985. The animation studio is a towering presence in the animation sector, boasting credits for some of the finest animated stories the world has ever seen.
The Indian National Congress commenced its two-day national convention today in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, centered on the themes of Justice, Resolution, Dedication, and Struggle. From Jharkhand, a total of 60 leaders  including 54 members of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and 6 specially invited delegates  are participating in this significant political event.

The convention has brought together senior party leadership along with delegates from all states and union territories across India.

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The convention is being seen as a critical platform for formulating Congress upcoming strategies, restructuring the organisation, and reinforcing its ideological stand. The first day is dedicated to a crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), where several important decisions are being deliberated upon. On the second day, the decisions and policy directions laid out by the CWC will be presented before the full house of AICC members for discussion and further planning.

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Among the prominent leaders attending from Jharkhand are State Congress President Keshav Mahto Kamlesh, former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, senior leaders Alamgir Alam, Rajesh Thakur, Deepika Pandey Singh, Bandhu Tirkey, Dr Ajoy Kumar, and Satyendra Singh. Several nominated and elected AICC members from Jharkhand are also part of the delegation.

Speaking to the media before departing for Ahmedabad, Jharkhand Congress President Keshav Mahto Kamlesh expressed confidence that the Gujarat convention will prove to be a milestone in strengthening the organisation. He emphasised that it is the collective responsibility of all Congress leaders and workers to carry forward the resolutions taken at the convention and reinvigorate the party structure at all levels.

Jharkhand Congress Media Department Chairman Satish Paul Munjini also underscored the importance of the event, stating that the Congress party is fighting for constitutional values and public welfare issuesfrom Parliament to the streets. He said that the message emerging from Gujarat, the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, would provide a new direction to the political discourse of the country.

This two-day convention is not just an organisational exercise, but a powerful moment for Congress to realign itself with the changing political landscape post-2024 and assert its role in shaping the future of Indian democracy. The leadership aims to use this platform to energise party workers across the nation and prepare them for the battles ahead.
The younger son of Andhra Pradesh deputy CM and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan sustained injuries in a fire at his school in Singapore. Mark Shankar suffered injuries to his arms and legs and was rushed to a local hospital for treatment, the Jana Sena Party said in a statement on Tuesday.

The party added that Pawan Kalyan would travel to Singapore to visit his son after concluding his ongoing tour in Manyam.According to the party statement, a fire broke out at the school where Mark Shankar was studying. He sustained injuries to his hands and legs in the accident and also inhaled smoke.

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Pawan Kalyan was informed about the incident during his ongoing tour to Alluri Seetharamaraju district in Andhra Pradesh. However, the deputy CM insisted on completing his tour.

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I had promised the tribals of that village yesterday that I would visit Kuridi village near Araku so I will go to that village, talk to them and find out the problems there, Jana Sena Party quoted him as saying.

He added that since arrangements have been made for the commencement of development programs, he will complete them and go.

After completing his tour in Manyam, Kalyan will reach Visakhapatnam, and from there, arrangements are being made for a visit to Singapore.

Meanwhile, a Singaporean English reported that 15 children, including Mark Shankar, and four adults were taken to the hospital after a fire broke out at a shophouse in River Valley Road on April 8.

The building that caught fire is Tomato Cooking School, which runs cooking lessons and camps for children, according to the Singaporean daily English-language newspaper.

The fire was reported extinguished within 30 minutes, but some students and teachers sustained injuries.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has placed a new signboard of Juma Masjid at the Sambhal mosque, which was at the centre of widespread violence recently, sources said on Tuesday.

The new signboard replaces the earlier one which said Shahi Jama Masjid, a development which may have serious repercussions.

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According to the sources, a new blue-colored ASI board has been kept at the newly constructed Satyavrat police outpost, which will replace the existing signboard.

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However , ASIs counsel Vishnu Sharma told media persons that the change in name is aligned with official records.

It has been reported that the ASI board installed outside the mosque was allegedly removed and was replaced with a board calling it Shahi Jama Masjid. The new board of Juma Masjid has been made in accordance with the name recorded in ASI documents , sources said.

A similar blue ASI board with the name Juma Masjid is already present inside the mosque premises.

But the ASI has not announced when the new signboard will be installed.

Meanwhile, SP MP from Sambhal Zia ur Rehman Barq was questioned for 3 hours by the SIT on Tuesday in connection with the Sambhal violence.

SP MP reached Nakhasa police station and appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the violence case. In this case, he was summoned for a statement. ASP Srischand and CO Kuldeep Singh questioned him for 3 hours.

MPs along with a battery of lawyers reached the police station at 11.15 am. The MP has expressed confidence in the law and the constitution and told the media that he will give full support in the investigation. The MP said that he believed in law and the Constitution.

I trust the judiciary. Today, my health is not good and the doctor has advised me to rest. Despite this, I am appearing before the SIT so that the police-administration does not feel that I was not cooperating in the investigation, the MP said.

Significantly, the SIT is investigating the violence in Sambhal. Many people have been questioned in the case.

The SIT had served notice to the MP under Section 35 of BNSS at his residence in Delhi. In which the MP gave time to record the statement on April 8.

An FIR was registered in the case of crime number 335/24 in the violence during the Jama Masjid survey on November 24 last.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused the BJP and RSS of conspiring to portray that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru were against each other, adding that they were two sides of the same coin.

Addressing the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here in the presence of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Kharge said, An atmosphere is being created against the Congress party which has a glorious history of serving and fighting for the country for 140 years. This work is done by those people who have nothing to show as their achievements. They have nothing to show as their contribution in the freedom struggle.

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He asserted that a well-planned conspiracy is being carried out against many national heroes under the ruling dispensation.

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Mentioning Patel and Nehru, the Congress chief said, They (BJP and RSS) conspire to portray the relationship between Sardar Patel and Pandit Nehru as if the two heroes were against each other. While the truth is that they were two sides of the same coin. Numerous events and documents bear witness to their cordial relationship.

Stating that it is in public record that there was almost daily correspondence between Patel and Nehru, he said, Nehru ji had immense respect for Patel ji. If he needed any advice, he would personally visit Patel jis house. For Patel jis convenience, CWC meetings were held at his residence. Nehru used to seek his advice on all matters.

Pointing out that Patels ideology was contrary to the ideas of RSS, Kharge said he had even banned the RSS, but now people associated it with Patels legacy.

Recalling the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Patel, he said they played an important role in making Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar a member of the Constituent Assembly.

The Congress chief said Ambedkar himself, in his last speech in the Constituent Assembly on 25th November, 1949, had stated that the Constitution could not have been made without the cooperation of the Congress party.

But when the Constitution was made, the RSS criticized Gandhiji, Pandit Nehru, Dr Ambedkar and the Congress a lot. They burnt the Constitution and the effigies of these leaders at Ramlila Maidan. They also said that the Constitution was not inspired by Manuvadi ideals, he said.

Kharge also accused the ruling BJP that it insulted Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar by removing their grand statues from the Parliament premises and putting them in a corner.

He also referred to Union Home Minister Amit Shahs remarks on Dr. Ambedkar.

It may be mentioned that Shah had said, It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. If they had taken Gods name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven.

Kharge categorically said the Congress party respects both the Constitution and its makers and knows how to protect it.

Sardar Patel saheb lives in our hearts and thoughts. We are carrying forward his legacy. We have organized this CWC meeting in Ahmedabad in Sardar Patel Museums premises with this thought in mind, he said.

Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha further said, Today, attention is being diverted from the basic issues of the country by doing communal division. On the other hand, oligarchic monopoly is on the path of controlling the government by capturing the resources of the country.

Referring to Gujarat, he said, Gujarat is the state from which Congress has got maximum strength in its 140 years of history. Today we have come here again to take inspiration and strength. Our real strength is the unity and integrity of our country and the ideology of social justice.

But today, to take that ideology forward, it is important that we first strengthen ourselves. Strengthen our organisation, he added.
Stepping up its attack on the BJP and RSS, the Congress on Tuesday said the ideology of violence and communalism is pushing the country into an abyss of hatred, based on the divisions of religious polarization.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) made this statement in a special resolution approved by it on Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, reaffirming the partys commitment to his ideal, during its meeting chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge here, in presence of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

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The party said it is determined to emulate the resoluteness of Patel by fighting the frenzy of religious polarization.

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Notably, the statement of the Congress came days after the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill,2024 in Parliament. The party had earlier said that it will challenge the constitutionality of the Bill in the Supreme Court and it is part of the BJPs deliberate strategy to keep society in a state of permanent polarisation.

Today, the ideology of violence and communalism is pushing the country into an abyss of hatred, based on the divisions of religious polarization. Therefore, once again, the Congress party is determined to emulate the resoluteness of Iron man Sardar Patel by fighting the frenzy of religious polarization, read the resolution approved by the partys highest decision making body, while targeting the BJP and RSS.

The forces which opposed to the foundational principles of truth and non-violence and also opposed to the freedom struggle, personify the same violent ideology that murdered Mahatma Gandhi, adding Nathuram Godse was indoctrinated by this very perverted ideology, it said.

Citing that Patel believed that the ideology of violence and communalism is inimical to national interests, the Congress in its resolution said,  It was Sardar Patel, who banned the RSS on 4 February, 1948 after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

At that time, a similar violent ideology attacked both Patel and former prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and even gave a call for their public hanging, it said.

The ideology of make-believe confrontation and mischievously professed division had led to spreading of a deliberate web of lies of conflict between Sardar Patel and Pandit Nehru. In reality, it was an attack on the very ethos of our freedom struggle and the inseparable leadership of Gandhi-Nehru-Patel, the CWC resolution said.

It further said, The cobweb of deceit and deception couldnt sustain, for Sardar Patel himself wrote to Pandit Nehru on 3 August, 1947 and unequivocally stated, our attachment and affection for each other and our comradeship for an unbroken period of nearly 30 years admit of no formalities. Our combination is unbreakable and therein lies our strength.

Asserting that the forces of animosity and division seek to undermine the very spirit of camaraderie and bonhomie, the party said, Therefore, once again, Congress is determined to follow the life principles of Sardar Patel to defeat the forces of animosity and division as also exposing the fake news factory of these elements.

The party also vowed to walk in the footsteps of Patel by a renewed struggle for justice against extreme wealth inequality and deeply embedded concentration of wealth.

Mentioning farmers issue, the Congress said, The BJP government of today emulates the cruel British policies against the farmers be it bringing an ordinance to whittle down the Right to Fair Compensation Law for acquisition of land, the three Anti-Agriculture Black Laws to enslave the farmers, blocking the path of farmers by digging up roads and putting up spikes and wedges.Therefore, the Congress is ready to tread the path of struggle shown by Sardar Patel for the rights of the farmers.

Apprising about the CWC meeting, Congress general secretary in-charge of Organisation KC Venugopal said , The meeting highlights the deep-rooted connection between the Indian National Congress (INC) and Gujarat, dating back to 1902. This is the sixth time the party has held a national-level meeting in Gujarat, emphasizing the states importance in the partys history.

He also mentioned about the special resolution on Patel, reaffirming the Congress commitment to his ideals.

Congress general secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh informed 158 members who were present in the CWC meeting.

Today a special resolution on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was discussed and passed. Tomorrow, two more resolutions will be discussed, one on national issues and the other on Gujarat issues and political situation, he said while referring to the AICC meeting, scheduled to be held here on Wednesday.
India opened a gateway to climate forecast and research in the Himalayas on Tuesday when Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the first-ever Himalayan High Altitude Atmospheric & Climate Research Centre in the higher reaches of Nathatop near here.

This move marks a significant milestone in Indias global leadership in climate science, the Union Minister said, adding that Jammu & Kashmir is spearheading Indias global initiative for climate study and research in the Himalayas.

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J&K Science & Technology Minister Satish Sharma, Secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences Dr M Ravichandran, Vice Chancellor of Central University of Jammu Prof Sanjiv Jain, MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia, and members of the Swiss team were present on the occasion, along with senior officers from the central and UT governments.

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Situated at one of the highest altitudes in the region, the state-of-the-art facility is expected to serve as a crucial gateway for advanced climate research in the north-western Himalayas.

Coinciding with the inauguration, Dr Jitendra Singh also flagged off the Indo-Swiss Joint Research Project ICE-CRUNCH (Ice nucleating particles and cloud condensation nuclei properties in the North-Western Himalayas)  a collaborative study between Indian scientists and researchers from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, aimed at exploring the properties of ice nucleating particles and cloud condensation nuclei in the region.

This is not just a scientific milestoneit is a historic moment, Dr Jitendra Singh said, adding, With the setting up of this station, we are opening up a new gateway into climate research and studies in the Himalayas. And India will be pioneering it.

The minister underscored that the choice of Jammu and Kashmir for this facility was a conscious one, leveraging its high-altitude advantage for more accurate atmospheric and climate measurements. The implication is that J&K also joins Indias global headways in addressing the climate concerns, he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh reflected on how India is now taken seriously on the global stage in matters of climate action and research.

The Nathatop centre is a product of multi-tier collaborationbetween the Government of India (through the Ministry of Science & Technology), the Government of Jammu and Kashmir (which provided the land), the Central University of Jammu (whose scientists will participate in research), and the Swiss National Science Foundation (which is providing international expertise).

Calling it a synergised model of governance and global partnership, Dr Jitendra Singh said this collaboration mirrors Indias broader approach to climate resilience through coordinated efforts.

Preserving the Himalayas is not a regional concern but a global imperative, Dr Jitendra Singh said, emphasising that the regions vast unexplored resources could play a pivotal role in Indias future economic growth.

The newly inaugurated centre, a joint initiative of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the J&K Forest Department, and the Central University of Jammu, is located at an altitude of 2,250 metres above sea level. The site was strategically chosen for its clean air and minimal pollution, providing a rare opportunity to study atmospheric processes in free tropospheric conditionsa key requirement for understanding cloud formation, weather patterns, and aerosol interactions.

The centres first set of measurements will be conducted under ICE-CRUNCH, bringing together Indian and Swiss scientists to study ice-nucleating particles and cloud condensation nuclei. These studies are crucial in understanding the role of aerosols in cloud microphysics and their broader implications on climate systems and precipitation in the Himalayan region.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has stated that in the coming years, India and the UAE are eager to work closely in areas such as defence cooperation, co-production and co-development projects, innovation and technology.

In a post on X, Singh, post his meeting with the Crown Prince of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of UAE Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, wrote that both the countries are committed to work towards peace and prosperity in the region.

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The Crown Pince is on his maiden official visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders held a meeting at South Block, here today.

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In a statement Ministry of Defence said that the two leaders expressed happiness on the current defence cooperation through institutional mechanisms, military exercises, and exchange of training programmes.

The Ministers acknowledged that defence cooperation needs to be scaled up to match the progress made in other areas such as trade and business. They identified training exchanges as one of the key areas of defence cooperation which would enable understanding of each others defence ecosystems and accelerate strengthening of bilateral defence ties.

Discussion was also held on the Coast Guard-to-Coast Guard cooperation where both the countries committed to further deepen it by formalising the same through an MoU. The delegation also spoke about increasing defence industry collaboration and discussed opportunities for enhancing partnership in defence manufacturing.
KHANKENDI, Azerbaijan, April 8. Azerbaijan's green policy is a rational step in the context of international incentives, said Robert Cutler, an expert in energy security and geo-economics, as well as a senior research fellow at the Canadian Institute of Energy Studies and the Canadian Institute of Global Affairs told Trend.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 7th ADA University Policy Forum in Khankendi, Cutler emphasized that with its rich potential in solar and wind energy, Azerbaijan is strategically positioning itself by leveraging global paradigms and aligning with prevailing incentives.

"Azerbaijan's green policy is clear. The country possesses significant resources in solar and wind energy. While it continues to produce oil and gas to meet market demands, it also takes into account the needs of the international energy community and the European Union," Cutler said.

He added that, despite their higher costs and lower energy output, wind and solar energy are essential elements of Azerbaijans rational policy. The country benefits from incentives not only on the international stage but also within the context of domestic consumption, making this strategy a logical and necessary step in the current global landscape.

Cutler also shone a light on the importance of hosting the inaugural international conference at ADA University, which gathered more than 80 participants under one roof.

"This is an important step in Azerbaijan's public diplomacy, and it is worth noting that this event is the largest conference hosted by ADA," the expert concluded.

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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Tuesday that national initiatives like Ayushman Bharat have created opportunities in abundance in the healthcare sector across India. He stressed that New India has emerged as the Land of Opportunities with rapid reforms in every field.

Addressing the Indian students at Samarkand Medical University in Uzbekistan, Birla said, As Ayushman Bharat is expanding to include both government and private hospitals, there are ample opportunities for FMG doctors to gain valuable experience and contribute to the nations healthcare system.

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The Lok Sabha Speaker is on a four-day visit to Uzbekistan leading the Indian Parliamentary Delegation (IPD) for the 150th Assembly of Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU).

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The rapid growth in medical research and education in India has created numerous opportunities for the students to work in academic and research institutions, he said.

Birla lauded the Indian students studying abroad as ambassadors of Indian values and culture.

Despite staying thousands of miles away, these students continue to be deeply rooted in Indian values and spread them in their host countries, he observed.

As cultural and educational representatives of India, they also serve as key figures in strengthening the friendship and cooperation between India and Uzbekistan, Birla said.

The Lok Sabha Speaker conveyed to the students that the government of India cares deeply for the welfare of Indians living in every corner of the world.

He mentioned that India is dedicated to assisting and supporting overseas Indian students. Through initiatives like the Help portal and the active involvement of Indian embassies abroad, the government ensures that Indian students face no obstacles in their education, safety, and career prospects.

The Lok Sabha Speaker noted with pride that Indian doctors have a global identity, and you should continue this tradition.

Birla added that India has always produced exceptional doctors, and these students will enhance healthcare systems worldwide with their knowledge and skills. He added that their global experience will pave the way for greater success in their medical careers and will make important contributions in deciding the future of the global healthcare system.

He urged the students to not only enhance their knowledge and skills but also embrace values such as dedication and compassion in their lives.
Ahead of the crucial All India Congress Committee (AICC) session in Gujarat, Karnataka Congress MLA Basavaraju Shivaganga  a key leader from the DK Shivakumar camp  on Tuesday said the state will get a new chief minister before December.

Speaking to a news agency, the Congress leader said, Anyone can become the chief minister when the chair is vacant. I have already said once that before December, it (CM) will change.

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On the speculation surrounding Satish Jarkiholis name for the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president post, Shivaganga said while anyone can be appointed, the position is not vacant at the moment.

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The KPCC president post is not vacant now. When it is, we can talk about it When names come forward, anyone can become president  it could be Satish Jarkiholi, me, or others. But at present, the KPCC president post is not vacant, he said.

His comments come as the Congress holds a landmark AICC session in Gujarat, where leaders from all state units have gathered to discuss the partys future roadmap.

The development also come days after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy Shivakumar met the Congress high command in New Delhi. Shivakumar currently holds two key posts  deputy chief minister and KPCC president  and this goes against the partys one person, one post principle. Some leaders from the Siddaramaiah camp have been pushing for him to relinquish the party chiefs post.

However, according to reports, the Congress high command has given its nod to Shivakumar to continue as the partys state unit chief at least until NovemberDecember this year.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were the two main contenders for the CM post in 2023 when the Congress won the Karnataka Assembly elections. The party eventually appointed Siddaramaiah as the chief minister under a reported 50:50 formula, with Shivakumar reportedly promised the top post after two-and-a-half years.

To placate Shivakumar and his supporters, the party exempted him from the one person, one post rule and allowed him to continue as the KPCC president.
Six days after a 28-year-old Flight Lieutenant Siddharth Yadav lost his life in a twin-seater Jaguar aircraft crash near Jamnagar, in Gujarat, Kavita Gadgil, mother of the late Flight Lieutenant Abhijit Gadgil, has called the fatal crash a state-sanctioned violence against our own.

Gadgil lost his life in a MiG-21 crash at Suratgarh in Rajasthan on September 17, 2001. Gadgils death and his familys subsequent battle demanding justice while raising concerns over the aging fighter aircraft was an inspiration for the Bollywood movie Rang De Basanti, starring Aamir Khan and Soha Ali Khan.

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In a post on Facebook, Kavita demanded the grounding of the aging British-French supersonic jet attack aircraft, which found its way to the IAF in 1979.

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Dear Citizens of India, Another young man is gone, the post started. Flight Lieutenant Siddharth Yadav. Not martyred in war. Not killed in combat. But lost in a 46-year-old Jaguar jet that should have been grounded long before he was born. He died flying an aircraft that the rest of the world retired decades ago.

An aircraft that, like the MiG-21, continues to haunt our skies, claiming the lives of our brightest and bravest, not because of enemy action, but because of our own apathy, she went on to add.

Speaking about her sons death, the 75-year-old wrote that since 2001, over 340 Indian Air Force aircraft have crashed and more than 50 pilots have died.

Adding that the numbers were horrific and the silence around them even worse, Kavita wrote, And still, we carry on. No accountability. No reform. No outrage.

Kavita said that they (public) only get advice from ministers and bureaucrats who speak loftily of innovation and deep tech revolutions. Who blames young entrepreneurs and dreamers for not doing enough. While their own machinery, the PSUs, the defence research organisations, the state apparatus, continues to fail our armed forces, year after year.

We talk of becoming a global power. We demand respect on the world stage. But we send our officers into ancient aircraft, patched-up machines flying on borrowed time and borrowed parts. And we call it valour. It is not valour. It is violence. State-sanctioned violence against our own, the post continued.

The establishment gave the recently engaged Yadav a coffin masquerading as a cockpit while he was building a life, a heartbroken Kavita said, I do not want your condolences. I want you to remember. To rage. To demand better. Do not salute their coffins and forget them by next weeks headlines. Do not reduce these boys to photo ops and patriotic hashtags. They deserved better. We owe them better.

Do not wait for the next crash to care. Because if we do not act, another mother will be writing this letter. Another home will be draped in a flag. Another boy will never come back. And another nation will shrug, and move on, the post concluded.

Following the Jaguar crash, a court of inquiry was ordered by the Air Force authorities. The pilots faced a technical malfunction and initiated ejection, avoiding harm to the airfield and local population, the IAF wrote in a post on X.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan after the latters minor son Mark Shankar was injured in a fire incident in a Singapore school where he studies.

Mark is currently recuperating at a hospital after suffering injuries. Pawan Kalyan, who was on an official tour in Alluri Sitarama Raju district, completed his visit to a tribal hamlet and only then left for Singapore to be with his son.

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Mark Shankar is Pawan Kalyans son with his third wife, Anna Lezhneva. The eight-year-old suffered burn injuries on his legs and hands and respiratory distress due to smoke inhalation.

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The Prime Minister assured the deputy chief minister of necessary assistance, said Nadendla Manohar, food processing minister and JSP leader. He inquired about Marks health and wished him a speedy recovery.

One person died and 15 were injured in the devastating fire accident on River Valley Road in Singapore. Those trapped inside were rescued by the firefighters of the Singapore Civil Defence Force, onlookers, and the construction crew.

Pawan Kalyan was at the tribal hamlet Kuridi in Araku when he came to know about the fire incident. He insisted on completing his engagement with the tribal people since he had promised them and then chose to fly out to Singapore.

A number of political leaders reached out through social media, including AP governor S Abdul Nazeer, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, union ministers Bandi Sanjay and G Kishan Reddy, Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy and BRS working president KT Rama Rao.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Deputy Prime Minister, saying his special visit reaffirms the deep-rooted friendship between India and the UAE and paves the way for even stronger collaboration in future.

Glad to meet HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai. Dubai has played a key role in advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the PM wrote on X after the meeting.

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Sheikh Hamdan, in his social media post, said, It was a pleasure meeting the Prime Minister @NarendraModi today in New Delhi. Our conversations reaffirmed the strength of UAEIndia ties, which is built on trust, shaped by history, and driven by a shared vision to create a future full of opportunity, innovation, and lasting prosperity.

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Earlier today, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed his pleasure in welcoming Sheikh Hamdan on his first official visit to the country.

Taking to social media platform X, Mr Jaishankar wrote, Delighted to welcome Crown Prince of Dubai and DPM & Minister of Defence of UAE HH Sheikh Hamdan Mohammed, at the start of his first official visit to India. Value his positive sentiments for our wide-ranging cooperation and vibrant ties.

Sheikh Hamdan also held talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Officials said the discussions between the two sides focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including Defence, trade, and cultural exchanges.

Accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising several ministers, senior government officials, and top business leaders, Sheikh Hamdans visit highlights the growing ties between India and the UAE.

The Crown Prince will be in Mumbai on Wednesday, where he will take part in a business roundtable with leading industrialists and businessmen from both nations. This interaction is aimed at boosting India-UAE economic and commercial relations, particularly in both traditional and emerging sectors.

Traditionally, Dubai has played an important role in Indias commercial, cultural and people-to-people exchanges with the UAE. The majority of Indias around 4.3 million diaspora in the UAE reside and work in Dubai. The visit of His Highness the Crown Prince will further solidify the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and strengthen our multifaceted ties with Dubai, read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
An unusual act of re-consecration of the Ram Mandir in Alwar by former BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja, in protest against a visit by leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan assembly (LoP) Tika Ram Jully, has evoked statewide agitation with the Opposition Congress holding dharnas in all the districts on Tuesday.

LoP Jully visited the Ram Temple to pay obeisance to the deity during a Ram Navmi function on Sunday. This didnt go well with senior BJP leader and former legislator Ahuja. He expressed his displeasure with the organisers of the function saying, They had invited those (people) who did not accept the existence of Lord Ram Who had boycotted Ram Mandir.

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This has deconsecrated the temple, therefore I shall give a Ganga-Jal wash to the temple for its re-consecration. Then Ahuja sprinkled Ganga-Jal to reconsecrate the temple.

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This evoked a sharp reaction from the principal Opposition party and the leadership in the state as well as at the national level.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC), in a communique on Monday evening, strongly condemned the step taken by Ahuja, calling it an attempt at furthering hate  politics.

Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, along with Sachin Pilot and the entire state leadership, has deplored Ahuja for his inappropriate act.

In response to a call for agitation given by the Opposition party, dharnas were held and effigies of Ahuja were burnt at several district headquarters, including, Jodhpur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Kotputli, Rajsamand and Jalore on Tuesday.

Condemning the hate-politics, Gehlot urged Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and BJP state president Madan Rathore to make their stance over Ahujas action clear.

AICC General Secretary and ex Dy CM Pilot sought public apology from the ruling BJP state leadership.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJPs state unit has also distanced itself from Ahujas move and suspended him from the (primary membership of) the party.

Terming the act of the three-time MLA a violation of the pledge he has taken as BJPs primary member, the party served him a show-cause notice returnable within three days.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday vowed to revive his partys influence in the coastal Konkan region, which used to be a traditional stronghold of his party, even as he reiterated that his party alone is the only real Shiv Sena.

We will reclaim Konkan. The election results there were unexpected. People can be fooled once, but not always, he said, referring to the partys poor performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the Maharashtra assembly election.

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Thackeray signalled an aggressive revival plan and announced his intention to tour the entire Konkan belt to rebuild the partys grassroots network. We are returning to every village, every taluka. Konkan belongs to us, and we will win it back, Uddhav Thackeray said.

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The coastal Konkan region, stretching from Mumbai to Sindhudurg, has long been an important political base of the undivided Shiv Sena before the party split in 2022.

Uddhav Thackeray also attacked the rival Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and said, There is only one Shiv Sena and it is led by me.

Addressing Shiv Sena workers and supporters at Matoshree, his Bandra East residence in Mumbai, Uddhav Thackeray claimed that his Shiv Sena is the only party in Maharashtra which keeps its promises, adding that Maharashtra needs the Sena more than ever before.

In this context, it may be noted that in 2024 general elections, the UDdhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, as a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), won nine Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra but ended up losing key bastions in the Konkan region, including Raigad to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg belt, to the BJP.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Senas performance declined further in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections and it managed to secure only one seat in Guhagar, which is in the Konkan region, where the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena managed to make significant inroads.

Defeats faced by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena also triggered a wave of defections, including that of former Sena MLA Rajan Salvi, who joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a high-level meeting here on Tuesday to resolve the pending cases of both states in the court.

The Chief Secretaries of both states attended the meeting held at the UP CMs residence, along with officials of law and other concerned departments of the two states, officials said.

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UP Jal Shakti Minister Swantantra Dev Singh also confirmed that the meeting was related to pending court cases involving the two states. He added that discussions were held to resolve the issues and expedite the disposal of these cases.

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Earlier, the UP governments information department said that the Lt Governor of Delhi, Vinay Kumar Saxena, paid a courtesy visit to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his official residence.
Marine Le Pen, figurehead of Frances Rassemblement National (RN), one of the most established far-right parties in Europe, has been found guilty of embezzling funds from the European parliament. During her time as an MEP between 2004 and 2017, Le Pen and her team paid party staff with funds that should have gone to European parliamentary aides. The ruling estimates that a total of 2.9 million euros in European parliament funds were involved in the crimes and that Le Pen personally embezzled 474,000 euros of that total.

She has been sentenced to four years in prison, two of which would be electronic monitoring. She is also unlikely to see the inside of a cell for the other two years as she is appealing her conviction. More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that she has been banned from holding public office for five years. Crucially, the ban is to start immediately, meaning that even with an appeal, Le Pen is highly unlikely to be able to stand as a candidate in the next presidential election in 2027. For many in the RN, the courts decision will be a major blow. The party appears to have lost the candidate they believed was on course for victory in 2027.

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However, others will no doubt see this as a chance to distance the party further from the Le Pen name, following the death of Marine Le Pens father Jean-Marie Le Pen earlier this year. This process has been in motion for some time. Jordan Bardella took over from Le Pen as president of the party in 2022 and has clearly been waiting and preparing for this eventuality. Allegations were first levelled at Le Pen many years ago and her crimes relate to her time as an MEP between 2004 and 2017.

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He has been the plan B option throughout her trial. Bardella led the RN to victory in the 2024 European election in France. He also managed to send a record number of parliamentarians to the National Assembly after French president Emmanuel Macron called a snap election just weeks later. This was, nevertheless, a somewhat disappointing outcome as many on the far right had started to imagine Bardella as prime minister. Since failing to meet this expectation, his leadership has come under more scrutiny. His reaction to Le Pens sidelining will be watched carefully. Overall, it is good news to see corruption being taken seriously and justice being served. However, Le Pens conviction comes after years of embezzlement which has allowed the far right to build its strength. All this has come on the back of a system it has vowed to destroy. As such, it feels like too little too late. Furthermore, this decision, and the fact that it is tied to the European Union, is likely to feed into typical farright propaganda on the domestic stage.

Le Pen and the party will play the victim, blaming Le Pens fate on a wide conspiracy organised by something akin to the deep state operating via Brussels. The deep levels of distrust in public institutions and mainstream politics are likely to play a role here. Le Pen will aim to paint the decision of an independent court as the political assassination of the champion of the people. She could become a martyr, turning her cause into a revolt against the system. Bardella has already said that Le Pens conviction amounted to the execution of democracy. Crucially, though, this outcome isnt inevitable. Whether such a narrative takes hold is a choice that is very much in the hands of mainstream elite actors.

Those who have a privileged access to shaping public discourse, such as journalists, politicians and experts will therefore play a key role. Instead of giving pride of place to Le Pen and the far right in a tempting sensationalising coverage, the mainstream media must turn to serious analysis. This would involve removing the focus from individuals and putting it on the wider issues at hand. That would lessen the potential for a narrative of victimisation to take hold. Beyond providing an accurate picture of the case itself, good coverage should predominantly focus on politics rather than on the spectacle the RN will inevitably try to construct as a diversion tactic.

This would mean engaging seriously with what the RN actually proposes as a model of society: one that is not against the elite and for the people, but merely in favour of a different elite taking control at the head of a top-down authoritarian state. This would then allow voters to understand that the far right is not on their side, but on the side of power, wealth and hierarchies. Those who oppose such a takeover could go some way to fix the damage that has been done with carelessly associating these parties with populism.

Finally, good coverage would also mean shifting the agenda away from the far right and its pet issues. Had politiciansleft, right and centrenot continuously used the far right as a diversion from their own failures to tackle the many crises their countries face, the far right would not be as powerful as it seems. As opinion polls show, when people are asked what are their biggest concerns personally, issues core to the far right such as immigration are low. Instead, it is issues that would require radical measures to tackle economic and social insecurity which are prioritised. The far right offers nothing to address these  only division to make citizens powerless to fight back. Now that Le Pen is out of the picture, it is a good time to shift the agenda back to democracy and hope.

(The writer is Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Bath. This article was published on www.theconversation.com)
Chinas latest overture to Pakistans military signals more than just a routine strengthening of bilateral naval ties. It marks a calculated pivot in Beijings Indian Ocean strategy, and India must take serious note of the implications. At the heart of this growing partnership lies Chinas enduring interest in securing maritime routes vital to its economic and strategic security. With over 80 per cent of its oil imports passing through the Strait of Malacca, Beijing has long been concerned about potential chokepoints in times of crisis.

The emergence of Pakistan ~ and specifically, the Chinese-funded deepwater port of Gwadar ~ as a possible alternative has been clear for years. But a renewed emphasis on expanding into new fields of cooperation between the Chinese and Pakistani navies suggests movement toward more direct strategic alignment, possibly including military logistics, surveillance, or even forward basing. While no official announcements have been made about Chinese military access to Gwadar, the strategic trajectory is unmistakable. From joint naval exercises to discussions of enhanced cooperation, the groundwork is being laid.

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Beijing has already established its first overseas military base in Djibouti, and Pakistan, a near client state, appears a natural candidate for a second. For India, this raises pressing security questions ~ not just about Pakistans increasing dependence on China, but about the broader military balance in the region. This tightening of China-Pakistan military cooperation also reflects a deeper convergence of interests. Islamabad views China as a dependable counterbalance to India, while Beijing sees Pakistan as a convenient partner and geographic gateway to the Arabian Sea. What India faces, therefore, is not just a bilateral challenge with either country, but a developing security axis between them that is increasingly assertive and regionally ambitious.

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This growing synergy is not just about military drills or hardware transfers ~ it reflects a long-term strategic vision that could redefine the regional order and challenge Indias traditional maritime dominance. Indias strategists should respond with measured vigilance. Knee-jerk reactions or alarmism will not serve long-term interests. Instead, what is needed is a layered strategy: enhanced maritime surveillance, increased diplomatic outreach to Indian Ocean littoral states, and accelerated investment in naval modernisation. India must also continue deepening partnerships through multilateral frameworks like the Quad and regional forums such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).

Whats unfolding in the Arabian Sea is not merely a matter of two allies deepening ties. It is the potential emergence of a new geo political reality where the Indian Ocean ~ long considered Indias strategic backyard ~ becomes a contested zone of influence between rival powers. The writing is on the wall: Chinas ambition is not just economic but increasingly militaristic in nature. And in Pakistan, it may have found a willing partner for both. India must recognise this shift for what it is ~ not a temporary tactical move, but a strategic alignment that could reshape the balance of power in our neighbourhood for years to come.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plans to resume direct flights to Baku by the end of this month, said the Ambassador of Pakistan to Azerbaijan, Qasim Mohiuddin, during an event celebrating Pakistan's National Day in Baku, Trend reports.

"Last year, over 81,000 tourists from Pakistan visited Azerbaijan. With the resumption of direct flights by PIA to Baku this month, we hope to exceed the 100,000 tourist mark this year," he said.

The diplomat emphasized that the relationship between Pakistan and Azerbaijan is strategic, encompassing political, cultural, and economic cooperation. He noted that numerous high-level visits have taken place in recent years, reflecting the strong bonds between the two nations.

"The strongest foundation of these relations is the sincere love and respect that every Pakistani feels towards Azerbaijan. The strong friendship between Pakistan and Azerbaijan serves as a shining example of solidarity and cooperation based on mutual love and respect," he added.

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In March this year the USCIRF (US Commission on International Religious Freedom) released its annual report. On India it recommended, Designate India as a country of particular concern, for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. It added, Impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities, such as Vikash Yadav and RAW, for their culpability in severe violations of religious freedom by freezing their assets and/or barring their entry into the United States.

For the past few years, near similar recommendations on India have been made by the commission. The Indian government rejected the report. The MEA spokesperson mentioned that the USCIRF should (itself) be designated as an entity of concern, adding that the institution has persistently attempted to misrepresent isolated incidents and cast aspersions on Indias vibrant multicultural society reflect a deliberate agenda rather than a genuine concern for religious freedom. The fact that the USCIRF is biased is well known. There is no mention of killings of thousands of Palestinians by Israel, backed by the US, solely because it does not suit Washington.

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Similar is the silence on death of hundreds of innocent Muslims due to the USs relentless airstrikes in largely Muslim majority nations. The US is worse on religious freedom than most nations on which USCIRF comments adversely. President Donald Trump is imposing visa restrictions mainly on those from predominantly Muslim nations. A similar ban by him in 2017 was labeled as Muslim ban by his aides. On all this, the commission is silent, while about India it bases its assessment on a few random incidents. The USCIRF is not the only organization which displays an anti-India bias.

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The recently released World Happiness Index placed India at 118 out of 147 nations. Surprisingly, nations like terrorist dominated Libya, bankrupt Venezuela, starving Rwanda, terrorism infested Iraq, Lebanon and Pakistan as also war-ravaged Ukraine are way ahead in happiness. It leaves one to question the credibility of these assessments. World democracy indices, issued by institutions in different countries, invariably points fingers at Indian democracy. Freedom House, a US based institution, terms Indian democracy as partially free, V-Dem from Sweden calls it an electoral autocracy, and the Economist Intelligence Unit from UK labels it as a flawed democracy. While European institutions accuse India, the continent itself faces accusations of being anti-democratic.

JD Vance, the US Vice President, accused Europe, in its own backyard in Munich, of stifling democracy and free speech. The world applauded Indias conduct of its 2024 elections, where record numbers (larger than the population of Europe or North America) voted, while these fake assessing bodies term Indias democratic model as anything but a democracy. Indian election results were announced within a day, with zero violence, intimidation or complaints of rigging. Compare this to weeks for the US to ultimately close its presidential poll amid claims of voting irregularities and rigging. Trump had recently praised India for tying voter identification to a biometric database. Threats to democracy are more in the West than in India.

In the US, Trump faced multiple court cases on frivolous grounds to prevent him from returning to the White House. In France, the leading opposition challenger to President Macron, Marine Le Pen, has been awarded a two-year sentence and banned from standing for elections. In Brazil, former President, Jair Bolsonaro, is being tried and could possibly face a 12-year sentence. In Romania, two far-right contenders, C lin Georgescu and Diana o oac , have been blocked from contesting forthcoming May elections. So much for free European democracies. However, these are not flawed democracies, but India, where no previous head of state has been charged, is an autocracy.

Such illogical assessments by global bodies make them a laughing stock and highlight their biased views. The Indian government rightly rejects these reports claiming it does not need sermons on democracy from others. External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar had aptly termed these institutions as self-appointed custodians of the world who find it very difficult to stomach that somebody in India is not looking for their approval. While there are flaws in the Indian democratic model, it is far better than most nations. The Global Hunger Index of 2024 placed India at 105. Above India were African nations facing food shortages including Djibouti, Tanzania, Congo, Burkina Faso and Namibia.

Namibia even planned to cull elephants to feed its starving populace. Sri Lanka, to whom India donated foodgrains, was at 56. This raises questions about the methodology adopted by these institutions. The World Press Freedom index places India at 161, while Pakistan, where journalists disappear or are killed for criticizing the army is at 152. Even Turkey, where reporters are arrested, beaten and deported for covering opposition protests is ranked higher than India. The reason is that Reporters without Borders, which does this assessment, is linked to George Soross Open Society Foundation. Institutions which judge nations are Western.

For them, a former colony, known for snake charmers and beggars, to be shining on the world stage and dominate global space is unacceptable. Further, India refuses to succumb to Western pressures. It is now a global investment destination, where world leaders rush for trade deals. Hence, attacks impacting Indias performance in every sphere are intended to show it in poor light, attempting to decelerate its growth. No wonder the Indian government announced in 2024 that it plans to issue its own global democratic index, work on which has commenced. Most global institutional ratings are subjective.

They follow a pattern involving questionnaires sent to select so-called experts as also limited public opinion polls. In Indias case, the so-called experts are common to most global bodies and largely against the current leadership. Not a single institution lists names of its experts or its data size.

These ratings, though biased, have an impact. Multinational corporations and global lending agencies consider them prior to investments or grant of loans. Similarly, they impact the nations stature, especially when it seeks a larger role for itself on the global stage, including a permanent seat at the UNSC. The intent of these agencies is to display India as an unreliable destination and a nation which does not follow what it preaches. Global bodies would prefer a subservient India, which it will never be. Thankfully, their impact thus far has not dented Indias image as much as they had hoped.

(The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.)
Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Deputy Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, will arrive in India on Tuesday for a two-day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This marks Sheikh Hamdans first official visit to India in his capacity as the Crown Prince of Dubai. He will be accompanied by several ministers, senior government officials, and a high-level business delegation.

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Prime Minister Modi will host a working lunch for the visiting dignitary on Tuesday and the Crown Prince is also scheduled to hold meetings with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

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After Delhi, the Crown Prince will visit Mumbai and will also participate in a business roundtable with prominent business leaders from both sides. The interaction will strengthen IndiaUAE economic and commercial cooperation across traditional and futuristic areas.

Traditionally, Dubai has played an important role in Indias commercial, cultural and people-to-people exchanges with the UAE. Majority of Indias around 4.3 million diaspora in UAE reside and work in Dubai. The visit of His Highness the Crown Prince will further solidify the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and strengthen our multifaceted ties with Dubai, read a statement issued by the MEA.

EAM Jaishankar had extended Prime Ministers invitation to the Crown Prince to visit India at an early date during his visit to the United Arab Emirates on January 27-29, this year.

Delighted to meet Crown Prince of Dubai and DPM and Minister of Defence of UAE HH Hamdan Mohammed. A warm conversation on our deep bonds of friendship and taking them forward for the good of our people, the EAM had posted on X after the meeting which strengthened further Indias strong and ever-growing economic and people-to-people ties with Dubai.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his visiting French counterpart Emmanuel Macron voiced on Monday rejection of any calls for the displacement of Palestinians from their land, emphasising the need for a just resolution to the Palestinian issue.

We agreed on rejecting any calls for the displacement of Palestinians from their land, al-Sisi said at a joint press conference with the French President in Cairo.

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He stressed that lasting peace in the Middle East cannot be achieved without a fair settlement of the Palestinian cause. Sisi called for an immediate ceasefire to allow the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid, facilitate the release of hostages, and prevent further escalation.

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Echoing these sentiments, Macron reaffirmed his countrys opposition to any displacement of Palestinians and annexation of Gaza and the West Bank, adding, Hamas must have no role in governing Gaza.

He condemned the resumption of Israeli strikes in Gaza and called for respecting the ceasefire and returning to negotiations as soon as possible.

The two leaders also discussed the situations in Syria, Lebanon and Iran.

The French leader expressed Frances support for the transitional process toward a unified, stable, and sovereign Syria, while rejecting any foreign interference, Xinhua news agency reported. He also stressed Frances commitment to the sovereignty and stability of Lebanon, rejecting all hostile and terrorist acts.

On Iran, Macron reiterated that both Egypt and France want a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis, or this issue will fuel regional instability.

He said France, in cooperation with its partners, continues efforts to curb Irans nuclear ambitions and address its involvement in regional conflicts.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reaffirmed on Monday that disarming Hezbollah is a national and international priority, stressing that the only viable path to achieving this goal is through dialogue, a statement from the presidency said.

As I said in my inauguration speech, there is no place for weapons or armed groups outside the framework of the state, Aoun stated. These issues must be resolved through communication and dialogue. After all, Hezbollah is a Lebanese component.

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He also revealed that work will soon begin on drafting a National Security Strategy, which will lay the foundation for a National Defence Strategy.

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We are all committed to the same objective, he added. Differences in opinion are normal; thats the essence of democracy. What matters is that our goal is unified.

Aouns remarks came during a meeting with a delegation from the American Task Force on Lebanon, led by Edward Gabriel, Xinhua news agency reported. The delegation delivered a clear message from Washington emphasising two urgent priorities: the disarmament of Hezbollah and the implementation of reforms necessary for Lebanon to access international financial aid.

Gabriel praised the efforts of the Lebanese army and the President personally, while also noting that there is still much to be done. He added that the quicker reforms are implemented, the sooner the US can offer meaningful support.

Gabriel also disclosed that the US Congress is preparing a funding bill for Lebanon next year.

In addition, Aoun emphasized the need to ease tensions in the south, underlining that Lebanon needs both time and space to resolve issues calmly.

He called on the United States to pressure Israel to withdraw from the five points Israel continues to occupy, saying their presence complicates the situation further. To bolster security, he noted that the Lebanese government had recently approved the recruitment of 4,500 soldiers.

Since November 27, 2024, a ceasefire agreement between Lebanons Hezbollah and Israel has been in effect, putting an end to more than a year of hostilities triggered by the war in Gaza.

Despite the agreement, the Israeli military occasionally carries out strikes in Lebanon, claiming that the operations target Hezbollah threats.
With the Hajj pilgrimage around the corner, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has imposed new travel restrictions, suspending the issuance of certain visas to people of 14 countries including India, Bangladesh and Pakistan as per reports.

Which are the visas that have been suspended?

As per media agencies, the government will refrain from the issuance of Umrah, business, and family visit visas until mid-June 2025, which coincides with the conclusion of Hajj.

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Reasons behind the temporary visa suspension

In the past, many visitors entered the country on multiple-entry visas during Hajj season and stayed illegally to perform Hajj, leading to overcrowding and safety risks.

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Another reason is illegal employment. Travelers using business and family visas reportedly engaged in unauthorized work, violating visa rules and causing labor market disruptions.

Complete list of countries that faces the ban

As per multiple media reports, the 14 countries affected by the visa suspension includes Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen.

It is to be noted that the suspension does not impact pilgrims from India who are travelling to Saudi Arabia strictly for Hajj and have secured Hajj visas.

When does the ban come into effect and by when will it end?

As per the revised rules, the final day to apply for an Umrah visa this year is April 13, 2025. Furthermore, no new Umrah visas will be issued until after Hajj concludes.

As per various media reports, the suspension is expected to remain in place until around mid-June, coinciding with the end of the Hajj pilgrimage.

The Hajj has witnessed multiple tragedies over the years. During the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage, over 1,000 pilgrims lost their lives after being exposed to severe heat at the Islamic holy sites across Saudi Arabia.

(With inputs from agencies)
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House, focusing on the Gaza hostage crisis and US tariffs on Israeli goods.

In a brief Oval Office session open to reporters, Trump on Monday called the release of hostages held in Gaza a top priority. He expressed optimism about ongoing negotiations but provided no specific details.

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Were making progress, Trump said. I believe well see all the hostages home soon.

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Netanyahu agreed, emphasising Israels commitment to securing the hostages freedom.

They also addressed the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. While they announced no new agreements, both stressed the importance of reducing violence in the region, Xinhua news agency reported.

Trump defended his recent 17 per cent tariff on imports from Israel, part of his broader trade policy affecting many economies.

Netanyahu reportedly sought relief from these tariffs, highlighting Israels efforts to strengthen trade ties with the United States.

In 2024, the total goods trade between the two countries was an estimated at $37.0 billion, with US exports to Israel at $14.8 billion and imports from Israel at $ 22.2 billion, resulting in a $ 7.4 billion US trade deficit.

Netanyahus visit to the White House was arranged in a phone call last Thursday between the two leaders when Netanyahu raised the tariff issue, according to Israeli officials.

The White House had initially planned a joint press conference but canceled it without explanation. Instead, reporters asked questions during their brief access to the Oval Office meeting.

Trump did not discuss any long-term plans for Gazas redevelopment during this meeting. His administration has previously proposed controversial ideas for the region, which have faced criticism from various groups.

The meeting highlighted the complex relationship between the United States and Israel, balancing security concerns with economic interests. Both leaders pledged to continue working closely on these issues.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov criticised the United States on Monday for its sweeping tariff hikes, accusing it of undermining global economic stability.

We are closely monitoring the current situation, which remains highly volatile and emotionally charged, he said during a daily briefing on Monday.

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The US-imposed tariffs on numerous countries have created a climate of economic tension and pessimistic global market projections, said Peskov.

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Of course, we are doing and will do everything necessary to minimize the consequences of this global economic turmoil for our economy, he added, Xinhua news agency reported.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday on so-called reciprocal tariffs, imposing a 10 per cent minimum baseline tariff and higher rates on certain trading partners.

Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific traded sharply lower on Monday as financial turmoil sparked by the US decision escalated recession fears worldwide.

Earlier in the day, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the unilateral imposition of reciprocal tariffs by the United States effectively deprives countries, particularly those in the Global South, of their right to development, and is certain to face widespread opposition from the international community.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily news briefing that the United States, under the guise of reciprocity, acted in a manner that prioritizes its own interests at the expense of other nations legitimate benefits. This approach places America First above international rules, exemplifying unilateralism, protectionism, and economic bullying.

Lin added that the Chinese government has issued its position on opposing US abuse of tariffs, making clear its solemn attitude.

Data analysis from the World Trade Organization indicates that, amid economic disparities and unequal power dynamics, US tariff policies will exacerbate the wealth gap among nations, with less developed countries facing particularly severe repercussions, Xinhua news agency reported. This trend poses a significant threat to the efforts intended to achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Lin said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The trial on the criminal case of Elshan Najafov, accused of attempted on the life of a state or public figure, has been completed, Trend reports.

According to information, the session was held in the Baku Court for Serious Crimes under the chairmanship of Judge Aytan Aliyeva.

Before making his last word, Elshan Najafov asked the court to remove the participants of the trial from the hall. Following the consultation, the court granted this request, and the final stage of the session was held in closed mode.

Subsequently, the court announced the verdict. According to the verdict, Elshan Najafov was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment in a high-security correctional facility.

Meanwhile, Najafov was detained in September 2023 during a special operation conducted by the State Security Service (SSS) of Azerbaijan.

The prosecution charges that he, having conspired with a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan living abroad, planned a terrorist attack at a public event. The target of the crime was foreign government officials, as well as state and public figures of Azerbaijan. The case materials contain audio recordings confirming Najafov's determination, which he shared with his accomplice. The latter, in particular, claimed that in case of death in the execution of the plan, Najafov would be considered a martyr.

However, owing to the timely actions of SSS officers, the crime plan was foiled, and Najafov was promptly detained.

He was charged under Articles 28 and 277 (preparation of an attempt on the life of a state or public figure), 214-2 (public calls to terrorism), 167-3.1 (production, storage or sale of religious extremist materials, i.e. materials calling for religious extremist activity or justifying such activity or justifying the need for such activity), as well as other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.


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In what comes as a boost to the operational survivability of the military helicopters in hostile environments, the defence ministry signed a contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bengaluru, for the acquisition of Electronic Warfare (EW) Suites and aircraft modification kits as well as their installation on Mi-17 V5 helicopters, along with associated equipment.

The contract under Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured) category is worth Rs 2,385.36 crore.

Ev suits boost the survivability of military platforms by leveraging the electromagnetic spectrum to detect, disrupt, or counter threats as they comprise of radar warning receiver, a missile approach warning system, and counter measure dispensing system. These are designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisations Centre for Airborne Systems and Integrated Defence Combat Systems (CASDIC).

ALSO READ: India's drone warfare, surveillance capabilities set for major upgrade as Paras Defence inks pact with Israeli firm

This state-of-the-art EW Suite will considerably enhance operational survivability of the helicopters in hostile environment. Majority of sub-assemblies and parts will be sourced from indigenous manufactures, the defence ministry said.

The project will boost and encourage active participation of Indian electronics and associated industries, including MSMEs.

The Suite for Mi-17 V5 is a significant leap forward in developing indigenous EW capabilities, making the country Aatmanirbhar in consonance with the Make-in-India initiative, the ministry further said.

The contract was signed in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi.
Influencer Apoorva Mukhija, known on Instagram as 'the rebel kid', has reactivated her social media profile after a brief hiatus from the digital space following the controversy over the 'India's Got Latent' show.

Apoorva was one of the guests, along with Ranveer Allahbadia, on the show which drew a massive backlash in February after the YouTuber made a crude joke about parents and sex.

Amid the row, Apoorva deleted (or possibly, archived) all of her posts, and unfollowed everyone on her profile.

The influencer made a strong return on Instagram on Tuesday as she shared the screenshots of the acid attack, rape, and death threats she had received during this period.

"And thats not even 1%," she said indicating the terrifying scale of the backlash she faced.

For one of the posts, she captioned: Don't take away the story from the storyteller.

This appeal for humanity, combined with her bold exposition of the threats she received, struck a chord with fans, who sympathised with her in large numbers below the posts.

Allahbadia also recently made a return to his YouTube channel with a podcast featuring Palga Rinpoche, a motivational speaker and former monk.
The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly descended into chaos on Tuesday, as members of the National Conference (NC) and other Kashmir-based opposition parties clashed over the controversial Waqf Act.

The disruption began when NC legislators demanded that their adjournment motion to debate the Bill be accepted. At the same time, opposition parties were pushing for a formal resolution against the legislation. As soon as the House proceedings began, NC MLAs stood up, urging the speaker to allow their motion.

#WATCH | PDP submits a fresh resolution in J&K Legislative Assembly, urging the Central Government to repeal #WaqfAmendmentAct.



Following ruckus in the House, J&K Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone says, "We too want that there should be a resolution. J&K is the only pic.twitter.com/rkFVAybexP  ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2025

People's Democratic Party MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para walked into the well of the house, demanding that the opposition's resolution against the Act be passed. Tensions escalated when NC leader Abdul Majid Larmi accused Para of being an agent of the RSS, sparking a heated exchange between NC and opposition members. As Para moved towards the speakers podium, the speaker ordered marshals to remove him from the House.

During the scuffle, People's Conference president Sajad Lone attempted to intervene but was also escorted out. The situation grew more tense as NC members and Sajad Lone exchanged sharp words. You are putting on a show, Lone said. Its ironic that NC legislators are protesting against their own partys speaker just to mislead the public.

#WATCH | Jammu: Ruckus ensues in the J&K Assembly. PDP has submitted a fresh resolution in the House urging the Central Government to repeal #WaqfAmendmentAct.



House adjourned for 30 minutes following the ruckus. pic.twitter.com/32Y85RhwCJ  ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2025

In response to ongoing protests, the speaker reminded members that the assembly could not reverse a law already passed by Parliament. What Parliament has done cannot be undone here, he said and ruled out any debate on the issue. As the uproar continued, the speaker adjourned the House for 30 minutes.

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, which resumed proceedings after a 12-day break, has witnessed noisy scenes over the passing of the Waqf (Amendment) Act passed by Parliament.

On Monday, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti termed the rejection of the adjournment motion on the Waqf (Amendment) Act "profoundly disappointing" and accused the National Conference government of yielding to the BJP's "anti-Muslim" agenda.
Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi is no stranger to controversies. In the past four years, since he took charge as the governor of the state in September 2021, he has all along been full of controversies. His official actions and comments have always invoked political rows in the state. And now in the latest instance, the Supreme Court invoked powers to declare the pending10 bills on which he had delayed action as approved.

The first sign of trouble between the Governor and the DMK government became obvious when he refused to clear the anti-NEET bill passed by the state assembly. The bill seeking exemption from NEET exams for admission to undergraduate medical courses was pending with the governor. And during an event held at the Raj Bhavan Ravi said that if a bill doesnt get his assent, it means that the bill is dead. This was the first controversy stirred by Ravi.

Replying to Ravi, Chief minister M.K. Stalin said that Ravi was not acting as a facilitator for sending the bill to the President for assent. In January 2022, the DMK began making its demand for his ouster from the state and staged protests across the state. In fact one of the ideologies of the DMK is that there is no need for a governor when there is an elected government. Ravi sent back the bill to the state assembly on the ground that it was against the interests of students from rural areas and economically weaker sections. The state assembly re-adopted it in February 2022 and returned it to him. He stirred the second political row through his action again. This time he said that the NEET is here to stay. I am telling you very frankly. I will never give clearance to NEET Bill. It is a subject on which only the President is competent to give the clearance. Given to me, I shall never give it. Be sure about it, Ravi said.

Ravi then had referred the anti-NEET bill to the President, leaving the matter pending. So the state government sought remedy from the Supreme Court. In November 2023 the apex court described it as a serious concern and a constitutional deadlock created by the governor. On February 7, 2024, the top court asked whether the governor referred to the President 10 bills re-adopted by the State legislature only to avoid having to give consent to them.

The state legislature had passed 12 bills in the assembly mostly relating to appointment of vice-chancellors in the state-run universities. Governor Ravi did not give his assent to the bills. Ravi, as governor, is the chancellor of the state run universities and six of the universities in the state do not have vice chancellors. He had always stirred a controversy with the appointment of vice chancellors.

The third controversy came up when he unilaterally dismissed with immediate effect minister V. Senthil Balaji from the council of ministers hours after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. He immediately did a U-turn and took back his order to dismiss Balaji. Ravi wrote to Stalin that I have been advised by the Honourable Union Minister of Home Affairs that it would be prudent to seek the opinion of the Attorney General also. Accordingly, I am approaching the Attorney General for his opinion. Meanwhile, the order of dismissal of minister Senthil Balaji may be kept in abeyance until further communication from me. But Chief minister Stalin retained Balaji as a minister in the cabinet without any portfolio.

The fourth time was again when he refused to re-induct minister Ponmudi after he was acquitted by the court in a corruption case, even when it was the chief ministers prerogative. The Supreme Court slammed Ravi for refusing to re-induct Ponmudy. We are seriously concerned about the conduct of the governor in this case. We did not want to say it aloud in court. He is defying the Supreme Court of India, the top court said then. And later Ponmudy was administered the oath of office by the governor.

The next row was when he walked out of the state assembly in a huff. He even omitted portions of the customary address, which contained words like Kalaignar, Dravidam. Ravis refusal to toe the line of the state government during the governors customary address to the assembly has become an annual feature.

The sixth time was when a petrol bomb was hurled at the main gate of the Raj Bhavan. It was a molotov cocktail hurled by a lone man. The police investigated the case and said that the man who hurled the bomb was a history-sheeter named Krupa Vinoth. But Ravi said that more than one person was involved in the attack and it was a serious attack and happened against the constitutional head of the state. The case was later transferred to the NIA which through its investigation concluded that Vinoth was the lone accused. The NIA through its investigation rejected Ravis claim that more people were involved in the attack.

But now the Supreme Courts verdict against Ravis actions has come down as a huge relief for the DMK government.
A Pune court on Monday allowed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea to convert the defamation case over his alleged remarks on V D Savarkar from a summary to a summons trial so that historical references and evidence can be discussed.

The case, prima facie, falls in the category of a summons case, the court order said. Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Amol Shinde of the Special Court for MPs/MLAs allowed the application filed by Gandhi's lawyer Milind Pawar.

Satyaki Savarkar, grand nephew of Savarkar, had filed a complaint against Gandhi in a Pune court contending the Congress leader, in a speech in London in March 2023, had said the Hindutva ideologue had written in a book that he and five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man and felt happy (about it). As per the complaint, no such incident ever took place nor did Savarkar write anything in this regard. It termed Gandhi's allegation as fictitious, false, and malicious.

Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, representing Satyaki Savarkar, told court the accused had filed this application to prolong the matter. The complainant has filed sufficient evidence on record which shows that the defamatory statement has been made by the accused without any basis, Kolhatkar said

"In the present case the accused is claiming and raising questions of facts as well as law which are complex in nature. The accused also raised certain issues which will be determined on historical facts. Therefore, in my view it is undesirable to try this case as a summary. Because in summary trial detail evidence, cross examination is not taken," it said.

"In (summons) case, the accused has to lead detailed evidence and has to cross examine the witnesses of the complainant thoroughly. It shall be incumbent in the interest of justice that the matter should be tried as a summons case. No prejudice would be caused to any party if the present case is tried as a summons case," the judge said.

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Recently, the "2025 Key Tasks for Advancing the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta in Anhui Province" was issued. This year, Anhui Province will continue to promote cooperation in technology, industry, ecological environment, and institutional mechanisms, while implementing a number of major integrated projects or initiatives.

The key tasks for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta serve not only as a "task list" and "roadmap" but also as an annual "operational manual for integration."

Cooperation in technological and industrial innovation is a focal point of this year's integrated development efforts, occupying a significant portion of the key tasks.

In terms of industrial innovation, Anhui will support local automakers in deepening collaboration with their counterparts in Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in areas such as battery-swapping vehicle development and shared charging stations. Additionally, the province will strengthen cooperation with Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in future industries, jointly implementing the Yangtze River Delta "AI+" initiative. Key projects include building the Luogang Park Super Scenario Center and hosting the Yangtze River Delta New Materials Industry and Future Industries Conference.

According to the key tasks, Anhui will partner with Jiangsu this year to establish the Jiangsu-Anhui Rail Transit Operation Company, which will be responsible for the unified operation and management of cross-provincial rail transit lines, achieving integrated intercity and regional railway services between the two provinces.

A number of major integrated projects have already become crucial nodes in Yangtze River Delta cooperation. It is reported that Anhui will accelerate the construction of these infrastructure projects this year to enhance connectivity and streamline regional integration.





Source: Anhui Daily
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on April 7, 2025, Trend reports.

According to the information, during the meeting the sides discussed political, economic, trade, energy, humanitarian aspects of Azerbaijan-UAE cooperation, partnership within regional and international organizations, as well as the current situation in the region. The work carried out between the countries in the field of energy, especially in the field of alternative energy, was noted with satisfaction.

Moreover, the importance of political dialog, including the mechanism of political consultations, in the development of cooperation between the countries was noted.

The importance of further mutual support and solidarity within the framework of regional and international organizations was stressed.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov informed the interlocutor in detail about the regional agenda of post-conflict reconstruction and peace, spoke about the current challenges, including the mine threat, as well as about the territorial claims to Azerbaijan, which are preserved in the Constitution of Armenia and several legislative acts.

The importance of the support of the UAE in demining, as well as their support in the liberated territories, was noted with appreciation.

The meeting also exchanged views on other bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on Tamil Nadu Governor R.N.Ravi, invoking his inherent powers. The court declared assent to the 10 bills that were withheld by the Governor from January 2020 to April 2023, saying that the bills are deemed to have been assented to.

The state legislature had passed 12 bills in the assembly mostly relating to the appointment of vice-chancellors in the state-run universities. Governor Ravi did not give his assent to the bills. In the meantime, the Tamil Nadu government in November 2023 went to the Supreme Court. Hearing the petition, the apex court expressed serious concerns over the Governor sitting on the bills passed in the state assembly. Ravi referred two of the bills to the President and did not give consent for the remaining 10 bills.

Following the Governors action, a special session of the assembly was convened on November 18, 2023, to readopt the bills. Ravi had returned most of the bills after the DMK government under M.K. Stalin took charge. He had returned the anti-NEET bill and then the online gambling bill passed in the assembly. The anti-NEET bill was, however, readopted by the assembly and resent to the governor. The bill was later sent by Ravi to President Draupadi Murmu. And then Ravi signed the online gambling bill after it was readopted in the assembly.

Ravis actions on the bills passed by the assembly have always led to controversy in the state. At a Raj Bhavan event, he said if a bill doesnt get his assent, it means that the bill is dead.

Here is the list of the 10 pending bills deemed to be approved as per SC verdict:

1. Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Amendment) Bill - Passed in January 2020 during the AIADMK regime, this bill aimed to confer the state government with powers of inspection and inquiry instead of the Chancellor (Governor) and included a government nominee in the vice-chancellor selection panel.

2. Tamil Nadu Fisheries University (Amendment) Bill - Also passed in January 2020 under the AIADMK regime, this sought to rename the institution as Tamil Nadu Dr J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University and shift administrative oversight powers to the state government.

3. Madras University (Amendment) Bill - Passed in April 2022 by the DMK government, this bill aimed to empower the state government to appoint the vice-chancellor, removing the Governor from the role of Chancellor, aligning with practices in states like Gujarat, Telangana, and Karnataka.

4. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill - Passed in 2022, this bill sought to amend the universitys statutes to allow the state government to appoint the vice-chancellor, reducing the Governors authority.

5. Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University (Amendment) Bill - Passed in 2022, this aimed to shift the power of appointing the vice-chancellor from the Governor to the state government.

6. Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University (Amendment) Bill - Passed in 2022, this bill proposed similar changes to enable the state government to appoint the vice-chancellor instead of the Governor.

7. Tamil University (Amendment) Bill - Passed in 2022, this sought to amend the governance structure to allow the state government to appoint the vice-chancellor.

8. Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Further Amendment) Bill - Passed in 2023 by the DMK government, this was an additional amendment to further consolidate state control over the universitys administration.

9. Siddha Medical University Bill - Passed in 2023, this bill aimed to establish a distinct university for Siddha Medicine near Chennai, with the state government seeking control over its governance structure.

10. Anna University (Amendment) Bill - This bill sought to amend the universitys statutes to shift the vice-chancellor appointment authority to the state government.

It may be recalled that the governor-government tussle reached such a high that minister K. Ponmudy, who was holding the higher education portfolio then, chose to boycott the Madurai Kamaraj University convocation ceremony in 2023, as a protest against Ravis refusal to confer honorary doctorate to freedom fighter and comrade N. Sankaraiah.

Ravis actions have always invited the ire of the state government that Chief Minister Stalin went to the extent of bringing in a resolution in the floor of the assembly immediately after the Governor finished his customary address. Ravi walked out in a huff after understanding that the resolution was against him in 2023.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on Tamil Nadu governor R.N.Ravi and said the reservation of 10 bills by him for consideration by the president was in contravention of constitutional provisions.

A bench of Justices comprising J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan said that under Article 200 of the Constitution, the governor does not possess any direction and has to mandatorily act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers. Article 200 deals with the assent to bills.

The bench also ruled that the governor cannot withhold assent and adopt the concept of absolute veto or pocket veto. It said that the governor is obligated to adopt one course of action in approving the bills passed in the state assembly  either give assent to bills or withhold assent, and reserve for consideration of the president. Governor did not act bona fide, the bills were deemed to have been assented to by the governor on the date when they were re-presented, observed Justice Pardiwala.

The apex court used powers under Article 142 of the Constitution and made all 10 bills effective from the date they were re-presented for the governors consideration. The reservation of the 10 bills by the governor and reference to the president on November 28, 2023, even after reconsideration by the State Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu, is contrary to Article 200 of the Constitution. The governors action was non est and erroneous in law. Consequently, the action taken by the president on the 10 Bills is also non est, the Supreme Court said.

Tamil Nadu and the bills

In Tamil Nadu, the state government and the governor have been at loggerheads since Ravi took charge in 2021.

Tamil Nadu had approached the Supreme Court soon after the governor chose to sit on the bill dealing with the appointment of vice-chancellors in the state universities. A total of 10 bills were sent by the state legislature for consent to the governor as per Article 200 of the Constitution. These bills were passed in the assembly between January 2020 and April 2023. Immediately after the state government approached the Supreme Court in November 2023, Governor Ravi, out of the 12 bills, referred two of the bills to the president and did not give consent for the remaining 10 bills.

The state legislature passed these 10 bills again in the assembly in a special session within seven days after approaching the Supreme Court and sent them to the governor again for assent. In the Supreme Court, the Tamil government argued that it approached the court based on the provisions in Article 200 of the Constitution. It also argued that the governor had proceeded to refer all the 10 bills to the president for consideration.

The democratically elected governments can perform independently. In the future, the governors cannot act as someone who will make roadblocks. This is a landmark judgment. Through this, our chief minister has shown the way to all the state governments, Rajya Sabha MP P. Wilson told THE WEEK.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict on the issue of Governor R.N. Ravi's pending assent to bills. Hailing it as historic, Stalin called the judgement a huge victory for the states.

Reading out a statement in the assembly during the zero hour, Stalin said, A few moments ago, our government received a historic judgment from the Supreme Court. This order is not only for Tamil Nadu, but a huge victory for all states in India.

Chennai: In State Assembly, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin says, "I would like to inform this House about good news. Our Tamil Nadu government has got one historical judgement. Governor returned various Bills, which were passed in this Assembly, without giving assent...Tamil Nadu https://t.co/lhdmaxhnvh pic.twitter.com/EDJHtDxOQD  ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2025

Calling it a vindication of federalism, state autonomy and Dravidian politics, he repeated his new slogan of the DMK saying, Tamil Nadu will fight. Tamil Nadu will win.

Tamil Nadu had moved the top court against the governor for withholding 10 bills passed in the state assembly.

Terming the governors reservation of 10 bills for the Presidents assent as illegal and liable to be set aside, the court said the bills were deemed to have been assented by the governor on the date when they were represented.

The governor cannot act bonafide, the court observed.

The Stalin government has been at loggerheads with the governor since it came to power in 2021. Be it on the appointment of vice-chancellors to the universities or delivering his address in the assembly, Ravi has always stirred controversy.

Be it the Sanatana Dharma issue, calling Tamil Nadu Thamilagam, sending out the invitation for Pongal festival celebration without the Tamil Nadu emblem, walking out of the assembly in a huff and omitting a few portions in the governors address in the assembly and omitting the word Dravidam in the Tamil anthem, Ravi had been waging a bitter fight with the state government.
When Binoy Vishwam came to helm CPIs Kerala unit in December 2023, it was in the aftermath of the demise of Kanam Rajendran, a leader known to have stood for inner party democracy. However, Kanams successor now face the risk of being tagged as someone who intends to kill the inner party democracy within the Left organisation.

The CPI leadership reportedly issued a directive prohibiting contests against the official panel during party conferences. The instruction states that no one is allowed to contest against the official panel. If any such attempt is made, the respective conference will be suspended.

This decision comes at a time when there is dissatisfaction brewing in the party cadres against the state leadership. Currently, local-level conferences are underway within the CPI. The state conference is scheduled to be held in September.

The directive states that if any contest arises or if anyone prepares to contest in any of the conferences, those conferences will be suspended.

During the previous conference cycle, it was the official faction itself that initiated contests in several districts. Back then, the move was seen as a strategy to counter dissident activity. However, this time, the leadership anticipates dissent directed at the state leadership and the official faction itself, which makes the new directive particularly significant.

At present, local conferences are ongoing. District-level conferences will follow in August, leading up to the state conference in September. The new directive is a preemptive move ahead of the upcoming conferences.

Last month, the CPI state executive recommended a six-month suspension for veteran leader and former national executive member K.E. Ismail after his controversial remarks put the party leadership on the defensive following the death of CPI leader and former Ernakulam district secretary P. Raju.

Rajus family had refused to allow his body to be displayed at the party office, alleging that the party had betrayed him while he was alive. The party had previously taken disciplinary action against Raju over alleged financial irregularities. Although he was eventually cleared of the charges, the action was never revoked. In the wake of the family's criticism, Ismail remarked that Raju had suffered emotional distress due to the partys actiona statement that triggered the disciplinary proceedings against him.
An indefinite curfew was imposed on areas falling under Lilong Assembly constituency of Manipur's Thoubal district on Monday over unrest over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.

Lilong, a Muslim-majority constituency in the Meitei-dominated Thoubal district, witnessed mob violence and arson targeting a local BJP leader's residence. The house of Manipur state Minority Morcha president was attacked and torched by a mob that was at least 7,000 strong, The Hindu said in a report. It was on Sunday night that the armed mob targeted BJP leader Mohammed Asker Ali's house in Lilong's Sambrukhonh Mamel area over his reactions to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.

ALSO READ | Why did Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi skip discussion on Waqf Bill? asks JPC head Jagdambika Pal after LoP calls it unconstitutional

According to reports, a session of the Manipuri Muslim community, also known as Pangals, were infuriated by Mohammed Asker Ali's social media activities in support of the Bill. Attacking the BJP leader's house with sticks and stones, the crowd later set it on fire, the news report said. Following the incident, Ali posted a video on social media, apologising for his earlier statement, said news agency PTI.

In a statement, the BJP condemned the incident and assured that "such unfortunate incidents shall not happen in the future."

According to district officials, the situation remains tense, forcing them to impose an indefinite curfew to avoid further violence.

ALSO READ | Munambam land dispute: Relief for Kerala govt as HC allows inquiry commission to resume proceedings

Meanwhile, Manipur legislator Sheikh Noorul Hassan on Monday said he will challenge the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, in the Supreme Court.

In a video message, Hassan, a National People's Party MLA, said, "The Waqf Amendment Act 2025 violates the rights of Muslims. I personally condemn and reject this Act. I will challenge it in the Supreme Court."
Shiv Sena deputy leader and spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam launched a scathing attack on Sena UBT, accusing Uddhav Thackerays faction of betraying Balasaheb Thackerays ideology and compromising Hindutva values in pursuit of Muslim votes.

Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai, Nirupam alleged that Sena UBTs duplicity has caused widespread resentment within the Hindu community and claimed that the party no longer has the moral right to invoke Balasahebs name.

Referring to Sena UBTs recent comments on the Waqf Board Amendment Bill, Nirupam said, Their leaders argue that the Bill is unrelated to religion and merely pertains to real estate. They themselves acknowledge that the Waqf Board controls land valued at nearly Rs 2 lakh crore. This exposes their true intentionsits about property, not principles.

He questioned whether the Sena UBT is now acting in the interest of these land holdings, suggesting ulterior motives behind their stance. Muslim organisations openly backed Sena UBT during the elections. In return, they are now defending the Waqf Board under the guise of property rights, Nirupam said. Their refusal to challenge the Bill in court shows how vote-bank politics is being placed above national interest.

Condemning what he called appeasement politics, Nirupam emphasized that land under the Waqf Board is part of the Indian state, and any irregularities involving it should be subject to legal scrutiny. No one is above the law, he said.

Nirupam also pointed to a recent revelation by Shiv Sena Minister Sanjay Shirsat that the town of Khuldabad was historically known as Ratnapur. Why didnt Uddhav Thackeray restore its original name during his 22-month tenure as chief minister under the Maha Vikas Aghadi government? he asked. This is yet another example of their attempt to appease the Muslim vote bank.

Nirupam warned that Sena UBT will have to face the political consequences of such decisions in the upcoming elections.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided not to intervene in the creation of supernumerary posts in the state-run and aided schools under Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government. On Tuesday, the court set aside the Calcutta High Court's order directing a CBI probe against the state cabinet over the matter.

The bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khana and Justice Sanjay Kumar observed that necessary consultations were held prior to the creation of these additional posts and the governor's approval was also obtained. Reportedly, the chief justice observed that investigating a decision of a state cabinet by a central agency was against the ideals of federal structure.

The apex court, however, made it clear that the CBI investigation into the other aspects of the recruitment of the 2016 West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) panel, which was cancelled last week, would continue.

In 2022, the state education department created nearly 6,000 supernumerary posts  temporary positions established to accommodate employees eligible for regular posts currently unavailable. The decision was also approved by the cabinet and a formal notification was also issued. The decision was challenged in Calcutta High Court, in the bench of former High Court judge Justice Gangopadhyay, alleging that the supernumerary posts were created to protect illegal appointments. He had ordered a CBI probe against the state cabinet over the issue.

On April 22 last year, a division bench also upheld the single benchs decision, stating that the decision was not appropriate. The division bench further observed that the CBI could, if required, take cabinet members into custody for questioning.

The state government had challenged this High Court verdict in the Supreme Court. A bench led by then Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud stayed the CBI probe order against the cabinet regarding the creation of supernumerary posts.

Last week, while ruling on the cancellation of over 25,500 appointments of teachers and non-teaching staff, the bench headed by CJI Khanna clarified that the issue of the CBI probe into the state cabinet would be heard separately.

The verdict comes as a relief for the ruling Trinamool Congress. After last weeks ruling that led to mass job cancellations, the state government faced intense criticism from the opposition. With elections looming next year, a probe into the cabinet or possible arrests could have further pushed the Mamata Banerjee-led party into the backfoot.
US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the United States and Iran would hold direct talks on April 12 to negotiate a potential nuclear deal. The twist came after months of heightened tensions, with Trump warning Iran that failure to reach an agreement at the earliest could be catastrophic for Tehran.

The talks, confirmed by Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, could take place in Oman, the Gulf sultanate that has historically facilitated communication between the two nations. Araqchi described the meeting as "as much an opportunity as it is a test, placing the onus on the US to prove its intentions.

Trump, speaking from the Oval Office along with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, described the negotiations as occurring "at almost the highest level. While he did not disclose the location or the US delegation involved, according to multiple sources the American team could be led by Steve Witkoff, Trumps Middle East envoy.

The president expressed cautious optimism, stating, "Maybe a deal is going to be made, that would be great," but he also issued a stark warning: "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and if the talks arent successful, I actually think itll be a very bad day for Iran.

The announcement comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity. Netanyahus second visit to the White House in just over two months centred on discussions about Trumps global tariff policies, Irans nuclear ambitions and the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

According to sources, part of Netanyahus agenda was to align with Trump on potential military responses should diplomacy with Iran falter. Israel, viewing a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat, has long pushed for military action against Tehrans nuclear facilities. Last year, Israel conducted a retaliatory strike on an Iranian nuclear site following an earlier missile attack by Iran on Israeli soil.

Iran claims that its nuclear programme is for energy purposes, but the US and Israel believe that Tehrans actual intent is to create deterrence by using the programme to make nuclear weapons. Trump cited this as a reason to pull the US out from the 2015 nuclear agreement concluded under the Obama regime.

The Trump administration has oscillated between sticks of military action and carrots of peace. Last month, he sent a letter to Irans Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, proposing direct negotiationsa move initially rebuffed by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, though Tehran indicated that indirect talks remained a possibility.

The upcoming meeting on Saturday marks a significant shift, being the first direct senior-level engagement since 2015, when then-US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif finalised the now-defunct nuclear accord.

Trump has repeatedly tried to link Irans nuclear ambitions to its support for groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. "If they dont make a deal, there will be bombing," he said last month, hinting at major military action. The US has moved B-2 stealth bombers and an additional aircraft carrier close to the Middle East, perhaps as a warning to both Yemen and Iran. This rhetoric aligns with his administrations recent escalation against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, where US airstrikes since mid-March have cost nearly a billion dollars so far, according to an estimate, yet failed to significantly degrade the groups capabilities.

However, Trumps approach has sparked division within his own ranks. His inner circle includes Iran hawks like National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who favour a hardline stance, but there are some officials who think a deal can be reached.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, expressed cautious support for diplomacy, noting, "If it can be done diplomatically in a full way, the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing," though Israels preference for preemptive strikes remains clear.

As far as Iran is concerned, the talks represent a delicate balancing act. Araqchis statement on X underscores Tehrans wariness, but at the same time the senior leadership in Tehran seems to have spotted an opportunity. The country does not have formal diplomatic ties with Washington since the 1980 hostage crisis, so this could be a risky move, but with certain rewards.
26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana's final plea seeking a stay on his extradition to India was rejected by the US Supreme Court, reports said. He is expected to be handed over to India without further complications.

64-year-old Rana had submitted an "Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus" on February 27 before the court. However, after it was denied, Rana reportedly renewed his plea with Elena Kagan, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the US and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit.

Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pak origin, reportedly requested that the renewed application be directed to Chief Justice Roberts. A notice on the Supreme Court website said, "Application denied by the Court," said NDTV.

Rana used to live in Chicago before he was convicted in 2011 and later sentenced to 13 years in prison. He is currently placed in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, reports said.

The United States Supreme Court rejected the extradition stay request of the 26/11 Mumbai attack accused Tahawwur Rana.



(file pic) pic.twitter.com/vAZLRbvzkA  ANI (@ANI) April 7, 2025

Rana had argued that his extradition to India violates United States law and the United Nations Convention Against Torture "because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, the petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture." The application also said that his severe medical conditions render extradition to Indian detention facilities a de facto" death sentence in this case. It cited medical records from July 2024 that confirm Rana has multiple acute and life-threatening diagnoses, including multiple documented heart attacks, Parkinsons disease with cognitive decline, a mass suggestive of bladder cancer, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, and a history of chronic asthma, and multiple COVID-19 infections.

US President Donald Trump, during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in the White House in February 2025, announced that Ranas extradition to India has been approved.

Tahawwur Rana and 26/11 Mumbai terror plot

The United States had found Tahawwur Rana guilty of conspiring to provide material support to the terrorist plot in Denmark and providing "material support" to Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba terrorists that was responsible for the attacks in Mumbai.

Rana is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Ranas immigration consultancy.

A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that his troops are active in Belgorod region of Russia, right across Ukrainian border. This makes it the first time that Zelenskyy acknowledged Ukrianinan presence in Belogorod since the war began.

In a video address, Zelenskyy said the 225th Assault Regiment was deployed in the Belgorod region. "Well done, guys! I'm proud of each and every one who is fighting for Ukraine!" said Zelenskyy.

Today, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported on the situation at the front, including our presence in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. We continue to carry out active operations in the border areas on enemy territory, and this is justwar must return to where it came from. pic.twitter.com/RyasIfin8n  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) April 7, 2025

This comes after Moscow retook most of the Kursk region while Kyiv is holding on to a tiny strip of Russian land in the area.

Notably, Belgorod, with a population of 1.5 million, is located close to Kursk. In March, Russia had admitted that Belogorod was attacked by Ukraine. However, the Russian military said they had foiled Ukrainian attempts to cross over onto Belgorod.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is conducting active operations in the border areas, saying the "war must return to where it came from".

By occupying Belgorod, Zelenskyy is hoping to divert Russia's attention away from the Kharkiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine. Kyiv is also seeking to "ease the pressure" on other regions like Donetsk.

Ukraine would also be trying to hold on to as much Russian territory as possible in order to exchange the occupied territories for future ceasefire negotiations led by the US.

Zelenskyy last month had hinted at Ukrainian troop presence in the area, saying, "There is an operation there."

On Monday, Trump said he was unhappy about Russian attacks on Ukraine, saying Moscow is "bombing like crazy right now."
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The pages of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan in social networks published a post dedicated to the 33rd anniversary of the Aghdaban massacre, one of the terrible crimes committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanis, Trend reports.

''Today marks 33 years since the Aghdaban massacre  one of the horrific crimes committed against Azerbaijanis by Armenia.

In 1992, the village of Aghdaban, which had 130 homes, was razed to the ground and completely destroyed by Armenian armed groups. A total of 779 residents were subjected to torture, and 67 people were brutally killed.

We solemnly remember the victims of the Aghdaban tragedy, which is yet another manifestation of the crimes committed by Armenia and armed forces under its auspices against the Azerbaijani people,'' the publication reads.
New York, Apr 8 (PTI) A 36-year-old Indian-origin man has been charged with sexually assaulting a fellow passenger aboard a domestic flight in the US, according to federal officials.

Bhaveshkumar Dahyabhai Shukla is accused of abusive sexual contact on a flight from Montana to Texas, Montana federal prosecutor Kurt Alme said in a statement on April 3.

"Shukla, of Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey, was charged in a one-count indictment with abusive sexual contact in special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States. If convicted, Shukla faces two years of imprisonment, a USD 250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release," the statement said.

He is scheduled to appear on April 17, 2025, for an arraignment.

The indictment alleges that on January 26, 2025, on board an American Airlines flight from Bozeman to Dallas, Shukla engaged in sexual contact with another person without that other persons permission.

The US Attorneys Office is prosecuting the case. The FBI, ICE and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Police conducted the investigation, the statement said.
The Auschwitz Jewish Center (AJC) is bringing kosher food back to this once-flourishing Jewish community and adding tefillos to its program in time for the annual March of the Living pilgrimage of tens of thousands of Jews from around the world starting April 23rd.

In addition to providing access to the shul and guided tours of its museum, the Auschwitz Jewish Centers kosher concession will offer shelf-stable packaged kosher meals for purchase starting just after Pesach. The meals will be available for a nominal fee, and visitors wishing to reserve meals, participate in tours, or attend tefillos can contact the center via https://ajcfus.org/programs/#contact-popup.

Before the Holocaust, Oswiecim was home to a thriving Jewish community, which made up more than half of the population and boasted over 30 shuls. Today, the Auschwitz Jewish Center is the only surviving shul from that time and serves as both a museum and an educational center dedicated to fighting hatred and bigotry.

Since its reopening, the center has welcomed over 800,000 visitors eager to learn about the Jewish history of Oswiecim. Thousands of students, educators, first responders, and military personnel have participated in its impactful educational programs, which teach the lessons of the Holocaust from the very site of Auschwitz, the most iconic symbol of Nazi death and destruction.

As more and more visitors come to Auschwitz to learn about the Holocaust, many also choose to visit the Auschwitz Jewish Center, said Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation Chairman Simon Bergson. Opening the citys first post-war kosher concession was a natural step, ensuring that Kosher-observant visitors could pray or reflect in our synagogue while also enjoying a kosher meal.

It is remarkable that nearly a century ago, Oswiecim was more than half Jewish, home to over 30 synagogues, and had kosher butchers, bakeries, and eateries. Opening the towns first post-war kosher concession is a powerful reminder of the resilience of Jewish life in this city. Our responsibility is to honor the legacy of the Jewish community that once thrived here and provide a space where visitors can learn about the past and experience a piece of that living history. This concession is more than just a place to eat  it symbolizes continuity, resilience, and hope for future generations, said Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation Director General Jack Simony.

The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to harnessing the lessons learned from Holocaust the to combat hatred and bigotry through educational programs and by providing direct humanitarian aid to victims of mass atrocities. It supports survivors of genocides and other tragedies, including Ukrainian refugees and those impacted by Hamass October 7 attacks.
Chief Justice John Roberts agreed Monday to pause a midnight deadline for the Trump administration to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The temporary order comes hours after a Justice Department emergency appeal to the Supreme Court arguing U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis overstepped her authority when she ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to the United States.

The administration has conceded that Abrego Garcia should not have been sent to El Salvador because an immigration judge found he likely would face persecution by local gangs.

But he is no longer in U.S. custody and the government has no way to get him back, the administration argued.

Xinis gave the administration until just before midnight to facilitate and effectuate Abrego Garcias return.

The district courts injunctionwhich requires Abrego Garcias release from the custody of a foreign sovereign and return to the United States by midnight on Mondayis patently unlawful, Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court papers, casting the order as one in a deluge of unlawful injunctions judges have issued to slow President Donald Trumps agenda.

The Justice Department appeal was directed to Roberts because he handles appeals from Maryland.

The Trump administration is separately asking the Supreme Court to allow Trump to resume deportations of Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members to the same Salvadoran prison under an 18th century wartime law.

The federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, denied the administrations request for a stay. There is no question that the government screwed up here, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote in a brief opinion accompanying the unanimous denial.

The White House has described Abrego Garcias deportation as an administrative error but has also cast him an MS-13 gang member. Attorneys for Abrego Garcia said there is no evidence he was in MS-13.

The Executive branch may not seize individuals from the streets, deposit them in foreign prisons in violation of court orders, and then invoke the separation of powers to insulate its unlawful actions from judicial scrutiny, Abrego Garcias lawyers wrote in a response filed moments after Roberts issued his temporary pause.

Xinis wrote that the decision to arrest him and send him to El Salvador appears to be wholly lawless, explaining that little to no evidence supports a vague, uncorroborated allegation that Abrego Garcia was once an MS-13 member.

Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national who has never been charged or convicted of any crime, was detained by immigration agents and deported last month.

He had a permit from DHS to legally work in the U.S. and was a sheet metal apprentice pursuing a journeyman license, his attorney said. His wife is a U.S. citizen.

In 2019, an immigration judge barred the U.S. from deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.

A Justice Department lawyer conceded in a court hearing that Abrego Garcia should not have been deported. Attorney General Pam Bondi later removed the lawyer, Erez Reuveni, from the case and placed him on leave.

(AP)
The monthslong trial of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy over the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign is shedding light on Frances surprising back-channel talks with the government of then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Family members of terrorist attacks sponsored by Gadhafis regime have told the court they suspect that Sarkozy was willing to sacrifice the memories of their loved ones in order to normalize ties with oil-rich Libya almost two decades ago.

The trial, which started in January, ends Tuesday with Sarkozys lawyers closing arguments. The verdict is expected at a later date.

French prosecutors requested a seven-year prison sentence for the 70-year-old former leader. Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, has denied all wrongdoing.

Key moments in the trial focused on talks between France and Libya in the 2000s, when Gadhafi was seeking to restore diplomatic ties with the West. Before that, Libya was considered a pariah state for having sponsored attacks.

French families of victims of a 1989 plane bombing told the court about their shock and sense of betrayal as the trial questioned whether promises possibly made to Gadhafis government were part of the alleged corruption deal.

The Lockerbie and UTA flight bombings

In 1988, a bomb planted aboard a Pam Am flight exploded while the plane was over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people from 21 countries, including 190 Americans.

The following year, on Sept. 19, 1989, the bombing of UTA flight 772 over Niger killed 170 people, including 54 French nationals on board, after an in-flight explosion caused by a suitcase bomb.

Both French and U.S. investigations have tied both bombings to Libya, whose government had engaged in long-running hostilities with the U.S. and other Western governments.

Now, families of victims suspect French government officials close to Sarkozy promised to forget about the bombings in exchange for business opportunities with Libya and possibly, an alleged corruption deal.

What did they do with our dead? Nicoletta Diasio, whose father died in the bombing, told the court, saying she wondered if the memories of the victims could have been used for bartering in talks between France and Libya.

During the trial, Sarkozy said he has never ever betrayed families by using their loved ones as bargaining chips.

Libyas push to restore ties with the West

Libyas initial steps to shed its pariah state status came in 2003 when it took responsibility for both the 1988 and 1989 plane bombings and agreed to pay billions in compensation to the victims families.

Gadhafi also announced he was dismantling his nuclear weapons program, which led to the lifting of international sanctions.

Britain, France and other Western countries sought to restore a relationship with Libya for security, diplomatic and business purposes.

In 2007, Sarkozy welcomed Gadhafi to Paris with honors for a five-day official visit, allowing him to set up a Bedouin tent near the Elysee presidential palace. Many French people still remember that gesture, feeling Sarkozy went too far to please a dictator.

Sarkozy said during the trial he would have preferred to do without Gadhafis visit at the time, but it came as a diplomatic gesture after Libyas release of Bulgarian nurses who were imprisoned and facing death sentences for a crime they said they did not commit.

Bulgarian nurses

On July 24, 2007, under an accord partially brokered by first lady Cecilia Sarkozy and EU officials, Libya released the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who had spend over eight years in prison.

They had been charged with deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus in the late 1990s  an allegation they denied.

Their release removed the last major obstacle to Libya rejoining the international community.

Sarkozy travelled to Tripoli for talks with Gadhafi the day after the medics were returned to Bulgaria on a French presidential plane.

In court he spoke of his pride for saving the medics, adding that their release wouldnt have been possible without engaging with Gadhafi.

Libyas spy chief at heart of questions

Accused of masterminding the attack on UTA Flight 772, Gadhafis brother-in-law and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi was convicted in absentia to a life sentence by a Paris court in 1999 for the attack.

An international arrest warrant was issued for him and five other suspects.

Financial prosecutors have accused Sarkozy of having promised to lift the arrest warrant targeting al-Senoussi in exchange for alleged campaign financing.

In 2005, people close to Sarkozy, who was interior minister at the time, including his chief of staff Claude Gueant and junior minister Brice Hortefeux, travelled to Tripoli, where they met with al-Senoussi.

Both Gueant and Hortefeux told the court that it was a surprise meeting they were not aware of beforehand.

Al-Senoussi told investigative judges that millions of dollars were provided to support Sarkozys campaign. Accused of war crimes, he is now imprisoned in Libya.

Sarkozy has strongly denied that.

Gadhafis son accusations

Gadhafis son, Seif al-Islam, told French news network RFI in January that he was personally involved in giving Sarkozy 5 million dollars in cash.

In a two-page statement to RFI radio, Al-Islam said Sarkozy initially received $2.5 million from Libya to finance his electoral campaign during the 2007 presidential election, in return for which Sarkozy would conclude agreements and carry out projects in favour of Libya.

He said a second payment of $2.5 million in cash was handed over without specifying when it was given.

According to him, Libyan authorities expected that in return, Sarkozy would end a legal case about the 1989 UTA attack  including removing his name from an international warrant notice.

Sarkozy strongly denied those allegations.

Youll never find one Libyan euro, one Libyan cent in my campaign, he said at the opening of the trial in January. Theres no corruption money because there was no corruption.

Sarkozy turning his back to Gadhafi

The Libyan civil war started in February 2011, with army units and militiamen loyal to Gadhafi opposing rebels.

Sarkozy was the first Western leader to take a public stance to support the rebellion.

On Feb. 25, 2011, he said the violence by pro-Gadhafi forces was unacceptable and should not go unpunished. Gadhafi must go, he said at the time.

On March 10 that year, France was the first country in the world to recognize the National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya.

That was the Arab Spring, Sarkozy told the court. Gadhafi was the only dictator who had sent (military) aircrafts against his people. He had promised rivers of blood, thats his expression.

Moammar Gadhafi was killed by opposition fighters in Oct. 2011, ending his four-decade rule of the North African country.

(AP)
With most programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development cut and the agencys remaining staff told their jobs will end by September, the reality of the Trump administrations sudden halt to more than 60 years of international development work has sunk in.

Billionaire presidential advisor Elon Musk, who led the charge to dismantle USAID, has called the agency criminal and corrupt. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said many programs did not advance American interests. The administration continues to cancel programs, including humanitarian and food aid, and has said it will roll any remaining programs into the State Department.

Two months into the cuts, some workers and organizations, who once carried out those programs, are developing a variety of initiatives to stand in the breach left by the dismantling of U.S. foreign aid.

Direct cash to laid off workers

Laura Meissner had worked as a contractor for USAID since 2010 and specialized in humanitarian assistance, specifically programs that give cash directly to people in need.

In early February, a friend approached her to help start a fundraiser to benefit other USAID workers who, like her, had lost their jobs. USAID employed 10,550 people in Washington and at offices around the world, with about half coming from other countries.

Meissner along with a small group of organizers eventually set up The Solidarity Fund with the Greater Washington Community Foundation, which will actually make grants directly to former workers. The grants will start at $650 and increase depending on the size of the household.

We want to make it a meaningful enough sum that itll make a real difference in their ability to buy groceries, pay medical bills, pay the rent or mortgage, or keep the lights on, Meissner said.

So far, the fund has raised about $16,000 from 140 donors and has already recommend 10 applicants to receive funds.

Its so easy to feel like nothing that you do matters because theres so many big problems and it feels like theyre happening all at once. But everything does matter, even if its just to somebody, she said.

Research to help foundations and funders with more money

Even for people who study international development, its been hard to understand all the ways U.S. cuts have impacted the field. The think tank Rethink Priorities, which prioritizes cost-effectiveness in charitable interventions, studied the gaps created by the cuts to help donors respond.

They provide a chart showing how big of a share U.S. funding was in any given area and encourage funders to consider how urgently the impacts of the cuts will be felt. They also suggest donors consider if others might fill the gap.

Tom Vargas, a senior researcher at the think tank, said he hopes the research helps to, spread the money around in a way that makes sense. Were funding things that other people will not fund.

They hope their research influences donors, big and small, while also recommending giving to emergency funds.

Bridge funds to get money to programs that could still operate

Within a month of the pause on USAID programs, a number of nonprofits started emergency funds to get money to life-saving programs or to stabilize organizations that would otherwise close. Even the World Food Program, the United Nations agency that responds to conflicts and famines, has started a fundraiser, hoping to bring in $25 million from U.S. donors.

So far, emergency funds have raised between several hundred thousand dollars to over $3 million, mostly from individual donors, and some have already granted out hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The funds have gone to a Yemeni organization that provides emergency food supplies, to send cash directly to people fleeing violence in Democratic Republic of Congo, to a Kenyan organization that supports people living with HIV, and to a program combatting malnutrition in Ethiopia.

Support for organizations to close or merge

The amount raised by the bridge funds does not come close to replacing the tens of billions lost in the U.S. aid cuts.

Many international development organizations, even those who did not directly receive funds from USAID, face existential funding shortages, said Blair Glencorse, founder and co-CEO of Accountability Lab, whose organization has been tracking the impact of the U.S. cuts.

More than a third of nonprofits who responded to their survey said they had less than three months of funding.

The data from the beginning indicated that it would be around now that organizations are going to fall off a cliff, he said. And thats exactly what were beginning to see.

His organization has heard from more than 70 nonprofits, mostly in the Global South, who want to explore merging, spinning off programs, winding down or otherwise partnering to try to prevent their most valuable assets from being lost. Those assets could include employees, property, systems, contacts or intellectual property.

Glencorse said they estimate it will cost between $30,000 and $50,000 for each transaction or merger and have assembled a team of experts, who can help organizations. They have gotten some funding from foundations for the partnership matching service, and estimate that they have between 6 to 9 months to help nonprofits make these big organizational changes.

The snowball effect is really beginning to pick up at this point, he said of the cascading impacts of the U.S. foreign aid cuts.

(AP)
The Trump administration is touting a Supreme Court ruling allowing it to resume deportations under the Alien Enemies Act as a major victory, but the immigration fight is far from over.

The divided court found that President Donald Trump can use the 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador, a finding Trump called a GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA! in a social media post.

But the justices also decided people accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang have to get a chance to challenge their removals  a finding their lawyers called an important victory.

The legal landscape could be more challenging, though, since it appears the people being held will have to file individually and in the district where they are detained. For many, thats in Texas.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is also weighing another case against a Maryland man deported by mistake that could shed light on the fate of more than 100 men accused of being gang members who have already been sent to prison in El Salvador.

Heres a look at whats next:

The ruling doesnt let the deportations under the law resume right away

The Supreme Courts ruling lifted a restraining order from a judge in the nations capital that had blocked the Trump administration from deporting people under the law.

But it doesnt allow those deportations to start right away. The court said that the accused have to be given notice and reasonable time to try and convince a judge that they shouldnt be deported.

The families of multiple people who have already been deported under the Alien Enemies Act say they are not gang members, and should not have been deported under the law.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Fox News that she expected future hearings to be held in Texas, and for judges to deal with each case individually rather than issue orders about the group as a whole.

It will be a much smoother, simpler hearing, she said.

Texas may not be the only venue, though. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of two immigrants who are currently held in New York and say they have been wrongly labeled as members of Tren de Aragua, or TdA, putting them at risk of deportation to the prison.

Many questions about Trumps use of the act remain unresolved

The Supreme Courts ruling did not address the constitutionality of the act or the migrants claim that they dont fall within the category of people who can be deported under the law.

Its also not clear how this ruling affects the more than 100 people who have already been sent to the El Salvador prison under the Alien Enemies Act without being given an opportunity to challenge their removals before the flights, which the court now says is necessary. The ruling didnt address what kind of recourse, if any, those migrants may be entitled to.

In another case involving a man mistakenly deported to the El Salvador prison, the administration has said it has no way to get him back. That man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was not deported under the Alien Enemies Act, but the administration has conceded that he shouldnt have been sent to El Salvador because an immigration judge found he likely would face persecution by local gangs.

Chief Justice John Roberts agreed Monday to pause a deadline for the Trump administration to bring Garcia back to the U.S.

Abrego Garcias lawyer told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the justices finding that migrants must have a chance to challenge their removal underscores his clients argument that his rights were violated and that he must be returned to the U.S.

Indeed because Abrego Garcia was deprived of any judicial review whatsoever, he had no opportunity to even respond to prove that he is not a member of MS-13, his attorney told the high court in a letter.

Trump administration says its working to identify alleged gang members

Todd Lyons, acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, said Tuesday that he couldnt estimate how many people would be deported under the act, which the administration wants to use to target foreign terrorists and transnational criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua or TdA.

The thing about TdA is theres no real, like, membership card, theyre not out there self-identifying. Its really through partnerships with the rest of DHS and local law enforcement identifying those individuals, Lyons told reporters during Border Security Expo, a trade show in Phoenix.

Asked about the lack of criminal history among some Venezuelans imprisoned in El Salvador and their inability to respond to evidence against them, Lyons said: Im confident that those individuals we took action on were the ones we needed to take action on.

At the trade show, Deputy Customs and Border Protection Commissioner John Modlin received a round of applause as he talked about the videos shared on social media of the shackled migrants sent to the El Salvador prison.

Man, hats off to the public affairs people in El Salvador. They came up with those videos. That was amazing. It sends a message across the globe, Modlin said.

The case has become a flashpoint in Trumps fight with the courts

Even before the Supreme Courts ruling, the case had become one of the most contentious legal battles waged by the administration over Trumps sweeping executive actions. Trump has called for the judges impeachment, prompting a rare statement from Roberts to say that such action is not the appropriate response to disagreements over court rulings.

Boasberg has been contemplating whether to hold any administration officials in contempt of court for ignoring his orders last month to turn around planes that were carrying the deportees to El Salvador.

Boasberg had been expected to rule as early as this week on whether there are grounds to find anyone in contempt. During a hearing last week, he said the Trump administration may have acted in bad faith by trying to rush the migrants out of the country before a court could step in to block the deportations.

Its not clear whether Boasberg would move forward with contempt proceedings after the Supreme Courts ruling vacating his order.

A Justice Department lawyer told the judge Monday evening that the Supreme Courts decision eliminates the basis for any further action. The Justice Department has said the administration didnt violate the judges order, arguing it didnt apply to planes that had already left U.S. airspace by the time his command came down.

(AP)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the Panama Canal faces ongoing threats from China, but that together the U.S. and Panama will keep it secure.

Speaking at a ribbon cutting for a new U.S.-financed dock at the Vasco Nunez de Balboa Naval Base after a meeting with Panama President Jose Raul Mulino, Hegseth said the U.S. will not allow China or any other country to threaten the canals operation.

To this end, the United States and Panama have done more in recent weeks to strengthen our defense and security cooperation than we have in decades, he said.

Hegseth alluded to ports at either end of the canal that are controlled by a Hong Kong consortium, which is in the process of selling its controlling stake to another consortium including BlackRock Inc.

China-based companies continue to control critical infrastructure in the canal area, Hegseth said. That gives China the potential to conduct surveillance activities across Panama. This makes Panama and the United States less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign. And as President Donald Trump has pointed out, that situation is not acceptable.

Hegseth met with Mulino for two hours Tuesday morning before heading to the naval base that previously had been the U.S. Rodman Naval Station.

On the way, Hegseth posted a photo of the two men laughing to X and wrote that it was an honor speaking with Mulino.

You and your countrys hard work is making a difference. Increased security cooperation will make both our nations safer, stronger and more prosperous, he wrote.

The visit comes amid tensions over U.S. President Donald Trumps repeated assertions that the United States is being overcharged to use the Panama Canal and that China has influence over its operations. Panama has denied those allegations.

After Hegseth and Mulino spoke by phone in February, the U.S. State Department published on X that an agreement had been reached to not charge U.S. warships to pass through the canal. Mulino publicly denied there was any such deal.

Trump has gone so far as to suggest the U.S. never should have turned the canal over to Panama and that maybe the U.S. should take it back.

The China concern was provoked by the Hong Kong consortium holding a 25-year lease on ports at either end of the canal. The Panamanian government announced that lease was being audited and late Monday concluded that there were irregularities.

The Hong Kong consortium, however, has already announced that CK Hutchison would be selling its controlling stake in the ports to a consortium including BlackRock Inc., effectively putting the ports under American control once the sale is complete.

Rubio told Mulino during his visit that Trump believed that Chinas presence in the canal area may violate a treaty that led the United States to turn the waterway over to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal.

Mulino has denied that China has any influence in the operations of the canal. In February, he expressed frustration at the persistence of the narrative. We arent going to speak about what is not reality, but rather those issues that interest both countries.

The United States built the canal in the early 1900s as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.

I want to be very clear, China did not build this canal, Hegseth said Tuesday. China does not operate this canal and China will not weaponize this canal. Together with Panama in the lead, we will keep the canal secure and available for all nations through the deterrent power of the strongest, most effective and most lethal fighting force in the world.

(AP)
KHANKENDI, Azerbaijan, April 8. Participants of the 7th ADA University Policy Forum are visiting Khankendi city, Trend reports.

The delegation of international experts and representatives of think tanks has arrived at Garabagh University to participate in the event.

The 7th ADA Political Forum, titled Facing the New World Order, is being jointly organized by ADA University and the Center of Analysis of International Relations. It will take place on April 8 in the city of Khankendi.

More than 80 international experts and think tank representatives from 44 countries are expected to attend.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Nearly 200 family members of Americans slain in the October 7 Hamas massacre have filed a bombshell federal lawsuit against Bashar Masri  a celebrated Palestinian-American developer  accusing him of knowingly aiding and abetting the terrorist group behind the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

Masri, long hailed in elite diplomatic circles as a moderate visionary and touted by 60 Minutes as a beacon of hope in the West Bank, is now facing explosive allegations that he helped build the very infrastructure Hamas used to wage war  including tunnels, rocket launch sites, and command centers hidden beneath his luxury hotels and industrial parks in Gaza.

Filed in D.C. federal court, the suit claims Masris companies provided Hamas with utilities, facilities, and logistical cover  all while raking in millions from international aid agencies and green energy initiatives. One alleged hotel, the Blue Beach, became a literal gateway to terror, with tunnel shafts descending from guest rooms into Hamas underground network. Another, the Al Mashtal Hotel  where world leaders once gathered  allegedly doubled as a command center for Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 atrocities.

Defendants provided services that legitimized Hamas and protected its operations from Israeli and U.S. action, wrote lead attorney Lee Wolosky, a former national security official under four U.S. presidents.

Masri, a naturalized U.S. citizen with deep ties to Washington and Harvards Kennedy School, was still advising President Trumps hostage envoy as recently as last month. Now, families of Americans murdered in the Oct. 7 attack  including those of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Itay Chen, and victims from the Nova music festival  are demanding justice under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The complaint doesnt just allege moral complicity  it outlines a complex network of financial, logistical, and political support that allegedly enabled Hamas to turn real estate into weaponry. Masris $350 million futuristic city of Rawabi was bankrolled largely by Qatar  a country that also funds Hamas. His Gaza properties, the lawsuit claims, received U.N., EU, and World Bank dollars  and then funneled electricity into Hamas tunnel system via solar panels on his hotels and factories.

Above ground, the Gaza Industrial Estate looked like a hub of economic progress, producing everything from pharmaceuticals to soft drinks. Below ground, it was allegedly a launchpad for bloodshed  complete with rocket infrastructure, anti-tank emplacements, and escape tunnels stretching toward Israel.

The lawsuit also names Masris companies, including PADICO and Massar International, as co-defendants. Notably, the filing includes photos of Masri with Hamas officials and claims of joint business ventures with figures like Hamas Deputy Minister of Economy Abdel Fattah Zrai  killed by the IDF last year.

The lawsuit accuses Masri of three violations under the Anti-Terrorism Act: aiding and abetting Hamas, conspiring with the group, and providing material support to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.

Masris office denied the allegations in a statement, calling them baseless, and insisted he unequivocally opposes violence of any kind.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The Houthia intelligence chief may have been killed in a series of U.S. airstrikes overnight, according to a report from the Saudi-based news outlet al-Hadath.

The report claims Abdul Nasser Al-Kamali, the Iran-backed rebel groups intelligence chief, was killed in the capital city of Saana, which remains under Houthi control. The alleged strike was part of a wider wave of American air assaults targeting Houthi positions in and around the capital and the neighboring Marib province.

A Houthi spokesperson, posting on Telegram, said U.S. warplanes carried out eleven strikes in Saana and surrounding areas, along with nine more in Marib, an inland region where the group maintains a strong presence.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has not issued a statement regarding the operation or the reported death of Al-Kamali. The Pentagon has remained tight-lipped since launching its renewed campaign against the Houthis on March 15.

However, speaking at the White House Monday during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made clear that Washingtons military pressure on the Houthis is only intensifying.

We are not going to relent, and its only going to be more unrelenting until the Houthis declare they will stop shooting at our ships, Hegseth said, in reference to the rebel groups repeated attacks on commercial and naval vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
An Israeli political source admitted on Tuesday morning that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not receive advance notice of the step announced by President Trump during the joint press conference on Mondaythe initiation of direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program.

The source noted that while the possibility that Trump would renew contacts with Iran was taken into account, it was evident at the joint press conference between the US President and the Prime Minister that Netanyahu was not aware of the move in advance and was surprised by the announcement.

The source added that the fact that Trump promised that Israel would receive reports on any developments that arise from the negotiations is very positive. He also stressed that the talks will be very different from those that took place under the Obama administration since Trump forced Iran into agreeing to the talks with a show of force, including threats of military action and sanctions. During his announcement, Trump threatened that if the talks with Iran fail, Iran will be in great danger.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Netanyahus meeting with Trump ended with disappointing results regarding the 17% tariff imposed on Israel, with Trump noncommittal about removing it.

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(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Nearly 550 days after Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has released a harrowing medical report that tears back the curtain on the nightmarish conditions faced by those still held captive in Gaza. Based on eyewitness testimonies, released hostage accounts, and Hamas propaganda footage, the report details a descent into darkness that survivors and families say is worsening by the day.

Fifty-nine hostages remain in Gaza, including the body of a soldier held since 2014. Of those, only 24 are believed to be alivesurviving in a state of physical and psychological torment that pushes the limits of human endurance.

Time is running out, and every additional moment in captivity puts their lives in terrible danger, the report says.

The report paints a picture of hostages bound by their hands and feet, suspended upside down, burned, starved, and beaten. Many are kept underground for weeks or months at a timechained, blindfolded, and stripped of daylight, fresh air, or any sense of time.

Survivors of captivity describe total isolation. Some have had no contact with other Israelis or even knowledge of whether their loved ones are still alive. All are malnourished; many suffer from untreated infections, skin diseases, and injuries. Digestive issuesvomiting, diarrhea, and dehydrationare rampant, a direct result of undrinkable water, filthy conditions, and total lack of medical care.

At least eight hostages are suffering from visible injuries. Five have preexisting conditions like asthma and severe allergiesyet none have received treatment. One captive, Elkana Bohbot, who suffers from chronic respiratory disease, is believed to be at risk of death due to the lack of medication.

Every one of the 24 believed living hostages is battling serious psychological disorders. The report cites widespread anxiety, depression, PTSD, and catatonia. Prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation, constant threats, and sensory deprivation are corroding their mental states.

Ziv and Gali Berman, twin brothers taken on October 7, were split apart and are suffering from extreme psychological strain. Ziv, who sustained a head injury during IDF shelling early in the war, remains untreated. Nimrod Cohen, the lone survivor of a tank crew, has reportedly stopped speaking entirely, consumed by grief and depression.

Every additional day in captivity is a potential death sentence, the Forum warned. A preventable death.

Alon Ohel, abducted from the Nova music festival, is chained, starving, and at risk of total blindness.

Matan Angrest, dragged from a burning IDF tank, has facial injuries possibly indicating neurological damage.

Guy Gilboa-Dalal, once healthy, now appears emaciated and dehydrated to the point of losing his ability to speak.

Rom Braslavski, who suffers from severe allergies and scoliosis, was taken without his glasses. No word has come from him in over a year.

Many captives were young civilians, but Hamas treats nearly all male hostages as soldiers due to their age. This has resulted in particularly brutal treatment, especially for those suspected of military service.

Of the 24 living hostages, Israel has received proof of life from 20 since the war began. But information on their current health is dangerously scarce. The Forum says concern is growing by the hour for the remaining four.

The information collected paints a very worrying picture, the Forum said. The hostages are being held in inhumane conditions, suffering severe physical and mental abuse, and their health and mental states are rapidly deteriorating.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Israel and Turkey have been holding direct talks to establish a deconfliction mechanism in Syria to avoid the risk of military clashes, the Middle East Eye reported, citing two Western officials.

The talks come in the wake of Israels airstrikes last week on airbases in Syria at the same time that Ankara was preparing to deploy a team to begin preparations for taking over the bases.

Netanyahu believes there has been progress in the talks with Turkey, the report claimed. Turkish and Israeli officials made similar statements at the same time that seem to have been coordinated, saying they were not looking for confrontation over Syria. The U.S. remains the final arbitrator on Syria and it seems that the administration wants Israel and Turkey tensions de-escalated.

During the meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday, Trump said that he has excellent relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and he could work out a deal between Israel and Turkey if there are tensions in Syria.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Dalia Ziada, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, addressed the growing tension between Egypt and Israel.

Military forces are standing on both sides of the Egyptian-Israeli border, aiming at each other, which indicates that the problem of mistrust between the parties has reached a boiling point, she said. I hope this doesnt lead to further escalation in the coming years.

Ziada sharply criticized the Egyptian government, which she says has been on the wrong side of this war from the start, and accused Cairo of supporting Hamas, who has hurt the Palestinians more than anyone else.

Ziada also referred to French President Emmanuel Macrons visit to Egypt, claiming it is part of a power struggle between Europe and the United States in the Middle East.

France is trying to emphasize that its presence and influence, and that of Europe in the Middle East, are still strong, unlike those of the United States  especially in light of Macrons recent success in brokering a ceasefire in Lebanon, she said.

She also emphasized the mutual economic interests of both countries, noting that Egypt was ranked as the largest importer of French weapons between 2012 and 2021 and that in 2021, Egypt signed a deal with France to purchase 30 French-made fighter jets for $4.5 billion.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Iran has shifted to maritime routes to smuggle funds and weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, a Western security official told Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath on Tuesday.

According to the official, Irans Quds Force developed a sea transfer method that bypasses Syria. After the fall of the Assad regime and increased air restrictions, Hezbollah began using the sea to transport weapons, he said.

According to the report, the maritime smuggling operation is possible due to Hezbollahs control of the Port of Beirut, which was almost completely destroyed in 2020 due to Hezbollahs large stores of ammonium nitrate at the site which caught on fire, creating a huge explosion that killed hundreds.

Hezbollah operates freely in the port with the help of collaborators in customs and the ports monitoring authority, the official said, adding that a senior Hezbollah figure, Wafiq Safa, oversees the smuggling network.

Safa oversees a network of collaborators at the Port of Beirut. These insiders facilitate the smuggling of equipment and weapons without inspection. Attempts to smuggle weapons through the port contributed to the 2020 port disaster.

He warned that Lebanon will pay the price for Hezbollahs control of the port. The Port of Beirut is Lebanons most important port, and its illegal use endangers Lebanese interests. Hezbollahs presence at the port threatens foreign investment. Lebanon must act urgently in light of these violations.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
The Viznitzer Rebbe, HaRav Yisroel Hager Shlita, of Bnei Brak, who is currently in California undergoing medical treatment, was originally scheduled to return to Eretz Yisroel in time for Pesach. However, due to health concerns the Rebbe will now remain in Los Angeles for Yom Tov.

Sources close to the Rebbes court tell YWN that doctors have advised against any long-distance travel at this time. As a result, plans for his return to Eretz Yisroel have been canceled, and the Rebbe will conduct the Pesach Sedarim and Yom Tov from his current location in Los Angeles.

This unexpected change has altered the plans of many Chassidim both in Eretz Yisroel and abroad who had hoped to be with the Rebbe for Yom Tov. Nevertheless, preparations are underway in California to accommodate the Rebbes stay and ensure a proper and uplifting Yom Tov environment.

The Rebbes presence in the U.S. was initially intended to be temporary for medical purposes, and his extended stay highlights the seriousness of his current health condition.

Please continue to say Tehillim for Yisrael ben Leah Esther for a Refuah Shelima.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Maran Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlita issued a rare, personal plea to help a talmid chacham from Bnei Brak facing severe financial hardship, entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.

This highly respected talmid chacham, from a distinguished Torah family, is in urgent need of assistance. Maran Hirsch emphasized that helping him is an incredibly important mitzvah, urging those who can to contribute 1000 shekels (approx. $300).

A special fund (Fund 5880) has been established at Kupat Hair. Respond to this urgent call and receive the brocha of success and divine assistance.

To donate click here
KHANKENDI, Azerbaijan, April 8. The 7th ADA Policy Forum, titled Facing the New World Order, jointly organized by ADA University and the Center of Analysis of International Relations, has taken place in Khankendi city, Trend reports.

More than 80 international experts and think tank representatives from 44 countries have attended the forum.

The event participants were greeted by Hafiz Pashayev, the Rector of ADA University, Ambassador, Elchin Amirbayov, the Azerbaijani Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan, Shahin Bayramov, the Rector of Garabagh University, as well as Emin Huseynov, the Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan in Aghdam, Fuzuli, and Khojavand districts.

The first panel of the forum discussed the topic "Geopolitical Changes and Their Impact on Regional Sovereignty". The panel was moderated by the Chairman of the Board of the Center for International Relations Analysis, Farid Shafiyev. The speakers addressed the impact of changes in the global balance of power on national sovereignty, the maintenance of strategic stability in the region, and the issues of responsible partnerships.

The second panel focused on the topic "New World Order: Expectations from Economic Transformation and Digital Revolution". The panel was moderated by Vice Rector of ADA University, MP Fariz Ismayilzade. The discussions included economic independence, the impact of technology on global power distribution, and approaches to sustainable development.

The forum participants evaluated the organization of the event in Khankendi city as a reflection of Azerbaijan's open dialogue and international cooperation in its restoration and reintegration policy. It was noted that this approach not only benefits the physical restoration of the Karabakh region in the post-conflict period, but also its intellectual and cultural development.

The event continued with discussions on global energy security, regional trade, digital economy, and the management of natural resources within the framework of the new world order.

The forum will continue its work in Baku on April 9.

11:40

KHANKENDI, Azerbaijan, April 8. The 7th ADA University Policy Forum has started in Khankendi city, Trend reports.

The delegation of international experts and representatives of think tanks has arrived at Garabagh University to participate in the event.

The 7th ADA Political Forum, titled Facing the New World Order, is being jointly organized by ADA University and the Center of Analysis of International Relations.

The event will feature two panel discussions - "Geopolitical changes and their impact on regional sovereignty", and the second panel will be devoted to the topic "New world order: expectations from economic transformation and digital revolution".

More than 80 international experts and think tank representatives from 44 countries will attend the forum.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Car firms have blasted Labour for not doing enough to help them navigate Donald Trumps trade war amid weak demand for electric vehicles.

Vertu Motors, one of the countrys biggest dealership chains, accused Sir Keir Starmer of merely tinkering. And Ford warned that more is needed to tackle the challenging conditions.

The Prime Minister yesterday confirmed that the Government would water down rules designed to force carmakers to switch from petrol and diesel to battery-powered vehicles.

It means lower fines for manufacturers that fail to comply with electric vehicle (EV) sales targets. Luxury carmakers such as Aston Martin, Bentley and McLaren will be exempt.

A 2030 phase-out date for new petrol and diesel cars will not change. But full hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles may continue to be sold until 2035.

Industry trade body, The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said greater action will almost certainly be needed to safeguard our industrys competitiveness.

Plea: Dealership chain Vertu, accused Sir Keir Starmer of merely 'tinkering' while Ford warned that more is needed to tackle the 'challenging' conditions

Robert Forrester, chief executive of Vertu Motors, said Starmers tweaks simply amounted to lots of words. Firms still face a 12,000 penalty for every gas-guzzling car sold above the green targets.

Forrester added: Thats billions of pounds to manufacturers, and manufacturers face a choice of either paying significant fines or rationing petrol and diesel cars. Nothing has really changed here.

'This is real tinkering. There are lots and lots of words in the announcement, but it doesnt really address the major issues.

Lisa Brankin, the boss of Ford in Britain and Ireland, said the measures were a small step in the right direction, but it is not the giant leap required to address the especially challenging electric vehicle market conditions.

At least 28 per cent of new cars sold by each manufacturer this year must be zero-emission. But a poll by the SMMT showed fewer than one in eight buyers want an EV.

Starmer told workers at a Jaguar Land Rover factory in the West Midlands: We are going to back you to the hilt.

But Tory business spokesman Andrew Griffith said the Government was firing on half cylinders when nothing less than full throttle to support our carmakers is required.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched a probe into an audit of Home Reit as the scandal-hit homeless housing investor continues its wind-down process.

Investors have a close eye on the sale of Home Reit's property portfolio, hoping to claw back as much cash as possible as the fund scrambles to clear its debts.

The FRC said on Tuesday it was investigating BDO's audit of Home Reit's financial statements for the year ending August 2021.

Britain's accounting watchdog said the decision to start the investigation was made at a meeting of its conduct committee on 17 December last year. The inquest will be conducted by its enforcement division.

Known as 'landlord for the homeless', Home Reit is an investment trust specialising in housing vulnerable people.

Following its listing on the London Stock Exchange in October 2020, the firm spent hundreds of millions buying up properties it would then rent to housing associations and charities.

But less than two years after going public, it suffered a bombshell when short seller Viceroy Research questioned Home Reit's ability to collect rent from tenants and the prices it paid for some properties.

By January 2023, several of Home Reit's biggest tenants were refusing to pay rent, and the group's shares were suspended from trading on the LSE due to delays in publishing its annual results.

Phase out: Investment trust Home REIT opted in July 2024 to undertake a 'managed wind-down,' adding that it was 'in the best interest of shareholders'

To try and turn things around, the company replaced its investment adviser Alvarium after a probe by forensic accountants Alvarez & Marsal discovered transparency and due diligence failings.

The London-listed business also began a firesale of properties to raise cash, often at knock-down prices.

An audit released in December 2023 by consultancy Jones De La Salle reduced the estimated value of Home Reit's portfolio by over half to 412.9million, compared to the price paid at acquisition.

Within a few months, the Financial Conduct Authority was investigating allegations that Home Reit misled investors, allegations the firm has denied.

Following a failure to refinance its existing debt strategy, Home Reit decided in July 2024 to undertake a 'managed wind-down', adding that it was 'in the best interest of shareholders.'

Under the planned wind-down, the group said it would continue selling assets to boost liquidity and repay its debts, a large amount of which was owed to Scottish Widows.

In late February, Home Reit said its rental income and 12.2million unrestricted cash pile would be 'sufficient' to fund its operational expenses and fees during the wind-down.

Regarding property sales, it said: 'The company is encouraged by the level of interest and the non-binding offers which were received for the full portfolio in mid-February.

'A number of credible parties have been selected to proceed to the next stage of the process. Further updates will be provided in due course.'
KHANKENDI, Azerbaijan, April 8. We are proud of holding today's 7th ADA University Policy Forum in Khankendi, the university's vice rector, Fariz Ismayilzade, said during the forum, Trend reports.

He highlighted the special significance of the current forum, emphasizing the expanded partnership in its organization.

" Usually, we organize this forum in cooperation with ADA University and the Center for International Relations Analysis. However, this year we are proud that the Garabagh University has joined us, hosting us in Khankendi. This is an important step towards the integration and restoration of the region," Ismayilzade also said.

According to him, the forum participants have personally witnessed the scale of the destruction left after the occupation.

"In Khankendi, you have seen many destroyed buildings and infrastructure. As part of the forum, a special presentation will be made about the period of occupation, the destruction and plundering of Azerbaijani settlements, as well as the ongoing large-scale reconstruction and the policy for the return of the population," he explained.

Ismayilzade added that during the two-day forum, participants will discuss international challenges and regional prospects through four panel sessions.

"We expect intense discussions and interesting presentations. I'm confident that this forum will become an important platform for exchanging ideas and strengthening international cooperation," emphasized the vice rector.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The answers of the Council of Europe High Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty to questions from Armenian MPs in the so-called "Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe" show that he is completely unaware of the issues, the Western Azerbaijan Community said in a statement, Trend reports.

"It is unacceptable that the High Commissioner raised the issue of the return of Armenians to Azerbaijan and did not mention the return of Western Azerbaijanis to Armenia, their ancestral homeland. We call on the High Commissioner not to become hostage to the deep-rooted double standards regarding human rights in a number of Western institutions.

Furthermore, the High Commissioner should avoid making statements encouraging impunity in connection with the trial currently taking place in Baku, but call on the Armenian authorities to bring to justice war criminals on their territory, including those responsible for the tragedy in Agdaban 33 years ago, demand an explanation from the first President of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who boasted that by expelling the Azerbaijanis, we have achieved a 600-year-old historical goal, and visit Armenia to monitor the deplorable state of the religious and cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people and investigate the ethnic hatred that is rampant against Azerbaijanis, particularly in the media and public discourse," the statement reads.

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Irelands EU commissioner Michael McGrath has said the blocs countries still stand ready to negotiate with the US.

The Commissioner for Justice, Rule of Law and Consumer Protection also said that the EU needed to respond and create an incentive for the US to get around the table with us.

The leaders of EU countries are due to vote on Tuesday on a package of counter measures responding to US tariffs on steel and aluminium already in effect.

A 20% import tax will be slapped on EU goods on Wednesday as part of a major tariff announcement by US President Donald Trump last week.

The announcement has caused turmoil in the global markets as trading norms built up over decades are disrupted.

Mr McGrath said that the value of EU goods being hit by additional US tariffs is 380 billion euro, generating 80 billion euro in revenue for the US, up from the normal value of seven billion euro.

Our strong preference is for negotiations with the US, we still stand ready to negotiate, he told Newstalk Breakfast on Tuesday.

We do wish to negotiate, it is our preference because we recognise that everyone loses when it comes to a trade war and the imposition of tariffs.

As part of the EUs counter measures, 26 billion euro worth of US goods would have been targeted to match the damage by US tariffs on steel and aluminium, Mr McGrath said.

We have listened to member states so the figure will be somewhat less than that, but it is only the first response and there will be a further response in the event of negotiations failing.

He said he needed to defend the interests of the EU and there was a need to create an incentive to pursue negotiations.

The EU does need to respond in the absence of meaningful negotiations because the tariffs that have been imposed to date, and the 20% tariffs that kick in tomorrow, are wholly unjustified.

There is no rational basis for them.

The EU-US trade relationship is broadly balanced.

Yes the EU has a surplus in goods, that is almost matched by the US surplus in service exports to the EU.

So the net position is less than 50 billion euro of a trade surplus in favour of the EU in the context of an annual trade relationship of 1.6 trillion euro, so that is around 3% of the overall value of trade.

The EU has to respond to that and will respond in the event of negotiations failing.

But we really want to avoid that scenario, because everybody loses.
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As harsh times take hold . . . Don't expect the local criminal class to have respect for anything . . .



Kansas Citys historic Elmwood Cemetery fell victim to overnight vandalism and thefts last week  between Tuesday, April 1, and Wednesday, April 2.



Thieves stole bronze doors from three mausoleums in the historic cemetery.



An Elmwood board member, Alison Paddock, said vandals hit the cemetery twice on the same night.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
As we noted previously . . .

This week the Jackson County Legislature passed a resolution demanding compliance with a judge's ruling and the Missouri State Tax Commish regarding a property tax rollback.

However . . . A statement from Executive Frank White is important and that's why we're leading with it:

THE EXEC IS UNMOVED AND SEEMS TO VOW RESISTANCE AGAINST TWO EPIC DECISIONS & THE MAJORITY OF HIS COLLEAGUES!!!

The reality of this situation . . .

As it stands now, the Legislature doesn't have the votes for an override.

And so . . .

Agree or disagree . . . It's important to understand where the Exec is coming from given that this decision could impact TENS OF THOUSANDS of local property owners . . .

Via TKC . . . Check the statement & support dox:



Jackson County Executive reaffirms commitment to fairness and transparency in property assessment process



KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. has issued a letter to the Jackson County Legislature addressing the continued legal uncertainty surrounding the State Tax Commissions (STC) order to retroactively roll back 2023 property assessments.



The letter comes amid the Legislatures passage of Ordinance 5958, which directs the County to comply with the STCs order despite conflicting court rulings and a lack of clear guidance from the STC. County Executive Whites letter outlines the Countys legal concerns, the complexity of the situation and the significant risks associated with moving forward under the current circumstances. Among those risks is an estimated $200 million immediate impact on local taxing jurisdictions, funding that may not be recoverable for agencies such as Kansas City Public Schools and the State Blind Pension Fund.



I commend the Legislature for holding todays public hearing and for openly acknowledging the serious complications associated with implementing the State Tax Commissions order, White said. For the first time, a public body has recognized what weve long known, that this is not about tax savings but about shifting the burden onto others. If implemented, this would likely result in the highest tax bills in Jackson Countys history. While this ordinance may not affect the legal outcome, it reflects the kind of serious discussion this issue demands. The consequences are real, and we must take them seriously. I will review the ordinance carefully and take appropriate action moving forward.



In the letter, County Executive White reaffirmed the Countys position that the STCs order is unlawful and sets a concerning precedent. He also noted that the STC has yet to respond to key questions submitted by the County in August 2024 that are essential to understanding whether the rollback can be implemented in a way that is both legal and equitable.



We are hopeful that upcoming discussions with the STC will help provide the clarity needed to responsibly resolve this issue, White said. But we will not rush into any decision that could misapply the law or create further inequity in our property tax system.



County Executive White emphasized that Jackson County remains committed to working in partnership with the Legislature, the State Tax Commission and local taxing jurisdictions to find a responsible path forward that follows the law, treats everyone fairly and keeps our community informed.



The County Executives letter to the Legislature is attached, along with the Countys outstanding questions to the STC, along with estimates of the potential revenue losses if the rollback is implemented.



###

Developing . . .


A postscript to small town drama wherein the ENTIRE WORLD pushed back against an obvious crackdown on community newspaper freedom of the press . . . And/or . . . What seemed like a very ill-advised personal favor regarding a story that nobody cared about in the first place . . . Check-it . . .



Chief District Court Judge Ben Sexton ruled that the City of Marion acted in bad faith and attempted to make the Kansas Open Records Act useless.



Sexton granted the newspaper's motion for partial summary judgment against the city in regard to the KORA request for the former police chief of Marion, Kansas, Gideon Cody's texts.



Cody claimed that reporters with the Record, Phyllis Zorn and Eric Meyer, committed identity theft by obtaining information about a local restaurant owner's driving history.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
In all likelihood . . . Voting will be a little bit more "complex" in the near future . . . If by complex you mean a valid form of picture ID from the state that's easily manageable by the vast majority of people. YES, even including minorities and people with health issues . . . Here's the progressive radio rebuttal:



Missouri law does not require proof of citizenship to register to vote. Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon said the bill would require Missouri counties to create two different registration forms  one that includes federal ballot measures and one that doesnt.



"We would have to create two sets of ballots. We would have to track two systems," Lennon said. "It is not an ideal process for trying to keep voter lists clean.



Lennon said that the SAVE Act would complicate and prolong the registration process, yet the act does not provide federal funding for the new responsibilities it creates.



The SAVE Act would also create criminal penalties for election officials who mistakenly register someone without proof of citizenship. Kurt Bahr, the county clerk for St. Charles County, said that would have a chilling effect on the office.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

KCUR: Voter registration in Missouri could get harder if federal SAVE Act passes, election officials warn


BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Sevil Mikayilova, Vice President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) from Azerbaijan, member of the IPU's Gender Partnership Group and member of the Azerbaijani Parliament, has given an interview to the official IPU YouTube channel, Trend reports.

The Gender Partnership Group, comprised of four members, is tasked with monitoring gender balance in parliaments across the world.

The interview was recorded in February 2025 in New York, USA, where Mikayilova attended the meetings of the organizing committees of the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, the 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament, and the parliamentary hearings at the UN on behalf of the Speaker of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova.
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Published April 8, 2025

CAPTION:Sumiksha Koirala (left) and Sabina Dahal (right) were among five students who represented the ULM Honors Program at the annual meeting of the Southern Regional Honors Council.

MONROE, LA  The University of Louisiana Monroe Honors Program attended the annual meeting of the Southern Regional Honors Council (SRHC) on March 27-29, in Chattanooga, TN. The ULM Honors Program was represented by Beau Benoit, a senior toxicology major; Gwen Abadie, a senior toxicology major; Sabina Dahal, a senior biology major; Sumiksha Koirala, a senior mathematics major; and Noah Stephan, a junior biology major.

Sumiksha Koirala presented Generalizing the Problem of the Probability of First Claim Among Multiple Actuaries and Analyzing the Impact of Deductibles on Payout Variance in Comparison to Payout Mean. The SRHC meeting was a great experience for me, said Koirala. I had the opportunity to meet honors students from other universities and learn about their programs. I also attended sessions where a variety of important topics were discussed. One of the highlights was getting to present my poster and share my research experience, which was incredibly rewarding. I also had the chance to learn about other students' research projects, which were both inspiring and educational. The entire experience was truly enriching. I got to explore a new city, meet new people, and gain fresh perspectives. Overall, it was an unforgettable and inspiring journey, added Koirala.

Sabina Dahal presented Synthesis and Evaluation of Novel Pyrazolone Hybrids as Potential Anticancer Agents. Attending the SRHC meeting in Chattanooga was truly an unforgettable experience, said Dahal. Connecting with fellow honors students from different universities allowed me to exchange ideas, share my own research, and discover fresh perspectives that I hadn't considered before. These interactions have motivated me to continue exploring new avenues in my academic path. Beyond the academic sessions, I had so much fun bonding with other honors students, exploring the beautiful city of Chattanooga, and making memories that I will cherish for a long time. I truly appreciate the Honors Program for making this experience possible, she continued.

Beau Benoit presented Sex Difference in Opioid-Induced Neuronal Degeneration. Benoit, This was my first research presentation at a major conference, and I am grateful for both the opportunity and the interest shown, said Benoit. I was fortunate to reconnect with people I had met before from NCHC in Kansas City, Mo., and SRHC in Jacksonville, Fla., last year. Recognizing and being recognized by other honors students highlights the importance of networking, and it is something I truly cherish. Its bittersweet to know this was my last opportunity to represent the ULM Honors Program, but I am so grateful for all that I have been able to accomplish through the Honors Program, he added.

SRHC opened my eyes to what a student can do, said Noah Stephan. Oftentimes, it may feel like a student can't make much of an impact at the university level, but SRHC showed me that not only is that untrue  its quite the opposite. Students took the lead in not only advocating for their honors programs but also in conducting research. It encouraged me about the direction our honors program is heading and about the ULM students who are leading the charge, stated Stephan.

SRHC was a wonderful experience that gave me insight into how other honors programs operate, introduced me to student projects, and made me aware of the many opportunities available, said Gwen Abadie. Through this experience, I learned how to better lead our peer mentorship program in a way that fosters greater engagement and stronger connections among students in our honors program, she added.

The Southern Regional Honors Council conference is a valuable opportunity for our students to engage with a broader academic community, present their research, and gain new perspectives on their fields of study, said Dr. Joshua Stockley, Director of the ULM Honors Program. I am incredibly proud of our students for their outstanding presentations and their dedication to academic excellence. Their participation not only showcases the strength of ULMs Honors Program but also reinforces the importance of collaboration and intellectual curiosity in higher education. These experiences will undoubtedly serve them well as they continue their academic and professional journey, Stockley said.

Attending the conference were honors students and administrators from colleges and universities across the Southern region of the United States.

The Southern Regional Honors Council is an educational organization that promotes and advances Honors Programs and Honors Colleges in the southern United States. SRHC currently comprises over 100 member institutions, hosts an annual conference, publishes a literary arts journal Sanctuary, and provides a variety of grants to support student efforts to engage in NCHC-sponsored experiential learning as well as leadership in honors organizations.

About the ULM Honors Program

The ULM Honors Program is a nationally recognized, award-winning program that attracts intellectually curious students eager to challenge themselves with new ideas and collaborate with like-minded peers. Open to all majors, the program integrates seamlessly with any degree path. Honors students engage in deeper academic exploration, benefit from close faculty mentorship in smaller classes, and participate in experiential opportunities such as the FLIGHT Program.

For more information about the Honors Program contact Dr. Joshua Stockley at stockley@ulm.edu or 318-342-3216 or visit ulm.edu/honors.
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73.45% Clear Karnataka 12th Exam 2025 - Full List of Toppers

Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) has announced on its official website karresults.nic.in the results of the Higher Secondary 12th (Karnataka 2nd PUC) 2025, also known Class 12 exams, along with details of toppers and their marks

Tuesday April 8, 2025 5:20 PM , ummid.com News Network

[Representative image]

Karnataka 2nd PUC 12th Result 2025: The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) has announced on its official website karresults.nic.in the results of the Higher Secondary 12th (Karnataka 2nd PUC) 2025, also known Class 12 exams, along with details of toppers and their marks.

The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board declared the 2nd PU XIIth result of all three streams including Science, Commerce and Humanities (Art) today at 12:50 PM.

The Karnataka 12th results were announced at a press conference addressed by Karnataka Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa.

List of Toppers - Karnataka 12th Exam 2025

Amoolya Kamath and Deeksha R jointly secured the top spot in Science stream scoring a total of 599 out of 600 marks.

LR Sanjana Bai emerged as the highest scorer in the Arts stream in the Karnataka 2nd PUC 2025 exam with an impressive 597 marks.

Following closely behind Sanjana Bai are K Nirmala and K R Shri Jeya Darshini who came second with a score of 596 and 595 resepectively.

Deepashree S emerged as the top scorer with 599 marks in the Commerce stream, followed by Tejaswini MA with 598 marks. A number of students scored 597, with Pranay Balasaheb Alagouda and Pratheeksha P rounding out the top 10.

Among the districts, Udupi topped with a pass percentage of 93.90% follwed by Dakshina Kannada (93.57%) and Bangalore South (85.36 %).

Karnataka 2nd PU Pass Percentage

According to the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) data released today, the Karnataka State registerd an overall pass percentage of 73.45% in Class 12th exam 2025. This is some 7.7% less than 2024 when the pass percentage was 81.15%.

A total of 7,13,862 - 3,35,468 boys, 3,78,389 girls and 5 transgenders, had appeared for the 12th board exam in Karnataka.

The Karnataka 12th result 2025 are available on official websites "karresults.nic.in" and "kseab.karnataka.gov.in".

Streamwise Pass Percentage

The Science stream recorded the highest success rate in Karnataka board 12th exam 2025. Out of 2,80,933 students who appeared in the exam in Science stream, 2,31,461 passed, resulting in a pass percentage of 82.45%.

Commerce followed with a respectable performance  2,04,329 candidates appeared, and 1,55,425 managed to pass, registering a pass percentage of 76.07%.

The Arts stream reported the lowest pass percentage among the three, with 1,53,043 students appearing and 81,553 passing, bringing the pass rate to 53.29%.

In total, 6,37,805 students appeared across all streams, and 4,68,439 of them successfully passed the examination, contributing to an overall pass percentage of 73.45%.



Along with the result, the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board also publishes the Merit List containing the names and scores of the board exam toppers.

The Karnataka Pre-University Department or 2nd PU 12th Exam started on March 01 and continued till March 19, 2025.

Karnataka 12th Supplementary Exam Date 2025

While announcing the 12th board exam result today, the KSEAB also announced the dates of Supplementary Exams - PUC 2 and PUC 3.

The Supplementary Exams is conducted for the students who failed in some subjects in the regular exam or who want to improve their score.

According to the schedule, the PUC 2 Exam 2 is set to be conducted from April 24 to May 8, 2025. Students who wish to improve their scores or those who could not clear certain subjects in Exam 1 are eligible to appear.

Students who wish to get the scanned copy of answer sheets, can apply from April 8 to 13, 2025.

Students can download the scanned copy of their 12th answer sheets from April 12 to 16, 2025. The fee for scanned copy per subject is INR 530 and fees for revaluation per subject is INR 1670.

Steps to check Karnataka 2nd PU Result 2025

Visit the official website, karresults.nic.in. Click on the 2nd PUC exam 1 result link. Enter your login details. Submit and check the result. Download and take a printout for future reference.

Karnataka 2nd PUC (Class 12) Result 2024

In 2024, Karnataka 2nd PUC or 12th exam was held from March 01 to 22, 2024. The Karnataka 2nd PU Class 12th Result 2023 was declared on April 10, 2024.

The overall pass percentage in 2024 was 81.15%. The Pass Percentage of Science stream was 89.96%, pass percentage of Arts stream was 68.36 and that of Commerce stream was 80.94%.

The Department of Pre-University, Government of Karnataka is the organization for implementation of higher secondary education in the state. We function under the Department of Primary and Secondary Education.

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Jamiat Chief Arshad Madani opposes street protest over Waqf Act 2025

Maulana Arshad Madani, President of Jamiat Ulama e Hind, has opposed street protests over Waqf Amendment Act 2025

Tuesday April 8, 2025 9:49 PM , ummid.com News Network

New Delhi: Maulana Arshad Madani, President of Jamiat Ulama e Hind, has opposed street protests over Waqf Amendment Act 2025.

Making his stand clear on the issue, he said the current situation in India is not suitable for street protests.

Any street protest could create a law and order situation and that could be counterproductive in the present situation in the country, Maulana Arshad Madani said.

We dont believe in taking to the streets over any issue. It is not beneficial for Muslims. Our fight is with the government, and we have always taken legal routes to challenge such decisions, he said.

Jamiat Ulama e Hind is one of the largest organizations of Indian Muslims. Besides heading the Jamiat, Maulana Arshad Madani is also Vice President of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB).

Maulana Madanis statement came a day after All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) announced nationwide stir against the newly passed Waqf Amendment Act 2025.

The Narendra Modi government had introduced the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024, renamed as Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development or UMEED Bill, in the Parliament on April 02, 2025.

The Bill was passed by both the houses of the Parliament after fierce debates . It later became a law after President Droupadi Murmu signed it on Saturday April 05, 2025. President Murmu signed the Bill even as it was challenged in the Supreme Court of India.

As on today, a total of 13 petitions by different groups  including Congress, AIMIM and All India Muslim Personal Law Board, have been filed in the apex court .

UP Crackdown on Protesters

Meanwhile, indicating what could be the result of street protest, the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has already started using force to suppress the protests against the Waqf Act 2025.

The right-wing government has issued notices and imposed penalties on those protesting against the new act.

The government has also vowed to charge under sedition law anyone found protesting against the Waqf Act.

In Muzaffarnagar, a senior police officer said notices under preventive measures had been issued to 300 persons. Among them was Mujeeb Shibli, the caretaker of the Ayesha mosque in Muzaffarnagar.

Shibli and three others were served notices for allegedly wearing black armbands during the Alvida Jummah and Eid-ul-Fitr namaz in protest against the amended Waqf law, according to The Wire.

In Lucknow, a notice issued by the Bakshi Ka Talab magistrate asked four Samajwadi Party members  Mahendra Yadav, Wahiuddin, Javed and Ankit Yadav, for protesting against the Waqf Act.

Sumaiya Rana, Samajwadi Party leader and daughter of the famous poet, the late Munawwar Rana, was also served a notice and asked to furnish a bond of a sum of Rs 10 lakh along with two sureties of the same amount.

The notice issued to her said that she was likely to disturb public peace or commit a culpable act leading to breach of peace. The situation is extremely tense. And there is full possibility of her breaching peace, said the notice.

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Karnataka 2nd PU 12th Result 2025 Declared, Check Pass Percentage

Karnataka Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) declared the results of the Second Year Pre-University (2nd PUC) or Class 12 2025 today i.e. Tuesday April 08, 2025

Tuesday April 8, 2025 1:14 PM , ummid.com News Network

Karnataka 2nd PUC 12th Result 2025: Karnataka Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) has announced the results of the Second Year Pre-University (2nd PUC) or Class 12 2025.

The department announced the 2nd PU result of all three streams including Science, Commerce and Humanities (Art) today at 12:50 PM.

The Karnataka 12th results were announced at a press conference addressed by Karnataka Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa.

However, students, who appeared for the board exams, can access their scores and check their marks on the official portal, karresults.nic.in, only at 1:30 PM when the result link is activtaed.



Karnataka 2nd PU Pass Percentage

According to the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) data released today, the Karnataka State registerd an overall pass percentage of 73.45% in Class 12th exam 2025. This is some 7.7% less than 2024 when the pass percentage was 81.15%.

A total of 7,13,862 - 3,35,468 boys, 3,78,389 girls and 5 transgenders, had appeared for the 12th board exam in Karnataka.

The Karnataka 12th result 2025 are available on official websites "karresults.nic.in" and "kseab.karnataka.gov.in".

Streamwise Pass Percentage

The Science stream recorded the highest success rate in Karnataka board 12th exam 2025. Out of 2,80,933 students who appeared in the exam in Science stream, 2,31,461 passed, resulting in a pass percentage of 82.45%.

Commerce followed with a respectable performance  2,04,329 candidates appeared, and 1,55,425 managed to pass, registering a pass percentage of 76.07%.

The Arts stream reported the lowest pass percentage among the three, with 1,53,043 students appearing and 81,553 passing, bringing the pass rate to 53.29%.

In total, 6,37,805 students appeared across all streams, and 4,68,439 of them successfully passed the examination, contributing to an overall pass percentage of 73.45%.



Along with the result, the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board also publishes the Merit List containing the names and scores of the board exam toppers.

The Karnataka Pre-University Department or 2nd PU 12th Exam started on March 01 and continued till March 19, 2025.

Karnataka 12th Supplementary Exam Date 2025

While announcing the 12th board exam result today, the KSEAB also announced the dates of Supplementary Exams - PUC 2 and PUC 3.

The Supplementary Exams is conducted for the students who failed in some subjects in the regular exam or who want to improve their score.

According to the schedule, the PUC 2 Exam 2 is set to be conducted from April 24 to May 8, 2025. Students who wish to improve their scores or those who could not clear certain subjects in Exam 1 are eligible to appear.

Students who wish to get the scanned copy of answer sheets, can apply from April 8 to 13, 2025.

Students can download the scanned copy of their 12th answer sheets from April 12 to 16, 2025. The fee for scanned copy per subject is INR 530 and fees for revaluation per subject is INR 1670.

Steps to check Karnataka 2nd PU Result 2025

Visit the official website, karresults.nic.in. Click on the 2nd PUC exam 1 result link. Enter your login details. Submit and check the result. Download and take a printout for future reference.

Karnataka 2nd PUC (Class 12) Result 2024

In 2024, Karnataka 2nd PUC or 12th exam was held from March 01 to 22, 2024. The Karnataka 2nd PU Class 12th Result 2023 was declared on April 10, 2024.

The overall pass percentage in 2024 was 81.15%. The Pass Percentage of Science stream was 89.96%, pass percentage of Arts stream was 68.36 and that of Commerce stream was 80.94%.

The Department of Pre-University, Government of Karnataka is the organization for implementation of higher secondary education in the state. We function under the Department of Primary and Secondary Education.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The 7th ADA University Policy Forum will contribute to building important relations among representatives of participating countries, said Hafiz Pashayev, ADA University Rector, as he addressed the opening ceremony of the conference on Facing the New World Order held at the Garabagh University in Khankendi, Trend reports.

Our Glorious Victory was an opportunity for the Azerbaijani people in terms of a victorious 44-day battle, freedom, growth, and the emergence of new personalities. Now we are here at the Karabakh University. What could be better than this? It is a great honor to represent ADA University at today's conference, Pashayev noted.

"Today is a very important day for us - participants of such a prestigious event. The organization of this forum at the Karabakh University is of great significance. We are happy today for Azerbaijan, but I am also very happy for the university I lead," the rector said, emphasizing that representatives from different countries are participating in the event, which is also critical in terms of building important partnerships among the participating countries.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel Gideon Sa'ar in Abu Dhabi on April 8, Trend reports.

According to the information, the meeting discussed bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel, as well as the regional and global situation.

The sides discussed prospects of cooperation between the two countries in political, economic, trade, investment, humanitarian spheres, and emphasized the role of the Joint Commission between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the State of Israel.

The parties also emphasized the importance of strengthening the exchange of experience in the spheres of high technologies, healthcare and education.

'' Furthermore, it was reiterated that Azerbaijan supports the establishment of peace and stability in the Middle East region, including the peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on international law.

The Israeli side was also informed in detail about the current situation and realities in the region in the post-conflict period, the large-scale reconstruction and construction works carried out in the territories liberated from occupation, efforts to combat the mine threat, as well as the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In the course of the meeting, the sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest, the information notes.

13:33

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel Gideon Sa'ar during his visit to the UAE, the publication of the Israeli Minister on X said, Trend reports.

I had a wonderful meeting with my friend Jeyhun Bayramov. The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan participated in the MEAD conference in Abu Dhabi, which discussed a wide range of issues. Relations with Azerbaijan are expanding and include strategic, diplomatic, economic, energy, and other aspects. We will continue to build and strengthen them! the post reads.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Iran is interested in further developing relations with Azerbaijan across all sectors, Farzaneh Sadegh, Minister of Roads and Urban Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Co-Chair of the Azerbaijan-Iran Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation, said April 8 during a meeting with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Trend reports.

Emphasizing Iran's interest in further developing relations with Azerbaijan across all sectors, Farzaneh Sadegh highlighted the shared historical, cultural, religious, and kinship bonds between the two nations.

She also underscored the importance of holding the Intergovernmental Joint Commission meeting ahead of the planned visit of the President of Iran to Azerbaijan to discuss key issues on the agenda.
A research team at the University of Wyoming has received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a study titled Improving Communication Between Crime Laboratories and Legal Decision Makers.

The project, which received $585,775 over three years, aims to examine how forensic evidence is communicated in the criminal legal system and its potential role in wrongful convictions. The study is led by Kayla Burd, a UW assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, and UW College of Law Associate Professor Lauren McLane, in collaboration with researchers from Arizona State University.

Their research will explore how inconclusive forensic decisions, such as firearm cartridge case analyses, that do not provide a clear match might contribute to wrongful convictions. The study also will identify ways to improve communication among forensic experts, jurors, attorneys and judges to ensure fairer outcomes in criminal cases.

We are grateful for NSFs support of this work, which we believe will help to promote judicial, attorney and juror understanding of forensic firearms evidence and just legal outcomes, Burd says.

The project will use experimental methods to determine whether inconclusive forensic decisions are misinterpreted in ways that disadvantage innocent defendants; develop improved forensic reporting methods that clarify the meaning of inconclusive results; examine how expert testimony can help jurors better understand forensic evidence; and enhance legal professionals knowledge of forensic science through continuing education.

The study is being conducted in collaboration with the Arizona Supreme Court Center for Forensics and Artificial Intelligence, the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. These organizations will help recruit participants from their extensive networks of legal professionals.

The broader impact of this research could lead to significant changes in how forensic evidence is reported and used in court. By demonstrating how miscommunication affects case outcomes, the researchers findings may encourage prosecutors to disclose inconclusive results as Brady material (evidence favorable to the defense), help defense attorneys challenge forensic evidence more effectively and guide judges in making informed decisions about admissibility.

Additionally, the study will contribute to legal education by providing judges and attorneys with cutting-edge forensic training. It also will offer mentorship opportunities for students and early-career researchers interested in forensic science, law and psychology.

The findings will be disseminated to academic journals, and shared at conferences and with students, helping bridge the gap between forensic science and the legal system.

For more information about this research, email Burd at kburd@uwyo.edu.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The reciprocal visits by high-level delegations from both Azerbaijan and Iran provide a valuable opportunity to further enhance bilateral cooperation, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on April 8, receiving Minister of Roads and Urban Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Co-Chair of the Azerbaijan-Iran Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation Farzaneh Sadegh, Trend reports.

President Ilham Aliyev praised the recent intensive reciprocal visits by high-level delegations from both Azerbaijan and Iran, noting that these trips provide a valuable opportunity to strengthen the friendship between the two countries and further enhance bilateral cooperation.

The head of state commended the holding of a meeting of the Azerbaijan-Iran Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation during Farzaneh Sadeghs visit, emphasizing that the Commissions agenda includes significant projects aimed at fostering collaboration in areas such as economics, trade, energy, and transportation.
Marine Le Pen was sentenced on March 31, 2025, for "embezzlement of public funds" to four years imprisonment, two of which were suspended, a 100,000 fine, and five years of ineligibility with provisional execution, that is, even before any possible appeal. Twenty-four other officials of the National Rally and the party itself were sentenced.

The French political class was immediately divided between those who welcomed the presidential favorites elimination from the race and those who deplored it. Naturally, no one dared to speak out directly, but all affirmed that they supported "the rule of law" or denounced the "tyranny of judges."

Behind this reaction to a historic decision by three judges independent of political power, but who clearly understood the prosecutions demands, no one dares to address the underlying issue of the dispute between France and the presidency of the European Parliament. The facts being prosecuted all predate 2015. Yet, it is impossible to understand why the elected members of the National Rally were convicted, even though they were convinced they had not violated the law, without being aware of this dispute. Here is the explanation:

At the end of the Second World War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill developed a plan to pacify European differences through the creation of common institutions between states. This was not yet a European Union, but rather a body allowing European governments to meet and negotiate on a permanent basis, or an organization bringing together parliamentarians from European states to debate together. Ultimately, ten states merged the two projects and created the Council of Europe. Today, there are 46 of them. The headquarters of this political institution was established in Strasbourg.

In practice, the Council of Europe was conceived as the civilian component of NATO. Strasbourg was chosen as its headquarters because it is, culturally, a Franco-German city.

Independently of the Council of Europe, another project, this time an economic one, was born with the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which became the European Economic Community and today, the European Union. Naturally, the seat of the European Parliament was also located in Strasbourg, which housed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. However, given the rivalries between member states, various institutions of this economic union were located in Brussels and Luxembourg (the Parliaments General Secretariat is located in the Robert Schumann building). MEPs came to Strasbourg for one week a month and then returned to their countries. Since they were elected not in their own name, but in the name of their party, in a single national constituency (except between 2003 and 2018, when there were eight regional constituencies), they devoted the rest of their time to their political training.

In 1993, the European Parliament acquired a chamber in Brussels, the Paul-Henri Spaak building. Six years later, it opened its own chamber in Strasbourg, the Louise Weiss building. At that time, parliamentary sessions were split between the two cities. A gigantic caravan of trucks moved all the parliamentarians offices twice a month. Now with a private office in Brussels, the European parliamentarians were invited to reside there and only travel to Strasbourg for sessions held there. They returned to their countries only to meet their constituents and for party meetings.

The administration of the European Economic Community, which is primarily based in Brussels, intended both to distance itself from the Council of Europe and to move closer to the European Parliament. It therefore did everything it could to ensure that the latter stopped its back-and-forth operations and sat permanently in Brussels. This was also the wish of NATO, whose main offices were also in Brussels (or more precisely, in Mons). NATO issued the standards that the Commission proposed to the Parliament, which it approved. However, over time, the Parliament played an increasingly independent role, and NATO needed to constantly monitor it to ensure that none of its standards were overruled.

This was when the dispute began: the French refused to leave Strasbourg so as not to fall too visibly under the influence of the Anglo-Saxons. The Presidency of the Parliament therefore demanded that, from now on, elected representatives devote themselves exclusively to their activities in Brussels and no longer concern themselves with their parties in their countries.

Since then, all French political parties committed to their countrys independencenot just the National Rallyhave been at odds with the presidency of the European Parliament. The court that convicted Marine Le Pen therefore chose the EP presidencys theory, while the National Rally insisted that not a single cent of public money had been misappropriated and on having acted like many other political parties.

During her trial, Marine Le Pen chose to defend herself by arguing that she had no choice, that she was forced to choose the old concept of the work of MEPs over the new one, because her colleagues refused to allow her to be a full-fledged MEP (the "cordon sanitaire" policy). Since she had no place in Brussels, she chose to do so in her own country.

"This system of defense constitutes, according to the court, a theoretical construct that disregards

the rules of the European Parliament, the laws of the Republic, and the court decisions

rendered, in particular, during the current judicial investigation, by focusing only on

its own principles," the magistrates wrote.

It is important to understand that there are no rules for the European Parliament; the only reference text is the Consolidated Treaty of the EU, which still sets the seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg and not in Brussels.

It is important to understand that the only reference text, the Consolidated Treaty of the EU, still sets the seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg and not in Brussels. The position of the French MEPs is therefore the only one consistent with the texts. On the merits, the judges did not rule in law, and, regarding the presidential favorite, they could not take interim measures because Marine Le Pen is no longer an MEP and therefore cannot "repeat the offense," according to their interpretation of the facts.

By convicting Marine Le Pen, the court not only deprived her of her right to run for president, it also deprived French elected officials of the right to challenge Parliaments subjugation to NATO.
Acutis to be canonised alongside Pier Giorgio Frassati as part of the Vatican's Jubilee Year events in Rome.

Blessed Carlo Acutis will become the Catholic Church's first "millennial saint" at a ceremony in the Vatican on 7 September, Pope Leo XIV confirmed on Friday.

The news comes after Acutis' canonisation ceremony, orginally scheduled on 27 April, was postponed due to the death of Pope Francis.

The Vatican said that Acutis will be canonised alongside Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-25), an Italian Catholic activist who was beatified in 1990 by Pope John Paul II.

Acutis, who died at the age of 15, is known as "God's influencer" for creating a website dedicated to Eucharistic miracles and for using his computer skills to spread the faith.

Born in London on 3 May 1991, Acutis grew up in the northern Italian city of Milan. He died in hospital, of leukemia, in nearby Monza on 12 October 2006.

In keeping with his dying wish, his body was transferred to the central Italian hilltop town of Assisi, reflecting his great devotion to St Francis.

Over the past year more than one million pilgrims have flocked to Assisi to venerate Acutis whose body - clad in jeans, a sweatshirt and sneakers - is displayed behind protective glass in the Sanctuary of the Renunciation, part of the Church of St Mary Major.

Acutis was beatified by Pope Francis on 10 October 2020 after a miracle was attributed to him when a Brazilian child diagnosed with a congenital disease was cured after his mother prayed for the intercession of the Italian teenager.

The beatification made Acutis the Catholic Church's first "blessed" millennial - referring to a person born in the early 1980s to late 1990s.

A second miracle attributed to Acutis came in 2024, paving the way for his canonisation, when a 21-year-old university student from Costa Rica recovered after incurring a severe head injury in a bicycle accident while she was studying in Florence in 2022.

Despite her critical condition, the woman made a full recovery after her mother made a pilgrimage to Assisi and sought the intercession of Acutis.

Italian prosecutors recently opened an investigation into the illegal online sale of alleged relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis after the bishop of Assisi filed a formal complaint.

The Mass and canonisation of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati will be held in St Peter's Square as part of the Vatican's Jubilee Year calendar of events.

Photo credit: Adrian Tusar / Shutterstock.com.
New figures from the Central Statistics Office reveal that there were 994 recorded incidents of shoplifting in Waterford in 2024.

This figure is an 18% drop since 2023.

In neighbouring Wexford last year, there were 903 recorded incidents of shoplifting.

The figures indicate a dramatic trend upwards in shoplifting offences across most counties in the past 20 years.

There were 650 recorded incidents of shoplifting in the Waterford Garda Division in 2003. This rose to 994 recorded incidents of shoplifting in Waterford in 2024, an increase of 53%.

This increase is the lowest in the country, with neighbouring Tipperary and Wexford recording increases of 227% and 207% respectively.

Speaking this week, Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ni Mhurchu expressed concerns regarding the sharp rise of such offences across the last decade.

She has called for tougher action "against the minority of people who feel it is acceptable to steal from hard-working small family retail businesses".

To tackle the issue, she has called for mandatory prison sentences for anyone caught shoplifting on more than one occasion.

She has also made calls for Government to introduce the Retail Crime Strategy, which was promised in the Programme for Government, and for an update on the Public Order Acts to allow a prolific offender of retail crime to be excluded from a premises for a certain period of time.

Ni Mhurchu has asked for additional supports to be offered to targeted garda operations, which tackle retail crime and remove assets from those suspected of organised retail theft, and for the introduction of a specific offence of assaulting a retail worker.

She also called for an end to the practice of "retail defamation", where someone can sue a retailer for defamation if they are stopped with the bona fide belief that they have stolen something from the shop.

Ni Mhurchu did, however, welcome that the number of recorded offences in Waterford decreased between 2023 and 2024, attributing it to "more focused Garda actions of late".

She praised Gardai "for beginning to make progress against shoplifters".
KHANKENDI, Azerbaijan, April 8. Restoration of Azerbaijan's liberated areas poses a vital milestone in boosting the country's global influence, Professor of Security and Military Studies Omar Ashour, representing the Doha Graduate Institute and the University of Exeter, told Trend on the sidelines of 7th ADA University Policy Forum in Khankendi city, Trend reports.

Ashour noted that it is a great honor for him to be in Azerbaijan, especially in the liberated and restored territories. He emphasized the importance of promoting the country and restoring these regions, stating that this is a significant step forward in terms of Azerbaijan's development and its global influence.

The professor also shared his expectations for the forum.

"My goal is to share my knowledge about the Global South and security in the region, including the Caucasus, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe," he mentioned.

Ashour explained that in his academic work, he specializes in issues related to the defense of small states, helping these countries protect their interests in the face of global threats.

He also highlighted the importance of the consultative role in the restoration of liberated territories and in assisting the development of political and academic solutions to strengthen security in the region.

The official expressed his readiness to support Azerbaijan in these efforts and help develop the region's potential using his expertise.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Government Chief Whip & Minister for Mental Health, Mary Butler T.D, has confirmed that Cabinet approval has been given for University Hospital Waterford (UHW) to be upgraded to provide 24/7 cardiac care services. This is a major milestone in ensuring equitable access to life-saving treatments for patients in the South East.

611k in funding is being made available in 2025 for recruitment of additional staff to commence the further expansion of cardiac services at UHW. The Waterford Minister also welcomed the findings from the Irish Heart Attack Audit, which supports the expansion of the service at UHW in order to meet the needs of the regional population.

Minister Mary Butler has announced that Cabinet approval has been given for University Hospital Waterford to be upgraded to provide 24/7 cardiac care services.

The announcement on Tuesday, April 8, follows sustained efforts by public representatives and local community activists to address the critical need for expanded cardiac care in the region. Minister Butler hailed the decision as a transformative development for UHW and the surrounding community.

She Butler said: This is a significant and long-awaited step for the people of Waterford and the entire southeast. The development of 24/7 cardiac services at University Hospital Waterford will provide certainty for families and ensure that people in this region have access to the highest standards of emergency cardiac care, no matter the time of day.

We now have a clear pathway to delivering full 24/7 cardiac services in Waterford, long fought for by many of us, and the Irish Heart Attack Audit and National Review of Cardiac Services supports this - Minister Mary Butler.

I warmly welcome the confirmation today from Minister Carroll MacNeill that funding of 611k will be made available in 2025 to begin phasing in the extra staff and other resources to move from the current 12/7 service to a full 24/7 service.

We now have a clear pathway to delivering full 24/7 cardiac services in Waterford, long fought for by many of us, and the Irish Heart Attack Audit and National Review of Cardiac Services supports this.

The details of the upgrades will include:

 Continued investment in the two Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory Services at UHW to ensure they can meet the demands of a 24/7 service.

 Recruitment of further specialist staff, including additional cardiology consultants, nursing staff, and support teams.

 Continued investment in state-of-the-art cardiac equipment and critical care capacity to support emergency interventions around the clock.

Minister Butler said the announcement aligned with the Governments commitment to delivering regional equity in healthcare services under Slaintecare, ensuring that no community is left behind when it comes to access to essential care.

Minister Butler added: We all know that patients in the South East have had to travel to Dublin or Cork to access emergency cardiac care outside of normal hours. This has placed an unacceptable burden on families and our healthcare providers.

"The development of 24/7 cardiac services at UHW will close this gap and deliver a more equitable health system for everyone.

I want to thank everyone who has championed this cause, from the healthcare staff on the frontline to the community groups who have campaigned passionately for better services. This is a victory for all of us, and I am proud to be part of delivering this critical investment for Waterford and the South East.
Students from De La Salle College will be among a delegation of Lasallian volunteers who will travel to India to help those who are under-privileged to access education facilties.

The students, in carrying out the work, will be continuing a tradition of voluntary work that stretches back almost 40 years.

Lasallian volunteers have helped provide educational facilities for the poorest of the poor in many Asian and African countries for the past thirty eight years.

That has been accomplished through the help and support of many local communities along with the generosity of people and companies in Waterford and throughout the country, over the years.

A spokesperson for those involved in organising the forthcoming trip commented on the project to Waterford News & Star.

"This June and July, seven volunteers from Waterford will set out to advance and complete projects in southern India," he said.

"A project that was started in Saint Josephs De La Salle School in Keelamudiman, Tamil Nadu, last year, will be completed," he added.

"This consists of the building of eight classrooms for primary school children who are the poorest in this vast rural area and who otherwise would have very little chance of getting a good standard of education," said the spokesperson.

Work ongoing in the Saint Josephs De La Salle School in Keelamudiman, Tamil Nadu.

He went on to highlight that in Saint James' School, in Suranam, the Brothers recently started a primary school to provide an education for the children from what is a very poverty stricken region.

The volunteers who will be travelling over will be helping to construct an all-purpose building that will cater for their needs.

In August, 2024, monsoon rains destroyed the tanks that were used for holding water which was used in the school every day.

It's hoped that part of the work carried out by the volunteers will include the building of new tanks to provide what is an essential facility for the children.

The St. LaSalle School in Keelamudiman s managed by the congregation of De La Salle Brothers.

Work ongoing in the Saint Josephs De La Salle School in Keelamudiman, Tamil Nadu.

The school offers qualitative, adequate and integral formation to the students of Keelamudiman and its surrounding villages and is a vital facility in the region.

The St. LaSalle School began its journey on June 7, 2018, with grade Pre-Kg and it serves now up to IX standard in a co-educational system.

The St. La Salle school is an English medium establishment and the eight new classrooms will help serve over 800 pupils.

The children attending the school from around 22 surrounding villages and they attend both morning and afternoon shifts.

The school, along with St. Joseph School, are the two schools in the Keelamudiman area.

Keelamudiman is located in the rural Tamil Nadu region, in southern India.

Work ongoing in the Saint Josephs De La Salle School in Keelamudiman, Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu region is known for its rich culture, history and agricultural heritage.

The capital of the region is Chennai and it's also a significant industrial centre.

The area borders the states of Andhra Pradesh to the north, Karnataka to the northwest, and Kerala to the west.

The region is also bordered by the Bay of Bengal, to the east, and the Indian Ocean to the south and southeast.

The state is straddled by the Western Ghats and Deccan Plateau in the west, the Eastern Ghats in the north, and the Eastern Coastal Plains lining the Bay of Bengal in the east and the Kaveri river bisects the state.

The southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, Kanyakumari, is located in Tamil Nadu.
South Eastern Mountain Rescue (SEMRA) along with Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117 successfully attended to an injured walker on Coumshingaun last weekend.

SEMRA team members were gathered around Holy Year Cross in Clonmel on Sunday morning for a history lesson from a local resident.

Just as team members were getting ready to head for home, a call came in from An Garda Siochana about a walker with a leg injury in Coumshingaun.

The team quickly headed for Kilclooney in order to access the injured walker, who was high on the north ridge above the lake.

The Irish Coast Guard helicopter was contacted to see if they were available to assist, as the location of the walker meant it would be a long and very uncomfortable stretcher evacuation.

Rescue 117 was overhead at 3:30pm and deployed their winchman to assess the casualty and provide pain relief.

Rescue 117 then landed in a field near Kilclooney bridge to pick up two team members.

The team members were dropped to assist with the high-line operation when winching in the casualty.

The casualty was winched into the helicopter and was on their way to Waterford by 4:00pm.

Stand down was issued at 5:00pm and all team members got safely off the hill.

South Eastern Mountain Rescue are reminding walkers to be mindful when parking in forestry car parks.

Kilclooney was extremely busy with cars parked along the road on the approach to the car park. We remind drivers to please not park their cars at barriers or anywhere that restricts access for emergency service vehicles.

"An ambulance if needed would not have fit through the barrier today because of a car parked there."
One of the lessons of this column is that there is always life after the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Former premier Gladys Berejiklian, found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct, is still a well-paid Optus executive. Her erstwhile secret lover Daryl Maguire runs a cafe in the NSW outback town of Ivanhoe (population 162), while fighting criminal charges that he misled the ICAC.

Sarah Cruickshank, former chief of staff to Gladys Berejiklian, has taken up a new role with the Queensland Department of Justice. Credit: Janie Barrett

And Sarah Cruickshank, Gladys fiercely loyal ride or die former chief of staff whose bombshell evidence played a key role in the premiers downfall, is now a top public servant in Queensland.

Cruickshank was tapped by the Sunshine States new Premier David Crisafulli to run its Department of Justice last month, and kicked off her position as director general on Monday. She previously held a senior role with the NSW Department of Customer Service before taking a six-month career break last year.
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RecipesChocolate Heard about the Dubai chocolate bar? Heres how to make it at home Make the internet-busting Dubai chocolate bar and NYC-style loaded cookies better by adding in leftover Easter eggs. Katrina Meynink April 9, 2025 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

Easter eggs are this chocolate lovers weak point. I know purists shun them, but to me, there is nothing better. And the high cost of chocolate means we should use every scrap of it, including leftover Easter eggs. To give Easter eggs a glow-up, Ive leaned into two recipes that have broken the internet: the Dubai chocolate bar and loaded cookies. For those who love nothing better than foil-wrapped goodness, the two recipes Ive created are a delicious celebration. And if youre Easter egg-ambivalent, I promise youll enjoy them, too. Filled with kataifi pastry and pistachios, the Dubai chocolate bar has became a worldwide hit. Katrina Meynink Dubai chocolate bar with Turkish delight Easter eggs

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Towards the end of 2024, the internet went wild for the Dubai chocolate bar, a milk chocolate bar filled with kataifi (finely shredded filo pastry) and pistachio. But until I saw Turkish delight and Easter eggs could be added into the mix, I had no plans to jump on the bandwagon. Having now tried it, I can confirm this delicious, moreish chocolate bar is worth every moment of hype, becoming a wondrous vehicle for ooey, gooey Turkish delight Easter eggs nestled in the kataifi and pistachio mix. The oil added to Easter eggs to help them hold their shape makes them a little finicky for melting. So Ive used a mixture of milk and dark solid eggs plus chocolate drops or good-quality cooking chocolate to get a smoother finish. I also tend to use dark chocolate to help temper the sweetness of the filling. You will need 2 moulds measuring 25 x 13 x 2.2cm, which are readily available on Amazon. The moulds need to be deep enough for the filling. INGREDIENTS

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600g chocolate  I used a mixture of chopped solid Easter eggs and dark couverture chocolate drops

dried rose petals to finish Filling 75g salted butter, melted

150g kataifi pastry (see note)

1 x 230g jar pistachio paste (see note)

1 tbsp tahini paste

pinch sea salt flakes

about 10 Cadbury Turkish delight Easter eggs, halved widthways METHOD To make the filling, add the butter and kataifi pastry to a large frying pan and place over low heat. Cook, turning the pastry regularly with tongs, until it is golden and crisp. You will need to keep a close eye on it and turn it regularly so the pastry gets evenly coated in butter and takes on a lovely golden hue. Remove to a bowl. Add the pistachio paste, tahini paste and sea salt flakes and turn gently to coat. You want it all thoroughly coated in the mixture. Stir through the chopped Turkish delight Easter eggs. To coat the filling, finely chop the chocolate and place it in a heatproof bowl that fits snuggly in a saucepan. Half-fill the saucepan with water and bring it to a simmer. Place the bowl on top, ensuring it doesnt touch the water. Stir with a metal spoon until melted. Spoon some of the chocolate into the moulds and spread with a spoon, ensuring it goes all the way up the sides of the mould. You may need to tilt the mould to ensure chocolate doesnt run to the corners. Place the moulds on a tray and pop it in the fridge for at least 10-15 minutes so it forms a shell. Spoon the kataifi mixture into the chocolate shells and spread to form an even layer. Pour the remaining chocolate over the filling and smooth with a spatula. Return the chocolate bars to the fridge and allow them to set completely  at least a few hours. Turn out and scatter with dried rose petals for a touch of extra fancy.

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Makes 2 large bars Note: Kataifi pastry, made from fine vermicelli-like strands of pastry, and pistachio paste are available in many delicatessens and gourmet food stores, and some supermarkets. Skip the bakery queues and make NYC-style Easter egg-loaded cookies at home. Katrina Meynink NYC-style Easter egg-loaded cookies New York City is awash with cult chocolate chip cookie bakeries, including Levain, Crumbl NYC, Brookies and Butterboy. But if youre not planning to join influencers queueing for thick, loaded cookies in the Big Apple, heres how to make them at home. Laden with Easter eggs, theyll be a hit with young and old.

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INGREDIENTS 200g butter

145g caster sugar

145g brown sugar

2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

185g self-raising flour

260g plain flour

 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

2 tsp baking powder

generous pinch salt

300g roughly chopped Easter eggs

10-12 solid Easter eggs for the centres METHOD Beat the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes until thick and creamy. Scrape down the sides. Add the eggs, yolk and vanilla and beat to incorporate. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just incorporated, then stir through the chopped Easter eggs with a wooden spoon. Weigh the dough for 10-12 even-sized cookies. I aimed for 140-150g each. Wrap each portion of dough around a solid Easter egg and shape it into a ball. Repeat with the remaining dough and Easter eggs. Divide the cookies among two baking trays lined with baking paper, ensuring they are at least 3cm apart to allow for expansion while cooking. Pop the trays in the fridge for a few hours to rest. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Place the trays in the oven and cook for 17 minutes or until theyre golden on top. Allow them to cool for at least 5-10 minutes  no touching! They will continue to cook as they rest. Devour with a glass of milk or a cup of tea for dunking (optional). Makes 10-12

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Many are calling the current market turmoil unprecedented, but a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a similar situation unfolded in which trade became a weapon of political manipulation.

The opening crawl of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace reads: Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.

Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine in Star Wars.

In the film, the Galactic Republic, under Senator Palpatine, imposes tariffs on interplanetary trade routes, prompting the Trade Federation to retaliate with economic and military warfare  including a full-blown blockade of a planet. Thankfully, were not at that point... yet.

The Phantom Menace mirrors todays reality, where  much like Palpatine  Trump has turned trade into a weapon. But his so-called artful deal has spectacularly backfired in what is proving to be the worst presidential sequel for markets in history.
In this series, WAtoday reaches out to the Perth community to discover three things people love most about our coastal capital. Today we feature Chrissie Maus, speaker, marketer and company director. Formerly chief executive of Melbournes Chapel Street Precinct, she now heads Fremantles Chamber of Commerce, winning marketing and tourism awards for her work in both roles. She is chair of the board for the Stephen Michael Foundation supporting needy WA children, and board director for marketing and advocacy body Destination Perth. She has trekked 100 kilometres of the most remote parts of the Great Wall of China for charity, crewed a 30-foot yacht for 1000 kilometres from Melbourne to Sydney with only three others and achieved her Master Scuba Diver certificate.

Maus hosting the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce Awards; sailing; trekking the Great Wall of China; and achieving her Master Scuba Diver certificate on the Great Barrier Reef.

I love the Regent Ballroom on Aberdeen Street, Northbridge. Im there two or three times a week, and Im dancing my bronze ballroom exam in three weeks. I do ballroom, foxtrot, waltz, and the quickstep, and Ill also do my Latin exam soon  jive, salsa and cha-cha. Its got a younger demographic than most ballroom places, it is a gorgeous place to go  its where Ben Cousins trained when he was on Dancing with the Stars. It also has Riley White  the most patient dance partner, and also the Ballrooms director.

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I love Darling Darling, on Henry Street in Fremantles west end, a little bar thats like nowhere else in the world. You can go in there any time of day and chuck peanut shells on the floor and enjoy the sailing paraphernalia, there is rope everyone and only a flap of leather separates it from the street. It is otherworldly. I love its bespoke types of whiskey. I cant remember the name of my favourite drink, I just ask for the apple one. I just moved to Fremantle three weeks ago into a renovated building thats more than 100 years old. Its in one of Fremantles earliest warehouse conversions, done way before they were trendy; a tri-level loft apartment. It was once a furniture factory, and the conversion was designed by architect Brian Klopper. Its a work of art in itself and I can walk to Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle Leisure Centre, supermarkets, restaurants, transport and the South Terrace cappuccino strip.
We are sorry to leave you this evening with the news that eight days after he went missing, the body of missing teenager Richard Tu was found this afternoon.

Police said the circumstances surrounding Richards passing were non-suspicious.

They held a media conference earlier today, together with Richards parents and sister Rachel, who tearfully told journalists she was worried about him.

Police had begun searching bushland in Mount Richon this morning after his phone last pinged in the area on March 31.

He was last seen getting off a bus on Armadale Road at 9.15pm that day.

Police will now prepare a report for the coroner.

Support is available from Lifeline, 13 11 14.

Thank you for reading; the blog will be back in the morning.
Photo: State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Three people - Khagani Omarov, Anar Salamzade, and Elchin Azizov - have been brought to criminal prosecution in Azerbaijan on charges of financing terrorism, Trend reports.

According to the information, the suspects were detained following operational activities conducted by the State Security Service (SSS) of Azerbaijan.

In the course of the investigation, it was established that the accused transferred money to certain persons operating abroad to support terrorist activities.

The Baku Court for Serious Crimes held a preparatory hearing on the criminal case today.

The parties failed to state any motions at the hearing. The next court hearing on the merits is scheduled for April 22.
Under the framework of the EU-WCO Rules of Origin Africa Programme, funded by the European Union, the World Customs Organization, in partnership with Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), held an advanced training workshop on Rules of Origin for Zimbabwe Customs. The workshop was held in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 31 March to 4 April 2025 with the objective to assist Zimbabwe Customs in enhancing its knowledge and application of preferential Rules of Origin and contribute to a seamless implementation of the AfCFTA and other relevant FTAs.

This workshop builds on the acquis from an intermediate training conducted in 2024 and forms part of a comprehensive technical assistance and capacity building partnership with ZIMRA in its capacity as a WCO Regional Training Center.

In his closing remarks, Mr Samuel Sthole, Acting Director Human Capital, thanked the WCO and the EU for their continued support and commended the participants who, through their active participation and engagement, have now become part of the ZIMRA pool of origin experts. He urged the participants to continue to acquire knowledge and to impart this knowledge on others to provide trade facilitation, increase revenue collection and ensure fairness in support of the ZIMRA mission.

During the workshop, participants deepened their understanding of how to navigate a free trade agreement, and looked into the details of key concepts for proper origin determination, including possible flexibilities such as cumulation, tolerance rules and the absorption principle, as well as related operational and procedural issues, including origin certification and verification. Case studies made the concepts more tangible and relatable, and allowed the participants to detangle the spaghetti bowl of Rules of Origin in various free trade agreements applicable in Zimbabwe, including SADC, COMESA and the AfCFTA.

Participants also had the opportunity to observe the practical application and management of rules of origin through a field visit to a diary product factory where they were walked through the complex production line from fresh milk to the manufacturing and packing of cheese, yoghurt and ice cream.

The EU-WCO Rules of Origin Africa Programme will continue its work with ZIMRA to equip Customs officials with extended knowledge for efficient implementation and application of Rules of Origin. As a next step, the Programme will conduct a training of trainers which will pave the way for Customs to further disseminate their knowledge to colleagues as well as to other relevant stakeholders.

For further information please contact EU-WCORoOAfrica.Program@wcoomd.org
Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. In accordance with the 2025 training plan, the Azerbaijani Army conducted tactical exercises in conditions close to real combat, considering modern combat methods and a new operational concept. Trend reports via the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan.

The Minister of Defense, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov and other high-ranking officials of the ministry observed the course of the live-fire tactical exercise.

The Minister of Defense reported that reconnaissance of the area was conducted via unmanned aerial vehicles for various purposes involved in the exercise, and data on the location of imaginary enemys targets and the movement of armored vehicles were promptly transmitted to the battle control center.

According to the exercise scenario, artillery units and aircraft attacked the assembled reserves and manpower of the imaginary enemy prior to the offensive while ensuring the opening of passages through minefields.

During the exercise, military personnel were evacuated via helicopters, the imaginary enemys convoy was ambushed and neutralized, and strongholds were captured.

It should be noted that the objective of tactical exercise is to enhance commanders decision-making skills according to a new operational concept developed taking into account the modern combat methods, as well as to improve their abilities in managing units, ensuring interoperability, and refining theoretical and practical skills.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Shahin Mustafayev, Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan and co-chair of the State Commission on Economic, Trade, and Humanitarian Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran, met with Farzaneh Sadegh, Minister of Roads and Urban Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, during her visit to Azerbaijan on April 8, Trend reports via the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The meeting highlighted the significance of the contacts between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Iran in shaping the bilateral agenda and fostering intergovernmental relations across various sectors. The constructive dialogue between the presidents has led to intensive bilateral visits at different levels, a clear sign of the dynamic development of relations between the two countries.

Discussing the importance of the visit by President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, to Azerbaijan at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev, it was expressed that the visit would open a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations, historically rooted in friendship and good neighborliness. It was also noted that Azerbaijan-Iran relations are currently showing positive dynamics across various sectors, with vast opportunities for further expansion, particularly in trade, investment, transportation, oil and gas, energy, agriculture, and humanitarian cooperation.

The expansion of trade and economic cooperation was welcomed, with the mutual trade volume increasing by over thirty percent last year. Efforts at the government level to maximize the existing potential to further strengthen trade relations in line with the directives of the presidents were emphasized. The development of cooperation in investment was also highlighted, noting that commercial entities with Iranian investment operating in Azerbaijan span sectors such as industry, agriculture, transport, construction, trade, and services.

The transport sector was recognized as one of the key areas of bilateral cooperation. In 2024, the volume of bilateral cargo transportation between Azerbaijan and Iran is expected to grow by 20 percent, and transit transportation by more than 23 percent.

Agreements reached at the presidential level in the transport sector are seen as a roadmap for both governments, with satisfaction expressed over the implementation of several mutually beneficial projects and continued effective cooperation on other significant projects. These initiatives aim to expand transport connections between the two countries and enhance the regions transport and logistics capabilities. Among the notable projects is the development of the North-South transport corridor, including the ongoing construction of the Astara cargo terminal and the new automobile-pedestrian bridge over the Astara River. The importance of developing the East-West corridor was also underscored, including the creation of the Agband-Kalala road and railway connection, which will provide the shortest route to Nakhchivan via Iranian territory, as well as the construction of Siyahrud-Ordubad road bridges and the development of the necessary border and customs infrastructure.

Furthermore, both sides expressed confidence that the future commissioning of the Agband-Jabrayil-Aghdam-Yevlakh-Georgia road, as well as the Agband-Lachin-Kalbajar-Ganja-Georgia route, would open new opportunities for cargo and passenger transportation in the region. It was emphasized that these routes would become some of the most convenient paths connecting the Persian Gulf with the Black Sea.

Energy cooperation was also discussed, with successful projects underway. The significance of Azerbaijan-Iran cooperation in hydroelectric projects, such as the Khudafarin and Maiden Tower dams, and others on the Aras River, was highlighted. These projects are crucial for both countries and contribute to the regions development. Joint efforts in the energy sector, such as the existing connections of transmission lines with a total capacity of eight hundred sixty megawatts at five points, play a vital role in ensuring energy security and sustainable cooperation.

Additionally, the construction of a new transmission line connecting the East Zangezur Economic Region with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through Iranian territory was seen as vital not only for energy security but also for strengthening energy cooperation between the two nations.

The importance of successful projects in the oil and gas sector was acknowledged, with new opportunities for cooperation in this area also emphasized.

During the visit, the co-chairs discussed the progress of various bilateral projects and infrastructure developments. Both sides agreed to continue joint efforts to fully realize the existing potential for expanding Azerbaijan-Iran relations across various sectors.

The meeting concluded with the exchange of original copies of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed in Azerbaijani and Persian, following the 16th session of the State Commission on Economic, Trade, and Humanitarian Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran, which took place in Tehran in January 22, 2025.

15:30

An expanded-format meeting is underway between Shahin Mustafayev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Farzaneh Sadegh, Minister of Roads and Urban Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Co-Chair of the Azerbaijan-Iran Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation,  Trend reports.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Weber States MARS Center powers Utahs defense, aerospace future

April 8, 2025

OGDEN, Utah  Last week, Weber State University and 47G gathered with state and national leaders at the Miller Advanced Research & Solutions Center to celebrate a major milestone in the future of defense, innovation, and workforce development.

The event marked the official recognition of the MARS Center, Weber States cutting-edge research and manufacturing facility thats helping to ensure the U.S. stays ahead in the global race for hypersonic capabilities.

The celebration brought together university leaders, elected officials, industry partners, and students to recognize how far the center has come since its founding in August 2022 and to chart its course ahead. The event featured a hands-on tour of the facility, showcasing the state-of-the-art equipment and student-led innovation fueling its momentum.

The MARS Center is not just a research facilityits positioned to be a national asset, said WSU President Brad Mortensen during the event. It demonstrates the power of partnership between higher education, defense and industry to deliver real solutions for national security and create meaningful opportunities for students in Utah.

The MARS Center was established to help close a critical national capability gap in advanced materials and manufacturing. While one key focus is the pilot-scale production of high-temperature materials for hypersonic and reentry systems, the centers impact extends far beyond. As a collaborative innovation hub, MARS brings together federal labs, defense integrators, startups, and academic researchers to accelerate next-generation solutions from concept to real-world application.

With its unique equipment, industry partnerships, and support for small business research and development, MARS is fueling innovation in defense and beyond  including applications in commercial aerospace, energy systems, and emerging technologies like next-gen reactors and steam plants.

Through collaboration with Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, MARS is moving beyond prototyping to pilot-scale production of reusable, advanced thermal protection systems.

MARS also plays a pivotal role in workforce development. More than 90% of students who participate in research activities at MARS remain engaged through graduation. Students are paid competitive wages to contribute directly to live pilot projects, gaining experience in areas ranging from composite fabrication and thermal testing to systems engineering and data curation.

WSU graduates with MARS experience are already being recruited by defense and aerospace partners, aligning with Utahs goal of keeping top STEM talent in the state.

We are deeply invested in our students at Weber and committed to providing them with the best possible opportunities, said Benjamin Garcia, executive director of the MARS Center. With the MARS Center strategically located near Hill Air Force Base, were proud to offer hands-on experiences that allow students to explore career pathways while actively contributing to the future of aerospace, defense and critical materials.

Last month, Rep. Blake Moore visited the MARS Center to show his support for the groundbreaking work being done in northern Utah. During his tour of the facility, Moore met with WSU leadership, students, and industry partners to see firsthand how MARS is advancing national defense priorities, fueling economic development, and creating real-world opportunities for students.

MARS is helping Utah  and the nation  bridge the gap between laboratory research and real-world deployment, said Guy Letendre, vice president of strategic initiatives at 47G. Its a launchpad for innovation, workforce development and long-term economic transformation.
Festivals  Hindu Festivals  Mahavir Jayanthi

Mahavir Jayanthi

Place : All over India

Time: March

Significance: A Jain festival celebrating the birth anniversary of Mahavir.

Date: 10.4.2025

The birth anniversary of the 24th and the last Tirthankara of the Jains, Vardhman Mahavir, the founder of Jainism, is celebrated by the Jain community in March. Born a prince in 599 BC, Mahavir renounced worldly life at the age of 30 and undertook austere penance until he achieved realisation. He spread the message of salvation to the world and had many followers. Mahavir preached non-violence, prohibited any kind of killing and taught his followers to seek salvation through penance and abstinence. They are also advised to donate money, clothes and grain to the poor. The Jains are divided into many sects of which the main ones are Digambaras and Shvetambaras with the latter again divided into Deravasis and Sthanakvasis.

On Mahavir Jayanthi, Jain temples are decorated with flags. In the morning the idol of Mahavira is given a ceremonial bath called the 'abhishek'. It is then placed in a cradle and carried in a procession around the neighbourhood. The devotees will make offerings of milk, rice, fruit, incense, lamps and water to the tirthankar. Some sections of the community even participate in a grand procession. Lectures are held to preach the path of virtue. People meditate and offer prayers. Donations are collected to save the cows from slaughter. Pilgrims from all parts of the country visit the ancient Jain Temples at Girnar and Palitana in Gujarat on this day.

Click here to know more about Jainism
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Court hearings on the criminal case against Ruben Vardanyan, an Armenian citizen charged with torture, mercenary activity, violation of the laws and customs of warfare, terrorism, financing terrorism and other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, were continued on April 8, Trend reports.

The open hearings were held at the Baku Military Court and presided over by Judge Zeynal Agayev and a panel of judges consisting of Anar Rzayev and Jamal Ramazanov (reserve judge Gunel Samadova). The accused was provided with an interpreter in the language of his choice, i.e. Russian, as well as lawyers for his defense.

The hearings continued with the questioning of victims.

Before the questioning, Zeynal Agayev explained to the victims their rights and obligations stipulated by the legislation.

Then the accused Ruben Vardanyan and his defense attorney Avraam Berman appealed to the court saying that they wanted to familiarize themselves with minutes of the hearings again.

Presiding judge Zeynal Agayev said that conditions would be created for them to familiarize themselves with the minutes again.

At the meeting, Ruben Vardanyan, who was accused of joining a criminal organization that committed numerous criminal acts during the aggressive war waged by the Armenian state in December 2020, was interrogated after he joined it in December 2020, with the direct leadership and participation of the Armenian state, officials of its state institutions, military forces and illegal armed formations, with the help of verbal and written instructions, orders and instructions, material, technical and personnel support, and under his central management and strict control, in violation of domestic and international law, in the territory of Azerbaijan.

During the hearings, the court questioned the victims of the criminal acts committed by the accused Ruben Vardanyan, who is charged with joining a criminal organization in December 2020, which was created under the leadership and direct participation of Armenian state bodies, officials, military forces and illegal armed formations, in accordance with their verbal and written instructions, orders and guidelines, as well as material, technical and personnel support, central management and strict control, and also of committing numerous criminal acts during the war of aggression waged by the Armenian state against Azerbaijan in violation of domestic and international law.

Victim Vahid Aliyev stated that he was not personally acquainted with the accused, but that he knew about Ruben Vardanyan from social networks and the media. He said that he had been wounded as a result of the fire opened during a military provocation of the Armenian army, noting that several of his acquaintances had been martyred or received various wounds.

Victim Anar Jalalov stated in his testimony that he had been wounded as a result of an explosion of an artillery shell fired during a military provocation of the Armenian armed forces. He said that he had been the chief of staff of a military unit at the time of the incident and added, Artillery fire was opened from the opposite side. At that time, some of my servicemen were wounded and some rose to martyrdom.

The victim also stated that the ceasefire in the direction of Khojavend had often been violated, adding that the opposing side was using all types of small arms.

Answering questions from public prosecutor Fuad Musayev, victim Emin Shahbazov said in his statement that he had been injured in Aghdam.

The serviceman said he had suffered a head injury, had been taken to hospital where he could not speak but had to communicate with the doctors in writing.

He described the incident in which he was wounded as follows, The enemy had two posts there. When they tried to commit a military provocation, we prevented it. Then their artillery attack began. As a result, I was wounded and was treated in various hospitals. My treatment is still ongoing.

When answering questions from public prosecutor Vusal Abdullayev, victim Hilal Hasanov said that he had been wounded while preventing the enemy's military provocation in the direction of Aghdara. He said, The enemy committed a military provocation by first opening artillery fire, then trying to attack us with its personnel, but this provocation was prevented. We had people martyred and wounded.

In his statement, victim Zamig Hasratov said that he had been wounded as a result of mortar fire while preventing an enemy provocation.

In response to questions from public prosecutor Tarana Mammadova, victim Elnur Hasanov said that he had been wounded on a multiple occasions as a result of the fire opened by the Armenian side. He said that he received three bullet wounds, that 70 of the shrapnel had been removed and more than 30 were still in his body. He said, I am currently in service. I am continuing my service.

In his statement, victim Fariz Manafov also said that he knew the accused from social networks. Fariz Manafov noted that the opposing side had opened fire using large-caliber weapons and artillery during the incident in which he was wounded. He said, I served as a commander of a motorized rifle platoon in the direction of the Chartaz village of Khojavand district. The enemys provocations were frequent. They used large-caliber weapons and artillery.

He said that 14 of his fellow soldiers had been wounded, two 2 soldiers and one warrant officer had martyred.

Victim Agshin Balakishiyev, who was the chief of the medical service in an unspecified military unit of the Ministry of Defense, said in his statement, As a result of the enemy provocation, I was wounded by artillery fire from the enemy in the rear.

He said that the mobile medical station where he was working was 5-10 km behind the frontline, and that despite the presence of a sign indicating that it was a medical station (a red crescent), it was fired upon. All doctors and paramedics have a red ribbon on their sleeves. Along with our medical station, our ambulances, paramedics and doctors were subjected to artillery strikes as a result of enemy provocation. In other words, the requirements of the international convention were flagrantly violated.

Victim Habil Guliyev said in his statement that he had also been wounded. The enemy was constantly firing on us, he added.

Victim Farhad Taghiyev stated that the ambulance vehicle in which he was traveling to evacuate wounded military personnel in Aghdam was hit. He said: Three sides of the vehicle are marked with a red crescent. So it is clear that this is a vehicle that evacuates the wounded. Our vehicle was hit by a missile. As a result, four of my fellow servicemen and I were wounded in the vehicle.

Another victim, Farid Zeynalov, who was in the same ambulance with Farhad Taghiyev, confirmed his statement. He said that the vehicle had been hit by a guided missile.

Victim Hijran Sultanov said that he was wounded while trying to prevent an enemy provocation in Aghdam. He said, I was a unit commander. They wanted to hit the medical vehicle while we were evacuating our comrades  the wounded and martyrs. They failed to hit the medical vehicle. They did not take aim correctly and the shooter made a mistake. In any case, I dont think they would have fired the anti-tank rocket Fagot because of two people. The main shell landed 10-15 meters away from us. We were lucky that the place was empty ground. None of the shrapnel hit us.

Victim Ruslan Heydarov said that he had been injured in his right shoulder as a result of sniper fire in Khojavand.

Other victims questioned included Nabi Babayev, Vugar Mammadov, Emil Nabiyev, Mahir Zeynalov, Subhan Alirzayev, Afran Kamilov, Tabriz Ahmadov, Javidan Talibli, Niyamaddin Asgarov, Hasan Gurbanov and others. They said their testimonies that the opposing side had opened fire at their positions from various weapons and that they themselves had received wounds of varying degree of severity.

Conclusions of the forensic medical examination conducted on the victims were also announced during the hearings.

The next hearing is scheduled for April 15.

Ruben Vardanyan is charged with crimes under Articles 100.1, 100.2 (planning, preparing, initiating and waging a war of aggression), 107 (deportation and forced displacement of the population), 109 (persecution), 110 (forcible disappearance of persons), 112 (deprivation of liberty contrary to international law), 113 (torture), 114.1 (mercenary activity), 115.2 (violation of the laws and customs of warfare), 116.0.1, 116.0.2, 116.0.10, 116.0.11, 116.0.16, 116.0.18 (violation of international humanitarian law during armed conflict), 120.2.1, 120.2.3, 120.2.4, 120.2.7, 120.2.11, 120.2.12 (intentional murder), 29,120.2.1, 29,120.2.3, 29,120.2.4, 29,120.2.7, 29,120.2.11, 29,120.2.12 (attempted intentional murder), 192.3.1 (illegal entrepreneurship), 214.2.1, 214.2.3, 214.2.4 (terrorism), 214-1 (financing of terrorism), 218.1, 218.2 (creation of a criminal group), 228.3 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation and possession of firearms, their components, ammunition, explosives and devices), 270-1.2, 270-1.4 (acts threatening aviation safety), 278.1 (forcible seizure or retention of power, forcible change of the constitutional structure of the state), 279.1, 279.2, 279.3 (creation of armed formations or groups not provided for by law) and 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan).
By Rebecca Black, PA

Some 75 firefighters were involved in quelling a major wildfire in the Mourne Mountains in Co Down.

The blaze in the Bloody Bridge area, which raged across a two-mile front, was described as dealt with on Tuesday evening while the cause remained under investigation.

However, firefighters were tackling another blaze close to Bloody Bridge in the Slieve Bearnagh area, with three appliances at the scene late on Tuesday afternoon and operations expected to continue into the evening.

The continuing blazes came after a major incident was declared at the weekend when a large wildfire close to the Mournes led to homes being evacuated. That blaze is being treated as arson.

Firefighters have tackled almost 150 blazes in the area since Thursday night.

An amber wildfire warning is expected to remain in place until the end of the week, with the forecast for increasing temperatures in Northern Ireland heightening concerns of further ignitions.

Police said they were using air support and other specialist units to survey the area for potential suspects, to spot fires early, and alert those who may be at risk.

First Minister Michelle ONeill described the fires as devastating (Rebecca Black/PA)

First Minister Michelle ONeill described the destruction and devastating, and said there is no option but for ministers to work to prevent wildfires.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament Buildings in Belfast on Tuesday afternoon, Ms ONeill said: Something more must be done, whenever we look at what has happened over recent days, it is absolutely devastating to see these fires rage right across the Mournes.

There is no option for ministers to do anything other than action, and I think what has been called for in terms of plans are a necessity, and Ill work with the ministers responsible.

But its a time for everybody to put their heads together to ensure that this doesnt happen and where it can be prevented we need to do everything we can to ensure it is prevented.

Ms ONeill added she had been due to go hiking in the Mournes herself with the conservationist group the Hiking Hens at the weekend.

Its such a beautiful area, something that we very much value and cherish, she added.

Thats all in jeopardy because of what we see unfolding.

A Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) spokesperson said firefighters also tackled wildfires in other areas on Tuesday.

In Western Area Command, firefighters were called to gorse on fire in the White Bridge area of Ballygawley, Co Tyrone at 1.57pm, they said.

There are currently four fire appliances and over 20 firefighters battling a one-mile firefront.

Whilst firefighters have been in attendance at these wildfire incidents, NIFRS continues to respond to other emergencies in the community including a house fire in Newry and a fire in a flat in Belfast.

Firefighters were also called to a potential aircraft incident in Enniskillen earlier today, however, no action was required on arrival.

A yellow warning for wildfires is in place. Please follow our fire safety advice and stay area from these areas. If you see a fire please call 999 immediately.

Superintendent Norman Haslett, PSNI district commander for Newry, Mourne and Down, said wildfires pose a real threat to the homes, farms and lives of the people in the areas affected, as well as to the environment and wildlife.

He said officers believe some of the recent blazes were started deliberately.

We have implemented dedicated patrolling and are utilising all the capabilities of our air support and other specialist units to survey the Mournes to help us locate potential suspects, spot any fires early, and alert those who may be at risk or in any imminent danger, he said.

We are liaising with our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service to try to determine which fires have been maliciously started and people who are found to have deliberately set any of these fires should be under no illusion that they will face legal consequences for their reckless actions.
Eva Osborne and Vivienne Clarke

The chair of the Children's Health Ireland (CHI) Board, Jim Browne, has stepped down from his role after a report found that the use of non-medical grade springs in child spine surgeries was bespoke and experimental".

A report by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) determined their use was wrong.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Browne said: "I have served since 2013 as chair of the Childrens Hospital Group Board, and more recently as chair of the CHI Board since its establishment in 2019.

"Following discussions over recent weeks with the Department for Health, I now wish to step down and provide for an orderly transition to a new chair to allow for renewed enthusiasm and passion to guide this great organisation.

"I wish to convey my sincere apologies to the children, young people and families that have been failed by the care they received, following the release of the HIQA report today."

The HIQA has published 19 recommendations after investigating the implantation of springs in three children during surgeries to treat scoliosis of their spines between 2020 and 2023.

The surgeries were carried out by a surgeon at Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) at Temple Street hospital.

It found that the springs were made of a material called non-alloyed spring steel, which it said was different to the initial description of the springs provided by the surgeon during interview to HIQA.

Non-alloyed spring steel is not used for surgical implantation and is is known to corrode in the presence of moisture. There is very limited information available on its use or the risks of its use for implantation.

The springs were also not CE marked (Conformite Europeene), which indicates that they had been deemed to meet EU health and safety requirements.

"HIQA acknowledged the work done by Children's Health Ireland to date, to implement measures for the ongoing care for children and families affected by this review," Browne said.

"I wish to acknowledge and thank the staff of Childrens Health Ireland. My admiration for them remains steadfast  they continue to care diligently for over 200,000 children and young people every year, while working on the single biggest transformation of healthcare services in the history of this State.

"I extend my deepest gratitude to our medical professionals, support staff, and administrative personnel for their tireless efforts and commitment to patients.

"While we have faced significant challenges, it is also important to recognise the many positive developments that have taken place throughout the years."

Browne said he will now work with the Department of Health, Childrens Health Ireland Executive team and Board to "ensure a smooth transition to a new Chair person over the coming weeks".

'Wrong and unacceptable'

The HSE also issued a statement in response to the HIQA review.

It says: "The HSE accepts in full the HIQA report regarding the use of surgical implants at CHI. CHI is a HSE funded entity charged with responsibility for providing healthcare to some of the most unwell children in the country.

"The recommendations will be immediately followed through to implementation and we will also be seeking oversight of how CHI approaches the recommendations specific to them."

Commenting on the report, the chief executive of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, said what happened was "wrong and unacceptable".

"Given the role of the HSE in funding CHI I want to offer a sincere and unequivocal apology to the children and families affected by these issues. I will be requesting an early meeting with the Board and Executive of CHI to set out our clear expectations in all matters of governance and oversight.

Minister for Health is 'shocked'

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has given a commitment that the recommendations of HIQA in relation to governance of CHI will be implemented in full.

Ms Carroll MacNeill told RTE radios News at One that she had been shocked at every element of this report, that a rogue surgeon, however well intentioned had not been captured and caught.

While the surgeon in question had been well intentioned, what he had done had been wrong, she said.

We have a series of processes that may have been there but were not followed. That's a problem for him but it's a much, much bigger problem for CHI and for the governance of the hospital and for CHI more broadly.

"And that is an issue of culture but it is also an issue for process. I thank Hiqa for their recommendations which I can assure will be implemented in full. But this is a major governance issue for CHI.

When asked if she had confidence in the board of CHI and management of Temple Street hospital, the Minister said there was now a new chief executive of CHI with whom she had been working closely on a range of issues.

What I need to do is reflect on the board and reflect on the next chairperson and the steps that are taken towards that, so that is something that I will do, but I am looking at the governance more broadly as we move to the new hospital and how that works.

What I want to see is the appropriate governance structure in place to make sure that we have clinical leads who are managing each team.

"What I want is that every consultant who is employed in the Irish state in children's health and everywhere else knows that they are not a single fiefdom, that they work within a hospital system, that they are public servants paid by the taxpayer and that they follow rules set by us in an appropriate governance structure.

"That applies in children, in the paediatric world and everywhere else, what I want is a culture where people who see things that are clearly wrong not only can step forward and say them but must step forward to say them.

And this report I think identifies all of those different problems both from a culture perspective and from a process perspective and for the new hospital. And it's important to say that this isn't in every specialism across CHI, across paediatric services more broadly, there are areas that are going very well.

We are far too often dealing with poor communication between hospitals or consultants and hospital staff and families. Families need to feel heard, they are their children's best advocate. That is always the case and there needs to be very, very clear satisfaction by families about how their child is being cared for.

"But you're right to identify it was thoroughly uninformed consent. How could you consent, how could you possibly consent and when your child is so young and in need of help of some kind you're in a very vulnerable position and I think hospitals really have to understand how vulnerable patients and their families are at those critical moments."

Ms Carroll MacNeill also confirmed that there are two external reports ongoing into childrens spinal surgery services and said that she would respond to them.
David Raleigh

A judge has warned a Traveller couple they will be jailed unless they remove their live-in caravan from a roundabout in Limerick.

Limerick City and County Council offered an apartment to the couple, Teresa and James Harty, care of The Caravan, Coonagh Cross Link Road, Limerick, but they turned the offer down, Limerick District Court heard.

The Council brought a prosecution against Mr and Mrs Harty for allegedly failing to follow an enforcement order from the Council to remove an unauthorised caravan from the roundabout situated near a shopping centre and a third-level institute, at Coonagh, Co Limerick.

Mr and Mrs Harty are part of a group of Travellers, whom there is very serious issues with, it is going on most of the year, where there is a serious traffic problem, because they are living on a roundabout - it is extraordinarily dangerous, Will Leahy, prosecuting solicitor, Limerick City and County Council, told the court.

They have been made an offer of a pod accommodation where there is ten apartments; they have no children; and they have refused (the offer), on the grounds that there is a mens hostel next door, said Mr Leahy.

The ten pods are operated by the Council, and three are occupied by couples, and we (the Council) believe the refusal of the offer is an unreasonable refusal, Mr Leahy added.

Teresa and James Hartys barrister, Nicholas Hall BL, described James Harty as being a vulnerable individual, whose well-being could be put at risk if he was residing next door to other vulnerable persons staying at the hostel.

Mr Leahy reiterated that the Hartys caravan was parked on a major traffic route on a roundabout located close to the TUS (Technological University of the Shannon) and a Tesco, and the site of the unfinished 30 million Northern Distributor Road.

A number of unauthorised caravans, belonging to other Traveller individuals and families, had allegedly been blocking access to the roadway which has yet to be completed, said Mr Leahy.

Mr Hall said his instructions from the Hartys was that they were not blocking any road access, and that if they were forced to move from the area, they would be at risk of homelessness.

Judge Michael Ramsey imposed a two-week jail sentence on the couple, which he suspended for 12-months, on condition that Mr and Mrs Hartys caravan is removed from the area and did not return during the next 12 months.

Another couple, Michael and Marie McDonagh, care of The Caravan, Coonagh Link Rd, Limerick, appeared before the court for allegedly failing to adhere to an order from the Council to remove their caravan from the same area.

Mr Leahy said the Council offered the couple a place to reside but that they did not engage with the local authority.

Mr Hall said it was his understanding that there had been some engagement between the parties about the matter.

Mr Hall said Mrs McDonagh was in receipt of a disability allowance, and he applied for free legal aid on the couples behalf.

Asking the court to finalise the matter, Mr Leahy told the judge: We (the Council) are under considerable pressure regarding this roundabout.

Judge Ramsey granted legal aid to the McDonaghs and adjourned the case to May 2nd.
Niamh ODonoghue

A shop owner has been jailed for a year for selling Romanian cigarettes and alcohol in his store to compete with other stores, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

Radu Budai (40) of Moy Glas Road, Lucan, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to revenue offences at his shop on Upper Dorset Street on March 7th, 2023.

Revenue officer Marie Treacy told the court Budai owned a Romanian store and committed the offences to compete with other shops.

She told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that Revenue officers carrying out an investigation entered the shop in Upper Dorset Street, Dublin and met with a woman working there.

The woman showed officers a Romanian identity card and said she would call the owner.

During the search officers found bottles of wine with no Irish tax stamps on them and cautioned the female and conducted an interview with her.

They also found boxes of brandy and wine as well as homemade alcohol in large plastic containers, the court was told.

Budai arrived while the search was continuing, but when he was questioned the court heard nothing of evidential value came of that interview.

Under cross-examination, Officer Treacy agreed with Simon Matthews BL, defending, that all the goods were seized.

In mitigation, Mr Matthews told the court Budai was trying to compete with other big shops selling the same type of produce.

Mr Matthews said Budai came to Ireland in 2007 and has a wife and two children. He said Budai is coming to and from Romania caring for his sick father. Counsel said his client is not working in the store since the investigation.

Mr Matthews said his client struggles with health issues having had a gastric balloon surgery and he also has sleep apnoea.

He said Budai was trying to stay competitive with rival shops. He asked the court to take account that Budai is a family man, his early plea in district court, that he has health difficulties and is of assistance to his father. Mr Matthews also said the goods were seized and it was a stupid decision".

Judge Martin Nolan said he had no doubt Budai was a good family man but was doing this to make a profit.

Judge Nolan noted that Revenue lost 27,000 in all from the sale of cigarettes and alcohol. The judge noted Budai was cooperative but said he deserved a custodial term before jailing him for a year.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Mostly sunny and pleasant with refreshingly low humidity! Great weather to celebrate the 4th of July!.

Tonight

Mostly clear skies and very comfortable overnight.
Reading, PA (19601)

Today

Mostly sunny and pleasant with refreshingly low humidity! Great weather to celebrate the 4th of July!.

Tonight

Mostly clear skies and very comfortable overnight.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The primary areas of collaborative activity among member and observer countries of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) include the creation of a unified medical research space, conducting joint scientific research, establishing common medical education standards, and ensuring continuous medical education, said Azerbaijans Minister of Health, Teymur Musayev, Trend reports.

In his speech at the 5th Meeting of the Health Ministers of OTS member states in Astana, Musayev emphasized that despite historical challenges, the Turkic world has successfully overcome trials and emerged stronger, progressing amidst global challenges.

He also touched upon a tragic incident that occurred on December 25 of the previous year, when an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane, en route from Baku to Grozny, was forced to make an emergency landing in Aktau, where it crashed during landing.

"Immediately after the crash, following the instructions of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, a delegation from Azerbaijani state structures was dispatched to Aktau. In an interview with Azerbaijani television, the head of state highly praised the professionalism of the Kazakhstani rescuers and medical staff, noting that they displayed true heroism.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to the families of those who perished in the crash and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded. On the day of the tragedy, we were in constant contact with Minister Akmaral Alnazarova. From the first moments of the incident, Kazakhstani medical professionals, led by A. Alnazarova, provided immense support and demonstrated selflessness. Thanks to timely and highly qualified medical assistance, the survivors were evacuated to their countries without any threat to their lives. I would also like to mention that in Aktau and several other Kazakh provinces, thousands of people voluntarily donated blood within two days. The solidarity shown by our brothers and sisters from Kazakhstan left a lasting impression on the hearts of the Azerbaijani people," the minister said.

Musayev further noted that the OTS had played a pivotal role in deepening relations and regional cooperation among member and observer countries in a short period.

"The four main pillars  the growing authority of the OTS in international relations, based on our shared history, language, identity, and culture  are the result of the visionary policies, mutual trust, and support of our leaders," he added.

Musayev also highlighted that the adoption of a common Turkic alphabet in September 2024 was made possible through high-level support.

The minister concluded by mentioning that a historic event took place with the signing of a memorandum of understanding to establish a Unified Information System Turktransplant during the fourth meeting of health ministers in Shusha.

"We can see that President Ilham Aliyevs statement that the Organization of Turkic States should become one of the centers of global power is being successfully realized, and I am confident that each of us will contribute to achieving this goal," Musayev added.

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Three genetically engineered wolves that may resemble extinct dire wolves are trotting, sleeping and howling in an undisclosed secure location in the U.S., according to the company that aims to bring back lost species.

The wolf pups, which range in age from three to six months old, have long white hair, muscular jaws and already weigh in at around 80 pounds  on track to reach 140 pounds at maturity, researchers at Colossal Biosciences reported Monday.

Dire wolves, which went extinct more than 10,000 years old, are much larger than gray wolves, their closest living relatives today.

Independent scientists said this latest effort doesn't mean dire wolves are coming back to North American grasslands any time soon.

"All you can do now is make something look superficially like something else" not fully revive extinct species, said Vincent Lynch, a biologist at the University at Buffalo who was not involved in the research.

Colossal scientists learned about specific traits that dire wolves possessed by examining ancient DNA from fossils. The researchers studied a 13,000 year-old dire wolf tooth unearthed in Ohio and a 72,000 year-old skull fragment found in Idaho, both part of natural history museum collections.

Then the scientists took blood cells from a living gray wolf and used CRISPR to genetically modify them in 20 different sites, said Colossal's chief scientist Beth Shapiro. They transferred that genetic material to an egg cell from a domestic dog. When ready, embryos were transferred to surrogates, also domestic dogs, and 62 days later the genetically engineered pups were born.

Colossal has previously announced similar projects to genetically alter cells from living species to create animals resembling extinct woolly mammoths, dodos and others.

Though the pups may physically resemble young dire wolves, "what they will probably never learn is the finishing move of how to kill a giant elk or a big deer," because they won't have opportunities to watch and learn from wild dire wolf parents, said Colossal's chief animal care expert Matt James.

Colossal also reported today that it had cloned four red wolves using blood drawn from wild wolves of the southeastern U.S.'s critically endangered red wolf population. The aim is to bring more genetic diversity into the small population of captive red wolves, which scientists are using to breed and help save the species.

This technology may have broader application for conservation of other species because it's less invasive than other techniques to clone animals, said Christopher Preston, a wildlife expert at the University of Montana who was not involved in the research. But it still requires a wild wolf to be sedated for a blood draw and that's no simple feat, he added.

Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said the team met with officials from the U.S. Interior Department in late March about the project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum praised the work on X on Monday as a "thrilling new era of scientific wonder" even as outside scientists said there are limitations to restoring the past.

"Whatever ecological function the dire wolf performed before it went extinct, it can't perform those functions" on today's existing landscapes, said Buffalo's Lynch.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. A meeting took place between Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and the health ministers of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) member states and observers on the sidelines of the 5th Meeting of the Health Ministers of the Member States and Observers of the OTS, Trend reports via the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan.

The meeting emphasized dynamic development of relations between the countries and highlighted the exceptional attention and support of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to this issue.

The Minister of Health of Azerbaijan Teymur Musayev expressed gratitude to the staff of the Ministry of Health and other government bodies of Kazakhstan, as well as to all citizens of the brotherly country who provided timely assistance to those affected by the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane near Aktau on December 25 last year, which was performing a passenger flight from Baku to Grozny.

It was noted that, in addition to bilateral relations between our countries, successful cooperation continues on international platforms.

The Azerbaijani minister expressed gratitude for Kazakhstans support of initiatives put forward by our country within the framework of the OTS.

A meeting was also held with Tamara Duisenova, the Assistant to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The meeting emphasized the dynamic development of the relations between OTS countries in various spheres, including healthcare, in recent years.

As part of the event, Musayev held several bilateral meetings.

During a meeting with the Minister of Health of Kazakhstan Akmaral Alnazarova, issues related to the accreditation of medical organizations, providing emergency medical care during emergencies, the current state of cooperation in healthcare and medical science, and potential development prospects were discussed.

A meeting also took place between Musayev and WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri Kluge.

During the meeting, both sides positively assessed the effective cooperation between Azerbaijan and the WHO.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Azerbaijan has updated the procedures for financing social protection and support measures for individuals with war-related disabilities and families of martyrs, Trend reports.

The new regulations, signed by Prime Minister Ali Asadov, are aimed at improving the financial management of these crucial support programs.

As per the current legislation, the Social Services Agency is responsible for implementing these measures. The agency, in synergy with the fund, shall submit the requisite fiscal proposals to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.

The funds required for the financing of these measures are transferred to the agencys bank account.

In previous years, the ministry submitted a report on the expenditures of funds transferred by the State Social Protection Fund, along with detailed information about the work done, by February 1 each year.

The new decision also extends the responsibilities and authority to the Prosthetics-Orthopedic Production and Rehabilitation Center of the State Medical-Social Expertise and Rehabilitation Agency.

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Qualifications  The lying public servants

South Africa has a problem with people in the public service lying about their qualifications. Here's what needs to change.

The persistent challenge of falsified or misrepresented qualifications in South Africa exposes serious shortcomings in recruitment and appointment processes. Although the scale of the problem is difficult to quantify, its considered to be reaching pandemic levels. It is worse in the public sector.

The problem became so serious that government introduced the National Qualifications Framework Amendment Act in 2019, making it a criminal offence to misrepresent qualifications. It is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Yet the scourge continues, despite severe personal and professional consequences for some.

The alarmingly high number of individuals pretending to be qualified for high-profile positions undermines trust and capability in organisations.

There have been cases involving top executives and directors of parastatals. Some major companies have not been spared.

Once unsuitable people occupy positions of responsibility, it is difficult to remove them. Their performance seldom improves because they lack the foundation.

Their incompetence can affect institutions severely because they can make wrong decisions that result in financial losses. The South African Broadcasting Corporation, for instance, suffered financially due to poor decisions made by unqualified executives.

Some municipalities with unqualified personnel often hire expensive consultants.

Teachers with fraudulent credentials compromise quality education. This deprives children of opportunities to better their lives.

Unscrupulous individuals have also been caught masquerading as medical doctors, putting lives at risk.

Important infrastructure projects have collapsed owing to fake engineers.

I am a researcher and practitioner of public sector reforms. I also head the National School of Government, which leads the drive to make the countrys public sector professional. I argue that to deter qualifications fraud, the management of human resources in the public sector must be professional.

South Africa can draw lessons from the private sector and other governments.

Loopholes in the system

The National Qualifications Framework Amendment Act is aimed at deterring fraudulent qualifications. Some people have gone to jail for this crime.

But measures to deter and punish it must be complemented by human resources management reforms.

In my view, poor human resource screening processes, inadequate verification systems and ambiguous job descriptions and entry requirements contribute to appointing unsuitable candidates.

The weekly public sector vacancies circular, published by the Department of Public Service and Administration, is a major source of data showing these limitations. Its full of job advertisements where the minimum qualifications requirements are either too wide or below standard.

Some of the people who recruit and select staff are negligent. They fail to conduct thorough background checks or to screen applicants properly. This results in the appointment of unqualified and fraudulent candidates.

Learning from the private sector

The private sector, driven by competitive pressures and stakeholder expectations, developed robust systems to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of human resource functions. These systems can guide public sector reforms.

Companies invest in advanced technologies and third-party verification services. They use agencies to check candidates fingerprints, verify qualifications, find references, and even do personality profiles.

In contrast, public sector human resources personnel often rely on manual processes. These consume time and are prone to inaccuracies and manipulation. They can also be cumbersome as junior and middle management job advertisements often attract thousands of applicants.

The private sector uses well-defined competency frameworks. These outline the skills, knowledge and experience required to evaluate a candidate.

Many private sector human resources practitioners belong to professional bodies. These enforce ethical standards. They also certify practitioners and promote ongoing professional development.

Businesses also employ licensed and professional human resources practitioners. These are expected to be innovative, productive and ethical, and to act in the best interests of their employers. They can be dismissed if they lose their professional licence. These are guardrails against abuse.

Learning from other governments

India, China, South Korea, Singapore and several European nations have stringent public sector recruitment and selection methods. They emphasise merit and transparency to ensure only qualified and competent people are appointed.

Indias Union Public Service Commission conducts a highly competitive civil services examination to recruit candidates.

China uses the National Civil Service Examination, known as the Guokao. It evaluates candidates intellectual aptitude, policy knowledge and professional skills for jobs in government ministries and state-owned enterprises.

South Koreas Civil Service Examination system is a rigorous process which tests candidates analytical and managerial capabilities.

Singapore is known for its efficient government. It employs structured assessment centres, psychometric testing and panel interviews to ensure capable people join the public sector.

To uphold high standards of professionalism and integrity in governance, Germany and France have competitive entrance assessments for civil service roles.

Frances Institut National du Service Public uses stringent entry requirements to prepare candidates for senior public service.

South Africa introduced a pre-entry assessment called Nyukela/Step Up in 2020. It is applicable to public servants and citizens who wish to apply for a position in the senior management service.

Professionalising the public sector

Cabinet approved the National Framework Towards Professionalisation of the Public Sector in October 2022. It aims to tighten pre-entry requirements and carefully screen applicants. This includes verifying qualifications, testing integrity and assessing competence. The framework requires that public sector entities develop detailed job descriptions.

The framework will help block fraud by professionalising human resources, supply chain management and legal services, among others. It will help human resources practitioners improve their competencies and make them part of a wider professional network. This is important for continued professional development.

There will be consequences when officials violate their professional code of ethics. This has worked for lawyers and accountants who are disbarred for ethical and professional breaches.

The framework gives the Public Service Commission a role in recruiting of heads of departments. This step controls entry to top positions in the civil service. The commission will bring two or more subject matter sector experts into the selection panels, making the process more rigorous.

Busani Ngcaweni, Visiting Adjunct Professor, Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. During an official visit to Albania, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas oversaw the signing of a 90.5 million euro EU financial package for the reconstruction of the Durres-Rrogozhina railway section in the country, Trend reports via the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The agreement, signed by the EIB Global and the Albanian government, includes a 60.5 million euro EU grant and a 30 million euro EIB loan.

The funds will help modernize the 34 km railway between the port city of Durres and Rrogozhina in central Albania, part of the Pan-European Corridor VIII linking southern Italy, Albania, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria. This project is key for regional connectivity and is part of the EUs Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans.

Kallas highlighted the projects strategic importance for job creation, trade, and EU integration, as well as its role in military mobility in Southeast Europe. EIB Vice-President Rober de Groot emphasized the projects contribution to Albanias socio-economic development and its role in strengthening regional ties.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama welcomed the funding as part of a broader push to modernize the countrys rail infrastructure, calling it a vital step toward EU membership.

The total project cost is 121 million euro, with 30 million euro in co-financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

EIB Global continues to support several railway projects in Albania. This includes a loan for the Vore to Hani-Hotit railway line and technical support provided under the EIBs Economic Resilience Initiative for the second phase of the Pan-European Corridor VIII railway. The JASPERS advisory programme has also supported the development of an action plan to strengthen the management capacity of Albania's railway infrastructure.
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President Zelensky said Ukrainian forces fighting in the Donetsk region had obtained the Chinese nationals documents, bank cards and personal data.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 8. President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, highly appreciated the advanced technologies developed in Israel for water resource management and confirmed his readiness for partnership in this field during a meeting with the Speaker of the Knesset of the State of Israel, Amir Ohana, Trend reports.

In the course of the meeting, President Tokayev emphasized that the visit of the Speaker of the Israeli Parliament to Kazakhstan confirms the shared commitment to strengthening Kazakh-Israeli relations.

Tokayev highlighted the significance of the visit in terms of exploring the prospects for bilateral cooperation. Special attention was given to trade and economic partnership during the meeting. Another important topic of discussion was cooperation in water resource management. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highly praised the advanced technologies developed in Israel and confirmed Kazakhstans readiness for partnership in this area.

In turn, Amir Ohana expressed gratitude to the President of Kazakhstan for the warm welcome. He stated that the multifaceted ties between the countries continue to develop successfully, opening new opportunities for interaction.

The Knesset of the State of Israel is the national legislature of Israel. It is a unicameral (single-chamber) parliamentary body, consisting of 120 members who are elected to serve four-year terms. The Knesset is responsible for passing laws, electing the President of Israel, approving the budget, and overseeing the actions of the government.
Prior to the one-year anniversary of the mass protests led by Kenyas youth, widely known as the Gen Z uprising, Francis Atwoli, Secretary General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU), has called on the government to impose sweeping censorship over social media and emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms, warning that unchecked misuse could destabilise the ruling class.

Speaking at a COTU shop stewards meeting in Nairobi on Saturday, Atwoli, in his typically incoherent blusters, urged the broad-based government of President William Rutonow in alliance with the former opposition Orange Democratic Movement led by billionaire Raila Odingato crack down on online opposition. He launched a tirade against social media users, meaning youth opposing government austerity, corruption, and police abductions, stating: Social media [users], it is time you stopped propaganda. You must love your country. If you are not patriotic, even investors will exit. Otherwise, we will plunge into chaos.

Francis Atwoli [Photo: Francis Atwoli/X]

If you leave this country, where else will you go? We plead with our social media users, refrain from propaganda. You must love this country or else, employers will exit. He added, Now, we will be forced to ask the government to regulate social media. Things that happen on TikTok are shocking. Social media must be regulated.

He seized on the excuse of pornography: These children are watching immoral content online. TikTok and similar platforms must be monitored. We must act now, he insisted.

This is in line with the pretexts for censorship manufactured by the Ruto government. Last January, ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo, confirmed the government was actively exploring ways to censor social media. Justifying the move under the pretext of protecting children, Kabogo declared, On the issue of hate speech and harmful content, this is a matter of every country having its own regulations. It is true that when you look at TikTok, Facebook, and X, you will find all sorts of pornography available to children.

Such claims are a smokescreen for a broader assault on democratic rights.

Atwoli urged youth to stop criticising the Kenyan political establishment: Engage leaders on issues, not on hate. Talk about shortages, things that I cannot be able to deliver; inequities and capacity. Do I have integrity? Dont hate me as a person. Dont wish others bad. Pray for others. Celebrate others who have done well, he said.

His call to silence opposition is part of a global turn toward authoritarianism by capitalist regimes facing mounting unrest, imperialist war, and deepening economic crisis. It demonstrates the key role played by the trade union bureaucracy in facilitating this assault.

From North America to Europe, governments are accelerating repressive measures: Trumps administration has escalated economic warfare and state repression while deporting migrants and targeting students who oppose Israels genocide in Gaza. In Germany and France, protests against the Gaza onslaught have been banned, as Europe is rearming at breakneck speed and reviving conscription, preparing for direct imperialist conflict.

Atwolis call comes amid a surge of anti-Ruto sentiment. The slogan Ruto Must Go echoes across rallies, music festivals, and social media, even as the state intensifies abductions and extrajudicial killings. Just days ago, the Stalinist Communist Party of KenyaMarxist (CPM-K) reported that their vehicle, typically used by party leader Booker Omole, was riddled with bulletsmonths after Omole narrowly survived an assassination attempt. Kenyan Defence Forces commander Charles Muriu Kahariri recently issued public threats against youth using the Ruto Must Go slogan.

Rutos unpopularity has reached such extreme levels that his government must pay hundreds of people to attend his rallies, spending tens of thousands of dollars to fill roads and markets with staged crowds.

Even these desperate attempts at political theatre backfire. According to The Sunday Standard, many of the hired attendees are never fully paid, fuelling greater resentment. In one instance, a group of women were recruited to perform traditional Kikuyu songs in cultural attire to welcome the president. They were promised 1,000 Kenyan shillings (about $7) each, only to receive just 700 shillings ($4), a symbol of the contempt with which the Kenyan bourgeoisie treats those it exploits.

The censorship now openly discussed in Kenya was made explicit in Atwolis endorsement of Chinas model. Beijings regime mandates real-name registration for Internet users, compels companies to remove illegal content, and blocks global platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. It tightly monitors online discourse and suppresses searches on banned topics, including officials names.

COTUs role as a bulwark of the Kenyan capitalist state is nothing new. Despite its claim to stand for 36 trade unions, representing more than 1.5 million workers both in the public and private sectors of the economy, COTU is not a workers organisation but a corporatist institution that acts as an appendage of the Kenyan state and big business.

Protesters block the busy Nairobi-Mombasa highway in the Mlolongo area, Nairobi, Kenya., July 2, 2024 [AP Photo/Brian Inganga]

During the Gen-Z protests, Atwoli openly backed Ruto as he gunned down dozens of protesters and left hundreds of injured, concerned above all that the demonstrations were damaging Kenyan profits. Kenya is a hub of economic activities in this region, and we must protect it at all costs. We must support the President and the government to ensure that this country remains peaceful, he said.

When hundreds of thousands of teachers, health care workers, airport staff, county civil servants and lecturers took part in strike action to oppose budget cuts, privatisation schemes and broken promises over wages and staffing, trade union leaders deployed by Atwoli worked to scale down strikes and sow illusions that the Ruto government could be pressured to change course.

At the end of last year, Atwoli declared that Ruto would be re-elected as president again in 2027 and called for the extension of presidential term limits from five years to seven, citing autocratic president Yoweri Museveni in Uganda as an example. Museveni has ruled for 40 years as the head of a police-state dictatorship.

Atwoli is a trade union bureaucrat embedded in the capitalist order. He is a millionaire whose fortunes are secured by his loyalty to the Kenyan elite and their Western backers. In power for over two decades, he sits on numerous government and international boards. He flaunts his wealthgold jewelry, Franck Muller watches worth over $2,000, a Mercedes Maybach 6 Cabriolet valued at nearly half a million dollarsand owns a lavish estate in Ildamat, Kajiado County, reportedly with a helipad. He holds homes in Nairobi, Nakuru, Kilifi, and his rural base in Khwisero.

Atwoli, speaking for the entire Kenyan ruling class, knows well the power of social media, having seen its role in the 2011 uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and the global protests against Israels genocide and Western complicity. His remarks come ahead of commemorations of the 2024 Gen Z protests, which mobilised millions of youth and workers through platforms like X, TikTok, and WhatsApp to oppose Rutos IMF-driven Finance Bill, widespread corruption, and unbearable economic conditions.

AI was used to create educational and media content, while platforms spread information in local languages. Viral hashtags, crowdfunding, website hacks, and the release of officials contacts all helped mobilise protestors. A wall of shame named pro-Bill MPs. In response, the government began slowing down Internet access and discussing how to impose sweeping digital censorship.

The youth who led these protests represent a new generation of workers, students, and unemployed no longer willing to accept the status quo. Their use of social media reflects the understanding that no change will come from the capitalist parties, institutions, or dialogues.

The platforms developed over the last two decades have become essential tools of resistance, allowing workers and youth to expose repression, share oppositional content, and organise across tribal and national lines. This is what terrifies the ruling elite.

The fight against censorship must be waged alongside the fight against capitalist exploitation and imperialist war. What is urgently needed is a new revolutionary leadership, rooted in the working class, armed with a socialist programme, and committed to internationalism, that can transform the spontaneous anger of the Gen Z uprising into an organised struggle to overthrow capitalism and liberate humanity.
An aerial view of flood damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Erwin, Tennessee [AP Photo/George Walker IV]

The recent report released by the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) regarding the deaths of six Impact Plastics workers during the catastrophic flooding of Hurricane Helene last year is nothing short of a whitewash of profit-driven employer negligence.

In a craven attempt to shield the company from accountability, TOSHA concluded that the deaths were not work related, absurdly claiming that Impact Plastics management exercised reasonable diligence to dismiss employees and direct them to leave the site. This conclusion flies in the face of overwhelming evidence and the anguished testimony of surviving workers and the families of the deceased, revealing the state agencys complicity in protecting capitalist interests over the lives of the working class.

The tragedy that unfolded on September 27, 2024, at the Riverview Industrial Park in Erwin, Tennessee, was a direct consequence of Impact Plastics callous prioritization of production over the safety of its employees. As Hurricane Helene unleashed torrential rainfall and the Nolichucky River swelled to dangerous levels, Impact Plastics continued its operations, trapping its workers in a windowless production space with no access to critical information.

The companys draconian policy of forbidding employees from having their cell phones on the factory floor rendered them completely unaware of the rapidly deteriorating conditions outside. While the National Weather Service issued urgent flash flood emergency alerts as early as 9:20 a.m., these warnings remained unknown to the workers inside. As the only road in and out of the industrial park became impassable, Impact Plastics employees were kept in the dark, their fate sealed by a management that valued output over human life.

Testimony from workers and legal filings paint a damning picture of a company that ignored the escalating danger. Despite the rising waters, managers allegedly refused to allow employees to leave, with some workers fearing termination if they disobeyed. Even as the parking lot flooded, a production controller sent an email pushing a morning meeting to the afternoon, indicating a chilling intention to continue business as usual.

This stands in stark contrast to neighboring businesses in the same industrial park, such as Foam Products Corporation, which proactively closed the day before due to serious weather concerns. Old Hickory Buildings began sending employees home as early as 7:42 a.m., with a manager even using a tractor to create an alternate escape route.

When the power finally went out at 10:39 a.m. and the parking lot was already underwater, supervisors finally dismissed workers. However, by this time, it was tragically too late for many to escape the isolated industrial park. Eleven desperate workers sought refuge on the bed of a semi-trailer parked outside the factory.

This makeshift sanctuary proved fatal when floodwaters overwhelmed the truck, and floating debris caused it to overturn, sweeping all 11 into the raging torrent of the Nolichucky River. Six workers perished in this horrific ordeal: Rosa Maria Andrade Reynoso, Monica Hernandez, Bertha Mendoza, Johnny Peterson, Lidia Verdugo and Sibrina Barnett.

TOSHAs assertion that employees had time to evacuate relies on the claim that some workers escaped via makeshift routes, according to the agencys report. However, these were not established evacuation plans provided by Impact Plastics. Instead, employees of neighboring businesses took it upon themselves to dismantle a fence and create a path over an embankment to a nearby highway and another employee used a tractor to create a path to railroad tracks.

To suggest that these desperate, last-minute actions by others absolve Impact Plastics of its responsibility is a cruel distortion of reality. As attorney Luke Widener, representing the family of Sibrina Barnett and other victims, rightly pointed out as reported by the Associated Press, many safety records, including an emergency evacuation plan, never existed.

Furthermore, the TOSHA investigation itself was riddled with inadequacies. The agencys report admits that its investigation was hampered by phone service disruptions, language barriers, and other challenges. It also noted that the flooding destroyed the companys workplace safety records.

Crucially, TOSHAs report ignores the testimony of multiple witnesses, critical text messages, emergency alert logs, and photographic evidence that tell the real story about Impact Plastics fatal failures, according to attorney Alex Little, representing the family of Johnny Peterson. The fact that family members who have filed lawsuits did not cooperate with TOSHA further underscores the lack of trust in the agencys objectivity.

The callous indifference of Impact Plastics management to the fate of its workers is exposed by their response to the tragedy. The company denied any wrongdoing and had the audacity to send $100 fast food gift cards to the grieving families as a holiday greeting, an act described as a slap in the face. In court filings, Impact Plastics even claimed that Johnny Peterson, who stayed behind to help others, was comparatively at fault for his own death for failing to exercise reasonable care for his own safety.

The TOSHA report serves as a stark reminder that under the capitalist system, state regulatory agencies are more concerned with protecting the interests of businesses than with ensuring the safety and well-being of workers. The findings in this case are a betrayal of the six lives lost and show contempt for their families and the entire working class.

Workers must recognize that their safety will never be guaranteed by profit-driven employers, the union bureaucracies which collaborate with them or the state agencies that are meant to provide oversight. The tragedy at Impact Plastics underscores the urgent need for workers to take matters into their own hands.

The formation of independent rank-and-file safety committees, democratically controlled by workers themselves, is essential to monitor workplace conditions, enforce safety protocols and fight against the relentless drive for profit that endangers lives. Only through collective action and the independent organization of the working class can we prevent such avoidable tragedies in the future.
On Wednesday 2 April, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out coordinated air strikes against military installations in the Syrian capital Damascus, Hama and Homs. The strikes included the strategic T4 airbase in Homs.

Speaking to the Jerusalem Post, an Israeli official said the operations against the T4 base were a direct message to Turkey. Do not establish a military base in Syria and do not interfere with Israeli operations in the region, the official said. Israeli Army Radio reported, The primary goal of the attack on Syria was to send a warning to the Turkish president [Recep Tayyip Erdogan].

In this February. 5, 2020 photo, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds up a placard with a series of maps of historical Palestine, the 1947 United Nations partition plan on Palestine, the 1948-1967 borders between the Palestinian territories and Israel, and a current map of the Palestinian territories without Israeli-annexed areas and settlements, during a speech at the parliament in Ankara, Turkey. [AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici]

In an interview with the Reuters on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, We dont want to see any confrontation with Israel in Syria because Syria belongs to Syrians.

These attacks indicate that the risk of direct armed confrontation between Turkey and Israel, two regional powers and US allies, now vying for geopolitical influence in Syria, has reached a new stage. Earlier, Tel Aviv warned of war against Ankaras growing influence in Syria through the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) regime, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel could target Turkey after Palestine and Lebanon.

Tensions between the two countries are escalating as a by-product of US imperialisms efforts to reshape the Middle East under its domination. Israels ongoing genocide in Gaza, regime change in Syria and US attacks on Yemen are all part of the aggression against Iran and its allies.

Israeli air strikes targeted a military facility and air bases belonging to the Syrian army. The Hama military airbase in the west of the country was hit repeatedly, almost completely destroying runways, hangars, weapons depots and a tower. The Israeli side said the bombings were aimed at destroying the last remaining military capabilities in Syria and suspected military infrastructure.

Parallel to the air strikes, Israel launched a ground operation in the Daraa (Hawar) region of southern Syria. Israeli troops crossed the UN-supervised buffer line between the two countries, in place since 1974, and carried out a ground operation near Tasil. This was Israels deepest ground offensive inside Syria since the regime change in December.

According to local sources, when Israeli troops attempted to destroy a former Syrian army base in the area, they clashed with armed local militias; Israeli forces killed them and confiscated their weapons caches. Syrian state agency SANA reported that at least 9 people were killed and many civilians wounded by Israeli shelling.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that these operations, which took place overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, were a clear message and warning for the future. Katz added that Israel will not tolerate any entity that jeopardizes Israeli security interests and that the Syrian government will pay a heavy price if it allows hostile forces to enter Syria.

Another Israeli security official, speaking to the Jerusalem Post, expressed concern about Syrias plans to provide Turkey with a military base. If Turkey establishes an air base here, it could seriously harm Israels freedom of action in Syria, the official said. We will never allow our freedom of action to be restricted, they added, describing Turkeys military presence in Syria as a potential threat and stressing that the targeting of the T4 base was a clear expression of this unease.

Recently, Middle East Eye (MEE), citing unnamed sources, reported that Turkey has begun the process of taking control of the T4 base and that plans are being prepared for its reconstruction.

According to MEE, Ankaras plans include the deployment of Hisar-type air defence systems at the base. According to the Roketsan website, Hisar missiles are used to protect military bases and ports from air attacks. It is also alleged that Turkey plans to deploy advanced attack-capable UCAVs, various surveillance vehicles and Russian-made S-400 air defence systems at the T4 base. This would pose a threat to Israels F-35s and air operations in the region.

In 2019, the Trump administration responded to Ankaras acquisition of S-400 systems from Russia by excluding Turkey from the production of F-35 fighter jets. This was followed in December 2020 by Congress approval of a resolution to impose CAATSA sanctions on Turkey. Recently, there has been speculation that Turkey might deploy the S-400s to another country in coordination with the United States.

A Western intelligence source confirmed the allegations to the Jerusalem Post, saying that Ankara is undertaking to play the role of Syria's air defence and is preparing to send troops to the T4 base.

The T4 (Tiyas) airbase is located in central Syria, close to the historic city of Palmyra and not far from the Israeli-occupied territories. Its strategic location is crucial both for Syrias internal security and for air dominance in the region.

According to Syrian Defense Ministry officials, Ankara and Damascus are negotiating a comprehensive defense pact under which Turkey will provide air support and military protection to Syria, which currently lacks a regular army. A Syrian Defense Ministry official said that the first delivery of UAVs/UCAVs will take place soon:

Turkish air defence technology is of great importance in terms of eliminating the PKK/YPG threat and possible terrorist infiltrations later, as well as Israeli invasions and violations. In addition, Turkish UAVs/UCAVs, whose capabilities and field superiority are globally recognised, will ensure our border security against drug trafficking on the Jordanian border, which became the national income policy of the former regime, and against the Hezbollah threat from Lebanon.

The Syrian government described the latest Israeli attacks as a deliberate attempt to destabilise the region and said they were mounted to hinder growing defence cooperation with Turkey.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a harsh statement on Thursday, saying, The provocative statements made by Israeli Ministers against Turkey reflect their current state of mind as well as the aggressive and expansionist policies of the fundamentalist and racist Israeli government.

With the regime change in Syria, Washington is planning to create an anti-Iran axis between Ankara, Damascus and Tel Aviv, but these plans are being hindered by the growing rivalry between the Turkish and Israeli bourgeoisies.

In this rivalry, which is exacerbated by US imperialisms quest for total domination of the Middle East as part of its drive for global hegemony, targeting both China and its NATO allies, the regimes in Ankara and Tel Aviv both act in the service of imperialism in a destructive collaboration against Palestine, Iran and all the peoples of the Middle East.

The only way forward for workers and oppressed peoples throughout the Middle East is to unite and mobilize under an international socialist strategy and leadership against the imperialist powers and all their bourgeois proxies. The ally of the workers of the Middle East in this struggle for a Middle East Socialist Federation is the American, European and international working class.
Britains Labour government has cemented its position as one of the most right-wing governments in Europe since taking office last July. Central has been the anti-immigration platform rolled out by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Last week Starmer and Cooper hosted a two-day conference attended by representatives of 40 countries and corporations, the Organised Immigration Crime (OIC) Summit.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks at the Organised Immigration Summit (OIC) at Lancaster House, March 31, 2025 [Photo by Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Under the guise of tackling people smuggling, the event outlined a common right-wing anti-immigrant, austerity agenda to justify military spending and strengthen borders.

Since coming to power, Labour has sought to prove itself more hostile to migrants than its Conservative predecessors and the far-right Reform UK.

Starmer restated Labours pitch in introductory remarks to the summit and a filthy op-ed in a right-wing rag, the Daily Mail.

His first words were not about migration, but to note that the summit was being held where earlier European leaders had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky . Saying Ukraines security is our security, Starmer insisted this could only be delivered by the biggest increase in defence spending since the Cold War.

Starmer insisted that all other concerns are subordinate to this goal, and require international cooperation, which was also clearly true for the security of our borders.

The summit brought together representatives not just from Europe, but from the United States, Vietnam and Iraq, as well as tech conglomerates Meta, X and TikTok.

Starmer made his usual law-and-order appeals, calling people-smuggling a security threat similar to terrorism.

For all the rhetoric employed about ending the criminal exploitation of vulnerable people, Starmer has always been clear that his concern is solely for the strictest regulation of migration. Describing Illegal migration as a massive driver of global insecurity, he complained, It undermines our ability to control who comes hereby which he means the skilled workers demanded by industry and services such as the NHS.

He reinforced this populist pitch in the xenophobic Daily Mail, leading off his op-ed with the message to the newspapers readership: I know many of you are angry about illegal migration. You're right to be, he wrote.

Describing the tightening of borders as a basic question of fairness, he added that British people were compassionate and fair-minded. But [!] we all pay the price for insecure bordersfrom the cost of accommodating migrants to the strain on our public services.

The gall is staggering, from a man whose government has just announced cuts that will throw 250,000 disabled people into poverty and is pledged to impose brutal austerity to fund military expenditure.

At the summit, Starmer detailed the intensification of police measures against migrants seeking to cross the English Channel, including new border patrols and specialist units on the French coast using state-of-the-art surveillance technology.

His announcement that it will now be an offence to endanger lives at sea to prevent more tragic deaths in the Channel was cynical in the extreme, given that the maritime agencies of Europe have been complicit in abandoning migrants in small boats.

Eight migrants have already died crossing the Channel this year. Internationally nearly 9,000 people are known to have died last year trying to cross borders, while 2024 was the deadliest year on record for migrants trying to reach Europe.

The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) notes that the actual global figure is likely even higher, as many deaths go unreported. The global death toll has risen for five successive years, more than doubling since 2020.

Following two deaths over two days in the Channel shortly before the summit, Amnesty International UKs refugee and migrant rights director Steve Valdez-Symonds told press the policy of simply trying to smash gangs and stop boats without taking some real share of responsibility for people who currently have no safer options is doing no good whatsoever.

Starmer told the summit that he had opposed the Tories scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. Borrowing Tory rhetoric (describing Britain as a soft touch), he told the Mail that opposing the scheme was not just because it was a gimmick designed to sound tough But because it was a hollow pledge to working people which had no prospect of ever being fulfilled.

Starmer boasted that since coming to office, Labour has deported more than 24,000 people. He bragged of the highest returns rate for eight years, which it would have taken the Rwanda scheme 80 years to achieve.

Starmers pledge to the British ruling class is that he can implement such authoritarian policies more efficiently. Once in office, he signed a similar deal to the Rwanda scheme that allows deporting any migrants arriving in the Chagos Islands in the British Indian Ocean territories (BIOT) to St Helena, an island in the South Atlantic 5,000 miles from the UK.

Similar models are being adopted by ruling elites across Europe. Draft European Union (EU) legislation last month proposes new return rules that would allow return hubsdedicated deportation centres outside the EU. These are at high risk of infringing the Geneva Conventions principle of non-refoulement, which forbids returning refugees to countries where they might face persecution or serious harm.

Approving the idea, the conservative European Peoples Party (EPP)--comprising 82 right-wing parties and partners in the European Parliament--pointed to Albanias deal with the government of Italian fascist Giorgia Meloni. The EPP called for revision of the Geneva Convention to bring it in line with the current world.

Albania sent representatives to the OIC summit and Starmer has been assiduous in courting Meloni, whose government he said had made remarkable progress in combatting immigration.

One of Starmers main policies is strengthening the police and intelligence apparatus through the establishment of the Border Security Command (BSC). BSC head Martin Hewitt, a former head of the National Police Chiefs Council, accompanied Starmer on his trip to Rome last September to meet Meloni. Her regime is not only criminalising the act of seeking asylum but also hindering civilian sea rescue operations.

Albania has built two detention centres, funded and managed by Italy, that hold up to 36,000 migrants per year. From the camps, but not on Italian soil, they are able to apply for asylum in Italy. If refused, as most are, they are deported.

Starmer pledged an investment of 150 million over the next two years into an elite Border Force. He promised new powers and new criminal offences to get the job done. European governments have adopted this policy more widely, with recent calls for Frontex to become a fully operational European border agency.

The proposed new powers make clear that combatting people-smugglers are a pretext for a wider war on the working class. The police will be empowered to seize the phones and devices of all migrants. While allegedly enabling intelligence gathering on smugglers, it targets their victims and opens the way to broader repression.

Starmers Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will be amended to include greater right-to-work checks on gig economy workers. Home Secretary Cooper has indicated she will restrict the number of those arriving on a student or work visa and subsequently claiming asylum. As noted by the WSWS, the government is also examining how Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights--the right to family life--applies to migration cases, after pledging to close a legal loophole through which a Palestinian family from Gaza were granted the right join a family member in Britain.

Starmer told the summit there is nothing progressive about allowing working age people to come here illegally instead of supporting them to build their own economies, secure a better future for their own countries, and build a safer, more prosperous world. That comes from a man boasting of accelerating military expenditure and threatening nuclear-armed Russia that is moving the world ever closer to war.
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President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, April 7, 2025 in Washington D.C. [AP Photo/Evan Vucci]

On Monday, US President Donald Trump welcomed war criminal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House for an emergency meeting to give an update on the genocidal US-Israeli campaign to exterminate and displace the Palestinian people and annex their land.

In an Oval Office press briefing following their meeting, Netanyahu said that the two discussed Trumps bold vision of expelling the Palestinians from Gaza. Were working on it, the Israeli president said.

Netanyahu said they discussed the countries that might be amenable and are amenable to accepting Palestinians. When asked about the ethnic cleansing plan, Trump beamed with pride, saying, Now people are copying it. People are talking about the Trump plan.

Netanyahu is, indeed, working on the plan, announced by Trump at an earlier meeting with Netanyahu in Washington on February 4, to take over and own the Gaza Strip. Contrary to its portrayal in the American media, Trumps proposal is not a pipe dream but Israels actual operative plan in Gaza. The ethnic cleansing plan has four interrelated components:

The deliberate starvation of the Palestinian population through the blockade of food and water. The daily bombardment and mass systematic killing of the civilian population. The full military occupation of the Gaza Strip. The creation of the infrastructure for transporting the entire remaining population out of Gaza.

Every component of this plan is being actively implemented.

Last month, in defiance of the terms of the January 19 ceasefire, Israel initiated the full blockade of all food, water and electricity into Gaza. No humanitarian supplies have entered the enclave in over a month, and the United Nations has been forced to shut down all remaining bakeries.

The creation of a deliberate, man-made famine is accompanied by the daily terrorist bombing of the civilian population. Last month, Israel broke the ceasefire agreement with a new aerial and ground offensive against Gaza.

This onslaught has been accompanied by full-scale summary executions. On March 23, Israeli forces attacked and systematically killed 15 clearly designated humanitarian workers, including multiple members of the Palestine Red Crescent and at least one employee of the United Nations. Subsequent investigations revealed that the victims were shot multiple times at close range, with several showing signs of being bound before their executions.

On Monday, an Israeli airstrike on a media tent killed one journalist and multiple others. Footage of the horrific attack prompted shock and outrage around the world.

Israels ongoing offensive in Gaza is not presented, as in earlier incursions, as a temporary operation. It is preparation for permanent military occupation. Last month, NPR, the Financial Times, and Haaretz reported that the Israeli military has drawn up a plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, internally displace the remaining population and provide only the minimum caloric amount necessary for survival, in the words of Haaretz.

The full military occupation of Gaza and the internal displacement of its population are the necessary prerequisites for the forcible expulsion of the Palestinians from the territory.

On March 23, Israels security cabinet formally voted to establish an office dedicated to overseeing the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the bureau would manage the

departure to third countries, including securing their movement, establishing movement routes, checking pedestrians at designated crossings in the Gaza Strip, as well as coordinating the provision of infrastructure that will enable passage by land, sea and air to the destination countries.

The US-Israeli plan for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine is a war crime, a crime against humanity and a crime against peace. It flagrantly violates the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the forcible transfer of civilians during armed conflict.

Trumps plan to steal Palestinian land also breaches the 1970 United Nations Declaration on Principles of International Law, ratified by the United States, which affirms:

The territory of a State shall not be the object of acquisition by another State resulting from the threat or use of force.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court approved an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Netanyahu traveled to the United States from Hungary, following a meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Just hours after Netanyahu landed in Hungary on Thursday, the International Criminal Court sent a request to the Hungarian government to arrest and surrender Netanyahu to its detention center in The Hague, which the Hungarian government denied.

Upon leaving Hungary, Netanyahus plane took a flight path about 400 kilometers (248 miles) longer to avoid flying over countries that might enforce the ICC arrest warrant issued against him in the case of an emergency landing, according to Haaretz.

The ethnic cleansing of Gaza is a central component of the broader US military offensive in the Middle East, aimed at securing total domination over the region. Trump has launched near-daily airstrikes on Yemen since last month and is deploying aircraft carriers, destroyers and bombers within striking distance of Iran. In a recent statement, he warned that unless Iran accepts his terms, there will be bombing  the likes of which they have never seen before.

The Trump administrations plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza is a central axis of both its international and domestic program. Amid a deepening and pervasive crisis of capitalism, the American ruling class has dispensed with any remaining restraints on the brutality of its class rulethrough imperialist war abroad and the intensified suppression and exploitation of workers at home.

The move toward dictatorship at home and the adoption of genocidal measures abroad express the fundamental tendencies of American capitalism. The Trump administration, representing a criminal financial oligarchy, is engaged in a calculated conspiracy to establish a fascistic dictatorship in the United States. It sees in Netanyahus actions in Gaza a model of unparalleled brutality and criminality to be emulatedboth in the conduct of imperialist war and in the violent repression of opposition at home.

The Democratic Party is not an opposition to the Trump administrationIt is a critical partner in the assault on democratic rights and in the campaign of imperialist violence abroad. In May of last year, then-President Joe Biden labeled nonviolent demonstrations on college campusesopposing the US governments support for Israels genocide in Gazaas antisemitic and against the law. Last week, the vast majority of Democrats in the Senate voted to advance legislation that would send $9 billion more in weapons to the Israeli regime.

Trumps meeting with Netanyahu came just days after protests by over one million people broke out in cities across the United States, reflecting widespread opposition to his administrations assault on social programs, mass layoffs, attacks on democratic rights and its sponsorship of the Gaza genocide. Trumps response has been to escalate, doubling down on the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and intensifying the repression of those who resist it.

Over the past two months, Trump has targeted pro-Palestinian demonstrators for persecution, seizing Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil into ICE detention and forcing others, including Momodou Taal, to flee the country under threat of arrest. This domestic repression is part of a unified strategy of war abroad and dictatorship at home.

The struggle against the Gaza genocide and the broader fight against imperialist war are inseparable from the resistance of workers to mass layoffs, trade war policies and the destruction of bedrock social programs. It is significant that just two days after the protests in the US, Palestinian workers launched a general strike across the West Bank in solidarity with the working class in Gaza.

The fight against genocide must develop into a global movement of the working class, fused with the fight to defend social and democratic rights and to oppose the war drive of American imperialism. This requires a clear and conscious political program: the expropriation of the oligarchs, the establishment of workers power, and the reorganization of society on the basis of socialism.
On March 28, President Donald Trump signed into law an executive order which amounts to a takeover of the District of Columbia, thereby ending home rule in the nations capital city. The executive order, bearing the lying title Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful, furthers Trumps efforts to establish a dictatorship by means of cracking down on demonstrations, heightening police presence and targeting agencies in the District.

It is the culmination of a threat Trump had made on February 19 while being interviewed aboard Air Force One. In his interview he spoke of taking over D.C. and vowing to run it strong, run it with law and order. Trump bemoaned a proliferation of crime and graffiti and of too many tents on  these magnificent lawns and spoke of further deployment of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

The executive order aims to make the District of Columbia safe, beautiful, and prosperous by preventing crime, punishing criminals, preserving order, protecting our revered American monuments, and promoting beautification and the preservation of our history and heritage. In fact, the order aims to do none of these.

The claim of high crime in D.C. is absurd. According to a report from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia, overall violent crime was down 35 percent to the lowest rates in over 30 years.

Hyped to no end by the capitalist media, the topic of fighting crime is used as a political slogan both by the Democratic Party-controlled D.C. Council and Republican-controlled Congress, entirely on right-wing lines. None of the root causes of crimehigh cost of living, low wages, deepening social misery, etc.are addressed.

The supposedly progressive responses taken at the local and federal levels are symbolic at best, such as the painting of the Black Lives Matter Plaza on 16th Street NW in the wake of the worldwide protests against police violence in 2020. Earlier this year, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered the painting removed.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser. [AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin]

Section 3 of the executive order establishes the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which includes representatives from departments and agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). With coordination by local officials, the task force would work to ensure federal participation in the following:

 Directing maximum enforcement of Federal immigration lawbringing the capture, deportation and/or disappearance of undocumented immigrants to the D.C. metropolitan area and doing away with the sanctuary city status of Washington.

 Speeding up and lowering the cost of concealed-carry weapons license requests in D.C.

 Preventing fare evasion and crime on the Metrorail system. The subway system, run by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), charges some of the highest rates in the country for a subway trip; trips during peak hours on weekdays cost as much as $6.75, and fines of up to $100 are threatened for fare evasion.

 Facilitating a massive police presence everywhere in D.C., helping the MPD to recruit more police officers and to work with the federal government to reduce crime.

 Increasing pretrial detention of defendants.

The latter points only accelerated policies already introduced by the Democratic Party. The D.C. Council last year passed a draconian law-and-order crime bill, which included as one of its provisions a sharp increase in the maximum length of pre-trial detention from five days to 225 days.

The Secure D.C. omnibus bill, passed almost unanimously by the Democratic Party-controlled city government, also heightened penalties for certain crimes and established drug-free zones, where the MPD was empowered to disperse and possibly arrest groups even on the merest suspicion of illicit drug activity. Trump has invented nothing in continuing this bipartisan assault on the citys working class neighborhoods.

Furthermore, Trumps order would demand a heavy deployment of officers to specific areas of Washington, such as monuments, parks and highways. The deployment of police to monuments would essentially constitute a clampdown on protests in the D.C. area, like the demonstrations against the ongoing genocide of Gaza.

Section 4 proposes a beautification plan for the District, which includes cleanup of graffiti and the restoration of public monuments. Part of this plan involves removing homeless encampments on federal land, directing the National Park Service through the Secretary of the Interior to perform this task. There is no answer as to where the homeless will go after their belongings have been trashed and their living space essentially destroyed.

Mayor Bowser has not yet responded to Trumps executive order. What is known, however, is her agreement with Trump on several key issues it claims to address.

Despite the aforementioned drop in crime, Bowser has nevertheless continued to make proposals to Trump, such as the addition of surveillance cameras and an increase in MPD officers. She has dropped all pretense of Washington being a sanctuary city, saying at a National Press Club conference in February:

I think its misleading to suggest to anyone that if you are violating immigration laws, that this is a place where you can violate immigration laws.

Prior to the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973, Congress played a much more central and direct role in Washington D.C.s funding and governance. The 1973 law afforded the Districts population the ability to elect local leaders, as well as giving them certain ability to pass laws and fund themselves.

However, Congress still maintains overall control of the citys affairs. Even before Trumps order, consecutive bipartisan administrations regularly intervened and interfered in the Districts governance. The most recent example of this occurred in 2023 under Democrat Joe Biden, who intervened to support Congresss veto of a D.C. crime law reform.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting Democratic congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, issued a statement opposing Trumps executive order, calling for D.C. statehood, pointing to the report on crime that contradicted the fact sheet for the executive order. She opposed a move by House Republicans to slash the D.C. budget by $1 billion.

As the World Socialist Web Site has said, the Democrats advocate D.C. statehood not to improve conditions for working people but to give themselves a political cover while they pursue right-wing policies, virtually identical to those of the Republicans, which boost business interests and assault the democratic and social rights of the population.
Governments, corporations and investors throughout Asia are in shock after Trump declared economic war on the world last week and announced huge reciprocal tariffs on friend and foe alike. While Chinaregarded in Washington as the chief threat to American global dominancewas hit with an extra 34 percent tariff on all exports to the US, Trump imposed hefty tariffs on most countries in the region.

Workers assemble electric cars at a Vinfast factory in Hai Phong, Vietnam, on Sept. 29, 2023 [AP Photo/Hau Dinh]

Among the hardest hit were the 10 countries that form the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), most having tariffs of 30 percent or more imposed putting them towards the top of the list. These were: Cambodia (49 percent), Laos (48 percent), Vietnam (46 percent), Myanmar (44 percent), Thailand (36 percent), Indonesia (32 percent). Malaysia (24 percent), Brunei (24 percent) and the Philippines (17 percent) were a little lower. Singapore was the only member to be given the baseline minimum of 10 percent.

Many of the ASEAN countries benefited from the tariffs imposed on China under the first Trump administration and maintained by the Biden administration along with punitive bans targeting hi-tech Chinese corporations. Companies that had used China as a cheap-labour platform adopted a China plus One strategy, shifting part of their production to South East Asia countries to avoid the US tariffs imposed on China.

Now governments internationally are scrambling for a strategy: seeking negotiations with the Trump administration, looking for other markets, while deeply concerned about the prospect of global recession, a sharp slowdown in their economies, rapidly rising unemployment and social unrest.

Vietnam, which is heavily dependent on exports to the US, is among the hardest hit and most vulnerable. Last year, it ranked eighth among the top trading partners of the US with total bilateral trade of $US149.6 billion, up by a huge 20.4 percent increase from 2023. The country also became the USs sixth largest source of imports last year worth $136.6 billion, and recorded a record trade surplus with the US of $123.5 billion.

The government immediately rushed to try to open up negotiations with the Trump administration. In a letter to Trump last weekend, Vietnams top leader To Lam asked for a delay of at least 45 days in imposing the reciprocal tariffs, due to come into force tomorrow, to allow for talks.

Lam called on Trump to appoint a US representative to lead negotiations with Ho Duc Phoc, the Vietnamese deputy prime minister, with the goal of reaching an agreement as soon as possible, so as to avoid devastation to the Vietnamese economy and increased prices for American consumers. Lam also suggested that he and Trump meet in May.

Lam was one of the first international leaders to phone and speak directly to Trump. According to the Vietnamese government, he offered to reduce tariffs on all US imports to zero and urged Trump to do the same for Vietnamese imports into the US. Trump later described the call as very productive, but did not indicate whether any negotiations would take place.

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi also expressed deep concern to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a letter dated Saturday, saying the tariff was shockingly high.

Lower tariffs for products coming into Vietnam, and for products reaching the American consumer is what will help U.S. companies, the economy, and consumers. Higher tariffs will not, the letter declared.

Major US corporations including Intel, Nike, First Solar, Boeing and Apple have invested heavily in Vietnam to manufacture their goods and components as part of their global operations, including exports to US markets. The imposition of a 46 percent tariff on all exports to the US would inevitably affect their plans and lead to plant closures and job losses.

Various estimates have been made of the impact of the Trump tariff on the Vietnamese economy ranging from as little as a 1 percent loss in GDP growth to as high as 5.5 percent. Around 30 percent of Vietnams exports go to US markets. The latest government economic data released on Sunday recorded year-on-year growth of 6.93 percent, already significantly below the governments target of at least 8 percent for 2025.

Vietnam has already been hit by previously announced Trump tariffs on steel and aluminium of 25 percent. Last year Vietnam was the USs fifth largest source of steel, up from ninth place the previous year. Steel mill products for the US market from Vietnam jumped in 2024 by a huge 143.3 percent from 2023, reaching 1.2 million tonnes.

The Vietnamese government is clearly desperate for negotiations and a reprieve from the Trump administrations crippling tariffs, but all indications are that the White House will proceed with the economic shock treatment without exception.

While Trump commented favourably, although vaguely, about his phone call with Lam, during his Liberation Day announcement of tariffs last Wednesday he declared Vietnam a worst offender in trade imbalances. Vietnam, great negotiators, great people. They like me, I like them. The problem is they charge us 90 percent, were going to charge them a 46 percent tariff, he said.

His senior trade counsellor Peter Navarro flatly dismissed Vietnams offer of reducing all tariffs on US goods to zero, saying it was not enough. Its the non-tariff cheating that matters, he said, citing intellectual property theft and a value added tax. Navarro, a notorious anti-China hawk, lashed out at Vietnam in particular for allegedly being a conduit for Chinese products as a means of avoiding US tariffs.

Speaking to Fox News, Navarro declared: Vietnam is essentially a colony of communist China. China uses Vietnam to trans-ship to evade the tariffs. How does that work? Vietnam sells us $15 for every $1 we sell them. And about $5 of that is just Chinese product that comes into Vietnam, they slap a made-in-Vietnam label on it, and send it here to evade the tariffs.

As Navarro well knows, Vietnam, far from being a Chinese colony, has had bitter disputes with Beijing over territorial boundaries in the South China Sea, which successive American administrations have sought to exploit.

While Vietnam is particularly exposed to Trumps economic war against the world, every other country in South East Asia is in the same boat. To a lesser or greater extent, they all rely on exports into the US market and will also be indirectly affected by any slowdown in China as a result of the Trump tariffs. For most, China is their major trading partner. As a result, all face great economic uncertainty and the prospect of social and political upheaval.
For a week now, behind closed doors, the leading representatives of the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (SPD) have been negotiating the coalition agreement for the future German government. It is not certain whether they will reach an agreement this week. Even a failure of the negotiations is not completely out of the question. In any case, it will no longer be possible to meet the original deadline of electing CDU leader Friedrich Merz as the new chancellor before Easter.

Merz poster with graffiti Where is the firewall? (against the AfD) in the federal election campaign

The programme of the new government was actually already set on March 18, when the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) agreed to spend 1 trillion for rearmament and war. The necessary constitutional amendment was also supported by the Greens andin the upper house of parliament, the Bundesratby Die Linke/Left Party. The biggest rearmament offensive since Hitler is intended to make Germany a major military power again and ensure that the war against Russia in Ukraine continues without American support.

On these questions, there is full agreement between the CDU and SPD. If there is nevertheless friction in the coalition negotiations, it is because the enormous sums for rearmament and war are to be recouped through cuts in social spending. Here, too, the parties agree in principle, but the concrete implementation is creating considerable friction and tensions.

The SPD, which received the worst election result in its history, 16 percent, fears sinking completely into insignificance if it once again presents itself as the party of pension and social cuts. It has also pledged to put the coalition agreement to a vote by the party membership before parliament elects the new chancellor, which could fail if the officeholders, party functionaries and union bureaucrats who make up the core of the SPD membership fear for their jobs.

Many CDU supporters, meanwhile, have not forgiven the CDU for Merzs 180-degree turnaround on the debt brake, the constitutionally enshrined limit on new spending. During the election campaign, he had insisted on compliance with it, but with the trillion-euro armaments package, he has torn down all the limitations on the increase in debt. In a recent post-election survey, the party fell to 24 percent and was thus, for the first time, on a par with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which saw significant gains in the election.

The would-be coalition partners are therefore trying to find a compromise formula that allows both sides to save face. The 16 working groups, which by the end of March had listed the issues on which the SPD and the CDU/CSU agree and those on which they disagree, found little common ground, particularly on the topics of labour and social affairs and budget, taxes and finance.

The party leaders are now supposed to ensure a smooth start for the government. This is the actual task of the coalition agreement. After that, it is filed away. No German government has ever adhered to such agreements when making important decisions.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroders Agenda 2010, which initiated the most comprehensive social cuts in the history of the Federal Republic, was just as little part of the preceding coalition agreement as the billions with which Angela Merkels government saved the banks in 2008, or the special fund of 100 billion with which Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) set a new era for militarism.

Regardless of what is written in the fine print of the coalition agreement, the next government will be a government of rearmament, military aggression and class war. Business associations and economists, who set the tone in federal politics, are pushing for austerity measures now that the debt brake has been lifted in favour of defence spending.

More than 60 business associations have sent an urgent letter to the leaders of the CDU, CSU and SPD, stating, In recent weeks, the economic situation has dramatically worsened, yet the participants in the coalition negotiations appear unimpressed by these developments. The results announced so far were insufficient, and growing economic challenges were being ignored in many areas.

This letter was written before President Donald Trump announced his latest punitive tariffs, which will further exacerbate the economic situation.

In an interview with business weekly Wirtschaftswoche, the president of the Ifo Institute, Clemens Fuest, who, together with three other economists, suggested the trillion-euro armament package, explains, Either Germany produces more or we have to tighten our belts. It is an illusion that we dont have to do without anything. The expectation that we will be able to work less and less has also become outdated.

According to a report in taz, the CDU/CSU are also arguing: Anyone who has taken on so much debt especially must now save. And they know where they see this savings potential: In Burgergeld [welfare payments] and the Deutschlandticket [cheap rail fares], which should become more expensive. The pension level is to be capped, and climate subsidies and development aid are to be scrapped.

The CDU is not entirely wrong, according to taz: Germany is straining its creditworthiness with the armament debts. To maintain this, growth must increase again. The CDU wants to achieve this through investments and social cuts, as well as tax breaks for companies.

The SPD is pursuing the same capitalist logic and is merely trying to disguise it a little better. With the sell-out of the contract bargaining at Deutsche Post, and now also in the public sector at federal and municipal level, affecting more than 2.5 million employees, the Verdi trade union, which has close ties to the SPD, has already taken the first step.

The CDU/CSU and SPD agree that rearmament and war not only require massive social cuts, but also an authoritarian state that suppresses opposition to these. The working groups found little difference of opinion on this issue.

The paper of Working Group 1, Home Affairs, Justice, Migration and Integration, reads like a blueprint for a police state. We are confronting multiple threats from outside and within at a turning point in domestic security, it says in the introduction. With strengthened security, civil and disaster protection authorities, modern digital powers, new capabilities and sufficient personnel, we are launching a security offensive ...

The tension between security policy requirements and data protection requirements must be rebalanced. The powers and resources of the police and secret services are to be massively expanded. Antisemitisma synonym for criticism of the genocide against the Palestiniansis to be fought even more intensively, and to this end, in particular, the offence of incitement of the people is to be tightened.

The spearhead of the attack on democratic rights isas in Trumps USAthe intensified action against refugees and migrants. Pages and pages are filled with measures to take a different, more consistent course in migration policy and to effectively push back irregular migration. In coordination with our European neighbours ... rejections at the common borders are also to take place in the case of asylum applicationsa clear violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right to asylum.

Working Group 12, Defence, Foreign Affairs, Development, Human Rights, declares Russia to be the greatest and most direct threat to Germany. In the next few years, it will be in a position to launch an attack against us and our alliesa clear commitment to escalating the confrontation with the nuclear power. But the paper also declares China an enemy, which was trying to undermine the existing international order and replace it with the law of the jungle, in which the rights of the individual count for nothing.

For the first time since the end of the Second World War, Germany and Europe must be able to ensure security in Europe decisively themselves, the group argues. Germanys leadership responsibility is to make Europe a capable actor in foreign and security policy. The paper also invokes deep friendship with Israel and its security as part of German state policy.

The coalition negotiations and the details that have emerged so far show that the USwhere Trump is establishing a dictatorship, declaring war on the rest of the world and facing growing resistance in doing sois no exception. The deep crisis of the capitalist system is driving the ruling class in every country towards war and dictatorship. With their pro-war and pro-class-war policies, the CDU and SPD are paving the way for the far-right AfD, whose policies they are adopting more and more openly.

Only an independent movement of the international working class, combining the struggle against militarism, war and social cuts with a socialist programme to overthrow capitalism, can stop this dangerous development.
In the first week of the campaign for the May 3 Australian federal election, both the Labor government and the Liberal-National Coalition suddenly announced plans last Friday and Saturday to terminate a Chinese companys lease over the strategic northern Australian civilian port of Darwin.

A section of the Port of Darwin facility [Photo: Port of Darwin file image]

There was even a race to do so. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a local radio station on Friday to vow to end the 99-year lease if Labor wins the election, gazumping a planned declaration the next day by Coalition leader Peter Dutton.

For all the posturing over who was first, it was a revealing display of basic bipartisan political unity behind US preparations for war against China, which are being intensified by the Trump administration as it ramps up its global tariff and trade war, particularly targeting China.

A decade ago, in 2015, the Northern Territory Country Liberal Party government, backed by the then Coalition federal government, sold the long-term lease for $507 million to Chinese billionaire Ye Chengs Landbridge Group. Both Albanese and Dutton have now pledged to force Landbridge to sell the lease to an Australian-controlled entity or else their government would compulsorily acquire the port.

The strategic significance of Darwin, the only deep-water port in northern Australia, was underscored during World War II when it hosted an expanded US naval base from 1942 to 1945, out of which submarines, warships, PT boats and an aircraft carrier operated against Japan. For that reason, Darwin faced 64 Japanese air raids between February 1942 and November 1943, in which more than 200 people died.

Today, the port is even more critical to war plans. Darwin has become the hub of the transformation of northern Australia into a platform for war against China, a process deepened by the Albanese government, working closely with the Biden administration.

From the outset, Washington railed against the Darwin port lease. During the 2015 Asia Pacific Economic Community (APEC) summit in Manila, US President Barack Obama publicly reprimanded Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, insisting that the US should be given a heads-up about these sort of things.

Nevertheless, the lease survived, until now.

As recently as October 2023, Albanese backed a formal review he ordered by his department, which found it was not necessary to vary or cancel the lease. Albanese said at that time: Landbridge can continue to operate the port there wont be an intervention for any forced sale.

Likewise, a 2021 reviewcommissioned when Dutton was the Morrison Coalition governments defence ministerconcluded there were no national security grounds to terminate the arrangement.

Neither Albanese nor Dutton could explain their reversals of these previous denials that the lease represented a military threat, except to declare that the strategic circumstances had shifted, making it essential to take control over a strategic asset.

Clearly, however, the rush to scrap the lease is bound up with the Trump White Houses ever-more incendiary trade war measures against China, which successive US administrations have identified as the main economic and military threat to the dominant position that American imperialism acquired through World War II.

Yesterday, Defence Minister Richard Marles admitted at a media conference to discussing the issue with US officials. But he repeatedly refused to answer journalists questions about whether the Trump administration had pressured the Albanese government to end the lease to the Chinese firm.

Marles insisted that all such discussions must remain confidentialthat is, hidden from the view of the working class.

What is known is that Marles visited the US in early February and met senior officials, including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who recently visited the Philippines and Japan to dramatically escalate Washingtons preparations for war with China.

Highlighting the Darwin decision, Newsweek reported that US officials were increasingly concerned by the port lease agreement since the re-election of President Donald Trump.

The American news magazine also noted that the ending of the lease came after a US nuclear-powered submarine made a stopover near the port last month, drawing attention to the port lease contract.

The USS Minnesota, a Virginia-class fast-attack submarine, made the highly visible visit to Darwin on March 27, mooring alongside the submarine tender USS Emory S. Land, triggering heightened security measures around the citys harbour.

Such visits by potentially nuclear-armed submarines and other US warships are also occurring with increasing frequency at the Stirling naval base near Perth in Western Australia. It is being expanded to host the AUKUS submarines, which are due for use against China over the next decade.

Key to the AUKUS pact is Australias acquisition of long-range nuclear-powered submarines from the US, before jointly building a new design with the UK, at a staggering combined cost of $368 billion.

The cancellation of the Darwin lease is part of a wider move by Washington to seize control of vital ports globally. It came just after the Trump administration coerced the Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison to sell two ports at either end of the Panama Canal to a BlackRock-led consortium.

In the Indo-Pacific, as everywhere, the fascistic Trump regime is escalating previous war preparations. In December, Bidens Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III announced plans to ramp up the US forces in Darwin, declaring China to be a threat to peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific.

The increased US presence includes the deployment of the most potent strike assets of the US Air Forcebomber task forces, fighter jets and other aircrafttogether with navy and army capabilities, and the use of Darwins harbour services for vessels, equipment, exercises and logistics, and to resupply.

These war preparations, already underway, include constructing expanded runways and other facilities at the Australian air force base in Darwin, and the Tindal air force base, south of Darwin, to accommodate six B-52 nuclear-armed bombers, and building a $156-million facility at Darwin Port to store about 80 million gallons of fuel.

As these developments show, Australia will be automatically involved in all US military operations, including wars, in the Indo-Pacific. The US spying and war planning facility of Pine Gap in central Australia also plays a central role in American surveillance and military operations throughout the region.

Labor governments have long been in the forefront of such plans, acting on behalf of the Australian capitalist class, not just US imperialism. Australia is an imperialist power, albeit a more minor one. It prosecutes its predatory economic and geo-political interests internationally, and especially throughout the Pacific region. As a secondary power, Australia has always operated under the aegis of a more powerful imperialist protector: before 1941 the British Empire, and since then, the United States.

In 2011, the Greens-backed minority Gillard Labor government signed up to the Obama administrations pivot to Asia, including a vast military build-up in preparation for war against China. At that stage, the centrepiece was the establishment of a US Marine base in Darwin, through which up to 2,500 US Marines now rotate for six months each year.

Albaneses government has taken this to a new level. Its Defence Strategic Review, released in April 2023, repudiated previous military doctrines, nominally based on the defence of the Australian continent. Instead, the military would need impactful projection throughout the Indo-Pacific, combined with a whole-of-society war effort.

Backed by the Coalition, the Labor government has also fully supported Israels intensifying genocide in Gaza, as part of its backing for US-led imperialist wars globally, as well as the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, aiding Kievs fascistic regime.

On every aspect of war there is not a slither of difference between Labor and the Coalition, as the Darwin port takeover vows further demonstrate. Whatever their anxious efforts to distance themselves from Trumps catastrophic agenda, at least until after the election, they are both committed to this path, and to inflicting the burden of war on the working class via deep cuts to social programs in order to vastly increase military spending.

The Socialist Equality Party candidates in this election are the only ones exposing and opposing Australias transformation into a frontline state for war with China. This plunge into war demonstrates the urgency of workers and young people joining the fight to build an international anti-war movement of the working class, directed against the source of war, the capitalist system itself.

In our election statement, we say:

End the genocide in Gaza, and the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine!

No more spending on militarism! The billions squandered on war must immediately be redirected to the public hospitals, schools and other social services.

Close the military bases that are transforming Australia into a launching pad for war!

Build a socialist anti-war movement that unites workers worldwide against the source of conflict, the capitalist system!



Authorised by Cheryl Crisp for the Socialist Equality Party, Level 1/457-459 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills, NSW, 2010, Australia.
To join the IYSSE, fill out the form at the bottom of this article.

Members of Columbia University's student workers union and their supporters protest the detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and recent actions taken by the Trump administration against the university, Friday, March 14, 2025, in New York. [AP Photo/Jason DeCrow]

Last month, Columbia began targeting dozens of students for expulsion, suspension and degree revocation for participating in the campus occupations last year. Students opposed to the genocide in Gaza occupied Hamilton Hall, which they renamed Hinds Hall.

The total brazenness of this move was such that the university even expelled the president of the graduate student union, Grant Miner of the Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers (SWC-UAW). Miner was expelled the day before the union, whose contract expires June 30, was set to begin bargaining with the university. It demonstrates the close connection between the attack on antiwar students and plans for massive attacks against poverty-stricken graduate students, and the working class as a whole.

The fact that Miner is one of many Jewish students targeted by government and university administration officials around the country totally exposes the attempt to smear opposition to the genocide as motivated by antisemitism.

The International Youth and Students for Social Equality in New York and New Jersey demands the immediate reinstatement of Miner and the dropping of all procedures against students for exercising their free speech rights to oppose war, including Mahmoud Khalil, who was abducted and disappeared by ICE agents on March 8 in front of his pregnant wife at their home.

Mahmoud Khalil, Grant Miner [Photo: APTed Shaffer/BTnewsroom]

Everyones democratic rights are at stake. We urge mass action by the working class, including protests and strike action, across the country to force an end to Trumps plan for dictatorship. In particular, we urge autoworkers across the country to take up the defense of their brothers and sisters on the campuses.

Columbia University is acting in concert with the fascistic Trump administration. The moves came less than a week after the arrest of Khalil, a former SWC-UAW member.

Trump is unleashing a reign of terror on college campuses, with the complete compliance of university administrators at Columbia and other universities. Last week, the WSWS explained that Trump is implementing an American version of Gleichschaltungthe Nazis synchronization of all elements of intellectual and cultural life, including the revision of university programs and the purging of scholars, to correspond with state ideology. Without even the threat of SS troops, university administrations are facilitating Trumps demands and functioning as junior partners.

The mass opposition to Trump, expressed in the hundreds of thousands who took to the streets nationwide last Saturday, must be developed as a class movement of the working class against oligarchy and dictatorship. Already, there is growing realization that opposing Trump cannot take place through toothless appeals to the Democrats or courts which the White House ignores at will, but only through class struggle methods. Columbia students have issued a call and petition for all university employees to go on strike.

Such a movement can only be built, however, through a rebellion against the corrupt trade union bureaucracy. Having spent decades working with management to impose sellouts and mass layoffs, their response to Trump varies from surrender to outright collaboration. Workers must organize themselves through rank-and-file committees and not wait for official approval from above that will never come.

Outside of a handful of campus protests and a statement posted to Twitter/X, the UAW has done nothing to mobilize its more than 300,000 members to defend its own members, and even officials, being targeted on Columbia and other campuses. Meanwhile, the UAW administration of President Shawn Fain loudly and openly embraces Trumps right-wing America First nationalism.

Fain claims that trade war, which will lead to economic collapse whose costs will be borne by workers, as a major step in the right direction for autoworkers and blue-collar communities across the country. Instead of the international unity of the working class, expressed in the age-old slogan, Workers of the World, Unite! the bureaucracy embraces Trumps America First policies and pits workers of different countries against each other.

These measures, if not stopped by the working class, will lead not only to trade war, but a Third World War. But Fain would have workers believe that this would be good for jobs! In a recent interview with CBS, he said, People forget this lesson in World War II  they took the excess capacity of all the automotive manufacturing plants in the country, and produced tanks and planes and bombs and engines and all those things. And its no different right now. We have excess capacity. They could bring work back in very short order.

Fain claims that it is possible to combine support for Trumps fascist economic policies and for war with opposition to fascist attacks on students and immigrants as a whole. This is nonsense. In reality, Fains support for tariffs expresses in the most concentrated form the hostility of the bureaucracy to the workers they claim to represent.

Fain and the UAW are helping to impose thousands of layoffs in the auto industry after passing a contract in 2023 under false pretenses. At Columbia, the bargaining committee defied rank-and-file opposition to push a contract with cuts in real wages and a no-strike clause following two historic strikes by student workers.

When the UAW was compelled last year by rank-and-file anger to call a strike of University of California graduate students against the attacks on student protesters, the bureaucracy did everything to limit and undermine the strike by subordinating it to the Democratic Party, which was jointly carrying out these attacks with the Republicans.

Today, the UAW is opposed to mass action even in defense of its own members, and is promoting fatal illusions in appealing to the coterie of Wall Street figures who run Columbia. In late March, the UAW sent a letter to university president Katrina Armstrongwho has since stepped downand Board of Trustee co-chairs Claire Shipman, who took over for Armstrong as Interim President, and David Greenwald, urging the University to stand with us against the Trump administration. As though the university, a multi-billion-dollar business in its own right, has not already made clear where its loyalties lie!

A real fight against fascism requires above all that the working class assert its independence from the entire corporate political establishment and their enablers in the union bureaucracy. The bureaucracy cannot be reformed from within or pressured to fight. It must be overthrown and replaced with new organs of workers power, rank-and-file committees, which are composed of workers themselves and are based on a strategy of an international fight against the profit system which is producing dictatorship.

This essential struggle will remove the straitjacket being imposed on workers and enable them to forge a powerful international movement, uniting with workers across the world facing similar attacks.

Two years ago, Fain was brought in as a reform president, in an operation to restore the credibility of the bureaucracy after a massive corruption scandal. But yesterdays reformer has turned out to be todays fascist collaborator. This proves the bureaucracys policies are determined by its well-heeled social interests and six-figure salaries which depend on their ties to management and the state.

These attacks cannot be fought on isolated campuses alone. Academic workers and students must establish links with workers throughout New York City and across the country, including factory workers in Detroit.

In 2022, socialist autoworker Will Lehman ran against Fain on a platform of building rank-and-file committees and abolishing the UAW bureaucracy. In response to the attacks on Columbia students, he declared: The attacks the Trump administration are carrying out against immigrants, students and workers are unbound from legality and constitutionally protected democratic rights. The trade union bureaucracies, including that of the UAW, are not simply failing to recognize the threat of these attacks, they have different class interests from our own and their political perspective corresponds with those separate class interests.

That is why Shawn Fain is aligned with Trumps nationalist policies against the international working class. That is why if there will be any fight back it needs to be led by those who are oriented to the international working class, against nationalist, capitalist forces. We are stronger as an international class, but we must recognize that strength and to act on it. That is how we can fight back and win.




BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The Minister of Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, has met with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the publication of the minister on X said, Trend reports.

During our visit to Pakistan, we were pleased to meet with the Deputy Prime Minister of this country, Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar. We discussed issues on the agenda of joint activities of our countries in the economic sphere, projects providing for stimulation of mutual investments, energy cooperation, and strengthening trade ties, the publication reads.
Are you a Dundee or other autoworker? Send us a report on conditions in your plant, by filling out the form at the end of this article.

A 63-year-old skilled tradesman at the Stellantis engine plant in Dundee, Michigan was killed early Monday morning when he was crushed by a mechanical arm that pinned him against a conveyor on the assembly line. According to his co-workers, the victim of the tragic incident was Ronnie Adams, a Detroit resident.

Ronald Adams Sr. and his widow, Shamenia Stewart-Adams [Photo by Adams Family ]

A statement from the Monroe County Sheriffs office said deputies arrived at the plant around 1:25 a.m. and found the man was seriously injured by a machine while working on the assembly line. Adams was taken to the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor and was later pronounced dead.

Our family is deeply saddened to announce the unexpected passing of my husband Ronald E. Adams Sr. [Ronnie Adams], Shamenia Stewart-Adams posted. Please keep us lifted in your prayers as we prepare for the days ahead of us. We will release more details when they become available.

Adams was a highly skilled worker who was previously an aircraft mechanic at Delta Airlines and its predecessor, Northwest Airlines, according to his Facebook page.

Adams was apparently part of a small crew of skilled trades and other workers retooling the factory and preparing to restart production later this year, according to United Auto Workers officials, who provided no further information about the deadly incident.

The Dundee Engine Complex is currently undergoing a $150 million retooling to produce new engines and battery trays for gas-powered, battery powered electric and hybrid Jeep and Dodge brand vehicles.

Stellantis, whose stock value has plunged by two-thirds over the last year, is already facing production cutbacks in the US due to a shortage of engines from its Saltillo, Mexico plant, which will only worsen as the full force of Trumps tariffs hit. It is not clear whether the company was cutting corners to finish the Dundee retooling and move up the launch of the already delayed new 1.6-liter, I-4 turbocharged engines for Dodge and Jeep vehicles.

When you rush a retool, someone is going to get hurt, one of hundreds of production workers laid off for retooling told the World Socialist Web Site. When I was there, we valued safety and repairmen had to lock out the machines before doing maintenance on them. This is very sad. I want to know what happened.

In March 2023, he said, some 400 of the 700 workers at the plant were laid off. Some were lucky, but some of us have been out of work for more than two years. Some of us got shipped to other plants where we learned quickly that we didnt have enough seniority to keep working. Im living off SUB pay, some unemployment benefits, and lots of dead-end jobs.

Referring to Trumps tariffs, he said, We are all worried. All this talk about American made makes the auto industry in the US look like a dying industry. I worried that after 15 years, I could be out of a job.

United Auto Workers Local 723 Vice President Chris Sharpe told the Detroit News that local and international UAW officials were at the plant Monday morning looking into the fatal accident. In a perfunctory statement, union officials said, The UAW is extremely saddened by the loss of a fellow member of our union family at Dundee Engine last night. An investigation into this incident is now underway. We will share more once we understand what happened, but for now, we ask everyone to keep our members family in their hearts and prayers.

Workers can place no confidence in any investigation by the UAW bureaucracy. Instead, they should organize a rank-and-file committee, made up of the most trusted and militant workers, to investigate every aspect of this tragedy, expose the truth, ban forced overtime and oversee safety conditions.

For decades, the UAW apparatus has collaborated with corporate management to boost production and profits at the expense of the lives and limbs of rank-and-file workers. The various labor-management safety committees and other schemes are completely subordinated to cost-cutting and speed up, enforced by every level of the UAW apparatus. This will only intensify as UAW President Shawn Fain collaborates with Trumps trade war policies and plans to reshore production based on a ruthless attack on wages and working conditions.

Dundee workers have had a particularly bitter experience with such treachery. When the factory was opened in 2005-06, under a joint venture by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Hyundai Motor Company and DaimlerChrysler Corporation, known as Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA), the UAW bureaucracy agreed to a separate, substandard contract from other Detroit Three automakers.

In 2010, 99 percent of the 400 workers at the plant voted to be part of the 2011 national contract covering Chrysler workers. Behind the scenes, however, local union officials enforced managements critical status schedules of 12-hour, seven-day workweeks indefinitely.

In August 2012, Dundee workers voted by 73 percent to reject the UAW-backed local contract, which allowed the company to bypass language in the national contract that placed certain limits on forced overtime.

This was part of a growing rebellion of autoworkers against the two-tier wages the UAW agreed to as part of Obamas 2009 bankruptcy restructuring. Far from calling a strike at the critical engine plant, the UAW forced workers to revote on the sellout contract with one International UAW official telling Dundee workers to suck it up and work forced overtime.

Autoworkers walking out at FCA Dundee Engine Plant in Dundee, Michigan, March 18, 2020 [Photo]

Today, it is virtually routine for skilled trades workers to labor up to 70 hours a week.

The disdain for workers health and lives was on full display as UAW officials worked with management to keep production going as the deadly COVID-19 virus spread through the factories. This forced Dundee workers to join the wave of March 2020 wildcat strikes by Stellantis workers in Toledo, Detroit, Windsor and other locations, which forced the two-month shutdown of the auto industry that saved countless lives.

A month before the 2023 labor agreement expired for 150,000 GM, Ford and Stellantis workers, UAW President Shawn Fain did nothing to stop the layoff of the entire Dundee workforce and other factories as a means of intimidating workers. Collaborating with Biden, Fain then organized his bogus Stand Up strike, which resulted in a contract that paved the way for massive job cuts, job overloading and deadly factory conditions.

Adams is the second Stellantis worker in recent months whose life has been sacrificed to corporate profit. In August 2024, 53-year-old Antonio Gaston, who had been transferred from Belvidere, Illinois to the Toledo Jeep Complex was crushed to death on the Jeep Gladiator assembly line.

The UAW bureaucracy did nothing to expose the conditions that led to the death of the father of four because they were complicit in creating them. The only outcome of the investigation was a $16,131 fine from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which the multi-billion-dollar corporation has contested.

On Monday, several Toledo Jeep workers who spoke to the WSWS immediately associated the death of the Dundee worker with Antonio Gastons death last summer. A 10-year veteran Toledo Jeep worker said, He got crushed working on the line. Shawn Fain does not give a damn about us. We had the same thing happen here last summer. That was the first time since I started working here that we had a death inside the facility. I know the terrible emotional toll it takes on workers and the baggage those workers go through.

Referring to Fains support for Trumps tariffs, the laid off Dundee worker concluded, Hes a wolf in sheeps clothing, and hes been unclothed. Fain sold everybody a dream only to sell us out. I supported Will Lehman in the election, he was fighting for everybody, the worker said, referring to the Pennsylvania Mack Trucks worker and socialist who fought to abolish the UAW bureaucracy, transfer power to shop-floor workers and unite US workers with their class brothers internationally against the transnational corporations and the profit system.

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Latin America

Thousands of workers participate in protests across Chile against Boric administration

On Thursday, April 3 thousands rallied in Santiago and other cities in Chile denouncing the Boric administrations broken promises on wages, working conditions, education and health.

The workers were participating in a one-day protest strike, called by the Central Workers Union (CUT) apparatus to let off steam, without engaging in any real struggle.

On wages, the workers demand an increase in the monthly minimum wage from 535 to 760 US dollars, for a 40-hour week; currently the full-time workweek is set at 45 hours.

President Gabriel Boric after signing law broadening power of preventive detention on December 6 [Photo: Voceria de Gobierno de Chile]

In addition, the workers demand an end to the private pension system imposed in 1981 by the Pinochet dictatorship, placing workers retirement at the mercy of financial hedge funds. Workers and retirees are currently very skeptical of a recently approved reform, a so-called mixed system that essentially leaves workers contributions in the hands of vulture funds, and does little for those already retired.

Also demonstrating were teachers and health workers, protesting against budget cuts imposed by the governments austerity policies.

Brazil sees Red April struggles over land reform

On April 4, over 600 peasant families, members of the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST), occupied mining lands in eastern province of Minas Gerais demanding that the Lula administration expropriate land and carry out its long-promised land reform. The families intend to use the occupied land for homes and agriculture.

Two days later, some 800 families occupied the Santa Teresa sugar plantation surrounding the plant by the same name. Santa Teresa employs 9,000 workers and is facing bankruptcy in Golana in Pernambuco Province in the eastern Amazonian region. Santa Teresa was illegally appropriated by the Joao Santos group during the last dictatorship. The MST aims to transform it and other latifundia in the State into sustainable food-producing farms under the countrys land reform law.

With these two occupations, the MST peasants opened up the annual Abril Rojo (Red April) protests, initiating a month of occupations and protests.

Despite repeated assurances, the Lula administration has done nothing to advance its promised land reform. According to the MST, about 65,000 peasant families are landless and living precariously. Since 2023, under Lula, only 723 families have been granted land under the terms of the Land Reform Act.

The MST insists that the occupation of land in this, and other regions of Brazil is a legal act that accords with present legislation and the Brazilian constitution. The governor of Minas Gerais, Remeu Zema denounce the MST as a criminal group and threatened violent repression.

Red April commemorates the death of 15 MST members in 1996, executed during a peaceful rally, known today as the Eldorado do Carajas Massacre.

Panama teachers strike against Social Security law

On April 3 and 4 Panamanian educators went on a 48-hour strike demanding the repeal of Social Security Fund legislation (Law 462), which represents a brutal attack on workers and their families.

The government of President Jose Raul Murino proposes to privatize Social Security pensions.

A spokesperson for the Association of Teachers of Panama (ASOPROF), specified that the strike opposes the governments project, which ends the Social Security entitlement (solidarity-based benefit accounts) and creates individual investment accounts, managed by financial vulture funds.

In addition, the new law raises the retirement age by three years. Considering the high cost of living, teachers estimate that their pensions would not provide enough for retired teachers and other workers to live decently.

Panamas education minister, Lucy Molinar, threatened striking teachers, declaring that their salaries would not be paid.

Teachers are set to strike on April 10, this time indefinitely, unless the Social Security retirement benefit remains at it was before the new legislation.

United States

Potential tentative agreement for faculty at ISU could leave separate lab workers unit isolated

Illinois State University (ISU) reached a tentative contract April 4 heading off a strike by the union representing 650 tenured and tenure-track faculty after some 50 negotiating sessions over the last year. ISU management and the United Faculty of ISU union, which is seeking its first contract, will not release details of the agreement until after an April 18 ratification vote.

The agreement comes in the wake of a recent favorable decision by an administrative law judge with the Illinois Educational Labor Board over a petition by 150 workers seeking union representation at one of two lab schools run by ISU  the University High School in Normal. A final decision by the labor board is expected before the end of the school year.

The Lab School Education Association (LSEA), which represents the 150 workers, has been struggling for the last year to gain union recognition against significant resistance by ISU. The two bargaining units have been conducting their struggles separately.

Speaking to WGLT, social studies teacher Kate Pole and organizer for LSEA, said, Im nervous, as I look at what appears to be ISU pushing really hard against a much larger faculty [union]. And I wonder, considering how weve been delayed a year in terms of recognition, what does that mean for us and our future when we start bargaining?

Connecticut nursing home workers rally at capital for Medicaid funding

Nursing home workers rallied at the Connecticut state capital in Hartford to press the governor and legislature to increase Medicaid rates to fund some 50 long-term care homes as a means to facilitate bargaining for higher wages. About 73 percent of nursing home residents are on Medicaid and this population is increasing and will require increased staffing in coming years.

Back in 2021, the legislature passed a four-year agreement that increased funding to nursing home companies that provided minimal wage increases of 4.5 percent in 2022 and 6.2 percent in 2023 for workers. No wage increases were provided for in the last two years of that agreement.

The Service Employees International Union Local 1199 is channeling workers behind a petition to press their demands.

13,000 Quebec daycare workers extend 3-day strike

Thousands of education workers as well as kitchen and office staff employed at over 400 early childhood care centers in the Montreal and Laval regions have extended a three-day strike that began last week to now include an additional two days.

The walkout is the third limited strike held by the workers over the past three months. The strikers, members of the Federation de la sante et des services sociaux (FSSS), voted late last year for a strike mandate of five separate days of job action at their choosing. The main issues in the contract dispute are pay, workload, bonuses for workers in the regions and support for children with special needs.

Workers have now voted by 91 percent to renew their unions mandate to include an indefinite strike should no progress be made at the bargaining table. To date, the Quebec government has submitted contract offers well short of the strikers demands.

Currently, the salary of a qualified childcare worker is $21.60 an hour at the entry level. It rises to $28.60 at the 10th level, then $30.03 after one year at level 10. The Treasury Board for the provincial government has promoted an unsatisfactory 17.4 percent wage rise spread out over five years and have demanded concessions on the organization of daycare work.

British Columbia LifeLab technicians continue strike

British Columbia medical technicians picket LifeLabs [Photo: British Columbia General Employees Union]

One thousand two hundred medical technicians working in 129 testing laboratories across British Columbia are in the eighth week of a rotating strike to press their demands for wage equity with hospital-based lab technicians and for better health and safety protections and scheduling processes. Technicians at LifeLabs in the province are paid between 4 and 16 per cent less than hospital workers who perform the same job.

The technicians are organized by the BC General Employees Union. After working without a contract since last April, workers voted by 98 percent for job action this past November.

Due to provincially mandated essential services regulations, workers are required to rotate their strike activity. LifeLabs is one of the largest diagnostic results companies in Canada. In the province, the company provides services for over 7 million patients annually.
Will Lehman at the UAW bargaining convention, March 27, 2023

It has now been more than nine months since a federal judge ruled that the Department of Labor (DOL) acted arbitrarily and capriciously in dismissing complaints of systematic voter suppression in the 2022-23 United Auto Workers (UAW) national elections. Yet under first Biden and now Trump, the Department of Labor has refused to issue any response, in defiance of the courts order.

In June 2024, Judge David Lawson ordered the Department of Labor to reconsider the complaints filed by Mack Trucks worker and socialist UAW presidential candidate Will Lehman, who charged that the 2022 electionwhich brought current president Shawn Fain into officehad been fundamentally undemocratic.

Lawsons ruling was a sweeping rebuke of the Biden administrations attempt to whitewash an election in which fewer than 10 percent of eligible UAW members participatedthe lowest turnout for a national union election in US history. Lawson characterized the Justice Departments reasoning in rejecting Lehmans appeal as grounded in an arbitrary and capricious construction of the Election Rules that is not supported by their plain text or the prevailing case law.

Despite the courts order, the Biden administration took no action during the remainder of its seven months in office, and the Trump administration has continued the DOLs policy of refusing to abide by the court order.

On January 27, 2025, Lehmans attorney wrote to the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), requesting an update on the case, asking, When can we anticipate the Departments findings will be made available? The agency responded four days later, stating only: OLMS is still actively working on the investigation.

After receiving no further updates, Lehmans attorney, Eric Lee, sent another email on February 12, expressing concern over the extended delay in responding to Lawsons ruling and stating it had become objectively unreasonable.

Lees February email also pointed to the broader political context in which the delay is taking place:

My client Will Lehman and I are naturally concerned about the actions Elon Musk is taking to disrupt the work of the Department of Labor. First, we would like to inquire whether Mr. Lehmans case will be delayed as a result of the actions of Mr. Musk and his associates in DOGE. As you know, Mr. Lehmans case was remanded to the Secretary of Labor for further proceedings on June 25, 2024. That order was entered after Mr. Lehman prevailed in federal court on a challenge to the Department of Labors prior handling of his case. It is now February 12, 2025. We are concerned that the duration of this delay is already objectively unreasonable, and we are naturally concerned about the prejudicial impact of further delays. Second, we would like to confirm that no information about the case or the investigation will be disclosed to Mr. Musk or any DOGE representative. We understand that a temporary order has [been] issued blocking access to Labor Department data by such individuals, and we think Mr. Lehmans case would be subject to that order as well. It is our position that the whole enterprise of Mr. Musk and his accomplices is categorically illegal, and that no data of any kind relating to Mr. Lehmans case should be disclosed to Mr. Musk or DOGE. If any such data is disclosed, we would request to be informed so that we can seek appropriate relief.

The DOL has not responded in the nearly two months since this email was sent.

The UAW bureaucracy responded with open hostility to Lehmans campaign, which won widespread support from the rank and file. Lehman, who called for the abolition of the bureaucracy and the transfer of power to the rank and file, received nearly 5,000 votes despite the systematic efforts to disenfranchise workers.

Out of 1.1 million eligible members, only 104,776 ballots were cast. Shawn Fain, now president of the union, was elected with only 6 percent of the eligible vote and as little as 3 percent of the vote from rank-and-file workers.

Fain, who was promoted as a reformer, has since presided over an escalating assault on autoworkers. In 2023, the UAW organized fraudulent stand-up strikes among Big Three autoworkers, which left the overwhelming majority of workers on the job. The strikes were shut down on the basis of contracts that paved the way for mass layoffs.

At the same time, Fains administration has functioned ever more openly as a political appendage of the state. During the 2024 election, Fain backed Biden and then Harris, championing the UAW as the arsenal of democracy, amid the genocide in Gaza and the attacks on student protesters.

With the election of Trump, Fain has moved to align himself with the fascistic government of oligarchs. In recent weeks, Fain has praised Trumps tariffs, economic nationalism and protectionist policies, while making the mildest criticisms of the administrations plans to deport millions, strip workers of collective bargaining rights, and criminalize dissent. The UAW has also done nothing to defend studentsmany of them UAW memberswho are being targeted for protesting the genocide in Gaza.

The recent financial filings by the UAW expose the social basis of the bureaucracys alignment with the ruling class against workers. The unions assets rose to over $1.1 billion in 2024. While the union paid out only $11 million in strike benefits last year, it spent nearly 10 times that$109.9 millionon salaries and disbursements for its bloated apparatus centered at Solidarity House. The top 15 officials alone received $3.2 million, including $274,407 for President Fain.

Lehmans campaign gave voice to a widespread desire for rank-and-file control and a growing political radicalization among the working class. It demanded the dismantling of the bureaucracy, the defense of workers democratic rights, and the building of a political movement of the working class, independent of both capitalist parties. The continued stonewalling by the Department of Labor underscores once again the need for workers to build new organizations of struggle, independent of the union apparatus and the state.
The actions of the fascistic US administration of President Donald Trump, including his program of a massive trade war and of stepped-up militarism around the globe, are fuelling anxiety and opposition among ordinary people in Australia, as well as internationally.

Royal Australian Navy submarines and ship [Photo: Facebook/Royal Australian Navy]

Resolve polling last week found that an estimated 60 percent of the Australian population is hostile to Trump and what he represents. That polling also indicated that Trumps ascension had deepened already existing popular opposition to the AUKUS pact with the US and the UK, under which Australia is to acquire nuclear-powered submarines from America. A significant number of respondents linked this sentiment to fears of a US war with China.

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is standing in the Australian federal elections to provide such anti-war sentiments with a perspective and program that represents the interests of the working class in this country and worldwide. Trumps policies are not those of an individual but are an expression of the bankruptcy of capitalism globally, which is once again creating the conditions for a catastrophic world war while reproducing all the barbarism of the 1930s, from economic crisis to mass poverty, fascism and dictatorship. Trump, in other words, is not the disease but one of its most malignant symptoms.

The fight to build a socialist, anti-war movement of the working class requires a struggle against political traps that seek to divert the anti-AUKUS, anti-Trump and anti-war sentiments of broad layers of the population back behind the political establishment, the Australian state and the capitalist system itself.

Since the US, UK, and Australian governments signed the AUKUS pact in 2021, a de facto anti-AUKUS movement has been cultivated, bringing together former leading representatives of the Labor and Liberal parties, sections of the Greens, the trade union bureaucracy, and the pseudo-left.

This tendency presents the AUKUS pact for nuclear-powered submarines as an aberration and a tactical error by Australian governments, rather than as one component of an eruption of imperialist militarism globally and of Australias role in it. The anti-AUKUS movement calls for the scrapping of the submarine deal, but has no opposition to war. Instead it proposes its own, slight variant of a military build-up.

It speaks, not for working people, but for a wing of the ruling elite. That wing is fearful of the implications of full-scale Australian participation in a US-led war against China, because China remains Australias largest export market. This layer of the ruling class is also deeply concerned that a massive war would threaten social and political upheavals by the working class domestically.

It is no accident that the figureheads of the anti-AUKUS movement are some of the most right-wing, establishment and militarist politicians, including former Labor prime minister Paul Keating, former Labor foreign ministers Bob Carr and Gareth Evans. These are all figures who, during their time in office, were intimately involved in US-led wars and military preparations. So too was another anti-AUKUS figure, former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Turnbull has, over recent weeks, waged something of a campaign, calling for Australia to untether its foreign policy interests from those of the Trump administration. He is pitching to ruling class concerns over the destabilising consequences of Trumps trade war policies, against friends and foes alike, and the broader breakdown of the post-World War II order of which these actions are a part.

Last week, Turnbull held a conference to advance his calls for a more independent foreign policy and then delivered an address to the National Press Club.

Some of the speakers at Turnbulls conference pointed to the far-reaching and historic character of what is underway.

For instance, Dr Heather Smith, a top government bureaucrat and security analyst declared: The fragmentation of the international economic system is now a fact. The post-Cold War order isnt collapsing; it has collapsed. The US is dismantling the foundations of its global hegemony, along with the norms and values that have underpinned the US-Australia relationship. Smith stated this was an irreversible process, which would not change whatever occurred in Washington.

But what was her answer as a representative of the Australian state? It was that there must be an urgent discussion in the political elite over how to position Australia in this new dog-eat-dog world. That means an even greater military build-up than the one already underway, with defence spending already sitting at a record $56 billion per year.

And that was Turnbulls essential message in his National Press Club address. Making clear that his is not some conversion away from militarism, he framed his speech with a favourable outline of his governments 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, which had deepened an Australian military and strategic build-up directed against China, in league with the US.

Trump, Turnbull noted, was blowing up alliances that had been in place for decades. In these conditions, Australian sovereignty, sovereign autonomy, has never been so important. And yet in recent years it has never been so diminished. That was a reference to the ever deeper integration of the US and Australian militaries under the Albanese Labor government, including the stationing of advanced US strike capabilities in the north and west of the continent.

But Turnbull was explicit that he was proposing a recalibration of the alliance, not some sort of struggle against American militarism. He stated: This does not mean that we will not have shared interests with the United States. A key one will be to encourage the US to remain engaged in our region - not as the dominant hegemon as it was thirty years ago, those days are passed, quite a while ago - but as a balancing force to China.

The references to balance are a fantasy. All of the lessons of history demonstrate that a declining imperial hegemon does not sail into the night quietly, much less engage in an endless balancing act with its perceived rivals. The real outcome of such a process is war. By calling for the US to remain engaged in the region, Turnbull was demonstrating that when it comes down to it, he would back a US war against China.

The greater part of his speech was dedicated to warnings over the AUKUS submarine pact. But again, this was nothing to do with anti-war principles. Instead, he repeatedly stated that the submarines would likely never arrive, due to the limited capacity of the US naval shipbuilding sector. An American president would be compelled to divert the AUKUS subs to the US Navy, whatever their subjective intentions, Turnbull declared.

And so, Australia would have to start making plans and acquisitions now, for alternative submarines as well as other offensive capabilities. That is not an opposition to a military build-up. In fact, it is a warning that AUKUS will not result in a real military build-up, and so a plan B is required.

The Greens have echoed the line of Turnbull. On the eve of the announcement of the election, they outlined their first costed military program, a $4 billion plan to build intermediate and medium range missiles, as well as drones.

While Greens representatives presented these as defensive capabilities, missiles in the north of Australia, which could fire far into the Indo-Pacific, are of plainly aggressive character. They dovetail with the military expansion that has already taken place, directed against China.

The pseudo-left component of the anti-AUKUS movement is trailing in the wake of Turnbull and the Greens. Socialist Alliance, for instance, has called for Australian military spending to be halved. But that means that this fake-left party, which claims to be anti-war, accepts and supports annual military spending of at least $28 billion!

In a period of war, such as that which we have entered, every pro-capitalist and nationalist political organisation lines up with their own state and military behind the national interest. That is the significance of the strange bedfellows that comprise the anti-AUKUS movement, ranging from Liberals, to Laborites, to Greens and even phoney socialists.

The only way that war can be fought is through a rejection of nationalism and a fight to unify the working class internationally. Australia is an imperialist power, with its own predatory ambitions, particularly in the South Pacific. The working class has no interest in such operations, which are inevitably combined with attacks on social spending, to pay for the war machine, and a crackdown on democratic rights, to suppress anti-war sentiments.

Instead, workers must unite with their class brothers and sisters internationally, who have the same fundamental interests, for a peaceful world, organised on the basis of social need, not corporate profit and the associated scramble for resources and markets. That means the fight against war and its manifestations is a fight for international socialism.

Authorised by Cheryl Crisp for the Socialist Equality Party, Level 1/457-459 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills, NSW, 2010, Australia.
The first regional side event of the INMerge Innovation Summit, organized by PASHA Holding, was successfully held in Georgia.

With the support of PASHA Bank Georgia, the first regional side event of the INMerge Innovation Summit, organized by PASHA Holding, was successfully concluded in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. The event brought together over 150 participants, including leading entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem stakeholders, creating an engaging environment for discussions on corporate innovation, startup development, and investment opportunities.

One of the highlights of the event was the panel discussion on Innovation for Business Growth  Bridging Corporate Strategy and Ecosystem Dynamics. Moderated by Maka Gvritishvili - Head of the Business Development Department at PASHA Bank Georgia, the discussion featured esteemed experts, including Pedro Santos Vieira - Partner at 500 Global, Iro Tsagareishvili - Managing Director at AXEL  Georgian Business Angel Network, Nino Chedia - Managing Director at United Payment Georgia, Zviad Tsotskolauri - CEO at Signify, and Lika Merabishvili - Regional Director for the Caucasus at StrategEast. The panel explored the role of innovation in business growth and emphasized the importance of building stronger connections between corporate strategies and the startup ecosystem.

Another key highlight was the INbattle startup competition, designed to showcase Georgias most promising startups. Over 50 startups applied for the competition, generating great interest. Following a thorough selection process, 10 startups were chosen to present their solutions to the jury, with one winning startup selected as a result.

Following the successful event, PASHA Holding is committed to transforming the INMerge Innovation Summit into a truly regional platform, with upcoming events planned for Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and other countries.

It's worth mentioning that the INMerge Innovation Summit will be held in Baku in September, with further details about the event to be shared soon.

For more information about the event, please visit www.inmerge.az.
Rep. Nancy Mace talks to reporters at a Richland County GOP event on Jan. 27, 2025. (Shaun Chornobroff/SC Daily Gazette)

One of the four men U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace publicly accused of being a sexual predator was arrested Tuesday on unrelated charges of stalking and harassment, according to police and jail records.

Eric Bowman, 45, turned himself in to Sullivans Island Police at 5 a.m. Tuesday at the Charleston County jail, where he was booked, according to a release from Police Chief Glenn Meadows.

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Bowman, who lives on Sullivans Island, denied the allegations in a post to his X account Monday night.

The software developer said the charges came from his estranged wife, who he claimed he has not spoken to since November 2023. He continued to criticize her on X after he got out of jail, calling the accusations weaponized law enforcement.

He was released at 1:40 p.m. following a hearing that set bond at $5,000 for each charge, according to the jail website.

Sullivans Island police will not name the victim, Meadows said.

According to a heavily redacted copy of the police report, the charges stem from a tracking device the victims father found on her vehicle last July, while they were in New York, which he removed and wrapped in tin foil. Sullivans Island police took over the case in September. The investigation included reaching out to the devices manufacturer in October. The State Law Enforcement Division was updated on the investigation in December.

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Three days after Maces floor speech in February, someone  all identifiers are blacked out  came to the Sullivans Island police station and requested someone to speak with regarding the incidents mentioned in Rep. Maces speech. In an interview with Meadows, the person expressed her fears over Bowman, according to one of the reports supplemental pages.

Eric Bowman, 45, turned himself in to police on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, on harassment and stalking charges. (Photo courtesy of Charleston County Sheriffs Department)

According to the additional pages, Sullivans Island police worked closely with SLED last month on how to proceed with a comprehensive approach, and warrants for Bowman were signed April 3.

Stalking is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, while first-degree harassment is a misdemeanor with a penalty of up to three years in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The charges come roughly two months after Maces stunning, hour-long speech Feb. 10 on the floor of the U.S. House, when she accused Bowman and three other men, including her ex-fiance, of committing some of the most heinous crimes against women.

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All four men immediately and have repeatedly denied the claims.

The 1st District congresswoman posted Bowmans mugshot on social media Tuesday morning  both her official House account and a separate account she uses for campaigning and personal posts.

If you harm women and kids, you should face the full force of the law, he wrote. Eric Bowman, one of the men featured prominently in my floor speech, arrested this morning. I hope you get everything you deserve and more.

She also re-tweeted an X post from the days following her floor speech, which mentions all four men, and added, Just going to leave this right here.

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Brian Musgrave, one of the four men named in the speech, is suing Mace for libel and defamation and is using her social media as evidence.

The 37-page complaint against Mace, as well as several unnamed people accused of conspiring with her  identified only as Jane/John Does  will test the bounds of the speech or debate clause of the U.S. Constitution that shields members of Congress from lawsuits for what is said in either chamber.

Musgraves legal team argues that Maces protection does not extend outside the halls of Congress and especially not onto the internet.

It does not transform the floor of Congress into a sanctuary for defamation, nor does it protect Congresswoman Maces extra-Congressional defamatory statements surrounding her speech, reads the lawsuit.

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On Tuesday afternoon, Musgraves attorneys pointed to her latest social media posts as further defaming him.

She used todays arrest of Eric Bowman for matters unrelated to her speech to create a new platform to malign and defame Brian Musgrave, wrote his attorneys Eric Bland and Ronald Richter in a joint statement.

While we appreciate the additional legal claims that youre creating against yourself, we have plenty at this point, they said. We are really looking forward to seeing you in court where there are clear rules and you will one day have to be put under oath.

Bowman, whose ventures include founding the interactive media platform Stream Live, said as recently as Monday that there will likely be more lawsuits filed as a result of Maces House speech.

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The lawsuits will keep coming. Because eventually, the truth sues back, he wrote on X.

No additional lawsuit had been filed against Mace as of Tuesday. And Mace has yet to file a response to Musgraves lawsuit.

Commenting on her own post about Bowmans arrest, Mace said she hopes he rots in hell.

Mace has said she is considering a 2026 run for governor.

She has taken numerous jabs at Attorney General Alan Wilson, as well as Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, who have said they are considering a bid as well. U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, as well as state Sens. Sean Bennett and Josh Kimbrell have said they are mulling a run as well.

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After Maces speech, the State Law Enforcement Division confirmed that her ex-fiance is being investigated for assault, harassment and voyeurism. The investigation began in December 2023 after SLED was contacted by U.S. Capitol Police, SLED said in a statement Feb. 10, which made no mention of the other three men.

Her ex-fiance has vehemently denied the allegations and said he is cooperating with the investigation to clear his name.

On Tuesday, a SLED spokeswoman said the case remains active and ongoing.

Last week, federal prosecutors dropped charges against James McIntyre, an Illinois man who Mace accused of physically assaulting her with a violent handshake in the Capitol in December as he advocated for transgender youth.

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The Washington Post and The Imprint, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit news outlet focused on child welfare and juvenile justice, spoke to witnesses at the time who said they saw a normal handshake between McIntyre and the congresswoman. The Imprint first reported the charges being dropped.

Mace said she wont back down.

When a man can physically assault a woman in the halls of Congress, with impunity, it sends an appalling message to every woman in America, Mace said in a statement April 2. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere. I was injured, intentionally, and I am still in pain.
A Monday night shooting in downtown Austin left one person dead, police say. The scene was near the intersection of Third and Nueces streets.

Details of the incident were provided by Detective Leah Ratliff of the Austin Police Department's Public Information Office during a media conference near the scene.

Officers responded to a high-priority emergency call for service around 7:30 p.m. on Monday, after several people called 911 to report shots fired. Law enforcement arrived about one minute later.

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Ratliff says responding officers found a person with "obvious signs of trauma." Officers, EMS and the Austin Fire Department attempted life-saving measures, and EMS took the subject to a local hospital.

The victim, an adult male, was declared dead at the hospital just after 8:15 p.m.

Homicide detectives were sent to the scene to investigate. Ratliff also said a "person of interest" is in police custody, and there was "no known threat to the public."

The identities of the victim and the person of interest have not yet been made public due to the active homicide investigation.

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Austin police encourage anyone with information regarding the incident to contact the department at 512-974-TIPS. Anonymous tips can be submitted via the Capital Area Crime Stoppers online at austincrimestoppers.org or by phone at 512-472-8477.

This is Austin's 13th homicide of the year.

Where was the downtown Austin shooting?

This story was updated to add a video.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Downtown Austin shooting: 1 dead, 1 in custody as police investigate
ANKENY, Iowa  One dog died in a house fire in Ankeny Monday afternoon.

At around 4:10 p.m. the Ankeny Fire Department responded to a report of a structure fire in the 800 block of SE Rio Circle. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found flames and smoke coming from the home.

Fire guts Marshalltown home early Monday morning

According to the Ankeny Fire Department, no one was home at the time of the fire; however, two dogs were inside. One of the dogs died and the other was transported to a veterinarian for treatment.

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The fire department said the fire appears to have started on the back deck and then spread to the home. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Metro 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.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  Fourteen more Buffalo and Western New York churches will remain open following the Vatican accepting their appeals.

The following churches will continue to hold mass:

St. Bridgid, Bergen

St. Rose of Lima, Forestville

Our Lady of the Rosary, Wilson

Infant of Prague, Cheektowaga

St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Cheektowaga

Holy Spirit, Buffalo

Ascension, Batavia

St. Bernadette, Orchard Park

Blessed Sacrament, Tonawanda

St. John XXIII, West Seneca

All Saints, Lockport

St. John de LaSalle, Niagara Falls

Our Lady of Peace, Salamanca

St. Benedict, Eggertsville

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The announcements were made by Save Our Buffalo Churches, an advocacy group focusing on keeping area churches open.

Its David against Goliath, but weve been there for it, said Mary Pruski, a representative of Save Our Buffalo Churches. But we are very heartened that they felt they need to hear our side of the story.

About 30 churches are taking part in the process. Nineteen have reached what is known as the Dicastry level, which is the mid-level of appeal, and are on different timelines, Pruski said.

Officials with the Buffalo Diocese said that this is the next step in the Road to Renewal process.

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All the letters we received yesterday were just part of the standard operating procedures, so its not a surprise that Rome supported what the Diocese already laid out for the parishes that while youre seeking recourse, everything stays as is, said Father Bryan Zielenieski with the Diocese.

Pruski also said the Vatican has not denied any appeals, with 12 being accepted for study and investigation and seven that are early in the 90-day Dicastry window. She did not provide the names of the seven parishes.

While the pause is in effect and the churches remain open, the Vatican will look at the information and arguments made by both sides. The investigation could take up to a year.

Last September, the Diocese of Buffalo announced that nearly 100 Western New York parishes and churches would close or merge as the Diocese attempts to pay $100 million to settle hundreds of sexual abuse claims filed under the Adult Survivors Act. The Diocese previously confirmed that the net sale proceeds will go into funding the settlements.

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Full list: Buffalo Diocese changes, mergers

There are now 16 churches that will remain open, at least for now, following the announcements on Monday night. In February, the Vatican decided that St. Michael, a downtown Buffalo church, would remain open for now. That followed an announcement the previous week that Holy Cross, located on Seventh Street on Buffalos West Side, will remain open.

Watch WIVB News 4s full interview with Save Our Buffalo Churches from Tuesday in the video player below.

More coverage of the Buffalo Diocese restructuring

Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

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A 13-year-old boy sustained severe injuries after stepping on a mine in Sumy Oblast on 7 April. The explosive detonated when the boy kicked it.

Source: Sumy Oblast Military Administration

Details: "A 13-year-old boy was walking near a ravine with his friend. The child kicked an unidentified object, which then exploded," the report states.

As of the morning of 8 April, the boys condition is reported as serious.

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"Doctors are doing everything possible to save his life. For our part, we must do everything to prevent such cases from happening again. Educational institutions must hold safety lessons and discussions in classrooms to once again explain what to do upon finding a dangerous object," said Volodymyr Artiukh, Head of Sumy Oblast Military Administration.

The State Emergency Service in Sumy Oblast added that six explosive devices were defused in the oblast over the past 24 hours. Rescue workers advise that if a suspicious object is found, one must not approach, touch, or attempt to move it. Instead, the State Emergency Service should be contacted immediately by dialling 101.

The official statistics from Ukraines Ministry of Defence indicates that 355 Ukrainian civilians, including 18 children, have been killed by Russian explosive devices during the three years of the full-scale war.

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A 14-year-old dual Palestinian-U.S. citizen was killed in the West Bank on Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Monday.

The teen was identified as Amer Mohamad Saada Rabee.

The death comes after Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement Sunday that they identified three terrorists who hurled rocks toward the highway, thus endangering civilians driving in the Turmus Ayya area of the West Bank.

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Israeli soldiers "opened fire," killing one person and hitting two others, the IDF said in the statement, though they did not identify the person who was killed.

In response to an ABC News request, the IDF would not comment regarding whether they are investigating the incident. A video of the rock-throwing incident in question was provided with the IDF statement Sunday.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed in a statement to ABC News that a U.S. citizen died in the West Bank.

PHOTO: Mourners carry the body of Palestinian-American boy Omar Mohammad Rabea, 14, who was killed by Israeli forces in Turmus Ayya village, during his funeral, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2025. (Ammar Awad/Reuters)

MORE: Israel expands ground operations in north Gaza after deadly strike on school

"We acknowledge the IDF's initial statement that expressed that this incident occurred during a counter-terrorism operation and that Israel is investigating, the statement said.

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It is with heavy hearts that The Palestinian American Community Center (PACC) shares the news of the horrific killing of Amer Mohamad Saada Rabee, a young 14-year-old Palestinian American boy from Turmusayya [sic], a village in the West Bank, the New Jersey-based Palestinian American Community Center said in a statement.

Two other people who were also under 18 years old were injured in the incident, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Amer, along with two other Palestinian American 15-year-olds from the village, were shot by Israeli military officers. Amer was shot 11 times in total, the Palestinian American Community Center said.

Mourners gathered Sunday for funeral prayers at the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, New Jersey.

ABC News' Nathan Luna contributed to this report.

14-year-old dual Palestinian-US citizen killed in the West Bank originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
EVANSVILLE, Wis. (WTVO)  A 14-year-old girl has been identified by family members as the victim of a shooting Sunday.

A GoFundMe, set up to pay for funeral expenses, identified the victim as Florencia Henthorn.

According to the Rock County Sheriffs Office, police were called to the 300 block of South Madison Avenue around 9:08 a.m. for the report of a shooting.

The victim was located and first aid was administered, but died a short time later after being transported to a local hospital, police said.

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The Rock County Sheriffs Office was handed the investigation by the Evansville Police Department.

Authorities said there is no further threat to the community and the death is under investigation.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  Fourteen years after the murder of a Saline County woman, a jury has found a man guilty in the case.

Investigators said Steven Couch Jr. shot his girlfriend, 39-year-old Carol Williams, in the head on Feb. 17, 2011, at their home in New Cambria.

Steven Couch (Courtesy: Kansas Bureau of Investigation)

The Saline County Sheriffs Office arrested Couch, believing it was a case of domestic violence. But charges against him were later dropped.

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However, something Couch said in 2016 led to him being charged again. He was doing time for a federal crime and allegedly told a cellmate that he had killed Williams.

Railroad warning: Surprise awaits after train goes by

The cellmate contacted law enforcement, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation began investigating. In 2022, Couch was charged with first-degree, premeditated murder.

On Monday, a Saline County jury found Couch guilty. Sentencing is set for July 10. The Office of the Kansas Attorney General says the 54-year-old man faces a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

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Williams family thanked law enforcement, prosecutors, and witnesses.

It was the best birthday present I could have asked for, Dillion Wright, Carols oldest son, said.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
A dog that was rescued as part of the state's second-largest dogfighting bust; 160 dogs were rescued in Marion and Dillon counties on Wednesday, April 2 and Thursday April 3, 2025. (Photo courtesy of SLED)

COLUMBIA  Eleven men were arrested and more than 160 dogs were rescued in South Carolinas second-largest bust ever of a dogfighting ring in the Palmetto State, authorities announced Monday.

Beyond finding scarred and hungry dogs, the officers who went to 10 homes in Dillon and Marion counties with arrest warrants last Wednesday and Thursday seized lots of drugs, cash and guns, according to a news release from the State Law Enforcement Division, which coordinated the bust. One of the 11 people arrested turned himself in Friday.

A dog that was rescued as part of the states second-largest dogfighting bust; 160 dogs were rescued in Marion and Dillon counties on Wednesday, April 2 and Thursday April 3, 2025. (Photo courtesy of SLED)

If you are involved in dogfighting in South Carolina, we will find you, we will arrest you and we will hold you accountable, SLED Chief Mark Keel said at a news conference Monday with Gov. Henry McMaster at the agencys forensic lab.

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In all, officers took $69,700 in cash, 55 guns and an assortment of drugs that included 17 pounds of marijuana, 11 grams of crack cocaine, one gram of cocaine, two grams of ketamine, 990 fentanyl pills and 2,266 ecstasy pills, according to the release.

Most of the 11 face charges of animal fighting, a felony that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, and ill treatment of animals. On first offense, that charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Additional convictions are punishable by up to two years in prison and a $2,000 fine.

Many dogs were constantly tethered by heavy chains fixed to metal objects on the ground, leaving little room for movement, reads the arrest warrant for a 41-year-old Dillon man with 27 dogs found behind his home, many of them scarred from fights, as well as a dead puppy.

At the home of a man who owned 22 dogs for fighting, guns were found in an unlocked closet, accessible to the suspects young daughter, leading to an additional charge of unlawfully placing a child at risk, according to his arrest warrants.

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His dogs were found tethered by heavy logging chains weighing as much as 12 pounds, one read.

At another home where emaciated, wounded and scarred adult dogs were rescued, a puppy was found alone in a crate with no food or water, and in its own feces, the warrant read.

Evidence collected by officers included photos, audio and written documentation of dogfighting contests.

Organizations involved in the takedown and rescue of the animals include drug task forces from both North and South Carolina and the sheriffs for Dillon and Marion counties.

A dog that was rescued as part of the states second-largest dogfighting bust; 160 dogs were rescued in Marion and Dillon counties on Wednesday, April 2 and Thursday April 3, 2025. (Photo courtesy of SLED)

SLED is fortunate to partner with local law enforcement departments, sheriffs offices, and our federal agencies and task forces, Keel said.

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Jennifer Bonovich, a forensic veterinarian at the announcement, described the trauma endured by the dogs as a fate worse than death.

The dogs made to fight are chained, battered, bruised and often malnourished as people sit to the side attempting to profit off that pain.

Bones are crushed and fractured, all of this while members of your community are watching and cheering, said Bonovich, who said she works with SLED and goes to the crime scenes to evaluate the animals.

Since its creation in 2023, SLEDs four-person dogfighting unit has rescued 492 dogs and arrested 116 people, according to statistics from the agency.

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That tally includes last weeks bust.

Marion and Dillon counties lead the state with the most dogs seized since Jan. 1, 2024, with 82 and 72 respectively, followed by Richland (45), Darlington (43) and Georgetown (40), according to a map of counties SLED provided Monday.

This is an unspeakable thing thats happening, said McMaster, who began leading the fight against dogfighting in South Carolina long before his time in the Governors Mansion.

A dog that was rescued as part of the states second-largest dogfighting bust; 160 dogs were rescued in Marion and Dillon counties on Wednesday, April 2 and Thursday April 3, 2025. (Photo courtesy of SLED)

It was McMaster who started South Carolinas anti-dogfighting task force with then-SLED Chief Robert Stewart in 2004.

In his January State of the State address, he again asked the Legislature to provide SLED more money to end this unforgivable savagery. He added that most of the people participating in this barbaric activity have long criminal records.

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SLED asked legislators for $500,000 in the coming fiscal year to cover the veterinary bills and care of dogs it rescues. But the House didnt include any additional money for the unit in the plan it passed last month. The Senates budget-writing committee is crafting its spending plan this week.

Last year, McMaster asked legislators to provide $566,286, which they did. In 2022, the Legislature sent SLED $181,148 for the salary and equipment of an agent dedicated to animal-fighting enforcement  again, matching McMasters request.

We have to put a stop to it, McMaster said Monday.

When SLED rescues the dogs, it partners with organizations like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to find facilities where they can be nurtured and hopefully one day adopted, said Matthew Bershadker, president of the ASPCA, who was at the announcement.

Once they are cared for, they often find homes and live out a normal life, McMaster said.

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Until last year, the cost of prosecuting animal fighting rings and the long-term care of their victims allowed abusers to escape paying for their crimes. As these cases dragged on, potentially for years, the costs fell on taxpayers. The dogs couldnt be adopted until the criminal charges were resolved.

That changed with a law dubbed the cost of care act, which McMaster signed last May after both chambers passed it unanimously.

It flipped the financial burden of care from the government to the accused  and allowed for dogs placement with new, loving owners much faster.

As long as a judge determines the seizure was justified, an accused owner must either pay for the dogs care for the duration of the case or immediately forfeit ownership, allowing the dog to be adopted.

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This law is critically important for law enforcement to pursue animal cruelty investigations, Bershadker said, and it helps ensure that the animals get the treatment that they need and deserve.

SLED encourages anyone with information regarding dogfighting to contact its tipline at 866-472-8477 or email tips.sled.sc.gov.

A group of dogs that were rescued as part of the states second-largest dogfighting bust; 160 dogs were rescued in Marion and Dillon counties on Wednesday, April 2 and Thursday April 3, 2025. (Photo courtesy of SLED)

Dogfighting bust

Eleven men in Dillon and Marion counties were arrested last Wednesday through Friday and accused of being part of a dogfighting ring. Here are their charges:

Dillon County:

A 50-year-old Dillon man was charged with criminal conspiracy and ill treatment of animals

A 44-year-old Dillon man was charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk, animal fighting, ill treatment of animals, possession of cocaine base (second offense), possession of a schedule II controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, and criminal conspiracy

A 41-year-old Hamer man was charged with animal fighting, criminal conspiracy, ill treatment of animals, trafficking marijuana and possession of less than one gram of meth

A 24-year-old Dillon man was charged with criminal conspiracy

A 22-year-old Dillon man was charged with three counts of animal fighting, and three counts of ill treatment of animals

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Marion County:

A 32-year-old Mullins man was charged with animal fighting, ill treatment of animals, criminal conspiracy, possession of a firearm by a person convicted of certain crimes, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, possession of crack cocaine, possession of ketamine, possession of marijuana, possession of oxycodone, possession of alprazolam, possession of a stolen pistol, trafficking cocaine, trafficking fentanyl, and trafficking MDMA

A 44-year-old Marion man was charged with criminal conspiracy, animal fighting, and ill treatment of animals

A 61-year-old Mullins man was charged with criminal conspiracy

Two Marion men, ages 29 and 45, and a 49-year-old Mullins man were charged with animal fighting and ill treatment of animals

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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: Michael D. Weaver. Image courtesy Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum.

We want to remember Michael D. Weaver, 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.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan, Mikayil Jabbarov, met with the national coordinator of Pakistan's Council for Promotion of Private Investments, Lieutenant General Sarfaraz Ahmad, the publication of the minister on X said, Trend reports.

'' During our visit to Pakistan, we held a meeting with Lieutenant General Sarfaraz Ahmad, National Coordinator of Pakistans Special Investment Facilitation Council. We exchanged views on diversifying the business partnership between our countries, strengthening ties between our business communities, implementing new investment projects in energy, infrastructure, mining, and other sectors, as well as exploring opportunities to increase bilateral investment,'' the publication reads.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A 19-year-old Buffalo man was found guilty of murder in the shooting death of a 21-year-old in August 2023, the Erie County District Attorneys Office said Tuesday.

A jury found Jakai Lofton guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the death of Quban Romell Najee Embry. Lofton shot Embry multiple times on the front porch of a home on the 200 block of Shirley Avenue on Aug. 12, 2023. Embry died at the scene.

Jurors announced their decision last Friday following a five-day trial and 90 minutes of deliberations.

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Loftons co-defendant, 19-year-old Anthony Borden, pleaded guilty last November to one count of first-degree manslaughter. His sentencing still has not been scheduled and he is being held without bail.

As for Lofton, he faces up to 40 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on May 19. He is also 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.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Arthur Treachers, the fish and chips chain that once operated more than 800 eateries before dwindling to a few, has reopened a decades-old Ohio location.

The fast food restaurant known for hush puppies and fried fish is now welcoming customers to a reopened third location in Cleveland Heights at 13216 Cedar Road, which was home to an Arthur Treachers from the 1970s to the 1990s. The brand had announced the eaterys relaunch last August, and held a grand opening celebration on April 1.

Harry Potter, The Outsiders among Broadway in Columbus 2025-26 lineup

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That store was always such a nostalgic location for the brand and the business, and it just came up in conversation with ownership and the opportunity was available for us, Christian Burden, Arthur Treachers marketing director, told NBC4s Cleveland-area sister station last fall.

The fast food eatery known for hush puppies and fried fish is welcoming customers to a reopened Cleveland Heights location. (Courtesy Photo/Arthur Treachers Fish & Chips)

Arthur Treachers launched in 1969 out of Columbus and offered fish and chips, fried chicken, clam chowder, hush puppies and more. The chain was named after the British actor of the same name, who starred in a series of movies in the 1930s and in 1964s Mary Poppins.

The fish and chips chain reached its peak in the late 1970s with more than 820 locations across the nation but bounced between several owners. Lumara Foods of America purchased the chain in March 1982, then filed for bankruptcy four months later.

Decades-old University District dining staple abruptly closes

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Chapter 11 proceedings and additional ownership changes throughout the following decades dwindled the brand to two locations, which remain open today also in northeast Ohio at 12585 Rockside Road in Garfield Heights and at 1833 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls.

The Cleveland area, whether its the west side or east side, they have specific restaurants they love, they have their specialties they love, Burden said. Its loved, and thats why they were so successful back in the day.

All three Arthur Treachers locations are open 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
ANTIS TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WTAJ)  More than $1,200 worth of tools were stolen from a work truck parked in Antis Township, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

The theft occurred sometime between 1 a.m. and 1:20 p.m. on March 11 along Sabbath Rest Road. Investigators said an unknown individual or individuals broke into a 2023 white Chevrolet vehicle and took several power tools and hand tools before fleeing in an unknown direction.

Among the stolen items were multiple DeWalt and Milwaukee-brand tools, including impact drills, grinders, saws and a 92-piece ratchet set.

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The vehicle belongs to DMC Facility Services, a Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based company.

State police from the Hollidaysburg patrol unit are leading the investigation and have not identified any suspects.

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Anyone with information about the theft is urged to contact Blair County state police at (814) 696-6100.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com.
Its a trend weve seen across Western Pennsylvania; enrollment at area school districts is shrinking along with the tax base in many communities.

Since the 1970s, New Brighton School Districts student enrollment has fallen by 58%, and Rochester is no different with a 70% drop.

We are very close to each other; we do joke its 2.2 miles. People get tired of hearing us say that, but we are very similar in terms of demographics and image of each other, said Dr. Joe Guarino, the New Brighton superintendent.

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Its those similarities that have these districts exploring sharing a superintendent as the Rochester Superintendent, Dr. Jane Bovalino, plans to retire in June 2026, opening an opportunity for change.

There is an immediate financial savings that you are having one person doing a job that historically two people have done salaries, benefits all of those aspects. But the secondary benefit is the knowledge of the area and the knowledge of the two schools, Guarino said.

The proposal presented to community members on Monday night would provide $350,000 in savings to each district over the next five years, with a potential to share even more administration positions down the line.

That money will be reinvested back into the students in that district.

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Those in the two communities Channel 11 talked to were on board with the idea.

It hasnt been done that much around here, but if they need to cut costs, that would be an ideal thing to do, said Paul Smith, who lives in New Brighton.

In fact, only two other districts in the state use this shared leader model, but it is more common across the country.

While the districts made it clear this is not a merger, Channel 11 did ask if that was a possibility down the line.

Is it possible? Yeah, it is possible. We arent going to hide behind that as a possibility. Right now, our total student enrollment between the two districts is smaller than New Brightons enrollment was 25 years ago. So what we need to take some time to look at is does a full merger between the two of us actually increase the strength of what we are able to offer our communities as a school and we need time to look into that information, Guarino said.

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The second town hall informational meeting, where the community can ask questions, will be on April 24 at 6 p.m. at Rochester Auditorium.

The goal is for the school boards to vote in August on this idea to give it a full year to implement the change or allow Rochester to find a new superintendent.

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DARTMOUTH, Mass. (WPRI)  Two Massachusetts men are accused of driving drunk after Dartmouth police responded to two separate crashes within less than an hour of each other over the weekend.

Officers arrested Nathan Miller, 18, of Becket, after he crashed his car into a utility pole on Old Westport Road early Sunday morning. Police said Miller was brought to a nearby hospital to be treated for minor injuries after the utility pole landed on his cars roof.

Miller has been charged with operating under the influence of liquor and cited for a marked lanes violation.

Nathan Miller crashed his car into a utility pole on Old Westport Road. (Courtesy: Dartmouth Police Department)

Jake Morgado crashed his car into a utility pole near the intersection of Bakerville Road and Beechwood Drive. (Courtesy: Dartmouth Police Department)

Nearly an hour later, officers were called to the intersection of Bakerville Road and Beechwood Drive after receiving reports of a driver who slammed into a utility pole and snapped it in half.

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That driver, identified by police as 24-year-old Jake Morgado, admitted to officers that he was intoxicated and was taken into custody.

Morgado, a Dartmouth resident, has been charged with operating under the influence of liquor and negligent operation of a motor vehicle. He was also cited for a marked lanes violation.

Eversource responded to both crashes and repaired the downed utility poles, according to police.

While thankfully no one was seriously injured in either of these incidents, let this be a powerful

reminder that not only is this activity illegal, but it can cause a life to shatter in an instant, Dartmouth Police Chief Brian Levesque said. Even just a little buzz can slow your senses and put lives at risk.

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Levesque urged those who are too intoxicated to drive to call someone to pick them up or use a rideshare service.

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THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11)  Two MTA employees were attacked at a Bronx subway station early Tuesday morning, according to the NYPD.

Police said it happened at the EastchesterDyre Avenue station around 12:05 a.m. A conductor woke up a sleeping man to clear a train car when the man attacked, according to authorities.

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The man swung a Razor scooter at the conductor, hitting him in the face, police said. Another MTA employee on the elevated platform grabbed the suspects arm, and the suspect swung the scooter again, according to authorities.

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The second MTA workers hand was injured, police said.

Sources said the suspect, a man believed to be between the ages of 18 and 22, was able to run down the stairs of the platform and take off on the scooter toward the Baychester station.

He was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt and black sweatpants, according to sources.

There were no cameras in the area of the platform where the attack happened, police said.

More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State

Its the second attack on an MTA conductor in the last week. An F train conductor was punched in the face in her cabin last week, according to authorities.

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The head of the MTA, Janno Lieber, previously said crime on the transit system is down 30% from last year and that crime against conductors and MTA workers is taken seriously.

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.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
A 2-year-old girl died after she was bitten by ants in Georgia. Now, her family is suing the medical center, claiming that her death was preventable.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

As our sister station WSB in Atlanta reported, Bethelhem Getu Hundie and Getahun Birhanu took their daughter, Maya, to Piedmont Eastside Medical Center in Snellville, Georgia on Oct. 7, 2024. They said she was bitten by ants in their front yard and she had an allergic reaction.

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When they rushed Maya to the hospital, the lawsuit alleges that the medical staff waited over 20 minutes to give her epinephrine, a medication that Mayas parents say would have saved her life.

The lawsuit also claims that the medical center lacked the proper intubation equipment for pediatric patients, WSB reported.

Hospitals must be prepared to treat their most vulnerable patients. The failures at Piedmont Eastside, from delayed treatment to inadequate resources, were not only negligent but inexcusable, attorney Lloyd Bell said.

The family is seeking a jury trial and asking for damages to cover their pain and suffering and costs from Mayas funeral.

WSB reached out to Piedmont for a statement on Tuesday. They have not heard back at the time of this report.

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CLEVELAND (WJW)  Two of the four men indicted in a gun battle outside a local church last summer have pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors said Richo Samuels Jr. and Jermaine George tried to rob the other two defendants, Rahmean Ponzie and Randall Russell, as well as another man, at an apartment complex on July 29.

Dramatic video: Freight train obliterates truck crossing tracks

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Later that day, Ponzie and Russell found Samuels and George outside Saint Malachi Parish along Washington Avenue and opened fire, according to a previous news release. Samuels returned fire, prosecutors said.

WJW photo WJW photo WJW photo WJW photo

Prosecutors said more than 45 shots were fired. George, Samuels and the other, unidentified man were shot. No bystanders were injured, but several vehicles nearby were struck, prosecutors said.

Ponzie and Russell on Monday each pleaded guilty to single counts of discharging a firearm in a prohibited place, felonious assault and criminal damaging. Their additional counts of those same charges were dismissed. Theyre due for sentencing on May 8.

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Teen recorded while second teen attacked, killed elderly dog walker: police

A judge ruled Samuels was not competent to stand trial. Hes now undergoing a mental health evaluation to see if he may be restored to competency.

Prosecutors dismissed all of Georges charges in September, court records show.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
The federal government has revoked the visas of two current students and five recent graduates from Carnegie Mellon University.

Provost James Garrett Jr. and Dean of Students Gina Casalegno sent a letter to the CMU community stating they learned about the revocation late last week.

According to CMU, the seven people also have had their records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) terminated.

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If you terminate the visa itself, they wouldnt be able to enter again, but they can stay and take classes. If you terminate the SEVIS, they are out of status. They have to go home, Pittsburgh-based immigration lawyer Joseph Murphy said. Theres any number of reasons. Weve been seeing a rash of student visas revoked for petty crimes, DUI, disorderly conduct. Weve also seen people who are involved in political activity.

The letter stated, These incidents understandably raise wider concerns for many in our community, and we take seriously our continued responsibility to ensure that our community is equipped with the information they need to navigate these uncertain times.

The university didnt say why the students visas were revoked.

We understand the sensitivity of this matter and are committed to safeguarding their privacy, which limits the information we can share publicly. At this time, we are not aware of any recent presence of immigration authorities on our campus, the letter said.

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The action is part of the Trump administrations broader immigration and deportation strategy.

Channel 11 reached out to a number of local lawmakers. Congresswoman Summer Lees Office did get back to us saying, they are in contact with one of the students and it is deeply concerning that universities in Western Pennsylvania and nationwide are being targeted.

Murphy is advising international students to keep in contact with legal resources, pay attention to current events and stay out of trouble.

Visas can be canceled for a number of reasons, but college leaders say the government has been quietly terminating students legal residency status with little notice to students or schools, according to the Associated Press. That marks a shift from past practice and leaves students vulnerable to detention and deportation.

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The Trump administration has targeted students who had been involved with pro-Palestinian activism or speech. But the AP reports that more schools are seeing visas stripped from students with no known connection to protests. In some cases, past infractions such as traffic violations have been cited. Some colleges say the reasons remain unclear to them  and they are seeking answers.

Last week, CMU said it was one of six universities to receive a letter from the House Selected Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. According to the university, the letter asked for details on international students, insights into their policies and practices related to participation of these students in research and information about collaborations among the university and China-based universities and research institutions. At the time, the university said it was still reviewing the letter. Its unknown if this letter is related to the students visas being revoked.

CMU has reached out to the students impacted to offer support, including legal resources to assist them.

Its a stressful time for everyone and its a confusing time, CMU Senior Camden Johnson said. A lot of the people that are in my lab are international students and I worry that they are feeling stressed and under more pressure.

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The university also shared guidance and resources on travel and immigration topics. It will also hold an Open Forum on Immigration Policies on April 21, in addition to in-person one-on-one consultations.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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GRAFTON, W.Va. (WBOY)  Two Grafton High School students are being recognized by West Virginia Secretary Kris Warner for their efforts in getting classmates to vote.

According to a press release from the Secretary of States office, Michael Niggemyer and Violet Rubenstein, seniors who will graduate this year, were recommended by their principal to represent GHS as honorary secretaries of state. The WV Secretary of State website lists the following requirements to be selected:

The student must play an important role in a student-led voter registration drive at their high school

Their high school must qualify for the Jennings Randolph Award for Civic Engagement (at least 85% of the eligible student body must register to vote)

The student must be nominated by their school Principal

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Heres when you can visit your favorite Monongahela National Forest campground in Spring 2025

Participating in the elections process helps shape the future of our state and country. Secretary Warner said in the release. I commend both Michael and Violet for being student leaders and mobilizing their entire senior class at Grafton High School to register to vote.

After spending the morning with Secretary Warner and touring the State Capitol, Michael and Violet were recognized on the Senate floor by Senator Jay Taylor.

The Taylor County Clerks Office also congratulated the students and confirmed that Grafton High School won the Jennings Randolph Award for Civic Engagement. The award was started by the Secretary of States Office in 1994 in honor of West Virginias late U.S. Senator Jennings Randolphs legacy as the Father of the 26th Amendment.

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A 20-year-old trans woman spent 24 hours in jail after entering a womens restroom in the Florida State Capitol as an act of protest against an anti-trans bathroom law.

On March 19, Marcy Rheintgen, who is from Illinois, showed up at the state house in Tallahassee and told the officers of her goal: I am here to break the law, according to The New York Times.

Initially, officers told her shed receive a trespass warning if she entered, The Times reported. She then spent 30 to 60 seconds inside a bathroom on the second floor of the House office before being told to leave.

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I was originally intending to pray the rosary, but I didnt have enough time, she told the Times in an interview. I was just washing my hands, and they told me to leave.

Rheintgen was then arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing and spent 24 hours in jail, The Associated Press reported. She now faces 60 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted, and her arraignment is scheduled for May.

The climate around trans issues has gotten, its reached a fever peak. And people are dehumanizing us. And there was like a point where I was like, If I dont go to jail now, Im going to go to jail later, she said in a 23-minute video posted on X on Monday. Things are getting scary.

An undated selfie shows Marcy Rheintgen. Marcy Rheintgen via AP

The Safety in Private Spaces Act, passed in 2023, makes it criminal trespass for individuals to go into a restroom or changing facility that doesnt align with the sex they were assigned at birth. The law applies to government buildings, correctional facilities and schools.

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According to the Movement Advancement Project, at least 19 states have implemented some sort of anti-trans bathroom law since 2021.

Experts at the American Civil Liberties Union have said that Rheintgens case is the first known time that a person has been arrested under an anti-trans bathroom law.

However, Florida law enforcement officials told the New York Times that Rheintgen was arrested for trespass on property after warning, not the states bathroom law. HuffPost reached out to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

I just want dignity, Rheintgen said in her video on Monday.

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She also said that being in jail was really isolating and lonely, prompting her to cry virtually the entire time. I felt like an animal.

Ahead of her protest and arrest, Rheintgen contacted Florida representatives, telling them of her plans. She even included a picture of herself.

I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust, Rheintgen said in a letter, according to the Miami Herald. I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and you cant arrest us away.

Equality Florida, a civil rights organization, released a statement condemning Rheintgens arrest on April 1.

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The arrest of Marcy Rheintgen is not about safety. Its about cruelty, humiliation, and the deliberate erosion of human dignity. Transgender people have been using restrooms aligned with their gender for generations without incident. Whats changed is not their presence  its a wave of laws designed to intimidate them out of public life, Equality Floridas Executive Director Nadine Smith said.

These laws are largely unenforceable. And for good reason: policing peoples bodies and identities in bathrooms is both absurd and dangerous, Smith said. If you cant safely or legally use a restroom, your time in any public space is limited. Thats the point. These laws dont protect anyone; they push transgender people out of everyday life, shrinking their freedom and making them vulnerable to harassment and arrest.

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JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV)  This weekend, hundreds with gather to help fight for a cure for multiple sclerosis at Smith Wills Stadium in Jackson.

The Mississippi MS Society will hold its annual walk to raise awareness and money for research.

Walk MS Jackson will be held on Saturday, April 12 at Smith Wills Stadium. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m., and the walk will begin at 9:15 a.m. Click here to register.

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WJTV 12 News Byron Brown will be the emcee for the event.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV.
PEARL, Miss. (WJTV)  Officials with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) said 22 counties have reported damage due to the severe weather that struck the state on April 2-6, 2025.

To date, the agency has recorded damage to 332 homes, 15 businesses, and 15 farms across 22 counties. Of the homes affected, 50 were destroyed, while 57 sustained major damage.

The shelter in Marshall County will close on April 8, 2025. The American Red Cross will continue to feed survivors at Slayden Baptist Church (2535 Highway 72) and Hudsonville C.M.E. (778 Slayden Road) in Marshall County. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief continues to help remove debris on private property in impacted counties.

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Tortoise displaced by Tylertown tornado reunited with family

The following 22 counties have submitted official damage reports to MEMA:

Alcorn  9 homes

Benton  16 homes

Bolivar  1 home, 1 business

Desoto  12 homes

Forrest  32 homes, 4 businesses

Hinds  6 homes

Jackson  damage assessments ongoing

Jasper  29 homes, 4 farms, 1 death

Kemper  2 homes, 1 farm, 1 business

Lafayette  17 homes

Lowndes  damage assessments ongoing

Marshall  100 homes, 2 businesses, 1 injured

Pontotoc  24 homes, 1 business, 5 farms, 1 injured

Prentiss  damage assessments ongoing

Smith  11 homes

Sunflower  4 homes, 1 business

Tallahatchie  6 homes

Tate  49 homes, 1 farm, 2 injured

Tippah  14 homes, 2 farms, 3 injured

Tunica  2 farms

Union  5 farms

Quitman  damage assessments ongoing

MEMA encourages residents whove sustained damage from this severe weather event to do the following:

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File an insurance claim.

Take photos of the damage to the home.

Report damage to their county/MEMA via the self-report tool.

If citizens have immediate, unmet needs, they are encouraged to contact their county emergency management agency. A list of those county contacts can be found online.

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WAKEMAN, Ohio (WJW)  Drake Munroe, his cousin Morrison and their friend Connor Dawson were not supposed to be together on Saturday.

The three ended up taking a friend out to dinner for his birthday, but they went to the wrong restaurant.

On the way home, they were advised by a relative to avoid Route 60 through Wakeman as the rain-swollen Vermillion River threatened to crest its banks over the road.

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They now believe that being in the right place at the right time may have been an act of divine intervention.

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About an hour before sunset on Saturday, the three Collins Western Reserve High School seniors were heading home on route 60 when they say a car appeared to be coming right at them.

Connor, who was driving, swerved to miss him, but the car continued through a narrow gap between a guardrail and a tree, disappearing into the raging river.

It was just like a 50-foot, massive splash. You could hear it. You could hear it from all the way down there in our car, said Drake.

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The trio ran to the river, determined to rescue whoever was in the other car.

My first thought was just take off my shoes because it is hard to swim with shoes and jump straight in the water, said Drake.

He said the current pulled him completely under the water, but he was able to swim to the car where the high school wrestler struggled to pull the car door open.

I opened the door and it only opened about three to five inches and it was super hard to open. I was pulling as hard as I could, he said.

I think he struggled with the left door first and then started moving to the right side and I told him, No, if you open that side, it will all just rush in and it would sink faster because of the current,' said Morrison.

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He (Connor) seen me struggling with the door and thats when he jumped in and held the door open and I got in the passenger seat and I was like, hey get out of the car!' said Drake.

He told FOX 8 the driver seemed lethargic, moving too slowly as the car was rapidly sinking.

I was like, we were going down too fast. Like, the water is already up to my belly in the car, so I just grabbed him and threw him out, said Drake.

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He went straight under the water as soon as he threw him out and I pulled him to me and I started holding him up and he couldnt make any attempt to swim, said Connor.

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Morrison, who had been on the banks calling 911, was able to wade in and pull the driver to safety.

Drake said as soon as he made it to the banks, he turned around to see the car completely submerged, which happened in a matter of only about five seconds.

The driver out of the freezing water and on the banks by the time the first fire truck arrived. Lt. Jim Palmer of the Wakeman Volunteer Fire Department was on that first truck.

We were prepared for the worst when we got here, but it was actually real good when we got here thanks to them, said Palmer.

We got down here and you guys had him out, which that was a lifesaver right there for him. It made our job easy, he told the three teens.

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The driver was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to be OK.

The crash is under investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

In the meantime, there is little doubt that the effort of the three teens helped save his life.

I know the risks of that water when its raging because we lost some of our family members in that same river for the same reasons, said Drake.

Absolutely, I wouldnt watch a man drown in front of me. I mean, theres no way, couldnt do it, said Morrison.

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(KRON)  Three people were injured after a shooting Monday evening in Fairfield, according to the Fairfield Police Department. The shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. on the 3400 block of Puffin Circle.

When officers arrived at the scene of the shooting, they located three male victims who were all later taken to the hospital. FPD said two of the victims are in stable condition and the other is in critical condition.

Man injured after shooting in San Franciscos Fillmore District

According to FPDs early investigation findings, the shooting does not appear to be a random incident. The department added that there is no perceived threat to the rest of the community.

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As of Monday night, FPD has not announced any arrests. The investigation remains ongoing.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
At least three people were killed and 19 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, regional officials reported on April 8.

Russia launched 46 drones overnight, including Shahed-type attack drones and one Iskander-M ballistic missile, Ukraine's military said.

Air defenses shot down nine drones, while another 31 vanished from radar, likely serving as decoys to confuse and exhaust Ukrainian air defense systems. Ukrainian electronic warfare units and mobile fire groups repelled the assault.

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In Donetsk Oblast, Russian shelling killed two residents in Kostyantynivka and Hryshyno, and wounded two others, according to Governor Vadym Filashkin.

In Kharkiv Oblast, a man was killed, and five others were injured. Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that homes, a garage, and a non-operational recreation center were damaged.

Russian shelling in Kherson Oblast injured eight people, including a child, and struck critical and social infrastructure, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast sustained artillery and drone strikes that wounded four people  two men and two women  Governor Serhii Lysak said.

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Read also: As peace talks stumble, can Ukraine hold the line against Russias spring offensive?

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Any Supreme Court case involving Planned Parenthood is likely to attract attention, and Medina v. Planned Parenthood, argued on April 2, is no exception.

But this case's implications go far beyond Planned Parenthood. The court's decision could open the door even wider for lawsuits against any number of federal spending programs.

In this case, Planned Parenthood sued South Carolina over its decision to disqualify abortion clinics from participating in the Medicaid program.

Created by Congress in 1965, Medicaid provides federal financial assistance to states that, in turn, reimburse providers of medical services for lower-income individuals. The federal government sets eligibility requirements and standards for state Medicaid plans, reviews them for compliance, and provides funds for the plans that pass.

The Medicaid Act requires that state Medicaid plans allow beneficiaries to obtain medical services "from any institution, agency, community pharmacy, or person, qualified to perform the service or services required."

In 2018, the governor of South Carolina issued an executive order terminating existing Medicaid enrollment agreements  and prohibiting future ones  for abortion clinics, with the goal of avoiding subsidizing the abortions they provide. Planned Parenthood and a Medicaid-eligible woman seeking contraceptive services sued, arguing that this order violated the Medicaid Act's free-choice-of-provider provision.

Specifically, they sued under a federal statute (42 U.S.C. 1983) that allows lawsuits for the "deprivation of any rightssecured by the Constitution and laws" by anyone acting "under the color of" state law.

South Carolina objected, arguing that the Medicaid Act's provider provision did not confer a "right" that could be enforced by this kind of lawsuit. The case came before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit three times and, each time, the court concluded that the provision does in fact confer a right to choose among qualified health care providers, and that a beneficiary may use 1983 to vindicate that right.

Now, the same question comes before the Supreme Court, and the court's answer will determine whether the Medicaid Act and numerous similar statutes confer enforceable rights that can be litigated.

The Supreme Court's past decisions have left the waters fairly muddy.

In a 1997 decision, the Supreme Court provided three criteria for determining whether a statute provides an individually enforceable right. Five years later, the court tried to tighten this up by saying a statute must "unambiguously" provide such a right. Unfortunately for clarity, ambiguity can easily be in the eye of the judicial beholder.

Whether a statute creates such a right may seem like a technical or semantic issue, but it has enormous practical implications.

Congress uses its power to tax and spend for the "general Welfare of the United States" to enact many statutes (like the Medicaid Act involved in this case). The money it provides is often contingent on certain requirements or conditions being met. If those conditions  on federal money the states need not accept  create rights that can be enforced by individuals, it's inevitable that the courts will be used more and more to interfere in the other branches' political decisions and policies.

This issue dominated the oral argument.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh asked whether the need for clarity should require that Congress use certain "magic words" such as "right" or "entitlement" to avoid any possible ambiguity. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan pulled in the opposite direction, suggesting that the obligations that come with states accepting federal money are enough to create enforceable private rights.

For her part, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson questioned whether the lower courts were confused about the standards for deciding this question. And it seems they are. In this same case, the Fourth Circuit used one standard in its first decision and another in its second, while other circuits have applied the same standard and come to different conclusions.

It's time for the court to provide some much-needed clarity  which it should do by affirming that for privately-enforceable rights to exist, they must be explicitly created by statute.

As an amicus brief filed by 18 states supporting South Carolina argued, "Anything other than an explicit statement from Congress that a Spending Clause statute confers a private right of action enforceable against the States under 1983 fails to put the States on notice about such liability."

By requiring this level of clarity, the court can maintain the boundaries within the separation of powers as well as between Congress and the states. And it will shut down yet another strategy used by abortion advocates to judicially force their agenda on pro-life citizens and states that oppose it.

The oral argument suggested that a majority of justices may side with South Carolina in this case. The remaining question is whether a majority will also provide the kind of clarity that can help better decide cases in the future. We'll know soon enough: the court should hand down its decision before the term ends in June.

Thomas Jipping is a Senior Legal Fellow for the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation.

(COMMENT, BELOW)




EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Three migrants who are in the country illegally were taken into custody after a crash Monday night, April 7 near UTEP, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman said.

At about 9 p.m., two vehicles crashed near Paisano and Loop 375, the DPS spokesman said.

A trooper witnessed the crash and rushed to assist the passengers.

DPS said there were three undocumented migrants in one of the vehicles. The driver fled but was ultimately apprehended by the trooper.

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One of the migrants was treated at the scene for minor scratches to her head, DPS said.

Border Patrol agents took the driver and two passengers into custody, DPS said.

No other information was released.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
(NEXSTAR)  This week, a Texas-based biosciences company, which aims to de-extinct animal species of the past (and ones that will go extinct in the future), said it managed to engineer three dire wolves  which have been extinct for over 10,000 years.

Though Colossal Biosciences has described the scientific feat as bringing back the first animal from extinction, there are others in the community who disagree with the viability of the concept. This includes University of Buffalo biologist Vincent Lynch, who told the Associated Press that current technology can only make something look superficially like something else.

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Scientific disputes aside, the possibility of the return of the dire wolf has set the internet aflutter with more talk about the idea of a real Jurassic Park. With that in mind, here are a few extinct species we hope scientists never revive.

Deinosuchus

The ancient crocodiles of the Deinosuchus genus grew as large as a school bus and are notably believed to prey on large dinosaurs  like the T-rex  by ambushing them near prehistoric shores. These super croc apex predators had six-inch teeth and were, at one time, the largest predator in North America, according to the Western Australian Museum. They weighed up to 7 tons and scientists note that fossils of other apex predators even show bite marks believed to be exacted by this ancient monster.

Tyrannosaurus rex attacked by deinosuchus crocodile  3D render (Elenarts108/Getty Images)

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Meganeura

These giant predatory dragonfly-like insects are one of the largest-known flying insect species of all-time (if not the) with a wingspan of up to 2.5 feet, according to Furman University. If a mega flying insect isnt scary enough for you, its also a carnivore, though Meganeura mostly ate only other insects and small animals.

Meganeura insects of the Carboniferous Period. Meganeura insects were very large predators during the Carboniferous Period of France and England (Credit: Corey Ford/Stocktrek Images/Getty Images)

Titanoboa

Well, the name pretty much says it all.

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The largest snake known to have existed, Titanoboa grew roughly 50 feet long and three feet wide, according to Florida Museum of Natural History. For comparison, the average school bus is about 35-45 long.

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At one point, Titanoboa was the largest known predator on the planet, the museum explains, and likely weighed at least one ton. Of Titanoboas size and heft, Smithsonian Magazine says the thickest part of its body would be nearly as high as a mans waist. The creature (which is just begging to be the subject of an action-thriller) was known to lurk in swampy waters, where it preyed on crocodiles and other aquatic predators.

Computer generated 3D illustration of the prehistoric giant snake Titanoboa (Credit: MR1805/Getty Images)

Terror birds

The flightless, carnivorous birds of the Phorusrhacidae family were truly the stuff of nightmares. Terror birds, as theyre most commonly referred to, stood at up to 10 feet, weighed up to 300 pounds, and had the ability to run up to 30 mph after its prey, according to University of Maryland. These sharp-taloned and aggressive birds likely crushed their prey with their slightly hook-ended beaks and were able to kill both big and small targets with ease.

Kelenken dinosaur fighting a saber-toothed tiger Smilodon (Credit: Kurt Miller/Stocktrek Images/Getty Images)

Helicoprion

Its a shark with a saw for a jaw (kind of).

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Helicoprion was a genus of shark-like fish most known for their odd lower-jaw tooth whorls, which looked like the blade of a buzzsaw and were equipped with 14 or so serrated teeth, Western Australian Museum explains.

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Again, though the creature resembles a shark, research shows its closer in relation to ratfish. University of Idaho explains that some helicoprion grew to over 30 feet (the average modern-day male great white shark only grows to around 13 feet) and ate squids, sharks and other fish.

Helicoprion from side underwater, illustration. (Credit: Hypersphere/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)

Finally, there were a slew of other extinct creatures we wanted to highlight but just couldnt find the perfect pictures for. For next steps, do a Google search of gigantopithecus blacki (a 10-foot tall ape) and the giant short-faced bears of the Arctodus family, which also grew up to about 10 feet tall.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. (WHNT)  The Colbert County Emergency Management Agency has confirmed at least 5 people were injured, including a child, after several tornadoes came through the county Saturday.

Houses and mobile homes were torn apart when multiple EF1 tornadoes hit Colbert and Lauderdale Counties over the weekend.

BREAKING: Six EF-1 tornadoes confirmed from Saturday nights storms across Tennessee Valley

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Colbert County Emergency Management Agency director, Jody Hitt, tells News 19 where the tornadoes hit first.

The National Weather Service has determined that it was two F1s that came simultaneously up our county, starting west of Tuscumbia, and one in Sheffield, Hitt said.

Hitt says Pounders Mobile Home Park in Muscle Shoals was hit the hardest, with multiple people injured, including a child.

Weve had 5 out of here, the trailer park here in Muscle Shoals, this is pretty much our worst hit, 5 injuries come out of it, one of them being a 7 year old girl, and some of her injuries were back injuries and she is stable, Hitt said.

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The Shoals community is stepping up to do what they can to help their neighbors. I spoke with Haley Lowery, who lives in Colbert County and has put together a donation group to help those in need. Lowery says they need more supplies.

Extra tarps and help getting the trees off the trailers, off the roads so people can go into their homes and actually, exactly what they need, Lowery said.

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Hitt told News 19 that when disaster strikes the area, everyone lends a hand.

This is what Alabama is, we are going to take care of each other, neighbors, no matter who you are or where youre from, youre a resident of us and we are going to come and help Hitt said.

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Lowery tells News 19, you can drop off donations for Pounders Mobile Home Park, located at 2600 Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals.

She said that extra adult clothing, baby clothing, trash bags, water, and food is also needed.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
President Trump took a barrage of questions from reporters Monday afternoon during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said the U.S. would hold direct talks with Iran, is working on a new ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and told Netanyahu to be reasonable amid spiraling tensions with Turkey.

Netanyahu arrived Monday in Washington for a hastily arranged visit at Trumps insistence, but he said little as Trump fielded questions from reporters on a range of topics.

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Still, Netanyahu issued concern over the danger Turkey poses to Israel, said Iran should give up its nuclear weapons aspirations, and appealed to negotiate away Trumps tariffs on the country.

Here are five takeaways from the meeting:

Iran talks set for Saturday

Trump said the U.S. would hold direct talks starting Saturday with Iran over its nuclear weapons programs. Trump did not name the U.S. officials participating or say where the meeting would take place, but he said it was a high-level delegation.

The talks mark the first concrete effort at diplomacy toward Tehran during Trumps second term.

Netanyahu reportedly wants the U.S. to greenlight a military operation to wipe out Irans nuclear facilities  a risky operation that experts and U.S. officials say is both practically difficult and unlikely to prevent the Islamic Republic from eventually developing a nuclear weapon.

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Trump warned Iran would be in great danger if talks are not successful.

US looking at another ceasefire in Gaza

Trump said the U.S. is working to get hostages released by Hamas and put in place a new ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Israel restarted military operations in Gaza last month amid the breakdown of a ceasefire with Hamas that was in place since Jan. 19.

Were looking at another ceasefire. Well see what happens. But we have, we want to get the hostages out.

Hamas still holds 59 people it kidnapped from southern Israel during its terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, although Israel believes that 24 of those people are alive: 22 Israelis, one Thai and one Nepali. American-Israeli Edan Alexander, who was serving in the Israeli military when he was kidnapped, is believed to be alive.

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Netanyahu said he is committed to getting all the hostages out but also eliminating Hamas in Gaza. He again expressed his support for Trumps plan to impose U.S. control over the Gaza Strip and encourage Palestinians to relocate out of the territory.

Having a peace force like the United States there, controlling and owning the Gaza Strip, would be a good thing, Trump said.

Netanyahu wants tariff solution very quickly

Among the areas of daylight between Trump and Netanyahu was the presidents decision last week to impose 17 percent reciprocal tariffs on Israel.

Netanyahu was the first world leader to visit Trump and push for negotiations to eliminate the presidents global tariffs. He pledged that Israel would eliminate the trade deficit with the U.S. and eliminate trade barriers, in an effort to avoid Trumps tariffs.

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I hope to bring a solution very quickly, Netanyahu said.

At one point, Trump appeared to raise U.S. military assistance to Israel as potential leverage amid trade negotiations.

Were talking about a whole new trade  maybe not, maybe not  dont forget we help Israel a lot, you know, we give Israel $4 billion a year, thats a lot. Congratulations by the way, he said, turning to Netanyahu. Trump added, We do take care of our friends.

But Trump insisted that he is not considering a pause on the tariffs. And the president doubled down on his threat to impose an additional 50 percent tariff on China, on what is already a 54 percent tariff on all imported goods, following Beijings announcement of a 34 percent tariff on American imports.

Trump says he will work out Turkey-Israel tensions

Another thorny issue for Netanyahu is Trumps relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Netanyahu accused Erdogan of using Syria as a base of attack against Israel, but said Trump could serve as an important mediator.

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We discussed how we can avoid this conflict in a variety of ways, and I think we cant have a better interlocutor than the president of the United States, Netanyahu said.

Any problem that you have with Turkey, I think I can solve. I mean, as long as youre reasonable, you have to be reasonable. We have to be reasonable, Trump said to Netanyahu.

Bibi, if you have a problem with Turkey, I really think youre going to be able to work it out, he added, using Netanyahus nickname. You know, I have a very, very good relationship with Turkey and with their leader, and I think well be able to work it out. So I hope thats not going to be a problem. I dont think it will be a problem.

Israels bombing campaign in southern Syria is challenging Turkeys inroads in the country. Erdogan backed the rebel forces now leading the government in Damascus who succeeded in ousting long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad from power in December.

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Ankara has put its support behind the transitional government, made up of officials with the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir-al Sham. Israel remains deeply suspicious of the group, taking military action targeting potential areas of threat and advocating for a demilitarization of the south.

Last week, Israel conducted airstrikes targeting two air bases in Syria where Turkish forces were reportedly preparing to deploy.

Trump not happy over Russia-Ukraine fighting

Trump said hes not happy over continued fighting between Russia and Ukraine as his administration has tried to forge a limited ceasefire on energy facilities and Black Sea shipping routes.

Both Russia and Ukraine said they agreed to the ceasefire terms in principle, but Russia has thrown up various conditions that have delayed talks.

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Im not happy about whats going on with the bombing, because theyre bombing like crazy right now. Theyre bombing  I dont know whats happening there, thats not a good situation, Trump said.

Trump further said that Russia was exempt from his global reciprocal tariffs because were not going business, essentially, with Russia.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Sunday it is not appropriate to introduce tariffs on Russia while Washington is in negotiations with Moscow over ending its war in Ukraine.

There is, obviously, an ongoing negotiation with Russia and Ukraine. And I think the president made the decision not to conflate the two issues, he said.

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However, Ukraine was not spared in the April 2 order, though it faces a relatively light 10 percent tariff on exports to the U.S.

Alex Gangitano contributed to this report.

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(WSPA)  $190 million in stolen SNAP benefits were reported to the federal government for just the last fiscal year (October 1, 2023-September 30, 2024). In just the last quarter, SNAP scams jumped by 600% in South Carolina alone.

However, after December 20, 2024, the federal government stopped reimbursing EBT cardholders because of a change in the law.

7NEWS Here to Help took that concern to the state agency overseeing the program, the SC Department of Social Services, to ask what is being done to better protect families who need that money for food.

Personal loss

When Tammy Mauldin, in Spartanburg, took custody of her great-granddaughter, Scarlett, she never imagined one day they wouldnt have enough food.

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Im gonna cry, because I had to watch a baby ask me for things day after day, for months that I could not give her, Mauldin said.

Her EBT card with $1,500 in SNAP benefits had been drained by hackers as she tried to buy groceries online.

When she reported the scam to the South Carolina Department of Social Services, Mauldin was shocked to find out where the money had been spent.

He went through it, and he said, Well, it is showing that your EBT was spent in NY because it shows them in the computer, and it was also spent in Philadelphia and somewhere in Pennsylvania, Mauldin said.

How to lock your card

Sean Fay, the Inspector General for DSS, confirmed more than 99% of stolen SNAP funds are used in far-off states. 7NEWS asked him what was being done to try to curb these scams.

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The biggest thing is weve added or included that feature to allow them to turn off their card or lock it and to not allow purchases out of state, he said.

Fay is referring to the ConnectEBT app, which allows users to:

Lock and unlock their cards

Block online purchases

Stop out-of-state transactions

Pilot program: Block out-of-state transactions

We asked Fay why SC couldnt automatically stop SNAP funds intended for SC recipients from being used out of state.

Right now, there is a federal law that says there has to be an inoperability between states so it cannot be turned on by default. There is a pilot program that SC has signed up for with the USDAand the intent with that is that its not going to work in places you probably wouldnt be, Fay said, giving examples like Texas, NY and California. Still, theres no clear start date for that pilot program.

Could DSS educate better?

While states like Ohio and Maryland have clear online descriptions of the ConnectEBT safety features, neither the South Carolina brochure sent to all SNAP recipients nor the ConnectEBT home page has any mention of how the app can lock the card and/or curb out-of-state purchases.

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To find that, you would need to look under the Stolen Benefit Replacement section of the DSS website and scroll down or follow the DSS Facebook page. However, even then, many SC SNAP recipients find the fine print details easy to miss.

Destiny Hughes, from Clinton, said she didnt know you could lock the card, even though that feature has been available for one year. She said that could have prevented $659 of her EBT money from being stolen 2 hours after she swiped her card at an Upstate convenience store. It was likely a skimming scam, with her funds ending up 600 miles away.

Somewhere in Pennsylvania at Food Lion, said Hughes.

What about chip technology?

Hughes believes her theft could have been prevented with chip technology, already being implemented in states like California and Oklahoma. So 7NEWS asked Fay about adding that safety feature.

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I think at some point we probably will have chip cards, probably sooner than later, Fay said. Though he added, its not a simple addition since not only does the state need to pay for new, more expensive cards, but thousands of merchants could also need to upgrade their chip readers to accept the cards.

And its not just chip technology that could help.

7NEWS reached out to the company that provides the EBT cards to SC, Conduent. In a statement, the company said, Conduent already has work underway, in support of state clients, to move SNAP benefits to chip cards and mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, enabled with EMV technology. Transitioning to EMV is a proven fraud prevention strategy. Chip cards and mobile pay systems are already accepted across the country, and EBT payments should be afforded the same technological safeguards. Conduent has a dedicated team of specialists ready to partner with our state clients to make this transition as quickly as possible.

How do scammers use funds?

As for what scammers are doing with the funds, reports show they use them to buy goods that are easily resold, and there have also been instances where fraudsters were able to set up business accounts to deposit the funds and steal the cash.

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It is clear more needs to be done throughout the nation after the USDA reported a huge surge in SNAP scams towards the end of last year as the federal government was ending its policy to reimburse lost funds.

600% jump in EBT scams in SC in 3 months

Lets take a look at the numbers for just SC alone. For the fiscal year ending in September of 2024 (Oct. 2023-Sep. 2024), 1,711 people reported stolen funds. But from just October to December of last year (Oct. 2024-Dec. 2024), that number jumped to 11,892. Investigators believe many of those thefts were part of an organized crime ring.

A recent nationwide survey by Propel suggested that true theft is much higher. 39% of victims said they never reported their loss.

Propel also offers an app that, like ConnectEBT, allows cardholders to monitor transactions and lock down funds. While its not state-authorized, 1 in 4 cardholders use it for those tools and coupons. SC DSS told 7NEWS they could not comment on the use of Propel and maintain the only authorized app is ConnectEBT.

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Renasia Dawkins said after $1,200 was stolen from her EBT card, downloading Propel was the only way she knew to help her track down where the money was spent.

The manager was able to come back to me and tell me who they had seen {sic} on camera and how they were using the card, Dawkins said, who learned it was a friend who had stolen the funds. She now locks and unlocks her card with every usage.

The harsh reality is that none of these victims we spoke with got reimbursed.

A lot of people are scared, and you dont get protected. And I feel like you dont get protected because youre poor, Mauldin said.

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They can only hope the state will work to make sure all EBT cardholders know to lock their funds so no one has to go hungry.

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TOPEKA (KSNT)  Riley County officials report an estimated 650 acres of land was scorched by a wildfire on Monday, requiring a large response from local and state firefighters.

Riley County reports that firefighters with the Riley County Fire District #1 were called around 3:30 p.m. on Monday, April 7 to a brush fire burning near the intersection of Harmony Road and Dial Road. The fire reportedly started as a controlled burn but began spreading out of control.

Volunteer firefighters found 20 acres on fire initially with county commissioners declaring a disaster emergency later on due to the fires growing size and potential impact. Firefighters from Pottawatomie, Nemaha and Marshall Counties responded to calls for help alongside the Dickinson County Wildland Task Force. More than 65 people, 40 vehicles, two planes and 11 fire stations helped fight the fire.

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After sunset, winds died down and firefighters were able to get a handle on the head fires in the riverbed, RCFD#1 Deputy Chief Doug Russell said. Weve learned over the last few years to aggressively attack any fires in this area, requesting resources immediately. Thanks to everyones quick response and a favorable wind change, we were able to conduct back burns and get this fire under control.

Funeral plans released for slain Kansas priest

Riley County reports that an estimated 650 acres were burned in the fire. No one was injured in the fire and no livestock was lost.

We are incredibly grateful for the assistance from neighboring counties, the State of Kansas, and our dedicated volunteer firefighters, Russel Stukey, fire chief of Riley County Fire District #1 and director of Riley County Emergency Management said. Their quick action kept a bad situation from getting worse.

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Firefighters continue to monitor the situation on Tuesday, April 8 to ensure the fire doesnt start up again.

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

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A 7-year-old boy was killed in a crash on Friday night on Hwy 97, Oregon State Police announced.

Additionally, five people were seriously injured in the two-car crash, including a 4-year-old boy.

The crash took place near Milepost 65 in Wasco County.

OSP said that the driver of a Honda CRV attempted to pass a commercial motor vehicle in a no-passing zone and struck a northbound Volkswagen Atlas.

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The 7-year-old boy riding in the Honda was killed in the crash. The driver of the car and a 4-year-old passenger were seriously injured and taken to a local hospital.

The driver of the Volkswagen and the two passengers in the vehicle were also seriously injured and taken to the hospital.

An unlawful pass is considered a primary cause of the crash, OSP said.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Trade between Azerbaijan and Iran took off like a rocket, jumping by over 32 percent in 2024, Trend reports.

The communique was disseminated during a meeting on April 8, featuring Azerbaijan's Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh, who is currently engaged in an official visit to Azerbaijan.

Mustafayev expressed satisfaction with the trade growth, noting that both sides had worked closely to achieve a marked increase in mutual trade turnover.
SUTTER COUNTY, California (WJW)  An elderly man faces murder charges after investigators said he accidentally shot and killed another man while turkey hunting in California over the weekend.

According to the Sutter County Sheriffs Office, deputies responded to a hunting accident in the Fremont Wier Wildlife Area around 9 a.m. Sunday morning.

When they got there, sheriffs deputies found the victim, 65-year-old Shawn Parrish of Sacramento, with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, investigators said.

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Man lives after driving pickup into Niagara Falls gorge: Police

First responders tried administering life-saving measures, but Parrish died at the scene.

A preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect, 80-year-old John Lee of Sacramento, reportedly fired his shotgun into the brush, hoping to shoot a turkey, though unaware of what he was aiming at, the sheriffs office said.

Whole head was inside its mouth: Florida woman straddles gator to save her dog

Lee was arrested and taken to the Sutter County jail. Court records show he remains in custody at this time.

He faces charges for second degree murder and negligent discharge of a firearm.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
As economic pressures mount and consumer habits evolve in 2025, the American grocery scene is undergoing quite a transformation. From retail giants to regional favorites, supermarket chains across the country are strategically reassessing their physical footprints, closing underperforming locations while aggressively pursuing growth in promising markets.

This shifting terrain reflects not just financial challenges, but deeper changes in how Americans shop for food in an increasingly digital marketplace. To that effect, heres an in-depth look at nine major grocery retailers shutting down locations, the reasoning behind these decisions, and what these changes mean for communities nationwide.

Walmart

Image Credit: Flickr / Walmart

Walmart might seem untouchable with approximately 4,600 stores across the United States, but even the retail giant is feeling the economic pressure. The multinational corporation thats been ranked as the worlds largest company in terms of consolidated revenue is closing several stores all through 2025, with locations in California, Georgia, and Ohio already shutting their doors.

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The good news is that this isnt a sign of Walmarts demise. The retailer has ambitious plans to build or convert more than 150 stores over the next five years while remodeling many existing locations. Still, if youre a regular at certain Walmart locations, you might want to check if your local store is on the chopping block.

Albertsons

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Tony Webster

Albertsons has been through a rollercoaster ride recently. After announcing a $24.6 billion merger with Kroger in 2022, the deal was ultimately blocked in court over concerns about market domination. The chain is now having to face the consequences alone.

In an earnings call in January 2025, Albertsons leadership revealed plans to close numerous stores as part of a streamlining effort, noting that their portfolio was outsized in certain areas. The grocery chain hasnt specified which locations are likely to be affected, but the closure process could reportedly extend over several years.

The company is also looking to open stores in other areas as part of its restructuring strategy, signaling a strategic shift rather than a retreat.

Kroger

Image Credit: Flickr / Nicholas Eckhart

With nearly 2,800 stores nationwide, Kroger is pretty much a grocery powerhouse, but like other grocery chains on this list, Kroger has also begun closing underperforming locations. Stores in Nashville, Tennessee, and The Woodlands, Texas, for example, are shutting down due to redevelopment projects. The retail companys 800 Monroe Street location in Nashville will temporarily close in May 2025 for a $22 million remodel.

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In late January, Kroger announced the closure of its Belle Meade Plaza store in Nashville due to redevelopment plans in the area. Additionally, Krogers Sterling Ridge location in The Woodlands, Texas, will cease operations on May 6, 2025. The company cited changing shopping habits and competition as the primary reasons for this closure and announced that staff at affected stores will be reassigned to other locations.

Winn-Dixie

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Drober24

The beloved Southeastern chain Winn-Dixie has undergone significant changes since its 2023 acquisition by Aldi. Initially, Aldi focused on consolidating operations, announcing closures of four Alabama stores (two in Mobile, one in Phenix City, and one in Vestavia Hills) and a Georgia location. They also revealed plans to convert approximately 220 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores to the Aldi format by 2027.

However, a pivotal shift occurred in February 2025: A private investor group led by CEO Anthony Hucker acquired 170 Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores back from Aldi. This move ensured the survival of the Winn-Dixie brand in five key states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi). Southeastern Grocers now plans to modernize these remaining stores and expand their offerings.

Safeway

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / TaurusEmerald

Safeway is experiencing a particularly tough year, with multiple locations set to close in California and Maryland due to safety concerns and financial pressures. In February, the chain shuttered its Webster Street store in San Franciscos Fillmore District after 40 years, citing ongoing concerns about associate and customer safety as well as persistent issues with theft. Despite reporting strong sales in recent quarters, Safeways decision reflects broader challenges facing urban grocery retailers.

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More store closures are on the way, including the Vallejo store on Admiral Callaghan Lane in the Bay Area, which is scheduled to close in April. The company is also closing its Appian 80 location in Pinole after serving the community for over five decades. This follows a failed redevelopment plan and expired entitlements under new property owners.

Shaws

Image Credit: Flickr / NNECAPA Photo Library

Shaws, which operates 125 stores across the region, recently announced the closure of two locations in 2025. Stores in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Concord, New Hampshire, will also be shutting their doors, though exact closing dates havent been specified.

Like all retailers, were constantly evaluating the performance of our stores, a Shaws spokesperson said in a statement. Closing a location is always a tough decision, but were focused on continuing to provide the products and services our customers value most. Employees from these locations will be reassigned to nearby stores, but its a concerning sign for the regional supermarket chain.

The company stated these decisions were based on underperformance but reassured customers that nearby locations would remain operational.

Amazon Fresh

Image Credit: Flickr / tedeytan

Despite Amazons seemingly unlimited resources and market dominance, its brick-and-mortar grocery concept, Amazon Fresh, is struggling to find its footing. The grocery store confirmed that it would close two of its stores located in California and Virginia.

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These stores had only been operating for a couple of years before closure, raising questions about whether Amazon Freshs frictionless technology, which allows customers to simply walk out without scanning items, is actually appealing to shoppers. Some have already begun referring to these locations as zombie stores. While Amazon insists it remains committed to the Fresh concept, these closures suggest the e-commerce giant is still trying to figure out the right formula for physical grocery retail.

What is interesting to note is that while it is scaling back in the U.S., Amazon Fresh has expanded aggressively in India, reaching 170+ cities with 50% year-over-year growth.

Piggly Wiggly

Image Credit: Flickr / Rob Ketcherside

Despite having perhaps the most charming name in the grocery business, Piggly Wiggly isnt immune to 2025s challenging retail environment. The iconic Southern chain is closing several stores this year due to lease expirations and declining profitability.

In March, a beloved Piggly Wiggly in Columbia, South Carolina, known as The Social Pig, announced it would be closing after 50 years of operation. Store operator Darrell Miller explained in a Facebook post that their lease had expired, and they were unable to negotiate terms that would allow the store to continue operating as a Piggly Wiggly. The announcement was met with an outpouring of community support, demonstrating how these local grocery stores often become important fixtures in their communities.

Dollar General

Image Credit: Dollar General

While primarily a discount retailer, Dollar General sells enough grocery items to make this list, and the chain is making some dramatic moves in 2025. In a Q4 2024 investor call, Dollar General announced it had conducted a store portfolio optimization review (corporate speak for checking which stores arent profitable enough) and would be closing 96 locations by early 2026.

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The company is also converting six of its pOpshelf stores to Dollar General outlets and closing additional pOpshelf locations. For many communities, especially in rural areas, Dollar General provides essential access to groceries and household items at affordable prices, making these closures potentially impactful for local residents.

However, since the chain plans to open between 575600 new locations in 2025, resulting in a net gain of 600 stores, this news shouldnt be too concerning.

Read the original article on GEEKSPIN.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Tuesday set the date for a Nov. 4 special election to fill the late Rep. Sylvester Turners (D-Texas) House seat, which has been vacant since early March.

A statement from the governor stressed a need to give sufficient time for Harris Countys election office to prepare, though the office has pushed back against Abbotts claims and Democrats have accused him of slow-walking the process to protect Republicans slim House majority.

No county in Texas does a worse job of conducting elections than Harris County, Abbott said on Monday. Forcing Harris County to rush this special election on weeks notice would harm the interests of voters. The appropriate time to hold this election is November, which will give Harris County sufficient time to prepare for such an important election.

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After Abbott made similar claims last week, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth responded that her office remain[s] fully prepared to conduct the Congressional District 18 election as soon as the Governor issues the order.

In a press conference ahead of Abbotts Monday announcement, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) accused Abbot of intentionally disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of people in Houston by not calling a special election because he is conspiring to rig the system with House Republican leaders and Donald Trump.

Jeffries reportedly said it was very likely Democrats would pursue legal action.

The entire country can see what Greg Abbott is up to right now  GOP power in the U.S. House hangs by a thread, and hes unjustly denying nearly 800,000 Texans representation, Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder said in a statement ahead of Abbotts announcement, warning the governor to call an emergency election or lawyer up.

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The Houston-area seat is a safe Democratic district, and having a blue House seat open could help Republicans with their tight 220-213 majority in the lower chamber, experts said.

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, one of the candidates running for the seat, knocked the more than a month of silence from Abbott before setting a date, and stressed that the timeline will leave the 18th Congressional District without a representative for more than half a year.

Thats 250 days our community will go without a voice in Congress, said Menefee, suggesting that the delay was an effort to help President Trump and GOP numbers in Congress. Nearly 800,000 people live in this district. We deserve urgency. We deserve representation now!

Abbott last year announced a special election roughly two weeks after the mid-July passing of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), who previously represented Turners seat. That contest was set for Nov. 5 of last year, the same day as the general election.

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Erica Lee Carter, Jackson Lees daughter, won the special election to fill the vacancy for roughly two months, while Turner, the former mayor of Houston, won the general contest. He passed in early March at the age of 70, just a few months into his House term.

 Updated at 7:28 p.m. EDT

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ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  An Abilene man has been arrested and charged with several child sex crimes.

Zachary Pirtle was booked into the Taylor County Jail Monday on two counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child and two counts of Indecency with a Child in connection to allegations of an incident that took place in February 2024.

Court documents reveal Pirtle is accused of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 14 in multiple ways.

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Pirtle now remains held in the Taylor County Jail on bonds totaling $400,000.

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When states ban abortion, they arent just harming women and families  theyre harming their economy. Recent studies, including one analyzing United States Postal Service change of address data, show that bans are driving thousands of highly skilled workers  especially women and young professionals planning to have children  to relocate. Workers wont sacrifice their health or their futures for a paycheck, and businesses are feeling the impact. As talent moves to less-restrictive states, companies may struggle to compete, and the ripple effects could hit tax bases, housing markets, and broader economies.

Businesses thrive by attracting top talent, but in states with abortion restrictions, the pool may shrink, innovation may be limited, and recruiting top-tier employees is increasingly difficult. To remain competitive, companies must show employees they have their back. Heres why:

First, talent is fleeing certain states  and the situation is only going to get worse. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe. v Wade, which guaranteed the right to abortion, states with abortion bans have lost an estimated 128,700 residents in the year after those bans went into effect, with single-person households (which skew younger) leading the exodus. Nearly one in five adults planning families have moved  or know someone who has  because of bans. And 62% of young adults (18-34) say theyd steer clear of states with these restrictions. Under a second Trump administration, with its clear hostility toward reproductive rights, those numbers are only going to climb.

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These arent impulsive moves  theyre potentially life-or-death decisions. Strict anti-abortion bans in states like Idaho put everyone at risk, including those facing medical emergencies. For example, Kayla Smith moved with her husband and daughters from Idaho to Washington after being denied abortion care for a dangerous pregnancy. Similarly, Jillaine St. Michel moved her family to Minnesota after Idahos ban blocked her from getting an abortion after a devastating fetal diagnosis. She feared for her own health  and for her toddler daughters future. It just felt like [an] unnecessary risk to take to remain in the state, she said. And that was before the Department of Justice dropped a case defending emergency abortion care in Idaho earlier this month, putting patients and their doctors at even greater risk.

Second, reproductive rights enable positive economic mobility. Delaying motherhood by just one year usually means earning higher wages down the road. But when a woman is denied an abortion, she is, five years later, three times more likely to be unemployed and four times more likely to live in poverty than a woman who had an abortion. When abortion is denied, the fallout is brutal: more debt, more evictions, and more financial instability.

And its not just the economy taking a hit. Medical residency applications have declined in restrictive states for two years straight. Doctors want to train and work where they can provide medical care their patients might need, not where they could be sent to prison for just doing their jobs. More doctors and medical residents leave states with abortion bans, and more hospitals are closing their obstetric units. As a result, 35% of counties across the country have become maternity-care deserts (areas with no hospitals or birth centers providing obstetric care, and no obstetric providers). In Texas, the situation is especially dire: 46.5% of counties in Texas are maternity-care deserts. This leaves those communities with extremely limited access to reproductive care.

Third, most employees expect companies to support reproductive rights, and nearly 40% prefer employers who actively advocate for access to reproductive health care. Companies that stay silent risk losing talent to competitors that dont.

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So what can companies do? Use the Center for Reproductive Rights framework of Respond-Support-Act.

Respond by educating yourself and your leadership team on changes in reproductive healthcare policy and law, as well as best practices for employers. You can do that in partnership with your companys legal team, or with a community of company partners at the Center for Reproductive Rights, or by consulting resources from Dont Ban Equality, a coalition of more than 1,000 businesses in all 50 states making the case that abortion is a workforce issue.

Then, support your employees by updating your healthcare benefits and policies and filling any gaps in reproductive care coverage. (The Reproductive and Maternal Health Compass, the first-of-its-kind standard for employers to measure benefits, can help.) Include coverage for travel support, abortion care, and paid leave for pregnancy loss. Consider allowing employees to relocate and work remotely from states that support reproductive rights, as the dating app Bumble and Google did after Roe was overturned.

Finally, act externally to support reproductive healthcare access. When you next meet with the lawmakers you already educate on a host of business issues, tell them why employers need and want public policy that provides workers access to safe, convenient, reliable reproductive healthcare. Sign statements about reproductive healthcare access, sign amicus briefs in litigation that could expand or defend healthcare access, even pen op-eds. Theres safety in numbers and a lot to do, even behind closed doors.

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Some leaders may fear that speaking up will invite backlash, particularly as companies face criticism and scrutiny on so many fronts. Remember this, though: The vast majority of Americans support abortion access. Since Roe was overturned, Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, and Ohio  all states that Donald Trump won last November  voted to protect abortion access through their state constitutions, joining seven other states that have also done so. And 56% of employed adults believe companies should work with lawmakers to protect access to reproductive rights.

The takeaway? Protecting healthcare isnt just the right thing to do. Its smart business.

Nancy Northup is President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, a global human rights organization whose game changing litigation and advocacy work have transformed how reproductive rights are understood by courts, governments, and human rights bodies.

The post Abortion Bans Are Driving Workers Away  Heres What Business Leaders Can Do About It appeared first on Katie Couric Media.
American history buffs will soon be able to bid on a set of 140 rare artifacts that formerly belonged to President Abraham Lincoln.

A pair of blood-stained white kid-leather gloves carried by the president during the night of his assassination on April 14, 1865 at Fords Theatre in Washington, D.C., an original campaign torch, and his documents, will all be sold by Freeman's | Hindman in Chicago, Illinois, the presidents birth state.

Individual items in the May 21 Lincoln Legacy auction range from $100 to $800,000, while the entire collection is expected to rake in $4m. The gloves are priced from $800,000 to $1.2 million.

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Each of the items featured in this sale has been curated with care to reveal a nuanced and, at times, surprising portrait of the person who would become one of Americas greatest leaders, Freemans | Hindman CEO Alyssa Quinlan said.

The auction is being presented on behalf of the Lincoln Presidential Foundation, a national non-profit that owns an expansive collection of Lincoln-related materials.

The organization is retaining 1,400 items for continued scholarly research, programming and loan exhibitions.

One of the earliest examples of Lincoln's handwriting. He drafted the note as a 15-year-old (Freeman's)

Some of the items date back to the presidents teenage days.

In one of the documents, a 15-year-old Lincoln writes: Abraham Lincoln is my name / And with my pen I wrote / the same / I wrote in both hast and speed / and left it here for fools / to read. Auctioneers are hoping to fetch $300,000 to $400,000 for the writing, which is featured on a double-sided sum book leaf covered in long division practice sums and signed three times.

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In 1837, Lincoln authored the anonymous Adams Handbill, a printed public notice distributed in Springfield, Illinois, ahead of the years state elections. The organization is asking for $200,000 to $300,000 for the only surviving copy of the presidents first printed work.

Other offerings include wearable items, early photographs and small keepsakes. A single cuff button with the letter L that the president wore as Actor John Wilkes Booth shot him is valued at $200,000 to $300,000. A surgeon reportedly removed the item to check Lincolns pulse.

Similar items have done well at auction. In 2021, the Norcross family paid $4.4m for a signers copy of the Declaration of Independence, the highest auction price for an American document printed in the 19th century. A year later, a 1787 letter from George Washington to Thomas Jefferson transmitting a copy of the US Constitution went for $2.4m, doubling pre-sale estimates.

Lincoln remains one of the countrys most beloved presidents. He served between 1861 and 1865, operating as commander-in-chief during the US Civil War. His victory kept the country intact and stopped the South from seceding. He signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, eliminating slavery in the US.

He was shot just a month into his second term.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a suit on behalf of two Venezuelan migrants who expect to be deported under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) and face possible removal to a Salvadoran prison.

The suit is the first in the wake of a Supreme Court decision lifting a temporary restraining order from a lower court that had blocked the Trump administration from using the law to deport people.

President Trump signed a proclamation on March 14 igniting the wartime powers that have only been used three other times in U.S. history. Its the first time the law has been used to target gang members, and shortly after signing the order the Trump administration sent more than 100 Venezuelans to El Salvadors Terrorism Confinement Center, known by its Spanish acronym CECOT.

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The AEA has only ever been a power invoked in time of war, and plainly only applies to warlike actions: it cannot be used here against nationals of a country  Venezuela  with whom the United States is not at war, which is not invading the United States, and which has not launched a predatory incursion into the United States, the ACLU wrote in the suit filed in New York.

The Trump administration has claimed that the Tren de Aragua gang is acting at the behest of the Venezuelan government as a basis for activating the powers.

A judge barred the Trump administration from removing the men before a hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who twice rejected Trumps effort to move his hush money criminal case from New York state court to federal court, a gambit aimed at advancing his presidential immunity claims. That matter still sits before an appeals court.

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The two men were parties to the original suit from the ACLU seeking to bar the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act as a basis for deportations.

A late Monday ruling from the Supreme Court determined that the D.C. court did not have jurisdiction over the matter, saying that the men would have to sue where they were detained, promoting the suit in New York, where both men are being held in the Orange County Correctional Facility.

But the decision also made clear the Trump administration must provide reasonable notice for Venezuelans to challenge their deportation  an instruction that comes as many of those deported have denied any affiliation with the gang.

AEA detainees must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act. 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 court wrote in a per curium order, adding that the decision confirm[s] that the detainees subject to removal orders under the AEA are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal.

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The new suit alleges the Trump administration has failed to do so now that it is free to resume deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act.

Respondents seek to move Petitioners in secret, without due process, to a prison in El Salvador known for dire conditions, torture, and other forms of physical abuse  possibly for life. This has already borne out for over 130 individuals on March 15 who have lost all contact with their attorneys, family, and the world, they wrote.

The Trump administration has also sent Salvadoran nationals its accused of being members of the MS-13 gang to CECOT.

But in doing so it admitted in court that it sent a Maryland man to the prison despite his being protected from removal under a 2019 court order. In that case, the Justice Department said the man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was deported due to an administrative error .

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The Supreme Court in the case sided with the Trump administration , pausing a lower court ruling that ordered the government to secure Abrego Garcias return by Monday.

Zach Schonfeld contributed to this report. Updated at 5:32 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.
Apr. 8Devin K. Rains, 21, of Corning, was taken into custody 2:30 p.m., March 30, at Elk and 250th Street in Fontanelle on the charge of OWI, first offense.

According to an Adair County report, at approximately 1:24 p.m. a truck was reported in the ditch near the Adair Wildlife Management area on 250th Street.

Deputies located the 2000 Chevrolet S10 in the north ditch and made contact with the driver, identified as Rains. While speaking with Rains, the odor of an alcoholic beverage was detected. Rains also had bloodshot, watery eyes and restricted pupils.

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Rains initially said he had not consumed any alcohol and he had been crying because he wrecked his stepfather's truck. Rains consented to field sobriety testing and showed clues of impairment. During the testing, Rains did admit to having one 24-ounce beer. A PBT showed his BrAC to be above .08%.

Rains was transported to the Adair County Jail where he consented to provide a breath specimen for chemical testing, the result of which indicated his BAC to be .117%.

Rains was cited and released on a promise to appear.

    

Wesley A. Gregg, 42, of Greenfield, was taken into custody 10:22 p.m. March 31, in Creston on an Adair County warrant for the charge of contempt  violation of no contact order.

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According to a Greenfield Police report, at approximately 10:17 a.m. March 19, Gregg sent a message to a family member of a protected party in a no contact order against him. The message questioned if the protected party would talk to him. The family member of the protected party stated they believe the intent of the message was to have them reach out to the protected party of Gregg's behalf, which is a violation of the order due to third-party contact.

Gregg was transported to the Adair County Jail and held on $300 cash-only bond.

While in custody at the Adair County Jail, Gregg was served April 1 on an Adair County warrant for the charges of dominion or control of a firearm or offensive weapon by a felon, dominion or control of a firearm or offensive weapon by a domestic abuse offender and theft, fourth degree. An additional charge of theft, fifth degree was added in the case.

According to an Adair Police report, at approximately 2:30 p.m. March 29, a resident in the 600 block of Cass Street in Adair reported Gregg had taken a firearm and $80 cash without her knowledge or permission. The victim stated Gregg had been staying with her but was told to leave after she found drug paraphernalia in the residence belonging to Gregg.

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Prior to leaving, Gregg took a 9 mm handgun from the victims bedside table and cash out of her purse. The victim did not know this had occurred until Gregg was gone.

Gregg is a convicted felon and has an active no contact/protective orders against him due to a domestic assault conviction.

Gregg was held on an additional $10,000 cash-only bond in this case.

While in custody in the Adair County Jail, Gregg was served April 2 on an Adair County warrant for the charge of violation of probation.

According to an Iowa Department of Correctional Services report, on Jan. 3 Gregg was convicted of domestic abuse assault  impeding air or blood flow causing bodily injury and sentenced to five years in prison. The sentence was suspended with two years probation.

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Gregg was ordered to complete a domestic abuse program and have a substance abuse and mental health evaluation completed as conditions of his probation. As of April 1 Gregg had not enrolled in a program or provided proof of completion of the required evaluations. Gregg was scheduled for a probation meeting March 5 but called and requested to reschedule. He was rescheduled for March 10 and rescheduled a second time at his request for March 18 but claimed he was unable to find a ride to the appointments each time. Gregg also had new charges filed against him in Adair County.

An additional $5,000 cash or surety bond was placed on this charge.

In total, Gregg is being held in the Adair County Jail on $10,300 cash-only bonds and $5,000 cash or surety bond.

    

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Joshua L. Kinzie, 45, of Creston, was taken into custody 12:50 a.m. April 4, in the 1700 block of 310th Street in Orient on the charge of OWI, first offense.

According to an Adair County report, at approximately 11:07 p.m. April 3 Adair County dispatch received an automated alert of an accident involving a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado. Deputies located the accident and made contact with the driver, identified as Kinzie, at the scene. The odor of an alcoholic beverage was immediately detected coming from Kenzie's person and his eyes were observed to be bloodshot.

Kinzie told deputies he a long day and had just left the bar when he believes he nodded off while driving, causing him to drift into the wrong lane of traffic. He admitted to having a few drinks while at the bar. After Kinzie was checked and cleared by medics, he consented to field sobriety testing which showed clues of impairment. Kinzie consented to a PBT, which showed his BrAC to be above .08%.

Kinzie was transported to the Adair County Jail where he consented to provide a breath specimen for chemical testing. The test result indicated his BAC to be .115%.

Kinzie was cited and released from the jail on a summons to appear. He was additionally cited for failure to maintain or use a safety belt and driving on the wrong side of a two-way highway.
BOSTON (WWLP)  Dozens of activists, providers, and organizations gathered in the Great Hall of Flags on Monday, pushing for resources that prevent families and individuals from becoming homeless and resources for those who are actively experiencing homelessness.

This legislative session, advocates are focusing on a rental assistance homelessness prevention program and eliminating fiscal barriers to getting Massachusetts ID cards, as concerns deepen about the impact of federal funding cuts.

I think given the difficult federal situation that were in, we really are counting on Massachusetts to be the values-driven place that we all expect it to be, Andrea Park, a housing and homelessness lawyer for the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, told 22News.

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One organization, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, provides resources spanning from rent subsidies to behavioral health counseling to career development for homeless young adults. While the organization is based in Boston, it welcomes young adults from across the states to take advantage of its programs and services.

Any young people in Springfield, dont give up on yourselfplease keep your head upand call, there are safe places programs all over, said Bridge Over Troubled Waters President and CEO, Elisabeth Jackson. Jackson told 22News that the best thing homeless young adults can do for themselves is ask for help and make use of the available resources.

Advocates pushed for budget funding and state support for homeless individuals of all ages and emphasized the additional challenges facing the very young and the very old.

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.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP.
A tony New Jersey city is considering approving a controversial new ordinance that would fine or jail homeless people found sleeping in public spaces.

Summit Councilman Jamel Boyer, a Republican, introduced the ordinance last Tuesday, claiming it serves to preserve the safe and accessible use of public property for all residents, pedestrians and businesses.

Republican Councilman Jamal Boyer proposed the ordinance that would fine and jail homeless people found sleeping in public spaces. Facebook

The ordinance in Summit would prohibit the homeless from camping in public areas, including parks, sidewalks, alleyways, and benches.

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If approved, anyone found violating the ordinance would face a fine of up to $2,000 and/or imprisonment or community service for a term not to exceed ninety days, the order says.

A similar ordinance was presented in Morristown, NJ, in February but was struck down following massive backlash from the community and advocacy groups, NJ.com reported.

The city council created a task force to address homelessness last year. News Licensing / MEGA

But Boyer assured that the controversial ordinance addresses the growing concerns about obstructions and public nuisances caused by encampments while ensuring our shared spaces remain clean, safe and welcoming for the community.

Of the six-person council, only Councilmember Claire Toth, a Democrat, spoke out against the ordinance.

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After two years of significant progress on reducing homelessness in Summit, capped by our receiving national recognition at the recent National Alliance to End Homelessness conference in Los Angeles, this moves us in the wrong direction, she said at the meeting.

Still, Boyer swore that the ordinance is not about criminalizing homelessness, but rather preventing it and doing the right thing.

In Summit, the city was able to place 20 out of 25 homeless people in stable housing last year. Christopher Sadowski

Summit has already made efforts toward eliminating homelessness. Last year, the city established a task force to address homelessness and said it was able to place 20 out of 25 homeless people in stable housing. Its effectiveness was even celebrated at the National Alliance to End Homelessness conference in March.

Last June, an Oregon citys ordinance that fines homelessness encampments on public property went all the way to the Supreme Court, which determined it did not violate the excessive fines or bail protections listed in the Eighth Amendment.

A similar ordinance in Oregon was considered in the Supreme Court last June. John Roca

Yes, people will disagree over which policy responses are best; they may experiment with one set of approaches only to find later another set works better; they may find certain responses more appropriate for some communities than others. But in our democracy, that is their right, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion.

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The ordinance that was considered in the Supreme Court included a fine of at least $295 for first-time offenders. Punishment for repeat offenders included a 30-day ban from city parks and, if they neglected the ban, a criminal trespass charge punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,250 fine.

The Summit ordinance will be back on the table for discussion at a hearing on April 22, the Summit council president said.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, April 8. The Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan and one of Japans leading universities, Tsukuba University, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at conducting joint research in the field of hydrogen energy, Trend reports, citing the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan.

According to information, the memorandum was signed in an online format.

This agreement represents a significant milestone in enhancing educational and scientific collaboration between Turkmenistan and Japan. The primary objective is to undertake joint research initiatives in the promising and crucial sector of hydrogen energy, while also advancing environmentally sustainable and innovative energy technologies.

The MoU not only paves the way for deepening bilateral cooperation but also promotes the development of international scientific partnerships. It provides valuable opportunities for young scientists and students to gain hands-on experience, which will contribute to enhancing the scientific expertise and capabilities of both countries.

Overall, Japans exports to Turkmenistan in January 2025 totaled 360.78 million yen ($2.4 million), reflecting a notable decline from previous months. For comparison, exports in December 2024 amounted to 437.64 million yen ($3.3 million), while November exports were recorded at 708.18 million yen ($5.3 million). The highest export volume in 2024 was recorded in May, reaching 770.25 million yen ($5.8 million).
FORT MYERS, Fla. (WFLA)  A new age progression image shows what an 18-year-old may look like after he was abducted as an infant from Fort Myers in 2006.

A forensic artist for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) created the image for Bryan Dos Santos Gomes.

Motorcyclist wearing Outlaws MC jacket wanted after firing shots at vehicle: FHP

Officials said Gomes was abducted on Dec. 1, 2006, by an unknown woman driving a late 90s black SUV, possibly a Ford Explorer, when he was just 28 days old. Gomes parents were coming back from a doctors visit when the woman, who claimed to be from Tampa, stopped to ask for directions because she wasnt familiar with the area.

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The family got in the womans car, but when she went to drop them off, she kept the mother, Maria, and the baby in the vehicle. Armed with a knife, the suspect, described as a heavy-set Hispanic woman in her late 20s, drove off with the two still inside. Maria flagged a bystander who had called 911. The suspect ordered Maria to the ground at knifepoint and fled with the child.

Now, new imagery shows what Gomes may look like today, at the age of 18.

Courtesy: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

NCMECs Director of Communications Angeline Hartmann hopes the spread of the age progression image will help someone identify Gomes, who may be unaware of his true identity and past.

Its been 18 painful years without answers, but we have never stopped searching for Bryan, his parents, Maria Ramos Dos Santos and Jurandir Costa said. Not a day goes by that we dont think of him and wonder where he is. Bryan, we love you so much. You have a brother and sister who want to meet you, and a family thats never given up hope that you are still out there. We just want answers.

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KaLeah is a miracle: Woman fighting for her life after crash where her unborn baby died

For 18 years, this case has remained close to our hearts, and our commitment to uncovering the truth has never wavered, Megan Fuentes, the departments Public Information Specialist said. Now that Bryan is 18, we believe there is a renewed opportunity for answers. He may be out there curious about his background, his identity, and where he came from.

Investigators say it is possible the suspect abducted baby Bryan to raise him as her own.

We have to get these parents their child back, Fort Myers detectives said.

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Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678 or Fort Myers police at 239-321-7700. Tips can also be submitted through the AtlasOne app or through Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-8477.

Read more about Gomes case by visiting NCMECs blog.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Amid Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s Southwest tour, a charter school in Gallup announced that it was expecting a "special guest" on Wednesday. Kennedy is pictured above during his Senate confirmation hearing. (Eric Harkleroad/KFF Health News)

Even though U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been unwilling to say where in New Mexico he will visit this week during a Southwest tour, a conservative charter school in Gallup announced Monday that a special guest in the national spotlight who appreciates the schools approach to nutrition and physical fitness will be visiting Wednesday.

Juliane Hillock, principal at Hozho Academy in Gallup, sent a letter Monday to staff and students that explains how the visit came about and expresses her hope that this level of exposure will generate good will and support the work we are doing to benefit our students. The letter obtained by Source New Mexico also notes that the school has been asked not to reveal the visitors identity.

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The academy is a publicly funded charter school with 667 students in grades K-11, affiliated with the Hillsdale network of charter schools and flagship university, Hillsdale College, in southern Michigan. The schools curricula emphasize the centrality of the Western tradition in the study of history, literature, philosophy and the fine arts. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called Hillsdale College a shining city on a hill.

According to Hillocks letter, a woman with local ties who works in President Donald Trumps orbit made the connection between the special guest and her hometown. That woman, Heidi Overton, was born and raised in the Gallup area, graduated from the University of New Mexico medical school and now serves as the deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.

Overton knows some Hozho parents and is familiar with the schools approach to nutrition and physical fitness, Hillock wrote.

Overton heard about the work we are doing in our (physical education) program modeled after the John F. Kennedy Presidents Council on Physical Fitness, Hillock wrote, as well as how we have strived to offer the most nutritious meals for students, so she graciously offered to make this connection for us.

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Robert F. Kennedys visit to Gallup comes as at least one Indian Health Service building in the Navajo Nation border town is on a list of lease terminations proposed by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

It also comes as prominent Indigenous leaders, including New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland, criticize Kennedy for deep cuts to services Indigenous patients rely on and for reassigning doctors to Indian Country who dont have any background working with Native populations.

Its not clear whether Kennedy will visit any Indian Health Service locations in New Mexico or elsewhere. A spokesperson told Source New Mexico on Tuesday all his events here would be closed to the press, though his announced schedule includes visits to health centers, discussions with tribal leaders and a noon visit on Wednesday to a Pre-K to 11th grade charter school that integrates healthy eating and physical fitness into its daily student life.

Kennedys visit seemed inappropriate to Eirena Begay, the parent of two children who attend or have attended Hozho. In an interview Monday evening with Source New Mexico, she noted how important the COVID-19 vaccines were to stemming the tide of virus-related deaths among Navajo people.

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The Navajo Nation was, at one point, the national epicenter for the virus, where it caused at least 1,800 deaths. So Begay deeply disagrees with Kennedys vaccine skepticism.

I definitely am not supportive of his views. I know that the vaccine is what saved us during a pandemic, she said.

Her son, Colin Campbell, 16, said he ultimately left Hozho because it felt like the teachers were trying to push him to go to Hillsdale College and because he thought he had more coursework options at another school.

He took classes like Latin and history at Hozho, he said. He recalls that his history teacher wore a Make America Great Again hat all day once at school, but said he really liked his math teacher.

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He said the PE class, which is modeled after RFK Jr.s uncles program and is a reason for his visit, was more intense than those at public schools. In the early 1960s, a council John F. Kennedy convened created nationwide curriculum to encourage physical fitness, and later became the Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

The academy lays out its philosophy on physical fitness in a program manual on its website, suggesting that high rates of obesity and diabetes made Native Americans more susceptible to the COVID-19 virus.

The other thing that made PE at Hozho different, Campbell said, was the shorts.

It was kind of like a more active PE, I guess, more harder, he said. The only thing that I thought about it was the little, like, hierarchy of shorts.

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Different physical feats earned points, he said, and the more points a student received, the better the shorts got. The best colors are gold, he said, and the worst is gray.

The hierarchy of shorts, as Colin Campbell calls it, at the Hozho Academy, according to its program manual. (Screenshot courtesy program manual)

As for the food, he said the school took efforts to make it both tasty and nutritious, with mixed results. The pizza, for example, had carrots under the tomato sauce and cheese.

The foods bad, because I guess they try to make it healthy, he said.

Hillock did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning about Kennedys visit or to respond to Campbells opinion on the food, among other questions. A spokesperson for RFK also did not respond to a request for comment.

Read the letter here:
A growing number of airlines are implementing restrictions or outright bans on carrying power banks during flights.

What was once an essential travel accessory is now increasingly being scrutinised by air travel safety authorities after several incidents of batteries overheating.

So what are the rules, and which airlines are clamping down on passengers bringing these small but potentially dangerous devices on board?

Power banks can pose a fire hazard on flights

Power banks, or portable chargers, pose a hidden risk that has prompted some airlines to re-evaluate their policies.

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The main issue with power banks is the lithium-ion batteries they contain, which, if damaged or faulty, can pose a fire hazard, says travel consultant Colin Pearson, collaborating with boutique hotel Stanton House Inn. A malfunctioning power bank can overheat, catch fire, or even explode, which is particularly dangerous in the confined space of an aircraft.

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Lithium-ion batteries are known to be volatile, and when they are exposed to high pressure or extreme temperatures, such as during a flight, the risks increase.

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As a result, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recommended that power banks be placed in passengers carry-on luggage only and limited to specific watt-hour ratings to mitigate the risk of fire.

Airlines introduce power bank restrictions

While incidents of power banks catching fire have been rare, theyve been enough to spark widespread concern among airline safety experts.

It's no longer merely a matter of inconvenience. The safety of all passengers and crew members aboard the aircraft is the primary concern, and even a single incident can have far-reaching consequences, says Pearson.

Airlines such as Qantas and Emirates have recently introduced stricter rules regarding power bank transportation. Other carriers, including Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, have banned passengers from using them during flights or charging them using the planes power outlets.

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While these policies may vary slightly from one airline to another, most have begun enforcing size limits or outright bans on larger capacity power banks.

What are the rules for bringing power banks on flights?

The key thing to remember is to always check the specific airline's policy before you fly, advises Pearson, as rules can differ.

In general, travellers can bring power banks on board with a capacity of up to 100 watt-hours without having to notify the airline.

But portable chargers between 100 and 160 watt-hours usually need special approval.

Those above 160 watt-hours are not allowed on flights.

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Importantly, power banks can only be packed in carry-on bags, never in checked luggage. Make sure you also check if your airline allows you to place these devices in overhead lockers or if they will have to remain with you in your seat, as some have much stricter regulations.

With some airlines not permitting the use of a power bank on board, Pearson advises considering alternatives, such as charging the device before travel or seeking out airports that offer charging stations to avoid the risk altogether.

A little extra preparation can go a long way, he says. This ban on power banks is just another step toward ensuring safer, more secure flights for everyone.
A dog trainer in Alabamas Chilton County received a year-long prison sentence but will only serve 180 days behind bars following an animal cruelty conviction. Cupid Seymours guilty verdict on the charge stemmed from the death of a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Chloe. The puppy reportedly died at his training facility, Cupids Dog House, in October 2024 after spending three weeks there. The next month, authorities arrested Seymour after a necropsy uncovered that Chloe had lost excessive amounts of weight under his care, as per ABC 3340.

Chilton County dog trainer will serve 3-month prison sentence after being found guilty of animal cruelty

Dog trainer Cupid Seymour will serve three months of a 365-day prison sentence resulting from his animal cruelty conviction. He will then remain under unsupervised probation for the rest of the term and receive credit for time already served since his arrest last November. In addition to that, Seymour will have to pay $3,500 in restitution, a $1,000 fine, and court costs. The case gained massive online traction after a 4-month-old puppy under his care at Cupids Dog House died, eventually resulting in his arrest and a guilty verdict.

WVTM-13 reported that Chloe, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, died at his training facility under suspicious circumstances in October. The puppys dog mom, Karen Black, got a call from the trainer on October 19, when he informed her of the unfortunate news. To Black, something seemed off about Chloes death, and she had her veterinarian perform a necropsy. The results revealed that the dog had lost a significant amount  one-third  of body weight after three weeks at Seymours facility under his care. In addition, she showed possible signs of anorexia.

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However, the dog trainer, who soon faced an animal cruelty charge, claimed that Chloe had been healthy and happy in the time leading up to her death. In fact, Seymour sent Black videos showing the same, but she decided to press charges, prompting the subsequent legal case. Later on, attorneys for the training facility contradicted the weight loss claim, alleging that the deceased dog had consumed 35 pounds of food during her stint there.

Besides the fine, restitution, and prison time, Seymour must finish 50 hours of community service with the Humane Society.

The post Alabama Dog Trainer Found Guilty of Animal Cruelty, Gets Prison Sentence appeared first on DogTime.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  Alabama legislators unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday that would expedite access to Medicaid for pregnant women, as more states across the South attempt to stem high maternal and infant mortality rates.

The presumptive eligibility legislation states that Medicaid will pay for a pregnant womans outpatient medical care for up to 60 days while an application for the government-funded insurance program is being considered.

The bill will now go to Republican Gov. Kay Ivey's desk for her signature.

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Many Republican legislators endorsed the bill as pro-life." Democratic lawmakers said that it was essential for addressing Alabama's delivery health outcomes that lag behind the rest of the country.

Other states have adopted a similar strategy for addressing some of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates nationwide. Legislators in Mississippi and Arkansas have passed laws that would offer similar coverage to expectant mothers.

One study found Alabama had a maternal mortality rate of 64.63 deaths per 100,000 births between 2018 and 2021, nearly double the national rate of 34.09 per 100,000 births. That jumps to 100.07 deaths for Black women in the state.

Hospital closures in rural parts of the state have left many women without access to prenatal care. Last year, nearly 1 in 5 pregnant Alabama women didn't receive prenatal care until after five months of pregnancy, or otherwise received less than 50% of the appropriate number of the recommended visits throughout her pregnancy, according to The March of Dimes.

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That is in part because one in six women of childbearing age fall within the coverage gap, making too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance, according to Alabama Arise, an advocacy group for low-income families.

Alabama is among 10 states nationwide that have not expanded Medicaid, which means many low-income women are only eligible for Medicaid once they become pregnant.

A pregnant woman in Alabama with no dependents can qualify for Medicaid if she makes $21,996 or less, or up to $37,704 if she is part of a household of three.

Medicaid was used to pay for 45% of all births in Alabama in 2023, according to the most recent report published by the Alabama Department of Public Health. More than half of all infant deaths were to mothers who used Medicaid.

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The Alabama bill would increase Medicaid spending statewide by about $1 million annually over the course of three years, with about two-thirds coming from the federal government.

Another bill that advanced in March seeks to expand access to medical care for expectant mothers by allowing midwives to provide care outside of hospitals in freestanding birth centers. But recent amendments to the legislation prohibits midwifes from performing many standard medical screenings for newborns that are necessary to detect genetic disorders.

The Alabama Midwives Alliance said that the legislation started as a good bill in a video posted on Facebook in April, but added that the amendments take it in the wrong direction.

___

Safiyah Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, applauds during a session of the Alabama Senate on Feb. 20, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Alabama House of Representatives unanimously passed Coleman-Madison's bill to give pregnant women presumptive Medicaid eligibility on April 8, 2025. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

The Alabama House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation on Tuesday that gives pregnant women presumptive eligibility for Medicaid.

SB 102, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, is the companion bill for HB 89, sponsored by Rep. Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville. Lands bill passed the House unanimously in February.

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Women and families in Alabama are proud today, Lands said after the Senate bill passed.

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The legislation would allow pregnant women in Medicaid to receive health care coverage for up to 60 days before their formal application for the program. The bill only allows a single period of eligibility for a woman who is pregnant. The legislation also says care received during the presumptive period cannot be retroactively denied.

According to the Legislative Services Agency, the expanded eligibility would increase the obligations of the Alabama Medicaid Agency by an agency-estimated $1 million annually, with $273,700 coming from state funds.

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Alabama has persistently high maternal mortality rates as well as poor infant health outcomes. Pregnant women in the state also have a high number of babies that are born preterm, before 37 weeks gestation.

The bill passed with no discussion. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey to be signed into law. A message seeking comment from the governor was sent Tuesday afternoon.

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Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, walks across the floor of the Alabama Senate on April 25, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. A group representing Alabama midwives withdrew its support for a bill updating their practice regulations after Stutts introduced a substitute that they said was too restrictive. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

A group representing midwives in the state has withdrawn its support for a bill intended to update their practice regulations after a Senate committee made significant changes to it.

As originally filed, SB 87, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would have allowed midwives to administer three parts of newborn screenings: heel stick, hearing screening, and Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) screening, which can provide early detection of genetic or metabolic conditions.

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These screenings should be completed within 24-48 hours of birth, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Midwives currently have to recommend their patients to a pediatricians office, often delaying the time-sensitive screenings. Alabama allows a birth attendant to administer them if a physician is absent but has not allowed midwives to acquire them.

Nancy Megginson, legislative chair with the Alabama Midwives Alliance (ALMA), said in a phone interview Monday that midwives have faced ambiguity regarding their ability to conduct newborn screenings. While existing law requires midwives to instruct clients about these screenings, it only explicitly allows them to order the tests. This has led to midwives being denied the screening kits, particularly the blood spot test cards collected via heel sticks.

Our issue has been once we were licensed, we started ordering the newborn screening cards from the Department of Public Health, because our law says a midwife shall order the newborn screening. We were actually told to stop trying to order them, that they werent going to give them to us because they didnt know who would be administering it, Megginson said.

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The substitute version introduced and adopted in the committee would authorize licensed midwives to administer a heel stick but explicitly states that a midwife is prohibited from interpreting any tests or screens under this subsection and shall cause any results to be referred to a physician of the mother choosing who is licensed to practice medicine in this state.

Midwives say the new language in the bill is too restrictive, particularly concerning newborn care and screening.

Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, who introduced the substitute, said in an interview Monday that saying midwives are not qualified to interpret results.

Theyre not pediatricians. Theyre not qualified to interpret the results and provide newborn care, Stutts said.

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Under the substitute bill, Stutts said midwives can collect the sample and then send it to somebody that is qualified but that the bill does not expand anything else that they can do.

Megginson said that the new language stating midwives are prohibited from providing any newborn care was hostile language that had never been discussed.

Midwives are trained in newborn care for up to six weeks, Megginson said, but they are not trying to interpret test results or diagnose conditions. Restricting their ability to perform state-mandated screenings or assist with basic newborn needs is absolutely absurd, Megginson said.

She is now actively lobbying legislators to amend the bill on the Senate floor.

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We are encouraging anyone to place an amendment, to put it back on track, where all three screenings would be included, where no language about newborn care to be written. Wed like that to be completely struck through, Megginson said.

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On Friday, student teams will gather for NASAs annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge near the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., to compete at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Aviation Challenge course for events through Saturday. According to NASA, hundreds of students from around the globe will navigate NASA's "complex" obstacle course by piloting a vehicle of their own design and production. Photo Courtesy of NASA/UPI

April 8 (UPI) -- NASA will kick off its 31st annual Rover Competition this week in Alabama, giving students from around the world a chance to show their engineering prowess in the space agency's "" obstacle course games.

On Friday, student teams will gather for NASA's annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge near the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville to compete at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Aviation Challenge course for events through Saturday.

Expected to participate at the free event open to the public: Some 35 colleges and universities, along with 38 high schools and two middle schools from 20 states, including Puerto Rico and 16 other nations.

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The event is free and open to the public.

According to NASA, hundreds of students from around the globe will -- with their teams -- attempt to navigate NASA's self-described "complex" obstacle course by piloting a vehicle of their own design and production in the traditional human-powered rover division.

This year's competitive event expanded to include a remote-control division.

Rover excursions will be seen from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT each day, or until the last rover completes NASA's obstacle course.

On Saturday, NASA officials will host an in-person awards ceremony at 5:30 p.m. local time inside its Space Camp Operations Center at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, where multiple awards will be be given out to winners in the project's eight-month-long engineering design and construction.

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NASA says the annual challenge, launched in 1994 and managed by its Marshall's Southeast Regional Office of STEM Engagement, "reflects the goals" of the Artemis campaign and is one of eight Artemis Student Challenges.

The goal is to "put competitors in the mindset of NASA's Artemis campaign," which aims to establish the first long-term presence on the moon and pave the way for eventual missions to Mars.

Last year, NASA's first mobile robotic lunar rover deployed with the help of commercial partners had a goal to locate lunar ice that might be similarly used to support long-term missions on the moon.

Teams pitch an engineering design for a lunar rover that would simulate an astronaut exploring the lunar surface while overcoming its various obstacles on a different planet in space.

The competition expanded in 1996 to include high school teams -- only to evolve again in 2014 as the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. It now has seen more than 15,000 student participants.
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (WRBL)  Heavy rain triggered flash flooding across Phenix City and Russell County. Local officials responded to growing community concerns.

More than five inches of rain fell in less than 24 hoursflooding streets and neighborhoods and pushing emergency crews into action.

Phenix City Mayor Eddie Lowe says he wants to assure the community that they are doing everything they can. Natural disasters happen and certainly they happen here, which, you know, no city and no municipality likes to see. I just wanted people to know that our hearts goes out. Were going to do everything we can. I know that we did open up some of the centers last night.

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Emergency crews, including Russell County Director of Emergency Management, David Martin, canvassed hard-hit neighborhoods such as Crowell Parkchecking on residents and helping them self-report damage.

City engineers say long-standing infrastructure issues and low elevation make some areas especially vulnerablemany of the affected homes were built before flood ordinances existed.

City Engineer and Director of Public Works, Angel Moore, says in 1998, the city dredged Cochgalechee Creek, but the real issue is the elevation of the older houses.

Additionally, officials say that when flooding ordinances were passed, residents of the low-lying areas were offered buyouts in an attempt to assist those susceptible to flood damage.

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Crews are still assessing the damage, and officials stress the importance of reporting flood damage to ensure accurate records and support for recovery efforts.

According to the Russell County EMA the information residents report will be included in their official assessment submitted to the State Emergency Agency.

Ways to report damage:

Report damage on the Russell County Facebook page or through this link.

Those unable to report damage can contact Russell County EMA directly at (334) 291-5079.

Those with pictures of flooding damage are asked to add them under the flood damage report post on the EMA Facebook page.

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For those in need of assistance or resources: Reach out to the Helping Families Initiative of Russell County at (334) 384-9700.

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 8. President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov, Minister of Economy and Commerce of Kyrgyzstan Bakyt Sydykov, and Uzbekistans Deputy Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Akram Aliyev have discussed BishkekTashkent economic corridor development, Trend reports via the Kyrgyz ministry.

The meeting took place during the EU-Central Asia Summit in Samarkand.

Meanwhile, the Bishkek-Tashkent economic corridor aims to reduce logistical barriers and increase the region's competitiveness. The sides also discussed plans to increase bilateral trade to $2 billion.

In addition, both sides explored joint projects in transportation and energy infrastructure modernization, as well as potential industrial and investment initiatives. Key initiatives included the opening of the International Trade Center Termiz and the establishment of trade houses in Tashkent and Bishkek.

The BishkekTashkent Economic Corridor is included in the list of potential flagship infrastructure projects under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) strategy through 2030.

Kyrgyzstan is already actively developing an economic corridor under CAREC with another Central Asian country, Kazakhstan, known as the BishkekAlmaty Economic Corridor (BAEC). The Asian Development Bank (ADB) serves as the secretariat for both the CAREC Program and the BAEC initiative.

The data of Uzbekistans Statistics Committee shows that trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan reached $163 million from January through February 2025. The figure has increased by 69.4 percent compared to the same period of 2024 ($96.2 million).
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WRBL)  The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is reminding Alabama residents that the REAL ID Act, also known as the STAR ID, is expected to go into effect on May 7.

ALEA says the REAL ID Act means Alabama citizens planning to fly domestic in the United States or enter certain federal facilities must have a REAL ID-compliant driver license or another

acceptable form of identification, including a passport.

Currently, citizens who fly domestic are able to use their regular driver licenses or other photo

identity cards issued by their states Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to board a plane,

said Holley Cook, Director of ALEAs Driver License Division. However, the REAL ID

Act changes this. If you plan to use your state-issued ID or driver license to fly within the U.S.

then it must be REAL ID compliant after May 7, 2025. In Alabama, the REAL ID is known as a

STAR ID.

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According to ALEA, this law was passed in 2005 with an aim to enhance the security of state-issued identification documents in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The STAR ID and the REAL ID Act ensures the safe and secure identification of not only

Alabamians, but citizens across the country, said Hal Taylor, ALEA Secretary. While the

STAR ID is only one of a variety of acceptable identification options, we strongly encourage

individuals choosing to fly within the U.S. to take this step and obtain a STAR ID. Having a

STAR ID well before your travel date will guarantee a smooth and worry-free experience.

STAR IDs were offered to Alabamians statewide in 2012 to confirm those wishing to obtain an ID were able to before the federal deadline.

ALEA says while a STAR ID is optional, travelers will need some form of federally accepted identification to board a domestic flight in the U.S., including a valid U.S. passport or other approved ID.

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If you dont plan to fly or plan on visiting certain federal facilities, including some military installations, then a STAR ID is not necessary, said Cook. Your regular Alabama driver license will continue to be valid for driving, voting, and other everyday activities. It is completely up to the individual if they wish to get a STAR ID or not.

Those seeking more information about the STAR ID can visit ALEAs website or reach out to their nearest driver license exam office.

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TIRANA, Albania (AP)  Italy donated a military ship to Albania on Tuesday to help the country reinforce its army, increase patrolling of its coastline and intensify its participation in NATO missions.

The Libra P 402 ship, a Cassiopea-class patrol vessel built by Italy in the late 1980s, docked at the western port of Durres and was officially handed over to Albania during a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Edi Rama and defense ministers of both countries. A large Albanian flag was painted on its side and its number was changed to P 133.

Under these difficult times the nations should try a closer joint cooperation, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said of the NATO-member countries.

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It is a concrete demonstration of the friendship between Italy and Albania and our desire to work and collaborate in the military and economic fields, Crosetto added.

Rama described the gift as very generous, a sign of deep friendship and respect.

The 1,500-metric-ton (1,476-ton), 79.8-meter-long (87-yard-long) vessel can reach a speed of up to 20 knots (23 mph) and has a reach of 3,200 nautical miles (3,682 statute miles). Tasked mainly with maritime defense and surveillance, it has a 60-member crew, a helipad and a garage.

It will serve not only in missions for security and peace in the Republic of Albanias waters in the Adriatic and Ionian (seas) but also beyond, in the Mediterranean Sea" to participate in NATO missions, said Counter Admiral Adnan Agastra, head of the Albanian navy.

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Since Albania joined NATO in 2009, Italy has been one of the most important supporters of its ongoing efforts to modernize the army in line with NATO requirements. Its renovated airport in the central city of Kucove was converted into a NATO technical air base last year. The tiny Western Balkan country has sent many troops to peaceful NATO-led missions in Europe and beyond. Albania is also now in full membership negotiations to join the European Union.

Post-World War II Albania was linked to the then-Soviet Union until 1961, though it left the Warsaw Treaty formally in 1968 after the invasion of what was then Czechoslovakia. Tirana then got close to China until 1978, after which it suffered from the loss of that country's direct financial aid.

The former communist regime collapsed after student protests in December 1990. The first pluralistic election was held in March 1991.

In November 2023, Albania signed a five-year deal with Italy to open two fast-track asylum-processing centers that could be used to hold up to 3,000 migrants picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters. Last month, Italys far-right-led government approved a decree expanding the use of the centers to include repatriation hubs, in line with a recent EU proposal.

Under Italy's ownership last year, the Libra was involved in the first two of three attempts to transfer 73 such migrants to Albania. Italian magistrates refused to validate their detention in the non-EU country, however, and all were immediately sent back to Italy.
ALBANY, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY)  According to a letter from the bishop of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, the diocese  which includes southern Herkimer County and all of Otsego County  may be closing up to a third of its buildings.

The Albany Times-Union first reported on the letter, which Bishop Edward Scharfenberger wrote and sent to the Catholic community on Monday, April 7. The letter by the Bishop stated that the diocese has too many buildings and that the diocese must relinquish churches and other buildings. The letter also cited a financial and maintenance crisis.

If we are to have a solid, long-term future, we cannot not act, the bishop wrote in his letter.

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However, according to the letter, the repurposing of some parishes is stated to be a process to focus each parish on its mission as the church, making best use of its personal and material resources.

According to the Times-Union, the Albany Diocese is in bankruptcy and has been in mediation over the last year on the settlement of claims regarding sexual abuse by priests. A U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled in March that some of those cases can go to trial.

Diocese spokeswoman Kathy Barrans told the Times-Union that while the abuse cases are part of the financial crisis, it was not the only reason. Theres fewer people in the pews, Barrans told the Times-Union. Donations are down We dont have enough money to pay for all of the buildings and we dont have people filling all the buildings.

The Diocese oversees 16 churches across Southern Herkimer and Otsego County. They also oversee one school  St. Francis de Sales Early Child Learning Center in Herkimer. Oneida County falls under the purview of the Syracuse Diocese.

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Currently, St. Francis de Sales houses students as young as three years old, up through sixth grade. The Diocese has already said that two schools  both in the Albany area  will be closed at the end of the school year.

The diocese said they will begin discussion on the process in June.

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WINCHESTER, Ky. (FOX 56)  Its official: blackberry is here to stay.

Fans were heard loud and clear, and Ale-8 officials announced on Tuesday, April 8, that blackberry will join its permanent flavor lineup.

The bright and bold blackberry-flavored soda debuted in 2022 and quickly captured the hearts of the Kentucky-based soda brands fan base.

Some have even gone so far as to call Blackberry Ale-8 the best alternative flavor the company has developed and are anticipating its arrival at stores.

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Read more of the latest Kentucky news

Give me blackberry or give me death, one fan said.

People will come from all over to get their hands on the Kentucky delicacy.

Im just a fella in Indiana trying to get some blackberry Ale 8. Thats my dream, another commenter said.

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Our fans have spoken loud and clear. We knew Blackberry Ale-8 was special, but the passion

and demand for its return have been incredible. We couldnt ignore the enthusiasm. It belongs

in our lineup permanently, Kevin Price, chief marketing officer at Ale-8-One Bottling Co., said.

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Blackberry Ale-8 will be available in select areas in April, rolling out slowly, with broader

availability in May. Fans can click here for updates on when blackberry Ale-8 will hit shelves in their area.

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HAVELOCK, N.C. (WNCT)  The Havelock Police Department are urgently seeking the publics help in locating four children who were taken by their biological parent, who does not have legal custody.

In the morning of Aril 8, 2025, Brittany McCullough (from Maryland), unlawfully

removed Christian McCullough (13), Levi McCullough (12), Thompson Onuaha (6), and Devorah

McCullough (1), from foster care in violation of a court-ordered custody agreement.

Authorities believe the children may be in danger due to the circumstances of their removal and the ongoing custody dispute. The safety and well-being of the children is top priority.

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Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the suspect or children is urged to contact the Havelock Police Department at 252-447-3212 or those wishing to remain anonymous, can do so by going to their website.

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Thailands arrest of a prominent American academic on charges of insulting the monarchy has alarmed the United States, the State Department said, in a rare case of a foreign national allegedly falling foul of the kingdoms strict lese majeste law.

Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in central Thailand who writes analysis on the kingdoms military and politics, could face years in prison after he was formally charged and detained when he presented himself to police and appeared in court on Tuesday.

Thailand has some of the worlds strictest lese majeste laws, and criticizing the king, queen, or heir apparent can lead to a maximum 15-year prison sentence for each offense. Anyone can file a lese majeste complaint and sentences for those convicted can be decades long, with hundreds of people prosecuted in recent years.

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Chambers lawyer, Wannaphat Jenroumjit, said a warrant for his arrest was issued last week after a complaint was filed by a regional army command. Alongside lese majeste, Chambers is also facing charges under the Computer Crimes Act.

He was accused of publishing a blurb on (Singapores Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) website in connection with an ISEAS webinar in October 2024 about military reshuffles, said Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, advocacy lead for Thai Lawyers for Human Rights and part of Chambers legal team.

He denied all charges. He neither wrote nor published the blurb on the website, Akarachai said.

Speaking ahead of Tuesdays court appearance, Chambers told CNN he had been told little about why he was charged and feared he could be imprisoned for 15 years.

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Chambers was released on bail early Thursday after multiple bail requests were earlier denied. He is barred from leaving the country and Thai authorities have revoked his work visa.

Chambers is a scholar, author and lecturer at Naresuan Universitys Centre of ASEAN Community Studies, and frequently contributes insights to news articles on Southeast Asia, including to CNN.

Advocates say the charges pose a grave threat to academic freedom in the country.

Unlike other lese majeste cases, this case involves an extremely well-established academic whose work focuses very deeply on the civil-military relations in Thailand and whose expertise is widely acknowledged within the academic community, Akarachai said.

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The US Department of State said on Tuesday it was alarmed by Chambers arrest and is providing consular assistance.

We are in communication with Thai authorities regarding this case, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce in a statement. As a treaty ally of Thailand, we will closely monitor this issue and advocate for the fair treatment of Paul Chambers We have requested access to him to ensure his well-being and to provide any necessary support.

Thailands conservative, military-backed establishment has ruled the country on and off for decades, and critics say it routinely uses laws like lese majeste, sedition, and the computer crimes act to silence criticism and opposition.

The military has long had an outsized influence over the countrys politics, despite Thais repeatedly voting overwhelmingly in support of the militarys political and progressive opponents. It has staged 13 successful coups since absolute monarchy ended in 1932, the latest in 2014 that ushered in just under a decade of military or military-backed rule.

Longest sentence: 50 years

Last year, a Thai appeal court extended a mans prison sentence to a record 50 years for insulting the monarchy, in what is believed to be the toughest penalty ever imposed under the lese majeste law.

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The charges against Chambers represent a tightening chokehold on free speech and academic freedom in Thailand, said Sunai Phasuk, senior Thailand researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Paul is considered a major target by ultra-royalist groups, which have launched multiple attacks against him for years  ranging from online disinformation and hate campaigns to pressing authorities to revoke his visa and get him expulsed from the university, Sunai told CNN.

It is rare for a foreign national to be targeted by lese majeste. In 2011, Thai-born American Joe W. Gordon was sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison for insulting the monarchy after posting a link to a biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, that he was involved in translating, which was banned in Thailand. He was later released after receiving a royal pardon.

For years, human rights organizations and free speech campaigners have said the law has been used as a political tool to silence critics of the Thai government.

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And rights groups say the right to freedom of expression in Thailand has come under increased attack since 2020, when nationwide youth-led protests saw millions of young people take to the streets calling for constitutional and democratic reforms  for the first time openly criticizing the monarchy, and publicly questioning its power and wealth.

Those protests came four years after King Maha Vajiralongkorn succeeded his father King Bhumibol, who had reigned for seven decades.

Despite the change from a military-backed government to civilian leadership in 2023, surveillance and intimidation against activists and students continues, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The legal advocacy group said that since the start of those protests in July 2020 and up until the end of January 2025, at least 1,960 people have been prosecuted or charged for their participation in political assemblies and for speaking out, with at least 277 prosecuted for lese majeste.

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One of the most prominent of those is Arnon Nampa, a Thai activist with a cumulative sentence of 18 years in prison for a raft of lese majeste and other charges relating to his advocating for monarchy reform during the 2020 protests.

A much-anticipated bill that would offer amnesty for those prosecuted in politically motivated cases will be introduced to Thailands parliament on Wednesday. However, there is ongoing debate as to whether lese majeste will be included in the bill.

The high-profile nature of Chambers case could mean it backfires on the military and have wider impacts on Thai society, some analysts say.

The cost to the Thai military is high because it will attract the kind of international attention and scrutiny the army wants to avoid, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist from Chulalongkorn University.

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This case tightens the lid on academic freedom, and will reinforce the closing of Thai minds and undermine the intellectual and research ecosystem necessary to foster ideas and innovation to propel the Thai economy forward.

CNNs Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting.

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)  On Monday, American International College (AIC) launched a permanent public exhibit, called the We Are AIC Project, inside the West Wing Gallery at the Karen Sprague Cultural Arts Center.

Art exhibit honors missing and murdered Indigenous people

The college is in the heart of Springfield, filled with students from more than 30 countries.

Over the last three months, students from three different programs worked with Frank Borrelli, the Assistant Dean at AIC School of Business, Arts and Sciences.

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Students sourced materials from library archives, the alumni house, and donors to curate this project. At the opening ceremony, there was an opportunity to write down favorite memories and hopes for the future of AIC.

We are a scrappy group, we are survivors, we believe that every contribution that every individual makes to our community is vital to our success as an institution, Borrelli said.

Borrelli also told 22News theyre looking for others to add their story to the exhibit.

For those who couldnt attend the opening ceremony on Monday, there will be a QR code inside the gallery. If you scan the the code, it will give you a narrated tour of the exhibit.

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.

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An American academic has been arrested in Thailand and charged with insulting the monarchy under the countrys strict treason laws.

Paul Chambers, a prominent lecturer at Thailand's Naresuan University, turned himself in to police in the northern province of Phitsanulok on Tuesday, after a warrant for his arrest was issued last week.

The warrant followed a complaint filed by the army, which accused Chambers of violating Section 112 of Thailands penal code, in a written introduction to an article in October 2024.

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That law states that anyone found guilty of defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir apparent or regent shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years.

According to Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, advocacy lead for the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre and part of Chambers legal team, Chambers has been accused of publishing a blurb on Singapores Institute of Southeast Asian Studies website in connection with an webinar in October 2024 about military changes.

Paul Chambers, an American academic, has been arrested in Thailand and charged with insulting the monarchy under the countrys strict treason laws (Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre)

He denied all charges. He neither wrote nor published the blurb on the website, the advocate said.

Alongside lese majeste, the crime of insulting a monarch or other ruler, Chambers is also facing charges under Thailands Computer Crimes Act.

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On Tuesday, the center said that Chambers had been denied bail twice, forcing him to be put behind bars immediately, but that his lawyers were appealing.

Chambers holds a PhD in political science from Northern Illinois University, and is well-known in academic circles as a commentator on civil-military relations and democracy in Asia, with a special focus on Thailand. He has lived in Thailand since 1993.

Many of his articles appear on the centers website.

Student-led, anti-government protests in 2020 called for the abolition of the law  known as Section 112  but resulted in 279 people being charged with lese-majeste in the years since (EPA)

Thai royalists consider the monarchy sacrosanct, and public discussion of the law has for decades been a taboo issue, with dozens of people jailed for perceived insults of the crown.

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Student-led, anti-government protests in 2020 called for the abolition of the law, but resulted in 279 people being charged with lese-majeste in the years since. Foreigners are rarely prosecuted, however.

According to Reuters, the U.S. State Department said it was aware and concerned about the arrest of an American citizen.

"We regularly urge Thai authorities, both privately and publicly, to protect freedom of expression in accordance with Thailand's international obligations," a spokesperson said.

Reuters contributed to this report.
WINNSBORO, Texas (KETK)  The Carl E. Azbell American Legion Post 340 hosted a spring gun show in Winnsboro this weekend as a way to raise funds for their work in the community.

UT Tyler screens We Were Soldiers in honor of Vietnam War veterans

The show was held at Winnsboro City Civic Center where attendees got to shop for guns, knives, ammunition and more. Tickets to the two-day event cost $8 for adults and the proceeds went to the American Legion post to help them support local organizations, businesses, veterans and students.

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We can do things like donate $500 a month to some business in the community that needs help, gun show manager Doug Grantham said on Sunday.

Their next gun show will be held in the fall on Sept. 20 and Sept. 21. To learn more, visit American Legion Post 340 online.

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Video: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders surveys flood damage in Arkansas

POCAHONTAS, Ark.  The American Red Cross has opened a shelter to help those living in northeast Arkansas who were impacted by a recent bout of severe weather.

American Red Cross officials said a shelter is open at the Pocahontas Community Center at 205 Geneva Drive in Pocahontas for those impacted by the storms.

Governor calls for long road forward as Arkansas recovers from natural disasters

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Officials said identification and/or proof of residency is not required to be admitted to a Red Cross shelter and noted that Red Cross services are free and available to all.

Authorities said at least two people were killed as a result of the severe weather and 13 others were injured.

PowerOutage.us reports that 15,867 customers are still without power on Monday evening.

Severe weather death toll rises after man was found dead in submerged vehicle in Sherwood

More information can be found on RedCross.org/Local/Arkansas.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 8. The Minister of Economy and Commerce of Kyrgyzstan, Bakyt Sydykov, and the Director-General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) of South Korea, Sang-Hyup Kim, discussed sustainable development during the International Conference "Central Asia Facing Global Climate Challenges: Consolidation for Common Prosperity" in Samarkand, Trend reports

During the meeting, the possibilities for expanding cooperation in key sectors such as clean energy, sustainable agriculture, regional development, and eco-friendly transportation were discussed.

Special attention was given to measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, transitioning to renewable energy sources, and exploring carbon regulation mechanisms, which will help minimize climate risks and attract additional investments into the green economy.

The parties emphasized the strategic importance of the green agenda for Kyrgyzstan's economic development and highlighted the opening of the GGGI country office in Kyrgyzstan as a new milestone in the implementation of environmentally focused projects. This is expected to serve as a foundation for further initiatives aimed at the countrys ecological and economic prosperity.

The Minister also noted the importance of cooperation with GGGI in developing a strategy to reduce the carbon footprint and ensure sustainable economic growth. Both sides expressed their readiness for continued collaboration, knowledge exchange, and resource mobilization to implement joint environmental initiatives.
(NewsNation)  With the markets all down nearly 6% last week, some have begun to panic, including those nearing retirement.

According to Empower Retirement, average retirement account losses were around $30,000 for those above 50.

Trump pushes back on tariff criticism: Dont be a PANICAN

Michael Giordano, private wealth adviser at Williams Wealth Management, joined NewsNation Now to discuss the flow-on effect of President Donald Trumps implementation of global reciprocal tariffs.

You have to deal with volatility at times in stock market: Expert

This is part of what happens with markets, Giordano explained. People put their money into the markets and the stock market because they want to grow their wealth. The trade-off to that is that youre going to have to deal with volatility at times. So this is just part of the investing experience.

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Stocks fell again Monday, the third successive business day since Trump implemented the retaliatory tariffs. Despite some concerns, Trump is less certain about a lasting negative impact.

Trump on sending American inmates to El Salvador prison: I love that

Giordano said it is easy to ride the emotional roller coaster of what the stock markets are doing, but the most practical move is to align your actions to your ambitions.

What you need to think about is, Do I have a few years worth of money and more stable assets that arent going to be impacted by whats happening in the stock market, so that I can weather through this storm and my stocks when I actually need the money that is in the stocks?' he said.

Investment portfolio should be balanced, financial expert says

Giordano also noted it is important to have a balance of assets in your portfolio, from stocks to more stable bonds.

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Dow jumps 1,300 points at open, rebounding amid China tariff tension

The key thing here is to understand how much volatility can you handle in your portfolio, get that speed down and figure out how much money you need to fund all the goals that you have then the rest can be put in the stock market, 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.
Some of President Donald Trumps foreign policy moves  including his handling of the Ukraine-Russia war and threats to annex Greenland  arent sitting well with the public, according to a new poll.

Trump is below water with Americans on new foreign policy and trade actions and efforts to tackle ongoing conflicts, the Pew Research Center found in a poll released Tuesday.

The poll conducted last month found that 43 percent of Americans believe Trump has been too supportive of Russia in his efforts to pressure Ukraine and its leader, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to accept an agreement to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.

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It also found that just over half of Americans believe that the president's tariffs on China will be bad for the country, a question that was asked before this week's huge selloff in the financial markets and predictions of recession as a result of the looming trade war.

Around a quarter of those polled said the tariffs will have a positive impact on the country.

Americans are cool to his proposals to annex Greenland and take control of Gaza and transform it into a Mediterranean destination. By more than a two-to-one margin, Americans oppose taking over either of the territories.

Public opinion was more divided on the broader conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Thirty-one percent say Trump is too aligned with Israel, while 29 percent say that he has struck the right balance.

Pew surveyed 3,605 American adults from March 24-30. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.
As the fallout over President Trump's tariffs continues to roil the world economy, a few Republicans in Congress have begun discussing how to curb the president's ability to levy tariffs  taking a rare step to rein in the party leader.

Republican leaders have largely struck a "wait-and-see" attitude toward the tariffs, as well as with their continued effect on the plunging stock market and negative consumer sentiment. Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Monday that Congress would weigh in on it, but with the president, with the administration in tandem.

I think youve got to give the president the latitude, the runway to do what it is he was elected to do, and that is to get the economy going again and get our trade properly balanced with other countries, Johnson said.

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But others in Congress  including a couple of California Republicans  don't want to wait.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced a bill last week, alongside Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and other lawmakers of both parties, to reassert Congress' authority and limit the president's power over trade policy. The Trade Review Act of 2025 would require the president to notify Congress of any new tariffs within 48 hours, and to provide analysis and reason for their purpose. It also would allow Congress 60 days to review the tax.

Read more: Tesla shares drop amid auto tariffs and 'brand crisis'

"I've long expressed my view that congress has delegated too much authority on trade to the executive branch under Republican & Democrat presidents," Grassley posted on X.

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Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said Sunday that he would introduce a companion bill in the House, so it could advance in both chambers.

Support from Californians

Already, several Republican lawmakers  including California Rep. David Valadao, a Hanford Republican who holds the precarious swing seat in the 22nd Congressional District  suggested support for the legislation. Valadao said on NewsNation on Sunday that he needed "to take a better look" at Bacon's proposal, but it "is something that should be considered."

"I've always been someone who supports giving power back to the Congress the way our founding fathers originally designed," Valadao said. "And this is one of those powers that belongs in the Congress, and we should be looking at that in, I think, a very serious manner."

Valadao represents an agriculturally rich swath of the Central Valley, home to acres of almond farms and lemon groves. The congressman said he'd heard from constituents on both sides of the tariffs debate  those whose exports are receiving a stiff reception from other countries, and those who wished for higher tariffs on competing industries. As a dairy farmer himself, Valadao said he used to lobby lawmakers for tariffs against countries whose labor standards or regulations differed from the U.S., making it harder for American companies to compete.

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"They're competing with me at the grocery store shelf, and it was frustrating," Valadao said. "I think [tariffs] should be used as a tool to get to a level playing field."

Other support for the legislation trickled in Monday, as markets continued to drop and bankers talked of a looming recession. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) said Monday on Fox Business that she wants "to give the president time" to see the effect of tariffs. But, she acknowledged, "Being able to have input on these tariffs is extremely important."

A spokesperson for Rep. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills), who represents another swing congressional district in California, said the representative was "encouraged" by news from the White House that countries have been lining up to negotiate relief from the tariffs.

Rep. Kim knows the importance of free trade for Southern Californias economy and believes we can strengthen U.S. industries while promoting free trade with like-minded allies and partners," spokesperson Callie Strock said in a statement. "While tariffs can be a strategic tool, Rep. Kim is concerned about the impact long-term tariffs can have on families and small businesses already hurting from high taxes and living costs.

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Another California Republican, Rep. Tom McClintock, posted on X last week, Our trade objective must be: ZERO tariffs, ZERO subsidies and ZERO non-tariff barriers. Tariffs always harm whatever country imposes them. Their only justification is to leverage trading partners to adopt free trade agreements. I hope this is where the President is going.

Asked about the Elk Grove representative's comments, spokesperson Jennifer Cressy said his views have not changed since 2018, when McClintock railed against tariffs in a House floor speech.

There is no more perfect way to turn abundance into scarcity than by levying a tariff on imports, McClintock said at the time. Remember, every producer in a society is also a consumer. No consumer benefits from higher prices and no producer benefits from scarcer materials. Every country that has tried protectionism has suffered terribly, including ours.

Despite the grumbling in Congress, Trump forged ahead. He ratcheted up the trade war with a post Monday on his website, threatening more strikes against China  the world's largest trading nation, which retaliated against Trump's 34% tariff last week by issuing its own 34% tariff against the U.S. The White House also indicated that the president would veto a bill restricting his power over tariffs, if it passed, according to Politico.

Are Trump's tariffs constitutional?

The Constitution gives Congress the power over taxes, duties, imports and exports  including "to regulate commerce with foreign nations."

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But over the years, Congress has given the executive branch more leeway over foreign trade, beginning with the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act in 1934. That allowed the president to make certain changes to tariffs without Congress' approval, noted legal expert and Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.

"When you look at an executive order in this area, its really a question of whether or not what the president is doing falls within the scope of one of these statutes where Congress has basically thrown the ball to the executive branch," Levinson said.

Read more: Hiltzik: Unsure what to do about your stock portfolio? With Trump in the driver's seat, so are the experts

Already, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonprofit legal group that challenges administrative overreach, has filed a complaint alleging that the tariffs are unconstitutional. Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to issue tariffs, a move the New Civil Liberties Alliance claimed is not permitted under the statute.

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Bacon agreed on CBS News "Face the Nation" on Sunday that Trumps announcement was not a true exercise of emergency powers but a change in tariff policy.

This is where Congress has to step in and say, do we really want to create this new policy on tariffs? Bacon said. And if it is, it should come from Congress, and not the president.

Another bill, introduced in the Senate last week by Virginia Democrats, would in effect stop U.S. tariffs on Canada  which Trump enacted by declaring a national emergency over the fentanyl crisis  by ending the national emergency.

Josh Robbins, an attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, said an additional legal problem with the president's tariffs is that Congress was wrong in handing over its tax authority to the executive branch.

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"Congress has unconstitutionally given up way too much of its authority ... to the president in a statute that really doesn't have any guardrails on how he can regulate foreign commerce once he declares an emergency," Robbins said.

During Trump's first term in office, when he invoked steel tariffs, there was a bipartisan effort in Congress to rein in the president's power, which ultimately did not pass.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
BETHEL, Mich. (AP)  No contractors, no repair estimates, no haggling with the insurance company: After a tornado struck an Amish community in Michigan, the work was underway even before the National Weather Service could assess the damage.

Meteorologists make site visits to determine the speed, breadth and impact of a tornado. But sometimes the hammers have already been swinging.

That's what Dustin Norman of the weather service found in Branch County, Michigan, a few days after a tornado Wednesday with peak winds of 100 mph (160 kph). The Amish had put new shingles on a home, reframed a barn and made other major repairs in their community.

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He said the situation was similar in an Amish area hit by a tornado that day in Adams County, Indiana, 90 miles (145 kilometers) south.

Once something gets damaged, they just fix it, Norman said Tuesday. We can't always get out there for two or three days. When we do, it looks like nothing happened. ... I completely respect how quickly they get stuff done."

The Amish generally are private and insular and maintain a degree of separation from common society. Approximately 61% of the North American Amish population lives in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana, according to Elizabethtown College.
A sign outside Anchor Medical Associates' office on Commerce Street in Lincoln. (Screenshot/Google Maps)

Over 25,000 patients will need to find new pediatricians and primary care doctors before Anchor Medical Associates closes all three of its offices by June 30.

The physician groups Bald Hill Road location in Warwick will shutter on April 30. Warwick patients can continue seeing their provider at the medical groups Commerce Street location in Lincoln. On June 30, both the Lincoln location and the adult medicine office on Corliss street in Providence will close. A closure notice was first sent to patients last week, WPRI-TV reported on Friday.

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The decision to close our practices has been extremely difficult, particularly against the backdrop of a shortage of primary care physicians across the state, the practice stated in its letter to patients, which was posted to its website Monday. While our commitment to our patients remains strong, we just cannot continue to operate in this increasingly challenging healthcare environment.

The practice was incorporated in 1999. There are currently 22 providers listed on Anchors website. Over the last decade, the practice said it has had great difficulty in hiring new doctors to replace retiring physicians.

While costs continue to rise, reimbursement rates make it extremely difficult to attract new physicians to our state, the letter stated.

Anchor stated that for patients who need to find new doctors, it wants to make this as smooth a transition as possible, and is encouraging patients to obtain copies of their medical records within the next 90 days.

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A records request form is available on the practices website. Records will continue to be available after June 30, according to the Anchor website.

The Rhode Island Department of Health posted an announcement about the closure on its website and is advising patients to do two things: begin searching for a new primary care provider, and request copies of medical records. The health department notes that while records can be obtained after the closure date, it is best to obtain them beforehand.

More Medicaid, more reimbursement problems for Rhode Island providers

The Hospital Association of Rhode Island (HARI) called the closure is another blow to the already wounded state of primary care.

These unfortunate events highlight how Rhode Islands health care crisis is very real, and getting worse, Howard Dulude, the trade groups interim president, said in a statement released Monday.

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Addressing subpar provider reimbursement rates has been a recurring motif at the State House. A sizable number of Rhode Islanders receive health care through public insurance like Medicaid, but Rhode Islands Medicaid reimbursement rates lag behind other states. Hospitals blasted Gov. Dan McKee earlier this year when the governors budget made little room for higher reimbursements.

HARI has put its weight behind three bills this legislative session, each with a Senate and House version, and two of them focused on improving the Medicaid reimbursement rate problem. The Family Health Care Act is a joint resolution that would OK a $90,000 appropriation to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to help the agency raise Medicaid reimbursement rates. Both versions have been introduced in their respective chambers but have not yet been scheduled for hearings.

Another Medicaid bill that has been introduced in both chambers but not yet heard by committees would funnel money from hospital licensing fees toward increasing Medicaid reimbursements for hospitals. Starting in fiscal year 2026, which begins on July 1, hospitals would be organized into a new three-tier system, and with their size, services and patient population informing their tier placement.

Hospitals with higher proportions of Medicaid and uninsured patients would pay less in fees than bigger hospital systems. Once the state collects $90 million in these fees, any excess funds would be poured into Medicaid reimbursements.

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A third bill backed by HARI would make the state more competitive with Massachusetts and Connecticut and grant the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner (OHIC) greater regulatory power over commercial health insurers payments to hospitals and providers. The commissioner would need to review and approve annual increases in hospital contracts and provider payment rates if the total cost of care exceeds the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers plus 3%.

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Goose Creek Correctional Center is seen in fall. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Department of Corrections)

An Anchorage senator has proposed expanding the Alaska Board of Parole, and widening the range of experiences of its members, citing the boards workload and importance of fairness and accountability in its work.

The parole board has granted far fewer people parole from state prisons in recent years. Since 2021, the board granted parole on average 25% of the time, with the other 75% denied or continued, according to a legislative audit last year.

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According to the ACLU of Alaska, the board has released 79% fewer people and held 75% fewer hearings than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Advocates argue the high rate of denials is contributing to overcrowding and a sense of hopelessness, also contributing to higher rates of suicide. There have been at least 67 deaths in Alaska since 2020, with 17 reported as suicides.

Senate Bill 62 expands the board of parole from five to seven members, to help address a substantial workload and process parole applications in a fair and accountable manner, according to a statement by the bills sponsor, Sen. Loki Tobin, D-Anchorage.

Sen. Loki Tobin, D-Anchorage, speaks at a Senate press conference on Feb. 4, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)

This precipitous decline in successful parole applications has created this climate of hopelessness, Tobin said in an interview. It has created this dynamic where people dont know why they should be involved in treatment, why they should be trying to rehabilitate. And that, to me, is very concerning.

Tobin said she frequently hears from concerned residents with family members who are incarcerated. For every person who is behind bars, there are people outside who love them and who are concerned about their health and safety, she said. Tobin said she wants to expand opportunities for parole, also because as a Christian she believes in redemption.

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Some folks have done terrible, terrible things, but that is not the whole of who they are, she said. There is an ability for them to be redeemed, and I believe that we should offer that path of redemption.

The five-member parole board is appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and reviews applications for parole, which totaled 181 applicants last year. That review process includes whether theyve taken part in educational and rehabilitation programs, as well as the persons suitability for release, the nature of their offense, and behavior while incarcerated. The board also takes into consideration statements from any victims or their family members.

Parole can be granted for those who are elderly, or with a severe medical diagnosis, with some exceptions for serious crimes. The parole board sets conditions of release like terms for work, housing, and sometimes further behavioral health treatment.

The legislation would create selection criteria for the expanded seven-member board, and limit members to two five-year terms. Four of the seats would require certain licenses or expertise:

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one for a licensed physician, psychologist or psychiatrist;

one for a victim of a crime, a family member of a victim, or member of a victim advocacy group;

one for someone with expertise in addiction recovery; and

one for a member of a federally recognized tribe.

The bill would remove the only current specific experience requirement for board membership: that at least one has experience in criminal justice. It would keep a provision that the governor appoint people on the basis of their qualifications to make decisions that are compatible with the welfare of the community and of individual offenders and who are able to consider the character and background of offenders and the circumstances under which offenses were committed.

The tribal affiliation requirement is aimed at addressing the disproportionately high number of Alaska Native people incarcerated  the largest ethnic group in state prisons, at 44% in 2024, Tobin said in the sponsor statement that accompanied the bill.

The legislation would also require the board of parole to submit an annual report on parole decisions, and reasons for granting or denying parole.

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Advocates, including with the ACLU, have complained that the current boards decision process for discretionary parole is opaque. A legislative audit last year found the board was unable to provide specific reasons why its parole approval rate decreased.

Its hard to know if youre going to be a successful applicant for discretionary parole, if you dont know how the board of parole makes their determinations and decisions and why someone might be denied parole, Tobin said.

Chair says board follows law, considers each case individually

Tobin questioned Leitoni Tupou, the board chair, directly about some of these issues at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 26. Tupou has worked in Alaska corrections starting in 2000, and was appointed to the board in 2020. Hes up for another five-year term.

When asked about the decline in numbers of parole applications granted, Tupou rejected the premise of the question.

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Every hearing is an individual hearing, he said, and noted higher approval rates for drug offenses and property crimes.

When asked about demographic data of parolees being removed from the parole board website, Tupou said that data was not required to be public under current law.

For medical or geriatric parole, there were no applications granted in 2024, according to state data.

When asked about these rates, Tupou said the board is confined to follow current law. If the law allows the parole board the discretion to apply the law of mercy, I believe we can do that, he said. So my recommendation is we look at the current law when it comes to medical parole. Because there are times wed like to release these folks, but our hands are tied. They do not meet the criteria set by the law to allow them to be released.

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He cited a recent case of a 94-year-old applicant for parole that the board denied.

Can you imagine the kind of expenses that we spend to take care of this person? he said. At the same time we had to look at the seriousness of his offense. He committed one of the most heinous crimes. At the same time, what is he going to do? Hes 94 years old. But the laws basically tell us hes not qualified. So as lawmakers, I think that is something that needs to be reviewed.

Tupou told the committee more addiction treatment and rehabilitation programs would benefit people who are incarcerated, as there can be waitlists or lack of programs offered at certain facilities. In some cases, he says the parole board continues the application, to allow people time to get off waitlists and into those treatment programs.

Because it appears to us, the only way we can help these folks is (for them) to participate in some programs, Tupou said. We cannot just let them be released to the community and have the parole officer in the community supervise them, without them being part of some kind of a program. Jobs are great, but programs (like) substance abuse treatment programs, sex offender treatment programs, mental health programs  those are the programs that have to be available for these folks to go to. And looking at the risk of them reoffending, the possibility will be less.

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After the hearing, Tobin said it sounds like double jeopardy for the parole board to put so much weight on the original crime, when someone has already been to trial and sentenced.

She also noted it costs the state to keep people incarcerated  at a cost of $202 per day  plus medical care, at the expense of other programs and services.

The average cost is $75,000 (per person) per year, she said. Im not saying that this is about cost containment and cost savings, but its all part of the conversation . As we give money to our Department of Corrections to keep people incarcerated, we are making choices to not invest in other places, like pre-K (education).

Tobin introduced similar legislation last year that failed to move out of committee. She said the bill this year scaled back some requirements for board seats, with feedback from other legislators. Those included requirements like a required seat for someone with a felony conviction that has been dismissed or sentence served, and limiting seats of former correctional employees.

Advocates argue more transparency will help avoid recidivism

The Reentry Coalitions of Juneau, Anchorage and Fairbanks support the bill, as well as the ACLU of Alaska.

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Megan Edge, director of an ACLU project focused on prisons said the move to make the parole board process more transparent, and share decision making processes would also help better ensure support services and lower the rates of people reoffending, known as recidivism.

Why are they recidivating? Because most people that are making parole, theyre excited to go home, she said. Did they have a substance use issue? Did they have a mental health issue? Was it a housing problem? Was it an employment issue? And we just need better data to understand why our recidivism rate is where it is at and how we can improve it.

Alaska rate of recidivism  defined as when someone is paroled and then violates the terms of parole or commits a crime again  was almost half, or 47% of discretionary parolees and 67% of mandatory parolees over the last three years.

Edge emphasized that more representation on the board of people with technical and career expertise  in behavioral health and rehabilitation in particular  can help improve conditions of release. So I think a properly functioning parole board should be looking at an applicants ability to be successful once theyre released, and so when theyre not successful, we would all be served better on knowing why people are failing, she said. Itll make our communities safer.

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Expanding opportunities for parole helps unite families, she added, and lessens negative impacts on children especially. She said cultivating hope can also improve prison safety and conditions for inmates, and for staff.

Its sad. You hear the clink on the door, and you realize all these people are locked in there and like, its an impossible job, Edge said, who also worked for the Department of Corrections under Gov. Walkers administration. So when you take that hope away from inmates, youre making that a more toxic workplace for your staff. So theres benefits for everybody when people have hope.

SB 62 is being heard in the Senate State Affairs Committee with the next public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, April 8.

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For months, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear warned that the Trump administrations imposition of tariffs stands to harm his states economy, including its bourbon, auto and aerospace industries. Now that President Donald Trump is ratcheting them up, the Democratic governor said the impacts will be devastating not just for the Bluegrass State, but for the entire country.

In an interview with POLITICO on Monday, Beshear, a potential 2028 presidential contender, said there isnt much Democratic governors can do when it comes to international trade, even as another potential presidential candidate, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, pressed trading partners to spare California-made products from retaliatory measures.

Instead, Beshear argued Democrats best recourse is to wage a public information campaign against Trumps trade agenda, highlighting how the president was elected on a promise to lower costs but instead may make life more expensive for Americans. Democrats need to hammer the point that he and he alone is making this decision, and he's out there owning it, Beshear said.

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That recommendation comes as Beshear works to raise his own national profile, with frequent appearances on cable news and a podcast launching on Tuesday.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

About a month ago, you said that you were in touch with Canadian officials urging them to pull back on their tariffs on liquor, mainly to protect Kentucky bourbon. What's the latest in those conversations?

Well, as a governor, you can have general conversations with leaders in other countries, but you can't engage in any type of tariff talks. Tariffs are entirely federal, meaning the impact that's happening on my state, the impact that's happening on the U.S. economy, is due to one person and one person alone, and that's Donald Trump. The people in my state who voted for him didn't vote to have the prices of everything that they need go up. Most of them voted thinking that he'd help bring prices down. 

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I think the law is very clear that tariffs are federal policy, but I also think that that just makes it that much clearer that there's no way around the pain that Donald Trump is causing. When he engages in these actions that harm Americans, so many in the media or others say, "Well, what are you going to do to make sure it doesn't harm the people of the United States."

When the president makes a mistake this significant, when he does something that every single economist says will raise prices, that president typically has the authority to do it, but he should also take the blame for it.

Tell us more about your own trade vision. Kentucky is one of those states that has had communities gutted over the past few decades. Do you support Trumps long term goal, which is to revitalize those lost industries?

Well, Kentucky is booming. We've had three of our best five years for economic development.  We have brought in a record over the last five years for private sector investment, created a record number of new jobs, have the best three-year average for wages, broke our export record twice, and it looks like we'll break our tourism record three years in a row. So our economy was growing.  What we are seeing is a lot of that momentum directly impacted by President Trump's very different approach.

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Look at Kentucky's economy: Our biggest foreign direct investor is Japan, and the president has launched a very aggressive tariff on Japan. I mean, the biggest Toyota plant in the world anywhere is in Georgetown, Kentucky, and so to act like our economy isn't global and there aren't repercussions on the ground, that there aren't manufacturing jobs that are already supported by foreign direct investors, that's just not reality.

Trade is a lot more complicated than this president is acting like it is. Tariffs used surgically can be really important. China is trying to dump steel on the United States, so a targeted steel tariff makes sense. China is trying to dump completed EVs on markets throughout Europe. In the United States, targeted tariffs make sense there.  But these across-the-board tariffs, again, I think every economist says are unwise and are not going to lead to the type of investments that the president is talking about.

Regarding the auto tariffs, what impact are you expecting to see on the Toyota manufacturing plant in Georgetown, and will it help or hurt? Because, presumably, it will increase production there.

Here's the thing, if we want more parts made in the United States, that takes years of investment. I mean, a major manufacturing facility will take anywhere from two to five or six years to build. So if the idea is we will have a very aggressive tariff that will try to force that investment, well, that's two to five years of pain on the consumer. There are different ways to encourage U.S. investment.

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I believe that Donald Trump is only president because he convinced the last group of movable voters that he was focused on prices and the economy and that his opponent was distracted by other issues. Now he's telling those same consumers he doesn't care about them. He's willing to let them go through pain, and his billionaire buddies are saying the same.

Your home-state senators are among the few in the GOP so far speaking out against the tariffs. With the stock market falling and Trump doubling down today on tariffs against China, do you predict this will become the breaking point for Republican support of Trump?

It should be the breaking point because it's impacting all American families, Democrat, Republican, independent. Prices are going up, and life is getting harder for American families solely because of this decision by the president. And like you said, when this Democratic governor and two Republican U.S. senators all say something is a bad idea, in this hyper partisan world, it's because it is a bad idea.

What leverage do Democratic governors have on this front? I know you said earlier, there are federal laws limiting backchanneling, but what options are on the table for them to push back in any meaningful way?

It's important for all of us to speak up and speak out. We are very close to our constituents. We are out in our communities every day, talking with the folks that live in our states. At the end of the day, it's going to need to be more than just our voices. It's going to need to be everybody who goes to the supermarket that sees their grocery tab going up, you know, X percent needs to take a picture or video of it, needs to post it and call it the Trump tax.

That couple that's trying to buy a home for the first time where they were going to be able to afford it, and now it's going up significantly, and they're not going to be able to get that first house, needs to tell their story. When somebody's passing a gas station, which is on every corner with the prices going up, that needs to get out there too. What it's going to take is the voice and the pressure of the people of the United States. And I think we see that's growing.
Editors note: This report contains details and pictures of animal abuse that may be difficult for some.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN)  Humane Agents with Animal Charity of Ohio provided body camera video taken as they arrived at a home in the 1600 block of Lansdowne Boulevard Monday, where they found nearly two dozen animals and four children, all under 16.

Read next: Great Dane found severely malnourished in Sharpsville; owner facing charges

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From what our agents had reported, the children and the animals were all in the worst conditions that they had ever seen, said Jane MacMurchy with Animal Charity.

The videos and photos show piles of trash and both human and animal waste inside and out. A police report states, it was difficult to stand near the open door due to the terrible smell coming from inside the home, adding once the adults were outside, the smell coming from them made it difficult to stand near them, just to speak with them.

It was so deplorable that all the animals were seized, MacMurchy said.

While the children, some of them not wearing any shoes at the time and covered in filth, were sent to stay with relatives, the animals were immediately taken to the shelter for veterinary care. Among them, 16 dogs as well as a cat, ferrets, a snake and a bearded dragon.

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Humane Agents are now reaching out to other rescues and shelters for help.

Because we still have animals coming in from other cases and we are out of space, MacMurchy said.

While agents are also pleading for monetary donations to care for the animals, their investigation continues.

We are putting a case together so that we can pass this off to the prosecutor to pursue charges, MacMurchy said.

For now, Children Services will be reviewing the case, and city officials will be inspecting to determine if the home, which had no running water and was red-tagged, has to be demolished.

Courtesy: Animal Charity of Ohio Courtesy: Animal Charity of Ohio Courtesy: Animal Charity of Ohio Courtesy: Animal Charity of Ohio Courtesy: Animal Charity of Ohio Courtesy: Animal Charity of Ohio Courtesy: Animal Charity of Ohio Courtesy: Animal Charity of Ohio Courtesy: Animal Charity of Ohio Courtesy: Animal Charity of Ohio

For more information on how to donate, visit Animal Charitys Facebook page or website. You can also view the organizations wishlist online.

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Madison Meeker 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.
Northwestern Kellogg School of Management earned a first-place ranking in the newly released 2025 list of top part-time MBA programs in the U.S., a first for the school. Kellogg tied with two previous No. 1 B-schools: Chicago Booth School of Business and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Kellogg photo

For the last three years, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and Chicago Booth School of Business have traded places atop the U.S. News & World Report ranking of part-time MBA programs in the United States.

This year, they share the glory  and welcome a third No. 1 to the party.

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A perennial No. 3 in the part-time list, Northwestern Kellogg School of Management vaulted into a three-way tie for first in the 2026 ranking released today (April 8), sharing top honors alongside Berkeley Haas and Chicago Booth. NYU Stern School of Business and UCLA Anderson School of Management once again rounded out the top five; both have been firmly set in their spots, Stern at No. 4 and Anderson at No. 5, for the better part of a decade.

U.S. NEWS TOP PART-TIME MBA PROGRAMS: THROUGH THE YEARS

School U.S. News Rank In 2025 U.S. News Rank In 2024 U.S. News Rank In 2023 U.S. News Rank In 2022 U.S. News Rank In 2021 U.S. News Rank In 2020 U.S. News Rank In 2019 U.S. News Rank In 2018 University of Chicago (Booth) 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 University of California-Berkeley (Haas) 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 Northwestern University (Kellogg) 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 New York University (Stern) 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 University of California-Los Angeles (Anderson) 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Ross) 7 6 7 7 6 6 6 6 University of Texas-Austin (McCombs) 6 7 6 8 7 7 8 7 University of Southern California (Marshall) 9 8 8 9 9 NA 14 11 Georgetown (McDonough 10 9 9 17 NA NA NA NA Ohio State University (Fisher) 8 10 15 11 10 NA 14 9 University of Washington (Foster) 17 10 11 10 14 NA NA NA Maryland (Smith) 19 10 21 25 NA NA NA NA Georgia Tech (Scheller) 10 17 11 16 NA NA NA NA Texas-Dallas (Jindal) 14 13 11 19 NA NA NA NA University of Minnesota  Twin Cities (Carlson) 10 15 14 11 10 NA 7 9 Indiana University (Kelley) 16 13 15 11 10 9 9 13 Rice (Jones) 13 15 15 11 NA NA NA NA

RANKING IS SMALLER BY 28 SCHOOLS THIS YEAR

U.S. News new part-time MBA ranking had 28 fewer schools this year, with a total of 241 qualifying. In two years the ranking has shrunk by 58 schools. Why the decline? The magazine explained its 30-school decline last year by noting that it took steps through its data collection to only include in-person and hybrid learning programs whose data is more comparable with one another. Also contributing to the decline in ranked schools was a small decrease in the number of part-time MBA programs submitting surveys. U.S. News provided no explanation for the additional 28-school drop this year.

To qualify for the ranking, B-schools must be accredited by AACSB International and have reported at least 10 part-time MBA students enrolled for fall 2024. Schools also must have admitted at least one entering class between fall 2022 and fall 2023.

The 2025 part-time ranking evaluated in-person, hybrid, and flexible learning programs. Degrees that are mostly online, the magazine writes, were assessed separately in the U.S. News Best Online MBA Programs rankings, released in January. Indiana Kelley School of Business topped that ranking for the 10th time in 13 years; its part-time program ranked 16th this year, down from 13th in 2024.

METHODOLOGY: PEER ASSESSMENT ACCOUNTS FOR 50% OF SCORE

The ranking system comprises six weighted factors; the weights of the ranking indicators used in the part-time MBA methodology were unchanged from last years ranking. The most significant factor is the peer assessment score, accounting for 50% of a schools overall ranking. This qualitative measure is derived from surveys of deans and MBA directors who rate other part-time MBA programs on a scale from 1 to 5. U.S. News uses a trimmed mean approach to calculate the final peer score, ensuring outlier opinions are removed.

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Other criteria focus on part-time student enrollment and experience. The percentage of part-time students (12.5%) and total number of part-time students (12.5%) both serve as indicators of a programs commitment to serving working professionals. Academic strength is also a consideration, with standardized test scores and undergraduate GPAs each contributing 10% to a schools ranking. Schools reporting scores from fewer than 25% of entrants were penalized to ensure fair comparison. This year for the first time, U.S. News used Graduate Management Admission Test scores from both the old version of the test and the new GMAT Focus.

Finally, work experience  a key metric for part-time programs  makes up the remaining 5% of the ranking. Schools report the average number of months of full-time work experience for their entering class, a measure that underscores the value of professional background in shaping classroom discussion and peer learning.

MANY TIES IN THIS YEARS TOP 100

Among the biggest winners in this years part-time MBA ranking is Marquette University, whose program jumped 24 spots to land at 49th. Other big jumpers include Arizona Eller College of Management, which rose 20 points to 40th, and South Florida Muma College of Business, which jumped 15 points to 38th. Closer to the top of the ranking, Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business moved up 7 spots to land in 10th from 17th.

While some go up, others go down: Saint Louis Chaifetz School of Business in St. Louis suffered the biggest decline, dropped 57 spots to 117th. Fordham Gabelli School of Business also dropped precipitously, by 46 spots to 88th. And then there were the schools that disappeared from the ranking entirely: Purdue Daniels (35th last year), Virginia Darden (53rd), Tennessee Haslam (66th), and Kentucky Gatton (84th) all dropped off ranking.

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For those that remained, it was a ranking with a lot of ties: 25 altogether in the top 100, including the top three schools as well as six schools at 42nd, six at 58th, nine at 68th, eight at 80th, and six at 93rd.

Among the seven schools that provided GMAT averages out of more than 100, Michigan Ross School of Business reported the highest, 702. The highest enrollment is at NYU Stern School of Business, at 1,524; Stern is one of just three schools with enrollments over 1,000, the others being Iowa Tippie College of Business (1,164) and Berkeley Haas (1,092). The lowest enrollment is at Miami Farmer School of Business, with 10 students. Twelve schools reported enrollments lower than 100.

KELLOGGS DISTINCTIVE APPROACH WINS THE DAY

The Drucker School of Management at Claremont University in California reported the highest average work experience for its part-time students, at an incredible 155 months, which is nearly 13 years. More than a dozen schools in the top 100 reported averages of greater than 100 months. On the flip side, the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UC Riverside reported an average of just 25 months.

Chicago Booth was the most expensive school per credit: $8,420. The least expensive per credit was a tie between the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis and the University of New Hampshires Paul College of Business and Economics, both at an economical $880 for out-of-state students.

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The highest of all schools peer assessment scores was Chicago Booths 4.6; Kellogg and Haas were the only other schools to achieve a 4.5.

After many years being ranked No. 3, Kellogg was feeling good about finally breaking through to No. 1. We are thrilled to see the top ranking of our part-time program, Kellogg Dean Francesca Cornelli tells Poets&Quants, which we have carefully designed to provide a premier academic experience along with flexibility and customization that allow our students to balance their education with their personal and professional commitments. Our distinctive approach to leadership development, global opportunities, and our supportive community ensure a transformative experience that distinguishes Kellogg.

See the next pages for the top 100 schools in the 2025 U.S. News Part-Time MBA Ranking.

Chicago Booth has been No. 1 in the U.S. News ranking of U.S. part-time MBA programs every year since 2019, with the exception of 2023 when it surrendered the top spot to long-time No. 1 Berkeley Haas

2025 U.S. NEWS PART-TIME MBA RANKING

2025 Rank School Name Previous Rank Change Average GMAT Score Total Part-Time Enrollment Tuition & Fees (Per Credit) Average Work Experience (Months) Peer Assessment Score (Out Of 5) 1 Northwestern University (Kellogg) 3 +2 NA 876 $8,124 70 4.5 1 University of Chicago (Booth) 1  693 945 $8,420 74 4.6 1 University of California, Berkeley (Haas) 2 +1 691 1,092 $3,819 99 4.5 4 New York University (Stern) 4  662 1,524 $2,838 61 4.3 5 University of California  Los Angeles (Anderson) 5  667 558 $1,790 86 4.2 6 University of Texas  Austin (McCombs) 7 +1 673 471 $130K (total program) 89 4.1 7 University of Michigan  Ann Arbor (Ross) 6 -1 702 229 $81,254 (per year, out of state) 84 4.3 8 Ohio State University (Fisher) 10 +2 NA 524 $49,144 (per year, out of state) 99 3.7 9 University of Southern California (Marshall) 8 -1 645 340 $2,421 72 4.0 10 Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller) 17 +7 NA 372 $1,625 (out of state) 87 3.7 10 University of Minnesota  Twin Cities (Carlson) 15 +5 NA 383 $1,797 67 3.7 10 Georgetown University (McDonough) 9 -1 NA 421 $2,486 63 3.8 13 Rice University (Jones) 15 +2 NA 419 $61,750 (per year) 88 3.7 14 Emory University (Goizueta) 20 +6 NA 273 $1,844 82 3.7 14 The University of Texas at Dallas (Jindal) 13 -1 NA 595 $39,886 (per year, out of state) 75 3.3 16 Indiana University (Kelley) 13 -3 NA 218 $41,742 (per year, out of state) 111 3.9 17 University of Washington (Foster) 10 -7 NA 270 $30,912 (per year) 94 3.7 17 Boston College (Carroll) 23 +6 NA 486 $2,128 64 3.5 19 Wake Forest University 21 +2 NA 201 $62,090 (per year) 110 3.2 19 Santa Clara University (Leavey) 21 +2 NA 221 $1,328 89 3.3 19 University of Maryland  College Park (Smith) 10 -9 NA 503 $46,791 (per year) 72 3.6 22 University of Iowa (Tippie) 25 +3 NA 1,164 $33,750 (per year) 104 3.3 23 University of Utah (Eccles) 17 -6 NA 295 $34,800 (per year) 73 3.4 23 University of South Carolina (Moore) 19 -4 NA 303 $33,880 (total program) 135 3.3 23 University of California  Irvine (Merage) 28 +5 NA 308 $126,151 (total program) 67 3.4 23 Rutgers University  Newark and New Brunswick 28 +5 NA 672 $2,254 (out of state) 60 3.1 27 Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) 23 -4 NA 183 $1,650 89 3.7 27 Villanova University 35 +8 NA 285 $1,300 69 3.1 29 University of Wisconsin  Madison 26 -3 NA 200 $1,700 71 3.6 29 Boston University (Questrom) 33 +4 NA 494 $2,083 65 3.4 31 Arizona State University (W.P. Carey) 28 -3 NA 223 $29,624 (per year) 69 3.5 31 University of Georgia (Terry) 39 +8 NA 287 $72,765 (total program, out of state) 91 3.5 33 University of Florida (Warrington) 27 -6 NA 186 $32,971 (per year) 68 3.5 33 University of Connecticut 33  NA 489 $1,150 91 3.1 35 Georgia State University (Robinson) 28 -7 NA 538 $1,224 (out of state) 55 3.1 36 University of Pittsburgh (Katz) 35 -1 NA 212 $1,666 48 3.2 36 CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College (Zicklin) 40 +4 NA 428 $1,110 (out of state) 75 2.9 38 University of Houston (Bauer) 45 +7 NA 135 $26,041 (per year, out of state) 69 3.0 38 University of South Florida (Muma) 53 +15 NA 399 $913 (out of state) 70 2.7 40 University of Arizona (Eller) 60 +20 NA 60 $26,823 (per year) 85 3.3 40 University of Massachusetts  Amherst (Isenberg) 45 +5 NA 191 $925 102 3.1 42 University of Rochester (Simon) 45 +3 NA 121 $119,429 (total program) 106 3.4 42 University of California  Davis 28 -14 NA 157 $1,572 57 3.4 42 Gonzaga University 53 +11 NA 163 $1,245 60 2.9 42 University of Colorado  Boulder (Leeds) 50 +8 NA 188 $59,400 (total program) 88 3.3 42 Loyola University Chicago (Quinlan) 42  NA 251 $1,685 51 3.0 42 Southern Methodist University (Cox) 53 +11 NA 318 $43,992 (per year) 71 3.2 42 Saint Josephs (Haub)   NA 354 $1,216 86 2.8 49 Northeastern University (DAmore-McKim) 50 +1 NA 165 $108,960 (total program) 80 3.1 49 Marquette University 73 +24 NA 167 $1,360 83 2.9 49 University of North Carolina  Charlotte (Belk) 45 -4 NA 345 $27,205 (per year, out of state) 97 2.7 52 Virginia Tech (Pamplin) 35 -17 NA 81 $1,100 142 3.2 52 University of Cincinnati (Lindner) 60 +8 NA 107 $916 67 3.0 52 Pepperdine University (Graziadio) 42 -10 NA 308 $2,045 101 3.0 52 San Diego State University (Fowler) 53 +1 NA 342 $18,812 (per year, out of state) 48 2.9

See the next page for the rest of the top 100 of U.S. News 2025 ranking of part-time MBA programs in the U.S.

UCLAs Anderson School of Management was once again No. 5 in the U.S. News ranking of part-time MBA programs in the U.S., the same position it has been in every year since at least 2018

2025 U.S. NEWS PART-TIME MBA RANKING, CONTINUED

2026 Rank School Name Previous Rank Change Average GMAT Score Total Part-Time Enrollment Tuition & Fees (Per Credit) Average Work Experience (Months) Peer Assessment Score (Out Of 5) 56 University of California  Riverside (Anderson) 73 +17 NA 205 $1,627 25 2.8 56 Fairfield University (Dolan) 53 -3 NA 226 $1,195 75 2.7 58 Texas A&M University  College Station (Mays) 53 -5 NA 98 $61,709 (per year, out of state) 96 3.4 58 Case Western Reserve University (Weatherhead) 40 -18 NA 105 $25,728 (per year) 92 3.2 58 Virginia Commonwealth University 69 +11 NA 140 $1,572 (out of state) 104 2.7 58 George Washington University 45 -13 NA 176 $2,540 84 3.2 58 Lehigh University 69 +11 NA 195 $1,340 94 2.8 58 The University of Texas at Arlington 60 +2 NA 262 $48,825 (total program, out of state) 77 2.6 64 University of New Mexico (Anderson) 87 +13 NA 108 $34,615 (total program) 100 2.6 64 Temple University (Fox) 73 +9 NA 157 $1,250 72 2.8 64 University of Central Florida 87 +13 NA 378 $46,567 (total program, out of state) 105 2.6 64 University of Massachusetts  Boston 87 +13 NA 380 $59,029 (total program, out of state) 43 2.6 68 Florida State University 84 +16 NA 99 $1,111 (out of state) 96 3.0 68 Seattle University (Albers) 60 -8 NA 113 $1,011 79 2.7 68 Tulane University (Freeman) 73 +5 NA 119 $37,620 (per year) 35 3.2 68 University of California  San Diego (Rady) 73 +5 NA 136 $1,672 77 3.1 68 Seton Hall University (Stillman) 73 +5 NA 215 $1,520 32 2.7 68 Loyola University Maryland (Sellinger) 87 +19 NA 226 $1,155 47 2.8 68 Hofstra University (Zarb) 69 +1 NA 272 $62,352 (total program) 45 2.6 68 DePaul University (Kellstadt) 84 +16 NA 476 $71,520 (total program) 96 2.8 68 University of Colorado  Denver 50 -18 NA 568 $1,606 (out of state) NA 2.6 77 Loyola Marymount University 66 -11 NA 82 $86,904 (total program) 55 2.9 77 University of Nevada  Las Vegas (Lee) 73 -4 NA 140 $34,566 (total program, out of state) 70 2.6 77 Clemson University 69 -8 NA 382 $1,854 (out of state) 81 2.8 80 Claremont (Drucker)   NA 42 NA 155 3.0 80 Xavier (Williams)   NA 79 $919 96 2.8 80 Oklahoma State University (Spears) 60 -20 NA 102 $365 (out of state) 72 3.0 80 Scranton (Kania)   NA 120 $965 132 2.4 80 George Mason University (Costello) 73 -7 NA 125 $1,869 (out of state) 101 2.8 80 Texas Christian University (Neeley) 66 -14 NA 179 $45,045 (per year) 83 3.0 80 Texas Tech University (Rawls) 87 +7 NA 207 $39,573 (total program, out of state) 120 2.8 80 University of Nebraska  Omaha 87 +7 NA 490 $1,036 (out of state) 54 2.6 88 William & Mary (Mason) 73 -15 NA 98 $1,489 (out of state) 109 3.1 88 Fordham University (Gabelli) 42 -46 NA 164 $2,103 95 3.1 88 St. Johns University (Tobin) 73 -15 NA 195 $1,575 32 2.5 88 University of Alabama at Birmingham (Collat) 98 +10 NA 379 $42,336 (total program, out of state) 62 2.5 88 University of North Texas (Ryan) 87 -1 NA 672 $888 (out of state) 37 2.4 93 Miami University (Farmer) 87 -6 NA 10 $1,050 NA 2.8 93 New Hampshire (Paul)   NA 169 $880 (out of state) 98 2.6 93 Florida International   NA 183 $52,000 (total program, out of state) 47 2.7 93 Memphis (Fogelman)   NA 257 $880 (out of state) NA 2.6 93 University of St. Thomas (Opus) 96 +3 NA 375 $63,450 (total program) 95 2.5 98 University of Oklahoma (Price) 87 -11 NA 90 $40,865 (total program, out of state) 82 2.9 98 Wisconsin  Milwaukee (Lubar)   NA 128 $63,000 (total program, out of state) 56 2.6 98 University of Illinois  Chicago (Liautaud) 73 -25 NA 203 $23,960 (per year, out of state) 68 2.7 98 Stony Brook   NA 275 $1,120 (out of state) 33 2.4 102 Bentley University (McCallum) 98 -4 NA 139 $1,955 98 2.7 105 California State University  Fullerton 98 -7 NA 355 $24,528 (per year, out of state) 74 2.4 105 Kennesaw State University (Coles) 96 -9 NA 369 $48,024 (total program, out of state) 42 2.5 117 Saint Louis University (Chaifetz) 60 -57 NA 129 $1,310 27 2.9 NR Purdue University  Main Campus (Daniels)* 35  NA 33 NA 93 3.4 NR University of Kentucky (Gatton)* 84  NA 73 NA 76 2.9 NR University of Virginia (Darden)* 53  NA 139 NA 68 4.0 NR University of Tennessee  Knoxville (Haslam)* 66  NA 171 NA 59 3.1

*2024 ranking data

DONT MISS CHICAGO BOOTH RETURNS TO THE TOP OF U.S. NEWS PART-TIME MBA RANKING (2024)

The post Another First: Kellogg Climbs Into 3-Way Tie Atop U.S. News 2025 Part-Time MBA Ranking appeared first on Poets&Quants.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 8. Kyrgyzstan has officially launched its campaign for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the 2027-2028 term, Trend reports via the Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The campaign launch was marked by a reception in New York, organized by the Permanent Mission of Kyrgyzstan to the UN. The Kyrgyz delegation was led by Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev.

In his opening speech, Kulubaev outlined the key priorities for Kyrgyzstan as a candidate for the Security Council, emphasizing the countrys commitment to strengthening international peace and security, promoting preventive diplomacy and mediation, and advancing the interests of developing, landlocked, least developed, and small island states. He also reaffirmed Kyrgyzstans continued efforts in disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The event was attended by representatives from the UN and its agencies, as well as over 150 member states.

According to the MFA, Kyrgyzstan is ready to make a contribution in addressing global challenges and actively participate in the work of the UN Security Council.
ANSON, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  An Anson man is facing multiple charges after allegedly assaulting three police officers and holding a woman against her will during a disturbance early Saturday morning.

Just after 1:00 a.m. on April 5, officers with the Anson Police Department responded to a family disturbance call in the 1200 block of Avenue D. The caller told dispatch that a woman was being held against her will by 46-year-old Billy Mac Douglas.

When police arrived, Douglas reportedly collapsed without warning. Officers began administering medical aid and called EMS for a possible drug overdose. But once paramedics tried to treat him, Douglas allegedly became combative and violently resisted first responders.

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During the struggle, three officers were injured, including a human bite wound, a sprained knee, and multiple bruises.

With help from backup, Douglas was eventually restrained using a WRAP soft restraint device. He was taken to the Jones County Jail and booked without further incident.

Douglas now faces several charges, including:

Three counts of Assault on a Public Servant (Peace Officer)

Resisting Arrest, Search, or Transport

Criminal Trespass

Assault Causing Bodily Injury to a Family Member

Unlawful Restraint

All injured officers have since been treated and released from the hospital and are expected to recover fully. The Anson Police Department thanks the Jones County Sheriffs Office and Anson General Hospital for their assistance.

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BigCountryHomepage has requested the mugshot and will update this story once it is received.

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(Reuters) -At least 50 hippos and other large animals have been killed by anthrax poisoning in eastern Congo's Virunga National Park and have been spotted floating along a major river that feeds one of Africa's great lakes, the head of the park said on Tuesday.

Tests confirmed anthrax poisoning, said Virunga Park director Emmanuel De Merode, adding that buffalo have been killed too. The exact cause of the poisoning was not yet clear.

Images shared by the park show the hippopotamuses motionless on their sides and backs in the Ishasha River, or caught among foliage on the river's muddy banks.

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The deaths represent a major loss for the park, which has been working to increase the number of hippos in recent decades after poaching and war reduced the population from over 20,000 to a few hundred by 2006. The park now holds about 1,200 hippos.

Park guards noticed there was a problem when the dead animals started to appear about five days ago along the river, which forms Congo's border with Uganda and runs through an area under the control of rebel fighters.

Anthrax is a serious disease usually caused by bacteria found naturally in soil. Wild animals can become infected if they inhale anthrax spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation warned residents to avoid wildlife in the area and to boil water from local sources before drinking.

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De Merode said that a team was on site and that they were trying to get the hippos out of the water and bury them, but that it was difficult because they did not have excavators.

"It's difficult due to lack of access and logistics," De Merode told Reuters. "We have the means to limit the spread (of the disease) by...burying them with caustic soda."

The river runs north to Lake Edward, where locals spotted more corpses.

"There are more than 25 hippopotamus bodies floating in the waters of the lake, from Kagezi to Nyakakoma," Thomas Kambale, a civil society leader in Nyakakoma, told Reuters.

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Virunga is a vast expanse of deep forests, glaciers and volcanos, with more species of birds, reptiles, and mammals than any other protected area in the world.

It has been caught in the middle of militia activity since civil wars fought around the turn of the century.

(Reporting by Sonia Rolley; additional reporting by Yassin Kombi, writing by Edward McAllister; editing by Alexandra Hudson)
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo  Anthrax poisoning has killed about 50 hippos in Virunga, Africa's oldest national park, which is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo's troubled east, the head of the park told AFP on Tuesday. The toxin is caused by a spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus anthracis, which survives for decades in soil where animals that died of anthrax or were carriers were buried. It is transmissible to humans and potentially fatal in its inhaled form.



The hippopotamuses were found floating in a river south of Lake Edward, which separates the DRC from Uganda, park director Emmanuel de Merode said.



The local office of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) in the North Kivu province, where the dead hippos were found, recommended precautionary measures including avoiding eating bushmeat.

A dead hippo is seen floating in water in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo, after about 50 of the animals died of anthrax poisoning, in an undated handout picture released by the park, April 8, 2025. / Credit: Virunga National Park/Handout/REUTERS

"Although this disease mainly affects wildlife, it poses a potential risk of transmission to humans as well as domestic animals," said the body, which manages national parks in the DRC.



Virunga National Park was established in 1925 and is renowned for its wildlife, particularly mountain gorillas, and magnificent landscapes.



But it is located at the heart of conflicts that have been tearing the eastern DRC apart for the past 30 years.

Just last week, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi commuted the death sentences of three Americans who had been convicted on charges of participating in a botched 2024 coup attempt. The pardon came as Congolese authorities hope to strike a minerals deal with the U.S. in exchange for security support that could help the DRC fight Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in the conflict-hit east of the country.

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Hippopotamuses and other mammals have already fallen victim to anthrax several times in Virunga and other nature reserves in Africa.

Hippos are seen close to a ranger station, July 31, 2013, in Lulimibi, Lake Edward, in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. / Credit: Brent Stirton/Getty for WWF-Canon

According to the Virunga website, the park was home to the largest hippo population in the world in the 1970s, with about 29,000 animals, but "since then, instability in the region has led to increased poaching and a 95% decline in the size of the population."

The World Wildlife Fund lists hippos as a vulnerable species, with an estimated 115,000-130,000 believed to live in the wild globally.

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Concern is growing among public health experts that anti-vaccine sentiment within federal and state governments may derail emerging and cutting-edge vaccines that are now awaiting regulatory approval in the United States  essentially leaving those vaccines in limbo.

Just last week, the US Food and Drug Administration delayed a decision on full approval of Novavaxs Covid-19 vaccine even though it was on track to be cleared, leaving many public health experts wondering why. A person familiar with the situation told CNN that the FDA is seeking more data on the vaccine, which has been available under emergency use authorization since 2022.

It was the first Covid-19 vaccine to come up for FDA action since the second Trump administration took office in January.

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The surprise delay is casting new uncertainty on the fate of another vaccine awaiting FDA action: Modernas next-generation Covid-19 shot, called mRNA-1283, which is set for a decision by May 31.

The company has also filed for FDA approval of its flu+Covid combination vaccine, mRNA-1083. If approved, it will be the first in the US to offer protection against flu and Covid-19 in a single shot.

The quest for more efficient vaccines

Seasonal flu shots and Covid-19 vaccines are recommended each respiratory virus season, which comes over the fall and winter. These vaccines can be given at the same time, but they come in separate formulations and packaging. Vaccine makers have been developing shots that combine them in an effort to make vaccination more efficient.

Moderna intends to make all three vaccines  seasonal flu shots, Covid-19 shots and the new combination vaccines  available as its able, Dr. Rituparna Das, the companys vice president of respiratory development, said in an email.

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In June, Moderna released trial data showing that the combo shot, mRNA-1083, was safe and elicited higher immune responses against influenza virus and the coronavirus than currently licensed seasonal flu and Covid-19 vaccines in adults 50 and older.

We are excited about the potential for 1083 as a combination vaccine that could improve protection against flu and COVID in a single shot, Das wrote. For the past several years, it has been these two respiratory viruses which caused challenges for hospital systems in the fall.

Combination vaccines are already common in pediatrics, for instance, where the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is widely used and the DTaP vaccine can prevent diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis in a single jab.

And Moderna isnt the only company developing a flu+Covid combination shot.

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Pfizer and BioNTech have teamed up to develop an influenza and Covid-19 combination vaccine that uses mRNA technology, starting multiple clinical trials evaluating updated formulations. Novavax intends to seek a business partner to continue the research and development of its influenza and Covid-19 combination vaccine candidate, which is protein-based rather than mRNA-based.

We know that significant market demand exists for a combination product, with greater than 60% of consumers stating a preference for an all-in-one option, Silvia Taylor, executive vice president and chief corporate affairs and advocacy officer at Novavax, said in an email.

But when it comes to these new and emerging vaccines, there are mounting concerns that they may face the same fate as Novavaxs Covid-19 vaccine: delayed regulatory action.

MRNA technology faces political attacks

Unlike Novavaxs Covid-19 shot, which uses traditional protein-based technology, Modernas mRNA-1283 Covid-19 vaccine and the flu+Covid combination vaccines being developed by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech are mRNA vaccines. This means they harness a modified version of messenger RNA  a molecule that tells cells what to do based on the information contained in DNA  to direct cells to produce proteins that help the immune system recognize and defend against a particular pathogen: in this case, flu viruses and the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

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MRNA technology is already used in Modernas and Pfizer/BioNTechs currently licensed Covid-19 vaccines, which have been found to be safe and effective.

There is growing concern among public health experts about whether anti-vaccine sentiments  as well as bills to ban shots that use mRNA technology  may block people from accessing not only a flu+Covid vaccine but any vaccine, said Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer at the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

I absolutely believe the environment is ripe for more jurisdictions to pick up those kinds of pieces of legislation, Freeman said.

It is a dangerous way to go, she said. Low vaccination rates create the perfect environment for the spread of infectious disease.

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Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, also worries about anti-vaccine sentiments in politics as well as how mRNA vaccines specifically have been attacked.

This is playing out now in some state legislatures that are trying to ban mRNA vaccines because of disinformation from the anti-vaccine lobby saying that they integrate into our DNA, that they cause turbo cancers, that they inflate the side effects, Hotez said.

Lawmakers in some states have introduced measures to ban the administration of mRNA vaccines, such as Montana, where a bill was defeated; Iowa and Idaho, where measures have advanced to committee; and Texas, where bills are pending or under review.

At the federal level, the Trump administration is looking to evaluate mRNA research and technology and ensure transparency, according to an administration official.

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The US Department of Health and Human Services has also asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study vaccines and autism, a person familiar with the situation told CNN in March, despite strong evidence that vaccines do not cause autism.

And Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDAs Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, who was instrumental in the development and authorization of mRNA vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic, was forced out of the agency this month.

At the National Institutes of Health, some officials reportedly have urged scientists to remove references to mRNA vaccine technology from their grant applications, suggesting that the agency might abandon that area of research, according to KFF Health News.

Researchers have been exploring mRNAs potential in medicine for over 30 years, Moderna spokesperson Jenna Sexton said in an email, adding that more than a billion doses of mRNA vaccines have been distributed worldwide and an unprecedented amount of real-world safety and efficacy data is well-established.

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Legislative efforts to ban or restrict mRNA medicines in various states are largely driven by misunderstandings about their well-established safety profile and mechanism of action, Sexton said. For example, while mRNA does not modify DNA, this misconception is frequently cited in support of such policies. If enacted, these measures could hinder important research and limit patient access to innovative treatments, potentially delaying life-changing medical advancements.

This trend of lawmakers pushing to ban the use of mRNA technology is striking and suggests that scientists and doctors could do a better job of communicating with the general public, public health officials and lawmakers about the overall benefits and risks of mRNA medicines, said Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

A complete ban on a technology would be a very striking move, as opposed to exploring a concern with a particular product. Its like saying that there is something that you dislike about a website, so youre going to ban the entire Internet, Barouch said.

MRNA technology is used for many things, not just infectious disease vaccines. There are cancer therapies that are being developed, he added. Theres gene editing and gene therapies that are being developed.

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Some public health experts argue that scrutiny around mRNA technology is an extension of anti-vaccine sentiments in politics.

I think that was kind of a false notion that people had  that theres hesitancy around the mRNA vaccine, and those people will get a protein-based vaccine. They didnt, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

They didnt get the J&J vaccine very much when it was available, and they didnt get the Novavax vaccine, which has been available since the EUA was issued, he said. You have to think about this as no vaccine being safe in this administration, in terms of from political interference.

You only have to roll up one sleeve

If a flu+Covid combination vaccine does eventually get FDA approval, it might help improve vaccination rates because you only have to roll up one sleeve to get your vaccine, and you can get two at the same time and get good, solid protection as recommended, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

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But he added that it could still take some time before combination vaccines are ordered and rolled out to the general public, as they would have to be licensed under the FDA and then recommended by the CDC as part of the routine seasonal vaccination schedule.

Most doctors offices, clinics, hospitals, health departments and pharmacies are gearing up to place orders for seasonal flu and Covid-19 vaccines for the 2025-26 virus season, as preorders typically begin around March, Schaffner said. The vaccines are usually delivered starting around August.

The combination vaccines may or may not become available for this fall, Schaffner said. The ordering takes place months before we start administering the vaccine, and that, of course, allows the manufacturers to get a sense of how much vaccine to manufacture. So its a complicated process.

Some vaccine experts argue that mRNA technology can speed up that process.

When it comes to the composition of flu shots, the use of mRNA vaccination against influenza is still not well-established, except in experimental studies, Hotez said, so using mRNA technology in flu+Covid combination vaccines would establish proof of concept.

If that gets shown, that could be a big breakthrough, he said. Because it means that we could perhaps shorten the period required for making influenza vaccines as we get closer to flu seasons and have a better match between circulating viruses and the vaccine.

The currently licensed seasonal flu shots, which are not mRNA-based, are developed months in advance because theyre updated each year to target whichever strain is expected to circulate the most, and they take some time to manufacture. By the time the vaccines are given, the flu strains they are updated to target may no longer be dominant.

But you can make a piece of mRNA very quickly, and possibly closer to the actual fall-winter flu season, Hotez said.

As a result, you might be able to reduce the time frame required to make the decision on what goes into the flu vaccine, he said. With mRNA, we could delay that decision on what goes into the vaccine  maybe for a couple of months, until May or so  until we have a better idea of whats circulating. So there could be some advantage there.

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A federal judge on Tuesday granted the Associated Press request for an injunction blocking the White Houses ban on the outlets access to the Oval Office and East Room, adding that the Trump administration must immediately rescind the denial of APs access. The White House had previously banned the AP from the Oval Office for refusing to use the term Gulf of America instead of Gulf of Mexico.

The Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists  be it to the Oval Office, the East Room or elsewhere  it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints, Trump-appointed U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden said in his ruling. The Constitution requires no less.

But the judge cautioned that the decision does not limit the various permissible reasons the Government may have for excluding journalists from limited-access events. It does not mandate that all eligible journalists, or indeed any journalists at all, be given access to the President or nonpublic government spaces. It does not prohibit government officials from freely choosing which journalists to sit down with for interviews or which ones questions they answer. And it certainly does not prevent senior officials from publicly expressing their own views.

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Read the full decision here.

The Associated Press was banned from the White House on Feb. 11 in retaliation for the outlets refusal to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, as mandated by President Trump. The outlet filed a lawsuit to restore access on Feb. 21.

That turned out to be the first of several direct attacks on media deemed unfriendly to Trump, culminating in the administration taking full control of the rotation of reporters granted access, effectively mooting the White House Correspondents Association.

In response, WHCA basically conceded defeat and told members, Each of your organizations will have to decide whether or not you will take part in these new, government-appointed pools.

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AP spokesperson Lauren Easton, in a statement on Tuesday evening, said the outlet was gratified by the courts decision.

Todays ruling affirms the fundamental right of the press and public to speak freely without government retaliation, Easton said. This is a freedom guaranteed for all Americans in the U.S. Constitution. We look forward to continuing to provide factual, nonpartisan and independent coverage of the White House for billions of people around the world.



The post AP Back in the Oval Office: Judge Rules Trump Cant Restrict Access as Punishment appeared first on TheWrap.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  Austin Police said a 16-year-old was arrested after a deadly shooting in downtown Austin on Monday night, the Austin Police Department said. The incident happened near the intersection of Third Street and Nueces Street.

APD said Tuesday the motive for the shooting is unknown, and investigators believe there was only a brief exchange between the victim and the suspect before the shooting.

When officers arrived at the scene around 7:30 p.m. Monday, police found a man in his 40s with obvious signs of trauma, according to authorities. Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) attempted to perform life-saving measures, and the victim was taken to a nearby hospital. Police said the man died Monday night at the hospital.

Police identified that man later on Tuesday as Tavon Brown.

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Investigators believe the victim and the suspect passed each other as the victim and another unrelated person walked toward the Shoal Creek pedestrian bridge.

APD said the victim made a comment to the suspect about his position on the walkway as they passed by. Police said the teen then shot the man.

This is being investigated as Austins 13th homicide of 2025, according to police.

Anyone with information should contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or by calling 512-472-8477.

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YORK, Pa. (WHTM)  The new owners of an Applebees restaurant in York County recently announced the reopening of the newly remodeled location.

Back on Monday, March 31, the new owners of the Applebees restaurant in York County, called The Rose Group, celebrated the grand re-opening of the popular chain eatery located at 101 Northern Way.

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According to The Rose Group, they first acquired this Applebees location back in November 2024. Under their new management, the restaurant underwent a remodel that gave the establishment a fresh new look and feel.

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We are excited to unveil this newly remodeled location and are looking forward to connecting with our neighbors, Jason Rose, CEO of The Rose Group, said. As a leader in the restaurant industry, we see each of our locations as an investment in the local economy, contributing through job creation and philanthropic initiatives. We look forward to providing quality food and great guest service to new and returning guests in York.

To celebrate the reopening, guests who dine at Applebees throughout the month of April can enter for a chance to win free Applebees for a year ($1,200 value).

You can enter for a chance to win by filling out a form at the restaurant or by picking up a form and mailing it in. Participation is limited to one entry per person per day throughout April.

Moving forward, this locations hours of operation are:

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Sundays  Thursdays // 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Fridays  Saturdays // 11 a.m. to midnight

According to The Rose Group, they have been operating for the past 40 years and are currently the 109th largest restaurant franchise company in the Unites States. They also hold the title as the 3rd largest family-owned business in Greater Philadelphia.

abc27 news will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Lawyers for April Wilkens are asking a Tulsa County judge to let her out of prison.

They call her incarceration unlawful because of unreasonable court delays.

CRIMINAL INJUSTICE: A domestic abuse survivor imprisoned for life for the murder of her abuser

She was the first Oklahoma inmate to file for a re-sentencing hearing under the new Oklahoma Survivors Act, which allows leniency in sentencing for survivors of domestic abuse.

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News 4s Ali Meyer has been reporting extensively on April Wilkens since last year.

She is the Tulsa County woman who was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of of her ex-boyfriend back in 1999.

Wilkens admitted to shooting the victim during a violent night where she was held hostage in his home, raped, and assaulted.

The relationship was a tumultuous two years of victim protective orders, drugs and domestic violence.

RELATED STORY: First applicant for Oklahoma Survivors Act relief still waiting for hearing

Wilkens was convicted of First Degree Murder in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, the most lenient sentence available to her under Oklahoma sentencing guidelines in 2000.

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Wilkens has been denied parole five times since she became eligible in 2013, despite exemplary behavior in prison.

The Tulsa County Distsrict Attorney continues to oppose her parole.

Last year, the Oklahoma Legislature passed the Oklahoma Survivors Act allowing for flexibility in sentencing for defendants who suffered from domestic abuse.

Wilkens re-sentencing hearing was approved under the Oklahoma Survivors Act on November 4th, 2024, more than five months ago.

However, the Tulsa County District Attorneys office continues to delay the hearing, asking the court for months and months to prepare.

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In a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed on Friday, Wilkens defense team calls her incarceration unlawful; an unreasonable over-detention and a violation of Wilkens Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Wilkens legal team is asking the court to set a hearing for argument and decision under the Oklahoma Survivors Act, the command the Department of Corrections to bring April Wilkens to Tulsa County to be present during her hearing, to issue a writ of habeas corpus directing Wilkens release or to place her on supervised release until her resentencing hearing.

Under current sentencing guidelines and the Oklahoma Suvivors Act, defendants convicted of murder are eligible for a sentence of 25 years or less.

April Wilkens has already spent 27 years behind bars.

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According to the court record, a Tulsa County District Judge granted Wilkens request for a hearing on the writ of habeas corpus.

Tulsa County District Attorney, Steve Kunzweiler issued a statement following the ruling:

Just as Ms. Wilkens is entitled to a hearing, we are entitled to do our due diligence in examining

everything which has taken place since she has been in prison. That takes time and resources for which this statute did not allocate. We also had to seek out and retain expert witnesses who could assist us with our case once this case is set for a formal hearing. We look forward to addressing all of the evidence in a courtroom which is where matters in dispute should be resolved and not in the media.

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WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  Northwest Arkansas Task Force 1 Water Strike Team was deployed to help with flooding recovery in Central Arkansas last weekend.

Seven members from the Springdale, Fayetteville and Rogers fire departments performed rescue and recovery missions in feet of standing water south of Little Rock, including one around 1 a.m. Saturday.

We got sent back out again to go look for a sunken vehicle with a potential missing person, said Springdale firefighter Daniel Hopping, who was part of last weekends Task Force. We were out for a few hours doing that operation until it was terminated until a later time.

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Gentry farm experiences positive impacts from heavy rains

Willie Watts, Washington Countys Urban Search and Rescues team leader, said the Task Force has been operational for about 15 years. He said different emergency response agencies across Arkansas make up the Task Force, with two headquarters: one in Fayetteville and another in Little Rock.

Theres a symbiotic relationship where agencies from Northwest Arkansas and Central Arkansas will respond to disasters around the Natural State. For disaster response beyond the Natural States borders, 40-50 people from Arkansas will respond on behalf of the Task Force, Watts said.

Watts said there are 20-25 departments in Northwest Arkansas that can be called on to serve on the Task Force to prevent one agency from getting overworked in disaster response.

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We do flood swift-water response. We do high- and low-angle. We have a helicopter rescue component, Watts said. Theyve done multiple extractions from elevated environments in the national forests and things of that nature. We have a structural collapse component. Theres a hazardous materials component.

All of these things are literally just derivatives of things we anticipate being taxed in the event theres a major incident in Arkansas, Watts said.

Many rescued from collapsed homes after Lake City EF-3 tornado

Hopping was joined this weekend by fellow Springdale firefighter Trevor Hutchens, who was participating in his first Task Force mission outside of Northwest Arkansas.

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When you see washing machines and cars and dishwashers floating around in peoples front yards or down the side of the street, its eye-opening, Hutchens said.

Both Hutchens and Hopping agree that their training to become a Task Force member, as well as their experience in Central Arkansas last weekend, can come in handy in the event theres a flooding event in Northwest Arkansas or the River Valley.

If a major flooding event were to happen in this corner of the state, the Arkansas Task Force 1 Water Strike Team would be ready to respond.

Thats what we all signed up for in the fire service or EMS service is to help people, Hutchens said. Thats our ultimate goal. Thats what makes us tick, so where youre able to do it at a very high level like that, its a real big sense of pride.

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 8. Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev and the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed deepening cooperation within the United Nations, Trend reports via the Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the meeting, Kulubaev expressed support for the UN's efforts in maintaining international peace and security, as well as addressing global socio-economic and climate challenges.

He reaffirmed Kyrgyzstan's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals and highlighted key national priorities, including promoting the mountain agenda, developing a green economy, and environmental protection. Kulubaev requested UN support in advancing these issues on the international stage.

The minister also briefed Guterres on the political transformations taking place in Central Asia and the region's collective efforts to strengthen peace and stability. Both sides emphasized the importance of maintaining constructive dialogue to address existing differences and ensure stability and progress in international relations.

As part of his visit to New York, Kulubaev also held meetings with representatives from the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries and the African Union.

During these discussions, he presented Kyrgyzstan's foreign policy priorities, regional developments in Central Asia, and the country's commitment to international cooperation, sustainable development, and regional integration. The parties exchanged views on pressing global and regional issues.
The painting and artistry is not what sticks out to archeologists at a newly discovered ancient altar in Guatemala. The likely sacrificed human remains and its craftsmanship tells the story of a major conflict between a Maya city-state and a powerful rival. The findings are detailed in a study published April 8 in the journal Antiquity.

Archaeologists believe that the altar was built around the late 300s CE in the Maya city of Tikal. It is decorated with four panels painted red, black, and yellow and depict a person wearing a feathered headdress near regalia and shields. The face itself looks a bit like other depictions of a Maya deity called the Storm God, with somewhat almond-shaped eyes, a nose bar, and a double earspool.

A rendering of what the altar would have looked like. CREDIT: Heather Hurst.

Heather Hurst

The team believes that it was created by an unknown highly skilled artisan who was trained in Teotihuacan. This formidable ancient power was centered about 630 miles west of Tikal, outside present-day Mexico City.

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Its increasingly clear that this was an extraordinary period of turbulence at Tikal, Stephen Houston, a study co-author and archaeologist at Brown University, said in a statement. What the altar confirms is that wealthy leaders from Teotihuacan came to Tikal and created replicas of ritual facilities that would have existed in their home city. It shows Teotihuacan left a heavy imprint there.

The cities of Tikal and Teotihuacan

Established around 850 BCE, Tikal initially existed as a small city with little influence in the area. Around 100 CE, the city became a larger and more powerful dynasty. Temples from this large city-state still stand in the jungle and its residents battled with the Kaanul dynasty for dominance of the greater Maya world.

Teotihuacan, the city of the gods or the place where men become gods, was home to the Temples of the Sun and Moon. Over 100,000 people lived within its roughly eight square miles and it was one of the largest cities in the world at its peak between 100 BCE and 750 CE. Ultimately, Teotihuacan was mysteriously abandoned before the Aztecs rose during the 14th century.

Archaeologists have some evidence that Tikal and Teotihuacan began regularly interacting around 650 BCE. According to Houston, what first appeared to be casual trading quickly became more strained.

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Its almost as if Tikal poked the beast and got too much attention from Teotihuacan, Houston said. Thats when foreigners started moving into the area.

[ Related: Ancient Maya masons had a smart way to make plaster stronger. ]

The altars sacrifices

In the 1960s, archaeologists found a cut stone with well-preserved text describing the conflict between the two cities in broad terms. The stones text revealed that Teotihuacan was essentially decapitating a kingdom, around 378 CE. They removed the king and replaced him with a quisling, a puppet king who proved a useful local instrument to Teotihuacan, said Houston.

Several years later, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology, revealed a scaled-down replica of the Teotihuacan citadel located just outside the center of Tikal. Archeologists believe that it was buried under natural hills and suggest that Teotihuacans presence in the city likely involved an element of occupation or surveillance in the years before its overthrow.

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The altar in this new study was built right around the time of the coup. The team believes that the altars meticulously painted exterior represents only a fraction of the evidence for the capitals major presence. Archaeologists found a child buried in a seated position inside of the altar. While both cities did practice human sacrifice, this specific burial practice was rare in Tikal but common at Teotihuacan.

Remains of other children were also found on three sides of the altar. Lorena Paiz, the archaeologist who led the discovery, believes that it was likely used for human sacrifice, particularly children. The remains of three children not older than 4 years were found on three sides of the altar, Paiz told The Associated Press.

An adult with a dart point made out of green obsidian was also found inside of the altar. The material and the design of the dart are also distinct to Teotihuacan and not Tikal.

The fact that the altar and the area around it was later buried indicate that Teotihuacans presence changed and scarred Tikal.

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The Maya regularly buried buildings and rebuilt on top of them, study co-author and archeologist Andrew Scherer said in a statement. But here, they buried the altar and surrounding buildings and just left them, even though this would have been prime real estate centuries later. They treated it almost like a memorial or a radioactive zone. It probably speaks to the complicated feelings they had about Teotihuacan.

[ Related: Ancient Mayan human sacrifices involved twins. ]

A kind of nostalgia

Archeologists believe that Tikals collective memory of this Teotihuacan coup was likely pretty complicated. While it may have rocked Tikal, the takeover ultimately made the kingdom more powerful. Throughout the next several centuries, Tikal became a nearly unmatched dynasty. It ultimately declined around 900 CE with the rest of the Maya world.

Theres a kind of nostalgia about that time, when Teotihuacan was at the height of its power and taking increasing interest in the Maya, Houston said. Its something exalted for them; they looked back on it almost wistfully. Even when they were in decline, they were still thinking about local politics in context of that contact with central Mexico.

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One striking detail about this ancient story is how it is one that has been played out across the world. A mighty empire plunders the riches of another smaller city.

Everyone knows what happened to the Aztec civilization after the Spanish arrived, Houston said. Our findings show evidence that thats a tale as old as time. These powers of central Mexico reached into the Maya world because they saw it as a place of extraordinary wealth, of special feathers from tropical birds, jade and chocolate. As far as Teotihuacan was concerned, it was the land of milk and honey.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  A bill in the Arkansas legislature that would allow for the display of the Ten Commandments in public places, such as school classrooms, is headed to the governors desk for her signature.

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.

The bill was filed on March 11.

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SB433 passed the Senate by a 27-4 vote on March 19 and the House by a 71-20 vote on April 7.

Current Arkansas Code  1-4-133 allows for the In God We Trust to be posted and displayed if funds are available.

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.

Multi-million funding allocation bill for Franklin County prison fails in Arkansas legislature for fourth time

The bill says the Ten Commandments must be on a durable poster or framed copy and at least 16 by 20.

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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.

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.

The 2025 version has had no updates in the Oklahoma legislature since Feb. 4.

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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.

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Sen. Missy Irvin (left), R-Mountain View, asks a question about Senate Bill 611, sponsored by Sen. Tyler Dees (right), R-Siloam Springs, on the Senate floor on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

The Arkansas House will consider a proposed amendment to the states enjoined social media age verification law after the legislation received Senate approval Monday.

Additionally, the Senate will vote Tuesday on a bill that would create a right for parents to sue social media platforms if their child develops eating disorders, self-harms, commits or attempts suicide, or becomes addicted to the platforms feeds because of content the child was exposed to.

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Sen. Tyler Dees, R-Siloam Springs, and Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris, introduced both bills last week.

Senate Bill 611 would amend Act 689 of 2023, the Social Media Safety Act, which was the first of its kind in the nation and required social media platforms to verify the age of new account holders in Arkansas. Those under 18 could only access sites with parental permission.

A federal judge temporarily blocked Act 689 in August 2023, before it went into effect, and permanently blocked the law March 31 for violating the First Amendment and the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The amendments to Act 689 in SB 611 more clearly define social media and apply the definition to more platforms, lower the age of minor users from under 18 to under 16 years old, prohibit social media algorithms from targeting minors, and add a penalty for companies that do not comply.

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There still is reasonable age-verification language, but it puts more emphasis on the social media company to make sure that they are not preying on the youth, Dees said.

SB 611 passed the Senate with a bipartisan 21 votes. Four senators voted present and seven did not vote. Sens. Ricky Hill, R-Cabot; Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville; and Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, voted against the bill.

Hill expressed the same concerns he did in 2023 before he voted against Act 689.

I know Im not going to change any of yalls minds, but I do want you to think about the slippery slope were walking on, Hill said. If you want to limit the freedom of speech, go ahead and continue to vote for this.

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Dees said SB 611 would not result in withholding content but instead would protect our most vulnerable.

Were trying to make sure that the profits of these social media companies dont come before the protection of our children, Dees said.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the Social Media Safety Act a priority during her first year in office. In January, she called on lawmakers to amend the law and to give parents the right to take legal action against technology companies if their children experience mental health crises, such as suicidal ideation, tied to social media consumption.

No members of the public spoke for or against Senate Bill 612, the private right of action bill, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which passed the bill with no audible dissent Monday.

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Under SB 612, a social media platform could be held accountable for placing content on the feed, screen, account, or other digital medium of the minor that causes the minor to view the content without explicitly searching for that specific content and includes algorithmic promotion of the content based on a previous search or engagement if viewing the content leads to significant bodily or cognitive harm.

Dees told both the committee and the full Senate that technology companies have contacted him asking for the bills to be amended so it would not be applicable to them. He said he is open to amending the bill but does not want to accommodate billion-dollar companies that have neglected our youth.

SB 611 and SB 612 both establish a civil penalty of $10,000 per violation. The penalty for violating the Social Media Safety Act was originally $2,500 per violation.

Sens. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, and Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, both asked Dees during the committee meeting how a plaintiff would prove under SB 612 that a social media platform knowingly caused intangible harm to a minor.

Sen. Clarke Tucker (right), D-Little Rock, asks a question about Senate Bill 612, sponsored by Sen. Tyler Dees (left), R-Siloam Springs, during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Monday, April 7, 2025. At center is Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

Whether a platform leads a minor to develop or sustain an addiction to it, as SB 612 states, is a little tougher to prove than a suicide attempt or an eating disorder without getting inside someones head, Tucker said.

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Dees said SB 612 is the framework to have that discussion and creates a process for the courts to decide if theres damaging aspects that have taken place as a result of an interaction with Big Tech.

Dees and Eubanks also sponsored the Bell to Bell, No Cell Act, which Sanders signed in February, that bans personal electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, in schools.

In March, a bipartisan majority of House members approved two bills that mimic stalled federal legislation aimed at regulating companies online interactions with children. Lead sponsor Rep. Zack Gramlich, R-Fort Smith, told the Advocate he does not expect to proceed with one of them, the Arkansas Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).

The other bill is House Bill 1717, the Arkansas Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act. Gramlich said he is amending the bill and hopes to present it to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

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HB 1717 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.

Editors Note: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now)  A military parade could be making its way into Arlington County to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army, according to officials. However, city officials were provided little details on how this would be executed.

More cuts planned at Veterans Affairs

On April 4, the county was contacted by the Secret Service regarding the possibility of the parade, Arlington County Board Chair Takis Karantonis said.

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No further details or instructions were provided to city leaders, and neither the Arlington County Police nor fire departments received a formal request from the federal government, Karantonis said.

Arlington is the proud home of tens of thousands of Veterans, active military and civilian personnel and the Pentagon, Karantonis said. We are a 9/11 community. U.S. Army history is Arlington history.

While the exact scope of the parade remains unclear, Karantonis said he hopes the government is sensitive to the pain and concerns of active military and veterans who may have recently lost their jobs due to decisions at the federal level.

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ARLINGTON, Va. (DC News Now)  Arlington County won multiple of this years Virginia Governors Environmental Excellence Awards  the only multi-winner in the state.

The awards were announced Tuesday at the Environment Virginia Symposium, recognizing the significant contributions of environmental and conservation leaders.

Five categories were recognized: Sustainability, environmental project, greening of government, land conservation and implementation of the Virginia Outdoors Plan. Businesses, industrial facilities, nonprofit organizations and government agencies are all eligible awardees.

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Ovi Shop opens at Capital One Arena, celebrates Ovechkins record 895th NHL goal

Arlington County Department of Environmental Services won a silver medal for its retrofitting of Ballston Wetland Park, which improves stormwater flow and serves as a wildlife refuge.

Photos of the park before and after the project can be seen below:

Before

After

The project converted a neglected dry pond into a constructed wetland, including features such as a forebay to collect sediment, a Watergoat trash net to collect debris, wetland habitat for wildlife and more, according to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The wetland is the single largest water quality treatment facility in Arlington, treating stormwater from 230 impervious acres and removing over 150 pounds of phosphorus, 1,250 pounds of nitrogen, and 126,000 pounds of sediment a year, which is equivalent to 10% of the Countys Chesapeake Bay clean-up target, the DEQ wrote.

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Arlington Countys Solid Waste Bureau also won a Bronze Medal for its On-Street Food Scraps Collection for Multi-family Building Residents program to reduce the amount of food waste in the trash system.

The program creates a system that allows residents in buildings with limited access to food waste diversion a way to compost.

Fourteen compost collection sites were placed in high-density multi-family areas throughout the county.

Nearby Fairfax County was also honored with a Bronze Medal for the Park Authority Farmers Market Program and food scrap collection.

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To read more about this years awards, click here.

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)  Monroe County Sheriffs deputies have made two arrests following an armed robbery at M&T Bank in Sweden.

According to MCSO, deputies responded to the bank on Fourth Section Road in the Town of Sweden around 4:09 p.m. for the report of an armed robbery.

Brockport Police and MCSO deputies quickly secured the scene, and two people were eventually arrested.

MCSO Major Crimes Unit is currently leading the investigation, and evidence technicians are processing the scene. There have been no reported injuries as a result of this incident.

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MCSO has yet to release any more information regarding the armed robbery at this time.

This is a developing story. You can check back here for updates.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  The Army has made changes to how its helicopters use a safety system that broadcasts aircraft location and has reduced the number of flights over Washington following a collision with a passenger jet that killed 67 people, the head of Army aviation told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Investigators are still determining why the Army helicopter and the American Airlines jet collided near Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29, but the Federal Aviation Administration has data showing an alarming number of close calls around the airport.

The safety system, called ADSB, short for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, has become a flashpoint as some have pointed to the likely lack of use by the Black Hawk helicopter that night as a potential cause of the crash.

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The ADSB-out part of the system is designed to help air traffic controllers and nearby planes better track an aircrafts location with position updates every second. But it can also allow anyone  including a plane enthusiast on the ground  know precisely where a helicopter or airplane is located. Army helicopters in the past have turned off the system for many missions because they were deemed sensitive.

The Armys head of aviation, Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, said there now will be fewer flights with the ADSB-out data turned off.

And also fewer VIP flights

In the months since the crash, the Army has halted the vast majority of flights it was conducting for general officers ranked three stars and above, to ferry them from the Pentagons helipad to regional locations.

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It has only resumed limited flights for the defense secretary, deputy defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, while a limited number of other senior military leaders can fly from Virginias Fort Belvoir, Braman said.

The Armys 12th Battalion is one of 28 agencies that used the low-altitude helicopter routes around Ronald Reagan National Airport. That includes the Department of Defense, individual military services, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services, the National Guard, Coast Guard and others.

Changes to ADSB-out policy

Before the collision, the Army was exempt from broadcasting ADSB-out data during sensitive missions, according to an August 2024 memo obtained by the AP. Those missions could include ferrying a senior leader or training for an emergency where transmitting a landing location could expose sensitive tactical information on reaction plans. The Army still has that exemption, but is making changes to how it flies so the exemption won't be used as often, Braman said.

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In past training and evaluation flights  such as on the night of the crash  crews combined normal flight routes with practice landings at sensitive locations. That meant they had to fly with ADSB-out switched off for the whole flight, according to the memo.

Now crews are separating normal training and evaluation flights from flights that rehearse the classified continuity of government mission, Braman said. That reduces the number of flights where ADSB-out data will be turned off.

If they are not going to one of those sensitive locations it should 100% be on, Braman said.

Its assumed the three Army crew who were killed in the crash were flying with ADSB-out turned off, but crash investigators have not concluded that yet, he said.

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The other part of the system, ADSB-in, pulls in location data from nearby planes and helicopters. Few Army aircraft had ADSB-in, due to the cost, and were not required to have it. The Army has now authorized the purchase of 1,600 ADSB-in systems for its helicopter fleet.

Army says the helicopters location was still known

Even if ADSB-out was off, the Black Hawks transponder was in use and transmitting its position, Braman said.

The FAA says ADSB-out data is more precise than the radar data communicated by a transponder, which depending on the mode in use can shield some aircraft information. The night of the crash, the Black Hawk was transmitting in three transponder modes  A, C, and S  which combined gave the helicopters identity, location and altitude. There was no question where that aircraft was, Braman said.

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There was no point during the flight where the jet and the airport control tower could not see the Black Hawk, he said.

I think theres still a perception out there  I know there is  that the aircraft with ADBS-out in that segment around DCA were invisible. And that is so far from the truth, Braman said.

As a result of the crash, the FAA has permanently closed a route along the Potomac River that directly intersected the flight path for the runway where Januarys collision took place.
COLUMBIANA, Ohio (WKBN)  An Army veterans trek across the country is taking him right through the heart of the Mahoning Valley. With his life at a crossroads, he wasnt sure where to go next.

Theres an old saying that says you cant understand a persons life until you walk a mile in their shoes. But Jake Sansing has been through so much and walked so far.

Everybody is going through something, Sansing said. I ended up going from Tennessee to Delaware to California, to Florida to Alaska, back to Florida and back to California again. I just kept on walking.



Jake was in the Army from 2007-2011, serving two tours of duty in Afghanistan before returning home. He found re-acclimating to civilian life a bit challenging and fell on hard times, ending up homeless. But he picked himself up by his shoestrings and started walking.

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Ive ran into a lot of people in general, and veterans included. Were all the same, were all going through stuff, he said. They can understand where Im coming from. A lot of veterans get out of the service and have trouble finding jobs or just getting the mentality that civilians have. Its a different world being in the military and being out in the civilian world. Everything doesnt run the same. People are more chaotic. In the military, everything is more structured.



He wrote a book detailing his struggles, but with nowhere to publish it, he did the only thing he knew how to do.

The reason I continued walking was to get my book out there. I self-published my book. A publisher wouldnt even read it unless it was professionally edited, which wouldve cost like $10,000 that I didnt have, Sansing said.

Jake has pounded the pavement, slowly moving from one coast to the other. Hes made the trip four times now, walking more than 16,000 miles.

A lot of people have said that Ive inspired them, even though that wasnt my intention, Sansing said. It kind of confused me, honestly, because I didnt feel like an inspiration, I kind of felt like someone who was struggling.

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You may see him pushing his cart with the words Jake Walks America, printed in big block letters. The cart weighs 200 pounds, packed with two gallons of water and 25 pounds of food. Its also equipped with a solar panel so he can charge his devices and has a tent to sleep in.

He slept in the tent strictly for the first few years he was walking.

Dealing with the weather has been pretty bad, Sansing said. Ive been through several tornadoes. Blizzards. Ive been through all of it. I used to just get in my tent and hope for the best whenever there was bad weather. Or just keep walking through it and just pray that everything worked out.

He said for the first five or six years, he stayed outside around the clock. Since he started making money from his book, he says he will get a motel if he needs to.



Jake says this trip will be his last. His destination is New York City, and he sees another book down the road in his future. But right now his success is measured by how far hes come.

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Whatever you want to do, stay focused on it, Sansing said. Keep pushing through.



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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  A man arrested Monday after a police pursuit in Hermitage was charged in connection with an incident involving a gun being pulled at a government building in downtown Nashville.

According to court documents, on March 17, officers were called to Tennessee Tower on Rosa Parks Boulevard after receiving reports of an argument involving a gun.

The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security previously reported the incident involved two people who were arguing in the lobby before they both exited the building. One then retrieved a firearm from a vehicle and brandished it while on the sidewalk outside the building.

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PREVIOUS: Law enforcement investigating firearm brandishing incident outside Tennessee Tower

According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, 21-year-old Roderick Wren was seen on surveillance video entering the building just before 12:30 p.m. A short time later, Wren left the building quickly with two men following him. One of the men was then seen raising his hands and backing away.

Bystanders in the lower entrance of the building began to take shelter, causing one woman to become injured.

During an investigation by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, a witness told authorities Wren fled in a white Dodge Charger with front-end damage.

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CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee

MNPD reports said Wren was identified in the surveillance footage by Metro police due to a prior criminal history.

Around 4 p.m. on Monday, April 7, officers conducting surveillance on Wren at an apartment complex on Bell Road in Hermitage saw him get in the drivers seat of a Jeep. As he drove away, officers deployed spike strips on the vehicle, leading Wren to accelerate and drive into oncoming traffic. He then pulled off the roadway before he got out of the car and ran away.

After a short pursuit, he was stopped and arrested. Detectives found two handguns at the scene  one in the grass near the Jeep and the other under the front passenger seat.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Wren is a convicted felon in Davidson County on charges from 2022 and 2025. He now faces eight charges, including four felonies, and was booked into Metro Jail on a $127,000 bond.

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 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.

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Arrests at Santa Barbara's annual unsanctioned Deltopia street party rose for the fourth straight year this weekend, more than doubling the number of arrests from 2024, authorities said.

Isla Vistas weekend-long Deltopia party, which draws thousands of local college students to raucous festivities near the beach, has seen arrests and citations grow each year since 2021, according to stats released by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

This year, 84 people were arrested and 485 people were given citations. In 2024, there were 32 arrests and 254 citations. The year before that there were 23 arrests and 151 citations.

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While Friday night was fairly calm, the activities of the weekend ramped up on Saturday, according to the sheriff's office.

"Saturday saw a significant increase in both crowd size and emergency medical calls, most of which were related to alcohol intoxication," the office said in a statement released Monday. "Deputies and officers coordinated with fire and medical teams, using pre-planned rescue units to respond to calls and clear roads in densely packed areas, ensuring swift access for ambulances. Thankfully, there were no reported fatalities from cliff falls or fentanyl overdoses. There were no injuries to law enforcement officials or uses of force."

Read more: Ticket scams, treacherous cliffs: Officials warn of danger at 'Deltopia' spring break rager

The most serious arrest last weekend came when officers stopped a group of people on Saturday morning on Marketplace Drive as the group headed toward Deltopia. One of the members of the group was in possession of a loaded gun, the sheriff's office said.

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Officials also arrested six as part of a monthlong investigation into a conspiracy to violate a festival ordinance. Authorities made the arrest at a house where there was a paid party with tickets sold on a ticketing platform.

The sheriff's office did note that no one died this year. There were no fentanyl overdoses and no cliffside falls.

In 2023, a junior at UC Santa Barbara died of a fentanyl overdose at the festival and more than a decade ago a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student fell off a cliff and died.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, April 8. The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is supporting the financing of priority projects in Tajikistan, said Vladimir Yakunin, Director of the EDB in Tajikistan, during a meeting with the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Zavgi Zavgizoda, Trend reports via the Tajik Ministry.

During the meeting, Zavgizoda highlighted that cooperation with all international financial organizations, including the EDB, is strengthening, particularly in attracting financing for priority sectors of the national economy. He also emphasized the importance of expanding cooperation within the framework of existing EDB projects and called for their successful implementation.

As a result of the meeting, both parties agreed to continue regular dialogue to ensure constant oversight of project implementation and further strengthen economic and investment cooperation.

The EDB is a multilateral development bank with a charter capital of $7 billion, aimed at promoting the economic growth of its member states, expanding trade and economic ties between them, and fostering integration processes across the Eurasian space through investment activities.

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WEST MEMPHIS, Ark.  Arkansas State Police are investigating after the body of a missing man was discovered near Interstate 40 in West Memphis.

According to investigators, Criminal Investigation Division police responded on Sunday to reports of a body found in the median near Mile Marker 280 on eastbound I-40, just east of West Memphis,

Memphis man killed in Crittenden Co. high-speed chase

Investigators were able to identify the individual as 26-year-old Selvin Adonis Gutierrez Martinez of Honduras.

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Martinez was reported missing on April 3 to the West Memphis Police Department.

Investigators said they believe that Martinez may have been struck by a vehicle.

His body has been transported to the Arkansas State Crime Lab to determine the manner and cause of his death.

Family mourns woman who died in AR high-speed chase, crash

Arkansas State Police said the investigation is ongoing.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives remarks at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel on Aug. 23, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

The Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections held a public hearing Tuesday morning for Republican-authored bills introduced in response to third-party candidates in last years election  one who faced challenges getting on the presidential ballot and the other who wasnt allowed to get off.

The first bill, authored by Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers) and Sen. Andre Jacque (R-New Franken), would allow third-party presidential candidates to gain access to Wisconsins presidential ballot without their party having any members holding elected office in the state.

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Last year, the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint arguing the Green Party was not eligible to be on the presidential ballot because state law requires presidential electors nominated in October to be chosen by state officers and legislative candidates.

The statute states that presidential electors must be nominated by each political partys state officers, holdover state senators and candidates for the state Senate and Assembly. The Democrats argued the Green Party doesnt have anyone who qualifies, so it couldnt be on the ballot.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court dismissed the DNCs lawsuit against the Green Party. Jill Stein, the partys nominee for president, received 12,275 votes, about 0.4% of the statewide total.

In his remarks introducing the bill, Sortwell said the effort to exclude the Green Party from the ballot was an attack upon democracy.

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No political candidate should be restricted ballot access and discouraged to run because their respective party has not yet won a political office, Sortwell said. Its rather ludicrous on its face, if you consider that a party is not entitled to a monopoly for ballot access and to certain votes. To make the law clear, this legislation protects political third parties from frivolous lawsuits by allowing the chairperson of the partys state committee to nominate their presidential electors.

The other bill heard by the committee Tuesday addresses Robert F. Kennedys failed effort to get his name off Wisconsins presidential ballot after he had dropped out of the race and endorsed President Donald Trump.

Kennedy had filed nomination papers with the Wisconsin Elections Commission that included the signatures of enough voters for him to qualify and be placed on the ballot. Before the Wisconsin Elections Commission met on Aug. 27 to make its final certification of candidates, Kennedy dropped out of the race and wrote a letter to the commission asking to take his name off the ballot.

Under state law, however, candidates who file nomination papers and qualify to run cannot withdraw and must remain on the ballot, unless they die. Kennedy unsuccessfully sued to have his name removed, taking the case all the way from Dane County circuit court to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Once the candidates are certified, county clerks begin printing and mailing absentee ballots, making it much harder to change who is on the ballot.

Under the bill, authored by Rep. David Steffen (R-Howard), qualified independent candidates for president and vice president, and all qualified candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the state Senate and Assembly, governor and lieutenant governor, secretary of state and state treasurer could remove their name from the ballot if they file a sworn statement withdrawing their candidacy before the WEC deadline for certifying candidates.

The bill would also make it a felony offense punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and a $25,000 fine to file a false statement withdrawing someones candidacy for office.

In his testimony, Steffen said California is the only other state that doesnt allow candidates off the ballot unless they die and that the policy is unrealistic and somewhat embarrassing.

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So having such a law probably made sense in the 1800s when death was more of a reality, a regular occurrence, but in current times, it seems appropriate that we develop a mechanism, like all the other states, to allow individuals who, if between the time that they submit their paperwork and the election, that they have some sort of opportunity on their own to pull themselves off the ballot, he said.

The bill would not apply to candidates for local office. In this years spring election, a candidate for Madison Common Council won by a slim margin after dropping out of the race and endorsing her opponent.

Rock County Clerk Lisa Tollefson testified that her only concern is that Steffens proposal could limit clerks ability to get ballots out on time. She noted that clerks begin designing, preparing and testing their ballots long before the elections commission certifies the candidates.

For the clerks, she said, the WEC certification is the go-ahead that ballots can be printed and mailed. She said their work will be slowed down if they need to wait until the last possible moment to begin that preparation work, because a candidate might drop out.

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Those are really tight time frames, and as absentee ballots keep growing in popularity, we have to print more ballots, and printing ballots takes more time, so if we need that extra time, please dont take any time away from us, Tollefson said.

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Project Summary:

This story is supported by the Pulitzer Center and is part of the Texas Energy Crossroads project, a partnership between The Hill and Nexstar Texas stations examining the oil and gas industry and the politics surrounding it following President Trumps second inauguration.

AUSTIN (KXAN)  Energy experts gathered in southeast Austin on Monday to discuss the future of the nuclear power industry and the launch of a new modular nuclear reactor.

The event, put on by Aalo Atomics, showcased the companys first nuclear reactor, Aalo Pod, and its new manufacturing space. A video introduction by Gov. Greg Abbott started off the evening, followed by a presentation from industry experts with McKinsey Consulting.

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Aalo presented two products. The first is the Aalo Pod, a 50 megawatt electric nuclear power plant purpose built for powering AI data centers, CEO Matt Loszak said.

The second product is the factory, and the factory is putting out dozens of these Aalo Pod power plants every year, and thats enough to provide a gigawatt per year to these data centers, Loszak said. He added that When you do this all under one roof, it essentially allows you to streamline the whole process and make sure that you can move very fast, very efficiently.

The Aalo Pod serves as a nuclear reactor. On the left, the casing that holds the reactor. On the right, the reactor parts themselves. This pod is filled with liquid metal to keep nuclear fuel cool while in use. (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

The Aalo Pods act as modular reactors. They are cooled using liquid metal sodium, as opposed to a traditional water system. Each of the companies power plants uses five of these reactors to power one turbine.

Federal cuts impact plans to grow Texas grid; advanced energy options face delays

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This amount of power is equivalent to about three hundred wind turbines, according to the Department of Energy.

Texas and the push towards nuclear

Obtaining this power and keeping it on is essential to the states plans. Last year, Gov. Abbott announced a focus on expanding two things: nuclear energy and the electric grid. One of the reasons for this push is to supply energy to the growing number of data centers coming to the state.

Transporting oil, natural gas from the Texas Panhandle through the United States

When you have issues around energy sources (cut) that may fail, nuclear is a way to get around that, said Mike Blankenship, a Houston-based attorney with Winston and Strawn.

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He said that concerns following the 2021 winter storm and the lower reliability of renewables has led many of his clients to see nuclear as the future.

Aalo manufactures its power plants all under one roof, reducing the time it takes to get the plant operational. (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Right now were kind of more in the infancy, because its not completely built out on the modular side, Blankenship said.

Loszak sees modular reactors as the path forward for the industry. By building all the components to the nuclear power plant in house, he hopes to speed up the industry.

It usually takes around 10 years to deploy a single gigawatt power plant, but when you do things so repeatable and kind of parallelize the construction and manufacturing of these components, youre able to do a much higher throughput, Loszak said.

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The door to the old Supreme Court Chamber at the Montana Capitol. (Micah Drew/Daily Montanan)

Despite Republican leaders pledge to reshape the judiciary in Montana, the Legislature doesnt appear to have had the appetite to increase the partisanship of the states courts this session.

On Monday, representatives voted down House Bill 838, a bill that would allow Montana Supreme Court candidates to indicate a political affiliation, on a 46-54 vote, with 12 Republicans joining all Democrats in repudiating the premise.

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Last week two similar bills  Senate Bill 42 and Senate Bill 543 stalled in the House and Senate respectively.

Urging his caucus to support his bill, HB 838, Speaker of the House Brandon Ler, R-Savage, said he too would like an independent judiciary, but that doesnt happen.

The will of the voters was to send a strong conservative majority out here the past three sessions Ive been in, and every good bill we run on the floor just seems to get shot down, Ler said. Its time to make the judiciary reflect the will of the voters of Montana.

In early January, Ler along with Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, outlined a plan for reigning in the co-equal branch of government.

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A primary goal was to make judicial elections partisan. Many GOP lawmakers allege justices already have partisan leanings and the labels simply offer voters transparency. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte echoed this desire, repeatedly calling on lawmakers to send such a bill to his desk.

But with less than a month left in the 69th legislative session, lawmakers are 0-for-5 on passing bills aimed at removing the states nonpartisan elections for judges.

Several adjacent bills  one to reduce the number of Supreme Court judges, one to allow judicial candidates to take part in partisan events or hold positions in political organizations  have also failed to garner majority support.

So far, just one bill on the topic has made it to the governors desk. House Bill 39, now codified in Montana Code, allows political parties to contribute to the campaigns of judicial candidates. While HB 39 doesnt attach a letter to a candidates name on the ballot, it opens the door for more money, and more clearly partisan money, to enter judicial races.

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In a statement to the Daily Montanan, Ler said that while none of the partisan election bills had advanced, these discussions have helped bring greater attention to how judicial elections are conducted in our state. There are strong opinions on all sides of this issue, and its clear the body has not yet aligned on a consensus forward.

House leadership is continuing to work on additional proposals aimed at increasing transparency, accountability, and public trust in the judiciary. Judicial reform remains a priority this session, and we expect further legislation to be brought forward in the coming weeks, Ler said.

The final (for now) debate

The state of the partisan judiciary SB 42  Requiring political affiliation in judicial races  Senate: House: X SB 543  MT Supreme Court can indicate political affiliation  Senate: X HB 39  Allow political parties to contribute to judicial candidates  House: Senate: Governor:  HB 169  Allow judicial candidates take part in partisan activities  House: Senate: X HB 295  All judicial candidates can indicate political affiliation  House: X HB 506  Constitutional amendment to appoint judges  Committee: X HB 751  Requiring MT Supreme Court candidates indicate political party or be undisclosed  House: X HB 838  MT Supreme Court can indicate political affiliation  House: X

Many lawmakers stood up on the debate for HB 838 Monday afternoon, with the longest speeches coming from those in opposition.

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Opponents cited the clear desire from representatives, as seen in previous votes, to keep the courts as nonpartisan as possible, despite massive increases in spending in recent elections and the perceived slant of recent state Supreme Court decisions.

Others cited the slower turnover of the courts compared to other elected positions  state Supreme Court judges serve eight-year terms while representatives serve just two  and urged lawmakers to let the changes take their natural course.

Montana recently switched from a purple state to a red state, said Rep. George Nikolakakos, R-Great Falls. It takes time to lag behind and offer that counter balance. In many ways, thats a feature of the system. As frustrating as it is, its not a bug. It ensures our courts are separated from the political passion of the day.

But many Republicans backed the Speakers bill, using many of the same arguments made throughout this session-long debate. One of the primary cases made by proponents is that partisan affiliation is a voter-education tool.

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We have people coming to us to say, who should we vote for the judge? Because Im not spending time coming out and not looking at the cases they heard, said Rep. Gary Parry, R-Colstrip. If you think for a minute that the judges arent going with an ideology, I challenge that. I just dont think that keeping the public uninformed about it is the way to go  (This bill) at least gives the voters an opportunity to make an informed choice.

Several representatives said they would prefer to consider a different system altogether, namely letting the governor appoint justices with either Legislative confirmation or from a short list selected by a commission. More than half of states have some version of an appointment system for their highest courts.

A bill heard earlier this session would have asked Montana voters to consider a constitutional amendment to allow the governor to appoint Supreme Court justices from a slate selected by a bipartisan commission, but that proposal never made it past a committee hearing.

House Majority Leader Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, said that as a lawyer, he looks for judges who are fair, follow the law and listen to attorneys. And during the last decade, he said hes seen the system evolve further into partisanship and pushed his caucus to back the bill.

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He said the partisan judicial bills are simply a response to whats going on.

If we want these bills to go away, I think its time for the judiciary to step up and make them go away, he said.

Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, said that while lawmakers ascribe to a partisan label in order to advocate for and push forward a party platform that they stand behind, judges have an altogether different job that doesnt involve toeing a party line.

Adding judges directly into the partisan mix would have candidates for court echoing party lines, chasing endorsements and campaigning purely on ideology, he said.

Thats not an impartial court, Karlen said. Thats legislators in red robes and blue robes.

This story has been updated with comments from Speaker Ler.
DENVER (KDVR)  Attorney General Phil Weiser announced new legal efforts against the Trump administration on Monday, leading to Colorado now having enjoined or led 25 legal actions against the Trump administration.

Weiser told FOX31 that he intends to continue filing lawsuits whenever he sees the federal government violate the law in a way that harms Colorado.

Trial of Gambian man facing international torture charges begins in Denver

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In every single one of these cases, I ask, Did the federal government just violate the law in a way that harms Colorado? And every time the answer is yes and yes, Weiser said. It is unfortunate and unprecedented to have a federal government acting with such disregard of the rule of law.

As of Friday, Colorado was part of 24 cases against the federal government. On Monday, Weisers office said it was also filing a brief in a case to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to disallow the creation of Americas first publicly funded, religious charter school.

The first case brought by Weisers office against Trumps administration involved birthright citizenship, which Weiser asserted on Monday violates the U.S. Constitution, and noted that a judge in the case asked where lawyers were to fight Trumps executive order on the matter.

The judge called the action the most unconstitutional thing hed seen in 40 years on the bench, Weiser said. This is from a judge appointed by Ronald Reagan. What were seeing from this administration is dangerous, its reckless, its illegal, and thats why were in court again and again.

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And in every case we filed, weve won an order from a judge saying whats happening illegal and wrong, Weiser added.

171 Colorado homeowners released from contracts, can now sell houses freely

He said the most dangerous claim hes heard from Trump is his assertion that he will not spend money mandated by Congress thats been earmarked for Colorado  Weiser said it amounts to about $220 million in federal funding.

Theres money for people who are doing wildfire mitigation and resistance, for public safety, for veterans, Weiser said. All of these funds are mandated by Congress. The president does not have the right to say, Im not spending those funds.'

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Weiser also addressed claims that the filings are overkill or just partisan politics.

Anyone who has a question about these lawsuits can go ahead and look for him or herself at what our arguments are, can look at how the court treats them, Weiser said. We are making arguments based on the law, based on facts, and were winning our cases because what were challenging is beyond the pale. The president does not have unlimited power. The president is not above the law.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Uzbekistan's Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company (NMMC) is actively integrating ESG principles (environmental, social, and governance standards) into its operations, Boris Samoylenko, Head of ESG at NMMC, told Trend in an exclusive interview.

Receiving the first ESG rating from internationally recognized agency Sustainable Fitch confirms our commitment to the principles of sustainable development and reflects the level of integration of environmental, social, and governance factors in our activities, Boris Samoylenko noted.

According to him, the ESG rating has a direct impact on the reputation of the plant in the industry, increasing the level of confidence of investors and international partners. It also contributes to the improvement of NMMC's image in the sphere of responsible corporate governance and enhances the company's transparency.

From an operational point of view, this allows us to identify areas for improvement and implement more sustainable business practices, and creates prerequisites for attracting green financing on more favorable terms for the mill's extensive investment program, he explained.

Boris Samoylenko emphasized that as part of its operational activities, the company supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals by contributing to the development of the regions where it operates, upholding the principles of responsible business conduct, working to preserve the environment and ensuring fair working conditions for employees.

"NMMC actively supports the Green Economy Year initiative. We are increasing the share of renewable energy sources, including solar and wind power plants, to cover the company's energy needs, reducing our carbon footprint by implementing energy-efficient technologies and modernizing equipment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The company has adopted and is implementing programs for rational use of water and for increasing landscaping and improvement of adjacent territories," he pointed out.

He emphasized that NMMC is making steady steps forward in terms of implementation of renewable energy projects. By the end of 2024, the total capacity of solar photovoltaic stations at the production sites of the Works has increased five times. By the end of 2025, about 21 percent of NMMC's energy needs will be covered by solar generation.

"The main priority of the company is to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. For this purpose, a corporate climate strategy is being developed this year, aimed at managing climate risks, ensuring a systematic approach to disclosure of information on climate risks and monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions," Boris Samoylenko added.

Speaking about water conservation, he noted that NMMC's production processes require the use of a large amount of water - the company's annual water demand is 130 million cubic meters.

In recent years, NMMC has been actively implementing a water conservation program aimed at reducing the consumption of clean water, reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation, mine and underground water in the technological process, introduction of a drip irrigation system, optimization of process equipment operation, Samoylenko explained.

He told that by 2030 NMMC plans to reduce the consumption of clean water for processing one ton of ore at hydrometallurgical plants to 0.8 cubic meters, as well as to bring the share of recycled, treated and mine water used in the production process to 35-40 percent, which will save water taken from the Amu Darya. According to the program, it is planned to save 36 million cubic meters of clean water by 2030. These measures improve the environmental sustainability of NMMC by reducing pressure on water resources.

"We also invest in the development of social infrastructure, including schools, educational programs, and vocational training, and support gender equality initiatives. Improving working conditions and workplace safety remain a priority on the ESG agenda. Last year, more than 15,000 people were trained and upgraded through various educational programs, and a distance learning platform was launched for all employees," he remarked.

According to him, last year, NMMC built two major social facilities: a Specialized Boarding School in the Tamdyn district of the Navoi region and an International Chess School on the territory of Tudakul recreation center. The International Chess School meets FIDE requirements for holding international chess tournaments.

Furthermore, Samoylenko highlighted the importance of gender equality and said that NMMC was the first Uzbek company to join the International Women in Mining (IWiM) organization.

Our cooperation with the IWiM organization has already allowed us to establish important links to share experiences and use the best international practices to ensure women's empowerment as part of its long-term strategy and ESG goals, Boris Samoylenko concluded.
An international university student in Australia has been convicted after a wildlife smuggling operation was uncovered by authorities.

What's happening?

As explained by 7 News, student Yinan Zhao was caught attempting to smuggle Australian lizards to China by mail. Zhao reportedly tried to "export 15 lizards hidden inside children's toys in 10 separate packages," which were X-rayed and intercepted by Australia Post.

"Sending reptiles in the mail is extremely cruel as they won't have access to food, water or fresh air for weeks and sadly, most of the animals will die before they get to their destination," Warren Christensen told 7 News about what can happen in such circumstances. Christensen serves as a compliance officer with the Queensland Government Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.

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The native reptiles included species such as shinglebacks and blue tongues. Their total street value was estimated to be tens of thousands of dollars, per 7 News.

Zhao was convicted in Brisbane District Court in late February and reportedly "sentenced to 18 months in prison, with a non-parole period of five months."

Why is this important?

Wildlife trafficking is a growing issue around the world that poses a significant threat to conservation efforts and biodiversity. These schemes often target endangered species that are already vulnerable. There can also be unforeseen consequences.

By transporting these creatures to new environments, smugglers run the risk of introducing invasive species that will destroy the balance of local ecosystems. This can create a domino effect in which other species may struggle to survive while being forced out of their natural habitats.

What's being done about this?

Christensen told 7 News that he believes Zhao's conviction will serve as a deterrent to future smuggling.

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"Unfortunately, international students, such as those from China, are often targeted through social media and other means to make easy money by smuggling wildlife," Christensen said. "This prosecution should serve as a warning to others considering smuggling animals to make a quick buck that they will be caught and face very serious, life-changing consequences."

Individuals can also help to make a difference by engaging with and supporting organizations that work to combat wildlife trafficking. Getting involved and staying informed can contribute to the global effort to protect our planet's precious wildlife.

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.
Authorities on Tuesday identified a snowboarder who died in a fall on a trail at a popular New England ski resort over the weekend.

A spokesperson for Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, confirmed to Boston 25 News that a death occurred at the resort on Saturday morning.

Ski patrol found the snowboarder, who officials identified as 63-year-old Kendall Willard, of Kingfield, unresponsive about 800 feet from the top of a closed trail in the woods around 9 a.m.

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Willard was transported to a medical room at the resort, and life-saving measures were initiated, but he was pronounced dead around 9:45 a.m.

The Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Willards cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Carrabassett Valley Police Chief Mark Lopez said Willard was on a chair lift when he dropped a glove down the trail. He was walking to retrieve the glove when he slipped, fell, and skidded 800 feet into a cluster of trees.

In a statement, the Carrabassett Valley Police Department said, Chief Lopez wishes to express his deepest condolences to the family and friends of Kendall Willard during this time.

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Apr. 8POTSDAM  The Institute for Learning-Centered Education presented its two-hour session about autism, Friday morning, to police officers attending the SUNY Potsdam Law Enforcement Training Institute.

This is the second time the autism group has presented to law enforcement, according to director Don Mesibov.

The Institute's two-hour discussion session was developed to change people's perceptions of autism and provide information to help avoid inappropriate reactions to people with autism.

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Mesibov said the presentation was very well received according to evaluations gathered at the end of the session.

In September, Mesibov had observed a similar session with a different group of officers, led by two experts, to gather information on adapting the presentation for police officers, schools, and community organizations. Friday's session was Mesibov's first time leading the presentation for police officers.

At the beginning of the session, Mesibov said he asked the 19 participants about their knowledge of autism. Eighteen indicated they knew very little or nothing about it.

Academy Director Sonny Duquette said he will encourage police departments throughout the region to engage Mesibov to conduct their two-hour session.

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The 19 attendees at Friday's presentation included six cadets, deputy sheriffs, a county sheriff, police officers, patrolmen, a school resource officer, a probation officer, and the police academy director. Participants came from Ogdensburg, Norfolk, Potsdam, and Malone.

An assessment form indicated that all 19 participants rated the session "worthwhile."

Participants' comments on the evaluation forms included:

"Very informative"

"Opened my eyes to a lot of things"

"An eye-opener on how individuals with autism see everything"

"Gave me a new perspective on how to approach a person with autism"

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"Helps you understand and learn about the struggle people with autism have"

"Great for the career path we are in because as an officer, not understanding someone who is different, we could take it as suspicious."

"Gave a better understanding of how the disability works"

"I learned several different tips and information about autism"

"I learned many things in the short 2 hours that I never thought I would"

"A session like this, where you get to experience having someone with real-life experience about the topic, is much more valuable than a generic slideshow."

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"Expanded on the understanding of autism"

"Eye opening, very educational, as well as just a new perspective"

Participants indicated they were most engaged when Mesibov told stories, when Connor Newcombe, a 25-year-old Potsdam man with autism, spoke about his experiences and read his poems, and during interactions with Newcombe.

Participants found the "20 TIP packet" to be helpful, as well as hearing Newcombe's personal experiences. They said they realized how diverse and complex autism is and how careful one must be when communicating with someone with autism. Several participants expressed surprise that some people speak to individuals with autism in a condescending manner.

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Mesibov said that due to their presentations over the past few years, opportunities for presentations are starting to come in regularly.

A week ago, Mesibov and Newcombe conducted a virtual session with special education students in Minnesota and received the same positive feedback. They are scheduled to conduct virtual sessions with a parent group in Florida and be interviewed by a podcaster in British Columbia.

In October, Mesibov presented at the annual convention of the Association of Constructivist Teachers (ACT) in Denver. He has been invited to present at the New York State School Board Association's annual convention in October. The association, which recently recognized Mesibov and Newcombe as "Champions of Change," has offered to help them expand their work statewide.

On April 15, they will present to a group of parents and others in Elizabethtown.

Mesibov said, "It's rewarding when information we share changes the way people interact with those on the spectrum. It is especially gratifying when we get a positive response from police since lack of information can have serious consequences for either police or individuals with autism."
Low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines just made a highly controversial decision, and it's being met with mixed reactions from customers. The airline will begin flying deportation flights for the federal government out of Arizona, beginning in May.

Avelo CEO, Andrew Levy, indicated that the decision to fly for the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) agency is part of a "long-term charter program." He said in a statement: "We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic."

While some fliers on social media don't seem fazed by the news and others even support it, needless to say, many people have strong opinions about Avelo assisting ICE with deportation flights. Some are even vowing never to fly on the carrier.

Guess I won't be taking this airline anymore https://t.co/mnitpetniw  Bruce D. Baker (@SchlFinance101) April 7, 2025

You know what airline to stop flying...https://t.co/Ic9Ks09i45  Dave Dudar (@bearddenver) April 7, 2025

This news comes on the heels of Avelo's plan to open a new base at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

The carrier is opening a new base at Phoenix/Mesa Gateway Airport.https://t.co/3W2nuaL2XJ  AirlineGeeks (@AirlineGeeks) April 7, 2025

Avelo also operates a large east coast base between Tweed New Haven Regional Airport and Bradley International Airport, which serves the greater Hartford-Springfield area.

Related: United Airlines Making Big Changes to Onboard Service

New Haven mayor, Justin Elicker, said in an emailed statement to the New Haven Register:

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"Avelo Airlines' decision to charter deportation flights from Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona is deeply disappointing and disturbing. For a company that champions themselves as 'New Haven's hometown airline,' this business decision in antithetical to New Haven's values."

Avelo reportedly plans on using three of its Boeing 737 airplanes to operate the deportation flights.

As for whether this move will have an impact on their business? Time will tell. However, with the busy summer travel season fast approaching and customers looking for the best deal, Avelo's low-cost fares might prove too good to pass up, regardless of personal opinions.
NORTON SHORES, Mich. (WOOD)  The Muskegon County Health Department is warning Norton Shores residents not to contact or fish in Little Black Creek and Mona Lake for two days after thousands of gallons of raw sewage spilled.

Up to 87,400 gallons of raw sewage spilled near a pumping station near the intersection of Airline Highway and Getty Street because of a valve failure, according to the health department.

The failed valve was isolated right away, according to Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center, and repairs are ongoing.

In a Tuesday release, the health department asked residents to avoid direct contact with (or fishing in) Little Black Creek and Mona Lake for the next 48 hours.

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Festival goers at the annual Axe Ceremonia music festival in Mexico City on March 23, 2024. - Credit: CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images

AXE Ceremonia has issued a new statement regarding the death of two photojournalists at its festival over the weekend. On Monday, the fest organizers expressed their deepest sorrow over the deaths of Citlali Berenice Gilles Rivera and Miguel Angel Rojas Hernandez, who were covering the Mexico City festival.

From the very first moment, we have been by their families side, providing all the support and assistance we could offer during these very difficult times, the organization wrote. We want to reiterate our commitment to be there for them, not only today but every step of the way as they navigate this painful process.

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The photojournalists, who worked for outlet Mr. Indie, were killed after a crane collapsed following a strong wind gust. In Mondays statement, the festival said it was working closely with authorities on all the necessary requests.

This unfortunate event deeply saddens us as a community and strengthens our resolve to review and reinforce our civil protection and safety protocols to prevent such an incident from occurring again, the statement read.

The letter, addressed to the public opinion, comes after attendees and Mexican music journalists expressed their distaste for the festivals initial reaction to the tragedy, since it failed to end the event that day due to the deaths, and did not mention Gilles Rivera and Rojas Henandez by name in their statement the following morning.

Mondays letter also acknowledged the work of the photojournalists as an essential part of the festivals history and the importance of journalistic work. On behalf of the entire Festival Ceremonia team, we send our heartfelt condolences to their families, friends, and colleagues, the fest ended their note. We too share their grief and stand united in mourning this irreparable loss.

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Over the weekend, Angry People Media, a collective of Mexican photojournalists, issued a statement condemning Ceremonias immediate inaction to the two deaths, calling for better work conditions for journalists covering music in the country overall.

Berenice and Miguel deserved to return home. They deserved secure and dignified work conditions. They deserved respect for their work. And now, they deserve memory, justice, and the truth, the collective wrote. This pain cannot be lost or diluted in cold statements This needs to change.

The festival continued on Saturday following the incident  including headlining sets by Charli XCX and K-pop band Tomorrow X Together. AXE Ceremonia organizers and the local mayors office announced the cancelation of Sundays festivities the following morning.

Following the unfortunate incident that occurred yesterday, we inform you that the activities scheduled for today have been suspended, following the guidelines of the relevant authorities, the organization wrote. Our sympathy and support go out to their families and love ones during this difficult time.

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DENVER (KDVR)  An unvaccinated infant under a year old living in Denver County has been infected with measles, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported Monday.

CDPHE, Denver Health and the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment all confirmed the case. The agencies noted that infants normally get their routine dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine at 12 to 15 months.

Measles case confirmed in Colorado resident who recently traveled internationally

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The agencies reported that the infant had recently traveled with family to an area of Chihuahua, Mexico, where there is an ongoing measles outbreak. The agencies said that current evidence does not show the case is linked to Colorados other known measles case, which was reported in an adult resident of Pueblo who also had traveled to Mexico.

Infants under 12 months are especially vulnerable to measles because they are typically too young to be vaccinated. This case is a stark reminder that families traveling internationally should delay unnecessary travel or talk to their health care providers about early MMR vaccination for infants, especially when visiting areas with known measles outbreaks, said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist and deputy chief medical officer at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, in the announcement of the infants infection.

Were incredibly grateful to our partners at Denver Health and the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment for their swift action, expertise, and collaboration in identifying this case and protecting the broader community, Herlihy added.

The agencies said that anyone who was at the Denver Health emergency department on Bannock Street in Pavilion A on Sunday, April 6 from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., should monitor for symptoms for the next 21 days.

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CDPHE said measles symptoms typically take seven to 21 days to develop and include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a characteristic rash that usually starts several days later on the face and spreads.

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In February, a Texas child, who was unvaccinated, died of measles, which health officials said was the first death from the illness in about a decade. CDPHE told FOX31 in February that the last confirmed case of measles in the state was reported in December 2023, and that most of the time, measles cases occur in Colorado after travel or in under-vaccinated communities.



About 93.7% of Colorado children have the MMR vaccination, which protects against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella. Thats below the goal threshold of 95% for community immunity.

Two doses of the MMR vaccination are about 97% effective in preventing measles, CDPHE said. The agency also urged families traveling internationally with children too young to be vaccinated to reconsider travel to areas with ongoing measles outbreaks. If the travel cannot be avoided, infants between 6 and 11 months old should receive an early dose of the vaccine before traveling to outbreak areas.

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The MMR vaccine has been available for decades, CDPHE said.

Coloradans can check their own or their childs immunization records through the states Immunization Information System public portal. If your provider has not reported vaccines, some records may be incomplete.

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NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.  The 13-Marine squad is back, and the Corps is creating a new company within the infantry battalion to meet its modern war-fighting needs.

Commandant Gen. Eric Smith announced those changes Monday at the Navy Leagues annual Sea, Air and Space Exposition.

The fighting unit had grown to 15 Marines during infantry battalion experiments in recent years. That included adding an assistant squad leader and a squad systems operator to manage the many sensing and firing platforms being added to the units arsenal.

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Dropping back to the 13-Marine configuration still gives Marines more personnel than the standard nine-soldier U.S. Army squad. It also returns the squad to its previous size, but instead with a sergeant, rather than a staff sergeant in charge of three fire teams and an organic precision fires specialist in the ranks.

The infantry battalion will also see the formation of a reconnaissance and fires company outside of the headquarters and service company ranks. That new company will include the battalions 81mm mortars, organic precision fires, such as drones, and the scout platoon for reconnaissance assets, Smith said.

The new Marine infantry battalion is slimmer, saltier and more techy

The decision was made this past week, the commandant said.

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When the Corps concluded phase one of its Infantry Battalion experiments in 2023, it reduced the size of the infantry battalion from 965 Marines to 811 and added new technologies for sensing, striking, communication and power generation.

Each of the battalions three rifle companies hold individual operations, signal, logistics, electronic warfare and medical sections. Recent plans also called for a Navy corpsman available for each squad.

The Marine Corps first unveiled the 15-Marine configuration in 2018. Prior to that, the service had used the 13-Marine squad model since at least the 1950s, with three fire teams of four Marines and a squad leader.

In 2018, then-Commandant Gen. Robert Neller initially announced he would cut the squad from 13 to 12. That changed after his own experiments recommended otherwise.

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The 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, had conducted six months of experimentation with new configurations and gear. Following that work, an article published in the professional journal Marine Corps Gazette recommended a 15-Marine squad.

Iran uses an even larger formation  a 16-soldier squad with a squad leader, sniper, a two-soldier rocket team and three fire teams of four soldiers, all with automatic rifles, according Infantry Building Blocks, published in a 2018 issue of Military Review.

The same article described Chinas dismounted infantry squads as formations of nine to ten soldiers devoted to anti-armor missions.

Before the Ukraine War, Russia had centered even their dismounted squads around the use of either a BMP infantry fighting vehicle, which is tracked, or a BTR wheeled armored personnel carrier, according to The Russian Way of War, published by the U.S. Army University Press.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  A Bakersfield man who was punched by a police officer during his arrest in December has been acquitted of all charges.

A jury on Monday acquitted Victor Manuel Ayala Jr. of resisting arrest and providing false identification to police.

Last week, the court acquitted him of spousal battery following a defense motion that cited a complete lack of evidence, according to the Kern County Public Defenders Office.

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The charges were misdemeanors.

Mr. Ayala complied with all commands once he realized police were present, said Deputy Public Defender Kayla Hughes, Ayalas attorney. Despite that, he was forcefully taken down and struck without justification.

On Dec. 28, police were called to a home on Columbus Street to a report of a domestic disturbance. They heard a loud argument coming from inside.

Officers knocked and a male voice responded with an expletive. Officers then kicked open the door and encountered Ayala standing in the middle of the living room, according to a Public Defenders Office release.

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He allegedly refused to follow orders to turn around, and instead tensed his hands and pulled away when officers tried to grab him, according to the release. An officer punched him in the face and back, the release said.

Ayala argued police acted unlawfully and with excessive force.

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Bakersfield teacher arrested on suspicion of child sex crime

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  A teacher with the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District was arrested last week on suspicion of committing a child sex crime, according to police and district officials.

Kimberly Gardiner Tull, 45, was arrested April 2 on suspicion of engaging in lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14, according to the Bakersfield Police Department. Shes no longer in custody, and charges had not been filed against her as of Tuesday afternoon.

A spokesperson with the school district said parents were alerted  but added Tulls arrest is not connected to her employment.

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This allegation was domestic in nature and unrelated to matters of the school, said Chantel Stansberry, director of communications.

Police Sgt. Eric Celedon said there is no threat to public safety, and no current risk to any children involved.

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, April 8. Uzbekistan's Namangan region demonstrated steady economic activity in the first two months of 2025.

As per data obtained by Trend from the Namangan regional administration, the region's total trade turnover reached $221.4 million from January through February 2025. Of this, $90.6 million came from exports and $130.8 million from imports.

The volume of industrial production in the region amounted to 4.2 trillion soums ($326.2 million). Construction works reached 1.3 trillion soums ($100.9 million), while the turnover of retail trade totaled 3.3 trillion soums ($256.3 million). The market services sector showed notable performance, generating 6.8 trillion soums ($528.2 million) in volume.

As of March 1, 2025, a total of 24,654 enterprises and organizations (excluding farms and household plots) were operating in the region. Out of these, 20,448 were classified as small business entities.

Meanwhile, the gross regional product (GRP) of the Namangan region amounted to 68.9 trillion soums ($5.3 billion) in 2024, which is 7.6 percent higher year-on-year. The growth rate of GRP was due to positive growth rates in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries percent (share in the GRP structure percent); industry percent (16.7 percent); construction percent (8 percent); and the service sector percent (45.5 percent). GRP per capita increased by 5.3 percent and amounted to 22.2 million soums ($1,724).
DAPHNE, Ala. (WKRG)  Overnight storms across the Gulf Coast left severe damage in parts of Baldwin County, and some of those areas are still feeling the effects of this storm.

Storm damage and flooding reported in the News 5 coverage area (photos, closures, and other info)

Crews have been out working on a portion of U.S. 90 in Daphne between U.S. 98 and Baldwin County 13 near the entrance to the Lake Forest Subdivision. A portion of U.S. 90 collapsed because of the heavy rain Sunday night.

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Alabama D.O.T. was there this morning and they were kind of assessing, Daphne Fire Departments Battalion Chief Lamar Green said. We knew that the part on the north side of the road did collapse, but they werent sure about underneath.

Crews out here on U.S. 90 said theyre hoping to have the road repairs completed and the rest of the road reopened as early as Tuesday.

North of Daphne towards Bay Minette, a bridge crossing the Bay Minette Creek on Bromley Road saw high water levels that officials tell WKRG News 5 at one point flooded the entire road. That road is now back open to traffic.

Back on the Eastern Shore, over the past 24 hours, first responders with the Daphne Fire Department were busy responding to 911 calls for help.

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We went around this morning, just kind of checked some of the storm damage and where the areas were. A lot of homes got flooded, several people are probably still stuck in their homes, Green said. We did a total of nine human rescues and three animals that we pulled out of houses last night.

Green has a bit of advice to help people prepare before the next big storm hits.

Flash floods hit Mobile County as heavy rain prompts safety warnings

If you get into a situation where its starting to flash flood and you can safely remove yourself from the house, go ahead and find yourself drier ground, higher ground; if not, stay where you are, he said. Get to the highest place in the home that you can get, call us and well make sure that we can come and get you out and get you to safety.

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Public school students will not be allowed to use cellphones during class time, at a minimum, under legislation headed to the governor's desk. (Stock photo by Daniel de la Hoz/Getty Images)

Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday she intends to sign a bill setting a statewide ban on public school students using cellphones during class time.

The Iowa House passed the bill, which the governor introduced in January, on a 92-4 vote Tuesday and sent it to her desk.

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Digital distractions are at an all-time high, disrupting focus, learning, and productivity in our classrooms, Reynolds said in a statement. Iowa students deserve to learn free from the disruption of personal electronic devices to fully focus on their education. Weve seen tremendous progress in student behavior and engagement at our schools that have already implemented such policies. I look forward to signing this bill, allowing every Iowa student to once again prioritize learning.

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House File 782 would require Iowas K-12 public school boards to adopt a policy beginning in the 2025-2026 school year that, at minimum, bans the use of personal electronic devices during instructional periods. Boards have the option of restricting the use of phones in schools, including a full ban on the use of cellphones during the school day. The Iowa Department of Education is required to develop and distribute a model policy to schools.

There are some exceptions to the ban for students who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan that requires accommodations that involves the use of a cellphone or another device, and in cases where a parent has petitioned the school district and established a legitimate reason related to a students mental or physical health that requires them to have a cellphone accessible during class.

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The measure had been passed by the House in March, but it was sent back after the Senate amended the bill requiring the state education department to create and distribute the model policy for school personal electronic use by May 1. The House approved this amendment, though Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, expressed concerns that it was a a little bit of a tight time frame for the department unless the model policy is already constructed.

An provision in earlier versions of the bill that would have required students in grades 6 through 8 take effects of social media training was not included in the passed legislation.

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Liverpudlian cannabis dealer Ben Burton enjoys his banter with circuit judge David Potter every month at Liverpool Crown Court.

The 26-year-old always feels wary coming into the imposing court buildings in the centre of the city, because he says you think you are going to jail even if you are not. But, sitting face-to-face with Judge Potter, his fears are dispelled as they crack jokes together.

Surely you can pull a few strings? says Burton, with a twinkle in his eye as he asks if the judge can help him get his driving licence back after being banned for three years.

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Judge Potter responds with an anecdote and wry smile: There was a local bloke from the magistrates who would, for 400, knock points off your licence. Not a good lifestyle choice. He got six years.

Burton is one of almost 200 offenders participating in a trial scheme across four cities, with judges discarding their wigs and robes to establish a working relationship with convicted criminals to provide them with a last chance to stop offending.

Wearing normal office wear, they address the offenders, who are seated in the witness box, by their first name and sit at eye level alongside them. Every two to four weeks, they meet in the courtroom to chat one-to-one about how they are getting on with kicking a drug or drink habit. Results from the trial schemes have indicated a high rate of compliance from criminals - potentially reducing reoffending and freeing up prison space.

The problem-solving or intensive supervision courts are targeted at prolific offenders convicted of lower-level offences, from drug-dealing to theft, who would otherwise have been sent to jail.

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Their criminality is often fuelled by their addiction, so they have to submit to random drug tests. They must agree to abide by two-year orders, including any treatment for drugs, drink or mental health and, in some cases, GPS tags and curfews.

They can be, at the discretion of the judge, sent to prison for 28 days for serious breaches. Under a three strikes and out rule, they are kicked off the scheme for a third breach.

For Burton, this would mean his two-year suspended prison sentence for drug dealing would kick in. Judge Potter, the boss, and I have a bit of banter, he says. We have a bit of a laugh together. Its not as strict as I thought. But if you do something wrong, he will still punish you for it.

Burton says he has stopped smoking cannabis, having started on the drug aged 12. In his teens, he graduated to supplying his friends.

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As his drug dealing business got bigger and bigger, his habit grew to five to six joints a day. They put me on a course nine months ago. I havent smoked for three months, he says.

Burtons adherence to his regime is reflected in the initial results from the trials at the courts at Liverpool, Teesside, Bristol and Birmingham, which show a 70 per cent compliance rate by offenders with their orders.

In Texas, which introduced problem-solving courts 17 years ago to ease pressure on overcrowded prisons, 72 per cent of participants do not reoffend within two years.

This equates to exactly half the 56 per cent reoffending rate for criminals leaving English and Welsh prisons after serving sentences of under 12 months.

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Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, says the trials will have to prove their value for money given the cost. Funds are needed for not only judges court time but also a dedicated probation officer for each offender as well as bespoke treatment courses.

The payback would be a significant reduction in reoffending, which is estimated to cost the UK 15 billion a year and blights the lives of millions of victims each year.

Scaling up and value for money will be two of the biggest things that we have to test the pilots on, says Ms Mahmood. Whatever alternative we have, whether its greater use of technology, supervision via judges through these sorts of courts, its got to break that cycle of reoffending, otherwise the public wont have confidence in it.

It also requires tough sanctions for offenders who breach orders. The so-called Sword of Damocles is essential, she adds. The threat of sanction is essential to keeping people on the straight and narrow.

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Burton appears to have got the message. He says he is studying for construction qualifications to get a job on the railways.

The life I was living wasnt any good. As my probation officer said, its my life, Im getting older, I am not a kid any more, he says.

Sitting in the witness box, Burton remarks that there is another side to the besuited Judge Potter as he asks why the judiciary still wear funny-looking wigs.

To make us look a bit different, explains the judge. And to introduce some dignity into the court to wipe that smile off your face.

John Quick, the head of operations for the probation service in Merseyside and Cheshire, says judges appear to appreciate the one-to-one involvement in the offenders progress.

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I do get the sense that they very much like the engagement with them, he says. Ordinarily, they only sentence someone then see them again when somethings gone wrong. What the pilot allows is for the judiciary to be able to see people as theyre making progress through their sentence.

Problem-solving courts are expected to be recommended in next months sentencing review, which will also propose community alternatives to jail in which judges use GPS tags and curfews to enforce a virtual house arrest on lower-level offenders.

Overcrowded jails awash with drugs

The reason why reforms are being considered can be found 16 miles away at 170-year-old HMP Liverpool. It is emblematic of the overcrowding crisis still afflicting prisons despite the Tories and Labours early release of thousands of offenders. It has 840 places, but every one is filled every day.

Overflow prisoners are held in police cells. On average, they spend 73 days in HMP Liverpool before being freed or moved on to other prisons. Many are on short sentences and up to a quarter have been recalled after breaching their licence.

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It makes it hard to deliver education, work and training to rehabilitate prisoners, says Rob Luxford, the prisons governor.

The churn of prisoners coming through on short sentences and recalls makes it very difficult and sometimes impossible to do something proactive with those in our care, he adds. I would like to see us stop using short sentences. In my view, anything below two years is quite difficult to manage in the present environment.

Prison governor Rob Luxford says the churn of prisoners on short sentences makes the chance of rehabilitation harder - Paul Cooper for The Telegraph

He says his two biggest issues are managing the overcrowding and combating drugs. They are flown in by drones by organised crime gangs because of the huge profits, and passed through the bars of cell windows that still open and have yet to be replaced with airtight upgrades.

Jamie Woods, 30, who is serving 14 months for class-A drug dealing, claims there was every drug from cocaine and ketamine to heroin and spice with drone deliveries every day. A lot of people end up on drugs even though they have never taken them before, he says. You are vulnerable because your mood is down.

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In an unprompted nod to problem-solving courts, he adds: All that happens in prison is that you meet more criminals. Realistically, they should really be educating people. There should be colleges that lead to a job  and if you dont do it, then you go to jail.

Back at Liverpool Crown Court, Burton leaves his update meeting with Judge Potter with some positive feedback.

This is remarkable what you are doing, the judge tells the 26-year-old. Just make sure you stick to the plan. You should be very pleased with the progress you have made in nine months. Still a way to go.

Burton replies: A long way to go.

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U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) takes questions from reporters at a press conference marking the opening of his congressional office in Lansing, Mich. on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. | Kyle Davidson

U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) said Monday that he is not ready to give up on tariffs issued by President Donald Trump at this point after a third day of global markets plummeting.

The freshman member of Congress said during a telephone town hall that the stock market isnt the entire American economy.

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Its an indicator of how our economy is doing, but its not reflective of the entire economy as a whole, Barrett said.

He pointed to the U.S. adding 228,000 jobs in March, exceeding expectations, as an example.

Barrett said he is monitoring the situation and will make sure we are doing everything we can to stabilize the market and ensure consumers dont experience long-term pain.

More than 5,000 people joined the call, Barretts office said, and he took questions on topics ranging from his support of a bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseths use of a Signal group chat that unintentionally included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic to communicate about plans to bomb Yemen.

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While a constituent urged Barrett to vote against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE, the congressman said that not requiring proof of citizenship discounts your vote or my vote from counting as an effective tool.

A review by the Michigan Secretary of States office identified 15 individuals who allegedly cast ballots in the November presidential election despite not being U.S. citizens, representing less than 0.0003% of the 5.7 million ballots cast.

But Barrett pointed to Rep. Marianne Miller-Meeks, an Iowa congresswoman who won her election in 2020 by six votes, to explain why it is problematic for even a small number of potentially illegal ballots to be cast.

That can make or break an entire race for the U.S. Congress, and there have been multiple bills that have passed on the floor of Congress by one vote this term alone, Barrett said. So six votes in one district can affect the outcome of that election, and that one vote in the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate could affect the entire trajectory of legislation in this country.

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But while another SAVE Plan  former President Joe Bidens Saving on a Valuable Education repayment plan for student loan borrowers  makes its way through the courts, one caller expressed concern about whether the Trump administration could place limits on Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a program that promises student loan forgiveness for any borrower who spends 10 years working in the public sector.

Barrett said that any changes to the program would have to be implemented in such a way that anyone currently on their way to loan forgiveness under the plan, signed into law by former President George Bush, would be held harmless.

We want to make sure that people who are in the midst of that program and have modified their decision making about a career field are not seeing that taken away midstream, Barrett said. Nor do we want to see it retroactively taken away from people whose loan was forgiven because, of course, theyve now made financial decisions based upon that.

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Responding to a question about the federal deficit and plans to extend the 2017 tax cuts, Barrett said that at the end of the day, we have to be prepared to make tough decisions to streamline our government agencies and hopefully save us money and deliver better government assistance to people who need it most by protecting programs that really are critical.
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)  A Baton Rouge man convicted in connection to a May 2022 shooting that left one person dead and a deputy injured was sentenced to life on Monday.

Henry Williams III, 37, was found guilty by a jury in November 2024 on charges of second-degree murder, illegal use of a weapon during a crime of violence and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.

Court records show he was sentenced to 999 years for the murder charge, 25 years for each charge of attempted murder and 10 years for the illegal use of a weapon charge.

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According to arrest documents, deputies responded to W. Chalfont Drive on May 14, 2022, where Williamss neighbor, Ronald LeDuff, 25, was found shot. LeDuff later died from his injuries.

SWAT and crisis negotiators tried to get Williams to surrender himself after he barricaded himself in his home. He shot at SWAT and deputies. Shots were returned by deputies and Williams was struck and taken into custody. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Gonzales woman pleads guilty to helping pedophile photographer with child porn photo shoot

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Apr. 7WASHINGTON  Rep. Michael Baumgartner on Monday asked President Donald Trump to preserve protections for the estimated 240,000 Ukrainians who have fled the Russian invasion of their country to live in the United States.

The Spokane Republican led a bipartisan group of House lawmakers who signed a letter to the president after the Department of Homeland Security on Friday mistakenly sent emails to Ukrainian refugees, telling them that a status called humanitarian parole had been revoked and they had to depart the United States immediately, warning that if they didn't, "the government will find you." The White House said in a statement to CBS News that the message was sent in error and that the parole program hasn't been terminated.

Many of those Ukrainians  including about 2,900 who live in Spokane County, according to Baumgartner's office  have already been bracing for such an order as the Trump administration has signaled that it will end temporary protections for refugees.

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"Our Ukrainian friends have a legitimate basis for refuge and have followed the legal processes to seek protection in the United States," Baumgartner and 15 other lawmakers wrote. "Many of them have found employment, pay taxes, have their children enrolled in school, and are positively contributing to their new communities. Revoking their protections and sending them back to a war-torn country before peace is secured would be devastating for both them and their families."

Washington state is home to a large Slavic community, including many Ukrainians who moved to the United States before and after Russia invaded parts of Ukraine in 2014 and launched a full-scale invasion eight years later. About 30,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the Evergreen State since the start of the war in 2022, according to Baumgartner's office.

"Continuing protections for Ukrainians currently residing in the United States is not only a matter of humanitarian responsibility but also a reflection of our commitment to supporting those who have fled violence and destruction," Baumgartner said in a statement. "Revoking these protections while the war remains unresolved would be devastating, both for individuals who have sought refuge and for the broader moral obligations we have as a nation."

The other lawmakers who signed the letter are Democrats Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Betty McCollum of Minnesota, Gerry Connolly of Virginia, Scott Peters of California, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Brad Schneider and Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, Tom Suozzi and Dan Goldman of New York, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania and Sarah McBride of Delaware; and Republicans Doug LaMalfa and Young Kim of California, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Lawler of New York.

Orion Donovan Smith's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. 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.
CARBONDALE, IllThe Missouri State Bears and Southern Illinois Salukis split Mondays double header.

The Bears won the opener 9-5 in ten innings while the Salukis took the nightcap 8-7 in nine innings.

Missouri State won the series two games to one to stay in first place in the Valley.

In game one, its 2-0 Salukis when Nick Rodriguez takes this deep to right center, over the boards and gone, a solo shot its 2-1.

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It was 4-4 in the seventh, when Rodriguez takes this over the wall at the same place, another solo shot, its 5-4 Bears.

It was 5-5 in the tenth when Rodriguez would do it again, a single to left center, Logan Dunn scores and Caden Bogenpohl beats the throw home, 7-5 Bears.

Nick Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with two homers and five RBI.

The Bears win game one 9-5 in ten.

And in the nightcap the Salukis scored four in the bottom of the seventh to send it into extra innings and went onto win 8-7.

Rodriguez hit a homer in the nightcap in a losing effort.

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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  The Beavercreek Police Department is asking for the publics help in identifying a woman who allegedly stole over $2,000 in merchandise from a store at The Greene.

Officials allege the woman pictured took $2,247.68 of merchandise from the Rally House and left without paying on Wednesday, March 26.

If you know her identity, you are encouraged to call Officer Desjardins at 937-426-1225 ext. 147 or email him at desjardinsj@beavercreekohio.gov. Anonymous tips can be submitted.

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JACKSON HEIGHTS, Queens (PIX11)  Although illegal brothels and suspected drug sales have attracted significant law enforcement attention to Roosevelt Avenue, local officials and community groups are requesting additional support.

On Tuesday, the Restore Roosevelt Avenue Coalition called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to take action as a result of the ever-worsening situation.

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The coalition alleges that the 18th Street Surenos, a gang affiliated with the Mexican mafia, has been providing drugs to members of El Tren de Aragua, who have been selling the drugs on the streets.

The coalition also alleges that the gang might be the source of fraudulent green cards and social security cards, stolen goods, and guns.

The letter to the FBI and the DEA reads in part: The NYPDs Operation Restore Roosevelt did lead to arrests, but our street sources say the gangs replaced their foot soldiers within days. This isnt just a Queens problem. Its a blueprint for how gangs, cartels, and traffickers can take over a community in plain sight, and those in the know see it as it really is, a well-oiled criminal machine using Roosevelt Avenue as its marketplace. Roosevelt Avenue doesnt just have a gang problem. It has become a gangland.

For years, the areas of Jackson Heights have also had an influx of human trafficking and prostitution concerns. Complaints about Roosevelt Avenues brothels and outdoor solicitations have only increased, causing the NYPD to raid storefronts allegedly being used as brothels.

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More recently, former Councilman Hiram Monserrate and the Restore Roosevelt Avenue coalition highlighted a bar that allegedly operates a brothel in its basement.

Why are street walkers still on 82nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights? Why is the Bodega Brothel still operating on 99th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Corona? Why does this rowdy bar even have a license to operate next to a church? Message to the City and State. Mission Incomplete on Roosevelt Avenue, said Monserrate.

Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here.

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Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot and Defence Minister Theo Francken have arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday 8 April.

Source: European Pravda; VRT, Belgian national public service broadcasters

Details: The Belgian ministers will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

The Belgian foreign minister noted that this visit is not just a symbolic gesture.

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Quote from Prevot: "It is a mission of solidarity, of hope, and of unwavering support for a generation of Ukrainians fighting for their freedom and their future."

More details: The Belgian foreign minister also posted a photo from Bucha in Kyiv Oblast, which the Belgian ministers visited to pay tribute to the victims of Russian aggression.

Quote from Prevot: "Today, we honour the victims. We stand with the survivors. And we reaffirm this: Belgium stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. Justice must prevail."

Background:

Earlier, the Belgian defence minister posted a photo of himself and De Wever with the caption: "We are going to Ukraine together with our prime minister, we support the bravest of Europeans in every way."

Representatives of the new Belgian government, which took office in February 2025, have not yet visited Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umierov met with his Belgian counterpart Theo Francken in mid-February to discuss further implementation of the F-16 programme.

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, April 8. The US and Uzbekistan reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties, Trend reports.

The news follows a meeting between US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Uzbekistans Deputy Chairman of the National Security Council Abdulaziz Kamilov.

The meeting, held in Washington, focused on advancing the US-Uzbekistan strategic partnership. The sides reiterated the US's support for Uzbekistans independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Christopher Landau praised Uzbekistans efforts to boost cooperation in civil nuclear energy, critical minerals, and other key economic sectors.

He also appreciated Uzbekistans continued cooperation with the US on illegal immigration and counterterrorism.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has stated that Ukraine is expected to receive two F-16 fighter jets for spare parts this year, with the timing of the deliveries depending on when Belgium itself will receive the F-35 fighter jets it has ordered.

Source: De Wever during a joint press conference with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on 8 April amid De Wever's first official visit to Ukraine, as reported by European Pravda

Details: De Wever was asked about the timing of the promised F-16 deliveries.

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Quote: "We will deliver two F-16s for spare parts this year and certainly deliver two fighter planes next year. We hope to do more but we are depending on the delivery of the F-35. There is no delay in Belgium but the F-35 has delays. Once the F-35 arrives, the F-16 leaves, it's as simple as that."

Background:

It was reported back in 2023 that Belgium's ordered F-35s would be delivered with delays.

On 8 April, Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot and Defence Minister Theo Francken arrived in Kyiv  their first visit to Ukraine since the formation of Belgium's new government.

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KYIV (Reuters) - Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said on Tuesday his government had decided to grant Ukraine a new bilateral aid package of one billion euros ($1.10 billion) in 2025, adding that he had the ambition to deliver the war-torn country at least that same amount every year during his term.

During a press conference in Kyiv alongside Ukrainian President Volodmymyr Zelenskiy, he also said Belgium would make good on its pledge to deliver all the fighter planes that it had promised Ukraine.

"We will deliver two F-16s for spare parts this year and certainly deliver two fighter planes next year. We hope to do more but we are depending on the delivery of the F-35. There is no delay in Belgium but the F-35 has delays. Once the F-35 arrives, the F-16 leaves, it's a simple as that," De Wever said.

($1 = 0.9125 euros)

(Reporting by Dysa Yuliia and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by GV De Clercq)
Brussels will provide Ukraine with a new defense aid package worth 1 billion euros ($1 billion), Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said at a press conference in Kyiv on April 8.

The announcement came during a visit of Bart De Wever, along with Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot, and Defense Minister Theo Francken to Ukraine. The Belgian delegation visited Bucha in Kyiv Oblast and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier in a day.

The funds will be used to purchase arms and strengthen Ukraine's defense sector, including the production of new types of weapons.

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"We talked about joint production of weapons and investments in production in Ukraine  this is something that will work for the whole of Europe," Zelensky said.

Kyiv reached three agreements with Belgian manufacturers, he added.

According to De Wever, Brussels will also provide Ukraine with two F-16 fighter jets for spare parts in 2025. Two more planes are expected next year, he added.

Belgium was among the first countries to join the coalition established in the summer of 2023 to bolster Ukraine's Air Force. The country promised to supply Ukraine with 30 F-16 fighter jets by 2028.

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Read also: Putin believes he has the upper hand  Ukraine braces for a new Russian spring offensive

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Belgium will provide Ukraine with an aid package worth 1 billion, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has announced on a visit to Kyiv on 8 April.

Source: Belgian PM De Wever, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The prime minister unveiled a new decision to allocate a 1 billion assistance package for Ukraine in 2025. He stated that Belgium will allocate 1 billion annually for defence purposes.

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De Wever expressed strong interest in establishing Belgian defence production in Ukraine and noted that four relevant contracts had been signed today.

He emphasised the importance of helping Ukraine build its own defence capabilities and rearming Europe in the face of renewed Russian aggression. De Wever added that cooperation is needed to explore how the Belgian private sector could be encouraged to invest in Ukraine and contribute to the development of its defence industry.

Notably, this is the first visit to Ukraine by representatives of Belgiums new government since they took office in February 2025.

Background: Ukraines Defence Minister Rustem Umierov met with his Belgian counterpart Theo Francken in mid-February to discuss the further implementation of the F-16 programme.

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BELMONT, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  Belmont leaders plan to keep fluoride in the citys water supply.

City council members decision Monday came as U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he will assemble a task force to focus on the issue.

Fluoride has been in Belmonts water supply since 1971, and its here to stay. After a long discussion, city council members reluctantly voted to keep adding the mineral to the public water supply.

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Im here to urge you to stop adding fluoride to our drinking water, said one woman during the public comment period.

It was a meeting with a lot of back and forth and conflicting opinions.

I support the continuation of the water fluoridation system in Belmont, said Dr. David Marsh.

Dr. Marsh lives and practices dentistry in Belmont. He was one of a few people who spoke in favor of fluoridation at Mondays meeting.

Its a naturally occurring mineral thats in most groundwater, he said. In low levels, it has no impact to your overall health. But at extremely low levels, it does have a huge disproportionate impact on the health of your teeth.

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Public works officials brought the proposal to remove fluoride before the council because they said it would save the city money, as well as all them to have more room to store another chemical used to treat water.

Right now, the city only has enough room to store about 2.5 weeks worth of water. Removing fluoride would open up space, allowing them to hold about 35 days worth.

If were growing at a pace that our water handling system cant keep up, then we should look at renovating or expanding rather than repurposing, said Marsh.

The discussion in Belmont is one of many happening nationwide, as concerns about fluoride in public water systems arise.

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On Monday, Kennedy told reporters he has plans to tell the CDC to stop recommending fluoridation in communities across the country.

Next month, Utahs ban will go into effect, making it the first state to ban the mineral in public water.

Closer to home, Union County leaders rejected fluoridation of part of the water supply in May of 2024, and Lincoln County followed months later.

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A beloved Alaskan reindeer was euthanized earlier this month after a series of mysterious attacks by an intruder.

Star, an eight-year-old reindeer who was revered by its Anchorage community, began to lose weight and exhibit startling health issues after the unidentified aggressor gained access to the animals quarters in January, the Associated Press reported. Since the 1960s, its been a tradition in Anchorage for the town to house a reindeer in the public center.

Related: Teenager Dies After Injecting Himself with Wildlife Remains

On Feb. 20, the person returned and opened Stars cage and released the animal. Stars owner, Albert Whitehead, told Alaska Public Media that the reindeer was found wandering the streets of Anchorage after likely following the intruder from the stall. When he reviewed security footage, Whitehead was astonished to see the person using bolt cutters to free Star.

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The following night, Whitehead was watching the surveillance footage when the person once again arrived, this time hitting Star twice in the face with an unknown substance. Whitehead left his house to confront the attacker. I yelled at him to stop, What the hell are you doing? What are you spraying on the animal? Dont do that, quit that!  Whitehead said. Im trying to help Star, the intruder allegedly replied.

I have no idea what they meant by that, Whitehead admitted.

Related: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence Celebrate 30th Anniversary of 'Bad Boys'

Following the Feb. 20 incident, Star began experiencing digestion issues and extreme weight loss and came down with pneumonia. On April 1, Whitehead made the difficult decision to euthanize Star. His health was so bad that he was not doing very well, Whitehead said. He was sufferingSuddenly he relapsed, and some other issues developed. So [I] really don't know what caused him to die. The vets now are going through a necropsy with him, and we won't have a result of that for a couple [of] weeks.

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I think [we did] everything possible for him, Whitehead added.

No arrests have been made in the incident, but Anchorage police are circulating the security footage to see if any residents can identify the intruder. When asked if Anchorages public reindeer tradition would continue after Stars death, Whitehead didnt mince words. Would you be willing to put another animal into that enclosure, knowing there's somebody out there that [was] doing this kind of stuff to him? he asked.
(WPRI)  Is a scoop of Cherry Garcia calling your name?

Tuesday, April 8, is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerrys Scoop Shops all over the world.

The Vermont-based ice cream company has been observing Free Cone Day since 1979, according to its website. The trend went nationwide in 1993, and the first global Free Cone Day took place in 2000.

Ben & Jerrys wouldnt be the same without our awesome fans, and Free Cone Day is our way to say thanks, the company explained on its website.

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Ice cream lovers can visit any participating store between noon and 8 p.m. to claim their free scoop.

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Berks County detectives on Monday charged a Sinking Spring man with embezzling about $750,000 from various acquaintances and members of his extended family.

Santiago J. Torres, 41, surrendered to detectives Monday, accompanied by his attorney, to face multiple counts of theft by deception, identity theft, forgery, access device fraud and related counts.

According to detectives:

In August, detectives with the district attorneys office initiated an investigation into allegations of theft and embezzlement. It was reported that between 2011 and 2024 Torres deceptively solicited financial investments from relatives and acquaintances, promising lucrative rates of return.

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Over time, the interest payments promised to the victims began to diminish. As various victims became concerned about the status of their financial investments, several contacted the financial entities where they had been told their money had been invested.

The victims discovered that these financial institutions had no record of their investments and that no such investment account even existed.

A total of 11 victims have been identified.

It has been determined that over several years, approximately $750,000 was provided to the defendant by the various victims under the belief that their money was being invested in annuities, CDs and other financial investment products.

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Detectives also determined Torres had opened a joint bank account, had taken out several loans and had obtained numerous credit cards in the names of two of his extended family members who were unaware this had occurred.

To date, he still owes approximately $468,000 to the victims, various financial institutions, and numerous credit card companies.

He was awaiting arraignment Monday afternoon.
FRANKFORT, Ky.  Hours after floodwaters crested in Kentucky's capital, Gov. Andy Beshear walked through Franklin County High School, sharing words of encouragement to people displaced from the widespread flooding.

"Kentucky has been hit yet again, but we are strong, and what you see in a place like this is neighbors helping neighbors: living out that golden rule," Beshear said. "And because of that, we will dig out, we will muck out and we'll move forward."

The high school is one of many areas in Frankfort operating as an emergency shelter for people impacted by the floods as waters in the area hit their peak levels. On Sunday night, Frankfort Mayor Lane Wilkerson urged residents to evacuate in anticipation of the Kentucky River's crest on Monday.

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Live updates: Deaths of McCracken County, Trigg County residents bring death toll to 4

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear shakes hands with Jean-Marie Matagne at Franklin County High School, which is operating as a shelter during the floods. Matagne spent the night at the shelter, along with about 20 other people.

It appeared to crest Monday morning at 48.3 feet, the second highest on record.

However, for many areas in Kentucky  including Louisville  the water is still rising. The commonwealth has been hit by widespread flooding from the week's batch of storms and heavy rainfall, with cities from Paducah to Carrollton impacted.

On Friday, President Donald Trump approved Beshear's request for an emergency disaster declaration.

"President Trump and Secretary (Kristi) Noem have been really good in their response to the natural disasters we've had in this term," Beshear said, referencing previous flooding in February. "They very quickly signed the documents. Their FEMA group in Eastern Kentucky is doing some of the best I've ever seen a FEMA group doing. In the last several years, they've really improved their processes, and you hear many fewer complaints and many more people being helped."

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Still, Beshear said these improvements are why Trump should not "break or dissolve" FEMA and other federal agencies, raising concerns over emergency disasters on both the state and national levels in an interview with The Courier Journal while visiting the temporary shelter.

Beshear seeks out federal, local assistance for floods

Charlotte Smith shows Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear the shelter set up at Franklin County High School for people impacted by the Frankfort floods.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has had search and rescue teams out during the emergency phase, Beshear said.

"We already have our major disaster declaration from the president, but we'll be applying for individual and for public assistance," he said. "That's something that I expect we'll reach all the thresholds for, so my hope is that more help is on the way."

The current floods are an example of why federal agencies must not dissolve and why the state should not have capped Kentucky's emergency relief funding, Beshear said.

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His comments come amid the Trump administration's federal government overhaul, which has included a slew of executive orders that significantly reduce the capacity of many federal agencies. Hundreds of employees have been fired from FEMA, and Trump previously suggested shutting down the agency. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has also received significant cuts.

"When you look at the National Weather Service, one of the reasons that we haven't lost more people is that they're there," Beshear said. "They're doing the forecast. They're helping our meteorologists and us in the state, they helped us be prepared."

Cuts to the National Weather Service, which is a part of the NOAA, "will cause people to lose their lives," Beshear said.

His funding woes extend locally  where he criticized the Kentucky General Assembly for implementing a funding cap for emergency disasters. In the biennial budget, the General Assembly restricted Beshear's spending, allowing him to allocate $50 million for emergency responses in the first year of the two-year budget and $50 million in the second year.

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The legislature later approved Beshear accessing the second $50 million early  allowing him to spend $100 million total in the course of two years.

Beshear said the state will need to bypass that cap before the next budget "for certain."

"What it likely means is it will hit a point where a natural disaster will cause us to call a special session, just to be able to have the basics to respond, much less to provide extra help to people," he said.

Sen. Gex Williams, R-Verona, also visited the Franklin County High School shelter. He said he believes a special session could be possible, depending on the damage, but that more information is needed.

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"So if we go over that (amount), (Beshear) calls in for a special session and we can allocate more," Williams said. "But I don't think that's imminent. Again, you're really not going to know all the damage until the water goes down."

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear calls out federal cuts amid floods
Gov. Andy Beshear debuted his podcast Tuesday morning. (Screenshot via YouTube)

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has launched a podcast that he hopes will bridge divides and foster understanding in America.

The first episode of The Andy Beshear Podcast, released Tuesday morning, featured the governor interviewing John Morgan, founder of personal injury law firm Morgan & Morgan and a Democratic megadonor. The discussion focused on national news of the week  topics such as Trump administration officials using a Signal group chat to discuss plans to bomb Yemen. The governor also learned how to use some Gen Z slang from his teenage son, Will.

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Beshears launch of a podcast comes as national Democratic figures aim to enter internet spaces dominated by right-wing personalities.

Remember, it might be a tough world, but were always better when we choose hope over anger, when we choose love over hate, and when we get together with friends to try to process all that weight thats on our shoulders, Beshear said when closing his show. I still believe that people out there are good, and were going to see people waking up all across the country wanting to do the right thing.

The podcast aims to be where real conversations bridge divides and foster understanding, according to its website. Beshear will host episodes weekly in which he engages in honest conversations with guests from diverse backgrounds  leaders, educators, innovators, creators, and everyday people with extraordinary stories.

Guests on the show will have some ground rules, including to be themselves, talk like a real human being, no debating reality, tell their why and have fun. You be you, boo, Beshear said while explaining the rules.

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For the inaugural episode, which was free of advertising, Beshear asked viewers to donate to a charity of their choice and share the group they supported in the comments.

Beshears podcast isnt the first to be hosted by a governor who could be a contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.. Earlier this year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom began his show as a way to explore the MAGA movements motivations, but it has gained criticism across the political spectrum, including from Democrats and Beshear.

Last month, Beshear told reporters that Newsom bringing on different voices is great, but he drew the line at giving a platform to Steve Bannon, a prominent ally of Republican President Donald Trump.

Steve Bannon espouses hatred and anger and even at some points violence, and I dont think we should give him oxygen on any platform  ever, anywhere, Beshear said at the time.

Stale attempt, playing it safe, says Kentucky GOP spokesman

However, Beshears inaugural podcast performance fell flat for some viewers. Republican Party of Kentucky spokesperson Andy Westberry questioned Beshears use of You be you, boo and talk of Nike Air Force 1s.

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If Andy Beshear wants to be authentic, he should start by not trying to dress and talk like a 20-year-old. This podcast is nothing more than a stale attempt at emulating California Gov. Gavin Newsom after seeing the publicity he received for launching his own, Westberry said. But instead of having difficult conversations with opposing views or reflecting on where Democrats went wrong in 24, hes playing it safe by bringing on Democratic bundlers and close friends. This podcast is going to fall flat  just like his aw, shucks persona does on the national stage.

Beshear announced his podcast on social media over the weekend. Louisville-based Media Pros Production is the company behind the production, according to a clapperboard featured in the video.

Kendall Norris, the media and communications director for Beshears podcast, said in an email the production for the show is privately financed and owned by AB Media. The podcast is not affiliated with Beshears official role or funded by state resources, she said. AB Media was formed in January, according to business records filed with the secretary of state.

The Andy Beshear Podcast is available on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and iHeartRadio.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, April 8. Uzbekistan and the World Bank discussed transport sector reforms, Trend reports.

The matter was reviewed at a meeting between Director of the Center for Transport and Logistics Development under the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan Bekzod Kholmatov with representatives of the World Bank delegation.

In the course of the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the ongoing transformation and modernization of Uzbekistans transport system, the expansion of private sector participation, and the development of the transport services market.

Bekzod Kholmatov provided an overview of key reforms being implemented in the field of transport and logistics, including current and future projects aimed at building modern infrastructure, developing international transport corridors, and introducing logistics centers and intermodal transport systems.

Christina Wiederer, Senior Economist at the World Bank, positively assessed the importance of the regulatory measures adopted by Uzbekistan to develop its transport and logistics sector. She also shared recommendations to help enhance the effectiveness of the ongoing reforms.

The meeting also highlighted the positive changes achieved in improving Uzbekistans performance in the Logistics Performance Index (LPI).

In conclusion, Francisco Campos, Head of the World Bank delegation, reaffirmed the Banks full support for Uzbekistans transport and logistics reforms, the advancement of priority areas, and expressed readiness to continue close cooperation in the framework of future projects.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday he expects a couple big deals very quickly in relation to President Trumps latest tariff announcement.

We have one of the Vietnamese officials coming in this week, the Japanese are very eager to get over, and I think youre going to see a couple of big trading partners make deals very quickly, Bessent told reporters Tuesday, as reported NewsNation.

His comment comes as the White House has displayed no signs of backing down from Trumps sweeping tariff agenda, set to go into effect early Wednesday, despite a struggling market and rising concern over a potential recession.

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The president has insisted that the tariffs are required to rebalance global trade and reorient the U.S. economy following years of being taken advantage of.

Bessent on Monday said Trump would eventually be ready for negotiations with other countries, after the president imposed a 10 percent baseline tax on nearly all foreign trading partners last week. Several countries were also hit with additional taxes.

In a post online Monday, he revealed that Trump tasked him and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to lead talks with Japan. The move came after an additional 25 percent tariff on auto imports, along with the 24 percent tariff on Japanese goods, dealt a hefty blow to the countrys economy, which is heavily reliant on exports.

Bessent said Sunday that more than 50 nations have already approached the U.S. to negotiate the tax rates and trade barriers.

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Trump has also threatened to impose another 50 percent tariff on imports from China, after Beijing unveiled a 34 percent reciprocal tax on the U.S.

Despite criticism over the impact of Trumps trade war on the U.S. economy and consumer prices, the president has defended his agenda, arguing the import taxes will spark investment in the U.S. and lead to more jobs.

The administration and supporters, however, have sent mixed signals on whether the tariffs are being used for leverage. Some Trump allies held up the tariffs as a master dealmakers action, pushing other countries to change practices in search of the U.S. easing up.

Trump has also told reporters the tariffs give us great power to negotiate.

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I wouldnt want to be the last country that tries to negotiate a trade deal with @realDonaldTrump, his son Eric Trump said last week in a post on social platform X. The first to negotiate will win  the last will absolutely lose.

The president also suggested Friday that his policies will never change.

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WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL)  Strong storms over the weekend left behind severe hail damage, and now, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning about fake repair scammers trying to cash in.

Residents in our area have reported receiving hail damage repair messages and a surplus of supposed contractors going door to door offering same-day roof inspections and quick repairs.

Texas lawmakers advocate for better rural ambulance services

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However, according to the BBB, many of these so-called roofers and car dent repair specialists are storm-chasing fly-by-night contractors who swoop into communities after severe weather, looking to cash in fast.

The BBB recommends never signing a contract right there in the moment. Instead, take all the information, ask for references and do your research on the company.

If anyone pressures you to sign a contract on the spot, its a huge red flag. Once youre in a contract, you could be charged a hefty fee if you want to try getting out of it later.

According to BBB research, contractor scams are the fourth most reported scams. So, officials stress that they should never rush into a contract and should always do research.

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Texas does not require a license or registration for roofers and general contractors. Thats why its so important to do research and choose a contractor with liability insurance.

Just check the track record of the business. And WWW.BBB.org is a great place to start. When the Better Business Bureau says we have a company that is BBB-accredited, weve done all this checking for you, and we check them out on an annual basis. We have reports out there available for BBB-accredited businesses. Those are the companies that we would recommend you use, BBB spokesperson Monica Horton said.

If you suspect a scam or want to report suspicious activity, contact the BBB to file a report: BBB: The Sign of a Better Business | Better Business Bureau

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  Give Big Kern is coming May 6.

On Kerns Countys giving day, you can donate to a nonprofit of your choice. Some of the organizations include the American Cancer Society, the Bakersfield Museum of Art, Beyond the Stars No Limits and the Boys and Girls Club of Kern County.

For 25 years, the Foundation has been in business to serve as a charitable resource for local donors and corporations and to generate capital that provides philanthropic solutions to help make Kern County a better place to live, work, and visit, Kern Community Foundation said in a press release.

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Early giving has begun. To donate to your favorite nonprofits, click here.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  A bill to mandate religious displays in Arkansas public schools is on the governors desk for signature.

If Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs Senate Bill 433 into law, it will mandate that classrooms display a durable poster or framed copy of In God We Trust and a historical representation of the 10 Commandments.

Arkansas legislature bills filed Tuesday include changes to the Arkansas Constitution, water bonds, human trafficking, more

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The bill received broad support in both chambers, with a 27-4 Senate vote and a 71-20 vote in the House.

Sen. Jim Dotson (R-Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R-Heber Springs) were the bills primary sponsors. It has 13 cosponsors.

Bill to remove excise tax on soft drinks, impact Medicaid funding, fails in House

Louisiana passed a similar law in 2024, but a federal judge blocked it before it was implemented, citing its overtly religious nature.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  A bill limiting the amount of virtual days Oklahoma school districts can use during the school year advanced through a House subcommittee on Monday.

Senate Bill 758, authored by Senator Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond, passed through the Senate side earlier in session and now it has made its way through a House Appropriations and Budget Education subcommittee.

House Pro Tempore Anthony Moore, R-Clinton has backed the measure for the House.

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The main goal behind this is to get kids in classrooms to only do virtual days when its actually needed, said Moore.

He said some districts have taken advantage of the virtual learning option.



There are school districts that had 43 days or more virtual days last year, said Moore. That is not a way to increase the education of our students. This is not a way to increase the outcomes in our state.

The bill would not ban virtual days and only allow the option for emergency situations like bad weather, illness, teacher shortage issues, or building problems. It would allow two remote learning days as part of the school year, or 180 days.

Bill could help food truck owners operate anywhere in Oklahoma

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The State Department of Education would publish an annual report that detailed which districts used emergency virtual days and when the days were used.

Lawmakers questioning the bill said it oversteps local control.

I think we need the guardrails, but I feel like this might be too limited in scope for what schools are able to do, said Rep. Michelle McCane, D-Tulsa, a former teacher.

Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa, said lawmakers should be focused on the more prevalent problems in Oklahoma schools.

Weve got to address the teacher shortage problem first, fix all other problems after that, said Waldron.

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The measure overwhelmingly passed through the House subcommittee.

If were serious about actually educating our kids, they need to be in chairs with qualified professionals to help them understand what theyre learning, said Moore.

It will now move forward where it could be considered in the full Appropriations and Budget Education committee.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Longtime Donald Trump critic Bill Maher has publicly praised the president as "one of the most effective politicians" just days after attending a dinner with him at the White House.

Kid Rock previously shared details of the dinner with the president, predicting that Maher would say "nice things" about him afterward.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump recently sparked criticisms and nationwide protests for initiating tariff plans.

Bill Maher Heaps Praises On Donald Trump

@CelebCandidly / MEGA

Maher had great things to say about Trump days after having dinner with the number 1 citizen at the White House.

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The comedian, an outspoken Trump critic, touted the president as "one of the most effective politicians" on his popular "Club Random" podcast during a conversation with NewsNation journalist Chris Cuomo.

"Trump really  is one of the most effective politicians  whatever you think of the policy and him as a person," Maher said, per the New York Post.

"Just as a politician, just understanding that [you should] always lean into being more who you are," he continued. "The people are not savvy about issues but they smell a phony a mile away and that kind of sh-t, nobody else does it."

The Comedian Shares The Moment He Felt Proud Of Donald Trump

Matt Bishop/imageSPACE / MEGA

Elsewhere on the show, Maher praised Trump's political acumen compared to the Democrats despite being a known critic of his.

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"You know, he has those moments that no other politician has. And the Democrats have to find that guy," Maher admitted. "But let's be real  they've been searching for years, and they're still coming up empty."

He went on to narrate how he felt proud of the moment Trump threatened the Taliban leader after former President Joe Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

"When he did that thing where the guy came in from the Taliban and he said, 'This is an aerial picture of your house. If during our withdrawal one American is hurt, just know I know where you live,'" Maher said.

"I was like, 'Oh, can we just play the music now? Because I don't care it's Donald Trump and he's the worst person ever, blah, blah, blah  I f-cking love that!'" he noted.

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The "Real Time" host also credited Trump's appeal to regular voters for his relatability.

"One time they were doing something, something was going on and he said, 'You know what? When you come after New York, you gotta go through me.' It's like, oh  hometown boy," he remarked.

Kid Rock Predicted Bill Maher's Shift In Tone

MEGA

Maher's shift in tone comes days after Kid Rock predicted that he would say good things about Trump following the dinner at the White House.

Maher's dinner with the president was arranged by Kid Rock. The musician previously shared his thoughts on what Maher might say about the experience on his HBO show, "Real Time with Bill Maher."

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"I think he's going to say nice things about the president," Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, told Sean Hannity last week.

"He's not going to have a MAGA hat on, and he's probably not going to vote Republican anytime," Rock admitted.

Kid Rocks Says Bill Maher Seemed Nervous During His Visit To The White House

MEGA

Kid Rock also shared that Maher seemed nervous on his first visit to the White House.

He explained that President Trump asked if the comedian would like a drink, to which Maher replied he'd like a margarita before Trump had a staff make it for him.

"We basically stuck to things that we agreed on," Rock said. "They both have extremely deep knowledge of American history, both very smart guys, and you know, very reasonable people, even though they've had this pretty harsh relationship. It was cool."

Bill Maher Raised Concerns About A Trump Third Term

MEGA

Kid Rock revealed that they talked about the president's former statement about potentially seeking a third term, adding that Maher raised concerns about it.

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"It really freaks out Bill when the president's, when people are talking about a third term, this, that and the other. He brought that up, and  they talked about it a little bit. That was something I would consider private. I feel uncomfortable sharing that. If the president wanted to, he could," he explained.

Despite their different outlooks, Rock explained that Maher and Trump found common ground on issues like "ending wokeness" and "securing the border."

He added that he felt inspired seeing both of them put aside their differences to talk.

"If they can do it, maybe that family member you have that you disagree with that's divided you politically  maybe you can go back and be like, hey man, let's have dinner and talk about what we do have in common," Rock noted.
Video: Supreme Court weighs gender-affirming care for minors

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  A bill to add gender-affirming care to Arkansas medical malpractice law is moving through the House after being heard in committee.

House Bill 1916 intends to amend the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act of 2023. That act allows patients to sue for medical malpractice for gender transition surgery for up to 15 years after their 18th birthday.

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Federal judge blocks Arkansas gender-affirming care ban in first for nation

The amendment proposed by HB1916 would add gender-affirming care to the malpractice law.

In the bills language, any doctor who prescribes puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones would be liable for suit under the same terms as a doctor in the 2023 law who performs surgery. The bill also adds mental health professionals who provide gender-affirming intervention to the list of potential defendants.

The House Judiciary Committee heard from 12 witnesses who spoke against the law, citing its broad language and vague terms. No witnesses spoke for the bill, which received an 11-5 vote for a do-pass recommendation.

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The bill will now return to the House floor for its final vote. If it passes there, it will move on to the Senate. The legislature is expected to finish a week from Wednesday.

Arkansas bill targeting those who knowingly contribute to social transitioning of minors pulled for changes

The bills sponsor, Rep. Mary Bentley (R-Perryville), had earlier submitted a more restrictive version that included a broader definition of social transitioning to include hairstyles and clothing. Bentley withdrew that bill after a witness from the attorney generals office said the bill would be indefensible in court.

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House Bill 655 has the stated intention of prohibiting discriminatory action to potential foster parents or those interested in adoption. (Jordan Hansen / Daily Montanan)

For the 21 members of the Senate who voted against House Bill 655, Sen. Theresa Manzella had a very specific message.

To those of you who are in opposition to it, Im sorry, Manzella, a Republican from Hamilton said. I wish you knew the Jesus Christ that I know, because he would never abandon, or abuse, or hurt children.

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At the heart of a fiery debate on Monday was whether the states foster care system discounts families with strong religious beliefs. However, other lawmakers worried that foisting strong or different religious beliefs on foster children could create more trauma or instability.

The bill was brought by Rep. Greg Oblander, R-Billings, and carried by Manzella, and it seeks to change laws regarding foster care and adoption services. The bill passed a second reading, 29-21. The legislations stated intention is prohibiting discriminatory action to potential foster parents or those interested in adoption.

Proponents of the bill said it would open up more opportunities for children to be fostered or adopted, and the Montana Family Foundation testified some state-sponsored training for foster parents did not fit into some peoples religious beliefs. Opponents said it could impress religious beliefs onto adopted and foster children, with references to the countrys Native American boarding school era.

It drew lengthy and, at times, furious emotional debate. Multiple legislators  including Sens. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, and John Fuller, R-Kalispell  stood to speak on the bill and amendment several times.

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Windy Boy, a member of the Rocky Boys Chippewa-Cree tribe, stood three times on the bill itself after speaking during an amendment. Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvary, R-Billings, shut Windy Boy down when he tried to speak on the floor for a third time. Senate rules allowed two opportunities to stand and speak on an item.

Im not going to apologize for standing more than twice, Windy Boy had said moments prior. Thats what my constituents sent me here to do.

Windy Boys opposition to the bill included references to religious run boarding schools, one of the darkest periods of American history. Thousands of Indigenous children were sent to Christian-run boarding schools to be assimilated in white culture. More than 3,000 children died at these schools, according to a 2024 report in the Washington Post. The federal government also commissioned a report released in 2024 on boarding schools. Some of those children were sexually abused, including in Montana.

A lot of those kids had no choices, Windy Boy said on the floor. The parents had no choices. But yet, at the same time, those kids were spanked, they were abused, mental abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse. Is that the kind of system that were going to continue pushing into this era? I should hope not.

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An amendment from Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, sought to take some of the teeth out of the legislation, removing foster care. Neumann presented it as strictly as a reunification ideal  essentially foster children should be placed in culturally appropriate situations.

Its taking foster care out just to make sure that birth parents and families, that their beliefs are able to be held intact in case of reunification, Neumann said. I believe everyone here supports reunification of families wherever possible.

Some Senate Republicans appeared to view both the amendment as well as some statements made on the floor to be a full-throated attack on Christianity.

Its very clear whats going on here, Fuller said. This is a secular attempt to deny people of faith, of any kind, of being involved in the foster care system.

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Sen. Dennis Lenz said there was an illusion religion had a negative impact.

If your car breaks down in the middle of the inner city in the dark of the night, and you have a mile back to home and a group of 20-year-olds is coming to you out of the dark, wouldnt it make a difference if theyre coming from the Bible study? said Lenz, a Republican from Billings. Most likely.

The Senate was under pressure to pass the bill, Sen. Ellie Boldman, D-Missoula said on the floor. Some of that pressure was from the Montana Family Foundation, Boldman said in a text message, and one of the organizations lobbyists, Derek Oestreicher, was seated on a bench Monday in the Senate gallery.

Oestreicher also provided testimony during the bills Senate Judiciary hearing. He said during the bills hearing that his organization had heard from religious families they would choose their faith over fostering.

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Montana Family Foundation was contacted by two separate families over the past year related to some of the required training that the state requires for foster families to undergo, and it discussed LGBTQ issues and how to address those issues, Oestreicher said. And these families were concerned that this was a required training, and they werent necessarily required to say they were an ally or that they would take a certain action with regard to LGBT issues, but it trended toward that, and it made them feel very uncomfortable.

Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, said he supported the bill and that it was academic for him having gone through the process, though it wasnt clear if he meant fostering or adoption.

But he then went on to say for him, there was no prejudice against his Lutheran faith.

Ive done it, Glimm said, In my process, I wasnt discriminated against for my religious views.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  Removing the excise tax on soft drinks in Arkansas was debated at the state capitol Monday.

Rep. David Ray (R-Maumelle) is leading the legislation and said the excise tax is burdening small businesses and is essentially double taxation because of sales tax.

Ive talked to some fast-food restaurant owners that tell me they pay over $1,000 a month in soda tax, just in the soda tax, so what youre doing is youre allowing those businesses to hire more workers, pay overtime to their employees, Ray said.

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Multi-million funding allocation bill for Franklin County prison fails in Arkansas legislature for fourth time

The revenue is one of the avenues for funding the Medicaid trust fund, which provides about $40 million a year.

Peter Gess with Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families said that with Medicaid funding uncertainty at the federal level, it is now a bad time to remove this tax.



While it is true that any sort of tax on a food product or soda is regressive, meaning that it hurts people with a low income, more than it does people that have more money, the real problem with repealing this is that its getting rid of a dedicated source to the Medicaid program trust fund, Gess said.

The bill outlines a phase-out of the tax over at least 5 years.



The only way it would be phased out is if certain revenue triggers are met on the sales tax side of the soft drink, so theres a mechanism in there to ensure that the state maintains ample funding for Medicaid and all of the important programs that we fund out of our general revenue, Ray said.

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Under the bill, the sales tax would go to general revenue funding, and Gess believes its not clearly allocated to Medicaid.



When budgets are tight, when we face a lot of uncertainty with whats going to happen with the federal budget going forward, this idea of losing this 2% without a dedicated replacement is quite frankly scary, Gess said.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs 49 bills into law

Ray said Arkansas is the only state with a soft drink tax, and 49 of the 50 states fund Medicaid without an excise tax on soft drinks.

The Medicaid trust fund has a balance of over $500 million, theres over half a billion dollars in that fund, and there are five other revenue sources that go into it. This is just one revenue source, and so I think the Medicaid trust fund is going to be just fine without this tax, Ray said.

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The bill failed in the House on Monday.

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Project Summary:

In 2023, a fifth of the countrys state-level bills impacting the LGBTQ+ community were filed in Texas, according to a Human Rights Campaign analysis. In 2025, Equality Texas reported a new record number of such bills filed at the State Capitol, surpassing 200  up from 141 the session before. KXANs team of journalists  many LGBTQ+ staff members with unique, developed and inside perspectives providing nuance to our fair, rigorous and balanced reporting standards  produced multimedia stories like this one for the OutLaw project, taking an in-depth look at what this trend could mean for Texas future.

AUSTIN (KXAN)  For decades, Texas law has continued to contain a provision banning homosexual conduct, despite the U.S. Supreme Courts 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas that the measure is unconstitutional. State legislators have tried for years to get it removed from statute but have so far been unsuccessful.

An updated KXAN analysis shows at least 61 bills filed to repeal the provision since the early 80s, but none have passed. Forty-five of those followed the Courts ruling. This legislative session, there are at least six such bills  including HB 1738 by Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, which had a hearing before the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence Tuesday.

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OutLaw: Criminalizing LGBTQ+ Texans

Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, will lay out House Bill 1738 before the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. He filed similar legislation in 2023 which aimed to repeal Texas ban on homosexual conduct. (Courtesy Office of Rep. Venton Jones)

I was intentional about meeting with every one of the committee members no matter where you stood on this legislation, Jones told KXAN. I had an opportunity to hear good things, and I had also heard some things I wasnt as comfortable with. It wasnt my job to judge. It was my job to listen to my colleagues and be receptive to them, just as I want them to be receptive to me.

The committee left HB 1738 pending, but Jones said an earlier start and more narrowly-tailoring the bill have been key points of focus to further the process this session.

In 2023, Jones  then a House freshman and the first Black, openly gay lawmaker in Texas  filed a similar proposal, documented in KXANs OutLaw investigation. It passed unanimously out of the same committee then but later stalled, never reaching the House floor for a vote. While that bill progressed further than most of its predecessors, without its passage the law has remained on the books.

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Critics of the measure  enacted in 1973  say leaving it in limbo opens the possibility of its misuse by police who do not understand its legal status and lawmakers crafting other policies that could impact the LGBTQ+ community. Still listed in the Texas Penal Code, it contains only a brief notation indicating it is unenforceable due to the Supreme Courts Lawrence decision  a Houston case highlighted by KXAN. That ruling rendered sodomy laws in more than a dozen states including Texas unconstitutional and unenforceable, reversing the 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick decision which had upheld a Georgia law criminalizing sodomy.

LGBTQ+ advocates in August during 2023 Austin Pride Festival near the Texas State Capitol. (KXAN Photo/Josh Hinkle)

But the decision did not force state lawmakers to remove the measure from their penal codes. Today, Texas, Kansas and Kentucky still list statutes outlawing homosexual sodomy.

Dale Carpenter, a constitutional law professor at Southern Methodist University and author of the book Flagrant Conduct: The Story of Lawrence V. Texas, previously told KXAN not repealing the laws in those states means they could one day go back into effect, if Lawrence were ever overturned.

That old law  it just lays there like an unused whip, he told KXAN. A prosecutor could potentially pick it up again and use it for enforcement purposes or for other kinds of discriminatory actions.

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LISTEN: Catalyst Podcast On LGBTQ+ Issues

Jones bill layout Tuesday marked at least the 15th time in history Texas lawmakers have held a public hearing with witness testimony on such legislation, according to a KXAN analysis. As of this session, the most consistent group against the legislation was the activist organization Texas Values, which has registered or testified 17 times against nine of the bills  far more than any other group.

Texas Values seeks to influence public opinion and the legislative process in support of conservative causes through effective education, research and issue advocacy, with the goal of supporting faith, family and freedom, according to its website. The group has previously not commented on this topic to KXAN, despite our multiple attempts.

In an exchange during Tuesdays hearing with Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, who sits on the criminal jurisprudence panel, Texas Values Director of Policy Jonathan Covey, the only individual speaking against the proposal, said his organization wanted to send a message that (homosexual conduct) in not acceptable conduct.

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When Moody asked if Texas Values thought homosexuals should be viewed as criminals, Covey reiterated, The position of our organization is that we dont want to pull something out (of statute) thats going to make it seem like homosexuality is more acceptable.

Moody, who has filed identical legislation this session and similar bills in the past, responded that unacceptable conduct versus whats criminal conduct is different.

Moodys bill has been referred to the same committee, though it has not been assigned a hearing. A Senate version authored by Sen. Molly Cook, D-Houston, has been referred to that chambers criminal justice committee and also awaits a hearing.

KXAN Investigative Photojournalist Richie Bowes, Investigative Reporter Arezow Doost and Digital Special Projects Developer Robert Sims contributed to this report.

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, April 8. Uzbekistan and German Rhenus Group discussed development of cross-border freight transportation with Kyrgyzstan, Trend reports.

The matter was reviewed at a meeting between Deputy Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan Jasurbek Choriyev with a delegation led by Heinrich Kerstgens, Special Representative for Projects of the Rhenus Group.

The sides exchanged views on ways to strengthen logistics connectivity and improve the efficiency of goods movement across the border. They also discussed integrating the Andijan logistics center terminal with the proposed new railway line linking Kashgar, Jalal-Abad, and Osh.

The parties also discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation in the field of intermodal transport networks. In particular, the parties reviewed progress on the construction of a modern cargo terminal in the Andijan region as part of a joint project with Rhenus Group.

Earlier, Uzbekistan and Germany signed an agreement on non-sovereign financing of projects on modernization, introduction of innovations, export, corporate, and trade financing.

The sides also reached agreements on the allocation of preferential and grant financing of projects on modernization of the system of vocational education and medical institutions, support of vulnerable groups of population, environmental protection, and improvement of water supply systems.
Hired security personnel wait for voters outside the Leon County Supervisor of Elections office on Nov. 3, 2020, in Tallahassee. (Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)

A proposal that would significantly raise the bar on citizen-led constitutional amendments ever making it on the ballot is headed to the floor of the Florida Senate, where it is expected to pass in that GOP-controlled chamber.

The measure (SB 7016) is one of the most controversial bills proposed in the 2025 legislative session. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced at the beginning of this year that he wanted the Legislature to tighten election laws over alleged signature petition fraud.

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The bill passed along party lines in the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee on Tuesday. Slightly amended from its original version, the measure make a number of substantial changes in the rules for those working towards placing a citizen-led constitutional amendment on the ballot.

The process already requires gathering nearly 900,000 signatures by Feb. 1 of the year the measure hopes to be placed on the ballot, and it must pass by a 60% threshold.

Republicans says there is a need for such legislation to combat signature petition fraud. The Office of Election Crimes and Security published a report in January asserting that more than 100 representatives of the group attempting to pass the abortion-rights last year committed crimes related to gathering petitions.

In these pages are hundreds of specific cases of con artists and fraudsters operating in almost every county of our state, declared Panhandle Republican Sen. Don Gaetz, a co-sponsor of the measure.

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The Election Crimes office last month informed Smart & Safe Florida, the group working to get a constitutional amendment regarding the adult use of cannabis on the 2026 ballot, that the Division of Elections was fining them $121,850 for allegedly submitting petitions more than 30 days after voters signed them  a violation of existing law.

One of the most controversial provisions of the pending Senate measure has been removed: It no longer requires petition sponsors to post bonds of $1 million.

Gaetz said his co-sponsor, Southeast Florida Republican Erin Grall, had learned about how difficult it would be for anyone to acquire such a bond for an organization solely created solely to pass a political measure. We felt it would be a significant barrier and prohibition to ordinary folks, he said.

The bill

But other provisions remain, such as:

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Requires additional personal identifying information for voters signing petition forms and for petition circulators.

If the percentage of petition forms deemed invalid by a supervisor of elections exceeds 25% in a reporting period, that would trigger an investigation by the Election Crimes office. (Originally the bill called for such a trigger at just 10% of bad petitions, a number criticized by Democrats and voting rights advocates as far too onerous).

Prohibits certain felons and noncitizens from acting as petition circulators and increases fines for late submission or nonsubmission of petition forms.

Requires the sponsor or petition circulator to deliver signed petitions to the supervisors of elections in the counties in which the voter resides within 10 days after the voter signs the form. The sponsors will be fined $50 per each day late that the petition comes in after 10 days. A petition sponsor would be fined $2,500 if they acted willfully.

Fines of $100, up to a a maximum of $5,000, for each form collected by a petition circulator and signed by a voter on or before February of the year the general election is held if the sponsor acted willfully.

If a person collecting petitions signs another persons name, the sponsor can be fined $5,000 for each made-up petition.

If the sponsor retains or copies a voters personal information, that would be a third-degree felony.

Additonally, the bill says state government (or any person acting on behalf of the state government) may not expend or authorize the expenditure of, and a person or group may not accept public funds for, a political advertisement or any other communication regarding a proposed constitutional amendment.

This was an amendment introduced earlier in the process by Northeast Florida Republican Sen. Jennifer Bradley in response to criticism regarding Gov. DeSantis use of such taxpayer funds in 2024.

Lots of opposition

Debate and public comment took more than two hours, with plenty of people speaking out in opposition.

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Citizen-led amendments empower everyday citizens to pass policies that improve our lives and strengthen our communities, said Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel of the ACLU of Florida. This bill takes that power away from the people and solidifies it into the hands of politicians.

This bill doesnt protect democracy, it attacks it, said Jackson Oberlink, policy director with the progressive group Florida For All.

It criminalizes volunteers, imposes outrageous fines, and throws up roadblocks for working class Floridians who want a say in their future. Why? Because when voters lead, they pass policies corporate lobbyists hate, like raising the minimum wage, protecting our environment, and restoring voting rights. This bill isnt about fraud, its about fear. Fear of people power.

After it passed along party lines, it now moves to the full Senate for consideration. A House companion filed by Lee County Republican Jenna Persons-Mulicka (HB 1205) has already been approved in that chamber.

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USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service photo by Brandon OConnor.

Two committees in the North Carolina General Assembly voted Tuesday morning to approve legislation banning certain foreign entities from acquiring farmland in the state.

The House Homeland Security and Military and Veterans Affairs Committee took up House Bill 133, NC Farmland and Military Protection Act. About an hour later, the Senate Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Committee approved the upper chambers counterpart, Senate Bill 394, Prohibit Foreign Ownership of NC Land.

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Both measures now head to subsequent panels  House Commerce and Economic Development and Senate Judiciary, respectively.

At a time of rocky international relations due to the Trump administrations tariffs, the legislation could signify a move toward increased tension with foreign countries.

HB 133, sponsored by Reps. Jennifer Balkcom (R-Henderson), Neal Jackson (R-Moore, Randolph), Jeff Zenger (R-Forsyth), and John Bell (R-Goldsboro), would prohibit adversarial foreign governments from purchasing, acquiring, or leasing agricultural land in North Carolina, according to the bill text.

The restrictions would also apply to land situated within a 75-mile radius of a military installation  a number influenced by national defense recommendations, Balkcom said  such as Fort Bragg near Fayetteville. A complete list of applicable installations is outlined in the bill text.

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If it was up to me, Id do the entire state, Balkcom said. But this doesnt infringe on private property rights. You can sell it to anybody but a foreign national thats an adversary against the United States.

Rep. Celeste Cairns (R-Carteret, Craven) asked for clarification on the bills parameters. She asked if people would be able to sell property to individual citizens of the adversarial countries without connection to their government.

Balkcom responded in the affirmative. In response to a question from Rep. Wyatt Gable (R-Onslow) about how the adversarial governments are defined, she said theres guidance from the U.S. Department of Defense.

Although the bill doesnt list specific countries, it refers to governments subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

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Over in the upper chamber, Sens. Bob Brinson (R-Beaufort, Craven, Lenoir), Bobby Hanig (R-Bertie, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell), and Timothy Moffitt (R-Henderson, Polk, Rutherford) serve as the primary sponsors for SB 394.

The measure explicitly refers to the adversarial nations by name: China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

Brinson described the legislation as a state effort to protect national security, because food security is national security.

The key purpose of this bill is to both safeguard our agricultural integrity and to protect our national security, he said. This bill ensures that North Carolina farmland does not come under international adversarial control, and also prevents adversarial nations from acquiring land near sensitive military installations.

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SB 394 is more restrictive than its House counterpart. The proposal bars the prohibited foreign parties from making claims to land situated within a 25-mile radius of a military installation or land underneath special use airspace as designated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Wake) pointed out there is a growing population of Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans in the state. She asked if the bill would ban someone from purchasing land if they are a legal resident of the U.S. with Chinese citizenship.

If theyre a resident alien of the U.S., they have the same right to acquire or hold land as a citizen, as long as theyre a resident in the state, Brinson said. As long as they are a legal resident alien, they should have the same land ownership rights as a citizen.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT)  Birmingham Police Chief Michael Pickett hit the track at Wenonah High School with his new police recruits during Mondays agility session.

Having 49 people come out, and were hopeful that well have all 49 to continue after Wednesday, Pickett said, adding that is the largest number the Birmingham Police Department has had in a recruiting class since 2011.

Pickett said he hopes all recruits will make it through the 18-week police academy and join the ranks. There are 42 men and seven women taking part in the academy, and everyone must pass the agility test to move onto the rest of the academy.

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I feel good. I just did the mile-and-a-half run with the first group, Pickett said. I feel energized.

Jefferson County Sheriffs Office warning public of scammers

I just think it shows them Im not going to ask them to do anything that I cannot do myself, Pickett continued.

Monday was day one of the police academy. Pickett said recruits who meet the agility requirements will also spend time in the classroom, undergo firearms training and learn about pressure point control tactics. In August, the BPD graduated 18 new police officers.

The BPD established a new $16 million officer recruitment and retention plan in October that Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin recommended. The Birmingham City Council approved it.

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The incentives are everything, Pickett said. If someone moves here, relocation stipend, of course the bonuses to get hired on. So those are having an impact on it.

When asked how many positions hes trying to fill, Pickett said they must do an assessment to get an accurate number because theyre doing some lateral transfers. After the city council approved the mayors recruitment and retention plan, the city issued a press release stating the mayor was focused specifically on hiring 172 patrol officers.

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COURTESY BISHOP MUSEUM Kristofer Helgen has been named Bishop Museums new CEO.

COURTESY BISHOP MUSEUM Kristofer Helgen has been named Bishop Museums new CEO.

Bishop Museum has named natural scientist Kristofer Helgen as its new CEO, following a five-month, worldwide search.

Helgen will assume his post Aug. 1, the museum said in a news release, replacing Dee Jay Mailer, who is completing her three-year commitment.

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He currently serves as chief scientist and director of the Australian Museum Research Institute at the Australian Museum in Sydney, where he oversees 120 research and collections staff, according to the release. Helgen was selected among more than 50 applicants.

We were delighted to receive a huge response to our search from within and beyond Hawaii,  said Patrick Kirch, museum board member and selection committee chair, in a statement. Kris stood out in many ways, but especially for his vision regarding the importance of museums in our contemporary world. His strong experience in museum administration combined with outstanding scholarship and research in the natural sciences in and around the Pacific makes him the right choice to lead our museum into the future.

Helgen, who was born and raised in Minnesota, has centered his scientific career in the Pacific region, with a focus on biodiversity, environmental impact and conservation. He is affiliated with universities and museums around the world.

He studied Bishop Museums mammal collections as early as 2002, while doing research as a student at Harvard University, and became a research associate in 2007. Over nearly two decades, he has helped to re-identify many of the museums mammal specimens.

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Before joining the Australian Museum, Helgen worked as chief curator of mammals at the Smithsonian Institution.

Bishop Museum is known globally for its vast collection and its expertise in cultural and scientific research, and I am thrilled to be joining the team,  said Helgen in a statement. The Museum is at the forefront of cultural and scientific knowledge and discovery regarding Hawaii and the broader Pacific. I look forward to learning from the staff, to sharing what I have learned in turn, and to working together to establish long-term growth and stability.

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The Supreme Court tossed on Monday a series of restraining orders that barred the Trump administration from removing people under the Alien Enemies Act, in a 5-4 decision decided largely over whether the case was brought in the right place and form.

The Court held that challenges to removals under the Alien Enemies Act must be brought as habeas corpus petitions. The majority held short of ruling on thornier questions of whether the act applies to those already removed and on the scope of the judiciarys ability to review challenges to the law.

Justices in the majority did address some of what made the Trump administrations removals of more than two hundred Venezuelans to an El Salvador labor camp so unprecedented: they were taken out of the country without any review or due process, at a level of extreme haste that almost certainly resulted in people who had no connection to Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang against which the Trump administration made a dubious proclamation of enemy invasion, being deported.

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The Court mandated that the government provide a minimum opportunity for due process to those slated to be removed under the law. The government must notify detainees that theyre subject to removal, the Court said, with enough time as to allow them to file habeas corpus claims challenging their deportation.

The ACLU and Democracy Forward filed the lawsuit as a class-action case in Washington, D.C. on behalf of four Venezuelans held in Texas in the early hours of March 15. By that point, TPM reported last month, ICE had spent weeks detaining Venezuelans on the basis of having tattoos, seemingly finding that to be evidence enough to qualify them as members of Tren de Aragua.

The ACLU case went to D.C. Chief Judge James Boasberg. After issuing an initial restraining order blocking the four plaintiffs removal, he convened a late afternoon hearing on March 15. In between that time, the Trump administration publicly released its Alien Enemies Act proclamation, giving it legal effect.

As Boasbergs hearing began, planes carrying deportees were already on their way to El Salvador. Boasberg issued an order mandating the planes return as they were in midair; they, however, continued on to El Salvador, depositing those removed in a labor camp celebrated by the countrys leader, strongman Nayib Bukele.

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Per the ruling, the plaintiffs will now have to file habeas petitions in Texas. Future deportees under the Alien Enemies Act will also seemingly be limited to challenging their removal under habeas corpus.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the three Democratic appointees in dissenting, joining portions of a dissent authored by Justice Sonya Sotomayor.

Sotomayor wrote that the Trump administration seemingly had planned to rush plaintiffs out of the country before a court could decide whether their removal was lawful.

Examples of how fraught that decision was have already appeared. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to the El Salvador camp on March 15 contra a standing immigration court order barring his removal. The Trump administration admitted that, in his case, it had made an error, but maintains that it has no obligation to correct the mistake. It asked the Court to hear its appeal of a lower court order mandating that it return Abrego Garcia earlier on Monday.

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Sotomayor wrote that the implication of the administrations position is that not only noncitizens but also United States citizens could be taken off the streets, forced onto planes, and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress if judicial review is denied unlawfully before removal.

History is no stranger to such lawless regimes, but this Nations system of laws is designed to prevent, not enable, their rise, she wrote.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson compared the ruling in a separate dissent to the 1944 Korematsu ruling, which upheld President Franklin Delano Roosevelts internment of people of Japanese descent during World War II.

But make no mistake: We are just as wrong now as we have been in the past, with similarly devastating consequences, she wrote. It just seems we are now less willing to face it.

Read the ruling below.
SPACE (KXAN)  A rare nova could occur in the next few nights. Called T Coronae Borealis, the Blaze Star and T CrB by astronomers, the binary star system could produce an explosion visible to the naked eye.

Located about 3,000 light years from Earth, the Blaze Star is actually two stars. One is a white dwarf star, dead and shriveled, about the size of Earth. The other is an ancient red giant star thats slowly being devoured by the smaller star.

According to NASA, during a nova event, the white dwarf releases a massive explosion. The star will stay intact after this explosion, unlike during a supernova, in which the star explodes. These explosions reoccur every few years.

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The explosion will create a bright spot in the sky that will last about a week. The last time the stars eruption was seen happened in 1946.

How to find the Blaze Star

The Blaze Star is located in the Northern Crown, a horseshoe-shaped curve of stars located to the west of the Hercules constellation. This constellation is found by looking east.

According to NASA, the best way to locate the star is to find Arcturus and Vega, two of the brightest stars in the night sky this time of year, and drawing a line between them.

A conceptual image of how to find Hercules and the Northern Crown in the night sky, created using planetarium software. Look up after sunset during summer months to find Hercules, then scan between Vega and Arcturus, where the distinct pattern of Corona Borealis may be identified. (Credit: NASA)

The star will be visible about four hours after sunset this month. Once it explodes, the bright nova will be about the same brightness as the North Star.

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The Blaze Star was originally expected to explode in 2024. The dimming of the star system that year led many to believe it would explode soonish.

Recurrent novae are unpredictable and contrarian, said Dr. Koji Mukai, a fellow astrophysics researcher at NASA Goddard, in a statement released last year. When you think there cant possibly be a reason they follow a certain set pattern, they do  and as soon as you start to rely on them repeating the same pattern, they deviate from it completely. Well see how T CrB behaves.

It is important to note, because of the distance between the Earth and this star system, that were actually seeing an explosion that occurred 3,000 years ago. Because the system is 3,000 light-years away, it takes 3,000 years for the light to actually reach us.

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DANIEL ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD)  Multi-platinum, award-winning rock band Blink-182 will perform on Daniel Island in late summer.

The band, featuring Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, and Travis Barker, will kick off its 20-city Missionary Impossible Tour on August 28 in Hollywood, Florida.

They are scheduled to play at Credit One Stadium on Daniel Island just days later, on September 1, with special guests Alkaline Trio.

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Fans can score access to pre-sale tickets beginning April 8 at noon, and tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday, April 11, at 10 a.m.

15 concerts to see in Charleston this spring

Organizers say the tour will offer various VIP packages and experiences for fans, including premium tickets, access to a pre-show hospitality lounge, and special merchandise.

Blink-182 quickly rose to fame in the late 90s with hit songs All the Small Things, Whats My Age Again, The Rock Show, and I Miss You, among many others.

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GASTONIA, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  At Gaston Memorial Park, the American flags waved in the breeze.

Thats where the Gaston County Honor Guard bared arms for a somber salute.

For 14 years, the devoted group of local veterans has paid their respects to servicemen and women who have passed.

Most of the Honor Guardsmen are now in their 80s, and many fear they may not be able to continue their meaningful mission in the years ahead.

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Were all getting too old, said Roy Sleeper, the assistant commander. Most of them are Vietnam-era veterans, so thats why we need some new blood coming in.

The Guard has attended close to 1800 military funerals since 2011.

On Friday, they marked the passing of a hero.

Were very honored to do a World War II veteran today, Sleeper told Queen City News.

Navy veteran Robert Barnhill of Cramerton was laid to rest Friday. He was 97.

Service to others was part of the core aspect of his personality, said Hunter Heavener, Barnhills grandson. He really took that seriously.

At each service, the Guardsmen cant help but reflect on their own mortality.

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We think about our own service, and how weve done it, and how we hope that somebodys going to be around to fire the volley, fold our flag, and do taps with us, Sleeper said.

Korean War veteran Glenn Wilson is almost 88 and as devoted as ever.

Its an honor and privilege; its not bragging rights, Wilson says.

34 active Honor Guard members give comfort to grieving families, providing military honors.

A ceremonial three-volley salute at the service symbolized respect for the deceased.

Its deeply meaningful, says Heavener. And impactful knowing that theres a comradery there, even amongst people that didnt even know him.

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Its a heritage we have just being in the services, said Guardsman Cliff Brown. The other veterans, they deserve these rights.

If you hear the sound of taps and it dont do something to you, I dont think youre American or youre not a true American, Wilson says.

Like all of us, their age advances, but their patriotism is timeless.

The honor guard lined up near Barnhills casket for one more ceremonial tradition, a final salute to their fallen comrade.

Rest in peace, brother, they said, saluting the World War II vet.

The Guard is one more way they serve their nation with honor.

If you are interested in joining the Gaston County Honor Guard, please email jfodaly@gmail.com or call 704-349-2845.

Queen City News

Faces of the Carolinas

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Several tourists in the Plaza de Espana during the rainy afternoon in Seville with a dust cloud, on March 24, 2022 in Seville (Andalusia, Spain). (Photo By Joaquin Corchero/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Spain and Portugal will soon be drenched in an unusual phenomenon known as "blood rain," which can coat everything in a layer of dust and dirt as the weekend approaches.

This discolored rain will result from a cloud of dust from Africa merging with a storm moving into western Europe later this week. The dust will mix with the rain, causing it to appear red or rusty orange as it falls.

The sky may also appear orange or tan in color, giving an eerie appearance to anyone venturing outside in the dirty rain.

It's not just the color of the rain that will be different.

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The dust in the rain droplets will stick to cars, buildings, sidewalks, and anything outside. As the rainwater runs off or evaporates, it will leave behind dirty surfaces.

This phenomenon is also known as "mud rain" due to the dust and dirt left behind.

Cars full of mud on the day the so-called 'mud rain', a combination of a Saharan dust cloud with a squall, occurred in the Andalusian capital, March 15, 2022 in Seville (Andalusia, Spain). (Photo By Joaquin Corchero/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Air quality may also be reduced amid and following the dusty rain, which could overlap with outdoor events related to Semana Santa, which begins on Sunday, April 13.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. Indirect high-level talks between Iran and the US will be launched in Oman on April 12, Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote on X, Trend reports.

According to him, these talks are an opportunity as well as a test. The ball is already in the US's court.

US President Donald Trump said in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US to have direct talks with Iran. There will be a very big meeting between the two sides on Saturday (April 12). Everyone agrees to reach an agreement to solve the problems.
BLOUNT COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT)  Two Blount County parents are facing charges after their son was taken to a hospital shot last week.

According to the Blount County Sheriffs Office, deputies arrived at UAB St. Vincents Blount on Friday on a report of a 4-year-old boy who was shot in his leg and arm. His parents, who didnt contact law enforcement, took him to the hospital.

The boy had surgery and is recovering at Childrens of Alabama as of Monday afternoon. The BCSO stated the boys parents are Cassandra Lutz and Andrew Corrie. They were each charged with first-degree reckless assault, chemical endangerment to a child, 10 counts of cruelty to animals and six counts of failure to bury/burn livestock Monday.

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Mother charged in death of 1-year-old Kahleb Collins set for first court appearance Wednesday

The sheriffs office obtained a search warrant for the residence the boy lived in, which is in the Sugarland Lake area. The BCSO stated the residence had no running water and no operational bathrooms. The Blount County Department of Human Resources was notified. The sibling child and the victim were removed from the residence and put into protective custody.

The sheriffs office stated it found unsecured firearms, drug paraphernalia and suspected marijuana in the residence. The BCSO announced it discovered the residence had 24 live snakes, six dead snakes and a juvenile crocodile. Those animals were found in containers accessible to anyone inside the residence. Blount County Animal Control took possession of the animals.

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BLOUNT COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT)  The Blount County Sheriffs Office held a press conference Tuesday afternoon after two parents were charged in relation to their son suffering gunshot wounds.

According to the BCSO, deputies arrived at UAB St. Vincents Blount on Friday on a report of a 4-year-old boy who was shot in his leg and arm. His parents, who didnt contact law enforcement, took him to the hospital.

When I got the call from my chief deputy that morning telling me that we had a 4-year-old child in the hospital with a gunshot wound, I literally almost threw up because when you think about, even without knowing the details of the case, I began to think Who would cause this kind of pain to a child?' said Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon. It brought back memories of active shooter events in schools and in elementaries. Why would someone go in and harm these innocent children?

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The boy was airlifted to Childrens of Alabama, where he had surgery and is in stable condition, according to Moon. The sheriff said the boy shot himself with a handgun.

The BCSO stated the boys parents are Cassandra Lutz and Andrew Corrie. Corrie was charged with aggravated assault, child endangerment, second-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, 10 counts of cruelty to animals and six counts of failure to bury livestock.

Lutz was charged with aggravated assault, chemical endangerment, second-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, 10 counts of cruelty to animals and six counts of failure to bury livestock.

Weve charged them with as much as we can, Moon said. Ideally, we would like for them to go away for a long time and never be able to have children ever again. That would be a perfect scenario.

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The sheriffs office obtained a search warrant for the residence the boy lived in, which is in the 500 block of Holliday Drive. Moon said the residence had no running water and no operational bathrooms. The Blount County Department of Human Resources was notified. The younger male sibling and the victim were removed from the residence and put into protective custody.

To be able to go in and pull these children out of this extremely unsafe, unfit environment and prayerfully and hopefully have them placed in a home that will love them and put them in a place of protection and provision, that means the world to every single person that works in this department, Moon said.

Unsecured firearms, drug paraphernalia and suspected marijuana were reportedly found in the residence. The BCSO announced it discovered the residence had 24 live snakes, six dead snakes and a juvenile crocodile.

Those animals were found in containers accessible to anyone inside the residence. The Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division took possession of the animals. The Blount County Animal Control took control of the dogs and cats at the residence.

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It was sickening to even think about anybody living in these types of conditions, Moon said. But when you start thinking about children who cant do anything outside of what their parents provide, they had no choice and probably, really, if you think about it, if it hadnt have been for this, wouldve never had any hope of escaping this kind of lifestyle.

Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey said whenever she thinks shes heard or seen it all in her 18 years prosecuting, she is given a case that shocks her, much like this one.

It just breaks my heart to know that they could have been potentially in a situation where severe danger, I mean extreme, extreme injury, could have occurred, Casey said. And obviously in this case, there was a gunshot wound as a result of their behavior.

The investigation is ongoing. The BCSO said the the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources could bring forth more charges. The DAs office plans to present the case before a grand jury.

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Del. Ben Barnes (D-Prince George's and Anne Arundel), right, responds to a question from House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany) Monday on the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)

It was one of the first issues to surface this year, and one of the last to be resolved, but lawmakers Monday approved compromise legislation to trim the Blueprint for Marylands Future while keeping much of the multiyear plan intact.

The Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act passed Monday evening on largely party-line votes in the House and Senate. It delays implementation of collaborative time, preserves funding for community schools and protects students in poverty, those in special education and those in classes for non-English speakers from any potential per pupil funding cuts.

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These are the students who really need help with the Blueprint. There is no pause, cut in funding whatsoever, said Del. Ben Barnes (D-Prince Georges and Anne Arundel), chair of the Appropriations Committee who helped navigate the agreement through a conference committee between chambers last week.

The House voted 101-38 for House Bill 504 on Monday afternoon, and the Senate give the bill final approval a few hours later, on a 34-13 vote.

The final product struck a balance between the plan put forth by Gov. Wes Moore (D) in January, when the state was in the first throes of its fight to close a $3 billion budget gap for fiscal 2026, and a less-severe package proposed by House.

One major part of the agreement Monday deals with the implementation of collaborative time, which provides teachers more out-of-classroom time to plan and work with each other on various subjects and also assess student achievement. School systems are supposed to start implementing collaborative time next year.

The Moore administration had proposed a four-year delay in the start of collaborative time, both for the savings and for practical reasons. State school leaders have said that to fully implement collaborative time, the state would need at least 12,000 teachers at a time when the state faces a teacher shortage.

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The House wanted to keep next years implementation date. The House and Senate ultimately agreed to pause the policy requirement for collaborative time for three years, but keep the funding amount at $163 per student for next fiscal year. It would stay at that level until fiscal 2029, when it would jump to $334 per student.

Barnes said Monday evening that keeping the collaborative time funding for next fiscal year but deferring implementation should help local school leaders as they work on budgets for next school year.

Local school officials have continuously sought more flexibility in the implementation of the Blueprint, now in its third year.

Another compromise deals with the Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports, a part of the Blueprint plan that deals with mental health, behavioral and other wraparound services for students.

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The governor proposed $130 million for fiscal 2026, but the House proposed cutting it to $40 million a year. The Senate held out for $70 million next year and $100 million a year thereafter, which was approved in the final bill.

Another provision dealt with community schools, which are buildings that receive concentration-of-poverty grants based on students who receive free and reduced-price meals.

One key priority the House was able to secure deals with any funds retained at a school systems central office, money must be used solely to support implementation at the school level.

Paul Lemle, president of the state Maryland State Education Association, released a statement after the passage of the bill that gave it a mixed review.

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While there is a delay to increased funding dedicated for collaborative time implementation, the final bill is a significant improvement over where this conversation began in January, Lemle said

We were able to avoid the near-immediate, outsized cuts to expected funding for students in poverty and multilingual learners, in particular, and we protected the critical expansion of community schools and supports for students in concentrated poverty, his statement said.

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Lives are being threatened.

A lawyer released a statement, and the Punta Gorda Police Department is working state and federal agencies after a video surfaced on social media April 3 of a man who claims be the best boating captain on the planet. Then he screams and cusses a fellow boater before boarding the second vessel.

Capt. Brock Horner was arrested over the weekend, several days after he confronted a boater on the water.

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Horner, 40, was charged with burglary with assault or battery. He bonded out Saturday, April 5, arrest records show.

"I'm the best charter captain you will ever meet in your (expletive) life," the man says while stepping off his boat and onto the second boat.

"Chill bro," the second boater says while trying to drive away from the escalating situation. "Please, bro. Chill, bro."

But the aggressor, of Tarpon Coast Fishing Charters, held on.

"Apologize," the man yelled before continuing to curse the boater and threaten him.

The video shows a captain, Horner, acting very aggressive and threatening bodily harm to Gage Towles.

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Calls to Horner's phone at the Tarpon Springs business went unanswered, and the voicemail said his mailbox was full.

Horner was apparently frustrated that some boater was anchored and fishing without their lights on in the dark.

He accused Towles of being that boater, but Towles said he had his lights on, and that Horner was talking about a third boater.

Brock Horner has become a viral sensation online after apparently having an altercation with another boater. The Punta Gorda Police Department, Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Coast Guard and investigating the incident.

What started as an argument quickly escalated when Horner stepped onto Gage Towles' boat.

"Do you want to go," Horner yells. "You big tough guy."

"Are you trying to act like a tough guy in front of your buddies," Towles says moments before Horner boards his boat.

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Horner yells out that he and his friends are war veterans and that everyone knows that he's a tough (expletive).

Several posters on Facebook have said that Horner has closed his business, and a third boater has started a gofundme fundraiser for the second boater, Gage Towles. The account had raised $750 by Monday morning toward its $1,000 goal.

Towles had apologized to Horner multiple times before Horner drove over to Towles' boat and boarded his vessel in what looked to be an attempt to physically assault Towles.

Attorney Scott Weinberg is representing Horner and issued an apology statement on Facebook the night of April 3.

Brock Horner's attorney released statement

Weinberg could not be reached for comment but released a statement.

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"First and foremost, Brock sincerely apologies to Gage, to Gage's family, and to anyone who was frightened or upset about what they saw," the statement says. "What began as a moment of frustration and concern escalated in a way it simply should not have. Gage handled the situation with impressive composure and class, and that level-headedness helped prevent things from becoming far worse."

Weinberg said the video captured one moment of Horner's life, and that it shouldn't be an indictment of him as a person.

"Since the video went viral, Brock's business has been destroyed, his reputation damaged, and his family  including his wife and mother  have been harassed and even threatened," Weinberg continued.

He said Horner is considered completely disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs due to a traumatic brain injury suffered in combat.

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Coast Guard have said on social media that they are also investigating the incident.

Collateral damage in the boating world

There was also some collateral damage in the fishing community as some people mistook Horner for fishing guide Brock Wagner, who guides out of Chokoloskee.

Wagner said he and his family were being threatened but that most of the pressure has settled down over the past day or so.

"I've never been famous, or infamous before," Wagner said. "It scared my wife. I sent her out of town."

Lessons learned: Reporter recalls 12-day canoe trip through Everglades National Park

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Wagner said he doesn't know the anglers in the video but that he's gotten a lot of support from the fishing community in the wake of the incident.

"The outpouring in the fishing community has been amazing," Wagner said. "Thousands, literally thousands of people have reshared the post "hey, I'm not that guy.' It's a very humbling experience. People are coming to your aid and trying to help you out. But I still get the hate calls every once in a while. "

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Brock Horner: Punta Gorda, Florida charter boat captain charged
Bob Mould, the Minnesota music pioneer who was part of Husker Du and other projects, will give the keynote speech for Macalester College's 2025 commencement, the school announced this week.

Mould will also receive an honorary degree from the school, which he attended.

"Bob Mould is a rock and punk music legend who not only paved the way for other bands and sounds, but also used his esteemed platform to fiercely advocate for a more just society," says Macalester College President Suzanne M. Rivera.



Bob MouldPhoto by Ryan Bakerink

Mould formed Husker Du with Grant Hart and Greg Norton in 1978 during his first year attending the St. Paul college.

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The group quickly gained momentum in the burgeoning punk scene, and Mould left school to go on tour during his senior year. He never graduated. Now, he'll get the degree that was almost completed while his group was cementing its legacy.

"At the time, he was in the process of writing an honors thesis on punk rock as a subculture under the guidance of sociology professor Michal McCall," the school says in its announcement.

While Husker Du was gaining popularity at that time, enough that Mould set his studies aside, it was years later when the group's most pivotal albums arrived, including 1984's Zen Arcade, which has long been considered one of the great recordings in punk rock history.

"The Minnesota power trio broke all the rules of three-chord hardcore with this double-vinyl concept opus," Rolling Stone writers said, ranking it as the 13th best punk album of all time. "Bob Mould and Grant Hart traded off spit-and-growl vocals in savagely emotional hardcore blasts, but the music expanded into psychedelia, acoustic-folk rage, and the closing 14-minute feedback instrumental, 'Recurring Dreams.'"

Mould will give the keynote address at the school's Leonard Center Fieldhouse on May 17.

Related: Must-see concerts this week: Jack White, AC/DC, Grant Hart tribute
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Authorities looking for a missing Kelso man discovered the body of a male approximately one mile from his abandoned car Monday morning, according to police.

Dean Kirbys car, a gray 2016 Mazda, was locked and unoccupied when security officials with the Weyerhaeuser timber company reported the car to Kelso police on Sunday.

Small plane skids off runway into water at North Bend airport, 5 hospitalized

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Officers arrived at 4:44 p.m. and reported finding the car in a remote area approximately 3.5 miles on the companys property at the end of Ostrander Road.

Kirbys vehicle was found slightly off the traveled portion of the road, immobile and it appeared to have been there for a period of time, police said.

Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office searched the area for Kirby, but said it was without success.

2 Salem-Keizer schools start later after death of district counselor

A search the following morning found a male body around 11:45 a.m. on Monday, according to authorities. The body had been approximately one mile away from the car, but it has yet to be officially identified by a medical examiner  its unclear at this point if it was Kirbys body that was found.

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There is no evidence to suggest there is any danger to the public related to this discovery, according to Kelso police.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
CHICAGO (WGN)  Boeing has settled two lawsuits concerning the deadly 2019 crash that claimed the lives of 157 people, including a military service member from Chicagos suburbs.

Attorneys with Clifford Law Offices, Mark Lindquist Law, and Romanucci & Blandin announced on Monday that a resolution had been reached in the cases of Lewis v. Boeing and Belanger v. Boeing, one day before jury selection commenced.

Antoine Lewis, a decorated Army captain from Matteson, and Darcy Belanger, a director of professional development from Denver, Colorado, were among those killed in March of 2019 when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed minutes after takeoff.

Antoine Lewis pictured with his wife Yalena Loepez Lewis (File photo: Provided by family)

RELATED: Suburban man killed in Boeing crash remembered as anniversary nears

Lewis left behind a wife and two kids. He was nearing 20 years of military service.

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Theres not a day that goes by that I dont think of him, that I dont talk to a picture of him on the wall, Lewis mother, Antoinette, told WGN News in May of 2021.

Lawyers representing the victims did not disclose the terms of the settlement.

This settlement will bring a measure of closure to Lewis widow, Yalena Loepez Lewis, but can never make up for this heartbreaking and life-altering loss for his family, lead counsel Antonio Romanucci said.

In July 2019, Lewis loved ones joined a lawsuit suing the Chicago-based Boeing, claiming the Boeing 737 Max jet was rushed and faulty. For months, potentially years, before the crash, the suit says Boeing knew about the risks but subverted them, misled the public, its investors, and its customers, failed to take adequate precautions, and failed to inform pilots of the new systems it had implemented.

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The crash that claimed the lives of Lewis and others was the second deadly aircraft wreck over a five-month span involving a Boeing 737 Max jet.

Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines

Attorneys say 18 cases remain for decedents of crash victims. Boeing still faces a criminal trial on charges brought forth by the Department of Justice in July.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
Boeing has agreed to settle in the deadly 737 Max 8 crash in Ethiopia, on the eve of the first trial after the fatal 2019 crash.

Lawyers for the relatives of two victims in that deadly Ethiopian Air crash were in Chicago for the start of the trial.

But late last night, they reached a settlement with the aerospace giant. It took six years for the families to get to this point.

And it comes nearly five years after Boeing accepted legal responsibility for the deadly crash. Still, the first trial in this case was to start today.

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This morning, I expected we would be picking a jury, Lindquist said. But late last night, the case finally resolved.

Tacoma-based lawyer Mark Lindquist was in Chicago for what was to be the start of the first trial in the deadly Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The 737 Max 8 had just taken off from the airport in Addis Ababa when it crashed in March 2019. Forty-six-year-old Darcy Belanger and 39-year-old Antoine Lewis were among the 157 people who died that day.

Attorney Lindquist says Belangers widow agreed to the settlement because it shows Boeing is taking responsibility.

And the closure, said Lindquist. Time for her to move on with her life.

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Less than five months earlier, a 737 Max 8 jet crashed into the Java Sea, killing everyone on board. These two crashes focused a harsh spotlight on the FAA, Boeing, and its MCAS system, blamed for putting the Max 8s into a fatal nosedive.

Just last week, Boeings CEO was still defending the companys safety record.

Ive talked to our airline customers, Kelly Ortberg told Congress. Theyre frustrated with us because were late on aircraft delivery, as you pointed out. But they also know we have to do this right.

In a statement, Boeing offered its condolences. We made an upfront commitment to fully and fairly compensate the families and accepted legal responsibility for the accidents, the statement continued. We will continue to work to fairly resolve the claims of the family members.

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Mark Lindquist said he could not tell us how much money Boeing is paying to settle these two cases, but the aerospace giant revealed it has paid out billions of dollars in compensation to the families and their lawyers.

Lindquist says the message to Boeing is that safety should always come first.
By Monica Machicao and Santiago Limachi

BENI, Bolivia (Reuters) -In Bolivia's rural region of Beni near the border with Brazil, vast grasslands where cows once grazed have been submerged, forcing cattle and the cowboys that herd them to swim or wade to reach small patches of higher ground.

The South American nation has been hit by some of the most intense rains in decades, which have left soy fields and ranches underwater, putting at risk exports to overseas markets and pushing up local food prices.

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"The flooding we are experiencing right now is very unusual, very severe for this time of year," cattle rancher Gunther Amatller told Reuters as he rescued his livestock from the flood waters. "The water just keeps rising. It's hard to predict how much higher it will rise."

According to local estimates, some 200,000 head of cattle, or about 2% of the national herd, are at risk, struggling with flood water and fatigue. Beni supplies beef nationwide and exports to markets such as China. The floods have hit 590,000 families and killed at least 55 people.

"My cattle are suffering and the animals are emaciated. Plus, there are a lot of snakes and jaguars in that flooded area," lamented Teresa Vargas, owner of the Cheperepije ranch.

Climate change has altered weather patterns, according to experts, delaying rains and making them more intense. The Mamore River, an Amazonian river that runs through Bolivia and Brazil, has burst its banks, flooding everything in its path.

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In towns such as Puerto Almacen and Puerto Ballivian, entire families have abandoned their homes, seeking refuge in makeshift shelters on the side of the road.

"We are forced to leave our houses," Mayra Peralta said, her voice breaking. "Every day, the water rises."

In Loma Calatayud, Jesus Martinez helplessly showed how his rice, plantain, and cassava crops have disappeared. His wife cooks precariously on a wooden platform, while water surrounds their home.

"Everything is underwater," said Jesus.

Indigenous women, such as Edilberta Huaginoe, cook in hastily constructed camps on higher ground, trying to feed their children with what little they can salvage from the water.

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"The rice is underwater, the plantains and cassava are underwater, and we can't get them out because they're too deep," said Edilberta. "This is where we'll come to sleep until the water recedes."

(Reporting by Monica Machicao and Santiago Limachi; Writing by Danial Ramos; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Rod Nickel)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The crucial issue in the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the US is ensuring the effectiveness of the talks, demonstrating seriousness from both sides, and showing the political will necessary to reach an agreement, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said at a press conference in Algeria, Trend reports.

According to Araghchi, the form of the negotiations, whether direct or indirect, is not the primary concern in terms of importance. Iran considers the negotiation format to be subject to various factors, which is why it has opted for indirect talks.

The reason for this choice is that the U.S. tends to impose negotiations through pressure and threats, which is essentially dictating terms. Iran does not trust this method. Indirect discussions can guarantee a real and effective dialogue. Iran will proceed with this approach.

Indirect negotiations are not unusual in international relations. He pointed out that historically, countries have engaged in indirect talks, citing the current indirect negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which are facilitated by the US, as an example. Both countries, for different reasons, do not want to meet face-to-face, and the discussions are being mediated by a third party," he said.

Araghchi also mentioned that Oman is serving as a mediator in the talks between Iran and the US Iran trusts Oman as a positive mediator based on its past experience and hopes for a diplomatic resolution with the serious will of both parties.

To note, US President Donald Trump has expressed that the negotiations between Iran and the US will be conducted directly. However, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi has stated that the discussions will take place indirectly through Oman on April 12.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
After the Trump administration inadvertently texted its war plans to this magazines editor in chief last month, people all over the worldincluding spies, fighter pilots, and foreign leadershad to wonder if their secrets were safe with the United States government.

But the humiliating gaffes of Signalgate are only one measure of the Donald Trump teams recklessness. The air war against Yemens Houthi rebelsthe subject of the textscould end up becoming a scandal in its own right, and for similar reasons. It is a war with no apparent strategy apart from Trumps hunger for what he calls swift and unrelenting action on almost every front. And it is likely to backfire badly if the administration doesnt change course.

Since mid-March, the U.S. military has hurled more than $200 million worth of missiles, bombs, and rockets into the remote deserts and mountains of Yemen, in what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has dubbed, with sublime ahistorical clumsiness, Operation Rough Rider. The name is meant to evoke Theodore Roosevelts vainglorious 1898 cavalry charge up San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War. Hegseth may not know that the U.S. suffered twice as many casualties as the Spanish in that long-ago battle, the prelude to a needless and costly war of aggression.

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Trump has said that he aims to completely annihilate the Houthis, who, ostensibly in defense of Palestinians, have been attacking ships in the Red Sea for the past 18 months. The new air strikes are much more intensive than those the Biden administration carried out last year and include efforts to assassinate Houthi commanders (one of these commanders was mentioned in the Signal text chain, though not by name).

The strikes have done some damage to the Houthi war machine, killing some officers and fighters and driving the rest underground. But air power alone rarely wins wars, and the Houthis have the advantage of a remote, mountainous hinterland where much of their arsenal is probably safe from harm. If they withstand the current stepped-up campaign, they could come out of it politically stronger and with a more solidified support base, Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen analyst and the founder of the Basha Report, a risk-advisory firm, told me.

[Read: The Houthis are very, very pleased]

To take territory from the Houthis would require a ground offensive. Operation Rough Rider does not include one. Nor has there been any diplomatic engagement with the Houthis divided but numerous domestic rivals in the south and west of the country. What is known, politely, as Yemens internationally recognized government is based in the south and dependent on foreign support. The Americans are not even answering our questions, an official there told me. Theres no diplomatic presence at all.

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In fact, the Trump administration has accidentally damaged its Yemeni allies: The south-based government depends on aid programs from USAID that Elon Musk and his minions have axed, a Yemeni official told me. Last year, USAID sponsored a new effort to unify and strengthen the Houthis domestic rivals, but DOGE pulled the plug on that too.

Trump may intend to kill the Houthis supreme leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. That would certainly knock the Houthis back a bit, and it would give Trump a TV-friendly moment of triumph like the one he scored five years ago with the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the powerful Iranian spy chief who masterminded many attacks on Americans over the years.

But if Trump and his team think they can decapitate the Houthis and then ignore them, they need to pay more attention to history. The Houthi movement has been repeatedly decimated in war over the past two decades, and each time it has emerged stronger. The groups first leader, Abdul-Maliks older brother Hussein al-Houthi, was killed in 2004 during a brutal offensive by the Yemeni military. The movement replaced him very quickly and would no doubt do the same for the current leader.

Finding a real solution to the Houthi problem would not be easy. It would require a sustained effort to organize the Yemeni opposition, now split into eight armed factions backed by rival foreign patrons, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Those divisions undermined the Saudi-led effort to topple the Houthis that began in 2015, left much of Yemen in ruins, and helped push many people into starvation. But the Pentagon could succeed where Riyadh failed if it were to guarantee air support for the Yemeni ground forces and shield the Gulf from Houthi retaliation, according to Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

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This may seem like a heavy lift, even for an administration less mercurial than Trumps. Joe Biden didnt really try to tackle the Houthis, preferring to support a long-standing United Nationsbacked effort to reach a peace deal between the group and its Yemeni rivals.

But the United States may well have to fight the Houthis eventually. They have grown steadily more dangerous, as they continue to obstruct a vital waterway that carries about 15 percent of the worlds trade via the Suez Canal. And other potential targets abound in the Red Sea, including at least 14 underwater data cables (almost as many as run across the northern Atlantic). The Houthis claim to have destroyed 17 Reaper drones since the Red Sea conflict began, worth about $30 million each. The Pentagons supply of missiles and shells was running very short even last year, as Mark Bowden wrote in this magazine in December. And the cost of Operation Rough Rider could have already topped $1 billion, by one estimate.

[Read: The crumbling foundation of Americas military]

Recently, the Houthis appear to have gained hydrogen-fuel-cell technologies that would make their drones, which have already struck Israel, more difficult to detect and capable of flying much farther. The Houthis now manufacture their own weapons, in an amazing turnaround for a group that once depended on stolen Yemeni army stocks and Iranian donations. They even export small arms to the Horn of Africa, another region burdened by war and terrorism.

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The Houthis ability to hamper global commerce has made them more and more useful to nations aligned against the United States and Europe. Foremost among these is Iran, whose other allies in the Axis of Resistance have been damaged or destroyed recently. Russia has supplied some weapons to the Houthis and last year came close to providing them with advanced anti-ship weapons in retaliation for American assistance to Ukraine. Russian ultranationalist figures such as Aleksandr Dugin have praised the Houthis for their bravery and held them up as resistance fighters against the West. China has sold the Houthis weapons components that are useful for their arsenal.

The Houthis are thrilled with their new relevance, as their leader has made clear in his frequent unhinged speeches. They have redoubled their efforts to indoctrinate young people into their revolutionary ethos, which is rooted in Zaydism, an offshoot of Shia Islam. They gained a global following last year because of their defiant stance on Gaza, which set them apart from most of the Arab worlds leaders. And they have tried to capitalize on that popularity, even though their ideology of religious dictatorship and anti-Semitism isnt always an easy sell.

Last month, as American bombs were falling, the Houthis hosted their third Palestine conference in Yemens capital, a four-day event that drew guests and speakers from around the world. (Among the oddballs who showed up was Jackson Hinkle, a 25-year-old Moscow-based influencer from Southern California who calls himself a MAGA Communist and has somehow drawn almost 3 million followers on X.)

Perhaps the Houthis most important asset is asabiyya, a quality that was identified centuries ago by the Arab philosopher Ibn Khaldun as the binding force of empires. It means group cohesion, or solidarity. The Houthis may be a band of fanatics in the wilds of Yemen, but they are more unified than their enemies, and that has allowed them to grow and thrive.

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[Read: The Houthis dream come true]

Ibn Khalduns insight may end up providing an epitaph for the current round of fighting. As the Signal chats showed, there are differences of opinion within Trumps national-security team, and much more serious friction with the administrations nominal allies in Europe. Vice President J. D. Vance expressed doubt during the text exchange about Operation Rough Rider, not because of any concern about whether air strikes would succeed but because stopping the Houthis would benefit Europe more than it would the United States. I just hate bailing Europe out again, Vance wrote.

If that attitude prevails, Trump may decide that this war isnt worth it. The Houthis would then declare a historic victory over the Great Satan, and their trademark sloganGod is great; death to America; death to Israel; curses on the Jews; victory to Islamwould spread a little further.

Article originally published at The Atlantic
WARREN, Ohio (WKBN)  Bond was lowered Tuesday for a Warren man facing 20 criminal charges, including pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance.

Michael Cain appeared in Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas on Tuesday for his arraignment. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his $1 million bond was lowered to $500,000.

Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Gabe Wildman said while the $1 million bond seemed high, he asked that it be continued as the investigation against Cain began after numerous cyber tips made to the Internet Crimes Against Children task force. He said investigators searched the house where Cain was living and found child sex abuse material on electronic devices, including videos showing Cain himself. The children depicted in the videos were as young as 5, Wildman said.

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Cains attorney argued, however, that Cain had no real criminal history before this, other than a driving under suspension charge.

Judge Sarah Kovoor Thomas agreed to reduce the bond, however, saying she felt $500,000 was more appropriate for the charges.

Charges against Cain were originally filed in February, and a Trumbull County grand jury returned an indictment on Thursday.

Cain is scheduled to appear in court again on April 15.

Brian Oehlbeck contributed to this report.

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Attorney-client confidentiality is one of the oldest pillars of American justice. Americans not only have a right to talk with a lawyer, but also to talk privately with the lawyer. After all, what good would it be to ask for legal advice if the police could use that conversation against you?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) asserts a very different principle: that your privacy rights disappear at the border. CBP policy gives officers the right to seize and search any electronic device that passes through customs. While the agency claims that copies of any attorney-client documents will be "destroyed" after a search, it doesn't recognize limits on its ability to collect and copy those documents in the first place.

Detroit lawyer Amir Makled got a glimpse of that policy in action while coming back from a family beach vacation in the Dominican Republic on Sunday. As first reported by the Detroit Free Press, agents held Makled for 90 minutes at the airport while they demanded to go through his phone. Eventually, he let them look at his contacts list, though he wouldn't tell them whether specific people were his friends, relatives, or clients.

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CBP seemed to be waiting for Makled when he got back, he tells Reason, because staff at the passport control booth asked for a "TTRT agent," which may stand for Tactical Terrorism Response Team. Makled was then brought into a back room with a plainclothes officer who refused to give his name and told, "we know that you're an attorney, and we know that you take some high-profile cases," according to Makled.

His firm, Hall Makled, specializes in civil rights, personal injury, and criminal defense work. Makled says that the only high-profile client he can think of is Samantha Lewis, a protester charged with "resisting and obstructing police" at a Palestinian rights protest at the University of Michigan. The decision by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, to charge campus protesters with felonies was a major controversy last year.

Makled claims that CBP agents didn't give any other reason for detaining himand immediately demanded to see his phone. "Why don't you just tell me what it is you're looking for, and I can determine if I'm going to give you the answer?" Makled says he asked the officer. "And [the officer] said it doesn't work that way. I'm not going to allow you to tell me how to dictate this interview."

CBP policy calls on officers to "seek clarification, if practicable in writing, from the individual asserting this privilege as to specific files, file types, folders, categories of files, attorney or client names, email addresses, phone numbers, or other particulars" about documents protected by attorney-client privilege. And that's exactly what happened.

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"They handed me a legal pad and said, you know, write down what you think is going to be privileged and we won't look at that. I said to them, what a futile exercise. How ridiculous does that sound?" Makled says. "I'm not going to spend any amount of time telling you what is privileged and what isn't. Everything is."

When a traveler asserts attorney-client privilege over an electronic device, officers are supposed to contact the agency's own lawyers, according to CBP policy. The search "will occur through the establishment and employment of a Filter Team composed of legal and operational representatives, or through another appropriate measure with written concurrence of the CBP Associate/Assistant Chief Counsel office," the policy states.

It's not clear whether CBP actually followed this procedure in Makled's interrogation. Makled says that "there was a lot of going back to the supervisor" and attempts to negotiate on what apps he would let CBP look through.

CBP Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs Hilton Beckham confirmed to Reason that Makled was "flagged" and consented to a "limited search of his electronic device." Beckham claimed that the interrogation was a "routine, lawful" process, that "all actions were conducted in accordance with established protocols," and that Makled was spreading a "blatantly false and sensationalized" narrative.

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Beckham separately explained to the Detroit Free Press that electronic "searches are conducted to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to visitor admissibility, all of which play a critical role in national security. Allegations that political beliefs trigger inspections or removals are baseless and irresponsible."

But Makled is a U.S. citizen, not a "visitor," and CBP didn't provide any reason to believe that he was suspected of involvement in smuggling or terrorism. By his account, CBP was interested in him precisely because of the attorney-client communications on his phonewhich government officials otherwise couldn't look at. Just as the Trump administration has used border enforcement to get around Americans' domestic First Amendment rights, it seems to be doing the same to the Fourth Amendment.

The post Border Cops Try To Make an End Run Around Attorney-Client Privilege appeared first on Reason.com.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Border Patrol agents working the checkpoint outside of Alamogordo, New Mexico, broke up an alleged migrant smuggling scheme last week, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman said.

At about 9:20 a.m. on April 2, an adult male U.S. citizen drove up to the checkpoint on U.S. Highway 70 outside of Alamogordo. A Border Patrol K9 alerted to the vehicle, which sent it to secondary inspection.

There, the man allegedly admitted to smoking marijuana in the vehicle, the CBP spokesman said.

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He also claimed that his passenger, an adult female, was also a U.S. citizen. It was determined that she is from Guatemala and was in the country illegally, the CBP spokesman said.

A search of the truck found a .45 pistol, six magazines, ammunition and nine pre-rolled THC cigarettes, the spokesman said.

The man is being charged with conspiracy to harbor or smuggle migrants who are attempting to enter the country illegally. The case was accepted by the U.S. Attorneys Office in New Mexico, the spokesman said.

The woman was sent to El Paso for processing.

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Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received a memorable welcome from an ostrich at a state park in Texas when the towering two-legged bird gave him a peck, according to a video Sunday.

In the video, posted by his wife Carrie Johnson, an ostrich slowly walks toward a car before poking its head through the driver's seat window where Johnson is sitting with his son on his lap. Once in front of Johnson, the bird quickly pecks its beak toward his hand.

Oh, Christ, Johnson yells before driving off in the video.

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Too funny not to share, Carrie Johnson said in the caption on Instagram.

It is not clear which wildlife park they were visiting, but other posts on the same account show the family visiting Dinosaur Valley Park, about 80 miles (128 kilometers) southwest of Dallas.

Boris Johnson, who served as prime minister from 2019 to 2022, was also spotted with his wife at a local restaurant in Lake Granbury, Texas, on Sunday, according to the restaurant's Facebook page.

We are so honored to have him as our guest!! said Stumpy's Lakeside Grill in a Facebook post with a photo of the former prime minister.
BOSTON (AP)  A Boston city councilor on Tuesday agreed to plead guilty to federal corruption charges after prosecutors accused her of taking most of an inflated bonus that she paid to a relative who worked for her.

Under the agreement, Tania Fernandes Anderson will plead guilty to one count each of wire fraud and theft concerning a program receiving federal funds, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. In exchange, prosecutors dropped four wire fraud counts against the 46-year-old lawmaker, who in 2021 became the first African immigrant and Muslim American elected to the council.

Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, in a statement, said Anderson had agreed to resign.

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Our residents look to elected officials to lead with integrity, and the Boston City Council must continue to do just that, Louijeune said. I am coordinating with counsel and staff to ensure that the rule of law and the rules of the body are executed effectively as we continue to receive information.

Neither Anderson nor her attorney responded to a request for comment on the plea deal or whether she plans to remain in office.

Anderson was going through financial difficulties in 2023, partly because the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission told her it would fine her $5,000 for hiring immediate family members, according to prosecutors. Council members aren't permitted to hire immediate family members as paid staff.

According to prosecutors, Anderson told her relative that she would give her a $13,000 bonus, which was more than twice as much as the combined bonuses she gave to the rest of the staff. After taxes, the staffer received about $10,000. She withdrew the money in several bank transactions in May and June of 2023 before exchanging texts to meet Anderson in a City Hall bathroom that June 9, where she gave Anderson $7,000 of the money.

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The government is seeking a sentence of one year and one day in prison followed by three years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $13,000. Anderson could have faced up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the fraud charges. The theft count carried a penalty of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

In a statement after she was charged, Anderson only said she would continue fight for her constituents. and refused to step down, despite calls from several colleagues to do so.
Two people will likely face charges in a shooting last weekend that killed two young men in Kansas City, Kansas, after an attempted drug sale, according to KCK police chief Karl Oakman.

Officers responded to the 800 block of N 70th Avenue around 9:30 p.m. Saturday and found Javon Brown, 19, and Delorean Jackson, 20, outside a home with gunshot wounds. Both were declared dead that night.

During a Monday news briefing, Oakman alleged that Brown, Jackson and a third person had gone to purchase narcotics with the intent to rob the seller. The attempted robbery escalated into a shootout between the would-be buyers and the would-be dealer, Oakman said, in which Brown and Jackson were fatally shot.

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The situation on Saturday, it was not a random act of violence, Oakman said Monday. We believe this was planned and it was carried out.

Oakman said the attempted sale involved multiple controlled substances, including marijuana, which has not been legalized in Kansas.

Both the alleged dealer and the alleged third buyer were injured in the shooting, Oakman said, and were taken into police custody after they were transported to a nearby hospital. KCKPD is working with the office of the Wyandotte County district attorney to press charges against both suspects, Oakman said.

The department is pursuing criminal charges to warn other residents against combining firearm use with other illegal activities, Oakman said.

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Two criminals decide they want to commit a criminal act and get mad and start shooting at each other, and they say its self defense, Oakman said. Well, youre engaged in criminal activity.

Some residents reported seeing police activity at a nearby playground and apartment complex around the time of the shooting. Oakman said the two events were not related.

Oakman was the only speaker at Mondays news conference. No one representing either the men killed or the people who may face charges was present.

Addressing drug-related crime

Brown and Jacksons deaths were the fifth and sixth homicides reported in Kansas City, Kansas, this year, according to data collected by The Star. At this time last year, five homicides were reported in the city. Oakman said this leaves Kansas City, Kansas, on pace to tie its recent record for the lowest homicide rate in five years.

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Homicide rates in the city have fallen by 62% since 2020, Oakman said Monday. Oakman said that police have also noted a dip in non-fatal shootings and domestic violence rates.

However, drug-related activity  particularly the sale of cocaine, methamphetamines and fentanyl  remain a driving force behind violent crime rates in Kansas City, Kansas, Oakman said.

As gang-related activity in the city has reduced, Oakman said, concerns around fentanyl use and sales in particular have risen. Officers are hoping to build deeper connections with community members, he said, with the hopes that they are willing to proactively report drug-related activity to KCKPD.

What we have found the last couple years is that the same individuals that were involved in a lot of the violent gang activity are some of the same individuals that are involved in the fentanyl, Oakman said.

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Oakman estimated that the department is currently working with the Wyandotte County district attorney to process 19 charges related to illegal drug activity. In one raid carried out last week at a residential address, Oakman said, KCK police officers seized nearly 1,500 grams of marijuana and cocaine, along with 48 ecstasy and methamphetamine pills, 15 assault rifles and about $5,230 in cash.

Drug-related offenses in the city often involve firearms, which makes altercations among sellers and users more likely to turn fatal, Oakman said. Most weapons that KCKPD officers have confiscated during drug-related arrests were stolen or otherwise illegally obtained, Oakman said.

Everyone is carrying guns, Oakman said. Everyone has weapons.

The departments current policy is to send officers to investigate every reported overdose in Kansas City, Kansas, Oakman said. As part of KCKPDs response to drug-related crime, Oakman said, the department has both federally-supported operations and undercover operations active in several neighborhoods  including where Saturdays double homicide took place.

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However, the advent of social media use in drug sales has made police response efforts more difficult, Oakman said.

The old days of the individual standing on the corner selling drugs are over, Oakman said. Through all types of social media, cell phones, its very technical now.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, along with other emergency responders and elected officials, will host a further discussion on the state of crime in the city at an annual Peace Walk event, scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday.
Boys hands bound at Las Vegas childcare facility

LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Las Vegas Metro police are investigating an incident at a childcare facility after a mother found her child tied up, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

Kala Hall said she found her 9-year-old son Kodys hands bound as he appeared to be sleeping on March 20 at Cherished Legacy Academy.



My brain, like, I couldnt even process what I was looking at, Hall told the 8 News Now Investigators. I just literally was like, oh, maybe he just wrapped himself in the blanket, but then I reached down to, like, unravel him, and then thats when I realized, like, no, this is not like a normal where I couldnt pull it apart.



Kody is on the autism spectrum, and while he is verbal, he did not reveal what happened, according to Hall.



He just says, mommy, Im sorry, Ill be a good boy,' Hall told the 8 News Now Investigators. But when I asked him, like, who did that? Or when anyone asks him, hes like, I dont know.



Hall said employees did not provide answers.



Im like, why is my son wrapped up like this? she asked. Like, why is he tied up? Nobodys answering me.



She immediately took her son to the emergency room.



I really feel like he could have died in that position, Hall said. It was so tight around his stomach.



The hospital staff called the police, and an officer wrote a report for child abuse and neglect.



Officer Zachary Gainey visited the childcare facility. A worker told Gainey the kids were playing cops and robbers, and the other kids tied up Kody, according to the report.



Gainey wrote that he did not believe Kody or another child could have been responsible for tying Kodys hands behind his back.



Hall said a detective later told her he watched video from inside the facility.



Supposedly, nobody was watching, Hall said. My son wrapped this blanket around his neck, and then he goes in the corner and he kind of lies down and theres no movement, but you cant see, they cant see how he got in that position.



A department spokesperson said the investigation was ongoing as of April 4.



The facility also faces an investigation from the state.



The allegations regarding Cherished Legacy Academy are currently being assessed, Molly Moser, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in an email.



The 8 News Now Investigators also learned Cherished Legacy Academy has a provisional license. This is due to noncompliance with state law, along with pending director approval, according to Moser.



Moser said the most recent annual inspection identified areas that required attention.



An investigation closed last October revealed multiple violations for problems including a lack of supervision, teachers heard yelling at children inappropriately, an inadequate number of toys and supplies, no vegetables, fruits, or milk served at lunch, and a janitor in the building who was not fingerprinted, according to state records.



Another investigation closed last November revealed multiple violations for problems including ratios. State inspectors noted 29 kids of various ages with one worker and a child biting other children.



Hall is calling for several firings and for the childcare facility to be shut down.



Very upsetting because theres just no excuse for it. None, she said.



Cherished Legacy Academy is a 24-hour facility located on Tropicana Avenue near Jones Boulevard.



The 8 News Now Investigators reached out to the childcare facility. A woman who said she was upper management, but refused to identify her position at the childcare facility, insisted this was not a story and said Hall viewed video which shows that Kody tied himself up.



Hall insists she was never given the opportunity to view the video, but has reached out to the facility repeatedly about it.



To reach investigative reporter Vanessa Murphy, email vmurphy@8newsnow.com.











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The feud between Donald Trump advisers Elon Musk and Peter Navarro has gone nuclear, but the White House isn't paying it much mind.

That's the sense reporters got from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday, who brushed off initial concerns about the growing rift with a "whatever" before taking a hands-off approach to their ongoing spat over Trump's tariffs.

Navarro and Musk have engaged in a days-long back-and-forth on television and social media, with Trump's top trade aide playing booster for tariffs and the DOGE head throwing a tantrum on X. Musk called Navarro a "moron" and suggested that his economics degree from Harvard was a net negative. In replies to stories about the counselor, Musk called Navarro "dumber than a sack of bricks" and the r-slur in multiple posts.

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"These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs," Leavitt said of the squabbling. "Boys will be boys! And we will let their public sparring continue. And you guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history."

Reporter: Musk described Navarro as dumber than a sack of bricks



Leavitt: Boys will be boys pic.twitter.com/Ji70zjSyW9  Acyn (@Acyn) April 8, 2025

Navarro is clearly loyal to the president's brakes-off tariffs plan. No one could possibly question his devotion to Trump after he chose prison over testifying against the president in Congress. Still, former Trump admin members suggested that Navarro should be ousted from the White House for his public tiff with Trump's campaign financier.

"Peter is really tough to work with," former Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney shared on CNBC. "One of the things that makes him so difficult to work is that he pretends to speak for the president when he does not...That has a tremendous demoralizing effect on the White House, and it does tend to mislead markets."
The GSMA has confirmed that its newly appointed Director General, Vivek Badrinath, will deliver his inaugural keynote address in his new role at this years M360 Eurasia. This years edition will take place for the first time in Uzbekistan on 21- 22 May 2025, at the InterContinental Tashkent.

M360 Eurasia will be held in partnership with Host Sponsor Beeline Uzbekistan, a subsidiary of VEON, and the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan. This years edition will bring together global and regional leaders to shape the future of connectivity across Eurasia. This event will spotlight the policies, investments, and partnerships needed to accelerate digital transformation in the region. Through high-level discussions on cutting-edge mobile technologies  from 5G to AI  and strategic insights into talent development, M360 Eurasia 2025 will explore pathways to unlock economic potential, foster resilience, and drive a new wave of innovation across the region.

Vivek Badrinath, Director General of GSMA, said, I am looking forward to engaging with key stakeholders to help shape the regions digital future. M360 Eurasia 2025 presents an exciting opportunity to foster collaboration and innovation in one of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving digital landscapes. As we convene industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators in Tashkent for the first time, we help drive the future of connectivity across Eurasia. This event will serve as a catalyst for transformative discussions, paving the way for new partnerships and advancements in mobile technology, AI, and digital infrastructure."

H.E. Sherzod Shermatov, Minister of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan, emphasised the significance of the event, saying, "M360 Eurasia 2025 is a pivotal moment for Uzbekistan and the wider region. As we welcome global leaders and innovators to Tashkent, this event highlights our commitment to fostering digital transformation and positioning Uzbekistan as a hub for technological advancement. We are proud to partner with the GSMA to showcase our countrys digital ambitions and drive forward new opportunities for growth, collaboration, and sustainable development across Eurasia.

Kaan Terzioglu, Beeline Uzbekistan Chairman and VEON Group CEO, added, "Beeline Uzbekistan is honoured to be part of M360 Eurasia 2025, an event that aligns with our mission to accelerate the digitalisation of Uzbekistan and the wider region. The dynamic mobile ecosystem in this part of the world holds immense potential, and through our partnership with the GSMA, we aim to contribute to driving innovation, fostering cross-industry collaboration, and enabling greater access to digital services that will shape the future of connectivity."

The event will cover key topics such as the evolution of AI, sustainable approaches to connected devices, unlocking the regions digital potential, cross-industry investment, disruptive network transformation, and data as the backbone of next-gen connectivity. There will also be a focus on cross-platform collaboration for customer acquisition and retention, along with strategies for securing the ultra-connected world through cybersecurity.

M360 Series: Regional Focus, Global Impact

The GSMAs M360 series brings together the regional mobile ecosystem to drive innovation, address challenges, and create a foundation for sustainable business environments and societal change. The events provide a platform for thought leaders and industry experts to share insights, network, and discuss the future of mobile technology.

For more information and to register, please visit our website
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  A fight broke out in a Sedgwick County courtroom Tuesday during a sentencing hearing involving a fatal shooting at Towne East Square Mall in 2022. The sentencing was for Tebryis Robinson, 19, who was convicted of killing TrenJvious Tubby Hutton, 14.

TrenJvious Hutton, 14 (Courtesy: Jeannette Dees, Huttons mother)

Before the sentence, Huttons mother, Jeannette Dees, spoke to the judge about the impact of her sons loss. As she spoke, her words became more fiery.

My sons life is worth more than 20 years, she said.

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Dees claims that after Robinson took a plea in July 2024, he released a rap about the shooting.

August 25, 2024 he dropped another song thats called Tubby Attack saying how he made me cry and how he shot Tubby six times, she said. He made several raps, and all these basically took place while he was in jail, and you can tell.

Dees stated several times that she doesnt believe Robinson has shown any remorse.

He dont care. If he dont listen to his lawyer, then he wastin all of our time, she said. He said in the interrogation part that he put himself in the fight. He wasnt even in the fight  he jumped in the fight.

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Afterward, some other people in the courtroom became upset and stood up. As their gestures and words became more aggressive, the judge and deputies tried to calm the situation, but a punch was thrown, starting a brawl.

The brawl quickly moved toward a woman holding a baby. Deputies worked to protect the baby while also breaking up the fight.

(Courtroom pool camera) (Courtroom pool camera) (Courtroom pool camera) (Courtroom pool camera) (Courtroom pool camera)

The entire fight lasted about 30 seconds. Some of the people involved had to leave the courtroom, but others were allowed to stay for the sentencing.

You can watch a censored video of Dees victim impact statement and the brawl below:

The case dates back to March 18, 2022, when shots were fired inside the mall, sending people running for cover. Hutton was hit. Witnesses tried to save him, but he died at the scene.

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Police said Robinson, who was 16 at the time, fired the shots over an ongoing dispute with some other people who were at the mall. After several court hearings, the court ruled Robinson should be tried as an adult.

Tebryis Robinson, 19, at his sentencing on April 8, 2025. (Courtroom pool camera)

Last July, Robinson, 19, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and aggravated battery. He later tried to withdraw the plea, but the judge denied the request last month.

On Tuesday afternoon, Chief Judge Jeffrey Goering sentenced Robinson to:

155 months for second-degree murder,

59 months for attempted second-degree murder, and

41 months for aggravated battery.

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The sentences total 255 months and will be served one after the other, for 21 years and 3 months in prison.

The Sedgwick County Sheriffs Office plans to review the video of the courtroom brawl. As of Wednesday afternoon, no arrests have been made.

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The latest edition of Visions du Reels highly selective Work in Progress showcase, spotlighting six bold international documentaries in late-stage production, will be pitched Tuesday at the Swiss festivals industry platform.

Spanning themes of state violence, queer identity, collective memory, resilience and resistance  from war-torn Chechnya and besieged Gaza to Brazils anti-femicide patrol and Mexicos underground queer rodeo scene  the lineup offers striking, character-driven portraits in a world in flux.

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The selection includes both established filmmakers, such as Hassen Ferhani (143 Sahara Street, Roundabout in My Head), returning to VdR alongside his producer Eugenie Michel Villette (Six Pieds Sous Terre), as well as promising newcomers bringing their debut features to the festival.

All six projects are international co-productions, backed by major players including ARTE, CNC, the Sundance Documentary Fund and IDFAs Bertha Fund.

Variety spoke with the filmmaking teams ahead of the pitch.

Alea Jacarandas

Alea Jacarandas (France, Algeria) by Hassen Ferhani (Roundabout in My Head, 143, Sahara Street) is a poetic, deeply personal portrait of Algiers, reframed by the sudden loss of the directors father. Initially conceived as a love letter to the city, the film shifts after his fathers passing as Ferhani sees Algiers through his own lens, enriched by what he learnt from his fathers gaze.

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The film becomes a dialogue between past and present, between literature and cinema, between a father writing and a son filming. While accepting his absence, I come to better understand his lucid passion for Algiers, his quiet resistance to darkness. I ultimately find my own place in the story, Ferhani tells Variety.

Alea Jacarandas is produced by Eugenie Michel Villette at Les Films du Bilboquet and Oualid Baha at Tact Production. Backers include ARTE, the CNC, the Institut Francais in Algiers, Algerias national film fund FDATIC, Creative Europe Media, Frances Centre National des Arts Plastiques, French sales company Andana and Meteores Distribution. Returning to Visions du Reel, where his work has previously been honored, Ferhani is seeking additional funding and festival partners.

Emergency Measures (Brazil) by Andre Bomfim explores the work of the Maria da Penha Patrol in Alagoas, Brazil  a pioneering police unit named after a landmark anti-domestic violence law. The Patrols humanized, community-driven approach offers vital support to women at risk in one of the worlds most dangerous countries for gender-based violence. Through the experiences of four officers, the documentary examines the units successes and its growing internal struggles in the face of mounting challenges.

The police are a microcosm of society, thats why it is political, Bomfim says. Youre fighting the same misogyny, sexism, prejudice and resistance to gender justice that exist everywhere. I wanted to shift focus from perpetrators to victims, and build real relationships with the police officers.

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Produced by Gustavo Rosa de Moura of Mira Filmes and Alessandra Orofino of Peri Productions, Emergency Measures is backed by Brazilian state grants and follows Bomfims debut Im Still Alive. The team is seeking international sales at VdR.

In Cod We Trust

In Cod We Trust (Norway, Finland) by Guro Saniola Bjerk is an intimate and wryly humorous portrait of Batsfjord, one of the northernmost fishing villages in the world, where cod trumps God and the coldest landscapes are home to the warmest people. Filmed over the course of four years, this observational documentary captures the towns eccentric and diverse inhabitants, exploring themes of home, identity, and resilience, in an isolated village, bound together by fish and nature.

Bjerk, who grew up and lives in Batsfjord, said she had always dreamt of making a film that would make people laugh but hadnt imagined it would be in her hometown. People will be surprised by how much they recognize their own hopes and desires in one of the worlds northernmost villages. Its a hilarious film, and the more you get to know the characters, the funnier it gets.

In Cod We Trust is produced by Benedikte Bredesen of f(x) produksjoner and co-produced by Pasi Hakkio of Wacky Tie Films, which is also bringing Ultras to VdR. The film has secured TV deals in Finland, Iceland and Sweden, and theatrical distribution in Norway. It seeks additional sales, feedback and festival partners for a fall 2025 release.

Memory

Memory (Russia, France, Netherlands) by Vladlena Sandu is a poetic, autobiographical hybrid revisiting her traumatic childhood memories in war-torn Chechnya. After fleeing Chechnya in 1998, Sandu lived in exile in Russia, where, as she recounts, the Chechen genocide was silenced and propaganda painted her people as terrorists.

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It was important for me to share the historical facts as I saw and felt them, to document them, and make them accessible to a wider audience. History should be written by witnesses, she says, revealing she had to submit a fake script to shoot in Grozny. Even during production, very few people on the crew know the real story.

Memory is produced by Yanna Buryak of Mimesis, and co-produced by Ludovic Henry of Limitless and Raymond van der Kaaij of Revolver. The film has the backing of CNCs Aide Aux Cinemas Du Monde, the Netherlands Film Fund, Region Ile de France and IDFAs Bertha Fund. At VdR, the team is seeking sales, broadcasters and impact-driven partners for a 2025 release.

Jaripeo

Jaripeo (France, Mexico) is Efrain Mojica and Rebecca Zweigs debut film about the hidden queer subculture within Mexicos hyper-masculine Mexican rodeo tradition. Set during the Christmas Jaripeo season, it follows rancheros Noe and Joseph as they grapple with machismo, identity and forbidden desire. Narrated by Mojica, the film features re-enactments with red strobe lights and grainy music, offering an intimate, layered exploration of identity in a space where queerness remains unspoken but ever-present.

Were showing how openness and homophobia can coexist. There are overlapping contradictions, just like in life. Its a documentary about desire, in all its complexities and idiosyncrasies, Zweig says.

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Co-director Mojica adds: When I tell people Im making a film about gay cowboys, they say, Queer cowboys dont exist. But, of course, they do. This film is about rejecting our internalized homophobia and seeing ourselves on screen.

Jaripeo is produced by Sarah Strunin of Jaripeo Documentary, Carine Chichkowsky of Survivance, Gerardo Guerra and Juan Pablo Gonzalez of Tierra Roja, with support from ITVS, Arte, the Sundance Documentary Fund, Chicken & Egg Films and SF Film. The team is seeking creative input, additional funding, sales and a festival launch for 2026.

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk (France, Palestine, Iran) by Sepideh Farsi (7 Veils, The Siren), is a vital, urgent work, born of necessity. Unable to enter Gaza, the filmmaker turns to Fatem, a young photographer in the north of the territory, to document life under siege.

What I really tried to capture in the narrative arc is not just news  but, above all, an emotional journey: an understanding of how you survive as a young woman and a photographer in the ongoing war in Palestine, says Farsi, who was arrested and imprisoned in her native Iran and now lives in Europe. Ive been in that situation myself  not under bombs, of course  but I relate to that state of being, of trying to stay creative as a woman in a country at war. Its about resisting, pushing forward, and continuing to produce images.

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Produced by Javad Djavahery of Reves dEau Productions and co-produced by Annie Ohayon Dekel of 24images Production, the film is seeking additional funding, post-production partners and international sales.

The projects are being pitched in Nyon on April 8. VdR-Industry runs until April 9.

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By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian indigenous protesters have lifted a blockade of the Trans-Amazonian Highway, reopening a critical grain shipping route linking farmers to the Miritituba river port, traders association Abiove and a toll road operator said on Tuesday.

Munduruku indigenous activists intermittently shut down the road, also known as the BR-230, beginning on March 25 to put pressure on Brazil's Supreme Court to overturn a 2023 law limiting indigenous land rights.

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Grain traders said the protests were preventing the shipment of around 70,000 metric tons of grains, worth almost $30 million, every day.

Abiove said it learned Tuesday morning that the indigenous leaders had secured a meeting with Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes and had ended the blockade.

Via Brasil BR-163, the company that administers 1,009 kilometers (627 miles) of the highway linking farms in Mato Grosso state to the river port, also confirmed the end of the protest.

Mendes' office said a meeting was scheduled for April 15.

Some 15 million tons of soy and corn were loaded onto barges at Miritituba last year bound for larger shipping ports down river. That corresponds to over 10% of Brazil's total export volumes for those grains.

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Shipments via the river port are forecast to rise around 20% this year as Brazilian farmers, who are expected to benefit from an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China, market a record soybean crop and bumper corn harvest.

Even before the protests were launched, access to Miritituba had been plagued by the poor condition of the BR-230.

Bottlenecks along an unpaved five-kilometer stretch of the road close to the port town were blocking some trucks coming from farms for as long as three days, ANATC, a lobby group representing freight companies, said on Tuesday.

Via Brasil BR-163 said a new access will be built when courts grant it permission to expropriate land for new road construction.

(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Joe Bavier)
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Tuesday now is not the time for Latin America's largest economy to announce any measures in response to trade tariffs imposed by the U.S.

"The moment is not one for announcing measures," he said at an event hosted by Bradesco BBI.

Haddad said the tit-for-tat actions between the U.S. and China are unfolding daily, with uncertainty over how the escalation will end.

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In this scenario, the worst thing Brazil could do is act without caution, he said.

Brazil has not run a trade surplus with the U.S. since 2008 - a factor that contributed to the country being hit with the minimum 10% tariff, which many see as a potential advantage that could position the country as a winner in the global trade shake-up.

Haddad said the U.S. tariffs replaced hard quota policies, which could actually help Brazil increase exports to the American market.

"Brazil is in a good position overall," he said. "Relatively speaking, we're closer to the exit door than our peers."

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On the same day U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping trade tariffs, Brazil's Congress passed a bill giving the country a legal basis to retaliate against unilateral trade measures, boosting its ability to respond beyond its usual strategy of challenging actions at the World Trade Organization.

Although leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said any response to the new U.S. levies would be based on the bill, Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin said Brazil prefers dialogue and does not plan to trigger the new mechanism for now, opting instead to pursue further talks with U.S. counterparts.

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by David Gregorio)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  A Brazilian government minister resigned Tuesday following charges of corruption dating back to his days as a lawmaker.

Communications Minister Juscelino Filho said in a statement that he left the Cabinet to focus on his legal defense. He is the first Cabinet minister of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 's third, non-consecutive administration, which started in 2023, to exit after corruption charges.

The 40-year-old Filho, who will keep his seat in Congress as a lawmaker of a center-right party, denied any wrongdoing in his comments. He is accused of using public funds allocated for road paving in Maranhao state for personal purposes, local media reported.

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Earlier on Tuesday, Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet filed charges against Filho, but the content of the case against him remains sealed.

Filho's lawyers said in a statement that "the case has no relation to his work at the ministry of communications, where his management  just like in all the public positions he has held  is based on transparency.

The case marks a change in Lula's approach to government ministers accused of graft. The leftist leader repeatedly shielded members of the Cabinet in similar cases during his first two terms in office (2003-2010), often forcing them out only if they were found guilty.

In June, Lula said after the federal police accused Filho that he would have to leave the job if the country's prosecutor-general charged him. He has worked for the federal government since 2014.
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian Minister for Communications, who oversees services including telecommunication and postal, said in a statement on Tuesday he decided to resign from his role to focus on his legal defense after charges against him had became public.

"I am leaving because I believe that, at this moment, the most important thing is to protect the country's project that we helped to build and in which I continue to believe," Minister Juscelino Filho said in the statement.

Reuters had reported Filho's decision to resign earlier in the day, citing a source.

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The office of Brazil's prosecutor general presented charges against Filho as part of a probe of misappropriation of public funds while he was a lawmaker, another source told Reuters earlier on Tuesday, following local media reports.

The prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to request for comments.

In his statement, Filho said the accusations against him are "unfounded", adding he needs to focus on his legal defense now. His lawyers said they were not officially notified about the charges so far.

Supreme Court has to decide now whether Filho will stand trial for the charges.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu and Ricardo Brito in Brasilia; Writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Leslie Adler and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez)
BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas (FOX 44)  The serving of a search warrant in Brazos County leads to the seizure of drugs and a firearm, plus one mans arrest.

The Brazos County Sheriffs Office executed an evidentiary search warrant in the 6000 block of Brazos Drive on Monday. Following a thorough search of the property, deputies seized four .22 caliber rifles, one single-shot 12-gauge shotgun sawed down to a 9-inch barrel (20.5 inches total length), 20.1 grams of methamphetamine, 7.4 grams of suspected Psilocybin mushrooms and 43.2 grams of suspected THC-infused gummies.

Teen charged with reckless driving after College Station incident

(Courtesy: Brazos County Sheriffs Office)

The Sheriffs Office says 56-year-old Sonny Alan Holligan was arrested. He is charged with Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance PG1 (4200 grams), Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon and Possession of a Prohibited Weapon. He was booked into the Brazos County Jail.

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The College Station Police Department, Texas Department of Puiblic Safety, College Station Fire Department, and Texas A&M University Police Department also assisted during the execution of the search warrant.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Ukrainian troops have captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting in the ranks of the Russian military against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 8.

"We have information that there are much more than two such Chinese citizens in the occupier's units," Zelensky said. "We have the documents of these prisoners, bank cards, personal data."

Ukrainian troops clashed with six Chinese soldiers near the villages of Tarasivka and Bilohorivka in Donetsk Oblast, according to the president.

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The two captured are being held by Ukraine's Security Service, according to Zelensky. He instructed Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha to urgently contact Beijing to determine how Chinese officials will respond.

Sybiha said that Ukraine had summoned China's charge d'affaires to express condemnation and demand an explanation regarding the matter.

"Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russia's invasion army in Ukraine puts into question China's declared stance for peace and undermines Beijing's credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council," the minister posted on X.

Zelensky emphasized the apparent recruitment of Chinese nationals  whether direct or indirect  highlights the Kremlin's commitment to continuing its aggression.

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"We definitely need a reaction to this. A reaction from the United States, Europe and everyone in the world who wants peace," he said.

Zelensky added that China is another country, along with Iran and North Korea, that supports Russia in its war against Ukraine.

"But there is a difference: the North Koreans fought against us in the Kursk direction, the Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine," the president said at a press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever.

Our military has captured two Chinese citizens who were fighting as part of the Russian army. This happened on Ukrainian territoryin the Donetsk region. Identification documents, bank cards, and personal data were found in their possession.



We have information suggesting that pic.twitter.com/ekBr6hCkQL  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) April 8, 2025

China has been a key strategic partner to Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion, expanding trade and becoming Moscow's top supplier of dual-use goods used in weapons production.

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Zelensky's statement follows the earlier deployment of up to 12,000 North Korean troops to Kursk Oblast last fall to support Russian forces in repelling a Ukrainian cross-border incursion.

Ukrainian troops initially captured around 1,300 square kilometers before being pushed back in a counteroffensive reinforced by North Korean units. The town of Sudzha was among the territories retaken.

According to Zelensky, North Korean units fighting for Russia have suffered around 4,000 casualties, two-thirds of them killed.

In response, Pyongyang reportedly transferred an additional 3,000 soldiers to Russia in January and February to replenish losses, AP reported on March 27.

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Read also: Trump not happy with Russian bombing of Ukraine, says he doesnt know whats happening there

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Over the last two decades, suicide rates in the United States have increased by more than 36%, as part of a larger mental health crisis. But Monday, top researchers indicated they have cracked the code to turning that around.

They're so confident they call it the zero-suicide model.

Researchers from Henry Ford Health and Kaiser Permanente released the results of data collected over eight years  and ideas refined since 2001  in the Journal of American Medical Association. The new body of research suggests that by adopting this zero-suicide protocol, health care systems across the country and beyond can reduce suicide rates among their patients by 25%.

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"We don't want to be satisfied with a 5% reduction, or even a 25% reduction that we've seen in this study," said Brian Ahmedani, lead author of the study, who also serves as the director of research for behavioral health services at Henry Ford Health in Michigan. "We want to keep moving forward so that we can do everything we can to prevent every single suicide."

One of the confounding issues with suicide is that, while it is one of the leading causes of death across every age group in the United States, it is 100% preventable.

Here's what the research shows.

How does the zero-suicide model work?

More than 80% of people who died by suicide, and more than 90% of people who attempted suicide, visited a doctor's office in the weeks or months leading up to their deaths or suicide attempts.

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The idea behind the zero-suicide model is that when patients sit down with their primary care providers, they're given a suicide risk screening. The screening involves filling out what's called a PHQ-9, a nine-question patient health questionnaire, which is typically administered as a screening for depression.

The point of focus is question nine, which asks how often, over the course of the last two weeks, have you had thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself. The response scale ranges from "Not at all" to "Nearly every day."

Depending on the severity of the response, physicians conduct a suicide risk assessment. Then, a safety plan is put into place.

That safety plan includes asking whether the patient has easy-to-access firearms and, if so, to go over safe and secure storage. It includes having care teams reach out semi-regularly in the coming days to assess how the patient is doing and help navigate outpatient care options. The patient is also, if needed, connected with intensive psychotherapy approaches geared specifically to suicide prevention.

Where and when did the research take place?

Between January 2012 and December 2019, researchers collected data from millions of patients in six health systems across California, Oregon, Michigan, Colorado and Washington.

Does this model work across different populations?

An important element to the zero-suicide model, Ahmedani said, was ensuring that it could apply across different populations and regions. It tried to answer the question of whether the model worked among Black patients, LGBTQ+ patients, rural patients, low-income patients, and other groups.

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The research showed it can. The protocol is shaped by the locality of the clinic, the resources available and, importantly, the staff that administers the model.

"It's really important that, when you do this work, it's done in a way that we know that it can actually be implemented, rather than trying to stick to a really structured approach," Ahmedani said.

How can this model be expanded?

Ahmedani said that level of global training and support has already started across other states and around the world.

As a trial run for how this model can be used across different health care systems, Michigan established a program called "My Mind" that works in partnership between Henry Ford Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield, the largest insurer in the state.

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Staff from My Mind are equipping providers across the state with training and support of the zero-suicide model. Along the way, those providers are working with researchers on data and quality improvement to better tailor the model to them.

What about those who don't visit a physician?

Although the data overwhelming shows the vast majority of people who attempt or die by suicide see their primary care provider prior to their deaths, researchers are thinking about creative strategies for that other 27% of the population that does not regularly go to the doctor.

For example, 21% of people who die by suicide have had some interaction with the criminal justice system in the year before they died. So researchers are applying the zero-suicide model to people who have recently been released from prison.

Another high-risk period occurs shortly after someone is discharged from the emergency department or inpatient hospital for behavioral health conditions.

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Finding interventions for children and adolescents also is critical at a time when, in Wisconsin, more than 60% of students said they felt anxious, depressed or suicidal in the last year. Researchers have developed the zero-suicide model in schools to create what Ahmedani described as a cross-community partnership.

Ahmedani and other researchers believe the solution to achieving zero suicides will come from such cross-community collaborations. In the same way that public health departments collaborated with barber shops and churches to help build vaccine trust in communities that don't have positive experiences with the medical world, the same can be done to help those struggling with suicidal ideation.

"We're building those bridges at Henry Ford right now and testing those models," Ahmedani said. "And I believe that in the next few years, we're certainly going to have those kinds of approaches seeping into the community."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Groundbreaking study shows model that can reduce suicide rates by 25%
The "Love You To Death" episode of ABC News' "20/20" limited true crime series "Bad Romance," airing April 8 at 10 p.m. and streaming the next day on Hulu, features a case previously covered in a 2022 episode of "20/20."

Glen McSparren was taking a shortcut from his mother's house in Monroe County, Missouri, on a Friday night in April 2018, when he saw a car pulled over to the side.

It was a dark, backcountry gravel road surrounded by woods, with a creek running across the road. McSparren said he saw someone lying in the road as he got closer.

PHOTO: Molly Watson was found dead in Monroe County, Missouri, in April of 2018. (Amber Brady)

"My headlights came over on her body in front of the car," McSparren said. "When I [saw] her, I swear my heart stopped I could tell she wasn't moving."

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McSparren had discovered the body of 35-year-old Molly Watson. She had been shot once in the back of the head at close range. When he called 911, he said he was told to check for a pulse, but he already knew she was dead.

"I looked in her eyes, and I could tell that she was gone," he said.

MORE: How a Texas woman was slain a week before her wedding

When police launched an investigation, they ruled out robbery gone wrong. Watson was found still wearing her engagement ring. A marriage license was found in the car with her and her fiancee's name: 51-year-old James Addie. Their wedding date was supposed to be two days after she was found.

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Watson was someone who loved to sing, make costumes and posted video diaries on YouTube, her family said. She was excited to get married to Addie, and had bought two wedding dresses because she couldn't decide on one, said her cousin, Jodi Lindberg.

PHOTO: James Addie pictured with Molly Watson in Mexico. (Ben Addie)

It was to be Watson's second marriage. Her first marriage ended in divorce. During the breakup, she became pregnant. After that, she was in a romantic relationship with a former childhood friend, Amber Brady, their relationship continued for about five years.

"She was actually my first girlfriend. I was hers. She was married at the time. I was too. So. But things weren't going well for either one of us," Brady said. "I think we could talk. We could communicate. We liked doing a lot of the same things  it just seemed to click."

But while they were living together, Watson got a new job at the Moberly Area Correctional Center in Moberly, Missouri, where she met Addie, who worked as a corrections officer at the prison. Brady said she caught the two of them at a motel together.

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"I went up there and knocked on the door. She answered. James Addie was getting dressed and leaving  That wasn't good," Brady said.

MORE: Families torn apart by killer dad reflect on years they believed he was a hero

Brady said there was another encounter at a gas station, where she saw Watson and Addie together

"I didn't have  any type of friendship or anything to do with Molly," when things ended, Brady said. "She had blocked me on everything, which-- that was fine. I mean, it wasn't a good breakup."

Molly's brother Tim Watson said Molly was "absolutely, 100% in love" with Addie, who had been married four times.

PHOTO: James Addies pictured in his uniform in 2005. He worked as a corrections officer at the Moberly Area Correctional Center in Moberly, Missouri. (Ben Addie)

After dating for seven years, Addie proposed to Watson and the two started planning a wedding for April 2018.

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"There was a lot of burgundy and gold, kind of reminded me of a Renaissance kind of themed wedding," said Sam Cohen, their wedding planner. "From Molly's perspective, it was going to be a beautiful wedding and the best day ever."

"James was kind of the opposite of Molly," she continued. "He was very quiet, didn't show much enthusiasm. I just thought he was just a groom, along for the ride."

MORE: How investigators solved the love triangle murder case of Sabrina and Robert Limon

Chrystal Graves-Yazici and Tabetha Schilb, who were hired to do hair and make-up for the wedding, said it was supposed to be a Disney-themed wedding. The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News.

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"She was so excited," Graves-Yazici said. "We had been working on a wedding that was 'Beauty and the Beast,' and so we were like, 'We're very familiar with doing this very Disney themed wedding.'"

But even as Watson was wedding dress shopping and invitations were being sent out, her family said they still felt uneasy about Addie.

PHOTO: Molly Watson pictured an an unknown date. (Amber Brady)

"He could never look you in the eye. He could never talk to you directly. Everything was very evasive with him," Tim Watson said. "He put off bad vibes to everybody."

Some reached the point where they told her they weren't going to come to the wedding at all.

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"My last [text] message to Molly I said, 'But you know how I feel about weddings and funerals. I kind of have a thing anyway that I just kind of avoid weddings and funerals,'" Lindberg said. "Never would have thought that I would have been going to her funeral that next week instead of her wedding."

MORE: Cold cases that once baffled investigators are getting solved with help of cutting-edge DNA technology

On April 25, 2018, two days before Watson was killed, she and Addie went to the county recorder's office to apply for a marriage license.

Mark Price, the Randolph County recorder of deeds, prepped the couple's license and said Addie seemed "perturbed" by some of his questions.

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"[I asked] if he had been married before, and how it ended he was just like, 'Why do you need to know that?'" Price said.

PHOTO: James Addie pictured at a Father-Daughter Dance in 2009. (Ben Addie)

Authorities say Addie claimed he and his wife Melanie Addie had divorced, and that she had been in a car accident and later died after being removed from life support. Cohen said Addie kept putting off wedding preparation meetings because he said he had to deal with funeral arrangements.

On April 27, 2018, the day Watson was murdered, Cohen said Addie dropped off centerpieces and decorations at the venue.

"He seemed just like he did in every other meeting that I met him  really quiet, didn't say much," Cohen said. "And I do recall, as I was walking him out the door, I asked if he's getting excited, and his one comment was that [Watson] was driving him crazy."

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MORE: Former preacher admits to cheating on his wife but denies killing her 19 years later

It was later that night that McSparren found Watson's body.

McSparren had actually been on that backcountry road once before that evening, taking his daughter to his mother's house. On that first trip, he said he had seen two cars. One was being driven by a short older man. McSparren said he asked the man if the other car was stuck.

PHOTO: Melanie Addie speaks to '20/20.' (ABC)

"He said, 'I don't know where they're at. It's going to be awhile,'" McSparren said. "The more I thought about it, I was like, 'Something's not right  I'm going to go back through there.'"

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That's when he discovered Watson and called the police.

Addie was convicted this year of first-degree murder and armed criminal action for Watson's death. He was sentenced in July to life in prison without parole plus 10 years.

He has long maintained his innocence and is currently working to appeal his conviction.

MORE: Montana woman reflects on her miraculous survival after getting shot several times

Addie did not take the stand at his trial, but read a statement in court during his sentencing, in which he read a love letter to the woman he had been convicted of killing. He also asked for a new trial, claiming his defense attorney was ineffective and didn't present all of the evidence in support of his case.

His now ex-wife, Melanie Addie, is very much alive and was never in a car accident. She says it was only after police showed up at her door the night of the murder that she discovered her husband of 23 years had been in a 7 year relationship with Molly Watson and was engaged to marry her

Melanie Addie testified against her ex-husband at trial.

She told "20/20" that she believes he's capable of murder.

"He was a pretty selfish person  He could be controlling and intimidating  it could be challenging," Melanie Addie said. "It just seemed like something he would do to fix a problem."

Bride murdered 2 days before wedding reveals groom's secret double life originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8. The 2025 Europe Prize has been awarded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to the city of Gaziantep in Turkiye, Trend reports via PACE.

The prize is awarded each year to the city that has been most active in promoting the European ideal.

Gaziantep is a city of 1,200,000 inhabitants located in southeastern Anatolia. It has 25 twinned cities, including Duisburg (Germany), Celje (Slovenia), Ostrava (Czech Republic), Braga (Portugal), and Ludwigshafen (Germany). It is a key economic hub, known for its industrial sector, particularly in textiles and manufacturing, and is the first city in Turkiye to implement an action plan against climate change. The city is also focused on sustainability, urban development, smart-city applications, environmental conservation, and the well-being of its inhabitants.

Gaziantep is renowned for its international events, in particular the annual International Gastronomy Festival. It actively participates in European Mobility Week and celebrates Europe Day. The city has been awarded the European Label of Excellence in Governance (ELoGE).

Gaziantep has also shown remarkable solidarity and humanitarian efforts, particularly in response to the Syrian refugee crisis and the February 2023 earthquakes.

Finally, it is a member of 28 international networks, including Eurocities, Energy Cities, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, and the Union of Municipalities of Turkiye.

Created in 1955 by PACE, the Europe Prize is the highest distinction awarded to a European city for its actions in the European domain. The prize includes a trophy, a medal, a diploma, and a grant to be used for a study visit to the European institutions for young people from the winning city.

Five other citiesAugsburg and Munster in Germany, Birstonas in Lithuania, Ponsk in Poland, and Vinnytsia in Ukrainewere shortlisted for the prize, and the commission commended their candidacies.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Health Secretary RFK Jr. is advising US water systems to remove fluoride.

The federal government is not in charge of the US water supply. It's a local thing.

Fluoride can prevent cavities and dental decay, especially in kids, but dosing is still controversial.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is following through on his promise to do whatever he can to get fluoride out of the water supply.

Kennedy is on a tour of states, campaigning for local authorities to remove the mineral.

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At a press conference in Utah, the first state to issue a ban on fluoridated water since Kennedy assumed his new role, Kennedy said he is instructing the CDC to change its guidance and to conduct a new study on the health effects of fluoride.

Nearly 63% of the US population has fluoridated water flowing through their taps, according to the CDC.

US health experts describe fluoridated water  a voluntary practice for local water districts  as one of modern medicine's greatest public health achievements, up there with the recognition that smoking is bad for you.

Meanwhile, Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer who was instrumental in the fight to clean up the Hudson River in New York, says there's no need to fluoridate drinking water anymore since most toothpaste contains fluoride.

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He's not alone. An important debate over fluoride is gaining fresh steam among scientists and legal experts. Some recent studies suggest more research is still needed on safe fluoride levels for kids. Plus, a federal ruling in California in 2024 questioned the US government's recommended dose.

While many medical professionals  chiefly dentists  support some level of fluoridation, there is growing agreement that we still aren't sure how much fluoride is too much.

120 years ago, fluoride was the mystery culprit behind brown teeth in Colorado

A little bit of fluoride strengthens teeth, but too much fluoride can cause fluorosis poisoning and tooth decay. That's what happened to this woman living in Zhijin county, China. Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

The reason most Americans have fluoride in their drinking water stretches back more than a century to a mysterious outbreak scattered across the Midwest and western US.

In the early 1900s, dentists started noticing that children in specific towns, including Colorado Springs, Colorado; Oakley, Idaho; and Bauxite, Arkansas, were developing hard, chocolate-colored teeth.

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It took more than 20 years, but eventually, researchers discovered that these unusual brown stains were caused by high amounts of naturally occurring fluoride in the drinking water in certain areas of the country.

An employee of the Watford Water Board in England adds fluoride to the town's water supply circa 1965. Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Getty Images

They also found that the fluoride  a mineral compound found in rocks and dirt  was strengthening teeth. It was hardening tooth enamel and helping to repair some early-stage tooth decay.

By 1945, scientists had learned enough about fluoride to harness the technique to prevent cavities for the masses. They proposed microdosing the mineral into the public water supply to give kids just enough fluoride to protect their teeth and help heal dental decay without giving them so much that their teeth would go brown.

The experiment worked.

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In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, was the first city to purposefully fluoridate its water. In the first 10 years of the program, the rate of cavities in kids decreased by more than 60%. Thus, the idea of fluoridated water as a boon for public health was born.

US water districts decide their own fluoride levels

Most Americans have fluoridated tap water. Dentists say it's a great way to avoid dental decay. Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images

Kennedy has long promised to convince local authorities nationwide to remove any added fluoride from taps.

"I think fluoride is on its way out," Kennedy told NBC News the day after the election, adding: "I'm not going to compel anybody to take it out, but I'm going to advise the water districts. I'm going to give them good information about the science, and I think fluoride will disappear."

The federal government does not control water supplies in the US. That task is up to states and local water systems.

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The US Environmental Protection Agency does mandate a limit for fluoride in tap water: four milligrams per liter. That limit is meant to prevent crippling health issues caused by excess fluoride intake, like a bone-weakening disease called skeletal fluorosis.

The US lowered fluoride levels in drinking water in 2015

Crest was the first toothpaste developed with fluoride. Jazz singer Nina Simone starred in a Crest ad in 1964, roughly eight years after the toothpaste hit the market nationwide. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The amount of fluoride added to a water supply varies not only by city and county but also by the individual water system supplying a given neighborhood.

For many years, the federal recommendation fluctuated based on location. In warmer climates  where it was assumed that kids consumed more water to stay cool  officials recommended 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter. Colder areas were advised to add 1.2 milligrams per liter.

After reviewing evidence in 2015, the US Public Health Service decided that the discrepancy wasn't needed. The recommendation for fluoridation is now set at 0.7 milligrams per liter nationwide.

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Most major cities in the US hover around the 0.7 figure. Some places naturally have elevated levels of fluoride in their water due to geological factors. In Lordsburg, New Mexico, for example, water samples collected earlier this year had concentrations of fluoride between 5.2 and 6.4 milligrams per liter. Authorities there advise that children under 9 years old shouldn't drink tap water.

Places with fluoride-free water generally have worse dental health

Most toothpaste has fluoride in it. Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images

Proponents of ditching fluoride often point to the many European countries that do not fluoridate their water. Those countries are not 100% fluoride-free, though: unlike people in the US, many Europeans consume fluoridated salt.

Hawaii is the only US state without any fluoride in municipal taps; fluoridated water is only available there on military bases. A 2015 report from Hawaii's health department said the state also has the highest prevalence of tooth decay among 3rd graders in the US.

"It's obvious; you can see it in the quality of their enamel," Anthony Kim, dental director at the Waimanalo Health Clinic, told the Honolulu Civil Beat in 2020. "Sadly, especially among the kids."

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Researchers in Canada see the same phenomenon. The rate of cavities detected in Alberta spiked after the city went fluoride-free in 2011, according to a February 2024 study. Calgary did the same and saw similar tooth issues in kids. The city now plans to re-fluoridate its water supply, but cost issues and global supply chain problems post-pandemic have created delays.

The military supports fluoridation. In 2016, the US Department of Defense said dental decay was a "significant" reason military personnel were classified as non-deployable. As such, fluoridated water is now mandated on any military base with more than 3,300 people.

Rumors have circulated that drinking fluoridated water can lead to bone cancer (osteosarcoma), but long-term studies from both the UK and US haven't found any credible evidence of higher rates in areas where people drink fluoridated water.

Is there any truth to claims of IQ issues?

In 1966, a small group of Australian protesters flocked to their local health department to protest fluoridation. Australia still puts fluoride in the water today, as do most US water systems. Frank Albert Charles Burke/Fairfax Media via Getty Images

On November 2, Kennedy said on X that fluoride is an "industrial waste" that is linked to "IQ loss."

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He linked to a ruling from a federal judge in California in October. The judge, appointed by former President Obama, said that while he could not "conclude with certainty" that fluoridated water could reduce the IQ of children, there is evidence that it can be "hazardous at dosages that are far too close to fluoride levels in the drinking water of the United States."

His ruling came weeks after a headline-grabbing paper in which a group of independent scientists reviewed existing evidence on fluoridation for the US National Toxicology Program. Their review concluded that some studies of fluoride consumption have found links between higher fluoride water levels and lower IQs in kids.

There are a couple of big caveats to keep in mind. First, those studies were conducted in other countries, including Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico, not the US.

Second, the association with lower IQs was only apparent when children were drinking water loaded with fluoride, at more than 1.5 milligrams per liter. That's double what's recommended in the US and 50% more fluoride than what was first used in Grand Rapids in 1945.

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"More studies are needed to fully understand the potential for lower fluoride exposure to affect children's IQ," the experts said.

Those new studies are starting to trickle out. Fluoride and aluminum researcher Ashley Malin, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Florida, recently found a potential link between a woman's fluoride levels during pregnancy and neurobehavioral problems in her toddler three years later.

"At this point, I would advise that pregnant women reduce their fluoride intake," Malin told Business Insider.

Malin brushes her teeth without fluoride, drinks filtered water (using a reverse osmosis water purifier or buying bottled water), and says that the most fluoride she consumes is probably from the black chai tea she occasionally drinks.

Settling on the right dose

A third-grade student brushes his teeth in a program using specially formulated fluoride toothpaste to reduce dental decay among schoolchildren, circa 1969. Oliva Fall/The Denver Post via Getty Images

It's hard to tease out exactly how beneficial fluoridated water is for preventing cavities, in part because fluoridating water isn't the only way that tooth care has improved dramatically since the 1940s. (The level of fluoride in many toothpastes is much higher than what's in the water.)

The California ruling last month didn't get prescriptive about what the EPA should do about all this uncertainty. It only recommended some kind of "regulatory action" on fluoride.

"It should be noted that this finding does not conclude with certainty that fluoridated water is injurious to public health," the verdict read.

A federal judge wants the EPA to better answer now whether 0.7 milligrams per liter of fluoride is safe enough.

The EPA has said in the past that reviewing their fluoride numbers is a "low priority" item for the agency. Public health experts and dentists generally agree that fluoridated tap water is a safe, effortless, and equitable way to ensure people get enough fluoride to prevent most childhood cavities.

However, scientists haven't quite settled on the optimal fluoride level in tap water to maintain healthy teeth yet.

Read the original article on Business Insider
BRISTOL, R.I. (WPRI)  Bristol has once again been recognized as the safest town in Rhode Island, according to Safewise.

The annual Safest Cities report revealed that Bristols violent crime rate is 0.2 incidents per 1,000 residents, while its property crime rate is 2.6 per 1,000.

I cant thank the sworn and civilian support staff enough. Its their hard work in the field day in and day out, poise and care, which is the catalyst for this achievement for the past six years, Bristol Police Chief Kevin Lynch said. I think just as important is the support the community gives us, which is truly the driving force for the department staff to continue to perform at the highest levels.

The top 5 list for 2025 is as follows:

Bristol South Kingstown Cumberland North Kingstown Smithfield

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Britain has suffered an almost unprecedented plunge in productivity over the past five years in a fresh setback for the Chancellors growth ambitions.

The Resolution Foundation said productivity slumped by 0.5pc between 2019 and 2024, marking the worst drop since the 1970s outside of the financial crisis. It means UK workers are even less productive than official data suggest, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimating an increase of 1.8pc over the same period.

The finding underlines the scale of the challenge facing the sluggish UK economy, as Rachel Reeves scrambles to identify growth-enhancing policies to help offset the blow from Donald Trumps trade war.

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It will be seen as an indication of the growing gulf with the much more buoyant US economy, where productivity has risen by 9.1pc in the past five years.

Simon Pittaway, from the Resolution Foundation, said: Britains already dire productivity record in the 2010s has got even worse during the turbulent 2020s.

The recent slump is the worst since the financial crisis and explains why living standards are struggling to grow.

The ONSs estimates have been thrown into question over issues with its labour market data since Covid, which it now describes as experimental or in development.

The Resolution Foundation used payroll data and a short-term ONS survey measuring the number of jobs in the UK to arrive at its much worse verdict of UK productivity.

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It comes after the statistics watchdog on Monday ordered the beleaguered public body to take urgent steps to improve key economic indicators in a critical attempt to restore confidence.

The Office for Statistics Regulation warned other countries had not experienced similar issues, suggesting ONS has an urgent need to modernise its collection approach and working practices.

The warning from the Resolution Foundation will be a source of unease in the Treasury, as a significant downgrade could easily wipe out any headroom Ms Reeves has against her fiscal rules.

It comes as the Chancellor is seeking to reverse a surge in worklessness putting strain on public finances, as sickness and disability benefit claims have jumped.

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The Resolution Foundations report warned: Britain has the unenviable record of having both falling productivity and the G7s biggest drop in working-age employment since before the pandemic.

Only debt-bloated Italy has a worse track record of productivity since 2010 than the UK among G7 countries.

The widening gap between the UK and the US can partly be blamed on Britains declining reserves of oil and gas in the North Sea, which have fallen for two decades.

The think tank noted that extraction has plunged from pre-pandemic levels, even as the industrys workers still do roughly the same hours as in 2019.

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In contrast, US workers are doing slightly fewer hours, while oil and gas extraction has boomed.

This alone explains 16pc of the productivity gap with the US, the think tank said, although it found little evidence that lower energy prices for other sectors were a factor in the gap.

However, the biggest factor in Americas advantage over the UK is surprisingly that its professional, scientific and technical services sector is doing much better.

Firms in those industries invest far more in new tech, helping them continue to grow more productive.

The UK should worry less about finding its own version of Meta and focus instead on boosting investment in software, the report said.

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It highlighted that such investment had only grown by 17pc among British firms since Covid, compared with 42pc in the US.

The Resolution Foundation urged Ms Reeves to rectify this by extending business tax breaks to include software rather than just physical investment.

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By Angelo Amante

ROME (Reuters) - King Charles and his wife Queen Camilla greeted crowds on Tuesday as they visited the Colosseum and Roman Forum on the second day of a state visit which is aimed at reinforcing close ties between Britain and Italy.

Charles, who is paying his 18th official visit to Italy, is on his first overseas trip this year as he continues to undergo treatment for cancer.

The British Red Arrows and Italian Frecce Tricolori aerobatic teams staged a rare joint flypast to mark the event, with Charles and Camilla watching the display alongside Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace.

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"It is important to have good relations with European countries," said British tourist Jonathan Smith as he showed a picture on his telephone of the planes sweeping over the heart of Rome, multi-coloured smoke flowing behind them.

Britain quit the European Union in 2020 and the royal visit is seen as part of an ongoing effort by London to ease the pain of the Brexit divorce with its old EU allies.

U.S. President Donald Trump's move to impose sweeping tariffs on imports from around the world, while simultaneously questioning Washington's military commitment to Europe, has underscored the need for old European partners to continue to work together.

"I think it is great for the Anglo-Italian relationship, particularly given the current climate around the world," said British tourist John Forde near the Colosseum, when asked about the royal visit.

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A group of children waved British flags as the royal couple walked towards the forum, from where they could enjoy a view of the Colosseum from a terrace.

'BIG HISTORY'

Alberto Angela, a well-known Italian television personality and host of science and history shows, guided the king and queen during their brief visit to the forum, which served as the political, religious and commercial heart of ancient Rome.

"This is a place of big history... and having the queen and the king coming here makes sense," Angela told reporters after the royals left.

During their first full day in Rome, the king and queen also laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

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Charles is due to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday and then address a joint session of parliament -- the first British monarch to be given this honour.

Charles and Camilla also mark their 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday and they will spend the evening at a state banquet hosted by Mattarella at his Quirinale residence. (This story has been corrected to say Charles's 18th official visit to Italy, not 17th, in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Gareth Jones)
BROOKFIELD, Ohio (WKBN)  A Brookfield man is facing charges following a tip from the Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

Read next: Great Dane found severely malnourished in Sharpsville; owner facing charges

A secret indictment was filed Tuesday in Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas against Nathaniel Thompson, 20. Thompson faces four charges of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor.

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He was booked into the Trumbull County Jail on Tuesday.

According to Brookfield police, the investigation began in September 2024 following the tip from the task force, and a search warrant was served on December 9, 2024.

An indictment in the case says from June 2023 to December 2023, Thompson had material showing girls ages 4 to 8 being raped by adult men.

Chelsea Simeon contributed to this report.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU)  UPDATE (1:15 p.m.): According to the Sioux City Police Department, they became aware of a concerning comment that was made on social media.

The police department said that a parent who lives in a different state had recently lost custody of their child made a comment about coming to get their child. The police department said that the comment didnt make any direct threats toward the student, family, or school.

The secure status was put in place to allow officials to investigate the situation.

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No credible threat was found and the secure status was lifted about an hour later.

PREVIOUS (11:42 a.m.): The secure status at Bryant Elementary School has been cancelled.

The school district said that police found no threat at this time after having investigated.

The school will return to its normal schedule.

PREVIOUS: Bryant Elementary has been placed under Secure Status due to concerns of a potential threat.

According to an email from the Sioux City Community School District, all students and staff are currently safe at this time.

The school does not state what these potentially threatening concerns are.

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During Secure Status, no one is allowed to enter or leave the school building.

The elementary schools kindergarten registration for the day has been postponed.

The school says additional details will be revealed later.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A Buffalo man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for gun and drug charges after two students were robbed at St. Bonaventure University in 2018, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Nader Ngoopos, 26, and two others allegedly broke into a dormitory on Oct. 15. The three conspirators pointed firearms at the heads of the students before threatening them and stealing money and marijuana, officials said.

Ngoopos regularly traveled to Olean from Buffalo between 2016 and 2018 to sell drugs.

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He was convicted and legally prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition in June 2020. In September 2021, he was found to be in possession of a pistol during a police pursuit.

Ngoopos was convicted of the following:

conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and 100 grams or more of heroin

possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence

being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition

Diamond Allen, 28, and also of Buffalo, also allegedly participated in the robbery. He pleaded guilty to gun and drug charges back in January and is awaiting sentencing.

Latest Local News

Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 as a Digital Video Producer. She is a graduate of Chatham University.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO)  Many local organizations are struggling to stay afloat due to grant dollars being cut or frozen by federal agencies.

Native American communities are amongst those most affected by the new grant freezes in South Dakota, as these areas rely on funding for food and other commodities.

Last year the Oglala Sioux Tribe received a USDA grant allowing local ranchers to distribute their product to people on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where quality food isnt financially feasible for many. This gives buffalo caretakers the opportunity to serve their communities through providing healthy bison meat, which holds a strong cultural significance to those on the reservation.

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Buffalo sustained the Oglala Lakota for generations providing food, clothing, shelter, cultural connection, and economic stability. Even in fewer numbers, the buffalo continues to play a vital role to the community, and to the local ecosystem.

I dont consider myself a rancher; I consider myself a caretaker. We arent taking care of them  they are taking care of us. says Edward Iron Cloud III of Knife Chief Buffalo Society Ranch

The Tanka fund is a nonprofit that works to return buffalo to their homelands, providing grants and technical assistance to Native American buffalo caretakers. Grant funds help supply them with necessities such as: equipment, fencing, feed, hay, soil testing, or any other function related to daily operations.

According to representatives from the Tanka fund, many grants are frozen or under review as the USDA and other federal government entities seek to make more cuts.

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Congress released a budget resolution in February, requiring the House Agriculture Committee to cut $230 billion over the next decade. The cuts would include SNAP, which helps support local farming and producing operations.

The bill scarcely passed the House, with all Republicans except one voting in favor of the cuts.

Even though its hard, even though a lot of times the finances arent there to pay bills, I love what I do, says Virgil Two Eagle, Sr., who tends to over 70 buffalo on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Regulators face major decision on CO2 line

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Record-breaking rain storms have been hitting the South and Midwest this past week, and the latest victim is the historic bourbon distillery belonging to Buffalo Trace. Starting last week, heavy rains have led to extensive flooding along the Kentucky River, which flows through the state capital of Frankfort, home to the Buffalo Trace Distillery complex. The flooding has led to mandatory evacuations as roads and towns have been submerged under 48 feet of water, making this the second worst flood in the river's history, falling less than half a foot short of a flood that happened back in 1937.

In a captioned post from @buffalotracedistillery on Instagram, the company has posted an update saying the flood appears to have finally crested, allowing teams to assess the damage to the distillery. While the company says it's too early to determine the full scope of the damage, from what people have seen, the post says, "we can share that the flooding is extensive."

The distillery has been closed since April 6, and Buffalo Trace expects it will remain closed for at least several more days as the waters recede. The company said in a press release (via Lexington Herald Leader) that it was able to take action before the floods hit to potentially mitigate the damage, but that it is still expecting the worst. Buffalo Trace says that anyone concerned can follow its accounts on social media for more updates, and for information about potential relief efforts for the community.

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Read more: 30 Best Gifts For The Bourbon Lover In Your Life

Buffalo Trace's Long-Standing Distillery Has Been Hit By Flooding Before

The brick Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky - Joseph Hendrickson/Shutterstock

While the area around Frankfort is home to many distilleries, Buffalo Trace's complex is one of the closest to the river. The Buffalo Trace Distillery is a national historic landmark, with some of the site's buildings dating back over 200 years. In 1869, Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr., considered the father of the modern bourbon industry, purchased the site and created the O.F.C. Distillery, which was purchased several years later by George T. Stagg, who continued to work with Taylor Jr.

It was during this era that many of the historic warehouses and structures at the distillery were built. Because of the Kentucky River's history of flooding, Buffalo Trace says it has a lot of experience with flood management, which is why it had a plan in place for just such an emergency. Some buildings even contain markings measuring the height that other floods reached in the past, although the most recent is from almost 50 years ago.

While this current flood level has yet to be measured, eyewitnesses reported that the visitor center and warehouses appear to be completely flooded. Beyond the namesake brand, Buffalo Trace produces many other popular and respected bourbons, such as Stagg and Blanton's, including one of the most sought after bourbons in the world: Pappy Van Winkle 23. While the resulting deaths and damage to the town are certainly more important, losing such a historic and beloved name for any amount of time would be a blow to bourbon lovers everywhere.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Watches and Wonders Geneva reached a record attendance, with over 55,000 visitors throughout the week! The public days and the In The City program were equally a great success, confirming the growing interest in an event that has become a must-attend . A wealth of new releases and animations, a true testimony to the vitality of the Swiss watchmaking industry.

With over 55,000 visitors (+12% over last year), 6,000 retailer representatives (+5%), 1,600 journalists (+7%), and 23,000 tickets sold on the public days (+21%), the figures speak for themselves! From 43,000 hotel room nights (+17%) to 12,000 retail meetings (+21%), all the indicators have considerably increased.

Cyrille Vigneron, President of the Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation, commented: Watches and Wonders has established itself not only as a must-attend inter-professional event, but also as a platform for expression for the watchmaking Maisons. The event gives each of them the opportunity to visually express their own universe, to see and wear beautiful creations, and to share a common passion. Media, medium and mediator.

TAG Heuer celebrating their renewed partnership with Formula 1  Watches and Wonders

This creative momentum is reflected in the number of launches and the diversity of the new releases. Some watch brands celebrated their heritage, while others highlighted their iconic collections. Women were in the spotlight, particularly in the jewelry watch segment. The reduction in sizes offers new opportunities for differentiation, through dial textures and colors. The proliferation of skeleton watches also reflects the irresistible appeal of precision engineering. This technical achievement is illustrated by several new world records and premieres.

Many celebrities attended, amongst them Simone Ashley, Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Carl Lewis and Hans Zimmer. Exhibiting brands, journalists, influencers and YouTubers created added engagement on social networks with the hashtag #watchesandwonders2025 reaching an estimated reach of more than 700 million people prior to the conclusion (+17%). As this year's guest of honor, younger generations proved receptive. Nearly 10,000 young people were able to discover watchmaking expertise by attending the Salon or though school visits, vocational education presentations and qualifications for the SwissSkills 2025.

Roger Federer  Watches and Wonders

The much anticipated In The City program, was also a resounding success. Workshops and guided tours were sold out rapidly. The Watchmaking Village welcomed many students and schools from around Geneva. Thursday evening, the boutique animations kept the magic going running up to the first beats of the Bon Entendeur concert. Crowds of all ages gathered to celebrate this springtime of watchmaking.

EXHIBITING BRANDS

A. LANGE & SOHNE | ALPINA | ANGELUS | ARMIN STROM | ARNOLD & SON | ARTYA GENEVE | BAUME & MERCIER | BELL & ROSS | BREMONT | BVLGARI | CARTIER | CHANEL | CHARRIOL | CHOPARD | CHRISTIAAN VAN DER KLAAUW | CHRONOSWISS | CYRUS GENEVE | CZAPEK & CIE | EBERHARD & CO. | FERDINAND BERTHOUD | FREDERIQUE CONSTANT | GENUS | GERALD CHARLES | GRAND SEIKO | GRONEFELD | H. MOSER & CIE. | HAUTLENCE | HERMES | HUBLOT | HYSEK | HYT | IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN | JAEGER-LECOULTRE | KROSS STUDIO | LAURENT FERRIER | LOUIS MOINET | MEISTERSINGER | MONTBLANC | NOMOS GLASHUTTE | NORQAIN | ORIS | PANERAI | PARMIGIANI FLEURIER | PATEK PHILIPPE | PEQUIGNET | PIAGET | RAYMOND WEIL | RESSENCE | ROGER DUBUIS | ROLEX | RUDIS SYLVA | SPEAKE MARIN | TAG HEUER | TRILOBE | TUDOR | U-BOAT | ULYSSE NARDIN | VACHERON CONSTANTIN | VAN CLEEF & ARPELS | ZENITH |
WATERBURY, Conn. (WTNH)  A bullet was found in a classroom at Gilmartin Elementary School in Waterbury, according to officials with Waterbury Public Schools.

It happened around 3:37 p.m. on Friday, police investigated a report of a bullet found inside a classroom at the elementary school on Spring Lake Road, authorities said.

Suspect arrested in relation to Waterbury homicide earlier this year

Police said they were able to recover the bullet and conduct a search of the school.

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Following a thorough investigation, authorities said there was no threat to students, staff or the public.

Staff and students were not in the building at the time of the search, according to officials.

The incident remains under investigation, police said. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Waterbury Police Department Detective Bureau at (203) 574-6941.

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AUTHORS NOTE: This story contains details from court documents regarding allegations of sex crimes committed against a child victim. Due to the content of this story, discretion is advised before reading. If you know or suspect that someone is being abused sexually, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1 (800) 656-4673.

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL)  A woman accused of allowing a 10-year-old child to be exposed to nude photographs of an adult male pleaded to a lesser charge on the same day her alleged co-defendant was arrested.

Tiffany Nicole Back, 33, of Burkburnett, was initially indicted on the third-degree felony charge of indecency with a child by exposure on Aug. 20, 2024. Her case was on the trial docket and set to begin on April 7, 2025.

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PREVIOUS: Burk woman accused of showing photos of naked man to 10-year-old

On Friday, April 4, 2025, however, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charge of indecency pending against Back after they said they could not find the image in question on her phone.

Instead, the state jail felony charge of invasive visual recording was filed by information against Back, and she pleaded guilty to the reduced charge on April 4. She received a deferred sentence of five years of community supervision.

As a condition of her probation, she will be required to complete 120 hours of community service and a parenting course. She will not be required to register as a sex offender.

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According to the arrest warrant, in June 2024, Child Protective Services contacted Burkburnett Police concerning a report of sexual comments made by a male subject about the 10-year-old female victim.

According to the report, the male subject was identified as Christian Arnold, who was arrested on April 4, 2025, and charged with possession of child pornography. At this time, it is unclear if Arnolds charge is directly connected to Backs case.

RELATED: Wichita Falls man charged with possession of child pornography

Authorities said Arnold asked Back to show the victim a picture that he sent her of his exposed genitals and asked her to record the victims reaction when she saw it. The report also stated that Arnold was given pairs of the victims undergarments.

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According to the affidavit, Back admitted she met Arnold on Tinder and said they were in a sexual relationship. She denied giving him nude videos or photos of the child but said she did send him videos of the victim.

In the motion to dismiss Backs indecency charge, prosecutors said they will continue investigating the case, and more charges may be filed against both Back and Arnold.

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.

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BURLINGTON, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44)  Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak stole the show at Monday nights City Council Organization Day meeting, beginning her State of the City Address by directing everyones attention to new portraits of Burlington children hung up around Contois Auditorium, which she hopes will serve as a reminder to city councilors every meeting of why theyre serving and who theyre serving.

It is my hope that these portraits will remind us why we are all here  to lead this city forward, to set an example for our young people and lay the foundation for a Burlington that they can be proud to call home, Mulvaney-Stanak said.

In the rest of her speech, the mayor did lay that foundation for the next year, informing everyone there likely wont be a general tax rate increase this coming year, but regrettably saying shell have to make some cuts to city programs, services and staffing to keep the next city budget balanced.

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This has been difficult work, Mulvaney-Stanak said. Yet, it is the responsible approach to our fiscal challenges. Over the next few months, we will continue to thoughtfully engage the four City unions, employees, and the City Council as we develop the FY26 budget.

On top of that, she noted new efforts to improve and support Burlingtons police and fire departments, including plans for a new public safety building downtown. She also discussed numerous housing projects nearing conclusion, including CityPlace Phase 1, which is expected to open with 53 housing units and 161 hotel rooms sometime in July.

Other highlights of the night included the swearing in of new city councilors: Democrats Allie Schachter and Ranjit Buddy Singh. The two took photos with family, and took part in their first official vote moments later, helping pick the next City Council President.

Progressive Carter Neubieser from Ward 1 took on the current president, Democrat Ben Traverse from Ward 5. With all five council Progressives supporting Neubieser and all seven council Democrats supporting Traverse, Traverse was appointed Council President for the second year in a row.

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Im deeply humbled by the support of those who believe I can continue to play a role in supporting good, responsive and responsible governance, so that as a Council in collaboration with the Mayor we can meet our obligation to defend our residents, especially our vulnerable communities, and ensure Burlingtons resilience through turbulent times, Traverse said.

When mentioning turbulent times in his speech, Traverse was in part referring to the Trump Administration. Both he and Mulvaney-Stanak mentioned President Trump multiple times, denouncing some of his decision making, especially cuts to federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs.

Mulvaney-Stanak doubled down on Burlingtons support for programs like that on the local level, noting the citys Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (REIB) Office will continue being funded in the general fund budget, after it was previously given uncertain one-time funding.

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As it currently stands, come June 6, some Burnsville students could have to choose between attending their own graduation ceremony or celebrating a sacred Islamic holiday.

Students, families and community organizers are planning to attend the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School Board meeting on Thursday to urge the school district to reschedule the 2025 graduation ceremony, which currently coincides with Eid al-Adha, according to an advisory from the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The current graduation schedule places Muslim students and families in an untenable position  forcing them to choose between a religious obligation and celebrating a once-in-a-lifetime academic milestone, MN-CAIR said.

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Eid al-Adha, the second of the two most important festivals in Islam, commemorates the sacrifice made by Prophet Ibrahim. Generally a three-day celebration, the dates of Eid al-Adha vary based on moon sightings. This year it is expected to occur June 6 to June 10, according to Islamic Relief Worldwide, a faith-based development agency.

Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, with special prayers and by giving gifts and food to the poor.

ISD 191 is not the first to hear this particular request.

Eden Prairie Schools originally scheduled its graduation for June 7, but reconsidered after hearing similar concerns, as reported by Eden Prairie Local News, which also noted that an estimated 20% of Eden Prairies high school students are Muslim.

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After sending out three alternate dates, Eden Prairie rescheduled its ceremony to June 4, which was chosen by 84% of seniors, according to the school.

The Burnsville public meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Diamondhead Education Center at 200 W. Burnsville Parkway. The school board meeting is expected to start at 6:30 p.m.

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)The Caddo Parish District Attorneys office is hosting an outreach event to mark National Crime Victims Right Week.

Caddo Parish DA highlights mental health crisis in children

District Attorney James Stewart Sr. is teaming up with the Caddo-Bossier Domestic Violence Task Force to connect crime victims and survivors with needed resources, services, and support. The theme for this event is Kinship Connection and Healing. Participants will be able to meet with representatives from various organizations and agencies offering help.

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Staff from the Louisiana Board of Pardons, the Committee of Parole, and representatives from the DAs Victims Assistance Program will be on hand to answer any general questions and provide information.

This event will be held on Thursday, April 10, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the North Louisiana Crime Lab.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com.
California lawmakers are pursuing legislation that could give drivers for apps like Uber and Lyft the ability to form unions, while still being classified as independent contractors.

Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) plan to introduce Assembly Bill 1340, also titled the Transportation Network Company Drivers Labor Relations Act, on Tuesday.

The legislation would allow drivers to negotiate pay as well as other terms of their agreements with app-based companies, exempting them from state and federal antitrust laws that would prohibit such activity, according to a draft reviewed by The Times.

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"Fundamentally what this bill seeks to do is empower rideshare drivers to advocate for better working conditions," Wicks said in an interview.

The proposal does not include food delivery drivers.

The exact process of how collective bargaining would be overseen by the state is not outlined in the proposal.

Wicks and Berman said that they expect those details to be hashed out during the legislative process, with conversations from all stakeholders, including drivers, ride-hailing companies and Service Employees International Union California, which is backing the bill.

Typically, antitrust laws would prevent collective action by independent contractors. For example, Seattle faced litigation when it attempted to establish a driver bargaining model through a local ordinance in 2015.

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an Uber subsidiary successfully challenged the law, arguing that bargaining by independent-contractor drivers amounted to illegal concerted action and price fixing. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit disagreed with the city's position that it had created a state-supervised regulatory program, finding that it was not exempt from antitrust law.

Drivers for Uber and Lyft are considered independent contractors under a voter-approved state law  Proposition 22  that went into effect in late 2020. The law originally had barred collective bargaining over drivers' compensation, benefits and working conditions, but an appeals court struck down the provision, arguing it inappropriately limited the California Legislatures authority.

The state Supreme Court in a ruling last year largely upheld Proposition 22 but did not address the collective bargaining provision.

SEIU California contends that the Legislature has the authority to allow drivers to collectively bargain, based on the appeals court ruling. However, if the bill is ultimately approved by lawmakers, it's possible ride-hailing companies might challenge it.

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A union is the only pathway for 600,000 rideshare drivers to improve their pay and working conditions under Prop 22," said Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California, in an emailed statement.

Uber and Lyft representatives said the companies opposed the proposal, arguing it would make rides more costly for consumers and go against the will of voters who approved Proposition 22.

"At a time when families' budgets in California are stretched to the max, this proposal would make trips even more expensive," Uber spokesperson Zahid Arab said in an email.

Lyft spokesperson Shadawn Reddick-Smith said Proposition 22 is drivers' "preferred way to structure benefits and protections."

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Arnulfo Mejia, 56, a driver for both Uber and Lyft since 2017, said hes helping to push for the legislation because he hopes a union will be able to address issues of transparency around pay. Rates vary from driver to driver arbitrarily, he said. I dont know why, but it feels unfair, Mejia said.

And Mejia, who was deactivated from Uber last year, wants the companies to have a clear appeals process and explanation when they decide to expel drivers from the platform.

The California proposal is similar to a ballot initiative approved by Massachusetts voters in the fall that was also backed by the Service Employees International Union  as well as the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Uber and Lyft did not oppose the Massachusetts initiative.

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Minnesota lawmakers proposed a similar bill in February, and unions in Illinois have begun a campaign to unionize drivers in the state, with Uber agreeing to refrain from interfering with the effort.

"This isn't coming out of left field, " Berman said. "It aligns with our values in California to make sure drivers get the rights they deserve."



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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
California legislators announced several bills to protect the state's immigrants being targeted by President Trump's aggressive new policies, including federal enforcement raids at schools, hospitals and religious buildings.

Members of the influential California Latino Legislative Caucus, made up of 35 Democratic lawmakers, announced the proposals to protect undocumented immigrants as among their top priorities in the upcoming session.

"It's unfortunate that at the national level, we are seeing deliberate efforts to crash our economy, deport our communities and continue to villainize our Latino communities, and these bills are efforts to combat all of that," state Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), caucus chair, said at a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday.

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The legislative package included Assembly Bill 1261 by Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Alameda), which would establish a right to legal representation for unaccompanied children in federal immigration court proceedings.

In March, the Trump administration ended a federal contract that provides legal representation to nearly 26,000 migrant children who entered the country without a parent or guardian. The decision was criticized immigration attorneys, who said it would leave the children, many of whom do not read or speak English or are too young to read or speak at all, vulnerable to rapid deportation.

A federal judge in Northern California last week ordered the Trump administration to temporarily restore legal funding for migrant children in immigration court.

A separate bill by Gonzalez, SB 48, would expand existing laws and require school officials to deny federal immigration officials access to school records and school grounds without a judicial warrant. It also keeps local law enforcement from working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials near school grounds.

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"California's school resources and spaces should be dedicated to educating young minds and should never be utilized to tear apart families," Gonzalez said, adding that immigration actions around schools cause a chilling effect on school attendance.

Legislation proposed by Sen. Sasha Renee Perez (D-Alhambra), SB 98, would require schools and universities to notify students, staff and parents when immigration officers are on campus.

"This bill will give our communities the peace of mind that they deserve while also maintaining the state's commitment that schools are safe places," Renee Perez said.

The other legislation proposed to protect immigrants included:



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SB 81, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Arreguin (D-Berkeley) requires healthcare providers to deny ICE access to nonpublic areas and refuse disclosing a patient's immigration status without a warrant.

AB 421, sponsored by Assemblymember Jose Luis Solache Jr. (D-Lynwood) would ban state law enforcement from working with or providing information to immigration enforcement within a mile of day-care facilities, places of worship and medical offices.

SB 635, sponsored by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) would keep issuers of street vendor permits from requiring fingerprinting or asking applicants about their immigration status or criminal history.

SB 294, sponsored by Sen. Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-Colton) would require employers to post a notice to inform employees of their labor and civil rights when interacting with law enforcement on the job, and to notify the employee's emergency contact if they are arrested or detained.

The Trump administration said in January it would allow immigration enforcement to make arrests in "sensitive locations" such as schools, places of worship and hospitals, sites protected from ICE for the last 30 years.

Read more: Trumps orders have upended U.S. immigration. What legal routes remain?

"Criminals will no longer be able to hide in Americas schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a January statement announcing the policy change.

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Aside from issues related to immigrants, the package of legislation supported by the Latino caucus included a bill to prevent silicosis, a permanent lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust in stone fabrication workplaces, through worker education and safety regulations.

The sponsor of SB 20, Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Panorama City), said that 98% of people diagnosed with silicosis since 2019 were Latino, and that virtually all were male, according to the state's silicosis dashboard.

Read more: Newsom to ask California Legislature for another $2.8 billion to cover Medi-Cal cost overruns

The caucus also reaffirmed a promise to maintain funding for Medi-Cal, the state's healthcare program that insures 15 million low-income Californians and has run billions above estimates since last summer. Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the Legislature last month to approve an additional $2.8 billion through June to support the program, which opened enrollment to immigrants regardless of residency status.

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The rising costs of the program were not to blame on immigrants and the Latino community, Gonzalez said during the news conference. Legislators are instead looking to understand other contributing factors, such as increasing drug costs and long-term care.

"We need to talk about those things in the full narrative," she said.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A bipartisan group of California lawmakers is calling on the Trump administration to preserve $1.2 billion in federal funds for a hydrogen energy project to help wean the state off planet-warming fossil fuels.

The action follows reports in The Times and other news organizations that the administration is poised to defund nearly 300 Department of Energy projects across the country, including four of seven nascent "hydrogen hubs."

Among them is ARCHES, or California's Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems, which was awarded $1.2 billion in federal funds by the Biden administration as part of a nationwide effort to develop hydrogen energy. ARCHES also plans to bring in an additional $11.2 billion from private investors.

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In a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright dated Monday, the lawmakers said ARCHES "plays a critical role in securing American energy dominance, advancing world-leading energy technology, creating new manufacturing jobs, and lowering energy costs for American families."

Read more: Trumps Department of Energy targets California and other blue states for budget cuts, according to internal documents

The letter was signed by 47 of the state's 52 congressional representatives, including four Republicans: Reps. Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield), David Valadao (R-Hanford), Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake) and Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills). Several of the hub's sites were planned for the state's right-leaning Central Valley.

It was also signed by the state's two Democratic U.S. senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.

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The letter follows reports that ARCHES is on the Department of Energy's budget-cut list along with hundreds of other projects geared toward climate-friendly initiatives.

In response to its disclosure, DOE said the agency was conducting a department-wide review and cautioned against "fake lists." The Trump administration has generally favored development of fossil fuels over clean energy.

A draft of the list circulating on Capitol Hill and reviewed by The Times indicates that roughly 80% of the projects set to lose funding are in states that didn't vote for Trump in the 2024 presidential election, including the four hydrogen hubs.

In addition to California, they include a Mid-Atlantic hub, a Pacific Northwest hub and Midwest hub, all of which span primarily "blue" states that tend to vote for Democrats. Three other hydrogen hubs in Republican-leaning red states and regions  Texas, Appalachia and a "heartland" hub in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota  are safe, the list shows.

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Hydrogen is a promising source of energy that produces water vapor instead of carbon dioxide as its byproduct, which proponents say could be used to power hard-to-decarbonize industries such as steel production, manufacturing and transportation.

In their letter, the lawmakers described ARCHES as a "strategic investment in American energy innovation" and noted that projects stemming from it would be dispersed across the state, including efforts to decarbonize the Ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland by replacing diesel-powered cargo-handling equipment with hydrogen fuel cell equivalents.

"The investment is already being used to bring together private industry, local governments, and community organizations to collaborate and build a secure, American-made energy future," the representatives wrote, adding that ARCHES anticipates the creation of 220,000 jobs.

Read more: California will host a billion-dollar 'hydrogen hub.' What it means for our energy future

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The letter was spearheaded by Padilla and Reps. George Whitesides (D-Agua Dulce) and Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano). Whiteside's district includes Lancaster  the first city to join ARCHES when it was announced, with multiple projects planned in the area.

"The bipartisan support for ARCHES shown in this letter underscores its importance to California and the nation," Whitesides wrote in a statement. "I urge the DOE to support this crucial program and preserve its funding, therefore expanding our workforce and economic opportunity."

Padilla, who helped secure funding for ARCHES and other hydrogen hubs through Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law, wrote in a statement that "kickstarting the market for hydrogen power in California will accelerate the creation of good-paying jobs while investing in key sectors across our economy."

"Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree that California's ARCHES hydrogen hub is essential for lowering fuel costs and promoting American energy dominance and security," Padilla said.

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The potential cuts come as the Trump administration continues to target environmental programs in California and across the country in what officials say is an effort to ease regulatory costs, lower taxes and "unleash American energy."

However, Democratic insiders said the planned cuts appear to be partisan  particularly because California's hub was the highest-scoring applicant among more than 30 projects considered for the $7 billion federal program. Its $1.2 billion award also matched that of Texas, a red state hub that was safe from the cuts.

The seven hydrogen hubs were collectively expected to produce 3 million metric tons of hydrogen annually and reduce 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, an amount roughly equivalent to that of 5.5 million gas-powered cars.

"We view ARCHES as a strategic investment in American energy innovation, an all-of-the-above energy strategy, and energy independence and competitiveness," the letter says. "With that, we respectfully request that you continue supporting ARCHES and provide time for the California hub and its member organizations to further justify their vital role in meeting the energy goals of the administration."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
GREENBELT, Md. (AP)  A California man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his home in a suburb of Washington, D.C., nearly three years ago.

Nicholas John Roske was arrested near Kavanaughs home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, in June 2022. Roske was armed with a gun and a knife, was carrying zip ties and was dressed in black when he arrived in the neighborhood by taxi just after 1 a.m., authorities said.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman is scheduled to sentence Roske on Oct. 3. Prosecutors say federal sentencing guidelines call for a term of 30 years to life in prison

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Roske, 29, of Simi Valley, California, pleaded guilty to attempting to murder a justice of the United States without reaching a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

A trial for Roske had been scheduled to start on June 9.

After his arrest, Roske told a police detective that he was upset about a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court intended to overrule Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case, according to an FBI agents affidavit.

Killing one judge could change the decisions of the nine-member court for decades to come, Roske wrote over an encrypted messaging platform to another user in May 2022. Roske added, I am shooting for 3.

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The leaked opinion draft led to protests at several of the justices homes. Roskes arrest spurred the House to approve a bill expanding around-the-clock security protection to the justices families.

Roske also said he was upset over the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and believed that Kavanaugh would vote to loosen gun control laws, the affidavit said.

Roske was apprehended after he called 911 and told a police dispatcher that he was near Kavanaughs home and was having suicidal and homicidal thoughts. He was spotted by two U.S. marshals who were part of 24-hour security provided to the justices.

During his plea hearing, Roske told the judge that he was being treated in jail for an unspecified mental illness.

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Are you thinking clearly? the judge asked him.

I believe so, he said.

In a court filing last Thursday, Justice Department prosecutors laid out Roske's planning for his trip to Kavanaugh's neighborhood:

Roske searched the internet for justices' home addresses and other information, including techniques for breaking into homes and quietly killing somebody. He also wrote about killing judges in encrypted messages sent to another user, who isn't named in the filing.

The thought of Roe v Wade and gay marriage both being repealed has me furious, Roske wrote.

In late May 2022, Roske purchased tactical gear, a lock pick, black face paint, a glass cutter, a suction cup and other items that he took to Maryland.

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On June 2, 2022, Roske bought a Glock 9 mm pistol from a gun store in Camarillo, California. The following day, he practiced firing the pistol at a Simi Valley shooting range, where he also purchased pepper spray.

Two days later, Roske booked a one-way flight from Los Angeles to Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia.

Roske also saved a map on his Google account that contained location pins marking the residential addresses of Associate Justices in Maryland and northern Virginia, prosecutors wrote.

After arriving at Dulles on June 7, 2022, he took a taxi directly to Kavanaugh's home. He texted his sister on the way, telling her that he loved her.

Roske was still on the phone with the police dispatcher when officers arrested him and seized his backpack and suitcase. He later told investigators that he was thinking about how to give his life "a purpose when he decided to kill Kavanaugh.
GREENBELT, Maryland  A California man pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempting to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his Maryland home in June 2022.

Nicholas Roske, 29, entered his plea in federal court in Greenbelt, about 10 miles from Kavanaughs residence.

I am pleading guilty to the attempted assassination charge, Roske calmly told U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Boardman during a half-hour hearing.

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Boardman informed Roske  whos been in custody since his arrest in the early morning of June 8, 2022  that the prosecution contends his crime was an act of terrorism and that, as a result, sentencing guidelines call for him to receive between 30 years and life in prison. The judge, a Biden appointee, set sentencing for Oct. 3.

During the hearing, neither side explicitly discussed Roskes motivation for taking a flight from Los Angeles to Dulles Airport almost three years ago with a gun and ammunition in his luggage and then traveling to Kavanaughs home by taxi in the middle of the night.

Prosecutors say Roske told police that he planned to kill Kavanaugh to change the Supreme Courts stance on abortion and gun rights cases.

In a court filing last week, prosecutors said that about a week before his arrest, Roske used an encrypted platform to send messages suggesting he planned to kill as many as three Supreme Court justices.

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Im gonna stop roe v wade from being overturned, Roske said in the messages, according to prosecutors. I could get at least one, which would change the votes for decades to come. and I am shooting for 3 ... at the end of the day biden still chooses the replacements. gop cant do shit about it.

Roske took the trip about a month after POLITICO reported that a draft Supreme Court opinion indicated the court was on the verge of issuing a historic, 5-4 decision overturning the federal constitutional right to abortion after nearly half a century. The high court issued that ruling about three weeks after Roskes arrest.

Roske, clad in a yellow jail uniform, had his hair tied back in a ponytail and some gray stubble jutting from his face Tuesday as he answered Boardmans questions calmly and coherently for about 20 minutes.

When Boardman asked if he understood his duty to be candid with the court, Roske replied: I will be telling the truth today. He said he understood the rights he was giving up by pleading guilty, and he affirmed he had adequate time to consult with his lawyers.

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In a preview of one argument his defense attorneys are likely to put forward for leniency, Roske said he is undergoing treatment for mental illness, including medication.

In an unusual move following years of discussions between prosecutors and defense attorneys, Roske entered his guilty plea without a plea agreement limiting the sentence prosecutors can request. The maximum penalty is life in prison.

Federal defender Andrew Szekely told the judge that Roske was admitting that he made the trip with the intent to kill the associate justice and then himself.

Roske later agreed to the facts his lawyer laid out but not to some of the other claims the government has made, including that he planned to kill more justices. Szekely said he expects there to be some factual disputes at the sentencing hearing and the defense plans to call witnesses to bolster their arguments.

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Kavanaugh was not mentioned by name during the hearing. Boardman simply described him as the victim or an associate justice.

At the outset of the court session, Boardman asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Coreen Mao whether prosecutors had notified Kavanaugh of his rights under the Crime Victims Rights Act.

Mao said that he had been notified. A motion to seek restitution for costs incurred as a result of Roskes assassination attempt is certainly under consideration, she told the judge later, without elaborating.
Three fishermen walk back to their homes in the Vila de Pesqueiro area from Manacapuru, 100 kilometers upriver from Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas, Brazil. They tread on sandbanks for two kilometers. The temperature is 40 degrees Celsius. The path they travel resembles a desert, although it should be anything but. They walk along the Solimoes River, but not along its banks. They walk along the bed of a river that, in October 2024, when Peruvian-Mexican photographer Musuk Nolte took the photo that depicts the scene, was completely dry.

Nolte, 37, has just won a World Press Photo award in the South America stories category for his project Drought in the Amazon. That image shows them walking on the bed of a river they usually navigate, says Nolte. Before the drought, the Solimoes  which corresponds to the stretch of the Amazon River in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and the city of Manaus  reached the fishermens homes, but due to the lack of rain, it had shrunk and retreated two kilometers. The water level was progressively decreasing. So they were getting farther and farther away, says Nolte in a telephone interview with EL PAIS. They had to walk 45 minutes to get home, under difficult circumstances. The Brazilian Geological Survey indicated at the time that the river was experiencing daily drops of 19 centimeters on average.

A man pulls a boat through the shallow center of a river near the community of Sao Francisco de Marina, which is cut off due to the low water levels of the local rivers. Musuk Nolte (Bertha Foundation)

The aerial photo of those three fishermen is his favorite from the award-winning series. For me, its significant because it shows the dimensions of the human scale, what human beings represent in such a vast territory, he says. Nolte, who has been working in documentary photography for 18 years on themes of historical memory, climate change, and Indigenous communities, mostly in Peru, didnt come to the Brazilian Amazon by chance. For the past five years, hes been working on a project about issues surrounding water. Its called Geography of Water and seeks to portray the territory from different altitudinal levels to understand it more broadly, he explains.

First, he went to Iquitos, Peru, to document the drought. But, when talking about the Amazon, geographical boundaries are absurd in a more complex context, he maintains. Accompanied by a photographer friend, he landed in Manaus, Brazil. The most visibly dramatic place was the most appropriate for describing the dimensions of the rivers decline, he says. The Amazon River is 6,400 kilometers (3,977 miles) long, originates in the Peruvian Andes, flows mostly through Brazil, and partly through Colombia.

Before arriving, he had seen images and monitored the rivers decline. However, once in Manaus, he felt very confused. It looks like a desert, but when you put it into context, its the Amazon, something doesnt add up and it doesnt fit with our imagination, he explains. It was dystopian. It seemed like I was living through a moment of radical transformation for the planet.

Elidia Carolina at her home on the banks of the Solimoes River in the Brazilian Amazon. Due to the drought, the area surrounding her home resembles a desert. Musuk Nolte (Bertha Foundation)

Nolte spent nearly a month photographing the area, thanks to a Bertha Foundation grant. At the time, Manaus was experiencing its lowest water levels since records began in 1902. More than 480,000 people were affected by the drought, according to the Amazonas state civil defense agency. The Solimoes River, specifically, was experiencing its worst drought, leaving nearby villages without food, water, or transportation. According to civil defense, the river was only three meters deep.

Those who live in the area understand that the region is dynamic, that rivers shift and change, but the crisis affected that predictability, Nolte explains. Here, the river functions as a giant highway where people shop, travel to work, the hospital, or school. Without water, residents began to wonder if they would have to leave their homes. The smaller tributaries were impassable, and people who provided transportation services no longer wanted to try. If someone got sick, they couldnt get to a hospital, he says.

Peruvian-Mexican photographer Musuk Nolte. Maria Clara Sosa

According to a UNICEF report published in November 2024, the drought in the Amazon left 420,000 children in Peru, Brazil, and Colombia without food, water, and education. Furthermore, the Amazon River basin  the territory drained by the river and its tributaries and distributed across Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela  experienced historically low water levels, affecting river transport, access to food, services, and medicine for more than 47 million people, according to data from the Western South American Drought Bulletin of the International Center for Research on the El Nino Phenomenon (CIIFEN).

This is reflected in the first photo in Noltes World Press Photo-winning series. It shows a young man carrying food to his mother, who is waiting for him in Manacapuru. To do so, he had to walk two kilometers along the same path he used to sail. Using another aerial image that shows the marks left by boats attempting to advance, the photographer describes the scene as a territory that seems to have scars. Also visible are homes that were once houseboats and had run aground. After Nolte took his photographs, the rains returned the river to its former levels. Now, in fact, its in flood stage, he says.

Cordeiro Freitas helps his mother carry food from the boat dock to the fishing community of Maracapuru. Musuk Nolte (Bertha Foundation)

But for him, the interesting thing about the award is the impact it gives his stories, in this case, the effects of climate change. Ive been interested in looking for extreme points where one can point out or demonstrate what will happen soon. Something that is already happening, but that will happen more and more, he says.

As part of the Geography of Water project, Nolte has also portrayed the water access crisis in Lima, a coastal city, during the pandemic; the drought on Lake Titicaca in the southern region of Puno (3,812 meters above sea level); flooding in the Amazon region of Ucayali; and an oil spill in the Peruvian sea, a project for which he also won a World Press Photo award in 2023. Water is what connects territories, he explains. In school, we learn about the water cycle: that it evaporates in the sea, turns into ice on the snowy mountains, the sun melts it, and it flows down the valleys and returns to the sea. That idea is not something we fully understand in practice, when we turn on the tap and there is water there.

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GREENBELT, Md.  A California man pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempting to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh outside his home in 2022.

Nicholas Roske, 29, wearing a yellow jumpsuit and flanked by his two public defenders in the Greenbelt, Md., courtroom, told the judge he desired to plead guilty despite not reaching a plea deal with prosecutors.

Roskes singular charge of attempting to assassinate a justice of the United States carries up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is set for Oct. 3.

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As part of his plea, Roske admitted that he flew from California to Washington Dulles International Airport in June 2022 before taking a taxi to the conservative justices Maryland home. Authorities who met Roske outside the home say they recovered a pistol, crow bar, ammunition, zip ties and other weapons.

Roskes case has become one of the most high-profile prosecutions over threats against judges, but Chief Justice John Roberts and other judiciary leaders have repeatedly sounded the alarm in recent years about violence and threats.

Roske, who is being treated for mental illness, told authorities at the time he was suicidal and intended to kill the justice over concerns at the time about the Supreme Courts forthcoming decisions overturning abortion protections and expanding gun rights.

I will be telling the truth today, Roske told the judge Tuesday.

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Its a sudden shift in the case that was brought nearly three years ago.

After Roske was charged, his public defenders and the government had engaged in plea negotiations for more than a year and a half. After no resolution came about, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, an appointee of former President Biden who oversees the proceedings, began moving the case along and set a June trial date.

On Tuesday, Boardman was scheduled to hold a hearing on Roskes pretrial motions that sought to make his statements and other evidence inadmissible at trial. But last week, Roskes attorneys called off the hearing because their client was pleading guilty.

Yes, I understand, Roske told Boardman when she noted that he was giving up his right to bring the defense motions.

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Still a ways away, the 2026 California governors race is already taking shape.

The field is crowded with state and national level names who have one thing in common: a desire to revive the California dream.

Of course, none of the candidates have a better chance at replacing term-limited California Gov. Gavin Newsom than former Vice President Kamala Harris.

According to Politico, she said she would make a decision by the end of summer. Harris would formally have until March 2026 to file paperwork and run in the primary. Its possible Harris, who previously represented California in the U.S. Senate, has her eyes set on the office of president in 2028.

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Either way, Harris made a promise at a California leadership summit: Im not going anywhere.

Some candidates, like the states lieutenant governor, have a Plan B in place in case Harris enters the race.

Others are leaning on savvy solutions to the states dystopian problems like the severe housing crisis, escalating homelessness, frequent wildfires and economic inequality.

Heres a list of candidates already in the running.

Xavier Becerra

Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra hopes to come back to Sacramento after serving in the Biden administration for the last four years. He attempted to position himself as a levelheaded leader who is willing to scrub the dirt.

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It reminds me of what my mom used to say to me, Te lavaste bien los dientes? Did you brush your teeth? Did you scrub right? Were going to have to scrub what we do. Are those laws working? Is our regulatory framework working? Weve got to scrub so we can figure out whats really the essence of what we have to keep, he told KCRA 3.

Im running to be the next Governor of California.



As AG I took on Trump  and won. As HHS Secretary, I took on Big Pharma  and won. Its time to do it again for California. Lets rebuild the California Dream for everyone.



Join our team: https://t.co/pZsqE35Iku pic.twitter.com/G4ZRVRGHek  Xavier Becerra (@XavierBecerra) April 2, 2025

Becerra helped draft and pass the Obama-era Affordable Care Act while serving in the U.S. House. As the California attorney general, he sued President Donald Trump more than 100 times, and also took on the pharmaceutical industry to lower prescription drug prices.

Katie Porter

Rep. Katie Porter launched her bid for governor in mid-March, nearly a year following her unsuccessful bid for Senate. She flipped a Republican House seat in 2018, serving for three terms. There, she earned the reputation for being a progressive lawmaker with tough questions.

In Congress, I held the Trump administrations feet to the fire when they hurt Americans, she said in her gubernatorial campaign launch video.

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As governor, I wont ever back down when Trump hurts Californians  whether hes holding up disaster relief, attacking our rights or our communities, or screwing over working families to benefit himself and his cronies," according to The Associated Press. Porter promised to deliver a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit.

What California needs now is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit. That's why I'm running for Governor. pic.twitter.com/x77lCP8dUY  Katie Porter (@katieporteroc) March 11, 2025

Eleni Kounalakis

In April 2023, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis became the first person to launch a bid for governor.

I will fight fiercely to build a future where everyone  regardless of race, class, or immigration status  has the same opportunity that my family and I had, she wrote in a Facebook post at the time, about two months into Newsoms second term as governor.

Should Harris decide to run, Kounalakis has a backup plan to run for state treasurer in 2026, as Politico reported. Her office dismissed this as rumors.

Today I'm launching my campaign to become the next Governor of the great state of CA.



My family & I owe everything to our state. I will fight fiercely to make sure EVERY Californian has the chance to walk the path of the CA dream just like I have. Join us https://t.co/GsduKIRPpf pic.twitter.com/amb5pwxOKo  Eleni Kounalakis (@EleniForCA) April 24, 2023

Betty Yee

Former State Controller Betty Yee launched her bid months after Kounalakis. If either of them are elected, they would become the first female governor of California.

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She also wants to focus on reforming the Golden State. Things in California just dont add up anymore. Families are working harder than ever, but the cost of housing, food, college, childcare, elder care, and more is moving out of our reach, Yee said in a statement to the CAP Radio. Together we have the grit and the power to make California add up for all of us again.

Yee, a San Francisco native born to Chinese immigrant parents, serves as the vice chair of the California Democratic Party after nearly a decade as the state controller.

While some worry we have no power over our future in California, I know that we do. We have the power to make California add up for all of us again. Thats why Im running for Governor.



Learn more: https://t.co/L599I8Gksb pic.twitter.com/Ym0sk153VY  Betty T. Yee (@BettyYeeforCA) March 27, 2024

Other candidates

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will make his second attempt at securing the California governors office. Former state Senate leader Toni Atkins joined the race last year. She often references growing up in rural Virginia without running water.

I certainly dont fit the mold of past governors or even some of the candidates that will be in this race, Atkins said last January, according to CBS News. Im going to lean on my story, because I think Californians are going to want someone more like them.

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Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond also announced his bid earlier this year. If elected, he would be the first Black person to take the office of California governor.

Republican candidate

Among the handful of GOP candidates is Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco who joined the crowded field in February this year. He blamed Democratic officials for Californias decline, and as a law-and-order conservative, promised to fix the states broken policies.

Addressing the affordability crisis last week, Bianco promised to slash the state income tax if elected as governor.

Theres nine states that dont have a state income tax. So why does the greatest state in the country have an income tax? he said.
The Canadian government on Monday reported the discovery of an online disinformation operation which it said was linked to the Chinese government and focused on Prime Minister Mark Carney, ahead of the country's general election later this month.

The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force "observed an information operation targeting the 45th general election," Canada's Privy Council Office said on Monday.

According to Canadian authorities, the operation was launched by "WeChat's most popular news account" Youli-Youmian on the Chinese app. The office went on to say that "intelligence reporting links the Youli-Youmian account to the PRC Chinese Communist Party's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission."

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"The information operation targeting Mr Carney is deliberately amplifying narratives in a coordinated and inauthentic way on WeChat, to Chinese audiences, including communities living in Canada," read a background document released by the office on Monday.

The task force "observed large spikes of what is believed to be coordinated inauthentic behaviour on March 10 and 25, 2025," it continued.

Carney, the new leader of the Liberal Party, is to stand against Conservative Party candidate Pierre Poilievre in the April 28 election.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Canada said they were "not aware of the so-called 'information operation' claimed by the Canadian side."

"However, I would like to emphasize that it is simply absurd and unjustified to launch groundless smear and attack against the Chinese government on the basis of individual remarks on a social media platform. China firmly opposes this and will never accept it"
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has stated that his country has not yet made a final decision regarding participation in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine following the end of the war.

Source: Carney in an interview with Radio-Canada

Details: Carney stated that Canada's decision to join the peacekeeping efforts would depend on the circumstances.

"Canada is part of the coalition of the willing, led by Macron [France] and Starmer [United Kingdom]. I attended several meetings of this coalition and this was one of the topics of my discussions with those two leaders," he said.

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Carney stressed the inadmissibility of reaching any peace agreements that are not supported by Ukraine itself and categorically rejected any possibility of complying with Kremlin ultimatums regarding Ukraine's political leadership.

Quote: "I am very proud of Canadas role, the role played by Mr Trudeaus government and the role we are continuing to play, as well as the Canadian people's support for the Ukrainian people."

"For me, any peace agreements are unacceptable if they are not agreed to by Ukraine, as well as any demands by the Russian dictator Putin to replace Volodymyr Zelenskyy as President."

Background:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a meeting with journalists on 4 April, said that military representatives of the coalition of the willing, which is ready to send its troops to Ukraine, would meet regularly over the next few weeks to discuss the details of the peacekeeping mission.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the work of the coalition of the willing to deploy troops to Ukraine during a conversation on Saturday 5 April.

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)  Jesse Schiller and Rachel Evans are likely the only business owners on Australia's Norfolk Island to be directly affected by the Trump administration's tariffs, as the South Pacific outpost they call home exports nothing to the United States.

The Canadian couple, both aged 41, own a business that makes plastic-free hair accessories under the brand Kooshoo. Vancouver-born Schiller said he and his Norfolk Island-born wife are likely the only business owners on the island that will pay elevated tariffs  and they will pay at the rates imposed on Japan and India, where the goods are manufactured. Around 80% of Kooshoos business is with the United States.

Kooshoo means feeling good in the English-Tahitian creole known as Norfk or Norfuk thats spoken among this remote population of 2,000 people 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of Sydney.

Were probably the most affected business on Norfolk Island, Schiller said.

Norfolk Island was a shock inclusion in the Trump administrations list of global tariffs announced last week that was intended to redress U.S. trade deficits with the world.

While Australia and its external territories were assigned the global minimum 10% tariff, including the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands in the Antarctic region, Norfolk Island was singled out for a 29% tariff.

I think Norfolk became a parable of sorts for the lack of nuance with which these tariffs went out in the world, Schiller said.

Schiller and Evans, a Canadian-Australian dual national, have the consolation of being dealt slightly lower tariffs: Japan has been assigned a 24% tariff and India 26%.

Why Norfolk Island came in for such severe and apparently futile tariff treatment has been a popular topic of conversation among locals.

Its been a question of great intrigue locally, Schiller said.

An early theory  and it seems to be proving right  is that there are other notable Norfolks in the world. Norfolk, of course, in the U.K., Norfolk in Virginia in the U.S., and it seems as though some improperly labeled customs paperwork may have contributed to the  error, Schiller said.

That couldve been very easily fact-checked, he added.

His wife, Evans, has an impressive Norfolk Islander lineage. She is a 9th generation descendant of a crewman of the British naval ship HMS Bounty who mutinied in 1789, although her mother is Canadian. The mutineers, whose exploits have been dramatized in Hollywood movies, established a settlement on Pitcairn Islands and their descendants later settled the former British penal colony of Norfolk Island.
Alarmed by President Trump's unprecedented effort to punish law firms he doesn't like, UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky emailed nearly 200 fellow law school deans across the country last month, asking them to join him in condemning the attacks.

"The government should not use its enormous power to exact retribution," Chemerinsky wrote. "As legal educators we have a special responsibility to speak out against such reprisals against lawyers."

In response, nearly 80 fellow deans signed onto what Chemerinsky viewed as a "straightforward and non-controversial" statement of protest, including those from UCLA Law and other UC law schools. However, more than 100 others  including from prestigious law schools such as Harvard, Yale and Stanford  declined.

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"A lot of people didn't respond, but certainly some responded and said that they didn't feel comfortable," Chemerinsky said.

The response showed that many in academia and the legal field "are being chilled from speaking out" for fear of becoming the president's next target, Chemerinsky said.

"If the Trump administration does something that is unconstitutional, who is going to be there to challenge them?" he asked. "It often won't be anyone without law firms."

President Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on March 30. (Luis M. Alvarez / Associated Press)

In recent weeks, such concerns about Trump's intimidation tactics have exploded alongside his growing list of perceived enemies and political targets, said Chemerinsky and other critics. The more he goes after those targets, the more Americans who oppose his policies or tactics find themselves falling into separate camps  fiercely divided on how best to respond.

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Major law firms and universities have negotiated with Trump under duress and acquiesced to his demands, despite those demands representing clear  and arguably illegal  retribution, according to legal experts, leading civil rights organizations, free speech advocates, Democrats in Congress and some judges. The dealmakers have defended their agreements as mutually beneficial, if not necessary to avert financial ruin from Trump's focus on them.

There are those who appear to be falling in line, or keeping quiet, and hoping they won't be next to draw the president's ire. Chemerinsky and other leaders in academia and the legal field said they have heard such fear firsthand from colleagues.

And then there are the resisters  some who have been targeted and others who just want to stand up for others or their own democratic principles before it is too late.

Some of those targeted are suing the administration over its attacks. Others are simply lambasting the administration for assaulting democracy and the rule of law. Still others are taking to the streets in protest, eager to show that communities all across the country are displeased with the Trump administration  and with those institutions they see as capitulating.

Demonstrators shout as cars pass by the Pasadena Tesla dealership. (William Liang / For The Times)

"I feel like one of the things that's really going to have an impact is protests  and big protests," said Aimee Arost, a 55-year-old real estate agent and self-described "unhappy Democrat" who recently joined hundreds of others outside a Tesla showroom in San Francisco to protest Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who is a Trump advisor and Tesla's chief executive.

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In recent days, Arost said she has taken to posting on Facebook whenever she sees an individual or company respond to a threat from Trump, labeling each a "fighter" or a "folder." She said she hoped protests would encourage the folders "to be braver."

'A climate of fear'

When late-night host Jimmy Kimmel recently asked Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) whether anything surprises him anymore, Schiff said he was "surprised just how quickly" the Trump administration had "created a climate of fear."

"I wouldn't have thought it possible, but by going after universities, they're intimidating other universities. By going after certain press organizations, they're causing others to self-censor. By going after certain law firms, they're causing other lawyers to not want to take cases if they think it will be retaliated against by the administration. Companies [are] towing a Trumpian line because they're worried about losing government contracts," said Schiff, who managed Trump's first impeachment trial and helped investigate Trump's incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Republicans in Congress have shown huge deference to Trump in recent months, and been blasted by their Democratic colleagues for ceding their power over federal purse strings. Rep. Eric Swalwell, an East Bay Democrat and prominent Trump critic, recently told The Times that Republican colleagues have told him they fear physical violence against their families if they speak out against the president.

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But Chemerinsky said fear of the president is clearly spreading, beyond his own party and those seeking reelection. And with that fear have come stunning deals with the administration, Chemerinsky said.

Last month, the Trump administration said it was cutting $400 million in federal funds to Columbia for its "continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students," including by pro-Palestinian protesters on the school's New York campus.

Many outside experts and liberal activists balked at the claims, suggesting they were wildly off base and accusing the Trump administration of violating the rights of pro-Palestinian activists instead  including prominent student activist Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder recently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

NYPD officers stand guard during a protest outside Columbia University on March 24 in New York City. (Kena Betancur / Getty Images)

Columbia, however, responded with a letter saying that it would comply with many of the administration's demands, including overhauling its protest and security practices and its Middle Eastern studies department. The university refuted claims it was capitulating, and defended the changes as part of a comprehensive strategy already underway to provide a safe campus environment for everyone "while preserving our commitment to academic freedom and institutional integrity."

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The university did not respond to a request for comment.

Concern also arose after the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison responded to a Trump executive order barring it from government work and threatening the federal contracts of its clients by agreeing to contribute $40 million in legal services to causes Trump has championed and to represent a more politically diverse range of clients.

Managing partner Brad Karp, a Democratic donor who backed Trump's opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, reportedly defended the deal in an email to the firm's lawyers as necessary for the firm's financial survival, based on a determination that fighting Trump's order in court "would not solve the fundamental problem, which was that clients perceived our firm as being persona non grata with the administration."

At least three other major firms  Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Willkie Farr & Gallagher; and Milbank  have each agreed since to provide $100 million in free services for groups and issues that Trump and the firms said they both support, such as veterans and combating antisemitism; to abandon "illegal DEI" initiatives internally; and to represent politically diverse clients.

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Firm leaders also have defended the deals as pragmatic and in the best interests of themselves and their clients. The firms did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more: Former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff's law firm latest to strike deal with Trump

Trump  a convicted felon who has likened himself to a king and suggested he will stay in office beyond the constitutional two-term limit  has defended his attacks on law firms as restoring fairness in the legal field and fighting back against liberal activist firms intent on undermining the conservative will of voters. He has defended his threats against Columbia and other universities as checking liberal bias in academia and defending the rights of Jewish students.

Others have denounced his claims and the deals he's struck as deeply dangerous.

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Democrats in Congress have demanded answers from the White House and the private firms it has struck deals with about the nature of their arrangements, and invited former federal prosecutors in to discuss moves by Trump to protect his allies from prosecution.

In a letter to Karp, more than 140 Paul Weiss alumni accused the firm of being "at the very forefront of capitulation to the Trump administration's bullying tactics." In a letter to Skadden executive partner Jeremy London, more than 80 Skadden alumni said the firm's deal with Trump "emboldened him to further undermine our democracy."

'We can't worry about the consequences'

After Trump targeted the law firm Jenner & Block with an executive order to shut them out of government business and deny their attorneys security clearances, the firm promptly filed a lawsuit  with the help of California-based firm Cooley, calling the order unconstitutional.

"To do otherwise would mean compromising our ability to zealously advocate for all of our clients and capitulating to unconstitutional government coercion, which is simply not in our DNA," the firm said in a statement.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters on March 31, 2025, in Washington. The White House has thrown the long-standing tradition of an independent press pool covering the president out the window. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

The Associated Press recently sued the administration, too, over its decision to bar it from White House press events for its refusal to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, as Trump would have it.

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"It's really about whether the government can control what you say," AP executive editor Julie Pace wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

After Trump issued an executive order purporting to require all prospective voters to show proof of citizenship  a threat to the voting rights of many American citizens who lack documents  the UCLA Voting Rights Project announced it was "doubling down" on its commitment to defending voting rights by bringing two prominent California Democrats on board: former Health and Human Services Secretary and California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, who just announced a run for governor, and former Speaker of the California Assembly Anthony Rendon, both of whom have been part of California efforts to fight Trump in the past.

Chad Dunn, the project's legal director, said it is "at times breathtaking the extent to which the White House runs roughshod over enactments of Congress and plain language in the Constitution," and that "this is a unique moment" where everyone with power to resist such actions has to do so, despite the risks.

"In the cause of doing what is just and right, we can't worry about the consequences," he said.

'The resistance is on'

At the grassroots level, resistance has been lively, particularly from less powerful groups that have long faced discrimination or fought government overreach and conservative dictates.

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California is home to many.

Read more: California vs. Trump: What its like to be the attorneys on the front lines

Jose Gonzalez, interim program director at the progressive radio station KPFA out of Berkeley, has been writing resistance messages that air on the station frequently.

"The political machine wants you tired, it wants you hopeless, it wants you silent. But we've seen this game before, we know how it plays out, and we know how to win," one recent message said.

"So what do we do? We fight harder. We dig deeper. We speak louder. KPFA isn't backing down, and neither should you," it continued. "Tune in, get informed, and get ready. The resistance is on."

Gonzalez said such messaging felt vital at a time when many listeners are worried and need to be reminded they aren't alone, and like a natural fit for the progressive station. "It's kind of our place to hold this position and this platform."

Suzanne Ford, president of San Francisco Pride, said her organization has lost several major sponsors this year amid growing antagonism toward the LGBTQ+ community from the Trump administration, but is not backing down from its mission, selecting the theme "Queer Joy Is Resistance" for this summer's events.

Ford, who is transgender, said watching powerful institutions, law firms and corporations capitulate to the Trump administration and abandon the LGBTQ+ community right when they need allies the most has been a "gut punch"  but also fresh motivation for the queer community and its true allies to show up for each other all the more.

"Showing up at Pride this year," she said, "is an act of resistance."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Credit: X/@ZelenskyyUa

The war in Ukraine is now partly a battle for the attention of the White House.

In such circumstances, the capture of Chinese citizens on the battlefield is a boost to Kyiv and Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president.

Mr Zelensky wasted little time in casting the men as proof that one more nation  China  had joined the war against his country.

However, the truth may be more mundane  that these men are part of ragtag mercenary forces hoovered up by Moscows meat-hungry armed forces.

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Nevertheless, their presence should complicate the Trump administrations desire to look beyond Ukraine to what it sees as a looming, generational clash with communist China.

At the end of last month, Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, distributed an internal memo reorienting the US military towards deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan  and preparing it to win a potential conflict with Beijing.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has claimed that the actions of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, will only end up being a small chapter in the history of the 21st century, with the rest taken up by Americas titanic contest with China.

It is no wonder that Mr Zelensky, in trying to win back the fading support of the US, will do everything he can to argue the two theatres cannot be so easily separated.

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However, the sight of Chinese men fighting for Russia in Ukraine is not something new.

About a month ago, two alleged Chinese mercenaries were filmed scrawling graffiti over the walls of what was claimed to be an abandoned building.

They were seen wearing Russian-issued tactical gear and sporting the same white tactical recognition markings used by Moscows invasion force.

Credit: @TGTM_Official

However, this is not evidence of a state-sanctioned deployment by China.

Russia is known to have recruited mercenaries from around the world to fuel its fight to seize control of Ukraine.

Many have come from Cuba, India, Yemen and several African countries, attracted by promises of significant cash incentives.

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Kyiv also relies on volunteers, including from Britain, the US and France, to fill its ranks. However, it does not employ mercenaries.

Putin has turned a blind eye to foreign nationals joining the Kremlins forces as he seeks to limit the exposure of his countrymen to the brutality of his invasion.

This is partly because he wants to avoid a repeat of the uprising by Soviet mothers who were credited with forcing Russias withdrawal from Afghanistan in the 1980s amid unhappiness over the death toll following a decade of fighting.

More than 900,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Ukraine since Putin ordered his forces across the border more than three years ago.

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With Moscows men still on the offensive, the Kremlin constantly needs to find more to hurl into the meat grinder in exchange for its limited gains.

The only regular troops known to be deployed alongside Russian forces are from North Korea.

Pyongyang sent more than 11,000 men to assist Moscow as part of a security pact between the two rogue states.

The soldiers were used by the Kremlin to dislodge Ukraines foothold in the Russian region of Kursk.

More than 5,000 North Koreans were killed or wounded in that mission, Western officials said. However, the troops have not operated inside Ukraine.

Before the troop deployment, Pyongyang sent shipments of artillery ammunition and ballistic missiles to help Russias war effort.

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In contrast, China has yet to send a single bullet in support of Russias invasion, according to Western officials.

That makes it highly unlikely that Beijing is willing to sanction the deployment of its own troops alongside Russians.

Were not seeing evidence of state sponsorship here, a Western official said.

While claims that captured soldiers could be evidence of Chinese involvement are probably wide of the mark, Beijing is not innocent.

Western officials have indicated that there is significant evidence that demonstrates China has almost single-handedly kept Russias battle-stricken defence industry afloat with supplies of precision machine tools and hi-tech components.

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For the Ukrainian president, it is also another example that proves to Donald Trump that Putin is not ready for peace and is stringing along the Americans attempts to broker a ceasefire.

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BOSTON (SHNS)  The splintering of Steward Health Care last year resulted in the transfer of six hospital campuses, the closure of two others, and a reshaping of the states health care world. That might be just the start of a rethinking of the role hospitals can play in Massachusetts, Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh said Monday.

Walsh spent most of 2024 engrossed in Stewards bankruptcy, a saga that concluded Oct. 1 when hospitals in Boston, Brockton, Fall River, Haverhill, Methuen and Taunton were handed over to new owners. Steward shuttered Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer about a month earlier. Walsh and Gov. Maura Healey arranged for a state aid package totaling at least $417 million over three years to help the new operators, and the state convened local task forces to address health care desserts in the areas Steward fled.

The secretarys musing on the future of hospitals came in response to a question from a member of the Nashoba Valley working group, Rep. Margaret Scarsdale of Pepperell, at a budget hearing Monday in Attleboro.

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I think we all have to think differently about what hospitals are and what theyll be in the future. Hospitals are such iconic parts of communities; people are born there, they die there, they get better there, it creates a lot of jobs, its a center, it supports the deli guy across the street because people forget to bring their lunch, Walsh said. I grew up working in hospitals. I love hospitals. I hate to see them close. The sad fact is, across our country, there are 1,300 critical access hospitals  theres one in Massachusetts, in Athol  and a third of those hospitals were projected to close. The small community hospital is, its just really threatened. Its threatened by changes in how people live their lives, its threatened by changes in how health care is delivered.

Walsh was senior vice president of Massachusetts General Hospital from 1988 until 2002, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Brigham and Womens Hospital from 2004 until 2010, and spent 13 years as president and CEO of Boston Medical Center Health System before joining the Healey administration.

Last Wednesday, the Center for Health Information Analysis (CHIA) released its hospitals financial report for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2024  the first complete reporting period in which Steward was no longer an operator of Massachusetts hospitals.

The data show the statewide median operating margin for hospitals was -0.7% and that 55% of Massachusetts hospitals reported negative operating margins during the final three months of 2024. Sixteen of the 21 reporting health systems (hospitals and affiliated physician practices) told CHIA they experienced negative operating margins during that timeframe.

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CHIAs quarterly reports are no longer a warning sign; they are a red alert for the painful financial conditions our local hospitals are enduring. After half a decade of economic turmoil for Massachusetts healthcare providers, the consequences have become more dire and visible than ever  whether they be layoffs, packed EDs, or reduced investments in new technologies and facilities, Daniel McHale, senior vice president of healthcare finance and policy at the Mass. Health and Hospital Association, said.

Walsh told lawmakers Monday that what I think we need to do here in Massachusetts is a little bit of whats happened as a result of the closures at Carney and Nashoba.

I think at Carney well see a combination of health care delivery, a school and housing. Thats great for that neighborhood. I think that we just have to think differently about what success looks like and I say that acknowledging that its very hard for communities to give up their hospitals, she said. But this is not the last conversation like this well have in the next couple of years.

The secretary said the primary goal would be to make sure that people have access to the services they need in the most effective way they can be delivered. She said everybody thinks, Oh, I have cancer, I have to go to the hospital, but most cancer care today is done in outpatient infusion centers. She also mentioned ambulatory surgery, imaging and screening as the kinds of in-demand services that can be delivered without a hospital in the traditional sense.

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UMass Memorial Health, the largest nonprofit health care system in Central Massachusetts, announced in January that it plans to establish a new standalone emergency department in the Nashoba Valley region and also offer certain imaging services. Walsh on Monday told Scarsdale that her district will have a satellite emergency facility so that people wont be in the back of ambulances, you know, very worried that theyre taking their last breath.

I think that we have the beginnings in the Nashoba Valley of a more durable and sustainable health care delivery system, Walsh said.

The secretary said she is hopeful for the Nashoba Valley region because what we had was an empty community hospital that people just werent using.

Because if somebody was using it, it would have been more economically viable [to buyers]. I mean, person after person went through that facility, buyer after buyer went through that facility, and said, We just cant make it work., she said.

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The White Lotus has once again been a hit for Max  this time more than ever. While were still awaiting the final viewership figures for the much-discussed season three finale, released this past Sunday night, this batch of episodes has already doubled the audience of the first season and surpassed the second. Citing internal HBO statistics and audience measurement company Nielsen, The New York Times reports that the series has drawn nearly 20 million viewers in the U.S. alone. By comparison, the first season had nine million viewers, and the second season reached 15 million. Its now one of the most-watched shows in HBOs recent history, surpassed only by The Last of Us and Euphoria.

In light of this success, the platform announced several weeks ago that Mike Whites series has already been renewed for a fourth season. The process is so advanced that both White and executive producer David Bernad have been scouting potential locations for the next season since March. As White explained to EL PAIS during the filming of previous seasons, he would like to set each one on a different continent.

In recent weeks, the creators have hinted at relocating to Australia this time around  the country meeting all the required criteria, as White mentioned while participating in a cultural festival in Sydney. However, platform executives are leaning toward a more accessible location, likely somewhere in Europe.

This was recently suggested, or nearly confirmed, by HBOs head of drama, Francesca Orsi, in an interview with Deadline, an audiovisual industry magazine.

As for White, he revealed that its highly probable he wont choose a location by the sea: For the fourth season, I want to get a little bit out of the crashing waves of rocks vernacular, the creator confessed in a behind-the-scenes special published on Maxs YouTube channel.

David Bernad adds that White isnt a fan of cold climates, so a hot, landlocked location could be in Africa, the other continent the franchise is set to explore.

The White Lotus premiered in the summer of 2021, when Max was still simply HBO. Initially conceived as a miniseries, its impact  a pandemic-era tale of a group of disillusioned millionaires isolated in a luxury hotel in Maui, Hawaii  was so profound that it evolved into an anthology series, with a new set of characters each season. Since then, the high-end Four Seasons chain has served as the filming location for the series, standing in for the fictional hotel.

Each season, in addition to changing destinations (and platform names), follows a familiar narrative formula: a murder revealed in the final episode and the clash between hotel guests and staff, highlighting class divides. But each season has explored different themes. The first season, set in Hawaii, tackled issues of colonialism and racial differences. The second, set in Sicily and released by HBO Max, examined the politics of sex and the diplomacy of emotions. This third season, filmed across two islands in Thailand and part of the Max catalog, delves into themes such as spirituality and personal beliefs.

Aubrey Plaza in a scene from The White Lotus.

What White has always explained is that he doesnt choose the location for the next story until a particular place inspires a new narrative. In Sicily, it was the Teste di Moro (Moorish Heads): iconic decorative objects on the island that recall a love story between a local maiden and a Moor. For the Thailand-set story, filmed on Phuket and Koh Samui, the inspiration came from Whites own feverish delirium, as he fell ill during a visit to the islands. That means its still too early to know which destination will be chosen for season four.

Although The White Lotus has gone from a miniseries to an anthology series, its cast has not been entirely renewed. The second season brought back fan favorite Jennifer Coolidge as the eccentric Tanya, and with her returned Greg (played by Jon Gries), the man she had fallen for in the earlier episodes. The third season also reconnected with the original storyline, featuring the return of Belinda, the hotel worker whom Tanya had lured with promises of investing in her business, only to abandon her at the last minute. Greg also makes an appearance in this third season: he has so far been a constant throughout the series.

Jennifer Coolidge in a scene from the second season of 'The White Lotus.'

Without a story, theres no cast. However, its almost certain that the fourth season will feature characters already familiar to fans of the series. Before becoming a showrunner, Mike White was a dedicated reality show contestant. He appeared on Survivor and The Amazing Race, where he experienced the very challenges that later inspired parts of the script for The White Lotus. This background means its possible that he could lean into one of the most common twists in this type of format: All Stars. Rather than bringing back just one or two characters, the continuation of the story might feature a mixed cast, drawn from actors across all three previous seasons.

In any case, filming for The White Lotus wont begin until 2026. By the time the new episodes air, will Max have changed its name again?

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NEW BERN, N.C. (WNCT)  A man in Cary was sentenced to 61 months in prison for device fraud and identity theft on Tuesday, Apr. 8, 2025.

On Nov. 4, 2024, Ibrahim Abiodun Aderounmu, 27, pled guilty to the charges. Aderounmu was also ordered to pay $536,782 in restitution to the victims.

Court documents presented that in 2020 and 2022, Aderounmu engaged in multiple device fraud schemes involving the theft and misuse of personal identifying information (PII) of victims across the United States. This resulted in attempted losses of more than $650,000.

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Aderounmu would use the victims PII to submit hundreds of applications for Chase Bank business credit card accounts. The physical credit card was then mailed to Aderounmus apartment in Cary if the application was successful. He would use these credit cards to make online and in-store purchases.

During a search of Aderounmus apartment, officials found more than 400 access devices, including debit cards for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Daniel P. Bubar, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam F. Hulbig prosecuted the case for the government.

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MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- Four new people were sworn in to become Court Appointed Special Advocates with a special ceremony in Midland.

We have four kids of our own, so that is kind of a big deal to us to be able to put back into the community and do something that we feel like we are good at, CASA of West Texas volunteer Carry Wood said. Being around kids and helping them.

The new advocates had to complete classwork and observe court proceedings to qualify but said CASA workers help them throughout the process.

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We are always looking for more advocates especially since we have expanded, Volunteer Recruiter and marketing specialist for CASA West Texas Ariel Sanchez said. We are always looking for more volunteers more community members to step up and serve these childrens.

CASA said its looking for people of all backgrounds to help children in need within the community.

These children comes from all walks of life and we want our volunteers to reflect that, Sanchez said. Really if you have the heart and desire to help children come from rough circumstances thats really all you need. We just need our community to step up for these kids, they need us.

If you want to make an impact or give back to your community, reach out to CASA to learn more.

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(COLORADO SPRINGS)  Casco Construction is groundbreaking its first major commercial development in Colorado Springs on Tuesday, April 8.

From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Casco Construction will be at the intersection of Woodmen and Mohawk, celebrating the groundbreaking. The development will feature a 368-unit apartment complex, as well as major retail and dining places, including Midas, Chick-fil-A, Murphy Oil Convenience Store and Gas Station, Taco Express, and a 12,000-square-foot retail center.

To celebrate, there will be local businesses and food trucks on site on Tuesday.

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Granite State Landfill LLC, a subsidiary of the Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems, filed the legal complaint in Merrimack County Superior Court Tuesday. (Photo by Claire Sullivan/New Hampshire Bulletin)

A company that has spent years trying to build a landfill near a lake in a northern New Hampshire town is taking a recent permit denial to court.

Granite State Landfill LLC, a subsidiary of the Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems, filed a legal complaint in Merrimack County Superior Court Tuesday against the states Department of Environmental Services, arguing the administrative rule that the agency used to deny its application violates the constitutional separation of powers by usurping legislative authority.

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Last week, DES denied the companys solid waste permit application for the proposed landfill in Dalton, which has drawn years of opposition over its close proximity to Forest Lake and fears about negative public health and environmental impacts. The agency said the application had become dormant and was therefore denied under its rules. While the solid waste permit is one of several sought by the company, the project cannot move forward without it.

In Tuesdays legal complaint, the company argued that that dormancy rule is beyond the scope of the departments legal authority, making its denial of the permit application on that basis unlawful. GSL is asking the court to declare that the rule is void for that reason and, consequently, the denial. The company also said it would seek an appeal of the denial through the states Waste Management Council.

Jim Martin, a public information officer for the department, said DES cannot comment on ongoing litigation.

This latest chapter comes at a new height of political opposition against the landfill. In her inaugural address, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte vowed she would not allow the project to go forward and endorsed a one-year pause on all new landfills in the state, a stark change in tone and policy from her predecessor Chris Sununu. In the Legislature, a host of bills aim to address various waste issues in New Hampshire, including strengthening siting requirements that critics say are far too relaxed.

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Jeff Weld, Casellas vice president of communications, said the company was confident its petition for declaratory judgment would be successful, and that the development of the Granite State Landfill will remain on track. He defended the project as creating needed additional disposal capacity, something opponents have argued the state wont need for years.

It is unfortunate that despite providing thousands of pages of documents over the course of two years and nearly a dozen separate supplemental submissions in response to requests from NHDES, that they chose to deny the permit application based on dormancy, Weld said. The ongoing submissions, conversations, and work being conducted in support of the permit application supports our claim in the petition that there is no way for the application to be considered dormant within any ordinary meaning of that word.

His statement echoes a point made in the legal filing; while the company argues that dormancy is not a legitimate reason for the department to deny its permit application, it also argues that the permit could in no way be considered dormant within the ordinary meaning of that word.

The company said it has submitted approximately 4,000 pages of documents and plans to the department, that it has made ten substantial submissions since the application was filed in October 2023, and that most of GSLs submissions were in response to additional information sought by NHDES in letters finding the application incomplete.

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Amy Manzelli, an attorney with BCM Environmental & Land Law who represents the North Country Alliance for Balanced Change, a citizen group opposed to the landfill, said GSL and its parent company, Casella, sometimes fall into this trap of mistaking quantity for quality.

The complaint goes on at length about how much quantity of application material GSL submitted, but that doesnt necessarily mean they met the required quality of information that they needed to provide, Manzelli said, and I think they just missed the mark on that.

She said she doesnt think the company has a winning argument.

Theres a clear statutory authorization to the Department of Environmental Services to make rules about denying permit applications, and so the department went ahead and did that, Manzelli said.

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In its permit denial last week, the department told the company that a permit application becomes dormant when the applicant fails to submit required information requested by the department within a year of first being notified that the application is incomplete, a date that came in February for Casella. A dormant, incomplete application shall be deemed denied without further action by the department, said Michael Wimsatt, director of DES waste management division, in a letter to the company.

Wimsatt said the application remained incomplete for a number of reasons, like not including a site report that demonstrates that the location of the proposed facility complies with all applicable siting requirements and that the site is a suitable location for the proposed facility. Additionally, the maps, figures, and hydrogeological report submitted by the applicant in 2023 had not been updated to show compliance with the states regulations that were updated in December, Wimsatt said.

Wimsatt also said that legal agreements submitted by the company failed to fulfill application requirements because they were heavily redacted and referenced other legal agreements, which were not provided.

The company asserts in its legal complaint that it provided all the necessary information to complete the Application by February 27, 2025, at the latest. It also argued the department was not entitled to the entirety of the agreement between GSL and the landowner, where the redacted terms have no bearing on whether GSL will have the requisite ownership interest. It also pointed to the fact that the updated rules were not in effect at the time its application was determined to be incomplete.

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Adam Finkel, a Dalton resident and former federal regulator who opposes the project, has also frequently been critical of the department. He pointed to those critiques in outlining his doubts about Casellas legal argument.

My real beef with DES and with the Legislature is that the statutes give them (the department) too much authority.  Like (RSA) 149-M says, Go ahead and make rules in the following 11 areas, Finkel said. So theres almost nothing theyre not allowed to do. So I was actually kind of amazed that Casellas now saying, you know, You dont have authority to do this, because the statutes are so open ended.

He urged the Senate, which has traditionally been a hurdle to landfill legislation, to approve a moratorium, bolster siting requirements, and greenlight other bills aimed at strengthening the states waste policy.

The Senate has no excuse now but to pass these bills, because were under siege from a company that wont go away, Finkel said.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)  The Ontario County Sheriffs Office revealed the cause of death for a couple found in their Canandaigua home.

On April 3, the Ontario County Sheriffs Office was sent to the home for a welfare check. They said a package delivery driver noticed items delivered the week before were still outside the home.

Deputies said the home was secure, everything was locked, and the owners vehicles were in the driveway. After forcing their way into a home, they found the bodies of 82-year-old Priscilla Herbik and 81-year-old Christian Herbik. Both bodies had gunshot wounds to their upper body.

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Investigators said a shotgun was found near Christians body, but there were no signs of a struggle.

The Monroe County Medical Examiners Office ruled Priscilla Herbiks death a homicide and Christian Herbiks death a suicide. The couple was married.

The Sheriffs Office continues to investigate but does not believe there is or was any threat to the community.

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LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR)  The state and the city of Lakewood are sharing updates about coordinated efforts to clean up a growing homeless encampment near the 6th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard interchange.

The mounting trash, fires being started near trees and contamination are all a big concern for neighbors.

Previous coverage: Residents fed up with growing homeless encampment near Lakewood neighborhood

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Bob Emulengracht showed FOX31 a gate he has blocking access to his home from a nearby creek after an encampment started causing concerns.

Bob Emulengracht showed FOX31 a gate he has blocking access to his home from a nearby creek after an encampment started causing concerns. Bob Emulengracht showed FOX31 a gate he has blocking access to his home from a nearby creek after an encampment started causing concerns.

Even though I own the property, Ive actually put a lock on that gate so nobody can come on my property, said Emulengracht.

He worries about contamination in a waterway that feeds into the Platte River, the accumulating trash, fires being started and accidents that can happen near the busy interchange.

These are very busy streets around here, I worry a lot that the people with shopping carts and bicycles wandering across the roads, somebody is going to get hurt, said Emulengracht. Some innocent driver is going to pay the price for it. I worry about it a lot, it cant continue to go about like this.

A busy interchange at 6th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard.

It eventually spun into this. This is the worst Ive ever seen it, said Emulengracht. They need to take care of this mess and get it cleaned up. I wish no ill will on the homeless people. They need help. They need resources. They need something beneficial to them, but this is not it. 

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Its an area thats known to us, said Matt Inzeo, CDOT communications director. Its one of the many examples across the Denver Metro Area where we are trying to coordinate with local jurisdictions to do everything we can to keep these areas clear.

Inzeo said CDOT is involved with the process because it owns a lot of property along the State Highway system.

There is some specific safety concerns that can be involved in a lot of those areas. We have seen examples in the past where people living or using the area underneath bridges will often light fires in order to keep themselves warm, said Inzeo. That can actually damage the structural integrity of those bridges, theres examples in other states where they have had actual bridge collapses because of the soot.

Homeless encampment clean-up uncovers makeshift chimney under I-70

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Although the City of Lakewood told FOX31 initially any clean up and enforcement rests with the state, Inzeo said theres an agreement giving the city legal authority to take action against any person or any CDOT property located within Lakewood City who does belong on the property.

Its why we coordinate so closely with cities and towns across the metro area. We want to see these areas clear as well but ultimately we need that law enforcement participation, said Inzeo. Particularly the city local municipal forces are critical in getting this job done.

The city of Lakewood declined to speak with FOX31 on camera, but sent over a statement that reads:

The City of Lakewood continues to make homelessness response a priority in our community. For those experiencing homelessness, this includes robust outreach efforts, addressing critical needs, and developing pathways to housing. For those in the community affected by homeless encampments, the city works to ensure prompt cleanup. In situations where the property belongs to another government entity, we rely on our established partnerships to achieve this goal together. We confirmed with our partners at the Colorado Department of Transportation last week that, as soon as the departments cleaning contracts are renewed and the state is ready to clean the site, we are ready to respond to ensure everyones safety and take enforcement action if needed.

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I-25 resurfacing project begins: Overnight impacts planned through January

Our Denver metro crews have actually been looking into getting some fresh funding resources to really get to work this spring and summer with localities really across the area, said Inzeo. They have certainly been talking with the Lakewood folks as I understand. The priority is we want to take coordinated action.

Inzeo went on to say CDOT crews conducted more than 200 clean-ups last year. That number speaks to how broad of a challenge this issue is.

Meanwhile, CDOT says if safety is a concern, you should reach out to your local government to figure out what action should be taken.

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Apr. 8ROCHESTER  "Childcare Crisis: Red Tape, Rising Prices and Vanishing Options" is the title of a public event put on by the Center of the American Experiment.

The event will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at the International Event Center, 7333 Airport View Dr. SW, Rochester. Admission is $15 (appetizers are included; cash bar is available). Tickets can be purchased online.

Many parents are struggling to find affordable, high-quality child care. Economist Martha Nmolomole will discuss how overly strict government regulations make it tougher for providers to operate, limiting families' options and driving up costs, according to the event's page.

Doors open and appetizers will be served at 6 p.m. The program begins at 6:30 p.m. and concludes at 7:30 p.m.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  Students at Centerville High School are making a difference in the lives of people in the Miami Valley.

CHS students will hold an in-school clothing drive from Monday, April 14, to Friday, April 18, to support Clothes That Work. They will also have a community drop-off in the front parking lot on Sunday, April 13, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Save a life: Donate blood at local drives this April

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Clothes That Work is a charity that provides people with business or business casual outfits they can wear while job seeking and in the workplace.

Both monetary donations and clothing donations are encouraged. Clothes should be clean and appropriate for work. Accepted items include the following:

Tops: Dress shirts, polo shirts, sweaters, blouses and dresses.

Bottoms: Khaki pants, slacks, nice jeans and skirts.

Accessories: Dress shoes and dress socks. Belts, ties, etc.

The charity is located at 1133 South Edwin C. Moses Blvd. Sutie 392. Its boutique hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday. 9 a.m. to noon on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays.

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To learn more about Clothes That Work, click here.

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Genesee & Wyoming short line Central Oregon & Pacific can take over local operations from Union Pacific in Eugene, Oregon, as soon as Saturday, federal regulators have ruled.

In a unanimous decision Tuesday, the Surface Transportation Board denied the SMART-TD unions request to scrutinize and reject the lease deal. The decision also denied Central Oregon & Pacifics request that the board partially waive labor notification requirements.

G&W will take a phased approach to beginning operations on 27.58 miles of leased trackage, plus UPs Eugene Yard and certain related excepted track.

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Were expected to start switching this coming weekend and then fully take over operations of the yard in early May, G&W spokesman Tom Ciuba says.

UP and Central Oregon & Pacific announced the deal late last year. The G&W short line will serve 22 customers on the leased trackage, including those shipping or receiving forest products and paper, grain, propane, and scrap metal. UP and G&W executives have said the transaction will improve first- and last-mile service, reduce transit times, and lead to volume growth.

But the SMART-TD union said the transaction would degrade service, pose safety issues and result in the loss of higher-paying union jobs.

The STB said those assertions were not supported by the evidence and were insufficient to support a rejection of the notice of exemption. The transfer of Class I trackage to a short line is generally exempt from board review.

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Central Oregon & Pacific had failed to include the unions representing signal and electrical workers in its initial labor notifications about the short lines pending takeover. The railroad subsequently asked the board to allow the deal to proceed on its original timeline, rather than incur a delay stemming from the 60-day notification requirement.

The STB said there was no reason to partially waive the labor notification requirements, which pushed the effective date of the transaction to next Saturday.

Board member Robert Primus, in a concurring opinion, said he was conflicted about voting for the decision allowing the transfer of operations to occur.

On the one hand, I see this as a big win for the Central Oregon and Pacific Railway (CORP) and the more than twenty shippers in the Eugene and Springfield areas served by Union Pacific, he wrote, noting that Central Oregon & Pacific has a reputation for consistent and reliable service.

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As I have publicly stated, our nations short lines truly are the growth engines of our freight rail network. Their white glove service has enabled many short lines to experience double digit growth, even as growth among Class Is has been relatively flat, Primus wrote.

But he also expressed concerns about the impact on UP workers and wondered whether shifting local operations to shortline railroads was part of cost-cutting rather than a focus on carload growth.

On the other hand, while there are clear winners within this transaction, there is also a clear loser, and I am especially concerned about the negative consequences confronting affected members of the various rail labor unions who, in all likelihood, will either lose their union jobs or see a decreased workload as a result of this transaction, Primus wrote. Profit over people, time and again, has proven to be a disastrous formula for the network. I find myself wondering if this is truly an effort on behalf of UP to provide its customers with better service or yet another cost cutting measure seeking to lower its operating ratio to further satisfy the appetite of short-term investors. Judging by UPs zeal to reduce labor costs over the past couple of years, Im willing to put my money on the latter having factored into UPs final decision.

Yet Primus encouraged UP to forge closer ties with short lines to unleash their growth potential.

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UP should allow its short line partners the ability to sell capacity, chase spot opportunities and ultimately become an additional sales channel for UP, with pricing authority and the ability to cooperate in capital expenditure sharing to make it easier for shippers to make long-term commitments, he wrote.

Image: Genesee & Wyoming short line Central Oregon & Pacific will lease 27.58 miles of Union Pacific trackage in the Eugene, Oregon, area under a lease arrangement. (Image: Central Oregon & Pacific via the Surface Transportation Board)

A collaborative effort structured in this way will not only strengthen the relationship between UP and its short line partners but establish a strong model for sustainable growth. If UP can do this, then it might really be onto something special, Primus wrote.

UP CEO Jim Vena has insisted that handing off local operations makes sense because short lines can provide better service than a Class I. The Central Oregon & Pacific deal, he says, could be a model for improving carload service and turbocharging growth elsewhere on the UP system.

We think that its a win for the customers, its a win for Union Pacific, and its a win for G&W. It really is, Vena told Trains in January.

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In a similar if smaller deal, UP in February said it would allow Jaguar Transport Holdings short line The Kansas City West Bottoms Railroad to serve a cluster of customers in Kansas City, Missouri.

Thats just the start, Vena told the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association conference Monday. I think we can grow our business by partnering with companies that can help us grow the biz, remove inefficiencies, and drive value to customers. When it comes to short lines, the baseline has to be that you do a better job than a Class I. The short line has to be much more efficient, costwise, than a Class I. But short lines can have a better relationship with a customer because they work in a community at the local level, and grow the business that way.

Related

Union Pacific Railroad CEO very comfortable working through tariffs

The post Central Oregon & Pacific takes over UP operations in Eugene, Oregon, Saturday appeared first on FreightWaves.
CENTRAL NEW YORK, N.Y. (WSYR)  A simple moment of silence spoke loudly at Mondays board of education meeting for the Central Square School District, as the community continues to struggle with the death of 12-year-old Aunamarie Mahnken, who was hit by a car crossing Route 11 in front of the middle school.

Update: 12-year-old girl dies from injuries in Central Square school zone crash

During an open forum at the top of the hour, West Monroe resident Sally Delamater rolled her wheelchair up to the podium to talk about how the tragedy could have been avoided.

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It shouldnt have happened, Delamater said. The state has got to get a light of some kind out there because this is ridiculous. Thats always been a bad spot.

Delamater remembers her son, who was a part of Central Square Middle Schools first class, not being able to cross the same street years ago because of speeding drivers.

A lot of people do speed down through there, she said. I mean, Ive seen it.

She hopes New York State will be able to put up a caution light across the school to enhance road safety.

On April 10th, services will be held at Traub Funeral Home in Central Square from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. A sharing of Aunamaries memories will take place at 6 p.m. Those paying their respects are encouraged to wear her favorite color, purple.

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The News in Brief Tuesday, April 8, 2025

The so-called Ministry of Foreign Affairs of occupied Tskhinvali responded to a recent comment by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, stating that "South Ossetia aims to build an independent state and does not intend to change its development vector and aspiration to strengthen relations with its security guarantor - the Russian Federation."According to the so-called ministry, the ideas expressed by official Tbilisi regarding the possibility of resolving relations are "unacceptable to 'South Ossetia'.""Tskhinvali has repeatedly expressed its position, which is based on the choice of the people of South Ossetia, as outlined in the country's constitution. The lack of progress in international discussions on the issue of security guarantees for South Ossetia and Abkhazia, along with such statements, does not contribute to stability in the region," the statement said.The comment came in response to a remark made by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze in an interview with TV company Imedi, where he said: "Under a consistent policy and patience, any goal is achievable, including the restoration of Georgia's territorial integrity."The Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) has expressed concerns over the draft law registered in the parliament by the Georgian Dream party, which aims to amend the organic laws "On Political Unions of Citizens" and "On the Constitutional Court of Georgia."According to GYLA, the goal of the proposed draft law is to eliminate political opposition, bolster recent rhetoric and propaganda, and ultimately create a one-party, authoritarian government."The changes contradict the principle of pluralistic democracy and disproportionately restrict the activities of not only existing but also newly established parties in the future. In addition, through vague legislative criteria and unrestricted interpretation by the Constitutional Court, which has political influences, the changes in the current political situation will lead to the weakening of opposition parties, the creation of artificial barriers to the formation of future political forces, and ultimately their abolition," the organization stated in a public statement.GYLA also referenced the Venice Commission's stance on party bans, emphasizing that it views such measures as extreme and requiring caution. The organization further noted that high standards must be upheld when banning a party in democratic states, including decisions made by an impartial court, supported by appropriate justification, and free from political influence."It is clear that the initiative to abolish parties serves to clear the political field, remove opponents, and strengthen anti-democratic propaganda."
The European Commission is preparing fines against Apple and Meta for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to sources familiar with the investigations. If so, they would be the first sanctions against major technology companies since Spains Teresa Ribera became Vice President of the European Commission and competition Commissioner. The move that Brussels is considering against the U.S. tech giants comes in the middle of the trade war unleashed by Donald Trump, who has announced massive tariffs on multiple regions and countries around the world.

Its been just over a year since the European Commission opened an investigation into four major U.S. technology companies (Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta) for breaching Europes digital market regulations. The four companies, along with the other so-called gatekeepers of the digital market (due to their large size and potential risk to competition), have greater obligations than other companies, and the probes were opened in response to indications of non-compliance with some of these requirements. The investigations have been progressing over the past few months, and the first conclusions are now emerging, which will likely result in fines.

The same sources said that the sanctions are not expected to reach the maximum provided for in the regulation, that is to say, 10% of the companys global revenue. There are various explanations for this: one is that the period of non-compliance would be approximately one year, as the DMA came into force in phases between 2023 and 2024. The largest fine imposed by the Competition Authority to date was in July 2018 against Google for market abuse that, according to the Commission, had existed since 2011. The amount of the fine was 4.3 billion. Several legal sources also noted that Brussels rarely invokes this maximum limit and that its largest penalties usually opt for percentages of around 3% of global revenue.

Commissioner Ribera was in Washington D.C. last week to participate in an event where she met with U.S. antitrust authorities, including Gail Slater, head of the Department of Justices antitrust section, and Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. It was the first contact between the two administrations, and the main objective was to confirm the continued collaboration they have maintained over the past decade.

Brussels has always tried to keep separate the application of its digital regulations  both the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act (DSA)  as well as the fines, from the trade war and the serious geostrategic differences that have emerged between Washington and Brussels since Trump returned to the White House. The EUs explanation is always that the European Commission has an obligation to enforce the law, and that this is non-negotiable and cannot depend on external circumstances. An example of this is what happened on March 19: the Commission decided to force Apple to open the iPhones digital ecosystem to third parties, which is a bigger blow than a fine of any size, as it implies a change in the companys business model.

The latter kind of move is something that worries large tech companies much more than sanctions. These companies earn a lot of money; in some cases, their stock market capitalization far exceeds the GDP of entire countries: Apples stock value is almost double the GDP of Spain, for instance. Therefore, at the headquarters of these tech giants, greater attention is paid when they are forced to change their business model because Brussels has concluded that their current practices may pose a risk of market abuse.

This is not just about fines  its about the Commission kneecapping successful American businesses simply because theyre American, while letting Chinese and European rivals off the hook, said a source familiar with the investigation into Meta, Facebooks parent company, Politico reported. This highly political argument  much more so than corporate statements usually are  maintains the position it evidenced at the beginning of the year. At that time, Metas CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced that his company was discontinuing content moderation on its social networks (Facebook and Instagram) and attacked European digital regulations, although he targeted the markets regulation less than the services regulation, which is more focused on content than on market practices.

Zuckerbergs words are not so far removed from those spoken by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance during his trip to Europe in February. Back then, in a speech in Paris, he criticized what he considered excessive regulation of tech companies. European and U.S. regulations have always been very different. U.S. regulations are very market-driven, focused on ensuring freedom of enterprise and freedom of expression above other fundamental rights; European regulations, on the other hand, are more rights-driven and seek a balance between all fundamental rights, consumer rights, and the market economy, as Anu Bradford, a digital regulation expert at Columbia University, explains in her latest book, Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology.

However, what Vance said in Paris goes further. The Trump administration is troubled by reports that some foreign governments are considering tightening the screws on U.S. tech companies with international footprints. Now, America cannot and will not accept that, and we think its a terrible mistake not just for the United States of America but for your own countries, he warned.

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  The community is coming together to celebrate those who are answering the call to serve.

On Monday, Our Community Salutes (OCS) of Northwest Arkansas held an enlistee recognition ceremony to honor the high school seniors graduating in 2025 and their families for their commitment to serve in the U.S. Armed Services.

Lt. Col. Jay Stout is a retired member of the Arkansas National Guard, now the chairman of OCS of Northwest Arkansas. He says this event helps prepare these young people and their families for life in the military.

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Theres a lot of people that think they made the decision in a vaccuum, and nobody knows theyre going, Stout said. Now, theyre going to get the celebration and the send off they need and so much deserve these days.

Sebastian County first responders rescue person who drove car into river

Cutter Franks is a high school senior, who said hes known since a young age that he wanted to serve in the military.

Franks says tonights ceremony was not only helpful for him, but believes it will have an impact on everyone getting ready for boot camp.

[It] lets them know that what theyre doing is special, that people recognize what theyre doing and that its not something small, he said. This is big.

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The ceremony also creates a network of local support, and provides much-needed transitional resources to new enlistees.

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CHIPPEWA FALLS  Moving a criminal trial out of Chippewa County is a rare occurrence. In fact, it has only happened two other times in the past 20 years.

Bill Marquardts trial  alleging he had killed his mother in 2000  was moved to Polk County Court. The jury in Polk County found Marquardt not guilty of killing his mother on May 26, 2006, but he was later convicted of killing two women in Florida and remains in prison there on a death sentence that has yet to be carried out.

In February 2010, Shane A. Hawkins stabbed and killed 17-year-old Jason Grau at Hawkins home in Chippewa Falls. Hawkins trial was moved to Dunn County Court, and a jury there found Hawkins guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in January 2011. Hawkins was ordered to serve life in prison; he has been at Oshkosh Correctional Institution since 2019, according to the Department of Corrections online database.

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If defense attorney Michael Cohen had his way, the trial for accused murderer Carson Peters-Berger also would be moved out of the county, just like in those prior murder trials. Peters-Berger, who recently turned 17, is accused of murdering and sexually assaulting his cousin, 10-year-old Lily Peters in April 2022.

The next hearing in the case is set for June; a trial date could be set at that time but its likely to not begin until some point in 2026 due to scheduling of the attorneys, witnesses and experts who may testify.

Cohen has requested a change of venue, largely due to pretrial publicity. He submitted a new letter to the court on Friday, again making his point that the case has garnered local attention, noting that both WEAU and WQOW have produced stories about his request, which has only increased awareness of the case.

I do trust that the court finds it somewhat ironic that, in light of the motion for change of venue, based upon pretrial publicity, that the local media provided yet additional news coverage on this case in new stories on April 2, Cohen wrote in a letter to the court. He noted he would update the court if other media compiled stories.

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Regardless, I trust the court will find the additional coverage on this specific as ironic as does the defense, Cohen wrote.

Peters-Berger is charged in Chippewa County Court as an adult with first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of sexual assault. He was 14 at the time.

Judge Steve Gibbs ruled on Jan. 22, 2024, that the case would remain in adult court, rejecting the defenses petition to have it moved to a juvenile proceeding. The Court of Appeals later agreed with Gibbs. Gibbs has since unsealed the name of the suspect.

Peters-Berger has been held in the Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Eau Claire on a $1 million cash bond since his arrest.

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Lily Peters was killed on April 24, 2022, in Chippewa Falls. Her body was discovered the next morning. When interviewed by investigators, Peters-Berger told police he punched Lily in the stomach, struck her on the head three times with a heavy stick, then strangled her until she was dead. He then had sex with her body. He went home and put his dirty clothes in the laundry, but later returned to the scene, dragged her body a few feet, and covered her body with leaves.

The Marquardt, Hawkins murders

Mary Jane Marquardt was found murdered in her home in the town of Eagle Point on March 13, 2000. Bill Marquardt was charged in her death, and the trial was moved to Polk County. His defense team planted seeds of doubt, ultimately leading to the not guilty verdict.

While Bill Marquardt was found not guilty of killing his mother, he was already serving a 75-year sentence for armed burglary and animal cruelty in the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison.

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Marquardt was convicted of forcing himself into a Tarrytown home in Sumter County, Florida, on March 15, 2000, and fatally shooting and stabbing 72-year-old Margarita Ruiz and her 42-year-old daughter Esperanza Wells. The women were killed in front of two toddlers they were baby-sitting. The children hid from the attacker, surviving the violence.

In February 2012, Florida Judge William Hallman III ruled Marquardt should die by lethal injection for the two murders. Marquardt, who is now 49, has been incarcerated in Florida since he was flown there in May 2009.

Hawkins, who is now 45, stabbed and killed Grau on Feb. 22, 2010. When Hawkins was arrested Feb. 26, 2010, he spoke at length about needing to drink fish water or he would die, and told investigators that he hears voices that ordered him to kill Grau. During his testimony at the trial, Hawkins expanded on his theories that he has traveled to multiple planets and universes and met 42 gods.

He admitted in November 2010 to murdering Grau, but pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The trial was held in Dunn County because of pretrial publicity in Chippewa County. The jury was faced with the decision of whether Hawkins should enter the state prison system or be sent to a mental hospital. They ultimately found him guilty of knowingly causing the murder and he was sent to prison.

When asked on Monday, none of the Chippewa County district attorneys since 2006 or Chippewa County Clerk of Court Nate Liedl could recall a criminal trial moved elsewhere except the Hawkins and Marquardt cases.
Its hard to think of a British family that hasnt been affected by infidelity and divorce in some way.

Three of my good friends marriages have collapsed in messy circumstances in recent years. And Im only too aware that the success of my parents 24-year marriage  until death did them part  was founded on the fact that my father had left at least one marriage, more likely two, behind him (the less documented one was in Greece during the 1940s) and at least two other children, probably more.

Was my dad a good or bad husband? The answer is surely both. My four siblings and I wouldnt have existed without his errant ways.

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Which takes us to the highest-profile second marriage in the land. This Wednesday marks 20 years since Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles at Windsor Guildhall, followed by a blessing ceremony at St Georges Chapel with an act of penitence, where the couple acknowledged their sins and wickedness. There were some who would have liked to see them crawl on broken glass to Canterbury for having restarted their youthful love affair once wed to other people  but two decades is an awfully long time to maintain that level of hyperventilating self-righteousness.

You would hope, by now, that pretty much everyone agrees that this septuagenarian couple have earned their marital happiness and have demonstrated that second-attempt marriages can be models of steadfastness, despite the waywardness that may have preceded them.

If youre a dyed-in-the-wool romantic, as I am, its inspiring to see that heartbreak and errors of judgment need not be repeated. Samuel Johnson famously said of second marriages that they were the triumph of hope over experience, but fascinatingly the stats in the UK show the very reverse. According to the last census, 42 per cent of first marriages in the UK end in divorce, but only 31 per cent of second ones. Relationship counsellors speculate that this has much to do with the age, wisdom and tolerance of the participants.

Equally interesting is the fact that this appears to be a very British phenomenon. In the US, about 60 per cent of second-time-round couples find themselves divorced yet again. Which left me wondering whether the Yanks treat marriage like they do businesses, attaching far less stigma to bankruptcy and the concept of rising phoenix-like from the flames, again and yet again.

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As Hillary Clinton said of Donald Trump in 2016: Youve taken business bankruptcies six times. Maybe that formula works for ruthless entrepreneurs, but when you attach it to wedlock, its a different business. Just look at Trumps third wife (and, Lord knows, what number consort), Melania. Does she look as contented with her spouse as twinkly eyed Queen Camilla does? I think not.

I was intrigued to learn when talking last week to the American psychiatrist Scott Haltzman, the author of The Secrets of Surviving Infidelity, that one key piece of advice to couples who seek counselling over the issue is to ask their therapist how many times they themselves have been married.

He says if its more than twice, strike them off your list because their insights may be greater on things that fall apart, rather than stick. And one thing you can say about Charles and Camilla is that the glue of mutual attraction has stuck fast, despite breaks and hiatuses, since first meeting at that fateful polo match in 1970.

Having reached an age where divorced friends and members of my family are introducing new partners to their children and intimate circles, its uplifting to have our King and Queen as beacons of hope for redemption. Who would begrudge this happy ending?

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CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD)  An inmate being housed at the Al Cannon Detention Center died after experiencing a medical emergency.

Officials with the Charleston County Sheriffs Office said deputies, detention center medical staff, North Charleston Fire personnel, and Charleston County EMS attempted life-saving measures at the jail before the inmate was taken to Centre Pointe Emergency for immediate treatment.

The inmate, who has not yet been identified, later died while at the hospital.

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Sheriff Carl Ritchie has asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to investigate, and the departments Office of Professional Standards will conduct an internal review, which follows protocol.

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LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A judge rescheduled a jury trial for accused sexual predator Nathan Chasing Horse. The trial, which was scheduled to begin on April 14, is now scheduled for Aug. 4.

A Clark County grand jury indicted Chasing Horse in October for 21 felony charges including 10 counts of sexual assault with a minor under 16 years of age, six counts of sexual assault, two counts of possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a child, and one count each of use of a minor under the age of 14 in producing pornography, open or gross lewdness and first degree kidnapping of a minor. One charge dates back to 2010, according to court documents.

Las Vegas judge to allow testimony from additional alleged victims in Nathan Chasing Horse trial

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Chasing Horses attorney, Craig Mueller, filed a motion Friday stating he needs more time to prepare for the trial.

This is a sex case with multiple alleged victims in multiple states occurring over several years, Mueller wrote. Numerous witnesses need to be interviewed, many of whom are residing in other states and Canada.

Sex abuse allegations for years: court docs in Nathan Chasing Horse case reveal criminal justice system failures

Two women testified in front of the grand jury that Nathan Chasing Horse used his status as a Medicine Man in the indigenous culture to victimize them. The 8 News Now Investigators obtained transcripts from grand jury proceedings, which also revealed challenges in communicating with a third alleged victim.

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Some evidence in the case is sealed. Prosecutors said they have obtained at least two videos of Chasing Horse sexually assaulting a child.

Chasing Horse pleads not guilty in Las Vegas child sex crimes case

Las Vegas Metro police arrested Chasing Horse, 48, at his North Las Vegas home in January of 2023. The 8 News Now Investigators learned underage girls and women had reported allegations against Chasing Horse dating back as far as two decades.

In addition to the Las Vegas case, there are warrants for Chasing Horses arrest in Montana and Canada.

To reach investigative reporter Vanessa Murphy, email vmurphy@8newsnow.com.

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Police believed Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang for two reasons: He was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and an unnamed informant had told them so.

The two pieces of evidence were not enough to keep Abrego Garcia in federal immigration custody in 2019, when authorities in Maryland arrested him, according to a court filing last month.

Nearly six years later, they appear to be the basis for shipping him to a foreign megaprison with no legal recourse.

'Administrative error' leads to deportation

Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old father of three and protected legal resident who has lived in Maryland since 2011 and is originally from El Salvador, was deported to a high-security jail in El Salvador on March 15. The Trump administration admitted last week that his deportation was an administrative error due to his protected status, but refused to commit to bringing him home.

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The administration challenged a judge's Friday ruling that the government bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. It argued that Garcia was a member of MS-13, citing the accusation from 2019, and said he posed a threat to national security.

"While there is no doubt a 'public interest in preventing aliens from being wrongfully removed,' there is an overwhelming public interest in not importing members of violent transnational gangs into this country," lawyers for the Justice Department wrote in a filing on Friday.

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, speaks in Hyattsville, Md., last Friday.

The argument echoed claims made repeatedly by some of the administration's highest-ranking officials in recent days, including Vice President JD Vance.

"What is it about congressional Democrats that get more angry at deporting violent gang members than they do at the victims of those violent gang members?" Vance said on Fox News last week. "I dont even understand where theyre coming from. Theyve gone off the deep end, and theyve got to come back to reality.

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Reality appears to be more nuanced.

Arrest in 2019 based in part on Chicago Bulls hat

On March 28, 2019, Abrego Garcia and three other noncitizens were apprehended by local authorities while soliciting work outside of a Home Depot in Hyattsville, Maryland, according to Abrego Garcias initial petition filed last month.

The court document states that upon his arrest, authorities with the Prince George County Police Department accused Abrego Garcia of being affiliated with MS-13. After he repeatedly denied being affiliated with the notorious international crime group and did not provide officers with information about other gang members, authorities turned Abrego Garcia over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the petition states.

Prince George's County police officers then produced a Gang Field Interview Sheet for ICE that explained that the only reason to believe Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was a gang member was that he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie; and that a confidential informant advised that he was an active member of MS-13 with the Westerns clique, the court document states.

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Abrego Garcia then made multiple attempts to obtain additional information from local authorities to support the allegation that he was a gang member but was denied several times, the court document states. He simultaneously applied for asylum, arguing that gang members would torture or kill him if he was sent back to his home country, according to the court document.

The Prince George's County Police Department declined to comment.

Judge issues protective order

While in custody, he married his wife, a U.S. citizen, at a Maryland immigration detention center, and was unable to be with her for the birth of their son, the court document states.

An immigration judge granted him a deportation protection order on Oct. 10, 2019, and he was released shortly afterward, according to the document. A more recent filing from Abrego Garcia's attorney quotes the judge as describing Abrego Garcia as "credible."

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ICE never appealed the judges decision.

Nearly six years later, they apprehended Abrego Garcia in an IKEA parking lot while his 5-year-old son, who is autistic, was in the backseat of their car. ICE did not return a request for comment.

The Trump administration sent Abrego Garcia and nearly 300 others to a notorious megajail in El Salvador, defying a court order blocking the effort. The administration claimed the men were all Venezuelan gang members.

Guards lead a man Jennifer Vasquez Sura identified as her husband, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, through the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador.

Court documents show that immigration officials relied on tattoos and social media activity to justify the gang affiliations.

Judge calls government claims 'chatter'

Abrego Garcias attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said in a phone call that the administration's repeated accusations that his client is a gang member "endangers his life."

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He argued that, regardless, the administration did not have the right to deport him.

A: We totally deny that it was true in 2019. B: Theres no allegation even from them that hes done anything since 2019," Sandoval-Moshenberg said. "And then C: Even if you believed that all of those things about him were true, they still concede that they cant do what they did.

At a hearing for Abrego Garcia's case in U.S. District Court on Friday, Judge Paula Xinis chalked up the governments claims to just chatter.

In a court of law, when someone is accused of membership in such a violent and predatory organization, it comes in form of indictment or criminal proceeding so we can assess facts, she said. I havent seen any of those.

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Xinis then ruled in favor of Abrego Garcia, ordering the government to bring him back to the U.S.

Supreme Court intervenes

But on Monday, at the request of the Trump administration, the Supreme Court issued an administrative stay that temporarily paused the order.

The Supreme Court also tossed out a lower court's order blocking the Trump administration's deportation of the 300 men. The administration did so without any legal process, citing the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law that allows the government to detain noncitizens during a period of war or invasion.

"It is a bad day to be a terrorist and criminal alien in the United States of America," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X in the hours afterward.

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In a post on his social media company Truth Social, President Donald Trump described the court's decisions as "a great day for justice in America!"

In similarly unprecedented fashion, the Trump administration has been apprehending foreign students en masse, most of whom are Muslim, arguing that they pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy.

In response the Supreme Court's ruling, Sandoval-Moshenberg again noted in a filing on Monday that Abrego Garcia has lived in the U.S. for years and has never been charged with a crime.

"The Governments contention that he has suddenly morphed into a dangerous threat to the republic is not credible," he wrote.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The destruction of value caused by Donald Trumps tariffs is historic in the equity markets. The loss of market capitalization worldwide has reached $10 trillion (9.2 trillion), according to Bloomberg. That is a figure equivalent to just over half of the GDP of the European Union. For part of Mondays session, the S&P 500 index, the benchmark for the U.S. stock market, accumulated three consecutive drops of 4% for the first time since the Great Depression. The session-by-session collapse was also the largest since the Black Monday crisis of 1987, surpassing the losses recorded during the outbreak of the Covid pandemic (13% in three sessions), the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers (13.9%), or the losses of 1998 (11.7%). In 1987, the U.S. stock market plummeted 26% over the course of three days.

While stocks have felt the impact globally, value destruction operates on a different scale in the United States. The so-called Magnificent Seven (Apple, Google, Nvidia, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Tesla) are the global companies that have lost the most stock market value, totaling 1.5 trillion since Thursday. The leaders of five of these businesses attended Trumps inauguration: the top executives of Amazon (Jeff Bezos), Google (Sundar Pichai), Meta (Mark Zuckerberg), Apple (Tim Cook), and, of course, Tesla (Elon Musk). These five companies have incurred losses of 1.26 trillion in three days due to Trumps tariff policy.

Apple leads the list, with losses of more than half a trillion dollars. Nvidia comes next with $385 billion, followed by Amazon, with $262 billion, ahead of the rest of the Magnificent Seven. Tesla has lost the least value, but that is because it is the least valuable of the group. Apples value drop has been very large in percentage terms (16.8%) and in absolute value, as it is directly impacted by the tariffs; analysts expect sharp price increases for its devices, which are manufactured entirely in Asia. In contrast, Meta and Google, which are both software-focused companies, have lost less than half that amount in relative terms. This sudden volatility comes after a long period of calm in the stock market, according to the wealth management group Mirabaud, which makes the recent sell-off even more striking. According to this asset manager, private investors have abandoned technology, and hedge funds have followed suit.

Coming behind the Magnificent Seven in terms of stock market losses is the leading non-U.S. stock, the Saudi state oil company Aramco, which lost 126 billion, albeit only 8% in value. Then come the giants of the traditional U.S. economy: JP Morgan, Eli Lilly, Berkshire Hathaway, Visa, Exxon Mobil, Walmart, Bank of America... Icons of the great America championed by Trump, who have nevertheless suffered firsthand from the presidents attempts to reverse globalization and have hemorrhaged more than 50 billion in three days. UBS analysts have remarked that the spike in volatility is fundamental and could be long-lasting: This wont suddenly fade away unless we start to see signs that the U.S. might not enter a recession or tariffs begin to ease.

European companies are typically smaller than American ones, which is why their market capitalization losses have also been more modest. So far, the European stocks that have lost the most market capitalization are British companies: HSBC and Shell, followed by Siemens (Germany), LVMH (France), Total (France), and SAP (Germany). Companies from Denmark (Novo Nordisk), Ireland (Accenture), and the Netherlands (ASML) are also on the list of the biggest losers. Other companies include some from China (Alibaba), Japan (Toyota and Mitsubishi), Taiwan (TSMC), which lost 78 billion in value in just one session (last week was partly a holiday in the country), and Samsung, with 35 billion in three days.

Without trade negotiations or concessions on the horizon, the market seems headed for more jitters and instability, a scenario with an end-of-an-era feel that is being echoed in investment banking reports. Investors must now confront the possibility that Pax Americana (American peace, in Latin), an era of relative stability and global order under the influence of the United States after World War II, is coming to an end, reported Muzinich & Co., an investment firm whose CEO was Undersecretary of the Treasury in Trumps first term.

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CHICAGO  When rank-and-file firefighters joined them to demand a contract last month, the Chicago Teachers Union framed the team-up in powerful terms: Two unions. One fight.

Now, with a pending deal for teachers clinched last week, only one of them remains in the ring.

Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 is rounding out the fourth year of its battle for a new collective bargaining agreement. Unlike their counterparts in school classrooms, the first responders have gone without the vocal support of Mayor Brandon Johnson throughout their relatively drama-free standoff.

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But behind the scenes, sources from both sides of the bargaining table described an impasse in negotiations that has them hurtling toward arbitration. By state law, police officers and firefighters cannot strike.

Local 2 President Pat Cleary said the long wait flies in the face of a mayoral campaign questionnaire statement Johnson gave him in which the then-candidate pledged No union should go a day without a contract.

If he were pro-labor, I would have a contract, Cleary said.

How Johnson maneuvers through the political and fiscal dilemma of landing the deal will prove fateful to not just his self-claimed brand as obviously the most pro-worker mayor in the country, but also to how a Fire Department with an aging fleet and old-school deployment model will operate in modern times.

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In a statement, Johnsons press office did not address specific questions about the contract out of respect for the collective bargaining process but said the mayor fully supports the hardworking men and women of the department.

A CTU spokesperson did not respond when asked how the teachers union would continue to support the firefighters union.

While Johnson has yet to reach a contract, he has quietly given Local 2 one major allowance by dropping a sure-to-be-ugly worker reorganization fight his predecessor stood poised to start.

A third-party study commissioned by Mayor Lori Lightfoots administration recommended the Chicago Fire Department drop its standard of manning five firefighters per engine to just four. The 2022 report from the firm Fitch & Associates, obtained by the Tribune, concluded that doing so would free up personnel and money to add more ambulances as the city contends with fewer fires and more medical emergency calls.

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A source familiar with the Fitch report said the study was supposed to give Lightfoot ammunition to pursue the politically uphill crusade of realigning CFD staff, long a third rail at City Hall, by making the case that lives were at stake. But she lost reelection the next year before making inroads, and the Johnson administration has not appeared interested in moving on the proposal.

In October 2023, Johnsons deputy mayor of labor relations, Bridget Early, held a meeting with representatives of the budget office and Law Department and other officials titled Fitch Data Analysis, according to public records obtained by the Tribune. A source familiar with the discussion said one of the goals that fall was to gauge whether the new administration wanted to revisit the Fitch recommendations.

It seems the answer was no. Another source familiar with the Johnson teams Local 2 negotiations said the Fitch proposal was good policy but impossible for the city to implement unilaterally. It would require going toe-to-toe with the union to alter the CFD staffing requirements, known as minimum manning, enshrined in the powerful labor groups latest contract.

The reasons for the ongoing bargaining quagmire since that contract expired in June 2021 are in dispute, but real issues remain.

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The week before he stood alongside CTU President Stacy Davis Gates in March, Cleary played a police scanner audio clip for a reporter.

In the August clip, around the same time his union was protesting daily for a final contract during the Democratic National Convention, 911 operators were frantically searching for a way to get first responders to a South Side emergency: We have several runs pending, several runs pending. If youre available, please let Englewood know. We have no ambulances on run.

This is every day, Cleary said of the tape. This is not just a one-time occurrence.

The union president has loudly called for city officials to add 20 ambulances to CFDs fleet, a bid that amplifies what he says are the life-or-death stakes in his contract campaign. He even contends additional ambulances would make the city money.

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Cleary also pointed to disciplinary protocol  especially how whether employees charged with misconduct get punished before hearings  as another sticky bargaining issue.

Almost two dozen firefighters sued the department last week for violating their constitutional rights with a set of February vehicle searches. The legal challenge was partly intended to prevent the city from using the threat of future searches and seizures while (the union) and Chicago continue to negotiate a contract, according to a copy of the suit.

A Law Department spokesperson said the city does not comment on pending litigation.

Cleary thinks hell win if the negotiations are turned over to an arbitrator after two late-April bargaining sessions, and views other parts of the contract as a package deal with the disciplinary rules.

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He added he believes the Johnson administration is stalling to earn interest on the money already earmarked for the contract, which will include four years of back-paid raises.

Im willing to give them what they want, but they are holding up what we want, Cleary said.

The Johnson official familiar with Local 2 negotiations, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely about confidential talks, took umbrage at that description. The source said Local 2s bargaining team has been caught up in an array of disjointed pet issues and its really (Cleary) thats holding these raises up.

The Chicago Fire Department did not respond to questions about the ongoing contract dispute. Department leaders said in November that incremental progress was being made toward a deal, while Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt called for more ambulances and engines.

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This can has been kicked down the road a long time. The Fire Department has always been the last at the table, she said then.

Johnsons administration has so far not committed to meeting Clearys 20-ambulance demand, and its hard to imagine the cash-strapped city will take on that kind of expense. But behind closed doors, a long-considered proposal to rectify the ambulance shortage problem without adding to the citys fiscal burdens resurfaced under Lightfoot.

In 2021, as the last Local 2 contract expired, her administration tapped Fitch to study optimizing CFD deployment by reducing firetruck staffing in order to beef up ambulance crews without driving up costs, according to the source familiar with the report.

The study found CFD has more than enough staff to quickly respond to the decreasing number of fires, but not always enough ambulance squads for timely runs. A reorganization would allow the department to operate more ambulances, Fitch consultants determined.

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Emergency medical calls accounted for 75.9% of the departments calls, while fire responses made up 21.4% during the time period in 2020 and 2021 that Fitch studied, per the report.

The Fitch team argued the smaller staff would align Chicago with other big cities like Philadelphia, Boston and Houston. The change would be safe because most civilian and firefighter injuries occur during complex emergencies where over 10 teams are on scene and injury rates are not tied to team size, the report said.

The source familiar with the Fitch study said Lightfoots bargaining team proposed reducing minimum manning on engines by one person while leaving it at five on ladder trucks, but was staunchly denied by then-Local 2 President Jim Tracy. The source added contract talks then stalled further with the advent of the 2023 mayoral race, when Local 2 endorsed Paul Vallas, leading to speculation it wanted to run out the clock until a more favorable mayor took office.

Tracy did not respond to a request for comment. But Cleary, who succeeded him in April 2023, said if any mayor were to ever move forward with the sort of broad reorganization Lightfoot sought, there would be rioting in the streets.

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You have no clue how dangerous what kind of situations you would be putting these guys in, Cleary said of the proposal for shrunken teams. It is unacceptable. That would never be accepted.

CFD is required to man most engines with five people but can make exceptions on up to 35 engines per day, depending on department needs that may fluctuate based on staffing levels or volume of fire calls. Cleary said the union wants those exceptions to be eliminated, a nonstarter with the citys bargaining team.

In criticizing the exceptions, Cleary pointed out that New York City requires five firefighters per engine to deal with its own complex urban emergencies. He also cited a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health report made after the December 2021 death of Chicago firefighter Mashawn Plummer that determined the city lacked protocol for short-staffed teams and recommended adequate staffing levels.

In a city where a firetruck will often arrive before an ambulance during a medical emergency, Lightfoot was hardly the first politician to consider redeploying firefighters in order to increase ambulance staffing at the expense of those on trucks. When Mayor Rahm Emanuel declined to rule out cutting the number of firefighters per truck or closing firehouses to save money, Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff said he was deathly against the idea, citing safety concerns much like Cleary. Hoff resigned four months later.

Another factor potentially contributing to the slow pace of negotiations is the fact that firefighters are at the table after the Chicago Fraternal Order of Polices contract ratification in fall 2023, which was also years-delayed.

A collective bargaining provision known as the me, too clause means the FOP contract secured by Johnson that gave police officers 20% raises over four years became the floor for Local 2s next salary bumps. But Clearys team is apparently holding out for better in this contract, leaving the citys bargaining team nonplussed, the Johnson source said.

The ostensible hardball could be a sign that Local 2 leadership simply smells blood in the water after Johnson emerged from a grueling CTU negotiation process vulnerable to further attacks that hes beholden to his former union.

But the mayor denies that narrative and notes his 2025 budget does account for projected costs of the new Local 2 contract  if it lands in time.

This is how dedicated and committed we are to workers in this city, Johnson said last month. Even though the Fire Department contract has not been settled, as a fiduciary, I have a responsibility to forecast and project what the labor costs will be.

____
CHARLESTON, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  As the controversial proposed prison in Franklin County persists in the state legislature, one native tribe continues to oppose the land it will be built on.

On Monday, the Chickamauga Nation held a press conference to announce its findings after conducting its own archeological survey of the site where the proposed prison will be built in Franklin County.

Chickamauga Chief Jimmie Kersh says their findings show the existence of stone box graves, arrowheads and other hunting equipment on the proposed site, found by Dr. David Jurney.

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The Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC), the group overseeing the construction of the proposed prison, acknowledged that concerns about a possible Native American burial site were raised early in the planning process.

The DOC released a statement in March that says it has been mindful of these concerns and has completed preliminary assessments and has found no evidence of a burial site to date.

Chickamauga Nation raises concerns over Franklin County prison site

The U.S. Department of the Interior does not recognize the Chickamauga as one of 547 federally recognized tribes.

However, Chief Kursh, claims the Chickamauga people have rights to the land with a vast history in North America.

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He is now calling on the community to submit public records requests to force the government to make public its study.

The conference was held on the same day that Senate Bill 354 failed to pass for the fourth time. The bill would allocate $750 million to construct the prison.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24.
(Angel Valentin/Getty Images)

From changes to Medicaid to cuts to pediatric cancer research, the Ohio House budget proposal concerns many who have championed child wellbeing and improvement on issues where Ohio struggles  like infant mortality  as important budget priorities.

It just felt like they had taken a hacksaw to some of these line-items without real consideration to what they did, said Kathryn Poe, budget and health researcher for the think tank Policy Matters Ohio.

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Poe said it seems as though state legislators are taking cues from the federal government are trying to drastically cut spending, but that dont improve the state in the process.

These cuts at the federal level also feel really haphazard, Poe said. But the state doesnt have the amount of money or time or influence to make these sort of haphazard cuts.

Specifically, Poe sees the elimination of Ohios Medicaid expansion as a significant change that will create struggles for low-wage workers who count on Medicaid for their health insurance, and who will be prevented from planning for the future without the ability to count on proper health insurance.

As Poe put it, what do you do when 700,000 people lose their insurance overnight?

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The Houses version of the budget absorbed a proposal by Gov. Mike DeWine in his executive budget that creates a trigger effect, eliminating Group VIII, or the Medicaid expansion eligibility group, if the federal government sets the federal medical assistance percentage below (its current level of) 90%, according to budget documents.

The federal medical assistance percentage (or FMAP) refers to the amount of federal funding the state receives for Medicaid, based on a states per capita income.

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The expansion group is made up of Ohioans ages 19 to 64 who have household incomes of less than 138% of the federal poverty line and arent eligible in other Medicaid categories. According to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, the Medicaid expansion has been a major contributor to Ohios uninsured rate dropping by half from 14% in 2010 to 7% in 2022.

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The group said the expansion has also improved access to care, with data showing a 31% decrease in Ohioans who went without care due to cost from 2013 to 2023.

According to the state, the expansion population caseload is projected to be 779,000 Ohioans in fiscal year 2026, and 772,000 in 2027. That would account for more than $13.5 billion in expenditures over the two fiscal years.

Without the expansion, workers under the program would be less likely to have insurance, partly because many workers earning less than 138% of the federal poverty line are working jobs where they arent given enough hours to receive medical benefits, such as entry-level retail jobs or customer service.

Citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio said even workers in the skilled trades like electricians and medical assistants could lose benefits, considering the federal poverty level of 138% for a family of three represents an annual income of $36,777.

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It would be a devastating economic loss, Poe said. The answers (for Ohioans who would lose the coverage) are everything from going to the emergency room, to not getting care, to letting that pain in your abdomen go on so long that you have to go to the emergency room anyway.

The budget proposal comes amid attempts by DeWine and the state to apply work requirements to that particular group of Medicaid participants.

Not only will it create expensive health decisions, but the ripple effects will extend to the ability to afford groceries or have reliable transportation, according to Poe.

Those effects would trickle all the way down to Ohios children as well, according to advocates. Groundwork Ohio criticized a House measure that would end a requirement that the Medicaid department seek approval to provide continuous Medicaid enrollment for Medicaid-eligible children from birth through age three

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Budget documents say the change could create possible service cost savings.

Groundwork called on the legislature to take back the changes, saying nearly 48% of all Ohio children under the age of 6 depend on Medicaid for health coverage.

The program covers about half of all births in the state and thousands of Ohio women rely on Medicaid to ensure a healthy pregnancy and support postpartum recovery, according to an analysis of budgetary proposals in the House draft.

The organization also criticized a provision of the budget that would limit Medicaid coverage for doulas, leaving the coverage for only the six counties with the highest infant mortality rates.

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The House plan also cuts pediatric cancer research by $5 million and eliminates lead abatement programs within the Ohio Department of Health. Groundwork Ohio noted the lead abatement program as part of their analysis of the budget plan, saying Ohio has nearly double the national rate of children with elevated blood lead levels.

Even small amounts of lead exposure in early childhood can harm the brain, delaying growth and development, and may cause learning, behavior, speech and other health problems, the group stated.

Advocates have already been publicly critical of the House plan to slash public education funding and drop a child tax credit proposed by DeWine in his budget plan. But adding the Medicaid changes, along with reducing funding in the areas of child development and a $1.5 million cut to infant vitality programming just make things worse, advocates say.

The Houses proposal represents a step backward at a time when we can least afford it, said Lynanne Gutierrez, president and CEO of Groundwork Ohio, in a statement. We urge lawmakers to fully restore these investments and prioritize Ohios future.

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Youth arrests have dropped significantly over the past decade. But juvenile justice remains a pressing issue for lawmakers and the public, especially as authorities crack down on threats of violence against schools.

Children accused of a crime can quickly become caught up in a system that feels overwhelming and foreign. In the U.S., children have mostly the same legal rights to protect them that adults do when they are arrested or charged with a crime. While you might expect them to have more protections, that generally isn't the case.

"I think people are surprised to hear that kids often don't have any greater protections in the system than adults do," said Amy Borror, senior youth policy strategist at the Gault Center, a nonprofit that advocates for juvenile justice reform.

Rights during questioning

As with adults, children must also be read their Miranda rights before being questioned. These include the right to remain silent and a warning that anything you say may be held against you, the right to an attorney, and the right to have an attorney appointed to you if you cannot afford one.

The Juvenile Justice Center in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 4, 2025.

The child is supposed to understand what those rights mean and waive them before being interrogated.

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"Before you're questioned, you're supposed to make a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of those rights," Borror said.

But it's likely many children don't fully understand what they're being told, she said.

"Surprisingly few people actually understand what [the Miranda rights] mean, even adults," she said.

Law enforcement don't have to contact a child's parents before questioning the child in Tennessee.

Right to an attorney

Children have the right to an attorney. Jennifer Wade, court administrator for Davidson County Juvenile Court, said children are appointed counsel as soon as they are arrested or their case is processed.

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Wade explained that legal decisions are left up to the child and the child's attorney, which can be difficult for parents who disagree with their child's preferences.

"Parents do need to understand that while we value their input and they're a part of this process, that again, they're not the ultimate decision-makers," Wade said. "Attorneys do have to default to their client and what their client wishes."

Protections around detention

If children are arrested and detained, they must have a detention hearing within 72 hours, Wade said.

"If they are arrested and they are detainable, and they stay with us, they're going to have a hearing within 72 hours," Wade said. "Most frequently, those hearings actually happen within 24 hours."

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At that detention hearing, the magistrate must consider several factors when deciding whether the child should remain in detention. Those factors include if there is probable cause the child committed the crime the child is accused of, whether further detention "is in the best interest of the child and the community" and if less restrictive alternatives to detention are available.

While adults have a constitutional right to bail, children do not.

Right to communicate with guardian

If a child is detained, upon being placed in custody, the child must be informed both verbally and in writing of the "right to communicate with the childs attorney and parent, guardian or other custodian." According to Tennessee law, "that provision will be made by the detention facility to allow for such private communication."

Right to a speedy trial

Children have the right to a speedy and fair trial under the Sixth Amendment. Unlike adults, though, cases in juvenile court are tried before a judge rather than a jury.

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Children can still choose to plead guilty, Wade said, but they must first be informed of their right to a trial and then waive that right.

Confidentiality

One way the juvenile justice system is different than the adult system is that juvenile criminal records are not public. They are available only to those involved in the case.

Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee minors' legal rights surrounding arrest, police questioning
China is not taking kindly to Donald Trumps trade war. The president is not taking kindly to China not taking kindly to his tariffs, and the White House announced on Tuesday that imports from China will now be slapped with a whopping 104-percent tax.

When America is punched [Trump] punches back harder, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. Thats why there will be 104-percent tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight. The president believes that [President] Xi and China want to make a deal. They just dont know how to get that started.

It really doesnt seem like China wants to make a deal, though.

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The sweeping tariff package Trump announced last week included a 34-percent tariff on Chinese goods, which come on top of 20-percent tariffs Trump imposed earlier this year. China responded by leveling its own 34 percent reciprocal tariff on American imports in retaliation for what the nation this week called completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice, from the U.S.

The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security, and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday, per the Associated Press. The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.

On Monday morning, Trump threatened to level additional, even more punitive measures against China should they refuse to repeal their own retaliatory tariffs. If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th, the president wrote on Truth Social. Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately.

China missed the deadline, which means the combined total of penalties imposed on goods from Americas third-largest trading partner will stand at 104 percent at midnight on Tuesday.

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As domestic and international markets fluctuate wildly in response to Trumps erratic economic agenda, even Republicans are getting anxious that the president may be about to send the global economy off of a cliff  and cost them all that political power they just won in November.

According to a Tuesday report from Politico, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent flew to Florida over the weekend to plead with the president to recalibrate his tariff messaging strategy to one of deal negotiation rather than haphazard steamrolling.

Regardless of any change in the presidents rhetoric, the White House is making clear that there are no plans to pause the tariff rollout. Its full steam ahead, and Americans will literally pay the price.

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China has hit back against Vice President JD Vance after he referred to the nations population as Chinese peasants.

Vance appeared on Fox News last week, where he defended the Trump administrations widespread new tariffs by asking what the globalist economy has done for the U.S. The vice president said the U.S. was incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make.

He added: We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.

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A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, Lin Jian, fired back at a Tuesday press conference that it was surprising and sad to hear the vice president say such ignorant and impolite words.

He also noted that Chinas position on Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations has been made very clear.

China has taken a defiant stance as the Trump administration issued its most recent threat of a further 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods unless Beijing backs down from its retaliatory tariffs on imports from the U.S. The additional tariff would make the total U.S. levy on Chinese goods 104 percent.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in response that the U.S. was guilty of blackmail, and vowed that China would fight to the end.

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Trump has faced significant pushback from world leaders after introducing his global tariffs, which have created chaos in the financial markets.

JD Vance faced criticism from Chinas foreign ministry after referring to Chinese workers as peasants (Getty Images)

The trade war between the U.S. and China is set to be expensive for Americans. The U.S. last year bought $440 billion worth of goods from China, the second-largest source of American imports after Mexico.

The White House said Tuesday that the 104 percent tariffs on imports from China will take effect just after midnight. This comes as the Trump administration is taking steps to begin negotiations with other countries targeted by Trumps tariffs.

The stock market took a downturn Tuesday after global markets previously posted gains on the belief that Trump would be willing to engage in widespread negotiations on the massive trade barriers he has put in place. The White House plans to hold discussions with South Korea and Japan, two top trading partners, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is set to visit for talks next week.

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Trump officials, however, have said they will not make talks with China a priority.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett appeared on Fox News, saying: "Right now, we've received the instruction to prioritize our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others.
China has branded JD Vance as ignorant and impolite after the American vice-president referred to Chinese people as peasants.

Defending the Trump administrations sweeping tariffs last week, Mr Vance insisted the taxes were a necessary antidote to a globalist economy which has let Americans down.

In an interview with Fox News, he said: We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.

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That is not a recipe for economic prosperity. Its not a recipe for low prices, and its not a recipe for good jobs in the United States of America.

But on Tuesday, China blasted the comments as ignorant and impolite, as relations between the two superpowers sour.

Chinas position on China-US economic and trade relations has been made very clear, said Lin Jian, a foreign ministry spokesperson. It is surprising and sad to hear such ignorant and impolite words from this vice-president.

Beijing and Washington are locked in an escalating trade war after president Donald Trumps liberation day slapped a 34 per cent tariff on all imports from China, on top of a previous 20 per cent levy.

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China then retaliated with a reciprocal 34 per cent tariff on all US imports, prompting Mr Trump to threaten on Monday that he would increase tariffs by another 50 per cent unless Beijing stood down.

But analysts said there are few signs that China will blink in the tit-for-tat over tariffs.

Chinese leaders understand holding firms will be economically costly, said Ryan Hass, the director of John L Thornton China Centre at Brookings, an American think-tank.

Theyre preparing [the] public to tolerate pain.

He added that Beijing is assuming that Trumps goal is to undermine the Chinese economy, and is sceptical that capitulating to the US demands would resolve the dispute.

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Xi also has his own politics to manage, Mr Hass wrote on X.

He doesnt want to allow a perception to emerge at home or abroad of being muscled around by Trump.

In other words, there are factors larger than raw calculations of economic output that will drive decisions in Beijing. Anyone expecting that Beijing will need to fold to protect its economic interests likely will be disappointed Were far from the end of the story. Buckle up!

Lin Jian said China had already made its economic and trade relations clear to American officials - Tingshu Wang/REUTERS

On Tuesday, Chinese state media was also bullish about Mr Trumps domineering behaviour after the new tariff threats. In editorials, outlets insisted that Beijing would not be submissive and accused the US of wreaking havoc on the global economy.

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This is nothing more than protectionism and unilateral bullying  political blackmail wrapped in the cloak of economic means, said the Global Times.

The state outlet added that although China is an ancient civilisation known for its traditions of etiquette and respect, another defining trait of Chinese spirit is standing firm in the face of pressure.

Online, the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs also posted a speech from 1987, in which the then-president Ronald Reagan criticises tariffs and suggests they ultimately hurt the US economy.

The post, which has been widely shared, says the speech finds new relevance in 2025.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. tariff negotiations are the result of calls from other countries not sliding financial markets and China's escalation is a big mistake, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday.

"I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC. "We are the deficit country. So what do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us? We export one fifth to them of what they export to us. So that is a losing hand for them."

President Donald Trump will be personally involved in trade negotiations, Bessent said.

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"Everything is on the table," Bessent said when asked whether the European Union needed to lower non-tariff barriers including value-added taxes.

The United States will see what its trading partners offer, he said, citing an energy deal in Alaska that Japan and South Korea have expressed interest in financing.

"So that could be an alternative for them to come forward with that, because not only would that provide a lot of American jobs, but it would narrow the trade deficit," Bessent said.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Goodman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
The meeting between Gustavo Petro and Kristi Noem, Donald Trumps Secretary of Homeland Security, included some tense moments. There was no chemistry between them, and it was especially noticeable in Noems face, as she displayed her discomfort. The Colombian president, known for speaking his mind, told the ultraconservative Republican official, face-to-face, that one of the solutions to combat drug trafficking would be to legalize cocaine, as was the case in the past with alcohol. This wasnt the first time Petro has made the suggestion, and as the end of his administration approaches in 16 months, he has fewer and fewer qualms about expressing his true opinions.

Noems face, when Petros words were translated, was one of astonishment. Unaccustomed to such frank speech, she misinterpreted some of the presidents comments and even stated, in an interview with a U.S. television network, that he had claimed to be friends with members of Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan criminal gang. But that turned out to be false, as Petro, Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia, and Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez have all stated. It was Sanchez himself who revealed Petros comments Monday about the need to legalize cocaine, as part of a speech in which he described the war on drugs that Washington has waged since the era of Richard Nixon as a failure.

The president did not claim to have ties to Tren de Aragua. He reflected on its origins and the expansion of this criminal organization in different regional contexts. As Minister of Defense, I clarified at the meeting that while the U.S. has designated Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization, in Colombia it is classified as a Common Organized Crime Group (COCG), given its criminal capacity and not its criminal methods, the minister explained on social media. He also announced that 106 members of the gang have been arrested in Colombia, including four of its leaders, and that another 134 have been identified, 15 of whom are wanted by Interpol.

The controversy generated by the visit of Trumps envoy has left a bitter taste in the mouth of Colombian diplomacy. On the day of the meeting, everything seemed to have gone more or less well, as Noem and Sarabia made clear in a joint public statement, but the Republican was highly critical of Petro afterward, which is hardly surprising. Trump had already squared up to the Colombian president when they argued about the humiliating manner in which Colombians were deported from the U.S., and that chorus of insults was joined by MAGA influencers and even Secretary of State of Marco Rubio. Petro took up the gauntlet, comparing the White House tenants policies to those of Nazi Germany.

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BEIJING (AP)  China said Tuesday it would fight to the end and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

The Commerce Ministry said the U.S.s imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs on China is completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.

China, the world's second-largest economy, has announced retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming.

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The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate, the ministry said.

The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end," it added.

Analysts and traders worry about a global trade war

Trump's threat Monday of additional tariffs on China raised fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war. Stock markets from Tokyo to New York have become more unstable as the tariff war worsens.

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Trumps threat came after China said it would retaliate against U.S. tariffs he announced last week.

If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th, Trump wrote on Truth Social. Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!

If Trump implements his new tariffs on Chinese products, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would reach a combined 104%. The new taxes would be on top of the 20% tariffs announced as punishment for fentanyl trafficking and his separate 34% tariffs announced last week. Not only could that increase prices for American consumers, it could also give China an incentive to flood other countries with cheaper goods and seek deeper relationships with other trading partners, particularly the European Union.

Chinese people worry, but keep faith with their country

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On the streets of Beijing, people said they found it hard to keep track of all the announcements, but expressed belief in their country's ability to weather the storm.

"Trump says one thing today and another tomorrow. Anyway, he just wants benefits, so he can say whatever he wants," said Wu Qi, 37, who works in construction.

Others were less sanguine. Paul Wang, 30, who sells stainless accessories, including necklaces, bracelets, and tongue studs to Europe, said the European market was now more important after the extra U.S. 50% tariffs and he would be watching to see which other firms in his field would be competing in that space.

Jessi Huang and Yang Aijia, whose companies import chemicals from the U.S., said the tariffs, including potential Chinese retribution, could force them to close up shop.

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It would be very hard and very likely to have a layoff, maybe even closing, Huang said, I might not be able to find another job if I get laid off.

China isn't out of options to retaliate

China still has a range of options to strike back at the Washington, experts said, including suspending cooperation on combating fentanyl, placing higher quotas on agricultural products and going after the U.S. trade in services in China such as finance and law firms.

U.S. total goods trade with China was an estimated $582 billion in 2024, making it the top trader in goods with the U.S. The 2024 deficit with China in goods and services trade was between $263 billion and $295 billion.

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Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian appeared to give short shrift to talk of dialogue with the Trump administration.

I don't think what the U.S. has done reflects a willingness for sincere dialogue. If the U.S. really wants to engage in dialogue, it should adopt an attitude of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, Lin said.

In Hong Kong, where stocks were slightly higher Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee blasted the latest U.S. tariffs as bullying, saying the ruthless behavior has damaged global and multilateral trade and brought great risks and uncertainties to the world.

Lee said the city would link its economy closer to Chinas development, sign more free trade agreements, attract more foreign companies and capital to Hong Kong, and support local enterprises in coping with the impact of the tariffs.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Megerian, Josh Boak and Fu Ting in Washington, Christopher Bodeen in Taipei, Taiwan, and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
By Adam Jourdan

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - China is on a crash course with the United States over a major Chinese currency swap deal with Argentina that has buffered the South American country's depleted foreign reserve levels even as it seeks a new deal with the Washington-based IMF.

In a talk at Miami Dade College late last week U.S. Special Envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone slammed the long-standing $18 billion swap line as amounting to "extortion" by China and said Washington wanted to see it ended.

On Tuesday Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian, in a regular press conference, shot back at the United States, alleging that Washington was trying to "drive a wedge" between China and partners in Latin America.

"Fair-minded people are able to tell who is extorting and coercing others and making trouble," he said in response to a question about Claver-Carone's comments.

"Argentina's currency swap with China has for a long time played an important role in stabilizing its economy and finances, which is welcomed and well received in Argentina."

China, the world's No. 2 economy that is facing a major trade war standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump, has a long-term swap agreement with Argentina, a serial defaulter that has been firefighting a sliding currency and dwindling foreign currency reserves for years.

That swap line has come under scrutiny under Trump, an ideological ally of Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei. Milei faces a tough juggling act, however, between his White House ally and China, which snaps up Argentine soy, beef and lithium.

Argentina and China last year renewed the activated part of the currency swap through July 2026, which helped to defuse fears over a payment crunch. The central bank did say then it would gradually ramp that down to zero by mid-2026.

Claver-Carone, asked about Argentina and its talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a new $20 billion loan program, said he hoped the talks ended in success, but that Washington was concerned about China's role in the country.

"What we would like to see, eventually, is the end of the famous line of credit Argentina has with China," he said. "That line of credit is extortionate, and as long as they maintain that line of credit, China will always be able to extort."

He did not give details about how the currency swap was extortionate, though the United States has long warned about what it calls Chinese debt diplomacy in Latin America. China says it offers tangible trade and investment to the region.

(Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
BANGKOK (AP)  U.S. President Donald Trump and China sparred over tariff hikes and other retaliatory moves on Tuesday, as governments elsewhere were brainstorming strategies to cope with the trade war between the global economic giants.

China said it will fight to the end and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports in retaliation for Beijing's backlash against the 34% tariffs he ordered on his April 2 Liberation Day.

The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement read on state-run broadcaster CCTV.

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When asked about the possibility of talks between Washington and Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said I think what the US has done doesnt reflect a willingness for sincere dialogue. If the US really wants to engage in dialogue, it should adopt an attitude of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit.

Meanwhile, Chinese state-run companies were told to help support the country's financial markets after they were hit by massive saves of selling on Monday.

While world markets calmed somewhat after frenzied selling over two trading sessions that wiped out trillions of dollars worth of wealth, leaders in Asia shifted into damage control mode.

Help for Japan's automakers and steel mills

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Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke with Trump late Monday and then convened a task force Tuesday to mitigate damage from the 24% U.S. tariffs imposed on Washingtons biggest ally in Asia.

Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa was appointed lead trade negotiator and senior officials were dispatched to Washington to follow up on the Ishiba's talk with Trump.

Ishiba told his ministers to do their utmost to get Trump to reconsider and also to mitigate the impact from the U.S. reciprocal tariffs, which he said would be a blow to all industries, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.

India wants a deal

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Indias Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar spoke with his U.S. counterpart Marco Rubio late Monday, pitching for an early conclusion of negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement.

India, which faces a 26% tariff on its exports to the U.S., is hoping for concessions as part of the trade deal. A first tranche of the agreement is expected by this fall. Washington wants India to allow more open market access for U.S. dairy and other farm products, but New Delhi has balked at that since farming employs the bulk of India's workforce.

Indias Trade Minister Piyush Goyal planned to meet with exporters Wednesday to gauge the potential impact and cushion the economy from the tariffs.

A State Department statement said Rubio and Jaishankar discussed ways to deepen collaboration, the tariffs and how to make progress toward a fair and balanced trade relationship.

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Malaysia promises soft diplomacy response

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his government and other Southeast Asian countries would send officials to Washington to discuss the tariffs and it was working to build a consensus on a unified response among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as they convened an investment conference in Kuala Lumpur.

We do not believe in megaphone diplomacy, Anwar said, As part of our soft diplomacy of quiet engagement, we will be dispatching together with our colleagues in ASEAN our officials in Washington to begin the process of dialogue.

Still, he chided the U.S., saying Malaysias trade with the U.S. had long been a model of mutual gain, with its exports supporting Malaysias growth as well as high-quality jobs for Americans. The 24% tariff recently imposed on Malaysian imports was harming all and might have negative impact on both economies, he said.

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Anwar said Malaysia would stick to a policy of diversifying its trade at a time of uncertainty over globalization and changing supply chains.

Hong Kong vows more, not less, open trade

In Hong Kong, which has a free-trade policy and operates as a free port with few trade barriers, Chief Executive John Lee echoed Beijing in blasting Trump's tariffs as bullying and ruthless behavior he said had damaged trade and raised global uncertainty.

Lee said the former British colony, which came under Beijing's control in 1997 but has limited autonomy, would draw closer to the Chinese mainland, sign more free trade agreements and strive to attract more foreign investment to help blunt the impact of the higher U.S. duties.

___

Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Rajesh Roy in New Delhi, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed.
(NewsNation)  Beijing has vowed to fight to the end after President Donald Trump threatened China with an additional 50% tariff if the East Asian country doesnt abandon its retaliatory 34% tariff set to hit Thursday.

If Trump adds a 50% tariff to the previously announced 34% tariff set to take effect later this week, in addition to the standing 20% tariff, the total amount comes to 104%.

Chinas Ministry of Commerce called Trumps latest ultimatum a mistake on top of a mistake. Beijing said the tariff exposes the United States blackmailing nature and that China will never accept the massive levies.

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On Tuesday, U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer confirmed that the tariffs are sill scheduled to go into effect on Wednesday: The nature of the emergency is not something we can wait on anymore.

Congress expresses growing concern on Trumps tariffs

Trump on Truth Social Tuesday said China wants to make a deal, badly, and that the U.S. is waiting for their call. It will happen!

Nations negotiate with US over tariffs

While China is not at the negotiating table, several countries are taking a seat.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to strike a deal with Washington on Monday, offering to eliminate the trade deficit and trade barriers with the U.S.

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Trump has directed his treasury secretary to begin working with Japan and to lead negotiations with the U.S. trade representative.

The European Union on Monday said it is ready to negotiate a zero-for-zero tariff resolution on industrial goods, though Trump said Monday that offer is not good enough.

Will Trump tariffs bring jobs back to the US? Economists are skeptical

Dow leaps Tuesday, spelling potential stock market rebound

Wall Street opened in the green on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 up by at least 3%. The Dow recorded a 1,300-point jump.

The leaps come after days of dropping market trends and dismal future projections which caused concern among lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, business owners and consumers alike.

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But Trump has remained undeterred. Hes likened his Liberation Day tariffs to medicine needed to heal the countrys economy.

Its what is expected. The patient was very sick. The economy had a lot of problems, he said on Thursday. It was a sick patient. It went through an operation.

Musk calls top trade adviser Navarro a moron

Elon Musk on Tuesday continued a spat with one of Trumps lead advisers on trade, Peter Navarro.

Navarro, during a CNBC appearance, said Musk is a car assembler, rather than a car manufacturer, pointing to parts of Musks products he claims are made internationally.

Musk called the comments demonstrably false, and called Navarro a moron.

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When NewsNation asked about the exchange, a White House official responded, Whatever.

Elon Musk calls Navarro moron after false claims about Tesla

Musk on Saturday also criticized Navarros academic qualifications in a social media post: A Ph.D. in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing.

Navarro responded to the message during a Sunday interview on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures.

Look, Elon, when hes in his DOGE lane, hes great. But we understand whats going on here. We just have to understand. Elon sells cars, Navarro said. And hes simply protecting his own interests as any businessperson would do.

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How many migrants are receiving Social Security numbers?

Musk has made other headlines, including his alleged direct appeals to Trump to reverse his decision on tariffs, two sources told the Washington Post.

The outlet reports that Musk made personal appeals to Trump over the weekend. The attempted intervention, confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who spoke on a condition of anonymity, has not brought success so far.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
HONG KONG  China said Tuesday it will fight to the end if President Donald Trump imposes an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods as many countries rush to negotiate trade with the United States.

If the plan is fully implemented, the total tariffs on goods imported into the United States from China would be as much as 104%. In response, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said China firmly opposes Trumps tariff threats, calling its previous countermeasures entirely justified.

If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end, the ministry said in a statement Tuesday, adding that Trumps threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake upon a mistake.

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Trump threatened the new 50% duty on China, effective Wednesday, if Beijing does not withdraw its 34% tariffs on all U.S. goods by Tuesday, which China imposed in retaliation for a 34% levy on Chinese goods the Trump administration announced last week.

A Nike store in Shanghai, China.

Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social. Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately.

Beijings retaliatory tariffs are scheduled to take effect Thursday.

I believe the actions of the U.S. side do not reflect a willingness to engage in serious dialogue, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Tuesday at a regular briefing in Beijing.

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The U.S. should adopt an attitude of equality, respect and reciprocity if it truly wants to negotiate, Lin said.

The Commerce Ministry urged the United States to cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China and resolve trade disputes through dialogue.

Pressure and threats are not the correct way to deal with China, it said. China reiterates that there are no winners in a trade war, and protectionism leads nowhere.

China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own interests, it added.

Stocks in mainland China and Hong Kong rose Tuesday as Beijing scrambles to stabilize its markets amid panic over Trumps tariffs, with Chinese state-backed funds pledging to buy local stocks.

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The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong had climbed about 1.5% at the close of trading on Tuesday, a day after its biggest single-day decline in nearly three decades following Chinas tariff retaliation against the U.S. Chinas blue-chip CSI 300 Index closed up 1.7% after plummeting 7% on Monday.

State money is more like a short-term stabilization gesture, said Gary Ng, senior economist for Natixis in Hong Kong. But its unrealistic, he said, to expect China to inject state-owned funds into its stock market indefinitely if the trade war with the U.S. escalates.

China will hit back at Trump with the same 50% duties if he proceeds with his threat, said Andy Xie, an independent economist in Shanghai.

If Trump wants to take you to hell, you take him with you, Xie said of Chinas possible response in a phone interview Tuesday.

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Xie said he thinks Beijing has concluded that compromise will only lead to more pressure from Trump. China cannot back down anymore, he said.

Trumps 50% tariff threat doesnt make a lot of difference, Xie added, as Chinese goods already face more than 70% in U.S. duties accumulated since Trumps first term.

China has decreased its dependence on the American market, with its exports to the U.S. dropping to 14.7% in 2024, down from 19.2% in 2018 when Trump started a trade war with the worlds second-largest economy, according to the countrys state-run Peoples Daily newspaper.

China [and] the United States will decouple. Its a matter of time, Xie said. You have to bite the bullet.

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Trump said Sunday that China could get a reduction in tariffs if it approves a deal to sell TikToks U.S. operations. He confirmed reports that China and the United States had been pretty close to a deal over the video-sharing app but that Beijing backed out because of the new 34% U.S. tariff.

If I gave a little cut in tariffs, theyd approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs, he told reporters on Air Force One.

However, the president seemed to backtrack on Monday, saying that he is not looking to pause his tariffs on China before they go into effect Wednesday, despite turmoil in the stock market and global economic fears.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
By Farah Master and Sophie Yu

HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - A handful of major Chinese companies like home appliance maker Midea have new badges of honour this year: mandatory clock-off times for staff and bans on after-hours meetings.

Staff at Midea once toiled till late in the evening, but now they're told to leave by 6:20 p.m. The company's page on social media app WeChat even shows a photo of people listening to a band with a caption that reads: "What do you do after work? It's after work when life really starts."

In China, this counts as radical corporate messaging, a sharp contrast to "996" or the practice of working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week - famously called a "huge blessing" by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and an integral part of its tech sector for much of the past 15 years.

Other companies have also made changes, even if not quite as dramatic. At fellow appliance maker Haier, employees have celebrated on social media the introduction of a five-day work week. Workers at DJI, the world's largest drone manufacturer, have posted about their joy at a new policy declaring offices must be vacated by 9 p.m.

"No more worrying about missing the last metro, no more worrying about waking up the wife when I get home," wrote one DJI worker who said he often used to work past midnight.

Haier and DJI did not respond to requests for comment.

In another sign of how the zeitgeist for China Inc is slowly changing, a Beijing law firm was fined in March for not taking corrective measures after it illegally extended staff working hours - a rare imposition of a penalty by authorities that drew widespread praise on social media.

But whether these nascent corporate efforts will turn into winds of change remains to be seen.

Analysts say the mandatory clock-offs seem to have been prompted by changes to European Union labour laws rather than a welling up of social pressure within China. And while "996" was deemed illegal by China's top court in 2021, many people in tech and finance still work extraordinary long hours. Recent years have even seen the emergence of a new term "007", referring to being either at work or on call all day every day.

Significantly, however, China's government is calling for companies to abide by the country's 44 hour weekly work limit.

A State Council action plan to boost consumer spending unveiled in March said workers' rights to rest and vacation should be guaranteed and paid leave should be encouraged. State media have also run articles making those points.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has summoned China's charge d'affaires in Ukraine, seeking explanations regarding reports of Chinese citizens taking part in combat operations on Russia's side.

Source: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on X (Twitter)

Quote: "We strongly condemn Russia's involvement of Chinese citizens in its war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as their participation in combat against Ukrainian forces.

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We have summoned China's charge d'affaires in Ukraine to the Foreign Ministry to condemn this fact and demand an explanation."

Details: Sybiha also stressed that the participation of Chinese citizens in Russian forces involved in the invasion of Ukraine undermines Beijing's credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council and calls into question China's declared commitment to peace.

Background: Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Ukrainian forces in Donetsk Oblast had captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting in the ranks of the Russian military. Zelenskyy also said he had instructed Sybiha to immediately contact Beijing and find out how China intends to respond.

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By Yuliia Dysa and Dan Peleschuk

KYIV (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese men fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine, potentially threatening a fragile peace effort in the three-year-old war.

Beijing is a close diplomatic ally of Moscow. It has not condemned the Kremlin's full-scale invasion, which U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants to bring to a rapid end.

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Writing on X on Tuesday, where he posted a video of one of the alleged men, Zelenskiy said Kyiv had "information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens" fighting. He did not say whether Ukraine believed the men were acting on Beijing's orders.

"Russia's involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war," he wrote, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The case was the first publicly announced instance of Chinese nationals captured fighting for Russia in Ukraine. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.

China's Foreign Ministry objected to Zelenskiy's remarks that more Chinese citizens were at the frontline alongside Russians, calling them "groundless".

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"Ukraine should correctly view China's efforts and constructive role in seeking a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis," ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular press conference on Wednesday.

China was verifying the situation with Ukraine, he said, adding that its government had always required its citizens to avoid areas of armed conflict and "especially to avoid participating in the military operations of any party".

Beijing, which has engaged in some diplomatic efforts for peace, has said it has been objective and fair on the war.

Writing on social media, Andriy Kovalenko, a member of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, called the captured fighters mercenaries but offered no other details.

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Russia has used Iranian drones as well as North Korean missiles and artillery shells since its February 2022 invasion.

Kyiv has also said Pyongyang's troops have been deployed to fight Ukrainian forces in parts of Russia's western Kursk region, where Ukraine staged a lightning incursion last summer.

"But there is a difference: the North Koreans were fighting on the Kursk front against us," Zelenskiy said in a joint briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. "The Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine."

Russia has not yet publicly commented on Zelenskiy's claim about Chinese fighters, nor has it explicitly confirmed using North Korean troops in its Kursk region.

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U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the reports of Chinese nationals captured in Ukraine were disturbing but did not say whether Washington had verified the claim.

China's supply of dual-use items to Russia makes it a major enabler of Russia's war effort, Bruce told reporters, adding that cooperation between Moscow and Beijing contributed to global instability.

TOUGHER STANCE

Zelenskiy, who said the men were carrying documents confirming their identities, told reporters he hoped their capture would prompt the U.S. to take a tougher stance on Russia as it tries to end the fighting.

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U.S. and Russian officials have in recent weeks engaged in bilateral talks, drawing criticism from Ukraine which is suspicious of the Trump administration's conciliatory stance toward the Kremlin.

"I think the U.S. needs to pay more attention to what's happening today," Zelenskiy said. He added that Ukrainian forces had engaged six Chinese fighters in total.

"We really hope that after this situation, Americans will talk more with Ukrainians, and then with Russians."

In a separate statement, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv had summoned China's charge d'affaires in Ukraine "to condemn this fact and demand an explanation".

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China, which declared a no-limits strategic partnership with Russia days before Moscow's invasion, has said it is ready to play a role in settling the war in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Dan Peleschuk; Additional reporting by Anna Voitenko and Daphne Psaledakis, and Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; Additional writing by Liz Lee; Editing by Alison Williams, Peter Graff, Sharon Singleton, Matthew Lewis and Kate Mayberry)
The United States finds it "disturbing" that Chinese nationals are fighting alongside Russian soldiers in the war against Ukraine, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a press briefing on April 8.

Earlier in the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Ukrainian troops captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting with a Russian unit in Donetsk Oblast.

"It's disturbing with the Chinese soldiers having been captured," Bruce told reporters.

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"We're aware of those reports that Ukraine captured two Chinese citizens fighting on behalf of Russia in Ukraine."

Bruce also said North Korea's direct involvement in the war was disturbing and highlighted China's role in supporting Moscow's full-scale war.

"China is a major enabler of Russia in the war in Ukraine. China provides nearly 80% of the dual-use items that Russia needs to sustain the war."

According to Zelensky, Ukrainian troops clashed with six Chinese soldiers near the villages of Tarasivka and Bilohorivka in Donetsk Oblast. The two captured fighters are now being held by Ukraine's Security Service.

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Last fall, North Korea deployed approximately 12,000 troops to Russia's Kursk Oblast to support Russian forces in repelling a Ukrainian offensive. Ukraine captured two North Korean soldiers in January.

North Korean soldiers have thus far fought against Ukraine on Russian soil, while the Chinese fighters were captured on Ukrainian territory.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine had summoned China's charge d'affaires to express condemnation and demand an explanation regarding the matter.

China has been a key strategic partner to Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion, expanding trade and becoming Moscow's top supplier of dual-use goods. Dual-use items can be designated for both military and civilian purposes, thus evading international sanctions.

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Tensions between Washington and Beijing have risen in recent days amid a looming trade war triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on international goods.

Read also: Trump spares Russia from tariffs, but oil price plunge could wreck war economy regardless

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, speaks to a colleague on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on April 1, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Garrett sponsored last year's CHOOSE Act, which allows families to claim up to $7,000 a year in income tax credit per student to spend on nonpublic education expenses, including private school tuition. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

Almost 37,000 students have applied for the CHOOSE Act, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Tuesday morning, with two-thirds of the applicants not attending the states public schools.

Funds from the voucher-like program can be used for education-related expenses, including private school tuition. A family can receive up to $7,000 in state income tax credits per eligible student in a participating school and up to $2,000 for a student that is homeschooled.

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The money for the program comes out of the Education Trust Fund, where nearly all state income tax goes. Under the law, legislators must set $100 million aside for the program starting with the FY 2026 ETF budget, which goes into effect on Oct. 1.

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The CHOOSE Act, Alabamas education savings account program, will allow more taxpaying Alabama families the opportunity to choose a school that meets their childs individual needs, Ivey said in a statement.

Iveys office said the 22,167 applications represented 36,873 students. Of those, 24,506 students (66.4%) come from private school (15,436) or are homeschooled (9,070.) The office said 10,287 (28%) applications were filed for students in public and charter schools.

Of the public school applicants, the governors office said 9,788 came from traditional public schools and 499 from charter schools.

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Mobile County, which has the states largest public school system, had the largest number of applicants, with 5,056. Jefferson County had 4,183; Montgomery had 3,849 and Madison had 2,395.

Applications to the program are currently limited to special needs students and those making under 300% of the poverty line, about $79,950 for a family of three. The program will be open to all applicants starting in 2027, without any income limits.

According to the Education Data Initiative, the average private school tuition in Alabama is $8,289 per student per year.

Democrats and a handful of Republicans from rural areas opposed the law last year, expressing concerns that it could drain the ETF and exacerbate de facto segregation in the states public schools.

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Whitney Miller-Nichols, director of governmental relations for the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools, an organization that provides professional development, networking opportunities, communications, legal support, legislative monitoring and recognition programs for its members, said Tuesday that the organization is frustrated that a fund designed to fund public education is not being used for public education.

Two-thirds of the people applying or not in public schools, which is what we have seen in other states, Miller-Nichols said in a phone interview. Our concern is it takes $100 million out of the Education Trust Fund. And the Education Trust Fund was established in support of public education for Alabama students.

Miller-Nichols also said the application numbers could be misleading.

I will point out that the other thing we dont know at this point is how many of those applicants meet the income qualification, she said. The net might be wider than maybe the program administrators intended, because people are applying even if they exceed the income criteria.

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According to the release, families will be notified in May if they have been awarded the funds and will be able to start using their education savings account in July for approved expenses. Gina Maiola, a spokeswoman for Ivey, said that each applicant will either receive $7,000 or $2,000 for their ESA. Of the 36,000 applicants, about 16,000 (43%) students will receive an ESA from the CHOOSE Act.

Based on the strong response, we fully expect the $100 million to be utilized to support our taxpaying Alabama families, she said in an email.

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An Israeli who shoots a resident of Turmus Ayya has an 80% chance of wounding or killing a dual citizen, said Yaser Alkam, municipal spokesman for this town in the occupied West Bank of just over 2,000 inhabitants, referring to the high number of residents who hold foreign passports, mainly from the United States. And that was what happened on Sunday afternoon, when Israeli soldiers shot and killed Amir Rabee, a 14-year-old Palestinian-American, and wounded two other 15-year-olds. The attack took place just hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to land in Washington to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.

I want to send a message to President Trump, so that he at least puts an end to this situation and stops sending weapons that are killing his citizens, says the boys father, Mohamed Rabee, 49. He answers questions from EL PAIS at midday on Monday during the funeral, at the entrance to the Turmus Ayya mosque and a few meters from his sons body, draped in the Palestinian flag. As on similar previous occasions, the Israeli authorities claim he was killed because he was a stone-throwing terrorist.

Six gunshot wounds: two to the heart, two to the back, and two to the head, the father emphasizes, showing both his passport and his sons, issued on September 23. Amir was born in New Jersey on May 5, 2010, but his father points to what he considers abandonment by the U.S. authorities. Even if he had done something, they shouldnt have killed him like that, Mohamed laments before entering the mosque and sitting down to listen to the sermon beside the body. In the front row, about 30 children of various ages sit on the carpet surrounding the stretcher where Amir lies. They murdered him in cold blood, Yaser Alkam states.

Today is a day of sadness and mourning, but at the same time, a day of celebration because we have a new martyr, says Mayor Lafi Shalaby, referring to another death for the Palestinian cause. This town is proud that one of its children is a martyr, he emphasizes outside the mosque among dozens of people in the funeral procession. Many of Turmus Ayyas families are migrants who have come and gone constantly for generations, he explains. His is one of them. The mayor states that five of his siblings and other relatives live in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, where his father also died in 2002.

Mohamed Rabee displays U.S. passports belonging to him and his son, Amir Rabee. Luis de Vega

Trump is allowing whats happening. Look, as soon as he took office, he lifted the sanctions his country had imposed on settlers. I dont think we Palestinians are even second-class citizens to him, comments the municipal spokesperson, while insisting that they dont have a coordination protocol with U.S. authorities in the area for emergencies like Sundays attack. Rafeh Jbara, 15, also born in New Jersey, belongs to another of those families living between the U.S. and Palestine. With Trump, I think things will get worse, he predicts, surrounded by young people, curious in the presence of reporters. Ive lived 23 years of my life in the U.S., almost always in California, and I dont like what that country is doing at all, says Rachid Aziz, 53, another resident with dual nationality.

General strike

Outside the mosque, young people run around, alternating between Arabic and English while waving Palestinian flags next to posters on the walls bearing a photo of the slain teenager, announcing that the town has a new martyr, as they call those who have fallen for the Palestinian cause. Fatah is in mourning, reads the condolences offered by the political movement led by the Palestinian Authority (PA). In Turmus Ayya, the comings and goings of people can only be seen around Amir Rabees funeral, as the West Bank was holding a general strike Monday and everything remained closed in protest against the conflict in Gaza. Amid the prevailing stillness, large villas dot the town, symbolizing and recalling the progress of those who leave for overseas  and not just for the U.S.

The funeral of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Amir Rabee, shot dead by the Israeli army on Sunday afternoon in the town of Turmus Ayya (occupied West Bank). Luis de Vega

The Israeli army, on this occasion, has made no attempt to deny its soldiers were responsible for the teenagers death. Military spokespersons issued a statement Sunday night: During a counterterrorism activity in the area of Turmus Ayya, IDF soldiers identified three terrorists who hurled rocks toward the highway, thus endangering civilians driving. It added: The soldiers opened fire toward the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and hitting two additional terrorists. They attached blurry, black-and-white video footage as evidence in which three moving shadows can be seen, in which it is impossible to identify anyone.

Amirs father is conclusive when asked about the video. No one can prove that my son is one of them, he states. However, they have clear videos of settlers and soldiers burning houses in Turmus Ayya and killing people, he adds, referring to the prevailing impunity amid the frequent attacks carried out by the occupation troops and Jewish settlers in the area against Palestinians. A few days ago, another minor with dual nationality, this time Palestinian-Brazilian, died. In this case, he collapsed in the Israeli prison where he had been detained since September, and an autopsy report cites starvation as the first possible cause of death. Various Israeli and Palestinian humanitarian organizations report this reality daily in prisons and in the occupied territories.

The residents of Turmus Ayya do not link the attacks in their town exclusively to the current Gaza war, which erupted in October 2023 and has also triggered violence in the West Bank. They insist it is a structural issue and that settlers often arrive, not only armed, but also dressed in military uniform, denounces Yaser Alkam, the municipal spokesman. We will stay and, if necessary, sacrifice our lives, but we will not leave our homes or our lands, he emphasizes. Meanwhile, several hundred people advance from the mosque toward the cemetery amid cries of rage. Some of them carry on their shoulders the body of young Amir, the latest victim of the Israeli occupation in Turmus Ayya.

Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Amir Rabee. Luis de Vega

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COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL)  The City of LaGrange plans to close city offices for the first half of the workday on Friday, April 18.

The half day is granted to city employees allowing them to participate in Leaving LaGrange Better Than We Found It, a litter cleanup campaign than began in April 2018. Since 2018, the city has partnered with various community groups, businesses, schools, colleges, and individuals to help clean up the community.

City offices will re-open at 1:00 p.m.

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On Friday, April 18th community members, organizations, and area businesses are invited to the litter clean up event.

To participate, people can show up Friday at 8:00 a.m. in front of LaGrange City Hall for a quick ceremony and then leave from that location to pick up litter in the area.

After the cleanup, city employees and volunteers are invited to Sweetland Amphitheatre for lunch before returning to work at 1:00 p.m.

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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  The Wichita City Council approved several Wichita Fire Department purchases and discussed the search for a new city manager at Tuesdays meeting.

The council unanimously approved the purchase of two new WFD aerial trucks for $3.9 million, replacing 14-year-old ones. The council also approved spending $400,000 to outfit the new trucks, over $2.5 million for radio replacements for the department, and nearly $1.3 million on breathing apparatuses.

We will have approved $8,216,766 to support a core service in our community, said City Council member Becky Tuttle. We see in a community survey that the service that our community members think is the most important and done the best is the Wichita Fire Department.

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Design contracts and art budgets for new fire stations were unanimously approved. Fire stations 8 (Central and Elder) and 15 (Lincoln and Rock Road) will be replaced, and a new station will be built at Pawnee and Maize. The city plans to spend $1.5 million in those areas.

The council voted 7-0 authorize a $125,000 payment to Sedgwick County to fund health screenings for people living in the 29th and Grove contamination area. According to city documents, the state set aside $2.5 million, and $1 million of that required a local match. The deadline to raise that money is June 30.

Local repair shop sees increased auto part prices ahead of 25% tariffs

Also, during Tuesdays meeting, the council discussed hiring a city manager. Last week, Robert Layton announced his retirement effective at the end of the year.

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Following discussion and feedback, council members moved to add the city manager to next weeks agenda. They also agreed they want to hire a consultant to lead the search for the next manager. The same process was used to find and hire Wichita Police Chief Joseph Sullivan.

Jason Hood, the City of Wichita director of human resources, explained the advantages of hiring a consultant before the council.

You may have internal applicants, and as a result of that, you want an outside entity to kind of run the process so that everyone can say that it was as fair as possibly can be, is one reason, said Hood. The other reason is the more engagement you decide you want, the more likely it is that a consultant will have gone through that very process and will be able to help you identify the people you want to participate.

The council will consider a request for a proposal (RFP) for hiring a consultant at next weeks meeting.

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I think one of the advantages is that they can recruit a successful manager from another city that is probably maybe happy with their job but presented an opportunity, said City Council member J.V. Johnston.

During that time, the public will be invited to speak on the matter during the discussion.

To watch the meeting at 9 a.m., click here.

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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Clarksville school leaders are set to approve the construction of a brand-new elementary school, along with some big renovations.

This has been in the works for a while, as Montgomery County is seeing a lot of growth.

The school board has been shifting attendance zones to make room for new schools, as well as repurposing old schools, so the need for more space is crucial.

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According to Clarksville Now, back in February, the school board approved the plan to spend nearly $45 million for the construction of the school on an 18-acre lot off of Fort Campbell Boulevard.

According to the construction timeline, work on the new school, called Freedom Elementary, could begin next month.

The district is also working to renovate the Burt Innovation Center, which used to be an elementary school.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

The renovation would provide students with hands-on skills for real-life experiences like starting businesses, launching products, and delivering services that create value in real industries.

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Whats being recommended for renovations of the Burt Center would cost about $2 million.

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IVYDALE, WV (WVNS)  A man from Clay County was charged with First-Degree murder after a double homicide investigation.

Man wanted in Virginia arrested in Illinois for crimes against children

According to a press release, 58-year-old Michael Wayne Adkins, of Duck, was charged with two counts of First-Degree Murder after an investigation was held regarding a reported double homicide in Clay County.

The press release stated that members of the West Virginia State Police were informed on Thursday, April 3, 2025 about two dead victims, later identified as 54-year-old Brenda Lee Dennis, of Ivydale, and 38-year-old Richard Lee Bishop, of Maysel, at a house in the Ivydale area of Clay County.

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Dennis and Bishop were found after family members were worried when they could not contact them. Members of the West Virginia State Police responded to the scene and discovered that the victims reportedly died due to gunshot injuries.

Man arrested in Wyoming County for multiple charges

After an investigation, Adkins, who reportedly had a relationship with Dennis, was identified as a suspect, and held at Central Regional Jail while awaiting arraignment in Clay County.

According to the press release from the West Virginia State Police, the incident remains under investigation.

Stick with 59News for more details as they are released.

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A climate activist who smeared paint on the glass protecting an Edgar Degas sculpture in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that Timothy Martin, 55, of Raleigh, N.C., was also found guilty of injury to a National Gallery of Art exhibit, concerning the April 2023 incident in which he and a fellow activist, with the environmentalist group Declare Emergency, targeted the case and base of Edgar Degass Little Dancer, Age Fourteen, one of the most famous sculptures in the Western art canon and a major tourist draw for the institution.

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Per the DOJ, Martin and his companion, Johanna Smith, caused more than $4,000 in damage, and forced the exhibit to close from public view for 10 days of repairs. Smith pleaded guilty in December 2023 to one count of causing injury to the gallerys exhibit and was sentenced to 60 days in prison, followed by 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and $4,062 in restitution.

Since taking office, President Trump has escalated consequences for activism that involves bringing awareness to the climate crisis via targeting artworks. A March 2025 directive, titled Executive Order to Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful, issued broad directives to rectify what the Trump administration has deemed issues of crime and aesthetics in the U.S. capital, including the restoration of monuments, removing graffiti from public spaces, and the creation of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, nominally charged with coordinating law enforcement efforts.

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The man accused in the shooting death of his estranged girlfriend pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in a Clinton County courtroom Monday.

Emmet E. Metzger, 27, admitted to retrieving a 9mm Taurus G2C pistol from his bedroom on the evening of Nov. 4, 2023, and shooting Alexis Maki multiple times in the living room of their shared apartment on Hanover Street in New Baden.

I commend the New Baden Police Department, the Clinton County Sheriffs Department and the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigation Unit for their thorough investigation of this horrendous crime, said Clinton County States Attorney J.D. Brandmeyer in a statement. While no sentence can undo the devastating act committed that evening, I hope this conviction and the forthcoming sentencing will help provide some measure of closure to the many friends and family of Alexis.

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Metzger could face a sentence of 45 years to life in prison, Brandmeyer said. Sentencing is scheduled for June 9.

According to court records, Metzger called 911 on the night of the shooting and told dispatchers that he had shot Maki. Police later found her body with multiple gunshot wounds to her neck, chest, shoulder and hip.

During an interview with investigators, Metzger said he and Mati had previously been in a dating relationship. After the shooting, he told them, he dropped the gun on the living room floor, ran down the stairs of the two-story apartment building and called 911.

I (expletive) up, Metzger told the dispatcher. I did something so bad. I shot my girlfriend. I need to be arrested, please.

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According to police, just hours earlier, Metzger assaulted one of Matis co-workers in the parking lot of Grit and Tonic in Lebanon, where Mati worked.

In addition to the gun, police recovered a security camera in the apartment that recorded footage of the shooting.

Maki was employed as a mixologist at Grit and Tonic on the weekends and attended classes at Kaskaskia College during the week to study radiology. She was a graduate of Wesclin High School in Trenton.

Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing Alexis knew she loved to spend quality time with her family and friends, her obituary stated. Alexis also had an undeniable passion for bartending, traveling, gaming and caring for animals in need. On top of that, she was a proud pet parent of her beloved dog, Echo, and her cats, Scout and Honey.

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Makis mother, Lisa Brock, said there was something different about her daughter.

She was just so special that people were drawn to her, she said in an interview with the BND in November 2023. They would comment about her, just the smile on her face and the light that she radiated. She was truly  just the kindest, sweetest person.
(NewsNation)  President Trumps tariffs are likely to hurt fashion retailers who produce much of their clothing overseas, but that doesnt mean companies will bring their manufacturing to the U.S.

For that to happen, businesses would need to believe the tariffs will be in place for a very long period of time, beyond one administration, said Ken Natori, president of The Natori Company, which makes womens clothing.

It would take a very long time to train and develop that workforce, Natori told NewsNations Connell McShane on Monday. Its hard to see that all coming to fruition.

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Tariffs will make sneakers, jeans and almost everything Americans wear cost more, trade groups warn

About 97% of the clothes and shoes purchased in the U.S. are imported, predominantly from Asia, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association.

Garment hubs like China took a big hit under the presidents plan, but so did other countries that fashion companies rely on like Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.

Watch the NewsNation Now interview with Ken Natori in the player above.

The abruptness of Trumps Liberation Day announcement  and uncertainty around how long the levies will last  has left businesses confused about what to do next, Natori said.

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What Trumps tariffs mean for fashion production

People are in such shock, its like What are we supposed to do?' he said.

Natori said some companies and department stores have more price flexibility than others, so consumers may notice more variance between brands. Larger companies, for example, may have more negotiating power with suppliers and be better insulated from tariff disruptions.

Being a smaller, independent company, its just harder, he said. Having scale helps you absorb these things.

Without policy changes, Americans could soon see higher prices for staples like sneakers, T-shirts and jeans as businesses pass on some of their higher costs to consumers.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The conflict in Ukraine has already written a new chapter in the history of warfare due to the mass production and use of drones. An incontestable and striking revolution, but one that both the trenches and the defense industry underline: no war is won with these unmanned aircraft alone. The combat front is still maintained today by conventional weapons. Among them, the 2S22 Bohdana howitzer is gaining prominence, a technical name that conceals a fundamental element of the transformation in national weapons manufacturing. Before Russia attacked in February 2022, this cannon, manufactured by a company in Kramatorsk, had completed a handful of tests. There were even fears that the model would fall into the hands of Russian troops. Three years later, production of this weapon surpasses that of Kyivs major European allies, a giant step forward in the autonomy of the Ukrainian defense industry, which now covers a third of the armys needs  largely with foreign funding  according to government data.

This type of artillery piece is highly prized. It is a self-propelled howitzer mounted on a wheeled chassis with 155-millimeter ammunition, a standard NATO caliber and therefore widely used in the field of operations thanks to contributions from international partners. Ukraine has also accelerated production of these shells. The 2S22 Bohdana has a range of up to 42 kilometers (26 miles). In practice, it is a weapon used intensively due to its mobility and destructive potential. Its first major success, in the summer of 2022, was the recapture of Snake Island in the Black Sea, in collaboration with French-made Caesar howitzers.

But after that milestone, its impact has been measured. Russia was pressing on the front lines and Ukraine, while trying to stretch production at KZVV (Kramatorsk Heavy Duty Machine Tool Building Plant), manufacturer of the 2S22 Bohdana, needed the cannons of its allies. Military analyst Patrick Hinton of the UK-based Royal United Services Institute estimated that there were 14 howitzer models in the Ukrainian armys possession by July 2023, during the counteroffensive, when any countrys military typically has two or three. The Ukrainian howitzer type lacked the funding to scale up quickly, and it also suffered from technical obstacles with the chassis that supports the cannon.

Igor Fedirko, director of the Ukrainian Council of Defense Industry (UCDI), states simply the reason for the increase in production: The main reason is that we need them for war. The numbers speak for themselves. Last October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported that manufacturing capacity had reached 20 units per month. Six months later, the sector estimates that figure is around 40. A particularly weighty number because it is similar to that recorded in Russia, according to a September report by the Kiel Institute.

This same report indicates that France, for example, produces eight units of its cannon model per month; and Germany, five or six. We produce more howitzers than all of Europe combined, Fedirko asserts, with good access to private industry and the needs of the front. The growth achieved by the 2S22 Bohdana howitzer symbolizes the radical change experienced by arms production, once dependent on the state-owned company Ukroboronprom. Public funding, the entry of private companies, and, above all, international support have boosted the sector. According to government data, the defense industrys capacity has multiplied 35-fold in three years and will reach $35 billion by 2025.

Fedirko, a former advisor to the Ministry of Strategic Industries, cites another key factor in this growth of made in Ukraine howitzers: the so-called Danish model. Faced with a lack of military hardware to deliver to Ukraine, the Danish government proposed last July shifting toward sending funds so that Ukrainian arms companies could manufacture their weapons within the country. Part of that money  538 million ($588 million) last year alone  was used for the production of the 2S22 Bohdana.

The process of this Danish initiative is as follows: the Ukrainian government submits a list of military projects to be financed, and Danish experts analyze their feasibility and the performance guarantees of the Ukrainian companies developing the weapon. Copenhagen has also opened this kind of financing umbrella to other actors. Funds have flowed through this new channel from Sweden and Iceland, as well as from the EU, through the accumulated interest income from frozen Russian assets. Norway and Canada have also committed capital to this initiative. I am amazed by the speed with which the Ukrainian defense industry is able to deliver its services, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund said last January. The model works, so Denmark announced on January 3 a new package of almost 900 million ($985 million) for the period 2025-2027.

Ukraine has exponentially increased its military production over the past three years, says Mykola Bielieskov, a senior analyst at the Kyiv-based National Institute for Strategic Studies, especially in various types of unmanned aerial vehicles (reconnaissance and attack), howitzers, cruise missiles, mortars, and armored personnel carriers. According to Bielieskov, the infusion of foreign funding into domestic production also allows for more economical production, due to lower labor costs, and faster production because it directly responds to the needs of the front, which serves as a testing ground for each weapon and its modifications.

The progress of this industry, amid a brutal invasion, is spectacular, but the dependence on international partners, both for heavy weapons (air defense systems, for example) and components (microelectronics, explosives, missile propellant), is still very high. There is also the risk of a long-term decline in funding or skilled labor, as Bielieskov points out. The recipe is clear: first, the front line. But without losing sight of the sectors long-term potential in the international market. The potential of Ukraines defense industry is enormous, Fedirko notes, and it is ready for export. Partnership agreements between Ukrainian and foreign companies are being sought. This is already happening. The German company Rheinmetall and the Franco-German company KNDS, both focused on ammunition production, and the American company AeroVironment, which manufactures drone-bombs, have launched operations in Ukraine.

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CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A CMS teacher accused of sending inappropriate messages allegedly used a translation app to talk to Spanish-speaking students, according to court documents.

On Friday, April 4, 34-year-old Adrian Lewis, a teacher at Harding University High School, was arrested after an investigation revealed he was sending inappropriate messages to a student.

PREVIOUS: Harding University HS teacher accused of sending inappropriate messages to a student: CMPD

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Documents revealed that a student used a language translator on her phone or a teachers phone because she doesnt understand much English. Lewis, her math teacher at the time, allegedly asked her sometime this school year if she was a virgin. He also reportedly asked her if she needed a ride home after a tutoring session, but she declined because it made her feel uncomfortable.

The student reported that Lewis got in her personal space multiple times and would touch or rub her back and shoulder area. The documents revealed that Lewis also poked her in the stomach one time, and the student had to tell him not to touch her.

The student recently used the translator app to ask about her grades, and he responded in the app, saying, And you dont want to be my girlfriend so we can make hot video calls. Lewis allegedly asked her about wanting a boyfriend and told her to think about her grades when she declined wanting a boyfriend.

Queen City News is tracking CRIME in your area  >> Latest stories here

Detectives spoke to Lewis, and he denied asking her to make hot video calls. Authorities looked at his phone and found a comment asking, Are you lonely? to which he said that it was in a conversation with a different student about her recent breakup. That student told detectives he was insistent on asking whether or not she should get another boyfriend, which made her feel uncomfortable.

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Lewis later admitted that the messages and phrases on his phone were inappropriate.

Arrest records show Lewis posted a $25,000 secured bond on Saturday morning. Hes been employed with CMS since August 2023.

He has a probable cause hearing scheduled for April 22.

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CNN anchor Richard Quest put his head in his hands as he listened to a montage of President Donald Trumps lieutenants trying to spin his tariff mayhem.

The CNN International host was subjected to a supercut of Trumps top advisers defending his levies during One World with Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga on CNN International on Monday. And despite the tariffs being blamed for the S&P 500s largest three-day drop since Black Monday in 1987, Trumps big hitters were rolled out to defend them.

As Quest listened to economic adviser Peter Navarro, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick try to reassure the public, the anchor buried his head in his hands.

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A laughing Zain Asher pointed out the dejected looking British broadcaster, saying: Look at his face, his head buried in his hands, literally!

And its only Monday, Golodryga quipped, before Quest launched into a passionate rebuke of Trumps team.

There doesnt have to be a recession, says the U.S. treasury secretary. Hes right, there doesnt have to be a recession!" he barked, referencing Bessents comments on NBC. The only problem is, economic circumstances have now been put in place that most Wall Street economists of senior note say are likely to cause a recession.

Quest referenced forecasts from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase that the likelihood of a recession has risen to 60 percent. You want a trade war? This is what it looks like, he added.

Richard Quest reacts to the montage. / CNN

He slammed Navarro, Bessent, and Lutnicks comments as just hyperbole, adding that the reality is the disruption that we are seeing. But this is the reality, and at some point, ladies and gentlemen, there is so much disruption that the markets simply cant take it and jobs go, investment stops, and the recession happens, he said.

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The outburst comes after Quest used his shoe to illustrate his point about tariffs during a NewsNight with Abby Phillip broadcast last week.

Quest and MAGA pundit Scott Jennings disagreed on what type of jobs will be drawn to the U.S. as a result of Trumps levies on dozens of countries. Quest said low-skilled jobs are not what the country needs, taking off his shoe and saying: Basically, look. Here is a shoe. Its my shoe, right? It is made in China. You talked about these luxury products. But you take your shoe off and see where its made.

Made in China, made in Vietnam. This is going to be 34 percent more expensive. Its an ordinary shoe bought in a discount store.
A sailboat headed from Connecticut to North Carolina has gone missing.

The overdue sailboat had three people on board when it left New Haven, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The boat, named Hot Chocolate, was believed to be operating off the continental shelf as it headed to Ocracoke, North Carolina, the Coast Guard said. Officials are looking for information on the boat after it did not arrive at its destination.

Anyone with information has been asked to call the Coast Guard at 866-842-1560.
(WBRE/WYOU)  A man has been charged with homicide for his alleged involvement in an 18-month cold case where a teens body was found in garbage bags along Interstate 80 in central Pennsylvania.

State police say they have charged 52-year-old Davere Andre McClain, of Williamsport, with the killing and dismembering of 19-year-old Kevin Cagle after his body was discovered in garbage bags along Interstate 80.

In October 2023, a body was found in Liberty Township, later identified as Cagle from the Williamsport Area.

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Investigators believe Cagle was shot and stabbed to death in a home in Williamsport, put into garbage bags, and thrown from an I-80 overpass in Montour County.

Police began to search several surveillance videos and found one where the victim was last seen walking on Park and Stark Lane in Williamsport. Residents within that area told police they heard a least three gunshots on October 11 coming from a residence in the 600 block of Fifth Avenue.

Man charged with rape of 8-year-old

On April 4, 2025, a man who lived at the residence on Fifth Avenue at the time of Cagles death was interviewed and told investigators that there was tension between Cagle and McClain during a visit to the home, police stated.

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As stated in the affidavit, the man claimed McClain told him that Cagle wasnt leaving the residence on the night of October 11. The man then said he witnessed McClain shoot Cagle in a bathtub and stab him in the neck, according to court documents.

Police said after Cagle died, the man helped McClain move the victims body to the basement, and McClain stated he intended to disrobe and dismember the victim. The next morning, McClain asked the man to help him remove Cagles body, place it in the trunk of a car, and dump his body on the I-80 overpass, the complaint alleges.

McClain is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, abuse of corpse, tampering with evidence, unlawful restraint, and other related offenses.

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The Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).

An appropriation to help Hannibal Regional Healthcare System provide cancer treatments in Kirksville complies with all laws governing new health facilities, a Cole County judge ruled Monday.

In a 32-page decision, Circuit Judge Cotton Walker found no reason to block the $15 million in this years state budget for Hannibal Regional to build a radiation oncology center. The legislature is not a state agency and not bound by the law limiting when state agencies can appropriate or grant funds for health care facilities, Walker wrote.

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State agencies are created by the legislature and are within the executive branch, Walker wrote. The legislature itself is not a state agency. It is its own branch of government.

The lawsuit was filed by Tina Binder of Macon County after she spoke to the lobbyist for Community Health Systems, owner of Northeast Missouri Regional Medical Center in Kirksville. It tests the limits of the legislatures ability to earmark appropriations using definitions for counties and agencies that are so specific that there is only one possible recipient. The funding was one of about 400 earmarks lawmakers included in the current budget.

The lawsuit challenged whether Hannibal Regional, for example, is located in more than one county.

Walker noted that Hannibal is a community that straddles the Ralls and Marion county line and the evidence confirms unequivocally that (Hannibal Regional) has business operations and assets in more than one county.

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The main question in the case was whether the legislature could set aside money for a new service that has not been given a certificate of need by the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee.

Attorneys for Binder argued that the legislature had no power to appropriate the money if the committee had not issued a certificate of need.

In Missouri, anyone proposing to construct or expand a hospital, or purchase new equipment, with a cost exceeding $1 million must obtain a certificate of need. The certificate of need program is intended to prevent expensive duplication of services.

When the appropriation was made Hannibal Regional did not have a certificate of need. It obtained the certificate on Oct. 1.

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The legislature is not bound by certificate of need law, Walker wrote.

Even if it were bound by this statute, its appropriation was to the Missouri Department of Social Services, which did not require a certificate of need, he wrote.

The lawsuit stalled work on a contract to deliver the money to Hannibal Regional and during the February trial, Hannibal Regional attorney Matt Turner said the case needed to be finished by June 30 or the appropriation would lapse with the end of the fiscal year.

The budget for the coming year, approved last week in the Missouri House, included a reappropriation to make the money available for another year.

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Hannibal Regional intends to purchase a linear accelerator and build a facility to house it on a 240-acre property it purchased in 2022 in Kirksville. Attorneys for Binder tried to convince Walker that a memorandum of understanding with the city, where Hannibal Regional said it would open a hospital or buy the existing one if it became available, meant the certificate of need should be for a hospital instead of only the accelerator.

Walker wrote that the memorandum does not make the building that will house the accelerator a health care facility requiring its own certificate of need. Only the equipment requires the certificate of need, he wrote.

Walker also questioned whether Binder was truthful in the affidavit she filed stating she objected to the spending item based on knowledge of the facts regarding appropriations, veto considerations and certificate of need applications.

Under questioning at the February trial, Binder admitted she had limited knowledge of how state appropriations work, the regulatory oversight for building new health care facilities or other key issues in the case.

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I dont understand the legal jargon without having it in front of me, Binder said. I am just a regular old taxpayer concerned about taxpayer dollars.

That, Walker wrote, shows Binders affidavit contains information she did not personally know.

At trial, Walker wrote, she confirmed she had no firsthand knowledge of the information contained in her affidavit and that all the information in her affidavit came from her attorneys or from someone else.

This article was updated at 3 p.m. April 8 to correct the month when the trial was held.

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COLFAX, Iowa  An Iowa pharmacy that has served its community for 120 years is foreseeing its closure if reforms arent passed on a state level.

Last year, 31 pharmacies in Iowa closed as a result of corrupt practices by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), or the middlemen between pharmacies and insurance companies.

PBMs determine the total drug costs for insurers, shape patients access to medications, and determine how much pharmacies are paid.

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Several Iowa pharmacy owners have voiced concerns over the last year against PBMs because they are not being reimbursed at fair rates. PBMs often pay pharmacies less money than it costs for the pharmacy to purchase drugs and distribute prescriptions.

This was the case for an Oskaloosa pharmacy that foresaw its closure and a Minden pharmacy that closed its doors in 2024.

Now, owners of a pharmacy in Jasper County announced that they are hanging by a thread.

The Spring City Pharmacy is located in the heart of the downtown square in Colfax. It attracts residents to the square, providing more business to other local shops.

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Not only is it a pharmacy, but its also a store. Many people stop by for ice cream or to get pop from the old-fashioned soda fountain.

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This pharmacy is basically the hub of our community, said Nancy Earles, a lifetime resident of Colfax.

The roughly 2,200 residents are now on the verge of losing their only pharmacy.

When youre filling prescriptions for less than you buy them for, you cant even pay the light bill let alone the pharmacist or the tax or buy the labels on the bottles to fill the prescriptions, said owner Brad Magg.

The pharmacy has been a community staple since 1905. For 110 years, it was owned by a local family, until they sold it to an out-of-state company in 2015. That company closed the pharmacy three years ago.

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In an attempt to save the town pharmacy, three locals with no experience in running a pharmacy, including Magg, put their own resources into keeping it open.

We knew that we werent going to make money and that we would be fighting an uphill battle, but we were ready to put in the elbow grease and the work to make it work. Our goal was to break even. Never did we imagine that we would lose so much money. The more scripts we fill, the more we lose.

Magg said pharmacy struggles with PBMs have been a secret for a long time.

Theres gag clauses in a lot of the contracts, and for years, pharmacists werent even allowed to tell their patients how bad it was. So, we fully didnt understand how bad it could be, he said.

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In the last three years, Spring City Pharmacy has lost over $100,000 in just negative prescription reimbursements alone.

Brittney Van Houwelling is the pharmacist who works there full-time and one of the co-owners. She graduated from Drake Universitys School of Pharmacy in 2016 and has worked at Spring City Pharmacy since. Under the previous owner, she was never exposed to the business side of pharmacy, so she was shocked when she realized the reality of being a pharmacy owner.

I want to be a pharmacist. I dont want to have to worry if I fill a prescription for someone if we can handle that financially as a business. That shouldnt be something thats even on my mind, she said.

The thought of closing the pharmacy brought her to tears simply because of the impact that their closure will have on patients in the town she grew up in.

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Some of them cant leave the town. They can barely make it here. They rely on us to deliver it to them, so it makes it a lot harder for them. They may not get the care that they need, she said.

Spring City Pharmacy is the only independently owned pharmacy in Jasper County. If it closes, the nearest pharmacy will be 15 miles away.

Residents like Earles are concerned for their access to healthcare.

According to Magg, there were seven practitioners in town around 15 years ago, but the last doctors office in town closed five years ago. As a result, the pharmacy is the communitys only source of health care.

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Residents, a lot of them, treat us like a doctors office. They come asking Brittney the pharmacist for advice, said Magg.

Van Houwellings main concern is for her elderly patients who live alone. Shes worried they will need to relocate to nursing homes or other communities without easy access to their pharmacy.

While mail prescription services are now an option, residents still want to access their local pharmacies.

I come here and I get flu shots. Im not getting that by mail-order, said Colfax resident John Borts. When young people invest in a beautiful store like this, I mean this is an awesome store, we deserve the opportunity to enjoy it.

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House File 852, a bill aimed at reforming practices, has seen support in the Iowa House of Representatives. The bill would require PBMs to reimburse pharmacies their cost and enable patients to choose the pharmacy they want to receive care from.

The House placed the bill on its unfinished business calendar ahead of last weeks funnel deadline. This ensured that the bill would still remain under consideration this session.

However, pharmacy owners like Magg are starting to lose hope because a similar bill died in session last year.

We really thought this bill would pass last year and be our saving grace. We scraped by to this point, but at this point, if theres no light at the end of the tunnel, we cant scrape by anymore, he said.

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If the bill doesnt pass this session, Spring City Pharmacy will close its doors indefinitely in six to eight weeks after serving Colfax residents for 120 years.

Iowa news

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A Columbus organization is expanding as the city invests in violence intervention work.

The Columbus Urban League has a small team out in the community, mediating between gangs, helping de-escalate fights and much more. Now, the group is going to be able to bring more people into their work.

A fatal shooting costs the city of Columbus more than $2 million, according to a study through the citys Office of Violence Prevention. Back in the fall, NBC 4 reported on the study; it calculates the cost of the response to a fatal shooting, everything from EMTs to hospital bills.

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Family, Delaware police seeking answers in 21-year-olds disappearance

Now, the city is investing in an organization that tries to stop violence before emergency response steps in.

It feels pretty amazing to be a part of the Columbus Urban League and to see that the city recognizes the hard work that the team puts in, Columbus Urban League Vice President of Leadership and Workforce Development Charity Martin-King said.

The city has pledged $725,000 from its general fund to help double the neighborhood violence intervention program team, get the word out about their work, and increase training.

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Many times, they are putting their own personal lives at risk because of the city that they care so much about and to see this happen after nearly 13 years of service in the community is very, very significantly important, Martin-King said.

This is the first year the citys Office of Violence Prevention is working directly with the program.

DOGE cancels $250,000 Ohio grant installing LGBTQ+ historical markers

The work that they do as well as some of the others that we partner with, are kind of hidden gems in the city of Columbus because not a lot of people really know about the intervention work that their teams provide, but the work that they do is crucial to public safety here in the city of Columbus, Office of Violence Prevention Executive Director Rena Shak said.

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The teams collect data through their interactions with the community and use it to find ways to reduce violence.

If were able to invest a little more heavily on the front end with prevention contracts, violence reduction and intervention contracts like the Columbus Urban League contract, were able to save so much more on the back end, not only on a financial perspective, though, but were saving lives, Shak said.

Legislation states that the Columbus Urban League primarily responds to the south and east zones of the city. They also provide support services to victims loved ones.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Hearing of federal funding freezes, Tyler Perry checked his student loan plan and found a terrifying $800 increase.

I had a panic attack. It seems like a natural reaction, Perry said. The American Dream is shut out and you are stuck paying exorbitant loans.

Ohio budget plan would recognize two sexes, restrict LGBTQ+ library books

Perry was on an income-driven student loan repayment plan that was frozen on Feb. 18, citing a federal court injunction that ruled against the Biden administrations Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan. Perry did not receive word his $209 monthly payment was now $991, and only discovered the change when he went into his loan service provider to look at his account in mid-March.

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Income-driven repayment plans like Perrys base student loan payments on borrowers income and family size. The Federal Student Aid office offers four income-driven repayment plans: SAVE, Pay As You Earn, Income-Based Repayment and Income-Contingent Repayment. The injunction only ruled on the SAVE plan, but all four were paused.

Perry, a music therapist in Columbus, said he could not have afforded the increase. On March 26, the Department of Education reopened the income-driven payment plans, putting Perrys payments back into place. Although he was no longer responsible for a $1,000 monthly payment, he said the experience made him worry things could change again.

I dont even know how to express how chaotic this has been, Perry said. I dont know how the average American can afford a payment like that and groceries.

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Perry said his story was not unique. According to the Institute for College Access and Success, there are more than 13 million borrowers on an IDR plan in the U.S., and Ohio ranks ninth in the U.S. for the most student debt owed. According to the Department of Education, student loans average $38,000 per borrower.

On March 18, shortly before the freeze was mostly undone, the American Federation of Teachers sued the Department of Education over the pauses. The 1.8 million-member teachers union said freezing student loans violated federal law by blocking access to affordable loan payments.

The Federal Student Aid office said anyone who was on the SAVE plan is in general forbearance until the court reaches a decision or the government is able to accurately calculate monthly payments. Under this designation, borrowers do not owe payments or accrue interest, and time spent does not offer any credits toward their loans.

Perry voiced frustration with the federal government for the reckless and poorly communicated situation. He said he doesnt feel like he can trust that another situation wont arise.

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Fear for an entire week not knowing the outcome of the next ten years. It was terrifying, Perry said. Its impossible to move forward in life.

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COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL)  The Columbus Police Department has renewed its call for witnesses in connection with the shooting death of a teenager at an after prom party in 2024.

Officers with the Columbus Police Department responded to the scene of a shooting in the 2900 block of Tip Top Drive shortly after 12:30 a.m. on April 7, 2024.

Officers found 17-year-old Bryson Cochran lying in the roadway suffering from a gunshot wound. Cochran was pronounced dead soon after at 1:23 a.m.

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Investigators with the Columbus Police Departments Violent Crimes Unit determined an after-prom party for Central High School was taking place at the time of the shooting, with

nearly 100 people in attendance.

Despite the size of the gathering, officers say many witnesses said they did not see what happened.

One year later the Violent Crimes Unit is still leading the investigation and are still searching for answers.

The Columbus Police Department is urging anyone who may have witnessed the shooting or has information about the case to come forward. It says even the smallest detail could help bring justice to Cochran and closure to his family.

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A cash reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest, including $5,000 from the family of Bryson Cochran.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Corporal Jared Berger at 706-225-4325 or berger.jared@columbusga.org.

Photo provided by Columbus Police Department

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A rare point of agreement across the political spectrum for several decades was that money didnt matter much in education. Conservatives opposed spending increases as wasteful; many progressives focused instead on structural reforms.

But a recent Albert Shanker Institute report traces the crucial shift in thinking on K-12 education spending, underscoring how more sophisticated data and methods have recast that belief. And it applies to higher education as well.

Citing analyses from experts such as Northwestern University economist Kirabo Jackson and statistician Larry Hedges, the report authors write, To whatever extent the idea that money doesnt matter was ever credible, it is no longer.

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Policymakers from both parties have now reconsidered long-held positions. In state capitals from Kansas and Virginia to Pennsylvania, education budget discussions now focus less on whether to invest and more on how to invest effectively.

This shift appears driven not by politics but by research that followed the evidence. At its best, the power of university research can transcend partisan divides and provide evidence that improves policy for all Americans.

Yet today, this essential bridge between science and policy faces unprecedented threats as the new Department of Government Efficiency, under the second Donald Trump administration, has called for the elimination of the Department of Education after the slashing of half the departments workforce, eliminating thousands of jobs, funding and oversight  and affecting fundamental research.

As director of Northwesterns Institute for Policy Research (IPR), I lead an institution that has weathered many political storms. Over the past 55 years, this research has remained relevant through nine presidential administrations  not by following political trends but by following evidence.

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In 1968, amid urban unrest eerily similar to the tensions today, dedicated scholars built institutes such as the Urban Institute and Johns Hopkins Center for Metropolitan Planning and Research to bring rigorous evidence to bear on pressing social problems. The country faced deep divisions over racial discrimination, civil rights and war. Universities were under fire then, too, criticized simultaneously as hotbeds of radicalism and bastions of elitism.

From that turbulent era, research emerged that transformed American life for the better. In the early 1970s, IPR researchers documented discriminatory redlining practices in Chicago neighborhoods. Their evidence helped secure passage of landmark fair housing legislation that opened homeownership to millions of Americans previously excluded because of their race or where they hoped to live.

When Chicago launched its Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy in the early 1990s, researchers began what would become a two-decade study spanning four presidencies. The research didnt advance a partisan agenda but simply documented what worked across changing political landscapes. The findings on community engagement and neighborhood-specific approaches have shaped policing in both progressive cities and conservative towns alike  proof that rigorous research can transcend political divides when focused on outcomes rather than ideology.

When a Republican Congress and Democratic President Bill Clinton enacted welfare reform in 1996, researchers tracked its real-world effects without ideological preconceptions. The resulting evidence helped state policymakers from both parties design more effective programs for working families.

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IPR researchers showed that six years after mothers left the welfare rolls for work, their preschoolers and young children didnt suffer any serious setbacks  and teens even experienced some improved outcomes. Another study painted a more complex picture for 1,300 Illinois families, revealing that welfare reform worked for those who found and kept jobs, but not for those who didnt.

These werent partisan pursuits. They were investigations guided by scientific method rather than political preference  exactly what America needs more of today.

The White House has proposed slashing the funding that maintains university research infrastructure, placed politically motivated holds on federal research grants and launched investigations that could result in massive funding cuts  including the recent announcement of a Justice Department task force targeting university practices.

Why should Americans who arent faculty, academics, university administrators or policymakers  or those who have never set foot on a college campus  care?

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These actions threaten Americas global leadership position. University research drives innovation, which is essential for economic growth. When political interference disrupts the research pipeline, the country cedes advantage to international competitors that are rapidly expanding their investments in knowledge creation.

Without rigorous evidence, policy decisions default to ideology and business as usual. When studies on economic opportunity get blocked, effective pathways out of poverty remain undiscovered, and families struggle to make ends meet. When research on climate adaptation gets shelved, communities remain vulnerable to floods and fires. When health research gets politicized, lifesaving treatments remain undeveloped, and health care costs continue to rise.

The current threats to university research arent about fiscal responsibility or accountability  theyre about control. Administration officials want to dictate what questions to ask and which evidence is acceptable to fit their worldviews and further their aims. This approach undermines the very process that makes university research valuable: the freedom to follow evidence wherever it leads.

In recent research on child poverty, economists have shown that nutrition assistance programs not only reduce hunger, addressing humanitarian concerns, but also improve childrens long-term health and economic self-sufficiency, addressing fiscal concerns.

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This evidence has informed congressional decisions regardless of which party held power.

Similarly, researchers studying water security have developed measures now used globally to identify communities at risk. This work helps prevent humanitarian crises while enabling more efficient resource allocation  goals that transcend partisan divides.

America faces complex challenges that require sophisticated, evidence-based responses: economic opportunities, health care access, educational opportunity and public safety. Without robust university research, it is the same as flying blind, left to navigate by the dim light of ideology and special interests.

Certainly, Americas universities arent perfect. They require reform and renewal like any other institutions. But their capacity to produce knowledge that improves lives shouldnt be sacrificed for short-term political goals.

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What is at stake is not just the future of higher education, but also Americas ability to address its most pressing challenges with clarity, creativity and evidence.

____

Andrew V. Papachristos is a professor of sociology and director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University.

___
The French city of Cannes hosted a roundtable discussion on February 14 called The Metamorphosis of Democracy - How Artificial Intelligence is Disrupting Digital Governance and Redefining Our Policy.

The debate was covered in an article by EL PAIS after Gianluca Misuraca, Vice President of Technology Diplomacy at Inspiring Futures, introduced the concept of hypnocracy  a new form of manipulation outlined in a book by Jianwei Xun called Hypnocracy: Trump, Musk, and the New Architecture of Reality. However, this Hong Kong philosopher does not exist, as revealed by Sabina Minardi, editor-in-chief of the Italian magazine LEspresso.

The theory was created by essayist and editor Andrea Colamedici, who, although listed as a translator, is actually the co-author of the book, along with two AI platforms. This fact was never disclosed, violating EU law on AI. In response, EL PAIS decided to remove the article published on March 26, which referenced content from the book attributed to the non-existent Hong Kong philosopher.

The theory has been widely discussed by media outlets and academic figures, including Cecilia Danesi, a researcher at the Institute of European Studies and Human Rights (Pontifical University of Salamanca), who attended the Cannes meeting and delved into the concepts in Hypnocracy: Trump, Musk, and the New Architecture of Reality.

Journalist Sabina Minardi, after multiple attempts to interview the supposed author, uncovered that it was a pseudonym for a work created and edited by Colamedici in collaboration with two AI tools, part of a project to reveal AIs influence in producing coherent and convincing discourse. As a result, researcher Danesi referred to this new form of manipulation as a digital dictatorship.

Emilio Carelli, the director of LEspresso, discussed the controversy in an opinion piece: At this point, an obligatory question arises: if the theses of this book are correct or at least have sparked an intense cultural debate, involving intellectuals and philosophers, including academics from the prestigious HEC Institute of Paris, who cited it in their scientific articles, does it really matter if it was written by artificial intelligence? Or, as in this case, co-created with AI? Could this model pave the way for a new way of doing philosophy? If so, the successful experiment of Hypnocracy teaches us something important: we can also have an active relationship with AI, and, above all, we can use it to learn to think."

Andrea Colamedici, 24 hours after EL PAIS first published this article, responded to questions from the newspaper: The aim of Hypnocracy was to create a philosophical experiment and an artistic performance designed to highlight the risks and dangers of using artificial intelligence by creating a book that said things that I myself believe in and have produced.

He continued: I did not want to deceive the reader; the purpose was academic: to highlight the dangerous mechanisms of artificial intelligence usage by big tech companies through its reckless application and, instead, to invite conscious use of it. I wanted to make clear not only the dangers but also to show the practice of the theses that it embodied, so it is a book that simultaneously explains a theory and embodies it at the same time.

The European AI Act, adopted by EU institutions on December 8, 2023, and approved by the European Parliament on March 13, 2024, considers it a serious violation to fail to label AI-generated texts, videos, or audios, which Colamedicis published work does not do at any point in either the Italian or English version.

Colamedici argued: Ive left a series of traces for the reader, both inside and outside the book. For example, chapter one describes the Berlin experiment, which is exactly the depiction of what Hypnocracy is. That chapter narrates the experience of a group of university scholars, who invent an author that writes a fake book that becomes loved, commented on, and discussed within the cultural environment.

In Spanish, the book is being published by Rosameron Publishing, where it is presented as an essential map for understanding how power operates in the era of manipulated perception. The founder of Rosameron, Francisco Martinez Soria, warned that the Spanish version of the book will include an explanation of how and why the work was created, as well as the mixed identity behind the name listed as the author.

Jianwei Xuns website has been updated to include the following reference, now revealing his identity: Jianwei Xun emerged in late 2024 as a distributed philosophical entity born from the collaborative interaction between human intelligence and artificial intelligence systems.

The website admits the deception by acknowledging that Xun was initially introduced to the world as a Hong Kong-born philosopher based in Berlin. It still maintains contact details for interview requests or event appearances, as well as a scientific publication on the Academia.edu portal.

I did it because the intention was to make everything more effective, not just to create a theory, but to make a book that was both theory and practice, an opportunity for people to experience more intensely what they were reading, said the Italian editor.

He added: Its important to make it clear to the reader that we are all perpetually hypnotized. I did this by inventing a story, but it was a story that, from the very beginning, had the purpose of being revealed. The idea of hiding all this was never considered. But if I had revealed it right away, I wouldnt have been able to play the role of showing in a practical way  and not just on paper, not just theoretically  what the deep meaning of the concept of hypnocracy is.

The author denies that publishing the book under a fictitious name was a commercial strategy: If it had been called [the author] Andrea Colamedici, it would have sold more than it has, but it would have made you think less.

He concludes: Hypnocracia was not written by artificial intelligence. It was written through a specific use of artificial intelligence that involves constructing a system that puts artificial intelligences in dialogue with each other.

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With potential plans for a fast food chain, grocery store or coffee shop, a Duncan native requested to rezone property in March.

The request would rezone the northeast corner of Elk and Highway 7 Bypass from agriculture to a mix of commercial and agriculture.

City Manager Chris Deal said the Planning Commission heard the request to rezone the property to allow for future development.

Deal said several residents attended the Planning Commission meeting to object to the proposal and voice concerns. He said concerns included increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the area, declining property values due to commercial and high density housing, increasing crime rates and because some just do not want any commercial activity nearby.

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With no other comments, the Planning Commission did not send a recommendation to Duncan City Council.

After the explanation of the agenda item, the floor opened for public comment.

Cace Robertson, the first to speak in favor of the rezoning, said she grew up in Duncan and comes from a long line of business owners in town.

Robertson said her family acquired 55 additional acres on the Bypass. She said theres plans for an ingress and an egress on Plato and Elk at this point.

You're not going to have congestion, she said. I understand that there are homes around these properties and that is unfortunate, but from a real estate standpoint, their home values are going to go up.

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With hopes to put money back into the community, Robertson said shes heard from businesses, such as Chick-fil-A, Aldi and even an aquatic center.

We're not trying to take away from Highway 81, she said. We're trying to take a little bit of the congestion away and allow Duncan to breathe a little bit.

Robertson said shes asking for C-4 on the corner.

It's already been C-4 just to the south of us, she said. Theres C-4 on Chisholm Trail Parkway.

Randy Wilson, second to speak for rezoning, said these are small stepping stones to growth.

Wilson said Duncan needs to increase its traffic count to bring in larger businesses.

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What comes with all this commercial and residential  that's the jobs, he said.

David Leonard, the first to speak against the proposal, said a lot of Highway 81 is the heart of the community.

There is ancillary spending money when you drive down 81, Leonard said. You stop for a burger, you say, oh I need something at Walmart, you run into Walmart, you keep going and there's several things that you can buy because you came down 81.

Leonard said hes not against development.

I want to see this town grow, he said. I want to see a place that my children come back to  but I also don't want to punish our businesses that are on 81.

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Next to speak against the rezoning, Kale Murphree, business owner, said hes afraid this will take away from Highway 81 traffic and retail businesses.

I am for progressing forward, Murphree said. I just want to do it the right way and I don't want to do it to the detriment of our businesses that have already invested in Duncan and will be here for the long haul.

Councilman Nick Fischer asked Community Development Director Nate Schacht if he had anything to add to the request.

With respect to concerns, Schacht said hes worked with City Manager Chris Deal and site selectors along Plato Road and Highway 81.

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We do believe 81 is still extremely important lifeline to our community, as well as Main Street, he said.

Schacht said theres continued work to develop at Camelback and Highway 81.

We definitely want to see more development on 81, he said. Minus those two spots, Plato and Camelback, we don't have undeveloped space thats zoned commercial.

Schacht said theres a consideration needed to figure out how to filter traffic back to downtown and Highway 81 as development occurs elsewhere.

Councilwoman Patty Wininger asked why site selectors arent developing along Highway 81.

Schacht said everything south of Main Street has smaller properties.

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A lot of those properties are very tiny, they don't have the depth and site selectors look for 200-250 feet depth in order to accommodate their business, he said.

On the west side of Highway 81, Schacht said a lot of the properties are in the flood plain.

Schacht said Dollar General Market, a future development along the 300 block of Main Street, needed to purchase four lots since the existing commercial lots arent suitable for larger buildings.

With no additional comments, the board approved the motion with a 3-1-1 vote. Councilman Peters cast the only no vote and Mayor Robert Armstrong abstained. The board voted to put the item into action with a 3-1-1 vote.

The next Duncan City Council meeting will convene at 5:15 p.m. April 8 inside council chambers, located inside the Duncan Police Department.
CAMPBELL, Ohio (WKBN)  Tuesday was a heartwarming farewell for the mayor of Campbell.

It was the funeral for Bryan Tedesco.

Read next: Army veterans trek across US brings him to the Valley

He passed away unexpectedly at his house last Wednesday at age 67. Hundreds of mourners gathered on Tuesday for a burial Mass at Christ the Good Shepherd Parish.

Tedesco was also a Second Ward Councilman for 22 years.

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He leaves behind his wife, Monica, and two sons.

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ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WAVY)  Community members of Elizabeth City have raised concerns about hospital safety after three Pasquotank County deputies shot and killed an armed man at Sentara Albemarle Medical Center Tuesday morning.

Deputies shoot, kill man brandishing firearm at Sentara Albemarle Hospital

According to officials, around 1:13 a.m., deputies with the Pasquotank County Sheriffs Office and officers with the Elizabeth City Police Department were dispatched to the hospital after a patient arrived at the hospitals emergency department with a handgun.

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Police and deputies from the sheriffs office arrived at the hospital four minutes later. Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten outlined the details of the attack, and Sentara Albemarle Medical Center president Teresa Watson said she had seen the hospital surveillance video of the attack.

The suspect was shot by deputies on scene after he pointed the firearm towards law enforcement, officials said.

They made their way into the ER waiting room at that time, Wooten said. Once they arrived on scene, law enforcement found a male subject in the ER triage room, armed with a handgun. The suspect pointed the handgun at law enforcement. The suspect was struck with gunfire from law enforcement and was able to receive immediate medical care by ER staff.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting.

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That made the hair on my arm stand up, Watson said. Because if you find yourself faced with a gun to your head, which we have seen that with several of our teammates, youve got to take care of your patients, and what you will find with our charge nurse is that even though this person had her held in a room with a gun on her, the minute he was shot, she was delivering aid to that individual.

Wooten said the three deputies who fired their guns and killed the suspect are on administrative leave.

One family who was at the hospital said they are feeling fortunate after leaving the hospital right before the suspect walked in.

We were like wow, that would be crazy if they got in the middle of that, John OMadigan said.

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OMadigan said that, being from up north, he is used to these types of incidents. He said more security should be implemented in the case of these incidents.

They have like, metal detectors at the end and all that, especially with the ER, OMadigan said. Because a lot of people come in drunk, high, whatever, and it makes it a lot harder for things to happen if you aint got the metal detector to stop  make sure they get searched before they come through.

A former hospital employee agreed, saying that metal detectors need to be installed.

A hospital should be something 24 hours, but, you know, at some point, if things arent maintained, or if people dont feel safe going to the ED, you know that maybe something we have to look at what kind of changes we can make as far as security.

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The former employee told 10 On Your Side off camera she was familiar with the workers who the suspect pointed the gun at.

Well first off, Im thinking about the staff at the hospital, you know and the patients that were in there, is everyone OK? the former employee said.

The former employee said she believes that patients need more resources.

We need to, as a community, as a facility around here, we just need to do better with our psych patients, she said. We need to have somewhere or something that can help them so that incidents like this wont occur.

Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.

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Pictures of a man appearing to light up a crack cocaine pipe on the London Underground have triggered discussion among politicians over the safety of the citys public transport.

The politicians have been put under pressure to address crime on the Tube after a man was captured on camera holding what appears to be a crack pipe while sitting in one of the carriages.

The images first appeared in a Reddit post, with the user explaining they were travelling back home from work on the Victoria line and noticed a man was behaving oddly and attempting to light a small, metal pipe.

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The user claimed the man was phlegming and spitting on the floor near-constantly while trying to get his lighter to ignite.

The commuter said they moved over to the other end of the carriage, while most other passengers either left the carriage at the next stop or joined them at the other end.

I went to tell a TfL (Transport for London) worker about what I'd just witnessed, telling them the carriage number, [the] guys description and general direction. But the TfL guy said that there basically wasn't much they could do about him, the Reddit user wrote.

He added that the man was well known to TfL, who had complaints about him every one to three days.

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Mayor of London Sadiq Khan condemned breaking the law in any way and said that citizens should continue to report what they see.

Speaking to LBC, Mr Khan said: You shouldnt be breaking the law, whether its on the Underground or on the surface.

Its really important people realise on the TfL network not only have you got the Metropolitan Police... on the surface, sub-surface weve got British Transport Police (BTP).

And Id say to anybody who sees somebody breaking the law... let BTP know or let TfL know and well take action.

The mayor was asked about the Reddit user stating that, when he reported the incident, TfL said they could not do much about it.

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Mr Khan replied: No, TfL staff can. Weve got 500 enforcement officers employed by TfL who wear body-worn videos for their sake and also to capture evidence.

We also have British Transport Police and the Met Police Service and City of London Police, indeed, also out and about on public transport.

This shouldn't have happened if it was reported. You will make sure that when good citizens, Good Samaritans, report things, actions are taken.

Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, also weighed in on the discussion adding that police will tackle these sorts of incidents.

She told LBC: That situation that you described with someone smoking crack cocaine on the London Underground is obviously totally unacceptable.

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I know it will concern Sadiq Khan and the TfL commissioner Andy Lord as much as it would concern me.

I think the overall point to make here is that the transport network in London, and indeed across the country across the whole, is a relatively low-crime environment.

Clearly, any increase in the number of incidents, whether on the Tube, on buses, on the trams in London, will be tackled by the British Transport Police alongside the enforcement officers working on the Tube.

A TfL spokesman said in a statement: We want all customers to feel safe when travelling and we understand the alarm this kind of behaviour could cause.

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We are working with the police, specialist teams and other agencies to help move vulnerable people away from our network and into help and support.

A spokesperson for British Transport Police also added: We are aware of a post on Reddit over the weekend referring to a man appearing to smoke crack cocaine on the Victoria line.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast
BAE Systems and L3Harris are halfway through delivery of the Air Forces planned fleet of 10 EA-37B Compass Call planes and expect to deliver the final five in 2027 and 2028.

The firms  co-prime contractors to create the next generation of electronic warfare aircraft  expect the market for Compass Calls to continue growing in years to come. In a Monday call with reporters, BAE and L3 officials said they see growing potential to sell Compass Calls to international customers and that the Air Force could increase its purchase of the planes.

The EA-37B is a heavily adapted Gulfstream G550 business jet loaded with electronic warfare equipment. It is designed to jam enemy communications, radar and navigation signals and allow airmen to defuse roadside bombs wirelessly. It will also block the ability of enemy air defenses to transmit information between sensors, control networks and weapons, allowing U.S. and partner aircraft to get closer to their targets.

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It is replacing the Vietnam-era EC-130H Compass Calls, which were heavily used during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and are now being retired. The Air Force had 15 EC-130Hs in 2017, but that fell to four in 2024 and is set to keep dropping. The new Compass Call is projected to fly 40% faster than the EC-130H and cover twice the range, and have a top altitude that is nearly 15,000 feet higher than the older aircraft, L3Harris said.

The growing sophistication of the potential adversaries the U.S. and its allies might fight requires an electronic attack aircraft like the Compass Call, which is capable of countering multiple threats, L3 and BAE officials said.

The [potential battlefield] environment is getting more and more complex every day, Dave Harrold, vice president and general manager for countermeasure and electronic attack solutions at BAE, said. When you think about countering enemy kill webs, its no longer a one-versus-one thing  its about being to persecute a variety of threats simultaneously.

The State Department in October 2024 approved a $680 million sale of Compass Call planes to Italy. Harrold pointed to that foreign military sale as a sign of the planes expanding market.

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This isnt just an important United States Air Force platform, Harrold said. Its an ideal platform for our important allies as well.  We see the opportunity for that to be even more prolific internationally.

Jason Lambert, L3Harriss president of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, said other unnamed international partners have expressed interest in buying their own Compass Calls. This would help improve interoperability between the U.S. and NATO fleets, he said.

However, the governments studies have shown the planned fleet of 10 Compass Calls may not be enough to counter the projected future threats facing the Air Force, L3 and BAE officials said, and may need to be doubled to 20.

The common message that were hearing, regardless of the study or regardless of the customer organization we speak with, 10 is not enough, Lambert said.

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BAE, L3Harris and Gulfstream proposed adding four new Compass Calls to the planned fleet, with the first two of those included in the Air Forces unfunded priorities list in 2026.

Using the G550 business jet as the foundation of the Compass Call will make it easier to sustain and keep jets ready to fly, Lambert said. There are more than 600 G550s fielded worldwide, he said, and a well-established sustainment and spare parts network that can service planes in under 30 hours. He predicted this would result in aircraft availability in the high 90% range.

BAE builds the electronic attack components for the new aircraft. L3Harris focuses on converting the G550 jets into Compass Calls and integrates the equipment at its Waco, Texas, facility.

The final five Compass Calls are now having their outer mold lines modified to make room for the electronic attack equipment at Gulfstreams Savannah, Georgia, facility, according to Lambert. The sixth Compass Call is expected to move to L3Harriss Waco facility for further work in the second quarter of 2025.

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Aircraft six, seven and eight are projected for delivery to the Air Force in 2027, and the final two are on track for a 2028 delivery, Lambert said.

The first two EA-37Bs that were delivered to the Air Force are now undergoing testing, according to Harrold. The third arrived at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona  the new fleets future home  in August 2024, and airmen are now conducting pilot training with it. The fourth Compass Call is also now at Davis-Monthan, Harrold said.

The fifth Compass Call has been delivered to the Air Force, Lambert said, but is now receiving an upgrade.
Investing.com -- U.S. President Donald Trumps upcoming reciprocal tariffs have wreaked havoc on global markets, leading some Trump supporters to denounce the measures publicly. To stop the bleeding, investors have looked to Congress to step in to reign in Trump, whose tariffs threaten to put the U.S. into recession. However, this is unlikely according to TD Cowens Washington Strategist, Chris Krueger.

Krueger highlights that several bills in the House and Senate could curb the tariff power of the President, who is using executive orders to implement the tariffs.

The strategist notes that seven Senate Republicans have cosponsored a bill requiring that any new tariffs receive Congressional approval within 60 daysa tight timeline given that were already past Day 77 of Trumps second term. A companion bill is in the House with narrow GOP majorities (53-47 in the Senate and 220-213 in the House). Even if the Senate passes it, House Speaker Johnson is unlikely to bring it to the floor, and while a discharge petition could force a vote after 30 legislative days, action wouldnt occur until June. Moreover, Trump is expected to veto the measure, leaving a two-thirds override in both chambers as the only, and highly unlikely, path to enactment.

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Veto override thresholds are 67 in Senate and 290 in House, which is basically 20 GOP Senators and 80 House Republicans that would have to break with Trump on one of his singular issues...and it would be months away given discharge petition shot-clock, Krueger comments.

He adds, It is 2025, so expect the unexpected. Nothing would surprise us at this point, but this outcome seems quite improbable given the math.

Trumps reciprocal tariffs hit at 12:01 AM ET on Wednesday, April 9th. The president announced yesterday that if China does not relent on its 34% retaliatory tariff on the U.S., their tariff rate would go up to 104%. Elsewhere, the EU would see a 20% reciprocal tariff, Vietnam would see 46%, Taiwan 32%, and Japan 24%, among others. In all, over 180 countries would be hit with reciprocal tariffs.

Markets remain confused about whether Trump is using the reciprocal tariffs as a negotiation tool or whether they will become permanent.

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When questioned on Monday about the administrations conflicting signalssome indicating possible negotiations while others affirming the permanence of the tariffsTrump replied, Both can be true. Tariffs can be permanent, and we can still negotiate, because we need more than just tariffs.

The president has charged Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent with negotiating tariffs with close trading partner Japan, which could be among the first countries to negotiate a deal with the U.S.  if there is one to be had. A potential agreement with Japan is helping the stock market recover on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 up 3.8% at last check.

In addition to Japan, Trump has also publicly stated that Vietnam has asked for zero tariffs, and this morning, he announced a great call with the Acting President of South Korea. Administration officials say 70 counties have asked to negotiate with the U.S. on tariffs.

China is absent from the negotiation talks, and the country has said it would fight to the end" if Trump moves ahead with his new threat of additional tariffs. Trump thinks they are bluffing. China also wants to make a deal, badly, but they dont know how to get it started, Trump stated on Tuesday. We are waiting for their call. It will happen!

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Overall, it doesnt look like Congress will have the votes to stop the Trump tariffs. It will be up to cooler heads prevailing in the administration to negotiate and sign deals versus letting the massive tariffs become permanent.

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Washington D.C. (WMBB)  Newly elected Congressman for Floridas First Congressional District, Jimmy Patronis, paid homage to fallen Walton County Sheriffs Deputy William May Tuesday during a speech on the floor of the United States House of Representatives.

During the speech, Patronis praised May for his bravery in ending the potential threat to the community. Patronis praised May as a hero, husband, and father who made the ultimate sacrifice for his community.

You can watch his speech above.

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CONNECTICUT (WTNH)  New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker is sharing his thoughts as Avelo Airlines, which also flies out of Tweed-New Haven Airport, announced that they will be assisting the Trump Administrations efforts to deport migrants.

The Texas-based company has just signed a long-term charter agreement to fly for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

1 arrested after security incident delays flights at Tweed-New Haven Airport

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The New Haven Immigrants Coalition is asking the public to sign a pledge saying we wont fly Avelo until they stop ICE flights.

They admitted that they deported someone that they shouldnt have deported and are not even trying to get that person back, Elicker said. It would be one thing if Trump was deporting convicted violent criminals, but that is just not the case.

Avelo Airlines Founder and CEO Andrew Levy released a statement, saying in part:

We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic. Charter flying will provide us with stabilty to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep more than 1,100 crew members employed for years to come.

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Connecticut Attorney General William Tong gave his two-cents on the matter, releasing a statement Tuesday afternoon saying:

Avelo has freely chosen to profit from and facilitate these atrocities. The State of Connecticut has an obligation now to review this business decision and consider the viability of our choice to support Avelo.

The airlines domestic and international flights will originate from Arizona using three Boeing 737 planes. According to ICE officials, the Trump Administration has arrested over 14,000 convicted criminals during its first 50 days in office.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  A 20-year-old Connecticut man accused of causing a car crash that killed a Hartford police officer and seriously wounded that officer's partner pleaded guilty on Tuesday to several charges, including manslaughter.

Richard Barrington, an 18-year-old high school junior at the time of the 2023 crash, will next appear in court on June 20 for a sentencing hearing. Besides manslaughter, he has pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and interfering with a police officer, his lawyer Cameron Atkinson said.

Authorities said Barrington fled a traffic stop conducted by other officers, drove through two red lights and smashed into the passenger side of another cruiser that was responding to an unrelated emergency call on Sept. 6, 2023.

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Officer Robert Bobby Garten, 34, an eight-year Hartford police veteran whose father retired as a detective on the force, died from his injuries, police said. Garten's partner, Officer Brian Kearney, was seriously injured and was later released from a hospital.

Barrington was initially charged with motor vehicle-related crimes related to the traffic stop. Authorities later added charges of first-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault, driving under the influence and other alleged crimes.

Asked to comment on Barrington's guilty pleas, Atkinson said, Were gonna save all of our comments for Judge (David) Gold at the sentencing hearing.

A memorial service for Garten drew police officers from across the region.
In France, there are 20,000 villages without a single store, not even a bar, which are often the last survivors in the gradual emptying out of the countryside, explains Guillaume Kasbarian, the member of the National Assembly who sponsored a bill seeking to streamline the procedures for obtaining a license to open a bistrot or cafe in communities with fewer than 3,500 residents and almost no services.

Over the course of 50 years, the number of bars has decreased fivefold: In the 1960s, there were around 200,000 such establishments in rural France, which are also part of French culture. Today there are fewer than 40,000. There are places where nothing remains, and we see a clear need to open them, as they are an economic and social driving force, explains Kasbarian, who belongs to the same political party as President Emmanuel Macron, Renaissance. The proposed law, which was voted on in late March in the Assembly and must now be validated by the Senate before being definitively approved, facilitates the creation of new Type IV licenses, which entrepreneurs need to open a bar where the sale of alcohol over 18 degrees is permitted.

The current legislation, which dates back to World War II, prohibits the creation of new licenses on the grounds of public health, to prevent alcohol consumption. Therefore, an entrepreneur wishing to open a bar can only do so by purchasing the license from someone who is closing down their own establishment. This outdated law, ill-adapted to the current times, restricts activity. According to the members of the Assembly, many cannot afford the cost of the permit, which varies depending on the size of the city. In small towns, it can be around 7,000 or 10,000, while in large cities, it amounts to tens of thousands of euros.

The new bill seeks to make the current regulations more flexible, allowing authorities to issue new, free licenses in areas with fewer than 3,500 inhabitants where there are currently no bars. The goal is to simplify procedures for businesses and reduce bureaucracy in these less attractive areas, where its already difficult to establish a business, explains Kasbarian.

This will revitalize our rural areas and make life easier for entrepreneurs, argued Trade Minister Veronique Louwagie in the debate in the Assembly. The chamber endorsed the initiative with the support of all political groups, despite initial reluctance from some left-wing MPs who argued that bars increase alcohol consumption. This scourge is responsible for 41,000 premature deaths each year, criticized MP Hendrik Davi of the environmental group. The left-wing party La France Insoumise fears that, taking advantage of this regulatory change, more bars will open in larger towns, where there is already a selection of establishments to choose from.

The alcohol issue

In rural areas, 80% of alcohol that is consumed is purchased in large stores and retailers. Just because there isnt a bar in town doesnt mean people dont drink, but rather that they buy alcohol at the store and consume it at home, while in an establishment, this consumption is more associated with socializing and having a good time, argues Kasbarian, a former minister of housing who believes that bars play a certain control role. In small towns, bistros and bars offer a multi-service model, which is essential for the population, as they also sell newspapers, serve as delivery and collection points, and sell other types of products.

The margin that entrepreneurs make on the alcohol they sell is higher than on other products, which allows these entrepreneurs to balance the model, so that their business can turn a profit. Without alcohol, the model would be loss-making. The law still has to pass the Senate test and, if it does, is expected to come into force this summer. According to the French Association of Mayors, around 31,000 population centers with fewer than 3,500 residents (out of a total of 35,000) could benefit from this measure.

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Ever since we published our very first issue 123 years agoyes, were oldPopular Mechanics has endeavored to help you understand all kinds of technological marvels, from the tools in your shed, to the planes in the sky, to the tanks on the battlefield. But lately, weve really tried to dive deep into the worlds most complex machine: you.

Or, more specifically, the thing that makes you you: consciousness.

Discover the most mind-blowing new science stories from Pop Mech Pro!

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The question of, What is consciousness? is no longer exclusively the realm of ancient philosophers and dorm-room debaters. In the last few years, scientists across all kinds of disciplines have been making remarkable breakthroughs in the study and exploration of consciousnessand PopMech has been along for the ride every step of the way.

Weve covered every piece of cutting-edge research that could redefine our entire understanding of ourselves and the world around us. In the process, weve had to ask some mind-bending questions like:

Does consciousness stretch beyond the boundary of our brains?

Do we ever really die?

And does consciousness affect only our perception of reality, or can it actually reshape reality *itself*?

Ready for the answers? Well unravel these mysteriesand moretogether. Just bring an open mind, and prepare to reconsider the very nature of consciousness... starting with the possibility that its not just all in your head.

 Are Your Cells Conscious?

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Is consciousness confined to your brain, or does every part of your body contain a kind of consciousness, down to the cellular level? Thats what William B. Miller, Ph.D., an evolutionary biologist and physician, is trying to figure out. Miller and his team have proposed ideas that flip Charles Darwins concept of natural selection on its head, including how consciousness may play a critical part in the way life evolves.

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Miller is among a small, but growing group of scientists who believe that your cells arent passive robots that automatically follow a code of instructions, carrying out orders from our genome like mindless drones. Instead, these scientists think the roughly 37 trillion cells that make up your body are themselves consciousand that life and consciousness began exactly at the same time.

This concept of cellular consciousness has gained further credence with the advent of a new class of AI-designed multicellular organisms known as  xenobots . These are cells that form new roles beyond their original biological function, such as using hairlike cilia for locomotion rather than transporting mucus. This is why scientists like Peter Noble, Ph.D., and Alex Pozhitkov, Ph.D., say that xenobots form a kind of third state of life , wherein cells can reorganize after the death of an organism to form something new.

Xenobots, then, could radically alter our understanding of life, where the conscious celland not the organismis the fundamental unit of biological agency.

Heres the astonishing truth about these conscious cells , and why theyre the next great leap in science.

 Does Consciousness Exist in the Quantum Realm?

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Scientists arent just exploring consciousness in our bodiestheyre also searching for it in even weirder, more complex places.

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In recent decades, some experts have developed a theory that says when your brain performs quantum operations, it generates consciousness. One scientist, Michael Pravica, Ph.D., for example, believes that your brain can access hidden dimensions during moments of heightened awareness. ( You have to read his explanation for what happens during a Eureka moment .)

We once asked a theoretical physicist, an experimental physicist, and a philosophy professor to weigh in on the controversial conceptsounds like the setup to a jokeand they couldnt come to a consensus on a direct connection between quantum mechanics and consciousness... yet.



But these ideas dont have to be purely theoretical; to some degree, they can be put to the test. That was the case with a recent groundbreaking study that suggests Your Consciousness Can Connect With the Whole Universe.

In the study, scientists administered anesthesia to rats, some of whom also received molecules that stabilized a microscopic part of their brain known as microtubules, or hollow tubes that experts believe perform incredible operations in the quantum realm. The stabilized rats actually remained conscious for longer, suggesting a tantalizing link between these quantum brain components and the very essence of consciousness itself.

 Do Psychedelics Enhance Consciousness?

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If this all sounds trippy, youre rightand, as it turns out, taking trips on psychedelics might actually unlock new levels of consciousness.

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In a study from Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, people who used substances like LSD and DMT reported experiencing a connection to an ultimate reality and had a decreased fear of death. (And heres why some psychedelics even allow some users to see God.)

But lets go a step further: What if psychedelics like magic mushrooms arent just a new way to expand your consciousness? What if theyre the very thing that helped shape it?

A research review from the Miguel Lillo Foundation in Argentina concluded that, psilocybin not only influenced an individuals perceptions while under its effects, but shaped human consciousness as a whole over the thousands of generations that humans had been eating psychedelic fungi.

We knowthats a lot to take in. And yet, its just the beginning. Consciousness remains one of the most profound, mind-blowing mysteries in all of science, and weve covered its every twist and turn, including:

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Every day, scientists all over the world are continuing to dive deeper into what makes us who we are. From radical new research to the daring pursuits that push the limits of understanding, theres always more to learn.

If youre even remotely curious about embarking upon the fascinating journey into the nature of you, join Pop Mech Pro today, and youll instantly unlock every single exclusive story, project plan, guide, video, and gadget review on PopularMechanics.com.

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Antagonizing a New Yorker? F around and find out. What began as a street-side interview in Harlem quickly escalated into a viral moment of tensionand a bit of violence to boot.

Savannah Craven Antao, a 23-year-old pro-life activist and reporter with the anti-abortion group Live Action, was sucker-punched during a filmed exchange on abortion rights. The clip, which has since circulated widely online, shows Antao speaking to a young Black woman about Planned Parenthood.

According to The New York Post, the interview took place on the busy streets of Harlem, where Antao was canvassing for content tied to her organizations anti-abortion message. During this six-minute interview, the assailant made it clear that she was pro-choice, and the two agreed about alternative options other than abortion, including adoption and practicing safe sex. Things got awkward when Craven Antao asked whether foster kids should be killed because theyre not wanted, and the assailant said, Why not?

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Whos going to take care of them? the assailant asked as tempers started to flair. If I dont want to have a baby I should have the choice to have the baby or not, she continued before calling Craven Antao dumb as fk for suggesting women simply refrain from having sex. Thats not logical.

Condensingly, Craven res, Im not the one who admitted they would be okay with killing babies in foster care and killing children that have been abused. Thats not the point. What Im saying is  the interviewee began before Craven Antao snatched the mic away while her subject was talking. Turning into a rage bait, the assailant served a quick combo to the interviewers face and quickly walked away.

The assailant, later identified as Brianna Rivers, took to social media and accepted responsibility for her actions. To Savannah, I sincerely apologize, but I cannot sit around and allow you to continue pushing this one-sided narrative, Rivers shared in a viral Facebook post. I understand that putting hands on someone is never the answer, but throwing rocks and hiding hands is worse, she stated, asserting that Craven Antao antagonized her throughout the interview.

Currently, the conservative influencer  who shares video content shaming women  is now nursing her black eye, two stitches below her eyebrow, nasal pain, and public embarrassment. No reports have been made about the arrest of Brianna Rivers.

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Hard-line House conservatives say personal appeals from President Trump will not be enough to sway them to support a Senate budget resolution to advance the White Houses legislative agenda.

A group of House Republicans critical of the Senates framework for advancing Trumps legislative agenda are set to meet with the president at the White House at 1 p.m. EDT Tuesday, marking the presidents most significant foray yet into the push to adopt the framework in the lower chamber.

But in an eye-catching twist, a number of the most outspoken opponents of the budget resolution are not going to the meeting with the president, signaling they have little interest in being strong-armed by the White House on a measure they abhor.

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Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.)  the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which is full of budget resolution opponents  said he was invited to the meeting with Trump, but declined.

Theres nothing that I can hear at the White House that I dont understand about the situation, he told reporters.

Harris said personal appeals from Trump  which helped usher a House version of the budget resolution across the finish line in February  will not be fruitful without other commitments.

Its not going to help getting enough votes to pass this week. Its just, there are too many members who are just not going to vote for it no matter what, Harris said.

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Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), a Freedom Caucus member, sounded a similar note, arguing that what the group sees as flaws in the resolution are too serious to overlook, regardless of Trumps lobbying campaign.

I think that because what the Senate sent over is so financially immoral, that it doesnt matter how much pressure, Burlison said. Theres many of us that cant swallow it.

A third House conservative opposed to the budget resolution aired a harrowing warning to House GOP leadership: It will not pass if its put on the floor.

They should not put it on the floor, the lawmaker added.

The White House meeting comes as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is struggling to coalesce his razor-thin majority around the measure, which would unlock the budget reconciliation process Republicans are looking to use to pass tax cuts, border funding and energy policy.

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Harris said there are definitely more than a dozen hard-line conservatives who plan to vote against the resolution due to the belief it does not contain sufficient commitments that the Senate will accept sweeping spending cuts.

Johnson can only afford to lose three votes, assuming there is full attendance in the chamber.

I want to end up with deficit reduction, I want to end up with tax cuts, but I havent seen it so far, said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who is planning to vote against the resolution but is not attending Tuesdays meeting. Weve just got an impasse, weve got to work through it.

Harris and other members have urged House GOP leaders to skip a budget resolution vote altogether and start working on the details so they can get up-front commitments from the Senate, but House GOP leaders have rejected that, saying it is urgent to quickly move on the formalities of the legislation while saying it does not prevent the final bill having historic cuts.

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The country cant afford for us to delay a month or longer to wait on the Senate getting where we are, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said.

Johnson huddled with members of the House Freedom Caucus on Monday night, which the Speaker said was productive. Administration officials also met with the hard-line group Monday night: office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, OMB Deputy Director Dan Bishop, and White House Office of Legislative Affairs Director James Braid.

Harris, though, said there was no progress after the Monday night meeting.

Jonson said it sounded uncharacteristic for Harris to decline a White House meeting, saying he is a very reasonable guy.

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The main concern among deficit hawks is that the Senates budget resolution directs each chamber to find a different amount of spending cuts. House committees, for example, are ordered to find at least $1.5 trillion in cuts to federal spending, far more than the approximately $4 billion that Senate panels are mandated to slash.

The other qualm rests in the fact the Senate is using a budgetary gimmick known as current policy baseline, which assumes the extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts would not add to the deficit  despite the Congressional Budget Office saying it would cost about $4 trillion.

Theyre ridiculously low, and we have no confidence in the Senate to do anything other than reach the lowest point, Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), another Freedom Caucus member opposed to the budget resolution, said of the Senate framework. Self said he would not attend Tuesdays White House meeting.

While conservatives are dismissing the power Trumps lobbying could have on the holdouts, recent legislative battles have shown his pressure can be potent. In February, phone calls from Trump helped get the Houses budget resolution over the finish line, and in March, intervention from the president helped coalesce the conference around a funding bill to avert a government shutdown.

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The hard-liners, however, are insisting that this time is different.

The Republican conference had a generally united goal of what we were trying to do on the budget, meaning that was a lift that we could get there, even though there were people who had concerns that it wasnt good enough.  Was it perfect? Was it what I wanted? No, but it got there, the aforementioned House Republican critical of the budget resolution said, referring to the February showdown over the chambers framework.

This is a far cry from that, they added. Its all tax cut, no spending cut, meaning the math doesnt math.

As the stalemate drags on, some House Republicans are floating other paths beyond trying to muscle the measure through the lower chamber, including sending House and Senate lawmakers to a conference committee to hash out their differences on the blueprints.

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Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the influential conservative chair of the House Judiciary Committee, advocated for that track during a closed-door House GOP conference meeting Tuesday morning, according to Norman, a prospect that is unlikely but, nonetheless, underscores the discontent among deficit hawks.

The Speaker, for his part, says leaders and the administration are working on a resolution to the impasse.

Its looking to be a combination of commitments and assurances between the White House and all the leaders in both chambers, Johnson said. But were working on that.

Alex Gangitano contributed.

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Construction will soon be underway on a major traffic project in the Puyallup area  as soon as April 8.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said in a news release Monday that crews are going to start work on the three-year state Route 167 Completion Project.

People who live, work or travel through the area can expect to see crews begin work west of North Meridian Avenue, WSDOT said in a news release. They will install high visibility fencing, begin removing trees and start hauling in gravel and soil to build a portion of the embankment for a future SR 167 expressway.

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Two bridges are included in the project  one over North Meridian Avenue and one over Milwaukee Avenue East, the release said.

The new bridges will eventually carry SR 167 through-traffic while the existing bridges will be converted into on- and off-lanes to help travelers smoothly enter and exit the expressway at both North Meridian and Milwaukee avenues, the release said. Crews will also build a new interchange on North Meridian Avenue to allow travelers to more easily enter and exit SR 167. It will include new sidewalks and crosswalks.

This infamously tangled Pierce County freeway interchange will be rebuilt in 2025

Crews will complete construction on the expressway in 2028, the release said, but drivers wont be able to use it until 2030, when construction of a four-lane highway between North Meridian Avenue and Interstate 5 wraps up.

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Improving and modifying this existing section of SR 167 sets the stage to build the new tolled expressway between I-5 and North Meridian Avenue beginning in 2026, Puget Sound Gateway Administrator John White said in the news release. When the full 6-mile expressway is complete, travelers can opt for a more direct route between Puyallup and Tacoma with connections to I-5 and SR 509 or continue to use surface streets. The connection will provide a huge benefit to freight traveling between the Port of Tacoma and manufacturing and distribution centers, removing many of them from those local streets.

Crews will also focus on building a new section of the spuyalpabs trail between Puyallup and Fifes Alexander Avenue. The new trail will follow the new expressway and feature art from Coast Salish artists.

For updates on the project, residents can visit wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/search-projects/sr-167-completion-project.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association says pharmacies continue to close because theyre under-compensated for prescription reimbursements. Since January 2024, almost 200 pharmacies have closed in Pennsylvania despite legislation being passed to help keep them open.

If you look at current reimbursement that we have for retail pharmacy, pharmacists are paying one price for a product and being reimbursed below that cost, says Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association President John DeJames.

The Pharmacy Audit Integrity and Transparency Act, or Act 77, expands the Pennsylvania Insurance Departments authority to regulate and audit Pharmacy Benefit Managers. State lawmakers say the insurance department and Department of Human Services are needed to fully implement the law. Act 77 also prohibits Pharmacy Benefit Managers from paying independent pharmacies less than what is reimbursed to their own affiliated pharmacy.

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The pharmacy benefit managers, which are the middlemen in between your insurance company and your pharmacy, that actually pay the pharmacy, theyre continuing to find ways to manipulate the system, even though theres new laws and regulations that theyre supposed to follow, says Rep. Jessica Benham (D)  Allegheny County.

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Some of these things can actually be implemented even without legislation and thats why were here calling on the governor, DHS and the insurance department, says Rep. Valerie Gaydos (R)  Allegheny County.

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As pharmacies continue to close, customers may have to drive farther to get their prescriptions.

Your wait time can be potentially much longer because one pharmacy is doing the work for two or three pharmacies in the area, says Value Drug Company President Rick Seipp.

Rep. Benham says there are constraints as to what can be done at the state level and more reform would need to come from the federal level.

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PANAMA CITY (AP)  Panamas comptroller authority said Monday an audit found irregularities in the renewal of a 25-year port concession in the interoceanic canal and it would request an investigation into the authorization of the contract to a Hong Kong company.

Comptroller-General Anel Flores said the audit found some payment defaults, accounting miscalculations and some shadow operation of companies that the Hong Kong company originally denied, causing Panama around $300 million in lost revenue.

The release of the audit of Panama Ports Company, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate subsidiary that operates ports at both ends of the Panama Canal, comes as U.S. President Donald Trumps administration alleges Chinese interference in the canal's operations, which Panamanian authorities have denied. It also happens the same day the U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives to the Central American country to participate in a subregional security conference.

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There are many violations that will have to be explained, the Panamanian comptroller said.

He added that the audits results will be sent to Panamas Maritime Authority, which oversees the ports and has the power to terminate a contract.

Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings conglomerate did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Panama Ports Company won a concession in 1997 to operate the ports of Balboa, in the Pacific, and Cristobal, in the Atlantic, and it was renewed in 2021 for 25 more years.

Trump has threatened to retake control of the Panama Canal, arguing that the U.S. should have never turned control over to the Panamanians more than two decades ago.

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Some days ago, while the audit was underway, CK Hutchison said it has agreed to sell its controlling stake in Panama Ports Company to a consortium including BlackRock Inc., effectively putting the ports under American control.

The Panamanian government maintains it has full control over the canal and that the Hong Kong-based group operations of the ports did not mean a Chinese control over the canal.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WKBN)  The Ohio Controlling Board Monday approved $17 million through the All Ohio Future Fund to build an access road to an economic development site in the Warren area.

The money will also help with further Brownfield remediation for the former steel mill site. The area sits along Pine Avenue.

The Project will service over 1,000 acres in the City of Warren, Howland Township, and Weathersfield Township, located within the existing Warren BDM Redevelopment Area in order to enhance infrastructure and facilitate business growth and employment in the region, the funding request stated.

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The land is to be marketed for economic development, but an access road is needed to avert truck traffic from traveling through the city of Warren, planners said at the Board of Control meeting Monday.

The biggest issue with this area of land that we saw is that it didnt have easy truck access, even though its a large plot of land that could be used for some kind of facility or some kind of future economic development, planners said while addressing the Board.

Potentially, hundreds of jobs could be created, given the number of sites in the area and the space for a large employer.

The funding is coming in grants and loans, but the loans could be forgivable and or at 0% interest depending on what type of facility goes into the area. For instance, one stipulation is that the employer must pay at least 125% of the communitys median wage.

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The Warren Regional Chamber issued the following statement Monday on the Boards funding approval:

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber is grateful for the states investment to support much-needed transportation and infrastructure improvements, as well as brownfield remediation, at a site in Trumbull County once known for its steelmaking capability. We are confident that through the same coalition of partners that helped the project secure the funding, the site will again become a dynamic job-creator and serve as the backbone for future, lasting economic development in the region. Thank you to the partners that made this happen, including the Western Reserve Port Authority, Warren, Howland and Weathersfield and Warren townships, as well as the Valleys delegation of lawmakers for their support, Huffman said. Lyle Huffman, Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, Executive Vice President, Government Affairs & Community Impact

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BOSTON (WWLP)  State lawmakers proposed a new law that would create a 25-foot buffer zone when filming first responders.

Citizens taking videos of first responders at work will be given a verbal warning and will be required to step back 25 feet or face a fine of up to $1000 dollarsor even jail time.

Last year, Florida enacted a similar law, and the Bay State law would mirror it. Lawmakers who are sponsoring this bill say they see it as an additional tool to keep first responders safe.

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Just like a speed limit is to deter speeding, red lights keep people from violating intersections, thats all the Halo Act is, its an additional deterrent to protect first responders, Senator Richard Wells Jr., one of the sponsors, told NBC10 Boston.

The other sponsor, a Barnstable senator and former police officer, says he often sees videos of citizens yelling at and insulting first responders, and he hopes this bill will discourage that type of interaction as well.

While the acts supporters say it is purely a measure to keep first responders safe, opponents worry that it could infringe on First Amendment rights.

Many believe that the recent uptick in filming first responders, especially police officers, has led to more accountability in these professions and has allowed the judicial system to crack down on misconduct.

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The bill is being put forth by a Republican in the House and a Democrat in the Senate, indicating support from both sides of the aisle.

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President Donald Trump wants to revive the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, calling for an energy company to "get it built  now!" His call to fast-track the project for any interested company has reignited concerns among environmentalists and Indigenous groups, who have long opposed its construction.

What's happening?

In an impassioned social media post, Trump recently called for a redo of the long-defunct $9 billion Keystone XL Pipeline project. The president promised "easy approvals" and an "almost immediate start" for the project under his administration.

According to The Hill, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "The company building the Keystone XL Pipeline that was viciously jettisoned by the incompetent Biden Administration should come back to America, and get it built  NOW!...If not them, perhaps another Pipeline Company. We want the Keystone XL Pipeline built!"

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First proposed in 2008, the Keystone XL Pipeline promised to transport 830,000 barrels of crude oil from Canada to U.S. refineries daily. Trump approved a permit for the 1,700-mile pipeline in 2017 during his first administration. As Reuters noted, environmentalists opposed the Keystone XL Pipeline for years before its permit was revoked by the Biden administration in 2021.

Trump's apparent interest in Canadian oil is a notable contradiction to his previous statements on such resources. As Bloomberg noted, President Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. doesn't need energy resources from Canada, when the pipeline's purpose would be to obtain oil from Canada.

Why are the Keystone XL Pipeline plans worrisome?

Environmentalists and Native American tribes spent years fighting the Keystone XL Pipeline, fearing it would increase carbon pollution, pose oil spill risks, and slow the transition to clean energy.

The pipeline would have transported oil from Canada's tar sands  naturally occurring deposits of sand and rock containing dense crude oil. Extracting this viscous oil is particularly energy-intensive, leading to heavy pollution before the oil is even refined into dirty fuel. It can also cause environmental damage to wildlife habitats, water sources, and complex ecosystems.

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The pipeline would have crossed Indigenous lands in both the U.S. and Canada against those communities' objections.

These concerns remain as relevant today as in 2008  and any statement promising an easy start to such a project is a direct threat to the surrounding environment and the eventual totals of carbon dioxide pollution in the atmosphere.

What's being done to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline?

TC Energy, the Canada-based company that worked on the Keystone XL Pipeline, now goes by South Bow Corporation. In a statement to Reuters, the company said it has "moved on" from the controversial project.

As Bloomberg noted, some U.S. portions of the Keystone XL Pipeline were built years ago, mostly between 2017 and 2019. But those portions have since been dismantled. Key permits for the pipeline have also expired after years of inactivity. This makes simply restarting the project a major uphill challenge.

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Politico, however, reported that South Bow and Texas-based Energy Transfer are currently gauging interest within the oil industry on a joint pipeline network running from Canada to the U.S. Though in very early stages, Politico characterized the network as a "riff" on the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Notably, U.S. relations with Canada are currently strained given Trump's trade policies, making cooperation on any proposed pipeline more complicated.

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The Trump administration has revoked residence and work permits granted through the CBP One program and ordered its beneficiaries to leave the country immediately. Nearly one million individuals who entered the U.S. via this immigration appointment app, launched by the Biden administration in January 2023 to reduce irregular migration, are affected.

In an email, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) informed recipients that their work permits are no longer valid and that they must leave the U.S. Its time for you to abandon the United States, reads the message received by a Honduran family who entered at the end of last year, which was obtained by the AP.

CBP One was created by the previous administration as a means for migrants to enter the U.S. legally, at a time when irregular crossings had led to a border crisis and the government faced severe criticism for failing to handle the problem. By the end of December, 936,500 people had been authorized to enter through CBP One appointments at U.S.-Mexico border crossings.

Cancelling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security, a DHS spokesperson said.

On his first day in office, Trump terminated the program and canceled all scheduled appointments, leaving thousands stranded in Mexico, waiting for their turn to enter the U.S. The permits granted were temporary  usually valid for two years  but offered beneficiaries a pathway to seek other means of staying once in the United States.

Venezuelan migrants schedule their appointment to apply for asylum in the United States through the CBP One app in January 2024. Fernando Llano (AP)

The administration is now requiring migrants to self-deport using the CBP Home app, a replacement for CBP One, designed with the opposite goal: to expel, rather than admit, migrants. When announcing the self-deportation program last month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem criticized the Biden administration for using the CBP One app to allow over one million foreign nationals to enter the U.S. illegally. With CBP Home, we are restoring integrity to our immigration system, she stated.

CBP One, however, was aimed at preventing irregular immigration. Noem also emphasized that voluntarily leaving the country would be the only way for migrants to re-enter the U.S. in the future. If they dont, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return, she threatened. But immigration experts have raised doubts about whether those who self-deport will be able to return in the future.

Trumps aggressive anti-immigration campaign, involving indiscriminate deportations, has significantly reduced illegal border crossings. Last week, the DHS reported 7,180 illegal border crossings in March at the U.S.-Mexico border, a 92% decrease compared to December 2024.

By revoking CBP One, the Trump administration is once again showing that its goal of deporting migrants is not only aimed at those who are in the country illegally or who are criminals. This action also follows the cancellation of work permits for hundreds of thousands of migrants who had been allowed to stay in the U.S. under temporary provisions. Last month, DHS revoked permits for 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, who had entered the U.S. through the humanitarian parole program, meant for nationals of countries facing conflict or crisis. These individuals had been given work permits for up to two years and were protected from deportation. Now, they have until April 24 to leave the country or face detention.

In addition, another of the Republican administrations initiatives to strip legal status from migrants was the cancellation of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, which had protected about 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians.

A judge has blocked the elimination of TPS for Venezuelans. Without this ruling, around 350,000 Venezuelans would have been forced to leave by April 7, with another 250,000 facing deportation before September. TPS was created in 1990 to accommodate migrants from countries affected by natural disasters or armed conflict. The judge who blocked its cancellation called it an unprecedented action, and a step never taken by any previous administration in the 35 years of the TPS program

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NEW YORK  A New York City Council member arrested for biting a police officers arm at a protest against a proposed homeless shelter had her charges dismissed Tuesday after completing a "restorative" justice process.

Council Member Susan Zhuang was charged with second degree assault, a felony, and seven other charges following an early morning protest in July in her Southern Brooklyn district. She pleaded not guilty and contended she was trying to protect another protester, an elderly woman.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalezs office said the police officer who was bitten, NYPD Deputy Chief Frank DiGiacomo, was supportive of the decision.

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This case was resolved through a restorative justice process that created space for dialogue, accountability, and healing, a spokesperson for Gonzalez said in a statement. It was based on the wishes of the victim and the defendants willingness to make amends. This is exactly what restorative justice is meant to do  address harm, foster understanding, and support a path forward.

Zhuang and DiGiacomo met together just once, as part of a program operated by the Center for Justice Innovation, the spokesperson said.

Zhuang's lawyer Jerry Goldfeder declined to comment.

Zhuang is a Democrat and a member of the conservative-leaning Common Sense Caucus, along with Republican council members. She has aligned herself with the NYPD and was endorsed by the Police Benevolent Association in 2023, so her headline-grabbing assault shocked police brass.

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Councilwoman Zhuang has been a great partner to the New York City Police Department for a long time, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a press conference after her arrest. But actions today, of assaulting one of our police officers, a deputy chief, by biting him viciously in the arm, I cant explain it right now.

Months before her arrest, a crowd of mostly elderly Asian American New Yorkers had been gathering outside a vacant building in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, banging pots and pans in opposition to the citys plans to contract out the site as a shelter for 150 men. Zhuang has helped organize the protests, which have continued for more than a year.

Zhuang is of Chinese descent, and she received energetic support in her community after the arrest. The legal defense fund she opened to help cover the expenses raised more than $65,000 in three months.

The dismissal was unconditional, and the case wont remain on Zhuangs record. But the possibility remains that she could face sanctions from the City Council. The bodys Committee on Standards and Ethics opened an investigation into the incident in September but put all proceedings on hold until the case was resolved in court.

Zhuang is up for reelection this year and is running unopposed.
A foster mom in Missouri has been taken into custody, as authorities investigate whether she gave up one of her children in exchange for a monkey.

Brenda Deutsch, of Winfield, Missouri, fostered more than 200 children over the years as well as reportedly being a collector of exotic animals.

Deutsch now faces three felony counts of neglect, child abuse and child endangering, according to Lincoln County prosecutor Mike Wood. The charges stem from allegations of a missing child that was later located in Texas.

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"A witness who had come forward with some information regarding the systemic abuse that was going on in the home, had said that they had been asked to bring the child down to Texas and bring the monkey back in return," he said, according to KSDK.

"Obviously we have to do more investigation to see if that's actually credible or if that's true."

According to KSDK, a probable cause statement said Deutsch arranged for the girl to go to Texas to stay with her friend, where the child was allegedly left alone in a house with exotic animals and dirty conditions.

Foster mom Brenda Deutsch faces three felony counts of neglect, child abuse and child endangering, according to Missouri officials. Authorities are investigating whether she gave up one of her children in exchange for a monkey (Lincoln County Sheriff's Office)

Wood said the allegations against Deutsch were "particularly heinous and just disturbing to read."

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"Two things that really stood out was the number of children that had been fostered through that home and then the allegations that these types of abuse and emotional neglect had been going on for what seemed to be perhaps a decade," he said.

According to the probable cause statement reported by KSDK, police launched an investigation on November 21 following an anonymous tip given to the Missouri Department of Social Services Childrens Division, that reported the alleged mental and physical abuse of the child.

The victim told police that Deutsch had hit her with a paddle, shoes and an open hand. The child added that one time the mom forced another person to hold her down. She added that Deutsch would steal her clothes and give them away as a form of punishment.

Deustch was taken into custody over the weekend and her bond was set at $250,000 cash. She is due to appear in court this week.

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In an online statement, Wood said: Id like to thank the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office and Detective Bureau for working with my office to expedite initial charges in the middle of what will end up being a lengthy investigation that must cover over a decades worth of allegations of abuse.

Thank you again for working swiftly to ensure the safety of any other potential child victims.

Numerous victims and witnesses have already contacted my office and I would encourage anyone else with information to continue reaching out to my office, as well as investigators. We will continue to post more information as it comes available.
CoreCivic is planning to open its now-closed Leavenworth jail as an immigration detention facility. The company has met with community resistance. (Allison Kite/Kansas Reflector)

Its been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Apparently, private prison company CoreCivic never got the memo.

Earlier this year, CoreCivic announced plans to re-open its shuttered Leavenworth jail as an immigration detention facility. Until it was shut down in 2021, Leavenworth Detention Center was plagued by violence, abuse, and mismanagement. In 2021 alone, attorneys reported two suicides and at least 10 severe beatings and stabbings of incarcerated individuals and employees alike. Correctional officer vacancies reached as high as 23%, while incarcerated individuals frequently reported insufficient food, medical care and access to legal counsel. Other reports of serious harm remain hidden due to the lack of transparency in CoreCivics facilities.

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A U.S. district court judge summarized it best: The prison was an absolute hell hole.

CoreCivics plan to re-open this notorious facility and target immigrants has been met with public outcry. Pushback was so significant that CoreCivic applied, then withdrew from Leavenworths special use permit application process and the required public hearings. The city swiftly passed a unanimous resolution requiring CoreCivic go through the permit approval process and has now filed a federal lawsuit. The rush to staff the facility is a slap in the face to the community by one of the largest companies profiting off of human suffering.

CoreCivic campaigns on promises of compassionate detention and good, dependable jobs. But Leavenworth residents and previously detained individuals have seen through the PR spin.

At a recent city commission meeting, a former employee tearfully recounted being attacked at the understaffed Leavenworth Detention Center  which left her permanently disabled. Immigrants like Angel Argueta, who came to the U.S. after a hurricane destroyed his home and livelihood, know there is no compassion to be found in CoreCivic ICE facilities. At a Mississippi ICE center, Angel was left in a dark, solitary cell for days on end and told by guards that the only way you leave this facility is if you die here.

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CoreCivics failures arent limited to Leavenworth. It operates criminal and immigration facilities across the country, many of which have long, sordid records of abuse and mismanagement. As attorneys and advocates, we have witnessed the devastating human cost of CoreCivics operations  whether its the 24-hour-a-day solitary confinement and rampant physical and sexual abuse suffered by those trapped inside, or the anxiety and stress endured by small-town workers left to manage the fallout.

The company wins over local leaders in towns like Leavenworth with enticing promises of profit, but those dollars rarely materialize. While localities deal with understaffing and horrific prison conditions, CoreCivics CEO made close to $6 million in 2023  96 times its median employees pay.

CoreCivic has repeatedly shown that it is incapable of running a humane facility. Now, the company flouts city approval to move forward with an ICE center based on false promises. CoreCivic officials have pledged not to release any inmates or detainees into the Leavenworth community. That statement is not only morally reprehensible, as the majority of immigrants detained by ICE are not dangerous and have no history of violent crime  its also legally unenforceable. CoreCivic cant promise to ignore court orders and basic due process by continuing to hold immigrants who have been granted release or legal status in the United States.

Leavenworth and Kansas residents have made their voices clear: They dont want this. With CoreCivics history of lies, failures, and inhumanity, can you blame them?

Medha Raman is the Dale and James J. Pinto Fellow at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. Micah W. Kubic is the executive director of the ACLU of Kansas. Karla Juarez is the executive director of Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation. 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.
Editors note: This story has been updated to include new details from the California Highway Patrol.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  The Kern County Coroners Office identified a woman who was struck and killed by a vehicle in March in east Bakersfield.

Paula Aranda, 52, was riding a bicycle on March 19 when a vehicle crashed into her at around 4:59 p.m. at the intersection of Oswell Street and Fernvale Road, according to the coroners office.

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Aranda was taken to Kern Medical and succumbed to her injuries on March 30, the coroners office said.

According to California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Jorge Toro, officers responded to a report of a vehicle versus bicyclist crash in the area of Oswell Street and Fernvale Road.

Upon their arrival, Aranda was being transported to Kern Medical by Hall Ambulance, while the male driver of a 2024 GMC Sierra remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation, Toro said.

No arrests were made and alcohol or drugs were not a factor for the driver of the vehicle, according to CHP. It is unknown if alcohol or drugs were a factor for Aranda.

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A GoFundMe has been created for Aranda by her family. To view and donate to the GoFundMe, click here.

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Apr. 7JACKSON TWP.  A corrections officer remained jailed Monday on allegations he picked up a package containing synthetic marijuana with intentions to smuggle the items inside the State Correctional Institution at Dallas, Jackson Township.

Thomas Michael Wren, 37, of Nanticoke, was apprehended after he picked up the package outside a department store in Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, on Friday, according to court records.

Wren was a target of an investigation that began in March when agents with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence learned he had allegedly smuggled contraband inside SCI-Dallas for cash.

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A second effort to smuggle contraband inside the facility was set up under the direction of DOC agents using specific phone numbers to communicate with Wren, court records say.

Court records say after a series of text messages was sent, Wren was directed to pick up 100 sheets of paper saturated with synthetic marijuana and 30 strips of Suboxone to smuggle inside SCI-Dallas for $1,500.

Wren was arrested after he picked up the package outside a department store in Lehigh County.

Wren was arraigned by District Judge James Dixon of Hazle Township on charges of contraband, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and criminal use of communication facility. Wren remained jailed Monday at the Lackawanna County Prison for lack of $50,000 bail.
By Isla Binnie

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Costco has had productive discussions with Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird over the retailer's diversity policies amid a legal onslaught against those programs launched by President Donald Trump, according to Bird's office and another person familiar with the talks.

Bird and 18 other GOP state attorneys general urged Costco Chief Executive Ron Vachris in a letter in January to end what they described as "unlawful discrimination ... through diversity, equity and inclusion ("DEI") policies".

Since then, Bird, a co-leader of the letter, and the company have had constructive discussions about its DEI hiring practices that have not previously been reported, according to the person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

"Attorney General Bird had a productive meeting with Costco, where the company reaffirmed its commitment to not discriminating based on race," the Iowa attorney general's communications director Alyssa Brouillet said in a statement to Reuters.

Costco did not immediately return a request for comment outside of regular business hours.

The attorneys general sent their letter about a week after Trump ordered law enforcement agencies to identify companies and groups that could be investigated for their DEI policies, which proliferated alongside growing momentum in the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020.

It also followed a shareholder meeting at which 98% of Costco shareholders voted against a proposal by a conservative think tank that requested it to prepare a report on the risks posed by the initiatives. The company's board had unanimously recommended a vote against the proposal.

Meta Platforms, Amazon.com and JPMorgan Chase have modified their diversity initiatives or public statements on the matter as conservative opposition has grown.

Costco is a membership-only retailer with more than 300,000 employees globally, about 219,000 of whom are in the United States, according to its 2024 annual report.

(Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Dawn Kopecki and Jamie Freed)
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are concerned that your cup of joe could get more expensive as a result of tariffs.

Congresswoman Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii.) launched the first-ever Congressional Coffee Caucus Tuesday morning.

I am very caffeinated, Tokuda said at the caucus launch, where Kona coffee was served.

Shes not alone.

Did you know that over 70% of us drink coffee every single day? National Coffee Association President William Murray asked.

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Murray joined lawmakers for the launch of the new caucus, aimed at being a voice for the coffee industry in Congress.

In Hawaii, were the only coffee-growing state, really, that has been able to brand it for over 200 years in the country, Tokuda said.

Most of the coffee in America is imported from countries like Brazil and Colombia. Lawmakers say new tariffs on those countries could make your coffee more costly.

For many consumers, thats going to hit their pocketbook quite significantly, Tokuda said.

Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) says its all the more reason to buy American.

This is an American grown product right from our 50th state, Hawaii that doesnt have to be subject to any of that stuff, and its really good, LaMalfa said.

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Tokuda says the tariffs will also hit Hawaiis coffee industry through other production costs.

Fertilizer, equipment, supplies, much of it has to be, if not all of it, has to be literally cargo shipped in, Tokuda said.

Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) says she expects prices to go up on lots of products.

Whether its coffee, whether its bananas, whether its automobiles. This is going to be an enormous burden on our working families, Dexter said.

Congressman LaMalfa has a different perspective on tariffs.

Nobody really wants to have to deal with them, but if it shakes things up a little bit, or a lot, then maybe its a good tool, LaMalfa said.

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Some lawmakers have proposed legislation to re-assert Congresss authority in imposing tariffs, but its not moving forward.

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Areas around southern Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi river basins could see continuous flooding threats for weeks following the past weeks one-in-1,000-year rain event, forecasters have warned.

While the rains have ended over areas affected by the flooding, moderate-to-major flooding could linger, according to the forecasting company AccuWeather.

As of Tuesday morning, its forecasters said more than 20 river gauge sites were at major flood stage, and 212 locations across the Central U.S. were at or above flood stage. Satellite imagery captured the changes.

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"The Kentucky River at Frankfort Lock, Kentucky, has crested just under the all-time record of 48.47 feet. Records at the location along the river date back to at least the early 1800s," AccuWeather meteorologist Alyssa Glenny said in a statement.

Continuous flooding threats are expected for days to even weeks following a generational rain event that targeted the Central U.S. Residents in Kentucky are remaining alert as officials warn of swelling rivers (AP)

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters that while the river had crested in Frankfort, the state was concerned about other places

As the worst of the flooding has occurred [in Frankfort] and many other areas, were starting to move teams especially to the west. The Green River hasnt crested yet, so [were] still having teams there, he said. But, down the Ohio River and Henderson and Owensboro  even into next week were looking at some flooding, and significant flooding.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the worst of the flooding had occurred in Frankfort. Now, teams are focusing on the states western communities (AP)

The Green River Ferry at Mammoth Cave National Park has been temporarily closed due to high water conditions and debris. Pictures showed caves filled with floodwaters.

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Frankfort, the state capital, had been nearly covered in murky brown waters. On Tuesday, the waters were slowly starting to recede, and people could be able to return to their homes by tomorrow, the governor said.

A half-inch of rain is forecast for later this week. It is not expected to bring water levels higher, but may mean that the process of water levels receding takes a little longer.

We need people to wait this out. In many places weve seen the rivers crest and the flooding will be going down, said Beshear.

Flooding concerns come after a powerful storm that has resulted in the deaths of at least 23 people across multiple states. There have been at least four deaths confirmed in Kentucky (Getty Images)

The powerful spring storm that resulted in the historic flooding also spawned tornadoes and brought flooding to other states. Impacts led to the deaths of at least 23 people. In Kentucky, Beshear said that flooding had resulted in the deaths of four residents, including a 27-year-old man in McCracken County and a 65-year-old Trigg County man.

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As of the morning, there had been 272 evacuations by boat and 142 rescues, including 67 evacuations from a hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.

For Henderson County, nearly three hours west of Frankfort, Beshear said that additional evacuations could come by Wednesday.

Emergency managers there are preparing for a major flood event, and the river was expected to reach 48.5 feet by Saturday. Residents were instructed not to cross flooded roads. Shelters were opened on Tuesday and a portion of U.S. Highway 60 was shut down.

There are 357 soldiers and airmen from the Kentucky National Guard mobilized to conduct missions with Kentucky Emergency Management. Guard assets are currently supporting evacuation, search and rescue and distribution efforts, a statement from the governors office said.
VERMILLION, S.D. (KELO)  Its what could someday be remembered as The Decade of the Female Lawyer according to a report by the American Bar Association.

Since 2016, the legal profession has started to shift from being male dominated to a female majority. It states that in 2016, women became a majority of law school students.

The Knudson School of Law at the University of South Dakota is seeing changes, too.

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Our current classes are usually 80 to 85 students. We have just over 250 total students right now, Dean Neil Fulton said. Over the last six years, the percentage of that class that has been women has oscillated from 40 to 60 percent.

Suspect arrested in Sioux Falls fatal stabbing

Dean Fulton said enrollment varies from year to year. He said part of the reason for the increase in female students could be that more women are seeing other women in leadership roles within the profession.

I was a paralegal at a law firm in Sioux City, third year law student Cortni Bowman said. After doing that for several years, I just had kind of a realization within myself that I could do that. I had great female attorneys that I worked for, and the only thing that separated us was a law degree.

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Even in years when the number of women decreases, the contributions of female law students continue at the South Dakota law school. Students like Julianne Severson, who is on the moot court board, continue to lead in the law school community.

It is interesting to see that. I think a lot of us women are holding most of those leadership positions, at least the moot court board. Theres seven of us in my class, and theres only one male in those seven positions, Severson said.

Continuing the upward trend of women in law, starts with encouraging more women to enter the field.

I think that the law is an incredibly rewarding profession. I just think that when more people have the opportunity and see it, theyre going to go into the legal profession, Dean Fulton said.

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According to the ABA, women could also become a majority of full-time law school faculty members by the end of 2025.

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)  Local leaders are taking action after the countys only 24/7 addiction treatment space, Open Access, was recently notified there would be no further federal support. It comes after a massive slash in funding to public health efforts and agencies across the country by the Trump Administration. Open Access is run through Delphi Rise and provides critical treatment and services to approximately 2,000 people battling substance use disorder, more commonly simplified as addiction.

Monroe County Executive Adam Bello is asking for the legislature, in the April 8 meeting, to approve $405,000 in Opioid Settlement Funding (previously set aside in a trust fund) to help maintain Open Access services through the end of the year. During a press event at Delphi Rise on Hinchey Road, Bello described feeling outraged when he learned about the impacts of the federal cuts.

It would be hard to find anyone in Monroe County or really anywhere who does not know someone impacted by addiction. And that is why it is unfathomable to me that these federal cuts to addiction services have been made without notice, without any data, without options, without care, without understanding or empathy. Its quite simply a slap in the face to the people who are struggling with addiction and the families and friends trying to get them help, Bello says.

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Just two weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy, Jr., extended the federal public health emergency for the opioid epidemic  calling it a National Security Crisis. And just 7 days later he announced plans to eliminate more than $11 billion in grants for addiction treatment, mental health care and other essential services, says Congressman Joe Morelle.

Delphi Rise/Open Access serves walk-ins any time of day or night, weekend or holiday. The agency also serves folks from hospital emergency department referrals, law enforcement, emergency hotlines and more with leaders saying it is truly a life-saving resource. The County Executive emphasized that what makes treatment services achieve success is when there are systems in place to care for folks the moment they are willing to make a change.

When people are ready  when they have made the decision that theyve had enough and theyre willing to seek the treatment that they need  that is the time: that is the window that is access to care is critical and that doesnt always happen Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and thats what the Secretary of Health and Human Services doesnt understand, Bello says.

Several state Attorneys General sued the White House over this move, then late last week, a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from completing the cuts while this plays out in courts. Often times, as applied here to Delphi Rise/Open Access, federal funding comes via reimbursement. Delphi Rise CEO Jen Cathy says the agency has not received any payments since March 26th.

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To be clear, Delphi Rise/Open Access is still open and available if you or someone you know needs help. Call anytime at 585-627-1777.

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Johnathan Sublet, who spoke recently at a Topeka Work event, uses the annual County Health Rankings and Roadmap to help the organization he heads, SENT Topeka, be aware of community health needs. (Jill Rice)

TOPEKA  Societal rules  written and unwritten  and how power is distributed and wielded within communities are a new focus in an annual report that offers insights into health at a county level.

The 2025 County Health Rankings and Roadmap report, put out by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute with funding provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is used by local, regional and state leaders to determine how to understand and impact the health of residents within their communities. Factors that impact health were updated this year for the first time since 2014, said Bethany Rogerson, County Health Rankings & Roadmap co-director.

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We are focused on lifting up policies and practices that can create the conditions so that everyone has the ability to thrive, she said. Where you live, where you work all play a really important role in shaping health, and that health is more than health care.

The addition of societal rules and power categories encourages communities to assess those concepts and determine how to make policy and practical changes to improve the health of citizens, Rogerson said.

We know that community conditions dont just happen by chance, she said. So we realized an opportunity to invite people to explore how community conditions come to be. How did our housing, how did our jobs, our schools, all the aspects that we know shape health, how did they come to be and who shaped them and how?

SENT Topeka, an organization that works to support Topeka residents through building resilience and relationships, uses the County Health Rankings for data and health insights. Founder and executive director Johnathan Sublet said the new measures fit into the work the organization is doing. He pointed to the food pantry at SENT, which is structured to work like a grocery store where people have choice.

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The first thing a person often loses when they become under-resourced is choice, Sublet said. When we define poverty, it is not just the access to money. We define it as lack of choice in a persons life. Every single person has infinite dignity, value and worth. We want to do everything we can to affirm that dignity, value and worth they have.

Part of that means giving them choice back, and it also means giving them power in decisions that are being made within their sphere of influence, he added.

In 2025, the University of Wisconsin Public Health Institute added new measures to its annual County Health Rankings and Roadmap report. (Kansas Health Institute)

New measures support change

Wyatt Beckman, senior analyst with Kansas Health Institute, said the broad categories of societal rules and power added this year support discussion at the county level that can be impactful in looking at how the factors influence community conditions.

Expanding the conversation can elicit change, he said.

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You can build community power when you organize and act together, and do things like set agendas, shape whos involved in discussion and decision-making, cultivate relationships, and that power can shape societal rules, Beckman said. Power is not meant to be listed as an inherently good or bad thing, but its an acknowledgement and does help us have conversations about not only the factors that are shaping health, but how those factors are being influenced and maybe can be adjusted.

An example Beckman offered is the education people receive, which he said is important to quality of life and shaping experiences.

Some of the big decisions around that education can be shaped by people who sit on boards of education. Those boards of education have a role in shaping the budgets and policies and regulations that inform and guide that education, he said.

Communities can ask questions about who is invited into policy-making discussions, including whether theyre encouraging and receiving diverse opinions. Partnership and building trust are key elements in working together as a community, Sublet said. At SENT Topeka, focusing on dignity and support are key to building that trust.

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Dignity for us means not doing for someone what they can and should do for themselves. We dont give away everything for free that we do, he said. It means that we dont feel like we transform peoples lives or change peoples lives, but we journey with them in their lives as much as they allow us to.

Important in their interactions is not feeling as if SENT Topeka is the voice for the people, Sublet said.

We want to help them understand the voice they already have and affirm that, he said. While well help prepare them for conversations, we dont feel its our job to go in and speak for them in situations.

Additional new measures included in the County Health Rankings and Roadmap report this year are:

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Access to libraries

Disability: Functional limitations

Feelings of loneliness

Lack of social and emotional support

Access to parks

Adverse climate events

Beckman said the County Health Rankings report is especially helpful at a community level because even when the state may seem to overall be doing well with specific measures, individual counties may be having a different experience.

He noted that most Kansas counties are doing better than the average county in the United States, but that doesnt mean there arent individual counties showing challenges.

As an example, he pointed to Rush, Edwards and Kingman counties, which have seen years for potential life lost increasing at a level higher than what is seen in the state and U.S. overall.

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That factor is a unique angle on what most of us think as life expectancy, Beckman said.

What years of potential life lost does is it adds up and turns into a rate all of the years between a person dies and the age 75, he said. So it sets age 75 as that average life expectancy, and any deaths before that are added up. What that means in practice is if there are, for whatever reason, things that are causing earlier deaths in a community, thats really going to increase years of potential life lost.

Beckman called the increase in years of potential life lost pretty stark, and said the increase cant be explained by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the County Health Rankings report doesnt answer why thats happening, it provides the information so that county and state officials can dig deeper.

Report may end in 2026

Broadening of data collected in the County Health Rankings and Roadmap report comes even as its publisher, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, expects to lose funding in 2026. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is pulling funding it has supplied for the past 15 years.

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RWJF remains committed to public health data and to meeting the needs of the communities we strive to serve, a foundation spokesperson said. We remain steadfast in our support of the UWPHI team in this final chapter to ensure a thoughtful and collaborative wind-down of the program through the end of 2026.

Rogerson at UWPHI said the organizations work is rooted in their long-term tracking of health data and information.

We know that that work to realize that vision is not done, she said. We are still navigating and determining our next steps, but we hope to continue the work as much as possible for as long as possible. We know that communities, policy makers, students, lawmakers, rely on data- informed strategies and narrative change strategies, to advance work related to health and equity.

Correction: Updated Bethany Rogersons title and organization, and clarified societal rules and power as categories.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO)  We are getting a better idea of what led up to two officer-involved shootings in eastern South Dakota.

One week ago today, Samir Albaidhani is accused of shooting a Sioux Falls Police officer, stealing a running car and leaving town.

Could women outnumber men in legal profession?

Newly unsealed court documents lay out where officers first found Albaidhani, how the shooting unfolded and how the suspect was able to get away in a stolen SUV. New charges have also been filed in Union County, where the Sioux Falls man is accused of shooting at even more law enforcement officers.

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We are going through the court documents and will bring you a detailed report tonight on KELOLAND News on-air and online.

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WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN)  A Williamson County District Court initially planned to review the case of an 18-year-old man involved in a shooting that happened during a Juneteenth celebration in Round Rock last June on Tuesday. The hearing is now rescheduled for May 27, 2025, at 1:30 PM.

Keshawn Dixon was charged with two counts of murder and 13 counts of aggravated assault in the shooting that happened at Old Settlers Park on June 15, 2024, according to the Round Rock Police Department (RRPD). RRPD said the victims were innocent bystanders.

Investigators believe the shooting happened as part of an ongoing feud between two rap groups, according to court documents.

Mugshot of Keshawn Dixon (Round Rock PD photo)

Dixon has been in custody at the Williamson County Jail since.

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An affidavit noted Dixon has been arrested before on multiple violent offenses, including robbery, terroristic threat, assault and evading arrest. Dixon is also a documented gang member, according to RRPD.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: RRPD say Dixon has extensive criminal history, gang ties

Two other suspects were also arrested related to this shooting  one being an unnamed juvenile and the other being 17-year-old Ricky Thompson III.

Tuesdays events of the court reviewing Dixons case are called an announcement docket. During an announcement docket, the court reviews the current status of the case and may set dates for future hearings, motions or the trial itself.

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Brianna Hollis, Julianna Russ, Erica Pauda and Christopher Adams contributed to this report.

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The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected a bid Monday for a new trial for a teen who killed a buyer who was purchasing a gun from him.

Elijah Davis, now 20, got 45 years for murder in July for the Aug. 24, 2022 shooting death of Marcos A. Martinez, 19, of Merrillville. Davis said it was self-defense.

In his appeal, Davis argued that Judge Natalie Bokota made a fundamental error by not reviewing a third legal standard before granting a prosecutors request to dismiss a prospective Black female juror.

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Davis argued other non-Black jurors detailing their self-defense experiences  who said they had fought a burglar or had a grandma who had her purse snatched  werent challenged in the same way.

When asked, the Black woman told a prosecutor during jury selection that she had been a stalking victim and had to use self-defense in the 1990s, and in other instances while living in Chicago.

She recalled how someone tried to grab her and she started to drag them to the street.

I was going to throw him in the traffic, she said. I told him he was going to die that day, but he didnt.

When asked by Davis defense lawyer if she had any problem with someone using deadly force, the woman replied, Only if theyre, like, really mistaken.

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After a prosecutor asked to strike  or dismiss  the woman during jury selection, the defense attorney asked for a race neutral explanation under the law.

The prosecutor responded they were focused on the womans attitudes and feelings toward self-defense including her own personal experiences.

In a 3-0 decision, Appeals Judge Elaine Brown rejected Davis argument.

The prosecutor satisfied the law by already giving a race neutral explanation  a standard meant to prevent outright discrimination.

The two other jurors were not similar, since the woman preemptively told a prosecutor she could have killed her attacker, Brown wrote. The prosecutors reason for excluding the woman was not a mere pretext based on race, Brown wrote.

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Merrillville Police responded to the 5600 block of Pennsylvania Street for a reported shooting. Martinez was found shot lying on the ground across the street. A mutual friend, 16, set up the gun sale.

Martinez jumped in Davis white Pontiac. Martinez had a handgun in his hoodie pocket, according to court documents. Martinez looked at the gun for sale, before leaving, saying he needed to get money. He returned, holding and looking at both guns.

The friend thought Martinez would steal the gun. Just as the witness opened the car door to get out, he heard gunshots. The witness saw Davis fire the first shot, according to documents. The Pontiac took off, other witnesses said. Martinez was shot two to three times, wounded in the chest, bicep and side, according to court records.

mcolias@post-trib.com
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  The Covington Fraternal Order of Eagles will hold a fundraising event this weekend for people affected by Hurricane Helene.

The event will benefit Western North Carolina disaster relief. It will be held in partnership with Spokes of Hope, a non-profit that is rebuilding areas affected like Chimney Rock and Bat Cave, one brick and one beam at a time.

It will start on Saturday, April 12, at 1 p.m. at the Covington Fraternal Order of Eagles, 715 E. Broadway St. in Covington. Attendees are asked to enter through the east side of the building.

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Highlights of the event will include live and silent auctions, a meat raffle, a bake sale and a 50/50 raffle. Food will be available at Bees Boba, Timeless Tacos and Potato Tornado trucks.

Some of the featured items at the auctions will include art made by Bob Graham and Josh Kerr. These items were made from debris that washed up behind their shop after the hurricane.

For more information on the event, call 937-216-2255.

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CRAVEN COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT)  Craven County Schools is hosting their annual Board of Education Spring Art Show Tuesday night, to show off the talents of their students.

The community is invited to view original artwork made by students from 23different schools in the county. The show starts at 5pm on April 8, and ends an hour later at 6pm. It will take place at the Board of Education Administration Building in New Bern.

Our students artwork brings life to the halls of our administrative building and reflects the vibrant creativity nurtured throughout our schools, said Acting Superintendent Mrs. Michelle Lee. This event is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the arts and the role they play in developing well-rounded learners.

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Art pieces will be displayed until the Fall Art Show and community members are able to see them outside the art show during the business hours of 8am-5pm.

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Apr. 8Yesenia M. Castro, 24, of Corning, was taken into custody 4:16 p.m. April 7, at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County warrant for the charges of OWI, first offense and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to a Creston Police report, at approximately 2:30 a.m. Sept. 28, 2024, a 2017 Dodge Charger was stopped on Highway 34 for speeding. Contact was made with the driver, identified as Castro, who admitted to having a small amount to drink. The odor of marijuana was detected coming from the Charger. Castro told officers she had smoked earlier in the day. During a probable cause search of the vehicle, officers located a THC vape pen and marijuana pipe.

Castro consented to field sobriety testing and showed clues of impairment. She was transported to Greater Regional Health where she consented to provide a urine specimen for chemical testing. On Oct. 29, 2024, lab results of the specimen were received and showed a positive screen for marijuana metabolites that met or exceeded levels established by Iowa Code.

Castro was transported to the Union County Jail where she was released from after posting 10% of a $1,300 cash or surety bond.
Veronica Johnson, interim executive director of the Alabama Justice Coalition, speaks with supporters at the Alabama Statehouse on Tuesday, April, 8 2025 who attended the event to urge lawmakers to enact legislation to reform the states parole system. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector)

A criminal justice reform group held a rally at the Alabama Statehouse Tuesday urging lawmakers to pass bills overhauling parole.

About 20 supporters attended the gathering led by Alabamians for Fair Justice Coalition and the Alabama Justice Initiative urging lawmakers to pass two bills: SB 157, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, which would permit those who are incarcerated to virtually attend their parole hearings and address the board via phone or video conference; and HB 40, sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, which would create new oversight of the parole board.

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The states relatively low parole rates have long drawn criticism from criminal justice reform advocates. The states parole rate was about 24% in February, according to the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, higher than the 8% grant rate in 2023 but dramatically down from the 55% that it was in 2017.

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Lawmakers have also expressed frustration with Leigh Gwathney, chair of the Parole Board.

P.J. Brown, an advocate from Montgomery who attended the event, said that she attended a parole hearing in February to speak on behalf of her son whose case was before the board. Brown said the board reviewed her sons case along with four others in a group. All applicants in that group were denied.

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One gentleman had been there for 27 years, 27 plus, certifications, different courses he had taken to turn himself around and be one of the liaisons for other inmates coming in who just didnt understand how to do time, Brown said.

Veronica Johnson, interim executive director of the Alabama Justice Coalition, said they wanted a new Parole Board.

We want oversight over the Parole Board, she said. We need accountability, and at this point, we have no accountability.

SB 157 and HB 40 remain stalled in their chambers of origin.

SB 157 would change the current protocol, which bars parole applicants from directly addressing the Board at their hearings and instead requires them to submit written statements or have information referred to the board through interviews with personnel who prepare their materials.

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The bill also states that the applicant is not permitted to interact with the victims unless they want to hear the statement.

HB 40 directs the Board of Pardons and Paroles to create guidelines on parole and release. The bill would require the Board to give reasons for deviating from the guidelines in denying parole and allows applicants to appeal the Boards decision to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals should they be denied.

Similar bills to HB 40 failed for the past three years after Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee refused to support it, but it passed this year after England was able to convince enough Republicans to back the measure.

Brown said she is not against punishment, but against getting punished maliciously.

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When did the rehabilitation start? she said. When did the punishment end that they had to continue on to be kicked down and be shoved back into that institution.

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The new top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles is launching a task force to investigate possible fraud, waste, abuse and corruption involving funds meant to address homelessness in Southern California.

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who has been in the Trump-appointed role for the seven-county Central District of California for less than a week, announced on Tuesday that the new unit will include federal prosecutors that handle major fraud, civil rights, public corruption and civil fraud cases.

Essayli, 39, was a Republican state lawmaker where he was frequent antagonist of California Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, when President Trump tapped him for the federal prosecutor job last week. The appointment will require Senate confirmation for Essayli to stay in the role longer than 120 days.

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About 75,000 homeless people reside in Los Angeles County, with more than half of them in the City of Los Angeles, according to the most recent headcount data available from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). The countys homeless population was just under 53,000 in a 2018 count.

Essayli said in a statement that he quickly launched the probe into funding for homelessness programs because he has seen little progress, despite new initiatives and billions of dollars spent.

Officials have been unable to account for all the expenditures and outcomes, and the homeless crisis has only gotten worse, he said. Taxpayers deserve answers for where and how their hard-earned money has been spent. If state and local officials cannot provide proper oversight and accountability, we will do it for them. If we discover any federal laws were violated, we will make arrests.

Essayli didnt identify any specific programs alleged of wrongdoing. He said the Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force will start by reviewing all federal, state and local programs that address homelessness in the Central District of California and receive federal funds.

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)s Los Angeles field office, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation unit are assisting the task force.

Any exploitation of the homelessness crisis via the theft of funds intended to improve conditions cannot and will not be tolerated, FBI field office assistant director Akil Davis said in a statement.

Newsom spokesperson Tara Gallegos told The Hill that the governor supports accountability efforts.

Local governments must use state and federal homelessness dollars responsibly  and we expect them to deliver results, she said. We share the federal administrations goal of ensuring taxpayer funds are being used effectively to get people off our streets.

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Los Angeles County said in a statement that it will fully cooperate with any forthcoming review by this task force, and leaders are committed to accountability and transparency in homeless funding.

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A government agency reaching out can be stressful in the best of times, let alone if they're demanding money under the threat of jail time.

A situation like that might cause people to make a rash decision. And many victims have by turning over their financial information to fraudsters hoping to prey on their distress. The Federal Trade Commission is warning people about imposter scams, in which a fraudster pretends to be from a government agency like the FTC to steal your bank account information and possibly your identity.

"We take it seriously when scammers claim that the Chairman of the FTC is on the line to help you get out of a bind or that you're being charged with serious crimes," the agency wrote in a recent blog post. "No one at the FTC will call, email, or text you to say any of those things."

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Imposter scams aren't new, but advances in AI are helping them become much more prevalent and convincing. For example, scammers use AI to disguise their location, voices and faces. The better they are at convincing you that they're someone else, the more likely they'll succeed with the crime.

And it's worth the effort for criminals. Imposter scams led to $2.95 billion in losses in 2024, the second-highest damaging scam behind investor scams, according to the FTC. Government imposter scams specifically cost people $789 million, up from $618 million the year prior.

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What are FTC impostor scams?

FTC imposter scams work similarly to any other impostor scams. A criminal will reach out to you via phone, text or email while pretending to be the FTC, and they'll try to either dangle a carrot in the form of free cash or scare you into thinking you're in trouble with the law.

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Some examples of FTC imposter scams include:

You're part of a settlement in a major class action lawsuit and the "FTC" requires access to your bank account to deposit your portion of the settlement.

The "FTC" requests that you pay a small amount up front as a fee before a substantial payout of any kind can be made.

Your account has been breached and a member of the FTC is on standby to help you.

If you do fall for one of these scams, it could be even more challenging to find a human at one of these agencies to help undo the damage, given the recent spate of layoffs across government agencies, including the FTC.

Targeting our most vulnerable

The scammers behind ploys like imposter scams understand that some groups might be more vulnerable than others, perhaps less aware of the FTC's role and reach, and therefore more likely to fall into a trap.

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The elderly are often most affected by imposter scams, and criminals understand that our seniors were probably raised to be more respectful of the authority of government agencies and, therefore, give them more time and attention. It is precisely the kind of time that a scammer needs to build the trust that's essential to pulling off the scam.

According to the FTC, people aged 60 and up lost $2.4 billion to fraud in 2024, with people aged 60 to 69 losing more than any other age group. The number of older Americans who report losing more than $100,000 to fraud in a given year has more than tripled since 2020.

For these victims, it's much more than just the money they lose, although that can be devastating. Kathy Stokes, AARP's director of fraud prevention programs, said in a March AARP post that fraud can lead to health risks and leave elders more reliant on government safety nets than the retirement nest egg they worked hard to build.

How to spot and dodge imposter scams

Most imposter scams have the same telltale giveaway as any other fraud -- it's all about the context. Here's how to identify FTC and other imposter scams, so you don't fall for them.

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The request, the offer, or the threat is out of the ordinary. When was the last time you were contacted by the FTC or any other government agency about anything? Have you ever had any communication or relationship with the FTC before? Have you ever done what they're accusing you of?

You're told to send money. The FTC will never ask you to transfer or send money, make threats or promise a prize.

It doesn't feel right. Why would the FTC want to help you move your money to a safer account? Or invest in cryptocurrency? Or pay a fine using a gift card? It doesn't. If the information you're being told sounds off, trust your gut. The FTC would likely only contact you if you've filed a report. If they do, the spokesperson would have the report's reference number.

Consider the method of communication. The government tends to put notices in writing and send them through the mail. Be suspicious of texts, emails or calls claiming they're from a government agency.

There's an unusual sense of urgency . If you feel rushed to take action or make a decision, that's a telltale sign that it's a scam. You should always double-check the information you're being told or have time to consult a professional for advice. The most powerful weapon in fighting any scam is to pause and think. Stop, collect your thoughts, don't be hurried, don't be bullied and take a deep breath.

You receive threats. If you are threatened with arrest, legal action, fines, contacting your employer or freezing payments and they refuse to mail you any documents or proof, it's usually a clear sign of a scam.

What if you fall victim to an imposter scam?

If you ever fall victim to an impostor scam, your next move depends on the severity of the scam you fell for:

If you made a payment or bank transfer, contact your bank or credit union immediately and see if you can cancel and reverse the payment. If you gave them a credit card number, contact the card issuer to report fraud.

If you gave the scammers access to any type of account, cancel that account, contact the fraud department, and change your passwords. Also, change any other passwords to accounts with the same login credentials.

If you provided your Social Security Number and you haven't already done so, place both a fraud alert and a credit freeze on your credit reports. You may also consider signing up for an identity theft protection service like Aura or a credit monitoring service like Experian so that you can have help in monitoring your identity online.

Share your story with family and friends so that they can learn from your experience.

Report the scam to the FTC to help increase awareness of the scam and help protect others.

Report it to your local police department. This could alert them to similar scams in the area and help them get the word out to the local community as well.

Aura

Protect your personal data and get peace of mind with CNET's top pick for identity theft protection.

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ENFIELD, Conn. (WWLP)  As Cryptocurrency gains popularity, it also becomes a prime target for schemers.

Enfield Police tell 22News that theyve seen an uptick in scheme cases where the offender is requesting payment using cryptocurrency.

Similar to other scams, police say schemers contact the victim through phone or social media and create a false sense of urgency. Adding that the victim is convinced theres a family emergency, or perhaps a unique but time-sensitive investment opportunity.

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Northampton attorney James Winston, explains how you can protect yourself from falling victim, Dont respond to any personal solicitations involving cryptocurrency from an unknown source, whether thats on social media or in some other way of communication. And dont send any cryptocurrency to someone that you havent met in person, that you havent verified. Be very wary.

Winston says if funds are transferred by the victim, recovery of these assets, and the apprehension of the criminal offender is even harder than it normally would be.

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.

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The owner of multiple funeral homes faces a larceny charge after state police said he was found to have allegedly stolen more than $70,000 in prepayments from clients.

Philip Pietras, 51, of Coventry turned himself in on Sunday at the Troop K police barracks in Colchester where investigators had a warrant charging him with first-degree larceny by embezzlement, according to Connecticut State Police.

According to its website, Pietras is the owner, president and funeral director at Pietras Family Funeral Homes, which has locations in Vernon, East Windsor, Coventry and Tolland.

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State police said they began investigating Pietras in October 2024. Their investigation alleged that Pietras was inappropriately using funds that were given to his business by multiple victims, according to the warrant affidavit for Pietras arrest.

An employee of a company who works with agencies such as the Department of Social Services/Department of Developmental Services to assist individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities reached out to state police. She told state police one of the primary functions of her employer is to manage the finances and accounts of these clients, the warrant affidavit said.

According to the employee, one specific type of account they manage is a prepayment funeral/burial fund. She explained that payments for these accounts are made to the funeral home of choice, and the funeral home then deposits these payments into a trust account via an escrow agent, where they accrue interest over time, according to the warrant affidavit.

The employee said that she was assessing some client accounts and allegedly noticed a discrepancy involving a client payment for a funeral fund to Pietras Funeral Home located at 2665 Boston Turnpike in Coventry. She claimed that a check had been submitted to the funeral home, cleared by the bank but was never deposited into the trust account, the warrant affidavit said.

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After discovering the issue, the company subsequently conducted an audit of all eight clients who have open accounts with Pietras Funeral Home. It was allegedly discovered that all eight clients had substantial differences between the amount of money invested and what was in their accounts, according to the warrant affidavit.

The state police investigation determined that Pietras was inappropriately using funds that were given to his business by multiple victims. He has been accused of taking more than $71,000 of funds, state police said.

On Feb. 23, 2024, Pietras arrived at Troop K for an arranged interview. He explain how prepayment plans work in that money is paid to the funeral home and is intended to be placed into an escrow account where it grows until the time of funeral services following an individuals passing, the warrant affidavit said.

According to the warrant affidavit, Pietras claimed that for a period he was out with health issues and that some files were just filed and not completed, and he is not trying to fraud anybody or anything like that. He continued to state the concerns were due to human error.

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Pietras told state police that he was in the process of working with DPH to rectify the situation, the warrant affidavit said. However, the DPH told state police that Pietras was not responding to their requests.

Pietras continued to justify the errors for numerous reasons including blaming the age of the accounts, accounting problems, checks getting filed improperly, COVID and the frequency of how checks are received, according to the affidavit. Pietras also mentioned that checks are deposited into a general business account, and are supposed to be transferred to the trust accounts within 15 days of receipt per his state license requirement.

State police said when they asked Pietras about the number of personal and leisure expenditures, he claimed that was separate and he will rectify the situation, the warrant affidavit said. He added that it is not what it looks like and it was not with ill intent, state police said.

When asked if it was typical to use the business accounts where client checks are deposited for leisure activities such as vacations, flights and casinos, Pietras explained, Not really, but it might be the card I had available at the time, I just did it,' according to the warrant affidavit. He finished by saying he wants to pay the clients back, set new accounts up, or if they are uncomfortable doing business with him, transter any accounts to a new funeral home.

Based on the investigation, an arrest warrant was issued for Pietras. After he turned himself into Troop K, he was freed on a $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court on April 14.
A man has been accused of operating a drug factory out of a residence in Norwich where state, local and federal authorities carried out a search warrant last week and reported finding fentanyl, crack cocaine, hallucinogenic mushrooms and a stolen gun.

The search was carried out last Friday by the Connecticut State Police Special Investigations Joint Task Force-East Office, members of the Norwich Police Department and the FBI New Haven Violent Crime Task Force, according to state police.

State police said authorities had a search and seizure warrant for the residence in connection with an investigation into allegations that 43-year-old Princetafari Vidal was selling fentanyl. During the search, officials reported finding fentanyl, crack cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms, unspecified items associated with the packaging and sale of illegal drugs and a stolen .45 caliber handgun with ammunition, according to state police.

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State police alleged that all of the drugs appeared packaged for sale and that Vidal is a convicted felon prohibited from having firearms and ammunition. He was taken into custody and transported to the Troop E state police barracks in Montville.

Vidal faces three counts each of possession of narcotics with intent to sell and possession of a controlled substance and a single count each of operation of a drug factory, fifth-degree larceny and criminal possession of a firearm or ammunition.

State police said Vidal was also charged with failure to appear after authorities found that a judge ordered he be re-arrested in connection with a pending criminal case. He was held in custody and arraigned on Monday in Superior Court in Norwich.

According to court records, the case was continued to April 28. Vidal remains held on a $500,000 bond and has not entered a plea, records show.
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL)  Many local residents who need help with their energy costs often turn to the federally funded LIHEAP program for help.

Through the low-income home energy assistance program, families can receive a one-time payment of up to $1,000 to help offset the costs of electricity, gas or even firewood needed for energy.

The program is facilitated locally through the Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency (UETHDA).

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, more money was added to the program, but UETHDA Executive Director Tim Jaynes said Monday that Covid-era funding is ending.

Unable to get $2M in time, org. still hopes for air service expansion at Tri-Cities Airport

Our program as a whole, we are seeing changes in the fact that the COVID money is drying up, he said. So we are seeing a reduction there, and thats about a 20% reduction that we will see throughout the LIHEAP program.

At the height of the funding, about 12,000 residents in eight Northeast Tennessee counties were served. Now, Jaynes said about a thousand fewer will receive those funds.

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Those recipients will be determined by a points system that assesses the severity of need. So, even though a family may qualify, the funding may not be there to help. But Jaynes encourages residents to still reach out because help may come from another source.

We are always there, so they can go to their neighborhood service centers or they can contact us at main office. We have a lot of other resources that are available. Theres a lot of churches that are available with funding, and theres a lot of, just other organizations that step up and help.

In addition to the COVID-19 funding cuts, nearly all of the staff who ran the LIHEAP program in Washington DC were laid off as part of the restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Jaynes says its unclear how that decision will impact them locally yet, but hopes the administration will see the value in their programs and make no further cuts.

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Historically, we have seen good results from our programs. Weve seen good outcomes. Weve seen people moving forward, historically. Also, the administration has liked our programs; and Congress likes our programs. Thats why theyve continued to fund them. We do not foresee any major drastic cuts, but were all in a wait-and-see. We dont know what tomorrow holds.

Jaynes adds that UETHDA gives a helping hand, not a handout, and when a client receives assistance, financial counseling is also provided.

One aspect to the LIHEAP program is when someone comes into our office and works with us, we also work with them on financial literacy. So while it is a small portion of their annual budgeting, we help them with other things and we try and wrap our arms around everyone that walks in the office, because our goal is to eradicate poverty and help them move forward.

As far as local jobs impacted by these cuts, Jaynes didnt want to comment on that until they officially know more.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A Lebanon man was arrested for sex crimes Monday after authorities said a cyber-vigilante posed as an underage boy on social media to catch the man.

According to the Linn County Sheriffs Office, on March 11, deputies received a report from a social media personality that Burl Hilburn, 57, was communicating with them while posing as an underage boy.

Authorities said that the social media personality had gone to Hilburns home and caused a disturbance with family members, all while filming.

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7-year-old boy dies, 5 seriously injured after crash on Hwy 97

Eventually, the social media personality called the Linn County Sheriffs Office for help, officials said.

When authorities arrived at the house, they said they learned that Hilburn was not home at the time, and they tried to obtain details from the social media personality, who refused to cooperate fully with the deputies.

Deputies said that the social media personality would only provide certain screenshots and denied access to download their phone, which would be an important step in validating the messages.

Due to the lack of cooperation, authorities said they had to find a different way to confirm the messages using search warrants and interviews, and eventually they were able to validate that Hilburn had sent explicit texts and photographs to a person he believed to be a 14-year-old boy.

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Authorities said that when they contacted Hilburn again, they learned the social media personality had been sending harassing messages to Hilburn and his family while the investigation was underway.

Hilburn was taken into custody on several charges, including first-degree online sexual corruption of a child and two counts of luring a minor.

The investigation is still underway, but authorities are warning against people attempting to use similar methods to catch potential predators.

The sheriffs office said they, as well as other local law enforcement agencies, have been seeing an increasing number of what they call cyber-vigilantes who have been trying to conduct undercover investigations and record arrests for social media.

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Suspect in Burnt Bridge Creek Trail shooting arrested

Authorities said that the videos focus on sensationalizing for their own attention, social media presence and even to make money off of different sites, rather than ensuring there are proper investigations and that arrests are made safely.

According to officials, there have even been situations where minors are being sent to meet an alleged predator as bait for these videos.

The Linn County Sheriffs Office is asking that people allow them to investigate tips to ensure that they can collect all evidence of crimes being committed and that sometimes the additional evidence seized can lead to the discovery of real child victims.

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Unlike some of these private citizens who call law enforcement at the last minute, our deputies are concerned about much more than wanting to just get a sensationalized moment on camera for social media, the sheriffs office said in a press release.

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Apr. 7LIMA  A bicyclist was transported to the hospital after striking a car around 4 p.m. Friday, April 4, near the Family Dollar, 236 S. Main St., Lima, according to a press release by the Lima Police Department.

Larry Woodruff, 43, and James Louis, 44, were traveling southbound on Main Street.Woodruff was riding a bicycle next to Louis, who was driving a Nissan Versa.

According to the crash report, Louis attempted to make a turn southwest into the Family Dollar parking lot in front of Woodruff, resulting in Woodruff's bicycle striking the passenger-side mirror of the Nissan Versa.

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No damage was visible to Louis or the vehicle. The bicycle of Woodruff sustained disabling tire damage.

According to the crash report, Woodruff stated he had pain in his left arm due to falling off his bicycle. Woodruff was later transported to Mercy Health-St. Rita's Medical Center.

Due to conflicting statements, no parties were issued a citation. Both operators were provided with the incident number to this report for insurance purposes, according to the crash report.

Reach Cade Higgins at 567-242-0351

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  The Shelby County District Attorneys Office is seeking life without the possibility of parole for Jackson Hopper, the man who allegedly shot and killed his ex-girlfriend Ellie Young at Shelby Farms in 2024.

This is the beginning of a long process that we are committed to handling with efficiency and care, Prosecutor Monica Timmerman said. We are equally as committed to seeking justice for Ellie Young and her family.

Ellie Young.

On Oct. 19, Shelby Farms was hosting a breast cancer walk when Ellie Young was shot at 12:15 p.m. in the parking lot of the Visitor Center.

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Hopper, the alleged shooter, fled Shelby County in an attempt to evade law enforcement.

Aftermath of the shooting at Shelby Farms. Aftermath of the shooting at Shelby Farms.

Young died on the scene and the Hopper initially got away but was later detained in Dyer County after a high-speed multi-county chase.

Original story: Woman dead after getting shot at Shelby Farms; suspect detained

He allegedly attempted to use his vehicle to run over a Dyer County sergeant who set up spike strips at the county line.

Following a PIT maneuver by a Dyer County deputy, the suspects vehicle crashed, ending the pursuit.

Aftermath of crash involving Shelby Farms homicide suspect.

Hopper allegedly began fighting officers while they attempted to apprehend him. He was eventually taken into custody and a firearm was located inside his vehicle.

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Tipton County Sheriff Shannon Beasley said that the suspect will face charges in both Tipton and Shelby Counties and possibly others.

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MIDLAND COUNTY, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- A Dallas man was arrested and two women rescued after a traffic stop late last week that caused deputies to be suspicious. Damonte Baty, 33, has been charged with human trafficking, a second-degree felony.

According to court records, on April 4, deputies with the Midland County Sheriffs Office responded to a call about a rolling disturbance on Rankin Highway. Deputies conducted a traffic stop and learned that the driver, identified as Baty, was driving without a valid license and Baty was detained as part of the investigation.

During a roadside investigation, deputies searched the car and found condoms as well as bulk US currency. They also found a woman, identified only as Victim #1, with injuries to her arm. The woman told investigators that shed been forced into prostitution by Baty and that all the money she made went to directly to Baty, so much so that she didnt even have money for food. The woman said she was afraid of Baty and investigators said the hostile nature of their relationship was confirmed in text messages.

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While another victim in the car, identified as Victim #2, refused to speak with police, investigators said that Baty admitted that hed driven the two women to Odessa from Dallas and investigators said that he coerced the women into performing sex acts for money by giving them drugs and threatening them with violence. Investigators also said that Baty claimed he was acting as a pimp only collected a portion of the money, but electronic payments showed that all money from the prostitution went directly to Baty.

Baty was arrested and booked into the Midland County Detention Center where he remained as of Monday afternoon on a $500,000 bond.

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Dan Wootton tricked a former colleague into sending explicit images by pretending to be a woman in a catfishing case, the High Court heard.

It is alleged that the former GB News presenter exchanged sexual messages with the claimant, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, while pretending to be Maria Joseph, and encouraged him to send explicit photographs and a video in 2010.

Mr Wootton is accused of obtaining sexual images by deceit and the claimant, known as YXN, has lodged civil proceedings against him for damages for personal injuries and losses consequent on the defendants intentional infliction of harm, misuse of confidential information, infringement of privacy and deceit.

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At a hearing on Tuesday, Judge Roger Eastman said: The claim relates to what is colloquially referred to as a catfishing exercise whereby a person alleged to be the defendant (Mr Wootton) impersonated a fictitious person and induced the claimant into engaging in exchanges with that person of a sexualised nature.

It transpired that the person was, as I say, completely fictitious and the claimant alleges that as a result of that activity he has suffered psychiatric damage.

Tuesdays hearing concerned an application by Mr Woottons lawyers to set aside the anonymity order granted earlier this year to protect the identity of the claimant.

But the judge ruled that the order will remain in place, saying there is clear evidence of potential adverse and serious adverse effect on YXN if his identity is published.

Flirtacious and sexualised messages

Justin Levinson, for the claimant, outlined the facts of his clients claim in written submissions, saying: In 2010, the defendant (Mr Wootton) communicated with the claimant via email and WhatsApp and Facebook messages, deceitfully pretending to be a female by the name of Maria Joseph.

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The messages became flirtatious and sexualised.

The defendant sent to the claimant photographs of a female, which he falsely pretended was Maria Joseph/the person with whom the claimant was communicating. Some of the photographs showed the female partially or fully naked.

The defendant also sent to the claimant a video of a man and woman having sexual intercourse, again pretending that the female was Maria Joseph/the person with whom the claimant was communicating.

Mr Levinson continued: In reliance on the defendants purported good faith, flattering and in the induced belief that he was communicating with Maria Joseph, an unknown female who was interested in a sexual relationship with the claimant, the claimant responded to the messages in a flirtatious and sexualised manner.

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The defendant encouraged the claimant to send explicit photographs and a video of himself masturbating, which he did.

Samuel Rowe, for Mr Wootton, said in written submissions that the Metropolitan Police and Police Scotland investigated Mr Wootton over the allegation that he used fake online identities to obtain explicit images without consent and decided to take no further action.

But on Tuesday, Mr Levinson said that, as far as he was aware, those investigations did not relate to the claimants complaint but to other similar allegations.

Mr Wootton, who did not appear at the hearing, has not yet filed a formal defence and no admissions have been made to the allegations, the court heard.

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Dino Nocivelli, from law firm Leigh Day, said: In hearing Dan Woottons application that my clients anonymity order should be removed and his identity revealed, the court has heard the allegations of catfishing against Dan Wootton and that he allegedly procured sexual images by deceitful means from my client.

Although the alleged abuse my client has suffered does not afford him the automatic right to anonymity that is granted to victims of sexual assaults, we have successfully argued today that the anonymity order should stay in place to prevent compounding and aggravating the very matters that give rise to my clients claim.

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GEAUGA COUNTY, Ohio (WJW)  The Geauga County Sheriffs Office is asking for the publics help in locating a wanted fugitive in the area.

Geri Johnson, 42 is wanted on felony charges. According to investigators, she has a history of offenses, including assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, domestic violence, escape, drug abuse and endangering children.

Courtesy of Geauga County Sheriffs Office

She was last seen in Lake and Geauga counties, the sheriffs office said.

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Man sues North Ridgeville over wrongful harassment conviction amid utilities dispute

She is considered dangerous and should not be approached, the sheriffs office said in a Tuesday morning Facebook post. If you have any information on her whereabouts, do not attempt to apprehend her yourself.

Anyone with information should immediately reach out to the Geauga County Sheriffs Office at 440-286-1234.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
A Dartmouth College doctoral student from China filed a lawsuit against federal authorities after his student immigration status was unlawfully and abruptly terminated last week, the ACLU of New Hampshire said.

Xiaotian Liu, 26, worked with the American Civil Liberties Union and Shaheen & Gordon law firm to file the suit against Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in federal court.

Dartmouth College is aware of two students who have had their records terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), college spokeswoman Jana Barnello said in a statement.

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Dartmouth is in direct contact with the two affected individuals, and, more broadly, is committed to helping impacted community members connect with legal and support resources, she said.

Students at other universities across the country have faced similar status changes.

The Department of Homeland Security terminated the F-1 student status of Liu, who is studying computer science, with no reason given, according to the ACLU.

The college told Liu that the system could have found that he failed to maintain his status because of a criminal records check or that his visa was revoked, according to the lawsuit.

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Liu, who has been in New Hampshire since September 2023, has no criminal record, no traffic violations and has never participated in any protest, according to the lawsuit.

The change happened with no notice to Liu or Dartmouth. Lius lawsuit seeks to have his student immigration status reinstated so he can continue his studies.

The termination might put Liu at risk of immediate detention and deportation, which has happened to other students, such as a student at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

Gilles Bissonnette, legal director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, said the organization is alarmed by the sudden revocation by the Trump administration.

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International students are a vital community in our states universities, and no administration should be allowed to circumvent the law to unilaterally strip students of status, disrupt their studies, and put them at risk of deportation, he said in a statement.

The status change means Liu cannot continue his studies and can no longer work as a research assistant.

The government is required to provide those with F-1 status advanced notice and meaningful opportunity to respond, according to the ACLU. Some reasons to terminate a student status are failing to take full courses, working an unauthorized job or being convicted of a violent crime.

These indiscriminate government actions have real-life consequences, Ronald L. Abramson, a partner at Shaheen & Gordon, said in a statement. The people affected are not just case numbers, they are real people with real families, real colleagues, real employers, real fellow congregants and others, all of whom feel the acute pain of these inexplicably arbitrary and indefensibly inhumane decisions.

jphelps@unionleader.com
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (KDVR)  A vehicle that was parked outside the Foothills Mall on Saturday captured an encounter between two groups of people during which two people were killed.

Fox 31s Vicente Arenas saw the video before the police. The owner did not feel comfortable releasing it until after Fort Collins police gave him permission to do so.

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In the video, you can see two groups of three people each approaching each other outside one of the malls doors. A few seconds later, one of the people appears to pull out a gun and fire a weapon.

The dash cam video did not have sound. When the shot was fired, two people dropped to the ground. Four others involved took off running.

The video shows two people in black uniforms coming from inside the mall and seeing the two people on the ground. But they did not render aid.

FOX31 asked the mall for a comment regarding security at the mall and also asked to learn more about the people who first appeared at the scene.

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Location unknown: 18th District Attorney, ICE spar over undocumented suspect

Foothills Mall did not respond to email requests for the info.

Minutes after the shooting, what appears to be a female shopper drops her bags and appears to try and render aid. Both victims died.

Fort Collins police say they have arrested a male juvenile in connection with what they think is a gang-related shooting. There have been other gang-related shootings reported in this city before.

The double murder has left the city of Fort Collins rattled. Debra Bueno at one time helped run programs that focused on stopping teens from joining gangs in the first place. Those programs do not exist anymore, according to Bueno.

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We need to go back and revisit that programming and start creating so that we dont have what happened this weekend, Bueno said.

I-25 resurfacing project begins: Overnight impacts planned through January

Police have not identified the victims or the shooter, nor is it clear where they lived. There have been other gang shootings reported in this city before.

Gang expert Jason McBride said communities like Fort Collins, outside of the metro, must be prepared for more gang-related crime.

We need to be into prevention and that is reaching kids at earlier ages. Reaching these kids, giving them the tools they need to know or to get away from these individuals, said McBride, the McBride Impact founder and executive director.

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Fort Collins Police Services told FOX31 today it is unaware of any youth programs in the city that focus on gang prevention. In a press release, the department said, Events like this are rare in Fort Collins.

However, the department did not provide statistics regarding gang-related crimes.

The name of the suspected shooter will not be released since he is a juvenile. The Larimer County Coroner has not released the names of the two people who were killed, but a GoFundMe has been established to help the family of the two men killed.

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As a child, Madison McGhee believed her father had died of a heart attack. It wasn't until she was 16 that she learned the truth: He was murdered. John Cornelius "J.C." McGhee had been shot and killed at his Ohio home on July 11, 2002.

Not long afterwards, McGhee learned that his killing had never been solved. Her father was a former drug dealer and a confidential informant, McGhee said, which provided possible motives for his death  but she also felt it made police less willing to investigate the case thoroughly.

The case is in the jurisdiction of the Belmont County Sheriff's Department in Ohio. An arrest has never been made. The sheriff's office declined to comment on the case or McGhee's allegations that it was not investigated appropriately.

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In the late 2010s, McGhee began to notice cases, like that of the Golden State Killer, were going to trial after podcast investigations led to new answers. She started to wonder if something similar could help her solve her father's killing. McGhee would occasionally message family members on Facebook to ask if they knew anything about her dad or his death. In 2020, during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, she turned her attention to the project more fully.

"My dad was killed with a gunshot to the head, so only one person shot that gun, and that's what I need to figure out, is who that person was," McGhee told CBS News. "I believe there were multiple people there, so it's just a matter of who's capable of it and which person did it. That is a struggle. And then also there's the motive piece. Why did this happen? Were there strings being pulled behind the scenes? Was this a targeted thing, was this an accident?"

J.C. McGhee and Madison McGhee. / Credit: Madison McGhee

Chasing answers

McGhee, 29, used her background as an independent video producer to start "Ice Cold Case," a podcast where she would try to solve her father's killing. She said she was able to get access to the case files, and began interviewing people who were mentioned in those files. Soon, she started getting tips from people who had been around at the time.

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This led to her belief that police did not investigate her father's killing thoroughly. McGhee claims police told her they had been searching for a witness, but had not been able to find her. She said after a few minutes of searching on social media, she was able to find the witness. McGhee said the witness still lives in the county, and she was able to interview her on the podcast. When asked about the witness, the Belmont County Sheriff's Office declined to comment.

McGhee said police have not been cooperative with the podcast or her investigation: While she has the case files, she has not been able to see any evidence from the crime scene, which she said she believed would help her solve the crime. When asked about the request, the Belmont County Sheriff's Office declined to comment. Now, her hope is that she will be able to learn enough from interviews that she can go to the sheriff's office and see if the details she learns corroborate the information in the police files. McGhee said that she believes she is close to identifying who was present when her father died. After that, she says she'll still need to identify who fired the shot that killed J.C. McGhee.

During the podcast's second season, McGhee interviewed a man who several witnesses and people who knew her father told her was the main suspect in the killing. A grand jury was convened, but charges were never brought. When asked about the grand jury and why charges were not brought, the Belmont County Sheriff's Office declined to comment. The office also declined to comment about whether the man was a suspect. McGhee interviewed him in a library in West Virginia, she said, and his comments later appeared on the podcast. She doesn't know if he is the one who pulled the trigger.

"We sat for two hours together, and he told me he didn't kill my dad, and it was really emotional," McGhee said. "If that's all true, great. I don't know. He could be lying. That interview doesn't prove his innocence by any means, but it was interesting for sure, and it taught me a lot."

Madison McGhee and her parents on the day she was born. / Credit: Madison McGhee

Finding closure

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McGhee's hope is that the investigation will eventually encourage the sheriff's office to identify a suspect and file charges. If no charges are filed, she predicts the third season of "Ice Cold Case," which premieres on Wednesday, April 7, will be the last. The podcast is independently produced by McGhee, without a studio or company funding it. McGhee said she has spent over $100,000 on the podcast. It has burned through her savings, run up her credit card debt and led to strained relationships with some family members. If an arrest is made, McGhee said she will cover any legal proceedings.

Even if the podcast doesn't solve the case, McGhee said she hopes it will lead to enough interest in her father's killing to put pressure on police to keep investigating. She also said she hopes the podcast helps humanize her father in the public eye.

"I was trying to get people to see oh, wait, a lot of people like J.C. McGhee get killed, and we really don't give a s***, and maybe we should," she said. "I was really trying to get people to see my dad as the dynamic person he was: Yes, drug dealer, yes, confidential informant, yes, maybe a little bit of a shady business guy. But he was a hell of a dad ... He did everything he could for his family, and he made sure we were always provided for, and I think that should be discussed when talking about my dad."

"I don't know what will happen. I don't know if the Belmont County Sheriff's Department will decide that they are going to move with an arrest, or if they're going to do something," McGhee continued. "My hope for the next 12 months is you can't go anywhere without seeing J.C. McGhee."

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Just a day after severe flooding led officials to call for mandatory evacuations of a Northern Kentucky city, its mayor resigned to take another job.

Falmouth Mayor Luke Price announced Tuesday he resigned the day before, having decided to accept a position in his personal career that would impact his time as mayor, according to a city news release.

"I have accepted a position in my personal career that will impact my time as Mayor. So at this time, it is with a very heavy heart that I have to make a decision for the betterment of my family," Price said in the release. "Therefore, effective immediately, I resign from my position as Mayor of Falmouth, KY."

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Price transferred authority over to Falmouth Police Chief Marty Hart to act as mayor until city council appoints a successor.

The city thanked Price for his service and assured residents in a release that operations will continue without interruption during the transitional period.

Falmouth is one of several riverfront communities impacted by flooding after heavy rains battered the region over the past week. The Licking River in Falmouth crested, or peaked, at nearly 39 feet Sunday evening, flooding much of downtown along Main Street.

Residents were forced to leave their homes Saturday night after the city called a mandatory evacuation, saying that utility services and access would be limited after 8 p.m. that night. The evacuation order was lifted at noon Monday.

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Sitting along U.S. Highway 27, Falmouth, with a population of 2,169, is the county seat of Pendleton County.

This story may be updated.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: NKY mayor resigns to take another job day after city has severe flooding
Apr. 8A Dayton man has been sentenced in federal court to decades in prison for coercing two minors online and producing child sexual abuse material.

Christopher Jewett, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Newman to 25 years in prison, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio.

The release said that in summer 2023 and spring 2024, Jewett communicated with adolescent girls online through a virtual world and social networking website, sending them explicit videos and asking for explicit videos in return.

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He was on supervised release at the time for similar prior offenses, including local convictions for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, the U.S. attorney's office said.

In addition, the release said Jewett lied about his registered address and possessed cell phones, which violated his probation.

He was charged in federal court in July 2024 and pleaded guilty in October 2024.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The District will soon celebrate its 163rd D.C. Emancipation Day, marking 163 years since slavery was abolished in the city.

By ending slavery in D.C., the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862, which was enacted on April 16 of that year, freed 3,100 enslaved people, reimbursed those who had legally owned them and offered the newly freed men and women money to emigrate.

To celebrate, the mayors office hosts an annual Emancipation Day parade and festival. This year, the commemoration will occur on Sunday, April 13, at Freedom Plaza, which is located at Pennsylvania Avenue NW, between 10th and 14th streets.

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The parade will kick off at 2 p.m., followed by concert performances at 4 p.m. and a dazzling fireworks show at 8 p.m.

Some of the performers include Anthony Hamilton, Chante Moore, DJ Kool and the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir.

To learn more about the festivities and get a free ticket, click here. To learn more about the history of D.C. Emancipation Day, click here.

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TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday tapped his close aide Ryosei Akazawa, minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, to lead talks with the United States in a bid to dissuade President Donald Trump from imposing higher tariffs that could harm trade and the economy.

The appointment came hours after Ishiba and Trump agreed in a roughly 30-minute telephone conversation to continue bilateral tariff negotiations through their ministers, with the imminent imposition of a 24 percent "reciprocal" tariff on Japanese products looming.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he has been entrusted by Trump with conducting talks on tariffs with Japan. Bessent said Japan would be given "priority" for coming forward quickly as a key security and economic ally of the United States.

"The prime minister judged that minister Akazawa is the right person based on his skills and experience," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, the top government spokesman, said at a press conference.

Akazawa, who also serves as economic revitalization minister, said during a parliamentary session, "We will keep a close eye on the situation with a sense of urgency," voicing vigilance over the negative effects of the so-called reciprocal tariff on the global economy.

Hayashi said Ishiba would consider visiting the United States for an in-person meeting with Trump, depending on how the ministerial-level talks proceed.

High-ranking bureaucrats from the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have departed for the United States for consultations with officials under the Trump administration, a Japanese government source said.

In a show of what Ishiba has described as a whole-of-government approach, a new headquarters was launched on the same day to tackle tariff-related issues.

Ishiba urged Cabinet ministers to gauge the potential impact of higher U.S. tariffs, including a 25 percent levy already in place on cars, on the Japanese economy and to ramp up diplomatic efforts to reverse the measures.

He raised the alarm that the recent U.S. move to impose wide-ranging trade-restrictive tariffs would have significant repercussions for bilateral economic relations, the world economy, and the multilateral trade system.

"We are seriously concerned about whether the tariffs are consistent with WTO rules and the Japan-U.S. trade agreement," Ishiba said, referring to the World Trade Organization.

He has said his government will need to take steps to prop up the export-reliant economy on a scale similar to those implemented to prevent a sharp downturn in corporate and consumer activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government and ruling camp, led by Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party, are expected to explore the possibility of drawing up a supplementary budget for fiscal 2025, which began on April 1, sources close to the matter have said.

A senior member of the Komeito party, the LDP's junior coalition partner, floated the idea of tax cuts to support households currently reeling from cost-push inflation, in which price hikes have hampered growth in disposable income among the public.

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WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she provided written testimony to President Donald Trumps Make DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which met for the first time this week.

The task force was created under executive order last month, charged with increasing the number of police officers in public spaces, maximizing immigration enforcement and expediting concealed carry licenses for law-abiding citizens in D.C.

It also focuses on cleaning up graffiti and homeless encampments across the District.

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Officials, advocates urge House to pass DC Local Funds Act to restore budget

We will be providing a written brief to the task force, said Bowser during a press event Monday.

In the written briefing, the Mayor said she confirmed that D.C.s forensics lab is accredited and that the police chief asked for more assistance from U.S. Park Police in patrolling federal roadways like the George Washington Parkway.

She also emphasized the dire need for the House to pass the DC Local Funds Act, which would restore D.C.s current fiscal budget.

Additionally, we outlined several fountains that are in the National Park Service (NPS) portfolio that dont work. Getting those fixed, thats beautiful. So, we are encouraging the task force to turn their attention to that, she said.

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That includes the cascading fountain at Meridian Hill Park.

According to NPS, a restoration project began there in 2019. The fountain has been turned off ever since.

During the project, it was found that more repairs were needed to get the fountain working properly again. Several critical components of the fountain need replacement, and extensive concrete work is needed to fix damaged areas, said Autumn Cook, Public Affairs Officer with NPS.

She stated that the earliest the project will receive funding is fiscal year 2027.

Dozens of road closures, traffic changes ahead of Cherry Blossom Parade

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Bowser also pointed out reductions in trash pickup on the National Mall as a beautification issue that the federal government can help with.

We also outlined, what we understand, is that the National Park Service has been impacted by cuts, and they have reduced the number of trash pickups on the National Mall, she said. So, we are asking them to restore three times daily trash pickups on the Mall.

Mike Litterst, with the National Park Service, addressed that concern.

It is not unusual or unique this year for operating hours and operational priorities, such as the trash collection schedule, to change, as we experience adjustments in park staffing levels, he said. Even with those adjustments, our crews are working hard to maintain a high level of service.

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WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  A smashed window and a stolen airbag have a woman in Northwest D.C. and her neighbors calling on police to do more to prevent crime.

Fabiana Perera said her car has been targeted twice in the span of about two weeks while parked along Kansas Ave NW in Brightwood Park. She and her husband will have to spend a minimum of $1,500 to fix what was broken and stolen.

We are a working family. We have two kids. We have one car. Like, this is not a good situation, Perera said.

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DC crossing guard arrested for allegedly selling drugs while on duty, court documents say

Perera went to take her baby to daycare Monday morning when she thought her husband might have accidentally left the back window down. But when she opened the door, she realized that wasnt the case.

Black glass was coming out and I realized that our car window had been smashed on the baby side, Perera said.

She cleaned it up and got in the drivers seat when she noticed the airbag was stolen.

Our car is now missing a window, so I cant park it on the street. We have to pay the insurance deductible again, and were not getting really a great response from D.C., said Perera.

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Thats because just two weeks ago, her windshield was smashed.

That happened to other neighbors on our block and down the block. We tried calling the police. And the police said, To be honest, were never going to find this person. It doesnt matter if you have video,' Perera said.

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Her neighbor Cindy Dashdorj isnt surprised.

Ive had issues of my own where Ive had to reach out to police. And I just realized theyre not as helpful as they could be, Dashdorj said.

Shes started parking her car in the back of her house.

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We have cameras everywhere in the front, in the back. We, you know, have kind of upped all of our security, Dashdorj said.

Perera understands there are bigger problems than her car but wants more done.

Maybe a light, maybe a camera, maybe a police presence to deter, Perera said. Its just, its not fair to feel like Im being abandoned like our block is being abandoned and its not important.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department released a statement:

Preventing Theft from Vehicles is a priority of MPD and its a priority for members of Fourth District where this incident occurred. We always seek video and images that could help locate suspects in all offenses and regularly disseminate images to the public to help our investigations. Theft from Auto is down 8% year to date in the Fourth District and our detectives will continue to thoroughly investigate these offenses to locate and apprehend suspects. Tom Lynch, Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist

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Deadline approaches for FEMA Assistance in West Virginia

CHARLESTON, WV (WVNS)  The deadline is approaching for people dealing with damage caused by storms in February 2025 to apply for FEMA Assistance.

According to a press release, April 28, 2025 is the deadline for people to apply for FEMA Assistance for damage caused by storms in February.

More than $20 million in FEMA Disaster Assistance approved in West Virginia

The assistance can help with home repairs, personal property losses, and other disaster-related needs that insurance does not cover, in Mercer, McDowell, Raleigh, Wyoming, Logan, Mingo, and Wayne counties.

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According to the press release, there are multiple ways that renters who dealt with losses can apply for assistance such as:

Visiting the Disaster Assistance website

Downloading the FEMA App.

Calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. Phone lines are open every day and help is available in most languages. Those who use a relay service such as video relay service (VRS) or captioned telephone service, are advised to provide FEMA with the number for that service.

Speaking with someone in person. Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) teams will be on the ground in affected communities, walking door-to-door to share information, and helping residents apply for FEMA assistance. At Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) in Mercer, McDowell, Wyoming, Logan, Mingo, and Wayne counties. People can get help applying for federal assistance, update applications, and learn about other resources available when they visit DRCs. DRCs are accessible to all people, including survivors with impaired vision, mobility issues, and people who are deaf or hard of hearing.



Information about Disaster Recovery Centers includes:

Mercer County Lifeline Princeton Church of God at 250 Oakvale Road in Princeton Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Closed Sundays Closed on April 26

McDowell County Bradshaw Town Hall at 10002 Marshall Highway in Bradshaw Monday through Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Closed Sundays Board of Education Office at 900 Mount View High School Road in Welch Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Closed on Saturdays and Sundays

Wyoming County Wyoming County Courthouse at 24 Main Avenue in Pineville Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Closed Sundays

Mingo County Williamson Campus at 1601 Armory Drive in Williamson Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Closed Sundays

Logan County Southern WV Community & Technical College at 100 College Drive in Logan Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturdays 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Closed Sundays

Wayne County Tolsia High School at 1 Rebel Drive in Fort Gay Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Closed Saturdays and Sundays



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The press release stated that a persons eligibility for Social Security, such as Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, Medicaid, Medicare, or other federal benefit programs are not affected if FEMA funds are accepted.

Renters in West Virginia could be eligible for FEMA Individual Assistance

The application deadline for homeowners, renters and business owners to apply for a U.S. Small Business Administration physical disaster loan is April 28, 2025. People can apply here, by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955, or emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for additional information about SBA disaster assistance.

The press release stated that those who with a speech disability, or who are deaf or hard of hearing can dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay service.

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Additional information about recovery efforts in West Virginia can be found on FEMAs website, the West Virginia Emergency Managements website, or FEMAs social media page.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  The deadline to obtain a Real ID is May 7.

Real IDs are required for domestic flights and entry into certain federal facilities in the United States. In order to get a Real ID, you must provide your legal name, date of birth, social security number, legal residency and two verified forms of address.

If your drivers license has a star on it, you already have a real ID.

For more information, click here.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News.
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)  Voters in the Baton Rouge area will decide on a state House of Representatives seat, propositions and a few runoff races.

Three candidates qualified to run for a Louisiana House District 67 seat in a special election. The seat was vacated after Larry Selders was elected to a state Senate position.

Terry Landry Jr. (Democrat) Has 16 years of experience in public policy, government accountability and law. He wants to focus on transparency in government, public safety, economic opportunity and strong schools. Read more on Landrys Facebook page for his campaign.

Sonny Marchbanks (Democrat) He said he chose to run after seeing too much political showmanship. He wants to focus on affordable health care, quality education and good-paying jobs. Read more on Marchbanks Facebook page for his campaign.

Malcolm Myer (Democrat) Has 30 years of experience as a public servant. Has been appointed to top-level executive positions by five Louisiana governors. Read more on Myers campaign website.



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If necessary, a runoff election would be held on June 7. All three candidates will be at a forum from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, April 10 at Baton Rouges River Center Branch Library.

Other notable races in the Baton Rouge area include runoffs for St. George council positions and a juvenile judge for the 21st Judicial District Court.

What voters need to know before the election

Voter Registration Deadline: The deadline to register to vote in person, by mail or at the OMV office was April 2.

Early Voting: Voters can go to the polls early from April 19-26, excluding Sunday, April 20, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Click here for locations.

Absentee Ballots: The deadline to request an absentee ballot online or by writing through the Registrar of Voters Office is 4:30 p.m. April 29.

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The deadline to return absentee ballots is 4:30 p.m. May 2.

When do polls open on May 3? Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters can find polling locations and sample ballots using the GeauxVote app or by visiting GeauxVote.com.

Voters are reminded by the Louisiana Secretary of State to bring an ID with them to the polls.

Louisiana lawmakers to discuss budget priorities as teachers face a pay cut

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KANSAS CITY, Kan.  Police are releasing more information about a shooting over the weekend in Kansas City, Kansas that left two men dead and two others wounded.

KCK Police Chief Karl Oakman said three people went to an apartment complex on North 70th Terrace on Saturday night to buy drugs and attempted to rob the sellers, which led to a gun battle.

Kansas City man charged after allegedly snatching elderly womans purse

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The two men who police say were purchasing drugs were killed. They have been identified as 19-year-old Javon Brown and 20-year-old Delorean Jackson, both residents of KCK.

Two other people were struck by gunfire and hospitalized. They are expected to recover.

Oakman said the police department continues its efforts to combat illegal drug trafficking and violence associated with it.

Whether its cocaine, methamphetamine or fentanyl, our narcotics team, as well as working with the DEA and our partners from ATF, we are doing what we can to focus on these individuals that are trafficking these drugs and attaching it to the violence that its attached to, Oakman said.

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KCKPD released photos from a drug operation last week that resulted in their team seizing a large amount of cocaine and marijuana along with 11 assault rifles.

Courtesy: Kansas City, Kanas Police Department Courtesy: Kansas City, Kanas Police Department Courtesy: Kansas City, Kanas Police Department

Police say two people are in custody in connection with the shooting and double homicide investigation, however charges have not been filed at this time.

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Florida House Bill 5101 and Senate Bill 2510 have educators and parents on edge.

Proposed revisions to the bill could mean that programs like AP, IB, dual enrollment, and career-readiness courses could be cut by 50 percent. Senate.

In a letter sent out to parents, Duval County Public Schools leaders say cuts to the funding would result in an 8 million dollar loss to the school system.

DCPS-Potential Impacts to Funding

Changes to the states budget could also mean increased costs to families, limited course options for students, and fewer qualified teachers.

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Yasmina White, a DCPS parent and organizer, is using her social media presence to get the word out.

HB 5101 is going to decimate our high schools. The 50 percent funding that cuts into our advanced studies courses is detrimental, she tells us.

White runs a Facebook group with more than 1,000 members called Duval School News. Her posts about the proposed pieces of legislation are garnering widespread reach, with more than 80 shares on one post. I highly encourage you to email legislators personally instead of a forum email, one of the posts reads.

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Cindy Pearson, DCPS School Board member, is urging parents to do the same.

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With hours until the Florida Senate and House members will meet again to discuss the bill, Pearson says the time is now for constituents to reach out to their representatives.

You have until this evening to send an email to the Duval delegation, to the chair of the different house and senate budget committees for ed budget committee, and then these bills will be heard tomorrow, Pearson shares.

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St. Johns County school leaders say theyre monitoring the legislation closely, too.

Superintendent Forson will be addressing this in his opening comments at todays School Board meeting, the district commented.

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Action News Jax will continue to monitor these bills and provide updates as they move through the legislature.

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.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  The Federal Communications Commission is asking Americans to weigh in on regulations, helping it determine what to keep, revise or eliminate.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the Delete Delete Delete initiative last month. According to the public notice, people have until April 11 to provide their comments.

The FCC regulates interstate and international communications through cable, radio, television, satellite and wire, according to its website. Those regulations apply to media and telecommunications companies, as well as local television stations such as KXAN.

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KXANs parent company, Nexstar, has created a website to outline its position. People can go to the site to read more about where it stands. They can also read the FCCs public notice for more details on the governments effort and questions the agency hopes to answer.

According to the public notice, people can submit their formal comments via mail or electronically through the FCCs Electronic Comment Filing System. The FCC is also listening on X, according to Nexstars informational website.

Deregulation in the Trump Administration

According to a press release, this initiative is part of carrying out President Donald Trumps executive orders aimed at promoting deregulation. It specifically mentioned one signed Jan. 31 called Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation and another from Feb. 19 called Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the Presidents Department of Government Efficiency Deregulatory Initiative.

For too long, administrative agencies have added new regulatory requirements in excess of their authority or kept lawful regulations in place long after their shelf life had expired, Carr said in the release, noting it creates headwinds and slows down our countrys innovators, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.

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The FCC is committed to ending all of the rules and regulations that are no longer necessary, Carr continued. And we welcome the publics participation and feedback throughout this process.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a panel of federal agencies to conduct another review of Nippon Steel Corp.'s blocked $14.1 billion bid to take over United States Steel Corp.

In a presidential memorandum released by the White House, Trump said the purpose of the review is to assist him "in determining whether further action in this matter may be appropriate" and directed the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to submit a recommendation to him within 45 days.

The memorandum said the recommendation needs to describe whether any measures proposed by the Japanese and U.S. steelmakers are "sufficient to mitigate any national security risks" previously identified by the committee as constituted under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden.

The document addressed to the committee's current members, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said the review will be carried out anew.

The development, which could break the stalemate over the buyout plan, came after Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori held talks with Lutnick last week, during which he promised to increase the Japanese company's investment in U.S. Steel facilities.

Following Trump's announcement of the review, U.S. Steel shares soared in New York at a time when global stock markets have seen steep declines or extreme volatility amid concerns that Trump's sweeping tariffs announced last week might upend the world economy.

U.S. Steel hailed Trump's decision, saying it was "pivotal as we work to deliver on new and historic levels of investment in American steelmaking."

"We look forward to continuing to work closely with President Trump and his administration to finalize this significant and important investment, which will preserve existing jobs, create new jobs, enhance national security and secure a bright future for American manufacturing," it said in a statement.

Nippon Steel said it "appreciates" the decision to re-examine their plan and hopes the review process will be completed as soon as possible so the company can start investment projects as planned.

In early January, Biden issued an order to block the sale of U.S. Steel to the Japanese firm, citing national security grounds, following a recommendation by the panel, also known as CFIUS.

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, which announced their merger plan in December 2023, filed a lawsuit after Biden's decision, arguing that the CFIUS screening and recommendation were influenced by the Democratic president.

In mid-March, a U.S. Steel filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that the Justice Department had asked a Washington court to provide more time for the government to complete its ongoing discussions with the two steelmakers.

It said the two companies had consented to the department's motion aimed at eliminating the need for the court to resolve the litigation, with oral arguments that were due to begin April 24 pushed back to the week of May 12.

In the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, Biden had aligned with the leadership of the powerful United Steelworkers union to voice opposition to the sale of the iconic but struggling U.S. producer, which is headquartered in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state in the race to the White House.

The Republican Trump, who won the Nov. 5 election, was also against the sale. He has since said that Nippon Steel acquiring a minority stake in U.S. Steel would not cause any issues, but a foreign company owning it would be "psychologically not good."

During a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in February following their meeting in Washington, Trump said Nippon Steel would "invest heavily" in U.S. Steel, instead of seeking to fully own it.

But Nippon Steel, the world's fourth-largest producer, and U.S. Steel have not given up on their plan to merge.

Before Biden blocked Nippon Steel's buyout attempt, which would have created the world's third-largest steelmaker by volume, U.S. Steel and its shareholders were supportive of the idea as a way to become more competitive globally.

At the joint press conference, Trump said he would "mediate" a deal between the U.S. and Japanese companies.

"I didn't want it purchased, but investment I love," he said at the time, and later started claiming that his administration's new 25 tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports would revive American companies like U.S. Steel.

Related coverage:

Trump threatens to slap additional tariffs of 50% on China on Wed.

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(Getty Images)

Washington lawmakers are looking at requiring assisted living facilities to be certified to take care of people with dementia.

Senate Bill 5337, sponsored by Sen. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, would require the Department of Social and Health Services to create, manage and enforce a certification process for licensed assisted living facilities.

This bill is around supporting people as they age and supporting families and giving the Department of Social and Health Services the tools they need for that work, Orwall said.

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In 2021, an informal study by the states Dementia Action Collaborative found there were about 237 assisted living facilities in Washington that advertised memory care or specialized dementia care, but their services varied.

Currently there are about 126,000 seniors in Washington with Alzheimers disease, which is about 10% of the population 65 and up and that number is growing every day, said Brad Forbes from the Alzheimers Association.

The lack of standardized care can make it difficult for individuals or families to understand the services and staffing that facilities offer.

The challenge exists when the individual gives their trust and significant payments, sometimes $10,000 a month, for what they think is comprehensive care designed for a person experiencing cognitive decline, said Joanna Grist, a lobbyist for AARP.

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The bill would require these facilities to maintain staff onsite 24 hours a day, to have at least six hours of continuing education for workers per year on dementia-related behaviors such as aggression, and to provide patients with individual and group activities.

A memory care facility is defined as one that is devoted specifically to that type of care or that offers a special unit or wing for those with dementia. They help people with housekeeping, meals, snacks, laundry and activities.

Under the bill, the department would have to maintain a publicly available list of certified assisted living facilities that specialize in memory care or have memory care units. They would also review facilities compliance with state law and conduct regular inspections. Facilities that are out of compliance could face civil penalties.

The Senate passed the bill 49-0 last month, and its now moving along in the House. If approved, the bill would require assisted living facilities to be certified by July 1, 2026.

As we age, we want everyone to get the care they need and deserve, Orwall said.
The head of the House Democratic Caucus said Tuesday that hes expecting conservative Republicans to cave and back a Senate-passed budget bill when it hits the floor of the lower chamber, which is scheduled to happen later this week.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said Republicans frequently gripe privately about parts of President Trumps agenda, but then drop their reservations under pressure from the president when it comes time to vote.

Its pretty clear that House Republicans generally say one thing when theyre in an elevator with us or with you, Aguilar told reporters in the Capitol. And then they do something else when they are given an opportunity to vote on the floor.

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Aguilar is predicting those dynamics will also govern the debate over the sweeping budget blueprint passed by the Senate last week, which has drawn howls from a number of House conservatives who fear it will pile trillions of dollars onto the national debt.

Conservative Republican in the House, however, insist that wont be the case.

A number of them said Tuesday that theyll oppose the Senate bill if Johnson brings it to the floor  a threat that would doom the proposal in the House, where Republicans have only a hairline majority.

To up the pressure on the holdouts, Trump invited a number of conservatives to the White House on Tuesday afternoon. Several of those Republicans have refused the invitation, including House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.), who suggested theres nothing the president can say to change his mind.

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Theres nothing that I can hear at the White House that I dont understand about the situation, he told reporters.

The debate is the latest  and perhaps most consequential  challenge facing Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) since he took the gavel in late 2023. The budget proposal is a crucial step in enacting Trumps domestic priorities  including an extension of tax cuts, a crackdown on immigration and an expansion of energy production  because it empowers Republicans to pass the package through Congress while circumventing Democratic obstructions.

House conservatives, however, are furious with the budget drafted by Senate Republicans, saying the spending cuts it promotes are insufficient to rein in deficit spending. Theyre also up in arms over the Senates adoption of a budget gimmick empowering upper chamber Republicans to claim that the tax cut extensions will add $0 to the debt  a far cry from the $4 trillion deficit impact estimated by the Congressional Budget Office.

Aguilar, though, said Democrats anticipate that those holdouts will experience a change of heart when the pressure grows from the White House and theyre being blamed for blocking Trumps agenda.

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Speaker Johnson is pretty good at counting to 200, but he clearly cant count much beyond that  without Donald Trump putting his thumb on the scale. Thats why hes bringing them down to 1600 Pennsylvania. Thats why its a full-court press, Aguilar said. But many of these Republicans who say that they are no votes will ultimately cave.

Generally, the only one who we can believe is Thomas Massie, whos principled and if he says hes a no hes going to be a no, he continued, referring to the Republican representative from Kentucky. Everyone else generally will say one thing until they get a phone call from the president.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Democratic candidates Gay Valimont and Josh Weil hired Jackson McMillan to work on their special election campaigns. (Vailmont photo from her X account; Weil photo from the Weil congressional campaign)

As reports of big fundraising numbers emerged leading into last weeks special congressional elections in Florida, Democratic political consultants from around the state took aim at the young man helping to bring in that bounty  23-year-old St. Petersburg political strategist Jackson McMillan.

The criticism was based on the fact that the seats in Florida Congressional District 1 and District 6 were considered unattainable for Democrats  Donald Trump and the then-incumbent Republicans who ran in those districts in November won by more than 30 percentage points.

Political consultant Jackson McMillan (Photo from Key Lime Strategies website)

Were these races ever winnable? My answer is absolutely, McMillan told this reporter on WMNF-88.5 FM on Friday morning.

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Our polling internally on the Josh Weil campaign matched the White Houses lead pollster that came out just a week before Election Day, so when my polling number that my firm ran matched Tony Fabrizios, I was like, I must be doing something right.

An internal poll conducted by Trump pollster Fabrizio did show Democrat Josh Weil with a lead over Republican Randy Fine in CD 6. Another survey from St. Pete Polls in the week leading up to the election showed Fine up by just four points, 48%-44%.

Fine ended up defeating Weil by 14 points on Election Day. Republican Jimmy Patronis defeated Democrat Gay Valimont in CD 1 by 15 points.

The two Democrats raised more that $20 million in their campaigns, 90% of it from outside of Florida, McMillan says. Some fellow Democratic strategists contend that while McMillan and his firm Key Lime Strategies help raise a lot of awareness about the races, in the end his candidates still lost by double digits.

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They question whether it was appropriate to tell Democratic donors that their contributions could help narrow the GOPs numeric advantage in Congress.

We had no business telling donors we were going to win those seats. That was a straight-up lie, said Orlando based Democratic strategist Chris Mitchell with Statecraft Digital said last Friday on WMNF.

Weve now heard the last three days the Florida Democratic Party and others take victory laps on losing by double-digits, and that is not how we build long, systemic infrastructure in the state, and thats not how we produce long-term outcomes, Mitchell said.

Campaign finance records from the Weil and Valimont campaigns in mid-March showed that they had paid Key Lime Strategies $4.7 million, more than one third their total spending.

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McMillan says that it costs money to make money, with much of those funds going to pay for fund-raising ads.

He also noted that the campaigns received nothing from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and not that much from the Democratic National Committee. He appreciates what the Florida Democratic Party was able to contribute, but says it was a drop in the bucket of the money that we pulled in from around the country, and it costs money to solicit that money. It costs money to text. It costs money to send emails.

McMillan boasts about his transparency, saying that his fee structure is transparent on his firms website. But that transparency only goes so far, as he will not disclose how much profit his firm will ultimately make from working on the Weil and Valimont campaigns.

It was certainly not millions of dollars, he said in a phone conversation on Saturday. I dont want to give you a figure because it might be incorrect.

Im done dealing with these a

As Florida Democrats electoral hopes have deteriorated in recent election cycles, the consulting class has been subject to escalating attacks.

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People like Jackson McMillan are the exact type of consultants who people say are the problem in our party, said Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg in a social media posting last month.

Im done dealing with these a and its time they start being called out. Everyone says f the consultants but wont name names. Jackson is one of many. [Elisions by the Phoenix.]

Hogg was responding to New York Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs comment that footage taken from a 92-minute Instagram Live presentation she gave on Feb. 3 for an ad boosting Valimont and Weil was being used without her consent. McMillan then took down the ad immediately.

Another incident that has rankled some is the contention that he worked for a candidate for St. Petersburg City Council last year who he knew didnt live within the city limits. He denies that he knew that.

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The candidate, Juan Lopez Estevez, was endorsed by former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn in the open District 3 race. Estevez finished fourth in the Aug. 20 primary election.

To my knowledge, Juan was living at his mothers house, McMillan said over the weekend. He told me he lived in St. Petersburg. At no point did I ever have any reason to believe that Juan didnt live on Cherry street. It was only after accusations started flying after the campaign was over that I had any real inclination. Ive heard the rumors, but I dont have anything to substantiate that.

However, the Rev. Andy Oliver, the pastor of the Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, said that he spoke with McMillan on Friday as both left the radio station where they had just appeared as guests. Oliver was supporting another candidate in the race, Nick Carey, who he thought might have made the runoff if it hadnt been for Estevezs participation.

I said listen, I am still very angry with you  because you knowingly ran a candidate that did not live in the district,' Oliver said.

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In that conversation, he admitted to me that he knew that Juan didnt live in the district. He said, He was there for two months, and that to me was even more telling. The St. Petersburg charter states that a candidate for city council must be a resident of the declared district for at least 12 months as of the date of the primary election.

At one point, he laughed and said, Of course, he didnt live there. And so Jackson admitted that he knew that Juan did not live in the district. His reasons for doing that are that he had a company to support and Gen Z people on his team that needed to be paid.

Im not sure what the pastor is referring to, McMillan said when told of Olivers recollection of their discussion. I remember a piece of the conversation discussing the voter registration of Juans father who shares a name with him was originally used as proof that Juan didnt live in the district, because Juans father is registered in Tampa. I found that deeply comedic, because any amount of investigation would have revealed that it was Juans father. Perhaps a remark was misunderstood.

For his part, Estevez insists the rumor that he didnt reside in St. Petersburg is 100% false.

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If anyone had challenged my eligibility based on my residency, not only would they have been unsuccessful, but they would have been subjected to legal action as well, he said in a text message.

Praise from the candidates

While hes taking some licks, both Weil and Valimont are effusive in praising McMillans work in the special elections.

Jackson McMillan took a teacher with no public profile and raised $15M in small dollars  unheard of for a Florida candidate, even for an elected official, Weil told the Phoenix in email.

The payments to Key Lime Strategies you see on our FEC report include all the costs of building and managing what would ultimately become one of the largest donor networks in the country, which includes all of the paid comms overhead for messaging via email, text, and social media over 4 months, all of our mailers, and all of our polling.

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We executed a plan built to deliver 90k votes that would be successful up to 40% voter turnout. Nobody outside of our team believed at any point along the way the turnout would even come close to that number, and ultimately it exceeded it. The work he did on this campaign should cement Jackson McMillan as the gold standard for Dem fundraising and political coordination in the state of Florida for years to come. There is nobody else in this state who could have produced anything close to what he did here in District 6 these last four months.

Valimont also praised McMillan in a statement.

Our campaign was powered by an average donation of just $32, proving that grassroots support can drive monumental change. For the first time in decades, we established a foundation for Democrats in the Panhandle, building infrastructure that will strengthen traditionally red areas for years to come.

I want to recognize Jackson McMillan and the staff of Key Lime Strategies for their incredible work, which has laid the groundwork for continued progress in this area. The money invested in this race helped re-enroll thousands of Democrats in vote-by-mail and boosted voter registration efforts that would never have garnered any investment under normal circumstances. This campaign was always about more than just one race  it was about building a movement for lasting change.

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This race demonstrates that strategic investment in deep red districts, centered on fieldwork and direct voter engagement, can create meaningful shifts for Democrats as we head into the pivotal 2026 midterms. Our campaign is dedicated to sustaining this progress by allocating $170K to strengthen Democratic infrastructure in FL-01, ensuring the strides weve made continue to flourish. These organizations, including each countys Democratic Executive Committee and Black Caucus, have championed Panhandle Democrats long before our campaign, stood with us for 20 months, and were excited to see the momentum they will build in the future.

Jackson was a lifeline

Among the winning candidates McMillan has worked are Tampa City Council members Lynn Hurtak and Bill Carlson. Hurtak declined to comment, while Carlson did not return a request for comment.

Kelly Johnson, who worked with McMillan on two unsuccessful campaigns for state House in Pinellas County over the past five years, praised his work.

When I ran in 2020 against the incoming speaker of the House [Chris Sprawls], I was a new person in the political arena and Jackson was a lifeline for the entire campaign, she said in a text message. He was able to secure meetings and interviews and lead every single of our campaign meetings. At the time I did have a lot of television coverage and media coverage, which was amazing.

While political analysts around the country continue to assess whether the margins of the two congressional races will ultimately mean anything in 2026, Mitchell fears that the tactics employed to raise so much campaign cash in districts that were so Republican leaning could hurt the Democrats in the future.

Imagine if this was in CD-13 in Pinellas County in a special election where we could win that race, right? he said, referring to the congressional district where Republican Anna Paulina Luna won by 10 points last fall. Theyre not likely to give as much or give next time, so I think that is the bigger thing we need to focus on.

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
By Jody Godoy

(Reuters) - Two Democratic U.S. senators demanded information from Microsoft and Google about their cloud computing partnerships with artificial intelligence companies, expressing concern the arrangements could stifle competition in the cutting-edge industry.

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrats on the Senate banking and finance committees, respectively, asked Google for details about its partnership with AI startup Anthropic and Microsoft about its tie-up with ChatGPT creator OpenAI, according to the letters.

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"We are concerned that corporate partnerships within the AI sector discourage competition, circumvent our antitrust laws, and result in fewer choices and higher prices for businesses and consumers using AI tools," the senators wrote.

Spokespeople for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The letters seek to establish how much the AI companies have paid the cloud providers, whether the deals give Microsoft and Google exclusive rights to license AI models, and whether the Big Tech companies have any plans to acquire their AI partners.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a staff report in January, before U.S. President Donald Trump took office, on a study into partnerships between Microsoft and OpenAI, Amazon and Anthropic, and Google and Anthropic but withheld information specific to the companies.

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The report raised the possibility that one cloud service provider could acquire its AI partner, and said that at least one of the AI providers gave its cloud service provider advance notice of important decisions.

At least one of the agreements would prevent the AI company from launching new models on its own without releasing it via the cloud provider, the FTC said.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Alex Richardson)
The Democratic sponsors of legislation empowering new parents to vote remotely are rejecting a recent alternative from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) designed to block the proxy vote legislation from reaching the floor.

Over the weekend, Johnson cut a deal with GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), who was leading the charge to force floor action on proxy voting. Their compromise would create a system of vote pairing, designed to empower pregnant lawmakers and young mothers with some remote voice during the consideration of bills on the floor, though not a direct vote.

The compromise appeased Luna, but not the Democratic sponsors of the underlying proxy vote legislation  Reps. Brittany Pettersen (Colo.) and Sara Jacobs (Calif.)  who are accusing Johnson of watering down their parental-empowerment proposal while abandoning lawmakers with young families.

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The reality is  this outcome does not address the barriers weve fought so hard to overcome, Pettersen said Monday in a statement.

Instead of letting us vote, he has instead gone to historic lengths to kill our resolution and make sure the large majority of his Members dont have a voice, she continued. Lets be clear: these changes are not a win for us and Speaker Johnson has turned his back on moms and dads in Congress and working families.

Proxy voting became highly controversial after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) adopted it as a public health precaution in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The move was loudly denounced by many Republicans, who had downplayed the public health threat of the virus and characterized remote voting as unconstitutional.

Johnson was among those GOP critics. And hes amplified his constitutional argument in refusing to bring Pettersens bill up for a vote, despite the support it enjoys from a majority of the House.

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The impasse prompted Luna to file a procedural motion, known as a discharge petition, that forces bills to the floor  even against the wishes of the majority leaders who control the chamber  if supporters can win the signature of at least 218 lawmakers.

Last month, Luna did just that, setting the stage for the proxy voting bill to pass on the floor.

Johnson, however, had other ideas. And last week the Speaker attempted an unusual effort to block the vote from happening, installing special instructions in a rule that would prevent the bill from reaching the floor. Behind Luna, nine Republicans joined all Democrats in killing that rule, which forced Johnson to cancel votes for the remainder of the week.

On Sunday, Johnson and Luna appeared to break their impasse, announcing a compromise that features vote pairing. Under that system, pregnant lawmakers and new mothers at home could coordinate with members in Washington who were planning to vote on the opposite side of an issue. If such a member agreed to abstain from voting, it would nullify the absence of the young mothers.

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In praising the compromise, Luna suggested it would also apply to lawmakers who cant be in Washington due to an illness or the recent death of a loved one.

If we truly want a younger Congress, Luna said, these are the changes that need to happen.

Democrats are not so enthused. Theyre vowing to push ahead for true proxy voting for young parents, even if it means waiting for the House to be controlled by Democrats.

From the very beginning, our shared goal has been to support new parents so they can do their jobs and vote on behalf of their constituents while also taking care of themselves and their families, Jacobs said in a statement. Unfortunately, this deal falls short of that goal  silencing new parents and perpetuating the status quo and the notion that Congress is ineffective and obsolete.

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We will keep pushing for innovative ways to support young people and parents in Congress  including by modernizing how we vote  even if it takes a Democratic majority to do so.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
An argument with a roommate may have been enough to place a graduate student in the crosshairs of the Trump administrations crackdown on foreign students.

A disorderly conduct plea may have snared another, said Bradley Maze, a Southfield attorney who specializes in immigration law.

The ones that I have seen have been really minor stuff, said Maze, who has talked to three international students facing deportation in the past week.

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Across the country, international students at U.S. universities are being notified that their status is being revoked and in some cases their visas are being canceled as well. They face deportation if they don't leave the country willingly.

U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that there is no right to a student visa, it is a privilege that can be revoked, especially if the students are involved in any kind of law breaking.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center condemned the moves, calling them another attempt by this administration to sow chaos and fear, needlessly upending the future of these students education and lives.

More: Supreme Court lets Trump administration resume deportations under Alien Enemies Act

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The National Immigration Project announced Monday that it was filing a lawsuit on behalf of two international students studying in California "challenging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's abrupt and unlawful termination of their student status."

The group didn't name the students, saying they feared retaliation, but said they both lived in Southern California and were in full compliance with the requirements of their student status.

These are not isolated cases, Khaled Alrabe, staff attorney at the National Immigration Project, said in a statement. We are witnessing a disturbing trend where international students across the nation are losing their status abruptly and without legal justification. ICE is unlawfully using student status terminations to coerce students to give up their studies and leave the country without any meaningful process or opportunity to challenge whats happening."

[STAY UP TO DATE: Sign up for our Daily Briefing newsletter today to get the Free Press in your inbox. ]

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The group noted that there are two factors at play: the visas, which are issued by the State Department, and their student status, which is monitored by the Department of Homeland Security.

"While their visas were apparently revoked as part of a new policy of the administration, the lawsuits explain that visas are distinct from status and that visa revocation alone does not constitute grounds for ending student status under the law," the group said.

More: Lawyer for U-M protester detained at airport after spring break trip with family

More: Department of Homeland Security revokes 4 U-M student visas; at least 1 flees US

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University officials have no power to stop the moves, though they are often the ones who must notify the students. They typically urge affected students to consult immigration lawyers, who say they cant do much either.

At least four international U-M students have been targeted.

Wayne State University said that four of its students also have had their status terminated.

Across the country, these abrupt status changes have occurred without notice to the university or to those directly impacted, which has not previously been their practice, Wayne State said in a statement signed by President Kimberly Andrews Espy and other school leaders.

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Michigan State Universitys Office of International Students and Scholars is aware of international students at MSU whose visas have been revoked and is working directly with those students to provide available support, spokeswoman Amber McCann said in an email. She didnt say how many students were affected or what countries they are from.

At Central Michigan University, several current and former students have been targeted, according to a message to the campus signed by President Neil MacKinnon and Provost Paula Lancaster.

At Grand Valley State University in Allendale, two international students had their visas revoked by the Department of Homeland Security, a university official told MLive.

Oakland University spokesman Brian Bierley said that one of that school's students was stopped at the Canadian border but Bierley didn't have details immediately available.

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Maze said he has spoken to three foreign students this week who have been notified that their status had changed. One is a woman from India, who was two weeks away from receiving a masters degree from the University of Michigans Taubman School of Architecture and Urban Planning. She was notified Friday that her visa had been revoked.

Maze said the student wasnt given a detailed reason for the revocation, but he suspects that it was related to an argument she had with a roommate in December, after which she was arrested.

There was an arrest by the police, he said. She was never charged, never convicted of anything. It's just an arrest and so that popped her up in a system somewhere.

Maze declined to name the woman and said he wasnt sure whether she remained in the country.

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Immigrant advocates say that foreign students contribute a lot to Michigan's economy and are crucial in fields like engineering and manufacturing. A 2022 report by Global Detroit said that foreign students generate $829 million in economic activity for Michigan. There were about 27,500 international students enrolled at Michigan colleges and universities in the 2020-21 school year, the ninth largest international student population in the country, the report said.

On Saturday night, Jonathan Massey, the dean at U-M's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, sent an email to his colleagues that one student had left.

"Yesterday, as a result of government action, a Taubman College M.Arch student left the country in consultation with the U-M International Center recommendation," Massey wrote.

It's not clear whether the student Massey referenced is the same student who consulted Maze.

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Maze did share with the Free Press two emails the woman received. One was from the U.S. State Department and the other was from U-M.

The U-M email from Scott Manley, assistant director for international student and scholar services, notified her that her record in a Department of Homeland Security database known as the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) had been terminated by a DHS official.

The reason noted was Otherwise failing to maintain status  Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked, Manley wrote. We do not have any additional information but this termination means that you no longer hold valid F-1 status within the United States. Since the termination does not carry a grace period, we must recommend you make plans to exit the United States immediately."

An F-1 status denotes someone holding a nonimmigrant visa that allows certain students to study at certain colleges or universities.

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The email the woman received from the State Department was addressed Dear Visa Holder:

The Bureau of Consular Affairs visa office hereby informs you that additional information became available after your visa was issued, the email said. As a result, your F-1 visa with an expiration date of 26-JUL-2028, was revoked in accordance with Section 221(i) of the United State Immigration and Naturalization Act, as amended.

The email goes on to say that the State Department had notified the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for removal proceedings.

Remaining in the United States without lawful immigration status can result in fines, detention and/or deportation, the email said. It may also make you ineligible for a future U.S. visa.

The email said that deportations can happen at any time and those being deported can be sent to countries other than their country of origin. It recommends that individuals download the Customs and Border Patrol mobile app to demonstrate their intent to depart the United States.

It also informs them that once they leave the country, they must visit the embassy or consulate that issued their visa with their passport so your visa can be physically cancelled.

Maze said that another case he heard this week involved a woman and her husband from Bangladesh. They were pushing a stroller with a child in it as they shopped.

"She and her husband got ... disorderly conducts because they had some items in their baby's stroller and they forgot to pay for them, they weren't even worth a lot of money," he said. "And so the store arrested them. It was like a Walmart or something, and they ended up pleading guilty of disorderly conduct, which is not a big deal before this administration came."

Because the government has broad discretion over these matters, it is difficult for people to contest the change in their status, said Marcel Miclea, an attorney who practices with Maze.

They can apply to have their status restored, but that's not easy, Miclea said.

"Applying for a change of status with immigration is not a guarantee that you will not be placed in removal," he said. "People don't want to take that chance of being arrested and spending time in jail and seeing a judge and spending a lot of money. So many of them just self deport themselves because they don't want to go through that."

They could file a lawsuit against the government, Miclea said, but they would be forced to fight it while being in the country illegally.

"They don't have any legal status," he said. "It would be different to fight the government while you're legally in the U.S."

Reporter Liam Rappleye contributed to this article.

Contact John Wisely: jwisely@freepress.com. On X: @jwisely

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Deportation crackdown targets foreign college students in Michigan
(Getty Images)

This story comes to Newsline from KFF Health News.

SILVERTHORNE, Colo.  When Adolfo Roman Garcia-Ramirez walks home in the evening from his shift at a grocery store in this central Colorado mountain town, sometimes he thinks back on his childhood in Nicaragua. Adults, he recollects, would scare the kids with tales of the Mona Bruja, or Monkey Witch. Step too far into the dark, they told him, and you might just get snatched up by the giant monstrous monkey who lives in the shadows.

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Now, when Garcia-Ramirez looks over his shoulder, its not monster monkeys he is afraid of. Its U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Theres this constant fear that youll be walking down the street and a vehicle rolls up, Garcia-Ramirez, 57, said in Spanish. They tell you, Were from ICE; youre arrested, or, Show me your papers.

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Silverthorne, a commuter town between the ski meccas of Breckenridge and Vail, has been Garcia-Ramirezs home for the past two years. He works as a cashier at the grocery and shares a two-bedroom apartment with four roommates.

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The town of nearly 5,000 has proved a welcome haven for the political exile, who was released from prison in 2023 after Nicaraguas authoritarian government brokered a deal with the U.S. government to transfer more than 200 political prisoners to the U.S. The exiles were offered temporary residency in the U.S. under a Biden administration humanitarian parole program.

Garcia-Ramirezs two-year humanitarian parole expired in February, just a few weeks after President Donald Trump issued an executive order to end the program that had permitted temporary legal residency in the U.S. for hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, putting him at risk of deportation. Garcia-Ramirez was stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship when he came to the U.S. Just over a year ago, he applied for political asylum. He is still waiting for an interview.

I cant safely say Im calm, or Im OK, right now, Garcia-Ramirez said. You feel unsafe, but you also feel incapable of doing anything to make it better.

Vail and Breckenridge are world famous for their ski slopes, which attract millions of people a year. But life for the tourism labor force that serves Colorados mountain resorts is less glamorous. Residents of Colorados mountain towns experience high rates of suicide and substance use disorders, fueled in part by seasonal fluctuations in income that can cause stress for many in the local workforce.

Adolfo Roman Garcia-Ramirez works as a grocery cashier amid Colorados ski resorts. He came to the U.S. after Nicaraguas authoritarian government brokered a deal with the U.S. to transfer more than 200 political prisoners to the U.S. But President Donald Trump issued an executive order to end the humanitarian parole program, and Garcia-Ramirez fears he will be killed if hes sent back to Nicaragua. (Rae Solomon/KUNC)

The Latino communities who make up significant proportions of year-round populations in Colorados mountain towns are particularly vulnerable. A recent poll found more than 4 in 5 Latino respondents in the Western Slope region, home to many of the states rural ski resort communities, expressed extremely or very serious concern about substance use. Thats significantly higher than in rural eastern Colorados Morgan County, which also has a sizable Latino population, and in Denver and Colorado Springs.

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Statewide, concerns about mental health have surged among Latinos in recent years, rising from fewer than half calling it an extremely or very serious problem in 2020 to more than three-quarters in 2023. Health care workers, researchers, and community members all say factors such as language differences, cultural stigma, and socioeconomic barriers may exacerbate mental health issues and limit the ability to access care.

Youre not getting regular medical care. Youre working long hours, which probably means that you cant take care of your own health, said Asad Asad, a Stanford University assistant professor of sociology. All of these factors compound the stresses that we all might experience in daily life.

Add sky-high costs of living and an inadequate supply of mental health facilities across Colorados rural tourist destinations, and the problem becomes acute.

Now, the Trump administrations threats of immigration raids and imminent deportation of anyone without legal U.S. residency have caused stress levels to soar. In communities around Vail, advocates estimate, a vast majority of Latino residents do not have legal status. Communities near Vail and Breckenridge have not experienced immigration raids, but in neighboring Routt County, home to Steamboat Springs, at least three people with criminal records have been detained by ICE, according to news reports. Social media posts falsely claiming local ICE sightings have further fueled concerns.

Into the shadows

Yirka Diaz Platt, a bilingual social worker in Silverthorne originally from Peru, said a pervasive fear of deportation has caused many Latino workers and residents to retreat into the shadows. People have begun to cancel in-person meetings and avoid applying for government services that require submitting personal data, according to local health workers and advocates. In early February, some locals didnt show up to work as part of a nationwide day without immigrants strike. Employers wonder whether they will lose valuable employees to deportation.

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Some immigrants have stopped driving out of fear they will be pulled over by police. Paige Baker-Braxton, director of outpatient behavioral health at the Vail Health system, said she has seen a decline in visits from Spanish-speaking patients over the last few months.

Theyre really trying to keep to themselves. They are not really socializing much. If you go to the grocery stores, you dont see much of our community out there anymore, Platt said. Theres that fear of, No, Im not trusting anyone right now.

If they deport me from here, Id go directly to Nicaragua ... Honestly, I dont think I would last even a day.

 Adolfo Roman Garcia-Ramirez

Juana Amaya is no stranger to digging in her heels to survive. Amaya immigrated to the Vail area from Honduras in 1983 as a single mother of a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old. She has spent more than 40 years working as a house cleaner in luxury condos and homes around Vail, sometimes working up to 16 hours a day. With barely enough time to finish work and care for a family at home, she said, it is often hard for Latinos in her community to admit when the stress has become too much.

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We dont like to talk about how were feeling, she said in Spanish, so we dont realize that were dealing with a mental health problem.

Support groups

The current political climate has only made things worse.

Its had a big impact, she said. There are people who have small children and wonder what theyll do if theyre in school and they are taken away somewhere, but the children stay. What do you do?

Asad has studied the mental health impacts of deportation rhetoric on Latino communities. He co-authored a study, published last year in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that found escalated deportation rhetoric may cause heightened levels of psychological distress in Latino noncitizens and even in Latino citizens.

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Asad found that both groups may experience increased stress levels, and research has borne out the negative consequences of a parents lack of documentation on the health and educational attainment of their children.

The inequalities or the hardships we impose on their parents today are the hardships or inequalities their children inherit tomorrow, Asad said.

Despite heightened levels of fear and anxiety, Latinos living and working near Vail still find ways to support one another and seek help. Support groups in Summit County, home to Breckenridge and less than an hours drive from Vail, have offered mental health workshops for new immigrants and Latina women. Building Hope Summit County and Olivias Fund in Eagle County, home to Vail, help those without insurance pay for a set number of therapy sessions.

Vail Health plans to open a regional inpatient psychiatric facility in May, and the Mobile Intercultural Resource Alliance provides wraparound services, including behavioral health resources, directly to communities near Vail.

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Back in Silverthorne, Garcia-Ramirez, the Nicaraguan exile, takes things one day at a time.

If they deport me from here, Id go directly to Nicaragua, said Garcia-Ramirez, who said he had received a verbal death threat from authorities in his native country. Honestly, I dont think I would last even a day.

In the meantime, he continues to make the routine trek home from his cashier job, sometimes navigating slick snow and dark streets past 9 p.m. When nightmarish thoughts about his own fate in America surface, Garcia-Ramirez focuses on the ground beneath his feet.

Come rain, shine, or snow, he said, I walk.

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This article was published with the support of the Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) Health Journalism Fellowship, assisted by grants from The Commonwealth Fund.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF  the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

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A man died at the hospital following a shooting at a Wawa parking lot in the Princeton area of southwest Miami-Dade County in Monday afternoon, according to deputies.

The shooting happened shortly after 5 p.m. at the store, located at Southwest 248th Street and 112th Avenue.

When deputies arrived, they found one person who was shot, said Detective Angel Rodriguez said.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics airlifted the man to Jackson South Medical Center, where despite medical efforts, he was pronounced dead, Rodriguez said. The helicopter took off from a field located about a quarter mile away from the shooting.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics prepare to place a shooting victim into a helicopter ambulance at a field at Southwest 240th Street and 112th Avenue near Princeton Monday, April 7, 2025.

Witnesses at the scene provided a description of the man who pulled the trigger and his vehicle, and deputies located him shortly after and took him into custody after conducting a traffic stop, Rodriguez said.

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A witness, who did not want to be identified, told the Herald the shooting happened following an argument at the store.

Evidence markers could be seen on the pavement of the parking lot, and police had parts of the property lined off with crime scene tape.

The Sheriffs Offices Homicide Bureau is investigating the shooting, Rodriguez said. .

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that his administration will impose additional tariffs of 50 percent on goods from China if it does not withdraw its 34 percent retaliatory levies against the United States.

Trump said on social media that the deadline to withdraw them is Tuesday, and if China does not do so, his administration's extra tariffs -- which would bring the rate above 100 percent -- will take effect the following day.

"Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated," Trump added.

China expressed Tuesday its firm opposition to the extra 50 percent U.S. tariffs, calling them a "mistake," and vowed resolute countermeasures to protect its rights and interests.

The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs "once again exposes the blackmail nature" of Washington, which China "will never accept," the Chinese Commerce Ministry said. "If the United States insists on its own way, China will fight to the end."

Trump's threat against China, the world's second-largest economy after the United States, came as global stock markets have been tumbling in response to his most expansive tariff plans to date announced last week.

On Wednesday, Trump unveiled sweeping new tariffs with a baseline of 10 percent for all imports, along with what he called "kind reciprocal" duties on goods from countries his administration claims are the worst offenders in trade relations with the United States.

The country-specific so-called reciprocal tariffs are due to go into effect on Wednesday.

As for Chinese imports, Trump said in last week's announcement that the United States will start imposing tariffs of 34 percent, which will add to the 20 percent levies he already unleashed on the Asian country since taking office on Jan. 20 for a nonconsecutive second term.

On Friday, China announced additional tariffs of 34 percent on U.S. imports to retaliate against Trump's latest trade action.

In his social media post, Trump accused China of retaliating against the United States on top of its existing high tariffs, nonmonetary trade barriers, subsidization of companies and currency manipulation.

Trump warned that any country that retaliates against the United States will be immediately met with new and higher tariffs than those initially set.

Later Monday, Trump ruled out a pause on his recently announced tariffs although they have rattled the global economy.

"We are not looking at that. We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us," Trump told reporters at the White House, stressing that any such agreement would have to be "fair."

Trump touched on his phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the morning, during which they discussed the recent U.S. tariffs.

"We had a very good conversation," Trump said, adding that he urged the Japanese leader to "open up your country" to U.S. goods.

Trump reiterated his complaint that almost no American cars are driven in Japan, and continued, "They don't really take our agriculture, a little bit of it, just to keep us slightly happy, but they don't take what they're supposed to be taking."

When it comes to imported cars, trucks and buses, Japan has no tariffs, unlike the United States.

During the phone call, which lasted nearly 30 minutes, Ishiba said the two leaders agreed to respectively appoint Cabinet ministers to advance trade talks.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on the social media platform X that he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have been tasked by Trump to "open negotiations" with Japan.

Bessent later told Fox Business Network that he expects to have productive negotiations with Japan and claimed the country has high nontariff barriers.

Given that Japan has not rolled out retaliatory tariffs against the United States, he said it is likely to be given priority in talks with the Trump administration.

Related coverage:

Japan PM ready to meet Trump on tariffs, shies away from retaliation

Tokyo stocks tumble 8% as U.S. tariff concerns hit global markets

FOCUS: U.S. tariff chaos brings pain and uncertainty to global markets
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP)  Deputies fatally shot a man inside a North Carolina hospitals emergency room Tuesday after authorities said he pointed a gun at them.

Law enforcement officers arrived at Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City at 1:18 a.m. in response to a call about a man who had entered the hospital's emergency room with a handgun, according to the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office. The man had pointed his gun at several staff members, and a security guard tried to restrain him before law enforcement arrived, according to authorities.

Authorities found the suspect in the emergency triage room and three of the deputies fired at him after he pointed his weapon at them, officials said.

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The man received medical treatment but was later pronounced dead at the scene.

None of the officers involved in the shooting were injured, according to the sheriff's office. The security guard who tried to subdue the man was injured and later treated at the hospital. The guard was unarmed at the time, Sentara Albemarle Medical Center president Teresa Watson said in a news conference.

The three deputies who shot their weapons were placed on administrative leave with pay as they await an investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to conclude. Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten declined to provide additional details about the suspect due to the pending investigation.
TALLAHASSEE  Gov. Ron DeSantis office proposed major rollbacks to the states child labor laws earlier this year, saying changes made last year to loosen working restrictions for minors did not go far enough, records show.

The governors office crafted this years legislation, which would allow teenagers to work overnight hours on school nights and long shifts without a meal break.

The office emailed the proposal and talking points in February to Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, and Rep. Monique Miller, R-Palm Bay, according to emails released by the Florida Senate. The records were first reported by the Orlando Weekly.

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Collins and Miller are sponsoring bills largely using the governors office language.

A few weeks after DeSantis office sent the draft bill, the governor said during a panel discussion with the Trump administrations border czar that a younger workforce could be part of the solution to replacing dirt cheap labor from migrants in the country illegally.

Whats wrong with expecting our young people to be working part-time now? I mean, thats how it used to be when I was growing up, DeSantis said during the panel. Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when you know, teenagers used to work at these resorts, college students should be able to do this stuff.

The governors offices memo did not mention immigration. Instead, the email said the bill would make it easier for teens to get and keep a job, and would allow families to decide what is in the best interest of their child.

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But the governors communications director, when asked for a response on the proposal, doubled down on DeSantis immigration comments last month. Bryan Griffin pointed to a post on X where he said part-time jobs for young adults should be encouraged and that the idea to not enforce immigration law because of the potential for labor shortages is garbage pushed by Democrats.

The governors proposal would remove all regulations on how late and how long 16- and 17-year-olds can work. It would also remove their guarantee of a meal break and would waive time restrictions on 14- and 15-year-olds if those teenagers are homeschooled or attend virtual school.

Current restrictions in Florida statutes make holding employment harder than required by federal law for this age group, DeSantis office wrote in a February memo. Removing the restrictions make it no harder than required by federal law to hold employment.

Florida law says teenagers ages 16 and 17 cant work before 6:30 a.m. or after 11 p.m. on a school day and cant work during school hours unless they are in a career education program. They are also limited to working no more than 30 hours a week when school is in session unless their parent or a school superintendent waives that restriction.

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Teenagers who are 14 and 15 have to abide by stricter regulations.

Last year, Florida lawmakers and DeSantis approved changes that allowed homeschooled or virtually schooled teenagers as young as 16 to be exempted from the states time regulations. The final bill was significantly watered down from its initial proposal.

The conservative group Foundation for Government Accountability worked behind the scenes last year to promote the child labor bill. The group has also been involved in the push to loosen child labor restrictions in other states.

Its unclear whether this years bill will get to the finish line.

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House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said he was concerned about children working late or early hours on a school day. And Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, said lawmakers should let kids be kids.

The House proposal was amended at its first committee hearing to allow teenagers as young as 13 to work over their summer break  a change proposed by then-Sen. Randy Fine, the House sponsor said at the meeting. Fine left the state Senate earlier this year and is now a Republican U.S. representative.

The bill has two more committee stops before it can reach a full vote in the House. In the Senate, the bill appears stalled because the next committee it is assigned to is no longer meeting.
TALLAHASSEE  Gov. Ron DeSantis administration diverted $10 million in state settlement money last year to the charity arm of a welfare initiative led by his wife.

The unusual injection of cash was part of an undisclosed settlement agreement involving Floridas Agency for Health Care Administration. The money went to the Hope Florida Foundation, a nonprofit that was established by the state to help realize Casey DeSantis vision to reshape welfare.

Under Florida law, money from certain settlement agreements must be deposited into a state trust fund or the general revenue fund, where lawmakers can decide how to spend it.

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Its not clear whether the law applies because the state is refusing to release the settlements details, including the circumstances or parties involved.

A state spokesperson said the law does not apply because this money was not paid to the state. She did not elaborate.

The $10 million infusion could be the latest question to arise about the foundation, which was established two years ago to raise money to assist Hope Florida, a state program created by the DeSantises.

Formally launched in 2022, Hope Florida aims to get residents off government aid, such as food assistance or health care services, by connecting them with faith-based groups and other nonprofits. Those groups are supposed to lift recipients out of poverty through their connections and guidance. It is the DeSantises alternative to welfare.

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Last week, staffers working for the Republican-controlled House of Representatives asserted that Hope Floridas fundraising arm was not complying with state laws governing its oversight, ethics or fundraising.

Reporters for the Times/Herald visited Hope Florida Foundations headquarters Friday to review the records it filed with the IRS. As a registered nonprofit, the IRS requires the foundations documents be made available immediately if someone requests them in person. But an employee told the reporters their request will be returned in the order it was received and told them they could leave.

The foundation has never publicly disclosed its donors or the names of the churches and nonprofits receiving its funds. It has not responded to journalists records requests.

Yet a $10 million contribution was mentioned in a copy of the foundations board meeting minutes from October obtained by the Times/Herald.

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The resolution of a longstanding dispute with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and the state has resulted in a $10 million allocation to the Hope Florida Foundation, the Oct. 14 minutes state.

What the longstanding dispute was regarding, or who it involved, is unclear. The settlement does not appear in the Agency for Health Care Administrations online settlement database.

Agency Deputy Chief of Staff Mallory McManus did not answer questions Monday about what the settlement was regarding or who was involved. She said there was no lawsuit filed.

McManus said it was a pre-suit settlement in the agencys favor that was directed, in part to Hope Florida Foundation. She did not answer when asked where the rest of the settlement money went.

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She wrote that no state funds were spent, so the Legislature did not need to be notified of the settlement under state law. She did not answer why the agency was giving money to Hope Florida Foundation, a state-created direct support organization that reports to a different agency, the Department of Children and Families.

McManus is the registered agent for the Hope Florida Foundation on state records.

Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, whose committee oversees the Agency for Health Care Administrations budget, said he didnt want to jump to any conclusions about the $10 million donation but that he did want more information.

Im still unclear about Hope Floridas mission and purpose, Andrade told the Times/Herald. Without details and transparency, I cant say if this transfer was done for a proper purpose or not.

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DeSantis is pushing the Legislature to enshrine Hope Florida into state law this session. It would give his wife a major legislative victory and a platform to discuss her qualifications for the job should she run to replace DeSantis as governor in 2026. Casey DeSantis has never been elected to office.

But the bills have stalled as the Legislature stops taking up policy and moves on to the budget before the expected May 2 end of the legislative session.

Theres still a long way to go before it passes the floor, House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Miami Republican, told CBS News Miamis Jim DeFede on Sunday. I know the first lady cares about it, but well take it on a stop-by-stop basis as it goes through the committee process.
Deserae Turner was just 14 years old when she clenched the hearts of her community. After she was shot in the head and left to die, she pushed through terrifying odds most people can only fathom, just to live.

On Tuesday, Turners family went public with a heartbreaking update: After years spent in ongoing recovery, their young warriors health had rapidly declined, putting her in hospice care. Her family expects she only has a short amount of time left.

In February 2017, Turner was lured by a group of teen boys she knew to a secluded spot in Smithfield where then-16-year-old Colter Peterson shot her in the back of the head. The boys took her belongings and left her there.

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Eight hours later, Turner was found by a family friend who was helping search for her. She was still alive, but barely.

Turner underwent 63 days of intensive hospital treatment and made a miraculous recovery, although never completely. She would continue to suffer paralysis on the left side of her body, struggle to see and walk, and had continuous pain and at least 20 different surgeries.

But Turner maintained her new reputation  tougher than a bullet  in more ways than one.

She would go on to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was married in 2023. Her story of perseverance clenched the hearts of her community, and Turner was the subject of a KSL-TV documentary, which heard the stories of everyone involved.

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On Tuesday, Turners family said she now has developed septic pulmonary emboli, which is a life-threatening illness involving blood clots.

In her own words during a 2022 speech she delivered at Utah State University, Turner discussed her hardships and what pushed her through them.

I have learned that hard times come to everyone and there are all different types of challenges in this world, she said. But I know and have learned that we are stronger than we look. We can withstand and carry on.

Turners family set up a GoFundMe* to help them with expenses in her final days.

Contributing: Dan Rascon, KSL-TV and Ashley Fredde, KSL.com
About 10 minutes before midnight Tuesday, the Detroit City Council approved the city's annual budget after several delays.

Council members approved the fiscal 2025-26 $3 billion budget  of which $1.5 billion makes up the General Fund  boosting several departments and initiatives, including nearly $20 million for the Detroit Department of Transportation to hire drivers, boosting funding for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, eviction protection, community violence intervention, disability affairs and housing-related investments. Overall, the citys General Fund budget grew by $102 million from last years budget.

In February, Mayor Mike Duggan proposed the budget, which holds nearly $500 million in reserves, comprised of $150 million for the city's Rainy Day Fund and $350 million in the Retiree Protection Fund set aside for pensions. Council members underwent dozens of deliberations for a month to decide where funding shifts may be necessary.

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Members cut a $5 million subsidy out of the Detroit Land Bank Authority, dropping from $10 million last year. Officials justified cuts due to the Land Bank holding an unassigned $31 million fund balance, further explaining the entity can maintain its properties and services without the citys additional funding. The council also cut $5 million in one-time funding for the Construction and Demolition department for blight activity.

The city also has $14.5 million in leftover American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money, which needs to be spent by the end of 2026. Council members dedicated $5 million of it to address homelessness, which includes emergency shelters, street outreach, focused case management and the Homelessness Response System. The remaining $9.4 million will be split among the nine council members to spend on ARPA programs of their choice.

Other budget adjustments include:

$2 million for bus shelters.

$2 million for the Charles H. Wright Museum; along with $975,000 in one-time capital funding for the Detroit Historical Museum.

$500,000 for eviction defense outreach.

$3 million for Community Violence Intervention initiatives.

$534,788 to fund six investigators to address backlog and new cases.

$400,000 for the Office of Disability Affairs.

$1 million to the Housing Trust Fund to develop and preserve affordable housing.

$2 million for home repair programs.

$308,593 to increase the Board of Ethics' budget.

$500,000 for the GOAL Line Detroit Program to increase quality education access.

$300,000 to clean 1,000 alleys across the city

$326,244 to add a manager of investigations and audit position in the Office of the Inspector General.

$220,000 for three inspectors within the Buildings, Safety, Engineering and Environmental Department.

$146,000 to restore two positions within the Food Code Enforcement Program in the health department.

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Councilman Fred Durhal III, who chairs the Budget, Finance and Audit Standing Committee, said this budget adoption led to unique challenges due to resuming pension payments and spending federal ARPA money.

Despite these tightened financial constraints, City Council worked collaboratively to ensure our highest priorities  like housing, public safety, transportation, infrastructure, and neighborhood investments  remained funded. Through discipline, transparency and cooperation, weve responsibly aligned our resources with the needs of Detroiters, reinforcing our citys commitment to long-term fiscal stability. Im confident that by continuing to work together, we will keep Detroit on a path to lasting growth and ensure a brighter future for all residents, Durhal said in a statement.

Durhal and City Council President Mary Sheffield voted on their final city budget before leaving office at the end of the year, as they both campaign to be Detroits next mayor in this years election. Mayor Mike Duggan is leaving the seat to run for Michigan governor as an independent candidate. The two thanked their colleagues, the legislative policy division and others involved in the budget hearing process. Additionally, several council members wished them well on their future endeavors.

I have been inspired by what we have been able to accomplish with respect to ensuring the citys budget reflects the priorities of our residents and the values upon which our great city was built, Sheffield said in a statement. While we certainly havent been able to meet every need or address every priority, our closing resolution is illustrative of our commitment and intent to continue to listen to our constituents and work towards creating opportunities, delivering services and addressing the needs of all residents.

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Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit City Council adopts $3B budget for 2026 fiscal year
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Winter may be behind us, but the snow removal and treatment industry is already getting ready for next year.

The North American Snow Conference continued Tuesday at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids, with vendors showing off their technology.

More than 3,000 people have signed up to attend this week. Over 150 vendors are on hand to display their technology and equipment to city crews. The event also provides education and training on clearing snow and ice from roads and bridges.

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One product being shown off is aimed to deal with the damage left behind from cleanup: potholes.

Plows, equipment, ideas on display at Show for Snow

KM International shows off its Pothole Punisher at the North American Snow Conference. (April 8, 2025)

Its no shock to you if you drive around West Michigan: There are potholes all over the place.

Potholes cost the insurance company and cost you as consumers millions and millions of dollars a year, said Kurt Schwartz, the territory manager for KM International, an asphalt maintenance equipment manufacturer based out of North Branch, Michigan. Vehicle damage, trying to dodge a pothole, hitting something.

If you ask Schwartz, a potholes worst enemy may be his companys Pothole Punisher. He says its used by Grand Rapids, Lansing and Michigan Department of Transportation crews. Its a trailer that allows crews to keep asphalt at a hot working temperature for two days, so its ready to go to fill the potholes.

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Its a big issue and we have the solution to help you fix the potholes in Michigan, Schwartz said.

KM International is one of the vendors taking part in the so-called Show for Snow this week. The event gives crews like Grand Rapids Department of Public Works the chance to check out new snow equipment and technology for the future.

KM International shows off its Pothole Punisher at the North American Snow Conference. (April 8, 2025)

We get to look at new technology, new types of equipment and of course interacting with each other, Grand Rapids DPW Director John Gorney told News 8 Sunday. There is always someone trying something new and that interaction with each other is fantastic. When its snowing, we just dont have time. Thats the main reason. Now, while we are looking at current budgets and future budgets, if there is new equipment or tech it is the perfect time to get those orders in and plan for next year.

The equipment is not just for clearing the roads. METEC Metal Technology, based out of Toronto, focuses primarily on clearing sidewalks. On Tuesday, they showed off their compact snow blower made specifically for sidewalks. Grand Rapids has used a different contractor the last few years to clear nearly a thousand miles of sidewalks around the city.

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I dont know how the snowfalls are here in Grand Rapids, but where were from, you can get a couple feet, said Ben Martin, METEC Metal Technologys marketing manager. Clearing the sidewalks is important to keep everybody safe, we salt them to make sure nobodys going to slip.

The final day of the snow conference is Wednesday.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said Tuesday that he supports a proposed bill in the statehouse that would ban student use of cellphones during the school day.

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Senate Bill 158 would ban all cellular telephone use by students during the instructional day.

Its clear that we need to get cellphones out of our classrooms, DeWine said.

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The bill is an extension of what DeWine asked of districts around this time last year: to find a plan for cellphone use in schools.

Access to cell phones during school hours negatively impacts student learning and academic performance, DeWine said.

As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, the governor and several other state officials talked about the negative impacts on a students mental health.

Weve seen through various social media apps that they are addicted, State Senator Jane Timken said.

Former Second Lady Tina Husted said shes compared cell phone usage to smoking in the 40s and 50s.

Several Miami Valley districts, including Beavercreek City Schools, started using Yondr pouches to hold students cell phones during the school day.

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We think its a great move for our schools to remove probably one of the biggest distractions our kids face every day, Paul Otten, Beavercreek City Schools superintendent, said.

Timken said that on average, high school-aged students get around 11 notifications per hour. The pouches get rid of the temptation to check them.

Theyre already in effect for Beavercreek High School students and Otten said after just a year of using them, hes already seeing a difference in his schools.

The best part about it is the interaction that we see among our kids that has - its kind of been revived, that feeling of camaraderie with our kids, Otten said.

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News Center 7s Mason Fletcher also heard from parents concerned about their students having their phones during an emergency. Otten said that as fast as misinformation can spread, he feels more confident in students following the directions of school employees.

State lawmakers hope to have the bill passed and signed into law in time for the 2025-26 school year.

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued the first waiver of the administration to speed President Trumps border wall, bypassing environmental regulations to aid construction.

The waiver will allow for the construction of 2.5 miles of barrier outside of San Diego.

To cut through bureaucratic delays, DHS is waiving environmental laws  including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)  that can stall vital projects for months or even years. This waiver clears the path for the rapid deployment of physical barriers where they are needed most, reinforcing our commitment to national security and the rule of law, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.

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The waiver could be the first of many after a Day 1 executive order from Trump declaring an emergency at the border in order to free funding and speed construction of the wall ignited under his first term in office.

Noems move allows for the waiving of more than just NEPA, with environmental nonprofit Earthjustice citing 29 laws such as the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act that would also require a review of the impacts of construction.

Waiving environmental, cultural preservation, and good governance laws that protect clean air and clean water, safeguard precious cultural resources, and preserve vibrant ecosystems and biodiversity will only cause further harm to border communities and ecosystems, Cameron Walkup of Earthjustice said in a statement.

Rather than rushing to spend tens of billions of dollars to help President Trump build even more wasteful border wall through a budget reconciliation package, Congress should focus on rescinding these waivers and remediating the significant damage that has already been caused by the wall.

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While Trump pushed for a wall along the entirety of the U.S.-Mexico border, little has been constructed.

Only 52 miles of the 458 miles constructed under his presidency were new structures, rather than replacements.

Critics of the wall say it will do little to help with border security. Portions of existing structures are routinely damaged while drugs such as fentanyl are primarily smuggled into the country by American citizens crossing at ports of entry.

Updated at 11:52 a.m. EDT

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SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday issued a waiver to bypass certain laws and regulations to expedite the construction of stretches of the border wall in San Diego.

The waiver, signed by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, will allow the construction of additional barriers and roads at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego in an effort to prevent illegal border crossings into the United States.

Marines install razor wire at border park, further restricting access

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DHS said the expedited work will take place within the U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector, which is an area of high illegal entry:

Starting 0.40 of a mile west of Border Monument 256 and extending 0.20 of a mile east

Starting at Border Monument 252 and extending east along the border to 1.75 miles east of Border Monument 251

Starting at Border Monument 235 and extending east for 5 miles

According to DHS, in 2024, Border Patrol in San Diego apprehended over 324,000 illegal immigrants attempting to enter the United States. In that same time period, Border Patrol seized over 120 pounds of marijuana, 2,860 pounds of cocaine, over 60 pounds of heroin, over 4,270 pounds of methamphetamine, and over 780 pounds of fentanyl.

Illegal border crossings hit record low in March, says White House

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The notice allows the federal government to waive certain laws, regulations, and other legal requirements, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Farmland Protection Policy Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Otay Mountain Wilderness Act of 1999, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Earthjustice issued a statement Tuesday in response to the border wall waiver, Waiving environmental, cultural preservation, and good governance laws that protect clean air and clean water, safeguard precious cultural resources, and preserve vibrant ecosystems and biodiversity will only cause further harm to border communities and ecosystems, said Earthjustice Associate Legislative Representative Cameron Walkup. Rather than rushing to spend tens of billions of dollars to help President Trump build even more wasteful border wall through a budget reconciliation package, Congress should focus on rescinding these waivers and remediating the significant damage that has already been caused by the wall.

Border Patrol agents stay with stranded Mexican women overnight on Otay Mountain

This is the first waiver of environmental laws under the second Trump administration to fast-track the construction of the border wall.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
April 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is revoking the legal status for hundreds of thousands of migrants in the United States under a Biden-era app known as CBP One, threatening arrest and deportation.

The Trump administration has begun instructing affected migrants to self-deport through its own version of the app, styled as CBP Home.

"If you do not depart the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States -- unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here," DHS officials wrote in a statement.

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Approximately 985,000 people entered the country at various entry points along the southern border during the administration of then-President Joe Biden after securing appointments via CBP One as a means to seek lawful work and begin the asylum or other immigration processes.

The Biden administration designed the tool to prevent unlawful border entry. Trump suspended the app on his first day on office in January 20.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security claimed the under federal law, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem (seen March 10 outside the White House in Washington, DC), in support of U.S. President Donald Trump "has full authority to revoke parole," the department wrote in part. "Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security." Photo by Francis Chung/UPI

"Again, DHS is terminating your parole," the department told participants. "Do not attempt to remain in the United States -- the federal government will find you," they said, adding to "please depart" the country "immediately."

In its statement, DHS claimed the Biden administration "abused" the parole authority in order to "allow millions of illegal aliens into the U.S." which, it further claimed, "fueled the worst border crisis in U.S. history."

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"Under federal law, Secretary [Kristi] Noem -- in support of the President -- has full authority to revoke parole. Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security," the department wrote in part.

Meanwhile, those who entered the United States via the Operation Allies Welcome program for Ukrainian and Afghan refugees will not be impacted.

However, this new policy change should not immediately impact those with pending immigration court cases.

The Trump administration has taken a series of similar steps to revoke legal status for dozens of lawful students, despite court orders, and revealed plans to do the same to more than 532,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela in sponsorship programs.
TOKYO - U.S. forces will deploy large reconnaissance drones in the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa for an indefinite period to enhance surveillance and information gathering, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Tuesday, although the move has triggered local objection.

MQ-4C Triton aircraft are expected to begin operating out of Kadena Air Base "within a few weeks," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told a press conference in Tokyo.

The Triton is a long-endurance unmanned aircraft with a wingspan of around 40 meters designed to fly at higher altitudes and cover wider areas than the smaller MQ-9 Reaper drones that have been stationed at the same air base since 2023.

Last year, the U.S. military tentatively deployed two Tritons at the Kadena base for about five months from May. Okinawa is part of a chain of islands stretching southwest from Kyushu toward Taiwan, facing the East China Sea where Chinese military activity has been increasing.

After being informed of the deployment by the Defense Ministry, the Okinawa prefectural government expressed opposition to the plan as it could increase the base-hosting burden on local communities. The prefecture hosts the bulk of U.S. military installations in Japan.

"We strongly demand that the deployment plan be reconsidered and that our burden be reduced in a visible manner," Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said in a statement.

Nakatani told the press conference that he expects the noise to be "limited," citing that almost no complaints were reported during last year's provisional Triton deployment and that the aircraft, like the RQ-4 Global Hawk drones that are already operating in Japan, does not need to take off and land frequently given its long-range capability.

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The internet is currently abuzz with talk of dire wolves  an extinct species of prehistoric wolf that used to roam North America and that was famously featured in the HBO fantasy series, Game of Thrones.

A Dallas-based biotech company, Colossal Biosciences, claims to have resurrected the prehistoric Ice Age species (Aenocyon dirus) in the form of three genetically engineered grey wolf pups named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi.

"On October 1, 2024, for the first time in human history, Colossal successfully restored a once-eradicated species through the science of de-extinction," reads the company's official press release.

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"Colossal's innovations in science, technology, and conservation made it possible to accomplish something that's never been done before: the revival of a species from its longstanding population of zero."

With thick pelts not seen in modern wolves, the white-furred pups may well pass for a distinct new type of wolf, but in the words of American astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

Right now, details of the non-peer-reviewed research are very limited. All the public has to go on are images and quotes provided by Colossal.

Jeremy Austin, Director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, told ScienceAlert that all Colossal has done is create a genetically engineered gray wolf that looks like what the company thinks a dire wolf might have looked like. And even that is up for debate; canids are morphologically similar, making it hard to verify from fossil remains the exact appearance of an extinct member of the family.

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Evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro of Colossal has given a definition of a species that Austin finds misleading.

"Species concepts are human classification systems, and everybody can disagree and everyone can be right," Shapiro told Michael Le Page at New Scientist.

"I think that the best definition of a species is if it looks like that species, if it is acting like that species, if it's filling the role of that species, then you've done it," she told ABC News.

But looks aren't everything. Cryptic species, for instance, are organisms that are almost indistinguishable but are genetically distinct and do not typically interbreed.

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Austin compares Shapiro's lenient definition to the literary folktale, the Emperor's New Clothes.

"If you say you've done something, and enough people believe you, then, well, you've done it," Austin told ScienceAlert.

"Whereas I think a lot of scientists are going to be scratching their heads, saying, 'Look, you've got a white, gray wolf.' That's not a dire wolf under any definition of a species ever I don't think that this represents de-extinction in any way, shape, or form."

The pups of a genetically engineered gray wolf. (Colossal Biosciences)

Adam Boyko, a geneticist at Cornell University who was not involved in the project, told Carl Zimmer at the New York Times that he also doesn't consider Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi to be 'resurrected' dire wolves.

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Though closely related, studies on their genes have found dire wolves split from other canids around 5.7 million years ago, with no sign of an exchange of genes with North America's gray wolf ancestral populations.

To create these pups, scientists at Colossal used past genetic sequencing studies to make just 20 unique precision edits among the 2.5 billion base pairs in gray wolf germline cells. They then used surrogate dog mothers to give birth to the genetically engineered gray wolf pups.

Colossal hasn't claimed an intention to make a genetically precise dire wolf. But even if they are trying to create a wolf that looks and behaves like they think a dire wolf would, Austin says that would still probably require tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of critical genetic changes.

Five of the 20 gene edits made to the gray wolves were apparently associated with light coat color alone, according to New Scientist's interview with Shapiro.

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The chief animal officer at Colossal who oversaw the pregnancies and births, Matt James, told the New York Times that when the pups were born, he could tell they were a success the moment he spotted a white coat.

Austin admits that this research is valuable, with real applications in conservation, genetics, and understanding the evolutionary development of different organisms.

But he says, "for a fully trained wolf biologist or wolf taxonomist or a wolf evolutionary biologist to come out and say, 'I know we have a dire wolf because it was white', is really cutting so many corners in terms of resurrecting extinct animals it kind of brings the whole thing into real disrepute."

Colossal claims that they are proud to return the dire wolf to its "rightful place in the ecosystem." But is it really their 'rightful place', or will they threaten other animals that have not gone extinct? It's also worth considering if the ecosystem dire wolves once used to live in even exists anymore.

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"Is there an ecological place for dire wolves in the modern world?" wonders Austin.

"Or are they just zoo animals that people are going to go and pay money to see and say, 'Hey, we saw a dire wolf today', while Jeremy is standing in the background saying, 'No, you didn't see a dire wolf. You saw a white gray wolf'."

"It's a bit like the guy in the Chinese zoo who had dogs that he painted to be pandas. And everyone you know fell for that story."

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Refugee resettlement and immigration are hot topics in the United States right now.

As conversations about both pathways for entering the country continue, its important to note the difference between the two. Policies, funding and executive orders impact those populations of people differently.

What is a refugee?

Dozens of people gathered at a vigil to show solidarity with refugees near the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Wilmington on Wednesday night.

The United Nations High Commission of Refugees defines a refugee as a person forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country.

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Depending on their motivation for migrating, a person fleeing persecution, violence, conflict or human rights violations is categorized as a refugee, an asylum seeker, an internally displaced person or someone in need of international protection.

An asylum seeker is a person seeking international protection from dangers in their home country, but whose claim for refugee status has not been determined legally in their destination country, according to International Rescue Committee.

Asylum seekers must arrive at or cross a border to apply for protection in their country of destination. From there, they must prove to authorities that they meet the criteria to be covered by refugee protections. Not every asylum seeker is recognized as a refugee.

Refugees resettled in the U.S. receive monetary support, resources and access to programs depending on what their specific situation is and if they meet certain requirements. Some classifications have shorter windows than others to capitalize on offered assistance.

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A refugee of any distinction has crossed an international border and cannot return home unless it is safe to do so, according to UNHCR.

Afghan refugees become Blue Hens: The Taliban came, like, overnight: Afghan women flee Taliban to attend college at UD

What is an immigrant?

Four women hold a sign reading "immigrants & refugees welcome" across a barricade outside of the federal courthouse on South Phillips Avenue in Sioux Falls Saturday, April 5, 2025, as part of the "Hands Off!" protest.

Immigrants, like refugees, are starting new lives in a new country. They go through a vetting process and intend to settle permanently in a new location.

Unlike refugees, immigrants choose to leave home and begin elsewhere. They may decide to leave home to be closer to family, to pursue their education or for better economic opportunities, among other reasons.

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This means that they were not forced to leave and can return home if they want to, without risking their life or freedom. Due to this distinction, the term migrant can be used to describe an immigrant but should not be used when referencing a refugee, according to Amnesty International.

Education news: English-learning students discriminated against at this Delaware district, teacher reports

Other types of U.S. entry

Immigrants, refugees and Americans wave flags during an event to support and welcome refugees and immigrants, put on by Faith Voices of Southwest Missouri, International Institute of Southwest Missouri and NAACP Springfield, at South Street Christian Church, Saturday, April 5, 2025.

Immigration and refugee resettlement cover many types of legal entry into the U.S., but there are other pathways available for certain groups of people to enter the country, too.

One term you might hear is humanitarian parole. This process allows an individual, who may be inadmissible or otherwise ineligible for U.S. entry, to be paroled into the country for a temporary period. A humanitarian parolee has not been formally admitted into the U.S. for purposes of immigration law, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

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The Immigration and Nationality Act grants the secretary of homeland security the authority to temporarily parole any person applying for admission into the U.S., whether for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Parole is typically granted for no more than one year but can be longer depending on the reason for the parole. People granted parole are typically not automatically allowed to work in the U.S., but it may be granted due to a persons circumstances.

Examples of recent humanitarian parole programs, according to International Rescue Committee, are:

The Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela parole program, which offered crucial assistance to people from these countries and significantly reduced border arrivals. This program was terminated on Jan. 20.

Uniting for Ukraine, which provided a pathway to safety for Ukranians fleeing war in their country. Many Ukranians were granted parole status for up to two years before the program was suspended on Jan. 27.

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Operation Allies Welcome, which assisted vulnerable Afghans, including those who supported U.S. operations in Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of people evacuated from Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American troops in 2021 were granted parole status.

Another type of U.S. entry is the Special Immigrant Visa program, which is available to people who helped the U.S. government abroad.

A United States flag is seen near the El Paso airport as Guatemalan migrants, mostly shackled, are being transported to a plane to be expelled from the United States to their country of origin by agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents, at the El Paso airport, Texas, U.S., June 13, 2024.

One SIV program is for those who worked with the U.S. Armed Forces or under Chief of Mission authority as a translator or interpreter in Iraq or Afghanistan. This program offers visas to up to 50 people a year, according to the U.S. Department of State.

This program is distinct from two other programs granting SIVs for certain Iraqi and Afghan nationals who worked for, or on behalf of, the U.S. government in either country. Certain requirements must be met for program consideration.

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These pathways do not encompass every available process for U.S. entry, but they are some common examples showing the differences between programs and how they change based on global situations.

Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys'tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Info on legal pathways for entering the US, what a refugee is
For the first time ever, scientists say they have made a species de-extinct, bringing the dire wolf back into the world thousands of years after it died off.

Colossal Biosciences, a company based in Dallas, says it successfully birthed three dire wolves  a species that once roamed North America but has been extinct for more than 12,500 years  using revolutionary science.

Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said the team used DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull to analyze the full genome of the species and create three healthy dire wolf puppies, according to a news release.

Colossal Biosciences said it's created three dire wolf puppies. Romulus and Remus, the two males, were born in October, while Khaleesi, the female, was born in January. / Credit: Colossal Biosciences

The Colossal website explains that many dire wolf fossils were preserved in the La Brea tar pits, in the Los Angeles area, but the species' DNA was not preserved in the tar.

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But using two dire wolf samples from an international study on the extinct species, Colossal was able to uncover more dire wolf DNA that ever previously found. Company scientists were eventually able to analyze the species' genome  or its entire DNA set.

Then they used CRISPR, a gene-editing technology, to genetically modify cells from a living gray wolf. Usually, cloning relies on tissue samples, but Colossal was able to use these modified cells to create embryos, then transferred them to a surrogate (a domestic dog, The Associated Press reported) to grow.

Three litters of dire wolf puppies yielded two males, named Romulus and Remus, and a female, named Khaleesi after the "Game of Thrones" character  a nod to the HBO fantasy drama that featured dire wolves.

For the first time ever, scientists have made a species de-extinct, bringing the dire wolf back into the ecosystem about 12,500 years after it died off. / Credit: Colossal Biosciences

However, critics say the physical and genetic resemblance to an extinct species falls short of a full revival.

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"All you can do now is make something look superficially like something else," Vincent Lynch, a biologist at the University at Buffalo who was not involved in the research, told the AP.

"Whatever ecological function the dire wolf performed before it went extinct, it can't perform those functions" in today's environment, Lynch said.

The company says the animals are being cared for on a 2,000-acre preserve, "certified by the American Humane Society and registered with USDA," enclosed by a 10-foot-tall fence and perimeter security.

Colossal was also able to create two litters of cloned red wolves, which are the most critically endangered wolf in the world.

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The company says its de-extinction process could help support conservation efforts globally. "Preserving, expanding, and testing genetic diversity should be done well before important endangered animal species like the red wolf are lost," said Harvard geneticist and co-founder of Colossal, Dr. George Church.

In 2021, Colossal announced plans to de-extinct the woolly mammoth  a concept Church had been developing for years. He told "60 Minutes" in 2019, "I would say that probably in five years we'll know whether we can get this to work for mice, and maybe pigs and elephants. And then if we can get embryos to grow in the laboratory all the way to term, then it's probably a decade."

Last month, the company said its scientists have simultaneously edited seven genes in mice embryos to create mice with long, thick, woolly hair  dubbing its creation the "Colossal woolly mouse."

While the results and images of the the shaggy-haired mice were posted online, Colossal did not publish its research in a peer-reviewed journal and it has not been vetted by independent scientists.

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The scientists edited mouse genes related to their hair and fat metabolism  two qualities woolly mammoths needed to survive in their Arctic habitat. After confirming the gene modification process works in mice, they planned on testing it with elephants, which are woolly mammoth's closest living relatives. But, since Asian elephants are endangered, the company will face a number of additional hurdles. It is also doing work aimed at protecting the world's elephant populations.

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AUSTIN, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- Governor Greg Abbott met with Devarjaye DJ Daniel at the Texas Capitol on Monday as the 13-year-old was officially sworn into the Department of Public Safetys Executive Protection Bureau.

In a post from the Office of the Governor, Abbott said, DJs story inspires millions across the state & country that they, too, can confront & overcome challenges. DJ embodies the spirit of Texas grit.

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DJ, who is from the Houston area, is battling terminal brain and spine cancer. He was first diagnosed in 2018 and given less than five months to live. However, after years of treatment and participation in a research study, he continues to defy medical expectations.

Daniels dream has long been to become a police officer. To honor that dream, he began a nationwide effort to be sworn in by 1,000 law enforcement agencies. As of recent reports, DJ has been sworn in by 914 departments across the country, bringing him closer to that goal.

He also holds several records, including having received the most keys to the city and the most proclamation days declared in his name.

Earlier this year, DJ was honored during a joint session of Congress, where former President Donald Trump swore him in as an honorary Secret Service agent. Since then, his story has continued to spread nationally.

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In the last few weeks alone, Daniel has been made honorary Chief of the State Capitol Police in Little Rock, Arkansas, and an honorary deputy by the Van Zandt County Sheriffs Office in Texas.

Mondays event at the Capitol was the latest step in DJs journey and was recognized by state leaders and law enforcement officials as part of his ongoing mission.

No additional remarks were released publicly from DJ or his family during the event at the Capitol.

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OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON)  On the day Sheng Thao was sworn-in as Oaklands new mayor in January of 2023, she was flanked on stage by her family, supporters, city officials, and boyfriend, Andre Jones. Standing on her right, Jones was all smiles as he listened to her victory speech, photographs from the ceremony show.

Jones never held a job title within Oaklands city government during his girlfriends tenure. But behind-the-scenes, Jones influence over Thao, and his alleged no-show job with the Duong family, were significant enough for a federal grand jury to indict him on fraud and conspiracy charges.

Andre Jones, far left, smiles during Oakland mayor Sheng Thaos speech on Jan. 9, 2023. (Photo by Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)

Sheng Thao is sworn in as the 51st Mayor of Oakland Jan. 9, 2023. (Photo by Ray Chavez/ MediaNews Group/ via Getty Images)

Thousands of documents containing email communications between staff members in the mayors office were recently released and made public by the City of Oakland. The city was ordered to gather and hand over the documents to FBI agents and the U.S. Attorneys Office as they investigated Thao, Jones, and two members of the Duong family.

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Investigators requested a mountain of documents from the city, including all communications and meetings involving Jones during Thaos time in office.

Federal investigators said businessmen David Duong and Andy Duong paid Jones money disguised as wages for a no-show job. The indictment states that Andy Duong and a co-conspirator agreed to produce and finance a negative mailer campaign targeting Thaos opponents in the 2022 mayoral election, and promised to pay Jones $300,000 in wages for a bogus job.

Andre Jones, the longtime boyfriend of Sheng Thao, exits United States District Court following an arraignment in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Dan Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

The newly-released city documents show Thaos boyfriend clashed with the mayors chief of staff, Renia Webb. Thao wanted me (to) attend an event with her partner Andre Jones after knowing he has  verbally cursed me on more than one occasion. The environment I was working in became abusive, radical, and threatening, Webb wrote in a 2023 email after she resigned from her position.

Patrick D. Robbins, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, said Thao used her powers as mayor to enrich herself and Jones.

Sheng Thao talks to reporters outside a courthouse in Oakland as Tuan Ngo, founder of Asians Unite, protests on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Investigators accused Jones of using money from his no-show job to pay for an Oakland rental home where he lived with Thao. The couples house on Maiden Lane was raided by FBI agents in June of 2024. On the morning of the raid, Jones was seen stopping by the house and at Oakland City Hall.

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The new documents include an official biography of Thao that was sent from the mayors executive assistant to an AAPI leadership summit in 2024. The biography details Thaos life growing up in poverty, raising her son as a single mother, and embarking on her career as a political leader, and accomplishments as a city councilwoman. Jones, her longtime boyfriend, was never mentioned in the bio.

Jones accompanied Thao at special events and on trips, including a trip to Vietnam co-hosted by the Bay Area Council and the Vietnamese American Business Association. The new documents include a formal invitation written to Thao by David Duong, VABAs chairman. The purpose of the trip was to grow the trade relationship between California and Vietnam, the letter states.

Thao, Jones, and the Duongs have pleaded not guilty to fraud, bribery, and conspiracy charges.

Mayor Sheng Thao delivers her first State of the City address at City Hall on Oct. 17, 2023. (Jane Tyska/ /East Bay Times via Getty Images)

While Jones never received a job at City Hall under Thaos tenure, the new documents detail who was in Thaos official inner circle. In a December 2022 email, Thao stated that she hired Leigh Hanson as a senior advisor with a $200,000 annual salary. Hanson was later promoted to chief of staff by Thao. On Monday, Hanson was fired from her job after one of the newly released documents showed that she referred to Black people as tokens.

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Oakland Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins announced Monday that most of the Mayors Office staff will be released from their positions on April 11. It has always been our intention to allow our next Mayor to choose their own staff after the April 15 special election, Jenkins stated.

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KSNF/KODE  Lottery tickets are purchased every day across the Four States, but those who purchase the tickets may not be aware of how they are supporting their state when doing so.

We have compiled data to keep you informed on where your money is going the next time you play the lottery in your state.

Missouri

The Missouri Lottery Commission states that Lottery sales have contributed more than $8.5 billion to the state of Missouri and public education since 1986. In August 1992, the passing of Amendment 11 ensured Lottery proceeds only contributed education funds.

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Proceeds contributed to public education in 2024 were more than $389 million.

For a detailed breakdown on how Missouri Lottery proceeds are allocated, click here.

Kansas

The Kansas Lottery Commission says its State Gaming Revenues Fund (SGRF) is funded through monthly transfers from the Kansas Lottery. The SGRF then transfers funds to various causes and programs:

Economic Development Initiatives Fund ($42,415,000)

Juvenile Detention Facilities Fund ($2,495,000)

Correctional Institutions Building Fund ($4,990,000)

Problem Gambling Grant Fund ($100,000)

Veterans Programs ($1,260,000)

Mental Health Programs ($9,000,000)

State General Fund ($28,278,772)

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For a more detailed breakdown on how the funds are distributed, as well as additional information on how veterans can receive extra benefits, click here.

Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Lottery Commission claims its Oklahoma Lottery Trust Fund has contributed over $1.3 billion to Oklahoma Education since 2005.

Here is a breakdown of how the Oklahoma Lottery Trust Fund allocates its fund toward education:

45% of funds are provided to K-12 public school districts

39.5% of funds are provided to higher education in the state

5.5% of funds are provided to Oklahoma Career Tech

5% of funds go toward the states School Consolidation Fund

5% of funds are allocated toward the states Teacher Retirement System

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For a more detailed analysis, click here.

Arkansas

The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery began in 2008 when the sale of Lottery tickets in the state became legal. In Arkansas, the purpose of the Lottery is to fund scholarship programs for Arkansas students seeking higher education.

Since 2008, Lottery ticket proceeds have been deposited to the Lottery Scholarship Trust Account, which supports programs like the Arkansas Academic Challenge, Workforce Challenge, and Concurrent Challenge Scholarships.

The Office of the Arkansas Lottery has provided more information about the allocation of revenue here and also here.

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(KRON)  Firefighters in San Mateo County rescued a dog from a burning home in La Honda Tuesday afternoon. According to CalFire, firefighters were called to the home on Fernwood Drive at around 11 a.m.

Arriving at the scene, smoke could be seen coming from the home. The dog was saved and there were no reported injuries, CalFire said.

Omar Torres convicted for sexually molesting minor in 1999

The home, however, suffered major damage.

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In addition to CalFire, units from the San Mateo County Fire Department, Kings Mountain Fire Department, Loma Mar Fire Department, La Honda Fire Department, and Woodside Fire Department also responded.

Video CalFire posted to X showed heavy smoke emanating from the home as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
The 300,000-tonne "He Ying" recently docked at Luoyu Port in Fujian Province, east China, marking over 10 million tonnes of iron ore shipped from Brazil to China via the Silk Road Maritime route. Click to discover why this achievement is significant.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
The Trump administration's possible termination of tens of millions of dollars in funding for fair housing organizations could make building wealth through homeownership more difficult.

That's the warning shared last month by Andrew Tudor, an investment advisor with Philadelphia-based Zenith Wealth Partners , about the potential impact of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's planned cuts to Fair Housing Initiatives Program grants under the recommendations of the agency's Department of Government Efficiency task force. One of 66 organizations slated to lose more than $30 million across 78 grants is Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Greater Cincinnati, a nonprofit group that Tudor credited for helping his parents gain approval for a mortgage they used to buy their family's home in 1985.



The house on Alaska Avenue in Cincinnati's Avondale neighborhood that Sharon Johnson and Fred Tudor bought in 1985.

"It's pretty commonly known that the bedrock of the American Dream and financial success is homeownership," Tudor said in an interview. "Having enforcement around equal housing is extremely important."

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READ MORE: Amid DEI abandonment, what progress can firms show?

Advocates seek relief in court



Through a class action lawsuit , the National Fair Housing Alliance won a temporary victory last month reinstating the grants  but their fate is in limbo amid an array of court cases over moves by President Donald Trump's cabinet and Elon Musk's DOGE teams to pull back spending on programs they deem to be wasteful outlays for diversity, equity and inclusion .

For the advocates, the HUD grant cancellations represent an existential threat to civil rights programs under the Fair Housing Act that target discrimination against women, people with disabilities and Black, Hispanic and other minority tenants or homebuyers that exacerbates race-based disparities and other wealth gaps. In addition, they argue that HUD violated the Administrative Procedure Act's ban on arbitrary and capricious decisions.

"The impact of this sudden loss of funding to the class members has been immediate and severe for the organizations, their communities, and the principle of fair housing that has been a guiding light for the nation's policies since 1968," the Alliance's March 13 filing stated. "Housing discrimination continues while DOGE and HUD pull the plug on a primary statutory means of redressing it."

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That concern resonated especially strongly for Tudor, who told the story two years ago in a LinkedIn article of how his parents, Sharon Johnson and Fred Tudor, secured the mortgage for their family's home in the Avondale neighborhood. Even though they had full-time jobs with the U.S. Postal Service, excellent credit and combined annual income that was larger than the total amount of the loan, the local bank denied them a mortgage, according to Tudor, who is Black.



Financial advisor Andrew Tudor (front row, left) posed with his mother, Sharon Johnson, and his older brothers, Anthony Stanley and Fred Tudor III, outside their Cincinnati home.

Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) sent in a white couple as "testers," and the bank approved that couple's loan. After the organization contacted the bank, Tudor's parents qualified for the mortgage  and the house enabled the family to build generational wealth.

"This home has been a pillar in my life and in the lives of my immediate and extended family," Tudor wrote. "It has been one of the tools that we used to provide financial stability for so many, and it almost never was. We talk about the racial wealth gap like it just happened, but it was very intentional. The banks, insurance companies, regulators, legislators and appraisers all played a huge role in its creation and perpetuity. The local, state, and federal governments meticulously orchestrated this racial wealth gap, and the recent stories of stolen home equity through race-biased appraisals and lending practices signal that we will not be closing this gap anytime soon."

READ MORE: Fighting systemic racism with estate planning  one client at a time

HUD pushes back



Representatives for HUD didn't respond to inquiries about the lawsuit and funding for fair housing organizations like those of HOME. In a video posted last month to the social media platform X with the caption "Let's set the record straight," Secretary Scott Turner said that HUD has "taken inventory of every program and process to determine when and where the department can be more efficient in the delivery of its statutorily required programs." He pushed back against news reports suggesting that HUD is cutting homeless prevention services, closing field offices en masse or taking away resources from public housing authorities.

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"I know that you're thinking, 'Are HUD-funded programs going to stop?'" he said. "The short answer is, 'no,' but things are definitely going to look a little bit different. Here's what our actions will and will not do: We will not slow down the department's mission-critical functions."

In the case filed by the equal housing organizations in Boston federal court, lawyers for the agency argued that the fair housing programs "confer significant discretion in determining how best to allocate appropriate funds across applicants."

"The statute does not constrain the secretary's discretion to determine how best to allocate the funding for each program among many different potential grant recipients," HUD's filing stated. "The Department's decisions in this context are discretionary decisions regarding how to allocate funds, not subject to arbitrary-and-capricious review under the APA."

READ MORE: A plan to build Black wealth in one community  and nationwide



President Donald Trump and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner shook hands at a White House ceremony in February in honor of Black History Month.

Court cases in limbo



The March 21 filing included a declaration by the career HUD official who sent the organizations the letter informing them of the termination of their funding. The DOGE team at HUD had cited their programs as incompatible with a half dozen executive orders, such as those "ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferences" and "ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity."

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"HUD's internal DOGE task force specifically identified that those particular 78 awards were incompatible with one or more of the above executive orders because those awards include language that specifically imposes DEI, DEIA, and/or 'equity' actions, initiatives, plans, programs, grants, contracts, performance requirements, or preferences; and further authorizes the use of federal funds for training, enforcement, and other related activities in a manner for activities beyond the scope of the statutorily enumerated protections of the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws," the HUD career senior executive, Matthew Ammon, wrote.

"The task force further identified that the use of federal funds for purposes beyond the specific scope of these statutes dilutes and diminishes the availability of federal funds to carry out the specific, statutorily-authorized functions of the Department," he continued. "And the task force identified that the Department is best able to meet its statutory duties under the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws by the termination of these awards and the refocus of efforts toward effectuating the plain language of these statutes."

Those terminations represent "only a subset of the total number of open FHIP awards, as HUD's award-by-award review determined that not all open FHIP awards are inconsistent with executive orders and no longer effectuating program goals or agency priorities," Ammon added.

District Judge Richard Stearns found in favor of the plaintiffs, though, imposing a temporary restraining order on HUD that will be in place until at least May 16. During that span, HUD must "immediately restore plaintiffs to the pre-existing status quo" by reinstating the fair housing grants. However, Stearns based that order on an earlier ruling by the First Circuit Court of Appeals blocking cuts to the Department of Education  and the Supreme Court overruled that decision last week. HUD lawyers subsequently called in an April 7 filing for Stearns to drop his order and impose a stay keeping the cuts in place during the two lawsuits' proceedings.

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READ MORE: The impact of the 'racial will gap' on wealth

Personal and political upshots



The legal wrangling around DOGE's cuts across the government could go on for months, if not years.

In the meantime, any programs aimed at "correcting for race and having race-conscious provisions" as a means of narrowing the racial wealth gap face a threat that begs the question of "who can then take up the mantle" and what will be the effect to homeownership, according to Michael Neal, a senior fellow in the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute. The Institute is a nonprofit organization that describes itself as providing "data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity." The potential cuts to HUD's fair housing grants may ultimately affect the degree that prospective home buyers can seek and qualify for mortgages based on their job and income stability, Neal said.

"Unless you're buying all-cash, you have to make some sort of decision, you have to come to some conclusion about what your life is going to look like over the next five to seven years," he said. "This type of action totally contributes to a broader uncertainty and instability, specifically in a sector that relies on those two characteristics in order for people to be successful in homeownership."

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In Cincinnati, Tudor's parents were successful in renovating the home into four separate apartment units that hosted family members and tenants and served as the location of an infant daycare business. He and his two older brothers attended college thanks to home equity lines of credit from the house. Through a will and trust and other estate planning, the family plans to maintain its ownership of the home into the future.



Andrew Tudor, Zenith Wealth Partners.

The centrality of the home  and the HOME organization's role in Tudor's parents buying it four decades ago  prompted Tudor to raise the alarm on social media about the possible cuts, he said.

"This is our time to lean in," Tudor said. "It's very easy to take organizations like this for granted, and now is the time for us to really show support for organizations that over the last 50 years have been showing support to us and lifting up our most vulnerable citizens."

READ MORE: Zenith adds planner on way to creating $1 billion in wealth

Wealth ramifications



At about $425,000, the grant that could be terminated had supplied funding for discrimination investigations in rental properties and mortgage lending and individual counseling sessions for roughly 350 local tenants who reported complaints to HOME, Executive Director Elisabeth Risch told a Cincinnati NPR affiliate last month.

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"We just did this big report to show that Black borrowers are denied two times as often as white borrowers, even more for higher-income borrowers," Risch said. "What our termination says is that we can't follow up on that. That's what's been pulled out from under us."

And that's why HOME supporters like Tudor tie the DOGE cuts of fair housing grants directly to the racial wealth gap and the housing segregation, redlining and discrimination that have played such a large role in generating that racial disparity.

"The first step is acknowledging that the wealth disparity was created intentionally  that's hard for some folks," he said. "We are not in a place of equality today, let alone equity, for the past transgressions and the past harms done by local, state and federal policy."
LUFKIN  When Mary Beth Hash-Walker heard the Nacogdoches Social Security office was closing, the 72-year-old retiree was quietly glad. She and other Nacogdoches residents have watched the office sit largely vacant for years, used  by her estimate  once a month.

Its the biggest waste of taxpayer dollars that Ive seen, Hash-Walker said.

The terminated lease is just one of several federal offices slated to close in Texas as part of President Donald Trumps and Elon Musks effort to shrink the federal government and end what they call waste, fraud and abuse.

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The final number of offices closed, as well as other canceled federal contracts and grants, in Texas and across the country remain uncertain. While the Department of Governmental Efficiency, led by Musk, shares its work online, it changes frequently. For example, the Social Security Administration and U.S. Attorneys Office in Lufkin were at one point set to close. Both are expected to remain open.

The whiplash has left those who use government services confused.

Meanwhile, advocates for the elderly, poor and a host of other groups such as farmers, are worried about the final outcome for their communities. About 25% of the East Texas population relies upon some sort of federal aid, according to an analysis by EIG, a bipartisan policy group.

Hash-Walker is one of the East Texans. She spent many years shuttling her husband, Jack, and more than 500 pages of documents to Lufkin to keep up his benefits as a disabled veteran. She always scheduled those meetings first thing in the morning and got in line, which often extended outside, before the office even opened. Now, she also does this for herself.

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It's always old, old people, she said. And you know, it's been hot some days, rainy some days, and I feel so sorry for those people.

The 36-mile drive was a pain, Hash-Walker said. But doable. Shes worried about other East Texans, older and farther away.

Think about all the people who are out in these small towns  Garrison, Timpson, Gary  that have to drive all the way over there, she said. That's a long way for not just elderly people, but for anybody.

Social Security beneficiaries can access most services online or over the phone  for now. But Trump has suggested changing that to cut down on fraud, a change that could make physical office space more of a necessity.

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I think there are a lot of considerations about people's ability to get to and from these offices when they need to be in person, said Jonathan Schwabish, a senior fellow in the Tax and Income Supports Division specializing in aging and retirement for the Urban Institute, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.

The Lufkin offices was among the many leases originally on the chopping block when the DOGE was first created in January. Panic set off.

Phones at the Social Security Administration have been ringing as nearly 100,000 more people per day have called in the last three months compared to 2024. And the percentage of callers who actually reached a representative dropped from 58.4% in 2024 to 45.1% in 2025.

The Social Security Administration in a March statement said all reports of offices closing permanently were false, except some small hearing rooms with no employees. Like the one in Nacogdoches. Closing that office is expected to save the government $86,414.

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SSA is committed to providing service where people need help and our local field offices are no exception, Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a statement. We have not permanently closed any local field offices this year.

Schwabish at the Urban Institute said the Trump administration needs to closely examine the impacts of its choices. Cutting the Lufkin Social Security office, for example, would have left hundreds of thousands of East Texans 70 miles or more away from the closest Social Security office.

The Nacogdoches Farm Services Agency, a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is also on the chopping block. And just like Social Security, Texas Farm Bureau representatives' phones are buzzing with farmers on the line.

Texas farmers and producers want to wrap their heads around the proposed changes, said Gary Joiner, the Farm Bureaus director of communications. Farmers are concerned about what will happen if those offices close or if staff is reduced.

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The Farm Service Agency closing wont directly affect the average American consumer. But it can make it more difficult for farmers to work with the USDA, an agency many rely upon from season to season.

Much of the talk has been speculative, Joiner said. Communities catch wind an office may close and news spreads like wildfire.

My understanding is, (the list) is a proposal from the Department of Government Efficiency, Joiner said. It's the ultimate decision of those agencies and those cabinet positions that oversee those agencies, whether those recommendations are pursued.

A USDA spokesperson said Secretary Brooke Rollins, a Texas native, supports Trumps initiative to eliminate wasteful spending and the agency is optimizing building capacity while prioritizing frontline services. Rollins has promised to protect what is vital to the American people.

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Joiner has faith Rollins will do what is best for Texas farmers and ranchers, he said.

We hope that when given that opportunity and that ability to make that decision, she will do the right thing, Joiner said. And she'll make sure those offices are open and those offices are staffed at levels that are necessary to service Texas agriculture.

Disclosure: Texas Farm Bureau 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.

Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 1315 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) axed its crypto unit on Monday, telling staff that the DOJ would be narrowing its crypto enforcement activities in accordance with U.S. President Donald Trumps January executive order on digital assets, which pledged to establish regulatory clarity and certainty for the crypto industry.

In his four-page memo to staff titled Ending Regulation by Prosecution, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET)  created in 2022 under then-President Joe Biden  would be disbanded effective immediately.

The Department of Justice is not a digital assets regulator, Blanche wrote in the memo seen by CoinDesk. However, the prior Administration used the Justice Department to pursue a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution, which was ill conceived and poorly executed. The Justice Department will no longer pursue litigation or enforcement actions that have the effect of superimposing regulatory frameworks on digital assets while President Trumps actual regulators do this work outside the punitive criminal justice framework.

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Blanche informed staff that the DOJ would no longer be pursuing cases against crypto exchanges, mixing services or offline wallets for the acts of their end users or unwitting violations of regulations. Staff were ordered not to charge regulatory violations in cases involving crypto, including violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), unlicensed money transmitting and other violations tied to federal securities and commodities laws.

Instead, DOJ staff were ordered to focus their resources on prosecuting individuals who victimize digital asset investors or who use crypto in the furtherance of criminal activities like terrorism or gang financing.

Ongoing investigations that are inconsistent with the foregoing should be closed, Blanche wrote, adding that his office will work with the DOJs criminal division to review ongoing cases for consistency with this policy.

NCET is not the first federal crypto task force to be disbanded since Trump took office in January. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) slashed a number of specialized enforcement teams, including a crypto-focused team, down to just two as part of Acting Chair Caroline Phams plan to increase efficiency and stop regulation by enforcement.

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NCET worked on many of the DOJs high profile crypto cases in recent years, including crypto mixer Tornado Cash and several of its developers and Mango Markets exploiter Avi Eisenberg, who faces sentencing later this week after being convicted of fraud and market manipulation.

The memo comes a week and a half after Trump pardoned crypto trading platform BitMEX and its founders and senior executives following their past guilty pleas to Bank Secrecy Act charges.
Dolton trustees plan to hire a firm to conduct a forensic audit of village finances as the exit nears of an administration under Mayor Tiffany Henyard, who theyve accused of mismanaging village funds.

Monday was the last regular Village Board meeting before Trustee Jason House is inaugurated as mayor at the May 5 meeting.

Henyard was a no-show Monday, marking her fourth consecutive absence. Board meetings are held once a month.

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Trustee Stan Brown, who has in the past been an ally of Henyard, was at the meeting but absent was Andrew Holmes, a staunch supporter of Henyard who has had a spotty attendance record at recent meetings.

In the April 1 general election, House had more than 95% of the vote over Independent mayoral candidate Casundra Hopson-Jordan. In the February primary, House bested Henyard, garnering 88% of the vote.

Residents Dan Lee was among those who congratulated House as well as village clerk and trustee candidates who ran on the Clean House slate.

I am feeling more optimistic now than I ever have, Lee said.

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House said the community has come together since the election, and said Clean House has become the community. The trustee, who first ran with Henyard four years ago, said his Clean House would transition to the label of Dolton United.

House said regardless of who supported who in the recent elections, we are here to serve every resident.

Dolton resident Thelma Price, speaking to the board while holding her grandson in her arms, echoed Houses comments.

Its important we try to heal and not take our old baggage into the period after the election, Price said.

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House said their priorities would be transparency and accessibility.

Making sure we are accessible and responsive to everyone who contacts us, he said.

Trustee Kiana Belcher, reelected to the board, moved to request proposals from outside firms to conduct a forensic audit, saying such a probe will give us some clarity on what we dont know about village finances.

Belcher said the audit would focus primarily on spending in the villages Police, Water and Housing departments.

Last year the state comptroller ordered a forced audit of Dolton finances, ultimately assigning an outside firm to conduct audits after Dolton was unable to find an auditor willing to take on the job.

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House said he expects two audits, for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years, to wrap up within the next four months.

Since Henyard took office, the village has been delinquent in filing annual financial reports and audits with the state comptrollers office.

Comptroller Susana Mendoza last year said her office notified Henyard and the village of the delinquency for two years, but said the mayors office had refused to communicate with us or address the problem.

Until the delinquent reports are filed, the comptroller is holding back payments to Dolton collected under its offset program.

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The program collect debts owed to local governments by deducting from state employee wages, tax refunds or lottery winnings. For Dolton, that amounts to more than $100,000 a year, according to the comptroller.

In seeking a forensic audit, House said it would be a more detailed probe into village finances. A typical audit, he said, will look at a sampling of financial transactions but a forensic audit will examine every transaction for possible irregularities.

Forensic audits are much more expensive, House said.

The Village Board never did adopt a budget for this fiscal year, which ends April 30, and the new budget year starts May 1. House said he and trustees are working on a draft budget.

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Along with House, village Clerk Alison Key will be sworn in May 5, as well as Belcher and Trustee Brittney Norwood, reelected to the board. Also to be sworn in is former trustee Edward Ed Steave, who lost his bid for reelection in 2023.

Although vote totals are still unofficial, the Clean House trustee candidates appear to have won office over candidates backed by Henyard.

mnolan@southtownstar.com
STORY: :: Dominican president announces new border and migration controls towards Haiti

:: Released on April 6, 2025

:: Given as Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

:: Luis Abinader, Dominican Republic President

"Today we are called by an unavoidable duty, a challenge we did not choose, but one we must face with courage and determination: the challenge of an irregular migratory displacement of a people (Referring to: Haitians) whose streets are overtaken by violence, abandoned to despair, where order has succumbed to chaos."

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"The Minister of Defense has been instructed to immediately begin the bidding process to construct an additional 8 miles to the 33.5 miles of already built wall."

"In addition, we will strengthen border surveillance with an additional fifteen hundred soldiers, adding to the ninety-five hundred who are already serving at the border."

The Dominican government will also pursue legal reforms to toughen penalties for those who facilitate the entry and stay of migrants.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The Dona Ana County Sheriffs Office is again warning the public to avoid falling for online and telephone scams where the caller impersonates a deputy.

These calls or online encounters are from someone claiming to be a deputy warning the receipient about outstanding warrants, the Sheriffs Office said.

DASO does not call anyone regarding outstanding warrants, they said.

Also, scammers requesting payments through gift cards, online payment apps and other methods are to be ignored, the Sheriffs Office said.

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For more information, you can call (575) 525-1911.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Donald Trump and Paramount Global have reportedly picked a mediator to try to settle the presidents $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over the way that 60 Minutes edited an October interview with his 2024 rival Kamala Harris.

Paramount Global is anxious to close its merger deal with Skydance, with regulatory approval pending before the Trump administration via the FCC and the Justice Department. Both sides have held settlement talks, and the New York Times reported today they have agreed on a mediator to try to resolve the case. A Paramount spokesperson declined comment, and Trumps attorney did not return a request for comment.

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Meanwhile, the Paramount-CBS legal team is challenging Trump and another plaintiff in his lawsuit, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), over their refusal to supply certain documents that would shed light on how they came up with their massive damages claims.

Despite the size of their requested damages award, both President Trump and Representative Jackson have refused to produce evidence substantiating their damages during fact discovery, the CBS legal team wrote in a filing in federal court in Texas today.

Among other things, the CBS legal team wrote, Trump is refusing to produce information about the holdings of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which has received almost 115 million shares of Trump Media & Technology Group stock, driven by his social media platform Truth Social. That information is the basis of Trumps alleged damages, the network wrote.

In his lawsuit, Trump claimed that CBS edits of the 60 Minutes interview with Harris drove up the shows viewership while costing Truth Social and his other media holdings traffic and audience. The lawsuit claims a violation of Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, typically used to challenge false advertising and the Lanham Act.

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With the whopping damages figure and novel application of the Texas law, a number of legal observers, as well as the National Association of Broadcasters, see the lawsuit as frivolous. In a motion to dismiss, CBS called the Trump lawsuit an affront to the First Amendment and without basis in law or fact.

The prospect of a settlement of the lawsuit has created a great deal of consternation at CBS News and 60 Minutes, as it would be viewed as a cave to Trump in the name of corporate expediency.

Trump did not even participate in the October 7 60 Minutes episode, but claimed that the show deceptively edited Harris in a way to make her sound more coherent and boost her election prospects.

60 Minutes has denied Trumps claims, and handed over a transcript of the interview to the FCC, which is conducting a separate inquiry.

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At one point in the interview, correspondent Bill Whitaker asked Harris why Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not listening to the Biden administration.

Harris answered, Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region. And were not going to stop doing that. We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.

Harris was shown giving the first part of her answer in a promo segment on Face the Nation, and the second part on 60 Minutes, which aired a day later. CBS said that the differences in the answers were due to time constraints and are a common practice in the business.

But Trump has pressed forward. He filed an amended complaint in February, doubling the amount of claimed damages to $20 billion and adding Jackson as a plaintiff. CBS has accused Trump of forum shopping, and the addition of Jackson appeared to be an effort to bolster Trumps choice of a Texas court to litigate the case.

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In the CBS filing today, the networks lawyers noted that even though they sought to hold off on the discovery process until after the judge ruled on the motion to dismiss the case, Trumps team refused. The network has sought an array of records as it has sought to refute the damages claim, but Trump and Jackson have made a number of inappropriate and inapplicable objections to the document requests.

According to CBS, in certain instances Trump and Jackson have claimed executive privilege, even though the Requests do not relate to events when President Trump was in office or even after he was re-elected. Jackson also claimed congressional privilege, but the documents sought to not relate to his role as a legislator. Trump and Jackson also are objecting to the disclosure of their locations on the dates of the Face the Nation and 60 Minutes broadcasts, and cited that such information would breach the preservation of national security.

CBS legal team did note that there have been two productive meet-and-confers to try to resolve the discovery disputes, but they filed the motion to compel the production of documents so as to not waive any rights in light of a court deadline.

According to the networks legal team, they served 130 requests on Trump and Jackson. The president and the congressman, meanwhile, made 332 requests for documents, and the network timely responded on March 17, according to the CBS legal team.

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MARSHALL COUNTY, Miss.  Storms and tornadoes have passed. Now, the long road to recovery begins for many victims of last weeks severe weather.

In Marshall County, nearly 90 homes were damaged, leaving some students at H.W. Byers School in need of uniforms and supplies.

Its hard to comprehend the damage in Marshall County.

In the Slayden community off Hogan Road, house after house has been heavily damaged or destroyed.

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Right in there is my bedroom and while we were down, you could hear the roofing blowing away, said storm victim Beverly Strickland. It just sounded like wind blowing the roofing away and the shattering of the window. [After] a few seconds, it was over.

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And while the storms have passed, those close calls by survivors will never be forgotten.

I got in the closet. The wind blew my wife out of the bed and it just eased on out, said storm victim Freddie Mitchel-Hayes. Had it lasted another second or so, wed a been gone.

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While the recovery will take time, students returned to H.W. Byers Attendance Center.

However, some students have been impacted by the disaster.

So far, I know that we have approximately 50 students who have damage to their homes, said Dr. Carrie Skelton, the Superintendent of Marshall County Schools. And then we still have approximately 60 students that are without electricity.

Parents are being encouraged to donate uniforms that their children have outgrown.

Though the school system evaluates the needs of each student, they are clearing rumors that no student would be allowed inside without a uniform.

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Our kids are our number one priority and were going to allow them in school whether theyre in uniform or not, Dr. Skelton said. This is a need thats possibly going to be more long-term than the next couple of weeks.

One thing is clear: this devastation has brought out the best in people.

At Slayden Baptist Church, the gym is stacked full of donations, with more coming nonstop.

I know if I was in this predicament, I would be so appreciative of all of this, knowing all the things we need to exist day to day, Roy Koerner said.

Dr. Skelton said Marshall County schools have accepted some uniform donations, but will let the public know the exact needs.

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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Lori Vallow Daybell sits during her sentencing hearing at the Fremont County Courthouse, July 31, 2023, in St. Anthony, Idaho. via Associated Press

Lori Vallow Daybell, the woman known as Doomsday Mom, told an Arizona jury in her opening statement Monday that her estranged husband was shot out of self-defense. But prosecutors argue that Vallow Daybell planned with her brother to shoot her estranged husband because she believed an evil spirit was possessing him.

Vallow Daybell, who is representing herself, is on trial for first-degree murder in connection with the killing of Charles Vallow, her estranged husband who was shot by her brother, Alex Cox, in July 2019.

Vallow Daybell is already serving three consecutive life sentences without parole for the murder of her children, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old J.J. Vallow, who were killed in September 2019.

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Vallow Daybell met Chad Daybell, a radical religious author, in 2018 and soon developed a romantic relationship with him even though the two were married to other people. They shared radical religious views that were Mormon-influenced but ultimately separate from the Mormon church. Vallow Daybell believed she and Daybell were supposed to lead the 144,000 people who would survive the end of the world in July 2020, leading to her Doomsday Mom nickname.

In her opening statement, Vallow Daybell described the circumstances that led to the shooting of Charles Vallow, her fourth husband. She claimed that Tylee, her daughter from a previous marriage, was not getting along with Vallow, and disagreements between the two increased to physical altercations in 2019.

On July 11, 2019, Vallow Daybell said Tylee and Cox were asleep at her residence in Idaho when Vallow showed up to take their son, J.J., to school. Vallow and Vallow Daybell got into an argument over his cellphone, waking up Tylee and Cox.

Tylee came out of her room with a bat to protect her mother, Vallow Daybell said. Tylee and Vallow then fought over the bat before the teen fell to the ground. Vallow lifted the bat to hit Tylee with it when Cox intervened. Vallow Daybell said Tylee then left the house to get away from the struggle between Vallow and Cox and at some point her brother apparently retrieved his gun and shot Vallow in self-defense.

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Treena Kay, Maricopa County deputy prosecuting attorney, told the jury Monday that the shooting was not self-defense, but instead a way for Vallow Daybell to marry Daybell, her current husband, and collect $1 million of Vallows life insurance policy.

During her opening statement, Kay said that Vallow Daybell and Daybell believed Vallow was possessed by a spirit called Ned Schneider and that they needed to kill him and Ned. Cox and Vallow Daybell planned how they were going to kill Vallow, the prosecutor said, and that Vallow Daybell took Vallows cellphone to keep him there so Cox could kill him.

Lori Vallow is why Charles didnt just leave with J.J. that morning, Kay said. Lori Vallow is why Alex Cox was able to shoot Charles. Lori Vallow is why Charles is dead.

Kay said after Cox fatally shot Vallow, Vallow Daybell left the house in Vallows rental car with his cellphone and wallet. She dropped J.J. off at school and Cox didnt call 911 until 47 minutes after Vallow Daybell left.

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During those 47 minutes, Kay said, Cox staged a scene. He put the bat by Vallows right arm, but Vallow was left-handed. Vallow Daybell told police that Vallow struck Cox with a bat, but Kay said there was no blood evidence on Cox.

No blood on the floors, no blood on the gun, no damage to the mirrors, bat on the wrong side. The lack of physical evidence to help support this self-defense claim, Kay said.
Members of Chinese medical teams pose for a group photo with Tanzanian workers during a two-day mobile free clinic in Arusha, Tanzania, April 7, 2025. The Chinese medical teams in Tanzania on Sunday organized a two-day mobile free clinic in the northern city of Arusha, commemorating World Health Day, observed annually on April 7. (The 27th Chinese medical team in mainland Tanzania/Handout via Xinhua)

DAR ES SALAAM, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese medical teams in Tanzania on Sunday organized a two-day mobile free clinic in the northern city of Arusha, commemorating World Health Day, observed annually on April 7.

The clinic was conducted by the 27th Chinese medical team in mainland Tanzania, the 34th Chinese medical team in Zanzibar, and the schistosomiasis control team from the China Cooperation project in Zanzibar's Pemba Island.

A team of 13 Chinese experts, specializing in internal medicine, surgery, parasitic diseases, and other areas, offered free services, including health lectures, medical check-ups, and medication donations.

The clinic served more than 200 Tanzanian and Chinese employees of the China Railway Construction Engineering Group working on a stadium project in Arusha.

In collaboration with the Ngorongoro Geopark project team from China Railway 25th Bureau Group Corporation Limited, the Chinese medics also provided medical science lectures and health consultations for more than 100 staff members and residents of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA).

Additionally, they donated essential medicines and medical equipment, including oxygen generators, to the NCAA medical center.

George Nsoke, leader of the NCAA medical center, expressed his gratitude for the Chinese medical teams' visit, saying that they addressed long-standing shortages by sharing professional medical knowledge and donating much-needed medicines and equipment. He praised their internationalist spirit, urging all medical personnel to follow their example.

Zhang Junqiao, leader of the 27th Chinese medical team in mainland Tanzania, said over the past 60 years, China has dispatched more than 2,000 medical experts to mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Zhang emphasized that the mobile clinic allowed Chinese medical teams to extend their expertise and support to more regions in Tanzania, benefiting more people. "We will continue to carry forward the spirit of saving lives and dedicating our efforts to the development of Tanzania's healthcare sector," he said. 

A Chinese doctor (R) from the 27th Chinese medical team in mainland Tanzania performs an examination for a Tanzanian worker during a two-day mobile free clinic in Arusha, Tanzania, April 7, 2025. The Chinese medical teams in Tanzania on Sunday organized a two-day mobile free clinic in the northern city of Arusha, commemorating World Health Day, observed annually on April 7.(The 27th Chinese medical team in mainland Tanzania/Handout via Xinhua)
Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho mom currently serving life sentences for murdering her two children, is back in court this week over the death of her estranged husband.

Vallow Daybell, 51, has pleaded not guilty and chosen to represent herself in the six-week trial in Arizona. If convicted, she will face another life sentence in addition to the three she is currently serving: two for the murders of her children and one for conspiring to murder the wife of her fifth husband, Chad Daybell.

During Mondays opening statements, the prosecution argued that Vallow Daybell worked with her brother Alex Cox to shoot her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, at his home in a suburb outside Phoenix in July 2019. Prosecutor Treena Kay argued the plan was that Vallow Daybell would cash in on Vallows life insurance policy and move forward with marrying Daybell, who was her boyfriend at the time.

Chad Daybell during his murder trial at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on May 30, 2024. (Kyle Green/AP)

Cox claimed the shooting was in self-defense and was not charged. He died of natural causes in December 2019.

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This is the so-called doomsday moms third trial after being accused in the deaths of her two children and her husbands estranged wife in late 2019.

What to know about this trial

In her opening statement, Vallow Daybell said there is no evidence she and her brother planned to kill Vallow in 2019.

Instead, she argued that on July 11, 2019, Vallow had gotten into an argument with Vallow Daybells 16-year-old daughter, Tylee Ryan, and threatened her with a bat. According to a police report, Cox, fearing the argument would elevate into a physical altercation between Vallow and his estranged wife, said he intervened and shot Vallow.

Self-defense is not a crime. Family tragedy is not a crime, its a tragedy, Vallow Daybell told the court.

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Prosecutor Kay argued that Vallow Daybell had conspired with her brother before July 11 and used religion to justify killing Vallow. Vallow Daybell and Daybell co-led a Mormon religious sect, with a focus on the end-times and an impending doomsday, and believed Vallow was possessed by an evil spirit.

Kay also brought up that Vallow had filed for divorce seven months prior and had told police his wife had threatened to kill him.

Vallow Daybells previous convictions

After Vallow was shot, Vallow Daybell took her daughter, Tylee, who shed had with her third husband, and her 7-year-old adopted son, Joshua JJ, to Idaho to live with Daybell. It was when the kids were deemed missing that Vallow Daybell became a prominent figure in the mainstream media, dubbed the doomsday mom.

A picture of Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow on a fence opposite the property where their bodies were found in 2020. (Natalie Behring/Getty Images)

By November 2019, family members said they hadnt heard from the children in two months, so they requested a welfare check. Idaho police searched for the children for weeks and eventually arrested Vallow Daybell in Hawaii in February 2020, accusing her of desertion. The widely publicized search for the kids concluded when police found their remains on Daybells property in June 2020.

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After the childrens remains were found, family members of Tammy Daybell, Daybells first wife, became suspicious about her October 2019 death  which happened three weeks before Vallow Daybell and Daybell got married in Idaho. It was initially believed Tammy died from natural causes, but after the childrens remains were found, her body underwent an autopsy and her cause of death was amended to be homicide.

In July 2023, Vallow Daybell was convicted of murdering her two children and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was also sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of conspiring to kill Tammy. The judge ordered Vallow Daybell to serve consecutive life sentences on the individual murder charges.

Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case, Vallow Daybell told the court at the time. Accidental deaths happen, suicides happen, fatal side effects from medications happen.

In September 2023, Vallow Daybell filed to appeal her convictions to the Idaho Supreme Court.

Vallow Daybell is scheduled to go on trial again in Arizona in late May on a charge of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux, her nieces estranged husband, to which she has also pleaded not guilty.
By Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia remains open to dialogue with National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels despite their recent offensive in the country's east, peace commissioner Otty Patino said, as the government moves ahead with a separate process with some 300 fighters who split from the group.

The government of President Gustavo Petro suspended peace talks with the ELN in January, after the rebels launched a series of attacks in the Catatumbo region, along the border with Venezuela, causing around 100 deaths and displacing some 56,000 people.

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The suspension was the biggest blow yet to promises by Petro, himself a former member of the M-19 urban guerrillas, to end more than 60 years of conflict in Colombia, where several major armed groups have splintered into smaller factions, complicating dialogue.

"The government has left the door open, but it won't mean a dialogue per se, it means the ELN will change direction, change its way of thinking, change the way they are directing their criminal strategy and it would mean a very radical transformation from now on," Patino told Reuters in a Monday interview.

The government would need to see genuine commitment, said Patino, also a former member of the M-19, and for ELN leaders to stop "believing war is the way."

Patino and Petro spent Saturday in southwestern Narino province where the Comuneros del Sur, an ELN splinter group of about 300 people, handed over explosives, grenades and rocket launchers and signed a deal to substitute coca crops, a initial phase ahead of a potential demobilization deal.

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The possible deal with the Comuneros del Sur is the only accord Petro looks likely to sign before he leaves office in August 2026.

His government has held at least initial dialogues with some 11 armed groups, ranging from major rebel organizations to urban gangs, but only two sets of talks are now active.

The ELN, which has about 3,200 combatants and is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. and the European Union, said it had no interest in responding to Patino because they do not recognize him as an interlocutor.

Patino said the government will continue work on what it calls 'territorial peace' - regional peace strategies that include talks with smaller groups - and is ready to carry out processes with other armed groups, including former fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels who reject that group's 2016 peace deal.

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"The government has taken the profound decision to advance all these processes with those who are willing, and of course create irreversible processes," Patino said.

Colombia's armed groups have about 20,000 members, according to security force estimates, and fund themselves through drug trafficking, illegal mining and other crimes.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCBD)  Dorchester School District 2 leaders held a community meeting to update plans for a new elementary school at The Ponds on Monday night.

School officials said they are ready to start to construction but are waiting on developers to deed the land to the county.



Dorchester District 2 has seen significant population growth, creating a need for a new elementary school.



The growth in Dorchester 2 the school district and the Summerville area it is crazy how many people we have moving in, love people moving in, but we have to be able to take care of the kids, said John C. Baker, a resident of The Ponds.

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At Mondays community meeting, school district leaders said they had secured funding, permits, and renderings to begin construction on the ponds elementary school.



If we were deeded the land tomorrow, we would be able to have shovels in the ground tomorrow, said Justin Farnsworth, a DD2 school board member.

The developer, Kolter Homes, is in compliance with the development agreement but some community members are frustrated with the delays



I think the school district has done everything they can to get this going. Kolter is the one that is hanging this up. I think Dorchester County Council needs to put their foot down harder, said Baker.

News 2 reached out to the developers for comment and have not heard back.

School leaders urged community members to reach out to the developers themselves.



I want folks to understand current status where were at as a school district the path forward and where the community could potentially help us move this forward, said Farnsworth.

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District leaders say their goal is still to have the school open in the fall of 2026.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2.
DES MOINES, Iowa  An investigation into a shooting incident at the Federal Courthouse is underway in downtown Des Moines.

Sgt. Paul Parizek, spokesperson for the Des Moines Police Department, said a 911 call about the shooting at the courthouse came in a little after 8:30 a.m. The courthouse is located at 111 Locust Street, along the banks of the Des Moines River.

Sgt. Parizek said the preliminary investigation indicates a male employee at the courthouse was injured by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was critically injured in the incident and was transported to a local hospital.

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Officer-involved shooting in Webster County following chase

The circumstances of the shooting are under investigation. The mans name is not being released at this time.

Sgt. Parizek said, It happened in an area that was secure from the public, so theres no other danger or a risk to anybody else right now. But were going to be working with the federal authorities, our crime scene investigators, and our detectives to help support their investigation.

Police will be speaking with witnesses at the courthouse to get their statements.

You know, right now, obviously, a very traumatic incident for the people inside that building. And what we want to make sure is that everybody, the patient and the people here get the care they need first before we really dig into the investigation, said Sgt. Parizek.

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Check back to www.WHO13.com for more details as they are made available.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com.
DENVER (KDVR)  A block in downtown Denver is converting from offices into apartment spaces after a real estate company bought two towers on 17th Street.

The Luzzatto Company, a national real estate firm, purchased 621 and 633 17th St. at the start of April for $3.2 million, hoping to revitalize downtown with the over 973,000 square feet of space in the heart of Denver.

Historic house in Capitol Hill sells for millions after only 9 days on the market

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Right now, its a handful of offices and a grassy area just outside the 16th Street Mall, but company owner Asher Luzzatto said its going through a complete renovation that will cost between $150 and $200 million.

621 and 633 17th St. sells (KDVR) 621 and 633 17th St. sells (KDVR) 621 and 633 17th St. sells (KDVR) 621 and 633 17th St. sells (KDVR) 621 and 633 17th St. sells (KDVR) 621 and 633 17th St. sells (KDVR)

Within three years, Luzzatto said the company is planning 700 to 750 multi-family affordable apartment units. The company plans to include public and private spaces with a daycare, gym, restaurant, market, theater, coworking suites and parking garage.

Its a plan that the Downtown Denver Partnership is excited to see realized. The organizations goal is to have Upper Downtown resemble Lodo, with complete neighborhoods.

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Those who see the future of downtown are taking advantage of this incredible opportunity to essentially buy in now and really help us drive the future of downtown, Kourtny Garrett, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership told FOX31s Gabby Easterwood.

If all goes to plan, Luzzatto said there could be shovels in the ground within a year, and construction would take about two years to complete. Luzzatto is planning to get a cafe and market up and running before construction is over.

$6.5M Silverthorne home sells at record price; heres what it looks like

I hope this is a transformational project for downtown Denver, and I will do everything within my power to make sure it is, said Luzzatto.

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Luzzatto said the companys highest aim is affordable rent within the apartments, although they dont have the exact cost of rent just yet. The company is still polishing renderings for the new space, which will be finished within a few years if everything goes to plan.

What weve seen, particularly with the announcement of the Downtown Denver Development Authority, now all of the interest in bringing housing, diversity of housing product in terms of type and price point had been catalyzed, because now for projects that either the building is so distressed it requires a significant amount of investment or in certain areas where land costs are high, said Garrett. The Development Authority is more private sector interested in bringing housing to the market and this project is a great example.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
The Kansas Statehouse in February 2025 in Topeka. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA  Nearly 50 health organizations signed a letter urging the Kansas governor to veto a budget provision that would end continuous eligibility in the states Medicaid program, which allows public health insurance enrollees to consistently access health care.

If allowed to become law, the budget provision would require the state to evaluate parents and caregivers who receive coverage under KanCare, as Medicaid is known in Kansas, every month instead of every year. Currently, eligible enrollees are covered under KanCare for an entire year once approved, regardless of any change in circumstances during that time.

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The Hutchinson-based United Methodist Health Ministry Fund drafted the letter, which was delivered Tuesday to Gov. Laura Kelly with signatures from 48 organizations. David Jordan, president and CEO of the health fund, said allowing the provision to pass could mean adding between $3-4 million in costs to the state and lost health insurance coverage for low-income families.

An estimated 38,000 Kansans would be impacted by the change, the letter said.

This change will affect the most vulnerable Kansans who live well below the poverty line, the letter said. The constant dis-enrollment and re-enrollment of beneficiaries is burdensome for everyone and could prevent families from receiving the necessary care they need.

Kansas has used continuous eligibility since 2010.

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In order to qualify for KanCare, households must remain below income thresholds. A family of four, for instance, cannot exceed an annual income of roughly $11,800.

These families already have enough challenges on their plates without the added burden of continuously reapplying for health insurance, the letter said.

Research has shown that continuous eligibility reduces financial barriers for low-income families, improves health outcomes and gives states the ability to exercise accountability measures.

Other signers of the letter included advocacy health care providers, patient groups, foundations like United Methodist Health Ministry Fund and advocacy groups like Kansas Action for Children.

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Adrienne Olejnik, vice president of Kansas Action for Children, said the organization is concerned.

Not only is this a waste of money on administrative costs, but it would also cause health care disruptions and delays based on small changes in income, she said.

Olejnik said the Senate Ways and Means Committee added the provision to a budget bill at the last minute. She said she hopes a veto from the governor will allow lawmakers to fully consider the weight of the change.

Kelly, whose office declined to comment for this story, has until Thursday to veto line items in the budget. The Legislatures two-day veto session also is scheduled to begin Thursday.
DENVER (KDVR)  The Denver Police Department says it will review reports of more than 400 sexual assault evidence kits tested by a now-charged former Colorado Bureau of Investigation scientist.

The at least 422 Denver kits were tested by Yvonne Missy Woods, who was a forensic laboratory scientist at CBI that now has allegations of mishandling more than 1,000 cases over her career and faces more than 100 charges related to cases. Denver police in a statement sent to FOX31 said the departments crime lab will review the reports to see how many it needs to retest.

Previous: Former CBI forensic scientist faces judge in front of impacted families

Considering recent events and the allegations against former CBI Forensic Laboratory Scientist Missy Woods, the Denver Police Department Crime Laboratory has initiated a process to review the reports from at least 422 sexual assault evidence kits that were submitted by DPD to CBI and were tested by Ms. Woods over the past 12 years. Through this proactive effort, our crime laboratory will determine the number of sexual assault evidence kits it will re-test. Denver Police Department

Any offender profiles found in the subsequent retesting will be submitted to the Combined DNA Index-System for investigative leads, the department said. The department also said it will collaborate with DBI on the results of the review in the interest of working together to serve victims in the best way possible.

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CBI had already reviewed these 422 cases as it went through the more than 10,000 cases Woods worked on, but the bureau said it welcomes DPDs review.

CBI continues to share those findings with affected law enforcement agencies and District Attorneys statewide, CBI said in a statement. We welcome the opportunity to work with the Denver Crime lab in its assessment to determine if any Denver PD cases warrant retesting.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP)  One of two people accused in connection with a deadly crash in Chicopee was in court on Tuesday.

Dozens gather at fundraiser for teenager in Chicopee battling rare cancer

The crash happened back in February, when a woman was walking on Abbey Memorial Drive when she was struck and killed. The woman, 34-year-old Vanessa Perez of Springfield, died due to her injuries. Police say two separate cars were involved in the crash that killed her, one plow truck and the other a Sedan.

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On Tuesday, 29-year-old Lavonta Williams Jr. of Chicopee was charged with leaving the scene of personal injury and death. Williams was arraigned on that charge in Chicopee District Court. Williams was allegedly the driver of the Sedan.

He tried to do what was right that night, he stopped his car. We had to tell the commonwealth that he called 911, which they verified. He was flagging down people, we think thats why the witness was even able to be there to try to help this person who was lying in the road, which he thought was deceased. There are significant evidential issues that we are dealing with in the case, said Joseph Pacella, Williams attorney.

The judge set Williams bail at $2,500, which his attorney said he was able to post. The other driver charged in connection with this case, 23-year-old Jerimeldo Lopez of South Hadley, is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday.

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.

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ADEN, Yemen, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The United States has intensified its military campaign against sites of the Houthi forces in Yemen, conducting 22 airstrikes across northern Yemen early Tuesday.

This latest wave of strikes targeted eastern and southern areas of the capital, Sanaa, the Island of Kamaran in the Red Sea, and the oil-rich Marib province, according to reports from Houthi-run al-Masirah TV and local residents.

Witnesses described the bombardment as "very powerful and violent," though no casualties have been immediately reported from Tuesday's operation. This escalation follows Sunday night airstrikes that reportedly killed four children and wounded 25 others in Sanaa.

The current U.S. air campaign, which began on March 15, reportedly aims to halt Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, particularly those the group claims are linked to Israel.

Despite the sustained U.S. offensive, Yemeni military analysts suggest these airstrikes have failed to deter the Houthis, who continued to target American and Israeli interests in the region.

According to Houthi reports, 17 U.S.-made MQ-9 Reaper drones have been downed in Yemen between October 2023 and April 3, 2025.

On Monday, the group claimed that it launched a drone attack on a military target in Tel Aviv, Israel, and struck two U.S. warships in the Red Sea with cruise missiles and drones.

"The U.S. campaign against the Houthis has, to date, not achieved its stated objectives," said Ali Bin Hadi, a retired military official and expert based in Aden.

"The group still possesses the ability to threaten international navigation, its leadership remains intact, and Washington is incurring substantial costs without achieving significant progress," he said.

But political analyst Muqbil Naji from Aden suggests these airstrikes may be "a prelude to ground operations," potentially involving direct U.S. military intervention or increased support to forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognized government.

Naji noted a "looming opportunity" for the Yemeni government to "liberate" at least Hodeidah and the West Coast from the Houthis with the support of regional countries and the United States.

Supporting this assessment, Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi on Monday called for "unified ranks and active support" in the fight against Houthi forces, declaring that the "decisive hour was approaching" to end what he described as the suffering inflicted by the war waged by the Houthi militias.

The Yemeni leader reiterated his government's commitment to "restore usurped state institutions."

The Houthis, which control much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, have been fighting against the internationally-recognized government since 2014.

The Houthis maintain that their maritime attacks in the Red Sea aim to pressure an end to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and facilitate the return of humanitarian aid to Palestinian territories.

The two analysts warned the ongoing conflict between Washington and the Houthi group risks opening a new long-term front in the strategically vital Red Sea region, with complex implications for regional and international security. 
A woman was killed and four people  including three children  were critically injured in a two-car crash in Parker County on Friday, April 4, investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

Geneva Griffith, 70, of Granbury, died at the scene after the Buick Enclave she was driving headed south crossed the center line of the roadway into oncoming traffic, according to the DPS report.

The crash occurred about 6 p.m. on FM 51, half a mile south of Veal Station Road, between Weatherford and Springtown, DPS officials said in a news release.

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Griffiths Buick hit a Chevrolet Traverse, critically injuring all four people in that SUV, who are from the town of Brock, according to the statement.

Passengers in the Chevrolet included a 14-year-old boy and girl, a 13-year-old girl, and an unidentified woman who was driving, officials said. All four were taken to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth in critical condition.

 More top stories from our newsroom:

 Contagious measles patient visited Grapevine in March

 Fort Worth PAC seeks candidates who support literacy

 Viral bagel craze is coming to Fort Worth near TCU

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PORT CARBON  Felony drug charges against a Pottsville man were held for court Tuesday.

Buddy Charles Noel, 45, who is in an inmate at State Correctional Institution Dallas, Luzerene County, attended a preliminary hearing in Magisterial District Judge David Plachkos courtroom, Port Carbon.

Saint Clair police officer Christopher Wallace testified during the brief stipulated hearing.

Saint Clair Police in February charged Noel in connection with a Sept. 11, 2024, incident. He was wanted on an active warrant, and police found him in the Exxon Gas Station in the borough.

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Wallace testified that while at the gas station, he told Noel to stand up from the skill machine so he could be arrested. Noel had a bookbag with him, which police later took into evidence.

Inside the bag, police said they found drugs including methamphetamine, clonazepam, fentanyl, heroin and medetomidine, according to lab test results from the state police Bethlehem Regional Laboratory. Also, 12 hypodermic needles, one partially filled, were found in the bag along with a marijuana wax pen, glassine bags, two straws with residue and $385 in cash, police said.

Online court records show Noel is listed as an inmate in Schuylkill County Prison; however, an employee said he isnt in the system. Wallace had transported him from SCI Dallas for the hearing.
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Inscribed above the front entrance of the U.S. Supreme Court is a simple, four-word inscription: Equal justice under law. The phrase doesnt require a great deal of explanation, but it does require fortification. At the moment, the nation has a president who cares deeply about due process for himself but wants to strip it from others.

Last night, the Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to continue deporting people under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. The ruling is narrowthe unsigned majority concluded that challenges to removal should be brought in Texas, where detainees are held, and not in Washington, D.C., where a judge had temporarily blocked deportations. Importantly, the majority rejected the administrations argument about how court approval applies. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion that all nine Members of the Court agree that judicial review is available. The only question is where that judicial review should occur.

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But as my colleague Adam Serwer writes, Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned in a dissent that this distinction was only somewhat meaningful: Individuals who are unable to secure counsel, or who cannot timely appeal an adverse judgment  face the prospect of removal directly into the perilous conditions at a notorious Salvadoran prison. In a sense, the majority is hiding behind a small point of processa jurisdictional oneat the risk of undermining a much more important process question, which is whether people dubiously accused of being gang members have any recourse before being sent into hellish conditions abroad.

The Courts affirmation of the right to judicial review is somewhat reassuring, but on the same day, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily lifted an order in a separate case for the executive branch to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States. Abrego Garcia, as my colleague Nick Miroff reported, is a Maryland man who was living in the United States legally, has not been charged with any crime, and yet was arrested and sent to El Salvador. His lawyers called the situation Kafka-esque, and though that term is overused, here it is appropriate. The administration acknowledges that Abrego Garcias removal was a mistake, but it says it cant do anything to remedy that mistake, because hes now in Salvadoran custody. Put differently, the argument is that the governments error means Abrego Garcia has no right to due processwhich is a right that belongs to citizens and noncitizens alike. Although he is not a citizen, U.S. citizens have allegedly been mistakenly deported in previous administrations. By this administration's logic, a citizen wrongly deported now could find themselves without legal recourse.

The Trump administrations attempt to deny due process is especially galling because the man who leads it has benefited fromsome might say exploitedhis own right to due process so extensively and so recently. Starting in 2023, Donald Trump faced a slew of felony charges related to his attempts to subvert the 2020 election and his hoarding of highly sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago. These were widely recognized as the most politically hazardous charges against him, as opposed to the more complicated New York State case that produced convictions on 34 felony counts.

But Trump never faced a trial for the election-subversion or document-mishandling charges, because he and his lawyers cleverly used due-process protections to drag the cases out. In the federal election-subversion case, Trumps team tried to get the judge in the case disqualified, and though they were unsuccessful, this delayed proceedings. The attorneys then took a long-shot argument about presidential immunity all the way to the Supreme Court, where they won a partial victory and used up even more time. Special Counsel Jack Smith simply re-charged Trump, but ran out of time for a trial before the election. The indictment was dropped after Trump won, in deference to Justice Department guidelines that prevent the prosecution of a sitting president; he would have killed the charges once he took office anyway.

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In the documents case, Trump filed multiple requests and repeatedly won favorable and erratic rulings from Judge Aileen Cannon, whom hed appointed to the bench, culminating in her ruling Smiths appointment unconstitutional. That case was under appeal when Trump won election, and Trump was thus dropped from it. In Fulton County, Georgia, challenges to District Attorney Fani Williss leadership of Trumps prosecution extended the case past the election; it remains in limbo today.

Although Trump moaned endlessly about being unfairly persecuted, his success in these arguments was evidence to the contrary: Trump exercised his right to challenge the process. (He also had the advantage of deep pockets and time to pursue these appeals.) Some people may view the decisions delaying Trumps trials as perversions of the law, or as rulings that honor the letter of the law at the expense of its spirit. But the American justice system is built to err on the side of fairness rather than of depriving people of rights.

Trump does not care about that balance where people other than himself are concerned. Whether this is in spite of his own experience or because of it is a question for a psychologist. Whether everyone will continue to enjoy the constitutional protections Trump did, however, is a question for the Supreme Court justices. They should be able to find the answer by looking up on their way into work.

Related:

Here are four new stories from The Atlantic:

Todays News

The Trump administration will impose additional tariffs on imports from China at midnight, bringing the total rate up to 104 percent. The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with firing thousands of probationary federal employees for the time being. The roof of a popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic collapsed early this morning, killing at least 58 people.

More From The Atlantic

Evening Read

Why Is Trump Mad at the Zoo?

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By Ross Andersen

The order came down late in the evening, when the orangutans, lions, and crocodiles would be resting. The next morning, March 28, the animals awoke to a new political reality: The worlds most powerful man had taken an acute interest in their place of lodging, the National Zoo.

Read the full article.

Culture Break

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Watch. What was Tim Ratliffs grim storyline on The White Lotus (streaming on Max) really about? Sophie Gilbert explores the shows deepening examination of poisoned masculinity.

To buy or not to buy? Tariffs could upend Americas love affair with Korean skin care, Nancy Walecki writes.

Play our daily crossword.

Stephanie Bai contributed to this newsletter.

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Article originally published at The Atlantic
Video above: KaLeah is a miracle: Woman fighting for her life after crash where her unborn baby died

PALMETTO, Fla. (WFLA)  A driver was arrested in connection to a crash on the DeSoto Bridge that took the life of an unborn baby on Sunday.

Palmetto police said Laurentino Serrano-Juarez, 31, of Bradenton was driving an SUV the wrong way on the bridge when he struck a sedan head-on.

KaLeah is a miracle: Woman fighting for her life after crash where her unborn baby died

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Both drivers were taken to the hospital. Serrano-Juarez was released into police custody and charged with DUI manslaughter, DUI with serious bodily injury, DUI with property damage and driving without a valid license.

The other driver, a 28-year-old woman from St. Petersburg, remained hospitalized Tuesday. Police said her unborn child did not survive the crash. She was eight months pregnant.

KaLeah Spells mother, Tracey Beasley, told WFLA that doctors consider her survival a miracle.

40 minutes went by, he came out, he told me Tracey, KaLeah is a miracle, Beasley said. KaLeah died three times. And I begged him to just try one more time, and he did, and that lets you know that the Lord wasnt ready for her to go.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
A police car behind crime scene tape. Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, has filed a bill that would require those convicted of DUIs involcving the death of a parent to pay child support for the victim's children. (Getty Images)

An Alabama Senate committee is considering legislation that would require individuals to support the child of another family if they are convicted of a driving under the influence offense that resulted in a parents death.

The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed action last week on SB 167, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would require such support to be paid until the child turns 19.

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The premise is to make sure we take care of the minor children that are left behind if the breadwinner is killed, Orr said.

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He told the committee that the idea from the bill originated from Texas. Orr said he thought to himself, Well, if it will prevent DUIs (driving under the influence), to know how serious we are about it.

The penalty would be in addition to other restitution that an individual who is convicted of the crime would owe.

A death resulting from a person operating a motor vehicle or vessel while intoxicated is considered criminally negligent homicide under Alabama law, a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

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Language in the bill states that the court may consider the financial needs and resources of the surviving children as well as the parent or guardian, or the state of Alabama if no one else is available to care for the children.

Other factors the court could consider include the standard of living of the family, the physical and emotional needs of the children as well as educational considerations.

The reasonable work-related child care expenses of the surviving parent or guardian, the bill states.

Orr also proposed an amendment to the legislation stating that the penalty is separate from any civil penalties that a court may impose in the case because of wrongful death, which could add to the financial burden of those who are convicted.

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Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, had concerns that the penalty could effectively require the person convicted of the parents death to have a relationship with the family whose loved one was killed.

I dont know if we want to go that route, he said to the committee. I can see creative lawyers using that in that way.

Albritton also said he was concerned about the broader impact the legislation has on the community.

What about the guy who does this, and he has a family of his own? Albritton said. We are not only punishing the individual, but we are also taking, and affecting more people, for the act of an individual. I think we need to be cautious of this.

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Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, asked the committee to consider the situation when a parent loses a child because a person is driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

If we are going to do something like this, I think we need to consider all cases when things happen by someone, she said.

After hearing all the arguments, Orr withdrew his proposed amendment and requested that a vote be delayed.

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An Eagan family is in desperate need of support after the tragic death of 44-year-old Jodi Taylor, whose health took a turn for the worse while vacationing in Cancun, Mexico.

Taylor, 44, who was diagnosed with metastatic stage 4 breast cancer in 2018, was vacationing with her husband, Scott, their 13-year-old son and their nine-year-old daughter when she fell ill.

She was admitted to an emergency room and then an intensive care unit on March 30. Her close friend Patricia Peterson told Bring Me The News that she had been experiencing some liver issues prior to the trip.

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Taylor was in the ICU from that Sunday until Tuesday, April 1. Peterson said due to Jodi's urgent medical needs, her husband Scott made the decision to get her cleared to fly home on a Medevac flight. However, insurance would only pay to have her flown to Florida and Scott opted to pay out of pocket so she could be home in Minnesota with her family and friends.

Jodi TaylorSupportNow/Courtesy of family

After Scott's sister had flown to Mexico to watch over the children while Scott was with Jodi, the kids were able to fly separately back to Minnesota late Wednesday night to see their mother.

"Shortly after the kids arrived and were able to see Jodi, she passed peacefully with her family at 8:16 p.m.," Peterson said.

A fundraiser, launched on SupportNow, looks to recoup costs for Jodi's hospital stay while in Mexico, the Medevac and the funeral. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fundraiser has raised nearly $27,300 of its $75,000 goal.

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Peterson says Jodi worked as a Medicare analyst specialist for CVS and "enjoyed crocheting, reading, camping and spending time with her kids and husband."

"Jodi was a selfless person. She put everyone first, even after her diagnosis," Peterson tells BMTN. "She lived life and wanted to spend time with her family traveling."

Peterson says her friendship with Jodi dates back to 2003.

"I considered her as my sister. We texted all day every day. My world has changed since she left... we crocheted together, we spent as much time [together] as we could," Peterson said.

Visitation has been planned for Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Klecatsky & Sons at 1580 Century Point in Eagan. A funeral service will take place on Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at Easter Lutheran On the Hill at 4200 Pilot Knob Road in Eagan.
A disabled man said he was left with his self-confidence knocked after he was kicked off an easyJet flight for not being able to walk to the plane toilet.

Barry Dobner, 79 was due to fly from Manchester to Athens on 3 April with easyJet for a two-week holiday in Greece to celebrate his 80th birthday, yet after boarding the flight, he claimed he was removed from the plane minutes before take-off, the Liverpool Echo reports.

Mr Dobner, who has used a wheelchair since suffering a stroke 18 years ago, claimed a member of the cabin crew overheard that he had a portable urinal bottle in his hand luggage.

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A stewardess walked by and she said excuse me, do you have a urinal bottle?. My wife said yes, in case of emergencies. She said hang on a minute. She came back and said can your husband walk to the toilet?

My wife said no, my husband can't walk at all. They said you have to get off this plane. My wife asked why and they said because he can't walk to the toilet, Mr Dobner recounted.

Mr Dobner said his whole group got off the plane and had to be picked up from the airport by a friend to go back home.

The whole plane was standing up watching what was going on. You can imagine how that made me feel, he added.

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His wife, Alison Dobner, said that they have flown with easyJet before, and had never had any issues.

What upsets me the most is the way he was spoken to. To treat a disabled person like that was appalling, especially when they had all the information beforehand. It's just ludicrous. The other passengers were sitting there gobsmacked.

Mr Dobner added: I've always been a happy-go-lucky chap but this has knocked me back a bit. I feel like just an object, I'm not a person any more. My self-respect had gone right down.

I've flown six times since my stroke and it's always been fine before this. They knew I couldn't walk when they put me on the plane.

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After missing their flight, the couple claimed they had lost around 2,000, so have raised the issue with their holiday insurance providers and also made a complaint to easyJet.

The airlines website states that there is an onboard wheelchair on every aircraft and that passengers must be able to transfer themselves onto the chair, or with help from a companion.

Cabin crew can also assist with taking passengers through the cabin to and from the toilet door.

An easyJet spokesperson told The Independent: We are very sorry Mr and Mrs Dobner and their companion were unable to fly as planned with easyJet.

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We are in touch with Mr Dobner and his party to apologise for this error and to refund them in full for their flight and provide them with denied boarding compensation.

As an airline, we are committed to making easyJet accessible to everyone.

EasyJet carries around one million passengers requiring some form of assistance each year and our research shows that 87 per cent of easyJet passengers who require this are satisfied with the services we provide.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT)  The Brody School of Medicine at ECU will host the 9th annual Pirates vs. Cancer event.

This event will be held on Saturday, Apr. 12, 2025, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Health Sciences Student Center, on 400 W Campus Loop, Greenville, N.C.

Every year, students from the Brody School of Medicine put on Pirates vs. Cancer to help raise money for the James and Connie Maynard Childrens Hospital and improve the lives of children battling cancer. They are hoping to raise $25,000, which will bring the total amount raised to more than $200,000.

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Volunteers who take part in Pirates vs. Cancer can get their hair cut and donated, heads shaved, or, for special faculty volunteers, receive a pie to the face in support of the cause.

100 percent of the donations are re-invested in pediatric patient care and services.

For more information, visit ECU News Service.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT.
In 2015, the Cook County Circuit Court and the Illinois Supreme Court inked distinct deals with a Texas-based tech firm to overhaul their computer systems. A decade later, project costs  which were originally estimated to total $75 million  have more than tripled to over $250 million, with years in delays. A Tribune and Injustice Watch investigation uncovered how badly these Tyler Technologies deals have gone.

On paper, these projects promised transparency and efficiency  from digitized court filings to error-free property tax billing. But instead of modernization, we got bloated budgets, endless delays and glitchy systems.

Tyler, for its part, blamed the delays on shifting leadership and poorly staffed and under-resourced government clients  but the Tribunes investigation tells a more complicated and troubling story of a firm that targets weakly supervised government contracts, where deadlines and oversight are often looser than in the private sector.

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In a letter to Board President Toni Preckwinkle urging the county to sue to recover money from Tyler, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas called the countys agreement possibly the worst technology contract with a vendor that Cook County has ever written.

Clearly, giving Tyler any upfront money has made the County look foolish, inept stewards of the peoples money, Pappas wrote. However we do it, we must clean up the wreckage Cook County fostered when it signed this ill-advised contract with an arrogant and disinterested vendor.

The countys contractual structure led to additional expenditures. Preckwinkle didnt fire Tyler, as Pappas urged  she hired an outside tech research firm to navigate the problem. Cook County ended up paying an extra $22 million for external consultants to oversee the troubled projects and $59 million to maintain legacy systems that were supposed to have been replaced.

To be fair, government tech projects are complicated, and overruns arent uncommon. But Tylers pattern of delays and missed benchmarks goes well beyond the norms..

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This mess and the price tag for a lousy deal to clean it up are the sort of thing that gave rise to the chaotic Department of Government Efficiency and a broad appetite for slashing government spending. People dont like it when their tax dollars are spent unwisely, and it makes them wonder what other problems are lying beneath the surface.

While Tylers tactics and weak execution are unacceptable, much of the blame has to be with the supervising officials who ended up with contracts that left them and their constituents vulnerable.

Why Tyler Technologies, we wonder, and not a tested firm such as Accenture, which has a significant Chicagoland presence?

Maybe Accenture would have cost more. But Tyler wasnt a bargain in the end.

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Worse, the contracts followed a history of political contributions dating back over two decades, including $25,000 in donations to various Cook County officials overseeing modernization efforts, according to the investigation.

Theres a lot to learn here for future agreements. The upfront payments to Tyler with little quality-based recourse represents a cautionary tale. Governments should implement stronger procurement processes, tighter contract terms, and tap independent watchdogs for major tech projects like these moving forward.

The lesson is clear: governments must be tough negotiators, not soft targets.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
SANAA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said on Monday it has launched a drone attack on a "military target" in Israel's Tel Aviv and fired cruise missiles at two U.S. warships in the Red Sea.

"We carried out an operation against a military target in Tel Aviv, using a Jaffa drone," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

"Our naval and air forces also conducted a joint military operation targeting two U.S. destroyers in the Red Sea with several cruise missiles and drones," Sarea added.

He noted that the strikes on U.S. warships were "in response to the ongoing U.S. aggression and crimes against Yemeni people," referring to the latest U.S. airstrikes on a house in Sanaa Sunday night, which killed at least four people and wounded over 20 others, including 11 women and children.

Sarea stressed that the U.S. strikes would not deter the group from supporting the Palestinian people, vowing its operations would not cease until Israeli "aggression" against the Gaza Strip stops and the siege on it is lifted.

Tensions have escalated between the Houthi group and the United States since March 15, when the U.S. military resumed airstrikes on Houthi targets to prevent the group from attacking naval and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

The Houthis repeatedly claim that their attacks are in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes on Yemen and aim to pressure the U.S.-backed Israel to stop its offensive on Gaza and allow aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave. 
Democracy worked as it supposed in South Korea, as a president who abused power was peacefully removed from power. Its a lesson for all of us. In 2021, Republican senators failed to protect democracy by not convicting Donald Trump and barring him from ever holding public office again.

On Dec. 3, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol invoked martial law, under a rationale that remains somewhat nebulous. Friday, the nations highest court upheld the parliaments impeachment of Yoon and ordered him removed from office, capping a lightning collapse of the conservative rising star in just the four months since he took aim at the countrys democracy.

South Korea might be a very different culture than ours, but the political circumstances of this debacle dont sound wholly unfamiliar; Yoons supporters maintain that he was protecting the country from nefarious North Korean-aligned political enemies, or even that shadowy figures have subverted the countrys elections, spurred on by right-wing influencers on YouTube and other social media.

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Yoons critics point out that he made the bizarre moves while facing long-running questions about his wifes alleged corrupt dealings and in a politically delicate moment for himself, apparently in a short-sighted attempt to hold onto power.

The Occams razor explanation is that the brash president gambled on a plan to subvert the countrys democratic process and save his own skin by fanning the flames of conspiracy and refusing to accept political realities, and lost. South Korean legislators, including those from Yoons own People Power Party, understood the gravity of the situation and moved quickly to quash his coup and oust him.

We had no such luck in Washington, where in 2021, Republican senators refused to hold Donald Trump accountable after his Jan. 6 insurrection and following the Houses indisputable findings during its impeachment trial.

Many GOP senators probably figured, wrongly, that Trump, having been defeated at the polls and relinquishing the White House, would be handled by the normal criminal prosecution system. The subsequent investigations were hampered by friendly courts, including the Supreme Court, which issued a jaw-dropping immunity ruling shielding Trump from the potential for any prosecution at all for broadly-defined official acts. Then he was reelected and the prosecutions were dropped.

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The Senates failure to convict has led us here, to a moment when Trump is not only back in the White House but learned that he can assault our democratic systems with practical impunity. Hes tried to wrest the power of the purse from Congress, targeted political opponents for speech, had people flown to a foreign prison without trial, ignored court orders and generally taken it upon himself to test the limits of our constitutional order.

During Yoons declaration of martial law, legislators famously faced off against armed police and military, scaled walls and evaded security forces to vote down his attempt. It was not a political slam dunk to impeach him. But they understood that this was necessary to preserve their own democracy.

Yoon supporters will rage and call it a rigged system and a coup by the opposition and so on, but that doesnt matter. What matters is that, in the face of a leader who tried to grab power for himself, the South Korean parliament and courts did what was necessary to safeguard themselves and their democracy.

Hopefully, our democracy will also prevail.

_____
HAWKINS, Texas (KETK)- The National Weather Service said damage from a single EF-1 tornado has caused damage in two counties.

4 tornadoes reported in East Texas, person injured at Hawkins water bottling plant

The twister tore through Wood and Upshur counties at around 4:30 p.m. on Friday. It was on the ground for about 30 minutes, enough to cause a path of severe destruction nearly 20 miles long from Hawkins to the west side of Lake Gilmer.

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I could see it spiraling up in the sky, Hawkins resident Hunter Trew said. It looks like it decided to hop right above the tree line, Trew said. So it just barely missed our house by a few yards.

Trees snapped onto peoples houses, shrapnel flew into power lines and the wind knocked over fences on Friday. People said they were prepared for severe weather but did not expect the damage brought by winds that reached 110 miles per hour.

Its feels weird and feels like empty, Trew said. Its just kind of crazy to look at. I dont really know how I feel about it yet.

Severe weather leaves damage, flooding all across East Texas

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A big part of the communitys damage is from the trees. On Friday night, several roads were blocked from downed limbs and trunks. Now theyre all pushed to the side but people can see just how powerful the winds are based on the size of the trees that it knocked down.

It was pretty bad, AK contracting co-owner Randall Klepfer said. The people down that way, all the way down to Ozarka water, they really got hit hard too over there.

The tornado traveled to the water bottling plant leaving behind significant roof damage and injuring an 18-wheeler driver at the plant. Near Lake Gilmer, the storms rear flank downdraft winds created waves powerful enough to wash away pavement on the bridge. Although the storms caused huge destruction, people living in Hawkins showed up to help their neighbors.

After the tornado came through, the whole neighborhood got together and cleared it out, just about in one day, Trew said.

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The community will keep clearing out damage during the coming days.

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT)  A bill in the legislature would allow the Alabama Farmers Federation to offer new healthcare coverage to farmers. Some said it will help them make ends meet, while others disagree.

Think about it like automobiles or something, said Shep Morris, farmer in Macon County. You know, I mean, everybody likes to drive a Cadillac. But, you need a few Chevrolets around for the rest of us, you know?

Morris explained insurance rates are hurting some farmers, especially those just starting out. He said more healthcare options would help with that.

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Most companies start off with a small entrepreneur somewhere. And, if you snuff that out with high insurance rates, that hurts the whole country long term, said Morris.

Thats why Rep. David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook) wants to offer health benefits through Alfa. Faulkner explained some farmers make too much to receive subsidies, but too little to afford health insurance.

Falon Hurst appointed new sheriff of Calhoun County

Why in the world, with as much as agriculture and our farmers federation means to Alabama, would we not let this be an option? he said. Let this be an option for their members.

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But, Jane Adams with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network said the bill is discriminatory towards people with pre-existing conditions, like cancer or asthma. She explained there is no consumer protection in the bill.

Unfortunately, the evidence just doesnt match up on this situation with the Alfa bill. We know that junk health insurance often leads to more medical debt and less access to care, said Adams.

Alfa said thats not true. Preston Roberts with the federation said the plans would cover things like doctors visits, preventative care, and prescriptions.

Pre-existing conditions in a lot of cases will be covered after a short waiting period, he explained. But, to say that they will be excluded is just not true. And, the benefits of these plans is that you can enroll at any time.

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The plans would not be regulated like other health insurance companies. Rep. Faulkner said Alfa would not have to accept everyone who applies for the plans under the law. But, he said the plans arent for everyone, and there are already other options out there. Faulkner said it would help save money for some.

For the members of the farmers federation, its an option for them. Its not a be all solution for everybody, explained Faulkner. And, its not gonna save everybody.

The effort still has to be passed through both chambers before its signed into law. It will go up for a vote next in the Health committee in the House tomorrow.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  A 47-year-old El Paso man was arrested and charged with murder on Friday, March 28, for allegedly killing a 45-year-old woman whose body was found in Juarez, El Paso Police Department said.

EPPD said Jorge Mares Raygoza, 47, was charged with murder under a $1.25 million bond.

On Friday, March 28, the Crimes Against Persons unit was contacted by the FBI concerning an active death investigation, EPPD said.

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EPPD said the preliminary investigation revealed that the body of a woman, later identified as Coral Llamas Sifuentes, 45, was discovered in Juarez.

At the time, Mexican investigators believed the murder may have occurred in the U.S., El Paso Police said.

EPPD said that later that day, detectives met with Raygoza and obtained an arrest warrant for murder. He was then booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility.

Crimes Against Persons continues investigating.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
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The low point of Elise Stefaniks career arrived late last month in the form of a phone call from the White House. Just days before the Senate planned to confirm her as the next ambassador to the United Nations, President Donald Trump was on the other line asking her to withdraw. By way of consolation, the president assured Stefanik that hed make it up to her: Youre going to get a much bigger job, Trump said, according to three people familiar with the conversation.

Stefanik took the news in stride. Ive been counted out many times in my political career, she told me last week. This is just Chapter 1. But for now, her decade-long rise in Republican politics has suddenly stalled. Imagine a student about to head off to collegethe car already stuffed with suitcasesonly to be told she had to spend another year in high school. Stefanik returned to a House seat that she had practically abandoned; she had already given up her position as chair of the GOP caucus. Her top aides had lefton LinkedIn, her chief of staff was briefly listed as deputy to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Allies were stunned. I was really surprised and disappointed, Senator Jim Banks of Indiana told me.

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To Stefaniks many critics, the turnabout represented a rich comeuppance for one of the Republican Partys biggest sellouts. During a private Democratic-caucus meeting last week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joked about Stefanik losing her nomination, a person in the room told me. It couldnt have happened to a better person, yall, Jeffries said about his New York colleague. The party broke out in laughter and applause.

A onetime moderate, Stefanik had hitched her career to Trumps, passing on bids for House speaker and statewide office so she could angle for the vice presidency. She had settled for a much lower post, and now she couldnt even land that. Today she finds herself right back where she started before going all in for Trumpa rank-and-file member of Congress.

[Read: Elise Stefaniks Trump audition]

Yet where others see humiliation, Stefanik sees opportunity. Im frankly excited for what lies ahead, she told me. In private, people who have followed her career are blunt about how Stefanik could use this setback to her advantage: The president of the United States fucking owes her, one GOP official told me, who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about various party leaders. Many people in the Congress think she needs to be taken care of, a Stefanik ally added. Trump seems to understand this too. Shes doing me a big favor, he told reporters last week.

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Stefanik wants that favor repaid, so instead of griping about a presidential betrayal, she is reaffirming her loyalty to Trump. He needs her vote in the House to pass an economic agenda she once opposed. Shell provide that and more. If Democrats thought the sudden loss of a Cabinet seat might quiet Stefaniks MAGA advocacy, she quickly disabused them of that notion: Within hours of Trumps announcement of her withdrawal, she was back on Fox News, extolling his leadership and attacking his critics.

What makes Stefaniks last-minute withdrawal so unusual is that her nomination faced no significant opposition; she sailed through her confirmation hearing and seemed assured of winning bipartisan support. Stefaniks misfortune resulted not from her own vulnerability, but from her partys. Speaker Mike Johnson couldnt afford to lose her vote in the House, where his narrow majority is struggling to enact Trumps agenda.

Stefanik allies told me the president was spooked by internal polling in mid-March that showed Republicans losing a special election in Florida to fill the seat vacated by his national security adviser, Mike Waltz. The Republican candidate, Randy Fine, ended up winning by 15 points last week, but that represented an 18-point swing toward Democrats from Waltzs victory in November. In another House election last week, the GOP margin shrank by more than 20 points compared with the fall.

Democrats have pointed to the results as evidence that the presidents agenda is deeply unpopular with voters. Republicans wont publicly blame the backlash on Trump, but they were growing worried about a third congressional seat: Stefaniks. The president carried her district in upstate New York easily last fall, but the area is not as red as the two Florida districts that were up for grabs. And with Stefanik unable to act as a power broker while she prepared to go to the UN, local GOP leaders had failed to coalesce around a strong candidate to replace her. We dont want to take any chances, Trump told reporters after he announced her return to the House.

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The Republican panic scuttled a move that Stefanik had been planning for months. As the possibility of a Trump win grew last fall, Stefanik decided that UN ambassador was the job she wanted. Its far from the most influential role in a Republican administration; conservatives routinely bash the organization and call for the U.S. to reduce funding for it. But Stefanik would have had a global platform to defend Trumps foreign policy and attack anti-Semitism, which has become one of her specialties. In 2023, she grilled university presidents about anti-Semitism on their campusesa political display that raised her national profile and led three of them to resign.

The UN job could also be a stepping stone to higher office, as it was for Bill Clintons first-term ambassador, Madeleine Albright, who would go on to become secretary of state. And perhaps not least, the posting comes with one of the most opulent perks in federal housing: a 6,000-square-foot Manhattan apartment that the government bought for nearly $16 million during the first Trump administration.

Stefanik interviewed for the position with Trumps transition team before the election. Two days after his victory, she told the president that she wanted the job, and he said yes. Johnson was concerned as soon as he heard about the offer. Votes were still being counted in western states, and Republicans hadnt clinched a majority in the House. Plucking Stefanik would further narrow Johnsons margin, which was likely to be no more than a few votes.

The speaker called Trump at Mar-a-Lago and tried to get him to walk back the offer, according to two people familiar with the conversation, which several others heard. In a separate call, Stefanik warned Johnson not to stand in her way. (A Johnson spokesperson, Taylor Haulsee, acknowledged to me that the speaker frequently talked with Trump about how tapping House members for his Cabinet would reduce the GOPs majority. It became a running joke, Haulsee told me. But, he said, it is categorically falseand a flat-out liethat in any of those conversations the speaker ever even hinted that Rep. Stefanik should not be picked for the post or that she would not do an outstanding job.)

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The speaker retreated. When Trump made Stefaniks pick official on November 11, Johnson released a statement warmly congratulating her.

Although Stefanik was Trumps first announced Cabinet pick, two of her fellow nominees left the House before she could. The first was Matt Gaetz, Trumps initial choice for attorney general, who abruptly resigned from his Florida seat in an apparent attempt to head off the release of an ethics report. Gaetzs exit ultimately led Waltz to leapfrog Stefanik, both because his appointment as national security adviser did not require Senate confirmation and because Florida officials wanted to schedule the special elections to replace him and Gaetz on the same day. (Waltz initially suggested to Trump that he could simultaneously serve in the House and as national security adviser for a time, two people familiar with the idea told me. The administration scotched the plan before Trump took office.)

Stefanik was ready for a floor vote in the Senate the day after Trumps inauguration, but the White House urged Republicans to hold off. Now that Waltz and Gaetz had resigned, the House GOP needed Stefaniks vote to pass the partys budget resolution and legislation to avert a government shutdown. The new plan was for the Senate to confirm Stefanik on April 2, one day after the twin Florida elections would allow House Republicans to replenish their ranks.

But as the elections neared, the GOPs worries deepened. Fine, the partys candidate to replace Waltz was raising far less money than his Democratic opponent. Public polls showed his lead slipping to the single digits, and Republicans saw an internal survey that had the Democrat in the lead. Then came The Atlantics report that Waltz had accidentally invited its editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to a Signal group chat in which Trumps senior national-security officials discussed military plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen. Republicans feared that the fallout could further damage their chances to hold Waltzs seat, and potentially Stefaniks too.

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Three days later, Trump asked Stefanik to withdraw her nomination. The president was so angry with Waltz that he spent part of the call with Stefanik ranting about him, people familiar with the conversation told me. But he also flattered her, telling her that he missed seeing her defend him on television as frequently as she used to. (She told him that as a nominee for a senior diplomatic position, she had to stay out of domestic politics.)

Stefaniks willingness to stay in the House drew praise from fellow Republicans, who lauded her loyalty to the party and to Trump. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, a Republican who has spoken with Trump and Stefanik in recent days, told me that if she had said no to the president, he thought Trump would have relented and stood by her nomination. The fact that she agreed so readily, Mullin said, wont be forgotten. She did this truly for the team.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, described Stefanik to me as a loyal and strong vote and voice for President Trump on Capitol Hill. He appreciates her selfless decision to remain in the House so he can enact his America First agenda.

[Tom Nichols: The loyalists are collecting their rewards in Trumps Cabinet]

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As Stefanik awaits another chance, she is stockpiling those statements as if theyre rave reviews on a movie poster. There has never been more positive support, ever, really, in my careerfrom Republicans, from donors, from colleagues, from senators, she told me. I'm very proud to be one of the presidents top allies, and everyone knows iteven the critics.

Stefanik allies say she could be in line for a top national-security or intelligence appointment later in Trumps term. Secretary of state isnt out of the question if Marco Rubio doesnt stay all four years. Or Stefanik could run for New York governor next yearlikely with a Trump endorsementagainst the states unpopular Democratic incumbent, Kathy Hochul. There are tons of opportunities, Stefanik told me. I have not ruled anything out, nor should I rule anything out.

Others arent so sure Stefanik will get what she wants. One of her colleagues in New York, Democratic Representative Dan Goldman, told me she should be wary of Trumps promises to repay her. Donald Trump has no loyalty to anyone or anything, and he will do whatever he wants regardless of the impact it has on other people, Goldman said. Elise Stefanik, at least as of now, got nothing. Another New York Democrat, Representative Joseph Morelle, told me that on a personal level, he felt sympathy for her. But, he added, this is the bed she made.

People close to Stefanik and Trump privately describe her return to the House as though shes a presidential emissary being sent to stabilize a rickety Republican leadership team. On the day I spoke with her, a group of GOP lawmakers rebelled against Johnsons attempt to quash a rule change that would allow new parents to cast House votes by proxy. The Republicans joined with Democrats to effectively paralyze the chamber. In response, Johnson sent the entire House home for the week, sounding like a frustrated father punishing his unruly children.

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At Trumps urging, Stefanik will rejoin the party leadership, a reunion that promises to be awkward. Johnson and Stefanik have yet to determine what role shell fill, and both want to avoid the perception that theyre merely squeezing in an additional chair at a crowded table.

More than anything else, Trump needs Stefaniks vote so Congress can pass the one big, beautiful bill that would enact the bulk of his legislative agendaan extension of his 2017 tax cuts, plus an infusion of funds to secure the southern border. That mission, however, offers an uncomfortable reminder of Stefaniks past wariness of Trump. Eight years ago, she was one of just 12 House Republicans to vote against his tax cuts. (At the time, Stefanik cited a provision that penalized residents of high-taxand predominantly Democraticstates such as New York and California by limiting what they could write off their federal taxes.)

Today, such a vote from Stefanik is unthinkable. Other New York Republicans have vowed to oppose a tax bill that doesnt expand a popular tax breakknown as SALTfor their constituents. Stefanik is making no such threats; Trump has backed a fix for the issue, she told me. I look forward to voting for the package, Stefanik said, and Democrats who vote against the extension of these tax cuts will be voting for the largest tax increase on the American people in our nations history.

The president may owe Stefanik a favor, but her rewardthat much bigger job he promisedstill depends on her loyalty. She will need to stay in his good graces a while longer.

Article originally published at The Atlantic
Billionaire Elon Musk attacked President Donald Trumps trade adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday morning, calling him a moron and dumber than a sack of bricks.

He was reacting to Navarros latest TV appearance, where he described Musk as a car assembler and not a car manufacturer, while defending the White Houses tariff policies.

We all understand in the White House, and the American people understand, that Elons a car manufacturer, but hes not a car manufacturer. Hes a car assembler, said the presidents senior trade counselor.

PETER NAVARRO ON ELON MUSK:



We all understand in the White House (and the American people understand) that Elon's a car manufacturer. But he's not a car manufacturer  He's a car assembler.



In many cases, if you go to his Texas plant, a good part of the engines that he gets pic.twitter.com/mkp1wRGcvX  Ron Pragides  (@mrp) April 8, 2025

What happened between Musk and Navarro?

Navarro, who was imprisoned for four months in 2024 for contempt of Congress, alleged that Teslas electric vehicle plant in Texas imports its motors from Japan and China and sources other electronic parts from Taiwan.

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The difference ... in our thinking and Elons on this is that we want the tires made in Akron. We want the transmissions made in Indianapolis. We want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here.

The Tesla CEO disagreed, saying Navarros statements are demonstrably false, in a post.

Tesla has the most American-made cars, he wrote.

The White House did not express concern about this public spat between a Trump adviser and the chief of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Whatever, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNBC News reporter Eamon Javers.

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We are the most transparent administration in history, expressing our disagreements in public.

Musk wants free trade between North America and Europe

Musk is helping to direct the Trump administrations goals on cutting the size of government in his role with DOGE, but he hasnt hesitated to question the new tariffs.

I hope it is agreed that both Europe and the United States should move, ideally, in my view, to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America, Musk said at an event hosted by Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, a conservative, on Saturday, as NBC News reported.

BREAKING: Elon Musk hopes that the United States and Europe will have zero trade tariffs



I hope it is agreed that both Europe and The United States should move ideally in my view to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North pic.twitter.com/GF4qBRC6ac  Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) April 5, 2025

Thats what I hope occurs, and also more freedom of people to move between Europe and North America if they wish, if they wish to work in Europe or wish to work in America, they should be allowed to do so, in my view. So that has certainly been my advice to the president, Musk added.

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, jumped into the conversation, calling Musk one of President Trumps angels, adding that Trump should listen to the billionaires advice on tariffs.

Elon Musk is one of President Trumps angels  he should listen to his advice on tariffs.



The White House should use its historic leverage to LOWER foreign tariffs.



More on Verdict: https://t.co/a0TWm6n6gX pic.twitter.com/1Ug7CVHy3n  Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 8, 2025

The White House should use its historic leverage to LOWER foreign tariffs, Cruz said in a post.

As per Navarro, the tech billionaire didnt understand the situation. The White House adviser denied any rift between him and Musk in an interview with Fox News Sunday. We dont mind him saying whatever he wants, but just the American people need to understand that we understand what thats all about, he added.
Elon Musk has branded Donald Trumps trade tsar dumber than a sack of bricks and exposed a growing White House split over tariffs.

In a tirade on his social media site X, Mr Musk said Peter Navarro, the US presidents senior counsellor for trade, was truly a moron. It came after Mr Navarro claimed the Tesla founder was merely a car assembler rather than a manufacturer.

Mr Musk said Mr Navarros comments that he wanted to use cheap foreign parts were demonstrably false, as he insisted that Tesla has the most American-made cars.

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The feud highlights mounting tensions within Mr Trumps inner circle, which have come to the fore after the presidents global wave of tariffs led to stock markets crashing around the world.

Mr Musk, who is a key White House aide and runs the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), has signalled his opposition to Mr Trumps trade policy by claiming that he was hopeful of a trade agreement between the US and EU.

That is unlike Mr Navarro, a loyal supporter of Mr Trump who has been hailed as one of the key architects of the global trade war.

In many cases, if you go to his [Mr Musks] Texas plant, a good part of the engines that he gets  which in the EV case are the batteries  come from Japan and come from China. The electronics come from Taiwan, Mr Navarro told CNBC.

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What we want  and the difference is in our thinking and Elons on this  is that we want the tyres made in Akron. We want the transmissions made in Indianapolis. We want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here.

We want them home for our national security.

Mr Musk hit back on Tuesday by calling the trade expert Peter Retarrdo.

Elon Musk claimed Peter Navarro was truly a moron - Patrick Pleul/Getty Images

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, sought to downplay the infighting on Tuesday night by claiming that boys will be boys.

Look, these are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs, she told reporters. Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue.

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And you guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history.

The spat came after another turbulent day on US stock markets, which fell after Mr Trump confirmed plans to impose 104pc tariffs on China from Wednesday. This is up from the current levy of 54pc.

The S&P 500 index of Americas largest companies erased gains of more than 4pc after hopes of a deal between the US and China were dashed, finishing down by more than 2pc.

Mr Trump appeared to change course on China after signalling earlier in the day that an agreement between the two countries will happen.

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The recent stock market volatility caused by the trade war has led to mounting pressure on Mr Trump.

Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Citadel and a major Republican donor, called the tariffs a huge policy mistake that will hammer middle-class households.

He said that the taxes, which start at 10pc on countries such as the UK and rise to more than 100pc on products from China, are going to cost you 20pc, 30pc, 40pc more for your groceries, for your toaster, for a new vacuum cleaner, for a new car.

That is despite previously celebrating Mr Trumps victory, as Mr Griffin claimed it would halt the endless amount of regulatory and litigation-induced paralysis from the Biden administration.

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Meanwhile, the White House said on Tuesday night that it was in negotiations with more than 70 countries over tariffs, insisting that the era of American economic surrender is over.

Its briefing also confirmed the latest 104pc on tariffs on China, which said earlier in the day that it would not back down against the US.

Tariff wars have no winners, and protectionism has no way out, said Lin Jian, Chinas foreign ministry spokesman, just days after Beijing announced 34pc retaliatory tariffs against America.

Chinese people dont make trouble, but are not afraid of it. Pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China.

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Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, also held talks with China on Tuesday and urged Beijing not to escalate the trade war.

She called for a negotiated resolution between the worlds two largest economies, highlighting the importance of a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field.

Clare Lombardelli, deputy governor of the Bank of England, also addressed the issue of tariffs in a speech on Tuesday night, warning of the impact on UK growth.

We know that tariffs are likely to depress activity overall, the uncertainty, the combination of those things - the direction of that is relatively clear, she told a Resolution Foundation event.

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On inflation it depends a lot more on the circumstances, of how other countries respond, how that feeds through to the UK, and we will put all of that together for our next decision - I am not going to take a position now on what that means for the precise level [of interest rates].

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Elon Musk slammed President Donald Trumps trade adviser Peter Navarro as truly a moron and dumber than a sack of bricks on Tuesday.

Musks insults came in response to Navarros comments made Monday on CNBC about Teslas manufacturing practices, in which Navarro referred to Musk, Teslas CEO, as not a car manufacturer but a car assembler while arguing that the car company depends heavily on foreign supply chains for items such as batteries.

Now, Musk, whos overseeing federal spending cuts under President Donald Trump, has fired back at Navarros claims.

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Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false, Musk wrote on X Tuesday while replying to a social media user who posted a clip of Navarros comments. Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.

Musk continued: By any definition whatsoever, Tesla is the most vertically integrated auto manufacturer in America with the highest percentage of US content. Navarro should ask the fake expert he invented, Ron Vara.

The jab about Ron Vara pertains to a fictional economist cited previously by Navarro in his 2011 book Death by China. Navarro claimed that the made-up expert was never improperly used as a fact source.

The public spat between Musk and Navarro has taken off as the latter defended Trumps sweeping tariffs, which set off a global stock market fiasco and concern among consumers and politicians as other countries have threatened to wage a trade war with the United States.

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Despite the blowback, Navarro, the senior counselor for trade and manufacturing to Trump, argued that the tariffs will help rebuild Americas manufacturing efforts and prevent sourcing from overseas.

When it comes to tariffs and trade, we all understand in the White House and the American people understand that Elon is a car manufacturer. But hes not a car manufacturer, hes a car assembler in many cases, Navarro told CNBC.

He continued, If you go to his Texas plant, a good part of the engines that he gets, which in the EV case is the batteries, come from Japan and come from China. The electronics come from Taiwan

Navarro added: What we want, and the difference is in our thinking and Elons on this, is that we want the tires made in Akron, we want the transmissions made in Indianapolis, we want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here.

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted to Musks post on Tuesday.

Whatever. We are the most transparent administration in history, expressing our disagreements in public, she said, according to CNBC senior Washington correspondent Eamon Javers.

Elsewhere while speaking to CNNs Alayna Treene, Leavitt said that boys will be boys! regarding the nasty feud between Musk and Navarro.

Look, these are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade, and on tariffs, Leavitt said. Boys will be boys! And we will let their public sparring continue.

Related...
Elon Musk, who wants AI to replace federal workers, is now using it to spy on them.

After speaking to 20 people close to the situation, Reuters has reported that officials within the Trump administration told federal employees that DOGE technologists are using AI to monitor anti-Trump or anti-Musk language at the Environmental Protection Agency. One person also said DOGE is using Musks Grok AI chatbotan aspiring ChatGPT competitorto make massive cuts to the government.

Be careful what you say, what you type and what you do, a manager allegedly told one of Reuterss sources.

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This is a grimly ironic development for Musk, who constantly claims that he and his X platform are bulwarks of free speech. The EPA has yet to comment.

[It] sounds like an abuse of government power to suppress or deter speech that the president of the United States doesnt like, government ethics expert Kathleen Clark told Reuters.

DOGE employees are also using Signalthe app that landed Mike Walz in hot water for a weekto message each other. And on top of that, DOGE employees are working live on Google Docs instead of using the single copy vetting and chain of custody process that is standard operating procedure for the government.

If these allegations of spying, Signalgate II, and the use of Google Docs are true, theyre a very serious breach of security and a demonstrable lack of transparency from DOGE.


Imagine an alternate reality where President Donald Trump's top trade adviser was a bulging Hefty trash bag stuffed with discarded bricks.

No, really. Picture it. When Trump gathers his cabinet together for an important meeting, inexplicably, there is a large bag sitting in the corner of the room. Its black polyethylene sides stretch at awkward angles as it tries to contain the sharp edges of what appear to be dozens of bricks piled within. Some red clay dust that has escaped from the drawstring top lingers on the floor. A White House intern struggles to move it from place to place. The bag doesn't speak or communicate in any way. It has no thoughts. It does not opine on the meaning of trade deficits or invent false data to tell misleading stories about the state of America's economy.

And then ask yourself: Would the country be better off if Trump was seeking counsel from that literal sack of bricks rather than from Peter Navarro?

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Elon Musk seems to believe so. In a series of tweets over the past few days, Musk has taken aim at Navarro, the White House's top trade policy adviser. In one diatribe, Musk accused Navarro of being a "moron" and pointed out that Navarro "ain't built shit."

On Tuesday morning, Musk put a finer point on it: "Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks."

Having never spent time with either man, I'm probably not qualified to comment directly on either's intelligence. However, when it comes to the more important version of this questionwould the country be better off with Navarro or a literal sack of bricks guiding the president's trade policythe answer seems clear.

Sack Navarro. Hire the bricks.

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"Navarro is both the dumbest economist in America, and the most influential," Noah Smith wrote on X last month, in response to Navarro's claim on Fox News that "tariffs are tax cuts." (The opposite is true: These tariffs are a major tax hike.)

Since then, Navarro has only made his shortcomings more apparent. When he's not spouting more nonsense during cable news interviews, he's reportedly blocking attempts by foreign countries to strike deals with Trump that could lower tariffs. Yesterday, after the European Union and Vietnam indicated their willingness to negotiate lower tariffs if America would do the same, Navarro immediately crapped all over the idea. "When they come to us and say, we'll go to zero tariffs, that means nothing to us," he said.

But the roots of Navarro's economic illiteracy run deep.

As I detailed in a 2020 feature for Reason, Navarro became one of the most powerful people in the first Trump administration after a failed left-wing political careerlongtime California political pundit Joe Matthews has called him "San Diego's Bernie Sanders."

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That analogy helps explain a lot about the current moment, I think. If Sandersa longtime advocate for tariffs and opponent of free trade who thinks consumers don't need variety or choice in the marketplacewas appointed to run U.S. trade policy, would anything be different?

When Navarro wasn't losing elections or inventing fake economists to support his positions, Navarro also founded an anti-growth community organization and helped entrench some of the regulatory hurdles to building housing that are still harming California today.

Sure, why wouldn't you want that guy in charge of a huge swath of the economy?

We likely have Jared Kushner to blame for Navarro's place in the Trump administration. Trump's son-in-law reportedly brought Navarro into the fold "when Trump wanted to speak more substantively about China" on the campaign trail. Vanity Fair's Sarah Ellison reported in 2017 that Trump "gave Kushner a summary of his views and then asked him to do some research." Kushner did some Googling and stumbled upon one of Navarro's books.

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Navarro might be part of the MAGA tribe now, but he's still a socialist at heart. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he waxed poetic about how "beautiful" it was to see "the power of the federal government merging with the power of private enterprise." His vision for America's trade policy is the sort of autarky that would make Vladimir Lenin proud.

If those views aren't disqualifying enough, then Trump should fire Navarro for his track record in the White House. As director of the White House National Trade Council during Trump's first term, Navarro played a key role in killing the White House's attempt at reforming the Jones Act, a terrible piece of protectionism that makes it more expensive to ship anything around the United States by boat. He was the driving force behind the Trump administration's harebrained idea to give a $765 million contract to the Eastman-Kodak Company, a struggling camera company, to produce pharmaceuticals (the contract, thankfully, was canceled after the Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating it).

I feel compelled to point out that a literal sack of bricks would not have done either of those things.

Now, Navarro is championing a tariff policy that has vaporized trillions of dollars from the stock market and threatens to tip the country into a serious recessionone that would obviously have dire consequences for the rest of Trump's agenda and his legacy. It's one thing to give a guy a second chance, but Navarro should have long ago worn out his welcome with Trump.

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The spat between Musk and Navarro is a telling one, and its resolution might go a long way toward determining the future of the second Trump administration.

While he's not without faults, Musk clearly grasps the value of trade and understands that it is a huge mistake for Trump to deliberately tank the economy with these tariffs. He's built successful businesses and knows that economic growth depends on letting the market work (even if he's been happy to collect government contracts too).

Navarro has built nothing. He's a failed politician and a fabulist. His foolish economic ideas are bringing about predictable outcomes. Trump should not let a socialist set America's trade policies. We would be better off with the sack of bricks.

The post Elon Musk Says Peter Navarro Is 'Dumber Than a Sack of Bricks' appeared first on Reason.com.
Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the central leading group on disciplinary inspection, speaks at a meeting on national disciplinary inspection work on April 8, 2025. The meeting also marked the initiation of the fifth round of disciplinary inspection missions of the 20th CPC Central Committee. The new round of inspection will focus on the country's provincial-level localities. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's top anti-graft official Li Xi on Tuesday called for efforts to provide strong support for Chinese modernization with high-quality disciplinary inspection work.

He also stressed that the inspection in provincial-level localities should better serve and support the central task of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the central leading group on disciplinary inspection, made the remarks at a meeting on national disciplinary inspection work. The meeting also marked the initiation of the fifth round of disciplinary inspection missions of the 20th CPC Central Committee.

The new round of inspection will focus on the country's provincial-level localities.

Noting that relevant inspection should concentrate on the Party Central Committee's functional positioning and strategic deployment for each respective region, Li called for efforts to identify the localities' deviations in the political realm and make sure that prominent problems are properly addressed.

Li also stressed that inspection work should strictly adhere to the requirements of advancing Chinese modernization, underlining a problem-oriented and rigorous approach in relevant work. He urged efforts to improve inspection methods and concrete measures to ensure relevant problems are solved.

On the same day, a list of the targets of the new round of inspection was announced. It includes provincial-level regions such as Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Yunnan's provincial capital city, Kunming, will also be covered in the central authorities' inspection.

The inspectors will also work with local disciplinary agencies to carry out inspections in cities such as Changchun and Hangzhou. 
Elon Musk may have bought himself influence over President Donald Trumps administration, but public criticism of the president remains out of his budget. Instead  as the world braces for Trumps tariff regime to go into effect at midnight on Tuesday  Musk is picking fights with a fellow presidential adviser: Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro.

Navarro  a key figure behind Trumps potentially catastrophic tariff policy  has been making the media rounds defending the plan since Trump announced it last week. On Tuesday, Musk took issue with comments Navarro made about Teslas manufacturing process during an interview on CNBC. Navarro said that Musk isnt a car manufacturer  hes a car assembler, and claimed that the billionaires flagship company relies heavily on foreign car parts to assemble his electric vehicles.

Musk exploded. In a series of posts on Tuesday, Musk attacked Navarro as being truly a moron and dumber than a sack of bricks, while dubbing him Peter Retarrdo. Musk asserted that Tesla now manufactures the majority of their car components in the United States.

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The outburst was a boiling over of tensions between the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head and the convicted criminal trade adviser that have been simmering for days now. Over the weekend, after Navarro defended Trumps proposed tariffs during an appearance on CNN, Musk responded to a clip of the interview by commenting that a PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing. Results in the ego/brains>>1 problem.

The clash points to more internal disagreement about the presidents economic plans than the White House would like to let on. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been struggling to defend the tariffs in a series of TV appearances, reportedly flew to Florida to try to convince Trump to change his tune on tariff messaging. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, meanwhile, that White House officials have grown frustrated with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnicks increasingly confusing messaging on tariffs.

For months now, Musk has operated in virtual lockstep with Trump, rewarding himself with lucrative federal contracts along the way. As the tariff regime threatens his business, and his global popularity continues to decline, Musk has publicly broken with the president and expressed a desire for less protectionism and more free trade.

For its part, the White House is downplaying the dispute between two of the administrations most prominent figures. Whatever, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNBC when asked about Musks insults against Navarro. We are the most transparent administration in history, expressing our disagreements in public.

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President Donald Trump was speaking to reporters alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on Monday when he made a surprise announcement: Direct nuclear talks are underway between the United States and Iran and a very big meeting will take place on Saturday.

If true, these would be the first direct talks between the two nations since 2015, when they signed a landmark nuclear deal under the Obama administration, which Trump ditched three years later.

Iran denies that negotiations are direct, insisting they will be mediated by the Gulf Arab nation of Oman, where Saturdays talks will take place. Direct or not, the talks represent a breakthrough between the Islamic Republic and a US administration led by a president whom American officials accuse Tehran of once plotting to assassinate.

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Trump has pledged to deliver a far stronger nuclear deal than Obamas. His administration has said it will push for the complete dismantling of Irans nuclear program, rather than merely restricting it to peaceful purposes. Israel backs this demand  but Tehran has dismissed it outright as a non-starter.

Heres what we know about the talks, why they may be happening now and whats at stake.

What each side is saying

Trump on Monday said a very big meeting would take place Saturday at the top level, adding that everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious, referring to potential military action against Iranian nuclear sites.

US envoy Steve Witkoff will be leading the US delegation, according to the US State Department, and Araghchi will represent Iran in indirect talks moderated by Oman officials, according to Iranian officials.

Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, speaks to the press outside of the White House in Washington, DC on March 6. - Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives a press conference in Tehran on February 25. - Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

On Wednesday, Araghchi said in a Washington Post op-ed that his country is ready to strike a peaceful deal with the US through diplomacy, which could result in a trillion-dollar business opportunity, and avoid a costly US military involvement in the region.

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He wrote that the ball is in Americas court to achieve peace and normalize relations, which could include lucrative business opportunities, in an apparent attempt to speak to Trumps business background.

Araghchi also made clear the talks would be indirect, writing that indirect negotiations is not a tactic or reflection of ideology but a strategic choice rooted in experience, especially when faced with a significant wall of mistrust.

Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian diplomat and ex-nuclear negotiator, said that Iran and the US are likely to initially start the negotiations indirectly, and after an hour or two, if the outcome is positive, Iranian and American representatives will begin direct talks.

It seems that Washington and Tehran have adopted a wise approach, and there is a chance for an agreement, he wrote on X.

How the two sides got here

A nuclear deal was reached in 2015 between Iran and world powers, including the US.

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Under the deal, Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

That agreement was, however, abandoned by Trump in 2018 during his first presidential term. Iran retaliated by resuming its nuclear activities, and has so far advanced its program to alarming levels.

Iran and six major world powers reached a nuclear deal in Austria, Vienna in July 2015. - Carlos Barria/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

In December, Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, told Reuters that Iran was dramatically accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, closer to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade. In January, Grossi again warned that Iran was pressing the gas pedal on its uranium enrichment.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.

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Last month, Trump sent a letter to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposing negotiations on a new nuclear deal, making it clear that Iran had a two-month deadline to reach an agreement, a source familiar with the letters contents told CNN.

Days later, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Islamic Republic rejected direct negotiations with the US. He said however that Irans response, delivered by Oman, left open the possibility of indirect talks with Washington.

We dont avoid talks; its the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far, Pezeshkian said in televised remarks. They must prove that they can build trust.

Iran has in recent weeks been vocal with its concerns about striking a nuclear deal with Trump, who it says has a history of backtracking.

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Pezeshkian was elected last year on a reformist agenda that pledged to mend the countrys relationship with the world and ease sanctions that have crippled the economy. But he also faces a powerful hardline establishment, including Khamenei, that distrusts the US and is wary of engaging with it.

The value of Irans currency, the rial, increased off the back of the news of talks after recording a record low just weeks ago.

Whats on the agenda of talks?

US officials have said that Trump is demanding that Iran dismantle its entire nuclear program, and not just accept restrictions on its ability to build a nuclear weapon, as it did in 2015.

The 2015 deal allowed Iran to fully enjoy its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under the relevant articles of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), according to the treaty. The NPT, to which Iran is signatory, is an international agreement aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.

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Experts have said that complete denuclearization would be a non-starter for Iran given that the nuclear program is its last remaining point of leverage against the West after its regional proxies have been weakened.

Last week, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz told CBS Face the Nation that Trump will demand a full dismantlement of Irans uranium enrichment program.

Iran has to give up its program in a way that the entire world can see, Waltz said, adding that Tehran must agree to walk away completely from its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Waltz added that this time, the deal wont be some kind of tit for tat that we had under the Obama administration, or Biden.

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Asked whether the deal would be similar to the 2015 agreement, Trump on Monday told reporters that itll be different, and maybe a lot stronger.

If talks are not successful, he added, I think Irans going to be in great danger I actually think itll be a very bad day for Iran.

How does Israel feel about it?

The sudden revelation of the upcoming US-Iran talks at the press conference following Trump and Netanyahus meeting appeared to surprise the Israeli prime minister, the smile quickly vanishing from his face as he looked toward his team of advisers.

News of the talks are certainly not to Israels liking, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

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Its unclear if Netanyahu was given advance notice of the US-Iran talks or if he was consulted ahead of time, the sources said.

Sat beside Trump at the Oval Office, Netanyahu touted a Libya-style nuclear deal between the US and Iran, which in 2003 dismantled the North African nations nuclear program in the hopes of ushering in a new era of relations with the US after its two-decade oil embargo on Muammar Qaddafis regime.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) speaks alongside US President Donald Trump, with a model of Air Force One on the table, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington DC on Monday. - Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

If it can be done diplomatically, in a full way, the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing, Netanyahu said.

Following denuclearization, Libya eventually descended into civil war after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed Qaddafi. Iranian officials have long warned that a similar deal would be intended to weaken Iran and eventually overthrow its regime.

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Asked about a Libya-style deal, Araghchi told Iranian media on Tuesday that Israels hopes for what Irans nuclear program should look like would be disregarded.

When it comes to the Zionist regimes hopes of what a deal will look like and what they have suggested, thats their hopes and ultimately will not be factored in, he said.

Netanyahu had vehemently opposed the 2015 nuclear deal, saying it did not prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon.

Why now?

Since the last US-Iran talks, Tehran has seen its ability to project power in the region significantly curtailed after Israel struck severe blows to its allied regional militias and launched direct attacks on Iranian soil.

In Gaza, Israel continues to pound the enclave as it seeks to eradicate Hamas. In Syria, which Iran used as transit for weapons to proxies, Tehrans ally Bashar al-Assad has been deposed, and Israel continues to attack the country and take new territory. In Iraq, the US has retaliated against attacks by Iran-backed militants on its assets there. And in Lebanon, a series of Israeli attacks on the country have decapitated the militant group Hezbollah.

In Yemen, where Irans last remaining ally, the Houthi rebel group, remains standing, the US is intensifying airstrikes.

Last year, Iran and Israel exchanged two rounds of tit-for-tat attacks, the first time either side has directly attacked the other. Israel is said to have taken out Iranian defenses in one of those attacks.

Remember, the Iranians air defenses have been eviscerated by that attack from Israel. Theyre open to attack today, Witkoff told journalist Tucker Carlson in an interview last month.

CNNs Pauline Lockwood, Kevin Liptak, Jennifer Hansler, Alayna Treene, Alireza Hajihosseini, Leila Gharagozlou, Angus Watson, Eugenia Yosef and Michael Schwartz contributed reporting.

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A proposal for a hydropower plant on the Illinois River outlines how a new way of generating energy can benefit the environment, and cause less harm to the river.

During Monday night's Tahlequah City Council meeting, Ward 2 City Councilor Keith Baker introduced, via Zoom, Dr. Reza Saeed Kandezy, a professor of electronics and computer engineering at the University of Oklahoma.

The presentation shared the new technology, and the costs and benefits of building a plant on the river. The vision presented by Kandezy is Tahlequah Hydropower  clustered vortex generators and an integrated renewable model.

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"It not only brings the high-tech technology into our community, and green sustainable energy sources, but also creates a very sustainable and beneficial, eco-friendly environment for our Illinois River," Kandezy said.

The project prioritizes a low-impact, modular approach that circumvents the technical, environmental, and political limitations of conventional infrastructure, stated one of Kandezy's slides in his presentation.

Goals of the project include transforming the health of the river through eco-safe engineering, habitat regeneration, erosion mitigation, and integrated water-quality innovation, Kandezy said.

The project overview and core technologies include modular vortex turbines, microscale pumped storage, solar photovoltaic integration, and education.

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"By putting these technologies and science into our project, we are basically creating a living laboratory that will create a strong initiative for research and learning opportunity for all K-12 students, universities and colleges," Kandezy said.

An investment of $1.1 million for the proposed pilot project includes: $195,000 for three vortex turbine units; $220,000 for the pumped hydro components; $330,000 for the photovoltaic array and inverters; $90,000 for site work and grid integration; and $120,000 for engineering, permitting and contingency costs, Kandezy said.

He said this investment could create an annual revenue of $110,000, and the break-even point is eight-10 years.

"We are creating a leap in hydropower within this vision," Kandezy said. "Our first goal was to not only keep our environment from the hazards of pollution, but actually use this project to help enhance the situation we have currently."

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He said the project is totally eco-friendly; the turbines and generators are passive and would not interfere with the life-cycle or ecosystem within the river. The construction would create some disturbance to the river and surrounding area.

"We could actually create a filtering system for the river itself," Kandezy said. "That filtration not only helps our technology to have a longer life, but also helps enhance the environment of the river, because we are filtering out the pollution."

The reason for the presentation was to get feedback from all stakeholders, Kandezy said. The pilot project is needed because this is new technology, and there is a need to control the financial risk.

Councilors discussed various means of paying for the project, such as grants and other capital investments. The research value is "phenomenal," Baker said. Kandezy said this is the only project of this type and the clustered vortex generators are not found anywhere else in the world.

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"Not only do [we] have to think about that today, [we] have to think about tomorrow and the next 20 years," Baker said.

He said everyone needs to be more environmentally conscious, and at least try to stop the erosion along the river.

"There is a symbiosis of not only improving our environment, but by harnessing it for green sustainable energy," Baker said.

Baker wants to involve not just the city, but Tahlequah Public Works Authority and the Cherokee Nation, and other stakeholders in the community.

The timeline presented by Kandezy showed a feasibility study conducted within the first three quarters of 2025, and an energy yield and cost analysis and the development of a scale-up plan by 2027.

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In other business, Daniel Murphy with Kimley-Horn, an engineering, planning and design consultancy, presented the completed Tahlequah Transportation Safety Action Plan. Titled "Vision Zero," the name reflects the goal of zero deaths due to traffic accidents. The plan was approved.

After a brief presentation by Planning and Development Director Paige Harjo, the agenda item to hire HSE Architects to design a parking garage on Spring Street, retaining wall on Downing Street, a pedestrian bridge over Downing Street, and sidewalks for downtown, was approved.

The majority of funding for the project is from an Economic Development Administration grant of just under $2 million, and the match from the city is a little over $400,000, said City Administrator Taylor Tannehill.

The money for the match are American Rescue Plan Act funds that had to be obligated in December. If this project was not approved, the city would have to negotiate with the government on using the funds for another similar parking project, Tannehill said.

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"We have a limited time to use the funds, and I think HSE was the most qualified and eager to do the project for us," Tannehill said.

What's next

The next City Council meeting is May 5, 5:30 p.m., in Council Chambers in the City Administration Building.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it would review new science on fluoride in drinking water in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services this week.

The agencys announcement comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is reportedly instructing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change its guidance on fluoridation - telling the agency to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide.

Last fall  then as a nominee  the former presidential candidate said that the Trump administration would advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water, citing potential health risks.

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Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks and we are committed to working alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin explained.

Zeldin has faced intense criticism for rolling back dozens of regulations meant to combat pollution and climate change and protect Americans health.

Without prejudging any outcomes, when this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency's future steps to meet statutory obligations under the Safe Drinking Water Act, he said.

In coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would review new science on fluoride in drinking water. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is reportedly planning to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation (AP)

But, a decision to remove fluoride from the nations drinking water would come with major consequences to public health, according to experts.

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We will have a lot more people with dental disease than we have now, a lot more dental caries, or cavities, John Swartzberg, a professor at the University of California at Berkeleys School of Public Health, told The Washington Post. Itll impact everybody, but mostly those people who do not have access to dental care.

A request for comment was not immediately returned by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Fluoride is a mineral that is naturally present in sources of drinking water, like ground water. Fluoride has been added to drinking water to strengthen teeth, replacing minerals lost due to wear and tear. Hundreds of millions of Americans currently receive fluoridated water through community water systems. The American Dental Association says studies prove fluoridation reduces dental decay by at least 25 percent in children and adults.

Dentists say that the benefits of fluoridation outweigh any potential risks. The EPA cited a National Toxicology Program that previously determined with moderate confidence that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in children. Other studies have found no link between fluoride and IQ  although some Americans are exposed to higher than recommended levels because of natural fluoride contamination.

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There is still no evidence that community water fluoridation, with the fluoride levels used in the United States, is associated with any adverse health effects, Dr. Scott Tomar, a public health dentist and oral epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry, told The New York Times.

Kennedy, Jr., said he was very proud of Utah for becoming the first state to ban fluoride in its drinking water. Utah dentists said the benefits of fluoride are proven (AP)

The governments actions come after Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in its drinking water.

Im very proud of Utah, Kennedy told reporters in the western state on Monday, it has emerged as the leader in making America healthy again.

Its concerning that we have a secretary of health and human services come out and be against a program that for 80 years is very effective and the most cost-effective way of preventing cavities that the world has ever seen, Darren Chamberlain, a pediatric dentist in South Utah County, told ABC 4.

We welcome public discourse on health policy, said Dr. Rodney Thornell, President of the Utah Dental Association. But its important that these discussions are rooted in sound science and public health evidence. Fluoridation is one of the most studied and beneficial public health interventions of the last century.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will reconsider the health impacts of fluoride in drinking water  taking what could be an initial step toward new national limits or a ban on the substance.

An EPA press release said Monday that the agency would expeditiously review new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water and that doing so will inform any potential moves to restrict fluoride under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Without prejudging any outcomes, when this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agencys future steps to meet statutory obligations under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a written statement.

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In September, a judge ruled that the EPA must engage with a regulatory response to fluoride, though it did not dictate what that response should be.

Its not immediately clear whether Zeldins announcement differs from work the agency would have otherwise done in response to that order.

But the administrator credited advocacy from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for bringing about the review.

Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks and we are committed to working alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment, Zeldin said.

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Fluoride is intentionally added to drinking water to prevent tooth decay. About 200 million Americans drink water with added fluoride.

While its clear that fluoride is good for teeth, some recent studies have linked it to lower IQ. Notably, the Department of Health and Human Servicess (HHS) National Toxicology Program found in August that higher levels of fluoride exposure are linked to lower IQs in children.

However, health associations including the the American Academy of Pediatrics stood by recommendations in favor of adding fluoride to water and toothpaste even in light of the finding.

The pediatrics organization said that among other issues, the toxicology program left out studies that did not find a link between fluoride and IQ. And earlier in 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement that expert panels  have not found convincing scientific evidence linking community water fluoridation with any potential adverse health effect, including low intelligence.

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The attention paid to potential impacts of fluoride has grown in recent years amid the rise of Kennedys Make America Healthy Again movement.

In the EPAs announcement, the agency cited the August 2024 toxicology program finding in its decision to revisit the health impacts of fluoride, which were previously assessed by the EPA in July 2024. EPA says its review will be conducted in coordination with Kennedy and HHS.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Counter-drone company Epirus unveiled a new high-power microwave system capable of disabling manned and unmanned boat motors, it announced Tuesday.

Leonidas H2O was effective against vessel motors at record ranges during the U.S. Navys Advanced Technology Exercise Coastal Trident event in Crane, Indiana, held in August 2024, according to the announcement. The system knocked out four commercially available vessel motors, varying in horsepower from 40 to 90 at a multitude of ranges, it noted.

The Pentagon has spent years of research and development and spent tens-of-millions of dollars into developing a non-kinetic vessel stop solution, with no operational system deployed to date. With Leonidas H2O, we are bringing forth a technology with demonstrated effectiveness to fill this capability gap, today, Epirus CEO Andy Lowery said in the statement.

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The California-based company debuted its ground-based system designed to protect forward operating bases from incoming swarm threats in 2020 and has since proven Leonidas can adapt to other platforms, including being mounted on a drone in a pod.

Leonidas, by its nature, its just an old-fashioned platform. Weve made force fields  of electromagnetic energy, Lowery told Defense News. Whether that electromagnetic energy spoils a drones electronics from working correctly or spoils a boats motor, or use your imagination, anything with little computers in it and stuff, is susceptible to these persistent fields of energy.

The recent Navy exercise proved the system  scaled down to a third of its original size  could go up against a whole bunch of different types of boat motors out there, Lowery said. It did so despite testing restrictions at the range limiting it from operating at full strength and from using certain frequencies.

Lowery noted that the system was effective up to nearly 100 meters working at half power.

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The technology would come in handy at ports and close to coastlines, where kinetic defenses would not be a good option, Lowery said.

Adapting Leonidas for marine operations meant the company took into account that it would endure the corrosive effects of salt water, but otherwise, the system works more or less the same, Lowery said. Except for one item, he added. It kind of uses the water as a mirror, and so [we] can use the water to our advantage, that is it hits certain spots in even further distances by using reflections off the water.

Because of the beams behavior on water, the company made adaptations to the software, he noted.

One limitation of the system is that it does not work under water.

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The frequencies just dont propagate under water. They just stop dead in like an inch of travel, Lowery said.

Epirus continues to work to get the capability into the hands of service members. There are two systems deployed with the Army in the U.S. Central Command area of operations and a few others going to another operational area, Lowery said.

US Army could soon have a high-power microwave to destroy small drone swarms

Operational commanders probably have the strongest voice on hitting a gas pedal and getting us moving a lot quicker, he added.

A Navy solution, Lowery said, could be delivered expeditiously. The system could be packed in a container to fit on a vessel like a Littoral Combat Ship or a Coast Guard cutter, he noted.

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They can very easily put one of these on long fantail ships. Even some of these same fantail ships are in the Black Sea trying to do sort of escort control for merchants and other things running through that region, Lowery said. Another excellent idea is to try to hit some of the surface missiles that the Houthis and stuff are sending out. We could try our hand at disrupting some of those things as well.

Lowery said he often points to how the Russian invasion of Ukraine in recent years has left Russia with roughly 50% of its navy capabilities destroyed, sunk or damaged beyond use by Ukrainians, with no navy, using unmanned weapons.

Were back into this war of the machines. Were back into this kind of guerrilla warfare where the first wave of battle ends up becoming machines on machines, he said. We can have a system that has a very deep magazine that can build force fields out and take care of these, not only unmanned air vehicles, but unmanned surface vessels and unmanned ground vehicles.
Virginia Giuffre has been discharged after spending several days in the hospital following a bus accident.

The Jeffrey Epstein victim had been receiving treatment at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, where she made headlines after claiming she had "four days to live" due to complications from the crash.

Her dramatic statement was later questioned by social media users, as police reports described the incident as a "minor collision" with no reported injuries.

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Days after opening up about her health issue, Virginia Giuffre also accused her estranged husband, Robert, of physical assault.

Virginia Giuffre Has Been Discharged From The Hospital

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According to the New York Post, after spending six days at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, Jeffrey Epstein's victim, Virginia Giuffre, has been released to recuperate from home.

The 41-year-old was at the hospital receiving treatment after her vehicle was involved in an accident with a school bus.

At the time, Giuffre posted from the hospital bed that she had "four days to live" and was suffering from Kidney Renal Failure, seemingly due to complications from the accident.

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Giuffre also shared a photo showing her face badly bruised, which made many think the injuries were a result of the car accident.

She Came Under Scrutiny Over Her Bus Crash Story

Instagram | Virginia Giuffre

Much of the public sympathy Giuffre initially received over her bus accident story faded after police reports described the incident as a "minor collision" with no reported injuries.

Social media users were quick to accuse her of exaggerating the situation. However, a representative for Giuffre maintained that she only sought hospital care after her condition began to worsen.

Her family has since claimed Giuffre had "thought that she had posted on her private Facebook page."

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They also shared more details about the crash, including the exact time it occurred (March 4) and that the bus that hit Giuffre's ride was full of "distraught children."

"The police were called but said that there was no one available to come to the scene. They asked if anyone was injured and suggested that if they were, they should make their way to the hospital," the family noted, per People.

Virginia Giuffre Recently Accused Her Estranged Husband Of Physical Assault

Instagram | Virginia Giuffre

Days after dramatically announcing that she only had a few days to live, Giuffre made another bombshell revelation.

She claimed that for years, she had been abused by her husband, Robert, who she is now estranged from.

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"I was able to fight back against Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, who abused and trafficked me," the 41-year-old wrote in a statement to People Magazine.

She added, "But I was unable to escape the domestic violence in my marriage until recently. After my husband's latest physical assault, I can no longer stay silent."

"Again, I thank everyone for their support. I have faith that justice will prevail," she concluded.

Although Giuffre did not confirm when the "latest physical assault" occurred, a rep for her informed the outlet that the sex trafficking survivor had reported an assault to the authorities on January 9, 2025.

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Still, there are currently no charges against Robert in relation to the alleged assault or for any other crime.

Virginia Giuffre's Loved Ones Have Shared Insight Into Her Physical Assault Claims

Instagram | Virginia Giuffre

Additional details about the physical abuse Virginia Giuffre has allegedly suffered at the hands of her husband have been shared by her loved ones.

Giuffre's sister-in-law, Amanda, revealed that the CEO of Victims Refuse Silence "almost died" from injuries sustained during what she described as the "last incident" with her husband.

"I think the last incident that they had, she almost died," Amanda told the outlet. "And we had to speak that truth with her on the phone. And I think she had acknowledged that if she had one more instance with him, she wasn't making it out of there."

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Meanwhile, Giuffre's brother, Sky, hinted that the damage to his sister's organs was from years of alleged abuse from her husband rather than the bus crash.

"You got to think, she's been allegedly being abused for over 10 years. Anyone's body is going to take a toll over a course of time," the auto claims adjuster shared.

Virginia Giuffre's Brother Defends Her Domestic Violence Revelations Amid Restraining Order Violation

Instagram | Virginia Giuffre

Giuffre and Robert have been living separately for some time, and both are currently under a restraining order that prevents them from contacting each other.

The order was filed by Robert, who told authorities that Giuffre had become violent during a trip meant to celebrate one of their children's birthdays.

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In the interview with People Magazine, Giuffre's brother claimed that Robert was actually the abuser in the incident and was fortunate enough to secure the restraining order first, leaving his sister "on the defense."

He also clarified that Giuffre's disclosure about her domestic violence situation was not an attempt to avoid a court appearance related to her recent violation of the restraining order.

Meanwhile, on April 9, Giuffre will face the court with regard to her restraining order violation after an initial appearance on March 14. She is yet to enter a plea on the matter.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned Israels military strikes in besieged Gaza Strip as "war crimes."

"We have witnessed banditry that clearly amounted to acts of war crimes, including the shooting at ambulances carrying the injured and the execution of health-care workers," Erdogan said in Ankara.

His government will continue diplomatic efforts to halt the violence "while Israel openly tramples the dignity of humanity in Gaza," added Erdogan.

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The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday that the Israeli military attacked an ambulance and a fire engine in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on March 23. The bodies of 14 of the men were recovered from a mass grave seven days later.

The Israeli military said at the time that its forces had opened fire on several vehicles after they approached troops in a suspicious manner, without coordination or headlights.

Israeli officials said the soldiers had killed members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad extremist groups.

The war in Gaza was triggered following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and some 250 people taken hostage.

More than 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have meanwhile been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, according to the local health authority led by Hamas.
At the invitation of Premier of the State Council Li Qiang, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit China from April 10 to 11.

CRI: On your announcement about Spanish Prime Minister Sanchezs upcoming visit to China, could you share the arrangements for this visit? We noted that this will be Prime Minister Sanchezs second visit to China in less than a year. How do you comment on the highly frequent high-level interactions between China and Spain?

Lin Jian: This visit marks Prime Minister Sanchezs third trip to China within three years. During the visit, President Xi Jinping will meet with him, and Premier Li Qiang will hold talks with him.

Spain is an important cooperative partner for China within the EU. The two sides have always adhered to the principles of mutual respect, mutual trust, and mutual benefit. Our bilateral relations are at the forefront of Chinas ties with European countries. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership. China hopes to take this visit as an opportunity to deepen strategic mutual trust between the two sides, expand open cooperation, jointly address global challenges, and achieve new progress for the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership from a new starting point.

Anadolu Agency: U.S. President Donald Trump threatens China with additional 50 percent tariffs unless China cancels its retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. until April 8. What is Chinas comment?

Lin Jian: Americas abuse of tariffs severely infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of other countries, violates the WTO rules, undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system, and impact the stability of the global economic order. Its a typical move of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying, which is widely opposed by the international community. China deplores and rejects it.

Let me stress once again that trade and tariff wars have no winners, and protectionism leads nowhere. We Chinese are not troublemakers, but we will not flinch when trouble comes our way. Intimidation, threat and blackmail are not the right way to engage with China. China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate and lawful rights and interests. If the U.S. decides not to care about the interests of the U.S. itself, China and the rest of the world, and is determined to fight a tariff and trade war, Chinas response will continue to the end.

China News Service: Recently, a think tank article stated that China and ASEAN are emerging centers of growing influence in East Asia. ASEAN-China relations are predicated on mutual and complementary needs, as exemplified by their vigorous and steadily growing trade relationship. These relations are sustained by common values. ASEAN-China relations are of vital importance not only for Asia but also the international community. Observers note that China-ASEAN cooperation is an exemplary model for Chinas relations with neighboring countries. How do you view Chinas cooperation with ASEAN and interactions with its neighboring countries?

Lin Jian: Over the 30-plus years since establishing dialogue relations, China and ASEAN have enjoyed steadfast, steady and robust cooperation, setting a model with the most dynamic and fruitful cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and the world. For five consecutive years, China and ASEAN have been each others largest trading partners. In 2024, bilateral trade reached RMB 6.99 trillion, and the upgraded protocol for the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Agreement 3.0 is expected to be signed within the year. Landmark projects such as the China-Laos Railway and Hanoi Metro Line 2 in Viet Nam have delivered tangible benefits to local communities. Digital empowerment and green development have become emerging areas where China supports ASEAN countries economic transition.

The China-ASEAN relations are a vivid illustration of Chinas commitment to the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in neighborhood diplomacy and a good-neighborly and friendly policy. The political mutual trust and convergence of interest between China and its neighbors have continued to deepen. China has reached common understandings with 17 neighboring countries on the building of a community with a shared future, signed an agreement on the Belt and Road cooperation with 25 neighboring countries and become the top trading partner of 18 countries in its neighborhood. Solid progress has been made in advancing major landmark projects of high-quality BRI cooperation. Small and smart livelihood projects have delivered tangibly for more people in Chinas neighboring countries. Regional cooperation mechanisms including East Asian cooperation, the Lancang-Mekong cooperation, the China-Central Asia cooperation and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have vigorously boosted the process of regional economic integration.

We believe that harmony is key to a prosperous family in all endeavors. As a member of the Asian family, China will continue to treat its neighbors with friendliness and sincerity and jointly pursue reciprocity, mutual benefit, openness and inclusiveness, be rooted in and contribute to its neighborhood, ensure that more Asian people will benefit from the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and inject more stability into and bring more hopes for the world with an Asian community with a shared future.

AFP: I wanted to return to the threats by President Trump that he might impose a further 50 percent tariff against Chinese imports. China already said in response that it would resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard Chinese rights and interests. Can the Foreign Ministry give any specific details about what those kinds of measures might look like in practice?

Lin Jian: We will not let anyone take away the Chinese peoples legitimate right to development. We will not tolerate any attempt to harm Chinas sovereignty, security and development interests. We will continue to take resolute and strong measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.

Bloomberg: This afternoon we saw several influential Chinese bloggers post an identical set of measures that authorities are mulling to hit back at the latest tariff threats from Trump. These include levies on U.S. farm goods and a ban on Hollywood movies. There were four other items listed. Are these actual responses the government is considering? Is this a coordinated attempt to inform the public about Chinas response?

Lin Jian: We dont comment on whats been said on the Internet. I just made clear Chinas position. We will continue to take resolute measures to safeguard our legitimate and lawful rights and interests.

AFP: The U.S. and Iran have announced talks over the nature of Irans nuclear program. Im wondering if the Chinese side has any response to that development?

Lin Jian: We noted relevant reports. China all along believes that the only right choice for settling the issue is through political and diplomatic means.

Against the current backdrop, its all the more important for parties to the Iranian nuclear issue to work in the same direction, strengthen dialogue and engagement, and avoid any escalation. As the country which unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and caused the current situation, the U.S. needs to show political sincerity, act in the spirit of mutual respect, engage in dialogue and consultation, and stop the threat of force and maximum pressure.

China will continue to maintain communication with relevant parties, actively promote talks for peace, and help relevant parties reach as early as possible a diplomatic settlement to the Iranian nuclear issue that accommodates all parties legitimate concerns so as to uphold the international non-proliferation regime and keep the Middle East peaceful and stable.

NBC: With all of the threats and counter threats and measures being taken between the U.S. and China on tariffs, can you confirm are there any talks or negotiations happening at any level between the United States and China over trade?

Lin Jian: Judging from its actions, the U.S. doesnt seem to be serious about having talks right now. If the U.S. truly wants to talk, it should let people see that theyre ready to treat others with equality, respect and mutual benefit. If the U.S. decides not to care about the interests of the U.S. itself, China and the rest of the world, and is determined to fight a tariff and trade war, Chinas response will continue to the end.

Beijing Daily: Its reported that Mauricio Claver-Carone, U.S. State Departments Special Envoy for Latin America, said in a recent interview that China has used its currency swap with Argentina to extort the country, and the U.S. wants Argentina to end it. He said the U.S. wants to be sure that Argentinas potential agreements with the IMF do not end up prolonging that credit line or swap that they have with China or strengthen Chinas position with that credit line. Whats Chinas comment?

Lin Jian: China has all along conducted practical cooperation with Argentina in various fields on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. For a long time, Argentinas currency swap with China has played an important role in stabilizing its economy and finance, which is welcomed and well received in Argentina.

Chinas bilateral cooperation with relevant countries never targets any third party, nor should it be interfered by any third party. Fair-minded people are able to tell who is extorting and coercing others and making trouble. We call on the U.S. to get its perspective right and make more tangible contributions to the development of Latin American and Caribbean countries, rather than make an effort to drive a wedge.

TASS: The spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that from April 7 to 8, China, Russia and Iran will have trilateral consultations on the Iranian nuclear issue in Moscow. Whats the Foreign Ministrys comment?

Lin Jian: Let me reiterate that China firmly believes that the only right choice for settling the issue is through political and diplomatic means. We support Russia in hosting this trilateral expert-level consultation, which will further promote the political and diplomatic settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.

China will continue to have communication and coordination with relevant parties, and facilitate the settlement to the Iranian nuclear issue that accommodates all parties legitimate concerns so as to uphold the international non-proliferation regime and keep the Middle East peaceful and stable.

Shenzhen TV: Speaking in an interview on Trump administrations trade policy on China, Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. borrows money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture. Whats Chinas comment?

Lin Jian: China has made its position perfectly clear on its trade relations with the U.S. To hear words that lack knowledge and respect like those uttered by this Vice President is both surprising and kind of lamentable.
BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit China from April 10 to 11, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson announced here Tuesday.

Noting this is Sanchez's third visit to China in three years, spokesperson Lin Jian told a daily press briefing that during his visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with Sanchez, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will hold talks with Sanchez.

Spain is an important partner of China in the European Union (EU), Lin said, adding that the two countries uphold the spirit of mutual respect, mutual trust, and mutual benefit when developing bilateral relations, and that China-Spain relations are at the forefront of China's relations with European countries.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership. Lin said that it is hoped that the two sides, taking this visit as an opportunity, will deepen strategic mutual trust, expand opening-up and cooperation, join hands to meet global challenges and push for greater development of bilateral relations. 
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has filed a lawsuit against main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel, who called him a junta leader in response to the jailing and dismissal of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

The opposition accuses Erdogan of orchestrating a political coup against Imamoglu, widely seen as the powerful president's most prominent political rival.

Erdogan is seeking 500,000 lira ($13,155) in damages from Ozel.

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He is also filing a criminal complaint for insulting the president, Erdogans lawyer Huseyin Aydn wrote on Tuesday on X.

Aydn accused Ozel of baseless accusations" and defamatory language.

The legal move comes after Ozels re-election as Republican Peoples Party (CHP) leader during a party congress in Ankara on Sunday.

From here, I address Erdogan, not the president elected by the people, but Erdogan the junta leader, Ozel said during a fiery post-congress speech.

Not even America, not even Trump will save you in the next election," he continued.

Turkey has been plunged into political turmoil since Imamoglus detention on March 19 and subsequent jailing.

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Imamoglu, the CHP's presidential candidate, denies the corruption and terrorism charges against him.

His arrest sparked mass protests, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets, accusing Erdogans government of weaponizing the judiciary to sideline a key opponent.

Authorities have responded with bans and forceful crackdowns in several cities, including Istanbul and Ankara. State-run Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday that 139 people have been indicted for participating in "unauthorized" protests, with 104 currently under arrest.

Prosecutors are seeking up to three years in prison for violating laws on public assembly.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday the country's main opposition party was attempting to obstruct a major corruption investigation targeting Istanbul's jailed mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.

Erdogan said the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), to which Imamoglu belongs, was trying to derail the investigation by "shouting" and accusing state institutions of politicisation, in a bid to block justice.

"No matter what you do, you cannot obstruct the course of justice," Erdogan said.

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"It is the judiciarys duty, on behalf of the Turkish nation, to break those dirty hands," Erdogan said in comments to officials of his ruling AK Party.

"In time, the public will see just how far this network, which has entangled Istanbul like ivy, truly reaches."

The opposition, particularly the CHP, says the charges against Imamoglu are politically motivated and anti-democratic. Imamoglu is seen as the strongest likely rival of Erdogan in a future presidential contest.

The government denies any political influence over the judiciary and has accused the opposition of panicking in response to the corruption investigation.

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Hundreds of thousands of Turks, including university students, have heeded opposition calls to protest. The protests have been mostly peaceful but nearly 2,000 people have been detained and around 300 of them jailed pending trial.

The arrest of Imamoglu, and the mass protests it has triggered, has sent the lira currency to a record low, fuelling a sell-off of Turkish assets that has destabilised company balance sheets and driven up already high borrowing costs.

(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Daren Butler and Gareth Jones)
NEW YORK  Days after pulling out of the Democratic primary, Mayor Eric Adams backed President Donald Trump on immigration and tariffs, arguing his good relationship with the Republican is whats best for New Yorkers.

All those who are just saying just fight him, resist, resist  Im not part of the resist movement, Im part of the produce movement, Adams said during a wide-ranging City Hall press conference Tuesday. Thats why we broke records in this city. Thats why were getting it done.

The mayor reinforced his message with a sartorial choice not in keeping with his usually natty suit-and-tie standard. While wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words In God We Trust over a large American flag, Adams said his faith got him to where he is now  through a federal investigation and an indictment. A federal judge officially dismissed his case with prejudice Wednesday after Trumps Department of Justice moved to drop the charges.

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Adams has continued to embrace Trump World after the case was dismissed. He attended a party for the Trump-friendly TV station Newsmax last Wednesday and publicly recommended CIA Director Kash Patels book alleging a deep state conspiracy.

A retired cop who registered as a Republican in the late 90s, Adams has long appealed to more conservative New York City voters. Adams alignment with Trump would have been devastating in the Democratic primary, where former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has held a commanding lead in every poll.

But after Adams told POLITICO last week he would be seeking reelection in November on an independent ballot line, those Trump-friendly voters now represent a potential path to victory for Adams in a potentially crowded general election field. And with his case dropped, Adams felt freer to talk about his relationship with the president.

There are some people who are just angry because the election didnt turn out the way they want. And because of that, they just want this verbal war, Adams said. I dont want a verbal war. I want to be able to produce for our city.

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Asked what New Yorkers are getting out of his stance of not publicly criticizing the president, Adams pointed to a secure border, collaboration with the Homeland Security secretary and ICE to go after dangerous people  and, with Trump, someone thats finally listening to me saying that my city must be safe and we cannot create problems on a national level.

The mayor suggested people warning about widespread immigration sweeps under Trump  something Trump promised in his campaign  were feeding on fear and creating a hysteria. He noted that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arent in schools and churches and that the city is instead getting cooperation on immigration enforcement.

Adams even softly endorsed Trumps tariffs, saying its a very complex issue that hes been reading up on. Wealth has been accumulated in the highest level of people in the country and Im seeing low-income, working class people are struggling every day, Adams said. So whatever we were doing. We need to think different.

Democrats have largely spoken out against Trumps global tariffs, warning Americans about price increases that are likely to follow.

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Adams could not defend Trump on everything, though. The press conference came hours after Adams said he would consider legal action against the Trump administration for threatening to claw back another $106 million in FEMA funds allocated during President Joe Bidens administration to reimburse the city for housing and serving migrants. The Trump administration previously seized $80 million in FEMA funds from a city bank account.

That move has led to outrage from fellow Democrats, including those running against Adams for mayor. But even as Adams sued the Trump administration, he downplayed the significance of challenging the president and pointed the finger at Biden instead. Adams blamed the Democrat for not providing more financial help as the city spent $7 billion on housing and serving asylum-seekers.

If youre angry with the current presidential administration taking $200 million, then you should be furious about losing $7 billion. But they werent, Adams said of the mayoral candidates. They put politics in front of the people. And I refuse to do that.

The Trump administration has been unapologetic.

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. There will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people.

Adams did break with Trump on one point, embracing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies, which the president has targeted. He listed dozens of women and people of color in his administration who were the first to hold their positions. It shouldnt be DEI. It should be ELA, Adams said, referring to his own initials. Im a representative of what DEI means.

Adams also addressed his switch to running as an independent, saying the chattering classes dont appreciate his consistency and authenticity, while real New Yorkers like that hes willing to criticize Democrats.

I took a pledge to a flag, I didnt take a pledge to a party, he said. And sometimes that gets in the way.
Over the winter, Erie travelers broke in a brand new flight taking them directly to Tampa, Florida.

After four months, Breeze Airways will be temporarily shutting down that flight starting April 26, but one Breeze representative said tickets are already on sale for the flights return in October.

Thats always a good sign when we have a route that might be taking a seasonal hiatus for the summer when its not as hot of a travel period, but that its still on sale for the next winter when its going to come back into peak season, said Ryne Williams, Breeze Airways communications specialists.

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Flights from Erie to Orlando will remain open throughout the summer.

Tourism is on the rise, according to new VisitErie report

Williams said demand has been high for both flights, and the growing airline is continuing to look for new opportunities in the area.

Breeze flight to Tampa will be shutting down temporarily at the end of the month, but so far passengers have been expressing interest in those flights down to Florida.

Its been good. Were over 87% load factor on all the flights. Last week, weve had a 136 out of 137, and so its been a good run to star,t and hopefully we can get Tampa back up in October and try to get some additional destinations, said Derek Martin, executive director of the Erie Regional Airport Authority.

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Martin said theyve seen travelers as far as Buffalo, Jamestown, Oil City and Ashtabula coming to town for the flights.

Shades Beach closed while dredging takes place over next two weeks

And Breeze flights may only just be getting started in Erie as the new airline continues to grow.

When breeze is looking to enter into a market, were looking for kind of those underserved or unserved markets, and for erie, that was a fit for both of our routes, said Williams. Were making it a little bit easier and a little more affordable, and thats kind of where we fit into some of these markets like Erie.

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Flights to Tampa will resume again starting October 1.

The airports executive director said he will be attending a conference in May with eight airlines to try and get some additional service in Erie.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
ESTILL COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56)  Just off of Red Lick Road lies Station Camp Getaway.

The Estill County bed and breakfast welcomes hikers, bird watchers, horse race goers, and so on. Visitors get to enjoy nice scenery, looking out toward the farm.

We have very few animals and so theyre like part of our family; theyre pets; we groom them every day, Randall Arms said.

Randall and his wife, Nurys, own the BnB. They have Thoroughbreds, Suffolk Punch Horses, and even Highland Cattle, but its when heavy rain comes in that the fields the animals reside in turn into ponds.

LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS:

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The couple are not strangers to rainfall; they lived several years in Panama.

I lived in Panama for 17 years, in the highlands of Panama and also in the lowlands, which are wetlands; they have 140in of rain a year, which is much more than we have anyplace here in the United States, so we were accustomed to seeing a lot of rain but not flooding, Randall said.

They bought the property four years ago, and just a week later, a flood came through.

This year, theyve already seen two major floods; about 80% of the 58-acre property was overtaken by water over the weekend, causing some of the animals to be moved up to higher ground.

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But the ones that suffered the most were the two Suffolk Punch horses; they were reduced to a real small area because the flood was basically coming up their fields, Randall said.

Thankfully, with the way the home sits, water is less likely to get inside, but that isnt the case for some of their neighbors.

Just a few miles down the road, it is impassable, with feet of water still flowing over it.

Randall said he knows his family is fortunate but hopes those who are dealing with more of an impact from the flooding get the help they need.

Im 74 years old; if I were to, you know, lose my entire house at this age, I cant imagine starting all over again, and people are going through those types of hardships. Randall said, So, hopefully, theres enough empathy in the communities as well as in the government to try to look for solutions for those people that are under those circumstances.

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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
By Dawit Endeshaw

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday appointed Tadesse Worede to lead the interim administration in the northern Tigray region, where divisions in the ruling party have sparked fears of a renewed war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Tadesse, the administration's deputy president for the last two years, was a top commander in the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) during the 2020-2022 war with Ethiopia's federal government, which killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions from their homes.

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Eritrean forces fought in support of Ethiopia's federal army during that conflict, but relations between the longtime rivals have since soured over an agreement ending the conflict signed in November 2022.

Analysts say Ethiopia's neighbour Eritrea was unhappy at being excluded from the deal, which allowed the TPLF, with which it remains deeply hostile, to govern Tigray.

Last year the TPLF split into two factions, with a dissident group led by Debretsion Gebremichael accusing Tigray's interim administration - led initially by TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda, whose two-year term has now expired - of selling out Tigrayan interests.

Debretsion's faction, which seized the town of Adigrat last month, has denied administration accusations of allying with Eritrea, heightening the risk of a regional war.

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In February, Eritrea ordered a nationwide military mobilisation, according to a human rights group. Ethiopia deployed troops toward their shared border, although Abiy has sought to downplay the prospect of conflict.

Tadesse, who analysts say has stayed largely neutral over the TPLF split, has agreed to eight commitments including the return of people displaced by the war and demobilisation of combatants, according to a letter shared by Abiy's spokesperson Billene Seyoum.

"(Tadesse) has a clear understanding of both the strengths and shortcomings of the previous administration, and many believe he is well-positioned to guide Tigray through this critical transition," Abiy wrote on X.

"It is my hope that (Tadesse) will seize this historic opportunity to help the people of Tigray realize their aspirations for peace and development," he added.

(This story has been corrected to fix the month when Eritrea ordered mobilisation, in paragraph 7)

(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by George Obulutsa, Jan Harvey)
By Renee Maltezou and Yannis Souliotis

ATHENS (Reuters) - The EU border agency said on Tuesday it was reviewing 12 cases of potential human rights violations by Greece, including some allegations migrants were pushed back across the frontier, a practice for which Athens has already been chastised in European court.

Greece, for years a favoured gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, has been accused by human rights groups of forcefully returning asylum-seekers on its sea and land borders, a practice it denies.

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"There are currently 12 active Serious Incident Reports related to Greece under review by the Fundamental Rights Office. Each is being examined thoroughly," Chris Borowski, spokesperson for EU border agency Frontex, said on Tuesday.

He said some of the cases referred to allegations of illegal pushbacks at the border but gave no further details of the circumstances. Two of the incidents occurred in 2025, nine in 2024 and one in 2023.

Officials at the Greek coast guard and police, responsible for the sea and land borders, were not immediately available to respond to questions about the 12 cases. A coast guard official said staff operate "with a high sense of responsibility, and with full respect for human lives and human rights".

In January, the European Court of Human Rights found violations of human rights by Greece over a case at its land border with Turkey, referring in its ruling to a "systematic practice of pushbacks".

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Any disciplinary action over rights violations would be up to the Greek national authorities.

Frontex, which has also been accused by rights groups in the past of complicity in illegal pushbacks, is undergoing reforms and has warned states including Greece that if they fail to report potential rights violations co-financing may be withheld.

Greece's coast guard has rescued over 250,000 people since 2015 when the country was at the frontline of Europe's migration crisis. Thousands of others have died at sea, according to the U.N refugee agency.

Frontex's financing of Greek maritime operations was cut last year due to broader operational budget constraints but the agency still engages with Greek authorities, insisting on reforms, said Borowski.

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"Frontex has changed how it engages with member states. We no longer supply resources unquestioningly," he said. "(We)insist on standards and expect action."

(Additioanl reporting by Amina Ismail in Brussels; Editing by Peter Graff)
TIRANA, Albania (AP)  The European Union s foreign policy chief on Tuesday hailed Albania's ambitious agenda to close full membership negotiations in two years and also urged the country's political parties to support difficult reforms ahead.

Kaja Kallas, who is on a regional tour, was in the Albanian capital, Tirana, to meet with the countrys leaders and assure them that the country's future is in the bloc.

Albania has an ambitious agenda to close EU negotiations in the next two years, Kallas said at a joint news conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. Its vital to sustain the high pace of reforms. And I also understand that the reforms are always quite difficult.

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Still, Albanias future is in the European Union, she said.

Later Tuesday in Bosnia, Kallas warned of a fragile security situation following a series of separatist moves by the Bosnian Serb leadership that have led to a constitutional crisis.

These actions contradict the commitments that Bosnia and Herzegovina has undertaken on its EU path, Kallas said. We will not tolerate any threats to the territorial integrity, sovereignty and constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Any attempts to break up the country are unacceptable.

The Western Balkans countries  Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia  are at different stages in their applications for EU membership. They have been frustrated by the slow pace of progress, but Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 encouraged Europes leaders to push for the six to join the bloc.

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While the EU decided in 2020 that it would start full membership negotiations with Albania, Bosnia is lagging behind because of persistent ethnic and political divisions stemming from the 1992-95 war.

Russia has backed the separatist president of a Serb-run entity in Bosnia, Milorad Dodik, who has faced U.S. and British sanctions for his policies disrupting Bosnia's postwar unity achieved in a 1995 U.S.-brokered peace agreement.

In Albania, Kallas praised Tirana's alignment with the EU's policies on Russia.

Your decision to fully implement EU sanctions against Russia alongside your political, military and humanitarian support to Ukraine demonstrates your commitment to our shared values, said Kallas.

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Rama has said he hopes to complete the negotiating process with the EU by 2027 and for Albania to become a bloc member by 2030.

We will not rest until we step into the door of the European Union, and sit around the same table that the European Union does, Rama said.

Albania is part of the EUs growth plan and it is expected to receive more than 920 million euros ($1 billion) over the next decade.

Also Tuesday, Albania signed a 90 million-euro ($98 million) agreement with the European Investment Bank to reconstruct the railway between the port of Durres and Rrogozhine, which Kallas said would serve as a "critical route between Member States and NATO for military mobility in South East Europe, which is extremely important in the current security environments.

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The EU funds consist of a 60.5 million-euro ($66 million) grant under the Western Balkans Investment Framework and a 30 million-euro ($33 million) loan from EIB Global that will help to modernize the 34-kilometer (21-mile) railway line.

The project costs 121 million euros ($132 million), and 30 million euros ($33 million) in co-financing will be provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The project will facilitate safer and more efficient and sustainable passenger and freight transportation, contributing to socioeconomic growth and regional integration, a statement said.

Albania holds parliamentary elections May 11 in which Rama's governing leftist Socialist Party has put EU membership as its goal. The conservative opposition accuses the Socialists of corruption and being unable to take the country ahead.
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  The European Unions border protection agency on Tuesday said it is investigating multiple alleged human rights violations by Greece in dealing with illegal immigration.

The agency, Frontex, said it is reviewing 12 alleged serious incidents that mostly took place in 2024. It gave no details.

Frontex spokesperson Chris Borowski told The Associated Press the agency recently boosted its complaint mechanism.

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There was no immediate government response.

Greece has come under increased international scrutiny and criticism from human rights groups following a migrant boat sinking in 2023 off its southern coast that killed hundreds.

In a January ruling, the European Court of Human Rights described Greece's use of summary expulsions of migrants, or pushbacks, as being systematic.

Greeces government denies those allegations, maintaining that its coast guard has rescued more than 250,000 migrants in accidents or distress at sea, and that it acts within the law and international obligations.

The government says it actively deters illegal crossings to its eastern islands, a major entry point for illegal migration into the European Union, but does not carry out summary deportations. Frontex rarely expresses criticism of the countries its deployed in, and Borowski said the agency intended to address the alleged violations in partnership with Greece. Every Frontex officer deployed is trained and obligated to report potential violations. This is a core part of our mandate, he said. We believe change comes from partnership, not passivity.

___

Follow APs international coverage of migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Until last week, nobody was more despised inside the Trump White House than special government employee Elon Musk. But after Musks $25 million belly flop in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election punctured his aura of invincibility, that baton passed to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.



Lutnick is loathed for two reasons. The first is that he defeated efforts by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and National Economic Council chair Kevin Hassett to limit the size and scope of Trumps tariffs, which, if were lucky, will tip the U.S. economy into a recession. (If were unlucky, the tariffs will tip the global economy into a depression.) The second reason Trump officials hate Lutnick is that nobody thinks he actually believes the hooey he spouts in furtherance of a maximalist tariff policy. In an administration overflowing with sycophants, no nose is burrowed more deeply inside Trumps gluteus maximus than Lutnicks.

Lutnick is constantly auditioning for Trumps approval, a person identified as being close to the administration told Politico on March 11. Hes trying to be a mini-Trump. According to Politico, White House and administration officials were growing increasingly frustrated with Lutnick because of his abrasive personality and frequent TV appearances that showed a lack of understanding of even the basics about how tariffs and the economy work. Lutnick elbowed aside even the rabid White House trade hawk Peter Navarro, Politico said, not to mention the actual U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer, becoming Capitol Hills go-to contact person on tariffs. (It is Greer, however, who is set to testify Tuesday before the House Ways and Means Committee.)

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The Trump administration is where reputations go to die. Before Trump, the world knew Lutnick as the Cantor Fitzgerald chief executive who lost 650 employees during the September 11 attacks, including his brother Gary and his best friend, Doug, all of them inside the financial services companys World Trade Center headquarters when the planes hit. (Lutnick was dropping his son off at Horace Mann School.) Cantor Fitzgerald gave the families $180 million and paid for the healthcare for ten years, Lutnick wrote last September on X. Lutnick also started the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, a charity to address disasters worldwide. The Financial Times named him person of the year for 2001.

Even then, Lutnicks halo was an awkward fit. Mr. Lutnick was widely disliked in the industry, reported Susanne Craig in a New York Times profile in 2011:

A ruthless competitor even by Wall Street standards, he has made more than a few enemies over the years. In 1996, as Mr. Cantor, his mentor, lay dying, Mr. Lutnick fought with Mr. Cantors wife, Iris, for control of Cantor Fitzgerald. She later barred him from the funeral.

Lutnick cut off paychecks to the families of dead employees four days after 9/11. It was just math, he told the Times in 2011. We lost all our producers. There simply was no money. A November 2001 report in Forbes by Susan Adams said Lutnick was succumbing to media pressure when he greenlit the 10-year health coverage and other payments to grieving families. Still, Lutnick won grudging respect in subsequent years for giving away $90 million of his own money to the surviving families and for bringing Cantor Fitzgerald back to life, enlarging the payroll to 13,000.

Lutnick supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, hosting a fundraiser for her at his Upper East Side brownstone. But he switched his allegiance to Trump in 2020, and in 2024 Lutnick hosted a Trump fundraiser at his Bridgehampton mansion that raised $15 million. Lutnick donated nearly $9 million to a Trump PAC and $5 million to other conservative groups. By October, The Wall Street Journal was calling Lutnick Trumps top emissary to Wall Street.

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Trump named Lutnick co-chair of his transition (with Linda McMahon, now education secretary), and in that capacity Lutnick pushed hard to become treasury secretary. Hes following the Cheney model, one transition official told CNN, a reference to when Dick Cheney, whom candidate George W. Bush asked in 2000 to find a running mate, chose himself. Musk went on Twitter to promote Lutnick for the Treasury, disparaging Lutnicks competitor for the job, Scott Bessent, as a business-as usual choice. Lutnick, Musk said, will actually enact change.

Be careful what you wish for! Musk is expressing mounting disagreement with the tariff policy. This past weekend, he attacked Navarro (but not Lutnick) on X and posted a Milton Friedman video that explains the global nature of supply chains. Navarro replied by saying Musk doesnt understand trade.

Lutnick, meanwhile, appeared Sunday on CBS Newss Face the Nation to defend the tariffs. Weve got to start to protect ourselves, Lutnick said, and weve got to stop having all the countries of the world ripping us off. We have a $1.2 trillion trade deficit, and the rest of the world has a surplus with us. Theyre earning our money. Theyre taking our money, and Donald Trump has seen this, and hes going to stop it.

Does Lutnick truly believe its good policy to impose high tariffs based on the size of trade deficits (rather than the trade practices of individual nations)? Does he think its good policy to slap a 10 percent tariff on everybody? Even if these actions crash the stock market? (The Dow dropped another 349 points Monday.) Probably he does not. CNN reported last month that Lutnicks own views on trade are more nuanced than his salesmanship would suggest and that privately hes told friends he was not thrilled by Trumps impulsiveness on trade. If thats what Lutnick believed before Liberation Day, then imagine the disparity now between Lutnicks relentless public maximalism and whatever he tells intimates.

In other words, Lutnick is not an idiot. He just plays one on TV and in the Oval Office to please the leader of the free world. If anybody is to take the fall for the economic wreckage Trumps creating, everybodys rooting for it to be Lutnick. But Lutnick still dreams of becoming treasury secretary, and there are rumors that Bessent (who cant summon Lutnick-like enthusiasm in shilling for this policy) wants out. Almost nobody inside the White House (much less outside it) can bear to contemplate that the oleaginous Lutnick will become Trumps actual emissary to Wall Street. But given the scrambled mental state of our commander in chief, dont rule it out.
KABUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The counter-narcotics police have destroyed 36 acres of poppy farms in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province over the past week, provincial police spokesman Assadullah Jamshid said Tuesday.

The anti-drug campaign had covered Daman, Panjwai, Khakriz, Maiwand and other parts of Kandahar province, during which police smashed the poppy farm in 36 acres of land and arrested five persons for investigation, the official added.

Police won't allow anyone to cultivate poppy and other illegal crops used in producing illicit drugs in the province, Jamshid asserted.

In the drive against illicit drugs, police arrested six alleged drug smugglers and discovered some hashish and other illegal objects in their possession in the eastern Nangarhar province a couple of days ago.

The Afghan interim government has vowed to fight against illicit drugs until the once poppy-growing country becomes a drug-free nation. 
(Photo: Ronda Churchill/Nevada Current)

Anticipating growing economic hardship, state lawmakers are considering appropriating an additional $25 million in eviction diversion funds to prevent tenants who fall behind on rent from being locked out of their homes.

Assembly Bill 475, heard Friday in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, would appropriate $18 million to Clark County and $7 million to Reno to continue their ongoing eviction diversion programs. Tenants who qualify for the program are able to get outstanding rents paid and avoid an eviction.

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Democratic Assemblymember Daniele Monroe-Moreno, the bills sponsor, anticipated more people could be at risk of financial insecurity and eviction since the times we are living in are going to get more interesting.

There is a need for eviction support in our state, and I believe its only going to get greater, Monroe-Moreno said.

Monroe-Morenos concerns are shared throughout the nation and the world, as the trade war started by President Donald Trump last week has led to historic nosedives in markets and increasing fears of a recession.

Both Clark and Washoe counties have benefited from rental assistance dollars to divert people from evictions, said Jonathan Norman, statewide advocacy, outreach and policy director for Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers.

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Since pandemic-era rental assistance has scaled back, eviction diversion has been exclusive to people living with disabilities or who are elderly with fixed incomes.

The $25 million request is higher than $18 million approved in 2023.

The reason the ask is higher is because we want to expand beyond seniors and adults with disabilities to families with young kids, Norman said. In Clark County, they identified about 1,600 families with a child under the age of one at risk for eviction. This would allow us to route those cases to eviction diversion as well.

Reno Judge Kendra Bertschy told lawmakers the proposed financial allocation is a crucial investment in community stability, public safety and responsible governance.

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The need for legislative support for rental assistance remains urgent, she said. Economic challenges, medical emergencies, and other unforeseen events continue to put renters at risk of eviction. Without continued funding, many will face housing insecurity, increasing the burden on emergency services, shelters and the judicial system ultimately costing taxpayers more.

Prior to the pandemic, the Las Vegas Justice Court averaged about 33,000 eviction cases filed each year, said Las Vegas Judge Jessica Goodey.

There have been record high filings and Las Vegas Justice Court had 43,030 evictions filed in 2024, she said. She didnt note how many evictions were granted in 2024.

To date in 2025, we have had 9,985 evictions and we are anticipating that number to continue to increase with the current state of affairs, Goodey said.

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From the onset of the Covid pandemic in 2020, state and local governments have used federal relief dollars to help people at risk of eviction.

Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed a bill in 2023 that would extend a modified version of an eviction protection passed by state lawmakers in 2021 that temporarily paused an eviction while rental assistance applications were pending.

However, Lombardo approved Assembly Bill 396 in 2023 that allocated $18 million in rental assistance dollars.

State lawmakers originally sought to approve $44 million for rental assistance in Clark and Washoe county with AB 396 in 2023. The amount was reduced to $12 million for Clark County and $3 million each for Reno and Sparks and Reno.

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The Las Vegas Justice Court used the funds to expand its existing eviction diversion program while Reno stood up a new eviction diversion program, Norman said.

Of the cases going through the Vegas court, 1,375 diverted cases in 2024 were households with an adult with a disability and 575 were seniors, he said.

While he said Reno has offered rental assistance since the pandemic, it only recently started a housing justice court that offers an eviction diversion program.

Since Renos eviction diversion court started in August, 94 households went through the eviction diversion program with 80% of them remained housed, Norman said.

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Without additional funds provided by the state, the program most likely wont be able to continue, Bertschy said.

Republican Assemblymember P.K. ONeill questioned if lawmakers were forgetting to allocate rental assistance support for rurals.

When lawmakers were debating the 2023 allocations, rurals indicated they were still using ARPA dollars for rental support, Norman said. He said they indicated they wouldnt need additional funds through the legislature.

Monroe-Moreno said she is looking into an amendment to include funding for rural areas.

The committee took no action on the bill.
The extensive reciprocal tariffs levied by President Donald Trump across dozens of countries are forcing businesses worldwide to tinker with how and when their shipments are headed to the U.S.

Just days after the president touted the far-reaching duties, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Associations (BGMEA) Chittagong office urged the Bangladesh Shipping Association to expedite U.S.-bound shipments currently delayed at Chattogram Port and inland container depots.

More from Sourcing Journal

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The concerns come as the April 9 deadline for the new country-specific tariffs goes into effect Wednesday, which would escalate to (at least) 37 percent for Bangladesh. Ten-percent import tariffs from all countries impacted went into effect Saturday.

Outside of the apparel supply chain, Apple is hustling up to get out in front of the tariffs, having already shipped five planes of iPhones and other goods from India to the U.S. in late March.

The tech titan plans to send more iPhones from India to the U.S. to offset the tariff costs as a short-term stopgap in hopes of getting an exemption from the tariffs, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Apple already obtained such an exemption during the first Trump administration.

Elsewhere, parties are looking to wait out any potential supply chain chaos by either delaying or pausing shipments altogether.

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British automaker Jaguar Land Rover has halted shipments to the U.S. for one month, while Germanys Audi is pausing indefinitely in response to another one of President Trumps tariffsthe 25 percent duty imposed on all imported automobiles. U.K.-based bookseller Waterstones is postponing international orders to America temporarily while it assesses the 10-percent baseline tariff on the country.

Ryan Petersen, CEO and founder of digital freight forwarder Flexport, said in a Saturday post on X that a portion of his companys customers are taking the wait-and-see approach.

Petersen said 28 percent of Flexports customers that were part of a series of calls said theyre pausing all ocean freight bookings from Asia until theres more clarity on where tariffs will end up. He also said quite a few clients shifted to air freight during the week to load goods before the April 9 deadline.

On Bloombergs Odd Lots podcast Monday morning, Petersen noted that the ongoing country-specific negotiations have kept more businesses at bay.

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A cabinet member told me that Liberation Day is the beginning and not the end of the process, and that they will be negotiating deals, Petersen said, citing the Trump administrations claim that 50 countries have tried to renegotiate the upcoming tariffs. If you think your duty rate might come back down, you kind of pause. Pausing is what I would do, too.

According to Petersen, some of Flexports e-commerce partners are already raising prices 5 to 10 percent due to the tariffs.

Petersen expects more companies to declare force majeure or attempt to get out of existing contracts or relationships, opening a whole new potential legal can of worms.

Lets say youre a vendor to a big-box retailer and you sign a contract to sell something at this price, and then there was no clause in there about tariff changes. Youre way underwater on contract, and youll have to chooseeither go bankrupt or hurt your reputation, Petersen said.

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Flexport is now rethinking whether it should redeploy some of its China-based air freight operation in other areas like Taiwan or Vietnam.

Its possible that we stay in China and continue to do what were doing but I suspect there just wont be enough volume, Petersen said.

In both the podcast and his Saturday tweets, Petersen maintained one current positive for many U.S. businesses, in that people are well stocked.

That theme has pervaded for months as the U.S. has seen elevated inbound cargo volume into major ports since Trump was voted back in as commander-in-chief in November. In January, total 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) entering the ports increased 13.4 percent over the year prior, and 4.4 percent over December totals. February numbers are expected to see a 6.1 percent annual increase, and an even bigger 10.8 percent yearly bump in March.

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This pull-forward was expected to keep cargo numbers elevated into the spring, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and trade consulting firm Hackett Associates.

But the strong start will likely lead to a softening in volume later in the year, especially for bulk commodities like furniture, appliances and air conditioning units.

Given the substantial inventory already here and the uncertainty of tariffs, its possible we could see a 10 percent drop in volume in the second half of this year, said Gene Seroka, executive director at the Port of Los Angeles, at a media briefing last month.
ST. LOUIS  A former deputy with the Phelps County Sheriffs Department appeared in federal court on Monday and was sentenced for soliciting and/or receiving sex acts and child pornography from two underage children and destroying evidence.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, Justin B. Durham, 43, of Rolla, pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of production of child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography, and three counts of destroying records in a federal investigation.

Durham admitted engaging in the sex acts with the victims while employed at the sheriffs department. He said he asked for and received a sexually explicit video from a 15-year-old in 2013 and provided $200 to the victim after she engaged in sex acts with him.

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As part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors, Durham also admitted engaging in sexual activities with the 17-year-old victimin his patrol vehicleand exchanging sexually explicit images and video with the victim. Durham met the second victim after her friend contacted police and he responded to the call.

The FBI interviewed Durham in 2023 after discovering his PayPal account was used to send money to another account connected with the sale of child pornography. Durham denied purchasing child pornography and said he had not accessed his Dropbox accounts for years.

Inside the mailbox scam costing residents millions

Durham refused a request to allow FBI agents to search of his cell phone, then destroyed his phone two days later and purchased a new one. Authorities said Durham deleted about 37 gigabytes of data in his Dropbox accounts before deactivating his account.

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Among those deleted files were hundreds of sexually explicit images and videos including child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

The Phelps County Sheriffs Department fired Durham on Aug. 9, 2023, and arrested him. Once in jail, Durham told FBI agents he destroyed his laptop computer, threw away his cell phone, and conducted a digital footprint scrub of his online accounts, according to the plea agreement. He also admitted to the court that he sent sexual letters to his fellow inmates at Phelps County Jail and solicited sexually explicit images from women, including one who was on parole.

A U.S. District Court judge sentenced Durham to 65 years in federal prison and ordered him to pay $79,160 in restitution to his victims.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio (WJW)  A former Rocky River police officer who is accused of using police databases for illegal searches on people, including students, appeared in court Tuesday.

Michael Bernhardt, 54, entered a not guilty plea on the following charges:

11 counts of Unauthorized Use of the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway (F5)

One count of Unauthorized Use of the Law Enforcement Automated Database System (F5)

One count of Possessing Criminal Tools (F5)

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Destroy them before they hatch in Ohio

Former Rocky River police officer Michael Bernhardt (Credit: City of Rocky River)

Bernhardt was given a $5,000 bond, which he posted, according to court records.

Hell be back in court for pretrial on April 17.

Bernhardt was indicted last month, accused of more than 70 illegal searches over a period of 10 years.

According to prosecutors, the crimes took place when Bernhardt was employed as a police officer with Rocky River, at which time he was also a school resource officer at Rocky River High School.

These searches included Rocky River students and their family members, other law enforcement officers and colleagues, school teachers and school administrators, and his own family members and ex-spouses, the prosecutors office said in a press release.

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The investigation stemmed from allegations of inappropriate relationships and contact with high school students.

Florida man faces execution for killing of woman on break from work at The Miami Herald

That investigation did not lead to charges.

Bernhardt left the police force in April 2024.

BCI agents are asking anyone who may have additional information about Bernhardt or his conduct with students to contact state investigators at 855-BCI-OHIO or 855-224-6446.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
By Laila Bassam, Tom Perry and Maya Gebeily

BEIRUT (Reuters) -As calls for Lebanon's Hezbollah to disarm gain momentum, a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters the group is ready to hold talks with the Lebanese president about its weapons if Israel withdraws from south Lebanon and stops its strikes.

The prospect of talks aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament - unimaginable when it was at the zenith of its power just two years ago - underlines dramatic shifts in the Middle East power balance since Israel pummelled the Iran-backed group in a devastating conflict triggered by the Gaza war.

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U.S.-backed President Joseph Aoun, who vowed when he took office in January to establish a state monopoly on the control of arms, intends to open talks with Hezbollah over its arsenal soon, three Lebanese political sources said.

Hezbollah emerged severely weakened from the 2024 conflict with Israel when its top leaders and thousands of its fighters were killed and much of its rocket arsenal destroyed. The blow was compounded when its ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power in Syria, cutting its supply lines from Iran.

The senior Hezbollah official said the group was ready to discuss its arms in the context of a national defence strategy but this hinged on Israel pulling out its troops from five hilltops in south Lebanon.

"Hezbollah is ready to discuss the matter of its arms if Israel withdraws from the five points, and halts its aggression against Lebanese," the senior official told Reuters.

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Hezbollah's position on potential discussions about its arms has not been previously reported. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to political sensitivities.

Hezbollah did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. After this story was published, Hezbollah's media office issued a statement saying that allegations published in "some media outlets" and attributed to Hezbollah officials "are completely false." The statement did not mention Reuters or specify which allegations were false.

The presidency declined to comment.

Israel, which sent ground troops into south Lebanon during the war, has largely withdrawn but decided in February not to leave the five hilltop positions. It said it intended eventually to hand them over to Lebanese troops once it was sure the security situation allowed.

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RENEWED FOCUS ON HEZBOLLAH'S ARMS

Despite a ceasefire since November, Israeli airstrikes have kept pressure on the group while Washington has demanded Hezbollah disarm and is preparing for nuclear talks with Hezbollah's Iranian backers.

Hezbollah has been the most powerful of the paramilitary groups Iran has backed across the region.

Reuters reported on Monday that several Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq are prepared to disarm for the first time to avert the threat of an escalating conflict with the Trump administration in the U.S.

Hezbollah has long rejected calls from its critics in Lebanon to disarm, describing its weapons as vital to defending the country from Israel. Deep differences over its arsenal spilled into a short civil war in 2008.

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The group's critics say the group has unilaterally dragged Lebanon into conflicts and the presence of its large arsenal outside of government control has undermined the state.

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Israel requires the Lebanese army to dismantle all unauthorised military facilities and confiscate all arms, starting in areas south of the Litani River, which flows into the Mediterranean some 20 km (12 miles) north of the Israeli border.

Two sources familiar with Hezbollah's thinking said it is weighing handing to the army its most potent weapons north of the Litani, including drones and anti-tank missiles.

CALL FOR A DISARMAMENT TIMETABLE

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Aoun has said Hezbollah's weaponry must be addressed through dialogue because any attempts to disarm the group by force would prompt conflict, the sources said.

Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, the head of Lebanon's Maronite church, said last week it was time for all weapons to be in state hands but this would need time and diplomacy because "Lebanon cannot bear a new war".

Communication channels with relevant stakeholders are being opened to "begin studying the transfer of weapons" to state control, after the army and security services had extended state authority across Lebanon, a Lebanese official said, saying this was a move to implement Aoun's policy.

The issue was also being discussed with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an important Hezbollah ally, who plays a key role in narrowing differences, she said.

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U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus, who visited Beirut at the weekend, repeated Washington's position that Hezbollah and other armed groups should be disarmed as soon as possible and the Lebanese army was expected to do the job.

"It's clear that Hezbollah has to be disarmed and it's clear that Israel is not going to accept terrorists shooting at them, into their country, and that's a position we understand," Ortagus said in an April 6 interview with Lebanon's LBCI television.

Several Lebanese government ministers want a disarmament timetable, said Kamal Shehadi, a minister affiliated with the anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces party. Shehadi told Reuters disarmament should take no more than six months, citing post-civil war militia disarmament as a precedent.

A timetable -- which presumably would impose deadlines on the process -- is, he said, the "only way to protect our fellow citizens from the recurring attacks that are costing lives, costing the economy and causing destruction".

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He said he and other ministers hoped the full cabinet would endorse the idea and task the minister of defense with preparing the timetable. "We're going to keep asking for it," he said.

The most recent conflict began when Hezbollah opened fire in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem in a March 29 speech said his group no longer has an armed presence south of the Litani, and had stuck to the ceasefire deal while Israel breached it "every day". Israel has accused Hezbollah of maintaining military infrastructure in the south.

Hezbollah has put the onus on the Lebanese state to get Israel to withdraw and stop its attacks. Qassem said there was still time for diplomatic solutions. But he warned that the "resistance is present and ready" and indicated it could resort "to other options" if Israel doesn't adhere to the deal.

(Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Peter Graff)
Around half of the people who entered the workforce since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic would quit their jobs if their employer enforced a full return to office mandate.

Young workers up to five years into their careers have learned the ropes of the corporate world from their bedrooms. Findings from a new study of these Gen Z workers by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and Respublica show that even though this working pattern may have affected their careers, theyre unlikely to be forced back to the office easily.

Nearly half of employees surveyed by BSI would quit their jobs if they were required to return to the office full-time. Younger workers also think on-site jobs should pay more than hybrid ones. Seven out of 10 U.K. respondents believe jobs requiring a full-time presence on-site should pay more than remote or hybrid roles.

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The Hybrid Generation, as they are described by BSI, started their careers around the beginning of global lockdowns in March 2020. As a result, many of them have never operated in the pre-Covid norm of traveling to the office every day to complete their tasks.

Because around 200 million people have joined the workforce since the onset of the pandemic, this will make it difficult to put the genie back in the bottle, according to BSI CEO Susan Taylor Martin.

Our work expectations are so crafted by our first job experience. That never goes away, and I think where you start really kind of shapes what your expectations are, said Taylor Martin.

In addition to keeping their flexibility, they think in-office jobs should come with a guarantee that they wont be contacted out of hours. Last year, the U.K. government introduced a Right to Switch Off bill that would ban bosses from messaging employees once the work day was over.

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Several major companies, including JPMorgan and Amazon, enacted sweeping RTO policies for their workforce in recent months, increasing workplace tension as employees struggle to give up their flexibility.

The latest evidence to emerge of a reluctance to adjust to pre-Covid norms will prove a head-scratcher for employers.

Research has tended to show that young workers are the most negatively impacted by remote work, which stunts their progression at a vital learning juncture. The Collison brothers behind Stripe, who are proponents of hybrid and remote models, view younger workers as a cohort that needs time in the office.

Mark Mullen, the CEO of Atom Bank, which operates a four-day workweek and lets employees work completely remotely, told Fortune younger workers needed to organize in-office days with their managers.

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The reason bosses like to have their younger employees in the office was amplified by BSIs findings. The survey found remote workers were more likely to feel they missed out on training opportunities and performance reviews that would have otherwise been available had Covid not happened.

They struggled if they were working from home about what to do, because they didn't know the job, they didn't know the people, and they didn't have the direction, said Kate Field, BSIs global head of Human and Social Sustainability.

More than a career

One reason the career-related shortcomings of hybrid work might not matter so much to younger workers is because progression itself isnt as important for them.

Only 39% of workers surveyed by BSI found financial incentives to be the most important marker for a job, trailing the most coveted feature of work-life balance.

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It's not just this kind of single-minded focus on career progression and financial outcomes, said Taylor Martin. It's a much more balanced picture. And I think that's something that was really unique for this cohort that, actually, we haven't seen in previous age groups.

Other respondents felt more advantages than disadvantages from being exposed to remote work at the start of their careers. This was mostly evident in workers physical and mental health, with a majority experiencing positive effects of both when working from home.

They also arent taking for granted the fact that they might not have been able to do the job theyre currently placed in before the days of remote work.

Field cites an example of a young Bristol-based worker who was able to take a higher-paying job in London thanks to the hybrid model.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
By Alexandra Ulmer, Marisa Taylor, Jeffrey Dastin and Alexandra Alper

(Reuters) -Trump administration officials have told some U.S. government employees that Elon Musk's DOGE team of technologists is using artificial intelligence to surveil at least one federal agencys communications for hostility to President Donald Trump and his agenda, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

While much of Musks Department of Government Efficiency remains shrouded in secrecy, the surveillance would mark an extraordinary use of technology to identify expressions of perceived disloyalty in a workforce already upended by widespread firings and severe cost cutting.

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The DOGE team is also using the Signal app to communicate, according to one other person with direct knowledge of the matter, potentially violating federal record-keeping rules because messages can be set to disappear after a period of time.

And they have heavily deployed Musks Grok AI chatbot  an aspiring ChatGPT rival  as part of their work slashing the federal government, said that person. Reuters could not establish exactly how Grok was being used.

The White House, DOGE and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.

The use of AI and Signal reinforces concerns among cybersecurity experts and government ethicists that DOGE is operating with limited transparency and that billionaire Musk or the Trump administration could use information gathered with AI to further their own interests, or to go after political targets.

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Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at Washington University in St. Louis, said DOGEs use of privacy-focused Signal adds to growing concerns over data security practices after top Trump administration officials came under fire last month for the mistaken inclusion of a journalist in a group chat about high-level planning for military operations in Yemen.

If theyre using Signal and not backing up every message to federal files, then they are acting unlawfully, she said.

Reuters interviews with nearly 20 people with knowledge of DOGEs operations  and an examination of hundreds of pages of court documents from lawsuits challenging DOGE's access to data  highlight its unorthodox usage of AI and other technology in federal government operations.

At the Environmental Protection Agency, for instance, some EPA managers were told by Trump appointees that Musks team is rolling out AI to monitor workers, including looking for language in communications considered hostile to Trump or Musk, the two people said.

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The EPA, which enforces laws such as the Clean Air Act and works to protect the environment, has come under intense scrutiny by the Trump administration. Since January, it has put nearly 600 employees on leave and said it will eliminate 65% of its budget, which could require further staffing reductions.

Trump-appointed officials who had taken up EPA posts told managers that DOGE was using AI to monitor communication apps and software, including Microsoft Teams, which is widely used for virtual calls and chats, said the two sources familiar with these comments. We have been told they are looking for anti-Trump or anti-Musk language, a third source familiar with the EPA said. Reuters could not independently confirm if the AI was being implemented.

The Trump officials said DOGE would be looking for people whose work did not align with the administration's mission, the first two sources said. Be careful what you say, what you type and what you do, a manager said, according to one of the sources.

After publication of this story, the EPA acknowledged in a statement that it was looking at AI to better optimize agency functions and administrative efficiencies but said it was not using AI as it makes personnel decisions in concert with DOGE. It did not directly address whether it was using AI to surveil workers. Musk has depicted DOGE as a tech-driven effort to make the U.S. federal government more efficient by targeting waste, fraud and abuse. He has said the goal was to trim $1 trillion in spending, or 15% of the U.S. annual budget.

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Few dispute the U.S. government and its aging computer systems are due for modernization. But Democrats say Musk and Trump are purging the government of non-partisan public servants and installing loyalists who would turn a blind eye to corruption. Many Republicans and independents are also critical of DOGE's actions.

Clark, the ethics specialist, said the prospective surveillance was worrisome. It sounds like an abuse of government power to suppress or deter speech that the president of the United States doesnt like, she said.

Last year, before Trump was elected, Musk suggested AI could be used to replace government workers, according to a person with direct knowledge of his comments. The concept was that through taking the government data that they could build the most dynamic AI system ever, the person said, adding that AI could then do the work.

The complex endeavor would entail teaching AI systems to automate some of the work currently done by federal employees.

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As a special government employee, Musk is prohibited under ethics laws from involving himself in government activities that would benefit him or his companies.

TRANSPARENCY QUESTIONS

In addition to the use of Signal, some DOGE staffers are bypassing other vetting processes and chains of custody for official government documents by working simultaneously out of Google Docs instead of circulating single copies of drafts, a source briefed by a government official said.

There's multiple people in one Google Doc editing things simultaneously, the source said, referring to the online word processing software. That was partly how DOGE was working so quickly, the source added.

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The Trump administration has argued that DOGE, as an arm of the Executive Office of the President, is not subject to laws that allow the public to seek access to records produced by government agencies.

Citing DOGEs unusual secrecy, including its use of Signal, a federal judge on March 10 ordered the group to start handing records to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, an ethics watchdog that had sued to request DOGE documents under federal freedom of information laws. As of Monday, the watchdog said, no records had been turned over.

As Musk embeds his young DOGE team of engineers and aides deep inside the governments digital infrastructure, accusations that DOGE is deliberately operating in secrecy have emerged in court cases challenging the authority of Musk, the worlds richest man, to remake the federal government.

DOGE employees have dramatically tightened administrative controls at some agencies, keeping staffers in the dark while making significant operational changes, according to interviews and court filings.

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When Musks team took control of the governments human resources agency, the Office of Personnel Management, in late January, they shut OPM employees out of a database containing sensitive personal information of tens of millions of current and former federal workers, according to court filings and Reuters previous reporting.

OPM is at the heart of the administrations vision to shrink the government, issuing government-wide directives that are seen as blueprints for downsizing the civil service.

Since late January, more than 100 tech staff at OPM have lost access to the cloud where key applications are stored, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Only two people still have access  one career staffer and Greg Hogan, a political appointee who worked at an AI startup and is now OPMs chief information officer, the sources added. Hogan did not respond to a request for comment.

(Ulmer and Dastin reported from San Francisco; Taylor and Alper reported from Washington. Additional reporting by Joseph Tanfani, Valerie Volcovici and Humeyra Pamuk. Editing by Jason Szep)
By Jonathan Saul and Renee Maltezou

LONDON/ATHENS (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration is considering softening its proposed fee on China-linked ships visiting U.S. ports after a flood of negative feedback from industries that said the idea could be economically devastating, according to six sources.

Among the changes under consideration are delayed implementation and new fee structures designed to reduce the overall cost to visiting Chinese vessels, according to the six sources with knowledge of the matter.

The sources asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The White House and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the government department involved in the drafting the proposal, did not respond to requests for comment.

Not all of the agency's proposed multimillion-dollar fees for Chinese-built ships to dock at U.S. ports will be implemented and may not be cumulative, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday.

The USTR has proposed that fees that could top $3 million per U.S. port call for China-built or linked vessels. Its proposal came after it completed an investigation into China's maritime sector and development plans that began in April 2024.

The Trump administration argues that fees would curb China's growing commercial and military dominance on the high seas and promote the U.S. domestic maritime industry.

But representatives from numerous industries, from coal to agriculture, argued during public hearings last month that the fee proposal could make it impossible to ship everything from coal to soybeans to market because of the prevalence of Chinese-linked vessels in the existing global shipping fleet, and the time it would take to replace them.

China's foreign ministry on Wednesday reiterated its stance on the issue, saying measures such as levying port fees would not revitalise America's shipbuilding industry but only "harm others and itself".

The Trump administration was also thinking about changes to the fees to make them less onerous and reduce their impact on U.S. businesses, all six of the sources said.

Among options the Trump administration was considering is charging a fee that is adjusted based on the number of Chinese-built ships in a company's fleet, one source said. That would mean lower fees for those companies with fewer ships built in China.

The administration was also mulling a charge based on the tonnage of unloaded vessels rather than a flat fee, two of the sources said. This would mean lower fees for smaller ships, rather than flat fees for all vessels. That might ease the burden on ship owners with smaller vessels involved in niche trades such as transporting grains or other commodities.
Prince William and Kate Middletons next Buckingham Palace balcony appearance seems to have been confirmed.

The Mirror reported that King Charles will be joined by William, Kate, their three kids Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, Queen Camilla, and other royal family members to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day on May 5. It will be part of four days of commemorations marking the end of World War II in Europe, and the flypast will be undertaken by current and historic aircraft, including the Red Arrows, which have flown over Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Color in the past.

Getty Images Prince George, Prince William, Prince Louis, Princess Kate, and Princess Charlotte at 2024's Trooping the Colour Prince George, Prince William, Prince Louis, Princess Kate, and Princess Charlotte at 2024's Trooping the Colour

The appearance will come just three days after Charlotte, the Prince and Princess of Wales only daughter, turns the milestone age of 10 on May 2. Princess Anne and her husband, Sir Tim Laurence, are also expected to attend, as is Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.

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His Majesty is dedicated to bring his family and the country together in honor of Britains war dead and recreate the sense of community that came with the celebrations to mark VE Day, a source told The Mirror. The four days of commemorations will be a fantastic opportunity for the country to unite for such a special occasion, 80 years after victory was declared in Europe.

Getty Images Prince William, Prince George, Prince Louis, Princess Kate, and Princess Charlotte attend the Christmas morning service on December 25, 2024 Prince William, Prince George, Prince Louis, Princess Kate, and Princess Charlotte attend the Christmas morning service on December 25, 2024

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The four days of commemorations will pay tribute to the millions across the U.K. and Commonwealth who served in World War II, and the royal familys Buckingham Palace balcony appearance will happen just ahead of the actual anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE Day), which happened on May 8, 1945. Per The Mirror, further commemorations are expected in the summer for VJ Day (Victory Over Japan), which took place on August 15, 1945. Even before that, the Wales family of five will likely take part in Junes Trooping the Colour, which marks the public birthday celebrations of King Charles.

Read the original article on InStyle
TEHRAN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi confirmed on Tuesday that he would engage in "indirect talks" with U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff in Oman on Saturday.

In a post on social media platform X early Tuesday, Araghchi said Iran and the United States would meet in Oman on Saturday for "indirect high-level talks."

He added, "It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court."

His remarks came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump, during a meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, claimed that direct talks with Iran were set to take place.

"We're having direct talks with Iran," Trump said. "It's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully, those talks will be successful."

He also disclosed that a "very big meeting" involving "very high-level" officials would be taking place this Saturday.

The discrepancy over whether the talks are direct or indirect has persisted since early March, when Trump stated he had sent a letter to Iranian leaders -- via the United Arab Emirates -- proposing direct negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

While Iran later confirmed receiving the letter, it rejected face-to-face talks, though it left the door open for indirect engagement.

Trump, in an interview with NBC News in late March, threatened to launch "unprecedented military strikes" on Iran if it refused to negotiate over its nuclear program.

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 United States -- in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

However, 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. 
Rising seas fueled by the warming planet have started washing away nests of endangered hooded plovers in Australia, spurring conservationists into action to save them.

What's happening?

As the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported, hooded plover habitats along beaches in southwest Victoria are increasingly threatened by high tides and storm surges, forcing the birds to nest on higher ground.

In recent years, high seas have swept some of the plovers' eggs away, so they've started building their nests on dunes instead of the beach. While it's a good sign that the animals are adapting, it's yet another reminder of how quickly the climate is changing worldwide.

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The hooded plover's population once dropped to just 450 before conservation efforts led to their successful recovery  with an estimated 3,000 individuals across Australia currently. But flooded beaches and worsening storms leave much less dry land for the birds to nest and lay eggs, putting their survival at risk.

"That increased severity of storm surges and king tides, along with the increasing pressure of humans on the beach means they are up against it," Dan Lees, the coastal birds program officer at the nonprofit BirdLife Australia, told ABC News.

"They're a species where there's so many threats facing it, it's death by a thousand cuts."

Why is this concerning?

As conservationists explained to ABC, hooded plovers prefer to nest on beaches rather than on steep dune faces, where it's harder for the birds to hatch. But with rising seas swamping beaches and eroding dunes, it's leaving the birds with few options.

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Plovers are beneficial to humans as they keep beaches clean by ridding them of debris and small crustaceans, along with providing opportunities to connect with nature and appreciate wildlife.

Their foraging behavior is also crucial to a healthy coastal ecosystem, as it keeps populations of invertebrates in check. Being a vital part of the food chain, larger birds such as raptors, gulls, and ravens depend on hooded plover eggs for survival.

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As the warming climate reduces the available habitat for the birds, it could disrupt the delicate balance of beach ecosystems and undo decades of recovery operations.

Human activity  namely the burning of dirty fuels  is threatening countless species worldwide. Migratory birds are cutting their stays in wintering grounds short because of rising temperatures, and more frequent heatwaves in Australia are endangering brown booby, lesser frigatebird, and masked booby populations  all seabirds that rely on stable beach and marine ecosystems.

What's being done to save hooded plovers?

Hope isn't lost for the hooded plovers, as the federal government in Australia has invested over $17 million in projects to protect them from extreme weather, per ABC.

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Wildlife officers have also put up signs in the birds' nesting areas to provide guidelines for the public, including keeping dogs on leashes and leaving them plenty of breathing room.

"We can't control the tides. We can't control the weather. But we can control people's awareness of the birds on the beaches," Conservation Regulator forest and wildlife officer Monique Cugliari told the news outlet.

Along with being mindful of sensitive bird habitats, we can help birds survive by switching to clean energy sources to power our homes, such as solar panels, and eco-friendly appliances that don't produce pollution.

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.
Marine researchers have found 488 distinct species thriving in a methane-rich, deep-sea environment, according to a summary on Phys.org.

Sixty-three dives across five expeditions between 2009 and 2019 off the coast of Costa Rica helped find 131 previously described species and at least 58 undiscovered species. Combined with other specimens that are still being documented, the researchers say this marks the highest biodiversity count recorded around a single deep-sea vent.

The paper, which was published in the journal ZooKeys, was co-authored with University of California, San Diego and the University of Costa Rica. All told, the paper included work from 28 authors across 22 organizations.

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Naturally occurring methane produces a unique ecosystem. Bacteria have evolved that can feed on dissolved methane and sulfur being emitted by vents and seeps. This creates an entire food web that can survive independent of photosynthesis, the process by which plants capture energy from sunlight. It's estimated that 10% to 15% of the deep sea's energy comes from these thermal vents, per Oceana International.

Besides offering an exciting range of discoveries with still more implications to explore, the new data highlights the need to protect areas where there is still so much to learn.

These ecosystems are vulnerable to human disruption as interest grows in deep-sea mining and trawling by fishers. Should we engage in industry in these areas before further research is done, we're likely to destroy life that we don't even know about.

While that life is far-removed from humans, it is not entirely disconnected. Deep-sea, methane-rich environments feed and support life in shallower waters, including the fish we catch and eat.

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Participating scientists were hopeful the data could help to encourage protection of these delicate ecosystems and promote equally deep research.

"We hope that this information-rich, freely available resource will strengthen deep-sea biodiversity research, education, and conservation, as well as set a high scientific standard to inspire similarly comprehensive studies for other parts of the world," said lead author Charlotte Seid, per the Phys.org summary.

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.
NEW YORK (PIX11)  Are you searching for new career opportunities?

The Office of the Mayor of the City of New York is hosting an April hiring hall on April 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

More Local News

The hiring hall allows job seekers to learn about work opportunities for the City of New York, meet with private employers around the city, access workforce development trainings and programs, and connect to resources, including public benefits.

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Job seekers should wear professional or business attire and bring a photo ID and several copies of their resumes. Some employers will be interviewing on the spot.

MTA is hiring for jobs with no education requirements or experience

The hiring hall will be held at York College at 94-20 Guy R Brewer Boulevard in Queens. Those planning on attending must register for a time slot.

More information about the hiring hall can be found online.

Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here.

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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Apr. 7LIMA  Testimony began Monday in the jury trial of a man charged in the 2023 shooting death of Lima resident Kirk Perine.

Michael Oliphant, 23, is facing two counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault in connection with Perine's death on Rosedale Avenue on Feb. 15, 2023. Prior to the start of testimony Monday in Allen County Common Pleas Court, the state dismissed one remaining felonious assault charge.

According to prosecutors, the 59-year-old Perine was found by police inside a white Buick in the 100 block of North Rosedale Avenue. He had suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Destiny Caldwell told jurors evidence would show that Oliphant had purchased a handgun and a box of ammunition approximately an hour before the shooting and, after firing his weapon at two people in the parking lot of a local business, then proceeded to shoot Perine in the neck, causing his death.

According to court records, Lima police responded on Feb. 15, 2023, following a report of shots fired at Feltz Chiropractic Office, 1517 Allentown Road, Lima. Dr. Carl Feltz, owner of the business, and his billing assistant Phyllis Locker, each told jurors Monday how a Black male approached them as they stood outside the business late that afternoon. Feltz said the man assumed a "shooter's stance" and discharged at least two rounds from a firearm he was pointing at the duo. Locker said the gunman was dressed entirely in red.

Bullet holes were found in the chiropractic office.

A jury of nine men and three women also heard from an eyewitness who lives near the scene of Perine's death. A young woman testified she saw a white vehicle traveling slowly down Rosedale Avenue not long after the incident at the chiropractor's office. She said she observed a Black male exit the passenger's side of the vehicle then turn and discharge a firearm into the driver's side of the car before calmly walking away and into a nearby alley. The car with Perine inside  at that point fatally injured  then came to rest after striking a tree on Rosedale Avenue, she said.

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Jurors also viewed video footage from the body camera worn by then-Lima Police Department Patrolman Logan Schick. Officers are seen on that footage subduing a Black male  later identified as Oliphant  dressed entirely in red. He can be heard on the video telling officers where he had discarded the weapon allegedly used in the shooting.

Testimony in the trial will resume Tuesday morning.

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The Federal Aviation Administration is reporting that laser strikes on aircraft nationwide are dangerously high, with Florida ranking third among all states in 2024.

The issue is not new, but it seems the incidents continue to give pilots another thing to worry about. Experts say lasers pointed at pilots can temporarily can temporarily impair their sight.

Since the agency began monitoring these incidents in 2010, 328 pilots have been injured.

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In Orange County, pointing lasers at pilots, including a sheriffs helicopter, has led to multiple arrests in the past few years.

Orange County has not seen any in the past year, but more than 12,000 other pilots did.

While officials say those results are a 3% decrease from 2023, the numbers are still too high.

California and Texas have the most incidents with more than 1,400. Florida came in third with 810.

The report comes amid the most recent arrest in Florida. Dann Wagner, 61, was charged with felony misuse of a laser lighting device. Investigators say he pointed a green laser at a Pinellas County Sheriffs Office helicopter that was assisting in an assault case on March 27.

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Anthony Brickhouse teaches aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and says these incidents can be dangerous.

I know just to the common eye, it doesnt seem that serious, but it can be a very serious situation. It could cause an accident. It could cause permanent damage to the pilots eyes. So what a lot of people do, having fun, could end up being criminal at the end of the day, he said.

People who shine lasers at aircraft can face FAA fines up to $11,000 per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple laser incidents.

Offenders can also face federal criminal penalties of up to five years in prison for a $250,000 fine, as well as state and local penalties.

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Claim:

An image authentically shows a letter by a school principal in Sackets Harbor, New York, calling for the release of three students and their mother from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Rating:

Rating: True

In early April 2025, a letter purportedly showing a school principal's appeal for the return of her students from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody spread widely online. Social media users posted the alleged letter on platforms like Bluesky, Facebook and X.

ICE is arresting third graders, handcuffing them and putting them in detention with adult criminals. pic.twitter.com/g4E7ua0OoW  Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) April 6, 2025

The letter was allegedly written by Jaime Cook, principal of New York's Sackets Harbor Central School that teaches preschool through high school students. It described a situation where ICE officials detained three unnamed students from the same family, even though they allegedly followed "the legal [immigration] process." According to the letter, agents supposedly went "door to door" and "handcuffed" the students before putting them in a van with an "alleged criminal" and taking them to a detention center. Officials also detained their mother, according to the letter.

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Per the letter, at least one of the students is a third grader. "We are in shockand it is that shared shock that has unified our community in the call for our students' release," Cook allegedly wrote.

While Snopes has not independently corroborated every claim in the letter (it's true ICE agents detained the family), we have confirmed it is real. The principal posted the letter on Facebook on April 5, 2025, and Cook confirmed the document's authenticity via email. The school also confirmed the document's authenticity via a phone call. Therefore, we have rated this claim true.

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As of this writing, the family has not been identified.

The case gained national media attention in part because it happened in the hometown of U.S. President Donald Trump's "border czar," Tom Homan. He told New York television station 7News he first heard about the situation from a childhood friend, New York Assemblyman Scott Gray of Watertown. Gray said via an emailed statement on April 7 he was "pleased to share that the family at the center of this recent federal immigration matter is being returned home."

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Sackets Harbor Central School District Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney also confirmed in an emailed statement that the students and their mother "are returning home."

"At this time, we respectfully ask both the media and the community to honor the family's privacy," the statement read, noting that the district did not plan to respond to further media inquiries.

Details of the incident

While the letter did not state the day ICE detained the family, news reports said the arrests happened in an early morning raid on March 27, 2025, that was initially focused on arresting a South African man who is accused of distributing images of child sexual abuse. In addition to the woman and her three kids, three other people were detained in the sweep, per The Associated Press.

The case sparked outrage among the local community, which organized protests calling for the students' return. In a 7News interview about the situation on April 2, Homan said, "ICE is doing everything by the book" and the family was "found in the country illegally" (see 2:15). Here is an excerpt from the conversation (see 2:54):

First of all, the family is not in a jail. They're in a family residential center; it's an open-air campus. So the investigators are doing their due diligence. The victim witness specialists are reviewing the safety and security of the children, medical evaluations  it's usually a part of the investigation, so the investigation continues. It's a criminal investigation.

The full interview is available on 7News' YouTube page.

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In Cook's letter, she challenged Homan's description of the family's circumstances:

We are in direct communication with our students. Let me be clear: they are not "being medically evaluated." They are not being "questioned as potential victims." Calling a detention center by another name does not change what it is. We deserve better than spin and misinformation. My teachers and my students are already hurting.

Family residential centers are detention centers according to ICE's own website.

In her email, Cook said she posted the letter to Facebook "in response to misinformation" and said the family had no association with the "alleged criminal" ICE initially targeted. "I lent my voice as a person and I do not represent my school district or the teacher's union," she continued.

Cook also said the students told her they were handcuffed and transported in the same van as the suspect, and the letter's reference to "direct communication" between school officials and the students was via daily phone calls.

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Homan's interview with 7News did not address Cook's allegations that the students were handcuffed. However, page 10 of the 2015 ICE arrest procedures handbook reads: "Age, size, and gender are not valid reasons for failing to handcuff an individual. Juveniles may be handcuffed for officer safety." There does not appear to be a more recent handbook publicly available at the time of publication.

Gray, the New York assemblyman, said via email he did not know whether the children were handcuffed and could not verify details in Cook's letter. "My focus was on the family first, I will attempt to work on the [other details] next," he said.

Sources:

7News | WWNY | Watertown. "7News Extra FULL INTERVIEW: Border Czar Tom Homan Talks about ICE Sweep near Sackets Harbor." YouTube, 2 Apr. 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDGeLrbhfJM. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

"Arrest Procedures Handbook." U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 21 July 2015, p. 10, www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/policy/handbookHSI_15-03_ArrestProcedures_Jul21_2015.pdf. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

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"Detention Management." Www.ice.gov, www.ice.gov/detain/detention-management.

Harbor, Sackets. "Sackets Harbor Central School." Sacketspatriots.org, www.sacketspatriots.org/. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

Jaime Montana Cook. "Message from Sackets Harbor Principal." Facebook.com, 5 Apr. 2025, www.facebook.com/jaime.cook.712/posts/pfbid0pTCWysCrkCJmqa9AxEGfoPXjPJFpnaPXMtFVPgTNQhC2pSUGwWmLkAoNFrTDKFNYl?rdid=BlH4dr3FXEIWW8Pd#. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

Ormsbee, Molly. "Three Students Detained by ICE Agents near Watertown." WPTZ, 1 Apr. 2025, www.mynbc5.com/article/students-detained-by-ice-upstate-new-york/64349643. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

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"South African Man Living in Jefferson County Charged with Distribution of Child Pornography." Justice.gov, 28 Mar. 2025, www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/south-african-man-living-jefferson-county-charged-distribution-child-pornography. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

Thompson, Carolyn. "Family Swept up by US Immigration Agents Looking for Someone Else Is Released from Custody." AP News, 7 Apr. 2025, apnews.com/article/homan-ice-sackets-harbor-children-detained-acdf67107330d5548cc8fefb80b47da9. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.
Claim:

Elon Musk became a guardian to an abandoned newborn baby in early 2025.

Rating:

Rating: False

A rumor that users circulated online in March and April 2025 claimed tech billionaire Elon Musk decided to become a guardian to an abandoned newborn baby. According to People.com, Musk, who also serves as an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, previously fathered 14 children with four different women.

In a prominent example of the rumor, on March 31, a Facebook user named "Elnora Harper"  whose profile bore red flags of potential illegitimacy  posted, in part, "A newborn baby was abandoned just five hours ago. In the face of this heartbreaking situation, Elon Musk has stepped in to become her guardian, committing to covering all expenses for her upbringing."

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The post received over 30,000 reactions and 26,000 comments. The same user posted a link to an article on videoviral2.greensmartmobility.com displaying the headline, "Elon Musk Becomes Guardian of Abandoned Newborn: A Bold Act of Compassion or a Surprising Twist?"

("Elnora Harper"/Facebook)

Many other Facebook users and at least one X user also reposted the rumor.

However, we located no evidence to confirm this rumor about Musk stepping in to help an abandoned newborn baby. Searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo yielded no credible reporting about the matter from news media outlets.

SpaceX and Tesla, two companies for which Musk serves as CEO, had not yet responded to our requests for comment at the time of publication.

A closer look at Musk/abandoned baby rumor

The rest of the full post's text called into question its first two sentences, including mentioning the possibility of the rumor being fiction or satire:

A newborn baby was abandoned just five hours ago. In the face of this heartbreaking situation, Elon Musk has stepped in to become her guardian, committing to covering all expenses for her upbringing. Elon Musk, as a high-profile entrepreneur, has often been involved in various charitable efforts, though this specific scenario of him adopting a newborn abandoned baby and committing to her upbringing seems to be a fictional or exaggerated example. Musk has made headlines for his involvement in causes like space exploration, renewable energy, and even projects like the Boring Company, but adopting a baby in such a dramatic fashion would be quite a shift in his public persona. If this is part of a larger satirical commentary, it could reflect the way celebrities are sometimes thrust into roles where they are expected to handle larger-than-life situations.

Whoever originated the rumor  whether "Elnora Harper" or someone else  created the image of Musk holding the newborn baby, and possibly the text, too, with artificial-intelligence (AI) tools. Musk's face in the image appeared different from his real-life appearance and shared similarities with other posts featuring AI-generated pictures of him.

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If the Musk image were a genuine photo, news media outlets would have widely reported the news. Again, no reports substantiating the rumor appeared in any credible reporting.

Scans of the full text with the AI-detection websites Copyleaks, GPTZero and QuillBot all determined a 100% likelihood of AI generation. (These websites don't provide definitive results. Instead, they offer another data point toward helping to establish the truth.)

The profile for "Elnora Harper" may have been created under a fake name. The profile claimed "Harper" was a fashion model, but online searches produced no evidence to confirm that claim. The profile also offered sexually suggestive photos and links, and hosted other false rumors about Musk, as well  all possibly efforts to turn such content into revenue. The user's account automatically responded to our request on Messenger asking if they created the rumor by displaying a link to the user's supposed private photos.

For further reading, a previous fact-check collection examined 25 rumors about Musk.

Sources:

"AI Content Detector." QuillBot, https://quillbot.com/ai-content-detector.

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"AI Detector & Content Checker | No Login Required." Copyleaks, https://copyleaks.com/ai-content-detector.

Caruso, Skyler, and Rebecca Aizin. "Elon Musk's 14 Children: All About the Tesla CEO's Sons and Daughters (and the 4 Women He Shares Them With)." People.Com, 13 Feb. 2025, https://people.com/all-about-elon-musk-children-11678749.

GPTZero. https://app.gptzero.me/.
Claim:

A National Park Service web page on the Underground Railroad was temporarily edited to remove references to abolitionist and former slave Harriet Tubman, with the exception of an image of a stamp with her face on it, alongside Black and white abolitionists.

Rating:

Rating: True

Context:

An edited version of the page that lacked some of the original content about Tubman went live in February 2025. The original page was back online as of April 7, 2025.

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In April 2025, numerous Snopes readers wrote in to ask about purported changes U.S. President Donald Trump's administration made to a National Park Service (NPS) webpage about the Underground Railroad. Readers and social media users pointed out that many references to noted abolitionist and former slave Harriet Tubman no longer appeared on the page. Readers also asked if this change was due to one of Trump's executive orders calling for an end to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government.

One X post stated: "Trump took Harriet Tubman OFF the National Parks Underground Railroad memorial and instead centered it around White people."

I sh*t you not, Trump took Harriet Tubman OFF the National Parks Underground Railroad memorial and instead centered it around White people.



Read it yourself!!  https://t.co/VbF3u4TMQ0 pic.twitter.com/iPO29okDFG  Rachel Bitecofer  (@RachelBitecofer) April 6, 2025

The above claim about the alleged removal of information about Tubman was true, although the removed content was back online by the time of this writing. Based on archived webpages belonging to the NPS, we found the exact changes the website's administrators made, which included rewriting significant sections of the text and removing a photograph and quote of Tubman from the page. As a result, we've rated the claim true.

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The changes were not permanent, however. On April 7, 2025, NPS restored the page to its earlier form, including the original photograph, quote and introductory text. Other pages about Tubman on the NPS site appeared to have gone unchanged.

In response to our questions about the changes, an NPS spokesperson said (emphasis ours):

The National Park Service recognizes Harriet Tubman as the Underground Railroad's best known conductor and we celebrate her as a deeply spiritual woman who lived her ideals and dedicated her life to freedom. She repeatedly risked her life to guide 70 enslaved people north to new lives of freedom. We have dozens of pages about Harriet Tubman celebrating and memorializing her impressive role in American history. There are two national historical parks named after her: Harriet Tubman National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service). The idea that a couple web edits somehow invalidate the National Park Service's commitment to telling complex and challenging historical narratives is completely false and belies the extensive websites, social media posts, and programs we offer about Harriet Tubman specifically and Black History as a whole. The focus on one webpage is dismissive of the hard work that National Park employees put in every day to preserve local history, safeguard special places and sharing stories of American experiences. We take the role we've been entrusted with seriously and can point to many examples of how we tell nuanced and difficult stories about American history.

The NPS did not respond to our questions about whether this action was tied to any of Trump's executive orders. Shortly after the page was restored, the NPS sent us an additional statement:

Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service's website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content.

The NPS made the changes in question on a webpage about the Underground Railroad, a network that helped enslaved Black people escape bondage. The title was, "What is the Underground Railroad?" The original page had a full picture of Tubman at the top, as well as a 1896 quote attributed to her, reading, "I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say  I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger."

(Screenshot via archive.org)

The original page (archived) remained in place until mid-February 2025. An edited (archived) version that replaced it on Feb. 20, had the same title but a number of significant changes.

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For example, instead of the photograph of Tubman alone, the page now featured a collection of images of stamps showing prominent abolitionists both Black and white. One of the stamps featured an image of Tubman. All the stamps contained text reading, "Black/White cooperation."

(Screenshot via archive.org)

Additionally, the website's administrators changed the first paragraph of the page to a completely different one. The original page described the Underground Railroad thus:

The Underground Railroadthe resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, through the end of the Civil Warrefers to the efforts of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage. Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape. At first to maroon communities in remote or rugged terrain on the edge of settled areas and eventually across state and international borders. These acts of self-emancipation labeled slaves as "fugitives," "escapees," or "runaways," but in retrospect "freedom seeker" is a more accurate description. Many freedom seekers began their journey unaided and many completed their self-emancipation without assistance, but each subsequent decade in which slavery was legal in the United States, there was an increase in active efforts to assist escape.

By contrast, the first two paragraphs of the edited page stated:

The Underground Railroadflourished from the end of the 18th century to the end of the Civil War, was one of the most significant expressions of the American civil rights movement during its evolution over more than three centuries. The Underground Railroad bridged the divides of race, religion, sectional differences, and nationality; spanned State lines and international borders; and joined the American ideals of liberty and freedom expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the extraordinary actions of ordinary men and women working in common purpose to free a people.

A side-by-side comparison of the original page and the edited version, showing all the key changes, is available through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

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As of the afternoon of April 7, Tubman's photo and quote were back on the webpage, along with the original introductory text.

A number of pages about Tubman on the NPS website showed no evidence of recent changes as of this writing, including a page about Tubman meeting white abolitionist John Brown. Although a notice at the bottom of that page gives a "last updated" date in March 2025, an archived version from early February 2025 shows that the text of the page remained unchanged.

Around a month after the edits to the Underground Railroad page went live, Trump issued an executive order, "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," which stated (emphasis ours):

Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation's history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth. This revisionist movement seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light. Under this historical revision, our Nation's unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed. Rather than fostering unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past, the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame, disregarding the progress America has made and the ideals that continue to inspire millions around the globe. ... [The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior should] take action, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to ensure that all public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties within the Department of the Interior's jurisdiction do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.

The NPS is a bureau of the Department of the Interior.

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A Washington Post review of a number of NPS webpages found many further changes in language, images and descriptions of historic events. Some pages removed references to slavery, while others softened language about the historic struggle of Black people.

Sources:

Frequently Asked Questions (U.S. National Park Service). https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/faqs.htm. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

Harriet Tubman National Historical Park. U.S. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/hart/index.htm." target="blank">https://www.nps.gov/hart/index.htm.">https://www.nps.gov/hart/index.htm. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

"Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park." U.S. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/hatu/index.htm." target="blank">https://www.nps.gov/hatu/index.htm.">https://www.nps.gov/hatu/index.htm. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

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"Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park." U.S. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/hatu/learn/management/index.htm." target="blank">https://www.nps.gov/hatu/learn/management/index.htm.">https://www.nps.gov/hatu/learn/management/index.htm. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

"Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad." U.S. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/harriet-tubman-and-the-underground-railroad.htm." target="blank">https://www.nps.gov/articles/harriet-tubman-and-the-underground-railroad.htm.">https://www.nps.gov/articles/harriet-tubman-and-the-underground-railroad.htm. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

PerryCook, Taija. "A Running List of Trump's Executive Orders." Snopes, 5 Mar. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//tracker/trump-executive-orders-list/.

"Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." The White House, 27 Mar. 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/." target="blank">https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/.">https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

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"Secretary Jewell Formally Establishes Harriet Tubman National Historical Park." U.S. Department of the Interior. 10 Jan. 2017, https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-jewell-formally-establishes-harriet-tubman-national-historical-park." target="blank">https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-jewell-formally-establishes-harriet-tubman-national-historical-park.">https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-jewell-formally-establishes-harriet-tubman-national-historical-park. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

Swaine, John, and Jeremy B. Merrill. "Amid Anti-DEI Push, National Park Service Rewrites History of Underground Railroad." The Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2025, https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/what-is-the-underground-railroad.htm." target="blank">https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/what-is-the-underground-railroad.htm.">https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/what-is-the-underground-railroad.htm. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

What Is the Underground Railroad? - Underground Railroad (U.S. National Park Service). https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/what-is-the-underground-railroad.htm." target="blank">https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/what-is-the-underground-railroad.htm.">https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/what-is-the-underground-railroad.htm. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

"When John Brown Met Harriet Tubman." Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service). https://www.nps.gov/hafe/learn/historyculture/when-john-brown-met-harriet-tubman.htm." target="blank">https://www.nps.gov/hafe/learn/historyculture/when-john-brown-met-harriet-tubman.htm.">https://www.nps.gov/hafe/learn/historyculture/when-john-brown-met-harriet-tubman.htm. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

Updates:

Apr. 8, 2025: This article was updated with an additional statement from the NPS.
FAULKNER: I want to talk with you about where we are just in terms of the Black community, people of color.

TRUMP: Yeah.

FAULKNER: You know, I hear you use the word "rioter," and, and I understand, we covered it on Fox News. I covered much of that at night as it was bursting a couple of Saturday nights ago. The looting. And it was heartbreaking to see businesses, small businesses, which we know employ north of 66 percent of ...

TRUMP: They're devastating.

FAULKNER: ... people in America. Yeah, it was. At the same time, you had peaceful protesters ...

TRUMP: Yeah, it's true.

FAULKNER: ... and they were hurting, and I know from your team you watched that eight minutes and 46 seconds ...

TRUMP: I did.

FAULKNER: ... of George Floyd, and Mr. President, your response to that is different than a person of color, and I'm a mom. When he called out "mom" on that tape ...

TRUMP: Yeah.

FAULKNER: ... it's a heart punch. So I'm curious from you, what do you think the protesters. Not not the looters and the rioters. We're intelligent enough to know the difference in our country, right?

TRUMP: Yeah, sure.

FAULKNER: What do you think they want? What do you think they need right now from you?

TRUMP: So I think he had protesters for different reasons, and then you had protesting also because, you know, they just didn't know. I, I've watched, I watch you very closely, "Why are you here?" And they really weren't able to say, but they were there for a reason perhaps, but a lot of them really were there because they're following the crowd. A lot of them there were there because what we witnessed was a terrible thing. What we saw was a terrible thing, and we've seen it over the years. We haven't, you know, this was one horrible example, but you've seen other terrible examples.

FAULKNER: Yeah.

TRUMP: You know that better than anybody would would know it, and, and I know it. I've seen it too. I've seen it before I was president ...

FAULKNER: What do you say to them?

TRUMP: ... and during the presidency, I've seen it. I think it's a shame. I think it's a disgrace, and it's got us, at the same time, you also know that we have incredible people in law enforcement, and we have to cherish them and take care of them. And we can't let something like this, where you have a bad apple, go out and, you know, destroy the image of a whole, of millions of people that take really good care of us. And then you have a movement where they say, "Let's not have a police department," and you say, "Where are these people coming from?"
ANKARA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized on Tuesday what he described as the "expansionist" ambitions of Israel in the Gaza Strip, cautioning that such actions would bring harm to all parties involved and undermine peace efforts across the region.

"Fueling tension, fanning flames and pursuing new maps with expansionist intentions will not benefit anyone," Erdogan said at an event organized by his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the capital Ankara.

He cited the killings of civilians and healthcare workers in the Strip, adding that "just as we want peace in our own country, we want peace in Syria, Gaza, Lebanon, and Libya."

The Turkish president emphasized Turkiye's commitment to halting the violence and restoring peace in Gaza. "We are doing everything in our power to stop the massacres in Gaza, to achieve a ceasefire, and to open the road to peace," he said. 
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now)  Police in Fairfax County are investigating after a man was killed in a shooting following an altercation in Groveton Monday night.

Around 8:30 p.m. on April 7, officers responded to the 7200 block of Jon Paul Dr. for an unconscious man, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

There, police found the man suffering from gunshot wounds.

First responders took him to the hospital, where he later died.

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Foul play suspected in Waldorf womans disappearance

Through our investigation and work with our partners at the Metropolitan Police Department and Virginia State Police, we located and identified another man who was involved in the altercation, said Captain Katzman in a post on social media.

He added that the second man was located with stab wounds and was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

As of Tuesday morning, the victims name has not been released.

Police urged anyone with additional information about the incident to call Crime Solvers at 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 | DC, Virginia, Maryland News, Weather, Traffic, Sports Live.
The X (Twitter) account of Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala was hacked on the morning of 8 April, resulting in the appearance of false posts.

Source: Czech government spokesperson Lucie Micova Jesatkova in a comment to Reuters; European Pravda

Details: One of the fake posts falsely claimed that Russian troops had attacked Czech units near the border with Kaliningrad. The post was later deleted.

"The post about the attack on Czech soldiers is not true," the spokesperson told the agency in a written comment.

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In addition, posts in Czech and English concerning the Czech reaction to US tariffs were removed from Fiala's account.

Background:

In December 2024, Romanias Defence Ministry denied social media reports about an alleged border closure and preparations for war.

Recently, Romanias gendarmerie also refuted a fake claim that a third of its personnel were foreigners.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  The family of a 911 caller killed by a Las Vegas police officer last year filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against the department and the officer.

LVMPD Officer Alexander Bookman shot and killed Brandon Durham, 43, last November, 14 seconds after entering his home. Durham called police to report an intruder. Bookman shot Durham seven times.

Police identified that intruder as Alejandra Boudreaux, 31. In the seconds before the shooting, Durham and Boudreaux struggled over a knife, video shows.

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Records the 8 News Now Investigators first obtained reveal officers, including Bookman, were called to Durhams home late on the evening of Nov. 10  about 24 hours before the fatal shooting  for a disturbance. Durham told police an ex-friend, later identified as Boudreaux, refused to leave.

Brandon Durham, 43, was shot and killed by a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer after calling 911 during a home invasion. (Durham family)

Records show Bookman was the officer who signed off on the call, saying Boudreaux eventually left the residence, documents said.

In one video from Bookmans body camera before the shooting, Bookman says over the radio, Yeah, I was over there yesterday. The aggressor in the situation yesterday was a transgender [Black male adult], tall with a black wig.

Rachael Gore, Brandon Durhams registered domestic partner; and Isabella Durham, Brandon Durhams daughter, are listed as plaintiffs.

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At no time did Brandon Durham, [who] was in his own private residence, pose a threat to LVMPD police, the lawsuit read in part. At no time did Brandon Durham pose a threat to anyone.

The lawsuit adds at no time was the life of a police officer threatened as Durham and Boudreaux struggled over the knife: At the time that Defendant Bookman first saw Mr. Durham, the knife the aforementioned intruder had was pinned stationary up against the hallway wall At the time that Defendant Bookman shot Brandon Durham, the knife that had been held by the assailant, was pinned up against the wall and thus, no lives were in eminent danger.

The lawsuit mentions that Bookman was at the Durham home the day before, as the 8 News Now Investigators first reported.

At all times relevant, Defendant Bookman knew that Brandon Durham owned the residence referenced above because less than 24 hours before the instant shooting, Mr. Durham let Defendant Bookman into the home by using his biometric thumbprint, which served to provide entry to the abode, documents said. At all times relevant, Defendant Bookman knew that when he was called to the disturbance caused by the above intruder, he was going to Brandon Durhams house and acknowledged the same to his dispatcher before even arriving at the Durham residence.

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The lawsuit cites a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment as well as the Nevada Constitution for allegedly using excessive force in conduction the subject search and seizure considering the totality of circumstances.

The lawsuit seeks a minimum of $1 million in damages.

Clark County prosecutors are expected to bring the Bookman case before a grand jury. The panel will then decide if criminal charges are warranted.

While Mr. Durhams death is tragic, Officer Bookman was trying to eliminate a threat and did not commit a crime, David Roger, who represents Bookman through the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, previously told 8 News Now. We have faith in the criminal justice system and look forward to a fair result.

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In December, a grand jury indicted Boudreaux on four felony charges, including home invasion with a deadly weapon. Boudreaux confessed to breaking into the home, saying she intended for police to kill her, according to court documents. She remained in custody Monday on $1 million bail.

The department placed Bookman on routine paid leave pending their investigation. Its policy is to not comment on pending litigation.

In January, LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill said his department will learn from the shooting, adding the investigative process needs to play out as designed.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  A recent donation by an Arkansas family to Baptist Health will give families who lose a newborn more time to grieve and create lasting memories.

On Tuesday, the family of Jack Peterson, who was stillborn in December of 2018, honored his memory by donating a Caring Cradle to Baptist Health in Little Rock.

Arkansas Paisleys Law inspires federal bill for stillborn reform

A Caring Cradle allows families to keep their baby with them for a longer period of time after a stillbirth or infant death. Its designed to cool and preserve the baby while giving families time to hold the child.

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I feel like we have done a lot to celebrate him, remember him and honor him, Jacks mother Danielle Peterson said. I will say I leave here joyful because now we have a good memory being in this building.

North Little Rock woman says box containing stillborn sons belongings was stolen from her home

In addition to the donation, the Star Legacy Foundations Arkansas chapter and Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock are collaborating to provide support to families who face infant loss through support groups, brochures 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 KARK.
Growing up in Venezuela, Andry Hernandez Romero discovered an early love for theater, costume design and makeup by participating in his small towns annual festival for Three Kings Day.

He would design and sew his own costumes, and he would do the makeup for all the women in the parade, said Reina Cardenas, Hernandezs close childhood friend.

Later, as he pursued a career as a makeup artist, Hernandez had a crown tattooed on each of his wrists. His family says the tattoos were a symbol of his beloved Three Kings festival.

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But they are also, according to U.S. government records, what landed him on a plane full of Venezuelan men the Trump administration deported to a megaprison in El Salvador.

Those deportations, carried out without court hearings under the Alien Enemies Act, are now the subject of a heated legal battle that has reached the Supreme Court  and which some say has brought the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis.

For Hernandezs family, the deportations are a source of constant anguish. They have had no contact with Hernandez since March 14, the last time they spoke to him on the phone from an immigration detention facility in the United States.

I think about him every day; I cry about him every day, said his mother, Dolores Alexis Romero de Hernandez. What are they doing to him, how are they treating him? Is he in there with bad people?

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Hernandez is from Capacho, a town in western Venezuela with a century-old tradition of staging an elaborate festival with parades and theatrical performances on Three Kings Day, a Christian holiday in January. Hernandez met many of his childhood friends, including Cardenas, through their participation in the festival  but he was more enthusiastic about participating than most.

Andry dedicated his life to arts and culture, and he worked hard to better his craft, Cardenas said.

Andry Hernandez Romero.

Later, Hernandez moved to Caracas for a job as a makeup artist for a state-run TV station. There, he told his family and his lawyers, he experienced humiliating and discriminatory treatment for his sexual orientation (Hernandez is gay) and for his opposition to Venezuelas authoritarian government.

In May, Hernandez set off for the United States.

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He crossed the border at a legal port of entry with an appointment under then-President Joe Bidens CBP One program. Then, he asked for asylum.

However, because of his tattoos, he stayed in detention during the months he spent in the United States. Court records filed by his attorneys show that immigration officers took photos of all of his tattoos: a snake, roses, flowers and a butterfly.

But it was the crowns on his wrist that, according to the records, caused officers to associate him with an infamous Venezuelan gang.

The crown has been found to be an identifier for a Tren de Aragua gang member, an officer wrote.

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Experts who study Tren de Aragua say the gang, unlike other criminal groups, does not use tattoos as markers of membership.

Its not like the Central American maras  such as MS-13, which started in Los Angeles but spread to Central America after members were deported there  or the Latin Kings, where in some cases you need to have a certain tattoo in order to belong to the gang, said Ronna Risquez, a Venezuelan investigative journalist and author of a book on Tren de Aragua. You can have a tattoo and not belong to the gang, or you could not have any tattoos and belong to the gang.

Hernandezs tattoos were applied by Jose Manuel Mora, a tattoo artist who is a friend from Capacho. For Andry, they had a special meaning because of the festival in Capacho, Mora said.

Andry Hernandez Romero.

But tattoos of crowns were also extremely popular at the time. It was the trend," Mora said. "Between 2017 and 2019, I must have done about 60 tattoos of crowns just for people from our small town.

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In the months Hernandez spent in immigration detention in the United States, he was represented by a pro bono immigration lawyer. When Hernandez did not show up for a hearing in his asylum case, the government informed the lawyer that he had been removed to El Salvador.

This is unprecedented, said Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, the organization representing Hernandez. We have absolutely no access to our client, nor is it clear which court has jurisdiction over him at this moment.

Hernandezs lawyers are pursuing multiple avenues to get him out of the prison, but they say the principal obstacle to doing so is the Trump administration itself.

The Trump administration could send a plane to Venezuela, admit their mistake and bring him back safety today, Toczylowski said.

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The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

In March, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson posted on X that Hernandezs own social media indicates he is a member of Tren de Aragua. However, she did not cite specific posts, and an NBC News review of Hernandezs known social media accounts did not find any indications of gang activity.

The case has drawn criticism of the Trump administration from some unexpected quarters, including podcaster and Trump ally Joe Rogan.

"Thats horrific, Rogan said on his podcast, calling Hernandezs deportation a horrible mistake.

Hernandezs loved ones, meanwhile, are left to wonder about his fate.

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Cardenas worries, in particular, about what kind of treatment he might get because of his sexual orientation.

That worries us immensely, she said. Its something that keeps me up at night.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Two sisters among the six victims of a violent and deadly crash in Santa Ana over the weekend have been identified by family members.

Primarily teens, four of the victims were declared deceased at the scene, with two others hospitalized, one in critical condition and another in grave condition, authorities said.

Officers with the Santa Ana Police Department responded to reports of the single-vehicle crash on April 5 at around 11:30 p.m. near the intersection of West Segerstrom Avenue and South Townsend Street.

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Upon arriving at the scene, officers discovered there were six people  five females and one male  inside the car at the time of the collision. Their preliminary investigation revealed that the 18-year-old male driver was traveling at high speed westbound on Segerstrom where he reportedly missed a turn and crashed into a tree.

At least two of the victims were ejected from the car and a nearby black sedan sustained minor damage, but no one inside the latter vehicle was hurt.

Aurelia Arely Robles, 19, of Santa Ana, seen in this undated family photo. (Jasmin Robles via GFM) Ignacio Robles seen at the crash site memorial where his daughter Aurelia Arely Robles died on March 5, 2025. (KTLA) A group of mourners gather at the site of a deadly crash in Santa Ana that left four young people dead and two more in the hosptal on April 5, 2025. (KTLA) A group of mourners gather at the site of a deadly crash in Santa Ana that left four young people dead and two more in the hosptal on April 5, 2025. (KTLA) A total of six people inside one car were involved in a violent late-night crash in Santa Ana on Saturday, April 6, 2025. (County News) A total of four people inside one car were involved in a violent late-night crash in Santa Ana on Saturday, April 6, 2025. (County News) A total of six people inside one car were involved in a violent late-night crash in Santa Ana on Saturday, April 6, 2025. (County News) A total of six people inside one car were involved in a violent late-night crash in Santa Ana on Saturday, April 6, 2025. (KTLA) People gather near the scene of a crash that killed 5 people in Santa Ana on April 5, 2025.

Video footage obtained by KTLA shows the aftermath of the crash with a large law enforcement presence along Segerstrom as firefighters ascended a ladder to access the mangled vehicle, which was damaged beyond recognition next to a tree in the center median.

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As family members and friends grieve, many showing their respects at a growing memorial at the site of the crash, Ignacio Robles, the father of two of the girls involved, mourned the loss of his 19-year-old daughter Aurelia Arely Robles.

2 sets of sisters among victims in deadly single-car crash in Santa Ana

She was calm, didnt talk. She worked and all the money she made, she gave to her mom, Ignacio told KTLAs Chip Yost in Spanish. She was a good daughter. She loved her mom very much.

His other daughter, 15-year-old Arlene Robles, survived the devastating collision. She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition where she remains stable.

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They are going to do surgery on her, Ignacio explained. Shes a bit disfigured, but she is stable.

Authorities are expected to release the identities of all the victims, including another pair of sisters in the vehicle during the crash, tomorrow morning. According to friends who spoke to KTLA, the group of teens were connected through Valley High and Carr Intermediate schools in Santa Ana.

Words cannot express the heartbreak and grief our family is feeling, Jasmin Robles, a sister to two of the victims, wrote in a GoFundMe organized to help the family with funeral expenses. Arely was a bright light in all of our lives  loving, kind and full of dreams.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
UPDATE, 4/8/25, 7:30 a.m.: Rodriguez has been released from ICE custody, according to a Facebook post by his son, Tyler Garcia.

By the power and grace of God, and nothing short of a miracle, my father is home and in my arms, the post reads. This is only the beginning, still have much to figure out, but for now want to take a moment to step aside and be thankful. No fathomable words can express my gratitude for the unending love, support, prayers, and solidarity from every one of you who made this possible.

The family released a statement on Rodriguezs release.

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Knowing that Panchy is home and safe means everything to us, the release read. We are in awe at the greatness of our God and his grace.

We are so thankful for the role our local community has played in expressing their concerns for his release and for his well being. Your letters, emails, and phone calls all played a role in this miracle outcome.

Jose Francisco Garcia Rodriguez (right) and his son Tyler Garcia (left).

ORIGINAL STORY: LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)  On April 1 the family of Jose Francisco Garcia Rodriguez, took to social media saying he was taken by ICE agents. Christian Riggs, who is the stepdaughter of Rodriguez, told her fathers story.

She explained he was on his way to work when he was flagged down at a Circle K near his home by ICE agents.

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He was immediately apprehended, placed in a patrol vehicle, later transferred to a van and later brought to the Pine Prairie ICE Facility in Prairie, Louisiana, she said. 45 years ago. My stepdad, Jose Francisco Garcia Rodriguez, fled Cuba on a ship that the United States sent for refugees. He fled his country in fear of his government and for the opportunity to come to the United States and live a better life. Like many refugees at that time, he came here just with the clothes on his back, did not speak English, had no education, and struggled. In that struggle he made some poor decisions. He was punished for those decisions. He served his time, did very well, and decided that he would never make mistakes again like that.

She explained how despite his past mistakes Rodriguez built a good life and raised a good family.

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For the last 43 years after that. Jose has lived a good life. He has raised a family with a wife, Riggs said. He has worked hard labor jobs 40 to 60 hours a week. He has paid his taxes, Social Security. He has been a kind man, a good man. To know him is to love him.

She described him as a funny guy who is lighthearted, who likes to make jokes and to be silly with the people that he loves. A kindhearted man who has let many people live in and out of his home when they were in need. She said her 73-year-old father has a heart condition and had open heart surgery just a few years ago and is the primary caregiver to her mother who has dementia.

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She said, she and him were recently talking about his fear of being taken by ICE.

Three weeks ago, we were talking, and he told me, You know, Kiki, Im very afraid that theyre going to come and get me and that they are going to kick me out of this country. And I said, No, Papa, theyre not coming for you. Youre too old and they want bad guys and youre not a bad guy, said Riggs.

Riggs says Richards family was not aware that something was wrong with his immigration status.

For ten years now, we have tried to fix Joses immigration status. Really, we didnt even know something was wrong. We thought that once he had paid his time, once he did everything that the authorities asked him to do, that that was it. He was done. Nobody told us he had been put on a removal list that was never explained but ten years ago, we realize something is wrong. Hes not able to get a work permit and we decided to try to figure out what the problem was.

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She says the family was told by their elected official offices, as well as their lawyers, that given the current immigration status, it was safer for Jose to not try to fix his immigration, but rather to lay low, to continue to work, to continue to live a quiet life and hopefully he wouldnt get flagged.

Riggs and her family members are seeking assistance from elected officials and the public for awareness of Rodriguezs story and release from ICE custody.

I couldnt imagine how a 73-year-old man who has been allowed to be in our country for 45 years, raising a family, paying taxes, paying into Social Security, which he has never gotten, could possibly be a danger to our country, said Riggs. I understand that we have an immigration problem. I do. I understand that our country cannot harbor every single person that crosses its borders. It is a problem that has to be fixed with a surgeons blade, not a machete. We have to look at the humans who are involved in this problem.

You can view the full video of Riggs here.

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SACKETS HARBOR, N.Y. (PIX11)  The community of Sackets Harbor is celebrating after a family detained during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at a farm on March 27 has been released.

The family, a mother and three children, who had been moved to the Karnes County Detention Facility in Texas, is now returning to Jefferson County.

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Gov. Kathy Hochul released a statement that reads in part: Moments ago, I spoke once again with Mr. Homan, who informed me that this family, a third grader, two teenagers, and their mother, are currently on their way back to Jefferson County. New York has been consistent: we are open to working with federal immigration enforcement to crack down on gang members or violent criminals. But I will never support cruel actions that rip kids out of school or tear families apart.

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Hochul also thanked Assemblyman Scott Gray, who she says played a critical role in advocating for his constituents.

Seven individuals were apprehended during the raid in Sackets Harbor. Officials have not commented on the situation of the others.

Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
ALBANY  Team Agriculture Georgia and the Georgia Heirs Property Law Center will host an in-person workshop for farmers and landowners on April 11 at Resora in Albany.

The venue is located at 801 Old Pretoria Road.

The event, which will be conducted from p a.m.-2 p.m., will provide valuable information and resources for new, beginning, and established landowners and farmers. Speakers include the Georgia Heirs Property Law Center, Team Agriculture Georgia, Georgia Forestry Commission, Georgia Organic Peanut Association, Golden Triangle RC&D the Southwest Georgia Project and Flint River Fresh. The workshop will also have representatives from the Athens Land Trust and Good Agriculture on hand.

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Topics of discussion include property and estate planning, urban farming and USDA programs

There is no cost to attend, and lunch will be provided. Attendees must register in advance. Space is limited. The link to register is at https://www.teamagriculturega.org/events/2025/tag-spring-symposium.
BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Minister of National Defense Dong Jun met with Pakistan Air Force Chief Zaheer Ahmad Babar in Beijing on Tuesday.

Speaking highly of the cooperation between Chinese and Pakistani militaries in recent years, Dong said China is willing to work with the Pakistani side in strengthening strategic communication and cooperation, deepening practical cooperation, and jointly safeguarding international and regional security and stability.

Babar said Pakistan highly values the traditional friendship between the two countries. The Pakistan Air Force is willing to strengthen exchanges and institutional cooperation with the Chinese side, maintain a high standard in joint exercises and training, and make positive contributions to jointly addressing the evolving security challenges, he added. 
A severe drought is pushing one farmer in Victoria, Australia, to bury a certain green vegetable.

What's happening?

Ben Pohlner of Volcano Produce in Illowa told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that his water-stressed broccoli is too acrid to eat.

"We still get the nice broccoli or cauliflower head on them, but it's practically inedible. It's too bitter to eat," he said. "We just plow it back into the ground. We can't afford to ruin our reputation over a few crops."

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The chemical-free farm has not been able to sell the brassica since September. Every two weeks, 10,000 to 20,000 new broccoli plants spring up. Pohlner is losing AU$40,000 to AU$50,000 per crop.

Why is this important?

The organic farm is taking the unfortunate hit on the broccoli because it features 70 fruits and vegetables and relies on strawberries  one of the crops that has done well with carrots, beetroots, garlic, chillies, and eggplants.

"Normally with the brassicas we have plenty of moisture deep down in the soil, but this year we had a really dry winter," Pohlner told the ABC, noting they needed 100 milliliters of rain just to get those crops established. "We've had to irrigate all the way through, which is hard for us because we don't have sufficient [access to water for] a large volume of plants."

Other small farms are experiencing the same problem. Solutions include rationing water and not planting. A potato planter in Newlyn, Kain Richardson, said the district had lost AU$2 million to AU$3 million because of the drought.

What's being done about inedible crops and lower yields?

Sometimes, such issues cause produce supplies to drop and prices to rise, but the ABC reported that large-scale suppliers equipped with better irrigation infrastructure were getting through the drought and that the outlook for potatoes was good, too.

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Because increasingly frequent and severe droughts are the result of rising global temperatures caused primarily by the burning of dirty energy sources, we can all help mitigate the issue by turning to clean sources of energy such as solar and wind. Take public transportation, for example, or upgrade to electric appliances.

It's also important to get the most out of the resources that go into growing crops. Check out this TCD guide to shop smarter at the grocery store, keep your food fresh longer, and do more with leftovers. All these steps will help you save money, too.

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 FBI is investigating bombshell allegations of a scheme by top Long Island and New York officials to shut down Nassau University Medical Center, the public hospitals chairman told The Post on Monday.

NUMC chief Matthew Bruderman revealed he is cooperating with the agency, as well as the Department of Justice, in a probe of his claims that the hospital was robbed of more than $1 billion over decades to ensure its failure.

Bruderman said he believes the officials ultimate goal was to financially strangle the public hospital, paving the way for state and local leaders to shut it down, take over the land currently owned by the public-benefit corporation that runs it and have it redeveloped for profit.

Nassau University Medical Center chief Matthew Bruderman told The Post that he is cooperating with an FBI probe over claims that state officials schemed to shut down the hospital. Photo by Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images

It is a fact that New York state did not pay their share of the money owed to keep NUMC running, said Bruderman, who receives no salary in his post and recently sued the state over his allegations.

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And now Im going to prove it, the chairman said just days after Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman met with FBI Director Kash Patel on Long Island.

I have every bank account, document, transfer, everything, he said.

Patels meeting with Blakeman occurred after the FBI chief received a letter from Bruderman and Missouri Rep. Eric Burlison, who sits on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, the CEO said.

The letter urged Patel and US Attorney General Pam Bondi to open an investigation into what appears to be a large financial scheme, uncovered by hospital leadership.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman met with FBI Director Kash Patel at the Islanders game at UBS Arena in Elmont Sunday, April 6, 2025. Obtained by the NY Post

At the center of the alleged scheme is a little-known federal program called the Disproportionate Share Hospital Fund  meant to help keep afloat struggling hospitals such as NUMC, which treat large numbers of low-income patients on Medicaid and Medicare.

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Under the program, the federal government agrees to give these hospitals tens of millions of dollars in funding as long as their state matches the investment.

Bruderman came on board at NUMC in 2022, when it was facing a $180 million deficit.

He said he started digging through the books to find out why the hospital was struggling as badly as it was but that the math didnt add up.

Bruderman claims the hospital was robbed of over $1 billion over decades to ensure its failure Stefano Giovannini

Bruderman, who has over 30 years of experience as a financial expert, claims to have discovered that past hospital leadership would secretly borrow what was supposed to be the states share of money from a Cayman Islands-based offshore account for the medical centers legal fees for various lawsuits.

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He said previous hospital leadership would have to have been colluding with state and past county officials to pull this off.

Hospital officials would move this money into NUMCs general fund temporarily, just long enough to show the feds that the states portion had been paid  which would unlock the federal governments share, Bruderman said.

Then once the federal money hit the account, the hospital would quietly move the states portion back offshore  leaving only the feds contribution behind  and meaning the state hasnt actually paid its share in years, he said.

This is corruption that is both broad and deep within our States government. This wasnt a clerical oversight, a bookkeeping mistake or incompetence, Bruderman said in the letter to Patel and Bondi.

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What weve uncovered was nefarious, intentional and the State covered it up for years to starve this hospital and the people it serves of resources.

Bruderman told The Post, When I brought what I found to Gov. Hochuls office, I thought I was going to get a medal.

Instead, he said, he has received push back, ridicule and a complete shut-out of communication with her office since.

Gordon Tepper, Hochuls Long Island press secretary, denied the claims by Bruderman.

The leadership at NUMC continues to waste time and resources on a bizarre public relations campaign, Tepper told The Post. The state remains focused on what really matters  patient care and the fiscal health of the hospital.

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Bruderman, who was appointed to the hospital by Blakeman, has since helped the hospital do a complete 180 financially.

NUMC is on track to profit roughly $11 million this year after being in the hole nearly $200 million just two years prior, according to the public corporation that runs it, NuHealth.

My goal is to protect this hospital, and I will do everything in my power and not stop until this hospital is protected, Bruderman said.

The FBI declined to comment, while the AGs office didnt respond to The Posts request for comment.
On an early morning in 2017, Trina Martin was shocked by a pyrotechnic exhibit she compares to the Fourth of July. Except it was October, and it was inside her home in Georgia.

The FBI detonated a flash-bang in the house and ripped the door from its hinges to arrest Joseph Riley, a man who lived in a different house approximately one block over. The agents would not realize their mistake until after they stormed into Martin's bedroom, handcuffing her then-fiance, Toi Cliatt, at gunpoint.

In January, the Supreme Court announced it will evaluate whether a federal court ruled correctly when it barred Martin from suing over that nightmare scenario, in the case Martin vs. United States.

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The two houses "share several conspicuous features," wrote the 11th Circuit in its ruling, such as that they are "beige in color" and have "a large tree in the front." Since it was dark outside, the judges said, it would have been "difficult to ascertain the house numbers on the mailboxes." Lawrence Guerra, who led the raid, thus received immunity.

The Court won't reconsider that conclusion. Instead, it will evaluate a part of the decision that forbade a different avenue of potential legal relief.

Martin and Cliatt also sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which allows victims of abuse to bring certain state torts against the federal government. The 11th Circuit closed off that avenue as well, ruling the suit was doomed because the FBI had "discretion" in how it prepares to carry out warrants. The judges also cited the Supremacy Clause, which supposedly ensures that states do not get in the way of executing federal law. Since the agents' acts had "some nexus with furthering federal policy" and could "reasonably be characterized as complying with the full range of federal law," the 11th Circuit said any claim under the FTCA could not proceed.

Yet the FTCA was revised in the 1970s to include a proviso specifically allowing victims like Martin to sue the federal government. A bipartisan group in Congress, including Sen. Rand Paul (RKy.), had urged the Court to take up the case for that reason.

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Congress updated the FTCA back then because of a gross abuse of police power. In April 1973, federal agents targeted the homes of Herbert and Evelyn Giglotto and Donald and Virginia Askew. Neither family was suspected of a crime. "Mr. and Mrs. Giglotto testified under oath today that they were handcuffed by screaming agents, thrown on their bed, verbally abused with a stream of obscenities and repeatedly threatened with death while an agent held a cocked gun to Mr. Giglotto's head," wrote The New York Times, reporting on testimony before the Senate in May 1973. "Much of their apartment was ransacked and damaged."

Despite the obvious parallels with what Martin experienced in the very case that inspired the FTCA update, she was deprived of recourse by the 11th Circuitgiving the Supreme Court an opportunity to send a reminder that it is the judiciary's job to interpret the law, not rewrite it.

The post The FBI Wrongly Raided a Georgia Family's Home. Now Their Case Is Going to the Supreme Court. appeared first on Reason.com.
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO)  A federal court has struck down an Illinois law that required pro-life pregnancy centers to promote the benefits of abortion to patients.

U.S. District Court Judge Iain Johnson handed down his decision in the Schroeder, et al. v Treto, Jr. case, saying, Constitutionally, to obtain the liability shield, the State cant require medical professionals to discuss with patients what the State believes are the benefits of abortions, requiring pro-life physicians to to effectively endorse a course of conduct they find morally abhorrent.

In 2016, Illinois passed Senate Bill 1564, which amended the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act, which granted a legal shield for conscientous objectors of abortion, so long as they discussed benefits of the procedure and referred clients to abortion providers, upon request.

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The suit was filed on behalf of Dr. Ronald Schroeder, 1st Way Pregnancy Support Services, and Pregnancy Aid South Suburbs. In 2017, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the amendment, which held for nearly a decade until the courts final judgment.

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Aaron Sadowski says he knows how to get sober. He just needs help to stay there.

Last year, after getting evicted from an apartment on the near South Side, the 47-year-old found himself homeless for eight months, sleeping on the beach or in cheap hotels and doing whatever it took to afford alcohol and cocaine.

I could have kept doing that, but I knew that there was no end. It was just a vicious cycle, Sadowski said in an interview at the Kedzie Recovery Home, a residential recovery center for men. I know what to do, but I wont do it on my own. I need that little bit of prodding.

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The center provides intense therapy and social services as well as a place to live and up to three meals a day for dozens of men who might otherwise have no housing.

But the Humboldt Park home, run by the Chicago-based Gateway Foundation nonprofit, finds itself squeezed by a tight state budget that cant cover the hole left by federal funding cuts ordered by the Trump administration.

A $500,000 federal grant meant to counter the opioid overdose crisis has covered the annual accommodations for 18 of the centers roughly 70 residents, according to Karolina Strack, Gateways government affairs director. That federal funding likely evaporated with Trumps recent executive order slashing more than $11 billion in health services nationwide, she said.

The rest of the homes room and board costs, which cant be billed to Medicaid, were paid for with state substance use treatment funding that also has been cut  reduced by $3 million and leaving about $7 million in the current fiscal year that ends June 30, Gateway Foundation CEO Jeremy Klemanski said.

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While the foundation has since lobbied the state and received an additional $430,000 through the state Department of Human Services, that stream of money is due to run out sometime this month, Klemanski said.

Theres just not a way that the state can make up for what the federal government is trying to leave behind, an official in the governors office said in an interview with the Tribune, referring to the widespread federal cuts announced in recent weeks. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak on the record about the issue.

The center has no plans to start putting any of its residents back out on the street, but its offerings of room and board could soon be completely unfunded, the foundation said last week. That has created strain for staffers and those seeking treatment.

These are human beings who dont  they dont have the same resources as a lot of the people who are making these decisions, Klemanski said. This is what theyve got. And when that is in jeopardy or at risk, thats incredibly stressful for people.

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Sadowski has had scrapes with the law and for more than two decades has been in and out of recovery programs. The last time he was able to go without drinking alcohol for a long period, about two years, was when he was involved with a similar home, he said.

Every day, he and other residents start their day at the Kedzie Recovery Home with breakfast at 6:30 a.m. and go through hours of check-ins and discussions with each other and counselors. The building on Kedzie Avenue between Humboldt Park and Palmer Square is one of the oldest used by the Gateway Foundation, and on a rainy day last week was filled with grayish light as residents moved among dorm-like rooms that each house one to four men.

I dont have a dollar to my name, Sadowski said. That makes the holistic support he receives especially crucial. He and other residents also have the opportunity to leave and see loved ones, which for Sadowski means occasional visits with his 23-year-old daughter, a recent graduate of DePaul University.

The potential cuts to the nonprofit are because of a combination of state and federal pressures.

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Last year, the General Assembly passed a budget that reduced funding to about a dozen Illinois behavioral and mental health organizations, Illinois Association for Behavioral Health CEO Jud DeLoss told a state House panel late last month.

Funds that had gone unused in previous years were reallocated as part of a responsible budgeting process, according to Gov. JB Pritzkers office.

But advocates say as a result of that, budget officials underestimated the amount of money the organizations would need for this fiscal year.

We have been in constant communication with DHS and (the Substance Use Prevention and Recovery division), and they are attempting to find ways to fund the shortfall, DeLoss said, but they have not come close to the millions of dollars that are necessary to meet the full fiscal year and the tremendous need for (substance use disorder) services that are out there not being reimbursed through Medicaid already.

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At the same time, the federal government last week announced it would cut about $28 million intended for behavioral health in Illinois alone, meaning potentially massive cuts to community-based behavioral health providers, DeLoss said at the same hearing.

DeLoss said he supports Pritzkers proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, which boosts funding for substance abuse prevention and recovery. But much of that increase is now likely going to be needed just to offset federal cuts, he said.

In the last six months of 2024, Gateway officials said they provided treatment to about 1,200 people through the type of funding thats been reduced by the state.

A fresh state funding stream wont be available until the new fiscal year begins July 1. In the interim, the foundation will have to be selective about admissions.

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The funding pressures would be exacerbated by potential cuts to Medicaid, a key funder of substance use disorder and behavioral health care services in Illinois, as Republicans in Congress attempt to pass a budget with trillions of dollars in lower taxes and reduced spending.

Klemanski acknowledged that Gateway hasnt spent its full state funding in recent years, which he attributed in part to staffing shortages driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. But he said the state has lowered allocations based on those expenditures even as costs grew and services ramped up.

We are saying to folks, Look, were out of funding. We need to help connect you with other treatment centers, or other places that may have funding, Klemanski said.

Oscar, a resident at the Humboldt Park home who declined to provide his full name due to privacy concerns, said he started drinking as a way to deal with the resentments he felt about his experience of coming to the United States from Mexico as a teenager. At the beginning of his initial six-month stay at the home last year, he said his depression and anxiety were overwhelming.

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I couldnt talk. I was just crying, Oscar said.

During his stay at the home, he said he began managing his emotions and eventually was allowed to see his 14-year-old son again after more than two years apart.

They introduced me to a new way of living, he said of Gateway.

More recently, Oscar feared he was about to suffer a relapse while dealing with family issues in Mexico and anxiety brought on by American politics, including potential cuts to community services, he said. He called the recovery home and was able to return for more treatment.

If it wasnt for this place, Id probably be dead, said Oscar, who has a job in construction.

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Despite funding challenges, Gateway officials said closing the Humboldt Park recovery home is not an option. Theyll continue to operate at a deficit after funding runs out, and will give priority to patients who can bill to Medicaid at their detox and treatment centers. People who are pregnant wont be turned away at any location, and one Chicago area facility and one downstate center will be prioritized, Klemanski said.

Gateway is also trying to redirect some patients to facilities run by other organizations. But the triage plan will be a challenge because other recovery operations also have had their funding cut, Kedzie Recovery Home program director Karen Elliott-Clark said.

When we do reach out to other organizations to try to get them in, they dont have  theyve been cut, and theyre not having beds as well. So its really putting the community, again, at a higher risk level for overdose and other co-mortality situations, she said.

Getting shuffled between multiple treatment centers while seeking help also means having nowhere to call home, Sadowski said.

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When youre just going from facility to facility or something like that, it doesnt  you dont feel like you have a place. You dont feel like you belong, he said.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, along with a coalition of 22 other states, last week sued Trumps Department of Health and Human Services and its new leader, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., over the cuts.

HHS declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. However, as the funds were passed by Congress in legislation related to relief from the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has said it will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.

HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trumps mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again, spokesperson Emily G. Hilliard said in an email.

Separately, the Trump administration last month renewed a declaration that the opioid crisis was a public health emergency, days before the funding cuts were announced.

Sadowski, a union electrician, said his top priority is returning to work and getting his own apartment. Hes also ready to improve his relationship with his daughter.

The home is helping him with the small things that can seem impossible during a mental health crisis, such as looking for affordable housing and meeting with a case manager.

If all of a sudden, tomorrow, they said, Good luck to you, I wouldnt know where to go, he said, other than back to the life that I just came from.
Apr. 7WAPAKONETA  An anticipated plea change for a Dayton man charged with trafficking in methamphetamine and fentanyl failed to materialize Monday in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court.

As a result of a recent federal indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Christopher Brown, 33, opted to reject a plea offer from local prosecutors and instead waived his constitutional right to a speedy trial in the Wapakoneta court.

Brown's court-appointed attorney, Auglaize County Public Defender Nick Catania, entered a motion to vacate Brown's scheduled trial for April 23. Brown also formally waived his speedy trial rights. Judge Frederick Pepple granted the motion to postpone the trial to a later date.

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Brown was indicted by an Auglaize County grand jury in February on first- and fifth-degree felony counts of trafficking in drugs. The indictment alleges that Brown attempted to sell methamphetamine in an amount more than 50 times the bulk limit. He is being held in the Auglaize County jail under a $500,000 bond.

In the federal case Brown, along with Michael Brown and Jaala Rolland, were indicted by a grand jury in March. Christopher Brown was charged with a single count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and seven counts of the distribution of methamphetamine in the southern district of Ohio.

The indictment alleges the illicit acts took place between Nov. 12, 2024, and Jan. 28, 2025.

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Apr. 7ST. PAUL  A federal judge dismissed a case filed by former Republican candidate for Minnesota governor Scott Jensen, who alleged that state investigations of his claims regarding COVID-19 were "politically motivated."

The court granted the medical board's motion to dismiss Jensen's federal lawsuit without prejudice on March 31, based on lack of standing. This is the second time the court granted the medical board's motion to dismiss this case without prejudice, meaning Jensen can file the charges again.

Jensen, a Minnesota family practice physician who unsuccessfully ran for governor against Democrat Tim Walz in 2022, filed the federal lawsuit in June 2023, claiming the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and abused its power when investigating his claims regarding COVID-19.

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His lawsuit claims his views, which contradicted those in mainstream media, were "both critical and complimentary" of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's actions.

In March 2024, the court first dismissed the case, claiming Jensen failed to sufficiently allege a concrete injury.

The first order to dismiss said Jensen's claims that he was politically targeted and that the anonymous complaints had an "ongoing chilling and suppressing effect" did not establish standing for his argument. Jensen also claimed the board treated physicians with different views "more favorably," but according to the court order, Jensen did not establish "standing for his viewpoint discrimination and equal protection claims."

Jensen filed an amended complaint less than three weeks later; however, the court claimed this year that Jensen again failed to allege a concrete injury.

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"Emotional distress alone is not a cognizable injury in fact that creates standing," the court order dismissing the lawsuit said.

In a release to the Upper Midwest Law Center, Jensen said his lawsuit has never been about one person.

"It's about all of us and our right to free speech," he said in the release. "If it can happen to me, why couldn't it happen to anyone?"

The UMLC responded to the court's dismissal of Jensen's lawsuit, noting that the center disagrees.

"Dr. Jensen will appeal, and he will win," UMLC Senior Counsel James Dickey said in a release.

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Dickey noted that Jensen had never been investigated by the medical board in his 40 years of medical practice and that Jensen was selected to be the 2016 Minnesota Family Practice Doctor of the Year.

"Suddenly, because he was willing to speak out and subsequently chose to run for governor, he was investigated by his licensing board  appointed by his opponent  five times," Dickey said. "Anyone in his shoes would think twice about talking after that experience. He was obviously harmed by these frivolous speech investigations. The First Amendment stands in the way of that kind of weaponized government censorship."
A jury in U.S. District Court for Western Washington has found that NaphCare, the medical provider of the Pierce County Jail, must pay ex-inmate Javier Tapia $25 million for negligence after missing signs of a severe blood clot in 2018 that resulted in the amputation of his leg.

In February the Pierce County Council unanimously approved another $1 million settlement to Tapia, as previously reported by The News Tribune.

According to court records, jail staff began documenting the deterioration of Tapias health in September 2018, three months after he was arrested on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle. Tapia began refusing meals, appeared confused and was nonverbal to staff. In October a corrections officer observed Tapias toes were turning black. Only then was he seen for the first time by a medical doctor, according to the complaint Tapia filed in King County Superior Court in 2021.

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Once admitted to Tacoma General Hospital that day, Tapia was diagnosed with phlegmasia cerulea dolens and a gangrenous left foot. His leg was amputated below the knee on Oct. 16, 2018, according to the complaint.

A jury on April 4 found that NaphCare deprived Javier Tapia of his right to adequate medical care under the Fourteenth Amendment and proved with evidence that NaphCare had a widespread or longstanding custom of care that was the moving force that caused his injury and reflected a complete indifference to Tapias safety and rights, according to the verdict form.

He was awarded $5 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages from NaphCare, according to court records.

In the case with Pierce County, a judge found that NaphCare had a custom of relying on correctional officers for medical monitoring and allowed licensed practical nurses to conduct regular assessments of inmates outside of their nursing scope, according to court records. A corporate medical director that used to work for NaphCare in Alabama testified in the case that NaphCare might have prioritized profits over healthcare because LPNs are generally paid less, and NaphCare was financially incentivized to staff LPNs instead of RNs as a cost-cutting measure, according to court records. At the time, NaphCare told The News Tribune it provided more RN hours than contractually required during Tapias detention.

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NaphCare said in a statement to The News Tribune on Monday, NaphCare remains committed to our mission to improve and save lives. We are disappointed that the life-saving care provided by our healthcare staff was not acknowledged. Despite the outcome of this case, we believe in the diligence and professionalism of our team. We fundamentally disagree with the outcome and will move forward with appeal.

Ryan Dreveskracht, one of Tapias attorneys, said Monday that Tapia is in the long process of learning how to use a prosthetic and is trying to walk and run again. He disputed NaphCares assertions that it did nothing wrong.

We wouldnt be in this situation if that were the case. Hopefully theyre able to take a long look in the mirror and make the policy changes necessary to protect the tens of thousands of people who are housed in their jails  over 430 in 49 states across our country, he said. A corporation with that much power and with that much wealth and that much influence over, frankly, the most vulnerable in our society, can and should do better, and this hopefully sends a message that we expect better.

Dreveskracht said Tapias ultimate goal in filing the lawsuit was to make sure that this didnt happen to anyone else and to make sure that NaphCare changes.

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NaphCare did not respond to a News Tribune question asking if NaphCare plans to change its practices as a result of recent legal outcomes.

As previously reported by The News Tribune, NaphCare has faced multiple lawsuits, including an undisclosed settlement outside of court with the family of a Bonney Lake man who died in the Pierce County Jail from an infection in 2015. A 2022 wrongful death case in Spokane County resulted in nearly $27 million in damages, according to The Spokesman-Review. Tapias lawsuit alleges the company has been named in as many as 250 cases in Alabama, Nevada, Virginia, Texas and Washington.

Pierce County first awarded NaphCare a four-month, multimillion-dollar contract for jail medical services in 2015 after its previous provider, ConMed, was also accused of substandard medical care. A jury sided with the county when ConMed sued for nonpayment.
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL)  Some federal funding to local libraries could be in jeopardy after a mid-March executive order by President Donald Trump  including funds many smaller libraries rely on heavily to add to their collections.

Birthplace of Country Music concerned about new executive order

Were hearing from colleagues around the country that theyve been getting notifications, that the state grants have been canceled, Johnson City Public Library (JCPL) Director Julia Turpin told News Channel 11 Monday.

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Turpin was talking about Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grants. Awards from that federal, Congressionally-created agency usually go to states and are then disbursed to local libraries, though some libraries also get direct grants.

Among other things, JCPL uses the funds to bolster its titles in the popular Libby app, which hosts Tennessee Reads, a statewide collection of digital content through which patrons can check out e-books and other digital materials. Turpin said Libby accounted for 30% of JCPL checkouts last year.

For many of our states smaller libraries, in particular, this is their collections budget, Turpin said of that IMLS funding stream. They dont have local funds available to purchase materials, so theyre waiting until those federal dollars are released and they can purchase in the fall every year.

Trumps March 14 Executive Order, under the title of Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, called for the elimination of seven federal agencies, including IMLS, to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.

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The future of that order remains uncertain, with effects for some agencies already in the court system, and Turpin said libraries havent yet gotten clear guidance at the state level about the status of grants for the current fiscal year that ends June 30, or about the programs future starting July 1.

Thats likely because the state librarian, who works within Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargetts office, isnt sure yet how the order will play out. Congress created IMLS, and Congress recently approved funding for the remainder of the fiscal year. In fiscal year 2023, IMLS funding for Tennessee totaled just over $3.6 million.

For JCPL, one possibility in the wake of the order is that more than $13,000 in grant money the library was awarded  and has already spent on upgrading its public computers, Wi-Fi and network  wont end up getting reimbursed.

Weve submitted it, Turpin said of the tech grant, which . It might come through and again for us we have the fund balance to carry us through if we have to.

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The library had already received an IMLS lump sum of nearly $7,000 to add to its collection earlier this fiscal year. Those funds helped expand access to Libby titles and shorten wait are sometimes months-long wait times for patrons.

Ive spoken with colleagues around the state, and for some of them, this might be half of their collections budget, it might be two-thirds of it, or it could even potentially be all of their collections budget in any given year, Turpin said. For Johnson City, its a smaller amount, but we still use that money to purchase these very expensive materials.

She said power readers, who consume literature voraciously, probably save several hundred dollars a year by using the library for their Libby titles.

Turpin said JCPL has a lot of local support, and that the city and other non-federal sources could likely backfill the funding, both for the current year and probably for next year if necessary. She said smaller communities may not have that luxury.

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Other libraries that are really counting on getting this reimbursement, this is huge for them, she said. Were going into the summer reading program, so they need that reimbursement so they can pay for the additional supplies, performers and all the things that go into that, so this will have a major effect on our smaller library neighbors.

Six days after the executive order, Trump appointed Keith Sonderling as acting director of IMLS. In a release on the IMLS website, Sonderling said he would steer IMLS in lockstep with this Administration to enhance efficiency and foster innovation. He added that a revitalized IMLS will restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our countrys core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations.

Meanwhile, at the library, Turpin said because IMLS is Congressionally mandated and funded, it truly didnt occur to anyone in the field that this money would just go away. There are positions fully funded through IMLS dollars in our community and other agencies, museums and libraries.

She said JCPLs supporters and board have been supportive and are attempting to be proactive amid the uncertainty.

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Weve been fielding a lot of questions about how folks can get involved, what they can do to support our public libraries, Turpin said. Were encouraging folks just to reach out to your legislators and let them know what your public library means to you and how you want your federal dollars spent.

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KABUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Police have discovered weaponry including assault rifles in northern Afghanistan's Balkh province and the neighboring Faryab and taken into custody three persons recently, the provincial police office said Tuesday.

Based on intelligence information, counter-terrorism police launched operations in Balkh and seized four assault rifles including three pieces of AK-47.

In another operation, police in Faryab province have discovered 13 pieces of assault rifles and pistols and arrested three individuals in the charge of keeping arms illegally over the past three days. 
Federal employees are receiving fresh deferred resignation offers in their inboxes as the Trump administration takes another shot at pushing them off the government payrolls.

Workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Homeland Security were told Monday they were being given another chance to accept the White Houses Fork in the Road proposal, according to emails viewed by HuffPost. VA workers were given until April 30 to accept, while DHS workers were given until April 14.

As outlined by the administration, workers who take the deferred resignation deal would remain on the payroll through September while performing little or no work. Its part of the Trump administrations effort, spearheaded by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, to cut a large chunk of the federal workforce by legally dubious means.

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The White House is trying to use the threat of looming layoffs to persuade more workers to take the Fork in the Road offer. Agencies across the federal government are developing what are known as reduction in force plans to be rolled out in the coming weeks, potentially leading to the elimination of hundreds of thousands of jobs. Many workers have chosen to resign rather than face more uncertainty and firings.

In the VA email, Secretary Doug Collins wrote that the agency was offering another opportunity to take advantage of the deferred resignation offer  one that came with a warning.

Should you elect to not take the DRP, VA cannot provide assurance regarding the certainty of your position moving forward, Collins wrote.

The deferred resignation proposal was initially made to workers in late January. At the time, the administration set what it portrayed as a firm deadline of Feb. 6 in hopes of pressuring as many employees as possible to take it. The Fork in the Road page on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management website even says the program is now closed and not accepting new resignations.

President Donald Trump speaks as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office Thursday in Washington. Evan Vucci via Associated Press

The White House had said around 75,000 workers had accepted the Fork in the Road proposal as of mid-February. But they may not have found as many takers as they hoped, with agencies now reopening the offer and urging workers to reconsider.

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Federal News Network reported Monday that employees at the Internal Revenue Service were just given a second and final chance to accept the deal. Last week, similar offers were made at the Defense Department, the Small Business Administration and the Housing and Urban Development Department, among other agencies.

The Monday email from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the deferred resignation program was still on the menu, along with other, more standard early retirement and voluntary separation programs.

By offering these options, we intend to provide flexibility for employees who may be considering a change, retirement, or new career opportunities, Noem wrote.

One IRS employee in Texas told HuffPost she has spent the last two months fighting to keep her job amid the constant firings and re-hirings. This time, though, she said shes taking the administration up on its offer of a deferred resignation.

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Its the only thing that kind of makes sense for me, said this employee, who requested anonymity as she rides out the final days of her job. This will allegedly give me pay and benefits through September, which I wont have with a [job termination].

It was a hard decision, she added, but I also dont really want to keep working for this fascist regime.

Are you a federal employee with something to share? You can email our reporter here, or contact him over Signal at davejamieson.99.
FedEx has filed notice with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development that it plans to lay off 217 employees at the company's hub on Eastgate Boulevard in Lebanon.

The layoffs are expected to occur from May 9 to May 30, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with the state.

The workers at the Eastgate Boulevard facility are not represented by a collective bargaining agreement, the notice states.

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The Northern Middle Local Workforce Development Area rapid response team, employed by the Workforce Essentials, has been notified to coordinate services with the employer and affected employees.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: FedEx files notice to lay off 217 workers in Lebanon
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Three people, including two previously-deported undocumented immigrants, face charges for allegedly working with a Mexican drug cartel to sell deadly fentanyl across the Las Vegas valley.

Jorge Flores-Villagran, Dulce Navarro-Martinez and Julio Pena-Garcia all face charges connected to allegations that they conspired to distribute fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine, records said. In addition, Navarro-Martinez and Flores-Villagran face charges for illegally re-entering the country following prior deportations.

Drug cartels are manufacturing illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid 50-to-100 times more potent than morphine, and combining it with other street drugs. The deadly concoction is then pressed into small pills, commonly referred to as blues or M30s.

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Overdose deaths involving the use of fentanyl with methamphetamine or cocaine between 2020 and 2023 in Clark County increased by 97%, rising from 73 deaths to 144 deaths, according to the health district.

Last August, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent began an investigation into a man in Mexico distributing drugs to the Las Vegas area, documents said. Investigators allege that Flores-Villagran, Navarro-Martinez and Pena-Garcia work as suppliers and couriers for the Mexican cartel.

Over the course of four controlled buys beginning last October, agents seized more than 17,000 pressed fentanyl pills and other drugs, they said. The buys occurred at parking lots in the east valley near Craig and Losee roads.

Agents later obtained a warrant to track Pena-Garcias communications and his car, following it to an alleged narcotics shipment, they said.

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On March 27, investigators arrested the trio and searched their homes, documents said. Investigators found large amounts of drugs and cash.

In 2019, Navarro-Martinez pleaded guilty to a state drug charge, documents said. A district court judge later sentenced her to 12-30 months in prison. Upon her release from prison in 2020, the federal government deported Navarro-Martinez and again in 2021, documents said.

Flores-Villagran was previously deported in 2023 and again as recently as June 2024, documents said.

During their detention hearings, Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts ordered all to remain in jail pending trial. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 21.

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In 2024, overdose deaths increased in Nevada and four other states as national numbers declined, according to provisional data from the CDC.

Last month, 8 News Now asked an ICE spokesperson how many people the agency had arrested in southern Nevada since President Donald Trump took office. The spokesperson could not say, adding that a new tracking system was expected to come online in the future.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT)  The fiancee of an Iranian student who was detained by immigration officers in the middle of the night from his apartment near the University of Alabama is speaking on what the ordeal has been like for them.

Sama Ebrahimi Bajgani, who is engaged to UA doctoral student Alireza Doroudi, recently took to social media to let people know what he has been going through since his arrest.

These past few days have been some of the hardest and most overwhelming Ive ever experienced, Bajgani wrote on Facebook Monday. Ive spent countless hours on the phone with Alireza, trying to make sure he has everything he needs and that he feels heard and understood. Some incredibly kind people sent him letters  and he received them. He told me hes going to keep them close.

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Doroudi was picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 25, two years after first coming to the United States to study mechanical engineering. According to Bajgani, Doroudis visa was revoked six months after arriving in the country and was given no explanation why. His attorney, David Rozas, said Doroudis SEVIS permit was still valid and that he was in the process of applying for permanent residency at the time of his arrest.

Despite an official with the Department of Homeland Security claiming that Doroudi posed significant national security concerns, those concerns have never been addressed, nor has he been charged with anything.

As of Tuesday, Doroudi is being held at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana, along with nearly 1,200 other people picked up by ICE.

Following Doroudis arrest, Bajgani started a GoFundMe account to help pay his legal bills. Before donations were closed, she had raised nearly $26,000.

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I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, on his behalf, for your support and kindness, she said. This experience has pushed us past our limits, and these letters reminded us that were not alone  that were cared for and supported.

Doroudi is set for a bond hearing April 14.

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Hundreds of mourners assembled in the West Bank village of Turmus Ayya on Monday for the funeral of Amer Rabee, a 14-year-old U.S. citizen who Israeli forces fatally shot the previous day.

Rabee, a former resident of Saddle Brook, New Jersey, was shot numerous times while out picking green almonds with two friends, according to his family.

Rabees father, Mohammed, accused the Trump administration of turning a blind eye to the killing, even as the president met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

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"It was a field execution," he told CBS News.

"We have to  send a message for President Trump to at least stop this situation," he added. "Stop sending weapons to kill."

The Israeli government said in a statement it shot three terrorists who were throwing rocks at a highway, putting civilians at risk.

Mourners carry Amer Mohammed Rabee, a 14 year-old Palestinian-American shot by Israeli forces, during his funeral in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya (AP)

The Israeli military released a video of the incident. The grainy black-and-white footage shows three individuals, one of whom appears to throw something, though its not possible to identify the figures in the footage.

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      pic.twitter.com/gqeasTE2HC     (@idfonline) April 6, 2025

Another American citizen, Ayoub Jabara, 15, was wounded in the shooting and rushed to a hospital in Ramallah, Turmus Ayya mayor Lafi Shalabi told The Washington Post.

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This is an atrocity, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey wrote in a statement on X. How can the Israeli military possibly justify shooting and killing an American teenager in cold blood? The U.S. must step in and stop this madness.

The State Department has declined to comment on the shooting at this time, citing family privacy, it told CNN.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment. It does not appear Trump and Netanyahu publicly discussed the shooting of the Palestinian-American boy.

The killing follows the deaths of other Americans in the midst of the conflict, including Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, who was killed last January, and Mohammad Ahmad Alkhdour, who was killed the following month. Israeli police have said that an Israeli soldier and a settler were involved in a firearm discharge near where Jabbar died. An eyewitness claimed someone shot Alkhdour from a military road, but officials of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said no soldiers were present.

A woman weeps at the funeral of Amer Mohammed Rabee (AP)

Last September, Israeli forces shot and killed Aysenur Eygi, a Turkish-American activist who was in the West Bank to protest Israels ongoing military presence and the continued expansion of Jewish settlements, which many observers argue are illegal under international law.

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The IDF said at the time of Eygis death that an initial investigation showed it was very likely she was shot in the head unintentionally during a violent riot. The Washington Post subsequently reported she was shot more than 30 minutes after a large protest had occurred and activists moved more than 200 yards away from Israeli forces.

As The Independent has reported, some Palestinian-Americans have felt abandoned by the U.S. in the midst of the Israel-Hamas conflict, including U.S. citizens who were stranded in southern Gaza as Israels U.S.-supplied military destroyed large parts of the city of Rafah.

Amid attempts to reach a durable ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the IDF has pursued an offensive in the occupied West Bank, including sending in tanks for the first time in decades.

The fighting has displaced thousands of Palestinians.

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Trump announced on Monday that the U.S. is looking at another ceasefire after Israel broke a previous agreement by striking Hamas.

Trump has taken action to deport student and faculty activists expressing support for Palestine or participating in pro-Gaza protests at American universities.
The fight to save a local catholic school continued, with concerned families taking the battle countries away.

In February, the Erie Catholic School System announced that Blessed Sacrament School would be shutting down after a continuous decline in enrollment.

Blessed Sacrament families protest schools closure

Since then, concerned parents havent been able to secure the bishops blessing to give the school back to the parish, but that hasnt stopped them from finding other ways to push back.

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Now theyre taking the fight to the Vatican, with parents sending a letter to the Catholic headquarters stating their case.

Cakery Cafe at Copperleaf set to close later this month

Theres no question. Were definitely confident in this fight. We love our children. We dont want to see them get ripped away from their home. Blessed sacrament is different from a lot of schools, said William Grenaway, a concerned parent.

Grenaway said they still have many questions left unanswered by the Catholic School System.

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(This story was updated to change or add a video.)

You may love them for their showering white canopy or hate their pungent smell, but this spring is the final show for Yorks iconic white flowering Bradford Pear trees. Here since the 1970s, all will be removed starting this August as a new chapter for downtown Yorks tree-lined Market Street begins.

Softly leading into the announcement of their demise during an Arbor Day tree planting at Penn Park April 8, 2025 in front of the student body of Jackson Elementary School, Tom Landis, superintendent of York City Parks and Recreation, described how some of the trees in the park marked with an X on them had reached the end of their lives.

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Referring to some of the historic Penn Park trees, Landis began, It is sad to see those trees go. Be assured we are committed to put two to three trees back where that tree will be coming out.

Jackson Elementary School students fill dirt on a replacement tree at Penn Park in York during a Arbor Day event on April 8, 2025. The tree has a plaque dedicated to the students so they will remember the day when they visit the tree in the coming decades.

The children helped plant several new trees during the event, and one has a plaque at the roots dedicated to the class with the current date so they can come back, watch it grow taller over the coming decades, and remember the day.

The lesson about the cycle of life for the children led into the announcement by Landis about the Bradford Pears: Although the news may catch some residents off guard, the replacement is necessary due to the declining health of those trees.

The trees have grown considerably since the 1980s when then Mayor William Althaus could be seen striding past the young trees beneath the fresh balconies of the newly restored National House. They were planted in the mid-1970s. Over the years, the girth of their upward shooting branches have become prone to cracking off and have become a hazard.

The flowering Bradford Pear trees surround the intersection of Beaver and W. Market Streets on April 2, 2025.

The time has come to move forward with the tree removal project to preserve the beauty of our downtown area while ensuring the safety of travel for pedestrians and motorists, Landis said.

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A native of Southeast Asia, the tree introduced to the U.S as a popular planting beginning in the 1960s, what seemed like a good idea is now banned due to their invasive nature.

More: Bradford Pear trees: Foliage or foe? The not-so-sweet truth about popular landscape plant

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture website, Callery pear, Pyrus calleryana, was added to the Pennsylvania noxious weed list in November 2021. After a tightening list of restrictions since that date, a Stop Sale/Destruction order was issued to plant merchants selling or distributing Callery Pear, also known as a Bradford Pear in 2022.

The Bradford Pear trees that line Market Street in York were much smaller in 1986.

After York public works removes the trees, the city will partner with The Rotary Club of York to pay for removing the stumps, restoration of the tree wells and planting new trees in time for fall, Landis said.

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According to Landis, two different varieties of trees will be planted, one will be flowering. The city will provide more details about the new trees at a later date Landis said.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Planted in the 1970s, York's Bradford Pear trees' days are numbered
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto speaks during an economic discussion attended by cabinet members and business leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Zulkarnain)

JAKARTA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto said on Tuesday that the recent "reciprocal tariff" policy introduced by the United States has raised international concerns about the global economic landscape.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, has been hit with a 32 percent reciprocal tariff.

"We are currently witnessing how an economic superpower is shaking the world by imposing high tariffs on many countries, a move that has triggered global uncertainty. Many countries are in a state of anxiety," the president said during an economic discussion attended by cabinet members and business leaders.

However, Prabowo noted that his administration would remain calm in responding to U.S. policy shifts, reaffirming Indonesia's commitment to economic self-reliance. He highlighted that the country's founding fathers had envisioned a strong and independent national economy.

Prabowo also highlighted Indonesia's large domestic market as a key strength, expressing confidence that it would help the country withstand geopolitical pressures.

Indonesia, along with other Southeast Asian nations, has developed a coordinated regional response to the new U.S. policy shift. Additionally, the country is pursuing diplomatic channels, including negotiations with the U.S. administration, to address the situation. 
This area os along the perimeter of the 2024 Riley Fire in Denali National Park and Preserve. The 2025 wildfire season is off to an early start in Alaska's coastal region. (Bureau of Land Management photo)

The record-low snow conditions south of the Alaska Range have had big impacts across the state, especially around wildfire potential. In early March, the Iditarod had to move the race to the northern route, while the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection, or DOF, declared an early wildland fire season in its Coastal Region, requiring burn permits starting March 17 instead of the usual April 1. This region includes Southeast, Southcentral and Southwest Alaska. Find a map of the area here.

Even before the DOF order took effect or Jessie Holmess dog team crossed the finish line in Nome, two fires had already spread in the snow-free grasses of the Kenai Peninsula and Mat-Su Valley, confirming the early fire danger in Alaskas most populous areas. The risk of human-caused fires has become evident, with at least 17 requiring a response as of April 4. Most were the result of negligent burning, emphasizing the critical importance of ensuring that burn piles are monitored, keeping fire tools on hand, and never leaving a fire unattended.

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While local, state, and federal fire managers prepare for an already active fire season, it is critical that Alaskans exercise caution with anything that could ignite a fire. We encourage homeowners to reduce wildfire hazards around your home by following Firewise principals.

Burning yard waste in a pile or barrel is a common spring chore for many homeowners, and in these extreme conditions, it is important to follow safe burning practices as outlined on the DOF Learn Before You Burn website https://dnr.alaska.gov/burn/ and on burn permits. Unsafe burning is a major contributor to wildfires, especially this time of year because dry, dead vegetation is exposed to the sun, creating a landscape primed for ignition that could quickly spread and endanger lives and property.

For an even safer option, consider disposing of yard waste at designated woody debris disposal sites operated by local municipalities, boroughs or state DOF offices. You can find a web app showing the disposal sites in Alaska here.

As we head into spring, Alaskans should take extra precautions:

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Be mindful when recreating on dry, exposed vegetation  one spark from an ATV, snowmachine, or chainsaw can start a fire.

Follow all burn permit requirements and restrictions. Do not burn on a windy day. If conditions continue to deteriorate, burn suspensions or closures may be necessary to protect lives and property.

If you see smoke or fire, report it immediately by calling 911 or 1-800-237-3633. Early detection can mean the difference between a small fire and a large-scale emergency.

Stay informed through information from your local government fire departments, emergency services, and wildland fire agencies through social media and online sources such as the Alaska Wildland Fire Information  akfireinfo.com  or the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center website.

Years like this one, where the snow melts early, are more likely to result in above-average fire seasons, according to new research from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. While early snow-off does not guarantee a big season, Alaskas spring snowmelt now occurs nearly two weeks earlier than it did in the 1990s, contributing to long-term wildfire trends. Both tundra and boreal forest regions are experiencing larger, more frequent fires, with statewide impacts.

The new Alaskas Changing Wildfire Environment report summarizes what is known about how wildland fire in Alaska is changing. The report was compiled by the UAF Alaska Fire Science Consortium, with contributions from the Alaska wildfire management community.

By staying informed and taking precautions now, Alaskans can help reduce the risk of dangerous wildfires. Just as mushers adapt to unpredictable trail conditions, we must also adjust to Alaskas changing fire landscape. The same lack of snow that forced the Iditarod north is fueling early fire activity in the south. While the Iditarods route may shift year to year, our responsibility to prevent wildfires remains constant.

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JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT)  A smoke ordinance has been implemented in Jacksonville due to a fire at Camp Lejeune.

Officials are speculating that the fire originated in training area SR9 on base, covering between 400-600 acres of land. The Lejeune County Fire Department are currently are completing backburning operations to prevent the fire from spreading into residential areas.

WNCT will provide more information as it becomes available.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT.
Jean-Luc Melenchon looks in an uncharacteristically good mood as he flicks through LHumanite, the French Communist daily at his offices near Paris Place de la Republique.

The notoriously volcanic de facto leader of the French Left has reasons to be cheerful: Parisian spring has finally sprung, and his nemesis Marine Le Pen has just been knocked out of Frances 2027 presidential election race due to a shock electoral ban.

He and Le Pen  Frances two populist political bruisers  have faced off in three presidential elections. Nominally at opposite ends of the political spectrum, she on the far Right, he on the far Left, they both tap deep wells of popular discontent with political elites, holding up President Emmanuel Macron as a shining example of establishment arrogance.

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So far, it has been Ms Le Pen, the 56-year-old figurehead of the National Rally, who has always come out on top in their battles. Twice she has reached the presidential runoff against Emmanuel Macron, in 2017 and 2022, only to fall at the final hurdle. With Macron unable to run for a third term, polls suggested that in 2027, she could have gone all the way.

Then this week, judges intervened, sentencing her on Monday to four years in prison (two suspended, two under house arrest) for embezzling EU funds. Critically, they also added a five-year ban on her holding elected office.

Marine Le Pen was barred from running in the 2027 presidential election after she was found guilty of embezzling EU funds - Reuters

So it is that this time, Melenchon, an anti-globalist, Eurosceptic former minister and MEP, hopes to triumph as the popular tribune at the ballot box.

Its game over for Marine Le Pen, says the soak-the-rich ex-Trotskyite starkly. And that changes everything. Its hard even to measure the shockwave of this event.

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Le Pen has vowed to appeal the verdict, which she dubbed a politically-motivated nuclear bomb to disqualify her. And though her political defenestration is likely to benefit him, Melenchon too is suspicious of what he calls an obscure measure. He says he did not agree with the enforcement measures of Le Pens ban.

The decision to dismiss an elected representative should be left to the people, he noted after the ruling. He suspects it could mark a historic turning point in French politics.

Weve seen citizens revolutions. Those at the top cant do anything because whatever they do, the opposite happens or nobody obeys, and at the bottom, theyve had enough  whatever they are ordered to do, they find it unbearable, odious. We have reached that stage. What will be the moment of rupture? I dont know exactly. The Le Pen affair could be the spark.

In the meantime, he suggests, the Le Pen ruling will unleash a no-holds-barred battle for the soul of the political Right.

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For it was what he calls the image of the fascist so bound up with the name Le Pen  notably Marines father, Jean-Marie  that stopped Frances centre-Right joining forces with the National Rally.

Now the toxic Le Pen brand has disappeared in a puff of smoke, he says, there will be a fusion on the Right between the centre and Jordan Bardella, Marine Le Pens 29-year-old dauphin, who may attempt to fill her place in the presidential race.

The good news for Melenchon, in his own analysis, is that any dilution of the National Rally message will be fatal.

A merging of the Right and far-Right is taking place across Europe, he says. But everything between the far-Right and the radical Left is destined to explode. I find this verdict delicious because it makes a mess of the National Rally, so it weakens the opponent. Were going to be able to breathe a little while theyre beating the crap out of each other. Its good news for us.

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I first met Melenchon back in 2012 when he mustered 11 per cent in the presidential race. Then, like Le Pen, he was a fringe political figure. Since then, both have seen their political fortunes rise.

After founding the France Unbowed party (LFI) in 2016 and installing himself as its supreme leader, Melenchon won 19.6 per cent in the 2017 presidential election, then 22 per cent in 2022.

At 73 he is well over 60, the age he would like the French to retire, but is still making plans to run for a fourth term.

A mesmerising orator, he is well capable of political miracles. Last July, his party was the driving force of the Left-wing coalition  the New Popular Front (NFP)  that won most seats in snap parliamentary elections called by Macron.

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Since then, the NFP has helped bring down one government led by the EUs ex-chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and would have taken down a second under Francois Bayrou, had the Socialist Party in the coalition not got cold feet.

Jean-Luc Melenchon pictured in 1991 when he served as senator for Essonne - Getty

He still nurses hopes that the centrist French president will be forced to resign and call early presidential elections. One things for sure: were ready, he says, pointing out that his party has recently updated its manifesto.

It includes worker-friendly measures to bring the retirement age back to 60 from 64, raise the minimum wage, and slap a 90 per cent tax on the wealthy.

We have an oligarchy, people who dont want to do their share of the work. Inequality is ruining the tax collection system, he says. With me, the very rich will have to pay. Those who dont want to pay will be hunted down to hell to make them pay.

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As well as the filthy rich, Melenchon has a reputation for despising journalists. But on this occasion, smartly dressed in a blue jacket and tie, behind thick glasses, he is positively avuncular, allowing our interview to run to a quasi-Soviet two hours. Im almost offended.

His deep voice ranges over domestic and British politics and Ukraine, and back to childhood memories of his native Morocco, assassination attempts and, naturally, French revolutions  both 1789 and, potentially, 2025.

Other interlocutors have not been so lucky.

In 2018, he yelled at a police officer who came to search his office as part of a campaign funding investigation similar to the one that saw Le Pen sentenced. Prodding his finger in the officers face, he roared: Get out of my way. La Republique, cest moi!; the equivalent of I am the law.

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He was later given a three-month suspended prison term and an 8,000 (6,700) fine for intimidating officials. I wear it as a badge of honour. Im an official rebel, he grins.

Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that he insists quite seriously that the French Revolution, which spoke to me from a very early age, was not as bloody as all that.

The Terror was totally overblown, he says of one of the most violent periods of French history. People go on about the guillotine, but what about being hung, drawn and quartered under the ancien regime? Was that better?

For Melenchon, the French today are far too kind to the memory of Marie Antoinette. She was a traitor to the core, who sold out her country, at least the one she was in, who paid off members of parliament to corrupt them, who wrote to her brother to invade the country.

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Now Melenchon says he scents more momentous upheaval. His upcoming book (Now, The People! whose English translation is about to be published) proclaims that we have entered what I call the age of citizens revolutions.

The world population has doubled twice in the space of a century, urbanisation has spread almost everywhere, he writes. We are now seeing a historically novel social conflict. After the battle of bourgeois and proletarians, we now have a battle between them and us, with two key players: the oligarchy and the people.

Three modern popular insurgencies show that revolution is again possible, he adds.

The first was the 2018 yellow vests movement, which saw protesters in high-vis jackets take to roundabouts to protest against rising fuel taxes imposed by the Macron government to combat climate change, ending in quasi-insurrection.

The yellow vests movement saw demonstrators protest against French president Emmanuel Macrons fuel taxes - Getty

Then, there was the mass mobilisation in 2023 against President Macrons pension reforms, the longest since 1968.

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Thirdly came the 2023 urban revolts (others would say riots, given the mass pillaging that went on) in response to the police killing of seventeen-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was shot after refusing to stop for a traffic check.

Le Pens electoral ban could be the spark to ignite the next phase, he muses, though hes unsure how it will play out. Frances National Rally plans to protest against what it has called the tyranny of judges with a rally due to be held today in Paris, with Le Pen and Bardella expected to attend.

When the masses set themselves in motion, theres an element of the unforeseen, he notes. It is the luck of my life that I have been confronted with such events.

The first he experienced came as a teenager in North Africa. Melenchon was born in Tangiers, Morocco, in 1951. His father, Georges, was a postmaster of Spanish descent, and his mother, Jeanine Bayona, was a primary school teacher of Spanish and Sicilian descent.

When Morocco gained independence in 1956, he said he personally staged a demonstration around the dining room table shouting slogans in Arabic which did not please my parents at all. So my first protest was at the age of five.

His staunchly Christian mother protected him from the madness that took hold of the French in North Africa by forbidding racist remarks. She was responsible for my sensitivity to social issues, to human rights issues.

The family then moved to Paris when he was 11, where he got into brawls for being a pied-noir  French from North Africa.

At 16, he had a teenage crisis both with his father but also with the father of the nation, General de Gaulle, and took part in the May 1968 uprisings. Melenchon studied philosophy and became a leader of the student movement during the protests that year.

I was a Trotskyist, an agitator, he recalls in hushed tones. All my life, things have had a particular revolutionary taste, a particular smell.

He met Bernadette Abriel the following year, and three years later, they married. Maryline, their daughter, was born in 1974. In 1994 the couple divorced. Since then, Melenchon has remained unmarried and is tight-lipped about his private life.

He is widely reported to be in a relationship with Sophia Chikirou, an LFI MP who is 28 years his junior, although he has said they are not a couple in the fiscal sense of the word.

Their alleged relationship has raised eyebrows. Last September, she was charged with aggravated fraud over allegations she overcharged her party for her services as communications chief in Melenchons 2017 presidential campaign and personally pocketed the difference, which she denies. In an investigation, Le Monde described her methods as a mixture of brutality and financial management of sometimes questionable legality.

Melenchon with his former communications director and alleged romantic partner Sophia Chikirou in 2012 - AFP

After working as a teacher and journalist, Melenchon became a political lifer when he joined the Socialist Party in 1976. From 2000 to 2002, he was Prime Minister Lionel Jospins minister for vocational education before breaking with the party in 2008 and forming various Left-wing coalitions, culminating with France Unbowed.

We were sure that the world was going to change. Every year, there was a Socialist revolution somewhere. And when we started living in a world where there were no more revolutions, it felt funny.

Less funny have been the two attempts on his life. One of them planned to shoot me with a flamethrower. The other to hide in a trunk and jump out with a gun. One got 18 years, the other nine.

In the Loire, his second home (not a political sin for a Left-winger in France) was recently ransacked and vandalised with Nazi swastikas. Three of my friends have had their homes burnt down. Were not protected by anything or anyone. We have no bodyguards and dont have the money to pay for them.

Now he is coming to Britain to promote his book  only the third time he has been to the country. The first was in the 1970s, accompanying French women travelling for abortions before it was legal in France, and the second time was to meet Jeremy Corbyn in 2018.

The pair spoke in Spanish. He has a Mexican wife. Nobody understood what we were saying, but five minutes later, the Labour Party published a press release insisting wed had a fruitful talk about investing in industry. This was not the topic of our conversation.

He is a fan of British humour, Monty Python in particular, and Britains resistance to the Nazis. If the British had given up the fight, all was lost. And so, we can say that human civilisation really does owe a debt to England, at that time, in that place.

Youve had the best of times and the worst of times, he says, before moving on to what he clearly viewed as a British low. Thatcher for us is an image of abomination. Tony Blair receives even shorter shrift as he spawned a Left completely sold out to neoliberalism, of which Blair was the emblematic figure.

Keir Starmer, similarly, follows the software of social democracy, which has collapsed in Europe like the Berlin Wall, but without the noise and the spectacular images.

And Nigel Farage?

Ah yes, I remember him from the European Parliament. He managed to raise a laugh even when you didnt want to agree with him. He had quite a sense of humour. He will undoubtedly be the sharp edge of Trumpism in England.

As for Trump himself, the guy only knows raw and bestial force. He thinks he can reorganise the world economy in four years with his tariffs. Hes the one whos going to sink capitalism. Not us.

Doesnt that serve his cause?

No, because chaos isnt our cause. I am not an anarchist  even if I embrace some of their ideas. On the contrary, Im for order.

Trumps trade war will only accelerate Americas fall, he predicts.

People have been pushing a button for the past 40 years to make dollars that dont exist. And as long as the whole world needs their money to buy oil or raw materials, it works. And the day it stops, all hell breaks loose. Their money wont even be worth the paper its printed on. Its a fascinating historical moment.

Melenchon: Chaos isnt our cause. On the contrary, Im for order - Magali Delporte

Melenchon denies frequent accusations that he is soft on Russia and lukewarm on Ukraine, though he puts Putin and Trump on a par and recently claimed that the war was already lost for Europe.

We have to be non-aligned, says the man who would pull France out of Nato.

As we wind up, Melenchon wants to make one thing clear. Im not a Leftist. Im a Republican through and through  as was Jean Jaures, founder of French socialism.

Im one of those who think there is no power above the people. Others think its the market, the king, or the Pope. There is always someone above.

The irony, of course, is that Melenchon is now taking his fourth tilt at the supreme political job in France  precisely a role with no one above. Current polls suggest that  even after Le Pens ban  he is unlikely to succeed. But that may not be his point.

Western democracies have long looked on promises of modern revolution like those made by Melenchon and laughed. Today it is Melenchon who is the one laughing. We will run a presidential campaign, he says. That is most dangerous for the system. France is ready to revolt.

Now, the People! Revolution in the Twenty-First Century by Jean-Luc Melenchon is published by Verso on 15 April, 25

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Crews in Marion County responded to a massive barn fire Tuesday that killed 21 horses.

The fire broke out around 3:38 a.m. in the 6000 block of Northwest 118th Street in Reddick.

When crews arrived, the 10,000-square-foot single-story barn was fully involved in flames.

Photos: 21 horses die in overnight barn fire in Marion County

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Officials said the horses were trapped inside of the barn and the flaming roof had collapsed on them.

The fire was out by 5:13 a.m. but dispute the efforts of dozens of firefighters the animals were unable to be rescued.

Officials said the State of Florida Bureau of Fire, Arson and Explosives Investigators and Marion County Fire Marshals Office are investigating the cause and origin of the fire.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

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GREENE COUNTY, Mo.  Two women in the Ozarks are working to get other ladies involved in health and fitness by opening up an all-female gym.

The Chicas Club on W. Lark Street in Battlefield, Missouri, off of Republic Road, is the first women-only gym in the area.

I have always wanted to open a gym, said co-owner Gabriela Verdugo.

They held a grand opening on Saturday, April 5, and April 7 was their first official day open.

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We see this growing so big, said co-owner Jennifer Hernandez Longoria.

SGF Mayor reflects on time in office, highs and lows, and citys future

Verdugo and Hernandez Longoria built The Chicas Club from the ground up.

We just want every woman to feel comfortable coming into this place, Verdugo said.

For Hernandez Longoria, fitness was a way to heal.

A couple years ago, I was in a bad relationship where I felt very insecure because (he was) emotionally abusive and I just had those insecurities, Hernandez Longoria said.

She says even after she left her past relationship and met her current husband, those insecurities stayed with her.

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I feel like as a mother, in a way, we always are thinking about our kids or husbands and we just leave ourselves on the back burner, Hernandez Longoria said.

Springfield man found not guilty in 2014 rape

Thats when her fitness journey began.

I realized, if I put myself first, I can be a better mother, better wife, better friend, Hernandez Longoria said.

But she still faced obstacles.

There are a lot of women (that) feel intimidated when they go to a gym, said Verdugo.

Hernandez Longoria mentioned she would go to the gym at 2 a.m. just to avoid feeling judged and because she couldnt find childcare during the day.

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It was because of these struggles that The Chicas Club was born, a womens only gym that offers childcare from 8 a.m. to noon and 4-8 p.m.

I dont mind lifting when there are men around, you know? said Verdugo. But I have been doing this for a long time, so I feel comfortable doing it. But just think about the women that have never stepped foot in a gym.

Right now, the gym is open 24/7 for members, but they plan to start adding classes in the summertime.

My goal is to make everyone comfortable and just have that community of support, Hernandez Longoria said.

For their first day, 20 members have signed up so far. Theyre hoping for 300 in the next two months.

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Prices start at $50 a month for a one-year commitment.

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SWEETWATER, Tenn. (WATE)  McMinn County deputies arrested five people on Monday they say attempted to steal airsoft guns and other items from a Sweetwater business.

Deputies responded to Sweetwater Airsoft on County Road 275 in the early hours of April 7 following a report of an ongoing theft. Police said in a release that business was also burglarized the night before.

White Pine man charged with attempted murder after crash

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Two suspects were located inside a pickup truck at the business and three others were located on the property when deputies searched the area.

The suspects were identified as Joshua Weber, 18, of Vonore; James Whitner, 20, of Sweetwater; Blake Fisher, 19, of Athens; and Paiden Davis, 24, of Vonore, along with a 17 year-old male juvenile.

McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy said in a release that investigators believe Weber and the juvenile previously visited the business and returned the night before with the three others to burglarize it.

They returned the next night to do the same, Guy said in a release. Weber, Whitner and the juvenile broke in while Davis and Fisher waited outside in the truck.

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Ford, GM among over 160,000 vehicles recalled

Deputies located several airsoft guns and accessories hidden in the nearby woods. More stolen items was recovered from the Monroe County homes of Webber and the juvenile suspect, Guy said.

Weber was charged with two counts of burglary and two counts of theft over $1,000. Whitner was charged with burglary and theft over $2,500. Both were held on bonds of $56,000.

 See more top stories on WATE.com

Fisher and Davis were both charged with conspiracy to commit burglary. They were held on bonds of $5,000 and $10,000, respectively. The juvenile was charged separately through juvenile court.

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LUFKIN, Texas (KETK)  A five-year-old was reportedly left in a car for nearly five hours after the driver and family members went to a Houston sporting event, the Lufkin Police Department said.

The department said officers were dispatched to the 100 block of N. Timberland Drive at around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday after receiving a report of a child left behind in a vehicle.

Nacogdoches minor hospitalized after drive-by shooting

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The officers could not get the child to respond to knocks on the window, so they broke the drivers side window and removed the child, who was taken to a local hospital to be examined, the police department said.

Police learned that the child was accidentally left in the vehicle after the driver and other family members were going to Houston for a sporting event and met in the parking lot of a business to gather into one vehicle.

The child was supposed to be dropped off with Lufkin family members, however the person driving allegedly forgot the child was still in the car. The driver has since been arrested and booked into the Angelina County Jail for abandonment of a child with intent to return.

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Privacy has long been an industry argument from the driver seat when it comes to dashcams. California trucking fleets may soon face substantial hurdles in how they monitor driver activity if Assembly Bill 1331 becomes law. AB 1331 limits employer surveillance, explicitly requiring fleets and businesses to disable dashcams and other monitoring devices during employee off-duty periods, including mandatory rest breaks and meal periods, even when taken inside the vehicle. The bill defines these off-duty moments as private, meaning fleets would no longer have the choice, or even the option to obtain consent from drivers, to maintain surveillance during these times.

This legislation goes far beyond privacy protections typically seen in other states, many of which focus primarily on transparency and informed consent. States like New York, Connecticut and Delaware, for example, only mandate that employers inform employees about monitoring practices. By contrast, Californias AB 1331 completely prohibits surveillance in private off-duty areas such as breakrooms, cafeterias and lounges, as well as in a workers personal vehicle or residence, except under vague conditions deemed strictly necessary.

Trucking fleets, already burdened by regulatory compliance, could face difficulties under AB 1331. For instance, since rest breaks for non-exempt employees in California are paid, many drivers never formally clock out. Fleets often dont know exactly when drivers choose to start or end their 10-minute breaks. Under AB 1331, this uncertainty becomes a major compliance challenge. Would fleets need to disable GPS tracking systems or dashcams each time a driver spontaneously pulls over for a break? The bill offers no clarity on these scenarios, potentially opening fleets to more driver legal battles, given the laws $500-per-employee-per-violation penalty and the ability of drivers and state attorneys to sue employers directly.

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AB 1331s expansive reach could compromise legitimate safety and security efforts. Fleets rely heavily on dashcams, GPS tracking and biometric monitoring to safeguard drivers, cargo and the public, and to comply with federal safety standards mandated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Removing or disabling these devices during breaks, especially in vehicles still technically on duty, could undermine accident prevention, theft deterrence and internal investigations into misconduct, harassment or theft.

This issue isnt limited to California. Illinois and Texas already have stringent biometric consent laws that have triggered significant litigation, particularly when companies failed to secure explicit consent from drivers for facial recognition technologies embedded in dashcams or telematics devices. Fleets operating nationally now must navigate an intricate patchwork of privacy rules that vary dramatically from state to state, from full-consent models in Illinois to Californias more restrictive prohibition-based approach.

Given the stakes, trucking employers must closely track AB 1331s progress through the California legislature. To manage risk, fleets should immediately evaluate current surveillance practices, update privacy policies and engage proactively with industry advocacy groups to highlight the impracticality and risks of compliance under this sweeping new law.

Californias step in redefining workplace privacy could set a national precedent, dramatically reshaping the way trucking fleets handle driver monitoring, privacy and consent. As privacy concerns intensify nationwide, fleets have to find a way to balance privacy, risk and regulatory demands with operational practicality, because failing to do so could prove costly in more ways than one.

The post Fleets Face Privacy Challenges as Workplace Surveillance Looks at Major Overhaul appeared first on FreightWaves.
When heavy rain swelled the Ohio River and floodwaters threatened to invade their Kentucky restaurant, Andrew Masterson and his team at Captain's Quarters Riverside Grille made a bold, head-turning move-they flooded it first.

Yes, on purpose.

Instead of waiting for muddy riverwater to seep into their dining rooms, they filled the building with clean, fresh water-6 feet of it-using sinks, faucets, and a well pump. The goal? To equalize the water pressure and keep the dirty, silty floodwater from barging in.

"We figured if water's coming in no matter what, it might as well be the kind we control," Masterson explained in a social media video that quickly gained attention.

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Before filling up, they disconnected kitchen equipment and shut down electrical panels to prevent damage. It's not an ideal situation-business is at a standstill-but the strategy could save them thousands in cleanup costs and long-term repairs.

(Photo credit: Captains Quarters Riverside Grille)

"The water is fast rising, this is fast as I've ever seen it come up," Masterson said.

As long as the Ohio River doesn't rise past 6 feet high in the structure, the restaurant should stay sealed tight. With walls made of cinderblock and floors of tile, the building is built to withstand the unexpected.

The Ohio River gauge at nearby McAlpine in Louisville crested at close to 37 feet on April 9, the highest level since 1997. It is forecast to drop below minor flood stage on Sunday.
TEHRAN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday the upcoming indirect negotiations with the United States on Iran's nuclear program can lead to an agreement, provided that Washington demonstrates the "necessary and sufficient" political will, according to Iran's IRIB news agency.

He made the remarks a few hours after confirming in a post on social media platform X that Iran and the United States would meet in Oman on Saturday for "indirect high-level talks."

Araghchi said, "At present, our preference is to hold the negotiations indirectly and we have no intention of turning them into direct ones," adding that if the other side has the "necessary and sufficient will," an agreement can be reached, whether direct or indirect.

He added that the ball is now in the U.S. court.

Araghchi emphasized that Iran's nuclear program was completely "peaceful and legitimate," adding Iran was ready to resolve any existing ambiguity about its nuclear activities.

He said he would represent Iran in the negotiations and U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff would be the U.S. representative.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump, during a meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, claimed that "direct talks" with Iran were set to take place.

The discrepancy over whether the talks are direct or indirect has persisted since early March, when Trump stated he had sent a letter to Iranian leaders -- via the United Arab Emirates -- proposing direct negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

While Iran later confirmed receiving the letter, it rejected face-to-face talks, though it left the door open for indirect engagement.

Trump, in an interview with NBC News in late March, threatened to launch "unprecedented military strikes" on Iran if it refused to negotiate over its nuclear program.

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 United States -- in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

However, 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. 
MAMMOTH SPRING, AR- Major cleanup efforts continue after floodwaters severely damaged the busiest rail route in the Ozarks.

Early Saturday morning, high water from the Spring River in Mammoth Spring, AR (located on the Missouri-Arkasnas state line) swept away a BNSF Railway bridge. Along with the spans, the torrent washed away several cars of a coal train that had stopped on the bridge because of weather warnings in the area.

The train originated at a power plant near Atlanta and was on its way back to Springfield and, ultimately, Wyoming. The hopper cars were empty, and no cargo was spilled. Furthermore, no railroad employees were injured.

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Before the washout, local emergency management was reporting the river had risen close to 20 feet high.

Later on Saturday, BNSF Railway reported additional flood-related closures on the same line to the north and south of Mammoth Spring. Several other portions of the rail line between West Plains and Jonesboro, AR, were covered by water and received varying degrees of damage.

The route, known as the Thayer South Subdivision, typically sees dozens of trains per day and is the main rail artery linking Kansas City, Springfield, and the southern U.S.

Due to the washouts, all traffic on the line was halted on Saturday until further notice.

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BNSF immediately brought crews from across its system to the Mammoth Spring site to begin rebuilding. The work has entailed shoring up the site, removing the railcars from the river, and rebuilding the bridges and track.

Rail traffic has been detoured on other routes around the Midwest. The railroad company has informed customers they could experience delays as a result.

The Sharp County Office of Emergency Management reports that, because of the railroad repair work and storm damage, the nearby Mammoth Spring National Fish Hatchery will be closed to visitors for the foreseeable future.

On Monday, BNSF announced it expected to have the segment through Mammoth Spring rebuilt and reopened by Thursday evening.

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While the damage in Mammoth Spring is on a much greater scale, this isnt the first instance of severe weather causing issues for the areas railroads. Last Wednesday (April 2), an EF-1 tornado swept through the Nevada, MO area and derailed and toppled eight railcars on the Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad.

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Multiple communities in Tennessee are still dealing with flooding after a string of storms dumped more than 10 inches of rain.

In Middle Tennessee, Clarksville has been devastated by flood waters that have engulfed roads, destroyed homes and upended life for many Tennesseans. Residents were evacuated from their homes as flood levels rose, with the Cumberland River crested at over 50 feet at one point before starting to recede at the beginning of the week.

But even as the waters move out, the people in the community are left to deal with the aftermath of the mass flooding.

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Here's what's happening in Clarksville.

Thousands displaced by flood waters from heavy rains in Clarksville

Reports from the Leaf Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY network, around 4,500 people have been displaced as flood waters blocked neighborhoods and caused more than 30 roads to be shutdown over the last few days.

The community received around 10 inches of rain in a 96-hour period starting on Wednesday, April 2, through Sunday, April 6. That, along with runoff from other communities, caused the Cumberland and Red rivers to spill over their banks.

Evacuations occurred on Sunday afternoon in the Farmington neighborhood. Later that night, the Woodstock neighborhood was also evacuated.

How high did the Cumberland, Red River crest in Tennessee?

In Clarksville, the Cumberland River peaked at 50.54 feet at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 6. By Monday morning, the river had dropped to 49.61 feet.

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Flood stage for that part of the river is 46 feet.

The Red River crested at 39.3 feet on Sunday evening. On Monday morning, it had slowly begun to recede and was down to 37.4 feet.

It still has a way to go, with flood stage being 30 feet or higher for the Red River in Clarksville.

Montgomery County, Clarksville enter joint state of emergency

On Monday, Montgomery County and Clarksville announced a joint state of emergency after resources had been pushed to the limits to respond to the flooding.

"This emergency has resulted in local jurisdictional resources being fully deployed and becoming or having already become overwhelmed and/or causing a dramatic impact on the safety, health, and welfare of the citizens," read a release from Montgomery County.

Montgomery County Government, City of Clarksville Issue Joint Local State of Emergency.



Read more here: https://t.co/kmwgNbWOx8 pic.twitter.com/RJf2hFqOl3  Montgomery County, TN (@mcgtn) April 7, 2025

The release stated that over 127 residential properties and 14 commercial properties were impacted by the floodwater from the multiple days of rain. A third of those properties reported major damage.

Social media captures glimpse of Clarksville, Tennessee flooding

Photos and video of flooding in Clarksville have started to circulate on social media, showing once picturesque areas along the rivers engulfed in flood waters.

Flooding in Clarksville Tn River Walk lights underwater pic.twitter.com/sqRI0uhftf  Trish (@Trish71512503) April 6, 2025

Clarksville Parks and Recreation shared drone footage of the community and the flood waters they are facing on Monday.

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"This new wave of flooding has left parts of our city underwater again, affecting homes, roads, and many of our parks. Its a stark reminder of how quickly things can change and how strong our community continues to be," read the Facebook post. "As the water recedes and we begin to assess the damage, we know the road to recovery wont be immediate. But if theres one thing Clarksville proves time and again, its that we come togetherno matter how many times the waters try to separate us."

Lowe's provides supplies for flood victims

Lowe's has buckets of supplies available at its Clarksville locations at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 9, for those cleaning up from the flood waters. It is limited to one bucket per car while supplies last.

Here's where you can get the supplies:

Clarksville: 2150 Lowes Drive, Clarksville, TN 37040

South Clarksville: 1622 Madison Street, Clarksville, TN 37043

Flooding has devastated many parts of Tennessee, and were ready to lend a hand.

Stop by these locations for free buckets of supplies. One bucket per car and while supplies last:



4/9 at 9:00 am

 Lowe's of Clarksville, TN

 Lowe's of S. Clarksville, TN pic.twitter.com/Wg2NC8tsx0  Lowe's (@Lowes) April 8, 2025

Where is Clarksville, TN?

Clarksville is located along the border of Tennessee and Kentucky in Middle Tennessee.

How many people live in Clarksville?

The community is home to more than 180,000 people, according to the estimated population for 2023 from the Census Bureau.

Kenya Anderson with The Leaf Chronicle contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Clarksville, TN flooding: Communities under water after heavy rain
HARDY, Ark.  The Spring River is what keeps people coming to Hardy, Arkansas, but this past weekend it was the reason they were told to leave.

Michael Ronald is one of several people looking for belongings on Monday after flooding over the weekend.

Ive been here since 8 oclock this morning, and I havent found a thing, Roland said.

President Trump approves Arkansas Emergency Declaration

He said he bought his land after a previous flood drove some neighbors out. The aftermath of a historic flood is almost unrecognizable on his plot and many of his neighbors plots.

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The insurance company canceled everybodys insurance policy, saying they werent covering the awnings anymore, so hes still got his river lot, but he lost $100,000 that he had paid, Ronald said pointing at a neighbors land.

On Bobo Drive, water rose to the second story of Trip Mongers cabin.

This is by far the worst (flood) weve had, Monger stated.

A boat against his place is proof not everyone had time to move possessions after an evacuation order on Friday.

Ive been coming here since I was six weeks old, and my grandparents have been coming here since the 30s, Monger said. Hopefully, we can have the upstairs livable by this summer.

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At its highest stage, the Spring River reached about 23 feet. A normal stage is about three feet. Some people tried to stay, and authorities performed perilous water rescues.

At least 16 dead in flooding, tornadoes as storms slash parts of US

A shelter is open in Hardy for those who need it. Most say they plan to stay and rebuild, even if they lost everything.

Mark White, whose RV was at River Bend Park, said it appears 90% of it is washed away.

These people become your neighbors per se, and become your friends, even if you dont recognize them and only see them walking by, and your heart just goes out to them, White said.

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State Attorney General James Uthmeier lobbed another public barb at State Attorney Monique Worrell this week, calling her soft on crime in the case of a man she never prosecuted because it was before she even took office.

Uthmeiers comments came at the end of a Tuesday press conference in Tampa announcing RICO charges against eight in the dismantling of an alleged international ring distributing child sexual abuse material.

He didnt call out Worrell by name  referring to her as the state attorney over in Orlando  when he pointed to the case of 27-year-old Frankie Pineiro of Groveland who was sentenced to probation in 2019 for possessing such material.

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Just another example of the dangers that can be out there when you have people who want to go soft on crime, said Uthmeier, who made the unprompted comments after reporters wrapped up their questions. So our office is going to be looking at that individual, her conduct going forward and we want to make sure were enforcing the rule of law.

But Worrell, a Democrat, did not become state attorney of the Ninth Circuit, covering Orange and Osceola counties, until 2021. And Pineiro was tried in Lake County, the neighboring Fifth Circuit overseen then by GOP State Attorney Brad King  who has since been succeeded by William Gladson, also a Republican.

Its unclear why Uthmeier pointed to Worrell as responsible for the lax sentence handed to Pineiro after a plea deal. He is now serving 20 years in prison for violating probation last year.

Court records show none of the eight facing charges were prosecuted by her office beyond minor traffic offenses. Meanwhile, Michael Warden, a 31-year-old Kissimmee resident among the eight suspects, was arrested in November for possessing child sexual abuse material in a case handled by the Office of Statewide Prosecution  part of the Office of Attorney General.

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A spokesperson for the attorney general did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. On Monday night, Worrells office issued a response, saying his remarks were once again inaccurate and uninformed and because of their diverging politics  Uthmeier being a conservative while shes a progressive  her office is clearly subjected to a different level of scrutiny than other circuits.

Since the Attorney General has stated that he will be looking at my conduct going forward to make sure we are enforcing the rule of law, I hope that he will prioritize public safety and also look at my request for additional prosecutors to support our enforcement of the rule of law, Worrell said in a statement.

The back-and-forth between Uthmeier and Worrell began last week when the state attorney announced a policy limiting review of nonarrest cases to address a backlog of more than 13,000. Rather than outright refusing to prosecute them  most of which she claims are not suitable for trial  the policy allows review for certain crimes like homicide and trafficking offenses, among others. The rest, according to a memo sent to law enforcement, require arrest warrants issued against suspects.

The policy was influenced by a similar one Gladson implemented in 2021 to address a swelling backlog during the COVID-19 pandemic but nonetheless placed Worrell in Uthmeiers crosshairs. He took to social media hours after she unveiled it to reporters, signaling his staff would review her office.

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Worrell responded by issuing a letter shared with news outlets calling on Uthmeier to provide 13 additional prosecutors and support staff to clear the backlog in exchange for rescinding the new policy. Neither Uthmeier nor his office have publicly addressed the ask.

But Worrells allies are growing concerned by what appears to be a new effort to remove her from office  a repeat of 2023 when she was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis and replaced with Andrew Bain after allegations of incompetence and neglect of duty. Worrell denied the accusations and went on to handily defeat Bain in Novembers election.

Before retaking office, supporters sounded the alarm as a grand jury purportedly targeting her convened in Polk County  but no charges have come from that.

This time around, Worrell brushed off concerns about being removed again. Instead, she told the Orlando Sentinel in an interview Friday that she looks forward to working with Uthmeier to tackle the case backlog.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (WFLA)  A Miami-Dade deputy is now on the wrong side of the law following an arrest related to a domestic violence incident with his wife, an affidavit said.

Anthony Zayas, 39, is facing charges of battery after he was involved in a verbal dispute with his wife in their vehicle after a visit to the Schnebly Redlands Winery & Brewery in Homestead.

Florida Rep. slams government-funded kidnapping program after UF student is detained by ICE

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The affidavit said when the dispute escalated, Zayas punched and slapped his wife in the face several times. Zayas forcefully pushed her out of the passenger side door, causing her to violently hit the ground when she tried to get out of the car.

The victim called police for help and was transported to a nearby hospital with abrasions to her shoulder, face and hands, bruises on her upper lip and shoulder and a fractured tooth, according to the affidavit.

In a statement obtained by NBC affiliate WTVJ, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said:

I am angered and deeply disappointed by the arrest of one of my deputies for domestic violence. There is absolutely no place in this agency, or in our profession, for individuals who engage in such behavior. Law enforcement officers must be examples of integrity, respect, and accountability  both in uniform and in their personal lives. To the victims of domestic violence, I am fully committed to standing with you and supporting you.

Court records show Zayas was charged with two counts of battery following his arrest on April 6. He bonded out of jail on Monday and was ordered to stay away from the victim.

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WFLA.com has reached out to the Miami-Dade Sheriffs Office for comment.

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PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (WFLA)  Gage Towles, the fisherman who went viral after recording a heated confrontation with a charter captain, is asking the public to tone down their outrage.

The 22-year-olds attorney, Steven Leskovich, released a statement to 8 On Your Side Monday, responding to the arrest of Brock Horner, 40, of Port Charlotte.

Florida charter captain Brock Horner ordered to have no contact with fisherman after arrest

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Horner, who operated Tarpon Coast Fishing Charters, got into an argument with Towles  which escalated into Horner boarding Towles boat and grabbing at his shirt, police said.

The captain was arrested days later on a burglary with assault or battery charge, with orders from the court to not contact Towles.

See full viral video of encounter between Florida charter captain, fisherman

In a victim impact statement, Leskovich said Towles appreciates the community support, but he has become concerned with the vitriol Horner and his family have experienced in the videos aftermath:

On behalf of the victim, Gage Towles, from the boating tirade that occurred on April 1, 2025, at the hands of Brock Horner, we respectfully request that all threats to Brock Horners family and associates cease. While no boater, no fisherman, and no person should ever have to endure the experience that Mr. Towles went through and the emotional aftermath that has followed, Mr. Horners actions will be dealt with through the appropriate channels of the criminal justice system. While Mr. Towles is extremely grateful for the outpouring of support that he has received from people far and near, Mr. Towles is also greatly concerned with the outpouring of contempt and disgust that has been directed at Mr. Horners family, and the community; thus, there is no room for violence or threats of violence directed at innocent individuals because of Mr. Horners actions. Mr. Horner has been arrested for his criminality; and we kindly ask for individuals to trust the criminal justice system to work through this process to make sure that he receives the necessary and proper treatment that he so desperately needs, and the rehabilitation that is sought after. We kindly ask all people to refrain from violence and vulgarity during this process and to cease all threats made to Brock Horner, his family, and/or his attorney. We also want to personally thank the men and women of law enforcement who so actively, thoroughly, and tirelessly investigated this matter and found probable cause for the arrest of Mr. Horner. Steven Leskovich, Attorney for Gage Towles

Towles himself has yet to speak to the media about his experience. Leskivish said his client is trying to stay out of the limelight for now when asked about an interview.

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The University of Florida's graduate programs in law, business, education and engineering were the best available in the Sunshine State, according to nationwide graduate school rankings released Tuesday, April 8, by U.S. News and World Report.

No college or university in Florida cracked the top five nationwide among graduate programs in law, business, engineering or education, where UF's graduate program came in tied for sixth and Florida State University's program came in tied for 18th. Those education rankings represented a 10-place jump for UF but a four-place drop for FSU.

The University of South Florida had the state's only Tier 1 medical school, the same ranking U.S. News gave to the medical schools at Emory University and Johns Hopkins University. UF and the University of Miami have Tier 2 programs, the rankings showed.

'Expert opinion' included in U.S. News school rankings

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.

U.S. News said its annual rankings were compiled through the use of "expert opinion about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research, students and post-graduate outcomes for them."

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Some colleges and universities are eager to tout their annual U.S. News ranking in various programs and view them as both a recruiting tool and a guage of their standing. Parents and students use the rankings as well, though some critics view them as artificial measures that have little practical value other than generating attention for U.S. News.

For its part, the online magazine stands by its rankings.

"We are equipping future graduate students with the information and tools theyneed to make informed decisions in todays competitive academic landscape, said LaMont Jones, senior editor of education at U.S. News. "Our comprehensive graduate school rankings provide students with essential data to make one of the most consequential decisions of their lives. U.S. News remains committed to delivering transparent and data-driven assessments that empower students to find their perfect academic match."

Ivy League schools and others with a long-established reputation for excellence dominated the 2025 rankings, as they do in most years.

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Yale University, for example, had the second-ranked law school, the 10th-ranked graduate business program and a Tier 1 medical school ranking. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had the top-ranked graduate engineering program, and its graduate business program was ranked fifth.

Among Palm Beach County schools, Florida Atlantic University's graduate education program was ranked 90th. Its graduate engineering program was ranked 145th. FAU's medical school was Tier 3, and its graduate nursing program was ranked 57th.

How Florida, other graduate programs fared

Here is a snapshot of the rankings and how Florida schools fared:

Law

1 (tie). Stanford and Yale

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3. University of Chicago

4. Duke University

5. Harvard University

38 (tie). FSU and UF

84. Florida International University

92. University of Miami

99. Stetson University

153. Ave Maria School of Law

Business

1. University of Pennsylvania

2. (tie). Northwestern University and Stanford University

4. University of Chicago

5. MIT

38. UF

50. University of Miami

105( tie). FSU and USF

Education

1. University of Wisconsin-Madison

2 (tie). Teachers College-Columbia University, University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University

5. University of California-Los Angeles

6. UF

18. FSU

40. UCF

49. USF

90. FAU

100. FIU

127. Florida A&M University

132. University of Miami

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138. University of North Florida

205. Nova Southeastern University

228. Florida Southern College

Engineering

1. MIT

2. Stanford

3. University of California-Berkeley

4. Georgia Tech

5 (tie). California Institute of Technology and Purdue University

43. UF

74. UCF

89 (tie). FSU and USF

94. FIU

111. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

125. University of Miami

145. FAU

168. Florida Institute of Technology

Medical-Research (Florida schools only)

Tier 1: USF

Tier 2: UF, UM

Tier 3: FAU, FIU, FSU, Nova Southeastern Patel College of Allopathic Medicine, UCF

Tier 4: Nova Southeastern Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine

Nursing

1. Emory University

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2. Johns Hopkins University

3. Ohio State University

4. Vanderbilt University

5. Duke University

23. USF

27. UM

52. FIU

57. FAU

80. Jacksonville University

84. Nova Southeastern

128 (tie). Florida Southern College and the University of Tampa.

Wayne Washington is a journalist covering education for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: U.S. News releases graduate program rankings; UF, USF fare well
STARKE, Fla. (AP)  A Florida man convicted of killing a Miami Herald employee who was abducted on her lunch break was executed Tuesday evening.

Michael Tanzi was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison for the April 2000 strangling of Janet Acosta, a production worker at the South Florida paper. The victim was attacked in her van, beaten, robbed, driven to the Florida Keys and then strangled before her body was left on an island.

In a final statement, his voice barely audible, Tanzi said, I want to apologize to the family and then recited a verse from the Bible before the drugs began flowing.

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Tanzis chest heaved for about three minutes, then stopped. A corrections officer shook him by the shoulders and said his name loudly twice to determine if he was still conscious. There was no response shortly before Tanzi, 48, was declared dead.

He was the third person executed in Florida this year. Another lethal injection is scheduled May 1 under death warrants signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

After the execution, Acostas family members expressed relief that the ordeal was finally over. Its done. Basically, justice for Janet happened, said her sister, Julie Andrew, who witnessed the execution. My heart felt lighter and I can breathe again.

Acostas niece, Janet Vanderwier, noted it took nearly 25 years to find closure. This is the culmination of more than two decades of work to get justice for Janet, she said.

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Court records show Acosta was on a break on April 25, 2000, when she was attacked. She was reading a book in her van when Tanzi approached, asked for a cigarette, and began punching her in the face, the records state.

Holding her wrist and threatening her with a razor blade, Tanzi drove to Homestead, south of Miami, where he bound and gagged Acosta. Prosecutors said he took $53 in cash from her, along with her bank card.

They then headed to the Florida Keys town of Tavernier. There, according to the records, Tanzi used Acostas bank card to steal money from her account before stopping at a hardware store to buy duct tape and razor blades.

He drove to an isolated area in Cudjoe Key, told her he was going to kill her, and began to strangle her, according to a summary by the state Commission on Capital Cases. He stopped to place duct tape over her mouth, nose and eyes in an attempt to quiet her and then strangled her.

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Acostas friends and co-workers reported her missing after she failed to return from her break. That led police to her van, which Tanzi drove to Key West. Police said Tanzi confessed to the crime and showed investigators where he had left Acostas body on Cudjoe Key, more than 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Miami.

If I had let her go, I was gonna get caught quicker, Tanzi told officers, according to the record. I didnt want to get caught. I was having too much fun ... I told her, I says, I cant let you go. If I let you go, then Im gonna be in a lot of trouble. 

Tanzi was convicted of first-degree murder, carjacking, kidnapping and armed robbery, drawing a 12-0 jury recommendation for the death penalty.

All of his subsequent appeals were unsuccessful, including a late request for a stay of execution rejected Tuesday afternoon by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Florida Supreme Court also recently rejected his claim he shouldnt be executed because he was morbidly obese and had sciatica, raising the risk of unconstitutional levels of pain.

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Two other executions were conducted earlier this year in Florida. Edward James, 63, received a lethal injection March 20 for killing an 8-year-old girl and her grandmother during a night of heavy drinking and drug use. James Dennis Ford, 64, was executed Feb. 13 for killing a husband and wife at a remote farm in an attack witnessed by the couples toddler, who was unharmed.

Eight other people have been executed elsewhere in the U.S. in 2025: two in South Carolina, two in Texas and one each in Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana and Oklahoma. One South Carolina execution was by firing squad, and another firing squad execution is scheduled Friday. About a dozen other executions are still scheduled nationwide.

The nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center said Florida's lethal injection uses a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart.
Israeli forces are seen at the scene where a Palestinian woman was shot dead, near the West Bank city of Salfit, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army killed a Palestinian woman on Tuesday in northern West Bank after she allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack, the Ramallah-based Health Ministry said.

"We are informed by the general authority for civil affairs that Amana Yaqou, 30, was killed by Israeli army near Salfit," the ministry said in brief statement.

Palestinian security sources said the incident occurred when the woman reached the Haris/Gitai Avishar Junction, where the Israeli army opened fire on her "for allegedly attempting to carry out a stabbing attack."

Video footage widely circulated on social networks showed a woman lying on the ground, with several Israeli soldiers in uniform standing next to her, some of whom covered her body with a blanket.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Tuesday in a statement that its soldiers "neutralized" a woman who allegedly hurled rocks and attempted to stab Israeli soldiers adjacent to a junction near the Ariel settlement.

An Israeli military spokesperson told Israel Radio Kan that a knife was later found in the woman's possession when her body was searched, and that no Israeli soldiers were injured in the incident.

Also on Tuesday, the IDF said in a separate statement that it has punished commanders and soldiers for spraying graffiti on buildings and vandalizing equipment during an operation on Wednesday at the Dheisha refugee camp close to the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.

The operation was then stopped, and the graffiti has been covered up, the IDF said.

Following an investigation into the prohibited acts, the commander of the involved battalion and a company commander were reprimanded, another company commander, two other commanders and several soldiers involved in the incident were dismissed, and the platoon involved was dissolved, it said. 

Israeli forces are seen at the scene where a Palestinian woman was shot dead, near the West Bank city of Salfit, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

Israeli forces are seen at the scene where a Palestinian woman was shot dead, near the West Bank city of Salfit, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

Israeli forces are seen at the scene where a Palestinian woman was shot dead, near the West Bank city of Salfit, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

Israeli forces are seen at the scene where a Palestinian woman was shot dead, near the West Bank city of Salfit, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

Israeli forces are seen at the scene where a Palestinian woman was shot dead, near the West Bank city of Salfit, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)
Related video: In late January, ICE began its crackdown on illegal immigration.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WFLA)  A Florida Representative is calling out President Donald Trump and his administration for running a government-funded kidnapping program following ICEs recent detainment of a University of Florida student.

In a statement released Monday, Congressman Maxwell Frost (FL-10) called Trumps administration cruel for going after the college student, whose family hasnt heard from since April 1.

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Felipe Zapata Velasquez, 27, is a third-year international student at UF and is in the States on an F-1 visa. According to court records, Zapata Velasquez was pulled over by Gainesville Police on March 28 for driving with a suspended license, attaching a license plate or state not lawfully assigned and driving with an expired vehicle registration. Rep. Frost said he was later arrested and detained by ICE.

Customer demands refund after charter captain goes viral, report says

Zapata Velasquez was taken to the Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade where he awaits deportation orders in hell on Earth, Rep. Frost described.

Donald Trump and ICE are running a government-funded kidnapping program, he added. Showing up in unmarked vans, with plain clothes officers, they are kidnapping people off the streets and jailing them inside of detention centers without due process and with little cause.

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The Congressman argued that Trump is the only criminal responsible in this situation, claiming the president is harming the American people and making citizens believe deporting every immigrant will solve the nations problems.

Donald Trump ran on the promise of deporting violent criminals and gang members. Instead weve seen him kidnap and detain American citizens, legal visa holders like Felipe, and anyone who has spoken out against this Administration, Rep. Frost said.

The democrat concluded his statement by saying he would use every tool at his disposal to hold the Trump administration accountable.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to resume deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members under a law from 1798.

However, migrants must now be given due process to challenge their removal.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is also responding after a federal judge temporarily blocked a new law that makes it a state crime to be in Florida illegally.

Judge Kathleen Williams issued the order Friday that puts the law on hold for the next two weeks.

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That means local and state law enforcement cant make arrests under the law.

DeSantis said he was anticipating the legal challenge.

An injunction hearing is set for April 18.

The law could be blocked until this case goes to trial.

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Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, asks a question about a bill before the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Feb. 13, 2025. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)

A bill that clarifies aspects of Arkansas public meetings law is heading to the governors desk after it again passed the Senate by a wide margin on Monday.

The bill specifies what members of city councils, quorum courts or school boards could discuss outside of a public meeting and would also allow a court to nullify any decisions made by a public body if it was in violation of open meetings laws.

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Senate Bill 227, sponsored by Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, had already passed the Senate once, but the addition of co-sponsors when it was being considered in the House required another vote by the upper chamber.

Senators voted 34-1 in favor of passage; more senators voted yes in the second vote, including Sen. Alan Clark, who voted against Tuckers bill when it first passed the Senate last month. Clark introduced his own amendments to the states Freedom of Information Act that would have defined a public meeting as more than two members of a public body  a change from the current status quo. That bill, Senate Bill 376, has been waiting to be heard in the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee, and Clark voted against Tuckers bill the first time it went before the chamber.

Only Sen. John Payton, R-Wilburn, voted no during Mondays vote.

The current FOIA does not define the number of people needed for a meeting to qualify as public, but has generally been interpreted to mean a meeting where at least two members of a governing body get together. Tuckers bill, if signed into law, would make that more explicit.

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Tuckers bill has support from FOIA advocates around the state. The president of the Arkansas Press Association, Andrew Bagley, called Tuckers bill a very good piece of legislation during a committee meeting March 12.

The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act gives Arkansans broad access to public records, such as emails sent between state officials and documents used in the course of government action. The law also establishes access to public meetings by members of the public, although the vague language governing this access has led to multiple instances of litigation as local governments ran afoul of the sunshine provisions.

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U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has canceled a Tuesday afternoon hearing on the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged migrant gang members without due process, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday evening that the administration could resume carrying out such deportations.

Boasberg had scheduled the hearing to consider whether to convert the temporary restraining order he issued blocking those deportations last month into a longer-lasting preliminary injunction, as he mulled whether to hold the administration in contempt for failing to provide information about the deportation of over 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members last month.

Boasberg's order canceling Tuesday's hearing did not address where the contempt issue stands.

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MORE: Supreme Court allows Venezuelan deportations to continue, but with due process

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision Monday evening, ruled that the Trump administration could resume deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act, but said detainees must be given due process to challenge their removal.

The unsigned opinion lifted Boasberg's temporary restraining order, ruling that he lacked the jurisdiction to address the matter.

In response to the Supreme Court's ruling, the ACLU -- which is representing several alleged Venezuelan gang members who are set to be sent to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act -- filed habeas petitions in the New York district where the men are being held, seeking to challenge their removal.

PHOTO: Alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua who were deported by the U.S. government, are detained at the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador in a photo obtained Mar. 16, 2025. (Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia via AFP via Getty Images)

Trump last month invoked the Alien Enemies Act -- a wartime authority used to deport noncitizens with little-to-no due process -- by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a "hybrid criminal state" that is invading the United States.

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Judge Boasberg temporarily blocked the president's use of the law on March 15, ordering that the government turn around two flights carrying more than 200 alleged Tren de Aragua members to El Salvador.

Authorities failed to turn the flights around, leading the judge to threaten the administration with contempt.

ABC News' Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.

Judge Boasberg cancels hearing on Trump deportations after Supreme Court ruling originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Boar's Head deli meats recall notice at a deli counter in a Queens, New York grocery store. Credit - Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Even before the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) eliminated 10,000 jobs on April 1, people who watched the agency closely were concerned about food safety.

Under a Biden-era reorganization, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cut millions of dollars for state-level food inspections, effective this year. Inspections of facilities were not keeping up with Congressional directives; the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report in Jan. 2025 urging the FDA to strengthen inspection efforts to protect the U.S. food supply. And advocates were concerned because major parts of the landmark 2011 Food Safety Modernization Actincluding rules that farmers must monitor the water they spray on vegetables for manurewere being delayed or rolled back.

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We have always had a problem with having adequate funding and staffing for the level of complication that is food safety in the U.S., says Darin Detwiler, a food safety advocate whose toddler son died of E. coli poisoning in 1993 during an outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants. This lack of funding has coincided with a number of food illness outbreaks in the U.S. in recent yearsincluding, in 2024 alone, an E. coli outbreak linked to slivered onions at McDonalds that killed one person, an E. coli outbreak linked to organic carrots sold in grocery stores (which also caused a fatality), and a listeria outbreak linked to Boars Head deli meat that resulted in 10 deaths.

Then came the job cuts. At the FDA, 2,500 people were laid off, including workers in the Human Foods Program, who are tasked with ensuring food safety, and scientists at a product safety lab in San Francisco that tests foods for bacteria. Also gutted were communications staff at both FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who helped coordinate response to outbreaks and informed both consumers and businesses about recalled food. And hundreds of workers at CDCs Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice lost their jobs; the organization coordinated government response to an outbreak of lead poisoning in 2023 linked to cinnamon applesauce pouches.

Read More: Are Artificial Food Dyes Safe to Eat?

In the month before the layoffs, the Trump Administration also cut two longstanding committees focused on food safety: the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods and the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection. The first was studying which babies might be at risk from the deadly bacteria found at an Abbott Nutrition infant formula plant; the second was looking at ways to use technology to improve food safety inspections.

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Now, safety advocates say, there is little doubt that the already-strained protocols for food safety in the U.S. are going to lead to more sickness.

People will get sick, or worse, because the people who are charged with keeping our food safe were fired, says Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, a health advocacy group.

HHS did not respond to a request for comment for this story. In a recent press release, it said that the restructuring will save taxpayers $1.8 billion and will implement a new agency priority: ending Americas epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that no frontline jobs like inspectors were impacted by the layoffs.

But advocates say that frontline workers arent the only ones responsible for food safety. Inspectors are supported by teams of people working in labs and offices who assist them with data, coordination, and science, says Faber. That includes people who perform surveillance of outbreaks and respond to them, and who work with manufacturers, consumers, and retailers and tell them that their food is contaminated and should be thrown away.

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Its an early 20th-century notion that protecting inspectors from being fired is how we keep food safe, he says. But your food is not safe because someone with a clipboard walked through a food-manufacturing facility.

Food inspections are falling behind

Even if, as the Administration argues, frontline workers are the linchpin to keeping food safe in the U.S., inspections of facilities have long fallen behind what is mandated by law. The last time FDA inspected the number of domestic food facilities mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act, the landmark 2011 food safety law, was 2018, according to a 2025 GAO report. (The U.S. is supposed to hit this target every year.) In 2021, FDA did not inspect about 49% of high-risk facilities by the date it was supposed to; in 2019, that number was just 7%, according to the GAO.

This is partly because the FDA does not have enough trained staff to conduct these inspections, according to the GAO report. In July 2024, the FDA had 432 inspectors, but nearly one-quarter were eligible to retire. It takes two years to train a new investigator.

What about the role of states?

States perform a number of inspections in collaboration with the FDA. About 90% of inspections of produce facilities are done by states, and 50% of inspections of manufactured food facilities are done by states, according to Steven Mandernach, executive director of the Association of Food and Drug Officials, a nonprofit advocacy group. But funds for those inspections have been cut dramatically this year because of a Biden-era reorganization that went into effect this year, he says.

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State rapid response teams that were tasked with moving quickly during outbreaks saw their budgets cut by around 60%, he said. States saw budgets for produce inspections cut by about 40%. And funding for states manufactured food programs infrastructure and training was cut by about 50%.

Read More: Why Some Food Additives Banned in Europe Are Still on U.S. Shelves

I think the penalties for the food eaters is that we're going to have slower responses to food safety events, whether it be recalls, outbreaks, those sorts of things, he says. We're going to have less monitoring of facilities. We're probably going to end up with less trained individuals out there doing the inspections. All of those things are bad overall for the system."

State food safety departments are now scrambling to redistribute funding, says Katherine Simon, director of the food and feed safety division at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. In Minnesota, her department will have to cut back on administrative staff, she says, which will eventually make inspectors less efficient; the amount of time inspectors spend at any one facility will likely decline.

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People look to government jobs for stability, and one of Simons biggest concerns is that the big funding swings make it difficult to commit to staffing year after year. The instability could motivate longtime experts to seek employment elsewhere, she says. Most of all, she says, amid these funding cuts, the food industry is changing at a rapid pace, making it difficult to keep up. It's really turning back the dial, and we are at a critical stage, she says.

Cuts at the department that responds to outbreaks

Simon is also worried about the cuts at the CDC office that helps respond to outbreaks and implement preventative food safety practices. When states figure out that theres a local outbreak that is sickening people, they often reach out to the CDCs Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice for assistance, she says. Thats what happened in North Carolina after the local health department found elevated levels of lead in childrens blood and discovered that all the children had eaten WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches. Its what happened in Flint, Mich. after the local health department found that water was contaminated by lead.

But the Division of Environment Health Science and Practice was gutted by the April 1 layoffs, with only a few top leaders remaining, says Megan Weil Latshaw, a professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University. State health departments tend to be woefully underfunded, she says, so they call in the CDC to help. Now, they wont be able to anymore.

We had a system in place that was there to monitor food safety and air quality and lead poisoning, and now that system is being decimated, she says. Around 144 employees, almost the entire division, were laid off, according to a tally by former workers.

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Read More: They Hated Health Insurance. So They Started Paying For Each Others Care

The Division of Environmental Health didnt just coordinate after outbreaks. It also performed key research that led to food safety improvements, says Hal King, managing partner at the consulting firm Active Food Safety. The department researched best practices for food safety in restaurants; one of its successes was discovering that having a manager in charge of food safety improved conditions. Restaurants are now required to have a manager in charge of food safety. It evaluated the success of having letter grades for restaurants. It also researched ways to improve food worker behavior, such as persuading people to wear gloves when handling food or washing their hands after going to the bathroom.

Most recently, it had conducted research in eight states about how to keep sick workers from transmitting illnesses to customers. The research had come up with some promising interventions, says a former CDC employee, but the fate of that research is now unknown because the employees coordinating it were laid off. (The employee did not want to give their name because they say they hope to get their job back.)

Landmark food safety law isnt being enforced

Food safety advocates celebrated Congress passing the Food Safety Modernization Act in 2011, the first major change to laws policing food supply chains since 1938. It created mandates for how often facilities should be inspected, and also required facilities to be able to better trace the sources of contaminations in food. But many of the provisions of the law that food safety experts lauded have been delayed or rolled back.

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The food traceability rule, for example, was designed to ensure better recordkeeping, and was set to go into effect in Jan. 2026. But on March 20, 2025, the FDA announced that it was postponing the compliance date by 30 months after heavy lobbying by the grocery industry.

The faster we can identify the source of an outbreak, the more lives are saved, says EWGs Faber, but the postponement will make it harder to identify the source of food outbreaks.

And a rule that farmers test their irrigation systems for pathogens, checking to see if the water they use to grow crops has traces of manure in it, for example, was switched to an honor system test in May 2024, says Faber.

Whats most concerning about many of these cuts, food safety advocates say, is that the repercussions may not be apparent on paper. It may look like the country has fewer foodborne illnesses, or that fewer facilities are failing food inspections. But that doesnt mean the U.S. is healthier. It might just mean, they worry, that sicknesses caused by food safety are going unseen and undetected.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Running a food truck is difficult under the best of circumstances. Proprietors are business owners, chefs, servers, event bookers, promoters, and mechanics. Add in the long, cold Minnesota winters, and its not surprising that many close up shop until the robins return.

Nonetheless, stop by a brewery or downtown corner over lunch in January, and youll see mobile kitchens like Brick Oven Bus, Mirasol Mexican Grill, or Hana Bistro out there, serving hungry (and shivering) diners through almost any temperature.

I call it an extreme sport, says Nancy Alayon, owner of Que Tal Street Eats. It gets so cold. But, to start, you have to get great gear and the right mental game.

Gerhard's Brats at Wild Mind AlesPhoto by Dustin Nelson

Keeping warm through trial and error

While most trucks have heating elements for the food  deep fryers and flat tops, for instance  ventilation systems suck most of that heat straight out of the truck. So, finding a different way to stay warm, often while standing next to an open window, is a top priority.

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The truck is only eight feet by 20 or 30 feet or so, right? So, 240 square feet. And if you look at the usable area, it's only about 120130 square feet. If you're having a 10-to-12-foot hood sucking out all the hot air, in a matter of seconds the temperature inside is exactly whats outside, says Pizza Karma founder Rajesh Selvaraj. We added our own propane-based heaters into the truck, which keeps [staff] warm.

Though, food truck operators say its not quite as simple as just plugging in a space heater. Alayon, clad in heavy-duty overalls on a January afternoon at Bad Weather Brewing, says there was a lot of trial and error before figuring out how to keep Que Tal's truck warm.

The first year that we tried to do it, it was absolutely terrible," she says. "I mean, things would freeze. Crema would turn to ice cream when it would hit metal."

Both Alayon and Selvaraj note that theres a lot of information shared between food trucks about what theyre doing to keep crews warm, efforts that go beyond insulation and heaters.

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Soulaire Allerais Bad Rooster, for instance, installed a skirt that keeps cold winds from blowing under the truck, chilling the metal floor.

Que Tal Street Eats at Bad Weather BrewingPhoto by Dustin Nelson

However, its not just staff that has to stay warm.

Sometimes your truck doesn't even start, Selvaraj says. A couple of weeks back, it didnt start, and we didnt want to cancel. So, I had to take my Audi and charge the battery, push the starter, and make it work. You have to be Minnesota tough. You have to get it done. And then sometimes you get there, and there are no [customers]."

For food truck operators who don't have an indoor parking space, it's not just hoping the engine turns over. Breaking down after service takes on new importance because any food or liquid left behind in tanks, sinks, or anywhere else will freeze, with the potential to cause debilitating problems.

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And still, with trucks taken care of and staff adequately warmed, there are curveballs like cold weather lowering the pressure in propane tanks.

In the winter, you have to refill the [propane] tanks like every week. You cant get it to low, says Gerhard Riautschnig of Gerhards Brats. It pretty much takes twice as much propane.

The truck is running... now what?

After putting in all that extra work, the margins are narrow in the winter. It's the reason many food trucks operate seasonally. There are fewer places to set up shop, fewer operating hours at those stops, and fewer customers out and about.

You can keep yourself busy, Selvaraj says of the reduced opportunities. But you're going to lose money. That's the biggest thing. There is unpredictability. Can you break even? It is not about making money. Can you break even or are you going to lose? That's what winter is about.

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That decision to stay open can be easier in some ways for an operation like Gerhards Brats, which is primarily run by family members. But other trucks chose to fight the forces of winter to keep staff employed.

Related: Where to find the best Twin Cities food trucks the week of April 7

It was really important for [my staff] to not try to find jobs over the wintertime, says Alayon, who adds that keeping staff employed and running through the colder months takes a lot of planning and squirreling away money. Not only is there the possibility that a service might not bring in a profit, the winter is also when trucks are paying event fees for summer festivals and submitting license renewals with the municipalities in which they operate.

Despite the obstacles, many chefs remain passionately determined to keep their food hitting plates year-round. Bad Rooster tells Bring Me The News it stays open even when temperatures drop below zero. Others will brave chilly nights but draw a line on the thermometer that won't be crossed.

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My cut off temperature is about 10 degrees, says Riautschnig, who operates out of a trailer rather than a full truck. When it goes down to 10 and below, its really hard to stay warm and keep the food warm inside. You know, I have condiments and toppings, and when mustard freezes, it just doesnt look good on a bratwurst.

After all of that is sorted, winter can still throw a new obstacle into the gauntlet.

We had our windows freeze this year. Freeze! Alayon says with a laugh. I mean, this business is definitely not for everybody.
Security footage shows that no military personnel were present at a Krivyi Rih restaurant, despite Russian claims of military targets amid a Russian attack on the city on April 4, France 24 reported on April 7.

Russia targeted Kryvyi Rih in a deadly attack on April 4, killing 20 people and injuring 75. Russian media claimed the attack targeted Ukraine's Armed Forces and foreign instructors training them.

No evidence of a military meeting in Kryvyi Rih on April 4 was found, Gulliver Cragg, a correspondent at France 24, reported.

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"They hit a peaceful residential area. They hit children and civilians with ballistics with cluster bombs," Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of Kryvyi Rih's military administration, said on April 7.

Vilkul condemned Russia for claiming it was attacking military targets in Kryvyi Rih.

"Today, video footage has been released around the world, showing the moment of the attack on our city absolutely clearly - no military, no 'commandos', no 'military equipment,' as the lying Russian media wrote," Vilkul said.

The local official decried Russia's April 4 attack on Kryvyi Rih and called for the victims of the attack to be mourned.

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"Lying Russian cowards, fighting with children and women  burn in hell!" Vilkul said in response to the security footage.

Russia has intensified missile and drone attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia.

Moscow has shown signs it is unwilling to move forward on a peace deal with Ukraine. Russian authorities have listed maximalist demands in ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine and the U.S.

Ukraine has already agreed to a U.S.-proposed full 30-day ceasefire, saying on March 11 that Kyiv is ready if Russia also agrees to the terms. So far, Moscow has refused.

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Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia claims capture of Sumy Oblast village, Ukraine denies

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
(NewsNation)  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a recall on more than 160,000 vehicles coming from companies, including Ford, Cadillac and GM.

Heres what you need to know about recalls issued by the NHTSA from March 31 to April 6.

Ford Motor Company recall

More than 105,000 2018-2020 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles were recalled. The seat belt pre-tensioner in the driver and/or front passenger seat may inadvertently lock, preventing it from retracting or extending.

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Dealers will inspect the seat belt retractor date codes and replace the retractors for free. Owners will be sent a notification letter on April 14.

Hot sauces recalled across 10 states

Nissan recall

Nissan is recalling 37,003 2025 Kick vehicles, as the certification may have been printed with the wrong Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and Gross Axle Weight Rating.

Dealers will replace the labels free of charge and mail new labels to owners. Notification letters will be sent on May 12.

View of the Cadillac Lyriq 600 E4, an all-electric SUV with a 102 kWh battery pack and a range of up to 314 miles per charge. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Cadillac recall

General Motors has recalled 10,643 2025 Cadillac LYRIQ vehicles. The owners manual may have incorrect information on the vehicles head restraints.

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GM will mail the owners manual insert with the correct illustrations and descriptions for free. Notification letters will be sent on May 12.

Frito-Lay recalls some Tostitos chips over undeclared allergen

A visitor inspects a BMW New 4 Series car during the 46th Bangkok International Motor Show. (Photo by Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

BMW recall

BMW is recalling a number of its 2025 models because the electrical connection between the starter-generator and battery may come loose.

The affected models include:

2025 330i

2025 330i xDrive

2025 530i

2025 530i xDrive2025 4 Series Coupe (430i, 430i xDrive)

2025 4 Series Convertible (430i, 430i xDrive)

2025 4 Series Gran Coupe (430i, 430i xDrive)

2025 X3 30 xDrive

Dealers will inspect and replace the starter-generator and positive battery cable free of charge. Owner notification letters will be sent on May 23.

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Deadline approaches for claiming $1,400 stimulus check from 2021

Honda recall

Honda is recalling 3,316 2024-2025 ADV160 scooters. The oil pump-driven gear could fail and result in a loss of drive power.

Dealers will replace the oil pump-driven gear for free. Notification letters will be sent on May 26.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI)  A former New Bedford Public Schools teacher pleaded not guilty to assaulting a nonverbal elementary school student with special needs, court records show.

According to a police report obtained by 12 News, video surveillance from Hayden-McFadden Elementary School on Feb. 25 allegedly shows Anissa Faria, 45, of Dartmouth, pushing the student to the ground and pulling the students ponytail three different times.

The incident was witnessed by another staff member who police said immediately reported it to the schools principal.

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ALSO READ: Former Coventry school employee pleads not guilty to assaulting student

Schools spokesperson Arthur Motta told 12 News the incident happened around 10:40 a.m. that day and that Faria was reportedly removed from the building by noon. He added that the students parents were notified just before 1 p.m. that day.

Motta said Faria was subsequently placed on administrative leave.

New Bedford Public Schools takes all concerns regarding student safety seriously and is committed to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment for all students, Motta said.

He said the district launched an internal investigation and filed a mandated 51A report to the Department of Children and Families (DCF). Mandated reporting laws require certain individuals to notify child protective services when they know or suspect a child is being maltreated. Its known as the 51A Law in Massachusetts.

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According to the police report, the victim was taken to the nurses office to be evaluated and did not appear to be severely injured, however, the student did not have the ability to communicate due to her disability.

The district said school officials met with DCF in-person on Feb. 28 to support the agencys investigation. On March 3, Faria was issued an intent to dismiss notice by the district. She is no longer employed by the district, according to Motta.

Within 24 hours of concluding the NBPS personnel investigation, the district submitted all relevant documentation to the Office of the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for review by the Office of Professional Standards, Motta added.

Police said in a March 6 report that school officials told the responding officer that they first reached out to school resource officers (SROs) at two other schools on March 3. No other follow-ups were made when those initial attempts were unsuccessful, police said in the report.

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Police said they did not begin investigating the incident until officers became aware of it on March 6.

When asked why police werent notified immediately, the police report said a school official told the officers it should be up to DCF to notify the police. But officers noted that due to the severity of the incident, the SRO should have been informed right away.

In the March 6 police report, the responding officer said, I will be contacting [the students] family today to make them aware of this incident and that a criminal charge on Ms. Faria would be forthcoming.

Faria was arraigned on March 28 and pled not guilty to one count of assault and battery on a person with an intellectual disability, a felony.

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Court records show Faria pled not guilty and was released on personal recognizance with conditions that she not have contact with the victim and children under the age of 12, with the exception of biological children. Her attorney declined to comment on the matter.

Faria is due back in court on May 27.

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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Hope Justman (4th L, front) poses for a group photo with her fellow hikers at the Tianxiong Pass on the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

This combo photo taken on March 21, 2025 shows Hope Justman sharing a photo of the plank road by Mingyue Gorge that she took in the past (above) and the plank road by Mingyue Gorge at present, in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

An aerial drone photo taken on March 21, 2025 shows the plank road by Mingyue Gorge (below) in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (front) and her fellow hikers walk along the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (C) visits Zhaohua ancient town with her fellow hikers in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 20, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (L) and her fellow hikers walk along the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (2nd R) chats with her fellow hikers on the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman poses for a photo on the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (R) rests and chats with her fellow hiker after hiking the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (L) and her friend Chen Yang view a stone tablet at the Tianxiong Pass on the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (1st L) explains construction techniques of plank roads to her fellow hikers at Mingyue Gorge scenic area in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 21, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (1st R) chats with her fellow hikers on the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman shows photos of the ancient road system "Shudao" that she took in the past in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 20, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman crosses a gap with the help of her fellow hikers while walking along the Jianmen Pass to Zhaohua ancient town section of the ancient road system "Shudao" in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 19, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman records the process of making a sugar painting at Zhaohua ancient town in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 20, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Hope Justman (L) signs her book with a note for her friend Hu Chaoqun, a restaurant owner at Zhaohua ancient town, in Guangyuan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 20, 2025. Hope Justman, an octogenarian American, completed her 25th trip to "Shudao," an ancient road system with a history of more than two millennia in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Spanning over 1,000 km, "Shudao," or the roads of the Shu Kingdom, winds through rugged mountains and turbulent streams, connecting present-day Sichuan Province with the northern Guanzhong Plain, once the heartland of ancient China.

Justman's connection to the ancient road system can be traced back to her college days. As a student majoring in art history, she visited an exhibition in the 1960s, where a painting named Emperor Minghuang's Journey to Sichuan captured her attention, especially the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background. At first, she thought the artist had imagined the scene. When she found out that the road actually existed, she knew she had to go to China to find it.

With the help of local guides, Justman finally located "Shudao." Walking on winding plank roads lined with ancient trees made her feel as if she traveled back in time. Justman created a website and wrote a book, sharing her experiences of this ancient road system. In spring, many like-minded foreigners come to Sichuan to hike with her.

In 2024, the Chinese version of Justman's book was published, and more Chinese people started to learn about the American's bond with "Shudao." Justman has also noticed that great efforts have been made to protect the ancient road system, as broken stone-paved roads have been restored, and many facilities and signposts have been added along the hiking route. "I'm glad more and more people have an opportunity to enjoy the scenery of the ancient road system," she said. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)
As former presidents of American colleges and universities who care deeply about the contribution of higher education to our country, we call on the Trump administration to end the destructive attacks on colleges and universities and establish a constructive dialogue with board trustees and presidents over university governance and educational guidelines. The federal governments aggressive threats to withdraw funding and the ideological conditions it has named for reinstating withdrawn fundsbefore formal investigation, hearing, or reportingare illegal under Title VI the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and unconstitutional under the First Amendment. These threats directly imperil the core mission of colleges and universities: to prioritize open dialogue, free inquiry, academic integrity, and the unfettered pursuit of truth. Our nations colleges and universities have served as engines of creativity and innovation, contributing exponentially more than their costs to the prosperity, safety, security, and well-being of Americans and our nation.

We support board trustees and presidents as they collectively defend the values and ideals of higher education; resist and legally challenge unlawful demands that threaten academic freedom and university self-governance; protect departments and programs against political threats; preserve science and other research from funding cuts by providing legal and financial support to affected scholars and research units; and promote the exercise of free expression and a culture of civil discourse. We ask the American public to productively engage in community forums and find solutions to the challenges facing their alma maters as well as their regional and local academic institutions.

We recognize that recent events on college campuses raise legitimate concerns about the independent mission and governance of these schools. Academic institutions should never insist that any student or scholar display ideological purity. Nor should they ever be externally pressured to do so. Matters of social justice or partisan politics must not take precedence over the core mission of colleges and universities, namely the pursuit of truth, advancement of knowledge, and education of responsible citizens.

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However, arbitrary assaults on higher educationbypassing legally required due processhave an extremely chilling effect on campus life and undermine the unique contributions of higher education to the nations economic vitality, to U.S. technological leadership, to the cultural pillars of our society, to health care, and to the quality of life in communities around the nation. The economic contributions of these institutions to American GDP underpin the $7 trillion in digital transactions that occur each year; the biotech sectors $3 trillion annual contribution to U.S. GDP; and the $5+ trillion in annual investments to AI and other emerging technologies. Together, these industries, each closely linked to academic programming, contribute nearly half of American GDP, account for the majority of annual GDP growth, and amount to twice the spending of the federal government. The trade surplus from higher education accounts for nearly 14% of total U.S. services trade surpluscomparable to the combined exports of soybeans, coal, and natural gas. A global magnet, international student tuitions contribute $45 billion to the U.S. economy. Colleges and universities are also responsible for massively increasing the average lifespan, improving socioeconomic mobility and access to opportunity, and training millions of highly skilled workers. Their innovation and dynamism play an essential part in promoting American prosperity and global leadership. U.S. colleges and universities remain the best in the world, but every assault on their academic freedom threatens this standing.

We call on the Trump administration to halt its destructive, ever-increasing attack on higher education. We encourage all boards of trustees to avoid concessions toward core institutional principles while encouraging their presidents to speak out in defense of their own schools.

Authors:

Edward Ayers, University of Richmond

Kimberly Benston, Haverford College

Lee Bollinger, Columbia University, University of Michigan

Phil Boroughs, SJ, College of the Holy Cross

Richard Brodhead, Duke University

Robert Brown, Boston University

Carol T. Christ, University of California  Berkeley

Mary Sue Coleman, University of Michigan

Ron Crutcher, Wheaton College (MA)

Adam Falk, Williams College

Jonathan Fanton, The New School

Wayne A. I. Frederick, Howard University

Stephen Friedman, Pace University

Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania

Andrew Hamilton, New York University

Phil Hanlon, Dartmouth College

Robert Head, Rockford University

John Hennessy, Stanford

Freeman Hrabowski, The University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Nan Keohane, Duke University, Wellesley College

Brit Kirwan, University System of Maryland

Tony Marx, Amherst College

Gail Mellow, LaGuardia Community College  City University of New York

Anthony Monaco, Tufts University

Richard Morrill, Centre College

M. Duane Nellis, Ohio University, Texas Tech University, University of Idaho

Lynn Pasquerella, Mount Holyoke College

Laurie Patton, Middlebury College

Steven Poskanzer, Carleton College

Gregory Prince, Hampshire College

Stuart Rabinowitz, Hofstra University

L. Song Richardson, Colorado College

Mark Schlissel, University of Michigan

Jake Schrum, Southwestern University, Texas Wesleyan University

Allen L. Sessoms, Delaware State University, University System of DC, Queens College  City University of New York

Donna Shalala, University of Miami, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Hunter College of the City University of New York

Teresa Sullivan, University of Virginia

Beverly Daniel Tatum, Spelman College

Lara Tiedens, Scripps College

Steve Trachtenberg, George Washington University

Daniel H. Weiss, Haverford College, Lafayette College

Julie Wollman, Widener University

Meredith Woo, Sweet Briar College

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Institutional affiliations provided for identification only.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

Read more:

Harvards defiance of Trumps authoritarian incursion supported by 60 past and present college and university presidents

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
CARTHAGE, Mo.  The former executive director of the Carthage Convention and Visitors Bureau who was charged with stealing from the organization reached a plea deal in the case.

PREVIOUS: Former Carthage CVB executive director charged with embezzlement

This morning in a Jasper County courtroom, Callie Myers, 45, entered an Alford plea.

She was originally charged with a felony count of stealing, but as part of her plea deal, the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor.

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She was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol began investigating Myers in August of 2021, after city leaders contacted them, saying bank statements showed she used the CVB debit card for personal use.

Investigators say the card was used for clothing, food, a payment to her husband, a payment to her daughter, hair salon services, at restaurants, for a cell phone and accessories, and alcohol.

Court records show that when board members asked her about the purchases, she said they were for CVB use, but documents supplied to the city didnt match that.

Authorities say the unauthorized purchases totaled more than $4,700, and there was an additional $3,200 in purchases with no paper trail.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com.
DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA)  The Danville School Board may discuss a settlement agreement with former Superintendent Alicia Geddis at this weeks meeting.

A motion to consider the settlement agreement is on the agenda for the boards Wednesday meeting. In February, WCIA reported that Geddis was placed on paid administrative leave, and that John Hart, who was the Assistant Superintendent at the time, would assume the role of interim superintendent.

Former Danville Police officer, Korean War vet dies at 92

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WCIA also reported that the school board passed an unspecified settlement with Geddis that would see both parties part ways.

After Geddis was placed on leave, WCIA talked to Board Counsel Stephanie Jones. Jones said the teacher retirement system requires the district to review the agreement and approve it before its executed. This applies when the settlement falls within the employees retirement age.

The school board will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday in a closed session. They are expected to begin the open meeting at 6:30 p.m. Itll take place at the Dr. David L. Fields Administrative Service 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 WCIA.com.
DENVER  Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a former Gambian soldier accused of torture in his home country, making him the first noncitizen to stand trial in the United States for allegedly committing torture abroad.

Michael Correa, 45, a former soldier in the Gambia military, is charged with six counts of torture and aiding and abetting torture and one count of conspiracy.

He was once a member of an armed and specialized military unit known as the Junglers, which was part of the Gambia Armed Forces but took direct orders from then-president Yahya Jammeh, according to a federal grand jury indictment.

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From March to April 2006, Correa and other members in the unit arrested several individuals believed to be plotting to overthrow the Gambia government, the court document said.

Correa tortured the victims by placing guns in their mouths, striking them with sticks and extinguishing cigarettes on their bodies inside a prison, the court document said.

Correa sought to coerce confessions from the victims in order to have them admit to having had a role in the attempt to overthrow the government or to having been politically opposed to president Jammeh, the documents said.

Correa is the first non-U.S. citizen to stand trial in U.S. federal court on allegations of torture abroad, said Department of Justice spokesperson Nicole Navas Oxman said.

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Correa's attorneys, Boston Stanton Jr. and Jared Westbroek, could not be reached for comment Monday, and federal prosecutors declined to comment.

Michael Correa allegedly committed heinous acts of violence against victim after victim in a brutal effort to coerce confessions from suspected coup plotters, prosecutors said when announcing the charges.

Correa traveled with Jammeh to the U.S. in 2016 to act as his bodyguard after the president was forced into exile, NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver reported.

But Correa overstayed his visa and tried to hide in Colorado, the station reported. His last known address was in Denver, the indictment said.

Twelve jurors and two alternates were to be selected with opening arguments expected to begin Tuesday.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) announced Tuesday he wont be running for Senate despite encouragement from national Republicans and President Donald Trump.

No, Im not going to run ... For me and my family, its just not right for us, Sununu told New Hampshires The Pulse radio program.

2026 Watch-BREAKING: @ChrisSununu -asked by Jack Heath on @thepulseofnh just now if he's running for the Senate, says "No, Im not going to run...For me and my family, its just not right for us." On @realDonaldTrump saying he'd back Sununu if he ran for the Senate -"Im honored pic.twitter.com/rLK9p5k9i3  Paul Steinhauser (@steinhauserNH1) April 8, 2025

Sununu met with Trump at the White House recently to discuss a potential bid to replace Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who is retiring at the end of next year.

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He came to my office, came to the Oval Office, and met with Chris Sununu, and I support him fully. I hope he runs, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Hes been very nice to me over the last year or so, but no, I hope he runs. I think hell win that seat.

Sununus decision to pass on the race comes as a blow for Senate Republicans, who were hoping to draft a top-tier recruit in the Granite State who can win in what is expected to be a challenging political midterm environment.

However, it is good news for former Massachusetts GOP Sen. Scott Brown, who is seriously exploring jumping into the race. In January, Brown came to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where he met with Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the top Republican in the chamber, as well as Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the chair of the Senate GOPs campaign committee.

On the Democratic side, Rep. Chris Pappas (N.H.) has announced his candidacy to replace Shaheen. First-term Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) is also looking at the seat.
Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said he will not run for U.S. Senate, despite scoring President Donald Trump's endorsement.

Sununu  who served four terms as the states governor before declining to seek a fifth  made the announcement Monday on The Pulse of NHs Good Morning NH radio show. Sununu had been viewed as a frontrunner for the 2026 Senate race since Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced she would not seek reelection.

I really thought about it, he said to The Pulse of NHs Jack Heath. I actually talked to the White House this morning. I talked to Tim Scott. Thanked him for all their support and confidence and all that, but I don't have to be the candidate, and I'm not going to be the candidate.

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Sununus remarks follow Trump backing the Republicans potential run over the weekend.

He came to my office, came to the Oval Office, and met with Chris Sununu, and I support him fully. I hope he runs, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. Hes been very nice to me over the last year or so, but no, I hope he runs. I think hell win that seat.

Trumps support came as a surprise given how he and Sununu have clashed over the years. Sununu has previously criticized Trumps rhetoric, backing Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican primary. However, he quickly threw his support behind Trump after he became the presumptive nominee.

Scott Brown, a former Massachusetts GOP senator and U.S. ambassador, who is weighing a potential run, praised Sununu on Tuesday. Brown was the Republican nominee for the New Hampshire Senate seat in 2014.

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@ChrisSununu and the entire Sununu family are patriots who have made our state a better place - looking forward to seeing whats next for him and working alongside him for New Hampshires future, Brown said in an X post Tuesday, referring to Sununus announcement.

Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas launched a campaign for Shaheens Senate seat last week, seeking to maintain Democrats grasp of the seat.

With a Senate run out of the picture, Sununu said he would continue his work in the private sector for now.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA)  A former Hillsborough County deputy is accused of throwing a bottle at a woman during a road rage incident.

The Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office said the woman and her two teenage children were traveling southbound on Bell Shoals Road when they approached a red light at the Fishhawk Boulevard intersection.

When the light turned green, the car in front of them didnt move, so the woman honked her horn to alert the driver.

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Deputies said the passenger of the suspects vehicle started yelling at the woman while they were on Fishhawk Boulevard.

Florida charter captain Brock Horner ordered to have no contact with fisherman after arrest

Investigators said the passenger threw a bottle and struck the victim in the head while at a red light at the Fishhawk Boulevard and Mosaic Drive intersection.

The victim sustained a raised contusion and an abrasion from the impact, the sheriffs office said.

Investigators identified the suspect as 47-year-old Brandon Parker.

The sheriffs office said that Parker worked for the sheriffs office from 2003 to 2016. He is a current employee of Hillsborough County Public Schools.

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This type of violent behavior is absolutely unacceptable, especially from someone who once wore a badge, said Sheriff Chad Chronister. There is no excuse for escalating a traffic dispute into an act that caused injury to an innocent driver. No one is above the law, and we will hold individuals accountable for their actions, regardless of their past or current affiliations.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH)  A former nurse has pleaded guilty to tampering with vials of hydromorphone and fentanyl at a surgical clinic in Stamford.

Kristen Carotenuto, 35, of Pelham, N.Y., had been granted access to a secure location which stored controlled substances, including hydromorphone and fentanyl, as part of her employment by a Stamford outpatient surgical center.

Danbury man found guilty of assault, other charges after April 2024 bar fight

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According to evidence and testimony, in December 2024, Carotenuto removed several vials, each containing hydromorphone or fentanyl, from the secure storage area. She then took the vials home, removed the controlled substances with a syringe, and used the drugs.

Carotenuto refilled the vials with either saline or water and returned the tampered vials to the storage area, where they could be distributed for patient use.

Carotenuto pled guilty to tampering with a consumer product, an offense that carries a maximum term of 10 year in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for June 30.

Carotenuto was released on a $25,000 bond. She has surrendered her nursing license.

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TILLMAN COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR)  According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, a former Tillman County jail administrator has been arrested on complaints of embezzlement.

Officials say the Tillman County Sheriffs Office requested the OSBIs help on February 18, 2025. Agents were notified of insufficient funds regarding one of the Jails accounts. After further investigation, former Tillman County Jail Chief of Security Frederick Houck was identified as the suspect.

LOCAL NEWS: Two arrested in connection with southeast Oklahoma homicide

Frederick Houck. Image courtesy OSBI.

According to the OSBI, Houck was interviewed by agents on April 7. Based on the information discovered during the investigation, Houck was arrested and booked into the Tillman County Jail on complaints of Embezzlement and Violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act.

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Official charges are pending through the Tillman County District Attorneys Office as the investigation continues.

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By Nazrin Abdul



A delegation led by Madina Abylkasimova, Chairwoman of the Financial Market Regulation and Development Agency of Kazakhstan, has visited Azerbaijan, Azernews reports, citing the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA).

During the visit, Central Bank Chairman Taleh Kazimov met with the Kazakh delegation.

Kazimov provided an overview of the 2024-2026 Financial Sector Development Strategy and its strategic initiatives. The discussions also covered Kazakhstan's approaches to ensuring financial stability, banking and insurance oversight, and the countrys experience in regulating financial markets. Additionally, a presentation was given on the digitalization projects and initiatives being implemented in Kazakhstan.

The meeting concluded with discussions on expanding cooperation between the two institutions and other mutually beneficial matters.
by Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The four-day Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025 kicked off here on Monday, bringing together hundreds of investors, policymakers and businesses from China and other countries to explore the country's expanding investment landscape.

Organized jointly by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), the summit seeks to spotlight Bangladesh's economic potential, highlight investment opportunities, and foster global partnerships.

On the opening day, an exposition titled Bangladesh Startup Connect 2025 was held in Dhaka to discuss investment opportunities and challenges faced by investors.

Also on Monday, as part of the summit opening, a 60-member business delegation visited two major economic zones in Bangladesh's southeastern Chattogram region.

Delegates attended presentations and visited several factories where they were briefed on investment potentials in Bangladesh.

"We're attaching very much importance to Chinese investment," Khandoker Azizul Islam, executive member of BIDA, told Xinhua on the sidelines of a presentation event at the National Special Economic Zone in Mirsarai on the outskirts of Bangladesh's Chattogram seaport city.

Azad Majumder, deputy press secretary to the Bangladeshi chief adviser, said they expect to boost exports and bring investment and development support from China in line with the interim government's efforts to attract more foreign investment.

He said that the interim government has already given necessary directives to the relevant authorities to remove all bottlenecks in investments and provide a seamless and efficient service experience for investors, reinforcing Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus's commitment to fostering an investment-friendly environment in the country.

In order to provide smooth, efficient and uniform investment service, the interim government has already introduced a one-stop service so that investors in Bangladesh can avail of hassle-free services, he added.

He expressed the hope that the summit will pave the way for more foreign direct investment (FDI) from China and other countries, as many investors have flocked to the event, proving a boon for Bangladesh.

More than 550 foreign investors from some 50 countries have registered, alongside 2,500 local participants, to attend the summit, converging to explore opportunities, share innovative ideas, and celebrate milestones in the country's investment landscape.

Delegations from Australia, China, India, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, Britain, and the United States are among the international participants attending the summit, organizers said.

The participation of lots of Chinese companies in this summit showcases the continuous development of the Belt and Road Initiative and highlights the vitality and dynamism constantly emerging from Bangladesh, said Chinese entrepreneur Ge Qingzhen.

He said the "world of three zeros" advocated by Yunus is in line with the aspirations of Chinese enterprises, some of which are now keenly interested in seizing fresh opportunities in Bangladesh by joining investment summits like this.

Yunus will formally inaugurate the summit on April 9, which focuses on key investment sectors including the digital economy, textiles, agriculture and agro-processing and healthcare.

Additional highlights will include a matchmaking session and a roundtable discussion on global best practices in investment. 
Apr. 7WILKES-BARRE  A Mountain Top man accused by Kingston police of swindling $2,000 while he was president of the non-profit organization Wilkes-Barre Power Inc. was admitted to the Luzerne County's Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition Program on Monday.

William Thomas Corcoran Jr., 36, of Bow Creek Drive, was charged in September with making unauthorized transactions in excess of $2,000 between May 2019 and April 2024 from the bank account of Wilkes-Barre Power Inc.

Wilkes-Barre Power Inc. has corporate office on Market Street, Kingston, and provides networking, community and civic improvement.

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Executive board members of the non-profit group contacted police about unauthorized transactions from their checking account.

Corcoran's attorney, Theron J. Solomon, advocated for his client to be admitted into the county's ARD program, which was approved by the district attorney's office and Judge Michael T. Vough.

Vough instructed Corcoran to perform 30 hours of community service and pay $2,000 in restitution. If Corcoran successfully completes the ARD program, the theft charge Kingston police filed will be withdrawn.

The Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition Program is for first-time, non-violent offenders with the purpose to quickly dispose non-violent cases from the court system.
An ex-dean of nursing at St. Catherine University charged last year with embezzling $400,000 from the school through bogus contracts with her boyfriend pleaded guilty to one count of theft by swindle Tuesday and will be put on probation.

Laura Jean Fero, 55, reached a plea agreement with Ramsey County prosecution that includes up to three years of probation and a stay of imposition, which means the felony conviction will be considered a misdemeanor if she successfully completes probation. Five other felony theft by swindle charges will be dismissed at sentencing, which is set for June 11.

Fero was St. Catherines dean of nursing from June 2019 through Aug. 28, 2023, when she left the St. Paul private college to take a job as dean of nursing and chief academic nurse at AdventHealth University in Orlando. Shes no longer employed by the university.

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Fero, who now lives in Boone, N.C., appeared for Tuesdays plea hearing via remote. Upon questioning on facts of the case, Fero admitted she entered into contracts with Juan Ramon Bruce, 57, a Shakopee health care consultant, beginning in August 2020, and that she didnt follow the universitys process of seeking requests for proposals beforehand.

Fero also admitted she didnt disclose to school leadership she was involved in a romantic relationship with Bruce, who she met in 2020 on a dating website.

For the count in which she pleaded guilty, Fero affirmed a statement by Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Tom Madison that Bruce was not producing appropriate or expected work for the size of the contract.

Bruce was charged with the same six counts three days after Fero. A jury in July deliberated less than four hours before acquitting him of all charges. His attorney, Debra Hilstrom, told the Pioneer Press after the verdict, We said from the very beginning that Mr. Bruce did the work that he was hired to do.

They met on Elitesingles.com

St. Catherine officials discovered missing funds after Fero left for the Florida job. The university conducted an internal investigation. The university reported its findings to St. Paul police in late November 2023.

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A police review of financial records showed Bruces company, JB & Associates LLC, received six payments from St. Catherine, totaling $412,644, between August 2020 and August 2023. The contracted work included outreach, marketing and market and cost analysis for continuing education development and delivery for the Catholic liberal arts school in St. Pauls Highland Park area.

The charges against Fero say she sent an email to Bruce in October 2020 where she referenced meeting him on a dating website. Several emails she sent one day in July 2022 mentioned how they have traveled together to many places over the previous two years and how she loves him deeply.

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The charges say a review of Feros university credit card showed she racked up $26,191 in expenses  airfare, rental cars, hotels and airport parking  for trips with Bruce to Miami, Atlanta and Phoenix in 2021, Cancun in 2022 and Orlando in 2023.

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The investigation found additional emails indicating that Fero helped Bruce with some of the reports he was providing to the university to receive his contract funds, the charges say.

In an interview with police, Fero initially said she met Bruce from a cold call to St. Catherine about medical supplies and that they were not in a relationship prior to the university contracting with him. Fero later said she had met him on the dating website Elitesingles.com and that she believed the relationship did not constitute a conflict of interest.

Fero admitted to police to editing documents that Bruce submitted to St. Catherine, the charges say.
A former teachers aide accused of attacking a special needs student on the bus has entered a plea.

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Tenyetta Olinger, 48, of Fairborn, pleaded not guilty to one count of assault and two counts of endangering children on Friday, according to Greene County Common Pleas Court records.

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As previously reported by News Center 7, Fairborn resident Dustin Jackson said his son, Nathan, who is nonverbal autistic, was assaulted by a Sugarcreek Academy employee.

The now former-employee has since been identified as Olinger.

Nathan takes a Fairborn City Schools bus to and from Sugarcreek Academy in Bellbrook, which is a Greene County Educational Service Center (ESC) school.

On January 28, a teachers aide from his class really mistreated him getting on the school bus, Jackson said.

Jackson shared photos of Nathan that he took the same day. He had a black eye and a swollen knot on his forehead.

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According to the police report, a teachers aide told an officer that the employee allegedly grabbed the boys wrist, then lifted him by his harness straps and muscled him into the seat.

The aide continued and said the accused employee threw the child into his seat with such force that he struck his head his head against the window and cried out in pain, the report read.

Jackson told News Center 7s John Bedell that on-board bus cameras caught how the injuries happened on video.

The (Bellbrook Police Department) detective said the footage was so disturbing that they recommended we not watch it because we may not be able to unsee what we see, Jackson said.

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News Center 7 filed a public records request with Fairborn City Schools for a copy of that bus surveillance video. The district denied the request, citing federal student privacy laws.

According to the report, Sugarcreek Academy Principal Mike Doll told police that the female employee, later identified as Olinger, was put on administrative leave while the school conducted its investigation.

Greene County Educational Service Center (ESC) Superintendent Terry Graves-Strieter sent the following statement to News Center 7 on March 5:

The individual in question has not been employed by the Greene County ESC since January 30, 2025. The Greene County ESC has no further comments so as to avoid any possibility of interference with the judicial process.

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Fairborn City Schools declined to comment on the investigation.

Olinger is scheduled to appear in court on April 29.

News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.

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MADISON COUNTY, Ill.  A former teacher in the Triad School District will have a detention hearing Tuesday afternoon on charges that he spent months attempting to groom an underage student.

According to charging documents obtained by FOX 2 News, two students in the district reported on Oct. 7, 2024, to school officials that teacher Michael L. Smargiassi of Highland, Illinois, was having inappropriate communication with his student. School officials discovered hundreds of pages of emails between Smargiassi, 59, and the student, 15, dating back to Aug. 21, 2024.

On Oct. 9, 2024, the underage student was interviewed at the Madison County Child Advocacy Center and said Smargiassi had taken a liking to her and began sending her emails. She said he gave her his cell number and told her to text and then delete the messages.

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She told investigators that on two occasions, Smargiassi touched her leg and made a sexually-suggestive comment, which made her feel uncomfortable.

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Prosecutors allege that Smargiassi was placed on administrative leave and made multiple attempts to hide the districts investigation from his wife. He also told a coworker that she might never see him again. Smargiassi allegedly made comments about fleeing to Australia.

Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Smargiassis phone on Oct. 18, 2024, but he refused to provide the passcode to unlock the device for several months.

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Prosecutors said a partial extraction of Smargiassis phone and laptop show numerous saved screenshots of social media posts of teenage girls.

The Madison County States Attorneys Office charged Smargiassi with one count of official misconduct, one count of battery, and two counts of grooming. Smargiassi remains in custody at the Madison County Jail.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
MADISON  Former Gov. Scott Walker says he's no fan of tariffs but he's willing to give President Donald Trump's gamble on taxing foreign imports a chance.

Walker spoke Monday night to about 100 students and members of the public gathered at UW's Grainger Hall for an event hosted by Young America's Foundation, of which Walker is the president.

Walker, who spoke on a variety of topics, said he isn't typically supportive of tariffs and favors open trade.

Former Gov. Scott Walker speaks at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Monday, April 7, 2025.

But, he said, Trump is doing what he believes needs to be done to get America back on the same playing field as everyone else. Walker said that if anyone had read Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal," they would know he's a fan of tariffs.

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"I think that can end up being a good thing as long as we eventually get the free trade because again, then Americans can compete," he said. "We can innovate."

Last Wednesday, Trump announced 10% tariffs on imports from all countries starting over the weekend, along with additional, steeper duties on dozens of countries that he alleges have treated the U.S. unfairly in trade. Those reciprocal tariffs are set to go into effect Wednesday.

His aggressive and sweeping tariffs have sparked a global trade war and sunk U.S. stocks.

More: Ron Johnson says he has 'a lot of concerns' over Trump tariffs, impacts on Wisconsin

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Walker said the tariffs should not be permanent. They should end by Labor Day, and not be a permanent part of American policy.

"To me, tariffs are not a long-term solution, but I think there's probably some merit, at least in what the president and some of his allies are trying to do right now to push back and at least attempt to level the playing field as much as possible," he said.

Savannah Kuchar of USA TODAY contributed.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Scott Walker says Trump's tariffs should end by Labor Day
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)  According to the US News & World Report 2025-26 Best Graduate Schools, four of Michigan State University graduate programs were ranked first in the nation, including two programs recognized as No. 1 for more than 30 years.

As a leading global public research university, MSU understands the vital role that graduate education plays in cultivating the next generation of innovators, experts and knowledge leaders, said MSU Interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko in a news release sent to 6 News. The continued high rankings of our graduate programs affirm the high quality of our talented faculty, their contributions to their respective fields of study, and the positive impact they make in supporting our graduate student scholars.

The list of rankings of Michigan State Universitys College of Education graduate programs:

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No. 1  Educational administration

No. 1  Elementary education

No. 1  Secondary education

No. 1  Higher education administration

No. 2  Rehabilitation counseling

No. 3  Curriculum and instruction

No. 4  Educational psychology

No. 6  Education policy

No. 9  Special education

MSU College of Education programs such as elementary and secondary education have consistently ranked No. 1 in the nation since 1995, U.S. News & World Report outlines.

These rankings reflect the dedication of our faculty, students and alumni who continually push the boundaries of excellence, said David Souder, dean of the Eli Broad College of Business in a news release sent to 6 News. We are proud to see our programs recognized among the best in the nation, and we remain committed to providing an exceptional education that prepares our graduates for success.

U.S. News & World Report has also ranked Michigan State University as No. 22 in Best Education, whereas The University of Michigan ranked No. 3.

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Ukrainian human rights activists have assisted a four-year-old girl in evacuating from temporarily Russian-occupied territory and reuniting with her father. The child had been living in a city captured by Russia since the start of the full-scale war, where she remained with her grandmother despite her father's persistent but unsuccessful efforts to evacuate them.

Source: Daria Zarivna, Chief Operating Officer of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative

Quote: "Little Marichka was only one year old when the full-scale war began. She was with her grandmother in a city that came under Russian occupation during the first days of the invasion. Her childhood, which should have been the happiest time in her life, turned into a nightmare due to the lack of water and electricity, constant shelling and the threat of deportation by the occupation authorities."

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Details:The childs father, who was on territory controlled by Ukraine, had tried to arrange evacuation himself for a long time, but to no avail.

"Eventually, he reached out to the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, which helped organise a safe route and accompanied the child until she was reunited with her father," Zarivna noted.

As of March 2025, a total of 1,247 children have been brought back to Ukraine. At the same time, at least 1.6 million children are still living under Russian occupation.

Background: Earlier, it was reported that a 16-year-old Ukrainian teenager had been abducted by Russian forces from Kherson and sent to a so-called "re-education camp". The boy openly resisted and at one point took down the Russian flag from a flagpole and replaced it with his underwear.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  From chocolate bunnies big and small, chocolate eggs, sponge candy, and moreFowlers Chocolates is busy whipping up all the Easter favorites.

If you have a family tradition that includes a great homemade piece of candy, like we provide here, it just makes it more sweet and more memorable, said Jon Agnello, operations manager of Fowlers.

Easter is the busiest time of year for them. Their factory will make tens of thousands of pounds of chocolate around the holiday to help fill Easter baskets around the nation.

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We have a real dedicated team of people who come to work with great attitudes everyday and put forth the best effort to give us a product where we can all be very proud, said Agnello.

The cocoa beans they use in their famous recipe are imported from outside of the U.S.

The primary exporting country for cocoa beans is the Ivory Coast and apparently theyre subject to a 21% tariff, said Ted Marks, owner and president of Fowlers Chocolates. That hasnt shown up in our prices yet, but when it does well have to adjust and maybe the tariffs will change before we have to purchase again.

Marks tells us they expect to see an impact by early to mid summer.

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If we have to adjust our prices to make sure were here for another 100 years, well do that, said Marks.

Theyre happy to be part of Western New York family traditions for years.

We do get people, I remember when my mom used to go to Fowlers on Jefferson Avenue and bought us cream eggs or bought us the chocolate alligator, things that maybe dont seem like Easter traditions to you and me, but to some family its a big tradition, said Marks, If they dont get their chocolate alligator or their buttercream eggs its just not quite Easter and were here to make sure its there when they come back again.

Fowlers Chocolates has five stores located throughout Western New York. For more information about Fowlers visit their website here.

Latest Local News

Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.

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While first buddy Elon Musk continues to assail Donald Trumps trade czar over the tariffs that have plunged the global economy into chaos, some of the presidents media allies at Fox have also ridiculed Peter Navarro while urging Trump to bench his top trade adviser.

Even before Trump announced his Liberation Day tariffs that have erased trillions of dollars of wealth from the stock market and prompted economists to sound the alarm of a coming recession, Navarro has sparked criticism and mockery over his defense of the sweeping import taxes.

Late last month, for instance, Navarro insisted that the presidents upcoming tariffs would end up being the biggest tax cut in American history and would make America great again. Additionally, amid the global market meltdown, he guaranteed to Fox News this week that the United States would not experience a recession.

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During Monday evenings broadcast of Fox Business Networks The Bottom Line, co-anchor Dagen McDowell fumed over Navarros aggressive trade stance. She also took issue with how the administration calculated its reciprocal tariff rates, which investment experts say is essentially a made-up formula.

To be clear, I am all-in on a fair, level trading field. I am all-in on level tariffs with all nations. But I am not all-in on Peter Navarro and his reciprocal tradegirl math that's kneecapping the United States, because the trade deficit is not a hallmark of all the cheating that goes on, she huffed.

And I go back to something he said last week, that we have calculated the tariff rate required to eliminate the trade deficit. The United States issues the world's reserve currency, McDowell continued. You can't eliminate the trade deficit. The quicker that they get him off of TV and away from numbers, the better. And I'm not going to call it girl math anymore; I'm going to call it Navarro math!

Fox Business hosts Dagen McDowell and Jackie DeAngelis urge the Trump administration to keep Peter Navarro off of TV amid the global market meltdown over Donald Trump's tariffs. (Fox Business Network)

McDowells co-host Jackie DeAngelis said that she believes the White House is starting to realize that, noting that the administration has figured out that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent should be the point person on this. Besides Navarro, she also noted that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should be benched as well.

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I think they're gonna pull back on Lutnick; I think they're gonna pull back on Navarro a little bit too, DeAngelis stated. They need to get clear on their messaging and make sure there's no nuance in there.

Amid the tariff-induced market sell-off, Musk has seen his personal wealth decreased by tens of billions of dollars, resulting in the DOGE chief lashing out at both Lutnick and Navarro  the two administration officials seen as most responsible for the presidents trade policy.

The Trump-advising megabillionaire has been especially critical of Navarro, whom he has called dumber than a sack of bricks and a moron while mockingly referencing Navarros fake expert Ron Vara, an imaginary source the Trump trade czar invented for his books. Navarro, meanwhile, has added more fuel to the fire by describing Musk as a car assembler rather than a car manufacturer.

The White House, for its part, is attempting to dismiss the growing feud between Musk and the administrations top trade officials. Boys will be boys, White Hous press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday afternoon.

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In the meantime, while Trumps most loyal allies at Fox News and MAGA media continue to provide cover for the president amid the ongoing financial chaos, and some are even suggesting Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, other conservatives are growing increasingly uneasy.

Specifically, CNBCs Joe Kernen  a vocal Trump supporter  told Navarro on Monday morning that the math behind the tariffs was non-serious and universally derided while pushing the Trump adviser to admit that this was not the market reaction you were looking for.
Fox News Maria Bartiromo on Monday acknowledged that President Donald Trumps proposed tariffs will likely have a direct, negative impact on American consumers  as she still tried to allay broader economic concerns.

Bartiromo suggested the sliding stock market may be an overreaction and that there are some potentially positive signs  but admitted the tariffs will likely lead to higher prices.

It is going to have an effect on Main Street, she said. Some things will become higher priced. We will see some products actually be raised in price because companies will pass on the cost of tariffs to consumers. I would expect that.

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Thats why you have some people saying that we could see a recession, well see a growth slowdown, she added.

Bartiromo, though, also argued that a single announcement that the Trump White House had renegotiated trading terms with a foreign country could help change public opinion.

America is in the disruption phase that Trump has cautioned, she added.

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BANGKOK, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) took center stage at the 46th Bangkok International Motor Show (BIMS), captivating attendees with their advanced features, innovative powertrain technologies, and competitive pricing.

As one of the most talked-about presentations, the Yangwang U8, a luxury e-SUV from BYD Auto's Yangwang brand, stole the spotlight with its emergency floating capability as it drove into the pool and glided back out of deep water.

"It was really amazing, and I felt totally safe and secure," said Silk, a visitor to the BYD Lab, recalling her ride in the vehicle during the floating demonstration.

This model would be beneficial for Thailand, where some areas are prone to flooding during the monsoon season, she told Xinhua.

China's leading EV maker BYD was one of 54 automotive companies at the BIMS, where this year saw 14 additional Chinese firms joining the exhibition.

Jaturont Komolmis, vice chairman of the BIMS, said the event has witnessed significant growth, driven largely by the inroads of Chinese automakers, which have positively impacted the Thai market and economy.

Vehicle bookings have seen a remarkable surge since last year, partly due to Thai consumers becoming more receptive to EVs, Jaturont noted.

According to the organizer, BYD achieved the highest booking volume during the 12-day event, which concluded on Sunday. Eight other Chinese brands also ranked within the top 15, reflecting a profound shift in the Thai automotive market, traditionally dominated by Japanese brands.

The EV segment accounted for over 65 percent of all vehicle bookings, the organizer data showed.

From compact city hatchbacks to luxury multi-purpose vehicles, Chinese automakers introduced a wide range of models at this year's motor show to meet diverse market demands in Thailand.

MG, a well-established brand under China's SAIC Motor, showcased the recently launched MG IM6, a premium e-SUV, in a move to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian country's upscale market.

The MG IM6 features advanced "crab-walking" technology, enabling diagonal movement for improved maneuverability in tight spaces.

"Its four-wheel steering is practical and not just a gimmick," said Bodin Skulkiat, a 50-year-old Thai customer. "The price point also appears competitive, given the features and materials offered."

Another Chinese carmaker, Changan Automobile, unveiled its new range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs), which combine an electric drivetrain with an onboard fuel-powered engine and generator to expand the vehicle's driving range.

"As an EV user for three years, charging infrastructure remains the key issue for me," said Somsak, a 67-year-old Thai customer who was exploring the freshly launched Changan Deepal S05.

"I am particularly interested in the REEV variant of this model, which provides confidence for long-distance travel without the anxiety of charging availability," he added.

The launch of Deepal S05 also marked a milestone for Changan, as it is the company's first assembled-in-Thailand model, joining other Chinese manufacturers like SAIC, Great Wall Motor, BYD, and GAC.

Jaturont expressed optimism about the future of the Thai auto industry, especially with more Chinese makers establishing local production bases. He said this move enhances after-sales service and part availability, creates jobs, and reinforces Thailand's status as a regional auto production base and export hub.

Under the Thai government's investment promotion, the kingdom aims to convert 30 percent of its annual vehicle production to zero-emission vehicles by 2030 as part of its transition toward green mobility. 
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56)  The work is only just beginning to recover from historic flooding in Frankfort.

Sellus Wilder and his family live in one of the submerged homes towards the end of Wilkinson Street. Ever since he moved on to the river, hes paid a lot more attention to the forecasts and had just enough time to get a U-Haul packed up before it was too late.

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I mean, it hits still. You know, we went from like crisis mode to like, Oh, wow, okay, theres a bunch of work to do, Wilder said.

Monday offered the first moments since the rain started falling for Wilder to have a chance to catch his breath. The weekend was spent in a mad dash saving possessions from his home and his mothers; both are now sitting in several feet of muddy water.

While the waters were rising, it was just all that was on my mind was like, get our stuff clear. Try to convince friends and family that its coming. You know, play Paul Revere on the street and then just try to help friends get their stuff up. And it was just like, Go, go, go, Wilder said.

He said at one point, 13 people were inside helping move cherished possessions out, some people he didnt even know. He said the hope was that a U-Haul would just be a precaution and theyd be able to move things back into their homes after the threat passed. Now hes rented a storage unit. His moms space wasnt cleared out in time.

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We managed to get back in after the waters got up. Yesterday we were able to paddle to and through her house to get the family photos and other valuables and invaluables, he said.

With both flood insurance and a temporary place to stay, he considers his family lucky because he knows many others lost everything and couldnt see the threat in time. As the recovery began, he believed FEMA help would be needed and hoped the regions recovery would not be politicized along the way.

I think that might be a little bit of federal dispute right now thats out of our hands. But we hope that, you know, the federal government comes through for Kentucky and for Frankfort, he said.

Anyone who wants to donate to the Frankfort/Franklin County relief fund can do so here.

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WFLA)  A dog missing for five years had a sweet reunion with its owner thanks to the help of a fraternity at The University of Southern Mississippi.

Debbie LaFleur told NBC affiliate WDAM that her Yorkie, Kingston, went missing in 2020 from Lake Charles, Louisiana after Hurricane Laura.

Massive great white shark pings off Florida Gulf Coast

But on Friday, Yorkie was found 300 miles away from home, at the Kappa Sigma Fraternity house at Southern Miss.

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I walk outside, and theres just this Yorkie sitting there in a red t-shirt, Kappa Sig President Neal Richal told WDAM.

Richal and his brothers decided to take the Yorkie in, whom they named Benji. The following day, one of the brothers checked the pups chip, discovering that his name was actually Kingston, and had been gone for nearly five years.

The fraternity president called Kingstons owner, who made the 4-hour trip to Hattiesburg, Mississippi with her son to reunite with their beloved dog.

Yale study links persistent spike protein to post Covid-19 vaccination syndrome and immune dysregulation

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My baby! LaFleur said as she reunited with her pet. I missed you so much.

As soon as she got out the car and he saw her, weve never seen Benji run like that. And he sprinted with his ears perked up, Richal said. It was just awesome to see.

LaFleur told WDAM she wished her late husband, Joe, would have been able to be there. She said the two were two peas in a pod, and believes he made the reunion happen.

LaFleurs late husband, Joe, with Kingston (NBC affiliate WDAM)

Wonderful, wonderful guys, LaFleur said of the fraternity brothers. I mean, everybody wouldnt have done that, taken the time out to find who the owner was. Hes so beautiful. So happy to have my baby back.

NBC affiliate WDAM

Richal said that Kingston is now an honorary fraternity brother after joining the men on all their adventures that week.

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Through our eyes at least, he is a Kappa Sig, Richal said.

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TEXARKANA, Ark. (KTAL/KSHV)  The University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana Secondary Career & Technical Education Center offers FREE college credit to participating high schools.

If a student is entering 11th or 12th grade next school year at one of the following high schools, they can sign up now for UAHT Secondary Career Center classes.

To apply, make an appointment with your high school counselor. The application will remain open until all seats are filled, so we recommend applying early.

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Hope campus participating schools include:

Arkansas Virtual Academy

Blevins

Hope

Lafayette County

Nevada

Prescott

Spring Hill

Texarkana campus participating schools include:

Arkansas Virtual Academy

Arkansas High

Ashdown

Fouke

Genoa Central

Premier High School

The UAHT Secondary Career & Technical Education Center is a secondary career center located on the UA Texarkana and UA Hope campuses. The Center offers area high school juniors and seniors the unique opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school at no cost. The Centers curriculum serves as an extension of the high school curriculum offerings by providing students with hands-on experiences in a variety of career fields taught by UAHT Faculty.

Programs of study include:

Construction Technology (UA Hope campus only)

Electromechanical Technology (UA Hope campus only)

HVAC (UA Hope campus only, limited seats available)

Information Technology

Medical Professions (CNA, EMT, & General Health)

Welding

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To apply or to find more information, visit UAHT Career Center.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com.
It may still be a brisk 40 degrees in Milwaukee, but if you're feeling like ice cream, you can get it for free at Ben & Jerry's on Tuesday.

The Vermont-based company is celebrating its annual Free Cone Day, where customers can receive a free ice cream cone all day long. The tradition dates back to 1979, a year after Ben & Jerry's was established.

This year, Milwaukeeans can celebrate it for the first time, with the first and only Ben & Jerry's in Wisconsin opening last summer.

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"We want to thank our fans for being the best fans in the world with free ice cream and a moment of pure joy, Dave Stever, Ben & Jerrys CEO, said in a news release. This year, more than ever, were reminded how powerful those small moments of happiness can be."

Here's what to know about Free Cone Day in Milwaukee.

Wisconsin's only Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop is located in Milwaukee's Third Ward.

When is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's?

Free Cone Day is on Tuesday, April 8 from 12 to 8 p.m.

What do you get on Free Cone Day?

Customers may redeem one, free Ben & Jerry's scoop of their choice,cone included, at any participating Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop on Free Cone Day. That includes the Milwaukee location.

Where is Ben & Jerry's in Milwaukee?

Wisconsin's only Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop is located at 203 N. Broadway in Milwaukee's Third Ward.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day: How to get free ice cream in Milwaukee
Fulton County Schools students are on spring break this week, but the district is already looking ahead to next year.

FCS said the need is growing, so the district is adding more resources in South Fulton County for students with autism. Parents got a letter dated March 31, alerting them to the changes.

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It said there will be new Autism Self-Contained programs at both Cliftondale and Stonewall Tell.

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Currently, only Wolf Creek Elementary has the classrooms that are supposed to allow for individualized learning and a lower teacher-to-student ratio.

However, the letter told parents they would need to make the decision of where to send their child next school year by April 18.

Parents said they shouldve been given more notice to make such a big decision regarding their childs education.

It allows parents time to look at other schools and see if thats the proper placement because there were two other options these parents were given, so give them time to schedule appointments and see if this is a correct placement for their child, to see if its the right teacher they want to put their child with, but we didnt have time to do that, and its not fair, Toysha Thomas, a parent of a student who is in the program at Wolf Creek told Channel 2s Eryn Rogers.

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Fulton County Schools released the following statement:

Fulton County Schools strives to provide high-quality instruction, services, and support to all our students, including our students with disabilities. Opening new classrooms for students, regardless of their disability, is not a new process. We annually assess each students need for services per their Individual Education Plan (IEP), our student enrollment trends in each school community, available space at each of our schools, and then determine where to offer students the high-quality programming they deserve and are entitled to.

We are still finalizing our plans for next school year but look forward to educating all our students in schools and classrooms that best meet their individual and unique needs.

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Thomas said another issue parents had with the letter is it said if children in certain grades wanted to stay at their current school, then transportation would be up to parents.

The district said, In Fulton County Schools, we think it is best for students to be educated in their home school and community if possible. In situations where that is not possible, we will offer the classroom and support at a neighboring school and will provide transportation. If a student is in 5th, 8th, 10, 11th, or 12th grade and the program or class included in his/her IEP is available at the current school, a parent may opt to stay but will need to provide transportation.

However, Thomas said thats the opposite of what the State Department of Education said.

If they have transportation written into their IEP, the school cannot deny them of transportation regardless of grade, Thomas said.

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Thomas filed a complaint against the district earlier this year when her sons transportation to Wolf Creek got taken away.

In the ruling, the state Department of Education found Fulton County schools out of compliance because Thomass son had transportation in his IEP.

The DOE required FCS to review and revise its policies around its implementation of IEP, specifically special needs transportation and how this applies to administrative transfers.

FCS has until April 11 to report back to the Georgia DOE.

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UVALDE, Texas (KXAN)  Nearly three years after the tragedy of the Uvalde school shooting, the community has reached a milestone in the process of moving forward.

Leaders announced Tuesday morning the costs of the physical building and construction of the new elementary school are now fully funded.

New Uvalde elementary school approved, construction planning begins

Legacy Elementary School will replace Robb Elementary, which was closed permanently after 19 students and two teachers died in the mass shooting in May 2022.

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A groundbreaking ceremony was held on the construction site of the new school in October 2023, and construction began in February 2024.

The construction of Legacy Elementary School is expected to be fully completed this fall, and the nonprofit foundation responsible for raising the funding is continuing to raise funds for other campus and district needs beyond the physical construction.

The Uvalde CISD Moving Forward Foundation, which was created to support the construction of the new school, announced that a recent combined investment of $21 million marked the final portion of funding needed to cover the costs of the building and construction of the school, according to a release from the nonprofit.

Renderings of new Uvalde school include tribute to Robb Elementary victims

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Getting to the point of being within six months of the campus being ready for use has been quite a feat that would not have been possible without the support of so many funders and supporters, said Tim Miller, executive director of the Uvalde CISD Moving Forward Foundation. We are asking that more people join us on this journey of hope and healing for the Uvalde community and support our Hope Blooms in Uvalde campaign through which we are still working toward meeting a $5 million match challenge.

The $21 million investment came from Chase, Empowerment Reinvestment Fund, National Community Investment Fund, and Nonprofit Finance Fund. The investments were made through New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs), a federal program designed to encourage private investment in underserved areas, the release said.

The release noted that an initial round of investment through NMTCs to the Legacy Elementary School project was made in December. That round totaled a combined investment of $24.5 million made by Chase, Prestamos CDFI, a division of Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), and Raza Development Fund.

Renderings of the school that were released in April 2023 included a tribute to the 21 victims who were killed in the shooting. The proposed tribute is a tree, designed with two large branches to represent the teachers and 19 smaller branches to represent the students who lost their lives.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
CANBERRA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The government of South Australia (SA) has announced new support measures for communities and farmers affected by widespread drought.

Peter Malinauskas, the premier of South Australia, on Tuesday committed 55 million Australian dollars (33.1 million U.S. dollars) in funding from the state government for support measures including infrastructure upgrades, financial counselling and mental health support.

Malinauskas said in a statement that most of the state is experiencing drought conditions, with some regions having received their lowest rainfall on record.

The new package built on 18 million Australian dollars (10.8 million dollars) in support measures announced in November.

"When we announced our first drought relief package in November, I made clear that we would closely monitor the rollout of support and would not hesitate to act if needed. In the time since, the drought has not abated. In fact, things have got worse," Malinauskas said on Tuesday.

"We can not make it rain. But we can take practical action to support our farmers and help prepare them for the next drought," he said.

Affected farmers in March called for more government assistance.

Malinauskas said that the new support package was designed in direct consultation with the state's primary producers.

Livestock SA, the peak body representing the state's livestock farmers, welcomed the assistance.

An annual report published by the South Australian Department for Environment and Water earlier in April warned that water levels in reservoirs in the state capital of Adelaide were at their lowest in over 20 years as a result of dry conditions.

The water security report said that total reservoir levels across the city were at 38 percent, down from 50 percent in 2024.

The state government in January increased production from the Adelaide Desalination Plant to 300 million liters per day to help meet demands for water and prevent the introduction of water restrictions. 
Waco, TX (FOX 44)  A special Painting with a Purpose fundraiser hosted by Wacos Painting with a Twist is honoring the legacy of American Sniper Chris Kyle on his birthday to support the American Valor Foundation.

Chris Kyle was a decorated U.S. Navy Seal Sniper, widely known as the most lethal sniper in American military history, with 160 confirmed kills during his four tours in the Iraq War. He served from 1999 to 2009 and became known for his skill, bravery, and dedication to protecting his fellow soldiers.

Kyle dedicated his post-military life to helping veterans, co-founding Craft International, and working with those suffering from PTSD, but tragically was shot and killed in 2013 at a Texas shooting range by a fellow veteran he was trying to help.

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Weve had so many people support us and show up and donate more and more that weve been able to exceed our goals every year, says Painting with a Twist CEO Ken Castello. Were over a couple thousand dollars every time. And thats our goal.

Chriss legacy lives on through various organizations, including the American Valor Foundation, which supports veterans and their families.

Painting with a Purpose is a charitable event series by Painting with a Twist, where guests participate in a guided painting class to support a nonprofit. All proceeds from this event will benefit the American Valor Foundation.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Context: The above video initially aired on April 4, 2025.

SENECA (KSNT)  The funeral details have been released for a Kansas priest who was killed by gunfire in Seneca earlier this month.

The Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Seneca posted on social media on Tuesday, April 8 that a mass will be held for Father Arul Carasala later in the day at 6 p.m. with a healing service at 7 p.m. at the church. Carasalas body will lay in state at 1 p.m. in the church followed by a Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3 p.m., a rosary service at 5 p.m. and a vigil service at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9. People can visit Carasala at the church after the vigil to pay their respects.

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A memorial mass is set for 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 10 with a formal funeral to be held for Carasala in India. Saints Peter and Paul Parish will stream the healing service, rosary, vigil service and memorial mass on YouTube.

Law enforcement was called around 2:50 p.m. on Thursday, April 3 to the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church rectory at 411 Pioneer Street in Seneca on reports on gunshots in the area. Deputies with the Nemaha County Sheriffs Office and officers with the Seneca Police Department arriving at the scene found Father Carasala outside the rectory of the church suffering from gunshot wounds.

Lawmakers approve change to the Kansas Constitution over voting rights

Medical personnel took Carasala to a nearby hospital for treatment, where he later passed away. The Knights of Columbus in Seneca, Archbishop Joseph Naumann out of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and other members of the Catholic faith held services shortly after Carasalas death to honor his memory.

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Law enforcement arrested Gary L. Hermesch, 66, of Tulsa, Oklahoma in connection to the deadly shooting. The Nemaha County District Attorney later charged him with one count of first-degree murder on April 4. 27 News later discovered that Hermesch wrote multiple letters to a Seneca newspaper about topics related to religion and politics before the shooting.

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

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56)  Funeral arrangements have been released for the Frankfort child who died after he was swept away by floodwaters last week.

Officials said dispatchers were called around 6:30 a.m. on April 4 to the Hickory Hills area regarding a boy who was caught in floodwaters while walking to his school bus stop. After an extensive search and rescue operation, they said his body was found around 8:45 a.m., about half a mile from where he was swept away.

RELATED | Missing Frankfort 9-year-old found dead after being caught in floodwaters near bus stop

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The Franklin County Coroners Office identified him as 9-year-old Gabriel Andrews.

According to an obituary, Andrews family will receive loved ones from 5-10 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8. A funeral service will be held the following day at 1 p.m. in the chapel of the Thacker Memorial Funeral Home, with burial to follow at the Burnett Family Cemetery in Pikeville.

Andrews died only three days after his ninth birthday, per Thacker Memorial Funeral Home.

Franklin County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Kopp said Andrews death was a horrific tragedy during a news conference on April 4.

LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS:

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The entire Franklin County School System is praying for the family and friends of those directly affected by the events this morning. We are more than a school system; we are a family at Franklin County Schools, and we share this loss together. At this time, we are working with support staff at our schools and offering services to our students, faculty, and staff who need assistance during this time. We are eternally grateful for our community first responders from both city and county agencies who selflessly responded to assist in this situation, Kopp said.

Click here for more information or to share a memory of Andrews to be printed in a keepsake book for his family.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News.
AUSTIN (Nexstar)  Members of the Texas House Committee on State Affairs listened to hours of public testimony over the future of THC as lawmakers decide if the hemp-made products will be completely banned or regulated.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, lawmakers were still listening to members of the public about House Bill 28, which would ban all THC consumables, like vapes and edibles, but would regulate THC-infused drinkables. Texas Rep. Ken King, R  Canadian, filed the bill. Also scheduled for testimony on Monday is Senate Bill 3, which would create a complete ban on THC products. It passed the Texas Senate on March 19.

HB 28 calls for many of the regulatory measures that lawmakers and many cannabis industry advocates have been pushing for including 21+ age restrictions on purchases, banning synthetic cannabinoids, more stringent testing of products, packaging that is child-resistant and responsibly marketed, and limits on the milligrams of THC in a serving.

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Steve Dye, the Chief of the Allen Police Department, testified against HB 28 because he supports a complete ban on all THC products, including drinkables. Dye testified his 27-square-mile town has 24 shops that sell THC products, and investigations by his department found the potency of current products is far higher than in years past.

The average THC concentration is 29%, Dye testified. He also said his department is regularly finding high school-age children with THC consumables.

Mickey and Todd Harris  third-generation Austinites  are brothers and business partners who own The Happy Cactus, a CBD store. They are approaching their four-year anniversary of opening, but they worry with this new legislation will lead to the closure of their business and many like it around the state.

Mickey (left) and Todd (right) Harris wait outside Capitol grounds to testify against Senate Bill 3 (Photo Courtesy: Nexstar).

Were just frustrated that theyre trying to attack something thats been so beneficial to our community in Texas, Harris explained. A complete THC ban would leave their business with just one product eligible to be sold that is currently on their shelf. Their business also sells THC-drinks but that only makes up about 5% of their sales.

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They are against both bills and instead are asking lawmakers to require regulations instead of bans on THC products. The brothers say they regularly regulate the products they sell in their own store, and they would appreciate if the state required all businesses to do the same.

So we could still supply all the products that Texans need, but still make sure that theyre safe, Harris explained.

The Happy Cactus is actually located across the street from Crockett Early College High School, which has became a major concern for those who support a complete ban on THC products. The brothers sent a letter to the principal of the school to work with them on making sure no high school children are even entering their business. In the four years of being opened, the brothers say they have never had an issue with a high school student coming into their store as they always card everyone who comes to make sure theyre over the age of 21.

The letters can be read below:

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Letter to Crockett Early College High SchoolDownload

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning revoked the license Monday for a church daycare accused of giving toddlers Benadryl to make them sleep.

The license belonged to the Forsyth Methodist Church Caring for Kids Child Care Learning Center in Forsyth, Ga. DECAL investigators found several violations that put the health, safety, and welfare of children in imminent danger.

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On March 10, the Monroe County Sheriffs Office arrested Kendasja Hughley, who is accused of giving Benadryl to children to make them go to sleep, for reckless conduct.

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An investigation found that the worker gave Benadryl to children without their parents consent on March 3 and March 5 before nap time. Hughleys charges have since been upgraded to include six counts of cruelty to children in the first degree and eight counts of simple battery.

Weeks later, deputies arrested Cathy Stevick, the church daycares director, and Shelby Wood, a daycare teacher. Investigators charged Wood with one count of cruelty to children and one count of simple battery. Stevick is charged with failure to report child abuse.

The daycare has until Wednesday to appeal with the Office of State Administrative Hearings. If there is no appeal filed, the daycare will close for good.

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By Gerauds Obangome

LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Gabon holds a presidential election on Saturday, the first since a 2023 coup ended the Bongo family's 56-year dynasty and which the country's new military rulers hope will legitimise and cement their hold on power.

Officers led by Brice Oligui Nguema took power in August 2023, the last in a three-year wave of coups that swept West and Central Africa and eroded decades of democratic gains in the region.

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Nguema, who initially promised to hand back power to civilians, declared himself head of the transitional government and last month announced his candidacy for Saturday's vote.

His main challenger is Bongo's former prime minister Alain Claude Bilie By Nze, who has created his own movement, "Together for Gabon", in an effort to distance himself from the Bongo regime.

Nguema is tipped to win, given his advantages as incumbent and his popularity as the architect of the end to Ali Bongo's unpopular rule. But he also has a tight hold on power in which the senate, national assembly and constitutional court are stacked with loyalists, political analysts say.

He has talked of a Gabon that "rises from the ashes" and describes himself as someone who will "build this nation."

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That resonates for many in Gabon, a sparsely-populated country of around 2.5 million people where for decades a small political elite surrounding the Bongo family lived in oil-funded luxury while most others languished in poverty.

Ali Bongo's re-election in 2016, when official results showed him winning 95% of votes in his home province of Haut Ogooue, triggered angry riots in which protesters torched the parliament building.

Officers led by Nguema stepped in within minutes of Bongo declaring another handsome victory in 2023, dismissing it as a sham.

Since then, there have been some promising signs. The economy grew by 2.9% in 2024, up from 2.4% in 2023, driven in part by infrastructure projects implemented by the transitional government and increased production of commodities such as oil, manganese and timber, the World Bank says.

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Still, the country is over-reliant on its oil fields, output from which has long been in decline. Like Ali Bongo, Nguema has promised to diversify the economy and promote agriculture, industry and tourism.

"I hope the election results will lead to more transparent and accountable governance," said Pepecy Ogouliguende, a Gabonese civil society activist. "We, the citizens, aspire to improved living conditions, particularly in education, health, and infrastructure."

Polling stations open at 8 am (0700 GMT) and close at 6 pm. Results are expected later that night.

(Writing and additional reporting by Edward McAllister; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Sharon Singleton)
George R.R. Martin was among the first to meet a trio of wolf pups that are said to be the worlds first successfully de-extincted animal.

On Monday, a group of scientists at Colossal Biosciences announced that after years of working to de-extinct animals, they had finally genetically engineered three wolves containing the DNA of the extinct dire wolf, a species made popular by HBOs Game of Thrones, based on the works of Martin.

While the three animals arent an exact revival of the prehistoric canines, which died out around 13,000 years ago, they are said to carry 20 dire wolf genes.

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They were created by inserting DNA retrieved from the fossils of dire wolves into embryos that were then implanted into surrogate dog mothers.

The result is two male pups born in October 2024 and one female pup born in January 2025.

Speaking to Comic Book Resources, Colossal co-founder Ben Lamm described the three animals as having super thick fur, their tail is a little longer, [and] they are taller than average wolves.

Distinctive traits of the dire wolf include light, thick fur and muscular jaws. They are also much larger than grey wolves (Colossal Biosciences/AP)

Theyre 80 pounds right now, and a typical wolf is somewhere between 75 and 100 pounds, for a male, and thats kind of on the high side. These will probably be 140 pounds, which is what we think, he said, adding that they are also significantly more muscular and Arctic white.

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Elsewhere in the interview, Lamm revealed hed flown Martin out to meet the wolves in person.

I did fly George out to meet the Wolves, and he cried! He completely cried, Lamm said. He said this was like one of the greatest things that hes ever seen.

George R.R. Martin is an investor in Colossal and cultural adviser for the company (2019 Invision)

Martin, who is an investor in Colossal and cultural adviser for the company, said in a statement: Many people view dire wolves as mythical creatures that only exist in a fantasy world, but in reality, they have a rich history of contributing to the American ecosystem.

I get the luxury to write about magic, but Ben and Colossal have created magic by bringing these majestic beasts back to our world.

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Colossal said the animals will live their lives on a continuously monitored, secure ecological preserve that is certified by the American Humane Society and registered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Beyond Game of Thrones, the dire wolf remains a mainstay of fantasy settings in pop culture, with additional mentions in role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and video games like World of Warcraft.

Romulus and Remus, both three months old and genetically engineered with similarities to the extinct dire wolf (Colossal Biosciences/AP)

There was also a great deal of interest from Native American communities, Lamm told The New Yorker.

[The dire wolfs] presence would remind us of our responsibility as stewards of the Earth, Mark Fox, MHA Nation tribal chairman, said in a statement released by the company.

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Independent scientists have expressed skepticism about the project.

All you can do now is make something look superficially like something else  not fully revive extinct species, Vincent Lynch, a biologist at the University at Buffalo who was not involved in the research, told The Associated Press.

Its exciting that we can make functional versions of extinct species, Adam Boyko, a geneticist at Cornell University, told The New York Times, but he did not consider Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi to be truly resurrected dire wolves.
Originally appeared on E! Online

The dire wolf is no longer simply immortalized on the House of Stark's crest.

In fact, the grizzly creatures featured in Game of Thrones have made their shocking grand return on Earth after going extinct over 10,000 years ago, thanks to biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences.

Using DNA from two dire wolf fossils, along with 20 edits in 14 genes of the gray wolf, the species' closest living relative, scientists at the company brought to life Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi. (The first two were named after the mythological twin founders of Rome, who were believed to have been raised by a wolf, while the latter's is an homage to the HBO series' Daenerys Targaryen.)

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"Our team is proud to return the dire wolf to its rightful place in the ecosystem," the company shared on its website. "Colossal's innovations in science, technology and conservation made it possible to accomplish something that's never been done before: the revival of a species from its longstanding population of zero."

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Prior to its real-life reintroduction, the dire wolf had been most recently associated with Game of Thronesand the novels on which the show was basedwhere six Stark children adopted orphaned wolves. The creature, described as being the size of a horse, is considered a symbol of the North, where the Starks rule.

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Leaders at Colossal Bioscienceswhich is also working to bring the dodo bird, wooly mammoth and more back from extinctionemphasized that they understand the publics apprehension to the scientific advancements allowing extinct creatures to re-emerge.

HBO

"People think it's a scary word, de-extinction," reproductive biologist Darya Tourzani said in the company's April 7 YouTube video. "They immediately put us with Jurassic Park and it's not. We're trying to develop these new techniques in order to save animals, in order bring back animals that, in some cases, were our fault that we don't have anymore."

As she put it, "It wasn't a climate problem, it was a human problem."

However, other experts, like professor of environmental philosophy at the University of Montana Christopher Preston, are unsure where the species will fit in our current ecosystem.

"In states like Montana, we are currently having trouble keeping a healthy population of gray wolves on the land in the face of amped up political opposition," he told CNN April 7. "It is hard to imagine dire wolves ever being released and taking up an ecological role. So, I think it is important to ask what role the new animals will serve."

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Still, he commended the company's diligence, pointing to the American Human Society's support, as well as the size of its facility.

Preston added, "Colossal have taken thoughtful precautions to screen against any unintended genetic consequences of their edits, eliminating risky edits known to be associated with poor outcomes."

For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  A gas leak at a coal mine in northern Iran killed seven workers, three of whom were Afghanis, state media said Tuesday.

President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered a probe into the incident, which occurred Monday afternoon near the city of Damghan, some 270 kilometers (170 miles) northwest of the capital, Tehran, according to a report by the official IRNA news agency.

Safety measures may have been disregarded, the report said. Industrial accidents reportedly kill some 700 workers in Iran each year.

Last week, an iron ore mine collapsed, killing one worker in the country's northwest. In September, an explosion in a coal mine in eastern Iran killed dozens of workers.
UPDATE: Demarion Quinton Butler, 19, was issued an arrest warrant for murder after being named a person of interest in this shooting, according to the Screven County Sheriffs Office. Those with information are asked to call (912) 564-2013.

NEWINGTON, Ga. (WJBF)  The Screven County Sheriffs Office has requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) in a deadly shooting Monday that left a 21-year-old dead.

According to police, officers responded to Simpsontown Road in Newington, Ga. in reference to a shooting at about 12:55 p.m. on April 7, 2025. It was there that law enforcement discovered Isaiah Barbee, Jr. of Sylvania, Ga. with a gunshot wound. Barbee was taken to an area hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

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As of 7:45 p.m., the Screven County Sheriffs Office is searching for a male subject on Simpsontown Road near Red Field Road. Those in the area are asked to secure their residences and report any suspicious activity.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Screven County Sheriffs Office at (912) 564-2013 or the GBI regional investigative office in Statesboro at (912) 871-1121.

Barbees body will be taken to the GBI Crime Lab in Pooler, Ga. for an autopsy.

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HEFEI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese quantum computing firm has completed the large AI model task on a quantum computer with remarkable efficiency, as reported on Monday by Science and Technology Daily.

Origin Quantum, a startup based in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, has successfully fine-tuned a billion-parameter AI model on Origin Wukong, the country's independently developed third-generation superconducting quantum computer. The company has hailed this achievement as a world-first breakthrough.

This marks the first real-world application of quantum computing in large-model tasks, demonstrating that current quantum hardware is capable of supporting AI model fine-tuning, said Chen Zhaoyun, a scientist from Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center.

The experimental results showed that reducing the number of parameters by 76 percent led to an 8.4 percent improvement in training performance.

The advancement demonstrates that quantum computing can enable lightweight large models, offering a promising new approach to overcoming future computing power constraints.

Fine-tuning is the process of adapting a general-purpose large AI model, such as DeepSeek, for specialized applications, like medical diagnosis or financial risk analysis, by retraining it on domain-specific data.

The 72-qubit Origin Wukong is a programmable and deliverable superconducting quantum computer. Since its launch, this system has provided quantum computing cloud services to a global user base exceeding 23 million across 139 countries, while successfully executing 350,000 quantum computing tasks. 
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE)  Two-time Oscar winner and prolific actor Gene Hackman spent his later years in New Mexico with his wife, Betsy Arakawa. And when news of their mysterious death surfaced, a media frenzy ensued.

This week on the New Mexico News Insiders Podcast, Chris and Gabby are joined by KRQE Anchor-Reporters Chad Brummett and Annalisa Pardo to discuss Hackmans legacy on the film industry, his time in New Mexico, and the investigation and reporting that followed. Our reporting takes you behind the scenes of the initial 911 call response, and reveals details about what Hackmans neighbors told law enforcement.

Watch Annalisas report on the body camera footage obtained from Santa Fe County Sheriffs deputies responding to Hackmans home. Listen to the full interview above to learn more about the legal battle in court over the release of video.

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Stay informed with the latest news by subscribing to the New Mexico News Insiders Podcast wherever you listen. Download new episodes of the New Mexico News Insiders every Tuesday, starting around 5:30 a.m., Mountain time. Episodes are available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Podbean, among others.

You can also watch our podcasts in video form, both on-air and online. Tune in to an abbreviated version of the New Mexico News Insiders podcast on broadcast television every Wednesday at 10:35 p.m. on Fox New Mexico. Full video episodes are posted on KRQEs YouTube page at youtube.com/krqenews13.

Having trouble finding the show? Try searching your favorite podcast player with the term KRQE or New Mexico News Insiders (without the quotes). You can also use the links above to find the podcast on each service or listen to the audio player at the top of this post.

If you have a question, comment, or suggestion for who should be interviewed on the podcast, let us know! Email your hosts at chris.mckee@krqe.com or gabrielle.burkhart@krqe.com.

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Negotiations to form the next German governing coalition are entering the "final metres," a senior lawmaker said on Tuesday, with global uncertainty due to the new US tariff policy providing an extra impetus for parties to reach an agreement.

Talks between the conservative bloc - made up of Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU) - and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) have been ongoing since elections in February.

Anke Rehlinger from the SPD, who serves as the premier of the western state of Saarland, told reporters that "the final metres are the most tiring" but that she was sure "the efforts will be worth it."

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"It must go quickly, it must go well," added CDU politician Jens Spahn in Berlin.

Time is running out for a government to be in place by the Easter holidays, as demanded by Merz, the presumptive next German chancellor.

The global situation has also added to pressure for the parties to reach a deal, with Germany's export-based economy set to be hit hard by US tariffs of up to 20% on imports from the EU.

Amid signs that a deal could be close, Merz on Tuesday cancelled a planned appearance at an event with the CDU/CSU youth wing.

Any coalition agreement would still require approval from the SPD membership.

While some CDU members have also called for a vote, senior representative Thorsten Frei said a deal would only have to be approved at a small party conference.
Germany's vzbv consumer umbrella body on Tuesday came out against planned changes to European Union rules on compensating airline passengers for delays.

If implemented, airlines would no longer have to pay around 85% of the compensation payments currently due, the vzbv said in Berlin.

It cited figures from the Lennoc software company commissioned by the Dutch consumer body Consumentenbond.

EU Regulation 261/2004 currently stipulates that delays exceeding three hours should be compensated to the amount of between 250 ($273) and 600, depending on distance. Brussels is currently discussing raising the time limit to at least five hours and as long as 24 hours for long-haul flights.

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The Airlines for Europe (A4E) airline association recently called for the rules to be changed.

"Passengers must in the future be able to rely on being compensated for cancellation and delay. The looming changes in passenger rights would represent a crash landing for travellers rights," Jutta Gurkmann of the vzbv said.

She called on the incoming German government to entrench current protections in law and expand them.
Germany has temporarily stopped accepting vulnerable refugees under a United Nations resettlement programme, dpa learnt on Tuesday.

The German Interior Ministry and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) confirmed to dpa that no applications for resettlement are currently being approved, as negotiations to form a governing coalition in Berlin continue.

The next German government is expected to take a tougher stance on migration, which was a central issue in campaigning for February's parliamentary election.

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In an exploratory paper, the prospective coalition partners - Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats, the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union and the centre-left Social Democratic Party - have already agreed to end voluntary admission programmes where possible.

Germany has pledged to accept 13,100 refugees over 2024 and 2025 through the UNHCR scheme, which is supported by the European Commission.

According to UNHCR data, 5,061 people have arrived in the country so far.

This includes humanitarian admissions of Syrian refugees from Turkey, which the EU agreed to in 2016.

Under the programme, the UNHCR proposes particularly vulnerable refugees to be admitted to host countries.

German representatives then carry out interviews and security checks on site.
Germany has temporarily stopped accepting vulnerable refugees under a United Nations resettlement programme, dpa learnt on Tuesday.

The German Interior Ministry and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) confirmed to dpa that no new applications for resettlement are currently being approved, as negotiations to form a governing coalition in Berlin continue.

The next German government is expected to take a tougher stance on migration, which was a central issue in campaigning for February's parliamentary election.

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In an exploratory paper, the prospective coalition partners - Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats, the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union and the centre-left Social Democratic Party - have already agreed to end voluntary admission programmes where possible.

Germany has pledged to accept 13,100 refugees over 2024 and 2025 through the UNHCR scheme, which is supported by the European Commission.

According to UNHCR data, 5,061 people have arrived in the country so far.

This includes humanitarian admissions of Syrian refugees from Turkey, which the EU agreed to in 2016.

However, a letter seen by dpa from Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees to the UNHCR suggests that only cases in which proceedings are already at an advanced stage are still being authorized, pending the outcome of coalition talks.

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Under the programme, the UNHCR proposes particularly vulnerable refugees living in countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Kenya and Rwanda to be resettled.

German representatives then carry out interviews and security checks on site.

Since joining the scheme in 2012, Germany has taken in around 5,000 refugees per year, behind only Canada and the United States.

However, the new US administration under President Donald Trump has announced it will stop taking in refugees.

UNHCR spokesman Chris Melzer said he expects Germany to resume accepting refugees through the scheme once a new administration is in place.
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany has suspended admission of refugees via a U.N. resettlement programme, the interior ministry said on Tuesday, as a new coalition government likely to restrict immigration prepares to take office.

Migration has been a contentious issue in coalition negotiations between Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the centre-left Social Democrats, which are expected to conclude within weeks.

The conservatives are advocating a stricter approach to asylum seekers in response to rising support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and several violent incidents involving refugees.

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The two sides have struck a preliminary agreement to end voluntary federal admission programmes for refugees such as the U.N. programme - the only one currently active - and not to launch any new ones, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Germany has participated since 2016 in a European Union resettlement scheme that accepts refugees selected by the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR. Most come from Turkey, Egypt, Jordan or Kenya, or from Libya via Rwanda.

The ministry said 4,711 people had arrived in Germany through the programme since 2024, out of the 13,000 refugees that Germany has promised the European Commission it will take in for 2024 and 2025 combined.

Despite the suspension, admissions that are already well advanced, with concrete commitments, will go ahead, a ministry spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Miranda Murray, Riham Alkousaa and Alexander Ratz; Writing by Rachel More; Editing by Friederike Heine and Kevin Liffey)
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's conservatives under chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz on Tuesday reached a deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) to form a government, NTV reported.

Two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, however, that there was not yet an agreement.

(Reporting by Tom Sims and Andreas Rinke; Editing by Chris Reese)
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is divided on US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff policies.

The party's co-leader Tino Chrupalla told the Bild tabloid on Tuesday that Trump's move to slap blanket tariffs of 10% on all imports, with further duties for the EU and many countries, was "understandable."

The comments came days after his fellow co-leader Alice Weidel - the AfD's top candidate in February's parliamentary election - called the policy "poison for free trade" and demanded action by EU leaders to prevent the tariffs.

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Chrupalla said the party supports free trade in principle.

"But sometimes you have the restrict free trade to protect your economy," he said. "President Trump wants to force other countries to negotiate; He wants to improve the US trade balance and stimulate industry."

"That is understandable," he added.

The AfD, which reached second place in February's election, is ideologically close to Trump's Republican Party.

Chrupalla travelled to Washington for Trump's inauguration, while Weidel has received open support from White House adviser Elon Musk and met US Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference in February.

Germany's export-based economy is set to be particularly hard hit by the Trump tariffs, with a 20% duty on all imports from the EU due to take effect on Wednesday amid efforts from EU leaders to negotiate a deal.
BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council said on Tuesday it fully supports central state-owned enterprises in expanding share purchases and buybacks to safeguard shareholders' rights and consolidate market confidence. 
AUSTINTOWN, Ohio (WKBN)  One local high school girls wrestling team was recognized for their excellence at the district and state competition.

Austintown Trustees honored the Fitch girls wrestling team for being District Champions. The girls finished first out of 92 teams.

The team also had four state qualifiers, with one freshman finishing 7th in the state.

Trustees and Lauren McNally congratulated the girls on their hard work.

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More than 1,500 executions were recorded globally in 2024, the highest number since 2015, according to an Amnesty International report published on Tuesday.

The surge was largely driven by Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which together accounted for 91% of known executions.

Iran carried out at least 972 executions, followed by Saudi Arabia with at least 345 and Iraq with at least 63, the report on the global use of the death penalty said.

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Amnesty's report noted the true global figure is likely much higher due to secrecy in some countries, especially China - which the organization calls "the world's lead executioner" - where execution data remains classified as a state secret.

In China, state media publicizes some high-profile executions intended to send a political message. In January 2024, state media reported the execution of a couple sentenced to death for throwing two children from a building in Chongqing.

In the United States, where 25 people were executed, US President Donald Trump pledged to pursue the death penalty to protect US citizen "from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters," which Amnesty criticized.

"His dehumanising remarks promoted a false narrative that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect on crime," it said.

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The organization condemned the use of the death penalty as a political tool in general, pointing to some countries in the Middle East region, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia.

"Those who dare challenge authorities have faced the cruellest of punishments ... with the death penalty used to silence those brave enough to speak out," Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general, said.
The availability of around 85 per cent of NHS medicines could be at risk unless the UK government strengthens its supply chains to prepare for worsening geopolitical tensions, ministers have been warned.

Manufacturers in Britain have urged the government to treat it as a defence issue, with the supply of drugs such as antibiotics under threat if global tensions continue to rise as a result of Donald Trumps decision to impose hefty tariffs across the world.

If pharmaceutical and medical suppliers are hit by the US-led tariff war, the NHS could have to pay more for medicines, another expert has said.

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The warnings come after health secretary Wes Streeting said UK medicines supplies could be impacted by the tariffs imposed on trade by President Trump.

Mr Streeting said during an interview on Sky News that there are a number of factors at play when it comes to the UKs supply of medicines, including manufacturing and distribution challenges, and he warned that tariffs pose another layer of challenge.

The health secretary was responding after the US president said he was not looking to pause the sweeping tariffs that have plunged global markets into turmoil. Although the US tariffs have so far exempted the pharmaceutical industry, some medical devices and equipment are affected, so UK manufacturers would still be hit by 10 and 20 per cent tariffs when exporting to the US.

Some companies which rely heavily on exports to the US are likely to consider moving their manufacturing from the UK to America, according to RBC analysts quoted in Endpoints News, which could push prices higher for Britons. The UK also imports 4.5bn in medical products from the US, where companies may raise prices due to tariffs on imported raw materials.

Health secretary Wes Streeting said ministers are watching the situation extremely closely (PA)

Mark Samuels, chief executive of the British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA), which represents medicines manufacturers in Britain, told The Independent: There have been around 100 products (medicines) in shortage for the last year or so, and thats in peacetime, so it seems to me it would make complete sense to treat the nations medicines supply like defence... [medicines supplies] absolutely should be on the same level as defence.

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The BGMA chief said the government should prepare for the volatile geopolitical situation to put additional strain on the UK supply chain. I would expect the government to make the resilience of the supply chain for generic and other everyday medicines their top priority. Its not been a priority at all in previous governments. During the pandemic, the government woke up to the fact that most prescription medicines are generic medicine  85 per cent of NHS prescriptions are generic.

It makes complete sense [to treat it like defence], particularly as we have various state actors engaged in grey zone hostile activity. A good example of that is antibiotics. We dont make any antibiotics in the UK: thats not a resilient situation to be in.

Other life critical medicines, such as drugs used by heart patients to prevent sudden death syndrome, would also be vulnerable, he said.

Generic-based medicines are copies of brand-name drugs which contain the same active ingredients.

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Last year the BGMA warned medicine shortages were around double the number recorded in 2023, with vital antibiotics, hormone replacement therapy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drugs hit by severe shortages.

Mr Samuels also said ministers must focus on renegotiating post-Brexit medicines trade agreements with the EU, which have negatively impacted the UKs manufacturing industry. Current rules do not allow UK manufacturers to sell medicines they made to the bloc but do allow EU manufacturers to sell to the UK.

Stockpiling would be a short-term solution, he said, but this would come with some additional costs.

Although no tariffs have yet been imposed on pharmaceutical products, Dr Sanchayan Banerjee, a behavioural economist at the London School of Economics, highlighted that the medical and pharmaceutical sector was the second-largest UK exporter to the US in 2024. Trade amounted to 6.6bn, with the US making up about 40-50 per cent of total sales for British companies such as AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.

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He told The Independent: A reduced supply could mean higher-end prices for medications for consumers which will mostly fall onto the NHS, which already heavily subsidises drugs.

To alleviate pressure, encouraging those who can afford it to go private; encouraging on-shoring drug manufacture; and modest increases in prescription charges will help smooth out these costs.

The government was approached for comment.
Apr. 7Goliad Elementary School honored Assistant Principal Samantha Natividad-Ramos Monday for winning the TEPSA Region 18 Assistant Principal of the Year Award.

TEPSA stands for Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association.

Students, teachers, staff and families filled the auditorium to celebrate her. The Odessa High School Mariachis also paid tribute.

Students told her how much they appreciated her and offered hugs. She also received a bouquet of paper flowers along with her plaque.

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Students said there are a lot of things that make Natividad-Ramos stand out as an assistant principal.

She's confident and helps students feel confident and strong.

Natividad-Ramos supports students at school, works hard, puts others before herself, shows how much she cares about the kids and makes them feel like they belong.

She said she does the job, not for the awards, but because of everyone in the room and thanked them for making Goliad a great place to be and making it easy to come to work every day.

Natividad-Ramos said she knew something was going on because "it was so secretive."

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She has been with Ector County ISD for 15 years, seven of them as an assistant principal. This is her fourth year at Goliad.

"It really is an honor and a blessing. I was definitely taken by surprise. It's not something that I was expecting. I didn't go into education" for the glory, but to make an impact on student lives, Natividad-Ramos said.

"This is just a perk to it," she added.

The stereotypical assistant principal is mean.

"I hope that I have changed that. I try to, like I said, just make an impact. I know a lot of our students come from hard backgrounds, and so I ... want to be that change, that person, that they look back on, and ... think, you know what? She believed in me. She's the reason I kept going. ... So I ... try to motivate students as much as possible to be successful," Natividad-Ramos said.

She added that having the students come up and say things about her made her cry. The mariachis behind her also teared up.
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)  A Gonzales woman pleaded guilty to child pornography charges on Monday.

Court documents show that Hannah Kinchen, 40, coordinated with a photographer, who self-identified as a pedophile, to produce child pornography. Kinchen previously pleaded not guilty to child porn charges in 2023.

The Department of Justice said Kinchen arranged photoshoots for the minors modeling career in which she posed the child in inappropriate attire. The photographer sent the photos to Kinchen through a file-sharing site on the Internet. Some of the images qualified as child pornography and were later sold.

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Kinchens sentencing is scheduled for July 15. She can face a minimum of five years or a maximum of 20 years in prison.

This case is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

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Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) suggested in a video posted over the weekend that a lot less false stories would be written by journalists if they got into physical altercations with politicians.

Mullin later said he was joking after The Oklahoman wrote a story about his remarks.

Thanks for watching my videos. Imagine being a newspaper *this* out of touch with Oklahoma, he wrote on social platform X, sharing a picture of a map of the state with every county shaded red.

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In the video, which was posted Saturday, the Oklahoma Republican told the story about Charles Kincaid, a reporter who shot former Rep. William Talubee (D-Ky.) in 1890.

The two had a volatile history that started after Kincaid wrote a story about Taulbee having an affair, according to the History, Art and Archives page of the House of Representatives website. Taulbee decided not to run for re-election but became a lobbyist, so the two kept crossing paths and trading insults.

Once, when the late lawmaker was on the House floor, he got into an altercation with the reporter, Mullin said. Taulbee had thrown Kincaid around by the collar, according to NPR. Kincaid went home and returned with a pistol, ultimately shooting and killing Taulbee.

Theres a lot we could say about reporters and the stories they write, but I bet theyd write a lot less false stories, or as President Trump says fake news if we could handle our differences that way, Mullin said.

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Responding to The Oklahomans article Sunday on X, Mullin wrote, While youre at it, dont forget I also JOKED about bringing back caning to settle political disputes.

Back in 2023, Mullin challenged Teamsters President Sean OBrien to a fight during a Senate Health Committee hearing.

He later said on NewsMax that you used to be able to cane.

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Republican governors and lawmakers in more than a dozen states are tapping into Elon Musks brand, borrowing from his Department of Government Efficiencys approach  and in many cases, its name  to draw attention to their own bids to slash spending.

The state efforts have been slower to start and smaller in scale  a reality that follows years of fiscal austerity in states where Republicans have long been in power, and where budgets are already required to be balanced. In most cases, governors and lawmakers have merely added new names, or launched new committees, to highlight reductions for which theyve spent years claiming credit.

Unlike the federal DOGE, many of those state efforts are task forces led by appointed conservative business leaders and empowered only to issue recommendations.

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There is a very real possibility that whatever recommendations come out of their state DOGE groups will actually be put in practice by legislatures. But they cant do it on their own, said Whitney Tucker, the director of state fiscal policy research for the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Most state budgets biggest areas of spending are K-12 and higher education and health care  particularly programs like Medicaid, where costs are shared with the federal government and states face legal restrictions on the changes they can make to eligibility and coverage. Other major budget drivers include transportation, prisons and pensions.

Unlike the federal government, which can operate at a deficit, states are already required to balance their budgets  which means, especially in Statehouses where Republicans control all levers of the government, the party has already implemented many of its fiscal priorities. Further steep cuts would quickly be felt in classrooms, by motorists and more.

Still, most state DOGE initiatives aim to build on elements of the federal DOGE.

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In Florida and Iowa, its tech: GOP governors say theyll use artificial intelligence to further identify ways to shrink state governments their party has long controlled.

In Oklahoma, its scrapping contracts. Gov. Kevin Stitts Division of Government Efficiency launched a website where it is posting regular updates, such as hundreds of thousands of dollars per month saved by eliminating some cell phones and landlines, and $200,000 saved per year by firing the contractors that mowed the states Capitol grounds and replacing them with automated mowers.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt delivers his State of the State address at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City in February 2024. - Nick Oxford/AP/File

And in Wisconsin  where power is split between Republican-controlled legislature and a Democratic governor  GOP lawmakers are focused on workplace matters like diversity initiatives and remote work in state and local government.

One major difference between the federal and state efforts is speed. Musks DOGE moved quickly to dramatically slash spending and remake the federal government  a chaotic campaign thats been riddled with inaccurate claims, seen some reductions quickly walked back and faced myriad legal challenges.

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State DOGE efforts, though, are off to much slower starts. In Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds created the DOGE Task Force on February 10, with that task forces initial meeting set to take place 60 days later. In New Hampshire, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte created a Committee on Government Efficiency with her first executive order; that committee has so far met just twice. In Georgia, Texas and South Carolina, proposals to create DOGE-style efforts are still making their ways through the GOP-led legislatures.

Kansas and Missouri have created online portals with DOGE branding for residents to submit ideas and feedback on government inefficiencies, but its not clear that those portals have yet led to concrete action.

The slow starts at Statehouses across the country come amid polls that reflect trepidation among Americans about DOGE and the Trump administrations spending cuts. With an uncertain economic outlook that could rapidly change the political landscape, its too early to predict what will come of the state DOGE efforts.

Their recommendations could end up just being a laundry list of conservative ideas that they wanted to put in place in the states already, Tucker said.

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If voters sour on Musk and the federal DOGE, though, Tucker said its possible that a lot of these state DOGE groups will quietly fade back into state governments assessing what is efficient through their normal processes.

Tapping into DOGEs brand

Republican governors were eager to tap into DOGEs brand  but wanted to make clear theyve been attempting to slash spending for years.

I like to say we were doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in January as she launched an Iowa DOGE Committee made up of business leaders that will submit a report with recommendations within six months.

Weve been DOGE-ing in Oklahoma before it was cool, Stitt, the Oklahoma governor, said on social media.

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I say we were DOGE before DOGE was cool, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a February new conference launching his own state-level DOGE.

DeSantis said Floridas DOGE  in place for one year  will bring a new wrinkle to his cost-cutting efforts by using artificial intelligence.

Gov. Ron DeSantis holds a press conference at the Florida Capitol to discuss the budget on February 3. - Mishalynn Brown/Tallahassee Democrat/USA Today Network/Imagn Images

He said the task force will abolish 70 state boards and commissions, audit local governments and scrutinize state universities spending, staffing and curriculum.

This is the DOGE-ing of our state university system, and I think its going to be good for taxpayers, and its ultimately going to be good for students as well, DeSantis said.

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Other ambitious Republicans are similarly trying to tie themselves to DOGE.

Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is widely seen as a likely 2026 gubernatorial contender, highlighted the state Senates passage of a bill that would require state agencies to review all of their rules every four years and gauge the economic impact of those regulations with a simple email subject line: Georgia does DOGE.

The Texas Senate last week approved a measure that would establish a state office similar to the Musk-led federal DOGE.

President Trumps creation of the Department of Government Efficiency inspired me to find ways Texas can save taxpayers and businesses money by cutting burdensome regulations, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement.

Questions about scope, limitations

Wisconsin Assembly Republicans launched a Government Operations, Accountability and Transparency Committee  or GOAT Committee, seizing on a Musk-inspired meme name for their effort. The panels first hearing was focused on state agencies remote work policies.

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Its GOP vice chair, meanwhile, demanded details from cities and counties about diversity policies, positions, grants and more  and when Democrats complained that he was overstepping, that vice chair, Rep. Shae Sortwell, wrote on social media: Just because you dont like it and whine about it, doesnt mean I cant do it.

Theyre copying and pasting the substance of a meme of efficiency and fiscal responsibility, said Rep. Mike Bare, the top-ranking Democrat on the committee. It just strikes me as blatantly contrary to our general Schoolhouse Rock! understanding of how government works.

Republicans, though, described an effort that is limited by the reality of a government split between a GOP legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Rep. Amanda Nedweski, who chairs the Wisconsin Assemblys GOAT Committee, said the committee is acting within the legislatures oversight role. We do not have the authority to bulldoze our way through state agencies wielding sledgehammers or scalpels, she told CNN.

State Rep. Amanda Nedweski is shown during the Assembly session on September 14, 2023 at the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. - Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/USA Today Network/Imagn Images

Nedweski, criticizing the states second-term governor, said the committee is doing the tough homework and the heavy lifting that the state agencies should be doing themselves.

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She said the committee can identify ways to reduce regulations, eliminate redundancy and slash spending. But she acknowledged its limitations in a divided government, saying that Evers needs to get a clue or step aside for a Republican governor if any real change is going to happen in Wisconsin.

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AUSTIN (KXAN)  A date is now set to fill the seat after Houston area Congressman Sylvester Turner died last month. Gov. Greg Abbott proclaimed the special election will be held Nov. 4.

Nov. 4 is one of two uniform election dates in 2025 listed on the Texas Secretary of State website. The other is May 3. Uniform election dates are the days that state law specifies each general or special election in the state can be held.

Turners death on March 5 came after the deadline for calling a special election on May 3. However, the election code also allows the governor to call an emergency special election on an earlier nonuniform date.

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Abbott did that in 2022, when he called an emergency special election to fill a vacancy in Congressional District 34, created when Filemon Vela, a Democrat, stepped down. Republican Mayra Flores won the June special election. The special election happened 75 days after Vela stepped down.

Abbotts announcement Monday means 244 days will elapse before the election to fill the seat left open by Turners death.

In an exclusive interview with KXAN last week, Abbott was asked about the vacant seat in Congress, and he told us Harris County is a repeat failure, as it concerns operating elections. Had I called that very quickly, it could have led to a failure in that election, just like Harris County has failed in other elections, they need to have adequate time to operate a fair and accurate election, not a crazy election like what theyve conducted in the past.

Abbott told KXAN he wanted to make sure Harris County had the opportunity to get this right, unlike what theyve done in the past.

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The special election announcement comes after U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffires, D-New York, told reporters during a press conference last week that House Democrats would likely sue Abbott over not holding a special election for House District 18.

Abbott highlights school funding, teacher pay raise as priorities in exclusive interview

Early voting is expected to begin in October. This would be the second special election in the 18th Congressional District in a year. In July 2024, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee died after a battle with cancer. In August, less than three weeks after Jackson Lees death, Abbott set the special election to fill the remainder of her term on the date of the November general election.

Since Jackson Lee would have been up for reelection, voters in the district had two elections for the 18th Congressional seat on the ballot in the 2024 election. One was the special election to fill the remainder of her term, and the other was to determine who would fill the term beginning in 2025.

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Jackson Lees daughter, Erica, won the special election. She held the seat until January, when the new Congress was sworn-in. Turner won the general election and took over the seat at the start of the new session 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 KXAN Austin.
SEOUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korea formally set June 3 for a snap presidential election following former President Yoon Suk-yeol's ouster from office last week, multiple media outlets said Tuesday.

The snap election date was confirmed at the cabinet meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who has served as acting president with Yoon's impeachment.

The election day was designated as a temporary holiday.

Yoon was ousted from office on April 4 with the constitutional court's unanimous ruling to uphold his impeachment motion by the National Assembly.

By law, after a president's removal, an acting president is required to designate the date of a snap presidential election within 10 days, and the election should be held within 60 days.

Yoon declared an emergency martial law on the night of Dec. 3 last year, but it was revoked by the opposition-led National Assembly hours later.

The impeachment motion against Yoon was passed in the parliament on Dec. 14, and he was indicted on Jan. 26 as a suspected ringleader of insurrection. 
It looks like Gov. Ron DeSantis has tossed his tin-foil hat into the ring on the not-so-great debate over unknown theys trying to poison Floridians through chemtrails in the sky.

It used to be that you had to seek out Alex Jones and other lunatic-fringe professionals to indulge in this sort of contrived conspiracy theory banter.

But now, you just have to tune into the Florida government to scratch your crazy itch.

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DeSantis, declaring that we here in Florida are proud of our sunshine  bless his heart  has vowed to put an end to an imaginary, secret government practice of intentionally blocking the sun over Florida.

People have a lot of kooky ideas that they can get in and put things in the atmosphere to block the sun and save us from climate change. Were not playing that game in Florida, DeSantis said in a recorded message posted on social media.

Governor Ron DeSantis holds up an Everglades hydration comparison map during a press conference about restoration efforts at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Fla., on January 9, 2025.

Its so adorable when DeSantis tries to burnish some tough-guy street cred by standing tall against nothing. Its default DeSantis.

(In other news, were not playing that game with the giant, costumed Easter Bunnies at the malls, either. Youre scaring our hard-working toddlers half to the death. Take your chocolate socialism and carrot-vegan agenda elsewhere.)

Conspiracy theorists believe contrails are intentional and poisonous

Bolstered by the empowering of renowned kook, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the new head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, theres a movement in Florida and other similarly feeble-minded states to write laws that mainstream paranoia about the government-backed aerial poisoning of the American people, which is sometimes called geoengineering.

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We are going to stop these crimes, Kennedy vowed last August.

Floridas just being the Kato to his Green Hornet.

Opinion: Florida politicians indulge conspiracy theorists with nonsense 'chemtrails' bill

But dont expect results. Ever since the U.S. government began experimenting with cloud seeding decades ago to bring rain to drought-stricken agricultural land or to control wildfires, conspiracy theorists have let their imaginations run wild.

This has led them to single out the often visible condensation from aircraft engines on jets flying at colder high altitudes. This condensation turns to ice crystals called contrails that often span the sky.

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Conspiracy theorists have convinced millions of people that many of these white streaks of water vapor across the sky are really a mix of deadly heavy metals dropped day and night for the secret purpose of creating a permanent haze that dims the sun.

And these so-called chemtrails are spreading everything from autism to Alzheimers disease to the people living below them, they say.

Apparently, this is being done with the backing and support of a shadowy bunch of theys that often include billionaire Bill Gates, the United Nations and fill-in-the-blank Democrats in high levels of government.

This kind of disinformation reached a fever pitch last October after Hurricanes Helene and Milton battered the Southeastern United States, particularly in parts of Florida and North Carolina.

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Tens of millions of social media posts pushed claims that the storms were preceded by an unusual number of chemtrails in the sky and that the hurricanes were an attempt by the Biden Administration to wipe out Republican voters in key states a month before the election.

Treason Alert: The Biden-Harris Admin Have Been in Control of Hurricanes Helene and Milton Using Pentagon Weather Weapons, was a headline in the Alex Jones site, InfoWars.

New legislations sets out to fight an imaginary problem

This was the backdrop for the proposed Florida weather-manipulation bill that is up for consideration now.

And it doesnt seem to matter that for decades these claims have been categorically refuted by multiple government agencies.

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Air Force have repeatedly and emphatically tried to dispel the baseless claims of a secret government campaign to poison the American people from the sky.

The Florida Senate Bill (SB-56) establishes a hotline number for citizens to call about trails they are seeing in the sky. This will scramble the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to alert the Florida Department of Health to race to the scene and do air quality samples under the path of the contrail.

Opinion: Florida must invest in risk reduction to better mitigate climate disaster costs

And that puts the Florida Department of Emergency Services on notice to step in to mitigate, said the bills sponsor, Ileana Garcia, a Republican who lists an educational background that culminates in senior year at Miami Senior High School.

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The bill calls for the mysterious violators to be fined $100,000 so they know we mean business, Garcia said.

The proposed legislation got rougher treatment in the Florida House last week, where committee members in the House Natural Resources and Disasters Subcommittee ended up passing a bill that allowed weather modification operations in Florida, as long as these operations were licensed by the state. Unlicensed violators would be fined $10,000 under the bill.

This set off DeSantis, who backs the sky-is-falling Senate bill and regards the House bill as an endorsement of weather modification in the state.

Thats why hes speaking out now about how proud he is of Floridas sunshine. And how we wont let them take it from us, no matter who the them are. Or arent.

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Can we move on to those mall Easter Bunnies now?

Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network- Florida. He can be reached at FCerabino@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FL lawmakers, DeSantis fight imaginary contrail problem | Opinion
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs Senate Bill 3, which seeks to rebuild the state's behavioral health system, during a signing ceremony at the New Mexico Legislature on Feb. 27, 2025. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed five dozen bills on topics running the gamut from emergency services and elections to public safety and psychedelic mushroom therapy.

She signed Senate Bill 41, mandating New Mexico establish an alert system for missing Indigenous people, a move praised by the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.

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Today, we celebrate a victory for Native communities across New Mexico and beyond, CSVANW Executive Director Tiffany Jiron said in a statement. The signing of SB41 is not just a policy achievement, its a victory for every Native mother, daughter, sister, and aunt who has ever been impacted by the violence that continues to ravage our communitiesThe Turquoise Alert System is a powerful tool that will help law enforcement act quickly when a Native person goes missing, providing the necessary resources to respond with urgency and care.

Senate Bill 16, which allows independent voters to participate in primary elections without changing voter registration (Lujan Grisham signaled at the end of the session she liked this proposal).

Other important legislation the governor signed includes: House Bill 458, which establishes the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Departments authority to regulate carbon sequestration  pumping carbon dioxide into the ground. The bill collects fees for injection and establishes a fund to cover the costs of liability for ensuring carbon stays stored underground. HB458 passed on a 26-11 vote after contentious debate in the Senates final late-night session.

The governor also signed off on Senate Bill 57, which creates an exemption in the states public records laws for any records that contain personal identifying information or sensitive information, of public sector abortion providers.

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Senate Bill 219, which establishes a program for medicinal use of psilocybin mushrooms.

Senate Bill 364, which allows immigrants authorized to work by the federal government to become police officers in New Mexico.

While the governor vetoed a more comprehensive set of reforms to the states parole system, she did sign Senate Bill 375, which allows early discharge for people who comply with probation and removes payment of court and parole costs as a condition of parole eligibility.



The governor has until April 11 to act on legislation, such as signing into law or vetoing legislation. If a bill goes unsigned after the deadline, it is not enacted  called a pocket veto.

Effective immediately

Four bills contain emergency clauses, meaning they went into effect as soon as the governor signed them.

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House Bill 206 authorizes the New Mexico Finance Authority to loan money to 62 public entities for water infrastructure projects, and Senate Bill 115 authorizes loans for up to $1 million to an additional 200 public entities, such as schools, cities and local governments.

Senate Bill 33 creates a Wildfire Prepared Program in the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Departments Forestry Division to provide technical assistance and training to help structures and properties in high-risk areas survive wildfire.

Senate Bill 66 exempts the Early Childhood Education and Care Department; the Children, Youth, and Families Department; the Public Education Department; and other agencies considering people applying for caregiver roles from the Criminal Offender Employment Act, which prohibits employers from automatically barring people from job opportunities because of their criminal history.

Here is the complete list of bills that Lujan Grisham signed into law on Monday:

House Bill 41: Public Project Fund Appropriations

House Bill 071: Early Childhood Ed & Care Fund Transfers

House Bill 99: Nonrepairable Vehicle Certificates

House Bill 101: Firearm At Polling Place for Law Enforcement

House Bill 102: Violent Felonies for Meritorious Deduction

House Bill 131: Caregiver Background Checks

House Bill 159: Energy Project Siting & Military Bases

House Bill 167: Higher Ed. Payment for Certain Tests

House Bill 174: Pharmacy Reimbursement for Certain Plans

House Bill 192: Digital Trunked Radio System Subscriber Fees

House Bill 206: NMFA Water Project Fund Projects

House Bill 233: Diabetic Foot Ulcer Equipment Coverage

House Bill 244: Magistrate Judge Minimum Age

House Bill 251: Ed. Retirement Beneficiary Changes

House Bill 281: Hair Braiding Licensure

House Bill 298: Local Government Official Changes

House Bill 323: Engineer Licensure

House Bill 340: DNA Of Certain Offenders in CODIS

House Bill 357: Mi Via Waiver Program Provider Gross Receipts

House Bill 361: EMNRD Conversion of Certain Wells

House Bill 402: Health Insurance Provider Info Loading

House Bill 431: Appointment Of Watershed Boards

House Bill 439: Public Safety Telecommunicator CPR Training

House Bill 458: Carbon Dioxide Storage Stewardship Act

House Bill 553: Timber Grading Act

House Bill 586: Review Of Certain Healthcare Transactions

House Bill 618: Clarify DoIT Role on Agency Projects

Senate Bill 007: Storm Water Service as Municipal Utility

Senate Bill 008: Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Program

Senate Bill 016: Non-Major Party Voters in Primary Elections

Senate Bill 033: Wildfire Prepared Act

Senate Bill 037: Strategic Water Reserve Fund

Senate Bill 039: Add Classes to Prior Authorization Drugs

Senate Bill 041: Turquoise Alert System

Senate Bill 053: Prescribing Psychologist Psychotropics

Senate Bill 057: Medical Provider Patient IPRA Info

Senate Bill 066: Criminal Offender Employment Exemptions

Senate Bill 072: Nonprofit Condo Assoc. Remote Business

Senate Bill 083: Innovation in State Government Fund

Senate Bill 100: Indebtedness Limit of Arroyo Flood Control

Senate Bill 101: Increase Certain Livestock Fees

Senate Bill 113: Board & Commission Sunset Dates

Senate Bill 115: Public Project Revolving Fund Projects

Senate Bill 127: Movie Exemption from Barber & Cosmetic Act

Senate Bill 155: Determination of Embezzlement Penalty

Senate Bill 169: Strategic Economic Development Site Readiness

Senate Bill 170: NMFA Definitions, Funds & Rates

Senate Bill 201: Public Ed. Reform Fund Uses

Senate Bill 219: Medical Psilocybin Act

Senate Bill 236: Look Twice for Motorcycle License Plate

Senate Bill 252: Social Work Telehealth Services

Senate Bill 274: Board of Finance Approval for Land Sales

Senate Bill 353: Search & Rescue Emergency Responses

Senate Bill 364: Law Enforcement Qualifications

Senate Bill 375: Probation & Parole Changes

Senate Bill 376: State Employee Health Benefit Contributions

Senate Bill 387: Community School Fund & Framework

Senate Bill 401: Broadband for Education

Senate Bill 481: State Fairgrounds District Act

Senate Bill 535: Public Peace, Health, Safety & Welfare State Fees & Funds

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OKLAHOMA CITY  Gov. Kevin Stitt on Monday doubled down on his criticism of the states Forestry Service, accusing the agency of not using every resource at their disposal to save lives and property during historic wildfires last month.

The Republican also reiterated a controversial call to consider abolishing the agency that is tasked with preserving the states forest and is responsible for wildland fire detection.

Unfortunately, I learned that the Oklahoma Forestry Services, the agency tasked with preventing and suppressing wildfires, did not use every resource at their disposal to save lives and property, Stitt said in a statement. They neglected their duties and left local fire departments begging for further resources to fight fires. This is simply unacceptable.

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Stitt said only half of the Forestry Services resources were deployed during the states worst wildfire outbreak, which he described as the perfect storm of high winds, low humidity and drought conditions.

More: Stitt renews call for tax cut, wants investigation of wildfire response

Nearly 158 wildfires swept across the state beginning March 14, killing four and destroying more than 500 homes, including a ranch Stitt owned.

Stitt said Monday that he asked Mark Goeller, the head of the Forestry Service, to step down so there could be a fresh set of eyes and so the state could take decisive steps to prevent a tragedy like this from happening in the future.

Oklahoma lawmakers defend forestry service, former leader

Goeller has denied wrongdoing.

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The Agency to which I dedicated over 40 years of my life was said to have performed poorly, Goeller wrote March 30 on social media. Preparations were made well in advance, the public was notified of the impending fire danger, firefighting resources were ordered and in place.

Nothing was held back as the events of the 14th and following days unfolded.

Stitt last week first suggested abolishing the Forestry Service and providing funds directly to local fire departments, a plan that was swiftly panned by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Several high-ranking lawmakers were highly critical of the suggestion. Many have voiced support for Goeller.

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Stitt said he has asked his secretaries of agriculture and public safety, Blayne Arthur and Tricia Everest, respectively, to assemble a report detailing where our response failed and what can be done to improve that response in the future.

The report will be completed within a week, he said.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Gov. doubles down on criticism of Forestry Service
By Jonathan Allen and Luc Cohen

JENA, Louisiana (Reuters) -An immigration judge on Tuesday gave the U.S. government a day to show evidence that Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil should be deported and said she would rule on the case on Friday, a month after his arrest in New York and transfer to a rural Louisiana jail 1,200 miles (1,931.21 km) away.

"If he's not removable, I'm going to be terminating this case on Friday," Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee Comans said during a hearing at the LaSalle Immigration Court in Jena, Louisiana.

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If the government's deportation case is terminated at the hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon, Khalil, 30, is free under immigration law. The government cannot challenge the termination, but if the judge terminates the case without prejudice it can attempt to file the removal case again.

Khalil sat at a table in the courtroom, wrapping prayer beads around his right hand as he listened to his attorney Marc Van Der Hout appear remotely from California on a nearby screen to tell the court he had not received a single document of the government's evidence.

"There's nothing more important to this court than Mr. Khalil's due process rights," Comans told Van Der Hout after he asked for more time to review the government's evidence. "I'm also not going to keep Mr. Khalil detained while attorneys go back and forth about documents."

Department of Homeland Security lawyers told Comans they would provide the evidence by her 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline.

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In a statement later, Khalil's attorney Van Der Hout said he was concerned the judge would rule without giving the defense time to respond to the government's case, a concern he had raised earlier in court.

"What this case is really about is whether lawful permanent residents  and other immigrants to this country  can speak out about what is happening in Gaza, or any other important matters of discussion in the national discourse without fear of deportation for expressing beliefs that are completely protected by the First Amendment," Van Der Hout said. "Are U.S. citizens going to be next?"

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to free speech and assembly.

President Donald Trump's administration says it has revoked Khalil's status as a lawful permanent resident under a 1952 law allowing the deportation of any immigrant whose presence in the country the secretary of state deems harmful to U.S. foreign policy.

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The U.S. government also has said the pro-Palestinian demonstrator should be forced out from the country because he withheld information from his application for a green card, which he has denied.

During Tuesday's hearing, Comans read the government's allegations, and Van Der Hout responded with "deny" to each.

The immigration case is separate from a challenge to the legality of his March arrest, known as a habeas corpus petition.

A U.S. district judge hearing Khalil's habeas petition has ruled that he must remain in the U.S. for now while he considers Khalil's petition to either free him or move him to New Jersey.

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If Comans rules on Friday that Khalil can be deported, he would then be able to ask her to rule on whether he is eligible for "relief from removal," which can be granted in limited cases, including a fear of persecution in the immigrant's home country. Khalil can also appeal her rulings.

Since Khalil's arrest Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he has revoked the visas of hundreds of foreign students. The Trump administration says college protests against U.S. military support for Israel have included harassment of Jewish students.

Student protest organizers, including some Jewish groups, say criticism of Israel is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism.

Khalil, a Palestinian born in a refugee camp in Syria, has called himself a political prisoner. His lawyers have argued the Trump administration improperly targeted him for his political views in violation of his right to free speech guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.

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Khalil's wife, Noor Abdalla, is a U.S. citizen, and due to give birth to their first child this month. She has not been able to travel to Louisiana to visit him due to her pregnancy.

The hearing had been delayed nearly a half hour because the judge could not find some of Khalil's lawyers among what she said was nearly 600 people trying to access the video feed, evidence of the high interest in the case.

The judge allowed in only lawyers and, at Khalil's request, his wife.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in Jena, Louisiana, and Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Donna Bryson, Nick Zieminski, Alistair Bell, Deepa Babington and Richard Chang)
The Trump administration is overhauling how much the government spends on consultants.

BI trawled through the DOGE website to look at which services are being slashed.

Some DEI and energy-related contracts have been cut, but IT and digital services are the stand-out themes.

DOGE is taking an ax to consulting, and the contracts being targeted show a major realignment in how the federal government wants to work with consultants under President Donald Trump.

Business Insider analyzed the data available on the White House DOGE office's website to work out two things: what services DOGE deems a waste of money and, more broadly, what the government has been paying consultants to do.

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In the weeks following Trump's inauguration, contracts providing services related to DEIA and renewable energy were the first to be canceled.

IT and digital services have come under scrutiny and faced cuts in recent weeks.

Another trend in the data is cuts to blanket purchase agreements  an acquisition method that enables the government to easily purchase recurring products.

"You're looking at a complete re-architecting of the services at the federal level," Michael Mische, a former partner at KPMG and professor at USC's Marshall School, told BI.

There is a 'complete re-architecting' of how government consulting contracts work under Trump. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

10 of the federal government's highest-paid consultancies are under particular scrutiny in the consulting crackdown, and so BI's analysis focused on their contracts. The list includes Deloitte, Accenture, and Booz Allen Hamilton.

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Here are five examples that help demonstrate what services are being targeted:

General Dynamics, computer systems design

The biggest estimated savings made from a single contract with one of the 10 consultancies so far comes from a General Dynamics IT contract.

DOGE claims to have saved $69.1 million from modifying a contract providing a "portfolio of integrated value-oriented technologies" to the Department of Education.

General Dynamics was "responsible for the technical management and integration of pivot IT infrastructure services," per a description on the federal procurement data system.

Leidos, IT support services

Leidos holds a contract to provide "professional support services" to the Department of Health and Human Services, which aims to improve the government's capabilities to "speed research that can improve the health of Americans."

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Services include security requirements, service desk support, application development and maintenance, local area network infrastructure support, IT infrastructure support, and cloud services.

The requirement for IT support services for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) appears to have been modified, saving $58.9 million from the multi-year contract, according to DOGE's estimate.

Booz Allen Hamilton, business operations support

$308,469 of services have been cut from a Booz Allen Hamilton contract with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

According to DOGE, the contract was a blanket purchase agreement with a ceiling of $660,000. The contract's description said it aims to "support the planning for and improvements in business operations across the FDA."

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Booz Allen Hamilton makes most of its $10 billion in annual revenue from the US government.

Booz Allen Hamilton gets virtually all its revenue from government contracts. Reuters

Guidehouse, DEI website support

DOGE estimates that $400,000 has been saved from a $1.2 million contract to provide "Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility website and strategic planning" services to the Department of Commerce.

This contract was altered on 31 January 2025, soon after Trump signed executive orders targeting DEI initiatives for federal employees.

Similar examples include a contract for Booz Allen Hamilton to implement DEIA analytics on one of NASA's data platforms and a contract for Deloitte to provide DEIA training for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Deloitte, staffing support for financial reporting

Deloitte was contracted to provide "a temporary staff augmentation solution to support budget operations" at the Export-Import Bank of the US.

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One of the federal government's common uses of contractors is to outsource to them for employees with technical expertise.

Deloitte contractors were directly involved in contributing to accurate financial reporting and ensuring transparency and compliance in budget matters.

$1.4 million has been saved from changes to the contract, roughly half of its maximum ceiling, according to DOGE.

According to BI's analysis, of the 10 firms, Deloitte has had the highest number of contracts cut or modified so far.

Deloitte's business has been worst-hit by DOGE's consulting cuts so far. J. David Ake/Getty Images

Why tech services?

Mische, who has been advising some of the affected firms in DC, told BI that these trends signal a shift toward a more commercial, value-driven approach employing consultants.

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Mische said the government has been operating with a "patchwork" of systems, processes, and open-ended contracts. He said that the approach to improving and automating federal processes has been to follow the easiest path without addressing the underlying systems, known in business as "paving the cowpath."

"The process doesn't change, the organization doesn't change, the service outcomes don't change. But yet we've spent hundreds of billions of dollars doing it," said Mische.

The existing setup is not wholly the consultants' fault, he added. They suggest alternatives, but 99% of the time the answer is, "If you don't want to do the work, we'll give it to somebody else."

The Trump administration wants to overhaul how those services are delivered and prepare for more advanced technologies, eliminating the need for so many individual service contracts, he said.

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Rather than "massive contracts for 300 or 400 million dollars and more, that take years and years to do," Mische predicts that there will be much more emphasis on outcomes.

The government's attitude will be, "Show me what you did and show me what I got," he said, adding that fee-for-performance arrangements and measurable metrics for consulting services will likely be introduced.

"What I think we're going to see under this administration is a much greater emphasis on design for business outcomes. Not automate the toll path that you're on, but create a new freeway," he said.

The five consultancies did not respond to BI's requests for comment.

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Gov. Phil Murphy signing one of a handful of pardons he approved in New Brunswick on April 8, 2025. (Photo courtesy of the governor's office)

Gov. Phil Murphy issued pardons to 87 people and shortened the sentences of six more in his second round of clemency actions Tuesday, making history for granting more clemencies than New Jersey governors have in the past three decades combined.

With 36 clemencies signed in December, Murphy now has pardoned or commuted the sentences of 129 people since he created a clemency advisory board last June.

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Altogether, its staggering. When you think about this, I will be commuting more than 100 years of prison time, Murphy said at Rutgers University, where he announced the clemencies. That means a century of family get-togethers, holidays and memories. It means parents being reunited with their children and lives being changed in a fundamental level for the better.

Justin Dews heads the clemency advisory board, which recommends mercy for people who fit certain categories, such as non-violent offenders who have stayed out of trouble for at least a decade and people serving excessive sentences or who committed their crimes because they were victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence, or sex trafficking.

Dews called 129 clemencies in less than a year remarkable and urged the gubernatorial candidates now running to replace Murphy, a term-limited Democrat, to pick up his clemency crusade. Murphy leaves office in January after serving two terms.

Justin Dews chairs the states clemency review board. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)

I want to speak directly to the candidates on both sides of the aisle. This an effort worth continuing. Clemency doesnt have a partisan affiliation, Dews said. Its incumbent on the future leader of our state to grapple with what it means to judiciously and fairly use his or her clemency authority, a power that, if elected, would be their sole discretion. There is no check. There is no balance. Its just you.

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Murphy promised another two or three rounds of clemency in the nine months before his term ends. He encouraged anyone seeking mercy to file clemency petitions by June, if possible, to give the advisory board enough time to weigh their applications. Murphy has received more than 3,000 requests for clemency since he took office in 2018, including 2,200 since the advisory board formed last summer.

Those pardoned Tuesday had criminal histories for all sorts of offenses, from robbery to arson to shoplifting, but a majority had records peppered with drug offenses. New Jersey has moved in recent years to decriminalize some drug offenses, recognizing that drug arrests have historically disproportionately impacted communities of color and can stem from addiction.

Murphy also commuted the sentences of five people now incarcerated for murder, including Jamal Muhammad, who has been behind bars for more than 28 years. Muhammad was sentenced to life in prison with 30 years of parole ineligibility for a 1996 robbery in Atlantic City that turned deadly when his co-defendant shot the victim.

Over the years, Jamal has taken responsibility for his actions, and while serving his time, he has undergone a remarkable transformation, Murphy said. He discovered a passion for ethics and religious studies. He discovered a passion for writing a book based on anti-bullying so he could do his part to build a gentler and more compassionate world.

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Muhammads sister, Islah, cried as she thanked Murphy and said her family looks forward to her brothers homecoming.

This 27-year-long prayer, which began in the hearts of our deceased parents, has been answered, and we are eternally grateful to God for this profound and long-awaited opportunity, she said.

Besides Muhammad, Murphy also commuted the sentences of:

Rashon Barkley, who was sentenced to life behind bars plus 50 years for four robberies in 1993 in Newark, East Orange, and Irvington that left one person dead.

Paige Pfefferle, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for stabbing her boyfriend to death during a 2010 argument in Audubon Park.

Alberto Salazar, who was sentenced in 2003 to 30 years in prison for an Elizabeth robbery in which the victim, 88, died after she fell to the floor. He will be deported after hes released from prison due to his immigration status, Murphys office said.

Michelle Tierney, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing her live-in boyfriend during a 1998 fight outside their Middlesex County home. The couple had a history of domestic violence.

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Murphy signed several clemency actions Tuesday surrounded by the people he helped, including Racha Barlow, who had drug and weapon convictions dating back to 1991.

Oh governor, I love you! she said, as he prepared to scribble his name on her pardon.

Barlow, who works as a reentry coordinator for the City of Trenton, has become an author, poet, and screenwriter since she left prison.

Today, I officially retire my state number 14489, Barlow said as her family cheered nearby. From this day forward, I will never again be told what I cannot do.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Tuesday she is authorizing the New Mexico National Guard to support the Albuquerque Police Department along the Central Avenue corridor and other specific areas.

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The emergency request from APD Chief Harold Medina cited rising violent juvenile crime and the fentanyl epidemic as issues that require immediate intervention. According to the news release from the governors office, 60-70 National Guard personnel will be deployed to Albuquerque starting in mid-May. This partnership represents our commitment to addressing the fentanyl crisis and juvenile crime with every resource at our disposal, Gov. Lujan Grisham said in part in the release.

The goal is to reduce crime from downtown east through the International District. Although crime is down, we still want to do better, and we want to continue to clear up our officers. Thats whats made us successful. Whats also made us successful is our ability to work with other agencies. Weve had some of the strongest relationships weve ever had, said Chief Medina.

The deployment aims to improve public safety and support APD by allowing the department to reallocate resources to enforcement while still maintaining essential services. The guard will be a visible presence supporting law enforcement. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham emphasized that the guardsmen and women wont be making arrests or acting as police officers.

The governors office says the National Guard will assist in areas including:

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Scene security and traffic control at critical incidents

Medical assistance and humanitarian efforts along Central Avenue

Prisoner Transport Unit assistance

Transit security enhancement

Metro Court security support

Aviation/Sunport security assistance

Shield Unit case preparation support

APD Drone Program operational assistance

The ACLU of New Mexico criticized the governors authorization to deploy National Guard personnel to Albuquerque. Daniel Williams, policy advocate at the ACLU of New Mexico, issued the following statement:

All of us deserve to be safe at home, at work, and in our community. We, like so many in Albuquerque, know that thats not always the case in our city. However, Governor Lujan Grishams deployment of the National Guard to support Albuquerque police is a show of force, not a show of solutions. New Mexico already has one of the highest per capita rates of people killed by police in the nation. History has shown that military collaboration with local law enforcement often leads to increased civil rights violations, racial profiling, and criminalization of vulnerable populations, particularly those experiencing homelessness and poverty.

The governors past policy proposals too often have centered on efforts to criminalize and institutionalize unhoused New Mexicans, without a commensurate emphasis on solving the root causes of crime. New Mexicans should be confident that their governor is truly working to keep them safe, not doubling down on failed strategies that will fuel mass incarceration and multiply the harms our communities already endure. In a state so heavily impacted by police violence, the answer to safety cannot and will not be found in increased police presence, especially not through collaboration with the military.

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Our neighbors deserve an urgent outpouring of services and support by those trained and equipped to properly provide it. All of us will be safer when all of us are housed. All of us will be safer when all of us have access to good healthcare. All of us will be safer when all of us are economically secure. We join our partners and New Mexicans across the state in asking the governor and all of our leaders to double down on putting resources toward these meaningful solutions, rather than continuing to criminalize the most vulnerable among us.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
From left, Mary Hogan of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ben Ready with Sen. John Thune's office, Taneeza Islam of South Dakota Voices for Peace and John Hakari of Dakota Wesleyan University participate in a forum about immigration on April 7, 2025, at DWU in Mitchell. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

MITCHELL  Taneeza Islams nonprofit organization represents unaccompanied children as young as 5 years old in immigration court.

In March, she learned that the federal government canceled the anti-human-trafficking grant that pays groups like hers to represent kids facing deportation. Her organization, South Dakota Voices for Peace, lost about $325,000.

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Islam intends to keep working with the underage clients that Voices for Peace has now, but the loss of grant funding across a nationwide network of nonprofits means fewer clients will have representation.

Now children have to show up in court without a lawyer and defend themselves, Islam said Monday evening during a Dakota Wesleyan University McGovern Center forum on immigration.

Since the start of the second Trump administration, she said, the U.S. has lost its way on immigration enforcement. Instead of prioritizing those with criminal records, lslam said it feels like every undocumented person is now a target.

From left, Taneeza Islam of South Dakota Voices for Peace and John Hakari of Dakota Wesleyan University participate in a forum about immigration on April 7, 2025, at DWU in Mitchell. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

When there are policies that target children, to me that is a moral issue.

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Islam was one of four panelists at the forum. The others were Ben Ready, the southeast region director for U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune; Mary Hogan, a community relations officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and John Hakari, a former immigration attorney whos now a professor at Dakota Wesleyan.

The morality of the Trump administrations enforcement priorities dominated the public commentary portion of the forum.

Some referenced other immigration actions they found shocking. Two talked about a video of a Tufts University postdoctoral student apprehended by ICE officers late last month.

One referenced a recent video of former South Dakota governor and now-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem standing outside a holding cell filled with shirtless, deported Venezuelans held in an El Salvador prison. The audience member compared ICE officers to Gestapo officers in Nazi Germany.

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Hogan, however, in both her prepared remarks and in her responses to those inquiries, urged the audience to separate their feelings on enforcement actions from their feelings about the officers carrying them out.

The Nazi comparisons are baseless, she said. Hitlers Germany wrote laws to target Jews and enforced them brutally.

ICE officers in the U.S., Hogan said, enforce laws that have been on the books for decades as part of an immigration system whose gears turn at different speeds from administration to administration.

While the tempo of what were doing is probably more increased than the last administration, the laws are not different, Hogan said.

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The immigration actions now drawing criticism reflect the preference of the American people, according to Ready, the regional director for Sen. Thune.

When President Trump ran for office, he talked a lot about a very specific immigration policy, Ready said. And he won.

Thunes office in Sioux Falls has a staff member who does nothing but field immigration inquiries from constituents and people seeking help understanding the system.

Thunes position on immigration reform has two planks, Ready said: a big wall to protect the southern border and a big gate for legal immigration.

In Congress, he said, any reform proposal without a wall to appease conservatives is dead. The same would be true, he said, for any compromise without a path to citizenship  a must for Democrats.

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Its unfortunate, Ready said, that those who want real reform face the same roadblocks year after year.

Everyone seems to have dug in their heels even more, he said.

Mary Hogan of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement speaks at a forum about immigration on April 7, 2025, at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Immigration is one of the most complex areas of the law, according to Hakari, the former immigration attorney, and one that hasnt seen significant reform since the Ronald Reagan administration offered amnesty to around 3 million undocumented people.

The paths to legal status are narrow, and he said it breaks my heart when people with the right to it miss their chance to stay because they misunderstood the law or made a minor misstep.

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He suggested bringing back a provision in immigration law that allows a person whose only infraction is overstaying a visa a chance to pay a fine and gain entry.

Bring back that provision, he suggested, then, jack up the fine, and use the fine to pay for the wall.

Like Hogan, he said the officers and lawyers in the system dont bear the responsibility for the legal framework under which they operate, or for how theyre expected to apply the law. As an attorney, he said, he saw how a change in presidential administration would lead to a change in his interactions with ICE lawyers. The same lawyers who may have agreed to deadline extensions under one president would hold firm on deadlines under another.

He encouraged those concerned about the current administrations approach to donate to organizations like Islams.

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If a 5-year-old kid is removable by ICE, its their job to attempt to remove them, Hakari said. You can debate about whether that makes them the good guy or a bad guy. The good guy, definitely, though, is the person who sits at the table in immigration court with the 5-year-old.

After the forum, Islam told South Dakota Searchlight that her group has an ethical obligation to continue to represent the 60 underage clients it has, in spite of the March 21 cancellation of the legal aid grant.

She and others affiliated with the umbrella grantee, Acacia Legal Services, have gotten mixed messages about whether the grant money could return.

The five-year grant was authorized by Congress, and the fourth years awards were meant to be released at the end of March, just days after the cancellation.

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In the absence of certainty, Islam said, Im operating as though we wont have that.

Video of an April 7, 2025, panel discussion about immigration hosted by the Dakota Wesleyan University McGovern Center in Mitchell. (Courtesy of DWU)
A drone photo taken on April 8, 2025 shows a view of a container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin. North China's Tianjin Port handled over 5.71 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in the first quarter of 2025, up 5.6 percent year on year. The port saw its cargo throughput reach 119 million tonnes during the period, up 1.4 percent year on year. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

A drone photo taken on April 8, 2025 shows containers at a container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin. North China's Tianjin Port handled over 5.71 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in the first quarter of 2025, up 5.6 percent year on year. The port saw its cargo throughput reach 119 million tonnes during the period, up 1.4 percent year on year. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

Trucks carrying containers are pictured at a container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin, April 8, 2025. North China's Tianjin Port handled over 5.71 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in the first quarter of 2025, up 5.6 percent year on year. The port saw its cargo throughput reach 119 million tonnes during the period, up 1.4 percent year on year. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

A drone photo taken on April 8, 2025 shows a cargo ship docking at a container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin. North China's Tianjin Port handled over 5.71 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in the first quarter of 2025, up 5.6 percent year on year. The port saw its cargo throughput reach 119 million tonnes during the period, up 1.4 percent year on year. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

A drone photo taken on April 8, 2025 shows cargo ships at a container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin. North China's Tianjin Port handled over 5.71 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in the first quarter of 2025, up 5.6 percent year on year. The port saw its cargo throughput reach 119 million tonnes during the period, up 1.4 percent year on year. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

Workers check a piece of equipment at a container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin, April 8, 2025. North China's Tianjin Port handled over 5.71 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in the first quarter of 2025, up 5.6 percent year on year. The port saw its cargo throughput reach 119 million tonnes during the period, up 1.4 percent year on year. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)
Gray whales are dying in large numbers, again.

At least 70 whales have perished since the start of the year in the shallow, protected lagoons of Mexico's Baja California peninsula where the animals have congregated for eons to calf, nurse and breed, said Steven Swartz, a marine scientist who has studied gray whales since 1977. And only five mother-calf pairs were identified in Laguna San Ignacio, where most of the wintering whales tend to congregate, Swartz said.

That's the lowest number of mother-calf pairs ever observed in the lagoon, according to annual reports from Gray Whale Research in Mexico, an international team of researchers  co-founded by Swartz  that has been observing gray whales in Laguna San Ignacio since the late 1970s.

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The whales are now headed north. In just the last two weeks, three gray whales have died in San Francisco Bay, one of which was described by veterinarians and pathologists at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito as skinny and malnutritioned. Evaluations on the two other deaths are still being conducted.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, who has led the Los Angeles chapter of the American Cetacean Societys gray whale census at Rancho Palos Verdes since 1979, said the number of whales she and her volunteers have observed migrating north this spring and swimming south this past winter is the lowest on record.

"We didn't see a single southbound calf, which has never happened in 40 years," she said.

Schulman-Janiger and other researchers aren't sure why the whales are dying, although she and others believe it could be from lack of food based on the depleted conditions in which some of the whales have been found.

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Eastern North Pacific gray whales cruise the Pacific coastline every year as they migrate 6,000 miles north from the Baja peninsula to their summer feeding grounds in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. There, the leviathans gorge themselves on small crustaceans and amphipods that live in the muddy sediment of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas, before they head back south to loll, cavort and mingle in balmy Mexican waters.

The animals migrate through a gantlet of perils as they navigate some of the world's most heavily shipped regions, maneuver through discarded fishing lines and gear, dodge pods of killer whales waiting to tear apart defenseless calves, and swim through waters polluted with microplastics, toxic chemicals and poisonous algae.

Most of the time, the bulk of them make the journey just fine.

But in 2019, large numbers of the whales began to die.

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Starting that spring, biologists at the Laguna San Ignacio research station recorded roughly 80 dead whales in Mexican waters, and just 41 mother-calf pairs in the lagoon. They also noticed  using photographs and drone imagery  that roughly a quarter of the animals were "skinny."

"You can see it in photographs," said Schulman-Janiger, who described skinny whales as looking like they had necks because a thick fat pad that typically covers the area behind the skull is gone. "And you can see their scapulae," she said, referring to the animals' shoulder blades.

"You shouldn't see a whale's shoulder blades," she said.

Then, as the hungry whales migrated north in 2019, large numbers began stranding on the beaches of California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. By the end of that year, researchers had documented 216 dead whales on the beaches and near shore waters of the North American Pacific coastline.

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A federal investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration into what is known as an unexplained mortality event was launched in 2019. The investigation allowed for scientists across multiple disciplines and institutions to gather and share knowledge to determine the cause of the die-off.

The cause of the deaths was never definitively established, and the investigation was closed in 2023 as the number of strandings fell into a range considered normal. Many researchers concluded a change in Arctic and sub-Arctic food availability (via massive changes in climate) was the driving factor. Their assessment was supported by the observations of malnutrition and skinniness in the whales and similar events and observations in other Arctic animals, including birds, seals, crabs and fish.

They also noticed that many of the whales had started feeding in areas  such as San Francisco Bay and the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors  where such behaviors had never before been seen.

In the last two weeks, several gray whales have been observed in San Francisco Bay, including a near record high of nine on a single day. Reports of feeding behaviors had also been made, including off the city of Pacifica.

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Asked whether the researchers at NOAA are noting these concerning observations and anticipating the possibility of another die-off, Michael Milstein, an agency spokesman, said the number of strandings along the Pacific coast is still low  just seven in California and one in Washington. The annual average is about 35.

He said it was too early in the whales' northward journey to know for sure.

John Calambokidis, senior research biologist and co-founder of the Cascadia Research Collective, a marine mammal research center based in Olympia, Wash., agreed with Milstein: "We are just entering our main period of strandings (April to June) so a little early to draw any conclusions."

And despite Schulman-Janiger's concerns, she too said it is early  and that La Nina ocean conditions may be partly to blame for the low number of animals observed thus far.

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She said reports from Mexico indicate many gray whales migrated farther south than they typically do, and have been seen swimming around the Gulf of California  off the coasts of Loreto, Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.

Gray whales swim from Alaska to Baja California, where they mate and give birth. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

She said that is good news if the low counts are due to the whales just being late. But worrisome if already food-stressed whales are having to tack on an additional 800 miles to their journey.

"It's a very weird year for gray whales, and a concerning year given their body condition, the strandings and the very low calf estimates," she said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
CANFIELD, Ohio (WKBN)  Get ready to head back to Rydell High as the Canfield players bring the beloved musical Grease to the stage this week.

Read next: Destroy them before they hatch in Ohio

The musical features a group of teenagers against the backdrop of 1950s rock and roll. The musical was made especially popular by the 1978 film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. It tells the story of Sandy, a goody two shoes, and Danny, a charming greaser, who had a summer romance that gets complicated once school starts.

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The all-student cast has been working for weeks to get everything ready and say its the show you know and love but there are definitely some new things.

Its also bittersweet for the two leads who are seniors and graduating this year.

A lot of new songs added; theres a lot of kind of different storytelling, in a way. I mean, its still the same old movie, you know, but just in a new form, said senior Aubrey Vernon, who plays Sandy. Weve all been working really hard, as well as our crew and our pit.

Just like in the musical, many of the students have been performing together since the beginning of high school.

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Its a good group of guys. Weve all kind of grown up together, and so many of us could take on so many different roles because we all are the kind of leaders in our own right, said senior Topher Drombetta, who plays Danny. But every character has some depth that was never seen before. Its just great to be up there with my guys, but to continue to have that bond that we have with each other is just something so special.

If you were born to hand jive, the show is not to be missed.

Grease opens Thursday, April 10, and runs through Sunday, April 13. Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows are at 7 p.m., and Sunday is a 2:30 p.m. matinee. The show is at Canfield High Schools auditorium, located at 100 Cardinal Drive.

Tickets are sold at the door by cash or check only. You can follow the Canfield Players on Facebook.

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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Apr. 7Several Great Bend residents traveled to Wichita and Topeka on Saturday for "Hands Off!" protests.

Pam Martin, with Women for Kansas  Barton County, reports, "It was a good weekend for democracy, with protests throughout the U.S., supporting federal workers, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, National Parks, veterans, etc. Some of us participated in the Wichita and Topeka protests, raising our voices against those who want to install an oligarch-led autocracy."

She later posted photos on social media showing some of the signs she liked, as well as a crowd shot. She wrote, "All those people helped block the wind! In spite of the cold, windy weather, KSN estimated the crowd size at 1,400 for the Hands Off protest today in Wichita."

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Statements on signs included: "Things you don't privatize: Social Security, The Post Office, Weather Service" and "I will not go quietly back to the 1950s."

Janice Walker, Great Bend, said she was with a group that went to Wichita. "Over a thousand of us were chanting, 'This is what democracy looks like!' There are estimates on Facebook that up to 5 million people nationwide came out that day."

Women for Kansas has a meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, April 13, at the Front Door community center, 1615 10th St. For the first hour, Great Bend will be on the Virtual Chapter Zoom with Dr. Gretchen Eick, who will present "Ukraine, Past and Future. " For more information email w4kgreatbend@gmail.com.
CHICAGO  As an ice sheet thousands of feet thick began its final crawling retreat from North America to the Arctic toward the end of the last glacial period some 10,000 years ago, it left behind the planets largest freshwater system. At least thats what scientists have long believed about the formation of the Great Lakes.

But a recent study suggests that the timeline actually stretches further back  beyond the evolution of early humans and past the age of dinosaurs  to 200 to 300 million years ago when a hot spot, or plume of hot material, from underneath Earths crust created a low point that the glaciers would finish carving out and filling with water much later.

Most of upper North America was covered by glaciation. But why, in this particular area, (are there) these Great Lakes? said Aibing Li, a seismologist at the University of Houston who co-authored the study, which was published in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters in December. Well see this surface feature, and we usually just consider thats just some very shallow process. It could have, actually, some deeper source, a deeper origin. Its not just like, randomly, on the surface, you have something special. Anything that happened in that area must have some reason.

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The continents, as they are today, didnt exist all those hundreds of millions of years ago until the supercontinent Pangaea broke. As North America shifted away, the site of the modern-day Great Lakes passed over the Cape Verde hot spot, Li found.

When ocean hot spots interact with the planets surface, it usually results in volcano chains like in Hawaii. But when these hot spots are located within a continent, the impact is more difficult for scientists to detect through the rigid, thick outermost layer of Earth.

So, Li wasnt really expecting to find what she did. As they used a model to study seismic movements in the countrys northeast, her team noticed that earthquake waves under the crust there traveled at different velocities, horizontally and vertically.

We actually were puzzled, at the beginning, with what we saw, she said.

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Upon closer inspection, they realized the plate movements indicated that the hot spot  now under an African island nation of the same name located in the central Atlantic Ocean  had sat for a long time right below what would later become the eastern part of the lakes, specifically lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario.

Li explained that as hot, buoyant material from a hot spot plume rises under a continent, it finds resistance from the thick outer layer.

Itll lift, push upward, Li said. It tries to escape.

Since the last major ice age started 2.7 million years ago and until it ended about 12,000 years ago, the Laurentide Ice Sheet in North America expanded and melted between several millennia of cold and warm periods. This allowed the glacier to finish shaping the massive bodies of water.

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Maureen Long, a seismologist and professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Yale University, said the study contributes to scientific discussion about how natural geographical features can be affected by processes deep below.

It is a hypothesis that still needs to be tested, but it really does illuminate the connection between what happens in the deep Earth and what we see at the surface, Long said. And whether or not this particular hypothesis turns out to be right, that connection  is very real, so this is a really important line of research.

Long, an expert in mantle dynamics in the northeast United States, also believes like Li that there has to be a reason for the Great Lakes to be located where they are.

(Its) very simple physics. If you fill something with water, the water is going to go to the low point, Long said. The more recent glaciation formed the actual lakes and filled them  that part is relatively well understood. The part that were still puzzling over is, why was there sort of this low point there in the first place that then got carved out by the glaciers?

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While Li plans to soon find out if lakes Michigan and Superior couldve also been created in the same way as their eastern counterparts, she hopes the study encourages more scientific research into the formation of inland water bodies besides the Great Lakes.

When you have a new idea, its not easy (for it) to be accepted, Li said. But I think this can stimulate some more discussions. And science always evolves.

Long said the study illustrates the concept of geologic time, which humans dont often think of as they go about their day-to-day lives on timescales of minutes and hours.

The features that we see, mountains or lakes or rivers, those features get shaped over millions to tens of millions to hundreds of millions to billions of years. Its amazing to think about, Long said. The Earth is 4.6 billion years old  thats a lot of time. And we see a snapshot of what the Earth is today, but over that long history and that long timescale, a lot has changed.

____
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a proclamation Monday afternoon that the special election to fill the seat vacated following the death of Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, for the rest of his term will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 4, concurrent with Election Day.

But Democrats are arguing he is trying to keep the seat open as long as possible because of Republicans' slim majority in the House.

Republicans have 220 seats to Democrats' 213, and the special election would most likely install a new Democrat in the seat, given the district's Democratic lean, cutting back on the GOP majority.

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In a statement, Abbott blamed Harris County, where the district is located, for election administration issues, saying that is why he had to schedule the election for November.

PHOTO: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference at the Texas State Capitol, June 8, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

"Forcing Harris County to rush this special election on weeks' notice would harm the interests of voters. The appropriate time to hold this election is November, which will give Harris County sufficient time to prepare for such an important election," Abbott wrote.

Abbott gave that reasoning in a recent local interview as well, telling local station KXAN on Thursday that the county will "need to have adequate time to operate a fair and accurate election, not a crazy election like what they conducted in the past."

MORE: Johnson again relying on Trump to bring GOP holdouts in line on budget plan

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State audits found that Harris County had issues with administering elections in 2021 and 2022, according to Votebeat. Those issues included not properly training election workers and not issuing enough ballot paper at various places. But the county has also been a target for unfounded theories or allegations about elections.

However, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth noted in a statement on Friday that the county has successfully run eight elections since election administration duties were given to the Harris County Clerk's Office in September 2023 and said the county is prepared to run the special election.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said on Monday afternoon that an announcement is "forthcoming" on litigation over filling the seat.

"The Republicans are on the run on the economy  and they're on the run legislatively, which is why Gov. Abbott is conspiring with House Republicans to rig the system and not call a special election," Jeffries said at a news conference in the U.S. Capitol.

PHOTO: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries talks to reporters, April 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

MORE: 'Proud to be a team player,' Stefanik says after Trump pulls UN nomination

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In a later statement on Monday after Abbott announced the date, Jeffries said House Democrats are still considering legal action. The Texas Democratic Party has also threatened to file a lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Abbott's office, when asked on Monday by ABC News about the governor's response to Democratic allegations about margins in the House and the allegation that Abbott is following President Donald Trump's or Republicans' direction, pointed to Abbott's comments from the local news interview, without elaborating.

The spokesperson did not address how Abbott might respond to any litigation.

Abbott's announcement means the congressional seat will be vacant for about eight months since Turner's passing in March, if the new date holds.

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Sawyer Hackett, a Democratic strategist who works for various Texas Democratic clients, told ABC News on Monday that the seat vacancy comes "at a time when people absolutely need their congressional representation" as the Trump administration implements sweeping tariffs and cuts to the federal government.

PHOTO: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries talks to reporters, April 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

From a legal standpoint, however, Texas state law appears to give the governor wide latitude to choose when to set special elections.

Joshua Blank, the research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, Austin, told ABC News on Tuesday that the amount of time the seat will remain vacant in this case is much longer than previous occurrences in 2018 and 2021, when Abbott also called special elections to fill vacancies.

But Blank pointed out that Abbott, a former state attorney general and state Supreme Court justice, is likely sure he is on solid legal ground: "Gov. Abbott doesn't seek out lawsuits against him. He was a sophisticated legal operator before he became a sophisticated politician and a sophisticated governor, and that really suffuses his politics and his approach."

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Chad Wilbanks, a Republican strategist and former Texas GOP executive director, told ABC News on Friday, "The governor is the sole authority of calling the special election for when he wants."

"Democrats at the state and federal level support boys playing in girls sports, they support open borders and drags shows in public libraries," he added, referring to LGBT and immigration issues. "There is no urgency because of their policies that Texans oppose."

Texas governor under fire after pushing special election to November originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The owner of Gristedes said hed lend a supermarket to City Hall to test one liberal candidates Soviet-style plan for government-run grocery stores  if hell pay for shoplifting losses.

John Catsimatidis, the billionaire mogul behind the Gristedes and DAgostino food chains, pledged he would be helpful after Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani unveiled a plan to create a network of city-run supermarkets.

Gristedes CEO John Catsimatidis will give Zohran Mamdani one of his stores to try out his municipal grocery experiment. Stefan Jeremiah for New York Post

Zohran Mamdanis plan for city-owned grocery stores would cost about $60 million to build. James Messerschmidt

If they want to try an experiment, I will be helpful  as long as the city makes up the shortfall for shoplifting, Catsimatidis told The Post.

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Will they allow people to shoplift? What will the policy on shoplifting be? I just want to know, said Catsimatidis, who has previously grabbed headlines for encouraging his in-store staff to tackle shoplifters to hold them until police arrive.

Mamdani, who is currently polling second behind frontrunner Andrew Cuomo ahead of the June Democratic Party primary, has said hed launch city-owned grocery stores to drive down grocery prices for New Yorkers.

These stores will operate without profit motive, or having to pay property taxes or rent, and will pass those savings onto you, Mamdani, who is now serving in the state Assembly, said in a TikTok video.

It could help the city feed the hungry. Theres a deal to be made. Well help make it happen, Catsimatidis said, though he will not be voting for Mamdani for mayor Stefan Jeremiah for New York Post

If they want to try an experiment, I will be helpful  as long as the city makes up the shortfall for shoplifting, Catsimatidis told The Post. John Roca

His plan, which calls for one store in each borough, would cost an estimated $60 million.

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It has drawn condemnation from local grocery owners such as Jason Ferraira, a board member of the National Supermarket Association, who said it would create Soviet markets where customers would have limited selection for items like bread and milk.

Catsimatidis, an ally and insider of President Trump, was open to the idea of negotiating with the unabashedly liberal candidate if he were to end up in City Hall.

It could help the city feed the hungry. Theres a deal to be made. Well help make it happen, Catsimatidis said, though he will not be voting for Mamdani for mayor.

Mamdanis team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Here are this mornings top stories with KELOLAND On the Go.

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For the third time in a little over a year, a Sioux Falls man is back in jail charged with robbery. 20-year-old Peyton LeClaire is accused of attacking a woman outside a downtown grocery store on Sunday morning.

Man arrested 3 times in 13 months for robbery

A hiker lost his bearings on the French Creek Trail Sunday evening and called for help. Custer County Search and Rescue happened to have two members on the other end of the trail.

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Hiker rescued in Custer State Park Sunday night

That story starts changing today as south winds increase and temperatures rise. Sioux Falls should be near 57 late this afternoon.

Milder weather ahead for KELOLAND

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GROVE CITY, Ohio (WCMH)  A man who became unresponsive while having a procedure at a Grove City dental office in February died of natural causes, according to the Franklin County Coroners Office.

Michael Beesler, 61, died of anoxic brain injury due to sudden prolonged cardiac arrest and complications of hypertensive cardiovascular disease, according to a coroners report, which is dated April 3. Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation was also listed as a significant condition.

The coroners report listed the manner of death as natural.

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Woman charged in theft of Columbus Division of Fire equipment, including transport van

According to an incident summary, Grove City police responded to a 911 call on Feb. 13 at Grove City Dental on Gantz Road. Officers arrived before Jackson Township medics and found Beesler unresponsive while Dr. Scott Schumann was administering CPR. He was taken to a hospital and died three days later.

During the procedure, Beesler was sedated for multiple fillings, extractions, a root canal, deep cleaning and upper dentures.

We remain shocked and saddened by this matter, Schumann said in a statement released last month to NBC4. Federal laws prevent us from discussing the details of this matter and so I am not able to comment further at this time. We are cooperating fully with authorities and agencies. We remain committed to providing our patients with the quality and personalized dental care theyve come to expect from us. That is why we follow strict safety regulations and protocols for everyone in our care.

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NBC4 has reached out for an updated statement.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO)  Hussain Adbul, who owns Amolka Coffee House, 753 Highgrove Place at Perryville Crossings, said he had a desire to share his Yemeni culture with the Rockford community while connecting to a growing Arab population in the Forest City.

I have noticed recently that there is people moving here from other cities, such as Chicago, that find that the values for the Arab community in this area has been expanding. You know, Im from the area and kind of witnessing and seeing it in person. Every year, were constantly seeing growth, Abdul said.

Mustafa Abdall, President of the Greater Rockford Arab Chamber of Commerce, said there are more Arab-American owned-businesses coming soon, like the recently announced Donut Disturb bakery, or the grocery store and townhouse development behind Forest Plaza, on South Mulford Road.

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I can tell you that we have 300 to 500 families moving to Rockford. All of them are doctors and business owners because of the safe, safe and welcoming community. It is a very successful example, how Rockford forges a very unique, diverse city, Abdall said.

With Arab-American Heritage Month in full swing, the Arab Chamber says it wants to reach out and showcase its culture.

I feel like my community [doesnt] know a lot about Arab culture. They might see these protests going around, and they just see like, maybe thats the only things that stick to their mind about my community, unfortunately, Abdul said. But theres a lot more interest in my community here. If somebody were to try to put time to tour, learn something new, when you see them coming back, you know that you do something right because theyre coming back for that same drink. And I just feel like, I feel like I did something right. You know, its not often you feel like you do stuff right in life, you know? But this is one of those moments in my life. I feel like I did something right.

The Arab Chamber is also hosting the first ever Arab Heritage Festival on April 26th, at 2510 S. Alpine Road, with food trucks, dancing, and live music.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  As threats of deportation affect students and families across the country, theres a growing concern among the UNLV community.

On Friday, the university announced via an email sent to the campus community that the visas of four international students had been revoked by federal immigration authorities.



Aubrey Maples, Esq., a staff attorney at University Legal Services at UNLV, said deportations and terminated visas are rare, but still a concern among the rebel community. For the past few months, UNLVs Immigration Clinic has seen a high demand for service requests and support from students and their families as the Trump Administration cracks down on visa holders in the United States.



This is absolutely unprecedented, Maples said. Since November, we have seen a nearly 300% increase for request in services.



The UNLV Immigration Clinic helps students and their families stabilize their immigration status so they can focus solely on their studies. The program offers free immigration legal services, including DACA assistance to current students, faculty and staff, and their families.



I have seen an increase in requests for just general knowledge from both people who are students who are affected directly by their immigration status and by the general community who wish to support their neighbors, Maples said.



While the future seems uncertain for many, Maples said its important for students and their families to prepare and plan ahead.



Yes, the house is on fire right now. The house is on fire, its probably not going to be put out anytime soon, but there are things that you can do to help you and your family be safe, Maples said.



The clinic also helps students navigate immigration laws and processes. They encourage students to have a family safety plan, complete with important records and documentation should the unimaginable happen.



Students are under a lot of stress, Maples said. These recent changes by the administration are only escalating that stress and escalating the instability of these students making it more difficult to graduate.



The Immigration Clinic is booked through June as they continue to keep up with the demand for services.



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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
SOUTH CHINA SEA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A Philippine Coast Guard vessel that repeatedly harassed a China Coast Guard ship patrolling waters near Huangyan Dao has been driven away from the area.

The Philippine ship made multiple dangerous maneuvers on Sunday and Monday, crossing close to the bow of the Chinese vessel in an apparent act of provocation, according to coast guard authorities, who said the Philippine side had seriously disrupted China's law enforcement operations.

The China Coast Guard responded promptly and professionally, the authorities added, vowing efforts to resolutely counter any infringement and provocation by Philippine vessels to safeguard China's sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.

On Sunday morning, Chinese vessel Chuanshan was monitoring Philippine coast guard ship 4409 near Huangyan Dao in accordance with the law. Without prior warning, the Philippine vessel suddenly reversed course and crossed Chuanshan's bow.

Ignoring a verbal warning, the Philippine vessel crossed Chuanshan's bow twice more, coming as close as 2 meters to the Chinese ship.

In response to this provocation, Chuanshan accelerated and maneuvered to intercept the Philippine vessel's route, forcing it to reverse and retreat.

On Monday morning, the Philippine ship was ultimately repelled from the area, after it once again harassed Chuanshan. 
The state Capitol. (Photo by Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)

 Heated state lawmakers grill juvenile justice director over disturbing reports about Bon Air youth prison. WTVR

 Fairfax County School Board member Kyle McDaniel sued for $525,000 by flight school. WUSA

 How one Virginia Beach doctor helps senior citizens navigate cannabis use.  WHRO

 USDA uproots local fresh foods pipeline for Virginia schools, food banks.  VPM News

 Gun fires while inside the backpack of third grader at Spotsylvania school.  Richmond Times-Dispatch

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Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala's X account was hacked on April 8, leading to the publication of false posts including a claim that Russian troops had attacked Czech forces near Russia's Kaliningrad exclave.

"The post about the attack on Czech soldiers is not true," government spokesperson Lucie Michut Jesatkova told Reuters.

Kaliningrad, a heavily militarized Russian territory wedged between NATO members Poland and Lithuania, does not share a border with Czechia, which lies further southwest in Central Europe.

A map of the Baltic Sea Region. (Lisa Kukharska/The Kyiv Independent)

The false post appeared designed to stoke panic or provoke confusion amid heightened tensions between NATO and Russia.

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Czechia has been one of Ukraine's strongest backers since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Prague has supplied military aid, including tanks and artillery, accepted hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees, and consistently supported EU and NATO sanctions against Moscow.

The cyberattack comes as Western intelligence agencies warn of Russia's efforts to sow disinformation, destabilize European democracies, and prepare for potential military escalation within the next five years.

Read also: As peace talks stumble, can Ukraine hold the line against Russias spring offensive?

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A strong hailstorm hit Russia's third-largest wheat-producing region of Stavropol, damaging grain crops, a local governor said on Tuesday, as extreme weather swept across Russia in early April, bringing snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures.

The Stavropol region accounted for about 8% of Russia's 82.6 million-metric-ton wheat harvest in 2024, when crops were hit by bad weather from early spring frosts to severe drought in many grain-producing regions.

Analysts are closely watching the weather fluctuations and events like frosts, cold spells, and hailstorms to adjust their estimates for this year's harvest in the world's biggest wheat exporter.

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"The crops were damaged, and specialists are currently assessing the extent. We will determine further steps based on the results," Governor Vladimir Vladimirov wrote in his Telegram messenger channel.

Heavy snowstorms hit many regions of European Russia after an unusually mild winter this week, with snow cover expected to reach 20 centimetres (9 inches) in Moscow on April 9. Snowfalls were observed in Crimea and the Krasnodar regions.

The Local Ministry of Emergencies in Krasnodar, Russia's biggest grain-producing region, where temperatures rose to above 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) in March, warned that frosts and sub-zero temperatures were on their way this week.

POTENTIAL FROST DAMAGE

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"Due to frost on the soil surface, there is an increased risk of damage and loss to agricultural crops, including the flowers and fruit sets of stone and pome fruits, as well as warm-loving plants," the regional ministry said.

The agriculture ministry's analytical centre said on Tuesday that after an unusually warm winter, the overall crop loss rate did not exceed 3% across the country despite reports late last year that at least 37% of winter crops were in poor condition.

The agriculture ministry's official said that snow and rain compensated for the lack of moisture in the soil last year, creating better conditions for the crops in the weeks to come and stabilizing the situation.

"There is virtually no recorded loss, and the plants are developing normally, so overall the situation is stable," Deputy Agriculture Minister Andrei Razin was quoted by the Russian media as saying.

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However, the ministry warned on April 7 that if the harvest in 2025 is lower than forecasted, it is prepared to implement "non-tariff measures," a euphemism for export restrictions.

Most analysts are still expecting the Russian grain harvest to be at about 130 million tons, excluding crops from territories in Eastern Ukraine under Russian control, provided there was no major impact from bad weather.

However, Russia's Grain Union lobby group, often critical of the Agriculture Ministry's policies, estimated the potential for this year's harvest at 125 million tons, the same level as last year, excluding new territories.

"In the event of maximum risks, such as a severe drought like the one experienced in 2010, the decline in volume could increase by up to 30% from this level," the Grain Union's head Arkady Zlochevsky said.

(Writing by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
HALLSBURG, Texas (FOX 44)  The Hallsburg Independent School District superintendent is stepping down from his position after his arrest on suspicion of Public Intoxication last February.

The district says Dr. Douglas Marvin was arrested in the City of West for this Class C Misdemeanor on February 2. Dr. Marvins doctor determined his perceived intoxication resulted from the convergence of several psychological factors which contributed to an unexpected, adverse reaction with prescribed medication. His doctor cleared him to return to his position as superintendent without reservations.

While the Hallsburg ISD Board believes Dr. Marvins medical information is a private matter, they realize this incident received widespread attention. In the best interest of all parties involved, the Board and Dr. Marvin reached an agreement this week permitting him to pursue other opportunities while allowing the Board to begin the process of hiring a new superintendent.

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The Board expressed its sincere appreciation to Dr. Marvin for his efforts while serving as superintendent. Dr. Marvin thanked everyone for providing him with the opportunity to serve in this position.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44.
A third person in the remote California town of Mammoth Lakes has died of hantavirus, an infection spread by contact with rodents or their urine or feces. Dr. William Schaffner discusses how the disease is easily spread and how to protect yourself from infection.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A few weeks after historic levels of rainfall and snowmelt led to flooding in Southern Oregons Harney County and the Burns Paiute Reservation, officials warned residents on Monday of renewed flooding expected to strike the area.

As of 3 p.m. Monday, Harney County Sheriffs Office said floodwaters continued to recede over the weekend, with properties around North Broadway Avenue becoming accessible again while other neighborhoods in Eastern Burns near the Silvies River are still experiencing standing water.

Because of additional snowmelt, forecasts show the Silvies River is expected to reach flood stage on Tuesday, the Sheriffs Office said, warning residents to remain alert and prepared for potential evacuation orders  even in areas where water has receded.

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Small plane skids off runway into water at North Bend airport, 5 hospitalized

When the flooding began on March 17, the onslaught of rainfall and snowmelt overwhelmed rivers, streams and wastewater systems, according to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management.

With river levels expected to rise, emergency managers are resuming sandbag operations on Monday to ensure availability for residents at the City of Hines Public Works.

According to the Sheriffs Office, drinking water in the City of Burns is safe as public work crews address the citys sewer system, which remains impacted by flooding.

Multnomah County Board members unveil plan to put county in drivers seat of economy

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Health officials are continuing to highlight serious health risks associated with floodwaters, which comes after the Sheriffs Office warned community members to avoid floodwater after E. Coli was detected.

The Harney County Sheriffs Office also highlighted efforts to reinforce the Dike D levee  which runs from Foley Drive to Silvies River  are expected to be completed Monday thanks to a partnership between the Army Corps of Engineers and local contractors.

Tuesdays anticipated flooding comes after Oregon Governor Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency for the area on April 1 because of overflowing waterways, which damaged homes and businesses and created obstacles for emergency services to reach people in need.

As reported by The Associated Press April 3, more than 1,200 people were under the highest level of evacuation orders and 18 people were in shelters for displaced residents. According to AP, about 7,400 people live in Harney County.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Girls private school Harpeth Hall in Green Hills was placed on lockdown Tuesday morning.

A bomb threat against the school on Hobbs Road was called in to Metros Emergency Communications Center just before 11 a.m.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Metro officers responded to the school and searched the campus. Investigators determined the threat was not real and classes resumed as normal.

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No additional information was immediately released.

 Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go.

 Sign up for WKRN email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox.

 Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee.

This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
HARPURSVILLE, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH)  The Harpursville Central School District notified families on Monday that an employee was terminated due to an ongoing criminal investigation.

Superintendent Heath Georgia sent out a letter to Harpursville parents stating the district was notified by law enforcement that an employee was arrested and is facing serious criminal charges. Georgia says the district is limited in what it can share due to the ongoing investigation as well as privacy considerations.

Georgia also shared that after receiving this information, immediate action was taken, and the individual is no longer employed by the Harpursville Central School District.

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Law enforcement has not indicated that the charges involve any activity that occurred on school grounds or involved students.

Georgia says the district is cooperating with authorities. He says the well-being of students, staff, and community members remains the districts highest priority.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WIVT - News 34.
China's research icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, berths at a base dock in Shanghai, east China, April 8, 2025. China's research icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday, marking the completion of key missions in the country's 41st Antarctic expedition, according to a press conference held on Tuesday. The expedition involves 516 members from 118 domestic and international institutions and is being carried out by three vessels. The cargo ship Yong Sheng returned to China in January, while the research icebreaker Xuelong 2 remains on mission in the Ross Sea and is expected to return to Shanghai in June. Xuelong completed a 159-day journey covering over 27,000 nautical miles, from its departure from Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on Nov. 1, 2024, to its arrival on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)

SHANGHAI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's research icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday, marking the completion of key missions in the country's 41st Antarctic expedition, according to a press conference held on Tuesday.

The expedition involves 516 members from 118 domestic and international institutions and is being carried out by three vessels. The cargo ship Yong Sheng returned to China in January, while the research icebreaker Xuelong 2 remains on mission in the Ross Sea and is expected to return to Shanghai in June, according to Long Wei, an official with the State Oceanic Administration.

Xuelong completed a 159-day journey covering over 27,000 nautical miles, from its departure from Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on Nov. 1, 2024, to its arrival on Tuesday.

The polar expedition achieved breakthroughs in areas such as technological and methodological innovation, large-scale application of domestically developed equipment, and international collaboration. It is expected to bolster research on rapid changes in Antarctica and contribute to effective responses to global climate change.

Wang Jinhui, leader of the expedition team, said that the mission primarily focused on establishing a clean energy system, incorporating wind, solar and hydrogen power as well as energy storage facilities at China's Qinling research station in Antarctica. He added that the team also achieved significant outcomes, including the collection of data on ice sheets and penguin habitats, through investigation, monitoring, and scientific research.

China has involved multiple countries in its ongoing oceanic survey in the Ross Sea and continues to engage in various international research and collaboration projects, according to Wang. 

Members of China's 41st Antarctic expedition team disembark from the country's research icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, at a base dock in Shanghai, east China, April 8, 2025. China's research icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday, marking the completion of key missions in the country's 41st Antarctic expedition, according to a press conference held on Tuesday.

The expedition involves 516 members from 118 domestic and international institutions and is being carried out by three vessels. The cargo ship Yong Sheng returned to China in January, while the research icebreaker Xuelong 2 remains on mission in the Ross Sea and is expected to return to Shanghai in June.

Xuelong completed a 159-day journey covering over 27,000 nautical miles, from its departure from Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on Nov. 1, 2024, to its arrival on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)

China's research icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, berths at a base dock in Shanghai, east China, April 8, 2025. China's research icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday, marking the completion of key missions in the country's 41st Antarctic expedition, according to a press conference held on Tuesday.

The expedition involves 516 members from 118 domestic and international institutions and is being carried out by three vessels. The cargo ship Yong Sheng returned to China in January, while the research icebreaker Xuelong 2 remains on mission in the Ross Sea and is expected to return to Shanghai in June.

Xuelong completed a 159-day journey covering over 27,000 nautical miles, from its departure from Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on Nov. 1, 2024, to its arrival on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)

People greet China's research icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, at a base dock in Shanghai, east China, April 8, 2025. China's research icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday, marking the completion of key missions in the country's 41st Antarctic expedition, according to a press conference held on Tuesday.

The expedition involves 516 members from 118 domestic and international institutions and is being carried out by three vessels. The cargo ship Yong Sheng returned to China in January, while the research icebreaker Xuelong 2 remains on mission in the Ross Sea and is expected to return to Shanghai in June.

Xuelong completed a 159-day journey covering over 27,000 nautical miles, from its departure from Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on Nov. 1, 2024, to its arrival on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)
The student visas of five individuals currently attending or recently graduated from Harvard University have been revoked, according to Harvard.

It's one of more than a dozen higher education institutions that is actively tracking and reporting the number of affiliated people who have been targeted by President Donald Trump's administration in recent weeks.

These incidents are part of what appears to be mass targeting of international students by Trump's administration over alleged violations of their visa or green card conditions, ranging from minor legal infractions to participating in demonstrations. In other cases, the reason for the revocation is unknown or has not been provided by the administration.

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Since the beginning of Trump's second term, the State Department has revoked over 300 student visas nationwide, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on March 27.

Based on non-exhaustive tallies provided by the respective HEIs, here are some of the colleges and universities that have been impacted.

PHOTO: A person runs past Elliot House at Harvard University, March 17, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

MORE: What we know about the foreign college students targeted for deportation

Arizona State University: 8

Arizona State University has reported at least eight students impacted by the Trump administration's recent spate of student visa revocations.

Central Michigan University: 4

Four current and former students at Central Michigan University have had their visas revoked, according to the school.

Colorado State University: 6

Colorado State University reported six impacted students.

Harvard University: 5

Harvard reported that three students and two recent graduates had their student visas revoked.

Kent State University: 3

Kent has reported three individuals affected by student visa revocations to date.

PHOTO: Solidarity Protests With Columbia University Spread To Boston-Area Schools (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

MORE: Trump administration reviewing alleged antisemitism at Harvard University

Minnesota State University: 5

Five students enrolled at Minnesota State University have reportedly been impacted.

North Carolina State: 2

Two international students from North Carolina State had their student visas revoked, the school stated.

Ohio State University: 5

Ohio State reported five individuals impacted by the recent crackdown.

Stanford University: 6

Stanford has said that four current students and two recent grads have had their student visas revoked.

University of California system: Unknown

Although an estimate has not yet been provided, the University of California system of schools has stated that its campuses -- including the University of California Los Angeles, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UC Irvine -- have been impacted.

University of Cincinnati: Unknown

The University of Cincinnati has reported a "small number" of impacted international students.

University of Colorado: 2

The University of Colorado reports two students who have been affected in recent weeks.

University of Kentucky: Unknown

The University of Kentucky has shared that a "small number" of its student body has been impacted.

University of Massachusetts Amherst: 5

UMass Amherst reported that five of its students have recently had their visas revoked.

University of Michigan: 4

U-M reported that four of its international students have been impacted in recent weeks.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas: 4

Four students at UNLV have been impacted by the recent emphasis on student visa revocations, according to the school.

University of Oregon: 1

A student enrolled at the University of Oregon was also affected, according to the school.

Harvard, UCLA, Stanford among schools across US reporting student visa revocations originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
STAR-ADVERTISER FILE PHOTO Hawaii Convention Center STAR-ADVERTISER FILE PHOTO Hawaii Convention Center Hawai i Tourism Authority board Chair Todd Apo told the HTA Administrative and Audit Standing Committee on Monday that he did not see an abuse of discretion  regarding Hawai i Convention Center discounts received by two nonprofits affiliated with the previous HTA board chair, Mufi Hannemann, and recommended putting the matter to bed.

The committee was expected to take action on issues raised in the fiscal year 2024 HTA Independent Financial Audit, which was presented at HTA board meetings on March 25 and 27 and led Hannemann to resign his position as board chair, though he remains on the board. State Auditor Leslie H. Kondo, who was expected to speak at the committee meeting, did not show up.

The financial audit of HTAs fiscal year 2024 by Accuity LLP, a firm contracted by the state auditors office, determined that there were procedural deficiencies that allowed for free food and rent for events at the convention center, but did not issue a finding of fraud.

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The main audit document did not name the events in question, but they were the Hawai i Lodging &Tourism Associations public-safety conference, which was held at the convention center on Dec. 6, 2023, and a meeting of the Pacific Century Fellows, which was held May 15 in an HTA boardroom at the convention center.

The two organizations were not originally billed by the convention center as the events were reserved under HTAs space form, and food and beverage costs for events on those forms are later reconciled with HTA. However, HLTA and PCF were presented with a bill for nearly $14, 000 prior to the March 27 HTA board meeting.

Apo told HTAs Administrative Audit and Standing Committee, I believe the CEO had the authority and discretion to identify HTA events and use the HTA request form in order to do those which happened here. I understand that there can be a difference of opinion as to whether these two events should have been HTA events, but I dont see an abuse of discretion in what was done in deciding to use these forms. Therefore, two entities were not charged.

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Hannemann said he resigned as board chair to avoid distractions and to focus on repairing damage to the reputations of HLTA and PCF. He said that he did not ask for special use and that the meetings were approved by HTA staff leadership and charged in accordance with the normal HTA and center practices.

He said Monday in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, I would like to thank the Hawai i Tourism Authority Chair Todd Apo for correcting the record and clarifying the unfortunate chain of events regarding the use of the Convention Center. I am especially pleased that his recent statement clears me and the two nonprofits, the HLTA and Pacific Century Fellows, of wrongdoing. The integrity of these non-profit organizationsone of which has raised millions of dollars for Hawaiis charities and the other a premier leadership mentoring programshould have never had their reputations damaged or impugned.

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Daniel Naho opi i, who resigned as interim HTA president and CEO effective March 21, told the Star-Advertiser that he invited PCF to the convention center and had administrative staff fill out an HTA space request.

Naho opi i said he did not make a request for the HLTA event, which fell under destination stewardship. However, he said that both events qualified as HTA activities based on past practices.

They were typical of many other events that we had done,  Naho opi i said. Weve had many requests. This is not unusual.

Apo noted that since the audit report, HTA has made changes to how it reserves convention center space and is working to determine whether adopting additional policy or procedures is warranted.

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To me this should put to bed the questions of these two events that we were dealing with at Tuesdays and Thursdays special and regular board meetings,  he said. Id really like us to be able to focus on correcting going forward, learning from what happened, and to move on.

The HTA board has not taken a vote related to the issues, nor have members of the HTA Administrative and Audit Standing Committee. Not all details about the procedural deficiencies that allowed for free food and rent for events at the convention center have been addressed, nor have all of the billing issues been resolved.

Hannemann said the organizations were surprised to receive a bill over 10 months after the last event given that there were numerous indications that the two events were being co-sponsored by HTA or even comped by the center.

HTA board Member Stephanie Iona, who previously managed Koloa Ballrooms, Hemmeter Corp. events and many hotel operations for large conventions, said she is among the board members who requested that a full list of discounted and comped events be shared and compared with what was submitted to the auditor.

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Iona said based on her past experiences, final paperwork should include key information such as the date, time of the event, number of guests, menu and services along with the payment requirement and a customer signature agreeing to the services.

No services are provided without payments. But should a concession be provided after the services, any balance is sent with a bill for payment,  she said. If not paid, delinquent notices, etc., are followed up, leading to harsher measures of collection if needed.

Since receiving invoices, HLTA and PCF have sent money to the center. However, both organizations are asking for a clarification of the costs, which they say are inconsistent with the number of attendees and their recollection of the food and beverages that were served.

State Business, Economic Development and Tourism Director James Kunane Tokioka, who is a voting member of the HTA board, told the Star-Advertiser that to his knowledge no additional organizations have been billed.

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Apo told the Star-Advertiser after the committee meeting that he was satisfied the issues raised by the financial audit were examined and that corrective action has been taken.

Whether anything else comes up in regard to these transactions, we will address them if that happens,  he said.I thank Mufi for having stepped out of the chair position so that we could get this look and understanding of the situation objectively, and appreciate the patience of the two organizations, who do really good things for our state.

While Mondays meeting was about moving on, it stopped short of full resolution, leaving some questioning the thoroughness of the HTA boards inquiry. It also left others questioning whether the call-out was targeted since only the HLTA and the PCF were released as examples, and Naho opi i said other organizations received similar discounts. To be sure, there have been many public instances of board infighting, especially between Hannemann and Tokioka, who is also a voting member of the board.

HTA board member Mahi na Paishon said at the committee meeting, I remain concerned on how this will unfold in terms of possible perception in the way that HTA is handling communications. The possible perception (is ) that perhaps there could be concerns of possible defamation or things of that nature and possible targeting of certain individuals, whether it be at the staff level or the board level.

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Tokioka told the committee that he was ready to move on, though he had previously been among the most critical HTA board members who were reviewing the allegations against Hannemann that were brought forward during the audit by HTA Vice President of Finance Isaac Choy.

I agree with Chair Apos assessment of all of this, and obviously, I was one of the vocal people in the last two meetings. I think the best thing for us to do now is to move forward,  Tokioka said during the committee meeting. I think that we can all agree that it should not have happened and we should have had better safeguards in place, and thats on HTA. Weve fixed that and weve moved forward.

Tokioka added, Im sure that the auditor is going to be watching this or hearing about this, and Im sure he will respond to what Chair Apo said, and thats his prerogative.

HTA board member David Arakawa questioned Apos recommendation during the committee meeting and expressed concerns about lingering issues.

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I take issue with the chair making a finding that there was no abuse of discretion. I think the audit speaks for itself,  Arakawa said. If thats our position, that there was no abuse of discretion, then we should formally challenge the audit.

Following the audit discussion, the committee also went into executive session for an agenda item listed as Discussion, Evaluation, and Action Relating to the Resignation of Interim President &CEO Daniel Naho opi i and the Proposed Interim President &CEO, Chief Administrative Officer, Caroline Anderson.

After the lengthy closed-door meeting, John Cole, state deputy attorney general, said there were a motion and a second on a recommendation for an interim HTA president and CEO but that the motion did not pass, so no action was taken. Even if the committee had voted to support a new interim president and CEO, the full HTA board would have had to approve its recommendation.

Anderson has been serving as HTA interim president and CEO since Naho opi is departure.
Attorney Laurie Tochiki joins producer/host Coralie Chun Matayoshi to discuss the Malama Ohana Working Groups recommendations to the Legislature to improve the child welfare system, and how we can and must do a better job in supporting families and preventing child abuse and deaths.

Laurie Tochiki is an attorney, mediator, consultant, and principal of Pilina Pathways. She previously served as Executive Director of Epic Ohana (a non-profit organization serving families in the child welfare system) and Associate Dean for Student Services at the William S. Richardson School of Law. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents and Co-Chaired the Malama Ohana Working Group, established by the legislature in 2023 to recommend improvements to the child welfare system.

In the last fiscal year (July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024), five Hawaii children including Ariel Kalua, Geanna Gradley, Sarai Perez and Azaeliyah Pili-Ah You have tragically died due to abuse and neglect at the hands of their parents, relatives or legal guardians. All but one were known to the Child Welfare Services (CWS).

Q. First, what is Child Welfare Service and when do they get involved?

The child welfare system is broad and ill-defined. Child Welfare Services (CWS) is an agency, not a system. In Hawaii, CWS is the branch of the Department of Human Services (DHS) responsible for the protection, care, and permanency of abused and neglected children. The broader child welfare system includes CWS, family courts, the Department of the Attorney General, law enforcement officers, and nonprofit service providers. It intersects with the education system, criminal justice system, healthcare systems, crisis response systems, and many other systems. In all our community meetings and working group meetings, we emphasized that our hope is for shared kuleana in the child welfare system for our families and children. In this report, child welfare system refers to the broader system, while CWS refers to the state agency. Malama Ohana Working Group Report, December 2024.

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These are all such sad situations, and it is the responsibility of all of us to keep children safe. Government and the Family Court steps in to protect children when the actions of parents are deemed to be unsafe. CWS is a branch of the DHS with offices on every island. Government becomes involved when there is harm or threat of harm either because of abuse or neglect  most cases that CWS handles are neglect rather than abuse.

Q. How does CWS find out about problems?

Hotline: (808) 832-5300

There is a mandatory reporting requirement for teachers, doctors, military, etc. and failure to report can result in criminal liability

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Anyone who is concerned about something they see should make a report. For those who are not mandatory reporters, reports can be made confidentially.

If the report requires an investigation, then an investigator will go out to the home to investigate.

Q. What if a child is harmed or in imminent danger of being harmed? Can they be removed from their home?

Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 587A  children are removed when children are harmed or are in danger of imminent harm. Police will remove or assist CWS with the removal. If CWS is doing an investigation without the police there, the parent does not have to let the investigator in, but if they dont cooperate and CWS is concerned about the safety of the children then they can call the police, and the police have the right to remove without notice or a court order. No prior notice is required because police are using their police power at that point. Most are neglect cases but there are cases of physical, sexual or psychological harm. Most cases involve substance use disorder, domestic violence and/or mental health issues. Poverty is also a factor that makes families unstable. Children should not be removed if the only problem is that the family is houseless but securing a safe and stable place for the children is a factor in reunification.

Q. What did the Malama Ohana Working Group recommend to the Legislature?

Transforming Hawaiis child welfare system requires deep, systemic change across three levels:

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 Commitment, values, and mindset: The foundations of our work

 Policies, laws, and resources: The fundamental structures that govern our system

 Practice and relationships: How we work with and support families and system partners

This transformation must rest on three foundational elements:

A system grounded in traditional Hawaiian values

A trauma-informed and culturally responsive approach

Excellent workforce, sustainable funding and modern data systems

Recommendation 1: Address Historical Trauma and Persistent Disproportionality

System Critique: State and social services systems, particularly those involving CWS, lack adequate awareness of historical contributors to current situations and appropriate trauma informed responses to both historical and present trauma.

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Full Recommendation: Acknowledge and address historical and present conditions and barriers that perpetuate the overrepresentation of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island people in categories of need or distress.

Path Forward:

 Ground child welfare work in the values and culture of Hawaii.

 Incorporate traditional Hawaiian practices into the system.

 Support collaborative innovation with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander organizations.

 Provide comprehensive cultural competency training.

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 Improve outcomes for all families through culturally responsive approaches.

Recommendation 2: Build Family Resilience

System Critique: Hawaii has a shortage of resources dedicated to prevention, especially primary prevention and universal supports. Many struggling individuals are unaware of available services or how to access them.

Full Recommendation: Prioritize thriving families above all other commitments by providing universal family supports aimed at ensuring a stable foundation and opportunities for growth.

Path Forward:

 Shift our mindset and value to prioritize mandatory supporting.

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 Create accessible pathways to concrete supports like food and shelter.

 Establish community-based resource centers (Ka Piko) staffed by individuals with lived experience.

 Meet families basic needs for housing, childcare, and physical and mental healthcare.

 Expand Family First Hawaii services.

Recommendation 3: Provide Comprehensive Specialized Support Services

System Critique: Seeking help for substance use disorders, mental health issues, domestic violence, and even basic supports feels too risky due to mistrust of systems and fear of CWS involvement. The process of accessing these services is often overly complicated.

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Full Recommendation: Provide accessible, trauma-responsive, specialized supports and interventions outside the child welfare system for parents facing intense challenges.

Path Forward:

 Create accessible pathways to services that minimize the risk of family separation when parents are facing challenges or crises such as: severe poverty, substance use disorders, domestic violence, serious mental and physical health conditions.

 Enhance CWS workers abilities to properly understand and address these issues and support families with a trauma-responsive and culturally informed approach.

Recommendation 4: Develop a Trauma-Informed System

System Critique: Families involved with CWS find it challenging to navigate the complicated system and related services. The experience often feels adversarial, confusing, secretive, and isolating for both children and parents, causing further trauma.

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Full Recommendation: When CWS intervenes in a family, ensure that the intervention is respectful and supportive, minimizes trauma, and does not create more harm than the original issue they hoped to address.

Path Forward:

 Create a comprehensive trauma-informed culture throughout CWS.

 Build expertise in trauma-informed care and cultural competence throughout the child welfare system from front-line staff to top leaders, including in CWS, courts, and service providers.

 Transform policies and procedures to prioritize family support and communications.

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 Address secondary trauma among helping professionals.

Recommendation 5: Build Excellence Through Accountability

System Critique: The child welfare system and related systems are not user-friendly for staff or families, lack sufficient accountability measures, and suffer from fragmentation and isolation between different components.

Full Recommendation: Ensure that systems, services, processes, and procedures are coordinated, accountable, and efficient with robust oversight, adequate funding, appropriate staffing, and high operational standards.

Path Forward:

 Improve core CWS processes, staffing, training, supervision, data systems, and technology.

 Ensure a commitment to excellence from the legislature, the Governor and Lt. Governor, and the DHS Director.

 Prioritize supporting the child welfare system through the Departments of the Attorney General, Accounting and General Services, and Human Resources Development office.

 Maximize state and federal resources and eliminate waste.

 Establish independent oversight mechanisms, such as an independent ombudsperson, Child Advocate, or grievance office.

 Create robust advocacy systems for children, parents, and families.

Q. What bills recommended by the Working Group are still alive at the Legislature?

There were more than 15 bills introduced relating to various aspects of the Malama Ohana report. Bills ranged from training for domestic violence and trauma informed care, a pilot project to test some of the ideas for community based prevention and community collaboration, the definition of child abuse and neglect, and a bill that would work to develop a program where children in child welfare cases would have an attorney representing them. A few bills await either final committee, or possible conference committee decisions. Eliminating poverty from the definition of abuse and neglect was scheduled for a final committee hearing on April 3. The pilot project was passed by the finance committee and will not head to conference. Trauma informed care training is still working through the legislature with a decision from the Senate Ways & Means Committee. We are grateful for the support of Representative Lisa Marten and Senator San Buenaventura. The Legislature is very concerned about the negative effect of federal executive orders on child welfare funding. Senator San Buenaventura has scheduled another information briefing on the issues on April 9.

The working group is not able to address the legislature because sunshine law prohibits members of the group from discussing the issues outside public meetings, and the group itself completed its work when the report was published. Therefore, co-chair Venus Rosete Medeiros and I, as well as other individual members of the working group, and community members who were very active in the working group process, have been testifying as individuals.

Q. Could the 5 recent child abuse deaths have been prevented? Most of these children were known to CWS and some had come through the foster system. Werent there red flags that should have been prioritized for intervention?

Ariel Kalua (6 years old)  was in foster care then got adopted by foster parents who are accused of starving and abusing her. Known to CWS. Geanna Bradley (10 years old)  foster parents and grandmother accused of starving and physically abusing her. Known to CWS. Azaeliyah Pili-Ah You (11 years old)  was in foster care then got adopted by foster parents, mother accused of beating her and father is under investigation. Known to CWS. Sarai Perez-Rivera (3 years old)  biological mother and her girlfriend accused of starving and beating her. Grandmother reported suspected abuse to CWS. 3 year old boy- no prior reports to CWS.

To some extent, tragedies like these might be avoided with a child welfare services agency that is well trained, adequately staffed, and where accountability processes are in place. Many of our recommendations address the culture of CWS, and the imperative need for training, staffing and accountability. For instance, there are requirements for regular face-to-face visits with children and resource caregivers. But if staff members are so stretched that they have to address crisis after crisis, they cannot keep up. Our report suggests that solutions need to address root causes of the many concerns raised. There are no simple solutions. There are many administrative barriers for nonprofit organizations working with CWS as well including contract delays, late payments, and contracts that do not cover the cost of the work performed. There are some bills that are still alive in the Legislature to address this, as supported by a coalition of nonprofit organizations called the True Cost Coalition. And we do not have a good process for addressing grievances and concerns. So, the heart breaking stories of family members who begged for help but did not receive it are not adequately addressed. We also do not have a good process for death reviews. But even with these interventions, there will still be situations we do not address in time, people who disappear from the safety net of school, medical care, or community.

The tragedy of those deaths at the hands of who were entrusted with the children after CWS involvement does put a light on many places where CWS practice needs improvement. But I want to end this segment with an emphasis that our community meetings and interviews and conversations included many stories of individual heroes. Social workers who go above and beyond and continue to work in excruciatingly difficult situations. Foster parents who year after year open their hearts and homes to children and become loving forever family. Birth parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles who keep showing up and are doing the best they can to protect their children. So much more could be done with prevention. Families want help and they need specialized services. It is our kuleana that all children in Hawaii can be safe and healthy.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  Voters in the Haysville and Mulvane school districts weighed in on multi-million dollar bond proposals during Tuesdays election.

In Haysville, USD 261s $80 million bond issue for infrastructure improvements  including roof repairs, HVAC systems, parking lots, and interior finishes  has passed. Election officials say there are not enough outstanding mail-in ballots to change the outcome.

In Mulvane, USD 263 had two bond questions on the ballot.

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Question 1 , a $50 million proposal for infrastructure and safety improvements at Munson Primary, Mulvane Grade School, Mulvane High School, and Mulvane Middle School, remains too close to call. As of Monday, only two votes separated the yes and no totals, and there are still mail-in ballots that could affect the result.



Question 2, a $9 million proposal to build a new early childhood education center, has failed. Officials say that there are not enough mail-in ballots remaining to change the final outcome.

Here are Tuesdays final unofficial results :

USD 261

Yes  1,345

No  455

USD 263

Proposition 1: Yes  670 No  672

Proposition 2: Yes  563 No  781



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On Monday, Haysville saw 32 early in-person voters. Of the 425 ballots sent out in the mail, 213 were returned. Mulvane saw 11 early in-person voters, and of their 178 ballots that were sent out in the mail, 105 were returned.

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.

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Officials are reporting a surge in yellow fever mortality throughout South America.

What's happening?

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that severe cases of yellow fever have a case fatality rate of up to 60%, most severe cases of yellow fever have a case fatality rate of about 39%, according to a study shared by Vax-Before-Travel, a website published by international publisher Precision Vax LLC.

However, an active yellow fever outbreak in Colombia has resulted in 19 deaths among 40 cases, representing a case fatality rate of 47%, the Pan American Health Organization reported. Across South America, there was a case fatality rate of 49% between the last months of 2024 and the first weeks of 2025, PAHO reported, per Vax-Before-Travel.

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According to PAHO, one factor contributing to this increased mortality is the expanded geography of yellow fever-transmitting mosquitoes. When these mosquitoes infiltrate new areas, local health officials are unprepared to diagnose and treat yellow fever infection before it worsens, Vax-Before-Travel explained.

"A single case of yellow fever can constitute an outbreak, as it can spread rapidly," Jairo Mendez Rico, regional advisor for viral diseases at PAHO's department of health emergencies, said in a statement translated by Vax-Before-Travel. "Therefore, one of the ways this disease is monitored is by observing how it behaves in nature. When non-human primates begin to become infected and die, this alerts us to the activity and potential spread of the virus, and allows us to anticipate epidemics in humans."

Why is this data important?

As the planet continues to overheat, the populations of disease-spreading mosquitoes increase, as they benefit from warmer, wetter conditions for breeding and survival. For instance, one recent study found that the populations of several mosquito species are set to expand their ranges in North and South America in the coming years thanks to warmer temperatures.

We are already seeing the fallout from such trends. For instance, the World Mosquito Program called 2024 the "worst year for dengue cases on record."

What's being done about yellow fever?

The CDC recommends the yellow fever vaccine for people who are traveling to or living in areas at risk for yellow fever virus in Africa and South America.

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Meanwhile, scientists are looking for ways to help reduce the populations of disease-spreading mosquitoes. For instance, officials in one Florida county are using X-rays to kill invasive mosquitoes there, and a team of scientists is developing genetically engineered mosquito-killing fungi delivered from males to females during mating.

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.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Calvin University is hosting a panel with several political experts as questions mount about the future of American democracy, the school says.

The panel, titled Trump 2.0: Charting the Political Landscape Post-2024, is scheduled for Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the Meeter Center Lecture Hall. The event is open to the public.

The panel includes an international relations expert, a constitutional law expert, a federal and state relations expert and political parties expert Professor Emeritus of Politics Doug Koopman, Ph.D.

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We think that covers the range of issues that are in front of people today as they try to make sense of the news, Koopman told News 8.

Stocks quake after Trump threatens to escalate trade war

He said his department organized the event after hearing questions and concerns from students and the broader community.

Koopman, an expert on political parties and Congress, noted that Trump is challenging some long-standing assumptions about the Americans role in the world.

Trump, Netanyahu nix White House press conference

Hes really challenging everything all of the time. Weve had these challenges before, weve had presidents come in who try to reorder some major pieces, Koopman said. Were likely to go through it well, but there will be a lot of tension and adjustment for some time.

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He added that the panel will also aim to provide historical context.

Were pretty resilient, weve gotten through a lot of difficulties before, he said.

For the full conversation with Professor Emeritus of Politics Doug Koopman, watch the video in the player above.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
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?
PANAMA CITY  U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will call into the next gathering of countries meeting to support Ukraines self-defense, days after some U.S. and European officials were doubting that he would attend at all, according to a U.S. and a European defense official.

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group is a summit of 50 countries that have met for the last three years to coordinate military aid for Kyiv.

Lloyd Austin, Hegseths predecessor, founded the group shortly after Russias 2022 invasion and chaired 25 meetings during the Biden administration. Since then, its raised more than $126 billion in security aid for Ukraine, around half of which has come from America.

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Hegseth, like the Trump administration as a whole, has made arming Ukraine a lower priority while in office. He went to the groups last meeting in February, but allowed Britain to chair it, the first time a U.S. secretary ceded that role.

While there, he urged Europe to take control of its own self-defense while previewing a less active role for America in protecting the continent.

The upcoming meeting will occur Friday in Brussels, chaired by Britain and Germany. European and American officials wondered whether Hegseth would join in the weeks prior, with some last week indicating he might skip it.

Even joining via teleconference is better than passing altogether, multiple European officials said. Still, they would have preferred him to attend in person and broadly remain unsure of Americas commitment to supporting Ukraine and European defense as a whole.

Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the head of European Command, will join the summit in person, though he will do so in his NATO role as Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Gen Curtis Buzzard, the head of a separate security assistance group for Ukraine, will also attend.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is talking up American efforts to work with Panama to safeguard its canal from Chinese influence, a major departure from President Donald Trumps threats to take the critical waterway.

Together with Panama in the lead, we will keep the canal secure and available for all nations through the deterrent power of the strongest, most effective and most lethal fighting force in the world, Hegseth said at a press conference Tuesday while on a visit to the country.

Hegseths new tune comes after some major changes the Trump administration has heralded. The country announced plans to leave Chinas Belt and Road Initiative in February. And in March, the Hong Kong company operating two crucial ports along the canal said it would sell its stakes to an investment group led by BlackRock, an American company.

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Throughout his speech, Hegseth hammered home a message that looked very different from Trumps threats to the country. China, Hegseth stressed, is the aggressor. And the U.S. is building on its military and security partnership with Panama to reflect that.

China did not build this canal, Hegseth said. China does not operate this canal and China will not weaponize this canal.

For months, Trump spoke of bringing the canal back into American control. The U.S. constructed the canal and then ceded it back to Panama following the signing of two treaties under President Jimmy Carter.

He escalated the threats in December, charging that U.S. vessels were being forced to pay exorbitant rates to pass through the waterway and lashing out at perceived Chinese control. Along the way, Trump sparred with Panamas president, Jose Raul Mulino, and refused to rule out force in reacquiring the canal.

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Above all, China is operating the Panama Canal, Trump said at his inaugural address in January. And we didnt give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and were taking it back.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also visited the country as one of his first official acts. But Panama distancing itself from Beijing seems to have pleased the Trump administration.

The White House did not immediately provide comment on whether Hegseths messaging reflected a change in the administrations strategy around the canal.

Together we will take back the Panama Canal from Chinas influence and we will do this along with other capable, like-minded allies and partners, Hegseth said Tuesday. This is what peace through strength looks like.
KENTUCKY (FOX 56)  Kentucky started 2025 with severe weather, leaving many people picking up the pieces, and spring hasnt been any kinder.

People were still applying for assistance after the February storms when torrential rainfall and tornadic winds hit again in April. Some people were hit twice; some, only once, but Kentuckians who escaped mostly unscathed might be looking for a way to help.

LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS:

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The first round of storms took over 20 Kentuckians lives, and Aprils death toll is at 4 confirmed deaths, with thousands of homes and businesses left to pick up the pieces after the two storms.

Four days of severe storms have brought devastation to communities across the commonwealth, said Gov. Andy Beshear. I want to thank all of our first responders and volunteers, both locally and from out of state, who have dedicated time to help our people. While the threat of severe storms has ended, several rivers and creeks remain at or above flood stage, and roadways remain underwater in several areas. So we need folks to remain cautious.

Where to donate

The Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) is an Appalachian-based nonprofit that supports communities across 13 states in the Appalachian region. The nonprofit is working to provide food, water, and emergency supplies to those impacted by the flooding as cold weather rolls in.

In addition, CAP is taking monetary donations to help families in need of lifesaving relief. Those interested in donating can visit christianapp.org.

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Latest central Kentucky weather forecast

The nonprofit is also urging those in need of cleanup to utilize the Crisis CleanUp platform. Flood victims will never be charged, asked for a deposit, or payment through the platform or any of the participating organizations.

CAP is also looking for volunteers to help with cleanup and mucking out flooded homes. To volunteer, email volunteermanagement@chrisapp.org.

The Franklin County Flood Relief Fund is accepting monetary donations and volunteers to help Franklin County recover after the spring 2025 storms.

The fund is non-endowed, and contributions will help organizations responding to the storms.

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Our hearts are with our neighbors in Frankfort and across Franklin County as they recover from devastating flooding in April 2025. Your contribution will support the organizations responding to the urgent needs in this community. We are stronger together. Thank you for considering a donation to the Franklin County Flood Relief Fund, reads the Franklin County Flood Relief Fund website.

LATEST KENTUCKY LISTS AND RANKINGS:

To learn more about the fund, donate, or volunteer, visit the Franklin County Flood Relief Fund webpage.

Beshear established the Team Kentucky Storm Relief Fund to help those impacted by the floods and the severe weather. All donations are tax-deductible, and donors receive a receipt for tax purposes.

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Beshear said the first use of this fund is to pay for funerals so families dont have to wait for reimbursement.

Kentucky flood map shows where water is rising to dangerous levels

This fund is fully transparent and is subject to open records and legislative oversight. There are no administrative fees, so every dollar helps Kentuckians affected by this historic flooding and severe weather, reads the fund website.

Donations can be made online or by mail by check made out to the Kentucky State Treasurer. In the memo line note, the donation is for the Team Kentucky Storm Relief Fund. Send the check to Public Protection Cabinet, 500 Mero Street, 218 NC, Frankfort, KY 40601.

Protecting yourself from scams, price gouging

The Better Business Bureau recommends verifying charities at Give.org and never clicking on links to charities on unfamiliar websites or in strange emails or text messages.

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Kentuckys price gouging laws have been implemented, protecting residents from overpriced goods and services in the cleanup process. Suspected

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SHENYANG, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Loaded with 20 tonnes of locally-produced ice cream, two refrigerated trucks bearing TIR signs on Monday departed from an international road transport assembly center in Shenyang, the capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The shipment will exit China via the Bakti port in Xinjiang, traverse Kazakhstan and arrive in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, in around 8 to 10 days.

This marks the official launch of Shenyang's first TIR cross-border road transport route connecting China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, a new route that expands the assembly center's existing China-Russia transport network.

TIR, an abbreviation for Transports Internationaux Routiers, or International Road Transport, is an international customs transit system that saves time and cuts costs for transport operators and customs authorities moving goods across borders. Notably, China became a member of the TIR system in 2016.

"This direct route from Shenyang to Tashkent ensures seamless delivery without transshipment," said Han Qingfeng, general manager of the shipping company, adding that monthly operations are planned.

Since its certification by the International Road Transport Union in late 2024, the Shenyang assembly center has handled 50 TIR shipments valued at over 30 million yuan (about 4.16 million U.S. dollars), exporting machinery, auto parts, office supplies and food. 
NEWPORT  Voters approved medical marijuana dispensaries in every Northern Kentucky city where it was on the ballot last fall. But strict state regulations mean the facilities might still be effectively banned in some cities.

That's what elected officials in Newport found out at a public meeting Monday night when they were presented with an updated city map with only four small slivers of land highlighted in green.

Assistant City Manager Brian Steffen said those are the only places that comply with state law and already-existing city zoning where medical marijuana dispensaries could possibly be located  and there aren't many commercial or industrial spaces available in those areas.

There are only four places in the city of Newport where medical marijuana dispensaries could possibly be located.

"It's not advisable to move forward with trying to create local legislation without the ability to create a zone and have a viable location for these businesses to locate. It just really isn't worth the effort," he said.

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Here are the details holding medical marijuana back in the riverside city:

The 1,000-foot rule

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat in a mostly red state, legalized medical marijuana in 2023 when he signed Senate Bill 47 into law. The program launched Jan. 1 with a slew of regulations.

Among them is a requirement that medical marijuana facilities  from growers to dispensaries  be located at least 1,000 feet away from schools and daycares.

With nearly two dozen schools or daycares in Newport's roughly 3.5 square miles, that severely limits where medical marijuana facilities could be located.

With the city's zoning, that leaves only four small areas viable. But those likely wouldn't be practical for medical marijuana uses either, Steffen said.

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The areas either already have tenants in leases or are dangerously close to straddling that 1,000-foot invisible barrier.

Why not Newport on the Levee?

Eagle-eyed residents might point to the map and wonder why Newport on the Levee couldn't be used to facilitate medical marijuana dispensaries.

Steffen said he spoke to management at Newport on the Levee, who told him the facility has its own rules prohibiting its renters from operating dispensaries on premises.

And the city can't force the company to rent space to any particular business.

So what's next in Newport?

The city is essentially shrugging its shoulders for now, but that doesn't mean elected officials are happy with the result.

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"I've heard from a lot of people in our community that were in favor of bringing this forward," Councilman Aaron Sutherland said. "So the map being how it is, we can look at it and tell that it's just not viable at this time. But if it becomes viable, I would like to revisit it."

Sutherland, Councilman Mike Radwanski and Mayor Tom Guidugli Jr. are three of five commissioners who support bringing medical marijuana to the city.

Steffen said that when it comes to marijuana, states that legalize the plant for medical purposes often go on to approve it for recreational purposes within several years.

In nearby Ohio, for instance, medical marijuana was legalized in 2016. Last summer, recreational marijuana became legal to purchase.

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"Rules change. The landscape changes on these things pretty frequently. So we'll be paying attention as time goes on," Steffen said.

So, how can I get my medical marijuana?

The Office of Medical Cannabis website lists two medical practitioners in Campbell County who can issue medical marijuana cards. There are three in Boone County and 11 in Kenton County.

There are five general medical conditions that qualify someone for a medical marijuana card and there's a $25 annual application fee for the card.

For now, there aren't any open medical marijuana dispensaries in Northern Kentucky. So the best bet for getting a prescription filled is by purchasing it in nearby Ohio. Though, you definitely should check out the legal requirements to do so first.

This story was updated to add a video.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why medical marijuana just hit a roadblock in Newport
Apr. 7WAPAKONETA  The Heritage Trails Park District commissioners will meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 15 at the Wapakoneta Chamber of Commerce, 30 E. Auglaize St., Wapakoneta.

The public is welcome to attend.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Monday he plans to assemble a task force and ultimately change the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidance to stop recommending adding fluoride.

His comments came during a press conference in Utah, which just became the first state to ban fluoride from drinking water systems.

The Associated Press was the first to report Kennedy's intended changes to the CDC guidance.

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The CDC currently recommends the use of fluoride to prevent cavities.

MORE: More cities, counties start to remove fluoride from public drinking water

If Kennedy, who has been outspoken in his support for removing fluoride from water, directs the CDC to change its guidance, it could lead to more cities and states removing fluoride from drinking water, a decision that's made on the local level.

"Fluoride should not be in the water," Kennedy said on Monday.

PHOTO: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives before President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

But the CDC's guidance on fluoride is not enforceable, and a ban on fluoride, should it survive legal challenges, would ultimately need to come from the Environmental Protection Agency.

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EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, also in Utah with Kennedy on Monday, announced that the EPA, too, is reviewing "new science" on fluoride. EPA sets the maximum level of fluoride in water.

"We're prepared to act based on the science," Zeldin said at the press conference.

The review by EPA will "inform any potential revisions to EPA's fluoride drinking water standard," a press release said, specifically citing a report from the National Toxicology Program, a government-run division.

The August report found lower IQ in children who had higher levels of fluoride exposure -- about twice the level recommended limit for U.S. drinking water -- and said more research is needed to determine if the small doses recommended in the U.S. cause harm.

PHOTO: Faucet Filling a Water Glass (Newsday Llc/Newsday via Getty Images)

"Many substances are healthy and beneficial when taken in small doses but may cause harm at high doses. More research is needed to better understand if there are health risks associated with low fluoride exposures," the report said.

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The study was also cited in a federal judge's ruling in September that ordered the EPA to take steps to lower the potential risk of fluoride.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said more research was needed to understand if the typical amounts of fluoride in the water in the U.S. were causing lower IQ in kids.

"I think we need to apply the cautionary principle in this country that we should do no harm," Kennedy said Tuesday. "And it clearly is doing harm, and the tradeoff is IQ loss in kids, and we can't afford that in this country. We need all the brain power that we can to handle the challenges of the future."

MORE: Utah becomes 1st state to ban fluoride in public drinking water

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In November, shortly before the election, Kennedy pledged that the Trump administration would advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water on day one. That hasn't happened, but Monday's announcement marks a development toward Kennedy's goal.

Fluoride is a mineral that naturally occurs in water sources like lakes and rivers, and is even naturally present in some foods and beverages, according to the American Dental Association (ADA).

It is added to some dental products, such as toothpaste, to help prevent cavities. When it's added to drinking water, the CDC recommends 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water. Fluoride is added to the drinking water systems in nearly two-thirds of the U.S., according to CDC data.

High-quality studies show fluoride prevents cavities and repairs damage to teeth caused by bacteria in the mouth. Fluoride makes tooth enamel stronger and rebuilds weakened tooth enamel, the ADA says.

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Fluoride also replaces minerals lost from teeth due to acid breakdown, according to the CDC.

Many doctors and dental associations argue that fluoride in water is still a crucial, low-risk and high-reward public health tool, especially for disadvantaged children and adults who may not be able to practice regular dental hygiene. Advocates stress that fluoride in drinking water has greatly improved Americans' oral health since it was first added in the 1950s.

Responding to Kennedy and Zeldin's comments Tuesday, the ADA urged Kennedy and Zeldin to use high-quality research in their decision, saying that fluoride in water "does not negatively impact IQ levels" at U.S.-recommended levels.

"The growing distrust of credible, time-tested, evidence-based science is disheartening. The myths that fluoridated water is harmful and no longer necessary to prevent dental disease is troublesome and reminds me of fictional plots from old movies like Dr. Strangelove," said Brett Kessler, president of the ADA.

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"When government officials, like Secretary Kennedy, stand behind the commentary of misinformation and distrust peer-reviewed research it is injurious to public health."

HHS and EPA looking into changes to nation's fluoride guidance originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
With the official retirement of Tracy Cherry, Schlarman Academy has named a new principal. Katherine Hicks was unanimously recommended for the position by the academys principal search committee. She will begin work on July 1.

Currently serving as a middle school teacher at Holy Cross School in Champaign, Hicks has also worked as a special education aide at Ludlow Grade School in Ludlow. In the secondary education field, she has worked as a STEAM education teacher at Parkland College.

She has also served as a presenter or panelist at regional and national conferences, and she has authored several professional publications.

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Hicks holds a Bachelor of Science degree in history and geography from Illinois State University and a Master of Arts degree from the University of West Georgia.

Beyond the classroom, Hicks has also served as the Education Coordinator with the Orpheum Museum in Champaign, as well as a program manager with the Champaign Park District.

Superintendent of Catholic Schools Jerry Sanderson said throughout Hicks career, she has demonstrated expertise in curriculum development, personnel management, fostering strong relationships with local businesses and community stakeholders, and designing and executing marketing campaigns.

As to how Hicks became interested in the open role at Schlarman, she said it was about answering Gods call on her life, and giving back to her community.

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When called upon by God, I believe it is my responsibility to answer. I view this as an opportunity to give back to the school and community that played a fundamental role in shaping my upbringing, Hicks said. Additionally, I am passionate about leadership and making a meaningful impact.

When she begins work in her new role in July, Hicks said, she intends to focus her energy on learning as much as she can about what Schlarman Academy needs.

My top priority is to gain a deep understanding of the school culture, its families, and staff. At the outset, I will focus on building strong relationships with students, staff, and the wider community, fostering trust and open communication grounded in respect and compassion, she said.

I will prioritize both academic excellence and spiritual development, ensuring that Catholic values are integrated into every aspect of the school day, she said, adding that she will also do all she can to create a safe and inclusive environment where students feel loved and valued.

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One of the challenges of leadership, she said, is maintaining balance between the competing demands of the role  demands such as overseeing academic excellence, supporting students faith and character development, guiding teachers and staff, addressing student needs, promoting community engagement, ensuring safety, and managing administrative duties, to name a few.

Beyond doing all she can to make the school day safe and uplifting for students, Hicks is also dedicated to supporting Schlarman Academys teachers and staff in their professional growth.

I must ensure that all voicesstudents, teachers, parents, and staffare heard and valued while also making difficult decisions. It is my responsibility to provide support and direction in a way that allows the school to flourish, while preserving a healthy, supportive, and faith-filled atmosphere for both staff and students, Hicks said.

Moving forward, Hicks plans to introduce initiatives that promote wellbeing, collaboration, and growth across the school community, as well as enhancing communication channels to ensure everyones voice is heard and introducing recognition programs to celebrate [the] achievements of both students and staff.

The Diocese of Peoria is pleased to welcome Katherine Hicks as the next administrator of the school, where she will guide the spiritual development, academic excellence, and commitment to Christ-like service which have been the hallmark of a Catholic education at Schlarman for generations, Sanderson said.
(COLORADO SPRINGS) A fight that could permanently change the skyline of Colorado Springs appears to be over for the time being. On Monday, April 7, City Council denied an appeal of a project to build a new high-rise downtown, which is clearing the way for the proposed project to move forward.

The building will be located at the corner of Sahwatch and Costilla Streets, about a block away from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum. If built, it would become the highest building in Colorado Springs, standing at twenty-seven stories, which is almost a third higher than the current tallest building, The Wells Fargo Tower, at sixteen stories. Now, many community members are worried the new building will disrupt their mountain views.

I believe this adds to our skyline, to our majestic skyline, said Councilman Randy Helms during Mondays meeting.

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The only person who voted for the appeal was Councilman Dave Donelson.

Lets have change, but lets cap that at the tallest building because we do have such beautiful surroundings, said Donelson.

After hours of community testimony, and allowing all sides to debate, in a six-to-one vote, the Colorado Springs City Council denied the appeal for the One Vela project.

We have elevation sickness, that is a real thing. It affects locals and natives who still get elevation sickness. Now youre throwing in a 315-foot building and an elevator going straight up are these medical things even being brought up, said one concerned community member who spoke at the meeting.

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She was just one of dozens that packed the room on Monday to voice their opposition to the new building.

Our key points have repeatedly been we view our skyline as a community shared value. We believe that citizens have a right to a voice regarding the downtown building heights, said another community member.

Councilman Donelson was the only one on the city council to approve the deal, one of his concerns being that the issue should be on the ballot to allow citizens to decide.

I think its wrong if we think our citizens would put a limit and dont let them vote on it. I think its wrong to do that, said Councilman Donelson.

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He also did not want the current City Council members to make the decision with many of them only in office for another 10 days. After last Tuesdays election, only two current members will remain on the City CouncilDonelson and Nancy Henjum.

I dont think council should do this on the way out, on the way out of the door for this council, said Councilman Donelson.

The vote clearly showed that the current members did not feel the same way. I absolutely disagree with that. Ive been working on this issue for however long weve been working on these kinds of issues, said Councilman Helms.

The new apartment building, One Vela, will add four hundred new homes to help the housing shortage, and according to their website, will add thousands of local jobs and millions in tax revenue for the city.

After weighing all the different values, the different comments, Ive got to tell you I believe this is right for our city, said Councilman Helms.

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One Vela estimates the building will create $26.4 million in local income, $2.9 million in tax and other revenue for local governments, and 306 jobs.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
(KRON)  Authorities investigated a threat of a school shooting made by a student on Monday, said the Windsor Police Department.

The department said a 16-year-old Windsor High School student sent a Snapchat message to someone saying, Im shooting up the school.

Toyota trucks targeted in rash of tailgate thefts: Alameda PD

As a result, police said sheriff deputies assisted in removing the student from class. The student was searched and police said they were not carrying any weapons. However, the student was arrested and booked into the Juvenile Detention Facility for making criminal threats.

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We want to assure the community that there are no current threats or safety concerns for students or staff at Windsor High School, police said on social media. The Windsor Police Department thanks the school staff for their swift response and cooperation during this investigation. Due to the students age, no further information will be released.

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ANDREWS COUNTY, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- A high-speed pursuit that began in Andrews County ended in a crash just south of Hobbs, New Mexico, on Monday evening, according to a press release from the Andrews County Sheriffs Office.

On Monday, April 7, 2025, at approximately 5:05 p.m., deputies received a report of a stolen Ford F-250 traveling northbound on U.S. Highway 385, about five miles south of Andrews. The vehicle was later spotted turning westbound onto State Highway 176.

Deputies attempted a traffic stop, but the driver refused to stop, leading authorities on a high-speed chase exceeding 90 miles per hour. The Andrews County Sheriffs Office was joined in the pursuit by the Andrews Police Department and an Andrews Fire Marshal.

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The chase continued west into New Mexico, where the driver turned north onto New Mexico State Highway 18. Tire deflation devices were deployed during the pursuit, but the suspect kept driving.

Approximately one mile south of Hobbs, the driver swerved and collided with a parked vehicle on the east side of the highway. The stolen truck then struck a nearby building and came to a stop.

Law enforcement removed the driver from the vehicle and secured her in a patrol unit. The suspect was identified as 27-year-old Jasmine Jaramillo.

Both Jaramillo and the occupant of the parked vehicle were transported to a local hospital for treatment. Their conditions have not been disclosed.

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Jaramillo faces multiple charges in Texas, including Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Evading Arrest in a Motor Vehicle, and Reckless Driving. She is currently being held at the Lea County Detention Center in New Mexico, pending extradition.

Additional charges in New Mexico are pending.

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HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT)  Floodwaters have claimed another highway.

The Henderson Emergency Management says US Highway 60 between the Spottsville Bridge and the Henderson-Daviess County line is closed due to high water across the highway.

I-69 Ohio River Crossing shares 2025 construction guide

Officials say only local traffic will be permitted during the closure. The Kentucky National Guard will be on scene to assist with traffic control.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW).
By Akbar Novruz



Azerbaijan and Pakistan have engaged in discussions to advance bilateral economic cooperation and encourage mutual investments.

Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov shared on the "X" platform that during his visit to Pakistan, he met with the countrys Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Muhammad Ishaq Dar.

"Azerbaijan and Pakistan held discussions on issues on the agenda of joint activities in the economic sphere, projects aimed at promoting mutual investments, cooperation in the energy sector and strengthening trade relations," Jabbarov stated.

The talks reflect the growing strategic partnership between the two countries, particularly in sectors such as energy, trade, and industrial development.
SEOUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean foreign ministry on Tuesday strongly protested at Japan's repeated territorial claims to disputed islets, called Dokdo here and Takeshima in Japan.

The protest came after the Japanese government, in its 2025 Diplomatic Bluebook released earlier Tuesday, renewed "unjust claims over Dokdo, which is clearly an integral part of South Korea's territory historically, geographically and by international law," South Korean media reported.

In a statement, the ministry urged Japan to immediately retract such claims, vowing to continue a firm response to any Japanese provocations against Dokdo.

Dokdo is a couple of rocky outcroppings lying halfway between the two countries, which were forcibly incorporated into Imperial Japan during its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea restored sovereignty over the islets after the peninsula's liberation from colonization. Seoul has since maintained a small police detachment there.

South Koreans have seen Japan's territorial claims over the islets as its denial of colonial history. 
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked a damning question of Donald Trumps administration on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday in response to its ongoing attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Clinton hit back at a news report that the National Park Service had removed and reduced references to revered abolitionist Harriet Tubman from a page on its website detailing her Underground Railroad network that assisted the enslaved to freedom. (Following backlash, the page has since been restored to its original state).

The former first lady shared a screenshot of CNNs story about the online alterations, which were first reported by The Washington Post.

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Whats next from this administration, fan videos of Jefferson Davis? asked Clinton, sarcastically referring to how Trumps White House could celebrate the Confederate president.

Whats next from this administration, fan videos of Jefferson Davis? https://t.co/2S3Fcv4s4Mpic.twitter.com/Y49FL6SMb6  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 7, 2025

Clintons remark came as the Trump administration continues to roll back DEI initiatives across federal agencies. Online, the Pentagon has purged (and then restored some) pages detailing the military service of women, people of color and the LGBTQ community. The Trump White House has dubbed DEI programs as illegal and immoral discrimination.

Related...
VESTAL, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH)  Students at Hillel Academy began celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover today with a parade of flags and the traditional Seder meal.

The parade was meant to symbolize the Jews flight from slavery in Egypt, which is the historical event commemorated by Passover. They also sang songs and discussed the symbolic importance of the seven items on the Seder plate, a shank bone, an egg, a vegetable, fruit and nut paste, two types of bitter herbs and Matzah.

Student Jonah Kaminsky says its like celebrating the Seder with an extended family.

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I think its really nice because its a whole Seder in one room and its all organized, said Kaminsky.

The students also discussed the significance of following traditions that have existed for centuries.

Passover begins Saturday at sundown.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WIVT - News 34.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA)  A Hillsborough County schools employee, and former deputy who is accused of attacking a woman during a case of road rage appeared before a judge for the first time Tuesday.

According to investigators, the victims, a mother and her two teenage children, said they were traveling southbound on Bell Shoals Road when they approached a red light at the Fishhawk Boulevard intersection on Sunday afternoon.

Deputies said the mom honked at the driver of the vehicle that the former deputy, Brandon Parker, was in when the driver didnt move when the traffic light turned green. Both cars continued on Fish Hawk Boulevard and the 47-year-old started yelling at the mom.

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Detectives tell 8 On Your Side, that when both vehicles stopped at the intersection of Fish Hawk Boulevard and Mosaic Drive, Parker threw a bottle at the victims head.

The victim sustained a raised contusion and an abrasion from the impact, the sheriffs office said.

On Monday Parker stood before a judge for his first court appearance hearing, charged with Throwing a Deadly Missile at or Into an Occupied Conveyance.

Parkers Attorney argued the charge is too harsh based on the evidence.

Its alleged that Mr. Parker is to have thrown a water bottle, and were not talking about a Stanley, were not talking about a Yeti, were talking about a water bottle, Evian, like a squishy Evian water bottle, in the direction of the vehicle. That is the allegation. Thats what hes accused of. At the end of the day, its just an all allegation at this point in time, said Attorney Anthony Rickman. The statute requires the object to cause great bodily harm or death.

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The sheriffs office said that Parker worked for the sheriffs office from 2003 to 2016.

The former deputy was charged with throwing a deadly missile at or into an occupied conveyance.

This type of violent behavior is absolutely unacceptable, especially from someone who once wore a badge, said Sheriff Chad Chronister. There is no excuse for escalating a traffic dispute into an act that caused injury to an innocent driver. No one is above the law, and we will hold individuals accountable for their actions, regardless of their past or current affiliations.This type of violent behavior is absolutely unacceptable, especially from someone who once wore a badge, said Sheriff Chad Chronister. There is no excuse for escalating a traffic dispute into an act that caused injury to an innocent driver. No one is above the law, and we will hold individuals accountable for their actions, regardless of their past or current affiliations.

Parker is a current employee of Hillsborough County Public Schools.

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According to a district spokesperson, Parker worked in Human Resources as an investigator in the district offices. He is on administrative leave pending board action.

The name of the victim has not been released. The sheriffs office said she is expected to be OK.

The judge set Parkers bond at $3,500 and ordered him not to make any contact with the victim.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
A worker removes bottles of American-made Jack Daniel's whiskey from a shelf at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) Queen's Quay store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. Credit - Christopher Katsarov LunaBloomberg/Getty Images

American whiskey is flying off of the shelves in Canada, although surely not for the reason American whiskey makers would like. In response to President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian imports to the U.S., many Canadians are boycotting American goods, particularly whiskey.

Viral videos show Canadian liquor store employees pushing carts with popular American whiskey brands like Jack Daniels and Makers Mark into the back of stores, instead encouraging consumers to buy Canadian.

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While there are economic and political reasons for targeting whiskey in trying to retaliate against the U.S., there is an additional motive at play. Canadians are trying to damage an American industry that has long sought to position itself as central to the U.S.s history and identity. For example, in 2011 Jack Daniels, the number one selling whiskey in the U.S., launched its As American As advertising campaign. The ads depicted images of classic Americanablue jeans, cowboy hats, and white picket fenceswhile a voiceover claimed: Were the creators of things born of an independent spirit. Other popular American whiskey brands like Bulleit, 1792, and High West proclaim their association with the American frontier and perceived American values like individualism and perseverance.

Yet, despite this imagery, the whiskey industry has been shaped by global forces for close to a century. These forces helped it to grow in the post-World War II period as American cultural influence spread around the globe. Today, it leaves whiskey producers vulnerable to the sorts of boycotts now taking place in Canada.

Read More: Using Tariffs to Try to Turn Canada into American State Backfired in the Past

The history of American whiskey, its rise to global prominence, and its status as a symbol of American identity are rooted in a unique confluence of factors.

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In the early 20th century, prohibition crippled the whiskey industry. Many distillers shuttered and those that survived did so by producing medicinal whiskey or pivoting to other industries. At the end of Prohibition in 1933, whiskey distilling boomed in the U.S. as restrictions against mass production ended. Nonetheless, producers faced an uphill battle. Whiskey retained an association with criminality and drunkennessone that whiskey makers were desperate to break.

World War II again laid the industry low, as distilleries were repurposed to produce industrial alcohol for the war effort. As the war ended, it provided an unexpected boost to American whiskey production, albeit in two indirect ways.

The U.S. emerged as a dominant economic power, which led to rapid expansion of American industry, including whiskey production. Whiskey became a key export that followed the rise of American cultural and economic influence abroad. Additionally, the war introduced many American soldiers to whiskey, and as they returned home, they brought with them a taste for the spirit.

The postwar economic boom, coupled with rising disposable income and the expansion of consumer culture, fueled whiskeys golden age in the 1950s and 1960s. As global markets adjusted to America's economic expansion in this period, whiskey remained a staple of U.S. exports. The Bourbon Institute, a trade society formed in 1958, fought to lower trade restriction on American whiskey abroad, eventually removing almost all trade barriers in Europe.

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The increasing demand for American goods abroad meant that the spirit, once primarily a domestic product, became a key player in international trade in the 1950s and 1960s. The Bourbon Institute framed this growth explicitly in cultural terms. In 1960, its president William J. Marshall, proclaimed, The bourbon industry feels that its product is a distinctively unique American product and that the sale of this product plays its part in the broader program of having American ways and products known throughout the world.

This shift reinforced whiskeys role as a symbol of American craftsmanship, while also tying it to the countrys broader economic influence on the world stage. Overseas, American advertising for whiskey retained the claims of Americana and frontier individualism that championed brands like Jack Daniels and Jim Beam as uniquely American even as they flooded foreign markets.

However, despite this branding, the whiskey industry was not immune to changing consumer preferences. By the 1970s, a new generation of American drinkers increasingly turned to vodka and lighter spirits, seeing them as more modern and fashionable, than whiskey. Especially given the linkage between vodka and the USSR in Cold War imagery, the spirit became cooly subversive in a way whiskey couldnt match. That left the whiskey industry, like so many other types of American manufacturers, to confront a period of decline, with sales dropping and many historic distilleries closing their doors. By the 1980s, fewer than 100 distilleries remained in operation in the U.S., a stark contrast to the postwar boom years.

As distilleries shuttered, it also sparked the consolidation of the industry. Over the ensuing decades, a handful of conglomerates came to dominate the American whiskey industry, acquiring smaller family-run distilleries at a rapid pace. Today, the spirit of individuality heralded in whiskey advertisements is not reflected in its production. By 2015, eight companies produced roughly 99% of all whiskey made in the U.S.

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Read More: Why Trumps Threats to Canada Will Continue to Backfire

In fact, many of Americas most popular whiskey brands are currently owned by international conglomerates with enormous financial portfolios: Jim Beam (owned by the Japanese company Suntory Global Spirits), Bulleit (owned by the British company Diageo), and Wild Turkey (owned by the Italian company Campari Group) are but a few of the American-made brands currently part of a global network of capital.

This reality exposes how claims that whiskey is a uniquely American productan industry rooted in the frontier, perseverance, and economic independenceare as much industry mythmaking as fact. The American whiskey industry has long been shaped by global forces, from the export and advertising of whiskey abroad to the increasing dominance of international conglomerates.

This history helps explain why Canadians have targeted American whiskey in their boycotts. Indeed, Bourbon, Tennessee Whiskey, and other American-made whiskeys come overwhelmingly from states that voted for Trump, especially Kentucky and Tennessee. Canadian politicians are leveraging this partisan divide. Last month, the Premier of British Columbia, David Eby directed British Columbias state-run liquor stores to stop purchasing American liquor from red states.

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Canadians want to target the heart of a movement that sees itself as being about American identity and they see no better means than by boycotting an industry that still markets itself as distinctly American. Even 60 years later, Bourbon distillers still trumpet a 1964 congressional resolution declaring their spirit a distinctive product of the United States. Writer Reid Mitenbuler recounts that American whiskey and bourbon distillers rely on the values implied by the frontier iconography found on countless bourbon bottles [which] are inherently American: individualism, self-sufficiency, practicality, and guts.

American whiskey relies on these claims of authenticity and tradition to sell the industrys product. That may need to change for the industry to thrive at a moment when the U.S. is antagonizing many countries around the globe

This branding played a key role in elevating American whiskey around the globe in the post-war period when U.S. influence was burgeoning globally. Yet, the international marketplace that has shaped the whiskey industry for a century is susceptible to political forces. That means it isnt immune to the consequences of geopolitical disputes and shifting consumer preferences worldwide. Today, as the Trump administration courts opprobrium abroad, the industrys identity and branding leaves it uniquely exposed and vulnerable, as the Canadian boycott efforts spotlight.

E. Kyle Romero is an assistant professor at the University of North Florida. He studies the history of American foreign policy, immigration politics, and global consumer economics.

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Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

Write to Made by History at madebyhistory@time.com.
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (WTAJ)  For more than 150 students in the Hollidaysburg Area School District, this week will always be special.

Hollidaysburg Mayor Joseph Dodson visited the high school on Monday to read a proclamation that April 7 through 14 is Hollidaysburg Area High School Music Department Week.

If you see one of the band parents or band students or one of the members of the band and one of the  the teachers. You should congratulate them, because I think its an outstanding achievement. And hopefully they go continue, Mayor Dodson said.

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PA Library Association highlights local libraries for National Library Week

The Mayors office said the proclamation is to recognize four recent Walt Disney World performances in Florida by Senior High music department ensembles, which include 7 Hollidaysburg music teachers and over 150 students representing the school district.

The most recent trip to Disney World was last month.

So once in the students high school careers, we take this trip. So once every three years, they get to go to Walt Disney World to perform on a world-class stage in front of literally hundreds of thousands of people. It is so exciting and such a benefit for the students to have that first class experience, Scott Sheehan, Band Director and Music Department Chair said.

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For the past 13 years, the Hollidaysburg Area School District Music Department has been recognized as one of the Best Communities for Music Education in the United States by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation.

We are very excited and thrilled that the mayor would choose to honor us in this way. Were very proud of our students performances down in Florida, but were also proud of our students every day and all the work that they do every day to make music and to contribute to the entire school community, Sheehan said.

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The music department will take its next trip in 2025.

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LOWER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11)  The man accused of slashing a woman across the neck with a broken bottle in SoHo Monday was previously charged with a breaking an NYPD employees eye socket in the subway, police said.

Muslim Brunson, 46, was charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon after allegedly attacking two women near Broome and Wooster streets in SoHo at around 3 p.m., according to the NYPD.

NYPD officer accused of having unregistered guns near baby

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The homeless suspect is accused of randomly hitting a 29-year-old woman in the back of the head with a bottle before slashing another woman, 25, in the neck with the broken bottle, police said.

The younger victim was rushed to the hospital and needed surgery for her injuries, officials said. She was in stable condition as of Tuesday.

She lost a lot of blood, NYPD Chief Jim McCarthy said.

Brunson, who was wearing an NYPD sweatshirt, was arrested quickly near the scene and charged early Tuesday morning. His arraignment was pending.

We believe mental illness might be a cause of this. McCarthy said.

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In July 2022, Brunson was accused of attacking a civilian employee of the NYPD in a Manhattan subway station. He allegedly slammed the woman into a pole as she boarded a southbound No. 4 train in Fulton Steet station in Manhattan, breaking her eye socket, police said.

Brunson later pled guilty to an assault charge and was sentenced to one year in jail, officials said.

Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She has been with PIX11 News for two years. See more of her work here.

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According to InsideEVs, Honda has announced a new version of its Prologue electric vehicle, which increases the range of its predecessor while keeping an attainable price point.

The 2025 Prologue has an EPA-rated range of 308 miles, which is up 12 miles from the previous model. The all-wheel drive models have upgraded to 300 horsepower, and provide 355 lb.-ft. of torque. Charging speed still maxes out at 150 kW, though Honda has pledged that by 2030, their EVs will be able to access 100,000 fast chargers in North America, including Tesla Superchargers.

Electric vehicles are an upgrade from gas-powered cars. They're cheaper to run and maintain and skip the health issues that come with burning gas. A lot of drivers find the added torque makes them more fun to drive, too.

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EVs are also pivotal in reducing atmospheric pollution from light-duty vehicle use. Manufacturing EVs has a slightly higher environmental footprint than gas cars, but that's made up for over a lifetime of using electricity instead of gas. The sooner we can get pollution down, the sooner we can ease up on catastrophic weather events.

Pricing for the 2025 Honda Prologue starts at $47,400, keeping it in line with its predecessor. Federal incentives can chip in $7,500 in tax credit, provided an act of Congress doesn't claw it back.

The community reaction to the new Prologue has been largely positive.

"I've had my 24 Prologue for a couple of weeks coming from a Tesla Model Y," said one reader. "The ride, fit and finish are classic Honda. Very solid, good quite cabin. This is a great EV for drivers coming from gas. Everything will be familiar."

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"Basically a Chevy Blazer with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which GM no longer supports," said another. "Easily outselling the Chevy right now (which IMHO is a nicer looking car). Wonder if GM has figured out why yet ..."

If you were going to purchase an EV, which of these factors would be most important to you? Cost Battery range Power and speed The way it looks Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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TALLAHASSEE, Florida  Hope Florida will face further scrutiny this week over its relationship with the state Agency for Health Care Administration, with state lawmakers probing newly enacted requirements for Medicaid operators that include sharing patient data, incentivized participation and the transfer of $10 million last year.

The program, led by first lady Casey DeSantis, aims to connect eligible residents in need with resources in the community. Gov. Ron DeSantis asked the Legislature this year to etch Hope Florida into state law, spurring questions about the organization and how it receives and spends its funding.

Hope Florida had already partnered with the Florida Department of Children and Families, providing agency staffers to help take calls from eligible residents. The flagship initiative for Casey DeSantis, who is widely thought to be considering a run for governor next year, also received a tremendous lift from AHCA. The agency, which oversees most of the Medicaid program, has made participation in Hope Florida a contractual requirement for insurance companies that provide managed care coverage for the majority of the states more than 4.3 million Medicaid enrollees.

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A copy of minutes from an Oct. 14 Hope Florida Foundation Board meeting obtained by POLITICO includes an item about a resolution in a longstanding dispute with AHCA that resulted in a $10 million allocation to the Hope Florida Foundation.

When asked about the managed care contracts, AHCA spokesperson Mallory McManus on Monday said the agency has the right to choose the expanded benefits for Medicaid managed care. Of the $10 million allocation, McManus said the money was part of a pre-lawsuit settlement that ended in favor of the agency.

There was no civil action and this settlement did not require the expenditure of state funds, so no notice was required, McManus wrote in an email. This was a pre-suit settlement in AHCAs favor that was directed, in part, to the direct support organization which serves a population of individuals traditionally served by AHCA.

The AHCA contract also requires managed care contractors to share data with Hope Florida. State Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo (D-Miami) on Monday asked why an organization led by the first lady would need health care data from a program with millions of enrollees.

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The grift never ends and it gets creepier, Pizzo said during a Monday phone interview. Why does the first ladys organization need access to medical records?

Bookkeeping questions were raised last week in a state House bill analysis  prompting DeSantis to fight back and accuse the chamber of operating a smear campaign against the first ladys program, which he said has already helped more than 30,000 people. Under the contract used by AHCA to govern much of its Medicaid managed care program, Hope Florida is guaranteed to receive referrals.

The model contract found on AHCAs website incentivizes the participation from 10 insurance companies operating the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care program, which provides HMO-style coverage to almost 3.5 million enrollees. The companies that refer the most successful enrollees to Hope Florida will receive more enrollees assigned by AHCA, according to the contract.

The Agency shall leverage the SMMC program to improve certain non-medical conditions through a closed-loop referral system that ensures the Managed Care Plan is accountable and incentivized to create Hope Florida, the contract said.

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The state Medicaid program has already faced scrutiny during this years legislative session by the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee. The panel last month grilled AHCA after staffers lost $160 million the Legislature had set aside to fix a previous agency bookkeeping error. And AHCA will go before the same committee Wednesday to continue ongoing discussion about the managed care program. Chair Alex Andrade (R-Pensacola) said on Monday he did not want to comment on AHCAs managed care contracts until after Wednesdays meeting.

I dont want to jump to any conclusions, Andrade said. But there are questions that havent been answered yet.

Andrade also would not answer questions about the $10 million allocation from AHCA brought up by the Hope Florida Foundation board in October.

Questions about Hope Florida have surfaced as the Legislature considers FL HB1327 (25R), which would codify the program into law. A House staff analysis about the bill prepared before a House Human Services Subcommittee meeting last week highlighted difficulties in obtaining Hope Florida audits and other records from the state Department of Children and Families. The analysis prompted Gov. DeSantis to accuse House Speaker Daniel Perez (R-Miami) of helping Democrats and feeding false information to the media.

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Theyre not trying to step on the lefts throat, DeSantis said during an event at the Governors Mansion last week. Theyre giving a lifeline to the Democratic Party.

Perez defended the staff analysis as being a routine part of the legislative process, but said the House will still continue to inquire about Hope Floridas finances.
IBERIA PARISH, La. (KLFY)  Much needed improvements are underway on Hopkins Street in New Iberia, but Mayor Freddie DeCourt says this may impact businesses and residents along the highway.

This is a state project, not a city project, but my citizens are going to be inconvenienced by it, said DeCourt.

The highly anticipated rework of Hopkins Street will be a large drainage project and overlay of the highway. The road will be shut down where construction will be taking place then re-opened when that area is complete. During the construction, businesses in the area where the road is shut down will experience issues with accessibility.

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Renny Keal who is the owner of Hopkins Street Quick Stop, says previous construction by the shop has caused issues with business. He anticipates similar issues.

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Thats how people live and provide. With that being said, they cant come down to the main street like my store and other stores down here, like its going to take a big time. I wish they had another pattern to work on this. On the drainage issue.

The inevitable inconvenience with the project will be addressed in an upcoming meeting set up by Mayor DeCourt.

Ive invited the state contractor to come, said mayor DeCourt. Hopefully its just a positive thing to communicate to my citizens how theyll be impacted by a project that in the end will be beneficial.

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The townhall meeting will be on Monday April 14 at 5 p.m. in the west end park gym. Everyone in the community is invited.

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SANAA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military conducted 22 airstrikes targeting several Houthi sites across northern Yemen on early Tuesday, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV and residents reported.

The strikes hit areas east and south of the capital Sanaa, the Island of Kamaran in the Red Sea, and areas both north and south of the oil-rich Marib province. No casualties have been reported so far.

Residents described the airstrikes as very powerful and violent.

The latest wave of airstrikes came a day after U.S. airstrikes killed four children and wounded 25 others in Sanaa on Sunday night.

On March 15, the United States resumed airstrikes against the Houthis to deter the group from attacking Israeli ships following the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The Houthis said their attacks are aimed to pressure an end to the U.S.-backed Israeli offensive in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to return. 
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  A 30-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly injuring a child, the Horizon City Police Department said.

Horizon Police said they arrested Carlos Herrera, 30, of Horizon City, on April 4 in connection with an ongoing investigation involving injury to a child.

The investigation began on March 10, when police received a report alleging Herrera had physically abused a child under the age of 10 years old, Horizon Police said.

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Horizon Police said evidence obtained during the investigation corroborated the allegations, and an arrest warrant was obtained for Herreras arrest.

Herrera was located at his residence in Horizon City and taken into custody without incident. He was processed at the Horizon City Police Department and later transported to the El Paso County Detention Facility, where he was booked on the outstanding warrant.

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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  A 45-year-old woman was arrested and charged with DWI and possessing a controlled substance after she was observed speeding last weekend, Horizon City Police said.

Horizon Police said they arrested Peral Pulaski, 45, and charged her with DWI with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more and possession of a controlled substance.

At about 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 5, Horizon City officers stopped a vehicle after the driver was seen speeding along the 14600 block of Horizon Boulevard.

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Officers said that Pulaski exhibited signs of being intoxicated.

She was then arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

Officers then found a controlled substance inside her vehicle, police said. They did not specify what type of drugs she was found with.

She was arrested and booked under a bond set at $3,000.

Horizon City Assistant Chief Jose Kluge said: Driving while intoxicated is a serious offense which places our community in danger. Please ensure you use a ride share or make other arrangements for transportation if you are away from home and plan on drinking.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)

Prosecutors could seek the death penalty for people convicted of trafficking a child aged 12 or younger or someone with a severe mental disability under a bill heading to the House floor.

Seminole Republican Rep. Berny Jacques told lawmakers Tuesday that previous U.S. Supreme Court rulings declaring such punishment unconstitutional shouldnt persuade them to vote against HB 1283. Most agreed, with only two Democrats voting against the proposal during its third and final hearing in the Judiciary Committee.

Pinellas County Republican Rep. Berny Jacques via Florida House of Representatives

Jacques labeled the 2008 ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana  the 5-4 decision declaring that a Louisiana law allowing for the death penalty in cases of child rape violated Eighth Amendment  vile.

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Some of the most horrendous Supreme Court cases in our nations history was well-settled law, Jacques said. I think of Plessy v. Ferguson; I think of the Dred Scott decision. Those were all well-settled law. Thank goodness they were overturned.

In 2023, Florida lawmakers also set out to challenge the court with a law that established the death penalty for rape of minors under 12. Similar to the 2023 measure, under Jacques proposal only eight out of 12 jurors would need to recommend the death sentence.

Democratic Reps. LaVon Bracy Davis of Ocoee and Michael Gottlieb of Davie opposed the bill Tuesday.

I will say, in a case like this with someone that has participated in sex trafficking with a minor, that life in prison may be the better charge as opposed to death, and I think that person perhaps would be punished more egregiously with having to spend their life incarcerated, Bracy Davis said.

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Riverview Republican Rep. Danny Alvarez said that childrens lives should matter more than what the Supreme Court thinks.

We tell the Supreme Court whats coming, and if they want to overrule us, thats fine, he said. Let them look them in the eyes, but I will not stand here and allow children to be hurt and then make the excuse that were just gonna vote down because the Supreme Court said.

The Senate companion, SB 1804, needs approval from two more committees before reaching the floor.

The Legislatures trend of challenging the Supreme Court on the death penalty continued during one of this years special sessions on immigration. Lawmakers moved to establish a mandatory death penalty for immigrants without legal status who are convicted of murder or child rape. The Supreme Court deemed mandatory death penalties unconstitutional in the 5-4 decision of Woodson v. North Carolina in 1976.

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Rebecca Binstock, executive director of the North Dakota Ethics Commission, speaks during a House committee hearing on March 18, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

A House committee on Monday recommended several sweeping changes to the North Dakota Ethics Commissions budget, including cutting a new full-time staff member and adding a new six-month deadline for processing ethics complaints.

The commission in a Tuesday statement called the changes a roadblock intended to hamper the commissions work.

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The House Appropriations Committees Education and Environment Division voted to remove funding for an additional full-time Ethics Commission employee narrowly approved by the Senate.

The employee would focus on public education and communications, bringing the total number of Ethics Commission staff to four.

The Ethics Commission was created by a constitutional amendment approved by North Dakota voters in 2018. That amendment mandates that public education be a part of the Ethics Commissions work.

While the commission already does some educational programming, the commissions staff have said they believe they should be doing more.

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This role is critical to the Ethics Commissions role in supporting an open, ethical and accountable government, Executive Director Rebecca Binstock previously said in testimony to legislators.

Some lawmakers on Monday said they were not convinced.

Rep. Scott Louser, R-Minot, said appropriations should instead focus on finding solutions to help the commission process its growing number of complaints. As of mid-March, the commission had received 59 complaints this year. The commission also has some complaints that are more than two years old.

I think the bigger issue here is cleaning up some of the timing messes that are taking up all of the time of the commission, Louser said.

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Rep. Karla Rose Hanson, D-Fargo, was the only member of the committee opposed to removing the education staffer.

Hanson said dedicating an additional employee to education would give the commissions other staff more time to focus on complaints. She also reasoned that more education would reduce the number of ethics violations the commission must investigate.

The budget set aside about $250,000 for the new staff member. This figure would encompass not only the employees two-year salary, but also benefits and other costs.

The committee on Monday also voted 4-3 to remove $50,000 worth of funding for a new case management system for filings with the commission. Commission staff previously testified that the case management system would save them time by helping to automate much of the commissions recordkeeping.

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Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, successfully introduced a series of policy changes to the commissions procedures.

One major change states that each complaint submitted to the commission must be closed within 180 days of its filing. Right now, there is no deadline for processing complaints.

The Ethics Commission in its Tuesday statement said this aspect of the amendment would overtly restrict its constitutional investigative power.

Hanson criticized the proposed deadline as unreasonable, especially in light of the committee voting to remove the education employee and case management funding from the budget.

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They have to move things along in a substantially faster way, but without the tools needed to do that, Hanson said.

Hanson also said the constitutional amendment that created the Ethics Commission stipulates that the Legislature may not pass laws that hamper, restrict or impair what the constitutional amendment requires.

I guess Id be concerned that theres the potential that time limit on when a case has to be closed might be construed as hampering, restricting or impairing, Hanson said.

The same amendment would give the commission the freedom to dismiss complaints at any time. Commission staff have said that for the most part, the person who submits the complaint wields much of the power over when a complaint may be dismissed. This can leave complaints in limbo for long periods of time.

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I dont think the amendment ties their hands, Nathe said of his proposals. If anything, I think it encourages them to move the cases along, quite frankly, for the benefit of the accused.

Nathes amendment also included legal protections for lawmakers who declare conflicts of interest with legislation.

The amendment would make lawmakers immune from prosecution for voting on legislation they have a conflict of interest with if they adhered to legislative conflict of interest rules or the informal advice of an Ethics Commission staff member.

Under Nathes proposal, those accused of ethics violations would be allowed to discuss the allegations against them, as well. Current confidentiality requirements forbid this.

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Some parts of Nathes amendment resurrect policy changes proposed in House Bill 1360, a bill supported by the Ethics Commission that failed in the House. In that bill, the commission sought greater authority over its complaint process and changes to the confidentiality restrictions for those accused of violations.

The amendment also revives elements of a bill sponsored by House Majority Leader Mike Lefor and Senate Majority Leader David Hogue that sought similar protections for lawmakers. Like House Bill 1360, House Bill 1505 included language allowing people accused of violations to discuss complaints against them but did not survive the House.

Hanson on Monday proposed several other amendments, including one recommended by Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo to add five new full time employees to the commissions staff. Mathern testified the additional staff members are necessary in order to ensure the Ethics Commission can operate effectively.

Hanson also proposed budgeting an additional $150,000 in funding for the commission to hire outside professional services.

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The commissions base budget for professional fees is $70,000. The Senate added $50,000 to this pot of money, bringing the total to $120,000. Hanson sought to increase this to $270,000.

If we are not going to increase the staff for the Ethics Commission, then we need to enable them to hire third party attorneys or other professional staff to assist them in addressing this backlog, Hanson said.

Her proposals to give the Ethics Commission more resources did not advance in committee.

She successfully brought an amendment to require the commission to prepare an annual report detailing its activities.

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I thought that an annual report might help provide some transparency, not only for us as decision makers but for the public overall, Hanson said.

The bill is expected to be discussed Wednesday in House Appropriations.

Also this week, the Senate voted 46-1 in favor of a bill that would require North Dakota officials to file financial disclosure forms annually, rather than only when they are appointed or file to run for office. House Bill 1469 also requires the secretary of state to publish the forms online. The bill was previously approved by the House. The bill was amended in the Senate and returns to the House for consideration.

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Democrats in the House of Representatives have launched a new investigation into Elon Musk's potential conflicts of interest at NASA.

In a letter sent to the space agency on Monday, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Gerry Connolly of Virginia  who both serve on the House oversight committee  demanded documents on all its dealings with Musk's companies and what officials are doing to prevent conflicts.

It described Musk's influence over the government and his effective leadership of DOGE as "a textbook example of corruption at taxpayers' expense" by the world's richest person.

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It also noted that Musk's rocket company SpaceX has already been awarded federal contracts worth more than $525 since Donald Trump returned to power, on top of at nearly $21 billion his companies have landed since 2008.

Musk is in the position of carving holes in federal agencies with massive staff cuts that his own companies can step in and fill.

"Mr Musk is redirecting billions of taxpayer dollars to fund his own financial interests while slashing federal employees, programs, and services on which all Americans depend," charges the letter, which was first reported by Axios.

"Mr Musk also remains in charge of a sprawling private sector business empire that continues to rely on billions of dollars in government funding  and has been charged with managing his own conflicts of interest, the lawmakers noted.

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NASA, the White House, and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As of late last month, the White House was still refusing to say whether or not Musk has filed any paperwork disclosing his financial interests, and refusing to release any such disclosure if it exists, NBC News reported.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that Musk was "abiding by all applicable laws, saying: "For concerns regarding conflicts of interest between Elon Musk and DOGE, President Trump has stated he will not allow conflicts, and Elon himself has committed to recusing himself from potential conflicts."

Nevertheless, the congressmen's letter catalogues numerous reports of Musk apparently interfering with NASA or appearing to affect its policies which could directly benefit his businesses.

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Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk was engaging in a comprehensive effort to change NASA's priorities and "install loyalists" in key positions of power.

According to the report, Musk helped put his friend Jared Isaacman  with whom he has extensive business connections  in line for the agency's leadership, and is pushing to reallocate resources from landing on the moon to his own personal hobby horse of Mars.

"The known conflicts of interest presented in this arrangement ... are illegal and must be addressed immediately," the congressmen wrote.
Pins urge people to "Protect Medicaid" at an April 1, 2025 rally. In particular, attendees opposed Senate Bill 2, which would impose work requirements on certain Medicaid enrollees. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

The Republican supermajority voting bloc in the Indiana House approved Medicaid work requirements on Tuesday, though such a program change will require federal approval before it can go into effect.

It moved on a 66-28 vote, mostly along party lines.

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The sponsoring Republican, Rep. Brad Barrett, of Richmond, pointed to funding concerns for the states fastest-growing expenditure, saying limiting enrollment would preserve the government insurance option for the neediest.

He acknowledged the outpouring of personal stories in committee, calling it a perfect storm between expiring COVID-era enrollment protections, a federal court ruling and state costs.

Were really forced to do something this legislative session, Barrett said.

Under Senate Bill 2, those enrolled in the Healthy Indiana Plan  which covers low- to moderate-income Hoosiers between the ages of 19 and 64  will need to either work or volunteer for 20 hours each week, with several exceptions for caregivers, disabled beneficiaries and more.

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That group is essentially the expansion population authorized by the legislature in 2015.

Rep. Robin Shackleford sits in the House chamber on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Leslie Bonilla Muniz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

The bill also moves toward retroactive eligibility, rather than presumptive eligibility, and restricts the advertising of Medicaid services.

Democrats decried adding an additional administrative burden on the Family and Social Services Administration by increasing eligibility checks from annually to quarterly.

I dont know how many of you have actually been on Medicaid. I dont know how many of you have actually gone through a Medicaid redetermination process. I dont know how many of you have been in fear of losing your health insurance, said Rep. Robin Shackleford, D-Indianapolis. That is what were talking about here. Its not that we are forced to do something. We are forced to make sure that we are ensuring that the Hoosiers in our state are protected.

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She pointed to a forecasting error that created a nearly $1 billion shortfall in the Medicaid program, saying the state should shoulder that expense rather than curbing services for Hoosiers.

At the end of the day, were going to pay for these services. Either we pay because the people need services and theyll be going to the emergency room. Or were going to be paying less because we are providing preventative services to people on the front end, said Rep. Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis.

Just one lawmaker crossed over to vote against their caucus: Rep. Wendy Dant Chesser, a Democrat from Jeffersonville. Only Barrett spoke in support of the bills Medicaid work requirements, saying action was needed to maintain the programs stability.

(In committee), we heard of people that were just thrilled with the benefits they receive in this space. Were simply looking to make sure that those that need the services, get the services, Barrett said.

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Due to several House amendments  including one to omit a numerical cap  the Senate must concur, or agree, with the latest version before it can go before Gov. Mike Braun for a signature.

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HUBBARD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WKBN)  Fire officials say a Hubbard Township home is unlivable following a fire Sunday morning.

It happened just after 8 a.m. in the 3200 block of Shadyside Drive.

When firefighters arrived, flames were showing from the second floor. Firefighters were able to get the fire under control within 10 minutes. They believe it started in a second-floor bedroom.

The fire caused substantial heat, smoke and fire damage to the second story of the home and water damage to the first floor.

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Were looking toward possibly an electrical fire, but its listed as undetermined because of the nature of the fire and how much damage was in that room, said Eagle Joint Fire District Chief Ron Stanis.

The Red Cross was contacted to assist the people who were living at the home.

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Apr. 7dbeard @dominionpost.com MORGANTOWN  The House of Delegates on Monday passed and sent back to the Senate the bill to align municipal election dates with statewide primary and general elections.

The bill is SB 50, amended by the House on Friday to require municipalities to align their local elections by July 1, 2028.

The Senate had set the deadline at July 1, 2032, to give municipalities time to change their election date ordinances or put a charter amendment to that effect before the city's voters, and to account for redistricting following the 2030 census.

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Apart from the redistricting issue, the West Virginia Municipal League had told Senate Judiciary in February that the soonest the bill should take effect was July 1, 2029, to give cities time to hold charter elections.

On the House floor on Monday, Delegate Larry Kump, R-Berkeley, noted that the Senate will need to agree to the House amendment, but praised the bill for what it hopes to accomplish.

"Prolonged persistence pays, " he said.

The bill will get rid of the obscure, good-old-boy election dates created to keep those boys in power. It will increase voter participation and turnout and reduce the burden on taxpayers.

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In his district, he said, Martinsburg and Hedgesville both have off dates. Martinsburg has 20, 000 residents but only 200-300 vote. Hedgesville has 300 residents but only 20 vote.

When he was elected to the House in 2010, he said, he sponsored a bill to change the dates, but it died.

One question that's arisen and hasn't been definitively answered is: Would this state law change preempt any city charter provisions, whether or not the cities put it up to a vote and the voters approve or defeat it ?

As we've reported before, last October, Morgantown City Council voted against giving the choice of election dates to city voters. An ordinance to place that proposed charter change on the city's April 29 ballot failed on first reading.

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Granville voters chose last November to align their election dates with county dates starting in May 2026. Star City and Westover elections were held in conjunction with the county starting in May 2024.

Monday's House vote on SB 50 was 96-2. The Senate could concur with the House amendment, or re-amend it and send it back to the House, or do nothing and let it die. The legislative session ends at midnight Saturday.
The United States is using tariffs as a political tool to impose a form of sanctions on major countries, posing a risk to the global economy, an Egyptian political expert warned in an interview with Xinhua. #GLOBALink
WASHINGTON (AP)  Republican and Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee voiced sharp bipartisan criticism Tuesday about reports the Trump administration is eyeing a reduction of U.S. forces in Europe, saying America must stick with its NATO allies.

Rep. Michael Rogers, R-Mich., the panels chairman, said the U.S. must not cut troop levels in Europe and added that he was opposed to any plan for the U.S. to relinquish NATO command. The U.S. historically has held the Supreme Allied Command Europe, or SACEUR, position.

U.S. leadership in NATO is essential to ensure armed American forces, including our nuclear weapons, always remain under U.S. command, Rogers said at the start of a hearing with Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, commander of U.S. European Command and the NATO commander.

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Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, added that the idiocy of the fact that there was any discussion about giving up the SACEUR role is just beyond me.

Katherine Thompson, who is doing the job of assistant defense secretary for international affairs, repeatedly told lawmakers that there is an ongoing Pentagon review of troop totals and no decisions have been made. But, asked again two hours into the hearing whether the U.S. would give up the SACEUR job, she said, "my definitive answer is no.

That was the first time Pentagon officials have flatly denied the U.S. will give up that post, which Cavoli said gives him a strong voice and American leadership at NATO.

There have been roughly 100,000 U.S. troops in Europe in recent years, a 20,000-troop increase since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

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Cavoli told the committee that he has recommended the U.S. maintain its current force totals. He said that cutting American troops in Europe will increase the time it would take America's military to respond to any crisis there.

Clearly moving things to the other side of the Atlantic increases the time-space challenge, he said. He added that the current size and capability of the U.S. force, aided by allied contributions, is deterring Russia right now.

Asked by Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., if the Trump administration is considering plans to pull two rotational brigades out of Europe, Cavoli said there is a constant review of troop levels. He said the discussions generally revolve around readiness and modernization concerns by the military services.

Bacon responded that any reduction would be a grave mistake and a sign of American weakness.

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Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the committee's ranking Democrat, also urged ongoing U.S. support to Europe and Ukraine and criticized President Donald Trump, saying the Republican has empowered Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump has pushed for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine but scaled back support for Ukraine when he came back into office. And he has said Europe must take responsibility for its own security.

Cavoli said that NATO allies are investing in defense at a rate we havent seen since the Cold War and that there has been a 40% increase overall since the war in Ukraine began.

Thompson was chastised by Smith and other lawmakers for saying there is a ceasefire in Ukraine.

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There is no ceasefire. Lets just be clear about that," said Smith, adding that Russia's bombing continues.

Thompson also struggled under questioning about Trump's repeated warm statements toward Putin and his characterization that Ukraine started the war. She said Trump's goal is a ceasefire.

Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., snapped at Thompson: You keep providing answers that are just canned and dont really answer many of the questions that have been asked by our colleagues today.

Thompson also said the U.S. is being honest with NATO allies that they need to step up in their defense funding, calling European nations free-riders. She declined to answer questions about senior U.S. national security leaders using a Signal chat to discuss details of a planned military operation against the Yemen-based Houthi rebels.

She said she adheres to security protocols.

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This story has been updated to correct that Rep. Don Bacon represents Nebraska, not Illinois.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  A new bipartisan agreement could reshape how members of Congress, especially new mothers, cast their votes when theyre away from Washington.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have reached a deal to reform the Houses proxy voting system, which has been a source of heated debate in recent weeks.

The reform would introduce a vote pairing system, allowing a lawmaker who is absent to coordinate with a colleague on the opposite side of an issue to effectively cancel out each others votes. This approach would maintain vote balance without the use of traditional proxy voting.

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Were simply asking that members recovering from childbirth, only 13 in U.S. history, be able to vote while they recover, said Rep. Luna.

The proposal marks a departure from an earlier push to allow new parents to vote remotely for a set period following childbirth. Some Democrats say the new compromise doesnt go far enough.

This is not a deal. This doesnt solve our problems, and the work continues, said Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.).

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) also criticized the shift, noting that the original idea, to allow 12 weeks of remote voting after childbirth, was the minimum support new families deserve.

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Vote pairing isnt new to Congress. It was used during the 2018 Senate confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to balance absences.

A formal vote on the new reform measure could take place soon.

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Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill to further restrict the use of drones over farmland. (Photo by Ann Froschauer/USFWS)

A bill that would further prohibit the ability of a remote-piloted aircraft, or drone, to fly over farmland needs final approval from the Senate before it can be sent to the governor.

Senate File 491 was amended on the House floor Tuesday to remove language classifying a farmstead as 40 or more contiguous acres.

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The bill builds on a 2024-enacted law that prohibited drones from flying over animal feeding operations and homesteads and created misdemeanor fines up to $2,560 if the drone that flew over these areas was equipped with recording devices.

The proposed legislation, which advanced from the Senate March 17, would prohibit the use of a drone, without the landowners permission, within 400 feet of farm animals, equipment and structures, including animal feeding operations, farmer residences, barns and manure storage.

Rep. Derek Wulf, R-Hudson, said the bill broadens the scope of the existing law and strengthens security.

It protects our livestock and agriculture producers more strongly than the law we passed last year, Wulf said.

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Proponents of the bill said livestock are afraid of the remote aircraft and that it invades a farmers privacy.

Opponents of the bill argue it, and the existing law, would be preempted by federal laws that regulate airspace.

A fact sheet on the local regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems from the Federal Aviation Administration, explains that some privacy-related restrictions on drones, if it interferes with the administrations ability to safely and effectively integrate UAS into the national airspace would be preempted.

According to the document, at least 44 states have enacted laws pertaining to unmanned aircraft systems since 2013 and the FAA holds that states are generally free to regulate as long as the laws do not interfere with federal regulations or relate to the prices, routes, or services of commercial air carriers.

No lawmakers spoke in opposition to the amended bill on the House floor and the measure advanced 89-7.
While many companies say they are out to change the world, Colossal Biosciences says the world does not need to be changed, it needs to be healed.

The global company headquartered in Dallas announced it has successfully been able to de-extinct an animal  the first breakthrough of its kind  with a pair of dire wolf cubs born last year. The animal has been extinct for more than 10,000 years.

The achievement happened with 24 scientists working 18 months to create what they say is one miracle using a single tooth discovered in Ohio and a 72,000-year-old skull fragment unearthed in Idaho.

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The team took cells from a gray wolf and grew them in a lab. Next they applied gene editing to cut out the part that looks like a gray wolf and added what looks like a dire wolf. They then had to transform these cells into actual pups, and it worked.

They transferred that genetic material to an egg cell from a domestic dog. When ready, embryos were transferred to surrogates, also domestic dogs, and 62 days later the genetically engineered pups were born. No animals were harmed in the process.

SOUND ON. Youre hearing the first howl of a dire wolf in over 10,000 years. Meet Romulus and Remusthe worlds first de-extinct animals, born on October 1, 2024.



The dire wolf has been extinct for over 10,000 years. These two wolves were brought back from extinction using pic.twitter.com/wY4rdOVFRH  Colossal Biosciences (@colossal) April 7, 2025

The pair of dire wolf cubs were born Oct. 1, 2024, and were dubbed Romulus and Remus. A female, Khaleesi, was born this year and the company is raising the wolves at a U.S. Humane Society-sanctioned preserve in northern Washington. They represent what the company says are the first dire wolves since the Pleistocene era.

An international team of more than 50 scientists examined 46 dire wolf remains for viable DNA and were able to recover 0.1% of the genome.

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The specimens facilitated the Colossal teams recovery of 500 times more dire wolf DNA than any team previously  redefining whats possible in de-extinction science.

Their website says: This unprecedented level of extinct DNA restoration in a living canid not only sets a new benchmark in de-extinction science but also redefines what is possible in species restoration. By using cutting-edge CRISPR-based editing, Colossal has resurrected a species lost to time, demonstrating the power of synthetic biology to reverse extinction and reshape the future of conservation.

This undated photo provided by Colossal Biosciences shows two pups that were genetically engineered with similarities to the extinct dire wolf. | Colossal Biosciences via Associated Press

The company said the results from its lab will directly address issues related to loss in biodiversity and overall species counts resulting from the human-accelerated degradation of land, sea and air.

Ultimately, the aim is to reverse this damage by reintroducing critical animal and plant species that played active roles in the preservation of some of Earths most climate-beneficial ecosystems. Many of which have all but vanished entirely today, Colossal Biosciences said.

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On its website, the company argues that the term de-extinct is overly simplistic and has not kept pace with innovation in genetics.

Instead it defines de-extinct as the process of generating an organism that both resembles and is genetically similar to an extinct species by resurrecting its lost lineage of core genes. It engineers natural resistances; and enhances adaptability that will allow it to thrive in todays environment of climate change, dwindling resources, disease and human interference.

Colossal is the worlds first de-extinction company.

We combine de-extinction with species preservation and our goal is to make extinction a thing of the past, said company co-founder Ben Lamm.

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People think it is a scary word and it is not. People immediately put us with Jurassic Park and it is not. We are trying to develop these new techniques in order to save animals, to bring back animals that in some cases were our fault that we dont have them any longer. It wasnt a climate problem, it was a human problem, said Darya Tourzani, a reproductive biology scientist with the company.

This undated photo provided by Colossal Biosciences shows Romulus and Remus, both 3 months old and genetically engineered with similarities to the extinct dire wolf. | Colossal Biosciences via Associated Press

The dire wolf and ecoystems

The dire wolf, which most people think is just a mystical creature, is actually a keystone species that was not only endemic to the United States and most of the Americas, but was also culturally important to some of the biggest early indigenous tribes in America, Lamm said in an in-house video. So we thought if we could use it as an opportunity where we could also develop the technologies to help wolves we thought it was the right first project given how important wolves are to ecosystems.

Lamm pointed out that the re-introduction of gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park in 1996 has had profound and positive impacts on the wildlife and the parks landscape, and essentially changed the entire ecosystem. The park itself says the impact of wolves on beaver colonies and vegetation represents a trophic cascade of ecological change.

The company is documenting the pups progress via videos available on their website and uploaded on YouTube.

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Scientific skeptics say the company has not actually brought back the dire wolf, but created an animal that looks like one. Dire wolves are larger than their closest relative  the gray wolf  but have larger skulls and bigger teeth.

Some scientists reject the companys claim that the new animals are a revival of the extinct creatures, since in reality dire wolves and gray wolves are different species separated by millions of years of evolution and several million letters of DNA.

An article in MIT Review said what happened at Colossal Biosciences is like a hybrid.

I would say such an animal is not a dire wolf and its not correct to say dire wolves have been brought back from extinction. Its a modified gray wolf, says Anders Bergstrom, a professor at the University of East Anglia who specializes in the evolution of canines. Twenty changes is not nearly enough. But it could get you a strange-looking gray wolf.
Apr. 8Housing advocates say that plans to shutter dozens of U.S. Housing and Urban Development offices and reduce staff at the federal agency will increase the wait time for assistance and put housing-insecure people at risk during a time of increased homelessness in Ohio.

The Trump administration has plans to cut the Federal Housing Administration staff significantly and close all HUD field offices in Ohio and more than 30 other states, according to a Bloomberg report.

No decisions have been made about field office locations as of this week, a HUD spokesperson said. Ohio is home to field offices in Columbus and Cleveland  these two offices carry out multiple tasks related to housing, including processing mortgage insurance applications, underwriting mortgage loans, addressing fair housing claims and distributing federal funds.

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Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio communications and development director Marcus Roth said the move to reduce housing staff and consolidate field offices seems "wrong-headed" during a housing crisis.

"When you don't have enough people on the ground to actually implement the laws that Congress has passed, they become essentially broken promises," Roth said. "We're not saying that HUD does everything perfectly, but recklessly gutting the agency is really going to harm a lot of Ohioans who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads."

In a letter to HUD Sec. Scott Turner, Ohio congressional Democrats recently said that closing or downsizing HUD field offices in Ohio would "harm vulnerable populations."

U.S. representatives included in the letter are former Daytonian Rep. Joyce Beatty, of Columbus; and Rep. Greg Landsman, of Cincinnati, whose district includes Warren County.

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According to a press release from Beatty's office, more than 422,000 Ohioans  71% of whom are seniors, children, or people with disabilities  rely on federal rental assistance to afford housing.

"At a time when the cost of housing continues to rise, homelessness has reached historic levels, and communities face increasing economic uncertainty, HUD must remain a fully staffed and functioning agency," the letter says.

According to the letter, HUD's Columbus field office  which serves the Dayton area  had lost a dozen of its staff members in March, with another five employees announcing their retirement.

"The Administration's staffing reductions and office closures not only undermine HUD's ability to enforce fair housing policies, respond to local housing crises, and administer critical programs, but also place undue strain on the remaining workforce," the letter says.

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National reports say the only six field offices that would be left open are those in Anchorage, Alaska; Greensboro, North Carolina; Honolulu; Jacksonville, Florida; Los Angeles; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

But under federal law, there are requirements for at least one field office existing in each state. Ohio representatives included in the letter called on HUD to follow statutory rules for the agency.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that Ohio faces a shortage of more than 264,000 rental homes that are affordable and available to extremely low-income families.

According to the Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio, average rent increased by 20% across the state in 2021 and 2022, the early pandemic years. Homelessness overall has increased in Ohio by 10% since January 2020, according to the organization.

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Roth said the cost of rent in Ohio has slowed down in the past couple years, but Ohio's rent decreases have come much more slowly than other Midwestern states.

"The last you want to do when you have increasing homelessness and rising rents is take your foot off the gas of the programs that actually help to try to close the gap for people," Roth said. "We should be beefing up these programs, increasing the amount of resources that can be used to develop affordable housing."

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Human remains found near Garnett, Kansas in 1973 have been positively identified as a Kansas City, Kansas teenager who disappeared in 1972.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) said the decomposing remains of an unidentified male were located three miles southeast of Garnett, off 1550 Road on April 18, 1973. He was found wearing a brown corduroy jacket, a green long-sleeved buttoned shirt, jeans, a black leather belt with a large buckle, brown hiking boots and a navy blue stocking cap.

Pope Francis appoints new archbishop for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas

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He was also wearing two gold rings with crosses, a ring with the number 78 and a silver chain with a large cross, according to the KBI.

During an autopsy in 1973, the coroner ruled the victims manner of death a homicide due to signs of trauma. It was determined the victim was around 20-years-old and believed to have brown hair and a slender build.

The KBI said over the years, many attempts were made to identify the remains and learn what happened to the victim.

In 2024, DNA was extracted from the remains so that a DNA profile could be utilized for forensic genetic genealogy testing.

Earlier this year, the KBI learned the testing had identified relatives of the unknown victim. After further investigation, KBI agents and the Anderson County Sheriffs Office located the victims siblings. They conducted interviews and collected DNA from a sibling for comparison.

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The unidentified person was then positively identified as Jimmy Allen Dollison.

The KBI said Dollison had been living in Kansas City, Kansas when he disappeared sometime in October or November of 1972, when he was 16-years-old.

According to family members, he was reported missing by his parents, but the family never learned what happened.

See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri

The KBI and the sheriffs office are continuing to investigate the circumstances of Dollisons death.

Anyone with information is asked to call the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME or report tips online here.

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Hundreds of demonstrators, including over 200 from UCLA, filled the streets of Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon as part of a nationwide Kill the Cuts rally.

Organizers billed it as a national day of action to raise awareness and fight against the governments proposed cuts to federal research, health and education.

About 4,000 people RSVPd to the local protest.

Sky5 was overhead as hundreds of education, labor and health activists circled a Westwood intersection, blocking traffic on Veteran Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.

(Sky5) (Sky5) (UCLA PD) (Sky5) (Sky5) (Sky5) (Sky5) (Sky5)

The UCLA Police Department alerted drivers of the rallys impact on traffic in an X post, saying, UAW 4811 notified they plan to march southbound from Bruin Plaza to Westwood Plaza, westbound Kinross, southbound Veteran, to the Federal Building. Traffic may be impacted. Consider alternate routes.

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One organizer told KTLA that this march was in reaction to the Trump administrations proposed cuts to state and federal funding, which could gouge a multi-billion dollar hole in UCs budget  cuts that would stall or end lifesaving research, medical care, and education.

Participants hope the protests will put pressure on elected officials to fight back against President Trumps actions.

By cutting funds to lifesaving research and medical care, the Trump administration is abandoning families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars, said Rafael Jaime, president of UAW 4811, one of the organizers of the national event. These cuts are dangerous to our health, and dangerous to our economy.

At 2:21 p.m., UCLA police said the group dispersed from the Federal Building.

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Hungary could back Western sanctions against Russia, if Donald Trump uses them to punish Vladimir Putin for failing to accept his Ukraine ceasefire deal.

Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, has cultivated close ties with both Mr Trump and Putin, and has criticised and delayed EU sanctions against Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine.

Peter Szijjarto, Hungarys foreign minister, said EU sanctions against the Kremlin had been ridiculous and a failure, which did more economic damage to Europe than Russia.

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But he admitted Budapest could U-turn if the White House decided to hit the Kremlin after Mr Trumps warnings he could devastate Russias economy.

Our decision in the future will be determined by the circumstances in the future, he said at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London.

Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, with US president Donald Trump - AFP

Mr Trump had offered to get European sanctions lifted in talks with Putin over a partial truce in the Black Sea, despite that not being in his gift.

The Telegraph understands that the EU is continuing to draw up fresh sanctions against Russia, while its leaders have insisted now is not the time to weaken the pressure on Putin.

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Last week, Mr Trump threatened Russia with tariffs and said he would impose US sanctions if a peace deal is not reached, amid suspicions Moscow is playing out negotiations to grab more Ukrainian land.

We are extremely grateful for President Trump

Asked whether Hungary would back EU sanctions if they were part of Mr Trumps negotiating strategy, Mr Szijjarto said he hoped that decision would be unnecessary and peace would be made.

If this positive scenario is not happening, then we have to discuss it at that time, he said.

We are extremely grateful for President Trump, he said before adding that the world was safer when Russia and America talked to each other.

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The foreign minister criticised Brussels for its response to Trumps election and its failure to swiftly negotiate with the President to stop the EU being hit with a 20 per cent tariff.

Mr Szijjarto said Budapest was arguing against the EU hitting back against the US with retaliatory tariffs of their own after being slapped with the tax on Liberation Day.

We want negotiation rather than countermeasures, he said.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov with Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto - EPA

Mr Szijjarto warned that Hungary would veto Ukraine joining the EU unless Kyiv changed laws restricting the teaching of foreign languages in schools. This had made it more difficult for ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine to learn Hungarian, he said.

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Hungarys governing conservative nationalist Fidesz party was ostracised in Europe for calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine long before Mr Trumps election last year.

It has also come under pressure from Brussels over a crackdown on LGBT+ lifestyles, amid accusations that Mr Orban was rolling back democratic standards and media freedoms.

Going against liberal hegemony

Mr Szijjarto said Mr Trumps election had brought about a huge change. Before it, he said, the international liberal mainstream was ruling everything in Europe.

President Trump won and hes openly going against this liberal hegemony all over the world, Mr Szijjarto said before defending Hungarys war on woke.

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Hungary recently banned its Gay Pride march and plans to amend its constitution so that it only recognises two genders. In January, Mr Trump signed an executive order stating there were only two genders.

We dont care whether you fall in love with a man or woman or both, Mr Szijjarto said.

Its up to you, but we want to protect our children from the more and more aggressive LGBT propaganda.

We want to protect our children from LGBT organisations entering schools and kindergartens, telling Peter that you Peter, if you want, can be Petra.

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Americano or latte? Sometimes, memory plays tricks.

At Memory Cafe in east China's Shanghai, a simple coffee order might not always go as expected. After all, a sign at the counter gently reminds customers -- "If you order an Americano but get a latte instead, please be understanding." At this venue, small mix-ups serve a bigger purpose.

The baristas, unlike the swift, sharp-eyed professionals in most cafes, are elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment. With the support of community volunteers, they take on roles like greeting customers and managing the register, proving that even as memories fade, warmth and connection can still be brewed fresh every day.

For them, this cafe is more than just a workplace. It is a form of therapy. Engaging with customers and learning new tasks help keep their minds active, fostering confidence and slowing cognitive decline.

"Life at home often feels monotonous, and I don't use my brain much. But here, I chat with customers, encounter new things, and feel much more energized," one of the elderly baristas at Memory Cafe said.

The 2024 China Alzheimer's Disease Report revealed that over 16 million people in the country were living with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. As the population ages, the prevalence of these conditions is rising, posing a significant threat to the elderly.

Despite being recognized for over a century, the exact causes of Alzheimer's disease remain elusive, with its symptoms often emerging subtly and insidiously.

Pathological changes in the brain can begin 20 to 30 years before dementia sets in, with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) marking a critical early stage, said Kang Lin, chief physician of geriatrics at Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

"Identifying MCI enables timely treatment, which can delay dementia onset and improve long-term quality of life," Kang said, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis and intervention.

The latest data showed that 30 percent of Chinese Alzheimer's patients seek medical care annually, a rise driven by increased public awareness and improved healthcare access.

Patients with mild Alzheimer's symptoms can preserve brain function through cognitive training, while early medication use provides greater therapeutic benefits, said Wang Wei, chief physician of neurology at Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University in Beijing.

In recent years, several Alzheimer's treatments have been approved, particularly for early-stage patients. The recent introduction of the donanemab injection has further expanded such options.

Officially launched in China in late March, the drug has in clinical trials shown an ability to slow cognitive and functional decline by up to 35 percent -- though it also carries potential risks, such as brain edema and hemorrhage.

While medical advances offer hope, day-to-day care remains crucial, especially for families supporting loved ones with the disease.

In the city of Baoding, north China's Hebei Province, Ms. Zhang has been caring for her mother, who has Alzheimer's, for over a decade. Through years of experience, Zhang has developed a few helpful strategies, including labeling commonly used items around the house and sewing tags with family members' phone numbers into her mother's clothing.

Caring for Alzheimer's patients is often a heavy burden for families, said Gao Jing, chief physician of neurology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Gao called for increased societal support, including training more caregivers and strengthening community services, daycare and professional nursing homes.

In response to these challenges, China has launched the National Action Plan for Addressing Dementia in the Elderly (2024-2030), which aims to expand care services, develop care facilities in urban and rural communities, encourage specialized dementia institutions, and improve vocational education for dementia care professionals.

Shanghai's Memory Cafe is part of the city's dementia-friendly support center, established by the government in January 2024. The center provides cognitive training, hosts public lectures and salons to raise awareness, and offers professional training for care workers.

Similar initiatives are expanding across China as part of a broader push to strengthen care systems for Alzheimer's and other cognitive disorders. By the end of 2025, the city of Guangzhou in south China plans to add at least 4,000 dementia care beds in elderly care institutions, while Shandong Province in east China is rolling out cognitive screenings and interventions to boost diagnosis and treatment among the elderly.

A young visitor to Memory Cafe shared her experience: "Being here reminded me of my own grandmother, who also has Alzheimer's. Many elderly patients worsen simply because they lack regular social interaction. The best way to slow the disease is to keep them engaged by doing what they can and staying connected with others."

She hopes more people will come to this special cafe -- where every cup of coffee helps grandparents relearn the skills of connection and rediscover a sense of purpose. 
A Huntington Park Police Department officer shot and killed an alleged arsonist who was armed with a knife early Tuesday morning, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, which is assisting with the investigation.

The 44-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, had reportedly set a fire at Salt Lake Park, 3401 E. Florence Ave., prompting police to be called just before 12:30 a.m., the LASD said in a news release.

The man had a large knife, and despite HPPD officers demanding he drop the weapon, the man failed to comply, the Sheriffs Department said.

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Despite the use of a stun gun, the man continued to pose an immediate threat, and at least one officer opened fire.

The man was declared dead at a local hospital, and a knife was found at the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to call the LASD Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.



To report information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477) or visit lacrimestoppers.org.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
VINEYARD, Utah (ABC4)  University of Utahs Huntsman Cancer Institute broke ground on its second campus on Tuesday, celebrating how the $400 million project will improve access to care for Utah County cancer patients.

Several hundreds of people attended the groundbreaking ceremony, with politicians, students, clinicians, scientists, and community members present. The event was held near the cancer centers new 19-acre site, situated in the Utah City community in Vineyard near Utah Lake.

The site for the new Huntsman Cancer Institutes Vineyard campus. (Credit: Huntsman Cancer Institute)

The new Utah County location will be approximately 272,000 square feet and is expected to be completed by the fall of 2028, according to the press release.

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The Huntsman Cancer Institute serves patients from Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, and Montana, as officials say its the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Mountain West.

Patients from the Utah County area visited the cancer center in Salt Lake County more than 40,000 times last year. Officials are anticipating more than 55,000 visits to the new facility annually, saying it will likely save patients over two hours of travel time per visit.

By expanding access to cutting-edge cancer care and research, especially for patients in Utahs rural and frontier communities, were delivering on our promise to improve lives across the state and beyond, U of U President Taylor Randall said.

Gov. Spencer Cox said this new campus is in response to Utahs growing communities and will enhance lifesaving insights and innovations that will transform health here at home and around the world.

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The new center will not only improve access for patients, but will also increase collaboration with students and professionals at the University of Utah, Utah Valley University, and Brigham Young University.

The institute currently has 250 research teams studying cancer and touts discovering more genes for inherited cancers than any other cancer center. The new center will make room for additional research and clinical trials while providing a range of cancer services to patients.

At the University of Utah, the research isnt just part of our missionits the engine that drives transformative change, Randall said. The new Huntsman Cancer Institute in Vineyard represents a bold step toward realizing a future where cancer will be a thing of the past.

The total cost of the project is budgeted for $400 million, but only about 75% of the funding has been secured so far.

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Contributors from the Huntsman Family Foundation, the State of Utah, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Flagship Companies, Woodbury Corporation, and several other companies, foundations, and families have donated to the new cancer center.

Officials with the Huntsman Cancer Foundation said they are confident that their passionate community of donors will help complete the needed funding.

Huntsman Cancer Institutes vision in the new fields of research, such as DNA and immunotherapies, will help change cancer outcomes for a generation. Today, we make the investment that will shape the next generation of care and research and hopefully bring an end to cancer, said Peter Huntsman, CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.

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SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA)  For residents impacted by Hurricane Ian in 2022, the recovery process has been a long one. This week, a storm victim in Venice celebrated a big milestone in her recovery journey.

Crews showed up outside Diane Flanagans mobile home early Monday to demolish it. Once her lot is fully cleared, she will receive a replacement home through Sarasota Countys Resilient SRQ Housing Recovery Program.

I wasnt expecting to get what I am getting. I was hoping for a little help, but to be in a new home that is built with more hurricane-resistant standards is just it is just so comforting because the next one couldve blown away completely, said Flanagan.

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Massive great white shark pings off Florida Gulf Coast

The retired teacher described her neighborhood as a war zone after Ian. With less than two months until this upcoming hurricane season, shes relieved to finally have her fresh start. Surrounded by neighbors and Resilient SRQ staff, Flanagan was grinning from ear to ear during the demolition.

I am very, very, very happy. I cant even begin to express how thrilled I am. Im thankful, said Flanagan.

Flanagan is one of the first homeowners in the county to receive a replacement home through the federally funded county program.

A couple years ago when Sarasota County was really fortunate to get this gift of funding from the federal government from HUD, one of the first things we thought about was the county is going to be replacing homes, demoing homes, rehabilitating homes, things of that nature. It is the first time really the county has been in this business. It has taken a long time to get to this point, there is a big process that we have to follow and its really exciting to see all those efforts come together here today and for these homeowners and over the next few months as we start cranking things out, said Division Manager for the Program Management Division at Sarasota County Steve Hyatt.

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Hyatt says there are 40 to 50 homes in the pipeline that will be replaced in the next few months.

We will also have some single-family homes that will be fully reconstructed, and we have had quite a few of rehabilitations for homes. We are replacing roofs, windows, things of that nature while also taking those elements and putting more impact-resistant elements into those homes, like impact windows, roof tiedowns, more resilient homes are coming into the community through this program. We are not just putting the community back to where it once was, but we are making it better, we are making it more resilient, said Hyatt.

Hyatt said other counties across the region are looking at this program as an example of what to do with similar hurricane disaster recovery funds

We are trying to help not just Sarasota County, but the region to be prepared to take on this funding and hit the ground running and utilize experiencing that we gained to make their communities more resilient, said Hyatt.

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Flanagan is elated for the new beginning in a more durable home.

I really cant put a number on what this might be saving the homeowners, but think about it. They may have had a home that was severely damaged and now they are going to get a brand new home, they are not going to have to worry about if things are met up to code or if the contractor pulled the permit, we are doing everything by the books, so the homeowners are going to be in a really good place when we leave them, said Housing Recovery Project Manager for Resilient SRQ Tammy Owens.

The county received an additional $210 million following hurricanes Debbie, Helene and Milton in 2024. A draft action plan will go before commissioners on April 22.

A lot of those dollars are more than likely going to be directed toward infrastructure projects. We will have quite a few multifamily affordable housing projects, and again, probably some projects like this today where there will be replacement of homes, elevation of a home, rehabilitation, reimbursement to homeowners and things of that nature, said Hyatt.

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The husband of New Jersey mayor Gina LaPlaca, who was charged with driving drunk with her toddler in the car last month, said the public should go easy on her because she is just a small-town official.

Its not like shes the mayor of some big city. Lumberton has only 13,000 people, LaPlacas husband, Jason Carty, told the Philadelphia Inquirer Friday.

All I want is for my wife to get better and for everyone to leave her alone.

Lumberton Township Mayor Gina LaPlaca was arrested and charged with driving under the influence on March 17, 2025. WPVI

The 45-year-old Democrat was allegedly captured on video by another driver swerving all over the road and nearly crashing into a utility pole after she picked up her 2-year-old son from day care on St. Patricks Day.

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Police arrived at LaPlacas house and found her toddler strapped in a car seat in the rear passenger seat.

The officers then made her perform field sobriety tests, where she could be seen stumbling when asked to stand on one leg.

While investigating her car, officers allegedly found a water bottle filled with alcohol and a small liquor bottle.

LaPlaca was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving, and endangering the welfare of a child. She was released with a summons to appear in court on April 28.

LaPlaca was elected mayor of Lumberton in 2022 by a five-person committee and won re-election in 2023 and 2024. Lumberton Mayor Gina LaPlaca / Facebook

Carty, a former fire chief for Westhampton, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that his wife is in an inpatient facility and on a path to recovery.

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Last week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy urged LaPlaca to put her public duties aside.

However, LaPlaca, who was elected mayor of Lumberton in 2022 by a five-person committee and won re-election in 2023 and 2024, confirmed in an email late last month that she would not resign from her mayoral position.

I will not be resigning my position. Our community needs to be more kind and understanding about people trying to better themselves. As we all know, there is a huge black eye and black cloud over our town right now, the email obtained by Fox 29 read.

While investigating her car, officers allegedly found a water bottle filled with alcohol and a small liquor bottle. WPVI

Outraged residents of Lumberton Township packed a committee board meeting following her arrest and email saying she would not resign to rally against the 45-year-old mayor.

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LaPlacas fellow committee member, Terrance Benson, sided with the residents and called for her resignation.

My personal opinion is for the mayor to step down and to heal herself, Benson said.

Her arrest came just a week after she resigned as business administrator in Neptune Township, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Following her arrest, she was released with a summons to appear in court on April 28. WPVI

LaPlacas resignation came after a video posted online showed her being escorted out of the Mount Holly fire commissioners meeting by police on March 5.

In the 14-second video, LaPlaca was heard calling another woman a skank bih while police removed her from the room.

You have no idea what Ive been through, you fking skank bih, shes heard yelling.

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The heated exchange was ignited when the public criticized her husbands appointment as captain of the Ewing Township Fire Department in Mercer County, the Asbury Park Press reported.

Carty released a statement after the video was posted that he personally asked Gina to leave the meeting due to the harassment she was being subjected to by the unruly crowd.

Of course only a short clip was posted that shows her clapping back at them but the truth is she was harassed for over an hour. A few individuals made disgusting and misogynistic remarks to her and they should be ashamed of themselves, he said.

LaPlaca had been the business administrator in Neptune Township since January 2022.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now)  A man was sentenced Monday for the fatal overdose death of a teenage boy in October 2023, the Montgomery County states attorneys office announced.

Caesar Alexander Lopez, 25, pleaded guilty in November of last year to the involuntary manslaughter of 17-year-old Aiden Vining.

On Oct. 24, 2023, a family member found Vining unresponsive in his bedroom when they tried waking him up for school.

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US Senators from Maryland, Virginia demand return of Maryland man mistakenly deported

First responders lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers found a straw with white residue at the scene, as well as a round blue pill labelled M 30 in Vinings wallet.

His cause of death was ruled to be Cocaine and Fentanyl Intoxication.

The States Attorneys Office said Lopez was arrested following Montgomery County Department of Polices (MCPD) investigation, during which they found messages between him and Vining.

Vining arranged to purchase 10 percs and cocaine within days of his death.

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We are experiencing heartbreaking loss in our community due to fentanyl overdoses. We must continue to work on educating our youth, in particular, about the dangers of street level drugs. The DEA tells us seven out of every ten pills seized contain a lethal dose of fentanyl, said States Attorney John McCarthy after Lopezs guilty plea.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with all but five years suspended. Upon his release, he was also ordered to spend five years of supervised probation.

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(NewsNation)  Impersonators pretending to be immigration agents are spreading fear among migrants already uncertain about their future in the country.

Cases of illegitimate Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been reported across the country. Some have been charged with federal criminal crimes of impersonating a federal law enforcement agent.

In Florida, a 23-year-old man was recently arrested and charged when police said that he claimed to be an ICE agent and threatened to deport two men after he pulled their vehicle over and demanded their identification.

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Justice Roberts temporarily halts deadline to return mistakenly deported man

A 33-year-old South Carolina man was arrested in January after he was accused of stopping a vehicle with Latino men inside and claimed to be with ICE. Video of the encounter involving Sean Michael Johnson allegedly claiming that Latinos were going back to Mexico went viral.

Johnson was charged with three counts of kidnapping, impersonating a law enforcement officer, petty larceny and assault and battery.

In North Carolina, a 37-year-old man purported to be an ICE agent and allegedly sexually assaulted a woman at a local hotel, saying he would have her deported if she did not have sex with him, local affiliate WBTV reported.

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In North Dakota, a man posing as an ICE agent walked an inmate out of a local jail after telling officials he was there to pick him up. Jail officials only learned of the mistake when the real immigration officer showed up.

But such cases are only hurting legitimate efforts by ICE, which reported in March it had arrested more than 32,800 people in the first 50 days of President Donald Trumps second term in the White House.

ICE works very hard on its image  an image that is constantly being torn apart by the open border and (the) Abolish ICE movement, John Fabbricatore, a retired chief of the Denver ICE field office, told NewsNation. Impersonators tarnish that image and create an even more resistive relationship with ICE.

Warnings of ICE impersonators

California Attorney General Rob Bonta recently warned residents to protect themselves after new reports of ICE impersonators and other immigration-related scams were reported.

Thomas Giles, Field Office Director, Los Angeles, meets with ICE agents before going out to raid and arrest an illegal immigrant with a criminal record in 2022. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Bonta said that bad actors and scammers have sought to capitalize on the fear and uncertainty created by the Trump administrations racist rhetoric and destructive immigration policies.

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Last month, Bonta warned Californians about an uptick in criminal activity and scams related to immigration enforcement.

Cartels targeting US firms in Mexico for theft, extortion

Let me be clear: If you seek to scam or otherwise take advantage of Californias immigrant communities, you will be held accountable, Bonta said. My office will continue to ensure our laws are fully enforced and the rights of Californias immigrants are respected and protected.

In February, Temple University officials in Philadelphia warned students after three people  including two who were wearing black T-shirts with the words Police and ICE printed on them  attempted to enter a university residence hall but were denied access. Police are looking for a third person seen on camera recording interactions between the three people and Temple students.

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Two students were suspended in the incident, and one of the students was charged with impersonating a public servant. School officials said harassment of members of the university community will not be tolerated.

After Johnson was arrested near Charleston, South Carolina, earlier this year, The Charleston Hispanic Association told local affiliate WCIV that concerns have increased over migrant safety. Johnsons family, meanwhile, has told police officials that he struggles with mental health issues.

The big fear when it all started is that ICE is after anybody and almost sounds like racial profiling, Enrique Grace, the organizations chief financial officer, told the station. If you look Latin, were going to stop you. If you look like an immigrant, were going to stop you. And thats not the case. And its kind of gone overboard.

Fabbricatore, the retired ICE field office chief, said that impersonators can be very damaging to legitimate ICE activity. An ICE spokesman said that the agency strongly condemns the impersonation of its agents and that those doing so can face local, state and federal charges.

How ICE impersonators drive migrant fears

The increase in ICE attention and agent impersonations has put the onus on immigrant communities to protect migrants who may become targets for bad actors, Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, an associate policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute, said.

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Chapo associate Leo arrested in Mexico City after years on the run

In addition to migrants already being aware of increased immigration enforcement by federal agencies, ICE impersonators have added to the growing list of concerns, she told NewsNation.

Putzel-Kavanaugh, like Bonta, said migrants need to know their rights and to understand how they can protect themselves by asking an agent for their badge number and name before cooperating.

Still, anxiety remains high even among those who have been instructed about how to handle themselves during encounters with ICE.

The increase in enforcement operations that weve seen and surely, the increase in (migrant) arrests has already caused an immense chilling effect on immigrant communities, Putzel-Kavanaugh said. So, this adds certainly another layer to that chilling effect that already exists. This isnt necessarily new, but it adds to a culture of concern and fear that people are living in.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Two recent immigration arrests at the Milwaukee County Courthouse are raising questions among elected officials and advocates about the extent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's authority in local courthouses and the potential chilling effect on immigrants seeking justice

Some information came to light about one of the two people detained in the courthouse hallways by ICE agents. But much remained unknown about the detained immigrants.

And it was unclear what actions, if any, local officials may take to prevent additional detentions at the complex.

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ICE agents detained one person in the public hallways of the courthouse on March 20, and the other person in the hallways of the nearby Safety Building on April 3, according to a letter from Milwaukee County's chief judge Carl Ashley to courthouse staff Thursday. The first arrest occurred after a hearing, and the second occurred before a hearing, Ashley said.

In a statement over the weekend, Ashley said ICE operations in the courthouse could deter immigrants from attending hearings, seeking legal aid or reporting crimes. It also erodes trust in the judicial system and creates confusion over what legal protections immigrants have, he said.

"It undermines the principles of justice, fairness, and equality before the law, and ultimately jeopardizes the rights of individuals seeking to navigate the legal process," Ashley's statement read. "Courts must remain safe havens for all individuals, free from the threats of immigration enforcement."

Ashley also told the Journal Sentinel in an email that he was "not aware of any other Wisconsin jurisdiction having encountered this; at least not yet." Asked whether he had received guidance on ICE operations from the Director of State Courts, Ashley said it was "premature" to answer.

Several elected officials raised alarms after two people were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

The man detained April 3  in court for charges related to firing shots at a south-side bar  was 27-year-old Edwin O. Bustamante-Sierra, according to one of his attorneys, Ramon Arellano Valdez. The identity of the person detained March 20 remained unknown Monday.

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One ICE spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Another ICE spokesman declined on Monday to answer questions about the detained individuals because the Journal Sentinel did not have their A-numbers, which are identifiers for immigrants.

More: As deportations loom, we answer how immigrants get visas, pay taxes, apply for citizenship

Chief judge says he's researching what changes could be made

Several Milwaukee County supervisors said they disapproved of the ICE operations at the courthouse and were looking into what could be done.

But they didn't provide concrete examples of steps they could take, and neither did Ashley. Most said they didn't know what levers they could pull.

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It's an emerging issue nationally as the Trump administration's immigration crackdown continues.

A ruling from the Oregon Supreme Court requires ICE agents to have a signed judicial warrant to make an arrest in a courthouse. A New York law also prohibits immigration arrests in courthouses without judicial warrants, although a top judge there said in February that agents have arrested people in hallways and outside buildings.

Meanwhile, a Boston municipal judge recently held an ICE agent in contempt of court for detaining a man during his trial.

More: Is Milwaukee a sanctuary city? Not quite, but it's one of Wisconsin's closest examples

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In Milwaukee, Ashley said he has been looking at communications from ICE and researching how other jurisdictions have navigated similar situations. He said he is playing a balancing act trying to find the best course for Milwaukee County.

I don't want to mislead folks. I want to give people accurate information, and not to give them false hopes, but also to encourage folks to know that they still have the right to come here, he said. There's a lot of complexity here, and so I want to be careful.

He said hes working on creating a policy that is consistent with the law and consistent with allowing people access.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of local advocacy group Voces de la Frontera, commended Ashley for speaking out and urged the chief judge and county supervisors to enact policies that ban ICE interrogations and arrests in and around the courthouse.

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Had it passed, a draft County Board resolution from 2017 would have urged ICE to add courts to its list of "sensitive locations" such as schools, churches and hospitals, where operations are limited. It also would have encouraged the chief judge to ask ICE to avoid operations on and around courthouse grounds.

Now is the moment to make it happen," Neumann-Ortiz said of the resolution, which would have been non-binding.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, speaks at a news conference in February calling attention to Yessenia Ruano, a teacher's aide facing the possibility of deportation.

An ICE policy in place since Jan. 21 allows immigration agents to make arrests "in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe (the person) is or will be present at a specific location."

The policy also states that the arrests should "continue to take place in non-public areas of the courthouse, be conducted in collaboration with court security staff, and use the court buildings non-public entrances and exits."

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It's part of a larger rollback on protections for so-called sensitive locations. The Department of Homeland Security has said this rollback "empowers" agents to make arrests, asserting that criminals were hiding in those areas to avoid arrest.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the courthouse arrests.

More: On all-night calls, Hmong American woman stranded in Laos searches for a path forward

County supervisors wrestle with consequences of any potential policies

When Milwaukee County Supervisor Justin Bielinski first learned of the ICE arrests at the courthouse, he felt a mixture of anger and frustration. He's part of a coalition of County Board supervisors working with Ashley to figure out whether any additional protocols can be put in place to protect residents.

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Bielinski said he wanted to explore potentially changing Milwaukee County ordinances. But he also expressed concern about the possibility of retaliatory funding cuts from the Trump administration.

"The only downside is, anytime you do a resolution or an ordinance, then it kind of can put a target on your backs, he said.

Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez has been working with Darryl Morin of the advocacy group Forward Latino to investigate those questions and find possible legal pathways to prevent similar situations in the future. The group is planning a news conference on the courthouse arrests Tuesday.

County Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez at a board meeting as the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors votes on a sales tax increase in 2023.

"We're not hopeless, but it's just sort of like, what kind of protocols can we implement that this administration isn't going to bypass? Because they're pretty much doing whatever they want, Martinez said.

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Supervisor Caroline Gomez-Tom, who represents one of Milwaukee County's two Latino-majority supervisory districts, also expressed frustration over the ICE arrests and said something must change in order to make the courthouse a safe space for residents.

A lot of this is unprecedented," Gomez-Tom said, adding that her goal was to "get people in the room that can work collaboratively to make the changes needed to not let this happen again."

More: They came to the U.S. legally with American sponsors. Trump put their future in jeopardy.

Immigrant detained by ICE was in court for hearings in two cases

Court records for Bustamante-Sierra show he is charged in two criminal cases: a felony shooting case and a misdemeanor cocaine possession case. Both are ongoing, meaning he has not been convicted.

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It appears that ICE agents arrested Bustamante-Sierra between status hearings for the two cases. His hearing for the felony case was at 9:30 a.m. with Milwaukee Circuit Judge Kori Ashley, and online court records show that he was in attendance. But by his 1:30 p.m. hearing for the misdemeanor case, online records show he wasn't there and was in custody.

In the felony case, Bustamante-Sierra is accused of firing shots outside a bar on two occasions in 2023 after arguments with bar patrons, according to a criminal complaint. No one was injured in the shootings.

Prosecutors charged him Nov. 5 with first- and second-degree recklessly endangering safety as well as endangering safety by firing shots into a building where people could be present. Two counts had a dangerous weapon modifier.

According to the complaint, after Bustamante-Sierra was kicked out of a bar on Sept. 23, 2023, he was arguing with patrons outside. As they walked in the other direction, he fired shots. His arm appeared to be "pointing down but in the direction of the individuals walking away," the complaint said.

The next day, the complaint said, he was kicked out of the bar again and again fired shots, both at the bar and toward a group of people. Surveillance footage shows "one individual directly in the line of fire who is startled and holds his hands up and flinches," according to the complaint.

Bustamante-Sierra told police he did not recall one of the shootings because he was drunk, according to the complaint. In another, he said he fired at the ground to end an altercation.

The establishment, El Cielo Bar at 1226 W. Lincoln Ave., was effectively shuttered in November by the Milwaukee Common Council after complaints of noise, fights and gunshots. Police reports indicate investigators also found cocaine, guns and live chickens on the property.

In the cocaine possession case, Bustamante-Sierra was charged with a misdemeanor after he failed a field sobriety test following a car crash in 2022, and officers found 0.23 grams of cocaine, according to a criminal complaint.

Bustamante-Sierra also received three traffic citations from a traffic stop in Fond du Lac County in October 2024. The tickets were for reckless driving, driving without a license and speeding. He was driving 92 mph in a 65 mph zone, according to the ticket. He was ticketed $1,501 in total.

The Journal Sentinel does not know what Bustamante-Sierra's legal status is, or on what grounds ICE detained him. The Trump administration has said it is focused on deporting both those with criminal charges and those with convictions.

People with criminal convictions typically serve their sentence in the U.S. then are transferred to ICE detention centers to await deportation. But immigration law is highly complex, and deportations may occur before a criminal conviction for many reasons.

Immigrant advocates say everyone, regardless of legal status, has the right to due process in court.

About a quarter of the people detained since Trump's inauguration have no criminal charges or convictions, according to ICE statistics through mid-March. ICE agents in Trump's second term have detained or deported people with no criminal record in several high-profile cases, including international students as well as Venezuelan migrants who were sent to a Salvadoran mega-prison.

Several studies show immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than American-born citizens. A Department of Justice study found undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born citizens for violent and drug crimes and a quarter the rate of native-born citizens for property crimes.

Ashley Luthern of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

Sophie Carson is a general assignment reporter who reports on religion and faith, immigrants and refugees and more. Contact her at scarson@gannett.com or 920-323-5758.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: ICE courthouse arrests prompt Milwaukee officials to look into changes
Beaver dam analogs installed on Hurry Up/Hurry Back Creek on Bruneau rancher Chris Blacks property in Owyhee County slow down runoff and increase the water table, benefitting wildlife and cattle. (Photo by Steve Stuebner/LOTR)

This information was first published in the April edition of Conservation the Idaho Way, a newsletter of the Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission.

The deadline for applications is coming up on May 2 to apply for Sage Grouse Action Team grant funds from the Idaho Governors Office of Species Conservation. Funds for successful applications will be available by July 1, 2025.

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A number of Idaho soil and water conservation districts have applied for Sage Grouse Action Team grant funds in the past, including the Butte, Wood River and Bruneau districts, leading to successful conservation projects.

Funding for individual grant projects ranges from $2,000 to $218,000 per year, said Josh Uriarte, project manager for the Office of Species Conservation. The agency receives $750,000 in general funds for work on sage grouse that includes restoration, wildfire rehabilitation, surveys, fire equipment and employee time each year, he said.

About $550,000 to $600,000 is available for projects this year, Uriarte said. Fifteen projects were funded last year.

There is a lot of potential overlap between district goals, landowners objectives to improve or protect their range and livestock grazing, and balanced sage grouse habitat management, said George Hitz, Soil and Water Conservation deputy director.

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Idahos conservation districts take a lead role in helping landowners make timely effective land management decisions, he said. For conservation districts containing sage grouse management areas, I think this could be an excellent Idaho-sourced funding opportunity for conservation to support a diverse rangeland ecosystem and to help ranching thrive. I encourage districts to look into it along with any potential participants or partners and see if the opportunity fits.

The types of projects that have been funded in the past include wet meadow habitat projects, re-seeding projects to restore the range post-fire or to eliminate invasive grasses, slash treatment projects in areas where juniper trees are being removed to enhance sage grouse habitat, fuel breaks projects and more.

Background from the Idaho Governors Office of Species Conservation website

In May 2015, the state agencies charged with implementing the governors strategy  including the Office of Species Conservation, Idaho Department of Lands, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game  established the Sage Grouse Actions Team, along with local federal agency partners including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and and the National Resources Conservation Service. The Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Idaho Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy also are part of the group.

The team works collaboratively to prioritize and fund actions in accordance with the governors strategy. Priorities for funding include helping equip Rangeland Fire Protection Associations to improve fire suppression capabilities, build strategic fuel breaks to slow the spread of wildfire, restore areas that have been degraded by wildfire from encroached juniper trees and annual grasses, restore and improve brood rearing habitat, and enhance the monitoring of sage grouse activity.

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In fiscal year 2024, 15 conservation projects were funded by the Sage Grouse Action Team, which on average leveraged $3.57 non-state dollars for every state dollar spent to implement projects, Uriarte said.

These efforts resulted in more than $2.8 million in collaborative conservation. There were also 10 Rangeland Fire Protection Associations assisted with an offset to their insurance, wildland firefighting tools and protective equipment for over $52,000. Many times, the state general fund dollars are used as match to bring other funding sources to Idaho such as the Cheatgrass Challenge and grants through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Here is a list of the fiscal year 2024 projects that were funded:

2,538 acres  conifer treatment

3,122 acres  annual grass treatment

1,318 acres of post-fire rehabilitation

62 acres of wet meadow enhancement and 5 miles of stream work

393 acres of fuel breaks

2,000 acres of sagebrush seeding

Sage grouse lek counting and monitoring

University of Idaho Grouse and Grazing Study

Idaho Rangeland Conservation Partnership Coordinator Position

Bruneau-Owyhee Sage Grouse Habitat Project Coordinator Position

Support for Rangeland Fire Protection Associations

The colored pins show all the Sage Grouse Action Team projects funded from fiscal years 2015-2025 across southern Idaho. (Courtesy of OSC)

Conservation District projects

Hammond Springs  Butte Soil and Water Conservation District  worked with a landowner and Natural Resources Conservation Service to install check dams in the fall of 2018 to trap sediment and help reconnect the creek with its flood plain. In addition, they removed cattle water troughs located in a riparian area, returned springflow to the creek, and moved the water troughs off-site to uplands, and installed a well, solar pump and pipeline to route water to them.

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In 2020, Butte SWCD received funding for a no-till drill and Wood River SWCD got funds for a rangeland drill for seeding projects.

Bruneau SWCD  beaver dam analogs on Hurry Up/Hurry Back creek with Bruneau rancher Chris Black on his private land in Owyhee County. The first BDAs were installed initially by a Utah Conservation Corps crew, who worked on the project in coordination with Utah State University.

Conservation professionals with OSC, SWC, U.S. FWS, IDFG and NRCS were all interested in exploring the benefits of using beaver dam analogs to improve riparian habitat and store water. They assisted the landowner and Utah crews with project management and implementation.

Beaver dam analogs are woody structures made with local materials such as willow branches attached to vertical posts pounded into a creek-bottom that mimic the natural work of beavers. The beaver dam analogs create pond habitat, spread out the water table, and slow down runoff in the spring.

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They started with 10 beaver dam analogs on Chris Blacks property, and added more over the next several years.

They came in and put them in very successfully, Black said in a story and video produced on the project by Life on the Range, a public education project sponsored by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission. Theyre backing water up, theyre creating habitat for spotted frogs, for sage grouse, for beaver.

It just benefits a whole host of wildlife species and thats why Fish and Game is really interested in this, says Chris Yarbrough, habitat biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Its a low-cost way to get a lot of bang for your conservation buck.

These meadows are like a sponge, Black explains. They take that water and they hold it, and release it slowly into the system. So we dont get that big rush in the spring, when the springs are active, they run hard and then just dry up. Then you just have a dry meadow. With water being held back in the system, it releases slowly, and that benefits downstream users, too, so its a benefit for everything.

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Black has a healthy sage grouse population that live part of the year on his private ranchland and part of the year on public lands nearby that are benefitting from the project.

Invasive Species Rangeland Restoration Projects

Two conservation districts around the state and the Bruneau-Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat, or BOSH, project have tapped into the Sage Grouse Action Team grant funds to restore native rangeland habitat by spraying invasive grasses with herbicide, which allows native grasses and forbs to release and grow back following the treatments.

In the fall of 2021, Connor White, BOSH project manager, worked with two different private landowners to treat a total of 136 acres of land infested with medusahead wild rye, cheatgrass, ventenata and Japanese brome. Both sites were sprayed with the herbicide Rejuvra.

The rangeland restoration project was done following the treatment for invasive juniper trees. The BOSH project has been removing juniper to open up historic sage grouse habitat areas. The birds are not able to safely use areas where predators like crows, ravens and birds of prey can perch nearby. Juniper trees also consume much of the available water from an area. Once they are removed, native grasses and forbs will increase in vigor, research shows.

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If invasive grasses are preventing the native vegetation from rebounding, rangeland projects are experimenting with the use of the herbicides Rejuvra and Plateau to allow the natives more space, water and nutrients to grow back, White said.

We did those initial pilot projects and then in the fall of 2023, we treated 3,000 acres in two fields with similar results, White said.

More information about the science of using Rejuvra has been coming forth from the research community, he said. Rejuvra can take several years to show positive results, he said. It can be used in tandem with Plateau, which brings stronger results in the first year, White said.

Once the native grasses and forbs have space to thrive, they will release and grow. My goodness, we were surprised how well things grew back, he said.

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The Lemhi SWC and Cassia SWCD tried similar treatments to eliminate annual invasive grasses with similar results.

For more information, go to the OSC Sage grouse Action Team webpage: https://species.idaho.gov/programs/sage-grouse-actions-team/ or contact Josh Uriarte at joshua.uriarte@osc.idaho.gov, 208-332-1556.

Steve Stuebner is a regular contributor to Conservation the Idaho Way.

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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)

Less than an hour after the Idaho Legislature passed its final bill of the year on Friday  the so-called medical freedom act  Gov. Brad Little already signed it into law.

The new broad medical mandate ban bill, Senate Bill 1210, will bar Idaho businesses, government entities, schools and colleges from restricting entry, employment or services based on requirements for medical interventions  like vaccines, medical diagnosis or treatment.

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Little vetoed an earlier version of the bill, saying he worried the original bill jeopardizes schools ability to send home sick kids. The tweaked bill he later signed carves out an exception for that.

Idahos new medical requirement ban law takes effect July 1.

The Legislature adjourned for the year Friday afternoon.

But as Idahos governor, Little still has to decide what to do with more than a dozen bills on his desk  at least as of Monday night.

During the legislative session, Little only has five days to decide on bills. But once the Legislature adjourns for the year, Little has a 10-day deadline on bill actions.

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Little has not yet taken action on at least two health bills, including House Bill 109, that will require Idaho to seek federal approval to stop covering candy and soda in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

A bill that would make ivermectin available in Idaho over-the-counter, without a prescription or health care provider consultation, Senate Bill 1211, still awaits the governors action. The drug, normally used to treat parasites, gained fame during the pandemic after false claims that it was effective in treating COVID-19.

The governor has three options on bills: sign them into law, allow them to become law without his signature, or veto them.

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests should the United States escalate its tariff measures, the country's commerce ministry said Tuesday.

The comments were made by a spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce after the United States threatened to impose an additional 50-percent tariff on Chinese imports, which the spokesperson said China firmly opposes.

The U.S. so-called "reciprocal tariffs" against China are groundless and a typical practice of unilateral bullying, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted that the countermeasures China has adopted are entirely legitimate actions aimed at protecting its sovereignty, security, and development interests, as well as maintaining a normal international trade order.

The U.S. tariff escalation threat against China compounds its mistake and further exposes its nature of blackmail, which China will never accept, said the spokesperson.

"China will fight till the end if the U.S. side is bent on going down the wrong path," the spokesperson noted.

China reiterates that there is no winner in a trade war and protectionism leads nowhere, said the spokesperson, adding that pressuring and threatening are not the right way to engage with the country.

China urges the United States to immediately correct its wrongdoings, cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China, stop its economic and trade suppression, and settle differences with China properly through equal-footed dialogue on the basis of mutual respect, the spokesperson said. 
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  As a measles outbreak spreads through other states, Idaho is ending publicly funded vaccinations for people living in the U.S. illegally.

A new law recently signed by Republican Gov. Brad Little will halt a variety of public benefits for those in the U.S. unlawfully, including communicable disease testing, prenatal and postnatal care for women, crisis counseling and some food assistance for children.

The Idaho law, which takes effect July 1, appears to be the first limiting public health benefits since President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to enhance eligibility verification and ensure that public benefits arent going to ineligible immigrants. Similar measures have been proposed in several other states.

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The restrictions on public benefits are part of a broader effort in Republican-led states to support Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. Some states have denied driver's licenses, revoked in-state college tuition rates and increased criminal penalties for immigrants in the U.S. illegally. And since Trump took office, there's been more than a threefold increase in the number of state and local law enforcement agencies with agreements to help enforce federal immigration laws.

Federal law has generally prohibited immigrants in the U.S. illegally from receiving taxpayer-funded benefits through programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families for several decades. But there are some exceptions, such as for emergency medical care.

States have had the flexibility to provide some other benefits regardless of immigration status, either through federal options or by financing them solely with state dollars. Idaho is repealing some of those special carve outs from its state law.

Republican Sen. Phil Hart, one of the bill's sponsors, said state funding can still be used for emergency medical services regardless of someones legal residency, as well as for services provided to an infant born in the U.S. to a parent who is not lawfully in the country. But he said someone else will have to foot the bill for things like vaccinations or prenatal health care.

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It doesnt prevent anybody from accessing any of these services. What it does do is prevent the state of Idaho from paying for those, Hart said during a Senate debate last week.

But opponents contend that restricting preventative health care  particularly as a measles outbreak in Texas spreads to other states  will threaten Idahos overall health and undermine the states anti-abortion stance.

We take a great deal of pride in being a pro-life state, and I share in that objective, Republican state Sen. Jim Guthrie said during debate. But in this case, the legislation denying prenatal care can compromise the lives of the preborn.

The new limits on public benefits also could dissuade some immigrants who are lawfully in the U.S. from going to health clinics or applying for services, said Valerie Lacarte, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C.

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"Just asking for immigration status has a chilling effect on peoples participation, Lacarte said Tuesday.

You want as many people as possible to get vaccinated, she said. But if you start introducing restrictions, exceptions  just narrowing who is eligible  it is fairly common to see that it spreads confusion."

Some Idaho health care providers, such as Terry Reilly Health Services, are still grappling with how to apply the new law. The community health center in southwestern Idaho provides medical, dental and mental health services to low-income and uninsured people.

We are just trying to determine how we can best provide services to our patients while staying within the law, said Claudia Weathermon, the communications director for Terry Reilly Health Services.

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The Idaho Foodbank, which administers two government food programs, said the vast majority of its food is either donated or purchased with donated money, which isn't affected by the new law.

We will continue to serve anyone with an expressed need for food, Idaho Foodbank President Randy Ford said.

Several industry and religious groups opposed the legislation, including the Food Producers of Idaho, the Idaho Dairymens Association, the Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry, the Catholic Diocese and Mormon Women for Ethical Government. But the legislation was backed by the powerful Idaho Freedom Foundation, a right-wing political think tank and lobbying group.

___

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO)  A bill that would ban black market restaurant reservations in Illinois has passed out of the House.

HB2456, or the Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act, would prevent third party services from listing, advertising, promoting, or selling restaurant reservations without a written agreement.

At a time when local restaurants are operating with extremely tight margins and working to recover from the impacts of COVID-19, they shouldnt have to deal with third-party services snatching up their reservations and selling them at a premium, which leads to no-shows and confusion that only hurts their bottom lines, said State Representative Margaret Croke, who introduced the bill.

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Services like OpenTable and Resy have agreements with restaurants for reservations, but services like Appointment Trader operate without the consent of local businesses, relying on bots to make reservations that are then sold to consumers at a premium.

New York passed legislation in 2024 to regulate the platforms; California, Florida, and Nevada are considering similar measures.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO)  On Tuesday, the Illinois House passed a bill that would prohibit schools from using a name, logo, or mascot that is derogatory or representative of a disabled individual or group.

House Bill 3527 was introduced by Rep. Maurice West (D-Rockford) in response to a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights by the activist group Mascots Matter, which accused Freeburg High Schools mascot, the Midgets, of offending people with dwarfism.

Mascots should uplift, not discriminate, while creating a supportive environment for all students, said West. Harmful and outdated mascots from Illinois schools, including those that perpetuate harmful stereotypes, have no place in our state. This bill is a critical step toward ensuring our schools foster a more inclusive, respectful future for all in Illinois. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the state senate to pass this bill into law.

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If passed by the Senate, the law would require schools to adopt a new mascot by September 1st, 2028.

Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) called the bills passage political theater, saying, This bill doesnt carry a penalty if a school ignores it. That tells you right there that its more about political spin than actual change. If were going to talk about this issue seriously, then lets have a conversation based in realitynot political performance.

There are ways to make respectful changes that dont break the bank. But this bill isnt about solutionsits about woke politics, said Cabello.

West is also behind House Bill 5617, which would amend the school code to prohibit school use the likeness of any person, animal, or object associated with Native American culture.

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The Trump administration is continuing its unconstitutional attack on attorneys it disagrees with, this time by detaining an American citizen.

Amir Makled, an attorney representing a pro-Palestinian student protester arrested at the University of Michigan last year, was detained at the Detroit Metro Airport Sunday upon returning from a trip to the Dominican Republic with his family.

Federal agents held Makled for 90 minutes, questioning him about his clients. They also tried to get Makled to give up his phone, which he refused to do, but agents did look at his contact list, the Detroit Free Press reported.

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Makled was ultimately released without incident, but his detention is an indication of Donald Trumps growing assault on attorneys taking cases he is against. The president has already issued executive orders penalizing five of the countrys top law firms, as well as a memo to the Justice Department directing the agency to punish immigration attorneys supposedly perpetuating fraud in the system.

This current administration is doing something that no administration has donethey are attacking attorneys, Makled told the Press. This is a different type of threat to the rule of law that I see. They are now challenging the judiciary, or lawyers, theyre putting pressure (on them) to dissuade attorneys from taking on issues that are against the governments issues. We have an obligation as lawyers to stand up to this stuff.

Trumps punishment of law firms, which is a move out of the autocrats handbook, comes amid a larger crackdown on free speech and any signpersonal or institutionalof Palestinian solidarity. In recent weeks, several international students involved in pro-Palestine protests have been unlawfully kidnapped and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and nearly 300 international students have had their visas revoked for similar reasons.

Makleds client, Samantha Lewis, is an American citizen and one of seven pro-Palestine protesters arrested at the University of Michigan last spring. The 38-year-old attorney is unsure whether this case is what triggered his detention Sunday, but he told the Press he will not stay silent despite the White Houses intimidation strategy.

I have to be a person who can speak out when your rights are violated. We have to be the balancing act. Were a nation of laws. You gotta have lawyers, he said.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  Two immigration cases have landed at the Supreme Court. They involve the Trump administrations deportation flights to El Salvador.

For now, the Supreme Court says the Trump administration can keep Kilmar Abrego Garcia in a notorious prison in El Salvador.

He was one of the Venezuelans deported to that prison last month even though his attorney says he had a permit to legally work in the U.S.

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The Trump administration says Abrego Garcias deportation was an administrative error

He wasnt a member of Tren de Aragua. He was a member of MS-13. Which is just as bad. So, they misidentified him. But it sounds to me like he was a member of MS-13, said President Donald Trump.

The lower court judge called that allegation vague and uncorroborated.

Virginia Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, says Americans support border security.

But they dont want their friends and neighbors who are here legally swept up and then say oops or sorry hes down in a deadly prison in El Salvador, said Warner.

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In a separate lawsuit the Supreme Court overturned a judges order that stopped the administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport people.

This was a smackdown to a rogue left wing, low-level, district court judge, said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

In a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court wrote that deportees should sue in Texas where they were held, not Washington, D.C.

All nine justices agreed that anyone about to be deported is entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal

Theyre not giving people a chance to show that theyre not even members of the gang, said Lee Gelernt of the ACLU.

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The ACLU has argued the deportees on these flights didnt have that opportunity.

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A member of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement apprehends a suspect. (Photo via U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement)

Immigration detentions in Maine have increased.

Legal groups that advocate for immigrant rights say the rise in detentions shows federal authorities are using Maine as a tool in its mass deportation goal, but caution that increased detentions dont necessarily mean there is increased enforcement, as of now.

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According to attorneys, while some of the people detained under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement orders in Maine were arrested in the state, the majority appear to be transferred from other states. And theyre quickly transferred out, too.

Its more of using Maine as a place to move people, said Carol Garvan, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.

Immigration arrests are happening in Maine, though its unclear if such arrests have increased. So far nationally, arrests and deportations have been lower in recent months compared to the same period last year, although legal experts are alarmed by the ways in which federal agents are making such arrests.

Local police enforcement around the state has been disjointed so far in the absence of formal federal partnerships, adding to confusion and fear.

Last week, ICE signed its first official partnership with a local law enforcement agency, which will allow officers to arrest people on immigration violations in the course of routine work, an authority previously reserved for federal agents. An application from another police department is pending.

Detentions by the numbers

Maines largest jail is seeing the highest number of detentions. Cumberland County Jail in Portland had 129 people detained under ICE orders in February and 122 in March, according to data provided by Steven Pyles, the Freedom of Access Act clerk for the sheriffs office.

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In comparison in 2024, in February the jail had 16 people detained under ICE orders and in March just 14.

The jail lifted a restriction on intake, largely due to staffing shortages, this summer. While ICE detentions had occurred prior, theyve largely increased since.

In 2024, the jail had 27 people detained under ICE orders in April, 13 in May, 10 in June, 20 in July, 27 in August, 47 in September, 49 in October, 54 in November and 50 in December.

Anna Welch, the founding director of Maine Laws Refugee and Human Rights Clinic and professor at University of Maine Law School, started a project in January to provide limited consultations for ICE detainees at Cumberland County Jail, in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine and the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project.

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More than half of the over 100 people detained under ICE orders who she and her students have spoken with were transferred to the jail from other states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

Unlike many other states, Maine doesnt have a dedicated ICE facility, which means local jails are relied on for detentions.

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The Cumberland County Sheriffs Office doesnt have a direct contract with ICE but has had a contract with the U.S. Marshal Service since July 2010. Under this contract, the county jail is given a daily rate to house federal detainees, including people awaiting a hearing on their immigration status or deportation.

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In the absence of a formal agreement, other county jails in Maine temporarily detain immigrants at the request of ICE.

For example, at the end of March, Androscoggin County Jail had three people with immigration charges, however they are being held on state charges that must be adjudicated first before the federal detainer kicks in, said Major Lane Feldman, the jail administrator.

We probably had 10 total since Jan. 20, but we do not hold long term, nor do we have an agreement with [Customs and Border Protection], Feldman said of people detained under ICE orders. They pick up and move within 24-48 hours of arrest.

York County Jail is handling such cases similarly. Sheriff William King Jr. said, as of the end of March, they had four people being held on criminal charges who also had ICE detainers.

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Androscoggin County Jail and York County Jail dont have official contracts with federal authorities like Cumberland, Feldman and King confirmed.

Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset is also holding people in immigration custody, anywhere from a dozen to 25 ICE detainees, according to legal advocacy groups that said they first began receiving communications from people detained under such orders there roughly a month ago, after not being aware of any cases prior.

Two Bridges Regional Jail did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding whether the facility has an agreement with federal authorities or is housing immigration detainees. ICE also did not respond to questions about whether the agency has a contract with Two Bridges and how many people are detained there under ICE orders.

During an interview with Maine Morning Star, Welch paused to note shed just received another intake sheet from someone calling her organization from Two Bridges. So they definitely are detaining immigrants there, she said. I just dont know the specifics about how many bed spaces theyve made available.

Expanding operations in the region

Just as many of the people being detained under ICE orders in the state werent arrested in Maine, they arent staying here long.

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Movement during immigration detention is common. As local sheriffs and jail administrators clarified, holds are often 24-72 hours before people are picked up by federal authorities.

We were just speaking with someone who was at Cumberland County Jail about issues and then when we went to talk with them again, they were in Texas, said Garvan from the ACLU of Maine.

It's certainly a money maker, and that obviously raises large red flags in terms of the human costs.

 Anna Welch, the founding director of Maine Laws Refugee and Human Rights Clinic and professor at University of Maine Law Schoo

ICE may move people for any number of reasons  space, staffing  but Garvan and Welch said regardless of intent, this movement creates chaos and makes it more difficult for both legal counsel to advocate for their clients and for families to keep in touch.

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I think that the open secret is that this is used as a way to move people farther away from where their communities are, where their lawyers are, where there are resources for them to maybe be able to better defend their immigration case, Welch said.

Just over the state border in New Hampshire, ICE started using the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in Berlin to detain immigrants, according to the ACLU of New Hampshire.

In February, the LA Times obtained an email from FCI Sheridan  a medium-security facility in Oregon  to its staff asking for volunteers willing to work at the New Hampshire facility that the email said is expected to receive at least 500 migrants from ICE.

While the UMaine Law group hasnt heard of anyone being transferred from Cumberland to FCI Berlin yet, Welch said she thinks its only a matter of time.

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I think this is a reflection of the larger goal of this administration to expand space for immigration detention, Welch said.

Prisons and jails have financial incentives to assist with that expansion, Welch said. Like many across the U.S., jails in Maine have concerns about being underresourced and are seeking additional funding in the state budget.

A key reason the Cumberland County Jail had a moratorium on housing people incarcerated on federal charges was because the federal government found its staffing to be insufficient. When the moratorium was lifted this summer, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce told the Portland Press Herald that the U.S. Marshal Service contract is a crucial part of the jails funding model.

Its certainly a money maker, Welch said, and that obviously raises large red flags in terms of the human costs.

Editors Note: This story was updated to include data provided from a Freedom of Access Act request fulfilled after publication.

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JENA, La. (AP)  An immigration judge in Louisiana said she would terminate the case against Mahmoud Khalil if the government does not provide evidence this week justifying their attempted deportation of the Columbia University student activist.

At a hearing Tuesday in Louisiana, Judge Jamee Comans gave the government 24 hours to provide evidence showing that Khalil, a 30-year-old legal permanent resident, should be expelled from the country for his role in campus protests against Israel and the war in Gaza. If the evidence does not support his removal, she said, then I am going to terminate the case on Friday.

Khalil has been held in a remote detention facility in Jena, Louisiana since his March 8 arrest by federal immigration authorities, the first in a growing number of attempted deportations against foreign-born students who joined pro-Palestinian protests or expressed criticism of Israel.

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While the Trump administration has suggested that Khalils role as a spokesperson for protesters proved that he was aligned with Hamas, they have yet to produce evidence for the claim.

At Tuesdays hearing, an attorney for Khalil, Marc Van Der Hout, said he had not received a single document in response to his request for evidence and assertions in the case. We cannot plead until we know what the specific allegations are, Van Der Hout said.

Im like you Mr. Van Der Hout, Id like to see the evidence, the judge replied.

Khalil, who wore a navy blue T-shirt over a beige sweatshirt, spoke only briefly to request that his wife be permitted remote access to the hearing. The judge obliged, noting that more than 600 people were awaiting access to the proceeding in a virtual lobby. This is highly unusual, Comans said.

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Khalils detention has sparked fury among free speech advocates, who accuse the Trump administration of seeking to squelch criticism of Israel by labeling peaceful activists as terror-supporters. Khalil, an international affairs graduate student, served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student protesters at Columbia, but was not among those arrested and has not been accused of any crime.

In seeking to deport Khalil and other student activists, the Trump administration has relied on a rarely-used statute that authorizes the Secretary of State to expel noncitizens who pose potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.

They have alleged, without offering evidence, that Khalils prominent role in anti-Israel protests amounted to support for Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and attacked Israel in October 2023.

Khalil and others involved in the protests have repeatedly denied claims of antisemitism.

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In a letter dictated from jail last month, Khalil said his detention was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.

As Khalils immigration case plays out in Louisiana, his attorneys have also challenged his detention and potential deportation before a federal judge in New Jersey. That judge last week rejected the Trump administrations effort to transfer jurisdiction of the legal battle to Louisiana, but has yet to rule on the petition for his release.
Indiana medical students listen as lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee discuss a bill that proposes statewide limitations on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. (Casey Smith/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Criticisms continued to mount Monday even after a sweeping committee amendment rolled back significant portions of a bill that seeks to limit diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in schools and state government.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee additionally spoke out after the Republican-dominated panel approved major additions to a separate proposal  weaving in contentious criminal penalties for street camping that seemingly died in an earlier bill  without taking public comments beforehand.

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Among the original DEI-focused provisions removed from Senate Bill 289 were provisions concerning university diversity committees, as well as an extensive, four-pronged definition of DEI effort(s) that included a ban on differential treatment or special benefits on the basis of race, sex, color or ethnicity.

Rep. Chris Jeter, R-Fishers (Photo courtesy of Indiana House Republicans)

Instead, key language was largely rewritten to more specifically outlaw discrimination in state education, public employment and licensing settings that is based on a personal characteristic of the person.

Added, too, were revised civil penalties that could be imposed by the Indiana attorney general for violations: $50,000 for a first offense; and $100,000 for a second or subsequent offense.

Committee chairman Rep. Chris Jeter, R-Fishers, said his goal was to focus the bill a little bit and make it a little bit more workable for some of the folks that theyre going to have to abide by it.

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I think it can be difficult to legislate words and acronyms, and so we really tried to hone in on the actions that we are trying to address, said Jeter, who offered the amendment.

He said the bill, overall, is an effort to sort of codify and be consistent with executive orders issued by President Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Braun.

The governors order replaced DEI throughout state government policies and programming with merit, excellence and innovation (MEI). It also closed the Office of the Chief Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity Officer created by former Gov. Eric Holcomb.

The committee advanced the bill to the House floor in a 7-3 vote, along party lines. The measure must get the OK from the full chamber by April 15, the third-reading deadline.

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It previously passed out of the Senate 34-13, with four Republicans unfavorable.

Before Mondays vote, more than two hours of committee testimony was dominated by medical students and professors from Indiana University (IU) and other Hoosier colleges. Many said they appreciated elements of Mondays amendment but remained opposed to the underlying bill and its implications.

Opponents of DEI will have you believe that we are integrating a radical curriculum and training for health care professions that promotes racist and sexist ideas about some burden that falls chiefly on white male students to correct historical injustice. And I understand thats a concerning possibility, but Im here today to express thats simply not true. We actually have a lot to agree on, said IU medical student Amina Dalal.

DEI actually protects a merit based system. I dont believe that we need South Asian physicians like myself because of some diversity quota, she continued. I believe that we need diverse physicians because anyone that is qualified and passionate about medicine should have a fair opportunity to become a physician.

Medical students push back

The latest draft expands certain carveouts, explicitly exempting employment action(s) concerning participation in a public contract by a minority business enterprise, womens business enterprise, or veteran business enterprise, if the employment action is authorized by law.

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Colleges and universities can also make decisions around grants, scholarships or fee remissions on the basis of personal characteristic(s) as long as those awards do not include any state funds or resources.

Sen. Gary Byrne listens in committee on Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Leslie Bonilla Muniz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

But state offices and universities would not be allowed to require employees to complete training  or licensing  asserting that, or endorsing the theory that, a person with a certain personal characteristic:

is inherently superior or inferior to a person with a different personal characteristic;

should be blamed for actions committed in the past;

or has a moral character that is determined by a personal characteristic of the person.

Jeter said fines for violations are significantly larger than we normally see in bills that we do  and that was by design.

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We are not, in this bill, telling any school or anybody else that they have to close any offices or reorder the way that theyre doing things as far as what type of personnel they have doing what, Jeter said. We wanted to make sure that if some of these offices continued  there is a significant financial disincentive for them to try to do this in another way, or through another office, or through another program.

While bill author Republican Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, conceded that issues stemming from DEI have not been rampant at the state level, Byrne said his constituents want to make sure that everyone is treated equally  they dont want Indiana government to engage in discrimination, whatever the intentions may be.

He pointed to prior Senate committee testimony from IU medical students about problems theyve seen in the university.

I believe that we need diverse physicians because anyone that is qualified and passionate about medicine should have a fair opportunity to become a physician.

 Indiana University medical student Amina Dalal

Dr. Cindy Basinski, an adjunct OB-GYN clinical professor, contended that many medical students oppose DEI policies and instruction but are afraid to voice their opinions publicly.

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Theyre forced to use pronouns.  There are also students who are not allowed to speak against minor-informed care. Theyre also not allowed to speak against other politically divisive issues, like maybe there are some students who think there are only female and male as genders, Basinski told the committee. These are important topics that are important to discuss scientifically among students. And if students do not feel empowered by administrators or other students to speak up, then we are not going to have the most robust educational system that we can have in Indiana.

Nearly a dozen medical students said they disagreed, however, and argued that Basinskis testimony, in particular, was inaccurate.

Everybody at my school is allowed to express their opinions about different aspects of medical care. IUSM encourages students to actively discuss medicine with their peers. There are clubs of students who support the pro-life movement, various religious movements, and even Republican ideals, said Laney Cordell, a fourth-year IU medical student. Many, if not most, of the positions claimed about my school are completely unfounded.

Homelessness amendment adopted  but no public comments

Also headed to the House floor is Senate Bill 197, originally a measure to address building safety laws.

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But multiple GOP amendments reshaped the bill entirely, including revived language from House Bill 1662, which sought to tackle homelessness before dying mid-session in the House.

Tweaked provisions from that legislation were added to the Senate bill, stipulating that a person may not camp, sleep, or use for long term shelter a public right-of-way or public land unless authorized for that use by the state or political subdivision, as appropriate.

Those who have not moved from a public right-of-way within 24 hours of a law enforcement officers warning  or from public land within 72 hours  could be arrested and charged with a Class C misdemeanor. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail or a $500 fine.

Before an arrest can be made, though, new bill language would require officers to first determine if there are reasonable grounds for an emergency detention of the person. Transportation would must offered to a shelter, mental health service or other housing facility within five miles, as long as one exists and has space available. Crisis intervention teams could be called to assist officers, too.

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If an arrest is made, legal proceedings would be referred to a problem solving court to make sure that these individuals are getting the necessary services to get them housing and treatment  and trying to be as humane as possible to make sure that they are getting the care that they deserve, Jeter said.

Even so. Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, D-Fishers, questioned the germaneness of this bill and the time in which it dropped.

I just havent had enough time to digest it and even to put my hands around it, she said before voting against the amendment.

Rep. Maureen Bauer, D-South Bend, took issue with the lack of public engagement on that change and others.

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I think some people would have liked to have testified on this, Bauer said. The amendment was added on a short notice, without stakeholders being able to provide input. Im kind of disappointed that we wont have the opportunity for public testimony on this.

The House-version of the bill mirrored model legislation from the Cicero Institute, a Texas-based think tank which has lobbied in roughly a dozen states for homelessness policies that shift money away from housing initiatives and instead direct dollars toward substance abuse and mental health treatment.

Nearly all who testified spoke out against the earlier proposal, with advocates arguing that it wrongly criminalizes homelessness.

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner, said Tuesday that it will accelerate the implementation of existing supportive policies and strengthen policy research and reserves to bolster the high-quality development of the private sector.

The NDRC said in a statement that it held a meeting on Tuesday with five private domestic companies, including ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing and high-precision components and smart hardware maker Goertek, to solicit their opinions and suggestions on economic development as well as response to additional U.S. tariffs.

Zheng Shanjie, head of the NDRC, said at the meeting that the commission will refine its regular communication mechanism with private companies, listen to their feedback and assist them in overcoming difficulties.

Facing risks and challenges from abroad, including the additional tariffs imposed by the United States, China will steadily promote its reform and opening up and insulate the country against external uncertainties through internal certainties, Zheng said.

Representatives of the five companies expressed their preparedness for the additional U.S. tariffs, noting that they are actively adopting measures to cope with the situation.

As the country enjoys a stable domestic environment and a huge market, the entrepreneurs said they are confident in overcoming challenges and achieving better growth. 
The Indiana Department of Health Monday evening announced the state's first laboratory-confirmed case of measles of the year.

The case stems from an unvaccinated minor in Allen County. State and local public health officials are working together to determine if there are any additional cases in the region, health officials said in a news release.

Citing patient privacy, the Indiana Department of Health did not release any additional information on the case, such as the age of the patient, where the patient lives, or what places the individual may have visited while infected with the virus.

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"The patient is stable and recovering," the Indiana Department of Health release reads.

The United States has seen a spike in measles cases this year. As of April 3 a total of 607 confirmed measles cases were reported by 22 jurisdictions, not including the confirmed case in Indiana, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In all of 2024, a total of 285 measles cases were reported by 33 jurisdictions, including one in Indiana, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year's case was Indiana's first measles case in five years. U.S. measles cases quadrupled from 2023 to 2024, while worldwide infections rose to more than 10 million.

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While the majority of vaccinated people have a very low risk of developing measles, those who are unvaccinated are at an increased risk as the virus spreads easily through the air. Because measles is so infectious, health professionals consider a single case to be an outbreak.

More than 93 percent of people who receive a single dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine will develop immunity to measles, and more than 97 percent will be protected after receiving a second dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two doses of the vaccine are needed to be fully protected.

If someone is experiencing measles symptoms, the Indiana Department of Health recommends the person stay home and contact their healthcare provider before going to the doctors office.

"Be prepared to describe your symptoms and alert your doctor if you think you have been in contact with an infected person. If you are ill with measles, stay home and away from others, especially unvaccinated infants, people with diseases affecting their immune systems, and pregnant women," the Indiana Department of Health news release said.

Symptoms

Measles typically begins with a fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes, usually about 7 to 14 days after exposure but can occur up to 21 days after contact with an infected person, according to the Indiana Department of Health. The fever can reach as high as 105 degrees.

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Tiny white spots may appear inside the mouth two to three days after symptoms begin, according to the Indiana Department of Health. A rash can form on the hairline and face two to four days after symptoms first appear.

The rash then spreads down the back and torso and extends into the arms and hands, as well as the legs and feet, according to the Indiana Department of Health. After about five days, the rash fades in the same order in which it appeared.

More: 'Are we going back in time?' Public health experts worry as Indiana vax rates plummet

How many people have died from measles this year?

The United States Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Sunday that a second child in Texas died from measles.

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The school-aged child, who had no underlying health conditions and was unvaccinated, died Thursday in the hospital from measles pulmonary failure, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

In a post on X, Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy, a long-time vaccine skeptic, urged families to take the MMR vaccine to address the outbreak of measles in the country. That represented a reversal from earlier statements in which Kennedy had questioned the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

I came to Gaines County, Texas, today to comfort the Hildebrand family after the loss of their 8-year-old daughter Daisy. I got to know the family of 6-year-old Kayley Fehr after she passed away in February. I also developed bonds with and deep affection for other members of  Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) April 6, 2025

"The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine," Kennedy said.

Contact IndyStar reporter Noe Padilla at npadilla@indystar.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social.

Contributing to this article Phaedra Trethan and Terry Collins; USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: First measles case in Indiana in 2025 in unvaccinated minor
About a dozen people sent me the story about Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwiths request for more funding for faith-based mental health initiatives, likely expecting me to take it personally. After all, he made the choice to frame his request as criticism of the states existing approach, a strategy I was the primary architect of.

Look, Im proud of the progress weve made, but Id be the first to acknowledge theres still work to do. If Beckwith can bring people together to reduce stigma and expand access to care, Ill be the first to applaud. We need less defensiveness and zero-sum thinking in policy and politics. What we need instead is a spirit of abundance.

Most Hoosiers could be forgiven for missing the buzz around "Abundance," the new book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson that lays out a vision for American progress and argues the future we want is incumbent on rediscovering how to build and innovate.

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Opinion: Healthy Indiana Plan faces deep cuts as Republicans hide behind Medicaid's complexity

As far as I can tell, the word Indiana does not appear in the book. When they discuss state and local policy (which they do extensively), their focus is almost entirely on the failures of blue states and cities, whose sclerotic bureaucracies have made it harder than ever to live, work, or build.

Yet while "Abundance" (the book) may not have much to offer Indiana, abundance (the lens) does. Scarcity is a choice, and leaders have the power to reject it in favor of collaborative building and growth. So lets apply that lens to Indiana and ask: What could Hoosier Abundance look like? Here are three suggestions.

Central Indiana regionalism

Its no surprise that mayors are often the most abundance-minded elected officials. Unlike state and national politicians, they cant afford to get bogged down in ideological debates. Their job is to make their cities work. A group of central Indiana mayors is embracing this mindset by advocating for stronger regional cooperation to boost economic growth, workforce retention, and infrastructure development.

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But Central Indiana regionalism faces real headwinds. As Carmel-based commentator Aaron Renn has pointed out, recent years have seen dramatically increased cultural fracturing between Indianapolis and its surrounding areas. This bidirectional distaste is emblematic of a scarcity mindset that is holding Indiana back.

Central Indiana is the economic engine of the entire state. When it succeeds, Indiana succeeds. The regions success is being stifled by petty and unproductive intraregional conflict that makes collaboration difficult and progress slow.

An abundance mindset would recognize that Indianapolis and its surrounding communities are partners, not competitors. Better transit, smarter housing policy and coordinated economic development dont need to be zero-sum battles between city and suburbs. And with 35% of the states population, imagine the potent political force an aligned Central Indiana could be at the state level. This brings us to 

A fresh start for the Indy/Indiana relationship

The view from above on International Womens Day at the Indiana Statehouse on March 8 in Indianapolis.

For decades, the phrase the two ends of Market Street was used as a geographic metaphor for the symbolic and political differences between Indianapolis and the state government. Maybe its time for a fresh start.

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States and cities need each other. Indiana relies on Indianapolis as an economic engine, cultural hub and talent magnet. Meanwhile, the city depends on the state for funding, infrastructure, and regulatory authority.

Yet, instead of working together, Indianas legislature has increasingly treated its capital city as an adversary: blocking local policies, restricting funding and routinely overriding Indianapolis local priorities. City leaders are far from blameless, struggling with basic governance issues that provide easy justification for state intervention.

A fresh start requires both city and state leaders to think differently. Rather than treating Indianapolis as a problem to be managed, state leaders should recognize it as an indispensable partner in Indianas future, while acknowledging that the complexity and culture of a thriving city is inherently different than that of rural communities or small towns. At the same time, city leadership must offer a baseline of competent governance, which is an expectation that should be non-negotiable.

Like any complicated relationship, mending the divide between Indianapolis and the state wont be easy. But a fresh start begins with a commitment to the simple truth that we are in this together. Indiana cannot thrive without a strong Indianapolis, and Indianapolis cannot succeed without a productive partnership with the state. The first step toward abundance is recognizing that our fortunes are tied, and choosing to move forward together.

Building Indiana from the bottom up

Many observers have pointed out that Indianas recent economic development strategy has become increasingly top-down: the IEDC throws ever-larger incentive packages at corporations, often for projects that are already in those companies best interests and would likely happen without government intervention. This approach leaves taxpayers footing the bill for subsidies and tax breaks that often do little to benefit the broader community.

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If people enter the conversation, it is usually through the narrow lens of people as workforce. And, obviously, Indiana does need corporate investment, a skilled and productive workforce, and smart state strategy for supporting both. Thankfully, abundance is about addition, not subtraction, so we dont need to do away with any of that. We just need to think bigger.

We should broaden our vision of economic development beyond tax incentives and workforce training programs to emphasize community-driven growth by building thriving places where people want to live. That means investing in strong schools, vibrant downtowns, and strong local services to make Indiana competitive for the long haul.

In other words, we need to think about economic development the same way we think about building anything that lasts  from the ground up.

Jay Chaudhary is the former director of the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction and chair of the Indiana Behavioral Health Commission. He writes the Substack, Favorable Thriving Conditions.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What is an abundance agenda? Indiana can show the way. | Opinion
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP)  With the first U.N. climate talks in the Amazon approaching, thousands of Indigenous people marched Tuesday in Brazils capital, demanding the state guarantee and expand their rights to traditional lands as part of the solution to the worlds climate crisis.

The protest is the high point of the annual Free Land Indigenous Camp, now in its 21st edition. Bearing messages such as Land rights = Climate Action, they walked toward Three Powers Square, where Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace are located in Brasilia.

Indigenous territories are the most preserved and contribute to slowing the climate crisis were facing. But they are also the first to be impacted, said Luene Karipuna, from the Amazonian state of Amapa, while marching. We feel it directly in our lands, where we lost our entire cassava crop  our staple food in my community.

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Thirteen percent of Brazils territory consists of recognized Indigenous lands, most of it in the Amazon.

In the past two years, the Amazon basin has suffered its worst drought on record, leading to a surge in wildfires, isolation for river communities, crop losses and the death of wildlife, including the endangered pink dolphin. Some studies have linked the regions extreme weather to climate change.

Like several other Indigenous leaders, Karipuna plans to attend the climate talks  also known as COP30  in November in the city of Belem. They hope the event will be a chance to promote land demarcation and other Indigenous rights in all Amazon countries, and are pressing for a greater role during the event.

This is a historic COP for the social movement. Its a key moment for all Indigenous peoples to show that we are alive, said Juan Carlos Jintiach, an Indigenous leader from Ecuador and executive secretary of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, an international organization representing Indigenous peoples from Latin America, Africa and Asia.

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Last year, the Indigenous movement had called for the nomination of a co-president for COP30. The proposal was rejected, but the conferences president, Brazilian climate secretary Andre Correa do Lago, pledged to create a so-called Circle of Indigenous Leadership to help integrate traditional knowledge and wisdom into global collective intelligence.

Dinamam Tuxa, coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, said they are frustrated by the rejection of the co-presidency proposal and are still analyzing Lagos plan.

The COP is a political moment when countries come together to negotiate the climate crisis, but unfortunately it does not engage directly with Indigenous peoples at the negotiation tables  even though we are the main defenders of these territories and are actively fighting climate change, Tuxa told the AP.

Satellite data show that Indigenous territories in the Amazon  a region twice the size of India  have very low deforestation rates. The worlds largest tropical forest is a major carbon sink and climate regulator, and it holds 20% of the planets fresh water.

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___

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.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)  The Indiana Department of Transportation is reporting that S.R. 59 between County Road 1250 S. and County Road 1300 S. is closed due to flooding and the road washing out from underneath.

According to the departments Facebook page, they had warned residents that it was closed.

However, as you can see by the first picture in this video, weve had motorists moving the barriers and driving through the closed road. This is not permitted and also very dangerous, the post stated.

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INDOT reminds motorists that when signs say road closed, you must adhere to them.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Bradley Price traveled to the Kentucky governors office to show her support for the veto of an anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion bill. Alexandria Underwood took part in a letter-writing campaign calling for the preservation of inclusion programs on college campuses. And Savannah Dowell organized a demonstration in support of anti-discrimination efforts at Kentucky colleges and universities.

The women, each of whom are college students at the University of Louisville, say they are fighting back against President Donald Trumps attacks on DEI programs nationwide the only way they know how: by taking the lead as student activists on their campus. Theyre planning demonstrations, lobbying legislators, and engaging in civil disobedience as they try to make their voices heard.

On Thursday, the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding from public schools unless they verified the elimination of all DEI programs. The National Education Association, the nations largest teachers union, said that the actions will harm students and public education.

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Educators and parents know that teaching should be guided by what is best for students, not by threat of illegal restrictions and punishment, Becky Pringle, president of the NEA, said in a statement.

According to the memo, state and local school officials must sign and return a certification letter within 10 days that confirms they have stopped any programs the Department of Education deems unlawful under DEI.

We will not let those politicians distract us from the real issues facing public schools. We know what is at stake, Pringle said. That is why we are coming together  parents, students, and educators  to make sure every child, regardless of race, ZIP code, or family income, has the opportunities and resources they need to grow into their brilliance.

Across the nation, those opposed to Trumps move have responded in a range of ways, including protests, economic boycotts, and lawsuits. In Kentucky, one group of students across eight college campuses said they are doing their best to challenge his attacks on DEI.

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On Louisvilles campus, that activism led to the creation of Kentucky Students for DEI. The organization is working to preserve inclusion programs not only on their campus, but at colleges and universities across the state.

We want to get Kentucky students ready for more anti-DEI legislation, because we know they are coming after us. So we have been trying to get a bunch of student organizations across the commonwealth involved and ready to fight, Price said.

Students at the University of Kentucky gather to march for the young activist Day of DEI protest. (Courtesy of Kentucky Students for DEI)

The Trump administrations recent executive order that calls to shutter the Department of Education adds a level of urgency and uncertainty to the students efforts. The presidents move is facing legal challenges, and closing the department ultimately requires approval from Congress.

Nevertheless, the students at Louisville are continuing to do what they can to make their opposition known.

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One of their first priorities in the state legislature is House Bill 4. The measure is meant to ban inclusion efforts at postsecondary education institutions, including the states two largest institutions of higher learning, Louisville and the University of Kentucky.

It was the introduction of the bill that prompted Price and Dowell to create Kentucky Students for DEI last fall just before Election Day. Price, who is a junior and Black, and Dowell, who is a junior and white, lead the movement together.

The language of this bill is intentionally vague, chunky, messy and sloppy, Dowell said.

The bill not only calls for the abolition of DEI in higher education, but it also bans universities from providing scholarships, housing, admissions or differential treatment to recipients on the basis of religion, race, sex, color or national origin. It also eliminates any mechanisms to investigate complaints of racism or bias.

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Critics of Kentucky House Bill 4 also say that the measures language is unclear about the guidelines and restrictions for public schools.

While the states Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, vetoed the bill on March 20, the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly is expected to override the veto during the current legislative session.

Members of Kentucky Students for DEI said they have to continue organizing for the protection of DEI across their state. Even before Kentuckys legislature passed the bill, the group organized a Day of DEI across eight of the states public higher education institutions, and hundreds of students marched on campuses across the state.

It has been four months since the bill was introduced, and now our legislative house has decided to ban DEI in Kentucky, Price said. Whats next? Who elses head is on the chopping block?

Demonstrators chanted Keep DEI as they marched on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington. (Courtesy of Kentucky Students for DEI)



The young organizers encourage students on campus to write letters to the University of Louisvilles president, Kim E. Schatzel, about the importance of pushing back against House Bill 4. The measure could jeopardize the future of a range of inclusion initiatives, from LGBTQ+ resource centers to educational equity programs.

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And if, as expected, Kentuckys Republican supermajority overrides the governors veto, DEI offices, organizations, and employees from Kentuckys public universities and colleges have until June 30 to eliminate any remnants of DEI on their campuses.

I feel as though the Trump administrations drive to destroy DEI programs and by extension take out womens history, Black history, and queer history, empowers Republicans in these red states to harass, terrorize, and try to make the lives of marginalized people worse, Price said.

Campus organizations such as ULs Arabic Language and Culture Club, Louisville American Sign Language Association, and University of Kentucky Martin Luther King Center could close under the proposed changes.

Capital B attempted to contact the University of Louisville, but officials there had yet to respond as of publication.

Eliminating DEI nationwide

Currently, more than 240 colleges in 36 states have eliminated varying facets of DEI on their campuses, from programs to race-based student organizations, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, which has been tracking changes in diversity policies since January 2023.

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Nationwide, opposition to Trumps actions has fueled movements to protect DEI. Students at the University of South Florida marched through Tampa, and the faculty from the University of Michigan held an emergency meeting to discuss the universitys decision to eliminate DEI.

Rebekah Modrak, the head of the Faculty Senate at the University of Michigan, told The New York Times that university leaders seem determined to comply and to collaborate in our own destruction.

Historians like Marc Robinson, a professor at California State University, San Bernardino, argue that the attacks from Trump threaten to reverse decades of progress in promoting equity for Black Americans and other groups.

DEI programs work to address ongoing equity gaps in enrollment, retention, graduation, and subsequent employment, Robinson said. Rolling back DEI initiatives would mean regressing to an educational system that is less accessible and less fair. This would ultimately damage educational institutions, our national workforce, our democracy, and much more.

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In February, the Trump administration gave public schools and universities two weeks to either eliminate DEI initiatives or risk losing federal funding. Just a few days later, a federal judge blocked the executive order and several other anti-DEI plans.

The Department of Education is continuing to be targeted by Republicans.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican representing Kentucky, reintroduced a bill that seeks to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. His brief bill seeks to abolish the Department of Education on Dec. 31, 2026.

Through Trumps first 60 days in office, sweeping changes have been made to the Department of Education.

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Linda McMahon was confirmed as the secretary of the department, key offices within the agency were closed, and 1,300 employees were laid off.

Then a Department of Education memo notified schools and universities about the Trump administrations order, encouraging schools to cease using racial preferences in admissions, financial aid, or hiring. It said that educational institutions may neither separate nor segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race.

The memo also stated that ending standardized testing requirements for colleges and universities to achieve a desired racial balance or to increase racial diversity is unlawful  even though more than 300 higher education institutions have eliminated SAT and ACT scores as a requirement in their admissions process.

Schools have been operating on the pretext that selecting students for diversity or similar euphemisms is not selecting them based on race, said Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights. No longer. Students should be assessed according to merit, accomplishment and character.

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Some education advocates, including Pringle of the NEA, contend the administrations actions are not legal. The NEA and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Department of Education on March 5.

Weve got to make sure that people understand this is not legal, Pringle said in an interview.

The lawsuit argues that the Trump administrations actions violate due process guidelines and the First Amendment.

Were urging the court to block the Department of Education from enforcing this harmful and vague directive and protect students from politically motivated attacks that stifle speech and erase critical lessons, Pringle said. Teaching should be guided by whats best for students, not by threat of illegal restrictions and punishment.

Pringle said that policies set by state lawmakers and local school districts across the country prohibit the many anti-DEI executive orders, according to collective bargaining agreements presented by unions like the NEA.

Kentucky Students for DEI from the University of Louisville protest in hopes of saving DEI programs on their campus. (Courtesy of Kentucky Students For DEI)

Underwood, a graduate student at the University of Louisville and organizer with Kentucky Students for DEI, knows the fear of possibly losing DEI initiatives on her campus.

When you take these great initiatives and great people away, what does our support system look like? Underwood said. Thats truly why weve been advocating, because the most important people in our lives that have helped us become successful at our schools are the ones that are in the most jeopardy of losing their career and organizations.

In May, she will graduate with two masters degrees in social work  degrees that Underwood said could be in jeopardy if House Bill 4 and Trumps executive orders take effect due to the vague nature of both pieces of legislation and similarities of DEI and social work.

Since House Bill 4 was introduced, students on Louisvilles campus have begun seeing changes. The name of their DEI offices have been changed to the Office of Institutional Equity. Some graduate students, like Underwood, have paused research for fear of its viability after anti-DEI legislation begins to take effect.

Everything I did in my four years here could be in vain just because I simply want to use my First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, added Underwood. All because I feel my worth and my identity is being attacked, I think thats very deplorable that these universities would comply.

The post Inside One Student Movement to Save DEI on College Campuses appeared first on Capital B News.
President Donald Trump could invoke a centuries-old law that would authorize him to deploy the United States military to the southern border and order them to assist law enforcement in carrying out his domestic policies.

The Insurrection Act of 1807, a rarely used law, allows the president to utilize federal military troops or federalize National Guard troops in order to suppress uncontrollable protests or other civil disturbance situations.

Upon entering office in January, Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency at the U.S.Mexico border. He also directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to provide a report within 90 days about the state of the border to determine whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807.

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As that 90-day detail approaches, heres what to know about the Insurrection Act of 1807.

Trump has already deployed military personnel to the U.S.Mexico border to assist law enforcement in preventing migrants from crossing (Getty Images)

What is the Insurrection Act of 1807?

When invoked, the Insurrection Act gives the president the authority to deploy the U.S. military or National Guard inside the country to suppress events such as rebellion, insurrection and civil disorder or to enforce the law in a situation where it has become impracticable to do so.

The Insurrection Act is not one piece of legislation; rather, it is the combination of a series of laws enacted by Congress between 1792 and 1871 that specifically address utilizing the military within the U.S.

The act is an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, which typically prevents the federal government from using the federal military or National Guard to enforce domestic policies. Once invoked, the act temporarily suspends Posse Comitatus.

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Troops can be deployed under three sections of the Insurrection Act.

The first is if a state legislature or governor requests federal aid to suppress an insurrection in that state.

The second allows the president to invoke it without a states permission whenever they consider unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States.

The third also allows the president to invoke the act without a states permission under two scenarios. If any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy hinders the states ability or desire to execute laws that specifically protect peoples constitutional rights. Or if any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy obstructs the executive of the law or course of justice under those laws.

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But before the president can consider the Insurrection Act, they first must order a proclamation asking insurgents or those obstructing the enforcement of laws to disperse peacefully within a certain amount of time.

Trump heavily campaigned on his desire to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants  a winning policy for millions of Americans (Getty Images)

Why does Trump want to use it?

The president has broadly sought to utilize the extent of his authority to circumvent the traditional, slow-paced steps to enact his policies.

He has also never been shy about his desire to utilize federal troops or the National Guard to control mass protests in states where he feels the governor is not doing enough to restore order.

He threatened to invoke it during his first term, according to the New York Times, during the George Floyd protests.

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At one campaign rally in Iowa in 2023, Trump complained about crime in states with Democratic governors.

And one of the other things Ill do  because you are not supposed to be involved in that, you just have to be asked by the governor or the mayor to come in  the next time, I am not waiting, Trump said.

Has it been used before?

The act has been invoked at least 30 times throughout history, with the most recent occurrence being in 1992 when George H. W. Bush used it in response to the Rodney King protests and riots in Los Angeles.

Some notable applications of it are when Abraham Lincoln invoked the Insurrection Act at the start of the Civil War after Southern states began seceding.

Dwight D. Eisenhower invoked it after the Arkansas National Guard forbade Black students from attending school in Little Rock. Eisenhower used his power to call down the Arkansas National Guard, allowing the children to go to school.
KILLEEN, Texas (FOX 44)  The Killeen Independent School District has named the interim principal of Roy J. Smith Middle School.

The district says Dr. Bobbie Reeders has passionately served as principal of Pathways Academic Campus since 2004 and brings with her a fortified, proven system which will foster a positive, enthusiastic environment in which students, teachers and staff will prosper. The longtime Killeen ISD leader will begin at Smith effective immediately.

Dr. Reeders possesses the leadership qualities and a genuine, caring personality that will facilitate student growth, enhance the daily learning experience on campus and encourage all to strive to be their best, Superintendent Dr. Jo Ann Fey said. Her instructional expertise, established relationships within the community, attention to detail and focus on culture-building make her exceptionally well-suited to lead Roy J. Smith Middle School during this important transition.

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Killeen ISD says Dr. Reeders has also been part of the districts College Career and Military Readiness (CCMR) team, as well as the director for the districts credit recovery program. She has 31 years of experience at multiple levels of education.

I look forward to working with the students, staff and families at Roy J. Smith to build on the great work already underway, Reeders said. My job is to listen, learn, connect and empower, and help provide a path for a better tomorrow and fruitful future. I am excited every day for that opportunity.

The district says Reeders earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a Master of Education from Tarleton State University, and a Doctor of Education from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

(Courtesy: Killeen Independent School District)

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
MANILA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The performance of manufacturing production in the Philippines declined in February, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday.

Based on the preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries, the PSA said the year-on-year value of production index (VaPI) and the volume of production index (VoPI) fell by 1.6 percent and 2.4 percent in February, respectively.

The PSA said the VaPI for the manufacturing section registered an annual decline of 1.6 percent in February 2025 from annual increases of 3.0 percent in January 2025 and 1.8 percent in February 2024.

The PSA attributed the downtrend in the annual rate of VaPI for manufacturing in February 2025 to the faster annual decrease in the manufacture of basic metals.

Other primary contributors to the downtrend in the annual rate of VaPI for manufacturing in February were the slower annual increase recorded in the manufacture of machinery and equipment except electrical, and the faster annual decrease in the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products.

Three of the remaining 19 industry divisions exhibited annual drops in their VaPI during the period, while the other 16 industry divisions posted annual increments.

In February 2025, the VoPI for the manufacturing section registered a year-on-year drop of 2.4 percent from its annual increment of 2.3 percent in January.

In February 2024, the VoPI for manufacturing recorded an annual increase of 3.2 percent.

The downtrend in the year-on-year growth rate of VoPI for manufacturing in February 2025 was primarily driven by the same top three industry divisions that contributed to the downtrend in the annual rate of VaPI for manufacturing during the period, the PSA said. 
Burmese pythons.

Lionfish.

Iguanas.

Tegu lizards. Say what?

Argentine black and white tegus aren't the most recent invasive species in Florida, and they won't be the last, unfortunately.

What they are doing are making themselves at home in Florida. And not just in South Florida. More than 1,500 have been captured or seen in St. Lucie County and even states beyond Florida's border are seeing them.

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What is a tegu lizard and what can or should you do if you spot one?

What is a tegu lizard?

The Argentine black and white tegu is large lizard that can grow to nearly 5 feet long and weigh 10 pounds, according to University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Unlike green iguanas, another Florida invasive species, tegus rarely climb more than a few feet off the ground, but are strong swimmers.

"In west-central Florida they inhabit dry uplands with sandy soils, including natural, urbanized, and agricultural areas. In southern Florida, they occur in densely vegetated areas along canals and roadsides."

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There are several types of tegus, although the Argentine black and white is the most popular as pets, according to PangoVet.

What does a Argentine tegu look like?

The Argentine tegu lizard has established populations in a few Florida counties and is considered an invasive species.

The Argentine black and white tegu has mottled black and white skin. The colors are often arranged into a banding pattern across the back and tail.

Hatchlings display similar markings, but typically have bright green heads. The green fades after they reach about one month of age.

Where have tegus been reported in Florida?

See where tegu lizards have been observed in Florida.

There are "reproducing populations" of Argentine black and white tegus established in Hillsborough, Miami-Dade and Charlotte counties, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Service.

The newest established population was recently discovered in St. Lucie County after several confirmed reports were received through the FWC's Exotic Species Hotline.

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Argentine black and white tegus have also been reported in other Florida counties, although these are most likely isolated occasions of escaped or released pets, the agency said.

 Map: Reports of tegus in Florida

Tegus pose a threat not only to Florida, but other states in the Southeast, including Georgia and South Carolina, according to the USFWS Southeast Region.

Is a tegu considered dangerous to people? Are tegu lizards friendly?

"Although not considered aggressive toward people, tegus will defend themselves if threatened," according to the Georgia Fish and Wildlife Service.

"They can react fast and lash with their tails. They have sharp teeth and claws and strong jaws."

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Bites can cause serious injuries if you dont take proper precautions, according to WebMD.

Tegus spend winter in burrows, emerging in February

The Argentine tegu lizard has established populations in a few Florida counties and is considered an invasive species.

From late fall and through the winter months, tegus head into burrows for a hibernation-type period known as brumation to avoid freezing temperatures.

"As a result, they have the potential to expand their range across much of the Southeast. An established population already exists in southeast Georgia," according to the University of Florida.

In South Florida, they typically begin to emerge from their burrows in February, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

How many eggs does a tegu lay and how long do the lizards live?

"Tegu breeding in Florida begins in early spring. Female tegus reach reproductive maturity after their second year of brumation or when they are about 12 inches long from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail," the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

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Nests of dried vegetation are often found at the base of trees, in clumps of tall grass or in burrows.

"They lay an average of 35 eggs per year. Eggs incubate for approximately 60 days."

Tegus may live up to 20 years, and adults have few predators.

How does a tegu lizard impact other Florida wildlife?

Pictured, an Argentine black and white tegu, which can grow nearly 5 feet long and is an invasive, non-native species that is prohibited in Florida.

Tegus are omnivorous, eating fruits, eggs, insects and small animals including reptiles and rodents.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said tegus not only eat alligator eggs, but also disturb the nests of American crocodiles in Florida.

They also consume the threatened gopher tortoise, eating eggs and hatchlings.

Can you own a tegu in Florida? What if you have one and want to get rid of it?

Tegus are listed as a prohibited species in Florida and may not be possessed without a permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

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"Through the FWCs Exotic Pet Amnesty Program, pet owners who are either unable to care for their exotic pets, such as tegus, or who no longer wish to keep them can surrender them with no questions asked and without penalties regardless of whether those pets are kept legally or illegally."

Can you kill a tegu if you see it?

Tegus are not protected in Florida except by anti-cruelty law and can be humanely killed on private property as long as you have the landowner's permission.

They also can be captured and humanely killed all year, without a permit or hunting license, on 32 commission-managed lands in South Florida, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

The agency said it is "prioritizing control and removal of emerging tegu populations in new areas, including the Charlotte County and St. Lucie County populations."

How do you report a possible tegu?

Take a picture, take note of the location, and report the information to the Fish and Wildlife Service's Exotic Species Hotline, 888-483-4681 or 1-888-Ive-Got1.

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You can also report online at IveGo1.org or using the IveGot1 mobile app, available on the AppStore and Google Play.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tegu is not a Florida iguana: Facts on invasive Argentine lizard
A report detailing the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations investigation into the partial collapse of The Davenport on May 28, 2023 was recently obtained by Our Quad Cities News.

The report details the limitations of discovery of police reports and names the people who died or were seriously injured in the partial collapse, including Ryan Hitchcock, Daniel Prien, Brandon Colvin Sr. and Quanishia (Peach) White-Cotton Berry. It also offers a synopsis of the events leading to the partial collapse and the aftermath. Some items were redacted on the report, such as the victims causes of death.

Ryan Hitchcock (Davenport Police Department)

Daniel Prien (photo submitted)

Brandon Colvin Sr. (City of Davenport)

Quanishia Peach and Lexus Berry (Scott County Court evidence)

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The report says that based on the investigation performed to date, White Birch Group and SOCOTEC Engineering, the companies hired to investigate the cause of the partial collapse, they reached these conclusions:

Root causes of collapse: (1) inadequate capacity of wall system; (2) inadequate shoring

Proximate causes of collapse: (1) improper understanding of original building construction; (2) inadequate construction documents; (3) neglect of composite wall; (4) inadequate oversight of repairs; (5) inherent weakness of west wall; (6) inadequate repair techniques; (7) inadequate frequency and type of maintenance.

The Davenport apartment building, located at 324 Main St., Davenport, sustained a partial building collapse May 28, 2023. (OurQuadCities.com)

The report ends with through the course of the investigation to date, regular communications have been had with Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunningham in continually assessing how the findings of the investigation apply to Iowa criminal law.

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Iowa K-12 schools will receive a 2% per-pupil increase in state aid as part of a funding package approved Tuesday. (Photo by Dan Forer/Getty Images)

The Iowa House on Tuesday passed the state K-12 school funding package for the 2025-2026 school year and sent it to the governors desk.

Senate File 167, passed 59-36, sets the State Supplemental Aid (SSA) rate at 2%, increasing the per-pupil funding for K-12 students by $157 from the current year. The amended bill also includes a proposed $5 bump to the State Cost Per Pupil (SCPP) to address disparities in some school districts with the District Cost Per Pupil (DCPP), and a 5% increase to the rate of funding per pupil to the transportation equity fund.

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Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, said during Senate debate Monday that the bill will provide responsible and sustainable funding for Iowa schools, with the package providing $238.1 million in increased funding for Iowas K-12 education system from the previous year  when including funding for public K-12 schools, charter schools and the states Education Savings Account program  as a part of a total $4.2 billion in K-12 education spending.

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The House approval comes after lengthy negotiations between the Republicans in the two chambers over education spending. Senate Republicans initially proposed a 2% SSA rate with no additional funding components, in line with Gov. Kim Reynolds recommendation at the beginning of the 2025 legislative session. But House Republicans proposed a slightly higher 2.25% SSA rate, alongside other funding components  some of which made it into the final bill with some changes.

The House GOP proposal included a $10 SCPP raise and an unlimited appropriation for transportation equity aid payment to address existing inequities, components that were altered but included in the Senate amendment. Other funding aspects, like a $22.6 million one-time appropriation to supplement school funding in fiscal year 2026, were not included.

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House Democrats criticized Republicans, who control both chambers, for not reaching an agreement on school funding earlier. Lawmakers have a self-imposed deadline to pass school funding for the next year within 30 days of the governors budget being released. That deadline passed in February  and school districts deadlines to release a budget proposal for the upcoming year passed in March.

Rep. Larry McBurney, D-Urbandale, said the 2% SSA rate will not provide adequate funding to Iowa schools, and will lead to property tax increases in many Iowa communities. Under the proposal, Democrats said 159 Iowa school districts will be on the budget guarantee, a process increasing property taxes that is triggered when school districts funding obligations cannot be met by SSA.

McBurney said House Republicans ultimately caved to the Senates lower school funding proposal, and called for his GOP colleagues in the House to not support the amended bill.

If were going to do it, lets do it right, McBurney said. Heck, you guys have already missed the timeline by two months. Whats another few weeks to get it right for our public schools?

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Rep. Dan Gehlbach, R-Urbandale, the bills floor manager, pushed back against Democrats criticisms, saying House Republicans didnt just accept the first offer on the table, we fought for more.

This plan isnt everything we initially voted on, but its a hard-fought victory that moves us forward, and Im proud of the work our leadership did to get this across the finish line, Gehlbach said.

Gehlbach also said there will be more school funding discussions in the future, saying he hopes to run a measure in 2025 that would provide a $14 million standing appropriation for paying paraeducators in Iowas K-12 school system.

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Iowa senators passed a state supplemental aid package by a 32-15 vote.

The measure, Senate File 167, would allow K-12 public schools to receive a 2% increase in State Supplemental Aid (SSA) rate, the growth rate for public school funding, allocated to schools on a per-student basis. The increase is $157 for every student and a total $240 million increase. The increase in per-pupil equity translates to $2.9 million. There would also be a $1 million increase in transportation equity.

The House adopted an increase of 2.25%. Senate Republicans say its a responsible move, but Democrats say it would force school districts to make deeper cuts. The House debates the bill April 8. If passed, it will head to Gov. Kim Reynoldss desk.

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For more information, click here.

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Vote stickers in a basket on Election Day 2024. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Senators sent legislation on Iowas elections to Gov. Kim Reynolds desk Monday that included provisions on verifying Iowa voters citizenship status.

The Senate also passed bills addressing the governors math instruction proposal, vaccines for a sexually transmitted virus, fireworks and the minimum age for firearm possession.

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House File 954, passed 32-15, was a bill proposed by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate that would allow the Secretary of States office to contract with federal and state agencies, and with private entities, for voter roll verification and maintenance.

The bill also laid out steps for setting a voters registration status as unconfirmed in cases where the state registrar or a county commissioner has received information from a reliable source indicating that the registered voter is not qualified. A unconfirmed voters status would be changed to active after they provide proof that they are qualified to vote under the legislation.

The bill also allows for a voter to be challenged at the polls over their citizenship status. A challenged voter is allowed to present precinct election officials evidence or facts to prove they are qualified to vote. If the challenge is not withdrawn after this procedure, the voter would cast a provisional ballot.

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While Pate and Republican lawmakers said these measures would prevent non-U.S. citizens from illegally participating in Iowa elections, Democrats said the measure could lead to discrimination at Iowa polls. Sen. Matt Blake, D-Urbandale, said he was concerned about allowing challenges on the basis of citizenship at the polls.

He said that these challenges can be brought by third-party poll watchers, who would have the ability to challenge the qualifications of any voter they feel could potentially be a noncitizen. Curing the ballot in these cases could be more difficult than other challenges allowed at the polls to a persons age or residence, Blake said.

The characteristics of trying to prove citizenship at the polls is different than residency and other factors that are currently questions that can be asked, Blake said. You may have a drivers license thats updated that proves where you live. You may have your bill in the car related to that you live in a particular spot. Adding the question of whether somebody is a citizen requires a whole set of documents that  I dont know, I dont carry around my birth certificate.

These changes were proposed following Pates guidance to county auditors ahead of the 2024 general election to challenge the ballots of of 2,176 voters identified as potential noncitizens based on state information. In March, Pate said of the 2,176 individuals on the list, 277 were confirmed to not be U.S. citizens, and 35 noncitizens cast ballots in Iowa that were counted in Nov. 5, 2024 election.

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Blake and other Democrats said the small number of people on Pates list of potential noncitizens  and a smaller percentage of the overall number of Iowans who participated in the 2024 general election  showed that the measure was unnecessarily making it more difficult for Iowans to vote while raising mistrust in the states elections.

But Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, the bills floor manager, said the fact that there were any noncitizens who participated in Iowas elections showed the need for the measure.

Do you hear yourself? Do you hear yourself? Rozenboom said. Only 40 noncitizens voted in last years election in Iowa, and only 35 of those were counted. As a state that has a long history of conducting elections that provide timely voting results that are widely trusted, in order to maintain the integrity of our system, its important that we update our election laws as conditions and challenges change.  Weve had elections in Iowa for congressional races decided by seven votes and legislative races, recently have been very close. This bill provides more tools for our elections officials to use to maintain that long standing tradition of integrity of Iowas election process.

The bill also included a ban on ranked choice voting. Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, introduced an amendment, which failed, to allow local governments to conduct elections using ranked choice voting. The voting method, also known as instant runoff voting, has voters order candidates on a ballot from their first to last choice, with a candidate winning if they receive the majority of first-choice voters. If there is not a clear winner, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated, and voters who chose that candidate as their first choice have their votes redistributed to their second choice  a process which repeats until one candidate wins the majority of votes.

Other Senate action

The election bill was just one of several measures passed by lawmakers in the Senate on their first day of debate since the second funnel deadline. Other bills passed Monday include:

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Mathematics instruction: Senators approved House File 784 in a 46-1 vote, sending it to Reynolds. The bill is the governors proposal seeking to improve Iowa students mathematics aptitude after the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found mathematics scores decreased for both fourth and eighth graders. The legislation would require Iowa schools to assess K-6 students math skills at least three times a year. If students are deemed persistently at risk, schools would be required to implement a personalized mathematics plan for the student, alongside other intervention strategies, to help the child reach grade-standard proficiency.

The Iowa Department of Education would also be required by the bill to develop and distribute a comprehensive mathematics plan to Iowa schools to increase math proficiency, and provide mathematics instructional aid for teachers and parents.

Reynolds released a statement Monday celebrating the bills passage.

One of the greatest predictors of future success in the classroom and workplace, along with early literacy, is mathematics competency, Reynolds said in a statement. At an early age we need to identify children who are not yet proficient in math and ensure they receive the personalized help they need to build a strong foundation. We will support our teachers with evidence-based professional development and ensure all students receive math instruction in the way we know it works.

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Vaccination of minors for sexually transmitted diseases: Senate File 304 would remove a current exemption in Iowa law allowing minors to consent to receive vaccinations for sexually transmitted infections, like the HPV vaccine, without their parents permission. Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, said the bill would prevent children from accessing a vaccination that can prevent cancers caused by human papillomavirus infections. She also said the measure does not acknowledge the fact that minors who are seeking this vaccination may be the victims of child sex abuse.

The truth is, more children in Iowa are survivors of child sex abuse than any one of us want to believe, and oftentimes, that abuse is occurring in the very house where theyre being raised, Petersen said. This legislation puts these kids at an increased risk by potentially putting the decision on whether or not they can do anything to protect their body  in the hands of someone who is raping them.

Sen. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, said the bill only applies to vaccinations, and does not change other sections of Iowa law that allows minors to receive medical care related to the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of sexually transmitted diseases or infections without their parents or guardians consent.

Fireworks: Senate File 303, a bill passed 31-16 after it was deferred by lawmakers in March, would prohibit county boards of supervisors and city councils from placing restrictions on the use of fireworks on July 3, 4 and Dec. 31 outside of existing restrictions in Iowa Code on fireworks. Local governments would still be allowed to set restrictions on fireworks for other days.

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This is a simple bill about freedom in order to ensure that Iowans will be able to truly celebrate in the grand American tradition of fireworks on our holidays, Sen. Cherielynn Westrich, R-Ottumwa, said.

Minimum age for acquiring firearms: House File 924, sent to the governor with a 33-14 vote, lowers the minimum age for possessing and carrying a firearm, and for permitting, from age 21 to age 18. The measure still sets the age limit at 21 and older for permits to acquire a handgun.

Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, said the bill was prompted by the U.S. Eight Circuit Court of Appeals decision that found a Minnesota law limiting firearm permits to people age 21 and older was unconstitutional. He also said he supported the measure as a way to ensure Iowans between the ages of 18 to 20 have access to their constitutional rights.

As a father of an 18-year-old  I believe that my daughter has the constitutional right to be able to defend herself, no different than anybody else, Webster said. Shes 18 years old. Shes an adult, she can vote. She has that right.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a potential nuclear deal with Iran must include the complete destruction of Tehrans nuclear facilities under U.S. supervision and reiterated that the Islamic republic cannot have a nuclear weapon.

We agree that Iran must not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. This can be achieved through an agreement  but only if it is a Libya-style agreement; one where the facilities are entered, dismantled, and destroyed under American supervision and execution  thats good, Netanyahu said in a video Tuesday, prior to departure for Israel, referencing the 2003 nuclear disarmament of Libya.

The prime minister said the second option is that it wont happen at all, and they will just drag out the negotiations.

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In that case, the option is military, he said. Everyone understands that. We discussed this at length.

Trump said on Monday, standing alongside Netanyahu, who was at the White House for a meeting, that the U.S. will conduct direct talks with Iran over its nuclear program on Saturday. The talks will happen in Oman.

The presidents Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, will be leading the U.S. delegation at the upcoming talks, Axios reported, citing sources familiar with the plan. The Hill has reached out to the National Security Council for comment.

I think if talks arent successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it, because they cant have a nuclear weapon. Its not a complicated formula, Trump said on Monday.

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The president withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. The agreement put limits on Irans nuclear program, but those critical of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action argued it did not curb Irans aggressiveness.

So were going to see if we can avoid it, but its getting to be very dangerous territory. And hopefully those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Irans best interests if they are successful, we hope, we hope thats going to happen, Trump said.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will represent Tehran in "indirect" nuclear negotiations with the United States this Saturday in Oman, Iran's Foreign Ministry said, confirming a report by state news agency Tasnim.

"Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks. It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court," Araghchi himself posted on X early Tuesday.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will lead the US delegation, Iranian state media said.

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US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the discussions would take place. While Trump described the negotiations as "direct," Tehran said they would not be face-to-face.

Iran says messages are to be relayed through mediators, consistent with Irans long-standing position on talks with the US.

In 2018, during his first term in office, Trump abandoned the nuclear deal the United States struck with Iran under president Barack Obama. The pact limited Irans nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

In response, Iran gradually stopped adhering to the deal's terms.

Israel, meanwhile, citing concerns over a potential Iranian nuclear weapons programme, has repeatedly threatened military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.

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In a letter delivered to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in March, Trump said Tehran must either negotiate a new nuclear deal or face military action.

The talks come as Iran grapples with a severe economic crisis.

Crippling international sanctions have devastated Irans economy, hollowing out the middle class and sending the national currency, the rial, into free fall.
Iranian officials confirmed Monday that Tehran would hold "indirect" high level talks with U.S. representatives in Oman this weekend regarding Iran's nuclear program, though appeared to contradict President Donald Trump's assertion that the negotiations are "direct" in nature.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, "We're having direct talks with Iran, and they've started. It'll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we'll see what can happen."

"You know, a lot of people say, 'Oh, maybe you're going through surrogates or you're not dealing directly. You're dealing through other countries.' No, we're dealing with them directly. And, maybe a deal is going to be made," Trump said.

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Asked on Tuesday whether the talks would indeed be direct, a White House National Security spokesperson told ABC News, "The president was clear in his remarks."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that a meeting will take place in Oman on April 12, though stressed they would be "indirect high-level talks."

PHOTO: President Donald Trump meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (Kevin Mohatt/Reuters)

"It is as much an opportunity as it is a test," Araghchi said in a post to social media.

Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani also told a Tuesday press conference that the coming talks with the U.S. will be "indirect."

"We believe in negotiations," she said, as quoted by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. "We had previously stated that if the language of respect is used, we will negotiate."

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"Details will emerge during the negotiations," Mohajerani added. "As negotiations have not started yet, there are no details that we can share now," she said.

"As a negotiator party with an equal perspective toward the talks, what matters to us is focusing on our national interests, anything that improves the situation for our people, and the topics that have previously been discussed. Hopefully, we will have wise negotiations ahead," she added.

MORE: Trump says US engaged in 'direct talks' with Iran over nuclear weapons

The U.S. and Iran have engaged in indirect talks several times in recent years. The country has traditionally played a mediating role between Washington and Tehran, including during talks held there in 2023.

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Iranian officials have so far refused Trump's offer to engage in direct talks. President Masoud Pezeshkian said in March that "although direct negotiations between the two parties are rejected, it has been stated that the path for indirect negotiations is open."

If direct talks happen as Trump said, they would be the first publicly-known direct negotiations between the U.S. and Iran since the president exited the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal in 2018.

In recent weeks, Trump has threatened potential military action against Iran to keep it from developing nuclear weapons.

"I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious," the president said Monday, speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it," he said.

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"So, we're going to see if we can avoid it," Trump continued. "But it's getting to be very dangerous territory. And hopefully those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Iran's best interests if they are successful."

ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.

Iran says US talks will be 'indirect' despite Trump 'direct' negotiations announcement originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
CANBERRA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been voted the winner of the first leaders' debate of the general election campaign.

At the end of the debate on Tuesday night, 44 percent of the undecided voters in attendance chose Albanese as the winner compared to 35 percent for opposition leader Peter Dutton, with 21 percent undecided.

The debate in western Sydney was the first between Albanese and Dutton, the respective leaders of the governing Labor Party and opposition Coalition, ahead of the general election on May 3.

In their opening remarks, Albanese declared that "now is the time" to look forward and build Australia's future while Dutton promised that a Coalition government would get the country "back on track."

Following their opening remarks, the candidates for prime minister faced questions from the crowd of undecided voters for about 90 minutes. The first question of the night asked how each leader would deal with the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump.

Albanese reiterated previous comments that the United States had committed an "act of economic self-harm" through sweeping new tariffs.

Dutton, who has been critical of the government's failure to negotiate an exemption from the tariffs, said that the prime minister should "stand up" against bullies and countries that would seek to do Australia harm.

The Coalition on Monday abandoned its plan to end flexible working arrangements, including work-from-home policies, for federal public servants and to reduce government spending by cutting 41,000 federal public service jobs.

Albanese used the major policy shift in his closing remarks on Tuesday to ask how voters can "believe" what the Coalition would do after the election.

"I know that in this uncertain time with what's going on in the world, now's not the time to make cuts," he said.

In his own closing remarks, Dutton said that a Coalition government would "fix the economy" and more effectively deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

"A Coalition government will always be a better economic manager," he said.

Tuesday marked two weeks until early voting in the election opens on April 22.

Early voting centers around the country will allow millions of Australians to cast their ballots before election day, although early votes will not be counted until polls close on May 3.

Voting in the election is mandatory for all citizens aged 18 and over who have enrolled with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), a process that occurs automatically for most of the population.

According to the AEC, the enrolment rate of eligible Australians for the upcoming election will be a record-high of over 98 percent.

More than 17.2 million people voted in the last election in 2022, with voter turnout at 89.8 percent. Enrolled voters who fail to cast a ballot face small fines.

Albanese and Dutton are set to face off in a second leaders' debate on April 16. 
By Parisa Hafezi

(Reuters) -Iran is approaching weekend talks with the United States over its nuclear programme warily, with little confidence in progress and deep suspicions over U.S. intentions, Iranian officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

The talks were announced on Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Washington's old foe Iran with military action if it does not agree to a deal since he returned to the White House in January.

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Trump has said the talks on Saturday in Oman will be direct but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi repeated on Tuesday Tehran's position that they should be indirect, citing what he called U.S. pressure and threats.

"Indirect negotiations can guarantee a genuine and effective dialogue," he told Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Araqchi said the talks would be led by him and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, mediated by Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi.

A source briefed on U.S. planning for the talks confirmed that Witkoff would lead the U.S. delegation and that the discussions would be broad in the search for a nuclear deal and would not be technical in nature.

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"This is still coming together," the source told Reuters.

Tehran would want to see concrete gestures from the United States before any face-to-face talks between Iranian and U.S. officials, Iranian and regional sources said.

"The Iranians told us that direct talks are possible but there has to be a goodwill gesture. Lift some sanctions or unfreeze some money," a regional diplomat said.

Russia backs either direct or indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. as a chance to de-escalate tensions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, adding: "We know that certain contacts, direct and indirect, are planned in Oman."

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Russia's lower house of parliament also ratified on Tuesday a 20-year strategic partnership with Iran, a sign of the deepening military ties between the two countries.

Efforts to settle a dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, which it says is purely for civilian use but which Western countries see as a precursor to an atomic bomb, have ebbed and flowed for more than 20 years without resolution.

Trump tore up a 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers - the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - during his first term of office in 2017 and talks since then have stalled.

TENSIONS

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With the Middle East aflame since 2023 with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, strikes in Yemen, exchanges of fire between Iran and Israel and regime change in Syria, Trump's warnings of military action have jangled nerves across the oil-exporting region.

In Tehran, Trump's warnings are seen as a way to box the Islamic Republic into accepting concessions in the talks Trump demands or face air strikes, three Iranian officials said.

They said the U.S. wanted to push other issues too, including Iranian influence across the Middle East and its ballistic missiles programme, which they said were off the table.

"Trump wants a new deal: end Iran's regional influence, dismantle its nuclear programme, and halt its missile work. These are unacceptable to Tehran. Our nuclear programme cannot be dismantled," a senior Iranian official said.

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"Our defence is non-negotiable. How can Tehran disarm when Israel has nuclear warheads? Who protects us if Israel or others strike?" said another official.

Israel, which has long regarded Iran as its biggest regional threat, defeated Tehran's Lebanese ally Hezbollah last year and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was with Trump on Monday when the U.S. president announced Saturday's talks.

Netanyahu, who has repeatedly urged U.S. governments to use strikes against Iran's nuclear programme, said a diplomatic solution would be good if it was done "in a full way", citing the complete dismantling of Libya's atomic programme.

"Let them drag out the talks and then the option is military. Everyone understands this," Netanyahu said on Tuesday in a statement.

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Iran has pushed back against Trump's warnings of military action, saying it will not be cowed by threats.

The Islamic Republic has withstood repeated sanctions programmes over recent decades and Iranian military leaders have previously threatened to cut off regional oil exports - a significant proportion of global energy supply.

(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Additional reporting by Maha El Dahan in Dubai, John Irish in Paris, Dmitry Antonov in Moscow, Emily Rose in Jerusalem and Steve Holland in Washington; Editing by Gareth Jones)
(Reuters) - Iran and the U.S. will hold talks on Saturday on Iran's nuclear programme, with U.S. President Donald Trump having threatened military action if they cannot agree a deal.

Iran's nuclear programme has been the subject of a long dispute between it and Western countries that fear it wants to build an atomic bomb, which Tehran denies.

Here is a timeline of the dispute:

1957 - Iran and United States sign a nuclear cooperation deal and the United States delivers a research reactor to Iran a decade later.

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1970 - Iran ratifies the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), giving it the right to a civilian nuclear programme but barring it from seeking an atomic bomb.

1979 - Iran's Islamic revolution upends its ties to major powers, turning former ally the United States into its main foe.

1995 - Russia agrees to finish construction of Iran's planned nuclear power plant at Bushehr, originally started by Germany and shelved since the revolution.

2003 - The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, says Iran has not complied with NPT after the revelation it has secretly built a uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and a heavy water plant for plutonium at Arak.

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Both can be used to make fuel for nuclear power but they can also be used in atomic warheads.

Iran accepts European proposals for more transparency in its nuclear programme including snap IAEA inspections.

2004 - The IAEA says Iran has not provided the transparency it promised. Iran says it will not suspend uranium enrichment activity.

2005 - Russia offers to supply Iran with fuel for Bushehr to stop it developing its own fuel by making enriched uranium or plutonium.

IAEA says Iran is not in compliance with agreements and EU countries halt negotiations.

2006 - Iran resumes work at Natanz, saying in April it has enriched uranium for the first time to about 3.5%, far short of the 90% needed for a warhead.

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World powers the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - later known collectively as the P5+1 - offer Iran incentives to halt enrichment.

The United Nations Security Council imposes sanctions on Iran over its enrichment.

2009 - Western countries say Iran has been building another secret uranium enrichment facility under a mountain at Fordow near Qom.

2010 - Iran starts making 20% enriched uranium. The U.N. Security Council expands sanctions including an embargo on major weapons systems, as the U.S. and EU tighten their own sanctions.

A computer virus - Stuxnet - appears aimed at paralysing the Natanz plant, the start of direct operations against Iranian facilities that Tehran blames on Israel.

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2011 - Bushehr nuclear plant starts operations. Iran says it will use more advanced centrifuges to expand its 20% enrichment programme.

2013 - Former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani is elected Iranian president offering new proposals. He and U.S. President Barack Obama hold a first call between leaders of the countries since 1979.

Iran-P5+1 talks in Geneva result in a "Joint Plan of Action" with steps required by both sides including reducing Iran's enriched uranium stockpile, more IAEA access and some sanctions relief.

2014 - Negotiations on a final deal continue through the year, with Iran halting uranium enrichment to 20% and work at Arak and getting access to oil revenue frozen by sanctions.

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U.S. allies in the region, Israel and Saudi Arabia, repeatedly caution Washington against a deal, saying Iran cannot be trusted and citing its growing sway in the region.

2015 - Iran and the P5+1 agree the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal that limits Iran's nuclear work, allows for more inspections and a loosening of sanctions.

2016 - IAEA says Iran has met its commitments under the JCPOA, leading to UN sanctions tied to the nuclear programme being lifted.

However, Iran's long-range ballistic missile tests prompt unease despite Tehran saying they could not carry nuclear warheads.

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2017 - New U.S. President Donald Trump says the JCPOA is the "worst deal ever" and unilaterally pulls out. Despite Trump promising a better deal there are no new talks.

2018 - The United States resumes sanctions on Iran, which starts to move away from the JCPOA.

2019 - With ties between Iran and the West deteriorating, a string of attacks on Gulf oil tankers and other regional energy facilities are blamed by the U.S. on Iran.

2020 - A blast rocks Iran's Natanz plant and a nuclear scientist is assassinated near Tehran with Iran blaming both incidents on Israel.

2021 - With Trump out of the White House, U.S. and Iran resume indirect talks but there is little progress.

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Iran starts enriching uranium to 60% - not far from 90% needed for a bomb.

New attacks strike Iran's Natanz and a centrifuge factory in Karaj.

2022 - The IAEA says Iran did not answer questions over uranium traces found at more sites. Iran cuts off IAEA inspections and installs more new centrifuges at Natanz.

2025 - Trump returns to the White House and says Iran must agree to a nuclear deal or "there will be bombing".

(Compiled by Angus McDowall; Editing by Alex Richardson)
The IRS offered its workers deferred resignations, incentive payments, and early retirement.

It follows an earlier email the IRS sent confirming staff cuts have started.

Trump has directed federal agencies to slash their workforces to promote efficiency.

Memo from the Internal Revenue Service to employees: Voluntarily leave your job or risk getting fired later.

On Tuesday morning, the IRS sent an email to its staff  a copy of which was reviewed by Business Insider  offering three "voluntary separation programs":

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A second and final deferred resignation program offering employees paid administrative leave through September 30; A voluntary separation incentive payment, allowing employees to take a lump-sum buyout offer with a cap of $25,000 And a voluntary early retirement application for employees who are at least 50 with at least 20 years of federal service, or any age with at least 25 years of federal service.

The email said the deadline for employees to decide is April 14 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Tuesday's email follows an email sent to employees on Friday, viewed by BI, that said that the IRS had begun its staffing cuts "to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRS." These are formally called reduction in force, or RIF, plans. The email said that 75% of the IRS's Office of Civil Rights and Compliance would be subject to a RIF and further reductions would be "implemented in phases."

"This message is only notification that the IRS has begun the RIF process and does not serve as your official notification. Each office will receive direct communication when their phase begins," the email said.

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An email sent to employees on Saturday notified them of the second deferred resignation offer and said, "At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding which positions will remain  or where they will be located  after Treasury's restructuring." Tuesday's email warned employees that those who do not choose to voluntarily leave will remain subject to any coming RIFs.

The IRS terminated probationary employees in February, but a federal judge later ordered them reinstated. They're still subject to later RIF plans at the agency.

The IRS and Treasury did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BI. Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, previously told reporters that firings at the IRS would likely escalate "as we improve IT" at the agency.

President Donald Trump and the DOGE office have directed all federal agencies to begin RIF plans as part of their efforts to reduce government waste. On Monday night, the Department of Homeland Security offered its employees the same options as IRS workers, and other agencies, like the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration, have announced plans to slash their workforces. The Social Security Administration said employees could volunteer to be reassigned to "mission critical" roles ahead of reductions.

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The Department of Health and Human Services also began firing workers last week following the agency's plan to terminate about 10,000 workers. David Super, an administrative law professor at Georgetown Law, told BI that he was "confident" the HHS terminations would be litigated, and it's likely any terminations at other agencies would face lawsuits as well.

Have a tip or story to share? Contact this reporter via Signal at asheffey.97 or via email at asheffey@businessinsider.com . Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely .

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Israeli forces bombed a tent full of Palestinian media workers on Monday in Gaza, killing at least three and wounding eight more  just days after a new report concluded that more journalists have been killed in the territorys crisis than in most other major wars combined.

An Israeli strike hit the media tent overnight near a hospital in Khan Younis, setting it ablaze and killing Palestine Today journalist Helmi Al-Faqawi, according to local media. Reports have also identified civilian Yousef Al-Khazandar as the second person killed in the strike.

Gruesome footage taken and shared online by other journalists shows a man burning alive in the tent while some witnesses try putting out the fire. The man, now identified as Palestine Today editor Ahmad Mansour, was in critical condition until Monday night, when his colleagues said he died of severe burns.

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The Monday strike also reportedly wounded freelance photographerHassan Aslih, Alam24 photographer Ali Aslih, Anadolu photographer Abdallah Al-Attar, BBC Arabic contributor Ahmad Al-Agha, freelance photojournalist Mohammed Fayeq, ABC News cameraman Ihab Al-Bardini, Al Jazeera cameraman Mahmoud Awad and Radio Algerie correspondent Majid Qudeih.

Fellow journalists in Gaza City held a vigil on Tuesday in solidarity with their colleagues who became casualties of Israels 18-month military offensive, holding photos of those whove been killed as well as flyers denouncing the attack on the free press.

The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate said it appeals to all human rights organizations, as well as institutions dedicated to press freedom and freedom of expression worldwide, and all media organizations, to expose to the world the horrific massacres and atrocities being committed by the Israeli occupation forces against journalists in Gaza  crimes that rank among the most heinous in the history of journalism.

A screengrab from a video shows a media tent engulfed in flames after the Israeli army launched an airstrike near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on April 7, 2025. Hani Alshaer/Anadolu via Getty Images

The attacks come after Brown Universitys Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs released a report concluding that the rate of journalists killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, has rendered the territory a news graveyard and turned the ongoing crisis into the deadliest ever for members of the press. The institutes Costs of War project released the analysis on April 1.

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To break it down, Israel has killed more journalists in Gaza over the last year and a half than if one combines the number of journalists killed in the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the wars in Yugoslavia and the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

Its unclear how many Palestinian reporters in Gaza have been intentionally killed because of their work and how many were simply the victims, like tens of thousands of fellow civilians, of Israels bombardment of a densely populated 140-square mile strip of land, the report said, adding that Palestinian journalists work is especially critical as Israel has barred foreign correspondents from entering the territory.

Palestinian journalists inspect the damage of a media tent bombed by Israeli forces in Khan Younis, Gaza on April 7, 2025. AFP via Getty Images

As of March 26, the death toll for journalists in Gaza stands at 232 since Israel launched its current military campaign that international commissions and human rights groups have labeled a genocide. That death toll equates to an average of 13 Palestinian journalists killed per month by Israel, according to the analysis. Several journalists have been killed or wounded since the reports release, including Islam Maqdadand Hossam Shabat.

The survivors reporting in the news graveyard of Gaza continue to work under threat of death, injury, arrest and cyberattack. They have endured the loss of family, friends, colleagues and homes. They have persevered in the face of intolerable hardships, the report said. Solidarity in the profession demands that international reporters call out repression, break blockades and support embattled journalists in Gaza and beyond.
Israel plans to close a further six schools run by the Palestine refugee agency UNRWA in the Arab-dominated eastern part of Jerusalem.

Police officers and employees of the Jerusalem city council had forcibly entered the schools, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on Tuesday on the platform X. They had ordered closures within 30 days, he added.

Israeli police did not initially comment on the incident.

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"Some 800 boys & girls are directly impacted by these closure orders and are likely to miss finishing their school year," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote.

Israel accuses the UN Palestinian relief agency of having employees involved in the militant activities of the Islamist Hamas group.

The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, responded by imposing a ban on work on Israeli territory, which came into force at the end of January.

Another law prohibits Israeli authorities from having any contact with UNRWA.

According to media reports, an Israeli hostage who had been released stated that she had been held in a UNRWA facility in the Gaza Strip.

Israel had previously ordered the closure of several UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem city council said that it would take care of the affected students after the UNRWA work ban went into effect.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that Israel plans to reduce tariffs and ease trade barriers with the United States.

"We intend to do it very quickly," Netanyahu said during a reception at the White House, adding that the goal is to also reduce the trade deficit with the US.

Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to be received at the White House for talks since the US government announced new blanket tariffs of a minimum of 10% on imports from almost all its trading partners last week.

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The US is Israel's most important ally and yet the country was not exempt from the sweeping new tariffs announced by Trump last week, with additional duties of 17% to be slapped on Israeli imports from Wednesday.

A planned press conference between the pair following their meeting was unexpectedly cancelled. A White House official announced the cancellation without providing a reason.

However, some journalists were still allowed to observe the start of the meeting in the Oval Office.

Prior to the meeting, Netanyahu stated that he intended to discuss the new US tariff package, efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Palestinian militant organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the threat posed by Iran.

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Trump received Netanyahu at the beginning of February in what was seen as a gesture of support for the embattled Israeli prime minister, who has drawn strong international criticism over the ongoing Gaza war.

During that visit, Trump said he intended for the US to take control of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip to develop the region. Under his plan, Gazans would be resettled to Arab nations and the territory to be transformed into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

The comments - which proposed resettling the 2 million Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip - sparked outrage in the Arab world and beyond.

Trump made similar comments during Monday's meeting, calling the Gaza Strip "an incredible piece of important real estate."

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The US "controlling and owning the Gaza Strip would be a good thing," he added.

Netanyahu's visit to Washington comes on the heels of a trip to Hungary last week.

Netanyahu faces an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, but Hungary, a member of the court, did not take the Israeli premier into custody, instead announcing plans to withdraw from the international body.
Almost every time we glance at the news these days, there appear to be fresh reasons for gloom. Still, we mustnt let ourselves become too downcast. Because we do have at least one piece of good news to celebrate.

Labour politicians have suddenly realised the importance of free speech.

This miraculous conversion appears to have taken place over the weekend, after Israel denied entry to two Labour MPs. The Israeli immigration ministry accused Abtisam Mohamed (the MP for Sheffield Central) and Yuan Yang (the MP for Earley & Woodley) of planning to spread anti-Israel hatred. Ms Mohamed has previously accused Israel of war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and called for a UK ban on Israeli goods. As for Ms Yang, in January she called for sanctions against Israeli ministers.

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In response to Israels decision, senior Labour figures are united in outrage. They simply cant believe that a Western nation would deny entry to democratically elected politicians, purely for expressing opinions of which its government disapproves.

Take, for example, the veteran Labour MP and former Foreign Office minister Sir Chris Bryant. On Sunday, he indignantly tweeted: What price free speech? What price democracy?

Excellent questions. I only wonder whether he paused to consider them in 2017, before he wrote to Theresa May, the then prime minister, calling on her to ban Donald Trump from entering Britain. Trump was then, as now, the democratically elected president of the USA. Yet Sir Chris believed that he should be denied entry to our country, because on Twitter the president had shared three videos which Sir Chris deemed to be Islamophobic.

Perhaps these videos were indeed offensive. But even if so, would it really have been right to block a visit from the elected leader of a Western ally, just for retweeting them? What price free speech? What price democracy?

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Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch party PVV, might ask the same thing. In February 2009, the then Labour government blocked him from entering the UK, because it objected to comments hed made about Islam. Jacqui Smith, the home secretary at the time, said she believed that his statements about Muslims and their beliefs would threaten community harmony. The fact that Mr Wilders was then, as now, a democratically elected politician from a friendly Western nation made no difference. The Labour government disapproved of his opinions, so it kept him out.

Still, times have clearly changed. In 2025, Labour evidently believes that elected politicians must be free to enter any country they choose, even if that countrys government considers their opinions to be hateful. David Lammy, our Foreign Secretary, has said that Israels refusal to admit the two Labour MPs is unacceptable, and sternly declared: I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians.

I wonder if he and his colleagues recall what Mr Wilders, the Dutch parliamentarian, said in February 2009. Asked whether he had a message for the Labour government that had just barred him from entering Britain, Mr Wilders said it was a very sad day when the UK bans an elected parliamentarian, and added: Even if you dont like me and dont like the things I say, then you should let me in for freedom of speech. If you dont, you are looking like cowards.

Perhaps Labour would now like to prove that its changed, by inviting Mr Wilders to visit our country, as the Governments honoured guest.

A woke history of the world

To parents, it may seem absurd for schoolchildren to be taught that Joan of Arc was non-binary. For one thing, she lived around 600 years before this exciting term was coined. In any case, evidence to support the assertion is thin on the ground. If, as Joan was led to the stake, she loudly reminded her executioners to refer to her as elles rather than elle, witnesses appear to have taken no note of it.

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Even so, Im not going to criticise Collins, the publisher, for promoting this questionable claim in an anthology of school teaching materials. Because its given me an idea. Im going to write a school history textbook of my own.

On every page, Im going to ensure that it rigorously reflects all of todays most fashionable progressive views. So not only will Joan of Arc be non-binary, but Emmeline Pankhurst will be trans, Einstein will be a sex worker, and Mozart will be a disabled woman of colour. Meanwhile, the row over the authorship of Shakespeares plays will at last be resolved: they were actually written by an Eritrean asylum seeker.

In addition, my book will finally dare to reveal the truth about some of historys greatest villains. Osama bin Laden was actually an evangelical Christian, Pol Pot was a capitalist, and Idi Amin was white.

In no time, I feel sure, my book will be stocked by every school in the land.

Way of the World is a twice-weekly satirical look at the headlines aiming to mock the absurdities of the modern world. It is published at 6am every Tuesday and Saturday

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 News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to eliminate his countrys trade deficit with the US and drop all trade barriers after meeting with US President Donald Trump on Monday.

Netanyahu was the first world leader to hold in-person talks with Trump about the new Liberation Day tariffs.

It comes with Netanyahu under pressure at home over Qatargate, a scandal centering on allegations his advisers were paid by a Qatari representative to promote the Gulf nations interests in the media.

The Israeli leader is facing backlash over his attempt to fire the head of the countrys security agency, which launched the Qatargate investigation. We are a spoiled country in a process of accelerated deterioration, a former Israeli intelligence officer said.
Israel's Supreme Court opened deliberations on Tuesday on the highly contentious dismissal of Ronen Bar, head of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet.

The top court last month issued a temporary injunction preventing the dismissal of Bar. It is now reviewing eight separate petitions filed against the government's decision.

A ruling is expected later this week.

In March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited a "lack of trust" as the reason for Bar's removal.

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The move drew sharp criticism and mass protests, with opponents arguing Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in the decision to oust Bar.

That is because Shin Bet is investigating close associates of Netanyahu for alleged illegal ties to Qatar. They are accused of conducting work promoting Qatar's image in Israel.

While Qatar plays a key diplomatic role in the Gaza war, it is also known for its support of the Palestinian extremist group Hamas. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Israel.

Tensions between Netanyahu and Bar have been simmering for months.

Shin Bet's internal investigation into the failures that allowed the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack to occur included critical scrutiny of Netanyahu's actions leading up to the massacre. That attack ignited the ongoing war in Gaza.
Israel's Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a temporary injunction preventing the government from dismissing Ronen Bar, head of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet.

The top court ordered that Bar remain in office and his powers not be restricted until a final decision is made in the case, prohibiting the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from appointing a successor but allowing for potential replacement candidates to be reviewed.

The judges also suggested that the Israeli government and the Office of the Attorney General reach a compromise over the legal dispute surrounding the firing and initially gave both sides until April 20 to do so. If they do not reach an agreement, the court will decide.

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Netanyahu initially announced Bar's dismissal in March citing a "lack of trust" in him. The court had suspended the decision shortly afterwards with a temporary injunction. This was initially valid until the court's eagerly awaited deliberation on Tuesday.

Netanyahu's attempt to dismiss Bar drew sharp criticism and mass protests, with opponents arguing the prime minister had a conflict of interest in the decision to oust the Shin Bet boss.

That is because the intelligence agency is investigating close associates of Netanyahu for alleged illegal ties to Qatar. They are accused of conducting work promoting Qatar's image in Israel.

While Qatar plays a key diplomatic role in the Gaza war, it is also known for its support of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas - which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Israel.

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Tensions between Netanyahu and Bar have been simmering for months.

Shin Bet's internal investigation into the failures that allowed the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack to occur included critical scrutiny of Netanyahu's actions leading up to the massacre. That attack ignited the ongoing war in Gaza.
BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China has released new guidelines on building a high-quality system of employment services for university graduates.

The policy document, issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, outlines a comprehensive strategy to promote sufficient high-quality employment among college graduates.

It highlights six key areas of focus: optimizing the higher education training system, strengthening career guidance services, improving job-market and recruitment systems, enhancing support mechanisms for job seekers in difficulty, innovating employment monitoring and evaluation tools, and reinforcing supports and safeguards for graduate employment.

The document sets out the goal of establishing a nationwide employment services network that is inclusive, well-functioning and reliable within three to five years, laying a solid foundation for graduates to find jobs.

Official data shows that the number of college graduates in China is likely to reach 12.22 million in 2025, an increase of 430,000 from last year. 
(WJW)  The only statewide issue up to Ohio voters in the May 6 primary election would allow the state to continue issuing bonds to fund major infrastructure projects at the local level.

Issue 2 would amend the Ohio Constitution to allow the state to issue general obligation bonds to help local governments pay for capital improvement projects like roads and bridges, wastewater treatment systems, storm water management and more through the State Capital Improvement Program.

READ MORE:

How to vote early in Ohios May 6 primary election

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Cleveland voters to cast ballots at new voting locations

The issue does not levy a new tax on Ohioans, since bonds are part of state budget planning, according to the sponsoring lawmakers.

But Ohioans tax dollars would continue to pay down the debts incurred by local governments that take advantage of the program, according to the Ohio Ballot Board. The new debts could take up to 30 years to repay.

The program itself is nothing new. Ohio voters first approved it in 1987 and re-approved it through three separate constitutional amendments since then  the most recent in 2014. The last amendment will sunset on July 1.

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The upcoming issue also raises the annual limit for state-issued bonds from $200 million to $250 million, or $2.5 billion over the amendments 10-year authorization. The program started out at $120 million per year.

The program has funded nearly 19,000 projects since it began and each dollar funded by the program typically leverages $2 to $3, Linda Bailiff, director of the Ohio Public Works Commission, testified before a Senate committee in November, in favor of the resolution to create the ballot issue.

READ MORE:

6 tax issues on May 6 ballots in Cuyahoga County

14 tax levies, bond issues on May 6 ballots in Summit County

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See the new taxes on May 6 ballots in Northeast Ohio

The project review committee administering the program awarded the city of Cleveland more than $9 million in 2024 and about $8 million in 2023, according to James DeRosa, director of the Mayors Office of Capital Projects.

This represents a significant source of funding for the city to address aged infrastructure while facing the challenges of uncertain revenue streams and ever-rising project costs, he testified before the Senate committee in November, also in favor of the resolution.

The issue was added to the primary election ballot through a bipartisan joint resolution adopted in the last General Assembly, which saw near-unanimous support in both chambers.

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The measure can be approved with a simple majority vote. A vote for yes on the May 6 ballot is a vote to renew the 38-year-old program for another 10 years. A no vote is a vote not to renew 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 Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  Amid continued federal funding cuts from the Trump administration, the future of various federal programs remains unclear.

In Bakersfield, families seeking food and housing assistance are already being turned away. Food pantries and organizations in town predict the impact will only grow  perhaps within the next month.

For families struggling to make ends meet, the Salvation Army in Bakersfield is often the last glimpse of hope.

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We are the last resort, said Capt. Clinton Trimmer, a corps officer with the Bakersfield Salvation Army.

What we are talking about is people who have received either an eviction notice or people who have received a pay or quit notice. So, these are people who are in an emergency situation. Its not just they have fallen behind. They are in danger of homelessness, said Trimmer.

What allows Captain Clinton Trimmer and his team to help are federal funds from The Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

BFD seeks man in connection with fire that damaged Kern County Veterans Memorial

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To help prevent homelessness, this program  started in 1983  funds housing, food and supportive services.

Its been a stable program, and it may still be a stable program. We dont know. The issue is were now in limbo, Trimmer noted.

With that yearly funding, The Salvation Army helps dozens of families. Last year, 35 households got rent or mortgage assistance and 54 households got utilities assistance.

In 2023, 58 households got rent or mortgage assistance. 155 got utilies assistance.

Since 1984, when the Salvation Army began utilizing EFSP funds, Trimmer said more than 1,200 households got rent and mortgage assistance; more than 2,200 got utilities assistance.

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Additionally, Trimmer mentioned, his call logs show he typically gets around 150 calls monthly asking for either rent or utility assistance.

Approximately 60 of the calls will be for rent or mortgage assistance, while approximately 110 of the calls will be for utility assistance.

Trimmer also said this funding specifically is used for the Salvation Armys Homeless Prevention Program  rent, mortgage and utility assistance.

In recent weeks and days, hes had to turn families away.

Hands Off protests take place in Bakersfield Saturday

We just arent able to provide that assistance, he stated.

Trimmer detailed that even with guaranteed EFSP funding, theres more demand that supply.

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Its a constant struggle between trying to find funds and the growing need, he said.

Here in Kern County, 10 organizations applied and received funding last year (called Phase 41 funding)  including The Open Door Network, The Mission At Kern County and the Community Action Partnership of Kern  known as CAPK.

Theres a total pause on all Emergency Food and Shelter Program funding, said Eric Arias, CEO of United Way of Central Eastern California. So, that means Phase 42, which would be that new phase of funding, which has been in existence for decades and has been a reliable source of funding for a lot of our nonprofits, but also, for those who are owed funding for awards that have been previously done in previous phases, theyre also not able to pull down that funding at the moment.

Arias explained he and United Way serve as the middleman in EFSP fund allocations  the funds are given to them, and the group distributes the funds to select Kern County organizations.

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CAPKs food bank administrator told 17 News it uses EFSP funds to supplement community food donations.

Consequently, its already buying less food, and there will likely be a trickle-down effect to the 150 agency partners they distribute food to.

It warned families may be impacted within the next month.

Lauren Skidmore of The Open Door Network told 17 News due to the uncertainty in EFSP funds, the organization has seen an impact in food purchases for its domestic violence and homeless shelters.

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Another specific example  for food pantries like Catholic Charities, CAPK is the only supplier.

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Most of their food comes from CAPK for free.

So, if there are cuts to CAPK because of the limbo situation with EFSP funds, that means CAPK cant purchase as much food.

That reduces how much food these food pantries get, and thus Kern County families get.

Were able to bring them food. Its a culturally appropriate menu, so we bring things like rice, beans, chicken, said Beatriz Trevino, site director of Catholic Charities.

Trevino stated EFSP funds allow them to serve rural communities and provide rent and utility assistance.

With the freeze, the organization hasnt been able to offer the latter.

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Were just having them check back in with us because when funds are available, well still of course be able to provide that service to anyone that needs it, said Trevino.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Ukraine's European allies are actively increasing the production of artillery ammunition and addressing the component shortage which is slowing down arms supplies.

Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Details: German defence group Rheinmetall on 7 April announced the acquisition and conversion of Hagerdorn-NC, a nitrocellulose company, to strengthen its supply chain for rocket fuel for ammunition, particularly for 155mm artillery shells.

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Quote: "Rheinmetall currently produces nitrocellulose at facilities in Switzerland, Spain, and South Africa and plans to increase its production of gunpowder by over 50 per cent by 2028. Rheinmetall subsidiary Nitrochemie Aschau  which produces nitrocellulose, other gunpowder components, and dynamite  has increased its production capacity by 60 per cent since the start of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and plans for another 40 per cent increase by mid-2025."

Details: ISW also drew attention to the problem of dependence on China. In April 2024, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger and Saab CEO Mikael Johansson said that China supplies most of the ammunition components to Europe, which creates bottlenecks in the production process.

In response, Rheinmetall has expanded its sources of supply of cotton fibres (the main raw material for nitrocellulose) from Europe and EU partner countries in 2025 and created a strategic reserve for several years ahead.

To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 7 April:

The Kremlin continues to deny the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government as part of efforts to claim that Ukraine is not a legitimate negotiating partner and to demand Ukrainian regime change and demilitarisation.

Ukrainian officials did not report any Russian long-range missile or drone strikes on the night of 6-7 April or during the day on 7 April following Russia's largest strike package in over a month on the night of 5-6 April.

Ukraine's European allies continue to ramp up domestic materiel production and address shortages inhibiting artillery ammunition production.

Russian authorities likely facilitated the removal of a prominent Russian insider source from Telegram as part of continued efforts to crack down on the Russian information space.

Russian forces recently advanced in Belgorod Oblast and near Siversk, Toretsk, Pokrovsk and Velyka Novosilka and in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

The Kremlin continues to use its "Time of Heroes" programme to militarise regional governments and society in occupied Ukraine.

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Travellers in Europe this Easter weekend are being urged to check for delays or cancellations with strikes expected in several holiday hotspots.

This Easter weekend is expected to be especially busy with 11,282 flights scheduled to depart from UK airports alone, according to analytics firm Cirium.

Travellers are advised to check their flight and booking status regularly as negotiations are still ongoing in many cases, and strikes could be called off last minute.

UK: Gatwick airport workers to strike

The Unite union announced earlier this month that there would be strike action at Gatwick Airport - the UK's second busiest airport - starting on Good Friday 18 April and ending in the early hours of the morning on 22 April.

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This includes baggage handlers, check-in staff and flight dispatchers for airlines including Norwegian, Delta, TAP and Air Peace. The union says it expects the industrial action to impact around 50 flights a day, with long queues and delays at check-in counters.

These strikes are set to go ahead after hundreds of workers "overwhelmingly rejected" a settlement offer from Red Handling, the company at the heart of the dispute. Unite says the industrial action is being taken over several issues, including unpaid pensions, late payments and illegal shift patterns.

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The company has said it has contingency plans in place to support "safe and timely" travel over the Easter Weekend.

Spain: Hotel workers to walk out in Tenerife

A planned strike over pay by hotel industry workers will go ahead in the Canary Islands on 17 and 18 April.

The walkout was planned across the Canary Islands, but an agreement was reached to suspend the strike on the islands of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

The strike is still taking place on other islands, however, with around 80,000 hotel workers taking part on Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro.

Workers in Tenerife say that their employers have not been as willing to listen to their demands. The strike is now going ahead after the latest proposal from the employers' associations was rejected.

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The Canary Islands Department of Tourism and Employment has set minimum service levels for the hospitality industry over the Easter Weekend. It would mean some basic services, such as reception and concierge or cleaning, restaurants and cooking, still have to go ahead even if a walkout happens.

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The CCOO union, which called the strike, however, says these minimum service requirements infringe upon their right to strike.

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"The imposition of minimum services constitutes an illegitimate, disproportionate, and legally unsustainable restriction on the fundamental right to strike," CCOO stated in a press release.

France: Train strike could be called with 48 hours notice

Members of the Sud Rail union have issued a six-week strike notice between 17 April and 2 June. Though no dates have been confirmed, a strike could take place with as little as 48 hours notice.

This will only affect train controllers working for national operator SCNF, but could mean some services are delayed or cancelled during the action.
The News

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced Tuesday she will head to Washington next week to discuss tariffs with US President Donald Trump, seeking concessions from Trumps 20% duties on EU goods.

The Italian leader is set to propose eliminating tariffs between the EU and US altogether, Bloomberg reported, and has coordinated her visit with EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen.

Meloni has sought to present herself as a bridge between Washington and Brussels, balancing her ideological sympathies for Trumps policies with Italys shared European priorities. Meloni has called Trumps tariff policies wrong, but also said the EU should avoid alarmist rhetoric and negotiate a path forwards with the US. EU members are expected to vote Wednesday on a list of products they plan to hit with retaliatory tariffs.


Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday confirmed reports that she plans to meet President Donald Trump at the White House on April 17 to discuss the tariff conflict between the United States and Europe.

There has been speculation in the Italian media on a meeting of this kind taking place before Easter, which falls this year on Sunday April 20. Meloni's office has not confirmed the date.

According the Italian daily La Repubblica, Meloni is to arrive in Washington on Wednesday April 16 and meet Trump the next day.

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Meloni, whose right-wing policies align with Trump's in many respects, was one of few European leaders invited to Trump's inauguration in January and had visited him earlier at his Florida residence. She and Hungary's Viktor Orban are seen as among Trump's favoured European leaders.

US Vice President JD Vance is expected in Rome on April 18.

While Meloni has been critical of the tariffs on European Union exports imposed by Trump, she has striven to maintain good relations with the president.

In a recent Financial Times interview she acknowledged there were grounds for the Trump administration's criticism of the EU and said that protectionism and tariffs had not been invented by Trump. She offered herself as a bridge builder.
By Giuseppe Fonte

ROME (Reuters) -Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on April 17 to discuss the tariffs that he has slapped on European Union imports, her office said on Tuesday.

The 27-nation bloc faces 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars, and broader tariffs of 20% from Wednesday for almost all other goods under Trump's policy to hit countries he says impose high barriers to U.S. imports.

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Meloni told Italian business leaders that she supported an offer made by the European Commission to introduce a "zero-for-zero" tariff deal to avert a trade war with the United States.

"This is the negotiation that must see us all committed at all levels, which sees us committed and which commits me as I will be in Washington next April 17," Meloni said in a speech released by her staff.

A nationalist with deep admiration for Trump, Meloni is battling to reconcile the growing gulf between her ideological instincts, which lie with Washington, and Italy's strategic ties to the European Union, analysts say.

She is under pressure also to defend Italy's export-driven industry, which last year ran a 40-billion-euro ($43.75-billion)trade surplus with the United States -- the third-largest in the European Union after Germany and Ireland.

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Italy's exports to the U.S. are worth 10% of total exports.

"I think (tariffs) are an absolutely wrong decision on the part of the Trump administration. The economies of Western nations are strongly interconnected. Such hard-hitting protectionist policies will end up hurting Europe as much as the U.S.," Meloni said.

EU FUNDS

Meloni said her government would discuss with the European Union alternative ways to use already allocated EU funds to offset the expected negative impact of the tariffs.

"We are committed to use all available resources, starting with those that do not have an impact on public finances," she said.

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With no extra-borrowing currently foreseen, she said some 14 billion euros could come from an overhaul of Italy's EU-backed post-COVID recovery plan, while an additional 11 billion would stem from EU regional development funds.

A further 7 billion euros were expected to be deployed using EU funds aimed at addressing climate change.

The government is preparing to cut its economic growth estimates for both this year and next amid mounting uncertainty caused by the U.S. tariffs, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Italy's multi-year budget framework, due to be unveiled on Wednesday, forecasts gross domestic product in the euro zone's third largest economy to grow by 0.6% this year, down from a 1.2% target made last September, the sources said. Next year, GDP was seen at +0.8%, down from the previous +1.1% target.

($1 = 0.9142 euros)

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Writing by Giulia Segreti, Editing by Crispian Balmer)
INDIANA, Pa.  Indiana University of Pennsylvania has received additional financial support for its proposed college of osteopathic medicine.

IUP officials announced last week that $25,000 was donated by an anonymous party toward the efforts. That brings the total amount of funding secured, private and governmental, to $31 million.

The proposed medical school is in the accreditation phase, and IUP has acquired a dozen affiliation agreements with regional health care providers and centers.

Students are expected to begin classes at the college of osteopathic medicine in 2027. For more information, visit www.iup.edu/president/proposed-com.
HONOLULU (KHON2)  The University of Hawaii John A Burns School of Medicine Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Lee Buenconsejo-Lum, was recently awarded Family Physician of the Year by the Hawaii Academy of Family Physicians.

After decades of serving families in Hawaii, Dr. Buenconsejo-Lum said she is humbled and honored.

Fun-filled weekend coming with Hawaiis premier pickleball event

We go into this profession just really to serve our patients, especially those who may have chronic conditions or very complicated lives, and thats whats beautiful about family medicine is you have the privilege of caring about them from birth until death across all settings, she said. Really understanding the individuals within the context of their families and communities.

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Hawaii telescopes spot asteroid that could slam into the Moon: 8 things to know

This award comes at a time when Hawaii is still grappling with a physician shortage especially in the areas of Primary Care, which includes Family Medicine.

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Were really very thankful for the legislature and the Governor with the Hawaii Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program, Dr. Buenconsejo-Lum noted. Thats not only for physicians; its for nurses and advance practice nurse practitioners and physician assistants, the whole team, because it really does take a team to care for our community.

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Dr. Buenconsejo-Lum explained further.

Besides from that honestly housing, its a challenge for all of us, but were also working on scholarships, other things to kind of get the cost down, Dr. Buenconsejo-Lum added. The real biggest challenge is working with our federal partners to try to get a reimbursement hire and decrease some other barriers because thats in fact whats contributing to some early retirements and other things.

Dr. Buenconsejo-Lums award also comes at a time of celebration for JABSOM. The US News and World Report rankings came out recently, and JABSOM is a Tier One Medical School for Primary Care.

Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news

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I think it number one means were providing excellent training for our physicians not only in primary care but across the specialties. What that ranking means is were doing our mission. We were created over 60 years ago to make sure that local kids who wanted to serve could actually learn here and serve their patients here. Were actually happy that so many of our students are choosing to go into our primary care and even if they do have to go away for fellowship training or other specialties, we are seeing more of them return home, and so thats really encouraging as well.

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO)  A young man is recovering from a traumatic brain injury after spending months in several hospitals.

Jackson Robbennolt of Fort Pierre was a passenger in a UTV that crashed in a ravine in 2023. One of his friends died and two others were injured.

Today, you can find 20-year-old Jackson Robbennolt watching TV or hanging out with friends.

Just keeps my spirit up seeing them, Robbennolt said.

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But less than two years ago, the Ft. Pierre man was in a hospital.

A doctor described Robbennolts list of injuries to his parents.

Broken ribs, punctured lung, he had some fractures in his face, and he said his necks broken, and I remember I just started crying at that point, and he said, Thats the least of his worries. This is a brain injury, Robbennolts Mom Mina Bonhorst said.

After less than two weeks, Robbennolts parents were told there was no chance of recovery.

If he woke up, hes likely to be blind, hes going to be deaf, hes not going to be able to speak, hes never going to be able to breathe on his own. Hes going to be on that ventilator for the rest of his life, Bonhorst said.

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Robbennolts parents planned on moving forward with end-of-life care for their son, until they changed their minds.

I cant do this. It hasnt been enough time, Bonhorst said.

Robbennolt would then get a tracheotomy, which connected to his ventilator, and a feeding tube to give him more time to heal.

Eventually, he showed small signs of progress and moved onto another hospital where he started breathing on his own.

Which was so awesome to see, but it scared me. Up until this point, I was told your sons never going to breathe off a ventilator, Bonhorst said.

Then he moved to Craig Hospital in Colorado, which specializes in neurorehabilitation.

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Day after day, he got stronger.

When he first got to Craig after he was deemed medically stable, he wasnt really able to participate in his day. He only had awareness of half of his world and wasnt able to use or incorporate any of his body in any way to help him functionally. So he went from that to being able to participate in transfers, sitting on the edge of the mat, Craig Hospital Occupational Therapist Joanna Watson said.

Then it was off to another rehabilitation program.

Jackson started returning home last summer for visits and even got a welcome home party.

Today, he lives in Sioux Falls to be closer to the medical resources he needs.

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Robbennolt does physical therapy at Sanford Health, where he continues to make progress.

Its pretty amazing from where he was to where he is now. Hes getting to the point where hes becoming more independent. Hes able to problem solve. Hes able to manage where his wheelchair goes for his transfers and those kinds of things. Initially, we had to guide him a lot with that. That isnt the case anymore, Sanford Health Physical Therapist Brian Iverson said.

Its a story that turned out much differently than Robbennolts family once thought it would.

Hes just made so much progress, Bonhorst said.

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And the 20-year-old is going to keep pushing forward.

Just the hope to get back to the way I was, Robbennolt said.

Robbennolt was a college freshman at the time of the crash.

Hes continuing to pursue his education. Hes currently taking online courses.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com.
MEXICO CITY, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Mexico did not rule out the possibility of responding to the U.S. new levies with reciprocal measures, but would prefer to pursue dialogue as more tariffs would cause prices to rise, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday.

Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard will travel to Washington D.C. this week to "continue talks" with the U.S. government, Sheinbaum said at a press conference.

"As much as possible, we want to avoid applying reciprocal tariffs," she said. "We wouldn't rule out a 25 percent increase, but we prefer to continue the dialogue before taking any other measure."

The Mexican president stressed that her priority is "protecting Mexican industry and Mexican companies."

Mexico's National Chamber of the Iron and Steel Industry warned that the tariffs will significantly impact Mexican steel exports.

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 10 percent "minimum baseline tariff" and higher rates on certain trading partners.

For Canada and Mexico, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) compliant goods will continue to see a 0 percent tariff, non-USMCA compliant goods will see a 25 percent tariff, according to the White House. 
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. (WCIA)  The Jacksonville Police Department announced on Tuesday that they now have a camera trailer to aid with surveillance of certain areas.

In a press release from Chief of Police Doug Thompson, the department said they acquired the camera trailer from Utilitra, a firm that specializes in utility and technology solutions. The trailer is equipped with cameras to assist police officers in improving their views of areas of concern.

State Police arrest Morgan Co. man for Beardstown murder

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Additionally, the cameras will be out in public in plain sight. The trailer will have Jacksonville Police Department patches on it, along with red and blue flashing lights to let people know its there.

The first deployments of this new camera trailer will be in the municipal parking lot in the 200 block of S Sandy Street. This trailer is expected to eventually be at events located in Jacksonvilles plaza, community park, fairgrounds and sporting events.

I want to thank Morgan County Emergency Management and the Morgan County Fair Board for their assistance in purchasing the trailer, Thompson said. The camera will be a great addition to the community.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB)  Parker native James Baxley started his career in law enforcement in 2005. Serving as a patrol for the City of Parker Officer Baxley gravitated to his hometown and the training exercises the police department offered at the time.

In 2014, he left the Parker Police Department to work for the Gulf County Sheriffs office as an investigator and patrolman.

Then in 2019 Baxley moved to Milton, Florida to work for the Florida Department of Corrections at the Office of Inspector General, where he served as an investigator within prison systems.

He says his main drive for returning to Parker is retiring in the city he loves most.

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The people who live here. I mean, you know, people are friendly here, you know, so thats one reason why I want to come back. Im in 20 to 20 plus years of service probably another six or seven years, Ill retire then, Baxley said.

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When Baxley took on his new role on January 5th, his first goal was to onboard more deputies.

The city currently has 6 officers, and Baxley wants to hire 3 more.

thats the main goal right now is just this is just getting support staff and right now we have phone calls. Im at phone calls. Im actually involved. So hopefully we get to a level where I can concentrate on the higher investigations the more serious crimes, Baxley said.

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Franklin County Sheriff A.J. Smith addresses details about shooting

Baxley filled the role as the chief of police within a week of former police chief Dennes Hutto retiring. He says hes the right person for the job.

Im honest and fair with my people, and I do have experience to be here as far as the know-how. The actual criminal side of being a police officer thats Ive done that Im just doing this side, Baxley said.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday accused President Trump of intentionally crashing the economy to benefit the GOPs wealthy donors and other well-heeled interests.

The Democratic leader said Trumps tariffs, which prompted a stock market sell-off and fears of a global recession, have been applied so haphazardly  and done such immediate harm  that no other plausible explanation fits.

The Trump tariffs, which are a tax on the American people, are so reckless, so un-strategic, so lacking in any sophistication that the only conclusion that one can draw is that Donald Trump and the Republicans are intentionally tanking the economy, Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol.

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Is it because, as Donald Trump has indicated, that during tough economic times the rich get richer, and its a buying opportunity? he added. Those are Trumps words.

Trump has long accused Americas trading partners of cheating U.S. businesses with lopsided trading arrangements, and he has long viewed tariffs as the most powerful tool for leveling those imbalances.

Tariffs run counter to decades of Republican support for free trade, and many in the party have tried to dissuade the president from applying them aggressively in his second term  to no avail.

Last week, Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on a long list of trading partners  adversaries and allies alike  which quickly sent stock markets plummeting in the United States and beyond. Over two days last week, the sellout eliminated more than $6 trillion in market value in the U.S. alone.

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Trump and many of his allies have defended the strategy, saying it will pay dividends in the long term by encouraging international investment and a revival of domestic manufacturing after decades of outsourcing abroad. Over the weekend, Trump said the slump marks an opportune time to jump into the market.

To the many investors coming into the United States and investing massive amounts of money, my policies will never change, he posted on Truth Social, the social media company he owns.

This is a great time to get rich, richer than ever before!!!

Trumps critics see the slump very differently, noting that Trump ran his campaign on promises to help working class families pay for groceries, not to create investment opportunities for wealthy international investors.

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Theres no rational explanation for any of this  except perhaps that theres some scheme that Donald Trump has publicly eluded to, which is that the rich get richer when the economy collapses because there are buying opportunities, Jeffries said Monday. Theres no rational basis otherwise to explain the economic carnage that Donald Trump is visiting on the American people.

Jeffries emphasized that hes supportive of tariffs when theyre used selectively and benefit American businesses and consumers. But thats not whats going on right now, he quickly added.

This is a reckless economic sledgehammer that Donald Trump and compliant Republicans in the Congress are taking to the economy. And the American people are being hurt, he said.

Jeffries said that if Democrats regain control of the House in next years midterms, they would use every single legislative tool to roll back any tariffs that are doing financial harm to consumers and American businesses.

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MASSENA, N.Y. (WWTI)  A 26-year-old New Jersey man is facing drug charges after authorities allegedly found over 30 grams of cocaine.

According to the Massena Police Department, they arrested 26-year-old Jeyson Infante of Jersey City after a Monday afternoon traffic stop.

Lewis County man charged for alleged sexual contact with teen

Infante was charged with a number of felony counts, including criminal possession of a controlled substance and tampering with physical evidence.

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He was arraigned in the Massena Town Court and remanded to the St. Lawrence County Jail without bail.

Massena Village Police were assisted by the St. Lawrence County Sheriffs Department, New York State Police, Canton Police Department and the United States Border Patrol.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWTI - InformNNY.com.
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (FOX 56)  Several residents in Jessamine County are displaced after they say floodwaters destroyed their homes. County leaders have signed a disaster declaration to secure more resources as recovery efforts begin.

Floodwaters have consumed many roads in the county, trapping some people inside their homes.

The Torgerson family, who live off Camp Daniel Boone Road, said this has forced them to approach daily tasks in a creative way. Right now, theyre kayaking about a quarter mile to make it to and from work and the grocery store.

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Sometimes you have to make two trips to come back and forth to get the others, said Erik Torgerson.

Read more of the latest Lexington & central Kentucky news

Or well end up adding another kayak onto it so I can try to watch it as we go that way we dont have to make two trips, added his daughter-in-law, Samantha Torgerson.

Samantha said it can be challenging to navigate life in floodwaters, especially with small children, but noted that theyre always prepared.

And if its time that we ever need to evacuate, we have stuff ready to put to the side to grab and go, she said.

One of their family members was forced to evacuate after floodwaters invaded their home. But Erik said theyll do what it takes to help them recover from the damage.

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Everybody helps each other, he said. Even the ones that arent family. Everybody looks after each other, regardless of the situation, even if it isnt flooded.

Others affected, like Erica Sullivan, are left with nothing but the clothes on their back.

LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS:

County officials said Brooklyn Road was one of the hardest hit areas, and Sullivan, who lives on that road, said her house is almost completely underwater.

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Everybodys trying to put on a really brave face, but you know that everybodys just kind of breaking right now, said Sullivan. Its a lot.

Sullivan believes her house and belongings will be a total loss. She said clothes can be replaced. Its household objects associated with fond memories of her grandparents that cannot.

Its made me feel like home, said Sullivan. I know its stuff, but its comfort objects. Like I can look on the walls and just, you know, see images of my childhood, and just knowing that thats gone is, its going to be really rough.

Read more of the latest Kentucky news

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Even amid such devastation, Sullivan said she plans to go back when its safe.

Its home, she said. Theres just a peace being there that you cant just replace.

The Wilmore Municipal Center is preparing to help with clean-up efforts by collecting supplies, and the Jessamine County Sheriffs Office is taking food donations for people affected by the floods.

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BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN)  #1 Cochran is growing and expanding across the Valley, and the business is now looking to fill multiple positions.

Read next: Grease is the word at Canfield High School

We have plenty of positions now. With the eight stores here in the Ohio platform, there is a real big opportunity to get into the business and make some serious money, said Steve Tirabassi, senior operations manager at #1 Cochran.

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#1 Cochran is looking for salespeople. Tirabassi started at the business 15 years ago, and now he is the senior operations manager.

Each dealership also has its own team of business development representatives, where no experience is necessary. They work off phone calls and internet leads.

They do a lot of the follow-up for the business, said Tirabassi.

Cochran University helps give workers with no experience the necessary tools and training for every position in the company.

#1 Cochran is also hiring service advisors, those who schedule a technician to look at vehicles.

Tirabassi said the ideal candidate would be customer-oriented.

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Youre the face of the dealership after the sale for someone to come in and be helped, he said.

#1 Cochran is also looking for a service manager to oversee the technicians. That person will oversee the operation in the garage.

Theyre going to be managing the service advisors, the technicians and just making sure the whole ship is steering on track, Tirabassi said.

#1 Cochran has positions available locally, as well as at its other locations in western Pennsylvania.

Those interested can apply at each dealership or online at cochrancareers.com.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (PIX11)  A female jogger was grabbed from behind and attacked during an attempted rape at a park in New York City last week, police said.

The incident happened at Silver Lake Park on Staten Island around 7:50 p.m. on Thursday, according to the NYPD.

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A 53-year-old woman was jogging in Silver Lake Park when a person came up to her from behind, grabbed her, and then pulled her to the ground, police said.

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The attacker grabbed the womans groin area and then fled, according to police.

The victim was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, authorities said.

The attacker hasnt been identified. No arrests have been made.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Finn Hoogensen is a digital journalist who has covered local news for more than six years. He has been with PIX11 News since 2022. See more of his work here.

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Speaker Mike Johnson met Tuesday at the White House with President Donald Trump and House Republicans holding out against voting for the Senate-approved budget bill to fund Trump's agenda.

GOP leaders are again relying on Trump to help get the bill across the finish line this week before the House takes a two-week recess.

Johnson has promised to pass the Senate's amendment to the House budget blueprint, with a vote planned Wednesday. But like the first time the House passed the budget blueprint in February, Johnson has several public holdout votes to flip -- and is counting on the president to deliver them.

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MORE: Senate Republicans pass budget blueprint after all-night session

Returning from the White House, Johnson said he believes Trump is persuading Republicans to fall in line on the budget blueprint.

PHOTO: In this March 4, 2025, file photo, President Donald Trump greets Rep. Chip Roy as he leaves after addressing a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee, Pool via AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

I think he did, Johnson said when asked if the president has convinced the holdouts to flip their votes.

A great meeting. The President was very helpful and engaged. We have a lot of members whose questions were answered. We are making great progress right now, Johnson said.

In a later gaggle with reporters, Johnson said Trump was very encouraging and expressed his commitment to making sure that we get the job done, that we find real savings to change the debt trajectory for the country but also protect essential programs.

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Asked if the House Rules Committee will mark up the budget blueprint tonight, Johnson brushed off the question and said Stay tuned. Right now, we are going to the [National Republican Congressional Committee] black-tie event with the president.

Several of the GOP holdouts were invited to meet with Trump, but Reps. Ralph Norman and Tim Burchett -- two of the holdouts -- told reporters that they weren't invited to the meeting.

Another hard no vote, Rep. Chip Roy, told reporters that there are "enough" Republicans opposed to the measure to kill it. He said he asked senators to come to a meeting to explain the math on a whiteboard that shows how their plan would reduce the deficit, but "they can't prove the math."

Johnson can afford to lose three votes, but up to a dozen Republicans have signaled they're not yet convinced to vote for it.

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Passing this legislation through both chambers is required to kick off the process to craft the massive budget bill that includes much of Trump's sweeping domestic agenda.

MORE: Speaker Johnson cuts deal with Rep. Luna over parental proxy voting

Johnson also told reporters that the White House will provide holdouts with "a combination of commitments and assurances and all the leaders in both chambers."

Majority Leader Steve Scalise said, "The president's been our best advocate and whip to get this agenda moved forward every step of the way. And this bill is no different. Failure is just not an option."

Johnson again relying on Trump to bring GOP holdouts in line on budget plan originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) came out against even entertaining the idea of bringing to the House floor a Senate bill that would limit the Presidents authority to unilaterally impose tariffs.

The bipartisan legislation was introduced by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA); seven Republican senators have already signed onto the effort to take back some of Congress authority on tariffs from the President. In some ways, the legislation has become a vehicle for Republicans to vocalize their concerns about Trumps tariffs, which have sent the stock marketing tanking even before the levies kick in on Wednesday.

Rep. Dan Bacon (R-NE) said he would introduce similar legislation in the House today, in an effort to get Congress to assert its sole authority over tariff policy  which, he said, Congress should not have ceded to the President. (Its unclear if Bacon is referring to the longtime policy that allows presidents to declare emergencies to which he can respond with tariffs, or recent moves by his chamber. House Republican leadership slipped language into a procedural vote last month when the House was working on passing legislation to avert a shutdown that, essentially, blocks the lower chamber from being able to take a vote on legislation that would end tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China this year. At the time, it was seen as a way to guard against House Republicans having to take a vote on a politically bad, for them, issue.)

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Trumps White House has already reportedly communicated with members of Congress that it would veto the Senates version of the bill if it passed both chambers. Per Axios:

If passed, this bill would dangerously hamper the Presidents authority and duty to determine our foreign policy and protect our national security, according to a statement of administration policy that was sent to congressional offices today. If S. 1272 were presented to the President, he would veto the bill.

Johnson told reporters this afternoon that he has no plans to bring Bacons bill, or even a Senate version of the legislation, to the House floor for a vote, arguing that Congress needs to give Trump space as he is engaging and trying to fix trade deficits.

Were going to give him the space necessary to do it, and well see how it all develops, Johnson said Monday, per Politico.

I think youve got to give the president the latitude, the runway to do what it is he was elected to do, he said.

Aileen Cannons Clerk Gets Swanky Gig

Based on what we know of Cannons actions throughout the classified documents case, the Trump White House and its influence over DOJ personnel decisions, the news is perhaps not surprising. The clerk, Christopher-James DeLorenz, served as a law clerk for Cannon for 10 months, including during the period that she oversaw then-special counsel Jack Smiths prosecution of Trump for hoarding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Per ABC News:

A former law clerk to the federal judge who dismissed the classified documents case against President Donald Trump is now serving in the Justice Department directly under Trumps former defense lawyer Todd Blanche, who is now serving as the nations number-two law enforcement official. Christopher-James DeLorenz has been serving as a Counsel in the Deputy Attorney Generals office since President Trump took office in January, according to officials and DeLorenzs public LinkedIn page.

Roberts Pauses Deadline To Return Maryland Man

Chief Justice John Roberts placed an administrative stay on US District Judge Paula Xiniss order requiring the Trump administration to facilitate and effectuate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Maryland man had been wrongfully deported to a notoriously brutal mens prison in El Salvador and Xinis had ordered the government to begin the process of his return to the U.S. by 11:59 p.m. Monday.

As is the courts practice, Roberts didnt provide an explanation for his stay order and said it will apply pending further order of the undersigned or of the court. The order comes hours after a three-judge federal appeals court panel unanimously refused to lift Xinis deadline.

RFK Admits Vaccines Work

In remarks that have already set off his base of anti-vax supporters, Trumps HHS Secretary RFK Jr. conceded on Sunday that the best way to stop the spread of measles in the U.S. is to get the vaccine. He made the remarks on Twitter after visiting the family of a second child who died in Texas.

I came to Gaines County, Texas, today to comfort the Hildebrand family after the loss of their 8-year-old daughter Daisy. I got to know the family of 6-year-old Kayley Fehr after she passed away in February. I also developed bonds with and deep affection for other members of  Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) April 6, 2025

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By Laman Ismayilova



Qatar Culture Days will take place in Baku from April 10 to 13, according to Azernews reports.

The event will kick off on April 10 at 15:00 with an exhibition at Primorsky Boulevard, followed by the grand opening ceremony at 18:00.

Diplomatic ties between Azerbaijan and Qatar were established on September 14, 1994.

Subsequently, both nations opened their embassies in 2007.

A significant milestone was reached in 2016 with the establishment of a Joint Economic, Trade, and Technical Intergovernmental Commission, which held its inaugural meeting in Azerbaijan on January 31, 2017.

The second meeting of this commission occurred in Doha on February 20, 2019.

An "Agreement on cooperation in the field of culture and art between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the State of Qatar" was signed in Doha on November 30, 2004.

The first edition of Qatar Culture Days in Azerbaijan occurred from June 6 to 11, 2009, featuring a Qatari delegation of 58 members, including artists and cultural figures led by

Mubarak bin Nasser Al-Khalifa, the Secretary-General of Qatar's National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage.

In return, the inaugural Culture Days of Azerbaijan were celebrated in Qatar from June 1 to 4, 2010, with a delegation of approximately 150 Azerbaijani representatives.

During this event, the audience enjoyed performances by Azerbaijan's Group of Musical Instruments, the State Dancing Group, and an opera performance of "Leyli and Majnun" by the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater artists.
BRUSSELS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) on Monday proposed a 25 percent tariff on select U.S. products in response to President Donald Trump's recent decision to impose duties on European steel and aluminum, reported Reuters and Bloomberg, citing an internal document shared with EU member states.

Part of the retaliatory tariffs is set to take effect on May 16, according to Reuters.

The goods are wide-ranging and include diamonds, eggs, dental floss, sausages and poultry. Items previously under consideration, namely, bourbon, wine, and dairy, have been removed from the final list, reported Reuters.

Earlier on Monday, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic confirmed that a list of countermeasures would be circulated to EU member states. A vote on the first set of retaliatory measures is scheduled for April 9, with implementation expected on April 15.

While saying the EU's preference for negotiation, Sefcovic emphasized the bloc's readiness to deploy "every tool" to shield itself from the impact of U.S. tariffs should talks break down.

"We are prepared to use every tool in our trade defense arsenal to protect the EU single market, EU producers, and EU consumers," he said. 
CHEROKEE CO., Kans.  After the testimony of two Kansas State troopers, District Judge Maradeth Frederick held a father and son over for trial in the hit-and-run death of Gary LaTurner, 60, of Galena.

New details emerge in Cherokee County hit-and-run investigation

Judge Frederick presided over a three-hour preliminary hearing of Dr. John Jay Joseph and his son, Rocco.

Cherokee County Prosecutor Kurt Benecke questioned Kansas State Highway Patrol troopers Nick Irwin and Nicholas Reddy about the hit-and-run crash in Aug. 2023 that killed LaTurner just outside of Galena.

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Investigators say video and GPS data shows Joplin doctor returned to site of fatal southeast Kansas crash

Reddy testified about the debris field near the crash site, saying LaTurner s head was about 12 feet south of the highway, and his feet were about eight feet south of the roadway. He said there was also a backpack and a broken walking stick in the debris field.

Two pieces of the walking stick and one shoe were on the (highway) shoulder, Reddy testified. The other shoe was still on LaTurners foot, he said.

The trooper said there were vehicle parts on the highways shoulder, and with those parts, investigators were able to determine the make, model, and color of the vehicle.

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Joplin dentist files motion to dismiss hit-and-run charges

According to testimony, a crash reconstruction was performed on the scene to determine in what direction LaTurner was walking and to replicate the impact.

Photographs shown during the preliminary hearing, showed LaTurner, who was wearing shorts at the time, and the debris path leading to and from his mangled remains.

Reddy said the photographs show the vehicles impact on the body.

During cross-examination by Phil Glades, attorney for Dr. Joseph, and Tom Bath, attorney for Rocco, it was disputed whether the black-and-white video from Sterling Manufacturing showed a debris field.

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Trooper Irwin testified, There wasnt any blood or hair on the vehicle when he inspected it.

Irwins testimony centered on the Josephs cell phones, which law enforcement used to cross-reference the mens locations. The data confirmed that the cell phone signals backtracked to the crash site, testimony showed.

Irwin said area law enforcement wanted to arrest Rocco, but his attorney said law enforcement was biased and prejudiced against his client.

Irwin disagreed and testified that while there was probable cause to arrest Rocco, the evidence hadnt met the burden of proof, and if charges were filed, it would have started the clock for a speedy trial.

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Initially, we wanted Roccos side of the story, Irwin said. We wanted to know who he was with, if he had been drinking, whether he was speeding, and what route he took.

The data showed that he was right at the speed limit, and he said there was no issue with speeding.

Dr. Joseph is accused of returning to the scene of the crash with his son and then failing to report the crash to authorities. Hes also accused of contributing to the misdeeds of a minor by failing to advise his son to stop at the scene. Instead, authorities allege Joseph told his son to meet him at a Caseys convenience store. Thats where they say the two examined the damage to Roccos truck.

Investigators say the cell phone data shows the men met at the Josephs home and then returned to the scene.

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Joplin dentist gets booked, made to post bond in fatal hit and run case

In an unrelated case, Dr. Joseph is free on bond in connection with a weapons and drug case and is prohibited from using or possessing drugs, alcohol, and guns, having no contact with the witnesses, and being confined to Kansas and Newton and Jasper counties in Missouri.

Joplin dentist facing drug charges could lose license amid legal troubles

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An immigration judge has given lawyers representing the Department of Homeland Security a little over 24 hours to provide Mahmoud Khalil's legal team with evidence that he is removable from the U.S. under the allegations lobbed against him.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident with a green card, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at his Columbia University housing in New York last month.

Khalil, a leader of the encampment protests at Columbia last spring, was detained on March 8, then taken to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, before ending up in a Louisiana detention center, his attorneys said.

PHOTO: Signs in support of detained graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, are readied during the nationwide 'Hands Off!' protest against President Donald Trump and his advisor, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in Washington, DC, on April 5, 2025. (Amid Farahi/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

At an immigration hearing in Jena, Louisiana, on Tuesday, Judge Jamee Comans set another hearing for Friday to give Khalil's team time to review the evidence and respond to it.

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Comans said she will then make a determination whether he is removable or order him to be released.

In a statement released several hours after the hearing, Khalil's lawyer, Marc Van Der Hout criticized the timeline, arguing the government hasn't produced "a single shred of evidence" to support its allegations.

"Yet the Immigration judge today stated she intends to rule Friday on the merits of this outlandish charge with no realistic opportunity for Mahmoud and his lawyers to contest this baseless charge," Van Der Hout said in a statement. "If this turns out to be what happens Friday, it would be an uncalled for rush to judgement that would completely deprive Mahmoud of any due process, which is a foundation of our legal system.

The court hearing earlier Tuesday grew tense at times, with the judge at one point saying there were nearly 600 people waiting to attend the virtual hearing that was reserved for legal parties only, saying this was highly unusual.

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MORE: Judge rejects government's request to move Mahmoud Khalil's case to Louisiana

Noting the public interest in the case, Van Der Hout asked the judge to consider making future hearings accessible to the public, but she refused and said she was considering making all future hearings "in-person only" so all of his lawyers would need to attend in person.

Khalil was seated wearing a blue jumpsuit. He only said a handful of words throughout the hearing. At one point he asked the judge if his wife, Noor Abdalla, could also be allowed to have access to the video feed.

"Your honor, I would appreciate if you could let my wife in," he asked.

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When she was let in, Abdalla was shown on the big screen. Khalil turned to look at her and then returned his gaze to the front of the room.

Khalil's wife is due to give birth within "a couple of weeks," according to Van Der Hout.

During the last hearing, Khalil's lawyers were granted continuance to give additional time to review the allegations raised against him in the Notice to Appear filed by DHS.

PHOTO: Muslim protesters pray outside Columbia University during a demonstration to denounce the immigration arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who helped lead protests against Israel at the university, in New York City, March 14, 2025. (David Dee Delgado/Reuters, FILE)

Comans again grew agitated when Van Der Hout asked for continuance a second time and claimed lawyers representing DHS had not provided evidence to back up the allegations against his client.

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"We have not received a single document from them," he said.

He urged the judge to allow him more time, saying "we can not plead" until they knew the evidence they had against Khalil.

But Comans denied his request and ordered Van Der Hout to enter Khalil's plea for over 12 allegations on the spot.

The allegations ranged from procedural, such as "You are a native of Syria and a citizen of Algeria," to accusations that he withheld information from DHS about his alleged membership in the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group.

MORE: Trump administration claims Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil misrepresented information on green card application

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He was also asked to respond to the DHS claim that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had found Khalil's "presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."

Van Der Hout responded "deny" for each allegation.

Comans conveyed a sense of urgency to get these issues resolved, noting Khalil had already spent several weeks in detention. She told both parties she was "not going to keep him detained" while they argued over his removability.

The court room was packed with reporters and a handful of supporters. One of them was told she needed to take off her keffiyeh before she walked into the courtroom.

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As the hearing was adjourned, Khalil turned back to wave and smile at the group of supporters and press that were trickling out of room.

He smiled and waved a peace sign at one of his supporters.

Judge gives Trump administration 24 hours to provide evidence of Mahmoud Khalil's removability originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday ordered President Donald Trumps White House to lift access restrictions imposed on the Associated Press over the news agency's decision to continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, ruled the White House must allow AP journalists access to the Oval Office, Air Force One and events held at the White House while the AP's lawsuit moves forward.

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The White House began limiting AP's access to several events that featured Trump after the news agency said it would continue using the name Gulf of Mexico while acknowledging Trumps order to change the name of the body of water to the Gulf of America.

"The Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists  be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere  it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints," McFadden wrote in his ruling.

McFadden said his ruling will not go into effect until Sunday to give the Trump administration time to appeal his decision. The judge is expected to issue a final ruling in coming months; that ruling could also be subject to appeal.

"Todays ruling affirms the fundamental right of the press and public to speak freely without government retaliation," AP spokesperson Lauren Easton said in a statement.

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The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The White House Correspondents' Association welcomed the ruling.

"The WHCA board applauds todays decision supporting our countrys foundational ideal that the government should not be able to control the independent media that covers it," it said in a statement.

The AP says in its stylebook that the Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years and, as a global news agency, the AP will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.

The AP sued three senior Trump aides in February, alleging the restrictions were an attempt to coerce the press into using the administrations preferred language. The lawsuit alleged the restrictions violated protections under the U.S. Constitution for free speech and due process, since the AP was unable to challenge the ban.

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Lawyers for the Trump administration have argued the AP does not have a right to what the White House has called special access to the president.

Two AP journalists, Zeke Miller, the agency's chief White House correspondent, and Evan Vucci, its chief Washington photographer, told the court at a March 27 hearing that the restrictions had hampered the AP's ability to cover Trump.

"We're basically dead in the water on major stories," testified Vucci, who had taken a now-iconic photograph of Trump pumping his fist after a 2024 assassination attempt.

Miller said he had noticed a "softening of the tone and tenor of the questions that some reporters are asking of the president."

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Brian Hudak, a Justice Department lawyer representing the Trump officials, disputed during the hearing that the AP had been entirely shut out.

Hudak said the White House had the authority to keep AP journalists from the president's personal and work spaces and accused the agency, in its editorial choices, of "refusing to adhere to what the president believes is the law of the United States."

AP journalists were barred from the group of White House reporters, known as the press pool, that covers events in the Oval Office and travels with the president.

The White House in February took charge of deciding which media outlets are part of the press pool. Reuters, which has issued a statement in support of the AP, has historically been a permanent member of the pool and now has a rotating spot for wire services.

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The AP has also been blocked from attending larger events in the White House that were open to other reporters with White House press credentials, according to the news agencys complaint.

The AP, formed in 1846, says on its website that it operates from nearly 250 locations in nearly 100 countries. Its journalists provide news to customers worldwide in text, photos, graphics and video.

The restrictions prevent the AP's journalists from seeing and hearing Trump and other top White House officials as they take newsworthy actions or respond in real time to news events.

The move has been criticized by several press freedom groups and the White House Correspondents' Association.

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Most news organizations, including Reuters, call it the Gulf of Mexico and where relevant include the context about Trump's executive order.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis, Howard Goller and Lincoln Feast.)
A Rock Island County judge is leaving the bench.

Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Linnea E. Thompson has announced that she will not seek retention in 2026. The Illinois Supreme Court appointed Judge Thompson to fill a judicial vacancy in June 2013. She was elected in November 2014 to a six-year term and was retained by the voters in 2020.

Linnea Thompson (Rock Island County)

She serves as Supervising Probate Judge in Rock Island County, presiding over civil cases.

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The general election in which Judge Thompsons success would be chosen is November 3, 2026.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore The Associated Presss access to key White House spaces after it exiled AP reporters over the organizations refusal to use Gulf of America in its popular stylebook.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of President Trump, directed the White House to resume allowing the AP into the Oval Office, Air Force One and other limited spaces when theyre made available to other press pool members.

He also granted the APs request for access to events open to all credentialed White House reporters, though he listed several caveats.

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This injunction does not limit the various permissible reasons the Government may have for excluding journalists from limited-access events. It does not mandate that all eligible journalists, or indeed any journalists at all, be given access to the President or nonpublic government spaces. It does not prohibit government officials from freely choosing which journalists to sit down with for interviews or which ones questions they answer. And it certainly does not prevent senior officials from publicly expressing their own views, McFadden wrote.

No, the Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalistsbe it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhereit cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints, he wrote. The Constitution requires no less.

After his initial ruling, the judge paused the order from going into effect until April 13, to give the Trump administration time to appeal. The stay will dissolve after that, unless a higher court steps in.

The AP sued three top White House officials earlier this year after its journalists were banned from the Oval Office and Air Force One because the outlet refused to change its stylebook guidelines to use Gulf of America after Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico.

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Scores of news organizations use the AP Stylebook for guidance on spelling, grammar and how to refer to certain people and places, to help ensure such references are widely understood in the U.S. and globally.

Charles Tobin, a lawyer for the AP, said during a hearing last month that the news organization was in the penalty box for crossing Trump, which he called abject retaliation.

The White House hasnt hidden that, Tobin said. Theyve doubled down.

He warned that the APs continued exclusion from the press pool  the small group of journalists who document the president each day  could have a chilling effect on the rest of the news industry, even if the APs own reporters wouldnt say the presidents bullying had chilled them because of their commitment to independent journalism.

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An AP reporter and photographer has traditionally been part of the presidents press pool every day, both at the White House and when the president is traveling.

Justice Department lawyer Brian Hudak said the AP is still eligible to be selected for the press pool; its reporters just werent being selected, because they refuse to adhere to what the president believes is the law.

There isnt a right for the AP to have the White House agree with its news, Hudak said.

McFadden noted in his order that all members of the original press pool have continued using Gulf of Mexico in their reporting, while noting Trumps order.

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So why has the AP alone been penalized? The AP claims, and the Court now finds, that the Government has singled out the AP because of its refusal to update the Gulfs name in its Stylebook, an influential writing and editing guide, the judge wrote.

He called the White Houses exclusion of AP brazen, noting that high-ranking officials have repeatedly said they restricted its reporters access precisely because of its viewpoint.

Two AP journalists took the stand during the March 27 hearing, detailing what they called diminished and delayed reporting because of the ban.

Evan Vucci, the APs top photographer in Washington, testified that hes gone from being in every single event to not being able to do anything. AP chief White House correspondent Zeke Miller said the outlet has been barred time and again because of our journalism.

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AP spokesperson Lauren Easton said the decision affirms the fundamental right to speak freely without government retaliation.

This is a freedom guaranteed for all Americans in the U.S. Constitution, she said. We look forward to continuing to provide factual, nonpartisan and independent coverage of the White House for billions of people around the world.

Updated at 5:40 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.
Detained Columbia grad student Mahmoud Khalil could be released as soon as Friday, based on a timeline set by an immigration judge in Louisiana.

Judge Jamee Comans on Tuesday ordered President Trumps administration to turn over any evidence supporting Khalils continued detention by Wednesday. Comans said if the evidence doesnt support Khalils deportation, she would terminate the case on Friday.

Khalil, 30, was detained March 8 at his Manhattan apartment, part of a series of arrests of foreign-born students involved in pro-Palestinian protests. Khalil, like the other students, was in the U.S. legally.

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We will not forget those who have orchestrated this injustice, the government officials and university administrators who have targeted you without cause, without any shred of evidence to justify their actions, Khalils wife, Noor Abdalla, wrote in an open letter.

The feds scooped up Khalil and the other students on a rarely used provision that gives the secretary of state power to deport noncitizen residents who pose potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.

Government attorneys have claimed pro-Palestinian rallies meet those criteria. However, none of the students have yet to be deported, as theyre subject to high-profile court fights.

Khalil is potentially facing two court cases: one in Louisiana, where hes detained at an immigration jail, and one in New Jersey, where his lawyers petitioned for his release.

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We believe that it is the highest honor of our lives to struggle for the cause of Palestinian liberation, Khalil wrote in an opinion piece published Friday in the Columbia Spectator. History will redeem us, while those who were content to wait on the sidelines will be forever remembered for their silence.

With News Wire Services
BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said in a phone conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday that China is ready to work with the European side to promote the sound and steady development of China-EU relations.

Li said that China-EU relations are showing a momentum of steady growth. This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and the EU, and the development of bilateral relations faces important opportunities, he said.

Li noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping had a telephone conversation with European Council President Antonio Costa at the beginning of this year, which sets the tone and charts the course for deepening China-EU relations.

China and the EU are each other's most important trading partners, he said, adding that their economies are highly complementary and interests are closely intertwined.

Li pledged China's willingness to work with the EU to maintain sound and smooth high-level exchanges, enhance political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, and resolve each other's concerns through dialogue and consultation.

The two sides should promote the holding of new China-EU high-level dialogues in the strategic, economic and trade, green, and digital fields at an early date, he said.

Li pointed out that the United States has recently announced indiscriminate tariffs on all its trading partners, including China and the EU, under various pretexts, which is a typical case of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying.

The resolute measures taken by China are not only to safeguard its own sovereignty, security and development interests but also to defend international trade rules and international fairness and justice, Li said, noting that all human beings live in the same global village and no country can thrive in isolation.

Protectionism leads nowhere, and only openness and cooperation represent the right path for mankind, Li added.

China and the EU, as strong advocates of economic globalization and trade liberalization, as well as staunch defenders and supporters of the World Trade Organization (WTO), should enhance communication and coordination, expand mutual openness, jointly safeguard free and open trade and investment, and maintain the stable and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains, so as to inject more stability and certainty into both sides and the world economy, Li said.

China's macro policy this year has taken full account of various uncertainties and has sufficient reserve of policy tools to hedge against adverse external impacts, Li said, adding that China is fully confident in maintaining sustained and healthy economic development.

China will continue to unswervingly expand opening-up, strengthen cooperation and share development opportunities with the EU countries and other countries in the world, he said.

Noting that the EU always attaches great importance to its relations with China, von der Leyen said it is crucial for EU-China relations to maintain continuity and stability under current circumstances.

The European side looks forward to holding a new EU-China leaders' meeting at an appropriate time to review the past, look into the future, and jointly celebrate the 50th anniversary of EU-China diplomatic relations, she said.

The European side is willing to promote high-level dialogue with China in various fields and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, green economy and climate change, von der Leyen added.

She noted that the tariffs imposed by the United States have severely impacted international trade, causing a serious impact on Europe, China and vulnerable countries.

The EU and China are committed to upholding the fair and free multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core and safeguarding the sound and steady development of global economic and trade relations, which serves the common interests of both sides and the world at large, von der Leyen said. 
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A judge sentenced a man Tuesday to life in prison with a possibility of parole after 22 years for killing a toddler.

Clark County District Court Judge Jacqueline Bluth issued consecutive sentences for Terrell Rhodes, 31, for first-degree murder and assault on a protected person.

Trial for Las Vegas man accused of killing girlfriends 2-year-old son to start in April

The murder charge carries a 20-year sentence, while the assault charge carries two years.

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Rhodes admitted to killing 2-year-old Amari Nicholson, his girlfriends son, in May of 2021.

I just feel like its not fair, Rhodes told Bluth in reference to his charges.

Bluth acknowledged Rhodes tough upbringing and told him what he did to the toddler was not fair.

There is nothing that that child could have done that would have ever deserved what you did to him, Bluth said.

Amari Nicholson. (Credit: Family member of Amari Nicholson)

The childs mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother gave victim impact statements.

Everyday I feel the loss of this little angel, great-grandmother Ranae Howard said.

I get to stop in a cemetery and talk to my grandsons headstone, grandmother Carrie Howard said. There are no words to explain the emptiness and hurt that comes with losing my grandson in such a violent manner.

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Mother Tayler Nicholson also spoke of emptiness.

It doesnt go away or get easier, she said.

Rhodes attorney Michael Castillo asked for concurrent sentences, and pointed to Rhodes mental health and substance abuse issues.

Prosecutor Pam Weckerly describes Rhodes criminal history which included violent crime.

In a previous confession to Las Vegas Metropolitan police, Rhodes admitted he killed the boy at the Emerald Suites in the central valley near the Las Vegas Strip while the boys mother was out of town, according to detectives.

Rhodes said that after the child had urinated on himself, he hit Amari three or four times with his fist, the toddler appeared to turn blue and stopped breathing, detectives said.

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Rhodes initially reported that a woman claiming to be a family member took the child, which spurred a community-wide search for nearly a week. Rhodes then admitted to investigators that he buried the boy near the Emerald Suites, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. The childs body was found.

Rhodes was initially charged with one count of first-degree murder for causing Nicholsons death. He was also charged with two counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, and four counts of resisting a police officer with the use of a firearm after he grabbed a detectives gun while being interviewed on May 11, 2021.

Rhodes has denied the 8 News Now Investigators repeated requests for an interview.

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Jury selection in the Karen Read murder case continued on Tuesday in Dedham after her lawyers asked the Supreme Court of the United States to delay her retrial.

Three new jurors were added Tuesday, however one was excused, bringing the total jury court to 12 through six days.

Boston 25s Ted Daniel reported that the jury was excused for personal reasons.

At least 16 jurors must be seated for opening statements, and testimony can get underway.

Done for the day.



3 new jurors added for the Karen Read trial.



That brings the total to 12 because 1 was excused from a pervious day for personal reasons



4 more are needed for testimony to begin.



I feel for the last candidates of the day questioned. Think 6 of hours  Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) April 8, 2025

Good morning. I have an event this morning at the Statehouse with one of my favorite advocacy groups @TheArcofMass is recognizing lawmakers who provide support for people with autism.



Im heading to court immediately after for day 6 of jury selection in the Karen Read trial.  Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) April 8, 2025

Reads defense previously asked the countrys highest court to review and drop two of the three criminal charges against her: second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death.

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The defense team claims that Reads constitutional rights are being violated under the double jeopardy clause after multiple jurors allegedly came forward claiming she had been acquitted on two of the three charges.

The SCOTUS has not yet decided on whether or not to drop those charges, prompting the request to delay the Norfolk County trial, which began on April 1.

When asked about her bid with the Supreme Court, Read referenced a 1994 classic prison movie.

What are your thoughts on the Supreme Court? Is there any hope theyd step in? Boston 25 Investigative Reporter Ted Daniel asked.

To quote Shawshank Redemption, Hope is a great thing, sometimes the best of things, so Ill take any chance with the Supreme Court, Ted, Read said outside court.

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On Monday, 45 new jury candidates were screened, with all but four of them acknowledging that theyre familiar with the case. No new jurors were sat. Last week, five men and five women were chosen for the jury.

With a gag order silencing all attorneys in this case, Read is the only one from her team allowed to speak to reporters. She says shes not surprised at the speed of the jury selection process, even though no one new has been added since Thursday.

Its going at the same pace as last year despite more publicity, so Im not disappointed, Read said.

Both sides are allowed to challenge or block up to 16 people from being picked without giving a reason. Read provided our first update on that.

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You think youve used about 10 challenges? Boston 25 Investigative Reporter Ted Daniel asked.

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Dedham, MA - April 12: Karen Read at her pre-trial hearing at Norfolk Superior Court. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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Karen Read watches attorney Robert Alessi make a point during her trial at Norfolk Superior Court at Dedham, Mass., on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)

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Judge approves joint motion to delay start of Karen Reads 2nd murder trial

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Dedham, MA - July 1: Karen Read looks toward the jurors, as they are greeted by Judge Beverly J. Cannone (not pictured) in Norfolk Superior Court. (Photo by Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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All stand as the jury files out to the courtroom, to start their fifth day of deliberations in the murder trial for Karen Read in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., Monday, July 1, 2024. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

Karen Read jurors tell judge theyve been unable to reach unanimous verdict

Day 3 of jury deliberations finishes without verdict in Karen Read trial

Karen Read awaits the juries verdict in her murder case at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., Wednesday June 26, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)

Defense attorneys in Karen Read murder trial argue with judge over jury verdict slip

Some witnesses are in the courtroom on Tuesday include Brian Albert, Colin Albert, and Jennifer McCabe.

Karen Read

Karen Read, center right, is seated Monday, June 10, 2024, in Norfolk Super Court, in Dedham, Mass., during her trial on charges in connection with the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police Officer John O'Keefe. (Kayla Bartkowski/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

Karen Read is seated Monday, June 10, 2024, in Norfolk Super Court, in Dedham, Mass., during her trial on charges in connection with the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police Officer John O'Keefe. (Kayla Bartkowski/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

Karen Read

Karen Read smiles after listening to her attorney Alan Jackson during her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)

Karen Read

Karen Read

Karen Read sits with her legal team team in court Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Karen Read sits with her legal team team in court, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)

I think they used one more than us and I think weve used 10 and theyve used 11, which is commensurate of where we are with the selection, Read explained.

Read, 45, of Mansfield, is accused of hitting John OKeefe with her Lexus SUV in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die in the cold 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 at 34 Fairview Road in Canton and then dragged outside and left for dead.

She has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.

Get caught up with all the latest news in the Karen Read case

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Trumps Justice Department is going to pull back on prosecuting cryptocurrency fraud, according to a memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

The memo, sent to the Justice Department Monday, states that the DOJ wont be pursuing cases that Blanche said are better suited for financial regulators, instead focusing on crimes committed with cryptocurrency, such as selling illegal drugs, The Washington Post reports.

Blanche also plans to dismantle the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which was set up in 2022 to address the challenge posed by the criminal misuse of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. The move throttles an enforcement team that has successfully prosecuted market manipulation schemes and attempts to hide the owners of crypto assets. The unit was already hampered by the fact that in the Trump administrations first days, its leader was transferred to a new sanctuary cities division in the DOJ.

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Now other attorneys previously focused on cryptocurrency will instead focus on immigration crimes and procurement fraud, the memo states, although federal prosecutors will still be directed to bring cases against people who defraud investors.

The shift away from prosecuting crypto crimes is not surprising for the Trump administration. The president has long cozied up to cryptocurrency investors, and even engaged in some shady crypto transactions of his own, such as his deal with Justin Sun, a Chinese national accused of fraud. Trump and his wife, Melania, have also released their own memecoins.

The presidents announcement last month of a new national crypto strategic reserve smacks of a blatant ploy to make some of his cronies richer, and the Trump family has reportedly held talks about taking a financial stake into Binance, a cryptocurrency firm that pleaded guilty in 2023 to money laundering. It seems that Trump and his cronies are looking to profit from cryptocurrency and want pesky regulations and law enforcement out of the way.
The Justice Department plans to dismantle a unit dedicated to enforcing cryptocurrency regulations just as President Donald Trumps crypto venture raises hundreds of millions after stablecoin launch, according to a memo.

The National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team shall be disbanded effective immediately, an April 7 memo from the office of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche states.

The Justice Department will no longer pursue litigation or enforcement actions that have the effect of superimposing regulatory frameworks on digital assets while President Trump's actual regulators do this work outside the punitive criminal justice framework, the document, first reported by Fortune, says.

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The move comes as the department works to comply with Trumps January executive order aiming to protect the ability of citizens and private-sector entities to access and use for lawful purposes open public blockchain networks without persecution and provide regulatory clarity.

These new guidelines seek to end the reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution, which was ill conceived and poorly executed by the prior administration, the memo says. In October 2021, the Biden administration announced the creation of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team to tackle complex investigations and prosecutions of criminal misuses of cryptocurrency.

Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference July 2024 in Nashville. The Justice Department announced it disbanded the crypto regulation unit weeks after the Trump family's crypto venture launched a stablecoin (AP)

This unit was involved with the investigation into Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, who in 2023 pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering platform.

Moving forward, the DOJ will no longer target virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and offline wallets. One example of what will no longer be targeted is Tornado Cash, a virtual currency mixer that facilitated more than $1 billion in money laundering transactions, the department said. Its founders were charged with money laundering in 2023.

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The departments crypto-related investigations will focus on prosecuting individuals who victimize digital asset investors or use digital assets in furtherance of criminal offenses such as terrorism, narcotics and human trafficking, organized crime, hacking, and cartel and gang financing, Blanche wrote.

The new directive comes one month after the president vowed to make the United States the crypto capital of the world.

World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture Trump helped launch last year, announced at the end of March that it plans to launch a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Were offering a digital dollar stablecoin that sovereign investors and major institutions can confidently integrate into their strategies for seamless, secure cross-border transactions, Zach Witkoff, a World Liberty Financial co-founder, said in a statement at the time.

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Since last October, World Liberty Financial raised $550 million after launching two tokens, according to a March release. The Trump family has a 75 percent claim of net revenues from token sales, Reuters previously reported.

The president and his sons each have roles in the venture; Trump is the ventures chief crypto advocate, his youngest son Barron is the DeFi visionary, short for decentralized finance, while Donald Jr. and Eric are web3 ambassadors, the New York Times previously reported.
A Kansas City 18-year-old was sentenced 21 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty in connection with a double homicide in south Kansas City last year.

Linda S. Ater pleaded guilty Monday morning to second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in the shooting deaths of Deontae Marchbanks, 19, and Cierra Pennington, 17.

Marchbanks and Pennington were shot on Dec. 9, 2024, outside an apartment building in the Citadel neighborhood of Kansas City. Police responded to the building in the 6000 block of Blue Hills Road around 3:30 p.m. and found Marchbanks and Pennington unresponsive in a car with multiple gunshot wounds.

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Marchbanks was pronounced dead at the scene, and Pennington was brought to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Ater was initially charged in January with two counts of accessory to second-degree murder and two charges of armed criminal action. At least two other suspects were initially identified in Marchbanks and Penningtons death, but Ater remains the only one charged.

Surveillance video captured at the scene shows Ater, Marchbanks and Pennington arriving at the parking lot of the apartment building in the same car, according to court documents. Ater can then be seen crossing to another car to speak to the other suspects before turning back and shooting at Marchbanks and Pennington, though detectives believe her gun malfunctioned or jammed, court documents read.

Ater can then be seen getting into the suspects car as another suspect continued shooting into the car, then shot Pennington as she tried to escape, according to court documents.

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Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said in a statement Monday night that Ater had previously been identified as a potential participant in SAVE KC, a violent crime prevention campaign focused on deterrence and proactive resource distribution for people at high risk of criminal involvement.

As we explain to SAVE KC clients, we care about your future, but violence will never be tolerated, Johnson said Monday.

Marchbanks and Penningtons deaths were the 141st and 142nd homicides reported in Kansas City in 2024, according to data collected by The Star.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Kansas City, Missouri, leaders are fighting a concerning trend regarding domestic violence homicides.

Police said one out of every three homicides in the metro is related to domestic violence.

According to city officials, in 2024, there was a total of 12 domestic violence homicides for the year. So far this year, there have already been 12.

Convicted killer facing more time after beating inmate in Lansing prison

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These tragedies are not just numbers; they are lives lost, they are homes broken, and they are trauma that ripples through our entire community, said Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw.

Last year, 1 in 12 homicides were related to domestic violence  compared to 1 in 3 this year.

Leaders said there isnt just one factor contributing to the rise in these homicides. They emphasized that early intervention and stricter prosecution are both vital.

Ive never been a victim of domestic violence, but Im someone who has lived around it, said Mayor Quinton Lucas. Seeing your mother afraid, seeing your family scared to go home, experiencing that yourself, not wanting to be in your house, that is something that affects not just a survivor; that affects everyone.

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Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said her office is working to prosecute more of these abusers with felony charges to keep them off the streets and away from victims.

See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri

We want all victims, all survivors to know that you are not alone, Johnson said. Help is available, and we stand ready and willing to support you.

The KCPD said those in need of help can call the police department at 816-468-5463 for resources.

If you are a victim of domestic violence, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.

Missouri residents can find local shelters and domestic violence resources on the Kansas City Missouri Police Departments website. Kansas and Missouri residents can find additional resources here.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  On Tuesday night, Kansas City residents renewed a quarter-cent public safety sales tax for another two decades.

The first question on the City of Kansas City, Missouri, special election ballot asked voters whether they wanted to approve or deny a 1/4 percent sales tax, which will go toward funding police, emergency medical services and emergency management within the city.

Your Local Election Headquarters: Candidates, races and results on FOX4

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The tax will also help fund a new city jail next to the Jackson County Detention Center, renovate Central Patrol, upgrade body cameras and upgrade dash cameras throughout the Kansas City Police Department.

The ballot measure has been in effect since 2002 and has given the city about $20 million-$25 million yearly. But before Tuesdays election, it was set to expire in the next year, had Question 1 failed.

Now, it will remain in the four Kansas City, Missouri, metro counties  Jackson, Cass, Clay and Platte  for another 20 years.

Despite the tax being in effect for more than two decades, some residents felt the tax money should go to other resources within the community.

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For example, opponents said the majority of the sales tax, would not actually go toward law enforcement/emergency resources or public safety. Instead, they said it would primarily go toward the new jail, which, in their eyes, is seemingly unnecessary and doesnt tackle the real problem.

Kansas City residents to vote on $474 million KCPS school bond

Some believe there are other deep-rooted issues in the community and that tax dollars should be used to fund more helpful services, like public transportation, affordable housing and homeless shelters. Decarcerate KC had come out in opposition to Question 1. Their Executive Director Amaia Cook says the city jail plan had no mental health beds in it. They came together at The Combine at 30th and Troost to watch Tuesday nights election results.

It had no rehabilitative services that it initiatively described, Cook said. It was also very misleading for the ballot language to include nothing about the jail and instead deceive voters by saying that the funds will be going towards emergency services and 911.

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Hours after she said that, we asked that question to sales tax supporter Mayor Quinton Lucas.

Look, first of all the people of Kansas City spoke loud and clear. Today they said they support public safety. They support public education. This is a great day, Lucas said after finding out his side won.

The good folks on our city council, my colleagues like Crispin Rea, Melissa Hazley, Nathan Willett, Wes Rogers, are going to do the work to make sure that were supporting mental health, that were supporting the rehabilitation that we promised, that were invested in 911, were invested in KCPD, KCFD, doing the work that we said we would.

However, other community members, like Kansas City Municipal Judge Martina Peterson, said a new jail will take the burden off families, help government inefficiencies and limit concerns about facilities.

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Kansas City has not had a jail for 15 years, and since 2019, detainees with municipal charges have had to be transported to Vernon County  which is about 65 to 90 miles from Kansas City. Southland Progress supported Question 1 too.

Sometimes, theres no room to put somebody because Vernon County sometimes is full up where they send the male prisoners, or they dont want to take the most violent prisoners because they dont want them hurting their other inmates or the jailors, Southland Progress President John Sharp said in an interview with FOX4 Tuesday.

Theres no word when construction on the jail could start.

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Video above is from KSN News at 6 on Monday, April 7, 2025

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNW)  The state is establishing a long-term water investment task force to evaluate funding strategies for Kansas water supply.

The task force will establish a dedicated funding source and submit recommendations to Kansas leadership in 2026 and 2027, based on the states 10-year transportation plans.

Developing a comprehensive, long-term, and sustainable water program is long overdue and a significant step forward in ensuring Kansas water supply is preserved for generations to come, Governor Laura Kelly said in a news release about the signing of Senate Substitute for House Bill 2172.

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Kansas lawmakers approve 12 new laws Monday

The initiative will address issues related to water quality, quantity, infrastructure needs, and economic impact, while evaluating current funding levels for the State Water Plan.

The task force will deliver a preliminary report by 2026 and a final report by Jan. 31, 2027, outlining funding, governance roles, and strategies for long-term water security in Kansas.

Kelly proposed the task force in her 2025 State of the State Address. To prepare, her administration and the Kansas Water Authority held 14 public meetings in 2024 to gather citizen input, which was compiled into a Strategic Implementation Framework to guide the task forces work, according to the news release.

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In addition to the water task force bill, Kelly also signed the following bipartisan bills:

Substitute for Senate Bill 45 : Adjusts how certain K-12 students are included in graduation rate calculations.

Substitute for Senate Bill 54 : Enhances transparency by creating a process for judicial review of third-party funding agreements in court proceedings.

House Bill 2016 : The bill allows active military members, their spouses, and dependents stationed in Kansas but maintaining residency in another state to serve as poll workers. It also permits county election officers to remove a registered voter from the rolls upon the publication of their obituary online and clarifies technical requirements for advanced ballot applications.

House Bill 2030 : Excludes dealers and manufacturers of non-motorized trailers from certain provisions of the Vehicle Dealers and Manufacturers Licensing Act.

House Bill 2118 : New protections for Kansas consumers require private entities that charge fees for filing or retrieving certain government documents to inform consumers that these solicitations are not from a government agency.

House Bill 2122 : Increases the annual license fees of electric and hybrid vehicles, ensuring that electric vehicle drivers pay their fair share to maintain Kansas highways. The bill also aligns quarterly truck payment statutes for interstate and intrastate motor carriers.

House Bill 2168 : Extends the amount of time required for certain reports to be filed by public land surveys from 30 to 90 days, aligning Kansas with industry standards.

House Bill 2242: Authorizes the governor to accept requests for concurrent jurisdiction from the federal government, allowing juvenile incidents on military installations to be handled in state juvenile courts using state resources.

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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  The Kansas Firefighters Museum is speaking out after its historic building and memorial grounds were recently vandalized in an act the organization is calling an attack on the legacy and respect of Kansas firefighting history.

Housed in a 115-year-old firehouse at 1300 S. Broadway, the Kansas Firefighters Museum highlights the bravery and sacrifice of the states firefighters, featuring a memorial for those who have died in the line of duty.

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When art and self-expression turns to vandalism, specifically the defacement of our 115-year-old building and the memorial dedicated to the fallen Kansas firefighters it becomes an attack on the legacy and respect that this space represents, the museum said in a social media post.

The museum says it is working with local authorities to investigate the incident and is calling on the community to stand united in protecting historical landmarks and spaces of remembrance.

We believe in the power of art, the museum said in the post. But we also believe in the importance of respect  for history and for the fallen.

Suspect charged after historic cannon stolen, damaged

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The Wichita Fire Department described the incident as awful.

This building, the memorial, all of it, represents all who came before us and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, WFD said in a Facebook post.

The museum encourages anyone with information about the vandalism to contact the Wichita Police Department.

Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers by calling 316-267-2111, submitting a tip online, or submitting a tip through their mobile app, which is available through Google Play and Apples App Store.

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TOPEKA (KSNT)  Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has signed several bills Tuesday, ushering in a slew of new laws for the Sunflower State this year.

Kelly signed nine bills on April 8, according to a press release from the Office of the Governor. The legislation approved by Kelly and her fellow lawmakers include the following:

Senate Substitute for House Bill 2172  creates the Water Program Task Force to create a long-term investment program for water with a dedicated source of revenue, similar to Kansas rolling 10-year transportation programs.

Substitute for Senate Bill 45  requires the State Board of Education to calculate graduation rates for all school districts for purposes of accreditation using an alternative calculation.

Substitute for Senate Bill 54  limits discovery and disclosure of third-party litigation funding agreements and requires reporting of such agreements to courts.

House Bill 2016  ensures that active military members, their spouses and dependents stationed in Kansas but who have maintained residency in another state are able to serve as poll workers for Kansas elections. House Bill 2016 also allows county election officers to remove the name of a registered voter from the registration books when an obituary for such voter is published online along with clarifying technical requirements for advanced ballot applications.

House Bill 2030  excludes dealers and manufacturers of trailers from certain provisions of the Vehicle Dealers and Manufacturers Licensing Act.

House Bill 2118  requires any person who solicits a fee for filing or retrieving certain documents from the federal government, the state, a state agency or local government to give certain notices to consumers and provides that violation of such requirements is a deceptive act or practice subject to penalties under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

House Bill 2122  increases the annual license fees of electric and hybrid vehicles, ensuring that electric vehicle drivers pay their fair share to maintain Kansas highways. House Bill 2122 also aligns quarterly truck payment statutes for interstate and intrastate motor carriers.

House Bill 2168  extends the amount of time required for reports to be filed with the Kansas State Historical Society for certain U.S. public land surveys from 30 days to 90 days.

House Bill 2242  authorizes the Kansas governor to accept requests of concurrent jurisdiction from the federal government in certain circumstances.

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Developing a comprehensive, long-term, and sustainable water program is long overdue and a significant step forward in ensuring Kansas water supply is preserved for generations to come, Kelly said regarding Senate Substitute for House Bill 2172. Thanks to this legislation, there will now be a bipartisan strategic plan with a dedicated funding source to tackle Kansas most pressing water challenges. I commend the Legislature for advancing my proposal and acting on this critical issue.

Lawmakers approve change to the Kansas Constitution over voting rights

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Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President JD Vance's recent remarks on China were both surprising and kind of lamentable, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Spokesperson Lin Jian made the comments at a daily news briefing, responding to remarks Vance made in an interview on the Trump administration's China trade policy.

The U.S. borrows money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture, Vance said in the interview.

"China has made its position on its trade relations with the United States perfectly clear," Lin said.

"To hear words that lack knowledge and respect, like those uttered by this vice president, is both surprising and kind of lamentable," he added. 
April 7 (UPI) -- Attorneys for Karen Read, who is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of her police officer boyfriend after a night of drinking, asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to delay her Massachusetts retrial until it can take up her appeal.

"To quote Shawshank Redemption, 'Hope is a great thing sometimes, the best of things.' So I'll take any chance with the Supreme Court," Read, who has pleaded not guilty, told reporters.

No new jurors were selected Monday in Read's second trial in Norfolk Superior Court. Five men and five women have been seated since last week when jury selection got underway. The court is seeking to seat 16 jurors, including four alternates.

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"It's almost impossible to find a juror who hasn't at least heard of this case," legal analyst Peter Elikann told Boston 25 News. "So what we're looking for is jurors who will still, even though they've heard of the case, will say that they can be unbiased."

Prosecutors allege Read, 44, intentionally backed her SUV into her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, two years ago during a snowstorm. She was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.

Read has accused a number of people, including law enforcement, of trying to frame her.

A mistrial was declared last July after the jury said it was deadlocked following five days of deliberation due to "deeply held convictions that each of us carry."

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"Our perspectives on the evidence are starkly divided," read the note from the jury.

"The deep division is not due to a lack of effort or diligence, but rather a sincere adherence to our individual principles and moral convictions. To continue to deliberate would be futile and only serve to force us to compromise these deeply held beliefs."

Read's recent appeal to the Supreme Court seeks to drop the charges of murder and leaving the scene on the grounds of double jeopardy. Defense attorneys claim jurors had agreed to acquit her on those charges and were only undecided on manslaughter.
Karen Read says opening statements in her second murder trial could begin next week as the defense and prosecution close in on a full roster of jurors.

Three new jurors were added during jury selection Tuesday, after one was excused, bringing the total jury court to 12 through six days. At least 16 jurors must be seated for opening statements, and testimony can get underway.

Done for the day.



3 new jurors added for the Karen Read trial.



That brings the total to 12 because 1 was excused from a pervious day for personal reasons



4 more are needed for testimony to begin.



I feel for the last candidates of the day questioned. Think 6 of hours  Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) April 8, 2025

Forty-seven people from across Norfolk County were questioned by Judge Beverly Cannone and lawyers from both sides.

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Im anxious and its in Gods hands and were fighting and working as hard as we can, Read said outside court. What else can we do?

Boston-based attorney David Yannetti gave the opening statements in the first trial, but Read says it will be Los Angeles-based counsel Alan Jackson who will set the table for the jury in her second murder trial for the death of Boston police officer John OKeefe.

Right now, the jury is made up of six men and six women, with only 4 more people needed to fill the jury box.

A pool of new candidates will be screened on Wednesday.

Reads lawyers asked the Supreme Court of the United States to delay her retrial on Tuesday.

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Reads defense previously asked the countrys highest court to review and drop two of the three criminal charges against her: second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death.

The defense team claims that Reads constitutional rights are being violated under the double jeopardy clause after multiple jurors allegedly came forward claiming she had been acquitted on two of the three charges.

The SCOTUS has not yet decided on whether or not to drop those charges, prompting the request to delay the Norfolk County trial, which began on April 1.

With a gag order silencing all attorneys in this case, Read is the only one from her team allowed to speak to reporters. She says shes not surprised at the speed of the jury selection process, even though no one new has been added since Thursday.

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Read, 45, of Mansfield, is accused of hitting John OKeefe with her Lexus SUV in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die in the cold 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 at 34 Fairview Road in Canton and then dragged outside and left for dead.

She has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Kansas City voters approved a ballot measure during Tuesdays special election, allowing the city to convert more than three acres of Longfellow Park into a free housing development.

Kansas City voters to decide on 20-year public safety sales tax extension

The ballot asked voters whether they were in favor of the nonprofit Ronald McDonald House expanding its campus near Childrens Mercy.

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Now that the vote has passed, the organization will convert 3.42 acres of the park to provide free housing and additional services for families seeking treatment at Childrens Mercy.

Lees Summit School District seeks $225M bond for school upgrades, repairs

The specific portion of the park is located between East 25th Street and Gillham Road.

Question 2 also said that, if passed, the city will have the authority to use the property for additional matters.

MADD calls for tougher Missouri laws to fight drunk driving

Question 2 appeared on the ballot as follows: Should the City of Kansas City remove from its park system approximately 3.42 acres of Longfellow Park generally located between E. 25th Street and E. 26th Street, and between Gillham Road and Cherry Street, to convey said property to a not-for-profit corporation, for the public purpose of providing and expanding a campus to provide families with access to free housing, lodging and services that are nearby pediatric hospitals within the City, and authorize the City to convey said property for terms and consideration as the City may determine acceptable?

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  The updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps for Local Responsibility Areas are now available for the public to review and comment, the Kern County Fire Department said.

Cal Fire released the new map showing fire hazard severity zones throughout the state of California in March.

The maps were created through a science-based and field-tested model that assigned a hazard score to an area by determining factors that affect fire likelihood and behavior, according to Cal Fire.

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According to a release by KCFD, only the fire hazard severity zones identified as very high needed to be identified for adoption in these areas in the past.

But under Senate Bill 63, the state requires the director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to identify areas of the state as all three levels of fire hazard risk  moderate, high and very high.

The existing law already required local agencies to make the information about the fire hazard severity zones public for review within 30 days after receiving it from Cal Fire.

According to Cal Fire, the maps evaluate hazard rather than risks.

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Hazard is based on the physical conditions that impact the likelihood and expected fire behavior over a 30 to 50-year period without considering mitigation measures such as home hardening, recent wildfire or fuel reduction efforts, according to Cal Fire.

Risk is the potential damage a fire can inflict on an area under existing conditions, taking into account any modifications like fuel reduction projects, defensible space and ignition-resistant building construction.

These maps help the community understand the varying levels of wildfire risks in specific areas, which helps support improved building standards, defensible space requirements and emergency planning, according to the KCFD release.

KCFD encouraged the public to view the new maps and participate in the public comment process.

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If you wish to view the updated maps and submit a comment, click here.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  The Kansas Department of Transportation will be doing some road work in north Wichita on Tuesday.

KDOT will close the ramp from westbound Kansas Highway 254 to northbound Interstate 135 in Wichita from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In addition, the right lanes of both eastbound and westbound K-254 will be closed between Hydraulic and Oliver.

Drivers should expect delays and plan for extra travel time.

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To view this area on Google Maps, click here.

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.
BOSSIER PARISH, La. (KTAL/KMSS)  Information from the Northwest Louisiana Human Trafficking Coordinator led to the arrest of a Keatchie man on multiple counts.

James Natal (Source: Bossier Parish Sheriffs Office)

The Bossier Parish Sheriffs Office said the NLHTC contacted the office concerning reported sexual abuse. The investigation named James Natal, 42, of Keatchie as the suspect.

Two parents arrested in Shreveport after teen found abandoned in hotel room

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Natal was arrested on March 4, 2025, for crimes committed at residences in Bossier Parish. As the investigation continued, additional information was discovered, possibly linking Natal to other crimes.

He was booked into Bossier Max for: seven counts of first-degree rape (victim under 13), felony sexual batter (victim under 13), and molestation of a juvenile. His bond was set at $1,175,000.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com.
Federal agencies are sounding the alarm about Chinese spyware in U.S. healthcare. From patient monitors to internet-connected cameras, to DNA sequencers and WiFi routers, a range of Chinese products have come under scrutiny for potentially providing Beijing with backdoor access to sensitive American healthcare data.

Heres the problem: Chinese companies in America are beholden to two contradictory sets of laws  American laws that require data privacy and Chinese laws that require intelligence work. Chinas Communist Party has effectively obliterated the distinction between private sector Chinese companies and the surveillance state they all must serve. The solution requires a concerted effort by U.S. policymakers, state and federal law enforcement, and American corporations to keep CCP spyware out of U.S. healthcare.

Patient healthcare monitors provide attending physicians with a live feed of a patients vital signs. Disturbingly, Chinese monitors that are sold throughout the U.S. come with suspicious additional features. Contec CMS8000 Contains a Backdoor, reads a February fact sheet from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) matched CISAs warning with a safety communication titled Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities with Certain Patient Monitors from Contec and Epsimed. CISA analysts discovered one functionality that enables patient data spillage, and another which may allow remote code execution and device modification. In other words, hackers can potentially steal patient data and alter the devices readings.

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The problems dont stop there. A February bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warns that internet-connected Chinese cameras give the Chinese government the ability to conduct espionage or disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure, which includes healthcare and the public health sector.

Perhaps the most pernicious threat comes from Beijings plan to dominate in genetic sequencing technologies in order to achieve broader biotechnology dominance. Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), a Chinese genetic sequencing national champion, has been blacklisted by the Department of Defense as a Chinese Military Company operating in the U.S. and sanctioned by the Department of Commerce because their collection and analysis of genetic data present a significant risk of diversion to China's military programs.

Congressmen John Moolenaar and Raja Krishnamoorthi, leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, warn of Chinese military plans to leverage genetic data to create diseases that are more toxic, more contagious, and more resistant. What are the key inputs for Chinas military medical infrastructure? U.S. IP and medical data, like that collected by BGI.

The Select Committee also recently argued for the removal of Chinese TP-Link wireless routers in March hearings. Rob Joyce, the former director of cybersecurity at the National Security Agency, claimed that TP-Link appears to be selling at price points below profitability to drive out Western competition, allowing TP-Link to rapidly seize market share. Joyce also testified that the routers expose individuals and businesses to cyber-intrusion that could be used to launch attacks on critical infrastructure, such as the public health sector.

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Chinas 2017 National Intelligence Law and a range of other party-state security measures require Chinese companies to serve the Communist Party surveillance state. Former National Security Advisor Robert C. OBrien wrote that the Intelligence Law obligates individuals, organizations, and institutions to assist the PRC security and intelligence services in carrying out a wide variety of intelligence work.

These contradictions must be exposed and worked through by President Trump, Congress, statehouses leaders, and the courts. President Trump and Congress must rapidly assess American healthcare exposure to insecure CCP technologies, and ban technologies that present data risks. States are leveraging their regulatory powers to block Chinese genomic technologies within their borders, with Idaho and Tennessee banning Chinese genetic sequencers and a dozen more states considering similar measures. Insecure technologies need to be removed from hospitals and healthcare more broadly.

Finally, state Attorneys General should take aim at Chinese products that make false claims about security and data privacy, and examine these discrepancies against state consumer fraud, data privacy, and product liability laws. American companies that resell flawed Chinese products under an American brand, a practice known as white-labelling, deserve even greater scrutiny. AGs must protect American consumers and patients.

Chinas Communist Party has executed the state-sponsored theft of trillions in intellectual property and more personal data than all other countries put together. Chinese healthcare products are subject to party control, which presents unacceptable data and security risks in Americas healthcare sector.

Michael Lucci is the Founder and CEO of State Armor
Your favorite colorful cereal might be getting more attention than usualand not in a good way. The Texas Attorney General is taking a closer look at Kellogg, raising concerns about the synthetic dyes used in some of its popular breakfast options. While those bright colors may look fun, theres growing worry they could come with hidden health risks, especially for kids. Now, state officials want answers.

Texas Investigates Kellogg for Alleged Misleading Claims About Artificial Dyes

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, has launched an investigation into Kellogg, accusing the breakfast cereal company of possibly violating the states consumer protection laws. According to NewsNation, the probe centers around concerns that several of Kelloggs cerealsmarketed as healthy optionsmay, in fact, contribute to serious health problems such as obesity, cancer, and attention disorders.

among the products named in the investigation are popular Kellogg cereals like Apple Jacks and Frosted Flakes, which contain synthetic food dyes derived from petroleum. Paxton emphasized the potential dangers of such additives in a statement announcing the investigation.

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Some food additives, he stated, have been linked to hyperactivity, obesity, autoimmune disease, endocrine-related health problems, and cancer in those who consume them. He further warned, There will be accountability for any company, including Kellogg, that unlawfully makes misrepresentations about its food and contributes to a broken health system that has made Americans less healthy.

Kristina Baehr, the founder of personal injury law firm Just Well Law, voiced her support for the investigation and echoed the states concerns. The state of Texas is asking, Why did you promise your shareholders that you were going to take out the artificial colors and flavors, because of course you knew they were not safe, and then you reneged on that promise? Baehr said.

Kellogg had previously announced in 2015 that it aimed to eliminate artificial colors and flavors from its cereals by 2018. However, products such as Froot Loops and Apple Jacks continue to contain synthetic dyes like Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, and Yellow 6all petroleum-based colorants.

The case aligns with the broader Make America Healthy Again initiative introduced during the Trump administration. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has committed to tackling artificial dyes and additives found in processed foods, with Kelloggs cerealsincluding Froot Loopsamong those under scrutiny.

Are Other States Challenging Kellogg Over Artificial Food Dyes?

Texas may be the most recent state to scrutinize Kellogg for its use of synthetic food dyes, but its far from alone. Several other states have voiced similar concerns, raising alarms over the health implications of artificial additives in popular cereals:

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California: In September 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the School Food Safety Act, which bans six synthetic dyessome of which are used in Kelloggs productsfrom school food and beverages. The law is set to take effect on December 31st, 2027.

Michigan: State Representative Mark Tisdel publicly criticized Kellogg for continuing to use artificial dyes and preservatives in cereals sold in the U.S., pointing out that cleaner, dye-free versions of the same products are available in select markets like Canada and multiple European countries.

Illinois: A grassroots petition launched in October 2024 called on the Illinois State Administration to suspend sales of Kellogg products containing synthetic dyes, citing public health risks.

Are All Food Dyes and Additives Bad for Your Health?

Not necessarily. The health risks associated with food dyes and additives are still a matter of debate. While some advocacy groups warn that certain artificial dyes may be linked to conditions like hyperactivity, allergies, or long-term health concerns, othersincluding regulatory bodiesmaintain a more neutral stance. In the United States, many of these additives, including the ones used by Kellogg, are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which deems them safe for consumption when used within established limits.

That said, growing consumer awareness and scientific scrutiny have led to increased pressure on companies to reduce or eliminate synthetic ingredients from their products. While Kelloggs cereals continue to include dyes like Red 40 and Yellow 5, the company states that its ingredients fully comply with FDA regulations. Ultimately, whether these additives pose a significant health risk depends on factors such as dosage, individual sensitivity, and emerging researchso the conversation is far from settled.

Read the original article on GEEKSPIN.

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GAZA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- In Gaza today, hope is a commodity more precious than bread. Both have grown dangerously scarce.

The wind along the Mediterranean coast no longer brings the comforting aroma of salt and seaweed, but instead carries the choking dust of pulverized concrete, and with it, a faint echo of explosives. Walking along this coastline -- once a vibrant escape for Gaza City -- feels like traversing the edge of a bleeding wound. Every concrete slab and every twisted piece of rebar marks a place, where life once thrived, now hidden beneath layers of rubble.

A young Palestinian woman, Sajida Ayesh, stared out over the grey, turbulent waves.

"I used to bring my nieces here," she said. "We'd skip stones, watch the fishermen. They loved the sound of the waves." She paused, pulling her thin scarf tighter. "Now, even the sea sounds different. It sounds like it's mourning."

Her words capture the profound grief that has been lingering over this place. The collapse of the ceasefire -- a brief, fragile pause in an enduring tragedy -- snuffed out a small light of hope that had managed to briefly pierce the darkness. The ceasefire that began on Jan. 19 was less a structured peace than a desperate gasp for air after 15 months of relentless bloodshed since October 2023. For a few weeks, it offered a glimpse of normalcy.

Displaced families returned not to familiar homes, but to rubble where once-neighborly streets and communities thrived. Yet the pull of a land rich in memory proved irresistible. They cleared debris, raised tents and began reclaiming their identity from the ruins.

Before dawn on March 18, the truce collapsed. In a swift and brutal escalation, Israeli forces launched a heavy assault on Gaza, with eyewitnesses and local reports indicating that around 80 airstrikes struck within minutes, plunging the region back into the familiar cycle of all-out war. The timing deepened the tragedy: these attacks occurred during Ramadan -- Muslims' holy month of fasting and reflection -- beginning around the pre-dawn meal.

"Everything just turned upside down... It was pure hell," recalled Hanan Muhanna, a woman sheltering in Gaza City. Her family managed to escape, but many of her neighbors were either trapped or killed.

The renewed Israeli offensive, described by officials as essential for security objectives and reportedly carried out with the "full support" of Washington, has proven widespread and lethal. Gaza health authorities report over 1,000 deaths since March 18, increasing the total toll since October 2023 to more than 50,000.

As if the carnage of war were not enough, an imminent famine now looms. Access to vital supplies has been completely severed for over a month. Earlier this week, the World Food Programme confirmed that all 25 UN-supported bakeries across Gaza have ceased operations, their flour and fuel supplies blocked, leaving communities on the brink of starvation.

The consequences are catastrophic. Bread, the fundamental staple for life, has become an almost unattainable luxury. In some cases, a single 25-kg bag of flour is reportedly selling for the equivalent of 100 U.S. dollars, a sum unaffordable for most who depend entirely on sporadic aid.

"Bread is everything here. And it's gone," said Woroud Abdul Hadi, a mother of five, near the shuttered doors of a bakery. "We all had hope with the ceasefire. But why does this suffering continue? Do we dare to hope at all?"

That is a question that resonates across this landscape of despair. While many claim hope is the world's most potent force, here in Gaza, it has become something to be rationed as carefully as food.

Here, each new dawn does not necessarily bring relief; often, it merely signals the start of another day in the relentless fight for survival. Enditem

(Shi Xinyi and Diao Wencong contributed to the story)
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly signs a bill complying with her request for the Legislature to create a special task force to put together a comprehensive water planning and investment task force modeled after the state's 10-year planning horizon for highway projects. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA  Gov. Laura Kelly signed bipartisan legislation Tuesday establishing a task force dedicated to developing a long-term investment strategy for Kansas water resources modeled after the states rolling 10-year transportation program.

The Democratic governor praised members of the Republican-led Legislature for approving House Bill 2172 to create a dedicated funding source for addressing the states water challenges. The task force with 13 voting members must work to get a better handle on evaluation of water appropriations and state water laws. The task force will submit to Kelly and the Legislature a preliminary report in 2026 and a final report in 2027.

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Developing a comprehensive, long-term and sustainable water program is long overdue and a significant step forward in ensuring Kansas water supply is preserved for generations to come, Kelly said. I commend the Legislature for advancing my proposal and acting on this critical issue.

The bill passed the House on a vote of 116-8 and it received unanimous support in the Senate. In January, Kelly recommended the Legislature authorize the task force. The Kansas Water Authority and Kelly administration conducted 14 public meetings last year to gather input on water policy.

The task force, with members from each of the states five conservation regions, must work to evaluate major risks to Kansas water quality and quantity, including issues of current and future economic growth. It must evaluate water infrastructure needs in every corner of the state.

This is a critical step forward in addressing Kansas water challenges by establishing a dedicated task force and work group to guide our states water policy and funding decisions, said Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover. This bill reflects a bipartisan legislative commitment to ensuring sustainable water resources for future generations, and Im proud to see it move forward with the governors support.

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Kelly also signed Senate Bill 45, which created an alternative school district graduation rate calculation that excluded students who transferred to homeschools and nonaccredited private schools or who enrolled as a credit-deficient student.

The governor signed Senate Bill 54 to require disclosure in court proceedings of third-party litigation funding agreements as well as House Bill 2118 requiring private entities that solicit a fee for filing or retrieving government documents to tell consumers the solicitations werent made on behalf of a government agency.

Kelly put a signature to House Bill 2030 to exclude dealers and manufacturers of nonmotorized trailers from the vehicle dealers licensing law. It wouldnt apply to dealers of semitrailers and travel trailers.

Her signing of House Bill 2122 meant the annual license fee of electric and hybrid vehicles would increase. The fee for electric hybrid vehicles would go from $50 to $70, while the plug-in electric hybrid vehicle fee would rise from $50 to $100. The all-electric vehicle would be hit with a fee of $165, up from $100.

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She placed into law contents of House Bill 2016 to give active military members, their spouses and dependents stationed in Kansas but maintaining residency in another state to serve as poll workers for Kansas elections. In addition, the bill permitted county election officers to rely on obituaries posted online to remove a voters name from registration books.

The governor agreed to sign House Bill 2168 to extend the time required for filing of public land surveys from 30 days to 90 days to comply with industry standards. Meanwhile, Kelly signed House Bill 2242 to authorize a Kansas governor to accept requests for concurrent jurisdiction from the federal government.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56)  Kentucky leaders provided an update Tuesday morning on the ongoing flooding impacts as death tolls rise across the Bluegrass.

Four days of severe storms have brought devastation to communities across the commonwealth, said Gov. Beshear during the April 8 press conference. I want to thank all of our first responders and volunteers, both locally and from out of state, who have dedicated time to help our people. While the threat of severe storms has ended, several rivers and creeks remain at or above flood stage, and roadways remain underwater in several areas. So we need folks to remain cautious.

During the briefing, Beshear confirmed the death toll related to the floods remains at four:

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The Bullitt County coroner said 50-year-old James Dishon Jr. was recovered from floodwaters and found dead just before noon Tuesday in Lebanon Junction. This brings the death toll to five as of Tuesday.

LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS:

Kentucky State Police announced a death investigation Monday evening in Pendleton County possibly tied to floodwaters but provided an update Tuesday afternoon from the coroners office that the cause of death was the result of a medical condition and not a drowning.

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Beshear applauded the efforts search and rescue teams have done, citing 142 overall rescues and 272 evacuations by boat.

In the briefing, Beshear confirmed that the water in Frankfort was receding, and he hopes that most people in Frankfort will be able to return to their homes tomorrow. He also confirmed that water was fully restored to Frankfort Monday night.

Read more of the latest Kentucky news

A Maryland task force is heading to western Kentucky to begin relief efforts in areas like Henderson and Owensboro, according to Beshear. This is due to the rising waters in western Kentucky, particularly along the Ohio River.

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He also noted that evacuation recommendations may be issued as early as tomorrow in Henderson.

As for recovery efforts statewide, Beshear said that there are currently 868 connections without water entirely and 22 more that are subject to limited operations. He confirmed that roughly 4,000 Kentuckians are also under a boil water advisory. There were also five wastewater systems that were not operational and 29 systems operating in a limited capacity.

Kentucky Emergency Management Director Eric Gibson confirmed there are resources available to assist Kentuckians. Gibson reiterated Beshears note that efforts are beginning to shift to the western part of the state as waters continue to rise.

LATEST KENTUCKY LISTS AND RANKINGS:

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Gibson reinforced the advice of leaders to avoid dangerous situations and not travel through standing water. He also noted the importance of staying safe by not going around barricades and moving barricades.

Just because the road used to be there, if the water has inundated that roadway, it doesnt mean that its safe to drive on, Gibson said.

He said emergency management and FEMA teams are about to begin assessments of communities so that a quick aid declaration can be submitted and approved as quickly as possible.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray implored Kentuckians to continue to make safe choices and turn around, dont drown.

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Read more of the latest Lexington & central Kentucky news

Gray noted that there are currently 457 highways that are closed, with 17 of them closed due to mudslides. He said that anyone interested in real-time updates on road conditions should go to GoKy.ky.gov.

He noted that there are more travel areas damaged from the current flooding situation than Kentucky previously experienced from the February floods.

FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Jeremy Slinker spoke and reinforced FEMAs commitment to supporting Kentucky and KYEM throughout the recovery process.

Beshear noted how the Team Kentucky Storm Relief Fund was closing in on $1 million after receiving roughly $20,000 on Monday. He confirmed that the first order of business for the funds would be paying for the funerals of those who died in the flooding.

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Latest central Kentucky weather forecast

The governors office provided the following safety tips in a news release on Tuesday:

Watch your step. Floodwaters often hide sharp and dangerous debris, like broken glass and metal. Floodwater can also be contaminated with oil, gasoline or sewage.

Wear the appropriate protective clothing and gear such as boots, gloves and safety glasses when moving debris.

Stay away from electrical utility equipment after a storm, or if it is wet, to prevent being electrocuted. Report any utility issues to your local utility company.

Flooded homes are hazards. Get a professional to check for loose wires, mold and hidden damage before re-entering.

Never drive into a road covered with flowing water. One foot of flowing water can sweep a car off the road; two feet will carry away an SUV or pickup. Even six inches of water can knock you off your feet. Never walk or drive through swift water. Turn around, dont drown.

Respect barricades and posted signage. If you encounter a flooded road, turn around. Youre not only putting your own life at risk, but also the lives of first responders.

If you encounter a dark traffic signal, treat it as a four-way stop.

Camille Hantla contributed to this story.

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April 8 (UPI) -- The owners of a Kentucky restaurant in the path of the Ohio river floods shared their unusual strategy for keeping the dirty water out: intentionally flooding the building with clean water.

Andrew Masterson, co-owner of Captain's Quarters Riverside Grille in Prospect, posted a live video to Facebook showing how he and his team are keeping the silty floodwater out of the building.

Masterson and the restaurant's employees used sinks, faucets and a well water pump to fill the restaurant with about 6 feet of clean freshwater to keep the filthy flood at bay.

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"We disconnected kitchen equipment and electrical panels beforehand," Masterson explained in the video.

Masterson said that if the strategy continues to be successful, it could save the restaurant from expensive and time-consuming clean-up work.

He said he remains concerned that the floodwaters could enter the restaurant through windows, doors or ductwork if the water levels outside reach higher than 6 feet.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  The nearly 2,700-mile Keystone oil pipeline was shut down Tuesday morning after it ruptured in North Dakota, halting the flow of millions of gallons of crude oil from Canada to refineries in the U.S. and potentially leading to higher gasoline prices.

South Bow, a liquid pipeline business that manages the pipeline, said it shut down the pipeline after control center leak detection systems detected a pressure drop in the system. The company estimated that 3,500 barrels of oil were released and said the spill was confined to an agricultural field in a rural area, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Fargo.

The affected segment has been isolated, and operations and containment resources have been mobilized to site, the company said. Our primary focus right now is the safety of onsite personnel and mitigating risk to the environment.

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The pipeline transported an average 624,000 barrels  or more than 26 million gallons  per day in 2024, according to Canadian regulators. It stretches 2,689 miles (4,327 kilometers) from Alberta, Canada, to Texas.

Prices at the gas pump could rise in the coming days

The pipelines shutdown could quickly lead to higher gasoline prices in the Midwest, said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation at the University of Houston.

It could raise prices at the pump within one or two days, but will have a greater impact on diesel and jet fuel, Krishnamoorti said. The Keystone pipeline transports a large amount of a unique, heavy crude that only is available from limited sources, he said.

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The refineries run on blends of crude so that they can get the product line that they want to deliver, whether it is gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, etc., and not having the supply of heavy crude is going to tilt their ability to make diesel and jet fuel," he said. They will make less of diesel and jet fuel when they have less of the heavy crude.

Higher diesel costs could lead to grocery price increases because diesel trucks transport those products, he said.

The lead petroleum analyst at gasoline price tracker GasBuddy, Patrick De Haan, said that typically refineries have at least a few days supply of crude oil on hand that will insulate them from immediate impacts from the shut down. But if the shutdown continues more than a few days or a week it could become problematic.

Mark LaCour, editor-in-chief of the Oil and Gas Global Network, said he doesn't expect gas prices to immediately increase because the major refineries served by the Keystone pipeline have millions of barrels in storage.

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Even if the pipeline gets cut off completely for, say, 2 or 3 weeks, they have enough crude to continue refining for gasoline, LaCour said.

The pipeline was shut down within two minutes of a bang

It wasn't clear what caused the rupture of the underground pipeline. An employee working at the site near Fort Ransom heard a mechanical bang and shut down the pipeline within about two minutes, said Bill Suess, spill investigation program manager with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.

Oil surfaced about 300 yards (274 meters) south of a pump station in a field and emergency personnel responded, Suess said.

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No people or structures were affected by the spill, he said. A nearby stream that only flows during part of the year was not affected but was blocked off and isolated as a precaution, he said. The Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is sending a team to investigate the cause of the leak.

Fort Ransom, a city of less than 100 people, is in a hilly, forested area of southeastern North Dakota known for scenic views and outdoor recreation. A state park and hiking trails are nearby.

It's unclear at what rate the 30-inch (0.8-meter) pipeline was flowing, but even at two minutes it's going to have a fairly good volume, Suess said. But ... we've had much, much bigger spills, including one involving the same pipeline a few years ago in Walsh County, North Dakota, he said.

I don't think it's going to be that huge, Suess said.

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The pipeline has a history of past ruptures

The Keystone Pipeline was constructed in 2010 at a cost of $5.2 billion and carries crude oil across Saskatchewan and Manitoba through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas. Though the pipeline was constructed by TC Energy, it is now managed by South Bow as of 2024.

A proposed extension to the pipeline called Keystone XL would have transported crude oil to refineries on the Gulf Coast, but it was ultimately abandoned by the company in 2021 after years of protests from environmental activists and Indigenous communities over environmental concerns.

After a spill, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is responsible for investigating the root cause of the issue and any lack of compliance. The agency, which regulates liquid and natural gas pipelines, lost several senior-level executives earlier this year as part of President Donald Trumps federal cuts.

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PHMSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bill Caram, executive director at industry watchdog Pipeline Safety Trust, said the organization already was an under-resourced, underfunded agency.

To lose anyone will have an impact on safety, he said.

After the last major Keystone pipeline spill in Kansas in December 2022, sections of the pipeline were offline for a little over three weeks before it resumed operating at a lower pressure.

That spill of nearly 13,000 barrels of oil flowed into a creek traversing a pasture. An engineering consulting firm said the bend in the pipeline at the site had been overstressed since being installed in 2010, likely because of construction activity altering the land around the pipe. TC Energy said a faulty weld in the line's bend caused a crack that exacerbated over time.

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The Pipeline Safety Trust said this latest leak adds to the troubled history of the Keystone pipeline, which has had 13 significant incidents in the 15 years it has been operating.

___

Raza reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Associated Press writer Josh Funk contributed from Omaha, Nebraska.
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The school-busing policies of the 20th century werent just unpopular; the ensuing fallout to school integration was so great that many Americans have written it off as a total failure. White flight, political backlash, and continuing segregation: This is the legacy of court-ordered desegregation.

And on quite a few metrics, the pessimism is warranted. Schools across the nation remain segregated; one academic measure of the nations 100 largest districts finds that segregation between white and Black students has increased 64 percent since 1988.

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But a new study complicates this narrative of total failure. In todays episode of Good on Paper, I talk with the economist Ethan Kaplan about his research on the rare two-way, court-ordered busing program implemented in Jefferson County, Kentucky, in 1975. Kaplan and his co-authors traced the cohorts of students affected by this policy through the decades to see how their experience shaped them. Because the students were assigned to be bused in a semi-random way (based on the first initial of their last name), it provided an ideal experiment for researchers.

The findings surprised me. White students who were assigned to be bused into majority-Black inner-city schools were significantly more likely to identify as Democrats later on in life, more supportive of redistributive policies and unions, and less likely to believe that success is earned. But whats even more interesting is Kaplans explanation for why this is happening. The political shift wasnt driven by softened racial attitudes, but rather, by white children witnessing the deprivation of inner-city schools.

This conversation revisits an era that many Americans would rather forgetand asks what it means if one of the most controversial policies of the 20th century might give us a clue about how our adult political identities are forged in adolescence.

The following is a transcript of the episode:

Jerusalem Demsas: School integration is largely thought of as a depressing and failed saga in American history. According to a GAO report, during the 202021 school year, more than a third of studentsthats 18.5 million kidsattended schools where 75 percent or more of the population was of a single race or ethnicity.

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And its not even that things are just slowly getting better. Research by the University of Wisconsin shows that in 1988, roughly 37 percent of Black students were enrolled in majority-white schools. Fast-forward 30 years, in 2018, that figure was just 19 percent.

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Demsas: My names Jerusalem Demsas. Im a staff writer at The Atlantic, and this is Good on Paper, a policy show that questions what we really know about popular narratives.

When I first saw the paper were going to discuss, I felt a stab of hopewas it possible that the political impacts of busing policies were better than Id believed? Ethan Kaplan, an economist at the University of Maryland, and his co-authors had zeroed in on Jefferson County, Kentucky. In 1975, a federal court had ordered the public schools there to desegregate. Now, 50 years later, Kaplan and his co-authors found that this experience had affected the politics of children who had been assigned to be bused.

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According to this researchbusing significantly increases support for the Democratic Party and causes important and measurable shifts in the ideological outlook of white children who experienced the deprivation of inner-city schools.

Im excited to dive in. Ethan, welcome to the show.

Ethan Kaplan: Thank you for having me.

Demsas: So lets go back to the summer of 1975. The Louisville Jefferson County School District was forced to implement a school desegregation plan by the courts. What did they do?

Kaplan: So there had been a couple of lawsuits that have been long-standing, and they finally got resolved in the spring of 1975. And then the higher courts told the lower courts that they had to actually implement it for the fall of 75 school year. And so they had to very quickly merge two school districts, one that was largely the city of Louisvilleand Louisville, by the way, was not a part of Jefferson County at that time; it later became a part of itand the other was largely Jefferson County but had a few mainly white schools that were in the city of Louisville, which actually was important for the legal case. And so they, first of all, got the heads of the school districtsthe city school district and the county school districttogether with a judge, and they created a plan to integrate the school systems.

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And in doing that, there were, you know, really three types of schools. So there were some schools that were exempt because they already were integrated enough. There were some schoolsand as a sub-part of those schools, there were actually some schools that, since they were in the city, but they were in largely white areas and areas that have been carved out to be very white and have white schools, they were actually, through redistricting, able to meet the qualification for not having to have busing. And so they were also exempt.

But then there were the predominantly white schools in the county that needed to bus white kids into the inner-city Black schools and Black kids in the inner city that needed to be bused to the white schools.

And, you know, there are many different types of busing programs that were implemented across the country. This was a two-way busing program, so they really tried to integratethey werent just bringing Black kids into white schools. They were also bringing white kids into Black schools. And so there was this two-way busing.

So they tried to really roughly equalize the flows, you know, so that the fraction of Black and white were basically the same in all of the schools. And so they had to come up with a kind of way to do this in a very short period of time.

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Demsas: And what was kind of the tenor of the desegregation fights in Louisville, Jefferson County? Was this something where, I meanI think we have the traditional story in our heads of, you know, parents extremely upset, pulling their kids out of the school district, rioting, protests, a lot of animosity. Black parents are also similarly concerned about their kids. Can you set the stage for us here?

Kaplan: Yeah, thats a great question. I would say it was less conflictual than some of the most conflictual integration experiences.

Demsas: Like Boston.

Kaplan: Yeah, so thats the funny thing, is a lot of people think of the Deep South, but Boston was incredibly violent. But nonetheless, you had large KKK rallies. They polled white parents at the time, and 98 percent of white parents surveyed were opposed to the busing plan, and its really hard to imagine 98 percent of people today agreeing on anything.

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So there was just near-unanimous opposition to busing. Some of it maybe was just due to not wanting your kid to be on a bus for a long period of time. But, you know, some of it might alsoI mean, certainly a bunch of it was motivated by racial animus, as evidenced by the prevalence of the KKK at some of these rallies.

Demsas: Theres an interesting debateIm not sure how big it is in the literature, buttrying to characterize why people were opposed to busing. Of course, theres the racial animus you mentioned. How seriously should we take arguments that there were other, larger concerns that parents may have had, whether it was distance their kid was going to get to the new school or the fact that youre interrupting where they were going to school to begin with, or the idea that, you know, a lot of parents when polled care a lot about being in their neighborhood school for whatever reason?

Are those really big reasons for people not to want to integrate their schools? Or I guess we could test this with: Are parents more happy if their kid gets to stay in their neighborhood school while integration is happening versus having to get bused themselves?

Kaplan: And we do see that. Theres aroundwe dont have perfect estimates of this, and we have estimates from different sources. But, you know, roughly 15 percent of students who were scheduled to be bused differentially left the school system. So definitely part of it is that they didnt want their kids to be bused to another school. Now, that could still be related to racial animus. Like, it might be that they didnt want their kid to go to, you know, an inner-city school in a Black neighborhood, right? So, you know, I wouldnt say thats proof that there was a really large component of this that was really just about opposition to time spent on a bus.

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But certainly, kids who were bused out were much more likely to leave the school system and go to other public schools or predominantly Catholic schools. Actually, in the Deep South, there were segregation academies. They were actually literally called segregation academies. That was quite common.

Demsas: Yeah. And do we know what percentage of white students who had their schools integrated by Black students left?

Kaplan: Yeah, we dont have perfect estimates of that. So one way that we do this is that we look at yearbooks. So if you look at the fraction of people who, in the fall of 74, before they knew if there was going to be forced integration and before they knew anything about the particular plan through which integration was implementedif we say, What fraction of those people can we match to a yearbook after integration has started?, thats 70 percent.

Demsas: Okay, so 30 percent leave.

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Kaplan: I think its not that high, is my guess. You know, like, for instance, if youre not there on the day when theyre doing the yearbooks.

Demsas: Yeah. Or you move for other reasons, or whatever.

Kaplan: Right. But those people actually wouldve left the schools. And youre right that there is a background rate of leaving the school system, period. But anyway the point is, you know, most people stay. I think if you look at the aggregate data from the school system, there is a large decline right around this time. So its really hard to disentangle, but my guess is somewhere around 20 percent, is a guess of what percent left.

Demsas: So I want to come back to the interviews you did and the yearbook analysis. But I first want to ask you about why you chose to study this desegregation program.

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Kaplan: Great. So they had a very unique way of implementation that was really perfect for causal analysis. So, you know, in economics, we are concerned a lot about causality. So we see a correlationhow do we know it reflects a causal relationship versus some type of correlation? So for example, education is very highly correlated with wages. The higher your education, the higher your wage. But does that reflect the causal effect of education, or are there some things that lead you to get education that also lead you to get higher wages? So economists spent a lot of time trying to figure out that kind of causal relationship.

And so one thing that can do that is randomization. You know, so if I randomly assign you to get bused versus not, then we think that were getting the effect of busing. Right? Whereas if youre choosing whether or not to get bused, then we think, you know, maybe your political opinions might be correlated with whether or not youre signing up to get bused.

So, you know, we really look a lot for these randomizations, and in our case, we actually found something that we think is close to an experiment. In the summer of 75, they sit down together, and they try to figure out a way that they can send some kids every yearnot the same kids in every year. So some kids get bused every year so that they equalize the fraction Black and fraction white across schools, but they dont have the same kids being bused every year. Thats different kids. Everyone ends up with roughly the same amount of busing over their 13 years of school experience. They come up with a plan based upon the alphabet.

And they say that if your last name begins with, for instance, A, B, F, or Q, then you get bused in 11th or 12th grade. If its D, G, or H, then you get bused in third and eighth grade. So the first letter of your last name determines when you get bused. And the thing thats really great about that for us, in terms of our research design, is that in those initial cohorts, if Im in, like, eighth grade when this busing plan is announced, if Im in A, B, F, or Q, that alphabet group, Im going to get two years of busing. But if Im in D, G, and Hthats third and eighth gradeI dont get any busing at all.

So for the initial cohorts, particularly in later years, the assignment by first letter of the last name of when you get bused leads to a difference in whether you get bused or not. And so we use that, and we say, Okay, lets look at the cohorts who differentially end up getting bused. So if A, B, F, and Q just graduated when the busing plan was implemented, they dont get busing, but the next cohorts would get busing. Whereas for D, G, and H, those same cohorts are both not going to get bused.

So then we can compare the change in politics 45 years later for the A, B, F, and Q group, where there was a change in whether they got bused, versus the D, G, and H groupsin the same cohorts, in the same yearsbut where both groups didnt get bused. And so that kind of odd, random variation is what we use to basically figure out what the long-run impact, basically permanent impact, of being bused on politics is.

Demsas: So clearly, someone in Jefferson County wanted to design this natural experiment for you. But the question I had when I was reading your paper is that, at first glance, I was like, Okay, the last name likely doesnt correlate with a bunch of stuff. Probably doesnt correlate with, you know, your political opinions or whatever other things, like racial animus. But I suppose it is possible that last names are not randomly distributed, right? Like, theres a lot of Lis that are Asian American, and thats less likely to be, you know, white. And so did you look at the distribution of last names with race or with other things to see if they actually were uncorrelated?

Kaplan: So we didnt do exactly thatand thats a great questionbut we did other things. And also, our design actually tries to take that into account. So suppose Z is a much more Latino name. Now, it turns out there werent really Latinos living in Louisville and Jefferson County at that time. But, you know, lets say that there were, and so you were concerned that there might be more Latinos.

Were comparing the change in A, B, F, and Q to the change in politics for D, G , and H. So in order for there to be some type of difference, they have to be on differential trends right around those years. And we dont find evidence for that. So one way that we show that theres no evidence for that: We actually do also look before they get busedwe look at the difference between the groups that get bused versus not in the year that they get bused. And then we look at the years prior to that, differences across the groups, and what we see is large differences in the year that they get bused and no difference in the years before.

So we kind of take care of that because were looking at changes in politics across cohorts for the same alphabet groups, but we also show that, actually, it turns out that there really isnt any difference in politics between the groups that get bused and not before busing starts.

Demsas: Okay. So this paper is about long-term political attitudes, which you forecast. And, you know, you find that white students who were bused into poor, inner-city schools develop more liberal economic views decades later. Before we get into how you found that: Was that your expectation going in? When you were kind of doing your lit review, did you think thatI mean, I think most people, when they think about the busing experiment, they think of it as, like, a failed experiment. They think of it as: The backlash was really intense. We have really segregated schools right now. People really hated being bused. And so, you know, blanket background expectation is that, you know, it would make people more conservative or more opposed to sorts of these programs that they experienced themselves. Was that your expectation going in?

Kaplan: So, you know, when you choose a paper to write, you have to think about these things. Is it likely to work out? And I think, first of all, we thought that we could find the results that we found. We also thought that it would be possible wed get the exact opposite results, that, you know, even though the Democratic Party was the party of slavery, theres a lot of evidence that shows, starting in 1964when the Democratic Party implemented the Civil Rights Act, and in 65, they implemented the Voting Rights Actthat things changed in terms of the perception, and a lot of, particularly, southern whites turned against the Democratic Party starting in 64.

Moreover, a lot of the legal decisions that led to busingso theres a lot of legal innovation. So you might think that busing should have happened in 1954, after Brown v. Board of Education, or in 55, with Brown II, which said that it had to be done quickly, and then nothing happened for a decade, until 64, til the passage of the Civil Rights Act. After the Civil Rights Act, the Department of Justice starts to get involved, and theres a bunch of lawsuits that really parameterize that this has to happen and how it has to happen.

And so, you know, we thought that there would be some chance that this process would have led toand that legal innovation was largely done by Democratic appointeesand so we thought that there was very possibly going to be a backlash, and so wed see a movement to the Republican Party, because of the incredible unpopularity of busing when it was implemented. That wouldve been interesting as well.

There could have been a movement towards the Democratic Party. So theres this theory of the contact hypothesis by Allport. Theres this theory that says that when you have exposure to racial groups and theres racial animus, that exposure will, under certain conditions, lessen the animus. And so its possible we could have seen that. And then its also possible that we could have seen nothing. And from our perspective, actually, any of those three would be interesting. And so, you know, that was a great thing about the paper.

I would like to push back on the perception of the failure of busing. Our paper doesnt speak to whether busing was a failure or a success. You know, certainly, it was not incredibly popular. And I think that continues to be true til today. And, you know, in terms of the politics, you know, theres no way to assess. It depends on your politics as to whether you think this is a good thing or a bad thing.

But my co-author Cody Tuttle actually has a separate paper that hes working on where he uses this to look at the impact on economic outcomes. And what he finds is that, again, 40 years later, if you were white and you were bused, theres no impact on your income. But if you were Black and you were bused, I think it was around 3 percent per year. And I would call that a success of busing.

Demsas: Thats a good point. I think its, like, a very pessimistic view we have. Because, you know, I was in South Carolina, actually, working for Kamala Harriss 2019 presidential campaign when she made the That little girl was me moment on the debate stage and pointed out that she had been a part of Berkeleys voluntary-busing program to Biden.

And I remember this: I grew up in Maryland, and so when I was in South Carolina and I was traveling around the state, it was the first time Id really, really seen real rural deprivation before and that level of segregation. I mean, its not to say that D.C. isnt segregated, but because its denser, you kind of have a lot of, like, normal integration happening by the fact of people going to their shopping or, you know, Metro or whatever. But you know, you could go your entire day and not see someone of a different race when you were in some of these counties in South Carolina. And it really struck me during that time just how it felt like, Wow, this has been a complete and utter failure. Like, you know, that was my perception of integration.

Kaplan: Can I make two comments about that in terms of the law?

Demsas: Yeah.

Kaplan: So I think youre right. So actually, one of the legal decisions that comes out in the early-to-mid-70s that almost leads Jefferson County and Louisville not to be integrated is that they decided that, really, you should only integrate within counties. And so if you have very segregated counties, then youre not going to have integration, just because the courts had decided that integration should only happen within counties.

Now, there was an exception made for Louisville because they had already drawn districts to incorporate these very-white schools in the city. They argued that they could actually merge the school districts and have a cross-county school system. And there actually was a separate request made of the state, and the state actually agreed to this, to merge the school districts between the city and the county, independent of the busing. That was a separate thing that was going on at the same time.

The other thing is that there was a lawsuit that made its way to the Supreme Court where they ended up deciding that busing is not forever, that busing was until places achieved whats called unitary status. So once you had unified the district so that there wasnt segregation anymore, then the Department of Justice could not be involved anymore. And there wouldnt be any forced integration anymore. And so there has been, over the last, you know, 30 years, a reduction in integration.

So theres a really nice graphic on Vox, the news outlet, that shows the peak of integration. They look at the percentage of Black students going to majority-white schools in the South. And, you know, its a misnomer to think this is only about the South. Its not. And actually, Maryland and Kentucky are both kind of odd cases because its not clear: Are they the South or the North? Because theyre both slave states that sided with the North in the Civil War.

Demsas: In Marylands case, forcibly.

Kaplan: And so what you see is that theres a peak right around the time of that Supreme Court decision, in the late 80s, early 90s, in the fraction of African Americans going to majority-white schools in the South. And theres been a large decline since then. And I think some of that is done by cross-county segregation. That busing does lead to white flight. And so some whites do leave the county. And we actually have evidence of this in our paper. We document that there are some kids who leave to go to other, more all-white public-school districts.

A far greater percentage actually stay where they are and go to Catholic schools. But as I said, in the South, they actually created these segregation academies as well. That was another source. But there definitely are people who leave the county because of this. And so some of the white flight out of cities, you know, is due to busing.

Demsas: So I want to dig in on the finding, though, because I think it can be hard to imagine isolating the effect of an event that happens in someones adolescence or when theyre a kid, and saying decades later, that affect their economic views, their likelihood of voting for a Democrat versus a Republican. So just walk me through what you did and how you figured that out.

Kaplan: Right. So what we did is we basically compared the changes across cohorts. We take the universe of voter-registration data from the United States, and we look at the changes across cohorts who were differentially busedso an older cohort that wasnt bused compared to an earlier cohort that was bused, and compare them to other kids at the same age, and see if theres the same kind of differences across cohorts in politics. And we see that theres basically very little difference for the kids who were not differentially bused, but decades laterthis is 45 years later, so this is essentially a permanent political effectwe find a three-and-a-half percentage point movement to the Democratic Party.

Demsas: And thats big.

Kaplan: Thats big. And two and a half away from the Republican Party. Whats a little confusing and interesting is that we find much larger effects in our survey on whether you vote for Obama in 2012 and Biden in 2020. We actually didnt look at 2016, just because we thought that there might be some confounding things about having a woman running. And so we just looked at those two elections, and we find something around a 20 percentage-point flip, which is astronomical.

And we were pretty skeptical. But then we also asked, Are you a Democrat or a Republican? And then we see very similar numbers to the numbers we have in our paper. So when we ask them, Are you a Democrat or Republican? we see something in around 3.5 percent, which, as you said, is a large effect for something thats 45 years later. When we look at who you vote for, its actually a lot larger. And so one thing that might be happening is, you know, it could be that registration is stale. And so, Ive flipped to being a Democrat or a Republican, and I just havent changed my registration so that voting is more reflective of my true partisan beliefs.

But again, in the survey, we see them saying that theyre Democrat or Republican at very similar rates to what we see in the voter-registration data. So we think that part of what is happening is that a lot of independents become more Democratic-leaning independents if they were bused.

Demsas: I want to distinguish here, because when youre comparing the cohorts and youre finding that theres a three-and-a-half percentage point difference, that is coming from the comparison of looking at voter registration and voting data in modern day compared to the names of people who were bused in the 1970s. But the survey, I feel like, is maybe, likeyou tell me: I have a little bit less confidence in the survey because I think that theres a lot of people who might be embarrassed about their behavior or views from the 1970s, and thered be a huge selection effect of whos going to respond to that survey.

If I was bused as a white student or, you know, I chose to skip out on that school because I knew there was going to be integration, theres a lot of wanting to give you the answer that feels socially responsible and the social-desirability bias that is inherent in all surveys. But I think it might be bigger in this one because its just, right now, seen as so bad if you were someone who was opposed to busing, and its so embarrassing for you to do that. So are you concerned that youre finding these big effects in the survey because of that?

Kaplan: This is great. Are you a referee on the paper?

Demsas: No. (Laughs.)

Kaplan: So thats a fantastic question, and its definitely something that were concerned about, and I think youre absolutely right that its plausible. And so maybe those estimates are too large. So we thought maybe theyre too large because of the social-desirability bias. We also thought that the registration results could be too small because registration might be stale. And then we also thought that maybe the independents are just more Democratic leaning.

And to be perfectly honest, we cant perfectly address that issue. Its a very fair point. What I will say, though, is that the evidence for shy Trump voters is pretty limited. Like, you know, the polls are not that off. Theyre a little bit off. So I think the shy Trump voter is real, and the polls are a little bit off, but theyre not that off.

Now, let me give a counterargument to my argument, which I think would bolster your concerns. If you look at the response rates, theres been an incredible drop in response rates, and particularly from the groups who are likely to be supporting Trumpyou know, whites with lower levels of educationin recent years. But response rates are really, really low on the phone.

Demsas: Yeah.

Kaplan: So we did a multimedia approach, a multimode approach. So we did letters. We did online possibilities. We did phone calls. But we also incentivized it: We paid. So we gave people money up-front, and then we gave them extra money if they finished the survey. And so we got a much higher response rate. I think our response rate was, like, 30 percent, 25 percent. And so maybe among those people who are less likely to respond but will for incentive purposes, maybe they are more likely to be shy Trump voters. Thats possible. I cant rule that out.

Demsas: Well, I guess, like, for you, though, you said when you first saw the results that you felt like 25 percent is just, like, really massive. Are you concerned that this is too big? Or do you find it plausible?

Kaplan: Yeah, I am. I mean, Im not saying its totally implausible, but its really large. You know, I work a lot on, you knowso for instance, I wrote a paper on the impact of Fox News on voting many years ago. And you know, we found that between 1996 and 2000, the impact on the aggregate vote share was about 0.5 percentage points.

Demsas: Which matters for elections.

Kaplan: Which matters for elections. Absolutely. But you know, this is a lot larger than that. Even the registration numbers are much larger. And maybe that makes sense because (1) its a more formative part of your life. Political opinions are much more malleable when youre younger. Theres a lot of evidence for that. And the second thing is: Its a very intense experience.

Demsas: You mentioned this, and this is something that Im really interested in, which is this notion of times in your life when youre particularly susceptible to forming your identity, or particularly susceptible to ideas or experiences that help shape your future identity.

And you said theres a lot of research on adolescence and childhood as being a formative time. Can you tell us a little bit about what that research tells us or what it says or how they find that out?

Kaplan: Yeah. So, you know, there are other papers that look at your risk-taking behavior differentiallyif you grew up in the Great Depression, for instance, a paper by Ulrike Malmendier. Shes at Berkeley

Ive also done work looking at 18-year-olds in Chile. Pinochet was kind ofin 1980, there was a lot of isolation of Chile from international markets because of the repression. He then

Demsas: Hes a dictator.

Kaplan: Yeah, hes a dictator, and he commits to having a process for a vote in eight years on whether to return to democracy. And so that eight years later comes, and he tries to renege, but even the military thinks that they cant not do this and still participate in the international economy. And so he goes through with it, and he loses. But theres this massive mobilization.

First of all, theyve destroyed all the voter-registration records, and so they have to reregister everyone. And so we look at kids who turn 18 just in time to be able to be eligible to vote, versus not. We literally look at the day before versus the day after. And there is a massive difference. Theres something like, you knowIm probably going to misremember the exact number, but theres something likea two-or-three-percentage-point difference in turnout.

I could be overstating that. But turnouts really low in Chile, like 30 to 40 percent. So its, like, a 10-percent impact of being born just one day apart on voting 30 years later. And theres actually a large literature in political science and in economicsbothdocumenting the effect of important events. And by the way, we then look at subsequent elections, and we dont see similar things. So this is an incredibly, you know, formative event.

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Demsas: After the break: Busing may have made kids more likely to vote for Democrats, but it didnt make them less racist.

[Break]

Demsas: So one thing I wanted to ask you about is: Youre only studying compliers, right? So there are a lot of people, as youve mentioned, that choose to leave the school system. Or we dont know why exactly, but theres a large reduction in them.

So when youre seeing these effects over 45 years of people who are bused or who experience busting in their own schools, youre not seeing those effects on the people who have left. So is it fair to say that what were actually observing in this paper is: People who were not so full of racial animus that they would remove themselves from the institution they were going to, those people see durable shifts towards Democrats? But its possible that the people who had to leave maybe even offset that because they are forced to leave their institution, and theyre pushed towards Republicans as a result of this experience?

Which, you know, we dont have data on that, but I just mean, theres a whole section of people who are most likely to have the most racial animus, most likely to be upset about what was happening to them, whobecause we know about heritability of political beliefslikely have parents who are full of racial animus themselves. We dont really see those people in your research.

Kaplan: So we actually do. And so thats why its important that we collect the yearbooks in the fall of 1974. So this is before the final decision on whether or not there would be, you know, forced busing in Jefferson County. And in fact, I dont remember the exact timing, but its possible that by fall 74, I think this other decision had already come outit was from Michiganthat said you could only integrate within counties. And in fact, the judge that was overseeing the case initially decided against busing, based upon that decision. It then gets reversed at a higher level because they had already crossed these county lines to go into the city and grabbed these three mostly white schools in the outskirts of the city.

So we are looking at everyone who is assigned to be bused. Were not looking at people who necessarily were bused. And so some of them did leave the school districts. Were still looking at them. Some of them did go to private schools; some of them did go to other counties. Were still following them.

So you can think of two different things. You can think of the effect of being assigned to be bused. Thats what were estimating. If you want to then convert that to the effect of being bused and for the people who were likely to stay in those school systems, then you would have to divide by the fraction of people who actually were bused.

And so if you think that fraction who stayed was, like, say, 70 percent, then you have to divide our estimates by 0.7, which means that they are about, you know, 30 percent higher.

So it could be that different types of people choose to stay, as you rightly said, and so if you get a correlation between those who stayed versus those who didnt in terms of their political outcomes many years later, maybe thats because of preexisting political differences. Or maybe its because of the impact of busing on one group and not in the other. We dont have a good research design to disentangle that.

But we can say that being assigned to be bused increased the Democratic Party support by three and a half percentage points 45 years later. And as long as you dont think that going to a Catholic school, a segregation academy, or a mostly white public school makes you more likely to support the Democrats many years later, then the effect of being bused is probably larger.

Demsas: So one thing I find really interesting, though, is that you dont find strong evidence that being bused changed explicit racial attitudes. So you find that it makes people more likely to vote for Democrats, but not that it changes wildly peoples racial animus, etcetera. And I wonder what the mechanism here, then, is.

Because we would expect, like you mentioned earlier, that contact theory, that people are coming into contact with people who are different from themtheyre observing their interactions with Black students and seeing, like, Oh, I had these preconceptions about who Black people were, and now I am revising these in light of: I have a friend who plays with me, or we worked on a project together and they made a really smart point. So clearly not all Black people are stupid. Like, you know, these sorts of interactions make people more likely to reduce their biases, is how the contact-theory paradigm goes. But if you are more likely to be a Democrat but not more likely to revise those racial attitudes, then whats going on here?

Kaplan: Thats a great question, and that is something that we grappled with a lot. And to be perfectly honest, this was probably the biggest surprise of the surveythough in some senses, I think it also makes a lot of sense. So I think the thing is that contact among peers was not that different, right, because of the two-way busing.

So if Im white and I left to go to a formerly mostly Black school in the city, Im going to have, you know, 20 percent African American and majority white. If I stay in the county, its going to be the same thing because of the two-way busing. So its not really clear that theres differential exposure to peers. Now, still, its possible that being exposed to different-raced peers on your different-raced peers home turf might be a different experience and might alter opinions.

Demsas: So if youre a white student going to a Black inner-city school, thats a different experience than if youre a white student now having a Black student in your class.

Kaplan: Bingo. Right. And so we still thought that there might be some effect because of that. It turns out that there wasnt. And actually, you know, the Allport hypothesis does have certain conditions from it, and this does speak to kind of the scope of that Allport hypothesis. Because it is possible that we could have found a differential effect of being a white student going to a Black school, having the same fraction of Black peers but being in a formerly Black school versus in a white school. And we dont really see tons of evidence for that.

But what we do see a lot of evidence for is andoh, let me tell you about my pet theory before we did the survey that also was wrong. I thought that it was all going to be about teachers. So I thought there were going to be higher fraction African American teachers in the city schools. We actually asked them about that. And, you know, we dont have great evidence on this, and some of the evidence we do have goes a little bit against some evidence from the Department of Education Civil Rights Division, at the time. But I thought there was going to be a higher fraction of African American teachers, much higher in the city schools.

And I thought that (1) being exposed tomaybe youve been taught racist tropes, and then being exposed to a great teacher whos African American would change your views. But also there could be curriculum differences, right? So it might be the war between the states in the county and the war to end slavery in the city. And so you might get different exposure to a narrative about history, and that could change your views. We dont see much evidence for that.

What we do see is that if you were bused, you were substantially less likelyeven with the small sample size that we have in the survey, were able to detect this very stronglyyoure much less likely to think that the world is fair. We also see that if you were bused, youre much more likelyby the way, we have a free-response question, Tell us about your high-school experience, and we dont mention busing at alland if you were bused, you are much more likely to mention that you were bused. You were much more likely to mention busing, period. But youre also more likely to state thatwe have questions about thisyou have friends who were poor, that you had friends who were poor back then. You were more likely to mention the poverty of the surrounding areas and the resources of the schools.

And interestingly, we ask a lot of attitude questions, which are common in political science. So, you know, theres partisanship, which is, Am I a Democrat or Republican? Theres ideology, which is, Do I support higher taxes, lower taxes? Those are different. You know, historically, if you go back to the 1960s, they were not very correlated at all. Today they are more strongly correlated, but not that strongly correlated.

So we ask about ideology. And in general, we find that on most things, people who were bused are definitely more progressive. But we dont have the statistical power to say that with any statistical certainty, because of our small sample size, which is only, like, 500-and-something people. Like, I think its 529.

The one thing where we find really strong effects on policy-related views is on unions. People who were bused are much more likely to support unionsmuch more likely. Again, the unions and the world being just, we find very statistically significant effects, even with our relatively small sample size.

Demsas: So that would indicate that a lot of whats going on here is, its contact between classes, not about race contact. That kind of experience makes you much more aware of different class privileges and the general unfairness of being born into deprivation in that way. So do you think that has generalizability beyond this case? Like, do you feel like theres a lot more to be made and studied about class-contact hypothesis, and most of the literature is about race?

Kaplan: Thats exactly what we think. So we dont know, right? We have just this one case study. But we think that theres strong evidence for that in this case, and that makes us wonder how widespread this is, and we think it would be worthwhile for other people to look at that in the future.

Demsas: Did you recently read, Matt Lowe conducted a meta-analysis of the contact hypothesis?

Kaplan: Yes.

Demsas: So weve been talking about Gordon Allports contact-theory hypothesis. And so, you know, I think the first time I can remember coming into contact with this body of work is when David Broockmans and Josh Kallas paper on trans canvassers came out. And that one made a splash because it was in 2016, and people were really concerned about the political divide. And they essentially found that there are durable effects to canvassers having deep conversations at the doors and talking about trans issues. And people were durably moved months down the line and maintained these kinds of more progressive-on-trans-issues views.

And its interestingI went back to look at it, and I realized that they dont actually find significant differences between whether the canvasser is trans or the canvasser is not trans, which indicates to me that its not the contact hypothesis, that people are like genuinely being persuaded, which is a kind of a beautiful story in and of itself.

But you know, a lot of people have kind of looked back at contact theory and I think found it to be a bit more wanting in its explanatory power than we mightve hoped. Its a very nice story that you just come into contact with people who are different from you and you update your views about them. But can you tell us about Matt Lowes paper and whether it kind of downgrades your assessment of whether contact theory is really

Kaplan: Yeah, so Matt Lowes paper is great. And Matt Lowe is fantastic. He surveys a lot of literature, so the Annual Review of Economics is kind of an academic review of literature. And so he does this for the contact hypothesis. Thereve been a bunch of papers written. And what he shows is that a lot of the papers that are the best done dont find really large effects. And so that definitely makes me more skeptical of the contact hypothesis.

And I will say, I actually have another paper that Im doing right now where we look both on race and on politics at what happens after having a cross-racial neighbor move in next door to you, someone from a different political party. And we find nothing.

Demsas: Wow.

Kaplan: So I do think, though, that this is a really good setting, that this is a really important experience, where you go to school. And its at a time that was very formative and, you know, school is an environment where maybe these types of relationships can somewhat be handled well. And so this might be different than, say, having a neighbor move in next door. And so there, again, if you look at Allports original theory, he has four preconditions where he doesnt think that contact everywhere ends always with

Demsas: Yeah. Not just brushing arms in the supermarket.

Kaplan: Yeah, exactly. And so maybe, you know, the scope of the conditions for the Allport hypothesis were valid in this case, and oftentimes in these studies, they are not. I dont really know, but I think this is a great open area for future research.

Demsas: So as long as were throwing out alternative hypotheses, one thing I was wondering is whether its possible that its less about desegregation in class and more about being forced into an extremely uncomfortable situation. Like, I think that when I look back at my life, the areas where I think Ive exhibited the most personal growth are, like, the most stressful moments in my life, when I was just like, Wow, Im now doing this job thats, like, really hard. I feel really unprepared for it. But Im having to throw myself against the wall. Or, Im in college. Im taking this class. Its quite difficult, and I feel really out of my depth, that Im forced to really work at problems for long periods of time.

And, you know, when youre a kid, you move to a new school, having to make new friends. These are very difficult life experiences for young people sometimes and increases your need to socialize differently, engage with people across cultures differently, maybe get into arguments and fights and have to resolve those in ways that are different than maybe you would be used to. And so I wonder how much stock you put into the possibility that the effects youre finding have something to do with this kind of personality effect, because we know from the Big Five personality tests that people who are open to experience are more likely to be liberal. And I wonder if thats shaping people in this way.

Kaplan: So, you know, as with most papers and economics alsoI keep a quarter of a foot in political science too, and, you know, the same thing is true for political sciencewere much better at estimating treatment effects than analyzing the mechanisms, because its easier to get plausibly causal variation that we can use. And so I think Im much more certain about the fact that being bused had this effect then I am about the exact mechanisms. The mechanisms are definitely more speculative.

What I would say in defense of this viewbut again, I dont want to push it too far, and I think youre absolutely correct to think that theres other possible things that could be going onis that we dont find an increase in empathy related to race, and we do on class. And we think that there was differential exposure to class and not on race. And I think that, in my mind, is probably the biggest evidence that supports the view that maybe this really does have something to do with a class-based contact hypothesis. But again, I wouldnt want to push that too far.

Demsas: Yeah. Well, I think thats a great place to ask our last and final question. What is something that you once thought was a good idea but ended up being only good on paper?

Kaplan: So I remember in the late Clinton administration when there was an investigation into Bill Clinton, starting with Whitewater; it ended up with Monica Lewinsky. And because of that, the Department of Justice said that the Department of Justice shouldnt investigate the president. And you know, at the time, because of the politicization of investigatory powers, that seemed like a good idea. But in retrospect, I think that having greater oversight over public officials of both parties is a good idea.

Demsas: And this is just apropos of nothing.

Kaplan: Yes. No, absolutely.

Demsas: Well, thank you so much for coming on the show. That was fantastic.

Kaplan: Yeah, this has been a lot of fun. Thank you very much for having me.

Demsas: Good on Paper is produced by Rosie Hughes. It was edited by Dave Shaw, fact-checked by Ena Alvarado, and engineered by Erica Huang. Our theme music is composed by Rob Smierciak. Claudine Ebeid is the executive producer of Atlantic audio. Andrea Valdez is our managing editor.

And hey, if you like what youre hearing, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.



Im Jerusalem Demsas, and well see you next week.

Article originally published at The Atlantic
KILLEEN, Texas (FOX 44)  Recognizing National Crime Victims Rights Week, the Killeen Police Department hosted a heartfelt event on Monday, bringing the community together to honor local crime victims and emphasize the importance of victims rights.

According to Killeen Chief of Police Pedro Lopez, the departments Victim Services Unit supported over 1,700 crime victims in 2024 alone. To mark the occasion, the department invited community members to participate in a symbolic act of solidarityplacing ribbons along the streets in support of victims. Each ribbons color represents a different crime victim.

Attendee Lisa Hatfield expressed her appreciation for the turnout: Its wonderful to see all of these people, many of them from different disciplines within Bell County, but also the community coming out of support to show that they understand the need for these services and why it is so important to support victims, to help them throughout the healing process.

Among those showing support was domestic violence survivor Chicara Wheeler, who attended the ribbon event for the second consecutive year. Coming out here is a way to show my support of the other victims who didnt make it, are surviving. Still trying to survive through this.

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Wheeler shared that the act of placing the ribbons in the trees made her feel empowered and visible. My life was completely, almost taken, and to experienced the homelessness that we had to endure. But I know God turns things around for a reason and theres a reason and a purpose why Im still here, and why other survivors are here.

Kimberly Isette, the Crime Victim Liaison at Killeen PD, stressed the importance of raising awareness about available resources for victims. If anyone has questions about their rights as a victim of crime, or as a survivor or family member of a crime victim, they can reach out to their local law enforcement agency to get those rights. We can support them throughout the entire process, including prosecution and court.

The ribbons placed along Killeens streets will remain throughout National Crime Victims Rights Week, symbolizing the communitys commitment to honoring victims and ensuring they are not alone in their journey.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44.
Royal duties call, but King Charles III and Queen Camilla always have time for romance.

The British monarch and his longtime partner, who celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, marked the sentimental milestone on Monday with a pair of portraits shared on social media. The photos, taken at Villa Wolkonsky in Rome, come amid the couple's four-day state visit to Italy, during which Charles is expected to address the Italian parliament.

The first portrait shows Charles, 76, and Camilla, 77, posing arm in arm in a lush outdoor area. In the second image, Charles can be seen gazing lovingly at the queen consort while they sit on a concrete ledge.

"As we begin our first visit to Italy as King and Queen, we are so looking forward to celebrating our twentieth wedding anniversary in such a special place  and with such wonderful people!", the couple captioned the photos on Instagram. "A presto, Roma e Ravenna!"

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The engagement marks Charles' 17th official visit to Italy and his first overseas trip this year as he continues to undergo treatment for an unspecified form of cancer. The king was briefly hospitalized in late March after experiencing side effects from his treatment.

Charles and Camilla will spend their anniversary meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, after which Charles will deliver a speech to parliament  the first British monarch in history to address a joint parliamentary session in Italy.

How did King Charles III and Queen Camilla's romance begin?

Charles and Camilla met in 1970 and despite their connection, a marital relationship didn't materialize at the time due to Camilla's less-than-royal credentials. The queen consort, formerly Camilla Shand, lacked an aristocratic bloodline and wasn't viewed as "virginal" enough for a proper courtship and role as a royal wife.

Although they moved on to other romantic interests (Charles with Princess Diana and Camilla with Andrew Parker Bowles), the pair rekindled their affair in 1986 amid Charles' failing marriage to Diana.

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Public sentiment toward Camilla soured over time, in large part because the late Princess of Wales blamed Camilla for the breakup of her marriage to Charles.

Royal scandal notwithstanding, Charles and Camilla married on April 9, 2005, eight years after Diana died in a Paris car crash. Camilla took the title Duchess of Cornwall at the time and later transitioned to the Queen Consort after Charles was crowned king in 2023.

Take a look at their love story over the years.

King Charles III: British monarch makes first statement since recent hospitalization

April 2005: Charles and Camilla wed at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle

King Charles III, left, and Queen Camilla walk from St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on their wedding day on April 9, 2005.

March 2009: Charles and Camilla celebrate Hindu festival Holi at London school

King Charles III, right, and Queen Camilla celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi with a visit to the Swaminarayan School in London on March 4, 2009.

March 2013: Charles and Camilla visit Nizwa Fort in Sultanate of Oman

King Charles III, left, and Queen Camilla visit the Nizwa Fort in the Sultanate of Oman on March 18, 2013.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla: Royals host celebrity-packed dinner ahead of Italy trip

April 2017: Charles and Camilla take a stroll in Florence, Italy

King Charles III, left, and Queen Camilla pose on the terrace of the Palazzo Pitti in downtown Florence, Italy, after a meeting with representatives from Woolmark and the Campaign for Wool on April 3, 2017.

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May 2021: Charles and Camilla visit Prince of Wales pub

King Charles III (left), the former Prince of Wales, and Queen Camilla leave the Prince of Wales pub during a visit to Clapham Old Town to mark the 40th anniversary of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts in Clapham, England, on May 27, 2021.

July 2024: Charles and Camilla appear at state opening of Parliament in London

Contributing: Andrea Mandell and Maria Puente, USA TODAY; Staff and wire reports; Crispian Balmer and Sam Tabahriti, Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: King Charles III and Queen Camilla anniversary: Photos of royal couple
Xu Xun (R), director of BGI-Research, speaks at a conference during the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Science Week in Nairobi, Kenya, April 7, 2025. The Chinese genomics giant BGI Group has reaffirmed its commitment to South-South cooperation in the research and development of improved rice varieties to address Africa's hunger and malnutrition crisis, senior executives and researchers said on Monday.(Xinhua/Han Xu)

NAIROBI, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese genomics giant BGI Group has reaffirmed its commitment to South-South cooperation in the research and development of improved rice varieties to address Africa's hunger and malnutrition crisis, senior executives and researchers said on Monday.

Wang Jian, co-founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of the BGI Group, emphasized that collaboration among biodiversity-rich Global South countries is crucial to developing high-yield rice varieties and enhancing food security across the continent.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Science Week in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, Wang highlighted BGI's ongoing partnerships with African institutions in developing and deploying perennial rice.

Xu Xun, director of BGI-Research, said that perennial rice is particularly resilient in the face of climate change and urbanization. The crop, which can be harvested over multiple seasons without replanting, was named one of the top 10 scientific breakthroughs of 2022 by journal Science.

As part of its broader efforts, BGI is working with the African Orphan Crops Consortium, supported by the African Union, to unlock the genetic secrets of 101 of these traditional African crops, according to Xu.

Wang noted that Chinese institutions are ready to deepen cooperation with African partners in research, training, and technology transfer to develop new hybrid rice varieties and meet the nutritional requirements of Africa's growing population.

He stressed that perennial rice holds immense potential for food-insecure African countries, given its early maturity and resistance to drought, pests, and diseases. Developed by introducing genes from wild rice species into conventional strains, perennial rice has already been introduced in Uganda, Rwanda, and Madagascar.

Apollinaire Djikeng, director-general of Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute, echoed the importance of South-South collaboration in science, research, innovation, and technology transfer.

"Some countries in the Global South, like China, have made considerable progress in agricultural innovations that can be brought here to help our development," said Djikeng, adding that countries that have similar agro-ecological conditions can share these technologies and innovations to transform their agri-food and livestock systems.

Kenya is hosting CGIAR Science Week from Monday to Friday, bringing together policymakers, scientists, donors, industry leaders, and innovators to chart a new course for transforming global food systems and advancing sustainable development.

The event, featuring high-level panel discussions and exhibitions, will focus on strengthening climate adaptation, building resilient seed systems, scaling innovations, and promoting private sector engagement in South-South cooperation. 

Representatives of BGI Group and members of the global academic and expert community attend a conference during the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Science Week in Nairobi, Kenya, April 7, 2025. The Chinese genomics giant BGI Group has reaffirmed its commitment to South-South cooperation in the research and development of improved rice varieties to address Africa's hunger and malnutrition crisis, senior executives and researchers said on Monday.(Xinhua/Han Xu)
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  South Bay residents have one day left to vote in the District One supervisorial race.

The representative chosen in the primary special election would replace the seat left behind by former supervisor Nora Vargas.

You can drop off your ballot at one of 29 ballot drop boxes throughout the district to cast your vote in this special election, but so far, only 14% of the registered voters submitted their ballots.

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Although the race for this vacant county supervisor seat will determine the future of district one, the impacts of this race extend beyond the South Bay.

This election ultimately will tip the balance as to whether democrats or republicans control the majority of the board, and therefore, the policies that they pursue, political analyst Art Castanares said.

Seven candidates are competing to finish former supervisor Nora Vargas second term through January 2029.

Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre

Chula Vista Deputy Mayor Carolina Chavez

Energy consultant Elizabeth Efird

Business owner and former Imperial County Supervisor Louis Fuentes

Chula Vista Mayor John McCann

San Diego City Councilwoman Vivian Moreno

Marketing firm associate Lincoln Pickard

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If any candidate receives 50% plus one vote, they can win it outright, but it doesnt look like anybody can put that together, Castanares said.

He explained the race looks tight with Chula Vista Mayor John McCann leading polls while Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre and San Diego City Councilwoman Vivian Moreno compete for a close second.

While Castanares says South Bay locals agree on the need to address the Tijuana River sewage crisis, he expects issues like the economy, immigration and homelessness to divide the vote.

The county needs to step up in dealing with regional homelessness. It is not a city of San Diego problem because if you get more enforcement in one city, it just pushes it to another city, he said.

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Out of almost 650,000 residents a little more than half have registered to vote in this election.

Its really sad that it gets down to this small of a number of people that make this important decision.

The county registrar of voters reports more than 51,000 people submitted mail-in ballots.

Meanwhile, another 400 voters cast their ballot in person.

Its too low, Castanares said. I wish more people would vote and get involved in the process, but thats not unusual in a special election.

Theres still thousands of registered voters in the district who havent voted in this special election.

If youre one of them, voting centers stay open until 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

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Bonita-Sunnyside Branch Library  Community Room 4375 Bonita Rd., Bonita, 91902 Chula Vista City Hall 276 4th Ave., Chula Vista, 91910 County of San Diego HHSA  Conference Room 690 Oxford St., Chula Vista, 91911 West View Elementary  Auditorium 525 3rd St., Imperial Beach, 91932 Mountain View Community Center  Back Meeting Room 641 S Boundary St., San Diego, 92113 San Ysidro Senior Center 125 E Park Ave., San Ysidro, 92173 Spring Valley Community Center  Olsen Room 8735 Jamacha Blvd., Spring Valley, 91977

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The Supreme Court on Monday overturned a high-profile ruling that was interfering with the Trump administrations deportation push.

In a 5-4 per curiam ruling, justices in the majority said that alleged members of a Venezuelan gang who faced deportation due to the administrations application of the Alien Enemies Act had filed their lawsuit in the wrong court.

For that reason, the Supreme Court undid U.S. District Judge James E. Boasbergs decision in favor of the men. Boasberg, who has faced calls for impeachment due to his recent decisions in deportation cases, serves the U.S. District Court in D.C.

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The Monday ruling said the men facing deportation can refile their case in Texas, where they are being held, and emphasized that immigrants facing deportation are entitled to due process.

For all the rhetoric of the dissents, todays order and per curiam confirm that the detainees subject to removal orders under the (Alien Enemies Act) are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal. The only question is which court will resolve that challenge, the majority opinion said.

The court did not rule on the underlying questions in the case, including whether or not the Trump administration is applying the Alien Enemies Act correctly.

Prisoners look out from their cell as the Costa Rica Justice and Peace minister tours the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, Friday, April 4, 2025. | Salvador Melendez

As the majority opinion noted, the Supreme Courts nine justices did not speak with one voice in the case.

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Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote dissenting opinions. Sotomayors opinion was joined by Jackson and Justice Elena Kagan in full and by Justice Amy Coney Barrett in part.

The dissents argued that the majority opinion was confusing and dangerous  and that it was wrong to put the emphasis on the legal venue instead of the Trump administrations violation of the mens due process rights.

To the extent the Government removes even one individual without affording him notice and a meaningful opportunity to file and pursue habeas relief, it does so in direct contravention of an edict by the United States Supreme Court, Sotomayor wrote in one part of her dissent that Barrett joined.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who, like Barrett, was appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote a concurring opinion in which he emphasized that the courts decision fits with established legal precedent.

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I agree with the Courts per curiam opinion. Importantly, as the Court stresses, the Courts disagreement with the dissenters is not over whether the detainees receive judicial review of their transfers  all nine Members of the Court agree that judicial review is available. The only question is where that judicial review should occur," he said.

Mondays ruling in the case brought by Venezuelan immigrants came just hours after Chief Justice John Roberts put a lower court order in another deportation case on hold temporarily.
DERBY, Conn. (WTNH)  A ceremony was held in Derby on Monday honoring those who fought to defend our freedom during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Derby Mayor Joe DiMartino, and State Rep. Mary Welander (D-114th) were among the speakers at the event.

University of New Haven alum donates $10M for new building

These events are so important because its one small way to redress an unfortunate part of history where people felt very strongly about the war and some people were very angry about it and they took out their anger on people who were serving, and so we learned a very important lesson from those who served in Vietnam, Bysiewicz said.

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The ceremony also paid tribute to those who lost their lives while shining a light on the survivors and their families.

We know that everyone comes back carrying their experiences with them, Rep. Kara Rochelle (D-104th) said. And its my hope that you have found a community in Connecticut among fellow veterans and that we are truly expressing how we care for you.

This was the 114th recognition of Vietnam veterans.

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The jury trial for Kouri Richins, a Kamas mother and realtor accused of fatally poisoning her husband, is no longer happening this month.

She and her attorneys opted to appeal a denial of their motion to move the trial to Salt Lake County following a ruling on Monday.

Third District Judge Richard Mrazik ruled, after reviewing motions and community surveys conducted by both sides and hearing arguments from attorneys on Monday, that Kouri Richins could receive a fair trial with a jury from Summit County. Following the request from Richins' attorney, Wendy Lewis, Mrazik granted the motion to continue the trial and stay Richins' case, noting neither side opposed the motion, meaning it would be delayed.

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He said there has been an "extreme level" of media attention in the case that has been "incomplete and therefore misleading." He said coverage has included discussions of evidence he has ruled cannot be presented in trial and speculation from commenters.

Mrazik said the coverage has been spread over two years and has not affected "significant swaths of the community." He also said much of it originated from media outlets in Salt Lake County, questioning whether the media would have the same impact on Salt Lake County jurors.

He said Kouri Richins and Eric Richins grew up outside Summit County and moved there in 2012; he said they had "roughly equal" community standing in the community at large as young parents running small businesses.

"Notwithstanding its relatively small size, Summit County is not homogenous," the judge said, citing his experience in the courtroom and differences between the east side of the county and the Park City area.

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He said the court sent surveys to 1,500 residents of Summit County, about 3% of the population, and received responses from 1,100 residents. Citing Bryan Edelman's phone survey requested by Richins' attorneys, Mrazik said they can expect about 220 of those potential jurors had not read, seen or heard about the case and, of those who had, about 270 would report they had not formed an opinion about whether or not Richins is guilty.

The court can expect about 644 would report no connection with the Richins family, based on survey results, Mrazik said. Among the 180 jurors they planned to bring in for questioning, they should be able to find 12 jurors, including eight jury members and four alternates, who are "undeniably fair and impartial," the judge said.

Lewis argued that the defense had met the standard required to move the trial and that the only way to ensure Richins a fair trial would be to move it out of Summit County. Immediately after the judge's ruling, Lewis made her motion to stay or delay the trial, which was scheduled to begin later this month, while she appeals the ruling on her motion to move the trial.

When deputy Summit County attorney Brad Bloodworth asked Richins to formally waive her right to a speedy trial because she is asking for this delay, Lewis said she declined to waive the rights more than her motion does on its own.

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Mrazik questioned whether she had discussed with Richins the "certainty" that she would remain in custody over the course of the appeal, saying he was not inclined to address custody again in the case.

He gave the attorneys five minutes, which stretched to more time than that, to consider whether Richins really wanted to delay her trial. Lewis came back saying they had not changed their request.

Bloodworth did not object to the request to delay the case, although he said prosecutors are prepared to move forward with the trial.

Lewis confirmed the defense team is prepared for the trial, as well.

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"The point of this is not to delay the proceedings. It's not to get the defense additional time to prepare. We were prepared to go forward. The point of this motion for the record is only because we believe that she cannot receive a fair and impartial trial in Summit County," she said.

Previously, Mrazik ordered that Salt Lake County jurors be brought to the Summit County courthouse for the trial, something both sides agreed with. However, the presiding judge for the 3rd District Court denied this request, and the Utah Supreme Court denied Richins' appeal of that decision.

Richins, 34, was arrested in 2023 and later charged with murder in the March 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins, who was 39. During the year between Eric Richins' death and her arrest, Kouri Richins published a children's book about grief.

She was ordered to stand trial on the charges of aggravated murder and attempted criminal homicide, both first-degree felonies; two counts of distributing a controlled substance, two counts of insurance fraud and two counts of filing a fraudulent insurance claim, all second-degree felonies; and three counts of forgery, a third-degree felony.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has hit back at remarks from a Ukrainian-born U.S. lawmaker who said Kyiv should cede territory to Russia, and President Volodymyr Zelensky should resign.

In an interview with the Telegraph published on April 7, Victoria Spartz said Ukraine is not in a position to demand the return of all occupied territories.

"If they were winning the war, that would be very different," she said, adding the people of Ukraine should demand Zelensky's resignation.

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"Unlike Victoria, all of our land has always been and will always remain Ukrainian," Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi responded on X.

Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk also weighed in, accusing Spartz of echoing Kremlin narratives.

"One, born in Kyiv, became a representative of Putin. Another, from Chernihiv Oblast, discusses the 'expediency' of giving up Ukrainian territories, calling the Ukrainian people a faceless 'they,'" Stefanchuk said.

The remark referencing Kyiv-born Kirill Dmitriev comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed him special envoy for economic affairs, tasked with advancing proposals for a U.S.-Russia peace deal.

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Spartz, who was born in Chernihiv Oblast and emigrated to the U.S. in 2000, has frequently spoken about the war in Ukraine in personal terms.

She was elected to Congress three times, in 2020, 2022, and 2024, and represents Indianas 5th District.

Spartz initially backed U.S. aid for Ukraine but has since become a vocal critic of both the Biden administration and President Volodymyr Zelensky's government.

Spartz, aligning herself with U.S. President Donald Trump's push for negotiations with Russia, accused Zelensky of disrespecting Trump during their March Oval Office clash.

She claimed the Ukrainian president "insulted the American president" and "did a disservice to the Ukrainian people," suggesting Ukrainians should vote him out of office.

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"If they elect him, they're going to lose the rest of the country," Spartz told the Telegraph.

In recent months, Spartz has publicly distanced herself from Ukraine policy, citing "a lack of clear strategy" and expressing skepticism over continued military assistance.

She opposed the proposed $60 billion Ukraine aid package in 2024 and endorsed GOP calls for converting military assistance into loans.

Spartz has also faced scrutiny in Washington. Politico reported in June 2024 that she was under preliminary investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegedly mistreating staff and fostering a hostile work environment.

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In a March 24 interview with Newsmax, Spartz said Trump was "a good negotiator" and criticized Zelensky as a leader who "took control of all Ukrainian media, prosecuted churches, businesses and volunteers."

Her remarks echoed disinformation frequently promoted by Russian officials to undermine Ukraine's democratic institutions.

Read also: Trump not happy with Russian bombing of Ukraine, says he doesnt know whats happening there

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Following weeks of loud statements and attempts at diplomacy, the lack of clarity feels unsettling.

Ukraine had agreed to a full ceasefire and got nothing in return. Russia had refused to comply. Over the past week, Russia further escalated its attacks on Ukrainian cities, killing dozens of civilians, among them children.

The White House, which prioritized stopping the killings in Ukraine, remained notably mute.

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"I don't know what's happening there," U.S. President Donald Trump said on April 7, though he added he was "not happy... with the bombing." But has so far the White House has not taken any concrete action to pressure Russia into a ceasefire.

As a result of the grueling uncertainty, people on the streets of Kyiv and those in high cabinets say they don't believe a ceasefire can be achieved in the foreseeable future, nor that the U.S. can help bring one as it had promised.

"What kind of peace talks can there be?" Oksana, a 47-year-old cashier in Kyiv, asked.

"They announced a ceasefire dealing with the energy system, and on the same day started hitting civilians, people, and residential buildings," she told the Kyiv Independent a day after yet another Russian missile strike on Kyiv kept her awake throughout the night, worried for her children.

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Like other Kyiv residents interviewed, Oksana remained skeptical of diplomatic efforts with Russia, saying that "the Russians will go to the negotiation only if it meets their conditions 100 percent."

"This is Russia's way of showing its true intentions  to continue terror as long as the world allows it."

The rising skepticism among Kyivans comes as President Volodymyr Zelensky calls for a tougher Western response, stressing that "the pressure on Russia is still not enough."

Oksana, a 47-year-old cashier in Kyiv, Ukraine on April 7, 2025. (Yuliia Taradiuk)

"This is Russia's way of showing its true intentions  to continue terror as long as the world allows it," Zelensky said in a Telegram post on April 6.

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Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee and a lawmaker from Zelensky's Servant of the People party, believes that people in Kyiv have "more and more disappointment and less and less illusions about the possible ceasefire."

"We see that initially, people had some hope that maybe before Easter, as Trump wanted, there would be a ceasefire," Merezhko told the Kyiv Independent.

"But with each day, this hope diminishes," he added, referring to the growing number of deadly attacks.

Zelensky, whose hometown of Kryvyi Rih in central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast suffered a missile strike on April 4 that saw at least 20 killed, including nine children, stressed that the Russian attack numbers were growing.

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On April 6, an overnight Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv killed at least one and wounded three.

Russian troops have launched over 1,460 aerial bombs, almost 670 drones, and over 30 missiles of various types against Ukraine during the past week, according to Zelensky.

Merezhko dashed the feasibility of a potential ceasefire with Russia, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not appear interested in such a deal. The lawmaker explained that Putin continues to put forward "absolutely unacceptable demands and conditions."

Earlier in March, Ukraine agreed to the U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire. Russia has so far rejected the proposal, demanding that Ukraine be barred from receiving Western military aid and mobilizing and training new troops.

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Among the latest demands, Putin said he would favor a change of government in Ukraine to continue talks.

Trump has thus far insisted on Putin's commitment to the potential truce, trying to end the war in Ukraine by pressuring Kyiv instead of Moscow.

Ukrainian officials say Putin doesn't want peace and is using the time to inflict more damage.

"What we see from his actions: he continues to kill civilians, including children in Kyiv," Merezhko said.

"So judging not by his words but his actions, he has no intentions to have any reliable, stable, sustainable ceasefire."

"Ukrainian society has long had no illusions about the sincerity of Russia's intentions," according to Dmytro Fomin, former public opinion researcher at the Center for Content Analysis.

Cars drive on a road as smoke rises in the distance following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 6, 2025. (Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky leaves after a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 4, 2025. (Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images)

Mykyta Poturayev, head of the parliament's Humanitarian and Information Policy Committee and Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, said, "There is no room to discuss ceasefire" when Putin doesn't want to stop the war.

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Poturayev said it is difficult to make predictions when no one knows the potential decisions that the U.S. could make in the coming months regarding the war.

"Nobody knows what the position of the U.S. will be in the long run," Poturayev told the Kyiv Independent.

Peace talks began when Trump abruptly declared the start of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine after a phone call with Putin in February. Since then, Trump's team has met with both the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in hopes of ironing out conditions for a potential agreement.

The U.S. took a sharp policy shift in early March, temporarily freezing its military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine following a heated Feb. 28 Oval Office clash between Trump, his Vice President JD Vance, and Zelensky.

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Following a series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities over the past week, Trump reiterated his calls for a ceasefire and said, "I don't like the bombing."

"We are talking to Russia. We would like them to stop," Trump told reporters on April 6.

Olexiy Haran, politics professor at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, said the intensified attacks may be Russia's intent to "maximize the stakes" and possibly to show it to Trump in particular.

"The question here is how we can break the Russian position  the only thing (that can) is pressure," Haran told the Kyiv Independent.

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"But (Trump) is not doing anything right now."

Poturayev was more optimistic.

"With every day, we (Ukraine, the U.S., and Europe) have a more and more common understanding of the situation of Russia's real position," Poturayev said.

People who spoke with the Kyiv Independent, however, don't expect this to lead to any sort of result.

A woman visits a makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian and foreign fighters on Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 11, 2025. (Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images)

Read also: Does Trump have red lines with Russia? The question has experts stumped

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56)  The Central Bank Ashland (G1) gives three-year-old fillies a chance to lock up a spot in the Kentucky Oaks, and La Cara took full advantage by winning the $750,000 race at Keeneland Race Course.

Keeneland opening weekend marks return of thoroughbred racing to Lexington

Normally ran on the first Friday in April, severe weather in Kentucky over the weekend pushed the full Ashland card to Monday and the full Blue Grass card to Tuesday. Sundays card remained as scheduled and acted as Keenelands opening day.

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https://twitter.com/MichaelEppsTV/status/1909348700239073784

La Cara is trained by hall of fame trainer Mark Casse, with jockey Dylan Davis leading the filly on an impressive journey. Two powerful gallops out of the gate gave her a great break, which she rode the rest of the 1 and 1/16th mile race.

The pedigree of La Cara is also impressive, being that she is the daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense. She is a homebred through owner Tracy Farmer at Shadowlawn Farm right here in central Kentucky.

Keeneland opens after two-day weather delay

Kenny McPeek-trained filly Take Charge Milady finished second and Brad Coxs Muhimma was third, with Supa Speed closing out the superfecta.

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The Kentucky Oaks (G1) is on May 2nd at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

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Second home owners grumbling in public about having to pay higher rates of council tax are likely to be met with the sound of tiny violins and suggestions of simply selling up.

In anti-aspiration Britain, where most people can barely dream of owning one property, let alone two, its inevitable that new ways to punish the greedy and the rich will be met with glee by some.

However, this politics of envy could prove to be the downfall of the second home tax, which has been implemented with an extreme lack of empathy for those affected.

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Since the weekend, The Telegraph has been inundated with letters from readers from all over the country sharing horror stories of being swept up in this punitive crackdown.

The policy was first introduced by Michael Gove in 2023 to stop the scourge of second homes in seaside towns, but for the first time this month, the policy is affecting second home owners in more than 200 local authorities across England.

Despite most of them never being the policys desired target, they will on average see their council tax bill rise by 77pc to 3,672 in this tax year.

Given the severe financial implications, one might think second home owners would, at the very least, be given sufficient prior warning and a reasonable opportunity to rearrange their affairs, if needed.

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But shockingly, the first many of them have heard about being personally affected, has been their very first bill plopping on their doorstep this month. It is payable within 30 days.

The problem is not that councils have only just decided to hit them at the last minute. In fact, according to the legislation, those imposing the higher rate of tax were obliged to decide on this at least one year in advance.

This was in order to provide owners of these dwellings sufficient notice to make any appropriate changes, according to the government department in charge of the policy wording, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

So far, so sensible. However, this is where any sense of fairness towards homeowners abruptly ends. Youd have thought all affected second home owners might have received a letter letting them know one year in advance.

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But if you did, youd be wrong. For there is no such obligation for councils to write directly to second home owners to inform them of the change.

Instead, policy makers seem to have thought of a way of giving them advance warning that is so painfully obscure that it is actually absurd  an advert in the back of a local paper in the town in which they do not live full-time, which precisely none of them are likely to read.

The legislation states that as long as councils have published a notice in at least one newspaper circulating in its area within 21 days of their decision, then officials can sit back, relax, and hit second home owners with shock bills with no consequences.

Let me be clear when I say, with my consumer champion hat on, that I think this is in no way fair or reasonable. When I asked the MHCLG, it said the need to advertise tax changes in local media had been a feature for 30 years, and that it expected councils to use other media to inform homeowners, including its website.

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Whats clear is that some councils have chosen to do the bare minimum, as when homeowners complain, they hold their hands up and hide behind their paper advert.

Can you imagine if mortgage lenders, banks and bill providers were not required to inform us individually about price rises directly through letters or emails, and were allowed by the FCA to use their own websites and newspaper adverts instead? It would be absolute pandemonium as we would be living in a constant state of uncertainty.

I cant see, then, why it should be any different for councils dishing out potentially life-changing tax rises. In my opinion, it shouldnt, but from what Ive heard its almost as though some of the policys enforcers are revelling in the pain they are causing.

There are tales of distraught residents ringing councils to complain, only to be told by someone with a smug and judgemental voice, Well, perhaps you shouldnt have a second home.

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The issue is certainly no source of amusement for a retired couple I spoke to last week, who after receiving no advance warning about higher taxes on their second home in the West Country, must now choose between paying the tax and financially supporting their terminally ill son.

And nor is it a laughing matter to the siblings who wrote to me as they are facing the heartbreaking decision to sell a flat which has been in the family for over a century, and which holds huge sentimental value, as they have ordinary jobs and can now barely afford the bills.

It is often the case that the personal woes of those stereotyped as the wealthy elite are unfairly minimised by others, not that many of those hit by this policy would consider themselves as remotely rich.

So unbothered about the consequences of the move was the Government who implemented the policy, that it failed even to perform an impact assessment to assess what the consequences might be.

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Its little wonder that the backlash to the second home premium is rapidly gathering pace. It is an ill-implemented, unfair policy which is fast becoming unstuck.

In my opinion, anyone who has not received a personal letter giving them at least a years notice should not be paying a penny to the council.

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LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)  Officials with Catalyst Bank are asking the public for help identifying two men who attempted an ATM theft this weekend at their Lafayette branch located at 914 South College Road.

Officials said they are offering a $500 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction of these individuals.

This case is still under investigation, we will update as more information is released.

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AMMAN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank has approved 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in financing to support Jordan's economy in the face of external shocks.

The funds will support four key projects focused on inclusive growth, job creation, social protection, and clean energy. These include a 400 million dollar program to improve the business climate, boost exports, and create jobs -- especially for youth and women.

A 50 million dollar fund will support startups and SMEs in sectors like information and communication technology, fintech, and greentech, aiming to mobilize 150 million dollars in private investment and create 1,500 jobs.

Another 400 million dollars will strengthen Jordan's social safety net, providing cash aid to 1.2 million people, health insurance to 150,000, and early warning services to 1 million.

A final 250 million dollars will go toward improving energy efficiency and supporting Jordan's clean energy transition.

World Bank official Jean-Christophe Carret called the support a "comprehensive approach" to sustainable growth. Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Zeina Toukan said the financing aligns with Jordan's national development priorities. 
The Foreign Secretary has been targeted by pro-Palestine protesters at his home in north London.

Two female activists from Youth Demand laid child-sized body bags at David Lammys doorstep and displayed a sign over his hedge which read Lammy Stop Arming Genocide.

Mr Lammy, 52, the MP for Tottenham, was not at home when activists Cristy North, 37, and Sue Houseman carried out the protest at 11am on Tuesday.

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He has joined the King and Queen on a royal visit to Rome, where he attended a ceremonial welcome at the Quirinale Palace on Tuesday morning.

Metropolitan Police officers ordered the activists to leave and warned them not to return for at least three months.

David Lammy was not at his home as he has joined the royal visit to Italy - Andrew Parsons/Parsons Media

A spokesman for the Met said: At 11.04am on Tuesday April 8 police were called to a private residential address in Haringey following reports of a protest.



Officers attended the location where three people from the protest group Youth Demand were identified.



They were ordered to leave the area using powers under Section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act and were warned not to return for at least the next three months.



Everyone, including those with a public profile, should be able to go about their lives without feeling harassed or intimidated. This is especially the case in the vicinity of private homes.

Where protesters choose to target these addresses officers will use the powers available to intervene appropriately.

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Mr Lammy was contacted for comment.

Breach of international law

The Governments current position is that Israels actions in Gaza are at clear risk of breaching international humanitarian law.

Last month, Mr Lammy was forced to backtrack over his accusation in the Commons that Israel committed a breach of international law by withholding aid to Gaza.

He later admitted he could have been a little clearer and reiterated the Governments position.

In January, he was heckled by pro-Palestinian protesters who stormed a conference stage to demand he call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

However, this appears to be the first time that activists have targeted his house.

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As well as his north London property, Mr Lammy is entitled to use One Carlton Gardens, a 25 million grace-and-favour home in Westminster occupied by foreign secretaries since 1945.

Youth Demand, a new organisation formed of different pro-Palestinian and environmentalist groups, previously drew heavy criticism for protesting outside Sir Keir Starmers house in north London.

Three activists were charged for public order offences following that protest last year.

Following the latest demonstration, a Youth Demand spokesman said the group was calling for the UK government to impose a total trade embargo on Israel.

Two Youth Demand activists outside David Lammys home

The spokesman also called for the super rich and fossil fuel elite to pay damages to the communities and countries harmed by fossil fuel burning.

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He said: David Lammy has admitted that Israel is in breach of international law and yet the UK has cancelled less than 10 per cent of arms sales to Israel. 90 per cent complicity with murder is still complicity with murder.

History will rightly view those that supported the systematic slaughter of children with absolute contempt.

David Lammy will be held to account for not having the spine to cease trading with Israel and halting British armed forces from assisting this genocide.

On the same morning, Youth Demand activists also blocked traffic in central London.

Two groups of activists took to the streets around Commercial Street, Angel Junction and Tower Bridge with banners and signs.

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)  Standing alongside Connecticut Teamsters in New Haven, Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Conn) urged state lawmakers to pass a bill he penned that would expand the states regulations of the fast-growing warehouse industry.

We gotta make sure that workforce protections and workplace protections keep up with the way the world is changing, Lamont said.

State judiciary committee votes to advance more than a dozen bills

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The governors proposal is intended to set rules of the road for workers in larger warehouses where employers utilize technology to track and analyze productivity.

A summary of the legislation issued by the governors office said the proposal would require companies with more than 250 warehouse workers at a single site, or more than 1,000 workers statewide, to provide employees with a description of any quotas they are subject to, and with the opportunity to review current and historical work speed data.

The issue of quotas informed by software that tracks workers throughout the day is something the states leading Teamsters honed in on.

Workers are judged on quotas and matrixes that they dont even know about, Rocco Calo, vice president of the Teamsters eastern region, said. These are secret quotas that theyre trying to perform because theyre always constantly in fear of losing their job.

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The Teamsters and their allies in state government left little ambiguity as to which company they had their sights trained on with the proposed legislation.

Companies like Amazon are pressing workers with hard-to-meet productivity goals, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said.

But the states largest business lobbying organization and a senior Republican lawmaker on the legislative committee that writes labor laws both disputed that characterization of Amazon and other large warehouse operators.

The employees really do have the opportunity to go and check on a kiosk to see what their productivity metrics are at any time and any point, Paul Amarone, a public policy expert with the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, said.

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Uncertainty, fear, optimism: Local businesses react to Trump tariffs

State Rep. Steve Weir, the ranking Republican representative on the Labor and Public Employees Committee, echoed Amarones defense of the states warehouse operators. He added that the industry is one of Connecticuts fastest growing employers, and argued that regulations like the one being pushed by the governor would dissuade additional investment in the state.

Its really irresponsible when were trying to create an environment thats welcoming to businesses to turn around and target one of the fastest growing industries  which is warehousing, Weir said.

The governors warehouse bill is one of several pieces of legislation concerning workers rights being considered in the the current legislative session, which ends in June.

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Kentucky Lantern editor Jamie Lucke speaks during her induction ceremony into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

LEXINGTON  Kentucky Lantern founding editor Jamie Lucke was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame Tuesday.

Lucke joins Lantern freelancers Deborah Yetter, Tom Loftus and Jack Brammer, television trailblazer Barbara Bailey, Pulitzer Prize administrator Dana Canedy and many others in the high distinction.

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In an acceptance speech in the Gatton Student Center on the University of Kentuckys campus, Lucke spoke to the importance of journalism now and in the future.

So much is on the line, including that thing thats at the very top of the rights of citizens, Lucke said. And that is an independent, free press.

She also said nonprofit journalism, such as the Kentucky Lantern and its parent, States Newsroom, are imperative to the future of journalism. This organization, she said, is one reason Im hopeful.

The number one essential ingredient in a democracy, as written in the highest law in our land, is an informed citizenry, Lucke said. An independent, free press may have never been as imperiled as it is right now. Its also never been as needed.

Kentucky Lantern editor Jamie Lucke spoke about the importance of the free press during her speech at the University of Kentucky. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

During Tuesdays ceremony, Duane Bonifer, the president of the UK Alumni Association, praised the inductees for their relentless quest for truth, fairness and fidelity to high moral and ethical ideals.

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They believe that no matter how fierce the political winds of the moment might glow, there are certain timeless principles and values that a free people should not abandon, principles and values such as honesty and openness, the freedom of inquiry and speech, the pursuit of knowledge and the respect of facts and the rule of law and the belief that when organizations embrace inclusion, diversity and equity and dont flee from themthey are extending opportunities and welcoming all people into our larger society.

Before States Newsroom, the Lanterns parent nonprofit, chose Lucke to launch the Kentucky Lantern in 2022, she was a longtime reporter and editorial writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Lucke attended the University of Kentucky and graduated from the School of Journalism in 1976.

Lucke is part of this years class of five, including Kentucky Educational Televisions Renee Shaw, longtime Courier Journal reporter Stephen J. Ford, University of Kentucky Television/Radio Network host and announcer Dick Gabriel and Lexington Herald-Leader photojournalist Ron Garrison.

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The University of Kentucky Journalism Alumni Association founded the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 1980 and inducts members every year. Those in the Hall must be natives of Kentucky or journalists who have spent a significant portion of their careers in Kentucky, according to the College of Communication.

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Editors Note: The story was updated on April 7, 2025, to include that the Nye County sheriff confirmed there is an open criminal investigation.

LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A Las Vegas veterinarian is missing following a viral video that shows him kicking a horses head.

On Thursday, Dr. Shawn Frehner was paid to administer anesthetic shots for some horses at a Pahrump property. Shawna Gonzalez, the property owner, said she had used Frehners services since August 2024 but was shocked at what she heard as she walked back from the chicken coop.

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I heard [my mother] yell, Oh my God. He just kicked him, Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez ran to her mothers window and looked out but didnt see anything but the young colt struggling to breathe.

Oh my god, Mom, hes choking, she said. He wrapped the horse around his neck three times, and he kicked him in the head.

Within seconds Gonzalez witnessed Frehner kick the horse in the head, leaving an abrasionGonzalez fell to the ground.

Gonzalez witnessed Frehner kick the horse in the head, leaving an abrasionGonzalez fell to the ground. (Courtesy Shawna Gonzalez) Gonzalez witnessed Frehner kick the horse in the head, leaving an abrasionGonzalez fell to the ground. (Courtesy Shawna Gonzalez)

I had started having a severe anxiety attack and couldnt breathe myself, she said. I was already on the ground, and my daughter picked up the phone and hit record, and thats when she got him on videotape, kicking him.

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The property, which functions also as a rescue, has around 10 horses and other farm animals, according to Gonzalez. Some of the horses came from a reservation in Arizona.

The opportunity came upon us that we could rescue baby horses, she said. We made sure we had a doctor in line, a trainer in line, a farrier in line, everybody we needed to have in line to care for these horses.

Gonzalez said the injured horse was taken to the Desert Pines Equine Center, suffering abrasions to the skull and unnecessary injuries from the gelding.

[Frehner] left my property before my horse was even up, she said. My horse was still down for a good 45 minutes after he left and before he left, theres several people that were there, and even they can state that he was kind of in a rush off my property.

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The next day, Gonzalez reached out to the Nye County Animal Control, which referred her to the Nye County Sheriffs Office. She filed charges against Frehner for animal cruelty. Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill confirmed Tuesday morning that there is an open criminal investigation into Frehner, but did not release any further information.

Over the weekend, the video of Frehner kicking the horse was widely shared online. This spurred a post from Frehner.

I did not blatantly haul off and kick this horse as it appears in the video. That was not my intention at all, Frehner wrote. It was done simply to get the horse in a better position so that he could breathe and get up and move so I could again try to anesthetize.

Frehner did end the post with an apology and admitted to kicking the horse.

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But yes I did kick him right in the chin and I very much do apologize and wish this never happened, he wrote.

Missing person

Multiple agencies in Nevada started searching for a missing person within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area this morning. Sources told the 8 News Now Investigators crews were searching for Shawn David Frehner.

Multiple agencies in Nevada were searching for a missing person within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area on Monday. (KLAS)

The effort involved aerial, marine, and ground resources, the release stated. The release did not confirm the identity of the missing person, nor did they say when and where the person was last seen.

The National Park Service, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and Red Rock Search and Rescue volunteers were actively searching for the missing individual, NPS said in a release. Crews told 8 News Now they were concluding the ground search Monday afternoon and would start again Tuesday morning.

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CLEVELAND (WJW)  An ancient Greco-Roman statue thats been one of the Cleveland Museum of Arts most-prized pieces for decades will soon return to its home country of Turkiye  but it will go on display one last time at the museum.

The museum in a Monday news release announced the headless monument depicting a draped male figure  previously suspected of being Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius  will be featured in the museums Monte and Usha Ahuja Founders Rotunda from Tuesday, April 8, through July 8.

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Winter is coming? Dire wolves are back from extinction, genetics company says

FILE  The Emperor as Philosopher, a Roman-era statue, thought to represent Marcus Aurelius, stands in a gallery at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio, June 25, 2010. A warrant signed by a judge in Manhattan, Aug. 14, 2023, ordered the seizure of the statue, from the Cleveland Museum of Art by New York authorities investigating antiquities looted from Turkey. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

The museum acquired the piece in 1986, but its been stored away there since August 2023, when it was seized in place by the Manhattan district attorneys office, after being identified as an antiquity looted from the ancient city of Bubon in southwestern Turkiye.

The DAs office operates a special unit that works to return stolen or looted antiquities to their home countries. The office stated the ancient site in Bubon was plundered in the 1960s, its loot sold off to smugglers and shipped overseas by international antiquities traffickers. They were then laundered through U.S. art dealers, and given fabricated origins.

Testing conducted by the museum determined the statue likely came from Bubon. But without an inscription at the statues base in Bubon or a head, its true subject remains unclear. In February, the museum announced the statue would be repatriated to its home country.

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YouTuber who left a Diet Coke can for a reclusive tribe on an island is arrested

The exhibit opening Tuesday will include four new text panels and extensive information on the evidence of its origin newly revealed by the testing.

We are profoundly grateful to the Republic of Turkiye and the District Attorney of New York for their cooperation in conducting new testing, as well as for their willingness to share the statue with our visitors before it returns to Turkiye, William M. Griswold, director and president of the Cleveland Museum of Art, is quoted in the release. While we are sorry to see this remarkable work leave the CMA, we are, at the same time, thankful for the relationships and myriad possibilities that have emerged from our dialogue with colleagues in Turkiye and New York.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Flood waters from heavy rainfall over the weekend continue to cause a headache for some drivers around central Ohio.

Though many roadways that were closed have now opened back up, some counties especially south of I-270 expect problems to remain for a few more days.

Driving down State Route 23, there are pools of water along the side of the road.

Keep your head on a swivel a little bit, make sure that youre safe, Pickaway County Emergency Management Director Tiffany Nash said.

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Nash and Pickaway County Sheriff Matthew Hafey said they still have several roads closed and expect this to be an issue for a few more days.

Not to use a play on words, but a very fluid situation as water continues to rise and the roads may not be covered before now covered, Hafey said.

NBC 4 met them at Canal Road just off 22 West at the Circleville exit off State Route 23. The road is completely flooded with water.

I came out here Friday, Nash said. This was not nearly as flooded as it is now. And then yesterday, the flooding was clear back to that sign. So, you can see just in 24 hours how much thats risen up. Theres levels that were concerning yesterday are now much more concerning today.

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Nash said the county is not out of the woods yet and she has been in close contact with other EMA teams in the region.

Were also concerned because the Delaware Dam also feeds down into this area, so were maintaining close connections with our Delaware partners to see when theyre going to open the dam back up, up north and then how that will impact us, Nash said.

Hafey is asking drivers to be smart and not to drive through flood waters and with cold temperatures moving in to take it slow.

Its going to turn to ice and then were going to feel like were back in the wintertime, he said. Were coming up on ice and you may not realize it and you know, you end up sliding off the road and you might slide into a large amount of steaming water.

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They said if you have damage to your home or business, the best thing you can do is report it.

Peoples information is really helpful, Nash said. One, so we can figure out what the extent of the damage is. It tells us what the scope of the problem is like if a tornado comes through. We dont know all the impacts to it if people dont tell us,

Nash said emergency management has received a couple reports of damaged homes and commercial structures. She said if you havent reported your damage yet you have until Friday to do that so they can request federal and state funding to help.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
U.S. stocks dropped after a second day of stunning reversals.

The S&P 500 fell 1.6% Tuesday after wiping out an early gain of 4.1%, which had it on track for its best day in years. That brought the index nearly 19% below its record set in February.The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 320 points after giving up an earlier surge of 1,460, while the Nasdaq composite lost 2.1%. Uncertainty is still high about what President Donald Trump will do with his trade war.

The latest set of tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports, are scheduled to kick in after midnight.as big swings rocked Wall Street for a second straight day. The S&P 500 erased nearly all of a 4% gain by early afternoon and was up just 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 254 points, and the Nasdaq composite was near breakeven.

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___

Here's the latest:

Canada retaliates with 25% auto tariffs in response to Trumps import taxes

In response to President Donald Trumps tariffs, Canada says its implementing retaliatory tariffs of its own just after midnight on Wednesday.

Canada will put a 25% tariff on auto imports from the United States that do not comply with the USMCA, the 2019 North American trade pact put into place during Trumps first term.

The Canadian government is also putting in a framework to bolster auto production and investment in its country as well as providing a special exception on tariff countermeasures for residents of Campobello Island, New Brunswick.

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Energy prices fall

Energy commodities gave up early gains to finish lower. U.S. crude fell 1.8% to $59.58 a barrel. Natural gas dropped 5.2%.

Shares of most oil and gas companies closed with losses. Occidental Petroleum dropped 6.8%, ConocoPhillips fell 3.5% and Exxon slipped 2.2%.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a trade war everybody tends to lose

He told reporters Tuesday that hes particularly worried about the effect of U.S. tariffs and the trade war its unleashing on the most vulnerable developing countries in which the impact will be more devastating.

Is the United Nations secretary-general worried a trade war will lead to a global recession?

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I sincerely hope that we will have no recession because a recession will have dramatic consequences, especially for the poorest people in the world, Guterres said.

Magnificent Seven rack up more losses

The dominant group of U.S. stocks known as the Magnificent Seven racked up more losses Monday after a broad Wall Street rally gave way to another market rout.

Shares in Tesla and Apple fell the most, declining 4.9% and 5%, respectively.

Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Google parent Alphabet all closed between 0.7% and 2.6% lower.

The Magnificent Seven are so massive in size, their movements carry more weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes than other stocks.

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Since the major market sell-off last Wednesday, the Magnificent Seven have shed a combined market value of $2.12 trillion.

China charges that Trumps sweeping tariffs violate World Trade Organization rules

Beijing on Tuesday requested consultations with the United States over the 34% reciprocal tariff Trump imposed on Chinese imports.

The request is the first step the World Trade Organizations dispute resolution process. If the issue is not resolved in 60 days, China can request that a WTO panel hear its case.

The Geneva-based organization was set up to enforce the rules of global trade.

Its unlikely the Chinese complaint will amount to much. The United States in 2019 blocked the appointment of judges to the WTO Appellate Body, its supreme court. So cases that get appealed end up in limbo with no one to decide them.

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US stocks drop after another stunning day of reversals

U.S. stocks dropped after a second day of stunning reversals. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% Tuesday after wiping out an early gain of 4.1%, which had it on track for its best day in years. That brought the index nearly 19% below its record set in February.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 320 points after giving up an earlier surge of 1,460, while the Nasdaq composite lost 2.1%.

Uncertainty is still high about what President Donald Trump will do with his trade war. The latest set of tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports, are scheduled to kick in after midnight.

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Bitcoin moves lower

The price of bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, fell to around $76,600 as it gave up an earlier gain, similar to stocks.

Also, the Justice Department announced it is disbanding a team of prosecutors who targeted cryptocurrency crimes and is shifting its focus away from complex crypto-related cases involving banking and securities law, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press.

Survey shows more negative views from Americans towards increased tariffs on China

Increased tariffs on China received more negative than positive evaluations from Americans, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey of views on Trumps early foreign policy actions.

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The survey was conducted before Trumps April 2 announcement of the 34% reciprocal tariff on Chinese goods but after he had levied tariffs totaling 20% on Chinese goods over Beijings alleged failure to stem the flow of fentanyl precursors.

About half of U.S. adults said increased tariffs on China will be bad for the U.S. and a similar share think the tariffs will be bad for them personally, the poll found.

While Democrats overwhelmingly said the tariffs would be bad for the U.S. as well as for them personally, more Republicans said they would be good for the U.S. But when it came to tariffs impact to them personally, Republicans are more likely to say the impact will be bad, although about half express uncertainty or say the impact will be limited.

North Carolina senator presses Trumps top trade negotiator, demands who should be held responsible if Americans suffer from trade war

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President Donald Trumps top trade negotiator came under fire Tuesday from senators unnerved by the presidents sweeping global tariffs, a market meltdown and the heightened risk of recession from an upended global trading order.

It seems like weve decided to begin a trade war on all fronts, said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. He said he wanted to know who in the Trump administration he should hold responsible  and choke  if the tariffs fail and Americans suffer from higher prices and slower economic growth.

I wish you well, he told U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. But I am skeptical.

Greer addressed the Senate Finance Committee a day after global markets swung wildly and some business leaders lambasted the presidents aggressive bid to raise tariffs on almost every nation on earth.

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Italys PM to meet with Trump for tariff negotiations

Italys Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told representatives of business associations on Tuesday that she will propose a zero for zero approach to tariffs when she meets with President Trump in Washington on April 17.

Meloni added that EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backed that approach, which includes the possibility of eliminating reciprocal duties on existing industrial products with the zero-for-zero formula, according to a source attending Tuesdays meeting with Italian business representatives. They spoke on condition of anonymity because it was a closed door meeting.

By Giada Zampano

White House now suggesting that high tariffs are bargaining chips

The White House now says that Trumps tariffs are bargaining chips to reach better international trade deals  suggesting they arent permanent fixtures to reshape the global economy.

Bring us your best offers and he will listen, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of other countries potentially negotiating tariffs rates with Trump.

She said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coming to Washington to talk trade should serve as a model.

Leavitt said China was making a mistake by responding with its own steep tariffs.

She insisted that negotiating, rather than steadfastly sticking to high tariffs, wasnt an evolution amid stock market turmoil.

British PM says the UK is not yet ready to retaliate against US tariffs

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday that the U.K. needs to keep its options open regarding the U.S. tariffs.

My instinct is that we shouldnt jump in with both feet to retaliate, Starmer told members of a Parliament committee. Obviously we have to keep our options on the table and do the preparatory work for retaliation if necessary.

Starmer said the tariffs are not a temporary passing phase but part of a changing world order and he wants to mitigate the import taxes through negotiation.

The U.K. is seeking a deal with the White House that would ease a 10% tariff on U.S. imports of British goods and a 25% tariff on cars.

European markets rally

Stock markets throughout Europe notched broad gains amid hopes that the potential for negotiations still exists over economically damaging tariffs.

Germanys DAX closed 2.5% after shedding 4.1% on Monday. Frances CAC 40 rose 2.5% after shedding 4.8% on Monday. Britains FTSE 100 rose 2.7% after falling 4.4% on Monday.

European markets have been following the same volatile twists and turns as U.S. and Asian markets. They will likely remain volatile amid the uncertainty over how and where the U.S. imposes tariffs, how other nations retaliate and how much damage the global economy sustains.

Banks kick off earnings season

Major U.S. banks will report their latest earnings Friday, but with a trade war stoking recession fears, investors and economists will likely focus more on their forecasts than first-quarter results.

President Donald Trumps latest round of tariffs dont necessarily directly impact banks, although the potential downstream effects  namely inflation and slower economic growth  could throw a wrench into their projections this year and beyond.

Whats more, analysts at JPMorgan point out that weaker global markets would lead to a decline in investment banking and wealth management fees, offset somewhat by higher trading revenue.

JPMorgan and Wells Fargo are among the big banks reporting Friday. Their shares dropped sharply at the end of last week but have recovered some losses the past two days.

Magnificent Seven bounce back

The dominant group of U.S. stocks known as the Magnificent Seven is bouncing back, helping power the broad rally on Wall Street.

Chipmaker Nvidia and Tesla are leading the pack in midday trading with a gain of 5.5% and 5.4%, respectively. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Google parent Alphabet are all up between 3% and 2.1%.

The solid rebound comes a day after the a mixed finish for the group.

The Magnificent Seven are so massive in size, their movements carry more weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes than other stocks.

Health insurers jump on expected Medicare Advantage payment increase

Shares of major health insurers got a boost Tuesday after the federal government announced a better-than-expected 2026 payment increase for Medicare Advantage plans.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Monday after markets closed that final rates are expected to increase more than 5% in 2026.

The rate increase is expected to cost taxpayers an additional $25 billion next year, CMS said.

Medicare Advantage plans are privately-run versions of the government-funded Medicare program mostly for people who are 65 and older.

Shares of the two largest Medicare Advantage plan providers, UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc., climbed about 7% and 10%, respectively, Tuesday morning. Elevance Health Inc. and Centene Corp. rose nearly 4% each.

The health sector was among the biggest gainers in a broader market turnaround Tuesday.

Chipmakers power broader markets gains

Chipmakers are leading Wall Street higher.

Nvidia surged 5.3%, Broadcom jumped 7.6% and Advanced Micro Devices rose 3.5%. The companies and broader technology sector jumped amid hopes for negotiations over tariffs.

Chipmakers and other technology companies have an outsized impact on the broader market because of their pricey valuations. Big moves for the sectors most valuable companies can swing the market on their own or accentuate an already sharp move.

Technology companies have seen their values skyrocket over hopes for artificial intelligence advancements. Higher costs for chips and other technologies pose a risk to that development and the earnings growth prospects for those companies.

US sees fewer visitors from overseas

Visits to the U.S. from overseas fell 11.6% in March compared to the same month last year, according to preliminary government data.

Tourism industry experts suspect foreign travelers have been angered by President Donald Trumps tariffs and rhetoric, and alarmed by reports of tourists getting arrested at the border.

The CEO of research institute that studies the preferences of Chinese tourists says leisure trips to places like Disneyland, Hawaii and New York are decreasing dramatically. He calls the trend the Trump Slump.

The Travel and Tourism Office data released Tuesday didnt include arrivals from Canada or land crossings from Mexico. Industry analysts are expecting U.S. visits by Canadians to drop significantly.

Thailand to send delegation to Washington for tariff negotiations

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said Tuesday that Thailand intends to send a high-ranking delegation to Washington to negotiate with their U.S. counterparts over the new tariff policies.

Thailand is facing a 36% tariff under the new U.S. rules.

The decision to have a delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira was made after Paetongtarn held a meeting with her ministers of finance, foreign affairs an commerce, along with the Thai Trade Representative.

The Bangkok Post newspaper cited Pichai saying Thailands plans include revising its import duties and amending non-trade barriers.

Paetongtarn said the government had anticipated the issue and earlier this year established a U.S. Trade Policy Working Group to study developments and formulate a comprehensive response strategy. She said her government plans to roll out immediate relief for affected sectors, particularly small businesses and workers, while simultaneously crafting a broader economic overhaul to diversify export markets and boost national competitiveness.

Treasurys yields on the rise

Treasury yields are rising again in a potential signal that investors are gaining more confidence in the U.S. economys path ahead.

The gains could also signal that investors expect more inflation ahead. Treasurys, which are often viewed as less risky investments than stocks, have been volatile amid worries about tariffs and the economy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.24%, up from 4.17% late Monday and from 4.01% on Friday. Banks use the yield on the 10-year Treasury as a guide to pricing home loans.

The 10-year Treasury is often considered a proxy for the direction of mortgage rates.

The yield on the 2-year Treasury rose to 3.83% from 3.76% late Monday and from 3.64% late Friday. It often follows traders expectations for the Federal Reserves moves with short-term rates.

EU and Chinese leaders talk on trade and bilateral relations

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday spoke on the phone with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying China and Europe should boost communications, expand opening-up markets to each other and jointly defend free and open trade and investment.

Li defended Chinas retaliatory measures to Trumps tariffs as not only safeguarding Chinas interests but also fighting for global trading rules. He said China and the EU can help provide more stability and predictability for each other and for the world, according to Chinas official news agency Xinhua.

In the call, von der Leyen underscored the vital importance of stability and predictability for the global economy, according to the official readout on the phone call. She also stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of the worlds largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, which should be free, fair and founded on a level playing field.

Global markets bounce back

The bounce back for global markets on Tuesday perhaps shouldnt be a surprise. Stocks dont go in one direction forever, and some of the best days in the markets history have been clustered around some of its worst days.

The biggest gain for the S&P 500 since World War II was an 11.6% surge on Oct. 13, 2008, for example. That was during the depths of the Great Recession, when worries were high that the financial system was collapsing and the S&P 500 was in the midst of a nearly 57% plunge from its peak in late 2007 until its bottom in March 2009. A couple weeks later, the index had another one of its best days in history, soaring 10.8%.

Thats one of the reasons many financial advisers suggest not trying to time the market and selling stocks and other investments meant for the long term when nervous, because of the risk of missing out on such huge up days.

Small business optimism slips in March

Small business owners optimism slipped in March, as they dealt with looming tariffs and other new policies implemented by the Trump administration.

Optimism fell 3.3 points in March to 97.4, according to a poll by The National Federation of Independent Business, which is a widely used gauge of the economic health of small businesses.

The index fell slightly below the 51-year average of 98, following four months above the average.

The implementation of new policy priorities has heightened the level of uncertainty among small business owners over the past few months. said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. Small business owners have scaled back expectations on sales growth as they better understand how these rearrangements might impact them.

The gold bounce

After hitting a new high last week, gold prices have tumbled following Trumps Liberation Day. But futures bounced back some Tuesday morning.

The price of New York spot gold hit all-time record on April 2, per FactSet, closing at about $3,134 per Troy ounce  the standard for measuring precious metals  just before Trump unveiled his self-described reciprocal tariffs. Prices fell in the days following, closing at nearly $2,982 Monday.

A rebound could be ahead. Futures jumped up to over $3,032 Tuesday morning.Interest in buying gold typically spikes in times of uncertainty, as anxious investors seek a safe haven for parking their money. Many of Trumps previously-imposed tariffs have helped fuel golds gains in recent months, even amid stock market turmoil. But precious metals are also volatile assets, so the future is never promised.

Levi Strauss says any price hikes to be surgical

Levi Strauss executives said on a conference call with investors late Monday said that any price increases it undertakes related to tariffs would be surgical, instead of broad-based.

Shares of Levi Strauss rose 9% in early trading after the jeans maker posted better first-quarter profit than Wall Street forecast and said it expected minimal impact from tariffs in the second quarter.

Most of the product for spring, early summer is already in the U.S., said chief financial officer Harmit Singh.

Just how much President Donald Trumps widespread tariffs would affect pricing has been a major concern for investors and analysts because tariffs generally act as a tax that gets passed on to consumers.

Levi earned 38 cents-per-share in the first quarter, easily topping the 28 cents-per-share that analysts forecast.

Teslas decline far outpaces S&P 500 average

Tesla stock market value has lost nearly $400 billion since the S&P 500 hit a peak on Feb. 19, a stunning 35% plunge. The index, by contrast, has fallen 17%.

Investors pushed Tesla stock to a record high after Donald Trump was elected on hopes Musks close ties would help the company. Instead, car buyers angry at Musks support for Trump and other right-wing politicians have boycotted his company.

A passing driver signals support to people protesting outside a Tesla dealership as part of a coordinated international day of Tesla Takedown protests, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A sharp decline Monday put Teslas stock at $233.29 and below its price on March 19, a key date. That is when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made a surprising endorsement, urging Fox TV viewers to buy the stock in violation of a federal law banning government officials from endorsing companies.

Shares recovered somewhat in premarket trading Tuesday.

U.S. stocks gain in premarket trading

Futures for the S&P 500 gained 1.7% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.1%. Nasdaq futures climbed 1.5%.

Among the early gainers in premarket trading are Humana, up 14%, CVS, up 9.5%, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, up 6.8%.

South African farmers say tariffs threaten 35,000 jobs in citrus sector

The Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa say reciprocal tariffs will deeply damage to South Africas largest agricultural export.

The Association said Tuesday the tariffs - due to come into effect on Wednesday would threaten 35,000 jobs in the sector.

It said the tariffs would likely make South African citrus fruits cost $4.25 more per carton for American consumers.

Australian PM and opposition leader lock horns over who's best to deal with Trump

Australias prime minister and opposition leader have argued over who would best deal with U.S. President Donald Trump in the first debate ahead of federal elections on May 3.

Center-left Labor Party Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the 10% tariff the United States imposed on Australian imports would pose a challenge but noted that Australia got the best deal of any country on the planet.

Conservative Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton said Australia negotiated a better deal during the first Trump administration, when it exempted Australian steel and aluminum imports from U.S. tariffs.

Dutton added that the prime minister should have the ability and the strength of character to be able to stand up against bullies, against those who would seek to do us harm.

Albanese said he would not allow the tariff dispute to disrupt Australias agreement with the United States and Britain that will deliver an Australian fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.

A second debate is on April 16.

Sri Lanka launches trade talks with US to ease tariff burden

Debt-stricken Sri Lanka says it has initiated trade talks with the U.S. to ease the new tariff hikes that could burden its already fragile economy.

Sri Lanka is struggling to emerge from a devastating economic crisis and a 44% tariff increase makes it among the worst-hit countries.

On Tuesday, Economic Development deputy minister Anil Jayantha told parliament that Sri Lanka government is in continuous dialogue with the White House and U.S. trade representative office.

The trade deficit favors Sri Lanka which exports nearly $ 3 billion-worth of goods to the U.S which only exports a tenth of that to the southeast Asian nation. Most of Sri Lankas exports include garments tea, fish and rubber.

Jayantha told parliament officials discussed possible mitigation options to reduce this trade deficit without giving further details.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan president Anura Dissanayake has written a letter to president Donald Trump, highlighting the possible ways of mitigating the things, action that we can take and requesting for collaboration to reduce tariff, said Jayantha.

Indonesian president pledges to bolster economy to withstand US tariff

Indonesias President Prabowo Subianto vowed to build the countrys economy with the goal of standing on our own feet as his administration scrambles to contain market jitters following an American decision to impose a 32% import tariff on the country's goods.

He met investors, market players and economists in Jakarta on Tuesday to formulate how to strengthen Indonesias economic resilience.

What is happening now, the world is in turmoil due to the worlds strongest economy country making policies to increase tariffs so high for many countries, Subianto said in his opening speech at the meeting. He said the resulting uncertainty underlined the need to "rely more on ourselves to build our economy with our own feet.

During the meeting, Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto emphasized that the Indonesian government will not take any retaliatory measures and has sent a request letter for negotiations on the reciprocal tariff policy through the United States Trade Representative the Secretary of Commerce.

What America wants is a balancing of the trade balance, Hartarto said, We will increase our purchase of American products.

World shares and U.S. futures advanced, led by gains in Tokyo

World shares and U.S. futures advanced Tuesday, led by gains in Tokyo where the Nikkei 225 shot up just over 6% as markets calmed somewhat. The modest rebound for most markets followed a wild day on Wall Street, where stocks careened after Trump threatened to crank his double-digit tariffs higher.

Germanys DAX gained 0.9% to 19,975.81 while the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.3% at 7,018.79. Britains FTSE 100 also picked up 1.3%, to 7,804.73.

The future for the S&P 500 gained 1.5% early Tuesday while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.9%.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed a smidgen over 6% higher, at 33,012.58.

Hong Kong also recovered some lost ground, but nothing close to the 13.2% dive Monday that gave the Hang Seng its worst day since 1997, during the Asian financial crisis.

The Hang Seng gained 1% to 20,036.03. The Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.4% to 3,140.15 after the government investment fund Central Huijin directed state-owned companies to help support the market with share purchases.
President Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday aimed at boosting coal, a reliable but polluting energy source that has been in decline for decades.

Trump used his emergency authority to allow some older coal-fired power plants set for retirement to keep producing electricity to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence and electric cars.

The Republican president has long promised to boost what he calls beautiful coal to fire power plants and for other uses.

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Also Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the White House to restore APs full access to cover presidential events, ruling that it cannot punish the news organization for its speech. The Senate confirmed the appointment of Elbridge Colby to be the top policy adviser at the Pentagon. And U.S. stocks dropped again as uncertainty reigned about Trumps tariffs.

Here's the latest:

Trump grants 2-year exemptions to EPA rules for coal-fired power plants

Trump signed a proclamation granting coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.

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The order is among several he signed at the White House to boost the struggling coal industry, which provides fuel for electric plants that supply about 16% of U.S. electricity.

HIs administration had offered power plants and other industrial polluters a chance for exemptions from rules imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Under Trump appointee Lee Zeldin, the EPA set up an electronic mailbox for regulated companies to request an exemption under the Clean Air Act.

Chemical and petrochemical industry groups said the Biden-era rule on mercury and other air pollution from stationary sources was costly and unworkable.

Environmental groups denounced the exemptions offer, calling the new email address a polluters portal to let companies evade laws meant to protect the environment and public health.

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Official says Pentagon has no authority for drone strikes against drug cartels in Mexico

A top Pentagon official said special operations forces do not have the authority to launch drone attacks at drug cartels in Mexico.

Colby Jenkins, who is currently assistant defense secretary for special operations, told a Senate committee that President Donald Trumps move to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations does not automatically convey authority for direct action against them.

Under questioning from Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Jenkins said Trumps designation helps us unlock the doors for a broader approach to drug cartels.

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Slotkin noted that billionaire government adviser Elon Musk has said the foreign terrorist designation means the U.S. can conduct drone strikes against the cartels. Musk posted that Feb. 19 on the social platform X.

Jenkins said it does not, but now the military can provide options and be ready if Trump needs more done to protect the border.

There are manned and unmanned surveillance flights over Mexicos airspace.

Canada retaliates with 25% auto tariffs in response to Trumps import taxes

In response to President Donald Trumps tariffs, Canada says its implementing retaliatory tariffs of its own just after midnight on Wednesday.

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Canada will put a 25% tariff on auto imports from the United States that do not comply with the USMCA, the 2019 North American trade pact put into place during Trumps first term.

The Canadian government is also putting in a framework to bolster auto production and domestic investment as well as providing a special exception on tariff countermeasures for residents of Campobello Island, New Brunswick.

Senate confirms Trumps nominee for top Pentagon policy job

The Senate confirmed the appointment of Elbridge Colby to be the top policy adviser at the Pentagon, overcoming concerns that he has downplayed threats from Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.

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The vote was 54-45, with Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as the only Republican voting against Colby and three Democrats voting in favor.

McConnell said Colbys public record suggests a willingness to discount the complexity of the challenges facing America and the critical value of our allies. Vice President JD Vance criticized McConnell s vote as petty.

Vance spoke at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing early last month to urge Colbys confirmation, saying the nominee has said things in the past that alienated Republicans and Democrats and also said things that both sides would agree on.

AP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government cant bar its journalists

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A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to restore The Associated Press full access to cover presidential events, ruling on a case that touched at the heart of the First Amendment and affirming that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, an appointee of Donald Trump, ruled that the government cant retaliate against the APs decision not to follow the presidents executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico. The decision handed the AP a major victory at a time when the White House has been challenging the press on several levels.

Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists  be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere  it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints, McFadden wrote. The Constitution requires no less.

 Read more about the latest development in the AP's lawsuit

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Trump signs orders promoting coal industry

Trump signed four executive orders promoting the struggling coal industry Tuesday afternoon, flanked by coal miners wearing helmets and administration officials.

The presidents orders allow some older coal-fired power plants set for retirement to continue producing electricity to meet U.S. energy demands, put a moratorium on coal policies issued by his predecessor, President Joe Biden, and direct the executive branch to ensure its positions are not discriminatory against coal.

Trump also signed an order directing the Justice Department to investigate policies about coal issued by Democratic-controlled states to determine if they are illegal.

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 Read more about the coal-related orders

Army to begin limited use of horse-drawn caissons for Arlington National Cemetery funerals

The Army will soon begin limited use of horse-drawn caissons for funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, phasing in the long-held tradition after nearly two years of work to improve the care of the horses.

Starting June 2 the caissons will be used for two funerals per day, up to 10 per week, the Army said. The decision comes as the Army struggles to improve training, get better equipment and facilities and rebuild the stable of horses after two died in 2022 due to poor feed and living conditions.

The return of the caissons has been delayed several times. The Army suspended the use of the gray and black horses for the caissons in May 2023 to develop a program to improve the health and conditions of the herd.

 Read more about the horse-drawn caissons

State Department rolls back funding cuts to UN emergency food projects in poor countries

The State Department said it rolled back an undisclosed number of sweeping funding cuts to U.N. World Food Program emergency projects in 14 impoverished countries, saying it had terminated some of the contracts for life-saving aid by mistake.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters she had no immediate information on which countries had funding for food aid restored after a dayslong cutoff. She gave no explanation for how some contracts came to be canceled in error.

The World Food Program did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The Associated Press reported Monday that the Trump administration cut funding to WFP emergency programs helping keep millions alive in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and 11 other countries, many of them struggling with conflict, according to the agency and officials who spoke to the AP.

House Republicans end standoff on proxy voting for new parents

Republicans voted to resurrect an arcane congressional procedure, ending a standoff between Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and Speaker Mike Johnson on whether the House should permit proxy voting for new parents.

The compromise formalizes vote pairing, which allows a member on the House floor to cancel out the vote of a member who is absent. The member who is absent pairs with a member who plans to vote the opposite direction and is willing to vote present instead.

Previously Luna had supported legislation to allow new parents to vote by proxy, a measure that Johnson vehemently opposed.

Rules Committee Chair Virginia Foxx called the solution a tried and true method. But Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen, who worked with Luna on legislation promoting proxy voting, said it is not a workable solution.

US stocks drop again as uncertainty reigns about Trumps tariffs

U.S. stocks dropped after a second day of stunning reversals. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% Tuesday after wiping out an early gain of 4.1%, which had it on track for its best day in years. That brought the index nearly 19% below its record set in February.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 320 points after giving up an earlier surge of 1,460, while the Nasdaq composite lost 2.1%. Uncertainty is still high about what President Donald Trump will do with his trade war. The latest set of tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports, are scheduled to kick in after midnight.

FBI tells some senior officials at field offices to retire or accept new positions

The directive applies to about five special agents in charge at some of the FBIs 55 field offices around the country. It was described to The Associated Press by multiple people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to talk about private personnel discussions.

The exact reason for the move wasnt immediately clear, nor was it clear how the individual agents were chosen. But its all part of a broader workforce realignment that involves the planned relocation of some 1,500 employees from Washington to the FBIs campus in Huntsville, Alabama. That plan was disclosed by FBI Director Kash Patel on his first day on the job.

An FBI spokesperson had no immediate comment Tuesday.

 Eric Tucker

New offers for buyouts and early retirement offered to Homeland Security staff

Thats according to an email obtained by The Associated Press and it comes as the Trump administration pushes forward with efforts to reduce and reshape the federal workforce.

In the email, titled Reshaping of the DHS Workforce, Secretary Kristi Noem says the department would give staffers who want to leave three options: deferred resignation, early retirement and a voluntary separation payment. The email, which was sent Monday night, said the last option offers a lump-sum payment of up to $25,000 in some cases.

Staff have until April 14 to decide on whether to apply for the offer.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about how many people are expected to take the offer or whether staff cuts would eventually follow.

 Read more about the DHS buyout and early retirement offers

Democratic state lawmakers in Arizona walked out of a speech by Trumps border chief

As Tom Homan began speaking to the Legislature, the lawmakers held signs with the names of people they say were unjustly detained by immigration authorities and silently walked out the back of the state House chamber.

Homan is touting the Trump administrations immigration policies in a speech to the state House and Senate in Arizona, a border state where Republican lawmakers are eager to cooperate with Trumps push to crack down in illegal border crossings and deport people living in the country illegally.

Trump helps plant replacement for historic White House tree that was removed over safety concerns

We have a beautiful tree now at the White House, Trump said.

The White House did not allow news media coverage of the tree planting, but afterward shared a brief video clip on social media. Dale Haney, the longtime grounds superintendent, also participated.

Dales been here 53 years. Hes fantastic, Trump said.

The Republican president had announced March 30 on his social media platform that the nearly 200-year-old tree, known as the Jackson Magnolia, was in terrible condition, a very dangerous safety hazard, at the White House Entrance, no less, and must now be removed.

The southern magnolia had stood for decades near the west side of the South Portico of the White House. Its where presidents and prime ministers often are welcomed on their visits, as well as where the president himself exits to board the Marine One helicopter or returns after a trip.

 Read more about the White House tree

Homeland Security waiver allows feds to bypass environmental rules to build border wall

The waiver issued Tuesday allows the federal government to bypass environmental regulations and begin construction immediately on stretches of the border wall in Southern California.

Homeland Security said in a statement that the waiver signed by Secretary Kristi Noem will cut through bureaucratic delays and forego dozens of laws including the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to evaluate the effects of their actions on the environment.

Officials said the decision will fast-track U.S. Customs and Border Protections construction of about 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) of the wall south of San Diego and further east near Jacumba Hot Springs, California.

This waiver clears the path for the rapid deployment of physical barriers where they are needed most, reinforcing our commitment to national security and the rule of law, the statement said.

The advocacy group Earthjustice derided the decision to sidestep environmental laws.

 Read more about the border wall

White House and Iran at odds on whether upcoming talks will be direct or indirect

Iranian officials have confirmed theyll engage with Trumps team in Oman on Saturday as the U.S. administration presses Tehran to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. But theyre describing the talks differently than Trump.

Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X. It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in Americas court.

But Trump in announcing the talks Monday described the upcoming engagement as direct talks.

Asked to clarify the difference, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stuck with Trumps description.

They will be direct talks on Saturday, and I wont get ahead of the president on any further details, she said.

The U.S. and Iran have engaged in indirect talks in recent years, with Oman playing the role of intermediary. If direct talks happen, they would be the first publicly-known direct negotiations between the U.S. and Iran since Trump scrapped Obama administrations negotiated nuclear deal in 2018.

Boys will be boys, White House says about feuding between advisers Musk and Navarro

Leavitt said we will let their public sparring continue.

Elon Musk earlier on X called trade adviser Peter Navarro truly a moron and dumber than a sack of bricks. Navarro has been speaking publicly about worldwide tariffs Trump announced last week.

Navarro previously had said Musk, a billionaire whos leading Trumps government downsizing initiative, was protecting his own interests by opposing tariffs.

The Tesla electric car company is among several businesses Musk owns.

White House now says Trump tariffs are bargaining chips to get better trade deals

Bring us your best offers and he will listen, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of other countries potentially negotiating tariff rates with Trump.

She said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coming to Washington to talk trade should serve as a model.

Leavitt said China was making a mistake by responding with its own steep tariffs.

She insisted that negotiating, rather than steadfastly sticking to high tariffs, wasnt an evolution amid stock market turmoil.

Tailor-made trade deals, not off-the-rack deals

Leavitt says Trump has directed his team to work with countries that have reached out to strike deals in the wake of the presidents tariff hikes and trade war and to create tailor-made trade deals for each country.

They are not going to be off-the-rack deals, Leavitt said.

Leavitt said the Trump administration is willing to speak to any country that comes to the negotiating table.

Trump will host the leaders of El Salvador and Italy at the White House next week

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says Trump will host El Salvadors president, Nayib Bukele, for a working visit April. 14.

Trump has been deporting Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, which has agreed to house them in an infamous prison.

Late Monday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts agreed to pause a midnight deadline for the administration to return a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

Later that week, on April 17, Italys prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, will visit with Trump.

IRS agrees to share tax data with ICE for identifying and deporting people in US illegally

Thats according to a document signed Monday by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The new memorandum of understanding will allow ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants in the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records.

Treasury says the agreement will help carry out Trumps agenda to secure U.S. borders and is part of his larger nationwide immigration crackdown, which has resulted in deportations, workplace raids, and the use of an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants.

However, advocates say the IRS-DHS information sharing agreement violates longstanding privacy laws and diminishes all Americans privacy.

Hegseth: Panama Canal faces threats from China, but US and Panama will keep it secure

The United States of America will not allow Communist China, or any other country to threaten the canals operation or integrity, Hegseth said, speaking at ribbon cutting for a new U.S.-financed dock at the Vasco Nunez de Balboa Naval Base.

To that end, Hegesth said, the U.S. and Panama have worked in recent weeks to strengthen their defense and security cooperation.

Our relationship is growing in part to meet Communist Chinas rising challenge, Hegseth said. China-based companies continue to control critical infrastructure in the canal area. That gives China the potential to conduct surveillance activities across Panama. This makes Panama and the United States less secure, less prosperous and less sovereign. And as President Donald Trump has pointed out, that situation is not acceptable.

Joe Rogan and Dave Portnoy are among the Trump backers now questioning his tariff policies

As Trumps tariffs roil global markets, some of the thought leaders and influential podcasters who backed the Republicans campaign are voicing doubts.

Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and even Elon Musk are adding their voices to a number of congressional Republicans whove weighed in against the tariffs set to take effect Wednesday.

Portnoy has said he might have lost up to $20 million since the tariffs were unveiled, although he thinks Trump is smart.

In March, influential podcaster Joe Rogan said Trumps feud with Canada was stupid and bemoaned the fact that Canadians booed us over tariffs.

Ackman has characterized the tariffs as a major policy error. After Peter Navarro said Musk doesnt understand the situation over tariffs, the Tesla chief and Trump ally called the White House trade adviser dumber than a sack of bricks.

 Read more about tariff criticism from Trump backers

In Montana, Blackfeet members say tariffs on Canada violate treaty rights

A Democratic state lawmaker and a rancher who are members of the Native American tribe in northwestern Montana have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking to block Trumps tariffs.

Short of a complete block, they want tariffs halted at three Montana border crossings or for tribal members.

Indigenous people of Montana have treaty rights that allow them to travel and conduct commerce freely across the border. Those date to 1794, long before the present U.S.-Canada boundary line was established, the lawsuit says.

Plaintiff Jonathan St. Goddard, who ranches on the Blackfeet reservation thats along the Canada border, last month broke a tractor wheel and couldnt get one locally, so he traveled to Alberta to buy a replacement. He paid $308 coming back across the U.S. border to cover a 25% tariff, he said in a declaration filed with the lawsuit.

If tariffs continue, the costs from the tariffs will cause irreparable harm to our familys ranch and agricultural business, St. Goddard said.

The other plaintiff is state Sen. Susan Webber.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a trade war everybody tends to lose

He told reporters Tuesday that hes particularly worried about the effect of U.S. tariffs and the trade war its unleashing on the most vulnerable developing countries in which the impact will be more devastating.

Is the United Nations secretary-general worried a trade war will lead to a global recession?

I sincerely hope that we will have no recession because a recession will have dramatic consequences, especially for the poorest people in the world, Guterres said.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Panama President Jose Raul Mulino

The Tuesday meeting came before Hegseth headed to a ribbon cutting for a new U.S.-financed dock on a former U.S. base.

Hegseth did not make any comments as he left the meeting, but posted a photo of the two men laughing on X.

Hegseth wrote that it was an honor speaking with Mulino. You and your countrys hard work is making a difference. Increased security cooperation will make both our nations safer, stronger and more prosperous.

The meeting comes amid tensions over Trumps repeated assertions that the United States is being overcharged to use the Panama Canal and that China has influence over its operations. Panama has denied those allegations.

Minnesotas education chief pushes back on Trump threat to cut school funding over DEI

In a letter to the U.S. Education Department, Minnesotas education chief says the Trump administration has overstepped its authority with its crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The White House last week directed states to gather signatures from local school systems certifying compliance with civil rights laws, including the rejection of what the federal government calls illegal DEI practices. It said schools that dont comply would run the risk of losing funding.

Minnesotas education chief Willie Jett said in the letter that theres nothing illegal about DEI.

Threats to this funding without backing in law or established requirements put key programs at risk that students and schools depend on every day, Jett wrote.

State leaders in New York said last week they wouldnt comply with an Education Department order.

US trade rep says Trump tariffs are getting results, but things may be challenging for awhile

The nations top trade representative said Tuesday that Trumps sweeping tariffs are already getting results, bringing other countries to the negotiating table to discuss reducing their trade barriers.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer addressed the Senate Finance Committee a day after global markets swung wildly and some business leaders lambasted the presidents aggressive bid to raise tariffs on almost every nation.

Greer testified that about 50 countries have sought talks to escape Trumps import tariffs. He said, for example, that Vietnam is cutting its own tariffs on apples, almonds and cherries. The import taxes are designed to reduce Americas massive trade deficits, but Greer conceded the adjustment might be challenging at times.

Congress is getting jittery about Trumps trade wars, especially since stocks collapsed after he announced broad tariffs last Wednesday.

 Read more about Greers comments on tariffs

Supreme Court blocks order requiring Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal workers

The employees were let go in mass firings aimed at dramatically downsizing the federal government.

The justices acted in the administrations emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary employees be reinstated while a lawsuit plays out because their firings didnt follow federal law.

The effect of the high courts order will keep employees in six federal agencies on paid administrative leave for now.

A second lawsuit, filed in Maryland, also resulted in an order blocking the firings at those same six agencies, plus roughly a dozen more. But that order only applies in the 19 states and the District of Columbia that sued the administration.

The Justice Department is separately appealing the Maryland order.

 Read more about the mass firings by the Trump administration

National Park Service restores the original Harriet Tubman and Underground Railroad webpage

It comes in the wake of news reports and public backlash over the changes.

Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Services website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership, NPS spokeswoman Rachel Pawlitz said late Monday in an email. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content.

She did not say who ordered the changes or for what reason. The changes  first reported by The Washington Post  included removing Tubmans picture from the top of the page and making multiple edits to the text. A side-by-side analysis of the pages, using the Internet Archives Wayback Machine, revealed changes that removed references to slavery and changed descriptions about the issue and its brutal realities.

The issue comes amid sweeping government changes to comply with President Trumps campaign against so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies in the federal government.

 Read more about the changes to the webpage on Harriet Tubman
Police and the FBI are investigating after a Tesla charging station was set on fire in Lacey, Washington early Tuesday morning.

A person started the fire at the Tesla supercharger station around 1:30 a.m. local time, causing substantial damage to the charging station and the area around it, the FBI said in a news release

The Lacey Police Department said it first learned about the incident early Tuesday when it dispatched officers to a malicious mischief after receiving multiple calls reporting a loud noise in the area. Its detectives are working with federal partners to investigate the incident.

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Malicious mischief can be a felony charge depending on the amount of monetary damage caused, according to Washington state law.

The FBI published photos Friday of a person they say is the suspect in the incident, wearing a black hoodie and a face covering and carrying a white bag. They urged the public to contact authorities if they recognize the suspect and to review any doorbell and security camera footage that might have captured the suspect.

Tesla vehicles, showrooms and charging stations across the country have been vandalized in recent months as Tesla CEO Elon Musk faces public backlash in relation to his position as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency and his role in slashing government staffing and budgets.

The FBI launched a task force in March to crack down on violent Tesla attacks.

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Lacey is about 60 miles south of Seattle, where 22 Tesla vehicles have been vandalized this year as of March 30, the Seattle Police Department told CNN on Tuesday.

Last month in Las Vegas, a suspect shot at Tesla cars at a repair shop and ignited two of them with Molotov cocktails, police said.

In a statement on its @TeslaCharging X account, the company said its on site with the Lacey Police Department and FBI to review camera footage of the incident. Its also working with Puget Sound Energy to get the charging station back online as soon as possible, according to the post on X.

CNNs Sarah Dewberry and Zoe Sottile contributed to this report.

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Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Chair Sen. Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery) on the floor of the Senate Monday, the last day of the 2025 General Assembly session. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)

The General Assemblys energy package didnt quite come down to the wire, but it was close.

With about 10 hours remaining in the 90-day legislative session, lawmakers gave final passage to a trio of energy reform bills focused on increasing the states power generation and curbing electricity and gas rate increases with new regulations for utilities.

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The measures, backed by House and Senate leaders, come amid rising electricity costs for Marylanders. Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said Monday he is very confident that Gov. Wes Moore (D) will sign the bills.

Its probably the biggest investment in the energy marketplace here in Maryland to protect ratepayers  to protect Marylanders  in probably a decade or so, Ferguson said after the bills cleared their final hurdle.

Republican senators renewed arguments that the legislation doesnt do enough to lower bills  or encourage new gas-powered generation.

We were tasked with something this year, said Sen. Stephen S. Hershey (R- Upper Shore). The General Assembly fell woefully short in trying to protect Maryland ratepayers.

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One part of the package is the Legislative Energy Relief Refund, which will send the average Maryland household about $80 worth of refunds next year, with one payment in the summer and another in the winter. The size of the refund will depend on a customers energy use.

Hershey called the two $40 rebates paltry, and argued that they represent overpayments from the policies that we created.

The money is coming from alternative compliance payments made by utilities in lieu of complying with the states renewable energy laws, money that typically goes to energy efficiency projects like lighting upgrades or solar panel installation.

The cornerstone bill of the package, the Next Generation Energy Act (HB1035/SB937), began with a focus on increasing energy generation in the state. It eventually became the vehicle for a number of provisions lifted from other energy bills, however, including canceling renewable energy subsidies for trash incineration, requiring utilities to justify spending on new natural gas pipelines and a state procurement process for new nuclear energy.

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The final version of the bill also incorporated House amendments to require that utilities demonstrate customer benefits in order to earn a multiyear rate plan, which lets companies set rate increases for several years at once. The Senate had simply required that the plan be in the public interest.

These groundbreaking changes to utility regulation are a massive victory for all Marylanders, said Emily Scarr, senior adviser at Maryland PIRG. By reining in wasteful spending by BGE and other Maryland utilities, these new consumer protections will save Marylanders hundreds of millions of dollars.

Other bills in the package created uniform standards for solar energy projects (HB1036/SB931) which proved controversial with Republicans, and established a state office focused on energy planning (HB1037/SB909)

Some environmental and ratepayer advocacy groups applauded passage of the package Monday.

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In a news release Monday, Brittany Baker, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said the finalized Next Generation bill is significantly improved from the bill as introduced.

CCAN and other environmental groups had originally opposed the Next Generation bill, amid fears that its fast track for new Maryland-generated power would grease the skids for natural gas burning power plants instead of renewable energy. Baker said the final bill gives new gas next to nothing while giving battery storage specific, time-bound financial support.

The bill sets a goal of 150 megawatts of battery storage, and requires utilities to submit plans for reaching their share of that goal.

The package does include an expedited permitting process for up to 10 dispatchable energy projects, which must meet certain criteria for dispatching energy to the grid when called upon, and must have a lower greenhouse gas profile than coal or oil. The bill requires that zero-emissions projects get the fast track over others at a ratio of 4-to-1.

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Hershey argued Monday that the bill should have taken further steps to incentivize gas plants.

Did we go far enough to really incentivize somebody to come in and make that investment? And a number of us are hearing: No, we really didnt. We might have expedited the process, but we really didnt, Hershey said.

House amendments also sought to address concerns from environmental groups about loosened power plant permitting requirements. Environmental groups had expressed particular concerns about the bill shortening a preapplication period to 45 days, during which the new facilitys operator notifies the surrounding community before it files an application with the Public Service Commission to build the power facility.

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Under the amended bill, if the power project is bound for an overburdened and underserved community, the preapplication period will be 90 days. Susan Miller, a senior attorney with Earthjustice, said she believes the 90-day rule should apply no matter what.

All Marylanders deserve the same procedural protections, particularly when the Commission will be considering projects which will pollute their neighborhoods for the next 30 years or more, Miller said in a statement.

GOP senators took issue with changes to the bill that they argue opens the door for data centers and other commercial facilities to secure one-on-one agreements for energy that are harmful to ratepayers. Unlike the Senate bill, the House bill allowed those contracts. But it stated that if they shift extra costs inappropriately onto ratepayers, regulators can compel the commercial customer to pay it back.

The largest provider of electricity in the state now is subject to being  able to go to one customer, one private-sector customer, and say: Were going to sell directly to you. Isnt that a concern for ratepayers? Hershey asked.

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Sen. Malcolm Augustine (D-Prince Georges) said the direct-power agreements are not monolithic, and the new provisions would give more flexibility to the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities.

This is seeking to find more of a middle ground and some flexibility, but with the guardrails that are there, Augustine said. But youre absolutely right: There have been concerns about taking off baseload power from our grid.
KIGALI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Rwandans joined President Paul Kagame in a "Walk to Remember" and a night vigil to mark the start of the 31st commemoration of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi on Monday.

The march started from Gasabo district headquarters in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to BK Arena, where marchers, including several senior government officials, diplomats and youth, gathered for a night vigil.

At the night vigil, Kagame lit the "Flame of Hope" as a symbol of resilience and the enduring spirit of Rwandans in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide.

Addressing the audience, Philibert Gakwenzire, president of IBUKA, the umbrella body of genocide survivors' organizations in Rwanda, said remembrance ceremonies are important in honoring the victims of the genocide and serving as a platform to reaffirm Rwanda's commitment to unity.

"The commemoration is also an occasion to reflect on the genesis of ethnic divisions which played a key role in genocide as well as denounce all those who participated in the massacres of Rwandans based on their ethnical identities," he said.

Liliane Murangwayire, a survivor from Ntarama sector in Bugesera district, recalled how she had survived the genocide. She was born in a family of 12, but only three people survived.

Murangwayire said that at the age of four, she became aware that her family members were being hunted by their neighbors, and when she asked the reason, her grandmother told her that it was because of their Tutsi ethnic identity.

Rwanda began a week of commemoration on Monday to mark the 31st anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group. The genocide in 1994 claimed more than one million people, mostly from the Tutsi ethnic group and moderate Hutus. 
Ninfa Amador-Hernandez, left, and Cathryn Jackson of CASA talk with Sen. Will Smith (D-Montgomery) about a package of immigrant protection bills Monday. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters)

After it was stalled for most of the day, a watered-down package of protections for Marylands immigrant community was rushed through by lawmakers with just minutes to spare before the midnight end of the legislative session Monday.

The version of House Bill 1222 that passed the House and Senate on mostly party-line votes includes language to help sensitive locations like churches and schools decide how to respond if immigration agents show, and it includes some privacy protections for migrant data.

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What it does not include is language from the original House version of the bill that would require counties to work with federal immigration agencies in some respects, but would prohibit participation in so-called 287(g) agreements, in which local police can essentially act as immigration agents.

Migrant groups, who were at the State House all day monitoring the progress of the bills, said the 287(g) prohibition was their primary goal in the face of increased immigration enforcement by President Donald Trumps Department of Homeland Security.

It was shameful the way it went down. We knew what Trump was doing on immigration since day one, said Ninfa Amador-Hernandez, policy analyst with the immigrant advocacy group CASA. Were seeing Democrats not act in protecting immigrant families.

But with the clock ticking toward midnight Monday, Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince Georges) said the legislature was at risk of failing to pass any protections, so House members agreed to give in to the Senate and strike out the prohibitions on 287(g) agreements.

Sometimes having a pressure cooker of a deadline to move things  we were unsure if we would get it done anyway, Lewis said. We think it (the amended bill) is balanced.

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HB1222 initially prohibited Maryland counties from entering into 287(g) agreements to work cooperatively with agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That was the bills only function when it was introduced back in early February.

In the last-minute amendment, the bill includes language from another bill called the Sensitive Locations Act, which would require the Attorney General to provide guidance to state agencies and others to rules regarding immigration enforcement, said Del. Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City), the chair of the House Judiciary Committee. The bill also prevents the sale of personal records and other data to third parties, he said, though the amendment text is not yet publicly available.

But Cathryn Jackson, policy director for CASA, said the prohibition on 287(g) agreements would have had the greatest impact for Marylands immigrant population.

287g is such a direct funnel into the deportation machine. It is the most direct way that we are carrying out Trumps agenda in Maryland, Jackson said.

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I think it is extremely heartbreaking that the immigration bills have not been prioritized, she said. That is leaving the lives of so many people up to chance right now.

CASA members are blaming the failure of 287(g) on the Senate, even though Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) had said earlier Monday that there is a limit to what states can do when it comes to immigration enforcement with the federal government.

We are doing whatever we can in this time frame. The challenge is  it is the federal government and there is a limit to which we have the ability to impact, Ferguson told reporters.

I cant even fathom the fear that a number of our neighbors are feeling because of whats happening with the Trump administration, he said. It is fundamentally unbelievable that weve created this toxic environment around people who are investing in our communities, who are part of our workforce, our kids are in school together.

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Gov. Wes Moore (D) said that the state would always cooperate with federal law enforcement, but disagrees with how the Trump administration is overstepping due process for immigration enforcement.

We are never not going to cooperate with our federal partners to get violent criminals off of the streets  period, full stop, Moore told reporters. We have to make sure our communities are safe  I believe very deeply that you can both make sure youre keeping your streets safe and also make sure youre honoring the Constitution at the same time.

 Maryland Matters reporter Bryan P. Sears contributed to this report.

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PIERRE, S.D. (KELO)  With their 2025 session now behind, South Dakota lawmakers are already preparing for the next one.

The Legislatures Executive Board has chosen as study topics an analysis of initial and re-entry incarceration, emergency medical services, and efficiencies in services to developmentally disabled persons from community support providers.

There also will a liaison group to work with the South Dakota Department of Education to consider impacts from the possible closure of the U.S. Department of Education.

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Those four panels are in addition to the property tax task force that lawmakers established in House Concurrent Resolution 6003.

Each of the interim committees will meet three times. Some board members questioned during the meeting last week whether the incarceration analysis was too much to accomplish in that time.

Democratic Rep. Erin Healy didnt think so.

We have many felonies that pass year after year. This gives us a really good opportunity to look at other states and what theyre doing to keep their incarceration rate low and what we could potentially do in order to keep people out of prison and give them the positive support that they need in order to live a life out in the community, Healy said. She added, The goal is to keep them in our community and out of trouble.

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Republican Sen. Randy Deibert thought that adding the re-entry portion would be too much to get done in three meetings. If we have too broad a focus on a summer study committee, you dont accomplish your goals, he said.

Republican Rep. Greg Jamison defended adding re-entry to the analysis. Jamison said re-entry is a major issue that needs to be solved.

So when were looking at the initial entry of why people are coming to prison, we think we can probably figure that out relatively simply, based on theyve committed a crime that weve required them to go to prison. But the bigger question probably remains on whats causing them to come back. What are we not doing thats keeping these people coming back? The revolving door has to stop in some way, Jamison said.

The re-entry addition resulted from conversations with Republican Rep. Jeff Bathke, whose work during 12 years for the state Department of Human Services focused on substance abuse, including five years he worked at the State Penitentiary.

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Republican Sen. Tom Pischke asked whether Jamisonn thought both could be accomplished. I do have that fear as well as Senator Deibert that thats a big bite at the apple that we can accomplish that in three meetings, Pischke said.

Jamison answered, I certainly wouldnt want to overpromise and under-deliver. I dont think any of us want to do that. But obviously knowing some of the differences we have with our sister state North Dakota and that we fall outside the normal parameters of some other states, it isnt just about the entry to prison, it is whats causing them to come back, and what we do here can address all of that.

Is it too comprehensive? Jamison continued. I dont believe it to be so. If we should fail at that, weve begun a path that is probably worthy of discussing. If we fail, you know, we have still uncovered probably a tremendous amount of information about whats causing the revolving door. Its one of the bigger issues I hear about in Sioux Falls, being the home of the prison, and whats causing all these people to just keep going through, police officers talking about whats causing these guys to get released and then theyre back.

House Speaker Jon Hansen and Republican Sen. Chris Karr were the prime and lead sponsors in their chambers of the property tax task force. They serve as the Executive Boards chair and co-chair.

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We know how hard it is to come up with property tax relief ideas and multi-faceted during the vacuum of session, Karr said. Thats why this House concurrent resolution was brought, so we could take on this comprehensive task during the interim, put in the time, the effort  make it a task force, so its a joint legislative and executive branch, so hopefully look at all those different facets to come up with real solutions for property tax relief that are meaningful and long term.

The Legislature passed one package of property-tax changes that were developed by the governor, his administration and a group of 10 legislators.

Sixteen of the task force will be lawmakers appointed by the Legislatures leaders, but the resolution also calls for seats for state Finance Commissioner Jim Terwilliger as well as Gov. Larry Rhoden or his appointee. Rhoden said he plans to have Republican former Rep. Kirk Chaffee, a former Meade County director of equalization, serve in his place.

Rhoden told reporters on March 31 that he wants the task force to consider allowing county governments to charge a half-percent sales tax, with the revenue to replace the county property tax levy on owner-occupied homes. Any excess would next be applied to reducing county levies on agricultural and commercial properties.

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Next steps call for asking legislators which studies theyre interested in, followed by the Executive Boards leadership making the assignments.

Karr suggested the education-liaison group.

This is not a formal summer study but it does create a group of legislators to stay in contact with our Department of Education to get updates regarding the United States Department of Education  the impacts of funding, maybe per student, special education and the standards testing, items such that may be impacted by the closure of the USDOE, Karr said.

And I think back to something we did similar during COVID when we created a liaison to stay and work with the executive branch. We basically at that time were looking for updates on for example COVID (aid) dollars and the regulations and how we could use those COVID dollars and guide us, he continued.

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So very similar, they would be available on call as this information flows down from the USDOE  make sure that were ready to start the next school year and also prepare for the next session, Karr said. The group would provide updates to the Executive Board throughout the interim so that the board members could keep the rest of the Legislature apprised.

Karr said the number on the liaison panel hadnt been determined yet. Just as we havent determined how many committee members are on some of the other summer studies at this time, he said. Just want to create, establish this so that we can put together a clear scope and size, and again, it has to be in context with our other summer studies, because we only have so many people, so many resources, and we already have interim committees like GOAC, E Board, the prison reset, Appropriations. So it probably would not be large. It would probably be fairly small.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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A lender to an Iowa ag company accused of operating a billion-dollar check-kiting scheme says 110,000 piglets were at risk of starvation. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

An Iowa ag company accused of operating a billion-dollar check-kiting scheme is being sued by a lender that claimed 110,000 piglets were put at risk of starvation.

Compeer Financial of Minnesota is suing Sunterra Farms Iowa Inc., Sunwold Farms Inc., and Lariagra Farms South Inc. in U.S. District Court. Compeer alleges that the three defendants operate extensive swine operations in Iowa and South Dakota, and have granted Compeer, their lender, exclusive security over their collective assets.

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In March, Compeer asked the court to appoint a receiver to take control of the defendants assets so that Compeer could protect its collateral by continuing to provide for the feeding and care of 110,000 head of swine. A federal judge in South Dakota agreed, and on March 28 appointed a receiver in the case. (The court documents showing that appointment were not filed in the corresponding Iowa case until April 7.)

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The defendant companies are allegedly operated by the Price family of South Dakota, including Ray, Art and Glen Price, who own and manage 110,000 head of swine in 54 barns located in and around Yankton County, South Dakota. The swine  which are in various stages of growth and are owned by either Sunterra or Lariagra  are among 500,000 hogs managed by Sunterra.

Compeer claims in the lawsuit that because of what it calls the long-running fraud perpetrated by the defendant companies, they cannot be trusted to operate their businesses and protect their assets, including the 110,000 head of swine in Yankton County.

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According to the lawsuit, the three defendant companies have engaged in check kiting  a fraudulent practice in which a company draws checks from one bank account for deposit in another bank account that it controls, when neither account has sufficient funds to cover the checks. The process takes advantage of the delays in processing checks between banks, allowing one account or another to continually show credits for funds that have yet to be collected.

Compeers lawsuit claims that earlier this year, the defendant companies were issuing each other numerous checks, in nearly identical amounts, on a daily basis  with some checks ranging from $800,000 to $990,000, an amount just below the threshold that would trigger scrutiny from regulators.

The transactions had the effect of creating phony positive account balances that caused Compeer to pay the companies interest, the lawsuit claims.

Compeer alleges that on Feb. 12, 2025, the day after it asked Ray Price, the CEO of the defendant companies, about the transactions, it received a batch of checks totaling $9 million drawn one of the defendants Canadian bank accounts for deposit into the defendants account with Compeer.

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Later that day, the lawsuit claims, Ray Price admitted that the checks were intended only to prevent the Compeer account from being overdrawn, and acknowledged that if Compeer attempted to deposit the $9 million it would trigger a corresponding overdraft in the Canadian account. According to the lawsuit, Price admitted that what the companies were doing was wrong.

About 24 hours later, the lawsuit claims, Price spoke to Compeer personnel and said the Canadian account was overdrawn by roughly $21 million, adding that he needed Compeer to immediately send the money back to the Canadian bank to cover the overdraft. Compeer refused.

In late February, the lawsuit alleges, Compeer learned the Canadian bank had rejected 65 checks totaling $59.9 million previously credited by Compeer to the defendants accounts. As a result, the defendants $21 million positive cash balance at Compeer was instantly wiped out and replaced with a $36 million debt owed by the defendants to Compeer.

In its lawsuit, Compeer alleges that before the check-kiting scheme collapsed, it involved billions of dollars in fraudulent transactions.

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Court records show that on March 17, 2025, the Canadian bank asked that a receiver be appointed to look after the defendants assets. However, the listed assets in that case didnt include the 110,000 head of swine in Yankton County, or the 370,000 head owned by third parties and managed by Sunterra.

In court filings last month, Compeer said it had provided funds necessary for the care and feeding of the Yankton County pigs, but was no longer willing to do so while the parties who perpetrated this fraudulent scheme remain in control of Sunterra, Sunwold and Lariagra.

These swine are in imminent danger of starvation if feed is not promptly purchased and delivered to barns housing the pigs, the lawsuit stated, adding that workers hired to provide for the animals care might soon walk off the job given the Price familys inability to make payroll.

Once the court appointed a receiver, Compeer stated in its court filings, it would advance the money necessary to protect its collateral and prevent the animals starvation.

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The Price family has not yet responded to the lawsuit and Sunserra declined comment. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for fraud and unjust enrichment. The lawsuit was initially filed in South Dakota state court before being transferred to federal court.

Update: The receiver who was appointed March 28 told the Iowa Capital Dispatch on April 9 that the 110,000 pigs referenced by Compeer in its lawsuit are being cared for.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A Kansas man and his Kansas City based attorney have filed a lawsuit in the Dallas Division of the Northern District of Texas.

Evenezer Cortez Martinez, is a Roeland Park, Kansas resident. Hes also a DACA recipient.

Among the defendants include the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. There are also a few U.S. Officials in the suit too.

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On March 23, 2025, Cortez Martinez arrived at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport on a flight from Mexico City. He was gone a couple of days while visiting family after his grandfather died.

Court documents say he had his approved DACA application and a legally valid advance parole document (travel document)which was valid until April 14, 2025with him.

After arriving in the United States, Cortez Martinez appeared for inspection different times and was questioned. He gave his documents to authorities. His attorneys say he cooperated and truthfully answered officers questions.

Cortez Martinez was then denied entry into the United States, indicating that he was inadmissible to the United States pursuant to section 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) of the INA as an immigrant without an immigrant visa based on the fact that [he had been] ordered removed in absentia on June 11, 2024.

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They further determined that Mr. Cortez Martinezs advance parole document was issued in error, and therefore he was subject to an expedited removal order for failing to be in possession of a valid entry document, the suit states.

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Its unclear if there was a hearing in the June 2024 absentia situation, or what came from it.

His attorneys allege denying his entry into the United States was based on an officials incorrect determination that the existence of a removal order in and of itself abated the ability of USCIS to issue a valid advance parole document.

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They also say he had no hearing or opportunity to contest his denial for reentry into the US. He was escorted to another flight and was returned to Mexico the same day.

Documents say Cortez Martinez had not been back to Mexico since he was four years old.

Since this incident, his attorneys say his DACA benefits are at risk. His advance parole document (travel document) is also only valid until April 14 of this year.

The defendants have prevented Cortez Martinez from having his case heard by an immigration judge, the suit says, along with any procedural due process.

He had been in the United States for over 35 years. His latest DACA application was valid through October 22, 2026.

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The suit says it seeks declaratory, injunctive and mandamus relief to find that the Defendants actions were arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law when they confiscated Plaintiffs validly issued advance parole documents, improperly subjected him to expedited removal proceedings without hearing, and removed him from the United States on March 23, 2025 at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport.

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Documents say officials also wrote the word deported in his Mexican passport.

Non-citizens who came to the United States as children and met several guidelines may request consideration for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an exercise of prosecutorial discretion, providing temporary relief from deportation (deferred action) and work authorization. Once approved, DACA benefits also include the ability to seek advance parole for travel, the lawsuit filed on April 2 reads.

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Rui Xu, Democrat for Kansas House District 25, posted remarks about this situation on Facebook Monday:

A Roeland Park DACA recipient was deported last month by the Trump Administration after visiting his grandfathers gravesite. We knew this Administrations immigration policies would be cruel, but this is the ripping apart of a life, a family, and a community for no reason other than to stoke fear and score political points. This father grew up here. He went to school here, his kids go to school here. He contributed, he belonged, and he dared to believe that America was his homebecause it was. There is no justice in this decision. We must keep fighting every day against the insane and cruel policies of President Trump.

You can learn more about DACA here.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Chief Michelle Mitchum of South Carolinas Pine Hill Indian community testified Tuesday, April 8, 2025, before a Senate panel in favor of legislation to remove from state law a requirement that a majority of the governing board for the state Commission for Minority Affairs be African American. Mitchum is one of two plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality. (Screenshot of SCETV legislative livestream)

COLUMBIA  A pair of senators wants to remove a provision in state law that requires South Carolinas Commission for Minority Affairs to have a majority-Black governing board.

The bill comes in the wake of a federal lawsuit filed by two women who say they were denied a spot on the commission when they sought to represent other minority groups. Its co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, a white Republican from Edgefield, and Sen. Darrell Jackson, a Black Democrat from Hopkins.

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A Senate panel voted unanimously Tuesday to advance the bill to the full Senate Judiciary Committee. Half of the six yes votes came from Black legislators.

Sandy Chiong, a Myrtle Beach-area woman of Chinese and Cuban heritage, was the first to file suit in December seeking a seat on the commissions governing board.

The commissions governing board is made up of one person from each of South Carolinas seven congressional districts, as well as two at-large seats and the governor or his designee. The specification in the 1993 law that most of the boards nine members must be African American violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, the lawsuit claimed.

In America, government positions are supposed to be open to all citizens  not restricted to members of favored groups, Chiongs lawyers wrote in court documents. A racial quota prevents her from being considered for a position on an equal basis with other candidates.

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Chief Michelle Mitchum of South Carolinas Pine Hill Indian community later joined the lawsuit. Pine Hill, whose members once inhabited what became the U.S. Armys Fort Jackson, is not a federal- or state-recognized tribe. However, South Carolina does recognize it as a special interest organization led by Mitchum.

A Senate panel heard from Mitchum on Tuesday, as well as from the director of the small state agency, Delores Dacosta. Both women spoke in favor of the bill.

When the Legislature established the Commission for Minority Affairs, the agency focused on addressing inequities impacting African American communities, hence the legislative mandate that its membership reflect the population it was formed to serve.

In 2003, its scope was broadened to include Asian Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, and Native Americans, according to agency documents. But the language governing the boards makeup remained in place.

Delores Dacosta, director of the states Commission for Minority Affairs, testified Tuesday, April 8, 2025, before a Senate panel in favor of legislation about her agencys governing board. (Screenshot of SCETV legislative livestream)

We support this change to allow for the selection of commissioners to reflect the populations that we serve, Dacosta said.

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The agency holds community and networking events for minority businesspeople in the state.

It also puts out research each year tracking the growth of minority populations  where theyre living in South Carolina, where their children go to school, and their average income compared to the overall population  as well as disparities when it comes to health and affordable housing.

I dont see where this is going to hurt the commission, Dacosta said about the bill. As a matter of fact, I think its going to benefit because we have grown so much.

Dacosta said when she started as head of the agency in 2018, it employed just nine people, six of those full time. Today, the agency has 24 employees.

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Our research is so broad  we need to see different faces on the board, Dacosta added.

The legislation strikes language in the law relating to Black board members without replacing it with any new racial requirements for the commissioners.

Mitchum told senators they should instead set new criteria for minority membership, though she didnt give any suggestions.

I would like for you to replace the language  not just strike it, she said. Dont respond to a lawsuit. Actually represent the minority population; actually lift our voice.

Black residents are the largest racial minority in South Carolina, at 26% of the state population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Hispanic residents make up 7.5% of the population, followed by 2% Asian and less than 1% Native American.

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Chiong, who is the daughter of Cuban immigrants and is of Chinese, Cuban, and Spanish descent, did not come to Columbia to testify.

Five of the boards six current members are Black. Vacancies are in the 3rd District, which runs from Edgefield County to the states northwestern corner; the 4th District, which includes most of Greenville and Spartanburg counties; and one at-large member.

Two board members are serving past the expiration of their term in whats known as holdover status, including the representative for the 7th District, where Chiong lives.

Dacosta said the commission has pending applications for two board appointments  the vacant 4th District seat and the expired term in the 6th District  and is waiting to fill the other slots.

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The governors office also is in the process of nominating someone to fill the vacant 3rd District seat, spokesman Brandon Charochak said.

Four members of the commission are serving active terms. But three of their terms expire in July, according to the lawsuit.
The attorney for Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported in error to El Salvador, said Tuesday that he expects Abrego Garcia to be returned to the U.S.

Abrego Garcia -- despite having protected legal status preventing his deportation to El Salvador, where he escaped political violence in 2011 -- was sent to that country's notorious CECOT mega-prison following what the government said was an "administrative error."

Trump administration officials have said Abrego Garcia is a member of the criminal gang MS-13, but his attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg has disputed that, saying the government has provided no proof of their allegations.

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MORE: Supreme Court delays midnight deadline for Trump administration to fix mistaken deportation of Maryland man

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia from El Salvador by Monday at midnight, before Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday issued a temporary administrative stay delaying the midnight deadline in order to give the court more time to consider the arguments presented by both sides.

"[The order] just means that he recognized that the Supreme Court needs a little bit of time to do its work," Sandoval-Moshenberg told ABC News. "I have every expectation that the Supreme Court will rule quickly and will rule in our favor, because when push comes to shove, this is not an exceptional case. The only exceptional thing has been the way in which the government has dug in its heels on making right what they messed up."

"Jennifer is really worried," Sandoval-Moshenberg said of Abrego Garcia's wife. "She expects and I expect that we are going to get him back."

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In the filing earlier Monday, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that a federal court cannot order a president to engage in foreign diplomacy, which he says is implicitly involved in any potential return of Abrego Garcia.

PHOTO: This undated photo provided by CASA, an immigrant advocacy organization, in April 2025, shows Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (CASA via AP)

"The Constitution charges the President, not federal district courts, with the conduct of foreign diplomacy and protecting the Nation against foreign terrorists, including by effectuating their removal," Sauer wrote. "And this order sets the United States up for failure. The United States cannot guarantee success in sensitive international negotiations in advance, least of all when a court imposes an absurdly compressed, mandatory deadline that vastly complicates the give-and-take of foreign-relations negotiations."

Sandoval-Moshenberg, however, said that the government has not provided evidence that it would be impossible to return his client.

"I don't think there's anyone in this whole country that doesn't recognize the glaring truth, which is that if we picked up the phone and just asked, he'd be on a plane in a day or two," Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

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Referring to the agreement El Salvador signed with the Trump administration to house migrant detainees, Sandoval-Moshenberg said, "El Salvador is doing all of this because we're paying them $6 million to do it, and we have an agreement with them."

"The U.S. government is acting as if the Salvadoran government chose, for Salvador and legal reasons, to arrest him and incarcerate him," Sandoval-Moshenberg said. "That couldn't be farther from the case."

MORE: ICE admits to an 'administrative error' after Maryland man sent to El Salvador prison

Sandoval-Moshenberg called Abrego Garcia's arrest by U.S. authorities a "targeted action."

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"They went out, they stopped his car, they pulled him over, they pulled him out of the car, and they arrested him," Sandoval-Moshenberg said. "And he was actually with his 5-year-old child at the time, and they made him call his wife to come pick up the kid. This was a targeted action."

Lawyer for man deported in error to El Salvador expects him to be returned to US originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A lawyer representing a pro-Palestinian protester was detained Sunday at the Detroit Metro Airport on his way back from a spring break trip abroad with his family  and federal agents tried to force him to turn over his phone.

Amir Makled says he stood his ground amid the ensuing 90-minute quarrel, as he argued that the sheer volume of privileged, work-related material on the phone prevented him from turning it over voluntarily.

He agreed to let the agents see his contact list, but he refused to provide any information about who the contacts were.

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I dont know if it was a fishing expedition or not, he told HuffPost. My gut tells me they were trying to see who I was associating with. But theres no real way to tell.

In March, the Trump administration directed the Justice Department to target lawyers and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States.

Seizing an attorneys phone  or at least attempting to  would seem to be in line with that directive.

So whats Makleds advice to people who may find themselves in a similar situation?

Have a designated device you travel with  and one you leave at home.

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The government can take your phone at the border. Its just something theyre allowed to do, he said. I dont agree with that law, but theres a statute that says they can take it and give it back to you later.

Makled stressed that you dont have to provide them with your passwords or walk them through whats on your phone, but its legal for them to inspect the device itself. (HuffPost has a thorough explainer here with more information on what to do if a border agent asks for your phone.)

While hes unsure what the agents hoped to glean from the device, its possible Makled was singled out because hes representing Samantha Lewis, a student protester who was arrested last year after she participated in a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Michigan.

Lewis and seven other protesters, all of whom are American citizens, are awaiting trial on a felony charge of resisting police officers that Makled argues represents a threat to freedom of speech.

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This is how authoritarian tactics start, Makled told Michigan Public last month while discussing Lewis case. Not by outright banning speech, but by making people afraid to exercise their rights.

The government wants to send a message that if you speak out, there could be consequences, he said, and theyre doing this to create this chilling effect so that they can discourage future activism. Then by the very nature of it makes it seem too risky for others.

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A lawyer's spring break trip to the Dominican Republic with his family ended on a troubling note at Detroit Metro Airport on Sunday: He was detained by federal agents, questioned about his clients, and asked to give up his cellphone, he says.

But Dearborn attorney Amir Makled, who is representing a pro-Palestinian demonstrator who was arrested at the University of Michigan last year, stood his ground. He didn't give up his phone.

"I'm an American citizen. I'm not worried about being deported," Makled said he recalled thinking to himself in the airport interrogation room. "So, I tell them, 'I know you can take my phone. I'm not going to give you my phone, however ... 90% of my work is on my phone. You're not getting unfettered access to (it).' "

Dearborn attorney Amir Makled, who represents a pro-Gaza demonstrator arrested at the University of Michigan in 2024, said federal agents tried to seize his cell phone at Detroit Metro Airport upon his arrival from a spring break trip with his family on Sunday, April 6, 2025.

What followed was a 90-minute, back-and-forth verbal tussle between Makled and two federal agents, who, he said, ultimately released him without taking his phone, but looked at his contacts list instead. For the 38-year-old civil rights and criminal defense attorney, it was a daunting experience that he says highlights a troubling phenomenon that's occurring across the United States: Lawyers are getting targeted for handling issues the administration of President Donald Trump disagrees with.

'This administration is doing something that no administration has done  they're attacking attorneys'

Makled's airport experience comes in the wake of a memo that President Donald Trump issued to the U.S. Justice Department last month, in which he directed the agency to seek sanctions against attorneys, alleging they are helping fuel "rampant fraud and meritless claims" in the immigration system.

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That's the bit that Makled said irritates him. He's not an immigration lawyer, he says. So why did the government want his phone, he asks?

More: Department of Homeland Security revokes 4 U-M student visas; at least 1 flees US

"This current administration is doing something that no administration has done  they are attacking attorneys," Makled said, stressing lawyers from big and small firms alike are being targeted. "This is a different type of threat to the rule of law that I see. They are now challenging the judiciary, or lawyers, they're putting pressure (on them) to dissuade attorneys from taking on issues that are against the government's issues. We have an obligation as lawyers to stand up to this stuff."

In a statement to the Free Press, Customs and Border Protection Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham defended the government's airport tactics.

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"Claims that CBP is searching more electronic media due to the administration change are false. CBPs search numbers are consistent with increases since 2021, and less than 0.1% of travelers have their devices searched," the statement reads.

"These searches are conducted to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to visitor admissibility, all of which play a critical role in national security. Allegations that political beliefs trigger inspections or removals are baseless and irresponsible."

Dad's photo raised red flags at airport: 'What the hell is going on?'

According to Makled, here are the events that unfolded at Detroit Metro Airport after his family landed back home from a five-day stay in Punta Canta:

It was about 7 p.m. when the Delta flight landed back at Detroit Metro. Makled, his wife and two daughters exited the plane and made their way to the passport checkpoint for screening. Their photos were taken.

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Mom and the kids got through with no problem. But when Makled's photo was taken, a notification popped up and Makled said he heard one agent ask another agent: "Hey, are the TTRT folks around?"

"I thought, 'What the hell is that?' So, I Google that quickly," Makled recalled of the acronym.

He quickly learned that TTRT stands for Tactical Terrorism Response Team.

Makled said his wife looked at him and asked what was going on, but he said he didn't know. As the border agents let his wife and kids go, they took Makled into a small interrogation room.

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'We know you're a lawyer'

While in the interrogation room, Makled said, a man in plain clothes entered and began speaking to him. He said he recalls the man telling him: "We know you're a lawyer. We know you take on big cases."

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Makled said he responded: "I said, 'Im not a famous lawyer. Lets get to the bottom. What's the issue here?' "

According to Makled, there were two men in the room with him. One told him it's a federal crime to lie to a federal agent.

"I'm aware of that," Makled said. "But you're not identifying yourself."

One agent handed him a pamphlet about confiscating phones at the border. Makled, who is familiar with the law, said he was well aware that the government can confiscate one's phone for a period of time and then give it back. But he said he told the agents he wasn't going to let them have his phone because it contained privileged information with all of his clients.

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So, he said, the agents asked for a list of texts that he believed to be privileged. Makled said he told them that that was impossible given his thousands of texts.

So they kept pushing.

"I said, 'Listen, why dont you ask me what you want. What is it that youre looking for, and Ill decide if Im going to give you the answer.' "

"He said, 'Nope. It doesn't work like that ... we want your contact list,' " Makled said he was told.

Makled agreed to let them see his contact list. The agents asked who various people were, though Makled said he only told them that they are his clients, nothing more.

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The meeting ended with the agents writing up a report and releasing Makled without incident.

Before Makled left the room, he said he asked the agents whether this was going to be routine in the future  him getting stopped at airports and questioned.

The agent told him he didn't have an answer, but said he would write up a report and that "as a result, you should be fine," Makled said he was told.

Makled said he then left the room and soon reunited with his family.

'I have to be a person who can speak out'

Makled views himself as a respected lawyer in his community of Dearborn, where he is a partner in a law firm of five lawyers. He helps people through all kinds of legal trouble, he said, whether traffic tickets, or civil rights issues, or serious injuries.

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His latest high-profile client is Samantha Lewis, who is among seven demonstrators arrested last year following her involvement at a pro-Palestinian protest on the U-M campus. While the seven defendants face misdemeanor trespassing charges, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel also charged them with resisting arrest and obstructing police, a felony punishable by up to two years in prison.

Nessel has maintained that they used "physical force to counter" police who were trying to clear them from an encampment they had established on the diag. The students, however, have pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintain they were engaged in protected, free speech.

"I dont know what triggered this," Makled said of his ordeal at the airport. "I dont know if its a result of civil rights cases, or First Amendment issues involving student protesters. They wouldnt tell me what it is."

But whatever the reason, Makled said, he's on notice now.

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"We have an obligation as lawyers to stand up to this stuff," Makled said. "I have to be a person who can speak out when your rights are violated. We have to be the balancing act. We're a nation of laws. You gotta have lawyers."

And whether the government believes its "fear mongering" tactics are going to silence lawyers, Makled said he has a message: "It's not working," he said. "It's going to do the opposite."

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lawyer for U-M protester held at airport; refused to give feds his phone
*Attached video: Unusual animals spotted in Ohio

(WJW)  At least 50 hippos and other large animals were found dead due to anthrax poisoning in eastern Congos Virunga National Park.

According to Reuters, Virunga National Park Director Emmanuel De Merode said hippos and other animals such as buffalo have been spotted floating along a major river that feeds one of Africas great lakes, Lake Edward.

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De Merode told Reuters that tests confirmed the anthrax poisoning in the animals, but it is not yet clear what caused the poisoning.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anthrax is a disease that is usually caused by Bacillus anthracis bacteria. That bacterium is found naturally in soil around the world.

According to the CDC, anthrax commonly affects livestock and wild animals. Animals can become infected when they breathe in, eat or drink spores in contaminated soil, plants or water.

According to the Virunga National Park website, the park recorded the largest number of hippos in the world in the 1970s. There were 29,000 individual hippos recorded in and around Lake Edward.

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Since then, instability in the region has led to increased poaching and a 95% decline in the size of the population, the website states.

According to the website, a terrestrial census organized in August 2019 assessed the parks hippo population at about 1,500.

According to Reuters, park guards noticed there was a problem when the dead animals started to appear about five days ago along the river, which forms Congos border with Uganda and runs through an area under the control of rebel fighters.

De Merode said that a team was on site and that they were trying to get the hippos out of the water and bury them, but that it was difficult because they did not have excavators.

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2 plead in gun battle outside Saint Malachi Parish

Images shared by the park show the hippopotamuses motionless on their sides and backs in the Ishasha River, or caught among foliage on the rivers muddy banks.

According to Reuters, the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation has warned residents to avoid wildlife in the area and to boil water from local sources before drinking.

The river runs north to Lake Edward, where locals spotted more corpses.

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By Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Lebanese judge published a new court decision in the charges against former central bank chief Riad Salameh for embezzlement of public funds, according to a copy of the decision seen by Reuters on Tuesday, paving the way for an indictment.

Judge Bilal Halawi published a "presumptive decision" concluding that Salameh, who served as central bank governor for 30 years before his term ended in disgrace in July 2023, had engaged in "illicit enrichment" by knowingly transferring funds from the central bank to private accounts.

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Salameh's media office said the decision was the result of a "hastily prepared file" and was "marred by numerous and blatant legal flaws". The ex-governor, who was detained in September and remains in custody, has denied all wrongdoing. He did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters on Tuesday.

After taking the helm of the central bank following a devastating 15-year civil war, Salameh built a reputation as a competent steward of the financial system and was once seen as a possible president.

But his legacy was tainted by the collapse of Lebanon's financial system in 2019, as well as Lebanese and European charges that he and his brother Raja embezzled public funds over more than a decade. The brothers deny the accusations.

Salameh was arrested in September over alleged financial crimes linked to a brokerage company known as Optimum Invest, a Lebanese firm that offers income brokerage services.

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Optimum Invest said at the time that a financial audit completed in late 2023 had found "no evidence of wrongdoing or illegality" in the company's dealings with the central bank.

Thursday's decision paves the way for an indictment in the case, according to a judicial source with direct knowledge of the court proceedings.

(Reporting by Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily; Editing by Alex Richardson)
JUBA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-in-Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), South Sudan's opposition party, on Tuesday rejected the orders from the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) for its troops to assemble in government-controlled areas.

Lam Paul Gabriel, spokesperson for the opposition forces led by First Vice President Riek Machar, currently under house arrest, said they are an independent movement that takes orders from its leadership rather than from the SSPDF.

"This is completely a misplaced assumption of command by the SSPDF. The SPLM/A-IO is an independent national movement that only takes its orders from its leadership and commanders," Gabriel said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

"The SSPDF does not in any way command or influence the SPLM/A-IO forces and armed civilians under its areas of control," he added.

This came after Monday's directive from the Chief of Defense Forces, calling on SPLM/A-IO soldiers who had recently gone into hiding following clashes between the two forces near Juba to report to SSPDF outposts or barracks.

"The SPLM/A-IO therefore directs all its forces and armed civilians in its controlled areas to remain armed and vigilant at all times as the SSPDF has already waged a full scale war against the peace and citizens of South Sudan," Gabriel said.

Tensions escalated after an early March attack by the White Army, aligned with the SPLM/A-IO, on a military base in Nasir County, Upper Nile State.

On March 7, the White Army killed several SSPDF soldiers and a general who were being evacuated by the United Nations in the volatile town of Nasir. The incident prompted the arrest of several high-ranking SPLM/A-IO officials in Juba. 
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Voters have approved a $225 million school bond for the Lees Summit R-7 School District, allowing it to update school buildings and address deferred maintenance.

The 2025 school and special elections ballot says the bond will allow the district to acquire, construct, renovate, furnish and equip new and existing schools in the districts, as well as purchase land.

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Specifically, the district website says:

Update schools to meet modern standards for accessibility, safety and future ready learning.

Prepare the district to address future growth and accommodate the needs of all students.

Protect taxpayer investments by prioritizing essential upgrades and deferred maintenance districtwide.

Some of the schools that will see improvements and changes are Pleasant Lea Middle School, Hazel Grove Elementary, Greenwood Elementary, Lees Summit North High School and Lees Summit West High School.

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Now that the bond has passed, regardless of its $225 million total, there will be no increase to the districts debt service property tax levy. It will stay at $0.87 per $100 of assessed real and personal property valuation if passed, according to the ballot.

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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)  The big win in court for Plaquemines Parish against Chevron may not be a win for the coast for a while.

The jury found Chevron liable for causing coastal damage. The oil giant now must dole out $745 million.

WGNO legal analyst Cliff Cardone says the verdict does not come as a surprise.

This is a home-cooked jury, so youd have to think that the verdict was going to be in favor of the plaintiff because it was all local people on that jury, said Cardone. Whether they fairly interpreted the evidence or not is going to be, I guess, answered in a court of appeal.

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Cardone explains because Chevron has options to delay the execution of the judgment or correct it, it could take years before Plaquemines Parish is paid.

Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival returns for 21st year

Mike Moncla, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, says the verdict was expected but worries about its implications on the industry.

It just throws something out there against the industry that, you know, were trying to make Louisiana a place that people want to come back and do business in, said Moncla. Lawsuits like this against industry is just not a good message to send out.

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The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana is also weighing in. In a statement, they wrote:

While we cannot comment on the merits of the case or the prospects of an appeal, this verdict could be extremely important to the future of south Louisiana. It could help our state implement more of the large-scale restoration projects in our Coastal Master Plan, saving more land and benefiting not just wildlife and individuals but also industry.

This lawsuit is one of dozens of other similar lawsuits that are still pending.

So, its time to negotiate now, or circle the wagons and fight all the way through the courts, said Cardone.

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If the case is settled once and for all, state law requires that all proceeds go toward restoring the coast once the attorney fees are paid.

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.

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Advocates for the University of Nebraska system join at the Nebraska State Capitol for the annual "I Love NU Day." In the front row, from left, is NU President Jeffrey Gold, State Sen. Jason Prokop of Lincoln and Student Regent Ishani Adidam (University of Nebraska at Omaha), Student Regent Pranita Devaraju (University of Nebraska Medical Center), Student Regent Elizabeth Herbin (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), Student Regent Sam Schroeder (University of Nebraska at Kearney), State Sen. Teresa Ibach, Chancellor Joanne Li (UNO), interim Chancellor H. Dele Davies (UNMC) and interim Chancellor Charlie Bicak (UNK). April 2, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN  The University of Nebraska is no longer set to receive a decrease in its state-aided budget after the Legislatures budget-setting committee Tuesday reversed its earlier decision.

Gov. Jim Pillen had recommended a 2% cut for NU in January, which the committee had preliminarily accepted. But in a 7-1 vote, with State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha present, not voting, the Appropriations Committee opted instead to increase NUs general fund state appropriation by 1.25% in the next fiscal year.

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NU currently gets about $700 million from the state each year from this bucket of funds, which is 20.1% of NUs $3.5 billion operating budget.

State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams proposed the one-time 1.25% increase after NU President Jeffrey Gold and Pillen, and their respective staff, continued to negotiate.

NU operating budget sources

The University of Nebraska has a $3.5 billion operating budget for the current fiscal year ending June 30. The different funding sources, according to NU, are:

State appropriations ($695.4 million, 20.1%).

Tuition ($374.8 million, 10.8%).

Other cash, such as investment income or fees ($19.3 million, 0.6%).

Designated cash from clinic patient revenues, tobacco research funds or indirect cost research incentive funds ($125.6 million, 3.6%).

Federal funds ($752.6 million, 21.7%).

Revolving funds, including self-generated revenue from departmental sales, course and lab fees and charges and housing or dining ($889 million, 25.7%).

Trust funds, including private gifts, grants or contracts and non-federal student aid programs ($606.6 million, 17.5%).

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The committee delayed reconsideration of NUs budget multiple days last week after a disagreement on the specifics of a deal between Gold and Pillen. Both had agreed to a 1.25% increase, but Gold thought it was for both years. Pillens staff said it was for one year.

Gold, in a brief afternoon call, said he was deeply grateful for the change, which he said is certainly a lot better than a cut.

Anything that they can do to help us keep education high quality and affordable in the state and to further our research mission is always appreciated, Gold told the Nebraska Examiner.

Tuition hike, future cuts possible

State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, who said NU deserved a larger increase, opposed Dorns proposal.

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The change means NU would see an overall increase of $8.7 million in the next fiscal year to its state-aided budget and be held flat at that new level in the second year. The NU Board of Regents in August requested a 3.5% increase each year.

As this is substantially less than that, it will, unfortunately, force us to have some very serious discussions regarding tuition in each year at the upcoming biennium and, thereafter, some very serious discussions about belt-tightening and further budgetary reduction across all of the campuses, colleges and institutes in the state, Gold said.

Clements, committee chair, said his team continues to try to rightsize the state budget in face of a projected $457 million projected budget shortfall over the next two fiscal years. He said that both the governor and NU engaged in what he described as give and take on both sides.

He noted the reversal will increase the budget hole that the committee is working toward. Combined with the previous cut, its about $46 million that the committee will need to find. Clements had released a preliminary committee budget in February that made progress toward closing the projected shortfall, trimming it down to $289 million.

Larger increase rejected

The committee on Tuesday also rejected a proposal by State Sen. Jason Prokop of Lincoln for an additional 1.25% increase in the second fiscal year, on a 5-4 vote.

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State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk, a Republican, joined Prokop, Cavanaugh and Spivey, all Democrats, for the added increase. State Sens. Rob Clements of Elmwood, Christy Armendariz of Omaha, Myron Dorn of Adams, Loren Lippincott of Central City and Paul Strommen of Sidney rejected the increase. The Legislature is officially nonpartisan.

State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, right, talks with Speaker John Arch of La Vista. July 26, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Pillen, who joined the NU Board of Regents in 2013 before becoming governor in 2023, also disagreed with NUs budget request two years ago. The committee landed in between them then, too.

Dover said he wanted to give NU more but that the committee needed to decide and move on. Dorn said lawmakers needed to be careful with the projected budget deficit.

Biomedical research, Project Health

The committee also voted Tuesday to restore $5 million for biomedical research at postsecondary institutions  $3 million to NU. About 4.67% of the $15 million in state funds dedicated for such research annually remains earmarked for research to improve racial and ethnic minority health. Pillen recommended that the committee remove the specific earmark.

From left, Dr. Chris Kratochvil, interim vice president for external relations at the University of Nebraska; State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue; Dr. Jeffrey Gold, NU president; and former Huskers Volleyball head coach John Cook on the floor of the Nebraska Legislature. April 2, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

NU also will get $50 million each year from the states tobacco settlement fund for Project Health in Omaha, rather than from the states rainy day cash reserves. The Legislature has adopted a statement of intent to fund $300 million for NUs project, over six years.

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Project Health, a new $2.19 billion health care facility at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine, is planned to serve as a clinical learning center to train the next generation of health care providers, conduct research and offer clinical trials, according to an NU news release.

This is Golds first year as president. He previously served as UNMC chancellor for 10 years.

Gold said the restoration of funds will have a 10-to-1 return on investment on general appropriations as well as a 16-to-1 return on new research dollars. He said that could lead to new medications and diagnostics that, hopefully, enhance the health and wellness of Nebraskans.

This will give us an opportunity to continue to further the mission but also to support the future economy of the state, Gold said. I only hope that over time the overall revenue to the state continues to grow, so we can invest even more in the university that produces the future workforce and does all this very important research.

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Apr. 7HAZLETON  Rep. Dane Watro on Monday said since the news broke of Penn State Hazleton's potential closure, there has been an overwhelming outpouring of community support to keep campuses open.

Watro, R-Hazleton, said he and other state legislators  including Sen. Dave Argall, R-Pottsville; Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-Northumberland; and Rep. Jamie Walsh, R-Ross Township, will join community leaders to host a public roundtable from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday

,

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April 10,

at the Hazleton LaunchBox, 13 W. Broad St., Hazleton.

Watro said the roundtable will discuss how the potential closure of Penn State Hazleton would harm students, employers and the regional economy.

"This roundtable is an opportunity for legislators, business leaders and residents to collectively voice our strong opposition and emphasize the many compelling reasons Penn State Hazleton should not be closed," Watro said.

Walsh said that preserving Penn State Hazleton is crucial, not only for the students it serves, but for the future of the region.

"As long as there are degree opportunities that align with the Commonwealth's economic needs, this branch campus should not be closed," Walsh said. "Our roundtable discussion is an opportunity for the community to express its concern and articulate why the local campus needs to remain open."

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Argall added, "Our strongest argument to keep Penn State Hazleton open is very simple  this is one of the fastest growing regions in all of Pennsylvania. Our local economic growth is the best in the state, and Penn State Hazleton is a key piece of our economic future. I look forward to presenting both the data and stories we hear directly to Penn State leadership."

Thursday's discussion will include:

Dr. Elizabeth J. Wright, Regional Chancellor & Chief Academic Officer, Penn State Hazleton, Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre

Joseph Clifford, Chair, Penn State Hazleton Council

Neal DeAngelo III, Penn State Hazleton Council

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Gary Lamont, Penn State Hazleton Council

Tiffany Veet, Penn State Hazleton Adjunct Instructor and Alumnus

Mary Malone, President, Greater Hazleton of Commerce

Robert Curry, Founding President, Hazleton Integration Project

Rossanna Gabriel, Executive Director, Hazleton Integration Project

Dr. Brian Uplinger, Superintendent of Schools, Hazleton Area School District

Cathy Colaneglo, Executive Director, Hazleton Partners in Education

Terri Ooms, Chief Executive Officer, The Institute PA

Brian J. MacAuley, Penn State Hazleton Alumnus

Cassidy Lugo, Penn State Hazleton Alumnus

Additional participants are expected.

The event will be livestreamed on Argall's website.
A mortgage firm has started foreclosure proceedings on the Old Forge home of convicted killer Justin Schuback, who is serving life in prison for the 2017 murder of pizzeria owner Robert Baron Sr.

Nationstar Mortgage LLC of Coppell, Texas, filed in Lackawanna County Court on Feb. 26 a civil foreclosure complaint against Schuback that could cause him to lose the home at 3 Foundry St. in Old Forge.

Schuback (SUBMITTED)

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Baron, 58, who was the owner of Ghigiarellis Restaurant, 511 S. Main St., Old Forge, went missing on Jan. 26, 2017, and was soon presumed dead.

Robert Baron Sr.

His disappearance sparked a yearslong investigation and family crusade for justice that culminated in the discovery of Barons remains and the conviction of Schuback for the murder that occurred during a botched robbery.

Schuback was arrested March 31, 2023, after a search discovered Barons remains near Pagnotti Park. Until that breakthrough, the crime had gone unsolved for over six years. Authorities finally cracked the case with cellphone range-to-tower data that showed Schubacks phone at key locations and times on Jan. 25-26, 2017, according to trial testimony.

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Members of the Scranton Police Special Operations Group and Lackawanna County SWAT approach the front door of a home at 3 Foundry Street in Old Forge as they serve an arrest warrant for Justin Schuback on March 31, 2023. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)A member of the Lackawanna County SWAT team takes Justin Schuback into custody on Foundry Street in Old Forge on March 31, 2023. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)

During the trial in May, prosecutors contended Schuback went to Ghigiarellis to steal money but didnt know that Baron, who lived upstairs, was at the pizzeria, and the two ended up in a deadly altercation.

A jury found Schuback, now 39, guilty of first-degree murder and he was sentenced in July to life in prison, as well as 7 years behind bars for robbery and burglary. He automatically received a sentence of life in prison on the first-degree murder charge.

In December, a judge denied Schuback a new trial. He remains incarcerated at the Lackawanna County Prison.

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The foreclosure complaint against Schuback takes the form of a Notice of Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program and details the legal procedures that a defendant could take to try to resolve the outstanding loan to avert a foreclosure.

Schuback acquired the home in 2021. The mortgage is in default because monthly payments of principal and interest are due and unpaid since April 1, 2024.

The foreclosure action seeks $25,466, which includes an unpaid principal of $23,885 and the rest in accrued interest, escrow advances and late charges that were due as of Jan. 29; as well as unspecified attorneys fees and costs of foreclosure and a sheriffs sale of the property.

Meanwhile, after Schubacks conviction, Barons daughter, Brittany Baron  acting as the administrator of her fathers estate  in May filed in Lackawanna County Court a wrongful death lawsuit seeking $1 million from Schuback.

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After Schuback did not formally respond in court to that lawsuit, Brittany Baron in February filed a legal step for a default judgment of $1 million against him.

Flowers are seen at the front door of the closed Ghigiarellis Restaurant in Old Forge on Sunday, April 2, 2023. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)
To the editor: Few communities know the devastation that oil drilling can produce as much as Santa Barbara ("Under Trump, Texas firm pushes to restart Santa Barbara oil drilling. Is it skirting California laws?" April 6). We have seen our beaches drenched in oil, our land despoiled and wildlife killed. Sable Offshore Corp. is full of promises that its operations will be safe and secure. Yet its arrogant actions to ignore cease-and-desist orders from the California Coastal Commission warn us that it cannot be trusted.

America produces more oil and gas than any other country on Earth. Do we need to risk despoiling a pristine coastal area to get more? Despite the Trump administrations drill-baby-drill policies, responsible world leaders are phasing out fossil fuels and transitioning to cheaper, safer renewable energy.

The city of Santa Barbaras 2024 Climate Action Plan, Together to Zero, provides a road map aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2035. Theres no place in that plan for more oil and gas.

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Robert Taylor, Santa Barbara

..

To the editor: I was a young mother in Santa Barbara at the time of the 1969 spill, a lawyer for Santa Barbara County at the time of the Exxon Alaska spill, when the county had to consider "tankering" of oil from offshore platforms, and I was a public member of the Coastal Commission in 2015, when the Refugio spill  the one from the same pipeline at issue now  poured from onshore, into the ocean, damaging 100 miles of coastline.

This is exactly why we have a strong, statewide Coastal Act. Sables claim that it doesn't need permits for repairs in environmentally sensitive habitat is specious, and it has preemptively sued the commission. Now that Sable has acquired Exxons processing plant, as well as the pipeline  10 years after the Refugio spill  for the sake of all our children, and grandchildren, all the permits should be revoked or deemed abandoned.

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Jana Zimmer, Santa Barbara

..

To the editor: The 1969 Santa Barbara disaster, the environmental shot heard round the world, helped lead to the founding of Americas most powerful coastal regulatory agency, the California Coastal Commission. The agency was singular for many reasons. Foremost, it was birthed by the people in 1972s Proposition 20 and codified four years later with passage of the California Coastal Act. Oil drilling off our storied coast was thereby regulated. Texas-based Sable is working to unravel the commissions regulatory authority. We must fight this effort. Contact Sacramento officials. Remind them that our treasured coast is the soul of California.

Tom Osborne, Laguna Beach

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...

To the editor: In the same April 6 edition of The Times there is an article about a Texas oil company trying to resume drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara and then a few pages later another article about an oil company that has been found liable for damaging coastal Louisiana ("Chevron ordered to pay more than $740 million to restore Louisiana coast in landmark trial," April 6). What's that definition of insanity again?

Larry Harmell, Granada Hills

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
To the editor: Los Angeles and the Hollywood community overall will soon feel the effects of the Sundance Film Festivals decision to move to Boulder, Colo. In the past few weeks, a number of storylines have emerged, placing blame anywhere from politics to finances, but its way more nuanced ("Of course Sundance is fleeing. Utah has become a hateful place," April 4).

As one of the original founding staff members of the Sundance Film Festival, I know exactly where and how this story began. Sundance was born, not just as a film festival, but as a cultural force grounded in place. Robert Redford didnt choose Utah because it was easy or obvious. He chose it because it was different. Because the power of Sundance was never just about the films  it was about the space it created for independent voices to emerge in a setting that challenged, inspired and transformed.

The real story is this: Sundance is facing financial headwinds, brought on by a shifting independent film industry and revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. The new leadership team, instead of working with Utahs public and private partners to rebuild a stronger future, chose to walk away.

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As the current mayor of Salt Lake County, I proposed a summit  at the Sundance Resort itself  where we could meet as partners and determine how to evolve the festival, given the changing landscape. A gathering of local leaders, creative voices, and community partners, in a place built for dialogue and reflection. That offer was never accepted.

Additionally, financial offers from Salt Lake County and the state of Utah were also serious and substantial; proposed to increase funding, offer infrastructure and provided a clear path forward. It still wasnt enough.

Lets be honest about what happened here: The current Sundance leadership didnt want to solve problems. They wanted to move on from them. Instead of working within a community that stood by the festival through decades of growth, they opted for a clean break  and used politics as the convenient excuse.

But politics are not the real story. If they were, Redford would never have planted his vision in Utah to begin with. A progressive himself, Redford understood that impact happens when you speak truth in hard places  not when you run from them. He used his platform to protect public lands, elevate marginalized voices, and push for change. Sundance became powerful because it operated in a place where that power meant something.

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As a Democratic mayor in a conservative state, I dont shy away from Utahs challenges. I face them every day. But I also know that the presence of Sundance here made a real difference. It opened doors for underrepresented communities. It gave audiences access to new ideas and new perspectives. It planted seeds for change where it was needed most.

This is a loss for Utah. But its also a loss for Sundance. This exit leaves behind the environment that gave it its identity, but more importantly the people and the principles that gave it meaning. Sundance forgot its roots, the community that built it and the essence of what made it great in the first place; independent voices arent just needed in comfortable places  theyre needed in the places where they can actually make a difference.

Jenny Wilson, Salt Lake City

The writer is the mayor of Salt Lake County.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Several European countries have revised their travel guidance for citizens planning trips to the United States, with specific new advisories for transgender and non-binary travellers.

It comes after President Donald Trump initiated policies in January establishing federal recognition of only two biological sexes - male and female. For LGBTQ+ travellers, it compounds concerns about visiting the US, where local state laws and social climates can already create distressing situations.

On top of this, an executive order issued by Trump involving tighter border security, stricter visa screening and an immigration crackdown alongside a general souring of the USs relationship with Europe has many European tourists rethinking travel to the US.

LGBTQ+ travellers fear detention at US borders

Trumps new policies have created uncertainty - especially for transgender and non-binary travellers, as US immigration authorities may now require documentation showing their sex at birth.

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It means that individuals whose legal gender markers on official documents such as passports, visas or visa waivers don't match their birth sex - or who have X gender markers rather than M or F - could face challenges when attempting to enter the US.

The situation has raised particular concerns about the possibility of being detained at the border for those whose documentation doesn't align with the new US requirements.

Travellers should be prepared to answer routine questions from immigration officers about the purpose of their visit, the duration of their stay, and where they plan to stay. Officials may take visitors for a second round of questioning, which is longer and more detailed.

Dozens of European countries issue US travel warnings

As a result of the new policies, several European countries have issued new travel advisories in the last few months.

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Denmark and Germany recommend those with X gender markers on their passport or who have changed gender to contact the US embassy before travelling.

Finland warns that US authorities may deny travel permits if a travellers passport gender doesn't match their birth gender.

Related

Ireland cautions that US visa waiver forms require declaring biological sex at birth and recommends contacting the US Embassy for specific requirements.

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The Netherlands states that gender at birth must be indicated when applying for ESTA or a visa and notes that some US states have laws with "negative consequences for LGBTIQ+ people".

Portugal, Finland, Germany and a handful of other European nations have also emphasised that having proper documentation - like a visa or visa waiver - doesn't guarantee entry after some European travellers experienced problems at the border.

Cases like that of three German nationals who were denied entry and detained as they tried to enter the US in March have prompted these reminders.

Final decisions, they have warned, rest with border agents.

European travellers are increasingly reluctant to travel to the US

In 2023, EU data shows that Europeans spent around $155 billion (141 billion) on trips to the US.

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But unease surrounding entry regulations, immigration crackdowns and stricter visa screening since Donald Trump became President has sparked a sharp decline in the number of foreign travellers visiting the country.

Preliminary data from the US National Travel and Tourism Office shows that the number of visitors to the US from Western Europe dropped by 1 per cent year on year in February compared to a 14 per cent year on year increase during the same month last year.

French hotel group Accor SA has reported a 25 per cent drop in bookings from Europe to the US for this summer.

LGBTQ+ travel agencies say inquiries from their customers reflect this growing apprehension, too.

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Darren Burn, CEO of luxury LGBTQ+ travel agency Out of Office, says they have seen a noticeable increase in our LGBTQ+ clients expressing concerns about travel to the US.

These queries often relate to safety in public spaces, legal protections, and how they may be treated at borders or hotels, he adds.

The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA) has also seen a rise in concerns from LGBTQ+ travellers.

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President John Tanzella says, these concerns are completely valid.

Many travellers are worried about access to gender-affirming care, border security, passport gender markers, and overall safety - particularly in states where anti-LGBTQ+ policies have been enacted, he adds.

Advice for LGBTQ+ travellers on visiting the US

Travellers with concerns about visiting the US can get in touch with IGLTAs Gender Diverse Travel Advisory Group (GTAG).

The volunteer-led group of industry leaders from around the world is committed to ensuring trans and gender-diverse travellers can move freely, safely, and with dignity.

GTAG recently hosted a webinar discussing the challenges trans travellers face and offering actionable steps for businesses to continue supporting LGBTQ+ visitors amid uncertainty.

Travel agency Out of Office also says it can provide personalised advice for travellers and adjust itineraries to prioritise destinations where clients will feel most comfortable.
BEIRUT, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Greece is ready to provide necessary support to the Lebanese army as needed, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said here Tuesday.

Dendias made the remarks when meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, during which he also expressed willingness to share Greece's military expertise and military infrastructure advancements, according to a statement by the Lebanese Presidency.

Aoun welcomed Greece's support, saying it is a testament to the mutual commitment between the two countries to elevating bilateral ties to a higher level.

Aoun also briefed Dendias on the current situation in southern Lebanon, and condemned Israel's continued violations of Lebanese territory, of the ceasefire agreement reached in November, and of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Earlier on Tuesday, Dendias met with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Menassah, during which the two discussed bilateral defense cooperation, international issues of common interest, and the regional situation, according to a report by Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA).

They highlighted Greece's role within the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, and addressed the importance of bilateral coordination to combat illegal migration, the NNA reported.

Dendias expressed Greece's firm commitment to Lebanon, and its readiness to assist Lebanon in meeting the Lebanese army's operational needs, the NNA reported.

Menassah thanked Greece for its continued support for Lebanon, and called on Greece to help halt the ongoing Israeli violations and ensure the full implementation of Resolution 1701, the NNA reported. 
Last week, NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kruegertestifiedin front of Congress about allegedly biased journalism in each of these outlets. While congressmen are right to be angry over how NPR and PBS covered certain stories, a more important issue is at stake: The federal government should not be funding journalistic outlets, and Congress should end all funding for these companies.

Elon Musk caused a stir when helabeledNPR as a "government-affiliated" news network akin to Russia Today (RT) or Peoples Daily in China. While this is anexaggeration, it is also not accurate for NPR to claim that it only gets 1% of its funding from the government. For much of its history, NPR relied primarily on federal funding, but that changed in the 1980s as threats of defunding from Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrichforcedit to seek other revenue sources. Currently, NPRs biggest source of revenue is corporate sponsorships, at $121 million. Second is federal funding of $90 million, which makes up about 30% of funding. If Congress cuts federal funding to NPR, it will still leave NPR with 70% of its budget.

While memories of Mr. Rogers color most peoples impressions of public broadcasting, there is a darker side to public broadcasting that calls into question whether the government should be funding it. As a partially government-funded outlet, NPR claims to be an unbiased news source. However, in the 2020 Election cycle, NPRstifledcoverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story, which chronicled the younger Bidens shady business dealings and his father, then-presidential candidate Joe Bidens possible involvement. More tellingly, former NPR editor Uri Berlinerrevealedin an essay that registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in the NPR newsroom by an astonishing 87-to-0 margin.

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If this were a private outlet, this wouldnt be an issue. One would expect not to find many registered Republicans at the Young Turks, nor would many Democrats expect to be found at the Daily Wire. NPR is not a private outlet; itreceivespublic money to the tune of $535 million per year. If NPR and PBS are not unbiased news outlets, then they are failing at their founding mission. To expect balanced content from a newsroom employing 87 members of one party and zero from the other is highly questionable.

There are other reasons why Congress should end public funding of NPR and PBS. By their ownadmission, NPR doesnt even need the funding they receive from the federal government. Congress should call their bluff and give them what they want. In addition, much of the content produced by PBS is not something that requires government funding to exist. While Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, and Libertys Kids all serve a noble purpose, it is doubtful that the private sector could not support this content on its own. The success of content like Peppa Pig, Bluey, and many others shows there is public demand for this type of thing.

There is a more fundamental reason why Congress should cut funding to NPR and PBS: Nothing in the Constitutiongivesthe federal government the authority for public broadcasting. The Constitution only gives the federal government the powers specifically defined in the Constitution and reserves all other powers to the states and to the people. Issues like public funding of broadcasting go to the core of our constitutional order. Policies and funding not only have to pass the test of "Are they needed?" but they also have to pass the test of "Is it constitutional?" The Founders designed our Constitution to limit the government and safeguard our rights from tyranny. If we allow the government to violate the Constitution with regard to public broadcasting, we are permitting it to violate the Constitution in other ways. If we are to protect our constitutional order, we need to enforce the Constitution in all areas of life.

The testimony of PBS and NPR CEOs in front of Congress last week reminded us of the bias deep in both of these organizations. They also exposed a greater problem: Funding for NPR and PBS is unnecessary and unconstitutional. Defunding NPR and PBS would be a welcome step in restoring our constitutional order.

Matt Cookson is a contributor and was a Middle East History and Policy Fellow with Young Voices. He also works in the supply chain for a U.S. Defense contractor. His commentary has appeared at the Mises Institute, RealClearPolitics, The American Thinker, Providence Magazine, China Source, and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. You can follow him on X @MattCookson95.
LINCOLN COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR)  A group of fire chiefs in Lincoln County are signing on to a letter to Governor Kevin Stitt, demanding clarification as to why he fired the former director of the state Forestry Department.

Why do I even have a Department of Forestry? Lets just get rid of the whole thing, said Governor Kevin Stitt last week during a press conference.

LOCAL NEWS: Oklahoma Forestry employees face uncertainty after Stitt calls for cutting department

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I feel like the governor is dangling a carrot in front of the fire service, said Chief Todd Beesley, of the Wellston Volunteer Fire Department. Because he knows we dont agree with what hes done.

Chief Beesley was reacting to the governors suggestion to cut the Oklahoma State Forestry Department. The statement came days after he fired the department director, Mark Goeller. The governor claimed resources were not used properly during the historic wildfires on March 14th.

If all the resources were spent, we get it. There was just a lot of fires going on. But, that wasnt the case, said Governor Kevin Stitt. We still havent been able to figure out where they were during that during that thing.

Chief Beesley and his crews were working all night battling the fire burning through 5,100 acres near the town of Merrick.

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Although, we have had some large wildfires, we havent had thats really been pushed by hurricane-force winds. We all understood that resources were stretched thin everywhere, said Chief Beesley.

Sunday night, Beesley and 13 other Lincoln County fire chiefs signed on to the letter, profound outrage and strong opposition regarding the recent removal of Oklahoma Forestry Director Mark Goeller

LOCAL NEWS: Nothing was held back: Former state forester speaks out after firing

The chiefs also said, We respectfully ask that you provide a clear explanation for this decision and consider the long-term impact it may have on Oklahomas forestry and wildlife response efforts.

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The added the governors comments reflect poorly on the fire service as a whole, including the 80% of firefighters who are volunteers.

Its a loss to the forestry department and to the state to lose a man with 40 years of experience, said Beesley.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Thirty-four of 138 Frederick County businesses sold alcohol to underage buyers during compliance checks by the Frederick County liquor board between July 2024 and April 2025, according to the countys Health Department.

The checks were conducted as part of a compliance initiative designed to reduce access by youth to alcohol and tobacco products, according to a Health Department press release.

Funding for the compliance checks is provided by the Maryland Department of Health.

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The liquor board took over inspections from the Maryland State Police in 2023, Director Dawn Shugars said Friday.

The Liquor Board does education and training to try to help businesses avoid violations, she said.

We do a lot of upfront talking about it, but they still have a problem with businesses selling alcohol to underage people, she said.

The board uses volunteers from local colleges to conduct the compliance checks, she said.

Shugars said the training leads to a drop in sales to underage customers.

Between April and June 2024, eight of 13 businesses that were checked served the underage customer, while between January and March 2024, 25 of 57 businesses committed violations.

 Ryan Marshall
A Big Lots store in Kettering may reopen soon.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

News Center 7 crews spotted a sign that said, The comeback starts soon on the previously shuttered Big Lots store on E Dorothy Lane.

Another sign posted on the door asks people to apply to work at the store.

TRENDING STORIES:

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As previously reported by News Center 7, Big Lots announced it would close hundreds of stores after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.

The company began going out of business sales in December but was sold to Gordon Brothers Retail Partners less than two weeks later.

The strategic sale to Gordon Brothers and the transfer to Variety Wholesalers is a favorable and significant achievement for Big Lots that reflects the tireless work and collective effort of our team, Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn previously said in a statement.

On April 4, Variety Wholesalers announced that its starting to reopen Big Lots locations across the country, according to a press release.

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>>RELATED: Big Lots closing several stores in Ohio; Here is the full list

The first wave will start on Thursday and includes nine stores in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Were thrilled to bring the Big Lots! brand back to life by offering more deals than ever, lots of famous brands and a new apparel department for the entire family, President and CEO of Variety Wholesalers Lisa Seigies said. Were opening stores quickly so we can serve the community. We know the stores wont be perfect to start, but each week well add more new products as we build towards the grand opening celebration in the fall. Every time a customer visits Big Lots! we want them to find something new and exciting!

The release indicates that Variety Wholesalers plans to reopen Big Lots stores in Ohio. News Center 7 is working to learn which locations will reopen.

In total, the company aims to reopen approximately 219 locations by June.

News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.

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CANFIELD, Ohio (WKBN)  As the times change, so too must the Ursuline Sisters. Theyre currently in the midst of a major renovation, and Tuesday, the project got a big boost from a local business.

Fred Moran and Window World donated $300,000 to the Sisters, helping pay for a renovated lobby and retirement suites for a new era of the motherhouse.

Its being renovated into a licensed assisted living facility, with 45 units to provide care for both the Sisters and others need of support during their retirement years. The goal is to continue the Ursuline Sisters mission even as the sisterhood grows older.

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Many communities have been forced to close their motherhouse or sell it. Were using it and instead transforming it, said Sister Patricia McNicholas. And our real goal is to maintain the mission as we become a smaller community.

In recognition of Freds commitment to the Ursuline Sisters and their ministries, the lobby of the Ursuline Motherhouse is being named in memory of his wife Lucy, who passed away in January 2024.

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BEAVER, WV (WVNS)  With a new 10 percent tariff on imported goods from foreign countries, local farmers are worried about the impact it may have on the West Virginia beef industry.

Local farmer fears tariffs impact on products

According to the United States Trade Representative, West Virginia exported $27 million worth of beef and veal in 2022.

The Mountain State also exported $34 million worth of other livestock products in 2022.

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In reality, agricultural exports are a small part of West Virginias economy, but no less important to the people who produce them.

Ken Scott, owner of Grandview Hereford Farm, a cattle-calf production farm, is worried about what these tariffs mean for the future.

We export to Canada, Mexico, and to other countries. That could bring down the prices of those cuts of meat that we send overseas and into Canada. If that does occur, then its gonna ripple back to us here at the basic market of raising cows and calves. So, our market has been pretty good and it could hurt our market in the long run, said Scott.

Scott is worried about potential reciprocal tariffs being placed on U.S. goods exported to other countries.

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Hes also worried that the new tariffs could cause the cost of machinery to go up, which in turn, would cause the cost of beef to rise in order for the farmers to make any sort of profit.

Scott said there are several things needed to raise the calves on his farm that are imported from other countries.

I think the other way that it can affect us as a cow-calf producer is the prices of our input such as fertilizer. Most pot ash comes out of Canada, so obviously our fertilizer prices could go up. Of course, a lot of our machinery and so forth is built either in Mexico or in Canada or overseas, so our equipment and machinery and so forth, those prices could go up too. Which if our input costs go up and our prices of our products go down, course that hurts us in the long run, said Scott.

Spring is coming: What farmers need to do to prepare for the coming season

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Scott said the profit margin for his operation is very low because its very costly to raise calves to put on the market.

Hes willing to wait and see how these new tariffs will ultimately affect the beef industry in West Virginia, and hopes that in the long run, they benefit the local farmers of the Mountain State.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
Apr. 7Across the country, education foundations and their leaders need to operate more efficiently to impact the education community they serve, more effectively.

The CEFL Certification Program strengthens and education foundation to succeed now and into the future with proven standards of excellence for the administration and management of an education foundation regardless of size, geographic location, or education community served, a news release said.

Based on the Guiding Principles for Education Foundations, the CEFL Certification Program provides critical insights from subject matter experts in six domains. Specifically: Leadership & Planning, Marketing, Legal & Finance, Resource Development, and Collaboration.

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Celeste Potter, Executive Director of Education Foundation of Odessa was one of 21 individuals across the country to receive the Certification as an Education Leader at the National Association of Education Foundations Annual Conference, ImpactED '25, that took place in Knoxville, Tenn.

"The CEFL is the only training program specific to education foundation leaders. Since its inception in 2011, the CEFL has been awarded to 122 individuals across 31 states who have completed the rigorous requirements. Celeste's exemplary work in the program not only strengthened her local leadership at the Education Foundation of Odessa, but also positioned her as a nationally recognized industry leader. It has been an honor to work alongside Celeste and I'm excited to follow her continued great work in Odessa," CEFL Program Director Sara D. Bender said in the release.
In January, Storm Eowyn hit Ireland, leaving a path of destruction and flooding. The record-breaking extratropical cyclone was the most powerful storm to hit Ireland since Hurricane Debbie in 1961. Now, the full extent of the damage may be coming to light.

What happened?

According to The Irish Times, Storm Eowyn caused over 500 million (around $540 million) in damages to forests. It also damaged winter crops such as cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, and leeks, per Business Plus, which detailed the devastating effects of the storm.

One farmer was deeply concerned about the destroyed winter crop and future summer crop, saying, "We urgently need help on this one."

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In addition to affecting existing crops, Storm Eowyn could hamper future crops. As Business Plus explained, farmers worry that the ground could be too wet for sowing new crops, leading to shortages later in the year and food price increases.

Michael Kilcoyne, chief of Consumers' Association of Ireland, said, "There's a fear that prices in the shops will go up," adding, "It could be that the ground is so wet and has damaged the fields, it'll make sowing crops for later this year difficult."

Why is this event concerning?

Ireland is rarely hit by hurricanes or cyclones. However, extreme weather events are growing more intense as global temperatures rise, and areas not previously impacted are feeling the effects.

Pete Falloon of the University of Bristol shared his concerns regarding crop vulnerability and the current state of our climate, saying, "Crops are often vulnerable to extreme weather, and we can expect to witness ongoing shocks to global agricultural production and supply chains, which ultimately feed into food security concerns."

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In short, destroyed crops mean less food. Less food leads to higher grocery prices.

What's being done about it?

There's no magic wand to make severe storms disappear. However, it may be possible to reduce their intensity and impact. Strengthening infrastructure with climate-resilient buildings, improving emergency preparedness, planning evacuations, and fortifying homes can enhance safety now.

At the same time, reducing pollution from dirty fuels  the primary cause of our overheated planet  could bring an angry planet back into balance. You can contribute to a cooler future by upgrading to energy-efficient appliances known to provide significant savings on utility bills.

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.
It's common today that those in power favor businesses over people and profits over the planet. However, a local government in the Philippines recently proved that there are still people out there willing to defy those standards.

Local officials in the province of Palawan unanimously voted to protect the mineral-rich region by banning new mining permits for the next five decades, Agence France-Presse reported. This eco-conscious act was a direct response to the national government's attempts to expand its mining efforts throughout the country.

Palawan, known as "The Last Ecological Frontier" in the Philippines, is a gorgeous region teeming with diverse plant and animal life. Areas throughout the province are protected, and it contains numerous wildlife sanctuaries and parks. It's also full of valuable minerals.

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One of the most valuable is nickel, which is a key element in electric vehicle batteries. The growing demand for EVs has increased the demand for nickel, and the Philippine government is hoping to capitalize by creating more mines. The Philippine Mining Act of 1995, however, essentially puts all the power in the hands of local governments.

"This is a really big win not just for the people but for the environment, especially Palawan, which is our last frontier here in the Philippines," Jonila Castro, spokesperson for the Manila-based Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment, said.

The vote does not ban current mines, of which there are 11, but it does also pause for 25 years renewal and expansion applications.

While some argue that mining creates jobs and boosts the national economy, others say protecting the environment is more important. Conservationists in Palawan are concerned with flooding and deforestation caused by the mines as well as the displacement of the many Indigenous peoples in the province.

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The negative impacts of mining are affecting both people and the environment in many places around the world. The people of Palawan are unwilling to allow that to happen to them and their beautiful province.

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.
Great Lakes Great Responsibility is using technology to step up the fight against pollution in the Great Lakes. Founded by Meag Schwartz, the nonprofit focuses on protecting these vital freshwater resources  and now, they're making it easier for the community to get involved with high-tech self-service cleanup stations.

The organization recently put out a call to action on social media, hoping to raise "$5,000 for the five Great Lakes," as Schwartz told The Alpena News. In January, it surpassed its fundraising goal, reaching $5,250  thanks to the generosity of donors, including a $2,000 contribution from an anonymous source through the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan.

"So many people are about this and are willing to step up to the plate," Schwartz said. "We are still looking for more businesses that believe in a cleaner Great Lakes region and are willing to help."

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The latest addition to their cleanup efforts is the installation of high-tech self-service stations, which will be set up at busy spots like Starlite Beach and the Small Boat Harbor in Alpena. At these stations, visitors can scan a QR code with their phones and log the trash they collect. The data from these cleanups will contribute to the Great Lakes One Million Challenge  an initiative aimed at removing one million pieces of litter from the region.

Since launching, Great Lakes Great Responsibility has already collected 361,176 pieces of trash, and that number continues to climb. The self-service stations will help track progress, making it easier for people to get involved while providing valuable data to support future conservation efforts.

"We are looking for well-trafficked beaches where a lot of people go," Schwartz said. "Wherever humans go, there is often going to be a lot of trash."

Cleanups like these have a direct and lasting impact on the environment. Reducing the litter and plastic pollution that often ends up in the lakes helps prevent it from breaking down into microplastics, which can contaminate water and harm wildlife. The trash collected also prevents dangerous debris from washing into local waterways, protecting aquatic ecosystems and the creatures that rely on them.

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The growing support from donors and businesses shows that small actions  whether it's picking up trash or funding a cleanup initiative  can lead to bigger change. And for Schwartz, it's proof that people care about the Great Lakes and are ready to make a difference.

In your own community, you can take action, too. Whether it's organizing a local cleanup, helping track litter, donating to environmental causes, or even just picking up trash during your daily walk, every small action adds up.

You can reach out to local environmental groups to find out how to get involved or start your own initiative by placing trash collection stations in busy areas like parks or public spaces. And if you're near a body of water, consider taking action to keep it clean and educate others about the impact of pollution.

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.








BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday issued another threat against China, demanding China drop its countermeasures, or else face a new round of tariff hikes.

The naked extortion undoubtedly highlights Washington's hegemonic behavior. Utterly absurd is the underlying logic of the United States: "I can hit you at my will, and you must not respond. Instead, you must surrender unconditionally."

This is not diplomacy. It is blunt coercion dressed up as policy. Washington's stance reflects a dangerous form of economic bullying that runs counter to the principles of sovereign equality and mutual respect.

China has made its position unequivocal: "We do not provoke trouble, nor are we intimidated by it. Pressuring and threatening are not the right way in dealing with China."

The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a grave mistake on top of an existing one. China firmly opposes this move. If Washington is bent on going down this wrong path, China will not hesitate to respond in kind.

Indeed, appeasing a bully only emboldens further aggression. Just look at how Trump responded to the EU's request for talks to lower the tariffs: he declined to hold talks on changing tariffs "unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis, number one for present, but also for past."

Simply put, the Trump administration's trade war, launched under the guise of "fairness" and "reciprocity," is in essence a zero-sum game driven by the pursuit of "America First" and "American exceptionalism."

Policymakers in Washington must recognize that exerting maximum pressure on China will come to naught. China will remain firm in taking resolute steps to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests. The only viable path to resolving differences lies in equal-footed dialogue grounded in mutual respect. 
VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)  The Vigo County Health Department says prevention is key when it comes to protection from measles.

The Indiana Department of Health on Monday announced the first confirmed case of measles in Indiana this year. The IDOH says the case is an unvaccinated minor in Allen County.

Measles case confirmed in Allen County

Vigo County Health Department Public Health Educator Shelby Jackson says the best way to prevent measles is with the MMR vaccine.

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According to the IDOH, more than 93% of people who receive a single dose of MMR will develop immunity to measles and more than 97% will be protected after receiving a second dose.

Jackson says measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease spread by air droplets.

If someone coughs or sneezes in a room like this, it can actually stay in here for up to 2 hours. Thats why its super important to be aware of your symptoms and if you have any symptoms or any rashes present to call your doctor, but to make sure you isolate and stay out of the community, so that way we dont further the spread, says Jackson.

Jackson says symptoms of measles are high fever, rash, red watery eyes, a cough and a runny nose. She added tiny white spots may appear inside the mouth two to three days after symptoms begin.

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GEORGETOWN, S.C. (WCBD)  Local leaders in Georgetown say they are keeping a close eye on redevelopment plans for the former site of the International Paper mill amid community concerns about its future.

In late October, International Paper announced the permanent closing of its Georgetown Pulp and Paper Mill after nearly a century. The mill closed just before the December holidays, putting hundreds of workers out of a job.

Though no plans to revitalize the area have been formally announced, state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch (R-Georgetown) recently told News 2 affiliate WBTW that it was slated to become a biomass plant.

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Biomass plant could soon be at former International Paper mill site

Soon after, that rumored plan began circulating on social media, prompting a range of concerns from residents, from what specific type of biomass material would be produced at the plant to potential environmental impacts to how the overall community might be affected.

We understand that people care deeply about what happens next at this site  and we do, too, Georgetown Mayor Carol Jayroe said, noting that the site is private property. Our role is to be available, supportive, and collaborative when opportunities arise, and to advocate for outcomes that are in the best interest of our residents and local economy.

Georgetown County Council Chairman Clint Elliott said the site offers a significant opportunity economically while acknowledging redevelopment plans should consider its longstanding legacy in the community.

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We look forward to future discussions with prospective developers or companies about the propertys next chapter, Elliott said. While the zoning currently allows for heavy industrial use, our focus remains on economic development and job creation that aligns with community needs.

Leaders confirmed that no specific business or industry had been finalized for the property yet.

This is a transformative moment for our community, Elliott said. Were committed to navigating it with transparency, collaboration, and an eye toward a brighter economic future.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2.
PHOENIX, N.Y. (WSYR-TV)  Local non-profits are raising concerns over cuts to federal aid funding, including Erins Angels of CNY in Phoenix.

Each month, Erins Angels of CNY purchases canned goods and other items from the Food Bank of Central New York, helping to feed 100 students in the Phoenix School District.

We have a vision that theres no child hungry in Central New York and as a community, we can make that happen. But when these cuts come through, its going to make it more difficult, said Sheila Dion, founder and director of Erins Angels of CNY.

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The recent cuts to federal funding now have organizers worried about the future.

I think its too soon for the impact to happen, but were bracing for that impact, said Dion.

Just recently, 15 truckloads of food shipments scheduled to be delivered to the Food Bank were canceled.

Roughly 75% of the food Erins Angels buys comes from the food bank.

Whats going to happen is theres going to be a ripple effect, that food is not getting where it needs to be and so those families are going to then turn to smaller, local organizations who are already stretched thin with resources, said Dion.

Organizers worry that cuts to federal funding could impact supply and demand down the road.

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Were worried about the donations from the general public going down, possibly and then the need going up. So those two things are like a tornado meeting a volcano. Its not going to be good, said Dion.

Dion is now hoping the community will step up and help fight child hunger.

Click here to learn how you can help make a difference.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR.
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)  Louisiana lawmakers will consider a bill that would prohibit the addition of fluoride to public drinking water statewide, joining a national debate over the mineral long endorsed by public health agencies to prevent tooth decay.

Senate Bill 2, authored by Republican Sen. Mike Fesi, would repeal the Louisiana Department of Healths water fluoridation program and explicitly ban the fluoridation of any public water system in the state. If passed, the law would take effect Aug. 1, 2025.

The proposal comes as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending water fluoridation nationwide. Kennedy, who was appointed by President Trump, has called fluoride a dangerous neurotoxin. He announced Monday that he is assembling a task force to study the issue and provide new guidance.

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Kennedy praised Utahs recent decision to enact a statewide fluoride ban, calling the state a leader in his Make America Healthy Again campaign. That initiative is backed by a political action committee advocating for restrictions on food additives, water fluoridation, and certain purchases with food assistance benefits.

Public health groups push back

The American Dental Association (ADA) strongly opposes the Louisiana bill and Kennedys broader anti-fluoride stance. In an April 7 press release, the ADA said fluoridation is a proven, cost-effective tool that reduces dental decay, especially in children and low-income communities.

The growing distrust of credible, time-tested, evidence-based science is disheartening, said ADA President Dr. Brett Kessler. Blindly calling for a ban on fluoridated water hurts people, costs money, and will ultimately harm our economy.

Why water fluoridation is under fire in the US

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The CDC considers fluoridation of drinking water to be one of the top public health achievements of the 20th century, and currently recommends fluoride levels of 0.7 milligrams per liter. Nearly two-thirds of Americans receive fluoridated water, according to the agency.

Still, Kennedy and other critics point to studiesmany based outside the U.S., the ADA notesthat link high levels of fluoride to possible health concerns. A report last year from the federal National Toxicology Program noted a potential connection between fluoride and lower IQ scores in children, but emphasized that the findings primarily applied to regions with much higher levels of natural fluoride than found in U.S. water systems.

EPA launches review

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Monday that it will reexamine scientific data on fluorides health effects to determine if updates to its maximum allowable limits are needed. Current EPA guidelines cap fluoride in public water systems at 4 milligrams per liter.

Kennedys influence is already being felt. In addition to the Utah law and Louisianas proposal, the CDCs 20-person oral health divisionwhich helped administer grants related to fluoridationwas recently cut during a wave of federal staffing reductions.

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If passed, Louisianas bill would make it the second state in the nation to ban fluoridation at the state level. It remains to be seen how municipalities and water systems would adjust to the change, or whether fluoride supplements would be offered as an alternative, as is the case in Utah.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A lawmaker has filed a bill that could thwart a process underway to challenge the firing of five chief public defenders. (Getty Images)

Legislation has been filed to eliminate a chief public defenders right to push back against their dismissal, even as five such attorneys are in the middle of using that very process to hang on to their jobs.



State Rep. Les Farnum, R-Sulphur, has proposed a bill that would remove the ability of a chief public defender to ask for an investigation and hearing on their termination when their job contract is not renewed. His measure appeared a few days before Mondays hearing on the ending of state contracts with five chief public defenders from north and central Louisiana. It could derail their current challenge to these job losses.

The chief defenders in danger of being terminated include Michelle AndrePont in Caddo Parish, Brett Brunson in Natchitoches Parish, Deirdre Fuller in Rapides Parish, Trisha Ward in Evangeline Parish and John Hogue, who works in Tensas, Madison and East Carroll parishes.

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The Louisiana Public Defender Oversight Board has up to two months to decide whether those attorneys can keep their positions. Farnums proposal could thwart the process if it becomes law before that deadline.



The bill will be considered in the Louisiana Legislatures lawmaking session that starts Monday and lasts through June 3. Farnum did not respond to requests for comment sent to his phone and email address Friday and Monday.



His legislation is only the latest in a years-long power struggle between State Public Defender Remy Starns and the chiefs who manage local judicial district public defender offices and, in smaller districts, personally represent clients in court.



Starns has sought more control over the chiefs since former Gov. John Bel Edwards named him state public defender in 2020. He helped push a state law change last year that shifted significant authority over the public defense system from the state public defender board to the position he holds.



The new law also gave the governor greater influence over the public defense system. Gov. Jeff Landry now has more power over the public defender management board and the selection of the state public defender. He reappointed Starns to that job last summer.

Yet legislators did not agree to give Landry and Starns all the control they initially wanted last year. In response to complaints primarily from the chief public defenders, they added language to place limitations on Starns authority when it came to this ability to fire chiefs and set their compensation.

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The Public Defender Oversight Board can still create guidelines for what the chiefs are paid and intervene if a chief alleges to have been fired for improper reasons, according to the law approved last year.



A committee of the board called a hearing Monday as part of the process of reviewing whether Starns is trying to fire five chiefs inappropriately. The chiefs allege Starns is canceling their yearly contracts on July 1 because they have spoken out against him publicly in hearings with lawmakers and state public defender boards over the past few years.



They have opposed various things that he has done and have been very vocal about this opposition, said Stephen Haedicke, a New Orleans attorney representing the five chiefs at Mondays hearing.



Starns contends the board does not have oversight power over his decision to let go of the five chiefs.



Their contracts are not being renewed but, because they are not being fired in the middle of a contract cycle, the board cannot legally intervene on their behalf, Starns wrote to the board Friday. In the same letter, he described his own job responsibilities as very broad and awesome.



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The state public defender was also visibly irritated Monday that and hearing had been called, in his own words, to deal with agendas being driven by people who only care about themselves.

Starns complained the meeting, which lasted less than two hours, conflicted with his schedule and was preventing him from hiring staff members before a state government employment freeze takes effect at the end of the week.



He refused to answer most of the board members questions about the chiefs dismissals and left the hearing early before all the testimony was given.

One question Starns declined to address was why he decided not to renew the contracts of the five chief public defenders, none of whom have been accused of poor performance or malfeasance in office.



Absent any other explanation, Haedicke suggested the decision not to renew the chiefs contracts was retaliation for their opposition to Starns policies. Such actions threaten the independence of the public defense system, in which attorneys are constitutionally obligated to fight the state on behalf of their clients, the attorney argued.



If Starns has the ability to end chiefs contracts unilaterally, then the new public defense management system enacted by the legislature and the governor last year becomes one of political patronage, he said.

The governor attempted to exert his own influence over the board through a letter he sent March 27 in which he asked its members to reexamine the focus of the boards core mission.



While Landry doesnt directly mention the dismissal of the five chiefs in his letter, he referenced a legal opinion Attorney General Liz Murrills staff issued at Starns request supporting the decision to end their five contracts.

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These district defenders are lawyers under contract, not state employees. They enjoy more liberties under a contractual obligation than civil servants, and for that, they forfeit other protections, Landry said in the letter, without mentioning the dispute over their dismissals.



At the hearing, Haedicke characterized the legal brief from Murrills office, which is an advisory opinion and not legally binding, as deeply flawed. He said it ignored several aspects of the new public defender law, including the legal process the chiefs can use to challenge a dismissal.



It has gaping holes in it that make it just inept, Haedicke said.

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Yet Landrys letter also implied financial concerns were behind the dismissal of the chief public defenders and that their salaries were contributing to a web of out-of-control expenditures in the public defense system.



The governors comments were in line with one of Starns primary complaints. The state public defender has repeatedly objected to compensation guidelines for chief public defenders that the board has voted to keep in place multiple times.



Starns argues the compensation plan, which requires salary increases for many of the 37 public defender chiefs and costs around $1 million, is not something the public defender system can afford in its $48.8 million annual budget.



The board voted in favor of the higher salaries, in part, because some chief public defenders had not received a raise or cost-of-living adjustment in well over a decade. An alternative compensation structure Starns offered would have also dramatically cut some chiefs pay by tens of thousands of dollars, which made board members uncomfortable.



Still, Landry said the Louisiana Department of Government Efficiency  a state version of the Elon Musk-led federal cost-cutting initiative known as DOGE  would be scrutinizing chief public defender pay as part of a review of the states nearly $49 billion budget.



Any pay plan that focuses a district defenders pay heavily on inflating their compensation with little to no correlation to what each particular district can actually afford or what is reasonable compensation given the characteristics of each district, is in violation, Landry wrote.
The incomprehensible "info headquarters" of the non-existent "Artsakh" has raised its voice! They appealed to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, accusing the agency of lies and baseless statements.

Is it funny? Of course it's funny, but it's going to be even funnier now. These idiots inform the Armenian Foreign Ministry that Savelka Shahramanyan's "decree" on the dissolution of the Artsakh tent never existed, and they remind us that when he was released to Armenia, Samvelka immediately signed a piece of paper canceling the previous "decree".

That's how you guys decide. If there was no "decree", then what did Shahramanyan cancel?

And one last thing: at least sign "decrees" every day and sit in your "committees" - it's all useless. Your circus has gone on an eternal tour, accept it, clowns.
MEXICO CITY, April 7 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and five others injured on Monday in an armed assault at an addiction recovery clinic in northwestern Mexico, local authorities said.

Armed assailants attacked the clinic early Monday morning in the municipality of Culiacan in northwestern Mexico's Sinaloa state, according to the local public security secretariat.

The masked assailants, armed with high-powered rifles, forced open the clinic's gate and opened fire at patients and staff.

Local police arrived at the scene following several calls to the 911 emergency hotline, where they confirmed fatalities and injuries.

Eight people died at the scene and a wounded man died hours later after he was rushed to the hospital, the police said.

The State Attorney General's Office has launched an investigation into the shooting. 
A. O. Williams Hall on the campus of the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Baton Rouge. (Photo courtesy Southern University)

Louisiana college and university leaders have followed Gov. Jeff Landrys direction and presented a proposed budget to lawmakers that would effectively keep their state funding at current levels.

Lawmakers could choose to deviate from the governors proposed budget, but it is unlikely higher education will get a significant boost beyond the proposed funding.

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Landrys budget would decrease state funding for higher education by about $68 million, largely the result of one-time expenses from the previous budget cycle. The proposal also acknowledges an increase in tuition and fee revenue, meaning the overall budget for higher education would increase just over $4 million.

Lawmakers could have had more money to allocate if voters had supported Landrys proposed Amendment Two in the March 29 election. It would have reworked the states tax structure and moved hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue from state savings accounts into Louisianas general fund, where it could have been more easily spent.

Landrys budget plans come amid uncertainty in federal funding for higher education and other state government entities. As President Donald Trumps administration seeks to shrink government spending, universities are preparing for the possibility of substantially slashed federal research grants.

Under the proposed budget, the Southern University System, the nations only system of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, would see a budget decrease of about $33 million, primarily from decreased tuition and fee revenue as well as a small dip in state appropriations.

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The LSU System would experience a budget increase of about $46 million, driven by a boost in self-generated revenue from record enrollments at its campuses. The University of Louisiana System, which enrolls more students than any other system, would also see a budget increase from raised revenue. Its overall budget would increase about $14 million.

The Louisiana Community and Technical College System would also see a slight boost of $3 million.

When the legislature convenes for its annual session next week, lawmakers will consider what changes they will make to the state budget. Both House and Senate members will get a chance to make adjustments.

In addition to the primary state government operations bill, higher education receives money in the state construction budget and in a supplemental bill that covers a lesser amount of one-time money. Colleges and universities typically receive a substantial chunk of this funding.

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A small modular nuclear reactor is shown in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of Last Energy)

Louisiana is joining a lawsuit to overturn a federal rule as the state looks to roll back regulations on small nuclear reactors.

Gov. Jeff Landry and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) announced Tuesday the state will join Texas, Utah and energy company Last Energy in challenging the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions utilization facility rule, a licensing requirement that applies uniformly to all nuclear reactors, regardless of size or risk profile.

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Landry said the state is amenable to the development of small modular reactors, or SMRs, with a capacity to produce up to 300 megawatts of electricity. By comparison, Entergys Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Port Gibson, Mississippi, which provides part of the utilitys power, has more than 1,400 MW of generation capability

Joining this lawsuit is about defending our ability to pursue advanced energy solutions like SMRs  solutions that are reliable, clean and essential for economic development in the State, Landry said in a LDEQ news release.

The governor, Attorney General Liz Murrill and LDEQ secretary Aurelia Giacometto said in the release that, with a favorable outcome in the lawsuit, Louisiana could be uniquely poised to benefit from adding SMRs. At a separate news conference Tuesday morning, Landry noted the state already gets its electricity from a variety of sources, including natural gas-powered plants, coal-fired plants, hydroelectric facilities and nuclear power plants.

The state of Louisiana has always been living in all-of-the-above for over 50 years, the governor said.

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Originally filed in Texas in December, the federal lawsuit claims the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule has overextended its authority to regulate small modular reactors under the utilization facility rule. The lawsuit claims SMRs typically carry a lower safety and financial risk profile than larger reactors because of the insignificant amount of nuclear material it uses, making it unreasonable to apply the same regulations.

Members of the public would be exposed to only insignificant amounts of nuclear radiation, even in the case of a meltdown, the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit seeks to make it easier for Last Energy, a commercial nuclear reactor manufacturer with headquarters in Washington, D.C., to expand the use of its small modular reactors. The power source option is growing increasingly relevant as the military and data centers across the country look for large amounts of reliable energy to power their operations.

Nuclear development in the United States has substantially slowed since the 1980s, though nuclear plants account for nearly 20% of U.S. electricity generation overall and about 55% of U.S. carbonfree electricity, according to the World Nuclear Association.

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We are ready to take the next step and lead in the deployment and oversight of SMRs, said Giacometto in the release. If this challenge succeeds, states not participating in the case may remain under outdated rules, while Louisiana would be free to lead.

Greg LaRose contributed to this report
A photo of Keeny Hall at Louisiana Tech University from September 2016. Sterlingrb and UpAhead Design, via Wikimedia Commons

The Louisiana Legislature will consider creating a flat rate for TOPS program scholarships, regardless of what school students attend. It would increase the out of pocket costs for LSU and University of New Orleans students.

Currently, the state sets the TOPS award amount that each university receives. House Bill 77 by Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston, would decouple those rates from university tuition, meaning students would have to pay more out of pocket to attend more expensive universities but pay less at regional universities such as Nicholls and McNeese. It would create a significant decrease in TOPS revenue for LSU and UNO.

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Turners bill would also create a new award level that would provide additional money to students who earn at least a 3.5 grade point average and a 31 out of 36 on the ACT college admissions test.

If Turners bill passes, the base-level amount, which approximately half of Louisiana TOPS students receive, would be $6,000 annually, TOPS Performance students, who have at least a 3.25 GPA and a 23 ACT score, would receive $6,500. TOPS Honors students, who have at least a 3.5 GPA and a 27 ACT score, would receive $9,000. The bills proposed TOPS Excellence award, the new highest amount, would be $12,000.

Because the current base TOPS level is above $6,500 at LSU and UNO, both institutions could lose millions in state funding under Turners plan, while most other schools in the state would see a boost. LSUs nursing programs would also see a funding loss under the bill.

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Turner said he and coauthor, House Education Chairwoman Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie, worked with some of the states universities and the Board of Regents on the bill, which he said was intended to create fairness between the universities and to help keep high-performing students in the state.

It wasnt fair to give this university more and not the other one, Turner said in an interview. All the institutions would be treated equally.

The Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, more commonly known as TOPS, is a merit-based scholarship program that helps Louisiana students attend in-state schools.

Turner said he believed the bill would hurt LSU on the lower end, but that it would make up its loss through the new Excellence award amount. But LSUs main campus has nearly 10,000 students who would lose TOPS funding under the bill and only a small number of students who would qualify for Excellence.

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Any potential loss in funding would hit UNO particularly hard as it grapples with a budget crisis and looks to cut millions from its budget.

Students currently enrolled at LSU and UNO would begin to pay more out of pocket for the fall semester if the bill passes in its current form. The proposal is expected to face staunch opposition, because of its impact on LSU and UNO and an overall cost increase for TOPS.

Gov. Jeff Landry has pushed for a standstill budget after voters rejected Amendment 2 in the March 29 election. It would have moved hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue from state savings accounts into Louisianas general fund for lawmakers to spend.

For some schools with lower tuition and fees, the new award amounts would create an excess for students. Under present law, that money would be applied to students room and board expenses, which typically are paid out of pocket. But under a new law the legislature approved last year, schools have complete autonomy to raise their fees, meaning they could increase the cost of attendance to meet the new award amount  and increase their revenues.

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Louisiana lawmakers discuss key issues ahead of regular legislative session

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)  Key issues, including property insurance, tax reform, the state budget, and teacher pay dominated Mondays Baton Rouge Press Club meeting with House Chairs Jack McFarland and Julie Emerson.

Emerson, who serves as the House Ways and Means Chair, acknowledged Louisianas pressing challenges in property and auto insurance.

We know that we have to address it. We know that we have some of the highest rates in the country, if not the highest rates, she said.

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While she noted improvements in property insurance, Emerson emphasized that more work is needed, particularly concerning auto insurance rates.

This session were hoping to address everything on the auto insurance side, which does encompass some legal reform as well. So we will be looking to those things to try to create a better environment for insurance, Emerson added.

Tax reform was also a key topic, with Emerson discussing the recent failure of Amendment Two, which sought to combine Louisianas budget and revenue stabilization funds. While acknowledging mixed public feedback, Emerson emphasized the proposals long-term benefits.

When you combine those two funds, that does help remove that $600 million limit we have on corporate and franchise tax collections that goes into revenue stabilization. And so that frees up more money from the general fund and further helps us reduce rates moving forward, she said.

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House Appropriations Chair Jack McFarland addressed the states budget and the ongoing discussion around funding for education. He proposed using a $2 billion fund to reduce debt, which would, in turn, free up funds for teacher raises.

The teacher stipend is a priority, stated McFarland. Our education system is on the rise in Louisiana. Youve heard that reported. Teachers are playing a large role in that.

McFarland also highlighted efforts to reduce teacher burdens, particularly concerning testing, and discussed the states projected $194 million budget shortfall.

There are still things that we have to begin to do to prepare for the shortfalls, not just this year, but for those in future years, he said.

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He suggested using the Revenue Stabilization Fund for one-time expenses instead of recurring costs as part of a strategy to address the budget gap.

With the legislative session set to begin on April 14, both Emerson and McFarland expressed optimism that progress could be made in tackling these critical issues. As the session unfolds, lawmakers will continue to work on addressing Louisianas fiscal challenges and the needs of its citizens.

The public can expect updates on key decisions that will impact their communities in the coming weeks.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News.
Signage welcomes visitors to Bureau of Land Management land near Cedar City on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025.

Like any person after a long day of work, I like to sit on my couch and scroll social media. Normally this is a non-confrontational experience full of cooking tutorials, updates from friends, and memes. But recently as I was scrolling my Instagram feed, I was stopped in my tracks by a post from Gov. Spencer Cox. In this post, he insinuates that Utahs campaign for control of national public lands is to keep public lands in public hands accompanied by a video highlighting Utahs beautiful landscapes. This could not be further from the truth when examining the states track record.

Its not surprising that a post about who should steward our precious public lands has gotten my attention. As the chapter director for the Utah Sierra Club, I spend my time working to preserve Utahs natural beauty and our clean air and water. Each and every day, I hear from Utahns about why national public lands are important to them.

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Currently, most public lands in Utah are managed by the federal government on behalf of us all. The Bureau of Land Management, in particular, oversees nearly 23 million acres in the state, including world renowned red rock canyon country, vast areas of the sagebrush sea, high mountain peaks, and spectacular rivers. These places contain significant cultural landscapes and historic sites, outstanding outdoor recreation opportunities, important wildlife habitat, and critical water resources. We are incredibly fortunate that our public lands, waters, and wildlife are public assets. They are not a luxury available only to the few, but are vital to our individual and collective well-being. By being managed in the public trust, these lands include some of the last great vast, wild spaces left in this country, and their benefits to our health, our history and our heritage cannot be overlooked.

So whats the problem? The Utah state government wants to take over public lands currently managed by the federal government, claiming this will help Utah citizens. Gov. Cox has pushed even harder for state control of these public lands through the Stand for our Land Campaign. Unless youre an oil tycoon or gas mogul, state command of our public lands will not help you. Utah government management of public lands makes it easier to sell or lease them for oil and mineral extraction, and if the state sells or leases those lands to extractive industries, it is likely that those companies will block public access altogether.

The truth is the Utah state government sees dollar signs: Utah has already sold off more than 50% of its state trust land  over 4.1 million acres  restricting public access including for recreation. Control of public lands is not about protecting them, its about selling them to the highest bidder. The state will not steward our lands with conservation in mind, and thats why this land grab should be scary to all of us.

When I moved to Utah six years ago I shared with a coworker that Im from Riverside, California. She joked and said You must not like good air quality, youve gone from one bad air city to another. Now, of course, I do, but unfortunately, Im all too familiar with the pollution that will come with allowing the state to develop on public lands. If you know anything about Riverside, you know it has some of the worst air quality in the country. And my family felt the effects deeply. While growing up, I frequently was in the hospital with my brothers who suffered from asthma.

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Protecting natural, open spaces like national public lands is crucial to maintaining clean air and clean water for our communitiesnot to mention for local recreation economies. Some studies estimate that every dollar spent on creating and maintaining park trails can save almost three dollars in health care costs alone.

I urge you to pay attention to this latest move by our state government. If you, like me, care about access to natural spaces for you, your kids, your grandkids, and their kids, then you should be ready to make your voice heard. I invite you to join me in sharing your love for public lands and waters by contacting our state leaders to urge them to stop attacking the places so many of us cherish.
Lynchburg Republicans on Tuesday filed a federal suit seeking to overturn a new law that effectively bans party-run conventions in Virginia. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)

The Lynchburg Republican City Committee (LRCC) on Tuesday filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Virginia Department of Elections, the State Board of Elections and Elections Commissioner Susan Beals, arguing that a 2021 law known as the Convention Ban Law unconstitutionally strips political parties of their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and association.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, comes on the heels of another pending legal challenge from within Virginias Republican Party. On March 1, the Republican Committee of Virginias 6th Congressional District voted 22-1 to pursue its own litigation against the same statute, claiming it deprives political parties of their ability to control how they nominate candidates.

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At the heart of both challenges is a new section in the state code, which prohibits parties from using nomination methods that exclude voters who are otherwise eligible to participate  but are unable to attend meetings due to certain circumstances including having a disability, temporarily living outside the state, or experiencing a contagious disease.

The provision effectively bans long-standing party-run processes such as conventions, mass meetings, and firehouse primaries  instead mandating open, state-run primaries that do not require voter registration by political party.

The Convention Ban Law is a direct affront to our freedom of association as a party, said LRCC Chair Veronica Bratton.

Until 2024, the LRCC could choose a party-run process such as a party canvass or a convention to choose its nominee. This allowed us to keep opponents of our party from participating in helping choose our candidate, or even being that candidate.

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With the new law taking effect, the commonwealth of Virginia requires Lynchburg Republicans to allow Democrats, or even people who ran against our nominees, to choose our nominees, or even be our nominees, Bratton said.

Bratton cited the example of Peter Alexander, who signed a statement of intent pledging to support all Republican nominees in 2024, but then ran as a write-in candidate against GOP nominee Chris Faraldi in the general election. Alexander has since formed an exploratory committee to challenge Republican City Councilwoman Stephanie Reed in 2026.

Under the Republican Party of Virginias Party Plan, Alexanders support of an opponent disqualifies him from participating in Republican nomination contests for four years.

The Party Plan makes our membership rules clear, Bratton said. The Convention Ban Law undermines those rules and puts our partys integrity at risk.

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The legislation at issue  officially passed in 2021 and taking effect in January 2024  was spearheaded by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, and received bipartisan support. It was designed to ensure that absentee voters, including military personnel, students, and individuals with disabilities or medical vulnerabilities, are not excluded from participating in nominating processes.

Helmer defended the legislation Tuesday, arguing that the law was carefully crafted to protect the voting rights of Virginians who have historically faced barriers to participating in the electoral process.

We crafted a law that is constitutional and that is all about the ability of service members, students and people with disabilities to be able to choose a representative, Helmer said in a phone interview. He described the law as one that promotes democracy, adding, I am confident that it will prevail in court.

Helmer also pushed back on the political motivations he sees behind the lawsuit, linking the Lynchburg GOPs challenge to a broader trend within the Republican Party, accusing them of undermining civil rights.

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Its no surprise with (President Donald) Trump and (Elon) Musk attacking veterans and service members that Republicans in Lynchburg are trying to undermine their civil rights as well, he said.

However, critics say the law goes far beyond accessibility and amounts to a state takeover of party operations.

Rick Boyer, an elections attorney with Lynchburgs Integrity Law Firm, who is representing the LRCC, said the law forces Republicans to allow Democrats to help choose their nominees, and vice versa, due to Virginias lack of party registration and the open primary system.

Both the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions prohibit the government from shutting down the partys preferred speech, and from forcing it to allow its political opponents to help choose its candidates, watering down its message and weakening its chances for victory at the polls, Boyer said.

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He added that Lynchburg Republicans are confident that the Convention Ban Law is unconstitutional, and look forward to seeing it overturned, taking power away from Richmond and returning it to local Republican activists at the grassroots level.

The suit requests both temporary and permanent injunctive relief, asking the court to declare the law unconstitutional and to allow the LRCC to return to traditional nomination methods in time for the 2026 election cycle. With the statute already in force, all Republican nominations for 2025 have been locked in as state-run primaries, which are set for June 17.

In 2023, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares weighed in on the law, casting doubt on the legality of firehouse primaries.

A political party may not select a nomination method that de facto requires covered voters to be physically present to participate or that otherwise has the practical effect of excluding their participation, Miyares wrote in a legal opinion requested at the time by House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.

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That opinion came amid an attempt by Lynchburg Republicans to conduct a firehouse primary for a city council race  a process that was ultimately curtailed under the looming threat of noncompliance with state law.

Still, Republican critics argue that the statute effectively nationalizes local nomination processes and disempowers grassroots organizers.

The LRCC voted overwhelmingly to challenge the Convention Ban Law, Bratton said. Were standing up for the constitutional rights of all political parties, and fighting for the grassroots of our party against the big-money Richmond interests that try to ram open primaries down the throats of the people.

The LRCC has launched a legal defense fund to raise money for the ongoing litigation.

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LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR)  The Lynchburg School Board will meet on April 8th at 5 p.m. to discuss the future of T.C. Miller Elementary School and listen to the communitys opinions.

Interim superintendent Dr. Ben Copeland presented a four-phase project to help with elementary efficiency. In phase one, which would be implemented next year, would close T.C. Miller as a K-5 school and repurpose it to serve early elementary education. Those zoned to T.C Miller would move to Perrymount or R.S. Payne. It would also rezone the Birchwood, Florida Ave, and the Winston ridge neighborhoods

One month until Real ID enforcement: what Virginians need to know

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We have to make some decisions, we have to move forward on a plan. So I think the plan that Dr. Copland came up with, although it causes some pain for some people, I believe it gets us moving in the right direction to become fiscally responsible, said Daryl Conner, a board member.

Dr. Copeland says this transition could save the district $1 billion. These changes would be implemented in the 2025 to 2026 school year. Phases two through four would take place until 2030.

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Officials are cancelling classes in one Lynnfield school on Tuesday due to a reported threat found in the bathroom.

Lynnfield Police say they responded to the Our Lady of Assumption School around 9 a.m. Monday on a report that a written threat was found in one of the bathrooms. Details of the alleged threat were not immediately available.

Responding officers secured the school and brought in police dogs to investigate. Authorities also spoke with students and their parents and dismissed school early.

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In a letter sent home to parents, Principal Cynthia Donovan said:

This morning, we discovered a written threat in one of our restrooms. We immediately contacted Lynnfield Police and implemented a lockdown which meant all students needed to stay in their classrooms while the matter was investigated by the police. Your children are safe and being well cared for by our teachers and staff....I know this is difficult to learn and that you naturally are concerned. But please know we are proceeding with the utmost concern for your childs safety.

An investigation remains ongoing.

Our Lady of the Assumption School is a Preschool to 8th grade Catholic school, according to their website, with more than 300 students enrolled.

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SYDNEY, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A breakthrough DNA analysis technique is giving scientists a powerful new tool to combat invasive plants, Australia's Monash University said on Tuesday.

Researchers found the rapid adaptation of invasive plants is driven by their ability to gain and lose genes, known as "copy number variation," based on which a method has been developed to detect major genetic changes in centuries-old plant specimens.

These changes play a key role in how invasive species adapt so rapidly to new environments, according to researchers from Monash University and the University of Melbourne.

Focusing on ragweed, a noxious plant originally from North America that has spread aggressively across Europe and Australia, researchers uncovered consistent patterns of adaptation between native and invasive populations, dating back to samples from the 1830s.

Lead researcher Jonathan Wilson said the findings indicate that invasive plants tend to rely on the same genetic strategies to adapt to similar environmental challenges in new regions.

The research also identified the gain or loss of the gene targeted by the herbicide glyphosate, which could be critical in addressing growing herbicide resistance, according to Wilson who undertook the research while completing his PhD at Monash University, and is now a research fellow at the University of Melbourne.

"In the case of ragweed in particular, it is already a major contributor to hay fever in Europe, and we hope this research will help control the weed before it becomes a big problem in Australia," Wilson said. 
About a month ago, as Donald Trumps Justice Department purged a remarkable number of officials without cause, the U.S. pardon attorney, Elizabeth Oyer, was allegedly terminated for a ridiculous reason: According to her version of events, administration officials wanted her to restore actor Mel Gibsons rights to carry a gun, and when she declined, Oyers career came to an abrupt end.

And while the administration has denied her assertions, this week, as The New York Times reported, the story took an unexpected turn.

Senior officials at the Justice Department have claimed that executive privilege should bar a lawyer dismissed from the department from testifying to Congress about a disagreement with supervisors over restoring the gun rights of Mel Gibson, the actor and prominent supporter of President Trump. Nevertheless, Elizabeth G. Oyer, the departments former pardon attorney, appeared before lawmakers on Monday afternoon.

I am here because I will not be bullied into concealing the ongoing corruption and abuse of power at the Department of Justice, she told Democratic lawmakers.

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Among the elements that make this story interesting is the degree to which Team Trump seemed eager to pressure Oyer not to share information ahead of her appearance on Capitol Hill. Indeed, NBC News reported that her lawyer complained about the Justice Department using security resources to intimidate Oyer, even dispatching special deputy U.S. marshals to her home.

But stepping back, theres a related question that might not be immediately obvious: Given the fact that there are Republican majorities on Capitol Hill, and GOP committee chairs wouldnt dare hold oversight hearings into Justice Department abuses, who invited Oyer to talk to lawmakers about her experiences?

The answer is, two congressional Democrats  Sen. Adam Schiff of California and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland  organized a shadow hearing, inviting relevant witnesses to shed fresh light on the administrations attacks on the rule of law.

It wasnt an official hearing, but it effectively served the purpose of one  and in this instance, the gathering generated new and important information.

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It was also emblematic of new signs of life among congressional Democrats whove been under pressure for months to do more, and who appear to have gotten the message.

In addition to the newsworthy shadow hearing, Raskin and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut launched an investigation, pressing law firms for information on the White Houses alleged shakedowns. Similarly, Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, launched an investigation this week into Elon Musks conflicts of interest.

Around the same time, Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii announced that hes expanding his holds on White House nominees to include an additional 50 names.

All of this comes just days after Democrats appeared at Hands Off rallies. And forced a vote on curtailing Trumps tariff policies. And helped Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey hold the floor for 25 hours while shining a light on the presidents countless abuses. And launched a new Social Security war room.

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My point is not that Democratic officials are suddenly doing everything their base wants to see. Theyre not. Im also not arguing that the partys latest efforts will magically stop Trump and his team in their tracks. They wont.

But for those whove argued that its incumbent on Democrats to step up and do more, theres evidence to suggest that party officials are responding.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
From small towns to the largest cities, Rachel Maddow reports on the wide diversity of issues being protested in demonstrations across the United States on Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the streets to make their objections to Donald Trump's agenda heard.
Eleven weeks into Donald Trumps second term, much of the presidents White House Cabinet is off to a rough start. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Attorney General Pam Bondi and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, among others, quickly became mired in controversies soon after taking office.

But that list is still growing. The Atlantic reported this week:

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum likes chocolate-chip cookies  preferably freshly baked and still warm. This peculiar fact became the talk of the Department of the Interior in recent weeks after his chief of staff, JoDee Hanson, made an unusual request of the political appointees in his office: Learn to regularly bake cookies for Burgum and his guests, using the industrial ovens at the department headquarters.

The Atlantics report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added that the Cabinet secretary and his team have also repeatedly made unusual demands, including instructing political appointees to act as servers for a multi-course meal, dispatching a U.S. Park Police helicopter for his personal transportation and at one point even telling an appointee to remake cookies that failed to meet Burgums standards.

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As is usually the case, the administration pushed back against the reporting, with an Interior spokesperson describing the claims as pathetic smears from unnamed cowards. Similarly, a White House spokesperson dismissed concerns and stood behind the secretary.

Time will tell if the allegations amount to anything, though its worth pausing to appreciate the familiarity of the circumstances.

In Trumps first term, much of his Cabinet ran into serious controversies, and in four instances, Cabinet members were even referred to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution.

Arguably the most controversial member of them all was Trumps first interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, whose tenure was almost cartoonishly provocative: The Montana Republican came under at least 15 different investigations before resigning under a cloud of controversy. In December 2018, The New York Times published a round-up of Zinke-related probes, and it was a strikingly long list. Media Matters also put together a timeline of the former interior secretarys questionable actions and controversies, and that list was even longer.

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In one especially memorable story, Zinke, before Montana voters re-elected him to Congress, was even accused of misusing public resources on, of all things, helicopter rides.

Eight years later, if The Atlantics reporting is correct, another one of Trumps choices to lead the Interior Department appears to be reading from a similar playbook.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
This is an adapted excerpt from the April 7 episode of The Rachel Maddow Show.

On Saturday, thousands across the country took to the streets to protest the actions of the Trump administration. Among the many signs at the nationwide Hands Off demonstrations, a whole subcategory was devoted to measles. In Chicago, one protester held a sign that read: Got measles? Me neither! Thanks, science! and in Seattle, another read: You wanted cheap eggs but  got measles instead!

Right now, the United States is contending with its worst measles outbreak in decades. President Donald Trump has slashed billions of dollars in funding from not just federal, but also local and state health departments. The president also installed as the nations top health official a man who made a career out of demonizing vaccines  including falsely claiming that, among other things, vaccines were causing a holocaust in America.

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On Sunday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  that is still an unbelievable phrase  traveled to the epicenter of the measles outbreak in Texas for the funeral of the second unvaccinated child to die of the disease there in the last few weeks, an 8-year-old girl. After the funeral, a social media post from Kennedy included the line: The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.

That sentence from Kennedy is true and scientifically accurate, so, for a moment there, we were all on the same page. However, just a few hours later, shortly after attending the funeral of this unvaccinated 8-year-old girl, Kennedy put up another post, praising two Texas doctors as extraordinary healers for treating measles patients with quack remedies unsupported by any scientific evidence.

One of the doctors Kennedy referenced released a podcast earlier in the outbreak describing mass infection as Gods version of measles immunization. The other was once disciplined by Texas medical regulators for inappropriate use of certain treatments.

But even if you wanted to listen to version one of Kennedy, the guy who earlier in the day recommended the measles vaccine, well, getting one just got a lot harder in Texas. Dozens of free measles vaccine clinics have been canceled because of the Trump administrations massive funding cuts to local health departments.

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That means we may soon find out just how quickly decades of public health success can be undone. As epidemiologist and immunologist Dr. Michael Mina wrote in The New York Times last week, Measles is among the most contagious viruses known. A single case can cause dozens more in places where people are unvaccinated. Infants too young for vaccination, immune-compromised people and the elderly are all at risk.

Measles isnt just a fever and rash, he continued. It can cause pneumonia, brain inflammation, permanent disability and death. The virus can go dormant in the body only to re-emerge a decade or so after infection and cause rapid and fatal brain tissue deterioration.

Mina ended his piece with a warning: This outbreak may still seem small. But thats exactly how it starts. Each case is a spark. And the fuel is all around us.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
In modern American politics, most candidates, especially those seeking national leadership positions, tend to go out of their way to show respect and appreciation for the U.S. military. Donald Trump has long taken a dramatically different task, including during much of the 2024 campaign, when the Republican condemned his own countrys military leaders in striking terms.

Indeed, a month before Election Day, he said during an interview, The military is bad. We have generals that do such a bad job. In the same interview, Trump went on to complain that U.S. military leaders never get fired.

Evidently, he meant it. The Associated Press reported:

U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on NATOs military committee, was fired over the weekend by the Trump administration, U.S. officials said Monday. Although no reason was given, officials said it was apparently tied to comments she has made that supported diversity in the force.

The APs account noted that Chatfield was notified of her ouster by Adm. Christopher Grady, the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who told the admiral that the Trump administration wanted to go in a different direction.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly made the decision, and the AP report noted that its unclear whether he received any direction from the president.

While theres ample precedent for military leaders being fired for cause, theres no indication that Chatfield, a decorated helicopter pilot and the first woman to lead the Naval War College, did anything wrong or was falling short in her duties in any way.

So why was she removed from her post? According to The Washington Post, Chatfield had been targeted by a conservative group called the American Accountability Foundation, which lobbied Hegseth for her removal, pointing to a 2015 speech in which Chatfield said that our diversity is our strength.

And in 2025, such a sentiment is apparently beyond the pale.

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The developments were not well received among Democrats on Capitol Hill. In fact, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement, Yet again, President Trump has fired a military officer serving in a role that is critical to maintaining U.S. national security and national defense with no explanation given for the persons removal. ... The lack of information regarding VADM Chatfields removal is unacceptable, as is the apparent lack of planning for her successor.

Yet again, our country is less safe because of President Trumps actions.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, added, Trumps relentless attacks on our alliances and his careless dismissal of decorated military officials make us less safe and weaken our position across the world.

But as the dust settles on the Chatfield news, its also worth appreciating the degree to which this reflects an intensifying Republican purge of U.S. military leaders. Indeed, the admirals ouster comes just days after Trump also removed Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, who was both the head of U.S. Cyber Command and the director of the National Security Agency. Officials didnt elaborate as to why Haugh had to go, but the decision followed a private meeting between Trump and a fringe conspiracy theorist who had some recommendations about the administrations national security team.

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Trump has also ousted Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. James Slife, former vice chief of staff of the Air Force; Lt. Gen. Joseph B. Berger III, the Armys top military lawyer; and Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer, the Air Forces top military lawyer.

Of particular interest, however, is the president's apparent eagerness to target women in key military leadership positions. In fact, on the first day of the Republicans second term, he fired Adm. Linda Fagan, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, evicting her from her home with three hours of notice. The fact that Fagan was a four-star admiral and the first woman to lead a branch of the military apparently meant very little to the president who ousted her.

The New York Times noted, meanwhile, that the same list also includes Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short, and now, Chatfield.

Several weeks ago, five former defense secretaries  including retired Gen. Jim Mattis, Trumps first defense secretary  condemned the administrations military firings as reckless. Their joint letter, addressed to Congress, asked that the House and the Senate hold immediate hearings to assess the national security implications of Trumps dismissals.

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Mr. Trumps dismissals raise troubling questions about the administrations desire to politicize the military and to remove legal constraints on the presidents power, they said in the letter. Talented Americans may be far less likely to choose a life of military service if they believe they will be held to a political standard.

Trump appears to have ignored their concerns, and GOP leaders on Capitol Hill have scheduled no such hearings.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Todays installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* NBC News reported that the North Carolina Supreme Court temporarily blocked a lower courts ruling that would have required that more than 65,000 votes cast in the disputed 2024 state Supreme Court race be recounted and verified.

* As Democratic officials start to feel some optimism about the 2026 midterm elections, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced this week that its targeting 35 Republican-held House seats. The party will need a net gain of three seats to take back the majority in the chamber.

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* Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone, a longtime Republican donor, condemned the White Houses trade tariffs in an interview this week. I dont understand the goddamn formula, Langone told The Financial Times.

* To the surprise of no one, Republican Rep. John James of Michigan launched a 2026 gubernatorial campaign this week. It will be his third bid for statewide office, following failed Senate campaigns in 2018 and 2020.

* In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott finally scheduled a congressional special election to fill the vacancy left by the late Rep. Sylvester Turners death. That said, voters in the Houston-area district wont get to choose a new representatives until November, leaving them without a voice in Congress for the next six months.

* In Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoffs re-election campaign raised $11 million in the first quarter, and if that sounds like a lot, it is: As Politico noted, the Democratic senators haul was the most ever raised by an incumbent in the first quarter of an off-year.

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* And while state attorneys general races tend not to generate a lot of national attention, The New York Times reported that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergs group will spend $10 million to help elect Democratic attorneys general this year and in 2026. This first test will be this fall in Virginia, where a Republican incumbent, Jason Miyares, is seeking a second term.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Todays edition of quick hits.

* SCOTUS strikes again: The Supreme Court on Tuesday halted a federal judges ruling requiring several federal agencies to reinstate around 16,000 workers the Trump administration had sought to fire. The decision to grant the administrations request means the federal government doesnt have to take steps to bring back some workers who were laid off while litigation moves forward before a federal judge in California.

* Striking tariff news: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports Trump threatened yesterday will go into effect at midnight tonight, raising U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to a combined 104%.

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* CBP One: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is terminating parole protections for people who entered the country through the CBP One app, revoking legal status for nearly a million migrants who came to the U.S. during the Biden administration. Roughly 985,000 people used the app to make appointments at a port of entry at the border, with those who entered often permitted to seek asylum and given temporary work authorization.

* Remember all the times the right argued that these immigrants dont pay taxes? The Department of Homeland Security said in a court document that the IRS has agreed to share certain tax information filed by undocumented taxpayers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

* Indefensible: U.S. President Donald Trumps administration is ending most, if not all, remaining U.S. aid for Afghanistan and Yemen, aid sources said on Monday, in what the U.N. World Food Program said could be a death sentence for millions.

* District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk is so predictable: A U.S. District Court judge in Texas on Monday tossed a Biden-era policy to increase staffing in long-term care facilities that participate in Medicaid or Medicare programs.

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* A lawsuit worth watching: The State of Maine sued the Agriculture Department on Monday, arguing that the agency violated the law when it froze funding to Maine last week and that the freeze threatened school meal programs.

* Be careful out there: The federal agency in charge of trucking safety on Americas highways dramatically slowed the pace of enforcement actions after the Trump administration took office in January, according to safety data, agency records and interviews with people familiar with the changes.

* Remember Michael Gableman? A former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice agreed Monday to give up his law license for three years after facing a string of ethics allegations stemming from his error-riddled review of the 2020 election for Republican state lawmakers.

* A welcome reversal: The National Park Service has reversed edits and restored content to its webpage about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in the wake of news reports and public backlash over the changes.

See you tomorrow.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
MADISON COUNTY, Iowa  New court filings show the Madison County Auditor has taken legal action to counter a recent decision made by the Madison County Board of Supervisors.

Online records show a petition for a writ of certiorari was filed in District Court on April 3 by Auditor Teri Kaczinski. The formal request is asking the Iowa Supreme Court to review

the boards March 26 decision not to approve the hiring of Leslie Beck as a part-time Second Deputy within the Auditors office for $27 an hour.

Beck has been a controversial figure for months following multiple efforts by Kaczinski to employ her using county funds. That includes twice as an employee of the Auditors office and a third time as an employee of a third-party consulting agency that was hired by Auditor Kaczinski in late January for $250 an hour.

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Beck was Kaczinskis campaign manager during her run for the Auditors office, and also recently organized a monetary fundraiser for Supervisor Chair Heather Stancil, who abstained from the vote at the center of the court filing. The agenda resolution to approve the hiring of Beck ended in a tie with Supervisor Jessica Hobbs voting in favor and Supervisor Diane Fitch voting against it.

2025.04.03-ON-KaczinskiDownload

Iowa Senate approves 2% increase in school funding, other funding provisions

The court petition claims, in part, that the Board cannot reject an appointee on frivolous, trivial, minimal, arbitrary or capricious grounds, and goes on to state that the vote against approval of the resolution was on frivolous, trivial, minimal, arbitrary or capricious grounds. You can read the petition in its entirety above.

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After voicing her opposition during the meeting, Supervisor Fitch explained she was worried about transparency and the process in which Becks hiring situation had been handled previously.

WHO 13 reached out to Auditor Kaczinski and all three supervisors for comment after the filing was obtained, but has not heard back. A BOS meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday.

This is just the latest sign of discord within the county government in recent months, following the arrest of the Madison County Treasurer, reports of alleged money mishandling, major budget cuts and contentious BOS meetings.

Iowa News:

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Madison County sheriff refutes claims made about Taylor Barksdale case

MADISON COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  In an April 7 Facebook post, Madison County Sheriff Ronnie Boyd takes issue with some claims being made in regards to the case of Taylor Barksdales death.

On Sept. 9, Madison County Sheriffs deputies discovered human remains in the Kingston area belonging to Barksdale.

A 911 call was made on August 5 from the area where the remains were later found. Former Deputy Blake Hassell initially claimed he responded to this call but later stated he did not, according to Boyd.

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Hassell resigned on Sept. 11, shortly before a possible termination.

The sheriffs office said it is understaffed and needs more helping hands.

Boyd refuted claims made regarding Barksdales case in a Facebook post addressing personal attacks and scheming made against the sheriffs office.

Boyd says some have used the Barksdale case to argue against a county maintenance and operations sales tax that will be voted on, soon.

There has been much said regarding the Barksdale case on social media that has no [forbearance] of truth, Boyd said in the statement.

Boyd then goes on to list the claims made about the case and addresses each one.

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Boyd first addresses the claim that Barksdale was reported missing on July 20, 2024. Boyd says the sheriffs office was first notified by a probation and parole officer on Sept. 5 after she had been made aware of reports that Taylor hadnt been seen in about a month or two.

Boyd says the sheriffs office started its investigation on the morning of Sept. 6. Barksdale was entered into the law enforcement database so the sheriffs office would be notified if anyone came into contact with Barksdale. Boyd says that to do this, the sheriffs office had to give a date of the last known time that she was alive. At that time, the sheriffs office last knew she was alive on July 20, 2024, when she was seen by Huntsville police.

The second claim made said there was a second call or multiple calls made to the sheriffs office dispatch about the same incident after the original 911 call. Boyd says if there was more than one call, he has not seen any record of it. Boyd does say that the 911 call should have been enough to elicit a response from a deputy and calls the lack of response disgraceful.

The third addressed claim said Barksdales body was wrapped in a haybale, found in a coyote den or cut up with a chainsaw. Boyd said none of those scenarios are true.

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The fourth claim said Barksdale was a confidential informant who was working for the sheriffs office. He says that is not true.

Another claim made involved a phone tip telling the sheriffs office where Barksdales body would be found. It says that is not true.

One claim stated the sheriffs office threatened witnesses to not say anything about Barksdales so it could cover up the deputys lack of response to the 911 call. Boyd denies that claim.

The next claim said the sheriffs office assumed Barksdales death was a drug overdose and that it botched the crime scene where her body was found. Boyd says that is not true and that it was always treated as a homicide from the beginning. He said the sheriffs office is confident that all evidence that could be collected was collected.

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Boyd said one claim was made that accused the sheriffs office of lying about asking for assistance from the Arkansas State Police. Boyd says he spoke directly to a sergeant from Company D in Lowell. Boyd says a newspaper reporter spoke to someone in Little Rock who wasnt aware of the conversation hed had at the local level.

Another claim stated that Barksdales case and Jason Lierls cases are connected. Lierl has been missing since 2022. Boyd says there has been no connection made between the two cases. He said if the sheriffs office finds a connection, it will report as such.

The next claim said the sheriffs office was searching for Lierls body when it found Barksdales body. Boyd said that is not true. He says that is why the sheriffs office stated early on that there was no connection because people were trying to make that connection from the start.

Boyd says one claim said the sheriffs office doesnt care or want justice for Barksdale or anyone else in a similar situation because of their lifestyle.

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If anyone believes that, they absolutely do not know the hearts of the men and women working at your sheriffs office, Boyd said. Yes, we make mistakes and experience frustrations just like everyone else, but we could not continue doing what we do if we didnt care. As far as justice, it involves finding out the truth of what happened. There can be no justice if we wrongly accuse a suspect or cant build a prosecutable case against the accused. Sometimes, those things are readily apparent, and sometimes, they take longer. We are working on finding the truth.

The last claim Boyd lists says the Missouri Cartel was involved with Barksdales death. He says nothing points to an organized group being connected to her death.

Boyd says the sheriffs office has interviewed a minimum of 35 people who may have had information on the case, some multiple times.

According to Boyd, 12 search warrants and six subpoena requests have been completed. He says 14 devices related to the case have been forensically imaged. He says there is most likely more to come.

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Boyd said the sheriffs office has dedicated more than 1,000 hours to investigating the case and collecting and analyzing information and evidence.

Boyd goes on to address the hate and anger toward the sheriffs office and expresses his displeasure with those he says are using Barksdales death to upend the passage of the maintenance and operations tax for the jail.

The full statement can be seen 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.
Donald Trump reigns like a great Ju-Ju from a mountain made of many tribes. Supporting him in his glory is an unlikely coalition of blue-collar workers, redneck hillbillies, Gen Z men, conservatives, Latinos and Hispanics, black voters, disaffected female Democrats, evangelicals, Catholics, and, in the filthier corners, those who chant Russia is our friend and have flown the swastika flag.

The recent protests across America are a sign that the magic mountain is wobbling. The president has so far managed to keep his best tribes together with a mixture of charisma, boosterism, interest-group politics and the ruthless intolerance of dissent. The general cultishness of his movement also goes a long way. This week, however, the pressure of Trumps berserk tariff strategy has opened the biggest cleavage among his supporters so far.

Elon Musk, the figurehead of his libertarian cheerleaders, has been spearheading a campaign to soften Trumps tariffs before they unleash an age of economic and geopolitical havoc. This has not gone down well with the protectionists.

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On Monday, Musk posted a video of the economist Milton Friedman praising the innovation, human flourishing and peace that free trade can provide. Literally thousands of people cooperated to make this pencil, Friedman said, turning one over in his hands. It was the magic of the price system that caused them to work together so beneficially across the borders of race, politics and culture, he pointed out.

The post on X was a shot across the bows of the economically nationalist spur of Trump Mountain, whose totems include the likes of Steve Bannon and the presidents chief adviser on trade and tariffs, Peter Navarro. By all accounts, this tension within Trumps inner circle is threatening landslide after landslide.

As part of his campaign, Musk has been demanding free trade with Europe, which now groans under American tariffs of 20 per cent. In a sombre interview, which he posted on X, he was unequivocal. At the end of the day, I hope its agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America, he said.

This happened to align precisely with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyens zero-for-zero tariff proposal, which she made to the US on Monday in an effort to avert a tit-for-tat trade war. Given Trumps declared view that the European Union was created solely to screw America, Musks statement represented a sharp break with the orthodoxy. To some in the protectionist camp, he was siding with the enemy.

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Soon Navarro was publicly snubbing Musks demands on Europe. Elon Musk sells cars, he sniped. Hes simply protecting his own interests, as any business person would do. He then accused the Tesla boss of leading a car assembler rather than a manufacturer, using cheap foreign parts which doesnt work for America.

In retaliation, Musk said Navarro was dumber than a sack of bricks. He argued: By any definition whatsoever, Tesla is the most vertically integrated auto manufacturer in America with the highest percentage of US content.

Trumps landslide victory of 2024 defied gravity in its ability to bring together voters with wildly divergent interests and beliefs. To a great extent, this was a protest vote on steroids, an expression of disgust with the discredited old liberal order and an enthusiasm for Trumps move-fast-and-break-things agenda. As time goes by, however, it is increasingly looking like a one-off miracle that is unlikely to survive contact with the sort of reality Trump is beginning to unleash upon his supporters.

The president himself is a 3D model of contradictions. When it comes to domestic politics, he supports deregulation and cutting down the size of the state. Internationally, however, he is fiercely opposed to free trade. The problem should be obvious: the former is impossible with the latter. Domestic and international policies feed into each other. He cant have both.

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Does Trump believe he can force his way through this binary? Or is he entirely oblivious to it? Either way, with the presidents inner circle pulling itself apart and his diverse cheerleaders poised to feel the pain in their pockets, Trump Mountain may be about to come tumbling down.

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SAO PAULO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday criticized the new tariff regime of the United States, saying Washington's attempt to reshape global trade under U.S. President Donald Trump "won't work" and violates the principles of multilateralism.

Speaking at an event in Sao Paulo, Lula condemned what he called Washington's unilateral approach to international trade.

"All of a sudden, one man thinks he can dictate the rules for everything that happens in the world," Lula said. "No one grabs hold of a fully loaded transatlantic ship and tries to steer it like this. It won't work."

Lula added that Trump's decision to impose "reciprocal tariffs" on other countries and regions ignores the reality of a multipolar world.

"There are nearly 200 countries," he said. "All of them want sovereignty and a harmonious process. Today, the most important thing is multilateralism."

The Brazilian leader also recalled the free trade rhetoric of the 1980s, when then U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher publicly opposed protectionism. Lula contrasted those earlier stances with what he viewed as the current protectionist turn of the United States.

The United States has been Brazil's second-largest trading partner since 2009, behind China. In recent weeks, the Trump administration raised import tariffs on Brazilian goods, including a 10 percent tariff on a broad range of products, following earlier hikes on steel and aluminum. 
Right-wing influencers are turning against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett after she voted against President Donald Trumps use of the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan migrants.

The conservative majority Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of the Trump administration on Monday, allowing it to enforce the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members, but limited its authority to allow the accused reasonable time to go to court and challenge the case against them.

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett voted against Donald Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act. Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Barrett, who Trump appointed in 2020, joined Democrat-appointed Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor in dissenting against the presidents use of the act.

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Sotomayor called the majority decision suspect, writing in the principal dissent that it ignored the grave harm Plaintiffs will face if they are erroneously removed to El Salvador or regard for the Governments attempts to subvert the judicial process throughout this litigation.

Though Barrett voted with the liberal justices, she only joined some portions of the dissent. Her name is included in a section that argues that someone subject to deportation must be notified, and one that criticizes the Supreme Court for hearing Trumps case as an emergency and overruling lower courts that had halted certain deportations.

Barretts vote has made her the target of attacks from many right-wing influencers on X, some of whom even went after her two adopted Black children.

Conservative pundit and former Trump supporter Ann Coulter posted a photo showing the justice with her children and wrote, Who couldve seen that coming?

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Sam Parker, a MAGA Republican who ran for Senate in Utah in 2018, also posted a photo of Barretts family, with the caption Who could have predicted Amy Coney Barrett would sell out her own people? If only there had been a sign.

Other conservative commentators joined the conversation, including Catturd  a MAGA personality with 3.6 million X followers  who called Barrett an absolute disgusting fraud.

Theres nobody I have less respect for in the entire country besides Dr. Fauci than Amy Commie Barrett - Trump appointed her and gave her her dream job and complimented her and praised her - and shes been an ungrateful, backstabbing POS since day one. She got a million dollar  Catturd  (@catturd2) April 8, 2025

Trump appointed her and gave her her dream job and complimented her and praised her - and shes been an ungrateful, backstabbing POS since day one, the account wrote.

And after Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) called Barretts dissent disappointing, X owner and Trump adviser Elon Musk weighed in with his own opinion, writing, Suicidal empathy is a civilizational risk.

Suicidal empathy is a civilizational risk  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 7, 2025

Related...
(NewsNation)  Detained Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is scheduled to appear before a federal immigration judge in Louisiana on Tuesday.

The proceedings will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET, according to Reuters.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Khalil in early March, and the 30-year-old graduate student has remained in a Louisiana detention center ever since.

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ICE officer impersonations spike in wake of immigration crackdown

Khalil, who was born in Syria and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp, helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on Columbias campus last year. He holds legal permanent resident status in the United States.

The U.S. is making the case to deport Khalil under President Donald Trumps executive order prohibiting antisemitism on college campuses.

According to Khalils lawyer, Amy Greer, arresting ICE officers said his student visa was revoked under Trumps order.

US withholding water from Mexico to address debt, official says

When Khalil proved he was not in the country on a student visa but rather as a legal permanent resident, the officers said that was also revoked, Greer said. The federal government has now accused Khalil of lying on his green card application, among other charges.

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Last week, a federal judge ruled the legal battle over Khalils deportation should occur in New Jersey, despite the Trump administrations attempt to transfer to his state of holding.

The Courts jurisdiction is not defeated by the Petitioner having been moved to Louisiana, the judge wrote.

The ruling allows Khalils lawyers to argue for his release before a New Jersey judge, though the decision did not guarantee Khalil a transfer from the Louisiana detention center.

NewsNations Alicia Nieves, Jeff Arnold and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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MAIDEN, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A Maiden woman was found safe Monday night after the Maiden Police Department reported her missing earlier in the day.



Officers say Katerina Kae KT French, 28, left a group home at 7:40 p.m. March 29 in Maiden without authorization. French is described as a white female, 5 feet, 4 inches tall weighing approximately 130 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Newton man sentenced for trafficking fentanyl after selling drugs to undercover officers in 2024: DA

French has autism spectrum disorder along with other cognitive health concerns.



French reportedly left the group home with an unknown subject driving a blue Honda Civic SI, with a model year believed to be between 2016 and 2020.

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French is known to frequent the Concord, Kannapolis and China Grove areas. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Maiden Police Department at 828-428-5005.

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Apr. 8AUGUSTA  A Republican effort to repeal a ban on paramilitary activities in Maine narrowly failed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The repeal effort, led by Rep. James White, a Guilford Republican and firearms dealer, failed by only two votes, 74-72, with four members absent and one lawmaker, Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, not allowed to vote because of her censure.

Last year, lawmakers enacted a statewide ban on paramilitary activity following news reports of a neo-Nazi group trying to set up a training camp in Maine. The law prohibits two or more people from training with guns, explosives and other tactics with the expressed aim of committing violence in the future.

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White argued that the bill should be repealed because it gives the attorney general too much discretion to prosecute people.

"It has nothing to do with hate crimes with any individual group or all groups," White said. "It has totally to do with one individual's perception about what two other individuals are planning to do in the future, and it's just wrong to have a law on the books that gives anyone that kind of authority."

But Democrats defended the ban, saying the attorney general already has discretion to prosecute all manner of laws.

"We don't need violent extremism of any kind in Maine," said Rep. Tavis Hasenfus, D-Readfield. "Maine must affirm and loudly proclaim that this state will not tolerate violence of any kind, especially not large-scale political violence to harm property or harm individuals."

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The repeal effort illustrates the tight margins in the House, where Democrats have a narrow three-seat majority. One Democrat, Rep. David Sinclair of Bath, and two independents, Reps. William Pluecker of Warren and Sharon Frost of Belgrade, voted with Republicans, who had three members absent.

Arguments for and against the bill mirrored last year's debate, when the ban, proposed by Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, passed by a single vote in the House, before easily clearing the Senate and being signed by Gov. Janet Mills.

The law allows the attorney general's office to file for a court injunction to stop such activity and breaking the law would be a Class D crime, which carries fines of $500 to $1,000 and up to a year in jail.

A violation occurs when two or more people gather to conduct training with the explicit aim of causing "civil disorder," defined as "any public disturbance involving an act of violence by a group of two or more persons that causes an immediate danger of injury to another person or damage to the property of another person or results in injury to another person or damage to the property of another person."

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That bill was a response to a prominent neo-Nazi's announcement  later canceled  of plans to build a training camp for white supremacists in the rural northern Maine town of Springfield. Attorney General Aaron Frey told lawmakers that Maine laws did not at the time allow authorities to take any preemptive action to prevent that from happening.

Republicans contended that the bill infringes on the constitutional right to bear arms and to freely associate. They also said the bill gives too much discretion to the attorney general. But Democrats argued that the attorney general's office would have to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The bill heads to the 35-seat Senate, where Democrats hold a larger, five-seat majority.

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Apr. 7AUGUSTA  In a Monday hearing on two bills to roll back school vaccine requirements in Maine, public health officials and medical professionals urged lawmakers to keep the state's vaccination laws, while parents who have chosen not to vaccinate their children argued the requirements prevent their families from accessing education.

The first bill, LD 174, is sponsored by Rep. Gary Drinkwater, R-Milford, and would restore religious vaccine exemptions. The second, LD 727, is sponsored by Rep. Tracy Quint, R-Hodgdon, and would repeal vaccine requirements for a child to attend school in Maine.

The Education and Cultural Affairs Committee combined the bills into a single hearing Monday, drawing a smaller crowd than similar bills in years past.

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Maine eliminated philosophical and religious exemptions for school vaccinations in 2021 following a voter referendum on the law that received 73% support. That change shifted Maine from the state with one of the lowest childhood vaccination rates to one of the highest in just two years.

In 2024, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the state had reached "herd immunity," meaning at least 95% of the population had been immunized.

Before those exemptions were banned, Maine had one of the highest kindergarten vaccine opt-out rates in the country. During the 2017-18 school year, 5% of Maine kindergarteners did not have childhood vaccines for religious reasons, compared to a 1.8% national average.

But the sponsors of the two bills heard Monday argued that Maine's rapidly improved vaccination rate is misleading because the law change prompted many families to opt out of traditional school and children began being homeschooled instead of getting immunized. And, they said, barring religious exemptions infringes on religious freedom and prevents certain students from receiving a public education.

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During the hearing, public health experts and many parents defended the state's vaccination progress and pointed to growing concerns about outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases elsewhere in the country. But many parents argued that a ban on religious exemptions has unfairly kept their children out of school and extracurricular activities like sports.

Ana Frazier of Solon said she homeschools her son because he is not vaccinated and argued that, as a taxpayer, she should still be able to send her child to public school.

"It feels like coercion, and it's heartbreaking to see my child and many others face this segregation and isolation from their peers. Every child deserves the right to participate in school activities regardless of their vaccination status," she said.

Dawn Murray, a parent of five daughters, said her decision not to vaccinate her children has kept them from public education, sports, music and field trips.

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"We live in a society that demands that we accept beliefs and practices that we do not share," Murray testified. "Yet what we are experiencing now with the current vaccination law is not true freedom nor universal acceptance."

Dr. Puthiery Va, the director of the Maine CDC, said the bills would threaten the health of students and put Maine at risk of an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease. Va pointed to Texas, where a second child recently died from measles, and which she said has one of the most lenient school immunization policies.

Other medical professionals, like pediatrician Dr. Joe Anderson from the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the Texas outbreak should be a warning to Maine.

"We don't have to imagine what happens when these protections are weakened. We're seeing it happen in real time. Texas is currently battling a massive measles outbreak with nearly 500 reported cases," Anderson said, adding that Maine is one of only four states that has increased its measles vaccination rate since the pandemic, which he said can make a big difference if the highly contagious disease reaches the state.

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The committee also heard from long-time school nurses like Rebecca Bell, from Casco Bay High School in Portland.

"Removing vaccine requirements is dangerous to children, educators, health care workers and families of those unvaccinated, especially the elderly and those who are immunocompromised," Bell testified.

In their questions to speakers, some lawmakers implied that immigrants and refugees in Maine are not being held to the same vaccination standards, and also suggested that border crossings in Texas are responsible for the measles outbreak, something that public health officials there have said there is no evidence for.

Doctors and school nurses who testified pushed back on that position, saying immigrants and refugees are bound by the same vaccine requirements as all Mainers; anybody newly enrolling in a Maine school who doesn't have the required vaccines, including both immigrants and students who move from a different state, has a 90-day grace period to get up-to-date on immunizations.

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Its not on the front pages, but events in Afghanistan have a way of affecting the rest of the world.

The latest news is that hostage after American hostage is being released, in drip-drip fashion, by the Taliban. George Glezmann one day, Faye Hall the next.

The hostages take photographs and make videos praising president Donald Trump, who posts them on social media. They will not have been given back for nothing. A deal must have been made.

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Reports indicate that the Trump administration is considering re-opening Americas Kabul embassy. It was shuttered after the fall of the internationally recognised Afghan government in August 2021, when the American diplomatic presence in Afghanistan shut up shop.

All of this looks like a preliminary step to closer diplomacy with the Taliban, the slow road to normalising relations.

The Taliban says the United States has also dropped its offer of a ten million dollar reward for information on Sirajuddin Haqqani, deputy leader of the group, who is wanted for bombings in Afghanistan over a decade and a half ago.

Haqqani is still an jihadist; his organisation is still engaged in international terror. But now he is not worth pursuing. Why?

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All of this is largely because, in Afghanistan, the United States believes it has a bigger enemy.

The Islamic States Khorsan province (ISIS-K) has launched many serious attacks across Asia and Europe, including a terrible attack at the Crocus City Hall in Russia last year in March; and in Kerman, Iran, in January 2024.

ISIS-K is the survivor of the Islamic States Iraqi and Syrian caliphate. It adheres to the same belief in ultra-violence that ISIS always had, and has the same ultimate goal: the annihilation of all non-believers through acts of spectacular terrorism.

Its networks stretch via central Asia through Russia and Turkey and into Europe and around the world.

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ISIS-K is also engaged in a war against the Taliban, who it claims are insufficiently pious Muslims and the puppets of foreign powers.

Almost weekly for several years, ISIS-K has launched attacks in Afghanistan: assaulting Taliban checkpoints, bombing mosques, assassinating clerics and local leaders.

The Abbey Gate bombing, which resulted in August 2021 in the deaths of 13 Americans and an estimated 200 Afghans, was an ISIS attack.

The retreating Americans had been relying on Taliban fighters to act as security for those attempting to leave the country via Kabuls crowded airport.

If the Taliban is not going anywhere  and there does not seem to be a serious domestic challenge in Afghanistan except ISIS-K  why not work with them?

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This is the view of the Chinese and Russian governments, which have extensive ties to the Taliban that will only deepen.

Its a seductive thought. But its also a mistake.

When the United States left Afghanistan, the Taliban moved in, but they did not come alone.

They brought guests with them, not only the terrorists of the Haqqani Network, but also members of al-Qaeda  including its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was spotted and later killed in Kabul by a missile fired from a drone in July 2022.

Al-Zawahiri was living in a building formerly occupied by workers for international NGOs. Americans once fought a war to remove al-Qaeda from Afghanistan. Within months of Americas exit from the country, the Taliban invited them back.

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The Talibans failing governance is the reason ISIS-K is growing in strength. The country is desperately poor and unlikely to get rich following the kinds of pseudo-economics the Taliban claims to believe in.

And making the Taliban appear even more of an American puppet (which ISIS already says it is) can only make things worse domestically.

The international environment is unsettled. There are so many terror threats, domestic and foreign, that it is difficult to keep up. A major ISIS attack on European or US soil is very likely within the next year or so.

Its what ISIS-K appears to be building up to. Allying with the Taliban, a terrorist group far away, cannot prevent such an attack.

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What really matters are the boring things within our power: counter-terrorism, policing, domestic security.

The Taliban cant even keep themselves safe from ISIS. What use would they possibly be in defending us? We ought to think of that before we pretend one terrorist can protect us from another.

James Snell is a former senior advisor for special initiatives at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy. His first book, The Fall of the Assads, will be published this year.

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A 71-year-old man from Nevada was arrested last week after authorities seized seven tigers, which he claimed were all emotional support animals, that he kept in his home, according to multiple media reports.

Authorities with the Nye County reportedly raided Karl Mitchells home in Pahrump, a town approximately 65 miles west of Las Vegas, on March 2, saying the man did not have the proper permits to keep the animals, NBC News reported.

In an interview, Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill told the outlet that the 71-year-old had been seen walking the wild animals on and off his desert property and that posts on social media showed him allowing others to interact with the tigers, both of which were violations of the law.

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For his part, Mitchell allegedly claimed he did not need the special condition animal permits because the tigers, according to a lawsuit he filed against Nye County in 2020, had already been recognized by county officials as his emotional support animals.

The 71-year-old also claimed that the tigers did not pose any threat to the public, The Economic Times reported.

Joe Exotic, aka Joseph Maldanado, seen in a promotional photo released by Netflix released for its docuseries Tiger King. (Netflix) KEENESBURG, CO  APRIL 05: A pair of the 39 tigers rescued in 2017 from Joe Exotics G.W. Exotic Animal Park relax at the Wild Animal Sanctuary on April 5, 2020 in Keenesburg, Colorado. Exotic, star of the wildly successful Netflix docu-series Tiger King, is currently in prison for a murder-for-hire plot and surrendered some of his animals to the Wild Animal Sanctuary. The Sanctuary cares for some 550 animals on two expansive reserves in Colorado. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images) One of the 39 tigers rescued in 2017 from Joe Exotics G.W. Exotic Animal Park yawns at the Wild Animal Sanctuary on April 5, 2020 in Keenesburg, Colorado. (Marc Piscotty/Getty Images) FILE  In this Aug. 28, 2013, file photo, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic, answers a question during an interview at the zoo he runs in Wynnewood, Okla. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

In another twist, Mitchell said he rescued the tigers from Joe Exotic, born Joseph Maldonado, the Oklahoma zookeeper who was the center of the Netflix series Tiger King.

Maldonado, 61, has been imprisoned since 2019 for attempting to hire hitmen to kill his longtime rival in the wildlife rescue space, Carole Baskin. He was also found guilty of killing tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying records. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the crimes, which was later reduced to 21 years upon appeal.

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As for Mitchell, he was arrested and booked for resisting a peace officer and being a felon in possession of a gun during the March 2 raid. He was released the same day after posting $6,000 bail, NBC News reported.

According to Sheriff McGill, some of the big cats appeared to be underweight and algae was found growing in the animals water dishes.

The seven tigers were examined by a veterinarian who was at Mitchells home when they were removed. The sheriff said the animals were taken to an undisclosed sanctuary where they will be held until ordered to be released, NBC News reported.

Mitchell is expected to appear in court on May 15.

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SANAA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed and 15 others injured in multiple U.S. airstrikes across Yemen on Tuesday, according to Houthi-run al-Masirah TV and local health authorities.

Of the casualties, six deaths and 13 injuries took place in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah as U.S. strikes hit a residential neighborhood in the city's Amin Muqbil district, while two other injuries were reported in Dhamar province, where a farm was attacked.

The strikes also bombed telecommunications infrastructure in the western-central province of Amran and the central province of Ibb, according to Houthi television and residents.

Civil Defense teams are working to extinguish fires in the targeted facilities, said the Houthi television.

The United States intensified its military campaign against sites of the Houthi forces in Yemen on Tuesday, conducting 50 airstrikes in total.

The U.S. military has yet to comment, but it previously said in statements that it would continue conducting airstrikes daily until the Houthis stop attacking commercial vessels and U.S. warships in the Red Sea.

The persistent U.S. airstrikes have not deterred the Houthi group, which continues to attack American and Israeli-linked interests in the region. The Houthis claimed their attacks are intended to put pressure on the U.S.-backed Israel to stop airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and allow humanitarian aid into the enclave. 
DENVER (KDVR)  A month-long investigation into a Fort Collins man has led to his arrest and several felony charges related to sexual trafficking.

On March 6, Fort Collins Police Services was notified by the Larimer County Department of Human Services about a possible incident of sexual trafficking. The police department launched an investigation based on that tip.

Location unknown: 18th District Attorney, ICE spar over undocumented suspect

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On April 2, detectives arrested John R. Fischer, 50, after finding he was allegedly providing alcohol, methamphetamine and cocaine to minors, as well as engaging in sexual activities with at least one victim, in exchange for cash and clothing.

It is vital we protect those most vulnerable in our society and ensure they can thrive in our community without fear of abuse or exploitation, said Assistant Chief Frank Barrett, who oversees the FCPS Criminal Investigations Division, in a release.

John R. Fischer, 50, is facing three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, one count of human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude, two counts of distribution of a controlled substance to a minor, two counts of sexual assault and one count of pandering of a child. (Courtesy of Fort Collins Police Services.)

Fischer was charged on April 2 with three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude.

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On April 4, additional charges were filed. Fischer now is also facing two counts of distribution of a controlled substance to a minor, two counts of sexual assault and one count of pandering of a child.

The police department said that Fischer is on parole from a previous case in Fort Collins. Anyone who has information regarding Fischer, or additional victims or juveniles who had contact with him, is asked to contact Fort Collins Police Services Criminalist Laura Knudsen at 970-222-2497.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  A man is facing felony charges after police said he pulled a gun on two individuals who were walking back to their vehicle in a parking lot at Nissan Stadium.

According to an arrest report, officers were sent to respond to the incident in Lot R at approximately 2:49 a.m. on Friday, April 4.

The victims allegedly told police that they were walking back to their vehicle when a man got out of an Audi parked in the lot, approached them and asked if they were ok.

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Arrest made after gun brandishing incident at Tennessee Tower in downtown Nashville

Officials said the victims reported that the man didnt ask for anything, but pulled out a handgun from his waistband and pulled the slide to load the handgun.

The suspectlater identified as 27-year-old Mert Egilmezpointed the weapon at the one of the victims, leading the victim to believe he was going to get shot. Meanwhile, the second victim said she ran behind a vehicle and called police to report the incident.

An arrest report states the male victim put his hands up and began to negotiate with Egilmez to put the gun down. Egilmez eventually placed the gun on the ground, leading the victim to control and unload it.

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Authorities reported the handgun had one bullet in the chamber and 12 more loaded in the magazine. The male victim allegedly identified himself as a police officer and told Egilmez that he wasnt getting his gun back.

CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee

Police added that the victim took a picture of Egilmezs license plate and drivers license. The license plate later came back to the 27-year-old and he was identified as the man involved through his drivers license picture.

Egilmez was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with deadly weapon. He is being held in Metro Jail on a $15,000 bond.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
A man was arrested eight months ago on suspicion of encouraging or assisting the suicide of a British citizen, it has emerged.

Dorset Police said it had executed a warrant at the address of a man in his 60s last July but the details have only just come to light.

He was subsequently released on bail and has yet to be charged almost eight months later as inquiries continue in the complex case.

A spokesman for the force said: At around 7.30am on July 15 2024, officers executed a warrant at an address in the Sandford area of Wareham under Section 8 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

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A man aged in his 60s was arrested on suspicion of intentionally doing an act capable of encouraging or assisting the suicide of another. He has been released on police bail as further inquiries are carried out.

Our investigation is continuing and as is usual in a complex case, we have been liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service to ascertain if the threshold for prosecution is met. We will not be going into any further details at this time.

The law in the UK prohibits people from assisting the suicide of others, though prosecutions are incredibly rare.

Since 2009, there have been 187 cases referred to the CPS by police, but only four of those cases led to a conviction.

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MPs in England and Wales are currently considering a Bill that would legalise assisted dying for those with a terminal illness who have been told that they have less than six months left to live.

However, last month Kim Leadbeater, the MP behind the Bill, proposed delaying the introduction of assisted dying in England and Wales for two years until 2029.

The revised timeline raises the prospect that the Government could abandon plans to establish an assisted dying regime following warnings that the law would overburden the NHS and judiciary.

Ms Leadbeater is thought to have climbed down after civil servants responsible for drafting amendments told her the Bill was unworkable.

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LINDEN, Texas (KETK)  A man was arrested on Monday after he threw a bag out the window of a vehicle at Family Dollar in Linden filled with a white crystalline substance.

According to the Linden Police Department, an officer on patrol stopped a vehicle with a headlight out in the parking lot of Family Dollar at 604 W. Houston St. As the vehicle parked, the officer noticed what appeared to be trash thrown out the window.

Fighting opioids with psychedelics? Texas bill proposes new approach to fight crisis

Mugshot of Randall Louis McCoy, courtesy of Linden Police Department

Officials said that upon further investigation the officer discovered that the trash was actually illegal narcotics that had been thrown out. The officer found that the illegal narcotics consisted of a bag containing smaller bags filled with a white crystalline substance.

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The driver, Randall Louis McCoy, allegedly admitted to the officer that the narcotics were his. He was arrested for manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance and tampering with evidence. McCoy is currently being held at the Cass County Jail.

Gallon-sized bag of meth found during Henderson County traffic stop

The Linden Police Department is committed to keeping our streets safe and will continue working diligently to protect our community, Linden PD said. We would also like to thank the Cass County Sheriffs Office and the Texas Highway Patrol for their assistance during this investigation.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  A man believed to be involved in a shooting at a South Nashville gas station was arrested Monday afternoon following a monthslong investigation.

Metro Police said Jacque Adams, 32, was one of three individuals found to be responsible for the shooting on Saturday, Jan. 25, in the 5000 block of Linbar Drive.

PREVIOUS: 1 injured after shooting along Linbar Drive, Metro police say

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Officers at the scene told News 2 that one person was shot near the eye and transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for treatment. In a Tuesday afternoon press release, Metro police said the victim was a 71-year-old man; detectives did not believe he was the intended target. A vehicle with multiple bullet holes in it was also seen parked at the gas station.

Court documents report that Adams is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

He was charged with felony aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, felony weapon possession with intent during an offense, felony weapon possession by a convicted felon and felony assault/reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. His bond is set at $220,000.

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 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.

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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  A Dayton man has been charged with vehicular homicide after a stolen vehicle crash killed a person last August.

The Montgomery County Grand Jury has indicted Rustam Suleymanov, 49 on several counts related to a fatal crash that occurred on Aug. 24, 2024.

Suleymanov was indicted on the following charges:

One count of involuntary manslaughter

One count of aggravated vehicular homicide (under suspension)

One count of grand theft (motor vehicle)

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Riverside officers first responded to the 3100 block of Old Troy Pike on reports of a traffic crash. Upon arrival, they found the defendant had crashed a stolen Nissan Pathfinder into a Chevy Impala head-on.

Local police dept. launches synchronized camera program

The driver of the Impala, identified as 54-year-old Michael L. Jumper, was pronounced dead on scene.

Investigation revealed Suleymanov had stolen the Nissan just minutes earlier and had been driving nearly 100 miles per hour in a 40 MPH zone. Evidence gathered showed he lost control of the vehicle, ran off the road, overcorrected and hit the Impala at more than 70 MPH.

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Court records also show Suleymanov had never had a valid drivers license.

A warrant has been issued for the defendants arrest. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday, April 22.

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CHIPPEWA FALLS  An Osceola man accused of stabbing a person in the hand after kicking a puppy during a fight has now been charged.

Michael J. Danielson, 28, was charged in Chippewa County Court with second-degree recklessly endangering safety, battery, and intentional mistreatment of an animal. Danielson will appear in court June 3 before Judge Benjamin Lane.

According to the criminal complaint, the fight happened in Lake Hallie in September 2022. It is unclear why charges are just being filed. A woman told police that Danielson had gotten into a fight with her daughter and her daughters boyfriend (the victim) at a home along Highway P.

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According to (an eyewitness), while they were all outside, Michael proceeded to kick or shove one of Fredricks puppies that was attempting to play with Michael and that the puppy began to yelp as it was in pain, the complaint reads.

That led to the physical altercation between Danielson and others present. During the altercation, Danielson had struck the victim in his hand with the knife, then threw the knife at the victim, striking and cutting his right shoulder.

(The victim) informed me that he then went outside and began to yell at Michael to get off the property, which is when Michael pulled out a knife and went towards him with it, the complaint states. (The victim) told me that once Michael walked over to him, Michael proceeded to extend the knife out at approximately waist level in a jabbing motion where (he) was ultimately stabbed in his left hand.

Danielson was previously convicted in Eau Claire County Court of carrying a concealed knife.

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Danielson was convicted of second-degree recklessly endangering safety-domestic abuse and strangulation and suffocation in 2018 in Polk County Court; he was ordered to serve 2 years in prison and four years of extended supervision.

In 2014, Danielson was convicted in Lincoln County Court of two counts of battery by an inmate, which is a felony.

Wisconsin Department of Corrections records show that Danielson has been in the state prison system since May 2023 and he is currently incarcerated at the Jackson Correctional Institution.
Video: Initial coverage.

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  A man, allegedly connected to a shooting that left one in life-threatening condition, is in police custody.

According to the Dayton Police Department, the suspect is a 36-year-old male and he was taken into custody on Monday, April 7. The department said he is jailed and on parole.

The 46-year-old male who sustained significant injuries during the incident is now stable, according to police.

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On Tuesday, April 1, officers were dispatched to the area of East Fourth Street and South Main Street. Upon their arrival, they found the 46-year-old male inside of a crashed vehicle. He was then taken to an area hospital for treatment.

The department is continuing to investigate the incident further.

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A man was shot and killed by deputies overnight Monday inside an eastern North Carolina hospital.

WVEC, an ABC station in Elizabeth City, reports it happened at Sentara Albemarle Medical Center around 1 a.m.

Pasquotank County deputies said a man in a triage room pointed a gun at them and three deputies shot him.

ALSO READ: 2 charged after shooting at popular Hickory shopping center

Medical staff pronounced him dead.

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The deputies involved are on administrative leave as the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation takes over the case.

Check wsoctv.com for updates.

WATCH BELOW: Needs to be honored: Community calls for transparency after K-9s death in Wadesboro
UNITED NATIONS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- With displacements and civilian casualties continuing in Gaza, UN humanitarians on Tuesday pleaded for lifting of the aid blockade and access to the few remaining stocks of food supplies.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said more civilians were killed and injured and critical infrastructure damaged.

"All crossings remain closed for the entry of aid and other supplies essential for people's survival," OCHA said. "Since March 2, no aid or commercial goods have been allowed into Gaza, marking the longest such closure since October 2023."

OCHA said its humanitarian partners warn that the nutrition situation is growing more dire by the day due to the depletion of stocks.

The office said that although humanitarians continue to carry out malnutrition screenings across Gaza, supply shortages and movement restrictions hamper their operations.

OCHA noted that in March, its partners could only screen about 50,000 children for malnutrition, a decrease of more than a third compared to the previous month.

"Partners are also having difficulty accessing remaining stocks of ready-to-use complementary food, which are stored in areas of North Gaza governorate that are difficult to reach due to ongoing hostilities and displacement orders," OCHA said. "In March, the distribution of these supplies was half of February's levels."

The humanitarians said that new Israeli displacement orders covering five neighborhoods in Gaza, Khan Younis and northern Rafah forced more families to flee to Mawasi and areas west of Gaza City.

"Shelters for displaced people are overstretched: Hygiene and sanitation conditions are collapsing, with water lacking and reports of flea and insect infestations," the office said.

OCHA warned that displacement orders leave civilians exposed to hostilities and deprive them of access to services essential for their survival, calling for immediate reopening of the crossings so that urgently needed cargo and humanitarian aid could enter Gaza. 
A shocking crash involving a rookie Minnesota state trooper has left a family reeling.

The incident happened last June along Highway 23, near Marshall, Minnesota.

Jamie Krueger was driving behind a State Patrol trooper when, without warning or flashing lights, the officer attempted a sudden U-turn to chase a speeding driver. He hit Kruegers car and the impact sent the vehicle swerving off the road.

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While the Kruegers were treated for minor injuries, their car was deemed a total loss and Krueger was left to cover the $1,000 deductible.

The shocker? The Minnesota Department of Administration refused to cover the costs, citing immunity  a legal shield protecting government workers from liability.

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We see that a lot with immunity cases

After months of back-and-forth, the state refused to pay, sending Krueger a letter saying, We are unable to consider your claim for payment, and citing immunity.

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Dashcam footage from the crash shows the moment of impact, followed by a senior trooper admitting the rookie officer, "didn't see you." That statement and the accident reports mention of an improper turn or merge seemed to confirm that the trooper was at fault.

Legal experts like Alicia Granse, an attorney with the ACLU of Minnesota, are worried that this could set a dangerous precedent. Granse argues that while immunity shields government workers, it shouldnt prevent them from acknowledging harm and making things right.

We see that a lot with immunity cases, she said. Its very difficult to hold government agents accountable in any sphere.

In recent years, the ACLU has made it a priority to challenge immunity laws, hoping to reduce how often the government uses these legal defenses.

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She added, We dont want to penalize, necessarily, government agents who make a mistake, but they should at least acknowledge the harm and try to make things right.

According to ABC News, the Minnesota Department of Administration declined to comment and the State Patrol, which confirmed the rookie officer left the force just two weeks after the crash, also refused to provide further details. The records show that the officer was not cited.

Read more: Trump warns his tariffs will spark a disturbance in America  use this 1 dead-simple move to help shockproof your retirement plans ASAP

What to do if your insurance claim is denied

Dealing with a denied insurance claim can be frustrating, but here are some steps you can take to navigate the tricky situation.

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To begin with, its important to understand your policy, keep good documentation and stay current on payments to avoid any issues in the first place.

Each state has its own rules for handling insurance claim denials and appeals. Reach out to your states insurance department for advice.

If your claim does get denied, make sure you understand why by reviewing the insurer's Explanation of Benefits (EOB). Common reasons for denial include missing documentation, failure to meet policy terms, or expired policies. If you believe the denial was incorrect, you can file an appeal with the insurer and be sure to submit all necessary documentation and stick to deadlines.

If your appeal isnt successful, consider mediation or arbitration to resolve the issue more quickly and affordably. You also have legal rights, with each state offering regulations for handling claims disputes. Federal protections like ERISA apply to employer-sponsored health plans.

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If necessary, you can consider escalating the issue to a regulatory body such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or seeking legal action. Seek professional advice to help guide you through the appeals process and ensure your claims are handled correctly.

Krueger, for his part, is just looking for one thing: Im not looking for a lottery ticket here. Im looking for accountability. Im looking for the right thing to be done, he said.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A woman was left critically injured, and a man was detained after a shooting at an apartment complex in Fox Meadows Monday night.

At 9:17 p.m., officers say they responded to an aggravated assault call at the Residences at Lakeview Apartments in the 5300 block of Meadowlake Drive.

Its like the World War III over here at night, said a woman who lives in the complex.

Police say when they arrived, a female victim was found on the floor suffering from a gunshot wound. Her boyfriend was on the floor with her, applying pressure to the wound.

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The victims boyfriend told police he is the owner of the gun and that he was in the bedroom with her when he heard the gun go off. When he looked up, he says that she fell to the floor in pain. That is when he claims he told the cousin to call the police.

The victims cousin says she was in the apartment when the shot was fired but that she did not hear the gun go off.

Shots reported fired at Southwest Memphis home

Its always something going on over there. The front office, we complained about these gate and houses. Open access, the woman who lives in the complex said. Its like a third management company thats been here since Ive been here.

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MPD says the victim did not give a statement due to her injuries. She was taken to Regional One Hospital in critical condition.

Her boyfriend was taken into custody to speak with investigators at that time.

A black Glock 20 .45 caliber handgun was found on the bed, according to police. They say it showed to be stolen out of Covington, Tennessee, on July 14, 2023.

According to the Memphis Data Hub, seven crimes have occurred at the location since January, including two assaults.

How safe does that make us feel to come home to all this riff-raff every day. Im going to find somewhere else to live, the woman who lives in the complex said.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Sanford Senior Care is part of the Sanford Medical Center complex in Sheldon, Iowa. (Photo via Google Earth)

A hospital-affiliated nursing home in northwest Iowa has been cited for contributing to the death of a resident.

State and federal records show that in January, the staff at Sanford Senior Care in Sheldon, which is a 70-bed nursing home affiliated with the Sanford Medical Center, found that a male resident of the home had developed a reddened area on his coccyx. The staff failed to assess and treat the situation or notify the mans family or physician  even after it developed into an open sore in February, according to inspectors.

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A nurse aide later told state inspectors that she informed a nurse on March 4 that the area around the wound looked like hamburger and there was blood seeping through the white cream the staff had applied to the wound. The aide reported her observations to a nurse, who later acknowledged to inspectors that she had received the information but was too busy to check the wound herself.

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On March 6, the resident was admitted to the hospitals emergency room with a Stage 4 wound, indicating there was sufficient loss of tissue to result in exposed bone, muscles or tendons, with the potential for a serious complication such as an infection.

The resident died two days later. According to state inspectors, the immediate cause of death was MRSA cellulitis  a dangerous skin infection that stems from staph bacteria  caused by the open wound.

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A second nurse aide interviewed by inspectors allegedly reported that the last time she examined the mans wound it looked absolutely awful, and the residents overall color was off and he appeared gray and purple. There was bloody skin on both sides of the buttocks and continuing down it looked like hamburger, the aide reportedly told inspectors.

The facilitys director of nursing allegedly informed inspectors that certain employees were disciplined as a result of the death, adding, We are trying to do everything possible to prevent this from occurring again.

Administrator Richard Nordahl referred all questions on the matter to Sanford Health. A spokesperson for the company indicated Tuesday that he was unable to comment on the matter at that time.

No state fines were imposed as a result of the death. Federal records indicate the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services imposed a civil money penalty of some kind, but a CMS spokesperson was unable to say Tuesday what that fine totaled.

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CMS Care Compare website, which provides information for consumers that is often out of date, indicates Sanford Senior Care in Sheldon has been fined twice in the past three years, most recently in 2024 when it was fined $11,872.

On CMS five-star quality scale, the Sheldon facility currently has a one-star overall rating  the lowest possible score.

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A man died by suicide after shooting himself in a parking garage at Scottsdale Fashion Square.

Scottsdale police responded to a shooting around 11:30 a.m. April 7. According to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, officers saw the unidentified man shoot himself in the blue parking garage at Fashion Square.

The man was taken to a hospital where he later died.

Detectives responded to the scene as part of the death investigation. Scottsdale police said there was no ongoing threat to the area.

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A Scottsdale police spokesperson said there were no road closures as of 2 p.m., and police presence at the parking garage was minimal. A spokesperson with the mall confirmed there were no store closures due to the incident.

It was unknown what led up to the shooting.

Services for Arizonans in crisis include:

Dial 2-1-1 to reach 211 Arizona.

Solari Crisis & Human Services offers a free, statewide crisis line 24/7/365  dial 844-534-HOPE (4673). Help is also available 24/7/365 via text by texting hope to 4HOPE (4673).

Dial 988 to reach the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Help is available in English and Spanish. It's free and confidential for those in distress who need prevention or crisis resources for themselves or loved ones.

La Frontera Empact Suicide Prevention Center's crisis line serves Maricopa and Pinal counties 24/7 at 480-784-1500.

Teen Lifeline 24/7 crisis line serves teens at 602-248-8336 for Maricopa County and 1-800-248-8336 statewide.

The Trevor Project Lifeline serves LGBTQ youth at 866-488-7386.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man dies after shooting himself at Scottsdale Fashion Square
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)  A man has been found guilty of manslaughter following a homicide on Hazelwood Terrace in August, 2024.

On July 2, 2024, police responded to 43-year-old Melikah Bruners home on Hazelwood Terrace. When officers arrived, they learned that both Bruner and her son had been assaulted with a knife by her boyfriend Walter Balkum.

Balkum, 49, was arrested and charged with two counts of Assault (2nd). He was later released on electronic monitoring.

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On August 27, 2024, Bruners 9-year-old daughter called 911 from the home to report that Bruner had again been attacked by Balkum. When officers arrived, they found Bruner dead inside the home.

Following an investigation, it was later found that Balkum had beaten Burner repeatedly, causing her death in front of her child. Balkum was later arrested again and indicted on Manslaughter (1st).

Balkum has now been convicted, found guilty of the Manslaughter charge, as well as the two Assault charges.

Balkum is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21 in New York State Supreme Court.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst.
A California man pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempting to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, two months before he was set to go on trial for the 2022 murder plot.

Appearing in a federal courtroom in Maryland, Nicholas Roske, 29, entered a guilty plea for the single charge he faces: attempting to assassinate a United States justice. US District Judge Deborah Boardman accepted the plea during the hearing, saying he was fully capable and competent of entering it.

Kavanaughs name wasnt said during the hearing, which lasted less than an hour. Boardman referred to the justice only as Victim 1.

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Roske spoke few words during the proceedings, only addressing the judge to give short answers to a litany of procedural and factual questions she posed. He said he was being treated for a mental illness, including with medication.

Boardman, cautioning that she doesnt yet know the sentencing guidelines for Roske, noted that prosecutors have estimated his sentencing range as being between 30 years and life in prison.

The judge set Roskes sentencing hearing for early October. Hell remain detained while he awaits sentencing.

Roske, armed with a handgun, knife and zip ties, flew across the country and took a taxi to Kavanaughs Maryland home late at night in June 2022. He turned around when he saw Kavanaughs security detail, court documents say. Roske then spoke to his sister over the phone, and she convinced him to call 911 instead of carrying out the attack.

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The arrest sparked mass concern about the Supreme Court justices security. Roske allegedly told investigators after his arrest that the assassination attempt was in part motivated by the high courts draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade and its potential expansion of gun rights.

Ive been suicidal for a long time, Roske told authorities after his arrest, a transcript of the interview shows. And when I saw that the leaked draft, it made me upset and then it made me want to  I dont know  I was under the delusion that I could make the world a better place by killing him.

Roskes attorneys have said in court filings that when the then-26-year-old was arrested, he was acutely suicidal, visibly exhausted, and had repeatedly expressed his need for psychiatric care.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A 24-year-old man is sentenced for a 2023 stabbing that left one person dead in Olathe.

Jesus Neri-Aguilar, of Olathe, was sentenced Monday in Johnson County court to a total of 92 months with the Kansas Department of Correction.

Two killed, two injured in shooting at Kansas City, Kansas, apartment complex

Neri-Aguilar pleaded guilty in February to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated battery. He was sentenced to 61 months for voluntary manslaughter and 31 months for aggravated battery. The sentences are set to run consecutively.

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He was charged in November 2023 with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. The second-degree murder charge was amended back in August, according to court records.

Court records say on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, Olathe police were called to a home in the area of N. Marion and W. Prairie streets for the reported stabbings.

When officers arrived, they found 26-year-old Juan Balleza-Ojeda with a serious stab wound. Police tried saving the mans life, but he died at the scene.

A 28-year-old was also stabbed and taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.

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Officers located Neri-Aguilar and took him into custody.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
JERUSALEM, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Israel's High Court of Justice on Tuesday issued an interim order, ruling that Ronen Bar, chief of the internal security service Shin Bet, would remain in his position until another court decision, state-owned Kan TV News reported.

The order followed an over 10-hour hearing on petitions filed by opposition factions and other organizations against the government's March 21 decision to dismiss Bar due to "a lack of trust."

As part of the decision, the court also ordered the government not to advance any move regarding ending Bar's tenure, including announcing a replacement or acting head, and that his power should not be impaired.

The court also ruled that the government and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara may submit a joint statement on a settlement, if reached, by April 20.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the court's decision is "puzzling" because the judges have reiterated several times that the government's authority to remove the Shin Bet chief from office is not in dispute. It added that Netanyahu would continue interviewing candidates for the position.

The statement accused Baharav-Miara of trying to prevent Bar's dismissal in any way possible under the pretext of "an active investigation" initiated by Bar.

On Friday, Baharav-Miara cautioned that the dismissal was fundamentally flawed and tainted by Netanyahu's personal conflicts of interest, which include an ongoing criminal investigation against his associates. The attorney general referred to a case known as "Qatar-Gate," which involves an inquiry into alleged undisclosed contacts between Netanyahu's two close aides and Qatari officials.

On the same day, Bar wrote to the court that Netanyahu had repeatedly required him to issue an opinion citing security concerns to prevent Netanyahu's continuous court testimony, a request Bar rejected.

He emphasized that the Shin Bet chief should not be "a position of trust" or a personal confidant of the prime minister but must maintain professional independence, warning against the possibility that the Shin Bet would become a secret police.

Tensions between Netanyahu and the Shin Bet have been growing over the handling of events before and during Israel's multi-front conflicts with regional factions that erupted in October 2023 and the "Qatar-Gate" investigation. 
EAU CLAIRE  One of two men who broke into a home in 2023 in a botched robbery was sentenced to five years in prison and five years extended supervision after his released.

Aundray Houston, 51, had faced two counts of attempted armed robbery, along with single counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, armed burglary, misdemeanor battery and possession of narcotic drugs. The attempted armed robbery charges are Class C felonies.

The sentence was less than what prosecutors sought. They recommended six years in prison for attempted armed robbery, with five years extended supervision, followed by five years in prison for armed burglary with the same extended supervision. The defense had sought a stayed prison sentence.

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The case originated nearly two years ago, in May 2023. According to the criminal complaint, police responded to the 900 block of Richard Drive after a reported robbery. The resident said two men armed with handguns came into the home and demanded he give them his belongings.

A fight ensued, and the victim managed to wrest the gun away from one of the men. He told police he thought it was fake based on the weight. It wasnt. Investigators found it was a Browning 9mm.

During the struggle Houstons mask was pulled off and the victim identified him for police. Neither Houston nor his accomplice, later identified as DQundray Houston, left with anything more than some bruises.

Charges against DQundray Houston in the incident were dismissed as part of an agreement that settled multiple felony cases. That agreement saw him plead guilty to aggravated battery, disorderly conduct, bail jumping and hit-and-run on an attended vehicle. He received three years probation.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A former Memphis resident was sentenced to over 16 years in federal prison for drug charges dating back to 2021.

Last week, Timothy Edwards, 49, was handed down a sentence of 197 months behind bars followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute drugs.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Western District of Tennessee, on April 1, 2021, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Agents responded to a Memphis UPS Store where a suspicious package had been reported.

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The package reportedly contained 6,793 grams (14.9 pounds) of marijuana and 1,247 grams (2.7 pounds) of methamphetamine.

During the investigation, the DEA was alerted about a second package being shipped to UPS. The package was intercepted on June 3, 2021, and found to contain 4.9 pounds of marijuana.

The U.S. Attorneys Office says both packages were shipped from California to Memphis, and the first package had Edwards listed as the recipient. The second was sent to a P.O. Box associated with Edwards.

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Edwards was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances (marijuana and methamphetamine) in October 2024. In April 2025, he was sentenced to federal prison for the crimes.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A Tennessee man was sentenced to over seven years in prison for his involvement in the conspiracy to traffic fentanyl and methamphetamine in the Memphis area.

According to the United States Attorneys Office, Courtney Davis, 28, also known as Geo and Geo Grape, conspired with co-defendant Brian Lackland, also known as Stupid Duke, Spooky Duke, Duke, and Homework, and others were involved in the distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine.

The attorneys offices investigation targeted a Memphis-based gang, Young Mob, also known as Young Mob Military, and its involvement in the trafficking of fentanyl and methamphetamine.

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Man sentenced to over 70 years for deadly Humboldt High School shooting

According to court documents and statements made in court, in March 2024, investigators and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Memphis Multiagency Gang Unit began court-authorized wiretaps.

ATF and MMGU reported that Davis was intercepted multiple times discussing with Lackland about the acquisition and distribution of blues, which are fentanyl pills that resembled blue 30-milligram oxycodone pills.

The USAO says Davis was responsible for the acquisition and distribution of approximately 90 grams of fentanyl and 1,360 grams of methamphetamine.

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  A man who was living in the United States illegally will be deported once he serves decades in prison for creating and collecting child pornography, according to federal attorneys.

Jose Montoya, 62, was sentenced to 24 years, four months in prison for creating and collecting the videos, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. He will be deported to Mexico after being released from prison, attorneys said.

The collection of videos was first discovered by Google and reported to police. Michigan State Police and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers searched his home and discovered he not only collected but also produced some videos of preschool-aged children enrolled in his wifes in-home daycare, federal attorneys said. It happened in Kent County, court documents show.

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He pleaded guilty in November to production and possession of child pornography, according to a sentencing memorandum.

MSPs Computer Crimes Unit provides resources for parents to talk to their kids about Internet safety. Those resources can be found at missingkids.org.

Any tips or information about possible child sexual exploitation can be reported at missingkids.org/cybertipline.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
A man arrived at a Pittsburgh hospital on Monday afternoon with several gunshot wounds.

Pittsburgh Public Safety officials say the man arrived at a hospital by private means soon after police were called to the intersection of Woods Run Avenue and Brighton Road in the Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood for a ShotSpotter alert at 5:30 p.m. The man, who was shot in his arm, shoulder and leg, is in stable condition.

Officals say the police investigation so far shows the man was involved in an altercation before the shooting. Officers also found a crime scene near the ShotSpotter alert.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

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[Watch in the player above: What is the Miranda warning?]

CLEVELAND (WJW)  A man wrongfully jailed on a harassment conviction for making angry calls to the North Ridgeville Public Utilities Division after his water service was shut off is now suing the city.

The complaint, filed Friday in Ohios Northern District federal court by Matthew Golga, brings counts of malicious prosecution and civil rights violations against the city, its utilities director, its police chief and a water department employee. It seeks at least $75,000 in damages.

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Destroy them before they hatch in Ohio

The city shut off Golgas water service on Feb, 9, 2021, due to nonpayment. He claims he never received a notice.

In calls to the water department, Golga admittedly raised his voice and used profanity, after he was told he must pay the full outstanding balance of $185 to restore service, according to the complaint.

Golga maintained he never threatened employees, but employees testified they were afraid he would come to the water department, court filings show.

Eventually, the citys safety director allowed Golga to pay some of his outstanding balance  spending the last $31 he had, according to the lawsuit  with a promise to pay the remainder in three days.

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Golga emailed his councilman that night:

I cant wash my hands. I cant take a shower. I cant make a pot of coffee. I cant give my kids a glass of water. I DONT HAVE ACCESS TO WATER. I CANT KEEP MY CHILDREN SAFE. MY CHILDREN CANT GET CLEAN. I CANT CLEAN MY CHILDRENS FACE AND HANDS AFTER THEY EAT. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE DURING A PANDEMIC WHEN THE NUMBER ONE THING IS TO WASH YOUR HANDS?   Im seeing that human life means absolutely [expletive] NOTHING to you.  BROKE AND WATERLESS. Thanks Utilities. Let me pay you more money to STOP providing the service that you allegedly sent me a letter about that never came.

The citys utilities director disagreed with the decision to restore Golgas service and retaliated by taking harassment allegations to city police, according to the complaint. Golga was charged with telecommunications harassment, tried, convicted and jailed for three days.

Golga maintains he never threatened city workers.

Ohios Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Golga, reversing his conviction and ruling that the city infringed on Golgas right to free speech, according to the complaint.

  Prosecutions for telecommunications harassment such as the one here could have a chilling effect on the First Amendment rights of citizens to contact government offices in order to redress grievances, one appellate judge wrote separately.

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3 Huron County teens credited with heroic water rescue

North Ridgeville Law Director Brian Moriarty on Monday told FOX 8 News that officials are aware of the lawsuit but had not yet reviewed the complaint. Litigation is expected to be handled by the citys insurance carrier, Moriarty said.

The insurers attorney, John Pinzone of Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder, on Tuesday declined to comment on the complaint, since the case is in active litigation.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
Australian police were called to meet a plane arriving in Sydney from Malaysia.

A 46-year-old man had tried to open two emergency exits during a flight, police said.

He has been charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft, they said.

A man accused of trying to open two emergency exits during a flight has been charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft.

The plane was flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Saturday when the Australian Federal Police were called to meet it on arrival in Sydney.

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A 46-year-old man from Jordan is alleged to have tried to open the plane's rear exit door, the AFP said.

Airline staff then moved him to a seat in the middle of the plane  before he is said to have tried to open the emergency exit there as well.

Crew and passengers restrained the man, and one of the staff members is said to have been assaulted during the commotion, per the AFP.

It wasn't clear how far into the eight-hour flight the incident occurred. The AFP didn't name the airline on which the event took place, but Australian news outlets reported it happened on an Air Asia flight.

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Air Asia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The man appeared in court on Sunday, charged with two counts of endangering the safety of an aircraft and one count of assaulting the crew of a division-three aircraft.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.

During the court appearance, he was denied bail and will appear in court again on Wednesday, ABC, Australia's national broadcaster, reported.

The man's lawyer told the court he had taken sleeping pills and consumed alcohol before boarding and has no memory of the incident, ABC reported.

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"The actions of this man could have had tragic consequences, and passengers and airplane staff shouldn't have to put up with unruly, violent, or dangerous behavior on flights," said Davina Copelin, the AFP's detective acting superintendent.

"The AFP will not hesitate to take action against people who engage in criminal behavior on airplanes, especially where this behavior has the potential to endanger the safety of passengers, crew, or the flight itself."

While somebody reaching for an emergency exit is frightening, it is effectively impossible to open one midflight.

Planes are pressurized to an altitude of 8,000 feet or below  so the cabin's pressure is much higher than outside, producing huge forces that keep the doors sealed shut.

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Passengers attempting to open plane doors are rare but not unheard of. In February, an Iberia passenger was accused of assaulting a flight attendant and opening an emergency exit before jumping onto the taxiway while a flight was preparing to take off.

After an Asiana Airlines passenger opened a door as the plane came in to land in 2023, four South Korean airlines signed up for a program that prioritizes exit row seats for uniformed personnel, including soldiers and airline workers.

Read the original article on Business Insider
TAZWELL COUNTY, VA (WVNS)  A man who was wanted in Virginia for crimes against children was arrested in Illinois, and awaits extradition.

According to a post on the Tazewell County Sheriffs Offices Facebook page, Anthony Joseph Richello was arrested in Granite City, Illinois after being wanted for sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, and indecent liberties of a victim under 13 years old.

Man arrested in Wyoming County for multiple charges

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The post stated that members of the Tazewell County Sheriffs Office communicated with the Granite City Police Department once it was known that Richello traveled to Illinois. Richello was then found and arrested on Monday, April 7, 2025 by the Granite City Police Department.

Richello will stay in custody in Illinois until he can be extradited to Tazewell, Virginia.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A man and woman are dead after an apparent murder-suicide Sunday night, the Buckner Police Department said on Monday.

On Sunday, April 6 at 11:31 p.m., the police department said officers were dispatched to an apparent murder-suicide involving an 82-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man.

The investigation is ongoing. Police said there is no known threat to the community.

If you are having suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, call or text 988. Veterans can press 1 after dialing 988 to connect directly to the Veterans Crisis Lifeline. For texts, veterans should continue to text the Veterans Crisis Lifeline short code: 838255.

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You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Kansas City residents can find local mental health resources here.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP)  A man and a woman were killed in a murder-suicide on McConnell Road in Greensboro on Sunday morning, Greensboro police confirmed Tuesday.

At around 11:19 a.m. on Sunday, Greensboro police, firefighters, and Guilford County EMS came to the 3600 block of McConnel Road to conduct a welfare check.

9-year-old among 3 found dead in South Carolina home

At the scene, officers found Ines Dokou, 26, and Thalia Santiago, 27, with gunshot wounds. Life-saving efforts were initiated, but both died at the scene.

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Investigators said the shooting was domestic-related, and no suspects were sought. Police have since revealed that Dokou reportedly shot and killed Santiago before killing himself.

The shooting remains under investigation. There is no further information available at this time.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  The immediate, mandatory evacuation of residents of multiple Dyer County residents has been ordered, per Dyer County Mayor David Quick.

In a Facebook post made on Monday by Dyer County 911 Communications, it was announced that due to the imminent threat of flooding, all residents from the East side of Highway 78, including the community of Cocklebur and surrounding communities in Bogota, Tennessee.

According to the 2020 census, the population of Bogota is 89.

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Residents could face the following consequences if they do not comply with the order:

Emergency responders may not be able to assist you past this point

You may be personally liable for any damages or injuries sustained

This is a lawful order

In the post, the following instructions were given to aid in their evacuation process:

Evacuate quickly

Follow designated evacuation routes

Go to the designated evacuation shelter (First United Methodist Church of Dyersburg)

Contact Emergency Management Director, Chief James Medling for updates (his phone number is 731-589-7573)

Bring essential supplies

Secure your property

Do not return to the area until instructed to do so by authorities.

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To read the full evacuation order, click here.

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)  There are 5,449 families in Massachusetts who are currently being housed in emergency housing in Massachusetts, the states biweekly report indicates.

In December last year, the Healey Administration changed how it handles families needs and risks, and assigns them to shelters. They are placed on one of two tracks, the Bridge or the Rapid shelter. Both tracks have the overarching goal of making shelter stays rare, brief, and non-recurring, and aim to give families the resources they need to acquire stable housing and employment.

Bridge track families are considered to have higher or more complex needs and are permitted to stay in traditional shelters for up to six months. There are 5,201 families currently in this system.

Rapid track families are determined to have lower support needs and are permitted to stay in temporary shelter sites for up to 30 days. There are 248 families currently in this system.

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Clarion Hotel in West Springfield closing its emergency shelter

The state is also working to transition families out of hotels and place them into safe and stable housing. Over the last 14 days, 1,709 hotel rooms have been in use for those in the emergency shelter system, and 92 have since been phased out.

Number of families in Massachusetts emergency shelters:

As of April 3rd, 5,449 families are in shelters or hotels, 2,316 of those entered Massachusetts as migrants, refugees, or asylum seekers. In western Massachusetts, around 537 families are being housed in emergency shelters.

In western Massachusetts, there are currently no Rapid track families at temporary respite centers. The following towns and cities have families in the Bridge track:

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Amherst: 6

Chicopee: 44, 30 hotel rooms in use

Greenfield: 10

Holyoke: 163

Northampton: 8, 8 hotel rooms in use

Pittsfield: 15

Springfield: 254

West Springfield: 37, 36 hotel rooms in use

Reasons for homelessness

Domestic violence or abuse: 417

Health and Safety Risk / Ask to Leave, Threatened Eviction: 1,231

Housing situation not meant for human habitation: 1,860

Fire, flood, or natural disaster: 35

Asked to leave a Teen Living Program: 11

Other: 1,425

Eviction: 464

In fiscal year 2024, the state spent $894 million on the system. In total, since October 2022, Massachusetts has spent over $58.3 million in supplemental funding for school districts across the state. According to the report, fiscal year 2025s project costs will be around $1.064 billion.

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.

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After several days of torrential rainfall and severe storms across the Natural State, several rivers across Arkansas are now swollen and in some cases nearing or exceeding flood stage.

The most significant river flooding has been seen along the Spring River and Black River across northeastern Arkansas. But almost all are showing signs of elevated water levels, especially the White River since that is where those rivers must eventually drain. Heres where things standand what you need to know if you live, work, or plan to travel near these rivers.

Arkansas River

Water levels along the Arkansas River are running high, especially in central and western portions of the state. While not all areas are at flood stage, some stretches near Little Rock and Pine Bluff are seeing flooding. Low-lying areas near the river, particularly agricultural fields and access roads, may already be experiencing minor flooding.

If you live along the Arkansas River or near its tributaries, keep a close eye on local forecasts and river gauges. Water can rise quickly even if the rain has stopped upstream. Avoid parking vehicles or storing equipment in low-lying areas, and know alternative routes in case roads flood.

Ouachita River

The Ouachita River has steadily risen and is expected to remain elevated for a few days due to upstream runoff. Communities downstream, including Camden and surrounding rural areasshould prepare for the possibility of continued high water.

If your home is in a flood-prone zone, review your emergency plan and consider moving valuables to higher ground. Even minor flooding can cause road closures and disrupt access to rural areas. White River The White River, particularly through eastern Arkansas, is known for its long flood response time. Even after the rain ends, water levels may remain high or continue to rise. Agricultural areas and communities like Newport and Augusta are already seeing major flooding and similar conditions are expected in the coming days near Georgetown, Des Arc, Clarendon and Pendleton.

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Farmers and landowners near the White River should monitor levee conditions and flood forecasts closely. While the White is slower to respond, that also means water can remain elevated for days or weeks, prolonging any impacts. Cache & Little Red Rivers The Little Red River is running high, and will continue to rise until late tis week at minor flood stage. Meanwhile, the Cache River is already at major flood stage, and will likely crest sometime on Tuesday at or just above 12.1 feet. Buffalo & Saline Rivers The Buffalo River may be running a bit high, but will not see the impacts seen along the Saline River. Its expected to crest at moderate flood stage on Friday. General Flood Safety Tips: Never drive through flooded roadways. Just a few inches of moving water can carry a vehicle off the road.

Stay informed with NOAA Weather Radio, local news, and emergency alerts on your phone.

Have a go-bag ready if you live in an area that frequently floodsinclude meds, important documents, and basic supplies. Conditions will gradually improve as runoff slows and rivers crest, but were not out of the woods yet. Additional rainfall in the forecast could compound existing issues. Well continue to monitor river gauges and update you on any new warnings or advisories.

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A Jacksonville woman said she is planning on suing the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office after reviewing bodycam footage showing how an officer shot her German Shepherd three times after the dog bit him.

The incident happened on November 15 in the Riverside area.

JSO was originally called because of an argument between two women, one of whom was the dogs owner, who was also armed.

Action News Jaxs Shanila Kabir spoke to the owner, Jaimie Phillips, who said she and the dog are both ex-military. Phillips claims her dog is a registered service animal that she got after she left the Marine Corps. Phillips strongly believes JSO did not give her enough time to calm the dog down before it attacked the officer.

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I truly believe those bullets were meant for me that day, and my dog took them because the whole time he approached, he said Im going to shoot you, Im going to shoot you. Why are you going to shoot me when I called you for help? Phillips said.

The officer involved was cleared.

RELATED: Veteran speaks out after her service animal was shot during JSO shooting incident

However, Phillips said she plans to sue the agency for all the financial and emotional trauma she said this has caused. She said her family had almost $10,000 in veterinarian bills to save her dog, Milos, life after the dog was shot.

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The shooting occurred after Milo lunged at the officer and bit him.

An innocent civilian family called law enforcement to protect them from a transient that had just assaulted them. When they asked if I had a weapon, I was honest and let them know that I had a legal concealed carry on my hip, Phillips said.

RELATED: Service dog shot by Jacksonville police officer, owner hurt in Riverside, JSO says

Originally, Phillips had called 911 due to a disturbance with a stranger while out walking the dog in Riverside. She also notified the dispatcher that she had a gun, which led to a tense interaction with the officer, Phillips, and Milo.

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Phillips said 10-year-old Milo is a service animal and is trained to protect her.

I told him at one point, which it doesnt show in the footage that, that he could come and take my weapon from me and then let me secure my dog. I told him we could do that and safely proceed with whatever he wanted to do, Phillips said.

READ: Clay County homeowner holds would-be robber at gunpoint until deputies arrive

She adds she was also shot once in the leg.

Investigators determined that the bullet was ricocheted and then struck her. It was not a direct shot at her.

The officer involved, Milan Jones, who has worked for the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office since 2023, sat before a panel of officers to discuss the shooting.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

One of the panel officers asked him:

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When the dog bit you and held onto you, what was going through your head that could potentially be the outcome with that dog on your leg?

Officer Milan Jones answered:

That I could fall on the ground and become unconscious or incapacitated, or I could lose my balance, and the individual armed with the firearm would then take that opportunity, who appeared to be irritated and aggressive, possibly use that firearm against me.

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Officer Jones said he did not try to kill Milo, but he needed to get the dog off him, who he said bit him and held onto his leg. He said he categorized Phillips as being noncompliant and uncooperative, which probably contributed to him being bitten and the dog being shot.

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The JSO internal investigation decided that Jones acted appropriately and was in compliance with the agencys policy. The report added he was met with the perfect storm that included an armed individual and a large, aggressive dog.

Their conclusion has been sent to the sheriff for a final review.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Monday that countries that dont try to negotiate a trade deal with President Trump will lose bigly.

The outspoken, far-right congresswoman echoed a sentiment expressed last week by the presidents son Eric Trump, who advised countries not to wait to try to make a deal on tariffs.

The Trump administration has sent mixed signals on whether Trumps tariffs are the opening gambit of trade negotiation or whether they are here to stay.

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I wouldnt want to be the last country that tries to negotiate a trade deal with @realDonaldTrump, Eric Trump wrote in a Thursday post, a day after his father announced sweeping global tariffs.

The first to negotiate will win  the last will absolutely lose, he added.

Greene, on Monday, reposted Eric Trumps statement.

These were wise words of advice, Greene wrote.

Now there is a stampede forming, she continued. Dont be last. You will lose bigly and wont be needed.

Administration officials have said more than 50 countries have tried to get in touch with the president in the wake of his tariff announcement last week.

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President Trump on Monday said he was not considering pausing the tariffs, despite mounting economic concerns and three days of sliding stock market value.

Earlier in the day, he threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on imports from China, a massive escalation of a potential trade war between the worlds two largest economies.

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While billionaire Elon Musk claims his team is merely weeding out waste and fraud across government programs, fellow billionaire Mark Cuban believes his changes will hurt the nations most vulnerable.

Don't miss

In a March 19 post on X, formerly Twitter, the former Dallas Mavericks' accused Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of trimming payments for retirees by making it more difficult to seek assistance from the government. Already around 7,000 jobs at the agency have been eliminated and dozens of field offices have been closed.

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Got to give Doge credit for being the first to cut entitlements, he wrote. End telephone support for Social Security, cut dozens of SS offices and make Grandma and Grandpa finally get online to confirm their payments. What an amazing back door way to cut payments! Gonna be some upset seniors at town halls!

He continued in response to a comment, You good with making it harder for seniors to confirm the bank accounts? Potentially leading to them not be able to get their checks?

Cuban isnt the only one with these concerns. In recent weeks, lawmakers, advocacy groups and research groups have raised the alarm about the future of this program that supports more than 70 million Americans.

This is probably what prompted the agency to postpone changes to phone services and partially relax new rules on identity verification on March 26.

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Heres what taxpayers need to know.

DOGE makes fraud claims

The Trump administration has repeatedly said that cutting Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits is not on the agenda.

But it has previously claimed millions of dead people were collecting benefits, which was widely debunked. Musk also told Fox News people are using stolen Social Security numbers to claim benefits, but he has provided no evidence to support this claim.

Nevertheless, in an effort to clamp down on fraud and waste the SSA has enhanced identity procedures. These changes could make it more difficult for some Americans to claim their benefits.

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For example, acting commissioner Lee Dudek said $100 million is lost each year to direct deposit fraud. This represents just 0.00625% of the $1.6 trillion the government distributes annually in Social Security benefits, but its the reason the agency cited for cutting its phone services.

Read more: Trump warns his tariffs will spark a disturbance in America  use this 1 dead-simple move to help shockproof your retirement plans ASAP

Service changes coming April 14

The SSAs enhanced identity verification procedures are due to be implemented on April 14. They would require Americans unable to go online and use their personal my Social Security account to visit Social Security offices to change their direct deposit information for any benefit or apply for benefits. Only individuals applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) can complete their claim entirely over the telephone.

How many seniors no longer have a SS office near them now that dozens have been closed? Cuban asked on X. What are people without internet or the ability to travel, or dont have an office near them supposed to do if they need to reconfirm their bank account?

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Laura Haltzel, a former associate commissioner at the Social Security Administration who resigned in late February, told Fortune that DOGE was using waste and fraud as a pretence to implement a de facto cut to Social Security payments for many seniors.

"We have always tried to make it easier for claimants  more efficient for claimants. And the justification that's being put forward for why they are pushing this is the idea that there's a great deal of fraud taking place," she said. "Well, the math there just doesn't add up."

If you or a loved one is concerned about your benefit payments, reach out to the SSA or a financial expert who can help you navigate some of the recent or upcoming changes.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT)  A Marshall County man pleaded guilty to child sex abuse on Tuesday, according to court documents.

Larry Lee Jarmon was arrested on November 1, 2024, by the Albertville Police Department and charged with sexual abuse of a child under 12.

Court documents show that Jarmon was sentenced to 20 years in the Alabama Department of Corrections with jail credit. He must enroll in a sex offender evaluation and treatment program, as well as register as a sex offender.

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Millions of Americans flooded into the streets Saturday to protest president Donald Trump; his Department of Government Efficiency hatchet man Elon Musk; the GOPs agenda to pay for tax cuts for the richest with cuts to Medicaid; preposterous cuts to science, health, and education; Trumps mistreatment of trans kids and immigrants; as well Trumps tariff blitz, which is decimating their retirement accounts.

The Hands Off! protests drew massive crowds to streets of blue cities including New York, Chicago, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. But large demonstrations also erupted in smaller red-state urban centers, like Salt Lake City, Utah, and Missoula, Montana, as well as in hundreds of conservative communities across America from Flower Mound, Texas, to Tupelo, Mississippi.

The demonstrations were organized by a broad coalition  including groups that rose to prominence in the first Trump administration, like Indivisible, upstarts like the 50501 movement, as well as established grassroots groups like MoveOn. The upswell of resistance surprised even seasoned organizers. Indivisible cofounder Ezra Levin texted Rolling Stone on Friday to predict one of the largest single-day protests in years, adding that the public response was kind of shocking.

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At a protest in Portland, Oregon, attended by this reporter and tens of thousands of protesters, marchers shut down traffic crossing one of the citys main bridges, toting signs like Resist the Oligarchy, Fight Ignorance, Not Immigrants, Save America from the Trumpster Fire, and (Portland being Portland) Vulva the Resistance. The gathering was spirited, peaceful, and surprisingly family-friendly, with small children marching with their parents.

Contrary to dark right-wing fantasy, the protesters were there of their own volition  to defend American democracy out of an enduring sense of patriotism  and not in fact because they were being paid by liberal billionaire George Soros. (Ironically, this false claim about Soros as a protest puppetmaster has been promoted by Musk, the mega billionaire who literally pays people to show up at his political rallies, where he sorta-randomly doles out million-dollar checks.)

On Sunday, Rolling Stone caught up with Levin on the phone to reflect on Saturdays enormous turnout, and where the pro-democracy movement goes from here.

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

How are you feeling about the protests?

It was a good day. Really expensive though. [Laughs.] All those paid protesters.

Is the Trilateral Commission involved?

Elon actually tweeted about us when we were on the way to the rally, because I was on Maddow the night before. He [retweeted] some wacko who was talking about our violent protests and how its all Soros-funded, and [Elon insisted] we need to be prosecuted.

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Well get final estimates, but the most recent turnout number Ive heard is over 5 million globally  and as far as I can tell, not a single incident. Its incredible. Were just so bad at violent protests.

Shame you cant even start a riot correctly 

What is George paying for? [Laughs.]

On a serious note, I was struck here in Portland at how much civic solidarity there was. The cops are hardly known for their defense of free speech. (They often hit protesters, or launch chemical munitions to disperse them.) But the police stood by and blocked car traffic to keep marchers safe. The protesters snarled traffic crossing a bridge. But it seemed like nine out of 10 people stuck in their cars were smiling and honking their horns and supporting the demonstration.

I heard from New York that people were surprised they didnt see any cops there, and there were no incidents. It was righteous and joyous and defiant and empowering  everything we wanted it to be. More than we hoped for. You never know when you announce youre gonna have a party, if people are gonna show up.

Talk a bit about the coalition; Im curious about the 50501 movement, which was a key organizing partner.

When we announced this three weeks ago, it wasnt just us. It was also MoveOn. And Working Families and 50501. Theyre an organic grassroots group that started on Reddit, and have got legitimate energy. (Theyre called 50501 because the first thing they did was launch 50 protests at 50 state capitals.)

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A whole bunch of other organizations also joined the effort: unions, civil rights organizations, other grassroots groups. It became a big love fest in the pro-democracy, progressive organizing, grassroots space. Everybody was pushing out to their members to try to spread it as wide as possible.

The events on the ground were largely just started by volunteers. People raised their hands and decided to jump-start an event. On the website, we have a host an event link with instructions on how to do it. It was led just by normal folks. A lot of Indivisible members, but not just them. It spread pretty darn quickly. We launched on a Friday; early the next week, we had 400 events. Even at that point, we were feeling pretty good. I could not have guessed [wed end up with] 1,300 protests. With 17 across Montana and 14 across Alaska, as well as in Brussels, and Lisbon, and London.

Were these protests abroad expats, or what was the driving force?

Some of them are expats, some of them are in solidarity with the folks in the United States. A mix of both.

Ive covered protests for decades, and sometimes they are dominated by strident groups or pushing more divisive, contentious issues. This had a very mainstream feeling.

This was a Big Tent  everybody from like DSA to Matt Yglesias and Never Trump Republicans were endorsing it. I had briefly gotten excited about calling this the Normal March. Like the wacko, MAGA, right-wing crazies are not gonna be part of this. But if youre a normal person, you would want to take part. Because obviously you oppose Project 2025, you oppose DOGE and the richest man in the world coming after your Social Security.

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But Im happy we went with Hands Off! It served as a good rallying cry, because we all come to this for different reasons. Maybe were concerned about the tariffs, maybe were concerned about trans kids in our community being targeted, or the immigrants being disappeared, or maybe were concerned about Social Security. Weve all got something to fight back on.

Did Trumps one-man financial crisis  tanking peoples college and retirement funds  provide extra momentum?

You bet. When we picked the date, we knew that the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin was going to be in the news. That was predictable. We didnt know we were going to kick Musks ass up and down the state. But we were cautiously optimistic we would win, and that might provide a little boost: Look, we are able to still win in what is still a constitutional republic.

We did not know that [New Jersey Democratic Sen.] Cory Booker was going to give his big speech directly in response to constituent pressure, which inspired so many. And nobody knew that Trump was going to attempt to crash the global economy. But that confluence of events did indeed drive turnout  not just all around the country, but all around the world.

Im struck by how many of these protests were organized in small towns in Texas or Mississippi.

So many of them! You count on big anchor cities. D.C. had more than 100,000. I think Chicago beat us with more than 250,000. And New York had a ridiculous number as well. And I like being in the big cities. That looks good.

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But Im from rural Texas. I love seeing folks in red areas, in rural areas, demonstrate that theyre not going to put up with this shit.

A goal was having an unusual number of people in an unusual number of places  very important that were not just in city centers. Very important that were not just in blue states and not just in purple states. That opposition exists in rural and deep red communities.

This is what we saw at the town halls in February and March. Republican voters were showing up, independents were showing up because they didnt like veterans being fired, and didnt like what DOGE was doing.

There can be a tendency to characterize the grassroots as synonymous with Democratic or, like, lefty. But its getting ideologically diverse right now, because what theyre pushing from the White House and from DOGE is pissing off people across the spectrum.

Even among the larger cities, some of the biggest protests were in places like Salt Lake City.

It was very cool. Look: Its a really dark moment, and its also inspiring, because a lot of people are choosing courage over fear. Theyre showing up at a time when theres reason to be concerned about what this administration is doing, targeting protesters, targeting peaceful protest.

From what I saw, there was a rebellious streak to the whole thing. And a determination not to be cowed. People bringing out their kids to protest? Thats a real act of defiance.

Bring your kids! Bring your dogs! Pro-democracy movements depend on normal people being part of them. I love activist types, but we arent going to build a movement with just people who self-identify as I am an activist. You need everyday people, and theyre not going to come if its a drag. You want to make it welcoming and entertaining, and thats what it felt like to me in D.C.

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We had worried about counter-protesting. About violence, based on how Musk was trying to drum up opposition to what we were doing. But I didnt see that materialize either. I did not see reports of MAGA coming out in support of Trump. Instead, what we saw was a joyous display of people power.

Im struck at how early in this administration popular protests have gotten in gear, and that theyre likely to grow. How do you capitalize on this momentum?

[Fellow indivisible cofounder] Leah [Greenberg] and I closed out the rally in D.C. I explicitly said this is not the end-point in the fascist attack on democracy, but it could be an inflection point if we make it one.

An inflection point means harnessing the energy of the protest. Were building a muscle, and youve got to continually pull more people into the pro-democracy movement, give them leadership responsibility; let them tap into their own creativity and entrepreneurialism. That, in turn, will pull more people into the movement. If you dont harness the energy, it dissipates. If you dont direct it into productive on the ground activities, it evaporates. So thats the urgency I feel.

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We had 5 million people around the country, around the world, who are now not just tacitly against DOGE and Musk and Trump, but actively engaged. How do you plug them in? If I could wave a wand, people would join or start their own local group. That could be Indivisible. It could be 50501. It could be the Working Families Party. It could be something entirely different. The important thing is that they engage in their own community and identify where they have leverage, and start building power to use that leverage.

The next congressional recess starts April 11. Republicans almost certainly will be in hiding still because theyre refusing to show up. Many Democrats will be leading, and we should rally around the Maxwell Frosts and the Jamie Raskins and the Jasmine Crocketts. And we should be pushing those who arent leading to get out of the way or start. We need more Cory Bookers than Chuck Schumers. We need folks to actually start leading  and to call out the leaders who are failing us, because we dont have time to fuck around right now.

There is a productive feedback loop I see developing. Cory Booker credits making his history-making speech to the constituents who were pushing him to be more bold. And then at the protest I saw maybe half a dozen signs quoting Bookers speech. Like: Its not a red or blue problem. Its a right or wrong problem. You have people creating space for their leaders. And then leaders, in turn, inspiring people.

That has been our theory of change on Democrats this whole time. Which is: No politician wants to be booed. No politician wants to be criticized by their constituents. Every capable politician understands that their path to reelection and higher office depends on convincing their constituents that theyre one of the good ones in a broken system. The fact that Booker directly acknowledged: Ive been pushed by my constituents, and have been convinced to adopt more aggressive tactics. That is an incredible validation of that theory of change.

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Half the battle we have is fracturing the MAGA coalition and making clear that there are political consequences for supporting a deeply unpopular agenda. But the other half is convincing Democrats to save themselves, to find their spines and fight back.

I have been making the argument to Democratic electeds for months now. Were experiencing a wave of energy that is being driven by two things. One is the heinous, DOGE agenda, Musk agenda, Trump agenda. But the other is this sense of a total lack of leadership in the upper ranks of the Democratic Party. Folks feel like, Well, shit! The country is going down the tubes, and the Democrats are talking about bipartisan support for MAGA messaging bills on immigration.

That can be shorthanded as people are mad at Democrats. But what Cory Booker showed is that if you fight back, people are going to celebrate. There are going to be signs in the streets days later, quoting what you said. Thats what these folks want. They are so hungry for leadership, and I hope this inspires Democratic electeds to take up that mantle.

Are there other strategic ways to keep this momentum going?

It depends on where you are. People are going to have different opportunities based on their political geography. Somebody in rural Arkansas is going to have a different opportunity than somebody in Virginia. Throughout this year, there are going to be off-year elections in New Jersey and Virginia. There are going to be congressional recesses, and a fight over possible legislation on crypto, certainly a reconciliation bill thats going to be deeply regressive. And there are going to be a lot of opportunities for town halls and congressional recesses to apply pressure in real time to elected officials at the federal level.

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And then theres the state level. In blue states that have a Democratic trifecta, there is an opportunity for these governors and the state legislatures to go on offense. I would like to see more J.B. Pritzkers out there. [Pritzker is the governor of Illinois who has been confrontational to the Trump agenda.] What Saturday showed is theres demand for that. If youre an ambitious politician at the state level, youre going to get a lot of support if youre more forward-leaning.

Theres not going to be anybody who can credibly claim to be a leader of the Democratic Party until at least 2027, when we retake the House and/or the Senate. That means every Democratic elected in the country is doing the same thing  which is licking their finger and sticking it up in the air. Thats what a good politician does.

On Saturday, we just changed the weather.

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HONOLULU (KHON2)  A Maui doctor accused of trying to kill his wife during a hike on Oahu is now pleading not guilty.

At his arraignment and plea, Gerhardt Konig appeared by video from from OCCC where hes being held without bailsomething his attorney is already fighting.

HPD arrests man who allegedly tried to murder wife

Its pretty commonplace in attempted murder and murder cases over the last 10 years that some degree of bail would be set. We see no reason why this case would be any different, especially given the fact that Dr. Konig has no prior record, said Thomas Otake, Konigs attorney.

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Konig has been indicted on attempted murder for allegedly trying to kill his wife, Arielle, while on a hiking trail in Nuuanu last month, which led to an hours-long manhunt for the doctor.

In a TRO filed by Arielle, she claims her husband accused her of having an affair. The petition details the attack on the hike, where Konig allegedly tried to shove her off a cliff, attempted to inject her with two syringes and then struck her multiple times on the head with a rock.

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There are two sides to every story, and thus far, only one side has been shared. The other side to this story will be shared within the court process at the appropriate time, Otake said in a statement.

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In setting bail, the court looks at public safety and risk of flight as factors.

Defense attorneys say the court upholding no bail for an attempted murder charge is uncommon and they argue, is illegal. Defense attorney Victor Bakke said prosecutors originally set bail when Konig was arrested and charged.

Waikiki man tries everything to rescue deceased neighbors cat

They set bail at $5 million which they were supposed to do, but then they took the case to the grand jury and they indicted him through that process, and then they asked the judge to set it from $5 million up to no bail, and they did that without any hearing, and its completely illegal, and the court shouldnt allow it, Bakke said. The defendant has to be given an opportunity to argue against a no bail determination, and he hasnt been given that opportunity. So its completely illegal. Hes being illegally detained right now under Hawaii law.

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Konigs attorney plans to ask the court to revisit the issue of bail as early as next week. For now, Konig is being held pending trial, which is currently set for June 9.

Arielle Konig has asked through her attorney that no details about her be shared publicly, at least for now. She has a hearing on her restraining order in a Maui courtroom this Friday.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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People take part in a rally to back Palestine, near the El-Arish Airport in North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Mohamed Asad/Xinhua)

ARISH, Egypt, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Egyptians from various provinces rallied near the El-Arish Airport in North Sinai Governorate on Tuesday, voicing support for the Palestinian cause and rejecting any attempts to displace Palestinians from their lands.

Waving Egyptian and Palestinian flags, the participants raised banners reading "No to displacement" and "We stand with Gaza," among others, and voiced their support for the Egypt-proposed Gaza reconstruction plan.

"We support the Palestinian cause and the rights of the Palestinian people, against the attempts of their displacement by (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (U.S. President Donald) Trump," Soad Mostafa, who came from Port Said Governorate with a group from the Homeland Defenders Party, told Xinhua during the rally.

The rally took place as visiting French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday toured the city of Arish on the Egypt-Gaza border, where Egypt receives locally- and internationally-donated aid bound for the besieged Gaza via the Rafah border crossing. Hospitals in Arish also host dozens of injured Palestinians.

Macron arrived in Cairo on Sunday evening for a three-day visit. On Monday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Macron, and King Abdullah II of Jordan held a trilateral summit in Cairo, after which they issued a joint statement calling for an immediate return to the ceasefire in Gaza and affirming that governance of Gaza must be exclusively under the authority of an empowered Palestinian Authority.

According to the statement, they emphasized that the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers and ensuring full access to aid are obligations that must be fulfilled under international law and international humanitarian law. They also voiced rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their land and any attempt to annex Palestinian territory.

Israel ended a two-month ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza on March 18 and resumed deadly air and ground assaults on the enclave, with a U.S.-backed plan to displace Gazans first proposed by Trump on Jan. 25.

On Monday, Trump brought up his initial Gaza takeover proposal again after meeting with Netanyahu at the White House, saying, "having a peace force like the United States there, controlling and owning the Gaza Strip, would be a good thing."

"If you take the people, the Palestinians, and move them around to different countries -- and you have plenty of countries that will do that -- and you really have a freedom zone," he said.

The renewed Israeli attacks have so far killed 1,449 Palestinians and injured 3,647 others, Gaza's health authorities said Tuesday, adding that the death toll in the enclave since the war began in October 2023 has risen to 50,810, with 115,688 injured. 

People take part in a rally to back Palestine, near the El-Arish Airport in North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Mohamed Asad/Xinhua)

People take part in a rally to back Palestine, near the El-Arish Airport in North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Mohamed Asad/Xinhua)
Editors note: News 5 updated this article to clarify that MAWSS won this award in 2025 and 2023.

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG)  The Mobile Area Water and Sewer System was given the title Best Tasting Drinking Water in the Alabama/Mississippi section of the American Water Works Association.

Fire at Mobile Metro Jail  no injuries reported

According to a MAWSS news release, the 2025 recipients also were awarded the title in 2023, the last time they entered the competition.

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The 2025 award was announced at the annual Alabama-Mississippi Water Joint Annual Conference, which is being held this week at the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center.

The release said three judges scored water samples on a scale of 1 to 10 in four categories: taste, odor, color and clarity.

MAWSS: Heavy rain leads to at least 23 wastewater overflows

MAWSS will now compete against 43 other water providers for the Best of the Best Taste Test at the AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition in Denver this June.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
WHEREAS, It is with immense pride that we recognize the outstanding achievements of one of Syracuses very own, Astronaut Jeanette J. Epps, Ph.D., who has made history as a pioneering figure in space exploration; and

WHEREAS, Jeanette Epps, a proud native of Syracuse, New York, and graduate of Corcoran High School in the Syracuse City School District and Le Moyne College, has once again demonstrated the power of perseverance, determination, and excellence through her recent mission aboard the International Space Station where she contributed to scientific advancement, innovation and global cooperation; and

WHEREAS, Her courage, intellect and dedication serve as an inspiration to all, particularly to the youth of Syracuse showing them that no dream is out of reach and that their potential knows no limits; and

WHEREAS, Jeanettes return from the International Space Station after a successful mission exemplifies the spirit of exploration, the pursuit of knowledge and the unyielding quest to push humanity to new frontiers both on Earth and in space; and

WHEREAS, We, as a community, are incredibly proud to call Jeanette Epps one of our own and we celebrate her accomplishments not only as a global citizen but also as a symbol of Syracuses rich tradition of innovation, achievement and pride;

WHEREAS, On behalf of Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse, it is our esteemed honor and privilege to honor Jeanette Epps.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, J. Ryan McMahon, II, County Executive of the County of Onondaga, and I Ben Walsh, Mayor of the City of Syracuse, do hereby proclaim the eighth day of April, two thousand and twenty-five to be

Jeanette Epps Recognition Day in Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan on Tuesday made a proclamation declaring April 6-12 Crime Victims Rights Week as part of the U.S. Department of Justices yearly movement to highlight resources for survivors and victims of crimes in communities across the country.

Today is a day to gather in solidarity, Deegan said before giving the proclamation in City Hall. When we work together to foster kinship and compassion, we strengthen access to critical resources and empower survivors to reclaim their voices, which is so very important.

Deegan stood alongside city and state leaders to pledge a local effort to connect those whove suffered through crimes with local resources to help them. City Council members, officials with the State Attorneys Office and Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters were some of the leaders who stood with her.

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I know how these cases can shatter families and have ripple effects for generations, Waters said.

Both the sheriff and the mayor made a different kind of promise less than a day ago during a meeting with northeast Florida church leaders on the Northside. ICARE Jax, which represents a few dozen local churches, called on Deegan to help create a trust fund for money to be put toward affordable housing projects.

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The group also celebrated what it describes as a drop in Jacksonvilles murder rate in recent years. Action News Jax records show there were 51 deadly shootings in Duval County in 2024. We reported more than twice as many, 112, in 2023. Waters is promising police with the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office will keep bringing that number down.

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There are different things that were doing, but a lot that involves the enforcement side focusing in on the people that we know are violent people who have no intent on doing things right the right way, Waters said during the meeting with ICARE.

The city of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office both have resource centers for crime victims and survivors. To view the Justice Departments list of nationwide resources, click the link here.

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)  As we head into the budget season, Mayor Malik Evans announced updates for the Rochester Animal Services.

He stated that progress has been made but there is still a lot to be done.

There have been recent renovations of and investments in the current Rochester Animal Services building and there will be more in the future.

Some new additions include the lobby and visitor area being remodeled and equipment in the veterinary clinic has been upgraded including new anesthesia machines.

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Evans announced funding for a new dog park on the west side of the city. More details will come as he rolls out his budget in 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 RochesterFirst.
Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Tuesday voted against Elbridge Colby, President Trumps pick to serve as under secretary of policy at the Defense Department, warning of geostrategic self-harm if the U.S. followed through on Colbys priorities.

McConnell, in a statement explaining his vote, took issue with Colbys past statements arguing that the United States should pivot its national security focus away from Europe and the Middle East and toward the Indo-Pacific.

The prioritization that Mr. Colby argues is fresh, new, and urgently needed is, in fact, a return to an Obama-era conception of a la carte geostrategy. Abandoning Ukraine and Europe and downplaying the Middle East to prioritize the Indo-Pacific is not a clever geopolitical chess move, McConnell warned.

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It is geostrategic self-harm that emboldens our adversaries and drives wedges between America and our allies for them to exploit, he said.

McConnell was the only Republican to vote against Colby, who won confirmation to the No. 3 role at the Pentagon by a 54-45 vote.

Three Democrats, Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sens. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) voted for Colby.

McConnell warned that Colbys confirmation leaves open the door for the less-polished standard-bearers of restraint and retrenchment at the Pentagon to do irreparable damage to the system of alliances and partnerships that serve as force multipliers to U.S. leadership.

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It encourages isolationist perversions of peace through strength to continue apace at the highest levels of administration policymaking, he said.

McConnell was one of several Republican senators who had serious concerns about Colbys nomination, according to a Senate GOP source familiar with the vetting process.

In the end, the senior senator from Kentucky, who does not plan to run for reelection, was the only Republican to follow through on those concerns by voting no.

Republican senators have privately voiced concerns about two other senior officials at the Pentagon, who fall into the category of standard-bearers of restraint and retrenchment.

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At Colbys confirmation hearing last month, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) asked the nominee if he had any role in tapping Michael DiMino to serve as deputy assistant secretary for Defense for the Middle East.

DiMino has drawn opposition from some pro-Israel advocates by arguing that the United States doesnt face vital or existential threats in the region.

Colby told Wicker that he did not choose DiMino for the job and asserted that DiMinos past stated views did not reflect Trumps policy in the Middle East.

Wicker also grilled Colby over another Trump policy adviser, Andrew Byers, the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia.

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Wicker said that Byers believes thinking about communist China through the lens of deterrence is wrong and thinks maybe we should give up what he calls belligerent policies toward China.

Colby said those statements did not reflect his views.

McConnell said in his statement Tuesday that he remains committed to supporting national security nominees whose records and views make them assets, not liabilities, in the restoration of U.S. hard power.

Make no mistake: America will not be made great again by those who are content to manage our decline, he warned.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
After more than two and a half years of looking into the disappearance of a missing Meadville woman, Pennsylvania State Police are now opening a homicide investigation.

This comes after state police released new images of 61-year-old Debra Sue Daniel and a man she was reportedly last seen with in August of 2022.

It was first thought that Daniels last known location was the Edinboro Manor, where she was thought to have been visiting her mother, but police now are able to prove that information is incorrect.

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Pennsylvania State Police out of Meadville said this is the last person 61-year-old Debra Sue Daniel was seen with on August 13, 2022.

Girard apartments evacuated after car slams into building

Daniel could be seen exiting her apartment at Holland Towers in the city of Meadville with the man, who is apparently known by police, getting into a car and driving away.

Now, state police said their investigation has revealed that this man traveled to State Game Lands Number 69 in Crawford County with Daniel after leaving her apartment building.

State police have not released the name of the man seen with Daniel and offered no comment beyond a press release sent on Monday, but did tell JET 24/FOX 66 that the criminal investigation unit is currently conducting numerous interviews regarding the case, and that its been elevated from a missing persons investigation to a homicide investigation.

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Daniels family tells reporter Matt Mathias that she didnt have a vehicle of her own and was known for walking all the way from Meadville to Edinboro Manor to visit her mother, and if she got too tired, she would hitch-hike for a ride.

On Monday, we spoke over the phone with Daniels sister, who fears she may have gotten into the car with a person with ill intent.

Daniel hasnt been seen by or made contact with family or friends since her disappearance. something the family said she made a regular habit of 4-5 times a day, and didnt send any messages to anyone after she was seen leaving Holland Towers.

They said theres no chance shed willingly quit visiting her mother or cut off contact with family and friends.

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Police said its been quiet in terms of activity for her social security number, social media accounts or bank accounts.

Rollover crash on I-90 sends one to the hospital

Daniels disappearance came just less than a month after another Meadville woman, Candice Caffas, went missing.

However, police said theres no evidence that the cases are connected.

State police are asking anyone with information related to Daniels disappearance to come forward, no matter how minor you feel the information might be.

Anyone with information regarding her disappearance is asked to call PSP Meadville and speak with Trooper Kevin Geibel, Station Telephone (814)-332-6911, TTY/TDD # (814)-724-2985 or anonymously contact PSP Tips (formerly Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers) Toll-Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or online here.

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All callers to PSP Tips remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest, the solving of a crime/cold case or the location of a wanted person or missing person.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com.
FORT WAYNE, Ind.  A case of measles in an unvaccinated minor has been confirmed in Allen County in the northeastern part of Indiana, about 160 miles from Chicago.

The US has three measles-related deaths and hundreds of cases. Heres what to know

The Allen County Health Department confirmed the case in a news release Monday, saying the patient is stable and recovering. No other information about the patient will be released due to state and federal privacy protections, the Allen County Health Department said.

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According to the Allen County Health Department, the confirmation comes as part of an ongoing investigation conducted in partnership with the Indiana Department of Health, and exposures to this lab-confirmed case are minimal.

RFK Jr. says MMR vaccine most effective way to stop spread of measles after Texas childs death

Symptoms of measles typically appear 10 to 14 days after exposure to the virus, the Allen County Health Department says, though some symptoms can appear as little as seven days after exposure. A red, blotchy rash is usually the most visible symptom, and that appears three to five days after exposure.

New tuberculosis case reported in second suburban high school

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Measles symptoms include:

Rash

High fever

Sore throat

Small white spots inside cheeks

Red, watery eyes

Cough

Runny nose

Reported cases in U.S.

Each Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updates the number of measles cases reported in the U.S. In its latest update, posted on April 3, the CDC reported 607 confirmed measles cases in 2025, from 22 states. Of those cases, 97% were reported in unvaccinated people.

Neither Illinois or Indiana had any reported cases as of last week Thursday, per the CDC, but the case confirmed by the Allen County Health Department this week will make that at least one reported case from Indiana when the CDC releases its next set of data this week.

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In all of 2024, the CDC said 285 measles cases were reported by 33 states, including Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

More information about measles is available on the Indiana Department of Healths website and the CDCs website.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
(Reuters) -The Texas health department reported 505 cases of measles in the state on Tuesday, an increase of 24 cases from its previous count on April 4, as the United States battles an outbreak of the childhood disease that has spread across 22 states.

An unvaccinated school-aged child, who had no underlying health conditions, died last week, marking the second fatality in the state due to measles, which spreads through the air when an infected person sneezes or coughs.

Cases in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, rose to 328 from 315 on Friday, Texas' health department said. The state reported one additional hospitalization from the infection, bringing the total number to 57.

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New Mexico reported two additional cases since its last update on Friday, taking the total number of infections in the state to 56. The state's Chaves County also reported its first case of the year.

Most of New Mexico's cases are from Lea County, which is adjacent to Gaines County in Texas.

The country's health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Sunday that vaccines are the best protection against measles, despite being an anti-vaccine advocate who has declared that vaccination is a personal choice.

The vaccination rate in Gaines County is about 82%, below the 95% rate considered necessary to be protective for those who cannot be vaccinated.

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As of April 4, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a nationwide total of 607 cases so far this year, more than double the overall cases reported last year.

The CDC said that 97% of the nationwide cases involve individuals who are either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
People stand outside of a Mennonite church in Seminole, Texas, where Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended funeral services April 6 for Daisy Hildebrand, 8, the second Texas child to die from the measles this year. Measles cases are on track to reach a 34-year high as vaccine hesitancy spreads and funding cuts imperil state responses. (Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune)

Cities and states fighting a historic measles outbreak find themselves undermined by the Trump administration as they struggle to provide crucial vaccinations and overcome disinformation. As of this week, cases were nearing 650 in 22 states, on track to reach a 34-year high.

A second unvaccinated child died of measles in West Texas last week. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended her funeral Sunday and called vaccination the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles in a social media post.

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Yet, as experts have noted, Kennedy has promoted vaccine skepticism and pitched alternatives such as cod liver oil and vitamin A to prevent measles  neither of which works. A top vaccine expert working under Kennedy resigned in protest.

Abrupt cutoffs in federal funding under President Donald Trump have also crippled some state efforts to vaccinate people against measles and other diseases.

A third death in New Mexico, of an unvaccinated adult who tested positive for measles, remains under investigation. Before vaccination started in 1963, measles caused as many as 500 deaths a year in the United States.

The most important things states can do are providing vaccine clinics, testing quickly for measles, and tracing the contacts of people with identified cases, as well as fighting misinformation on vaccines, said Dr. Susan Kansagra, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

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Measles is one of the most contagious diseases, so one of the roles of public health is working to identify others that might have been exposed, Kansagra said of contract tracing.

Despite vaccines effectiveness, recent federal funding halts have crippled state and local efforts to vaccinate more people not only for measles but also for this years deadly influenza viruses and COVID-19. On April 3, a federal judge in Rhode Island agreed to temporarily block the Trump administration from pulling $11 billion in federal health grants from states after a court challenge by Democratic states.

But in the days before the judges order, measles response plans came to a crashing halt in parts of Minnesota, Texas and Washington state when federal health grants were abruptly cut off. Dozens of free vaccination clinics in the Dallas area were canceled overnight. On March 24, Washington state was forced to cancel 104 upcoming Care-a-Van mobile clinics that would have provided 2,000 vaccinations against childhood diseases, including measles.

In Minnesota, where $220 million in previously approved federal health funding was cut off, the state announced layoffs April 1, including some positions supporting measles vaccination and other disease response. Minneapolis vaccination clinics were canceled March 26.

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The sudden and unexpected action from the federal government left us with no choice but to lay off workers, Minnesota health commissioner Dr. Brooke Cunningham said in a statement. We are working now to figure out how much of this critical public health work we can save and continue.

Alarm among experts

Experts regardless of political affiliation have expressed alarm about federal moves to abandon support for vaccines. They include the nations top vaccine expert at the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Peter Marks, who was appointed to the position in 2016.

In his resignation letter March 28, Marks said the measles outbreak reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined. He accused Kennedy of seeking only subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies about vaccines in general.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner in the first Trump administration and is now a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the measles outbreak could easily worsen and cost the United States its eliminated status, which was declared in 2000 based on the absence of the continuous spread of the disease.

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I dont think were headed into a good place, Gottlieb said, speaking March 31 on CNBC. He [Kennedy] has been very focused on dismantling components of the vaccine enterprise in this country.

Measles is so contagious that it can spread to 90% of unvaccinated people near an infected person. The virus can linger in the air up to two hours after an infected person has coughed or sneezed. Symptoms of the disease include high fever, cough, runny nose and rash, leading to a severe lung infection. Rare severe cases can cause swelling of the brain and death. Measles is most dangerous for infants, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.

In Texas there are already signs that misinformation and vaccine skepticism may be feeding a rise in measles cases. The state had 499 cases as of April 6.

A Lubbock hospital reported that several unvaccinated children were treated for vitamin A toxicity, apparently in response to Kennedys recommendations to take vitamin A and cod liver oil.

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Really, the only thing that helps is making sure you dont get measles  and the only way to do that is to be vaccinated.

 Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown Universitys School of Public Health

Dr. Ashish Jha, who worked on COVID-19 vaccine plans under the Biden administration, said vitamin A treatment is appropriate in parts of Africa where vitamin deficiency is a factor, but not often in the United States.

In Texas and Louisiana and New Mexico and Ohio and Pennsylvania, where were seeing a lot of these outbreaks, vitamin A is going to do very little for kids because they already have plenty of vitamin A, Jha said.

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Really, the only thing that helps is making sure you dont get measles  and the only way to do that is to be vaccinated, said Jha, who is now dean of Brown Universitys School of Public Health.

State responses

The current outbreak is on track to surpass 2019, when there were nearly 1,300 cases, and to be the worst year for measles since 1991 when there were more than 9,600 cases.

Local and state health officials in Texas also warned against measles parties where people try to expose themselves and their children to the disease hoping to gain immunity. Measles can cause severe complications and death even in otherwise healthy people, state officials warned.

New Mexico has opened 22 free walk-in measles vaccine clinics around the state, including two in Lea County, where most of the cases are located, near the Texas border. The state is also trying to head off more infections in Guadalupe and Valencia counties, where a traveler from Texas may have exposed people to measles in early March at a restaurant, hotel, church and travel center.

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Funding cutbacks forced New Mexico to cancel contracts for vaccination outreach to potential clients in underserved communities, but the state has not interrupted its own public service messages or vaccine clinics, said New Mexico Department of Health spokesperson Robert Nott.

Kansas, where there are 24 known cases, recommended early vaccination for children in affected areas  starting at 6 months of age instead of the usual 1 year. The state also put doctors on alert to watch for symptoms such as fever and rash among unvaccinated people and offered expedited testing for suspected measles cases. Kentucky, with only one case, requires doctors to send such tests directly to the state for faster processing.

As in other states, almost all the Kansas cases are among unvaccinated people. Only one person with measles was fully vaccinated, and another case is not clear.

Colorado, where the states first case was reported March 31 in an unvaccinated Pueblo resident, state officials were already sending reminder texts and emails about vaccination to parents because of cases in nearby Texas and New Mexico. They also warned residents who may have been exposed at a restaurant and clinic in Pueblo and Pueblo West in March.

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In New Mexico, theres been an encouraging increase in measles vaccinations since the outbreak, said Nott. There were almost 15,000 new vaccinations in February and March, up from about 8,200 in the same period last year, he said.

On April 2, New York state warned residents to get vaccinated before traveling to areas with measles outbreaks. In March, the Pan American Health Organization said measles outbreaks in North and South America could endanger the regions status as measles-free.

Some states are working to locate people who, residents or not, may have exposed others while traveling. New Jersey has three cases among residents, all members of one family, but is seeking people exposed to measles by travelers on an Amtrak train, at Newark Liberty International Airport, in hospitals and at other places in March.

A March editorial in The Lancet, a medical journal, said the recent measles outbreaks should be taken as a wakeup call for more vaccinations.

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People should be encouraged to listen to factual scientific evidence and verified sources. Awareness of the safety of the measles vaccine needs to be spread to combat the viral misinformation against it, the editorial stated.

Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org.

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BAMAKO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Mali on Monday announced the decision to close its airspace to all civilian and military aircraft traveling to and from Algeria, effective immediately and until further notice, as tension escalates between the two countries after Algeria shot down a Malian drone.

The Malian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure said that the move was in response to Algeria's decision to take the same action, condemning Algeria for its "continued support of international terrorism."

Just hours earlier, Algeria's Ministry of National Defense decided to ban all air traffic between the two countries starting Monday, citing "repeated airspace violations" by Mali.

Also on Monday, Algeria's Foreign Ministry of Foreign also announced the recall of its ambassadors to Mali and Niger and the postponement of the deployment of its new ambassador to Burkina Faso.

In recent years, relations between Mali and Algeria have been tense, with Mali repeatedly accusing Algeria of "harboring terrorist groups along their shared border."

In January 2024, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), after being sanctioned by the bloc over military coups.

On July 6, the three countries held the first summit of the "Alliance of Sahel States" in Niamey, the capital of Niger, and announced the establishment of the Confederation of Sahel States. 
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Memphis-Shelby County Schools is still silent after WREG asked them why the safe room, a place the community is supposed to be able to go during severe weather, apparently wasnt open during last weeks once-in-a-generation storms.

Questions continue to swirl around the Tornado Safe Room behind Belle Forrest Community School in Hickory Hill.

MSCS isnt talking, but WREG Investigators have been digging for answers.

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Shelby County Emergency Management told us they keep a list of safe rooms available to the community.

Residents concerned that Hickory Hill shelter was closed during storms

While they dont manage them, they do work with the owners to make sure that when they activate, they have supplies.

In a county just shy of a million people, Shelby County had just one Safe Room ready for residents during the storm, located in Arlington.

Arlingtons Mayor Mike Weissman told WREG they opened the shelter once they got wind of what was coming.

A lot of times we dont have a lot of warning when the shelter, you know, as a storm may pop up real quick and the alarms go off, said Wissman. You know, nobody has a heads up. This weather event had been talked about for, you know, over a week, so it gave us all a lot of time to think about things.

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Arlington is miles away from Hickory Hill, and the Belle Forrest School shelter, right in the middle of a neighborhood.

Citizens just feet from the school had to go to Arlington to seek safety, but there are guidelines for shelters to follow when they get federal money.

DAs office seeks life sentence for Jackson Hopper, accused of killing ex-girlfriend at Shelby Farms

FEMA provided most of the funding for it, Weissman said. And so yes, we do have to abide by their guidelines.

Guidelines include having an Operations and Maintenance Plan that is reviewed and updated regularly to make sure the safe room opens.

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Arlington received federal money, too and has been using its shelter.

Its either fire department or staff can open it, or we actually have remote locks that we can open up, said Weissman. In the case of if all hands are on deck with another emergency, the remote locks can open it up and still allow the safe room to be utilized.

But no one can tell WREG of the Belle Forrest shelters operational plan, even though the shelter got close to $2 million from FEMA for the $5 million building.

We asked school board president Joyce Coleman, who was at the grand opening of the facility.

Not a normal case: Kelley faces TNs first terrorism charge

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The safe house will serve for parents and family members in case of a tornado or a natural disaster in this community. They will have a safe place to go, Joyce Coleman said.

She said she is not sure if it has been used or who is supposed to make sure it is opened, but she said she would find out and let WREG know.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency released the following statement:

In light of the recent storms last week, were reviewing a lot of our activities to capture strengths, opportunities for improvement, and lessons learned.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency has a list of shelters on their website, but they rely on local emergency management officials to tell them where they are located.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
SHAWANO, Wis. (WFRV)  Students from the Menominee Indian School joined the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on Monday to capture and release sturgeon on the Wolf River, returning the sacred fish to tribal waters north of the Shawano Dam.

The effort gave students a unique opportunity to connect with their culture while exploring potential careers in conservation and natural resources.

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Its a rare opportunity that my students have to work with all these different organizations, especially when it comes to careers, said Christine Fossen-Rades, an integrated science teacher at Menominee Indian High School. We have quite a few different careers represented here, and the students are able to get their hands wetand literally slimyand work hands-on with the fish.

The Menominee Tribe will continue its tradition of honoring the sturgeon with a feast on Saturday.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT)  The Trillium Health Resources signed an agreement with Hyde County Schools and Southeastern Integrated Care to offer mental health services to students.

The Student Services Team (SST) will offer referrals for outpatient therapy from a parent, school counselor social worker, principal, and others. Mental health therapists who are school based

will meet with the students in private at the school locations after receiving parental permission. These treatments will be tailored to meet the childs needs based on clinical assessment. Telehealth services will be also offered if necessary.

Integrating behavioral health support directly into schools ensures that students

receive the care they need in a familiar and accessible setting, Director of Student Services with Hyde County Schools Nancy Leach said. While mental health care is valued by many in our county, for families dealing with the challenges of living in economic distress, such as food insecurity or economic instability, mental health care often feels like a luxury. Considering the current mental health crisis, strengthening the mental health support network within our

schools is the only way we will help our students develop the skills they need to

thrive academically and beyond.

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This agreement will serve students ages 5 to 18.

For more information, visit www.TrilliumHealthResources.org.

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ALGIERS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in Algiers on Tuesday for an official visit, holding talks with senior Algerian officials to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments, including the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Araghchi and his delegation were received by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the presidential palace in Algiers, the presidency said in a statement.

Following the meeting, Araghchi reaffirmed "strong and longstanding" ties between Tehran and Algiers, calling the relationship "deep-rooted and brotherly."

Speaking to reporters, Araghchi said he had conveyed greetings from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and extended an official invitation for Tebboune to visit Tehran.

He said the talks covered a broad range of topics, including bilateral, regional, and international issues, with both sides emphasizing a "convergence of views" and coordination in multilateral forums.

The Iranian minister said the discussions also focused on the situation in Gaza. He praised Algeria's "courageous and principled" stance on Palestine, frequently expressed at the United Nations and in Security Council sessions, as firm support for Palestinian rights.

Araghchi voiced hope for enhanced cooperation among Islamic countries to help bring an end to the war in Gaza.

Earlier in the day, Araghchi met with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf at the Foreign Ministry headquarters. 
BRYAN COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV)  Hope Creek residents said theyre desperate for answers after dealing with brown water on and off for over six months.

Four residents talked with News 3 about the issue Tuesday. They said theyve reached out to Water Utility Management and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) several times, but they havent had any real solutions.

Its not brown all the time. It comes and goes, and we never know when its going to happen, Teresa McGill said. It comes out the tap, the toilet, the water hose Its just brown, and it hits at any given moment. We have no control over it, and our life is at a complete standstill until it decides its going to clear back up.

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Susan Moseley told News 3, a Water Utility Management representative visited the area to flush out the pipes, but she said it never got better.

They said they dont know what has caused the murky water, but its changed how they do a lot of things at home. Many of them shared that they feel yucky when they get out the shower. McGill said her daughters hair appeared to be tangled and oily after rinsing her hair under the brown water.

Two of the residents said the water stained white clothing in the washing machine. Now, each of them filter out their water, boiling if they need to cook with it, avoid showering when its brown and wait to wash dishes or laundry until the water is clear again.

Youre compensating all the time. But compensation doesnt quite get it fixed. You dont know what the next days going to bring or the next hour, Wayne Neal said.

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They said this is frustrating since their rates just went up in February. According to a letter McGill received in the mail, the rate now is $100 for water and $90 for sewer every two months. They dont understand why they pay for sewer services since they have septic tanks.

Another concern is theyve heard one of their two wells has been condemned, but WSAV was not able to confirm this. Residents overall are frustrated.

We have no choice. Were at their mercy. We are literally at their mercy. We have no other option. Its not like we can get on the phone or the internet and shop around for water companies, McGill said.

Most of all, many of them said theyre concerned for the kids and pets that drink or use this water.

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People are bathing their children in this water, showering in this water, using the water to cook and then having to filter out that water is just a really big headache, Alyssa Hayes said.

WSAV did reach out to Water Utility Management on Tuesday to ask if they were seeking any solutions for this neighborhood, but did not hear back yet.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV.
(Photo courtesy of Travel Nevada/Sydney Martinez)

A divisive and protracted years-long quest to terminate Mesquites police chief is causing collateral damage in the executive offices of City Hall over allegations of racist remarks by the city manager.

In an audio recording obtained by the Current, Mesquite City Manager Edward Owen Dickie tells several residents that he notified police union officials last year that if Chief MaQuade Chesley were fired, hed replace him with a 6 foot 5 Black woman

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Early on, I said guys, Im going down to Louisiana, Im going back to the back parishes and Im going to find me a 6 foot 5 Black woman chief Dickie is heard saying in the recording from February.

The statement echoes another by Dickie recorded in late 2024, according to sources, in which he repeats a similar assertion made to the Mesquite Police Officers Association, which was seeking Chesleys ouster.

I told them Id like to go down to Louisiana with the biggest Black Aunt Jemima. I was careful how I said it cuz. But I said (unintelligible) would love that and come back and just flippin whip you guys into shape, Dickie can be heard saying. I brought this up. Ive heard things and if the Chief doesnt come back you guys, its not going to be, youre probably going to hate the next Chief more than him.

Dickie goes on to say hes heard theres racial issues in the department.

Mesquite City Manager Edward Owen Dickie. (Photo: City of Mesquite)

Dickie, during a phone interview, called the statements poor taste of humor. I didnt know I was being recorded. I own it. I learned you just dont say things that you really shouldnt be saying. The City Council is aware and theyre going to hand down a reprimand.

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Dickie says the residents who recorded him were alleging racism against police officers and suggested he hire a Black chief.

Maybe what we need is diversity, I was telling them. Maybe its an African-American woman, you know, that is qualified, Dickie said of the recorded conversations.

Those comments are inappropriate for anybody to be using, especially in a work environment, especially in a position of power, where youre picking the next police chief, says Wes Boger, who was re-elected in November to serve on the city council, but resigned after a month, citing a desire to spend more time with family.

I dont blame Wes for leaving, because this is not worth it, Councilwoman Patti Gallo, the only member of four who voted against terminating Chesley, said at a special meeting in March that was called to investigate Chesley and ratify his termination.

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Last month, Judge Nadia Krall ruled the city failed to comply with the law in its investigation of Chesley, and granted the former chiefs request for a restraining order and injunction, prohibiting the city from holding a public investigation into Chesleys termination.

Dickies statements should preclude him from any role in the recruitment and/or appointment of the next Chief of Police, Mesquite resident Bob Muszar wrote in an emailed complaint last week to Mesquite Mayor Jesse Whipple.

Federal law prohibits hiring based on race. Dickie says the city has scrapped its search and will stick with a successor from inside the department.

Whipple, in a reply to Muszar, defended Dickie, suggesting he was trying to express to them that he would like to make sure that racism was not acceptable within our city or department, and was using that example as an illustration that our department could use some diversity within its leadership. I do not believe that he intended it literally.

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At some point, the City Managers intended message becomes irrelevant, Muszar wrote back. Throwing race, gender, size and point of origin all into a single statement generates just too much fodder for anyone wanting to challenge the recruitment/appointment process.

While Dickies recorded statements indicate he was defending Chesley, the relationship at some point became more antagonistic.

When Dickies statements prompted a flood of public record requests from residents seeking his text messages and emails, Chesley says he asked the city manager how he was coping with the requests.

Dickie, in response, defended his earlier comments.

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I didnt say anything like I hate n, I hate Mexicans, Dickie can be heard saying on the recording provided by Chesley.

Dickie, asked to authenticate the recording, said he didnt remember saying the N word, adding he never uses it. If I said it, it would be that I was saying I didnt say this.

Chesley suggests Dickie could have conveyed the thought without using the actual word.

Dickie alleges Chesley may have altered the recording. I know he learned how to do that at the FBI academy.

Former Mesquite City Police Chief MaQuade Chesley has filed a wrongful termination suit against the city. (Photo: City of Mesquite)

I have the entire conversation and it is easy to prove it wasnt doctored, Chesley responded, adding he would sign a court affidavit stating as much.

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Dickie also suggests he was baited by residents Nick Alfonsetti and Mike Benham to repeat the assertion he made to the police union about finding a female Black chief.

Its sad, he said, adding he didnt know there are people really like that out there.

Alfonsetti and Benham say Dickie was not baited. The discussion, they say, was in response to Dickies earlier assurances that he would not fire Chesley.

Thats when the whole thing came up about hiring somebody outside Mesquite, because the police didnt like anybody that was in the department, Alfonsetti said.

Dickie said he is good friends with Chesley, though he acknowledges they never socialized together. Chesley says Dickie, who was hired by the city last summer, is not my friend and never has been. I dont associate with people who make racist comments or jokes. In the short time Ive known Owen he has repeatedly done both.

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Dickie, who initially cited a no-confidence vote by the Mesquite Police Officers Association as one of the factors to be considered in Chesleys termination, was unable to say how many members voted or how many expressed no confidence in Chesley.

The MPOA did not respond to the Currents request for the information.

As a labor attorney who represents labor organizations, I would never recommend doing a vote of no confidence unless you can have almost 100% if not 100% of your members voting, says Reno attorney Ronald Dreher, who is representing Chesley in a lawsuit against the city, adding its odd not to put up the numbers.

The wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Chesley against the city alleges the city violated Nevada law, which requires any investigation of a police officer be conducted by law enforcement. The city has commissioned several investigations, Dreher said, but none were conducted by law enforcement.

Fall from grace

Mesquite, a small city about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, was founded by Mormon pioneers in the 1880s. The population was predominantly Mormon until a building boom in the last 15 years brought thousands of retirees to the Virgin Valley community.

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Every police chief thats ever been promoted in the City of Mesquite has been a white Mormon, says Chesley. I fit the bill in 2019 when I became the police chief.

A turning point came, Chesley says, when he began getting calls from individuals who expected favors, such as making traffic tickets disappear. My response was always we have court proceedings for that.

His fall from grace with the Mormon community, he says, was cemented on the heels of rumors allegedly circulated by former City Attorney Bob Sweetin. Sweetin was appointed last year by Gov. Joe Lombardo to the Real Estate Divisions Common Interest Communities Commission, which regulates homeowners associations.

Bob had spread rumors that I was having affairs and getting people pregnant and having sexual relationships with minor females, and so I filed a harassment complaint with Human Resources, says Chesley. Ive been a police executive for the past 14 years. Ive always held myself to a higher standard. I dont have locker room talk. I dont have sexual discussions like most guys do. No one will ever say MaQuade is talking filth. I just dont talk that way. I dont like to be around it. To be accused of these things floored me. It destroyed me and my family.

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Sweetin says an investigation cleared him of spreading rumors. He says his termination was purely political.

Sweetin also alleged financial crimes against Chesley. Attorney General Aaron Ford investigated and found no evidence of criminal violations, according to Chesleys lawsuit against the city.

The final straw for Chesley may have been an internal investigation Mesquite Police initiated under Chesleys watch into allegations leveled against Officer Ryan Hughes.

Ryan had applied multiple times for the police department, but he never passed any background checks, says Chesley. As a police officer, Chesley assisted on Hughes background investigations and quickly learned Hughes had a reputation as a bully.

Hughes was eventually hired by former Chief Troy Tanner.

In June of 2024, Mesquite Police launched an internal investigation of Hughes. Chesley says the officer went on leave for twelve weeks, mounted a campaign against Chesley, and won assurances from two council members, Karen Fielding and Brian Wursten, that theyd vote to fire Chesley if the police union could deliver a vote of no confidence.

Hughes, Fielding, and Wursten did not respond to requests for comment.

In January, Hughes was terminated because he never passed a background check, a psychological exam, or a polygraph examination, according to Chesley, but was rehired three days later by Dickie.

Ryan Hughes was terminated, through no fault of his own, due to the Citys discovery of an incomplete background investigation performed by a previous police administration, Dickie told the Current via text. He says Hughes was rehired due to the fact the discrepancy was not due to any action or inaction on his part.

They wouldnt allow me to be involved at all, says Chesley, adding Hughes painted a picture that I retaliated against him and placed him on administrative leave and investigated him because he was vocal in his opposition to Chesley in union meetings.

At the January 14th city council meeting following Hughes rehiring, text messages from Hughes police department cell phone obtained through a public records request were read during public comment by a detractor, Daniel Miller.

Watching this battle between the Dallas little dicks and buff daddies feels like Im watching two severely Down Syndrome kids see who can lick more windows on the short bus on their way to school, read one text attributed to Hughes.

I could not stop envisioning beating the shit out of both of those kids last night. I had to open the Corona app and do some breathing exercises, says another text.

In another text, Hughes decries a city law that prohibits drinking alcohol in the park. The government cant tell us when and where we can drink. Ill bring an ice chest.

In another text, Hughes writes he hasnt been very good about logging his K9 training. I may or may not be copying and pasting my logs from a different time period and just changing the dates.

The revelation could prove perilous for the city should Hughes arrests involving a K9 be challenged in court, say experts.

Whipple, the mayor, said the text messages and K9 log falsification were investigated internally by Mesquite Police, who deemed Hughes could not lose his job for the offenses under the union contract.

There were two officers who had an issue with the K9 logs, Whipple said during a phone interview Monday. Both were disciplined by loss of pay for that, and Hughes had more sanctions as a result of the offensive texts.

Just weeks after Hughes termination and rapid rehiring, Chesley was summoned to a meeting with Dickie, the city manager, and the mayor.

Chesley, who says he was at a doctors appointment at the time, informed the city that he was unable to go to work, based on his doctors order.

Dickie says Chesleys failure to attend the meeting amounted to insubordination and terminated him.

It was just weird, Dickie said of Chesleys failure to make the meeting. He declined to say whether its city policy to terminate individuals who take leave on doctors orders.

Chesley is suing the city for wrongful termination in both state and federal courts.
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)  A federal grand jury has indicted a Mexican national on charges of illegally reentering the United States and providing a false Social Security number to authorities and a potential employer in Louisiana.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 53-year-old Edgar Javier Castillo-Rodriguez was charged with illegal reentry by a removed alien and two counts of false representation of a Social Security number. He pleaded not guilty during his arraignment.

Court records show Castillo-Rodriguez was removed from the U.S. twiceonce near Brownsville, Texas, in October 1996, and again near El Paso, Texas, in November 2000. He was most recently found in the U.S. on Oct. 29, 2024, without the consent of the U.S. Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security.

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Authorities say Castillo-Rodriguez knowingly provided a Social Security number that had not been assigned to him on two occasions: once to the Ascension Parish Sheriffs Office in October 2024, and again to a potential employer in April 2023.

The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, Gonzales Police Department, Ascension Parish Sheriffs Office, and Louisiana State Police.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy S. Johnson as part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative aimed at countering illegal immigration, dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and reducing violent crime.

Editors Note: An indictment is a formal accusation by a grand jury. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

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What is a migrant? What is ICE? 10 terms to help you understand the debate over immigration

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in New Mexicos largest city, saying that a significant increase in crime in Albuquerque warrants the help of the New Mexico National Guard.

She signed an executive order, clearing the way for several dozen troops to be deployed along the historic Route 66 corridor starting in mid-May. The order also frees up state funds for the National Guard to use as part of the effort.

Training for 60 to 70 troops already is underway, the governor's office said.

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Governors typically call up the National Guard to help with natural disasters like wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. Governors in recent years also have ordered troops to address illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. In New York last year, the National Guard helped patrol the subway system following a series of high-profile crimes.

In New Mexico, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina called it a crucial time for the National Guard to provide support that gives police officers more time to patrol the streets for crime.

Medina and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller pointed to a large chart during a news conference, saying nearly every category of crime has come down since the beginning of the year because of the work already being done by the police force.

The National Guard will not be engaging with the public, they said, but rather taking on duties that drain the time of sworn officers, like directing traffic. The troops can help secure crime scenes, distribute food and supplies to the homeless population throughout the corridor, transport prisoners, provide courthouse security and run drone operations used for locating suspects or assessing incidents, officials said.

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Watchdog groups have concerns that militarizing civilian law enforcement will lead to civil rights violations.

Daniel Williams, policy advocate at the ACLU of New Mexico, called the governors action a show of force, not a solution.

New Mexico already has one of the highest per capita rates of people killed by police in the nation, Williams said. History has shown that military collaboration with local law enforcement often leads to increased civil rights violations, racial profiling, and criminalization of vulnerable populations, particularly those experiencing homelessness and poverty.

Its not the first time Lujan Grisham has tried to leverage state resources to address high crime rates in Albuquerque. In 2021, the two-term Democrat temporarily assigned state police officers to the area to help local authorities tackle vehicle thefts, drug trafficking, aggressive driving and the apprehension of violent criminals with felony warrants.

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The year before, then-President Donald Trump sent federal agents, including Homeland Security officers, to Albuquerque as part of an effort to contain violent crime. He also targeted Chicago and other U.S. cities with the surge in resources.

Lujan Grisham's latest emergency declaration follows a March 31 request by Albuquerque's police chief, who pointed to the fentanyl epidemic and an increase in violent juvenile crime. Medina wrote that progress has been made in reducing shootings and aggravated assaults along what is known as Central Avenue but that more resources are needed.

The New Mexico Legislature adjourned last month, drawing much criticism from law enforcement leaders, prosecutors and even the governor for failing to adequately bolster public safety in Albuquerque and other New Mexico communities.

Statistics released by the Albuquerque police department in February showed an 11% decrease in aggravated assaults in 2024 compared to the prior year, while homicides decreased for a second straight year.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation Monday to create a turquoise alert" for when Native Americans go missing in the state.

The effort  which had overwhelming support among lawmakers  responds to a troubling number of disappearances and killings in Indian Country.

The turquoise alert system  taking its name from the blue-green mineral  will allow law enforcement to quickly share information. It will function much like amber and silver alerts that highlight the disappearance of children and the elderly. Cellphone alerts will be issued when law enforcement finds evidence of imminent danger in the disappearance of a Native American.

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The legislation wasn't just a policy achievement, but a victory for every Native American mother, daughter, sister and aunt who has ever been impacted by violence, said Tiffany Jiron, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.

This bill reflects our deep commitment to ensuring that no Indigenous person is left behind when they go missing, Jirons said in a statement. For far too long, Native women and girls have been overlooked, their cases ignored or delayed. The Turquoise Alert System is an essential step toward rectifying that injustice and ensuring that our people receive the protection they deserve.

California, Washington and Colorado have similar alert systems, according to the New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs. Arizona lawmakers are considering their own alert system as the brutal death of San Carlos Apache teenager Emily Pike reverberates through Native American communities.

New Mexico has 23 federally recognized tribes, including large portions of the Navajo Nation and land holdings of the Fort Sill Apache. The safety concerns of those communities were on prominent display during the 60-day legislative session that wrapped up in March.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  The growing ranks of New Mexico voters with no party affiliation will be allowed to vote in primary elections without changing their nonpartisan status, under a bill signed into law Monday by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The change runs counter to outcomes of election reform efforts in many other states. Last year, voters in a mixture of politically red, blue and purple states rejected state ballot initiatives to ditch traditional partisan primaries or adopt ranked choice voting.

New Mexico's shift to partially open primaries takes effect in time for the 2026 cycle, when parties nominate candidates for three congressional seats, one U.S. Senate seat and a long list of statewide offices, including governor as Lujan Grisham terms out of office. Seats in the Democrat-led state House also will be up for election.

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Statewide, about 23% of registered voters forgo partisan affiliation and previously were locked out of the primary nomination process if unwilling to join a major party. The change still prohibits crossover voting by members of opposing parties.

Last year, voters in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and South Dakota all rejected either ranked choice voting, open primaries or a combination of both.

Lujan Grisham voiced support for the shift toward open primaries at the close of a 60-day legislative session that left her openly frustrated with public safety initiatives and efforts to improve public education.

I think the work to have open primaries is a step in the right direction for New Mexico, where we seem to not be able to govern, in a way," she said.

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The bill from Democratic sponsors, including state Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe, was opposed by the state Republican Party as a potential stepping stone to fully open primaries or ranked choice voting.

The share of unaffiliated voters in New Mexico has swelled from 15% of registrations in 2004 to 23% this year.

Among New Mexicos 33 counties, unaffiliated voters outnumber registered Democrats in Otero and Curry counties and outnumber Republicans in Los Alamos and Dona Ana counties.

Democrats hold majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature, control every statewide elected office and all three of New Mexico's congressional seats. Trump lost the state three times, while narrowing his margin of defeat in 2024.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that her nation would categorically reject any unilateral U.S. military in Mexico and that such military action "would not resolve anything."

Sheinbaum's comments during her regular morning press conference came in response to questions about an NBC News report that President Donald Trump's administration is considering drone strikes on drug cartels in Mexico to combat trafficking across the shared border.

"The people of Mexico will not, under any circumstances, accept intervention, interference, or any other act from abroad," Sheinbaum said.

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Officials from the Trump administration have repeatedly refused in recent months to rule out strikes in Mexico. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has previously said that all options will be on the table when asked about the potential use of strikes inside Mexico.

The NBC News report cited six current and former U.S. military, law enforcement and intelligence officials with knowledge of the matter. It said that no decision had been made.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sheinbaum said the U.S. and Mexico have a good ongoing dialogue on security issues and that she did not think the U.S. would pursue such unilateral action.

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Concern has mounted in recent months among some Mexican officials, however, that the Trump administration may be setting the stage to take unilateral military action inside Mexico, an idea floated repeatedly during Trump's presidential campaign.

In February, the U.S. designated the Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican drug cartels as global terrorist organizations, which some analysts have said could be a stepping stone to such action.

Sheinbaum has since proposed a constitutional reform aimed at adding protections to Mexico's national sovereignty.

The U.S. military has also increased its airborne surveillance of Mexican drug cartels to collect intelligence to determine how to best counter their activities.

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During a congressional hearing on Tuesday, a senior Pentagon official said the military did not currently have the authority to hit cartels in Mexico.

Trump considered military action in Mexico during his first term. His former defense secretary, Mark Esper, wrote in his memoir that Trump asked at least twice in 2020 if the military could "shoot missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs." Esper wrote that he replied that it would be illegal and an act of war.

(Reporting by Raul Cortes, Ana Isabel Martinez and Laura Gottesdiener in Mexico City and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Kylie Madry and Rosalba O'Brien)
By Akbar Novruz



The Western Azerbaijan Community has strongly criticized Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe High Commissioner for Human Rights, for what it described as a lack of awareness and one-sided approach in his recent responses to Armenian deputies in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

In a statement, the Community said:

It is unacceptable that the High Commissioner addresses the issue of the return of Armenians to Azerbaijan and does not mention the return of Western Azerbaijanis to their ancestral homeland in Armenia. We call on the High Commissioner not to be held hostage to the deeply rooted double standards policy in a number of Western institutions regarding human rights.

The Community further criticized O'Flaherty for remaining silent on justice for Azerbaijani victims, particularly in light of the trial currently underway in Baku. It urged the High Commissioner to instead call on Armenia to prosecute war criminals within its own territory, including those responsible for the Aghdaban massacre, which occurred exactly 33 years ago.

The statement also demanded accountability from former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan for his remarks boasting about the mass expulsion of Azerbaijanis, and called on the Commissioner to visit Armenia to observe the state of destroyed or neglected Azerbaijani cultural and religious heritage and investigate the prevailing anti-Azerbaijani sentiment in the countrys media and public discourse.
PHNOM PENH, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's tallest bridge, built by a Chinese company in western Cambodia's Pursat province, will be temporarily open to the public from April 11 to 17 to facilitate travel during the traditional New Year, Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol said on Tuesday.

Cambodia will celebrate its lunar New Year, the Year of the Snake, from April 14 to 16.

Chanthol, who is also first-vice president of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, announced the opening of the bridge for temporary use while attending a ceremony for casting to connect the bridge on Tuesday.

He said the bridge will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for family cars, while trucks and other heavy vehicles will continue to use the bypass route.

"The temporary opening of the bridge is to facilitate the travel of passengers and tourists during the upcoming New Year," he said in a post on his official Facebook page.

Chanthol said that constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), bridge No. 28 along National Road No. 10 has been built across the Russey Chrum river valley in Chhay Luk village in Veal Veng district's Osom commune.

According to the CRBC, the 80-meter-tall bridge project has a total length of 530 meters and a width of 10 meters.

The road and bridge will provide enormous economic benefits by reducing time and costs in transportation and logistics services, Chanthol said, adding that they will make it easier for farmers to transport their agricultural products to markets.

He said the total length of the National Road No. 10 reconstruction project was 197.3 km, and the reconstruction work began in March 2020.

As of March 2025, more than 96 percent of the overall project has been completed, he added. 
MEXICO CITY (AP)  A 3-year-old girl in western Mexico has died after contracting bird flu in the country's first confirmed human case of bird flu, Mexican health authorities said Tuesday.

Mexicos Health Ministry said in a statement that the girl from the western state of Durango died early Tuesday after she was hospitalized with respiratory complications caused by the infection.

Type A H5N1 influenza has been spreading through animals and some people in the United States. There have been 70 cases in that country since during the past year, according to the World Health Organization, though researchers and studies suggest thats likely an undercount.

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The girl had been hospitalized in the neighboring state of Coahuila. Health officials had announced she was the countrys first human infection on Friday.

It was not known how the girl contracted the virus. Investigators were testing wild birds in the vicinity of the girls home.

Health officials said that 38 human contacts with the girl had been tested and all came back negative for the bird flu. The risk of more human infections was considered low, the statement said.
Amid reports that the Trump administration is considering drone strikes against cartels, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated her staunch opposition to any such military action.

We do not agree with any kind of intervention or interference, Sheinbaum told reporters Tuesday at her daily morning news conference. This has been very clear: We coordinate, we collaborate, [but] we are not subordinate and there is no meddling in these actions.

The presidents comments, reaffirming her already-stated views on the sensitive topic, come as various reports have suggested the Trump administration may be considering aerial strikes on cartel targets  and that the administration is prepared to act unilaterally if Washington cannot secure Mexican support.

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On Tuesday NBC News cited six current and former U.S. officials saying that the Trump administration was weighing drone strikes in Mexico to combat criminal gangs trafficking narcotics across the southern border.

Read more: U.S. revokes visas of Mexican band members accused of 'glorifying' drug kingpin

The Trump White House has already designated six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move that Mexico opposed vociferously. Many in Mexico viewed the designation as moving the United States toward its first military strike on neighboring Mexico in more than a century.

Sheinbaum has agreed to stepped-up military and Central Intelligence Agency surveillance flights over Mexico in a bid to gather intelligence on cartel operations, officials have said.

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But military strikes would probably cross a red line and could trigger a sharp deterioration in U.S.-Mexico relations  and, experts say, could result in curtailed cooperation in battling illegal immigration and drug smuggling, and resolving other cross-border issues.

"Unilateral U.S. strikes on Mexican soil would be devastating for the bilateral relations and could be detrimental to the objective of fighting drug cartels," Gustavo A. Flores-Macias, professor of government at Cornell University, wrote via email.

"The Mexican government would face tremendous domestic pressure to respond in the strongest possible terms  including severing diplomatic relations with the U.S. and collapsing binational cooperation on migration and security, among other topics," wrote Flores-Macias.

The issue of U.S. interference is an extremely sensitive one in a country that lost more than half of its national territory  including present-day California  in the 1846-48 Mexican-American War, a conflict widely viewed here as an act of U.S. imperial aggression. Mexico also endured 20th century incursions, including the 1914 U.S. military occupation of the port of Veracruz and the unsuccessful 1916-17 expedition to capture Gen. Francisco Pancho Villa, the Mexican revolutionary leader.

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Although drone strikes would undoubtedly produce the kind of kinetic optics that President Trump favors, experts have questioned their use against Mexican cartels  highly atomized operations that often produce clandestine drugs in primitive laboratories that can be easily replaced.

Read more: U.S. official says drone flights over Mexico may signal future strikes

Sheinbaum has won widespread praise at home and abroad for her administration's "cool-headed" talks with the Trump administration on the contentious issue of tariffs. The White House has imposed duties on imports of automobiles, steel and aluminum from Mexico, but has largely maintained the free-trade regimen of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, signed in 2020, during Trump's first White House term.

But Trump has also charged that Mexico is "essentially run by the cartels"  an assertion rejected by Sheinbaum, who has said that Mexico would defend its sovereignty against "violations by land, sea or air."

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Read more: Their hopes for asylum in U.S. dashed, migrants in Tijuana ponder next moves

Under the leadership of Sheinbaum, who took office in October, Mexico has stepped up actions against organized crime, arresting scores of alleged traffickers, making record busts of fentanyl and other illicit drugs, and shipping 29 purported cartel capos to the United States to face trial. She has quietly dropped the "hugs not bullets" approach of her predecessor and mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who reduced U.S.-Mexico coordination on anti-drug efforts and was widely criticized for not taking a more aggressive stance toward cartels that dominate wide swaths of Mexican territory.

Trump has praised Sheinbaum's actions, calling her a "marvelous woman." But the U.S. president has still insisted that the United States should "wage war" against drug cartels.

Special correspondent Cecilia Sanchez Vidal 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.
A Miami-Dade deputy fatally shot a man at a hotel near Miami-International Airport on Monday night.

Around 9:40 p.m., MDSO homicide detectives were at the Extended Stay America, 6605 NW Seventh Street, conducting surveillance on a man they say was involved in a fatal double shooting on Sunday, according to investigators.

Detectives tried stopping the man as he left the hotel and got into his car, said Detective Angel Rodriguez. But, this led to an exchange of gunfire between the man and detectives and he was fatally shot, Rodriguez said.

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The man, whom police have not identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooting is under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state agency that investigates most officer-involved shootings.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Miami Herald staff writer Milena Malaver contributed to this report.
A 74-year-old Michigan woman who was reported missing has been found alive after surviving freezing temperatures and three days in the woods.

Nancy Bloomquist was visiting the Little River Casino  about 95 miles north of her home in Norton Shores  on Thursday, police said. She was reportedly driving home in a 2024 GMC Terrain when she lost her way on a private road. Bloomquist was traveling in the nighttime hours, through the dark and a rainstorm and near-freezing temperatures.

"Surveillance footage shows her leaving the casino at approximately 5:30 p.m. [local time] and driving southbound on US-31. She has not been seen or heard from since," police said.

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During her trip, Bloomquist accidentally turned down a long driveway to a seasonal home. Realizing her mistake, she tried to turn her vehicle around on the narrow road, but eventually became stuck.

At some point during the ordeal, flames erupted from Bloomquist's SUV, forcing her to flee the vehicle. Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole told local broadcaster WZZM that the vehicle may have caught fire because the engine was overworked while trying to gain traction on roads that he called "life-threatening."

Bloomquist tried to return to her SUV to retrieve her phone and call for help, but she became lost. Near-freezing rain pelted her, and the cold sapped her strength, forcing her to seek shelter next to a tree, according to the sheriff's office.

Nancy Bloomquist, 74, was found alive after she was forced to endure three days of debilitating cold in the Michigan woods. Bloomquist's SUV caught fire while she was driving to her home in Norton Shores, forcing her to seek shelter in the woods until police eventually located her. (Norton Shores Police Department)

The woman reportedly sheltered at the tree for three days.

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On April 6, police in Norton Shores asked for the public's help finding Bloomquist.

The following afternoon, officers received a report that a vehicle had broken down on the side of the road in Grant Township. Police launched a search operation after noting that the burned-out vehicle's description matched that of Bloomquist's SUV.

Rescuers at the site used a drone to help search the surrounding wooded areas and located Bloomquist huddled among the trees about 150 yards from her SUV. From the time police received the burning car report to the time they located Bloomquist was less than six hours.

"She's incredibly, incredibly lucky she's still alive ... I don't know her, but she's a tough gal," Cole told the broadcaster.

Bloomquist was conscious when deputies and rescuers found her and was able to speak to law enforcement. She was transported to a hospital where she received treatment for exposure, according to WZZM.
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 25 people, including eight children and five women, according to Palestinian medics. Gazas Health Ministry says the bodies of 58 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Israels Supreme Court ruled that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can't fire the head of the countrys internal security agency  at least for the next 12 days. Netanyahu said he was puzzled by the high courts decision and would continue to interview candidates to replace the head of Shin Bet.

Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March, and has cut off all food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza  a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime  while issuing displacement orders that have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee Israeli bombardments and ground operations.

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Israel's war in Gaza, in its 18th month, has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry. Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, and taking 251 others hostage. The group still holds 59 captives  24 believed to be alive.

Here is the latest:

Israel moves to close UN-run schools in east Jerusalem

Israeli authorities ordered the six schools to close within 30 days, meaning some 800 Palestinian children in east Jerusalem likely wont finish the academic year.

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Thats according to Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, which provides an array of educational and medical services in east Jerusalem and across the region.

Israel has banned UNRWA from operating on its territory since January, although it appears most services in the West Bank and east Jerusalem have continued. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies claim the agency is deeply infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA rejects that claim.

Israeli police and municipal authorities did not immediately comment on Tuesdays school closure orders.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWAs director for the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said Jerusalem municipal officials backed by police entered three of the schools on Tuesday, while a group of over 20 heavily armed border police entered schools in the Shuafat neighborhood.

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Its not the first time, he said. Forces entered three of the schools in Shuafat on March 5, with 30 heavily armed Border Police alongside education officials.

Israeli arson attack destroys a Palestinian wedding hall in the West Bank

A Palestinian wedding hall in the Israeli-occupied West Bank was torched overnight, reportedly by Israeli civilians. No one was injured in the fire, which reduced some of the structures to charred remains.

On one building, vandals spraypainted the words revenge and fight the enemy not the lover in Hebrew, as well as a Star of David.

Israeli security agencies condemned the vandalism in the town of Biddya and opened an investigation Tuesday. Israeli settlers in the West Bank have been accused of a growing number of attacks on Palestinian villages in retaliation for attacks or perceived efforts to hamper settlement construction.

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Israels internal security chief keeps his job, for now, despite pressure from Netanyahu

Israels Supreme Court has ruled that the head of the countrys internal security agency will stay in his position for at least the next 12 days, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus attempt to fire him last month.

The government and the attorney general have until April 20 to come to a creative solution regarding Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar's future, the justices said at the close of Tuesday's marathon hearing, which lasted more than 10 hours.

Netanyahu said he was puzzled by the high courts decision and he would continue to interview candidates to replace Bar.

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The stormy hearing, the latest showdown between Netanyahu and the judiciary, was eventually closed to the public after multiple protests interrupted proceedings  including by right-wing members of parliament.

Critics say the decision to fire Bar is tainted by a conflict of interest because the internal security agency is investigating ties between Netanyahus office and the Gulf Arab state of Qatar. Bars supporters say Netanyahu demanded loyalty from the head of an organization that is meant to be apolitical.

Since the war began, Netanyahu has fired or forced out a string of top officials, including the defense minister and the militarys chief of staff.

UN chief says Israel is failing its obligations as occupying power by blocking aid to Gaza

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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says under the Geneva Conventions, Israel has unequivocal obligations to ensure the delivery of food and medical supplies and to maintain hospitals for Gazas population.

He said the Fourth Geneva Convention also provides that if part or all of the population is inadequately supplied, the occupying power shall agree to relief schemes  and shall facilitate them by all means at its disposal.

None of this is happening today, Guterres told reporters Tuesday. No humanitarian supplies can enter Gaza.

For more than a month, Israel has blocked food, medicine and commercial supplies from entering the Gaza Strip. Israel insists that enough food to feed the more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza was delivered during the ceasefire, a claim U.N. agencies insist is far from reality.

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As aid has dried up, the floodgates of horror have reopened, Guterres said. Gaza is a killing field  and civilians are in an endless death loop.

The U.N. chief again called for the immediate release of all hostages abducted during Hamas surprise Oct. 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel, a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian access to all parts of Gaza.

After very warm visit to Trump, Israels Netanyahu weighs in on Iran and tariffs

Military intervention is the only way to halt Irans nuclear program, insisted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

You go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision, American execution, he said in a video statement Tuesday, citing the U.S.-led intervention in Libya. Otherwise, he said, Iran will drag out talks for years.

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Netanyahu repeated his support for U.S. President Donald Trumps controversial plan to force Palestinians to leave Gaza for other countries. He also said Israel would keep working against Turkeys attempts to establish military bases in Syria, and would turn to Trump, who has a good relationship with the Turkish president.

Netanyahu said he told Trump that reducing Israel's trade deficit with the U.S. to zero  per a request from Trump  was the least we can do for the United States and its president who do so much for us.

The U.S. had a $7.4 billion trade deficit in goods last year with Israel, according to the Census Bureau.

Irans foreign minister says he will have indirect talks with US envoy over Tehrans nuclear program

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Iran s foreign minister said Tuesday hell meet with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman for the first negotiations under the Trump administration seeking to halt Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program as tensions remain high in the Middle East.

Speaking to Iranian state television from Algeria, Abbas Araghchi maintained the talks would be indirect, likely with Omani mediators shuttling between the parties. U.S. President Donald Trump, in announcing the negotiations on Monday, described them as direct talks.

There was no immediate acknowledgment from the U.S. that Witkoff would lead the American delegation.

Years of indirect talks under the Biden administration failed to reach any success, as Tehran now enriches uranium up to 60% purity  a technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

Both the U.S. and Israel have threatened Iran with military attack over the nuclear program, while officials in Tehran increasingly warn they could potentially pursue a nuclear bomb. Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran as part of his maximum pressure campaign targeting the country.

Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli strikes have killed dozens

Gaza's Health Ministry says the bodies of 58 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours.

Hospitals also received 213 wounded, the ministry said in its daily report Tuesday.

The overall Palestinian death toll in the war rose to at least 50,810 since Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the ministry said. Another 115,688 people have been wounded, it said.

It said the dead include 1,499 who have been killed since Israel resumed the war last month, shattering a ceasefire that had taken hold in January.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says more than half of those killed have been women and children.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian woman accused of attacking them

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian woman in the occupied West Bank who they said had thrown rocks at them and tried to stab them.

No Israeli soldiers were wounded in Tuesdays shooting, which occurred at a traffic junction near an Israeli settlement.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the woman as Amana Yacoub, 30, from the nearby town of Salfit.

There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Rights groups say Israeli forces often use lethal force when their lives are not in danger, while Israel says its troops have to make split-second decisions when operating in a dangerous environment.

Gaza journalist dies of wounds from Israeli strike

A Palestinian photojournalist who was wounded in an Israeli strike on a media tent outside of a hospital has died.

Ahmed Mansour suffered severe burns in the strike early Monday, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The strike killed two other people, including another journalist, and wounded another five reporters.

The Israeli military said the target of the strike was a man it described as a Hamas militant posing as a journalist. He was among those who were wounded.

Israels high court hears cases against domestic security chiefs firing

Israels Supreme Court is hearing a group of eight cases challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus move to dismiss the head of the countrys internal security agency.

The hearing sets the stage for what will be the latest showdown between Netanyahu and the judiciary. Any decision it makes is likely to deepen a rift in Israel over the power of the courts over elected lawmakers.

Critics say the decision to fire Ronen Bar is tainted by a conflict of interest because the internal security agency is investigating ties between Netanyahus office and the Gulf Arab state of Qatar. Bars supporters say Netanyahu demanded loyalty from the head of an organization that is meant to be apolitical.

Netanyahu says his decision came after a crisis of confidence in his domestic security chief surrounding Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza.

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 25 Palestinians, medics say

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 25 people, including eight children and five women, according to Palestinian medics.

A strike on a home in the central town of Deir al-Balah killed 11 people, including five children as young as two, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.

Another four people were killed in a separate strike that hit a house in Deir al-Balah, it said.

Another strike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya flattened a home and killed a family of seven, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

A separate strike hit a group of people in an open area northwest of Gaza City, killing four people, including one who was planning to get married next week, the ministry said.

Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 25 people, including eight children and five women, according to Palestinian medics. Gazas Health Ministry says the bodies of 58 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Israels Supreme Court is hearing a group of eight cases challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus move to dismiss the head of the internal security agency.

Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March and has cut off all food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza  a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime  while issuing displacement orders that have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee Israeli bombardments and ground operations.

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Israels war in Gaza, in its 18th month, has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry. Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, and taking 251 others hostage. The group still holds 59 captives  24 believed to be alive.

Here is the latest:

After very warm visit to Trump, Israels Netanyahu weighs in on Iran and tariffs

Military intervention is the only way to halt Irans nuclear program, insisted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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You go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision, American execution, he said in a video statement Tuesday, citing the U.S.-led intervention in Libya. Otherwise, he said, Iran will drag out talks for years.

Netanyahu repeated his support for U.S. President Donald Trumps controversial plan to force Palestinians to leave Gaza for other countries. He also said Israel would keep working against Turkeys attempts to establish military bases in Syria, and would turn to Trump, who has a good relationship with the Turkish president.

Netanyahu said he told Trump that reducing Israels trade deficit with the U.S. to zero  per a request from Trump  was the least we can do for the United States and its president who do so much for us.

The U.S. had a $7.4 billion trade deficit in goods last year with Israel, according to the Census Bureau.

Irans foreign minister says he will have indirect talks with US envoy over Tehrans nuclear program

Iran s foreign minister said Tuesday hell meet with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman for the first negotiations under the Trump administration seeking to halt Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program as tensions remain high in the Middle East.

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Speaking to Iranian state television from Algeria, Abbas Araghchi maintained the talks would be indirect, likely with Omani mediators shuttling between the parties. U.S. President Donald Trump, in announcing the negotiations on Monday, described them as direct talks.

There was no immediate acknowledgment from the U.S. that Witkoff would lead the American delegation.

Years of indirect talks under the Biden administration failed to reach any success, as Tehran now enriches uranium up to 60% purity  a technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

Both the U.S. and Israel have threatened Iran with military attack over the nuclear program, while officials in Tehran increasingly warn they could potentially pursue a nuclear bomb. Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran as part of his maximum pressure campaign targeting the country.

Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli strikes have killed dozens

Gazas Health Ministry says the bodies of 58 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours.

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Hospitals also received 213 wounded, the ministry said in its daily report Tuesday.

The overall Palestinian death toll in the war rose to at least 50,810 since Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the ministry said. Another 115,688 people have been wounded, it said.

It said the dead include 1,499 who have been killed since Israel resumed the war last month, shattering a ceasefire that had taken hold in January.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says more than half of those killed have been women and children.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian woman accused of attacking them

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian woman in the occupied West Bank who they said had thrown rocks at them and tried to stab them.

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No Israeli soldiers were wounded in Tuesdays shooting, which occurred at a traffic junction near an Israeli settlement.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the woman as Amana Yacoub, 30, from the nearby town of Salfit.

There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Rights groups say Israeli forces often use lethal force when their lives are not in danger, while Israel says its troops have to make split-second decisions when operating in a dangerous environment.

Gaza journalist dies of wounds from Israeli strike

A Palestinian photojournalist who was wounded in an Israeli strike on a media tent outside of a hospital has died.

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Ahmed Mansour suffered severe burns in the strike early Monday, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The strike killed two other people, including another journalist, and wounded another five reporters.

The Israeli military said the target of the strike was a man it described as a Hamas militant posing as a journalist. He was among those who were wounded.

Israels high court hears cases against domestic security chiefs firing

Israels Supreme Court is hearing a group of eight cases challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus move to dismiss the head of the countrys internal security agency.

The hearing sets the stage for what will be the latest showdown between Netanyahu and the judiciary. Any decision it makes is likely to deepen a rift in Israel over the power of the courts over elected lawmakers.

Advertisement Advertisement

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Critics say the decision to fire Ronen Bar is tainted by a conflict of interest because the internal security agency is investigating ties between Netanyahus office and the Gulf Arab state of Qatar. Bars supporters say Netanyahu demanded loyalty from the head of an organization that is meant to be apolitical.

Netanyahu says his decision came after a crisis of confidence in his domestic security chief surrounding Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza.

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 25 Palestinians, medics say

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 25 people, including eight children and five women, according to Palestinian medics.

A strike on a home in the central town of Deir al-Balah killed 11 people, including five children as young as two, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.

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Another four people were killed in a separate strike that hit a house in Deir al-Balah, it said.

Another strike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya flattened a home and killed a family of seven, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

A separate strike hit a group of people in an open area northwest of Gaza City, killing four people, including one who was planning to get married next week, the ministry said.

Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA)  Millikin University and Illinois Central College (ICC) are teaming up to provide a seamless transfer experience, making it easier for students to complete their four-year degree.

The two institutions have a new partnership in which ICC graduates will automatically be accepted into Millikin, allowing them to complete their bachelors degree in two years. The agreement will begin in the 2025-2026 school year.

Three displaced by apartment fire in Decatur

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Millikin said that to qualify for the automatic transfer, ICC students must have completed an Associate in Arts (AA), Associate in Science (AS), Associate in Fine Arts (AFA), Associate in Engineering Science (AES) or Associate in Applied Science (AAS) with a 2.0 cumulative GPA.

This partnership with Illinois Central College creates a straightforward and accessible route for students to continue their education at Millikin University, Millikin University Provost Mary Black said. By streamlining the often-complicated transfer process, ICC students can transition smoothly while also taking advantage of Millikins distinctive opportunities, such as Performance Learning and exceptional graduate programs.

ICC transfer students can complete the following programs in two years at Millikin:

Millikin University welcomes 17th President

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Accounting

Agribusiness

Applied Statistics

Chemistry

Computer Science

Digital Marketing

History

Nursing (requires three semesters at ICC and five semesters at Millikin)

Political Science

A full list of programs can be found on Millikins website.

Illinois Central College is committed to providing students with clear and seamless pathways to further their education and achieve their goals. This partnership with Millikin University creates valuable opportunities for our students to continue their academic journey with confidence, ICC President Dr. Sheila Quirk-Bailey said. We appreciate Millikins commitment to supporting transfer students and look forward to seeing our graduates thrive as they take their next steps.

Students who have met the requirements of the ICC Honors Program will also receive automatic acceptance into the James Millikin Honors Scholars Program.

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ICC transfer students will also qualify for scholarships like Millikin Tuition Promise and Big Blue Pledge: Illinois Free Tuition Program.

For more information on the programs available for ICC transfer students, 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 WCIA.com.
COLOMBO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government has approved a proposal to recruit 18,853 graduates and young people to fill vacancies in selected government institutions, said a spokesman on Tuesday.

Cabinet spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa told the media that the government has allocated 10 billion rupees (34 million U.S. dollars) from the 2025 budget to fill the most critical vacancies across various sectors.

The positions will be filled based on merit, and the selected government institutions have been instructed to call for applications accordingly.

This move follows earlier decisions by the cabinet to approve the recruitment of 5,882 new employees in March and nearly 7,500 in February.

Government hiring had been frozen following Sri Lanka's 2022 economic crisis, which left many public sector positions vacant. The government is now focusing on filling essential roles as part of its recovery efforts. 
A Little Ice Age in the sixth century was so intense it may have been the primary driver in the fall of the Roman Empire, scientists believe.

Between 536AD and 547AD, three massive volcanic eruptions blocked out the Sun and ushered in a rapid period of cooling which saw average temperatures fall by several degrees.

Researchers at the University of Southampton have found that the mini Ice Age was so intense that it moved rocks from Greenland to Iceland.

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The scientists found smooth rounded rocks known as cobbles on the beaches of Icelands west coast which must have been carried on icebergs from Greenland.

It suggests that the cooling event sparked changes even more widespread and severe than previously thought, causing major climate upheavals in the northern hemisphere that probably played a pivotal role in the collapse of the Roman Empire.

When it comes to the fall of the Roman Empire, this climate shift may have been the straw that broke the camels back, said Prof Tom Gernon, co-author of the new research and an earth science professor at the University of Southampton.

Scientists found the Little Ice Age was intense enough to carry rocks from Greenland to Iceland on icebergs - Professor Ross Mitchell

The climate was particularly cold at the time  cold enough for icebergs to reach and noticeably impact the geology in Iceland, Prof Gernon added.

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The Roman Empire was likely already in decline when the Little Ice Age began. However, our findings support the idea that climate change in the northern hemisphere was more severe than previously thought.

Indeed, it may have been a primary driver of major societal change, rather than just one of several contributing factors.

The period of cooling, dubbed the Late Antique Little Ice Age, lasted around 200 to 300 years.

It is known to have coincided with a period of widespread social unrest across Europe and Asia, which saw the Roman empire giving way to the Byzantine era.

By that time, the Roman empire had shrunk to the Mediterranean and continued to decline because crop failures induced by the cold, famine and plague.

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As well as the Romans, the huge climate shift also saw Chinese dynasties falling as well as the Eastern Turkic empire.

The new findings, published in the journal Geology, show that the climate disruption reached far into the North Atlantic Ocean.

Experts had known that the beach rocks on Icelands west coast did not belong there but were unsure where they had come from until they studied their age and composition.

The team found that the rocks came from Greenland by analysing the age and composition of tiny zircon crystals. Zircon is one of the primary minerals used to determine the age of rocks.



We knew these rocks seemed somewhat out of place because the rock types are unlike anything found in Iceland today, but we didnt know where they came from, said Dr Christopher Spencer, associate professor at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and lead author of the research.

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Zircons are essentially time capsules that preserve vital information including when they crystallised as well as their compositional characteristics.

The combination of age and chemical composition allows us to fingerprint currently exposed regions of the Earths surface, much like is done in forensics.

Experts knew the rocks on Icelands west coast did not belong there but were unsure where they had come from until now - Dr Christopher Spencer

The team discovered that the age of the fragments spanned nearly 3 billion years, and were able to trace the rocks back to specific regions of Greenland.



This is the first direct evidence of icebergs carrying large Greenlandic cobbles to Iceland, added Dr Spencer.

The rocks were once carved out of the landscape by glaciers on Greenland and would have become embedded in ice which was eventually set adrift as icebergs.

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The ice-rafted rocks were likely deposited during the seventh century, coinciding with a major climate shift when temperatures warmed and the ground slowly rebounded after the heavy ice sheets melted.

Prof Gernon added: This timing coincides with a known major episode of ice-rafting, where vast chunks of ice break away from glaciers, drift across the ocean, and eventually melt, scattering debris along distant shores.

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The Minnesota Department of Education will not comply with the Trump administration's order to ban all programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion in order to keep receiving federal schools funding, saying the threat illegally circumvents Congress.

The U.S. Department of Education last week ordered all K-12 school districts certify within 10 days that they are following Title VI of civil rights laws by ending so-called "DEI" programs, threatening to withhold congressionally-approved Title I funding  which primarily helps schools in low-income areas  if they do not.

"Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right," said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. He goes on to claim that schools "flout" or "outright violate" civil rights laws "by using DEI programs to discriminate," though the order does not provide further details as to how.

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The Star Tribune reports that Minnesota receives around $1.4 billion in federal funding for its schools  about 10% of the total education budget, while $194 million is earmarked in Title I funding for 2024-25.

Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett rejected the order in a response Monday, saying that MDE has been adhering to federal civil rights laws and that there is no law passed by Congress that bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs in education.

"MDE has long followed federal law in implementing federal programs," it says. "There is nothing unlawful in the principles underlying programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion."

Jett cites Betsy DeVos, the education secretary during Trump's first term, who praised federal education laws for ensuring "every child has a right to an excellent education, regardless of circumstances outside of their control such as the zip code in which they live or their socioeconomic status."

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Jett goes on to say that the demand for certification and threat to withhold funding does not have grounding in law as it has not gone through Congress. It follows an apparently consistent theme since Trump has returned to office of withholding or canceling congressionally-approved funding and ignoring certain court orders stipulating that said funding must resume.

"The requested, additional certification seemingly seeks to change the terms and conditions of federal financial assistance awarded to MDE without formal administrative process," Jett writes, later adding: "Threats to this funding without backing in law or established requirements put key programs at risk that students and schools depend on every day."

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Jett says he is "unaware of any legal authority" allowing the federal Department of Education to require MDE to obtain certifications from each of Minnesota's public school district, nor authority requiring MDE to report on districts' compliance "and propose enforcement plans" to federal authorities.

He also criticizes the request for certification as too vague, saying the Trump administration's request for certification "references 'certain DEI practices' or 'illegal DEI,' it does not define it, and there are no federal or applicable state statutes prohibiting diversity, equity, or inclusion."

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"ED does not have the authority to unilaterally overrule the will of Congress," he continues. "The current uncertainty and threats would penalize the most vulnerable children in Minnesota and are a distraction from the good work we need to do to ensure every student has access to a world-class education."

You can read more on MDE's response here.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  The Wichita Police Department is asking for the publics help in locating an 18-year-old man who functions at a 10-year-old development level.

Nichalus Hohner, 18, left his placement around 2 p.m. and was last seen in the area of 800 N. Valleyview Ln.

Hohner is described as 6 feet 2 inches tall and 210 lbs. He was last seen wearing a light grey T-shirt, grey sweatpants, a white beanie, and neon rainbow Nike shoes.

If you have seen Hohner or have any information regarding his whereabouts, please call 911 immediately.

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BURKE COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  The publics help is requested in finding a missing man, according to the North Carolina Center for Missing Persons.

A Missing Endangered Alert has been issued for 68-year-old Clifford John Tolbert, who is thought to be impacted by a cognitive impairment.

Tolbert was last seen in the 4100 block of River Road in Burke County. He may be headed to Abington Road in Caldwell County, but it is possible he is traveling to a different location.

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NCDMVs expand hours as Real ID deadline looms

Tolbert is described as a white man standing 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing 164 pounds. He is balding on the top but has long gray hair, typically in a ponytail.

He was last seen wearing a long-sleeve button-up shirt, blue jeans, brown boots and clear-rimmed glasses tied with a shoestring.

Tolbert may be driving a burgundy 2005 KIA Sorento with the NC license plate KBL-6317. The car may have damage to the drivers side.

Anyone with information on Tolberts whereabouts is asked to call Sgt. Street at 828-438-5500.

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DENVER (KDVR)  A missing man was found dead in his apartment, according to a post on X from the Douglas County Sheriffs Office.

On March 25, the sheriffs office said Jason Owens was reported missing and that he was a possible danger to himself.

They also reported that June Nimmons, 44, may have been with Owens and in danger herself. She was last seen in late February.

Nuggets fire head coach, GM with three games remaining before the playoffs

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On Monday, the sheriffs office provided an update that Owens had been located and was found dead in his apartment. The agency said no further details could be released regarding the investigation.

Investigators are still searching for evidence on the whereabouts of Nimmons.

The Douglas County Sheriffs Office asks anyone with information related to the investigation to call Detective Murphy at 303-660-7564 or email jmurphy@dcsheriff.net.

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LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A missing man allegedly stabbed a grocery shopper in a Las Vegas parking lot in what police call a random attack, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

Cristhian Areiza Calle, 32, who police said disappeared from New Jersey, faces charges of attempted murder and battery with the use of a deadly weapon, documents said.

On Tuesday, April 1, dispatchers received a call about a stabbing in a parking lot on Desert Inn Road near Decatur Boulevard. Officers arrived, finding a man, later identified as Areiza Calle, with a stab wound to his hand. Paramedics transported another person who had significant injuries to the hospital, documents said.

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A witness told police she saw Areiza Calle approach a stranger in the parking lot and then fight with him, documents said. The stranger was loading groceries into a car.

Police described the attack as random and said mental illness may be to blame.

Investigators found a shopping bag nearby with many knives, including one covered in blood, police said.

A judge denied setting bail during an initial hearing on April 2, records said. The case was originally filed as an open murder charge however, the victim survived.

Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Harmony Letizia referred Areiza Calle to competency court to determine if he could stand trial.

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It was not immediately clear from where in New Jersey Areiza Calle disappeared, nor when he was reported missing.

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Michigan officials located a missing two-year-old alive and well in a freezing cold ditch using a helicopter and a heat-seeking camera.

The Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety responded to a call about the child in Blackman Township, about 77 miles west of Detroit, on Sunday.

The boy was last seen watching television in the living room around 8.43pm and his caregivers reported him missing about an hour later.

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Several units responded to search for the child, including the Blackman-Leoni K-9 unit, Michigan State Police K-9 unit and an MSP helicopter.

Officials and community members combed through the area for nearly two hours. A break in the case came around 11.33pm, when a trooper using the heat-seeking technology found the child in a ditch, curled up and only wearing a diaper.

Police said the child was cold but alert and conscious.

Officers with the Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety in Michigan used heat technology to locate a missing child this weekend (Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety)

Emergency responders transported him to the Henry Ford Jackson Hospital for evaluation and he was determined to be in good condition.

Police touted the technologys use as a major factor in recovering the child. The trooper had only been using it for 15 minutes before he was located.

The trooper then directed ground units to where the child was. Footage released by the department shows officers comforting the child as they wait for medical professionals.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo  The Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced the State of Missouri has been chosen to be a part of the in-state nuclear summit. The National Governors Association (NGA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection on April 7th.

Its imperative for Missouri to develop new sources of reliable energy to serve our businesses, communities and citizens, Governor Kehoe said. Missouris current nuclear fleet consists of a single reactor at the Callaway Energy Center, which generates 14% of in-state electricity.

NGA and DOE will supply technical assistance and will aid the State of Missouri in strategic planning. The goal of the summit is to bring awareness to transforming existing conceptual plans for new nuclear deployment in Missouri.

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Kehoe said that he believes the expansions will be a major addition to the United States energy dominance.

Expansions to Missouris nuclear capacity will make a meaningful contribution to the United States energy dominance, increase regional grid reliability and provide a steady supply of alternative fuels that will empower private industry to meet their energy goals and reduce reliance on energy imports, Kehoe said.

The in-state nuclear summit will be co-lead by the Governors Office and the Department of Natural Resources.

Private utility companies such as Ameren Missouri, Evergy and Liberty has been collaborating with the State of Missouri to facilitate with the states objectives. The University of Missouri System, the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, the Missouri Public Alliance and the City Utilities of Springfield have also been involved in the project.

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For more updates on the project, visit NGAs website. For information regarding the Division of Energy, click here.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Missouri will be hosting a nuclear summit as part of a push to expand the states nuclear capacity, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced Monday.

The State of Missouri was selected by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to convene the summit.

Its imperative for Missouri to develop new sources of reliable energy to serve our businesses, communities and citizens, Governor Kehoe said. Missouris current nuclear fleet consists of a single reactor at the Callaway Energy Center, which generates 14% of in-state electricity.

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Expansions to Missouris nuclear capacity will make a meaningful contribution to the United States energy dominance, increase regional grid reliability and provide a steady supply of alternative fuels that will empower private industry to meet their energy goals and reduce reliance on energy imports.

NGA and DOE will provide technical assistance and assist the State of Missouri with strategic planning for its energy future. This is part of a nationwide initiative.

Throughout 2025, NGA will host a series of two-day nuclear convenings in each state comprised of state teams, NGA staff and selected invited specialists, the NGA said on its website.

The governors office, along with the Department of Natural Resources, will serve as the designated co-leads for the in-state nuclear summit.

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We look forward to working with NGA and DOE to move both Missouri and the country forward in advancing nuclear energy, said Kurt Schaefer, Director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

The State of Missouri has committed to collaborating with the following partners:

Missouris key investor-owned, private utility companies (Ameren Missouri, Evergy and Liberty)

University of Missouri System with two university nuclear reactors, one of which is the largest university reactor in the country

Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, representing 47 electric cooperatives across rural communities

Missouri Public Utility Alliance, representing public utilities throughout the state

City Utilities of Springfield

Visit NGAs website for additional updates and information. For more information on the departments Division of Energy, click here.

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VIENTIANE, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Laos saw a sharp decline in dengue fever cases in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period last year, said the Lao Ministry of Health.

According to a report from the Ministry's Center of Information and Education for Health on Tuesday, Laos recorded 556 dengue cases between January and March 2025, with no deaths reported.

In the first quarter of 2024, the number of dengue cases in Laos reached 1,837, with three deaths.

During the first quarter this year, the highest number of dengue cases was reported in the Lao capital, Vientiane, at 152, while 91 cases were confirmed in Luang Namtha province and 66 cases in Luang Prabang province.

The Lao government has urged health officials and medical staff nationwide to enhance the management of dengue fever cases to prevent a major outbreak.

Last month, the Ministry of Health launched a project to combat mosquito-borne diseases by releasing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, a safe and effective method to reduce dengue incidence. The project will expand to the Lao capital, Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Oudomxay, Savannakhet, and Champasak provinces, aiming to protect over 1.2 million people across Laos. 
State Rep. George Hruza speaks, a Republican from Huntleigh, speaks during House debate (Tim Bommel/House Communications).

The Missouri House gave initial approval Monday to a bill that seeks to prevent antisemitism in public schools and colleges, with some raising concerns it could punish those who speak out against Israel.

The bill would require the states Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Department of Higher Education to assign a staff member to monitor antisemetic discrimination and harassment and investigate whether schools have responsibility for incidents. It also encourages schools to teach pieces of Jewish-American heritage.

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State Rep. George Hruza, a Republican from Huntleigh, said the bill was inspired by his mother, a Holocaust survivor who had frequent nightmares about her time in a concentration camp.

It was not until we arrived in the United States that the nightmares went away and she started speaking about her experience and embraced her Jewish heritage, Hruza said. She felt safe in the United States. On Oct. 7, 2023, that all changed.

That day, Hamas attacked Israel and started the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant groups. The conflict spurred the highest number of antisemetic incidents in a year recorded by the Anti-Defamation League.

Hruza hopes the legislation can cut back on these incidents, citing a recent case in Affton where a man spray-painted Nazi and white supremecist graffiti on school buildings.

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Dissent for the bill stems from the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances working definition of antisemitism. The definition has been adopted by a majority of U.S. states and included in orders at the federal level  though the lead drafter of the definition has spoken against its application as a tool to target or chill speech on a college campus.

Alongside the IHRA definition are examples of antisemitism, which the bill adopts. The list includes claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor and applying double standards to Israel as discriminatory. Both Hruzas bill and the IHRA say criticism of Israel is okay when it is similar to criticism toward any other country.

When a House committee debated the bill earlier this year, some argued the legislation was an attempt to silence criticism of Israel on college campuses.

State Rep. Stephanie Hein, a Springfield Democrat, voted present in committee on the bill and struggled to weigh the good pieces against controversial elements.

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There is a lot of emotion behind this subject and there are a lot of good things in this bill, she said Monday. The area of contention is the definition that is used.

State Rep. Wick Thomas, a Kansas City Democrat, asked Hruza if the bill might also be about ending critiques of Israel and the Palestinian conflict.

The bill is intended to keep the Jewish students safe on campus. It really is not taking sides or some kind of position on the conflict in the Middle East, Hruza said.

Although the bulk of the bills pushback came from Democrats, positions were not clearly split by party lines.

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State Rep. Ian Mackey, a Democrat from St. Louis, said he didnt think the legislation would impede free-speech rights.

The First Amendment has always confined speech to a reasonable time, place and manner, he said. You do not have the right to do that on a college campus in front of students who are simply trying to get to class.

Republican Rep. Darin Chappell, of Rogersville, told Hruza he had concerns.

He has argued in the past against recognizing minority groups in state law, Chappell said, to be lionized and set above on a pedestal.

He cant set those convictions aside, Chappell said, simply because it is one of my colleagues on this side of the aisle that is presenting (this bill).

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The House approved the bill with an amendment from Democratic state Rep. Raychel Proudie of Ferguson that bans schools from discriminating against textured hair and protective styles, like locks and braids. The legislation is often dubbed the CROWN Act and has been proposed by Missouri lawmakers since 2020.

The House must vote on the legislation again before sending it to the Senate.

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Missouri state Rep. Chris Brown, a Kansas City Republican, speaks in the House in February (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).

The Missouri House passed a bill Monday that would establish a fund to pay for hyperbaric oxygen therapy for veterans with a traumatic brain injury and facing post-traumatic stress disorder to help prevent suicide and opioid addiction.

The House passed the bill with a 156 to 1 vote.

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The bottom line is, there are too many veterans that are taking their lives, said state Rep. Chris Brown, a Republican from Kansas City sponsoring the legislation. They dont see a way out. They cant deal with it. And I think the oxygen therapy certainly will help and maybe even is the answer.

The legislation will now head to the Senate, where lawmakers are considering a companion bill sponsored by state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Republican from Harrisonville.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the goal of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is to get more oxygen to tissues damaged by disease, injury or other factors. Patients enter a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, where the air pressure is increased up to three times higher than normal air pressure. The lungs can gather much more oxygen than would be possible breathing pure oxygen at normal air pressure.

The bill directs the Missouri Veterans Commission to compile an annual report with data about the treatment of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and its effectiveness.

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This is a great moment that the bill made it to the Senate, said Dale Lutzen, a retired senior master sergeant from the U.S. Air Force and a legislative advocate for the non-profit TreatNOW.

Lutzen told lawmakers in a committee hearing in January that veterans with traumatic brain injuries or PTSD are typically given prescription drugs that treat symptoms but dont cure the brain injury.

As an alternative to drugs, hyperbaric oxygen therapy stimulates brain wound healing and it can reverse soft tissue and neurocognitive damage, Lutzen said. This treatment allows patients to experience recovery of cognitive and neurological functioning without surgery or drugs.

Despite numerous studies that prove its efficacy, the treatment is not on Medicares approved list, he said, and is not covered.

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At its most basic level, HB262 gives veterans, who have been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury or PTSD, the right to receive the treatment as prescribed by a doctor, he said.

Lutzen has been pushing for the last four years to get the fund established, he said. Last year, the bill passed in the House but stalled in the Senate. Lutzen is hoping that Brattins companion legislation will be the key to getting the bill across the finish line.

According to the bills fiscal analysis, the cost of reimbursing hyperbaric facilities for the necessary treatments could exceed $5 million annually. The funds will come from any appropriations, gifts, bequests, or public or private donations, the bill states.

State Rep. Stephanie Boykin, a Democrat from Florissant and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, spoke in support of the bill on Monday.

We have veterans who are suffering, Boykin said. We have veterans who have already tried medicines. Theyve already tried just traditional therapy. So this alternative therapy is whats needed, and we need to be there and standing for our veterans.
The Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City (Tessa Weinberg/Missouri Independent).

The Missouri Senate approved a proposed tax cut Monday despite questions about whether official estimates truly reflect how much it would reduce state revenue.

By a 27-6 vote, with the 10 Democrats evenly split and all but one Republican in favor, the bill now heads back to the House, where its sponsor, Republican state Rep. Chad Perkins of Bowling Green, intends to bring it to a final vote.

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Earlier in the afternoon, the cost estimate for the bill exempting long-term capital gains  profits from property held more than a year  was approved by a party-line vote in the Senate Fiscal Oversight Committee.

The bill would also increase income limits and credit amounts for the property tax relief program known as circuit breaker as well as exempt diapers and feminine hygiene products from sales tax. Overall, the fiscal note for the bill states it is expected to reduce state revenue by almost $430 million in the fiscal year that starts July 1 and about $350 million annually thereafter.

Democrats who voted against the bill said they were concerned about estimates from a left-leaning Washington tax institute, reported by The Independent, that the capital gains cut could reduce state general revenue by $600 million or more compared to the official estimate of $111 million.

The committee vote came after Democrats peppered state Department of Revenue economist Jean Hancock with questions about the wide difference in the estimates.

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My question would be how can we be off by half a billion dollars? Senate Democratic Leader Doug Beck of Affton asked.

The institutes estimate is based on IRS data from 2022 that showed $13.3 billion in long-term capital gains reported on returns from Missouri. Using the states top tax rate of 4.7%, applied to taxable income more than $8,911, the institute estimated the revenue from that much income would be about $625 million.

That is simple math that does not account for the other elements of Missouris tax code, Hancock told the committee.

We actually pull every single persons return in our model, and we run them and we pull out exactly what was claimed, Hancock said.So thats where our numbers come from. Whoever has something else. I dont know where they get them.

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In an interview after the hearing, Hancock said there are a number of deductions allowed in Missouri law that reduce income below the amounts reported on federal returns. All income from Social Security payments and much of the income from pension benefits is not taxed, she noted, and many high-income earners purchase tax credits that eliminate part or all of their tax liability.

Another reason the institutes estimate is off, Hancock argued, is because not all capital gains reported on a return from Missouri are taxable in Missouri. A capital gain for property located in another state, for example, would not result in a Missouri tax payment.

The capital gains numbers were providing are the ones that we believe are accurate, Hancock said to the committee.

Beck voted against the bill in committee and for it when it reached the floor.

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Under the bill, which Gov. Mike Kehoe has said is a priority for his first year in office, the capital gains exemption would take effect immediately for individual income tax filers and after revenue triggers are met for corporate income taxes.

The circuit breaker is a refundable tax credit allowed for lower-income people over age 65 and those with disabilities to offset property taxes for their home. It is available to people who rent and people who own their own home.

Because it is refundable, people eligible for a credit that exceeds their tax liability receive a check for the difference.

The circuit breaker changes would increase the maximum credit for renters to $1,055. For homeowners, the maximum credit would be increased to $1,550. It would also increase the income limits for claiming the credit, to $38,200 for renters and $41,000 for homeowners, with slightly higher amounts allowed for married couples claiming the credit.

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With revenues falling in the current year and a budget plan that uses about $1 billion of accumulated surpluses, some Democrats are opposing all tax cuts.

I am just very, very concerned about how we continue to reduce state revenue, said state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern of Kansas City, who voted against the bill, and the impact that thats going to have moving forward.

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ST. LOUIS  Voters across Missouri are heading to the polls Tuesday for the general municipal election.

One of the most closely watched contests is the St. Louis City mayoral race. Mayor Tishaura Jones is seeking a second term, facing off once again against 8th Ward Alderwoman Cara Spencer in a tense rematch.

Jones narrowly defeated Spencer in 2021, but Spencer won the March approval voting primary by a wide margin, with 68% to Jones 33%. A recent Missouri Scout/Remington Research poll showed Spencer with a 24-point lead heading into election day.

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Inside the mailbox scam costing residents millions

In addition to the mayors race, the citys comptroller position is also on the ballot. Longtime incumbent Darlene Green faces a challenge from State Representative Donna Baringer. That same poll shows Baringer with a narrow edge, though still within the margin of error.

Also on the ballot: Four contested Board of Aldermen seats and three open positions on the St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education. The school board race follows months of controversy surrounding student transportation, leadership turnover and district finances.

Polls open at 6 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m. Voters must present a valid photo ID, such as a Missouri drivers license, passport or military ID. Anyone in line by 7 p.m. will still be allowed to vote.

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A woman slashed in the neck with a broken bottle by an unhinged homeless man on a SoHo street, leaving her critically wounded, is an up-and-coming costume designer who was shopping for materials for her boss when she was attacked, her mother said Tuesday.

Megan Mae Bergs husband and mother have flown into the city to be at her bedside at Bellevue Hospital while her attacker, Muslim Brunson, awaits arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on attempted murder charges.

I dont know a whole lot yet, the 25-year-old victims womans mother, who wished not to be named, told the Daily News Tuesday morning. I just arrived in New York this morning after flying all night. Im heading to the hospital now.

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Berg, an Arizona native, was scouting out boutiques near Broome and Wooster Sts. to buy clothing and fabrics for an upcoming project when Brunson, 46, allegedly attacked her with a broken glass water bottle about 3 p.m. Monday.

Berg and her husband both work in theater.

Were all in shock, her 65-year-old mother said. She loved (New York City). It was her dream to be a costume designer and she was working in the field she loved.

Brunson slashed Berg in the neck during the unprovoked attack, cops said.

(The detectives) said it was mental illness, the mother said of the random attack. He hit her in the trachea. She was in surgery last night but we dont know (the extent of the damage).

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In the fall Berg became assistant costume designer for the off-Broadway musical Music City. The show ended its run at the West End Theater last month.

I did a thing! Berg proudly announced on Instagram. She was also associate designer for the off-Broadway production The Irrepressible Magic of the Tropics.

Her quest for inspiration in her chosen field led her to Soho and a confrontation with Brunson, an ex-con who served eight months in prison beginning in 2022 after attacking and robbing a 13-year-old boy in Brooklyn three years earlier.

Brunson, who police sources say is mentally ill, was released from prison in August 2023 for the attack on the boy. His probation ended in February 2024.

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Brunson has four prior arrests, almost all for assault, dating back to 2019.

In July 2022, Brunson pushed a woman against a pole while aboard a Brooklyn-bound 4 train, fracturing a cheekbone and an orbital bone, police said.

A security guard who works at a sunglass store near the scene of the incident heard Berg screaming and ran to her aid.

I applied pressure on her neck, the security guard said. Girls came to help with a tissue. A guy pulled over [and] he had tissues. We tried to apply as much pressure as we can.

A few moments earlier, Brunson, who is homeless, allegedly attacked a 29-year-old woman at the same corner, smashing the bottle he later used to stab Berg over her head.

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The bottle shattered when it hit the older woman, who was not seriously hurt. Brunson picked up the broken bottle, kept on walking down the street and attacked Berg, NYPD Assistant Chief Jim McCarthy, commanding officer of Manhattan South, said at a press conference.

As he was walking by her [in] an unprovoked attack, he slashed her in the neck with a broken bottle, causing a serious injury, McCarthy said. She lost a lot of blood.

Berg was conscious and alert when she was rushed to the hospital, McCarthy said.

Brunson was wearing an NYPD hoodie when he was grabbed at the scene. Cops charged him with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

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Berg got her MFA in costume design at Purdue University.

Prior to my time in the city, I designed over 30 productions across Indiana and Southern Arizona, bringing a passion for research and creativity to every show, transforming characters for the stage, she wrote on her website. I thrive on both period and contemporary costume design, ensuring authenticity and bringing fresh ideas to life. One of my favorite aspects of costume design is delving deep into research and dramaturgy, both for period shows, as well as things which are a bit more out of the box.
MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCBD)  Authorities in Moncks Corner are seeking help from the community in locating a missing man who has a history of mental and medical illness.

Island Daniels, 57, was reported missing by his family, who said their last contact with Daniels was around 9 a.m. Monday at his home.

Daniels is dependent on medication.

Family members say he was last seen wearing dark clothing and black crocks. He is known to visit businesses along Main Street.

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If you see him or know where he may be, please call the Moncks Corner Police Department or Berkeley County Dispatch at 843-719-4055.

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Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed 92 bills into law Tuesday with Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County), just hours after the midnight Monday end of the 2025 General Assembly. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)

Hours after the close of the 2025 session, Gov. Wes Moore (D) and legislative leaders signed dozens of bills  many focused on work force and employment issues  into law.

The tranche of 92 bills  including two of the governors priorities  came in the first of five such ceremonies scheduled between now and the end of May. Many of the bills signed Tuesday centered around a top area of focus for the governor this year.

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Maryland is mobilizing in support of our workers and in support of our middle-class families, Moore said in brief opening remarks.

He highlighted Senate Bill 431, which he said incentivizes companies to create apprenticeships.

This legislation will strengthen the apprenticeship pipeline in the state of Maryland, Moore said. Because while we are proud of the fact that Maryland is some of the best four-year institutions of higher education in the entire country, we will end this myth that every single one of our students need to attend one in order to be economically successful.

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) praised the bill and the creation of the Office of Registered Apprenticeship Development as a critical component of the Department of Labor. The office will be created within the state Department of Labors apprenticeship and training program.

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House Bill 502, another Moore priority, creates the Office of Disability Employment Advancement and Policy.

Gov. Wes Moore (D) and Department of Disabilities Secretary Carole A. Beatty embrace at Tuesdays bill signing . (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)

This bill extends a hand to a community that has been left behind for far too long when it comes to employment  Marylanders with disabilities, Moore said.

The bill was one of those celebrated as a win by advocates for services for the developmentally disabled.

This years successes mark a turning point for disability services and rights in Maryland, said Ande Kolp, executive director of The Arc Maryland. The DD Coalition remains committed to building a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future where all people with developmental disabilities can live with dignity, independence and full community participation.

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Half of all Marylanders with disabilities face financial hardships. Marylanders with disabilities make up just 5% of the workforce, according to Moore.

The bill also establishes a model employer initiative in which the office will focus on facilitating the hiring of candidates who have disabilities.

If we want to unleash Marylands potential, we need pathways to work, wages and wealth for all members, and not just some, Moore said.

Moore also signed identical House and Senate bills that will create a fast track for some health care professionals to be licensed in Maryland.

We are talking about highly qualified, highly skilled workers who have built careers saving lives, Moore said. People who have committed their lives to serving the lives of others, and now they are being told by someone who was never willing to take the same oath that they took, that their service doesnt matter. Well, in Maryland, we believe their service does matter, and this legislation will help ensure essential workers can continue their work to be able to make our state better.

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The new law, which takes effect July 1, applies to health care professionals who hold licenses that have an equivalent in Maryland and who left their federal jobs after Jan. 20 of this year.

The next bill signing is set for April 22.

About last night

Moore, in remarks before the bill signing, praised House and Senate leaders for working collaboratively. He repeated his top three goals for the session including reforming the tax code, making the state economy less dependent on the federal government and taking steps to invest in our people, invest in our work.

Meeting these goals required all of us to work together, Moore said Tuesday morning.

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Ten hours earlier, in a statement released moments after the 90-day session ended, Moore expressed disappointment that some of his priorities failed to gain traction this year. Moore, in his statement, lamented the opportunities missed by the General Assembly on issues related to affordable housing, attracting businesses to the state, and adding nuclear to a clean energy plan that could result in lower rates.

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CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP)  Several local universities say that international students on campus are getting their visas revoked without warning or explanation from the Trump administration.

Over the weekend, it was discovered that five international students from the University of Massachusetts Amherst were among those who had their visas revoked. Now, 22News is hearing from an attorney who says those on a student visa are temporary visitors on paper with little protection.

Five international students at UMass have visas revoked, student status terminated

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They are visiting the United States temporarily, and they have to leave as soon as their studies are over, said Immigration Attorney Carmina Fernandes. So they have even less protections than a green card holder.



The Trump administration has recently removed nearly 300 international students from the country without explanation. Several students have also reportedly had their visas revoked from UMass Boston, Northeastern University, and Harvard University.



Some of the universities found out about their students during a routine records review. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Trump administration is targeting those involved in protests or tied to potential criminal activity.



The courts have historically allowed the president to do whatever he wills with students in a sense, Attorney Fernandes said.



Fernandes told 22News that this immigration action hasnt been used in years. She also said that the administration can revoke visas for national security reasons. What extent of free speech that includes has not been made clear by the White House.



This free thats in our constitution, the freedom to say what you want even against the government, said Attoney Fernandes.

President Trump has said that the removal of certain international students has been due to national security threats, and some of the students who have had their visas revoked have reportedly participated in pro-Palestine protests, but other cases do not seem to be related to politics.

22News will provide updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.

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.

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New Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine could be the strongest sign of U.S. support, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 8, just days after Russia's deadly missile attack on the city of Kryvyi Rih.

A Russian missile strike on Zelensky's hometown in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on April 4 killed 20 people, including nine children, and injured over 70.

Asked how this attack affected the Ukraine-U.S. ceasefire talks, Zelensky said that Western partners had been asked once again to bolster Ukraine's air defense, including with additional Patriot systems.

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"I thank our partners for supporting Ukraine and condemning it (Russia's attack on Kryvyi Rih). But condemnation is not enough," Zelensky said during a press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever in Kyiv.

"The Russians should be put in their place. They must end this war. The United States can transfer Patriot systems, they have a lot of them available. This is the best support for Ukraine today from the United States  to hand over Patriot systems."

Russia has intensified missile and drone attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia.

Moscow has shown signs it is unwilling to move forward on a peace deal with Ukraine. Russian authorities have listed maximalist demands in ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine and the U.S.

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Ukraine has already agreed to a U.S.-proposed full 30-day ceasefire, saying on March 11 that Kyiv is ready if Russia also agrees to the terms. So far, Moscow has refused.

Following Russian recent strikes, U.S. President Donald Trump said on April 7 he was "not happy" with Moscow's intensified attacks on Ukraine.

Read also: Putin believes he has the upper hand  Ukraine braces for a new Russian spring offensive

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WARREN, Ohio (WKBN)  Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno has written a letter to the officials of Insight Health, Steward, and Medical Properties Trust.

Read next: Dr. Amy Acton to visit Youngstown

In it, he says he wants four concerns addressed, with his main focus on health care, employment, and the utilities for Trumbull Countys 911 dispatch center from Hillside Hospital.

That includes resolving disagreements to reopen Insight Trumbull and Hillside, helping more than 700 laid-off employees, helping abandoned patients find adequate health care, and reassuring Trumbull County that the dispatch center can continue using the utilities from Hillside.

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Senator Moreno wants a response within five days. The Trumbull County Commissioners say the 911 utilities arent an issue, but they will continue to monitor the situation.

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This photo taken on April 7, 2025 shows a scene of the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (Xinhua/Li Ao)

TASHKENT, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has called for expanding multifaceted cooperation within the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the presidential press service said in a statement on Monday.

Mirziyoyev made the remarks when addressing the opening session of the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union being held from April 5-9 in the Uzbek capital. With the theme of "Parliamentary Movement for Social Progress and Justice," the event was convened for the first time in Central Asia.

The statement noted that regional conflicts pose serious threats to both global and regional peace and security, emphasizing that Uzbekistan strongly supports resolving conflicts through peaceful negotiations.

"In these matters, it is advisable to follow universally recognized norms of international law, the UN Charter, and its resolutions. In this context, Uzbekistan views the UN as the only universal international organization," the statement said.

More than 2,000 delegates from nearly 140 countries are attending the assembly. Founded in 1889, the 180-member IPU holds its assemblies twice annually. 

This photo taken on April 7, 2025 shows a scene of the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (Press Service of the Uzbek President/Handout via Xinhua)

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev addresses the opening session of the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, April 7, 2025. (Press Service of the Uzbek President/Handout via Xinhua)
Apr. 8A Morgan County Jail inmate locked up on murder charges attacked two corrections officers on Saturday, according to the Morgan County Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office said Earl Eugene Bates Jr., 53, refused to return to his cell and attacked the two officers in the face and neck with a handcrafted sharpened instrument known as a shank.

"The corrections officers deployed pepper spray and took Bates into custody," the Sheriff's Office said.

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The officers' injuries were non-life-threatening and were evaluated at Decatur Morgan Hospital before returning to work, according to the Sheriff's Office. They said Bates was then transported and rehoused in the Lawrence County Jail and investigators are obtaining warrants for second-degree assault.

Bates in 2020 pleaded guilty to second-degree assault of several Lawrence County jailers. He was transferred from there to Morgan County Jail after his arrest because of his history of attacking Lawrence County corrections officers, according to the Morgan County Sheriff's Office.

In April 2022, Bates stabbed a Chattanooga man multiple times with a knife in Hillsboro, according to a complaint filed by Heath Moss of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Scott Norwood, Lawrence County coroner, said the body of the victim, Anthony Thomas Hudson, 51, was found in a field with a stab wound to the left side of his neck.

If convicted, Bates could serve life in prison.

 wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that the majority of automobile executives with plants in Mexico have said that, as of now, they have no plans to move their factories.

"I have personally spoken with many of the CEOs and global managers of several of the auto companies to find out what they are thinking about the future...Most of them have told us that they do not plan to change anything at this time," the president said during her regular morning news conference.

Mexico, which ships nearly 80% of its exports to the United States, was not included on Trump's list of global, across-the-board tariffs announced on nations last week.

But Mexico is still subject to Trump's previously imposed tariffs of 25% on steel, aluminum and automobiles, as well as on goods that do not comply with the regional USMCA trade pact.

Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard will meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington later on Tuesday to talk about these tariffs, Sheinbaum said.

Sheinbaum has said that her government would like to avoid imposing reciprocal tariffs, but they cannot be ruled out.

(Reporting by Raul Cortes; Editing by Kylie Madry)
The mother and children detained by immigration authorities about two weeks ago in the small New York village where President Donald Trump's "border czar," Tom Homan, lives were released Monday.

Jennifer Gaffney, superintendent of the Sackets Harbor Central School District, where the children are students, had been leading efforts to ensure the family's release since they were detained on March 27 and sent to the Karnes County Detention Facility in Texas.

"After eleven days of uncertainty, our students and their mother are returning home," Gaffney said in a statement Monday. "We remain committed to providing the care, understanding, and sensitivity necessary for all students and staff as we begin the healing process from this traumatic experience."

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A senior official in the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to NBC News that the family is set to return home.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Monday afternoon that she spoke with Homan, who confirmed to her that the family is "currently on their way back" to Sackets Harbor in Jefferson County.

"I cannot imagine the trauma these kids and their mom are feeling, and I pray they will be able to heal when they return home," Hochul said.

Corey DeCillis, chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Committee, who organized a demonstration Saturday demanding the family's release, told NBC News he was "elated."

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According to the senior DHS official, agents with Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol were executing a criminal search warrant at Old McDonalds Farm in Sackets Harbor on March 27 in relation to an ongoing federal investigation into the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse materials.

The DHS official said authorities arrested seven people who were undocumented, including the mother and her three children, while at the farm. The official did not specify how authorities encountered the people arrested.

"Homeland Security Investigations immediately conducted an investigation to ensure these children were not being sexually exploited," the official added.

Immigrant rights advocates, school officials and Hochul pushed back, questioning why arresting them and disappearing them from their community ensured the childrens safety.

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Murad Awawdeh, president and chief executive officer of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in an interview with NBC News on Monday that what happened to the Sackets Harbor family was a very grueling and horrifying experience.

In an open letter last week, Jaime Cook, principal of Sackets Harbor Central School, said the family "lived in a house on the same road as a home ICE had a warrant for. The fact that ICE went door to door is unfathomable."

"The fact that our students were handcuffed and put into the same van as the alleged criminal from down the street is unconscionable," Cook's letter read.

Hochul said Tuesday she cannot think of any public safety justification for ICE agents to rip an innocent family, including a child in the third grade, from their Sackets Harbor home.

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Cook said the children are in the third, 10th and 11th grades and had been at the school for three years.

The mother and her three children were taken when immigration authorities were searching the Old McDonald's Farm for a South African immigrant, who has since been charged with distribution of child pornography.

The South African immigrant's arrest was part of an "enhanced targeted operation" from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in western, central and northern New York from March 24 to 28.

Homan had defended the operation and the family's arrest in an interview with WWNY-TV of Watertown last week.

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"ICE is doing everything by the book. Once the investigation gets to the point where we dont have an interest in this family, then a decision will be made on release," Homan said.

Cook said the family had long been part of the Sackets Harbor community, working at the farm for 15 years. She said that from showing up to their court hearings to declaring themselves to immigration judges, the mother and children had also been "doing everything right" to find a path to remain in the U.S. legally.

Awawdeh said he hopes the family can effectively resume these efforts.

As the community awaits the family's return, Awawdeh said they are "a testament to how community support can really make a difference in helping secure the release of your neighbor."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A motorcyclist was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a crash in the northwest Las Vegas valley, according to Metro police.

On Monday around 4:15 p.m., police responded to a report of a crash in the 6800 block of West Lone Mountain Road near Rainbow Boulevard.

Police said a sedan was exiting a private driveway when it hit a motorcyclist, who had the right of way, riding westbound on Lone Mountain Road.

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The motorcyclist sustained life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital. Police said the sedan driver was suspected of impairment.

Lone Mountain Road was closed in both directions from Tenaya Way and Rainbow Boulevard, according to RTC Southern Nevada.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Before Jack Ryan was introduced into the culture, Robert Littell imagined Charlie Heller, a quiet, CIA cryptographer who goes rogue on a quest for vengeance after his love is killed by terrorists.

As star of The Amateur, in theaters Friday, Rami Malek gets to be both skittish nerd and coolly competent angel of death. Hes the homebody and perpetual rule-follower who in grief-stricken madness decides to blackmail his bosses and go on an international killing spree to get the people responsible for her death.

The story is based on a book published in 1981  a product of its Cold War context that was even made into a movie starring John Savage. But even with the Iron Curtain and the Holocaust in its DNA, it also has the kind of foundation thats essentially evergreen in Hollywood. Theres tragedy, drama, cinematic globetrotting and a fish-out-of-water story thats a little more relatable than watching some preternaturally talented superspy (at least in theory).

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In this newest take, credited to screenwriters Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli and directed by James Hawes, the story has been updated for the modern age, with decidedly murky international politics and sophisticated facial and voice recognition software that can identify masked terrorists and their networks and find rogue agents in an instant.

The locations are many: London, Paris, Marseille, Istanbul included. The cast is stacked: Laurence Fishburne is a veteran assassin who agrees to train Charlie, Rachel Brosnahan is the dead wife, Julianne Nicholson is the CIA director, Holt McCallany is Charlies shady boss. Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe and Michael Stuhlbarg also play pivotal roles. And anyone who has seen the trailer has already gotten a preview of the most impressive set piece, involving a glass infinity pool.

The Amateur has a lot going for it -- but it takes also takes a while to get going. Once it does, it cant quite maintain a level of energy and suspense needed to justify its runtime. This might be because the film is attempting to be something thats equal parts action-packed and meditative, but for us that means listening to several conversations about the nature of killing that start to sound quite repetitive.

Theres this throughline that Charlie is not a born killer. While a court of law might disagree, everyone in this film seems to think that theres something different between shooting someone point blank and, say, setting up an elaborate trap that you know will result in a death. Still, it seems like that is a debate that could end after he does intentionally kill someone and goes looking for more.

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Its interesting what a film like this chooses to focus on and what it disregards. At the beginning, Charlie declines his wifes invitation to accompany her to London, where she will of course die. He regrets this deeply, but were also told that he always declines: He doesnt travel internationally almost as a rule. Why? Unclear, but youd think perhaps this might factor into the plot somehow as he begins his globetrotting.

Instead, its not an issue at all: He capably navigates all manner of transport across Europe, from cargo flights to busses full of migrants. There are other underdeveloped curiosities, like Jon Bernthal as a cool guy superspy with basically two scenes that dont seem to advance the story at all. And dont get me started on poor Brosnahan as the dead wife who were constantly being told mattered but who we know so little about. Sarah is often seen in flashback in flowy floral dresses doting on her quirky husband in their idyllic Virginia farmhouse. To the films credit, they dont show her laughing under white sheets.

But perhaps this is asking too much of a big screen spy spectacle in which Malek is compelling as an unlikely vigilante  even if we might not totally understand why hes decided this is the only way. He doesn't exactly sell it the way Harrison Ford was able to in Patriot Games," though that's an unfair bar.

With James Bond in a reset mode and Ethan Hunt promising final reckonings, most of the good globetrotting spy thrillers seem to have migrated to the small screen lately. Something about the episodic nature of it suits the genre, whether its Slow Horses,Black Doves or even Jack Ryan. But, as with Black Bag from earlier this year, its always welcome when we get an offering on the big screen: They just look better there.

The Amateur, a 20th Century Studios release in theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for some strong violence and language. Running time: 123 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Milwaukee Public Schools is at risk of losing millions of dollars if it doesn't meet demands by the U.S. Department of Education.

Here's what to know about how the potential cuts could affect MPS and schools statewide.

Why is federal funding at risk?

In short: diversity, equity and inclusion policies. On April 3, the U.S. Department of Education gave 10 days for state education commissioners nationwide to verify districts in their states do not have any illegal DEI programs. Otherwise, school districts could be at risk of losing federal funding.

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The department sent a similar letter in February, saying it views such programs as discriminatory, illegal and "morally reprehensible." It said such programs violate Title IV of the Civil Rights Act, as well as the equal protection clause in the U.S. Constitution.

The department has also asked for school districts to allow parents to review documents related to students' gender identity or risk losing federal funding. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed a complaint April 2 with the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice over MPS' gender inclusion plan, asking for the district's federal funding to be revoked if it doesn't rescind the plan.

How much MPS federal funding is at risk?

MPS generally receives almost $195 million in federal funding annually  about 20% of the district's revenue limit. The revenue limit, set by the state, restricts how much school districts can receive through state aid and property taxes, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Where does the federal funding come from?

Of the district's nearly $195 million in federal funding, $146.2 million comes from the U.S. Department of Education. That's enough to pay for 1,640 full-time educator jobs, according to the DPI. Another $48.5 million comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pay for meals for students.

What does federal funding cover for MPS?

Federal funding supports students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students and families, youth mental health programs, English language learners, smaller class sizes and initiatives providing access to school meals, career and technical education, academic opportunities and other programs, according to the DPI.

What is MPS' response?

MPS media manager Stephen Davis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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More: As Trump cuts federal funds, here's which Wisconsin school districts could be hit hardest

More: Trump administration gives states 10 days to certify they've ended DEI in schools

More: Federal education funding cuts would disproportionately hit poorer schools, Wisconsin DPI warns

Claudia Levens contributed to this report.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) at @AlecJohnson12.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: See how much federal funding MPS could be at risk of losing
After a blast of winter last weekend, much warmer weather is moving back into New Mexico. Record high temperatures are likely by this weekend.

Temperatures continue a warming trend all across New Mexico Monday afternoon despite high temperatures still being slightly cooler than average. This warming trend will continue into Tuesday, with both warmer low and high temperatures. Highs will be back up to around average for the beginning of April Tuesday afternoon, with a very light westerly breeze that could gust up to 25 mph in eastern New Mexico. Even warmer temperatures move in Wednesday, with Albuquerque seeing its first chance to get to 80 this year.

A weak cold front will move into eastern New Mexico Wednesday night, bringing slightly cooler temperatures to the eastern half of the state Thursday afternoon. The other half of New Mexico will continue the warming trend. If Albuquerque doesnt get to 80 on Wednesday, it looks almost certain on Thursday.

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The warming trend continues again all across New Mexico Friday and into the weekend. Several record high temperatures are likely Saturday afternoon, with southeast New Mexico climbing into the 90s for the first time this year, and Albuquerque warming up to just a few degrees shy of 90! Breezy winds will return this weekend as well, with a few wind gusts up to 35 mph. The warm weather will continue into early next week.

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Video: April 8 at the Arkansas Capitol

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  A bill to allocate funding for a new 3,000-bed prison in Arkansas has failed in the state Senate for the fifth time.

Senate Bill 354 fell short of the required 27 votes needed for passage on Tuesday. The bill would allocate the $725 million needed to build the proposed prison, adding to the $75 million already allocated to the project in 2023.

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Multi-million funding allocation bill for Franklin County prison fails in Arkansas legislature for fourth time

Because it is a funding allocation, the bill needs a three-fourths majority to pass, but it can be resubmitted immediately if it fails. The Tuesday vote was its fifth over the last five days the Senate was in session.

The bill has received one more aye vote over each of its last five sessions.

Opponents of the bill have cited the lack of planning for the prison, including the infrastructure needed to support a prison of that size in a rural area, such as roads and waterworks.

Bill heads to governors desk to put 10 Commandments in Arkansas classrooms

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Those in favor of the project point to the county jail overcrowding leading to misdemeanor criminals being released early and possibly going on to commit more serious crimes.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
Video: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs 49 bills into law

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  Legislation to allocate funding for a new prison in Franklin County failed in the Arkansas Senate on Monday afternoon.

The Monday failure of Senate Bill 354 was its fourth try for adoption. The bill was for $750 million to construct a 3,000-bed prison and had previously failed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the Senate.

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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs 49 bills into law

Because it is an allocation bill, it can be repeatedly resubmitted. An allocation bill requires a 75% yay vote in the chamber to pass. Each vote has fallen well short of this.

In 2023, the legislature allocated $75 million for the initial construction of the prison. The allocation bill in this session was for the remaining $750 million needed to complete the prison, estimated to cost $825 million.

Opponents of the prison said it was poorly planned, and funding did not include the infrastructure needed to support a large prison in a rural area, such as roads and waterworks.

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Four takeaways from the 12th week of the 95th General Assembly

Proponents of the project pointed to the need for prison beds in the state as county jails are forced to release misdemeanor offenders early due to space taken by state prisoners waiting for a bed to become available in the penitentiary system. They also pointed out that this bill was for the allocation of funding, not the actual withdrawal of the funds from the states account.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
Billions of dollars in federal contracts have been awarded to Elon Musks and Jeff Bezos companies, solidifying the ties between two of the worlds richest men and President Donald Trump.

The United States Space Force, the military branch Trump created during his first term, has awarded both Blue Origin and SpaceX massive government contracts: almost $6 billion for Musk, and $2.3 billion for Bezos.

Musks company was the top awardee for national security contracts, which SpaceX confirmed on Monday would include a mix of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets and will take place over a five-year period.

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Bezos Blue Origin has attempted to become a direct competitor with SpaceXthough the two companies are miles apart in terms of impact. Musks company held over 130 launches last year in comparison to the Amazon founders four.

Musk took a jab at Blue Origin after Space Forces announcement, claiming that the other companies arent there in terms of completing missions.

Winning 60% of the missions may sound generous, but the reality is that all SpaceX competitors combined cannot currently deliver the other 40%, Musk wrote on X. I hope they succeed, but they arent there yet.

Blue Origins CEO, however, has a different viewpoint.

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We are committed to meeting the heavy lift needs of our U.S. DoD and intelligence agency customers, Dave Limp posted Friday.

Both of the billionaires, however, have shown their allegiance to President Trump in recent weeks.

Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk attend the inauguration of Donald J. Trump. / Pool / Getty Images

Both had front-row tickets to the presidents inauguration in January, and Musk has since become one of Trumps closest advisers.

Bezos and Musk have Trump-proofed their other businesses, too. The Amazon billionaire seemingly tightened the leash on coverage of the administration in The Washington Post after Trumps inauguration, the latest drama in the storied newsroom after Bezos banned the paper from endorsing a presidential candidate late last year.

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The decision singlehandedly caused hundreds of thousands of subscribers to jump ship, decimating the newspapers business. Alongside its customer exodus, multiple reporters and editors have left.

Musk, on the other hand, has used his social media platform, X, as a microphone for amplifying the presidents agenda.

The two have also kissed the ring when it comes to political donations. Bezos Amazon donated $1 million to Trumps inauguration fund, while Musk donated a whopping $288 million.
KABUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 101 Afghan inmates imprisoned in Pakistan have been set free and returned to their homeland Afghanistan, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the ministry's statement, the detainees returned to Afghanistan Monday through the Spin Boldak crossing point in southern Kandahar province.

Last week, 223 Afghan nationals imprisoned in Pakistan were freed and returned to their home country.

The government of Pakistan is set to deport 3 million Afghans to their home country in 2025.

The Afghan interim government has repeatedly urged Afghan refugees to return and help rebuild their war-torn country. 
Tech billionaire Elon Musk slammed President Trumps trade adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday, calling him truly a moron in their latest spat over the administrations new import taxes.

Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false, Musk wrote on the social platform X in response to a video of Navarro discussing Teslas assembly process for its electric vehicles.

Navarro, in the CNBC interview, claimed Musks Tesla is not a car manufacturer, but rather a car assembler, that puts together parts from other countries.

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Tesla, led by Musk, has long touted itself as a leader in U.S. domestic production. The company produces all of its North American vehicles in the U.S. at factories in California and Texas, though some of its parts do not come from the U.S.

Musk pushed back on Navarros claims, stating Tesla has the most American-made cars.

Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks, he added, writing later, By any definition whatsoever, Tesla is the most vertically integrated auto manufacturer in America with the highest percentage of US content. Navarro should ask the fake expert he invented, Ron Vara.

Musk also mocked Navarro with a derogatory term for someone with a mental disability.

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Trumps 25 percent auto tariff went into effect April 2 as part of his larger trade war. He has argued the tariffs will encourage foreign car manufacturers to move production into the U.S. and increase American jobs.

Despite Teslas focus on U.S. production, the company still took a hit amid the global market rout. The companys stock fell 19 percent since Trumps tariff announcement last week.

Tesla previously warned it could be further exposed to retaliatory tariffs should other countries respond to Trumps tariffs.

The White House dismissed concerns about the tension, calling it an example of transparency from the Trump administration.

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These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and tariffs. Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Tuesdays briefing with reporters. You guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history.

Navarro and Musk tangled earlier this week over the Trump administrations sweeping tariffs, which went into effect last week and roiled the stock market.

A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing. Results in the ego/brains>>1 problem, Musk wrote in reply to a video of Navarro defending the administrations reasoning for its latest slate of tariffs.

Musk reportedly later slammed Trumps trade adviser, saying, He aint built s. The post, however, appears to have since been deleted.

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Musk, who is leading Trumps Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts, has pushed for a zero-tariff situation between the U.S. and Europe.

Both Europe and the United States should move, in my view, to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America, he said during a recent appearance hosted by Italys right-wing League party, adding, That has certainly been my advice to the president.

Navarro, a staunch critic of trade deals, responded over the weekend that Musk doesnt understand during an interview on Fox Newss Sunday Morning Futures.

It was interesting to hear Elon Musk at the beginning talk about a zero-tariff zone with Europe. He doesnt understand that, he said. And the thing thats, I think, important about Elon to understand, he sells cars. Thats what he does.

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Despite the spats, Navarro said he believes Musk is great when he is in his DOGE lane and pointed to his business interests.

But we understand whats going on here, Navarro continued. We just have to understand. Elon sells cars, and hes in Texas assembling cars that have big parts of that car from Mexico, China, the batteries come from Japan or China, the electronics come from Taiwan.

And hes simply protecting his own interests as any business person would do, he added. Were more concerned about Detroit building Cadillacs with American engines. And thats what this is all about. So its fine, theres no rift here.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the spat on Tuesday, telling a CNBC reporter, Whatever. We are the most transparent administration in history, expressing our disagreements in public.

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The White House later confirmed this comment.

 Updated at 2:26 p.m. EDT

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
LUFKIN, Texas (KETK)  A Nacogdoches minor was hospitalized on Sunday night after being shot from a vehicle in the 600 block of Kurth Drive.

Man accused of attempted murder at Nacogdoches law firm, documents show

The minor told Lufkin Police officers he was walking home after a night out with friends when a suspicious vehicle pulled up and fired twice. LPD Detective Cody Deal said one of the shots struck the minor in abdomen.

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Gallon-sized bag of meth found during Henderson County traffic stop

He then hid behind a building across the street and contacted his friends for help. Once he arrived at a hospital in Houston, a nurse reported the shooting to Lufkin police. The minors condition is not available and the shooting is still being investigated.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD)  Its official: Berkeley County school leaders have approved names for two new schools.

Members of the Berkeley Board of Education decided to move forward with the naming of an elementary and middle school during a regular meeting Monday night.

The new elementary school will be named Bee Tree Elementary, and the new middle school will be called Midtown Middle. Both are currently under construction.

Bee Tree Elementary (courtesy Berkeley County School District)

Midtown Middle (courtesy Berkeley County School District)

Bee Tree Elementary is located near the intersection of Cane Bay Blvd. and Black Tom Rd. in the Jedburg area, and Midtown Middle is being built along Blueway Avenue off Highway 17-A in Nexton.

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District officials say both schools are set to open in August 2026. Attendance lines for the new schools have not been established yet.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace issued a warning to hateful constituents flooding her office with phone calls after she declined an invitation to participate in a town hall event in her district last month.

In a video posted to X Monday, Mace clapped back at constituents calling her office about the town hall, saying that only one out of 300 callers her office has responded to had real issues that needed to be dealt with.

Your BS calls are taking away from people who have real needs in our community from housing to the VA to job issues, you name it, Mace said. Not one person has any issue with a federal agency that we can assist them with.

My message to the deranged town hall fakers - listen up: pic.twitter.com/QsDkGUhUti  Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) April 7, 2025

In March, Mace announced that she would not be attending a town hall organized by the Lowcountry Accountability Alliance in South Carolina, claiming that it was not safe and was being led by left wing-extremists.

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This is FAKE NEWS. This event is being driven by left-wing extremists and paid agitators with a clear agenda, Mace wrote on X in March alongside a flyer of the town hall.

I WILL NOT be attending, she continued. Were staying away because its not safe, and we refuse to be bullied by individuals who are threatening me, my employees, and my family.

This is FAKE NEWS. This event is being driven by left-wing extremists and paid agitators with a clear agenda.



I WILL NOT be attending.



Were staying away because its not safe, and we refuse to be bullied by individuals who are threatening me, my employees, and my family. pic.twitter.com/39iDHN7Vck  Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) March 18, 2025

In her video Monday, Mace said that unhappy constituents were being nasty, ugly, and hateful.

What you all are doing is evil. Its completely evil, she added. Help those in our community. Help those in need. Stop making BS excuses that youre trying to put people in harms way over. You dont have any issues that need to be resolved. Youre just being nasty.

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Do something nice for somebody in the Lowcountry. Stop being this way. Stop being violent with your words, Mace continued. Stop being ugly and hateful. Youre taking away from real people in the Lowcountry that have real needs.

When Mace initially declined to attend the town hall last month, organizer Guang Ming Whitley stressed that the event was not a hoax and merely a meeting for concerned citizens.

I just think its unfortunate that we live in a world where anyone who disagrees with you is going to be branded as deranged or extreme, Whitley said, according to ABC News 4.

This is not a hoax, this is a group of concerned citizens, the Mount Pleasant Town Council Member and Mayor Pro Tempore added. Moms with kids, people with jobs, people who live in Mount Pleasant, raising dollars by like the $10 amounts.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) apparently thinks people who have been calling her district office to criticize President Donald Trump and his policies are ... evil.

On Monday, the congresswoman sharedtwo videos on X, formerly Twitter, to air out her grievances with these callers, calling them evil, ugly and hateful. She claimed that her office had returned calls to hundreds of people whove requested that she host a town hall  people she referred to as fake town hallers. Mace was evidently offended that so many of the callers took the opportunity to condemn Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk.

Their only complaint is they hate Donald Trump and they want to see Elon Musk dead, she scoffed in one video. Those are the types of people that want this town hall. They dont have any needs with our office or any federal agency, they dont need any help from a constituency standpoint.

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Theyre just full of it. They hate Donald Trump. They hate Elon Musk. Too bad, she continued. Because I love some Donald Trump. And I love some Elon Musk. All the way  MAGA baby.

In another video, Mace said that the callers sharing their concerns about Trump were taking away time from real constituents who need assistance with federal agencies, like, getting appointments with a Veteran Affairs department.

But constituents from the 1st Congressional District Mace represents have expressed concerns about those very issues at a town hall event she turned down last month.

During the town hall, which was held on March 28 in the Mount Pleasant town in South Carolinas Lowcountry region, attendees expressed concerns about possible cuts to Medicaid, the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department of Education, local Charleston NBC affiliate WCBD News 2 reported.

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Weve elected Nancy Mace to represent the Lowcountry  where is she? one town hall attendee said about Maces absence during an interview with local ABC News 4.

Mount Pleasant council member G.M. Whitley, in coordination with a local group called the Lowcountry Accountability Alliance, LLC, had extended an invitation to Mace to attend the March 28 in-person town hall to discuss key issues that matter to her constituents, a letter read.

Mace released a statement days later calling the event fake news, charging that the group had misled people into thinking she was attending the town hall  or that she organized it. A flyer promoting the event indicated that it was hosted in partnership with the Lowcountry Accountability Alliance, and that Mace was an invited guest.

The congresswoman had also claimed that she, her family and her employees had received threats ahead of the town hall, and therefore she did not plan to attend since it would have put lives at risk. She said in her statement that her office plans to host town halls, but did not list any upcoming dates in the announcement.

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Whitley told ABC News 4 that she hadnt heard about threats made to Mace, but that the congresswoman should report any threats shes received to law enforcement. Police officers were present inside the town hall event, which had metal detectors people had to walk through to enter, according to WCBD News 2.

GOP lawmakers have been facing furious constituents in congressional districts across the country. But meeting with constituents at town halls  whether theyre frustrated or not  is part of the job, Andrew Perrin, Professor and chair of the Department of Sociology at Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, explained to HuffPost.

Bottom line, the primary responsibility of a representative is to represent, he said. Town halls are one of the best ways for representatives to learn what their constituents believe and care about so they can do a better job representing them in Congress.

Jace Woodrum, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina, told HuffPost that Mace appears to be scared of her own voters.

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She was elected to do a job, and that job is to represent the people of South Carolina. But she refuses to listen to them when they want to talk to her about rising costs, health care, education, and beyond, he said. It seems shed rather stay in D.C. than hear the concerns and priorities of Lowcountry South Carolinians.

The unfortunate reality is that lawmakers like Congresswoman Mace think they can shun many of their own constituents because the state has drawn Congressional districts to be safe along partisan lines, he continued. This is one of the many ways that gerrymandering distorts our representative democracy.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) speaking at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. Bill Clark via Getty Images

Voters are angry, and representatives have a responsibility to hear their concerns.

Perrin said of course some town hall events can get contentious  thats part of the point.

They are one way people who dont feel theyre being properly represented can get their voices heard, he said, adding that it was odd Mace was focused on constituent services in her videos complaining about those wanting town halls. Town halls provide voters something different than constituent services.

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Theres no need for a town hall for those sorts of things; every Congressional office helps constituents with those services one-on-one, he said. The point of a town hall is democratic representation, not constituent services.

Perrin also said that hes not aware of any evidence that town hall attendees are paid outsiders, as Republican leaders have claimed. He said that those types of claims, as well as Mace calling some of her constituents evil, serve to undermine a core value of democracy: the right to disagree.

Theyre also a symptom of the bubble so many people live in; they assume anyone who disagrees must be bad or corrupt because they cant fathom that honest Americans disagree on big issues and all those voices deserve to be represented in Washington, he said.

Woodrum said its outrageous and insulting that Congresswoman Mace is calling her own voters names.

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As the legislative branch of our government, Congress plays a vital role as a check and balance to the executive and judicial branches, he said. Congresswoman Mace is abdicating her duty in refusing to hear what South Carolinians think about the presidents policies and priorities. Shes more concerned with holding the Republican Party line than with representing her voters.

Voters are angry about the policies of President Trump, and theyre angry that their representatives in Congress are standing by while an unelected billionaire guts the programs they rely on, he later said, referencing Musks influence in the Trump administration.

He added: In this country, voters entrust our lawmakers with the power to represent us. Representatives who are refusing to listen to their voters are undermining the very nature of our representative democracy.

Related...
Three Naples teens definitely won't be getting a visit from the Easter Bunny.

Naples Police responded to a disturbance at Coastland Center Mall on Sunday, April 6, and found an unpleasant surprise: Two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old had beaten a person portraying the Easter Bunny.

The Naples Police Department reported on Facebook that the 24-year-old female victim was returning to the break room while wearing the Easter Bunny costume when the three teenagers approached her.

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They then pushed, shoved, and pulled her.

Two of the teens were arrested for battery (misdemeanor) and the third met the qualifications for a Juvenile Civil Citation for battery (misdemeanor).

Coastland Center Mall did not respond to immediate requests for comment.

The Easter Bunny is at the mall daily through Saturday, April 19. Easter is on Sunday, April 20.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida teens arrested for beating up Naples mall Easter Bunny
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  A graduate of the University of San Diego has become the first Korean-American astronaut to launch into space.

Jonathan Jonny Kim graduated from USD in 2012 with a bachelors degree in mathematics. He arrived at the International Space Station around 4:28 a.m. PST after a journey on the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft.

Kim currently serves as a flight engineer and crew member of NASAs Expedition 73 mission, according to his alma mater. Kim joined NASA as an astronaut in 2017 and has since supported the agency in various roles.

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SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft splashes down off the Oceanside coast

Aside from earning his bachelors degree in San Diego, Kim also obtained a medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Additionally, he currently serves as a United States Navy lieutenant commander, dual designated naval aviator and flight surgeon. He was also a former Navy SEAL.

I learned so many skills from the military, but I learned soft skills from my time at USD, Kim said in 2021, according to the university. I learned how to communicate and how to appreciate the scientific method, which can be applied to any problem in life. Having the evidence show you the answer and having the humility to accept that you might be wrong. Those are principles to academia, but theyre also principles to being a good human being.

Kim joins two Russian astronauts on the eight-month mission in space.

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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
DHAKA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi interim government has strongly condemned Israel's continued mass killing and gross violation of human rights in the Gaza Strip amid pro-Palestine protests in parts of the country.

Since Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas last month, its attacks have killed scores of Palestinians, mostly women and children, as well as blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, leading to a human catastrophe, Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday.

"The Government of Bangladesh demands that Israel immediately cease all military operations, exercise maximum restraint, and abide by its duty under international humanitarian law," it said.

Bangladesh appeals to the international community, in particular the United Nations, to discharge its moral and legal responsibilities by adopting immediate and effective steps toward the implementation of an unconditional ceasefire and the cessation of all hostilities for the protection of lives of civilians and unobstructed passage of humanitarian relief to besieged Gaza, it said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed strong support of the government of Bangladesh for all the just rights of the Palestinian people, their right to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. 
An American astronaut has reached the International Space Station with two Russians to begin an eight-month orbital mission.

Jonny Kim, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, arrived early Tuesday morning at the orbital laboratory with his two cosmonaut crewmates after launching just hours ago on a Soyuz capsule from Kazakhstan. Kim, 41, is now among four Americans living in orbit  though astronaut Don Pettit is due to depart in the weeks ahead to return to Earth.

Kim's arrival also comes less than a month after four international spacefarers on a SpaceX mission known as Crew-10 reached the space station. That mission drew headlines for its role in paving the way for the NASA astronauts who flew on the infamous Boeing Starliner to return home with the Crew-9 contingent.

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The recent arrivals will soon commence on Expedition 73 at the space station, helping to maintain the station and performing science experiments mostly designed to lay the groundwork for future missions to the moon and deep space.

Soyuz spacecraft docks at space station after launch

A Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with Expedition 73 crew members: NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy, onboard, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carried the crew to orbit after lifting off at 1:47 a.m. EDT Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a spaceport Russia's space agency Roscosmos operates within Kazakhstan.

NASA provided a livestream of the launch, which took place at 10:47 a.m. local time.

To prepare for the arrival of the mission, known as MS-27, the space station was orbiting higher than usual after the Progress 91 cargo spacecraft fired its thrusters last week for more than 17 minutes while docked to the Russian Zvezda service module. The boost from the thrusters placed the orbital outpost at the correct altitude for the Soyuz capsule to dock.

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The trip to the space station took about three hours, with the Soyuz docking at 4:57 p.m. EDT to the laboratory's Russian-built Prichal module, a port onto the station. The hatches between the spacecraft and the Prichal module were due to open at approximately 7:20 a.m., allowing the crew to officially enter the space station.

The Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft with three crew members aboard approaches the International Space Station while orbiting above the Mediterranean coast of Africa.

Who is NASA astronaut Jonny Kim?

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim

Born in Los Angeles, Kim is a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, pilot and flight surgeon who was selected as part of the 2017 NASA astronaut class. Kim is also an enlisted Navy SEAL.

He holds a bachelors degree in mathematics from the University of San Diego and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston.

After completing astronaut candidate training, Kim supported several mission and crew operations in various roles, according to NASA.

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Kim was accompanied to the space station by cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky

The spaceflight is the first for both Kim and Zubritsky and the third for Ryzhikov.

Expedition 73 to begin at space station

The Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station with (pictured left to right) NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.

The trio will spend about eight months aboard the orbital laboratory before returning to Earth in December.

The arrival of Kim, Ryzhikov and Zubritsky also sets the stage for NASA astronaut Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner to depart from the station later in April. Pettit arrived on Sept. 11 with the Russians on the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft for a seven-month science mission.

Also aboard the station are the four spacefarers of the Crew-10 mission, which includes NASA astronaut Anne McClain, NASA pilot Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

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Once the departing spacefarers undock, the remaining astronauts will become part of Expedition 73 at the station, which Onishi will command.

In the months ahead, the Expedition 73 crew will continue the station's vital work in assisting commercial companies in developing space transportation services and doing research to help NASA prepare for crewed deep-space missions.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA astronaut Jonny Kim reaches ISS with two Russians on Soyuz craft
A National Park Service webpage about the Underground Railroad has been restored to its original state months after it was changed to remove abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman from the top of the page.

The "What is the Underground Railroad?" page featured a photo of and quote from Tubman as leading elements on the page, followed by text explaining the significance of the Underground Railroad in transporting enslaved people to freedom and out of the South. The page was altered to remove Tubman in early February, per data from the Wayback Machine, replacing the image with a collage of Postal Service Underground Railroad commemorative stamps highlighting "Black/White Cooperation."

The change also altered the text to market the Underground Railroad as a bridge for "the divides of race, religion, sectional differences, and nationality" rather than "resistance to enslavement through escape and flight."

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Mentions of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 were also deleted before the restoration, along with historical cards of enslaved peoples fighting to reach freedom and a mural of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the first Black regiment made up of those raised in the North. All of these elements have since been added back in their original states.

"Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service's website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content," the NPS said in a Tuesday statement to ABC News.

PHOTO: Harriet Tubman is shown in this 1871 portrait. (Library of Congress via Getty Images)

MORE: Daughter of 1st Black Marine says it's 'unbelievable' to see 'my dad caught up in DEI'

The NPS is a bureau of the Department of the Interior, and two anonymous NPS employees told the Washington Post that Interior Department political appointees directed senior career officials to identify webpages to change, which were then sent to management for consideration amid the Trump administration's push against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. However, the employees told the Washington Post that they didn't know whether the recommendations were the direct reason for any webpage removals.

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"The removal of Harriet Tubman's image and quote from the National Park Service's 'Underground Railroad' webpage is concerning," civil rights attorney Ben Crump posted on X while Tubman was still scrubbed from the page. "Tubman's legacy and the resistance of enslaved people must never be diminished. We must stand in the truth of our history!"

Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., argued the removal was "an attack on truth, an attempt to erase history that would help us improve society today, a refusal to be uncomfortable and engaged in changing harmful policies and practices."

The Washington Post investigation published on Friday pointed out these changes and others from the NPS. Its analysis of thousands of NPS webpages found several changes in language to rebrand racially charged moments in American history or remove references to slavery entirely.

A page on Benjamin Franklin's views on slavery was taken down, and some mentions of prominent figures such as Thomas Stone owning enslaved people were omitted.

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This comes amid a larger effort from the Trump administration to purge DEI from government webpages.

MORE: DOD says it 'mistakenly removed' Jackie Robinson, other content from website amid DEI purge

Last month, the Department of Defense said it "mistakenly removed" Jackie Robinson's Army service as well as other content, including a page that honored the 60th anniversary of U.S. troops, in its effort to remove DEI from its sites.

Actress Viola Davis, who is set to play Tubman in an untitled HBO biopic, took to Instagram on Monday to share comment on the situation, saying the edits were "downplaying Harriet Tubman and slavery."

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"Really?!! Harriet Tubman?!!" she wrote in the caption. "Elevating this icon of American History is being diminished?!!! Erased?! Man.....Lord....give us STRENGTH!!!!"

National Park Service restores Harriet Tubman feature on webpage after criticism over removal originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The National Park Service has restored mentions of Black abolitionist Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad on its website after their removal sparked backlash.

The NPS, which manages national parks, monuments and other natural, historical and recreational properties, said the changes had been done without approval.

Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Services website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content, the agency told The Independent in a statement.

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The changes were first reported by The Washington Post. Some of the modifications included replacing a photo of Tubman with images of Postal Service stamps highlighting cooperation between Black and white abolitionists within the Underground Railroad. Tubman was one of the numerous faces in the replaced images.

Additionally, The Post found edits on the National Park Services website that appeared to downplay some of the countrys horrors, with some of the eliminated references discussing slavery.

Information on Founding Father Benjamin Franklins views of slavery and his ownership history of enslaved people was taken down, as were mentions of Declaration of Independence signer Thomas Stones enslavement history from a website on the Stone National Historic site.

A sign for the National Park Service is seen by flags at Joshua Tree National Park in California (Getty Images)

The changes reportedly occurred after officials at the Department of Interior asked top leaders to identify webpages that might need to be amended, the outlet reported, after speaking with sources who requested anonymity.

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Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, was among those who slammed the initial changes.

Trump is trying to rewrite the history of the Underground Railroad  even diminishing its conductor, MD's own Harriet Tubman. The Underground Railroad is an important part of the American story. We cannot let him whitewash it as part of his larger effort to erase our history, he wrote in a post on X.

After the restoration, the Underground Railroad is now referred to as efforts of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage. In another section, Tubman is described as one of the systems best conductors.

The effort was one of many made following President Donald Trumps inauguration.

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Last month, the president signed an executive order demanding that the Smithsonian Institute rid its museums of divisive narratives, specifically targeting the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Before that, the US Army Womens Museum removed a display honoring transgender soldiers at the presidents direction.

Government entities have expressed confusion over how to implement Trumps directives when it comes to censoring websites and museums.

In the case of the Smithsonian Institute, Trump cannot directly control the organization but can threaten to withhold federal funding. The organization closed its diversity office following an executive order stating organizations receiving federal funding could not operate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.
TOKYO (AP)  Japan expressed interest Tuesday in participating in the NATO command for its Ukrainian mission based in Germany in what would be a major boost in ties with the largely European alliance.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani announced his countrys interest during talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Tokyo. After providing the war-torn country with defense equipment and support, Japan now wants to join NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, or NSATU, headquartered at a U.S. base in the German town of Wiesbaden.

Details of the mission, including the possibility of sending any Japan Self Defense Force members to Wiesbaden, were still to be discussed. But any Japanese cooperation was not expected to involve combat, in line with what has been Tokyo's post-World War II tradition of limiting its military's role.

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Nakatani said Japan wants to further deepen security cooperation with NATO and that participation in the NSATU mission would help Tokyo learn lessons from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Both Japan and NATO face many challenges and our security environment has become increasingly more severe, Nakatani said.

Japan has said that Russias war on Ukraine underscores that security risks in Europe and Asia are inseparable, and Tokyo has sought closer ties with NATO while also joining the United States in expanding defense ties with other friendly nations in the Indo-Pacific.

Rutte told Nakatani that China, North Korea and Russia are stepping up their military exercises and their cooperation, undermining global security and that means what happens in Euro-Atlantic matters in the Indo-Pacific and vice versa.

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Japan considers China a threat in the region and has in recent years accelerated its military buildup, including preparing to acquire strike-back capability with long-range cruise missiles.

The NATO chief also raised concern about Chinas arms buildup and military drills near Taiwan and called on the organizations members and friendly nations to work together to keep free and open sea lanes in the region.

China is supporting Russias efforts. China is building up its armed forces, including its navy, at a rapid pace, Rutte told reporters earlier Tuesday after he briefly boarded Japans advanced multi-functional frigate Mogami docked in the Japanese naval port of Yokosuka. We cannot be naive, and we really have to work together, assess what is happening.

Rutte said NATO is worried about Chinas military exercises near Taiwan and we follow them very closely.

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Rutte told Nakatani that he hoped to deepen ties between NATO and Japan in a range of areas from crisis response operations to cyber defense, maritime security as well as defense industrial cooperation.

NATO has stepped up its ties with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, known as the IP4, in recent years, with their officials attending NATO ministerial and summit meetings.

The United States wants NATO members to be more involved in the Indo-Pacific region, Rutte said. He welcomed U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseths recent trip to Japan to ensure Washingtons commitment to strengthen its alliance with Japan and presence in the region. He stressed its importance, noting that Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven that is not in NATO.

Rutte, visiting Japan for the first time since becoming head of the Belgium-based military alliance in October, will meet with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday.

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Ishiba has advocated a NATO-like security framework in Asia, though he has not given details.

Countries with shared security concerns are strengthening ties as competition escalates between the United States and China. Beijing has criticized NATOs growing ties with the Indo-Pacific partners, worried that Washington may move to form a NATO-like alliance in the region.
ISLAMABAD, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the country has been taking measures to strengthen the maritime sector to promote national growth and boost exports.

"Pakistan has been blessed with a long coastline and vast maritime resources. With the right reforms, we can unlock immense economic potential and bring our ports to global competitive standards," the prime minister said while chairing a high-level meeting on Monday.

He said that comprehensive efforts are underway to transform Pakistan's port infrastructure, streamline customs operations, and strengthen the country's maritime economy for long-term national benefit.

He said that unifying regulations and a national dredging plan are being devised to serve ports across the country, adding that modernization of the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation and inclusion of the private sector through public-private partnerships are also being focused upon to promote the maritime sector.

The prime minister also highlighted the need to accelerate installation of modern scanning systems at all ports, and expedite customs clearance procedures, particularly in red and yellow channels.

"Maritime resources are crucial to global trade and Pakistan's economic future... timely action is essential to remain competitive in an evolving international market," he added. 
A senior Navy officer who represented the U.S. in NATO military planning was fired Monday with no clear explanation from the Pentagon on exactly why she was relieved.

Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, a career Navy helicopter pilot, had been the U.S. representative to the NATO Military Committee.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth decided to remove Chatfield due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead, Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Tuesday.

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The Defense Department is grateful for her many years of military service, Parnell said in the statement, which did not address the exact reason why Chatfield was fired.

All military branches routinely use the euphemism loss of confidence in lieu of providing detailed explanations for an officer or senior enlisted leaders removal from a job. The phrase is often criticized for publicly equating all removals, leaving the same public stamp on leaders relieved for on-the-job issues as those fired for misconduct or other reasons. Chatfields relief was first reported by Reuters.

Chatfield graduated from Boston University in 1987 and trained as a Navy helicopter pilot, flying SH-3, CH-46D and MH-60S in her career, according to an online biography. She later commanded Helicopter Combat Support Squadron HC-5 and Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron HSC-25. She also commanded a joint provincial reconstruction team in Farah Province, Afghanistan, in 2008.

Her awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, and Bronze Star Medal.

String of firings

Chatfields removal comes amid a string of firings with political overtones of senior military officers and intelligence officials. Six senior officers were dismissed from intelligence positions last weekend by President Donald Trump, including Air Force Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, the head of both the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. In February, two members of the joint chiefs of staff  Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti  were both fired without explanation.

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Though no reason for Chatfields firing has been released, she was targeted last December by a right-wing political group, the American Accountability Foundation. The organization wrote a letter to Secretary of State Pete Hegseth in December urging him to fire 20 senior military officials, including Chatsworth. The AAF describes its work as aggressive research and investigations to advance conservative messaging.

Chatfield is at least the second senior officer on the AAF list to lose their job in an abrupt, unexplained firing, along with Franchetti. At least one Air Force general on the list has announced his retirement for this July.

When the AAF released its list, former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the Associated Press that such targeting by partisan groups would have considerable, wide and deep consequences inside the military as officers begin to fear for their careers.

You will drive people out, Hagel said. It affects morale as widely and deeply as anything  it creates a negative dynamic that will trickle through an organization.

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UPDATE: 04/08/2024; this story was updated with a statement from Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell.

The latest on Task & Purpose
The U.S. Department of Defense is starting to rehearse how its joint forces will fight as an integrated team across a massive battlespace in future war against China, rather than each of its services conducting their own maneuvers to practice for the same kind of scenario. In doing so, the aim is to get a much clearer idea in terms of requirements of what is needed to make such a complex combat engagement work. Prior to this sea-change, critical requirements generation wasnt being done effectively or efficiently, according to Vice Adm. Michael Boyle, Director of Navy Staff within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, who laid out the Navys vision at the Sea-Air-Space Conference this week in National Harbor, Maryland.

The type of training that Boyle outlined underscores the fact that the Pentagon is now grappling with the reality of having to fight China on a grand scale in the Pacific theater. Coupled with this is the reality that, to stand any chance of success in such a scenario, the U.S. military would require a full and near seamless integration of its joint forces  as well as working alongside allies and partners.

Vice Adm. Michael Boyle, Director of Navy Staff within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. U.S. Navy

If were going to integrate the joint force, then how do we provide joint requirements? Boyle observed when asked about particular challenges in the Pacific theater. And so, I said, How do we provide joint requirements? And we really dont  the services each provide requirements. So, whats the best place to determine what a requirement might be? In my mind, its joint rehearsal.

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I looked around to see where we do joint rehearsal, and we really dont, Boyle said. What I saw was we do war games which validate a concept, we do experiments which validate a capability, and we do exercises which validate a plan, but we dont do rehearsal, even our field training exercises where we get the teams together, validate tactics [but] dont validate what the right capability to bring to the fight is.

Republic of Korea Navy amphibious landing ship ROKS Cheon Ja Bong sails in formation with U.S. Navy warships during the at-sea phase of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Terrin Hartman Petty Officer 2nd Class Terrin Hartman

As a result of these traditional limitations on true joint exercises that prepare for a future Indo-Pacific conflict, the Pentagon has sought to make changes, over the last couple of years, according to Boyle, in the way it conducts these maneuvers.

At first, the U.S. Navy and Air Force were brought together for large-scale exercises with a Pacific focus. Subsequently, the Army, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force were added, for a series of joint rehearsals in the Pacific.

Those rehearsals are run and executed by the tacticians who are going to fight them, Boyle added. And so its not us trying to determine what kind of capabilities you can provide to the fleet. Its the fleet saying, How do I win? And its not just the fleet, its the joint force.

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Among the tactics specialists taking part in these drills, Boyle named the Navy Fighter Weapons School, Air Force Weapons School, and Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) from Camp Pendleton, California. The Space Force and Cyber Command also are playing key roles, all of them together, running through rehearsals at the tactical level and figuring out, how do I sense and make sense, Boyle continued.

U.S. Marine Corps amphibious combat vehicles attached to Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct open water transit at Exercise Balikatan 24 in Naval Detachment Oyster Bay, Palawan, Philippines, May 4, 2024. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Peyton Kahle Lance Cpl. Peyton Kahle

Thats whats happening in the fleet now, Boyle said, and these requirements are starting to come in with a lot more fidelity, a lot more joint flavor.

As well as involving the full breadth of the joint forces, this new approach to drills is notably forward-looking, with the aim of working out how to integrate the kinds of capabilities that we know were going to need in 2040 and in 2050, Boyle reflected.

I dont think we had a great system within the Pentagon, and thats something were trying to change, Boyle said, in relation to the way that Pacific-focused exercises have traditionally been run, compared to how they are now being optimized.

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While Boyle didnt refer to any particular exercises by name, its clear that larger, more joined up exercises are becoming increasingly significant, especially when it comes to rehearsing for Indo-Pacific contingencies.

To a significant degree, this effort has been led by the Air Force, with REFORPAC (Return of Forces to the Pacific) coming this year.

A two-week exercise in the Indo-Pacific, this summers REFORPAC maneuvers are seen as a centerpiece of training events that are designed to better prepare for the threat of war against China.

A map Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Allvin shared together with the details about the forthcoming REFORPAC exercise. U.S. Air Force via Hudson Institute

Outlining REFORPAC, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin explained: One of the issues that will be addressed  that were starting to address, we saw a little bit of this most recent Bamboo Eagle  is how mission-ready are we to deploy in a complex environment and sustain operations and be able to do logistics under attack? To be able to generate and maneuver within the environment, to sustain the mobility fleet that can get around, make sure the munitions and fuel and everything gets to the right place.

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Allvin referred to Bamboo Eagle, another large-scale airpower-centric exercise that focuses on the demands of a future Indo-Pacific war.

A U.S. Air Force F-35A assigned to the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base is seen at Naval Air Station North Island taking part in Bamboo Eagle 25-1. U.S. Air Force photo by Micah Garbarino

Bamboo Eagle takes place off the California coast and the first edition occurred last year, as you can read about in this past TWZ feature. 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.

Like Bamboo Eagle, REFORPAC will also see participation by U.S. allies and partners.

After all, the Indo-Pacific theater is not only of growing strategic importance for the U.S. military. Last year, for example, air forces from France, Germany, and Spain took part in Pacific Skies, an unprecedented exercise that took aircraft to the Indo-Pacific region in a multi-legged journey to work together with other air arms.

A simplified diagram showing the major flight routes, destinations, and joint exercises for the Pacific Skies 24 deployment. Bundeswehr/Luftwaffe

As well as reflecting the continued pivot to Asia, driven above all by Chinas increasingly assertive military stance, these Indo-Pacific-focused exercises all grapple with the inherent challenges of a future conflict in this region.

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For example, a war with China in the Indo-Pacific would involve joint forces, allies, and partners fighting over vast geographic expanses, with the requirement to operate in an expeditionary capacity in the face of unprecedented high-threat weapons engagement zones.

Boyles remarks at Sea-Air-Space underline the Pentagons growing concerns about its forces readiness to fight a conflict in the Indo-Pacific region. They also point to the recognition that success in such a scenario will depend to a significant degree upon different forces working together in a way that hasnt necessarily been practiced in the past.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
We just got a clearer picture of where the Navys air arm stands when it comes to its progress  or lack thereof  in developing and fielding carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) that will fly primarily alongside the services fighter aircraft in a force-multiplying role.

Rear Adm. Michael Buzz Donnelly, Director of the Air Warfare Division (N98) within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, was asked about when CCAs will be integrated into the carrier air wing and what their primary focus will be during a panel at the annual Sea Air Space symposium in Washington, D.C. today, at which TWZ was in attendance.

Ghost Bat CCAs alongside a Super Hornet. (Boeing) Boeing

His response paints a picture of how the Navy is not heavily focusing on this capability right now. Instead, it is putting more effort into its MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone, and its supporting infrastructure, while allowing the other services, especially the USAF, to prove out the CCA concept. In other words, dont expect CCAs on supercarrier decks anytime soon.

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Donnelly stated:

The United States Navy is in a tri-service memorandum of agreement and understanding with our sister services, the U.S. Air Force, as well as the Marine Corps, and we are developing that capability together. Each of us are focused on a different aspect of that. The Air Force is leading and very forward leaning in the development of the actual air vehicle and the autonomy that goes in those for execution of mission. Marine Corps is working closely to develop manned-unmanned teaming between platforms such as the F-35, the F-35B being the baseline for their aviation capability right now. And the United States Navy is working based on our pathway of unmanned into the fleet with MQ-25. The baseline architecture that will be required to enable those capabilities, as well as the ground control station that we are currently utilizing for MQ-25, we expect to become the standard for all of these systems.

As we work together for the United States Navy, I will tell you that we are definitely in the follow of those three services as we look to see how Air Force is developing and fielding things, quite frankly, in a more simple operational environment than what is required for a ship-based system. We know that were going to leverage what we learned in MQ-25 as a pathway of unmanned into the Carrier Air Wing and operating in the fleet over the next coming years, and then between what we see as mission capability, understanding of autonomy and the function of that in the mission capabilities, and what weve learned with MQ-25, I think its foreseeable that were going to see initial designs and capabilities fielding to the fleet in the 2030s.

A US Marine Corps XQ-58 flies together with a pair of US Air Force F-35A Joint Strike Fighters during a previous test out of Eglin Air Force Base in 2023. USAF

So, while we have indications that the Navy may not be moving as quickly on CCAs as the USAF, this is our most comprehensive update on the services thinking. Basically, the Navy is looking to leverage the other services trials and errors and will make informed decisions based on that data down the line. Just integrating the MQ-25 into the air wing is a huge hurdle to overcome, and some of those lessons and technologies could also feed in the opposite direction, back into the USAF and Marines CCA programs.

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Donnelly is certainly right about how integrating CCAs onto a carrier is a tougher proposition than doing so at a large static airfield. At the same time, one could easily argue that there is no better application for CCAs and advanced unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) in general than the carrier. Mixing manned and unmanned capabilities on the same vessel is arguably harder than just deploying unmanned capabilities alone.

Its worth noting that China is racing ahead with its advanced carrier-based unmanned capabilities, jumping right into stealthy UCAVs capable of independent and cooperative operations, and not just for its fixed-wing carriers but also its largest amphibious assault ships. The United States has no analog for this capability. Carrier-based UCAVs that were supposed to have been procured over a decade ago were axed entirely in one of the strangest moves in modern military history that you can read all about here. For the Navy, its multi-role stealth UCAV was replaced with what is now the MQ-25 tanker.

Promotional video for the shipborne version of the GJ-11 drone shown by the AVIC at the China Air Show. pic.twitter.com/RDw8COgPAA   (@louischeung_hk) October 7, 2021

The Navy is currently looking to have its air wings made up of more drones than manned aircraft by sometime in the later end of the 2030s, so CCAs and similar systems are still likely to come. But for now, the service is concentrating on getting the drone it has already ordered  which is late and over budget  integrated into the carrier environment while taking more of a wait-and-see approach for others.

Of course, this is taking Donnellys statement at face value. Its unclear what the Navy is doing in the classified domain. Still, his remarks today were very clear and blunt on the issue.

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This also calls into question the F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter aircraft the service is supposedly about to award a contract for anytime now. That aircraft has been slated to work alongside CCAs as a key feature. The timing of its development and the Navys eventual movement on that capability remains murky at best. Since Navy and Air Force fighter aircraft will be able to use each others CCAs, its possible that leveraging Air Force types could be a gateway early on in the naval fighters service if the Navys own CCA drones have not arrived in force on carrier decks by that time. Still, the carrier not having its own CCAs would severely limit the utility and applicability of the F/A-XXs manned-unmanned teaming capabilities.

Next generation naval fighter rendering. (Boeing) Boeing

Finally, from much of what we have seen, the Navy seems to be interested in cheaper and more disposable CCAs than the Air Force, which is pursuing a much higher-end capability with unit costs in the tens of millions. This came up again today at the conference, with the possibility of buying CCAs with very short airframe life at lower costs being an attractive option for the service. So, while much of the command and control architecture and some of the tactics, logistics and procedures may port over, the USAF may end up with a very different CCA vision than the Navy and possibly the USMC.

The USAF is currently examining two CCA offerings, one from Anduril and one from General Atomics. Another increment competition is on the horizon which could feature even more advanced types. (General Atomics/Anduril composite)

Well have to see how this all plays out, but it seems clear that the Navy thinks it has enough drone challenges on its hands at this time with the MQ-25 and that it can wait to take on more.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com
Ongoing work on the U.S. Armys Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) tiltrotor is helping the U.S. Navy refine its next-generation Future Vertical Lift-Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) plans. FVL-MS is set to be a family of systems with crewed and uncrewed components to succeed the Navys existing MH-60R and MH-60S Seahawks, as well as its MQ-8C Fire Scout drone helicopters.

A formation of US Navy MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, one of the types set to be replaced by the FVL-MS family of systems. USN

Navy Rear Adm. Michael Buzz Donnelly, head of the Air Warfare Division within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, provided new details about FVL-MS to TWZ and other outlets on the sidelines of the Navy Leagues Sea Air Space 2025 exhibition yesterday. The Army is currently working toward fielding a fleet of FLRAA aircraft derived from Bells V-280 Valor design, which will replace a significant portion of the services H-60 Black Hawk fleets.

The Navy has 270 MH-60Rs and 256 MH-60Ss in inventory, according to NAVAIRs website, but it is unclear whether those figures are current. At present, the service expects to fly both types at least deep into the 2030s. The Navy is already moving to retire all its still-young MQ-8Cs, which have struggled with various issues before and after reaching initial operational capability in 2019.

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Collectively, MH-60R/S helicopters currently perform a wide range of missions, including anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures, electronic warfare support, combat search and rescue, assault, and vertical replenishment. The MQ-8C was envisioned primarily as an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform, particularly to help Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) with targeting at extended ranges, but that might also have been adapted for other roles.

An MQ-8C Fire Scout, in front, and an MH-60S Seahawk, behind, seen conducting flight operations together in 2022. The ship in the foreground is the Independence class Littoral Combat Ship USS Jackson. USN

The planned replacement FVL-MS is a family of systems. We foresee that to be both a manned platform partnering with an unmanned capability, Donnelly said. Whether the concept is close to the Armys FLRAA or another type of design is still being evaluated in concept development.

Well definitely continue to leverage what we are already teamed with the Army [on] for FLRAA. Certainly not going to miss an opportunity to take advantage of what theyve already developed, he continued. Weve got different space and environmental factors in terms of operating from sea, operating from a combined flight deck, that wont allow us to use the exact type of air vehicle they were looking at, but they have done a lot of very good work that we can continue to leverage.

Donnelly noted that the Navy has a requirement for two FVL-MS aircraft to fit aboard any one CRUDES  short for cruiser and destroyer type ships like the services existing Ticonderoga and Arleigh Burke classes  as well as its Freedom and Independence class LCS and future Constellation class frigates. Seahawks also currently operate from other Navy ships, including aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, expeditionary sea base vessels, and command ships. In addition to needing to account for limited physical space, designing aircraft for protracted operations from sea-based platforms brings along other inherent requirements, including measures to mitigate saltwater corrosion.

An MH-60R Seahawk helicopter approaches the flight deck of the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Dewey. USN

Specifically, you know, the [FLRAA] air vehicle, the mechanics, and kinetic performance of that is interesting, the rear admiral added. Whats most interesting is the combat system, the ability to integrate unmanned systems from the design up.

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The [FVL-MS] program is informed by the Army and Marine Corps advances in improved engine design, digital backbone, Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA), advanced rotor blades, materials and launched effects, the Navy has also said in the past.

As TWZ has highlighted many times in the past, increased range, as well as greater speed to cover those distances faster, were key considerations for the Army when it picked Bells V-280-based design as the winner of the FLRAA competition. The Army has also been very outspoken in touting FLRAAs open-architecture mission systems, which will make it easier to integrate new and improved capabilities and functionality down the line.

A rendering of a trio of FLRAAs. Bell

For the Army, the performance boost that FLRAA offers will be particularly critical in any future operations across the vast expanses of the Indo-Pacific region, especially a potential high-end fight against China. These are similarly important considerations for the Navy, which has to contend with the added complexity of conducting aviation operations from ships at sea that could be thousands of miles from friendly or hostile shores. Extending the operational reach of friendly forces is only set to become more important as the range of potential threats also increases.

A V-280 seen flying over water. Bell

The threat paradigm in the 2030-2035 timeframe  as well as the principles of DMO [Distributed Maritime Operations]  dictate that FVL (MS) be able to conduct these tasks in a highly contested environment, at greater ranges, and with greater speed, endurance and precision, the Navy previously laid out in its Naval Aviation Vision 2030-2035 document. FVL (MS) will leverage advances in AI and ML [artificial intelligence and machine learning] sensor technology, AI and ML to fully integrate the manned and unmanned platforms to form highly effective teams, thereby reducing operator workload and increasing the speed and quality of aircrew decision-making.

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This, together with Donnellys comments yesterday about the Navy being particularly interested in what the Army is doing with FLRAA when it comes to teaming with uncrewed platforms, underscores just how important vertical takeoff and landing capable drones that can perform a variety of missions are to the FVL-MS plan. A crewed-uncrewed team with extended reach could be particularly useful for anti-submarine warfare missions, something TWZ has highlighted in the past.

Overall, FVL (MS) will be the most widely distributed aviation platform in the Navy embarking on all surface combatants from future FFG to aircraft carriers and will contribute to more primary mission areas than any other aviation platform in the Navy, Donnelly had said last May. That month, the Navy announced the FVL-MS program had completed an analysis of alternatives (AoA) and was moving on to the development of a Capabilities Development Document (CDD) to firm up core requirements, as well as associated concepts of operations (CONOPS).

For its part, Bell has pitched a navalized derivative of the V-280 tiltrotor in the past, as well as maritime strike and anti-submarine warfare configurations of its companion uncrewed V-247 Vigilant design, to the Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. The Marines say they are also following the FLRAA program closely to see what could be leveraged in their search for a new Next Generation Assault Support (NGAS) aircraft to succeed the MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor.

Tiltrotors, in general, offer substantial advantages in terms of speed, range, and maximum operating altitude over traditional helicopters. However, they have not seen widespread adoption globally by armed forces or in the commercial sector due to historically high costs and complexities associated with the designs. The V-22, though currently in service with the Navy, Marines, and U.S. Air Force, has been and remains a very controversial aircraft with a checkered service record punctuated by numerous fatal crashes. This includes the loss of an Air Force CV-22B in 2023 off the coast of Japan that triggered a three-month-long grounding of virtually all Ospreys worldwide, the fallout from which is still being felt.

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It is worth noting that tilt-rotors do also present particular challenges for shipboard operations when it comes to the aforementioned space requirements. The Osprey features a folding main wing and rotors to help reduce its physical footprint. Adding such features to a design that does not include them from the start could be a complicated proposition. Models of the V-247 have been shown with a similar folding main wing and rotor arrangement to the V-22.

Advanced compound helicopter designs like the SB>1 Defiant that lost to the V-280 in the FLRAA competition are still another pathway to increases in range and speed. At the same time, they bring their own costs and complexities, and still have generally lower overall performance than comparable tiltrotor designs.

Back in February, a Navy contracting notice also highlighted the services potential interest in a new Service Life Modernization (SLM) effort for the MH-60R/S Seahawk fleets, which could entail a collection of efforts with intended competitive space that will result in an extensive re-architecture and modernization of the MH-60R/MH-60S cockpit avionics and mission systems using a Modular Open System Approach.

The full scale and scope of the proposed SLM plan remains unclear. Sikorsky, now a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, developed a common digital cockpit architecture for the MH-60R and MH-60S variants decades ago. The Navy has also been looking at a separate Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) for the MH-60S specifically, and primarily to address airframe fatigue, since at least 2022, according to official budget documents. The Navy is already pursuing a number of other Seahawk modernization efforts, including engine improvements and communication suite upgrades, as well.

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As already discussed in the context of FLRAA, installing new open-architecture avionics and other mission systems onto the MH-60R/Ss would help simplify the process of adding updated functionality to the Navy Seahawks across the rest of their remaining service life. This might also provide another bridge, at least in part, to capabilities for FVL-MS.

Its also worth noting that the cost of replacing all of the Navys MH-60R/S helicopters with new FVL-MS aircraft could be very steep. Like the Army, the Navy could decide to operate a hybrid fleet that retains a number of Seahawks for the foreseeable future.

What we do know is that the Navy is actively leveraging elements of the Armys FLRAA program to help push ahead toward its future FVL-MS family of systems.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com
North Carolinas Supreme Court on Monday temporarily blocked a ruling on an undecided court race.

In a Monday order, the Tar Heel States highest court temporarily stayed a previous ruling from a panel of the state appeals court to carry out a recount and verification of 60,000 contested ballots in a North Carolina state Supreme Court race.

Attorneys for Democratic Justice Allison Riggs, already on the North Carolina Supreme Court, filed a motion Sunday asking for a temporary stay on the appeals courts order being carried out. Riggs is being challenged for her seat by Republican state Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, who has pushed against the validity of some ballots in the race for multiple reasons.

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The monumental decision of the Court of Appeals in this case raises multiple issues of first impression and will have implications for North Carolinians fundamental right to vote in this election and for decades to come, Riggss attorneys said in the Sunday motion.

In multiple past recounts, Riggs has come out ahead, but her opponent has said that the 60,000 ballots are not valid because they lack information such as drivers license or Social Security numbers.

The Supreme Court issued a stay in Jefferson Griffin v. the Board of Elections. Last week the Court of Appeals ruled that voters would have to re-prove their voter registration in order for their vote to be counted, the North Carolina Democratic Party posted Monday on the social platform X.

Now, that decision will not go into effect until after the Supreme Court hears the case  and it may not go into effect at all until after the Supreme Court and subsequent appeals in federal court are finished, the post continued. The North Carolina Democratic Party is standing squarely behind Justice Riggsand behind every single voter whose rights are under attack. We will continue fighting in court and in every community across the state to defend our democracy.

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In his own Monday post on X, North Carolina Republican Party Chair Jason Simmons said, Judge Griffins protests have been vindicated and the people of our state deserve to see this important election finalized with every legal vote counted.

The Hill has reached out to an attorney for Griffin 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.
(Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Monitor)

The North Carolina House Judiciary 2 Committee voted Tuesday afternoon to advance two bills targeting the regulation of concealed weapons, moving them along to the House Rules Committee.

House Bill 427, CCW Permit/No Records Provided, pertains to the mental health of an applicant for a concealed handgun permit  the latest in a number of measures aiming to alter the regulation of guns and concealed carry. Its primary sponsors are Reps. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico), Ben Moss (R-Moore, Richmond), Joseph Pike (R-Harnett), and Bill Ward (R-Camden, Gates, Hertford, Pasquotank).

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At the moment, North Carolina law requires the disclosure of records concerning the mental health or capacity of applicants for concealed handgun permits. This bill would modify the law to ask for a yes or no statement indicating whether the applicant has been diagnosed by a medical professional with a mental illness.

In explaining the bill, Kidwell said the release of medical records for background checks when applying for a concealed weapon permit are meant to be used only to look at a persons mental capacity. Instead, he said, there have been situations across the state in which additional non-mental health information has been released  for example, if a person had had a vasectomy or if theyve had their tonsils removed.

What this seeks to do is to put it in a situation where only the mental health piece of it would be whats checked on to verify that somebody can legally get a concealed carry permit, Kidwell said.

The panel also approved a technical amendment from Rep. Charles Smith (D-Cumberland) to provide additional privacy to the applicant and medical personnel.

Allowing a variety of concealed knives

The other piece of legislation, House Bill 439, Allow Concealed Carry of Knife, does as its title suggests. Kidwell, Pike, and Ward serve as the bills primary sponsors.

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Current law allows people to carry concealed pocketknives.

Under HB 439, individuals above 18 years of age who are carrying identification and have not been convicted of a felony may carry a knife as described: a bowie knife, a dirk, a dagger, or a switchblade.

I think most gentlemen and many women carry concealed blades, and this is just going to make it a situation where youre not going to be arrested for doing so, Kidwell said.

He accepted an amendment from Smith to add additional language prohibiting knives in places where concealed handguns may not be carried.

I think this bill is putting knives on the same level as firearms, Smith said. My hope is to make that really consistent and just have sort of corresponding language.

Rep. Deb Butler (D-New Hanover) said she approved of the amendment, since it attempts to create parity between a firearm and a knife.
Video note: Despite this articles time stamp, the above video is the latest forecast from The Weather Authority.

HARRODSBURG, Ky. (FOX 56)  The permanently docked riverboat at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is floating on the Kentucky River once again.

The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill was once home to one of the largest Shaker communities across the nation from 1805 to 1910. According to representatives, 34 of the 260 original structures still stand today.

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Shelby Jones, chief marketing officer at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, told FOX 56 that theyve experienced historic flooding at Shaker Landing as a result of the extended rainfall.

Shaker Landing is located on the banks of the Kentucky River, which has led to major, near-record flooding across the state.

Im very happy to report that none of our historic buildings within the Village were damaged, however; we did have historic flooding at Shaker Landing, Jones said. Shaker Landing, located on the banks of the Kentucky River, reached the second highest water level on record.

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According to Jones, floodwaters reached 53 feet in 1978.

The historic Dixie Belle riverboat has been permanently docked since 2022 after 40 years of service. Now, its floating on the river once again.

2025 flooding at the Timber Frame Stable (Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill)

April 2025 floodwaters just shy of record flooding at Shaker Village, marker shows height of 1978 flood (Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill)

Historic Dixie Belle riverboat (Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill)

Historic Dixie Belle riverboat (Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill)

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The beloved riverboat was visited by thousands of guests throughout the years at Shaker Village and has been enjoying her retirement, but she is now floating on the Kentucky River once again as we wait for the water to recede. The 1866 Timber Frame Stable was also flooded but remains secure. The team at Shaker Village has been working around the clock to ensure the safety of the riverboat and stable, Jones said.

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According to Jones, Shaker Village is expected to reopen Wednesday, April 9, and all planned events will happen as planned.

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The Trump administration has revoked visas from 147 students studying at 48 colleges across the country as the president continues his crackdown on immigration.

As President Donald Trump and his administration carry out mass deportations across the U.S. and investigate schools for engaging in diversity, equity and inclusion practices, nearly 150 students have seen their visas revoked, particularly at regional public universities and small private colleges, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Some schools reported  like Dartmouth College, the University of Oregon and the University of Alabama  that one or two students were impacted. Some reported about a dozen students were impacted, like the University of California, Los Angeles and Arizona State University.

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Others have seen more than two dozen students have their visas revoked, like California State University.

The University of California, Los Angeles (pictured) was among nearly 50 schools to report its students had visas revoked under the Trump administration (AFP via Getty Images)

However, the actual total number of students who have had visas revoked could be much larger. Inside Higher Ed reports that many colleges were hesitant to publicly confirm visa revocations due to anxiety about federal scrutiny and concerns about navigating a legal gray area.

While earlier arrests seen as Colombia, Tufts and the University of Alabama were focused on students active in pro-Palestinian campus activism, the latest wave of revocations appears to have little to do with political activity. Indeed, college officials say they suspect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are combing traffic violation databases to find students, Inside Higher Ed reports.

This comes after ICE agents detained Felipe Zapata Velasquez, a 27-year-old from Colombia and a third-year University of Florida student during a traffic stop in Gainesville late last month.

Felipe Zapata Velasquez is one of hundreds of college students to be targeted under the Trump administration (Zapata Velasquez family)

An international UF student here on an F-1 visa has become the Trump Admins latest kidnapping victim, Florida Representative Maxwell Frost wrote in a statement. Despite the fact that he was in the process of renewing his visa, Felipe Zapata Velasquez is being held at the Krome Detention Center and his family hasn't heard from him since April 1.

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Miriam Feldblum, president and CEO of the Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, tells the Associated Press that none of this is regular practice.

Like Zapata Velasquez, many of these students are on F-1 visas, which students obtain by being admitted to a school in the U.S. and proving they have enough financial support to complete their degree. They must also remain in good academic standing throughout their studies.

The Trump administration has also targeted students involved in pro-Palestinian activism, like Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who led protests at the New York City school last year.

Now, Elora Mukherjee, an immigration lawyer and the director of Columbia Law Schools Immigrants Rights Clinic, told Insider Higher Ed that students fear is escalating week by week.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)  A premium pet food company donated nearly four tons of product to a Springfield non-profit animal shelter.

In a news release sent to 22News from Chicken Soup for the Soul Pet Food, a pet food manufacturer based in Connecticut, donated approximately 32,000 meals to Dakin Humane Society through its Chicken Soup for the Souls Fill A Bowl Feed A Soul program.

Target to open new store at former Eastfield Mall location

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Through this program, a portion of all proceeds from the sale of Chicken Soup for the Soul pet food helped provide 7,976 pounds of all-natural dog and cat food to Dakin Humane Society. Their all-natural dog and cat food is made in the USA and is crafted with real meats, healthy vegetables, and fruits.

We choose to donate to Dakin because of its long history of dedication to the Springfield, MA community as well as outlining towns. Through its adoption, transport, medical and educational programs Dakin has sheltered, rehabilitated and adopted out thousands of animals, said Jeanne Blandford, Senior Director of Marketing for Chicken Soup for the Soul Pet Food. Their Pet Food Aid Program assists people who are experiencing an unexpected, personal emergency and need temporary assistance with dog and cat food  helping to keep their family together.

Dakins Executive Director Meg Talbert stated, We couldnt ask for a better partner to help us assist people when they are in need. There are so many challenges facing people that affect their ability to stay with their pets, and we are more determined than ever to remove as many of those barriers as possible. Thanks to the incredible generosity of Chicken Soup for the Soul Pet Food, we can offer valuable resources to our community to keep their pets fed and by their side, while also tending to the many pets in our care. We are grateful to this organization for joining us in offering compassion and comfort to so many  both animal and human  who need our help.

As workers go back to their offices and living costs increase for families, the rescue community is seeing a spike in dog and cat intakes, said Ed Uebele, Senior VP Sales and Marketing, Chicken Soup for the Soul Pet Food. Animal rescue organizations are a continued source of inspiration to us at Chicken Soup for the Soul Pet Food as they continue their dedication to the care and safe treatment of all animals during uncertain times. We are proud to be able to lift some of the financial burden for these rescues as well as members of the communities they serve by providing this nutritional support.

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Thank you again for your companys generosity. This delivery comes at a critical time as our animal population is beginning to increase as we get closer to spring and summer months as well as the demand for our Pet Food Aid Program increasing, said Stacey Price, Director of Development and Marketing for Dakin.

For over 55 years, Dakin Humane Society has provided shelter, medical care, and spay/neuter services to more than 20,000 animals a year.

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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.

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Mount Kanlaon spews volcanic material on the island of Negros, the Philippines, April 8, 2025. An explosive eruption rocked Mount Kanlaon in the central Philippines on Tuesday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. In an advisory, the institute said the eruption "is producing a voluminous bent plume approximately 4,000 meters tall drifting southwest." (Canlaon City Local Government Unit/Handout via Xinhua)

MANILA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- An explosive eruption rocked Mount Kanlaon in the central Philippines on Tuesday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

"An explosive eruption is currently ongoing at the summit vent of Kanlaon that began at 5:51 a.m. local time today," Ma. Antonia Bornas, the institute's volcano monitoring and eruption prediction division chief, said in a radio interview.

In an advisory, the institute said the eruption "is producing a voluminous bent plume approximately 4,000 meters tall drifting southwest."

"Pyroclastic density currents descended the slopes on the general southern edifice," the institute added.

The institute and netizens posted videos of the erupting volcano spewing a voluminous plume.

The institute did not raise the alert level on the volcano despite the eruption. Kanlaon volcano has been on alert level 3 since its last eruption in December last year.

Alert Level 3 signifies that a volcano exhibits magmatic unrest, meaning magma is moving towards the surface. There is an increased chance of a hazardous eruption, including explosive activity, lava flows, and pyroclastic density currents.

Kanlaon, which straddles the provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental on the island of Negros, is one of the country's 24 most active volcanoes. 

Mount Kanlaon spews volcanic material on the island of Negros, the Philippines, April 8, 2025. An explosive eruption rocked Mount Kanlaon in the central Philippines on Tuesday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

In an advisory, the institute said the eruption "is producing a voluminous bent plume approximately 4,000 meters tall drifting southwest." (Canlaon City Local Government Unit/Handout via Xinhua)

Mount Kanlaon spews volcanic material on the island of Negros, the Philippines, April 8, 2025. An explosive eruption rocked Mount Kanlaon in the central Philippines on Tuesday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

In an advisory, the institute said the eruption "is producing a voluminous bent plume approximately 4,000 meters tall drifting southwest." (PHIVOLCS/Handout via Xinhua)

Mount Kanlaon spews volcanic material on the island of Negros, the Philippines, April 8, 2025. An explosive eruption rocked Mount Kanlaon in the central Philippines on Tuesday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

In an advisory, the institute said the eruption "is producing a voluminous bent plume approximately 4,000 meters tall drifting southwest." (Canlaon City Local Government Unit/Handout via Xinhua)

Mount Kanlaon spews volcanic material on the island of Negros, the Philippines, April 8, 2025. An explosive eruption rocked Mount Kanlaon in the central Philippines on Tuesday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

In an advisory, the institute said the eruption "is producing a voluminous bent plume approximately 4,000 meters tall drifting southwest." (PHIVOLCS/Handout via Xinhua)

Mount Kanlaon spews volcanic material on the island of Negros, the Philippines, April 8, 2025. An explosive eruption rocked Mount Kanlaon in the central Philippines on Tuesday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

In an advisory, the institute said the eruption "is producing a voluminous bent plume approximately 4,000 meters tall drifting southwest." (Canlaon City Local Government Unit/Handout via Xinhua)
NEOSHO, Mo.  The Neosho School District announced two new elementary principals Tuesday.

School officials say Haylie Culp has been selected to lead Benton Elementary School. A press release from Neosho Public Schools calls Culp a person who brings a deep understanding of the districts values, is a strong leader with experience and brings with her a passion for student growth.

Culp is currently assistant principal of Neosho Junior High School. In her role, Culp has been recognized for her strong support of students and staff. Before ascending to an administrative position, Culp was a language arts and social studies teacher at Neosho Junior High.

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Benton Elementary School serves students grades pre-K through Grade Four.

The district also announced that Tyler Gordon has been selected as Principal of Goodman Elementary School, which also served students pre-K through Grade Four. The district says Gordon is no stranger to the area, having taught social studies at Neosho High School from 2012 to 2018. He has been principal at Parsons High School in Parsons, Kansas since 2018, and now returns to Neosho Public Schools in his new role.

Were thrilled to welcome Haylie and Tyler into their new roles. Their experience, dedication and deep understanding of our district make them a perfect fit to lead our elementary schools forward, said Superintendent Jim Davis.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would eliminate its trade deficit with the US.

Netanyahu met with Trump after the US said it was imposing a 17% tariff on Israeli goods.

The US-Israel trade deficit was $7.4 billion in 2024, up 8.6% from 2023.

Israel has signaled interest in eliminating its trade deficit with the US.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first foreign leader to meet in person with President Donald Trump since the White House announced a new round of substantial tariffs last week and sent global markets into a tailspin. Trump's plan included a baseline 10% tariff on all countries and higher tariffs on countries the White House considered "the worst offenders" in US trade relations. Israel, one of the US's major non-NATO allies, faces a 17% tariff.

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"We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States," Netanyahu told reporters in the Oval Office following a private meeting with Trump. "We intend to do it very quickly. We think it's the right thing to do. And we're going to also eliminate trade barriers."

"Israel can serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same," Netanyahu said, adding, "I'm a free-trade champion, and free trade has to be fair trade."

In 2024, the US exported $14.8 billion worth of goods to Israel and imported $22.2 billion worth of goods from Israel, totaling a $7.4 billion goods trade deficit for the year, an 8.6% increase from 2023, according to US trade data.

In 2023, the three main goods that Israel exported to the US were diamonds, integrated circuits (also known as microchips), and broadcasting equipment, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

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In turn, the biggest products the US exported to Israel the same year were diamonds, explosive ammunition, and packaged medicaments (essentially retail pharmaceutical products), according to data compiled by OEC.

For his part, Trump told reporters during the appearance with Netanyahu that the US will "maybe not" reduce its tariffs against Israel.

"Well, we're talking about a whole new trade  maybe not, maybe not. Now, don't forget we help Israel a lot. You know, we give Israel $4 billion a year. That's a lot," Trump said, referring to the military assistance the US sends to Israel.

The US and Israel have had a free-trade agreement in place since 1985, and the US is Israel's single largest trading partner.

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Last week, in what may have been an effort to avoid new tariffs from Trump, Netanyahu wrote in a post on X  just one day before Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement  that he would be eliminating all remaining tariffs on American goods.

Netanyahu said after the meeting with Trump that Israel would also work to "eliminate trade barriers" between the two countries.

Read the original article on Business Insider
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington for a hastily organized White House visit bringing a long list of concerns: Iran's nuclear program. President Donald Trump's tariffs. The surging influence of rival Turkey in Syria. And the 18-month war in Gaza.

Netanyahu appeared to leave Monday's meeting largely empty-handed  a stark contrast with his triumphant visit two months ago. During an hourlong Oval Office appearance, Trump appeared to slap down, contradict or complicate each of Netanyahus policy prerogatives.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu declared the meeting a success, calling it a very good visit and claiming successes on all fronts. But privately, the Israeli delegation felt it was a tough meeting, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

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Netanyahu didnt hear exactly what he wanted to hear, so he returns back home with very little, said Nadav Eyal, a commentator with the Yediot Ahronot daily, who added that the visit was still friendly, despite the disagreements.

Netanyahu's second pilgrimage to Washington under Trump's second term was organized at short notice and billed as an attempt to address the new U.S. tariff regime. But it came at a pivotal time in Middle East geopolitics. Israel restarted the war in Gaza last month, ending a Trump-endorsed ceasefire, and tensions with Iran are rising over its nuclear program.

Netanyahu and his allies were thrilled with Trump's return to office given his strong support for Israel during his first term. This time around, Trump has not only nominated pro-Israel figures for key administration positions, he has abandoned the Biden administration's criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza and the West Bank, and of Netanyahu's steps to weaken Israeli courts.

Monday's meeting showed that while Trump remains sympathetic to Israel, Netanyahu's relationship with the president during his second term is more complicated and unpredictable than he may have expected.

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Here is a look at where Trump and Netanyahu appear to have diverged.

Netanyahu has long pushed for military pressure against Iran

With Netanyahu's strong encouragement, Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program. That deal, negotiated by the Obama administration, put curbs on Iran's nuclear program. It was denigrated by Netanyahu because he said it did not go far enough to contain Iran or address Iran's support for regional militant groups.

Netanyahu has long maintained that military pressure was the best way to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Israel struck Iran last year in the countries' first direct conflict ever. But it did not target Iran's nuclear facilities, something Israel would likely need U.S. military assistance to do in order to strike targets buried deep underground.

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Trump has suggested, including on Monday, that the U.S. could take military action if Iran doesnt agree to negotiate. But his announcement Monday that talks would take place between the U.S. and Iran this weekend flew in the face of Netanyahus hawkish views.

Netanyahu gave a tepid endorsement, noting that both leaders agree that Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. He said he would would favor a diplomatic agreement similar to Libya's deal in 2003 to destroy its nuclear facilities and allow inspectors unfettered access. However, it is not clear if Trump will set such strict conditions.

Eyal said the announcement with Netanyahu by Trump's side was meant to show the transparency between the countries' leadership.

Netanyahu hoped for tariff relief and appeared to be rebuffed

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A day before Trump's so-called Liberation Day unleashed global tariffs on the world last week, Israel preemptively announced that it would eliminate all levies on U.S. goods. But that didn't spare Israeli products from being slapped with a 17% tariff by its largest trading partner.

Netanyahu was summoned to Washington ostensibly to make Israel's case against the levy. He was the first international leader to do so, in an encounter that may have set the stage for how other world leaders approach the tariffs.

While Trump repeatedly praised the Israeli leader, he did not appear to budge on Israel's share of the burden. Asked if he might change his mind, he said maybe not. He cited the billions of dollars the U.S. gives Israel in military assistance each year  money that is seen as the bedrock of the U.S.-Israel relationship and an insurance policy for U.S. interests in the region.

We give Israel $4 billion a year. Thats a lot, he said, as though to suggest Israel was already getting enough from the U.S., and congratulated Netanyahu on that achievement.

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Netanyahu was told to be reasonable on Turkey

Since the fall of the Assad dynasty in Syria late last year, Israel and Turkey have been competing in the country over their separate interests there. Israel fears that Syria's new leadership, which has an Islamist past, will pose a new threat along its border. It has since taken over a buffer zone in Syrian territory and said it will remain there indefinitely until new security arrangements are made.

Turkey has emerged as a key player in Syria, prompting concerns in Israel over the possibility of Turkey expanding its military presence inside the country. Netanyahu said Tuesday that Turkish bases in Syria would be a danger to Israel.

Once strong regional partners, ties between Israel and Turkey have long been frosty and deteriorated further over the war in Gaza. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of the war, prompting angry reactions from Israeli officials.

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Netanyahu sought to hear support from his stalwart ally Trump on a country Israel perceives as increasingly hostile. Instead, Trump lavished praise on Erdogan for taking over Syria, positioned himself as a possible mediator between the countries and urged Netanyahu to be reasonable in his dealings with the country.

Israel is not provided with a blank check here, said Udi Sommer, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Tel Aviv University. Theres no unconditional love here. It is contingent. It is contingent on Israel behaving a certain way.

Trump wants the war in Gaza to end

While both addressed the ongoing war in Gaza and the Israeli hostages who remain held there, the topic appeared to take a backseat to other issues.

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Netanyahu spoke of the hostages' plight and an emerging deal to free them, as well as the need to end the evil tyranny of Hamas. Trump sympathized with the hostages and made another pitch for his plan to own Gaza and remove its Palestinian population, a once fringe idea in Israeli discourse that has now found acceptance among mainstream politicians, including Netanyahu.

However, there were signs of differences on the horizon.

Netanyahu broke the ceasefire last month and has been under major pressure from his governing allies to keep up the fighting until Hamas is crushed. He has appeared to be in no rush to end the war or bring home the remaining hostages.

Trump, however, made it clear that he'd like to see the hostages freed and for the war to end. And I think the war will stop at some point that wont be in the too distant future, he said.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A proposal in the Nevada Legislature would ban school districts and staff from banning books without a court order determining the material is obscene.

Assembly Bill 416 from Democratic Assem. Brittney Miller, who is also chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, would prevent a schools governing body from limiting access to library materials by pupils under certain circumstances and create penalties for people who essentially ban items from school libraries.

Banning book bans is essential to upholding the First Amendment because it protects our fundamental right to free speech and the free exchange of ideas, Miller said in a statement Monday. AB416 will ensure that individuals  not the government  decide what they read, write or think. Book bans silence voices, limit access to diverse perspectives, and suppresses free speech.

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Existing law allows a district attorney or city attorney to file a court order to have a book deemed obscene. A Legislative Counsel digest includes guidance that obscenity related to books involves [lack of] serious literary artistic, political or scientific value and the depiction of certain sexual acts, excretory functions, sadism or masochism or lewdly exhibits the genitals.

The proposal would make it a Category E felony to threaten or attempt to use any force, intimidation, coercion, violence, restraint or undue influence to prevent a pupil from using or accessing library materials; or induce or compel the board of trustees of a school district, the governing body of a charter school or a school employee to violate the non-banning provisions.

The law would also make it a Category E felony to dox a school board trustee or employee.

The Clark County School District, Nevadas largest, updated its instruction material policy last December, including a process for challenging books involving a committee.

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A hearing was scheduled for April 8.

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In the preview for a final showdown set for Thursday, House Democrats launched tough questions and sometimes angry comments at Republican budget writers during a briefing on the two-year, $15.4 billion state budget proposal.

House Finance Committee Chairman Ken Weyler, R-Kingston, urged his Republican colleagues to stick together and adopt a plan that has $640 million less in spending than Gov. Kelly Ayotte had proposed, $325 million less from state taxes and fees.

There are things in it I dont like but I have a responsibility to pass this budget, Weyler said.

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He pointed out that his panel put into the state budgets trailer bill (HB 2) 29 different pieces of legislation to strengthen the Houses hand in negotiating a final spending plan with the state Senate.

It would be a folly to vote against this, Weyler said.

House Democrats and activist groups are planning a noontime rally Wednesday to mobilize opposition to the budget.

The House Freedom Caucus, a fiscally conservative group, sounded the alarm last week about its view that the House budget had too-rosy estimates for future revenues.

The House Ways and Means Committees estimates for taxes and fees were about $500 million less than Ayottes for the two-year cycle that concludes June 30, 2027.

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How do you sleep at night?

Rep. Wendy Thomas, D-Merrimack, confronted Rep. Dan McGuire, R-Epsom, who led the charge to take $20 million from a Renewable Energy Fund to help balance the budget.

You are gutting or stealing this money the ratepayers had paid into with the requirement that it be spent on renewable energy initiatives, said Thomas, predicting the state will be sued over the change.

McGuire interjected, And your question is?

Thomas shot back, I guess my question is how do you sleep at night gutting New Hampshires energy future?

As McGuire laughed in response, Rep. Jess Edwards, R-Auburn, scolded Thomas for the confrontation and appealed to Weyler to restore order.

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Can we encourage people to use proper decorum in these proceedings? Edwards said. That is an improper question and you should retract it.

Thomas responded, I will not retract it.

McGuire said the budget borrowed from many dedicated funds to balance the books. The plan also would impose a new 5% assessment (some critics call it a new tax) on most of these funds to raise another $16 million in 2027.

Ayottes budget plan proposed taking half the renewable energy balance.

Once the fund is drained, the House trailer bill adopts a House-retained bill (HB 224) to have all future assessments returned to ratepayers rather than spent on renewable energy projects.

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Several House Democrats criticized cutting $14 million in state support for tourism advertising, which still would leave it with a $4 million annual budget.

The state should be in the business of economic development and thats just what this tourism money is, said Rep. Hope Damon, D-Sunapee.

McGuire said its another form of corporate welfare.

We are spending this money to benefit one specific industry. The industry can spend their own money to do their own advertising, McGuire said.

Rep. Keith Erf, R-Weare, said the plan alters the education aid formula to bring back fiscal disparity grants based on a town or citys property wealth per capita.

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Two years ago, lawmakers got rid of those grants in place of extraordinary needs that combined property wealth with the number of children getting a free or reduced school lunch as the latter is a proxy for income wealth.

This had an outsized effect on certain cities, Erf said.

The 2023 change gave Manchester a 36% or $30 million increase in its annual grant last year.

Under existing law, Manchesters grant would go up another $12 million in 2027 for a 49% total increase from 2023.

This proposed budget would not provide that future hike and instead impose a cap to what Manchester is currently receiving plus a 2% annual increase.

Rep. David Luneau, D-Hopkinton, said the House GOP budget helps 40 property-poor towns, but said there are 100 that should qualify for some additional assistance.

klandrigan@unionleader.com
MINE HILL TOWNSHIP, N.J. (PIX11)  Its not Nick Crupis normal bagel spot, but after hearing what Pops Bagel Shop and so many other businesses in Wharton are going through, he drove over from Randolph to support them.

Just trying to help the guy out, said Crupi. Theres no business because of the traffic.

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Its that kind of help that goes a long way for Pops, but what would help even more is having a slice of millions of dollars in relief grants and loans.

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Our profit margins are real thin at this point, said Yazan Muheisen, owner of Pops Bagel Shop.

Muheisen got word Friday morning of a plan for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to enact a $5 million relief grant program for impacted businesses like his. The EDA board will be voting on whether to approve the plan at its monthly meeting on Wednesday.

More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State

The $5 million allocation is not subject to this upcoming budget cycle that Im actually in the process of deliberating over, said Assemblywoman Aura Dunn (R-NJ 25th District), who, along with other lawmakers, is continuing to push forward the Road to Relief act bills that aim to offer businesses both tax and transportation cost relief. Its all part of the response to the I-80 sinkhole mess, which officials say will continue into May and June.

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We didnt take our foot off the gas for this, said Dunn, and I wont.

These efforts are on top of a $2 million loan program from the U.S. Small Business Administration announced on Friday.

In nearby Mine Hill Township, along an often-jammed Route 46, Espositos L&L Deli is hurting.

Were like a mom and pop store, we have a little bit of everything, said owner Scott Esposito. [Drivers] dont want to leave and get out of line because they cant get back in. So thats how its impacting us.

To help incentivize their customers to come in, L&L is leaning into the sinkhole chaos by offering an 80-cent coffee and a sandwich sinkhole special.

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Mine Hill Mayor Sam Morris encourages people to support places like this in a charitable way.

It may be inconvenient, but they need them to be here when June comes around, said Morris.

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GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) Legislators with the North Carolina House of Representatives, General Assembly, and Pitt County Commissioners toured schools today as part of Legislators in Schools Week.

Representative Dr. Tim Reeder serving district 9 in North Carolina along with Representative Gloristine Brown, and Senator Kandie Smith took part in the tours on Monday, Apr. 7, 2025. Pitt County Commissioners Mac Manning, Mary Perkins-Williams, Rochelle Brown, Melvin McLawhorn, and Ann Floyd Huggins were in attendance as well as Dr. Steve Lassiter, Superintendent of Pitt County Schools.

The representatives started their day at Sadie Saulter Preschool before going to Elmhurst Elementary and finishing their morning at Pitt Community College Technical Academy.

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It has been an exciting time to be able to share with our legislators as well as our local officials the amazing things that are happening in our school system, Superintendent of Pitt County Schools Dr. Steve Lassiter said, so that they have a first-hand account to see the work that our teachers are doing as well as all the experiences that our students are having.

Its really an opportunity for us in the legislature to understand the needs of the public school system. How can we better educate our children, prepare for the future, Representative Dr. Tim Reeder said.

At PCC Technical Academy, lawmakers saw the hands-on training these students are receiving in multiple fields. This education is making it easier for the students to fit right into the workforce after graduating, and even some beginning to work before they leave school.

I was talking to one student already he was here in the morning; hes going to go work at an HVAC company this afternoon, make a little bit of money while hes learning, Dr. Reeder said.

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All of it is amazing. Being able to see our students engaged in what will help them with upward social mobility, Dr.Lassiter said. When they graduate from us, these are the tools and skills that theyll have readily available to them to make sure that theyre successful and they can take care of themselves and their families.

Even seeing some unique learning environments that you can only find in Pitt County.

The Spanish immersion at Elmhurst was incredible. We have these first graders who are learning 90% of their education in Spanish, and I was talking to one of the teachers and she said that most of their parents dont speak Spanish at all, so thats just a really cool immersion program that they have, Dr. Reeder said.

The lawmakers and commissioners held a joint meeting after the tours to recap what they saw. They also look forward to how they can continue this great progress across the state in the near future.

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ALMATY, April. 8 (Xinhua) -- Over 15 million foreign visitors traveled to Kazakhstan in 2024, the press service of the Kazakh Prime Minister reported on Tuesday.

During a government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, it was noted that the number of domestic tourists in 2024 reached 10.5 million, an increase of 900,000 compared to 2023. Issues related to the development and digitalization of the tourism sector were also discussed.

The Kazakh government is currently implementing a comprehensive set of measures to develop tourism infrastructure.

In 2024, the Jibek Joly (Silk Road in Kazakh) tourist train was launched as part of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's strategy to develop tourism. A large-scale renovation of 125 railway stations has begun, and new airport terminals have been constructed in the cities of Almaty, Shymkent and Kyzylorda.

Efforts are also underway to simplify migration procedures. A pilot project allowing organized tourist groups to bypass queues at border crossings has been launched, reducing passport control time by nearly fivefold. 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)  State lawmakers are considering what would be one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country.

House Bill 804, filed by Republican Representative Keith Kidwell, would make abortion after conception illegal except only to save the life of the mother. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.

Representative Kidwell and other Republican lawmakers didnt respond to a request for an interview.

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The bill defines an unborn child as an individual living member of the homo sapiens species from fertilization until birth, including the entire embryonic and fetal stages of development.

If the bill becomes law, anyone involved in performing or receiving an abortion could be found guilty of a felony, which in North Carolina means they could spend up to life in prison. It also allows for physicians or medical professionals to have their licenses revoked if theyre involved in administering abortions.

In a statement, a Planned Parenthood representative said in part, Abortion is a critical component of comprehensive reproductive health care, and everyone deserves access to the care they need, without politicians controlling when, how, or why.

The bill was filed on Friday and hasnt yet been referred to committee.

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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)A North Charleston company that develops heating technology recently hosted a group of West Ashley students for an immersive STEM experience.

The group of 17 from the West Ashley Center for Advanced Studies visited OhmIQs facility last week. There, they heard about career opportunities in engineering and physics from a career development panel, toured the companys state-of-the-art lab, and engaged in hands-on experiments that demonstrated Ohms Law.

OhmIQ regularly hosts similar opportunities for students to reinforce their commitment to the next generation of local scientists and engineers.

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This experience was the first step in our larger push to support our Lowcountry community through education. We look forward to continuing our educational initiatives by partnering with like-minded organizations in Charleston and beyond, said OhmIQ Office Manager and Executive Coordinator Kelly Gertino.

The West Ashley Center for Advanced Studies is one of three regional career centers where CCSD high school students can partake in dedicated career programs and internships while working closely with community partners to further their education and gain valuable experience.

The students enjoyed the detailed demonstrations of ohmic heating, along with getting a glimpse into a career in engineering, said Rob Brunson, Technology Integration Director at OhmIQ. We deeply appreciate Charleston Empowereds partnership and enjoyed creating a fun learning environment.

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A video recorded inside a Walton County school has gone viral and cost one staff member his job.

The video showed a Walnut Grove staff member writing the N-word on a board at the front of a classroom.

That should never be brought up in a classroom, like ever, Adrienna Wyatt told Channel 2s Audrey Washington on Tuesday.

In the video, the staff member initially wrote out the word with the final letter missing. Then, in the video, a student is heard shouting R before the staff member wrote out the full word.

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Some of the students could be heard laughing and cheering before the video abruptly ended.

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There was a lot of laughter in the video. Why do you think some of the kids thought it was funny? Washington asked.

Because they knew it was probably embarrassing because there were Black kids in the classroom, Wyatt answered.

Wyatt said the daughter of a family friend recorded the video last week. Both Wyatt and her mother re-posted the video.

At last check, the video has gotten more than 40,000 views.

People need to be held accountable for that and its not okay to make kids feel a certain type of way while theyre in your classroom, said Wyatt.

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In a statement, a spokesperson for the Walton County School District wrote,

Walton County School District is aware of the video that is circulating and we are investigating. The individual involved is no longer employed with the Walton County School District.

He probably got these students thinking to say it. Theyre probably saying it now, said parent Gary Brown.

People who shared the video with Washington told her the name of the staff member, but Channel 2 Action News has not been able to independently confirm that information.

Some parents in the area said they were both shocked and disappointed.

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A lot of people saying, Oh, it was a joke. You dont know what they were saying before. But what kind of joke inside of a classroom setting has to deal with those types of racial slurs? Wyatt asked.

Channel 2 Action News has not been able to confirm what led up to the word being written on the board.

There is no word on whether the students seen laughing and cheering the video will be disciplined.

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SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea's status as a nuclear weapons state can never be reversed, no matter how much the United States and its Asian allies demand it, state media reported on Wednesday, citing the powerful sister of its supreme leader.

The comments, which state news agency KCNA said were issued on Tuesday, were likely a response to a joint statement by the foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and the United States made on the sidelines of a NATO meeting last week.

The three foreign ministers reaffirmed the "commitment to the complete denuclearization" of North Korea, according to the joint statement.

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The position of the North's nuclear weapons state, together with its "substantial and very strong nuclear deterrent" is a result of outside hostile threat and "it does not change no matter how desperately anyone denies," said Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to KCNA.

"We don't care about anyone's denial and recognition and we never change our option," she said. "This is our steadfast choice that can never be reversed by any physical strength or sly artifice."

North Korea has pursued nuclear weapons despite sanctions by the U.N. Security Council over the years since it first conducted an underground nuclear detonation test in 2006.

Since then, it is believed to have developed an arsenal of nuclear weapons, although it has not conducted an atmospheric nuclear test.

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It has been a longstanding policy of Washington and its Asian allies to completely dismantle the North's nuclear programme, but analysts believe Pyongyang has gone beyond the point of agreeing to any deal to achieve that.

U.S. President Donald Trump has called the North a "nuclear power" and suggested he would again sit down with its leader Kim Jong Un, with whom he had unprecedented summit meetings during his first term trying to ease security tensions.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Chris Reese and Jamie Freed)
NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. (KCAU)  North Sioux City residents will vote on Tuesday to decide who will fill the communitys new commission form of government. Four commissioners and a mayor will be elected.

Before that, on Monday, the outgoing city council held its last meeting before the vote. City officials told KCAU 9 that more than 100 absentee ballots have already been mailed in. Absentee voting closed Monday afternoon. Because of the high numbers, three judges and three alternates have been assigned to handle vote tabulations.

Sioux City appoints interim city manager after Padmores retirement

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City officials said they are ready for the election, as theyve been waiting for the new council to come in.

Oh, you know, weve been in kind of a holding pattern for the last six weeks, kind of waiting for the new commission to take over, city administrator Jeff Dooley said. But weve been working behind the scenes getting stuff ready for them to review. Im hoping come April 22 when they come sit down, well be able to start tackling some business.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the North Sioux City Community Center. KCAU 9 will share Tuesdays results both on air and online as they come in.

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Northern Michigan University | Allison R. Donahue

The Montana Board of Regents announced Monday that Brock Tessman, former deputy commissioner in Montana and current president of Northern Michigan University, will serve as the next president of Montana State University in Bozeman.

Tessman has verbally accepted an offer and will take the reins on July 1, 2025, pending final negotiations and Board of Regents approval at its May meeting, according to a news release from the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.

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Clayton Christian, Commissioner of Higher Education and chairperson of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, said the committee saw intense interest in the position.

Im confident the process has yielded an outstanding, visionary leader in Dr. Tessman, Christian said in a statement. We believe Dr. Tessman is exceptionally well positioned to guide MSU to new heights.

Brock Tessman is named the next president of Montana State University in Bozeman and will take the reins in July 2025 following the retirement of President Waded Cruzado. (Provided by MSU)

MSU is the largest university in Montana, with enrollment that topped 17,000 in fall 2024, a record. It also saw a record $257 million in research expenditures in 2024.

Tessman, who visited the campus last month along with one other finalist, will serve as MSUs 13th president if confirmed.

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Hell lead the flagship in a time of significant challenge for higher education, with cultural pressure from the Trump administration. MSU faces its own difficulties, with previous opened investigations by the federal Office for Civil Rights for numerous discrimination allegations.

Details of the offer to Tessman were not immediately available Monday morning.

Current MSU President Waded Cruzado is a top paid public official in Montana, with an estimated $576,300 in salary and other compensation as of last August.

The search for a new president started in August 2024 when Cruzado announced her plans to retire after 15 years. A news release from the Commissioners Office said her administration has left an indelible mark on the university and the MSU community.

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However, Regent Dean Folkvord and member of the Search Advisory Committee said he knew the charge was not to replace Cruzado but to identify a successor who would lead with passion and dedication.

I think we succeeded, and I look forward to working with Dr. Tessman as he takes the reins, Folkvord said in a statement.

The news release said Tessmans accomplishments at Northern Michigan include steady enrollment growth at both undergraduate and graduate levels, record retention rates (78%), financial stability with top-tier bond ratings, unprecedented levels of private giving, and the completion of major capital projects.

Dr. Tessmans stewardship has fostered positive momentum across all aspects of university operations, the news release said.

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Tessman previously served as deputy commissioner for academic affairs in the Montana University System and dean of the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana. He earned his bachelors degree in international relations from Brown University and both his masters and doctoral degrees in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The news release said Tessman is known for his energy, dedication to students, strong communication skills, and ability to deliver results  qualities that make him uniquely suited to lead MSU into its next chapter.

Montana State University holds a special place in my heart given my previous work within the Montana University System, Tessman said in a statement. I am honored by this opportunity to serve as MSUs next president and look forward to building on its incredible legacy.

Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com.
DENVER (KDVR)  A new Northglenn ordinance going into effect in 2025 will limit the number of household pets residents can own. If the guidelines are not followed, the excess pets may be removed from the home.

Starting Aug. 1, 2025, those living in Northglenn will be limited to a maximum of four household pets, which are defined as dogs and cats. Under the new ordinance, CB-2026, each residential dwelling unit within Northglenn will be limited to:

A maximum of four dogs

A maximum of four cats

A combination of cats and dogs totaling no more than four

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According to the ordinance, this does not apply to cats or dogs under six months old from the same litter of a female cat or dog kept in the same house.

This change comes after the city council passed the ordinance after extensive research and discussion with the community.

How many dogs can you have in Denver?

According to the city on its website, the ordinance was introduced after concerns were raised by residents about excessive noise and waste due to the high number of pets in some city neighborhoods.

Pets bring joy and companionship to our lives, but they also come with responsibilities. By establishing reasonable pet limits, we aim to ensure that everyone living in Northglenn, both pet owners and non-pet owners, can enjoy their homes and neighborhoods. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding as we implement this new ordinance, said the city of Northglenn.

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The city of Northglenn said it was the only municipality in Adams County without pet limit regulations.

What spurred the change to Northglenn ordinances?

The chief of police told council members and the mayor in a memo that at the Nov. 13, 2023, city council meeting, a resident expressed concern about not having regulations on the number of pets allowed per residence.

The resident stated her neighbor has seven or eight dogs and the noise and waste from the dogs impact her ability to use her backyard, the chief wrote. The resident requested the City regulate the number of pets a resident can have.

The police department researched how surrounding cities regulate pet limits, and found that many cities in Adams County and the Denver metro area have ordinances limiting the number of pets at residential properties.

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On Oct. 14, 2024, city council held a study session to review the issue. Afterward, the council directed staff to draft an ordinance that aligns with neighboring jurisdictions.

Gustavo Diaz is a Northglenn resident with a dog. He called the new ordinance pretty restrictive.

I dont really approve of it, but, I think anyone should have any amount of pets in their house, that they like, Diaz told FOX31s Greg Nieto. It can present an issue, but it should also be more on the owner, itself, than it is on the animal.

What happens to households that have over 4 pets?

Those who already have over four pets will not be forced to remove their animals as long as they follow certain deadlines.

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We understand that many of our residents have strong bonds with their pets, and we want to ensure a compassionate transition, said the city on its website.

Residents who currently own more than four pets will be eligible for what the city is calling a previously owned pet exception. Those who disclose their animals to the city by Aug. 1 will be allowed to keep them.

To qualify for the exception, residents are required to submit a form that lists each pets name, age, sex, breed and the date acquired.

Denver named one of the most dog-obsessed cities in America

How will enforcement work?

The city of Northglenn said enforcement wont begin until Aug. 1.

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Our goal is to work with residents to ensure compliance through education and outreach before any enforcement action is taken, said the city.

Those who do not disclose their previously owned pets by the deadline could face enforcement action, including a potential court order for pet removal.

More information on the ordinance can be found on the citys website.

FOX31s Heather Willard contributed to this report.

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MADRID, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish government on Tuesday passed a range of measures aimed at mitigating the effects of the 20 percent tariff imposed on goods produced in the European Union (EU) by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Commercial Reply and Relaunch Plan was approved in Tuesday's weekly meeting of the Spanish cabinet, after being announced by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on April 3.

Speaking at a press conference after the cabinet meeting, government spokesperson Pilar Alegria described the Plan as a shield and a "step forward in protecting businesses and workers."

The Plan includes measures to favor investment, liquidity and exports of products from Spanish companies, along with guarantees to help access finance and an extension of the moratorium on debts generated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spain's Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo explained at Tuesday's press conference that although "we are in an initial moment of elevated uncertainty," around 80 percent of the products Spain exports to the United States will be affected by the new tariffs.

"It is too early to try and estimate the effects as there are many unknowns (...) We are going to have to follow events on an almost daily basis and adapt our response," said the minister, adding that around 500 companies would need direct help.

When Sanchez announced the measures on Friday, he described them as "an immediate safety net" and a strategy to protect sectors that could see exports to the United States affected by the tariffs.

"They will concentrate on reorienting our productive capacity and relaunch our economy in the new global context," Sanchez noted, who on Tuesday is embarking on a visit to Vietnam and China.

Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday, imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" on all imports, with higher rates for certain trading partners, including a 20-percent tariff on imports from the EU. 
By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told lawmakers on Tuesday that not all of the agency's proposed multimillion-dollar fees for Chinese-built ships to dock at U.S. ports will be implemented, and they may not be cumulative.

Greer told a Senate Finance Committee hearing that the proposals were made to address a lack of shipbuilding in the United States.

He said the port fees were "proposed actions or series of potential revenue" that could be used to incentivize shipbuilding in the United States following a USTR probe into China's growing dominance on the seas.

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"They're not all going to be implemented. They're not all going to be stacked," Greer said.

Scores of shipping stakeholders submitted public comments on the plan. Greer said he personally met with a number of them.

USTR is studying that feedback, along with testimony at public hearings in late March, very carefully, he said.

The agency wants to "make sure that we have the right amount of time, the right incentives, to bring shipbuilding here without impacting our economy," said Greer, who did not provide additional details on the proposed remedies.

Implementation of the USTR port fee plan could come as late as November as a result of the feedback, three sources tracking the issue, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.

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U.S. steelmakers and the industry's unions have praised the proposal, but were outnumbered by opponents.

During the hearings, farmers, energy producers, chemical and construction companies, and domestic vessel operators testified the plan would saddle them with costs that could put them out of business.

At the same time, domestic port operators warned the fees could spark supply chain chaos reminiscent of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maritime experts and attorneys said the language in the USTR proposal published in February is vague.

Among other things, they said the fees - which apply to China-based operators, fleets with ships built in China and operators with prospective orders for China-made vessels - could be cumulative and in some cases could reach $3.5 million per port call.

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Greer's statements were in response to Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voiced concern that the fees could affect commodity shipments in and out of Louisiana and the Mississippi River system.

In particular, Cassidy said he was told that if a South Korean firm had just five China-built vessels in its fleet of 50, all 50 ships would be subject to the fee.

(Reporting by David Lawder, additional reporting and writing by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Mark Porter, Joe Bavier and Nia Williams)
Two Venezuelan migrants in New York who say they were wrongly identified as members of the gang Tren de Aragua and now fear imminent removal from the U.S. sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, arguing the way the president is using the Alien Enemies Act to deport them is unlawful on its face.

The lawsuit is brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Aid Society on behalf of two Venezuelan migrants from New York. (The ACLU wants to make the lawsuit a class action but will need the judges approval first.)

One of the plaintiffs, identified only as J.G.O, said he was arrested by ICE officers at his home in Orange County, New York, in January. The ACLU alleges he was sent to multiple immigration detention facilities: first in New York, then Pennsylvania and then in Texas. Then, they say, he was sent back to New York before he was put on a plane to be deported.

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He was taken off that plane just after Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasbergs issued an order that temporarily halted the removal of migrants under the Alien Enemies Act while litigation played out in Washington, D.C.

But the Supreme Court lifted Boasbergs order on Monday, with the justices allowing the deportations under the wartime act to continue. But, as the ACLU noted Tuesday, the high court also ruled that the migrants are entitled to challenge their detention within a reasonable amount of time.

J.G.O., who fled Venezuela in 2022 after protesting the Maduro regime, has a hearing May 2 where he is expected to present evidence that he is not a member of Tren de Aragua. Without immediate action by the court in New York halting the removal, the ACLU says that hearing may never come.

The Alien Enemies Act can only be invoked during wartime, during an invasion or due to predatory incursion by a foreign government. The Trump administration has labeled Tren de Aragua an invading force, and argues its use of the 18th century law to remove people it deems members of the gang is simply part of its broader effort to secure U.S. borders.

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But Trump is ignoring how the law treats alien enemies, more broadly speaking, the ACLU claims.

For example, U.S. code addressing process for alien enemies only permits their removal when the alleged alien enemy has actively refused or neglected to depart the U.S. Other existing laws state that the government must give so-called alien enemies time to settle their affairs  and volunteer to depart. At minimum, they must be given a hearing.

The Immigration and Nationality Act sets out the sole mechanism to remove noncitizens, and the way Trump is using the Alien Enemies Act creates an alternative removal mechanism outside of the immigration laws set by Congress, the lawsuit states.

Trumps application of the Alien Enemies Act is also illegal because it does not provide adequate safeguards to ensure that those detained for deportation wont be returned to a country where they will likely face persecution. The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 bars the U.S. government from sending noncitizens back to countries where they would likely be tortured, according to the ACLU.

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The Fifth Amendment states that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, and by denying the Venezuelan migrants meaningful procedural protections to challenge their removal, [Trumps Alien Enemies Act] proclamation violates due process.

In addition to declaring Trumps proclamation unlawful, the ACLU wants the court in New York to grant a temporary restraining order that would prevent any further removal proceedings.

The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever, Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot, and Defense Minister Theo Francken, arrived in Kyiv on April 8, meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The delegation also visited Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv which became a symbol of Russian war crimes after mass graves were uncovered in April 2022 following its liberation by Ukrainian troops.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has documented over 1,400 civilian killings in the Bucha District, including 637 in Bucha itself. Among the victims were 37 children. Many were executed, their bodies left on the streets or buried in mass graves.

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Prevot said on his social media that their visit is "more than a symbolic gesture."

"Today, we honor the victims. We stand with the survivors. And we reaffirm this: Belgium stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. Justice must prevail. And we will not look away," Prevot said in a post on social media.

The Kremlin has long-used Bucha in state propaganda, denying the extensively documented crimes committed by Russian forces.

Ukraine marked the third anniversary of the Bucha tragedy on March 31, with European parliamentary leaders visiting the suburb.

Today, together with the Prime Minister of Belgium, @Bart_DeWever, we commemorated our defendersthe warriors thanks to whom Ukraine is alive, free, and continues to fight.



We remember the feat of every man and woman who defended Ukraine at the cost of their own lives. Eternal pic.twitter.com/oTSUZRnZLt  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) April 8, 2025

"The brutality of March 2022 is not hearsay," Prevot said. "It is fact. Documented by satellite images, forensic experts, survivors testimonies, and the tireless work of the UN, ICC, and NGOs.

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"And yet, Russia still tries to deny it, spinning lies, peddling disinformation, calling Bucha a hoax. But no lie can erase the truth written in blood," he added.

"Bucha is not an isolated case. From Mariupol to Izium, from Kramatorsk to Kherson, the pattern is the same: terror, torture, mass killings. These are not tragic mistakes of war. They are war crimes. Systematic. Calculated. Deliberate."

Read also: Trump not happy with Russian bombing of Ukraine, says he doesnt know whats happening there

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Ezekiel Kelley, the man accused of going on a shooting rampage across Memphis in 2022, is charged with terrorism, the first person in the state to be prosecuted on that charge, his attorneys say.

Kelley also faces two dozen felony charges including three charges of first-degree murder.

In court Tuesday, the now 22-year-old stood before a judge, but his attorneys are saying they are not ready to face a jury because of the sheer magnitude of this case. However, the prosecution says they are certainly ready to proceed.

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What we know about Ezekiel Kelly, suspect in Memphis mass shooting

This case is not a normal case. Its a case that involves seven crime scenes, three homicides. It involves approximately 80 witnesses on behalf of the government, said Michael Scholl, Kellys defense attorney.

But the state tells the judge, they are equipped for whats next while laying out the dozens of those who could be called to the stand when the trial finally gets underway.

 See more breaking news, local news and weather from WREG.com for Memphis and the Mid-South.

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The state of Tennessee has disclosed 76 witnesses to the defense counsel that we expect to testify. We continue to work towards being ready for a July trial date, said Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Chris Lareau.

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While things are continuing to take shape, Ezekiel Kelly is headed back to lockup.

The judge told both the defense and the prosecution to return to court on May 23. We will be there as well to keep you updated.

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT)  A library holds hundreds of stories on its bookshelves waiting to be told. Similarly, so do the four walls enclosing the Floyd E. Tut Fann State Veterans Home.

I had an extra duty of notifying parents or loved ones that their son or their daughter had died, David Thomas, a veteran and resident of the home, said. The father came out down the hallway holding a shotgun, said, Dont, dont tell me that. Dont tell me that. I got chills in my spine.

Alabama taxpayers have until May 1 to file federal taxes, 6 other states named in postponed IRS tax deadline

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The skilled nursing facility serves veterans exclusively, with resources from physical therapy to an in-house pharmacy. It is only one of five veterans-only nursing homes in the entire state.

These veterans gave to us at some point in their lives, and this is just an opportunity for us to give back to them, Director of Floyd E. Tut Fann State Veterans Home Charlotte Robinson said.

After two years, I said, you know, I like this, Chester Warlick, a veteran and resident of the home said. This is what Im supposed to be doing. So I told him and he said, well, stay a little while longer and, 24 years and months, I finally come out.

The benefits of the home go far beyond the care.

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Veterans staying in the home only pay $11.64 a day. According to reporting from Genworth Financial, Alabama nursing home residents paid a median price of $270 daily in 2023 in comparison. The cost of Tut Fann being significantly less takes a huge burden off of veterans and their families.

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Even some veterans that are 70% service connected or above, they dont pay anything out of pocket, Robinson said. The federal VA covers their cost here for their room and board.

There are some requirements to becoming a resident at the Floyd E. Tut Fann State Veterans Home. Residents must have been honorably discharged, must be a resident of Alabama during the last 12 months and meet qualifications from the federal VA for skilled nursing/assisted living, among others.

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Even though the facility has 150 beds, there is always a waiting list. The veterans attribute that to the nature of the staff.

This is your home, Warlick said. Youre not a patient, youre a resident. Makes a difference. Makes a big difference.

The people here, the CNAs, nurses, they just make it all good, Thomas said.

The word of those impacts spread quickly. The ADVA is now considering building a sixth veterans home in the state to open up spots for vets stuck on a waitlist. The department said the new facility would most likely go in West Alabama.

The Floyd E. Tut Fann State Veterans Home loves volunteers and visitors, as do the residents. Reach out to Director Charlotte Robinson to learn more about writing your name into the facilitys story at Charlotte.Robinson@va.alabama.gov.

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Nothing is more sensitive in Iran than the prospect of direct negotiations with the United States, particularly when the president in question is called Donald Trump.

This is the same Donald Trump who, in 2018, wrecked the first nuclear deal by imposing maximum pressure on Iran even though the regime had, contrary to habit, been keeping the agreement. Then Mr Trump authorised the killing of Qassem Soleimani, a brutal Iranian general who the Ayatollahs were busily promoting as a national hero.

So you can be sure that Irans leaders did not want Mr Trump to tell the world that direct talks will begin on Saturday, let alone to make that revelation alongside their arch enemy, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

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Thanks to Mr Trumps customary contempt for discretion, Americas new effort to settle the confrontation over Irans nuclear ambitions has got off to the worst possible start.

In any case, the chances of success are low. Today, Iran would need only weeks to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for one nuclear bomb. Turning this into a warhead for delivery on a missile would take another year or so, but Iran is already a threshold nuclear state.

So Americas objective in the negotiations will not be to limit Irans nuclear programme; instead, the US will seek the swift and verifiable rollback of Irans progress. If that proves impossible, then Mr Netanyahu says that Israel will destroy Irans nuclear facilities with precision strikes, made all the more devastating if America were to join in.

Hence, the clock is ticking: Mr Trump has set a deadline of just two months to resolve the issue. Securing the first nuclear agreement in 2015, by contrast, required 12 years of negotiation. Now America has embarked on the diplomatic version of a sprint to achieve a tougher version of the same deal that Mr Trump casually sabotaged in his first term.

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The one glimmer of hope is that Irans regime is weaker today than at any time since the end of its ruinous war with Saddam Husseins Iraq in 1988. Israel has eviscerated Irans client militias across the Middle East, pulverising first Hamas in Gaza and then Hezbollah in Lebanon, while also triggering the downfall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, previously Tehrans only Arab ally.

Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of Iran, looks on as a Qassim Soleimani missile is displayed during the annual military parade marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq - ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Suddenly, Iran is isolated and intensely vulnerable. Last October, Israel retaliated for an Iranian missile attack by dispatching over 100 jet fighters to strike targets across Iran, destroying air defences and one nuclear installation, known as Parchin, where the regime had been suspected of testing triggers for warheads.

Iran never hit back for that raid. Alone, embargoed and seemingly helpless in the face of Israeli assault, Iran badly needs an agreement that would see American sanctions lifted in return for rolling back its nuclear programme.

But is the regime capable of taking the momentous decision to settle its confrontation with America? Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, will turn 86 on 19 April. A hidden struggle for the succession is underway, with his son, Mojtaba, believed to be a contender.

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Amid this uncertainty, would the weak and ineffectual president, Masoud Pezeshkian, risk proposing another nuclear agreement with the Great Satan?

Mr Netanyahu will doubtless insist that America sets the toughest terms for any deal, while threatening military strikes if he finds the outcome unacceptable.

Perhaps Ayatollah Khamenei, at his moment of maximum weakness, will give way and allow an agreement that both America and Israel could live with. Barring that unlikely outcome, this could be the worlds next great crisis.

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Maj. Oleh Shyriaiev's first experience of North Koreans came at the contact line near Kruglenkoe -- a village around 8 miles from the Ukrainian border in Kursk, the western Russian region that has become a focal point of the war and an example of both Ukraine's determination and the brutal war of attrition the two sides are locked in.

Ukraine launched a counteroffensive into the border region in August. Since then, both sides have claimed to have inflicted significant losses on the other. Russia began sending North Korean troops to the region to help fight back against Kyiv's forces in late 2024, according to Ukrainian, South Korean and Western officials.

"They tried to do an assault with a company group," Shyriaiev -- the commander of the 225th Separate Assault Regiment -- told ABC News, speaking by video call from his unit's operations room close to the front. "We were prepared."

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"We withdrew a bit and we created a minefield," he recalled. "And after the North Koreans hit those mines, my guys just finished them off with guns."

PHOTO: This undated photo shows members of Ukraine's 225th Separate Assault Regiment posing with Commander-in-Chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi at an undisclosed frontline location. (225th Separate Assault Regiment Press Office)

The subsequent months saw Pyongyang's units become the "elite" assault force within Russia's effort to dislodge Ukrainian troops in Kursk, Shyriaiev said -- fighters committed to a mission far from home in horrific battlefield conditions.

Ousting Ukraine's forces from Kursk became a priority for the Kremlin. But for nearly 8 months, Russian troops struggled, suffering heavy losses for little ground. To drive the Ukrainians out, Russia turned to North Korea for help.

"They do not surrender," Shyriaiev said of Pyongyang's troops. "I don't remember any cases where we have been able to take them captive. We have taken some who were already wounded, but I think they died from their wounds."

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Now, with Ukraine holding onto a sliver of land in Kursk and peace efforts grinding along, Shyriaiev echoed Kyiv's assertion that the operation was a success, though it ended in Ukrainian retreat.

MORE: Families of North Korean troops captured in Russia 'will be executed,' former Pyongyang soldier tells ABC News

"They have lost a lot of personnel, both recoverable and irrecoverable losses," he said of Russian and North Korean forces. "They have lost a lot of equipment, a lot of their infrastructure has been damaged, which means that they would need to rebuild it. This also comes at a cost. And this also weakens Russia."

For Moscow, the eventual ejection of Ukrainian forces from almost all of Kursk was a signal of Russian resolve. President Vladimir Putin's visit to the Kursk front in March visibly tied him to the operation. "Your task is to completely destroy the enemy," Putin said, while clad in military fatigues. "The previous status along the borderline must be restored."

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North Korea's assistance came at a sensitive moment. President Joe Biden was soon to leave the White House, with his successor President Donald Trump returning to the Oval Office promising to quickly end Russia's war. Trump had repeatedly hinted that a future peace deal would include Ukrainian territorial and political concessions and be twinned with the curtailment of U.S. aid to Kyiv.

Trump has been broadly critical of Ukraine's conduct since returning to office, repeatedly framing Kyiv as the main impediment to a peace deal. In March, Trump claimed that "thousands of Ukrainian troops" were "completely surrounded" in Kursk, describing their position as "very bad and vulnerable." Ukrainian leaders rejected the characterization as false.

First contact

Shyriaiev was already a decorated veteran of Ukraine's fiercest recent battles when his unit crossed into Russia in the vanguard of the surprise Ukrainian August 2024 offensive into Kursk. One month later, he would be recognized as a "Hero of Ukraine" by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"At the very beginning, I had a skeptical view of this," Shyriaiev said of the daring Kursk operation, which saw Kyiv's forces seize nearly 500 square miles of Russian territory, initially stunning Russia's military and embarrassing Putin.

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"I am proud that we were the first to actually bring the fight to Russian soil," Shyriaiev said of his regiment, which is made up of five battalions with a total strength of some 5,500 soldiers.

The theater became the first to which North Korean troops were deployed -- a force of some 10,000 soldiers, according to the U.S. -- dispatched by Pyongyang to aid Moscow's embattled soldiers, marking a new level of North Korean involvement in the Kremlin's 3-year-old war on its neighbor which began with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

As one of the first Ukrainian units to push into Kursk, the 225th was also among the first to come up against North Korean soldiers. The experience gave Shyriaiev and his troops a rare level of insight into Pyongyang's forces, he said.

PHOTO: This undated photo shows Capt. Oleh Shyriaiev, the commander of the Ukraines 225th Separate Assault Regiment, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at an undisclosed location. (225th Separate Assault Regiment Press Office)

Initially, North Korean soldiers were thrown into so-called "meat assaults," Shyriaiev said, a term Ukrainian troops use to describe the poorly-supported and costly infantry wave attacks employed by Russian commanders throughout the war.

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The North Koreans were guided only by limited training inside Russia and their nation's experience of World War II- and Korean War-era combat. "This experience didn't include the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, it didn't include any kinds of modern tactics," he said.

That lack of experience was reflected in heavy casualties, though exact estimates vary. British intelligence assessed that by March roughly 5,000 of the 11,000 North Korean troops deployed to fight Ukraine had been killed or wounded, with a third likely killed.

Zelenskyy and Kyrylo Budanov -- the head of Ukraine's military intelligence -- both said in February that North Korean troops had suffered about 4,000 casualties.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service said in March that North Korean forces had suffered around 5,000 casualties, according to the Yonhap news agency, South Korea's state media.

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MORE: North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia

Shyriaiev's 225th Regiment soon noticed that the North Koreans had adapted. "They were moving forward not as a company, but in small groups" using reconnaissance, grenade-dropping and first-person view attack drones, Shyriaiev said, recalling later battles to the south of the town of Sudzha.

"They were doing these assaults in small groups so that they would not suffer such large losses at once."

The 225th's experience is representative of the broader trajectory of North Korean combat performance in Kursk, Shyriaiev said, with North Koreans quickly becoming the leading element of Russia's attacks.

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"They were always used in assault, and the Russians are then used to secure the ground that the Koreans have taken," he said.

"They are the best prepared in terms of their physical preparation," Shyriaiev continued. "They are good marksmen. They are not afraid to engage drones -- they are shooting down drones with guns. They do not leave their wounded behind. They always try to evacuate them."

Where Russian forces are "being sent into battle under duress -- as with a horsewhip," Shyriaiev said, "Koreans are more devoted, and to die heroically on the field of battle is something that Korean soldiers are proud of."

'I do not feel pity'

Russia eventually succeeded in largely driving the Ukrainians out of Kursk last month.

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Ukrainian troops were forced to hurriedly retreat from Sudzha after Russian and North Korean forces succeeded in breaking through Ukrainian lines, following weeks of increasingly strangling Ukraine's supply route into the area. Ukraine now still holds a tiny sliver of Kursk, trying to prevent Russia from advancing into the Sumy region.

Ukrainian troops had to adapt to their new North Korean enemies, Shyriaiev said. "It is perfectly possible to fight them if you are prepared," he said.

"You need to create obstacles for them. You need to create a minefield, and our guys need to be confident enough to go in and finish them after they have stepped on mines or have been hit by any type of artillery rounds which are supplied to us by our American partners."

PHOTO: This undated photo shows members of Ukraine's 225th Separate Assault Regiment at an undisclosed frontline location. (225th Separate Assault Regiment Press Office)

South Korean intelligence suggested last year that the families of troops dispatched to Russia had been put in isolation. A former North Korean soldier told ABC News he believes that few of Pyongyang's forces had been captured while fighting against Ukraine because they are told their families will be executed if they are caught alive.

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"If the soldiers are captured and tell information to the enemy, their families will be punished, go to a political prison camp, or worse, they will be executed in front of the people," said another North Korean defector, Pak Yusung.

Shyriaiev said he was unmoved by any suggestion that the North Korean soldiers sent to Kursk were misled or coerced.

"I do not feel pity towards anyone who is waging war against my country," he said. "North Koreans are enemies for me and they are the enemies of my country."

"Also, I do not think that they don't understand where they have found themselves," Shyriaiev continued. "It's impossible that they just don't know, or are clueless about where they ended up."

"I do not respect this adversary," Shyriaiev said. "This is not some kind of a tournament or ceremonial fight between knights. This is a war, a war which is a painful burden for our land, for our families."

MORE: North Korean killed in Russia wrote of 'sacred duty' to fight for Kim Jong Un

'Yearning for peace'

Whether waged by Russians or North Koreans, Shyriaiev said he believes the war will drag on despite U.S.-led peace efforts.

"All of us are, of course, yearning for peace," he said. "But when people begin to talk about loss of territories, this is a very painful, very sensitive issue."

Ukrainians should consider a ceasefire an opportunity to "prepare for the continuation of a fight, because with this kind of a neighbor, we need to constantly be on guard," Shyriaiev continued. "We know that Russia is a country that never, never keeps its promises. It is a neighbor that is always a threat that has always aimed to suppress us and to conquer us."

PHOTO: This undated photo shows Capt. Oleh Shyriaiev, the commander of the Ukraines 225th Separate Assault Regiment, during an interview at an undisclosed location. (225th Separate Assault Regiment Press Office)

Moscow has framed its ongoing invasion -- plus decades of influence operations and, since 2014, cross-border military action -- as a pre-emptive measure to forestall combined Ukrainian-NATO aggression against Russia. The "special military operation," as the Kremlin termed the invasion, was launched "to defend ourselves from the threats created for us," Putin said as the attack began.

While Trump's administration pushes Ukraine to cede land, Shyriaiev suggested that the existential threat posed by Moscow necessitates the recovery of all land within Ukraine's 1991 internationally-recognized borders -- including Crimea and the eastern Donbas region.

"We need to never forget this experience," he said. "We need to know that at any moment, Russia can attack again. And we need to be prepared."

MORE: North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk adapting after 'serious losses,' Ukraine says

'They do not surrender': Ukraine commander details fight with North Koreans in Russia originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The single most repeated question Ive been asked of late as a cultural historian has easily been: Have you ever been as worried about the future of the United States? And yes, our present situation certainly calls to mind another grim moment in our countrys recent history.

As Watergate began unfolding after Nixon was reelected to a second term as President, each day brought yet another revelation. Deep Throat kept unveiling secret after secret about the levels of fear and corruption undergirding every move made by Nixon and his infamous cronies. Senators Irwin and Baker led a bipartisan committee whose meetings were anxiously watched by millions of Americans. Millions more listened on the radio, glued to new revelations provided to the American citizens seemingly every minute or so. The torrent from our national news sources continued at a stupefying pace. As a young doctoral student at Columbia, I could not remember the horrors of the McCarthy era, but I can still recall my grandparents listening every night to Walter Cronkites evening news broadcast, waiting for President Eisenhower to counter McCarthys heinous claims that the noble General George Marshall was a Communist. My grandfather would shake his head and say, The thought of that fine general listening to the radio from his farm in Gettysburg, to hear his old friend Ike repudiate what the insane McCarthy is claiming is enough to make any American cry for shame.

Back to Nixons inglorious exit from the White House. The Episcopal bishop of New York, the six-foot-eight Paul Moore, and Canon Edward Nason West  sub-dean of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and one of the worlds greatest liturgical authorities  planned a service for the state of the nation four days before Nixon resigned. The service was of historic execution. At dusk on the Sunday before Nixon left office in shame, Canon West had a major Jewish rabbi and a Muslim imam participate. The clergy all wore black cassocks, as did the crucifers, torch bearers, and vergers. The processional crosses were draped in black, as they are on Good Friday. The lights in the vast cathedral were dimmed. The readings were all from scriptures focused on the abuses of power by those leaders who had lost their way, as their consciences failed to act with honor. The unforgettable Telford Taylor, chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials and McCarthys most articulate critic, was the featured speaker. The cathedral was packed, as if the sainted sanctuary were a haven for our fears about the future of our democracy with Nixon in the White House. Toward the end of the unbelievable service  marking our countrys most serious threat since the Depression, if not since the Civil War  Bishop Moore read the prayer for our nation from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the rabbi read a prayer for the President of the United States, and the imam read a prayer for the future of freedom in the United States.

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I tear up every time I think of what then transpired in the Cathedral on that occasion. The lights were dimmed even more; one blazing spotlight shone upon a huge American flag draped from the ceiling of one of the columns, and my friend Alec Wyton, the beloved organist and Master of Choristers at Saint John the Divine, played The Star-Spangled Banner largo, as if a funeral dirge. Then he very slowly tolled the huge bourdon bell as the retiring procession made its way down the central aisle into the cathedral darkness at a snails pace.

My young wife and I left the cathedral in silence, along with the thousands of people gathered nationwide that night as the country was engulfed in scandal.

We were not surprised after the services weight sank in when, three days later, Senators Goldwater and Scott and Representative Rhodes went to the White House to tell Nixon that if he did not resign immediately, he would be roundly impeached.

As I wrote for this site last year, Trump makes the heinous Nixon look like Mother Theresa. And what is truly terrifying at this fragile moment for our cherished democracy is the utter cowardice of those Republicans now sitting in the congressional chairs once occupied by the likes of Goldwater, Scott, and Rhodes. And as if that statement were not enough to make us tremble for our children and grandchildren, instead of Gerald Ford, should Trump be man enough to resign, we have JD Vance.

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We need a second service for the state of the nation at every church, temple, and mosque all over the country. We all need to pray for the future of the United States and then act accordingly. The demonstrations all over the country on Saturday April 5th should give us some glimmer that our present nightmare, to borrow from Gerald Fords public announcement all those years ago, might start at long last to be confronted.

Theres an urgent need for a service for the state of the nation  redux.

James F. Jones, Jr. is the President Emeritus at Trinity College and Kalamazoo College, the former president of Sweet Briar College, and the Canon Precentor Emeritus, Church of Saint Michael and Saint George.

The post If Youre Not Worried About the Future of the U.S., Youre Not Paying Attention appeared first on Katie Couric Media.
Men deported by the United States to El Salvadors notorious Cecot prison are living in the same conditions as convicted gangsters, prison director Belarmino Garcia said on Tuesday, during an exclusive tour for CNN, the first US news organization to visit the facility since the latest deportation flight.

Garcia would not discuss any specifics around the deportees beyond confirming they are in his facility. But when pressed, he said there are no privileges.

That would mean the deportees heads have been shaved and they are kept in communal cells holding up to 100 men each for 23 hours a day. Two sources told CNN the situation is less regimented for the deportees, but the facilities are the same. The cells have no privacy, and no furniture beyond rows of stacked metal bunks with no mattresses or pillows.

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Some 278 men have been deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador, accused of being members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang or Salvadorans who are said to be part of MS-13.

But they also include Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a sheet metal worker and father-of-three from Maryland, who was mistakenly removed from the US through an administrative error.

His case is now with the US Supreme Court, which extended the deadline of a lower court judge requiring the administration to get him back by midnight on Monday.

CNN was not permitted inside Sector 8 of Cecot, officially known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, where the deportees are being held.

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Garcia said he was not familiar with the specifics of any individual deportee and could not comment further.`

An officer cuffs an inmate's hands before he is ordered out of a communal cell. - Evelio Contreras/CNN

But when CNN asked, he was happy to show how Salvadoran inmates were able to participate should they have their own court hearings.

They are removed from their communal cell by armed personnel and taken to a room with video conference facilities. Monitors showed court proceedings in progress, apparently with lawyers and judges present.

Cecot houses both convicted criminals and those still going through El Salvadors court system. With many constitutional rights suspended under El Salvadors years-long state of emergency, some people have been detained by mistake, President Nayib Bukele has admitted; several thousand of them have already been released.

Where the lights are always on

Each of the eight sectors is fully self-contained with these conference rooms as well as a medical clinic, with the intention that inmates never step outside their warehouse-like building.

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They are watched through the bars constantly and the lights are always on, Garcia said. There are even guards on catwalks above the cells.

Looking down through the metal-grille ceiling into a cell, the deliberate harshness of the life for the Salvadoran inmates  whether convicted or awaiting trial  is clear. They are allowed no personal possessions; they must use an open toilet and theres a cement basin for washing and large jug for drinking water.

Still, there are checks for contraband when the inmates are extricated from the cells. The men have their hands cuffed behind them and then run to sit in a designated spot, stretching their legs around those of the man in front in what becomes a human herringbone pattern.

When Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem visited Cecot last month, she recorded a video message to say to undocumented immigrants in the US: This is one of the consequences you could face.

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First of all, do not come to our country illegally. You will be removed, and you will be prosecuted, she said. But know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.

Armed guards watch the prisoners constantly, from inside and outside the cell blocks and even from above. - Evelio Contreras/CNN

CNN visited Cecot late last year, the first major US news organization to be allowed inside the isolated facility that was built away from any town.

It is busier inside now, with more men in each cell.

Last year, Garcia would say only between 10,000 and 20,000 inmates were being held. Now he says its getting closer to its 40,000 maximum population, but once again declined to give a specific number, citing security precautions. The growth would include the deportees from the US, but be mostly Salvadorans rounded up under the emergency situation introduced by Bukele.

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A thousand or more armed guards rotate duties at the prison, built in just seven months and opened in January 2023. The prison is also ringed by multiple electric fences and 19 watchtowers.

For critics, Cecot is a sign of how quickly rights can disappear. But for many in El Salvador it is proof of effective control and a return to security in what was once the murder capital of the world.

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In what she dubs the "dumbest trade war in American history," Senator Warren discusses the impacts of Trump's tariffs on the U.S. economy and Republicans breaking with Trump over tariff policy.
By Akbar Novruz



The Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Israel, Jeyhun Bayramov and Gideon Saar, held a meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, to discuss the expansion of bilateral ties across multiple sectors, Azernews reports, citing a post by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on the "X" social network.

The ministers reviewed prospects for cooperation in the political, economic, trade, investment, and humanitarian spheres, underlining the role of the Joint Commission between the two governments in advancing this agenda. Particular emphasis was placed on strengthening collaboration in high technologies, healthcare, and education through enhanced exchange of expertise.

Bayramov reaffirmed Azerbaijans support for peace and stability in the Middle East, including a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in accordance with international law.

The Israeli side was also briefed on the current post-conflict realities in the South Caucasus region, including large-scale reconstruction efforts in Azerbaijans liberated territories, ongoing demining operations, and the status of the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process.

The two ministers also exchanged views on a range of other regional and international issues of mutual interest.
ZAGREB, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Adriatic Sea Defense and Aerospace (ASDA) exhibition, an international exhibition of weaponry and military equipment hosted by the Croatian Ministry of Defense, opened here on Tuesday.

A total of 235 companies from 27 countries present their weapons, equipment and technologies at the exhibition, which will last until Thursday, according to organizers.

At the opening ceremony, Croatian Minister of Defense Ivan Anusic announced that Croatia plans to increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of its GDP by 2027, and to 3 percent by 2030, as part of a broader strategy to strengthen national security and promote self-sufficiency.

Croatia is working intensively on developing its own defense industry, and is cooperating intensively with its allies. The military exhibition is an opportunity for bilateral talks and the realization of cooperation, Anusic noted.

"Our strategy is to support our companies that develop new technologies and new knowledge. We also want to become self-sustainable in some or most of the equipment and weapons that our army will use," he said.

This was the eighth time that the ASDA exhibition was held in Croatia but the first time in Zagreb, as it has become one of the most important defense, aerospace and security exhibitions in Europe. 
NEW YORK  In January, Harlem Councilman Yusef Salaam became the first New York politician to receive a campaign contribution from Mayor Eric Adams, filings show.

But weeks later, Salaam, a member of the Exonerated 5, threw his political weight behind Council Speaker Adrienne Adams bid to become the citys next mayor.

That came after Salaams reelection campaign accepted $100 in cash from Eric Adams on Jan. 3  the first political contribution the mayor has made since his Jan. 1, 2022 inauguration, previously unreported records show. Its unclear if Adams made the contribution as part of any fundraiser, but $100 is the legal max a person can give a local political candidate in cash.

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Salaam, whos being challenged in Junes primary from educator Elizabeth Sanchez, didnt return a request for comment Monday, and neither did a spokesman for the mayor. Speaker Adams campaign declined comment.

_____
Susan Zhuang, the New York City Councilmember arrested for biting a cop at an anti-homeless shelter protest, had her charges dropped Tuesday after she went through a restorative justice program.

Zhuang, a first-term conservative Democrat, was charged with biting NYPD Deputy Chief Frank DiGiacomo in the arm, drawing blood, during a July 2024 protest against a planned homeless shelter in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

The program, run through Brooklyn Justice Initiatives and the Brooklyn DAs office, brought Zhuang and DiGiacomo together to have a constructive conversation about the incident, in addition to sessions before and after.

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This case was resolved through a restorative justice process that created space for dialogue, accountability, and healing, a spokesperson for the Brooklyn District Attorneys office said in a statement. It was based on the wishes of the victim and the defendants willingness to make amends. This is exactly what restorative is meant to do  address harm, foster understanding, and support a path forward.

Zhuang, a member of the Republican-majority Common Sense Caucus, has aligned herself with the NYPD and was endorsed by the Police Benevolent Association in 2023.

It made the most sense for both sides to resolve the case this way, Jerry Goldfeder, Zhuangs attorney, told the Daily News.

The councilmember was charged with felony assault, resisting arrest and obstruction of government administration after her arrest at the 6 a.m. protest. She pleaded not guilty, arguing that she had been protecting an elderly woman.

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Zhuang has received community support after the arrest, with locals staging a parade in her honor shortly after her arrest. Her legal defense fund opened to help cover expenses raised $66,000.

The City Council opened an investigation into the incident last year, but paused proceedings until her case was sorted out in court.

The case is sealed and wont remain on her record.

Zhuang, approached by The News at an unrelated press conference, declined to comment.

Goldfeder noted that Zhuang, who is up for reelection this year, faces no primary and no opponent on either the conservative, Republican or Working Families line.
NEW YORK  New York City will pay three shelter guards $350,000 to settle a lawsuit they brought alleging they were assaulted by Tim Pearson, a former top adviser and longtime confidant to Mayor Eric Adams, during an infamous 2023 incident at a migrant shelter, according to paperwork obtained by the Daily News.

The taxpayer-funded settlement wont be divided evenly between the three guards, Terrence Rosenthal, Leesha Bell and Angelica Weldon.

Rather, Rosenthal  who was allegedly assaulted by Pearson and then held in custody at an NYPD precinct for nearly 24 hours after the Oct. 17, 2023 scuffle at the Midtown shelter  will get $150,000, while Weldon is receiving $125,000 and Bell $75,000, the paperwork dated March 26 confirms.

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The trios lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, named Adams, the NYPD and two police officers as defendants, in addition to Pearson.

Notably, Pearson  who resigned as Adams public safety adviser last fall after he came under scrutiny in an unrelated federal corruption investigation  isnt party to the settlement, meaning the guards could continue their case solely against him in his personal capacity. All the other defendants are party to the settlement, including the mayor, meaning they are dismissed from the case without admitting wrongdoing, the paperwork says.

Pearson has not been charged in the unrelated corruption probe.

Jason Steinberger, an attorney representing Rosenthal, Bell and Weldon, declined to comment Tuesday when asked if his clients will continue their case against Pearson.

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Hugh Mo, Pearsons personal attorney representing him in the federal probe, didnt return a request for comment.

It was in the citys best interest to settle this case, said Nick Paolucci, a spokesman for Adams Law Department, which represented all defendants but Pearson against the shelter scuffle lawsuit.

The News first reported last month that Adams administration had reached a settlement with the guards, though the exact dollar amount wasnt known then.

Like Rosenthal, Weldon and Bell also allege they were assaulted by Pearson.

Bell, according to the lawsuit, was subjected to an especially disturbing episode in which Pearson wrapped his hands around her neck and then shoved her with such force that she fell backwards onto a counter, causing her eyeglasses to fly off her face.

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The melee erupted when the guards denied Pearson entry to the shelter because he refused to show identification. He showed up at the shelter to perform a surprise safety inspection.

The settlement comes after the city Department of Investigation released a scathing report concluding that Pearson abused his authority and lied to responding NYPD officers in connection with the incident.

The report, citing body cam footage and eyewitness testimony, alleged Pearson cursed at the guards and threatened to get them fired if they didnt let him in, even as they repeatedly told him they by protocol had to see his ID in order to provide him access.

Besides the shelter scuffle suit, Pearson faces four lawsuits filed by current and former members of the NYPD alleging that he subjected them to sexual harassment and professional retaliation. In those four lawsuits, the Law Department is providing Pearson, a former NYPD inspector who has been a close friend to the mayor for decades, with taxpayer-funded legal representation.

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Adams, whose own federal corruption indictment was dismissed in a highly controversial way by President Trumps administration this month, has only defended Pearson, even since his resignation.

I know Tim to be an optimal professional, Adams said in February after the release of the DOI report.
New York City will pay three shelter guards $350,000 to settle a lawsuit they brought alleging they were assaulted by Tim Pearson, a former top adviser to Mayor Adams, during an infamous 2023 scuffle at a migrant shelter, according to paperwork obtained by the Daily News.

The taxpayer-funded settlement wont be divided evenly between the three guards, Terrence Rosenthal, Leesha Bell and Angelica Weldon.

Rather, Rosenthal  who was allegedly assaulted by Pearson and then held in custody at an NYPD precinct for nearly 24 hours after the Oct. 17, 2023 scuffle at the Midtown shelter  will get $150,000, while Weldon is receiving $125,000 and Bell $75,000, the paperwork dated March 26 confirms.

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Their lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, named Adams, the NYPD and two police officers as defendants, in addition to Pearson.

Notably, Pearson  who resigned as Adams public safety adviser last fall after he came under scrutiny in an unrelated federal corruption investigation  isnt party to the settlement, meaning the guards could continue their case solely against him. All the other defendants are party to the settlement, including Adams, meaning theyre dismissed from the case without admitting wrongdoing, the paperwork says.

Jason Steinberger, an attorney representing Rosenthal, Bell and Weldon, declined to comment Tuesday when asked if his clients will continue suing Pearson.

Pearson, who hasnt been criminally charged with wrongdoing, is among nearly a dozen top Adams advisers who resigned last year amid federal probes separate from the investigation that led to the mayors own corruption indictment.

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Hugh Mo, Pearsons lawyer representing him in federal matters, said Tuesday that like many of the governments targets, we are just waiting on the government to conclude its investigation or come out with an indictment.

Mo also said hes not worried about the guards continuing the assault suit against Pearson, arguing that it would be a dubious case. Mo did lambast Adams Law Department for settling the case, though.

Shame on the [Law Department], he said. Thats not how the City of New York should defend civil lawsuits. They are doing a disservice to the taxpayers of the city.

A spokesman for the Law Department, which represented all defendants but Pearson against the shelter scuffle lawsuit, declined to respond to Mos broadside, but said: It was in the citys best interest to settle this case.

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The News first reported last month that Adams administration had reached a settlement with the guards, though the exact dollar amount wasnt known then.

Like Rosenthal, Weldon and Bell also allege they were assaulted by Pearson.

Bell, according to legal papers, was subjected to an especially disturbing episode in which Pearson wrapped his hands around her neck and then shoved her with such force that she fell backwards onto a counter, causing her eyeglasses to fly off her face.

The melee erupted when the guards denied Pearson entry to the shelter because he refused to show identification. He showed up at the shelter to perform a surprise safety inspection, a duty Adams assigned him as part of an unusually sprawling senior adviser portfolio that also included holding significant sway over NYPD operations and migrant services contracts.

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The lawsuit settlement comes after the city Department of Investigation released a scathing report concluding Pearson abused his authority and lied to NYPD officers in connection with the incident.

The report, citing body cam footage and eyewitness testimony, alleged Pearson cursed at the guards and threatened to get them fired if they didnt let him in, even as they repeatedly told him they by protocol had to see his ID in order to provide access.

Besides the shelter scuffle suit, Pearson faces four lawsuits filed by current and former members of the NYPD alleging he subjected them to sexual harassment and professional retaliation. In those lawsuits, the Law Department is providing Pearson, an ex-NYPD inspector who has been a close friend to Adams for decades, with taxpayer-funded legal representation.

Adams, whose own federal corruption indictment was dismissed in a highly controversial way by President Trumps administration this month, has only defended Pearson, even since his resignation.

I know Tim to be an optimal professional, Adams said in February after the release of the DOI report.
A New York City administrative judge ruled last month that city Probation Department officials wrongly retaliated against a veteran female officer whom they accused of bringing the agency into disrepute for preferring business attire over a department-issue polo shirt for appearances in Brooklyn Family Court.

Word of the decision comes as Probation Commissioner Juanita Holmes is facing union criticism for replacing officers shields with a new design that mimics those worn by NYPD patrol officers.

Both the change in shield design and the uniform requirement are initiatives pushed by Holmes, a former NYPD chief of patrol appointed to run Probation by Mayor Adams in March 2023.

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The judges March 24 decision stemmed from disciplinary charges filed against Winifred Rivers, a 32-year agency officer who was suspended, transferred to the Bronx and accused of insubordination, conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline and the disrepute allegation in June 2024.

Rivers had been a court liaison officer in Brooklyn Family Court for 25 years. In September 2023, Holmes ordered all officers to wear a uniform including the polo shirt with the Probation logo.

Rivers continued to wear business clothes, including dresses, in court for the next seven months, insisting Holmes edict had not gone through the agencys formal policymaking process, the decision states.

In June 2024, an NYPD sergeant brought over to work at Probation by Holmes directly ordered Rivers to wear the polo shirt, the decision states.

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Rivers refused vehemently, the decision states. We are not a uniform agency, she told the sergeant.

Rivers was then visited by the agencys general counsel and again declined to wear the polo shirt in court. She was then suspended and transferred to the Bronx, far from her home in Brooklyn.

Kevin Casey, the administrative judge, ruled that the agency violated Rivers rights in disciplining her for disclosing information to the agency she reasonably believed was true for reasonably believing the agencys action was improper, the decision states.

[Rivers] sincerely and reasonably believed that the polo shirt was inappropriate court attire, [and] the department is not a uniformed agency, Casey wrote.

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When she voiced her concerns, she was objecting to department actions that she considered improper. Under these circumstances, the severe and improper adverse actions that followed were retaliatory and the disciplinary charges must be dismissed.

A City Hall spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the change in shield design from the blue-and-gold badge that probation officers have worn for decades to a silver shield almost identical to NYPD patrol shields is being criticized by Dalvanie Powell, the president of the United Probation Officers Association.

The new shields were handed out to new recruits in an academy graduation in February, and to rank-and-file members last week.

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In a statement, Powell called the move saddening and disheartening in a period of staff shortages, rising caseloads and unrealistic demands.

Powell noted that probation officers in Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties wear almost identical blue-and-gold shields. She also said if probation officers are going to wear badges that resemble those of police officers, they should be paid commensurately.

If the city is going to treat probation officers as uniformed law enforcement, it must back up that recognition with action, Powell said.

Previously, probation officers started at $45,934 a year and topped out at $57,885 after 11 years. In August, the city agreed to a new contract with the union that increased the starting salary to $61,386 with a topping out at $81,000 after 11 years.

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By comparison, a police officer starts at $58,580 and reaches $126,532 after just five years. Similarly, a correction officer starts at $47,857 and tops out after five years at $96,803.

The City Hall spokesman also did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the shield switch.
JAMAICA, Queens (PIX11)  Queens tenants are still fighting for working elevators nearly two years after suing their landlord, who once topped the citys worst landlords list, according to their lawyer.

Enrique Standard, a tenant who walks with a cane, has missed doctor appointments and events with his children because he cant use the elevator, he said. An 82-year-old woman was recently stuck in an elevator and rescued by the FDNY, according to Queens Legal Services NYC.

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Its the latest in a years-long battle between the Queens tenants and their landlord, Ved Parkash, who topped the Public Advocates worst landlords list in 2015. Parkash has faced dozens of other tenant lawsuits, according to The Real Deal.

We can no longer keep sitting by and watch all these things happen in our homes. We deserve better. We pay our rent, said Yolanda, a tenant displaced after a massive fire in a Bronx building owned by Parkash.

In a written statement, a spokesperson for Parkash Management told PIX11 News the company has already made many repairs at the Queens property.

All issues in the complaint filed last year have been remedied by the company, with the exception of a single outstanding matter. Since this continues to be active litigation, we cannot comment on the details involving this unresolved issue, the spokesperson said in a written statement.

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Tenants are demanding that both elevators be replaced  and theyre prepared to keep fighting if not, according to James Tenenbaum, a staff attorney with the Tenants Rights Coalition. The Department of Buildings has issued over 20 elevator-related violations at the building since 2020, most of which were resolved, buildings records show.

If we have an agreement on May 1 to replace both of the elevators, we and our clients are comfortable settling this case, Tenenbaum said. If we do not have an agreement to replace both of the elevators then were going to be moving forward with our contempt hearings and were going to be asking for the maximum penalties that we can get against Parkash.

The elevators have become the focal point, but other issues persist, Tenenbaum said. The Queens tenants initiated a rent strike in January, and are calling for a rent reduction until conditions improve. The building currently has 111 open violations with the Housing Preservation & Development department for issues ranging from mold to roaches to missing carbon monoxide detectors.

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HPD has previously pursued litigation against the property owner related to heat and hot water issues, which was resolved with a $2,500 penalty, according to a spokesperson for the department.

These issues, Parkash does go and address them. We are not contesting that Parkash has tried to make repairs and has made repairs in some common areas and some apartments, Tenenbaum said. Theyre not quality and theyre not sustainable repairs and so even though tenants get some repairs, those issues often times return.

For the tenants, its about safety, especially after the fire at Parkashs Bronx building injured seven people and displaced over 150, according to authorities.

Were worried about the same thing happening here, Tenenbaum said.

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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.
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11)  On Mondays, PIX11 has a special segment called Moms Make It Happen where we honor mothers across our area creating positive social change.

An Upper West Side housing hero is always helping her neighbors and shes planning another epic Town Hall to talk about problems in public housing. Shes calling on Elon Musk and the federal government to investigate NYCHA.

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PIX11s Monica Morales spoke to Carmen Quinones, who lives at the Douglass Houses. Whether shes feeding families four times a week or fighting for repairs, Quinones is a mom, grandma and great-grandmother making it happen.

Rain or shine in the community, Quinones was doing her daily walk through her NYCHA development. Everybody knows her. Quionones has lived at the Douglass Houses for 53 years.

More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State

She has 19 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and two twin boys on the way who all live in public housing. Shes angry about conditions inside NYCHA and shes doing something about it.

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Quinones put up flyers for a Townhall shes hosting on April 26, she says to keep public housing public and improve conditions inside. Morales teamed up with Quionones to host a packed Town hall in 2018 in a Harlem church.

Quinones says on the frontlines, moms and grandmas like her, are leading the way. She is calling on the federal government to step in.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Commentator Bill OReilly said late Monday that President Trump needs to appeal to Americans personally and acknowledge the short-term pain theyre experiencing as a result of his tariffs.

In an interview on NewsNations On Balance with Leland Vittert, OReilly said he thinks Trumps goal with the sweeping global tariffs is noble and righteous, and if it works, the country will be a lot stronger.

The problem is that people are feeling pain, OReilly added. The American publics feeling pain. And whenever that happens, the leader of the country has to reassure in a personal way, and I dont think Donald Trumps done that yet.

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OReilly also praised Trump for speaking so often with the press, saying people should applaud that, but he said the president needs to appeal to the American people directly.

He hasnt looked into the camera and said, Look, I know youre suffering. I know your hard-earned dollars are not what they were on paper a month ago, and I know its because of me, but stay with me here, the former Fox News host said, suggesting that only then should Trump present the facts that support his tariff policies.

Because this is personal, but he hasnt made it personal yet, and I think he has to do that, OReilly added.

Trump announced sweeping global tariffs last Wednesday that sent the stock market tumbling for two days. Global financial markets bounced back slightly early Tuesday.

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Trump administration officials have sent mixed signals about whether the tariffs are here to stay or whether they are an opening for negotiations with countries for better deals. On Monday, he signaled an openness to negotiating, even as he defended the tariffs as benefiting America in the long run.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Sen. Sophia Chitlik seeks clarity on SB 558 - legislation eliminating "DEI" in Public Higher Ed. (Photo: Screengrab from NCGA video)

As part of their ongoing effort to manipulate and capitalize on irrational white voter fears, state Republican lawmakers are advancing legislation this session that purports to attack quote DEI in public education.

Under the bill, state law would spell out a long list of supposedly divisive concepts that would be banned from public schools. For example, the bill says it will be illegal to teach that a quote meritocracy  whatever that is  is inherently racist or sexist  two words that are also not defined.

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Of course, the purpose of this impossibly vague language is no mystery  its to discourage educators from discussions of Americas grim past on matters of race that might make white students uncomfortable.

And that would be a tragic mistake.

A simple amendment would help. Lawmakers should add a word to the bill to make clear that teaching divisive concepts is banned, but only if they are untrue.

The bottom line: Discussion of hard truths is an essential part of education that our kids can handle. Would that GOP lawmakers could as well.

For NC Newsline, Im Rob Schofield.
A fire is seen near the Palais de Justice at the 17th arrondissement in Paris, France, April 7, 2025. A fire broke out at a waste disposal station at the 17th arrondissement in Paris on Monday evening and so far there has been no report of casualties. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Firefighters standby near the Palais de Justice at the 17th arrondissement in Paris, France, April 7, 2025. A fire broke out at a waste disposal station at the 17th arrondissement in Paris on Monday evening and so far there has been no report of casualties. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Firefighters standby near the Palais de Justice at the 17th arrondissement in Paris, France, April 7, 2025. A fire broke out at a waste disposal station at the 17th arrondissement in Paris on Monday evening and so far there has been no report of casualties. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Smoke rises near the Palais de Justice at the 17th arrondissement in Paris, France, April 7, 2025. A fire broke out at a waste disposal station at the 17th arrondissement in Paris on Monday evening and so far there has been no report of casualties. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Firefighters standby near the Palais de Justice at the 17th arrondissement in Paris, France, April 7, 2025. A fire broke out at a waste disposal station at the 17th arrondissement in Paris on Monday evening and so far there has been no report of casualties. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

A fire is seen near the Palais de Justice at the 17th arrondissement in Paris, France, April 7, 2025. A fire broke out at a waste disposal station at the 17th arrondissement in Paris on Monday evening and so far there has been no report of casualties. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Firefighters standby near the Palais de Justice at the 17th arrondissement in Paris, France, April 7, 2025. A fire broke out at a waste disposal station at the 17th arrondissement in Paris on Monday evening and so far there has been no report of casualties. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Firefighters standby near the Palais de Justice at the 17th arrondissement in Paris, France, April 7, 2025. A fire broke out at a waste disposal station at the 17th arrondissement in Paris on Monday evening and so far there has been no report of casualties. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Firefighters standby near the Palais de Justice at the 17th arrondissement in Paris, France, April 7, 2025. A fire broke out at a waste disposal station at the 17th arrondissement in Paris on Monday evening and so far there has been no report of casualties. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV)  A police officer was injured at the Syracuse Hancock International Airport while trying to arrest a man who was yelling at airline staff and passengers on Monday.

According to the police report, the incident happened around 10:40 a.m. on April 7.

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Airport Police say they received a report of a man who has been identified as 25-year-old Jordan Scalzo physically fighting passengers near the gate. When officers tried to detain Scalzo, one of the officers hurt his right hand.

Police also said that Scalzo was making threats of self-harm.

Scalzo was charged with second-degree assault, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR.
SOUTH CAROLINA (WSPA)  Two weeks and thousands of acres later, the Table Rock Complex fires have been fully contained.

Related video: Table Rock announces reopening following massive wildfires

According to the South Carolina Forestry Commission, the fires burned through 15,000 acres in Pickens and Greenville counties, as well as part of North Carolina.

Officials said the fires were declared 100% contained Tuesday, after heavy rainfall passed through the Upstate on Monday.

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Much-needed rain helps with the Table Rock Complex fire

Although progress has been made, The South Carolina Forestry Commission said theres still a long way to go. The Table Rock Fire is 30% contained and the Persimmon fire is 74% contained. A snapshot of what crews with the South Carolina National Guard have been seeing while fighting the Table Rock fire. (Snapshot/South Carolina National Guard) FILE  The landscape of Table Rock State Park after a wildfire blazed through more than 13,000 acres of land. Table Rock fire expands to 4,500 acres, aerial crews battle blaze Trees burn due to the wildfire at Table Rock State Park In Pickens County, S.C., march 26, 2025. (WSPA File Photo) Helicopter seen in front of smoke from Table Rock Fire in Pickens County, S.C., March 26, 2025 (WSPA Photo) Smoke billows across the sky in Pickens County from the Table Rock State Park wildfire. (WSPA Photo) Credit: Jackson Gosnell (WSPA Photo)

The Table Rock wildfire initially started March 21, after four teens allegedly were hiking on a trail and did not put out their cigarettes. In total, the fire burned 13,845 acres.

Firefighters gather in prayer as they continue to battle Upstate wildfires

The Persimmon Ridge wildfire ignited in Greenville County on March 22.State forestry officials said the fire was human-caused, but did not share more details about how the fire began. The fire burned a total of 2,128 acres.

A U.S. Army Soldier from the 1-111th General Support Aviation Battalion, 59th Aviation Troop Command views the landscape from a Black Hawk helicopter during a fire suppression mission over the Table Rock and Persimmon Ridge fires in South Carolina on March 26, 2025. (Sgt. Elizabeth Schneider/U.S. Army National Guard via AP) Greenville County Emergency Management (GCEM) said it is urgent for people in the northern parts of the county to heed evacuation alerts due to the spread of the Table Rock and Persimmon Ridge fires. In this March 23, 2025, photo released by the U.S. National Guard shows a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from the 1-111th General Support Aviation Battalion, 59th Aviation Troop Command, McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Eastover executing its fire suppression mission in support of the South Carolina Forestry Commission at Persimmon Ridge Fire near Greenville, S.C. (Sgt. 1st Class Roberto Di Giovine/U.S. Army National Guard via AP) Greenville County Emergency Management (GCEM) said it is urgent for people in the northern parts of the county to heed evacuation alerts due to the spread of the Table Rock and Persimmon Ridge fires.

According to State Fire Marshal Jonathan Jones, the Table Rock Complex fires led to the largest South Carolina Firefighter Mobilization since the programs start in 2000.

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Around one thousand firefighters were mobilized from across the state, along with nearly 400 vehicles, including engines, brush trucks, UTVs, and federal support.

Resources remaining on the fires will continue to focus on suppression repair, which involves stabilizing exposed soil with seed and straw to prevent erosion and remove dirt and debris from stream crossings, officials said. Water bars will also be installed on containment lines to divert surface water runoff back into the woods.

The fires will not be classified as controlled until firefighting resources are no longer needed at the wildfire sites.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine spoke Tuesday morning to offer support for a bill that would ban cellphones in schools throughout the state.

DeWine was joined at the Ohio Statehouse by State Senators Jane Timken (R-Stark County) and Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware), former Second Lady of Ohio Tina Husted, and Dr. John Marschhuasen, Dublin City School District superintendent to discuss support of the bill.

In last years State of the State, I talked about the need to take action in this area, DeWine said. We need to be sure that our classrooms are now cellphone free.

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Columbus mans monthly payment increases 500% in federal freeze confusion

Studies consistently show that access to cellphones during school hours negatively impact student learning and academic performance, DeWine said. Furthermore, these phones can be incredibly harmful to the students mental and emotional health. They expose our kids to things like cyberbullying, sextortion (and) both of these factors increase the risk of suicide among our children.

It is Timkens legislation, Senate Bill 158, that calls for the banning of phones during the school day in Ohio while focusing on enhanced student engagement and safety by prohibiting the use of cellphones. The bill would also introduce disciplinary measures for students who violate the ban.

This legislation is a commonsense approach to unplug our children, from the constant distraction that they have in the classroom, said Timken, who noted that, on average, a child can receive nearly 200 notifications per day.

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It is expected the bill, which Timken said will include a few exceptions when it comes to facilitating learning, will be presented in the Senates Education Committee and it is believed the standalone bill will move through the Ohio legislature.

sb158_00_INDownload

One year ago, DeWine called for a new law banning phones. House Bill 485 called for phones to be banned in schools, except for in an emergency, medical situation, or instructional purposes, but he received pushback for its sweeping guidelines.

The bill uses similar language in DeWines executive budget proposal in which he introduced the banning of phones in schools. A new Ohio law was enacted in 2024 that required school districts to implement policies to address the use of phones in schools, and many districts followed by banning their use. Many districts have already noted improvement in student engagement, attendance, grades, socialization, and communication, the Governors office said.

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Marschhuasen also noted that phones will not be allocated to students during emergencies, such as an active shooter.

I understand theres fear, and our goal will be to get students safely back to parents as soon as possible, but individual students having a cellphone isnt part of any of those plans, he said.

Organization offering bounty for removal of invasive trees in central Ohio

When asked why, Marschhuasen quickly noted, Because it clogs and slows the process. In any situation if students are given directions on where to go, them looking at their phones, it only slows what were trying to do, what weve practiced when it comes to evacuating, when it comes to lockdown, when it comes to shelter in place. Whatever those plans are, students need to be paying attention.

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Local parents said they understand both sides of this issue. Proponents of a total cell phone ban said phones are not necessary for students to have during the school day. I think its a good idea if they can concentrate on the lessons a bit more then thats a good idea. We didnt have them in school and we did okay. said Marty Trese.

Other parents said they like knowing their child has access to their phone, especially in emergency situations involving health and safety. I think they probably should have access in case of an emergency, but during the day maybe take them and not be able to use them, said Sarah Anastasi.

Steven Friend is a father of two teenagers. His son has diabetes and is able to track and regulate his blood sugar through an app. His parents can also access that app at any time during the school day. Without his phone being with him at school, like I cant see any of this stuff. Were pretty much out of the loop on his health. And thats why things like this, like these kinds of things cant go in schools, said Friend.

The bill does have exceptions to the ban for monitoring or addressing health concerns. But Friend said even if his son is allowed to keep his phone for medical reasons, hed still like to communicate with his other child while she is at school.

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Ive had to text my kids while they were in lockdown just to make sure everything is okay. So that part of it is, you know, Id love to be able to chat with my kid anytime during the day and make sure theyre healthy and everythings okay, said Friend.

On the other side, parent Natalie Brown said emergencies are rare, and if there is an emergency, the school will communicate with parents. As a parent, I totally understand if something comes up and you need to get in touch with your child. But I think you can just call the school and I think the risks of sending your child to school with a phone far outweigh the benefits, said Brown.

Most parents said they would be in support for some kind of cell phone ban but they want exceptions. Parents said they want their kids to have better learning experiences, but being able to contact their child gives them peace of mind.

At the news conference, Husted discussed strategies parents can use to be more aware of what their children are doing on their phones, including having regular and open conversations with their children about the dangers they may face online so they know what to do and who to turn to if they feel unsafe.

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She has previously supported Bradens Law, signed by DeWine in January, which makes sexual extortion a felony offense in Ohio. That law is slated to go into effect Wednesday.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
An Ohio high school staff member is alleged to have involved a student in her beef with her ex-husband. The task she tried to put the student up to was so horrid, the police slammed her with some serious charges.

Stephanie Demetrius, the 44-year-old literacy enrichment instructor at the Academy for Urban Scholars High School, is alleged to have pitched the foul favor to her student on March 26, police say. Authorities said Demetrius went to the student to offer $250 as a down payment for the job.

What job...? To kill her husband.

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Police said according to a phone call between the student and Demetrius, the teacher confirmed her down payment was part of the $2,000 shed promised to pay the juvenile. Her plan was to make sure her four children were out of her ex-husbands house in time to send the student to shoot him dead as he worked from home.

When asked if neighbors would hear the gunfire, she advised that they dont care about her neighbors, police wrote in the affidavit, per ABC News.

Prosecutors say the beef runs deep between the two. They say Demetrius had a protective order against her by her ex-husband and was also in the midst of a divorce. She had violated the order twice but it appears the alleged murder-for-hire plot was the latest incident in the couples history of troubles. Court documents say she tried to stab him, run him over as well as set his house on fire prior to this incident, per NBCs WCMH.

Authorities were notified of her alleged plot when the students mother discovered their text messages on his phone. A spokesperson for the academy said she was immediately fired from the school, ABC reported. Police then slammed her with a felony conspiracy charge, per NBC News.

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In her arraignment, the reports say Demetrius denied the allegations, calling them fabricated and even went as far as asking the court, Who is the juvenile involved in this case?

Demetrius is being held on a $150,000 bond, despite her requests for leniency on behalf of her children. Her preliminary hearing is set for April 11. She has not entered a plea.

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Apr. 8The Ohio House of Representatives this week is hashing out a massive two-year state budget. One proposal from House GOP leaders getting a lot of attention deals with Ohio's libraries.

Libraries across the state and prominent Democrats  such as candidate for governor Amy Acton  are railing against a cut to statewide library funding and urging voters to contact their representatives ahead of voting this week.

Is the state cutting library funding?

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It's complicated.

The plan unveiled by Ohio House Republicans would eliminate the Ohio Public Library Fund, replacing it with line-item amounts appropriated for each year.

On Tuesday, the House Finance Committee amended the budget to allocate $490 million in library funds for fiscal year 2026 and $500 million for fiscal year 2027.

If the current funding formula were unchanged, the Ohio Office of Budget and Management projects that the Ohio Public Library Fund could contain up to $530 million under the current formula this year.

The Public Library Fund receives 1.7% of Ohio's general revenue fund, which is powered by sales and personal income taxes and other revenue sources. So it's a fluctuating funding source, and actual revenues can fall short of projections.

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Republican budget architects say they project the Public Library Fund will only reach $493 million this year. Last year's library fund was $489.3 million.

So the House GOP proposal would reduce library funding if compared to current OBM projections, but increase it compared to House Republicans' projections and last year's funding.

A $100M cut?

Libraries claim the House budget proposal would be a $100 million budget cut. Here's where that comes from.

The Ohio House's budget proposal differs from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's budget pitch, which would have increased the PLF's slice of the general revenue fund to 1.75%. This would generate $531.7 million in 2026 and $549.1 million in 2027.

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An Ohio Library Council analysis estimated that the House's version of the budget would reduce state funding for Ohio's public libraries by more than $100 million over the next two years  compared to the governor's proposal to expand the fund, not compared to current funding.

What do libraries say?

According to the Ohio Library Council, an organization that advocates for public libraries, roughly 51% of the total funding for Ohio's public libraries comes from the state through the Public Library Fund.

Dayton Metro Library officials said they're anticipating a $3 million difference, which could result in decreased operating hours, programming, library collections and even the closure of some lower-traffic branches.

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"Ohio's public libraries have had a partnership with the state to deliver services at the local level for almost 100 years and that funding is now at risk," Michelle Francis, executive director of the Ohio Library Council, in a press release. "Public libraries serve all ages, and funding cuts of this magnitude could jeopardize the vital services that our communities rely on."

Similarly, the Clark County Public Library shared a plea with its patrons on social media Thursday evening, saying the Ohio House's proposal could impact services like children's programs, hotspot loans and more. The library called on community members to contract their state representatives to discuss library funding.

"We appreciate the community we serve and your support for the library!" the social media post said.

What do lawmakers say?

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In the Republican-dominated Ohio House, moving public library funding away from a percentage model has been framed as a way to be more flexible in determining how much public libraries actually need from the state every two years.

"Many moons ago, somebody decided that the public library fund would be a certain percentage of the general revenue fund. The issue with that is, it doesn't necessarily always reflect all of the other budgetary concerns that are happening," House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told reporters last week. "If you get 1.7%, you don't have to come in and say, 'Hey, here's why we need all this extra money.'"

Huffman denied that the proposed change had anything to do with critiques of local libraries, like from that of Rep. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria, who publicly criticized the New Lebanon branch of the Dayton Metro Library for carrying tampons in the men's restroom.

With the switch, Ohio House Finance Chair Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, argued that the state should quit "autopilot" spending, where possible.

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"I think every two years we need to do our job and say, 'What is the actual amount of money that we believe should be spent here?' and make that decision," Stewart said.

House Democrats, meanwhile, oppose the switch. Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said she has "huge concerns."

"Listen, we're talking about a 100-year precedent that we've used to fund our public library system here in the state of Ohio  which, by the way, is one of the top public library systems in the country because they have reliable, predictable funding," Russo said.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) terminated grants for all state humanities councils late last week.

Millions of federal dollars that were already appropriated for cultural and art groups were abruptly canceled early Thursday morning and some arts advocates are worried about the effects on local museums and their programs.

Ohio Humanities is in charge of distributing funding to different cultural organizations and projects.

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DOGE cancels $250,000 Ohio grant installing LGBTQ+ historical markers

We are the only source of funds for most local history organizations, for humanities organizations throughout the state, and so this is now a source of funding thats just no longer available, Ohio Humanities Executive Director Rebecca Asmo said.

She received an email early Thursday morning canceling all the grants.

These are funds that have already been appropriated by Congress, Asmo said. We actually are the only entity that is mandated by Congress to distribute these funds to local communities in congressional districts all across America.

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Small and midsize museums and their programs could be impacted the most, according to Johnna McEntee, the executive director of the Ohio Museums Association.

I dont think everyone has really understood the economic cost, the job cost and the education cost across Ohio, McEntee said. These cuts will really impact these organizations and how theyre able to function within the state.

Johnny Gaudreaus wife Meredith announces birth of couples third child

McEntee said she is worried about museums, their employees and the education they provide, like art classes, exhibitions and cultural presentations. She said there could even be a direct impact on the local economy in small and rural areas.

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Programs will stop, she said. Initiatives will cease to be. Communities will lose access to these important public spaces and to the programs and to the organizations that they love and that are central to their community.

Asmo and McEntee said there has not been much guidance from DOGE and they dont know what will happen from here.

Asmo said Ohio Humanities is doing everything possible to bring these taxpayers dollars back to local communities. McEntee said the money allocated for humanities is a very small part of the federal budget. The Trump Administration said its latest move is aimed at reallocating funding in a way that aligns with the presidents agenda.

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Ohio school children in a classroom. (Photo by Morgan Trau, WEWS.)

The Ohio Houses proposed budget increases the private school voucher system by $500 million and only gives half of that much of an increase to public schools.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine visited a public school Monday morning, hearing from teachers and kids about literacy efforts. But schools like Hamilton Elementary School in Columbus may have to undergo massive cuts under the proposed state budget.

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The governor was asked about the possible elimination of the Fair School Funding Plan in the budget and whether hes heard the concerns of teachers, students, and parents.

Sure, look, I received communication from parents, communication from school superintendents, the governor responded. What I tell them is theyre doing the right thing. They should make their point of view available to the governor, but they also should do it to their legislators.

Parents such as Kia Woodward are stressing about school funding for their kids.

Its disheartening to see that people are trying to shut (public school) doors and just trying to shut it with funding, Woodward said.

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While Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, and Finance Chair Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, say the state doesnt have enough money to fully fund public education  slashing its expected budget by hundreds of millions  the same leaders have given even more money to the private school voucher system, which funnels taxpayer dollars to nonpublic schools.

In the Ohio House Republican proposed budget, public schools would get about a $220 million increase, while private schools are set to receive double that  $500 million.

Huffman and Stewart argue that what they are doing is actually giving more over the biennium than in FY25 to public schools, just not as much as they had hoped  or were expecting due under the Full School Funding Plan.

Well, when you see the proposal, which was, Well just increase the inputs to FY 24, that was the ask  it cost $1.8 billion to the taxpayer, Stewart responded. We simply dont have it.

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That is misleading, Democrats argue.

What is being produced is likely one of the lowest state shares in our states history meaning that its even less state money going into our schools than when this was deemed unconstitutional, Finance Ranking Member Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Cleveland, said.

You have the privilege to send your kid wherever you want to, and youre gonna use my tax dollars to do it, and I dont have the right for my kids to go to school and be in a safe building, Woodward said.

Parent and conservative activist Greg Lawson is on the other side of the debate  arguing that dollars are best served following each individual child to the best school of choice.

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I spend a lot of tax money, my tax money I want a little bit of that back so that I am able to put my student where I think its the right thing, Lawson said.

Some Republicans argue that poor-performing school districts may not be spending money wisely. Woodward responded that public schools face audits, while nonpublic schools dont have to follow transparency guidelines.

I think that we could have some further conversation about that, he said. I think we want to be very careful on how we do it because what we dont wanna see happen is a heavy hand of the government coming in and then dictating certain things from a curriculum standpoint.

The governor sits in the middle of this debate, saying he wants to protect public schools  despite cutting $100 million from what they were expecting, as well  while also providing choice for families.

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We are still early on this process, DeWine said.

The budget will likely be passed out of the House this week, but it still has to go through the Senate.

This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.

Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.

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BARCELONA, Spain, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Spain installed a record number of new electric vehicle (EV) charging points in the first quarter (Q1) of this year, almost as many as in the whole of 2024, according to the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (Anfac).

The country's charging network has grown by 20 percent this year, with 7,633 new points installed. This brings the total to 46,358, which would rise to 59,430 if the 13,072 inoperative points were included.

"The challenge lies in the fact that large-scale integration of electric cars requires a paradigm shift, most importantly, the development of new infrastructure, especially the widespread installation of charging points," Cristian Fabrega, coordinator of the Master in Renewable Energies and Energy Sustainability at the University of Barcelona, told Xinhua on Tuesday.

The professor added that many people in Spain "are still reluctant" when it comes to changing over to an EV, partly due to concerns over the range of electric cars and over where to charge theri cars?

Yet last month, the Business Association for the Development and Promotion of Electric Mobility (Aedive) reported that public charging stations in Spain are underused, with on average only 1.5 car charges made at charging points every day.

Javier Jimenez, whose energy services company Iraye installs charging stations, told Xinhua: "The EV market has slowed down a bit because people are still reluctant. There's still a great deal of ignorance surrounding the whole subject".

To encourage more people in Spain to purchase electric vehicles, the Spanish government announced on Arpil 1 it would extend subsidies under its Moves III Plan, raising the total funding earmarked for the promotion of electric mobility and infrastructure to almost 3 billion euros (3.28 billion U.S. dollars).

While welcoming the extra subsidies, Jimenez warned: "There still needs to be more from the government to encourage people to get involved in electric mobility. I think we are still very far from what we see in the rest of Europe and the world."

The number of charging points available in the Spanish network is not the only issue, but also how many of them are fast charging stations. Anfac says that only 8.6 percent (4,008 stations) of Spain's charging points are fast, a mere 0.2 percent more than at the end of the previous quarter.

Nevertheless, EV sales in Spain continue to grow. Anfac's figures show that sales of electric vehicles (pure electric and plug-in hybrids) totaled 25,327 units in the first two months of this year, up 35.9 percent from the same period in 2024. 
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  According to a spokesperson with Ohio State University, at least seven international students visas have been revoked with no clear explanation as to why.

The university said that these students and their attorneys along with the university are considering the next steps, but this ordeal is leaving some other students stunned. According to the United States citizenship and immigration services, an F-1 visa allows people to enter the country as a full-time student at an accredited college or university.

Ohio State is one of many colleges throughout the country that have been impacted as students from other institutions have received orders from the Department of Homeland Security to leave the country immediately.

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Organization offering bounty for removal of invasive trees in central Ohio

Student Zella Poarch shared she is nervous about the future of other international students at the school and feel what has happened is unfair. In all honesty, like my mouth has been to the floor in shock because I dont understand how this is possible that it has gotten to this point where this is acceptable, Poarch said.

The university spokesperson also noted that the students who had their visas revoked are currently still in the United States at this time. Student Isabella Scully-Tenpenny explained though she is glad they are still in the country it is still a troubling situation.

I saw the headline and my initial reaction was just like, how can you do this? Scully-Tenpenny said. Like these students have worked so hard. Not like, not only here, but to get here. And then youre just going to take it away.

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In a letter to Ohio State faculty, staff and students, President Ted Carter said the university was not notified of the visas revocations nor has the university been told why they were revoked.

Carter added the students are receiving help from the universitys Office of Academic Affairs, Legal Affairs, International Affairs, Student Life, and Human Resources.

I know these developments have created deep concern and uncertainty among many in our community, Carter wrote. While we recognize that visa decisions are the authority of the U.S. government and Ohio State plays no role in these decisions, I share a strong desire for clarity around these actions. Ohio State, after all, has long been  and will continue to be  proud to welcome students from all over the world, who add greatly to the life of our campuses and community. International students, visiting scholars and staff enrich the Ohio State experience for all, and we are a stronger university for their presence and contributions.

Carter concluded his letter by asking the community to continue to show grace and compassion to each other.

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Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday suggests elimination of the Oklahoma Forestry Service, criticizing its response to historic wildfires that swept across the state last month. His remarks were made during his weekly briefing with reporters in the Blue Room at the Capitol. (Photo by Barbara Hoberock/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY  A key legislative leader said Tuesday he is pleased that Gov. Kevin Stitt has backed off his call to abolish the Forestry Service following historic March wildfires.

During a Tuesday interview with Oklahoma City television station News 9, the Republican governor said he no longer plans to abolish that state agency tasked with wildland fire detection and preserving the states forests. Stitts about-face came less than a day after he doubled down on his controversial call to shutter the agency and reallocate the funding to volunteer fire departments.

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Its encouraging to hear the governors shifting position of abolishing the forestry department, said House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow. I think Oklahomans said loud and clear that is not a good idea.

Stitt told the television station Tuesday that he threatened to close the Forestry Service because his administration was not getting answers about the deployment of resources.

Listen, we are not going to get rid of forestry, Stitt told the station on Tuesday. I love our forestry. Those guys are doing what they are told. The bureaucracy at the top, their management let them down by not deploying them accurately.

He told the TV station Tuesday that he had fired a couple more people at the top level at forestry because  they were  it was insubordination.

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Stitt said Agriculture Secretary Blayne Arthur could not get answers from administrators in Forestry Services for three weeks.

Stitts office did not respond to Oklahoma Voices requests for comment on Tuesday.

During a press availability last week, Stitt first expressed frustration over how the agency responded to historic wildfires that began March 14. He lost a ranch in the fires.

Nearly 158 wildfires swept across the state, killing four and destroying more than 500 homes.

Stitt has previously said he fired the agencys head, Mark Goeller, who denied wrongdoing. Many have expressed support for Goeller.

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I didnt think they did a really good job, Stitt said last week. Heres the deal. Why do I even have a Department of Forestry? Lets just get rid of the whole thing.

Goeller could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Stitts remarks drew criticism from legislative leaders, including Hilbert, and local and volunteer fire departments.

When asked about Stitts claims that other Forestry Service leaders had been disciplined, Kirsten Hollansworth, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, said Tuesday that the agency does not comment on personnel matters.

Stitt was also asked why he didnt declare a burn ban.

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It didnt hit the threshold at that point, is what they told me, Stitt said.

Stitts office did not respond to a question from Oklahoma Voice on Tuesday about whether he was out of town in March.

A Tulsa television station reported that Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, was acting governor during a portion of the fires.

While Stitt has said half of the resources were not deployed, his office did not respond to a request for additional information.

Stitts office said Tuesday afternoon in a press release that he had formed a fire response working group to enhance Oklahomas wildfire mitigation, suppression, and recovery capabilities.

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A poster reads, "bell to bell, no cell" at the Jenks Public Schools Math and Science Center, where students are prohibited from using cellphones during class time. Oklahoma lawmakers are considering multiple bills that would restrict student cellphone use during the school day. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY  A Senate committee has approved a House bill calling for cellphone bans in public schools, setting the stage for final negotiations on a major policy priority for Oklahoma lawmakers.

The Senate Education Committee advanced House Bill 1276 with a 7-4 vote on Tuesday. Similar legislation from the Senate is on the agenda for the House Common Education Committees meeting Wednesday.

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HB 1276 would require every district in the state to develop a policy restricting student use of cellphones and personal electronic devices for the entire school day, starting next school year. The bill leaves the door open for local school boards to opt out and continue permitting student cellphone use in their districts.

Similar legislation that originated in the Senate, SB 139, would mandate a cellphone ban in all public schools for a year with no chance for districts to opt out until after the 2025-26 academic year. Districts would have the choice after the first year whether to keep the prohibition in place.

Each version would allow students to use their cellphones for medically necessary reasons or in emergency cases.

Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, and Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, are the authors of both bills.

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If both bills pass the committee stage, Seifried said House and Senate lawmakers will discuss which version has the most support from the full Legislature.

Allowing districts the chance to opt out of the cellphone ban has been a priority of the House, Seifried said. The message she heard most often from fellow senators is lets get it done, she said.

Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, is the author of two bills that would restrict cellphone use in schools. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)

I think well eventually get together and decide which version will pass and which can gain the most consensus, Seifried said after the committee vote. We wanted to get both through committee. We really are working together on this quite closely, and so thatll be for us to decide in the coming weeks.

House lawmakers passed HB 1276 with overwhelming support from both parties. The Senate passed SB 139 along party lines.

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The policy of restricting cellphones in schools has enjoyed vocal support from Gov. Kevin Stitt and legislative leaders. If one of the measures becomes law, Oklahoma would join nine other states, including California and Arkansas, that have enacted a ban on cellphones in schools.

Oklahoma lawmakers have been looking into the issue since before the 2025 session began. Both chambers hosted fall interim studies examining the detriments of digital media on children and the benefits of cellphone bans in Oklahoma schools that already have these restrictions in place.

Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, speaks during a swearing-in ceremony Nov. 20 in the House chamber of the Oklahoma State Capitol. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)

Caldwell said he and Seifried agree educators, parents and students would recognize the positive impact once a statewide ban is in place.

He decided to include a district opt-out provision in HB 1276, he said, after having conversations with House leadership and fellow representatives. Caldwell said he hopes both the House and Senate versions advance past the committee stage for consideration in final negotiations.

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This truly has a chance to make transformative change in our schools, and thats not something we get a chance to do every day, Caldwell said.

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Apr. 7LIMA  A two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Market Street and Kenilworth Avenue on Tuesday, April 1, resulted in a driver suffering minor injuries and being transported to Mercy Health-St. Rita's Medical Center.

Frank D. Kahle, 64, was traveling westbound on Market Street in a 2020 Honda Accord, while Javion Haithcock, 19, was traveling northbound on Kenilworth Avenue in a 2024 Ford Expedition.

Haithcock's vehicle stopped at a stop sign but proceeded into the oncoming vehicle of Kahle, who did not have a stop sign at the intersection, according to the crash report.

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The vehicle of Kahle struck the left front bumper of the vehicle of Haithcock, causing functional damage to both vehicles.

Haithcock was transported to St. Rita's with suspected minor injuries.

Reach Cade Higgins at 567-242-0351

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Improper handling of deli meat can lead to serious illness should the food come into contact with harmful bacteria. In some instances, contamination occurs while deli meat is being processed, which can lead to widespread sickness should the manufacturer distribute the affected products. That's what happened in 2002, when Pilgrim's Pride, a food manufacturer based in Texas, was forced to recall 27 million pounds of processed turkey and chicken after tests found evidence of listeria in the floor drains of a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania meat processing plant. These products, sold under the company's Wampler Foods brand, were ultimately linked to a large listeria outbreak affecting the Northeastern U.S., which claimed the lives of seven people and was cited in 39 illnesses.

Listeriosis doesn't usually cause serious effects in healthy individuals, who may experience mild issues like nausea, headache, diarrhea, and fever for a few days before the infection resolves on its own. On the other hand, pregnant people, the elderly, and those with decreased immune function can experience serious, sometimes life-threatening symptoms when exposed to listeria. Past listeria outbreaks involving deli meat have shown that you can potentially avoid illness by heating the meat to 165 degrees Fahrenheit before eating, washing your hands frequently, and sanitizing your refrigerator on a regular basis.

Read more: 11 Mail-Order Steaks Ranked From Worst To Best

What Happened To Pilgrim's Pride In The Recall's Aftermath?

Wampler Foods trailers outside during daytime - William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

As shown by the most deadly food recalls in American history, a list that includes Boar's Head deli meats and Jalisco cheese, legal action often accompanies recalls that are believed to cause significant illness or loss of life. That's also true of Pilgrim's Pride and its recalled poultry products, as the company agreed to settle four lawsuits for an undisclosed amount in 2006. The company only agreed to the settlements after its requests for the cases to be thrown out were denied. Additionally, Pilgrim's Pride emphasized that it did not believe its products were linked to the subsequent illness and deaths that resulted from the larger outbreak because no listeria was actually found in samples of its meat products.

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Despite the controversy surrounding the company (now known as Pilgrim's) at the time of the recall, it continues to operate in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and it has also established operations in Mexico, the U.K., and throughout Europe. It's also worth noting that while the Pilgrim's deli meat recall was a massive undertaking, the estimated annual output of poultry products in the U.S. at the time was in excess of 30 billion pounds, which may put the recall figure into better perspective.

Read the original article on Mashed.
OPELIKA, Ala. (WRBL)  Nearly 25 years after a brutal homicide stunned an Opelika neighborhood, investigators are renewing their plea to the public for help solving the murder of 75-year-old Mary Elece Rice Rearden. The State of Alabama is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

On Labor Day, Monday, September 4, 2000, Reardens daughter, Charlotte, made a horrifying discovery at her mothers home in the 200 block of 2nd Avenue. Charlotte had become concerned after being unable to reach Mary by phone and decided to stop by the house. She found her mothers body in the hallway, surrounded by a large amount of blood.

It was clear the elderly woman had fought for her life. Responding officers observed signs of a violent struggle. Rearden had sustained multiple defensive stab wounds to her right forearm and additional stab wounds to her back. Investigators believe the assailant entered through a bedroom window and ambushed Mary in the living room. Despite the apparent violence, nothing seemed to have been taken from the home. However, neighbors reported Marys residence had been broken into at least twice in the months leading up to her death.

Reardens 2nd Avenue home where she was discovered by her daughter

An autopsy confirmed Rearden died from blunt force trauma and strangulation. Her death was ruled a homicide.

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Despite years of relentless investigation, the case surrounding the unsolved murder of Mary remains open, said Captain John Hester of the Opelika Police Department. We hope that renewing interest and appealing to the public for any information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, will help bring closure to Marys family and justice to her memory.

Detectives have followed every lead over the years, including DNA testing of individuals connected to the case and extensive interviews with numerous persons of interest. Still, no arrest has been made.

If you have any information to help solve the murder of Mary Rearden, please contact the Opelika Police Detective Division at (334) 705-5220 or call the Secret Witness Hotline at (334) 745-8665. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through the Opelika Police Mobile App.

Tips can also be shared with Central Alabama Crime Stoppers at (334) 215-STOP (7867), toll-free at 1-833-AL1-STOP, via Facebook at Facebook.com/215stop, or on their website at www.215STOP.com.

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WASHINGTON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the Donald Trump administration could continue to use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants alleged to be gang members.

The court's ruling overturned the District Court for the District of Columbia's decision on Trump administration's employment of the wartime authority, which had temporarily blocked the deportation of some Venezuelan immigrants to a foreign prison in El Salvador.

The District Court had ordered a pause on plaintiffs' removals until it could consider their motion for a preliminary injunction at a hearing on Tuesday. The Trump administration then asked the Supreme Court to weigh in ahead of the hearing.

"The detainees are confined in Texas, so venue is improper in the District of Columbia," said the Supreme Court's ruling.

In mid-March, the Trump administration started sending scores of Venezuelan immigrants detained in the United States to a foreign prison in El Salvador, using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which was previously invoked only three times: during the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain, World War I, and World War II.

The Trump administration claimed these Venezuelan migrants are all members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and that their removals were allowed under the act.

Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello earlier cited a report by The New York Times, which found no evidence linking deported Venezuelans to the gang, adding that Tren de Aragua had already been dismantled by Venezuelan security forces.

Lawyers representing some of those targeted then challenged the order in the federal court in Washington D.C., arguing that they were deported without any due process of law. 
As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its 18th month, and amid renewed fighting in Gaza, polling data reveal that Americans remain steadfast in their support for Israels defense.

Research conducted by our firm, Schoen Cooperman Research, in collaboration with the Israel on Campus Coalition, indicates that despite the cessation of a roughly two-month truce, Americans continue to endorse Israels right to self-defense.

To be sure, strong support for Israels right to self-defense cuts across party lines, with more than 9 in 10 (92 percent) of Republicans, 81 percent of independents and 80 percent of Democrats supporting the Jewish State.

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In fact, support for Israel has risen over the last six weeks, with 85 percent of adults supporting Israels right to defend itself, a 4-point increase since Februarys survey.

Further, the poll, which we have regularly conducted on behalf of the Israel on Campus Coalition since the war began reveals that Americans continue to support Israels twin goals of rescuing the remaining 59 hostages and removing Hamas from Gaza.

Indeed, Americans overwhelmingly agree (83 percent) that as long as Hamas is holding hostages and firing rockets into Israel, Israel has the right to take military action to rescue hostages, disarm Hamas and force the terrorist group to negotiate.

Similarly, following the collapse of a ceasefire that had existed from late January through mid-March, we find that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans view Israels renewed military campaign in Gaza as justified.

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That cease-fire, which saw dozens of Israeli hostages freed in exchange for roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, was supposed to lead to future negotiations that would have ended the war. The U.S. and Israel have blamed Hamas for the deals collapse.

Officials from both countries have said that the groups refusal to negotiate the release of the remaining hostages and the staged parades hostages were forced to endure, as well as its ongoing attacks against Israel, brought about the deals end. Indeed, on Sunday night, Hamas fired a barrage of 10 rockets into Southern Israel, targeting the city of Ashdod.

In that same vein, as we noted last month, Americans continue to strongly believe (83 percent) that any final ceasefire in Gaza must require Hamass removal from power.

However, the terrorist group has refused to disarm, pledged to repeat more Oct. 7-style attacks, and continues to target Israelis and Jews with genocidal ambitions.

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Put another way, Americans strong support for Israel is almost certainly due to a recognition of Hamass radical, violent, antisemitic ideology, and that Hamas is determined to commit more atrocities against the Jewish State, inevitably resulting in more lives lost on both sides.

To that end, slightly more than 8 in 10 (81 percent) of Americans think that, if Hamas stayed in power, another Oct. 7-style attack would be likely.

And nearly 9 in 10 (86 percent) Americans agree that Palestinians are suffering because Hamas started a war by attacking Israel on Oct. 7, massacring 1,200 people and kidnapping 250 civilians.

Interestingly, although this poll was conducted immediately after the collapse of the ceasefire, it was not conducted before the news that Hamas had quietly updated its official casualty list. It removed thousands of names previously claimed killed by Israel  among those removed were more than 1,000 children.

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Still, even before that news was released, when presented with a tradeoff scenario, nearly 7 in 10 (68 percent) Americans said Israel has the right to resume military action in Gaza due to Hamass intransience. Only 32 percent agreed with the assertion that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Moreover, as anti-Israel sentiment continues to plague college campuses, American adults generally, and college students specifically, support the federal governments efforts to push schools to do more to protect Jewish students.

The poll, which surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults and 450 college students, found that two-thirds (66 percent) of adults and a majority (56 percent) of college students support the government cutting funding to schools that fail to combat antisemitism or protect Jewish students.

Notably, both U.S. adults as well as college students also support tougher actions against non-U.S. citizens who participate in the anti-Israel protests.

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A majority (54 percent) of adults and a plurality (40 percent) of college students support measures including deporting non-citizens who partake in protests that promote antisemitism, violence against Jews or support Hamas, which is also a U.S.-designated terrorist group.

Campus leaders have routinely pledged to do more to address surging antisemitism on campus.

But, as the data makes clear, significant shares of the American population feel they are not up to the job and support the government stepping in.

Taken together, our latest poll underscores that despite outsized attention given to anti-Israel sentiment in the U.S., Americans continue supporting Israels right to self-defense.

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At the same time, as crackdowns on rampant antisemitism on college campuses continue, this data should serve as a wake-up call for university administrations.

They must do more to protect their Jewish students, and if they dont, they will find little sympathy from an American public, including their own students, that supports tough consequences.

Douglas E. Schoen and Carly Cooperman are pollsters and partners with the public opinion company Schoen Cooperman Research based in New York. They are co-authors of the book,  America: Unite or Die. 

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could strip millions of Medicaid recipients of their right to choose their health care provider, marking a new battle over reproductive rights in the U.S.

In Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, the court will decide whether Medicaid recipients can challenge a states decision to block them from accessing care at Planned Parenthood Health Centers. At issue is the freedom of choice provision, a federal law establishing that Medicaid patients can obtain care from any qualified provider.

This case could set a precedent allowing states to dictate health care options based on political ideology rather than medical needs.

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A ruling against Planned Parenthood would be a historic shift, permitting states to exclude providers simply because they offer abortion services  even though Medicaid funds are already prohibited from covering abortion in most cases. The freedom of choice provision is a longstanding and widely accepted law, so much that the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals repeatedly rejected South Carolinas attempts to terminate Planned Parenthood as a provider under Medicaid.

So why is the Supreme Court taking the case? Because anti-abortion activists are relentless in their attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. Ending Planned Parenthoods participation in Medicaid is part of a decades-long plan to financially hurt the organization and a Project 2025 strategy that has gained traction since Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization and under the Trump administration.

Its no coincidence that the Alliance for Defending Freedom (the group behind the efforts to revoke the Food and Drug Administrations approval for the abortion medication mifepristone) is representing the state of South Carolina.

Based on last weeks arguments, it was clear that the justices were skeptical about the case, and both liberal and conservative justices had major questions about the validity of South Carolinas argument.

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Beyond politics, this case has major public health implications. First, attacks on Planned Parenthood threaten abortion and reproductive health access nationwide. If successful, the case could shutter clinics, cutting off access to critical abortion care for people across the U.S.  even in states where abortion remains legal after the Dobbs decision.

Millions could lose access to contraception, testing for sexually transmitted infections, HIV treatment, gender-affirming care, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and more. Research shows that limiting reproductive health services has horrific ripple effects, reducing access to the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health care.

Second, this case threatens the very structure of Medicaid, one of our most effective bipartisan anti-poverty measures. For over six decades, Medicaid has played a crucial role in helping people afford reproductive health services. Medicaid covers 1 in 5 people in the U.S. (just over 83 million people), the majority of whom are people of color because of systemic racism.

Medicaid is also the largest public funder of family planning services, covering 41 percent of births in the U.S. Expanding Medicaid services has improved access to prenatal and postpartum care, contraception, HIV screenings and abortion care. If the court allows states to block providers for ideological reasons, Medicaid patients could lose access to high-quality, affordable care that meets their needs.

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The status of reproductive rights in the U.S. is changing quickly. Last weeks oral arguments are coming just days after the Trump administration attempted to freeze millions of dollars in federal family planning grants, and weeks after the administration dismissed the case the Biden administration brought against Idaho, claiming that the states abortion ban violates the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.

It is clear that the Medina case will have far-reaching impacts on the health and well-being of people who use the Medicaid program, and is part of a coordinated affront to reproductive health care in the U.S. It is crucial that everyone who cares about health care access and the freedom to choose your health care provider to understand the Medina case. All eyes must be on the Supreme Court as it decides on a core pillar of our nations reproductive health safety net.

Dana M. Johnson, Ph.D., is a health disparities research postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Terri-Ann Thompson, Ph.D., is a senior research scientist at Ibis Reproductive Health.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Collateral damage is primarily a military term, and it is perhaps the best way to describe what some families of Americas service members have become in the face of Elon Musk and the Trump administrations chainsaw approach to cutting government spending. Child care shortages on military bases, proposed health care cuts impacting military families, and overall chaotic uncertainty for service members with children could cause material harm to our national security  and shows the folly of thinking that family policy is severable from budget decisions.

In mid-March, one of the two child care centers run by the Department of Defense (DOD) at Utahs Hill Air Force Base (Hill AFB) was forced to close due to staffing shortages. As the Salt Lake Tribune reported, base officials issued a statement that explained, several recent departures in conjunction with the hiring freeze have reduced the number of supervisors and trainers available. The result is 31 families without child care. Similarly, Petersen Space Force Base in Colorado had to close an infant classroom and ask for eight volunteer families to be shunted to an unfamiliar provider in town, lest families start to be released from the child care program. The reason, a base official explained in a memo cited in Air & Space Forces Magazine, was that due to ongoing staffing challenges related to our adherence to the current administration guidance and recent impacts from the hiring freeze the [child development center] is facing a critical shortage of qualified childcare providers.

The hiring freeze in question is the immediate civilian hiring freeze instituted by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Feb. 28 in response to the presidents Feb. 26 executive order related to the Department of Government Efficiency. While a follow-up memo on March 18 exempted child care employees from the freeze, the damage was done.

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Child care positions are hard enough to hire for given low pay resulting from Americas longstanding decision to treat child care more like an individual commodity like a gym membership than a vital part of our social and economic infrastructure. The job of shepherding young childrens development is difficult; add insecurity from the administrations actions around the federal workforce, and its easy to imagine many would-be educators looking elsewhere. At any rate, filling empty roles is not like flipping a switch. As the Hill AFB spokesperson said, The hiring, on-boarding, and training process will take time.

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The importance of child care for national security is indisputable. Among other things, the presence of good, reliable child care has been linked to service members improved job performance and retention. Mark Esper put it plainly in his 2019 confirmation hearing to be President Donald Trumps second secretary of defense: I understand very well the impact issues such as  child care and spousal employment have on the readiness of our service members. Esper added that, You cannot ask a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine to go out and deploy and be worried about whats happening at home. Nor is this a small cohort: the National Military Family Association notes that 40% of service members have minor children, and 38% of those children are under age 5.

The Trump administrations actions are all the more harmful because they are layered onto an already shaky foundation. The U.S. military child care system is regularly held up as one of the nations strongest models, with relatively high-quality offerings backed by over $1 billion annually in federal dollars. Yet the system continues to be plagued by staffing difficulties and long waiting lists due to inadequate supply. As of 2023, according to the Senate Committee on Armed Services, there were around 12,000 children on waitlists and the military was lacking nearly 4,000 child care providers.

All of this goes to show that half-measures will not work in child care. According to the Government Accountability Office, as of January 2024, starting pay for DOD child care providers was $18.21 an hour. The ceiling for non-entry-level staff is $29.06 an hour. Yearly turnover in the Air Force and Army child care programs is around 50%. While DOD pay is modestly better than the average in civilian programs, and there are certainly unique features to the military child care equation (for instance, many military child care providers are the spouses of service members, so when the service member is transferred, they necessarily depart), this is not the picture of a healthy system.

The last thing military families needed, then, was more precarity. Kayla Corbitt, a military child care advocate, explained that the Trump administrations actions were making staffing extra difficult, saying, Nobody really knows what direction were going when every day you wake up and theres a headline about 2,000 or 5,000 or 10,000 people being laid off.

Because so many military members have children  to say nothing of all those working in government departments and private companies that support the defense industrial base  one cannot wield a budget chainsaw without hitting the vital connective tissue of military and military-adjacent families. For all of the posturing about supporting our brave warriors, the Trump administration must understand that weakening the nations child care system weakens our national defense.
UPDATE (April 9, 2025, 2:12 p.m. ET): On Wednesday President Donald Trump shared on social media that he is raising U.S. tariff charges on China to 125%. For other countries, the president said in the post, he is issuing a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, during which time he will lower tariff charges to 10%.

Youre not alone if youre struggling to understand the back-and-forth between China and the U.S. over tariffs. Even Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared confused, answering, I think it is, when asked if a 34% tariff President Donald Trump said he was imposing on Chinese goods imported into the U.S. was to be added to the 20% tariff that already existed. On Monday morning, Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on China if it does not reverse the retaliatory 34% tariff on U.S. goods it announced last Friday.

What does this trade war, including Chinas retaliation, mean and what can markets, consumers and companies expect to come? Remember that the most significant U.S. products and assets in China are services and intellectual property. Chinese authorities can decide to outright ban these things. They could, as reports in the Los Angeles Times, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter suggested Tuesday, refuse to screen Hollywood movies. But there's plenty China has already done.

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Chinas across-the-board 34% tariffs on U.S. goods is a clear tit-for-tat, and on top of that, China placed 11 U.S. companies on its unreliable entity list, thereby preventing those firms from doing business with Chinese firms.

China also announced an antitrust investigation last week into DuPont, which is its way of exercising leverage over a major U.S. firm. China has threatened similar investigations into Google, Nvidia and more. The speed of Chinas retaliatory actions is significant; the government announced its moves on a national holiday. Even Chinese citizens most likely thought the government would wait until the weekend to retaliate.

Trump may have expected that the tariffs would bring the Chinese to the table, or at least that Mondays threat of an additional 50% would move them to action. But the Peoples Republic does not work through humiliation and threat  even if the tariffs will hurt them.

China is angry, determined to show resolve in the face of American strong-arming and in no way ready to make a deal with the Trump administration. That is, if Trumps administration is even looking to negotiate. The administration has floated multiple and mutually exclusive rationales for the historic tariffs  including negotiation leverage, revenue generation and shoring up jobs and manufacturing in the U.S. Even if the Chinese were interested in negotiations, they have no idea whom to talk to and are reluctant to expose themselves, and particularly Chinese President Xi Jinping, to any kind of uncertainty in atmospherics.

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The Chinese economy is by no means dependent on exports to the U.S., but it is already in deep trouble. Since lifting its Covid-19 restrictions, its economy has been dragged down by devastating property sector breakdown, local government fiscal crisis and structurally low domestic demand. That last part means Chinese households dont want to part with their income given uncertainty about aging parents, a weak job market, cycles of crackdowns in China over the last few years and weak government provision of social and public services.

Chinas household consumption has been worryingly low for decades, and Chinas policymakers have tried in multiple ways to stimulate domestic demand since at least the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s. But the countrys economy has grown even with lagging domestic demand, partly because of the demand for exports. China has pushed capital into manufacturing, generating more products  including electric vehicles, semiconductors, robotics and also toys, furniture and textiles  that someone, somewhere has to consume.

The Trump administrations tariffs apply not only to China but also to its trading partners outside the U.S., meaning that even if China does not depend as much on U.S. demand (exports to the U.S. from China have fallen as a percentage of Chinas total exports from 20% in 2018 to 15% in 2024), the shock to global demand may affect Chinas economy quite deeply.

What can we expect from China in the months and years to come? The most ironic outcome of Trumps tariffs on China and beyond may be that they provide a serious impetus for China to make domestic economic reforms to adapt. Not to capitulate to U.S. accusations or adopt a different economic model, but perhaps to finally undertake the fiscal and financial reforms that would actually get Chinese households to spend their money.

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My Chinese colleagues have been using a Chinese idiom that roughly translates: Circumstances will force them when they speculate about when and how Chinese authorities will forge meaningful reform to better allocate capital and reassure domestic markets. Trumps efforts may push China not to yield to U.S. strength but to reconfigure the sources of its own strength.

As for what will happen to companies here, U.S. firms cannot just quit China. The U.S. does not make all the intermediary goods that these firms require, but beyond that, competing in Chinas market, as risky and unfair as it is, is essential for U.S. companies competitiveness. A new report I co-wrote for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation shows exactly that: Even the companies who see China as the primary source of risk have plans to stay and compete there because, as one firm representative put it, our greatest fear is that we are surprised by competitors from China elsewhere in the world.

Firms can and will do business in and with China and, ideally, exercise risk management so they can benefit from Chinas dynamism and minimize the threat. But now they are managing risk not only with an emboldened Chinese government but also with an unpredictable American one.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
The United States' new attitude toward Europe has never been communicated as brutally as it was in the Signal chat messages published by The Atlantic. I just hate bailing Europe out again, wrote Vice President JD Vance in reference to planned airstrikes against the Houthi militia in Yemen to restore safe shipping routes. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth replied: I fully share your loathing of European freeloading. It's pathetic.

For those in Europe who still hope to rely on the U.S. as a protective power, these messages are a wake-up call. Does this sound like a global superpower ready to send American troops  or deploy nuclear weapons  in the event of a Russian attack on a NATO ally? As doubts grow in Europe over whether the U.S. still feels bound by its Article 5 commitments under the NATO treaty, leading security experts are warning loudly about the possibility that the United States is no longer prepared to come to Europes aid. German security expert Carlo Masala of Bundeswehr University has urged NATO to prepare for a potential Russian invasion of the Baltics, with 2029 being discussed in security circles as a possible flashpoint year. Rene Obermann, chair of Airbus supervisory board, predicts an attack on NATOs eastern flank could come even sooner.

If Washington truly abandons its role as the worlds police officer, Europe would struggle to counter Russian President Vladimir Putins army, at least in that time frame. Many European countries, especially Germany, have neglected their own military in recent decades. While Russia has converted everything to a war economy, parts of Europe have only just woken up from the dream of a peaceful world. Military experts proclaim that it will take more than four years to manufacture an arsenal of conventional weapons of the size needed to counter a Russian invasion. While most observers consider a Russian attack on Germany unlikely, even this is not an impossible scenario.

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Thats why, to deter Russia, Germany and Europe need their own nuclear shield.

Germany has long been reluctant to have its own nuclear weapons, in part because of its 20th century history of militarism. But since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, its clear that the prospect of a Russian attack on Europe is no longer just theoretical. We need to build up our defenses as quickly as possible. Now, the debate among leaders at the highest levels of power is increasingly not whether or not Germany should arm but what that arrangement will look like.

Nuclear weapons can and should be a part of this rearmament, to save both time and money. The effectiveness of nuclear deterrence is well known from the Cold War and its doctrine of mutually assured destruction. For decades, neither the U.S. nor Russia used nuclear weapons because each knew that the other would retaliate even more devastatingly. Whoever strikes first dies second.

Today, this deterrence is also working for Israel, which calls it the Samson Option  a military doctrine inspired by the biblical figure Samson, who brought down a temples pillars and killed thousands of his enemies along with himself when he faced certain death. If Israel were to face an existential threat, it is reportedly prepared to use its nuclear weapons and risk triggering a nuclear war. Although Israel has never officially confirmed possessing nuclear weapons, this strategy appears effective  most recently against Iran.

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For Germany, developing its own, nationally controlled nuclear weapons is not a realistic option. The country has twice legally renounced nuclear arms: first in 1975 under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and again in 1990 through the Two Plus Four Agreement, which allowed the reunification of Germany. However, discussions are already underway about Germany participating in Frances nuclear arsenal through shared control mechanisms.

Yet relying solely on France seems risky especially with French nationalist Marine Le Pen, a known Russia sympathizer, or another figure from her nationalist party potentially taking over the Elysee Palace in the near future. A broader European solution also involving Britains nuclear capabilities  and possibly Poland as a front-line state  would be far more prudent.

Of course, there are complex questions to address, such as who would exercise command authority over Europes nuclear weapons. It is difficult to imagine any French president sharing or relinquishing control over decisions regarding a nuclear strike. But this critical debate must not be dismissed simply because there are no easy answers. There can be no taboos here.

Wolfgang Ischinger, chair of the Munich Security Conference Foundation Council, recently outlined an unconventional but compelling idea in Die Welt  stationing French nuclear weapons either temporarily or permanently in Germany or Poland. Following the model of Germanys current nuclear sharing arrangement with the U.S., these weapons could be launched by partner nations using suitable aircraft.

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Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has shown courage and strategic foresight by expressing openness to such considerations after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. If Merz succeeds in convincing his future coalition partners  as well as allies in Paris, London and Warsaw  of the necessity for joint European nuclear capabilities, he could continue the legacy of European integration forged by statesmen like former German chancellors Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl. Merz has an opportunity to shape what would become a new European defense union, one no longer dependent on the United States, including for nuclear deterrence.

Europe must finally become capable of defending itself. The leaders of Germany, France, the U.K. and Poland could even set up a direct hotline to manage the joint arsenal. Just please dont set it up over Signal.
Another day, another mega-law firm takes a knee before President Trump. That makes four and counting.

Milbank LLP is the latest firm to reach a settlement to resolve or avoid a punitive Trump executive order that revokes its lawyers security clearances, bars them from entering federal buildings and terminates government contracts with the firm and its clients, if the firm does legal work on those contracts.

Wherever law firms have fought these executive orders, courts have ruled them unconstitutional.

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Like the other settling firms, Milbank insisted that the settlement terms would not make any significant changes to the firms current practices and involved commitments that the organization is happy to do anyway.

Given the vague nature of Milbanks commitments under the settlement, which include hiring lawyers with a diversity of political views and engaging in $100 million worth of pro bono work for causes mutually supported by Trump and the firm, that seems a bit optimistic.

What if the Trump administration is dissatisfied with Milbanks attempt at the political version of DEI  thats exactly what it is  because the firm only hired lawyers who worked in the George W. Bush administration? For example: You havent hired any lawyers who served in the Trump administrations or lawyers who worked on Project 2025. Nothing in the agreement appears to prevent the administration from imposing the executive order until it is satisfied with Milbanks political hiring.

Take the pro bono commitment to combat antisemitism. More and more American Jews, as the New York Times recently reported, are concerned that the administration is using allegations of antisemitism as an excuse for strong-arm tactics that evoke past eras of Jewish oppression, such as the arrest of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University. Masked immigration agents in plainclothes detained Ozturk, presumably because she co-authored an opinion essay for a student newspaper calling on Tufts to speak out against Israels war in Gaza. A federal district court judge in Boston temporarily blocked deportation, but Ozturk remains in detention.

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The Trump administration might demand that Milbank file an amicus brief on behalf of a conservative organization arguing that Ozturk should be deported even if she was only exercising her First Amendment rights. Milbank might decline if troubled by Ozturks arrest  but enough refusals and the Trump administration would start waving an executive order.

Ordinarily, settlements spell out the obligations of each party, and include detailed definitions and sometimes elaborate dispute-resolution mechanisms if a disagreement arises over a partys compliance. I doubt that Milbank or any of the settling law firms would have recommended that one of their clients sign a settlement agreement that did not include such terms  yet that is what these firms have done.

Milbank and the other settling firms might protest that it was either cede some firm governance to Trump or game over for them. This all brings to mind a scene from Tom Wolfes great novel The Bonfire of the Vanities, which skewered 1980s New York City.

A partner in a big law firm is approached by a client for advice on how to deal with a barrage of lawsuits from a shady character. The client says that he is considering using the mob to handle the matter. But the lawyer firmly advises against that, in words that aptly describe the Sword of Damocles over all law firms that settled with Trump.

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You let me take care of it. It wont be fast and itll cost you a lot of money. But my bill you can pay, says the fictional law firm partner to his client. No one is rich enough to pay them. Theyll keep collecting until the day you die.

Gregory J. Wallance was a federal prosecutor in the Carter and Reagan administrations and a member of the ABSCAM prosecution team, which convicted a U.S. senator and six representatives of bribery. He is the author of Into Siberia: George Kennans Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Apr. 8At this moment, special interest groups are trying to sway Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham one way or another as she contemplates signing bills from the 2025 legislative session into law. But we don't know which lobbyists are making plays as we approach the April 11 deadline. And that's a problem. Our state doesn't require organizations and lobbyists to disclose what particular bills they are working for or against. But one bill waiting for a signature, House Bill 143, would change that. The bill would require lobbyists to disclose which bills they worked on and their position. The public deserves to know how bills are made and who tried to influence them. Lujan Grisham should sign this common-sense bill to improve transparency and the public's trust in the legislative process.

Lobbying isn't a problem. Lobbyists in the Roundhouse can be valuable resource because of their expertise and subject-matter knowledge. They are well organized and can shed light on any unintended consequences of legislation, and help humanize issues with testimony from affected parties. They can keep doing that work. This bill wouldn't restrict lobbying. Experts and interest groups should be able to voice their perspectives to lawmakers. But by operating in the shadows, their work creates distrust among voters and gives the appearance that lawmakers are serving special interests and government insiders instead of voters.

Opponents of the measure say the bill would create bureaucratic red tape and steer experts away from participation. But the disclosure process could be streamlined with a simple online portal, and there's plenty of time to work out any glitches before the new rules begin in 2027. And the critics' argument also misses a crucial point: The status quo is a problem. OpenSecrets.org, in a 2022 report, compared lobbying disclosure trends across different states and ranked New Mexico near bottom. The bill shouldn't be politically controversial. Our neighboring liberal and conservative states have much better lobbying disclosure scores. OpenSecrets gave Colorado a score of 18 out of 20. Texas scored a 16.25. New Mexico, meanwhile, was scored at 8.25.

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The time is right for change. Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, has been introducing similar bills for roughly 15 years. All the efforts stalled. But this year, New Mexico welcomed in a new crop of lawmakers. There were 28 new senators and representatives, along with changes in leadership and committees. The new lawmakers, which include the bill's other sponsor, Rep. Sarah Silva, D-Las Cruces, were able to avoid falling into a trap of: It's something we do because it's something we've done. At a time when the public trust in government is near the historic low, adding more transparency to the lawmaking process will only help reverse that trend.

The cost of such disclosures is negligible. A fiscal impact report found HB143 would have a one-time cost of $60,000 to $65,000 to set up the reporting system, and then a paltry $11,000 annual cost to maintain the module.

During her first campaign for governor, Lujan Grisham participated in a debate hosted by the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. During her remarks, she said: "I spent my entire career fighting for transparency and open government, because I find all too often that government is closed, secret and unaccountable." She pledged that if elected she would usher in a "new culture of government openness." And because of the work of this year's Legislature, an opportunity for her to do just that is literally sitting on her desk.
The day after President Donald Trump was sworn into office for his first term, he was met with the largest single-day protest in American history. But the second time around, the protests surrounding Trumps inauguration were comparably muted  they were a fraction of the size, and generated far less impact than the first round. The disparity seemed to capture the demoralized, depleted mood among Americans who opposed Trump and stared slack-jawed as he won the popular vote upon his third attempt at the White House.

Yet on Saturday, mass protests swept the nation, and it could mean that dissenting Americans are finding their voices again. At a time when Trump is moving aggressively to crack down on intellectual and political dissent at universities, last weekends protests represented a massive rebuke of the Trump administration  and suggested the left is regaining its footing, as it figures out how to fight back.

Saturdays Hands Off! rallies were backed by a large coalition of organizations that included civil rights groups, labor unions, climate groups, progressive activist outfits and left-wing groups like the Democratic Socialists of America. The organizers put forth three demands: an end to the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration; an end to slashing federal funds for Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs working people rely on; and an end to the attacks on immigrants, trans people, and other communities.

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The turnout was big: Over 1,000 Hands Off protests were planned across all 50 states, and organizers said turnout far exceeded the turnout of 500,000 RSVPs. There arent any independent estimates of national turnout, but dense, large crowds made their presence known in many cities. Per The New York Times:

On Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the protest stretched for nearly 20 blocks. In Chicago, thousands flooded Daley Plaza and adjacent streets, while, in the nations capital, tens of thousands surrounded the Washington Monument. In Atlanta, the police estimated the crowd marching to the gold-domed statehouse at over 20,000.

In addition to the crowds of thousands  or tens of thousands  who showed up in cities and towns across the nation, protests also took place abroad in cities including London, Paris and Berlin.

Like all mass protests, the messages conveyed at these ones were diverse and sprawled beyond the overarching themes of the organizers. Protest signs expressed concern about free speech at a time when Trump is trying to quash it by bullying universities and attempting to deport legal immigrants who express pro-Palestinian speech. There were objections to Trumps global economy-destabilizing tariff regime. In Washington, D.C., a rally for Gaza, in which protesters marched to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters, took place adjacent to the main Hands Off rally. And a lot of signs framed Trump and billionaire Elon Musk as posing a fascist threat to the country.

People gather for the "Hands Off!" protest against the policies of President Donald Trump and his adviser, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, outside the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, Mich., on April 5.

The broad scope of the protests mirrors the broad scope of Trumps assault on our republic  and underscores how big of a tent the anti-Trump coalition is going to need to be to effectively resist Trumps dismantling of the administrative state, social services and democratic institutions.

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To be sure, though its been on a smaller scale and less noticed, there actually has been a lot of protest activity in the first few months of Trumps second administration. Indivisible, a liberal grassroots network, was effective in encouraging outraged citizens to go to town halls to make noise and hold Republicans accountable  so much so that the National Republican Congressional Committee advised GOP lawmakers to stop attending town halls rather than face their constituents wrath. Musks Tesla has been the object of boycotts and protests that appear to be hurting its bottom line. Anti-DOGE protests have taken place across the country for months. And while the Democratic Party leadership has largely shown itself to be feckless and is increasingly losing the trust of its members, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has been drawing huge crowds in swing states across the U.S. with his Fighting Oligarchy Tour.

Demonstrators gather outside the Minnesota State Capitol during the nationwide "Hands Off!" protest, in St. Paul, Minn., on April 5.

It can be easy to overestimate the significance of a single protest, even a huge one. One-off protests can be forgotten rather quickly in an era where the news cycle moves at an unfathomable speed. And its relatively easy to get people to object to something; its far harder to get them to organize around a widely desired alternative.

Still, registering dissent is an important democratic exercise, and reports of older first-time protesters coming out to say no to Trump are positive signs. As the republic teeters on the edge of myriad crises, the left is exhausted and afraid. But on Saturday it reminded us its still here, and its not going to go quietly into the night.





This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Given the sheer volume of indiscriminate firings and funding cuts under the Trump administration, its understandable that one such outrage would slip by us with little media attention. Yet, if the number of messages Ive received from members of the first responder community are any indication, one particularly callous cut last week did not escape the attention of police officers, firefighters and federal agents who worked the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack sites in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

The Trump administration recently fired the head of the World Trade Center Health Program, and dismissed two-thirds of the entire staff at the programs parent agency, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The dismissals leave in doubt the future of the initiative that administers health care support for those who developed 9/11-related cancers, respiratory ailments and other medical issues.

Under the direction of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dr. John Howard, administrator of the WTC Health Program, was let go. So too were more than 800 doctors, epidemiologists and staffers throughout NIOSH whom the WTC team relies on to research, identify and address the myriad health issues related to the rescue, recovery and evidence collection efforts at the toxic 9/11 sites. When law enforcement and rescue workers develop cancers that may stem from those efforts, the WTC unit must first certify that the illness is 9/11-related before those patients can start to receive care under the program. While the 86 members of the WTC unit appear to remain employed, their essential support network at NIOSH is mostly gone, and officials and advocates assert these cuts will cripple the program.

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John Feal, a 9/11 first responder who helped lobby for passage of the James Zadroga Act that created the WTC Health Program, blasted the gutting of the program. He told the New York Daily News the cuts were the most reckless, careless, unconscionable, disgusting, and vile act against those in the 9/11 community that has been committed since Sept. 11, 2001.

Benjamin Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, who successfully fought for renewal of the act, was similarly scalding in his assessment. These cuts to NIOSH will be devastating to the World Trade Center Health Program and must be stopped. The first step must be restoring Dr. Howard as NIOSH Director immediately, Chevat said in a statement. He called the move another example of chainsaw incompetence.

The potential loss or minimization of the WTC Health Program is no small thing. As I wrote in 2023, first responders and investigators continue to die because of their exposure to the toxic air and materials of the 9/11 sites. At least 10 times as many New York police officers (241) have died of 9/11-related illnesses than the number of officers (23) who were killed the day of the attack. Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro, whose union represents FDNY rank-and-file firefighters, said in 2022 that he expected the number of firefighters dying of illnesses related to 9/11 to soon surpass the 343 FDNY personnel killed that day.

A similar phenomenon holds true for those who were deployed to the other crash sites. A 2021 report from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund said more people are now believed to have died of 9/11-related illnesses than were lost on September 11, 2001.

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The impact of the HHS cuts on the health of first responders is not limited to the WTC Health Program. NIOSH also runs a larger Center for Firefighter Safety, Health, and Well-being, which examines issues such as cancers developed by firefighters and whether firefighters personal protective equipment adequately safeguards them. Beyond the first responder community, NIOSHs mission is to help protect the safety of the working public, particularly those at greatest risk such as coal miners.

The potentially devastating hit to the WTC Health Program is particularly shocking, though, not just for its lack of compassion, but also because it will most impact a voting block believed to strongly support Trump. Police unions and organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police, publicly announced their backing for Trump in the last election. The international Association of Fire Fighters, for its part, declined to endorse a candidate after backing Joe Biden in 2020, and some individual local firefighter unions have supported Trump.

The president and his axe-wielding Cabinet members seem either blind to the impact of the WTC health program cuts on their own voters or they dont care. Either way, its likely that many 9/11 heroes and their families will never forget that Trump abandoned them.

Subscribe to Trumps First 100 Days newsletter for weekly updates on and expert insight into the key issues and figures defining his second term.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Some bills make headlines because they spark controversy. Others go unnoticed because they reflect something quieter but no less powerful: good governance. When a bill does exactly what its supposed to do  empower communities, ensure stability and prepare for the future  it may not be flashy, but its precisely what we need more of.

SB188, the School District Modifications bill, outlines how new school districts are created following the vote to split Utahs largest district. Crafted and sponsored by Sen. Keith Grover, R-Provo, it gives cities and school boards the tools they need to make reorganizations successful  tools grounded in flexibility, fairness and local decision-making. The bill received full bipartisan support and passed unanimously in both chambers before being signed by Gov. Spencer Cox.

Rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all solution or favoring one side over another, SB188 gives each new district room to succeed on its own terms. Without SB188s clarified code and process for dividing assets, these new districts would likely have faced costly legal battles. This new framework allows school boards to continue meeting student needs. It treats the divided district as a valuable partner, recognizing that those who will shape the new districts are best positioned to guide the transition.

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What made SB188 remarkable wasnt just what it did  it was how it was done. Grovers approach to the legislative process was deliberate and transparent. Months before the legislative session even began, he released a complete bill draft. That early start allowed time for feedback, collaboration and refinement long before any official hearing took place. Over the 45-day session, SB188 went through many revisions and five substitutes. Substitute 3 dropped 16 pages of code due to a lack of broad support. That willingness to test and refine produced a bill made to stand the test of time.

Throughout that process, Grover welcomed input from elected local leaders, school board members, educators and community members. When we allow open collaboration, good policy follows. Grover led with consistency and a commitment to solutions, demonstrating how thoughtful policymaking leads to better outcomes. Not everyone agreed with every final detail, but I trusted the process because of the honesty and transparency of a senator who cared more about lasting legislation than scoring political points.

Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, selected as the House sponsor, brought a unique and essential perspective. As a resident of the new district opposite Grover, she understood regional needs and contributed key additions. Her selection spoke volumes about the desire to get this legislation right.

The bill reflects lessons from the Jordan and Canyons district split, which faced early financial and structural challenges. SB188 avoids those pitfalls through safeguards and flexibility. It also refrains from making assumptions  it doesnt conclude that wealthier areas always separate from those with fewer resources. In the Alpine split, the area with the highest tax revenue and assets per student chose not to vote. Thats why this neutral, durable legislation can apply to any district split.

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Not every request made it into the final version. I had hoped for multiyear salary guarantees for employees. Instead, we got something more balanced: guaranteed jobs for contracted employees and salaries protected for one year. However, by limiting state mandates, SB188 reinforces that a districts success rests with us.

Good governance leaves room for local decisions. It is the responsibility of voters to elect principled, capable board members who prioritize employees and strengthen their districts. Lasting and supportive solutions come not from mandates but from trust, flexibility and local accountability.

Im not suggesting every bill must follow this process to reflect good governance, but I am saying this worked. It brought people from all perspectives together. It was principled and showed that with exemplary leadership, we can write laws that are fair, effective and built to last.

Grovers collaborative approach and transparent leadership made SB188 possible. Its a model  not just for Utah, but for how legislation should be made anywhere. When we focus on what matters, listen to differing opinions and take the time to truly understand the needs of those impacted by these changes, the results speak for themselves.
SACRAMENTO, United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Trump administration has revoked visas for more than 300 international students across the United States, a move confirmed by universities and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as part of a nationwide effort targeting foreign students.

"Maybe more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas," Rubio said during a press conference in Guyana on March 27.

Over the weekend, the visa revocations were reported by dozens of universities nationwide, including prestigious ones like Columbia, Cornell, Harvard and Stanford.

Many affected students had participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests. But university officials said that others with no connection to protests had also suffered visa revocations without explanation.

At Tufts University, Turkish doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested by masked immigration agents on March 25 while walking near her home. Video of the arrest showed plainclothes officers taking the 30-year-old into custody as she was heading to break her Ramadan fast with friends, according to her attorney.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed Ozturk "engaged in activities in support of Hamas," though they provided no evidence for this allegation. Ozturk co-authored an opinion piece in the student newspaper criticizing Tufts' response to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

The Turkish embassy said it was working with U.S. authorities regarding Ozturk's detention. "Every effort is being made to provide the necessary consular services and legal support to protect the rights of our citizen," the embassy stated.

At Columbia University, graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who has legal permanent residency, was detained by immigration authorities last month.

Khalil said in his Columbia Daily Spectator opinion piece that the school "laid the groundwork for my abduction" and urged the students not to "abdicate their responsibility to resist repression."

"Since my abduction on March 8, the intimidation and kidnapping of international students who stand for Palestine has only accelerated," Khalil wrote in Friday's piece.

The actions extend beyond East Coast schools. The University of Colorado and Colorado State University reported a combined total of 10 students with revoked visas this weekend. Meanwhile, Minnesota State University identified five students whose visas were canceled for unclear reasons.

In California, the situation is equally concerning so far.

University of California, Los Angeles reported nine affected international students, while UC Berkeley confirmed six visa revocations -- four for current students and two for recent graduates.

UC Davis officials stated seven students and five recent graduates had their visas terminated, and Stanford University confirmed six visa revocations.

"The federal government has not explained the reasons behind these terminations," UC Davis said in a statement as reported by NBC News.

Universities are scrambling to support affected students.

"We are focused on supporting the success of all of our students, including international students. Each one of our students is seeking to advance their careers and the lives of their families, and we understand the anxieties that visa revocations cause to impacted students," reported NBC News, citing University of Colorado.

The Council of University of California Faculty Associations issued a statement Sunday, urgently calling upon the University of California to address the revocation of visas and deportation of international students.

"It has been reported that in the past week alone, at least 44 students across the UC system have had their I-20 Student and Exchange Visitor Information System record terminated by the Department of Homeland Security, with at least one deportation occurring," the statement noted.

Civil rights organizations have condemned the administration's actions. The American Civil Liberties Union issued an open letter to universities warning: "The federal government cannot mandate student expulsions or threaten funding cuts to suppress constitutionally protected speech."

College officials worry this crackdown will deter international students from studying in the United States in the future.

The situation is "a far different, unprecedented intrusion by the executive branch" involving "revoking student visas for different reasons than we have seen previously and at higher rates than we have ever seen," said Violeta Chapin, a University of Colorado Boulder law professor and immigration expert. 
President Trump rolled out his reciprocal tariffs on Apr. 2. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned foreign countries not to retaliate, vowing the U.S. will hit them with even higher tariffs if they do.

The problem is that, even if they dont retaliate, they may still incur Trumps tariff wrath. Thats because the executive order focuses on trade deficits, not trade policies, and has an escalation mechanism that cant tell the difference.

Foreign countries know that changes to their trade policies will have little impact on their bilateral trade surpluses with the U.S., leaving them vulnerable to greater reciprocal tariffs even if they slash their own protectionism. Trump needs to address this concern if hes serious about negotiating deals.

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Where is the disconnect? Simple: There is no relationship between Trumps reciprocal tariffs and foreign protectionism. The duties were essentially calculated by dividing other countries trade surplus with the U.S. by its exports to the U.S. This doesnt say anything about other countries tariffs or non-tariff barriers.

Americas trade deficit reflects the gap between how much investment flows into the economy and the amount that residents (including the government) save. This gap traces back to myriad factors that have little to do with trade policy, including demographics, productivity growth and fiscal and monetary policies at home and abroad.

Worse, Trumps tariffs are meant to attack bilateral trade deficits. Bilateral trade balances are even more unpredictable than the overall trade balance, since they depend on a host of country-specific factors.

Moreover, if the investment-savings gap goes unaddressed, squeezing the deficit with one country simply increases the deficit with others.

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For example, Americas ballooning deficit with Vietnam would appear to be a direct result of the trade war that Trump launched against China in his first term. Companies moved out of China because of those tariffs. Many went to Vietnam. Now, Trump is slapping a 46 percent reciprocal tariff on imports from Vietnam.

Which countries will be next?

Trump says his reciprocal tariffs will juice U.S. manufacturing. That didnt happen as a result of his first-term tariffs. Yes, some politically privileged manufacturing industries did gain, like steel. But domestic downstream users of steel suffered terribly.

This problem doesnt go away when U.S. companies stop buying imported inputs because tariffs drive up the prices of domestic inputs. Things go from bad to worse if foreign countries retaliate, closing markets to U.S. export industries.

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This brings us back to the executive orders escalation clause. Section 4 details four reasons the president can modify his reciprocal tariffs. The first is that theyre not fixing the large and persistent deficits. The second is that the foreign government in question retaliate. The third is that foreign governments end their unfair trade practices. The fourth is that American manufacturing capacity and output continue to worsen.

The first clause enshrines the illogic that more protectionism will reverse U.S. trade deficits.

Trump talks about the second and third clauses like theyre sticks and carrots, respectively. Yet since his reciprocal tariffs are about bilateral trade deficits, not protectionist measures abroad, how are these sticks and carrots supposed to work? The means arent connected to Trumps ends.

The fourth clause is troubling. Changes in American manufacturing capacity and output are more likely to reflect domestic than international factors, including the availability of skilled labor. Importantly, few if any of these factors are related to trade. It is just a get-out-of-jail-free card, allowing Trump to say what he wants and do as he pleases.

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If Trump is serious about negotiating deals, he should credibly assure foreign countries that he is looking for fair and reciprocal trade policies, not an end to all bilateral U.S. trade imbalances.

Marc L. Busch is the Karl F. Landegger Professor of International Business Diplomacy at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Rodney D. Ludema is chair of the Department of Economics, director of the Landegger Program in International Business Diplomacy, and professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

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The bumper sticker line for the Trump administrations second-term foreign policy, known as peace through strength, will achieve nominal peace in the Middle East at best. But the so-called peace that President Trump highlighted as a central component of his third campaign for the White House is proving to be elusive, as demonstrated by the collapse of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and the revived bombing campaign in Yemen.

These outcomes reflect a broader issue: Washington continues to utilize overly militaristic policies to achieve policy outcomes that cannot be reached with blunt force.

The irony should not be lost on those rightly critical of the isolationist accusations lobbed at the new administration. Trumps second term is proving to be one of action, yes, but personnel is policy. In this context, many of the key national security staff in bodies like the National Security Council largely stem from the Republican Partys neoconservative, interventionist wing.

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Some of these officials are the same individuals who have pushed failed policies for decades, such as maximum pressure against Iran. The views and goals of such staff did not suddenly change overnight  they are simply operating under a new set of talking points.

Indeed, U.S.-Iran competition offers a primary example of the nuances lacking from a misguided peace through strength approach.

Tehran has for decades rejected hawkish attempts  including sanctions, assassinations and international piracy  to change its behavior, developing increasingly convoluted and dangerous deterrence policies across the Middle East and abroad in response. In this case, Washingtons use of strength has emboldened Iranian hardliners and vice versa, in a death spiral of increasingly violent interactions across a swath of third countries.

To be sure, the Islamic Republic is anything but angelic. But the point stands: Aggressive posturing to highlight relative strength has done little to prevent U.S. adversaries from working to achieve their interests, even if diametrically opposed to Washington. The Middle East is awash with similar failed examples of this dynamic, from Iraq and Syria to Palestine and Yemen.

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In each instance, empty strength posturing failed or is failing. Syrias Assad regime, for example, did not fall because of U.S. sanctions, a military presence or the covert arming of opposition militias. Rather, Damascus responded to those U.S. actions by committing to destabilizing regional actions such as the captagon drug trade to pressure U.S. regional partners. The Houthis did not cease their malign actions in Yemen because of their Foreign Terrorist Organization designation or the bombs dropped on their military and government positions. Rather, the group has doubled down time and again.

Traditional neoconservative talking points typically argue that interventionist policies do not go far enough, often due to leaders and officials lacking resolve. To them, this failure reflects a willingness to sacrifice so-called, nebulous credibility in the name of isolationist and weak goals. The logic goes that Washington must be strong everywhere and all the time  or risk ceding ground to dangerous actors just one step beyond the U.S. coastline.

While Trump has espoused a relatively different  albeit chaotically shifting  line of reasoning publicly and in some policy decisions, his first and second terms reflect this traditional neoconservative approach. His first administration expanded bombing campaigns in the Horn of Africa and anti-ISIS operations across the Middle East (and kept troops deployed even after ISIS was defeated). And it racked up a brutal pressure campaign on Iran in the name of strength to achieve total victory over its enemies or produce ever-distant deals with them.

Trumps second term is thus far reminiscent of that same approach in the Middle East. Under his leadership, the U.S. has threatened Jordan and Egypt to take in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in an obvious effort to allow Israels annexation of the illegally occupied West Bank and Gaza. This effort, if achieved, will risk a brutal regional conflict and a Third Intifada that could threaten the governments in Amman and Cairo.

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The administration is expanding former President Joe Bidens bombing campaign in Yemen against the Houthis, going so far as to declare that Iran owns responsibility for any future Houthi strikes. Do not be fooled  this is a clear threat of a future attack against the Islamic Republic. Given the Houthis are unlikely to stop their attacks any time soon, one can be excused for asking how exactly this ends.

Ultimately, U.S. officials would be wise to recognize that strength comes in many forms. Washingtons secret weapon is not its military per se, but rather the culmination of its capabilities, relationships and a grand strategy reasonably acknowledging the breadth of those components capacities to achieve a given foreign policy objective. That includes soft power  something intrinsically damaged when brute force is used without consideration of those relationships.

Simply put, the Trump administration will fail in the Middle East and more broadly if it acts on hard power alone  especially if that approach ignores just how narrow U.S. interests are in the Middle East. Understanding this dynamic requires accepting the limitations of power and the unnecessary risk associated with taking shortcuts for false victories. Doing so can lead to outcomes in line with Trumps stated desire to be a peacemaker.

Alexander Langlois is a contributing fellow at Defense Priorities.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Oregon state lawmakers are considering a bill that would make the largest fossil fuel companies pay their fair share of damages to the state for emissions driving climate change.

On Monday, the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment held a hearing on Senate Bill 1187, the Make Polluters Pay Act, which would require large fossil fuel companies to pay into the Oregon Climate Superfund to help Oregon become more resilient to climate change.

Its simple: if you make a mess, you help pay to clean it up, said Senator Khanh Pham (D-Outer Southeast & Northeast Portland), a chief sponsor of the bill. Oregonians are already paying the price of climate disasters fueled by the fossil fuel industry. SB 1187 will ensure the companies most responsible for the climate crisis finally contribute to our recovery and resilience.

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Senator Pham highlighted the importance of passing the bill as Oregon is on the frontline of climate change, seeing climate emergencies from wildfires to extreme heat.

Im here today because during the 2021 heat dome, temperatures hit 124 degrees in my district  a new record, Pham said. Oregonians died in the heat, mostly people in urban heat islands, like in my own neighborhood.

So how will the climate super fund work? The state of Oregon will assess the damages from climate change-driven disasters that have already happened, such as the 2021 heat dome, as well as forecast future damages for disasters that will be inevitable due to the warming baked in by the emissions of covered entities from 1995 to 2024, Pham explained. The state will also develop a plan for permanent adaptation and resilience investments that are necessary for our state because of the inevitable warming from emissions.

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Under the bill, the Department of Environmental Quality would have the authority to identify the businesses responsible for the climate damages. Fossil fuel companies would be charged if they have produced one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions globally in the last three decades.

DEQ would then calculate each fossil fuel companys share of damages then issue cost notices. The state would then disperse the funds to help implement plans to adapt and protect communities from further climate damages.

Sen. Phams office told KOIN 6 News they estimate the climate superfund would generate billions of dollars, noting they dont have an exact estimate because DEQ will determine costs if the bill passes.

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In terms of which businesses could face fees under the bill, Phams office pointed to large oil companies such as Exxon Mobile, BP, Shell and Chevron, which all have business presence in Oregon.

To our knowledge, no Oregon based companies, including Northwest Natural, would meet this threshold but Oregon DEQ would do that analysis, Phams office said.

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During the bills hearing dozens of community members testified, including some who shared concerns about Oregons growing wildfire seasons.

Testimony included that of Caren Caldwell of Jackson County, who shared her story from the Almeda Fire, which destroyed her sons manufactured home.

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Our communities continue to work toward replacing what was lost by those who had the least. Many of our neighbors are still living in RVs or temporary housing, Caldwell said. Many others moved out of town and have not been able to return because of the higher costs of housing. I want the polluters to pay their fair share of the cost for us to recover. Make Polluters Pay could make it possible for those people to come home again.

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Another chief sponsor of SB 1187, Sen. Jeff Golden (D-Ashland), testified, These catastrophes inflict damages on people, property and communities that regularly run into the billions of dollarsWe have no realistic way to pay these bills. Were struggling to pay for any of the preventative programs that could spare us from billion-dollar-plus catastrophes next year and the year after that.

There are two options here, Golden added. One, we join other states in holding the enormously profitable industry  whose products fuel these catastrophes  responsible for some of the damage. Or two, we turn away and keep this crushing financial burden on the shoulders of Oregon families and taxpayers who had nothing to do with these fires, and in some cases, had their lives devastated by them.

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Citing data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Rep. Mark Gamba (D-Milwaukie), whos also a chief sponsor of the bill, highlighted how costly recent wildfire and storm damage was for Oregon, noting, the 2020 wildfires cost Oregon over $19 billion, a winter storm in 2021 cost the state over $27 billion and droughts and heatwaves in 2022 and 2023 cost $38 billion.

We have an opportunity to take bold action, Gamba said. SB 1187 will help safeguard Oregons future while ensuring our most vulnerable communities are not left behind. Costs like these cannot continue to be borne by the taxpayers of Oregon. They certainly cant be borne by small cities that are going to suffer these things.

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Larry ONeil, Oregons state climatologist, was among others who testified, describing the impact climate change will have in Oregon.

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Overall, the past century has seen significant warming of earths climate and Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest have been no exception to its adverse impacts  including human health and safety, water resource management, agriculture, wildland fire, hydropower, timber industries and the tourism sectors.

More recently, observations indicate that last year, actually, finishes Oregons sixth warmest year on record despite the fact that we had a rather cold start and a really large ice storm in January, ONeil said.

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According to the state climatologist, hot weather is continuing to increase in frequency, noting, Salem, for example, used to average only 17 days per year with high temperatures above 90 degrees during the 20th century. Over the last five years, however, that number has doubled to 34 days and by 2070, that number of 90-degree days is projected to exceed 70 (days) or nearly every single day of the summer.

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ONeil noted that 90-degree days can have adverse impacts on human health and infrastructure, adding that by the end of the century, summer temperatures in the Willamette Valley will mirror summer temperatures currently experienced in the Sacramento, California valley.

The temperatures above 105 degrees Fahrenheit as occurred during our heat dome a few years ago in 2021, are projected to be an annual occurrence in Salem rather than a once-in-a-generation event, ONeil furthered.

KOIN 6 News has reached out to Republican members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment, Sen. David Brock Smith (R-Port Orford) and Sen. Noah Robinson (R-Cave Junction). This story will be updated if we receive a response.

A second hearing for SB 1187 is scheduled April 9 after the committee ran out of time to hear all testimony on Monday. The bill could also undergo a work session the same day.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A central Ohio organization has put a bounty on Callery pear trees, offering residents money to replace the invasive species with another plant.

The Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District, Franklin Countys natural resource agency, has teamed up with multiple local cities to incentivize residents to ditch their Callery pear trees and other invasive plants. The cities of Columbus, Grove City, New Albany, Reynoldsburg and Westerville are participating.

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The program requires residents to remove one of the accepted invasive plants from their yard and replace it with a native tree or shrub before receiving a monetary reward, according to Kori Sedmak, public outreach coordinator at the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District.

Westerville is just doing the Callery pears as part of the program but these other communities are also including bush and vine, tree of heaven, burning bush and Japanese barberry, Sedmak said.

To participate, residents are required to show photos of both the removal of an invasive species and the planting of a native species to the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District, along with the receipt for the new plant. The conservation district has a list of native plants residents can choose from as a replacement for an invasive species, including dogwood trees, Eastern white cedars and blue-eyed grass.

The required photos can be sent through email, mail or shown in person. The organization asks for two to three weeks to review an applicants materials. The agency will then mail a $100 check to the participant, or $150 if they are located in New Albany, to help reimburse the cost of the new plant that was purchased. While New Albany participated in the program last year, the rest of the cities are offering the bounty for the first time.

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Invasive plants are those that are not native to their environment and cause harm to the ecosystem they are in. An example numerous Ohioans have likely seen  or smelled  is Callery pear trees, which spread rapidly and crowd out native plants.

If you look on the sides of the highways this time of year, you see all these blooming Callery pears and they grow so much faster than everything else that they prevent [native] trees from growing, Sedmak said.

The tree, known for its white flowers, also typically produces a strong aroma, which has been likened to a variety of unpleasant scents, including rotting fish, vomit, and animal waste.

(Photo Courtesy/Ohio Department of Natural Resources) (Photo Courtesy/Ohio Department of Natural Resources) (Photo Courtesy/Ohio Department of Natural Resources)

While there is no official cut-off date for the program, the reward will no longer be offered in a community as funding limits are reached. Sedmak said the organization will be able to accept about 13 to 14 trade-ins per community. The agency asks those who would like to participate to call and confirm funding is still available ahead of time. While participants are welcome to remove multiple invasive plants, only one check will be offered per household.

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The best place to find out if a resident is located within the boundaries of the participating cities is through the Franklin County Auditors website, according to Sedmak. She also said those who want to participate can call the conservation district at 614-486-9613 to find out if they are eligible. Residents can submit their application for the bounty program 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 NBC4 WCMH-TV.
March on Harrisburg, a grassroots organization, hosts a rally on the Capitol steps to urge the Pennsylvania Legislature to pass the gift ban (Capital-Star photo).

In the last quarter century, state lawmakers have attempted to ban public officials from taking cash or gifts from lobbyists 37 times.

At a sparsely attended news conference Monday in Harrisburg, Reps. Jared Solomon (D-Philadelphia) and Jim Rigby (R-Cambria) spoke with optimism about the 38th try theyre spearheading.

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This is the hard stuff, the egregious stuff, the headline making stuff  Im talking the vacation homes, the cars, the jewelry, Solomon said. This tries to do something very simple, it says were not going to tolerate it.

The legislation, co-sponsored by Solomon and Rigby, would bar elected officials, public employees and nominees or candidates for public office from taking or seeking gifts of cash or any item worth more than $50.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Harrisburg have rejected claims that expensive gifts rarely influence policymakers decisions and that constituents should not be concerned. But for decades, the General Assembly has failed to pass legislation that would end what critics say amounts to legalized bribery.

Each of the dozens of bills introduced over the years has been an attempt to reach consensus on a commonsense gift ban, Michael Pollack, executive director of the government-reform group MarchOnHarrisburg, said.

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We can discuss the details of this bill and those other bills but this is going to be chopped to shreds and rewritten eight times, he told the Capital-Star. Its not a matter of what the exact right policy prescription is, its a matter of political will.

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Current law lets lawmakers accept gifts from anyone, if they disclose items more than $250 on annual interest forms. Legislation to clamp down on gifts, including bills that Solomon has co-sponsored with Republican colleagues in the last two sessions, has died without advancing beyond the House State Government Committee.

Solomon noted House Bill 744 includes reasonable exceptions, as the legislation has in the past.

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If you get a dinner in Harrisburg, I dont think youre susceptible to bribery. If youre in your district and you accept cookies from a constituent who says, Job well done, I think thats okay, Solomon said. Such exceptions, including donations to be passed on to help constituents, would allow lawmakers to continue doing their jobs.

The exceptions cover gifts, hospitality, transportation or lodging from family members and from lobbyists related to a celebration of a major life event, such as a wedding or the birth of a child, or when a lobbyist and a public official are involved in a personal romantic relationship.

Rigby said dinners and events offered to lawmakers are often educational, especially for those who are new to elected office. House Bill 744 would allow members of the General Assembly to continue interacting with constituents and advocates, and Rigby said those types of events arent the problem.

I didnt come to Harrisburg for the bennies, for the perks, for the big events, I dont think any of us did, Rigby said, adding that. I thought this is a good place to start, and it certainly has its value.

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Pollack pinned the failure of gift ban legislation on leadership in both chambers, noting that its difficult for leaders to admit fault in the institutions they oversee and to recognize their own humanity.

It shatters their own self image and that gets a response of arrogance and anger a lot of the time, Pollack said.

Spokespeople for House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D-Montgomery), Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) and Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) did not respond to a request for comment.

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Solomon, who made an unsuccessful bid for attorney general last year, agreed that reforming the legislature is particularly difficult for those who would be subject to the new rules.

Ive often thought, maybe if we make this bill effective 20 years from now  maybe we could get passage through the legislature, Solomon said.

In the 2022-23 legislative session, MarchOnHarrisburg recruited a lawmaker to force a vote on a bill that would ban legislators from accepting gifts, transportation, and recreation exceeding $250 from a single person each year.

The move would have directly defied Republican leadership, specifically then-Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, who controlled the chambers voting calendar. Ultimately, no one made a move and the legislation remained stuck in committee.

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MarchOnHarrisburg, which also advocates for campaign finance reform, the end of dark money campaign spending and other issues involving transparency and political accountability, has continued to push for the gift ban.

Last month, the groups members spent a day bird dogging lawmakers for answers on their support or silence on a gift ban and plans to release them to constituents.

But the pressure not to rock the boat that individual lawmakers face from their caucus leaders, lobbyists and donors is real, Pollack said. He noted that rank-and-file lawmakers who stepped out of line in the past have been stripped of committee assignments, staff and even their Capitol offices.

Its also legal for lawmakers to have side jobs, despite Pennsylvania having a full-time legislature, and to promote legislation to benefit industries with which they have business relationships.

All of these things add up to a really deep culture of corruption, Pollack said. If we dont do it, we just continue to be governed by smaller and smaller numbers of people with money and influence.
A young mother kissing a baby's hand. Gov. Kay Ivey has signed a bill that will extend paid parental leave for public education employees and state workers. (Getty Images)

Gov. Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill granting paid parental leave to state employees and public school K-12 teachers. This is a huge win for state employees, who will no longer need to scramble to cover the cost of unpaid leave in order to recover from birth and care for their newborn babies.

The lawmakers who championed the bill have spoken about benefits including increasing competitiveness with other states and the private sector, and reducing financial strain on covered parents and families while caring for a newborn. However, the benefits of paid parental leave stretch far beyond these.

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Paid parental leave leads to lower infant and child mortality, fewer re-hospitalizations for infants and mothers, improved maternal mental health, higher breastfeeding rates and more extended duration, a decrease in intimate partner violence, and improved outcomes for children throughout their lifespan from improved infant attachment and child development, all the way to increased education and future wage growth as adults.

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In a state that ranks third highest in maternal mortality and has a rising infant death rate that consistently exceeds the national average, any intervention that could improve the health of mothers and babies in our state should be a top priority.

The Legislature has signaled its interest in addressing Alabamas abysmal infant and maternal mortality rates with other bills this session, including one approving presumptive Medicaid coverage for pregnant people to encourage early prenatal care and one focused on postpartum depression education and screening.

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Paid maternity and paternity leave for state employees is an excellent next step in the fight to keep Alabama mothers and infants healthy, but the Legislature need not stop there.

Fourteen other states already have mandatory statewide paid family and medical leave laws, which typically provide six to 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents. If fears about negative effects on businesses are stopping our lawmakers from following suit, they can rest easy. Some of these policies have been in place for over a decade and have been found to be business-friendly, resulting in lower turnover and improved employee retention, higher productivity, and higher worker morale.

The majority of Fortune 500 companies,; over three-quarters of the top 20 hospitals in the nation,; tech giants like Google, and the military have already recognized what is slowly beginning to dawn on Alabamas lawmakers: Ppaid parental leave is good for business, good for families, and good for society.

I applaud Gov. Ivey and the legislature for granting paid parental leave to Alabamas teachers and state employees. But the next step  paid parental leave for all Alabama families  still awaits action.

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ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has expelled more than 8,000 Afghan nationals in the past week in a fresh repatriation drive after the expiry of a March 31 deadline, the UNHCR said on Tuesday.

All Afghan nationals who have no legal documents to stay or those holding Afghan Citizen Cards had been warned by Islamabad to return home or face deportation.

Authorities say they have set up temporary centers in various cities to house the Afghan nationals before transporting them to Torkham border crossing in northwest Pakistan.

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At least 8,906 Afghan nationals have been deported since April 1, the UNHCR said in a WhatsApp message.

Islamabad says the drive is part of a campaign called the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan launched in late 2023.

Pakistan has in the past blamed militant attacks and crimes on Afghan citizens, who form the largest portion of migrants in the country. Afghanistan has rejected the accusations.

Kabul has termed the repatriation as forced deportation.

"There is no doubt that the forced deportation of Afghan migrants and this unilateral action is against all international, Islamic, and neighbourly principles," Abdul Motalib Haqqani, a spokesman for the Afghan ministry of migration and repatriation, said in a statement on Tuesday.

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"Since this matter concerns two countries, it is essential to work on a mutually agreed mechanism to ensure the dignified return of Afghans to their homeland," he said.

Pakistan says it plans to accelerate the drive to repatriate the roughly four million Afghans who crossed the border during 40 years of armed conflict in their home country and after the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Human rights groups have raised concerns.

"Pakistan is abandoning its international commitment to not send people back to where their rights are at risk," said Fereshta Abbasi of Afghanistan Human Rights Watch.

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"All countries hosting Afghan refugees should maintain the position that Afghanistan is unsafe for returns."

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad and Muhammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul; Writing by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Alistair Bell)
PANAMA CITY, April 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people were killed after the roof of a nightclub collapsed in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, local media reported Tuesday.

More than 100 people were injured and transported to hospitals, said Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the country's Emergency Operations Center (COE).

"We believe many are still alive under the rubble," Mendez told reporters. "Authorities will not rest until every person is accounted for."

Dominican President Luis Abinader expressed condolences over the incident on social media, saying he had been monitoring the situation closely.

"All emergency services have responded and are working tirelessly on the rescue," Abinader said. "Our prayers are with the affected families."

Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the collapse. 
ISLAMABAD (AP)  Pakistan pitched investments in its mines and minerals sector to delegations from the United States, Saudi Arabia, China and elsewhere as it opened a summit Tuesday that authorities hope will bring billions of dollars in investments.

The Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum aims to spotlight Pakistans reserves of copper, gold, lithium and other minerals while promoting opportunities in the long-overlooked sector.

In a speech to delegates, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed that Pakistan possesses mineral reserves worth trillions of dollars, and foreign investment in the mineral sector could help the country overcome its prolonged financial crisis and free itself from the burden of massive foreign loans.

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However, he said Pakistan will not permit the export of raw minerals, as the country expects foreign companies to process the extracted materials locally and export the finished products.

Several companies signed agreements with Pakistan in the mining sector. They included the Canadian firm Barrick Gold, which already owns a 50% stake in the Reko Diq gold mine in southwestern Balochistan province.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan is offering incentives to potential investors. He gave few details but noted aligning our regulatory frameworks with competitive fiscal terms.

Pakistan's powerful army chief Gen. Asim Munir in his speech told foreign companies and investors that the military would ensure a robust security framework and proactive measures to safeguard the interests and confidence of our partners and investors.

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Pakistan has one of the world's largest copper and gold deposits in Reko Diq, a district in restive Balochistan, which has witnessed a surge in attacks by Baloch separatists in recent years.

Mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistans largest and least populated province. It is a hub for the countrys ethnic Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government.

Pakistan says it has quelled the insurgency, but the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army has mounted attacks as recently as last month. It mostly targets security forces and foreigners, especially Chinese nationals who are in Pakistan as part of Beijings multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative. The BLA wants a halt to all Chinese-funded projects and for Chinese workers to leave Pakistan.
The comptroller of Panama said on Monday that the country will file criminal complaints against officials at CK Hutchison Holdings, the Hong Kong conglomerate that runs ports on each end of the Panama Canal, as well as Panamanian government officials, after determining that CK Hutchisons contract heavily disadvantages Panama, the Financial Times reported.

The announcement comes as CK Hutchison considers a $23 billion sale of operations at the two ports to a consortium including U.S.-based investment firm BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) and Geneva-based ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co.

A subsidiary of CK Hutchison in 1997 renegotiated a contract that has since cost the country $1.3 billion in revenue, Panamas comptroller general, Anel Bolo Flores, claimed.

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Flores said the Panamanian people and prosecutors deserve an explanation for such benevolence in a contract that has been abusive to say the least, the Financial Times reported.





Further complicating the potential BlackRock sale is an ongoing review of the purchase by officials in China. The sale would include terminal operations at the Balboa and Cristobal ports and was announced soon after statements by President Donald Trump that the U.S. should retake control of the canal for reasons of national security.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in Panama and was slated to meet President Jose Raul Mulino on Tuesday. Panamanian officials have dismissed Trumps concerns that China has too much control of the canal.

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Larry Fink, chair of BlackRock, said at a meeting of the Economic Club of New York on Monday that the sale will likely move forward over Chinas objections, the Financial Times reported. Fink said the port operations in Panama are only a small fraction of the value of a deal designed to ensure U.S. access to 43 ports in nearly two dozen countries, according to investor-oriented news outlet Benzinga.

Benzinga reported that CK Hutchison is alleged to owe hundreds of millions of dollars worth of unpaid fees and that the contract with the Panama Maritime Authority was extended without proper clearances.





Related:

China to review sale of Panama Canal shipping terminals to US investor: Report

The post Panama to file charges over alleged sweetheart port contract appeared first on FreightWaves.
The News

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Panamas President Jose Raul Mulino Tuesday for talks, amid rising tension over global trade and alleged Chinese influence in the strategic Panama Canal waterway.

Hegseth on social media hailed increased security cooperation between the US and Panama: The visit came hours after Panama said it would call for an investigation into local executives of a Hong Kong-listed firm that owns two ports at either end of the Canal.

CK Hutchison had recently sought to sell its Panama ports to a US-led consortium after US President Donald Trump vowed to take control of the canal. Beijing, however, has blocked the sale.

SIGNALS

China views Panama port deal as potential negotiating tool

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Financial Times, Mercator Institute for China Studies

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Even before CK Hutchison tried to make a deal to sell its ports, Beijing had hoped to use the Panama port issue as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the US, sources told The Wall Street Journal. Chinese leader Xi Jinpings refusal to clarify his stance on the transaction suggests that he is trying to build leverage to gain concessions on tariffs, Taiwan, and other issues, The Economist wrote. Beijings move to probe a Hong Kong-based company raises the question: Is this a warning shot to [other multinational firms] or a look to scuttle this deal? one insider told the Financial Times. Still, Beijing has limited leverage to halt the transaction, the Mercator Institute for China Studies argued: Panama could terminate its contract with CK Hutchison, effectively voiding the sale.

Trump threats put Panamas president in a difficult spot

Sources: BBC, Americas Quarterly, The Guardian, The Economist

Donald Trumps designs on the canal have triggered suspicion among Panamanians, some of whom remember the 1989 US invasion, the BBC reported. President Mulino  a pro-US technocrat, might move faster to curb Chinese presence if he didnt have to worry about it looking like the US was forcing his hand, one analyst wrote: Trumps demand that US government ships receive free passage along the canal  despite its neutrality treaty  puts Mulino in an impossible position, The Guardian wrote. And though Panamas highly dollarized economy means it has little choice but to appease America, its regional partners could decide otherwise, The Economist noted, and move closer to China instead.

Panama deal brings prescriptive geopolitics to the fore

Sources: El Pais, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, South China Morning Post, GIS Reports

The proposed sale of Panama Canal ports to US investors demonstrates that prescriptive geopolitics has fulfilled its purpose, an analyst argued in El Pais: The idea that Chinas infrastructure investments could conceal its military interests in Latin America is being used to facilitate US control there. The region is in the crosshairs of US-China competition, a Carnegie researcher noted. Rather than confront Chinas influence comprehensively, Trump appears instead to be targeting weaker links like Panama to counter it, a Beijing-based analyst told South China Morning Post. By signaling to Beijing to back off on Panama, a security analyst at a right-leaning think tank argued, Trump could be aiming to avoid a more direct confrontation with China at a later date.
Paramount Global and President Trump will reportedly begin mediation in the coming days in his $20 billion lawsuit over CBS News 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.

The two sides tapped a mediator for the case in recent days, The New York Times reported Monday, citing anonymous sources.

The move comes as the deadline for Paramounts $8 billion deal to merge with Skydance Media, which expired Monday, was extended 90 days.

CBS-parent Paramount and Trump have agreed on a mediator to settle his lawsuit over 60 Minutes' sitdown with Kamala Harris. 60 Minutes / CBS

If the deal still hasnt closed by then, it will be subject to a second 90-day extension.

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The automatic extensions are triggered in the event that all of the conditions of the closing, except those relating to regulatory approvals, have been satisfied or waived, according to the companies deal.

Trumps lawsuit accuses the CBS news program of deceptively editing an interview with the Democratic presidential candidate to make her word-salad answer to a question about the Israel-Hamas conflict more coherent.

CBS has denied that there was anything nefarious in its editing process.

Nonetheless, the two sides began talking about a possible settlement over two months ago, to the dismay of 60 Minutes employees, who believe the program did nothing wrong.

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The shows top producer Bill Owens told staffers in a meeting in February that he would not apologize as part of any potential settlement.

Trump sued CBS for $20 billion, alleging 60 Minutes deceptively edited the interview to make Harris look better. CBS has denied those claims. REUTERS

Last month, lawyers for CBS News filed a motion to dismiss the presidents lawsuit, claiming it is an affront to the First Amendment without basis in law or fact.

Meanwhile, others at the company want the ordeal over with and believe it is better for Paramounts broader corporate interests to settle the lawsuit rather than engage in a protracted legal battle with the president.

A rep for Paramount Global, which is home to CBS, MTV and Showtime, declined to comment.

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Lawyers for Trump did not immediately return requests for comment.

Skydance agreed to merge with Paramount but the deal has hit many bumps, including the lawsuit and a FCC probe. Christopher Sadowski

Ed Paltzik, a lawyer representing Trump in the case, told The Times in a statement: President Trump will pursue this vital matter to its just and rightful conclusion.

Aside from the lawsuit, Paramount is also dealing with the Federal Communications Commission, which is also investigating Trumps allegations over the Harris sitdown.

In February, the FCC released a full transcript of the 60 Minutes interview, and is currently reviewing whether the broadcast violated news distortion rules. The FCC will need to approve the Skydance-Paramount merger for the deal to go through.

Skydance boss David Ellison has been eager to get the Paramount merger greenlit. FilmMagic

Trump said at the time that Paramounts merger with Skydance was unrelated to his lawsuit, and a spokesman for the media giant has said the two are completely separate.

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Still, Paramounts controlling shareholder Shari Redstone reportedly said in a meeting of Paramounts board of directors in February that she was interested in bringing in a mediator to facillitate an agreement and get the deal greenlit.

Holllywood production company Skydance, which is led by David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, has also been eager to get the deal  which was initially inked last July  approved by the FCC.
A nonverbal child with autism kept leaving his home unannounced, his parents told detectives. A passerby found him in the neighborhood. His dad even spotted him trying to crawl out of a second-story window.

So, the parents put a lock on the inside of their front door, put the key to leave in a lockbox and installed window locks, they said.

A house in the 5000 block on Pembury Lane in West Bloomfield was the scene of a fire that killed three children on Sunday, Feb 2, 2025.

That child and his siblings were later pronounced dead after one told 911 they couldnt get out during a Feb. 2 fire at their West Bloomfield home.

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And one of the kids was found behind the front door, according to court records newly obtained by the Free Press.

Exact details on the fire and deaths of 16-year-old Hannah, 14-year-old Jeremiah and 12-year-old Jacob Oliora have not been released, but search warrant affidavits obtained by the Free Press are shedding new light on the police and fire investigations.

More: He tried to help as West Bloomfield Twp. home burned  now he grapples with deaths

More: 3 children killed in West Bloomfield Twp. house fire: What we know

Key in the records: a synopsis of a Feb. 3 police interview with the childrens parents and details passed along from firefighters who responded to the scene at the white, two-story, colonial home.

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Police used that information as part of their probable cause argument to get a magistrate to sign off on their Feb. 4 search of the home to look for the cause of the fire and any evidence of a crime, the search warrant records show.

In a statement to the Free Press, Deputy West Bloomfield Police Chief Scott Mong called the deaths a tragedy and said that since the search warrant affidavits were written, officials have obtained additional information including about the measures the parents took to keep their developmentally disabled children safe.

These measures appear to have been taken at the recommendation of knowledgeable experts, he said.

The investigation is ongoing and the results will be released when it is complete, he said.

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In the interim, we ask for the publics patience, and that we all avoid making a judgment about the childrens parents without all of the relevant information, he said.

A parent of the children reached by phone Monday said they could not speak about them and the line disconnected. Further attempts to give the parents a chance to comment were not returned.

The West Bloomfield fire marshal said this week that he could not yet comment on any determinations surrounding the cause or origin of the fire. No charging decisions have been made, said Mong. Official causes of the deaths have not been released by medical examiner offices.

Hamburgers for dinner

The mother and father of the children, Liz and Don Oliora, both were working Sunday when the fire happened, according to the synopsis of what they told police. They both left about 2:40 p.m. for their respective shifts  nursing for Liz and DoorDash deliveries for Don.

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At 7:10 p.m., the eldest child, Hannah, called her dad to ask about dinner, Don Oliora told police.

Hannah told him that she would start cooking hamburgers for herself and her younger brothers, he said. He had a few more DoorDash stops left and then would return home.

At 8:05 p.m., Hannah called 911, according to the affidavit.

Theres a fire in our house! she told the 911 dispatcher, according to the affidavit.

It started in the living room!

Theres no way for us to get out!

Hannah then stopped responding.

Locks and Childrens Protective Services

Besides Don and Liz Oliora, Hannah was the only other person who had access to the key to unlock the front door from the inside, the parents said. They kept it in a lockbox in the home near the garage.

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It was Jeremiah, the middle child, who at times wandered off, the parents said.

Wandering is not uncommon for children with autism.

Both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the nonprofit Autism Speaks have pointed to a 2012 survey that found nearly half of youths with autism spectrum disorder wandered away at least once after age 4 and did so more frequently than unaffected siblings. The children who did so did it for enjoyment, to explore, and sometimes to avoid uncomfortable stimuli, among other reasons.

There were numerous close calls with drowning or traffic reported in the survey.

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Police had prior contact with the West Bloomfield family in connection to a wandering child.

In September 2019, police got a call for a possibly lost 9-year-old child in the area, according to a West Bloomfield police report tied to the address and obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Paul Arnold, who lives several blocks away, walks his dog Bentley past a house in the 5000 block on Pembury Lane in West Bloomfield that is the scene of a tragic fire killing three children on Sunday, Feb 2, 2025.

More: Freezing deaths, living in squalor and shocking murder: Are Michigan's children OK?

Multiple details of the interaction, including the childs name and his connection to the other person in the report, Don Oliora, were redacted  blacked out  so they could not be viewed. But the report showed someone called to say a child was possibly lost about 10:45 a.m. that day.

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When police got there, the childs father had caught up with them, the report showed.

The redacted reports indicate that police were told the child had run out of a back door, and the responding officer told dispatchers to make note of a condition at an address.

Then about 8 a.m. one day in March 2020, police were called to the neighborhood for a small boy walking in the roadway.

More: Michigan man cleared of murder now fights for compensation

Police found a 10-year-old boy with no socks, shoes or coat on and took him to the police station, according to the redacted police report for that incident.

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Police used a tablet the boy had and found a phone number to call his dad, according to the report.

A sergeant also drove out to find a family member of the child in person and found a front door standing wide open, according to the report. A sergeant knocked on the door for several minutes before going in, finding the childs mother and waking her.

Childrens Protective Services was contacted.

Burn patterns and a gas stove

The day of the blaze, firefighters forced their way through the front door, West Bloomfield Fire Marshall Byron Turnquist previously said.

Firefighters could hear the ignitor of the gas stove clicking, according to the affidavits.

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They pulled Hannah, Jeremiah and Jacob Oliora from the home as neighbors watched.

Those neighbors later told the Free Press how they tried to save the kids themselves, how the parents of the kids collapsed in grief when they arrived home, and how the dad sobbed in his car.

A possible origin of the fire was spotted in the homes living room when Turnquist arrived at the scene, according to the affidavits.

There were burn patterns between a couch and a wall, according to the affidavits.

The fire was contained to the first floor, but there was heavy smoke and heat throughout the home, Turnquist previously told the Free Press. Two children were found on the first floor, and one was on the second floor.

Turnquist also previously said there appeared to be no working smoke alarms in the house. He urged the public to check their own and plan multiple ways to escape in an emergency.

The windows of the home were screwed shut, according to the affidavit.

The aftermath

The death of the youngest of the three children, preteen Jacob, was preliminarily deemed to be an accident due to smoke and soot inhalation, according to the search warrant affidavit.

The other childrens autopsies were scheduled for the same day as the search, the records showed.

Police seized numerous tablets, cellphones, and laptops during the search, court records show.

The records also indicate police took two key sets from a dresser drawer in a first-floor guest room and keys from a ground-floor office.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Search request in deadly West Bloomfield fire reveals extra locks
Small town Volterra in Tuscany, Italy on a sunny day (miradrozdowski (123RF))



As a 30-something woman, I may have been way too excited to hear that an animated series based on the latest Twilight book, Midnight Sun was coming to Netflix (though sadly, at the time of writing, no release date has been announced).

For those who missed the original wave of the Twilight phenomenon and clicked on this article thinking it would be about stargazing locations in Italy, the Twilight book and subsequent movie series follows the life of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). She is a Mary Sue protagonist who is somehow average and overly clumsy but also undeniably attractive and fascinating to everyone around her when she moves to the small town of Forks, Washington to live with her father. There is a mysterious family of unbelievably gorgeous foster teenagers who all date each other, except mind-reader Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), who is as Jessica Stanley (Anna Kendrick) put it, totally gorgeous, obviously. But apparently, nobody heres good enough for him.

*Spoiler alert*

The Cullens are vampires, and Bella is the one girl Edward doesnt find utterly repulsive. And, for four books, five movies, several companion novels and guides, the audience is forced to choose between Team Edward and Team Jacob (the werewolf best friend played by Taylor Lautner). Team Edward is the correct answer, by the way.

Fans of the series will note that much of the ending action of the second installment of the franchise, New Moon, takes place in Italy. As readers, we are introduced to the Volturi who reside in Volterra, Italy. The Volturi acts as a sort-of judge, jury and executor panel for the vampire community of the world. For plot reasons, Edward thinks Bella has died and has decided that immortal beauty, family and riches are no longer worth living for and has decided to walk into the sun on the day of a large festival in Volterra to expose vampires to the world. This wont kill him but rather make him sparkle all over and force the Volturi to kill him.

If you want to see the beautiful landscapes and village centers that almost ended our young lovers romance (and lives), here are some places to check out.

Landscape near Montepulciano town in Tuscany region of Italy, Europe. (viliamm (123RF))



Montepulciano: While the story takes place in Volterra, the gorgeous winding roads and narrow alleys that Bella and manic-pixie-dream-vampire, Alice (Ashley Greene), speed through in a stolen bright yellow 911 Turbo Porsche were actually shot in Montepulciano. Montepulciano is about a two-hour drive south from the actual Volterra and here are places within Montepulciano where filming took place.

Piazza Grande (Where Bella rushes through the crowd to save Edward)

Note, you will not see the fountain there. Production had to create a replica of what Meyer described in the books. It was subsequently removed.

Palazzo Comunale (Where some scenes with the Volturi were filmed)

Redi Wine Cellar (More scenes with the Volturi were filmed here)

The Temple of San Biagio (More driving scenes with Bella and Alice were shot here)

Picturesque view on historic buildings of Volterra in Tuscany, Italy (darios (123RF))



Volterra: For filming purposes, Montepulciano made for easier shots, but the references made in the books and movies are made to real-life places that you can go see for yourself and perhaps bring a buddy to re-enact the famous reveal.

The Uphill and Winding Streets : If you want to feel that cardio workout Bella did as she raced to Edward to dramatically pounce on him before the final stroke of noon, make sure to make the trek to the Clock Tower by foot.

The Clock Tower: Where Edward planned to walk out and expose his sparkly face to the gathering crowd. Fellow Twi-hard, Alani Vargas, has noted that Volterra has accepted its vampire fame and that there is a tourist information center next to the Clock Tower that sells Twilight-related merchandise.

If, like me, you are waiting with bated breath for the animated installment of this fantastic franchise and can only re-read the novels and re-watch the movies so many times, hopefully, these Twilight-themed locations can help make the wait better.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  According to the Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office, a Pawnee woman has been arrested and accused of laundering money.

Christine Echohawk. Image courtesy ODOC.

Officials say Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed charges against 53-year-old Christine Echohawk for laundering about $1.5 million obtained through romance scams.

LOCAL NEWS: Police investigating after $1K in merchandise stolen from Oklahoma City business

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Echohawk is accused of laundering money from four victims between September 30, 2024 and Decemember 26, 2024. All four of the victims were elderly women between the ages of 64 and 79 living out-of-state. They thought they were sending money to a man they believed to be in an online romantic relationship with.

These types of scams that target seniors are especially egregious, Drummond said. I applaud the work of my Consumer Protection Unit to fight for these victims and to hold accountable their alleged perpetrator.

According to the A.G.s Office, one victim even sold her house so she could send $600,000. The victims sent Apple gift cards, cash and cashiers checks as well as wired money to accounts owned by Echohawk.

LOCAL NEWS: Police looking for more information in NW Oklahoma City shooting

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Drummonds office got a tip from Echohawks bank in January of suspected fraud, leading the bank to intercept and hold $120,000 from one of the victims. The Consumer Protection Unit began investigating.

Echohawk was arrested on Monday on complaints of unlawful use of criminal proceeds and using a computer to violate state statutes. She is accused of laundering the money she got from the elderly victims through multiple accounts before converting them to cryptocurrency to send to an unknown suspect.

No more information is available as the investigation continues.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
With President Donald Trump waging war on the arts, via his control of the Kennedy Center and his ongoing attacks on museums nationwide, the power of artistic resistance has been on my mind.

And a new documentary from PBS  We Want the Funk! serves as a timely demonstration of how artistic moments and political movements can merge for the greater good  both sonically and socially.

The film, directed by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London, has an all-star roster, including George Clinton and Questlove of The Roots. Its an homage to funk music and the unapologetic Blackness that birthed the genre  and also a celebration of the sense of community that the arts can breed when illiberal despots dont stand in the way.

Questlove appears in the new PBS documentary We Want the Funk!

In the documentary, we learn that some of the greatest funk artists in history, from the Ohio Players to Prince and The Time, were products of public school arts programs  the kinds of programs threatened by Trumps bigoted assault on diversity  and a Black middle class that is currently being squeezed as well. We learn that funk music gained prominence along with the Black Power movement in the 1970s, as Black people  and artists, in particular  rejected the Jim Crow eras demands for assimilation into the purported primness of white society. As historian Scot Brown explains, funk at that time captured the sentiment of a generational change where conformity is not the priority. And thats how you get songs like James Browns Say It Loud  Im Black and Im Proud.

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In the documentary, we also learn that funk music  in particular, groups like Parliament-Funkadelic and Labelle  was seminal in promoting the Afrofuturism movement that merged Black creativity and science. And we learn, importantly, of the value of diversity and cultural exchange, when, for example, Clinton explains that he drew influence from Elton John and the British rock group King Crimson  but also when Talking Heads frontman David Byrne discusses the influence he drew from Black artists like Brown and members of Clintons band.

If youre looking for a film that subverts the MAGA ethos in just about every way  from its celebration of free artistic expression to its open affection for diversity  without uttering Trumps name or referencing his movement a single time, this is it.

We Want the Funk premieres Tuesday night and is now streaming on PBS website. Check it out here.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
A conservative advocacy group founded by former Vice President Pence launched a six-figure ad campaign on Tuesday pushing back against the Trump administrations sweeping tariffs that are set to take effect this week.

Advancing American Freedom unveiled its first ad, which warns of potential consequences the tariffs could have for farmers. The ad features a testimonial from Dennis Campbell, a sixth-generation farmer in Iowa who says he is very concerned about the impacts of tariffs.

Family farms like mine will be negatively affected. We need fair trade, not tariffs that lead to higher prices or foreclosures on family farms, Campbell says in the ad, which was shared with The Hill.

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Semafor first reported on the organizations ad campaign.

Tariffs harm American workers, farmers, and families and we are urging a swift end to this protectionist policy that could undermine President Trumps pro-growth agenda, Advancing American Freedom president Tim Chapman said in a statement.

Its more critical than ever for Congress and the Administration to make progress on renewing the historic Trump-Pence tax cuts and get back to the conservative formula of tax cuts and deregulation that worked so well during President Trumps first term, Chapman added.

The Trump administration last week announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on all other nations, with higher reciprocal tariffs on dozens of other countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, India and the European Union. Those tariffs are set to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

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President Trump has shown no interest in backing off the tariffs, even as he and other officials are adamant that more than 70 countries have reached out seeking a deal. The approach has rattled financial markets and drawn pushback from some Senate Republicans.

Pence, who has broken with Trump on multiple policy issues in recent years since leaving office, said in a statement last week that the tariffs would amount to the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. 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 The Hill.
The Scoop

Former Vice President Mike Pences political advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, is criticizing Donald Trumps new tariff plan in a new six-figure ad campaign that launched Tuesday.

Pence has personally hit back at Trumps sweeping tariffs, calling them the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history. The Hoosier, who ran against his former boss in the 2024 primary, is now taking things a step further, according to details shared first with Semafor: His nonprofits digital ads will urge an end to the tariffs, arguing they will counteract the pro-growth agenda that worked so well during Trumps first term.

Advancing American Freedoms first ad is titled Rural America Will Pay Biggest Price and focuses on farmers. It features one sixth-generation farmer from Iowa arguing tariffs increase farm input costs.

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We need fair trade, not tariffs that lead to higher prices or foreclosures on family farms, the farmer says. Say no to tariffs. Tell politicians in Washington this has to stop.

In a statement, AAF President Tim Chapman told Semafor that the group is urging a swift end to this protectionist policy, arguing it puts Trumps pro-growth agenda at risk. Chapman also argued for a return to tax cuts and deregulation, citing the success of that approach during Trumps first term in office.

Know More

This isnt the first time Pence has tangled with Trump in recent years. The duos relationship effectively ended after Pence certified the results of the Trumps loss in 2020  incurring the presidents wrath in the process. In the first days of Trumps second term, Pence has openly pushed back on his disinterest in a national abortion ban, his decision to ally with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and more.

Pence has grown concerned about the direction of the Republican Party, as Semafor reported last year. While its not clear even to his allies what role he might have in the party moving forward, the former vice president is trying to lay the groundwork for a post-Trump GOP.

Notable
(WHTM)  A Pennsylvania lawmaker proposed a bill that would make the Eastern Box Turtle Pennsylvanias official state reptile.

House Bill 401, created by Rep. Perry Stambaugh (R-Perry/Juniata), would designate the ubiquitous Eastern Box Turtle as Pennsylvanias state reptile. The bill has garnered support from the House Game & Fisheries Committee.

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The Eastern box turtle can be found across the Commonwealth in rural, suburban, and even urban habitats: shrubby grasslands, marshy meadows, open woodlands, and field forest edges, Rep. Stambaugh said. The turtles are often found near streams or ponds, or areas that have experienced heavy rainfall. Box turtles generally live for 25 to 35 years, but they have been known to survive for more than 100 years.

According to Stambaugh, the Eastern Box Turtle is becoming an at-risk species, as its population is declining due to habitat fragmentation. He argues that making the turtle the state reptile would significantly help with conservation efforts.

Pennsylvanias state animal is the white-tailed deer.

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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Senior Defense Department officials are considering a proposal to withdraw as many as 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe, sparking concern on both continents that it would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to six U.S. and European officials who have been briefed on the matter.

The units under consideration are part of the 20,000 personnel the Biden administration deployed in 2022 to strengthen the defenses of countries bordering Ukraine after the Russian invasion. The numbers are still being discussed, but the proposal could involve removing up to half of the forces sent by Biden.

Internal discussions about reducing American troop levels in Romania and Poland come at a time when President Donald Trump is trying to persuade Putin to agree to a ceasefire.

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The six U.S. and European officials, all of whom requested anonymity, described multiple details of the proposal that have not been previously reported to NBC News. If the Pentagon adopts the proposal, it will reinforce fears that the United States is abandoning its longtime allies in Europe who view Russia as a growing threat, European officials said.

Russian officials would assess a downsizing of U.S. forces as a weakening of deterrence, and it will increase their willingness to meddle in various ways across the spectrum in Europe, said Seth Jones, a senior vice president with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Trump administration has made it clear that it wants European allies to take more responsibility for their own defense, allowing the United States to focus its military resources on China and other priorities.

In his first trip abroad as defense secretary, Pete Hegseth said in a speech in Brussels in February that stark strategic realities prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused on the security of Europe. Instead, the United States would focus on securing its southern border and countering China, he said.

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Elbridge Colby, whom the Senate is expected to confirm soon to be the Pentagons top policy adviser and No. 3 official, has called for a greater focus on China. Colby has argued against devoting more resources to Ukraine and called for reductions in the number of troops in Europe in favor of focusing on the threat from China.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, appeared to criticize that approach at a hearing Thursday. There are some who believe now is the time to reduce drastically our military footprint in Europe, Wicker said, without providing any details.

Im troubled at those deeply misguided and dangerous views held by some midlevel bureaucrats within the Defense Department, he added, without identifying the officials. Theyve been working to pursue a U.S. retreat from Europe, and theyve often been doing so without coordinating with the secretary of defense.

A Pentagon spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. The Army declined to comment.

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The President is constantly reviewing deployments and priorities to make sure he keeps America First, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement to NBC News.

At a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Gen. Chris Cavoli, the head of U.S. European Command and the supreme allied commander of NATO, told the House Armed Services Committee that he opposed reducing U.S. troop levels in Eastern Europe.

In 2022, we originally surged forces forward, Cavoli said, referring to the military units that the Biden administration sent after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We have periodically reviewed the force structure at both the military level and the policy level. And I have consistently recommended throughout that period to maintain the forces we surged forward, and I would continue to do so.

A Pentagon official who testified alongside Cavoli, Catherine Thompson, declined to give her opinion but acknowledged that troop levels in Europe are under review.

Budget cuts expected

As the Pentagon undergoes budget cuts under Trump, shrinking the U.S. militarys footprint in Europe would free up resources, potentially for the Indo-Pacific region, which administration officials have said they see as a higher strategic priority. Canceling the deployment of combat units to Eastern Europe could also save money for the Army, which is trying to boost investments in innovative equipment and weapons.

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Roughly 80,000 American troops are stationed in Europe. After Russia launched the war, lawmakers from both parties backed a strong U.S. military presence along NATOs eastern flank, seeing it as an important signal to Putin that the United States remains committed to the defense of those border states.

But Trump campaigned on a promise to end the war quickly and is now pushing for a ceasefire. He has taken a very different stance toward Ukraine from that of Biden, who vowed to provide weapons and other aid to Kyiv as long as it takes to prevail.

Trump has pressed Ukraine to make concessions upfront. He suspended military and intelligence assistance for a week after a public clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and he has made no specific commitment about future U.S. military aid.

Ben Hodges, a retired three-star general who oversaw the Army in Europe, said he wondered what kind of analysis was done to lead officials to consider the proposal to withdraw troops in the region.

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Youll have a lot less deterrent capability, Hodges said. Now Poland obviously is growing its capability, the Romanians are, other European countries are, but thatll be a hole thatll have to be filled.

Russia is pursuing a major rebuilding and reform of its military, including modernizing equipment and ratcheting up weapons production, according to a Danish intelligence assessment released in February.

If the war in Ukraine ends or is frozen in a ceasefire arrangement, Russia could be capable of waging a large-scale war in Eastern Europe within the next five years if NATO failed to bolster its defenses, the report said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(Reuters) - Senior U.S. Defense Department officials are considering a proposal to withdraw as many as 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe, NBC News reported on Tuesday, citing six U.S. and European officials briefed on the matter.

(Reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
Then Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield speaks during a change of command ceremony held at the conclusion of her service as president of the U.S. Naval War College on June 23, 2023. Rear Adm. Peter Garvin succeeded her to become the 58th president. (U.S. Navy Photo by Kristopher Burris/Released)

U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. representative to NATOs Military Committee, was fired over the weekend, the Associated Press reported Monday.

Chatfield served as president of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, from 2019 to 2023 and was the first woman to lead the college. Her promotion from rear admiral to vice admiral and assignment to NATO in Brussels, Belgium, had been held up for most of 2023 by Alabamas Republican U.S. in protest of the Pentagons abortion policy.

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The Pentagon did not confirm that Chatfield had been relieved of her duties. Her firing was first reported by Reuters, which confirmed that allies had been notified that Chatfield had been removed from her job.

Chatfield is the third top female officer to be fired since President Donald Trump took office amid a push to erase DEI programs and online content. Trump fired Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan the day after he was sworn in. In February, Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he was firing the chief of naval operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti.

I want to see members of this team offer each other respect for differences, for diversity, for the dialogue from which ideas and collaboration emerge, Chatfield told staff and faculty when she arrived at the War College in August 2019. I want to see academic excellence. I want to see integrity in academics and in research.

Her portrait by Alabama artist Jie Ruan now hangs in Conolly Hall, alongside all other portraits of War College presidents dating back to its first president, Rear Adm. Stephen B. Luce, who served from October 1884 to February 1886. Chatfield stands before international flags, dressed in her white choker jacket, a dress uniform women were not allowed to wear when she received her commission through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps after graduating from Boston University in 1987.

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In a post on X, Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who is vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said he was deeply disturbed by the firing of Chatfield, a combat veteran and helicopter pilot.

Trumps relentless attacks on our alliances and his careless dismissal of decorated military officials make us less safe and weaken our position across the world, Warner said.

Rhode Islands U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat who is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Chatfields dismissal unjustified and disgraceful. Reed added that he found the silence of Republicans in Congress deeply troubling.

Admiral Chatfield is among the finest military officers our nation has to offer, and she has distinguished herself as the U.S. Military Representative to NATO, Reed said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. Her 38-year career as a Navy pilot, foreign policy expert, and preeminent military educator  including as President of the Naval War College  will leave a lasting legacy on the Navy and throughout the military. Admiral Chatfields record of selfless service is unblemished by President Trumps behavior.

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Trump has fired 10 generals and admirals without explanation since he was sworn in on Jan. 20, Reed noted.

I cannot fathom how anyone could stand silently by while the President causes great harm to our military and our nation, Reed added. I will continue to call out this unconscionable behavior and sound the alarm about the dangers of firing military officers as a political loyalty test. I urge my Republican colleagues to join me in demanding an explanation from President Trump and Secretary Hegseth.

The War College has removed a small amount of online content after conducting a review to comply with the Digital Content Refresh memorandum sent out by Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Sean Parnell, said Lt. Cmdr. Pete Pagano, the colleges public affairs officer.

Examples include social media posts about DoD monthly observances and videos of lectures focused on immutable characteristics such as race, ethnicity or sex, Pagano said in an email. None of the affected content was part of or related to our core curriculum.

This story has been updated to include comment from U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and details on Chatfields portrait.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  A top Pentagon official said Tuesday that special operations forces do not have the authority to launch drone attacks at drug cartels in Mexico, even though President Donald Trump has designated them foreign terrorist organizations.

Colby Jenkins, who is currently working as the assistant defense secretary for special operations, told a Senate committee that Trump's designation doesnt automatically give the U.S. military the authority to take direct action against the cartels.

Under questioning from Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, Jenkins said it helps us unlock the doors for a broader government approach to the drug problem.

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Slotkin noted that Elon Musk, a top adviser to Trump on overhauling the federal government, has said the foreign terrorist designation means the U.S. can conduct drone strikes against the cartels. Musk posted that on Feb. 19 on X.

Jenkins said it doesnt, but that now the military can provide options and be ready if Trump needs more done to protect the border.

U.S. Northern Command has increased manned surveillance flights along the U.S.-Mexico border to monitor drug cartels and the movement of fentanyl and is increasing its intelligence sharing with Mexico from those flights, Gen. Gregory Guillot told senators in February.

There are also unmanned U.S. drones conducting surveillance over Mexicos airspace, according to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

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Trump designated many of the gangs and cartels moving those drugs into the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations on Feb. 19, further increasing the pressure on their ability to move and providing law enforcement with what the State Department said are additional tools to stop these groups.

Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command, also told senators that he would seek expanded authority from Congress to conduct more advise-and-assist types of operations between our forces and the tier one Mexican forces, which are that countrys special forces units.
Just about anyone on any budget can become an investor thanks to no-fee brokerages and fractional-share trading  but the trick is to give your investments enough time to turn a little into a lot.

Explore More: Mark Cuban Says He Keeps a Large Part of His Portfolio in Cash  Heres Why

Try This: 25 Creative Ways To Save Money

Long-term investing doesnt have to be complicated, but it must be deliberate and planned. Here are four strategies that cover the four key elements of long-term success.

Diversification

If two words could summarize the primary safeguard of long-term investing, those words would be diversified portfolio. Spreading your eggs around minimizes your exposure to any single investment, reducing long-term volatility and mitigating the risk of going all-in on a single company, sector or asset class.

According to Fidelity, a basic diversified portfolio has four main components.

Domestic stocks

International stocks

Bonds

Short-term investments like CDs and money market funds

Find Out: How To Become Rich  9 Fastest Ways, According To Experts

Buy and Hold

For decades, heavyweight investors from Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham to Peter Lynch and Jack Bogle have cautioned against trying to time the market and instead recommend staying invested to capitalize on compounding and capital appreciation. While tempting, trying to buy low and sell high presents two risks that will eventually foil most long-term investors.

Market unpredictability: The incalculable number of variables that drive market volatility are so varied and erratic that even skilled and experienced investors will fail to predict the peaks and valleys with any regularity over the long term.

Missing the up days: A handful of positive trading sessions generate a vastly disproportionate amount of market growth, and investors who jump in and out to avoid downturns can miss them  with devastating consequences. According to Hartford Funds, missing just the markets 10 best days over the last 30 years would have cut your returns in half. Missing the 30 best days over the last 30 years would have slashed your returns by a grueling 83%.

Dollar-Cost Averaging

The strategy long-term investors use to schedule their contributions will impact their success over the years and decades. Investment firms like Charles Schwab and Merrill Lynch recommend dollar-cost averaging to simplify the process, eliminate emotions, maintain discipline, manage volatility and ensure consistency over extended investment horizons.

Dollar-cost averaging is an automated approach in which investors contribute a fixed dollar amount on a set schedule  say, $100 every other Thursday  regardless of the markets behavior. This ensures regular contributions and, over time, smooths the markets ups and downs by purchasing more of a security when its cheap and less when its expensive.
Half a million children could die from AIDS by 2030 because of disruptions to the flagship US HIV prevention project PEPFAR, experts have warned.

Their analysis, published in The Lancet on Tuesday, estimates that one million additional children could be infected with HIV and almost half a million of them could die by the end of the decade if PEPFARs programmes are reduced or eliminated.

On top of the infections, some 2.8 million children could be orphaned by HIV-related deaths, they found.

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PEPFAR was established by George W Bush, the US President, in 2003. So far, it has saved over 26 million lives, protected 7.5 million babies and supported 10 million orphans with HIV prevention and treatment.

Since its inception, the project has put more than $120 billion (94 bn) into efforts to tackle HIV  the largest commitment by any nation in history to address a single disease. It operates in more than 50 countries around the world.

At least half a million children could die and more than 2 million could be orphaned if the disruptions continue, say experts - WILL OLIVER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The support PEPFAR funding provides includes life-saving antiretroviral treatments for those with HIV, as well as antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection. It also supports voluntary medical male circumcisions, the training of health care workers, and HIV prevention services for girls and young women.

On January 20, Donald Trump signed an executive order halting these life-saving efforts. The decision followed news that several nurses funded by PEPFAR had performed illegal abortions in Mozambique.

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Prof Lucie Cluver, co-lead author of the analysis, from the University of Oxford, was a social worker in South Africa before PEPFAR was introduced.

My work was with dying children and mothers and I had nothing to give them. Then PEPFAR came and everything changed  it was like seeing a continent come to life again, she told the Telegraph.

But the suspension of PEPFAR has thrown efforts to end HIV and AIDS into jeopardy, she said.

Losing stable, long-term support for PEPFAR programmes sets global progress to end HIV/AIDS back to the dark ages of the epidemic, especially for children and adolescents, she said.

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Prof Cluver said a colleague had recently returned from the rural Copperbelt in Zambia and told her it felt like the clock had been turned back 25 years.

They were seeing children with sores on their faces and mothers dying again, she said.

The impact of PEPFAR extends beyond HIV and AIDS prevention  it also also supports many programmes working to improve child health and eliminate sexual violence against girls.

If these programmes end, there is a risk that the children they help will slip through the cracks, said Susan Hillis, a Senior Research Officer at Imperial College London and another of the reports co-authors.

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[Reducing] sexual violence is one of the most fundamental things PEPFAR has done, Prof Cluver added. Its often how young girls are contracting HIV and those who have been victimised get mentorship, counselling and support. Losing it would be catastrophic.

The researchers urged the US to support a five-year transition plan instead of stopping PEPFAR immediately, so that responsibility for its programmes can be taken on gradually by African governments.

What is urgently needed now is a well-planned transition to expanded country-ownership of PEPFAR programmes that will offer stability for countries that currently rely on PEPFAR support, said co-author Prof Chris Desmond, of the University of Kwazulu-Natal.

Prof Cluver told the Telegraph that, if PEPFAR is terminated, the country most affected will be the US itself.

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PEPFAR is so important to the way the US is viewed globally. It is the reason why the US has such strong trade and diplomatic relations with Africa. I hope theyll make the right choice.

Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security

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Apr. 8---- A decision is expected before summer's end on whether to permit a large solar farm proposed in

.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and Department of Commerce hosted the second in-person public hearing for the

project in Olivia on March 31, followed by an online hearing on April 1.

Administrative Law Judge Kristien Butler said he will issue his findings on the application by the project developer, Ranger Power, on June 2. The Public Utilities Commission will decide in July or August whether or not to permit the project, according to the project's timetable.

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The environmental assessment for the project is completed and available at the

for the project, according to Jessica Livingston, environmental review manager with the Department of Commerce. Go to

and search Docket No. 24-106.

Ranger Power, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is seeking to develop a 200-megawatt solar energy site. The Gopher State Solar project would erect solar panels on 977 acres of land within a 1,645-acre area of leased property located primarily north of Bird Island in Kingman and Osceola townships and a small portion in Bird Island.

Bifacial solar panels that produce electricity from direct and reflected light are planned. They would be aligned to the south and track the sun east to west, said Sergio Trevino, vice president of siting for

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, in his April 1 presentation.

The project represents a $200 million investment in Renville County, according to Trevino.

The company representative said the project would provide $32 million in tax revenues to the county and local government units over its project life. It will provide a $79,000 tax impact in its first year while creating 200 construction jobs.

At the April 1 hearing, the lone participant to offer comment on the project was Lucas Franco, representing the Laborers' International Union of North America in Minnesota. He offered support for the project and cited the company's commitment to hire local contractors and workers for its construction.

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Renville County has raised concerns about the project. During discussions at the

meeting on April 1, it was also noted that some landowners neighboring the site were present at the in-person hearing.

It was stated at the hearing that property values can decrease by about 4% for residences within a half-mile of a solar site, according to the discussions.

The visual aesthetics, possible glare from the panels, and possible humming and other noise from the electrical equipment were issues raised at an Oct. 29, 2024, hearing held in Olivia on the project.

The Renville County commissioners have expressed concerns that the cost for decommissioning the project could fall on the county if the project fails financially. It is seeking a decommissioning agreement with Ranger Power to provide financial assurance for those potential costs, but the sides differ greatly on what the costs could be.

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Ranger Power estimates that decommissioning costs could total $1.4 million. The company's estimate is based on expectations of approximately $5.5 million in salvage value for the solar panels and materials and $7 million in costs for removal and site restoration.

Renville County maintains that decommissioning costs could total $21 million as there is no way to predict the value of the materials two decades or more in the future.

In a letter to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Scott Refsland, director of Renville County Environmental Services, said a company proposing a 125-megawatt solar project in the county estimates the decommissioning costs at $3.3 million to $5 million, or as much as $6.5 million more than Ranger Power estimates for its much larger project.

The county is asking that if the project is permitted, language in the permit allow the county to pursue all legal options against the project owner  and, if applicable, against landowners  to recover any decommissioning costs that would become the county's responsibility if an agreement is not reached with Ranger Power.

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The Gopher State Solar project is one of two large solar projects in the permitting process in Renville County.

of Salt Lake City, Utah, a subsidiary of AES Clean Energy, is seeking to develop a 125-megawatt project in an approximate 1,000-acre footprint in Birch Cooley, Camp and Bandon townships and the city of Franklin.
Update on April 8, 2025

DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA)  Danville Police have arrested a man in connection to a homicide investigation after a body was found Monday afternoon.

Department officials said via Facebook that approximately eight hours after finding Monty Peplow dead at Sherman and New Streets, they arrested Shane May, 44 of Danville, on charges of first-degree murder. They previously said they were questioning a person of interest in the case, but did not say May was that person.

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Officials said the investigation into Peplows murder resulted in probable cause to arrest May. The Danville Police Department was assisted by the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Unit, the Vermilion County States Attorneys Office, and several community members.

May is being held in the Vermilion County Public Safety Building as he awaits a pretrial detention hearing. He is considered innocent until proven guilty.

Anyone who has further information about this crime is asked to contact either the Danville Police Department (217-431-2250) or Vermilion County Crimestoppers at 217-446-8477 or vccrimestoppers.org.

DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA)  The Danville Police Department is investigating a homicide after receiving reports that a person was found dead in a home on Monday.

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Police responded to the home near the intersection of Sherman Street and New Street around noon. When they arrived, they found a male victim. The Vermilion County Coroners Office later identified him as 41-year-old Monty Peplow of Danville.

Former Danville Police officer, Korean War vet dies at 92

An autopsy will be completed on Tuesday as a part of the homicide investigation. At this time, the Danville Police Department is questioning a person of interest about the incident. The police added that they do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the community.

The Illinois State Police Crime Scene Unit assisted the Danville Police Department. No further information is available at this time, according to police.

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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
PHILADELPHIA (AP)  On a frigid February morning, Vanity Cordero, a Philadelphia police officer, heard a call over the radio for a man threatening to jump from a bridge. The details sounded familiar.

When Cordero arrived, she realized shed met him months earlier on the same bridge, where she talked him down by engaging him in conversation about his family and by bringing him a hot meal.

Cordero is a member of a program that pairs trained officers with mental health and social work clinicians to respond to 911 calls and other crises. It's focused on de-escalation practices and providing connections to services including follow-up support as an alternative to arrest and entering into the criminal justice system.

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The unit started as a pilot program in late 2022, nearly two years after the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., who was experiencing a mental health episode when police responded to his mother's call for help.

Studies over the past two decades have shown a person with serious mental illness can be over 10 times more likely to experience use of force during police interactions.

In the wake of Wallace's death, the police and the city both invested in programs to better respond to mental health crises  one of dozens of similar initiatives in other police departments across the country.

Officers with a personal connection

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What makes Philadelphia's unit unique is the robust follow-up resources and that most of the officers on Philadelphia's team, including Cordero, have personal experiences that made them want to join  family members with mental illness or addictions or previous work with at-risk populations.

Cordero grew up living with her uncle, who her mother takes care of because of an intellectual disability that today would be diagnosed as autism, she said. She's an advocate for better practices for police interacting with autistic people.

When Im on the street and Im serving in the community, I think of someone being my uncle or, you know, any family member. Everyone is a family member to someone, she said. It just gives you a little bit more edge and patience and courteousness to the people that need your help."

On this February morning, Cordero rushed to the bridge as a member of the Crisis Intervention Response Team to help responding patrol officers.

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CIRT teams, who drive SUVs without police lights and department decals and wear less formal uniforms, are often requested by other officers to assist, and also choose calls to respond to citywide.

She stayed back until she was needed, but the man spotted her and teased her about not being as tan as she was the last time they saw each other.

They laughed about Cordero getting pale over the winter months and she reminded him it was cold outside, especially on that bridge.

A few hours later, the man was on his way to a mandatory mental health hold and clinician Krystian Gardner would follow up in the coming days and offer resources to the man's family.

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Mental health is a growing part of police work

A lot of officers on the team said many calls were about mental health when they were on regular patrol. But officers usually have just a few minutes to spend handling calls before being pulled to the next incident.

The CIRT team, however, spends more than an hour on average with each person, said Lt. Victoria Casale, who oversees the unit.

In policing, there just isn't the resources or time to spend hours on calls, Casale said. But we want our officers to spend time with people. We're not leaving you. We're trying to solve this problem with you.

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The team's clinicians, who work for the nonprofit Merakey, a behavioral health provider, also bring experience and resources to the table.

Audrey Lundy, program director for Merakey, said one of her first calls with the unit reframed her perspective. Instead of doing a typical welfare check  on a mother who hadn't been to work in awhile  Lundy and the CIRT officer brought over groceries for the family using a flexible needs spending card. The woman had gotten sick, was unable to work and began experiencing a financial crisis.

The groceries opened the door to a broader conversation about the resources that may be available to help her cover school costs, long-term expenses and ultimately, get back to her job.

A veteran problem solver

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The officers like the idea of being problem solvers. For Officer Kenneth Harper, a Marine combat veteran, his CIRT assignment has given him the opportunity to help fellow veterans having a hard time readjusting to civilian life or dealing with mental health concerns.

There was a gentleman that served over 30 years in the Army  a very decorated, highly respected person, Harper said. But he was very stubborn, never received any help or services.

Harper and another officer with military experience built a rapport with the man, eventually getting him to the veterans hospital for treatment and help with housing.

We kept in touch for months after that, checking in, he said.

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Casale said Harper has gone far above and beyond, even recruiting other veterans in the department to share trainings about trauma responses and resources for vets.

It's just one way the small unit has expanded its reach. The eight-officer CIRT team covers the entire city on weekdays, but crises don't stop on nights and weekends. Casale hopes the team can grow in numbers as districts across the city become familiar with and trust the work they do.

They want people to call CIRT directly if they need help instead of waiting until it's an emergency and calling 911.

We want them to call us, Cordero said, of connecting with the man on the bridge. I told him, you know, you can call us. We can just go eat. We dont have to keep meeting on this bridge.

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___

This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
Powerful storms repeatedly struck parts of the South and Midwest late last week and over the weekend, killing dozens of people across multiple states and giving way to disastrous flooding in a number of regions. Some Kentucky cities and towns have seen inundation reach historic levels, as heavy rainfall caused major rivers to swell and spill over onto the land.

In Frankfort, the state's capital city, flooding from the Kentucky River submerged vast areas. Photos show the extent of the damage, capturing vehicles, highways, homes and buildings either partially or completely under water.

Severe flooding in Frankfort, Kentucky, caused by days of heavy rainfall across the Midwest on April 7, 2025. / Credit: LEANDRO LOZADA/AFP via Getty Images

An aerial view of Frankfort on April 7. / Credit: LEANDRO LOZADA/AFP via Getty Images

The worst of Frankfort's flooding seemed to be over by Tuesday, said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear during a news conference in the capital, adding that the river had crested, which means water levels reached their highest point and were expected to slowly recede from then on.

Water floods fields, roads and structures near the Bluegrass Parkway in Kentucky's Nelson County on April 7. / Credit: Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Flooded homes in Frankfort on April 7. / Credit: LEANDRO LOZADA/AFP via Getty Images

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"We hope by the end of tomorrow, most people will be able to get back in their homes," Beshear said. According to the governor, emergency crews in Frankfort rescued two people by boat just this week, as severe weather temporarily cut off residents' access to water. Water in the city had been restored by Tuesday, he said, but driving in the area still wasn't safe.

While Kentucky River flooding has started to abate, water levels along the Ohio River, which runs through Louisville, have yet to reach their peak, and forecasters warned dangerous flooding could still be ahead for residents in and around Kentucky's largest city.

Frankfort's Singing Bridge was closed to traffic April 7. / Credit: LEANDRO LOZADA/AFP via Getty Images

Water fills the parking lot of a Frankfort car dealership. / Credit: LEANDRO LOZADA/AFP via Getty Images

The National Water Prediction Service, an office within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has indicated that a portion of the Ohio River at McAlpine Upper, near downtown Louisville, may crest at around 37 feet on Wednesday. If that happens, it would rank among the worst flooding events in the area's history, CBS News affiliate WLKY reported.

Close to 150 people have been rescued across Kentucky since these storms began, while 272 have been evacuated by boat as of Tuesday, Beshear said. At least five people statewide have died from weather-related incidents since last week, CBS News has confirmed. The dead include a 9-year-old boy swept away Friday on his way to school, and a 74-year-old whose body was discovered Saturday inside of a submerged vehicle, authorities said.

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More have died outside of just Kentucky, and additional photos show flooding damages elsewhere in the Midwest. Unrelenting storms dumped rain and, in several instances, spawned tornadoes across a wide band of the United States, leaving trails of destruction in neighboring states like Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia and more.

At least 10 people were killed in Tennessee alone, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, which was also scrambling resources to deal with catastrophic flooding this week. Three were confirmed dead during storms in Missouri, two were killed in Arkansas and another two in Georgia. Mississippi and Indiana have so far confirmed one death each due to the storms.

Water surrounds a home on April 5, 2025 in Wilson City, Missouri, where officials said between 6 and 9 inches of rain fell. / Credit: Scott Olson/ Getty Images

A truck drives through floodwater on April 5 in Cairo, Illinois. / Credit: Scott Olson/ Getty Images

Inside the booming, bourbon-driven barrel business | 60 Minutes

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It's been one of the most chaotic stretches for US markets in recent memory.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell more than 10% in just three days. The three-day collapse in stocks following President Trump's tariff announcement sits just below the top 10 worst sell-offs since World War II, per Yahoo Finance data.

US stocks rebounded on Tuesday morning after the idea of tariff negotiations gained momentum.

The only three-day periods that brought stocks lower came in 1987, 1998, 2008, 2011, and 2020.

On Monday, the S&P gained roughly 8% in less than 30 minutes on a false report that President Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his tariff rollout. The White House quickly denied the reports, categorizing any potential tariff pause as "fake news."

Read more: How to protect your money during economic turmoil, stock market volatility

The trading action showed how chaotic global markets have become since Trump announced plans to spike the US tariff rate to its highest level in more than a century.

The S&P 500 is now on the brink of a bear market, down about 17% from its most recent all-time high. Many of the largest stocks in the market are all off more than 20% from their most recent all-time highs. Oil prices have cratered to their lowest level in nearly four years, and overseas markets have suffered under the weight of the impact.

Trump's tariff plan

On April 2, Trump laid out his long-awaited plans to slap reciprocal tariffs on countries around the world, with the new levies ranging from a 10% "baseline" tariff to additional duties for nations the administration considers to be the "worst offenders."

All told, Trump announced tariffs that will impact some 185 countries, including the United States's largest trading partners. Additional reciprocal tariffs, for instance, will include 34% tariffs on Chinese imports, a 20% tariff on European Union imports, a 46% tariff on imports from Vietnam, 32% on imports from Taiwan, and 26% on India  all set to take effect on April 9.

Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet

In the latest escalation of his trade war, Trump threatened China with an additional 50% tariff if Beijing did not remove the retaliatory 34% levies on US imports the country announced last week.

Other countries have begun to announce their own retaliations and negotiation plans with the US as investors brace for more pain over the coming days and weeks.

Highfliers hit by tariff whipsaw

Just as the "Magnificent Seven" stocks helped lead the bull market higher over the past two years, the market's leaders have been at the forefront of the massive leg lower too.
Last month, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collective reported that dark energy is evolvingspecifically weakeningand it could help provide the first observational evidence of string theory.

While a new preprint reports that cosmological models using the string theory framework account for this weakening of dark matter, some physicists arent convinced that DESIs data alone definitively speaks about the true nature of dark energy.

Luckily, future instruments such as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will hopefully either confirm these string theory findings or set physicists down a different path toward finding that ever-elusive theory of everything.

The centuries-long Copernican journey of slowly displacing humans from the center of everything has provided our species with an unprecedented understanding of our planet, Solar System, and the known universe. But with every cosmological answer comes an all-you-can-eat buffet of new questions, none of which are quite as enticing as the mystery of dark energy.

Ever since the first observational evidence in 1998 , when scientists discerned that the universes expansion was actually accelerating, dark energy has figured prominently in most leading theories attempting to explain the workings of the universe. String theorythe theoretical roots of which date back to the late 1960sis one of those explanations, and the frameworks fortunes have risen and fallen with the passing decades. Many scientists have declared the theory all but dead (or, at the very least, on life support ), but new data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which was designed to capture spectroscopic surveys of distant galaxies, has provided some encouraging evidence that string theorists may actually be onto something.

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At least, thats the idea behind a new preprint paper, published on the server arXiv . Scientists from Virginia Tech, State University of New York (SUNY) and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa argue that the bombshell observations from DESIprimarily, that the dark energy is weakening over timecould provide some of the first direct observational evidence of string theory.

Given our proposal for the origin of dark energy from the geometry of the dual spacetime, the latest results from DESI might point to a fundamentally new understanding of quantum spacetime in the context of quantum gravity, the authors wrote in the non-peer-reviewed paper.

Unlike the Standard Model, which considers particles to be point-like, string theoryas its name suggestsconceptualizes these particles as one-dimensional vibrating strings, the vibrations of which dictate the behaviors and qualities of the particles. After the announcement of DESIs discovery last month that the impact of dark energy may be weakening over time, string theorists perked up, as this new piece of data fits well within many existing string theory predictions. Cumrun Vafa, a string theory physicist at Harvard University, told Quanta Magazine last month that the theory kind of demands that [dark energy] change.

According to Live Science, this new study developed a string theory model that yielded a dark energy density that closely mimicked the data found by DESI. They also discerned that dark energy is impacted by two completely different types of lengths: the ultra-small Planck scale and the absolute size of the universe. This connection hints that dark energy is somehow related to the quantum nature of spacetime itself.

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This hints at a deeper connection between quantum gravity and the dynamical properties of nature that had been supposed to be constant, SUNYs Michael Kavic told Live Science. It may turn out that a fundamental misapprehension we carry with us is that the basic defining properties of our universe are static when in fact they are not.

This doesnt suddenly mean that weve found the ever-elusive theory of everythinga concept that unifies all physics both classical and quantum. For one, independent observations would need to confirm the assertions in this paper (though, the authors believed theyve identified ways to possibly accomplish that feat). However, others argue that even the DESI data isnt conclusive on the true nature of dark energy, and that we need superior instruments to really understand whats going on.

Luckily, were getting just that. NASA is preparing to launch the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope in 2027, and the National Science Foundation is set to achieve first light with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory later this year. DESIs impressive dataset has set physics down a new path of discovery, but these new instruments will hopefully provide long sought-after cosmological answersand also a few new questions we never even thought to ask.

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Pinellas County more than $813 million for hurricane recovery  the largest amount given anywhere in the country during the latest round of funding, County Administrator Barry Burton said.

Pinellas County received this money to assist communities recovering from Hurricanes Idalia, Helene and Milton. Administering the funds from the county level helps expedite the distribution.

Similar to other federal awards, the county has steps it must take before it can distribute the money to residents. Heres what to know about the grant, when funds will be available and who qualifies.

How soon will residents receive the money?

Currently, the earliest residents could begin to receive money is this fall.

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For the county to access this grant, it must create an action plan that will establish specific funding programs through which to distribute the money.

This action plan must have community input, so the county is holding public meetings this month  the first of which was Monday evening in Lealman.

During these meetings, county staff present their proposed plans, and residents can ask questions and provide feedback.

Once the county has a draft action plan, with public input and a study of the countys needs, there will be a 30-day public comment period during which the county commissioners will review the plan.

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This summer, the Housing and Urban Development Department will have 45 days to review the countys plan, and if approved, will issue a grant agreement, and the initial program rollout can begin.

Even though money wont be available to residents until the fall, typically peak hurricane season, Burton said the planned distribution is record-time for this kind of grant.

Were trying to design programs that we can actually move out the door quickly, Burton said. But we have to do it in compliance with the federal rules.

What is this money for, and who is eligible to apply?

This money falls under Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program, and 70% of the funding is designated to support low- and moderate-income households and communities.

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It must be spent on eligible initiatives, such as housing, infrastructure, public services and economic revitalization.

Right now, the county has found the highest unmet need among residents is housing, and 74% of the money is proposed to go toward housing assistance.

With this money, the county is planning multiple programs, from home repair reimbursement to disaster relief payments and economic recovery assistance for small businesses.

Once the action plan is complete, the county will determine an official application process.

These grants are available to all residents in unincorporated Pinellas and all cities except St. Petersburg, which has its own allocation of $159.8 million. Information on St. Petersburg can be found here.

How can I let the county know what I want?

The county is hosting two more public input meetings: The next is April 10 at 737 Louden Ave, Dunedins City Hall Commission Chambers, from 6-8:00 p.m. The third and final meeting is April 24 in Palm Harbor at 1190 Georgia Ave., from 6-8:00 p.m.

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On May 6, the Board of County Commissioners will review a draft action plan, and after that, will hold two virtual meetings on May 13 and 15 via Zoom. For more details, the county has a webpage for recovery information.

Residents can also fill out surveys in English and Spanish to share their thoughts.

Deborah Schechner, a St. Pete Beach resident, attended the countys meeting in Lealman Monday and said she wants more money for infrastructure, which is currently allotted 13%. After sewage and waste seeped into residents homes last year, she said thats not enough.

Weve always had problems, she said. We need money for the sewers.

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Iris Pruitt also attended Mondays meeting. Her primary residence is a double-wide mobile home on Gandy Boulevard, which she said was inundated with five feet of water last year.

Pruitt is retired and said every month her Social Security check is going toward her rent  so shes had to rely on food pantries for groceries.

And her daughter lives in Silver Lake Mobile Home Park in St. Petersburg. Her home was damaged during Milton, and Pruitt said her daughter is facing threats of eviction because she isnt fixing her home quickly enough.

Pruitt said shes hopeful for the program, but doesnt know what her life will look like when it begins.

In six months, I dont know if we both wont be homeless, she said.
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)  The Zachary Police Department arrested a pair accused of sexual misconduct involving a juvenile.

According to ZPD, officers were alerted of the possible sexual misconduct involving a juvenile, which launched an investigation into fireman Jonathan Knight, 40, and the victims mother, Tara Bizette, 46.

After a thorough investigation, including search warrants, reviewing evidence, and interviews, both suspects were arrested and booked on charges of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles and molestation of a juvenile.

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No further details were immediately available.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News.
UPDATE @ 5:46 a.m.

Police are investigating after a person was shot in Trotwood Monday night.

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Trotwood police and medics were called to the 4000 block of Springmeadow Lane on reports of a shooting around 11:15 p.m., a Montgomery County dispatch supervisor confirmed.

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Video and photos showed several officers investigating.

The dispatch supervisor told News Center 7 that a shooting victim was found.

Their condition is currently unknown.

We will continue to follow this story.

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TAUNTON, Mass. (WPRI)  The Taunton Police Department is asking for the publics assistance finding a missing man.

Matthew Glenn, 31, was last seen near Morton Hospital on March 31, according to police.

Glenn stands 5-foot-seven-inches tall and weighs 160 pounds.

Anyone who knows of Glenns whereabouts is urged to contact the Taunton Police Department by calling (508) 823-5000.

Matthew Glenn (Courtesy: Taunton Police Department)

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.

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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Oklahoma City Police are looking for more information regarding a shooting back in March.

According to the Oklahoma City Police Department, officers responded to a home near NW 63rd St. and Meridian Ave. on March 30.

LOCAL NEWS: Former Oklahoma jail administrator accused of embezzlement

Upon arrival, police learned that a suspect arrived at the home with a group of people. After being told he could not come inside, he allegedly fired a shot into the home.

NW OKC shooting. Image courtesy OKCPD.

NW OKC shooting. Image courtesy OKCPD.

NW OKC shooting. Image courtesy OKCPD.

Officials say no one was injured during the incident, but authorities have exhausted all leads.

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Anyone with information is asked to contact OKC Crime Stoppers by calling 405-235-7300 or submitting an anonymous tip online.

A cash reward may be 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 KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Do you recognize her?

[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The Beavercreek Police Department is looking for a woman accused of stealing merchandise worth over $2,200, according to a social media post.

The incident happened on March 26 at Rally House at The Greene.

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She is accused of leaving the store without paying for the goods.

Beavercreek Police posted a security camera image on its Facebook page.

If you can ID her, contact Officer Desjardins at (937) 426-1225, extension 147.

You can also email any tips.

Any tips can remain anonymous.

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hamzaturkkol / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Theres been a lot of talk lately about taxing the wealthiest Americans more to bring more equity to the tax system in the U.S. and to raise additional revenue. The current administration hasnt announced any plans to do so, though some states are taking matters into their own hands.

Massachusetts started the trend, passing a so-called millionaires tax in 2022. Beginning in 2023, Bay State taxpayers had to pay an additional 4% tax on any income over $1 million, according to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. The income threshold goes up each year, and only the income above the threshold is subject to the additional tax.

Learn More: Heres How Much Your State Collects on Every Type of Tax

Read Next: 25 Creative Ways To Save Money

Several states have floated the idea of a wealth tax, with varying degrees of success. Here are eight states that have considered wealth taxes.

Also see three ways taxing the rich would help the middle class  and two ways it wouldnt.

Illinois

Illinois voters approved a non-binding referendum in November 2024 that would enable a millionaire tax in that state. The ballot question asked whether voters approved of a change to the state income tax structure that would allow a progressive tax as opposed to the current flat tax.

The millionaire tax itself would raise the income tax by an additional 3% for those taxpayers earning more than $1 million.

Though the referendum was passed, it remains uncertain whether this will be enacted, per the Chicago Sun Times.

Discover More: 7 Tax Loopholes the Rich Use To Pay Less and Build More Wealth

Maryland

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore proposed a tax increase on his states wealthiest residents so that he can lower taxes for low- and middle-income taxpayers.

The plan proposed by the governor would increase the highest tax bracket to 6.5% (from 5.75%) for those earning over $1 million ($1.2 million for married couples). Taxpayers earning $500,000 (or $600,000 for a couple) would see less of an increase. Those earning over $350,000 would pay an additional 1% on capital gains.

Marylands state budget, which included these tax changes, was recently passed, as reported by WBAL.

Hawaii

The Hawaii Senate proposed a bill that would levy a 1% tax on any taxpayer with over $20 million in assets. The bill has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee but has not yet been made law.

If passed, the law would become effective on Jan. 1, 2030.

Washington

Democratic lawmakers in Washington have floated the idea of a wealth tax to help balance the state budget, according to the Washington State Standard. There are two different versions of the plan, one being proposed in the House and the other in the Senate.
CLEVELAND (WJW)  In February, the I-Team took hard questions to the head of the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team, and now weve found out what that group has charged taxpayers to answer those questions.

Records show the lead monitor has billed the City of Cleveland a total of $3,300 for sitting down with the I-Team and other reporters. The bill included discussing with City officials regarding the media interviews and preparing and participating in the interviews.

3 Huron County teens credited with heroic water rescue

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Members of the Monitoring Team earn up to $750 an hour oversee reform in the Cleveland Division of Police as a result of a Federal Consent Decree. The group has been doing this job for 10 years, and the lead monitor tells us he does not know when the job will be finished.

Another member of the group also billed a total of $3,200 for the interviews and preparing for them, though she never answered any questions for us on the day of the interviews.

About three weeks later, U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno spoke out about what the I-Team has exposed in the past about taxpayer money going to the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team. For that story, we requested comment and we were told the Monitoring Team could not comment. But an invoice shows Karl Racine and Abby Wilhelm billed the City $900 for dealing with a media inquiry.

Tesla Cybertruck reportedly vandalized in Solon

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U.S. Federal Judge Solomon Oliver gives the final approval over the bills turned in by the Monitoring Team. Cleveland City Hall has protested some bills in the past, and the city currently has some objections pending with the Court.

When we talked to Karl Racine, the lead monitor, in February, we asked about the billing and what taxpayers are getting for their money.

He responded, Making a mountain out of a molehill around issues concerning the cost of the consent decree misses the big picture.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Apr. 8Albert Lea police on Tuesday released more information about the individual who died Monday morning after falling out of a window on one of the upper floors of the Shady Oaks apartment building.

The individual has been identified as Todd Earl Goskeson, 54, of Albert Lea.

Police stated Goskeson was found lying on the ground at the base of the building, at 800 S. Fourth Ave. Medical attention was provided to him, but he was ultimately pronounced deceased at the scene.

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Police stated based on the initial investigation, there is no indication of foul play and the circumstances surrounding Goskeson's death are consistent with apparent suicide.

This remains an active investigation and no further details will be released at this time out of respect for the family, according to police.

There is no ongoing threat to public safety.

The ALPD extended its condolences to Goskeson's loved ones and friends. The ALPD encourages anyone struggling with mental health to seek help. Support is available 24 hours a day, seven days week, through the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

Earlier story:

Albert Lea police investigating apparent fall from building that kills 1
Federal authorities are in search of 19 guns that were stolen from UPS packaging in Minneapolis.

The Minneapolis Police Department said a total of 27 handguns were reportedly stolen by an employee at a UPS shipping facility. The suspect was tracked down at Mystic Lake Casino and arrested.

Police say they also found drugs and thousands of dollars in cash on him. He has since been booked at the Hennepin County Jail on pending drug and weapons charges.

Left: Eight handguns recovered by Minneapolis police of 27 total that were reportedly stolen from a UPS facility. Right: The suspect in the case, who was arrested at Mystic Lake Casino.Minneapolis Police Department/Facebook

Eight of the handguns have been recovered as of Tuesday.

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Officers were first notified of the suspect as he was seen leaving the northeast distribution center he works at with something concealed in his pants under his shirt.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is working with MPD to attempt to find the remaining missing guns.

A spokesperson for UPS provided the following statement to Bring Me The News:

"At UPS, we have zero tolerance for theft and take action when it occurs. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation and referring any additional questions to them."

Note: The details provided in this story are based on law enforcements latest version of events, and may be subject to change.
This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this post as new information becomes available.

MILLCREEK, Utah (ABC4)  Police officers from several agencies responded to an unfinished Millcreek apartment complex late Monday night after receiving reports of armed suspects in one of the buildings. The suspects have not yet been located.

According to Sgt. Aymee Race with the Unified Police Department, six to eight armed suspects dressed in black entered a building in the complex around 9:40 p.m. on Monday. Police said there are no residents in the building, as the complex is still under construction.

Police respond to an apartment complex in Millcreek, Utah, on April 7, 2025. (KTVX/Ryland Sparrow)

Police respond to an apartment complex in Millcreek, Utah, on April 7, 2025. (KTVX/Ryland Sparrow)

Police respond to an apartment complex in Millcreek, Utah, on April 7, 2025. (KTVX/Ryland Sparrow)

Police respond to an apartment complex in Millcreek, Utah, on April 7, 2025. (KTVX/Ryland Sparrow)

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Before entering the building, one of the suspects allegedly threatened a security guard with a gun and told the guard not to call the police. However, the security guard notified officials, after which officers from several different agencies responded to the scene.

We have been doing searches throughout those complexes, Race told ABC4.com. There arent people inside of them, theyre just being built currently, and so weve had the help of multiple agencies out here clearing those in search for those individuals.

Officials said it was not clear where the suspects had come from before entering the complex. As of about 11:50 p.m. on Monday, no suspects had yet been found, according to Race.

Vehicles from South Jordan police, Salt Lake City police, and other agencies were at the scene. Race said there was such a large police presence on Monday because of the size of the buildings in the complex, which are each several stories tall.

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Just for officers safety, the more officers we have to clear this, the better, Race said.

Sgt. Race confirmed with ABC4.com that officers cleared the scene around midnight with the suspects still at large.

Anyone with any information that could help with locating the suspects is asked to call the Unified Police Department at 801-840-4000.

MJ Jewkes, Dennis Dolan, and Ryland Sparrow 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 ABC4 Utah.
CALEDONIA, Wis. (WFRV)  Police in Wisconsin are seeking information regarding a shooting on Monday night after a 26-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound to the head.

According to the Caledonia Police Department, officers and fire personnel were sent to the report of a man down at 7915 East Frontage Road in Caledonia around 7:38 p.m. on Monday.

Two in Wisconsin killed after motorcyclist loses control and is ejected, passenger collided with vehicle

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Caledonia officers and Racine County Sheriffs Deputies arrived and found a man on the ground with a possible gunshot wound to the head, with evidence later confirming it.

The man, identified as a 26-year-old from Milwaukee, was taken by the Caledonia Fire Department to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police provide update on search for 20-year-old Chicagoan missing after boat flipped in Wisconsin River

Anybody with information is asked to contact the Caledonia Police Department at (262) 835-4423 *Extension 1022 to speak with Detective Christopher Schuster.

No additional details are available.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
Footage of police officers shooting at a teen repeatedly in response to a disturbance has sparked public outrage and a protest calling for accountability in an eastern Idaho city.

After arriving at a Pocatello home, officers opened fire and shot a suspect who was intoxicated and wielded a knife, the Pocatello Police Department said in a news release. Video footage of the Saturday shooting on North Harrison Avenue from a neighbor was posted on social media and showed four officers firing within 30 seconds of their arrival.

The shooting prompted a protest outside of the police department over the weekend. Protesters and several local news outlets identified the person who was shot as a 17-year-old boy with autism who was physically impaired. In its initial Saturday news release, the Pocatello Police Department called the teen a male subject, and later clarified during a news conference Monday that hes 17 years old.

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More than 500 people had signed a Change.org petition calling for an independent investigation into the shooting as of Monday afternoon.

Police said officers initiated immediate life-saving measures, and the teen was transported to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello. No officers were injured, according to the news release. Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei at the news conference said the teen remains hospitalized.

In situations like this, officers must make decisions in seconds, they assess threats not just to themselves but to those nearby, Schei said. In this case, two individuals were within a few feet of an armed noncompliant individual. The risk was immediate, and the situation rapidly evolving.

Footage shows details of Pocatello police shooting

A three-minute video of the incident taken from a neighbors home, which East Idaho News shared with the Idaho Statesman, showed the teenager on his hands and knees in the front yard of a nearby home when a woman came behind him and touched his back. He turned around as he held something in his hand, and the object he was holding caused the woman to back away, repeatedly saying, No. The woman attempted to grab the teen several more times, while someone yelled in Spanish to call the police, the video showed.

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The neighbors can be heard speaking from their home, and one said it looked like the teen might be having a seizure. They continued to talk about the dispute while on the phone with the citys emergency dispatch to report the incident.

On a recording of the 911 call played during Mondays news conference, the neighbor told police the teen was brandishing a knife and looked like he was under the influence of alcohol.

The four responding officers got out of their vehicles, drew their guns, lined up behind the yards chain link fence  which was between them and the teen  and yelled at him to drop his weapon. As the officers approached the yard, the teen began to stand up. Before he could take more than two steps toward them, the officers fired their guns  less than 20 seconds after their arrival. Their firearms can be heard going off at least six times in the video.

The boys family told KIFI-TV, a local station that covers Idaho Falls and Pocatello, that he was shot nine times.

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Officers gave repeated commands to the teen to drop the knife, Schei said at the news conference. He said the teen didnt comply, stood up and advanced toward the officers while still armed. The video showed that all four officers approached the fence with their guns drawn when they arrived and didnt attempt to distance themselves.

Schei also showed a picture of a large kitchen knife at the news conference, which he said the teen had.

His aunt, Ana Vazquez, told the news outlet that he wasnt going after police, and that he has impairments and can barely walk. She said he might not survive and his leg was amputated, KIFI-TV reported.

Leslie Egbert, a community member who attended Sundays protest, told the Statesman that the teen has autism and cerebral palsy. He is Puerto Rican and also doesnt speak English, she said.

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We know this incident has deeply affected the community, Schei said. We are also aware of the videos circulating online, which shows only one angle. The full picture requires careful review of all facts and evidence.

Sheriffs office begins investigation

When reached by phone, Pocatello Police Lt. Theo VanderSchaaf directed the Statesman to the Bannock County Sheriffs Office, which is investigating the incident as part of the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force. Police are also conducting an internal investigation, Schei said.

Emma Iannacone, a spokesperson for the sheriffs office, told the Statesman by email agency officials are gathering evidence from the shooting, including 911 calls, body-camera footage and eyewitness statements. Once they complete the investigation, Iannacone said, it will be turned over to an outside prosecutor, who will determine whether criminal charges will be filed. This is a routine process for police shootings in Idaho.

Since the sheriffs office was so early in the investigation, Iannacone said, the office wasnt able to answer several of the questions sent by the Statesman, including one asking for the officers names.

We respect that the public has a high level of interest and concern in this matter, and we will be as transparent as the investigation allows, Iannacone said. However, we will not compromise the integrity of the case, so we appreciate the publics patience as more information comes to light.
Three people were arrested early Monday morning for allegedly stealing hundreds of pieces of mail.

The three individuals, who Milton Police did not name, are charged with breaking and entering into a depository, receiving stolen, possession of burglarious instruments, and multiple motor vehicle violations.

According to authorities, one suspect was taken into custody without incident while two others attempted to flee in a vehicle, but were quickly located.

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Police say both suspects ran away on foot and were eventually apprehended by Milton Police Patrol Units and a Massachusetts State Police K9 unit.

Approximately 300 pieces of stolen mail, as well as stolen U.S. Postal Service property was recovered during the arrest process, according to police.

All three suspects will be arraigned in Quincy District Court.

We would like to thank the Massachusetts State Police for their assistance and remind the community to use caution when mailing personal checks, Milton Police wrote in a social media post. Please remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity observed near mailboxes.

Following multiple reports of mail theft involving checks stolen from USPS mailboxes, Milton Police Detectives initiated... Posted by Milton Police Department on Monday, April 7, 2025

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Frederick County States Attorney Charlie Smith, a Republican who took office in 2007, will seek a sixth term in 2026.

If he is reelected, Smith would be on track to tie Robert Salter Rothenhoefer as the countys longest-serving States Attorney. Rothenhoefer, a Democrat, held the office for 23 years  from 1959 to 1982, according to the Maryland Manual.

In a phone interview on Monday, Smith said that unlike other positions in government, he views the states attorney as a career position.

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Its something I still have a passion for, and something I want to continue to do is make Frederick County a safer place to live and work, Smith said.

Smith filed as a candidate for reelection on March 13, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections. He said he told his staff about his reelection bid at a meeting that same month.

My staff is always on edge every time four years comes around, Smith said. So I like to let them know that I really would like to continue to lead them and lead this office for at least another term.

In recent years, Smith said some of his offices biggest accomplishments have been the establishment of the Mental Health Court Program in 2019 and the formation of the INTERCEPT Task Force in 2023 to combat child exploitation and human trafficking.

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He said both of these efforts would remain a priority of his in a sixth term. Smith also said his office would continue to push for better public safety legislation at the state level if he is reelected.

As of Monday, no one else had filed as a candidate for Frederick County States Attorney in 2026. The deadline to file is Feb. 24, 2026, at 9 p.m.

District 3 candidates

Three state delegates representing District 3 in Frederick County filed on Monday to run for reelection in 2026.

State Dels. Kris Fair, Ken Kerr and Karen Simpson  all Democrats  announced their filings in a joint press release on Monday, the last day of the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session.

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Both Fair and Simpson took office in 2023 and are seeking a second term.

I could not be prouder to file today with my colleagues as we continue to produce the much-needed resources for our community, the fastest-growing county and city in Maryland, Fair said in the release.

We work well as a team, Simpson said in the release. We look forward to continuing to serve Frederick.

Kerr, who took office in 2019, is seeking a third term.

Delegates Fair and Simpson are effective legislators who take on complex bills and work them skillfully through the legislative process, Kerr said in the release. I am proud to serve with them and stand with them for re-election.

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Other legislative districts

As of Monday, no one else had filed as a candidate for state delegate or state senator in District 3 or District 4, which is also in Frederick County.

In District 2A, which includes parts of Frederick and Washington counties, Republicans William Wivell and William Valentine have also filed for reelection. Wivell took office in 2015, while Valentine took office in 2023.

In District 5, which includes parts of Frederick and Carroll counties, two Republican candidates have filed to run for state delegate in 2026  Sallie Taylor and Steve Whisler.

Taylor previously ran for state delegate in the district in 2022, but lost in the Republican primary.

Whisler currently is the vice president of the Carroll County Board of Education. His term in that role will expire in December 2026, according to the board website.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY)  The state of Virginia is watching a collision of Mother Nature, politics and economics, as the trade war launched by President Trump last week could leave the poultry industry running for cover.

At Central Meats in Chesapeake, Richard Edmondson, the second-generation owner, said the price of wildly popular chicken wings remains low.

Recession concerns arise as presidents tariff plan examined

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We have them on sale right now for $69.99 for the jumbo chicken, Edmondson said. Theyve been in the $120 range for quite awhile.

Thats great news for a young mother whos watching prices. Javaia White told 10 On Your Side she is halting home renovations or potential relocation because the uncertainty created by the trade war of 2025.

Yes, I have some kids that I have to grow up in this economy and a lot of stuff is changing, White said.

Chicken farmers across the state are reacting to Chinas ban on American poultry that goes into effect Friday. The country, which had already banned Virginia products  mostly the chicken feet, due to the bird flu  is now banning all poultry products from the nations largest suppliers.

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Were not only going to lose market share now, well lose market share for years to come, said Dr. Bob McNab, chairman of the Department of Economics at Old Dominion University, because once you grow adapted to ordering from another country, theres no reason to switch back.

According to the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, exports to China were down 64% year-over-year in September, with chicken paws or feet representing 76% of the exports.

At Central Meats, the merchant is counting on the law of supply and demand.

I think it would be good for the domestic American here, but well get chickens cheaper, I hope, Edmonds said.

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McNab said that because of the trade war, consumers and businesses will retrench and then stay put until they know whats going to happen to the nations economy.

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By Eduardo Baptista

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese manufacturers of goods from tableware to flooring are flagging profit warnings, scrambling to plan new overseas plants or accelerate offshore projects, while haggling with customers over prices as they reel from President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Last week, Trump introduced an additional 34% tariff on Chinese goods as part of steep levies imposed on most U.S. trade partners, bringing the total duties on China this year to 54% and sending global stock markets tumbling.

While some in China's corporate sector have put on a brave face and said the tariffs will have little impact on operations and margins, others have revealed through corporate filings emergency plans to curb losses.

For many, Trump's blanket tariffs threaten to upend supply chains, and navigating the twists and turns of business negotiations and trade policy has become increasingly difficult. His world-wide tariffs strike Chinese exporters' two main strategies to blunt the impact of the trade war: moving some production abroad and increasing sales to non-U.S. markets.

"It's like throwing darts blindfolded. You don't know what direction you're going in. You don't know where the tariffs are going to land," said Larry Sloven, who has sourced from China for major U.S. retailers for more than three decades. "Once the hammer drops, you don't know where the hammer will fall after that."

Chinese suppliers of low-end goods to U.S. conglomerates that are already operating on razor-thin margins have been hit particularly hard.

Fuling, which sells eco-friendly tableware to U.S. fast-food giants including KFC and McDonald's, said this week in response to fluctuations in its stock price that Trump's tariffs would "further negatively impact the company's operations".

The company, which was designated a "manufacturing champion" by Zhejiang provincial authorities last year, said it would try to launch a new production facility in Indonesia this year that would take over part of the U.S.-facing production in China, but until then the company's profitability could be affected.

A 20% tariff imposed on China by the Trump administration earlier this year has already been detrimental as "major U.S. clients asked the company to absorb part of the increased tariff costs," Fuling said.

Suppliers of key raw materials used in electric vehicles are also trying to find alternatives to China-based manufacturing.

Lopal, which supplies lithium iron phosphate cathode materials - a crucial component in making the lithium batteries that power EVs - said this week it would look for opportunities to build a second overseas plant to "decrease the tariff's effect on the company as much as possible."
A University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll done for a national political action committee for libraries and MomsRising Together found most Granite State residents opposed a pending bill to make educators subject to criminal prosecution under state obscenity laws.

The same poll found strong support (59% for, 19% opposed) for disciplining teachers who knowingly provided harmful materials to students and for having a complaint process (66% for, 29% opposed) for parents to object to their children having access to specific books or materials.

John Chrastka is executive director of EveryLibrary, which partnered in the poll.

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The poll numbers are clear. New Hampshire voters do not want to see a bill that would criminalize educators, school boards, and school librarians as education policy, Chrastka said.

Voters dont like Concord telling local schools what students can read and how parents can parent. States like Indiana and Oklahoma have put criminalization provisions in place, and its not building better schools there.

The Senate Education Committee will hold likely the last public hearing for the House-approved bill (HB 324) this Thursday.

Along partisan lines, the House late last month approved the bill, 193-148, with only three Republicans joining all but one Democrat in opposition.

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Rep. Glenn Cordelli, R-Tuftonboro, said he worked with Attorney General John Formellas office on how to close a loophole since education was exempt from the states obscenity laws.

It is our duty to protect minor children, said Cordelli, who chairs the new House Education Policy and Administration Committee.

This bill is about materials that are harmful to minor children in schools and the ability for parents to object to them.

Our attorney general feels that it would be only the most extreme case for a criminal case to be opened for K-12 education, but that option should be available in such a case, Cordelli said in written testimony to the House.

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Poll details

The total of 1,372 completed the survey for UNH along with 62 respondents who were recruited via text message from March 20-24.

The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus 2.6%.

On criminal prosecution, 36% said they could oppose that provision, 52% opposed it, 7% were neutral and 5% didnt have an answer.

Politically, certain circles support giving parents more of a say in what their children are exposed to in public schools.

Last December, outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu had to withdraw his pick to fill the vacant post of state librarian because the candidate, Assistant Librarian Mindy Atwood, had spoken at conferences about how library advocates should work to defeat proposed book bans.

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A clear majority on the GOP-led Executive Council told Sununu his pick of Atwood was dead on arrival for this reason.

During House debate, Rep. Peggy Balboni, D-Nashua, pointed out state law already allows parents to review all instructional materials.

But while parents can decide what materials their child can access, they do not have the right to determine which materials are available for other students; that is censorship, Balboni said.

MacKenzie Nicholson is senior director for MomsRising Together & MomsRising Education Fund.

Parents in the Granite State arent asking for this. HB 324 is an extreme bill that goes too far and opens the door to criminalizing teachers and school librarians for doing their jobs, Nicholson said.

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The Senate should table this bill and come back to the issue with a more thoughtful, balanced approach that actually reflects the values of families in the Live Free or Die state.

Asked how such a law would affect teacher recruitment, 55% told the poll this would make it harder, 9% said it would be easier, 29% said this will have little effect and 7% dont know.

The poll also found if Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed the bill, a moderate plurality (41%) said they would be less likely to vote for her in 2026 compared with those who said it would make them more likely (30%) to support her.

The third-largest group (24%) said it would make little or no difference and 5% did not know.

klandrigan@unionleader.com
President Donald Trump has been publicly musing about running for a third term  now a new poll shows how he would fare in a hypothetical matchup against fellow two-term president Barack Obama.

In recent weeks, the president has floated the idea of running in 2028, despite the 22nd Amendment barring anyone from serving more than two terms.

Late last month, a reporter pressed Trump on his thoughts on a hypothetical matchup between him and Obama, assuming the 22nd Amendment was revised to allow them to do so. Id love that. Boy, Id love that, Trump replied.

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But a new poll suggests that he might want to consider a different rival. Of 1,100 registered voters polled in the April 2 Overton Insights survey, 53 percent said they would vote for Obama and 47 percent said they would vote for Trump.

A new poll reveals who would win in a hypothetical matchup between Barack Obama and Donald Trump, if the Constitution changed to allow third terms (AFP via Getty Images)

For that contest to happen, the Constitution would need to change. The 22nd Amendment states: No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.

Changing the Constitution isnt easy; it requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate and then ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures.

Still, Trump and his allies have said there are methods by which he could run again.

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A lot of people want me to do it, the president recently told NBC, referring to his allies. But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, its very early in the administration.

Pressed on how he would achieve a third term, Trump responded: There are methods [by] which you could do it.

Last week, a 2023 remark from Trumps personal attorney Boris Epshteyn resurfaced. He reportedly told an associate that he studied the law and believed Trump could find a way to run for a third term, the Wall Street Journal reported.

However, if both Obama and Trump wanted to run again it would require a massive ratification process (AFP via Getty Images)

Some allies and opponents arent sure whether to take Trumps flirtations with running in 2028 seriously.

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It's not really something we're thinking about, he has four years. There's a lot of work to do, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt recently said. Some Congressional Republicans have insisted the president was joking. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believes Trump recognizes the constitutional limitations.

Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles took the idea a step further and, in January, proposed to revise the 22nd Amendment, citing Trump as the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nations decay and restoring America to greatness.

Sen. Bernie Sanders said he didnt think Trump was messing around when he made those comments.

The idea of a third term? Why not? They don't believe in the rule of law. They don't believe in the Constitution. So, yeah, I would take that seriously, he told CBS News.
Apr. 8OREGON  A Polo man has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of aggravated battery and misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and disorderly conduct stemming from a March 27 incident.

Andrew Emberson, 19, was released from custody April 3 after his defense attorney said he suffered from "cognitive issues" and needed mental evaluations rather than incarceration.

"Jail is not the place for someone with his disabilities," Assistant Ogle County Public Defender Eric Morrow told Ogle County Circuit Judge John "Ben" Roe.

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Emberson is charged with causing bodily harm to a person 60 years of age or older during a March 27 incident in his home, where he resides with family members. He is accused of taking an item from a woman, causing her fingernails to break.

Morrow said the alleged victim  a family member of Emberson  also wanted him released from custody so he could seek psychiatric care.

"She [alleged victim] does not feel that she is in any danger at all," Morrow argued. "Conditions can be set for his release."

Assistant State's Attorney Melissa Voss argued that Emberson should be detained since the person he is accused of battering was a 71-year-old relative.

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Voss also said the elderly family member did not have help at home to control Emberson and told Roe that a misdemeanor damage to property charge was also pending against the defendant. Voss also said another family member told police Emberson became angered, got in a vehicle and "raced up and down the street" without a driver's license, as that family member shouted for someone to call the police.

"The defendant's behavior is escalating," Voss said.

But the elderly family member, who was in court during Emberson's appearance, told Roe that medical appointments had been made for Emberson for next week and pleaded for him to be released from jail.

Roe agreed to release Emberson with conditions that he attend medical appointments, participate in recommended treatments or evaluations, take prescribed medications as ordered, and have no unlawful contact with the victim.

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"The alleged victim wishes him to be released," said Roe, adding that he had considered Emberson's continued mental health issues when determining his release.

Emberson was released over Voss' objection. Roe set Emberson's next court appearance for 1:30 p.m. April 17.
To rebuild downtown Pontiac, part of it is being torn down.

City, county and state officials detailed plans Tuesday to revitalize the city  once a booming community that fell on hard times with the decline of the auto industry  and began removing, letter by letter, the sign to the deteriorating Phoenix Center.

A $60 million-plus deal among state, county, and city officials aims to remove a longtime eyesore and revive Pontiac's downtown by moving as many as 700 jobs from one part of the city  and Oakland County  to another and help retire some of the city's debt.

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"This is a big deal," Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel said at a news conference with other officials, just outside the Phoenix Center, touting other development projects. "Pontiac is on the move!"

A worker removes the letters of the Phoenix Center sign Tuesday. The building, once the hope for a revitalized downtown Pontiac, is set to be razed over the next few months.

The state, officials said, is contributing $50 million toward the project and Oakland County another $10 million toward this effort from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan.

Exactly how much of a change the development will make to the city, often described as an island of poverty in one of the state's wealthiest counties, is unclear; the hope among officials in attendance Tuesday was that the project will do more than shuffle around offices, including Oakland County Executive David Coulter's.

It's also unclear how much the new tariffs that have been imposed will add to costs. One early estimate, officials said Tuesday, is that project costs could increase by as much as $18 million.

Moving county offices

The officials said they envision that the latest effort will invigorate a city that, despite being the county's seat of government, has long struggled, by sparking new developments, some of which they said they couldn't yet talk about, and creating business and jobs.

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Pontiac residents have heard this before.

In fact, the Phoenix Center, which is coming down over the next year was  as its name implied  once part of an urban revitalization effort that began in the late '60s to help Pontiac metaphorically rise from the ashes.

It didn't quite work out that way.

The county executive said Tuesday that the center "opened to so much promise," but it "never quite lived up to its full potential." Since 2011, when the center held its last concert, it had "fallen into terrible disrepair."

Demolishing the Phoenix Center would get rid of blight and reopen Saginaw Street to the south end of the Woodward Loop, creating, officials have said, a much more walkable downtown.

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More: Mt. Clemens, Pontiac attempt quiet comebacks as nation cheers Detroit progress

The latest project has been in the works for about a year, but on Tuesday, with public fanfare that included speeches and applause, it seemed credible. Coulter told a modest, shivering crowd: "I'm bullish on downtown Pontiac."

At the junction of the Saginaw Trail and the Nottawassippi River, Pontiac was originally inhabited by American Indians, later, after Europeans settled the area, it became a General Motors hub.

The city assembled cars bearing the now-defunct Pontiac nameplate and trucks. In the early '80s, after the Silverdome was built in the city, it even hosted a Super Bowl. But, in 2002, the Lions moved to Detroit.

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And, as the auto industry declined, so did the city.

'Look at Pontiac'

Under the new plan, Oakland County is buying two office buildings, several vacant properties and the Phoenix Center garage and amphitheater from Pontiac, and the city will use the money it gets from the property deal to pay off Phoenix Center debt.

The county aims to refurbish the vacant former GM building on East Judson and will move 500-700 employees into the building from its offices in its complexes in Pontiac and Waterford.

It also aims to build a new parking garage.

The added workers are expected to help support downtown shops and eateries.

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Oakland County Commissioner Angela Powell, D-Pontiac, who said that Pontiac had been long neglected, sought to reassure residents that the county "is not coming in to take over anything."

The Pontiac native also reminisced about the center, concerts she attended  and watching the Fourth of July fireworks there, which, she said, was an opportunity for everyone in the city to have a great time.

The fireworks, she said, are back  and soon more will be, too.

The county executive added as an investor pitch:

"My message to anybody who has a lot of money and likes to develop things and is wondering where their next project should be, look at Pontiac. This is the place that is going to be transformed in a way that I think a lot of us remember from our youth."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pontiac comeback plan starts with razing Phoenix Center
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Pope Francis has appointed Most Reverend Shawn McKnight, S.Th.D., as the fifth archbishop and twelfth bishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

The Vatican announced the resignation of Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann and appointed McKnight on Tuesday. Naumann served as the spiritual father and shepherd of the Archdiocese since 2005.

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Naumann submitted his resignation upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 in June of 2024.

McKnight is currently the Bishop of Jefferson City, Missouri. He was born in Wichita and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Wichita in 1994.

I am deeply grateful to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, for entrusting me with the mission of serving the faithful of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, McKnight said in a statement.

I come with an open heart, ready to listen, to learn, and to walk alongside you as together we proclaim the joy of the Gospel.

The Holy Father is asking us not to look inward so much, but to look outward. Thats the key  to be more inviting, and more welcoming of people. I hope to lead the charge here in doing that, he told FOX4.

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Naumann expressed gratitude for the appointment of his successor.

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I am deeply grateful for the privilege of serving as Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas for over 20 yearsit has been a true personal blessing, Naumann said.

I congratulate Archbishop-designate Shawn McKnight on his appointment. He brings many giftskeen intellect, deep faith, and a great love for the Church.

Im not sad about this, but all of the friendships, and all the beautiful relationships and friendships. Thats a treasure. Ill have more time to cultivate those now, since I won t have as many responsibilities to fulfill, he told FOX4 on Tuesday.

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The Mass of Installation for Archbishop-designate McKnight will take place on May 27.

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This story was originally published on Manufacturing Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Manufacturing Dive newsletter.

Dive Brief:

Apple and Michigan State University will open the Apple Manufacturing Academy to help small and medium-sized businesses improve their operations, the school announced Thursday.

The program will be based in Detroit but will be open to companies nationwide, offering both in-person and online courses focused on project management, manufacturing process optimization, vocational and leadership skills.

Apple engineers and experts from MSU will also consult businesses on how to implement artificial intelligence and smart manufacturing techniques. The program is set to open this summer.

Dive Insight:

This is the second time Apple and MSU have collaborated on a program. In 2021, the two parties opened the Apple Developer Academy, which teaches coding, design and business with Apples tools to help participants create their own path in or with the tech industry.

Since its opening, also located in Detroit, roughly 200 participants have graduated from the program annually, according to the release.

The academy is part of Apples U.S. advanced manufacturing fund, which it pledged in February to double to a $10 billion investment. The fund, created in 2017, aims to support advanced manufacturing and skills development nationwide.

As of Feb. 24, the fund has supported projects in 13 states that helped build local businesses and train workers, as well as create new manufacturing processes and materials for Apple products.

Additionally, the advanced manufacturing fund includes Apples commitment to produce advanced silicon in one of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.s fabrication facilities in Arizona. The iPad maker is the Phoenix plants largest customer and the facility began mass production of Apples chips in January.

The manufacturing programs are part of Apples intent to spend more than $500 billion and create 20,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next four years. The investment pledge includes opening a new server facility in Houston next year.

The training program announcement came as President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on various countries last week, which will affect much of Apples supply chain, particularly in China where various components are made, Bloomberg reported. The Trump administration imposed a 34% tariff on goods from China, and the country retaliated with a similar 34% duty that will begin April 10.
US President Donald Trump ordered a review into the potential purchase of US Steel by Japans Nippon Steel on Monday.

"I direct the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ... to conduct a review of the acquisition of US Steel by [Nippon Steel] to assist me in determining whether further action in this matter may be appropriate," said a memo from the president. The security panel should submit a report within 45 days.

Trump previously opposed the purchase of the US firm by Nippon Steel, a $15 billion (13.7bn) deal blocked by his predecessor Joe Biden in January.

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Biden said that there was credible evidence that Nippon may threaten US national security after the Committee on Foreign Investment failed to reach a decision on the matter before a December deadline.

Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure," Biden said.

In the wake of the White Houses ruling, the two firms subsequently launched two US lawsuitsstressing that the ruling was irrational because of Japans status as an American ally.

"Nippon Steel and US Steel have engaged in good faith with all parties to underscore how the transaction will enhance, not threaten, United States national security," the companies said in a statement in January.

Resistance from the United Steelworkers union

Biden was accused of blocking the deal to support a political agenda, namely appealing to protectionist voices across the American Rust Belt.

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The takeover notably faced significant resistance from the United Steelworkers union.

This is despite the fact that Nippon Steel had promised to invest $2.7bn (2.6bn) in US Steel's ageing blast furnace operations in Indiana and Pennsylvania, arguing that it could help the US compete with Chinese competitors.

Related

Without Nippon Steels investment, US Steel warned that it would transition to cheaper, non-union electric arc furnaces and move its headquarters away from Pittsburgh.

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In the aftermath of the lawsuits, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "Why would they want to sell US Steel now when tariffs will make it a much more profitable and valuable company?"

The post continued: "Wouldnt it be nice to have US Steel, once the greatest company in the World, lead the charge toward greatness again? It can all happen very quickly!"

Trump nonetheless suggested that he could give Nippon Steel permission to hold a minority share in US Steel.

Talks between Trump and Ishiba

Recent meetings between officials at the Japanese company and the US administration now suggest that the firm may get a sweeter deal.

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Nippon Steel said that it was pleased with the news, stating: We have been confident from the outset that an objective, fact-based review of our proposed partnership with US Steel will show that it strengthens American economic and national security."

US Steel said in an emailed statement: "We appreciate and commend President Donald Trumps leadership. His action today validates our Boards bold decision to challenge President Bidens unlawful order."

The spokesperson continued: "We look forward to continuing to work closely with President Trump and his Administration to finalize this significant and important investment, which will preserve existing jobs, create new jobs, enhance national security and secure a bright future for American manufacturing."

The announcement from the White House came in the wake of a phone call between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and President Donald Trump on Monday.

The two parties were talking tariffs after the US administration placed a 24% levy on Japanese imports last week, in addition to a 25% rate on vehicles imported from the country. Its not clear whether Nippon Steel was a topic of conversation.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt waffled Tuesday when asked about Donald Trumps threat to deport U.S. citizens to foreign prisons.

During a press briefing, Leavitt was asked to explain Trumps disturbingly enthusiastic response to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukeles wildly illegal proposition for the U.S. government to relocate individuals incarcerated in the federal prison system, including American citizens, to the Central American country.

The reporter wanted to know how the government could legally remove U.S. citizens, and how many would potentially be subject to removal. The short answer is: It cant, so none. But Leavitt didnt say that.

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So, the president has discussed this idea quite a few times publicly, hes also discussed it privately, she said, making sure to say that Trump had only discussed potentially deporting U.S. citizens.

These would be heinous, violent criminals who have broken our nations laws repeatedly. These are violent, repeat offenders in American streets, Leavitt said.

The president has said if its legal, if theres a legal pathway to do that, hes not sure, we are not sure if there is, its an idea that he has simply floated and has discussed uh, very publicly, in the effort of transparency, Leavitt said.

But Trump didnt simply float the idea; it was offered by a foreign leaderwho has already struck a $6 million deal to take alleged Venezuelan gang members that the Trump administration removed under the Alien Enemies Act.

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Leavitt also took the opportunity to present her own alternative interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling Monday on removals under the AEA.

The courts decision would allow the Trump administration to proceed with deportations under the AEA, but crucially, the ruling upheld the detainees right to due process, contrary to the Trump administrations rampage against legal protections for people it wants to deport.

The justices said that detainees were entitled to receive notice of their removal within a reasonable time frame, and must be provided with an opportunity to challenge their removal. But when a reporter asked about it, Leavitt rejected the ruling.

Thats not quite true, Leavitt said. They said that they are entitled to a habeas petition, and we are going to continue to comply with the law.

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The ruling said that detainees could be provided the opportunity to file habeas petitions in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, a MAGA-aligned court in Texas where the deportation flights are staged. The petitions will likely have to be individually filed, rather than via class action, which could lead to a torrent of litigation for far-right judges to smack down.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor emphasized this crucial point in her dissent, writing that the government cannot usher any detainees, including plaintiffs, onto planes in a shroud of secrecy, as it did on March 15, 2025, and that it could not immediately resume removing individuals without notice.

To the extent the Government removes even one individual without affording him notice and a meaningful opportunity to file and pursue habeas relief, it does so in direct contravention of an edict by the United States Supreme Court, she wrote.
LONDON (AP)  Prince Harry was treated unfairly when he was stripped of his British security detail, his attorney told appeals court judges Tuesday as he sought to win back his government-funded protection.

Harry, whose rare appearance in court indicated the case's importance to him, lost his police bodyguards in February 2020 after he stepped down from his role as a working member of the royal family and moved to the U.S.

A High Court judge ruled last year that a government panels decision to provide bespoke security for the Duke of Sussex on an as-needed basis was not unlawful, irrational or unjustified.

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But attorney Shaheed Fatima argued that a group that evaluated Harry's security needs failed to follow its own process and perform a risk management assessment.

The appellant does not accept that bespoke means better, Fatima said. In fact, in his submission, it means that he has been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment.

A lawyer for the government said Harry's argument in the lower court was accurately found to have been misconceived and based on an inappropriate, formalist interpretation of the government's security review.

The appeal is fairly to be characterized in the same way," attorney James Eadie said. "It involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees, advancing propositions available only by reading small parts of the evidence, and now the judgment, out of context and ignoring the totality of the picture.

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The hearing before three Court of Appeal justices is due to end Wednesday and a written decision is expected later. While the hearing was livestreamed, much of the second day will be conducted behind closed doors to discuss sensitive security details.

Harry arrived at court with a small security detail supplemented by court officers. He waved to cameras before disappearing into a private entrance.

Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, has bucked royal family convention by taking the government and tabloid press to court, where he has a mixed record.

But Harry rarely shows up to court hearings, making only a few appearances in the past two years. That included the trial of one of his phone hacking cases against the British tabloids when he was the first senior member of the royal family to enter the witness box in more than 130 years.

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Harry and his wife had stepped back from their official roles in the family in 2020 because they didnt feel they were being protected by the institution," his lawyer said.

After doing so, a Home Office committee ruled there was no basis for publicly funded security support for the duke and duchess within Great Britain.

Harry claimed he and his family are endangered when visiting his homeland because of hostility aimed at him and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on social media and through relentless hounding by news media.

Since he lost his government-sponsored protection, Harry faced at least two serious security threats, his lawyer said in court papers. Al-Qaida had published a document that said Harry's assassination would please Muslims, and he and his wife were involved in a dangerous pursuit by paparazzi in New York.

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He lost a related court case in which he sought permission to privately pay for a police detail when in the U.K. but a judge denied that offer after a government lawyer argued officers shouldnt be used as private bodyguards for the wealthy.

Harry also dropped a libel case against the publisher of the Daily Mail for an article that said he had tried to hide his efforts to continue receiving government-funded security.

But he won a significant victory at trial in 2023 against the publisher of the Daily Mirror when a judge found that phone hacking at the tabloid was widespread and habitual. He claimed a monumental victory in January when Rupert Murdochs U.K. tabloids made an unprecedented apology for intruding in his life for years, and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.

He has a similar case pending against the publisher of the Mail.
Prince Harry listened to closing arguments in a London courtroom Wednesday in his last-chance bid to change the U.K. government's stance on his security.

During the closing remarks, Harry's lawyer, Shaheed Fatima KC, told the judge that Harry's "life is at stake" in his bid for security protection for himself and his family while in the United Kingdom.

There is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security, and whose life is at stake," Fatima said. "There is a person sitting behind me who is being told he is getting a special bespoke process when he knows and has experienced a process that is manifestly inferior in every respect."

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Harry, the Duke of Sussex, is challenging a 2020 decision by the U.K. government that denied his family automatic taxpayer-funded police protection while in Britain after he and his wife, Duchess Meghan, stepped away from their senior royal roles.

At the time, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known as RAVEC, made a decision that security for the Sussexes would be granted on a case-by-case basis. The committee also rejected Harry's proposal to personally pay for police protection for his family while visiting the U.K.

PHOTO: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, April 9, 2025, in London. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Last February, a London judge ruled the U.K. government had the right to strip Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, of an automatic security detail during visits to Britain.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle are parents of 2: What to know about their kids

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In their appeal of that ruling, Harry's lawyers argued in court this week that the 40-year-old faces security risks, including from al-Qaeda, who they say have called for Harry's assassination.

Harry, the fifth-in-line to the throne, has said previously that his security risk is so high in the U.K. he feels reluctant to bring his family to his home country.

After stepping away from their senior royal roles, Harry and Meghan moved to California, where they now live with their two children, Archie and Lilibet. The family of four is not known to have traveled to the U.K. together since 2022, when they attended Platinum Jubilee celebrations for Harry's grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Since moving to California, the Sussexes have relied on a privately funded security team.

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Harry traveled from California to the U.K. to attend this week's hearings, arriving to court Tuesday and Wednesday on his own, without his wife Meghan or any royal family members.

PHOTO: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, April 9, 2025, in London. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

It is not known whether Harry will see any family members while in the U.K.

His father, the king, is currently in Rome on a four-day state visit with his wife, Queen Camilla.

Prince Harry's immigration records made public amid court battle

Harry's brother, Prince William, lives around 30 minutes outside London, in Windsor, England, with his wife Kate, the Princess of Wales, and their three children.

Neither Kensington Palace nor Buckingham Palace replied to ABC News' questions about Harry's visit.

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A spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex, as Harry is also known, told ABC News, "As a rule, we do not provide guidance on family relations."

Prince Harry's 'life is at stake' in bid for UK security protection, lawyer says originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
The Duke of Sussex arrived at a London court on Tuesday to challenge the British governments decision to downgrade his level of taxpayer-funded security while he is visiting the United Kingdom.

After Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, announced they were stepping down as working members of the royal family in 2020, the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) decided the couple would no longer be given the same degree of protection when in the country.

While he no longer uses the HRH title, Harry is still a member of the British royal family and fifth in line to the throne.

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In a rare visit to the UK since moving to California, Harry, the younger son of King Charles, arrived at Londons Court of Appeal for a two-day hearing for the latest developments in his battle with the Home Office, the ministry responsible for the committee. Tuesdays hearing appeals against a previous UK High Court ruling upholding RAVECs decision as lawful.

Upon entering court, the duke took a seat several rows behind his barrister, where he listened to arguments while occasionally taking a sip of water from a bottle in front of him. He is not expected to give evidence during the two-day hearing, and a written ruling is expected at a later date.

The dukes barristers told the hearing on Tuesday that Harry had been singled out for different unjustified and inferior treatment by the committee. Shaheed Fatima KC argued that RAVEC did not follow its own policy when deciding to change his level of security arrangements to a case-by-case basis.

She argued that a risk management board assessment, or RMB, was not carried out for the duke before RAVEC made its February 2020 decision and that it did not apply its own terms of reference to that decision-making process. She said decisions should have included expert analysis obtained through the RMB assessments, but instead it opted for a different and so-called bespoke process.

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In written submissions to the court, Fatima said the duke and his wife felt forced to step back from the role of full time official working members of the royal family as they considered they were not being protected by the institution, but they wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the royal family, according to Britains PA Media news agency.

James Eadie KC, barrister for the Home Office, told the appeals courts three judges on Tuesday afternoon that it was important to emphasize that the decision was not that personal security of the kind previously provided would under no circumstances be provided.

He continued, But rather that it was simply that that security would not be provided on the same basis as before because of his change of status and because he was now going to live abroad for the majority of his time.

He outlined that the decision led to bespoke arrangements for the duke, which better suited the royal.

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We are in territory in which there are no right or wrong answers. There are matters of judgment against necessarily broad and soft-edged criteria  in which the security expertise of those involved is likely be critical, he told the court.

Eadie is due to continue presenting the UK governments position on Wednesday morning. Part of the court proceedings on Wednesday will be held in private, without reporters in the room, so that sensitive security arrangements for royal family members and other VIPs can be discussed.

Harry has often voiced his fears over his familys safety and has been critical of press intrusion which he blames for the death of his mother, Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris.

During the full hearing of Harrys claim in late 2023, the duke told the court in a statement the UK is central to the heritage of my children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, and that he wants them to feel at home in the UK as much as in the United States.

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I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harms way too, his statement said.

Last year, Harrys legal action against the Home Office was unsuccessful and the court initially refused him permission to appeal. However, the Court of Appeal agreed in June 2024 to hear the dukes case following a direct application from Harrys lawyers.

This legal case was one of several that Harry has undertaken in the UK. In January, Harry said he had secured a monumental victory by settling his case over allegations of unlawful information gathering conducted by Rupert Murdochs British newspaper group.

The duke had sued News Group Newspapers (NGN)  publisher of British tabloids The Sun and the now-shuttered News of the World  claiming journalists and private investigators working for the publications had targeted him and his family between 1996 and 2011.

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Tuesdays appeal comes shortly after the prince quit as patron of Sentabele, a charity he co-founded in honor of his mother to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana. Sophie Chandauka, the charitys chair, accused Harry of bullying and misogyny. Harry said he had resigned in shock and heartbroken. The UK charities watchdog announced last week it had opened a regulatory compliance case.

Harrys father, King Charles, will not be in the UK during the two-day security arrangements hearing. Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, are on a state visit to Italy, where they received a full ceremonial welcome on Tuesday morning, meeting President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace before viewing a flypast by the Frecce Tricolori and Red Arrows.

This story has been updated with developments.

CNNs Max Foster contributed reporting.

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On the same day that wife Meghan Markle launched her new podcast Confessions of a Female Founder, Prince Harry was in court in the U.K., where he is arguing that he was singled out for different, unjustified, and inferior treatment when his security was downgraded after leaving his role as a working member of the royal family.

Meghan and their kids Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet remained in the U.S. as Harry traveled back to his home country to further argue that the Royal and VIP Executive Committeeknown as RAVECwas unjustified in lessening his security after he and Meghan stepped back from royal life and relocated to Meghans home state of California, per the BBC. Harry continues to argue that he needs state protection for not only himself but also Meghan, Archie, and Lilibet while in the U.K. Protection is given at the discretion of RAVEC, which assesses risks posed towards members of the royal family on a scale based on intelligence from security services, the police, and the government, according to The Telegraph.

Getty Prince Harry on April 8, 2025 Prince Harry on April 8, 2025

The hearing is expected to last two days and be the last appeal of Harrys bid to win state-backed security again for himself and his family, The Telegraph reported. Harry arrived at court on April 8 as one reporter shouted, Did you speak to your Dad? This refers, of course, to King Charles, who is currently in Italy on a state visit with wife Queen Camilla; that said, Harry is thought to have arrived in the U.K. over the weekend, and Charles and Camillas royal tour didnt kick off until Monday. Charles and Harry are not thought to have seen each other on Harrys most recent visit. Prior to this trip to the U.K., the Duke of Sussex was most recently in country last September for the WellChild Awards, an organization he supports.

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Though Hello! reported that it was not possible for Charles and Harry to meet up this time, royal biographer Ingrid Seward told the outlet, If they dont see each other, its a shame because I think that the King will be very concerned for his son about Sentebale, referring to the charity that Harry co-founded in 2006 in memory of his mother, Princess Diana, and last month stepped down from as patron after a rift with the organizations chair.

Getty King Charles and Prince Harry on April 4, 2019 King Charles and Prince Harry on April 4, 2019

Getty Prince Harry and King Charles on September 14, 2022 Prince Harry and King Charles on September 14, 2022

King Charles might have a few words of wisdom for Harry over that, Seward said. If there was ever an appropriate moment, it would be an appropriate moment."

Of the possibility of reconciliation between father and son, I don't think its his father hes fallen out with. I think his fathers annoyed with him and disappointed with him, but the fallout is really with [Prince] William. Charles just doesnt like any kind of moral confrontation, like his mother, the Queen [Elizabeth], and I would have thought hes just sort of keeping in the background of the whole thing, but I don't think hes had a screaming row with Harry.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry

Of visiting the U.K., Harry said last July in ITVs documentary Tabloids on Trial, Its still dangerous, and all it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff to act on what they have read.

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He added that These are things that are of genuine concern for me and said, Its one of the reasons why I wont bring my wife back to this country.

A final decision on this case will be shared at a later date.

Read the original article on InStyle
April 8 (UPI) -- Prince Harry was back in court Tuesday to appeal the British government's decision to strip his publicly-funded security.

Harry, 40, stepped down as a full-time member of the royal family and had his security downgraded in February 2020 when he moved to the United States with his wife, actress Meghan Markle, 43.

It meant he was only provided a security detail by the state on a case-by-case basis.

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The case, meanwhile, is set to run through Wednesday as legal representatives of the Duke of Sussex argue that the agency responsible for royal security had not been following its own policies, further claiming that he and his family were under special threats which he says may be racially motivated.

Last year in February, the youngest son of King Charles III lost a challenge in Britain's High Court claiming that a downgrade to his security status was unlawful, which the court said was a "legally sound" act.

Prince Harry (seen in Sept. 2021 at Global Citizen Live in New York City), the Duke of Sussex, stepped-down as a full-time member of the the royal family along with his wife, Meghan Markle, and had his security downgraded in February 2020 when he moved to the United States with his family.File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

An unnamed legal representative said previously that the younger brother of the prince of Wales and future king "inherited a security risk at birth, for life."

"He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi extremist threats," the representative said.

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It's one of no less than six lawsuits involving the former working royal.

On Tuesday, an attorney for Harry said he was "singled out" for what was called "different unjustified and inferior treatment."

Britain's Home Office suggested the prince is comparing his status to that of the royal family, explaining that the young son of the late Princess Diana has not had his security completely removed, but rather is simply not "on the same basis" as senior royals.

"We are in territory in which there are no right or wrong answers, there are matters of judgement against broad, soft-edged criteria," Sir James Eadie KC, a British government lawyer, said in court.

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At the end of March, the now California resident resigned from Sentebale, the African charity he co-founded in 2006 in honor of the late princes of Wales to help HIV and Aids patients in southern Africa.

Meanwhile, a written judgment in Harry's case will be issued at a later date.
Prince Harry's legal team has argued that he was "singled out" for inferior treatment" when his security was downgraded upon his decision to quit senior royal life.

The claim was made during the first proceedings in the appeal against the cutback on his security by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC).

Meanwhile, the barrister representing the Home Office slammed Prince Harry's decision to appeal as a "continued failure to see the wood for the trees,

Prince Harry's Lawyer Opened The Appeal With Strong Statements

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Prince Harry's appeal over the downgrade of his security following his royal exit is well underway, with his legal team opening the challenge with strong statements, per the Daily Mail.

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The Duke's barrister, Shaheed Fatima KC, argued that Harry was "singled out for different, unjustified, and inferior treatment" by the Home Office. The decision to reduce his security was made through the RAVEC in early 2020 after Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, resigned from being senior working royals.

Further arguing the case, Fatima KC told the court that Ravec did not get an assessment from the Risk Management Board before subjecting Harry to the "bespoke process" for his current security arrangement.

She also claimed that this assessment, which is a key part of the Ravec process, is yet to be made available despite the security threats Harry has faced in recent times.

Fatima KC then pointed out that the judge who ruled against Harry "failed to appreciate the role of the RMB (risk management board) analysis in Ravec's decision-making" and also erred in two other aspects on the "construction and application of the terms of reference and evaluation criteria."

Home Office Barrister Says Prince Harry Is Failing 'To See The Wood For The Trees'

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Responding to the strong statements from Prince Harry's legal team, Sir James Eadie KC, representing the Home Office, argued that the Duke no longer qualified for his previous level of security because "he is no longer a member of the cohort of individuals whose security position remains under regular review by RAVEC.

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He also stated that the judge was "right to find that it was lawful" for RAVEC to have the final authority in assigning Prince Harry a "bespoke" security arrangement against Fatima KC's argument that the judge had "wrongly and inappropriately deferred to RAVEC."

Eadie KC further pointed out that Harry's decision to appeal reflected a "continued failure to see the wood for the trees, advancing propositions available only by reading small parts of the evidence and now the judgment, out of context and ignoring the totality of the picture."

Tomorrow's Hearing Will Be Private

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Unlike today's proceedings, which were live-streamed, tomorrow's session will take place behind closed doors.

The decision was made by the judges Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean, and Lord Justice Edis due to some of the evidence expected to be presented being deemed "highly confidential."

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"Some of the evidence in this case, which is being placed before the Court of Appeal, has been agreed between the parties to be highly confidential," the judges said. "That evidence relates to security arrangements and threat levels and assessments for the claimant and other public figures."

They further claimed that the content of the evidence "would be of interest to anyone wishing to harm a person within the scope of the security arrangements." Hence, allowing for tomorrow's proceedings to be publicized "would risk jeopardizing the effectiveness of those arrangements."

How Prince Harry Arrived At Court For His Appeal

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At around 9:30 a.m., Prince Harry arrived at Court 73 of the Royal Courts of Justice, marking his first appearance in the UK in over six months.

He was dressed in formal attire that consisted of a dark suit paired with a white shirt and a pale blue patterned tie.

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The Duke arrived with a brief security detail and offered a slight smile to some of the journalists present to cover the proceedings.

He was also met with a question from a reporter asking whether he had spoken to his father upon arriving from Los Angeles on Sunday. Harry, however, chose not to respond to the inquiry.

Upon entering the courtroom, he took his seat in the back row of three benches behind his legal team.

Meghan Markle Wants Her Husband To Be 'Free' Of His Legal Battles

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As the Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to live as non-working royals, Meghan reportedly longs for her husband to be free from the courtroom drama that has trailed him.

Harry has been fighting for the Home Office to reinstate his tax-funded police protection for himself and his family after they were stripped of it when they left their royal duties in 2020.

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An ex-employee of the couple's Archewell Foundation has now told People magazine that the former "Suits" actress "supports Harry 100 percent, but she wishes he could let go of these lawsuits, be happy and live in the moment."

"She wants him to be free of all of this, but she also knows that because of everything he's been through and his love for [her and their children], he can't. She wants him to live in a world where he is not burdened by this," the source added.
LONDON  Prince Harry is in court Tuesday appealing the British governments decision to axe his publicly-funded security detail.

Harrys protection was downgraded in February 2020 when he stepped down as a full-time member of the royal family and moved to the United States with his wife, Meghan. This meant the British state provided security on a case-by-case basis.

The Duke of Sussex is challenging this decision in a case that is set to span Tuesday and Wednesday, arguing that the body responsible for protecting royals was not following its own rules. He said he and his family were under particular threat because of the abuse his wife receives from some sections of the public and the media, which Harry says are racially motivated.

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Prince Harry inherited a security risk at birth, for life, an unnamed legal representative said in a previous statement. He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats.

Harry is currently the fifth in line to the throne.

His challenge was rejected in February last year by Britains High Court, which said the decision to change his security status was neither irrational nor procedurally unfair. Harry initially lost the right to appeal last April, before overturning that in the summer.

In a separate ruling, he also had his offer to personally bankroll protection by Britains Metropolitan Police rejected. The British government said its police forces are not available for private hire.

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This week, Harry's case will be heard by three judges, Lord Justice Bean, Lord Justice Edis and Sir Geoffrey Vos. Defending him are Shaheed Fatima KC and Jason Pobjoy KC.

It is one of six legal cases in which Harry has been embroiled.

The publisher of British tabloid The Sun agreed to pay substantial damages to Harry in January after settling a long-running legal battle. News Group Newspapers (NGN) admitted that between 1996 and 2011, its staff used unlawful methods to dig up private information about the duke and his late mother, Princess Diana.

Harry is also among a group of celebrities suing another publisher, Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), which prints the Daily Mail, accusing it of lawbreaking in its attempts to gather information on them. The trial is due to start next year.

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In 2023, he dropped a libel case against ANL for its coverage of his legal battle over personal security. And the same year, he was awarded 140,600 pounds ($179,350) after successfully bringing a phone-hacking claim against Mirror Group Newspapers.

Alongside these courtroom battles, Harry has endured a turbulent relationship with his own family since leaving the United Kingdom, including with his father, King Charles III.

The prince arrived in the U.K. on Sunday hours before Charles, who is undergoing cancer treatment, traveled to Italy, fueling speculation in the British press that the pair might have a rare meeting.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
We recently published a list of 15 Stocks with Buy Ratings that Hedge Funds Love. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) stands against other stocks with buy ratings that hedge funds love.

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READ ALSO: Fridays 10 Worst Performing Stocks.

Retail investors are scrambling for the exits to protect their investments. However, hedge funds are quietly loading up on bargains. Analysts are perceiving an opportunity in the turmoil, and institutional investors are using the downturns to pepper their portfolios with high-conviction stocks at fire-sale prices. Right now, their buy lists are flashing green. They do not back the stocks unquestioningly, however, they look at the fundamentals, pricing power, and growth trends of the stocks to estimate their ability to outlast the storm.

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This brings us to the heart of our article today. Combining hedge fund filings, analyst upgrades, and real-time market data, we have uncovered 15 stocks with Buy ratings, which could potentially refine your portfolio. Top hedge funds are piling into these stocks, making them more appealing to investors interested in generating income.

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Prince Harry is appealing a UK Home Office decision to downgrade his security, arguing he and Meghan Markle were "forced" to step back as senior royals due to lack of protection.

His legal team claims RAVEC bypassed protocol and unfairly singled the Duke of Sussex out for "inferior treatment."

Prince Harry has since shared that he feels unsafe bringing his family to the UK and believes King Charles could intervene, though the monarchy holds no sway over security decisions.

Prince Harry And Meghan Felt Pressured To 'Step Back' From Royal Life Due To Security Concerns

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In January 2020, Harry and Meghan shared their decision to step away from their roles as senior members of the royal family, expressing a desire to divide their time between the UK and North America.

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However, during an appeal court hearing on April 8, 2025, regarding Harry's security arrangements in Britain, his legal representatives claimed the couple didn't leave by choice.

Instead, they "felt forced to step back from the role of full-time official working members of The Royal Family as they considered they were not being protected by the institution."

According to People Magazine, the lawyers added that the couple "wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of The Royal Family."

The court also heard that the downgrade in their security was never "discussed at any formal RAVEC [Royal and VIP Executive Committee] meeting."

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Instead, the issue was allegedly handled during an informal discussion at Buckingham Palace on January 27, 2020.

The Duke Seeks Fair Assessment Over 'Bespoke' Protection Arrangement

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Harry is challenging the UK Home Office over the February 2020 RAVEC decision that downgraded the publicly funded security he receives when in the country.

Although a High Court ruling previously sided with the government, Harry is now appealing and made a personal appearance at a London hearing on April 8, with proceedings set to continue on April 9.

His lawyer, Shaheed Fatima KC, argued that RAVEC failed to properly evaluate the risks he and his family faced and did not consult the Risk Management Board, which is the expert panel typically tasked with assessing such threats.

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Fatima claimed that RAVEC introduced a "bespoke" security arrangement for Harry instead of following standard protocol without clear reasoning or documentation.

Prince Harry Felt 'Singled Out' For 'Inferior Treatment'

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The Duke of Sussex argued that he was unfairly "singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment," and he has been excluded from protections compared to others in similar VIP categories.

Harry's legal team emphasized that he isn't asking to reinstate the full security privileges he once had as a senior royal but rather for a transparent and fair evaluation of his protection needs.

In response, the Home Office maintained that RAVEC had the authority to apply a tailored approach based on Harry's unique circumstances.

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The office also asserted that its decision was supported by appropriate documentation.

The Duke's Security Dispute Reportedly Deepened Rift With King Charles

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Harry's security concerns have reportedly added to the strain on his relationship with his father, King Charles.

The Duke of Sussex is said to believe that Charles has the power to step in and influence the outcome regarding his protection in the UK.

However, the British monarch constitutionally holds no authority over government decisions or RAVEC's security arrangements.

A palace insider previously said that the notion that Charles controls Harry's protection is "wholly incorrect."

"Harry is frightened and feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father," a source close to the royals told People Magazine.

Prince Harry Says He Won't Bring His Wife To The UK As 'It's Still Dangerous'

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In an interview for ITV's documentary "Tabloids on Trial," which premiered on July 25, 2024, Harry voiced his concerns about his family's safety and expressed his apprehensions about returning to the UK with Meghan.

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"It's still dangerous," Harry stated, per People Magazine, emphasizing that "all it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff to act on what they have read."

The Duke continued: "Whether it's a knife or acid, whatever it is, these are things that are of genuine concern for me. It's one of the reasons why I won't bring my wife back to this country."

In 2022, Neil Basu, the former counterterrorism chief for the Metropolitan Police, confirmed that there were credible threats to Meghan's life during her time in the UK.

"We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats," Basu noted at the time, seemingly corroborating Harry and Meghan's fears.
Prince Harry - Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

On Tuesday, the Court of Appeals in the United Kingdom heard Prince Harrys case against a ruling that allowed for his public-funded security detail to be lessened on his visits to the UK. In part, Harrys attorney claims he was being treated unfairly and singled out by the decision.

According to the Associated Press, Harrys attorney Shaheed Fatima argued that the group that decided to strip his security detail did not properly assess threats to Harry and his family and that they did not run their decision by the Risk Management Board.

More from Rolling Stone

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Prince Harry, who attended Tuesdays hearing, originally took legal action in 2020 after a decision was made that he should receive case-by-case protection when he visits the country. Harrys attorney argued that he was excluded from protections offered to others in an Other VIP Category. Last year, High Court Judge Peter Lane ruled that Buckingham Palaces stripping of that royal treatment, called the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, or RAVEC for short, was not unlawful, irrational or unjustified.

The appellant does not accept that bespoke means better, Harrys attorney said in court Tuesday. In fact, in his submission, it means that he has been singled out for different, unjustified, and inferior treatment.

The attorney also claimed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle felt forced to step back from participating in royal family duties since they felt they were not being protected by the institution. However, Fatima insisted that Harry was not seeking the same level of protection as other working members of the royal family, but merely a fair process in deciding so.

The Duke is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a fair and lawful application of RAVECs own rules, ensuring that he receives the same consideration as others in accordance with RAVECs own written policy, a spokesperson for Prince Harry said ahead of the appeal last year.

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Harry claims that he and his family face danger whenever they visit their homeland given the countrys dislike for him and his wife by the UK press and public. A written decision is expected later this week as the hearing ends Wednesday. Much of the hearing was live-streamed, although Wednesdays hearing will be conducted behind closed doors.

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Since moving to California in 2020, Prince Harry has occasionally returned to the UK in order to be present at court for the various legal challenges he has brought. Today, he appeared at the Court of Appeal in the Royal Courts of Justice as his lawyers argued the next stage of his legal battle over his UK security.

JUSTIN TALLIS - Getty Images

Arriving mid-morning in a Range Rover, per the BBC, the Prince was wearing a suit and tie and gave a small wave as he entered the building. He first brought this case in September 2021 after a decision was made in 2020 by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) that when the Prince stepped back as a working royal his security would be determined on a case-by-case basis. Harry wants the guarantee of police protection, and has previously said that he does not feel able to bring his family to the UK without this.

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The Prince has returned to his home country several times since moving to California in 2020. As well as for court cases, he has also flown in for charity events, and he made a flying visit in February 2024 to see his father after the Kings cancer diagnosis. However, he has only brought Archie and Lilibet once, for Queen Elizabeths Platinum Jubilee events in June 2022. This is believed to be the only time King Charles has met his granddaughter Lilibet.

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Harrys arrival in the UK and his appearance in court coincided today with the King and Queens first full day of their State Visit to Italy. Per Reuters, Harrys lawyer said the Prince had been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment. The Prince won the right to appeal in May last year after previously having his attempts to challenge RAVECs decision-making dismissed.

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Prince Harry made a rare visit to the UK this week as part of his ongoing battle with the British government.

On Tuesday, April 8, the 40-year-old royal arrived at a London court to challenge the decision made by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) to downgrade his level of taxpayer-funded security when he's in England, according to CNN.

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The decrease in protection afforded to the Duke of Sussex came after Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped down as working members of the royal family in 2020. (Despite giving up his duties, Harry is still a member of the royal family and fifth in line to the throne.)

At Tuesday's hearings, barristers for the Duke of Sussex claimed that Harry had been singled out for different unjustified and inferior treatment by RAVEC.

In 2023, Harry spoke out in a statement about the importance of adequate security for his family, arguing that the UK is central to the heritage of [his] children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harms way too, he said in the statement.

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While Harry was initially denied permission to appeal RAVEC's decision, in June 2024 the Court of Appeal agreed to hear his case.

The royal won a monumental victory in January when he settled with Rupert Murdoch's New Group Newspapers (NGN) after claiming that private investigators and journalists and private investigators working for the company's publications had targeted him and his family.
Prince Harry was singled out for unjustified and inferior treatment when his U.K. security protections were downgraded, his lawyer argued as the royal made an appearance at Londons Court of Appeal on Tuesday.

As the BBC reports, the prince is in court to challenge a judges decision to uphold the downgrading of his security arrangements in the U.K. after he stepped back from official royal duties in 2020 alongside his wife, Meghan Markle. The two moved to Montecito, Calif.  where they are raising young children Archie and Lilibet  and are not often back in the U.K., making Harrys court appearance a rare one.

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This case has been ongoing for nearly four years. In September 2021, Harry began legal action against the Home Office, whose Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) downgraded his taxpayer-funded police protection to a case-by-case basis instead of providing the highest level of security. In December 2023, the prince said during a hearing that the U.K. is central to the heritage of my children, and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the U.S. In February of last year, Harrys claim was dismissed, a decision which the prince appealed. This appeal was initially refused, but eventually granted in June 2024.

Prince Harry is arguing that he and his family require the highest level of protection as they still receive security threats. According to the BBC, the princes lawyer, Shaheed Fatima KC, argued that his security was never discussed in a formal meeting of the Home Offices RAVEC and Harry should have been informed as to how the decision was being made. He was singled out for different unjustified and inferior treatment, Fatima said, asserting that the judge in the previous case did not properly evaluate all of the evidence.

In response, the Home Offices lawyer, Sir James Eadie KC, argued that his client has treated the prince in a bespoke manner, adding: He is no longer a member of the cohort of individuals whose security position remains under regular review by RAVEC. Rather, he is brought back into the cohort in appropriate circumstances, and in light of consideration of any given context.

A final decision on the two-day hearing will be delivered at a later date.

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Prince Harry was reportedly unaware of his fathers recent hospitalization until he saw it on the news, like everybody else.

According to a royal insider, the Duke of Sussex, 40, wasnt told about King Charles IIIs latest startling health scare because Buckingham Palace didnt want to add to the drama.

My understanding is that they didnt want to add to the drama, the Suns royal editor, Matt Wilkinson, claimed on Friday, per Us Weekly. They didnt want to add to make it seem like it was more serious than it was.

Prince Harry apparently wasnt told about his father King Charles startling hospital stay last month. / SplashNews.com

Whereas when [King Charles was diagnosed with cancer], they told Harry before, Wilkinson added, and Harry flew back.

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The royal editor added that Harry only learned of his fathers hospital stay through the news and not by Buckingham Palace ringing him or his team up to explain.

It was revealed that King Charles, 76, was briefly admitted to the hospital  and forced to postpone several royal engagements  on March 27 after the monarch experienced temporary side effects from his ongoing cancer treatment. He was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer in February 2024.

King Charles was briefly hospitalized on March 27. via REUTERS

Following scheduled and ongoing medical treatment for cancer this morning, The King experienced temporary side effects that required a short period of observation in hospital, Buckingham Palace said in a statement at the time. His Majestys afternoon engagements were, therefore, postponed.

As a precautionary measure, acting on medical advice, tomorrows diary program will also be rescheduled, the palace added. His Majesty would like to send his apologies to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result.

Follow along with The Posts live blog on everything you need to know about the British royal family.

King Charles later returned to Clarence House to recuperate after his stay at the hospital.

King Charles and Prince Harry at the Committal Service for the late Queen Elizabeth II. Getty Images

Although the king returned to his royal engagements by April 1, several sources urged the ailing monarch to step back from his royal duties amid his cancer battle  something Queen Camilla, 77, has also urged her husband to do.

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The trouble is, hes been so conditioned to work that I dont think he functions unless hes working, royal biographer Ingrid Seward told Newsweek after Charles latest hospitalization.

King Charles and Prince Harry together for an event in April 2019. Samir Hussein/WireImage

When hes not working, hes probably a bit all over the place, I know Im like that, she continued. Hes always working, and its just not his nature to take an afternoon nap, which Im sure Camilla is trying to make him do.

Despite concerns about his deteriorating health, King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in Italy on Monday, April 7, marking the pairs first state visit to the country since his coronation in May 2023.

King Charles was first diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer in Feb. 2024. Getty Images

The royal couple will also reportedly celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in Rome on Wednesday.

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As for Prince Harry, he has reportedly been left deeply depressed and embarrassed amid the ongoing bullying investigation into his Sentebale charity.

The Duke of Sussex also reportedly disagrees with the way his wife, Meghan Markle, 43, has been exploiting their two children, Archie, 5, and Lilibet, 3, to promote her new As Ever lifestyle brand.
One of the biggest stories in education this spring is how the Trump administration has systematically begun to pull federal funding from Ivy League institutions over alleged antisemitism on campus and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies.

At Princeton last week, the Trump administration halted funding from agencies such as Department of Energy, NASA, and the Defense Department. Now, the president of the university, Christopher Eisgruber, has revealed that his school will not be making any concessions to the administration in an effort to try and reverse the funding decisions.

We make our decisions at Princeton based on our values and our principles, he told NPR. You know, I don't want to pass judgment on what other universities do. These are extraordinarily difficult circumstances. But we're going to stand strong for our values at Princeton, and I think we have a community that is united behind those values.

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When All Things Considered host Asma Khalid followed up, asking, So youre not willing, at this point, to make any concessions? Eisgruber replied, We believe its important to defend academic freedom, and thats not something that can be compromised.

He added, At this point, we haven't gotten any instructions to change anything, all right? So - and again, when I talked about what happened at Columbia, one of the reasons that it made it such a fundamental threat to academic freedom was that the government effectively said, in order to get these funds back, you have to do these other things, which were inconsistent with the respect for academic freedom. We have not received any communication from the government that explains why these grants were suspended or any requests to do anything in response to the suspensions.

Columbia was the first school to have funding pulled, followed by the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Brown. So far, Dartmouth and Cornell have yet to be targeted.



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Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, speaks against Senate Bill 354, the $750 million Franklin County prison appropriation, on the Senate floor on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

The Arkansas Senate continued to block a $750 million prison appropriation bill Monday when it voted down the legislation for the fourth time in the last week.

Senate Bill 354 would support construction of a 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County, which proponents say is needed to address overcrowding in county jails. Several elected officials and local residents in the western Arkansas county have publicly opposed the estimated $825 million project since Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in October announced the states purchase of 815 acres near Charleston for the prison for nearly $3 million.

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The bills lead sponsor, Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, told the Advocate Monday that hell keep running SB 354 until it receives the required 27 votes it needs to advance out of the Senate. While most bills require a simple majority, appropriation bills require a three-fourths majority vote.

Lawmakers have set April 16 as the final day to approve bills during the legislative session. The governors office, the Arkansas Board of Corrections and Joe Profiri, former corrections secretary and current senior adviser to Sanders, will continue answering lawmakers questions throughout the remaining days of the session, Dismang said.

We still have a good group of members, even though, who are voting no, who are saying they just need a couple pieces of additional information, he said. My goal right now is to keep making sure that everyones aware that there are some questions outstanding and try to get those questions answered.

Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, told guests of a legislative breakfast Friday in Benton that he expects the governor to call a special session to secure the prison funding if SB 354 doesnt pass by next week, The Saline Courier reported. A similar situation happened last year when Sanders called a special session in June as a result of lawmakers failure to pass an appropriation bill for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission during the 2024 fiscal session.

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The Arkansas Legislature meets for regular legislative sessions in odd-numbered years and fiscal sessions in even-numbered years. In the interim, the governor may call legislators into special session and set the agenda. Lawmakers may consider legislation outside of the governors call with a supermajority vote, but thats uncommon.

Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, continued to speak against SB 354 on the Senate floor Monday. King, a longtime critic of the prison, again challenged transparency with the project, noting that a social media post by Franklin County Judge Rickey Bowman disputes an assertion that the governors office has stayed in close contact with local leaders.

JUST TO BE CLEAR, NO ONE FROM LITTLE ROCK HAS REACHED OUT TO ME! Bowman wrote. I wish they would and open their eyes to the fact that is [sic] is going to cost the taxpayers an ungodly amount of money. It will be the most expensive site to build on.

Let us know what you think...

Arkansans opposed to the project have been critical of state officials not involving local officials in the process. They also have voiced concerns about how difficult it would be to build on the rocky terrain and to access the needed infrastructure to support a 3,000-bed facility.

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At the Arkansas Board of Corrections meeting Thursday, representatives with Vanir Construction Management, the company retained to oversee the firm selected to build the prison, discussed building pipelines to bring in drinking water and wastewater from Fort Smith, a city roughly 27 miles west of the construction site.

That is exactly what we talked about. When you build a facility, you should have already known about this on the front end, King said. This is inconceivable that we should come in here and all of a sudden be trying to figure out where youre going to get water.

King also called for the expansion of the Calico Rock prison on the Senate floor and in a letter addressed to the corrections board signed by the Green Forest Republican and Sen. Gary Stubblefield, a Branch Republican whose family owns land near the proposed prison site.

Arkansas cannot afford to spend millions more to build a mega prison when a considerably less expensive option is available at Calico Rock, the letter reads. Please do not let [Profiris] reckless behavior hurt Arkansans. Those millions can be put to better use providing tax relief, educating students, and assisting our elderly population.

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Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson proposed expanding the Calico Rock facility by roughly 500 beds using surplus funds, and state lawmakers approved $75 million in reserve funds for that project in December 2022.

But the proposal was put on hold when Sanders threw her support behind the Protect Arkansas Act, a 2023 law that, among other things, removes the possibility of parole for the states most serious offenders. The law makes it more likely that the number of state prisoners will grow.

The Legislature set aside $330 million in 2023 to support the governors prison expansion efforts, but disputes between the executive branch and the corrections board, and among state lawmakers, have delayed the project.

Support in the Senate for SB 354 has fluctuated between 18 and 19 affirmative votes. On Monday, 19 senators again voted for the measure while 10 opposed it. Six voted present.

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Democrats Fred Love, Reginald Murdock and Jamie Scott have consistently voted present on the measure. On Monday they were joined by Republicans Scott Flippo, John Payton and Dan Sullivan.

Flippo has voted three times in favor of the bill, while Payton has voted against SB 354 twice and voted present twice. Sullivan has cast votes for, against and present.

The Senate will next meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Reporter Tess Vrbin contributed to this report.

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We recently published a list of 11 Best American Energy Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) stands against other best American energy stocks to buy now.

On Friday, April 4, oil futures reached multiyear lows following Chinas response to the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. This sparks fear of a fall in demand for oil amid a full-blown trade war. The US benchmark for oil prices, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), fell over 7% to close at $61.99 per barrel and Brent crude futures dropped more than 6% to settle at $65.58. Crude has not traded at these levels since 2021.

READ ALSO: 10 Best EV Stocks to Buy Under $50 and 11 Undervalued Chemical Stocks to Buy Now.

Crude losses worsened as China announced it would impose additional tariffs of 34% on US goods. This announcement came as a response to President Trumps levies, which include increased duties on China-made imports.

President Trumps tariffs saw financial markets react strongly and crude oil prices sinking as traders assessed the potential impact of a trade war on demand. Energy-related stocks were set to extend losses after dragging the market down with sell-offs in the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq.

Crude losses also accelerated because of a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, to increase supply approximately three times more than expected starting in May.

Angie Gildea, KPMG US energy leader, said that markets are still digesting tariffs and that the combination of higher oil supply and concerns about a weaker global economy is putting downward pressure on oil prices. She pointed out that this could lead to a new chapter in a volatile market.

Although energy was not included in the latest tariffs announced by the Trump administration on Wednesday, April 2, the escalation of a global trade war could hurt oil demand.

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the 11 best American energy stocks to buy now, we used stock screeners from Finviz and Yahoo Finance to find the largest energy companies. We sorted our results based on market capitalization and picked the top 25 American stocks. Next, we focused on the 11 stocks most favored by institutional investors. Data for the hedge fund sentiment surrounding each stock was taken from Insider Monkeys Q4 2024 database of more than 1,000 elite hedge funds. Finally, the 11 best American energy stocks to buy now were ranked in ascending order based on the number of hedge funds holding stakes in them as of Q4 2024.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO)  Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a trade agreement with the United Kingdom, in addition to an agreement with the State of Mexico signed last week, in an effort to strengthen economic ties with global trading partners.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Pritzker and British officials in the Illinois Capitol on Tuesday.

The non-binding agreement comes amid tensions over the Trump administrations tariffs on on foreign imports from almost all of the countries the U.S. trades with.

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President Trump has argued that the U.S. has been hurt by foreign trade deals that he calls unfair and says his new tariffs will fix the trade deficits.

A 10% baseline tariff is already being imposed on all foreign imports, but steeper reciprocal tariffs are set to go into effect on dozens of countries starting on Wednesday.

Now more than ever, its essential that states like in Illinois build and maintain healthy relationships with major trade partnersand for years, the United Kingdom has met Illinois with equal enthusiasm and desire for increased cooperation and partnership, said Pritzker. Signing this MOU is the next step in growing our strong trade relationship that will benefit both Illinois and the UK, and I look forward to seeing how this agreement will spur additional opportunities across sectors.

According to the Governors Office, Illinois exported over $2.6 billion in goods, such as chemicals, computer products, and fabricated metal products, to the United Kingdom in 2024, making it the states 8th-largest export partner.

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The Memorandum of Understanding focuses heavily on climate-conscious solutions in manufacturing and engineering, a press release said. It also highlighted shared values between Illinois and UK leadership, including bolstering equitable economic opportunities for minorities, women, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Last week, Pritzker signed a similar agreement with the State of Mexico, one of 32 states that make up the country of Mexico, to promote strategic alliances between government authorities, universities, and research centers and highlight trade and investment, manufacturing and agriculture, supply chains, and more.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports.
The right-wing StopAntisemitism group thinks that childrens YouTube educator Ms. Rachel should be investigated by Attorney General Pam Bondi for pro-Hamas propaganda.

The New York Post reports that the organization sent a letter to Bondi complaining about social media posts from the YouTube star, whose real name is Rachel Accurso, about Palestinian children killed by Israel during its brutal massacre of Gaza since 2023.

Her posts have largely ignored the suffering of Israeli victims, hostages, and Jewish children, while she consistently amplifies misinformation from Hamas and other anti-Israel sources, StopAntisemitism director Liora Rez wrote in the letter.

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Rez also claimed that with vast sums of foreign funds being directed toward propagandizing our young people on college campuses, we suspect there is a similar dynamic in the online influencer space.

We urge you and your office to investigate whether or not Ms. Rachel is being remunerated to disseminate Hamas-aligned propaganda to her millions of followers, as this may violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), Rez wrote to Bondi.

The organization accuses Accurso of using fabricated and debunked reports of children dying of hypothermia (that have actually been verified), and using death toll figures from Gaza that it says came from Hamas (but are actually considered reliable).

Accurso didnt respond to the Posts inquiries, but said on Instagram in May that I care deeply for all children. Palestinian children, Israeli children, children in the USMuslim, Jewish, Christian childrenall children, in every country. Not one is excluded.

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The letter seems to be fitting into a pattern of pro-Israel organizations, such as Canary Mission and Betar, targeting critics of Israels military actions, as well as supporters of Palestinian self-determination. Betar says it has provided lists of noncitizen protesters to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, and other government agencies, recommending deportation.

Several international students targeted by Betar and Canary Mission, including Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, have been detained by ICE as they fight deportation in the courts. But Ms. Rachel is an American citizen with a YouTube following of millions of children around the world, and has merely expressed concern about a human rights catastrophe. It seems even that is grounds for a criminal investigation in todays political climate.


FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now)  The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) hosted a procession Tuesday to remember the life of Cpt. Barry Maham.

Maham passed away on March 31 after battling occupational cancer. He leaves behind his wife and five children.

Captain Barry Maham (Photo Courtesy: Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department)

He started his career as a firefighter in 1999, serving with the department for 25 years.

The fire department remembered Maham as a dedicated member of the departments urban search and rescue team. However, he recently retired to focus on fighting repeated recurrences of cancer.

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PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Fairfax County FD mourns loss of captain who died from occupational cancer

He served the department with unwavering dedication that no doubt will have a lasting impact on the department and community, said FCFRD in a post on social media.

In a post on Facebook, the Fairfax County Professional Firefighters and Paramedics shared that Maham fought cancer with the same strength, determination and selflessness that defined his career.

True to the way he lived his entire career, he stepped up with unwavering dedication and steadfast leadership, determined to leave the department better than he found it. Even while facing his own diagnosis, Barry remained committed to protecting his brothers and sisters, ensuring that his experience would serve as a lesson for those who may one day face the same fight, wrote the Fairfax County Professional Firefighters and Paramedics in the post.

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To honor and celebrate Mahams life, the fire department hosted the procession on the morning of Tuesday, April 8. It began around 11 a.m. at Jefferson Funeral Chapel in Alexandria and traveled toward Expectation Church in Fairfax.

(Photo Courtesy: Fairfax County Police Department)

The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) joined the fire department in paying tribute to Maham, calling him a true hero who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

Today we stand united with @ffxfirerescue [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department] in honoring his life, service, and commitment to our community, wrote FCPD, in a post on X.

Fairfax County police officers stand united in honoring Captain Barry Maham, who died from occupational cancer. Courtesy: Fairfax County Police Department via X/@FairfaxCountyPD) Courtesy: Fairfax County Police Department via X/@FairfaxCountyPD)

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | DC, Virginia, Maryland News, Weather, Traffic, Sports Live.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Nevada lawmakers continue to tweak a 2021 law that decriminalized minor traffic violations, looking to streamline the process for drivers and the courts at the same time.

Inconsistencies and barriers have emerged in how this is handled by courts, according to Nevada State Sen. Melanie Scheible (D-Las Vegas). Senate Bill 359 (SB359) contains a number of changes to a law that one observer described as a work in progress.

Traffic tickets dont bring jail time anymore. Missed court dates for those cases arent the big deal they used to be. But lawmakers are still ironing out a lot of details.

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Among the changes that the bill would make:

Change the requirement for posting a bond in order to challenge the civil infraction. Current law requires the person to post the full amount of the fine associated with the infraction, but that is likely to change to an amount up to the full fine. That gives the courts flexibility to waive or reduce the fee.

Allow a lawyer to appear in court in place of the person.

Require the civil infraction and any associated misdemeanor to be part of the same complaint, allowing the entire matter to be heard by one judge.

Allow prosecutors to choose to treat a misdemeanor as a civil infraction at any time, not just before the court hearing. This adds flexibility for prosecutors.

The bond requirement in current law is seen as problematic because it can prevent low-income residents from challenging the civil infraction. Often, they cant afford the full amount. They also cant afford to take time off from work to make a challenge, Scheible said.

Some of the other changes are meant to streamline the process, which Scheible said often puts prosecutors in a difficult position.

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The flexibility in deciding when to treat a misdemeanor as a civil infraction comes up often, she said.

It will allow for essentially what everybody has been clamoring for down in Southern Nevada, which is, Can I please get my misdemeanor converted to a civil infraction,  Scheible said.

As an example, lawmakers talked about a traffic stop involving an improper lane change. Thats the type of offense that the Nevada Legislature had in mind when it decriminalized minor infractions. But what if the officer finds the person was driving on a suspended license?

The combination of a civil infraction and a misdemeanor has to be handled separately now, but changes in SB359 would simplify that and allow a judge to deal with it all in one hearing.

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So far, 10 amendments have been proposed, and lawmakers continue to work on solutions that are practical for courts in rural counties, as well as Clark and Washoe counties.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 Leon County Courthouse on Oct. 21, 2024. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)

A Florida House committee on Tuesday passed a resolution (HJR 679) that would place a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot asking voters to impose eight-year term limits on county commissioners and school board members.

But its Senate companion bill has stalled, raising doubt about whether the Legislature will approve the limits during this years legislative session.

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Twelve counties in Florida have already imposed term limits on their county commissioners. Eight such counties have imposed term limits of eight years, while four others have imposed 12-year term limits, with Pinellas the latest to do so last fall.

Panhandle Republican Michelle Salzmans resolution would allow county commissioners who want to run for county mayor to do so immediately, and not have to take any time off from public service before running for that office. Orange, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade are among the counties in Florida that have such a county mayor position.

The proposal is fiercely opposed by the Florida Association of Counties.

Jeff Scala, director of public policy with that group, complained the resolution would strip voters of their ability to self govern by forcing them to vote on county commission term limits statewide, imposing their choices on other voters.

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If the proposal goes on the 2026 ballot, voters in the 12 counties that have already changed their charters to impose term limits, who represent 58% of the state, could impose their preferences on the rest of the state.

Miami-Dade voters deciding for Monroe County, he said. What is best for St. Lucie [County]. We have a situation where Orange County voters go back to tell Marion or Lake County voters that eight years is the right number.

Rich Templin of the Florida AFL-CIO agreed, telling lawmakers that the proposal, if approved, would take away local control.

You are going to be allowing three or four counties around the state to make a decision about foundational governance for local communities that will have no say, he said, adding that the more populous counties will outvote small ones.

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The only Republican member of the House State Affairs Committee to oppose the measure was Tampa Rep. Karen Gonzalez-Pittman. She said the proposal would be weak unless it included term limits for staff.

Weve seen what has happened when weve had term limits and not having term limits on staff. It has made staff much more powerful, and were seeing that in the Legislature as well as in D.C., where the current administration is trying to undo that, she said.

Public support

In response, Salzman emphasized that public opinion polls have consistently showed that more than 80% of the country supports term limits. (A Pew Research Center survey from September 2023 showed that 87% of the public want term limits for members of Congress).

She said she had responded to criticism about a similar proposal she carried last year, which wouldnt have given voters any say on the matter. So this years proposal is a resolution and not a bill, meaning that if it wins 3/5ths support in both chambers of the Legislature, it would be placed on the statewide ballot next year, giving the voters the option of deciding the issue.

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Salzman dismissed criticism that certain counties would have more sway in a statewide election.

Were trying to give the voters what they want and were over here arguing about whose voice is louder, she said.

The Senate version (SJR 802), sponsored by West Central Florida Republican Blaise Ingoglia, has passed one committee but has two more stops before reaching the floor.

In 1992, Florida voters approved an amendment to the states Constitution creating eight-year term limits for legislators. Eight years later, 68 term-limited senators and representatives were forced to retire, and the state saw the highest number of freshman legislators since the first legislative session in 1845, according to the book The Failure of Term Limits in Florida, by Florida International University professor Kathryn A. Depalo.

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM)  A bill that would allow Pennsylvania homeowners to check out past radon data is advancing.

The legislation, House Bill 448, sponsored by State Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon), passed the House 176-27 Monday.

It would let the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) share radon data it gathered. As of now, there are restrictions on what the DEP can release regarding radon levels.

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Pennsylvania ranks among the worst states in the country for radon levels, which exposes many families in the Commonwealth to harmful, radioactive particles, Diamond said. Pennsylvanians concerned about radon on their property can seek testing information from DEP; however, there are currently limitations on how that data can be shared. My bill would peel back some of those limitations, so previous property owners can access DEPs data.

Diamond was inspired to create the bill after hearing from a constituent who struggled with undiagnosed health conditions.

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The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

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Chilean national mining company ENAMI has revealed that its Salares Altoandinos project could increase the countrys lithium resources by 28%.

The announcement was made during CESCO Week 2025, a key event for mining sector leaders, based on data from an exploration campaign and resource estimate conducted by the consultancy Amphos 21 and reviewed by Montgomery & Associates.

The Salares Altoandinos project, comprising the La Isla and Aguilar salt flats in the northern Antofagasta region, has been confirmed to hold 3.05 million tonnes (mt) of lithium.

Salar La Isla's resources surged by 150% to 2.13mt of lithium, while Salar Aguilar saw a 40% rise in resources to 920,000 tonnes (t).

ENAMi executive vice-president Ivan Mlynarz said: "These results are important because we are moving from potential resources to certified and reviewed by a third party, and this confirms that Salares Altoandinos is a global project."

Chile's current lithium resources, primarily from Salar de Atacama, stand at 11mt, as per the United States Geological Survey.

The Salares Altoandinos project, which also includes the Salar Grande, is in its final phase of selecting a development partner.

Mlynarz added: "These are important data to keep in mind because we are weeks away from establishing the public-private partnership for this project that will bring lithium to the country from the Atacama Region."

Companies from China, France, South Korea, England and Australia, including BYD Chile, Eramet Chile, Posco Holdings and Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration, are participating in the negotiations.

Additionally, CNGR Advanced Material and LG Energy Solution have shown interest in financing.

A key milestone for the Salares Altoandinos project will be the submission of a Special Operation Agreement or Contrato Especial de Operacion to the Comptroller General of the Republic for approval. This follows a successful indigenous consultation process.

In January 2025, Chiles national development agency, Corfo, launched an initiative to promote the extraction of strategic minerals such as cobalt and rare earth elements from mining waste.

"Chiles lithium reserves are 28% higher than earlier estimates, studies reveal" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.




Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton was interrupted by protesters during a speaking event at Tufts University on Monday as the hearing for a detained Tufts student got underway.

The event centered around a variety of topics including mental health, veteran affairs, national security and was moderated by Professor of Political Science at Tufts Debbie Schildkraut.

Midway through the discussion, protesters claiming to be from Extinction Rebellion Boston Activists demanded Democrats do more to fight back against the Trump administration and to protect free speech, specifically as it pertains to the detainment of 30-year-old Rumeysa Ozturk.

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Ozturk was taken by immigration officials on March 25 and whisked away to Louisiana.

New court filings detail timeline of Tufts student who was detained by ICE, sent to Louisiana

Federal authorities say she engaged in activities supporting the terrorist group, Hamas, while supporters claim that ICE is violating Ozturks First Amendment and civil rights.

We are tired of speeches, statements, and false promises, said Martin Gioannetti of the Extinction Rebellion, who took to the stage. Today we are sending a clear message to the Massachusetts congressional delegation and federal Democrats across the county: fight back or [expletive].

The group also claimed Moultons criticisms of the Trump administration fail to match his actions. The protesters were eventually escorted off stage and the event continued without incident.

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Moulton responded after the event, saying in part that every American should see the video of Ozturk being detained by ICE, likening it to actions of an authoritarian regime.

Its deeply un-American and frighteningly similar to what happened under the Nazis to just disappear people, he said. Moulton claims hes written several letters to the Trump administration but has not heard back.

Theres a reality that Democrats in Congress cant do very much, Moulton said. Look they were saying we should do more but they didnt offer any solutions. And I know its frustrating, and I get the fact that protesters are frustrated, but actually what they should be doing is protesting this administration. They should be protesting the Republicans that support this administration, not attacking the Democrats that are actually standing up to it.

In a statement, Tufts University said:

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Today, a brief disruption occurred during an event hosted by the university featuring U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton. It is unclear if the participants in the disruption are Tufts students. We appreciate Rep. Moultons grace in dealing with the circumstances. As is our practice, we are reviewing the incident and will hold accountable any student found to have engaged in conduct that violates university policy or the student code of conduct.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI)  Dozens of Providence residents sounded off Monday night on the states ongoing housing crisis.

House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi and Providence City Councilwoman Sue Anderbois hosted a town hall at Hope High School to hear directly from residents about their concerns.

This problem is not going away, Shekarchi said of the housing crisis. I want to hear whats on the minds of the public and I want to be able to craft good public policy based on that.

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Shekarchi has made tackling the states housing crisis a priority throughout his tenure. He introduced a dozen housing-related bills back in February for the fifth consecutive year.

I want to make good housing policy because it is a critical and important issue in our state, he said.

POLL: Majority of RI voters support more housing

Providence residents came forward with a laundry list of concerns regarding housing in the capital city, including sky-high rent payments and a lack of affordable housing.

Shekarchi believes housing production is what will make the biggest dent, but the biggest obstacles are misconceptions about whats considered affordable.

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Some people think affordable housing is low-income housing, and thats not necessarily the case, he said. Theres all different levels of affordable housing.

Ilca Almeida attended the town hall so she could hear firsthand how the state and city plan to tackle homelessness.

Homelessness can affect anybody at any time, Almeida said. We need a bigger support system  but theyre heading in the right direction and youve got to support that.

SEE ALSO: Shekarchi unveils fifth package of housing bills

Anderbois stressed that these issues cant be solved overnight.

We can build more housing, we can use underutilized land, we can put some boundaries around predatory landlords  These are problems we can solve, Anderbois said. Its going to take work at the city level  but its not just something the city can solve. We also need to work at the state level.

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No vote or actions were taken at the town hall, with Shekarchi emphasizing that he just wanted to hear from residents so he could formulate meaningful housing policies.

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The Minnesota Court of Appeals is asking a lower court to consider once again whether to release police video from the arrest of state Sen. Nicole Mitchell for suspected first-degree burglary last April.

Conservative news website Alpha News filed a court action last year seeking the release of body and dash camera footage captured by police as they found Mitchell in her estranged stepmothers Detroit Lakes home last April.

Alpha News argued that Mitchell and her attorneys made public statements that contradicted the police account of her arrest and that there was a strong public interest and benefit in knowing about the truth related to criminal charges against a sitting State Senator.

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Becker County District Judge Gretchen Thilmony ruled that Mitchells rights as a person accused of a crime outweighed public interest in her case and did not release arrest videos.

But in a Monday ruling, a panel of three appeals court judges said the lower court needed to consider the broader public benefit that could come from releasing a video tied to a case involving an elected official.

District court must reevaluate request

The ruling written by Appeals Court Judge Elizabeth Bentley did not take any position on whether it would be in the public interest to release the video, but now the district court must reevaluate Alpha News request.

Mitchell, a DFL senator from Woodbury, is scheduled to go to trial for a first-degree burglary charge after the 2025 regular legislative session ends in May. The trial was originally scheduled for January, but under state law, legislators can delay their trials until the conclusion of business at the state Capitol.

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The arrest came after police responded to a break-in call in the early morning hours of April 22, 2024, and found the senator in her stepmothers home. Mitchell said she was trying to retrieve her fathers ashes and other sentimental items and that her stepmother suffers from dementia.

Clearly Im not good at this, Mitchell allegedly told officers, later adding she knew she did something bad.

In ethics complaints, Senate Republicans have questioned contradictions between Mitchells account of events and those outlined in the charges. Alpha News argued the contradictions warranted the release of the body camera videos.

After her release from jail, Mitchell made a post on social media where she said she entered the house to check on her stepmother, who had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimers disease.

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The stepmother had obtained a restraining order against Mitchell and told multiple media outlets that she fears her stepdaughter. Mitchell claimed her stepmother suffers from paranoia because of her condition.

The release of the body camera footage is essential to provide clarity about the events of April 22, 2024, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson said in a statement. The public deserves transparency and accountability, and I hope the court will stand with them in that pursuit. Legislators must be held to a higher standard, not shielded from consequences because of the office they hold.

Mitchell now faces two felony charges in connection with the break-in, where prosecutors allege the senator used a crowbar to pry open a basement window. Prosecutors filed a burglary tools charge in February, nearly 10 months after Mitchells arrest on a first-degree burglary charge.

Mitchells attorney: Release could jeopardize due process

In a statement on the appeals court decision, Mitchells defense attorney Bruce Ringstrom Jr. said releasing body camera footage could create a jury selection problem with the trial set to begin in just two months.

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The judge presiding over the criminal case has already ordered that video coverage of the trial is allowed, he said in an email. Release of the evidence before the criminal trial jeopardizes due process.

Mitchell, a first-term senator and former broadcast meteorologist who is a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, was elected in 2022 and is in the third year of her four-year term. She is scheduled to face election again until 2026.

Despite calls from fellow DFLers to resign, Mitchell has said she wont leave office. Repeated efforts by minority Senate Republicans to remove her from office have failed as they would require significant levels of support from Democrats.

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A Putnam County man has been arrested and faces child solicitation and related charges, according to Indiana State Police.

On Tuesday, Corey M. Reeves, 36, Roachdale, was arrested on an active warrant.

He faces charges of child solicitation, a level 5 felony; possession of child pornography, level 6 felony; and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Level 6 felony.

Reeves was taken into custody without incident and is currently being held in the Putnam County Jail on a $25,000 bond. The Putnam County Sheriffs Department made the arrest.

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In June of 2024, the Indiana State Police initiated a criminal investigation of Reeves, after receiving information concerning allegations of sexual exploitation and child solicitation with a minor.

The investigation revealed that Reeves had allegedly engaged in communicating with a minor via social media and provided controlled substances in order to receive child pornography from that minor, according to an Indiana State Police news release. These allegations took place in Putnam County.

After a lengthy criminal investigation and conducting digital forensics, the Putnam County Prosecutors Office issued an arrest warrant on April 2.

Indiana State Police Master Detective Trooper Ryan Winters was the investigating officer, and Susie's Place assisted with the investigation.
When this coffee shop closes, a cocktail bar opens.

Five nights a week, Proof  a new concept from one of Tacomas most respected bartenders  takes over Anthem Coffee in Tacomas Old Town off Ruston Way, transforming the cafe into a neighborhood haunt with excellent drinks and snackable food to match.

Owner Chris Keil and his team, including fellow en Rama vet, chef Meghan McLean, introduced the project in mid-February.

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The industrial space, simply adorned with dark-wood tables and Edison pendants, is surprisingly adept at its new evening persona.

When Anthem closes at 3 p.m., Keil and his team get to work. A heavy curtain covers the ordering counter, hiding the espresso machine and other coffee happenings from customer view. They just kind of straighten up the room, said Keil, setting the vibe in just under an hour. Its weird because it seems like a bigger lift than rolling into a pre-existing space, but oddly enough its easier than any other bar.

Proof, a neighborhood cocktail bar, takes over Anthem Coffee in Old Town five nights a week. Owner Chris Keils thoughtful cocktails, like the Woman in the Dunes (Japanese whiskey rested in beeswax and infused with apple blossoms), pair perfectly with fun, snack-y bar food from chef Meghan McLean, including truffle-salt popcorn and new potatoes with a ranch-inspired dilly-dally sauce.

The cafe, one of six Pierce County locations for the Puyallup-based company, already served beer and wine. It expanded the liquor license to allow for spirits. Proof added a backbar, the shelves now stocked with spirits and liqueurs. A display nook shows off various ingredients that, along with two decades of experience and experimentation, make the drinks here special: super-fruity and floral beeswax, loose-leaf teas, whole spices.

HAVING FUN IN TACOMA

The cocktail menu offers three styles: Jesus Take the Wheel (spirit-driven), Its an All Night Thing (low-ABV or sessionable drinks for the long haul) and Lets Party (batched drinks that use time and hyper-specific dilution to create approachable sippers).

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For the uninitiated, that all might sound terribly intimidating  but dont be.

Proof is just a neighborhood cocktail bar, said Keil in a March phone call. We want it to be pretty low-key, pretty casual, no reservations. We wanted to be the kind of place that people drop in, like, once or twice a week, maybe for a happy-hour drink and a snack or something.

Working in the confines of the modest cafe setup, McLean serves house focaccia to enjoy with pimento cheese and pickles, as prosciutto toast with whipped citrus and herb ricotta and lightly dressed arugula, or as the vehicle for a BLT and tuna melt. Truffle-salt popcorn, a generous vegan Caesar umami-ed with miso, new spring potatoes with dilly-dally sauce, and hand pies with pizza vibes or broccoli cheddar complete the drink-friendly menu.

Its kind of based around being snack-y and having fun, said Keil.

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For anyone who has followed Keil through his many years at the forefront of Tacomas cocktail scene, the candid description might sound familiar.

Keil has been serving cocktails in Tacoma for two decades, dating back to the days of Hilltop Kitchen and the original 1022 South J. Its all about neighborhood bar vibes but with high-class cocktails and thoughtful bites to match.

He opened en Rama, the intimate Courthouse Square restaurant known for handmade pastas and cocktails, in 2018, hanging that hat in the summer of 2023. (The developers of the building sold the restaurant to new owners last year.) Before then, he operated 1022 South J in its original form, Hilltop Kitchen and Marrow, that Sixth Ave space now home to Busy Body. In the past couple of years, Keil has spent his professional energy largely on bar consulting; locally, he helped build the cocktail program at Holy Moly, a similarly chill neighborhood spot with light bites and board games.

FINDING PROOF OF CONCEPT

All of the above rolls into what Proof is offering out of the gate: some of the finest cocktails in Western Washington blended with mindful service and food youll want to eat.

Take, for instance, the Woman in the Dunes, an early leader among the spirit-forward, stirred numbers. Japanese whisky rests in a big, beeswax-lined jar before infusing with apple blossoms in a sort of fat-washing technique. Its stirred simply with a pinch of salt and poured over a big, clear cube.

From left: The 50/50, a sessionable gin cocktail; gimlet made with coconut-washed gin; and Woman in the Dunes with Japanese whisky rested in beeswax and infused with apple blossoms.

From the session section, the sherry old fashioned stands to alter any lingering confusion around this mystifying fortified wine, combining a medium-dry amontillado and darker, sweeter Pedro Ximenez with amargo de chile and moscatel. They took the architecture of the old fashioned and made that, just using sherry, explained Keil. You get this big, flavorful, chewy drink, but its not high-octane.

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The 50/50 martini takes a similar tact, splitting light and floral Japanese gin with a Spanish vermouth blanc, not the typical dry, diluted precisely by 20% with flat mineral water.

Other drinks imbue unique flavors through sourced ingredients, such as Naomi Joe Coffee beans co-fermented with watermelon in the boulevardier, yerba mate in the sake-based Check Mate with house ginger beer, and coconut-washed gin with lime leaf and lime juice in the delicately tropical gimlet.

Things will grow more playful from there. The name Proof doesnt so much honor the colonial-era term coined for liquor tax as it does the notion of proof of concept, said Keil, which, in practice, means an opportunity for this group of pros to showcase different concepts, genres and styles of bar programs.

Hearty plates on house focaccia include a couple of sandwiches, pimento cheese and this prosciutto toast with pickled onions, whipped ricotta and arugula.

Like a band might cover songs of their good friends band, Proof will play with themes every third Wednesday. Recently they created limited-edition menus for Mardi Gras and a Daylight Savings-induced ode to beachy drinks, including a tea punch and a classic daiquiri. Throwback Thursdays will provide a field for retro recipes, forgotten cocktails and favorites from the crews previous bars. (Baby Netflix and Chill, with multiple rums, grapefruit, ginger beer, grenadine, lime and Jager  yes, that Jager, which is really just a German digestif!  is always on the happy-hour menu).

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The idea will extend to collaborations with other bars and bartenders, said Keil, who also wanted Proof to serve as a testing ground for consulting clients.

Word of this unqiue situation of coffee-shop-by-day/bar-by-night has spread quietly online and organically around the neighborhood, which has become something of a haven with the recent additions of Tacoma Wine Merchants and Bordeaux Wine Bar, joining one of the citys oldest bars in The Spar.

PROOF TACOMA

 2312 N. 30th St. (inside Anthem Coffee - Old Town), Tacoma, instagram.com/proof_tacoma

 Tuesday-Saturday 4-10 p.m. (happy hour 4-6 p.m.)

 Details: neighborhood cocktail bar from Tacoma industry vets in coffee-shop-by-day; follow Instagram for specials and limited-run menu updates

 Need to know: walk-ins only, 21+, NA drinks available but no coffee
Last weekend saw a historic surge of anti-Trump protests in the wake of President Trumps Liberation Day tariffs doing a number on the stock market  and Rachel Maddow says theres plenty more still to come.

On her Monday night show, the MSNBC host walked through countless smart and/or funny signs seen from the various Hands Off protests that happened nationwide on Saturday. Maddow wants Americans to keep that energy going and continue to be relentless in the weeks and months ahead.

Whether or not you protested this weekend, whether or not youre even in sympathy for the people who protested this weekend, the huge variety of reasons people protested this weekend tells you that the proverbial tent of people allied against Donald Trump right now is really, really, really big, she said. Hes done enough in these 70, 80-whatever days to make a very large number of people mad at him and want to resist him for a million different reasons.

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Maddow further detailed the importance of keeping that energy up while also keeping the protests peaceful: One of the things you realize about mass peaceful protest movements fighting against authoritarian takeover is that they have to stay peaceful and they have to be relentless. They have to frequently, frequently, frequently protest again and again and again.

On Saturday, over 3 million U.S. citizens banded together across the country to take part in more than 1,300 peaceful Hands Off protests organized by MoveOn to combat the president and DOGEs agenda.

What we witnessed today was nothing short of extraordinary. Across the country and around the world, people came together to say: we will not be silent while our rights, our futures and our democracy are under attack, MoveOn executive director Rahna Epting said in a statement. This peaceful movement is powered by everyday people  nurses, teachers, students, parents  who are rising up to protect what matters most. We are united, we are relentless, and we are just getting started.

The protests took place in major cities such as Chicago, Asheville, Topeka, Boston, Columbus, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Seattle and even internationally in London and Paris.

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This marks the largest day of collective action since Trumps inauguration, with everyday people turning out in record numbers to defend their healthcare, wages, education, civil rights and democracy, MoveOn noted. Organizers and attendees cited moves Trump has taken to gut workers rights, dismantle our healthcare and constantly increasing prices for all Americans as major contributors to the increased enthusiasm.

The post Rachel Maddow Breaks Down Historic Anti-Trump Protests, Says Theres More to Come | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
By Susan Heavey, Trevor Hunnicutt and Joe Cash

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) -The United States said on Tuesday that 104% duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight, even as the administration of President Donald Trump moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by sweeping tariffs.

U.S. stocks dropped on Tuesday for a fourth straight trading day since Trump's tariffs announcement last week, with the S&P 500 closing below 5,000 for the first time in almost a year. The index is now 18.9% below its most recent high on February 19, close to the 20% decline that defines a bear market.

S&P 500 companies have lost $5.8 trillion in stock market value since Trump's tariff announcement last Wednesday, the deepest four-day loss since the benchmark was created in the 1950s, according to LSEG data.

Global markets had previously posted gains on hopes that Trump might be willing to negotiate down the array of country and product-specific trade barriers he is erecting around the world's largest consumer market.

Japan's Nikkei saw a broad sell-off on Wednesday morning and other Asian markets were braced for falls, hours before the tariffs were set to take effect.

The administration has scheduled talks with South Korea and Japan, two close allies and major trading partners, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit next week.

"These are tailored, highly tailored deals," Trump said at a White House event, where he signed executive orders aimed at boosting coal production. "We've had talks with many, many countries, over 70, they all want to come in. Our problem is, can't see that many that fast."

But the White House made clear that country-specific tariffs of up to 50% would nevertheless take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time (0401 GMT), as planned.

Those tariffs will be especially steep for China, as Trump has ratcheted up duties on its imports to 104% in response to countertariffs Beijing announced last week. China has refused to bow to what it called blackmail and has vowed to fight to the end.

Administration officials said they would not prioritize negotiations with the world's No. 2 economic power.

"Right now, we've received the instruction to prioritize our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others," White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Fox News.

Trump's tailor-made approach to negotiations with individual countries could take into account foreign and military aid as well as economic factors, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.
SOPHIA, WV (WVNS)  Students and educators alike came together on Monday, April 7, 2025, for a celebratory event kicking off Disability Awareness and Acceptance Week for Raleigh County Schools.

The annual program encourages inclusivity and acceptance of those navigating various disabilities and those with special needs.

Four years removed from its initial conception, the program is being recognized for the second year on a county-wide scale.

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Mondays event featured several performances promoting visibility among the special needs community, a practice which Behavior Specialist for Raleigh County Schools, Taffy Robertson, noted is equally applicable in the community at large.

Beckley business trying to raise money to help local kid battling Guillain-Barre Syndrome

They are not just in schools but they are people that are at Walmart and in the grocery stores, said Robertson. A lot of my performers hold jobs, so you will see them in the community too.

Special Education Autism Teacher for Raleigh County Schools, Laural Coleman also pointed out the importance of inclusivity among students.

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It means a whole lot, Coleman said. It means that my kids are better accepted, my kids are included, and they can create friendships outside of my classroom.

Many of these students demonstrated their skills for those in attendance during Mondays ceremony through group performances.

Disability Awareness and Acceptance week will be observed in Raleigh County Schools throughout the remainder of the week.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU)  If you find yourself getting onto southbound Interstate 29 by heading west on U.S. 20, you may need to plan a different commute on Thursday.

According to the Iowa DOT, from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Thursday, the exit ramp from westbound U.S. Highway 20 to southbound Interstate 29 will be temporarily closed for repairs.

North Sioux City residents voting on new leadership after city government change

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While the ramp is closed, the DOT said that traffic will be instructed to head north on I-29 to the Floyd Bouelvard exit in order to come back down and head south on I-29.

The DOT is asking motorists to drive with caution and respect all road signs during the construction. Keep up to date with the latest road closures by visiting the Iowa 511 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.
CLEVELAND (WJW)  For years, its been the same routine at TSA checkpoints. But starting May 7, TSA officers and agents are looking for a new form of identification from travelers for domestic flights.

Travelers need to upgrade to REAL ID for an enhanced drivers license from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Bread sold at all Ohio Giant Eagles could contain glass fragments: Recall

While the transition varies from state to state, in Ohio the REAL ID will have a star on the upper right side of the card.

Our mission is to protect our nations transportation security system. Make sure our passengers are getting where theyre going safely, TSA regional spokesperson Jessica Mayle told FOX 8.

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Some jet setters we spoke with at the airport Monday said they were already prepared, getting a REAL ID years ago.

Obtaining a compliant card requires more documentation than the standard card. Youll need documents to provide your full legal name, date of birth, legal presence in the U.S., social security umber and the two documents for proof of Ohio residency.

Local eaglets die after nest knocked down by storm

Before leaving the BMV your current drivers license will be perforated on the upper left side to visually indicate the license is in process.

Mayle said that card would be accepted to board a flight, as well as a passport, during the transition.

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TSA also said expect some delays if youre not in compliance, as additional screening may be required.

So you might be able to fly and make it through the checkpoint, but definitely you want to give yourself extra time if youre going to the checkpoint without a REAL ID after the deadline, Mayle said.

TSA said extra agents and officers will be on hand to handle the crowds during their busiest travel times.

Congress passed the law back in 2005, after Sept. 11, but it is finally moving into place next month.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
(WHTM)  The Shapiro Administration is offering special REAL ID Days at nearly 60 drivers license centers less than a month from the REAL ID deadline.

According to PennDOT, Special REAL ID Days are being held at 57 drivers license centers on April 14. REAL ID federal enforcement will begin on the May 7 deadline. So far, more than 8,500 residents have been assisted at REAL ID Days events.

PennDOT said the April 14 REAL ID Days will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. REAL ID Days events will then resume on April 28 and May 5.

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PennDOT is committed to making it as convenient as possible for Pennsylvanians to obtain a REAL ID if they want one, said PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Driver and Vehicle Services Kara Templeton. Because were seeing an increase in demand, we decided to offer our REAL ID Days as a way to ensure we are meeting the needs of the public and providing them with the best possible customer service.

According to PennDOT, Pennsylvanians should have the following documents when getting their REAL ID:

Proof of Identity: Examples include an original or certified copy of a birth certificate filed with the State Office of Vital Records/Statistics with a raised/embossed seal or a valid, unexpired U.S. Passport.

Proof of Social Security Number (proof must display current legal name and full nine digits of the Social Security Number): examples include a Social Security card, a W-2 form, a SSA-1099 form, a non-SSA-1099 form, or a pay stub.

Two Proofs of Current, Physical PA Address: examples include a current, unexpired PA drivers license or identification card, vehicle registration, or a utility bill with the same name and address.

Proof of all Legal Name Changes (if current legal name is different than what is reflected on proof of identity document): examples include certified marriage certificate(s) issued by the County Court for each marriage, court order(s) approving a change in legal name, or adoption decree issued by your countys family court.

Midstate residents can find REAL ID Days at these locations:

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Gettysburg Driver License Center: 37 North 4th Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325 (Adams County)

Carlisle Driver License Center: 950 Walnut Bottom Road, Carlisle, PA 17015 (Cumberland County)

Chambersburg Driver License Center: 1320 Lincoln Highway East, Chambersburg, PA 17202 (Franklin County)

Lancaster Regency Driver License Center: 131 Rohrerstown Road, Lancaster, PA 17603 (Lancaster County)

Lebanon Driver License Center: 900 East Old Cumberland Street, Lebanon, PA 17042 (Lebanon County)

Lewistown Driver License Center: 13217 Ferguson Valley Road, Yeagertown, PA 17099 (Mifflin County)

York Driver License Center: 2130 South Queen Street, York, PA 17403 (York County)

A full list of locations can be viewed online.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) Starting May 7th, a standard license or non-driver ID will no longer be accepted to fly within the U.S.

Americans will have to have either a REAL ID or an enhanced ID. Both are different from a standard ID because they have emblems on them. Chemung County DMV Deputy Director Janice Farwell says having an Enhanced ID is an upgraded version of the real ID.



The REAL ID will get you onto domestic flights within the US and into federal buildings. The Enhanced license does that and gets you to Canada, Mexico, some of the Caribbean by land or Sea, said Farwell.

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The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles is urging New Yorkers to apply for a REAL ID or an Enhanced ID now to avoid the last minute rush.

They should consider getting at least a REAL ID and come to the DMV in the morning or at least before three. we get really busy after three, added Farwell.

If you dont get one of them by the May 7th deadline, you dont have to worry unless you are flying in the near future.

Thats fine. We can still do it after the deadline. They just may not have an approved federal ID to get on a domestic flight. So, if they plan on getting on a flight, they want to be sure they have it before then.

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Farwell says there is no additional fee for a REAL ID if you are renewing. There is a $30 extra fee to get an Enhanced ID. You can visit Enhanced or REAL ID | NY DMV for a list of documents needed in order to apply.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  As of Monday, you have exactly one month to get your REAL ID.

Starting May 7, federal agencies like TSA will be prohibited from accepting state-issued cards that do not meet the requirements for air travel. This means youll need a REAL ID or an equivalent form of identification to board a domestic flight.

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Possessing a REAL ID is optional in the state of Oregon, but it will still be required if you fly within the country. According to the DMV, only 36% of Oregonians have one.

Kathleen McDonald, a federal security director with TSA said all Oregonians 18 and up will need a REAL ID-compliant state-issued drivers license or ID card, a passport, or another federally recognized ID to get through airport security. TSA has a full list of acceptable forms of ID.

If you come on May 7 or later, and you dont have a REAL ID with you, you may experience an additional delay and some additional screening at the security checkpoint, McDonald said.

And if you have not already gotten your REAL ID, that means youll need to take a trip to the DMV. Typically youll need a valid ID, passport or birth certificate; proof of your social security number and date of birth; and two items (from different sources) proving state residency, like mail or bills.

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I made an appointment at the DMV, and the process was seamless. It literally took me like 10 minutes to get it, McDonald said.

An example of a Real ID in Oregon, March 18, 2025 (ODOT) Miami, Florida, Miami International Airport, TSA checkpoint security screening, Real ID sign. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) FILE  In this April 6, 2016, file photo, a sign at the federal courthouse in Tacoma, Wash., is shown to inform visitors of the federal governments REAL ID act, which requires state drivers licenses and ID cards to have security enhancements and be issued to people who can prove theyre legally in the United States. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

But with appointments booking up and lengthy lines, Chris Crabb with the Oregon DMV urges travelers not to drag their feet.

We are seeing record attendance at our DMV offices, Chris Crabb with the Oregon DMV said. We have offered a lot more appointments  made those available  but they are getting snatched up as soon as we release them.

Once documents are approved, Crabb said the DMV will issue a temporary card, but that paper copy wont fly with TSA. It could take up to three weeks for the hard copy to land in your mailbox.

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Now is the time. If you had a flight on May 7 and you didnt have a passport or another accepted federal identification, April 16 will be the last day that you would confidently get your card in the mail, Crabb said.

But before making an appointment, check your wallet. You may already have a REAL ID, as Oregon has been issuing them for years ahead of the deadline. To know for sure, look for a star in the corner of your state-issued ID. If you do, you can save yourself a trip to the DMV.

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Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 following 9/11 to create a national minimum requirement for state drivers licenses and ID cards. The official deadline is May 7, 2025.

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Once this deadline passes, you will need a REAL ID or another form of identification in order to fly within the United States or even enter a government building. However, REAL IDs are not the same as a passport and cannot be used for international travel.

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A Wisconsin Democracy Campaign poll finds nearly 90% of voters say they're concerned about the influence of money in politics. (Getty Images)

After an April election that broke national records for spending, Wisconsin voters are eager to see measures to rein in money in politics, a campaign finance watchdog group leader said Monday.

It is an environment where billionaires are running the show and everyday people like you and me are here watching, said Nick Ramos, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. We will continue to see unprecedented spending unless something changes from our Legislature and our lawmakers.

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The numbers that the organization posted Monday havent yet pierced the predicted $100 million threshold in the Supreme Court race, but final data wont be compiled until the end of June. The Democracy Campaign focuses on the money actually spent, as distinct from what was raised or what was budgeted, said research director Sam DeForest-Davis.

As of Monday morning, the campaign for Judge Susan Crawford, who won the Court race, spent $22 million compared with the campaign for Judge Brad Schimel, which spent just under $10 million.

While the campaigns spent a combined $32 million, independent groups supporting the campaigns spent a combined $51 million. Schimel was the larger beneficiary of independent spending, with $33.5 million in his favor or opposing Crawford. Independent spending that favored Crawford or opposed Schimel totaled $18 million.

In the race for state superintendent, the two candidates campaigns  for incumbent Jill Underly, who won, and for her challenger, Brittany Kinser  were just about even in their spending, with $1.3 million for Underly and $1.1 million for Kinser.

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Independent spending, however, heavily favored Underly at $1.9 million. Independent spending for Kinser totaled $160,000.

Research director DeForest-Davis said the organization will have a final report in July on spending data, including spending on issue ads that dont include explicit messages to vote for or against a candidate but are slanted to clearly favor one or the other. That information wont be available until the end of June.

Along with the campaign finance data released Monday, the Democracy Campaign released results from an opinion poll of Wisconsin voters on campaign finance.

The survey, of 861 voters conducted from Feb. 11-14, found that 88% of participants were very concerned or extremely concerned about the influence of money in politics.

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I have a hard time thinking of an issue that has this kind of universal feedback across the state, Ramos said. After seeing the gaudy amount of money that was spent in this Supreme Court race, I can only imagine that this number and this percentage are going to increase.

Nearly as many  more than 85%  said no when asked if individuals or groups should be able to spend unlimited amounts of money to support political campaigns. And 83% said there should be limits on how much campaigns can spend.

Nearly 74% said they would support a ban on campaign spending by outside political action committees (PACs) that are not directly affiliated with a candidates campaign. About 53% ranked spending by dark money PACS who do not have to disclose their donors as their greatest concern where the influence of money on politics is concerned.

Another question showed that so far publicly financed campaigns havent gained support from a majority of voters. Almost 47% said they would strongly or somewhat support such a proposal. Just under 30% said they would somewhat or strongly oppose public financing, while 23.5% said they were unsure.

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Apr. 8CLAYTON  The American Red Cross will host a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in memory of Lucy C. Reff.

The drive is at the Paynter Senior Center, 914 Strawberry Lane. Appointments are encouraged, but walk-ins will be welcomed. To schedule an appointment to donate, go to redcrossblood.org and use the sponsor code lucyreff.

In January 2019, Reff, 23, was a student at Upstate Medical University, studying respiratory therapy and set to graduate that May. She was newly engaged and planning her wedding. Due to an undiagnosed colloid cyst that caused severe brain damage, she became an organ donor on Jan. 15, 2019. She was able to save three lives through that donation.
AVON LAKE, Ohio (WJW)  One year ago, a Total Solar Eclipse passed directly through areas of Northeast Ohio giving residents here and visitors a spectacle which, for many, will be a once in a lifetime event.

What is Issue 2 on Ohios May 6 ballot?

That event was preceded here by planning that started in the spring of 2021, with the expectation of drawing as many as one million people to the state of Ohio from around the world, tens of thousands of them converging on Lorain County.

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Among the concerns were the problems associated with the mass exodus of people leaving the area all at the same time following the eclipse.

The planning was modeled after experiences in Tennessee and Kentucky following a previous eclipse

With the eclipse here happening about 3:00 in the afternoon, the concerns included having school children trapped on buses in traffic for hours, the ability of emergency services to navigate streets if traffic became backed up, and what might happen if there was a fender bender, a breakdown or a medical emergency in traffic.

Other contingencies included preparing for the unlikely event of a bad actor creating casualties in a crowd and what might happen if gas stations were to run out of gas.

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There was a lot of meetings, we got a lot of people together that normally dont sit in the same room, said Lorain County Emergency Management Agency Director Dave Freeman.

It was a huge team effort and everyone in the communities came together fantastically, I mean there were people meeting in these rooms that had never talked to each other. So I think the biggest thing that came out of this was that we developed those relationships and those carry over to everything else that we do, said Freeman.

The agency staged emergency services at various locations to help expedite their response in the case of an emergency. Freeman says he was able to view traffic and crowds at different events in real time using drones.

Destroy them before they hatch in Ohio

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But the traffic congestion never materialized. The crowds were not as large as expected

Reflecting back on the event one year later, Freeman believes part of the reason the crowds were smaller than anticipated was that the day started off cloudy

While the weather here ended up being perfect in time for the eclipse that afternoon, it did not start out that way so a number of hotel reservations across the area were cancelled the day before.

So people, I think what they were doing was booking probably five or six locations with the expectation that we are going to go to a place that is going to be the best weather, said Freeman.

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Another thing that might have helped was that there were so many events spread out across the region.

Crusher stadium had an event, the Science Center had something, the Guardians had something, all the Metroparks both in Lorain, Cuyahoga, there were events everywhere, said Dr. Jack Dibee, Assistant Superintendent of Avon Lake Schools who participated on the planning committee beginning three years before the eclipse.

While the high school stadium did host a public event, school was not in session that day to help relieve any traffic problems.

But Freeman also believes a part of what went right is that many local residents actually followed his advice and stayed at home, watching the eclipse from the comfort of their own back yards.

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Failing to plan is planning to fail. I would much rather be over-prepared, if there is such a thing, than to be underprepared and thats the question I had. Do you think you over-prepared? I said you are going to have to define that for me, what does overprepared means? It didnt happen. That doesnt mean you were over-prepared, that means you were prepared appropriately, said Freeman.

Economically communities invested tens of thousands in events and preparation. In Cuyahoga and Lorain Counties it was all hands-on deck for sheriffs offices. Numerous law enforcement agencies were staged to help direct traffic. Communities invested in their eclipse events.

Some of those costs were reimbursed by the state. But not all.

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They were allowed to report overtime money, money they spent on traffic control devices, tent rentals, generators, stuff like that and I think the biggest one that I probably had come in was around $50,000 or so, said Freeman

Not insignificant but not huge and they were reimbursed for a portion of that, not the entire thing. There was a significant cost. Now is that reciprocated by the visitors coming in? I dont have a good answer for you. I dont know. But yeah it cost some money, but the cost of being unprepared is worse, he added.

By one estimate, those who did come to the area for the eclipse spent as much as $24 million dollars here during their stay.

What it ended up being was a really great plan, a really great exercise without the trouble that would have come if we had the influx that we initially expected, said Freeman.

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It absolutely was once in a lifetime and for those of us old enough to have at least lived through some partial eclipses and see that to see what we saw one year ago today was amazing, said Dibee.

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I was just blown away it leaves you speechless when you look at that and think of everything that lined up for an eclipse to happen,

He hopes those planning for the next total eclipse here will learn from the lessons of this one.

That will happen in 2099.

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)  A nearly six-week sexual battery investigation has led to the arrest of a registered sex offender for his alleged role in the crimes, Shreveport Police say.

On Friday, April 4, Roland Wayne Garner, 61, was taken into custody by Shreveport Police detectives for multiple sexual assaults allegedly committed against the victim.

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Police say several people were interviewed in connection with the allegations, and over the course of the questioning, it was discovered that Garner is a registered sex offender.

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He has prior arrests for multiple sexually related offenses, says SPD, and hes a convicted sex offender due to a previous felony conviction for carnal knowledge of a juvenile.

Garner is currently being held at the Caddo Correctional Center awaiting his next court appearance.

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China has announced a series of retaliatory measures against the tariffs imposed by the US, marking an escalation in the ongoing trade war between the world's two largest economies.

The Chinese countermeasures include the imposition of an additional tariff of 34% on all US goods, effective from 10 April, and export restrictions on certain rare earth elements, reported Reuters.

The Chinese Finance Ministry has criticised the US move as a "typical unilateral bullying practice" and not in accordance with international trade rules, stating that it "seriously undermines China's legitimate and lawful rights and interests".

This comes after US President Donald Trump increased tariffs on Chinese goods by 34%, raising the total new tariffs on China this year to 54%.

The new Chinese tariffs are in addition to the 1015% levies imposed on select US agricultural and energy products earlier this year.

China has also placed export controls on certain medium and heavy rare earths including dysprosium, gadolinium, lutetium, samarium, scandium, terbium and yttrium, which are crucial for various industries including defence and technology.

The export controls took effect on 4 April.

China added 16 US entities to its export control list, blocking the export of dual-use items to those companies. This includes 15 companies from the defence and aerospace sectors, as well as the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a group that previously supported US economic decoupling from China.

An additional 11 US companies were placed on Chinas unreliable entity list, giving Beijing the right to impose penalties such as bans and fines. The targeted companies include Skydio and BRINC Drones for supplying arms to Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory.

The Chinese yuan has weakened to its lowest level in seven weeks, and stock markets have fallen following the announcement of Trump's reciprocal tariffs, reported the news agency.

The US President had also tasked the US Trade Representative to review China's adherence to the 2020 "phase 1" US-China trade agreement by 1 April. The deal, which China has not fully met due to the Covid-19 pandemic, required Beijing to increase its purchases of US exports by $200bn over two years.

Last month, President Trump invoked emergency powers to boost domestic output of critical minerals, aiming to cut reliance on foreign sources, especially China.

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GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV)  Cathy Kohlbeck is making a lasting impact on her community through the Houses of Honor program, which she founded to support local heroes, including teachers, firefighters, police officers, medical professionals, and military personnel.

For over a decade, Kohlbeck has provided these individuals with essential resources at discounted rates, demonstrating a deep commitment to those who serve others.

Gail Nohr, co-founder of Veterans First, praised Kohlbecks efforts, saying, She is a remarkable woman, and I believe that she has her heart in the right place. This sentiment is echoed by community members such as Caitlin Cravillion, who described Kohlbeck as a friend to all, and Mitch Majeski, a technician at Boss Lock and Security, who commended her dedication to giving back.

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Kohlbecks leadership has inspired many, including Jacob Vandenplas, president of Door County Farm for Vets, who noted, She spoke leadership from the very beginning. Michael Corpus, a Marine Corps veteran, praised her exemplary character, stating, She exemplifies what a remarkable woman is.

In addition to her role as a mortgage expert at Movement Mortgage, Kohlbecks passion for supporting heroes is rooted in her familys military background. My uncles a Marine, my grandpa was a Marine, my other grandpa was Army, my father-in-law Army, she explained. What they do and what they sacrifice for us so we can have our freedom just is a really big passion of mine to give back to them.

Kohlbecks annual Salute to Service event, her largest fundraiser, has raised thousands of dollars to support local businesses that assist veterans, solidifying her commitment to honoring those who serve. Her efforts have been deeply appreciated by those who have benefited from her work, further cementing her status as a key community leader.

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ODESSA  Texas renewable energy industry is booming.

Accounting for nearly 90% of new electricity generating capacity, wind, solar and battery storage industries have established themselves as a reliable source of energy for the states grid  and positioned Texas as a national leader in the renewable energy arena.

Legislation by state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, will dramatically test its ability to maintain its momentum.

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The legislation proposes sweeping administrative rules, imposes fees and requires the Texas Public Utility Commission to approve wind and solar projects before they can break ground. It is the second time Kolkhorst has attempted to tie a tight leash to renewables and deter what she and her allies describe as a visual blight in rural Texas towns and unchecked growth.

The bill passed its first legislative test last week when a Senate committee voted overwhelmingly to advance it to the full upper chamber. It must also have approval in the Texas House before it becomes law.

Renewable energy groups fiercely oppose her efforts and say the bill would limit energy production the states grid desperately needs to support Texas population growth. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the states main electrical grid operator, projects demand to double in the next decade. And they said it is antithetical to Gov. Greg Abbotts all of the above approach to energy generation.

While there has been a noticeable shift around renewable energy at the Capitol, Kolkhorst and other lawmakers have not relented. Lawmakers have advanced other bills, including a proposal by state Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, which requires 50% of the grid's energy to rely on power sources that can be turned on or off at will, meaning natural gas, coal and batteries. Renewable energy companies must help achieve this goal, or must otherwise purchase "natural gas credits" to comply.

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Any policy that hamstrings or puts red tape on energy development, any energy development, is not good for the grid, said Daniel Giese, director of state affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association. Its not good for consumers either.

Kolkhorst did not respond to an interview request.

Her backers said lawmakers should strike a balance between enabling the industrys growth and protecting landowners, wildlife and natural resources and preserving landscapes. They said not enough information has been gathered on the environmental impacts of the growing solar and wind industrys infrastructure. Cara Gustafson, a spokesperson for Stewards for Texas, a group formed last year to advocate for this issue, said it is not driven by an anti-renewable sentiment.

We knew we were going to be painted as anti-renewable no matter what, Gustafson said. If we were anti-renewables, we would just say that.

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Kolkhorsts bill would require any wind or solar equipment generating anything greater than 10 megawatts to seek a permit with the Public Utilities Commission, the state agency that regulates electric, telecommunications and some water and wastewater utilities. The application must contain a description of the facility, specify its type and a copy of information filed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It also directs the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to review environmental impacts.

Applying for a wind or solar facility would also trigger a public hearing with counties within 25 miles of the proposed project. The applicant must publish the details of the hearing at least twice in a newspaper. The utility commission must wait no less than 30 days before approving or rejecting the application, consider what the bills writers call compliance history, and accept input from nearby county judges.

Those who get the permit must ensure any equipment is at least 100 feet away from any property line and 200 feet away from any habitable structure. Wind projects must be kept at a distance of 3,000 feet from the nearest property. Property owners can waive these requirements.

The bill would additionally order any permitted facility to monitor, record, and report any environmental impacts and conduct wildlife assessments to submit them to Parks and Wildlife. Every permitted facility must also pay an environmental impact fee determined by the utilities commission, which would pay for a clean-up fund.

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The proposed rules for the wind and solar companies stand in stark contrast to policies that govern oil and gas production. For instance, no statewide rule mandates oil and gas wells to be at certain distances from residential properties. Cities can pass ordinances to set them. County governments dont need to hold hearings. The oil and gas industry is subject to certain air and water pollution rules regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The Texas Railroad Commission oversees permitting, sets hearings and approves or denies an operators application.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Texas Railroad Commission, which issues permits for oil and gas drilling, said permitting is designed to protect groundwater and the surrounding sub-surface environment to ensure residents arent affected by pollution.

The spokesperson added the commission requires operators to build firewalls around oil tanks that are within the limits of any city, and where tanks are at least 500 feet from any highway or home or closer than 1,000 feet to any school or church. The railroad commission also considers whether the tank is hazardous.

Gustafson said the bill gives landowners more agency over the projects by establishing a uniform process for every project. She said environmental studies are necessary to protect natural resources.

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The Parks and Wildlife Department, in a hearing last year, urged industry developers involved in wind, solar and storage projects to seek their input to minimize the impact on wildlife and natural resources. Laura Zebehazy, the agencys ecological and environmental planning director, during the hearing said her team works with some, but not all, renewable energy projects.

Zebehazy, who said parks and wildlife input is voluntary, said the construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of the equipment can have negative environmental and wildlife consequences.

None of this is required currently under Texas law. Wind and solar companies work directly with landowners who agree to a lease and contract from which they benefit financially. The industry almost exclusively relies on its relationship with landowners, said Judd Messer, the Texas vice president of the Advanced Power Alliance, a group advocating for renewable energy policies in 11 states. He said the bill invites the state to regulate a landowners ability to manage their property freely, adding that no other energy-generating industry is subject to the same standards.

The renewable energy sector faces other pressing issues regarding its growth, said Messer. He said the industry is focused on dealing with the waste created by equipment that no longer generates electricity.

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Messer said the bill only inserts more government into a situation where private property rights and free enterprise ought to win the day.

Disclosure: Advanced Power Alliance and Texas Parks And Wildlife Department 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.

Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 1315 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

Correction, April 9, 2025 at 4:27 p.m. : An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (DC News Now)  Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Md.) led a protest rally in Hagerstown over the weekend to fight massive federal workforce layoffs and disruptive Trump administration tariffs.

The Hands Off rally was one of thousands held across the country.

Protesters from New York to Alaska assail Trump and Musk in Hands Off! rallies

McClain Delaney said her constituents in Montgomery County and across western Maryland are being hard hit by the layoffs, and the tariffs are destructive to the U.S. economy.

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Our tariffs are decimating our stock market, McClain Delaney said at the rally. We are having such unbelievable pain. We are, in essence, cutting ourselves off from all of our friends, isolating ourselves and decimating our country. And for what?

McClain Delaney said Congress should repeal the tariffs imposed by the White House.



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Rep. Brittany Pettersen

US Representative Brittany Pettersen gave birth to her son, Sam, on January 25. Since then she has brought him to Washington, DC, four times due to rules on proxy voting, which force her to travel in person to Capitol Hill if she wants her constituents to have a voice in Congress.

On Monday the Democratic congresswomans hard-fought campaign to change this archaic rule for herself and all other new parents serving in the House ended with a vote-pairing deal, voted through on Tuesday, that was far from what she and her bipartisan coalition of fellow lawmakers had hoped for. The process would essentially allow an absent member to pair their vote with a member who would take an opposite view, with a process in place to record the position of each memberhowever, while it allows the absent members position on a vote to be heard, they arent able to influence the outcome. This comes after the issue became a bitter fight in the House of Representatives, with the legislative body even adjourning last week during the conflict.

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Its so very out of touch with women in America, says Pettersen in an interview with Glamour. The proxy bill was so vital, she argues, because it was addressing not just the needs in Congress, but also understanding what women are going through in the United States and the necessary changes needed for them.

It's not that I'm not working, its not that Im not doing my job, she continues. It is about being physically unable to vote in person because of medical reasons.

The rule changes most vehement opponent was Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who fought it even though several of his fellow Republicans, including Representative Anna Paulina Luna, joined Pettersen and other Democrats in pushing for it (on social media Johnson claimed that he felt the provision would be terribly abused if enacted). Even President Donald Trump seemed to support the change, telling reporters that he didnt see what was so controversial about it, according to Politico. By this week, though, Johnson had seemingly convinced Trump to change his mind, telling Politico that the president had told him, Mike, you have my proxy on proxy voting.

For Pettersen, the bitter fight to kill her rule change shows how far we still have to go to ensure that women, and young working parents in general, have a seat at the table.

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Glamour spoke with Pettersen (and baby Sam) about traveling from her home in Colorado to Congress with a newborn, why this fight is about all working parents, and her plans to get it done in the future.

House Votes On Budget Bill To Fund Government Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Glamour: We learned on Monday that a deal had been reached on the proxy voting issue, but it was a far cry from the rule change you proposed. Can you explain what was agreed on? What is vote pairing, exactly?

So, if you and I were in Congress together and I couldnt be there, but I was a yes vote on a bill and you were a no vote, if you agreed to pair with me, then you would vote present instead of no, so that our votes canceled each other out and my absence wouldnt have impacted the outcome.

Now, the reason why that doesnt work and what I brought up on the [House] floor iswhat Republican is going to vote present on my behalf this week if I were to leave? Of course there will be no Republican that will do that. Were voting on the budget. Were voting on bills that they see a priority, so theyre not going to be on record voting present instead of voting in support.

Right, with Congress as divided as it is, it will be a challenge to find a Republican who is willing to effectively throw their vote away on your behalf.

It brings a political liability if youre on record voting present instead of voting for it or against it. It doesnt guarantee that the absent lawmaker has a voice and that youre represented under these narrow circumstances.

Representative Luna, a Republican, was a key ally for you in this fight. Why do you think ultimately she agreed to this deal, even though it wasnt what you both had hoped?

She was working through her leadership, politics, and relationships, and trying to see what we could getshe unfairly was being blamed for the House adjourning when that was very much Speaker Johnsons fault. And so theres a point at which, just politically, how long could she take this fight on?

You gave birth 10 weeks ago and have now travelled to Washington, DC, to vote four times. What has this experience been like for you?

The job requires working nearly every day. I gave myself two weeks off before I started fully engaging again with my team, but our offices were open and supporting our constituents, and I was quickly back to work. The question is about the physical and medical limitations when youre close to your due date, being unable to fly, and then while youre recovering and also taking care of your newborn, who is the most vulnerable theyll ever be in their life.

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Its about making sure that youre not putting people in a dangerous position and that youre not being forced to make the choice that I did about whether or not I was going to fly across the country for a critical vote where my constituents lives were on the line, and their health care and well-being. And then choosing between prioritizing the health of my newborn at home. So it was a terrible position to be in. Im grateful that Sams okay. But it was very scary and upsetting.

What is a typical day like for you with an infant working on the Hill?

We cant pay for our entire family to come across the country numerous times a month, and my older son, Davis, is also in school. So my husband was at home with Davis, and Sam came with me and I went by myself. Its a lot to take on as an individual when youre carrying all the things that babies need, taking care of him, making sure hes okay, sitting through a long flight, trying to get home, get through transportation, trying to sleep at all at night.

The challenges with just even trying to take a shower, because you dont have somebody to address the needs of your baby while youre taking a shower. I would say its not even the airport and the airplane thats the hardest. Its sleep and getting ready.

Are you getting any sleep?

A little. Every day you get a little bit closer to inching your way to larger chunks of time where you're sleeping. Those are things that all parents understand and have been through. I think that the unique challenge of this job is the requirement to be in person to vote, which is such a critical piece of our job, and thats why people across the United States were just shocked to learn that there are no accommodations and that people in my circumstance would be forced in that position to make that decision.

Your main adversary in the fight to change these rules has been Speaker Johnson. Do you have insight as to why hes been so against it?

I feel like its fighting against the status quo. So much of the status quo is also rules and expectations and outdated laws that are reflective of women not having a seat at the table and not being in these positions of power. And his unwillingness to listen, to understand what these circumstances look like and why its so important that we address these barriers, is just a very outdated way of looking at the world and the way that we should do things here in Congress.

I mean, when these rules were written, neither you or I could even vote.

Yeah, let alone be in office.

Youre juggling a lotfrom doing your job in Congress to traveling alone with a newborn and also being postpartum. How are you coping?

Sometimes I forget the questions that people are asking me or if Ive already answered it. Youre showing up just so tired to everything, and all other parents going through having a new baby understand that. But thats been a challenge.

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Im grateful that theres been attention to this because even though we ultimately werent able to change the rule, we highlighted a very important issue that we need to deal with in Congress and something that resonates with so many parents. Especially women, who have come up to me saying that when they saw me speaking on the House floor with Sam, they couldnt stop crying. It felt like somebody who understood the struggle that they went through when they had kids and trying to navigate having a baby and meeting the needs of your job and dealing with a workplace thats unwilling to help you at all in these circumstances, and to have someone thats like them fighting for them in Washington.

So Ive been moved by the amount of people that Ive heard from who really related to what I was going through, but also felt hopeful that there was someone that was going to change things.

Whats the future for proxy voting for parents? Is this something that you will readdress if the House majority changes parties in 2026 or 2028?

Oh, when we get the majority, were getting this done. When you think about how far we got, actually, we were only the fifth discharge position to pass in 25 years. So we made a lot of headway. We changed hearts and minds. We built a large coalition, and we brought awareness to this issue, and Im proud of that.

How much longer will you be bringing Sam to DC?

Like so many people, its hard to find childcare and Im on a wait list. Were slotted in for the summer. Until then Sam is going to be coming with me to Washington until he has full-time daycare.

You arent alone in that issue, which I think speaks to your point of why its so important to have representatives who are actually living through these issues that young families face.

Those are the issues that people want us to focus on. Investing in that infrastructure and supporting those childcare deserts. These are the things that when you actually have a tax system that doesn't give tax breaks to the most wealthy people and create almost trillionaires like Elon Musk, when we actually take those dollars and invest back in the American people, it reduces costs with things like college and childcare and housing and health care. So we have a lot of work to do.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Originally Appeared on Glamour
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV)  Representative Buddy Carter (GA-01) held a moment of silence on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to honor the Fort Stewart soldiers who lost their lives in Lithuania.

Rep. Carter, a Republican who represents Ft. Stewart in Congress, led the bipartisan tribute, joined by other members of Georgias House delegation, including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14), Rich McCormick (GA-07) and Lucy McBath (GA-06).

I was humbled to host a House Floor moment of silence to honor the 4 brave servicemen from Ft. Stewart who lost their lives in Lithuania, Carter wrote on X. Please keep the families of Staff Sgts. Jose Duenez Jr., Edvin F. Franco, Troy S. Knutson-Collins, & Pfc. Dante D. Taitano in your prayers.

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On Tuesday, March 25, four soldiers permanently stationed at Fort Stewart but deployed to Lithuania in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve were reported missing. The following day, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that they were deceased.

On Monday, March 31, three of the soldiers were confirmed dead. Their M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicle were recovered from a peat bog. The fourth was confirmed dead 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 WSAV-TV.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM)  Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-09) announced he will be hosting a telephone town hall for his constituents in the 9th congressional district.

According to an April 7 press release, Rep. Dan Meuser will be hosting a telephone town hall on Wednesday, April 9.

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Meusers office says he will be providing a legislative update from Washington D.C. and will answer questions from constituents about the issues most important to them.

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On Wednesday evening, 80,000 constituents will receive a call from Rep. Meusers office, which will connect them to the telephone town hall. All constituents, regardless of whether they receive the call, are invited to participate.

To join the telephone town hall, call 877-229-8493, and then enter the PIN, 118349. Participants can also listen to a stream of the telephone town hall online.

abc27 news will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty Images Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers keynote address at Nvidia GTC 2025 in San Jose, Calif. on March 18, 2025

Chip stocks rose Tuesday, extending Monday's gains following a rout sparked by President Donald Trumps sweeping tariffs and Chinas retaliatory measures.

Nvidia's (NVDA) stock price surged over 6% in early trading. Broadcom (AVGO), Intel (INTC), Micron Technology (MU), Lam Research (LRCX), Applied Materials (AMAT), and other semiconductor stocks were also higher.

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM), the world's largest chip manufacturer, climbed 2%. Trump's reciprocal tariffs on imports from Taiwan of 32% are among the highest in Asia.

Until Monday, chip stocks had taken a hit even as they were excluded from the levies as investors worried that a global downturn would hurt demand.

The chip stocks are gaining against a backdrop of a global stock rebound Tuesday, as investors weigh the latest tit-for-tat tariff pledges by the U.S. and China. China has said it would hit back further if Trump increases U.S. import tariffs. (Read Investopedia's live coverage of today's market action here.)

UPDATEApril 8, 2025: This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect more recent share price values.

Read the original article on Investopedia
Republican Rep. John James of Michigan is running for governor, he announced Monday, as one of the most pivotal elections on the ballot in 2026 continues to draw big-name politicians.

In a message posted on his social media channels, James lamented Democratic governance in the state and argued that "it's time to get Michigan's government out of fantasyland and back to common sense."

"Our state has suffered long enough. Michigan is strong. Our people are strong. But we are being held back by a lack of strong, competent leadership," he wrote.

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Ahead of a potentially crowded primary, James signaled he would run as an ally of President Donald Trump, who narrowly won the state in 2016 and 2024 and lost there in 2020.

"President Trump and I have been in each other's corner through thick and thin for eight years  no reason that will end now. He's doing his part to Make America Great Again, and I'll do mine to bring prosperity and sanity back to Michigan," James' statement added.

Trump has not publicly weighed in on the race.

James came to Washington after a successful House campaign in 2022, when he won a competitive race for an open seat. He had previously launched two unsuccessful Senate bids in the state and his recruitment to the House was a boon for Republicans who had sought to convince the Army veteran and businessman to run.

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If his gubernatorial bid is successful, he would be Michigan's first Black governor.

Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is term-limited and cannot run again. The race to replace her has drawn a handful of prominent politicians in the state.

Right now, James' top opponent is state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt. But others could run, too, like former state Attorney General Mike Cox and 2022 gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon, who are both exploring bids.

More and more folks from every corner of Michigan are joining our 'Michigan First' movement, Nesbitt said in a written statement that an adviser provided in response to questions about James' candidacy. We all know Michigan families deserve far better than what theyve been getting from Lansing under Governor Whitmer.

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Two statewide Democratic officeholders are also running in what's expected to be a high-profile primary on that side of the aisle as well. Both Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson have announced gubernatorial bids. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson is also running.

While James is casting his candidacy as running against Democratic politicians in the state, Gilchrist and Benson are leaning heavily on their experiences in statewide office and the accomplishments of the party, which won every major statewide office in the 2018 election and again in 2022, and held control of both legislative chambers through 2024.

The winner of the two party primaries will have to deal with an interesting wrinkle: Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running as an independent and not in the Democratic primary  the party he'd previously affiliated with.

James decision opens up a potentially competitive House seat in the southeastern corner of the state, one that Democrats and Republicans have fought furiously over in recent elections.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Disability rights advocates gather Feb. 26 at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix to urge Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Republican legislative leaders to remedy a funding shortfall in the state's Division of Developmental Disabilities. Photo by Caitlin Sievers | Arizona Mirror

House Republicans on Monday finally announced their plan to ensure that Arizonas Division of Developmental Disabilities can pay its bills next month.

The $122 million supplemental spending proposal should get DDD, which is expected to run out of money at the end of April, through June 30, the end of the states fiscal year.

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Advocates for the developmentally disabled community, along with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and legislative Democrats, have been asking the Republican-controlled legislature to approve supplemental funding for DDD since January.

But since then, Republicans and Democrats have instead traded barbs via letters and statements to the press over who is responsible for the funding gap and how exactly to close it. The GOPs supplemental funding proposal would prevent a looming disaster for families of the nearly 60,000 Arizonans with disabilities who would lose services if DDD couldnt pay its providers in May, but it also comes with some tough cuts.

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Legislative Republicans accused Hobbs of financial mismanagement and executive overreach for both increasing payments to Arizonas Medicaid providers and for significantly expanding the Parents as Paid Caregivers Program after legislators refused to approve specific funding for it last year.

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The Parents as Paid Caregivers Program pays parents to provide in-home care to their own children, but only if they require extraordinary care above and beyond typical parenting tasks. That might include assisting a teenager who has cerebral palsy, autism or cognitive disabilities with tasks like bathing, dressing and eating. The program was initially entirely federally funded, but beginning this month, the state is on the hook for around one-third of the cost.

The program has expanded over the last year from about 3,000 participants to around 6,000, which came with substantial cost increases, accounting for a large chunk of the $122 million shortfall in the DDD budget.

Brandi Coon, co-founder of the Raising Voices Coalition, which advocates for people with disabilities, told the Arizona Mirror that the proposal that Republicans released on Monday gave advocates something to work with, but also left her with significant concerns.

Theyre trying to balance costs based on people not actually using the services, she said.

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The PPCG program was implemented in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when caregiving service providers couldnt find enough workers to provide in-home care to people with disabilities. The program instead allowed parents to be paid to provide care for their own children.

Those children would still qualify for Medicaid-funded at-home care even if the Parents as Paid Caregivers Program didnt exist, there just likely wouldnt be any workers available to provide that care.

The GOPs proposal to fix the funding gap, House Bill 2945, would implement a 40-hour weekly cap on PPCG services beginning in July, with a requirement for the state to request permission from the federal government to reduce that cap to 20-hour-per-week by October.

Coon told the Mirror that this portion of the plan was the most concerning to her, and that it seemed to display a lack of understanding for why the Parents as Paid Caregivers Program was created in the first place.

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House Speaker Steve Montenegro said in a written statement that after program hours are capped at 20-per week, families can still seek additional care  from outside providers.

Theres not a workforce that exists in Arizona to assume those care hours, Coon said.

Many parents who use the program will continue doing the same work to care for their children, with decreased pay and no ability to work outside the home, she added. This will put increased financial and emotional stress on those families, Coon said, and some of them will have to rely on other social services programs like food stamps, to make ends meet.

For most people having a parent provider is a last resort, she said. They had to leave other jobs or careers and already took a pay cut to ensure their child is stable and thriving.

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House Bill 2945, sponsored by Rep. David Livingston, R-Peoria, would also require all current and future Medicaid waivers from the federal government to first be approved by the state legislature.

This change was based on a law implemented last year in Idaho, which resulted in significant confusion about which Medicaid programs could continue without specific approval from the legislature. That law also paved the way for the discontinuation of Idahos version of the Parents as Paid Caregivers Program.

Livingstons proposal would also require all state agencies to report to the legislature how they have used and plan to use any federal funds, and requires approval from the legislature to reauthorize the PPCG program when its approval waiver from the federal government expires in 2027.

To make up the $122 million shortfall, House Bill 2945 would reallocate $38 million from the states Housing Trust Fund, $10 million from the Arizona Commerce Authority Competes Fund and $74 million from the Prescription Drug Rebate Fund.

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The Hobbs administration expanded programs in DDD without legislative approval and delayed or ignored key program limitations, Montenegro said in the statement. They now want taxpayers to bail them outwithout a plan to fix it. Republicans wont do that. What were doing today is stepping up with a responsible, fully funded solution that protects families, restores order, and keeps this from happening again. Were bringing compassion and common sense back into the process. Families deserve stabilitynot budget chaos and political excuses.

To become law, Livingstons proposal will have to pass through the Republican-controlled Arizona House and Senate, and get a signature from Hobbs, who is not shy about vetoing legislation that doesnt have Democratic support.

Montenegro didnt give specifics, but promised that House Republicans would act swiftly to pass House Bill 2945 and urged legislative Democrats and the governor to support it.

A spokesman for Hobbs did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether she supported the proposed legislation.

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We asked GOP lawmakers what Trump wants to get from his new tariff plan.

We got several different answers.

Several have said that there will likely be at least short-term economic pain, however.

What is President Donald Trump ultimately hoping to achieve with his new tariff regime? It depends on which GOP member of Congress you ask.

The goal, according to some, is to revitalize American industry. "We've taken and dismantled factories, mills and other industrial facilities, and basically sent them overseas to benefit other countries," Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin told BI. "It's time for us to rebuild the American economy."

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Others see the scheme as the basis of a bold, if risky, negotiation to decrease other countries' trade barriers on the US.

"The question is: Are they going to work a deal where they lower barriers on both sides?" Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas asked on his "Verdict" podcast on Monday, referring to the 46% tariff that Trump is set to levy against Vietnam. "I hope they will."

And other Republicans see it as a way to bring in revenue, perhaps to help pay for tax cuts.

"He's going to bring them to the table, or raise revenue," Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told BI, referring to the prospect that some countries seeking a trade deal may not be able to secure one. "Either way, America wins."

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Each of these objectives are in tension with one another.

If the goal is to bring back domestic manufacturing by raising the cost of importing foreign-made goods, then the tariffs would be long-term, and largely non-negotiable. If the goal is to lower trade barriers, that will do little to increase American manufacturing. And if the goal is to raise a significant amount of revenue, that assumes that foreign goods will continue to flow into the US at a similar rate, even with higher tariffs and increased domestic manufacturing.

It's not exactly congressional Republicans' fault that they have conflicting ideas about Trump's intentions: In the days since Trump's "Liberation Day" announcement, the president and his advisors have offered various rationales for the tariffs.

"They can both be true," Trump said on Monday regarding whether his tariffs were negotiable or permanent. "There can be permanent tariffs, and there can also be negotiations."

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The White House has signaled in recent days that some trade negotiations are afoot, leading markets to rally on Tuesday before dropping again. But many in Congress are essentially trying to read the tea leaves.

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a tariff skeptic, said that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer's testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday had led him to believe that the administration is mainly interested in negotiating better trade agreements with other countries.

"I think it's interesting that the products that we're talking about that are crucial from a national security standpoint, they're not applying tariffs toward. I just find that interesting," Johnson said. "I mean, if you want to use tariffs to bring manufacturing back, you would think you'd apply them to those particular products."

Republicans are handling the multiplicity of Trump's messaging in different ways.

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During his podcast episode on Monday, Cruz suggested that Trump's advisors are made up of "angels and demons"  angels being those who are eager to cut new trade deals, demons being those who want tariffs to remain in place permanently.

"Elon is one of the angels," Cruz said, referring to de facto DOGE leader Elon Musk's support for no trade barriers between the US and Europe. (Separately, Musk has been publicly feuding with Peter Navarro, one of Trump's senior advisors on trade.)

Others say they simply want to give Trump more time.

"I don't know what's going to happen. I mean, in my lifetime, we've never seen an attempted reset on this scale with tariffs, ever," Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri told BI. "It's uncharted waters. But here's what I know for sure, is that we can't keep doing what we're doing."

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What many Republicans across the board agree on, however, is that Trump's tariffs are likely to bring at least some economic pain in the short term.

"Import car dealers are going to start hurting, wine and spirits are hurting it's a mixed bag, but people are going to start hurting," Burchett said of the impact on his district. "I'm a fan, I'm just telling you, it's gonna hurt."

"This is a massive amount of disruption here," Johnson said. "Coming from the business world, what you want in business  if you're going to be investing, if you're going to be risking your capital  you want as much certainty and stability as possible."

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Medicaid sign at a U.S. Senate Democratic press conference on Feb. 19, 2025. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

Republicans in Congress are eyeing $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid, the joint federal-state government health care program for lower-income people.

Depending on how states respond, a Republican proposal that would slash the 90% federal contribution to states expanded Medicaid programs would end coverage for as many as 20 million of the 72 million people on Medicaid  or cost states $626 billion over the next decade to keep them on the rolls. More than 5 million people could lose coverage if the feds impose work requirements.

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In recent months, this complicated government program has increasingly come under the spotlight, so Stateline has put together a guide explaining what Medicaid is and how it operates.

1. Medicaid is not Medicare.

Medicaid serves people with lower incomes or who have a disability. Medicare focuses primarily on older people, no matter their income.

Medicaid and Medicare were created in 1965 under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, though younger people with special circumstances, such as permanent kidney failure or ALS, may be eligible earlier.

Medicare is a supplemental insurance program thats limited in scope. It doesnt pay for long-term care, most dental care or routine physical exams. Around 68.4 million people are enrolled in Medicare.

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Medicaid is a more comprehensive government insurance plan thats jointly funded by the federal government and states. Medicaid covers most nursing home care as well as home- and community-based long-term care. People on Medicaid generally dont have any copayments. Only people and families with incomes under certain thresholds are eligible for Medicaid. About 72 million people, or a fifth of people living in the United States, receive Medicaid benefits.

2. Medicaid eligibility varies from state to state.

In its original form, Medicaid was generally only available to children and parents or caretakers of eligible children with household incomes below 100% of the federal poverty line ($32,150 for a family of four in 2025). Over the years, the program was expanded to include some pregnant women, older adults, blind people and people with disabilities.

States have to follow broad federal guidelines to receive federal funding. But they have significant flexibility in how they design and administer their programs, and they have different eligibility rules and offer varying benefits.

In 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which allowed states to expand their eligibility thresholds to cover adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty line (about $21,000 for one person today), in exchange for greater federal matching funds. The District of Columbia covers parents and caretakers who earn up to 221% of the federal poverty line.

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Only 10 states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming) have chosen not to expand coverage. In the non-expansion states, eligibility for caretakers and parents ranges from 15% of the federal poverty line in Texas to 105% in Tennessee. In Alabama, people can only get Medicaid if they earn at or below 18% of the federal poverty line  $4,678 a year for a three-person household.

3. Traditional Medicaid exists alongside a health insurance program for children called CHIP.

Low-income children have always been eligible for Medicaid. But in 1997, Congress created CHIP, or the Childrens Health Insurance Program. The law gave states an opportunity to draw down enhanced federal matching funds to extend Medicaid coverage to children within families who earn too much money to qualify for traditional Medicaid coverage, but make too little money to afford commercial health care.

Like Medicaid, CHIP is jointly funded by the federal government and states, but its not an entitlement program. CHIP is a block grant program, meaning states receive a fixed amount of federal money every year and arent obligated to cover everyone who meets the eligibility requirements. States get to decide, within broad federal guidelines, how their CHIP programs will work and what the income limits will be. Some states have chosen to keep their CHIP and Medicaid programs separate, while others have decided to combine them by using CHIP funds to expand Medicaid eligibility.

4. Medicaid and CHIP are significant portions of state budgets.

In 2024, the federal government spent less on Medicaid and CHIP than on Medicare, with Medicare spending accounting for 12%, or $847.5 billion, of the federal benefit budget, and Medicaid and CHIP accounting for 8%, or $584.5 billion.

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But at the same time, Medicaid is the largest source of federal funds for states, accounting for about a third of state budgets, on average, and 57% of all federal funding the states received last year.

5. Federal funding varies by state.

Before the Affordable Care Act, federal Medicaid funding to states mostly depended on a formula known as the FMAP, or the federal medical assistance percentage, which is based on the average personal income of residents. States with lower average incomes get more financial assistance. For example, the federal government reimburses Mississippi, which is relatively poor, nearly $8 for every $10 it spends, for a net state cost of $2. But New York is only reimbursed $5. By law the FMAP cant be less than 50%.

The ACA offered states the opportunity to expand eligibility and receive an even greater federal matching rate. In expansion states, the federal government covers 90% of costs for expansion adults. If Republicans in Congress reduce that percentage, states would have to use their own money to make up for lost federal dollars. They might have to scale back Medicaid coverage for some groups, eliminate optional benefits or reduce provider payment rates. Alternatively, they could raise taxes or make cuts in other large budget items, such as education.

Another possibility is that states that have adopted Medicaid expansion would reverse it. Nine states (Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia) already have trigger laws in place that would automatically rescind expansion if the federal match rate dips below 90%. Other states are considering similar legislation.

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One new analysis from KFF, a health research policy group, found that if Congress reduced the federal match for the expansion population to the percentages states get for the traditional Medicaid population  50% for the wealthiest states and 77% for the poorest ones  it would cost states $626 billion over the next decade to keep everyone eligible under Medicaid expansion on the rolls.

6. Medicaid is the largest source of health coverage, especially for people with low incomes.

Medicaid is the single largest health payer in the nation, and is particularly important for people in poverty. Almost a fifth of people living in the United States are covered through Medicaid. But nearly half of all adults with incomes at or below the federal poverty line are insured through the program. Medicaid covers 4 out of every 10 children overall, but it covers 8 out of every 10 children below the federal poverty line. Medicaid also provides coverage for people experiencing homelessness or who are leaving incarceration.

7. Medicaid covers essential services, such as childbirth.

In exchange for receiving federal funds, states are obligated to cover essential health care services, including inpatient and outpatient hospital services, doctor visits, laboratory work and home health services, among other things. States get to decide which optional services, such as prescription drugs and physical therapy, they want to cover.

Medicaid is a significant payer of essential services. For example, the program covers 41% of all childbirths in the U.S. and covers health care services for the 40% of all adults ages 19-65 with HIV.

8. The majority of Medicaid spending goes to people with disabilities and to pay for long-term care.

ACA expansion adults  about 1 out of every 4 enrollees  accounted for 21% of total Medicaid expenditures in 2021. Children, who make up about 1 out of every 3 enrollees, only accounted for 14% of spending.

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People who qualify for Medicaid because of a disability or because they are over the age of 65 make up about 1 out of every 4 enrollees. But they accounted for more than half of all Medicaid spending. Thats because these populations typically experience higher rates of chronic illness and require more complex medical care. Older people are also more likely to use nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, which can be expensive.

Cuts could also mean that older people relying on Medicaid for home-based care and long-term nursing home services could be significantly affected.

9. Some state Medicaid programs cover people who are living in the country illegally.

People who are in the country illegally are ineligible for traditional Medicaid or CHIP. But some states have carved out exceptions to extend coverage to them using state dollars.

As of January, 14 states and the District of Columbia provide Medicaid coverage to children regardless of their immigration status. And 23 states plus the District of Columbia use CHIP to cover pregnant enrollees regardless of their immigration status.

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Also, seven states provide Medicaid to some adults who are here illegally. New York opted to cover those who meet the income requirements and are over the age of 65, regardless of immigration status And California provides coverage to any adults ages 19-65 who are under the income threshold, regardless of immigration status.

10. The majority of the public holds favorable views of Medicaid.

According to surveys from KFF, two-thirds of Americans say that someone close to them has received health coverage from Medicaid at some point in their lives. Half of the public also say they or someone in their family have been covered through Medicaid.

Generally, around 3 out of every 4 people  regardless of political party  say that Medicaid is very important, though Republicans are less likely than Democrats and independents to share that opinion. At the same time, a third or less of people want to see any decrease in spending on the Medicaid program. In fact, the majority of people living in states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA want their states to do so.

Stateline reporter Shalina Chatlani can be reached at schatlani@stateline.org.

This story was originally published by Stateline. Like South Dakota Searchlight, its part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.
Spotting a group of five wild leopards might not seem like a radical achievement, but for this species, it is.

The Miami Herald recently shared that a trail camera in Azerbaijan's Caucasus region captured footage of five Caucasian leopards  a mother, three cubs, and a male  as they lounged in the sun.

World Wildlife Fund Azerbaijan said this was the first time that five leopards of this subspecies had been filmed together since it began its monitoring efforts in 2007.

ziz izlyicilr! Mlumat verdiyimiz kimi, biz 2007-ci ildn baslayaraq olkmizd foto v videotllr vasitsil Bbir (Panthera pardus) v onun qida obyektlrinin, rqib novlrin monitorinqini aparrq. Ilk dfdir ki, kameralarmza 5 (bes) bbir bir yerd dusur. Onun dordunu yaxs tanyrsz - adn sizinl birlikd Banu qoydugumuz ana bbir v yannda 3 balasdr. Besinci frd is qonsu dovltlri d gzib gln SC_026 kodlu bir erkkdir. Bizim Naxcvandak komandamzn ozyini ARETN Bioresurslar Institutunun mkdaslar tskil edir. Onlarn saysind zngin tbitimizin gizli qalan bir cox sirrinin ustunu acmaq mumkun olmusdur. Layih Ekologiya v Tbii Srvtlr Nazirliyi v IDEA IB il birg hyata kecirilir. Posted by WWF Azerbaijan on Sunday, March 2, 2025

The population of Caucasian leopards, also known as Persian leopards, plummeted throughout the 1900s as many farmers and livestock producers sought to eradicate them to keep their herds safe. A government-sponsored bounty system further incentivized the big cats' extermination.

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In fact, as the Miami Herald explained, the decline was so severe that by the time WWF scientists began monitoring the species, "the majority of scientists really doubted the existence of the species in most parts of the Caucasus," according to a 2020 WWF project quoted by the Herald.

But after many years of dedicated conservation work, the species has significantly rebounded. It is still labeled as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, however, so scientists have emphasized that more work must be done to ensure these cats have a place in future ecosystems.

While seeing the leopard family lounging in the sun is charming, trail cameras are a critical component of any long-term conservation effort. By monitoring hard-to-reach areas in a nonintrusive way, these cameras can help gauge the health and the population numbers of several species at once.

When species such as the Caucasian leopard disappear, it causes ripple effects that ultimately harm humans. This happens for a number of reasons. Prey-to-predator ratios may change, allowing certain species to overwhelm an ecosystem and change the flora and fauna in the area. This throws off the natural checks and balances of the ecosystem, which can lead to the landscape itself changing  as famously happened when wolves disappeared from Yellowstone.

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Fortunately, through conservation efforts, many ecosystems can be rehabilitated when species are revived or reintroduced, underscoring the importance of ongoing conservation work for the future of humans and animals alike.

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By Helen Reid and Nicholas P. Brown

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Clothing and accessories retailers across the United States are delaying orders and freezing hiring ahead of tariff hikes that take effect Wednesday on products imported from Vietnam and China.

These businesses, much like Nike (NKE) and Lululemon (LULU), face an impossible choice: offset the cost of tariffs by raising prices by some 40% - potentially cratering sales - or absorb the cost increase and further strain already-thin profit margins.

Unlike their bigger rivals, however, the smaller clothing and shoemakers lack vast supply chains, making them highly dependent on Vietnam and China.

Ian Rosenberger, CEO of Day Owl, a six-year-old New York company that makes backpacks in Vietnam, has paused future orders. Unless there's a deal to significantly lower Vietnamese tariffs, Rosenberger estimates Day Owl has 30 days before it folds.

But with a production cycle of about 100 days, waiting much longer risks missing the crucial back-to-school shopping season. "The damage is already significant enough to be an existential threat," he said, adding that his seven employees have been asking if they should prepare to be out of a job.

Rosenberger said tariffs would increase his duty to $22 from from $5, prompting him to increase the price of his top-end bag to $212 from from $155.

Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America - whose members include Nike (NKE), Walmart (WMT), Skechers (SKX), and Deckers (DECK) - calculated that a $155 running shoe made in Vietnam would have to be marked up to $220 in U.S. stores to offset the 46% tariff.

Vietnam vital

Vietnam has developed specialised factories producing everything from high-tech running shoes to track suits. It's the second-biggest source of clothes and shoes imported to the U.S. after China, and a key manufacturing hub for Nike, Adidas and others.

Vietnam has asked for a 45-day delay in the imposition of U.S. tariffs, and said it would buy more American goods, after Trump and Vietnamese leader To Lam agreed on Friday to discuss a deal to remove the levies.

Nike shares have dropped 14% since markets closed on April 2, the day Trump announced tariffs, while Adidas shares lost 16%, Puma (PUM.DE) shares are down 18%, and North Face-owner VF Corp shares fell 31%.

These big companies work with factories around the world, providing them with some negotiating clout to split tariff costs with suppliers. VF Corp is "well diversified across our supply chain to manage tariffs," a spokesman said.

Small businesses, such as Seattle, Washington-based women's running brand Oiselle, have less capacity to absorb the cost, and fewer resources to plan alternatives.
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  A residence was destroyed and critical injuries were reported in a Monday night blaze outside of Loris, Horry County Fire Rescue said.

Crews were dispatched to the area of Armview Road just after 9 p.m. The Tabor City and Loris fire departments are assisting, and Horry County police are investigating.

This is a developing story.

* * *

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.

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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
ODESSA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD)  The Odessa Township Board voted 2-2 to reject the application permit for a Cordelio Energy temporary testing facility Monday night.

The vote followed more than an hour of public comment in vehement opposition of the eventual wind turbine project that Cordelio has proposed for the community. Most cited the environmental and noise pollution concerns they associate with wind turbines. Others warned of falling property values, possible reductions in population and the spoiling of their beautiful Ionia county landscape.

This is going to shut the town down, one commenter said.

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Company proposes dozens of wind turbines near Lake Odessa

This beautiful land is being forfeited so the city can get some more power, another added.

The government needs to protect this community, a third commenter said, referencing the township board.

The testing facility is a necessary data-gathering prerequisite to building wind turbines in any community. But Mondays vote was likely mostly symbolic. The testing tower is already built and functioning.

The tower was built in November 2024, one of three owned and operated by Cordelio in the area. It was approved by the Ionia County Building Department without a permit from the township, as is required in the townships wind energy ordinance that was passed in 2019.

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Cordelio admitted that was an oversight and went to the township this year to get the necessary permitting. The appearance of the vote on the boards agenda attracted the anti-turbine crowd to the meeting.

Now that the township has denied the permit, though, Cordelio will likely go to the Michigan Public Service Commission to get the permit instead, which poses more problems for the township. After the negative vote, Supervisor Gary Secor explained that if the Public Service Commission approves the permit now, it will nullify and void the townships wind ordinance, hampering its ability to dictate the wind turbine project when it reaches fruition.

Consumers Energy purchases 800 acres of farmland in Oceana County

The final curveball, though, is that because of a law passed last year, the states Public Service Commission has the power to override local ordinances when planning and advancing utility level renewable energy projects.

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That had Lake Odessas State Representative Gina Johnsen, a Republican, fired up at Monday nights meeting  calling for the community to continue its fight as the convoluted process continues.

The state voted that you dont have the authority to make the decision for what the people want, Johnsen said to the board. Its your time to stand up and defend your turf  not with violence like others do  but with intelligence and with organization.  It might be a stall tactic. It might be putting your foot in the door so it doesnt slam shut. But it shows us how important it is to be engaged. You cannot be quiet.

The next steps in the process are uncertain but the community found unified resolve at Monday nights 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 WOODTV.com.
HUDSON, Wis. (WFRV)  A co-owner of a popular Twin Cities-area restaurant group died Sunday afternoon after being hit by an alleged drunken driver while riding his motorcycle near the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.

David Burley, co-founder of the Blue Plate Restaurant Company, was identified by The Freehouse  one of the companys restaurants  in a social media post announcing his death. The company closed all of its restaurant locations on Monday to give staff time to grieve, saying this loss is overwhelming for all of us.

One dead after trailer fire in northern Wisconsin; investigation ongoing

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According to CBS Minnesota and the Wisconsin State Patrol, the crash occurred around 2:45 p.m. on Interstate 94 near Hudson. A vehicle traveling in the right lane attempted to pass traffic on the shoulder, struck a guardrail, and then veered back into the lane, colliding with Burleys motorcycle. Both vehicles crashed into the concrete median barrier.

Burley and the 33-year-old driver from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, were taken to a nearby hospital. Burley died from his injuries, while the other driver is expected to survive.

Fond du Lac man convicted of homicide for role in his sisters fentanyl overdose

The Wisconsin State Patrol says the driver had been drinking alcohol prior to the crash and could face charges pending further investigation. He was reportedly not wearing a seatbelt.

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Blue Plate Restaurant Company operates several Twin Cities-area establishments, including The Freehouse, The Lowry, 3 Squares Restaurant, Longfellow Grill, Edina Grill, Groveland Tap, and Highland Grill.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
The hearing wasnt halfway through when the chairman walked away.

Inside the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room earlier this month, the head of the subcommittee on the Constitution, Sen. Eric Schmitt, stepped out as testimony on "the censorship industrial complex" was ongoing. He had an excuse: The Senate was voting on the nomination of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, author of the anti-lockdown Great Barrington Declaration and later a plaintiff alleging government censorship in the lawsuit Missouri v. Biden, to lead the National Institutes of Health.

Quipped the chairman, now back behind the dais, "Who was the attorney general leading that?" Answering his own question about the lawsuit, he added, "Oh yeah, his name was Eric Schmitt. My glory days I suppose." Schmitt had just voted to confirm his old client.

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It was "the irony of all ironies," and it was more evidence that the censors "are on the run," Schmitt tells RealClearPolitics. His lawsuit, the one that temporarily blocked the Biden administration from communicating with social media companies, "was playing defense." Those once censored are now ascendent, Republicans are now the party of free speech, "and now we are playing offense." At least, according to Schmitt.

Another moment of ironic levity from the hearing:

"Mr. Chairman, just for the record when I was here alone, I was getting drunk with power," joked Sen. Cory Booker, the Democrat who presided over the committee in Schmitts absence.

"Thank you for showing restraint," the Missouri Republican replied.

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The unspoken, and perhaps unrealized, subtext of the moment: The right is still furious that the left didnt show any such restraint when the world went mad, allowing and facilitating what Schmitt describes as "the darkness that enveloped a core tenet of our American experiment." Yes, the pandemic is over, but there wont be any amnesty for infringing on free speech.

"This instinct that is on the left hasnt gone away," Schmitt says of the temptation to curb free speech. The difference, as he sees it, is that his opponents "just have fewer levers of power to do it." Fast forward four years, he predicts, and another Democrat "will try to do it again." His goal, then, is to shatter the aforementioned censorship industrial complex and scatter it to the winds. But first Republicans must define it. Democrats insist it does not exist.

The term was coined by author Michael Shellenbergerto describe a shadowy network of ideologically aligned academics, Big Tech companies, NGOs, and government agencies, each with the stated goal of defending the democratic process but with the effect of undermining it. Their byword is "misinformation." The commonality? Taxpayer funding. An example: The National Science Foundation awarded no less than 64 grants worth $31.8 million to countering "misinformation" and "disinformation."

Schmitt likens it to nothing less than "a second state," an apparatus that is "faceless" but motivated by "collective purpose," a system with "dispersed power" but collective purpose operating beyond "the limits and liberties of our Constitution." Stories of abuse come to hand easily for Republicans. Chafing under the yoke of alleged censorship has become intertwined with the core of their party identity.

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When the New York Post broke the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020, detailing the overseas business dealings of the Biden family, they were not heralded as the New York Times had been in 1971 when that paper put the Pentagon Papers on the front page. Instead, they were censored.

The Stanford Internet Observatory, a now-defunct academic outfit funded by taxpayer dollars for the study of "abuse in current information technologies," cautioned that the basis of the story might be part of a "hack-and-leak" operation. The Aspen Institute, which received taxpayer dollars, had held a "tabletop" exercise ahead of the election that year, attended by Facebook and Twitter executives, to prepare for the possibility of foreign interference. NewsGuard, a company that purports to evaluate the credibility of news outlets and previously received taxpayer dollars, dismissed the laptop story as "a hoax perpetrated by the Russians."

Twitter listened. Under pressure from the FBI and Biden administration, the social media giant locked the account of the New York Post. Journalists who simply shared the story, like Jake Sherman, then of Politico, were suspended from the website until they deleted their tweets. Even Kayleigh McEnany, spokesman for the president, was similarly muzzled - during an election year no less.

But what was dismissed as a hoax was verified by the federal government. Years later, that is. Mum during the censorship of the New York Post, the Department of Justice prosecutors introduced the laptop as evidence in their case against Hunter Biden. The FBI had the laptop in their possession for more than a year. "They knew it was real, and they were working with these companies so that when this came out, it would be dismissed," Schmitt complains.

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It was not just one story. Opposition to medical face coverings, or support for the Wuhan lab leak theory, or objection to the vaccine mandate - and any number of lingering COVID controversies - all trigger an avalanche of raw anecdotes of censorship by social media at the behest of a shadowy network in the ether - funded by a bubbling glut of money built on what George Washington University Law professor Jonathan Turley calls a "a cottage industry of disinformation experts."

Free speech was "commoditized," censorship was "monetized," and partisan advantage was taken often in the name of public health. "Suddenly, the market was awash with money for those who could offer systems or staff to combat viewpoints deemed misleading or false," Turley testified.

Organizations such as NewsGuard and a British-based NGO called the Global Disinformation Index thrived. Both received federal funding, both leaned on Big Tech to deplatform alternate voices, and both launched pressure campaigns to push advertisers away from publications that even gave voice to dissent on anything from the election to the pandemic. It was, conservatives allege, government censorship with extra steps. Other times, there was a direct line.

Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters as much. She admitted the administration was actively flagging what they saw as problematic posts for Facebook to remove. "It is life and death," Psaki told RCP in July of 2021. "It is a public health issue in the country." Schmitt came to a different conclusion: "It just didnt feel like America."

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As Missouri AG, he filed suit in May of 2022, alleging that the Biden administration was colluding with Big Tech companies to censor and suppress free speech, related not just to public health information but also to the previous election. "I was just honestly shocked," he recalls, "that it could take hold in America like it has over the last five years."

It was never supposed to be this way, he says as he talks fondly about a time when "liberals used to believe in free speech." There was the political correctness in the 1990s when Schmitt was a law student, and while that was an attempt to "narrow the bandwidth of what was acceptable," he never believed that the American mind had closed.

Then came "the Great Awokening." And then came COVID. "It just blew the lid off," Schmitt says. The guise of policing misinformation during a national health crisis, he says, "just gave them an excuse."

Republicans have gotten pretty good at telling this kind of dystopian story. The examples are well worn, but memories of the abuses are still fresh. For Democrats, well, they have heard it all before. An unseen but also all-powerful Orwellian octopus working in concert with a Democratic Machine to police wrong-think? Massachusetts Sen. Peter Welch almost finds the idea amusing.

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"Im part of the Democratic Party," Welch protested in committee. "You give us way too much credit for being that organized to be able to put this whole massive enterprise together."

"Because you can rely on the censorship industrial complex to do the work for you," shot back Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of the Federalist, who testified in committee that the conservative website had been the target of censorship.

Asked about that exchange, an affable Schmitt gives his Democratic colleague an out. "Do I think he was the one connecting all the dots?" he asks of Welch. "No, but the point is that theres a whole network that is very well funded where that is their purpose." He alleges also that the censorship apparatus marches in lockstep with Democrats and shares a goal of "absolute power and control with no room for dissent."

Salvation in this telling came not in court, but from Donald Trump. A loyal surrogate who helped Trump with debate prep, Schmitt was standing next to then-Sen. J.D. Vance in Butler, Pennsylvania, when an energetic Elon Musk barreled onstage. The election was a referendum on democracy itself, the worlds richest man told the crowd as Trump stood by beaming. "The other side wants to take away your freedom of speech," said the owner of X, the social media website formerly known as Twitter. A Trump loss, Musk warned, would end the First Amendment and end democracy altogether.

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Schmitt agrees. Earlier that summer, he had lost at the Supreme Court.

More specifically, his successor, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, lost; Schmitt had been elected to the Senate the year prior. But notably, they did not lose on the merits. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the states suing Biden did not have standing. All the same, writing in his dissent, Justice Samuel Alito complained that the court had just allowed "the successful campaign of coercion in this case to stand as an attractive model for future officials who want to control what the people say, hear, and think."

Yet Schmitt still counts the case as a victory.

Because before the "Twitter Files," before the admissions from the Biden White House, before any congressional testimony, he won the right of pre-trial discovery, which allowed him and his legal team access to the censors internal communications. This, in turn, gave Americans their first look behind the curtain to see exactly how the government leaned on Big Tech. "Youve got to remember, at that time, nobody had done it," he recalls. "It was called a conspiracy theory." Once granted discovery, Schmitt was able to peer into the communications between the Biden administration and Big Tech, revealing what he calls "the worst instincts of folks who should have never had that much power" and laying bare "what they were willing to do with it."

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In March 2021, Rob Flaherty, White House director of digital strategy, wrote an unnamed Facebook official to accuse that company of "hiding the ball." He complained that they werent doing enough to police social media posts that ran counter to the administrations public narrative. The White House, he wrote ominously, had become "gravely concerned that [Facebook] is one of the top drivers of vaccine hesitancy." He wasnt alone.

On the same email chain, Andy Slavitt, a senior Biden administration COVID advisor, then fumed that White House officials did "not sense [urgency] from you at all," adding that "100% of the questions I asked have never been answered and weeks have gone by." He then dangled what some read as a threat: "Internally we have been considering our options on what to do about it." Facebook listened - and promptly got in line.

Internal emails from the company, Alito wrote in his dissent, "paint a clear picture of subservience" as the Big Tech giant worked to stay in the governments good graces.

To Republicans these emails showed prima facie evidence, they argued, that Biden was willfully violating the First Amendment. "The government really was coercing these companies to do their bidding," Schmitt explains. "We all know the government cant censor speech, but they also cant outsource that to private companies, which is what they were doing."

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For Schmitt, the peek behind the curtain revealed an elite defined by "their loathing of regular people to make decisions." A far cry from live-and-let-live liberalism, the political correctness of his youth had blossomed into a censorship regime governed by an expert class whom he says "want their beliefs to be shoved down the throats of everyone," telling anyone of a dissenting opinion to "shut the hell up."

But Schmitt isnt the quiet type.

Hence the hearing where two radically different visions emerged, and where what has solidified into consensus among conservatives and libertarians is dismissed as overblown hype by many of those on the left.

The emails brought forward by his lawsuit didnt reflect poorly on anyone in government or tech, insisted Mary Anne Franks. A constitutional law professor at George Washington Law School - and Turley colleague - she testified in committee that the censorship industrial complex was a "myth" used by conservatives to harass academics and nonprofits working to put up "safeguards against foreign and domestic misinformation and media manipulation." She read the same emails that Schmitt obtained in discovery. Her conclusion: "Theres no evidence to support collusion between the Biden administration and Big Tech."

Thats news to Mark Zuckerberg. The Meta founder told Joe Rogan earlier this year that "people in the Biden administration" would "scream at them and curse" his team in an ultimately successful attempt to pressure Facebook to censor posts the White House considered COVID misinformation. The social media giant has since loosened its speech standards.

Jack Dorsey would be similarly surprised. The former Twitter CEO has expressed regret with how his company censored the New York Post, writing after his exit from the company that Twitter failed to withstand "corporate and government control."

Schmitt sees a window as a result, one that would never have opened if Kamala Harris had won in November. With Trump in office and Musk at the helm of DOGE, the Republican administration has instead started a long march through bureaucracy. It started on Inauguration Day when the new president signed an executive order condemning his predecessor for "trampling free speech rights" and ordering his administration to immediately "identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct."

Hours earlier, the same Silicon Valley CEOs whom conservatives consider little more than co-conspirators in the censorship racket gladhanded at the inauguration. While members of Congress watched remotely in another room, inside the Capitol Rotunda Big Tech had the best seats.

Musk attended, too, though he had already been canonized after turning Twitter into a safe space for conservatives. Then there was Zuckerberg, who after his very sudden, very public mortification on Rogan, had donated $1 million to the Trump inaugural committee. Google CEO Sundar Pichai also enjoyed a first-class seat despite long-standing conservative skepticism of his digital behemoth.

President Biden complained, incongruously, that his biggest regret was failing to do more to police misinformation, and in his final address, he warned the nation of a rising "oligarchy" driven by a "tech-industrial complex." For his part, Trump welcomed his billionaires. "They were all with him, every one of them," he told reporters of his new supporters, "and now they are all with me."

Should Republicans trust those elites too? Schmitt struggles to make sense of the dizzying realignment. "I dont know. Thats the answer," he replies while holding out hope that the conversion, and the condemnation of censorship, is legitimate. "Maybe theyve been red-pilled," he speculates. He isnt naive, though. "It could very well be that its just because President Trumps in power now," the senator says. "Theres no way of knowing that. Time will tell."

In the meantime, the new administration advertises the fight for free speech as a battle for Western civilization. A less-than-diplomatic Vice President Vance brought that blunt message with him to the Munich Security Conference during his first diplomatic mission. Existential threats abound on that continent, but what Vance told the assembled leaders he worries the most about is the "threat from within," specifically "the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values."

He castigated the United Kingdom for charging an anti-abortion protestor with demonstrating silently outside a clinic. He attempted to shame the government of Scotland for encouraging citizens to report on neighbors guilty of prayer in private homes located in so-called safe access zones. He said that across Europe "free speech is in retreat."

And while Vance claimed the previous U.S. president was sympathetic to such capitulation, he warned Europe that they would not find a partner in Trump: "There is a new sheriff in town." The assembled elite were aghast. Schmitt beamed.

Watching from the audience in Bavaria that day, the Missouri Republican thought each word his former Senate colleague delivered was pitch-perfect. "You cant say to the American people, to the American taxpayer, that their generosity should be unlimited in defense of these Western values and of these borders that are nowhere near ours when, at the same time, Europe is rejecting core values like free speech," Schmitt says of the "hypocrisy" Vance was confronting.

While allies back stateside were thrilled, critics at home complained that the new administration shouldnt have gone abroad lecturing allies. The real threat to free speech, they say, is at home. Here Democrats cite their own, more recent examples.

The Trump administration threw the Associated Press out of the White House press pool for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America." The president swore to defend and uphold the Constitution one moment but complained the next, during a speech at the Department of Justice, that news organizations who criticize him are "scum" and their actions "illegal." Foreign college students who protest American foreign policy are being rounded up off the street and targeted for deportation.

"These attacks on free speech and association have a chilling effect," said Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, warning that the actions "signal to others that if they don't fall in line with the Trump administrations preferred views, they could be next."

Schmitt has ready rebuttals for those critiques:

The Associated Press doesnt have a First Amendment right to be included in the press pool, the rotating group of reporters who travel with the president daily, he notes. As things stand, he says, "the AP can write all the stories they want - informed or ill-informed." The president, meanwhile, is still allowed to speak his mind. Press criticism is a far cry from press censorship, the senator replies when pressed on Trumps DOJ speech, insisting that "the fact that President Trump has an opinion about them is not a threat to democracy."

Deportations of foreigners over their speech is a thornier issue. Schmitt is not familiar with the case of Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts University doctoral student from Turkey arrested by DHS last month for allegedly engaging in activities in support of Hamas. The administration hasnt yet provided detailed evidence, but Ozturk did write an op-ed in the school newspaper condemning Israel for "the Palestinian genocide."

"I dont know the specifics, but I think writ large, if somebodys here on a student visa, that is a privilege," he says. "If youre not a citizen, youre guests in this country." And unruly guests, like the ones who shut down campus buildings and intimidate others with political violence, he adds, should not be tolerated. "I dont think this gets to a place where somebody who has dissenting views is being deported," he qualified. "Thats not happening. Thats not the case."

These views are foundational to Schmitt and his current political project. They cannot be quickly abandoned. Defending free speech wasnt just his springboard to the Senate, it remains his work there. "Im about as free speech absolutist as youre going to find," he says. "Im not threatened in any way shape or form by somebody having a different point of view."

The problem, and the reason for his ongoing work, he insists, is that "I just dont think you find - sadly - all that many people on the political left who believe that anymore."

Philip Wegmann is White House correspondent for RealClearPolitics.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Lee Zeldin, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, were in Salt Lake City Monday at the University of Utahs Research Park to give a nod to three key bills passed by Utahs Legislature this year  one of which makes Utah the first state in the nation to ban fluoride in public drinking water.

In addition to banning fluoride, Utah passed several other policies that fall under the broad umbrella of Kennedys Make America Healthy initiative, including limiting unhealthy food from coverage by SNAP benefits and prohibiting adding dyes to school food.

Kennedy reiterated his commitment to the goal of making Americans more healthy given the life-changing and dramatic increases over recent decades in obesity rates, juvenile diabetes, and studies that link certain additives to cancer and low IQ. Sperm counts in teenage boys are even down.

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Were seeing crises in fertility in teenagers, he said. An American teenager has less testosterone than a 68 year old man, and he said girls are experiencing puberty at younger and younger ages.

Cancer has a new face, he added.

Were seeing an explosion of cancers, including we talked just recently about colorectal cancers, which would never occur in young people. Now were seeing kids in their teens with colorectal cancer, and its exploding, Kennedy said.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks during a press conference about legislation passed during the 2025 General Session of the Utah Legislature, including HB81 Fluoride Amendments, HB402 Food Additives in Schools, and HB403 SNAP Funds Amendments, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Monday, April 7, 2025. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. listens. Standing by him are U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, HB81 Fluoride Amendments bill sponsor, and House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Whats the deal with fluoride?

As an environmental health lawyer, Kennedy has been calling to prohibit fluoride in drinking water for years. Multiple cities in the United States are moving toward a ban, and locally, the Riverton City Council voted unanimously in February to ban the substance, which is waste product of phosphate mining operations.

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The momentum to ban fluoride from drinking water came after a California district judge said the EPA needs to revisit the issue because its mass introduction in water systems poses an unreasonable risk to neurological development in children.

The EPA has federal jurisdiction over the Clean Water Act which regulates water quality and pollution.

Zeldin said Kennedy has a lot of top priority issues, but the secretarys No. 1 priority is to abolish the fluoridation of drinking water.

If you ask if any members of the media ... to quiz Secretary Kennedy on every aspect of science that is out there on fluoride, he is ready for any question that you have for him. Zeldin said.

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Hes read all of the studies. Hes memorized them.

Caroline Connolly stands with other protesters outside of a press conference with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Monday, April 7, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Both Kennedy and Zeldin mentioned a couple of 2024 studies, including one by the National Toxicology Program that said moderately higher levels of fluoride exposure, such as drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter, are associated with lower IQ in children. The report also concluded that more research is needed to better understand if there are health risks associated with exposure to lower fluoride concentrations.

Kennedy said it was those recent studies that helped solidify his opposition to fluoride.

It has no business in our drinking water, he said.

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Zeldin said the EPA is reviewing those studies and were prepared to act on the science with both the National Toxicology Program as well as other peer-reviewed studies.

On Monday, the Utah Dental Association remained steadfast in its opposition to the fluoride ban, saying community water fluoridation is effective and safe.

We welcome public discourse on health policy, said Dr. Rodney Thornell, president of the Utah Dental Association, but its important that these discussions are rooted in sound science and public health evidence. Fluoridation is one of the most studied and beneficial public health interventions of the last century.

But Kennedy said the do no harm principle should be followed.

Protesters rally outside of a press conference with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Monday, April 7, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

If we want to be a moral nation, if we want to maintain our moral authority around the world, our chief obligation is to our children, and were letting them down. And Im very, very happy that Utah has taken the lead in so many ways, Kennedy said.

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The EPA is in the midst of a review on fluoridated water in the aftermath of the California court decision, and other states such as Florida, Nebraska and Arkansas have fluoride on a menu of regulations to possibly delete.

Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said these MAHA bills that will become law are another example of how Utah is a leader.

Were not afraid to lead on these issues, and even though they were very controversial in some circumstances, we know that when Utah leads, other states will follow.

HB81, or the fluoride bill, was sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, who described the measure as a bill that prioritizes personal choice and expands medical freedom for Utah residents.

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The new law allows parents to get fluoride from a pharmacist without a prescription while protecting the rights of those who do not want it as a supplement in their water.

Residents of Sandy experienced the effects of excess fluoride after a 2019 malfunction of one of the citys feeders that sickened hundreds of people.

Testing in some samples showed fluoride levels at 40 times the national threshold. Ten days after the first complaint from a resident and after the state could not confirm lead and copper testing results had returned to normal, the Utah Division of Drinking Water and the governors office required the city to issue a do not drink order.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemed to imply in recent days that the measles outbreak in western Texas was slowing down.

In a post on X on Sunday, Kennedy remarked on the second death linked to the outbreak, which occurred in an unvaccinated school-aged child.

About 10 minutes later, Kennedy edited the post to add that the curve has been flattening since early March, when he started sending in reinforcements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- supplying clinics with vaccines and other medications.

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"Since that time, the growth rates for new cases and hospitalizations have flattened," he wrote.

MORE: What to know about measles breakthrough cases and why vaccination is still important

However, data from the Texas Department of State Health Services showed that cases are increasing, with more counties in western Texas reporting infections.

Katherine Wells, director of public health for Lubbock, Texas, said last week that public health officials were projecting "a year-long timeline for control of the outbreak."

"This is going to be a large outbreak, and we are still on the side of increasing number of cases, both due to spread and increased testing capacity," she said.

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Public health specialists told ABC News they are skeptical that the curve is flattening and believe that cases linked to the outbreak are not only increasing, but likely much higher than the official case count.

"This outbreak is far from under control -- even if the curve begins to flatten, we still face major risks in under-vaccinated communities across the country," said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer, as well as an ABC News contributor. "With so many pockets of low vaccination, we're still on the brink of widespread, sustained transmission unless urgent action is taken."

PHOTO: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, arrives at Reinlander Mennonite Church after a second measles death, April 6, 2025, in Seminole, Texas. (Annie Rice/AP)

Likely more cases in Texas

As of Tuesday, there have been 505 confirmed measles cases in Texas, according to DSHS data.

Between March 28 and April 4, DSHS confirmed 81 cases -- one of the highest totals confirmed in a single week since the first cases were identified in late January. The Texas Department of State Health Services does not make hospitalization rates available to the public.

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"We know that there have been more cases, at least sustained cases, over the past couple months. We know that the size of the outbreak has jumped pretty substantially over the past month," Dr. Craig Spencer, an associate professor of the practice of health services, policy and practice at the Brown University School of Public Health, told ABC News.

ABC News has requested a copy of the data that Kennedy is referring to when making claims about the curve flattening, but has not yet heard back from the HHS.

"We don't have a full picture of what's happening on the ground because of our inability to reach some communities. And so, I certainly would not feel confident saying that we have plateaued," he added.

Spencer said one reason he is not comfortable saying the outbreak has plateaued in Texas is that he believes the number of cases is likely an undercount.

PHOTO: Cumulative measles cases over time graphic (Yale School of Public Health)

Texas DSHS said any cases reported after March 16 are incomplete, and additional cases may be reported.

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There have been two confirmed deaths linked to the Texas outbreak and a third death is being investigated in New Mexico in an unvaccinated adult who tested positive after dying.

MORE: Amid growing Texas outbreak, how contagious is measles?

"We know that there's really, on average, about one death for every around 1,000 cases," Spencer said. "We've already seen three deaths, which would make you suspect it's probably more like 3,000 cases."

"It feels very, very likely that the count is higher than 500," he said, adding, "It's not impossible for there to be three deaths among 500 cases, but statistically, one would expect more cases for that number of deaths."

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Dr. Megan Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health, told ABC News there is risk in saying the cases have flattened when the data may suggest otherwise. Namely, she said is worried that people may be dissuaded from getting tested or treated.

"We know that many people are avoiding formal medical care and therefore testing. There is always a delay in reporting even when people are tested," Ranney said. "I worry that people are afraid to get measles tested or to bring their kid in for care."

"My other worry is we still want people to take prevention measures and, of course, we know the vaccine is not only the safest way, but also the most effective way to prevent infection with measles," she continued.

Kennedy promotes catch-all treatments not intended for all measles cases

In a second social media post on Sunday evening, Kennedy shared that he had met the families of the two school-aged children who died of measles in Texas, as well as a third family who reportedly had a daughter in the ICU for three weeks with measles.

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Kennedy said he also met with two physicians who have "treated and healed" about 300 children infected with measles in the Mennonite community with aerosolized budesonide and clarithromycin.

PHOTO: A vial of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is on display at the Lubbock Health Department, on Feb. 26, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (Mary Conlon/AP)

Aerosolized budesonide is a steroid used to reduce inflammation in the lungs, making it easier to breathe. Clarithromycin is an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections.

"If you were to go to any evidence-based treatment guidelines, there is nothing that says you should treat patients with budesonide or clarithromycin," Spencer said. "Now those are medications that have a broad suite of uses, and so I'm not going to say that they have absolutely no indication for measles, or really anything else."

He said there are scenarios in which either medication may be used in a measles patient, but it is on a case-by-case basis.

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"I don't think that they're hurting anyone, but they're probably not helping anyone," he added. "They are not at all tools that I would reach to as my first, or really even second, line of tools that I would use in someone presenting with symptoms consistent with measles."

In an interview with ABC News Live on Monday, Dr. Peter Marks, the former director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research within the Food and Drug Administration -- who is reported to have been forced out -- said budesonide, clarithromycin and vitamin A -- another treatment endorsed by Kennedy -- are neither preventatives nor "real treatment" for all cases of measles.

MORE: Measles outbreak in Texas is spreading beyond the Mennonite community: Officials

He highlighted the importance of receiving the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine. The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles or nearly 100% effective against dying of measles after contracting it.

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Some people may be at risk for an adverse reaction with any vaccine, so experts say it's important to discuss the risks and benefits with a health care provider.

"It should be an easy decision, as easy as buying a car seat and strapping your kid in," Marks said about getting a vaccine if eligible. "You would never drive without your kid strapped into their car seat. You know, if you had an 18-month-old, why wouldn't you give that child something that could prevent your child from dying of an infection when there's a one in 1,000 chance if they get measles, they would die from it?"

ABC News' Dr. Mark Abdelmalek contributed to this report.

RFK Jr. claims curve is flattening in Texas measles outbreak. Does the data agree? originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI)  The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) is raising concerns over the projected cost to build a brand new middle school in town.

The North Kingstown School Departments Building Advisory Committee held a special meeting Monday night to discuss the proposed Wickford Middle School, which would cost an estimated $77 million to construct.

But the middle schools price tag is several million dollars above the states maximum reimbursement amount, according to RIDE.

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This comes after voters approved a $137 million bond to build the new middle school and make improvements in others across town.

North Kingstown Superintendent Kenneth Duva said the estimated cost to build the new middle school would not be 35% reimbursed by RIDE.

Duva said RIDE is working with the district to change the buildings design to maximize reimbursement eligibility. He stressed that if the district isnt reimbursed for the new middle school, that could fall on the taxpayers.

RELATED: North Kingstown votes on schools, public safety HQ

North Kingstown residents who attended the special meeting are now trying to figure out what went wrong.

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If mistakes have been made, this should be acknowledged, and a plan of correction should be implemented, one resident said.

No vote was taken at the special meeting, since the district is still working on looking into the feasibility of RIDEs suggested changes.

The districts updated proposal is due at the beginning of May. It will then be up to the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education to approve it.

Duva said another special meeting will take place in two weeks to go over the possible changes prior to submitting their updated proposal to RIDE.

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By Catarina Demony

LONDON (Reuters) - The rise of right-wing populism in Europe and elsewhere should not prevent Africa from bringing reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism to the table, the head of the African Union's (AU) diaspora division said.

"There is no better time as this to discuss the issue of reparations as Africans ... irrespective of the various issues going on that may seem intimidating," the official, Angela Naa Afoley Odai, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

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Others, including the president of the African island nation of Cape Verde, Jose Maria Neves, previously said the growth of right-wing populism has made it difficult to hold a serious debate over reparations.

Neves said debating the issue in the "public arena" could potentially lead to more political polarisation in European countries formerly involved in slavery and colonialism, such as Portugal, France and Britain.

While the issue of reparations has gained momentum worldwide, so has the backlash. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he "doesn't see it happening," and many of Europe's leaders have opposed even talking about reparations.

African leaders launched a new push for reparations in February, and say they will set out their own plan of what reparations may look like, from financial compensation and formal acknowledgement of past wrongs to policy reforms.

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The AU said in a statement that reparations could involve "diplomatic pressure or legal actions at international courts".

Afoley Odai said diplomatic pressure would stem from the work the AU was doing, including with the Caribbean, to "build a united front" involving both those who live on the continent and the African diaspora.

She said ongoing links between the African Union and the European Union, from summits to partnerships, would be used to push for reparations.

Opponents of reparations argue, among other things, that contemporary states and institutions should not be held responsible for their past.

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But advocates say action is needed to address the legacy of slavery and colonialism, such as systemic and structural racism, and say that contemporary states still benefit from the wealth generated by hundreds of years of exploitation.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Leslie Adler)
DJH, a UK accountancy and professional services group, has announced its acquisition of Bexley-based McBrides Chartered Accountants.

This deal marks DJH's first strategic expansion into London and the South, as the group aims to break into the sector's top 20.

The deal will allow DJH to leverage McBrides' regional influence and expertise across various industries.

The acquisition will enable DJH to tap into McBrides' specialisms in guiding professional services, law firms, property businesses, shipping companies, and UK subsidiaries of international companies.

DJH, backed by Tenzing, will in turn offer a suite of services including R&D tax credits, capital allowances, commercial funding, HR, and IT support.

Tanya Hamilton, managing partner at McBrides, will continue to lead the business alongside the existing partner team.

Expressing enthusiasm about the new partnership, DJH CEO Scott Heath said: "It has always been our aspiration to have a substantial office in the South and the partnership with McBrides gives us an immediate presence in the region with a business that shares our values of teamwork, client service and trust."

DJH's growth trajectory includes ten acquisitions over the past three years, expanding the firm to a multidisciplinary team of over 580 people across ten offices.

The latest acquisition is claimed to not only provide career development opportunities for both DJH and McBrides teams but also enhances the potential for growth in specialist service lines.

"Joining DJH is a major milestone in our journey, providing an opportunity to strengthen our services, giving new and exciting opportunities for further growth," said Tanya Hamilton. She highlighted the benefits of joining a top 40 UK accountancy firm, including increased investment in technology and team wellbeing.

Matt Nicholson, investment lead at Tenzing, welcomed McBrides to the DJH family, emphasising the importance of finding partners with the right culture for continued growth. "This is particularly true when entering a new region, which is a major milestone for the DJH Group," he added.

McBrides, established in 1973, celebrated its 50-year anniversary in 2023. With eight partners and over 50 employees, the firm has carved out specialisms in various sectors and opened a payroll bureau in the North East in 2021.

DJH, claimed to be a top 40 UK accountancy group, has bolstered its national presence through strategic acquisitions, combining local expertise with a national reach.

Tenzing, with headquarters in London and hubs in Munich and Stockholm, supports European B2B software and tech-enabled businesses, managing 1.7bn in assets across 18 portfolio companies.
Michael Whatley (right), chair of the Republican National Committee, speaks to reporters as North Carolina GOP chairman Jason Simmons looks on at the NC GOP headquarters in Raleigh on Sept. 14, 2024. (Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)

The chair of the Republican National Committee said Monday evening he believes recent chaos in global stock markets was an overreaction to President Donald Trumps new tariffs.

I think theres a lot of false equivocation that the market equals the economy, argued Michael Whatley, who was elevated to the national post by Trump after previously serving as head of the North Carolina GOP. It doesnt.

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Whatleys comments Monday came during an event at NC State University, held by the conservative campus group Turning Point USA  which grew contentious at times as he defended the administrations policies in front of a student crowd that included multiple vocal protesters.

Stock futures bounced Tuesday morning after news of Trumps wide-ranging tariffs caused days of steep losses and volatility across global markets. Multiple questions from students addressed costs and the economy; one was spotted looking at the S&P 500s daily chart on his laptop as the state GOP chairman, Jason Simmons, addressed the room.

I am not panicking about the markets, Whatley told the crowd of around 50 at Talley Student Union. He said he believed they will rebound as the world adjusts to the new policy (multiple prominent trade partners, including the E.U. and China, have vowed to retaliate with additional tariffs of their own). And he urged students to take a longer, and wider, view of the administrations trade policies.

You probably want to look at that not just in a vacuum, Whatley said, but rather as an overall strategy to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

Students questions of RNC chair: Immigration, housing and free speech

Attendees at Mondays Turning Point event, most of whom were students, quizzed Whatley on a range of topics  including the GOPs approach to housing, the administrations mass deportation policy and concerns about free speech.

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And throughout the event, a group of students there to protest the event frequently set off noisemakers and ended the event shouting at Whatley.

One student, who said he led a campus group focused on real estate, asked how the party could focus on making housing affordable. (Whatley said reducing the cost of materials and taking down building regulations were key.) Another asked about potential shortages of people on visas, concerned about the impact on agricultural workforce. (Whatley said people should view the current phase of immigration enforcement as phase one.)

Multiple protesters urged Whatley to answer for reports of migrants who are in the U.S. legally and do not have criminal charges also being caught up in deportation operations. And they asked him to comment on two NC State students visas being revoked last week.

I dont know anything about the students here, Whatley said. But he defended the administrations immigration enforcement broadly, and said that folks who are over here on visas are not citizens.

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The Q&A ended on a tense note, as protesters grew increasingly agitated with Whatleys answers and shouted criticisms of the administration and GOPs actions toward pro-Palestinian protesters. Those protesters, many of whom are students, have reportedly been under scrutiny by immigration authorities and private groups for possible deportation.

You dont care, and thats the problem, one shouted, as another held up a sign reading free speech unless its free Palestine.
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO)  Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara has proclaimed April 5th  11th as The Week of the Young Child, in conjunction with a national movement to encourage early childhood learning and development.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) organizes and promotes the week-long event that highlights the role of early childhood education in shaping an individuals future.

Each day this week revolves around a different theme, with today being Music Monday, focusing on the importance of music in a childs development.

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We use it all throughout our entire day. We use it as a vehicle for academics. We use it as a vehicle to move kids from one area to another, like transitions, said Summerdale Early Childhood Center Principal Dr. Jennifer Lak-Keilman. Music can be linked to being a vehicle to help children learn their phonetic awareness words, putting things together. Also, math concepts can be tied to music, and we can use them for rhythm and for counting activities and such.

Early childhood programs play a key role in the development of language skills, social-emotional skills, those crucial foundational skills for reading, math skills, and even when you think social studies, taking care of the environment, ecology, and things like that are all learned during these young years, said executive director of Early Chilhood Education Kim Nelson.

Harlem High School, at 1 Huskie Circle, in Machesney Park, will host a Week of the Young Child family fun fair on Saturday, April 12th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

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CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (WCMH)  A man is wanted on several violent charges related to an alleged incident that occurred on Sunday in Ross County.

According to the Ross County Sheriffs Office, 36-year-old Stephon Cunningham is wanted on several felony warrants related to multiple acts of violence. The warrants were issued by the Chillicothe Municipal Court.

$300,000 theft at Columbus fire training facility included van, generators, leaf blower

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Cunningham, who is listed as 58 and 210 pounds, is charged with rape, kidnapping, aggravated burglary, felonious assault, strangulation, domestic violence and unlawful restraint.

Stephon Cunningham (Courtesy/Ross County Sheriffs Office)

Court records indicate that Cunningham was also recently charged with domestic menacing, menace by stalking in February, and violating a temporary restraining order in March.

The sheriffs office did not release additional details as to any leads on Cunninghams whereabouts and ask that anyone with information to call 740-773-1185 or any local law enforcement agency where he may have been seen.

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Editor's note: The article was expanded with comments by U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce for the media.

A new round of talks between the U.S. and Russia will take place in Istanbul on April 10, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on April 8.

The negotiations will involve representatives from the two countries' foreign ministries. Peskov did not elaborate on the topics the Russian and American delegations would discuss.

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U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told journalists that Ukraine is "absolutely not on the agenda."

"These talks are solely focused on our embassy operations, not on normalizing a bilateral relationship overall, which can only happen, as we've noted, once there is peace between Russia and Ukraine," Bruce said at a press briefing on April 8.

The news comes following U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed push for a ceasefire, which has regardless seen Russia repeatedly striking Ukrainian cities in drone and missile attacks.

Russian and U.S. officials previously held a meeting on embassy operations in Istanbul on Feb. 27 and two rounds of talks on peace in Ukraine in Saudi Arabia.

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Earlier this month, Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev arrived in Washington to hold talks with U.S. officials on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin and met with Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, at the White House.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 3 also acknowledged that U.S. and Russian officials were holding private conversations on the possibility of a full ceasefire in Ukraine.

Kyiv has said for weeks that it is ready to begin a complete 30-day ceasefire, in line with a proposal from Washington, as long as Russia accepts the same terms. Russia has so far refused, only agreeing to partial ceasefires on energy infrastructure and in the Black Sea  in exchange for restored access to international markets.

Read also: Putin believes he has the upper hand  Ukraine braces for a new Russian spring offensive

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)  Rochester police are searching for leads in a stabbing investigation in the area of North Clinton Avenue.

On Monday around 3:20 p.m., officers said a 23-year-old man walked into a hospital with stab wounds. He told police he was involved in a fight with multiple people. He is expected to survive.

RPD confirmed the incident happened in the area of North Clinton Ave. and Sullivan Street. No arrests have been made.

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Anyone with information is asked to call 911.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst.
By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel's Supreme Court began a hearing on Tuesday into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to sack the head of the domestic intelligence service amid an uproar from shouting protesters that forced the judges to clear the court.

Netanyahu's move to sack Shin Bet head Ronen Bar last month was blocked by the Supreme Court after it agreed to consider petitions against the decision, which has highlighted political divisions that have deepened since the start of the Gaza war.

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On Tuesday, as the hearing began, one protestor, whose son was killed in Gaza in December 2023, was dragged out of the hearing as he shouted at the judges, accusing Bar of being responsible for his son's death.

The judges later called a recess and cleared the audience from the court completely, but a number of anti-Bar protesters, including a lawmaker from Netanyahu's Likud party, remained outside shouting "For shame!".

Netanyahu said last month that he had lost confidence in Bar over the agency's failure to prevent the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

The timing of the move fuelled mass demonstrations, with critics saying the real reason for Bar's dismissal was a recently announced police and Shin Bet investigation into possible ties between Netanyahu aides and Qatar.

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Watchdogs and opposition lawmakers petitioned the Supreme Court against the dismissal, arguing it was rushed, tainted by conflict of interest and unlawful.

Since returning to office at the head of one of the most right-wing governments in Israel's history, Netanyahu has been at odds with much of the defence establishment and justice system, first over his 2023 plans to curb the powers of the Supreme Court, and later over the conduct of the Gaza war.

Like the military, Shin Bet has investigated its October 7 failures. Bar accepted responsibility and said he would step down before the end of his term.

Netanyahu has resisted calls to establish an independent state inquiry into the security failures that led to Israel's single deadliest day. Rejecting any personal blame, he has engaged in bitter exchanges with Bar, whom he accuses of launching the Qatar probe to avoid being sacked.

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QATARGATE

In a letter to the government and a document submitted to the Supreme Court, Bar has said his dismissal sent a message to law enforcers that they are expected to show personal loyalty to the prime minister, rather than the state.

Netanyahu's lawyer argued that there was no conflict of interest in Bar's dismissal, approved by the entire cabinet, because the prime minister was not a suspect in the Qatar probe.

Isaac Amit, the president of the Supreme Court, said the hearing would not concern itself with the enduring pain of the October 7 attack or wider strategic questions thrown up by the case.

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"We are here to discuss a far narrower question. Was procedure properly followed?" he said.

It was unclear when a ruling would be issued.

That question includes whether an advisory committee for civil service appointments should have been consulted and whether Bar should have been presented with evidence on the grounds for his dismissal.

Netanyahu, who is fighting a separate trial on corruption charges which he denies, has dismissed the so-called "Qatargate" affair as a political witch-hunt. His aides deny receiving payments in an alleged influence-peddling campaign. Qatari officials have described the affair as a baseless "smear campaign".

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Netanyahu has been summoned to give testimony but is not directly implicated in Qatargate, which poses no immediate risk to his hold on power.

But the case has added fuel to anti-government protests, attracting thousands of Israelis who accuse the prime minister of undermining key state institutions and endangering the foundations of Israeli democracy.

(Writing by James MackenzieEditing by Peter Graff, Aidan Lewis)
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH)  The New York Mets flagship TV station, SNY, will be broadcasting a handful of Rumble Ponies games once again in 2025, Binghamton announced Tuesday.

The Rumble Ponies, New Yorks Double-A affiliate, will be featured on SNY a total of six times this year, starting with this coming Saturday, April 13, at 1:05 p.m. against the Hartford Yard Goats.

The Rumble Ponies are delighted to team up again with SNY for a second season, Rumble Ponies General Manager Richard Tylicki said. Its a great opportunity for fans all over the region to see the up-and-coming talent in the New York Mets organization play at Mirabito Stadium.

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Rumble Ponies home opener postponed; double-header Wednesday

Rumble Ponies broadcasters Jacob Wilkins and Matt Levine will be on the call for each of these games, produced by Binghamtons production staff, which does all Rumble Ponies home games.

The schedule is as follows:

Sunday, April 13  Binghamton vs. Hartford  1:05 p.m.

Saturday May 10  Binghamton vs. Reading  1:05 p.m.

Sunday May 25  Binghamton vs. Richmond  1:05 p.m.

Sunday June 8  Binghamton vs. Somerset  1:05 p.m.

Sunday July 13  Binghamton vs. Altoona  1:05 p.m.

Sunday August 17  Binghamton vs. New Hampshire  1:05 p.m.

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SNY recently switched its streaming service over to MLB.TV, where out-of-market fans can pay $24.99 per month to watch all SNY content, $124.99 for the full MLB season, or $149.99 annually on the MLB app. Fans can also bundle SNY with MLB.TV for $44.99 a month, or $219.99 for the MLB season.

The Rumble Ponies home opener was originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 8, but was postponed to April 9 in a doubleheader with Hartford.

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LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo.  Officials say new child abuse charges filed against a Winfield woman who has fostered children for a decade is just the tip of the iceberg.

Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wood released a statement Sunday evening that Brenda Deutsch, 70, was arrested for the neglect, abuse and endangerment stemming from initial allegations of a missing child that was later located in the state of Texas.

Its going to be a large investigation, and it will take some time, Wood said.

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Even though the investigation is not yet completed, his office acted because another child was in Deutschs care at the time of her arrest.

The child in this case was fostered and eventually adopted by Deutsch and had been in her care for at least four years.

At the time of Deutschs arrest, there were two other children in the home. However, there have been several other foster children in the home prior, which allegedly had over 200 hotline calls to the address, Wood said.

Court documents note several instances where Deutsch abused the child with a paddle, wooden trim from walls, and shoes. Shes also accused of taking clothes from the child and not providing enough food.

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Court documents indicate an anonymous call was made to social services in November alleging abuse. Authorities say the Winfield School District reported excessive absences involving the child in February.

In that month, a school resource officer (SRO) was notified about the child missing school. As the school began investigating, they learned the child was in Texas. The SRO was told a rumor that the child was exchanged to an individual in Texas for a monkey.

A missing child report was then filed by the school, according to Wood.

After getting in touch with Texas law enforcement, the SRO was able to contact the child, who said she was OK. Police in Texas reached Deutschs friend, who was keeping the child at her residence to distance the two of them, as they were not getting along.

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Wood noted that both Deutsch and her friend owned exotic animals, and that another witness was allegedly asked to take the child in exchange for a monkey.

We dont know that yet, but it is an allegation thats out there that we need to look into, he said.

The child stayed in Texas as the friend said Deutsch did not want her back. Deutsch countered by telling investigators she had purchased a plane ticket for the child, but her friend did not have a way to get the child to the airport.

The child told Texas police of the physical abuse occurring at her home in Missouri and that the individual she was staying with left for days at a time to tend to the exotic animals. When Deutschs friend was gone, the child was brought to a second persons home.

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Deutschs friend was anticipated to be out of town for five days, and when she did not return for seven days, the second individual turned the child over to Child Protective Services in Texas. Wood said that the child is still in the custody of Texas CPS.

Despite the alleged hotline calls to Deutschs home in Winfield, there were never any police reports made to the prosecuting attorneys office, Wood added. Officials are investigating this detail of the case.

Wood emphasized that this will be a lengthy case as they uncover more details, and he expects more charges to be filed.

Hospice nurse accused of stealing checks from elderly victim

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The case has raised questions about whether there were any failures along the way.

If there was some type of failure in the system, where was it and how can we fix it, Wood said.

However, he encourages victims to contact his office at (636) 528-6300.

A spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Social Services said through an email that information related to specific child abuse and neglect investigations is closed and confidential under Missouri law, except under very limited circumstances (please see 210.150 RSMo).

The spokesperson added, Under Missouri law, the Department of Social Services must contact appropriate law enforcement agencies when it receives a report that merits investigation. Law enforcement agencies may co-investigate or provide other assistance.

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The Department of Social Services strongly encouraged anyone who suspects child abuse or neglect to call its 24 hour toll-free hotline at 1-800-392-3738.

Deutsch is being held on a $250,000 cash-only bond. Her initial court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.

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By Ludwig Burger and Maggie Fick

FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) -European pharma companies warned the European Commission president at a meeting on Tuesday that U.S. tariffs would expedite the industry's shift away from Europe and toward the United States.

Pharma trade lobby EFPIA, whose members include European pharma giants Bayer, Novartis and Novo Nordisk, said it had called on EU President Ursula von der Leyen to push for "rapid and radical action" to mitigate the "risk of exodus" to the United States.

Pharmaceuticals were exempt from sweeping tariffs on U.S. imports announced by President Donald Trump last week but he has said they will face separate tariffs.

EFPIA said the EU needs to change its regulatory framework for the industry to make it more conducive to innovation and strengthen Europe's intellectual property provisions.

The demands were not new. EFPIA has repeatedly warned that Europe's pharma sector will lose out to increased competition from the United States, China and emerging markets if the EU does not amend a proposed revamp of laws governing the sector.

"Now with the uncertainty created by the threat of tariffs, there is little incentive to invest in the EU and significant drivers to relocate to the U.S.," the EFPIA statement read.

A statement from the commission said Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Fresenius, Sanofi, Bayer, Gedeon Richter and Ipsen Chiesi attended the call.

Further, the statement said the industry raised "strong concerns" about the wider impact of U.S. tariffs on global supply chains and medicine availabilities in Europe as well as regulatory barriers within the EU.

The industry also pushed for simpler "procedures for clinical trials and digitalisation of the European health system, as well as for protection of intellectual property. They urged ambition and speed with upcoming initiatives ... notably the EU Biotech Act," the statement added.

Biotech lobby Europabio, the European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs and generics trade group Medicines for Europe also attended the meeting.

Europe and the United States have interconnected supply chains for medicines. The United States depends on medicines partly produced in Europe that bring in hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue.

EU medical and pharmaceutical product exports to the United States totalled about 90 billion euros ($97.05 billion) in 2023, according to the latest Eurostat data.

European pharma giants have recently been expanding production facilities in the United States.
Russia's Northern Fleet has begun exercises in the Arctic, with 20 ships and about 1,500 personnel involved, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the fleet command.

"In these manoeuvres, the military leadership is exercising the Northern Fleet in the control of forces and units for the protection of maritime communications and the defence of Russia's military and civilian infrastructure in the Arctic," the Northern Fleet press release said.

It said the operation under fleet commander Konstantin Kabantsov had been scheduled and added that it would last a few days without being more precise.

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President Vladimir Putin has described the Arctic as strategically important region for Russia and recently alleged that NATO plans to turn the area into a bridgehead for possible conflict.

He has pointed out that NATO troops from Finland and Sweden would also be deployed in the region.

Finland and Sweden joined the alliance out of security concerns following Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia would not allow itself to be pushed out of the Arctic, Putin said.
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Russia targeted the city of Kharkiv with a massive drone attack late at night on April 8, causing multiple fires and injuring at least two people.

At least 15 explosions rocked Kharkiv late on April 8, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. Russia launched waves of Shahed-type attack drones in a "massive" strike on the city, causing fires and property damage.

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The strikes targeted civilian businesses, warehouses, industrial facilities, and service stations, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported.

Over 20 drones targeted Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said, with 17 striking the Osnovyanskyi district. Other drones struck the Shevchenkivskyi, Kyivskyi, and Industrial districts, damaging property, Syniehubov said.

On the same night, Russia launched a large-scale drone attack against Dnipro, injuring at least 14 people.

The northeastern city of Kharkiv is a frequent target of Russian aerial strikes. Throughout the full-scale war, Russia has relentlessly battered the city with large-scale missile, drone, and glide bomb attacks, often striking densely populated civilian districts.

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Last week, a mass Russian drone attack killed four people in Kharkiv and injured another 35, including a child.

Russia continues to target Ukraine's residential neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure amid a partial "ceasefire" on energy facilities. Kyiv has presented the U.S. with evidence that Russia has violated the energy ceasefire on multiple occasions.

Moscow has also refused repeated proposals from Washington for a 30-day ceasefire on all hostilities, even though Ukraine has said it is prepared to enter a complete ceasefire once Russia agrees to the terms.

Read also: In Kyiv, skepticism about ceasefire reigns as Russia ramps up deadly attacks and US remains mute

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
In May last year, a 25-year-old Afghan asylum seeker called Sulaiman Ataee walked onto a German market square, drew a hunting knife, and plunged it into the far-Right activist Michael Sturzenberger.

In the 25 seconds of mayhem that followed in Mannheim, one policeman was fatally stabbed in the neck and six people who tried to intervene suffered knife wounds. Mr Sturzenberger survived  just.

Ataee was shot, arrested and charged with murder. His trial began in February.

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Ataee, investigators later concluded, had become interested in the Taliban and been influenced by radical influencers and pseudo-Islamic scholars on the Telegram messaging app.

Now, new evidence suggests his attack may not only have been an act of Islamist terror  but part of a Russian subversion operation designed to sow chaos on Europes streets in order to destabilise the West and undermine its support for Ukraine.

It is a campaign that spans the vandalising of French Holocaust memorials and using foam to block exhaust pipes of cars in Germany, to the petrol bombing of a Latvian museum and arson in east London.

Deadly attacks on German soil

Russian subversion, sabotage and assassination programs long predate the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But the war has seen a surge in suspected attacks, especially since last summer. And while, previously, Russian agencies have focused on disrupting military supplies or gathering intelligence, many more recent operations seem designed to stoke social and political tensions, undermine public trust and boost far-Right parties opposed to sending aid to Kyiv.

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That in turn raises questions about a string of similar attacks that followed Mannheim.

ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen), a German broadcaster, has found that the phrases Michael Sturzenberger stabbed and Michael Sturzenberger attack were used in internet searches in Russia before the attack took place.

There is also evidence of Russian internet users trying to access a webcam feed of Mannheims town square, the scene of the attack, shortly before it occurred.

The revelations could confirm suspicions that have long been circulating in the German intelligence community.

Earlier this year, a senior German intelligence official told the Russian investigative journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan that German agencies believed Russia had instigated a string of attacks by asylum seekers to inflate support for the pro-Kremlin Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which opposes support for Ukraine, ahead of this years election.

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To Soldatov, the latest revelations about the attack in Mannheim amount to something of a smoking gun and strengthen the theory espoused by the intelligence official.

The new evidence fits a pattern that we see and hear from many corners, he says. Sabotage tactics are not only about blowing stuff up  it is about raising the costs of providing support to Ukraine, including political costs. You dont need to have a sophisticated group of agents on the ground but if you can get someone to write something on a wall inciting hatred or blaming the Ukrainians, you can create costs.

The stabbing in Mannheim was the first of five knife attacks committed by immigrants ahead of the vote in February.

In August 2024, a 26-year-old Syrian refugee killed three people and wounded eight more in a knife rampage through the city of Solingen.

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On Dec 22, a 50-year-old Saudi-born doctor drove a car into Magdeburg Christmas Market, killing six.

A month later, a 28-year-old man from Afghanistan was arrested following the murders of a two-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg.

Then, on Feb 13, just 10 days before the election, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker injured at least 30 people when he drove a car into crowds in Munich.

The aftermath of the February 2025 car attack in Munich, which saw at least 30 people injured - Shutterstock

All those attacks were carried out by foreign nationals. With the exception of the Magdeburg attack, the perpetrators were all under 30.

The last four attacks have not, to date, been publicly linked to Russia except by the German official who spoke to Soldatov and Borogan.

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Ataees links to Russian intelligence have not yet been established. Statements by investigators to the German press suggest he believed he was speaking to Islamists on Telegram, but have made no mention of Russia.

Nor is the significance of the strange Russian internet activity obvious. Internet searches are not of themselves proof of conspiracy. Even assuming Russian complicity, there are multiple possible explanations.

Could a low-level Russian intelligence officer have been googling to see whether a mission had been carried out? Was Ataee being handled by an agent, or agents, who failed to cover their tracks? Or did they want to be caught?

The calling card

A few weeks before the attack on Sturzenberger, a Berlin metal factory belonging to defence manufacturer Diehl went up in flames.

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It was, police said, an accident. Later, an (unnamed) allied countrys intelligence service handed Germanys federal intelligence service, BND, a dossier showing it was arson and that Russia was behind it.

And last month The Telegraph revealed that German security services had found what appeared to be a calling card: internet users in Russia had run searches in the weeks before and after the incident on what fire engines and fire safety protocols were in place at the factory.

The sloppiness of the job was, a European security source suspected, deliberate.

Russians are not as stupid as to leave that breadcrumb trail, sometimes they simply want us to find out they have flexed their muscles. Its part of the hybrid warfare, the source, who had knowledge of the investigation into the incident, told The Telegraph in March.

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Calling card or incompetence, the pattern is clear, say European security experts. Russia has stepped up a campaign of sabotage across Europe in the wake of its attack on its neighbour.

Russia and its ally Belarus have been blamed by Western officials for at least 59 incidents including cyberattacks, assassination plots and vandalism since the full scale invasion began, according to an investigation by the Associated Press, published in March.

James Appathurai, the Nato deputy assistant secretary general for innovation, hybrid and cyber, this year called for the alliance to move to a war footing to deal with the wave of train derailments, graffiti stunts, arson attacks and assassination plots linked to Moscow of late.

Those operations are characterised by the Uberization or gig economy of sabotage  in which agents recruit third or fourth parties to carry out jobs on the cheap.

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It is extremely cheap. People who do it are not always in the know about what they are doing. And it is very difficult to counter, says Soldatov.

The perpetrators are seldom, if ever, actual Russian intelligence officers. They may even have no idea who they are working for.

Weve seen theyre mostly financially vulnerable, often coming from former Soviet states in Europe, says Maxime Lebrun, deputy director of research and analysis at Hybrid CoE, The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats.

Theyre mostly contacted through Telegram by an intermediary and offered money and given quite precise instructions for their deeds. The Telegram accounts disappear shortly after.

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It is not only Germany that has been affected.

In May 2024, red hands were spray painted on the Paris Holocaust memorial. A month later, coffins draped with the French flag and bearing the words: French soldiers of Ukraine were left at the Eiffel Tower. Russia has been suspected in both incidents.

The caskets at the Eiffel Tower were brought by a team of Bulgarian individuals who had also committed the red hands operations on the Shoah memorial in Paris, says Lebrun.

Operations in the East

The attempts to sow discord ahead of the Paris Olympics are seen by some as the starting pistol of the current wave of subversion in Western Europe.

But the tactics on display in Germany and France have already been tested further east.

A remarkable look at the mechanics of the recruitment process came in 2023, when one would-be saboteur wrote down the disappearing Telegram messages so he could remember the instructions for his next job.

He mistakenly dropped the folded sheet marked Mission, Lielvarde Military Airfield while on the job  which led Latvian investigators and news outlet Re:Baltica to one Sergejs Hodonovic, a 21-year-old from Riga who had been recruited while trying to buy cannabis on a Telegram group.

Hodonovic had carried out several jobs, including having graffitied the Nato Cooperative Cyber Defence Center of Excellence in Estonia.

The investigative site Re:Baltica revealed this year that Hodonovic was the last in a chain of at least four intermediaries, all operating on social media, that authorities believed led back to the GRU, Russias military intelligence outfit. Each were in their twenties, and were being paid a few hundred Euros for every job completed.

The case cast light on the kind of people who tend to get recruited for such operations.

They are not the smartest people. They usually have a kind of criminal background. Its a gig economy: its about money  fast money. Some of them really dont know who they are working for, says Inga Springe, a reporter at Re:Baltica who has covered this and other Telegram-sabotage cases.

Telegram recruitment was once the GRUs speciality. But since the war in Ukraine disrupted their networks, the SVR (foreign intelligence) and FSB (federal security) have also got in on the act. That, says Soldatov, makes attributing such operations to a single agency increasingly difficult.

All these operations are aimed at raising the literal and figurative costs of supporting Ukraine. There are also second and third objectives: to lay the blame on Ukraine  and to intimidate.

There was an open manifestation of these tactics a month ago when the SVR, Russias foreign intelligence service, announced they were expecting attacks on Russian emigres in Europe by the Ukrainians, Soldatov says.

We know what that means: it is intimidation against people like us, Russian political emigres. And it simultaneously lays the blame on Ukraine if anything happens.

But that does not mean such operations will stop with a ceasefire, argues Soldatov.

Russias intelligence community operates on the deeply held conviction that the collective West is a threat, a view that it held long before the current war.

The risks of the kind of operations seen across Europe in recent months and years are so low, and the potential benefits so large, that Moscow will have little reason to give them up, even in peace time.

That is in the absence of a concerted European response, at least.

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia sees no reason to discuss the possibility of signing a long-awaited peace treaty with Japan to formally end World War Two because of Tokyo's unfriendly stance towards Moscow, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Russia, the successor state to the Soviet Union, and Japan have never signed a treaty formally ending their hostilities during World War Two.

Soviet troops took control of four islands off Japan's Hokkaido - known in Russia as the Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories - at the end of the war and they have remained in Moscow's hands since. The territorial dispute has prevented progress on signing a treaty.

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"No, there are no contacts with the Japanese authorities at the moment," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, when asked about a Japanese Foreign Ministry report which said Tokyo was still committed to signing a treaty and hoped to return the islands.

"You know that Tokyo has rushed to fully join in all unfriendly and hostile steps towards our country," Peskov added, referring to Japan's decision to join Western sanctions against Russia to punish it for its military action in Ukraine.

Given "the real state of affairs" and Japanese sanctions on Moscow, Peskov said it was "hardly possible to talk about the possibility of any negotiations".

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge/Andrew Osborn)
Russia and the United States are to resume talks in Istanbul on Thursday on normalizing their diplomatic relations after a period of tension, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Tuesday, according to a report by the Interfax news agency.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has named the new ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, to lead the Russian delegation, while Sonata Coulter will lead the US delegation.

Both sides described the first round of talks in Istanbul on February 27 as useful. At the meeting, the US accepted Darchiev's appointment

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Years of tense relations led to the restriction of the embassies' work in the respective capitals, with many diplomats being thrown out.

US President Donald Trump has pushed for improved relations since his inauguration in January.
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) will release its first-quarter financial results before the opening bell on Wednesday, April 9.

Analysts expect the company to report quarterly earnings at 39 cents per share, down from 45 cents per share in the year-ago period. Delta Air Lines projects quarterly revenue of $13.46 billion, compared to $13.75 billion a year earlier, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

On Monday, UBS analyst Thomas Wadewitz downgraded Delta from Buy to Neutral. He also lowered the price target from $77 to $42. Susquehanna analyst Christopher Stathoulopoulos maintained the stock with a Positive rating and slashed the price target from $80 to $50.

With the recent buzz around Delta Air Lines, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company's dividends too. As of now, Delta Air Lines offers an annual dividend yield of 1.61%. Thats a quarterly dividend amount of 15 cents per share (60 cents a year).

To figure out how to earn $500 monthly from Delta Air Lines, we start with the yearly target of $6,000 ($500 x 12 months).

Next, we take this amount and divide it by Delta's $0.60 dividend: $6,000 / $0.60 = 10,000 shares.

So, an investor would need to own approximately $372,900 worth of Delta Air Lines, or 10,000 shares to generate a monthly dividend income of $500.

Assuming a more conservative goal of $100 monthly ($1,200 annually), we do the same calculation: $1,200 / $0.60 = 2,000 shares, or $74,580 to generate a monthly dividend income of $100.

View more earnings on DAL

Note that dividend yield can change on a rolling basis, as the dividend payment and the stock price both fluctuate over time.

The dividend yield is calculated by dividing the annual dividend payment by the current stock price. As the stock price changes, the dividend yield will also change.

For example, if a stock pays an annual dividend of $2 and its current price is $50, its dividend yield would be 4%. However, if the stock price increases to $60, the dividend yield would decrease to 3.33% ($2/$60).

Conversely, if the stock price decreases to $40, the dividend yield would increase to 5% ($2/$40).

Further, the dividend payment itself can also change over time, which can also impact the dividend yield. If a company increases its dividend payment, the dividend yield will increase even if the stock price remains the same. Similarly, if a company decreases its dividend payment, the dividend yield will decrease.

DAL Price Action: Shares of Delta Air Lines gained by 0.1% to close at $37.29 on Monday.





Read More:
Russia and the United States are to resume talks in Istanbul on Thursday on normalizing their diplomatic relations after a period of tension, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Tuesday, according to a report by the Interfax news agency.

US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said: "There are no political or security issues on the agenda, and Ukraine is not - absolutely not - on the agenda."

"These talks are solely focused on our embassy operations, not on normalizing a bilateral relationship overall, which can only happen, as we've noted, once there's peace between Russia and Ukraine," she added.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry has named the new ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, to lead the Russian delegation, while Sonata Coulter will lead the US delegation.

Both sides described the first round of talks in Istanbul on February 27 as useful. At the meeting, the US accepted Darchiev's appointment

Years of tense relations led to the restriction of the embassies' work in the respective capitals, with many diplomats being thrown out.

US President Donald Trump has pushed for improved relations since returning to the White House in January.
A Russian agent who killed a Ukrainian soldier, carried out sabotage operations and planned to assassinate two senior officials will stand trial in Kharkiv.

Source: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutors Office

Details: Prosecutors have approved and submitted an indictment to court against a 55-year-old man charged with multiple crimes.

The accused is a native of Yevpatoriia, Crimea, with an extensive criminal record. He moved to Belgorod, Russia, after 2015.

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According to the investigation, he embraced pro-Russian ideology and was recruited by Russian intelligence. He signed a cooperation agreement with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to carry out subversive operations in Ukraine-controlled territory.

In February 2024, the agent arrived in Kharkiv. His first assignment from Russian handlers was to kill a Ukrainian soldier. On the evening of 5 March, he shot the soldier in the back near a residential building in Kharkiv. The serviceman died on the spot.

Acting on his own initiative in the interests of Russia, the agent later sabotaged key sites in Kharkiv. On the night of 26 March, he threw a US-made M67 fragmentation grenade at the Shevchenkivskyi District Administration. The blast caused nearly UAH 2.5 million (approx US$61,200) in damages.

Later, he planted an explosive device on the doors of a local Medical and Social Assessment Board office. The door was damaged and the perpetrator fled the scene, as in previous incidents.

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One of his next assignments was to assassinate the head of the Derhachi City Military Administration. He monitored the officials routines and travel routes. In October 2024, he made a radio-controlled explosive device, travelled to Derhachi, and attached the bomb to the underside of the officials car using a magnet. Fortunately, the official spotted the device in time and alerted law enforcement.

The radio-controlled explosive device used by the Russian agent

Photo: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutors Office

The agent also planned to kill the Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration by exploding the vehicle used by the official, for a promised reward of US$50,000.

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However, once he realised he was being hunted by Ukrainian law enforcement, he postponed the assassination.

In addition, the agent managed to set fire to two military vehicles in Kharkiv.

Law enforcement tracked his movements and detained him in late October 2024 on an electric train while he was attempting to flee the city and go into hiding.

The agent is currently in pre-trial detention with no possibility of bail.

He will be tried in the Dzerzhynskyi District Court of Kharkiv and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

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(Reuters) - A Moscow court fined the Telegram platform 7 million roubles ($80,000) for refusing to remove content calling for terrorist attacks and participation in protests aiming to overthrow the Russian government, news agency TASS reported on Tuesday.

"Telegram Messenger Inc., being the owner of an information resource, failed to remove information or channels containing calls for extremist activity," TASS reported, citing court documents.

TASS added that some of the channels listed in the court documents called for participation in anti-government protests that aimed at overthrowing Russia's government, as well for terrorist attacks on railway transport with the aim of helping Ukrainian forces.

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Telegram, a social media and instant messaging platform, did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment outside business hours.

Based in Dubai and founded by Russian-born Pavel Durov, the platform has nearly 1 billion users and is used widely in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics.

Durov returned to Dubai in March after several months spent in France following his August 2024 arrest and investigation in connection with the use of Telegram for crimes including fraud, money laundering and sharing images of child sex abuse.

($1 = 86.1455 roubles)

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Jamie Freed)
Billionaires are feeling the burn amid fallout from Trumps tariff announcementwith the stock market crash leading to names like Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, and Mark Zuckerberg losing billions in a matter of hours.

President Donald Trumps tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories are causing havoc across the global market, with the S&P 500 nearing bear market territory early Monday.

These dramatic market declines are hurting investors small and largefrom the 401(k) savings accounts of single families to the elaborate holdings of the worlds richest individuals.

In fact, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, and Mark Zuckerberg each lost close to $10 billion by the end of the trading day on Friday alone, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index; the worlds 500 richest people experienced the biggest two-day losses ever on April 3 and 4, thanks in part to popular tech stocks like Nvidia, Amazon, and Meta seeing billions in value wiped out.

And even those close to Trump are feeling the pain. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has lost the most of any person on Earth. On Friday, his net worth declined by $20 billionwith year-to-date declines totaling over $130 billion. Despite the losses, hes still the worlds richest man.

Many signs point to further economic turmoil. European, Asian, and American markets all tumbled to start the trading week and could set the stage for one of the biggest declines in billionaire wealth in memory.

One billionaire is still net-positive in 2025

One widely known billionaire sticks out from the rest due to his stock market gains remaining positive in 2025. Warren Buffett appears to have predicted a market turn coming. He sold some $134 billion in equities in 2024 and was sitting on $334 billion in cash at the end of the year. In 2025, he is up by about $12 billion and is the sixth-richest person in the world, just behind Bill Gates and Bernard Arnault.

We were aided by a predictable large gain in investment income as Treasury Bill yields improved and we substantially increased our holdings of these highly-liquid short-term securities, Buffett wrote to shareholders in February.

While Buffett, too, lost billions last week, his better performance could also be tied to his heads-down approach of staying away from politicsor his simple attitude that prioritizes being thrifty and sensible.

The billionaire club might finally become more exclusive

Buffett is one of the longest-serving members of the billionaire club, a group that saw record growth in 2024with the wealth of the richest of the rich increasing three times faster than the year before. Moreover, in early January, billionaires were earning some $10 billion a day and holding more wealth than any country except for the U.S. and China.
Sabillasville Environmental School is seeking to add a portable classroom to the charters property.

The charter, which enrolls students in kindergarten through eighth grade, focuses its curriculum on classical education, in addition to agriculture and environmental science.

With nine seats added last month, the schools maximum is 207 students  23 students per class, one class per grade. The portable classroom, which would be 24 feet by 36 feet, is meant to create more space.

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Sabillasville Environmental applied for a site plan to the countys Division of Planning and Permitting.

The school opened three years ago as a kindergarten through sixth grade charter with help from a startup grant totaling $900,000.

The grant initially began under the Maryland State Department of Education, but was transferred in 2023 to the Maryland Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

During the 2023-24 school year, Sabillasville Environmental added seventh grade to its charter. Eighth grade was added this past school year.

Alisha Yocum, the president of the board of directors for Sabillasville Environmental, said in an interview on Friday that the cost of the portable classroom will be covered using the grant funding.

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She said the one-classroom portable costs around $300,000.

In our first year that we opened the charter school, we had sixth grade, and weve kind of just grown our middle school each year, Yocum said. We just needed additional classrooms, both for everyday learning and then for different activities we have, so that we can make the overall master schedule work.

The Frederick County Board of Education last month extended Sabillasville Environmentals charter for five more years. The school board also voted to increase the schools enrollment by nine seats.

Yocum said the portable classroom will probably house one of our middle school grades.

But, depending on how the schedule works out for next year, well figure all that out, she said.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)  Three people were rescued from a sailboat that was reported missing earlier this week after departing from New Haven, the United States Coast Guard said.

The vessel, HOT CHOCOLATE, departed for Ocracoke, North Carolina with three people on board.

In a social media post on Tuesday night, the United States Coast Guard said a good Samaritan found the vessel 46 miles south of Fire Island. All three people were rescued and no injuries were reported.

Coast Guard says boat that left New Haven is missing Coast Guard says boat that left New Haven is missing Coast Guard says boat that left New Haven is missing Coast Guard says boat that left New Haven is missing

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
When San Diego resident Alexandria Moya needed a place to live, she was worried that her small budget would be an issue. A one-bedroom apartment in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego costs about $2,500 on average, according to Zumper, which is beyond what she could afford.

So when Moya saw a listing priced at $1,300, she was thrilled. And, she was even more excited when the woman listing the home agreed to rent it to her for just $1,000.

Don't miss

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The problem? The listing turned out to be a scam, and Moya lost money in the process.

"I got fooled. And it's easy to get fooled," she told Fox 5 News San Diego.

A rental application turns into a nightmare

Moya was immediately interested in the rental that fit her price point, so she contacted the woman listing it for a tour. She then met a young woman, who identified herself as the owner's niece, who showed her the property

Moya read the lease and all looked legitimate. She wanted a little time to make her decision, but the property owner was pressuring her to commit. Worse yet, she said that Moya had to make an immediate cash payment if she wanted the rental.

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Moya says she paid the owner $2,500 in total  $1,500 in cash and $1,000 through Zelle. From there, Moya's move-in date kept getting pushed back.

Eventually, Moya was told she could not move in at all. She was promised a refund for the money she'd sent, but it never came. She called the woman who had listed the property repeatedly, but her calls kept going straight to voicemail

"I was hurt. I cried about it," she told Fox 5.

Moya says she filed a police report but does not expect to get her money back. And it just goes to show how important it is to be careful when a listing seems, as Moya said, "too good to be true.

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Read more: Trump warns his tariffs will spark a disturbance in America  use this 1 dead-simple move to help shockproof your retirement plans ASAP

How to avoid rental scams

Rental scams are on the rise. The FBI was already warning of a spike back in 2022, reporting that in 2021, Americans lost $350 million to real estate and rental scams. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) also reports that more than 5 million people have lost money to rental scams. Plus, the BBB found that in 2023, rental scams saw a 64.1% increase.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan told Fox 5 that in the past two years, rental scams have risen by 45%, per the Better Business Bureau. She warns that scammers use tactics like claiming they're out of town and that they can't show the property, or claiming that they have multiple offers and need an immediate answer and payment.

Be mindful of these patterns if youre in the market for a rental, and dont let a pushy so-called property owner pressure you.

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Another red flag, Stephen told Fox 5 reporters, is that scammers also sometimes take legitimate listings and create duplicate ones with their own contact information. If you see a listing, do some online searching to make sure its not showing up in multiple places at different price points. In that case, the lower price is typically the bogus listing.

Its also a good idea to look at public records to confirm who owns the property youre trying to rent. If the names dont match up, dig deeper  or run away. Your county clerks office could be a good resource here.

Of course, its common for property managers to list rentals on owners behalf. In that case, research the property management company at hand. See if they have a BBB listing and what their ratings are.

It's also important to use trusted online platforms to find a rental. Be wary of posts on social media listing homes for rent.

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Also, be wary of rentals that require a larger-than-average up-front deposit. Its common to put down your first months rent plus a security deposit. Beyond that, ask questions. And in the course of putting down a deposit, try to use a credit card if possible. That gives you a way to track the payment and, if needed, stop or dispute it.

Finally, research rental prices in your area so you know what the market is demanding. And, be careful with listings that are priced under market. If a given rental seems like its too good to be true, it just may be.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON)  A San Jose family is demanding answers after video captured police punching a man during an arrest. The man suffered a broken nose, and officers assaulted teenagers who filmed the incident, according to the NAACP.

On Jan. 10, teens recorded the video near the 76 gas station off of South White Road in East San Jose. (The video can be viewed above and may be distressing to watch.)

San Francisco announces five finalist names for new Great Highway park

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A woman whose son filmed the video said everyone at the scene were cousins. She said that after the video cuts off, officers slammed her son and another teen to the ground, punched them, and pressed a foot on one of their necks. One teen now needs a hearing aid, she said.

Fearing retaliation, she declined to speak on camera.

Local NAACP leaders say this isnt an isolated case but part of a growing pattern of excessive force.

Police cant be trusted to police themselves. They need oversightnow, said Sean Allen of the NAACP, Silicon Valley.

They hit him with closed fists punched him repeatedly, said Allen. This pattern needs to stop. Were filing complaints with the police department. Its time for real action.

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Community leaders speak out against SJPDs use of force on unhouse man

The San Jose Police Department said it responded to reports of reckless driving. In a statement, they said:

Several suspects were contacted, including one who resisted arrest, which led to the use of force. An internal investigation is underway to determine if the officers actions followed department policy, law, and professional standards.

SJPD confirmed a complaint has been filed and said their internal affairs unit is investigating. The independent police auditor is also monitoring the case.

The family and the NAACP say the district attorney declined to press chargesand now theyre demanding accountability. KRON4 reached out to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahans office and the district attorney for comment but have not heard back yet.

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We need real change now, said Allen.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage)  The San Angelo Police Department has announced that a local 72-year-old man was arrested on Monday, April 7, after he allegedly placed homemade caltrops in roadways.

According to the SAPD, Detective Charles Barker was recently assigned to investigate multiple cases involving punctured tires in the 200-400 block of Mimosa Drive.

The department said that with the assistance of victims, neighbors, and tips from CrimeStoppers, Barker learned that a male resident had been placing homemade caltrops (spikes)  in the roadways. These caltrops were reportedly bottle caps with nails inserted in the center.

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SAPD seeking man after assault of 81-year-old

Due to the investigation, Barker obtained two arrest warrants for 72-year-old Donald Hall for the following charges:

Criminal mischief (damage valued between $2,500 and $30,000)

Prohibited weapon (tire deflation device)

This diligent work by Detective Barker is an example of how law enforcements collaboration with the community can bring justice to criminals, the SAPD said.

The Tom Green County Sheriffs Office inmate roster stated that Hall was booked into the Tom Green County Detention Center at 4:18 p.m. on April 7 with a posted bond of $30,000. He was released at 10:46 a.m. on Tuesday, April 8.

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The SAPD asks anyone who was affected by the criminal offenses and hasnt yet filed a police report to visit sanangelopolice.org/coplogic and file an online report. Affected individuals may also contact Detective Barker at charles.barker@sanangelopolice.org or (325)-657-4473.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Update, April 9, 8 a.m.  The San Angelo Police Department announced in the evening of April 8 that Christian Knowlton was taken into custody in Fredericksburg.

SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) Original  The San Angelo Police Department is searching for a person of interest believed to be connected to the assault of an 81-year-old woman on April 7.

According to the SAPD, officers were dispatched to the 4300 block of Rodeo Drive at 5:29 p.m. on April 7 in response to a robbery. Upon arriving at the scene, law enforcement discovered an 81-year-old female victim who had been assaulted and was unconscious.

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SAPD: 72-year-old popped tires with homemade caltrops

The SAPD stated that the woman was transported to Shannon ER and later life-flighted out of San Angelo for further treatment.

The department has identified Christian Knowlton, 27, as a person of interest in the incident. The department said that the victims 2018 white Jeep Renegade, which has a license plate of MNH2244, has also been reported stolen.

The SAPD advised those who have seen the vehicle of interest or have any information on Knowltons whereabouts to contact law enforcement immediately. It also urged citizens not to attempt to make contact with Knowlton.

A photo of Christian Knowlton provided by the San Angelo Police Department. The SAPD is seeking Knowlton for his alleged connection to the assault of an 81-year-old and theft of her vehicle that occurred on April 7. A photo of a white Jeep Renegade provided by the San Angelo Police Department. A vehicle of this model and color was stolen from an 81-year-old woman who was assaulted on April 7, 2025.

This is a developing story. Stick with Concho Valley Homepage for updates as more information becomes available.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ConchoValleyHomepage.com.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy's defence team in the trial over alleged illegal campaign funding from Libya for his successful 2007 presidential bid called for an acquittal on Tuesday at the end of the three-month trial.

In the nearly five-hour closing arguments, Sarkozys lawyers said the accusations lacked substance and insisted their client should be cleared of all charges.

"You will never, ever find a single euro - not even a Libyan cent - in my campaign," Sarkozy told the court. "I want the truth. I am here to defend my honor."

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A verdict is expected on September 25, 2025.

Sarkozy is accused of embezzling public funds, bribery and illegal campaign financing.

Prosecutors allege that millions of euros were funneled into Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign by the regime of now-deceased Libyan dictator Moamer Gaddafi.

The conservative politician, who served as Frances president from 2007 to 2012, rejected the accusations throughout the trial.

Prosecutors, however, claim he struck a deal with Gaddafi to finance his presidential campaign.

Prosecutor are seeking a seven-year prison sentence, a 300,000 ($327,953) fine and the revocation of Sarkozy's voting rights for five years.

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Sarkozy has already been convicted in two other unrelated cases.

The case largely hinges on testimony from French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, who claims that in late 2006 or early 2007, he delivered several suitcases - prepared by the Libyan regime - containing millions of euros to the French Interior Ministry. At the time, the ministry was led by Sarkozy.

In return, prosecutors argue, Libya - then diplomatically isolated - was allegedly promised lucrative deals with French companies and support in restoring its international standing.

Gaddafi was received with military honours at the Elysee Palace in December 2007. But by 2011, the long-time Libyan ruler's regime was toppled by NATO-supported rebel forces and Gaddafi was assassinated.
The trial of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy over allegedly garnering illegal campaign funds from Libya is set to conclude on Tuesday after three months.

The closing arguments from the 70-year-old's defence lawyers are expected, with the verdict to be announced at a later date.

Sarkozy faces charges of embezzlement of public funds, bribery and illegal campaign financing.

It is alleged that millions of euros from the regime of now-deceased Libyan ruler Moamer Gaddafi were funnelled into Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign.

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The conservative politician, who served as French president from 2007 to 2012, rejects the accusations.

According to the prosecution, however, there was an agreement with Gaddafi to finance Sarkozy's campaign.

The financial prosecutor's office has called for a seven-year prison sentence, a 300,000 ($327,953) fine and the revocation of Sarkozy's voting rights for five years.

Sarkozy has already been convicted in two other unrelated cases.

The case heavily relies on testimony from French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, who alleged that in late 2006 or early 2007, he delivered several suitcases - prepared by the Libyan regime - containing millions of euros to the French Interior Ministry, then led by Sarkozy.

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In return, the then-isolated Libyan regime was allegedly promised lucrative deals with French companies and assistance in regaining international recognition.

Gaddafi was received with military honours at the Elysee Palace in December 2007. But by 2011, the Libyan leader was toppled - in part thanks to Sarkozy.
A Saugus man is facing a litany of charges after allegedly pouring paint on a number of Teslas in Peabody Tuesday morning, according to police.

The manager at the Tesla dealership on Andover Street told police that a man had poured paint on several vehicles around 9:00 a.m. before running away, Peabody police say.

Several Peabody police officers responded to the scene and eventually found 28-year-old Gardy Pierre at the Northshore Mall.

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Pierre is facing 11 counts of defacing property charges and count of disturbing the peace. He was expected to be arraigned in Peabody District Court Tuesday afternoon, according to police.

Pierre also had an outstanding warrant from Cambridge District Court for trespassing and resisting arrest, according to Peabody police.

The investigation is ongoing.

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European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen is set to hold talks with senior pharmaceutical executives today (8 April), as the EU prepares its response to the growing threat of US trade tariffs targeting the drug industry.

Senior representatives from major pharmaceutical manufacturers are expected to attend the meeting, alongside trade groups including the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), EuropaBio, and Medicines for Europe. According to a Reuters report, a focus of the talks will be how to address regulatory hurdles that have contributed to a decline in clinical trial activity within Europe.

The meeting comes amid mounting uncertainty over the status of pharmaceutical trade between the US and EU. While the White House confirmed last week that finished pharmaceutical products are currently exempt from the recently imposed 10% blanket tariff, US President Donald Trump stated on 3 April that new tariffs specifically targeting the pharma sector are being considered.

We are looking at pharma right now, pharmaceuticals as a separate category. Well be announcing that sometime in the near future  not too distant future. Thats under review right now, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

The White House has repeatedly signalled an interest in reshoring pharmaceutical production, a position Trump has supported. Companies such as Johnson & Johnson (J&J) have already announced onshoring plans to bring more manufacturing to the US. The possibility of tariffs on pharmaceutical imports has been floated multiple times, with figures as high as 25% previously proposed.

While finished medicines have so far avoided new duties, analysts warn that the broader 10% import tariff could impact pharmaceutical operations straight away. The sector depends heavily on complex international supply chains involving active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and manufacturing equipment. Many of these components are now subject to increased costs, which could disrupt production timelines and pricing structures.

Medical devices, meanwhile, have not been spared. A 20% import tariff on EU medical devices has already taken effect, raising concerns about potential damage to the EUs medtech ecosystem. Germany and Ireland  both key exporters of medical instruments to the US  are among the most affected. Last year, EU imports of EU-origin medical instruments were valued at $37bn, according to GlobalData analyst Eoin Ryan. Devices such as respirators, orthopaedic implants, surgical tools, and more  collectively worth $22bn  now face significantly higher import costs.
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

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More than a century ago, women marched, were imprisoned, and endured violence to secure their fundamental freedom to vote in the United States. Those suffragists who fought for the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 knew that American democracy could never be whole if half the population was silenced.

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They won that right, and generations of women  especially women of color  spent decades fighting to secure and expand these fundamental freedoms. But now President Trump and many of his backers in Congress have introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which threatens to undermine this progress.

To be blunt, the SAVE Act saves nothing. The bill would erect unnecessary and discriminatory barriers to registering to vote in the US, especially for women who have changed their surname, but also for trans voters, young voters without a passport, newly naturalized citizens, veterans, rural voters, and anyone who does not have the privilege of easily meeting excessive documentation requirements.

The SAVE Act would force eligible voters to submit documentary proof of citizenship materials, such as a birth certificate, in person every time they update their registration  completely eviscerating online voter registration  and would threaten hardworking election officials with strict penalties for making a mistake.

If passed, the SAVE Act would impact an estimated 69 million potentially eligible women voters  encompassing the nearly 80% of married women who adopt their partners surname. In the 105-year history of my organization, the League of Women Voters, this may be the most brazen, sweeping attack on American women's voting rights we have ever seen.

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The impacts of the SAVE Act  and a recent anti-voter executive order that seeks to directly implement aspects of the bill  arent theoretical. Just this month, New Hampshire held its first local elections since the state adopted a documentary-proof-of-citizenship requirement to register to vote, and the result was chaos. One woman recounted an hours-long saga of retrieving different documents to try to register. Another had to return three times because her name on her birth certificate did not match her marriage license. Others left their polling places frustrated and never returned. I think anyone, no matter how they lean politically, would agree: This is not how our democracy should work.

Taking bill sponsors at their word, the SAVE Act purports to stop noncitizen voting, but theres one problem: Noncitizens registering to vote and then casting a ballot is already illegal in federal elections, and states already have procedures in place to prevent the practice. In fact, it is illegal for noncitizens to vote in every state election too. As the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice has documented, there is no evidence to suggest that noncitizen voter registration and voting is occurring at a meaningful scale. The presidents executive order and the SAVE Act are both attempting to find a solution for a problem that doesn't exist.

Let's be real: The SAVE Act is a trick. It's not about protecting elections; it is about making it harder to participate in them. It is a Trojan horse attack on American democracy disguised as an election security measure. And women should not have to bear the brunt of a law passed to address a nonexistent problem.

The League of Women Voters of the United States, with a coalition of voting and civil rights organizations, has long fought to ensure that women can fully participate in our democracy, and we are not stopping now. We are fighting this dangerous legislation in Congress, in state legislatures, and in communities across the country  and we will continue to fight in the courts if necessary. On April 1, we filed a lawsuit against an anti-voter executive order that seeks to implement some provisions of the SAVE Act. Every single day we will work to expose this bill for what it is: an assault on voting rights and all of us.

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To those who continue to use fearmongering to push these restrictions: We see you. We know what youre trying to do. And we will not let it stand.

To US voters, especially young voters: Do not be fooled by lies. You know when someone is trying to pull a fast one. Do not let them mask their assault on your voting rights. Remember that the true threat to democracy is not some fictional epidemic of noncitizen voting, it is the systematic effort to keep eligible voters away from the ballot box.

Democracy belongs to all of us, and we will defend it with everything we have. Take action. Start today by calling your representatives in Congress to demand they vote no on the SAVE Act.

If the women who endured many hardships in 1920 could see this attack on their hard-won rights, they would be outraged. And every voter who believes in democracy today should be too.

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue

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SC bill could allow a casino along I-95

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA)  South Carolina has not had a casino for 30 years, but a new bill would allow for one soon on I-95.

A few years ago, Wallace Cheves, Founder and President of Santee Development Corporation bought property off I-95 in Orangeburg to build a casino. Cheves said the casino would generate between $75-$100 million in annual tax revenue for the state and it would create over 4,900 jobs for South Carolinans.

Its a billion-dollar project to build a casino, but it would only be built if a bill passes through the statehouse.

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I think youre seeing a big shift in gaming becoming more acceptable nationally and definitely in South Carolina, because we have a different make up of a voter populace too, Cheves said.

If the bi-partisan bill makes it through, Cheves said he can start working immediately.

Co-sponsor of the bill and House Minority Leader, Representative Todd Rutherford (D  Richland) said this bill needs to be passed.

One of the ways this bill is set up is tier four counties that touch the I-95 corridor, and the reason why thats so important is because if a casino does happen in South Carolina; its going to go to the area that we know most needs in tier four counties are the lowest on the rung. 

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Governor Henry McMaster has spoken out several times against gambling.

Gambling is bad for our culture. Its not a part of our heritage and there are better ways to make money to get jobs, and generate tax money to generate our thriving economy, he said.

I dont like to take no for an answer, I never have. It took me, almost 13 years to have the project approved in North Carolina. Were investing now, Cheves said in response to governors opinion.

Rutherford added, Im disappointed to hear that the governor is not sitting in support of freedom, the same freedom that people enjoy in other states and in other countries. Why cant somebody in South Carolina have that freedom? Im not at all swayed by the fact the governor says he doesnt support it because so many other people do. 

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If the bill passes in the house and the senate, the governor does not have to sign it. If he refuses, then the bill will need two thirds majority of the house and two thirds majority of the senate to put it into law.



Cheves said if the casino bill is passed this session and approved by McMaster, they can have it open in 120 days 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 WSPA 7NEWS.
The above shows the execution chamber in the Department of Corrections' Columbia prisons complex, as seen from the witness room. The firing squad chair (left) was added following a 2021 state law that made death by firing squad an option. The electric chair is under the cover. (Provided by the S.C. Department of Corrections)

COLUMBIA  The state Supreme Court will not halt an execution scheduled for Friday, according to an order.

Mikal Mahdi, 42, is scheduled to die by firing squad at 6 p.m. Friday. Mahdi pleaded guilty in 2006 to killing two men during a multi-state crime spree two years prior.

Mikal Mahdi. (Provided/SC Department of Corrections)

Mahdi could still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his execution or ask Gov. Henry McMaster to change his sentence to life in prison. Neither option was successful for any of the four inmates executed in the state over the past seven months.

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Mahdis attorneys argued Judge Clifton Newman, the sentencing judge in 2006, was unable to fully to consider Mahdis traumatic childhood because his original defense attorneys failed to give him enough information.

If Newman had known more about Mahdis life, such as alleged abuse by his father and the thousands of hours Mahdi spent in solitary confinement as a teenager, the judge might have decided to instead hand down a lesser sentence, Mahdis current legal team argued.

All five state Supreme Court justices disagreed in a 13-page order issued Monday.

The justices pointed to a number of violent incidents Newman considered in sentencing Mahdi to death.

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Among them was a 2001 incident in Richmond, Virginia, when Mahdi stabbed a maintenance worker nearly to death. Justices also noted his multiple escape attempts while he was in jail, including as his trial began.

The justices wrote that Mahdis previous defense teams put up an adequate defense, arguing his decisions were affected by age, mental illness and a turbulent childhood. Every court that has considered those arguments has turned them down.

Mahdis crime spree began in Virginia, where he stole a gun and a car before fleeing south.

He later allegedly told investigators he fled after killing someone in a drug deal gone awry, but he was never charged for the crime, the state Supreme Court wrote.

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Stopping in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Mahdi shot gas station clerk Christopher Boggs point-blank in the face before continuing on to South Carolina. Mahdi carjacked a man in Columbia, then fled in rural Calhoun County and hid out in a shed.

There, he shot Orangeburg Public Safety officer James Myers with his own gun, then lit his body on fire and stole his police car. Officers arrested Mahdi in Florida three days later.
State Sen. Jill Carter, a Republican from Granby, presents a bill in a Senate committee earlier this year. She first started coming to the Missouri State Capitol as a public-school parent advocating for change for her son's school (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).

The Missouri Senate set aside legislation Tuesday afternoon proposing alternative methods of school certification after senators discussed the impact of standardized testing and accountability for nearly two hours.

State Sen. Jill Carter, a Granby Republican, has filed the bill during each of her three years in office, but it has never passed the Senate. On Monday, she unsuccessfully attempted to add the legislation as an amendment to another education bill.

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The bill debated Tuesday, she explained, is the brainchild of her time as a public-school parent.

She sought change in her local school district, talking first to parents, then to teachers and the school board. The hangup came from state officials, she said, who mandate that public schools administer a standardized test and score districts on the results.

She came to the State Capitol asking lawmakers to give school boards more autonomy. Now in the position of legislator, she has annually proposed her idea to decentralize standardized tests.

It is putting public schools on the same playing field, giving them the same opportunities as private schools or parochial schools, she said in the Senate Tuesday afternoon. What were trying to do is get an even playing field so that they have the opportunity to be innovative.

But her bill, which received praise from public-school groups at the committee level, has its critics in the states legislature.

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State Sen. Curtis Trent, a Republican from Springfield, told Carter that he has concerns about accountability.

There (should be) accountability when we are writing a taxpayer check and sending it to a government school, he said.

Carters bill would allow schools to seek accreditation from national organizations, like those used by private schools, instead of being beholden to standards set by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The statewide standardized test, the Missouri Assessment Program, would only be used to meet federal requirements.

Carter added a five-year sunset to the bill, hoping to win over skeptics in the Senate, but it wasnt enough to convince Trent. Districts would have no incentive to perform well without a performance report from the state, he told her.

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Carter pointed to legislation that would allow public-school students to transfer to schools outside their address, dubbed open enrollment. Trent is sponsoring the Senates version of the proposal, which has sat on the bodys calendar for weeks without discussion. The Houses open enrollment legislation is due for Senate debate in coming days, with a Senate committee hearing scheduled for later this week.

This is a both-and conversation and not an either-or, Carter said.

Trent feared lawmakers would lose their grip on public schools if national accreditation agencies became responsible for assessing school performance.

If we decouple the assessments from the accreditation process, we have to put something else in place that this body still has control of, he said. We dont have any control over these nationwide accrediting agencies, so we will have ceded all of our authority as the General Assembly of Missouri from any control over these government schools.

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Despite opposition from Trent, the bill has supporters on both sides of the aisle.

State Sen. Mike Henderson, a Desloge Republican, said he has concerns about the states standardized test and wonders whether performance scores are accurate after speaking with his 12-year-old grandson about the assessment.

He has already figured out (the test) didnt really mean anything to him. It didnt affect his grade, Henderson said. And hes not the only one. Many of them have figured that out, so sometimes I wonder how true of a snapshot it is.

State Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat and former educator, applauded the bill for the flexibility teachers would get in the classroom.

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If we were to pass this, we would see drastic improvement and education, she said, saying that educators are currently handcuffed by state tests.

After just under two hours of discussion, Senate Majority Leader Tony Luetkemeyer, a Parkville Republican, whispered to Carter, and she laid the bill aside, saying time had run out.

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A Virginia Beach Catholic schools decision to suspend a student for not immediately reporting that a classmate had a bullet was appalling, and violated the terms of his familys contract with the school, a judge ruled this week.

The decision was issued Monday by District Court Judge Vivian Henderson after she heard testimony from the students mother, as well as the former principal of St. John the Apostle Catholic School, and the superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Richmond, according to a transcript of the hearing.

The unfortunate victim in this matter was (the boy who reported the incident), Henderson said in announcing her decision. Because to see him punished as the person who was trying to do the right thing is appalling  Especially in an environment where students are forced, younger and younger kids are being forced, to make adult-like decisions, without clear boundaries or parameters.

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Rachel Wigand sued St. Johns in September after her 11-year-old son was suspended for 1 days. The lawsuit claimed the school breached its contract with the Wigand family by punishing the boy for something not in the student-parent handbook.

The handbook doesnt say anything about needing to immediately report incidents in which a student has ammunition, according to the complaint. The only thing it says must be immediately reported is allegations involving sexual harassment.

In an interview with The Virginian-Pilot last year, Wigand said her son waited a couple of hours to come forward because he wanted do it when the other boy wasnt around. She also said her son couldnt understand why he was punished, especially when it was the same disciplinary action received by the student who brought the bullet to school.

In her lawsuit, Wigand asked that she be reimbursed for the $4,780 in tuition she paid for her son for the first half of the school year. But on Monday, her attorney Tim Anderson told the judge she was only requesting $81, as well as attorneys fees and other costs. The $81 represents about how much a day and a half of tuition amounted to, Anderson said.

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This wasnt about the money, the lawyer said. It was about much more than that. What we wanted was a clear ruling from the court that this was a suspension and that it was not allowed under the contract.

St. Johns officials repeatedly claimed the punishment was not a suspension, Anderson said, and that it was allowed under the rules.

The Catholic Diocese of Richmond issued a statement Tuesday in which it said it stood by the schools decision.

At St. John the Apostle School, we are dedicated to maintaining a safe and focused learning environment for our students, the statement said. While we disagree with the courts decision, we respect the legal process. Our focus continues to be providing enriching and Christ-centered learning experiences for our students, and we are hopeful this conclusion will bring all parties involved an opportunity to move forward.

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Wigand applauded the judges decision Tuesday. While her children still attend St. Johns, shes considering sending them elsewhere next year.

I truly appreciated having an independent third party recognize that the schools decision was wrong, she said. After seven months, it was a weight lifted off my back for just trying to do what was best and right for my child.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
Vermont State Police are investigating a phone call that warned of shootings at a dozen schools, threats that troopers say were part of a swatting hoax.

Vermont State Police say they were told at about 6:30 p.m. Monday that an anonymous user had used the Department of Defense Self Helpline chat function to make threats against several middle and high schools in Vermont.

How a fake threat of school violence played out in Colchester

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Troopers say the call was consistent with previous hoax threats and swatting campaigns that target critical resources in order to induce a large law enforcement response.

Schools targeted by the calls were:

Middlebury Union High School;

Mt. Abraham High School, Bristol;

Vergennes High School, Vergennes;

Arlington Memorial High School;

Burr and Burton Academy, Manchester;

Long Trail School, Dorset;

Mt. Anthony Union High School, Bennington;

Burke Mountain Academy, East Burke;

Danville School;

Hazen Union High School, Hardwick;

Lyndon Institute;

St. Johnsbury Academy;

State police said there was an increased law enforcement presence at the targeted schools Tuesday morning and they have received no additional reports of suspicious activity.

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Vermont State Police said it was working with local and federal authorities to investigate the call. No other information was available.

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A volcano in the central Philippines erupted on Tuesday morning, sending up a plume of ash and debris and forcing authorities to close schools and evacuate nearby residents, officials said.

The eruption occurred at the summit vent of Kanlaon volcano at 5:51 am (2151 GMT Monday), the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

"The eruption is producing a voluminous bent plume approximately 4,000 metres tall that is drifting south-west," the agency said in an statement.

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Ashfall had been reported in nearby towns and cities, prompting school closures and aviation authorities to warn pilots to steer clear.

Raul Fernandez, regional director for the Office of Civil Defence, said evacuations were taking place outside of the six-kilometre permanent danger zone.

In December 2024, Kanlaon also erupted, forcing 8,000 residents to flee their homes.

The volcano's alert was at level 3, which means a "high level of volcanic unrest."

Phivolcs chief Teresito Bacolcol said there were no signs that would merit an increase in the current alert.

Bacolcol warned residents to take precaution against the ashfall, which could exacerbate respiratory ailments.

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"If we have lung problems, our symptoms can get worse because volcanic ash is made up of small, fragmented rocks, minerals and volcaniclastics," he said.

Kanlaon, a 2,435-metre volcano, is one of the Philippines' most active volcanoes. In 1996, three hikers were killed near the peak a when the volcano erupted without warning.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to state education departments requesting every school district in the country sign a certification that they are not using diversity, equity and inclusion programs that are deemed discriminatory by the federal government, or they could face the federal government cutting their funds.

USDOE asked state education departments to sign a reminder of legal obligations within 10 days to confirm that they are not giving unfair advantages to people based on race, and to gather signatures from school districts.

The particular funds at state are Title I grants  which are grants for low-income students.

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Local school superintendents said the U.S. Education Departments letter is unclear, vague and leaves the scope and specifics of impermissible DEI programs undefined.

New Yorks Education Department has responded with a letter to USDOE, saying the federal governments request is redundant and lacking authority.

The legal ground cited for the USDOE order is Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, as well as a 2023 Supreme Court ruling involving Harvard University which overturned affirmative action admissions practices in colleges.

DEI OBJECTIONS

Trumps administration considers certain DEI practices to violate the Civil Rights Act.

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Many schools have advanced discriminatory policies and practices under the banner of DEI initiatives, USDOE alleges, saying white and Asian American students are sometimes discriminated against in education.

NYSED said USDOE does not have the legal authority to make such a demand, that its basis for this directive was conflating policy with law and that New York school districts already follow the Civil Rights Act.

Given the fact that you are already in possession of guarantees by NYSED that it has and will comply with Title VI, no further certification will be forthcoming, NYSED Deputy Commissioner Daniel Morton-Bentley wrote. We understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems (DEI.) But there are no federal or state laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.

On Friday, Lake Placid Central School District Superintendent Tim Seymour said his districts legal counsel received a message from the state saying the districts will not be required to respond individually to the federal governments demands, but that it would be a question to be resolved between the state and the federal government.

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The districts have not received the letter themselves. The letters went to state education chiefs, who are asked to then collect the signatures from every school district. Ultimately, if districts were to respond, it would be up to the boards of education whether to sign it or not.

The state is advising against signing it, saying the federal government has yet to define what practices would be considered violations, and that the directive is based on USDOEs interpretation of the law, which is not the same as a law.

NYSED is unaware of any authority that USDOE has to demand that a state education agency agree to its interpretation of a judicial decision or change the terms and conditions of NYSEDs award without formal administrative process, Morton-Bentley wrote.

Saranac Lake Central School District Superintendent Diane Fox was not surprised by this announcement. Shes been prepared for it. When she presented the tentative school budget last month, she noted the district was preparing for this exact situation.

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While Trumps administration is working to dismantle the DOE and federal officials say the departments grant funds will still be available, Fox had anticipated that they may be smaller or come with strings attached.

These are the strings.

SLCSDs tentative budget already shifted the positions funded by these federal grants into the general budget in anticipation of something going awry, absorbing around $400,000 to keep special education, counseling and academic intervention staff next year without having to rely on these grants to fund those positions.

Fox said, as the budget approaches a vote on Wednesday, things are murky as best again with the new directive.

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The federal requirement is not exact in what they are looking for when they talk about DEI programs, Fox said. They have not clearly spelled out what is on the OK list and what is not on the OK list.

Define DEI

What counts as DEI? Its unclear.

With the scope of potential impermissible DEI practices unknown, school leaders dont want to agree to something without knowing what it is.

I dont have an opinion when you ask whether or not Ill sign the letter because I havent really seen what the letter is asking me to sign, Fox said.

The directives cited DEI targets are mostly things dont seem to apply to public K-12 schools  scholarships, financial aid, administrative support, housing and graduation ceremonies. It was unclear as of press time Friday night whether this directive applies to North Country Community College, a New York state college in Saranac Lake.

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One big question is if this applies to curriculum.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon previously said in her Senate confirmation hearing that she wasnt sure if a Black history class might violate the DEI policy and that shed have to fully understand the breadth of the executive order to answer that. Later, the department said not all race-focused classes would violate their new guidelines, but some would. The department also said things like Black History Month celebrations or programs focused on specific cultures would be OK, so long as they do not engage in racial exclusion or discrimination.

Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right, USDOE acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement. When state education commissioners accept federal funds, they agree to abide by federal antidiscrimination requirements. Unfortunately, we have seen too many schools flout or outright violate these obligations, including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another based on identity characteristics.

Roger Catania, the regions local Board of Regents representative, said the SCOTUS case cited in the order was about college admissions and the USDOE was trying to use it expansively to say that any representation of student background is discriminatory. He said this is misinterpreting the decision and then going way beyond it.

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What the state Education Department said adheres to the law, and what the federal government said does not. Thats the bottom line, Catania said. Theyre making use of the culture war language to try to put public school districts on their heels.

Theres several situations that could happen here. The state could ask districts not to sign it, the boards could not agree to sign it, the boards could sign it and then be found in violation of it. Fox said the district has state DEI requirements it must meet.

WE DONT LIKE UNCERTAINTY

Catania said this puts districts in a bind between the law and the federal government asking them to go beyond the law by threatening funding, and that district officials feel nervous, especially since they are all currently crafting their budgets.

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Ive made school budgets before, Catania, the former LPCSD superintendent, said. We dont like uncertainty.

He said the Title I federal funding is established by law and approved by Congress. If districts do lose funding, hes sure it would be challenged in court and he believes the districts would win, but no one wants to have to go through that.

Morton-Bentley said this directive marks an abrupt shift from USDOEs position on DEI during the first Trump administration, when then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said diversity and inclusion are cornerstones and key elements for success.

The Education Department last month introduced an End DEI portal where people can report discriminatory practices based on race or sex at public schools to get the department to investigate and potentially cut funding.

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Seymour stands by his districts current policies, saying they have always abided by Title VI.

We have and continue to be nondiscriminatory in our policies and practices, he said. Our focus remains on providing the very best education for our students.

LPCSD receives about $150,000 per year for Title I funding. It goes towards things like reading support and materials that help support low-income students. The district has a budget of about $23.1 million, the vast majority of which is funded by the local tax levy, so the district would be in a position to recoup any theoretical losses from federal funding, Seymour said.

Fox said none of the DEI work at SLCSD meets the label of being discriminatory. Absolutely not, she said. At SLCSD, she said DEI means everybody feels like they belong and are put on equal footing. She said its not about putting one group over another, but inviting everyone in.

When it comes to hiring practices, and Fox said SLCSD has a big table for anyone to sit at. When it comes to curriculum, Fox said she is holding the line and told teachers to keep teaching what they are free to do.

SLCSD, like many districts in New York, has a DEI committee. SLCSDs committee was actually created before the state recommended every district have one, after its 2020 valedictorian Francine Frannie Newman used her valedictory address to talk about racism she endured during school as an Asian student. The committee has met monthly since then.

Fox said when they started, nobody was doing anything specifically DEI-related. In the years since, theyve hired staff, drafted policies and increased DEI work to make sure all students fell welcome and accepted at school.
Three genetically engineered wolves that may resemble extinct dire wolves are trotting, sleeping and howling in an undisclosed secure location in the U.S., according to the company that aims to bring back lost species.

The wolf pups, which range in age from three to six months old, have long white hair, muscular jaws and already weigh in at around 80 pounds  on track to reach 140 pounds at maturity, researchers at Colossal Biosciences reported Monday.

Dire wolves, which went extinct more than 10,000 years old, are much larger than gray wolves, their closest living relatives today.

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Independent scientists said this latest effort doesn't mean dire wolves are coming back to North American grasslands any time soon.

All you can do now is make something look superficially like something else" not fully revive extinct species, said Vincent Lynch, a biologist at the University at Buffalo who was not involved in the research.

Colossal scientists learned about specific traits that dire wolves possessed by examining ancient DNA from fossils. The researchers studied a 13,000 year-old dire wolf tooth unearthed in Ohio and a 72,000 year-old skull fragment found in Idaho, both part of natural history museum collections.

Then the scientists took blood cells from a living gray wolf and used CRISPR to genetically modify them in 20 different sites, said Colossal's chief scientist Beth Shapiro. They transferred that genetic material to an egg cell from a domestic dog. When ready, embryos were transferred to surrogates, also domestic dogs, and 62 days later the genetically engineered pups were born.

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Colossal has previously announced similar projects to genetically alter cells from living species to create animals resembling extinct woolly mammoths, dodos and others.

Though the pups may physically resemble young dire wolves, "what they will probably never learn is the finishing move of how to kill a giant elk or a big deer," because they won't have opportunities to watch and learn from wild dire wolf parents, said Colossal's chief animal care expert Matt James.

Colossal also reported today that it had cloned four red wolves using blood drawn from wild wolves of the southeastern U.S.'s critically endangered red wolf population. The aim is to bring more genetic diversity into the small population of captive red wolves, which scientists are using to breed and help save the species.

This technology may have broader application for conservation of other species because it's less invasive than other techniques to clone animals, said Christopher Preston, a wildlife expert at the University of Montana who was not involved in the research. But it still requires a wild wolf to be sedated for a blood draw and that's no simple feat, he added.

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Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said the team met with officials from the U.S. Interior Department in late March about the project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum praised the work on X on Monday as a thrilling new era of scientific wonder even as outside scientists said there are limitations to restoring the past.

Whatever ecological function the dire wolf performed before it went extinct, it cant perform those functions" on today's existing landscapes, said Buffalo's Lynch.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter.

Although customers today breathe a sigh of relief when connecting to a human customer-service representative, that paradigm is poised for change, Federal Reserve Gov. Michael Barr said Friday.

Its just one of the changes possible with the innovations banks and fintechs are working on in the realm of generative artificial intelligence.

Gen AI has the potential to enable such high-quality and efficient customer engagement and correct answers that customers may come to prefer Gen AI agents to people, Barr said Friday at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Generative AI chatbots, which has been deployed by banks including Wells Fargo and Bank of America, can break down complex tasks and help customers make informed decisions, Barr said.

They can also be empathetic to the customer's experience  perhaps better than some humans, he said, citing a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine on physician versus chatbot responses to patient questions posted on social media.

But there are factors prohibiting widespread integration of generative AI in banking, he said, citing AI hallucinations that generate plausible sounding but incorrect information.

Relatedly, because Gen AI usually involves stochastic processes, answers can differ in response to the same query asked at different times or to similar queries, he said. This is tough to square with the requirements of banking, where decisions must be well-controlled, numerically and legally precise, explainable and replicable.

In a February speech, Barr said the competitive pressure around incorporating generative AI could heighten risks in financial services.

But its only a matter of time before technological advances turn such issues into challenges [rather] than insurmountable problems, he said Friday, noting that banks and fintechs will be in both cooperation and competition with each other as they move to integrate the new technology into financial services.

While banks have deep customer data and more resources, financial and time constraints drive fintechs to find effective, quick solutions, which often involve creative uses of cutting-edge technology, he said.

Teamed up, they can be an accelerant for AI adoption, Barr said.

While the acceleration may be driven by competition, it could also be led by collaborative partnerships, he said  such as banks investing capital in fintechs with generative AI offerings, or banks and fintechs entering vendor-client relationships.
In a massive achievement within the world of science, Colossal Biosciences has reportedly revived a long-extinct wolf species last seen during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene periods: I.E., approximately 125,000 to 10,000 years ago in Earth's past.

In a shocking turn of events, the American biotech company has formally announced that they've managed to spawn humanely three dire wolves -- a canine subspecies that died out roughly 10 millennia ago. Known for their drastically larger size compared to the average grey wolf, dire wolves were perhaps more famously known as the faithful companions to House Stark, the heroic Game of Thrones faction who adopted the animal as their official bannerhead.

Fittingly, the three dire wolves revived by Colossal have been named Remus, Romulus, and Khaleesi, the latter of whom is named after Daenerys Targaryen's royal title in HBO's flagship drama series. The latter wolves, of course, are named in honor of Rome's legendary founders, a pair of siblings raised by a protective she-wolf in ancient Roman mythology.

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I could not be more proud of the team. This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works, Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said said of the era-defining accomplishment. Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies. It was once said, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation.

In the past, Colossal has made it its goal to revive animal species that have long since passed into extinction, with its ongoing objective rooted around resurrecting the woolly mammoth. In March, the company made serious headway in this ambitious project, introducing the world to the adorably fuzzy "colossal woolly mouse."

Colossal remains hopeful that the dire wolf's return will open the door for the de-extinction of other potential species, forever changing the nature of biotechnological sciences in the animal kingdom.
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPMs Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

Where Does This Leave Us?

A rapid-fire series of Supreme Court interventions in two of the most pressing early Trump II cases has slowed down for now the prospect of a direct confrontation between President Trump and the judicial branch.

In the most urgent case, Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay that lifted the deadline of midnight last night for the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported to an El Salvadoran prison despite a court order explicitly barring his removal. Roberts move came as the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Abrego Garcia and set the Trump administration on a collision course with the judiciary. Still, Roberts set a tight briefing schedule (Abrego Garcias lawyers immediately filed their response), and the Supreme Court could rule at any moment.

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Later in the day, the Supreme Court issued a very muddled and confusing decision in the adjacent Alien Enemies Act case  the other case that seems most likely to provoke Trump into an extra-constitutional showdown with the courts. By a 5-4 margin, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the three liberal justices, the court threw U.S. District Judge James Boasberg under the bus with a hasty, procedurally irregular decision that brought withering retorts from the dissenters.

The particulars gets weedy pretty quick, but the high court said no one should be removed under the Aliens Enemies Act without notice and the opportunity for a hearing. Judging the justices on a curve, its hard not to feel some relief that the Supreme Court still finds value in notice and hearing as the bedrock of due process. That was the big takeaway from the decision, even if it carried all sorts of caveats and practical limitations.

Left undecided: the fate of the Venezuelan nationals already deported to the El Salvadoran prisons, whether the Alien Enemies Act properly applies to a criminal gang in peacetime, and whether those swept up in the deportations actually meet the requirements for removal. Those decisions will be left to individual judges to decide case by case, in Texas (in the most conservative federal circuit), where most of the habeas cases will have to be brought.

The high agitation of the dissenters suggests, however, that the way the majority got there had the effect of throwing open the barn door to further Trump depredations even as it overlooked the governments egregious conduct in the case to this point.

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I couldnt help but wonder if the dissenting justices had already gotten a taste of what the majority has in store for the wrongfully deported Abrego Garcia. The two cases arent directly related, but they each overshadow the other in ways that put a finer point on the underlying legal and moral issues.

For more analysis:

Steve Vladeck: But the more I read the Courts Monday night ruling in Trump v. J.G.G., in which a 5-4 majority vacated a pair of temporary restraining orders entered by Chief Judge Boasberg in the Alien Enemy Act case, the more I think that this ruling really is a harbinger, and a profoundly alarming one, at that.

Lee Kovarsky: THE SUPREME COURTS TdA OPINION IS TERRIFYING. Not because its wrong, although it is, but because of how comfortable the Court seems in abusing authority to get to what it must see as an institutionally desirable outcome.

What About Boasbergs Contempt Proceeding?

The Justice Department filed a snotty notice of the Supreme Courts ruling on the Alien Enemies Act to Judge Boasberg and asked him to end his inquiry into whether the Trump administration violated his order blocking the deportations and should be held in contempt. Boasbergs initial response did not tip his hand on the contempt proceedings. The Supreme Court did Boasberg no favors in depriving him of jurisdiction, but that alone should not be enough  in theory  to end the contempt proceeding.

DOJ Is Now Trumps Personal Law Firm

The NYT has a pretty good rundown on how President Trump via Attorney General Pam Bondi is grinding down Justice Department attorneys. Its written from the point of view of DOJ lawyers caught in the squeeze between their ethical obligations and threats to their careers.

I Will Not Be Bullied

Fired U.S. pardon attorney Liz Oyer testified Monday at a shadow hearing held by congressional Democrats  but only after DOJ warned her not to testify and dispatched armed U.S. special marshals to her home to deliver the message.

Photo Of The Day

In case you missed it, acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin gave the keynote address last month at an event attended by some of Jan. 6 seditionists who are appealing their convictions, Mother Jones reports:

ONGOING: Trumps Attack On Big Law

NYT: One of Mr. Trumps advisers has been in touch with [Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft] to suggest that it sign a deal in which it would offer tens of millions of dollars in pro bono legal services to causes that the Trump administration supports.

DC Circuit: We Cant Overturn SCOTUS Precedent

More on yesterdays big decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the fired members of two independent agencies: Cathy Harris of the Merit Systems Protection Board and Gwynne Wilcox of the National Labor Relations Board.

Maine Is On The Frontline Of Trumps Blue State Jihad

In the Trump administrations ongoing bullying of Maine over trans athletes, the state is now suing the federal government over the Department of Agricultures move to freeze funding for the state, threatening the provision of school lunches.

The Destruction: Refugees And Fluoride Edition

Citing drastic government funding cuts, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Migration and Refugee Services, the largest refugee resettlement agency in the world, is ending its century-old program of resettling refugees fleeing war or persecution, the WaPo reports.

RFK Jr. is directing the CDC to change its recommendation supporting fluoride in drinking water.

REVERSAL: The National Park Service restored its original webpage on the Underground Railroad that included a previously deleted photo of Harriet Tubman.

DOGE Watch

DOGE will be able to access personal information of millions of union workers at the Education Department and OPM under a new order from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

N.C. Supreme Court Intervenes In Election Case

The North Carolina Supreme Court paused a lower court order that would has the potential to reverse the outcome of the closely-watched and still unresolved 2024 election to the high court. Justice Allison Riggs and the State Election Board had filed an appeal seeking the stay.

Couldnt Happen To A Nicer Guy

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman has agreed to give up his law license for three years over his repeated misconduct during his Big Lie-adjacent review of the states 2020 election for GOP lawmakers eager to find election fraud.

In Defense of Temporary Obsessions

From a delightful little essay by Ankita Shah: In a world that wants mastery or monetisation as the outcome of every fleeting interest, temporary obsessions are little rebellions. Their purpose is to restore order in the playground that is your life.

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We recently published a list of 15 Stocks with Buy Ratings that Hedge Funds Love. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) stands against other stocks with buy ratings that hedge funds love.

The U.S. stock market has been in chaos ever since President Trump announced his intent to increase tariffs on the U.S.s trading partners. On April 2, 2025, the President officially presented the new tariff rates, calling them reciprocal tariffs. Since the presentation, the value of the U.S. stock market has started plunging. Though these tariffs have led to bloodbaths in many exchanges across the globe, the impact is heavy in the U.S. market where it originated.

China, one of the largest trading partners of the U.S., retaliated against the new tariff by slapping a 34% levy on U.S. goods, thus igniting a global trade war. The result? A $9 trillion wipeout in U.S. equity markets, according to CNBC. Experts are calling it the worst weekly performance since the COVID-19 crash.

READ ALSO: Fridays 10 Worst Performing Stocks.

Retail investors are scrambling for the exits to protect their investments. However, hedge funds are quietly loading up on bargains. Analysts are perceiving an opportunity in the turmoil, and institutional investors are using the downturns to pepper their portfolios with high-conviction stocks at fire-sale prices. Right now, their buy lists are flashing green. They do not back the stocks unquestioningly, however, they look at the fundamentals, pricing power, and growth trends of the stocks to estimate their ability to outlast the storm.

If there is one thing we can learn from history, it is that markets often make their most significant rebounds after their steepest declines. When discussing the significance of virtues like patience and calmness in an investor during turmoil, a billionaire investor quoted a 19th-century poem: If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs yours is the Earth and everything in it. His point? Panic is expensive. On the other hand, opportunity can be priceless when accumulating institutional interest signals to investors where to look.

This brings us to the heart of our article today. Combining hedge fund filings, analyst upgrades, and real-time market data, we have uncovered 15 stocks with Buy ratings, which could potentially refine your portfolio. Top hedge funds are piling into these stocks, making them more appealing to investors interested in generating income.

But dont just take our word for it. History has given us a few examples to consider before making investment decisions. For instance, the 2020 pandemic crash is a prime example of how hedge fund portfolios can be better performers than the market index. Following the crash, hedge fund-backed stocks outperformed the market indexes by 14% in 2021. It indicates that institutional conviction can be louder than the markets noise.
The sign outside the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on Oct. 5, 2020. (Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline)

Health officials announced Monday that Colorados second case of measles in 2025 was confirmed in an infant in Denver  and warned people who visited the Denver Health emergency room on Sunday, April 6 that they might have been exposed.

The confirmation came one week after officials announced a separate measles case in Pueblo, marking the first time in at least 12 years that the state has confirmed two active measles cases at the same time.

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The infections come amid an alarming rise in measles outbreaks nationwide, including several clusters in west Texas and neighboring states that have caused at least two deaths of unvaccinated children. Falling rates of vaccination, fueled by anti-vaccine conspiracy theories like those spread by newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have preceded many of those outbreaks.

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In a press release, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said the Denver case was confirmed in an unvaccinated Denver infant under one year old, who had recently traveled to Chihuahua, Mexico. Children are recommended to receive their first dose of the combined measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine at between 12 and 15 months old.

Infants under 12 months are especially vulnerable to measles because they are typically too young to be vaccinated, Dr. Rachel Herlihy, Colorados deputy chief medical officer and state epidemiologist, said in a statement. This case is a stark reminder that families traveling internationally should delay unnecessary travel or talk to their health care providers about early MMR vaccination for infants, especially when visiting areas with known measles outbreaks.

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The World Health Organization has linked several reported measles cases in Mexico to the Texas outbreak. The Pueblo resident infected with measles last month, an unvaccinated adult, had also recently traveled to Mexico, CDPHE officials said.

Measles is a highly contagious and often severe disease that causes symptoms including fever, cough and a characteristic rash. Cases in the U.S. plummeted following the introduction of a vaccine in the 1960s, and the recommended two doses of the MMR vaccine provide about 97% protection against infection.

Colorado had the nations sixth-lowest rate of MMR vaccine coverage for kindergarteners in the 2023-24 school year, with an estimated only 88.3% of kindergarten students vaccinated, according to federal data. While state law requires K-12 students to receive the MMR vaccine and five others, it allows for broad exemptions on medical or religious grounds.

People who visited the Denver Health Emergency Department between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on April 6 may have been exposed to measles, CDPHE officials said. People who were exposed should monitor for symptoms for at least three weeks after exposure and avoid public gatherings, especially if they are unvaccinated.

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COLBERT COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT)  Four months after the first arrest was made in the case of a Florence woman who went missing in 2020, a second person was arrested.

According to court documents, Paron Que Dillard was indicted on March 7, for abuse of a corpse.

The indictment states that Dillard disposed of, dumped or abandoned the body of Courtney Staggs in a wooded, rural or secluded area in Colbert County.

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In January 2025, Orlando Javier Whiteside was charged with abuse of a corpse in connection to Staggss case.

Staggs was reported missing by the Florence Police Department in August 2020. In November 2020, her body was found by two hunters in a wooded area near Jarmon Lane in Leighton, Alabama.

In 2023, her remains were sent to the FBI Forensics Lab in Quantico, Virginia, to be identified. They were identified in May 2024.

This case is still under investigation by the Colbert County Sheriffs Office.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
Apr. 8POLK COUNTY, Minn.  A section of Polk County Road 9 was closed most of Monday, April 7, after law enforcement shot someone they were pursuing.

The driver, accused of fleeing from law enforcement, was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. They were the sole occupant of the vehicle, and no identifying information has been released.

The shooting occurred at 10:07 a.m., west of the intersection of 350th Avenue Southwest, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

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The area from 350th Avenue Southwest to 360th Avenue Southwest was closed to traffic until 10:30 p.m., during which time the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension completed its scene investigation.

A release sent to the media says there is no risk to the public.

Other agencies involved in the response were the Crookston Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, Minnesota State Patrol, Marshall County Sheriff's Office and Crookston Area Ambulance.
WASHINGTON  Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is leading efforts in the Senate to ban government workers from engaging in union duties while on the clock, arguing the proposal is crucial to ensure taxpayer dollars are not used for partisan activities.

Lee introduced the No Union Time on the Taxpayers Dime Act on Monday, seeking to prohibit public sector union-related activities such as organizing or handling cases related to the Federal Labor Relations Authority while on official time. The bill comes as President Donald Trump is looking to rein in some government union activities, such as collective bargaining rights.

President Trump is taking strong steps to rein in overpowered public sector unions, which even Democrat leaders like FDR thought shouldnt exist in the first place, Lee said in a statement. American taxpayers shouldnt have to fund union organizing, and federal employees should be working full time for the American people when theyre on the clock.

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Under current law, union employees can engage in representational activities such as promotional procedures, establishing flexible work hours, representing members in disciplinary actions, and more, according to the American Federation of Government Employees.

However, union representatives are not permitted to use official time to conduct union-specific business. Those activities, including membership solicitation and elections of labor organization officials, can be done only when the employee is in a non-duty status.

Still, Lee and groups that have endorsed his proposal say there are certain activities that union members can engage in while on official time that are a waste of taxpayer resources. Those duties include lobbying Congress on legislation related to unions and handling union representation functions while being paid by federal agencies.

Federal government unions are heavily involved in party politics, National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix said in a statement. They stage massive political protests, and contribute large amounts of money and manpower to influence elections. Employees of these unions should not have their salaries paid by American taxpayers.

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Lee cited a 2016 report by the Office of Personnel Management that showed federal employees spent 3.6 million hours on union-related businesses, costing taxpayers more than $177 million. That number dropped to 2.6 million hours, costing $134.9 million, during the first Trump administration, according to Lee.

However, data has not been collected since 2019 due to a lack of requirements, making it unclear how much time and money has been spent on union activities in recent years.

A similar bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va. Its not yet clear when either bill may be scheduled for a vote.

Taxpayers shouldnt be footing the bill for federal employees to conduct union business instead of fulfilling their official duties, Cline said in a statement. Ending official time is a commonsense step to ensure taxpayer dollars are used responsibly and to increase accountability across the federal workforce. Public funds should serve the American people, not private union interests.
The Senate voted largely along party lines Monday to advance Elbridge Colby, President Trumps controversial pick to serve as the Defense Department under secretary for policy, overcoming the private concerns of several Republican senators about Colbys past statements.

The chamber voted 53-39 to limit debate on the nominee.

Notably, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), an outspoken advocate for projecting American military strength throughout the world and supporting NATO allies, voted to advance Colbys nomination, despite defense hawks concerns about his views.

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Several Democrats voted for the nominee, including Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sens. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), two lawmakers from swing states who also sit on the Armed Services panel.

Colby was passed out of the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month in a closed-door vote.

The committee didnt announce its vote tally, but its safe to assume that all Republicans on the panel voted for him since they hold a narrow 14-13 majority on the panel and Democrats had expressed strong opposition to his nomination.

Colby received a boost from Vice President Vance, who introduced him at his nomination hearing last month, referring informally to his friend Bridge.

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Republican senators grilled the nominee last month over his past statements questioning the strategic importance of projecting military power into Europe and the Middle East as well as his views about whether the U.S. is ready to fully commit to a military defense of Taiwan.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a member of the Armed Services panel, challenged Colby over his past statement that if the United States had to choose between hoping to contain a nuclear Iran and preventing Iran with military force from getting nukes it should tolerate a nuclear Iran and try to contain it.

Thats certainly not my view, but more important, its not President Trumps policy, Cotton warned.

Colby pledged to Cotton that he would provide the president with credible and realistic military options to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear arms.

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Colby told Freddy Gray, the host of The Spectators Americano podcast, last year that the United States should reduce its support of Ukraine and Europe to focus on the threat posed by China to Taiwan.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations raised concerns about Colbys view of the role of the American military in the Middle East and U.S. policy toward Iran in a Feb. 5 letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Reed.

Several Republican senators had serious concerns about Colbys nomination, a source familiar with the vetting process told The Hill.

Colby, however, did well at his confirmation hearing, providing articulate and detailed answers to senators questions and nimbly reassuring GOP senators about their concerns.

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When asked by Cotton why he had seemed to soften his views about the defense of Taiwan, Colby assured the senator that Taiwan is very important to the United States, even though he argued its not an existential interest.

He asserted that the dramatic deterioration of the military balance between China and the United States had merited a recalculation of the cost of defending the island and warned of a lack of preparedness on our part to fight China on a grand scale in its own backyard.

Colby also reassured Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) that he views NATO as an important alliance, even though he believes it has to adapt.

At his hearing, Colby pointed out that West Germany was able to field 12 active divisions in 1988 while now it cant put a single division together.

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The Wall Street Journal in a March 3 editorial called Colby a lightning rod in the fight between the GOPs peace-through-strength wing and its retreat-from-the-world faction.

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Grain bins on a farm near Prairie City, Iowa. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Iowa senators voted Monday to increase the floor and ceiling of the fund that pays Iowa farmers in the event that their grain buyer goes broke.

Sen. Mike Zimmer, D-DeWitt, called the bill a much needed improvement to the current grain indemnity policy.

What makes me most anxious about it is that with every day tariffs coming on, every day our markets are being closed for our farmers and their commodities, Zimmer said. The ability for our grain elevators to store this grain while they continue to look for other markets is very, very important.

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Senate File 608 would increase the minimum of the grain indemnity fund to $5 million and the maximum to $12 million. This is an increase from the current parameters, which are set at $3 million and $8 million, though it is not as great an increase as a bill proposed in the Iowa House of Representatives. The House bill would increase the funds range to $8 million and $16 million.

SF 608 would also include grain purchased under credit-sale contract under the definition of purchased grain meaning grain purchased on a credit sale would be eligible for the same indemnity protections.

The House version of the bill would also include credit-sale contracts, but would reimburse those contracts at a rate of 70% of the grain purchased.

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Sen. Kerry Gruenhagen, R-Walcott, added a minor clarifying amendment to the bill, which passed.

The bill advances after a vote of 39-8.

House File 508 has yet to be debated on the House floor.

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Apr. 7MORGANTOWN  The House bill that would strip the voting rights from the two faculty representatives, the classified staff representative and the student body representative on the WVU Board of Governors advanced out of the Senate Government Organization Committee Monday morning and heads to the Senate floor.

HB 3279 contains several elements. It mandates that one BOG member for WVU and West Virginia State University  the two land-grant institutions  represent agriculture, forestry or the related sciences.

It raises the number of gubernatorial appointees for WVU's BOG from 12 to 15 and requires one of them to be the agriculture /forestry representative, one to represent WVU Tech and one to represent Potomac State.

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It raises total WVU BOG membership from 17 to 19.

For West Virginia State, it requires one of nine gubernatorial appointees to be the agriculture /forestry representative.

A three-year West Virginia residency requirement for a BOG member to be eligible to be elected chair was removed from the bill.

And for WVU and Marshall and all other institutions, the bill makes the faculty representative, the student representative and the classified staff representative nonvoting advisory members. For WVU specifically, it makes the Extension service faculty representative also a non-voting member.

Because the agenda was packed, committee chair Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, limited time for public testimony. WVU BOG faculty representative Lesley Cottrell spoke briefly about the right to vote, saying, "We've taken that responsibility seriously."

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No one knows why those voting rights are removed in this bill, she said, and she asked to have them restored.

Discussion was minimal. Sen. Anne Charnock, R-Kanawha, said, "I just think the optics are horrible." The Senate has been working to ensure people have the right to vote and this takes away that right from BOG members.

By way of background, debate was more thorough  if futile  in the House.

Travis Mollohan, WVU's associate vice president for government relations, told the Higher Education Subcommittee that first considered the bill that the four members have had voting power since 1989.

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They represent 25, 000 students, 2, 000 staff and 3, 500 faculty. Board members don't always agree, but they bring valuable insights to board discussions.

And Cottrell appeared before the full Education committee. "We're all trying to think about how this would affect us, " she said.

WVU didn't ask for this, she said, and no one knows why it's in this bill. "It's like being at the adult table and now being asked to sit at the kiddie table, even though the family asked you to sit at the adult table."

While BOG votes are typically unanimous and represent a consensus, she said, what they vote on has been shaped and modified by the voices of those proposed to have their votes taken away in this bill.

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"Why and why now, " she asked.

While bill supporters said those members would still have a voice even without a vote, others disagreed.

Delegate Lori Dittman, R-Braxton, said, "Faculty, students and staff are the heartbeat and soul of our institutions."

And Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, said, "I don't know why we are doing this. I don't know what the purpose of this is  to silence the voice of faculty and students."

The committee vote was 15-9 to advance it to the House floor. Monongalia County Republicans Geno Chiarelli and Joe Statler both voted in favor of the bill. But they reversed their votes on the House floor, where it passed 62-35.

On the floor, all Mon, Marion and Preston delegates voted against it except George Street, R-Preston.
The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Elbridge Colby, President Trumps lightning rod pick to serve as the Pentagons under secretary for policy, despite the private concerns of several Republican senators about Colbys past statements and views.

The chamber voted 54-45 to confirm the nominee, who will hold the No. 3-ranking job at the Pentagon and be in charge of briefing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on all defense policy matters.

Notably, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), an outspoken advocate for projecting American military strength throughout the world and supporting NATO allies, voted against Colby.

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McConnell voiced concern about what he called Colbys desire to prioritize U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific over those in Europe, Ukraine and the Middle East.

Abandoning Ukraine and Europe and downplaying the Middle East to prioritize the Indo-Pacific is not a clever geopolitical chess move. It is geostrategic self-harm that emboldens our adversaries and drives wedges between America and our allies for them to exploit, he said in a statement explaining his vote.

McConnell had voted to advance Colby by voting for a procedural motion Monday afternoon, as he has voted to advance other controversial Trump nominees before later opposing them on the final confirmation vote.

Several Democrats voted for the nominee, including Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sens. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), swing-state moderates who sit on the Armed Services panel.

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The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced Colbys nomination last week in a closed-door vote.

Colby received a boost at his confirmation hearing from Vice President Vance, who called Bridge a friend when he introduced him to the Armed Services panel.

Republican senators grilled the nominee last month over his past statements about the strategic importance of projecting military power into Europe and the Middle East. They also questioned him about his views on whether the U.S. should fully commit to the defense of Taiwan.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a member of the panel, warned Colby that his previously stated view that that U.S. should tolerate and attempt to contain a nuclear-armed Iran was contrary to Trumps policy.

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Colby pledged he would provide the president with credible and realistic military options to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear arms.

Several Republican senators had serious concerns about Colbys nomination, a source familiar with the vetting process told The Hill.

The Wall Street Journal in a March 3 editorial called Colby a lightning rod in the fight between the GOPs peace-through-strength wing and its retreat-from-the-world faction.

The Journal described him as the intellectual front man for a wing of the political right that argues the U.S. should retreat from commitments in Europe and the Middle East.

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Colby told Freddy Gray, the host of The Spectators Americano podcast, last year that the United States should reduce its support of Ukraine and Europe to focus on the threat posed by China to Taiwan.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations raised serious concerns about Colbys views of U.S. policy toward the Middle East.

The group questioned Colbys views of former President Obamas nuclear deal with Iran and his remarks to conservative media host Tucker Carlson that a military strike to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon lacked a clear connection to American interests.

Colby performed well at his confirmation hearing last month by offering nimble responses to senators questions and making efforts to settle their concerns.

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He assured Cotton, a leading defense hawk, that he thinks Taiwan is very important to the United States.

He also told Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) that he views NATO as an important alliance, even though he believes it has to adapt.

Colby distanced himself from two controversial Trump administration officials: Michael DiMino, the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for the Middle East, and Andrew Byers, the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia.

He told Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) that he did not choose DiMino for the job and asserted that DiMinos views did not reflect Trumps policy in the Middle East.

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DiMino has alarmed pro-Israel advocates by arguing that the U.S. doesnt face a vital or existential threats in the region.

And Colby told Wicker that he did not share Byerss view that thinking about China through the lens of deterrence is wrong.

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Global Tactical Metals has signed a definitive share purchase agreement with Critical Defense Metals, a privately held Canadian company, to acquire 100% of its issued and outstanding shares.

The acquisition includes two key properties in Ontario. The Firstbrook Property, near New Liskeard, encompasses 50 claims over approximately 1,091ha. The Fox River Area Property, located north-west of Hearst, features 13 claims.

Under the acquisition terms, Global Tactical will make an initial non-refundable cash payment of C$30,000 ($21,219), issue 3.5 million common shares and grant a 2.5% gross revenue royalty on the sale of hydrogen, helium or any other minerals from these properties.

It also retains the right to repurchase this royalty for C$5m at any time.

The transaction is expected to close by 30 April 2025, pending customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including from the Canadian Securities Exchange.

This acquisition follows the rebranding from Global Defence Metals Corp to Global Tactical Metals Corp in February 2025, with its trading symbol remaining 'MONI'.

In January, Cumberland Resources Nickel Corp had changed its name to Global Defence Metals Corp, with the trading symbol changing from 'LAND' to 'MONI'.

Last year, in December, Cumberland Resources Nickel announced the staking of 30 contiguous, unpatented mining claims in Darling Township, Ontario.

Together, these claims cover an area of approximately 600ha and run parallel to the 44 claims secured in November 2024, thus amassing over 1,400ha in Darling Township.

Situated 300km east of Toronto, Darling Township benefits from hydroelectric power, accessible road networks and proximity to skilled workforce.

As the company bolsters its portfolio in Darling Township, it is focused on identifying and tapping the value of critical minerals, with a particular emphasis on antimony, which has significant strategic importance in sectors such as renewable energy, defence and electronics.

"Global Tactical Metals agrees to acquire Critical Defense Metals" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.




A small but growing number of Senate Democrats are using their power to gum up the works as Donald Trumps administration continues to flout the orders of federal judges and cut programs which its critcs argue the presidents appointees lack the constitutional standing to end.

Though the minority party lacks the numbers to actually block any of the presidents political appointments without the support of several Republican defections, several senators are signaling that they plan to slow down business in the chamber unless the White House starts listening to them.

Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut was the latest member to join the ranks of a small number of senators who have vowed to place holds on the nominations of Trump appointees under the purview of their committees; the Democratic senator sits on several committees, including Armed Services, Veterans Affairs, Judiciary and Homeland Security. His hold is an informal notification of his intent to block the unanimous consent process through which most lower-level appointees are confirmed  to get around it, the Senate Republican majority would need to schedule individual votes on each nomination.

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Blumenthal told Axios that he was planning to place holds on all nominations under his committee jurisdictions, increasing the total number of existing nominations under Democratic holds past the current total of around 300. The Independent reached out to his office Tuesday for further comment.

Senator Richard Blumenthal was the latest Democrat to announce plans to place holds on Donald Trumps nominees on Monday. (AP)

His action expands on a previous announcement from Ruben Gallego, Blumenthals freshman colleague on the Veterans Affairs committee. Gallego, in a video announcement released April 1, told viewers that he was placing a hold on nominations to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) until the Trump administration reversed the firings of tens of thousands of employees caught up in DOGE-ordered force reductions across the agency.

The Associated Press reported in March that top VA officials had been informed about a plan to reduce the agencys size to pre-Covid levels, before the often-beleaguered system was expanded under the Biden administration. Even some Republicans have raised alarms regarding the effects the staff reductions will have on VA services, while Democrats accuse the president of wanting to privatize the agency altogether.

Im concerned that theyre trying to cut 88,000 employees from the VA, Gallego, from Arizona, said in his video statement. Theres no plan [for] what this means, how this affects services. We actually need to be hiring more people, not firing people.

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Theres no way theyre gonna cut that many people and have it not affect veterans services, Gallego said. So Im going to do everything I can to try and stop that.

Senator Ruben Gallego announced his intention to place holds on VA nominees in early April (AFP via Getty Images)

Brian Schatz, a Democratic senator from Hawaii and (like Gallego) one of the caucuss younger members, was more blunt in his reasoning for putting holds on around 50 nominees in an interview with Axios.

"Their lawlessness is escalating and they are intentionally destroying the economy, and so I don't think we should make anything easy going forward," said the senator. His comment follows a declaration from the Trump administration that it could not retrieve a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, with various explanations given. Some of Schatzs holds are over nominees to the State Department, which in coordination with DHS has worked to cancel student visas for hundreds of international students since January.

None of the Democratic efforts to place holds on nominations will set the Trump administration back indefinitely, but the combined block potentially gives the Senate GOP more work to do while also possibly slowing or hindering the implementation of policy measures at various federal agencies.

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Senator Tommy Tuberville pursued a months-long hold on all military promotions at the Pentagon during the Biden administration as the conservative Alabama lawmaker sought to force the Department of Defense to cease funding travel for service members seeking to receive abortion care. His hold eventually grew to affect more than 400 service member promotions and in December of 2023 he finally relented after sharp pressure from colleagues on both sides of the aisle and allegations that he was damaging military readiness for political purposes.

Democrats in the Senate in particular are facing growing pressure from their base to show greater signs of resistance in the face of Trumps second-term agenda after a group of Democrats led by the partys minority leader, Chuck Schumer, voted to break a filibuster and allow Republicans to pass legislation to fund the government without securing a deal to reign in Elon Musks DOGE effort or halting cuts to non-defense spending.

Schumer, the partys longtime leader in the upper chamber, is facing historically high disapproval ratings and in a recent poll lagged behind Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a House member from New York and a rising star in the party, in a hypothetical primary matchup for his own seat.
The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing oversees nursing homes in the state of Iowa. (Photo via Getty Images; logo courtesy of the State of Iowa)

The Iowa Senate passed a bill clarifying some parts of the process for the states review of immediate jeopardy violations at Iowa nursing homes, but did not approve changes suggested by Democratic senators to increase oversight and regulation over care facilities in the state.

House File 309, passed 39-9 Tuesday, was described by the bills floor manager Sen. Kara Warme, R-Ames, as a small, technical correction to a law passed in 2024 on Iowa nursing home oversight. In 2024, the Legislature approved a measure requiring the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, the state entity charged with nursing home oversight, to allow nursing homes to review potential citations for substandard care and placing residents in immediate jeopardy of serious injury or death.

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During the review process with DIAL, facilities would be able to provide additional context and evidence before the state agency would make a decision on issuing a citation. Under previous law, nursing homes were able to provide additional context after citations were issued.

The legislation sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds Tuesday would clarify that the review process would happen for each instance of a deficient practice identified by the department for which a citation may be issued, and that the review process only applies to nursing facilities and not all health facilities. However, advocates for Iowa seniors and other critics said the measure, within the larger discussion of the 2024 law, could conflict with federal law or lead to fewer citations for legitimate cases of substandard care.

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While the measure is a relatively minor change to Iowas laws on nursing homes, the bill is also currently the only legislation dealing with nursing home regulation to survive past the second funnel deadline of the 2025 legislative session. Using the legislation as a vehicle for a larger discussion on nursing home inspections and care, Senate Democrats introduced four amendments they argued would help prevent resident abuse and neglect at Iowa care facilities.

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Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner introduced two amendments, both of which were ruled out of order, one of which would allocate $600,000 in funding for DIAL to hire 30 new inspectors, increase penalties for certain regulatory violations by facilities and give DIAL a shorter time frame to respond to complaints.

The bill is currently written is lopsided in favor of those who run nursing homes, when those we should be protecting are our seniors, Weiner said. And this amendment balances and remedies that.

The other amendment proposed a ban on private equity funds ability to acquire Iowa nursing homes. While speaking on the measures, Weiner referenced several Iowa Capital Dispatch reports on violations that occurred in care facilities, including a case in Keota, where a resident at a care facility died from complications resulting from a fall after being found lying with bleeding head wound but not being transferred to a hospital until 15 days later. She also cited a case in Wellman, where a nursing home worker found a woman lying on the floor with a big goose egg on the side of her head but was put to bed instead of being provided medical assistance.

These are not just awful individual stories, theyre part of an incredibly problematic data set, Weiner said. According to a federal database, Iowa is one of the worst performing states for nursing home violations, with triple the violations of what would be expected for our states population.

Two other amendments, from Democratic Sens. Tony Bisignano of Des Moines and Molly Donahue of Marion, proposed stopping care facilities from being able to ban residents and their guardians from installing video cameras in residents rooms, and from allowing nursing home residents to also submit context and evidence to DIAL during the review process. These measures were also not accepted by the Republican-controlled Senate.

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Three of the four amendments were bills introduced by Senate Democrats in early March as pieces of a 14-bill package on Iowa nursing homes. None of these measures survived the first funnel deadline. Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, criticized Republicans for rejecting the measures as non-germane or irrelevant to include in the legislation, as the majority party has previously passed strike-all amendments on the floor rewriting the entire content of bills.

We were told that the Republican Party is sympathetic to the plight of Iowa seniors who are facing unbelievable horrors in these facilities  that their safety is a top priority, Wahls said. These amendments didnt need to have their germaneness questioned. These amendments would have materially improved legislation and created important protections for Iowa seniors who live in these facilities and whose families count on these facilities to provide these services.  So I dont want to hear it that these amendments werent logical, werent connected to the legislation. We had an opportunity to hear from the public on these bills, and the Republican majority decided not to give any of those three bills, those three amendments, a hearing.

Warme said the bill was a technical fix of the established policy for addressing situations involving residents in immediate jeopardy, with the goal of problem solving and improving care in our nursing facilities. She thanked Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, for saying many facilities and workers are trying to do their best.

I agree with that, and the way that others would describe their amendments, youd think that these nursing facilities are staffed by monsters, Warme said. I appreciate the health care workers, nurses and CNAs, who are doing so much to care our elderly in these facilities.

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NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KETK)  In March, Stephen F. Austin State University students won several awards at the Society for Advancement of Management International Business Conference in Tallahassee, Fla.

City of Lone Star issues mandatory curfew, bus route changes

These students competed in categories such as business pitch, extemporaneous speech and case competition. The chapter won first place for Campus Chapter Performance in the large division.

Courtesy of Stephen F. Austin State University

The undergraduate team included SAM chapter president Josselyn Acosta, management senior from Nacogdoches; Jaret Acosta, Josselyns brother, senior management major from Diboll, Issac Velasco, first-year banking major from Chireno and executive vice president and management senior from Nacogdoches; Leo Carreon.

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The graduate team included Lydia Sattler, business graduate student from Morgan Hill, Calif., and Zala Ule, business graduate student from Koper, Slovenia.

Kilgore College renames dance studio to honor Rangerettes first choreographer

Additionally, Josselyn received the National Outstanding Student Award. Harden also received the Outstanding Advisor Award. Jaret and Sattler each earned the Outstanding Regional Student Award.

Hard work and dedication always pay off, but it is the bridges we build within our organization that truly lift us higher, Josselyn said. A heartfelt thank you to all our SAM members for this incredible achievement, which shines a bright light on our chapter.

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SFAs associate professor of management and marketing and faculty staff advisor Dr. Gina Harden comments on the achievements these students earned through their hark work.

This honor is a testament to the dedication and engagement of our SAM members in recruiting new student members and keeping them active throughout the year, Harden said.

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Shane James Jr., the former U.S. Army officer accused of killing six people in a 2023 multicounty shooting rampage, has been transferred to a state hospital five months after being deemed incompetent to stand trial.

James attorney, Russell Hunt Jr., confirmed the transfer happened last week.

A judge declared James, 35, incompetent last November due to mental health issues, mandating his transfer to a state facility for rehabilitation with the goal of restoring competency so he can be tried.

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If James is not found competent within 120 days, he will remain hospitalized indefinitely.

In Texas, accused criminals can only be hospitalized up to the length of the maximum sentence they would face if convicted. Because James is facing up to life in prison, he could remain institutionalized in perpetuity if never deemed competent to stand trial.

Shane James Jr. attends an Aug. 23, 2024, court hearing. A judge last year deemed him incompetent to stand trial on charges related to a 2023 shooting rampage.

Hunt said he doesnt know how long James rehabilitation might last. He said he expects to receive updates on James status after he is evaluated. (It is standard procedure for attorneys not to receive information until after the completion of such assessments.)

The hospital is required to inform the court whether James has regained competency within 30 days after the initial 120-day treatment period.

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James' siblings told authorities he has a history of mental illness, including schizophrenia, and deteriorated after his discharge from the Army in 2015. In 2018, Austin police placed James in emergency detention due to suicidal thoughts.

James stands accused of killing his parents in Bexar County before driving to Austin, where he allegedly shot and killed four more people and injured three others, including two police officers.

In Travis County, James faces four counts of capital murder, two counts of attempted capital murder, and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Additionally, he faces capital murder charges and three misdemeanor charges in Bexar County, according to jail records.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Shane James Jr., suspect in shooting rampage, moved to state hospital
BLAIR COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ)  In Governor Shapiros proposed 2024-2025 proposed budget plan, $10 million is being allocated to rural Pennsylvania hospitals, and in a visit to Tyrone, his administration spoke on their plan to use that money to help.

This investment will also leverage an additional $25.1 million in federal matching funds, bringing the total support to $35.1 million.

The Shapiro Administration visited Penn Highlands Tyrone to talk about what the proposed money would go towards, including helping EMS personnel with obstetrics care, citing the recent closures of many maternity clinics in the area.

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Moms feeling impacts of Penn Highlands, UPMC labor and delivery closure

We also are working again on the EMS issue, really to make sure that our EMS providers in those communities are well trained in obstetric care because if they have to transport patients farther, we want to make sure theyre comfortable making sure our emergency departments across the state are prepared to handle OB as well, Department of Health Secretary, Dr. Debra Bogen said.

They also say the money would help these hospitals stay open because, without them, officials believe rural communities would fall into ruin. Currently, healthcare professional shortages are most affecting rural communities. In rural areas, there is only one primary care physician for every 522 residents. This is opposed to the 222 residents that primary care physicians in cities are seeing.

We are working on making sure there are, you know, we cant prevent hospital closure. Thats not the role of the department. But we certainly are looking at ways to support hospitals in the future to, to really remain robust, Bogen said.

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Funding rural hospitals would also help the community flourish.

We play a significant role in attracting business and industry to spur economic development. And without hospitals, many small towns would not exist. Having a hospital nearby is a sign of community vitality, Penn Highlands Healthcare Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Trina Abla said.

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Governor Shapiro is also adamant about using the budget to recruit healthcare workers by investing $5 million to expand the Primary Care Loan Repayment Program offering loan repayment for healthcare providers that serve in rural communities.

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Canadian gold mining company New Gold has signed an agreement with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to acquire the remaining 19.9% free cash flow interest in the New Afton copper-gold mine in British Columbia, Canada, for a $300m (C$425.51m) cash payment in return.

The payment will be financed through available cash, borrowings from an existing credit facility and a gold prepayment financing arrangement.

Approximately $100m of the cash payment will be funded through gold prepayment financing.

Under this arrangement, New Gold will deliver a predetermined number of gold ounces over a 12-month term, which represents around 8% of the company's projected consolidated gold production for that period.

This transaction will result in New Gold fully consolidating its free cash flow interest in the mine to 100%.

Global investor Ontario Teachers formed a strategic partnership with New Gold in 2020, acquiring a 46% free cash flow interest in the New Afton mine for $300m upfront.

In 2024, this interest was reduced to 19.9% following a $255m cash payment from New Gold.

Additional terms of the transaction include the termination of all existing agreements related to Ontario Teachers' interest in New Afton, such as the right to a $20m cash payment on a change of control of New Gold before 31 January 2026.

The transaction's closing, expected at the beginning of May, is subject to customary conditions and does not require shareholder approval.

New Gold anticipates increased upside potential from ongoing exploration activities at the New Afton mine, including a $17m investment in 2025 focused on the K-Zone.

New Gold president and CEO Patrick Godin said: "This is an excellent transaction allowing New Gold to fully consolidate the free cash flow exposure to one of Canada's highest quality gold/copper assets, which we already own and operate. This transaction allows us to grow in an exceptional location with no diligence or integration risk, and with no equity dilution to our shareholders.

"With the C-Zone ramp up progressing well, New Afton is on the verge of exceptional production growth and cost improvement that should lead to increased free cash flow generation. Our goal is to maximise this free cash flow generation at the mine, while continuing our exploration programme to extend mine life and create further value for our shareholders and stakeholders. We would also like to thank Ontario Teachers' for their support and partnership over the last five years."

In August 2022, Foran Mining entered into a preliminary agreement for a C$200m investment from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board in the McIlvenna Bay project in eastern Saskatchewan, Canada.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  A 30-year-old woman is being sought by the El Paso County Sheriffs Office in connection with multiple theft cases, the agency said.

On April 4, deputies responded to a theft report at the Burlington store at 13371 Gateway West. Store employees reported that a female suspect had stolen about $135 in merchandise.

Through the course of the investigation, deputies identified the suspect as 30-year-old Ameena Ezzouhairy, the Sheriffs Office said.

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She is also believed to be connected to multiple other theft cases in the City of El Paso, the Sheriffs Office said.

At this time, Ezzouhairy has not been taken into custody.

A criminal warrant has been issued for her arrest for theft of property-shoplifting. Bond has been set at $2,000, the Sheriffs Office said.

The El Paso County Sheriffs Office is urging local business owners and retail employees to remain vigilant and report any sightings of Ezzouhairy to law enforcement immediately.

The El Paso County Sheriffs Office remains committed to safeguarding the community, holding fugitives accountable, and ensuring those who threaten public safety are brought to justice, the Sheriffs Office said.

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GRANBY, Mass. (WWLP)  A grand opening celebration is being held for a new variety store in Granby on Saturday.

StackCart, owned by Bob Sharma told 22News that the new store offers affordable everyday essentials while becoming a convenient go-to spot for the Granby community.

Target to open new store at former Eastfield Mall location

MA: StackCart in Granby

StackCart is located at 77 West State Street in Granby, next to Dunkin and Verizon. The celebration will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with music, free giveaways, complimentary food and refreshments, and 15% off storewide all day.

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.

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)  The Walmart Neighborhood Market at 412 W. Bert Kouns Industrial Loop in Shreveport received the Helen R. Walton Excellence in Community Leadership Award.

Caddo Parish Magnet Mock Trial team wins State, advances to Nationals

According to a press release, the Helen R. Walton Award is an annual program that recognizes facilities that set the standard for being a facility of the community, accomplished through charitable giving, championing philanthropic causes, and volunteering or leading other engagement activities.

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The release added that facilities nominated for this honor align community service with the companys mission to help Walmart associates, customers, and communities live better. Recipients are recognized by their peers and leadership for demonstrating these community champion traits.

Since we opened our doors in 2016, our customers have been wonderful and supportive, said Shreveport Neighborhood Market Store Manager Jaquataye Anderson. We try to give back by being a good community partner. We aim to make a positive difference in the Shreveport community by supporting local nonprofits through donations and volunteerism, and this recognition only strengthens our resolve.

Easter at the Park returning to Shreveport

According to the release, the Shreveport Walmart Neighborhood Market supports several local causes, including food insecurity, healthcare, and wildlife conservation. It has provided over $7,000 in grants and volunteer hours to local organizations such as CHRISTUS Foundation, Childrens Miracle Network, and Chimp Haven. It also provides drinks and snacks to local law enforcement in appreciation for keeping the Shreveport community safe.

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The release added that the store donated 35,744 pounds of food to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana and organized a volunteer event for its associates to help address the regions hunger crisis.

Our strong relationship with Walmart and its associates makes a tremendous difference in our efforts to fight hunger together, said Martha Marak, executive director of the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana. Thanks to Walmarts annual Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign, we are able to provide even more food and resources for those facing food insecurity here in Northwest Louisiana.

Source: Walmart Source: Walmart Source: Walmart Source: Walmart Source: Walmart Source: Walmart Source: Walmart Source: Walmart Source: Walmart Source: Walmart

Click here to learn more about the 2025 Helen R. Walton Award winners.

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(NewsNation)  Despite volatility in the stock market, those in the shrimp industry are welcoming President Donald Trumps tariffs as they believe they will drive up the price of imported seafood.

John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, said in a statement that for generations, family businesses have been unable to compete with foreign producers.

We are grateful for the Trump Administrations actions today, which will preserve American jobs, food security, and our commitment to ethical production, Williams said.

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What is Black Monday, and why do Wall Street experts fear another?

Louisiana Shrimp Association President Acy Cooper told NewsNation Now on Monday that businesses cant keep losing jobs.

Cooper says after being dumped on for 20 years, the tariffs are a glimmer of hope.

We welcome Trumps tariffs, Cooper said. We back him 100% on this.  We agree that it may hurt for a little while, but its going to get better. It has to get better for us.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation.
Agua Dulce, Texas  From 2010 to 2020, the population of rural America declined, marking the first decade-long loss in history, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That's presented a problem for rural schools with limited resources.

But a community in south Texas has figured out a solution: five schools across four counties in several different school districts have teamed up to share speciality opportunities among students.

"We looked across the street, we looked at close neighbors and said, 'What are you guys doing well and what can we take advantage of as a school district?'" said Michael Gonzales, executive director of Rural Schools Innovation Zone, a nonprofit that runs the initiative.

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Freshman Juliana Farias travels almost an hour to and from different high schools for a shot at her dream of becoming a teacher. At 14 years old, Farias is already student teaching in a kindergarten class. By the end of high school, she'll have earned an associate's degree.

"It's a great opportunity and I'm very lucky to have it," Farias said.

Across the five schools, there are a dozen specialties. Most students graduate with a trade certification and associate's degree at no extra cost. The goal is to avoid consolidating into a larger central campus like other rural districts across the country.

More than 7 million students across the U.S. attend rural schools, and educators from 46 states have traveled to south Texas for a look at the program.

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Another student, 17-year-old Amber Garcia, travels about an hour each day to a different school district that offers technical education in welding, construction and electrical careers.

"The fact that they give us those programs helps me, gives me faith and makes me believe I'm gonna get out of here and I'm gonna do good things with my life," Garcia said.

Inside the booming, bourbon-driven barrel business | 60 Minutes

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When entrepreneur Dawn V. Carr decided to donate tens of thousands of dollars to the then-forthcoming National Museum of African American History and Culture in the 2010s, she did so with the hope that within its walls she would see the stories of people who looked like her told in their totality, pulled from the sidelines and given the space they deserve.

"When you don't see yourself in these places, in these spaces, that often, you can feel like you're not part of it. You are on the side. You are relegated," she told Salon in a phone interview, adding: "It's just the point where you have a space where you can do that  that was always really important to me."

For Carr, the completed NMAAHC accomplished that. Nearly 10 years removed from its 2016 opening, she said she still feels the overwhelming sense of "appreciation" for her ancestors' strength and resilience when walking through the museum's "Door of No Return," meant to evoke the final stopping point on the West African coast before enslaved Africans began their forced journey across the Atlantic during the Middle Passage. But following an executive order from President Donald Trump targeting the Smithsonian Institution, Carr said she's disappointed that it now faces the prospect of having to change its telling of Black history to comply with a mandate that labels it divisive.

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"To somehow feel like there are parts of who we are as America that we somehow can't talk about, I think, is more of an insult to America than anything else," she said.

"You can't make America great again if you don't acknowledge all the things that America is," Carr added.

The NMAAHC was one of three Smithsonian Institution museums named in President Donald Trump's late March executive order seeking to curb the Institution's independence and eliminate what the president deems its improper inclusion of divisive ideologies, particularly around race. Supporters like Carr and museum visitors have rejected Trump's claims that the museums are divisive and anti-American. Some public historians, left reeling from DOGE-spearheaded cuts to federal humanities and arts funding, view the order as an affront to the scholarship and nuance that undergirds the institutions' evidence-based tellings of American history.

"It's sickening, it's terrifying, it's frustrating to have spent decades and [have] everything that my profession and my colleagues have understood and known as truth be attacked," Leah Glaser, a professor of history and public history at Central Connecticut State University, told Salon in a phone interview.

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The order, she argues, displays a "fundamental misunderstanding" of how museums operate and their purpose and represents an attack on people's ability to have a dialogue and think critically for themselves, without the influence of politicians and media.

Glaser said she predicts she and other historians will have to watch their vocabulary going forward as the Trump administration continues to apply financial pressure on them to conform to his policies. Other than that, however, she said she can't see historians at the Smithsonian or elsewhere capitulate to the president's demands because of the breadth of scholarship and knowledge uncovered over the last fifty years alone, much of which flies in the face of the narrative the order seeks to push.

"I still don't see how it's possible to return to something that never was," Glaser said.

"Myself and [my] colleagues, we're still trying to process and figure out how to go forward," she added. "But I think that the only way we can go forward is to do what we have been trained to do."

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Called "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," Trump's order accuses the Smithsonian of having recently come "under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology." It instructs the vice president to make sure the institution adheres to the new policies, including by "seeking to remove improper ideology from such properties," and strips funding from exhibits or programs that "degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy."

The order singled out an exhibit in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, in part, for stating that race is a "human invention," referenced a long-since-removed graphic on aspects of "white culture" once included in the Nation Museum of African American History and Culture "Talking About Race" online portal, and mandated that the forthcoming American Women's History museum does not "recognize men as women in any respect"  a nod to Trump's crusade against transgender and gender non-conforming Americans.

But Jennifer Tucker, a professor of history at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, told Salon that the characterization of the institution and its museums in Trump's order does not reflect "an image of a museum that I recognize."

The Smithsonian museums and others, she said in a phone interview, create opportunities for richer and more inclusive dialogue by offering varied cultural, historical or artistic interpretations of the objects within them that don't just privilege the perspective of the elites  a quality she said is more valuable now than ever. She drew a distinction between their use of "memory" and "history," describing the former as a reflection of what people want the past to be  highlighting some stories while omitting others  and the latter as an evidence-based recounting of events rooted in scholarship, critical analysis and accuracy, aiming to present the past as it happened.

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Both, she said, work in tandem to provide museum visitors with a more nuanced understanding, "where history is grounded in factual reality, while memory offers insight into how those facts are lived, felt and remembered across time." The initiative behind the NMAAHC and other Smithsonian projects, for example, "was really fundamental to helping us understand the broader truth of the past," Tucker explained.

But the order and budget cuts, she added, are part of a much broader effort to undermine the foundation of knowledge in the U.S.

"It's really about an erasure that is a great mistake, that undermines the foundation of knowledge, discovery and education, and I would say democracy or people's history," she said.

William S. Walker, a public historian and associate professor at SUNY-Oneonta in New York, told Salon that the Smithsonian has been swept up in culture war attacks on public history before, particularly in the 80s and 90s. The mid-1990s controversy over a nuanced exhibit around World War II and the Enola Gay, the bomber aircraft deployed in the United States' nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, that the Smithsonian later canceled is one such example.

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But the "scale and intensity" of the attacks on the Smithsonian at this moment, the "A Living Exhibition: The Smithsonian and the Transformation of the Universal Museum" author said, exceed those prior controversies because the attacks are coming from the executive branch rather than Congress or the broader public.

That top-down pressure, coupled with ongoing cuts to funding streams from the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Institute of Museum and Library Services, leaves the Smithsonian and other museums vulnerable, Walker added.

"There is always the danger  when you have this kind of pressure  of self-censorship, and, you know, that's real," he said. "It is something that I think museums and other historical organizations are going to have to be vigilant against: not engaging in self-censorship preemptively but instead staying true to their principles, their professional practice as good public historians."

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Despite the uncertainty and the pressure coming from the executive branch both through policy and DOGE-recommended funding cuts, however, Walker said he remains confident that Smithsonian and other public historians will stay true to their principles: doing "good history" by reading and including multiple perspectives, collaborating with members of the community and consultations with other stakeholders. He recalled a recent trip to New York City with Cooperstown Graduate Program students to visit the array of historical institutions that helped him maintain faith in the industry.

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"That was energizing and galvanizing," he said. "I saw people still doing good work. So it hasn't stopped. Good public history has not stopped, and it will continue."

The Smithsonian appears to share that sentiment. In an internal email obtained by Courthouse News last week, Secretary Lonnie Bunch told staffers that the institution would "remain steadfast" in its mission to bring history, science, education, research and the arts to all Americans.

As always, our work will be shaped by the best scholarship, free of partisanship, to help the American public better understand our nations history, challenges and triumphs," Bunch wrote.

The Smithsonian Institution did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
We came across a bullish thesis on Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (HMY) on Value Investing Subreddit Page by Intelligent_Okra5374. In this article, we will summarize the bulls thesis on HMY. Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (HMY)'s share was trading at $12.96 as of April 7th. HMYs trailing P/E was 14.84 according to Yahoo Finance.

Is Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL) The Best Defensive Stock Amid Market Volatility?

Drills extracting gold from a gold mine, revealing the company's gold mining operation.

While the broader market is grappling with a 14% year-to-date decline, dragged down by tariff fears and macroeconomic headwinds, Harmony Gold Mining (HMY) has bucked the trend, rallying an impressive 60% YTD. This exceptional performance stems from both a favorable macro backdrop and strong operational execution. HMY benefits from its position within the gold mining sector, which tends to outperform during periods of economic uncertainty, market corrections, and geopolitical tensions. Golds 16% YTD price increase underscores its role as a safe-haven asset, attracting capital flows away from riskier equities. Harmony, with operations in South Africa, Papua New Guinea, and Australasia, is well positioned to capitalize on this trendnot only through gold, but with exposure to uranium, silver, and increasingly, copper. However, the companys outperformance extends beyond macro tailwinds; its internal fundamentals are just as compelling.

Over the past six months, Harmony has posted robust results: revenue climbed 19%, net profit surged 33%, and it generated record free cash flow of R10.39 billion. These results empowered the company to issue its highest-ever interim dividend, reflecting both financial strength and shareholder alignment. While overall gold production dipped slightly, Harmonys pivot to high-grade, low-cost assets like Mponeng, and its future copper production, demonstrate a strategic shift toward margin resilience and diversification. The company is also in a rare position of strength in miningnet cash positive, with R7.28 billion on handgiving it ample flexibility to fund growth organically without debt dependency. Risks such as gold price volatility or operational disruptions persist, but Harmonys discipline in cost control and project selection create a buffer that few peers can match.

From a technical standpoint, the stock has been volatile, trading in a wide 52-week range of $7.97 to $15.22. Yet, momentum indicators like the MACD point to continued upside, and the recent pullback may represent a compelling entry point. Valuation remains attractive, with its P/E ratio aligned with peers, and Harmonys forward-looking copper strategy adds a fresh layer of long-term growth alongside golds defensive appeal. In a market fraught with uncertainty, Harmony offers a rare combination of high-quality assets, strong free cash flow, and strategic optionality. Whether the goal is short-term gains from momentum or long-term value tied to resource diversification and fiscal prudence, HMY stands out as a buy-worthy name with significant upside potential.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU)  Since 1981, National Crime Victims Rights Week has challenged the nation to confront and remove barriers to achieving justice for all victims of crime. Once again, the Sioux City Police Department is hosting events associated with the observance.

The week is to commemorate and recognize victims impacted by various crimes around Siouxland, and most importantly, providing them with the resources they need. There are many assets in Siouxland that victims can take advantage of, whether for property damage or for when a person has been physically harmed.

Sioux City appoints interim city manager after Padmores retirement

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We as a community, just think about what it means to be a victim of a crime, police lieutenant Jeremy McClure said. And as I mentioned, many of us have been victims of crime, so we know that feeling of being violated. And, you know, whether its losing property or having it damaged or having somebody physically violate us. And its just important that we as a community understand that and come together and show support for those victims.

On April 8, the police department will hold a town hall at the Sioux City Public Museum, and on April 10, a community resource fair at Western Iowa Tech Community College.

A list of resources has also been posted in the Woodbury County Courthouse in the lobby.

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU)  Education is essential for children, and one Siouxland organization is helping kids learn before theyre in kindergarten.

The Community Action Agency of Siouxland has many programs that have helped families for roughly 50 years, one of them being the Head Start Program for kids from six weeks to four years old.

Habitat for Humanity homeowner applications open

We offer a routine where children come to school and they are served breakfast, we serve families style, working on a lot of self-help skills, early childhood director Rachel Ostermyer said. We have large group times, we have small group times. We also just have work time, which is the childrens play, but for them, its their work.

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The program has 29 classrooms with over 500 kids enrolled, and teachers prepare their students for kindergarten through hands-on education.

When we talk about science, we are planting flowers, especially this week, Ostermyer said. Were planting flowers for the Week of the Young Child. We have science experiments going on, but its all in the fun of their classroom. So they dont really know that theyre learning science as theyre learning science.

This week, the Community Action Agency is taking part in Week of the Young Child, celebrating children and their families as well as honoring the professionals who teach the next generation.

We have a theme for every day this week where parents and children are able to do activities in all of our classrooms, Ostermyer said. According to those themes, we have Music Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Work Together Wednesday, Artsy Thursday, and Family Friday.

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While there are other programs across Siouxland that also handle early childhood education, getting enrolled can be difficult.

Yes, we are at maximum capacity, and we have a wait list, so it never hurts for families to still apply, Ostermyer said.

Yet programs like those with the Community Action Agency of Siouxland will do their best to ensure children get the best education they can.

Welcome to Sioux City sign to be refurbished, relocated by Sioux City couple

We fill that void by the family, can bring their child up, Ostermyer said. But we also offer a lot of ideas and suggestions to parents every month of things they can do at home with their child, because our ultimate goal is to work with that family so that that child is ready for kindergarten and is successful beyond kindergarten.

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The nonprofit also wanted to remind parents that educating their child can be as simple as having a conversation with them.

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The situation on the Lyman front has worsened over the past month, with Russian forces deploying large numbers of infantry and using many drones, including those with fibre-optic control.

Source: Anastasiia Blyshchyk, spokesperson for the 66th Separate Mechanised Brigade named after Prince Mstyslav the Brave, on Radio Liberty

Quote: "We can confirm that the situation has really worsened in the past month. The Russians are pressing with an enormous amount of infantry  they simply have a lot of it. These can be large or small infantry groups that take advantage of weather conditions. They are doing everything to break into our combat formations, get into our rear as fast as possible, and cause damage."

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Details: Blyshchyk noted that Ukrainian defenders on the Lyman front are lacking manpower, while Russian forces quickly replenish their numbers despite heavy losses.

Quote: "In just a month, fighters from our brigade alone inflicted very heavy losses on the Russians  the equivalent of two battalions. But the Russians do not stop. Because they have this system for quickly replenishing their losses, they maintain their offensive potential, and it doesnt diminish Indeed, in some areas, there are ten Russian occupiers for every one of our infantrymen."

Background:

The Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group earlier reported that Russian forces had intensified infantry attacks on the Lyman front, focusing on concentrating manpower. Ukrainian military intelligence said Russian units there are mostly staffed with well-trained contract soldiers.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that on 7 April alone, Russian forces carried out 21 attacks on the Lyman front, attempting to advance near the settlements of Nadiia, Yampolivka, Torske, and towards Novoplatonivka, Novomykhailivka, Hrekivka, Ridkodub, Olhivka, Zelena Dolyna and Nove.

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA)  Governor McMaster and members of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) discussed what efforts are being made to stop dogfighting across the state on Monday.

Were investigating dogfighting in every corner of the state of South Carolina right now, said Chief Mark Keel with SLED. Dogfighting is inhumane and its illegal.

According to the Spartanburg Humane Society, some of the cases are happening right here, in our own backyard.

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We do get in animals that are badly, badly scarred, sometimes injured. We know obviously they have been a bait dog, Spartanburg Human Society CEO Angel Cox said. We get in a lot of animals that you know have those really deep scars on them and they are terrified of other dogs, so we feel like theyve been used in that capacity.

In January, Governor Henry McMaster called for an end to the cruel practice during his eighth state of the state address.

SLED breaks up Pee Dee dog fighting ring, seizes hundreds of animals along with drugs, weapons

On Monday, the governor spoke alongside state investigators about the efforts to combat the problem.

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Gov. McMaster said dogfighters steal peoples pets to use as bait dogs, as Cox mentioned.

Your dog may be a Collie, might be a Cocker Spaniel, might be a Lab, might be anything, said Gov. McMaster. Theyll take that dog and duct tape his mouth shut so he cannot fight and put him in the pit with this animal and let the trained pit bull thats made to fight kill that dog.

McMaster described dogfighting as inhumane.

This is an unspeakable thing thats happening in our state, he said.

The trained dogs, usually Pitbulls, are placed into a ring or pit, trained to bite, rip and cut.

It is as horrible as anything you will ever see, and it is violent. So weve got to do something about it, McMaster explained.

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Keel said its not just animal cruelty; its an organized criminal activity that is often related to and can lead to other crimes.

If youre involved in dog fighting in South Carolina, we will find you and we will arrest you and you will be held accountable, said Keel.

Cox said the support from McMaster and SLED is huge.

To see him get SLED behind us and really make this something  that is going to be enforceable and hopefully it is going to bring a change maybe just fear that people are going to be afraid that they are going to get caught and theyre going to be serious punishment, I think its huge and we back the governor 150%, Cox said.

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Anyone who hears about dogfighting or suspects it may be going on should contact SLEDs tip line at 866-472-8477.

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A narrow majority of Hungarians support Ukraine's accession to the EU, according to a Republikon Institute poll published by the Hungarian newspaper Nepszava on April 7.

The survey, conducted between March 26 and April 1, shows that 47% of the respondents support Ukraines accession to the European Union, and 46% oppose it.

When excluding respondents who were undecided, the result shifts to 51% versus 49%.

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Among the supporters, 32% said they would support Ukraines membership if it followed the standard procedures applied to other candidate countries with a 7 to 10 year accession period.

Only 15% expressed support for a fast-tracked accession process, which would potentially allow Ukraine to join within 3 to 4 years.

The results come despite Hungary being seen as one of the most Russian-friendly members of the EU.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has consistently obstructed sanctions against Moscow and military aid for Kyiv while opposing Ukraines accession to the bloc.

Hungarian state-run media spreads anti-Ukrainian narratives using headlines such as Even cholera has not completely disappeared in Ukraine and Ukraine's EU accession could bring a pension disaster to Hungary.

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In one of the latest governmental advertisements with the caption Voks 2025  vote on Ukraines EU membership,President Volodymyr Zelensky, EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen, and German politician Manfred Weber were depicted in front of a red cross.

The headline read: We will not let them decide over our heads!

Support for Ukraines EU membership in Hungary shows clear political divides.

Among pro-government Fidesz-KDNP voters  the ruling conservative alliance  a large majority (82%) oppose membership.

The far-right Mi Hazank partys voters are also mostly against (73%), but 27% would accept Ukraines membership if it follows standard EU procedures.

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In contrast, voters of the centrist opposition movement Tisza are more supportive. A combined 79% back Ukraines accession, including 52% who favor the regular 710 year process and 25% who support fast-tracking.

Among voters of other opposition parties, 71% are supportive overall.

On March 7, Orban announced plans to hold a referendum in Hungary on Ukraines EU accession though no date has been set.

Read also: BREAKING: Ukraine captured 2 Chinese nationals fighting for Russia, Zelensky says

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ST. LOUIS  Saint Louis University received a grant from Missouri Foundation Health, amounting to $538,431, which will go toward research to improve the health, education and well-being of children and their families.

Spearheaded by Hisako Matsuo and Jessica Barreca, SLUs research team announced that it will begin its research project to discover innovative ways for those in Missouri to have access to diapers.

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SLU also will work with other organizations, like the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank and Kids Win Missouri, to achieve their goals.

The National Diaper Bank Network says that one in two families in the U.S. are in need of diapers. The urgency in the need for diapers can cost families up to $1,000 a year, which can create financial strains.

Babies can use an average of 10 diapers a day, Matsuo said. When families experience diaper shortages, it can lead to increased levels of stress for caregivers.

In SLUs press release, they noted that 20% of children in Missouri live in families that earn below the Federal Poverty Line. Despite that, diapers cant be purchased under federal assistance programs, according to the release.

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Hospice nurse accused of stealing checks from elderly victim

SLU, however, looks to ease those financial inconveniences with its projects.

Families need to have a consistent, sufficient set of diapers to keep their baby dry, said Barreca, who manages SLUs partnerships with more than 25 local non-profits in the St. Louis region and serves as a STLADB board member. Having enough diapers allows babies to be healthy and happy.

Initiatives for this research surround reducing diaper needs and educating stakeholders/policymakers.

SLUs project is set to start its data collection in May.

Removing barriers like a luxury tax on necessary items like diapers could make things a little easier for families, Matsuo said. We are conducting evidence-based research with the goal of changing the system.

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WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL)  National Small Business Week is May 4 through 10 and KFDX has teamed up with Americas Small Business Development Center at Midwestern State University to host Small Business, BIG Tech.

The event, with What the Techs? Jamey Tucker will be held on Wednesday, May 7, at the Sikes Lake Center from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online. Lunch is included.

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We recently published a list of 11 Best American Energy Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) stands against other best American energy stocks to buy now.

On Friday, April 4, oil futures reached multiyear lows following Chinas response to the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. This sparks fear of a fall in demand for oil amid a full-blown trade war. The US benchmark for oil prices, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), fell over 7% to close at $61.99 per barrel and Brent crude futures dropped more than 6% to settle at $65.58. Crude has not traded at these levels since 2021.

READ ALSO: 10 Best EV Stocks to Buy Under $50 and 11 Undervalued Chemical Stocks to Buy Now.

Crude losses worsened as China announced it would impose additional tariffs of 34% on US goods. This announcement came as a response to President Trumps levies, which include increased duties on China-made imports.

President Trumps tariffs saw financial markets react strongly and crude oil prices sinking as traders assessed the potential impact of a trade war on demand. Energy-related stocks were set to extend losses after dragging the market down with sell-offs in the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq.

Crude losses also accelerated because of a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, to increase supply approximately three times more than expected starting in May.

Angie Gildea, KPMG US energy leader, said that markets are still digesting tariffs and that the combination of higher oil supply and concerns about a weaker global economy is putting downward pressure on oil prices. She pointed out that this could lead to a new chapter in a volatile market.

Although energy was not included in the latest tariffs announced by the Trump administration on Wednesday, April 2, the escalation of a global trade war could hurt oil demand.

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the 11 best American energy stocks to buy now, we used stock screeners from Finviz and Yahoo Finance to find the largest energy companies. We sorted our results based on market capitalization and picked the top 25 American stocks. Next, we focused on the 11 stocks most favored by institutional investors. Data for the hedge fund sentiment surrounding each stock was taken from Insider Monkeys Q4 2024 database of more than 1,000 elite hedge funds. Finally, the 11 best American energy stocks to buy now were ranked in ascending order based on the number of hedge funds holding stakes in them as of Q4 2024.
If you've scrolled through TikTok lately, you might have seen videos claiming you can get your student loans forgiven because Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency illegally accessed your student loan data.

"Elon Musk just made a massive mistake," one TikToker said on March 14. "As a result of this mistake, people are getting their student loans forgiven and removed off of their credit report."

If this all sounds too good to be true, that's because it is.

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"Borrowers do not have a path to loan forgiveness because DOGE has accessed federal student loan databases," student loan lawyer Adam Minsky said in an email.

While the legality of DOGE's actions is being challenged, it won't affect your student loan balance.

Can I get my student loans forgiven if DOGE accessed Department of Education data?

You're not excused from your student loan obligation because DOGE accessed federal financial aid information. That said, these TikTok posts didn't appear out of thin air.

They started popping up in early February after reports that DOGE gained access to data that included the "personal information for millions of students enrolled in the federal student aid program."

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DOGE's access to federal financial aid data was briefly halted after the University of California Student Association filed a lawsuit against what it called an "intrusion into individuals' privacy." However, a federal judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order, thereby allowing DOGE to continue accessing the data.

The legal battle continues, as a group of labor unions that includes the American Federation of Teachers and the National Federation of Federal Employees filed its own lawsuit to stop DOGE from accessing Department of Education data.

Democrats in Congress, along with student loan advocacy groups, have also stated their concern that DOGE's access to this data could put borrowers at risk of identity theft or other violations of their privacy.

Why are people confused?

DOGE's access to sensitive student loan information fueled online rumors about loan forgiveness. TikTok posts said DOGE violated your privacy rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

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By filing a FERPA complaint, they say, you can get your student debt erased. They even shared a template to request loan forgiveness when filing a complaint on the Department of Education's Student Privacy site.

The reality, however, is that FERPA doesn't apply.

"FERPA is a law that protects the privacy of students' education records held by institutions," Megan Walter, a senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said in an email. "However, DOGE's investigation does not involve requesting student loan records from colleges or universities."

Instead, DOGE accessed information held by the Department of Education, and that data is not covered under FERPA. Even if it was, individuals can't file a lawsuit or get their loans dismissed over a FERPA violation.

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"FERPA does not provide for any private right of action that would allow someone to file a lawsuit due to a violation," Minsky said. "And student loan forgiveness is not a remedy for any such violation."

Violating FERPA mainly has consequences for schools -- if a school trespasses on your personal information, the Department of Education could withhold future federal funding from it. Filing a complaint could lead to a formal investigation, but it won't get rid of your student debt.

How can I get my student loans wiped out?

There are legitimate student loan forgiveness programs out there, including:

Public Service Loan Forgiveness : This program will forgive your federal student loan balance after 10 years of full-time public service.

Teacher Loan Forgiveness : Qualifying teachers in low-income schools can get up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness after five years of teaching.

State-run loan repayment assistance programs: Many states offer student loan assistance to qualifying professionals, such as doctors or lawyers, working in designated shortage areas or high-need communities.

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You can also explore other options for student loan relief, such as forbearance, deferment and, now that the applications are back online, income-driven repayment plans. The SAVE plan is no longer an option, however, after a US appeals court blocked the program.

SAVE borrowers may need to switch to another repayment plan and will see their payments resume after months in limbo. If your loans have been on pause, check whether they've entered repayment yet. Missing payments, even accidentally, can hurt your credit score.

If you have a complicated student loan situation, it may also be in your interest to consult an expert or lawyer, rather than scrolling your TikTok feed.

"Don't rely on social media for legal advice," advised Minsky. "Talk to an attorney."
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Sources confirmed to News 4 on Monday numerous high-level employees at Oklahoma Forestry Services (OFS) have been placed on paid leaveand in one case possibly firedafter Governor Kevin Stitt ordered the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture to investigate OFS following last months deadly wildfire outbreak.

Also on Monday, the Oklahoma Firefighters Association sent Stitt a letter asking him to not move forward with his idea to eliminate OFS, saying it would increase the burden local fire departments already face, and place the state a greater risk for more wildfire outbreaks.

Hundreds of properties were destroyed and at least one man lost his life when a historic wildfire outbreak swept across Oklahoma on March 14.

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The outbreak, a result of record dry conditions and hurricane strength winds, had been widely and publicly forecast by meteorologists the week leading up to March 14.

Article from March 12: Risk of wildfire outbreak in Oklahoma this week as high winds, dry conditions approach

Despite the forecasts, Stitt never issued as statewide burn ban.

A farm Stitt owns north of Luther was destroyed in the fire.

On March 15, Stitt posted a video of the damage to his Facebook page.

Well be rebuilding with all of Oklahoma, Stitt said in the video.

The following week, Stitt fired longtime OFS director Mark Goeller.

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Stitt told News 4 in a statement:

At the forestry directors direction, firefighting resources were delayed, unused, or even called back during critical moments.

Goeller responded on social media.

I have been falsely accused of not performing the duties necessary to protect life and property in a timely manner, Goeller said. The Agency to which I dedicated over 40 years of my life was said to have performed poorly. Preparations were made well in advance, the public was notified of the impending fire danger, firefighting resources were ordered and in place. Nothing was held back as the events of the 14th and following days unfolded.

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Goellers firing was to the dismay of numerous firefighters across the state, who argued it was Stitt who neglected his duty by not declaring a statewide burn ban.

Slap in the face: Firefighters react to Gov. Stitt firing state forester

It was like a slap in the face to all of us because if the forestry service didnt do a good enough job, then us as the fire department didnt do a good enough job, said Jason Dobson, Fire Chief with the Olive Fire Department. Unfortunately, the one that we have to blame is Mother Nature. Thats the only one we have to blame for this event.

Dobsons fire department later publicly called for Stitt to be impeached over his decision to fire Goeller.

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Oklahoma House Speaker house Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) and Senate President Pro-tempore Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) also criticized Stitts choice to blame OFS.

Last week, Stitt took his feelings about OFS one step further.

Why do I have even have a department of forestry? Lets get rid of the whole thing, Stitt said at his weekly press conference last week.

On Monday, the Oklahoma Firefighters Association sent Stitt a letter, telling him they have deep concern over Stitts idea to eliminate forestry services, calling it troubling and warning it would shift the burden to already strained local departments.

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At the same time Monday, Stitt announced hed ordered the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) and Department of Public Safety to open a full-scale investigation into OFSs handling of the March 14 wildfire outbreak.

Lincoln County fire chiefs demand clarity about former forestry directors firing

On Monday, sources close to the situation confirmed to News 4 enormous high-level OFS employees had been placed on paid leave as a result of the investigation, and at least one of them may have been fired.

News 4 reached out to an OFS spokesperson Monday, but did not get a response.

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News 4 also reached out to an ODAFF spokesperson Monday with several questions.

The spokesperson did not answer News 4s questions, instead only saying:

ODAFF does not comment on personnel matters.

News 4 followed up with the spokesperson, asking them to simply share whether several specific OFS employees were still employed with the state as of Monday afternoon.

Gov. Stitt issues statement after firing head forester, backlash from lawmakers

According to Oklahoma state statute, 51 OK Stat  51-24A.7 a state employees dates of employment, title or position are not considered private personnel records, and shall be available for public inspection when requested.

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However, when News 4 asked the ODAFF spokesperson for those employees employment statuses, the spokesperson refused comply with that state statue, instead again telling News 4:

ODAFF does not comment on personnel matters.

News 4 also reached out to Stitts office on Monday with several questions.

Nothing was held back: Former state forester speaks out after firing

Nobody responded to News 4.

On Monday, Stitt released a new statement:

As Governor, it is my duty to protect all four million Oklahomans. It is imperative that I ensure that those serving in state government share in that duty and work to execute it every day. On March 14, the state experienced the worst outbreak of wildfires in recorded history. It was the perfect storm of high winds, low humidity and drought conditions, which led to nearly 158 wildfires breaking out around the state. Over 500 homes were lost and tragically, four Oklahomans lost their lives. In the face of overwhelming danger, hundreds of local, volunteer, and rural firefighters ran toward the flamessacrificing safety, and in some cases, their own homes. Their bravery represents the very best of Oklahoma. Unfortunately, I learned that the Oklahoma Forestry Services, the agency tasked with preventing and suppressing wildfires, did not use every resource at their disposal to save lives and property. They neglected their duties and left local fire departments begging for further resources to fight fires. That is simply unacceptable. I asked the forestry director to step down so we could get a fresh set of eyes on this division and take decisive steps to prevent a tragedy like this from happening in the future. As the Secretary of Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry and the Director of Oklahoma Emergency Management began to dig into what happened on March 14, they were met with reluctance to give answers. When they received the answers they needed, they found that the director only deployed half of his available resources to help local firefighters around the state. While our local firefighters were stretched thin, leadership at Forestry Services failed to act with the urgency the moment demanded. When I learn information like this, I have no choice but to make a change. As we dig into this agency, we will efficiently use funds to build the division back better or we can divert resources to local fire stations that are better situated to protect their communities. We see time and time again that bureaucratic processes stand in the way of getting actual work done for the people of Oklahoma. This time, the bureaucracy cost lives. We owe it to those we lostand to every family rebuildingto ensure this never happens again. Accountability is not a punishment; its a promise. I have tasked Agriculture Secretary Blayne Arthur and Public Safety Secretary Tricia Everest to assemble a report detailing where our response failed and what can be done to improve that response in the future. That will be completed within the week so all Oklahomans can have answers. While work needs to be done, I am proud that the Oklahoma Standard came out in full force as Oklahomans started to rebuild from these fires and care for their neighbors. While that will never bring those we lost back, we keep them in our prayers and we will work to honor their legacies in everything we do. Oklahomans deserve a government that acts swiftly, decisively, and with their best interests at heart. When lives are at stake, there is no room for hesitation, mismanagement, or bureaucracy that hinders action. The tragic events of March 14 have underscored a painful realitybut also given us an opportunity to rebuild a system that truly prioritizes people over process. My administration will continue to hold agencies accountable and ensure that every arm of government serves our communities with integrity and urgency. Together, we will rise from this loss, honor the heroism of our firefighters Governor Kevin Stitt

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
The News

South Africas African National Congress called for a reset in its relationship with its main coalition partner the Democratic Alliance on Tuesday after weeks of contentious debate over the countrys budget.

The move comes as Africas most industrialized economy tries to allay investor and business concerns over a potential collapse of the government of national unity (GNU) formed less than a year ago.

ANC SecretaryGeneral Fikile Mbalula told journalists that the party was not planning to expel the DA from the coalition. We must rebuild trust and ensure that every partner has a voice, because we no longer command an absolute majority, he said. Last year the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994.

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DA leader John Steenhuisen reiterated his partys commitment to the GNU on Tuesday, insisting that the ANC now demonstrate an equal commitment to the spirit and substance of power-sharing. South Africa needs an era of co-governance, built on the implementation of bold, pro-growth reforms that create jobs and restore fiscal stability, he said in a statement.

Mbalula said the ANCs national working committee, which oversees the day-to-day running of the party, resolved that we will reset the button to engage with all political parties in the GNU and those that are not in the GNU to address the impasse with regards to the budget. We intend to do that within the period of five days. 

We have agreed to reset the button by way of ensuring that this GNU going forward is governed by rules, not just the statement of intent.

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The reset initiative emerges as South Africas coalition government grapples with a fragile economy and significant policy challenges that came to head in recent budget negotiations, most notably a dispute over a proposed VAT increase intended to fund key social programs. Opposition to the VAT hike from the DA and several smaller coalition partners has strained relationships within the government, raising concerns about the coalitions longterm viability.

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Despite the political turbulence, the ANC remains steadfast in its core policy agenda. Mbalula said the ANC would push ahead with its landmark initiatives including a national health program and contentious land expropriation measures, which were signed into law by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa despite the DAs resistance. This reset isnt about compromising our principles, he stressed. Its about engaging in robust, inclusive dialogue to ensure our policies and reforms benefit all South Africans.

Sams view

Disagreements over the budget have exposed the vulnerabilities of a pay-as-you-go coalition born out of necessity. As the debate develops, the real test will be whether this reset can truly improve the health of the coalition, drive faster economic reforms, and forge a more stable political environment  or, if it will merely highlight the deep divisions that have long plagued South African politics.

The timing is critical. South Africa is also contending with the fallout from a global tariff war, with the US imposing 30% reciprocal tariffs, at a time when the domestic economy faces deep-seated challenges. The ANCs reset call, therefore, is a double-edged sword: While it signals a willingness to engage in more inclusive policy-making, it also exposes the underlying vulnerabilities of a coalition that struggles with the realities of diminished support.

Room for Disagreement

Within the DA, the debate is intensifying. A Bloomberg report has highlighted a growing split among DA members: Some favor leaving the GNU to reassert the partys independent identity, while others believe that remaining in the coalition could allow the DA to enhance its influence over government decisions. Although an exit might enable the party to reposition itself as a formidable opposition force, it also carries significant risks, including further destabilizing the political environment and unsettling market confidence.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD)  Thousands of South Carolinians who havent voted in the past four years could risk losing their status as active voters, according to state election officials.

The State Election Commission (SEC) is set to begin mailing address confirmation cards to voters who have not participated in an election or updated their voter registration information since November 2020.

Per the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, cards are routinely mailed out to registered voters who have not voted in the past two general election cycles to help maintain clean voter rolls.

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Accurate voter rolls are essential to protecting the integrity and security of our elections, said SEC Executive Director Howie Knapp. If you receive a confirmation card, we urge you to respond promptly. Keeping your registration current not only safeguards your right to vote but also strengthens the integrity of the entire election process.

SCDMV fixes computer glitch that blocked voter registration for thousands of teenagers

More than 190,000 South Carolinians are expected to receive cards due to voter inactivity, representing a small fraction  about 5%  of the states nearly 3.5 million voters.

Voters are asked to confirm their address on the cards and mail them back to the election office.

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Those who do not respond to the cards within 90 days will be marked as inactive and must reconfirm their address at the polls before voting in their next eligible election.

Even after being made inactive, voters who are still eligible will be permitted to vote after confirming their voter registration status, an election commission news release stated.

The next statewide elections in South Carolina will be held in November 2026. You can verify that your registration is up to date on scvotes.gov.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine spent Monday celebrating schools that have earned the Governors Science of Reading Champions award.

The award highlights local schools that do phenomenal work within their curricula such as the science of reading and literacy achievement.

DOGE cancels $250,000 Ohio grant installing LGBTQ+ historical markers

DeWine was given a breakdown from administrators and teachers about how Hamilton Elementary School has been implementing programs that make students more engaged with high-quality content at an early age.

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Second and third graders are learning topics such as the Civil War and Greek mythology and teachers said it has improved students excitement and interest but also enhanced their reading and vocabulary skills. The governor noted he was impressed by what he saw and explained why this initiative is so important.

Theyve talked about different aspects of American history so that student is able to relate and get interested in it, as well as just sounding words out, DeWine said. So, this is a really, I think, a good model for many schools around the state.

To close out the celebration, the governor unveiled a banner with the student. DeWine went on to congratulate the students and teachers on their accomplishments with their work over the years.

The continuity that the school has been doing, and the schools been doing for some time over ten years, over a decade, DeWine said. And thats really focused on the science of reading. But also, theyre dealing with something that we talked about in the state of state, and that is having content. And they really take it a step further.

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DeWine also traveled to Wheelersburg Elementary School in Scioto County on Monday to honor that schools accomplishments 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 NBC4 WCMH-TV.
We recently published a list of 15 Stocks with Buy Ratings that Hedge Funds Love. In this article, we are going to take a look at where IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) stands against other stocks with buy ratings that hedge funds love.

The U.S. stock market has been in chaos ever since President Trump announced his intent to increase tariffs on the U.S.s trading partners. On April 2, 2025, the President officially presented the new tariff rates, calling them reciprocal tariffs. Since the presentation, the value of the U.S. stock market has started plunging. Though these tariffs have led to bloodbaths in many exchanges across the globe, the impact is heavy in the U.S. market where it originated.

China, one of the largest trading partners of the U.S., retaliated against the new tariff by slapping a 34% levy on U.S. goods, thus igniting a global trade war. The result? A $9 trillion wipeout in U.S. equity markets, according to CNBC. Experts are calling it the worst weekly performance since the COVID-19 crash.

READ ALSO: Fridays 10 Worst Performing Stocks.

Retail investors are scrambling for the exits to protect their investments. However, hedge funds are quietly loading up on bargains. Analysts are perceiving an opportunity in the turmoil, and institutional investors are using the downturns to pepper their portfolios with high-conviction stocks at fire-sale prices. Right now, their buy lists are flashing green. They do not back the stocks unquestioningly, however, they look at the fundamentals, pricing power, and growth trends of the stocks to estimate their ability to outlast the storm.

If there is one thing we can learn from history, it is that markets often make their most significant rebounds after their steepest declines. When discussing the significance of virtues like patience and calmness in an investor during turmoil, a billionaire investor quoted a 19th-century poem: If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs yours is the Earth and everything in it. His point? Panic is expensive. On the other hand, opportunity can be priceless when accumulating institutional interest signals to investors where to look.

This brings us to the heart of our article today. Combining hedge fund filings, analyst upgrades, and real-time market data, we have uncovered 15 stocks with Buy ratings, which could potentially refine your portfolio. Top hedge funds are piling into these stocks, making them more appealing to investors interested in generating income.

But dont just take our word for it. History has given us a few examples to consider before making investment decisions. For instance, the 2020 pandemic crash is a prime example of how hedge fund portfolios can be better performers than the market index. Following the crash, hedge fund-backed stocks outperformed the market indexes by 14% in 2021. It indicates that institutional conviction can be louder than the markets noise.
City of South Fulton renters say they were surprised when learning that their neighbor, Mayor Khalid Kamau, is in jeopardy of being evicted from an apartment complex on Bakers Ferry Road.

You cant trust someone that cant keep up their own finances and life to run the city, said renter Mlyk Williams.

South Fulton residents were split after learning the news about his possible eviction.

It has nothing to do with his function as a public official; thats really his private life, Drew De Man said.

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Fulton County court documents show a summons was given to Kamau on March 19 for $1,663.77 for back rent for the month of March.

RELATED STORIES:

The mayor told Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln in a statement: I represent over 200 million Americans for whom an unexpected expense of $1,000 can mean financial catastrophe.

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In February, South Fulton City Council members voted to freeze the mayors budget and limit his authority after allegations that he used taxpayer money for international trips and unauthorized purchases for his office.

Lincoln spoke with supporters of Kamau, who said recent attempts to discredit him are politically motivated.

I think the mayor gets some unjust criticism, South Fulton resident Mike Johnson said.

The mayors position is a part-time position that pays roughly $47,000 a year.

Kamau went on to say in his statement: I wasnt expecting to need a legal team when I announced my re-election plans in January, but I guess thats the way the political game is played now.

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Who needs to know? Its not affecting the function of the government, and at a time when a lot of people are facing evictions, its very expensive to live in America right now, De Man said.

The Fulton County Marshalls Office said this case is going through the dispossessory process, and a judge has not yet signed off on executing the eviction.
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP)  A woman who was on the phone with a con artist instructing her to deposit $4,000 in a Bitcoin machine was saved from a scheme after the store clerk alerted police.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are commonly used in schemes as they are one of the hardest to trace and one of the most anonymous, which makes it very hard for someone to get their money back.

In a news release from the South Hadley Police Department, last Friday, a detective with the South Hadley police walked into Cumberland Farms when a clerk told him that they suspected that a woman at the Bitcoin machine was currently a victim of a scheme.

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Cryptocurrencys schemes on the rise as popularity increases

When the South Hadley detective spoke with the woman, she said that she was on the phone with someone asking to put $4,000 into the Bitcoin machine. The detective advised her not to do so as she was attempting to create a PIN on the machine.

The woman told the detective that the man on the phone called her earlier and would not let her get off the phone. The con artist instructed the woman to withdraw $4,000 from her bank and, if anyone questioned her, to tell them it was for a trip. The woman said that the man was on the phone with her the entire time and gave her directions to the Bitcoin machine inside Cumberland Farms.

The detective was able to divert the scheme and save the woman $4,000. If you get a phone call from someone demanding a payment in crypto or Bitcoin, hang up immediately. You should always confirm with your family before sending any money.

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.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP.
SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD)  South Havens city council voted Monday night to have staff create an itemized list to understand how much a new lifeguard program would cost.

A handful of people voiced their support for a new program after it was cancelled by the council in 2001.

The naysayers have said all kind of improbabilities as to why South Haven can or cannot have a lifeguard program. I hope each of you can accept this proposal with the newfound understanding that we have faith that we can absolutely do this, said Samantha Kester, speaking in favor of lifeguards.

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South Haven votes to bring in lifeguard consultant

The vote comes after consultants showed what a potential new lifeguard program could look like for the Lake Michigan community. In January, the council brought in a team from the United States Lifeguard Association to draft a plan for the citys multiple beaches.

Consultant recommendations prioritized North and South beaches with the latter seeing the highest traffic. Three lifeguard towers were recommended in South Beach with two at North. Five lifeguards would be stationed at each beach.

Chris Brewer highlighted that along with rescues, lifeguards can carry out medical aid, code enforcement, locate lost people and serve as local ambassadors. Brewer said simply having staff on the beach can prevent the next drowning.

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The point is lifeguards arent there to wait on the stand until someone gets into trouble and go out and make the rescue. Their job is to prevent the rescue from even happening in the first place, Brewer said to the council.

In the report, a total staff of around 15 lifeguards was recommended. Consultants estimated the price of lifeguards to be $234,000 dollars a year without counting for benefits. Staff pay was averaged to $25 dollars an hour.

Basic equipment and uniforms were estimated to run $20,000 the first year with $10,000 in the following years. Lifeguard towers were averaged to cost the city between $16,000 to $75,000 every 20 years.

They just need to start: South Haven council considers lifeguard program

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A suggestion was made to look at parking revenue as a way to fund the program. But the question remained.

I want that number out there for the public because I want know where the money is going to come from and if theres going to be some parking fees and we can structure some of that stuff but I think its gonna take some cuts and I guess I just want the citizen to know whats going to get cut, said councilmember Jeff Arnold.

The first vote to immediately implement the plan failed in a tie. The council unanimously voted to have city staff develop an itemized list showing the price of equipment before a final decision is made on a new lifeguard 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 WOODTV.com.
Camden County wants to design its ballot in a way that violates a new state ballot design law, the progressives allege. (Daniella Heminghaus for New Jersey Monitor)

A group of South Jersey Democrats on Tuesday sued Camden County Clerk Pamela Lampitt, alleging she is violating a new primary ballot design law by declining to place individual ovals next to the names of dozens of county committee candidates there.

The suit, filed by four county committee candidates backed by a group called South Jersey Progressive Democrats, alleges the clerks move for June 10s primary violates a provision of the new law requiring that ovals or other spaces for voters to mark their vote appear to the left or to the right of the name of each candidate.

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The law plainly requires that the voter may indicate his or her choice next to the name of each candidate for each office with an oval or other appropriate mark, the suit says, adding Despite the crystal-clear clarity of the law, the Camden County Clerks Office has recently indicated to candidates and the public that it apparently does not intend to honor the oval-mandate.

County committee races decide who the rank-and-file members of each countys Democratic and Republican parties will be. There are 74 Democratic county committee seats up this year in Cherry Hill and 18 in nearby Collingswood. South Jersey Progressive Democrats are running for three of the Cherry Hill seats and one in Collingswood. The other candidates are all backed by the Camden County Democratic Committee, whose leadership has locked horns with South Jersey Progressive Democrats.

An old Camden County ballot shows how the county clerk wants to design this years ballot, with one oval next to each set of county committee candidates, according to claims in a new lawsuit.

Lampitt wants a ballot that will lump all the Camden County Democratic Committee candidates next to one oval and group the South Jersey Progressive Democrats next to another oval, according to the lawsuit.

This effectively means that Cherry Hill voters cannot vote for the individual candidates who they may personally know from local community events, and are forced to choose between one grouping or another, rather than individual selections, it says.

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At a ballot draw conducted last week, an official from the clerks office said the sheer number of county committee candidates in some of Camdens larger municipalities could prohibit listing county committee candidates individually.

Most of the towns are small enough that their county committees will fit into individual boxes, but Cherry Hill, Gloucester Township  the larger municipalities  wont physically fit onto a piece of paper, Camden County Deputy Clerk John Schmidt said shortly before the ballot draw. Were not at the point yet where we know exactly how its going to be laid out and, physically, where that limit is.

Camden County has not yet released its proposed ballot design, though a list of candidates the county published assigned individual position numbers to every candidate.

An attorney for the county served a copy of the filing did not immediately return a request for comment.

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SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's military said on Tuesday that it had fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers violated the military demarcation line before returning.

"Our military conducted warning broadcasts and warning shots after about 10 North Korean soldiers crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) in the eastern area of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) around 5:00 pm local time," the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a text message to reporters.

"Our military is closely monitoring the North Korean military's activity and taking necessary measures according to the operational procedures," JCS said.

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Some of the North Korean soldiers were armed, according to the South Korean military.

The crossing, however, may have been by a mistake during reconnaissance activity ahead of planned work in the area, the Yonhap News Agency reported, citing a military official.

On Monday, the South's military said about 1,500 North Koreans were working on barbed wire installations and land work in the demilitarised zone, as the North was conducting military exercises.

In June 2024, there were at least three incidents of North Korean soldiers crossing the line amid an uptick in activity near the demarcation line.

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South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo said on Friday the government would maintain a steadfast readiness posture against North Korea provocations, after the Constitutional Court ousted impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Jihoon Lee; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Kim Coghill)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  South Korea's military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the rivals' tense border on Tuesday, South Korean officials said, the first known border intrusion by North Korea in nearly a year.

Violent confrontations and bloodshed have occasionally happened at the Koreas heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone. But Tuesday's incident won't likely escalate, as it didn't cause any casualties on either side and North Korea hasn't returned fire.

About 10 North Korean soldiers  some carrying weapons  violated the military demarcation line at the eastern section of the DMZ at 5 p.m. They returned to North Korea after South Korea broadcast warnings and fired warning shots, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

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South Koreas military said it is closely monitoring North Korean activities. It said North Korea didn't return fire.

In June last year, North Korean troops violated the border three times, prompting South Korea to fire warning shots. The incidents occurred when the Koreas were embroiled in Cold War-style campaigns like balloon launches and propaganda broadcasts, but they didn't develop into a major source of tensions.

South Korea's military assessed at the time that the North Korean soldiers didnt deliberately commit the border intrusion and the site was a wooded area where military demarcation line signs werent clearly visible. Observers said the North Korean soldiers might have accidently crossed the border while adding anti-tank barriers, planting mines or engaging in other works to boost border defenses.

The motive for Tuesday's border crossing by North Korean soldiers wasn't immediately clear.

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South Korea's military said in late March that North Korea was resuming front-line works such as reinforcing barbed wire fences. South Korean media, citing the military, reported that North Korean soldiers might have unintentionally intruded into South Korea's territory on Tuesday during a patrol mission ahead of unspecified front-line works.

In October, North Korea said it would build defense structures at the border to cope with confrontational hysteria by South Korean and U.S. forces. That was seen as an effort to beef up its front-line security posture and prevent its soldiers and citizens from defecting to South Korea.

The 248-kilometer (155-mile) -long, 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide DMZ is one of the worlds most heavily armed borders. An estimated 2 million mines are peppered inside and near the border, which is also guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides. Its a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Animosities between the Koreas are running high now as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to flaunt his military nuclear capabilities and align with Russia over President Vladimir Putins war on Ukraine. Kim is also ignoring calls by Seoul and Washington to resume denuclearization negotiations.

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Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy. North Korea has not responded to Trumps remarks and says U.S. hostilities against it have deepened since Trumps inauguration. Experts say Kim could eventually return to talks with Trump, hoping that his advancing nuclear program would help North Korea win greater U.S. concessions.

South Korea, meanwhile, is experiencing a leadership vacuum after the ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol last week over his ill-fated imposition of martial law. Yoon's push to expand military drills with the U.S. had infuriated North Korea. __

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
South Sudan has reversed its decision to deny entry to a man it said was a Congolese national deported by the United States after Washington imposed a blanket visa ban on South Sudanese citizens.

In a dramatic U-turn on Tuesday, South Sudans foreign ministry said the government had chosen to admit the deportee, identified as Makula Kintu, in the spirit of the friendly relations between South Sudan and the United States.

US President Donald Trump has heavily cracked down on immigration since his return to power in January and has launched a series of deportation actions in recent months.

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On Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that visas held by South Sudanese citizens were being revoked and no new visas would be granted to people from the country over their governments failure to receive deportees in a timely manner.

South Sudan, the worlds youngest nation and one of its poorest is already troubled by armed conflict in its northern region that threatens to plunge it back into another civil war.

On Monday, the South Sudanese foreign ministry clarified that Kintu arrived at the Juba International Airport in the countrys capital on Saturday with a travel document that was not his.

According to the ministry, he presented a South Sudanese travel document under the name Nimeri Garang to immigration officials.

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However, a series of verifications revealed that he was not Garang and instead identified him as Kintu  a citizen of the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

He (Kintu) was not admitted (into South Sudan) and was subsequently returned to the sending country (the US) for further processing, it added.

The ministry explained it was awaiting the arrival of the actual Garang, whom it said the South Sudanese embassy in Washington had been notified by the US State Department of his deportation and scheduled arrival in Juba next month.

US authorities are yet to comment on the nationality discrepancy.

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The South Sudanese foreign ministry cited information on Kintus travel history supplied by the US Department of Homeland Security which stated that he initially arrived in the US in 2003 and voluntarily departed for the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2009.

It added that Kintu re-entered the United States illegally on July 10, 2016 and that while he was being questioned Saturday by immigration officials at the Juba airport, Kintu stated that he hails from the Ema tribe of the Northern Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo and added that he was brought to South Sudan against his will.

In its latest communication Tuesday, the ministry noted that Kintu would nonetheless be allowed to enter South Sudan when he arrives again on Wednesday.

The Government of the Republic of South Sudan remains committed to supporting the return of verified South Sudanese nationals who are scheduled for deportation from the United States, the foreign ministry said.

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Compared to wind and solar energy, hydrogen has had smoother sailing due to direct government support and increasing private sector interest. In 2025, expanding industrial applications are likely to fuel hydrogen stocks. With research and technological advancements easing production and storage, costs and scalability can be massive improvements. Furthermore, the growing interest in hydrogen infrastructures in the U.S and Europe can bring in growth for the best hydrogen stocks.

After a challenging 2023, fraught with high interest rates and investor skepticism leading to a sector-wide decline in clean energy stocks, hydrogen stocks have made a recovery in 2024. The Global Hydrogen Index has gained 4.86% in U.S. dollar terms, signaling a comeback. The finalization of hydrogen tax credit guidelines could be seen as a key catalyst. Barrons has noted that with the 45V tax credit offering up to $3 per kilogram for clean hydrogen, investment in the sector is getting a much-needed boost.

More investors are looking for long-term growth opportunities in emerging sectors but are restricted by the ever-fluctuating interest rate expectations and evolving energy policies. Within these dynamics, policymakers and corporations are looking at hydrogen adoption more favorably. According to Grand View Research, the industry is projected to hit a staggering $317.39 billion by 2030, expanding at a healthy 9.3% CAGR.

The World Energy Transitions Outlook 2025 highlights that annual deployment of over 1,000 GW of renewable power is needed to stay on a 1.5C pathway. Hydrogen is expected to play a key role in the decarbonization of end uses and the flexibility of the power system. Investment needs for clean hydrogen and derivatives are projected at $1.1 billion per year to meet global transition requirements. An IEA 2025 Report noted that the global energy demand rose by 2.2% in 2024  a faster-than-average rate. This reiterates the fact that the demand for alternate sources of energy is still on the rise.

As the global push toward clean energy and decarbonization gains momentum, hydrogen stocks are seeing a renewed interest from institutional investors and billionaires. With recent advancements in hydrogen technology, this once speculative energy source is now looking like a solid investment opportunity in the clean-energy sector.

We recently published a list of 10 Best Hydrogen Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires . In this article, we are going to take a look at where New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) stands against other best hydrogen stocks to buy according to billionaires.

Story Continues

Of course, the challenges remain. Despite strong momentum, hydrogen stocks are faced with strong cost competitiveness and regulatory uncertainty. Green hydrogen is still relatively expensive compared to fossil fuels, even with the declining costs. Stricter lifecycle emissions requirements for qualifying hydrogen progens under the 45V tax credit are likely to lead to an adoption slowdown. Also, geopolitical uncertainties pose additional risks within supply chains.

While not entirely free of challenges, there is no denying the rising interest in the industry. Its vast potential has attracted major investors like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, who are backing a startup focused on harnessing expertise from the hydrocarbon sector to capitalize on the burgeoning hydrogen market, now termed a white gold rush by analysts. In a growing global hydrogen economy, some of the best hydrogen stocks are in a position to create great value.

Our Methodology:

We used Insider Monkeys exclusive database of billionaire stock holdings to arrive at our list of best hydrogen stocks to buy according to billionaires. Firstly, we have screened the top hydrogen stocks included in notable industry ETFs. We have then selected the 10 best stocks to buy based on the highest number of billionaire investors, updated as of Q4 2024. For the stocks with the same number of billionaire holdings, we have used the total value of billionaire holdings as a secondary metric to rank the stocks. Billionaires are founders or managers of some of the worlds leading hedge funds and companies.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletters strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Is New Jersey Resources Corporation (NJR) the Best Hydrogen Stock to Buy According to Billionaires?

A gas pipeline worker inspecting a valve in an industrial setting.

New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR)

Number of Billionaires: 9

A diversified energy holding company, New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) provides regulated natural gas distribution, transmission, and storage services alongside unregulated clean energy operations.

In November 2024, the company announced a significant move through its clean energy subsidiary, NJR Clean Energy Ventures (CEV), which sold a 91 MW residential solar portfolio to Spruce Power Holding Corp. for $132.5 million. New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) expects to record a gain from this sale in the fiscal year 2025, with proceeds directed toward reducing corporate debt and supporting general operations. This strategic divestment underscores NJRs long-term focus on optimizing capital while remaining committed to renewable energy as a growth driver. President and CEO Steve Westhoven reaffirmed clean energys vital role in NJRs future.

New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) reported $1.78 billion in revenue over the past year and $491 million in Q1, reflecting a 23.5% quarter-over-quarter increase despite a 7.5% year-over-year decline.

Institutional ownership remains high at over 76%, signaling strong investor confidence. Analyst sentiment is cautious for New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) but stable, with 33% rating the stock a Buy and 67% recommending Hold. As the company sharpens its focus on strategic asset management and clean energy investments, it remains one of the best hydrogen stocks to watch in the North American utility space.

Overall, NJR ranks 4th on our list of best hydrogen stocks to buy according to billionaires. While we acknowledge the potential of quantum computing companies, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NJR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
By Aaron Ross

NAIROBI (Reuters) -Eight people in South Sudan, including five children, died on a three-hour walk to seek medical treatment for cholera after U.S. aid cuts forced local health services to close, the UK-based charity Save the Children said on Wednesday.

The deaths last month are among the first to be directly attributed to cuts imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump after entering office on January 20, which he said were to ensure grants were aligned with his "America First" agenda.

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"There should be global moral outrage that the decisions made by powerful people in other countries have led to child deaths in just a matter of weeks," said Christopher Nyamandi, Save the Children's country director in South Sudan.

Experts have warned that the cuts - including the cancellation of more than 90% of USAID's contracts - could cost millions of lives in the coming years due to malnutrition, AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases.

The U.S. State Department said it did not have information about the deaths reported by Save the Children. A spokesperson said many U.S government programmes providing lifesaving aid in South Sudan remained active but that support for medical services had also been used to enrich the country's leaders.

"While emergency lifesaving programmes continue, we will not, in good conscience, ask the American taxpayer to provide assistance that effectively subsidises the irresponsible and corrupt behaviour of South Sudans political leaders," the spokesperson said.

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South Sudan's government has in the past acknowledged a significant amount of public corruption but denied specific accusations of graft, including against President Salva Kiir's family.

Humanitarian aid to the country is often channelled through non-governmental organisations, largely because of corruption concerns.

Save the Children supported 27 health facilities in eastern South Sudan's Jonglei State until earlier this year when the U.S. cuts forced seven to shut completely and 20 to close partially, the organisation said in a statement.

U.S. funded transport services to take people to hospital in the main local town also stopped for lack of funds, which meant the eight cholera patients had to walk in nearly 40C (104F) heat to seek treatment at the nearest health facility, it said.

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Three of the children were under the age of 5, Nyamandi said.

Besides the U.S. cuts, more gradual reductions by other donors have strained the humanitarian response in South Sudan. Save the Children expects to spend $30 million in the country in 2025, down from $50 million last year, Nyamandi said.

Over a third of South Sudan's roughly 12 million people have been displaced by either conflict or natural disaster, and the United Nations says the country could be on the brink of a new civil war after fighting broke out in February in the northeast.

A cholera outbreak was declared last October. More than 22,000 cases had been recorded as of last month, causing hundreds of deaths, the World Health Organization has said.

(Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Kate Mayberry)
JUBA, South Sudan (AP)  South Sudanese officials said Tuesday that they will allow a foreign national entry into the country after their initial refusal to do so prompted the United States to revoke the visas of all its citizens.

Congolese national Makula Kintu will be accepted into the country in the spirit of maintaining friendly relations between South Sudan and the U.S., said foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Apuk Ayuel Mayen.

Last Friday, officials refused entry to Kintu, who had been deported from the United States, saying he illegally used the travel documents of a South Sudanese national, Nimeri Garang.

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The following day, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the U.S. would revoke all visas for South Sudanese citizens because the country had failed to accept the return of its citizens deported from the United States in a timely manner.

On Monday, South Sudanese officials decried the move as unfair, saying Kintus case was an isolated one and it had cooperated with all other deportation cases.

The U.S had said it was prepared to review" the decision to revoke all visas "when South Sudan is in full cooperation.

Edmund Yakani, executive director for the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, a local advocacy group, applauded the South Sudanese government's decision to allow Kintu into the country.

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The issues associated with the identity of the deportee should be handled legally without harming the South Sudanese in totality, Yakani told The Associated Press.

South Sudans political landscape is fragile and recent violence between government troops and armed opposition groups has escalated tensions.

Last week, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged regional and international leaders to prevent South Sudan from falling over the abyss into another civil war.
April 8 (UPI) -- South Sudan said the revocation of U.S. visas for all its nationals is incorrectly based on an incident that involved a citizen of a different African country.

South Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Apuk Ayuel Mayen said at a press conference Monday that the individual deported from the United States to South Sudan who was denied entry at Juba International Airport on April 5 and April 6, was denied because "upon arrival, it was determined that the individual who presented a South Sudanese travel document" under an incorrect name and that "comprehensive verification processes confirmed that his individual is a national of the Democratic Republic of Congo."

South Sudan identified the individual as Makula Kintu, saying he was using travel documents for a person named Mimeiri Garang.

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"In accordance with our immigration protocols, he was not admitted and was subsequently returned to the sending country for further processing," she said.

Mayen continued that the decision made by the United States Saturday regarding "the immediate revocation of visas for South Sudanese passport holders" was made "as a consequence of what was described as the failure of South Sudan's transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely matter."

"We would like to clarify that the government of South Sudan has consistently maintained open communication and cooperation with U.S. authorities regarding immigration and deportation matters," she said. "The government [of South Sudan] welcomes all its citizens whether they are returning voluntarily or through deportation processes."

The South Sudanese government further clarified its stance on the reception of deportees in a social media post Tuesday.

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"In the spirit of the friendly relations between South Sudan and the United States, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan has decided to grant Mr. Makula Kintu permission to enter the country," it said, adding he be collected at the airport in Juba Wednesday.

"The Government of the Republic of South Sudan remains committed to supporting the return of verified South Sudanese nationals who are scheduled for deportation from the United States."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Saturday that when South Sudan refused to accept the person at the airport over the weekend, "effective immediately, the United States Department of State is taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and prevent further issuance to prevent entry into the United States by South Sudanese passport holders."

However, he also stipulated that "We will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation."

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Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau said Sunday on social media that the man who had been refused at Juba International Airport had been certified as South Sudanese by the country's own embassy, and that in February "the South Sudanese Embassy issued the individual an emergency travel letter certifying his nationality as South Sudanese" and so "In reliance on that letter, the U.S. Government, at U.S. taxpayer expense, transferred this person almost halfway around the world."

He further said "it is unacceptable and irresponsible for South Sudanese government officials to second guess the determination of their own Embassy," and that "as far as we're concerned, the Embassy's certification is conclusive, and the matter is closed."

It is unclear whether the review Rubio mentioned is currently underway.
COURTLAND, Va. (WAVY)  A Southampton County Circuit Court jury found a man guilty of first-degree murder Tuesday in the 2019 stabbing death of Cynthia Carver.

The evidence pointed to James Goodwyn, Jr., 44 from the beginning. His defense attorney had a completely alternative theory of what happened, but the jury went with the evidence.

Southampton murder case underway involving woman stabbed, dumped in Suffolk swamp

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Carver went missing from her home on Everett Street in Newsoms in February 2019. Her body was found four weeks later near a logging trail in a wooded marshy area in Suffolk. Goodwyn Jr. was arrested three months later at his girlfriends home in Virginia Beach.

Investigators developed evidence from DNA, phone records and bloody shoe prints inside Carvers home.

Ann Carver has had to sit through six years of uncertainty and pain after the loss of her daughter Cynthia, and Cynthias daughters  now both teenagers  have had that same heartache as well.

Ann Carver had come to her daughters home back on Feb. 22, 2019. Her car was there but where was Cynthia? She went missing for about a month, and federal, state and local authorities combined in the search  until the family got the shocking news from Suffolk. Cynthia Carvers body with half a dozen stab wounds was found next to a logging trail off Gates Road.

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Missing from Carvers middle finger on her right hand was an acrylic fingernail. Investigators had already recovered it from her living room floor with Goodwyns DNA on it. Her hands had defensive slash wounds.

Her bloody shirt was found in her Newsoms driveway. The prosecution theorized that it came off as she was dragged from her home into Goodwyns vehicle. It had stab holes in the chest.

The discovery of Carvers body came thanks to an attentive dog. An employee of Franklin Lumber was on his way to North Carolina in March 2019 with his two dogs in the vehicle. His short-haired pointer began acting strangely, and the man stopped to let him out. The dog ran to a logging trail with a locked gate. The dog then ran about 20 yards down the logging road, stopped, and pointed into a swampy area of trees and brush, where Carver was face down.

Her body had stab wounds to the neck, jaw, chest and vaginal area. Clothed only in a bra, her underwear dangled from one ankle. Leggings were lying nearby. But authorities did not charge the case as a sex crime.

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The jury saw the murder weapon  a serrated edge cutlery knife with a blade about five inches long and a wooden handle. Theres a knife, it has blood all over it, a detective was heard saying on his body cam video, from the day law enforcement first responded to the Everett Street home.

Goodwyn, a man Carver knew and who had met her children, was arrested in June, 2019 and charged with first-degree murder. It wouldnt be until Tuesday morning  six years later  that a Southampton County jury would convict Goodwyn on that charge.

Asked about her reaction to the murder conviction, Ann Carver said outside the courthouse, I was happy. I cant get my daughter back but I was glad with the verdict.

The long wait has affected the entire family, including the two daughters whom Cynthia Carver was raising.

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They miss their mom, but theyre doing fine, Carver said. Im blessed, I got my family with me, so Im thankful.

Defense Attorney Jim Ellenson tried to convince the jury that another man Carver had been in a relationship with was the real killer.

Dominic Hockaday was a married man from North Carolina, and testified during the trial as a Commonwealth witness, but was recalled as a defense witness. In Carvers home in February 2019  amidst the blood, stained towels, and sliced sofa pillow she used to defend herself  was a Valentines Day gift for Hockaday, some new clothing and a UNC Tar Heels cap. Carver and Hockaday had had sex the day before she was killed.

Goodwyns defense attorney James Ellenson tried to pin the killing on Hockaday, who revealed the affair to his wife just last week. Ellenson advised Goodwyn not to testify and he did not.

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The jury deliberated for more than two hours Monday afternoon, but did not come to a verdict. Judge Wayne Farmer had instructed them to consider second-degree murder as an option.

The jury resumed deliberations Tuesday morning, and by 11 a.m. they came back with a guilty verdict on the more serious charge of first degree murder. Goodwyn has been in jail since his arrest nearly six years ago.

Commonwealths Attorney Eric Cooke said he was gratified with the guilty verdict, and thanked the investigators for their work.

Ellenson says he will appeal. Goodwyn is scheduled for sentencing July 1. He faces from 20 years to life in prison.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
We recently published a list of Jim Cramers Complete Black Monday Warning Plus 10 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discusses.

In his appearance on CNBCs Squawk on the Street on Friday as markets were crashing for the second consecutive day, Cramer commented that Chinas decision to announce reciprocal tariffs meant that the world was in a tit-for-tat environment. He outlined:

Well, I think we are in a tit for tat environment. I think that when you look at what they are gonna bang us first, its gonna be ag. It wont feel that much and the President and Congress will give them checks cause thats what we do as a country and weve done since 1933. I do think away from that itll be technology. Or either starting some investigations that are bad.

Cramer also believes that the situation was poorly handled. He has long supported tariffs against Americas trading partners as he believes that American companies are unfairly restricted from selling their goods worldwide. However, he commented that we can go further deep into how poorly weve handled this situation. And Im happy to do that. I think that its very disappointing, for us who would favor fair trade and tariffs. Were still struggling with what exactly they were doing. Uh, for a position that Ive long since held that could have been great. The botching of it is quite extraordinary.

One of Cramers most stunning remarks during the show came when he wondered whether the selloffs on Thursday and Friday were leading to something more diabolical. The full remarks deserve to be quoted:

Okay so on Wednesday, October 14th, I dont know if I have to mention the year, Dow was down 3.8%. On Thursday, October 15th, the Dow was 2.4%. On Friday, October 16th, the Dow fell 4.6%. On Monday, the Dow fell 22.6%. Thats where were are unless the President changes course. Thats called a Black Monday, thats called a 1987. I think thats a very good analogy. The other ones with the April 2000, and then maybe March of 2020. Those are the good ones. The good ones are, I was hoping for a good one. But the best I can come up with is April 2020 when there was, March 2020 when we, that was of course one of the worst declines. But then, the April 2000 and the big switch out of tech and into Bristol Myers and Coca-Cola, that works too. Not initially, but that one works.

Like all of us, Cramers co-host Carl Quintanilla was also stunned. He asked Cramer if he was warning about a true market crash. In response, Cramer added that if you bottom fish Thursday and if you bottom fish Friday in 1987, you slept with the fishes on Monday.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  The Springboro Arts Council is looking to commission an artist for a large mural in the citys historic district.

The mural, to be located at 15 S. Main St., will celebrate the vibrant community and history of Springboro. It will be approximately 22 feet tall and 37 feet wide.

Applications are open to experienced muralists and public artists, preferably with a strong portfolio of large-scale public artworks.

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The project will start on Sunday, June 1, and the expected completion date will be Friday, Aug. 1.

To apply, artists must send the following:

Their portfolio of murals and public art, either as a link or JPEGs.

A concept proposal for the mural, including visual inspiration, a color palette and its narrative connection to Springboro.

A detailed estimation of the needed budget, including materials and labor costs. (The walls preparation will be done by Ohio Painting Company.)

Project timeline plan.

Resume or CV.

The deadline to apply is Thursday, May 1. Submit application materials or questions to ksettle.sac@gmail.com .

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.  Voting for municipal elections are underway all over Missouri. Here in Springfield, voters will be electing new city council members, school board members, and a new mayor.

The Greene County Clerks office is anticipating a 13%  15% turnout for the April 8th election, and quite a few voters have already been to the polls today to cast their ballots including candidates for mayor Jeff Schrag and Mary Collette.

Schrag and Collette are both running for Springfield mayor as Mayor Ken McClures 8 years in the position come to a close. Collette and Schrag both stressed the importance of bettering Springfield for future generations. Both candidates mentioned the local governments direct impact on the community, thanking citizens for participating in local government by voting.

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Especially our local elections, Mary Collette said. Because theyre the ones that touch everybody in where we live in our neighborhoods and in our cities so thank you for getting out and voting.

Take a few moments to look, Jeff Schrag said. There are all kinds of different interviews and voter guides out there. Read what they have to say and then choose the one that you think aligns best with the future of Springfield.

You can hear more from both Collette and Schrag in our one-on-one interviews with each of them.

There is still time to vote until 7 pm just be sure to remember your up-to-date photo ID.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR - OzarksFirst.com.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA)  The Springfield Police Department arrested six people  including three juveniles  following two firearms-related incidents.

Around 11 p.m. on April 3, the Springfield Police stopped a car near the intersection of E. Cedar Street and S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive for an ongoing investigation.

UPDATE: Coroner identifies teenager killed in overnight Springfield shooting

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All five passengers were detained by police. Police found three firearms, including a loaded Springfield Armory pistol, Sharps Brothers .223 AR pistol with a loaded magazine and a round in the chamber, and a loaded Smith and Wesson that had been reported stolen.

All five passengers were arrested, including three juveniles. The juveniles were brought to the Sangamon County Juvenile Detention Center and the adults were taken to the Sangamon County Jail.

The Springfield Police Department said that all five names are being withheld at this time as the investigation continues.

Man hit by freight train in Springfield, condition unknown

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The next day, Springfield Police responded to Main Gate Bar and Grill around 12:03 a.m. for a report of a person with a weapon. Witnesses told police that a man, later identified as 22-year-old Kaidon Holdman of Athens, had been involved in a disturbance inside the bar and was asked to leave.

Holdman told the bar staff he was going to get a gun from his car. He brought the gun inside, pointed it at several people inside the bar, and then drove away.

Police found and stopped the vehicle near the bar, where they found a loaded Taurus 9mm in Holdmans pocket. He was arrested for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and driving under the influence and brought to the Sangamon County Jail.

UIS Police investigating after shots fired on campus

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The Springfield Police Department said there has been a recent surge in gun violence in the community, and that they are committed to a proactive, data-driven approach.

Anyone with information regarding either incident is encouraged to call the Springfield Police Department at 217-788-8311. To make an anonymous tip, contact the Sangamon/Menard County Crime Stoppers at 217-788-8427.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter has officially appointed Matt Privratsky to fill a vacant seat on the city council, restoring a voting Ward 4 member to the post the council tried and failed to fill on its own.

The Ward 4 seat had been held by former Council President Mitra Jalali, who stepped down on Feb. 5 and officially left city employ on March 8. Privratsky, a lobbyist for clean energy developers, served as her legislative aide from October 2018 to October 2021. He will hold the interim position through the Aug. 12 election.

Matts history of community action, prior service in City Hall, and alignment with former Council President Jalali make him the perfect choice, said Carter, in a written statement. I am honored to appoint him to fill this vacancy until Election Day.

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Privratsky is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday, in time for public hearings on a major amendment to the citys rent control ordinance and a raft of tenant protections, issues that had left the six other members of the council divided over whom to appoint to fill the Ward 4 seat.

After interviewing four finalists, members of the city council attempted, multiple times across two weeks, to recommend Privratsky or Hamline-Midway neighborhood advocate Lisa Clare Nelson as the councils preferred choice, but the motions were repeatedly blocked or voided by fellow council members.

Under the city charter, the council had 30 days to fill the vacancy or the decision falls to the mayor, who has urged the council to repeal rent control for buildings constructed after 2004, with the goal of jumpstarting lagging housing construction.

The two other finalists were artist and community organizer Sean Lim and nonprofit consultant Melissa Martinez-Sones, who withdrew her name from the running amid the councils public and highly-charged infighting.

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Privratsky is a former director of public affairs for Fresh Energy and launched his career at the Minnesota Rural Electric Association after serving as news director for a Morris radio station. He is currently the director of government affairs for Nokomis Energy, a Minneapolis-based energy developer.

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Ever since the beginning of the year, Tesla (TSLA) stock has been in a race to the bottom that isnt showing signs of stopping.

As shares surged late in 2024 on momentum from President Donald Trumps victory, experts touted TSLA as one of the markets most likely winners of the new era. Between CEO Elon Musks close proximity to Trump and the new presidents promises of less regulation, the company looked poised to continue growing in 2025.

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Three months into the new year, TSLA stock has mostly trended downward as Musk has focused more on his responsibilities on Capitol Hill than at any of his manufacturing facilities. This hasnt inspired much confidence in investors, who have expressed concern for the companys future.

One investor in particular, though, has made it clear he believes immediate action is necessary for TSLA stock to start making up the ground it has lost. It starts with Musk making a drastic change.

Tesla stock has been falling lately as negative consumer sentiment rises in response to Elon Musk's actions.TheStreet/Getty

One financial expert has a plan to save Tesla but Musk wont like it

As Teslas stock decline has accelerated over the past few months, more and more experts have sounded the alarm about Musks lack of leadership and the risks he poses to the company.

His work with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has to be highly distracting, and his proximity to Trump hasnt helped shield Tesla from the impact of recent auto tariffs.

Related: Prominent Tesla shareholder has harsh words for Elon Musk

Now, Trump has revealed that Musk will be leaving his administration in the near future, possibly because his allotted 130-day period as a special government employee is coming to an end. But one Tesla investor thinks that isnt enough and says it's time for Musk to step down as Teslas CEO.

Ross Gerber has been a Tesla investor for a long time, and he has made it clear that he believes the company is better off without Musk. Gerber serves as President and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, which owns approximately 262,352 shares of TSLA stock as of February 2025.

While that doesnt make him one of Teslas biggest shareholders, Gerber is highly focused on pressuring Tesla to make a leadership change. He recently accused Musk of being too focused on his work at DOGE, but now he argues that the CEO is compromising Tesla in other ways.

From Gerbers perspective, the only way for Tesla to be saved is if it moves forward without Musk, as he stated in a recent interview.
Tonight a Sioux Falls man released from prison just weeks ago is back behind bars facing murder and manslaughter charges. 35 year old Jordan Adams made his first court appearance Monday afternoon in the stabbing death of a 45 year old man at a Sioux falls apartment complex near 41st and Marion Road.

According to court papers several witnesses saw and heard the stabbing at the Meadowland apartments early Friday morning. One person described Adams as drunk and lunging at the victim with a knife. When police arrived they found 45 year old Chitprasong Amphavannasouk in the 3rd floor hallway. They attempted lifesaving efforts but couldnt save him.

Man arrested 3 times in 13 months for robbery

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Police also located a suspect. 35 year old Jordan Adams had blood on his clothes and a cut on his lower leg. Officers took him to the hospital and then to the police station where he was interviewed and eventually arrested.

Probably the big question we have is what happened, said police spokesman Sam Clemens. And we dont know that. We had several witnesses that saw the altercation taking place and identified the suspect in this case, we dont know what led up to it still working on trying to figure that out.



An Autopsy indicates Amphavannasouk was stabbed 5 times, two were defensive wounds to his hands others were to his body and one pierced his heart.

Adams was in prison recently. The DOC website says he was released March 11th. We asked Clemens if it was frustrating to see someone accused of committing a violent crime so soon after being released from prison.

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Our job is to find those responsible for committing that crime and hold them accountable, and then once it gets to the courts and certainly corrections they have their own processes in place from there, said Clemens.



According to court papers Adams told police he had been drinking with friends at the apartment and doesnt remember anything. Clemens says it doesnt appear anyone else was involved in the stabbing. Adams appeared briefly before a judge Monday with his court appointed attorney. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf and his bond remains at one million dollars.

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Standing Rock Chairwoman Janet Alkire and council members meet with North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong and South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden. Pictured from left are Rhoden, Alkire, Armstrong, former Standing Rock Chairman Charles Murphy, Councilman Cyril Archambault and Councilman John Pretty Bear. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)

FORT YATES, N.D.  Leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe asked governors of North Dakota and South Dakota for help Monday as they face uncertainties with federal funding under President Donald Trump.

The comments came during a rare meeting that brought North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong and South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden to consult with Standing Rock Tribal Chairwoman Janet Alkire and other tribal council members.

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Alkire, Armstrong and Rhoden, who convened in the council chambers of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Administrative Center, said they couldnt recall the last time both governors were in Fort Yates at the same time.

The Standing Rock Reservation straddles North Dakota and South Dakota. This puts the tribe in the unique situation of having to manage overlapping jurisdiction with both states and the federal government.

Federal spending cuts threaten several services in Indian Country the federal government is legally required to provide, including programs that support public education, health care and law enforcement, Stateline reported last month.

Standing Rock Tribal Chair Janet Alkire speaks with North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong and South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden during an April 7, 2025, meeting in the council chambers of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Administrative Center. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)

Multiple Standing Rock councilors asked Armstrong and Rhoden what the tribe can do to navigate these changes.

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We all know theres gonna be more, Alkire said.

Both governors said they share concerns about the cuts.

Were in the mode of monitoring, just like you are, Rhoden said.

He defended the Trump administrations actions as necessary to bring federal spending under control.

Its been many decades since I felt like we had a president thats actually looking beyond the horizon on fixing whats wrong with America, he said.

Alkire said she supports streamlining federal programs if it means Native nations get greater autonomy over their own resources, but she worries tribal communities will suffer if their services are cut.

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We in Indian Country have always faced underfunding, so when you cut something for us, its drastic, Alkire said.

She said Standing Rock is counting on the North Dakota and South Dakota governments and their congressional delegations to make sure the federal government honors its responsibility to Native nations.

Armstrong said he hopes tribal leaders alert their state counterparts as soon as they face issues.

When disruption happens, we need to know, he said.

Setting the funding cuts aside, Alkire said the federal government has long neglected to address a laundry list of tribal sovereignty issues. The tribe needs more funding and staff from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as fewer restrictions on access to federal land and the Missouri River, to name a few, she said.

I told Secretary Burgum that he had his work cut out for him, Alkire said, referring to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Armstrongs predecessor as governor.

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Development was another recurring theme of the meeting.

John Pretty Bear, a district representative, asked Rhoden if he would ask D.C. to fund water infrastructure development in western South Dakota.

Its 2025, and we still have people that haul water, Pretty Bear said.

Rhoden said hes aware of the issue.

I live in the middle of Meade County, and if you look at a water map of South Dakota as far as rural water projects, it is a black hole in that area, he said.

Councilors also asked the governors to help support economic development on the reservation so the tribes younger generation can find jobs

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We need more businesses, District Representative Joe White Mountain Jr. said. Our kids are growing up and they dont really have a future.

During a January address to North Dakota state lawmakers, Alkire called infrastructure a top priority for the tribe.

Standing Rock hopes to one day build a bridge over the Missouri River connecting the reservation to Emmons County. Currently, to cross the Missouri River, Fort Yates residents must drive roughly an hour north to Bismarck or an hour south to Mobridge.

The U.S. The Department of Transportation recently awarded the tribe a $14.5 million planning grant for the project, but more support will be needed to make the dream a reality, Akire said in the address.

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A bill signed by Armstrong in March authorizes the North Dakota Department of Transportation to accept ownership of the bridge if it gets built.

Tribal officials said both states could do a better job of consulting with Standing Rock on a variety of issues, including education, transportation, gaming and land use.

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, left, and North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong field questions from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes council during an April 7, 2025, meeting in the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Administrative Center in Fort Yates, North Dakota. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)

Rhoden, formerly South Dakotas lieutenant governor, assumed office at a low point for tribal relations in the state.

Leaders of all nine Native American reservations in South Dakota voted to ban Rhodens predecessor, Kristi Noem  now the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security  from their lands. The votes were in response to Noems rhetoric about Indigenous communities in the state, including an unsubstantiated accusation that tribal leaders were personally benefiting from Mexican drug cartels, and an assertion that Native American children dont have any hope.

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I think this is an important day in our history and in the road to recovery, as far as rebuilding our relationships, Rhoden said Monday.

Armstrongs predecessor, Burgum, was widely regarded as an ally to the five federally recognized tribes that share land with North Dakota.

Armstrong said Burgums appointment to the Interior presents unique opportunities to the tribe, North Dakota and South Dakota, and he hopes the three governments can continue working toward their common interests.

Theres not a lot of people that can get me out of Bismarck on less than a weeks notice when the Legislatures meeting, but when the Chairwoman calls, we say yes, said Armstrong.

This story was originally published by the North Dakota Monitor. Like South Dakota Searchlight, its part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: info@northdakotamonitor.com.
DARLINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  A child was attacked Sunday by what Darlington County authorities believe was a stray dog that then got away.

Deputies responded to the area of Cedar Ridge Road for the incident. The child was transported to a hospital for undisclosed injuries.

No further information was immediately provided.

* * *

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.

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(FOX40.COM)  The City of Sacramentos Streets to Housing pilot program has successfully moved its first group of people experiencing homelessness into apartments, according to officials.

Video Above: How much does California spend to combat homelessness?

The pilot program was backed by $5.85 million from the states Encampment Resolution Funds. The city said the housing-first approach connects 100 unsheltered households living in encampments with stable, permanent housing.

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Were encouraged by the early success of this pilot and proud to see people moving into stable housing so quickly, said Sarah Schwartz, neighborhood resource coordinator with the Citys Department of Community Response.

The benefits participants receive include up to a year of rental assistance, intensive case management and stabilization services. According to officials, the goal is to help people maintain their apartments or move to other positive housing areas by the programs end.

Navarro: I guarantee no recession, okay?

On February 10, five households with eight people in North Sacramento were moved from encampments to apartments, marking the starting point for the pilot program.

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The citys Street to Housing pilot program involves several key steps:

Outreach and engagement: Build relationships with encampment residents and on-site assessments to understand the housing needs of encampment residents.

Individualized support plans: Develop tailored plans addressing each individuals housing and service needs.

Housing placement: Assist people in securing permanent housing, providing approximately 12 months of rental assistance.

Supportive services: Offer case management and stabilization services to promote long-term housing stability.

The city said with the success of the first encampment group, they aim to continue with their efforts until 100 households have been moved into permanent housing.

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TOWN OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB)  The Town of Tonawanda held its first board meeting on Monday night since town supervisor Joe Emminger said that dozens of police officers will be charged with Taylor Law violations  and the police union showed up in full force in response to allegations that officers participated in an illegal strike.

The gavel had to be used more than 10 times at a vocal and heated meeting. The union said that the towns disciplinary actions against its own police force are a tipping point, so much so that Andy Thompson, president of the Town of Tonawanda Police Club, made his first public comments since the situation began.

Whats happening inside of our department should alarm every person in this room, and every family in this town, Thompson said.

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Much like prior meetings, Mondays was packed with those in support of the police and those critical of the officers alleged actions.

In March, the town wrapped up its investigation into the departments alleged strike, sending its findings to the states Public Employment Relations Board. Town leaders said no terminations will come from this, but discipline  like loss of pay and fines  will be in play if PERB upholds the charges.

Since the beginning, police union leaders have denied that there was any type of strike, saying, The PERB charges are based on a flawed investigation with fabricated information disguised as facts.

The whole police community in New York State  this isnt a Tonawanda issue. Were all watching this and were all disgusted by it, said Michael OMeara, president of the Police Conference of New York.

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Numbers reported by the town showed close to 90% fewer tickets in a three-week period compared to prior years. Thompson called those numbers bogus, claiming the town is only doing this because of their frustration over Town of Tonawanda Police Chief James Stauffigers leadership.

The union recently created a website stating that Stauffiger should step down. On Monday, the union issued its first-ever unanimous vote of no confidence in Stauffiger.

William Krier of the the Town of Tonawanda Criminal Investigations Bureau said that the alleged actions could not be ignored.

When an officer is found to be dishonest in their official duties, it cannot be ignored, Krier said. The police club clearly feels differently as they have attempted to influence discipline for that dishonesty through a job action, a job action that has ultimately failed and backfired.

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The Public Employment Relations Board will be holding a hearing on the charges before issuing its decision within the next 30-45 days.

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Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.

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Time has run out for some US trade partners looking to make deals ahead of President Trump's July 9 deadline for tariffs to snap back to higher levels.

Letters will start going out to countries on Friday to notify them of the tariff rates they will face on exports to the US, Trump told reporters, to go into effect on Aug. 1. The first 10 or 12 letters sent out will be followed by similar batches.

By the ninth theyll be fully covered, Trump said in reference to the deadline, per Bloomberg. Theyll range in value from maybe 60% or 70% tariffs to 10% and 20% tariffs.

The Trump team has so far been focused on hammering out trade deals, though it has succeeded in nailing only three pacts so far.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said around 100 partners would likely see a minimum "reciprocal" rate of 10% come next week, adding that he expects a "flurry" of deals to materialize before the deadline.

Here is where things stand with various partners:

China : The US has eased export restrictions on China for chip design software and ethane, a sign that trade tensions are calming between the two countries after they agreed in May to a framework to move toward a larger trade deal. Software firms like Synopsys (SNPS) and Cadence (CDNS) said they will now sell their chip design tools to Chinese customers again. The US also removed limits on ethane exports to China that it had set just weeks ago.

Vietnam: Trump on Wednesday said he had reached a trade deal with Vietnam, one that will see the country's imports face a 20% tariff  lower than the 46% he had threatened in April. He also said Vietnamese goods would face a higher 40% tariff "on any transshipping"  when goods shipped from Vietnam originate from another country, like China. Many US goods will see no duty upon import to Vietnam.

Japan: Trump earlier this week said negotiations with Japan had soured, saying he would force Japan to accept higher tariffs of "30%, 35%, or whatever the number is that we determine." Notably, that proposal is higher than the 24% "Liberation Day" level. "Theyre very tough. You have to understand, theyre very spoiled," he said.
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. (DC News Now)  A very special guest paid a visit to the library at Shepherdstown Middle School Tuesday afternoon.

Johnny Moses is a Native American from a tribe on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. He is a master storyteller, oral historian and spiritual leader.

New exhibit at Jefferson County Museum revisits regional role of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson

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His visit to the school is a way for Jefferson County Schools to introduce, in real life, some colorful personalities they read about during the school year.

I grew up with storytelling, Moses said of his Native American heritage. And the one thing that I always loved, the elders, when they would tell us the stories, they would always tell us I tell you these stories because I love you.'

Adam Booth is the director of the Speak Story Series.

The students get to meet people from different cultures, Booth said. They speak different languages, have different backgrounds.

South Martinsburg Middle School robotics team heads to Texas for world championships

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Teacher Jennifer Cogle said the series leaves a lasting legacy on the kids.

They really enjoy talking about it with future grads that come up and they really look forward to it every year, Cogle said.

Jefferson County Schools says the storytelling gives students historical perspectives and broadens their cultural awareness.

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MURRAY, Utah (Good Things Utah)  A groundbreaking study from Intermountain Health reveals that a simple at-home monitoring device can be the key to preventing deadly complications from opioid use after same-day surgery.

-Dr. Robert Mazzola is principal investigator of this new study and senior medical director for sleep services at Intermountain Health.

-Kim Bennion is a co-author of the study and research director of respiratory care clinical services at Intermountain Health.

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-Yvonne Gardner lost her son after same-day surgery to remove his tonsils in 2016 and believes it was due to opioid induced respiratory depression or OIRD.

Researchers at Intermountain Health are working to prevent one of the severe  and potentially fatal  complications for same-day surgery patients who are given opioids to alleviate their short-term pain by using a simple device that can save lives.

Opioids are a common medication used in surgery. While they can help alleviate pain associated with surgical procedures, they do carry risk of complications even when taken as prescribed, including opioid induced respiratory depression (OIRD), a condition that occurs when an opioid medication suppresses someones drive to breathe.

Now, a new study by researchers at Intermountain Health has found that using a simple monitoring device that tracks the oxygen level in someones blood can alert caregivers that the patient may not be breathing properly.

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Patients who are in the hospital are monitored for signs of opioid induced respiratory depression; however, patients who are treated at same-day/ambulatory surgery centers who often go home less than 24 hours after surgery have not historically been discharged with monitors. They are often looked after by a loved one who may not recognize when respiratory distress is occurring.

In the new study published in The Respiratory Care Journal, researchers from Intermountain Health found that discharging high-risk patients with opioids from same day surgery centers with this simple monitoring device can be lifesaving. The monitoring device alerts caregivers of opioid induced respiratory depression, which leads to proper emergency medical care.

In fact, for one patient enrolled in the study, a family member receiving the respiratory depression alert was able to administer the opioid-reversing drug naloxone in time to save the patients life.

Were often sending patients home with untrained caregivers who might not know what to do or what signs to look for that could indicate opioid induced respiratory depression, said Robert Mazzola, MD, principal investigator of the study and enterprise senior medical director for sleep services at Intermountain Health. We found that with a simple, commercially available pulse oximeter and monitoring device, we can save lives.

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The study included patients who were undergoing same-day orthopedic surgery at the Intermountain Orthopedic Specialty Hospital between September 2019 and October 2020 who were also at high risk for developing opioid induced respiratory depression.

Risk factors included patients who had signs of undiagnosed sleep apnea (like snoring, tiredness, high blood pressure, high body mass index), or had confirmed sleep apnea but were non-compliant with wearing a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to help them breathe while asleep.

Those patients were sent home with a monitoring device that measures how much carbon dioxide a patient breathes out and oxygen saturation levels.

Patients were then monitored at home for four days while napping and sleeping by home caregivers, often friends or family members of the patient, who received training at the hospital on what to do if an alarm sounded. Those caregivers were also given naloxone, an overdose reversing medication, and instructed on how and when to use it.

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Of the 359 patients for whom data was recorded, 26 patients required emergency room treatment due to a low oxygen saturation level alarm from the monitor.

Of those patients, 14 experienced opioid related respiratory depression and/or opioid related events, and one was given naloxone which most likely saved their life.

A second patient was diagnosed with an opioid induced heart attack in the emergency room after the home caregiver responded to the monitors alarm. A third was diagnosed with opioid induced renal failure, requiring dialysis and a stay in the ICU.

Three patients experienced surgery-related complications, such as pulmonary embolism. The patients went to the emergency room as directed. Though not opioid-related, patients and their caregiver sought care due to low oxygen saturation level alarms.

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Death due to opioid induced respiratory depression should not be the only concern for high- risk opioid patients prescribed opioids for pain. Hypoxic organ damage can also occur and can be identified earlier resulting in more timely intervention. We were able to identify those patients diagnosed in the emergency room with opioid related events and/or opioid induced respiratory depression, said Kim Bennion, MsHS, study co-author and research director of respiratory care clinical services at Intermountain Health.

Through a simple pulse oximeter you can wear on your finger, we were able to effectively monitor for that and have patients and/or their home caregiver take action, added Bennion.

Additionally, researchers found that patients who had an incident that required them to go to the emergency department were having them at about 1.8 days post-surgery  longer than the 24-hour period typically associated as the riskiest time for opioid induced respiratory depression.

As promising as using a pulse oximeter was, the study also showed that measuring carbon dioxide levels with a nasal cannula is challenging in the home environment.

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Researchers found the device could potentially set off false alarms after about 12 hours due to moisture wicking problems. While successful in the in-hospital setting, the home was an uncontrolled environment which may have resulted in the erroneous alarms.

Our study demonstrates the importance of using technology in the home to monitor these patients and help the person watching them, whether a loved one or a friend, to make them safer, said Dr. Mazzola.

Bennion, who has lost two family members to opioid induced respiratory depression, has worked with state lawmakers on a resolution urging state legislators, hospitals, physicians, and medical researchers to raise awareness of the risks of taking opioids even as prescribed  and the need for monitoring at home to identify opioid induced respiratory depression.

The Utah resolution also encourages doctors to discharge post-operative surgery patients with a pulse oximeter when opioids are prescribed.

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The study was funded by the Intermountain Research Foundation with naloxone provided by Intermountain Health Pharmacy Clinical Services. https://news.intermountainhealth.org/

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A top U.S. economist and former Biden official is speaking out after he says he was shocked to find that the Trump administration cited his research in formulating last weeks extreme global tariffs, which he said they got all wrong.

University of Chicago economics professor Brent Neiman, who worked for the U.S. Treasury Department under President Joe Biden, wrote in a New York Times op-ed Monday that Trumps tariffs are roughly four times higher than they should be if they followed his math correctly.

How on earth did it calculate such huge rates? he recalled as his immediate shock and confusion upon seeing the numbers unveiled by President Donald Trump at the White House. He then saw his own published research, which he coauthored in 2021, cited by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for part of its methodology.

Brent Neiman, then-U.S. assistant secretary of the treasury for international finance and development, is seen with Bangladesh's interim government's leader, Muhammad Yunus, in September. via Associated Press

But it got it wrong. Very wrong, Neiman wrote. I disagree fundamentally with the governments trade policy and approach. But even taking it at face value, our findings suggest the calculated tariffs should be dramatically smaller  perhaps one-fourth as large.

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Other economists have similarly mocked the Trump administrations tariff formula, calling it embarrassing and malpractice.

Neiman went on to break down Trumps policy, including how  as other economists and world leaders have pointed out  the tariffs are not reciprocal as Trump claims because reciprocal tariffs are supposed to treat other countries the way they treat us, and foreign tariffs on American goods are nowhere near these levels.

President Donald Trump reveals his new tariff policy at the White House on April 2. via Associated Press

He also argued that a simple tit-for-tat tariff system, like the one Trump has proposed, mistakenly assumes that a tariff placed on one country wont affect imports from any others and ignores any implications for exports.

These assumptions may work for an action against one small trade partner, but not for the broad salvo announced last week, he wrote.

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Beyond the misunderstanding of how global trading and tariffs work, he went on to say that the tariff formula used by the government to calculate its rates is further flawed because it uses four different numbers, which appear based on flawed assumptions.

The part that directly relates to our research is an estimate of how much import prices change in response to the additional costs imposed by tariffs, he wrote. The value of that term, known as the rate of pass-through, isnt obvious and depends on how companies behave.

He then questioned where a plugged-in rate of 25% came from, while noting that the Trump administration offers shockingly few details in its methodology.

I would strongly prefer that the policy and methodology be scrapped entirely. But barring that, the administration should divide its results by four, he concluded.

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Neiman, speaking with ABC 7 Chicago, said he has not spoken with the Trump administration directly but that hes been told they are aware of him pointing out their mistakes.

Despite pushback and criticism, the Trump administration has vowed to stand by its tariffs.

The White House has said that more than 50 countries have since reached out to negotiate a deal. There have been conflicting messages on whether the tariffs can be negotiated, however.

White House trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro, writing of the tariffs in an op-ed Monday, said that this is not a negotiation. His stance follows Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also saying Monday that the Trump administration would open negotiations with Japan.

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China has meanwhile vowed to retaliate against the U.S., prompting Trump to threaten to increase Chinas tariffs by 50%.

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY)  Some Monongalia County elementary students walked the red carpet Monday morning while being honored for being part of a military family.

Suncrest Elementary School held its first Purple Up Ceremony Monday morning in Morgantown, which is part of the Purple Star Awards program that recognizes schools with military children.

Symposium held in Morgantown for West Virginia teachers in training

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We wanted to let them know that they are not alone, that they have other children in our school that they can go to and that they have adults who love them and support them, Itinerate School Counselor Morgan Benson said.

They sacrifice so much and sometimes we forget that the children are without family members for time periods and the family members are without their children so this week its all about the military children and their families, Assistant Principal Kristi Mullenax said.

The honoring of military service will continue all week long, focusing on one branch of the military each day.

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Chris Sununu, shown here in November 2023, said he will not run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. (Photo by Ethan DeWitt/New Hampshire Bulletin)

Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Tuesday morning that he wont run for the open U.S. Senate seat in 2026.

No, Im not gonna run, he told radio host Jack Heath on his show, The Pulse of NH.

This comes after feverish speculation from analysts and insiders over whether Sununu, a fixture of GOP politics in New Hampshire with a history of electoral success, would enter the race. It also follows President Donald Trump expressing his support for Sununu should he enter the race.

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I hope he runs, Trump, who had a complicated relationship with Sununu during his governorship, told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. I think hell win that seat.

Trump said the two met at the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., where they discussed it.

No Republican has announced a campaign for the seat yet, but on the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, who represents New Hampshires 1st Congressional District, began his campaign last week. U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander, a freshman representing the states 2nd Congressional District, is also openly considering a bid for the seat.

The race for the Senate seat became wide open in March when Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who has held the seat since 2008, announced she would not seek reelection in 2026.

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Sununu ended his four-term tenure as governor with high approval ratings in January after deciding not to seek reelection. His governorship was characterized by tax cuts and reduced regulations, with a governing style unlike that of Trump.

He was succeeded by Gov. Kelly Ayotte, a former U.S. senator herself.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is looking to maintain the GOPs majority in the Senate, has deemed this a toss-up race and said its internal polling was favorable for Republicans.

The NRSC continues to believe Republicans are going to win New Hampshire in 2026, Nick Puglia, a regional press secretary for the NRSC, said in a statement. While Democrats duke it out in a race to the left, we are excited about the number of candidates we are talking to who appreciate the privilege of representing Granite Staters in the Senate and are ready to build winning campaigns.
Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) on Tuesday said he will not run for Senate in 2026, dealing a setback for the GOP in one of next years battlegrounds.

Sununu, who served as governor for four two-year terms before not seeking reelection in November, announced his decision in an interview with local news outlets the Pulse of New Hampshire.

Im not going to run, Sununu said, according to NH Journal. I really thought about it. I actually talked to the White House this morning. I talked to Tim Scott. Thanked him for all their support and confidence and all that. But I dont have to be the candidate, and Im not going to be the candidate.

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His move comes after initially ruling out a run for Senate before signaling more openness to it. As a former governor who enjoyed a strong approval rating and comfortable reelection victories, Sununu was seen as among the best candidates that Republicans could put up to try to succeed the retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

Speculation that Sununu may run was further stoked Sunday after President Trump revealed he met with Sununu in the Oval Office and declared his support for his potential candidacy. Trump said he hoped Sununu would run and expected he would win.

Sununus decision could boost the prospects for former Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican who represented Massachusetts in the Senate from 2010 to 2013 but moved to the Granite State a decade ago and has expressed interest in running for the seat.

@ChrisSununu and the entire Sununu family are patriots who have made our state a better place  looking forward to seeing whats next for him and working alongside him for New Hampshires future, Brown said in a post on the social platform X reacting to the news.

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Brown was the Republican nominee for the seat in 2014 but lost to Shaheen, winning her second term.

On the Democratic side, Rep. Chris Pappas (N.H.) announced his candidacy for the seat Thursday after a listening tour in which he traveled to all 10 of the states counties as he considered running.

While Democrats have maintained electoral success at the federal level in New Hampshire, Republicans have expressed optimism about putting the seat in play. A memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) from last week showed internal polling data suggesting the race could be competitive.

But Sununus decision is a blow to the GOPs chances there.

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Pappass campaign said in a statement that it knows that the race will be close and Trump and national Republicans are continuing to recruit candidates who will support their reckless agenda.

Since launching this campaign, the support Chris Pappas has received in all ten counties has been overwhelming, and its not surprising that people like Chris Sununu are thinking twice about getting into the race, given the energy we are seeing and the desire of Granite Staters to end the chaos, the campaign said.

The NRSC said in a statement it continues to believe Republicans will win the seat in 2026.

While Democrats duke it out in a race to the left, we are excited about the number of candidates we are talking to who appreciate the privilege of representing Granite Staters in the Senate and are ready to build winning campaigns, said press secretary Nick Puglia.

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The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee called Sununus decision an embarrassing recruitment failure for the GOP.

Republicans have not won a Senate race in New Hampshire in more than a decade, and in 2026 Democrats will continue to hold this seat, communications director Maeve Coyle said in a statement.

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates the race as lean Democrat.

Updated: 2:41 p.m. ET

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One year after the UK's Flexible Working Act, many workers still face barriers to flexible work arrangements, according to a study by Phoenix Group.

The research highlights that almost one in three or 28% workers who requested flexible working had their requests denied due to employer concerns about productivity.

This indicates ongoing challenges despite the law's intent to facilitate flexible working from day one.

The study reveals that 68% of workers believe they would be more efficient with flexible working, having control over their hours and work location.

However, only 21% of workers successfully applied for flexible working in the past year, while an equal percentage had their requests denied.

This suggests a disconnect between worker aspirations and employer practices.

Phoenix Group chief people officer Sara Thompson said: The introduction of the Flexible Working Act is an important tool to help workers balance their jobs with other responsibilities and interests outside of work. It is therefore disappointing that many are facing barriers with some employers worried about how flexibility could impact on a workers productivity.

Phoenix Insights' research shows that 62% of workers desire flexibility in their working hours, and 43% want flexibility in their work location.

Despite these preferences, many requests are denied due to employers' disbelief in flexibility (27%), business needs (24%), and a lack of resources (21%).

These findings underline the gap between worker expectations and employer provisions.

Since the law's enactment, most workers have not altered their working arrangements.

Only 15% have made changes, with 78% continuing under existing conditions.

Among those who adapted, the most common change was working full-time with remote options, with men (65%) more likely than women (45%) to make this adjustment.

Thompson added: As the demand for flexibility grows, it is in employers best interests to engage proactively with their workforce and, where possible, to enable their workers to work in a flexible way, alongside managing business needs.

Despite the Flexible Working Act's provisions, awareness remains a significant issue.

More than half of workers (55%) are unaware of their entitlements under the Act, and more than one-third (36%) report that their employer or manager has never mentioned it.

Thompson concluded: Those businesses that fail to embrace flexible working risk losing talent, particularly among parents, carers, and older workers who can benefit most from greater flexibility. At Phoenix, we have fostered an environment where flexible working is the norm.
April 8 (UPI) -- The Trump administration does not have to reinstate some 16,000 fired federal probationary employees pending the outcome of a federal case in northern California, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

"The district court's injunction was based solely on the allegations of the nine non-profit-organization plaintiffs in this case," the unattributed two-page decision states. "Under established law, those allegations are presently insufficient to support the organizations' standing."

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

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Earlier, U.S. District Court for Northern California Judge William Alsup on on March 13 had ordered the Office of Personnel Management to "offer reinstatement to any and all probationary employees terminated on or about February 13" after ruling the firings were illegal.

His preliminary injunction required the reinstatement of fired probationary workers at the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs in the case filed by the non-profit organizations.

A federal judge in Maryland issued a similar ruling, but the Supreme Court's decision only applies to the case in Northern California.

The Trump administration appealed Alsup's ruling, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel denied the appeal, 2-1, without addressing the merits of the case.

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The Trump administration appealed the appellate court's ruling to the Supreme Court.

The administration argued Alsup lacks the authority to order the re-hiring of the fired workers and is micromanaging the matter and the nine unions that filed the lawsuit lack standing to do so because the firings do not directly affect them.

The American Federal of Government Employees is among the plaintiffs and on Tuesday said the "battle is far from over."

"There is no doubt that thousands of public service employees were unlawfully fired in an effort to cripple federal agencies and their crucial programs that serve millions of Americans every day," the AFGE said in a joint prepared statement with the eight other plaintiffs.

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"Today's order by the U.S. Supreme Court is deeply disappointing but is only a momentary pause in our efforts to enforce the trial court's orders and hold the federal government accountable," the statement said.

"Despite the setback, our coalition remains unwavering in fighting for these workers who were wronged by the administration and in protecting the freedom of the American people," the coalition said.

Although the Supreme Court ruling cites nine non-profits as plaintiffs, the AFGE indicates there are 14 plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs named by the AFGE include the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; Main Street Alliance; Coalition to Protect America's National Parks; Common Defense Civic Engagement; WesternWatersheds Project; and AFGE Local 1216.

Other plaintiffs are VoteVets; United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals; American Public Health Association; American Geophysical Union; Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO; Climate Resilient Communities; and Point Blue Conservation Science.
(QUEEN CITY NEWS)  The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to use an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants, but said they must get a court hearing before they are taken from the United States.

In a bitterly divided decision, the court said the administration must give Venezuelans who it claims are gang members reasonable time to go to court.

NCDMVs expand hours as Real ID deadline looms

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But the conservative majority said the legal challenges must take place in Texas, instead of a Washington courtroom.

The courts action appears to bar the administration from immediately resuming the flights that last month carried hundreds of migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The flights came soon after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to justify the deportations under a presidential proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.

Chief Legal Analyst Khalif Rhodes joined Queen City News Now to discuss the highest courts decision.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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 Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Trump administration can move forward with the termination of 16,000 probationary federal workers across six agencies and departments, rescinding a lower court order that they be reinstated as litigation challenging the layoffs continues.

In a brief, unsigned order, the court said the nine labor unions and nonprofit groups that had challenged the firings lacked standing in the matter. The groups' "allegations [of harm] are presently insufficient to support the organizations' standing," the order read.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated that they would have denied Trump's request.

PHOTO: The U.S. Supreme Court is seen April 7, 2025 in Washington. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

A federal judge last month ordered the administration to reinstate the affected 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.

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The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court for an emergency stay of the judge's order, arguing the plaintiffs lacked standing and had "hijacked the employment relationship between the federal government and its workforce."

The unions had asked the Supreme Court to preserve the district court judge's order that those workers be reinstated because of the imminent harm that would come from termination.

"Because probationary employees include not only those new to the government but also those recently promoted, agencies lost experienced individuals and directors of programs and were left with arbitrary and unexpected gaps in critical functions," they wrote in their brief. "The reverberations throughout agencies and impacts on services were dramatic and immediate."

On Tuesday, the coalition of unions called the Supreme Court order "deeply disappointing" but vowed to continue fighting the terminations.

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"Despite this setback, our coalition remains unwavering in fighting for these workers who were wronged by the administration, and in protecting the freedoms of the American people. This battle is far from over," the coalition said in a statement.

ABC's Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.

Supreme Court allows Trump to terminate 16,000 probationary federal workers originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked an order for the Trump administration to return to work thousands of federal employees who were let go in mass firings aimed at dramatically downsizing the federal government.

The justices acted in the administrations emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary employees at six federal agencies be reinstated while a lawsuit plays out because their firings didnt follow federal law.

The court's order involved a technical legal assessment of the right, or standing, of several nonprofit associations to sue over the firings. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said they would have kept the judges order in place.

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Its the third time in less than a week that the justices have sided with the Republican administration in its fight against federal judges whose orders have slowed President Donald Trumps agenda. The court also paused an order restoring grants for teacher training and lifted an order that froze deportations under an 18th century wartime law.

But as with the earlier orders, the effect of Tuesdays order will be limited. Many employees at the agencies will remain on paid administrative leave for now because of an order in a separate lawsuit over the firings.

The second suit, filed in Maryland, involves employees at those same six agencies, plus roughly a dozen more. That order is more limited in that it applies only in the 19 states and the District of Columbia that sued the administration.

The Justice Department is separately appealing the Maryland order.

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At least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since Trump took office, the lawsuits claim, though the government has not confirmed that number.

The coalition of organizations and labor unions that sued said it was disappointed with the court's order, but it said the battle is far from over.

There is no doubt that thousands of public service employees were unlawfully fired in an effort to cripple federal agencies and their crucial programs that serve millions of Americans every day," the coalition said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ruled that the terminations were improperly directed by the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director. He ordered rehiring at the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury.

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Alsup, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, expressed frustration with what he called the governments attempt to sidestep laws and regulations by firing probationary workers with fewer legal protections.

He said he was appalled that employees were told they were being fired for poor performance despite receiving glowing evaluations just months earlier.

The administration has insisted that the agencies themselves directed the firings and they have since decided to stand by those terminations, Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court.
(The Hill)  The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration Tuesday by enabling officials to fire thousands of federal workers in their probationary period, saying the government employee unions that sued dont have legal standing.

The emergency ruling, for now, lifts one of two lower court orders reversing the mass terminations. The other injunction, which has not yet reached the high court, remains in effect and still protects many employees jobs.

The District Courts injunction was based solely on the allegations of the nine non-profit-organization plaintiffs in this case. But under established law, those allegations are presently insufficient to support the organizations standing, the court wrote in its unsigned ruling.

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Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, both members of the courts liberal wing, publicly dissented.

Sotomayor did not explain her reasoning, but Jackson said the Trump administration hadnt demonstrated urgency to demand the high court intervene on its emergency docket at this stage of the case.

President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have looked to rapidly to reshape the federal bureaucracy, sparking dozens of lawsuits playing out in courtrooms across the country.

Democratic-led states, government unions and individual employees have filed several lawsuits alleging the administration did not follow the proper procedures in firing probationary employees, who are generally in their first or second year in a position.

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The administration appealed to the high court after a San Francisco-based federal judge granted unions request to reinstate 16,000 probationary employees across six federal departments: Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury.

Courts do not have license to block federal workplace reforms at the behest of anyone who wishes to retain particular levels of general government services, Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court filings.

Though the Supreme Court lifted that injunction, many of the individuals jobs remain indefinitely protected under a Maryland-based federal judges order in another lawsuit.

That injunction covers the same six agencies  and 14 others  but only for those who work in Washington, D.C., and 19 Democratic-led states that sued. As for employees in the other 31 states, the Supreme Courts ruling clears the way for the administration to re-fire them.

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The case is one of many requests from the Trump administration for the Supreme Court to intervene on their emergency docket to rein in lower judges who have blocked the presidents policies. Trump and his allies have publicly accosted judges who have ruled against his administration, often accusing them of being activists.

The applications so far have led to mixed results.

Early last month, the court refused the administrations bid to freeze $2 billion in foreign aid payments.

Last week, the court granted the administrations request to freeze $65 million teacher development grants. And Monday, the court ruled for the administration again by lifting a judges block on the administrations use of the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport migrants.

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All three decisions were 5-4.

The Supreme Court is still mulling requests from the Justice Department to narrow injunctions halting Trumps restrictions on birthright citizenship and block a judges order to return a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
MariEnergies has announced a significant oil discovery at its Shawal-1 well in the Mari Development & Production Lease (Mari D&PL) in Sindh Province, Pakistan.

The company, holding a 100% working interest in the lease, has successfully drilled the well to a depth of 1,136m at the Ghazij Formation.

The Shawal-1 well, spud on 27 January 2024, produced 1,040 barrels of approximately 30 API oil with 12% basic sediment and water (BS&W), alongside 2.5 million standard cubic feet per day (mscf/d) of associated gas during well testing.

The wellhead flowing pressure (WHFP) was recorded at 953psi with a 32/64in choke size.

MariEnergies MD/CEO Faheem Haider applauded the discovery as a remarkable success for the companys geoscientists and engineers who achieved this milestone by combining exploration efforts and use of new technologies.

The company plans to appraise the discovery to determine its extent and evaluate development options.

In addition to the Shawal-1 discovery, MariEnergies recently announced a significant gas discovery at the Mari Ghazij-1 exploration well within the same lease area.

The well, spudded on 24 November 2022, was drilled to a depth of 1,015m and established a gas flow rate of 5.1mscf/d through a drill stem test, with a wellhead flowing pressure of 232psi at a 64/64in choke size.

MariEnergies, an integrated exploration and production company, operates Pakistan's largest gas reservoir in the Mari D&P lease area, Daharki, Sindh. With a 23% market share, it is the second-largest gas producer in the country.

The company aims to arrest declining hydrocarbon production in Pakistan by maximising production from current fields and discovering new resources through a fast-paced exploration programme.

"MariEnergies announces oil discovery at Shawal-1 well in Sindh, Pakistan" was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.




The Supreme Court has lifted a judges order blocking the Trump administration from firing thousands of probationary employees at six federal Cabinet departments.

The high court ruling is a preliminary win for President Donald Trumps efforts to rapidly downsize the federal workforce, but the decisions ultimate impact is murky because another federal judge has issued a separate order reinstating many of the same probationary workers.

The Supreme Courts order Tuesday said nonprofit groups lacked legal standing to bring lawsuits challenging the firings of probationary workers at the departments of Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

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The justices acted in response to an emergency appeal from the Trump administration in a lawsuit brought in California.

The Supreme Court has not yet been asked to weigh in on the other lawsuit involving the firings of probationary federal workers. In that lawsuit, a Maryland-based judge ordered 18 agencies to reinstate probationary workers who had been fired  but that judge later narrowed his order to apply only in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

In the California case, U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the Trump administration last month to reinstate the fired probationary workers at the six departments after federal employee labor unions and nonprofit groups sued.

Alsup, a Clinton appointee, ruled that the firings had been illegally directed by the Office of Personnel Management and that OPM had no authority to fire workers at other agencies.

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In its appeal seeking to lift Alsups ruling, the Trump administration said it applied to more than 16,000 probationary workers who had been terminated.

Alsup tied his ruling reinstating the employees to problems the nonprofit groups would face due to cutbacks in services at places like national parks and veterans hospitals. But the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that those impacts did not give the organizations enough of a stake in the layoffs to sue over them.

Under established law, those allegations are presently insufficient to support the organizations standing, the high courts unsigned, two-paragraph order said. The justices said they were not addressing the standing of the unions who joined the same lawsuit. Alsup concluded that Congress had required the labor unions to pursue their complaints in other forums.

In the Maryland case, Baltimore-based U.S. District Judge James Bredar, an Obama appointee, ruled that the mass firings violated a federal law requiring advance notice to states before such layoffs. Bredars order initially applied nationwide before he narrowed his order.

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Both judges decried the administrations assertions that the employees were fired for performance reasons, when the firings were actually due to attempts to reorganize or slim the agencies.

The exact number of probationary workers the Trump administration sought to fire is unclear. Unions said tens of thousands were covered by Alsups order. Lawyers involved in the Baltimore case said the judges initial order there impacted about 25,000 fired workers.

In the federal workforce, probationary employees are typically in their first year or two on the job, and have more limited legal protections from dismissal. Some longer-term employees who have recently shifted to new jobs are again put on probationary status.

Jackson said the court should not have grappled with the standing issue on the courts emergency docket, where briefing is limited and there are generally no oral arguments. The Biden appointee also said the federal government had not shown it faced irreparable harm from leaving the order in place temporarily.

Sotomayor, an Obama appointee, did not offer an explanation for her decision to dissent from the high courts order.
(Reuters) -Online dating company Match Group on Monday named a new director, ratcheting up the stakes in a board battle with Anson Funds only a few days after the activist investor named its three candidates.

The company, which owns dating sites Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, appointed e-commerce site Zulily co-founder Darrell Cavens as a director and said he will strengthen the board's expertise in digital commerce, consumer engagement and technology-driven innovation.

Match has long said it is committed to thoughtful board refreshment and plans to name directors whose experience and accomplishments align with the evolving needs of the business.

On Friday, Anson Funds identified its three candidates after a number of meetings with the company.

The hedge fund blames the board for the company's underperformance and has been pushing Match for over a year to revive its sagging business by rethinking capital allocation, cutting costs, and considering a strategic review of its MG Asia business.

Match's valuation has shrunk drastically in recent years, reducing to about $7.20 billion currently, compared with roughly $40 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dating app operators including Match and rival Bumble have been struggling to boost user engagement, failing to reverse a post-pandemic slowdown in demand. Match has made several executive shake-ups in recent years and in February named Zillow Group co-founder and former CEO Spencer Rascoff its new chief executive.

At least three activist investors have pushed for changes within the last year, including Elliott Investment Management in early 2024 and Starboard Value in July.

On Monday, Match said it does not endorse Anson Funds' nominees.

Anson said Cavens' appointment underscores the interlocking relationships of the board, something it has pointed out as a problem. "CEO Spencer Rascoff served on the board of directors at Zulily while Mr. Cavens was Zulilys CEO," the hedge fund said.

Shares of the company fell 2% in early trading amid a wider market selloff.

(Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York. Editing by Leroy Leo and Mark Potter)
The Supreme Court will allow Donald Trump to continue summarily deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members under a centuries-old wartime law after the administration had already deported dozens of immigrants to a notorious El Salvador prison.

A divided court on Monday night agreed to lift a judges order that temporarily blocked the presidents use of the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport people from the U.S. while a legal challenge plays out. But the justices said the immigrants are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal in front of a judge.

The only question is which court will resolve that challenge, they wrote.

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Those challenges must take place in Texas, not in Washington, D.C., according to the unsigned order.

Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the courts liberal justices Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor in dissent.

The 5-4 decision  with the courts women dissenting  follows a federal appeals courts rejection of the presidents attempt to throw out a ruling from District Judge James Boasberg. The judge is also weighing whether to hold government officials in contempt for allegedly defying his court orders to return deportation flights to the United States before dozens of Venezuelan immigrants landed in a Salvadoran prison facing the prospect of indefinite detention.

A photograph from the Salvadoran government on March 16 shows the arrival of Venezuelan immigrants deported to El Salvadors mega prison after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act (EL SALVADOR'S PRESIDENCY PRESS OFFICE)

Flights were in the air on March 15 when Boasberg ordered the administration to turn the planes around after a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union challenging their clients removal. The judge wants to know when government lawyers relayed his verbal and written orders to administration officials and who, if anyone, gave the flights a greenlight despite his orders.

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In his proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act for only the fourth time in U.S. history, Trump stated that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of [Tren de Aragua], 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 administration has since admitted in court filings that many of the people sent to El Salvador did not have criminal records, and attorneys and family members say their clients and relatives  some of whom were in the country with legal permission and have upcoming court hearings on their asylum claims  have nothing to do with Tren de Aragua.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the Supreme Courts decision on Monday a landmark victory for the rule of law.

An activist judge in Washington, D.C. does not have the jurisdiction to seize control of President Trumps authority to conduct foreign policy and keep the American people safe, she said. The Department of Justice will continue fighting in court to make America safe again.

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The Alien Enemies Act  which was most recently previously used to round up Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II  grants the president authority to remove alien enemies during wartime or a predatory incursion or invasion by a foreign power. The administration alleges that the Venezuelan government has directed Tren de Aragua in the United States.

Appeals court judges said Trump plucks the third-order usage of the word invasion to justify summary deportations, and argued that immigration alone also does not constitute a predatory incursion.

Sotomayor, writing in the Supreme Courts dissent, said the majoritys legal conclusion is suspect and made a decision without mention of the grave harm Plaintiffs will face if they are erroneously removed to El Salvador or regard for the Governments attempts to subvert the judicial process throughout this litigation.

What if the Government later determines that it sent one of these detainees to [El Salvadors megaprison] in error? Or a court eventually decides that the President lacked authority under the Alien Enemies Act to declare that Tren de Aragua is perpetrating or attempting an invasion against the territory of the United States? she asked.

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The Government takes the position that, even when it makes a mistake, it cannot retrieve individuals from the Salvadoran prisons to which it has sent them, she said. The implication of the Governments position is that not only noncitizens but also United States citizens could be taken off the streets, forced onto planes, and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress if judicial review is denied unlawfully before removal. History is no stranger to such lawless regimes, but this Nations system of laws is designed to prevent, not enable, their rise.

Sotomayor said the administrations conduct in this case poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law.

That a majority of this Court now rewards the Government for its behavior with discretionary equitable relief is indefensible, she wrote. We, as a Nation and a court of law, should be better than this, she emphasized.
A divided Supreme Court vacated temporary restraining orders issued by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that had halted certain deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. The court split 5-4, with Republican appointees in the majority and Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett dissenting alongside the court's three Democratic appointees.

The majority framed the matter as a mere procedural disagreement, but dissenting justices cited loftier issues at play, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor highlighting potential life or death consequences.

In an unsigned "per curiam" ruling for the court, the majority said detainees must bring their challenges in habeas corpus proceedings and must do so where they are confined. The detainees are confined in Texas, so venue is improper in the District of Columbia, the majority said.

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The majority also said detainees under the act must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act. 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 majority emphasized that it wasnt ruling on the governments interpretation of the act itself.

The American Civil Liberties Unions Lee Gelernt, who was counsel of record at the Supreme Court for the plaintiffs who brought the case, emphasized the due process aspect of the ruling. The critical point of this ruling is that the Supreme Court said individuals must be given due process to challenge their removal under the Alien Enemies Act. That is an important victory, he said.

Writing a dissent joined by the two other Democratic appointees and partly by Barrett, Sotomayor called the majoritys legal conclusion suspect. She said the court granted the government extraordinary relief without mentioning the grave harm Plaintiffs will face if they are erroneously removed to El Salvador or regard for the Governments attempts to subvert the judicial process throughout this litigation.

The majority chided the dissenters rhetoric and said it agrees the detainees are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal and that "the only question is which court will resolve that challenge." Similarly, Justice Brett Kavanaugh (who was in the majority) added a concurring opinion to emphasize that all nine Members of the Court agree that judicial review is available. The only question is where that judicial review should occur.

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But on the prospect of life-or-death stakes, Sotomayor wrote, Individuals who are unable to secure counsel, or who cannot timely appeal an adverse judgment rendered by a habeas court, face the prospect of removal directly into the perilous conditions of El Salvadors CECOT, where detainees suffer egregious human rights abuses. She raised the concern of people being mistakenly deported and then the government not trying to get them back, which is at issue in another case pending before the justices.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson added her own dissent to lament the majoritys actions in the case, in which, as she put it, President Donald Trump has invoked a centuries-old wartime statute to whisk people away to a notoriously brutal, foreign-run prison. For lovers of liberty, this should be quite concerning.

The Trump administration sought high court intervention in litigation over the 1798 law, which Trump invoked to summarily deport alleged Venezuelan gang members on flights to El Salvador. The law has been invoked just three previous times in the nations history, all during declared wars.

On March 15, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued temporary restraining orders to halt certain deportations under the act pending further litigation. A divided federal appellate panel in Washington, D.C., declined to halt Boasbergs orders, and the government appealed to the justices.

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This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country  the President, through Article II, or the Judiciary, through TROs, the administration wrote, referring to temporary restraining orders. The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President. The republic cannot afford a different choice, it said in the March 28 application to Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency litigation from Washington, D.C.

Opposing the governments application, the plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit argued that the administration isnt entitled to emergency relief. They noted that the government can still remove people under other legal authorities besides the Alien Enemies Act. And they said that without Boasbergs temporary orders in place, the plaintiffs will suffer extraordinary and irreparable harms  being sent out of the United States to a notorious Salvadoran prison, where they will remain incommunicado, potentially for the rest of their lives, without having had any opportunity to contest their designation as gang members.

Boasberg has separately been examining whether Trump officials violated his orders. The government has questioned the Obama-appointed judges authority and has maintained that it technically didnt violate his orders in any event. But the plaintiffs said officials clearly violated his orders when they didnt even attempt to return individuals on planes, despite Boasbergs unambiguous directive to do so and having the ability to do so. The judge is poised to rule on the matter in the coming days after a hearing last week at which he had a hard time getting answers from the government about its compliance with his orders.

The governments citation of national security concerns comes amid the Signalgate scandal, in which top officials mistakenly disclosed sensitive military information, as well as the governments admission in another case that it made an administrative error in removing an individual to a Salvadoran prison who wasnt supposed to be sent there, which Sotomayor cited in her dissent.

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The Supreme Court ruled Monday the Trump administration may use a wartime law to deport alleged members of a foreign crime gang, but only if they are given the right to challenge the government's claim.

By a 5-4 vote, the court set aside the orders of judges in Washington who said the Trump administration had overstepped its power.

The decision is a victory for Trump and setback for federal judges who sought to check the check the president's power.

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The court majority, in an unsigned opinion, said a group of alleged Venezuelan gang members facing deportation to El Salvador may appeal, but only before a federal judge in Texas, where they are held.

"The detainees rights against summary removal are not currently in dispute," the court said. The "detainees must receive notice after the notice of this order that they are subject to removal. ... 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."

This was the Trump administration's fallback position.

It had said initially that these detained men had no rights to appeal because the president had the wartime power under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport "hostile" aliens.

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The court did not rule directly on that issue, but instead said the detainees may appeal only where they are being held, which in this instance is south Texas.

"Today's order ... confirms that the detainees subject to removal orders under the Alien Enemies Act are entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal. The only question is which court will resolve that challenge," the majority said.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh formed the majority.

Monday's order does not focus on the nearly 200 men who were deported to El Salvador on March 15. Instead, it sets out the legal rules for the remaining detainees who may face deportation.

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In dissent were Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Amy Coney Barrett.

Read more: Supreme Court faces Guantanamo test again: Does president's power have limits?

"The Governments conduct in this litigation poses an extraordinary threat to the rule of law," Sotomayor wrote in dissent. "That a majority of this Court now rewards the government for its behavior with discretionary equitable relief is indefensible. We, as a Nation and a court of law, should be better than this."

Jackson said she questioned the "majoritys choice to intervene on the eve of the District Courts preliminary-injunction hearing without scheduling argument or receiving merits briefing. This fly-by-night approach to the work of the Supreme Court is not only misguided. It is also dangerous."

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She referred to Judge James Boasberg, who was considering issuing a preliminary injunction to block further deportations.

Under U.S. immigration law, the government may deport migrants with a criminal record.

But Trump and advisers decided to bypass that legal system and instead order the swift and nearly secret deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans who had tattoos that suggested they were members of a criminal gang.

They claimed a wartime power for the president by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, adopted when President John Adams feared a war with France, which had been seizing American ships.

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When there is a "declared war between the United States and any foreign nation..or any invasion ... is threatened by any foreign government," it says the president may make "a public proclamation of the event" and order that "subjects of the hostile nation" be "apprehended ... and removed as alien enemies."

The law was invoked during the War of 1812 and World Wars I and II.

On March 15, it was invoked for a fourth time when Trump, with no public notice, signed a proclamation "regarding the invasion of the United States by Tren de Aragua," a criminal terrorist gang which it said was "conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States."

Based on that claim, administration officials were preparing to fly more than 200 Venezuelans from Texas to El Salvador when a federal judge in Washington hastily convened a Saturday afternoon hearing.

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ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt sued on behalf of five men who said they were not members of crime gang but feared they were about to be deported to a brutal prison in El Salvador.

Boasberg questioned the legal basis for the deportations, and he issued a temporary restraining order to put them on hold if they were based on the claim they were "alien enemies."

But the impact of his order was limited.

While the five men who sued remained in Texas, the three planeloads of prisoners were sent to El Salvador and shown behind bars with their heads shaved and their shirtless tattoos on display.

Some of deported men had "final orders of removal" under the immigration laws, but more than hundred others were deported as alien enemies.

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Read more: Supreme Court pauses wrongful deportation case at behest of Trump lawyers

The judge was troubled that the administration had largely ignored his order, but Trump's lawyers said they were troubled the judge sought to interfere with the president's wartime power to protect the nation's security.

They appealed to the D.C. Circuit Court seeking to have the judge's order set aside, but lost by a 2-1 vote.

Appealing to the Supreme Court, Trump's lawyers said the judges had no authority to stand in the way.

"This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this countrythe President...or the Judiciary," Trump's acting Solicitor Gen. Sarah Harris wrote in her appeal. "The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President."

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The ACLU attorney urged the court to keep the restraining order in place.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that many of the men (perhaps most) were not actually members" of the crime gang but "instead were erroneously designated" because of their tattoos, Gelernt wrote in response to the appeal.

If the court throws out the judge's order, he said, it "would allow the government to immediately begin whisking away anyone it unilaterally declares to be a member of a criminal gang to a brutal foreign prison."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  An investigation is underway at MountainView Hospital after the 8 News Now Investigators inquired about a cancer patients surgery. Kimberly LeMarbre said she was woken up in the operating room and told the surgery to address her second diagnosis of thyroid cancer could not be performed in January of 2024.

I open my eyes and I knew immediately something was wrong, LeMarbre told the 8 News Now Investigators.

LeMarbe said she was informed she had stopped breathing and her surgeon had to replace a tube to give her oxygen. She told the 8 News Now Investigators she was not immediately informed why.

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The implication was always that there was something very seriously wrong with me that I wasnt aware of, LeMarbe said.

LeMarbre rescheduled the surgery at Sunrise Hospital, where she said her surgeon informed her an endotracheal tube had failed during the first attempt.

I actually felt relieved. I know that sounds weird but I felt relieved because, again, I had been made to feel that I stopped breathing because I had some mystery phantom illness, LeMarbre said. That was terrifying to me to think that I could go into surgery again and that whatever it was, it could happen.

The second surgery went as planned, according to LeMarbe. Her quest for answers about the first attempt continued. She learned what happened to her had happened to other patients, too.

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In January of 2024, medical device company Medtronic issued a safety notice for specific endotracheal tubes. The following July, the company issued an urgent medical device recall for removal of endotracheal tubes after complaints about potential health hazards and risks, including death. Problems date as far back as 2022, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

In Nevada, there were two reported device failures in 2023, while figures for 2024 are not yet available, according to Nevadas Division of Health and Human Services.

LeMarbre reached out to MountainView Hospital for the make, model and serial number of the endotracheal tube used during her surgery.

While the information was on the medical bill for Sunrise Hospital, owned by Hospital Corporation of America, the same company as MountainView Hospital, it was not available on the bill from MountainView Hospital.

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LeMarbre provided copies of emails and additional documentation to the 8 News Now Investigators showing her push for answers.

In a letter dated Aug. 30, 2024, MountainView Hospital denied using the endotracheal tube which was later recalled and stated there was an investigation.

We do apologize for the negative perception you received, according to the letter.

The 8 News Now Investigators reached out to MountainView Hospital.

The medical device the patient raised concerns about was not subject to any recall, a spokesperson wrote in a March 18 email. The recalled devices in question were never in stock or in use at MountainView Hospital.

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But on April 7, LeMarbre learned what she said she knew all along. The Chief Medical Officer of MountainView Hospital informed her the tube which ended up being recalled likely was used during her surgery and a new internal investigation was underway. He also repeatedly apologized.

LeMarbre said she believed the anesthesiologist is to blame, too, citing the lack of information he provided.

I was at the mercy of this physician and I dont know what happened to me and hes not willing to say what happened to me, she said.

LeMarbre filed a complaint with the Nevada state medical board and received a response stating the board will not file a formal complaint against the anesthesiologist, but there are other actions available to correct and/or address behavior. The outcome does not appear to be public record.

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The 8 News Now Investigators reached out to the medical board. In an email, an attorney stated medical providers must maintain medical records about the diagnosis, treatment and care of the patient, but they are not required to report data on medical device failures to the board.

LeMarbe also reached out to Medtronic. In a letter, attorneys stated Medtronic requested the tube for inspection and analysis, but as of this past January, the company had not received it. Medtronic also appeared to blame user error and stated there was no indication the event was related to a possible manufacturing issue. The company offered LeMarbe $10,000, which she told the 8 News Now Investigators is not enough.

Its interesting to see how incredibly dismissive they are of what happened, LeMarbre said. Their narrative is, but you didnt die.

On Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for MountainView Hospital sent the 8 News Now Investigators an updated statement:

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The medical device referenced was recalled in July 2024 and was never used after the recall was issued. We take the quality of care we provide very seriously. While we cannot discuss patient details due to privacy laws, we remain committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of every patient we serve.

Medtronic also sent the following statement:

We deeply sympathize with Ms. LeMarbre and the challenges she has faced. The well-being and safety of patients is our highest priority, and we take her concerns seriously. However, there is not enough evidence to suggest that our device caused her harm or that there was device malfunction. We remain committed to upholding the highest standards of quality and safety in all our products.

Since its initial launch nearly 30 years ago, the NIM Standard Reinforced EMG Endotracheal Tube delivered positive clinical outcomes for patients across the globe. In 2024, the product was recalled and removed from the market due to risks of airway blockage when the tubes are not used in accordance with the products instructions for use.

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To reach investigative reporter Vanessa Murphy, email vmurphy@8newsnow.com.

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ST. LOUIS  A teenager is in custody following a carjacking and high-speed chase across St. Louis on Sunday.

According to a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson, the carjacking happened at 10 a.m. at the BP gas station in the 200 block of East Grand Avenue in the Near North Riverfront neighborhood.

The victim, a 61-year-old man, told police hed just parked alongside a pump and exited his vehicle when a red Dodge Charger quickly pulled up next to him and a young male got out of the Dodge with a gun.

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The armed suspect pointed the gun at the 61-year-old and demanded his keys. The victim dropped his keys and backed away. Police said the armed suspect picked up the keys and drove off in the victims Chrysler 300 with the Dodge Charger following.

The victim was uninjured, police said.

Cara Spencer elected mayor; defeats Tishaura Jones in political rematch

An officer later spotted the Charger and Chrysler 300 speeding in the area of Interstate 70 and Tucker Boulevard. The officer activated his lights and sirens and pursued the vehicles on Tucker.

Police said the Chrysler crashed into a signal box at Tucker and Chouteau while the Charger got away. Two males exited the Chrysler and took off on foot. A 17-year-old male was apprehended in the 900 block of Lebanon Drive. The second suspect was able to escape.

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The 17-year-old was taken to the hospital before being remanded to police custody.

Police later learned the Dodge Charger had been stolen in a carjacking earlier that morning in the 1300 block of Tower Grove Avenue.

Anyone with information on either carjacking can call detectives at 314-444-2500. Tipsters who would like to remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward can contact CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS. Only tips submitted to CrimeStoppers that lead to an arrest are eligible for the reward.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  A month after a shooting on the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail in Vancouver, authorities said they have arrested a suspect.

On March 7, Vancouver police said they responded to the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail, where they found a man with a life-threatening injury.

Denis Arndt, Tony-nominated star and veteran of David E. Kelley TV shows, dies in Oregon home

At the time, officials said that they were interviewing witnesses and investigating for a possible suspect.

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On April 2, police said they arrested Jeremiah Santos Isezaki for first-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm.

When the shooting charges were added, police said that Isezaki was already being held at the Clark County Jail on a warrant for another case.

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(FOX40.COM)  A suspect was pronounced dead after being shot by the San Joaquin County Sheriffs Office during a pursuit on Monday.

 Video Above: Violent crime statistics

Around noon, SCSO announced that a suspect who they believed to be armed with a gun fled from deputies. During the pursuit, the suspect was shot. It is unclear what crime the person was suspected of committing or what prompted the sheriffs office to shoot.

A fatal shooting that involved the San Joaquin County Sheriffs Office is under investigation./SJSO

SCSO said no officers were injured during the incident, however, the suspect was taken to the hospital for treatment. While in the hospital, the unnamed person died. Subsequently, the California Department of Justice, SCSO, and the San Joaquin County District Attorneys Office are investigating the incident.

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Investigators from multiple agencies are involved to ensure there is no bias and that transparency is upheld, SCSO said.

Suspect hospitalized after officer-involved shooting near Stockton

The sheriffs office is asking the public to avoid the area of the 5000 block of Ardelle Way and Walker Lane in the East Stockton area while the investigation is underway.

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(FOX40.COM)  A suspect is in the hospital after an officer-involved shooting just outside Stockton, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriffs Office.

Video Above: Dog killed in officer-involved shooting in West Sacramento

SJCSO said a person believed to be armed with a gun ran from deputies Monday, resulting in an officer-involved shooting.

The suspect was taken to the hospital and no deputies were injured during the incident.

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Two shot at Elk Grove residence

The sheriffs office asks the community to stay out of the area of the 5000 block of Ardelle Way and Walker Lane as they investigate.

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NILES, Ohio (WKBN)  Niles Police say one person is in custody after his black Jeep Cherokee with Florida plates was stopped in Parma and believed to be connected to vehicle break-ins Saturday.

Its just a matter of time, people like this they get greedy and go to the well one too many times, said Niles Police Chief Jay Holland.

As hundreds of people were attending a gymnastics event at the Niles Wellness Center, cars were parked all over Waddell Park, where a surveillance camera picked up a suspect peeking into vehicles.

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We have some surveillance videos showing the suspects going car to car, looking into windows. They see something valuable, they break the window out, Holland said.

They didnt even take my work bag. They were just being idiots, one victim said.

Others werent so lucky. A few purses were taken, and one had a handgun in it.

Although the jeeps license plate was covered in the park, the Flock license plate reader system was still able to identify it and discovered prior to entering Niles, the vehicle had been in Canfield, where five cars were broken into in the parking lot of St. Michaels Church during mass.

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We have this technology that were tracking them with, Holland said.

This is what is beneficial with working with different area departments, were able to piece things together based on what they have, but we didnt have have and connect the dots between the two, said Detective Sergeant Josh Wells.

Police say the Jeep was rented at the Fort Lauderdale airport last month. Since Friday, license plate readers have captured it in other parts of the state.

As the investigation continues, police are reminding people to keep valuables hidden.

The best thing you can do to protect yourself is dont leave anything of value visible from outside your vehicle, Holland said.



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Meta (META), Alphabet (GOOG), and Salesforce (CRM) are potentially good buys in the current, volatile environment, Dryden Pence, the Chief Investment Officer and Co-Founder of Pence Wealth Management told Schwab Network recently.

During the same segment, Yung-Yu Ma, Chief Investment Office for the wealth management unit of Canada-based BMO, a major bank, said some stocks have reached "bargain" levels and predicted that "strong names will stabilize" during the upcoming earnings season.

Meta App 3D sign

The Stocks That Interest Pence

Pence said that his firm is "looking at" Meta, which, he noted, has a forward price-earnings ratio of 20 times and obtains 44% of its revenue from the U.S. Salesforce (CRM) has a price-earnings ratio of 22 and gets a "significant amount" of its revenue from the U.S., Pence noted. Google also gets a meaningful amount of its sales from America, he indicated.

The best names to buy at this point are firms that get "a lot of revenue from the U.S. and operate more in the software realm because they are least affected by tariffs," Pence stated.

Ma Agrees With Pence

The best-positioned companies are those with a large amount of exposure to the U.S. and those whose margins are unlikely to fall a great deal due to higher import costs in the wake of the tariffs, Ma stated. Firms that derive large amounts of revenue from software and/or intellectual property are likely to be relatively well-positioned, while those that rely on imports from China will probably be significantly hurt by the tariffs, he believes.

"We are looking at names that are less affected by the new environment," Ma said.

He believes that many of the positive drivers which had been in place before the tariffs were imposed are likely to remain intact going forward and ultimately be a "driving force."

While we acknowledge the potential of META, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than META but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is trying to convince President Trump to halt a high-stakes, government-initiated antitrust trial targeting a breakup of his $1.3 trillion empire. He is running out of time.

The trial, set to begin Monday, would pit the social media giant against Trump's Federal Trade Commission, which claims Meta violated antitrust laws by acquiring start-up rival companies such as Instagram and WhatsApp instead of competing with them. The FTC launched the case during Trump's first term.

Government prosecutors are seeking a dramatic breakup of the company that owns Facebook, asking for a judge to force Meta to spin off mobile apps Instagram and WhatsApp. Instagram's $32 billion US ad revenue in 2024 represented 48.4% of Meta's total revenue that year, according to Emarketer.

Zuckerberg would like to avoid the potentially devastating blow to the company and has made multiple visits to the White House to meet with President Trump and administration officials.

Mark Zuckerberg arrives before the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20. Photo: Kenny Holston/Pool via REUTERS  via REUTERS / Reuters

The Wall Street Journal, Politico, and the New York Times reported he is trying to settle the case before the trial begins, although the Journal reported the president had not decided whether the administration should settle the case or take Meta to trial.

Trump's hand-picked FTC chairman, Andrew Ferguson, has said he would defer to the president's orders on how to proceed against Meta.

During a Y Combinator conference in Washington last week, Ferguson said, "I think its important for me to obey lawful orders," when asked if he would drop a lawsuit like the FTC's case against Meta at the president's discretion.

"I think that the president recognizes that weve got to enforce the laws, so Id be very surprised if anything like that ever happened," Ferguson added.

Barry Barnett, an antitrust litigation attorney with Susman Godfrey, doubts that Zuckerberg's overtures will lead the FTC to drop its case.

FTC boss Andrew Ferguson. REUTERS/Sophie Park  REUTERS / Reuters

A settlement looks unlikely, Barnett said, pointing out the extensive workup that the commission has performed to get the case to trial.

Barnett noted the cases long history with 518 docket entries, the 37 days that the judge set for trial, and the all-or-nothing nature of the FTCs case. Together, Barnett said, the factors suggest a fierce fight will unfold in the courtroom starting April 14.

New York University antitrust law professor Eleanor Fox said it's no surprise that Zuckerberg is lobbying to settle the high-stakes case, given the strong incentives for Meta to avoid trial.

I believe the facts are clear that Zuckerberg decided to compromise the competition by vacuuming up emerging promising competitors rather than compete, Fox said.
Tariffs on clean Canadian electricity imports threaten to burden U.S. consumers with an estimated $400 million in additional costs annually. (Getty image)

The imposition of tariffs on energy imports from Canada jeopardizes both our climate targets and the economic security of millions of residents and businesses across New England and New York.

This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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President Trump has imposed broad 25% tariffs on Canadian imports. It remains unclear whether these tariffs apply to electricity (the Trump administration issued no clarification), an intangible good that has never before been subject to import duties.

The Northeast has long been a leader in clean energy innovation, setting ambitious goals to transition to a more sustainable, affordable, and reliable power grid. Tariffs of this magnitude on clean Canadian electricity imports are a direct attack on affordability, burdening U.S. consumers with an estimated $400 million in additional costs annually.

These tariffs will be felt particularly during peak-demand periods, when the Northeasts reliance on Canadian electricity is most acute. During these hours, tariffs could increase wholesale electricity prices by up to 30%. These costs disproportionately affect working families and small businesses that are already struggling with high energy costs.

At a time when states like Massachusetts and New York are working to expand clean energy infrastructure and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, the artificial price increases from tariffs will drive clean and affordable hydroelectricity from Canada out of energy markets. The result is the opposite effect of what our state policies seek and instead will drive up costs and push the region further into dependence on natural gas and oil.

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Massachusetts alone is expected to see a $200 million increase in electricity if 25% tariffs are imposed on Canadian electricity imports.

Beyond the financial impact, tariffs will undermine the reliability of the Northeasts power grid. Just this year, during the coldest periods of January and February, Canadian energy exports accounted for 10% of New Yorks demand and 15% in New England, rising to 20% during peak-demand hours.

With the added tariff costs on imports, our region will inevitably rely more heavily on fossil fuel plants that are vulnerable to fuel supply shortages and price spikes during extreme weather events. The energy market works by selecting the least expensive form of energy available to provide the required amount of energy demanded by the market. If tariffs make otherwise affordable Canadian hydroelectricity more expensive than oil and gas, the market will choose those less costly sources.

Some parts of our region are especially vulnerable. Certain rural areas in Vermont and Northern Maine, which are directly linked to electric grids in Canada and have no viable alternative supply, could be hardest hit. Tariffs could lead to millions of dollars in increased costs annually, exacerbating energy insecurity for residents who already face higher-than-average electricity prices.

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Imposing tariffs on Canadian hydroelectricity is not just bad economicsits bad climate policy. With the withdrawal of this affordable, clean energy source, the region will be forced to burn more natural gas and oil, leading to an estimated 10 million additional tons of carbon emissions annually  annual emissions equivalent to those emitted by every car registered in New York City.

This is a step backward at a time when we should be accelerating our clean energy transition. The Northeast has set aggressive goals to cut emissions and transition to 100% clean power, yet these tariffs will make clean energy less competitive, slowing progress toward a carbon-free grid.

Supporters of these tariffs argue that they will level the playing field for domestic energy producers but, in reality, they will undermine the market forces that are driving innovation and competition in the clean energy sector.

They completely ignore the interconnected nature of the U.S.-Canadian electricity system, which has historically provided economic, reliability, and environmental benefits to both countries. Just last week, New York State released a report assessing tariff impacts. State agencies conclude that losing access to Canadian imports during the peak summer cooling months could create significant reliability challenges.

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New York and New England cannot afford to let anything but the public interest and cost dictate energy policy. These tariffs will raise prices, reduce reliability, and set back the clean energy transition at a time when we need to accelerate progress, not stall it.

Governors, legislators, and regulators in the Northeast must visibly stand together against these tariffs, advocating for continued access to affordable, clean electricity. Businesses, labor groups, and community organizations must also speak out, making it clear that these policies will harm local economies, cost jobs, and increase energy burdens for working families.

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MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)  Sunday saw one of the lowest prices per barrel that oil has seen in the last four years, dropping below $60 briefly. Economist Mickey Cargile says that with tariffs in place, prices at the pump may be down but for oil and gas companies it may end up becoming a slower year as a result.

Certainly, you know, Says Cargile. Adjusting to the lower price may cause some companies to have a little bit slower year this year. But overall, I think our area is very strong and built to withstand any type of recession. But overall, I dont really believe that theres going to be a very large reduction at all in the volume output of oil that we have.

President Trump has made a post on social media detailing that if China does not withdraw its retaliatory tariffs against the United States, he will impose another 50% tariff on the country.

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Confusion over President Donald Trumps latest tranche of tariffs is roiling the business community hours before Trumps reciprocal tariffs are set to go into effect.

Nearly a week after the White House rolled out its tariff plan, lobbyists across Washington are working to decipher the administrations muddled messaging and translate it into a strategy for relief for their clients.

In some cases, lobbyists are still puzzling out who they should contact at the White House to ensure their concerns are heard inside the building, or how the new duties will be implemented. While some have identified National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as potentially sympathetic contacts, for many business leaders, its been tough to even get a call returned.

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We're kind of at a loss in terms of how to engage with this administration, said Ed Brzytwa, vice president of international trade at the Consumer Technology Association, which counts Apple, Adobe, Amazon and Microsoft among its members.

Conversations with more than 10 lobbyists, many of whom were granted anonymity to speak frankly, revealed widespread confusion about the administrations objectives with the sweeping new trade regime, which will impose a 10 percent baseline tariff on all imported goods on top of individualized tariffs for nearly 60 U.S. trade partners beginning at midnight.

That makes it harder for companies concerned about the tariffs to respond to what they see as a grave threat.

Its not clear if theres a strategy that even works, particularly for the near short term, said one business lobbyist in Washington. With respect to the administration, the business leaders we talked to, other associations, no ones figured out a strategy that's successful yet.

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Last month, eight tech and trade groups, including CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council and ACT | The App Association, sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, warning that tariffs would harm the very U.S. businesses the President seeks to boost.

We have had no response at all to that letter. We asked for a meeting, no response. They're not interested, Brzytwa said.

The USTRs office and the Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the Trump administration maintains regular contact with business leaders and industry groups, but the only special interest guiding President Trumps decision-making, however, is the best interest of the American people  such as addressing the national emergency posed by our country running chronic trade deficits.

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Even lobbyists who have managed to secure an audience with administration officials havent left with much clarity.

Youve got the new tariffs going into effect tonight, and people are still asking questions about how its supposed to work, lamented one trade group executive.

A key issue for K Street is figuring out who at the White House is empowered to answer those questions.

Administration officials have been inconsistent in their messaging on the trade war, with Bessent and Hassett insisting that Trumps steep tariffs are aimed at bringing other countries to the table to negotiate more favorable trade deals, and populists including White House trade adviser Peter Navarro pointing to the tariffs as a source of revenue to fund Republicans tax cuts. Trump himself has argued for all of the above over the past week. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shrugged boys will be boys when asked about public sparring between billionaire Elon Musk and Navarro on tariff policy.

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Navarros out here saying one thing, Bessent and Hassett seem to be teaming up  and then Lutnicks out doing his other thing. And its like, who actually has Trumps ear right now? said one exasperated Republican on K Street.

Several lobbyists have identified Hassett as a potential ally, aiming to line up meetings with him in order to cut around more pro-tariff voices in Trumps inner circle like Navarro and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

I think people see Hassett, because of his economic background, as being  potentially the most receptive audience inside the White House, said a second Republican lobbyist, who added that those meetings feature an overarching message to the business community to be patient.

Others downtown said they view Bessent, who has pressed Trump to articulate his tariff endgame, and Greer as sympathetic voices in the administration. But its not yet clear that any of them are able to influence Trump; multiple lobbyists said theyve been reminding their clients recently that Trump has been a proponent of tariffs for decades.

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There's no coherence to it, right? said the second GOP lobbyist of the lack of clarity around Trumps trade strategy. Its not like people understand it because it is reasonably calculated to some understood end, the lobbyist added. At this point, that's not true.

As time drags on, theres a growing hope that Republicans in Congress  faced with mounting economic fallout back home and potential threats to their reelection  will drop their deference to Trump on this issue.

Two House Republicans have emerged as the tech industrys hotline to the White House: House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.).

Obernolte told POLITICO on Tuesday that hes raised tech's tariff concerns with the White House directly, which is doing a really good job listening. Hes mostly met with tech companies that manufacture most of their products in countries being hit with high tariff rates, such as Vietnam.

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Im sure [the White House] is taking it seriously, Obernolte said. They know the pain that theyre inflicting; they have a higher purpose of doing that, but I dont think for a second that they arent listening.

Other Republicans emerging as targets ripe for lobbying include Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee and has been vocal in expressing his concerns with the tariffs. Lobbyists are also closely watching GOP members who voted last week to pass a Democratic resolution related to Trumps earlier tariffs or who have signed on to a bill from Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) aimed at reining in presidents tariff powers.

Lobbyists are arming themselves with projections about how the tariffs will impact jobs and prices in specific congressional districts or industries along with information about the likelihood of an industry to reshore jobs as a result of the tariffs  and what that would look like  given that bringing jobs back to the U.S. is a consistent goal expressed by the administration.

Privately, even some Republicans in safe red seats have told lobbyists that they dont see a reason to undercut the president right now and that Trump deserves to get a shot at implementing the policies he campaigned on, according to lobbyists downtown.

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Businesses are so used to going to Republicans when there's a concern about something, and Republicans being ready, willing and able to listen, the GOP lobbyist said. I don't think that's the same with this administration at this time.

Daniel Lippman contributed to this report.
OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON)  Less than a week after a man was shot during an armed robbery in the Oakland Hills, the neighborhoods annual Taste of Montclair Village event is set to go on this week as planned. Event organizers hope that a quick arrest in the case will help ease safety concerns.

Small bites and cocktails like farmstead cheeses and wines from local providers are expected to attract hundreds of visitors to Montclair Village in Oakland Tuesday.

Were halfway up the hill  were not in the main drag. And, these kinds of events help people come up, said Dave Chambers, who owns Farmstead, one of more than two dozen local businesses taking part.

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San Francisco announces five finalist names for new Great Highway park

Taste of Montclair Village is an annual event that allows patrons who purchase a taste passport to sample food and drinks in the neighborhood. The proceeds help fund the Montclair Village Associations initiatives.

The security plan for the event includes, safety ambassadors, private security and camera systems that assist with keeping the neighborhood safe, said Daniel Swafford, executive director of the Montclair Village Association.

Swafford said footage from surveillance cameras set up in the area paid for by past events helped track down the teenage suspect accused of shooting a man last Wednesday during an armed robbery nearby on Cortereal Avenue. The suspect was arrested the same day and Oakland police recovered guns from the boy.

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The wounded victim was hospitalized.

So, its an example of really how our proceeds from our fundraising events through the Montclair Cares Club can really affect positive change and try to hold people accountable if theyre up to no good in our city, Swafford said.

People who work in the area just advise to pack lightly.

I just keep a little bit of money in my pocket  not much, advised Mahi, a local clerk who works in the area said.

Taste of Montclair Village gets underway Tuesday at 4 p.m. and runs through 8 p.m.

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LOS ANGELES (AP)  This spring homebuying season is shaping up to be more favorable for home shoppers than it's been in recent years  as long as they can afford to buy.

Home prices are rising more slowly. Mortgage rates remain elevated, but have been mostly easing and could be headed lower if the U.S. economic outlook continues to darken over the Trump administration's widespread tariffs, which have rattled financial markets and stoked fears of a recession.

Most importantly, the number of homes on the market is up sharply from a year ago.

While the inventory of homes for sale nationally is still low by historical standards, active listings  a tally that encompasses all homes on the market except those pending a finalized sale  surged 28.5% last month from a year earlier, according to data from Realtor.com. Listings jumped between 44% and 68% in many large metro areas, including San Diego, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Washington D.C.

As homes take longer to sell, prices have started dropping in many markets. The median listing price was down last month from a year earlier in most of the nation's biggest 50 metro areas, including a more than 6% drop in Austin, Miami and Kansas City.

These trends should give prospective homebuyers more leverage as they negotiate with sellers this spring, though they are unlikely to be a game-changer for many aspiring homeowners priced out of the market after years of soaring prices.

Its a little hard to say that its a buyers market, but Id call it a much more balanced market than its been in the last couple of years, where its really been a predominantly sellers market, said Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com.

Ryan Vasko and his wife, Whitney, recently navigated both sides of the housing market equation in their move from Oregon to Colorado.

In December, the couple sold their three-bedroom, one-bath house in Portland for $505,000. That was $10,000 below their list price, but still above the $500,000 minimum they hoped to get.

At the same time, the couple searched for a home in the Denver metro area, which is among the markets thats had the biggest increase in homes for sale this year. Active listings soared 67.3% in March from a year earlier. As listings jumped, the median listing price fell 5.6% to $585,000.

Last month, the Vaskos closed the deal on a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house in Littleton, Colorado, about 10 miles south of Denver, that had been on the market at least three weeks.

We got under contract week one, we found out we were pregnant week two and we put an offer on this house week three, said Vasko, 41, a creative director at an advertising agency.
Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating cereal giant Kelloggs for potential violation of the states consumer protection laws.

The state claims many of the cereals Kellogg promotes as healthy may lead to obesity, cancer, attention difficulties and other issues.

Paxton points to products such as Kelloggs Apple Jacks and Frosted Flakes, which contain petroleum-based artificial food colorings.

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In a statement announcing the investigation, Paxton said some food additives are linked to hyperactivity, obesity, autoimmune disease, endocrine-related health problems, and cancer in those who consume them.

There will be accountability for any company, including Kellogg, that unlawfully makes misrepresentations about its food and contributes to a broken health system that has made Americans less healthy, the GOP attorney general said.

Kristina Baehr, founder of Just Well Law, echoed Paxtons concerns.

The state of Texas is asking, Why did you promise your shareholders that you were going to take out the artificial colors and flavors, because of course you knew they were not safe, and then you reneged on that promise? Baehr said.

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This case is at the center of the Trump administrations Make America Healthy Again initiative. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously vowed to address food dyes and additives in the nations processed foods  including in Kelloggs Froot Loops cereal.

Texas is the latest state to criticize the company for using artificial food dyes. California banned Kelloggs Froot Loops from schools over concerns about the artificial dyes.

Kelloggs sells versions of its cereals without some ingredients in Canada and across Europe.

In 2015, the company announced it was working to remove artificial flavors and colors from cereals by 2018. Yet cereals such as Froot Loops and Apple Jacks still contain Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1 and Yellow 6  all of which are produced from petroleum.

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Opinions are mixed on whether artificial food dyes and additives are linked to health issues. Some advocacy groups claim they are unsafe, though many have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Kelloggs ingredients, including food dyes, are compliant with FDA regulations.

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CLAY COUNTY (KFDX/KJTL)  Texas Senator Charles Perry has made improving ambulance services in rural Texas one of his top priorities this legislative session.

Texas lawmakers are discussing two identical bills in the House and Senate.

Wichita Falls nonprofit aims to rename highway for late Hispanic leader

Clay County is one of the 202 rural counties that could benefit from grant funding.

When someone needs urgent care, waiting too long for help can be the difference between life and death, Perry said.

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Its a crisis in rural Texas, according to Perry.

The goal is to make sure that every Texan, no matter where they live, have access to emergency medical care when they need it, Perry said.

Perry and West Texas Representative Ken King have filed identical legislation to set up a grant program policy.

Clay County Judge Mike Campbell said is crucial in his area.

Were 50 miles north and south and 27 east and west. About 10% of our calls are on people from outside the county, Campbell said.

Campbell has worked with Perry and Representative James Frank on the legislation.

But he hopes amendments will be made to allow the use of funds to pay staff. The policy now states that funds will only be allowed to purchase ambulances.

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Also, the funding criteria, which are based on population, should be changed.

Current legislation says counties with a population less than 10,000 could receive $500,000, while those with a population between 10,000 and 68,750 could receive $350,000.

Clay Countys population is 10.219, according to Campbell.

Our expenses are just the same as the big counties. I would hate to ever have to cut back any more on our end with service just because we just cant afford it or well have to raise the taxes to do it, Campbell said.

Clay County and the other 201 rural counties that could benefit from this program are waiting for the legislative session to begin.

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Currently, HB 3000 and SB 1977 are pending in their respective committees.

Despite being in committees, Campbell expects this legislation to pass.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com.
AUSTIN, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- With nearly two months remaining in the 2025 legislative session, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick says the state Senate is moving at lightning-fast speed, advancing a sweeping array of conservative priorities he calls critical to meeting the expectations of Texas voters.

In a statement released Monday, Patrick said the Senate has already passed 205 bills this session, including 29 of his and the Senates top 40 priority measures, with hopes of clearing most major legislation by mid-April.

THC ban could cut off relief for Texas seniors and veterans, smoke shop owners say

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Texans expect us to pass more property tax relief and border security funding protect our children, enact school choice, put prayer and the 10 Commandments back in our schools and so many other important issues, Patrick said. I do not let the clock kill important, must-pass bills.

The 29 priority bills already passed range from increased teacher pay and property tax exemptions to legislation banning drag performances in libraries and placing religious content in public classrooms. Senate Bill 10 would require the display of the Ten Commandments in schools, while Senate Bill 11 seeks to protect what Patrick called the freedom to pray in school.

Other measures include Senate Bill 2, which offers school choice options, Senate Bill 4, increasing the homestead exemption for homeowners, and Senate Bill 6, aimed at improving the reliability of Texas power grid. Bills targeting issues like bail reform, censorship of books in schools, and the prevention of AI-generated child pornography also appear on the priority list.

Patrick emphasized the pace of the Senate compared to the House, stating that while the Senate has passed over 200 bills, the House has passed only 10 so far.

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The Speaker is saying all the right things privately and publicly. Communication is good, and we are working on major issues together, Patrick said. But the clock is ticking each day toward the end of session deadline on June 2.

Patrick, who has long styled himself as a driver of fiscally conservative legislation in Texas, is hoping this session will go down as one of the most conservative in state history.

Bills Already Passed by the Texas Senate Include:

SB 1  State Budget

SB 2  School Choice

SB 3  THC Ban in Texas

SB 4  Homestead Exemption Increase ($140,000; $150,000 for seniors)

SB 5  Dementia and Alzheimers Prevention (Establishing DPRIT)

SB 6  Electric Grid Reliability

SB 7  Water Infrastructure Investment

SB 8  Local Law Enforcement Deportation Cooperation

SB 9  Bail Reform for Violent Offenders

SB 10  Ten Commandments in Public Schools

SB 11  Protecting Prayer in Schools

SB 12  Parental Bill of Rights

SB 13  Guardrails on School Library Content

SB 14  Government Efficiency (Texas DOGE)

SB 15  Affordable Housing Reforms

SB 16  Preventing Non-Citizen Voting

SB 17  Banning Foreign Ownership of Texas Land

SB 18  Prohibition on Drag Story Hours

SB 19  Banning Use of Taxpayer Dollars for Lobbyists

SB 20  Criminalizing AI-Generated Child Pornography

SB 21  Creating a Texas Bitcoin Reserve

SB 24  Mandating Education on Communisms History

SB 25  Healthcare Access Expansion

SB 26  Teacher Pay Raises

SB 27  Teacher Bill of Rights

SB 28  Banning Lottery Courier Services

SB 29  Economic Growth Legislation (Open for Business)

SB 35  Funding for Quality Road Construction

SB 40  Ending Taxpayer-Funded Bailouts

What Happens Next

The Texas House will now take up the dozens of Senate-passed bills, many of which touch on politically charged issues likely to spark debate across party lines.

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With the session set to end on June 2, Patrick has set an ambitious goal: to send nearly all of the Senates top 40 priorities to Governor Greg Abbotts desk by April 15.

We are in overdrive, working hard to complete the peoples business, Patrick said.

This fast-moving session could bring major changes to life in Texas, including how kids are taught in schools, how the state handles crime, immigration, housing, and power needs. With so many big issues on the table, lawmakers are shaping decisions that could impact Texans for years to come.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  At a Senate committee meeting on Tuesday, lawmakers showed bipartisan support for legislation that would increase penalties for school leaders who fail to report suspected sexual abuse and a bill sparked by a KXAN investigation, which would increase the Texas Education Agencys authority to investigate school contractors accused of unlawful acts.

During the public hearing, where multiple witnesses detailed their personal experiences with sexual misconduct on a school campus, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said he planned to introduce a newer version of Senate Bill 571  which is aimed at increasing the number of personnel TEA can investigate for misconduct to contractors and uncertified personnel.

SB 571 was filed as a direct result of a KXAN investigation that found that former Texas Juvenile Justice Corrections Officer Isaiah Smith was able to get a job through nonprofit Austin Partners in Education tutoring on an Austin ISD campus despite TJJDs Office of Inspector General already determining he had an inappropriate relationship with a juvenile.

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Smith is facing multiple charges of indecency with a child tied to his time as a tutor on an Austin ISD campus and his time as a juvenile correction officer. However, despite Smiths arrests, he is not listed in the Texas Education Agencys Do-Not-Hire database.

In a February 2024 letter addressing Bettencourts questions about the KXAN investigation into Smith, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath explained that Smiths name is not in the database because state law does not require school districts to report alleged misconduct to TEA if the allegations are against a contractor like Smith.

According to TEA officials, the law also does not give TEA the authority to investigate contractors and put them on its Do Not Hire registry, even if reported. In an interview with KXAN in 2024, Bettencourt said the situation demonstrated a failure and promised to address the problem in the 89th legislative session.

Austin tutors arrest reveals cracks in how Texas vets school employees

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My office received a report, for example, of a tutor from Austin Partners in Education that was able to exploit loopholes in the law that excluded contractors from the Do Not Hire registry, Bettencourt told the committee on Tuesday. SB 571 is an attempt to close these loopholes in the Do Not Hire registry, or the now, Interagency Reportable Conduct Search Engine.

On Tuesday, Jennifer Allman, the Executive Director of the Texas Catholic Conference, testified that the legislation would give TEA the authority to investigate reports of misconduct involving uncertified personnel at private schools.

Imagine thats coaches, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers who were not previously covered under this bill, Allman told lawmakers on Tuesday. Pass this great bill, close the loopholes, and fund TEA to do the investigations needed to keep these predators out of all schools.

During the public hearing, Sen. Kevin Sparks, R-Midland, also laid out Senate Bill 1224, which would require superintendents to report sexual misconduct, abuse, and other unlawful acts to county and municipal law enforcement instead of allowing internal school police departments to handle the investigation.

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Juvenile officers do-not-hire status initially reversed amid sexual misconduct investigation

Under the bill, a superintendent could face a state jail felony if the report is not made within 48 hours, and the State Board of Educator Certification could levy a $10,000 fine on the school leader for failure to report.

Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who said he was in favor of the bill, expressed concern that the requirements did not extend to private schools in the state. Sparks said his office would work with Wests office to potentially amend the bill.

There is always a reluctance to hold private schools to the same standards as it relates to public schools, but on this particular issue, all schools need to be held to the same standard, West said.

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By Mike Dolan

LONDON (Reuters) - After a wild Monday, equity trading appears to have calmed somewhat even as the U.S.-inspired trade war ratchets up. Speculation about a devaluation of China's yuan has moved center stage along with a snapback in U.S. Treasury yields.

Today's Market Minute

* China refused to bow to what it called "blackmail" from the United States as a global trade war ignited by President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs showed little sign of abating on Tuesday.

* The U.S. dollar fell on Tuesday while the euro rallied as stocks rebounded in Asia and Europe on hopes that U.S. will enter negotiations over his sweeping tariffs that have roiled markets for three days.

* The European Commission said on Monday it had offered a "zero-for-zero" tariff deal to avert a trade war with the U.S. as EU ministers agreed to prioritize negotiations, while striking back with 25% tariffs on some U.S. imports.

* Gold's latest gallop to all-time highs has drawn comparisons with the last time political and economic turmoil were the main drivers of record prices, back in 1980. But market players say the nature of this rally - and potentially its ability to endure - look different.

* The United States is starting to resemble an emerging market more than a developed country, the head of pan-European stock exchange operator Euronext said on Tuesday.

Stocks take a breath, but yuan, Treasuries convulse

Highlighting just how fragile market sentiment currently is, Monday's 5-7% intraday swings in Wall Street's stock indexes were largely driven by a rogue news headline about a pause in tariffs that was quickly denied. This also reflected how much speculative short selling appears to have built up over the past week, exaggerating the withering downswing.

In the end, the S&P 500 closed only marginally lower on the day, though it's still off more than 10% since last Wednesday's tariff announcement.

Gasping for breath after a torrid week, stock futures and world bourses all staged a modest bounce on Tuesday, with Japan's Nikkei emitting the biggest sigh of relief with a 6% rally.

Tokyo outperformed after President Donald Trump said Japan was sending a trade negotiating team to America and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects Japan to get "priority" treatment. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said separately he told Trump to rethink tariff policies.

Meanwhile, China refused to back down on its retaliatory tariffs, prompting Trump to threaten raising U.S. import levies on Chinese goods to more than 100%.
By Ange Kasongo, Jessica Donati and Sonia Rolley

KINSHASA (Reuters) -Three American citizens jailed over a failed coup attempt in Democratic Republic of Congo were handed over to U.S. custody on Tuesday, officials said, following high-level talks between the two countries on security and mining deals, the Congolese presidency told Reuters on Tuesday.

The presidency said the Americans had been transferred to U.S. authorities after their sentences were commuted last week to serve their time at home.

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The deal to hand over the Americans was finalised when U.S. President Donald Trump's senior Africa adviser, Massad Boulos, traveled to Congo to hold meetings with President Felix Tshisekedi in the capital Kinshasa.

Their release comes at a time of intensifying negotiations between Washington and Kinshasa. The United States is open to exploring critical minerals partnerships, the State Department told Reuters last month, after Congo pitched a minerals-for-security deal to the Trump administration.

Ahead of the trip, Trump's special envoy for hostage response had called on Tshisekedi to release the Americans.

"This shows that the collaboration and cooperation between the two states is growing stronger and stronger," said Tina Salama, Tshisekedi's spokesperson.

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The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The State Department said in an email that bringing home Americans was a top priority for the administration.

Joseph Szlavik-Soto, a lobbyist working for Kinshasa, said the Congolese had also agreed to pay for the damage caused by protesters who attacked the U.S. embassy and other missions earlier this year.

The State Department declined to comment on the matter.

Congo wants the U.S. to play a bigger role in securing the war-ravaged country, where fighting in the east has raised fears of a wider regional conflict.

The violence has escalated since January, when Rwandan-backed M23 rebels made a swift advance, capturing the two largest cities in the east.

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Washington is interested in securing greater access to Congo's minerals, which are used in mobile phones and electric cars, and are currently exploited predominantly by China and its mining companies.

The Trump administration hasn't said how it might provide security, but a former senior defense official said options could include providing troops or contractors to train Congolese forces.

"I hope it could work in a fashion that respects human rights and contributes to long-term stability in this important region. This will be very challenging in the DRC context," the official said.

The Americans were among 37 defendants in Congo sentenced to death by a military court in September.

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The coup attempt last May was led by Christian Malanga, a U.S.-based Congolese politician, whose 22-year-old son was among the Americans arrested.

Marcel Malanga, who was visiting Congo with a high school friend, said at the trial his father had threatened to kill them if they did not obey his orders. His mother posted a statement on Facebook saying the family needed time and did not wish to comment.

(Reporting Ange Kasongo, Jessica Donati, Sonia Rolley and Stanis Bujakera; Writing by Jessica Donati; Editing by Portia Crowe, Gareth Jones, Bill Berkrot and Sandra Maler)
EVANSVILLE, Wis. (WFRV)  Authorities say three individuals have been taken into custody following a shooting in Evansville that left one person dead on Sunday morning.

According to the Evansville Police Department, officers were dispatched to the 300 block of South Madison Avenue just after 9 a.m. on April 6 for a report of a person with a gunshot wound. When they arrived, officers found the victim and immediately provided first aid.

Kitchen fire in Neenah apartment building causes more than $30,000 in damages, all residents evacuated safely

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The victim was transported to a nearby hospital but later died from their injuries.

Hunter Drefahl (Rock County Sheriffs Office) Alyssa Ahrens (Rock County Sheriffs Office) William Drefahl (Rock County Sheriffs Office)

The Rock County Sheriffs Office says the investigation remains active and ongoing. As of now, three individuals have been arrested and are being held in the Rock County Jail.

Those arrested include:

Hunter J. Drefahl , 26, of Evansville Contributing to Delinquency of a Minor Causing Death Possession of Child Pornography  Five Counts Sexual Exploitation of a Child Child Enticement Second-Degree Sexual Assault of a Child

Alyssa A. Ahrens , 20, of Evansville Contributing to Delinquency of a Minor Causing Death Possession of Child Pornography  Three Counts Sexual Exploitation of a Child Child Enticement Second-Degree Sexual Assault of a Child Possession of Methamphetamine

William S. Drefahl , 44, of Evansville Probation Violation



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Two in Wisconsin killed after motorcyclist loses control and is ejected, passenger collided with vehicle

No additional details have been released at this time. Authorities say further updates will be provided as the investigation progresses.

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Police arrested three Massachusetts men in connection to the fatal shooting of a man and woman at an apartment complex last year.

Sheldon Thorpe, 22, of Fall River, was arrested on Monday in Dorchester. Worcester Police say he is charged with two counts of murder, two counts of armed assault with intent to rob, unlawful carrying of a rifle, unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawful possession of a rifle in the commission of a felony.

Shaquille Watford, 31, of Weymouth, was arrested on April 3 in Weymouth in relation to the Worcester deadly shooting and unrelated warrants, according to authorities. He is charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to rob, unlawful carrying of a rifle, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawful possession of a rifle in the commission of a felony. Police say he will be arraigned on two charges of murder.

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Jeffrey Toney, 29, of Attleboro, was already in custody on unrelated charges, but faces two charges of armed assault with intent to rob, unlawful carrying of a rifle, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawful possession of a rifle in the commission of a felony in connection to the Worcester double homicide. Tony will also be arraigned on two murder charges.

Its unclear if the suspects and victims were known to each other.

On November 21, 2024, officers responding to reports of possible gunfire at an apartment building on Brookside Avenue found a woman and man suffering from gunshot wounds.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene while the male victim was transported to an area hospital, where he later died.

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Worcester Police thanked the Weymouth Police Department, the Fall River Police Department, the Boston Police Department Gang Unit, the U.S. Marshalls Office, the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section and the Massachusetts State Police Gang Unit for their assistance with the investigation.

No further details were made available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Nomura Securities International have announced a $388m financing package for Greenalia's Misae Solar Park II (Misae II) in the US state of Texas.

The package includes a $295m construction-to-term loan and a $93m letter of credit facility.

Misae II is Greenalia's first US development, and marks a significant step in renewable energy expansion.

The 3,970-acre site in Childress County will be one of Texas's largest solar developments.

The project will feature a 430 megawatts direct current /331.6 megawatts alternating current photovoltaic system and is expected to reach commercial operation by the third quarter of 2025.

MUFG managing director and project finance lead Louise Pesce stated: "We're thrilled to support Greenalia by leading this complex and successful transaction.

"Greenalia's innovation and MUFG's expertise will help the state of Texas increase energy capacity with renewable solar power."

MUFG and Nomura acted as co-ordinating lead arrangers and bookrunners, with MUFG also serving as the administrative agent.

The project benefits from two ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) West-settled power purchase agreements for 65% of its energy output and renewable energy certificates (RECs).

The remaining 35% of energy will be sold in the merchant ERCOT market.

Greenalia CEO Manuel Garcia stated: "This transaction is a major step for Greenalia's US expansion. With the help of MUFG and Nomura, we are on track to reach 1GW of operational projects by 2026."

Misae II has secured a fixed-price production tax credit transfer agreement and a separate fixed-price agreement for 40% of its RECs.

In a related development, Adapture Renewables has secured $321m in financing from MUFG for the construction of the 441MW Titanium solar portfolio in the US.

The financing is structured as a construction loan and a tax credit bridge loan. The Titanium portfolio spans three sites in Arkansas and Illinois, expected to power 71,000 homes annually.

Construction of the first site, the Cooks Mill project, commenced in September 2024 and will be operational by early 2026.

"MUFG and Nomura provide $388m for Greenalias solar Misae II in Texas" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.




WASHINGTON  House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday casually lent support to the false claim that fluoride in drinking water may be harming children, echoing the same wholly unscientific nonsense that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is using to justify his efforts to take fluoride out of drinking water nationwide.

From what Ive read and from what I understand, it deserves real evaluation, Johnson told reporters at a Capitol Hill press briefing. Theres a concern that it may be having a negative effect on the health of children.

He conceded he doesnt know much about this subject, but went on to say, Obviously, we have an obligation at the federal government level to look into that.

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I dont have the answers, Johnson continued. But I think its one that the question has been begged and it needs to be addressed.

The Louisiana Republicans comments come a day after Kennedy said he plans to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending that communities put fluoride in their drinking water. He also plans to set up a task force to examine the issue.

Except none of this aligns with what medical experts say, which is that fluoride in drinking water is safe at appropriate levels and good for your health, as it prevents cavities, tooth decay and other health problems. In fact, the addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water is considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

The growing distrust of credible, time-tested, evidence-based science is disheartening, Dr. Brett Kessler, president of the American Dental Association, said in a statement.

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The myths that fluoridated water is harmful and no longer necessary to prevent dental disease is troublesome and reminds me of fictional plots from old movies like Dr. Strangelove, said Kessler. When government officials, like Secretary Kennedy, stand behind the commentary of misinformation and distrust peer-reviewed research, it is injurious to public health.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is lending support to false claims being made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the safety of fluoride in drinking water. Getty Images

Drinking water is the primary source of fluoride for two-thirds of Americans. But some Republicans have decided it is dangerous, despite it being deemed safe and effective for decades, and want to take out of their water. Last month, Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in its public drinking water, ignoring medical experts who have warned that doing this will lead to medical problems that disproportionately hurt low-income communities.

Kennedy, who cant use his position to make communities stop putting fluoride in water but can direct the CDC to stop recommending it, applauded Utah for its policy change.

Im very, very proud of this state for being the first state to ban it, he said during a Monday visit to Salt Lake City. And I hope many more will.

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Kennedy, who is notorious for spreading dangerous misinformation about vaccines, is already under fire for his response to a measles outbreak in Texas. Hes now apparently got his sights set on attacking the benefits of fluoride, a mineral hes referred to as a dangerous neurotoxin and associated with arthritis, bone breaks, and thyroid disease.

Hes not wrong that higher-than-recommended doses of fluoride could hurt people. But there is no scientific basis for claiming that drinking water with appropriate levels of fluoride is harmful to children or anyone.

As recently as December 2024, a study from the University of Queensland found no measurable effect on cognitive neurodevelopment or IQ scores in children in drinking water that had levels of fluoride comparable to that in the United States.

The irony of Kennedy baselessly claiming that fluoridated water could hurt children is that taking fluoride out of drinking water will lead to a spike in tooth decay among children, said Dr. Bruce Dye, chair of the Department of Community Dentistry and Population Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

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This increase will be most noticeable in children over time, particularly among children living in or near poverty, he said. We would also expect to see an increase in poorer dental health outcomes in many rural areas given the existing dental health challenges many rural communities already experience.

And because removing fluoride from drinking water would affect more people living in or near poverty, Dye said that would likely lead to an increase in Medicaid expenditures for vulnerable groups  including children.

If the mission of the CDC is to provide science-based guidance to the American people that advances our health and well-being, then the existing science continues to support that adding fluoride to water at recommended levels is safe and provides important dental health benefits, especially with helping to prevent tooth decay, said Dye.

What happened in Calgary, Canada, is a good test case of what happens when you take appropriate levels of fluoride out of drinking water. The city council voted to remove it from the citys water supply in 2011, only to reinstate it 10 years later. Why? The rate of peoples cavities and tooth decay increased significantly, according to city council member Gian-Carlo Carra, while other studies in that period showed the meaningful benefits of fluoride.

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If we want to do what is truly healthy for all Americans, policymakers need to review the relevant research with fluoridation levels similar to our country, like Australia, that demonstrate fluoride does not negatively impact IQ levels, said Kessler. The ADA relies on evidence-based research to improve the oral health of the public and stands ready to advance gold medal standards in any future studies on water fluoridation.

Not all Republicans on Capitol Hill are giving credibility to Kennedys attacks on science. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who is a physician, said Tuesday he stands with the medical community in support of having fluoride in drinking water.

The American Dental Association strongly recommends fluoride. It says it will decrease cavities as much as 25% in some populations, said Cassidy. It speaks for itself.

When HuffPost noted that Kennedy thinks the opposite of what experts think, the Republican senator  who voted to confirm Kennedy to his current post  simply said, The people who take care of teeth strongly recommend it.

Igor Bobic contributed reporting.
The tariff-sparked market sell-off hasnt spared oil, and analysts at Goldman Sachs see prices heading even lower if the global economy tips into a recession.

This week, Goldman Sachs analysts lowered their forecast for Brent (BZ=F) to an average of $62 per barrel in 2025 and $58 for WTI (CL=F) under the assumption that Trump's tariffs will be reduced, the US avoids a recession, and OPEC raises supply only modestly in the months following its May increase.

But if tariffs remain as high as initially announced and a recession follows, prices could head into the $50 range by year-end.

Assuming a typical US recession and our OPEC baseline, we estimate that Brent would decline to $58/50 by Dec25/26, respectively, Yulia Zhestkova Grigsby, vice president of commodities research at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a note to clients on Monday night.

In a global GDP slowdown scenario and keeping our OPEC baseline unchanged, we estimate that Brent would decline to $54/45 by Dec25/26, she added.

In the rare but most severe possible scenario, Goldman sees a case for Brent falling below $40.

"Finally, in a more extreme and less likely scenario with both a global GDP slowdown and a full unwind of OPEC+ cuts, which would discipline non-OPEC supply, we estimate that Brent would fall just under $40/bbl in late 2026," Grigsby said.

On Tuesday, crude bounced back more than 1%, with West Texas Intermediate futures hovering above $61 per barrel. Brent, the international benchmark, also rose above $65 per barrel.

The rebound follows a 13% drop over the last three sessions as traders assessed the impact of a global trade war following President Trump's sweeping tariff announcement last week. Concerns about excess supply after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies agreed to increase output in May also weighed on prices.

Most Wall Street analysts agree that should the sweeping tariff plan announced on April 2 take effect and remain in place or escalate, the likelihood of a recession is high.

"The tariffs, if they stay in place, would be a big hit to the US and global growth, likely pushing the US and global economy into recession this year," JPMorgans Natasha Kaneva and her team wrote last Friday.

"Still, while it is currently difficult to predict the overall direction of developments, we believe that, for oil prices, the trajectory is unmistakably one-way," she added.

The analysts believe supply-demand fundamentals may help the Trump administration in achieving its goal of lower oil prices.
Republican lawmakers  and the commander of U.S. forces in Europe  argued Tuesday against withdrawing troops from the continent, clashing with a potential Trump administration plan.

U.S. European Command chief Gen. Christopher Cavoli told the House Armed Services Committee that he's "consistently recommended" keeping the same troop levels since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. "It's my advice to maintain that force posture as it is now," he said.

His comments, echoed by some top Republicans, follow reports that the Pentagon is weighing removing up to 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe. And they showcased increasing public tension between the Trump administration and GOP defense hawks over the military's role abroad.

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House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) criticized the possibility of reducing the American military footprint in Europe, including the U.S. stepping down from command of NATO forces on the continent. He accused "some at DOD" of trying to steer military resources away from Europe and hurt national security. But he did credit President Donald Trump with forcing NATO allies to ramp up their defense spending and for acknowledging it is "time to stop the bloodshed" in Ukraine.

Rogers pressed the Pentagon's acting assistant secretary for international security affairs, Katherine Thompson, on whether the Defense Department supports keeping U.S. troops in Europe. Thompson sidestepped, citing an ongoing Pentagon review.

"The department right now is undergoing a global force posture review, she said. "No decisions have been made at this time."

That answer did not sit well with Rogers, who previously wrote to the Pentagon warning against major changes in Europe.

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"You should be focused on maintaining the surge posture that we've had in Europe since the conflict started," the Alabama Republican said, in reference to the Ukraine war.

Another Republican, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, also expressed concerns about potential reductions in troops.

"It would be a grave mistake to pull forces out of Europe right now, Bacon said. This is a time to deter Russia, and I think withdrawing forces is a sign of weakness.

Cavoli, testifying in the Senate last week, said it would be problematic if the U.S. steps down from its leadership role commanding NATO forces in Europe.
US-based hotel company Omni Hotels & Resorts has appointed Adam Hayashi as its chief revenue officer to lead revenue growth and market expansion.

Reporting directly to Omnis chief commercial officer Jeff Doane, Hayashi will help the company maximise topline revenue performance and capture better market share.

Doane said: I'm excited to welcome Adam to the Omni family and look forward to the innovation that he will bring to the team.

"I have had the opportunity to work with Adam in the past and know his breadth of experience will contribute to Omnis success as we continue to expand our revenue goals and footprint throughout the industry.

With more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Hayashi is currently serving on the American board of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, as well as the integrated decisions and systems customer advisory board.

Before joining Omni, Hayashi worked for Accor as the global vice president of revenue management, distribution, and BI. He supported over 120 properties within the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Raffles Hotels & Resorts brands.

Hayashi has also held key leadership roles at Accor, including regional director of revenue management and vice president of revenue management for North and Central America.

During his tenure at Accor, Hayashi spearheaded the creation of a business intelligence solution and developed a strong distribution support team.

Omni Hotels & Resorts creates better guest experiences at more than 50 hotels and resorts in the most popular leisure and business destinations across the US, and Canada.

Earlier this year, the Ernest N Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority approved a ground lease agreement for Omni Hotels & Resorts to develop a 1,000-room headquarters hotel.

"Omni Hotels & Resorts hires chief revenue officer" was originally created and published by Hotel Management Network, a GlobalData owned brand.




A 6-month-old baby was attacked and killed by the family dog, and now his parents are facing charges.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Last April, 911 dispatchers received a call from a home on Miami Street in Marion, Ohio. The caller was begging for help after a familys pit bull attacked an infant, our news partners WBNS-10 TV reported.

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Its a tragedy. Its horrible, Marion County Prosecutor Ray Grogan said.

After a year-long investigation, the 6-month-olds parents were indicted last week, WBNS-10 TV reported.

Blake Bates and Alyssa Smith were charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, and reckless homicide.

My focus needs to be on that 6-month-old child, and we need to make sure that we are setting a standard for everybody to understand that you have to take care when you have animals that demonstrate an aggressive behavior, Grogan said.

According to Grogan, there was an incident a year before the deadly attack where the same pit bull attacked a neighbors child.

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Given that corrective action wasnt taken, [that has] led us ultimately to being here today, he said.

The dog was euthanized the day after the fatal attack, WBNS-10 TV reported.

When you have a dog in any instance that demonstrates aggressive behavior towards a human being, you have to take steps to either one put that dog down or ensure that the dog isnt going to have access to do real harm to somebody, particularly a child, Grogan said. When you dont do that, there are consequences for that.

Smith is being held on a $50,000 bond and Bates is being held on a $150,000 bond.

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As four teens were being sentenced Tuesday for the killing of a 14-year-old during a daytime shootout near a Covington elementary school, the judge presiding over the case told them each they're getting a "great deal."

Kenton County Circuit Judge Kathy Lape ordered Donte Rice Jr., 18, to serve 10 years in prison for firing the fatal round that killed Amani Smith during the January 2024 shootout on Decoursey Avenue.

JaLontai Mason, 17, Averyon Howard, 16, and Jordan Bailey, 17, were each sentenced to eight years in prison for their roles in the killing.

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Rice pleaded guilty in February to first-degree manslaughter, while the other three teens pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter. All of the teens were initially designated youthful offenders and charged in juvenile court but were indicted in adult court in July.

Lape said she isn't sure the teens' sentences fully reflect the loss of life in this case, but warned that the last juvenile to go on trial in her courtroom for a similar case was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

"Based on that, you're getting one heck of a deal," Lape said. The sentences all aligned with recommendations made by prosecutors as part of teens' plea agreements.

'Youth killing youth'

Prosecutors say the four teens waited at a bus stop for Smiths older brother, who had an ongoing dispute with members of the group after a fight at Holmes High School. They instead encountered Smith, who had been warned about the group lying in wait.

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Investigators obtained video footage that showed the group chased Smith and they cornered him in a church parking lot, prosecutors said. They added it was Smith who first opened fire, wounding a teenage companion and Howard.

Rice, then 17, returned fire and fatally shot Smith, prosecutors said. The teen died after being taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Prosecutors said Howard was also armed but did not fire any rounds. He was also treated for injuries at the UC Medical Center. On Tuesday, Assistant Kenton County Commonwealths Attorney Casey Burns said the teens will no longer be legally allowed to own a firearm because of their convictions.

Donte Rice Jr., 18, appears in Kenton County Circuit Court for a change of plea hearing in February. Prosecutors say Rice fired the shot that killed 14-year-old Amani Smith in a January 2024 shootout in Covington.

Burns previously said Mason was the main aggressor in the dispute that culminated in the deadly shootout. Mason made threats to Smith and his older brother in the days leading up to the shooting, including during a FaceTime call when Mason said he was going to blow (Smiths) brains out, the prosecutor added.

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During his change of plea hearing, Mason said he was waiting at the bus stop to talk out the issue with Smiths older brother  a version of events that prosecutors described as untrue. Mason ultimately admitted to chasing down the younger teen.

"This is a tragic case of youth killing youth," Lape said.

Slain teen's aunt tells juveniles to 'put the guns down'

Donshay Jackson, Smith's aunt, said in court that no amount of prison time would provide closure for the teen's loved ones.

"There is no amount of anger that you should ever allow to control your life to where you take another individual's life over something so senseless," Jackson said.

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"I hope that we decide to put the guns down and find other ways to work out issues that we have with each other," she added.

Amani Smith was killed in a January 2024 shootout in a church parking lot near Latonia Elementary School.

A former Holmes High School teacher sued the Covington Board of Education early last year, saying she raised concerns about and reported a student's "threats and scary behaviors" to the high school's leadership, yet no threat assessments were ever conducted. As a result of those reports going unaddressed, according to the lawsuit, a child was smacked in the face and Smith was fatally shot  the result of a fight between the student and the slain teen's older brother. Court records show the lawsuit is ongoing in Kenton County.

Mason, Howard and Bailey are expected to appear in court again around their 18th birthdays for a final sentencing hearing. Once a youthful offender convicted in adult court reaches the age of 18 before the end of their sentence in Kentucky, they must go before a judge to learn if they'll be sent to prison.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Teens sentenced for killing 14-year-old in Covington shootout
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) The Tri-County Urban League (TCUL) holds its 24th Annual Black & White Gala to celebrate 60 years of empowering communities and changing lives in the Peoria Tri-County community, April 12, at Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino.

Felisa Jordan Durr the President and CEO of The Tri-County Urban League, stopped by WMBD This Morning to explain more about it. The Tri-County Urban League is one of 92 affiliates across the country and this years gala includes a message from the national president of the organization, Marc Morial, and the emcee of the evening is Marcus Hamilton from the Yani Collective.

The league provides many programs for youth including Financial Literacy, Workforce Empowerment, Violence Prevention, Entrepreneurship and the recently added, Drama Program. The event will also take time to honor some long-serving employees.

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The gala begins with cocktail hour at 6 p.m., and the program follows at 7 p.m., at the Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino, and tickets start at $125.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Editors Note: This story includes details of sexual violence that may be disturbing for some readers.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  The trial for a 29-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting an unconscious grandmother on a TriMet platform in Washington County began Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors say Eduardo Guillermo Madrid-Roque assaulted the woman in June 2023 while she was visiting the area to attend her grandsons graduation. The woman, 63, had flown into town and taken the MAX line to the Hillsboro Transit Center, where she arrived around 8 p.m.

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According to court documents, a poor interaction with her medication left her entirely incoherent and led her to sit on the sidewalk to take off her pants and eventually lay down.

Denis Arndt, Tony-nominated star and veteran of David E. Kelley TV shows, dies in Oregon home

While on the flight, [the woman] had a glass of wine, but due to a recent change in her prescription medication, she had a bad reaction causing her intoxication level to be higher than expected, the court documents say.

Surveillance footage showed Madrid-Roque getting off a bus at the station, where authorities say he immediately noticed [the woman] on the ground and waited for the bus to leave before approaching her.

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For the next 30 minutes, the defendant sexually abused [the woman] at varying intervals in the middle of the transit station, the court documents say. The defendant paused his abuseon three separate occasions when other individuals neared the vicinity.

What salary do you need to actually take home $100K after taxes in Oregon?

Video taken at the transit center then shows Madrid-Roque pick up his belongings and walk away before getting on a bus to leave the station, according to prosecutors.

Transit police eventually found the woman still laying on the sidewalk of the station, unaware of her surroundings and disoriented around 10:40 p.m. She was immediately taken to the hospital, and had no recollection of the sexual assault the next morning, authorities said.

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Authorities said investigators found DNA evidence from the scene that confirmed Madrid-Roques identity. He currently faces six counts of sexual abuse, three counts of unlawful sexual penetration and two counts of public indecency in Washington County.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Private-equity firm Chequers Capital has taken over Italy-based ready-meals maker Gourmet Italian Food.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Chequers Capital said it bought Gourmet Italian Food from investors the private-equity firms Alcedo, and FVS, as well as unnamed minority shareholders.

The new owner said it will support Gourmet Italian Food in continuing its growth and strategic market positioning, including through targeted acquisitions.

Gourmet Italian Food was created as a platform to aggregate leading companies producing high-quality ready meals selling into retail and horeca clients.

All founding entrepreneurs of the companies within Gourmet Italian Food have reinvested in the group and the top-tier management team  co-ordinating various business units  has also co-invested alongside Chequers Capital.

What Chequers Capital described as the GIF project was launched in 2019 with Alcedo acquiring a majority stake in Eurochef Italia.

In 2021, Eurochef Italia merged with La Gastronomica under the joint initiative of Alcedo and FVS, forming the foundation for Gourmet Italian Food.

The group then expanded through a series of targeted acquisitions. These included the integration of Brescia-based Fabian, specialising in savoury snacks and sandwiches and Maerne, Venice-based ultra-fresh gourmet products maker Cucina Nostrana and its affiliate Deppieri, specialising in sandwich bread.

In 2023, the company acquired Firma Italia, a Muggio-based company which produced dehydrated ready meals with a strong export focus.

Gourmet Italian Food added the brand 100grammi, specialising in healthy and balanced meals, in 2024.

Chequers Capital highlighted the impact of these integrations, noting that strong commercial, industrial, and marketing synergies have helped it gain a leading position in the Italian ready meals segment.

It has established itself as a high-standing partner for major supermarkets, offering a complete portfolio of premium products, the statement added.

In a LinkedIn post, Alcedo Sgr managing partner Filippo Nalon said: This (deal) marks the culmination of an incredible journey in which, under Alcedos guidance, we transformed a 17m ($18.6m) company into a market leader with over 140m in revenue in 2024.

The group, which has six production facilities and more than 450 employees stands as the undisputed market leader in Italys ready-meals sector, leveraging an extensive portfolio of premium-quality products and a state-of-the-art production footprint, Nalon added.
PARIS (AP)  The monthslong trial of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy over the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign has shed light on Frances surprising back-channel talks with the government of then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Family members of terror attacks sponsored by Gadhafis government have told the court they suspect that almost two decades ago, Sarkozy was willing to sacrifice the memories of their loved ones in order to normalize ties with oil-rich Libya.

The trial, which started in January, ended on Tuesday with Sarkozys lawyers' closing arguments. The verdict is expected on Sept. 25.

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French prosecutors requested a seven-year prison sentence for the 70-year-old former leader. Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, has denied all wrongdoing.

Key moments in the trial focused on talks between France and Libya in the 2000s, when Gadhafi was seeking to restore diplomatic ties with the West. Before that, Libya was considered a pariah state for having sponsored attacks.

French families of victims of a 1989 plane bombing told the court about their shock and sense of betrayal as the trial questioned whether promises possibly made to Gadhafis government were part of the alleged corruption deal.

The Lockerbie and UTA flight bombings

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In 1988, a bomb planted aboard a Pam Am flight exploded while the plane was over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people from 21 countries, including 190 Americans.

The following year, on Sept. 19, 1989, the bombing of UTA flight 772 over Niger killed 170 people, including 54 French nationals on board, after an in-flight explosion caused by a suitcase bomb.

Both French and U.S. investigations have tied both bombings to Libya, whose government had engaged in long-running hostilities with the U.S. and other Western governments.

Now, families of victims suspect French government officials close to Sarkozy promised to forget about the bombings in exchange for business opportunities with Libya and possibly, an alleged corruption deal.

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What did they do with our dead? Nicoletta Diasio, whose father died in the bombing, told the court, saying she wondered if the memories of the victims could have been used for bartering in talks between France and Libya.

During the trial, Sarkozy said he has never ever betrayed families by using their loved ones as bargaining chips.

Libyas push to restore ties with the West

Libya's initial steps to shed its pariah state status came in 2003 when it took responsibility for both the 1988 and 1989 plane bombings and agreed to pay billions in compensation to the victims families.

Gadhafi also announced he was dismantling his nuclear weapons program, which led to the lifting of international sanctions.

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Britain, France and other Western countries sought to restore a relationship with Libya for security, diplomatic and business purposes.

In 2007, Sarkozy welcomed Gadhafi to Paris with honors for a five-day official visit, allowing him to set up a Bedouin tent near the Elysee presidential palace. Many French people still remember that gesture, feeling Sarkozy went too far to please a dictator.

Sarkozy said during the trial he would have preferred to do without Gadhafis visit at the time, but it came as a diplomatic gesture after Libyas release of Bulgarian nurses who were imprisoned and facing death sentences for a crime they said they did not commit.

Bulgarian nurses

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On July 24, 2007, under an accord partially brokered by first lady Cecilia Sarkozy and EU officials, Libya released the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who had spend over eight years in prison.

They had been charged with deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus in the late 1990s  an allegation they denied.

Their release removed the last major obstacle to Libya rejoining the international community.

Sarkozy travelled to Tripoli for talks with Gadhafi the day after the medics were returned to Bulgaria on a French presidential plane.

In court he spoke of his pride" for saving the medics, adding that their release wouldn't have been possible without engaging with Gadhafi.

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Libyas spy chief at heart of questions

Accused of masterminding the attack on UTA Flight 772, Gadhafis brother-in-law and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi was convicted in absentia to a life sentence by a Paris court in 1999 for the attack.

An international arrest warrant was issued for him and five other suspects.

Financial prosecutors have accused Sarkozy of having promised to lift the arrest warrant targeting al-Senoussi in exchange for alleged campaign financing.

In 2005, people close to Sarkozy, who was interior minister at the time, including his chief of staff Claude Gueant and junior minister Brice Hortefeux, travelled to Tripoli, where they met with al-Senoussi.

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Both Gueant and Hortefeux told the court that it was a surprise meeting they were not aware of beforehand.

Al-Senoussi told investigative judges that millions of dollars were provided to support Sarkozys campaign. Accused of war crimes, he is now imprisoned in Libya.

Sarkozy has strongly denied that.

Gadhafi son's accusations

Gadhafis son, Seif al-Islam, told French news network RFI in January that he was personally involved in giving Sarkozy 5 million dollars in cash.

In a two-page statement to RFI radio, al-Islam said Sarkozy initially received $2.5 million from Libya to finance his electoral campaign during the 2007 presidential election, in return for which Sarkozy would conclude agreements and carry out projects in favour of Libya.

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He said a second payment of $2.5 million in cash was handed over without specifying when it was given.

According to him, Libyan authorities expected that in return, Sarkozy would end a legal case about the 1989 UTA attack  including removing his name from an international warrant notice.

Sarkozy strongly denied those allegations.

Youll never find one Libyan euro, one Libyan cent in my campaign, he said at the opening of the trial in January. Theres no corruption money because there was no corruption.

Sarkozy turning his back to Gadhafi

The Libyan civil war started in February 2011, with army units and militiamen loyal to Gadhafi opposing rebels.

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Sarkozy was the first Western leader to take a public stance to support the rebellion.

On Feb. 25, 2011, he said the violence by pro-Gadhafi forces was unacceptable and should not go unpunished. Gadhafi must go, he said at the time.

On March 10 that year, France was the first country in the world to recognize the National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya.

That was the Arab Spring, Sarkozy told the court. Gadhafi was the only dictator who had sent (military) aircrafts against his people. He had promised rivers of blood, thats his expression.

Moammar Gadhafi was killed by opposition fighters in Oct. 2011, ending his four-decade rule of the North African country.
We recently published a list of 10 Best Low Cost Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Permian Resources Corporation (NYSE:PR) stands against other best low cost stocks to buy according to billionaires.

Markets are wobbling, and panic is becoming the headline. At times when stocks are tumbling, headlines are filled with forecasts that cause anxiety for investors. But its not new. The process has always been part of the stock market and each time, some specific factor becomes the trigger. In 2020, it was the COVID-19 pandemic. Right now, the new tariffs introduced by the U.S. President have become the panic-inducing trigger that has initiated a sharp sell-off across major U.S. indices.

According to CNBC, the significant composites in the U.S. have declined by nearly 5% after the new tariff announcement and the subsequent retaliation from major countries like China. Casual investors may perceive it as a red alert, but from the point of view of billionaire investors, it may signal a green light.

READ ALSO: 10 Best High-Risk Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires.

To them, it is not about timing the market but staying in it. Headlines may be screaming about the volatility of stocks in the U.S. market. Seasoned investors would still understand that sharp corrections sometimes open the door to long-term value. Because of the declining indices, some of the fundamentally sound stocks are available at cheap rates. Billionaire investors who prioritize value quietly build positions in low-cost assets as prices fall and fear takes over the investment environment. These billionaires are not moving impulsively but simply following their disciplined strategy, built from long-term thinking, which enables them to identify low-cost assets with strong fundamentals and room for growth.

At the same time, it is no surprise that more investors are unsure whether they should act or wait for some mythical perfect entry point because of the uncertainty prevailing in the market. However, this hesitation could prove costly. History has shown repeatedly that after a period of intense volatility, there follows a significant market gain.

Billionaires tend to understand this. They know that markets move in cycles, and short-term fear often fuels long-term wealth. Using their disciplined strategies, they use the rare chance to scoop up those stocks that trade at a low price despite their high potential.

It shows that low-cost stocks could provide investors with a satisfactory gain in the current market climate when chosen wisely. The stocks on our list are not just affordable. They have strong fundamentals and a potential upside that stand disproportionate to their current price tag. This is the primary reason they are incorporated into the portfolio of billionaire investors during the downturn.
On the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for the Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original story.)

The Trump administration has revoked visa for international college students at a variety of Ohio universities.

Ohio State University, Kent State University, the University of Cincinnati and the University of Akron all have had international students whose visas have been revoked recently by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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At least seven Ohio State students have had their visas revoked as of Monday.

At this time, we do not have any indication why this action was taken, university spokesperson Ben Johnson said in an email. The students remain in the United States. The students, their attorneys and Ohio State are considering next steps.

The New York Times has reported that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered diplomats overseas to go through the social media of student visa applicants to identify those who have criticized the United States and Israel and potentially bar them from entering the country.

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The speech of people on student visas is still protected, but it doesnt always protect their immigration status, the Times reports on the legality of Trumps immigration crackdown. International students are especially vulnerable to deportation because of the temporary nature of their legal status.

A Kent State international student and three recent graduates with Optional Practical Training post-graduate work permits have also had their visas revoked, according to a letter last week from university president Todd Diacon.

We are working to connect with each of these individuals to ensure they are aware of this change in their status, Diacon said in his letter. Kent State was not given advanced notice nor specific reasons for these decisions.

Federal authorities have revoked the visas of a small number of international students here at UC, according to a letter from University of Cincinnati President Neville G. Pinto.

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UC representatives are in touch with each of our impacted students, and we are doing what we can to support them during this incredibly challenging time, Pinto said. While we are aware that this is happening at universities across the nation, we have not been contacted by authorities, nor have we been given specific reasons for these revocations.

Two Akron students had their visas revoked, according to Signal Akron. The university did not respond to the questions from the Capital Journal.

Many international students across the United States have had their visas revoked. The Trump administration issued an executive order on his first day in office ordering the State Department to review all visa programs and make sure foreign nationals do not pose a threat to national security.

Bowling Green State University said it was not aware of any international students who have had their visas revoked.

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Central State University, Cleveland State University, Miami University, Ohio University, Shawnee State University, the University of Toledo, Wright State University, and Youngstown University did not respond to the Capital Journals questions by deadline.

Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.

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April 7 (UPI) -- Unions representing libraries, librarians and federal workers sued the Trump administration on Monday to stop its dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, as they accused the federal government of usurping Congress's power.

The IMLS is a little-known independent agency of the federal government that offers grants to libraries and museums across the country. It also conducts research and develops policies. Congress, which created the agency in 1996, appropriated $294.8 million to IMLS through Sept. 30.

Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling the IMLS, as well as a handful of other independent agencies, "unnecessary" and directed for it to be "eliminated to the maximum extent."

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Since then, the Department of Government efficiency, a temporary organization, sent the vast majority of IMLS' 75-member workforce termination letters and canceled statutory grants to several state libraries.

The lawsuit filed Monday by Democracy Forward on behalf of the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, accuses the Trump administration of governmental overreach, saying the IMLS was created by Congress, which is the only entity that can lawfully dismantle it.

"It is only a matter of time before defendants cancel en masse IMLS grants that fund activities at libraries across the country," the lawsuit states. "Even if grants are not canceled, the severely reduced workforce will not be able to effectively and timely process grant payments and applications."

According to the lawsuit, without grant funding or IMLS staff, local and state libraries will suffer irreparable harm as they will not be able to pay vendors or staff. The cuts and reduction in staff will also impact IMLS' ability to provide day-to-day services and advice to libraries across the country.

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"Defendants took these actions to dismantle IMLS, and they were taken without congressional authorization. Congress is the only entity that may lawfully dismantle the agency, not the President and certainly not DOGE," it states.

Since returning to the White House on Jan. 20, Trump has sought to reduce the size of the federal government while consolidating what remains under him. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed to stop the mass firings and dismantling of federal agencies by DOGE.

The lawsuit filed Monday seeks a preliminary injunction, forcing the Trump administration to reverse the actions it has already taken against IMLS and to stop further dissolution of the agency.

"Libraries are vital for people and communities across our nation. Attacking libraries and those who ensure the continuity of their services is yet another move by the Trump administration that does nothing to make Americans' lives better or easier," Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement.

"Reducing IMLS workforce would undermine the agency's ability to faithfully execute its legal obligation and harm the operations of libraries."
The Trump administration is considering launching drone strikes on drug cartels in Mexico as part of an ambitious effort to combat criminal gangs trafficking narcotics across the southern border, according to six current and former U.S. military, law enforcement and intelligence officials with knowledge of the matter.

Discussions among White House, Defense Department and intelligence officials, which are still at an early stage, have included possible drone strikes against cartel figures and their logistical networks in Mexico with the cooperation of Mexicos government, the sources said.

Still, the administration has made no final decision and reached no definitive agreement about countering the cartels. And unilateral covert action, without Mexicos consent, has not been ruled out and could be an option of last resort, the sources said. It is unclear whether American officials have floated the possibility of drone strikes to the Mexican government.

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If Mexico and the United States proceed together with drone strikes or other action, it would not be the first time they have launched a joint effort to take on the cartels, nor would it be the first time that American military and intelligence worked in concert with Mexicos law enforcement and army.

But what the Trump administration is contemplating could be unprecedented both in the number of U.S. personnel involved and in the use of American unmanned aircraft to bomb cartel personnel and assets.

Hundreds of pounds of fentanyl and meth seized near Ensenada arrive at the attorney general's office in Tijuana, Mexico, on Oct. 18, 2022.

Administration officials and nominees have repeatedly refused to rule out drone strikes in public statements.

The U.S. military and the CIA have dramatically stepped up surveillance flights over Mexico to collect intelligence in advance of what is likely to be a major campaign against the cartels, which the White House has labeled a threat to national security, the six sources said. The flights are being carried out with Mexicos approval, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said.

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Theyre looking to build a target deck, one of the former officials, who is familiar with the administrations plans, said of the surveillance flights. The potential target list most likely could include cartel operatives, vehicles, warehouses and other parts of the gangs network, the sources said.

The White House National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment.

After this article was originally published, Sheinbaum addressed it and the question of U.S. drone strikes at a news conference.

"We reject any form of intervention or interference. Thats been very clear, Mexico coordinates and collaborates, but does not subordinate itself. There is no interference, nor will there be," she said, according to a translation provided by the Mexican Embassy to the United States.

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"While this idea hasnt been formally proposed, weve made it clear that it wouldnt address the root of the issue. What truly works is ongoing attention to root causes, arrests driven by intelligence and investigation, coordination, and zero tolerance for impunity. We categorically reject any such actions, and we dont believe they will happen. There is a strong, ongoing dialogue on security and many other matters."

Possible unilateral strikes

The administration has already been shifting military, intelligence and law enforcement resources toward combating the cartels, current and former officials said.

President Donald Trumps nominee for ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, refused to rule out unilateral U.S. military action inside Mexico. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly warned Mexican officials in private about possible unilateral U.S. action. Both have said variations of all cards are on the table when it comes to tackling the cartels.

According to a memoir by Mark Esper, who was defense secretary during Trumps first term, Trump asked him in 2020 whether the military could fire missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs and then deny the United States had conducted the strike. Trump and his aides have rejected Espers account as false.

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The administration hopes to coordinate any action against the cartels with Mexicos military and law enforcement agencies, the six sources said. They also said most administration officials see unilateral military action as a last resort that could cause a rupture with Mexico and jeopardize vital cooperation on immigration.

Staging a military attack on the cartels in Mexico without the governments consent would arguably violate international law, though both Democratic and Republican administrations have argued that the United States has a right to defend itself from threats within a country that has lost control of its own security.

Advocates of using drones believe that if enough military pressure is placed on the cartels, they will decide that the cost is not worth the money they can make from fentanyl. But some experts and former U.S. officials who worked on counternarcotics are skeptical, arguing that drone strikes could prove to be merely symbolic or, worse, backfire politically for Mexican leaders and jeopardize further cooperation.

During Mexican President Felipe Calderons tenure from 2006 to 2012, the two countries embarked on a major campaign to strike at the cartels leaders, dubbed the kingpin strategy. American spy agencies provided intelligence, U.S. military teams trained elite Mexican commandos, and U.S. law enforcement agents worked alongside their Mexican counterparts.

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Former officials and experts disagree about the results of the effort. Some former U.S. law enforcement officials maintain that it made real inroads and was cut short just as the cartels were weakening. The Bush and Obama administrations portrayed it as effective.

But targeting gang kingpins also created a vacuum and triggered a spree of intense violence among rival cartels. Once Calderons party was voted out of office, the joint operations with the United States ended and the government curtailed the Mexican militarys role in the counternarcotics fight.

Some supporters of the Trump administration, including the six current and former officials, argue that its refusal to publicly rule out unilateral U.S. military action, coupled with tariffs and other measures, could push Mexico to accept joint operations that it might have rejected in the past.

How far to go in targeting the cartels  including whether to use unilateral military action  is the subject of an ongoing debate in the administration, the six current and former officials said.

Mexico under pressure

Arturo Sarukhan, who was Mexicos ambassador to the United States from 2007 to 2013, said it seems U.S. unilateral military action in Mexico is now a live possibility for the first time since 1914, when the United States attacked and occupied the port of Vera Cruz.

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There is no doubt if there were unilateral action inside Mexico, this would put the bilateral relationship into a nosedive, said Sarukhan, who is now based in Washington. It would be put in a tailspin, as it would represent a violation of international law and an act of war.

Sarukhan said he believes Mexico has undermined its own position by failing to come to grips with rampant drug trafficking over the past decade, creating conditions that tried the patience of its more powerful neighbor.

At the end of the day, its Mexicos failings and mistakes that have put us in this position today, he said.

Sheinbaum, Mexicos relatively new president, has shown a willingness to cooperate with the Trump administration on the border and in countering the cartels, current and former U.S. officials said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the National Palace in Mexico City on Wednesday.

Sheinbaum had already begun to step up enforcement efforts when she took office in early October, after years of a hands-off approach under former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who claimed more than once that fentanyl was not produced in Mexico.

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Sheinbaums decision to allow CIA surveillance flights during the Biden administration marked a significant change in Mexicos stance, two current and two former officials said.

But Mexico remains sensitive to any perceived bullying or threat of domination by its larger neighbor, and Sheinbaum warned against any unilateral U.S. military action after Trump designated the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

There has always been a tremendous level of suspicion by Mexican authorities of the U.S., said another source, a former American diplomat who served in Mexico and who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personal observations about discussions between the two governments. And we havent exactly given them reason recently to believe any differently.

However, one of the six sources, who was a senior Drug Enforcement Administration official in the Biden administration, said pressure from the Trump White House already has pushed Mexico to take much tougher action against drug cartels after what he called handwringing by the Biden team. He said he believes fear of Trump could push Mexico to accept U.S. military action.

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Politics aside, Trump is not f------ around with this stuff, he said, adding that Mexican officials may fear potential economic retaliation if they defy the Trump administration.

The gloves are off

After Trump decided to declare six Mexican drug cartels foreign terrorist organizations, U.S. intelligence agencies and military units now have sweeping legal authorities to conduct espionage and covert operations targeting the criminal networks in Mexico and beyond.

Derek Maltz, a career DEA agent now serving as its acting head, told NBC News that the designation has opened up a host of new tools and that it is something he has been advocating for many years.

Ideally, he said, the United States would secure agreement from the Mexican government before any military strikes against cartel infrastructure.

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Its their country, and obviously we believe in strong partnerships, Maltz said. That said, at some point its about the safety of our kids.

In Phoenix, where, the DEA says, 60% of the fentanyl that reaches the United States first arrives, DEA Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz said that the last few months have been a breath of fresh air in the struggle to stem the flow.

The gloves are off, she said in an interview for NBC Nightly News last month. I think what were doing right now is working, and I think in a few months, were going to start seeing, really, the rewards from our efforts.

Maltz said there has been historic, unprecedented action working with Mexico on drug enforcement in the first few months of the Trump administration.

Mexican police search vehicles at an impromptu checkpoint near the border in Juarez, Mexico, in 2008.

Mexico last month sent 10,000 troops to its northern border, where they are searching vehicles for fentanyl as they cross.

Also last month, Mexico extradited 29 people alleged to be drug traffickers to the United States, including Rafael Rafa Caro Quintero, who was convicted of masterminding the kidnapping and murder of a DEA agent in the 1980s but was released from Mexican prison in 2013. He was re-arrested in Mexico in 2022. His handover has deep meaning for DEA agents.

It is difficult to measure progress in the war on fentanyl at any moment in time. Overdose deaths fell 24% in the year that ended in September, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but that has largely been attributed to awareness of hidden fentanyl and to Narcan treatment, and tens of thousands of people in the United States are still expected to die by fentanyl this year.

Seizure numbers fluctuate, but law enforcement officials say most of the fentanyl smuggled into the United States is not discovered, despite DEA statistics showing 125 million pills containing fentanyl seized in the Phoenix division along since 2016.

What gives officials hope right now, the current and former DEA officials said, is intelligence suggesting that Mexican cartels are off balance.

Oz, the DEA chief in Phoenix, said intelligence shows cartel leaders are unsure how to respond to the improved cooperation between the United States and Mexico and the increased pressure on their operations.

Theyre scrambling right now, Oz said. Theres a lot of disorganization amongst the cartels.

Past battles and skepticism

Dating to the 1980s, American presidents have turned to law enforcement agencies, the CIA and the military to work with Mexican authorities to battle cartels. But the results have been mixed and often marked by recriminations in both countries.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on narcotics trafficking at the Brookings Institution, said building U.S. cooperation with Mexican law enforcement remains the most promising approach to get at the cartels. She said she believes interrogating key figures in the gangs networks would be more productive than drone strikes.

Dropping bombs is seductive but accomplishes not very much and comes with enormous risk, she said.

Some former diplomats and law enforcement officials are skeptical that fentanyl trafficking can be significantly curtailed through military action. They argue that there is no silver bullet and that the solution has to include close collaboration with Mexican authorities, scanning equipment at border crossings, cracking down on money laundering and enlisting the help of private companies that produce chemicals used to make the drug.

Investigators and police investigate the scene of a drug-related homicide in Juarez in 2008.

The drug is so concentrated and portable that it does not require the large-scale logistical networks associated with plant-based drugs, experts said.

Youre talking about something that a person could put in the trunk of their car, said Annie Pforzheimer, a former senior U.S. diplomat who worked on counternarcotics.

Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the DEA, said the Trump administration would be likely to struggle to find suitable targets for drone bombing raids.

The cartels do not operate large pharmaceutical labs to produce fentanyl; instead, they use nothing more than a metal tub, with chemicals mixed with a shovel or a long stick, Vigil said. Most of the smugglers ferrying the fentanyl across ports of entry are U.S. citizens, who easily move back and forth across the border.

Its not a military problem. Its more of a law enforcement problem, Vigil said.

But a former U.S. military officer with experience in the region believes the cartels are likely to pull back from fentanyl smuggling if they come under relentless attack and will look for a way to do business without provoking a U.S. reaction.

Cartels are not terrorist organizations, the former military officer said. They are not ideologically aligned; they are not religious. They dont want to die for their job.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A ransomware attack on Toppan Next Tech (TNT), a printing vendor, has potentially exposed personal data of approximately 11,200 customers from DBS Bank and Bank of China's (BOC) Singapore branch.

Preliminary investigations suggest that customer statements and letters were compromised during the breach.

DBS Bank has disclosed that the ransomware attack may have affected customer statements and letters of about 8,200 customers.

The bank emphasised that there has been no evidence of unauthorised transactions stemming from the incident, with the breach mainly affecting brokerage DBS Vickers and loan service Cashline.

On the other hand, BOC Singapore has reported that around 3,000 customers might have been impacted by the security breach, involving paper letters printed and distributed by Toppan.

Both DBS and BOC assured that their internal systems remain secure and customer deposits are safe.

TNT's initial review suggests that the potentially compromised documents were mainly sent to individual customers, with dates spanning December 2024 to February 2025. It remains uncertain if the cybercriminals were able to decrypt the encrypted files sent by DBS for printing.

The information at risk includes customers' names, postal addresses, and details of equities held with DBS Vickers, as well as Cashline loan information.

However, sensitive details such as login credentials, passwords, and national identification numbers were not contained in the affected documents.

Following the breach, DBS has ceased all printing operations with Toppan and has increased surveillance to detect any unusual account activities.

BOC highlighted that the data breach included customer names, addresses, and in some instances, loan account numbers, but did not compromise transaction banking information or login details.

Toppan informed the Personal Data Protection Commission about the attack on 6 April, stated the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

CSA is assisting Toppan with the investigation and containment measures, while MAS is closely working with the affected banks on their risk reduction strategies.

The banks involved have initiated enhanced monitoring of the relevant accounts and are proactively reaching out to the affected customers.

Toppan described the incident as a "random ransomware attack" on its Joo Koon Circle site and said it has immediately cut off the entry point from which the attacker entered the network.

The company is also working with a specialist forensic investigation firm to determine the scope and cause of the attack.
UK-based specialist lender Shawbrook has extended an eight-figure revolving credit facility to Bluecroft Finance, a bridging lender.

The facility will be used to aid Bluecrofts expansion in the UK lending market.

It features an accordion option that allows for a potential 50% increase, providing flexibility for future growth.

Founded in 2023 and headquartered in Altrincham, Bluecroft offers a variety of bridging finance products.

The company was established by managing director David Giovanni, an entrepreneur from Hale with a background in property management and sales.

In a statement, Bluecroft said that Shawbrook was chosen as the funding partner due to its deep understanding of the development and bridging finance sector.

Shawbrook's speciality finance senior director Chris Clarke said: Bridging finance continues to see strong demand, with the market reaching record highs in recent quarters as borrowers seek faster, more flexible funding solutions.

As bridging plays an increasing role in property transactions and development finance, Bluecroft has established itself quickly in this space, combining deep market expertise with a strong service-driven approach. Were pleased to support them as they continue their growth journey and expand their offering to meet this rising demand.

Giovanni said: This new partnership with Shawbrook marks an important milestone for Bluecroft as we continue to scale at pace. Since launching in 2023, weve grown rapidly, expanding our specialist team to support an increasing number of customers across the UK.

Our focus remains on delivering excellent service, combining speed and expertise with the personal approach that borrowers value. In an era of increasing automation in lending, we believe the human element is more important than ever  and Shawbrook understands this best-of-both model.

Last month, Shawbrook increased its financial backing for specialist development finance lender Magnet Capital, raising its existing funding line to 25m ($32.37m).

The transaction terms include a 25m line, with 17.5m committed over a three-and-a-half-year term. This additional funding will support Magnet Capital's continued expansion.

In January 2025, Shawbrook paused new applications for its asset finance facilities to concentrate on product expansion.

"Shawbrook supports Bluecroft Finances UK expansion with revolving credit facility" was originally created and published by Leasing Life, a GlobalData owned brand.




WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a series of executive orders aimed at boosting the struggling coal industry, a reliable but polluting energy source thats long been in decline.

Under the four orders, Trump uses his emergency authority to allow some older coal-fired power plants set for retirement to keep producing electricity to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence and electric cars.

Trump also directed federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining and prioritize coal leasing on U.S. lands.

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In a related action, Trump also signed a proclamation offering coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.

Trumps administration had offered power plants and other industrial polluters a chance for exemptions from rules imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA, under Trump appointee Lee Zeldin, set up an electronic mailbox to allow regulated companies to request a presidential exemption under the Clean Air Act to a host of Biden-era rules.

Trump, a Republican, has long promised to boost what he calls beautiful coal to fire power plants and for other uses, but the industry has been in decline for decades.

I call it beautiful, clean coal. I told my people, never use the word coal unless you put beautiful, clean before it, Trump said at a White House signing ceremony where he was flanked by coal miners in hard hats. Several wore patches on their work jackets that said coal.

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Pound for pound, coal is the single most reliable, durable, secure and powerful form of energy, Trump said. Its cheap, incredibly efficient, high density, and its almost indestructible."

Trump's orders also direct Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to acknowledge the end of an Obama-era moratorium that paused coal leasing on federal lands and require federal agencies to rescind policies transitioning the nation away from coal production. And they seek to promote coal and coal technology exports, and accelerate development of coal technologies.

Trump also targeted what he called overreach by Democratic-controlled states to limit energy production to slow climate change. He ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to take all appropriate action to stop the enforcement" of such laws.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, co-chairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance, said Trumps order illegally attempts to usurp states rights to act on climate.

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The federal government cannot unilaterally strip states independent constitutional authority. We are a nation of states  and laws  and we will not be deterred, the two Democrats said. We will keep advancing solutions to the climate crisis that safeguard Americans fundamental right to clean air and water (and) grow the clean energy economy.

The climate alliance is a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors representing nearly 55% of the U.S. population.

Trump has long championed coal

Trump, who has pushed for U.S. energy dominance in the global market, has long suggested that coal can help meet surging electricity demand from manufacturing and the massive data centers needed for artificial intelligence.

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Were ending Joe Bidens war on beautiful, clean coal once and for all,'' he said Tuesday. All those plants that have been closed are going to be opened, if theyre modern enough, (or) theyll be ripped down and brand new ones will be built. And were going to put the miners back to work.

In 2018, during his first term, Trump directed then-Energy Secretary Rick Perry to take immediate steps to bolster struggling coal-fired and nuclear power plants, calling it a matter of national and economic security.

At that time, Trump also considered but didn't approve a plan to order grid operators to buy electricity from coal and nuclear plants to keep them open. Energy industry groups  including oil, natural gas, solar and wind power  condemned the proposal, saying it would raise energy prices and distort markets.

The national decline of coal

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Energy experts say any bump for coal under Trump is likely to be temporary because natural gas is cheaper, and theres a durable market for renewable energy such as wind and solar power no matter who holds the White House.

Trump's administration has targeted regulations under the Biden administration that could hasten closures of heavily polluting coal power plants and the mines that supply them.

Coal once provided more than half of U.S. electricity production, but its share dropped to about 16% in 2023, down from about 45% as recently as 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of U.S. electricity, with the remainder from nuclear energy and renewables such as wind, solar and hydropower.

The front line in what Republicans call the war on coal is in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana, a sparsely populated section of the Great Plains with the nations largest coal mines. Its also home to a massive power plant in Colstrip, Montana, that emits more toxic air pollutants such as lead and arsenic than any other U.S. facility of its kind, according to the EPA.

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EPA rules finalized last year could force the Colstrip Generating Station to shut down or spend an estimated $400 million to clean up its emissions within the next several years. Another Biden-era proposal, from the Interior Department, would end new leasing of taxpayer-owned coal reserves in the Powder River Basin.

Changes and promises under Trump

Trump vowed to reverse those actions and has named Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright to lead a new National Energy Dominance Council. The panel is tasked with driving up already record-setting domestic oil and gas production, as well as coal and other traditional energy sources.

The council has been granted sweeping authority over federal agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation and transportation. It has a mandate to cut bureaucratic red tape, enhance private sector investments and focus on innovation instead of unnecessary regulation, Trump said.

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Zeldin meanwhile, has announced a series of actions to roll back environmental regulations, including rules on pollution from coal-fired power plants. In all, Zeldin said he's moving to roll back 31 environmental rules, including a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action against climate change.

Coal industry applauds, but environmental groups warn of problems

Industry groups praised Trump's focus on coal.

Despite countless warnings from the nations grid operators and energy regulators that we are facing an electricity supply crisis, the last administrations energy policies were built on hostility to fossil fuels, directly targeting coal,'' said Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association.

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Trump's executive actions clearly prioritize how to responsibly keep the lights on, recognize the enormous strategic value of American-mined coal and embrace the economic opportunity that comes from American energy abundance, Nolan said.

But environmental groups said Trump's actions were more of the same tactics he tried during his first term in an unsuccessful bid to revive coal.

Whats next, a mandate that Americans must commute by horse and buggy?" asked Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Coal plants are old and dirty, uncompetitive and unreliable," Kennedy said, accusing Trump and his administration of remaining stuck in the past, trying to make utility customers pay more for yesterdays energy.

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Instead, she said, the U.S. should do all it can to build the power grid of the future, including tax credits and other support for renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

____

Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
We learn as grownups that there are times when it is appropriate to blame the parents for a childs misbehavior and times when it is not.

This applies as well to the U.S. government.

For example, if a brazen 9-year-old, at the urging of an older, manipulative friend, secretly lifts the car keys from moms purse and goes on a joyride that ends up with a row of broken mail boxes and the family minivan lodged in the bushes of a neighbors yard, you may think the parents could have provided better guidance or supervision, but you wouldnt say its all their fault.

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However, if those same parents mindlessly handed the keys to the kid and said, Have fun! well 

That is what the Republican-controlled House is doing with Donald Trump.

Republicans in Congress could stop Trump's tariffs

If Republicans in the House chose to do so, they would rein in Trumps tariff madness, which has erased $10 trillion from the stock market, cut deeply into the retirement savings of millions of average Americans and is pushing the country toward a recession.

But, no.

Instead, Republicans have handed Trump the keys to the economy and said, Have fun!

For that, Arizonans should thank (or not) the Republican Trump sycophants in our congressional delegation, U.S. Reps. David Schweikert, Eli Crane, Andy Biggs, Juan Ciscomani, Abe Hamadeh and Paul Gosar.

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None of whom have tried to stop Trump.

House won't touch a bill to block these tax hikes

Not long ago, four Republican senators  Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Alaskas Lisa Murkowski  voted with all 45 Democrats and two independents to pass a measure that would block Trumps tariffs on Canadian imports.

The House wouldnt touch it.

Opinion: There's only 1 way for Trump to survive this trade war

Only one Republican member of the House, Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, has been vocal in his opposition to Trumps tariff-initiated trade war.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and the rest of the GOP House members have abandoned their parental duties as a supposedly coequal branch of government, opting instead for the role of a weak-kneed bootlicker whose only purpose is to rubberstamp whatever Trump desires.

Arizona's GOP reps let Trump toss your 401(k)

Democrats are trying to get them to drum up a little courage.

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Arizona U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego tweeted, The GOP in the House and Senate can stop this slide into a recession. Join with the House and Senate Democrats and take back our authority over tariff policy.

Even Trumps former Vice President Mike Pence tweeted, The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history.

Id guess that many of the Arizonans who voted for Trump are upset that he is tossing their 401(k) retirement money into the toilet.

They should keep in mind, however, that Reps. David Schweikert, Eli Crane, Andy Biggs, Juan Ciscomani, Abe Hamadeh and Paul Gosar can keep the president from flipping the flush handle.

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But they wont.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tariffs hurt voters while Arizona Republicans do nothing | Opinion
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said Monday that President Donald Trump will have to shoulder the blame for economic hardship if his tariff strategy fails. (Watch the video below.)

Do you think its Donald Trumps economy now? CNNs Kasie Hunt asked him.

Oh, I think it is, Kennedy replied. Theres no question. I think once he decided to add the tariffs, clearly, I mean, he will be held responsible  as he should  whether it turns out good or it turns out badly.

HUNT: Do you think it's Donald Trump's economy now?



SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Oh, I think it is. No question. I think once he decided to add the tariffs, clearly he will be held responsible, as he should. pic.twitter.com/TriJBDDhDL  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 7, 2025

Thats blunt talk from an election denier who got Trumps endorsement for his 2022 reelection bid and sides with the president on many issues.

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The short term of Trumps aggressive taxes has been disastrous. Kennedy called it painful in his CNN interview. Markets reached historic lows after Trump imposed blanket global tariffs and threatened bigger ones to ratchet up a trade war.

Stocks rebounded some Tuesday morning while commerce tensions still ran high. American consumers will likely be the ultimate victims of the taxes by paying higher prices.

Kennedy struck a dramatic tone last week in warning of the tariff consequences.

In the long run, were all dead, he said. Short run matters, too. Nobody knows what the impact of these tariffs is going to be on the economy.

Related...
WASHINGTON (AP)  House Speaker Mike Johnson found himself in a familiar jam on Tuesday: Conservative Republican holdouts are stalling action on President Donald Trump's "big bill of tax breaks and spending reductions, refusing to accept a Senate GOP budget framework approved over the weekend because it doesn't cut enough.

Trump summoned House Republicans from the conservative Freedom Caucus to the White House for what was described as a contentious midday meeting. Despite Trump's push, some of the Republicans told the president they could not support the Senate package without a commitment to steeper cuts.

Im tired of the fake math in the swamp, said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a Freedom Caucus leader, before heading to the White House.

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After meeting with Trump, Roy was among those unmoved. Im still a no.

The standoff between the House and the Senate over what Trump calls his big, beautiful bill is exposing the limits of the GOP's long campaign to cut federal spending, especially at a time of economic unrest. Trump's trade wars, the mass layoffs of thousands of federal workers and Trump adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency slashing through government, are all upending the debate.

With the financial markets roiling over Trumps tariffs and the economy teetering as worries of a recession flare, the Republican speaker insisted there is no time to waste. Johnson is pulling out all the stops as he scrounges for votes to nudge the process forward before lawmakers leave town Thursday for a two week spring recess.

Weve got to get this done, Johnson said earlier in the day.

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Republicans, in control of the White House and Congress, are trying to muscle Trump's signature domestic policy bill closer to passage, ensuring some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks approved during his first term don't expire at year's end. But House Republicans are demanding as much as $2 trillion in budget cuts over the decade, to help offset the costs of the tax breaks, while Senate Republicans, who stayed up late to pass their package early Saturday morning, are hesitant to go that far.

Facing unified opposition to the package from Democrats, who see the GOP package as a tax giveaway to the wealthy paid for by reductions in Medicaid, food stamps and other vital government services, Republicans are struggling to resolve their differences and craft a final product.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a letter to Johnson challenged him to a one-on-one debate over their budget differences.

Mano a Mano, Jeffries posted on social media. The American people deserve to know the truth.

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The uproar has thrown the week's schedule into uncertainty with a planned Wednesday vote potentially pushing to Thursday, or even later.

During a subsequent speech Tuesday night at a National Republican Congressional Committee gathering, Trump called his get-together a great meeting while using colorful language to urge holdouts to get onboard.

One little thing the Republican Party has to do is get together and damn vote, the president said, adding: Close your eyes and get there. Its a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding.

But Trump's demands appeared to have failed to move many of the House conservatives unmoved.

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The rest of America has to do math and balance their budget. I think we ought to do math here in Washington, D.C., said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., who attended the White House meeting. It doesnt take a calculus wiz to know that doesnt add up.

Lawmakers said several dozen Republicans are withholding their support.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said the Senate cuts are anemic.

I couldnt sleep at night if I was part of exacerbating the federal deficit, Burlison said. While there might be some over there who have an appetite for some of the spending cuts, its clear that not everyone does.

While Republican senators have agreed to consider as much as $2 trillion in cuts, their counterparts in the House are deeply skeptical, if not distrustful, that the Senate GOP will accomplish anywhere near that level of reductions. The Senate bill sets a much lower floor, just $4 billion in cuts, though Senate GOP leaders insist that number will rise.

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Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said he does not believe the Senate has the political will to stomach larger cuts and is unconvinced the GOP senators will reach anywhere near the level the House has set.

The trustworthiness of the Senate is suspect, Norman said. It's like you charge for your house $100,000, And I come back with $1,000. How do you bridge that gulf?

In fact, the Senate GOP signaled the tough road ahead for the House's steep spending reductions during their lengthy overnight session.

Several Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, voted with Democrats in favor of amendments to preserve the Medicaid health care program from cuts. None of the amendments was accepted, but one that specifically targeted the $800 billion in reductions from the House framework won GOP support.

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Johnson is nowhere near the vote tally he would need to pass the package through with his slim majority.

During a morning meeting of House Republicans a number of lawmakers spoke out  some saying they should simply accept the Senate resolution for now and keep working out the details toward the final package. Others were refusing to go forward without assurances that senators were committed to the same level of reductions.

___

Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
Sparebanken Norge has forged a strategic alliance with Tietoevry Banking to enhance its technological infrastructure.

This collaboration aims to improve Sparebanken Norges competitive edge in a rapidly digitalising financial market.

Sparebanken Norge, which emerged from the merger of Sparebanken Vest and Sparebanken Sr, now stands as Norways largest savings bank.

The bank has 67 local branches and a strong digital presence, with a workforce of 1,500.

Tietoevry Banking will assist Sparebanken Norge in realising synergies from the recent merger.

This includes deploying a unified and modern core banking platform.

The partnership also provides the bank with access to advanced solutions for payments, card services, fraud detection, and tools to address financial crime.

These services are designed to comply with the highest standards of security and regulatory requirements, stated the tech vendor.

The agreement will last for five years, with an option for two additional extensions of two years each.

Sparebanken Norge incoming CEO Jan Erik Kjerpeseth said: Sparebanken Norge aims to be a proactive and trusted partner to our customers. By combining strong local roots with modern digital solutions, were able to support customers in key moments of their lives.

Technology is key to ensuring low-complexity operations and continued product and service innovation.

This partnership gives us access to the tools and expertise we need to realize our ambition: becoming one of Norways most dynamic financial institutions across both retail and corporate markets.

A key aspect of the tie-up is a joint operational model that promotes close cooperation, rapid decision-making, and quick time-to-market of new digital services, with digital loan processing being among the initial focus areas.

Tietoevry Banking managing director Endre Rangnes said: Sparebanken Norge is a forward-leaning partner, committed to shaping the future of banking in Norway.

Through close dialogue and agile execution, well develop digital services that support a strong advisory role and local presence  enhancing the customer experience while giving bank employees smarter tools to focus on value-added services.

"Sparebanken Norge collaborates with Tietoevry" was originally created and published by Retail Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.




(Reuters) -U.S. discount carrier Spirit Airlines said on Monday that CEO Ted Christie has stepped down with immediate effect as part of a shakeup, weeks after the company emerged from bankruptcy and reconstituted its board.

Chief Commercial Officer Matt Klein is also leaving and will be succeeded by insider Rana Ghosh.

The departures come as the carrier works to move away from its no-frills image and rebrand itself as a premium airline.

An interim office of the CEO, consisting of Chief Financial Officer Fred Cromer, Chief Operating Officer John Bendoraitis and General Counsel Thomas Canfield, will lead the company until a new chief is named.

Christie joined Spirit in 2012 as its finance chief and took the helm in 2019.

He guided the airline through the pandemic disruptions and a challenging period for low-cost carriers grappling with rising costs and a readiness among travelers to pay extra for a more comfortable journey as they pursued experiences.

The Florida-based carrier filed for bankruptcy protection last November, following years of losses and heavy debt, as well as failed merger attempts.

Spirit had been in merger talks with Frontier Group since at least 2022, but ended them in favor of a more attractive offer from rival JetBlue Airways.

Its merger with JetBlue was ultimately scrapped after a U.S. judge blocked it on anti-competition concerns.

Spirit, which has estimated that shift to premium would generate 13% more revenue per passenger, also plans to revamp its loyalty program and pursue alliances with other carriers.

(Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Sriraj Kalluvila)
President Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday to bolster the countrys declining coal industry, relaxing restrictions on coal mining, leasing and exports in what the White House said was an effort to meet the energy-intensive needs of artificial intelligence data centers.

The executive orders were the latest moves by the Trump administration that clash with global aims to reduce coal power and cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change.

Standing before dozens of coal miners in uniform shirts and hard hats, Trump introduced the orders, repeatedly referring to beautiful, clean coal.

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Coal is considered the dirtiest fossil fuel and historically the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Burning fossil fuels, which unleashes carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, is the primary contributor to global warming.

Trumps executive actions will keep open some coal plants that were set for retirement, allow coal leasing on public lands to resume and will direct the Department of Energy and other federal agencies to assess how electricity from coal-fired power plants can meet rising demand for power from artificial intelligence.

A worker stands in the coal yard at the American Electric Power Co. coal-fired John E. Amos Power Plant in Winfield, W.Va., in 2018.

The orders come as the Environmental Protection Agency under its new administrator, Lee Zeldin, has been aggressively rolling back various environmental regulations over the past month, including ones that target pollution from power plants and emissions generated by oil and gas companies.

The coal industry has been in decline in the U.S. for more than a decade. In 2023, coal generated about 16% of total electricity in the country, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration  down sharply from roughly 45% in 2010. The rise of renewable energy sources, including solar and wind power, have also lessened the countrys reliance on coal.

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The push to revive the coal industry also runs counter to most Americans priorities, according to the latest public opinion research from Yale University.

The national survey found that two-thirds of Americans support a transition away from fossil fuels like coal to entirely clean energy by 2050. The research also found even broader support for regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant, with 74% of those surveyed in favor of such regulations. Coal power produces more than twice as much carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of electricity as gas power plants.

Burning coal to generate electricity could also cost Americans three to four times more than clean energy, according to estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Adding coal power would cost $89 per megawatt hour, compared with $31 for onshore wind or $23 for solar.

In widespread job cuts last week across the Department of Health and Human Services, the Trump administration also eliminated several entire divisions focused on the safety of mining workers.

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Critics were quick to denounce Trumps executive orders, with former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy saying the action will exacerbate climate change and damage public health.

There is no such thing as clean coal, McCarthy, who also served as White House national climate adviser in the Biden administration, said in a statement. Just as Trumps tariffs are hitting Americans wallets, his administration is wasting taxpayer dollars to prop up an expensive, dangerous, and dirty industry when we have abundant, cheaper, better, and safer clean energy.

The rise of artificial intelligence has spurred a hunt for new energy resources, with some in tech pushing money toward more sustainable sources including nuclear energy. But the demand for energy from AI is expected to test even the relatively big and robust U.S. system, with some calling for greater investment in an effort to keep up with international rivals, most notably China.

Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs projected that the expansion of AI data centers will increase global power demand by 165% in the next five years.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Donald Trumps administration is telling tens of thousands of immigrants to leave immediately after they used a government smartphone app to enter the United States legally.

The administration has terminated temporary legal statuses for immigrants who entered the country through the Joe Biden-era CBP One app, which was used by roughly 985,000 people seeking legal entry into the country before the president abruptly ended the program after taking office.

Department of Homeland Security officials did not tell The Independent how many notices have been sent when pressed for comment. Immigrants who received the message could face arrest, severe fines and forced removal from the country if they do not leave on their own, according to DHS. They will not be allowed to return.

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It is time for you to leave the United States, a message to CBP One applicants reads. Again, DHS is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States  the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has full authority to revoke parole, a senior DHS spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent. Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security.

Formal termination notices have been issued, and affected aliens are urged to voluntarily self-deport using the CBP Home App, the spokesperson added. Those who refuse will be found, removed, and permanently barred from reentry."

The order does not apply to immigrants who entered the country through the Uniting for Ukraine and Operation Allies Welcome programs. Last week, the administration apologized for mistakenly sending similar notices to some Ukrainian refugees living in the country through the Uniting for Ukraine program, which has helped resettle more than 240,000 people displaced by Russias war.

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Its unclear how many Ukrainians received the message.

Its also unclear how many notices were sent, and whether people who received them are eligible for removal, according to Erika Pinheiro, executive director of Al Otro Lado, which provides legal and humanitarian support to refugees, deportees, and other migrants in the United States and Tijuana, Mexico.

As long as they have a pending court proceeding or a pending asylum application, they do have a protection against removal, she told The Independent. Generally, they would not be legally able to be removed until an immigration judge issues an order. However, we've seen multiple cases recently of the Trump administration deporting individuals with pending asylum cases or pending proceedings, so we can't rely on the administration to follow the law, but at least technically and legally,

After entering office, Trump ended the Biden-era smartphone app, which has allowed tens of thousands of people seeking asylum and legal entry into the United States to schedule appointments with immigration authorities at the southern border since it was introduced in January 2023.

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Roughly 270,000 people on the other side of the border were trying to get an appointment through the app when the app was abruptly shut down.

The app has since been renamed CBP Home, which encourages immigrants to enter their intent to depart the country.

CBP One was effectively the only way that people living outside the country could request an appointment at an official port of entry to begin their asylum claims and immigration paperwork, but was falsely characterized by Trump and his allies as a fast track for illegal immigration.

On January 20, hours after Trump entered office, a notice on the apps website said that the app was no longer available and all appointments were canceled without notice.

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At ports of entry across the southern border, where hundreds of people were lined up for their appointments, they all received the same message: Existing appointments through CPB One are no longer valid.

An immigrant from Venezuela who sued the CBP One app to enter the U.S. legally was denied access at the U.S.-Mexico border on January 21, one day after Trumps inauguration. The administration is now revoking legal protections for tens of thousands of immigrants who used the app to gain entry (Getty Images)

Another woman and her two minor children, who have been embroiled in a long-running lawsuit over constraints on asylum claims, were scheduled for their appointment on January 25, just five days before the app was shut down.

The app had previously processed up to 1,450 people seeking asylum each day.

But as a result of the appointment processs elimination, the right to seek asylum at the border no longer exists, no matter how great the danger faced by migrants, including families with children, civil rights attorneys wrote in a court filing in January.

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People are really scared, Pinheiro told The Independent. People are scared to show up to check ins, and rightfully so, to show up to immigration court for fear that theyll be detained.  They see the news reports of immigrants basically being kidnapped off of the streets and disappeared to Guantanamo or El Salvador. Theyre understandably very frightened. Theyve been in the United States for a little while, have a job, established themselves and are supporting themselves, and to have the rug ripped out from under them is really jarring and obviously very frightening for them.

Trumps anti-immigration agenda has moved to dismantle legal immigration under the Biden administration, including cutting off legal protections and work permissions for tens of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who were granted temporary protected status.

Nearly 350,000 Venezuelans who entered the country under humanitarian protections during the Biden administration were set to lose their legal status on April 7, but a federal judge blocked an order that threatens to inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted, cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States, according to District Judge Edward Chen in California.

The move to cancel those protections appears predicated on negative stereotypes casting class-wide aspersions on their character, including insinuating they were released from Venezuelan prisons and mental health facilities and imposed huge financial burdens on local communities, the judge wrote last month.

Generalization of criminality to the Venezuelan TPS population as a whole is baseless and smacks of racism predicated on generalized false stereotypes, Chen wrote. Moreover, Venezuelan TPS holders are critical contributors to both the national and local economies: they work, spend money, and pay taxes.
This story was originally published on CFO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO Dive newsletter.

Dive Brief:

Spirit Aviation Holdings, parent of Spirit Airlines, said its CEO Ted Christie  a 13-year company veteran has exited the carrier Monday and is stepping down from its board, according to a securities filing. The departure comes weeks after the airline emerged from a bankruptcy restructuring.

The Dania Beach, Florida-based company said three senior executives will form the office of the president that will lead the company until a new CEO is appointed. The group includes Fred Cromer, executive vice president and CFO, John Bendoraitis, executive vice president and COO, and Thomas C. Canfield, senior vice president general counsel and secretary.

The company also said Monday that Matt Klein, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, will be stepping down, effectively immediately, and be succeeded by Rana Ghosh, who joined the company in 2015 and has served as senior vice president and chief transformation officer since June 2024,.

Dive Insight:

On March 12, about five months after filing for bankruptcy protection, the company said it had emerged from its financial restructuring and completed a consensual deleveraging transaction that equitizes approximately $795 million of funded debt. At the time, Christie said the the company was now in a stronger financial position.

"Throughout this process, we've continued to make meaningful progress enhancing our product offerings, while also focusing on returning to profitability and positioning our airline for long-term success. Today, we're moving forward with our strategy to redefine low-fare travel with our new, high-value travel options," Christie said in a statement.

On Monday, Robert Milton, Spirit Airlines chairman, thanked Christie for his tireless efforts during his tenure at the company. He has seen a lot and done a lot during his tenure here, including navigating the company through the COVID crisis and multiple strategic junctures, as well as most recently, a corporate restructuring, Milton said. He has kept the company together through challenging times, and for this we wish him all the best going forward.

The budget carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Nov. 18, pivoting to reorganize after other efforts to reduce cost and navigate industry headwinds failed. As of the petition, the airline had $3.6 billion in total outstanding debt, 21,000 employees and independent contractors, and a fleet of 213 A320 aircraft, 51 of which were owned by Spirit, CFO Dive previously reported.
MCALLEN, Texas (AP)  Migrants who were temporarily allowed to live in the United States by using a Biden-era online appointment app have been told to leave the country immediately, officials said Monday. It was unclear how many beneficiaries would be affected.

More than 900,000 people were allowed in the country using the CBP One app since January 2023. They were generally allowed to remain in the United States for two years with authorization to work under a presidential authority called parole.

Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security, the Department of Homeland Security media affairs unit said in response to questions.

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Authorities confirmed termination notices were sent to CBP One beneficiaries but did not say how many. They were urged to voluntary self-deport using the same app they entered on, which has been renamed CBP Home.

Its time for you to abandon the United States," the Department of Homeland Security wrote to a Honduran family that entered the U.S. at the end of last year. The Associated Press reviewed the email received Sunday.

Others shared the same email on social media platforms.

Al Otro Lado, a nonprofit organization that provides legal aid to migrants, said some who received the revocation letters are from Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico.

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CBP One was a cornerstone of the Biden administration's strategy to create and expand legal pathways to enter the United States in an attempt to discourage illegal border crossings. By the end of December, 936,500 people had been allowed to enter with CBP One appointments at border crossings with Mexico. President Donald Trump ended CBP One for new entrants on his first day in office, stranding thousands in Mexico who had appointments into early February.

Trump has ended and revoked temporary status for many who benefited under Bidens policies. Homeland Security said Monday that Bidens use of parole authority  more than any president since it was created in 1952  further fueled the worst border crisis in U.S. history.

Homeland Security said last month that it was revoking another form of parole for 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who flew to the country at their own expense with a financial sponsor. It ends April 24.

The Trump administration has also announced an end to Temporary Protected Status for 600,000 Venezuelans and about 500,00 Haitians, though a federal judge temporarily put that on hold, including for about 350,000 Venezuelans who had been scheduled to lose TPS on Monday. TPS is granted in 18-month increments to people already in the U.S. whose countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.
NEW YORK (AP)  President Donald Trump has launched tariff wars with almost all of America's trading partners. And his track record of on-again, off-again new levies continued Wednesday with a 90-day pause for most nations targeted by the latest volley of import taxes, hours after they went into effect.

Just after midnight, dozens of countries began facing steeper duties from the U.S. as part of Trump's sweeping  and self-described reciprocal  tariffs on foreign goods. But by Wednesday afternoon, his administration abruptly said it would suspend these higher rates for 90 days, and instead maintain a recently-imposed 10% levy on nearly all global imports.

China, however, is an exception. Trump said on social media that he would raise import taxes on China to 125% effective immediately  escalating tit-for-tat levies that have piled up between the two countries.

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With so many back-and-forth tariff actions and threats, it can be tough to keep track of where things stand. And a number of other import taxes are still in place. Here's a rundown of what you need to know.

What tariffs took effect on Wednesday  and are now delayed?

Before announcing a 90-day pause, higher rates for Trump's latest  and most sweeping  round of tariffs took effect early Wednesday.

Trump announced these new import taxes on April 2, which he dubbed Liberation Day, as part of a sweeping reciprocal trade plan. Claiming that others had ripped off the U.S. for years, Trump declared that the U.S. would tax nearly all of America's trading partners at a minimum of 10% and impose individualized, steeper rates for dozens of countries that he said run trade surpluses with the U.S.

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The 10% baseline already went into effect Saturday  and will now stay in place for most trading partners going forward. Wednesday's 90-day pause means that those steeper levies, which ran as high as 50%, will be delayed.

The Trump administration has signaled that it will use this time to negotiate with individual countries. In a post on Truth Social Wednesday afternoon, Trump said he was declaring the pause because more than 75 Countries had reached out to the U.S. government for trade talks and not retaliated in a meaningful way.

Meanwhile, more aggressive tariffs on China still went into effect Wednesday. After following through on a threat to raise levies against China to a combined 104% by 12:01 a.m. ET, Trump said he was upping that figure to 125% Wednesday afternoon.

China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable, Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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Economists warn that the levies will raise prices for goods consumers buy each day, particularly as these new tariffs build on previous trade measures, all of which have already plunged markets into turmoil. And even for countries eligible for the current pause on Trump's steeper, reciprocal rates, 10% still represents an increase in the tariffs previously charged by the U.S. government.

Are more tariffs coming?

Yes. Starting Thursday, China has already said it will tax American goods at 84%.

China announced a flurry of countermeasures in response to the Liberation Day tariffs last week, including plans for its own 34% levy on U.S. goods to match what was then Trump's reciprocal rate. But after Trump threatened  and then followed through  on adding an additional 50% early Wednesday, China said it would raise its tariffs to 84%.

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If the U.S. insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end, the Ministry of Commerce wrote in a statement introducing its white paper on trade with the U.S.

Whether China will increase its tariffs even further has yet to be seen. The country announced the 84% levy prior to Trump raising the U.S. tax on Chinese goods to a collective 125%.

The trade war between the U.S. and China isnt new. The two countries have exchanged a series of tit-for-tat levies in recent months  on top of tariffs imposed during Trumps first term, many of which were preserved or added to under former President Joe Biden.

While China has taken the toughest approach so far, a number of countries are evaluating their own responses to Trump's levies  and some have promised, if not already taken, more retaliation.

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Also earlier Wednesday, EU members voted to approve retaliatory tariffs on $23 billion in goods in response to Trumps previous 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. The EU's counter tariffs will come in stages, with some arriving April 15 and others on May 15 and Dec. 1. The executive commission didnt immediately specify which goods would be effected.

Members of the 27-country bloc repeated their preference for a negotiated deal to settle trade issues  calling the U.S. tariffs unjustified and damaging." Prior to Trump pausing his higher reciprocal tariff rates, Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU's executive commission, had offered a zero-for-zero tariffs deal on industrial goods.

Trump could also roll out more product-specific tariffs down the road. The president has previously threatened import taxes on goods like copper, lumber and pharmaceutical drugs  all of which are currently exempt from Trumps reciprocal levies.

During a speech Tuesday night, Trump boasted he was offering breaking news before vowing, "Were going to be announcing, very shortly, a major tariff on pharmaceuticals. In the same remarks, the president lamented that the U.S. no longer produces many of the pharmaceuticals its citizens take, and said new tariffs would change that  bringing production of medication back to the U.S.

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What other import taxes are already here?

A handful of tariffs are already in effect  including, again, Trump's 10% baseline tax which took effect on Saturday.

Prior to that sweeping levy, Trump had rolled out several other rounds of tariffs targeting particular countries and products. His 25% tariffs on auto imports began last Thursday, with taxes on fully-imported cars. Those levies are set to expand to applicable auto parts in coming weeks, through May 3.

Canada responded with a 25% levy on auto imports from the U.S., effective Wednesday, for products that do not comply with the 2020 US-Mexico Canada Agreement.

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Trumps expanded steel and aluminum tariffs went into effect last month. Both metals are now taxed at 25% across the board, with Trumps order to remove steel exemptions and raise aluminums levy from his previously-imposed 2018 import taxes taking effect March 12.

Beyond previous levies on China, Trump also targeted Mexico and Canada earlier this year. They were spared from last week's heightened rates, Trump imposed  and later partially suspended  25% duties on goods from both countries.

Meanwhile, goods complying with the USMCA can continue to enter the U.S. duty-free, according to the White House. Other imports are still levied at 25%, as well as a lower 10% duty on potash and Canadian energy products.

Once the two countries have satisfied Trumps demands on immigration and drug trafficking, the White House said the tariff on non-USMCA compliant imports will drop from 25% to 12%.

_____

Associated Press Writers Josh Boak in Washington, Huizhong Wu in Bangkok and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has reported a significant rise of above 10% in the expense of employing entry-level retail staff following an increase in National Insurance contributions (NICs) and the UK's National Living Wage.

Part-time workers have been particularly affected, seeing a 13% cost increase.

The retail sector is bracing for an annual financial impact exceeding 5bn ($6bn) due to the changes, with projections reaching 7bn upon the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility packaging tax in October 2025.

The adjustment to the NIC threshold, which has dropped from 9,100 to 5,000, brings more part-time and entry-level positions within the tax net, potentially discouraging businesses from creating such roles.

The government is simultaneously introducing welfare reforms to assist capable individuals find employment.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson stated: "The Chancellors October [2024] Budget is now hitting retailers with an extra 5bn on their employment bill. When coupled with the new packaging tax in October [2025], retailers costs will have spiralled by 7bn in a single year. Given slim retail margins of just 2 to 4%, these additional costs mean higher prices, fewer jobs and fewer stores. A recent survey of retail finance directors showed that half were planning to reduce hours and workers as a direct result of the employer NIC hike.

It will be part-time jobs which take the biggest hit. While the cost of employing someone in a full-time entry-level position rose by over 10%, for a part-time worker it is over 13%.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), part-time roles in retail, which amounted to 1.5 million last year, will now incur an additional 13.5% cost for retailers based on a 15-hour workweek.

This represents the lowest figure for part-time retail employment on record.

The BRC also cautions that up to 160,000 part-time retail jobs could be eliminated up to 2028.

Dickinson added: Part-time retail jobs hit their lowest level since records began in 1996, and have fallen by 200,000 in the last seven years. This matters: a local, flexible retail job is a vital stepping stone for many people, whether its a first job out of school or a part-time role for someone returning to the workforce or with caring responsibilities. While the governments welfare reforms aim to increase the numbers in work, this weeks cost increases will kick away the ladder for many who are just getting their first foothold."

"UK retailers face 10% jump in entry-level labour costs" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand.
The manufactured pause: Yesterday, news spread that the Trump administration was considering a 90-day pause to its implementation of the most massive round of tariffs, currently set to go into effect tomorrow. The market started climbing back up as the news made the rounds and was relayed by CNBC and Reuters. The only trouble was that this was made up and amplified on X, with no bearing in reality.

It looks like the posts came from an actual Fox News interview with National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett in which he was asked whether the president would "consider a 90-day pause in tariffs." Hassett replied: "The president is going to decide what the president is going to decide." ("I would urge everyone, especially Bill [Ackman], to ease off the rhetoric a little bit," he added. "It's the idea that it's going to be a 'nuclear winter' or something like that is completely irresponsible rhetoric.")

An X post from "Hammer Capital" (handle: "yourfavorito") with about 1,000 followers appears to have originated the 90-day pause rumor circa 10:11 a.m. ET.

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"At about 10:12 a.m., CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich, who was on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, said that cheers had broken out, as stock indiceswhich were already recovering from early-morning lowssuddenly surged," reports CNN. "'Walter Bloomberg,' an account with a much larger following  copy-and-pasted the original rumor along with a siren emoji at 10:13 a.m." The recovery continued. CNBC and Reuters started circulating the news, having failed to corroborate.

Meanwhile, Trump lackeys continued to make the rounds saying extraordinarily dumb things. Peter Navarro, senior White House trade adviser, guarantees no recession. Don't you feel so much better?

Meanwhile, the Fox folks are having a blast with the chyrons and touting our return to manufacturing as the thing that will callus up the soft hands of American men, or whatever. Good thing the urban-core men stocked up on Carhartt; they'll need it on the assembly line.

Those inclined to give the administration the most possible credit, and to see 4D chess moves everywhere they look, have theorized that the Trump administration could be imposing such intense tariffs as a bargaining chip to actually bring about more free trade by persuading other countries to come to the negotiating table. This theory appears to be getting less believable by the day. Yesterday, the European Union said it would fully drop its tariffs on American cars and industrial goods if the U.S. would do the same; Navarro turned around and criticized the bloc for its value-added taxes and restrictions on American meat exports, saying "You steal from the American people every which way is possible."

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Then he turned to Vietnam, which he accused of intellectual property theft and killing the American shrimp industry. "When they come to us and say, we'll go to zero tariffs, that means nothing to us, because it's the non-tariff cheating that matters," he added. So the theory that this is all a ploy to get way freer trade than before does not look likely at all.

Supreme Court says there's a jurisdiction issue: Last night, the Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to send deportees to prison in El Salvador, but did overturn a lower court's ruling, allowing the administration to continue such deportations for now as the lawyers for the migrants "should havefiled in Texas, where the Venezuelans are being held, rather than a court in Washington," per The New York Times.

Make no mistake: This is a very narrow ruling. It's likely more will come soon. "All nine justices agreed that the Venezuelan migrants detained in the United States must receive advance notice and the opportunity to challenge their deportation before they could be removed, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote in a concurrence," per the Times. Trump is claiming the ruling as much more of a win than it is, loudly proclaiming that yesterday was "A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA!" on Truth Social.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay, temporarily pausing a trial judge's attempt to force the administration to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States. This too should not be interpreted as a bigger thing than it is: He appears to be buying and biding time.

BREAKING: Chief Justice Roberts has indefinitely blocked the court order requiring Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return tonight. https://t.co/yoeNMJnL8m pic.twitter.com/vx7k4IXIMV  Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 7, 2025

Scenes from New York: "Adrienne Adams, the New York City Council speaker who is running for mayor, proposed on Monday a guaranteed basic income program that would be the largest of its kind in the United States," reports The New York Times. "It would aim to help more than 21,000 homeless children and young adults" giving "an initial one-time stipend of $2,500, followed by monthly payments over three years that start at $1,000 per month and then fall to $500 per month." This proposal would cost the city about $430 million over the course of two years.

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This isn't the first time Adams has tried this approach. On city council, she's spearheaded an effort to spend $1.5 million to support a nonprofit (the Bridge Project) that gives guaranteed income to new moms.

But New York City already has a $4 billion budget for homelessness alleviation services; the problem really isn't lack of money.

QUICK HITS

"Where I've come down on morally is that there are probably, conservative estimate, 2 billion people on planet Earth who would give their right arm for a green card to the United States," Batya Ungar-Sargon tells us on Just Asking Questions. "And we are depriving every single one of them of a limited resource because we've given it to somebody who has engaged in, if not material support, certainly symbolic support for an enemy of the United States. So to me, morally, I feel very comfortable about it. I really don't think [the Mahmoud Khalil case] is about free speech at all. I don't this slippery slope argument holds at all, they're clearly not going anywhere near American citizens. Nobody really thinks that that's happening or that's going to happen. I think the distinction between citizen and noncitizen is fundamental to how this administration sees its domestic policy, its labor policy, and its foreign policy." Watch here:

Trump administration asks for a sixfold increase in spending on immigrant detentions.

"BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said most CEOs he talks to think the US is in a recession," reports Bloomberg. "The economy is weakening as we speak," said Fink on Monday at the Economic Club of New York. "I would say in the long run, this is more of a buying opportunity than it is a selling opportunity," said Fink. "That doesn't mean we can't fall another 20% from here, too."

Really good point:

Peter Navarro said something quite revealing on CNBC today about BMW's factory in South Carolina: "That doesn't work for America. It's bad for our economics, it's bad for our national security." This piqued my interest. I grew up very close to that BMW facility -- the company's pic.twitter.com/bDrjSzI3TV  John W Lettieri (@LettieriDC) April 7, 2025

Amir Makled, an attorney from Dearborn, Michigan, was flagged by Immigration and Customs Enforcement upon reentering the country from a family trip to the Dominican Republic. He was questioned, which he theorizes may be due to the types of clients he represents. "This current administration is doing something that no administration has done," he told the Detroit Free Press. "They are attacking attorneys. This is a different type of threat to the rule of law that I see. They are now challenging the judiciary, or lawyers, they're putting pressure (on them) to dissuade attorneys from taking on issues that are against the government's issues. We have an obligation as lawyers to stand up to this stuff."

An interesting, solid profile of Usha Vancethe second ladywhich spends a fair bit of time on the impact of the treatment of Brett Kavanaugh, who Usha Vance clerked for, during the height of #MeToo.

Always check for ulterior motives:

The guy cheering on Trump's tariffs and telling stock investors to shut up about their losses is literally betting against Corporate America viz CDS. https://t.co/96iCUUQ5AP  Tracy Alloway (@tracyalloway) April 7, 2025

The post Trump's Manly Tariffs appeared first on Reason.com.
(Reuters) -The top U.S. watchdog for consumer finance has asked a federal court to withdraw from the agency's own 2022 case against MoneyGram, leaving the New York attorney general as the sole plaintiff, according to court papers.

Under then-President Joe Biden, the agency had joined New York in accusing the cash transfer company of repeatedly and unfairly violating a federal rule designed to make it easier for people to send money to friends and family outside the United States.

In a motion filed on Monday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has retreated from pending enforcement cases amid Trump administration efforts to dismantle the agency, said it could not seek a dismissal because New York officials were also suing.

The CFPB and MoneyGram did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. A representative for the New York attorney general's office said the agency intended to continue pursuing the litigation in the CFPB's absence.

The case had faced lengthy delays while legal challenges to the constitutionality of the CFPB's funding structure worked their way through the courts, arguments the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately rejected last year.

The CFPB has now dismissed at least nine of the two dozen enforcement cases that were pending when the Trump administration took control in February while federal judges have paused at least seven more. Cases concerning Experian and Comerica Bank continue.

(Reporting by Douglas Gillison; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
ABINGDON, Va. (WJHL)  Michael Smalls last known whereabouts was on March 24 in Abingdon on Charwood Drive. His daughter, Kerry Small, is asking anyone with information to please contact law enforcement so her father can be found.

The Abingdon Police Department, the Washington County Virginia Sheriffs Office, the Virginia State Police, the Abingdon Fire Department, the Virginia Department of Social Services and multiple other agencies are assisting in the search for Michael Small.

PREVIOUS: Abingdon PD asking for help in locating missing man

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Kerry Small, along with family members and friends, are also searching multiple areas.

Yesterday we drove around Bristol, Small said. We asked homeless people, we gave out flyers. I mean, weve been under tunnels. Weve been in places that, not necessarily we would normally go, but I just dont know. I want to look everywhere. I dont know where else to look, so any ideas are welcome.

On March 24, Small walked out of the Green Acres assisted living facility where he has lived for three years.

He used to be an avid walker and hiker, Small said. He could have walked. Well, he can walk anywhere, but its natural for him to want to take a walk. So they have to watch him really carefully. This time, he has gone too far. We dont really know where he was headed or what was on his mind because he does have obvious dementia.

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Kerry Small says Green Acres is not a locked-down facility and that her father is allowed to walk around, but someone has always found him nearby.

He was about to be moved to a different facility, Small said. We were in the process of finding one and so hes just walked off at the wrong time.

News Channel 11 has reached out to Green Acres for a comment and is awaiting a response.

Kerry Small said they have been very helpful and are apologetic.

The owner of Green Acres is offering the $1,000 reward listed on the missing person flyer.

We were thinking that maybe in a lucid moment he had possibly asked for a ride, but those dont last very long, Small said. Theyre only about 10 minutes long or so and then he is back to being confused.

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She believes he may have gone to Tazewell, where he previously lived, or even Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was born.

Small said he always carries his sisters address, who lives in Charlotte, in his pocket. The Charlotte Police Department is also on alert.

The Abingdon Police Department confirmed the last known sighting of Michael Small was near Michaels Pharmacy, located on Charwood Drive, around 6:30 p.m. on March 24.

The pharmacy captured surveillance footage of Michael Small on their camera. A photo of that surveillance footage is seen in the flyer below:

Courtesy of Kerry Small

Nearby Charwood Drive on the connecting street of Beverly Drive, a houses ring camera captured Michael Small walking down the road.

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He looked very confused, Small said. He was in his pajamas and he was obviously frustrated. They [law enforcement] went to check the ring cameras on the other houses and couldnt find anything. They put drones over the field behind the neighborhood, couldnt find anything. Ive also reached out to a few search and rescue teams that told us they had to be deployed by the police department.

Kerry Small said she has also checked downtown areas, trails, talked to neighbors and business owners and searched many other areas. She encourages others to check their Ring cameras.

The Abingdon PD, as well as other agencies, have been in frequent contact with the Small family.

Kerry Small said they immediately checked any leads or possible sightings.

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They did the bloodhound search last Tuesday, Small said. There has been many [possible] sightings from Elizabethton to Bristol. There was one in Johnson City, but none of them are confirmed to be my dad. We have checked every hospital, weve looked for John Does, weve tried everything.

Small, along with her mother, is meeting an Abingdon Police Department lieutenant about search efforts. They are bringing along a bloodhound trainer.

Id like them to do more drones too, but just anything they can do extra, Small said. Weve been everywhere. Weve looked in sheds, mobile homes, sales properties. Weve been behind buildings. Weve even walked into a few tent cities of the homeless trying to see if maybe he had just been caught up in that.

She would like to have more foot searches and encourages people to look in their sheds, barns and other storage areas.

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To those who may come in contact with Michael Small, his daughter wants people to know that he is attracted to comfort and kindness.

She said he has had dementia for the last five years.

He is very childlike. He loves to eat. He loves coffee. So if he wont come to you or if you see him, you can offer him a cup of coffee and it will work every time. Hes just a really good person. He used to be a Nigerian minister and missionary back in his younger years. He loves God very much. He is a follower.

Im pretty sure right now he is wondering where he is, Small said. I know hes probably confused and lost and I just really hope hes okay. But he will come with you. He will definitely come with anybody that wants to help him, I do believe. Im not sure what kind of state hes in, though.

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She said he was clean-shaven when he went missing but may have more of a beard now.

Kerry Small also shared a journal entry she found of her fathers that he had written recently.

He used to be a writer, Small said. He wrote, I feel I am at the end of my life, which is very sad because I dont want him to be. That being said, I dont know if this was planned in a lucid moment or if its just him dealing with what hes dealing with internally by himself, but I do want him closer to me.

Anyone who may have information on Smalls whereabouts is urged to contact Washington County, Virginia Dispatch at 276-676-6277.

Michael Smalls daughter, Kerry Small, holding missing person flyer (Photo: WJHL)

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
PORTLAND, Wis. (WFRV)  Two people in Wisconsin were killed on Sunday evening after a motorcycle crash where the driver was ejected and the passenger collided with a car.

According to the Monroe County Sheriffs Office, dispatch was reported to a motorcycle crash involving a passenger vehicle around 5 p.m. on Sunday on State Highway 33 near County Highway X in Portland.

Police provide update on search for 20-year-old Chicagoan missing after boat flipped in Wisconsin River

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Initial investigations determined that the operator of a 2015 Harley Davidson heading west on STH 33 lost control on a curve and was ejected from his seat. The motorcycle and a passenger then crashed into a 2018 Chevrolet Cruze heading east.

Both the motorcycle operator, identified as a 41-year-old man from Stoddard, and the passenger died at the scene. Nobody in the Chevrolet was injured, and the crash 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 WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Makini Brice

PARIS (Reuters) -The United States is starting to resemble an emerging market more than a developed country, the head of pan-European stock exchange operator Euronext said on Tuesday as financial markets remained volatile after the imposition of sweeping U.S. tariffs.

"Fear exists all over," Euronext CEO Stephane Boujnah told France Inter radio. "The country (United States) is unrecognisable and we are living in a transition period. There is a certain form of mourning, because the United States that we had known for the most part as a dominant nation resembled the values and institutions of Europe and now resembles more an emerging market."

Boujnah said investors had been forced to grapple with uncertainty since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January. "People ... have difficulty understanding the volatility of decisions that are made, so this worry is real, and it is a form of intimidation that diffuses in the system and is difficult to navigate," he said.

Global financial markets are rotating assets and are trying to adapt to a United States that they do not recognise after Trump announced global tariffs on imports to the United States, Boujnah said.

Trump has said the tariffs - a minimum of 10% for all U.S. imports, with targeted rates of up to 50% - would help the United States recapture an industrial base that he says has withered over decades of trade liberalization.

Emerging markets often use tariffs to protect their industries while they try to develop.

Boujnah said there was some good news in that oil prices and long-term rates were down, and that there were flows of money leaving the United States to be re-invested in Europe.

European shares rose in early trading on Tuesday from 14-month lows after four straight sessions of heavy selling, although investors remained sensitive to tariff-related developments, a day after the European Commission proposed counter-tariffs of 25% on a range of U.S. goods.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Makini Brice; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Vallourec has secured a significant contract to supply Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) to Sonatrach, Algeria's national oil and gas company.

The agreement will see Vallourec deliver carbon steel OCTG threaded with its premium VAM connections, recognised as a standard in the Algerian market.

Deliveries are scheduled for 2025 and 2026, with expected revenues exceeding $250m (229.02m) for Vallourec.

The renewed partnership with Sonatrach highlights Vallourecs technical solutions and operational performance in the region.

The OCTG solutions will be manufactured across Vallourecs plants in Brazil, China, France and Indonesia.

This global production footprint is designed to ensure high-quality standards and a flexible supply chain to meet Sonatrachs requirements.

OCTG Services and Accessories senior vice-president Laurent Dubedout said: This notice of award further establishes Vallourecs leadership in North Africa, a key region for our premium OCTG solutions. SONATRACHS continued confidence in VAM connections, based on years of successful field performance, highlights the value we bring to its projects.

Thanks to our global industrial footprint, we continue to support our customer in optimising their drilling operations while maintaining the highest standards of quality and reliability.

In a related development, Vallourec secured a contract in July last year from TotalEnergies for the Kaminho deep-water project in Angola.

The contract involves supplying nearly 5,000 tonnes of OCTG solutions and associated services for the project, located 100km off Angolas coast in Block 20.

Additionally, Sonatrach awarded a $2.3bn (AD309.26bn) engineering, procurement and construction contract to a consortium for gas-boosting work on a key field in Algeria in May last year.

The consortium, comprising Baker Hughes and Tecnimont, will work on the Hassi RMel gas field, 550km south of Algiers.

This field is crucial to Algerias energy system and serves as an essential energy source for Europe.

The project scope includes constructing three new gas boosting stations with turbo compressors and upgrading more than 300km of existing gas-gathering flowlines.

"Vallourec to supply OCTG to Sonatrach in Algeria" was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.




Ukrainian officials will visit the United States later this week for talks on a new draft agreement on mineral resources.

Source: Bloomberg, citing informed sources, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The two sources reported that the Ukrainian delegation will include deputy ministers from Ukraines Ministries of Economy and Justice. However, no top-level politicians will be involved, as talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump currently require technical consultations.

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The sources also said that Kyiv has appointed an international law firm to advise on the negotiations. The visit is expected to take place on 1112 April.

Background:

Earlier, Ukraines Minister of Economy Yuliia Svyrydenko stated that Ukraine would send a team to Washington this week to launch negotiations on a new draft agreement on mineral resources.

Earlier, European Pravda reported that the Trump administration reintroduced a clause into a proposed agreement on Ukrainian subsoil resources that obliges Ukraine to repay the full amount of US aid provided since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion in 2022.

The draft of the large agreement specifies that Ukraine would be obligated to reimburse the US for all assistance  including budgetary, military and humanitarian aid  provided since the start of Russias full-scale war.

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The Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed a Merlin-VR, the most expensive Russian reconnaissance UAV, worth more than US$300,000, on the Lyman front.

Source: Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group

Quote: "The race for the enemy wing was organised by anti-aircraft gunners of the mechanised brigade and their brothers-in-arms from the artillery brigade."

Details: Soldiers from the 63rd Mechanised Brigade crashed an expensive Russian reconnaissance drone on the Lyman front.

     "-",   $300  https://t.co/0VtNGEhVZF pic.twitter.com/kkBOGs7g15     (@ukrpravda_news) April 8, 2025

The artillerymen arrived at the downed target before the 63rd Brigade soldiers, but the infantrymen's drone captured unique footage of the Russian target being shot down from a height of several kilometres.

The Merlin-VR drone costs more than US$300,000. This Russian UAV can rise 5 km into the sky and stay in the air for 10 hours, covering 600 kilometres.

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Oleh Mahdych, a crew commander from the Hospitallers medical volunteer battalion, has apologised to Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) after boarding a clean Intercity train with muddy combat boots while returning from the frontline.

Source: UP.Life

Details: "These are the feet of a person who just a few hours ago was walking through the combat zone. And now he's riding in a clean Intercity carriage. And he feels so ashamed Sorry, Ukrzaliznytsia," the soldier wrote, adding that he would clean his boots more carefully next time.

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Ukrainian Railways responded to the soldiers post in the comments, saying that his boots were a symbol of "a war that gives us peace".

"You apologise? And we bow our heads. Because these boots are a symbol. They carry the imprint of the war that gives us peace. They bear the earth you protected. We dont need clean soles. We need living Heroes. And if you are on an Intercity train  it means we did our part. We brought you to peace. Even if just for a few hours, even for a day  but to peace.

You dont need to thank us. We thank you. Every day. With every journey," the railway company wrote.

Oleh Mahdych said the comment brought tears to his eyes.

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"Im sitting here, reading your comment. Took me three minutes to get through it. Because after every sentence, I looked out the window. Hiding my tears.

And then a guy from the cafe came up. And offered me all kinds of treats. For free. As a thank you to the soldiers. Damn... What are you doing to my nervous system," he replied.

Background: Earlier, it was reported that Ukrainian Railways had created a special ticket reserve for service members and their families.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Vocelli Pizza has announced its expansion into the US state of Texas with the first restaurant there set to open in late 2025.

The new franchise agreement with entrepreneur Gary Nichols, who has 25 years of business experience and a passion for pizza, will introduce Vocelli's offerings to the Texan market.

The upcoming Vocelli Pizza outlet will be located in a 16,000ft travel centre in Fairfield, Texas, featuring a new, larger design conceptualised by Griha Designs & Engineering.

This location will offer dine-in, carryout and delivery options.

The expansion into Texas is part of plans to inaugurate ten additional US locations in 2025.

Vocelli Pizza CEO Toni Bianco stated: "Texas has been a key area of focus for our growth and we are thrilled to have Gary's expertise spearheading the expansion into Texas. We're looking forward to building on this momentum as we explore more opportunities for Vocelli across the US in 2025."

Vocelli Pizza's growth strategy includes targeting high-traffic areas such as malls, college campuses, airports and office buildings.

In 2024, the brand opened a restaurant at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Vocelli is also relaunching its popular Ultimate Pepperoni Pizza and Cheesesticks.

The Pepperoni Pizza features Vocelli's red sauce, real mozzarella and both cupped crispy and sliced pepperoni.

The limited-time offering is available until 27 April 2025 at all Vocelli Pizza locations, with prices from $14.99.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Vocelli has more than 80 locations providing pizza and other Italian foods for carryout and delivery.

The company offers single and multi-unit development packages to qualified franchisees.

"Vocelli Pizza to open first Texas restaurant in 2025" was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, a GlobalData owned brand.




Walgreens delivered a better-than-expected fiscal second quarter and smaller loss a month after announcing that it would be bought by a private equity firm.

The drugstore chain booked pharmacy sales gains, and its struggling VillageMD clinic business delivered a smaller balance sheet hit in the recently concluded quarter.

Overall, Walgreens said Tuesday that it lost $2.85 billion compared to a $5.91 billion loss in the previous years quarter. Adjusted results not counting one-time items totaled 63 cents per share in the most recent quarter. Sales grew 4% to $38.59 billion.

Analysts expected fiscal second-quarter earnings of 53 cents per share on about $38 billion in revenue, according to the data firm FactSet.

Walgreens said in March that it had agreed to be acquired by the private equity firm Sycamore Partners in a deal with an equity value of just under $10 billion.

The buyout came as the drugstore chain deals with a host of problems including thin prescription reimbursement, rising costs and a VillageMD clinic business that has struggled to gain traction with patients.

The Deerfield, Illinois, company is cutting costs and closing stores. In January, It said it was suspending a quarterly dividend it has offered for more than 90 years.

In its fiscal second quarter, sales from Walgreens established U.S. pharmacies jumped 12%, helped partly by more prescriptions. But retail sales in those stores slipped around 3%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. also runs nearly 3,700 international stores, with locations in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Thailand and Ireland. The U.S. segment is the biggest part of its business.

In the recent quarter, Walgreens said its operating loss included a $3 billion, non-cash impairment charge tied partly to its VillageMD business. That compares to a charge of more than $12 billion in the previous years quarter.

Walgreens withdrew its annual forecast due to its pending deal and did not host a conference call with analysts to discuss results.

Company shares advanced 19 cents to $10.90 Tuesday morning while market indexes staged a bigger rally from losses Monday.
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA)  An Urbana man was sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing his neighbor during an argument almost three years ago.

Matthew Denbo was in court Friday to be sentenced on charges of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Joshua Berg the night of July 15, 2022. Judge Randy Rosenbaum, trying Denbo from the bench, found him guilty, but mentally ill in September.

WATCH: UIPD seeking tips after 3 people damage Foellinger Auditorium

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A verdict of guilty but mentally ill means that a defendant can be imprisoned in the Illinois Department of Corrections, but the IDOC must periodically check on the defendants mental illness and treat it if necessary.

Denbo tried to claim during his trial that he shot Berg in self-defense during an argument that escalated. Witnesses and prosecutors described Berg as being the aggressor and combative, and he had a knife in his possession. But there was no evidence he ever brandished it, and the shooting was not seen.

Witnesses also saw Berg and Denbo being friendly prior to the shooting.

Based on the available evidence and Denbos own statements, Judge Rosenbaum found him guilty, but mentally ill of first-degree murder.

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Denbo could have been sentenced anywhere from 45 years to life in prison. Rosenbaum sentenced him to 50 years in prison, with credit given for almost 1,000 days hes already served in custody.

Under Illinois law, people convicted of murder have to serve 100% of their sentence. Denbo will be in his 90s when his sentence expires.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
President Donald Trumps Liberation Day, a sweeping series of new tariffs imposed on multiple countries worldwide, certainly lived up to its name, though perhaps not in the way the administration envisioned. Indeed, the bears were at liberty to slash valuations across multiple sectors, with one of the biggest victims being Tower Semiconductor (TSEM).

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Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) price history over the past 5 days

An independent semiconductor foundry based in Israel, Tower specializes in advanced mixed-signal devices. Given its geopolitical profile, it natively falls outside the ire of the Trump administration. Unfortunately, the tech ecosystem is highly dependent on global supply chain networks, particularly those tied to Asia. With the eastern hemisphere firmly in the White Houses crosshairs, Tower caught some stray bullets.

Nevertheless, its essential to realize that Towers main business of manufacturing infrastructural componentssuch as sensors and power management systemswill likely accelerate. If so, TSEM stock represents both a bullish trading prospect and a discounted long-term investment.

Robust Fundamentals Should Bolster TSEM Stock

The bullish argument for TSEM stock revolves primarily around its strong fundamentals; specifically, Tower represents an underappreciated component of the broader AI narrative. Sure, headline companies like Nvidia (NVDA) dominate the generative AI discourse thanks to their graphics processors, which enable massive data processing capacities  perfect for training AI models. On the other hand, AI that cant operate outside its silo or ecosystem (in other words, the real world) isnt all that useful.

Thats why sensors and microphones, essentially analog-to-digital converters, are vital to the industrial component of machine intelligence. Moving forward, engineers will no longer be satisfied with internally isolated innovations. Instead, theyre seeking to marry tangible functionality with digitalization.

Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) revenue, earnings and profit margin history

This is also why investors should consider the implosion of TSEM stock a long-term buying opportunity. While the volatility has been ugly, the prospects for the underlying business are incredibly bright. For example, Grand View Research notes that the global Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) should expand at a compound annual growth rate of 23.2% from 2024 to 2030, culminating in a valuation of over $1.7 trillion.

Right now, TSEM stocks market capitalization is only $3.29 billion. Based on the acceleration toward the singularity, much growth is still to be baked into Tower Semiconductor.
We recently published a list of 15 Stocks with Buy Ratings that Hedge Funds Love. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) stands against other stocks with buy ratings that hedge funds love.

The U.S. stock market has been in chaos ever since President Trump announced his intent to increase tariffs on the U.S.s trading partners. On April 2, 2025, the President officially presented the new tariff rates, calling them reciprocal tariffs. Since the presentation, the value of the U.S. stock market has started plunging. Though these tariffs have led to bloodbaths in many exchanges across the globe, the impact is heavy in the U.S. market where it originated.

China, one of the largest trading partners of the U.S., retaliated against the new tariff by slapping a 34% levy on U.S. goods, thus igniting a global trade war. The result? A $9 trillion wipeout in U.S. equity markets, according to CNBC. Experts are calling it the worst weekly performance since the COVID-19 crash.

READ ALSO: Fridays 10 Worst Performing Stocks.

Retail investors are scrambling for the exits to protect their investments. However, hedge funds are quietly loading up on bargains. Analysts are perceiving an opportunity in the turmoil, and institutional investors are using the downturns to pepper their portfolios with high-conviction stocks at fire-sale prices. Right now, their buy lists are flashing green. They do not back the stocks unquestioningly, however, they look at the fundamentals, pricing power, and growth trends of the stocks to estimate their ability to outlast the storm.

If there is one thing we can learn from history, it is that markets often make their most significant rebounds after their steepest declines. When discussing the significance of virtues like patience and calmness in an investor during turmoil, a billionaire investor quoted a 19th-century poem: If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs yours is the Earth and everything in it. His point? Panic is expensive. On the other hand, opportunity can be priceless when accumulating institutional interest signals to investors where to look.

This brings us to the heart of our article today. Combining hedge fund filings, analyst upgrades, and real-time market data, we have uncovered 15 stocks with Buy ratings, which could potentially refine your portfolio. Top hedge funds are piling into these stocks, making them more appealing to investors interested in generating income.

But dont just take our word for it. History has given us a few examples to consider before making investment decisions. For instance, the 2020 pandemic crash is a prime example of how hedge fund portfolios can be better performers than the market index. Following the crash, hedge fund-backed stocks outperformed the market indexes by 14% in 2021. It indicates that institutional conviction can be louder than the markets noise.
Colorado Springs-based data analysis company Bluestaq has launched a subsidiary in the United Kingdom as part of its continuing global expansion.

The government contractor said in a press release early Tuesday its newly launched U.K. subsidiary will "provide secure, in-country solutions for space domain awareness, defense interoperability and mission-critical data sharing."

The expansion is part of Bluestaq's efforts to widen its reach worldwide, plans the company announced in 2022. Bluestaq has also provided commercial space surveillance services to Australia's Department of Defense since 2023, "reinforcing the nation's space domain awareness capabilities alongside the Australian Space Agency," officials said in the release.

Bluestaq CEO and co-founder Seth Harvey said the company's expansion into the U.K., its first venture into the European continent, has already garnered interest from several other European countries who are interested in Bluestaq's technologies and want to see investments in their own communities.

The U.K. office could also allow Bluestaq to support some military operations between the U.S. and the U.K., as well as provide support to NATO countries.

"The U.K. subsidiary gives us the opportunity to bring our technologies to that community, and that's huge," Harvey said , ahead of the company's official Tuesday announcement. "... These subsidiaries help us to understand the community, but they also allow us to be boots on the ground, to have faces in the room when (other countries) talk about these technologies. Local presence is key for any support that we give Europe, Australia and other countries."

Bluestaq has established its U.K. subsidiary with three employees, whose positions Harvey said the company will announce next month. He expects the U.K. office will grow to 15 to 20 employees over the next three years.

The U.K. subsidiary could also help increase the number of Bluestaq's U.S. employees, including in Colorado Springs, Harvey said.

"That's going to be determined. I think it will help us build a tighter connective tissue between operations in the U.K. and the U.S.," he said. Harvey pointed to government programs focused on fostering stronger relationships between these two countries and Australia specifically, particularly when it comes to data sharing, like the trilateral Aukus program. Aukus stands for "Australia, U.K. and U.S."

Growth has long been the plan for Bluestaq, since its leadership announced in March 2022 they planned to hire nearly 600 people through 2030. That announcement came after Colorado economic development officials approved $5.57 million in incentives for the company so it could hire more people and expand its downtown Colorado Springs office space.

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Bluestaq hired 63 employees in 2024 and has hired 40 more so far in 2025, bringing its total number of employees to 180 people currently, Harvey said.

In addition to its European expansion, a recent $50 million investment by Colorado Springs-based alternative asset manager ONE Bow River will allow Bluestaq to continue its growth in AI-driven data management, national security solutions and interoperability, the company said in its release. Bluestaq can scale and deliver its technologies faster because of the cash infusion, Harvey said.

Bluestaq is the primary developer of the U.S. Space Force's Unified Data Library. The database helps 3,500 businesses, government and military agencies, the intelligence community and others in 25 countries keep track of space objects.

Since it was created in 2019, however, the project has not integrated its data with the computer systems Space Force units use to monitor objects in space. Defense industry news outlet Breaking Defense reported last month the Space Force has laid out a multi-pronged process in its Data & Artificial Intelligence FY 2025 Strategic Action Plan to transition the Unified Data Library into a formal program of record and implement several improvements.

Harvey said he expects Bluestaq will remain a partner with the U.S. Space Force on this project.

The company also plans other Unified Data Library projects, including developing a sovereign database for the U.K.'s purposes, as it did for Australia.

Bluestaq is also using $68 million  including the $50 million ONE Bow River investment and other funds on hand  to build a commercial Unified Data Library for broader applicability to other highly regulated industries and domains with strict regulations for data security, Harvey said.

"This will be one of our biggest focuses over the next few years," he said.

Some of the investment will focus on integration and research with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithms. Additionally, Bluestaq intends to build partnerships with universities across the Pikes Peak region to establish graduate programs around those state-of-the-art technologies.

Bluestaq has also expanded beyond the defense industry. It has advanced a Defense Health Agency and Defense Innovation Unit prototype contract to develop a "'digital front door' for military health care, streamlining access to critical services," officials said in the Tuesday release.
Sponsors of a bipartisan bill requiring age verification to access adult websites have postponed the measure until next year in light of an impending Supreme Court decision on a similar piece of legislation from Texas.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Monday that she is seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney general in next year's election, promising to "stand up to Donald Trump to protect our rights and freedoms."
Two-term Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a 56-year-old Democrat, launched his campaign for governor at the beginning of the year saying there was a "straight line" between his work as the state's top lawyer and the issues he described as crucial for Colorado's next chief executive to address, including housing affordability, public safety, environmental protection and the youth mental health crisis.
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In this photo provided by NASA, U.S. astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei peers at the Earth below from inside the seven-windowed cupola, the International Space Station's window to the world on Feb. 4, 2022. The U.S. plans to use commercial space stations after the International Space Station comes out of orbit in 2030.
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The unofficial final results of last week's election for the Colorado Springs City Council don't set a clear tone for the new council.

Incumbents Dave Donelson and Nancy Henjum won reelection but in the other four districts, fundraising totals and endorsements did not always carry the day.

Two of the incoming council members are set to be Kimberly Gold from District 4 and Roland Rainey Jr. from District 6. The new representatives credited their successful bids to sincerity, successful door-knocking and possibly the low turnout in April elections.

"Overall, I think that voters wanted a council that is strong, that will fight for them, that will be willing to say no when required," Rainey said.

The official results of the April 1election will be certified between April 9 and 11 to allow for ballot curing and overseas returns. The four new council members will be sworn in to office during a ceremony the morning of April 14 at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.

This year was Rainey's second campaign for a city office, after he ran for at-large council seats in 2023 but finished far down the ballot. Rainey said his success this year was about voters liking his sincerity and the strength of his background as a veteran and small business owner.

Rainey had the lowest campaign contribution total of any of the council members who won election this year at $6,025. His contributions trailed far behind Parth Melpakam, the school board president for Colorado Springs District 11, who received just over $32,000 in contributions, according to city filings.

During the 2021 City Council election, all six district seats were won by the candidate who received the most campaign donations. The lowest fundraising total for a winning candidate that year was $18,000, brought in by current District 6 Councilman Mike OMalley.

This year campaign funds did not go quite as far. Henjum and Tom Bailey were the only two candidates who led in fundraising and at the ballot box. In districts 1 and 3, Donelson and Brandy Williams were neck-and-neck with another candidate for their campaign contribution totals.

Gold won District 4 with $16,300 in total contributions, around $6,000 less than Sherrea Elliott-Sterling. She credited her strong network of campaign volunteers who helped spread her message to the community in a lot of different venues.

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It comes from an all-angles approach, whether thats through door-knocking or social media or going out to community events or having conversations around the proverbial coffee table and dinner table, Gold said.

Melpakam and Elliott-Sterling's funding edges were in large part due to endorsements and donations from the Housing & Building Association of Colorado Springs, which provided each of them $10,000. Both also received an additional $5,000 contribution from Vantage Homes.

The most notable endorsement Gold and Rainey shared was a joint statement of support from the Colorado Springs Police Protective Association and the Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters Association. Sherryl Dillon, director of the Police Protective Association, said the groups held separate processes to consider the candidates but happened to agree on the preferred candidates in four districts.

The other two candidates who received joint support were Henjum and Lee Lehmkuhl, who ran against Donelson in District 1.

Gold and Rainey both said it was harder to hear a directive from voters when turnout is low. Less than 24% of Colorado Springs registered voters took part in the April election. In District 4 the turnout this year was 13.4%, which means that just 5,785 votes were cast in the southeast district.

"There is a responsibility as community leaders, I'm not saying specifically the City Council, but all community leaders need to work together and work harder and get better voter turnout," Gold said.

Gold said she had already started talking to District 4's current Councilwoman Yolanda Avila to get some institutional knowledge about the city. One of the first district-specific issues that will come up is the final adoption of the Southeast Strong Community Plan, which Avila had worked on for years.

Rainey said his priority when he officially takes office will be meeting with Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez to talk about staffing needs and major crime issues. He reiterated his campaign promise to hold a public town hall during his first 60 days in office to talk about issues like road infrastructure and growth.

"These are all very urgent topics where we have to have stakeholders at the table and communicating or we cannot feel sure about what to do," Rainey said.
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A Wapato native, Kondo, who died at age 89 in 2005, would spend her entire life serving the community. Kondos volunteer efforts included four decades as a member and officer with the Yakima County League of Women Voters, and service on statewide advisory committees on water issues. She also helped Japanese-American families during World War II, including when she and her family were interned at Heart Mountain in Wyoming. (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic file)
Wall Street had another rocky day Monday, as stocks ended lower following President Donald Trump's decision to double down on his tariff plans and threat to raise the import tax even more on goods coming from China.

The president said the tariffs would reverse decades of what he called unfair treatment by the rest of the world and result in factories and jobs moving back to the United States.

Several public companies based in Colorado have been taking heavy hits since stocks began to tumble last week, though some are in a better position than others and a few recovered some of their losses after trading hours Monday.

VF Corp., the Denver-based parent company of popular apparel brands such as North Face and Vans, saw its stock fall by 2.6% Monday to $11.26 per share. Its stock rose by 3.91% after trading hours closed to $11.70.

Since last Wednesday, the companys stock has fallen more than 31%.

A spokesperson for VF Corp. declined to comment.

In last years fiscal report, released in March 2024 before Trump took office, the company said tariffs and retaliatory taxes might have a large effect on its business.

The company uses nearly 500 factories in China to produce its products and hundreds more around the world, according to VF Corp.s factory list. It has fewer than 40 factories in the U.S.

VF, similar to many other multinational corporations, does a significant amount of business that would be impacted by changes to the trade policies of the U.S. and foreign countries, the report said.

The company's stock has been oscillating in the last several days. On Thursday, the company's stock ended 4.9% higher before diving again Monday. The swing was likely the result of news of potential tariffs negotiation between the U.S. and Vietnam, where the company has third-party manufacturers.

Monday's trading yielded a mixed picture for other Colorado-based companies.

Civitas Resources saw its stock rise by 2.8% Monday but it was still down nearly 30 percent from its high last week.

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Liberty Energy's shares fell by 4.98% Monday and then rose by 1.14% in after trading hours; Ovintiv's stock dipped by 0.70%; Antero Resources' stock jumped by 2.06%; and SM Energy's shares went down 2.02%.

Meanwhile, Centennial-based Arrow Electronics closed Monday with its stock falling to $90.32 per share, down more than 2%. The companys shares have dropped more than 14% since the selloff began last Wednesday.

Arrow Electronics is a global electronic manufacturing company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange. The company made nearly $8 billion in sales within the Asia Pacific region last year, $9.5 billion in Europe, Middle East and Africa and $10.5 billion in the Americas, according to Arrow Electronics.

Colorado business confidence falls dramatically as Trump policies spur shock of uncertainty

Trump placed 10% tariffs on China in February, while temporarily pausing his plans to enact 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada. Canada, Mexico and China are Colorados largest trade partners.

By March, the tariffs on Canada and Mexico went into effect and Trump raised his tariffs on China to 20%.

At the time, it was estimated Colorado could pay an extra estimated $1.4 billion annually on tariffs, according to a report released on Tuesday by U.S. agricultural lobbying group Farmers for Free Trade and the World Trade Center Denver.

In 2024, Colorado paid $459 million on imports from all countries in 2024. Those additional tariffs would quadruple what the state pays on its imports, the report said. But the cost could be much higher if a trade war breaks out further, leaders from the World Trade Center Denver said last March.

As more retaliatory tariffs came in, Trump threatened to retaliate back by placing tariffs on the European Union, countries who bought oil and gas from Venezuela and auto imports.

Last week, the president said the U.S. would impose a 10% baseline tax on all imports, plus higher rates for countries that have a higher trade surplus than the U.S. The announcement sent the stock market in turmoil.

On Monday, Trump announced he will place additional tariffs to the ones already placed on China, as high as 50%, by Wednesday if the country does not take back its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The fifth suspect in a January fatal shooting in Security-Widefield that left one person dead, has turned himself in, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office announced April 7.

Zion Alexander Tilmon, 20, the last suspect in the Jan. 16 murder to be arrested, has been booked into the county jail on suspicion of second-degree murder, three counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.

He is currently being held on a $500,000 bond.

Authorities announced the arrest of four other suspects on April 4, in connection with the January shooting: Ami Gallegos, 18, Noah Watkins, 20, and two minors. All four were arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated robbery, assault and menacing.

The sheriff's office investigators said they were seeking to arrest Tilmon in connection to the shooting as well on April 4. He turned himself in three days later.

On Jan. 16, The Gazette previously reported that deputies responded to a shooting at a residence in the 7000 block of Dove Creek Circle, near Fontaine and Powers boulevards.

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According to court documents obtained by The Gazette, indicate multiple people were shot in the incident, all between the ages of 21 to 19. Among those wounded in the apparent shootout was Gallegos and Watkins.

Jonah Thirkill, 19, was shot and died at the scene, authorities said.

A fourth person arrived at a hospital later with a gunshot wound, was treated and discharged.

Witnesses at the scene told investigators that many of the victims had been in the garage when a group of people entered the space and started shooting.

The arrest affidavit for Watkins indicates that he was living at the house where the shooting occurred, and that he told investigators that the shooting might have been over some marijuana he and Gallegos had previously stolen.

According to the arrest affidavit, investigators obtained dash camera footage from a nearby parked car that they say shows the arrival of three individuals, followed by the altercation, including the moment Thirkill seems to be killed. A search warrant of the residence resulted in officers finding six handguns and a sawed-off shotgun. None of the weapons were properly registered to the individuals involved in the shooting.




VILLANOVA, Pa. (April 8, 2025)From Monday, April 21, through Sunday, April 27, Villanova University will host a series of activities, events and lectures in commemoration of Earth Week 2025. Sponsored by Villanova Sustainability, Earth Week is an opportunity to celebrate our planet, learn more about the natural world and critically examine our relationships with the environment.

For a full listing of the University's Earth Week events, please visit the Villanova Sustainability website.

Earth Week 2025 Highlights

On Monday, April 21, at 6 p.m., the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest will kick off the week's events with a virtual "Panel on Natural Disasters and Oral History," addressing subjects ranging from hurricanes in Los Angeles and Puerto Rico to climate change in the Himalayas.

On Tuesday, April 22, at 5 p.m. in the St. Rita's Hall Community Room, Lisa Sewell, PhD, associate professor of English, will give a poetry reading. Dr. Sewell is the author of a new book, Flood Plain, a collection of poems engaging with the pressing realities of environmental change.

The annual Sustainability Fair will take place on Wednesday, April 23, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Connelly Plaza. One of Earth Week's largest and most iconic events, the fair will feature vendors, student research, activities from the Student Sustainability Committee, giveaways and more.

This year's keynote address, "Art and Advocacy: Creating a Deeper Connection With the Natural World," will be delivered by multidisciplinary artist Rebecca Rutstein on Thursday, April 24, at 6 p.m. in Driscoll Hall Room 132. A recipient of the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, Rutstein has crafted painting, sculpture, interactive installation and public art inspired by the natural world for over 20 years, actively collaborating with oceanographers, ecologists, microbiologists, molecular scientists and planetary geologists in the process.

On Saturday, April 26, Villanovans are invited to take part in an "Earth Day of Service."

Sustainability at Villanova University: In 2007, Villanova University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD signed the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment. In 2018, the Villanova Sustainability Leadership Council was established to develop a 10-year actionable and measurable plan to guide the Universitys comprehensive effort to support the planet and its people and to ensure prosperity for all. By committing the University to the Laudato Si Action Platform and developing a customized Laudato Si Plan, Villanova University is taking decisive and unflinching action to build a better future. At the core of all sustainability activities, both large and small, is the University's vision to establish an ethos of sustainable living. As an Augustinian Catholic institution, Villanova is committed to generating and advocating sustainable action to help create a future that provides enough, for all, forever.

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova University's Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six collegesthe College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nation's top universities, Villanova supports its students' intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.
Hungary's government has announced the launch of a survey on consumer protection issues.

The online consumer protection consultation will allow Hungarians to weigh in on efforts to crack down on unfair commercial practices and online fraud, regulations on air passenger rights and other matters.



In a video message on social media on Sunday, National Economy Minister Marton Nagy said consumer protection served the purpose of safety, consumer awareness, trust and the support of fair business practices.



He added that the government would take steps if consumers were treated unfairly.



Surveys available on fogyved.kormany.hu



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Parts of an annual US trade report on Hungary "were dictated by" David Pressman, the former US ambassador to Budapest, so it contained "all kinds of fake news and lies", Peter Szijjarto, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said after a meeting of EU foreign trade ministers in Luxembourg.

Several Hungarian media outlets that are one-time recipients of US funding referred to the US trade representative's report today, a ministry statement quoted the minister as saying.



Such reports have been published annually since 1974, Szijjarto said, dismissing the implication that the latest report on Hungary was linked to a "specific presidential decree".



"This report was written during the Biden administration, which saw Hungary as an enemy. The parts of this report relating to Hungary were dictated by David Pressman," he said, adding that the former ambassador had "acted as an opposition activist" during his stint in Budapest.



As the report was being drafted, comments were submitted from September 3, 2024 to October 17, 2024, before the November presidential election, he said, noting that US embassies could contribute such comments.



"There's no question that David Pressman and his team produced all kinds of lies ... about Hungary, and these were printed in this document," he said.



Szijjarto noted that he had met the new secretary of state, treasury secretary and charge d'affaires amid a "completely different atmosphere" in which cooperation was "fair and based on mutual respect".



"So we certainly won't have to encounter such false statements, such unfounded accusations and slander in official documents in the future," the minister said.



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Hungary does not support EU counter-tariffs against American products, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said after a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday.

"What we certainly do not support is a trade war and a tariff war with the United States. We do not want high tariffs, we want low tariffs," said Szijjarto according to statement by his ministry.



"We expect the European Commission to negotiate, but not about imposing new tariffs, not about even higher tariffs, but about how to reduce tariffs for trade between the United States and the European Union," he added.



Szijjarto said Hungary does not support EU counter-tariffs because they would make American imported products more expensive, meaning they would cause significant price increases for people on the continent.



If the list compiled by the EC were accepted, it would immediately mean a price increase of HUF 18bn in Hungary, he added.



Szijjarto said that it has become clear that several member states share a similar position to Hungary.



"It would have been possible to conduct substantive negotiations with the American administration for months, to put serious proposals on the table of the American administration months ago, and to reach an agreement based on them," said Szijjarto.



The minister said the EU should have reduced import tariffs on the US auto industry from the current 10pc to 2.5pc, so everything that happened could have been avoided.



Szijjarto also mentioned the future of European-Chinese trade cooperation, reiterating that the current leadership of the EC is unfit for its task, as evidenced by the tariffs imposed on the Chinese electric car industry.



He called these a good example of how "an ideologically driven economic policy measure" can cause enormous damage.



Meanwhile Task of foreign policy to ensure peace and represent economic interests - state sec



The Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK) on Monday held a foreign trade conference titled "Foreign Trade in Focus" as its annual starting event for the sector.



Levente Magyar, a state secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said at the event that in the current uncertain global political situation, the task of Hungarian foreign policy is to ensure the country's peace and the representation of Hungarian economic interests.



Magyar said Hungarys decisions will continue to be driven by standing up for Hungarian interests and not by adapting to expectations, and noted that extreme volatility has set in, and it is very difficult to plan ahead in the uncertain geopolitical situation.



The state secretary said that as part of the governments programme launched in 2019 to support Hungarian companies making investments abroad some 254 firms have received support to make HUF 254bn of investments in 17 countries.



Depending on the budget situation, a new call for applications may be announced at the end of the year, he added.



Magyar noted that the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) helped EUR 10bn of investments last year and 24 companies received support.



Fine-tuning of the investment incentive system is continuing and in the future, greater emphasis will be placed on supporting research, development, innovation, knowledge-intensive and technological transition projects, he said.



Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto addressed the conference in a video message and said Hungary is interested in connectivity and the free operation of world trade, not in the system of economic blocs that is currently emerging.



Szijjarto said Hungarys economic neutrality strategy ensures that it maintains its economic and political relations in all directions and the focus of the Hungarian foreign trade strategy is to help as many Hungarian companies as possible access foreign markets and to ensure that the Hungarian share in the Hungarian export performance grows.



MKIK head Elek Nagy said there is no other path for the Hungarian economy than technologically intensive development, as the era of labour-intensive growth has ended. He quoted a survey showing that half of Hungarian exporting companies plan to open up to new markets, with 30pc indicating that they would open towards one or two new regions, and 20pc would open up to 3-5 new regions.



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In 2024, solar panels accounted for a quarter of domestic electricity production, the highest rate not only in Europe but also in the entire world. The year before last, Hungary was in third place behind Chile and Greece in this comparison.

According to a recent report by the independent international think tank Ember, with Hungary's share increasing to 25 percent, Hungary surpassed both countries last year - the Ministry of Energy drew attention to this in a post published on its official Facebook page.



Among those with production above 5 terawatt hours, only the other two top countries (Chile and Greece, respectively, with 22 percent) and Spain (21 percent) have a solar energy share above 20 percent.



The authors note that the two leaders in the world ranking were able to show a share of less than 2 percent ten years ago.



The analysts' comparison in January also revealed that Hungary has produced the highest growth rate in Europe in the past five years, up from just 4 percent in 2019.



"Along with the Netherlands, we can also boast that last year, solar power plants covered more than 80 percent of domestic electricity demand for more than seventy days during peak production periods".



The ministry reminds us that the previous report highlighted that compared to 2023, this shows substantial progress, especially in the case of our country, as only 10 such days were registered before last year.



Around 7,800 megawatts of solar energy capacity was established in Hungary by the spring of 2025. Four-fifths of the existing installed capacity has been in operation since 2020.



From 2022, domestic solar capacity increased by at least 1,200 megawatts in three consecutive years, the ministry concluded.



The future belongs to green energy. The benefits of clean electricity generation can only be fully realized if they are complemented by adequate storage capabilities and renewable alternatives that are not dependent on the weather or time of day gain ground.



The government recently supported the establishment of corporate energy storage facilities and the increased utilization of geothermal heat and biogas-biomethane in the Jedlik Anyos Energy Program, they wrote.



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Music lovers can once again enjoy Record Store Day (RSD), as this Saturday there will be exclusive domestic and international releases, and of course the participation of several key record stores in Hungary.

The ambassador for this year's 18th international celebration is American artist Post Malone.



Launched in 2007 in the United States, RSD was created to support and celebrate independent record stores struggling to survive in the digital age.



Hungarian stores Wave and Musicland joined the movement in 2010, marking the countrys first participation.



Every year, record labels and artists worldwide create exclusive physical releases for the occasion. Today, the event spans around 1,000 stores across 30 countries, and Hungary has joined in the vinyl revival with eight participating record shops.



In addition to Wave and Musicland/Neon Music, Deep, MG Records, Kaloz Records, Lemezkucko, Soul Cure Records (all in Budapest), and Silent Parrot in Szeged will welcome visitors with extended hours, live programs, mini-concerts, limited-edition releases, and special discounts.



At Kaloz Records, DJs Kanada Kaosz, Splatter, Peti Szamosi, Abel Telenko, and the Kaloz staff will take turns spinning records, while Feri Vertesi will perform a live guitar set.



Over at MG Records, Bigfoot Preston and Bences Adventures will give an acoustic concert starting at 2 p.m. At Soul Cure Records, sets by Boros Levi (from Qualitons), Chillum Trio, VuduDudu, Takeshi, Klayman, and Pleasure Voyage will keep the energy high.



Musicland will offer a 10% discount on all used CDs, LPs, and DVDs.



The location at Almassy Square will host music from 11 a.m., featuring performances by Billy Rotten, DJ Aranykalasz & The Mute Tapes, Jehova & DJ Csuklya, Noemi Barkoczi, Upponyi Muki & 1 Euro Water Buns, followed by The Somersault Boy, and closing with Maxi & Geri (Dalmata Daniel).



Special Hungarian releases this year include Dogs in the Wild by The Somersault Boy (Laszlo Sallais band), available on CD and cassette. Also on offer, though not Hungarian, is a limited color vinyl edition of Oracle (2007), an EP by Sunn O))), the drone metal band featuring Attila Csihar.



Among the over 400 exclusive international RSD titles, highlights include:

* A vinyl of demos from A-has 1984 debut Hunting High & Low

* A collaborative single from George Harrison and Beck titled Be Here Now

* David Bowies 2003 studio concert Ready, Set, Go! on LP and CD

* An alternate version of The Doors 1967 classic Strange Days

* A 1979 concert by Elton John and Ray Cooper

* A reissue of Astrud Gilbertos 1977 bossa nova album That Girl From Ipanema



Other notable releases include:

* John Lennon & Yoko Onos 1972 charity concert on yellow vinyl

* A double live album by Johnny Marr (ex-The Smiths)

* Joni Mitchells 1976 US concert on triple LP

* Laura Nyros posthumous album Angel in the Dark on vinyl for the first time

* Paul Hardcastles 1985 hit album

* A double concert LP from jazz legend Thelonious Monk

* Lou Reeds Metal Machine Music on double LP

* Princes Live at Glam Slam 1993 on triple yellow vinyl

* The Rolling Stones Out of Our Heads (1965)

* A blue double vinyl collection of T. Rexs B-sides

* Little Richards 1968 EP Try Some of Mine: The Brunswick Recordings

* Gil Scott-Herons Moving Target (1982) on LP and CD

* A double LP from Stings 3.0 tour

* And John Williams soundtracks from Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone and The Prisoner of Azkaban on double vinyl.



This year's RSD ambassador, Post Malone, who will also headline the Sziget Festival, will release a special LP of his 2020 live-streamed Nirvana tribute concert - performed during the pandemic - on April 12.



For more information on participating stores, releases, and events, visit: www.recordstoreday.hu



Source:

MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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Grammy- Award winning artist, actor and multifaceted entertainer, Will Smith has recently announced his upcoming Based on a True Story Summer Tour, which has now been expanded with a Budapest show.

The tour announcement comes on the heels of Will Smiths first full-length album in 20 years.



These live shows will see him performing songs from the new album, Based on a True Story along with his classic hits including Gettin Jiggy Wit It, Miami, and Summertime.



On August 14th, his first solo tour will also visit Budapest, organized by Budapest Park.



About the artist:



Will Smith (born September 25, 1968, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a celebrated American actor and musician. Known for his magnetic personality and sharp sense of humor, he made a seamless transition from the music industry to the big screen. Smith rose to stardom with major box-office hits like Bad Boys (1995), Independence Day (1996), and Men in Black (1997). His portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard (2021) earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor.



DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

Smith earned the nickname Prince Charming during his school years, which evolved into Fresh Prince as he entered the music scene with a hip-hop edge. He teamed up with local DJ Jeffrey Townes in 1981, and together they formed the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.



Their debut single, Girls Aint Nothing but Trouble (1986), and the album Rock the House marked their entry into music. They gained widespread acclaim with the 1988 track Parents Just Dont Understand, which won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance.



Their music stood out for its light-hearted, family-friendly lyrics, which made them accessible to a wide audience. This widespread popularity eventually led to television.



The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

In 1990, Smith starred in the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, loosely inspired by his own life. The show ran for six seasons and became a cultural touchstone. During its run, Smith was nominated twice for a Golden Globe and also took on a producer role in the final season.



Career Evolution

Though Smith continued to release musicincluding albums like Born to Reign (2002) and Lost and Found (2005) - his later efforts didnt achieve the same commercial success.



However, he expanded his influence behind the scenes, producing several films and co-creating the sitcom All of Us (200307) with his wife. In 2018, he hosted the science documentary series One Strange Rock. His candid memoir, Will (co-written with Mark Manson), was published in 2021.



Tickets:



Arena tickets

Early bird (3000 pcs): 24 999 HUF

Limitalt elovet (3000 pcs): 26 999 HUF

Normal price: 29 999 HUF



Terrace tickets

MasterCard (left) terrace, front: 44 999 HUF

MasterCard (left) terrace, middle: 44 999 HUF

Hoppa (right) terrace, middle: 44 999 HUF

Raiffeisen Yelloo Terrace: 44 999 HUF



More:

Budapest Park
New Delhi: Ola Electric Mobility on Tuesday clarified that its February sales represent genuine customer demand and not "token-amount bookings". The February 2025 sales announcement was based on paid and confirmed orders, not preliminary "bookings", the Bengaluru-based company said in a regulatory filing.

Nearly 90 per cent of these orders were paid in full at the time of placement, Ola Electric said. This includes customer orders for the new products, Gen 3 and Roadster X, which have been available for full purchase (not just pre-booking) during February 2025, it stated.

"We are issuing a proactive statement to our broader stakeholder community since we have fielded multiple inquiries about the company's February sales figures in recent days," Ola Electric said.

It is essential to underscore that vehicle deliveries are sequenced to follow confirmed orders with full payment, a standard and universally-accepted industry practice, it said.

Any attempt to conflate bookings with full-payment orders, or to suggest that deliveries must precede or immediately follow orders, misrepresents how the automotive industry functions, it added.

"It is also important to note that the company recognises revenue only upon completion of the registration and delivery of the vehicles," it said.

"We urge all stakeholders, including media platforms, to avoid contributing to the spread of unsubstantiated claims," it added.

The company continues to work with integrity despite facing unsavoury claims and attacks, it noted.
Indias famous yoga guru, Swami Ramdev, started the Patanjali Trust to promote yoga and Ayurveda. He has been continuously supporting the use of indigenous products. Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna have been working together to bring yoga and Ayurveda to the masses. Thanks to Baba Ramdevs fame and Acharya Balkrishnas dedication, Patanjali has gained recognition and respect worldwide.

Under the leadership of Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, Patanjali Ayurveda has become a well-known brand, famous for its Ayurvedic products, personal care, and food items. Along with this, Patanjali claims it has made significant contributions to rural development through its social initiatives. These efforts are specifically designed for farmers, women, and the youth in rural areas, as they form the most essential part of rural Indias population.

Patanjali claims it has also benefited millions of people through free yoga camps and naturopathy centers. Free medicines and medical facilities have been provided to the poor and needy.

Continuous Contribution to Society

Patanjali claims it continues to work for the advancement of society. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Patanjali helped those in need on a war footing. They provided oxygen cylinders, medicines, food, rations, and essential medical supplies to the affected people.

Increasing Farmers' Income Through Contract Farming

Patanjali claims it has taken several steps to strengthen rural India. To directly benefit farmers, Patanjali promoted contract farming. The Patanjali Organic Research Institute claims it has helped develop new methods for organic farming, which increased farmers' incomes and improved their standard of living. This initiative also promoted organic farming across the country.

Combining Vedic and Modern Education

Patanjali claims it has made a significant contribution to the education sector. The Patanjali Yog Trust has focused on combining Vedic and modern education in its teaching. Hundreds of students are studying at Patanjali Gurukulam and Yoggram in Devprayag. Patanjali claims free education, food, clothing, and shelter are being provided to underprivileged, homeless, and needy children. Patanjali University offers courses in yoga, Ayurveda, and philosophy.

Women Empowerment through Self-Help Groups and Skill Training

On November 2, 2022, Patanjali signed an agreement with the Ministry of Rural Development. This agreement helps bring products from womens Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to the market. Through this partnership, SHGs also get dealership and distribution opportunities, allowing women to become financially self-sufficient. The aim is to help women linked to rural SHGs earn at least 1 lakh rupees annually.

Through these initiatives, Patanjali claims it is not only promoting wellness but also transforming the lives of many people in rural India, helping them become self-reliant and financially empowered.

(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.)
New Delhi: The government on Tuesday clarified that Indian companies operating in sectors where foreign direct investment (FDI) is restricted can issue bonus shares to existing foreign shareholders, provided the overall shareholding pattern remains unchanged.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) emphasized that such issuances must fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations. The issuance of bonus shares must comply with the applicable rules, laws, regulations, and guidelines, the DPIIT noted in a statement.

FDI Policy: Prohibited Sectors

This clarification is now officially part of the FDI policy. With this move, companies in prohibited sectors such as lottery, gambling, chit funds, and tobacco product manufacturing can issue bonus shares to non-resident shareholders.

However, the key condition is that no fresh foreign investment should be introduced, and the shareholding percentages of both foreign and Indian investors must remain unchanged.

An Indian company engaged in a sector or activity where FDI is prohibited is permitted to issue bonus shares to its pre-existing non-resident shareholders, provided the shareholding pattern of the non-resident shareholder remains unchanged following the issuance of bonus shares, the DPIIT clarified.

This clarification pertains to the permissibility of issuing bonus shares to existing foreign shareholders by Indian companies operating in sectors where FDI is prohibited, it added. Most sectors in India allow FDI through the automatic route, where investors are only required to inform the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after making an investment.

Government Approval Route

Under the government approval route, a foreign investor must obtain prior permission from the relevant ministry or department. In certain sectors like telecom, media, pharmaceuticals, and insurance, prior government approval is mandatory.

Some sensitive sectors, such as those mentioned above, do not permit any foreign investment. FDI is considered vital for Indias economic growth, particularly in infrastructure development. It also plays a key role in managing the countrys balance of payments and supporting the value of the Indian rupee. (With IANS Inputs)
A man was found dead Monday morning at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Florence, according to the Department of Justice.

The Gazette's media partner KOAA reported Monday evening that the DOJ has announced that 43-year-old Theodore Clifton Matthews was found unresponsive around 2:15 a.m.

According to the DOJ, USP Florence notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the incident. At this time, Matthews cause of death has not been released.

Read the full story at KOAA.com.
MP Summer Holidays 2025 For Schools: The Madhya Pradesh Government has officially declared the Summer vacation break for all the government schools from 1st May, 2025 to 15th June, 2025. This 46 days long break is given by the States School Education Department to provide some relief to the students from the intense heat during the summer season.

Additionally, along with this summer holiday, schools will remain closed on all Sundays in the April 13th, 20th and 27th April are Sundays which will remain off for the students. However, while students are getting 46 days off, all the teachers of Madhya Pradesh government schools will also get 31 days off. The summer break for teachers is from 1st May, 2025 to 31st May, 2025. Hence, from 1st June, 2025 the teachers will have to resume going to schools for the preparations.

The other holidays in the month of April are 10th April, 2025 for the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. There will be a holiday on this day in many states including Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, 13th April, 2025 for Baisakhi, 14th April for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Jayanti / Vishu / Tamil New Year and 18th April for Good friday.

Other states like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have also announced the academic holiday calendar for their government school for the session 2025-2026.

The senior official has said that the students well being and safety is the top most priority for the government and all the parents are very happy regarding this decision of the government though some of the parents are concerned about the childrens growth and learning. This planning shows that the government of Madhya Pradesh is making efforts to make sure that children are getting a safe and comfortable environment for studies.
By Deepal Trivedi

The Congress is all set to host the All India Convention in Gujarat for the first time in 64 years. Top party leaders are convening for a Working Committee meeting today, which is being attended by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. Tomorrow, over 3,000 Congress workers from across the country will gather in Ahmedabad to discuss strategies and the partys future direction.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting is being held at the Sardar Patel Memorial in Shahibaug, with over 159 members in attendance.

The AICC convention being held in Gujarat at this juncture is significant, as Gujarat is widely regarded as the BJPs model state  often used as a laboratory for their socio-political experiments.

Six party leaders from Gujarat  Shaktisinh Gohil, Jagdish Thakor, Lalji Desai, Dr. Amee Yagnik, Madhusudan Mistry, and Amit Chavda  are participating in the CWC meeting.

A prayer meeting is scheduled to take place at the Sabarmati Ashram in the evening, followed by a cultural programme at the Sabarmati Riverfront.

Earlier in the day, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other leaders received a rousing welcome at the Sardar Patel International Airport. Cultural troupes performed along the route from the airport to the meeting venue.

The Congress is expected to deliberate on ways to regain its lost ground across several regions of the country. Pawan Khera, chairman of the partys media and publicity department, said that Congress will fight against the challenges faced by the middle class, business community, and minorities. He also alleged that there is growing pressure on the media and that democracy is being systematically undermined in India. "This struggle will end soon," Khera stated.

The AICC convention is being held in Gujarat after 64 years  the last such event took place in Bhavnagar in 1961. This convention coincides with the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and also marks 100 years since Mahatma Gandhi became president of the Congress.

Organising the event has not been easy for the Congress in Gujarat, a state ruled by the BJP for over three decades. Party sources claim that they were denied permission at at least two venues for holding the convention.

NSUI leaders and workers have taken on the responsibility of assisting delegates attending the CWC meeting and AICC session. Leaders and participants have been accommodated in various hotels across the city.

The Gujarat Congress is hopeful that the two-day programme will inject much-needed enthusiasm into its cadre. The party performed poorly in the 2022 Assembly elections and its performance in the recent local body elections was also disappointing. Of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, Congress secured only one, and in the 182-member Assembly, it won just 12 seats.
A blast was reported outside the residence of BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia in Jalandhar around 1 am on Tuesday, reported news agency ANI. The police have launched an investigation and are reviewing CCTV footage to determine the nature of the explosion.

Jalandhar Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur confirmed the incident and said a forensic team is working to establish whether it was a grenade attack or caused by something else.

Around 1 am, we got information about a blast here, Kaur said. We reached the spot and started the investigation. The forensic team is examining the scene. CCTV footage is also being checked.

#WATCH | Punjab | A blast happened outside the residence of BJP Leader Manoranjan Kalia in Jalandhar. A police team is present at the spot. Investigation is underway. pic.twitter.com/xj7zwMH5la  ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2025

Manoranjan Kalia, a senior BJP leader, said he initially mistook the explosion for thunder.

There was a blast around 1 am, Kalia told ANI. I was sleeping and thought it was thunder. Later, I was informed it was a blast. I then sent my gunman to the police station. Forensic experts are here, and CCTV footage is being checked.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Manpreet Singh also confirmed the incident. The forensic team will inspect the spot and give their report, he said.

No injuries have been reported so far.
Dhaka: In a strong message against rising anarchy, attacks on Hindus, and growing religious extremism in Bangladesh, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has once again launched a direct offensive. Addressing Awami League workers via social media, Hasina asserted firmly that her return to power is certain  just as the exit of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus from the political scene is inevitable.

In today's DNA, Zee News analysed the evolving situation in Bangladesh:

She accused Yunus of inviting the Pakistani military in the past, claiming it exposed his intention to shape Bangladesh into a nation resembling Pakistan. According to Hasina, these ambitions are now surfacing in reality.

Hasina claimed that Yunus fears her political resurgence. She also suggested that those backing Yunus, particularly in Pakistan, are rattled by the mysterious figure known as Shahenshah. This elusive individual has allegedly been targeting terrorists and their supporters within Pakistan in recent years. Reports suggest that no figure, whether it be Hafiz Saeed or Maulana Masood Azhar, is safe from Shahenshahs reach.

Turning to historical context, Hasina drew parallels between the present-day situation in Bangladesh and the partition era. She noted that during partition, Hindu and Sikh minorities in Pakistan faced economic marginalization and their properties were seized by extremists, prompting them to flee. She warned that a similar conspiracy now seems to be unfolding in Bangladesh.
Washington DC: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday (local time) held a discussion with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, focused on US reciprocal tariffs on India, as per a statement from the Spokesperson of the US State Department, Tammy Bruce.

According to the statement, both leaders spoke on the progress of a fair and balanced trade relationship between the two nations amid the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, which had disrupted the global markets since its annoucement.

Both leaders also emphasised the strength of the US-India strategic partnership, with both sides exploring opportunities to expand collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region.

"Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar today. The Secretary and External Affairs Minister affirmed the strength of the U.S.-India strategic partnership and discussed opportunities to deepen collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region. They also discussed U.S. reciprocal tariffs on India and how to make progress toward a fair and balanced trade relationship," the statement read.

EAM Jaishankar also took to the social media platform X following the call to Rubio, stating that both had exchanged views on a wide range of geopolitical issues, including the Indo-Pacific, the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Middle East/West Asia and the Caribbean.

"Good to speak with Secretary Marco Rubio today. Exchanged perspectives on the Indo-Pacific, the Indian Sub-continent, Europe, Middle East/West Asia and the Caribbean. Agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of the Bilateral Trade Agreement. Look forward to remaining in touch," Jaishankar stated.

Meanwhile, according to a research report by the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), India could see a decline of USD 5.76 billion or 6.41 per cent, in exports to the US because of the tariffs in 2025.

The GTRI report is based on the evaluation of sector-specific exposure, changes in tariff rates, and competitive dynamics involving key players like China, Mexico, and Canada.

The research also highlights sectors where India may gain or lose ground, offering a nuanced picture of the challenges and opportunities emerging from the new U.S. tariff regime.

The tariffs are likely to give a mild blow to India's merchandise exports to the US. In 2024, India exported USD 89.81 billion worth of goods to the U.S, but this could decline by approximately USD 5.76 billion, a drop of 6.41 per cent, as a result of the new trade measures in 2025.
The ongoing protests at Hyderabad Central University (HCU) are being presented as a righteous fight to protect green spaces. However, the ruling Congress party thinks that the protests are a smoke-and-mirrors campaign that conveniently ignores the decade-long destruction of Telanganas environment at the hands of the BRS government.

Telangana's Industries minister D Sridhar Babu has claimed that between 2014 and 2023, Telanganas environment was pillaged in broad daylight. Babu claimed that the loudest voices today were silent when 12.12 lakh trees were cut, when 11,422 hectares of forest land were diverted, and when hills, lakes, and biodiversity corridors were destroyed to make way for high-profile vanity projects.

He termed opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi's claims about protecting the University of Hyderabad (UOH) land, if voted back to power, a joke. Babu called it hypocrisy while reiterating that the Congress government has no plans to encroach upon the university land.

Despite this, BRS leaders continued to mislead students, using them as tools to serve their political interests. By circulating doctored images and edited videos, they attempted to incite unrest on social media platforms. The minister firmly denounced these deceptive practices and called on the BRS to refrain from manipulating students for political gain.

BRS is not fighting for UoH land, students, or environmental conservation; their real goal is to disrupt development, stall industries, and create unrest, he added.

Reaffirming that the Kancha Gachibowli land is government-owned, he questioned the BRS's intentions, asking why the party remained silent on these land parcels for an entire decade if they genuinely cared. "Instead of protecting public resources, they handed over land in the surrounding areas to benamis. Their sudden activism today is nothing but political theatrics.

The minister shared that one such project was the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, a colossal blunder of engineering and environmental planning that cost over Rs 1 lakh crore and failed to deliver its intended outcomes. In its wake, it left thousands of acres of forest land flattened, displacing wildlife and tribal populations  with not a single protest from todays self-proclaimed defenders of nature.

"The people of Telangana are not blind. They remember the forests lost, the hills razed, and the land sold. And they deserve better than scripted outrage over HCU, while the real environmental destruction goes unpunished and unspoken," said Babu.
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi for withholding action on state bills and declared his move to refer 10 re-adopted bills to the President as illegal and erroneous.

A bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said the Governor had no authority to reserve bills for the Presidents assent if those bills were passed again by the state Assembly without any substantial change. The reservation of 10 bills by the Governor for the Presidents assent was illegal and, therefore, liable to be set aside, the court held.

The Supreme Court clarified that the Governor is constitutionally bound to act on the advice of the Chief Minister and the council of ministers under Article 200 of the Constitution. There is no discretion left with the Governor in such matters, the bench noted.

The bench also ruled that the 10 bills returned earlier and re-adopted in a special Assembly session are now deemed to have received the Governors assent from the date they were re-submitted to him. The Governor did not act bona fide, the court said in its judgment.

In its detailed observations, the court said a re-adopted bill can only be reserved for the President if it is significantly different from its earlier version. It also rejected any interpretation that allows the Governor to withhold assent without informing the state government.

During the hearings, Justice Pardiwala questioned the delay by the Governor, asking: If the Governor is prima facie of the view that the bill suffers from repugnancy, should it not be brought to the notice of the state government? How is the government expected to know what is in the mind of the Governor?

He further added, If repugnancy is something that troubled the Governor, the Governor should have immediately brought it to the notice of the government, and the Assembly could have reconsidered the bills.

The Tamil Nadu government had filed a writ petition accusing the Governor of acting like a political rival to the elected government. The state alleged that the Governor had returned 10 of the 12 bills pending with him only after the Supreme Court issued notice on the plea.

After this, the Tamil Nadu Assembly held a special session and passed the bills once again, only for the Governor to refer several of them to the President, prompting judicial scrutiny.

The top court had also questioned the Governors inaction since 2020. These bills have been pending since January 2020. It means that the Governor took the decision after the court issued the notice. What was he doing for three years? Why should the Governor wait for the parties to approach the Supreme Court? the court asked.

(With agency inputs)
An Indian-origin man has been charged with sexual assault on a plane, according to US federal officials.

Bhaveshkumar Dahyabhai Shukla is accused of abusive sexual contact on a flight from Montana to Texas, Montana federal prosecutor Kurt Alme said in a statement last week.

He said Shukla is to appear in court there on April 17.

He was arrested in New Jersey, where he lives, and agreed to be moved to Montana to face the prosecution.

Court documents seen by IANS said that Shukla, 36, was arrested after the alleged victims husband complained to law enforcement when she sent him a text message about the alleged attack.

With the tip-off, he was met at the airport by airport police.

In an affidavit filed in the Montana federal court, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Chad McNiven said that during the flight from Belgrade, Montana, to Dallas, Texas, on January 26, Shukla allegedly touched the woman inappropriately on two occasions.

McNiven said that the alleged victim told the FBI that he first touched her thighs, butt, and lower back area and stopped when she protested.

But when she returned from a trip to the bathroom, he said that according to the complaint recorded by the airport police, she said he rubbed her in those areas and her vagina using his coat to try to hide his action.

The alleged assault was corroborated by another passenger, McNiven said.

He said that the alleged victim texted her husband about the assault, and he called the FBI and the airport police.

When confronted by police, Shukla claimed not to speak English, although he had spoken to the woman and her daughter in English, McNiven said.

However, when he was produced in a federal court in New Jersey, where he lives, after his arrest, a Gujarati interpreter was used, according to a court document.
As Union Home Minister Amit Shah continues his three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, three more separatist groups have announced their exit from the Hurriyat Conference and pledged allegiance to the Constitution of India. All three leaders were part of the Hurriyat faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. This comes years after the abolition of Article 370, a decision by Parliament which has been upheld by the Supreme Court of India.

Naqash, who headed the Islamic Political Party J&K, Rashid, chairman of the Muslim Democratic League J&K, and Andrabi, leader of the Kashmir Freedom Front, publicly declared their dissociation from the separatist amalgam.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah welcomed the move and said that it shows people's faith in the contitution. "Three more organizations, namely Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front, disassociate themselves from the Hurriyat. It is a prominent demonstration of the people's trust in the Constitution of India within the valley. Modi Ji's vision for a united and powerful Bharat stands even more bolstered today, as so far 11 such organizations have shunned separatism, proclaiming unwavering support for it," he said on X.

In a joint statement, the separatist leaders said, "We hereby resign from our respective organizations and declare that we have no affiliation with either the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (G) or the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (Mirwaiz group), their members, or any other entity promoting separatist ideology. We completely disassociate ourselves from the ideology of the Hurriyat Conference, which has failed to effectively address the aspirations and concerns of the people of Jammu and Kashmir."

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference is a coalition of separatist political, religious, trade, and civil society organizations in Jammu and Kashmir. Once comprising around 22 entities, the group has seen at least 10 parties withdraw their support over the past month.
A day after Muskan Rastogi, who, along with her lover, is accused of killing her husband and is lodged in a jail, was found to be pregnant during a preliminary test, the deceased's brother on Tuesday said he would raise the child if Saurabh Rajput is identified as the father.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Ashok Kataria on Monday said Muskan underwent a preliminary test, which confirmed her pregnancy.

Speaking to reporters here, Bablu Rajput, brother of the deceased Saurabh Rajput, said, "If the child is of my brother Saurabh's, we will adopt and raise the child."

There was no reaction from Muskan's family.

Saurabh Rajput, a former Merchant Navy officer, was killed on the night of March 4 at his house in Indiranagar in Meerut district. His wife, Muskan, and her lover, Sahil, are accused of drugging him and stabbing him to death.

According to jail sources, Sahil's grandmother, Pushpa, had come on Monday to the jail for a visit to meet him. No family member of Muskan has come to the jail to meet her, they added.

Senior Jail Superintendent Dr. Viresh Raj Sharma said Muskan will now undergo an ultrasound test, so that the condition of the pregnancy can be clarified.

When asked whether Muskan has been informed about her pregnancy, he told PTI, "It could be possible that the lady doctor might have informed Muskan (about the pregnancy). But the jail administration has not informed her yet. She will be informed only after the pregnancy is confirmed through the ultrasound test."

Sharma on Monday had said that health check-ups and pregnancy tests are done regularly for every female inmate coming to the jail and Muskan's test was also a part of this process.

He said that he has not received the report of the doctors yet and has just received verbal information that Muskan is pregnant.

Dr Kataria said the next step would be an ultrasound test, which will clarify the condition and duration of the pregnancy.

Muskan and Sahil had allegedly dismembered Saurabh's body, severed his head and hands, and hid them in a blue drum filled with cement.

The investigation into the sensational case revealed that Muskan had allegedly been planning the murder since November 2023.

Both the accused are currently in judicial custody.

Muskan is engaged in sewing work in the jail, while Sahil is involved in agricultural work, prison sources said. Both have also been included in the rehabilitation process with the help of a drug de-addiction centre.
A case of measles was confirmed Monday in Denver County by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in an unvaccinated resident under 1-year-old.

Babies normally get the routine dose of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine at 12-15 months. The infant recently traveled with family to an area of Chihuahua, Mexico, which is experiencing an ongoing measles outbreak.

CDPHE said based on available information, anyone who was at the Denver Health Emergency Department at 777 Bannock St. Pavilion A in Denver between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Sunday, April 6 may have been exposed to measles and should monitor for symptoms for 21 days after exposure, and consider avoiding public gatherings or high-risk settings.

The CDPHE said monitoring for symptoms is especially critical for people who have not been vaccinated with the MMR vaccine. MMR vaccine, given within 72 hours after exposure, can prevent infection. Unvaccinated individuals who may have been exposed should talk to their health care provider or local public health agency about promptly receiving the MMR vaccine.

On Monday, March 31, CDPHE confirmed a case of measles in an unvaccinated adult Pueblo, Colorado resident. The individual recently traveled to an area of Mexico experiencing an ongoing measles outbreak.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday apologised for his controversial 'big city incident' remark related to a sexual assault case in the state capital Bengaluru.

Earlier, while reacting to a sexual assault case in Bengaluru, the state Home Minister made a shocking remark and said, 'such incidents happen here and there in a big city'.

Parameshwara's comments on the matter sparked a huge row and prompted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to slam the Congress government in the state.

According to IANS, talking to reporters in Bengaluru on Tuesday the Karnataka Minister clarified that his statement was miscommunicated to the public.

Parameshwara said, "I want to clarify my statement. It was miscommunicated to the public. If my statement has pained our mothers and sisters, I express my sincere regret."

The Minister added that he has always stood for the protection of women.

"I have always stood for the protection of women. We have launched several initiatives, and our state has utilised a major portion of the funds allotted under the Nirbhaya scheme," he continued.

Attacking the previous BJP government in Karnataka, Parameshwara said that people will 'laugh' if the party claims there were no crimes during its regime.

The state Home Minister added, "When the BJP was in power, should I reveal data on murders and other crimes? People will laugh if the BJP claims no crime occurred during its tenure."

On his earlier statement, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara says, "I have provided many programs for women's safety, including the Nirbhaya project in the state. We have implemented the Nirbhaya project grants more than any other states in the country. It is not right to https://t.co/MpvFcu621D pic.twitter.com/KCaoYYQhS6  ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2025

Also Read: 'Incidents Like These Happen...': K'taka Minister's Shocking Remark On Bengaluru Woman Assault Case

BJP's Reaction To Parameshwara's Remarks

On Monday, slamming the Minister, Karnataka BJP President B. Y. Vijayendra said that Paramaeshwara's remarks were open admission that law and order have collapsed in Karnataka.

Since the Congress came to power in the state, there has been a continuous series of crimes including murder, robbery, extortion, assaults, and rapes targeting women and children, Vijayendra said.

IANS quoted the state BJP Chief as saying, "The Home Minister's statement downplaying the harassment of a young woman in broad daylight as a 'routine incident' has tarnished the image and dignity of the state on an international level. His remarks reflect nothing but his incompetence."

BJP Leader Shehzad Poonawalla slammed the Karnataka Home Minister and said that this is a display of 'misogynistic, patriarchal, sexist and obnoxious' mindset.

He said, "Display of the most shocking misogynistic, patriarchal, sexist, and obnoxious mindset. The Home Minister of Karnataka has trivialised the incident that has shaken the conscience of the nation and particularly the people of Karnataka and Bengaluru, particularly the women."

"Today, we have come across such a statement from the Home Minister of Karnataka, which has made us feel embarrassed and ashamed of ourselves... Three to four days have lapsed since the shocking incident took place, but the Karnataka Police have been unable to catch the accused. Instead of showing seriousness and taking action, there is a statement from the Home Minister of Karnataka, and it appears that he stands by the molester. The state home minister says that such small incidents happen in big cities."

#WATCH | On Karnataka Home Minister Dr. G Parameshwara's remarks on the Bengaluru woman sexual assault case, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla says, "Display of the most shocking misogynistic, patriarchal, sexist and obnoxious mindset. The Home Minister of Karnataka has trivialised pic.twitter.com/or0WtW9LRT  ANI (@ANI) April 7, 2025

Parameshwara's controversial remarks came in after a 17-second video showing a man groping a woman and then escaping went viral on Sunday. As per IANS, the incident occurred at around 2 am on April 4 in the jurisdiction of the Sadduguntepalya police station, and the police have registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by a resident. They have also launched a search for the accused.

(with agencies' inputs)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum here on Tuesday and said the special visit reaffirms the deep-rooted friendship between the two countries and paves the way for even stronger collaboration in the future.

Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, reached Delhi on Tuesday for a two-day visit to the country.

This is his first official visit to India as the Crown Prince of Dubai. He is accompanied by several ministers, senior government officials, and a high-level business delegation.

"Glad to meet HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai. Dubai has played a key role in advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This special visit reaffirms our deep-rooted friendship and paves the way for even stronger collaboration in the future," PM Modi said in a post on X.

The Dubai Crown Prince said that UAE-India ties are driven by a shared vision to create a future full of opportunity, innovation, and lasting prosperity.

"It was a pleasure meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi today in New Delhi. Our conversations reaffirmed the strength of UAE-India ties which is built on trust, shaped by history, and driven by a shared vision to create a future full of opportunity, innovation, and lasting prosperity," he said in a post on X.

The visiting leader was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour earlier in the day.

He was welcomed at the airport by Union Minister of State for Tourism and Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi hosted a working lunch in honour of the visiting leader, providing an opportunity for dialogue on enhancing cooperation across a range of sectors.

The Crown Prince's itinerary also includes a visit to Mumbai, where he will take part in a business roundtable involving prominent Indian and Emirati business leaders. The roundtable is expected to explore avenues for expanding trade and investment in infrastructure, energy, fintech, sustainability, and innovation, to deepen commercial collaboration and reinforce economic ties.

Dubai remains a vital conduit in India's cultural and commercial exchanges with the UAE, underpinned by a large and vibrant Indian diaspora. An estimated 4.3 million Indians live in the UAE, the majority of whom reside in Dubai. Formal diplomatic relations between India and the UAE were established in 1972, and the bilateral partnership has grown steadily, particularly since Prime Minister Modi's landmark 2015 visit to the Emirates.
A special court in Rajasthan on Tuesday sentenced four terrorists to life imprisonment in the case of live bombs found during the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur in 2008.

The court issued a 600-page verdict on Tuesday.

On May 13, 2008, there were eight serial blasts in Jaipur, and the ninth bomb was discovered near a guest house in Chandpole Bazaar. It was defused just 15 minutes before it could explode.

The court remarked, The greatest court is our mind our mind knows what is right and what is wrong punishment has been given, which means the crime has been committed.

Earlier on Tuesday, during the sentencing debate, government lawyer Special PP Sagar Tiwari called for life imprisonment for the accused, stating, The act of the culprits is the most serious crime. They cannot be treated with leniency under any circumstances.

The defense lawyer for the accused, Minhajul Haq, argued: The culprits have already served 15 years in jail. The High Court has acquitted them in the other eight cases. Given this, they should be given the minimum punishment based on the time already served.

On Friday, the special court convicted all four defendants in the live bomb case. The four terrorists - Saifurrahman, Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Sarwar Azmi, and Shahbaz Ahmed - were convicted in connection with the live bomb case.

The four terrorists were convicted under four sections of the Indian Penal Code, two sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and three sections of the Explosive Substances Act. These sections carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Except for Shahbaz, the others were initially sentenced to death in the serial bomb blast case, but the High Court acquitted them.

The state government's appeal against the death sentence is currently pending in the Supreme Court.

The ATS arrested all the accused in the live bomb case from jail on December 25, 2019. The ATS had presented a supplementary charge sheet in the live bomb case, which included three new witnesses.

During the hearing, the ATS recorded statements from a total of 112 witnesses, including journalist Prashant Tandon, former ADG Arvind Kumar, and bicycle tightener Dinesh Mahawar.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the Calcutta High Courts order directing a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the West Bengal governments decision to create supernumerary posts in the state Staff Selection Commission (SSC) teachers appointments.

Supreme Court sets aside the Calcutta High Courts order directing a CBI investigation into the West Bengal governments decision to create supernumerary posts in the West Bengal SSC teachers appointments. pic.twitter.com/8924FzarEm April 8, 2025

According to news agency ANI, Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya stated that the top court has said that the order of the Calcutta HC for a CBI probe against the cabinet was 'uncalled for'. Additionally, he also said that SC has clarified that all other orders of the court will continue to be operative, except for the CBI probe order.

The news agency quoted Bhattacharya as saying, "The SC today said that the direction of the HC for a CBI investigation against the cabinet was uncalled for. Therefore, the SC has quashed that part of the order. The CBI now may not carry out an investigation for the cabinet members for the cabinet decision, not the other things. The SC has clarified that all other court orders will continue to be operative except for the direction of the CBI investigation."

Also Read: Setback To Mamata Govt: SC Upholds Dismissal Of Over 25,000 Teachers In Bengal

Earlier, the apex court had upheld the Calcutta HC's decision to terminate the appointment of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff by the state SSC in 2016 for the state-run and aided schools.

The SC found no reason to interfere with the Calcutta HC's order that the services of "tainted" candidates must be terminated and that they should be required to refund any salaries or payments received.

The SC gave its verdict on a petition filed by the state government challenging Calcutta HC's April 2022 order cancelling the recruitment of over 25,000 teachers and other staff for state-run and aided schools.

The top court's verdict came on a petition filed by the West Bengal government that challenged an April 2022 order of the Calcutta High Court, which had cancelled the recruitment of more than 25,000 teachers and other staff for state-run and aided schools.

Also Read: 'Ready To Even Go To Jail': Mamata Meets Teachers Who Lost Their Jobs Post SC Order

After the SC upheld the Calcutta HC's decision, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday met with the teachers who lost their jobs after the decision and alleged that there is a "conspiracy" going on to destroy the education system.

(with ANI inputs)
The Waqf Amendment Act came into effect after the Presidential nod while attracting widespread protest across the country. Several organisations and political leaders have challenged the Act in the Supreme Court while calling for an urgent hearing. The top court is likely to hear the matter on April 15. The batch of pleas filed in the SC have challenged the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

President Droupadi Murmu on April 5 gave her assent to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was passed by Parliament after heated debates in both houses.

However, the Union government has filed a caveat in the top court saying that no order should be passed without hearing its side in the matter. A Government notification, in the meantime, said Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which was passed by Parliament last week, comes into force on Tuesday.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (14 of 2025), the Central Government hereby appoints the 8th day of April, 2025 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force," the Ministry of Minority Affairs notification said.

Over 10 petitions, including those by politicians and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, were filed in the top court challenging the validity of the newly enacted law.

On April 7, a bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna assured senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, to consider listing the petitions.

The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was cleared by the Lok Sabha with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday urged all security agencies to work in close coordination to consolidate the gains made since the abrogation of Article 370 and to achieve the goal of a terror-free Jammu and Kashmir. While addressing a security review meeting in Srinagar, Shah reiterated the Centre's commitment to establishing lasting peace in the region and to the complete eradication of terrorism.

During his three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Shah chaired a high-level unified security review meeting at the Raj Bhawan in Srinagar. The meeting was attended by top officials, including Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the Union Home Secretary, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau, the Chief of Army Staff, General Officer Commanding (GoC) Northern Command, various Corps Commanders, the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, the Director General of Police, ADGP CRPF, and other senior officials.

The discussions focused on the prevailing security situation and law and order in the Kashmir division. Shah directed agencies to prevent any infiltration attempts and reviewed counter-terrorism strategies in response to rising threats in Jammu and the Chenab Valley.

Sources confirmed that one of Shahs key priorities was to assess the security preparedness for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra, scheduled to begin on July 3. He instructed officials to implement robust security protocols and adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards terrorism.

A significant political development during Shah's visit was the announcement that three more separatist organizations  Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front  have severed ties with the Hurriyat Conference. Shah lauded this as a clear sign of growing trust in the Indian Constitution among the people of the valley.

This is a prominent demonstration of the people's trust in the Constitution of India within the valley, Shah stated on social media. He noted that a total of 11 such organizations have distanced themselves from separatism, aligning with Prime Minister Modis vision of a united and strong India.

In addition to the security review, Shah also chaired a development meeting with civil authorities of Jammu and Kashmir, attended by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The discussions focused on Jal Shakti projects to ensure water supply to every household, as well as on the expansion of highway infrastructure and key tunnel constructions, especially the strategic Zojila-Leh tunnel.

This marks Shahs first official visit to Jammu and Kashmir since the formation of the new government led by Omar Abdullah. His visit precedes Prime Minister Modis scheduled inauguration of the first train service between Katra and Srinagar on April 19.
Mumbai: A city-bound IndiGo flight from Jaipur landed here under full emergency conditions due to a bomb threat. The flight landed safely at around 8.50 pm, Monday, and the aircraft was sent to park at a remote bay as part of the security protocol.

There were 225 passengers on the flight, sources said. "Full emergency was declared for IndiGo flight 6E 5324 from Jaipur to Mumbai of April 7 due to a bomb threat," said a source. Without giving the specifics, the source said that a note of a bomb threat to the flight was found in one of the aircraft's lavatories, after which the flight made an emergency landing.

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in a statement said, "A threat note was discovered in an aircraft en route from Jaipur (JAI) to Mumbai (BOM). As a precaution, full emergency was declared at Mumbai Airport at 2043 hrs. The flight landed safely at 2050 hrs. Airport operations remain unaffected.

It further said, "The safety of passengers and staff remains our top priority."
Bhopal: Internationally renowned folk dance artist Ram Sahay Panday, a Padma Shri recipient, died in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district early on Tuesday following prolonged illness, family sources said.

He was 92.

The veteran 'Rai' folk artist breathed his last at a hospital in Sagar, the sources said.

The artist from Bundelkhand popularised the Rai folk dance for 60 years, mixing it with tunes of 'Mridangam'.

Panday, a resident of Sagar district, had delivered more than 100 performances in 18 countries, according to sources.

The artist received Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian award, in 2022.

He is survived by his wife and a son.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed grief over Panday's demise.

Yadav said Panday adopted the field of art in adverse circumstances and had many achievements by following his passion against the tide.

He got recognition for the Rai folk dance of Bundelkhand in India as well as other countries, Yadav added.
Mumbai: In a heartfelt gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid tribute to the late legendary Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar, expressing his deep admiration for the actors extraordinary contribution to Indian cinema.

The Prime Minister sent a special letter to Kumars wife, Shashi Goswami, acknowledging the actors immense influence on the film industry and his role in shaping the cultural fabric of the nation. In the letter, PM Modi praised Manoj Kumars iconic performances in films that resonated with generations of Indians, particularly his portrayal of patriotic characters that left an indelible mark on the hearts of the people.

The Prime Minister described Kumar as a "true icon of Indian cinema" whose films not only entertained but also instilled values of patriotism, integrity, and resilience.

Deeply saddened by the passing of legendary actor and filmmaker Shri Manoj Kumar Ji. He was an icon of Indian cinema, who was particularly remembered for his patriotic zeal, which was also reflected in his films. Manoj Ji's works ignited a spirit of national pride and will pic.twitter.com/f8pYqOxol3  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 4, 2025

In the letter, Modi also reminisced about his personal interactions with Manoj Kumar. The letter, filled with admiration and respect, reflects on the meaningful moments the two had shared during their past meetings and highlights the deep impact Kumar had on both Indian cinema and the nation.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi mourned the sad demise of the late actor through a post on his X handle. He tweeted, Deeply saddened by the passing of legendary actor and filmmaker Shri Manoj Kumar Ji. He was an icon of Indian cinema who was particularly remembered for his patriotic zeal, which was also reflected in his films. Manoj Ji's works ignited a spirit of national pride and will continue to inspire generations. My thoughts are with his family and admirers in this hour of grief. Om Shanti.

Legendary actor and filmmaker Manoj Kumar, affectionately known as 'Bharat Kumar' for his patriotic roles, passed away on April 4 at the age of 87 at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital.

The actor was cremated with full state honours in Mumbai on April 5.
New Delhi: The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has issued a new circular regarding payment of past contributions of employees by an employer through Demand Draft.

EPFO in a circular dated April 4 said that references have been received from Field Offices from time to time seeking guidance in cases where the employer is not able to remit the past dues in respect of the beneficiary employees through Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) but has agreed to pay the said dues through Demand Draft.

The matter has been examined and although the filing of the ECR and remittance of dues through internet banking should be the preferred mode of remittance, not allowing the employer to remit the employee contribution deducted from the employees wages and employer contribution should be avoided.

"It is therefore clarified that where the Officer-in-Charge of the Region is satisfied that such request is for a one-time payment of past dues and the employer is not seeking a mode other than the internet banking for the payment of future remittances, he may collect the dues in the manner as is practiced for recovery of any demand in arrear, i.e., through a Demand Draft in the name of RPFC-in-Charge of the Region and payable at the bank branch where the Regional Office concerned holds a bank account," said the EPFO Circular.

EPFO added that an undertaking from the employer should be obtained for verification of beneficiaries in case a claim arises. EPFO said that all out efforts should be made to collect the returns from the employer.

The corresponding Damages and Interest payable by the employer should be timely determined and collected from the employer in the manner already specified in the Compliance Manual, the fund body added.
New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has cautioned telecom subscribers to beware of fraudulent calls impersonating TRAI

"There have been several Media Reports in the recent times that the Consumers are being targeted through telephonic calls or messages by fraudsters posing as TRAI officials threatening disconnection of Mobile Connection for being involved in illegal activities and for extraction of money," Ministry of Communications said.

In this regard, it is informed that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) does not initiate communication with Customers regarding Mobile Number disconnection through messages or otherwise. TRAI has also not authorized any third-party Agency to contact Customers for such purposes. Therefore, any form of communication (call, message, or notice) claiming to be from TRAI and threatening Mobile Number disconnection should be considered a potential fraudulent attempt and must not be entertained.

The disconnection of any Mobile Number due to Billing, KYC or misuse if any, is done by the respective Telecom Service Provider (TSP). Citizens are advised to be vigilant and do not get panicked to fall prey to suspected Fraudsters. They are further advised to cross-verify such Calls by contacting the authorized Call Centres or Customer Service Centres of the respective TSP.

To prevent the misuse of Telecom Resources for Cybercrime and Financial Fraud, Citizens are encouraged to report suspected fraudulent communications through the Chakshu facility on the Department of Telecommunications Sanchar Saathi platform. This platform can be accessed at https://sancharsaathi.gov.in/sfc/. For confirmed instances of Cybercrime, victims should report the incident at the designated Cybercrime helpline number '1930' or through the official website at https://cybercrime.gov.in/.
TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday the upcoming indirect negotiations with the United States on Iran's nuclear programme can lead to an agreement, provided that Washington demonstrates the "necessary and sufficient" political will, according to Iran's IRIB news agency. He made the remarks a few hours after confirming in a post on social media platform X that Iran and the United States would meet in Oman on Saturday for "indirect high-level talks".

Araghchi said, "At present, our preference is to hold the negotiations indirectly and we have no intention of turning them into direct ones," adding that if the other side has the "necessary and sufficient will," an agreement can be reached, whether direct or indirect. He added that the ball is now in the US court.

Araghchi emphasised that Iran's nuclear programme was completely "peaceful and legitimate," adding Iran was ready to resolve any existing ambiguity about its nuclear activities. He said he would represent Iran in the negotiations and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff would be the US representative.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump, during a meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, claimed that "direct talks" with Iran were set to take place. The discrepancy over whether the talks are direct or indirect has persisted since early March, when Trump stated he had sent a letter to Iranian leaders -- via the United Arab Emirates -- proposing direct negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme, Xinhua news agency reported.

While Iran later confirmed receiving the letter, it rejected face-to-face talks, though it left the door open for indirect engagement. Trump, in an interview with NBC News in late March, threatened to launch "unprecedented military strikes" on Iran if it refused to negotiate over its nuclear programme.

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 United States -- in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. However, 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.
US President Donald Trump has made it clear that his administration will not consider a temporary halt on tariffs during ongoing trade talks with other countries. His comments come at a time when global markets are already reacting to Americas tough stance on trade.

Speaking at the White House on Monday during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said, "We're not looking at that," when asked about the possibility of pausing tariffs during negotiations.

Reiterating his commitment to reworking international trade agreements, Trump said the US is determined to strike fair deals. "We have many countries that are to negotiate deals with us, and they're going to be fair deals, and in certain cases, they're going to be paying substantial tariffs. They'll be fair deals," he said.

The President defended his aggressive tariff strategy as necessary to fix what he described as long-standing trade imbalances and growing national debt. "We have 36 trillion dollars of debt for a reason," Trump noted, blaming previous US administrations for poor trade policies.

Trump also took aim at China for raising tariffs in response to the US, warning of further action. "If that tariff isn't removed by tomorrow at 12 o'clock, we're putting a 50 per cent on above the tariffs that we put on. They've become a rich country because of people who were in the White House," he said. This comes after China imposed a 34 per cent retaliatory tariff on US products.

Despite his criticisms, Trump stressed he still values his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. "I have a great relationship with President Xi. I hope it's going to stay that way. I have great respect for China, but they can't do this. We're just going to have one shot at this, and no other president is going to do this. And I'll tell you what: it's an honour to do it because we have been just destroyed," he said.

When asked whether some tariffs might be removed while others remain in place, Trump said both scenarios are possible. "They can both be true. There could be permanent tariffs, and there could also be negotiations."

He also made it clear that the US would walk away from countries unwilling to offer fair terms. "We're going to get fair deals and good deals with every country -- and if we don't, we're going to have nothing to do with them," he said.

Trump didnt spare the European Union either. He accused the EU of forming a bloc that gives it an unfair advantage in trade. "The EU has been very tough over the years. It was formed to do damage to the United States in trade... They don't take our cars like Japan. They don't take our agricultural product; they do anything practically. They're sending millions and millions of cars into the US, but we don't have a car that's been sold to the European Union or other places," he said.

Responding to Trumps criticism, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is open to dialogue but also prepared to respond. In a post on X, she said, "Europe is ready to negotiate with the US. We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods. Because we're always ready for a good deal. But we're also prepared to respond with countermeasures. And protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion."

(With ANI inputs)
United States President Donald Trump is in no mood to relent his trade war against major economies including China. While China has retaliated against US tariffs, Trump has gone ahead with an additional 50% tariffs in response to Beijing's countermeasures.

The White House has announced that the United States will now impose a record-high 104% tariff on goods imported from China. This development follows a 24-hour ultimatum issued by President Trump, demanding that China withdraw the 34% retaliatory tariff it had recently imposed on American products. When Beijing refused to comply and challenged Washington to proceed, President Trump responded by implementing the steep tariff.

Till last month, the US had levied a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, which Trump claimed resulted in substantial financial losses for the American economy. In response, he introduced a "reciprocal tariff" policy, under which the US would impose tariffs equivalent to half the rate that foreign countries charge on American goods. In Chinas case, this meant an extra 34%, raising the total US tariff on Chinese goods to 44%.

Shortly after Trump's announcement, the White House declared an additional 10% non-reciprocal tariff on all global imports. Officials said this was intended to bolster the US Federal Reserve. As a result, China's total tariff burden on its exports to the US has now reached 54%.

Yesterday, Chinese state media Global Times lashed out at Trump's policies calling the reciprocal tariffs against international rules. "The US, under the guise of reciprocity, acts in a hegemonic manner, sacrificing the legitimate interests of other countries and placing "America First" above international rules," said a report in the Global Times.

The report quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian saying that the tariff war is a typical example of unilateralism, protectionism, and economic bullying. Jian further noted that the Chinese government has issued its stern stance in opposing the US abuse of tariff measures, and the US's abuse of tariffs equates to depriving countriesespecially those in the Global Southof their right to development.
Former Routt County Treasurer Brita Horn, a candidate for Colorado Republican Party chair in the partys 2025 reorganization, addresses members of the state GOP central committee July 27 at a meeting held by critics of Dave Williams, the partys incumbent chair.
Dawn Shelstad is a resident of unincorporated El Paso County whose neighborhood is adjacent to the Karman Line annexation.
The town of Palmer Lake has released its full set of reports on the potential impact of a Buc-ees, but more questions remain on whether the s
Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. He writes regularly for ColoradoPolitics and the Gazette newspapers. Reach him at EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann
Press Release

April 7, 2025 Jinggoy seeks global parliamentarians' support for PH's bid for seat in UN security body TASHKENT, Uzbekistan - Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada appealed to his fellow parliamentarians to support the Philippines' bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2027-2028 term. Estrada issued the appeal as he presided over the ASEAN+ 3 meeting during the ongoing 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), highlighting the country's dedication to peaceful dispute resolution, regional stability, and multilateral cooperation in addressing global challenges. "The Philippines, as the first Asian republic and a founding member of the United Nations, is committed to upholding of the rule of law and pursuing peace and equality. We are a trusted partner and dedicated peacemaker, collaborating with the international community to tackle global challenges," the Senate leader said. "As a developing country, the Philippines can set an example for smaller and less influential nations that champion the rule of law in peacefully resolving external conflicts, engaging in peacebuilding initiatives, conducting diplomatic efforts, and fostering multilateral cooperation to enhance regional stability and address geopolitical challenges," Estrada also said. By advocating for their interests and concerns in advancing and maintaining international peace and security, Estrada said the Philippines aims to amplify the voices of these nations in global decision-making processes, ensuring that their interests and concerns are represented. The veteran lawmaker further emphasized that the Philippine government has been actively participating in peacebuilding initiatives and has consistently called for dialogue and mutual respect among nations to address geopolitical challenges. "Our candidacy is anchored in the Philippines' longstanding advocacy for adherence to international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in addressing territorial disputes. Our aspiration to serve on the UNSC is driven by our desire to contribute meaningfully to the promotion of peace, justice, and multilateral cooperation," Estrada said. The Philippines has previously served as a non-permanent member of the UNSC during the terms 1957, 1963, 1980-1981, and 2004-2005. The current bid aligns with the nation's enduring commitment to strengthening multilateralism and contributing to global peace and security. "As representatives of your governments, I appeal to each of you to support the Philippines' candidacy. Let us work together toward a future where collaboration and mutual respect guide our actions," Estrada said.
U.S. wants to refuel military satellites in space. This Denver company will help them do it
Catch up on all the latest coverage from the 39th annual Space Symposium, which happened April 8-11 in Colorado Springs.
Press Release

April 8, 2025 Report to IPU-Asia Pacific Group Meeting

Jinggoy: ASEAN+3 concerned over humanitarian crisis in Myanmar; PH's bid to UN security body TASHKENT, Uzbekistan - The ASEAN+3, which includes Southeast Asian countries along with China, Japan and South Korea, wants regional solidarity to address the urgent situation in Myanmar, which has been worsened by a recent devastating earthquake, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has said. Estrada relayed the message during the Asia Pacific Group meeting at the ongoing Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly, saying that the ASEAN+3 is concerned about the deepening humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. "During the earlier ASEAN+3 Group Meeting, we discussed the concern on the worsening humanitarian situation in Myanmar as a consequence of the recent earthquake that struck the region and called for solidarity on this matter. Countries with the same view will cooperate on the emergency item to be included in the agenda of the 150th IPU Assembly," Estrada said in presenting the key outcomes of the ASEAN+3 meeting at the Asia Pacific Group meeting in the IPU. The Senate leader, who led the Philippine delegation to the IPU, presided over the ASEAN+3 meeting where he delivered a brief statement on the Philippines' bid for a non-permanent seat representing the Asia-Pacific region on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2027-2028 term. "As a non-permanent member of the UNSC, the Philippines would serve as a voice for Southeast Asia, neighboring states and smaller nations in addressing security concerns and pursuing multilateral cooperation on global issues," Estrada said in addressing the Asia Pacific Group. The Senate leader formally sought the support of the ASEAN+3 member states and dialogue partners for the Philippines' candidacy for the UNSC seat, which the country previously served in 1957, 1963, 1980-1981, and 2004-2005. Estrada highlighted the nation's dedication to upholding the rule of law, engaging in peacebuilding initiatives, and fostering multilateral cooperation to enhance regional stability and address geopolitical challenges. In his report, Estrada also conveyed the ASEAN+3's endorsement of several candidates from member states to fill vacancies in various IPU bodies. The nominations include: Mardani Ali Sera (Indonesia) - Executive Committee; Ravindra Airlangga (Indonesia) - Standing Committee on Sustainable Development; Wong Chen (Malaysia) - Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights; Bramantyo Suwondo (Indonesia) - Standing Committee on United Nations Affairs; Jazuli Juwaini (Indonesia) - Committee on Middle East Questions; and Husein Fadhulloh (Indonesia) - Bureau of Young Parliamentarians.
Press Release

April 8, 2025 STATEMENT OF SEN. WIN GATHCALIAN ON DEPLOYMENT OF POLICE DURING HOLY WEEK, SUMMER The safety of the public should be a priority, especially with the Holy Week and summer fast approaching. This time of the year is especially notorious for deaths due to drowning, which are easily preventable if safeguards are in place. According to the World Health Organization, around 20 lives in the Philippines are lost due to drowning every day, with minors being especially vulnerable. On top of the deployment of police, one of the interventions we can do is to station lifeguards in public swimming pools and bathing facilities, which I proposed in the Lifeguard Act of 2022 (Senate Bill No. 1142). Tiyakin nating ligtas at payapa ang mga panahong inilalaan natin para sa ating mga pamilya.
CONCORD  As expected, Cabarrus County Commission Chair Chris Measmer was named the Cabarrus County Republican Partys choice to replace N.C. Sen. Paul Newton. Commissioners are meeting Thursday to discuss a replacement.

Newton, who was the Senate Majority Leader and represented the 34th District (most of Cabarrus County), retired from the North Carolina Senate to become the chief general counsel for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

During the Republican Party committees four-hour closed session, members conducted interviews with each candidate, followed by robust discussions and deliberations on Saturday, April 5. The executive committee emerged and voted unanimously to appoint Measmer as the next State Senator to represent Cabarrus County in the General Assembly in Raleigh. Names of the other candidates were not released. As of last Thursday, seven people had applied. The Independent Tribune learned that former N.C. Rep. Kevin Crutchfield, retired Judge Billy Hamby and Harrisburg Mayor Jennifer Teague were among the applicants.

I am thrilled to see Chris be selected as our next State Senator, said Lanny Lancaster, chairman of the Cabarrus County Republican Party. His presentation, resume, and seven years of experience serving all the residents of Cabarrus County were notable. During his tenure on the County Commission, Chris has been a champion for the taxpayers of Cabarrus County. He has never shied away from tackling challenging issues, and I look forward to seeing him serve out Senator Newtons term at the General Assembly.

I would like to personally thank all the candidates who put their names forward for consideration, said Jim Quick, vice chairman of the Cabarrus County Republican Party. Our executive committee considered an impressive list of men & women, including two former state representatives, a former chief district court judge, a mayor, a town council member, a chief financial officer, a former congressional candidate, a community organizer, and a county commissioner. The diverse pool of Republican candidates was impressive. They represented decades of service to the voters of Cabarrus County. Our committee thanks Senator Newton for his exemplary service, and we look forward to working with our newly appointed Senator in Raleigh.

The Cabarrus GOP made the announcement in a press release Monday afternoon. It provided background on Measmer.

Measmers background

Measmer is a Cabarrus County Commissioner with deep roots in the area, tracing his family lineage back to 1817. He graduated from Central Cabarrus High School and later earned a degree in political science from George Washington University. During his studies, Measmer gained firsthand experience with legislative projects on Capitol Hill alongside members of the U.S. Congress.

After graduation, he returned to Cabarrus County to help run the family business (Wayside Restaurant on Church Street) and has since become a second-generation business owner. His experience extends to serving on the statewide National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) board as vice chairman, where he advocates for the interests of small business owners.

Measmers political career has focused on liberty and freedom for all. He also studied abroad in Greece and Italy, which deepened his appreciation for American freedoms. He is in his seventh year on the Cabarrus County Board of County Commissioners, where he currently serves as chairman of the commission.

He has previously served as vice chairman and also served on multiple boards, including the Cabarrus Visitors Bureau, the Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County, the Cabarrus County Human Services Board, Cabarrus County Senior Center Board, past president of the Cabarrus Historic Society, Cabarrus County Republican Executive Committee, the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, and the Cabarrus County Child Protection and Fatality Team.

Following Saturdays vote, the Republican executive committee notified Gov. Josh Stein of their recommendation. The governor has up to seven days to appoint Measmer to his new role as State Senator through 2026.

A domino effect in local politics

Measmer is in his second stint as county commissioner and has been controversial in the eyes of many. He led the moves to fire County Manager Mike Downs, appointed a Cabarrus County Fair oversight committee that led to the resignation of all fair staff, terminated long-time county attorney Rich Koch, and failed to disclose a previous business relationship with newly hired County Manager Sean Newton.

Cabarrus County is being sued for $488,000 plus legal fees by Downs, whose contract was renewed in October. Measmer voted to approve the extension.

Measmer moving to the state Senate creates a vacancy on the board of commissioners. By law, commissioners would appoint Measmers replacement. That likely will be contentious with Commissioners Kenny Wortman and Lynn Shue on one side and Vice Chair Laura Blackwell Lindsay and Commissioner Larry Pittman on the other.

The last commissioner vacancy came in 2023 when Barbara Strang resigned. Cabarrus Clerk of Superior Court Bill Baggs appointed Tim Furr to fill that unexpired term.

Cabarrus Commissioners are in budget season with a new county manager and a deficit to close before the end of the budget year on June 30. The newest commissioner will likely be the swing vote in which way the budget goes.

The balance of power on the Cabarrus Commission shifted in November, when Pittman and Lindsay joined Measmer on the board. The 2024 chairman, Steve Morris, sided with Wortman and Shue on most controversial issues. Morris was narrowly defeated in the GOP primary.

Measmer on Monday notified the board that the Cabarrus County Republican Party Executive Committee recommended him to replace N.C. Sen. Paul Newton. Newton stepped down from his role on March 26.

If appointed by North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, Measmer would fulfill Newtons term through late 2026.

Special meeting to find replacement

Measmer has served two terms on the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners. His current term began in 2022, and he was named board chair in December 2024. His first term ran from 2010 to 2014.

A special meeting was set for Thursday, April 10, at 8:15 a.m. to determine Measmers replacement. Anyone interested in applying can do so by visiting cabarruscounty.us and clicking on the homepage tile or accessing the application directly at https://forms.cabarruscounty.us/Forms/BOC-Vacancy.

Applicants can also come to the Government Center (65 Church St. S., Concord) to complete an in-person application on the second floor in the clerks office (Suite 235).

The candidate must be a registered Republican. The application period closes on Wednesday, April 9, at 5 p.m.

During Thursdays meeting, the selection will be made through a written ballot procedure.
COMPANY NEWS: DriveSavers , a global leader in data recovery, has officially launched its Australian operations, bringing world-class data recovery solutions to individuals and businesses across the country.

For over 40 years, DriveSavers has been at the forefront of data recovery, assisting clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies like Google, Coca-Cola, and NASA to A-list celebrities and everyday users. The company completes thousands of successful recoveries each year, ensuring that critical data is retrieved with the highest level of security and expertise.

Adrain Briscoe, Business Development Manager APJ at DriveSavers

Unmatched Expertise and Customer Assurance

Australian customers can now take advantage of DriveSavers Data Recoverys risk-free evaluation, with shipping covered via a prepaid label. If data cannot be recovered, there is no charge - a testament to the companys confidence and commitment to customer satisfaction.

Additionally, DriveSavers is officially recommended by leading manufacturers like Apple, Intel, and Samsung, affirming the companys adherence to the highest industry standards.

Comprehensive Data Recovery for All Devices

DriveSavers Australia provides professional data recovery for:

Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Solid-State Drives (SSDs)

Servers (RAID, NAS, SAN)

Mac and Windows Computers

iPhones and Android Smartphones

Laptops and Tablets

Removable Media (USBs, Camera Cards, Blu-ray discs)

Virtual Machines (Hypervisors such as VMware)

CCTV Systems (including fire-damaged footage)

Cyber Incident Data Recovery

A Full-Service Operation in Australia

DriveSavers data recoverys new Australian office mirrors the companys US headquarters, offering technical excellence, reseller programme, business development, and sales. This expansion ensures Australian customers receive the same high-quality service, technical excellence, and data security that DriveSavers is known for globally.

Leading the Industry with Secure and Superior Data Recovery

We are thrilled to bring our world-class data recovery solutions to Australia, said Alex Hagan, CEO at DriveSavers. With over 40 years of expertise, our mission has always been to help customers recover their valuable and often irreplaceable data. Our cutting-edge technology and highly skilled team ensure we deliver industry-leading security, reliability, and success rates for data recovery.

Australian customers can now access the same trusted services that have made us the top choice for businesses, government agencies, and individuals worldwide.

Adrian Briscoe, Business Development Manager APJ at DriveSavers, added, I am excited to be bringing the DriveSavers technology to Australia. 2025 also marks my 20th anniversary in data recovery here in Australia and every year brings new challenges around how data is stored and managed. My aim is to build a strong DriveSavers partner programme, creating a trusted ecosystem where IT resellers become true extensions of the DriveSavers brand, driving innovation and helping their customers successfully recover valuable data whether it be from hardware failure, software corruption or malicious cyber incident.
Company Also Introduces Next Three Data Observability Modules for Unified Agent: Unified Communications, Network Packet Capture and Aternity for Intel Thunderbolt and Wi-Fi

Riverbed, the leader in AIOps for observability, today announced a major expansion of the Riverbed Platformdelivering a bold set of AI-powered observability solutions that bring together Riverbed Generative, Predictive and Agentic AI, along with innovative data observability modules for unified communications applications, network packets and Intel Thunderbolt and Wi-Fi connected devices.

"Customers want to consolidate observability tools, deploy AI that delivers ROI, and feed their enterprise data repositories, said Dave Donatelli, CEO of Riverbed. Thats exactly what Riverbed deliversand our customers rewarded Riverbed with 102% observability bookings growth in Q1 2025. Our platform enables Riverbed to deliver rapid innovation, as showcased in todays broad slate of new announcements."

Expanded AI Capabilities with Riverbed Generative, Predictive and Agentic AI

Riverbed customers are running over 64 million Riverbed AI remediations annually and seeing impressive ROI. At the core of todays announcement is Riverbeds expanded AI capabilities that make it easier to manage AIOps and go from reactive to predictive IT operations.

Riverbed IQ Assist, revolutionises AIOps with Generative AI that delivers instant, context-rich insightswith no long chatbot threads or tedious prompts required. IQ Assist surfaces root causes graphically and suggests remediations, empowering IT teams with real answers right when they need them. IQ Assist integrates with ITSM platforms like ServiceNow, and supports an expanding library of GenAI use casesor customers can build their own.

revolutionises AIOps with Generative AI that delivers instant, context-rich insightswith no long chatbot threads or tedious prompts required. IQ Assist surfaces root causes graphically and suggests remediations, empowering IT teams with real answers right when they need them. IQ Assist integrates with ITSM platforms like ServiceNow, and supports an expanding library of GenAI use casesor customers can build their own. Riverbed Predictive AI, seamlessly integrated into Riverbed IQ Ops, harnesses real-time and historical telemetry to spot trouble before it strikes. From detecting resource strain to flagging latency spikes, it acts as an early warning systemempowering IT to prevent disruptions, cut costs, and deliver a smoother, more reliable digital experience.

Riverbed Agentic AI puts powerful, customisable automation in the hands of ITno coding required. Fueled by the Riverbed Data Store, this breakthrough solution lets teams drag-and-drop intelligent, task-specific AI agents into workflows they control. Orchestrated through Riverbed IQ Ops, Agentic AI seamlessly blends human oversight with machine efficiency.

Were excited about Riverbeds continued investment in AIOps for Observability, and new innovations and AI capabilities that are now available on the Riverbed Platform, says Zeno Tadjine, ICT support officer at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust. We recently started using Riverbeds generative AI solution IQ Assist at the service desk level for troubleshooting, and its a great tool to have. IQ Assist serves up insights and recommendations that enables us to resolve issues faster, optimise more workflows and automate AI remediations. In partnership with Riverbed, The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust is leveraging AIOps to improve IT Service Desk efficiency and clinician productivity, which results in additional time and resources we can allocate towards delivering even better patient care. Riverbeds IQ Assist will definitely help us enhance user satisfaction.

New Data Collection Modules to Eliminate IT Visibility Blind Spots

Technology-driven blind spots remain one of the biggest challenges facing enterprise IT. Riverbed is closing those gaps with the launch of three powerful new data collection modulesnow available through the Riverbed Unified Agentproviding IT teams with deeper visibility, actionable insights, and the ability to proactively resolve issues before they disrupt the business.

Unified Communications (UC) Module with video calls accounting for nearly 30% of employee time, UC performance has never been more critical. Yet, UC-related issues remain a leading source of help desk tickets. The Riverbed UC Module delivers real-time analytics and visibility into platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and WebEx. When paired with Riverbed IQ Ops, IT teams can shift from reactive to predictivesolving UC issues before they impact user experience.

with video calls accounting for nearly 30% of employee time, UC performance has never been more critical. Yet, UC-related issues remain a leading source of help desk tickets. The Riverbed UC Module delivers real-time analytics and visibility into platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and WebEx. When paired with Riverbed IQ Ops, IT teams can shift from reactive to predictivesolving UC issues before they impact user experience. NPM+ Packet Capture Module brings advanced network diagnostics to the endpoint, supporting packet capture on Windows, macOS, and Linux systemseven for data outside the corporate network. As the only packet capture solution designed for Zero Trust environments, the solution seamlessly integrates with IQ Ops to automate troubleshooting and remediation.

brings advanced network diagnostics to the endpoint, supporting packet capture on Windows, macOS, and Linux systemseven for data outside the corporate network. As the only packet capture solution designed for Zero Trust environments, the solution seamlessly integrates with IQ Ops to automate troubleshooting and remediation. Aternity for Intel Thunderbolt and Wi-Fi, an industry first, includes Aternitys digital experience analytics and is powered by the Intel Connectivity Analytics SDK that provides below-the-OS telemetry for devices with Intel Thunderbolt and Wi-Fi technologies. Enterprises can now gain visibility across the entire Intel connected ecosystemincluding peripherals, docks, and monitorsto ensure seamless end-user experiences.

Riverbed is also unveiling enhancements for Aternity, to support cloud-native environments and virtual desktop infrastructures. Kubernetes Operator automates observability for cloud microservices applications, accelerating deployment by up to 300% while freeing IT teams to focus on performance optimisation and system reliability. Aternity VDI Intelligence provides expanded support and insights for virtual environments including real-time and multi-session VDI visibility, improving the user experience and enabling proactive optimisation. The VDI observability solution includes expanded platform integration including with Citrix, IGEL, ChromeOS, VMware, Omnissa, and Azure Virtual Desktop.

Smart OTelTM: Precision Observability to Support Enterprise Data and AI Needs

Todays announcements follow the release of Riverbed Smart OTelTM, an innovate new approach to OpenTelemetry that helps IT teams better support enterprise data and AI projects. While other OTel enabled products dump massive streams of raw telemetry thats hard to manage, Smart OTel leverages the Riverbed Data Store platform-wide collection to surface the precise data required, and exports that data to any standard OTel collector. Smart OTel also allows customers to convert third-party data into OTel compliant insights, and leverages Riverbed AI automations to further process the data prior to exporting, adding even more precision filtering, all as part of Riverbed IQ Ops.

Riverbed Platform Architecture Provides Unique Value to Enterprise Customers

Launched in 2024, the Riverbed Platform delivers a powerful alternative to fragmented point tools by unifying observability across enterprise IT into an open AI-powered architecture. It provides full-stack, full-fidelity visibility across every layer of the digital enterpriseincluding applications, networks, endpoint devices, digital employee experience (DEX), public cloud, zero trust, and mobile environmentsfar beyond the narrow scope of typical monitoring solutions.

At the core of the platform is the patented Riverbed Data Store, designed to intelligently collect, correlate, and surface only the most relevant data. This precision not only reduces noise but also integrates with third-party tools to deliver a holistic view across complex ecosystems. Powering this intelligence is Riverbed IQ Ops which applies advanced AIincluding Generative, Predictive, Agentic, and Causal capabilitiesto automate tasks, accelerate resolution, and prevent issues before they impact users. Complementing this is Riverbeds innovative Smart OTel approach, which enhances OpenTelemetry by exporting only high-value, targeted data streamsenabling enterprise-grade observability data to fuel critical projects.

The solutions announced today are all generally available, with the exception of Agentic AI (Q2 2025) and NPM+ Packet Capture (Q3 2025). For more information on Riverbeds latest product innovations, visit www.riverbed.com.
COMPANY NEWS: Innovative new features, including AQA, build on the companys unparalleled history of intelligent print solutions to help print operators work smarter and reduce manual adjustments for unattended, uninterrupted printing.

Konica Minolta has announced its next-generation AccurioPress C14010S and C12010S production presses. These innovative presses empower businesses with stunning print quality, exceptional speeds, and unmatched versatility, letting customers unlock more possibilities in digital print with CMYK + White toners.

The AccurioPress C14010S and C12010S from Konica Minolta deliver exceptional performance, achieving print speeds of up to 140 pages per minute (ppm) and 120 ppm, respectively. The new five-colour print models add white as a new colour and let businesses explore new creative avenues, such as eye-catching print effects. The AccurioPress C14010S and C12010S feature six cutting-edge Intelligent Media Sensors, a game changer in automated print management, that identify paper type, weight, and size instantly for optimal print settings every time without additional operator input.

The presses support a broad range of media, from 52 gsm and up to 450 gsm paper including envelopes, embossed paper, polyester, and cut-sheet labels, opening doors to diverse applications. The new CMYK + white toner is high-opacity and achieves exceptional coverage in a single pass, making it ideal for premium applications, further expanding offerings for the new models and helping businesses tap into new revenue streams.

Unrivalled flexibility and smart technology to meet customer demands

For larger and more demanding projects, the systems accommodate long sheets up to 1,300 mm simplex and 900 mm in duplex, providing unrivalled flexibility to meet customer demands. Whether its for banners, book covers, or specialty items, the AccurioPress C14010s and C12010S let customers rethink possibilities in production printing and explore additional opportunities for business growth.

Graphic arts customers such as print service providers, offset printers, digital printers, and direct mail will benefit from the AccurioPress C14010S and C12010S models. Other potential market segments include enterprise document printing, such as central print rooms and in-plant print operations.

Grant Thomas, Product Marketing Manager, Production Print, Konica Minolta Australia, said, Konica Minoltas AccurioPress C14010S and C12010S are engineered for efficiency, streamlining operations with advanced smart innovative technology. These new print solutions help operators to work smarter, reduce manual adjustments for unattended, uninterrupted printing, and deliver flawless print results faster with reduced touchpoints and exciting new colour options with the addition of white in the new high-opacity CMYK + white toner.

Features such as the Intelligent Quality Optimiser Unit, IQ-601, including a new inline spectrophotometer for precise colour profile creation, and Intelligent Media Sensors (IM-104 and IM-105) support consistent, high-quality output with minimum user intervention. The IM-105 measures the paper size of the substrates and detects even the slightest variations in paper cutting size and, together with the Intelligent Quality Optimiser IQ-601, automatically adjusts

image positioning to eliminate front/back alignment errors for professional quality and consistency with every print run.

High-volume production with press uptime maximised

Other key other benefits include automatic print quality adjustments with Automated Quality Adjustments (AQA) and Automatic Inspection Technology (AIT), with an intelligent overall design to maximise press uptime.

The AccurioPress C14010S and C12010S models underpin Konica Minoltas mission to support the digital transformation of its clients companies by sector and industry, predicting potential challenges and creating solutions together. Its human-centric partnership approach lets customers streamline their businesses through fewer human touchpoints and higher productivity with tangible benefits including high-quality output with less print waste.

Grant Thomas said, "Konica Minolta is committed to enhancing its customers creativity and digital transformation. The new five-colour AccurioPress C14010S and C12010S print systems build on 20 years of digital printing expertise, innovation, and leadership, backed by the dedicated professional support that Konica Minolta is known for.

New operator assistance tools and fewer touchpoints let Konica Minolta customers optimise workflows and reduce downtime. This leads to greater creativity that empowers customers to rethink opportunities and identify new, profitable revenue streams.

The official Australian launch of the AccurioPress C14010S and C12010S will take place on Tuesday 20 May at 10:30 am AEST on the first day of PacPrint at the Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park. Attendees are invited to visit Konica Minoltas stand for an exclusive first look at these groundbreaking digital print solutions in action, as well as to engage directly with Konica Minolta Australia's production print specialists.

About Konica Minolta Australia

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Australia Pty Ltd is a market-leading provider of trusted technology solutions to help Australian organisations keep pace with the needs of the future workplace through innovation and investment technology solutions that leverage the technology of tomorrow, today.

From printing, scanning, and copying to cloud storage and managed IT services, Konica Minolta Australias award-winning products and solutions help customers to transform and move information faster.

Creating and working with equitable, socially responsible, and environmentally conscious organisations is an important part of the future workplace. Konica Minolta Australia actively promotes and innovates through diversity and inclusion, ethical supply chain, and climate change action strategies.

Konica Minolta Australia is proud to support the commitment to reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and all other people in the community to help improve life outcomes and opportunities and to create a better future for society at large. As part of this, Konica Minolta Australia developed its Reconciliation Action Plan to publicly commit to reconciliation initiatives, and is a member of Supply Nation, the Australian leader in supplier diversity, to support First Nations businesses.

For more information visit: konicaminolta.com.au
Shadow IT, the use of unauthorized applications and devices within an organization can cause significant cybersecurity threats, including increased risk of data breaches, compliance violations, and expanded attack surfaces.

For example, IBM's 2024 Cost of Data Breach Report revealed that one in three data breaches involved shadow data, with the average breach costing $4.88 milliona 10% increase from the previous year.

To mitigate these risks, organizations should conduct regular audits to identify unauthorized tools, implement clear policies for technology use, provide approved alternatives that meet user needs, and educate employees on the dangers of shadow IT. By proactively addressing shadow IT, organizations can enhance their security posture and reduce the likelihood of costly data breaches.

How to Identify Existing Shadow IT

Before implementing controls, organizations must first identify unauthorized tools in use to prevent shadow IT. This can be achieved through:

Network Monitoring: Tools like Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps can identify unapproved services by analyzing network traffic.

Tools like Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps can identify unapproved services by analyzing network traffic. Endpoint Scanning: Endpoint scanning can detect unauthorized software that has been installed on the employees' devices.

Endpoint scanning can detect unauthorized software that has been installed on the employees' devices. User Surveys: You can ask employees directly to reveal tools they are using but have not formally reported.

If you combine technical detection with employee input, it will provide a complete view of shadow IT risks. Regular assessments help track new risks as they emerge.

Educate Employees About Security Risks

If employees are unaware, they may unintentionally misuse unauthorized tools. To reduce this risk, educate them on best practices through regular training sessions on shadow IT risks and approved solutions, establish clear channels for requesting new tools, and provide frequent reminders about security risks.

Offer Approved Alternatives

When required tools are not approved, and approved ones are inadequate or unavailable, employees often turn to shadow IT. Organizations can reduce this by understanding user needs, improving existing tools, and streamlining new tool requests. Providing user-friendly solutions that meet business needs helps prevent policy violations.

Implement Strong Access Controls

Controlling data and systems is important. It helps stop unknown tools from causing serious issues. Effective strategies for this include the following:

Identity and Access Management (IAM): Enforce role-based access control (RBAC) to limit user permissions.

Enforce role-based access control (RBAC) to limit user permissions. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Require MFA for access to sensitive data or systems.

Require MFA for access to sensitive data or systems. Conditional Access Policies: Restrict access based on device health, location, or risk levels.

Establishing strict access controls helps contain security risks effectively.

Monitor and Audit System Usage

Continuous monitoring helps detect shadow IT before it becomes a serious risk. Key actions include analyzing logs using tools such as ELK Stack to identify unusual behavior, implementing Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) solutions to track and control cloud usage, and maintaining consistent monitoring to ensure a quick response to emerging threats.

Establish Clear Policies and Governance

Defining clear rules for technology adoption helps employees understand what is acceptable. Key policy steps include:

Approved Software List: Maintain a list of authorized applications and services.

Maintain a list of authorized applications and services. Exception Process: Provide a clear method for employees to request exceptions to these policies.

Provide a clear method for employees to request exceptions to these policies. Data Handling Guidelines: Define how sensitive data should be stored, shared, and accessed.

A well-defined policy framework helps employees stay compliant.

Involve Key Stakeholders

Reducing shadow IT requires collaboration across teams. IT and security teams should guide security strategies and ensure compliance, while department leaders help align new processes with business needs. Employees should also be involved in sharing their challenges and suggesting solutions. Engaging all stakeholders ensures security decisions support practical business needs.

Automate Security Controls

Automation reduces manual effort and improves consistency in enforcing security policies. Consider:

Automated Alerts: Configure alerts for suspicious activity or unauthorized tool usage.

Configure alerts for suspicious activity or unauthorized tool usage. Compliance Enforcement: Use automation to block non-compliant software or revoke risky permissions.

Automation ensures swift action without overwhelming IT teams.

Conduct Regular Security Assessments

Routine assessments help identify risks and gaps in security controls. Key practices include penetration testing to find vulnerabilities, vulnerability scanning to detect misconfigurations, and third-party audits for an external security review. Regular assessments ensure a proactive security approach.

Encourage a Culture of Security

Building a security-first mindset across the organization reduces shadow IT risks. Strategies include:

Incentivize Secure Behavior: Recognize employees who follow security best practices.

Recognize employees who follow security best practices. Empower Security Champions: Identify employees within teams to promote secure practices.

Identify employees within teams to promote secure practices. Encourage Open Dialogue: Encourage employees to report security concerns without fear of punishment.

Creating a positive security culture encourages employees to participate in improving security.

Enforce Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Solutions

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools help keep sensitive data secure by monitoring and blocking unauthorized sharing. Key steps include defining policies to control data transfers, and using solutions like Microsoft Purview to track data movement across cloud and endpoints. DLP adds an extra layer of security to prevent leaks from shadow IT.

Implement Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA)

Using a Zero Trust model can improve security in shadow IT environments. This method assumes that no device or user is automatically trusted, even if they are within the network. Important steps include:

Micro-Segmentation: You can divide networks into isolated segments to limit lateral movement.

You can divide networks into isolated segments to limit lateral movement. Continuous Verification: If you regularly verify user identity, device health, and behavior, it can help significantly in maintaining ZTA.

If you regularly verify user identity, device health, and behavior, it can help significantly in maintaining ZTA. Least Privilege Access: Make sure you grant users only the minimum permissions needed for their role.

Zero Trust architecture minimizes the risk of unauthorized tools accessing critical systems.

Conclusion

To reduce shadow IT, organizations should use a mix of tech controls, employee training, and clear rules. Identifying current risks, offering approved tools, and applying good security practices can boost security without hurting productivity. Keeping employees involved is important for lasting success.
GUEST OPINION: Field workers are at the heart of many industries, and technology advances have reshaped their operations. Companies worldwide are investing in new tools to enhance productivity and empower their workforce, with global spending on digital transformation expected to hit US$3.4 trillion by 2026. (1)

However, while these investments hold immense potential, success is not guaranteed. Digital initiatives can fail to deliver real improvements without careful planning and execution, leaving field employees struggling with inefficiencies rather than benefitting from true innovation.

Frank Baldrighi, business development manager  Australia and New Zealand, Getac, said, The lack of involvement of field workers in the digital transformation process is a major reason for these failures. Organisations must engage their field employees throughout the entire framework for these efforts to be effective, from picturing future goals to implementing new technologies. Securing their buy-in is essential because even the most sophisticated digital solutions can fail without it, resulting in a disengaged workforce.

A critical misstep in traditional transformation strategies is failing to understand the unique challenges field workers face in sectors like emergency services, manufacturing, and mining. Field employees operate under high-pressure conditions and are expected to deliver swift resolutions, particularly when operating in regional and remote areas. Many business leaders apply a one-size-fits-all approach despite these demands, deploying the same technologies used by office workers to field teams. This overlooks the distinct working conditions and expectations faced by field employees, leading to mismatched solutions and underwhelming results. A more effective approach involves assessing the specific challenges faced by different groups within the company.

Field workers contend with variable weather and environments and can spend extended periods in remote locations without access to charging facilities, while unreliable connectivity is another major hurdle. Rugged laptops and tablets that withstand harsh conditions and have high-capacity batteries help field employees to be efficient and productive at their jobs.

Frank Baldrighi said, Traditional transformation approaches fall short in adopting digital communications and collaboration tools outside of the office. However, faster network speeds and capable mobile technologies have raised the bar for digital business operations in the field, and theres an increasing prevalence of emerging technologies like mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR) in field environments.

These technologies can provide on-the-job training, guide teams through complex procedures in real time, and encourage safety compliance when used with rugged devices. For example, mining technicians can perform equipment maintenance more accurately, while disaster response teams can coordinate efforts in high-pressure environments more effectively. Organisations that equip their field teams with the right productivity and collaboration tools will see the greatest returns on their transformation investments while failing to do so results in outdated systems that offer little value.

All modern transformation strategies should prioritise solutions that build data security into their foundations, as companies with extensive field forces operating on edge devices are at particular risk. The lack of immediate IT support makes field workers more vulnerable to cyber threats, reinforcing the need for seamless security measures. Organisations must keep field devices updated with the latest security patches and operating system updates. Effective security measures should also incorporate ongoing education and cyber awareness to train field employees to recognise phishing attempts and other cyber threats to safeguard company data. Regular training sessions help maintain vigilance against evolving threats.

Frank Baldrighi said, Keeping on top of cybersecurity can be challenging for workers who rarely visit the head office; however, smart rugged solutions should simplify device management. Organisations that can monitor all deployed devices from a central locationmaintaining a comprehensive view of their digital assetsissue updates remotely, and track device usage in near-real time will better protect their data and devices.

Successful digital transformation isnt just about adopting new technologies; its about aligning them with workforce needs. Companies must take a problem-driven approach, working closely with field employees to identify inefficiencies and barriers in existing processes. This is particularly critical in regional locations where workforce logistical barriers and environmental factors can complicate transformation efforts. Focusing on areas where technology can make the most impact yields tangible business benefits for organisations with field workers.

Reference
The Tech Council of Australia (TCA) is collaborating with industry and government leaders to advocate for the national approach across the cyber ecosystem and is reinforcing its position on building sovereign cyber security capability.

TCA was one of the key drivers of an inaugural event that brought together government, peak bodies, major corporations, start-ups and Australias research sector to collaborate on the evolving cyber threat landscape. This collaborative effort is due to accelerate the development of sovereign cyber security solutions, build scale, and ensure Australia remains resilient against cybercrime.

At the Australian Cyber Exchange 2025 (ACE 25) held in Sydney, TCA CEO Damian Kassabgi reinforced the importance of bringing industry, academic and government leaders together to build sovereign cyber security capability to keep Australians safe. ACE25 is an industry commitment from the Executive Cyber Council.

This collaboration is a critical step to ensure industry and government are taking a coordinated approach to building Australias cyber security and resilience. It also highlighted the key role of emerging innovators and start-ups in addressing the challenges faced by large corporations, as they bring agility and fresh perspectives to the table

By building connections and sharing intelligence and perspectives, Australian innovators and the research ecosystem can develop tailored solutions that enhance the resilience and growth of big corporations, while also driving their own success. Said Mr Kassabgi.



CommBanks Chief Security Officer, Nicola Nicol, emphasised the power of partnership: In this rapidly evolving landscape, collaboration is crucial. Government, industry, and emerging innovators must work as one to stay ahead of cyber threats

As cyber threats grow more sophisticated CBA remains committed to investing in innovation and fostering the collaboration needed to keep building sovereign cyber security capabilities and safeguard Australias digital economy with a more self-reliant cyber ecosystem, Ms Nicol stated.

A key highlight of the initiative is the opportunity for 26 Australian start-ups to pitch their cutting-edge cyber security solutions, helping to elevate homegrown innovation and strengthen Australias digital defences. Jack Reis, Baidam Solutions, Group CEO, knows what this looks like for them. At Baidam, we see our role in building sovereign capability as twofold  delivering world-class cybersecurity solutions tailored to Australia's unique threat landscape, and empowering vulnerable communities and First Nations communities to lead in this critical sector. ACE25 represents a pivotal opportunity to demonstrate that Indigenous-owned businesses can not only protect Australia's digital borders but also shape its cyber future.

Pieter Danhieux, CEO and Co-Founder, Secure Code Warrior



Pieter Danhieux, Secure Code Warrior, CEO and founder, sees this as a game-changer for Australias start-up community. Cybersecurity is a fundamental pillar of our national security, and Australian enterprises, not to mention the government, have a key role to play in safeguarding consumer data from threat actors and Nation-State attacks.



The inaugural Australian Cyber Exchange is an incredible initiative, and together with the Tech Council of Australia, The Group of Eight (Go8) and Commonwealth Bank, we are very proud to be part of this event showcasing the wealth of cyber talent and innovation present in the Australian landscape today. It is our hope that the industry continues to thrive and is supported to grow well into the future."

ACE 25 is strongly supported by Telstras Global Chief Information Security Officer, Narelle Devine, who reinforced the role of cross-industry alliances: Cyber security is a shared responsibility that requires a united front. ACE25 provides a unique platform for government, industry, and innovators to come together, share insights, and develop robust solutions to help protect our digital landscape. This forum underscores the power of collaboration in driving forward our national cyber security capabilities.
For decades, supersonic commercial airline flight has been banned over land by global aviation law because of the problems the sonic boom can produce on the ground.

That may change as early as 2029, thanks to Boom Supersonic.

The International Civil Aviation Organization, representing 193 countries including the U.S., recently agreed on new global supersonic aircraft noise standards, based in part on Booms new technology, opening the door for supersonic flights across the globe.

The next step comes in October when the proposals will be considered by ICAO Council.

The global group also said its work on sustainable aviation fuels  another key operational factor for Boom's Overture  "will accelerate the certification of new sustainable fuel pathways, which are critical for achieving the sector's vision of 5% carbon dioxide emissions reduction through cleaner energies by 2030."

"The establishment of more stringent noise and CO2 standards represents the first time both standards have been made more stringent simultaneously for aviation," the group said.

"The intent is to shape the next generation of aircraft designs by moving manufacturers toward solutions that address these closely related environmental impacts."

A NASA chart explains the air pressure science behind a sonic boom: essentially that air reacts like a fluid to supersonic objects. As objects travel through the air, the air molecules are pushed aside with great force and this forms a shock wave much like a boat creates a bow wave.

The bigger and heavier the aircraft, the more air it displaces.

Sonic booms have been demonstrated to cause structural damage, such as cracked windows, damaged roofs and weakening building materials, while being a brief, but disruptively loud noise considered minimally harmful to humans and animals.

Key to forming the planned standards was the Federal Aviation Administration presenting to the global organization Booms supersonic data points from its Jan. 28 and Feb. 10 test flights at Mojave Space and Air Port in California.

Boom plans to initially operate Overture at Mach 0.94 over land. That speed is about 20% faster than todays subsonic jets, but below the breaking of the sound barrier at Mach 1.

Each one-tenth beyond Mach 1 represents a 10% increase beyond the speed of sound, so Mach 1.1 is 10% faster, Mach 1.2 is 20% faster and Mach 1.3 is 30% faster, and so on.

Boom said additional updates to the global supersonic standard would clear the way for the return of supersonic travel.

If Overture is approved for supersonic flight over land, a flight across the U.S.  beginning potentially as early as 2029  could be at least 90 minutes quicker than current top flight speeds under what Boom is calling Boomless Cruise mode.

Our mission at Boom has always been to deliver supersonic flight in a way that makes people feel excited when a supersonic route comes to their city, said Blake Scholl, Booms founder and chief executive.

Thanks to the FAA and Congress, we are leading the way with the international community to adopt these new takeoff and landing noise standards.

Boom reached a key milestone June 17 with the completion of its $500 million superfactory at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro.

The PTI facility has 150,000 square feet for the production floor, 24,000 square feet for the office space and 5,000 square feet for the receiving area.

The company has pledged to create at least 1,781 jobs at full production by 2029-30.

How it works

Scholl said the technological breakthrough wasnt as much the design of XB-1, and soon to be Overture, but rather determining the altitude and the speed relative to the current atmospheric conditions.

Sound waves bend toward colder temperatures in the upper atmosphere, so they make a U-shape as they come off the aircraft, Scholl said.

If you fly at too low of an altitude or are going too high of a speed, those waves will hit the ground, and thats when you hear a sonic boom.

Scholl said that under the appropriate flight conditions, typically an altitude of 35,000 to 36,000 feet, the sound waves flow to a cutoff altitude before curling upward so that no one ever hears it.

The Overture airline is projected to fly at an altitude of up to 60,000 feet.

The plan is to break the sound barrier over water at up Mach 1.7.

Now that we have proven that we can break the sound barrier without an audible boom on the ground, we are working to update the overland speed limit regulation next.

Reducing impact

The International Civil Aviation Organization also aligned on a recommended new standard for landing and takeoff noise that takes into account Booms planned advanced noise reduction procedures.

Booms Overture passenger aircraft will have the same landing and takeoff noise footprint as todays subsonic long-haul aircraft.

A key difference between the Concorde and Overture is that the Boom aircraft will not require the use of afterburners to take off.

An afterburner increases a jet engines thrust by injecting fuel directly into the exhaust stream, increasing the thrust by 50% or more.

However, afterburners both require high fuel consumption, and they create high decibels of noise at ground level.

Boom said Overtures engine, branded as Symphony, will use a medium bypass ratio turbofan engine and feature a variable noise reduction system to manage the trust at takeoff.

Next steps

The Denver-based manufacturers next development step is proving commercial supersonic flight is valid, sustainable and scalable for an aircraft projected to hold between 65 and 80 passengers.

Boom already has 130 orders and pre-orders from United Airlines, American Airlines and Japan Airlines.

The Overture timeline at PTI remains:

2025: Equipment assembly.

2026: First Overture rollout.

2027: First test flight.

2029: Federal Aviation Administration certification.

2029: First passenger flights.

The initial Boom projection is producing up to 33 Overture aircraft annually at a projected price tag of $200 million apiece.

The goal is producing 66 Overture aircraft annually at full production.
Following an alleged hate crime at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln last week, student organizations are expressing disappointment with the universitys response and want a dialogue to continue.

In the early morning hours of March 30, UNL police say a 21-year-old man was assaulted by a stranger who made derogatory comments about the LGBTQ+ community.

Days later, Cale Wacker, a 21-year-old Norfolk man with no affiliation with UNL, turned himself in for the alleged crime. He now faces a third-degree assault charge with a hate crime enhancement.

But despite the arrest, UNL senior B Littman, a student representative for the Chancellors Commission on the Status of Gender and Sexual Identities, said LGBTQ+ groups on campus want to continue to host a dialogue about what happened.

Some people might forget that there was hate present, so its important to make it clear that hate has no place, were going to stand up against this, no matter what happens, Littman said.

The commission is composed of students, faculty and staff who advise the chancellor on issues pertaining to equity and on specific university concerns for LGBTQ+ people.

As the student committee chair, Littmans role includes coordinating with the students on campus and recognized LGBTQ+ student organizations.

In the affidavit for Wackers arrest, UNL Police Officer Jeffrey Brassington said a 21-year-old victim was walking near Jorgensen Hall on 16th Street when Wacker struck up a conversation with one of the victims friends, saying something like do you know, hes gay? about the victim.

Brassington said Wacker then put the victim in a full Nelson wrestling hold, lifted him up and slammed him onto the ground, scraping the victims knee, and called him a homophobic slur.

The victims account was corroborated by two witnesses and security camera footage, according to Brassington. It wasnt reported until Monday afternoon.

On Tuesday, UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett sent an email to the campus community.

Actions such as those described to police yesterday are reprehensible and will be addressed through the appropriate legal channels, Bennett said in the email.

Bennett provided resources to the Student Life Get Help Resource Page, the Student Advocacy and Support, and the Counseling and Psychological Services.

It is incumbent upon all of us to ensure our University of Nebraska-Lincoln community supports the success of all students, faculty and staff, Bennett said.

Despite the universitys attempt to reassure students, some student organizations found it to be a lackluster response."

On Wednesday, several of the LGBTQ student organizations released a joint statement condemning the attack and criticizing the universitys response, calling on leaders to take action.

The general consensus that students all felt based on the response was that it wasnt giving tangible steps for our students to feel looked out for and taken care of, Littman said.

As of Friday afternoon, Littman said none of the LGBTQ+ student organizations have been directly reached out to by the university to provide support or resources.

We, as the students, really would just like to see a bit of care, support and appreciation, knowing that as a group, just all of our students as a whole, that our university cares about us, it wants to protect us, Littman said.

In August, UNL closed its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and eliminated the vice chancellor position that directed its efforts. Since the closing, Littman said there have been fewer resources for students to turn to.

Littman said that the students would also like confirmation that UNL's Gender and Sexuality Center will stick around.

In December, the center's director, Pat Tetreault, retired. Since then, the position has remained open while officials evaluate how the center will move forward following her retirement, according to Leslie Reed, a UNL spokesperson.

She was the face of gender and sexuality-related services at the university for about 30 years and theyre taking some time this spring to re-envision how the center should function without Pat, Reed said in an email to the Journal Star.

Hate crimes reported to UNLPD are categorized by prejudice, including race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity and disability. UNL is required to report crime on campus as part of the federal Clery Act, under which colleges and universities that receive federal funding must share crime information.

According to UNLPDs Clery Act statistics, there have been 43 reported hate crimes since 2015 on campus. This includes 29 forms of intimidation, two simple assaults, one theft and 11 reports of damage, destruction or vandalism to property.

The last time a simple assault was classified as a hate crime was in July 2019.

Littman said that there are undoubtedly other occurrences of hate crimes against marginalized communities that have gone unreported.

Throughout the history of the LGBTQ community in the United States, theres always been hesitation to go to the police, Littman said. Its really important that were showing support as a community.

Regardless if the victim seeks help, Littman said all students should feel supported.

The students that reported the assault are incredibly brave and deserve to know that they are supported, Littman said. Any other student on campus should know that they are supported because even if you dont report something, that doesnt mean it didnt happen.

When faced with discrimination, harassment or violence, the student organizations urge students to report the incident and seek support. UNL students can reach out to the Gender and Sexuality Center, the Center for Advocacy, Response and Education, or Counseling and Psychological Services for confidential care.

The UNL Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance and UNLPD can be contacted to report hate crimes.

This is also not the first time, and probably not the last time that such a vulnerable population is going to experience hate, Littman said.

Domonique Cudjo, assistant director for the Gender and Sexuality Center, said the center hosts Community Care Days every other Monday for students to create community and de-stress.

This gives students a place to be authentically themselves, talk about their concerns, and lean on each other for support. The activities and food are great additions, but the true benefit of Community Care Days is finding people that make you feel less alone, Cudjo said in an email to the Journal Star.

After last weeks events, the center has expanded their Care Days, including this Monday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Nebraska Student Unions Gender and Sexuality Center in Room 346. In addition to crafts and games, there will also be a designated space to talk with other students, professionals and a counselor. No appointments are required.

Community is what gets us through tough times, Cudjo said. It is important to have a dedicated space on campus that is here for students to feel supported and safe, and Community Care Days strive to be just that.
When the first German soldiers arrived at prisoner of war camps erected across Nebraska in 1943, they were given a taste of rural American life.

Along with working on area farms and ranches to replace the labor of Nebraskans sent to fight the Nazis and Japanese in World War II, the prisoners housed in more than a dozen camps attended school and went to the movies.

In several camps, the prisoners even started their own newspapers, often in their native German, where they detailed the daily goings-on of their surroundings.

One of those newspapers, Der Wassertum, which translates to The Water Tower, chronicled life inside the POW camp built north of Indianola in Red Willow County.

While the pages of the newspaper have largely been lost to history, Der Wassertum has been preserved on microfilm held by the New York Public Library and the State Library of Pennsylvania.

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln research project was preparing to collect and digitize the microfilm, publishing the pages of Der Wassertum online as part of Chronicling America, an open-access, open-source newspaper database managed by the Library of Congress.

But funding for the program, which was provided through the National Endowment for the Humanities, was abruptly canceled last week as part of President Donald Trumps effort to slash federal spending.

Seven active research projects receiving more than $1.6 million in NEH funding received notification that their grants had been canceled by billionaire Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency on Wednesday, university officials said.

An effort to digitize the works of Nebraska author Willa Cather lost funding as part of the cuts, as was funding to gather and publish Genoa Indian School student records and to put historic Nebraska newspapers online.

In all, more than 1,000 NEH grants, which account for a small part of the federal budget but are key to promoting national and state history and culture, were terminated across the country last week.

Andrew Jewell, a professor of digital projects at University Libraries who serves as co-director for the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, said UNL research funded through the NEH has a broad audience.

More than 2 million people access the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities free websites each year, Jewell said, including the Willa Cather Archive, which began publishing the Red Cloud novelists letters, notes and manuscripts in 2018.

Two years ago, UNL received a grant for $304,207 to help fund the latest phase of the archive, which seeks to publish Cathers literary manuscripts online in an annotated format.

Jewell said work this year was focused on finishing the back-end work to put the manuscripts online.

We have a year of work left, so when the grant goes away, that changes our ability to finish the work, he said. We still need to figure out a plan and do our best not to waste the time, effort and resources weve already spent.

Another program that lost its NEH funding last week was nearing the expiration date of its grant, leaving researchers baffled as to why it was targeted by DOGE.

The Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project, which started in June 2019 and was set to end on May 31, had its $449,899 grant canceled last week, according to Margaret Jacobs, director of the Center for Great Plains Studies.

Jacobs said the project is now scrambling to find alternative funding to keep paying its three employees, which includes two full-time staff and one graduate research assistant, for the next two months as planned.

When youre in the humanities, there just arent a lot of funding sources available, Jacobs said. I dont know if people recognize how hard it is to get an NEH grant. Its not some whimsical thing.

They are extremely responsible, know they are a taxpayer-funded agency and want their money to go to legitimate academic enterprises, she added.

The Genoa Indian School project, which saw UNL partner with the Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation Museum and more than 40 Native tribes, sought to locate records generated at the boarding school between 1884 and 1934.

Jacobs said the records, many of which are held in tribal repositories, state historical societies or other archives, are highly sought after by the relatives of Native children sent to the school to be assimilated as they seek to understand and heal.

We wanted to make them easily accessible for tribal members and to repatriate them to the tribes, she said. And we wanted to educate non-Native people about the boarding schools, the intent behind them, and the experiences of the survivors and their families.

While the work is mostly completed, Jacobs said the UNL team was busy working to make the digitized records searchable on the projects website. Early work was also starting on a project to build an oral history as well as a traveling exhibit.

Jacobs said while she believed the next phase of the project would have been eligible for an NEH grant, that opportunity now appears shut off, at least in the immediate future.

I dont think what has happened here is legal, Jacobs said of the grant cancellation. Congress appropriated these funds, the executive branch shouldnt just be able to cancel them.

Laura Weakly, a metadata encoding specialist at University Libraries, said her ongoing NEH-funded project to digitize out-of-print Nebraska newspapers was among many similar projects across the country that lost funding.

Newspapers Nebraska, which is in the middle of its sixth grant cycle, has preserved more than a half-million pages since it launched in 2007, Weakly said. All of the newspapers currently available online are from before 1963.

Among those preserved are the Omaha Bee, a onetime competitor to the Omaha World and Omaha Herald, as well as the Beatrice Daily Express, a precursor to the Beatrice Daily Sun.

The project has also preserved Czech language newspapers printed in Omaha, Wahoo and Wilber  often referred to as Nebraskas Czech Capital  as well as old editions of the Daily Nebraskan, UNLs student newspaper.

To kick off its latest grant, a $304,870 award announced last September, Weakly had been preparing to submit a small batch of pages to the Library of Congress for review.

Those pages were from the South Omaha Daily Stockman, which started publishing in 1886 as one of several newspapers centered around one of the worlds largest livestock markets and meatpacking hubs.

For Weakly, preserving the newspaper with its pulse on South Omaha also took on a personal touch. She found a notice in the paper that her great-grandparents had sold cattle at the Omaha Stockyards as part of their butcher business.

It had a significant impact on South Omaha and to the cattle industry in Nebraska, Weakly said. Im kind of sad were not going to be able to continue.

The loss of funding won't pull the existing newspapers off the internet, Weakly said. Those interested in Nebraska's history with the suffrage movement can still find The Women's Tribune, the newspaper started by women's rights activist Clara Colby in Beatrice.

But it will hamper efforts to compile newspapers like Der Wassertum, Weakly said, and resulted in the loss of one job.

And it will also mean less exposure to Nebraska history for students across the state. Approximately 20,000 pages are viewed each month, with web traffic spiking each January and February, Weakly said, as Nebraska students begin working on their National History Day projects.

"It's such a small expenditure, but the good that comes out of it is so important," Weakly said. "Having these newspapers available freely online just seems like such a low cost for their importance."

Correction The original version of this story said a graduate student working on the Cather project was let go. Other resources were found to keep the student employed. However, a staff position was lost altogether with the end of the newspaper grant.
RACINE  Racine Unified School District students in the Academies of Racine at Case, Horlick and Park high schools are working on capstone projects.

Capstones are the final project for all seniors. Students apply their knowledge and skills to solve a real-world problem and demonstrate their mastery of the subject matter and readiness for next steps in life. It involves research, design, development, implementation and presentation.

The RUSD academy model began in 2016 at Case, Horlick and Park.

It is a career-focused education style that aims to engage high schoolers with their interests and connect them with community organizations. Students take general courses as freshmen and more specific classes during the next three years.

The district is highlighting one capstone at each school.

Case

Imagine transforming an everyday kitchen tool into a work of art, blending functionality with innovative design. Thats what a team of more than a dozen Case students is doing as they create a company tasked with reengineering the classic pepper mill.

The project came about because of RUSDs partnership with Fischer and Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce.

RAMAC is serving as an angel investor to get the students company, Eagle Manufacturing, up and running.

Fischer is a Racine-based company that specializes in manufacturing spindles, and its staff is helping guide Eagle Manufacturings student-employees.

Eagle Manufacturing is made up of software developers from the schools computer science pathway; engineers from the engineering pathway; a chief executive officer, chief financial officer, vice president and general manager from the business pathway; and others.

From designing the logo and website to refining the products design, each student contributes to the project.

Im learning to manage a team, meet deadlines and make decisions under pressure, Jayden George, Eagle Manufacturing CEO, said in a news release.

Students have been working to perfect their design and prepare for production, including weekly meetings with Fischer staff.

Some students are working to earn certifications to run machinery at Fischer.

Other students are fine-tuning the prototypes design after getting feedback from chefs and working to cut manufacturing costs while maintaining the quality of the product.

The biggest challenges so far have been communicating with students across pathways and finding balance between school, work and life.

Case students will present their project to RAMACs board in April to see if the organization is interested in buying the product. If so, production will begin with next school years Eagle Manufacturing Class, leading to a sustainable business model.

The real-world experience could launch the students into successful careers in product development and business management.

Horlick

In recent years, drones have transformed industries across the globe.

As part of the capstone project, students visited Jellystone Park in Caledonia where they met with the people behind Northern Lights Drone Shows.

The trip to Jellystone was very informative (about) the ways drones can be used in different career fields and gave me ideas of new ways they could be implemented into everyday use, Horlick senior Seth Bergman said in a news release.

The experience allowed students to work on skills that require technical expertise, creativity and problem-solving.

Coordinating a drone show requires the ability to operate and maintain drones; an understanding of drone mechanics and navigation systems; advanced programming skills; collaboration; communication; and careful planning around weather conditions, federal regulations and airspace restrictions.

The opportunity to practice these skills will help the aviation students fine-tune their capstone projects.

Some of their ideas include designing a drone capable of cleaning the ocean and developing one that could rescue people from burning buildings.

Park

When it comes to real world experiences, the learning opportunities Park students receive in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps are as close as it gets.

JROTC units mirror the structure and rigor of the U.S. military, complete with a hierarchical structure, missions to complete, standards to meet and a chance to practice leadership under pressure.

Park High Schools unit, one of four active JROTC programs in Wisconsin, has 124 cadets.

They are currently focused on the upcoming Military Ball.

This formal rite of passage, scheduled for Saturday, April 12, is not just a dance. It is a meticulously planned operation that takes months of effort from the Cadet Battalion Staff and Command.

The leadership team is made up of student cadets who earned their positions through interviews, impeccable attendance, stellar grade point averages and leadership potential.

Their mission is to transform a vision for the formal evening into reality by navigating the complexities of financing, vendor coordination and an agenda that honors military tradition.

By far the most challenging aspect has been the funding, Cadet Commander Eliana Rocha said in a news release. Really, the planning around the lack of it.

Rhea Haddock, Cadet Personnel Officer, said in a news release that students have developed unique ways to raise money, including selling apparel with the Park JROTC unit emblem.

In addition to the event budget, the teams cadent intelligence and security officer assesses risks, monitors weather patterns and ensures attendee safety. The operations officer handles planning, preparation and training.

The logistics officer manages the supply chain, from uniforms to ceremonial flags. JROTC students also handle information and technology and oversee marketing, public affairs and special projects.

Next steps involve the leadership team giving all cadets lessons in etiquette, formal attire and military protocol.

Then the cadets and their plus-ones will step into Fountain Banquet Hall and enjoy an evening of camaraderie and celebration to complete their mission.

Six photos of RUSD HS academy certification celebration Park teachers Park High School teachers Tim Stanchfield, from left, Michael Wittrock and Stephen Quirke were three of hundreds of Racine Unified School Dist Park High School Park High School, 1901 12th St. Bill O'Malley Park Principal Bill OMalley said all Racine Unified School District high school academies being certified is quite an accomplishment and an Al DeBaker Al DeBaker, Racine Unified School District executive director of academies and transformation, said it is a great and validating feeling to  Jim Anderson Jim Anderson, business representative for North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, said huge strides have been made in providing R Park HS Racine Unified School District teachers were recognized Thursday because all 11 RUSD high school academies, including three at Park, are natio Jim Anderson academy certification
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) often develops unnoticed, gradually impairing kidney function. Approximately 950 million people worldwide are affected by CKD, and it is now the 9th leading cause of death, projected to become the 5th leading cause in the near future.

For years, I was unaware of the severe health battle brewing beneath the surfaceuntil a routine pregnancy scan in 2015, at the age of 29, changed everything. What seemed like a simple test uncovered an alarming amount of protein in my urine, indicating potential kidney problems. At the time, I never imagined that this discovery would trigger a series of health challenges that would reshape my life. Pregnancy complications such as hypertension and preeclampsia were already known risks, but a kidney issue was the last problem on my radar. This unexpected revelation marked the beginning of a long, unpredictable journeyone with missed opportunities for early diagnosis, delayed intervention, and a health care system that failed to guide me effectively through the crucial stages of my disease.

The consequences of delayed care: from dialysis to transplant

A few weeks after delivering my child via emergency C-section, I received a diagnosis that was as rare as it was seriousIgA nephropathy (IgAN), an autoimmune disease progressively damaging my kidneys. Yet, despite the severity of the disease, doctors never truly conveyed the urgency of my condition. For nearly two years, I did not pursue adequate follow-up care, partly due to my denial of the seriousness of my health issues and a lack of understanding about how to manage my condition.

By late 2017, a nephrologist finally gave me the reality check I needed: I would need dialysis or a kidney transplant within a year. However, by the time I received this referral, two years had already passed since my initial warning signs. The delay in care and the absence of a clear, actionable plan left me feeling lost and uncertain about my next steps.

Unfortunately, the window for prevention had closed, and I had missed the opportunity to slow the progression of my disease. In mid-2018, I was told I needed a transplant, so I began searching for a new kidney. After moving from New York City to San Diego, I faced another setback: my transplant was canceled due to a clinical oversight. This left me feeling hopeless and frustrated, as if the health care system had failed me.

Dialysis became my new reality. For nearly two years, I underwent treatments, clinging to the hope that a kidney donor would come forward. After more than 44 potential volunteer donors, I finally received the life-changing news I had been waiting for: a match. It came in an unexpected and deeply humbling forma woman who had originally planned to donate to another recipient chose to donate to me instead when the other person found a better match. This selfless act of generosity marked the end of a long, difficult chapter in my life and opened the door to a new beginning, free from the constant cycle of dialysis.

What I wish Id known and how we can do better

Looking back, there are several insights I wish I had gained earlier. I wish I had received more proactive guidance and resources when I was first diagnosed with kidney issues. Early intervention could have slowed the progression of the disease, potentially preventing my need for dialysis or a transplant altogether.

To put it simply, we need to do a better job with early screening and proactive care. Tests to check for protein in urine should be part of routine check-ups, especially for those with risk factors for kidney disease. Additionally, there should be clear guidelines for identifying and managing at-risk patientscomplete with a checklist of kidney disease risk factors that both patients and providers can reference.

Another major issue is the siloed nature of care. Kidney disease often falls through the cracks, with specialists and primary care providers failing to coordinate effectively. This fragmented approach leads to missed opportunities for early interventions and delayed treatments that ultimately harm patients.

The role of technology and provider support in improving outcomes

One potential strategy to improve outcomes for individuals with CKD is integrating technology. Health care providers can leverage advanced tools to identify at-risk patients, connect them with the appropriate resources, and develop tailored care plans. Whether through recommending lifestyle modifications or facilitating timely nephrology referrals, technology can streamline the care process, ensuring that patients are effectively managed and not lost in the complexities of the health care system.

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Additionally, patients should be monitored regularly. If they demonstrate risk factors, they should be retested periodically to track disease progression. This proactive approach would allow for interventions before dialysis becomes necessary. Health care providers also need to meet patients where they arephysically and emotionally. Point-of-care testing, for example, could allow patients to get tested in places where they feel more comfortable and empowered, such as local pharmacies or health clinics.

Looking ahead, predictive analytics could be key in transforming CKD care. These platforms can assess individual patient risks, help determine the frequency of testing, and guide interventions based on specific patient needs.

Raising awareness and taking action

Despite its widespread prevalence, CKD is not yet widely recognized as the public health crisis it is. For example, Dr. Salvatore Viscomi, MD, CEO of Carna Health, and his team have deployed CKD screening and monitoring programs in regions as diverse as Cameroon and Bermuda. These initiatives highlight a concerning rise in kidney disease diagnoses, underscoring the urgent need for greater awareness and improved systems for early detection. To expand, Carnas platform focuses on increasing awareness, improving patient engagement, and supporting health care professionals in determining the appropriate care pathway. By utilizing AI, the platform personalizes risk assessment and treatment, ensuring that individuals, regardless of where they live, have access to effective care.

The answer to this growing epidemic lies in collaboration and the expansion of kidney disease screening programs. Early detection is key, but it requires health care providers working together with patients to create a system of care that is both proactive and preventative.

On a personal level, I had to grieve the life I once knew and the person I used to be to embrace my new reality. But this transformation was not just physicalit was emotional. Now, I feel an unwavering sense of responsibility to share my story, to empower others, and to raise awareness about the importance of early detection and intervention. We must break the cycle of late CKD diagnosis, and in doing so, we can give others the opportunity to embrace life after transplant just as I have.

Aja Best is a health care executive and patient advocate.
The Industry and Commerce Association of Macau Northern District President Wong Kin Chong has acknowledged the alarming closure rate of shops in the district, including the once-popular Atlantic Seafood & Dim Sum Restaurant in Iao Hon, warning that without significant changes, the business environment there is likely to deteriorate further.

In an interview with the Times at his office, Wong expressed concerns about the less-than-ideal business environment in the northern district, highlighting that there has been almost no change in the past 20 years. He noted that local businesses are worried about their future, as the district remains old and lacks innovation.

Despite a significant increase in tourists to Macau, averaging 136,000 daily over the past three-day Ching Ming holiday in mainland China, the northern district only sees about a 10% increase in visitor arrivals, resulting in minimal business growth of about 510%. He admitted that most shops in the area are focused on local livelihoods and are significantly less attractive compared to those in tourist hotspots.

Wong referred to the revitalization efforts by the government and the citys six integrated resort operators, describing the northern district as like a forgotten orphan. He compared it to areas like Rua da Felicidade and Ponte 16 in the central and southern districts, which are currently undergoing revitalization.

He noted that the streets in his district remain quiet and lack vibrancy, emphasizing the absence of similar revitalization plans for the area, and said: We do not wish for the government to merely send people to organize consumer promotion campaigns or set up temporary attractions; instead, we hope it will genuinely prioritize the development of the old district here.

Northbound spending fever has been blamed as the reason for the phenomenon of empty shops both in Macau and Hong Kong. In Wongs view, he believes that the lack of consumption growth in the northern district, coupled with the limited purchasing power of local residents, has intensified competition among businesses.

He criticized the introduction of the citywide consumer promotion campaign as merely a superficial measure that has not resulted in genuine economic growth. Wong emphasized that to revitalize the community, the government must significantly increase its investment, proposing a one-time expenditure of over 10 billion patacas for a comprehensive overhaul, including transport and operational support.

Wong made both short-term and long-term suggestions to the government. In the short term, he believes the government can enhance transport support measures during peak periods to facilitate easier access for tourists to the northern district. For long-term planning, Wong called on the chief executive to spearhead a comprehensive economic revitalization plan, drawing inspiration from neighboring districts, such as Zhuhais Beishan.

He emphasized the need to create a cultural and creative community cluster that showcases the unique characteristics of the district. Yuki Lei
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet last weekend presided over the opening of an expansion of his countrys main naval base, which analysts and the U.S. government suspect will be used as a strategic outpost by China.

Construction of a new pier to accommodate much larger ships, a dry dock for repairs and other features was completed in recent weeks at the Ream Naval Base in southern Cambodia, on the Gulf of Thailand.

The project has drawn great attention mainly because Washington  noting that China is Cambodias closest ally and main source of investment and aid  believes that Beijing has been secretly granted special and exclusive privileges to use the base, a claim repeatedly denied by Cambodian officials.

Hun Manet at the inauguration noted that the ceremony was taking place two weeks ahead of a visit to Cambodia by Chinese President Xi Jinping. He praised Xis government for help in building the expansion and other projects, describing bilateral relations as good and strong.

At the same time, he declared that the Ream base expansion was not hidden from other countries, and said warships from all friendly countries can visit the base and hold joint military exercises, except for very big warships that cannot be physically accommodated.

I would like to take this opportunity to make it clear that the Cambodian government led by the Cambodian Peoples Party has no intention, in the past or today or in the future, of violating its Constitution by allowing any countrys troops to establish exclusive bases on Cambodian territory, he said.

Chinas Defense Ministry, in a statement issued in Beijing, said the China-Cambodia Ream Naval Base Joint Support and Training Center  part of the facility that was officially opened Saturday  will support a wide range of joint operations.

Areas of cooperation will include counterterrorism, disaster prevention and relief, humanitarian assistance and joint training, the ministry said in a news release.

Necessary personnel from both countries will be stationed at the site to ensure smooth operation of the center. The centers establishment and operation are based on mutual respect and equal consultation between China and Cambodia, the statement said.

Cao Qingfeng, a visiting senior member of Chinas Central Military Commission, said in a speech that the base will surely become a new starting point to continuously promote the relationship between the two armies and consolidate the development. A contingent of at least 100 Chinese sailors who have been on temporary duty at the base also took part, marching and singing.

The senior U.S. diplomat in Cambodia, Charge dAffaires Bridgette Walker, attended the ceremony but declined to comment on it.

The base is slated to host a Japanese vessel in the near future as the first foreign warship to make a port call at the base. The Cambodian government described giving priority to Japanese warships as a tribute to the high level of openness in cooperation, relations, and mutual trust.

The announcement of Japans planned port call showed that Cambodia is likely trying to project that its open to countries other than China, said Euan Graham, a senior defense analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

This would appear to be a conscious demonstration by Cambodia that Ream is not exclusively for Chinas military, he said. MDT/AP
China yesterday accused the U.S. of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying with tariffs, while calling on representatives of American companies including Tesla, to take concrete actions to resolve the tariffs.

Putting America First over international rules harms the stability of global production and the supply chain and seriously impacts the worlds economic recovery, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters.

Last week, Trump put an additional 34% tariff on Chinese goods as part of Liberation Day, coming on top of two rounds of 10% tariffs already declared in February and March, which Trump said was due to Beijings role in the fentanyl crisis. China and other governments retaliated quickly. China announced its own 34% tariff rate on U.S. goods, mirroring Trumps tariff rate for China.

Yesterday, Beijing struck a note of confidence even as markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai tumbled. The Peoples Daily, the Communist Partys official mouthpiece, had strong words. The sky wont fall, it declared, even if the U.S. tariffs have an impact.

Faced with the indiscriminate punches of U.S. taxes, we know what we are doing and we have tools at our disposal, it added.

Beijing had announced a slew of countermeasures Friday evening aimed at Trumps tariffs. As part of these measures, China suspended sorghum, poultry and bonemeal imports from some American companies, and put more export controls on rare earth minerals, critical for various technologies, while launching a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization.

It is unknown if Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, will meet with Trump to make a deal on the tariffs. Lin directed questions about a possible meeting to other departments.

Pressure and threats are not the way to deal with China. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, Lin added.

Still, over the weekend, Chinese government officials met a slew of American business representatives including for Tesla, GE Healthcare and others.

The root of the tariff problem is in the U.S., said Ling Ji, a vice minister of Commerce, at the meeting with the 20 American companies, according to a readout of the meeting. We hope the American companies can address the problem at its root,  issue reasonable statements, take concrete actions, and work together to safeguard the stability of the global supply chain.

Ling also promised that China will remain open to foreign investment and that it was safe to invest.

HUIZHONG WU, BANGKOK, MDT/AP
Figures from the Public Security Police Force show that the three-day long weekend that coincided with the holiday of the Ching Ming Festival brought 408,778 visitors to Macau.

The figure represents an average of 136,259 visitors per day, an increase of 14.6% from 2024.

Accounting for the more considerable difference was the result of the first day (Friday, April 4), when 173,256 visitors entered Macau, 27.1% more than in 2024.

Concurrently, the number of international visitors during the same period was 31,184, representing 7.6%.

Although no official statistics were released last year for the Ching Ming Festival, as it coincided with the Easter Holidays and so the data were presented together, over this time of the year last year, the percentage of international visitors was about 4%, with the figure now revealed anticipating a significant increase in this type of visitor.

Analysis of last years data shows that over 11 days (Mar. 29 to Apr. 8), 85,510 international visitors entered Macau, representing a daily average of 7,774.

This number contrasts with the one recorded during the three days of the Ching Ming Festival this year, when the average of international visitors grew to 10,395 per day.

The percentage of visitors from the mainland continued to be around 73%, while another 17% arrived from Hong Kong. Taiwan continues to be accountable for around 2% of the visitor sources.

The total number of border crossings has reached over 2 million, with an average of 671,181 per day, an increase of about 11% yearly.

Border Gate favorite of locals and visitors

Without any surprise, the busiest border post continued to be the Border Gate, which accounted for about half of the total border movements (1,011,155), of which 382,946 were related to visitors, noting that the majority of the border crossing at this checkpoint is still from residents as well as non-resident workers.

Border Gate was seconded in movement by the neighboring Qingmao Port, which registered 311,435 border movements, from which only 29,358 were from visitors.

Macaus third most popular entry and exit point was the Macau Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HKZMB), which recorded 273,238 movements. In this case, the percentage of visitors was significantly higher as this Port was used by 162,135 visitors, coming second in the preference of tourists.

The Macau Port Area at Hengqin Port recorded a movement closer to the HKZMB, with 260,247 border movements. Of these, almost half (128,795) were from visitors to Macau.
Japans Emperor Naruhito visited Iwo Jima yesterday and paid tribute to thousands of Japanese and Americans who died in one of World War IIs bloodiest battles.

Naruhito and his wife, Empress Masako, prayed at three memorial sites  one for the Japanese soldiers, another for the islanders and a third for both Japanese and American war dead. The couple offered a bouquet of white flowers and poured water over a cenotaph from a ladle to console those who died under the heat while suffering from hunger and thirst. They were due to meet with representatives of bereaved families and descendants of former island residents.

The visit by the royal couple, both born after the war, is the first to Iwo Jima.

Naruhito, in his 65th birthday remarks in February, noted the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII and stressed the importance of remembering the wartime history and telling younger generations about the tragedy. Japan fought the war and invaded large areas of Asia in the name of his grandfather, Emperor Hirohito.

The battle of Iwo Jima lasted from Feb. 19 to March 26, 1945, as the United States tried to take control of a key strategic point to advance to mainland Japan. Despite expectations by the U.S. they would overwhelm the Japanese within days, Japanese soldiers used underground tunnels and resisted for five weeks, in a part of war history that has inspired many novels and movies.

Nearly all of the more than 21,000 Japanese and nearly 7,000 U.S. troops were killed. More than half of the remains of the Japanese are still unaccounted for. All 1,100 residents of Iwo Jima except for 103 men drafted as military employees were forcibly evacuated to mainland Japan. Of the 103, 82 were killed in the fighting.

The emperors Iwo Jima visit comes 10 days after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani joined U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a memorial service marking the end of the battle.

Former residents and their descendants are allowed to visit the island for memorial events but not to live there.

Following a 23-year U.S. occupation, Iwo Jima was returned to Japan in 1968 as part of the Ogasawara island group, but is now home to only 380 service members of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. The island is also used for U.S. military aircraft landing exercises. MDT/AP
"This is what China looks like! This is China right here!" popular U.S. influencer IShowSpeed marveled as he live-streamed at Shanghai's Bund area, with a skyline featuring the landmark Oriental Pearl Tower and modern skyscrapers right in front of him.

An aerial drone photo shows a night view of the downtown area of Chongqing, southwest China, Feb. 28, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

From there, the 20-year-old content creator, whose real name is Darren Jason Watkins Jr. and whose zesty and contagious shows have won over 38 million subscribers on the social media platform YouTube, embarked on his first tour in China since the end of last month.

Despite a language barrier and fast-paced schedule, IShowSpeed treated his fans worldwide with a feast of uninterrupted live-streaming sessions while traveling along China's streets and alleys, experiencing China's history and culture, savoring China's cuisine and snacks, and interacting with China's enthusiastic fans and local people from various walks of life.

Unlike the bleak and even grim pictures often painted by some Western media, IShowSpeed's unedited and unscripted shows reveal a China that is perky, diverse, hospitable and prosperous.

In east China's metropolitan city of Shanghai, he joined in the colorful park activities of local residents, watched traditional lion-dancing and kung fu, and witnessed first-hand China's burgeoning electric car scene.

In China's capital city of Beijing, he visited the Great Wall and the Palace Museum and performed his signature back-flip stunt, which drew cheers from a welcoming crowd at the two iconic spots of China.

In particular, he experienced the country's high-speed bullet train. During the ride, he hailed the ubiquitous 5G signal and internet access, as he live-streamed smoothly despite being in a tunnel section of the railway line.

Millions of fans flocked to his channel and watched his shows from China. "I admire China's technology and internet, and Chinese fans were very respectful," said a YouTube comment -- which garnered more than 900 likes.

In central China's Henan Province, he traveled to the Shaolin Temple to pursue his kung fu dream. There, a kung fu mentor Master Liang warmly received him, taught him martial arts, and also shared with him a life philosophy inspired by years of painstaking training -- "It's pain, but it's life. It's pain, but it's Shaolin. It's pain, but it's Kung Fu. It's pain, but it's you." -- which struck a chord with many viewers.

In Chengdu, the capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, IShowSpeed immersed himself in a variety of unique cultural elements that this city has to offer, including the likes of Sichuan Opera, Sichuan-style hotpot, traditional acupuncture and tea-house performances.

"China has a beautiful culture! I would very much like to visit!" said a netizen from the United States in the comment section.

During his live-stream show in Chongqing, also located in southwest China, IShowSpeed presented a panoramic view of the megacity known for its futuristic vibes. He watched the magic sight of light rail trains passing through a building in Chongqing's iconic station, viewed the jaw-dropping architecture of this mountainous city, and captured its spectacular nightlife.

Against the backdrop of Chongqing's cyberpunk canvas featuring beautifully lit skyscrapers and bridges at night, IShowSpeed said: "I've never been to a country where they have stuff like this. Chongqing is beautiful."

"China is an underrated tour spot. I don't know why people overlooked China," he stated, with this remark echoed by many members of his audience who have lived in the bubble of Western anti-China propaganda.

"Is China so advanced now? This breaks my 30-year-old understanding of China. I have been deceived by the so-called mainstream media for so many years, and I want to go to China to see," read a comment.

"After watching this video, I realized how foolish my previous views on China were. I've decided to plan my trip this year to China. I feel that if I don't go to China, I'll regret it for the rest of my life," said another.

So far, IShowSpeed's five live-stream episodes in China's Shanghai, Beijing, Henan, Chengdu and Chongqing have generated a total of 35.16 million views on YouTube, with many video clips going viral among both Chinese and global netizens.

Just a few months after the ground-breaking exchanges between Western "TikTok refugees" and Chinese netizens on the social media platform Red Note, this live-streaming tour by IShowSpeed serves as another inspiring example of people-to-people amity between China and the world.

One YouTube comment, which was liked over 2,700 times, thus wrote -- "The U.S. has spent billions on anti-China propaganda, only to be undone by Red Note and IShowSpeed stream."

IShowSpeed's tour is also a prominent example of China's inbound travel boom following the country's visa-free policies, which led to an influx of foreign tourists and businesspeople into China, making "China Travel" trendy on social media platforms.

Earlier this week, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) also responded to such exchanges. "The one-shot live-streaming by foreign influencers presents China as it is in a panoramic view -- one that has not been edited or put in any filter."

"This again spurs growing enthusiasm for China. This shows that cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries enjoy profound support from the people, and such bonds cannot and will not be severed," said a MFA spokesperson.
Lawmaker Ron Lam has criticized the former government for not prioritizing the need to hear the population before deciding on significant projects that influence peoples lives.

In a written inquiry to the authorities, Lam recalled several significant projects for which the government, led by former Chief Executive (CE) Ho Iat Seng, did not use the public consultation mechanism to hear the voices of society before making a decision.

The lawmaker noted that while many topics deserved such attention, others did not, and it was unclear what justified such a difference.

Lam questioned Sam Hou Fais current government on their approach and asked if the lack of public consultations will continue as a new trend.

The same lawmaker also recalled that, in some cases, the former government did hear the voices via a Public Consultation but then decided contrary to those voices, like in the case of not building a parking lot facility in the new Central Library at Tap Seac, where the explanation and justification for abandoning the idea of having a parking facility only came very late in the process.

Another critical public project in which Lam accused the government of Ho of going against the population is the linking of Zones A and B of the new landfills. It was initially decided to be in a tunnel but later changed to a flyover against the will of many, creating a series of problems and impacts that were not foreseen.

In the response issued by the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau, Ng Wai Han noted that the new government is to adopt an open attitude and pragmatically explore different ideas and options to respond to the views of the industry and residents practically, adding, specifically in what concerns the flyover project, that the government will pragmatically explore different ideas and options to respond to the expectations of the community and ensuring that the project is in the best public interest.

The flyover between Zones A and B has been one of the major topics continuously brought up by the Association of Synergy of Macau, the group that supported Lams candidacy for the Legislative Assembly and has been led since then by veteran journalist Johnson Ian.

Many see the group as the most valid alternative to the pro-establishment groups that elect most lawmakers. These groups are often accused of not protecting the populations interests and consistently voting in favor of all government proposals without questioning them, serving as rubber stamps for the government.
China says it will fight to the end and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

The Commerce Ministry said today (Tuesday) the U.S.s imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs' on China is completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.

Trumps threat Monday of additional tariffs on China raised fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war. Stock markets from Tokyo to New York have become more unstable as the tariff war worsens.

Von der Leyen urges China to avoid escalating trade war with US

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is urging China to avoid escalating a tariff war with the United States and to help ensure that Chinese products dont flood other markets due to the fallout.

In a phone call with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, von der Leyen called for a negotiated resolution to the current situation, emphasizing the need to avoid further escalation, her office said Tuesday.

She underscored the vital importance of stability and predictability for the global economy, and said that it was up to Europe and China to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field.

The commission negotiates trade deals and disputes on behalf of the 27 EU member countries. It is setting up a task force to monitor for any dumping as the tariffs hit trade flows.

China says US doesnt appear to want sincere dialogue

Chinas Foreign Ministry on Tuesday questioned Americas willingness for sincere dialogue and said Beijing would fight to the end after Trump threatened to impose more tariffs.

I think what the U.S. has done doesnt reflect a willingness for sincere dialogue, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a news briefing.

If the U.S. really wants to engage in dialogue, it should adopt an attitude of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit. If the U.S. disregards the interests of both countries and the international community and insists on a tariff war and trade war, China will surely fight to the end, Lin added.

Indian foreign minister speaks with Rubio about trade agreement

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar spoke with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, late Monday to push for an early conclusion of negotiations over a bilateral trade deal.

The call came days after the U.S. slapped a 26% tariff on Indian imports. India wants to seek concessions as part of the trade deal, the first tranche of which is expected by fall.

Brendan Lynch, a U.S. assistant trade representative, visited India last month to discuss the initial contours of the deal. The U.S is pushing India to grant greater market access for agricultural and dairy products, but New Delhi is reluctant since its farm sector employs the bulk of the countrys workforce and is a main source of family income.

Malaysia prime minister says ASEAN will send a delegation to Washington

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says his government and others in Southeast Asia will send a delegation to Washington to discuss the tariff situation.

In a keynote speech Tuesday at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Investment Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Anwar said ASEAN leaders would try to build a consensus and present a united response to Trumps tariffs.

We do not believe in megaphone diplomacy, Anwar said. As part of our soft diplomacy of quiet engagement, we will be dispatching together with our colleagues in ASEAN our officials in Washington to begin the process of dialogue.

Indonesia markets plunge after holiday break

Indonesias stock market plunged 9.2% in early trading on Tuesday, as markets in the Southeast Asian country reopened after an extended Eid holiday break.

Its currency, the rupiah, also sank to a record low, hitting 16,846 against the U.S. dollar.

The Indonesia Stock Exchange halted trading for 30 minutes following the steep decline. When it resumed, shares recovered slightly but remained down nearly 8%.

Hong Kong leader calls tariffs bullying and ruthless behavior

Hong Kong leader John Lee has described the latest U.S. tariffs as bullying, saying the ruthless behavior has damaged global and multilateral trade and brought great risks and uncertainties to the world.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Lee pledged to take several steps to address the tariffs. He said the city would seize more opportunities in Chinas development, sign more free trade agreements with other economies, and continue to push for Hong Kongs accession to the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

He also vowed to advance international financial cooperation, attract foreign companies and capital to Hong Kong, and support Hong Kong enterprises to cope with the tariff impacts.

New Zealand prime minister criticizes tariffs as a shift away from agreed rules

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has delivered stronger criticism of the U.S. tariffs, decrying what he says is a shift away from agreed rules of trade and warning of the risk of backsliding into a global trade war.

A trade war is in nobodys interests, Luxon told reporters in Wellington on Tuesday. It will slow global growth, hurt jobs and reduce the amount of money we have in our wallets.

He said New Zealand, which is set to receive the 10% baseline tariff rate on goods exported to the U.S., would not impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S.

The U.S. in January overtook Australia to become New Zealands second-largest export partner, behind China, with New Zealand exports largely made up of meat, dairy, wine and agricultural machinery.

Asian markets open higher after volatile session a day earlier

Asian markets opened higher on Tuesday, with Japans Nikkei 225 benchmark shooting up more than 6% after it fell nearly 8% a day earlier.

The rebound followed a wild day on Wall Street as U.S. stocks careened after Trump threatened to crank his double-digit tariffs higher.

Hong Kong also recovered some lost ground, but not anything close to its 13.2% dive on Monday that gave the Hang Seng its worst day since 1997 during the Asian financial crisis. The Hang Seng gained 1.7% to 20,163.97 on Tuesday morning.

The Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.8% to 3,121.72, South Koreas Kospi gained 1.6% to 2,364.22, and the S&P/ASX 200 also was up 1.6%, at 7,462.60.

Japans prime minister meets with Cabinet after call with Trump

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met with his Cabinet on Tuesday to discuss how to respond to the U.S. tariffs, after he spoke by phone late Monday with Trump.

Ishiba has appointed Ryosei Akazawa, the economy revitalization minister, as Japans trade negotiator with the U.S., Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tuesday. The appointment was based on an agreement between Ishiba and Trump, Hayashi added.

Japans prime minister also dispatched senior officials from the foreign and trade ministries to Washington to follow up on his conversation with Trump.

Ishiba is considering traveling to Washington for direct talks with Trump at an appropriate time, Hayashi said.

At Tuesdays Cabinet meeting, Ishiba instructed his ministers to fully examine and mitigate the tariffs impact on Japanese industries and pursue diplomatic efforts to address them. Ishiba told his ministers the tariffs would be a blow to all industries. He said the auto industry is essential to Japan, while steel and aluminum are also key to its economy.

MDT/AP
* Off the beaten track

 Businesses outside the tourism routes struggle despite an increase in holiday visitors during the Ching Ming holiday

* Governance | Lam criticizes govt for lack of public consultations on major projects

* Architecture | Hac Sa Beach project wins award in London, but is dismissed locally

* SAFP stresses importance of pro-patriotic groups, highlighting the bureaus measures for grassroots governance in the SAR

* 131 banned from city-wide consumption scheme for irregularities

* China accuses Trump of unilateralism and bullying with tariffs

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Tuesday, April 8, 2025  edition no. 4696
Xi Jinping is standing up to Donald Trump. Throwing away past restraints, Chinas tit-for-tat response to the 34% tariff the US imposed on April 2 is unnerving global investors. What prompted Xis change of tactic? Is a grand bargain between the two presidents off-the-table?

Make no mistake: Both countries will suffer from Trumps punitive measures. Exports have been a rare bright spot in China. US tariffs announced this year, which bring the total effective rate on Chinese goods to 58%, could drag economic growth down by 1.7 percentage points, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimates. The actual impact is probably larger. Since Trumps first trade war in 2018, Chinese companies have been rerouting and selling to the US through Vietnam and Mexico, which have also been slapped with higher levies. Meanwhile, economists are seeing stagflation in the US. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Barclays Plc are forecasting an outright economic contraction this year.

But the similarity ends here. Anticipating more tariffs, Beijing has since late last year mapped out a feasible plan to ease economic pain. Ironically, the White House  the instigator of a global trade war  has no backup measures to avoid a recession.

China is now looking inward. Boosting domestic demand has become the governments holy grail. Its a low-hanging fruit. Private spending, especially in services, is weak by international standards. Plus, past experiments with consumption subsidies have been met with enthusiasm. Trade-in programs have incentivized consumers to buy new smartphones and home appliances. Restaurant vouchers that city governments handed out were snapped up. All these measures can be repeated and amplified to lessen damages created by higher levies.

Beijing is looking to expand fiscal spending this year. The government plans to allocate more than 8% of gross domestic product to stimulate demand, up from 6.6% in 2024, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

On the other side of the Pacific, fiscal realignment is also happening, but to the dismay of consumers. Tariffs are a type of taxation. If the April 2 levies all come into effect, it would be the largest tax increase since 1968, analysts say. As such, the question now is whether the White House has any stimulus measures to offset the impact.

Congressional Republicans are now hoping to extend Trumps 2017 tax cuts that would otherwise expire at the end of 2025. Even if they succeed, American households will only get to avert a tax hike next year. Cash is not coming into consumers wallets  with tariffs kicking in immediately, things will inevitably cost more.

In other words, while China is in a fiscal expansion mode, the US is contracting. An escalating trade war has no winners, but this policy divergence buffers the Chinese economy better.

In his first term, Trump slashed taxes before beginning a trade war. Now, its the other way around, and his tariffs are much bigger and broader in scope. Hes got no viable plan to soften the blow to American consumers.

In fact, Xi may be betting that Trump will not come to the negotiating table and honor his side of the bargain until his most powerful weapon  the resilient American consumer  is resilient no more. This perhaps explains why Xi is hitting back. Trump is playing his cards in the wrong order.

Courtesy Bloomberg/Shuli Ren
Nearly a year after UW-Madison police officers tore down a pro-Palestinian encampment on Library Mall, UW-Madison faculty remain bitterly split over the crackdown.

By a vote of 79-52 with 10 abstentions, the Faculty Senate on Monday adopted a resolution condemning the police for their actions and calling on UW-Madison leaders to reinstate former protest guidelines.

But as impassioned discussion dragged on past the allotted time, it was clear the vote was less of a referendum on what happened between protesters and police on May 1, 2024, and more about what has happened since then.

A vote for the resolution was portrayed as a vote against police violence, and creeping authoritarianism and attacks on free speech by President Donald Trumps administration, as he has sought to remove pro-Palestinian protesters from campuses through invoking the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act.

Those who opposed the resolution objected to what they saw as excusing the conduct of student protesters and worried it would make UW-Madison more of a target for the Trump administration, which has been investigating universities over perceived antisemitism on campuses.

We have to have peaceful encampments, said Bruce Barrett, who is not a member of Faculty Senate but spoke during the public comment period Monday. We have to have as many people on the streets peacefully speaking our minds as we possibly can or this institution and like-minded institutions across the country, and perhaps the world, will lose their freedom of inquiry, freedom of speech, academic freedoms.

People in favor of the resolution also took issue with how UW-Madison leaders changed its protest rules following last springs encampment without input from shared governance groups.

Opponents said some of the claims in the resolution were not supported by the data. The resolution claims, for example, that women and minority students were disproportionately affected when arrest records show the vast majority of those detained following the raid were white and 41% were male.

Some said they also objected to adopting a resolution that appeared to reflect the views of all faculty, while many opposed it.

It is from the selective recounting of events that we, as the UW faculty, as a body, are asked to vote on condemning an action that seems to be predicated on incomplete data, said Lee Eckhardt, a professor of cardiovascular medicine. Our mission as an institution is towards sifting and winnowing toward the truth. Upholding this resolution is antithetical to that mission, because recounting (of) the events exhibits a clear bias.

At one point, faculty voted to cut off discussion, even as people remained in line to speak, after a handful of contentious comments that led people to interrupt one another and walk out of the meeting room in Bascom Hall.

Campus encampment

The pro-Palestinian encampment at UW-Madison went up at the end of April last year amid a national push for protests against the war in Gaza on college campuses nationwide.

Protesters ignored warnings from leaders that state law forbids camping on university property and sought to pressure the university to divest from Israel, both in terms of financial investments and program partnerships. The effort by police to remove the encampment backfired; more tents returned to Library Mall later that day.

After more than a week of failed negotiations between UW-Madison leaders and protesters, the encampment came down the Friday before commencement.

In the months since, pro-Palestinian protesters have been cited for disrupting a UW Board of Regents meeting.

At Mondays meeting, there were multiple moments of disbelief among the crowd as some faculty members called the Students for Justice in Palestine, a nationwide organization with several college chapters, a terrorism group. That led to outbursts from multiple people in the audience, including one professor who was injured during the police action who objected to the characterization.

Others were blunt in their assessment that student protesters had been warned not to set up the encampment and couldnt cry foul once UW-Madison police responded. Professor Chad Alan Goldberg said the resolution incorrectly painted UW-Madison leaders response to protests as resorting first to violence through police.

The resolution condemns police violence against protesters, but as we have heard from others, it fails to condemn the violence of protesters themselves, Goldberg said. If we are going to condemn violence as a body, we should not condemn violence selectively. We must condemn all violence.
TWIN FALLS  An estimated 500 people rallied in Twin Falls on Saturday to let the Magic Valley know they are not satisfied with President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and leaders from both the Republican and Democratic parties.

The event was one of 1,200 Hands Off! protests across the nation on Saturday organized by the grassroots Indivisible movement. Two local groups  Indivisible Twin Falls County Idaho and Southern Idaho Democratic Socialists of America  spearheaded the protest in Twin Falls.

The opposition to Trump had four years to build resistance, Southern Idaho DSA member Maxine Durand said in a fiery speech from the bandshell at Twin Falls City Park, but that was just enough time for Democrats to go back to brunch.

Our fight was never about left versus right, Durand said. Its up versus down. Its the haves versus the have-nots.

The Hands Off! movement is opposed to cuts to government services and the Trump administrations laying off federal workers. Protesters carried signs saying Hands Off! public lands, benefits, veterans, medical research, clean air and the U.S. Constitution.

Hands off our dollars, hands off our rights, libraries, event organizer Mackenzie Lucas said in a speech at City Park. Hands off our lives.

From the corner of North Five Points, the massive group chanted, Rise up, fight back, Donald Trump has got to go, and Lock him up.

A counter-protester repeatedly drove by the crowd with pro-Trump flags mounted on their pickup truck and a sign using the R-slur, but never got out of their vehicle. Organizers told protesters not to engage with the opposition.

Protesters have been holding signs at North Five Points nearly every day at 5 p.m. over the past few months, but the event on Saturday was larger in scale and included a speech from former Idaho Attorney General Jim Jones.

Ill speak to any group that is organizing to fight the Trump and Musk government because I think its poison to the United States, Jones told the Times-News before his speech.

People from every political persuasion, he said, need to get involved. Jones said he does not consider himself a democratic socialist, but is an independent who is registered as a Republican so he can vote in the primaries.

I think were all going to have to get together because were all suffering, Jones said.

Its a tragedy, Jones said in an interview, that good people such as former legislators Linda Hartgen and Chenele Dixon were taken out by nasty campaign tactics and out-of-state money.

Im going to be supporting some Republican candidates who are going after people like Glenneda Zuiderveld and all of these radicals that weve elected from the Magic Valley, Jones said, referring to the state senator from Twin Falls.

The purpose of the rally was broadly about opposition to Trump, said Southern Idaho DSA co-chair Jessica Ritcheson, and the message of the democratic socialists is anti-fascism, pro-rights and pro-socialist economic systems.

With all of the honks and the 500 people here, I think people are starting to realize that the Democrats and the DSA and third party really have a voice here, Ritcheson told the Times-News at North Five Points.

Like Indivisible, the local DSA chapter is only a few months old and formed after Trumps inauguration.

A lot of leftists are like, Woah, I didnt realize that was an option, but the Republicans are very upset, Ritcheson said.

DSA member Eden Anderson, 22, a Twin Falls resident, said her biggest concern now is the lack of empathy in America. She is going to school for social work and wants to help oppressed people.

There is a lot of stigma in the area, she said, toward both liberals and socialists.

Im really proud of our community because I think its really hard to be brave and speak out in this type of area just because of how conservative we are, Anderson said.

Elsie Hyer, 20, also of Twin Falls, said her biggest concern is education funding, saying the cuts to education funding will create a downward spiral.

Obviously, just sitting by and letting stuff happen is only going to make things worse, Hyer said. So weve got to get up and make stuff happen.

People of all ages attended the rally.

Retiree Annette Wilkinson, of Twin Falls, said she is concerned about the Trump administrations cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. She paid into Social Security and now depends on it.

Each month now Im worried about whether or not my check is going to get deposited in the bank, Wilkinson said.

As a parent of a child with special needs, Twin Falls resident Kevin Maxwell said he is concerned about the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education and who will manage Title I funding.

Maxwell said its frightening.

The voices that typically would stand up for us in the Department of Education are gone, he said.

While some of the speakers at City Park spoke of a political revolution, Maxwell said he prefers something more like a renaissance, as the term revolution could incite violence.

We dont need violence, Maxwell said. We need caring and we need people that are willing to go forth and stand up without standing in!

According to Jones, also a former Idaho Supreme Court justice and Vietnam veteran, the recent tariffs that Trump has imposed on other countries, including U.S. allies, will lead to serious problems.

You dont do that to your allies, Jones told the Times-News. And it is going to reverberate through history as the time that the United States started declining on the world stage.

In his speech, Jones asked the crowd who will actually pay for the tariffs to which they responded, We do.

What do we do? Jones said.

Fight, the crowd responded. Resist.
Actors in traditional costumes perform for tourists at Zuidongfeng art village in Tancheng County, east China's Shandong Province, April 6, 2025. China recorded 126 million domestic trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that ended Sunday, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. [Photo/Xinhua]

In Liba Village, about 1.5 hours' drive from downtown Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan Province, dozens of steaming hot pot tables dotted the fields, where tourists dined amid a golden sea of yellow blossoms, soaking in the vibrant colors and fragrant spring air.

"Eating hot pot in such a picturesque setting instantly lifted my mood and left me completely relaxed. Savoring spring with a hot pot feast surrounded by flowers was truly unforgettable," posted a blogger with the username Doufugui on "RedNote" or Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media platform.

The blogger is one of millions of Chinese who took advantage of the recent Qingming Festival holiday to revel in the joys of spring. With warmer weather and flowers in full bloom, the holiday sparked a wave of enthusiasm for domestic travel across the country.

During the three-day holiday, China recorded 126 million domestic trips, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. Tourism revenue also rose, reaching 57.55 billion yuan (about 8 billion U.S. dollars), marking a 6.7 percent year-on-year increase.

Data from online travel platforms showed that searches related to flower viewing during the holiday surged by 2.2 times compared to the same period last year, while searches for camping on the e-commerce platform Meituan skyrocketed by 132 percent.

Chinese train travel, meanwhile, shattered records as more people opted for outdoor getaways. On April 4 alone, China's railway operator handled 20.09 million passenger trips, the highest single-day figure so far this year.

The holiday also saw a rise in outbound travel, with many Chinese extending their time off by combining the break with annual leave or weekends.

According to Tongcheng Travel, hotel bookings on the platform surged during the holiday period, with Japan seeing a 120 percent year-on-year increase in reservations. European destinations like Spain and Britain experienced an even greater spike, with bookings rising by over 300 percent.

Experts have noted that this year's Qingming holiday underscores the immense potential in China's service consumption sector, a key driver of the country's economic growth.

"The Qingming holiday has traditionally not been a peak travel season, but the tourism market was notably more vibrant this year," said Xiao Peng, a researcher at Qunar's Big Data Research Institute.

Xiao noted that silver-haired travelers were among those taking trips this holiday, adding a new dimension to the tourism boom.

For those staying closer to home, the desire for springtime enjoyment was equally evident, with a growing willingness to spend on leisure and recreation.

"All tables for the festival were booked a week in advance," said the manager of a hotpot restaurant in Changzhou, located in east China's Jiangsu Province. In the Ronghui old commercial area of Jinan, eastern Shandong Province, even the outdoor dining areas of cafes and bars were bustling as people enjoyed leisurely experiences.

The surge in consumer activity, both in tourism and retail, is partly attributable to China's focus on boosting domestic consumption. The government has placed significant emphasis on consumption as a primary engine for the country's economy.

China will "place a stronger economic policy focus on improving living standards and boosting consumer spending," according to the 2025 government work report. In mid-March, the country released a special action plan outlining key strategies to support consumption.

During the Qingming holiday, various regions implemented measures such as distributing consumption vouchers and launching promotional activities to further stimulate spending, reinforcing the government's commitment to boosting domestic demand.

"China's consumer market remains resilient, vast in potential, and full of vitality," said Li Gang, an official with the Ministry of Commerce. "With sustained efforts to expand consumption policies, the domestic market will maintain stable growth."
In the context of a world in crisis, young people in particular are leading a revival of interest in poetry of all kinds. In this article, Jerome Metellus and Irene Serra explain what poetry is at its most basic level, and from this perspective consider what is driving its increase in popularity.

[This article was originally published as part of issue 46 of In Defence of Marxism magazine, the quarterly theoretical journal of the Revolutionary Communist International. Get your copy and subscribe here!]

Last summer, the French weekly cultural magazine, Telerama, and the national daily, Le Monde, pointed out that over the last few years, the little world of poetry has been experiencing a new burst of vitality.

In French bookshops the sales of collections (of classics or otherwise) are on the increase: 42 percent between 2019 and 2022. This tendency continued in 2023, with an increase of 22 percent between January and May.

Of course, poetry still accounts for only 1 percent of sales, but nevertheless the increase is obvious.

Independent publishing companies are growing in numbers  Seghers, Bruno Doucey, Le castor astral  and with them the desire to write, explains Telerama.

It's even more obvious on social media. The hashtag, Poetry, has been viewed 75 billion times on TikTok and Instagram hosts numerous Instapoets. It is young people in particular who are behind this poetic revival. This is demonstrated by an increasing enthusiasm for open mic nights in bars, where people come to absorb words as much as have a drink.

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The essence of poetry

In order to explain this phenomenon, we first have to point out that poetry cannot simply be approached in the manner in which great classics are taught in schools.

To be sure, Verlaine, Hugo, Baudelaire and Rimbaud, to quote but these four geniuses of 19th century French poetry, certainly have a legitimate place in literary courses. But a too scholarly approach is all too often the best way to misunderstand them  and, as a result, miss out on what makes up the essence of poetry, which extends far beyond the shelves dedicated to it in the bookstores.

In order to understand what poetry is, fundamentally, we can consider what the German philosopher Hegel said about it. In his classification of different art forms, he included in the concept of poetry all that we now consider as literature  including, therefore, novels and plays. Of course, literature and art have evolved a lot since Hegel. Over the last two centuries, internal differentiations in literature have reserved the term poetry for a particular form of writing. But we have to grasp the deeper meaning of Hegels classification. Hegel maintained that what distinguishes poetry from architecture, sculpture, painting and music is that its material consistency is human speech. He insisted on this point: Poetry, however, is essentially and according to its notion, sonorous expression.

This characterisation of poetry isn't quite as mundane as it seems at first glance. In fact, spoken poetry isn't just ordinary speech. It frees itself from the purely instrumental functions of language, from day-to-day concerns, from worrying about efficient communication and transparent logic to give free rein to the treasures of music and imagery hidden deep inside language  and deep inside each of us.

On the subject of imagery, Hegel explains that poetry brings before our vision concrete reality rather than the abstract generalisation. He continues:

In the view of ordinary common sense I understand by language, both in its impression on my hearing or sight, the meaning in its immediacy, in other words, without receiving its image before the mind. The phrases, for instance, "the sun," or "in the morning," possess each of them no doubt a distinct sense; but neither the Dawn or the Sun are themselves made present to our vision. When, however, the poet says: "When now the dawning Eos soared heavenwards with rosy fingers," here without question we have the concrete fact brought home to us. The poetical expression adds, however, yet more, for it associates with the object recognized a vision of the same, or we should rather say the purely abstract relation of knowledge vanishes, and the real definition takes its place.

As Hegels example of Homers metaphor shows, this yet more is produced by the poetic image, because in the real world no dawn possesses rosy fingers! Thus, ironically, a more concrete picture of the thing described is reflected in language that, taken literally, is false or even absurd.

The resources of poetic imagery open so many possibilities that the thing in itself can be not so much figured as transfigured. The history of modern poetry is marked by a general move in this direction  to the point where, with the surrealists, the image ceases to figure the thing itself in order to capture its most secret and unconscious resonances.

For example, in the following verses of Paul Eluard the use of extended metaphor identifies the birds with fish and then with pearls.

Un bel arbre Ses branches sont des ruisseaux Sous les feuilles Ils boivent aux sources du soleil Leurs poissons chantent comme des perles

In English:

A tall tree With brook-like branches Under the leaves They drink in the sun and its springs Their fish sing as pearls would

There is no impassable boundary between poetry and everyday language. In a sense, one flows from the other. Even our most trivial daily conversations are sprinkled with poetic images that we most often don't pay any attention to. When we declare that so and so has blown a fuse, we're using a metaphor. If we propose to a friend to come and have a glass or two, we're using a metonym, the substitution of a word for something closely associated with it - in this case, the drink contained in the glass. But the poet uses these different figures of speech to elevate his or her sentiments, thoughts and vision of the world to the great heights of a work of art.

Another central feature of poetry is the musicality of the spoken word. Once more we turn to Hegel: We understand what the letters mean, which are indicative points for articulate utterance, by the mere act of sight, and without being further obliged to listen to their sound. Only the illiterate reader will find it necessary to speak aloud the separate words that he may understand their sense. But in the case of poetry just what seems to be here the mark of stupidity is an indication of beauty and excellence. The pronunciation of the text adds a de facto musical dimension.

One of the great musicians of French poetry, Paul Verlaine, points this out in the first verse of his poem, Ars Poetica:

De la musique avant toute chose, Et pour cela prefere lImpair Plus vague et plus soluble dans lair, Sans rien en lui qui pese ou qui pose.

In English:

Music first and foremost! In your verse, Choose those meters odd of syllable, Supple in the air, vague, flexible, Free of pounding beat, heavy or terse.

The greatest poets distinguish themselves by their ability to combine imagery and musicality, to play on their connections. They combine form and substance in a harmonious and original unity, which is precisely what our functional daily language never  or very rarely  does.

Revolt and poetry

As we can see, poetry, such as we have characterised it, is not confined to the classics. It constantly pervades novels and plays, to different degrees, but also songs. Poetry expresses itself in a great diversity of art forms and it can of course have a musical accompaniment without ceasing to be poetry.

But with this in mind we should analyse the renewed interest in pure poetry these last few years. By pure we mean: based only on the spoken word, without either singing or music. In this sense, slam poetry is an intermediary form between rap and poetry reduced to its essence. This movement of stripping poetic expression to the essentials is very significant. Indeed, it is not necessary to be able to sing or play music to write or recite poetry. As Hegel pointed out: The need [of the poet] here at least is merely that of a gift for imaginative creation.. In other words, the poet needs to have something that he or she needs to say, that he wants to be heard and that he is capable of elevating to the dignity, to the beauty, of words that have a striking impact and reach their audience.

And young people today certainly do have something to say  against exploitation, oppression, the poverty on our streets, the destruction of the environment, imperialist wars, the cynicism and hypocrisy dripping from the ruling class, the mainstream media and the speeches of all politicians. A revolt, muted but powerful, is at the root of this thirst for poetry which manifests itself not only in those who write and recite it, but also in those, even more numerous, who read it or come to listen to it over a few drinks.

This link between the different manifestations of the crisis of capitalism and the increasing vitality of poetry has been suggested by Olivier Barbarant, who presides over the Poetry Commission at the French National Book Centre: catastrophic times create a thirst for meaning and for poetry. Our success is a comment on the harshness of our epoch. For her part, Julia Vergely writes in Telerama that if the world seems to be irreversibly heading for disaster, as for poetry, it is thriving.

All this is perfectly true except that the world is not headed irreversibly towards disaster: it is headed towards a series of revolutionary crises, upon the outcome of which the future of humanity depends. The current enthusiasm for poetry is but one precursor of this, among others. As for the thirst for meaning mentioned by Olivier Barbarant, we have to point out that it takes on a clearly political  and often anticapitalist  character, by necessity.

It is true that poetry cannot be reduced to a political discourse. A good poem and a good slogan  or a good political programme  must meet very different requirements. Having said that, most young people who take an interest in poetry nowadays are looking for something more than just purely formal virtuosity. They are looking for poetry that, one way or another, even by humour and flippancy, speaks of the disaster of this world, its violence, its absurdity but also the hope of a better, more just and humane world.

Charles Baudelaire (1917) by Eugene Decisy

This is not to say that poetry must absolutely have a political character to be beautiful or to be appreciated. Good poetry  and good literature in general  must emerge from the depths of the poet, from his or her experience, from his or her passion. The most intimate and singular joys and sorrows are often at the heart of great poetic works. This has been true particularly since the emergence of Romanticism at the beginning of the 19th century. The beauty of the poems of Verlaine or Baudelaire, for example, is indissociable from their inner torments.

And yet, even in the case of Verlaine and Baudelaire, we're dealing with works that reflect, to a certain extent, the society in which the authors lived. These two poets carry the mark of the same profound disillusionment in the promises of bourgeois rationalism but also in Romanticism. The grandiloquent optimism of Victor Hugo, the leader of French Romanticism, was trampled upon by the corrupt and dictatorial regime of Napoleon III. In a sense, the decadence of the Second Empire found a deformed  sublimated  expression in the masterpieces of Verlaine and Baudelaire: Les fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil, 1857) and the Poemes saturniens (Poems under Saturn, 1866).

The poet may well search in his own subjective sources, but even these are fashioned by the real world, external to the artist. As Trotsky wrote: Artistic creation is () a deflection, a changing and a transformation of reality, in accordance with the peculiar laws of art. However fantastic art may be, it cannot have at its disposal any other material except that which is given to it by the world of three dimensions and by the narrower world of class society. Even when the artist creates heaven and hell, he merely transforms the experience of his own life into his phantasmagorias, almost to the point of his landladys unpaid bill.

Today, as capitalism threatens humanity with generalised barbarism, the best poets  and their public alike  cannot content themselves with subtle, sophisticated works cut off from the social pulse of the real world, its suffering and its struggles. The time has come for poetry whose cries and flames answer, in vigorous protest, the ravages of a world in crisis, unjust and brutal. The renewed interest in poetry is not only the symptom of a revolutionary epoch; we can also predict that this epoch will produce, for the very same reasons, great revolutionary poets.

[This article was originally published as part of issue 46 of In Defence of Marxism magazine, the quarterly theoretical journal of the Revolutionary Communist International. Get your copy and subscribe here!]
The moves to impeach the popular left-wing MP Glauber Braga have been stepped up. The case goes back to April last year when Glauber, a Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) member of parliament for Rio de Janeiro, was assaulted in parliament by members of the far-right Free Brazil Movement (MBL). He confronted them and physically ejected them from the parliamentary building. Now, he is being accused of conduct unbecoming of an elected representative, and the Chambers Ethics Council has started a trial to remove him as a member of parliament.

The Revolutionary Communist International (RCI) stands unconditionally in defence of Glaubers democratic rights as an elected representative. We offer our full solidarity and support to the campaign to defend his mandate. We republish here a statement written by the Internationalist Communist Organisation (OCI), the Brazilian section of the RCI.

Deputy Paulo Magalhaes (PSD-BA), the rapporteur of the case against federal deputy Glauber Braga (PSOL-RJ) in the Chamber's Ethics Council, has voted to revoke Glauber's mandate. The vote still needs to be completed in the Ethics Council itself, which will probably happen next week. Then it will go to the plenary of the Chamber, where the trial will end with the approval of the revocation or the maintenance of the mandate.

It's clearer than ever that Arthur Lira (PP-AL), former president of the Chamber of Deputies and a political opponent of Glauber, has been organising behind the scenes for his removal from office. The absurd allegation that opened this trial concerned Glauber's correct reaction to the provocation by members of the Free Brazil Movement (MBL). We at the OCI support Glauber's decision to expel these far-right provocateurs, and we expressed our solidarity with him immediately afterwards.

Glauber is being persecuted by Arthur Lira and his allies precisely because he is the most militant federal deputy in parliament. He has stood firm in the fight against the New High School counter-reforms, in the fight against privatisations, against measures contrary to the interests of the working class, in support of the fight to end the 61 scale [6-day working week]. He has also widely denounced the secret budget, which is a blatant form of political cronyism which makes it possible to buy votes and exchange favours within the Chamber of Deputies. In the PSOL, Glauber is against the party's adaptation to the Lula government and the Workers Party (PT).

The leadership of the PT, for its part, is not defending Glauber's mandate in the face of this absurd attack, which goes against the basic principles of bourgeois democracy itself. The PT's stance is not surprising, given that Arthur Lira's PP and Paulo Magalhaes' PSD are part of the Lula-Alckmin government.

Hypocritically, while the trial to revoke Glauber's mandate is progressing in the Chamber, Chiquinho Brazao, who is the main person accused of planning Marielle Franco's murder, continues to be in parliament with his mandate untouched.

The National Congress is a rotten institution, and this is once again evident in this political persecution against a militant, left-wing MP. We stand in solidarity with comrade Glauber Braga and will join forces in the demonstrations that will take place over the next few days in defence of the most militant MP in the Chamber of Deputies.
The Chinese Revolution is condemned as a bloody tragedy by bourgeois historians. But if it was all simply a disaster, then how do we explain China going from a backward colonial holding to the second world power today? In this episode, we deal with the truth about the Chinese Revolution of 1949.

We welcome Daniel Morley from the Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Britain to talk about the history of the Chinese Revolution and Mao Zedongs rise to power.

He explains that the victory of Maos peasant army was based on the rottenness of the capitalist regime of Chiang Kai-shek, which looted Chinas wealth, starved its masses, and utterly failed to defend it from Japanese invasion, instead obsessively hunting the communists.

While Mao and the Red Army eventually soared to power on a wave of revolution that swept the country after WW2, it was not their intention to expropriate capitalism. But they were compelled to do so, given the utter bankruptcy of Chinese capitalism.

On the basis of the planned economy, huge advances for the Chinese people were made in terms of living conditions; the rights of women, workers and peasants; and the modernisation of the country.

However, the peculiar nature of the Chinese Revolution, which was not led by a workers party but a peasant army, meant the regime that was established (in the image of Stalinist Russia) did not base itself on workers democracy, but rather military-style commandism.

This created many problems for China (including severe famine) that were not the result of communism, but rather the failure to establish the democratic planning necessary for real socialism and communism. This, in turn, laid the basis for the eventual restoration of capitalism.

Despite this, we genuine Marxists defend the legacy of the Chinese Revolution, which liberated hundreds of millions from the yoke of imperialist domination and ushered China into the modern world. The tasks of the Chinese revolution today remain incomplete!
Troops from the Nigerian Armys 6 Division have successfully apprehended 43 suspected oil thieves during a series of coordinated raids across Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers States.

The operations, which took place between March 31 and April 6, also led to the dismantling of 14 illegal artisanal refineries. According to the divisions spokesman, Lt.-Col. Danjuma Danjuma, the soldiers seized a staggering 254,000 litres of stolen petroleum products, including crude oil and refined products, and confiscated 14 boats used in the illicit trade.

The operations, which targeted various illegal refinery sites, yielded significant recoveries. In Delta State, troops raided the Old Ogorode community, where they discovered 90,000 litres of stolen petroleum products loaded into a bus. The soldiers also seized numerous drums, tanks, and pumping equipment, arresting two suspects in the process. In Amukpe, Sapele, the army intercepted a truck carrying over 13,000 litres of stolen crude oil and arrested three individuals linked to the crime. Additionally, in Rivers State, troops dismantled illegal refining sites, recovering more than 83,000 litres of stolen crude oil and other illicit petroleum products.

In Bayelsa, the troops destroyed several illegal refineries and seized 13,500 litres of stolen crude oil. The armys efforts also led to the destruction of over nine cooking drums, 11 ovens, and a reservoir pit used in the illegal refining process. Major-General Emmanuel Emekah, the General Officer Commanding the 6 Division, praised the troops for their success and reiterated the armys commitment to supporting efforts aimed at boosting the nations oil production and safeguarding the economy.
The Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprising Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, has escalated diplomatic tensions with Algeria following the downing of a Malian drone on 1 April.

In response, AES member countries withdrew their ambassadors from Algiers, condemning the hostile action as a breach of international law and an irresponsible act of Algerian aggression. The incident, which occurred near Algerias border with Mali, has exacerbated ongoing diplomatic friction between the two nations. Algerias military claimed to have shot down the drone, alleging it had violated its airspace by more than two kilometers. However, Malis government rejected these claims, asserting that the drone was operating within international norms. Malian prime minister Gen. Abdoulaye Maiga labeled the action proof of Algerias support for international terrorism, a stark accusation that further soured relations.

The AES, formed after the military juntas in its member states distanced themselves from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has increasingly sought to establish autonomy amid growing tensions in the region. Experts, such as Rida Lyammouri, suggest that despite the inflammatory rhetoric, the conflict is unlikely to escalate militarily. The drones remains, reportedly captured by opposition groups, only add to the complexity of the situation, as the crash occurred in an area of Mali that the government does not fully control. As Algeria and its southern neighbors grapple with heightened distrust, the future of regional security and alliances remains uncertain.
Michael Sang Correa, a former member of the notorious Junglers hit-squad under ex-Gambian president Yahya Jammeh, is set to stand trial in the United States starting 7 April.

The 45-year-old faces six counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture, marking a historic moment as the first non-U.S. citizen to be tried under the U.S. Extraterritorial Torture Act. This law allows for the prosecution of individuals for crimes committed abroad, specifically for acts of torture.

Correas charges stem from his alleged involvement in the brutal treatment of prisoners following a foiled coup attempt in 2006. Torture methods included beatings, electric shocks, and suffocation with plastic bags. The victims were largely civilians and military figures accused of plotting against Jammeh. The trial is a critical part of efforts to hold individuals accountable for the human rights abuses during Jammehs 22-year iron fist reign, which included extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and other atrocities.

Although Correa fled The Gambia after Jammehs exile in 2017, he was arrested in 2019 in the U.S. for visa violations. His trial comes at a pivotal time for Gambia, as the government has been criticized for its slow pace in pursuing justice for Jammeh-era crimes. International human rights groups have pushed for accountability, highlighting Correas trial as an important step in bringing justice to victims of Jammehs brutal regime.
South Sudan has condemned the U.S. Governments decision to revoke visas for all South Sudanese nationals, arguing that the action is unfair and stems from a case of mistaken identity.

The move follows claims by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that South Sudan had failed to cooperate in accepting the return of a deported national. On Monday April 7, South Sudans Foreign Ministry clarified that the individual involved was, in fact, a Congolese citizen, not a South Sudanese national.

The ministry provided evidence to U.S. authorities confirming the misidentification and expressed disappointment that the incident led to a blanket visa ban for its citizens.

In response to the U.S. decision, South Sudans Information Minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, argued that the move was an overreaction and based on an isolated incident. He stated that the U.S. was using the situation as an excuse to find fault with South Sudans internal affairs, particularly its handling of foreign deportations. He emphasised that no sovereign nation would willingly accept the return of foreign nationals without a clear and fair process. South Sudan has long maintained a collaborative relationship with the U.S., and the government expressed regret that this decision was taken despite the longstanding partnership.

The dispute, which centers on a single individual, has raised concerns about the impact of the visa revocation on the broader relationship between the two nations. While the U.S. has indicated that no new visas will be issued and will only review the situation when South Sudan fully cooperates, the exact number of South Sudanese nationals affected by the decision remains unclear. The U.S. has reiterated its stance, citing the lack of cooperation from South Sudan in this particular case, though South Sudan continues to challenge the fairness of the decision.
The Trump administration has renewed its recognition of Moroccos sovereignty over the Sahara and reaffirmed that the autonomy plan represents the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute, describing this plan as serious, credible, and realistic.

This stand was reaffirmed in a State Department statement released following talks in Washington this Tuesday between foreign minister Nasser Bourita and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The Secretary reiterated that the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and supports Moroccos serious, credible, and realistic Autonomy Proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute, the statement said.

The United States continues to believe that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution, it added.

The Secretary reaffirmed President Trumps urging for the parties to engage in discussions without delay, using Moroccos Autonomy Proposal as the only framework, to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution. The Secretary noted that the United States would facilitate progress toward this aim, the statement said.

The Secretary and the Foreign Minister affirmed the strong U.S.-Morocco partnership in advancing peace and security, under the leadership of President Trump and King Mohammed VI, the statement added.

Before his meeting with Rubio, Nasser Bourita held talks with Trumps National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

The talks focused on the strategic and multidimensional partnership between the two countries as well as regional issues of common interests, the Moroccan foreign ministry said.

The visit is the first by Bourita to the US since Trumps comeback.
You are here: China

A nurse prepares medicine for patients at the inpatient department of a hospital in Changde, central China's Hunan Province, May 12, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's National Healthcare Security Administration announced on Monday the launch of a tip-off service via its official WeChat account, enabling social organizations and the public to report leads on medical insurance fraud.

Eligible informants will be rewarded with a one-time payment ranging from 200 yuan (about 27.8 U.S. dollars) to 200,000 yuan, according to the administration.

Noting that the misuse of medical insurance funds undermines public interests, it urged the whole society to make efforts in combating fraud.

In 2024, China's medical insurance watchdogs recovered 27.5 billion yuan of misused medical insurance funds, with a total of 10,741 suspects arrested.

The Chinese government has vowed to continue strengthening oversight of medical insurance funds to ensure every penny is maximized for the benefit of public health.
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 U.S. government has shut down or paused several major anti-smoking efforts.

Public health leaders say the cuts could reverse decades of progress that have pushed smoking rates in the country to all-time lows.

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made major cuts to tobacco control offices at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Dozens of workers were let go, including Brian King, the FDA's top tobacco regulator.

The CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, which led work on smoking cessation and research into youth tobacco use, was also cut.

Former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, now president of the global health organization Resolve to Save Lives, called the decision a "gift to Big Tobacco."

"The only winner here is the tobacco industry and cancer cells," Frieden told NBC News.

One of the biggest casualties? The CDC's popular "Tips From Former Smokers" ad campaign. The program, which began in 2012, features real people who suffered health damage from smoking.

A study published recently in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research shows that the ads lead to a sharp rise in calls to quit lines each time they air.

"We estimate the Tips campaign generated nearly 2.1 million additional calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW during 2012-2023," the researchers wrote.

1-800-QUIT-NOW, the national quit line, connects callers to state programs.

Now, with the CDC's tobacco office staff cut, the campaign may go off the air, a former employee said.

In 2023, the CDC gave more than $84 million to state health departments to run quit lines and help smokers quit. Thirteen states may lose at least 30% of their funding, and five statesConnecticut, New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginiarely on the CDC for at least 75% of their quit-line support, NBC News said.

"With 'Tips' not being on the air, fewer adults will quit," said a CDC employee who was fired last week and asked not to be identified.

"If we take our foot off the gas, what do we think will happen?" the employee said. "Tobacco use rates will increase among youth and fewer adults will quit. Because of that, people will die."

Other losses include research projects on tobacco use and the National Youth Tobacco Survey, which tracks smoking and vaping trends among teens. This survey first identified a spike in youth vaping in 2018.

Kevin Caron, another fired CDC employee, helped trace the deadly 2019 vaping outbreak to vitamin E acetate in fake THC vapes. He said at least five major research projects may end "unless people just independently decide in their free time that they're going to try to work on them."

Despite the cuts, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said tobacco efforts would continue and that the move was part of a larger plan to "streamline operations, enhance responsiveness to the American people, and ultimately improve the nation's health as part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative."

2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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Urothelium is the term for the mucous membrane that lines the urinary tract. This includes the renal pelvis, ureter, urinary bladder and the upper part of the urethra. In the vast majority of cases, urothelial carcinomas grow in the bladder (bladder carcinoma).

Since April 2022, enfortumab vedotin has been approved for the treatment of pretreated adults with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Since September 2024, enfortumab vedotin in combination with pembrolizumab has also been approved for the first-line treatment of unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined in a benefit assessment whether the drug combination offers an added benefit for these patients in comparison with the present standard treatment.

According to this assessment, the combination of enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab promises benefits in terms of overall survival, particularly for those patients with urothelial carcinoma for whom treatment with the platinum component cisplatin is unsuitable.

IQWiG sees a hint of major added benefit for this patient group. This is the first time that the Institute has awarded the label for the highest extent, i.e., "major," in this therapeutic indication.

There is also an added benefit for patients who are eligible for cisplatin-based therapy. However, this is not quantifiable.

Study results can be interpreted despite uncertainty

The manufacturer submitted data from an ongoing study including patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are eligible for platinum-containing chemotherapy. They were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to treatment with enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab or cisplatin plus gemcitabine (if cisplatin-based therapy was possible) or carboplatin plus gemcitabine (if cisplatin-based therapy was not possible).

According to the study design, no regular maintenance treatment with avelumab was planned in the comparator arm for patients who were progression-free following chemotherapy. However, maintenance therapy with avelumab is part of the standard treatment.

But the situation is not trivial: The study used for the assessment started in March 2020, at a time when avelumab had not yet been approved for maintenance therapy in this therapeutic indication.

Approval was only granted shortly after the start of the studyin June 2020 for the U.S. and in January 2021 for Europe. The manufacturer reacted to this development and adapted its study design to the effect that, although it did not add avelumab as part of the study medication, it explicitly described the possibility of maintenance therapy with local availability in the comparator arm.

For the assessment, the manufacturer additionally conducted so-called sensitivity analyses for the outcome of overall survival, which adequately addressed the lack of use of avelumab in some of the patients in the comparator arm. This enables the interpretation of the study results for the early benefit assessment of enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab.

Clear survival advantage

The advantage of treatment with enfortumab vedotin in combination with pembrolizumab becomes particularly clear in terms of overall survival: For patients with urothelial carcinoma for whom cisplatin-based therapy is not suitable, there is a clear advantage, also in all sensitivity analyses presented by the manufacturer. This means that this great advantage would also exist if avelumab had already been available at the start of the study.

In addition, there are advantages for individual outcomes of morbidity and health-related quality of life, as well as advantages, but also disadvantages, for specific side effects.

"For the first time, we have awarded a major added benefit to a drug combination in this therapeutic indication," explains Katrin Nink, Head of the Oncology Division (solid tumors) in IQWiG's Drug Assessment Department. The main decisive factor is the survival advantage for bladder cancer patients for whom cisplatin-based therapy is not an option."

The dossier assessment is part of the early benefit assessment according to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG) supervised by the G-BA. After publication of the dossier assessment, the G-BA conducts a commenting procedure and makes a final decision on the extent of the added benefit.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) collects user fees from drug and medical device companies to fund its work ensuring the safety of these products. Creating a similar program that collects fees from food companies could generate much-needed resources to strengthen the FDA's oversight of foods, according to a new legal and policy analysis published in the journal Health Affairs.

"The FDA is persistently understaffed and underfunded, hampering its ability to ensure the safety of our country's food supply," said Jennifer Pomeranz, associate professor of public health policy and management at NYU School of Global Public Health and the study's first author.

"A comprehensive user fee program for food could benefit the food industry and facilitate the FDA's review of products and ingredientsboth before and after they go to marketto improve public health."

An increasingly complex food landscape

The FDA is tasked with regulating roughly 78% of the US food supply, including packaged products, food additives, and infant formula. There are growing concerns about the FDA's lack of oversight of ingredients and chemicals added to food, including those often found in ultra-processed foods.

Food and color additives are regulated by the FDA; however, food companies can decide for themselves that their new ingredients are "generally recognized as safe," or GRAS. This is a loophole that allows new substances to be added to the food supply without government oversightand one which Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy recently instructed the FDA to review.

An analysis by the Environmental Working Group found that 99% of new ingredients are added to the food supply through this GRAS loophole.

"The sum effect is a food supply that is increasingly unsafe and unhealthy," said study author Emily Broad Leib, director of Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation and founding director of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic.

"The FDA needs additional resources to maintain the staff necessary for oversight of the large and growing number of additives and GRAS substances, and to close the GRAS loophole by requiring premarket notification of GRAS substances."

Fees for food?

The FDA primarily relies on appropriations from Congress to fund its food-related activities. In contrast, the agency collects user fees from other industries that it regulates. In 2022, user fees made up 66% of the $2.1 billion budget for regulating drugs and all of the $680 million tobacco budget, compared to only 1% of the $1.1 billion foods program budget.

Any new FDA user fee for food will have to be authorized by Congress. While industries have sometimes initially opposed user fees, they have eventually supported their use given the benefits and stability fees bring to the regulated industries. For example, user fees enable the FDA to more efficiently review applications for new drugs, allowing companies to go to market more quickly.

In the case of generic drugs, the annual number approved by the FDA more than doubled after user fees were implemented.

"For too long, the work and budget of the FDA has neglected foodswhich have far greater cumulative health benefits and harms for Americans' health than drugs," said study senior author Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food is Medicine Institute and distinguished professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

"It's time to put the 'F' back in FDA, with real resources designated by Congress, which could include a carefully crafted user fee program."

Before and after

The FDA's oversight of food ingredientsand timing for reviewing them, if at alldepends on the type of ingredient. For food and color additives, manufacturers are required to submit petitions to the FDA for approval before introducing them into the food supply. Yet the FDA does not have the staffing needed to quickly review them, often missing its own 180-day deadlines and resulting in a backlog of pre-market petitions.

With GRAS ingredients, companies can voluntarily submit a pre-market notification to the FDA, but even if the FDA takes issue with a GRAS claim, a company can withdraw its notification and still bring the product to market.

Alternatively, with the GRAS loophole, a company can just determine for itself that the ingredient is GRAS and add it to the food supply without any FDA oversight or public notification.

The FDA also has the authority to review the safety of ingredients after they are in the food supply, but these post-market reviews are also limited by insufficient resourcesoften completed decades after an ingredient's safety is called into question. For instance, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils were known to be harmful as early as 1993, but their GRAS status wasn't revoked until 2015, with implementation stalled until December 2023.

Earlier in 2025, the FDA banned the color additive Red No. 3 from foods, 35 years after the agency stopped allowing it in cosmetics, 31 years after Europe prohibited its use in nearly all foods, and two years after California took the matter into its own hands and enacted its own ban.

"These decades-long timelines starkly demonstrate the inefficiencies and lack of timeliness of the FDA's post-market review process," said Pomeranz.

"An increase in resources could support the FDA in both meeting deadlines for pre-market reviews and creating a more efficient and effective regulatory process for post-market reviews of substances in the food supply. But in the absence of Congress creating user fees or providing the FDA with a substantially increased budget, the food industry will continue to police itself."

While user fees could better fund the FDA's oversight of foods, the researchers note that the agency could benefit from additional authority to prevent unsafe ingredients from entering the food supply in the first place.

A starting place, according to their article, is to close the GRAS loophole by requiring companies to notify the FDA and submit data on all new ingredients before going to market, rather than permitting voluntary notifications. This could be done by FDA action or with a clearer mandate from Congress.

"These troubling gaps in FDA oversight are jeopardizing our health and well-being," said study author Sean Cash, the Bergstrom Foundation Professor in Global Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts.

"User fees can help provide the FDA with much-needed resources that can both make us safer and increase consumer trust in the U.S. food supply."

More information: Advancing The FDA's Human Foods Program Through Additional Authorities And User Fees, Health Affairs (2025). DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2024.01342 Journal information: Health Affairs
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Purple flags, representing the nearly 300 Mecklenburg County residents who died of opioid overdose in 2023, fluttered in the humid breeze last August in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day on the city's predominantly Black west side.

As recently as five years ago, the event might have attracted an overwhelmingly white crowd.

But the gathering on the last day of the month at the Valerie C. Woodard Community Resource Center drew large attendance from Black people eager to learn more about a crisis that now has them at the center.

In recent years, the rate of overdose deaths from opioidsoriginally dubbed "Hillbilly heroin" because of their almost exclusive misuse by white peoplehas grown significantly among Black people. This is largely due to the introduction of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times as powerful as morphine, which is often mixed into heroin and cocaine supplies and can be consumed unknowingly.

In North Carolina, Black people died from an overdose at the rate of 38.5 per 100,000 residents in 2021more than double the rate in 2019, according to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services data.

Terica Carter, founder of Hajee House Harm Reduction, a Charlotte-based nonprofit that co-organized the event with the county's public health office, has been working to change that statistic. Seven years ago, she founded Hajee House after the overdose death of her 18-year-old son, Tahajee, who took an unprescribed dose of Percocet that he didn't know was laced with fentanyl.

Her nonprofit has since focused on addressing a critical issue in the fight against the opioid epidemic: that resources, treatment, and policy prescriptions have not followed the surge in addiction and overdoses among Black people.

"Nobody was acknowledging it, and I felt so alone," Carter said. "That pushed me into not wanting anybody else to go through what I went through."

Hajee House seeks to fill the gaps in resources and information about opioid overdose, substance use, and treatment. It also provides syringes, safe-use toolkits, the overdose reversal drug naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and recovery referral servicesall in a familiar, neighborhood environment.

Despite efforts by groups like Hajee House, a lot of work remains in North Carolina. In 2019, for instance, white people accounted for 88% of those served by the opioid use prevention and treatment services, North Carolina Health News reported. Black people, meanwhile, made up about 24% of North Carolina's population but only 7.5% of those served by state assistance.

Nationally, Black people are half as likely as white people to be referred to or get treatmenteven after a nonfatal overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"If you are a Black person and have an opioid use disorder, you are likely to receive treatment five years later than if you're a white person," said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health. "Five years can make the difference between being alive or not."

According to the CDC, only one in 12 non-Hispanic Black people who died of an opioid overdose had been engaged in substance use treatment, while non-Hispanic white people were treated at nearly twice the rate. Even those who seek care are less likely to complete the program and have poorer outcomeswhich studies have linked to implicit bias and a lack of diversity and empathy for Black patients among treatment providers.

Daliah Heller, vice president of Drug Use Initiatives at Vital Strategies, a global health nonprofit, said she's troubled by the lack of equal access to the full range of medications for opioid use disorder, which is considered the gold standard for care.

Those medications have the potential to reduce overdose risk by half and double a patient's chances of entering long-term recovery. The FDA has approved three medications: buprenorphine and methadone, which are synthetic opioids that reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms, and naltrexone, a post-detox monthly injectable that blocks the effects of opioids.

Black people are overwhelmingly treated with methadone. While methadone patients stay in treatment at higher rates compared with those prescribed buprenorphine, they face significant drawbacks, including difficulty finding a clinic, waitlists, and a requirement to visit the clinic every day to receive the medication under the supervision of a practitioner.

Meanwhile, buprenorphine can be prescribed in an office setting and filled at the pharmacy. A University of Michigan study found that white patients received buprenorphine three to four times as often as Black patients due to geographical availability and ability to pay.

"When buprenorphine came online in the early 2000s, we thought we could integrate that treatment alongside health care, and you wouldn't need to go to a special program anymore," Heller said. "That didn't happen."

Edwin Chapman, who runs an addiction clinic in Washington, D.C., said he must overcome many prescribing challenges to effectively treat his mostly Black patient population.

"The insurance companies in many states put more restrictions on patients in an urban setting, such as requiring prior authorization for addiction treatment," Chapman said, speaking from his own experience working with patients.

"The dosing standards were based on the white population and people who were addicted to pills. Our surviving Black population often needs a higher dose of buprenorphine."

Heller said the lack of access to treatment is also driven by broader, systemic issues. She said many Black people fear that, by seeking social services, they might become ensnared in the criminal justice system and ultimately lose their employment, housing, or even custody of their children.

"Drug use occurs at the same levels across racial and ethnic groups, but Black Americans are more likely to be arrested and incarcerated on drug charges," Heller said. "The more hyper-criminalized experience levied against Black communities interferes with access to care."

All this is why there's an increasing need for nonprofits like Hajee House that can provide information and low-barrier access to services in the Black community, Carter said.

She credits the success of Hajee House to her personal connections and a keen understanding of the needs and cultural preferences of the Black community. When she holds overdose awareness events, for instance, she features cookouts, bouncy houses, and DJs to make them look more like block parties.

"We focus on making the events and outreach a comfortable, familiar environment for the Black community," Carter said. "We're Black, so we keep it Black."

2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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For patients with head and neck cancer (HNC), the incidence of radiotherapy-induced otitis media with effusion (RTOME) is associated with cancer type and radiation exposure to specific regions, according to a study published online March 29 in the Ear, Nose & Throat Journal.

Zhijin Han, from the Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of 1,046 patients with HNC who underwent radiotherapy between 2016 and 2023. The incidence of RTOME was examined across cancer types, and radiation exposure probabilities of different head and neck regions were compared for patients with and without RTOME.

The researchers found that the overall incidence of RTOME was 5.83% in patients with HNC. There was significant variation in incidence by cancer type, with the highest rate for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, followed by ocular and orbital cancers, nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancer, oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers, laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers, and thyroid cancers (17.40, 6.25, 4.35, 4.32, 0.32, and 0%, respectively).

Significantly higher radiation exposure frequencies were exhibited by patients with versus those without RTOME in five anatomic regions: the skull base and intracranial, parotid and periauricular, nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, nasopharynx, and parapharyngeal space.

"These findings have important clinical implications for radiotherapy planning and patient management," the authors write.

More information: Zhijin Han et al, Impact of Cancer Type and Anatomical Radiation Exposure on the Incidence of Radiotherapy-Induced Otitis Media with Effusion in Head and Neck Cancer Patients, Ear, Nose & Throat Journal (2025). DOI: 10.1177/01455613251329686

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Global burden of disease super-regions (GBDRs) and their testing capacity and vaccination status in 2020 and 2021. Credit: BMJ Open (2025). DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-090804

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical deficiencies in the global health system and provides important lessons to improve preparedness for future emergencies. A case in point is Latin America, where access to testing was constrained by affordability and poor infrastructure.

In recent months, three studies have converged to highlight critical vulnerabilities and lessons for global health resilience and equity. From diagnostic limitations in resource-limited settings to socioeconomic disparities in testing capacity, these findings underscore the need for collaborative and globally equitable health strategies.

Social inequality, in addition to wealth, constrains countries' ability to test

A socioeconomic study published in BMJ Open highlights how differences in wealth and governance affected global testing capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. By analyzing the relationship between laboratory testing capacity for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and socioeconomic factorsparticularly wealth, governance and social inequalityin 109 countries in 2020-2021, the study identifies potential determinants of global variation in testing capacity during the pandemic.

The analysis reveals stark contrasts in access to testing. "We found that socioeconomic and gender inequalities play a significant role in access to SARS-CoV-2 testing," says Prof. Felix Drexler of ChariteUniversitatsmedizin Berlin, lead author of all three studies. The study highlights the need for equitable access to health care and the urgent need to increase diagnostic capacity to contain the spread of pathogens and improve pandemic preparedness.

Systemic weaknesses in testing capacity and access to health care

The analysis also confirms the findings of a joint report by DZIF researchers and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), published in November 2024 by the EU-LAC Foundation, a joint foundation of the EU and its member states and the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries.

The report highlights systemic vulnerabilities uncovered by COVID-19 and calls for improved regional capacity for drug and vaccine production, as well as a more balanced intellectual property rights framework to foster innovation.

Major challenges in environments with limited resources

A third study, published in Health Policy in March 2025, also finds that diagnostic services are critical to the global response to COVID-19, but that they face significant challenges in low- and middle-income countries. The study evaluates COVID-19 diagnostics in 20 countries where DZIF scientists had established new tests in the field and trained laboratory staff during the pandemic. It finds that capacity building is hampered by expensive and difficult-to-access reagents, poor infrastructure and limited human resources.

The study concludes that increased and secure funding, a clear mandate from regional and national stakeholders, and strong integration of diagnostics are critical for pandemic preparedness. "Our collective findings underscore a call to action for sustained international cooperation, equitable distribution of resources, and resilient health systems," says Drexler, who is a scientist in the "Emerging Infections" research area at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF).

Highlighting the substantial research contributions of the DZIF beyond Germany and traditional laboratory-based research, including in collaboration with DZIF's African Partner Institutions, he adds, "Integrating these lessons will be essential to fostering a more inclusive global health landscape that is better prepared for future pandemics."

More information: Andres Moreira-Soto et al, Socioeconomic determinants potentially underlying differential global SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity: an ecological study, BMJ Open (2025). DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-090804 Shared Challenges, Shared Responsibilities: Lessons Learnt for EU-LAC Cooperation in Global Health. eulacfoundation.org/en/shared-  ration-global-health Andres Moreira-Soto et al, Strengthening diagnostic services in Latin America requires regional leadership, sustainable funding, and enhanced data sharing, Health Policy (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105287 Journal information: BMJ Open

Provided by Deutsches Zentrum fur Infektionsforschung
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The state Department of Public Health is "in communication" with Newton-Wellesley Hospital after a reported group of nurses were diagnosed with brain tumors.

The diagnosed nurses have worked at some point in the maternal care labor/delivery unit on the hospital's fifth floor, according to hospital officials.

As of last week, 11 staff members had been interviewed by the Mass General Brigham Occupational Health Service. Five cases were determined to be brain tumors of three different typesall of which were benign (non-cancerous). The only type of benign tumor that had more than one case was meningioma.

Six cases were determined to not be brain tumors, but rather other health concerns.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital officials have been assuring staff and patients that there's "no environmental risk" at the facility, while the Massachusetts Nurses Association said it's still investigating the situation.

On Monday, the Herald reached out to the state Department of Public Health about the reported cluster.

"The Department of Public Health is aware of this matter and is in communication with the hospital," DPH said in a statement. "The hospital is conducting an internal investigation."

Newton-Wellesley shared the findings of its investigation with DPH, according to a hospital spokesperson.

This situation at the Mass General Brigham facility was first reported by WBZ.

After hospital officials learned of the reported brain tumors, they conducted an investigation with the Department of Occupational Health and Safety, Newton-Wellesley Safety Officer, radiation and pharmaceutical safety offices, and external environmental consultants.

"The investigation found no environmental risks which could be linked to the development of a brain tumor," hospital officials said in a statement.

"Based on these results, we can confidently reassure our dedicated team members at Mass General Brigham/Newton-Wellesley Hospital and all our patients that there is no environmental risk at our facility," the officials added. "As always, the health and well-being of our staff, clinicians, and patients is our absolute top priority."

Staff members have raised several concerns about this cluster of cases. The hospital addressed questions about whether brain tumor cases can be related to: wearing masks during the pandemic, the drinking water, use of X-rays, the pharmacy on the floor below, cleaning products, past renovations, or mold.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association's division of health and safety, consisting of occupational health nurses, is investigating the situation.

"We do not have a specific number (of nurses) we are releasing now because we are still verifying diagnoses via medical records. We do not have a specific cause as we are still investigating," a spokesperson for the union said in a statement.

"We brought this to the hospital in December to urge an investigation by MGB," the union spokesperson added. "We have been in communication with NWH nurses about this regularly and specifically with nurses who are self-reporting."

The union spokesperson said the investigation is focused on the maternity unit, though they have reports from other areas as well.

"We are engaging with the hospital about their inquiry," the union spokesperson said. "They only spoke to a small number of nurses and their environmental testing was not comprehensive. The hospital cannot make this issue go away by attempting to provide a predetermined conclusion."

2025 MediaNews Group, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Cities and states fighting a historic measles outbreak find themselves undermined by the Trump administration as they struggle to provide crucial vaccinations and overcome disinformation. As of this week, cases were nearing 650 in 22 states, on track to reach a 34-year high.

A second unvaccinated child died of measles in West Texas last week. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended her funeral Sunday and called vaccination "the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles" in a social media post.

Yet, as experts have noted, Kennedy has promoted vaccine skepticism and pitched alternatives such as cod liver oil and vitamin A to prevent measlesneither of which works. A top vaccine expert working under Kennedy resigned in protest.

Abrupt cutoffs in federal funding under President Donald Trump have also crippled some state efforts to vaccinate people against measles and other diseases.

A third death in New Mexico, of an unvaccinated adult who tested positive for measles, remains under investigation. Before vaccination started in 1963, measles caused as many as 500 deaths a year in the United States.

The most important things states can do are providing vaccine clinics, testing quickly for measles, and tracing the contacts of people with identified cases, as well as fighting misinformation on vaccines, said Dr. Susan Kansagra, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

"Measles is one of the most contagious diseases, so one of the roles of public health is working to identify others that might have been exposed," Kansagra said of contract tracing.

Despite vaccines' effectiveness, recent federal funding halts have crippled state and local efforts to vaccinate more people, not only for measles, but also for this year's deadly influenza viruses and COVID-19. On April 3, a federal judge in Rhode Island agreed to temporarily block the Trump administration from pulling $11 billion in federal health grants from states after a court challenge by Democratic states.

But in the days before the judge's order, measles response plans came to a crashing halt in parts of Minnesota, Texas and Washington state when federal health grants were abruptly cut off. Dozens of free vaccination clinics in the Dallas area were canceled overnight. On March 24, Washington state was forced to cancel 104 upcoming "Care-a-Van" mobile clinics that would have provided 2,000 vaccinations against childhood diseases, including measles.

In Minnesota, where $220 million in previously approved federal health funding was cut off, the state announced layoffs on April 1, including some positions supporting measles vaccination and other disease responses. Minneapolis vaccination clinics were canceled on March 26.

"The sudden and unexpected action from the federal government left us with no choice" but to lay off workers, Minnesota health commissioner Dr. Brooke Cunningham said in a statement. "We are working now to figure out how much of this critical public health work we can save and continue."

Alarm among experts

Experts, regardless of political affiliation, have expressed alarm about federal moves to abandon support for vaccines. They include the nation's top vaccine expert at the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Peter Marks, who was appointed to the position in 2016.

In his resignation letter March 28, Marks said the measles outbreak "reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined." He accused Kennedy of seeking only "subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies" about vaccines in general.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner in the first Trump administration and is now a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the measles outbreak could easily worsen and cost the United States its "eliminated" status, which was declared in 2000 based on the "absence of the continuous spread" of the disease.

"I don't think we're headed into a good place," Gottlieb said, speaking March 31 on CNBC. "He [Kennedy] has been very focused on dismantling components of the vaccine enterprise in this country."

Measles is so contagious that it can spread to 90% of unvaccinated people near an infected person. The virus can linger in the air up to two hours after an infected person has coughed or sneezed. Symptoms of the disease include high fever, cough, runny nose and rash, leading to a severe lung infection. Rare severe cases can cause swelling of the brain and death. Measles is most dangerous for infants, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.

In Texas there are already signs that misinformation and vaccine skepticism may be feeding a rise in measles cases. The state had 499 cases as of April 6.

A Lubbock hospital reported that several unvaccinated children were treated for vitamin A toxicity, apparently in response to Kennedy's recommendations to take vitamin A and cod liver oil.

Dr. Ashish Jha, who worked on COVID-19 vaccine plans under the Biden administration, said vitamin A treatment is appropriate in parts of Africa where vitamin deficiency is a factor, but not often in the United States.

"In Texas and Louisiana and New Mexico and Ohio and Pennsylvania, where we're seeing a lot of these outbreaks, vitamin A is going to do very little for kids because they already have plenty of vitamin A," Jha said.

"Really, the only thing that helps is making sure you don't get measlesand the only way to do that is to be vaccinated," said Jha, who is now dean of Brown University's School of Public Health.

State responses

The current outbreak is on track to surpass 2019, when there were nearly 1,300 cases, and to be the worst year for measles since 1991 when there were more than 9,600 cases.

Local and state health officials in Texas also warned against "measles parties" where people try to expose themselves and their children to the disease hoping to gain immunity. Measles can cause severe complications and death even in otherwise healthy people, state officials warned.

New Mexico has opened 22 free walk-in measles vaccine clinics around the state, including two in Lea County, where most of the cases are located, near the Texas border. The state is also trying to head off more infections in Guadalupe and Valencia counties, where a traveler from Texas may have exposed people to measles in early March at a restaurant, hotel, church and travel center.

Funding cutbacks forced New Mexico to cancel contracts for vaccination outreach to potential clients in underserved communities, but the state has not interrupted its own public service messages or vaccine clinics, said New Mexico Department of Health spokesperson Robert Nott.

Kansas, where there are 24 known cases, recommended early vaccination for children in affected areasstarting at 6 months of age instead of the usual 1 year. The state also put doctors on alert to watch for symptoms such as fever and rash among unvaccinated people and offered expedited testing for suspected measles cases. Kentucky, with only one case, requires doctors to send such tests directly to the state for faster processing.

As in other states, almost all the Kansas cases are among unvaccinated people. Only one person with measles was fully vaccinated, and another case is not clear.

In Colorado, where the state's first case was reported March 31 in an unvaccinated Pueblo resident, state officials were already sending reminder texts and emails about vaccination to parents because of cases in nearby Texas and New Mexico. They also warned residents who may have been exposed at a restaurant and clinic in Pueblo and Pueblo West in March.

In New Mexico, there's been an encouraging increase in measles vaccinations since the outbreak, said Nott. There were almost 15,000 new vaccinations in February and March, up from about 8,200 in the same period last year, he said.

On April 2, New York state warned residents to get vaccinated before traveling to areas with measles outbreaks. In March, the Pan American Health Organization said measles outbreaks in North and South America could endanger the region's status as "measles-free."

Some states are working to locate people who, residents or not, may have exposed others while traveling. New Jersey has three cases among residents, all members of one family, but is seeking people exposed to measles by travelers on an Amtrak train, at Newark Liberty International Airport, in hospitals and at other places in March.

A March editorial in The Lancet, a medical journal, said the recent measles outbreaks "should be taken as a wake-up call" for more vaccinations.

"People should be encouraged to listen to factual scientific evidence and verified sources. Awareness of the safety of the measles vaccine needs to be spread to combat the viral misinformation against it," the editorial stated.

2025 States Newsroom. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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As many as one in 3,000 people could be carrying a faulty gene that significantly increases their risk of a punctured lung, according to new estimates from Cambridge researchers. Previous estimates had put this risk closer to one in 200,000 people.

The gene in question, FLCN, is linked to a condition known as Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome, symptoms of which include benign skin tumors, lung cysts, and an increased risk of kidney cancer.

In a study published in the journal Thorax, a team from the University of Cambridge examined data from UK Biobank, the 100,000 Genomes Project, and East London Genes & Healththree large genomic datasets encompassing more than 550,000 people.

They discovered that between one in 2,710 and one in 4,190 individuals carries the particular variant of FLCN that underlies Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome. But curiously, whereas patients with a diagnosis of Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome have a lifetime risk of punctured lung of 37%, in the wider cohort of carriers of the genetic mutation this was lower at 28%.

Even more striking, while patients with Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome have a 32% of developing kidney cancer, in the wider cohort this was only 1%.

Punctured lungknown as pneumothoraxis caused by an air leak in the lung, resulting in painful lung deflation and shortness of breath. Not every case of punctured lung is caused by a fault in the FLCN gene, however.

Around one in 200 tall, thin young men in their teens or early twenties will experience a punctured lung, and for many of them the condition will resolve itself, or doctors will remove air or fluid from their lungs while treating the individual as an outpatient; many will not even know they have the condition.

If an individual experiences a punctured lung and doesn't fit the common characteristicsfor example, if they are in their fortiesdoctors will look for tell-tale cysts in the lower lungs, visible on an MRI scan. If these are present, then the individual is likely to have Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome.

Professor Marciniak is a researcher at the University of Cambridge and an honorary consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. He co-leads the UK's first Familial Pneumothorax Rare Disease Collaborative Network, together with Professor Kevin Blyth at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and University of Glasgow.

The aim of the Network is to optimize the care and treatment of patients with rare, inherited forms of familial pneumothorax, and to support research into this condition.

Professor Marciniak said, "If an individual has Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome, then it's very important that we're able to diagnose it, because they and their family members may also be at risk of kidney cancer.

"The good news is that the punctured lung usually happens 10 to 20 years before the individual shows symptoms of kidney cancer, so we can keep an eye on them, screen them every year, and if we see the tumor it should still be early enough to cure it."

Professor Marciniak says he was surprised to discover that the risk of kidney cancer was so much lower in carriers of the faulty FLCN gene who have not been diagnosed with Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome.

"Even though we've always thought of Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome as being caused by a single faulty gene, there's clearly something else going on," Professor Marciniak said.

"The Birt-Hogg-Dube patients that we've been caring for and studying for the past couple of decades are not representative of when this gene is broken in the wider population. There must be something else about their genetic background that's interacting with the gene to cause the additional symptoms."

The finding raises the question of whether, if an individual is found to have a faulty FLCN gene, they should be offered screening for kidney cancer. However, Professor Marciniak does not believe this will be necessary.

"With increasing use of genetic testing, we will undoubtedly find more people with these mutations," he said, "but unless we see the other tell-tale signs of Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome, our study shows there's no reason to believe they'll have the same elevated cancer risk."

More information: Yngvadottir, B et al. Inherited predisposition to pneumothorax: Estimating the frequency of Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome from genomics and population cohorts, Thorax (2025). DOI: 10.1136/thorax-2024-221738 Journal information: Thorax
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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits University of Utah to discuss Utah's new fluoride ban and food additives legislation, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. Credit: AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. Kennedy said he's assembling a task force of health experts to study the issue and make new recommendations.

Also on Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reviewing "new scientific information" on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water. The EPA sets the maximum level allowed in public water systems.

Kennedy told The Associated Press of his plans after a news conference with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in Salt Lake City.

Kennedy cannot order communities to stop fluoridation, but he can direct the CDC to stop recommending it and work with the EPA to change the allowed amount.

Utah last month became the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, pushing past opposition from dentists and national health organizations who warned the move would disproportionately hurt low-income residents who can't afford regular dentist visits.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation barring cities and communities from deciding whether to add the cavity-preventing mineral to their drinking water. Water systems across the state must stop fluoridation by May 7.

Kennedy praised Utah for emerging as "the leader in making America healthy again." He was flanked by Utah legislative leaders and the sponsor of the state's fluoride law.

"I'm very, very proud of this state for being the first state to ban it, and I hope many more will," he said.

People protest before a press conference about Utah's new fluoride ban, food additives and SNAP funds legislation with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. Credit: AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak

Kennedy oversees the CDC, whose recommendations are widely followed but not mandatory. State and local governments decide whether to add fluoride to water and, if so, how muchas long as it doesn't exceed a maximum set by the EPA, which is currently 4 milligrams per liter.

Zeldin said his agency was launching a renewed examination of scientific studies on the potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water to help inform any changes to the national standards.

"When this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency's future steps," Zeldin said. "Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks, and we are committed to working alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment."

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the CDC. In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and in 1962 they set guidelines for how much should be added to water.

Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, has called fluoride a "dangerous neurotoxin" and said it has been associated with arthritis, bone breaks and thyroid disease. Some studies have suggested such links might exist, usually at higher-than-recommended fluoride levels, though some reviewers have questioned the quality of available evidence and said no definitive conclusions can be drawn.

In November, just days before the presidential election, Kennedy declared Donald Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day as president. That didn't happen, but Trump later picked Kennedy to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he has been expected to take some kind of action. Meanwhile, some localities have gone ahead with deciding whether to keep adding fluoride.

Related to all this: A massive round of staffing cuts last week across federal agencies included elimination of the CDC's 20-person Division of Oral Health. That office managed grants to local agencies to improve dental health and, in some cases, encourage fluoridation.

Fluoride can come from a number of sources, but drinking water is the main one for Americans, researchers say. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population gets fluoridated drinking water, according to CDC data. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water was long considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. assists in a demonstration as he visits the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Utah, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. Credit: AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak

About one-third of community water systems17,000 out of 51,000 across the U.S.fluoridated their water, according to a 2022 CDC analysis. The agency currently recommends 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water.

But over time, studies have documented potential problems. Too much fluoride has been associated with streaking or spots on teeth. Studies also have traced a link between excess fluoride and brain development.

A report last year by the federal government's National Toxicology Program, which summarized studies conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico, concluded that drinking water with more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per litermore than twice the recommended level in the U.S.was associated with lower IQs in kids.

The American Dental Association said decades of fluoride in drinking water have been shown to reduce tooth decay. The group said it was willing to help conduct high-quality studies to settle the issue.

"When government officials like Secretary Kennedy stand behind the commentary of misinformation and distrust peer-reviewed research, it is injurious to public health," said the association's president, Brett Kessler.

Utah Oral Health Coalition chairperson Lorna Koci said Monday that she hopes other states push back against the removal of fluoride and that Kennedy's visit to celebrate her state's fluoride ban underscores the political motivations of those who support it.

"This seems to be less about fluoride and more about power," Koci said.

 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A view of the Yangtze River's primary source, the Jangchu Diruk Glacier, in the Amdo section of the Three-River-Source National Park. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Three-River-Source National Park in Qinghai province has warned against illegal crossings, saying they harm the environment and pose serious safety risks to trespassers.

The park, which spans more than 190,000 square kilometers in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is home to unique wildlife and plays a crucial role in the region's ecological balance.

Recent reports of unauthorized crossing activities in the park have raised alarms, prompting officials to take action. The park administration has outlined a series of strict measures to prevent further damage to the park's natural resources and to ensure the safety of visitors.

Under the new regulations, anyone attempting to enter the park for crossing activities without prior approval from the management authority will face legal consequences. Offenders causing damage to the environment will be subjected to administrative penalties, and they will be required to restore the damaged areas at their own expense. In the event of significant destruction, offenders would face criminal charges.

The regulations also prohibit the publication of information or images related to the park without approval, targeting the spread of false information or the promotion of unauthorized travel routes that could harm the park's reputation.

Additionally, individuals or organizations responsible for accidents resulting from illegal crossings will be held fully accountable, and the offenders will have to bear any cost incurred by the authorities for any rescue operation.

To further enforce these measures, violators will be placed on a blacklist, and their names will be publicly listed on the park's official website. Authorities have vowed to increase patrols and take swift action against any illegal activities detected in the park.

On March 26, patrol officers intercepted an illegal crossing involving 25 people and 11 vehicles in the Hoh Xil area, a core area of the Three-River-Source National Park, according to Tenzin Tseten, head of the patrol team. The group, from Zhejiang province, had been attempting an adventure through the uninhabited region.

After traveling about 400 to 500 kilometers from Golmud over two days, the group reached an altitude of more than 4,900 meters. By that point, two-thirds of the members were suffering from altitude sickness.

For their safety, authorities escorted them on an 11-hour overnight journey to a lower elevation below 4,000 meters before handing them over to the management bureau in Hoh Xil.

"Many in the group regretted their decision after experiencing altitude sickness and severe weather conditions," Tenzin Tseten said.

Temperatures in Hoh Xil can drop below  30 C at night during this season. Tenzin Tseten warned that inexperienced tourists who venture into the area without proper preparation face extreme risks, and rescue operations are difficult.
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Impact of age, sex, and self-reported ethnicity. Credit: Cell (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.02.017

Researchers from the A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR GIS), together with collaborators from South Korea, Japan, Thailand, and India, have assembled the world's first Asian Immune Diversity Atlas (AIDA)a multi-national survey of human blood at single-cell resolution.

The landmark study, published in the journal Cell in March 2025, has the potential to advance Precision Medicine and empower the development of next-generation diagnostics and therapeutics tailored specifically for Asian populations.

The study of human immune cells provides critical insights into diagnosing, understanding, and treating infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders, and blood cancers. Clinically, immune cell proportions are already used to diagnose conditions like tuberculosis and leukemia.

Recent technological advances in single-cell genomics now allow researchers to analyze individual cells in unprecedented detail, enabling more precise diagnostics and targeted treatmentsfor example, distinguishing immune signatures associated with lupus or predicting responses of cancers to immunotherapy.

However, diagnostic approaches developed using data from one population, such as Europeans, often do not accurately translate to other populations, for example, Asians. Healthy immune baselines and disease risk factors can vary widely due to differences in age, sex, genetics, lifestyle, and environment. Historically, biomedical research has largely focused on European populations, underscoring the importance of creating tailored diagnostic criteria based on data from Asian populations.

Profiling Asia's immune diversity at single-cell resolution

To address this gap, the A*STAR GIS-led AIDA consortium profiled the healthy immune systems of diverse Asian populations. Using advanced single-cell genomics methods, the researchers analyzed over 1.2 million immune cells from blood samples of 625 healthy donors across five Asian countries. AIDA is a flagship project of the Asia network of the international Human Cell Atlas (HCA) consortium, which aims to create comprehensive reference maps of human cells to enhance disease diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment.

The AIDA team established healthy immune reference ranges for multiple Asian population groups, including Singaporean, Chinese, Malay, and Indian ethnicities. They assessed how factors like ethnicity, age, and sex influenced immune cell proportions and gene expression.

Population-specific and context-dependent eQTL effects. Credit: Cell (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.02.017

The results revealed that self-reported ethnicity contributes nearly as much as sex to variation in blood cell proportions, with significant differences also observed across ethnicities in age-related and sex-related cellular changes. Additionally, certain cell states and gene products showed 2- to 8-fold higher abundance in specific populations, providing insights which may help refine biomarkers for diagnosing diseases and predicting disease risks.

Further, the researchers identified molecular properties potentially unique to Asian populations, which could help us understand genetic causes of infectious and autoimmune diseases, as well as differences in disease susceptibility. The AIDA resource, available on the Chan Zuckerberg Cell by Gene website and the HCA Data Portal, offers a powerful reference for developing tailored diagnostic and therapeutic strategies better suited to Asian patients.

A landmark collaboration for precision health in Asia

The collaborative nature and significance of the AIDA project reflect the urgent need to expand biomedical research beyond traditionally studied populations.

Dr. Shyam Prabhakar, Associate Director at A*STAR GIS and senior author of the study, shared, "In the next phase of research, we are scaling up the AIDA resource, and extending our single-cell genomics analysis to Asian patients, including those in Singapore. We foresee that AIDA will empower the development of Precision Medicine efforts in Singapore, Asia, and beyond."

Dr. Jay Shin, Senior Group Leader at A*STAR GIS, Team Leader at RIKEN, Japan, and senior author of the study, said, "The AIDA resource is the fruit of a hugely enjoyable and collegial collaboration across the Human Cell Atlas Asia network, through which we brought together investigators from across Asia to lead and engage in world-leading research."

Dr. Park Woong-Yang, Director of Samsung Genome Institute, Samsung Medical Center in South Korea and senior author of the study, said, "Historically, most studies have focused on populations of European ancestries, and biomedical properties are less well-understood for non-European donors. We have demonstrated the importance of including diverse populations in biomedical research."

Dr. Alexandra-Chloe Villani, Institute Member of the Broad Institute, Assistant Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and author of the study, said, "This is a pivotal step towards the Human Cell Atlas mission of creating a comprehensive reference map of human cells to transform our understanding of health and disease and to drive major advances in health care and medicine worldwide. This groundbreaking study paves the way for the future development of diagnostics and therapies tailored to individual populations."

More information: Kian Hong Kock et al, Asian diversity in human immune cells, Cell (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.02.017 Journal information: Cell
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The measles outbreak that began in West Texas more than two months ago could continue spreading and growing for months to come, according to health experts.

The outbreak has already caused the state to report more measles cases in the first few months of this year than in any full year since 1992. There have been 481 cases reported in Texas alone, as of Friday, plus dozens of additional cases in two neighboring states.

Health officials have also reported the deaths of two unvaccinated children.

It's difficult to predict how long the outbreak could last, health experts said. But Lubbock's public health director, Katherine Wells, worries it could be many more months still.

"I'm really thinking this is going to be a year-long in order to  get through this entire outbreak," Wells said in a mid-March news briefing.

Other health experts, while hesitant to give an exact timeframe, agreed the outbreak still has a long time left.

"I don't think this thing is anywhere near over yet," said Dr. Greg Poland, a vaccinologist, in late March.

Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000. The World Health Organization defines measles elimination as the "absence of endemic measles transmission" for at least 12 months. That means the U.S. could lose its elimination status if a measles outbreak lasts longer than a year.

"We are almost certainly going to lose that," Poland said. "In that sense, from a public health view, we are going backwards. And that will hurt people."

A 'continuing engine of cases'

Measles is among the most contagious illnesses in the world, and it spreads rapidly among unvaccinated people. That makes it difficult to contain once it takes hold in communities with low vaccination rates.

Amy Winter, an assistant professor at the University of Georgia's College of Public Health, said in a news briefing that a measles outbreak can infect up to 95% of a susceptibleor unvaccinatedpopulation.

"It can be very, very large," Winter said.

Dr. Simbo Ige, the commissioner of the city of Chicago's public health department, put it another way: the outbreak will continue to grow as long as there are unvaccinated people in its path.

"As long as we continue to have a pool of unvaccinated people, it will continue to spread," Ige said. "It's very hard to say it has peaked unless you have successfully vaccinated everyone who is unvaccinated."

The exact length of a measles outbreak is difficult to predict ahead of time, multiple health experts said.

It depends on how many unvaccinated people decide to get vaccinated, and on how much infected people travel or interact with others while they're contagious.

In the case of Texas' outbreak, Poland pointed to fierce anti-vaccine advocatessuch as Fort Worth's Mercy Culture Church, whose pastor recently celebrated its school's low vaccination ratesas a "continuing engine for cases."

The length of the outbreak is extended by about two weeks each time a state reports a new case, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and the dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine. That lag is due to the incubation period of the virus.

Both Poland and Hotez said they're worried the Texas outbreakwhich has already spread to three statescould spread further to states with low vaccination rates.

Hotez pointed specifically to Idaho. For the 2023-24 school year, Idaho was the state with the lowest rate of kindergartners fully vaccinated against measles, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"If it starts going north, the biggest worry of all is that it hits Idaho," Hotez said. "And it'll just rip through Idaho, so that that could give it new life as well."

The only way to truly stop the outbreak is to increase vaccination rates, multiple public health experts said.

"The measles vaccine is safe, it's effective, and measles transmission in the United States is driven by failure to vaccinate," Winter said.

Threat to elimination status

The fight against measles in the U.S. was won, for all intents and purposes, a quarter century ago.

High vaccination rates stemmed the virus' spread and led to the elimination the illness. There continued to be outbreaks and individual cases, but not widespread illness or infections.

The country came close to losing its elimination status in 2019, when a large measles outbreak took hold in two Orthodox Jewish communities in New York. Those two outbreaks, which were related to each other, totaled more than 1,100 cases over the course of 2018 and 2019.

Health experts don't yet know if the outbreak that began in Texas will eventually lead to the country losing its elimination status.

But it's a possibility, said Dr. William Moss, the executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins, in a mid-March news briefing.

"It's hard to say right now whether this outbreak is going to continue for 12 months," Moss said. "But it does remain a threat, and we potentially could lose our measles elimination status if this continues the way it has."

Health officials and experts have stressed vaccination is the best defense against measles. The two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is 97% effective at preventing illness.

The vaccine is recommended for nearly everyone, beginning with babies at about 12 months of age. People who are pregnant and immunocompromised are not advised to take the vaccine.

2025 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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A vial of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is on display at the Lubbock Health Department Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. Credit: AP Photo/Mary Conlon, File

A day care facility in a Texas county that's part of the measles outbreak has multiple cases, including children too young to be fully vaccinated, public health officials say.

West Texas is in the middle of a still-growing measles outbreak with 505 cases reported on Tuesday. The state expanded the number of counties in the outbreak area this week to 10. The highly contagious virus began to spread in late January and health officials say it has spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico.

Three people who were unvaccinated have died from measles-related illnesses this year, including two elementary school-aged children in Texas. The second child died Thursday at a Lubbock hospital, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended the funeral in Seminole, the epicenter of the outbreak.

As of Friday, there were seven cases at a day care where one young child who was infectious gave it to two other children before it spread to other classrooms, Lubbock Public Health director Katherine Wells said.

"Measles is so contagious I won't be surprised if it enters other facilities," Wells said.

There are more than 200 children at the day care, Wells said, and most have had least one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, which is first recommended between 12 and 15 months old and a second shot between 4 and 6 years old.

"We do have some children that have only received one dose that are now infected," she said.

The public health department is recommending that any child with only one vaccine get their second dose early, and changed its recommendation for kids in Lubbock County to get the first vaccine dose at 6 months old instead of 1. A child who is unvaccinated and attends the day care must stay home for 21 days since their last exposure, Wells said.

Case count and hospitalization numbers in Texas have climbed steadily since the outbreak began, and spiked by 81 cases from March 28 to April 4.

On Tuesday, the state added another 24 cases to its count and two additional counties, Borden and Randall. One more person was hospitalized since Friday, with 57 total.

Gaines County, where the virus has been spreading through a close-knit Mennonite community, has the majority of cases, with 328 on Tuesday. Neighboring Terry County is second with 46, followed by Lubbock County with 36.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met with Texas officials Monday to determine how many people it would send to West Texas to assist with the outbreak response, spokesman Jason McDonald said Monday. He expected a small team to arrive later this week, followed by a bigger group on the ground next week.

The CDC said its first team was in the region from early March to April 1, withdrawing on-the-ground support days before a second child died in the outbreak.

 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A Cleveland Clinic-led clinical trial of tolebrutinib, an investigational oral Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor, a group of drugs originally developed to treat lymphomas and related blood disorders, demonstrated a 31% delay in the onset of six-month confirmed disability progression (CDP) in patients with non-relapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS).

The first results of the Phase III HERCULES trial were published online in the New England Journal of Medicine and were simultaneously presented during a clinical trials plenary session at the American Academy of Neurology 2025 Annual Meeting in San Diego, and suggest that tolebrutinib is an effective treatment for non-active SPMS, a form of the disease for which there are currently no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatments.

"This is the first clinical trial showing a positive effect in delaying disability progression in non-relapsing SPMS, a later form of the disease where neurological function gradually worsens over time and disability increases relentlessly," said Robert Fox, M.D., the paper's lead author, chair of the HERCULES Global Steering Committee and a neurologist at the Mellen Center for MS Research and Treatment at Cleveland Clinic.

"The findings demonstrate the drug's impact on chronic neuroinflammation in the central nervous system, a key driver of this gradual disability observed in SPMS," said Dr. Fox.

"The drug offers the potential for a new class of medications for the treatment of MS, the leading cause of non-traumatic disability in young adults."

While topline results of HERCULES were first presented at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) meeting last September, the peer-reviewed paper offers new insights into the drug's efficacy and safety profile.

Between Oct. 23, 2020, and Jan. 12, 2023, the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial enrolled 1,131 patients aged 1860 at 264 sites across 31 countries. Patients with documented disability progression in the 12 months prior to screening and who had no clinical relapses in the 24 months before screening were randomly assigned at a 2:1 ratio to receive 60 mg oral tolebrutinib or a matching placebo tablet.

For the primary endpoint, the cumulative incidence of six-month confirmed disability progression was 22.6% in the tolebrutinib group versus 30.7% in the placebo group, which was a 31% reduction with tolebrutinib compared to placebo. In addition, the drug demonstrated a positive effect across several of its secondary endpoints in disability progression and MRI-related measures:

A similar degree of risk reduction was observed in the time to three-month confirmed disability progression.

A higher proportion of patients achieved improvement in disability with therapy, with a six-month confirmed disability improvement rate of 8.6% versus 4.5% with placebo.

Measures of three-month sustained 20% increase in the timed 25-foot walk test favored tolebrutinib, but three-month sustained 20% increase in nine-hole peg test was not impacted by tolebrutinib. In clinical trials of MS, these are standard tests used to measure walking ability and upper limb dexterity, respectively.

The mean annualized rate of new and/or enlarging T2-weighted lesions, a test used to measure disease activity, including inflammation and tissue damage, was reduced with tolebrutinib compared with placebo.

Adverse event rates were broadly comparable between the tolebrutinib and placebo groups, although serious adverse events were more frequent with tolebrutinib. Levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), an enzyme reflecting liver injury, above three times the upper limit of normal (ULN) were observed in 4% of tolebrutinib recipients versus 1.6% of placebo recipients over the course of the trial.

ALT level increases above 20 times ULN were reported in 0.5% of tolebrutinib recipients versus 0% of placebo recipients, and one patient treated with tolebrutinib died of complications related to liver failure. Notably, all cases of severe ALT elevation occurred within 90 days of treatment initiation.

Tolebrutinib is currently under review by the FDA. "If approved, the drug will likely require intensive monitoring of liver function enzymes during the first three months of therapy, with less frequent monitoring thereafter," says Dr. Fox.

"It appears that about one in 200 patients will have severe elevation of liver enzymes during the first three months of use, so careful monitoring is important, and the drug should be stopped immediately in those with liver enzyme elevations."

More information: Tolebrutinib in Non-Relapsing Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, New England Journal of Medicine (2025). Journal information: New England Journal of Medicine
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Tick sightings are on the rise in Western Washington, according to research conducted by a University of Washington master's degree student.

Thanks to that same student, there's now a system to help track where people are encountering ticks on trails across the state.

According to an April 7 news release from the Washington Trails Association, UW Master of Public Health student Alex Eisen worked with the state Department of Health to evaluate WTA's trip reports to help determine where people are seeing ticks in Washington.

This led to Eisen and DOH developing a code to automate the process of reviewing trip report data for tick sightings.

"WTA's trip reports help hikers know what conditions are like on trails across the state," according to the news release. "Daily, members of the public write about what they saw on trail, from trees being down to how bad the bugs were. Oftenespecially in the springthey note whether they encountered ticks."

According to the release, Eisen wondered whether trip report data could be used to help better understand the spread of tick species that could carry diseases such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

She was also curious whether there was a correlation between former wildfire perimeters and tick habitat, since the first thing to grow back after a wildfire is often brushy or light woody vegetation. That's the prime environment for ticks to thrive in, according to experts.

Eisen created the tool for DOH last year as part of her degree program. It evaluates WTA trip reports for mentions of ticks and which trail they were on, and compares tick presence year over year since 1998, the beginning of WTA's digital trip report archive.

Eisen's research didn't determine a definitive connection between wildfires and tick habitat, but it did track an apparently growing presence of ticks in Washington.

"This could be partially due to an increase in trip reporting, as the number of trip reports increased as the internet became more commonly used," according to the release. "But tick habitat is also spreading."

Ticks have been spotted in more parts of Washington in recent years; recent trip reports document sightings in the Issaquah Alps, the Yelm-Tenino area, and the Olympic Peninsula.

A rise in tick sightings has public health implications, according to the release. As tick habitat changes, people previously less used to recreating in tick country may be unsure how to prevent tick bites and associated diseases if they encounter a tick on a trail. Knowing where that is happening helps focus the Department of Health's educational efforts.

This year, DOH is increasing tick surveillance in Island and Kittitas counties due to a lack of information in those areas about western black-legged ticks, which can carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease as well as other pathogens.

"One of the best ways to prevent tick-borne diseases is to know where and when to expect ticks and then take steps to reduce your exposure, like applying an EPA-registered tick repellent to exposed skin and performing thorough tick checks after outdoor activities," Dr. Hanna Oltean, senior epidemiologist at WA DOH, said in the release.

"Reports from hikers help us at DOH understand tick distribution in Washington and get the message out."

Members of the public are encouraged to write trip reports if they encounter ticks on their hikes at wta.org or on WTA's app.

The Department of Health can also receive online tick encounter reports and identify ticks if they are sent in, though ticks are not tested for the presence of pathogens.

2025 The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Melbourne researchers have developed a world-first scale to measure gender euphoria among trans adolescents and adults. And the new tool to assess gender euphoria, a feeling of joy in how a person's gender identity is presented and perceived, could have significant implications for mental health interventions.

The research, led by Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and Swinburne University of Technology in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, found the tool was reliable and consistent in measuring gender euphoria, making it highly valuable to clinicians and researchers.

MCRI and Swinburne University researcher Charlotte Blacklock said the tool had the potential to significantly advance our understanding of positive gender-related experiences.

"We have created the first ever scale to assess gender euphoria, a concept that arose from within the trans community to describe positive feelings associated with being trans," she said. Despite its importance within the trans population, there had been no consistent, valid or reliable way of measuring gender euphoria.

"There is growing recognition of the need to broaden understandings of gender diversity by exploring and highlighting the joyful aspects of trans people's lives."

Published in the International Journal of Transgender Health, the research involved 732 trans participants, aged 16 to 70 years in Australia, from the TRANSform study. Participants were asked a series of questions related to their past experiences of gender euphoria.

Almost all respondents, 96.6%, had experienced gender euphoria, 61.6% experienced gender euphoria weekly or daily and 85.6% rated their gender euphoria as being from moderate to very strong over the past year.

MCRI Associate Professor Ken Pang said he expected the scale, which could help reshape mental health interventions for the trans community, to be used in clinical care moving forward.

The tool consists of three subscales covering social affirmation, self-affirmation, and community connection.

"The scale may assist mental health workers and clinicians with helping trans patients to experience gender euphoria rather than focusing primarily on avoiding dysphoria," he said. Identifying experiences that lead to gender euphoria could highlight pathways for interventions that improve mental health and facilitate positive gender experiences."

More information: Charlotte A. Blacklock et al, The Gender Euphoria Scale (GES): development of a tool to measure gender euphoria, International Journal of Transgender Health (2025). DOI: 10.1080/26895269.2024.2447768
In a significant boost for pedestrian rights, the Bombay High Court has delivered a stern rebuke to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), directing it to uphold its statutory obligations to ensure safe and obstruction-free footpaths in the city. The order comes in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by civic activist Qaneez Sukhrani.

In an order issued last week, the division bench of chief justice Alok Aradhe and justice MS Karnik unequivocally stated, "There cannot be any doubt that it is the statutory responsibility of the PMC in the matter of urban planning and execution of development plans to provide for the basic facilities to the pedestrians to move freely, have a safe passage on the footpaths and pedestrian crossings and to take all possible measures to make the footpaths safe for the pedestrians."

In the PIL, Ms Sukhrani cited rampant encroachments, obstructions and even life-threatening installations on footpaths across Pune. The PIL was prompted by recurring violations and tragic incidents, including a recent fatal electrocution in Balewadi allegedly due to exposed electrical fuse boxes on pavements.

While PMC claimed that the fuse boxes belonged to the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) and had existed for over 30 years, the High Court firmly rejected the argument.

"We do not appreciate this stand of the Corporation," the bench says. "The safety of the pedestrians using footpaths cannot be compromised. Only because installation of fuse boxes at common places such as the footpath is preferred by electricity companies for smooth functioning of their service, cannot be a valid ground to deprive the right of pedestrians."

The Court further directed the PMC to ensure the relocation of all obstructions, including fuse boxes and emphasised the need for user-friendly footpaths accessible to senior citizens and the differently abled.

"We make it clear that the area designated as a footpath must be kept clear from all obstructions and maintained in a condition that is user-friendly to the pedestrians," the judges ruled.

In a significant step towards institutional accountability, the Court also ordered the establishment of a grievance redressal mechanism. PMC must evolve a system that allows the public to easily report footpath-related issues and respond with prompt corrective action.

The order mandates wide publicity of this mechanism in all major newspapers and the appointment of dedicated officials to attend to complaints.

Commenting on the HC order, Ms Sukhrani says, "Even though PMC says that construction of footpaths is according to Indian Roads Congress (IRC) norms 103 of 2012 and pedestrian policy, majority of places, it is not. Even if it is, misuse after construction by encroachers and obstructions is of prime importance."

Advocate Satya Muley, who represented Ms Sukhrani, called the court order 'a welcome and necessary intervention'.

"People in Pune are forced to come on the streets or seek legal remedies for basic amenities like footpaths, water, and sanitation. This reflects a complete collapse of municipal administration," advocate Muley says.

He warned that failure by PMC to implement the order may prompt future legal action.

The Court reminded PMC of its constitutional duties under Article 243(W) and Schedule XII of the Indian Constitution which obligate local bodies to develop civic infrastructure ensuring pedestrian mobility through footpaths, subways, zebra crossings and more.
At the grandly titled Start-up Mahakumbh last week, Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal delivered yet another controversial speechone that swiftly turned into a lightning rod for criticism. This was not his first public takedown of Indian business or entrepreneurship; but the backlash this time was particularly swift, sharp and widespread. His comments on Indian start-ups being overly focused on food delivery, e-commerce, and even vegan ventures rather than advanced technology like semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) raised eyebrows and hackles in equal measureespecially when juxtaposed with the harsh realities entrepreneurs face while navigating Indias policy and regulatory landscape.

The ministers controversial remarks remind us of his August 2021 broadside, when he accused Indian corporate giants, including the Tata group, of putting profits above national interest and attempting to bypass local laws. That speech triggered such a backlash that the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) pulled down video links of the event shared with journalists. This time, too, the fallout was significant.

On 4th April, the minister shared a slide titled India vs China, forwarded to him by someone, comparing the focus of start-ups in both countries. It was enough for him to launch into a tirade against Indian start-ups for allegedly prioritising food delivery and e-commerce over more serious technological pursuits like semiconductors and AI. What should India do? Make ice cream or semiconductor chips? he asked. Interestingly, this controversial line is missing from the PIB release of his speech.

The ministers attack was perhaps the best thing to have happened for start-ups. It evoked a sharp reaction with the strongest pushback coming from within the larger pro-BJP ecosystem. TV Mohandas Pai, former chief finance officer (CFO) of Infosys and a vocal supporter of the government, called out the unfair criticism. Others pointed to the persistent structural hurdles that the start-up ecosystem facesranging from red tape and corruption to harassment from tax authorities and regulatory opacity.

At a time when the world is bracing itself for the long-term impact of the trade wars unleashed by president Donald Trump and heads of forward-thinking nations like Singapore are addressing citizens to prepare them for tough times, hopefully, India will respond to the avalanche of criticism from genuine entrepreneurs.

So lets start by examining the possible inspiration behind Mr Goyals speech. Here is a post of Satyamurthy Nageswaran ( https://x.com/satya_murthy ) of 31st March with an image that has the exact elements and title referred to by the minister which framed the comparison as a Startup Reality Checkit was not a takedown.

Mr Satyamurthy noted that India lags China by a decade in terms of economic development and innovation infrastructure. He rightly argued that India must first address foundational issuescapital access, talent development and ecosystem supportbefore chasing deep-tech dreams.

India is 10 years behind China in terms of economic development and entrepreneurship. We need to solve ecosystem problems first before we leap towards futuristic technologies, he wrote. This is largely due to a decade-long gap in economic development and a weaker foundation for innovation. Also, China has leveraged merit-based systems, substantial capital and layered growthstarting with hardware and scaling to deep tech, while India struggles with limited local funding. China made merit-based appointments, India hires policymakers on the basis of nepotistic policies, he wrote; also, while Indias potential is undeniable, it must prioritise fixing structural issues before chasing the cutting edge. In effect, the buck stopped with the government. Meanwhile the start-up eco-system has managed to do what the government could not  provide jobs to millions of unemployed youth.

Another X post on 31st March by @sachinsharmage compared India and China. It highlighted Chinas systemic advantages: a more established eco-system, government-backed domestic venture capital providing greater stability, a deeper domestic footprint and layered support for innovation and larger global footprint.

In contrast, Indias start-up energy flows largely from private capital, often international. While India enjoys a more open regulatory environment and platforms like Startup India and Digital India have helped, Chinas more closed approach often doubles up as a protective shield for domestic players. Consequently, Indias top sector in the start-up world was e-commerce, while it was AI for China.

Were these thoughtful comparisons meant as a wake-up call to the government before the Mahakumbh to create the right eco-system with genuine ease of doing business and predictable policies so that start-ups could focus on deep technological innovation? If so, Mr Goyal missed the message entirely. Instead, his speech exposed a deep disconnect between governments flimsy understanding, its adversarial attitude and the actual lived experiences of Indias entrepreneurs.

Thanks to social media, the reactions were fast, furious and eye-opening.

AaditPalicha, CEO of Zepto, was quick to point out that consumer start-ups like his had created 150,000 jobs, paid over Rs1,000 crore in taxes and attracted over US$1bn (billion) in foreign direct investment (FDI)without the benefit of the kind of deep-tech ecosystem China enjoys. While these may not be cutting-edge tech jobs, they provide steady incomes and uplift family economiesit is no small feat in a country grappling with unemployment. Others chimed in to describe the hostile environment in which they operate. Chartered accountant Nikhil Vadia noted that approvals still require red tape and bribes. Mohandas Pai was even more direct , asking what Mr Goyal himself had done to support deep-tech innovation. He listed structural challenges: the Angel Tax, restrictions on institutional investments, Reserve Bank of Indias (RBIs) harsh treatment of foreign investors and alternative investment funds (AIFs) and the unfriendly stance of the finance ministry towards start-ups.

Perhaps the most compelling rebuttal came from Murtaza Amin, a semiconductor start-up founder in Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh). In an open letter posted on Reddit, he said, "Piyush, I heard that you ranted that no one is doing semiconductors. Well I am, now you hear my rant!He revealed how his application had languished with Mr Goyals ministry for two years before being returned with a note asking for additional documents. Within hours of the rejection, a facilitator offered guaranteed results if he used their service to prepare documents. Thanks to Indian tax laws, he pays 2X the amount (compared to my competitors outside India) for importing computer resources in addition to corruption, frequent power cuts, harassment by officials and the constant threat of potential harassment for speaking up.

This is not an isolated story. Corruption and harassment by government agencies is among the biggest problems faced by Indian entrepreneurs and this has only increased. For all the talk of a start-up ecosystem, entrepreneurs say they survive despite the governmentnot because of it. The India Business Corruption Survey 2024 found that 66% of businesses admitted to paying bribes and 54% reported coercion for approvals and licences. This is in addition to endless harassment over and ever-changing compliances imposed by a multitude of regulatory agencies.

Government Response

Faced with this deluge of criticism, Mr Goyal announced a nationwide helpline for start-ups to report red tape, pitch policy tweaks and raise concerns about regulatory blind spots. While welcome in theory, the promise needs to be tested. India's experience with feedback and pitching concerns, even through formal, apolitical, not-for-profit bodieshas been disheartening. Government departments and regulators simply ignore such communications. One needs to file a Right to Information (RTI) application to track action, if any. This, too, is losing its impact since the RTI Act has been systematically weakened.

If Mr Goyal's intent was to spark introspection, perhaps it workedbut not in the way he planned. His remarks have reignited an important debate about what truly ails Indias start-up ecosystem or Indian enterprise system. And the answer, clearly, lies not in the ambitions of young entrepreneurs but in the apathy, inefficiency and often hostility of those in power.

Delighted to visit the STARTUP MAHAKUMBH today!



This first-of-its-kind event brings together Indias startup ecosystem. An event converging innovation, entrepreneurship & technology, making it a MUST-VISIT for all aspiring entrepreneurs & innovators.



March 18th-20th, 2024 pic.twitter.com/uEPIqvXeDe  Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) March 18, 2024
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs1 lakh on Nashik, Maharashtra-based Shri Ganesh Sahakari Bank Ltd for contravention of the provisions of Section 26A of the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act) and non-compliance with directions issued on know-your-customer (KYC).

The statutory inspection of Shri Ganesh Sahakari Bank revealed several compliance lapses. The lender failed to transfer eligible unclaimed amounts to the depositor education and awareness fund (DEA Fund) within the prescribed timeframe. Additionally, the Bank did not carry out periodic KYC updates for its customers as required, nor did it review the risk categorisation of all accounts at least once every six months, as mandated.

After considering the lenders reply to the notice, oral submissions made during the personal hearing and examination of additional submissions made by it, RBI says the charges against Shri Ganesh Sahakari Bank are sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty.

However, the banking regulator clarified that its action against Shri Ganesh Sahakari Bank is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce on the validity of any transactions or agreements entered into by the Bank with its customers. Further, imposition of a monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated against the Bank, RBI added.
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs7 lakh on Reliance Securities Ltd following a comprehensive inspection that revealed multiple regulatory violations. The penalty is primarily levied by SEBI on Reliance Securities for non-settlement of client funds, inaccurate regulatory reporting and non-compliance with key cybersecurity requirements.

In an order, Amit Kapoor, adjudicating officer (AO) of SEBI, stated, Reliance Securities, being a registered intermediary, is expected to take the statutory compliances seriously and take extra care to maintain a high degree of professionalism in the conduct of their business. Therefore, violations, as established, do attract imposition of suitable penalty.

SEBI's inspection, conducted from 22 December 2022 to 24 January 2023, found that Reliance Securities had failed to settle client funds every quarter for inactive clients in 122 out of 127 cases between April and June 2021, involving Rs24.92 lakh. Further, from September 2021 onwards, the broker did not settle funds for clients who had been inactive for 30 days in over 10,000 instances, amounting to Rs28.52 crore. Although the broker claimed that settlements were eventually made or funds were held separately due to invalid bank details, SEBI found that the actions were reactive and not part of regular compliance.

Additional violations included incorrect reporting of client data. In four cases, a clients permanent account number (PAN) was mistakenly tagged under the brokers proprietary account and in two instances, sold securities were inaccurately reflected in holding reports. Though the broker corrected the errors the next working day, the violation stood established.

Margin reporting errors by Reliance Securities also came under SEBI scrutiny. The market regulator noted discrepancies amounting to Rs93,262 across three client codes, and the brokers explanations were contradictory and unsupported by documentation. Furthermore, the broker breached client and overall exposure limits in multiple instances, violating Clauses 14 and 17 of SEBI Circular CIR/MRD/DP/54/2017. Although the broker argued that adequate margins backed these exposures, SEBI observed insufficient supporting evidence.

Reliance Securities also failed to maintain proper records of client order placements. In one instance, the firm submitted a transcript that lacked both timestamps and supporting audio evidence, making it unverifiable. Additionally, SEBI found that the broker had not updated investor complaint data on its website beyond September 2022, despite regulations requiring such disclosures to be made by the 7th of each month.

The broker also submitted inaccurate data to stock exchanges, including incorrect client-level cash, margin and bank account balances. These inaccuracies ranged from Rs1 lakh to Rs54 crore and were admitted by the broker, citing technical issues. Additionally, a significant under-reporting of client funds was detected. While Rs16.13 crore was reported as held in client bank accounts and clearing corporations, SEBI found that Rs312.57 crore was omitted, violating Clause 6.1.1.e of SEBIs Risk-Based Supervision framework.

In a separate finding, Reliance Securities was found to have offered loans with interest, which SEBI deemed an engagement in non-securities business. This contravened Rule 8(3)(f) of the Securities Contract Regulations Rules, 1957. The broker argued these were temporary advances from its funds, but SEBI rejected the explanation as the loans were repaid during the inspection period.

SEBI also flagged the improper passing of upfront margin shortfall penalties to clients, totalling Rs2.86 lakh. The broker failed to refund these penalties, despite SEBIs clear guidelines that prohibit brokers from passing such charges to clients. Reliance Securities argument that the shortfalls arose after trades were placed was not backed by adequate documentation, thus violating Regulation 9(b) and Clause A(5) of the Code of Conduct under the Stock Broker Regulations.

Further, Reliance Securities was found to have misreported margin and ledger balances in daily client statements, with errors totalling Rs1.87 crore in margin details and Rs3.11 crore in one ledger balance.

On the cybersecurity front, SEBI found repeated adverse remarks in Reliance Securities audit reports between April 2021 and September 2022. These pertained to non-compliance with standardisation testing and quality certification (STQC) requirements. While the broker later claimed that the products were customised and not off-the-shelf, this contradicted earlier responses and was unsupported by evidence. Hence, SEBI held the violation to be established.
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U.S. President Donald Trump surprised many on Monday by announcing direct, high-level talks between the United States and Iran over the latter's nuclear program.

The announcement came during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

"We're having direct talks with Iran," Trump said. "It's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully, those talks will be successful."

He also disclosed that a "very big meeting" involving "very high-level" officials would be taking place this Saturday.

Trump's announced came after months of increasing pressure on Iran, including tougher sanctions on oil exports and threats of military action, while Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ruled out direct talks with the United States so long as Trump kept his "maximum pressure" policy in place.

"I think everyone agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it," Trump said, speaking in the Oval Office alongside Netanyahu.

"So we're going to see if we can avoid it. But it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Iran's best interest if they are successful."

Monday's announcement sparked mixed reactions.

Netanyahu, present at the announcement, expressed skepticism about the talks. The Times of Israel cited his words as reporting "if it fully stops Iran nukes, that'd be a good thing."

Iran has not yet confirmed its participation in the talks.
Former United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary General Cleophas Malalah has launched a scathing critique of President William Ruto, questioning what kind of legacy he will leave behind if he continues launching what he described as minor and insignificant projects.

Speaking during a church service on Sunday, April 6, 2025, Malalah drew sharp comparisons between Rutos leadership and that of his predecessors. He argued that past presidents left behind tangible, high-impact projects that contributed meaningfully to Kenyas development.

Malalah praised the late President Mwai Kibaki for transforming the countrys economy and infrastructure through initiatives like free primary education and the construction of the Thika Superhighway.

Mheshimiwa Mwai Kibaki wakati wake alileta free primary education, yeye ndiye alileta Thika Super Highway, tunamkumbuka Kibaki for stabilising our economy, he said.

(Honourable Mwai Kibaki, during his time, introduced free primary education and built the Thika Superhighway. We remember Kibaki for stabilising our economy.)

Malalah Compares Ruto to Uhuru

He also applauded former President Uhuru Kenyatta for spearheading mega infrastructure projects that, in his view, left a lasting mark on the country.

Wakati wa mheshimiwa Uhuru Kenyatta, tumeona Nairobi Expressway, tumeona SGR, tumeona Mau Mau Road, Malalah added.

(During the time of Honourable Uhuru Kenyatta, we saw the Nairobi Expressway, we saw the Standard Gauge Railway, we saw the Mau Mau Road.)

However, Malalah challenged President Ruto to reflect on his legacy as he enters his third year in office. He questioned the significance of the projects Ruto has been unveiling, claiming they lack the transformative power of past administrations efforts.

He mocked the president for launching small housing units and posing for photos in modest living spaces, suggesting such gestures lower the standard of presidential achievements.

Lakini sasa Kasongo, tutamkumbuka kwa nini? Iko barabara ameunda kweli? Kila rais ako na legacy yake. We want to challenge Ruto; this is your third year in power, wewe unafanya nini? Kazi yako ni kuenda kulaunch bedsitters. Ati rais mzima, unaenda kulaunch bedsitter, unapiga picha na mtoto kwa nyumba, Malalah said.

(But now, Kasongo, what will we remember him for? Has he even built a proper road? Every president has their own legacy. We want to challenge Rutothis is your third year in power, what are you doing? Your work is going around launching bedsitters. Imagine, a whole president launching a bedsitter and taking photos with a child inside the house.)
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has moved to dispel growing public concern over reports suggesting that the Finance Bill 2025 will impose new or increased taxes on Kenyans.

Speaking during a meeting with senior government officials on Monday, April 7, Mbadi made it clear that the Finance Bill 2025 has not yet been published or presented to the National Assembly. He emphasized that the Treasury is still in the process of gathering input from government agencies and other stakeholders.

We have not come up with a Finance Bill. There is nothing like taxing Kenyans more. Please dont generate emotions for nothing, Mbadi stated, urging Kenyans to disregard media reports speculating about tax hikes, including a potential increase in Value Added Tax (VAT).

He stressed that discussions around the bill remain ongoing, and no final decisions have been made.

To ensure transparency, Mbadi announced that the Treasury would publish a detailed explainer for every tax proposal once the bill is finalized.

We will publish the Finance Bill, and we will put an explainer again the way we did in December with the tax laws. If there is any proposal by the National Treasury, we will put an explainer in the newspapers so that Kenyans can accept, he explained.

The Finance Bill 2025 is expected to be tabled in Parliament in the coming months, ahead of the 2025/2026 Financial Year. The bill will outline proposed tax measures that the government intends to implement to support the national budget.

Mbadi reassured the public that the Treasury remains committed to an inclusive and transparent process in shaping the final draft of the bill.
The Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) has launched a nationwide recruitment drive targeting professional cadet officers, constables, technicians, and artisans. The recruitment aims to strengthen the countrys correctional services with qualified and disciplined personnel.

To qualify, applicants must be Kenyan citizens, possess a valid National ID card, and have a clean criminal record. KPS has outlined specific age requirements: Diploma and Certificate holders must be between 18 and 28 years old, while Degree holders should be aged between 18 and 30.

In addition, male applicants must be at least 5 feet 4 inches tall, and female applicants must stand at a minimum of 5 feet 2 inches. All candidates must be physically and medically fit, with good hearing and clear vision. KPS also emphasized that female applicants must not be pregnant during the recruitment process or training period.

Commissioner General of Prisons Patrick Aranduh announced that successful candidates will undergo rigorous paramilitary training. Constables, technicians, and artisans will train for at least nine months, while cadet officers will complete a 13-month program.

Applicants for cadet positions must hold a relevant undergraduate degree from a recognized university. Technician applicants should possess a diploma or certificate and be registered with relevant professional bodies, where applicable. For artisan positions, candidates must have at least a D+ mean grade in KCSE or an equivalent qualification from a recognized institution.

Aranduh cautioned applicants against engaging in corruption, stressing that the recruitment exercise is entirely free.

The recruitment exercise will be absolutely free. Bribery and other acts of corruption are unlawful, he warned.

Any person presenting themselves for recruitment with falsified or fake academic/professional certificates, identity cards, or engaging in any acts that amount to corruption shall be disqualified and prosecuted.

He added that recruitment will take place only at officially designated centers on the specified dates. Candidates must carry their original ID, birth certificate, KRA PIN, academic certificates, and any other relevant documents.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should download and complete the PSC.2 form from www.publicservice.go.ke. They must attach clear photocopies of their academic and professional documents along with their ID card.

Completed applications must be addressed to:

The Commissioner General of Prisons

Prisons Headquarters

P.O. Box 30175-0100

Nairobi

Applicants must hand-deliver their documents to the Prisons Headquarters at Magereza House.

KPS has set the application deadline for 30th April 2025 at 5:00 p.m. Additionally, the recruitment of constables will take place in all counties across Kenya on 30th April 2025.
Five Kenyan chiefs abducted by al-Shabaab militants in Mandera County have finally been released after spending two harrowing months in captivity across the border in Somalia.

The five administratorsMohammed Adawa, Mohammed Hassan, Mohammed Noor, Assistant Chief Ibrahim Gabow, and Senior Chief Abdi Surawregained their freedom on Sunday, April 6 in Jilb, Somalia, officials confirmed.

Local elders, who were deeply involved in the negotiations, said the chiefs were handed over to Garreh community elders in the Somali town. Plans are now in motion to safely return them to Elwak, their hometown in Mandera County.

We have good news that our chiefs who were abducted in Mandera have been released and they are now in the hands of Kenyan officials and they will be arriving home anytime soon, Interior and National Coordination Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said on Monday.

The chiefs were abducted on February 3, just a day before President William Ruto kicked off his tour of Kenyas Northeastern region. The group was traveling from Wargadud to Elwak when militants ambushed them, blindfolded them, and drove them across the porous border into Somalia.

A woman believed to be a chiefs daughter was also among the captives.

Speaking in Mandera just a day after the incident, President Ruto condemned the kidnappings as a cowardly move meant to instill fear, adding that Kenyas security forces would pursue the attackers relentlessly.

Ruto also directed Deputy Inspector-General of Police Gilbert Masengeli to lead operations in the area, which included the failed Special Forces rescue mission disrupted by an improvised explosive device (IED) planted along the route.

While reports suggest that the militants demanded a ransom, it remains unclear whether any payment was made. The government maintained a low-profile strategy, relying heavily on local leaders and community elders to negotiate the release.

Return to Elwak and Debriefing Underway

Authorities say the chiefs will undergo debriefing before reuniting with their families. The release offers relief to families and communities who have been on edge for over two months, praying for the safe return of their local leaders.

I am confirming the release of five chiefs who were abducted in Mandera, this is very good news based on collaborative efforts. As I announced before, as a government we decided to work together with the community and county government of Mandera and the processes have borne fruits, CS Murkomen added.

The abduction underscores the persistent threat posed by al-Shabaab militants, especially in border counties like Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa. The attack occurred just 25 kilometers from the Kenya-Somalia border, raising concerns about security gaps and intelligence leaks.
A senior Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officer is in police custody after allegedly shooting and injuring a boda boda rider during a road rage incident in Imenti South Sub-county, Meru.

Chief Inspector David Kipkoech Somme, who heads the DCI in the area, reportedly shot 25-year-old Festus Mutegi Kirimi in the abdomen after a heated confrontation last Wednesday. Investigations show that Somme trailed the boda boda rider from Kionyo stage to his drop-off point before drawing his firearm and opening fire.

Please be informed that Chief Inspector David Kipkoech Somme, the SCCIO Imenti South Sub-County, has been arrested in connection with the shooting incident that occurred on April 2, 2025, within Nkubu township, a brief sent to police headquarters stated.

Boda Boda Rider Recounts Being Gunned Down by DCI Officer

Kirimi told investigators that he was at Kionyo stage with his motorcycle when he encountered a G-Touring car with a man and woman inside. A confrontation broke out, prompting him to speed off toward Kiigene market, where he intended to drop a passenger.

As he approached the gate of Winners Academy, Kirimi said the male occupant of the trailing car pulled out a pistol and shot him in the right side of his abdomen before speeding off toward Nkubu township.

Police officers from Nkubu Police Station rushed to the scene after angry residents blocked the road in protest. They managed to calm the crowd and rushed the injured rider to Consolata Mission Hospital, where he remains in stable condition.

No spent cartridges were recovered at the scene, though fresh blood stains were visible on the ground, a police report noted.

While the motive behind the shooting is still under investigation, authorities believe it stemmed from the earlier road rage altercation.

Following the incident, the National Police Service headquarters issued a stern warning to all officers, urging them not to exceed the necessary use of force when handling confrontations. The Service made it clear that only officers who act within the law and under justifiable circumstances will receive institutional support.

Another Boda Boda Rider Shot by Officer

This is not the first recent case involving a police officer and a boda boda rider.

On March 27, another DCI officer from Molo in Nakuru County was arrested and disarmed after allegedly shooting and seriously injuring Edwin Keitany. The incident followed an altercation involving a female passenger, who was later identified as the officers wife.

Keitany sustained severe head injuries and underwent brain surgery to remove bullet fragments. While recovering in hospital, he recorded a statement with the Independent Policing and Oversight Authority (IPOA), which is investigating the shooting.

When we arrived, I found a man waiting, and he asked me where I was coming with his wife. A confrontation broke out and I felt pain and bleeding, Keitany recounted.

Both incidents have sparked fresh concerns over firearm misuse by law enforcement officers during personal disputes.
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Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, holds talks with Jussi Halla-aho, speaker of the Finnish parliament, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 7, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, held talks with Jussi Halla-aho, speaker of the Finnish parliament, in Beijing on Monday, calling for the joint creation of a favorable and stable legal environment for practical cooperation.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Finland, Zhao said China stands ready to work with Finland to implement the important consensus reached between their heads of state to advance the future-oriented, new-type cooperative partnership between the two countries.

China hopes that Finland will continue to uphold the one-China principle, understand and support China's legitimate rights to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and consolidate the political foundation of mutual trust, he added.

He said that China is deepening its comprehensive reforms and expanding its high-level opening-up, which will bring new opportunities for bilateral cooperation. He highlighted China's willingness to deepen exchange between political parties, as well as exchange in the fields of culture and youth, to strengthen public support for bilateral relations.

China hopes that Finland will continue to play a positive role in promoting the development of China-Finland relations and China-Europe relations, Zhao said. He added that the NPC of China is willing to maintain its traditional friendship with the Finnish parliament, and stands ready to strengthen exchange and cooperation among legislative bodies at high levels and among specialized committees, bilateral friendship groups, and NPC deputies and parliamentarians.

He said that both China and Finland possess unique characteristics in areas such as national governance, development concepts and innovation systems. Their two legislative bodies can engage in mutual learning and exchange, fulfilling their legislative and supervisory functions to create a favorable, stable legal environment for practical cooperation, and enhancing coordination on multilateral platforms such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Zhao spoke about China's whole-process people's democracy, and expressed a willingness to strengthen exchange with the Finnish parliament in developing democracy and improving the rule of law.

Halla-aho said that as a historically significant country, China has achieved remarkable progress in areas such as science and technology, adding that Finland adheres to and will continue to implement the one-China policy, and recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government representing all of China.

He said that Finland is committed to advancing practical cooperation, maintaining free trade, and addressing shared challenges based on mutual respect and trust. The Finnish parliament, he added, looks forward to enhancing its engagement with the NPC of China to play a proactive role in deepening Finland-China relations.
Blood clots are associated with life-threatening conditions such as sepsis, sickle cell disease, heart attack and stroke. However, new research from Emory University may revolutionize how clinicians understand and treat these harmful blood clots, or thrombi, a byproduct of a condition called thromboinflammation. In a groundbreaking study published in Nature, researchers have discovered the potential to provide life-saving medications to patients with blood clots at the right time, with the right dose, in novel combinations based on a new model.

To gain these insights, researchers developed a thromboinflammation-on-a-chip model that can sustain the clots for several months in a more accurate, human-like manner, leveraging 3D microvessels on a chip. This novel model allows the thrombi to exist in human blood and veins for months and resolve as they would naturally in a real patient. Researchers are then able to track the blood clot and measure the effectiveness of various treatment options. This model differs from existing models, which can only sustain blood clots for short periods. Additionally, this new model includes the real cells necessary for clot resolution, whereas other lab models do not.

Wilbur Lam , corresponding author of the study, professor at Emory University and Georgia Tech, and a clinician at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta, explains that little is known about how blood clots are resolved in real life after one survives a stroke or heart attack, but replicating the process on a chip can reveal critical information in the application or development of new treatments.

Because we created this system where we observe a blood clot on a chip over long periods of time, such as days to weeks, we can map out its entire resolution process, and that has never been done before, says Lam, MD, PhD. This is significant because animal models are challenging. While extremely difficult to closely observe a clot in a specific part of a mouse for weeks, we can now do it on a chip and are able to monitor it closely.

Yongzhi Qiu, a corresponding author on the study, also emphasized the importance of the models life-like accuracy. Our practical measure is so unique because it is hard to study thrombi in clinical settings due to the low spatial resolution of existing tools, so its harder to clearly see how these clots resolve, says Qiu, PhD, and assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.

For this study, Qiu also developed the hydrogel for this model using human blood in a human vein, making it the only model to integrate 3D microvessels that can be stressed and monitored under physiologically relevant conditions.

Charting the future of blood clotting treatment

In addition to stroke or cardiac arrest, its noteworthy that hypertension, diabetes, severe trauma, burns and other infections are also factors in developing thromboinflammation, leaving much of the nation at risk.

Since this model opens the door to understanding how blood clots naturally resolve, researchers can now further study the timing, dosage, and impact of existing medical interventions, as well as possible new combinations. One such discovery from this study is the vital role of neutrophils, which both resolve thrombi and create inflammation  a double-edged sword, according to Lam.

Additionally, this study reveals that the treatment used after a stroke, tPA, or Tissue Plasminogen Activator, also directly repairs any vasculature, which was previously unknown.

The study also suggests that combining existing mediations may protect the endothelial function, or the opening and closing of arteries, in patients with sickle cell disease. Finally, this study notes that those experiencing bone marrow transplantation may benefit from certain drug combinations to protect against veno-occlusive disease, a condition resulting from high doses of chemotherapy that can cause liver damage by blocking small veins in the liver.

One of the biggest things about being able to create thrombi under inflammatory conditions is that we are now able to map it out over time and develop hypotheses about which drugs would be most helpful, in which context, and importantly, when, says Lam, making the study the cornerstone of future research and clinical trials in the quest to save lives.
Gregory D. DeYong is an SIU Carbondale associate professor of operations management. (Photo by Russell Bailey)

Tariffs could affect supply chains, SIU professor says

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill.  President Donald Trumps tariffs ranging from 10% to 50% may have some very significant impacts on various manufacturing and supply chain management firms, said Gregory D. DeYong, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale associate professor of operations management, meaning both availability and pricing on a variety of products may be an up and down seesaw as talks go on.

While the broad-based tariffs on imports to the U.S. have clearly had an unsettling effect on global stock markets, he said, we may experience some significant underlying effects as well, particularly on supply chain management. Supply chain activities dont take place in a vacuum.

DeYong said global trade negotiations are typically both time-consuming and fickle, so he anticipates that at least in the near future, consumers and businesses will experience volatility.

In some cases, trade negotiations will likely lead to settlements which reduce tariffs on both sides, while in other cases, there will be escalations of trade conflicts when negotiations break down, DeYong said.

Media availability

Gregory D. DeYong, associate professor of operations management at SIU Carbondale, can be reached at gdeyong@siu.edu.

Some will win

There will be some definite winners if the new tariff levels are maintained for a long period of time, DeYong said. Domestic logistics providers such as trucking and rail companies will likely see strong opportunities as domestic manufacturers will require higher levels of inbound and outbound freight. For instance, shipments of raw materials that previously originated outside the U.S. will be more heavily sourced from within the country, and shipments that used to terminate outside the U.S.  exports  will be more likely to have U.S. destinations as domestic products become more competitive.

He noted that domestic manufacturers of Made in USA items, such as apparel and electronics, will see strong gains from tariffs on foreign goods. Other winners will include supply chains that are already compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) because these goods are exempt from increased tariffs on Mexico and Canada. He said many firms that are technically USMCA-compliant have not actually completed the paperwork to qualify for this exemption, but they are expected to do so quickly now.

Domestic energy production and consumers of energy are also expected to benefit. Gasoline prices have dropped 11% since last week while crude oil is down 15%.

This is a windfall for energy-intensive industries and for petrochemical producers, DeYong said.

Some will lose

The news is far from all good though, hes quick to add, pointing out that there will also be some clear losers. Offshore producers of apparel, electronics and pharmaceuticals, to name a few, will see significant tariff effects unless they can qualify for USMCA-compliance.

The rapid growth of imported pharmaceuticals in the U.S. will affect consumers, DeYong said, noting that one-third of all sales were imported in 2024, up from one-fifth in 2013. He said imported automobiles that are not USMCA-compliant also face strong headwinds.

Retailers that rely heavily upon imported goods and global logistics providers will also struggle if the current tariff situation remains unchanged, according to DeYong. Many small online retailers such as the independent resellers on Amazon and Shopify had imported their goods in small quantities, qualifying for the de minimis exemption and thus avoiding tariffs, but they would no longer qualify for the exemption, meaning higher costs for them, which they would pass along to consumers.

Ups and downs

Many others, including individual consumers, will face more of a mixed outcome, DeYong said. While we are already seeing a drop in wholesale gasoline and energy costs, domestic manufacturers, and those who are USMCA-compliant, will likely see an increase in domestic demand as their products become more price-competitive. But at the same time, those same domestic manufacturers will see lower demand for their exported goods.

And he said American farmers will be some of the first to experience immediate negative impacts as the demand for U.S. agricultural products weakens due to the tariffs as they have experienced before.

U.S. agricultural exports face some of the highest tariffs of all products  the U.S. Dairy Export Council cites Canadian tariffs of 270% after a certain number of sales as a particularly egregious example  so U.S. farmers stand to gain significantly if the tariff negotiations result in lowering barriers globally, DeYong said.

Maintaining a clear view of not only the immediate future but also of the longer-term effects and scenarios is the key to making the best possible supply chain decisions, especially as the situation is fluid and evolving, DeYong said. He encourages consumers and businesses to take a careful wait-and-see attitude, while staying closely tuned to tariff developments and global trade negotiations.

Be aware and informed so you can make the wisest decisions possible for your future, DeYong said.

DeYong has personal experience as well as professional knowledge in supply chain management. Before becoming an SIU faculty member, he worked as an import/export manager where he was responsible for about $100 million in products annually. DeYong is currently working to establish a Center for Supply Chain Management and Logistics within SIUs College of Business and Analytics.
Saudi Arabia has announced a temporary halt on issuing new short-term visas to citizens of 14 countries -- including India, Pakistan, and Egypt -- as part of its efforts to better manage the flow of travellers ahead of the upcoming Hajj season, Gulf News reported. The suspension, which comes into effect on April 13, will apply to business visit visas (both single- and multiple-entry), e-tourist visas, and family visit visas. Other countries affected by the ban include Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Nigeria, Algeria, Indonesia, Iraq, Sudan, Bangladesh, and Libya. According to Saudi officials, travellers from these countries who already hold valid visas will still be allowed entry into the Kingdom until April 13, but must leave no later than April 29, reported Gulf News. The move comes in response to logistical issues and overcrowding experienced during the last Hajj season, when a significant number of pilgrims reportedly entered the country using non-Hajj-specific visas. Authorities say the restriction aims to improve coordination and ensure a safer and more organised pilgrimage this year. Basil Al Sisi, a member of Egypt''s Chamber of Tourism Companies, said during a televised interview, "Authorities have identified the countries that contributed to the crisis last year," referring to individuals who performed Hajj using short-term or non-Hajj-specific visas. In a related update, Saudi Arabia has issued revised guidelines for Umrah visa issuance and travel. The new regulations state that Umrah visas will be issued each year starting on the 14th of Dhu Al Hijjah and will close by the 1st of Shawwal. Entry for Umrah pilgrims will be permitted from Dhu Al Hijjah 14 until Shawwal 15, and all pilgrims must exit by the 1st of Dhu Al Qa''dah, Gulf News reported. The Kingdom has reiterated that all individuals performing religious pilgrimages must obtain the appropriate visa type and warned of legal consequences for those who fail to comply. (ANI)
Leading human rights groups of Pakistan, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and Paank have expressed outrage over the alleged abduction of BYC activist Gulzadi Baloch by Pakistani forces. In a post on X, BYC shared that its activist Gulzadi Baloch was forcibly taken by police from Quetta, with her whereabouts continuing to remain unknown. Calling it yet another act of "state repression" which targets peaceful activists and voices of resistance, BYC strongly condemned the illegal detention and called for her immediate release. It wrote on X, "Our activist Gulzadi Baloch has been forcibly taken by police and CTD personnel from Quetta. Her whereabouts remain unknown for now. This is yet another act of state repression targeting peaceful activists and voices of resistance. We strongly condemn this illegal detention and demand her immediate release. We urge the international community and human rights organizations to take urgent notice. #ReleaseBYCLeaders No to Oppression, No to Pakistan's Tyranny! #StopBalochGenocide" https://x.com/BalochYakjehtiC/status/1909268370475659359 Another human rights group, Paank, expressed solidarity over the abduction of Gulzadiu Baloch and condemned her enforced disappearance. Sharing details of her abduction and noting that it was done without any legal process, Paank called it " a blatant violation of human rights and international law". Paank gave a call to Pakistani authorities for immediately disclosing her whereabouts, ensuring her safety, and holding those responsible for her disappearance accountable. Paank strongly condemns the enforced disappearance of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) activist Gulzadi Baloch @GullzadiC, who was abducted by Pakistani security forces in front of her family from Brewery Road, Quetta. The abduction, carried out without any legal process, is a blatant violation of human rights and international law. We call on the Pakistani authorities to immediately disclose Gulzadi's whereabouts, ensure her safety, and hold those responsible for her disappearance accountable. The ongoing targeting of peaceful activists in #Balochistan must end." https://x.com/paank_bnm/status/1909272985090879887 Balochistan struggles with state repression, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings of activists, scholars, and civilians. The region faces economic neglect, poor infrastructure, and limited political autonomy. Despite its wealth of natural resources, local communities benefit little, while forced disappearances continue to be a widespread issue. (ANI)
The Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal called on Indian businesses to embrace "economic nationalism" by supporting domestic suppliers rather than opting for marginally cheaper imports. Speaking at FICCI's 98th Foundation Day celebrations in Mumbai on Monday, Goyal invoked Mahatma Gandhi's nationalist ethos, urging India's industrial leaders to prioritise domestic value chains even when foreign alternatives appear more economical in the short term. He cited examples of Japan and Korea, where despite free trade agreements, domestic industries consistently support local suppliers as a matter of "collective conscience." The Minister's comments come as India positions itself as a viable manufacturing alternative amidst shifting global trade patterns. He emphasised that despite geopolitical volatility, India presents an attractive proposition with its rule of law, non- discrimination policies, and domestic market of 1.4 billion consumers. The Union Minister revealed that the European Free Trade Association has committed to bringing technology and investing USD 100 billion in India.According to the government, India and the European Union are close to finalising Free Trade Agreements, with negotiations progressing strongly. On February 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the partnership between India and the European Union, terming the strategic partnership between them as "organic and natural." FTAs are an agreement between two or more countries to lower or do away with trade restrictions such as tariffs and quotas in order to encourage the free movement of goods and services between the parties and foster economic cooperation. He also highlighted progress on trade agreements with Australia, EU, UK, US, Chile, and Peru. He urged the domestic industry to leverage FTAs. In addition to the FTAs, Goyal, last month, said that the India and United States held trade talks in New Delhi as part of efforts to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025. "Let's all collectively resolve that in the next few years, we'll be investing in taking India to the world. We'll be investing in making India the best in the world," Goyal concluded. (ANI)
PRNewswire Manila [Philippines], April 8: In March 2025, Southeast Asia's food, feed, and ag trade community gathered in Manila for two pivotal events hosted by the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC): the AG Supply Chain Asia Conference and the Asia Soy Excellence & Food Summit 2025. Each event drew a unique audience of industry leaders, traders, and technical experts, offering distinct platforms to exchange insights, explore market dynamics, and discuss opportunities shaping the future of food and agriculture in the region. Together, both events offered timely perspectives and forward-looking strategies that continue to inform and inspire progress across Southeast Asia's agricultural value chain. Industry Representatives and Experts Converge in Manila to Share and Exchange Perspectives on the Evolving Food, Feed, and Ag Trade Landscape. Southeast Asia remains a fast-growing market for U.S. Soy, fueled by increasing demand across both feed and food sectors. In Marketing Year (MY) 2023/24, the region imported 9.08 million metric tons (MMT) of whole soybeans and 20.89 MMT of soybean meal, underscoring its reliance on U.S. Soy for high-quality, sustainable protein solutions. The Philippines has been the top importer of U.S. soybean meal for eight consecutive years, while Vietnam and Indonesia's imports have surged by 110% and 49%, respectively, over the last five years. Additionally, the region's food and beverage industry continue to embrace U.S. Soy's quality and versatility, reinforcing its role in traditional and modern food applications. In MY 2023/24, Indonesia--the region's largest food-use soybean importer--sourced 2.67 MMT of whole soybeans, with the U.S. supplying approximately 90% of those imports, underscoring its role in staple foods like tofu and tempe. "The AG Supply Chain Asia Conference and the Asia Soy Excellence & Food Summit underscore U.S. Soy's commitment to sustainability, innovation, and partnership," said Timothy Loh, USSEC's Regional Director for Southeast Asia & Oceania. "By bringing together key players across the food and feed value chain, we're facilitating informed, forward-looking dialogue that supports stronger market connections, protein security, and promoting growth and collaboration across the region." With U.S. Soy remaining competitively priced in the global marketplace, the conferences provided a timely forum to address emerging challenges, drive innovation, and strengthen supply chains. AG Supply Chain Asia (March 17-19, 2025) Co-organized by USSEC, U.S. Grains Council, and U.S. Wheat Associates, AG Supply Chain Asia continues to be a premier platform for advancing agricultural trade in Southeast Asia. Themed "Transforming Agriculture: Advancing Trade with Sustainable Solutions", the 2025 event focused on: * Global market trends shaping trade flows and supply chain strategies.* Innovations in logistics and transportation for greater efficiency.* Developments in the U.S. crushing industry and biofuels.* The role of U.S. Soy in securing a stable, high-quality supply for Southeast Asia The event facilitated business-to-business (B2B) engagements, connecting buyers with U.S. exporters to strengthen partnerships and explore new trade opportunities. Expert-led discussions also delved into sustainability-driven sourcing strategies, including the U.S. Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP), and the impact of shifting market dynamics on long-term food security. Asia Soy Excellence & Food Summit 2025 (March 19-21, 2025) Soy's versatility extends beyond nutrition--it plays a vital role in shaping a sustainable food system, supporting food security, and meeting evolving consumer preferences. Themed "Nourishing with Soy - A Sustainable and Preferred Food Protein Solution", the Asia Soy Excellence & Food Summit 2025 showcased soy's essential contributions to global health and environmental sustainability, reinforcing its position as a preferred protein source. The summit gathered U.S. Soy producers, soy suppliers, food producers, researchers, health professionals, and culinary experts to explore innovations in soy-based foods, sustainability strategies, and market trends driving the future of soy consumption. Key discussions included: * Soy's role in sustainable nutrition, delivering high-quality protein, essential fats, and key nutrients for human health.* Advancing soy-based food innovations, with insights into new product development and expanding consumer markets.* Strengthening industry capabilities, through discussions on sustainability standards, responsible sourcing, and opportunities for growth. With a growing demand for plant-based and environmentally friendly food options, the summit underscored U.S. Soy's leadership in delivering sustainable, nutritious, and high-quality soy products that align with the region's evolving consumer needs. With sustainability and food security as top priorities, U.S. Soy remains a trusted partner in Southeast Asia, providing high-quality, responsibly sourced solutions that drive long-term industry growth and support the region's evolving food and feed needs. This press release is funded in part by the soy checkoff. About the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC): The U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) focuses on differentiating, elevating preference, and attaining market access for the use of U.S. Soy for human consumption, aquaculture, and livestock feed in 93 countries internationally. USSEC members represent the soy supply chain including U.S. Soy farmers, processors, commodity shippers, merchandisers, allied agribusinesses, and agricultural organizations. USSEC is funded by the soy checkoff, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service matching funds, and industry. Visit ussec.org for the latest information and news about USSEC and U.S. Soy internationally. (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], April 8: In 2023, over 353 million people in the U.S. were affected by data breaches, with many cases exposing personal info like home addresses (Statista). This shows how risky it is to share your real details online. Hackers, spammers, and even some websites can misuse your data for ads, scams, or identity theft. Using fake address generators helps protect your privacy. These tools give you random but real-looking details--like names, addresses, and phone numbers--that you can use on sign-up forms or untrusted sites. This way, your real info stays safe and hidden. Fake data is also helpful for developers who need test data without using real people's details. Just remember, never use fake info on legal or official forms. When used wisely, fake address tools are a simple and smart way to stay secure online. When to Use Fake Address Generators Use fake address generators whenever you're not sure about sharing your real details online. They're useful when signing up on unfamiliar websites, during app testing, and for keeping your real data safe from spam. * Signing up on new websites or apps-Use fake addresses when trying new websites or apps that ask for personal details. This protects your real identity from being misused or shared without your permission. * Testing sites for developers-Developers often use fake addresses for testing websites or apps. Random data helps ensure their products handle user details properly without risking real information. * Protecting your data from unwanted spam-Fake addresses keep your real inbox and mailbox safe from spam. Use them to avoid annoying emails, promotions, and mailers from websites you don't fully trust. Easy Steps to Using Fake Address Generators 1. Go to a trusted site like fakeaddressgenerator.com 2. Pick a country or data type 3. Copy the fake address and details 4. Paste into the form where needed 5. Done! Your real info stays private Tips to Stay Safe While Using Fake Data Use fake data only on untrusted sites or for testing. Never use it for legal forms, banking, or anything official. Always pick a trusted generator. Avoid using the same fake info everywhere. Don't enter fake data where it could harm someone or break rules. When it's okay (and not okay) to use random data It's okay to use fake data on sites that just need signups or for testing apps. Don't use fake info for government forms, payments, or anything where truth matters. Know when privacy is smart and when honesty is needed. Simple rules to follow for extra safety Use fake data only when needed. Never mix real and fake info. Don't share fake data with others. Always clear your browser after using test sites. And never enter fake info on sites tied to your real accounts or ID. For Developers: Using Fake Data for Testing Developers need fake data to test forms, user flows, and databases without using real info. Fake address generators help create test users with names, emails, and phone numbers. This keeps real data safe and makes sure the system handles input well. It's also useful for checking how apps react to edge cases like long names or special characters. Why developers need fake data Using fake data helps developers test websites safely. It protects real user info and helps find bugs in forms, databases, and APIs. With random data, they can check how their app works with different inputs without risking privacy. How to use these sites easily for testing websites and apps Go to a fake data site like fakeaddressgenerator.com. Choose the needed data (like name, address, email). Copy the info and use it in your test fields. This helps you see how your site or app handles real-like user input without using personal info. Final Thoughts Online privacy matters more than ever. With data leaks on the rise, it's smart to protect your personal info. Use fake address generators when needed, especially on untrusted sites. They're simple tools that help keep your real details safe. Always think before you share. A little caution can protect you a lot online. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PRNewswire Tokyo [Japan], April 8: BELLUSTAR TOKYO, A Pan Pacific Hotel (Shinjuku, Tokyo; General Manager Katsushi Nishikawa) was awarded Best New Hotel (International) by the TTG China Travel Awards 2025, which recognizes the best of Greater China's travel industry. Recognized by the prestigious annual event of Greater China. For more details, visit: https://www.bellustartokyo.jp/en/topics/ttgchinatravelawards2025/ An event by TTG Travel Trade Publishing, TTG China Travel Awards began in 2008 as an awards event that honors the best Asia-Pacific travel and tourism organizations, and is regarded as the one of the most coveted and influential awards of the travel industry in Greater China. Industry professionals who are readers of TTG China, TTG-BTmice China, TTG Asia, TTG India, TTGmice, TTGassociations, and TTG Asia Luxury are called upon to cast their votes on the most outstanding travel suppliers within the categories of Airlines, Hotels, Resort Hotels, Serviced Residents, and Travel Services. (Official Website: https://awards.ttgchina.com/en) BELLUSTAR TOKYO, A Pan Pacific Hotel was awarded Best New Hotel (International) within the China Outbound Market Awards. A category that evaluates hotels across the globe as a travel destination outbound from Greater China, this award recognizes BELLUSTAR TOKYO, A Pan Pacific Hotel with the prestigious honor of having the highest standard of service among new hotels around the world. General Manager Katsushi Nishikawa has released the following comment in response to the award: "I feel truly honored to receive this prestigious award of TTG China Travel Awards' Best New Hotel. This is the result of the hard work and dedication of our entire team, who devote their all for guests each and every day. I am sincerely grateful that our service and facilities were recognized by professionals within the travel industry. Our hotel strives to provide guests with an excellent experience at all times. This award drives us to further pursue our commitment, so that we may continue to be beloved by our guests." BELLUSTAR TOKYO opened its doors in 2023, and is approaching its two-year anniversary on 19 May 2025. Since its opening, it has received numerous prestigious awards and continues to heighten its presence within the industry. * Past Awards of BELLUSTAR TOKYO, A Pan Pacific Hotel * Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards Asia Pacific 2024 * Top 10 City Hotel * World Luxury Awards 2024Best Luxury New Hotel in East Asia * Best Architectural Design in East Asia * MICHELIN Guide Hotel Selection * One MICHELIN Key * Past Awards of SPA sunya * World Luxury Awards 2024 * Best Relaxation Lounge in East Asia * Best Unique Experience Spa in East Asia * Best Luxury City Hotel Spa in East Asia * About BELLUSTAR TOKYO, A Pan Pacific Hotel BELLUSTAR TOKYO, A Pan Pacific Hotel is a luxury hotel where guests can enjoy special spaces far from the madding crowd down below. Located on the 39th floor and above, the spacious guest rooms have Japanese culture woven into its interiors and offer a panoramic view of Tokyo. The topmost floors feature a restaurant with uniquely creative gourmet meals in a one-of-a-kind space, a spa for guests to experience the bounty of Japan's soil, and the Sky Private Villa, which houses five penthouse suites, providing guests a relaxing time to return to oneself surrounded by a stunning view on all sides. Location: 1-29-1 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 1600021, Japan Tokyo Kabukicho Tower 18F, 39-47F Tel: 81 3 6233 8800 (Representative) Official Website: https://www.bellustartokyo.jp/en/ For press-related inquiries concerning this release, please contact BELLUSTAR TOKYO, A Pan Pacific Hotel Contact person: Chika Ayabe (Public Relations/Marketing Department) E-mail: pr.ppbtk@panpacific.com / Tel: 81 3 6233 7693 (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)
PRNewswire Singapore, April 8: Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION, presented by DesignSingapore Council has officially opened at Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache, located in the historical Cinque Vie district. 14 of Singapore's most forward-looking designers, design studios, and rising talents address contemporary societal needs in a three-part showcase that captures the city-state's vision for innovative design. With 2025 marking 60 years of Singapore's independence, the third instalment of the series - launched in 2023 - explores the country's evolution through the lens of design. With a unique approach that unifies forward-thinking design with innovation and creativity, Singapore has transformed into a successful global economy that is famed for being one of the most seamlessly-designed city-states in the world. Curated by Tony Chambers, Maria Cristina Didero and Singaporean co-curator Hunn Wai of Lanzavecchia + Wai, Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION is a three-part showcase that brings together 14 of Singapore's most forward-looking designers, from established names to rising talents, who are pushing the boundaries of design to enhance the world we live in and how we live in it. Visitors will be taken on a journey through the past, present, and future of Singapore design, beginning with Little Island of Brave Ideas. Tracing design's crucial role in nation-building over the past six decades, the first part of the showcase spotlights key milestones that demonstrate how strategic foresight and meticulous execution have made Singapore a global success story by design. This includes the country's unique public housing system and robust public transport system, to beers brewed from Singapore's reclaimed water and colour-coded plates in hawker centres. The third iteration of the Future Impact series stands as the centrepiece, spotlighting eight works from designers Claudia Poh (Werable), Ng Sze Kiat (Bewilder), Olivia Lee, Randy Yeo (Practice Theory), Sacha Leong (Nice Projects), Wei Xiang, as well as design studio Supermama and a collective formed byFARM, Vouse and Changi General Hospital. The works will reflect how Singapore's leading contemporary designers are creating design-driven solutions to tackle urgent global challenges, while reducing environmental impact and elevating everyday lives. This includes a woven screen designed by Sacha Leong (Nice Projects) in response to overcrowding in cities, to a versatile bag that seamlessly adapts to its users by Claudia Poh (Werable). Design collective FARM, Vouse and Changi General Hospital will present their work on a dynamic digital twin of the hospital's Emergency Department to aid holistic decision-making for enhanced patient care. The influence of Singapore's rich cultural heritage will also be showcased in new works by Supermama, which modernises the traditional Japanese art form of Kintsugi with 3D-printed resin and algorithmic growth patterns, and Olivia Lee, who reimagines the steel solar cooker, commonplace in Southeast Asia, to spark a broader reflection of the Sun's role as a futuristic source of energy. Exploring sustainable methods and materials is Ng Sze Kiat (Bewilder), who presents a new line of Fungariums developed using stainless steel, and the Knots Stool by Wei Xiang that transforms old blankets or curtains into functional furniture with simple knots. Finally, Randy Yeo (Practice Theory) considers Singapore's design identity in the context of its nation-building history and unique blend of culture, manifested in a form of sculptural objects using paper offcuts. "It is with great pride that we bring the third edition of Future Impact to Milan Design Week, to shine a light on the essence of Singapore's unique design DNA with the world. Through each of the eight designers' works, we hope visitors will recognise the important role design plays in shaping the world," said Tony Chambers and Maria Cristina Didero, co-curators for Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION. Looking to the future, the final segment of the three-part showcase, Virtuoso Visionaires demonstrates Singapore's role as a global hub for design, empowering the next generation of designers to think creatively about contemporary challenges and cultural shifts. Works by six emerging design talents will interrogate topics such as leveraging artificial intelligence to redefine Singapore's multicultural identity, an exploration of Singlish (Singaporean Colloquial English), examining post-consumer waste and circular design practices, as well as sustainable designs for living spaces. "I am deeply honoured to be proudly showcasing the design excellence of our Lion City to the world at Milan Design Week. Singapore is well-known for thriving through ingenuity and resourcefulness and now, the future lies with the new generation of globally attuned, self-aware innovators who can continue this legacy," said Hunn Wai, co-curator for Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION. Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION is currently on display within the cathedral setting of Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache, located within the Cinque Vie (5vie) district, one of the most vibrant areas for culture and design in central Milan, a short walk from the Duomo. The showcase runs from 8 to 13 April 2025. Alongside the exhibitions, DesignSingapore Council is hosting a series of events throughout the week. These will include daily designer-led activities that are open to the public such as decoding Singlish nuances and fungarium workshops, Live with Monocle, an exclusive live broadcast show with hourly interviews featuring designers and curators as well as evening cocktails, followed by a Singapore-themed Friday Late party to cap off the week. "This special edition of the Future Impact series spotlights Singapore's unique design journey as our nation turns 60. Truly a Nation by Design, Singapore has been transformed by a remarkable attitude and approach to design that is purpose-driven, with people at its centre. Through Future Impact 3: DESIGN NATION, visitors will gain insight into Singapore as a global design hub that pioneers solutions for pressing challenges," said Dawn Lim, Executive Director of DesignSingapore Council *ENDS* For full list of designers and their works, refer to Annex A and B here. For images and more information, refer to the press kit here. About DesignSingapore Council The DesignSingapore Council's (Dsg's) vision is for Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city by design. As the national agency that promotes design, our mission is to develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design. Dsg is a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board. designsingapore.org. (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)
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Iran seeks to negotiate only if the United States stops being "dishonorable" and proves that it also wants to negotiate, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said recently.

Commenting on the possibility of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States on the nuclear issue, Pezeshkian said Sunday night that Iran believes in negotiations, but not with one that is as "dishonorable" as the United States, which has placed Iran "under all-out pressure" and is threatening Iran every day, according to a statement published by Pezeshkian's office on Monday.

"We will negotiate with the entire world and do not want to fight with anybody. However, we will not acquiesce to being dishonored and will not negotiate at any price," he said. "They (the United States) should also prove they want to negotiate."

Iran does not want to make "unpeaceful" uses of its nuclear capabilities, he noted.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said here Monday that Iran is ready for any event to unfold and is militarily capable enough to stand against any "aggression or attack."

Answering a question about Iran's scenarios facing a potential U.S. attack, Baghaei said Iran will definitely give a "decisive, immediate, and all-out response" if threats against Iran were carried out.

He also called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to fulfill its responsibilities regarding the constant threats uttered by the United States and Israel against Iran's "peaceful" nuclear facilities.

The issue will be discussed during an upcoming visit by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to Tehran, he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in early March that he had sent a letter to Iranian leaders via the United Arab Emirates, proposing direct negotiations on Tehran's nuclear activities.

Pezeshkian later confirmed that in response to the letter, Tehran rejected the proposed face-to-face talks but was open to possible indirect talks.

Trump, in an interview with NBC News late last month, threatened to launch "unprecedented military strikes" on Iran if it refused to negotiate over its nuclear program.

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 United States -- in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

However, 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.
PRNewswire Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]/Singapore, April 8: Decentro, India's leading API banking and financial infrastructure platform, announced today that it is deepening its presence in Southeast Asia by launching its advanced business credit and underwriting solution. Powered by a partnership with Singapore-headquartered DigiAlly, this initiative brings real-time business financial intelligence to the ASEAN region--an industry-first capability enabling more innovative lending, risk assessment, and cross-border financial operations. Introduces real-time financial insights, in partnership with DigiAlly, to power more innovative SME underwriting, drive more efficient cross-border trade, and broaden business credit access across ASEAN. As Southeast Asia's digital economy accelerates, access to credit and intelligent underwriting has become vital for both SMEs and fintechs. The Asian Development Bank estimates the SME credit gap in Asia to be over $2.1 trillion, with ASEAN nations representing a significant portion of the total. Yet, despite rapid fintech innovation, many financial institutions still rely on outdated verification and underwriting models, exposing them to fraud and slowing credit access. With 1 in 5 fraud cases now involving synthetic identities (Experian, 2023), the urgency for real-time business intelligence is apparent. Without modern, data-driven infrastructure, institutions risk falling behind--and missing out on the next wave of fintech-led growth. Building on its robust consumer credit APIs and SaaS infrastructure, Decentro's expanded stack now includes a comprehensive business credit infrastructure, supporting SME financing, invoice factoring, and cross-border trade. Through a single integration, fintech platforms and financial institutions across the ASEAN region can now access business financial reports, trade data, and verification insights--all in real time and also via a single, comprehensive PDF report. Commenting on the milestone, Rohit Taneja, Co-founder & CEO of Decentro, said, "At Decentro, we've always believed that the future of fintech is borderless, intelligent, and deeply integrated. Our expansion into Southeast Asia with a strong partner like DigiAlly allows us to power the next generation of business underwriting and credit access--making real-time KYB and financial data accessible at scale. Whether a large unit in Jakarta or a cross-border lender in Manila, the infrastructure to assess risk and unlock growth is now just an API away." With this move, Decentro introduces a unified business financial intelligence suite--an industry first in the ASEAN region--bringing together financial reports, trade history, and verification data into a single, downloadable PDF. The offering is already enabling: * Insurance companies to underwrite SME risk faster* Lenders and banks to assess business creditworthiness more accurately* Neobanks to verify & offer a credit line on the fly * Payment service providers (PSPs) to verify businesses across borders with greater confidence And here are the countries that are covered for this solution - * Singapore * India* Vietnam * South Korea * Australia * Philippines* Indonesia DigiAlly, known for its deep credit and financial data intelligence solutions across Southeast Asia, will be a key data partner in this expansion. Its platform offers granular credit and financial analytics across company types, empowering lenders, PSPs, insurers, and trade platforms with faster, more accurate decision-making. This partnership will enhance Decentro's product suite to meet the evolving demands of emerging markets and fast-scaling enterprises. "Our collaboration with Decentro brings together the best of infrastructure and intelligence. With our credit and trade data combined with Decentro's platform-first approach, we're making real-time, AI-powered business insights available to financial players across Southeast Asia. This is a step forward for financial inclusion, risk transparency, and smart credit enablement," Shrikant Patil, CEO of DigiAlly, said. With this expansion, Decentro continues to simplify financial workflows across the globe, helping businesses of all sizes tap into local and international opportunities. The company's entry into Southeast Asia follows its strong momentum in India, which recorded over 150% year-on-year growth in FY24 - 25. Building on this foundation, Decentro aims to deepen its presence across ASEAN, enable deep credit underwriting for both global and regional platforms, and power the next wave of fintech infrastructure across borders. About Decentro Founded in 2020, Decentro is a full-stack banking and fintech infrastructure platform that builds and empowers companies across India and Asia. With its products Flow (Payments & Money flow) and Fabric (KYC, Data & Intelligence), having 10+ modules across banking and payments, Decentro helps businesses remove over 90% of the friction and reduce the timeline they face when it comes to the flow of money and financial data. Decentro powers over 1200+ companies, including CRED, MakeMyTrip, Meesho, MoneyTap, AU small finance bank, and many more, helping them with a robust credit & banking infrastructure. Decentro was founded by Rohit Taneja and Pratik Daudkhane and is backed by investors like Y-Combinator, Rapyd Ventures, and Soma Capital, among many others. For more information, please visit https://decentro.tech/global. About DigiAlly DigiAlly is a Singapore-based fintech pioneering a unique trust-based Embedded Finance platform for fostering "Frictionless Credit." We help Financial Institutions make faster, cheaper, and better decisions during their lending journey with SMEs. They create an AI-powered trust score that represents a holistic health check of SMEs, proactively covering operational, market, and credit risks. DigiAlly assesses the overall portfolio of financial institutions across the value chain and assists them in optimising collections through continuous portfolio monitoring. (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)
SMPL New Delhi [India], April 8: In a historic and trailblazing initiative that reaffirms the spirit of Nari Shakti, eleven fearless women officers from India's Armed Forces are charting a bold course across the world's oceans. The Tri-Services All Women Around The World Sailing Expedition marks a monumental first, as a team comprising officers from the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force prepares to undertake a global circumnavigation, navigating some of the world's most treacherous waters, including the formidable Indian Ocean. This ambitious expedition is a demonstration of maritime prowess but a powerful assertion of women's empowerment within the defence forces. The crew comprises of eleven exceptional officers from the Indian Armed Forces--six from the Indian Army, one from the Indian Navy, and four from the Indian Air Force. Representing the Indian Army are Lt Col Anuja, Maj Karamjeet, Maj Tanyah, Capt Omita, Capt Dauli, and Capt Prajakta. The Indian Navy is represented by Lieutenant Commander Priyanka, while the Indian Air Force team includes Sqn Ldr Vibha, Sqn Ldr Shraddha, Sqn Ldr Aruvi, and Sqn Ldr Vaishali. Their extraordinary journey began at the Army Adventure Nodal Centre for Blue Water Sailing, where they trained under the expert mentorship of Lt Col R Venu, the Officer-in-Charge of the expedition, and seasoned offshore sailors Lt Col MK Singh and Lt Col Surender Singh. The expedition is formally flagged off on 7th April from INWTC (Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre), Mumbai by Lt Gen A K Ramesh, SM, Commandant, College of Military Engineering, in a ceremony that marked the beginning of a historic chapter in India's maritime and military history. This leg of the journey will see the crew sail from Mumbai to Seychelles and back to Mumbai, testing their mettle in open waters as a precursor to the larger global circumnavigation mission. The selection process was as rigorous as it was comprehensive. Out of 41 aspiring candidates, 12 officers were selected after being tested for their physical endurance, psychological resilience, leadership qualities, and sailing aptitude. Building on a series of progressively challenging training expeditions--including routes from Mumbai to Karanja, Murud, Goa, Kochi, Porbandar, and Lakshadweep--the officers are now undertaking their most ambitious voyage yet: a full-fledged blue water sailing expedition from Mumbai to Seychelles and back. Training commenced from the ground up at the College of Military Engineering, combining classroom learning with hands-on experience. Adhering to the Army's training ethos - "the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle" - the women were trained on multiple sailing platforms including the Wagtail Class (Class D), Seabird Class (Class C), and the Manyu VIR (Class B, 27-footer yacht). The ongoing expedition is being undertaken on TRIVENI, the newly inducted Indian Army Sailing Vessel (IASV)--a symbol of indigenous capability and maritime aspiration. Designed and built in India, TRIVENI stands as a robust demonstration of the country's growing prowess in ocean-worthy vessel construction. The curriculum for the expedition was both exhaustive and immersive, designed to prepare the officers for every conceivable challenge at sea. It covered essential aspects such as navigation, meteorology, and seamanship, ensuring a solid foundation in core sailing principles. The training also included emergency drills, onboard repairs, and boat maintenance to build resilience and self-reliance during long voyages. Officers were familiarised with international maritime laws (COLREGS) and safety protocols to ensure compliance and preparedness in international waters. In addition, they were trained in logistics planning, rationing, and route mapping--critical skills for managing long-distance expeditions. The program also emphasized physical conditioning and team-building exercises, cultivating the strength, endurance, and camaraderie essential for life at sea. This expedition is more than a feat of endurance and adventure; it is a powerful narrative of empowerment. These women officers are shattering stereotypes and redefining the role of women in uniform. Their journey sends a resounding message to the world: no dream is too distant, no sea too vast. The team hopes to inspire a generation of young women to pursue challenges head-on, embrace the spirit of adventure, and rise to serve the nation in every field imaginable. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by SMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 8: Techno India Group (TIG) and Techno India University (TIU), Kolkata, have officially opened admissions for the academic year 2025 through the Techno National Joint Entrance Exam (TNJEE) - accessible at www.tnjee.in. Celebrating over 40 years of educational excellence, TIG has successfully produced around 5 lakh engineers and professionals to date, with the highest placement package reaching an impressive INR 2 crore per annum.

In a significant move to strengthen industry-academia partnerships, Techno India has announced major collaborations with Google Cloud and IBM. These collaborations were inaugurated in the presence of esteemed representatives from both companies, marking a major leap towards AI-driven and cloud-centric education.

Emerging Technology-Focused Courses Introduced

Techno India is now offering a range of cutting-edge programs across various schools, notably:

* B.Tech (H) CSE with specializations in AI/ML, Data Science, and Cloud Computing.

* BCA (H), BBA (H) with specializations in Business Analytics, AI, and Data Science.

* Advanced degrees including B.Tech, M.Tech, MBA, MCA, and Ph.D. in AI, tailored for students and working professionals alike.

The university is offering interdisciplinary programs in partnership with Google Cloud and IBM, reinforcing its vision of a future-ready education ecosystem.

Broad Academic Offerings Across Disciplines

The admission brochure highlights diverse programs offered under different schools:

* Engineering: Courses from traditional streams to futuristic specializations like Cyber Security, IoT, and CSE-Data Science.

* Science: Focused on fields such as Biotechnology, Smart Agriculture, and Oceanography.

* Pharmacy, Commerce, Computer Applications, Law, and Humanities: Offering undergraduate to doctoral levels.

* Media & Film Making, Design, Nursing, Allied Health Sciences, and Management: Featuring practical, industry-linked curriculum including courses in Game Design, Fashion, Film, and SAP-integrated MBA programs.

Support and Scholarships

The institution assures a 10% Management Quota seat allocation as per government norms. Additional benefits include hostel facilities, bank loans, and credit card-based fee payment options.

Admission modes include WBJEE/JEE Mains scores, TNJEE performance, and a merit-based direct admission option.

Prospective students and guardians are encouraged to apply or inquire through helplines: 08062642222, 9836544419, 9836544416, 9836544417, and 9836544418.

For More Information, visit www.technoindiagroup.com and www.technoindiauniversity.ai or call the admission office at EM 4, Salt Lake Sector V, Kolkata.

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by SMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
New Delhi [India], April 8: The Lifting India - Safety Awards 2025 (LISA 2025) is set to be a landmark event, recognizing the invaluable contributions of companies and individuals towards upholding the highest safety standards in the lifting industry. Scheduled for May 23, 2025, at the prestigious Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, Nariman Point, Mumbai, this first-of-its-kind award ceremony will honor industry leaders dedicated to fostering a culture of safety and implementing robust precautionary measures at construction sites across India.

Organized by InspireSafety Foundation, founded by DK Jamdar, Ex-Deputy Director of DISH Maharashtra, LISA 2025 aims to celebrate organizations, companies, and individuals whose safety commitment has significantly reduced construction site risks and accidents.

The event is organised under the guidance of Shri Devidas Gore Director (Global Community Care), Inspiresafety Foundation he is Ex-Director DISH Maharashtra

Invitations have been sent to Shri Akash Fundkar (Minister of Labour, Maharashtra) and Shri Mangal Prabhat Lodha to attend the felicitation program as Chief Guests. The event will also be graced by other respected political dignitaries, along with renowned Indian actress Bhagyashree, who will honor the occasion with her presence.

The first edition of the LISA Awards, held in September 2023, was a resounding success, setting a strong foundation for future editions and reinforcing the importance of safety in the lifting industry.

Speaking about the significance of the awards, DK Jamdar, Founder of InspireSafety Foundation and former Deputy Director of DISH Maharashtra, stated,"We are excited to host the Lifting India - Safety Awards once again. This initiative is a tribute to the dedicated professionals in the lifting industry who work tirelessly to ensure workplace safety.

(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)
HT Syndication New Delhi [India], April 8: As of 2024, the global digital advertising industry faces a staggering Rs32,000 crore ($3.8 billion) in wasted ad spend. The total addressable market for digital ad spend globally stands at $679 billion, with a serviceable addressable market of $300 billion and a serviceable obtainable market of $13 billion. India holds a significant position in this market, contributing 4% to 7% of the global share in marketing automation and SaaS platforms. This positions India not only as a rapidly developing nation but also as a formidable player in the global digital economy. With over 140 crore people and a government actively supporting the startup ecosystem through funding schemes and incentives, India is becoming a fertile ground for innovation and job creation. In this dynamic and competitive market, one such Noida-based startup is making headlines by carving out a unique niche in the AdTech industry -- Leadbug Tech & Advertising Private Limited. From 0 to Rs10 Crore Valuation in Just 4 Months Leadbug.io, co-founded by Anurag Tiwari and Srishti Pandey, has achieved remarkable growth in a short period. The company secured Rs30 lakhs in funding from a combination of family & angel investors. The company is now preparing to raise its final seed funding round, where it plans to trade up to 6% of equity. This strategic move is aimed at faster development process & supporting the launch of the beta version. With 97% equity still in hand, Leadbug.io is in a strong position to capitalize on future growth, with the potential for its valuation to skyrocket in the coming years. Introducing Leadbug OMT - The One-Stop AI-Powered Marketing Tool Leadbug OMT (One Marketing Tool) concept is a SaaS-based, AI-powered marketing and sales automation platform specifically designed for the AdTech industry. The platform integrates a NoSQL database management system. Leadbug OMT aims to help businesses with avoiding the revenue leakage & cutting down the cost per lead. An AI-driven dashboard consolidates audience data from multiple sources and provides actionable insights. Strategic Milestones and Partnerships Leadbug.io has already achieved significant milestones, securing strategic partnerships that position the company for accelerated growth. One notable achievement is its partnership with Shashi Sales & Marketing (seller partner of Haptik Technology by JIO for WhatsApp marketing). Shashi Sales & Marketing, a well-established confectionery distributor and super-stockist in Uttar Pradesh East, is operating since 2005. Shashi Sales expanded into the tech industry three years ago with minimal investments bringing startup under their umbrella, and its backing provides Leadbug with both financial and operational support. Learning backed by of Wadhwani Foundation & Y Combinator The learning and strategic guidance behind Leadbug.io have been significantly shaped by the support of Wadhwani Foundation and Y Combinator. Their extensive tutorial programs, structured mentorship, and business scaling strategies have played a pivotal role in strengthening the foundation of Leadbug.io. Who Are the Founders Behind Leadbug.io? Leadbug.io is the brainchild of two experienced professionals: * Srishti Pandey - A Computer Science Engineer with a PGDM from Doon Business School, Srishti brings over 7 years of experience in programmatic and strategic marketing. Her deep understanding of market gaps and operational inefficiencies inspired her to create a solution that simplifies lead generation and marketing automation. * Anurag Tiwari - An Engineer and MBA in Information Technology, Anurag has over 12 years of experience in business analysis and technology. He has worked with major organizations like Tech Mahindra, Accenture, and AT&T. His expertise in business processes and market strategy plays a crucial role in shaping Leadbug.io's technological and commercial growth. Currently, Leadbug.io has a lean but highly skilled team comprising designers, developers, and Content specialist. The company's office is located in Sector 132, Noida -- a growing hub for tech startups and innovation. Why Leadbug.io is Poised for Success The Indian AdTech market is still in its early stages, with relatively low competition in the SaaS space. This creates a prime opportunity for Leadbug.io to become a dominant player. The platform's focus on: * Data accuracy through AI-driven insights * Cost reduction for businesses * Simplified campaign management * Increased transparency in lead generation ...makes Leadbug.io a game-changing solution for businesses of all sizes. As the company prepares to launch its beta version and secure additional funding, the future looks incredibly promising for Leadbug.io. Investors, marketers, and business owners should keep an eye on this rising star of 2025 in the AdTech industry -- Leadbug.io is not just another SaaS platform; it's the future of marketing automation. Website: www.leadbug.io For investment inquiries or business partnerships, contact hello@leadbug.io. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by HT Syndication. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PNN Colombo [Sri Lanka], April 8: QnA International's exclusive DWP Prive, the limited edition of one of the most distinguished B2B wedding events, is set to convene for its industrial meet in Sri Lanka at the magnificent Cinnamon Life, City of Dreams, on April 9. While the event highlights Sri Lanka's stunning landscapes and rich cultural heritage, it also serves as a networking space for global industry leaders to connect, exchange insights, and explore new opportunities in the luxury wedding sector. Industry veterans from across the world will be present, sharing their expertise and years of experience with the community. Preston Bailey, President of Preston Bailey Designs, USA, the legend, will kick off DWP Prive with a bold and unfiltered keynote, Pillow Talk: Shedding Light on Issues No One Wants to Talk About. His thought-provoking session will tackle the hidden challenges, candid realities, and behind-the-scenes truths of the luxury wedding industry--reimagining the way we think, create, and celebrate. Iterating Sri Lanka as the popular hub for Indian weddings, renowned wedding designer, Sumant Jayakrishnan, Founder, of Scenografia Sumant, India, shared, "Colombo really has the best of both worlds of both India and the Far East. The warm hospitality, the innate friendliness, the spirit of good cheer, and the loving bonhomie, all within a lush and tropical landscape, are unmatched. The wide range of luxe hotels and resorts reflects a very individual and sophisticated approach to architecture, landscaping, and healing. I have now been a participant on and off at the international DWP's since 2015 and have always enjoyed the wide range of people representing the far reaches of the world, their varied and different approaches to the world of weddings, and the breadth of rich experiences that all have shared unconditionally, and with a lot of care and love. These interactions have enriched my personal world beyond description." Cyrielle Mohara, Founder & CEO, of Chic & Co., China, is exploring Sri Lanka as a venue for celebratory events and learning about industry developments. She is interested in "the conversations shaping the future of weddings, discovering a new location to propose, to hear more about AI in weddings, and seeing how the industry trends are changing according to the target market." Aarti Manocha, Founder & Managing Director of Milestones to Memories Pvt. Ltd, India, talks about Cinnamon Life, City of Dreams, and its exceptional management: "This iconic hotel embodies the essence of Sri Lankan hospitality, blending sleek modernity with warm elegance. I'm thrilled to be a part of DWP Prive 2025, where the creme de la creme of the wedding industry will converge to shape the future of luxury weddings. I expect inspiring conversations, innovative ideas, and unparalleled networking opportunities. As a speaker, I'm looking forward to sharing my insights and learning from fellow experts while connecting with esteemed wedding planners, designers, and connoisseurs. I hope together we'll redefine the art of luxury wedding planning." Joining from Africa, Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, CEO of Zapphaire Events, and Adeola Okeshola, CEO of 2706 Events, explore Sri Lanka as one of the most coveted destination wedding locations. As a first-time attendee, Funke says on DWP Prive, "My expectation is to make new friends, enjoy the conversations while learning about new trends, new business ideas, and how I can move my business forward to be positioned for the new and emerging clients that require our services. Technology for efficiency and innovation, personalization, and immersive experiences will be shaping the event wedding industry, and I look forward to being a part of these talks." Adeola Okeshola expects DWP Prive 2025 to be a game-changer in the luxury wedding industry. "I'm looking forward to connecting with like-minded professionals, speaking & learning about the latest trends and innovations, and exploring opportunities for collaboration. The event's focus on shaping the future of weddings aligns with my passion for delivering exceptional wedding experiences," she says. Padmi Fernando, Director, of Business Development Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams Sri Lanka, said, "We are thrilled to have Cinnamon Life as the host hotel for the DWP Prive, an event that brings together the world's most influential minds in curating iconic destination weddings. Hosting this in Sri Lanka is a testament to the country's rising appeal as a premier wedding destination, and we see this as a pivotal moment to position Colombo and Cinnamon Life at the heart of extraordinary destination weddings in the region." Lastly, Sidh NC, Director of QnA International, highlighted the significance of DWP Prive, "With the global market for destination weddings expected to exceed USD 420.72 billion by 2030, this exclusive gathering of industry leaders presents a tremendous opportunity for the weddings and celebrations industry. We're pleased with the tumultuous welcome the event has received from our partners and industry associates." (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)
Maharashtra is focusing on developing artificial intelligence and technology in the state, as Mumbai is already a fintech capital, said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday. Speaking at an event called 'IGF Mumbai NXT 25: Leading the Leap,' the Maharashtra CM said that the state is also focusing on making Gadchiroli, a place known for its dense forests, tribal communities, and natural beauty, a business destination. "Mumbai is already a fintech capital. We are focusing on AI and technology. Our new destination for business is Gadchiroli... Big companies are investing in Maharashtra... We are developing a huge port in Konkan. This port will be three times bigger than Mumbai. This will create an absolute ecosystem," Maharashtra CM said. He highlighted the state's intent to develop for businesses and said that they are building innovation cities near Mumbai. He mentioned that a huge infrastructural ecosystem is being created in the area near Mumbai and Pune, as the state government is working towards ease of doing business. Reacting to job generation, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said that the state is a destination for data centres and is a start-up capital. He stated that in the space of AI startups, Maharashtra is leading the path the way. He highlighted the investment proposals attracted by the government at the meetings of the World Economic Forum, adding that 80 percent of our MOUs are in action; we have offered them what we have planned, and 20 percent are also on track but behind schedule. None of them (investors) are backing off, he said. The Maharashtra CM said that climate change is emerging as the biggest challenge for sectors such as agriculture. "We are also agri-economic too; we are trying to use AI modules in agriculture. Agriculture is very dependent on climate. We have announced a mission of AI in agriculture, and using AI modules, we want to make our agriculture more predictable," he said. Regarding the impact of US reciprocal tariffs, the Maharashtra CM stated that there will be an impact on the supply chain, but we will accommodate this. We also see opportunities in this, too, he said. (ANI)
VMPL New Delhi [India], April 8: The AMIEE Association, in collaboration with the CMAOI Association, is set to host the International Conference on "AI, ML, and Emerging Technologies: Transforming Industries and Society" from April 11 to 13, 2025. This virtual event aims to unite researchers, academicians, industry experts, and students worldwide to exchange ideas and present cutting-edge research on the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and related technologies across various domains. Esteemed Dignitaries and Speakers Include: * Patron: Col. Dr. Prof. Rakesh Sharma, Advisor - Military Affairs; Former Vice-Chancellor - IEC University; Rector - Acharya University, Uzbekistan; Founder Director General - Baddi University & Graphic Era University; Advisor - Government of Jharkhand. * Keynote Speaker: Dr. Nitu Ghosh, Director, School of Management Studies, REVA University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. * Convenor: Dr. T C Manjunath, Dean Research (R&D), Professor, Department of Computer Science Engineering, Rajarajeswari College of Engineering, Bangalore, Karnataka. * Conference Director: Prof. (Dr) Ipseeta Nanda, Professor, School of Engineering, IILM University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. * Program Chair: Mr. Amit Singh, Lead Architect, Cisco Systems; MS (Computer Networks), North Carolina State University, USA * Organizing Secretary: Dr. Aamir Junaid Ahmad, Secretary, AMIEE Association, Connaught Place, New Delhi, India. Conference Themes Include: * AI in Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing * Robotics & Automation * Predictive Analytics & Business Intelligence * AI in Digital Marketing and Consumer Behavior * Financial Services and Risk Management * Healthcare, Drug Discovery & Diagnostics * Smart Cities & Climate Solutions * Generative AI and Creative Content * Ethical AI, Explainability, and Responsible Innovation * The Future of Work & Human-AI Collaboration Important Dates: * Abstract Submission Deadline: April 8, 2025 * Full Paper Submission Deadline: April 10, 2025 All accepted papers will be published in the Conference Proceedings with an ISBN, ensuring wide academic visibility. Selected high-quality papers will be recommended for publication in reputed Scopus, Web of Science, and UGC CARE-listed journals, subject to editorial and peer review. Authors also have an opportunity to submit their work to the Association's flagship journal - Journal of Research and Innovation in Technology, Commerce and Management (JRITCM), accessible at https://jritm.org. The AMIEE (Association for Management, Innovation, Education, and Entrepreneurship) https://amiee.in is a registered professional body committed to the development of research culture, innovation, entrepreneurship, and academic collaboration. The CMAOI (Commerce, Management and Applied Oriented Innovations) Association https://cmaoi.org is a globally connected community of scholars and professionals working towards bridging the gap between academic research and industrial applications. The conference promises to be a landmark event offering immense academic and professional value. Researchers, faculty, industry practitioners, and students are encouraged to participate and engage with the global AI and technology community. For registrations and abstract submissions, please visit: * Abstract Submission: https://forms.gle/kWiu7gmg9hjW6Eey8 * Full Paper Submission: https://forms.gle/U35wjcNcAWJde9tc7 * Registration Form: https://forms.gle/KEMzWF7dF2n7hiEWA For further information: * Website: www.amiee.in | www.cmaoi.org | www.jritm.org * Phone: +91-9939802016 * Email: support@amiee.in (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
VMPL Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 8: The European Congress of Internal Medicine (ECIM) 2025 was held in Florence, Italy, where Dr Udit Bhaskar Vaish from India highlighted the importance of addressing interconnected health conditions through a collaborative approach in internal medicine. Dr. Vaish is a resident doctor of General Medicine at D.Y. Patil Medical College, Navi Mumbai. His work focused on complex cases involving metabolic, cardiac, neurological, endocrine and renal conditions. It is one of the largest international conferences in internal medicine, organised by EFIM, a premier organisation for internal medicine specialists in Europe. Sharing his experience on the global platform, Dr Vaish said, "Medical research is constantly evolving, and platforms like ECIM allow us to discuss new developments with experts from different parts of the world. This helps refine clinical approaches and ensures that we stay updated with global best practices. "With the growing emphasis on multidisciplinary care, Dr Vaish extensively discussed topics such as research improving diagnosis, treatment and patient management strategies. Dr Vaish particularly focused on cases that require collaborative management across multiple specialities. His research highlighted how overlapping symptoms often complicate diagnosis and treatment, highlighting the need for a multidisciplinary approach, especially in the management of time-sensitive and critical cases. Dr. Vaish's work also highlighted the clinical expertise of Indian doctors, demonstrating their ability to accurately diagnose and treat complex conditions. He explained, "These cases often come with symptoms that do not clearly fall under a single specialty. For example, a patient coming with neurological problems may indicate an underlying metabolic disease that may pose a risk in the future, requiring a nuanced approach to each case, carefully considering the time and resources available." Dr. Vaish's study examined diagnostic challenges, treatment strategies and patient outcomes, drawing insights from a series of real-world clinical observations. It included the following cases: bulbar onset ALS, renal tubular acidosis in a newly diagnosed Sjogren's syndrome patient presenting as hypokalemic paralysis with respiratory collapse triggered by dengue infection. ECIM brought together leading medical professionals, researchers and policy makers to discuss issues that could influence future clinical guidelines and healthcare strategies. More than 3,000 research submissions were received from over 80 countries, covering a wide range of specialities within internal medicine. This year's European Congress discussed multimorbidity and ageing-related diseases, advances in cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, artificial intelligence in internal medicine, personalised medicine and precision healthcare. Dr Udit Bhaskar Vaish's research intersects with these themes, contributing to ongoing discussions on the management of complex, multi-system disorders in clinical practice. International conferences such as ECIM provide clinicians and researchers with an opportunity to exchange knowledge, learn from global case studies, and collaborate on future research. They also help integrate new findings into everyday clinical practice, improving patient care standards worldwide. (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)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Chair of insurance and asset management company Prudential, Shriti Vadera, in London, during her ongoing visit to the United Kingdom. During the meeting, the Finance Minister mentioned the growth in insurance sector in India owing to the reforms in FDI policy, and emphasised on the need to focus on reinsurance and third party insurance in addition to health insurance and other products. Sitharaman apprised Vadera of the opportunities in India's maiden International Financial Services Centre at GIFT City in Gujarat and encouraged Prudential to explore deeper engagement with the ecosystem there, including in areas such a global reinsurance services, as well as considering GIFT City services for global fund management for investing in India. After the meeting, the Ministry of Finance wrote on her X platform that Vadera informed her about Prudential's upcoming venture in the health insurance space in India, and spoke about engaging more with GIFT City for exploring investment and fund management opportunities in India. Sitharaman also underlined the potential areas for collaboration between UK and India, especially in the domain of business and investments, and also including private equity and venture capital investments, asset management and financial services and insurance. The interaction also involved discussions around the recent budget announcement, including those related to supporting the expansion of India's Global Capability Centres. Finance Minister Sitharaman embarked on an official visit to the UK and Austria on Monday. Her visit will conclude on April 13. According to a statement from the Ministry of Finance she is scheduled to attend Ministerial-Level Bilateral meetings. The Finance Minister will participate in the 13th Ministerial round of the India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue and engage with think tanks, investors, and business leaders in the UK and Austria. The 13th round of the India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue is scheduled to be held in London, United Kingdom, on Wednesday. The 13th EFD dialogue will be co-chaired by the finance minister and the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer. (ANI)
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U.S. President Donald Trump (C) welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on April 7, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House on Monday, focusing on the Gaza hostage crisis and U.S. tariffs on Israeli goods.

In a brief Oval Office session open to reporters, Trump called the release of hostages held in Gaza a "top priority." He expressed optimism about ongoing negotiations but provided no specific details.

"We're making progress," Trump said. "I believe we'll see all the hostages home soon."

Netanyahu agreed, emphasizing Israel's commitment to securing the hostages' freedom.

They also addressed the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. While they announced no new agreements, both stressed the importance of reducing violence in the region.

Trump defended his recent 17 percent tariff on imports from Israel, part of his broader trade policy affecting many economies.

Netanyahu reportedly sought relief from these tariffs, highlighting Israel's efforts to strengthen trade ties with the United States.

In 2024, the total goods trade between the two countries was an estimated at 37.0 billion U.S. dollars, with U.S. exports to Israel at 14.8 billion dollars and imports from Israel at 22.2 billion dollars, resulting in a 7.4 billion dollars U.S. trade deficit.

Netanyahu's visit to the White House was arranged in a phone call last Thursday between the two leaders when Netanyahu raised the tariff issue, according to Israeli officials.

The White House had initially planned a joint press conference but canceled it without explanation. Instead, reporters asked questions during their brief access to the Oval Office meeting.

Trump did not discuss any long-term plans for Gaza's redevelopment during this meeting. His administration has previously proposed controversial ideas for the region, which have faced criticism from various groups.

The meeting highlighted the complex relationship between the United States and Israel, balancing security concerns with economic interests. Both leaders pledged to continue working closely on these issues.
The MoU was exchanged in the presence of Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri and Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi here in the national capital.

With an investment of Rs 61,077 crore, this marks IndianOil's largest-ever investment at a single location, the state-owned oil marketing company said in a statement Tuesday.

The upcoming complex at Paradip will house a dual-feed cracker and associated downstream units for the production of a wide range of petrochemicals, including phenol, polypropylene (PP), isopropyl alcohol (IPA), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), phenol, and butadiene.

According to IndianOil, these products will serve as key raw materials for specialty chemical sectors like pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, coatings, and adhesives, significantly reducing import dependency and supporting the self-reliant India and Make in India missions.

Minister Puri, on the occasion, said, "This state-of-the-art petrochemicals hub will catalyse the development of Paradip Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) and create direct and indirect employment opportunities in the region."

Addressing the gathering, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was also present, shared, "With petroleum sector Investments of more than Rs 2.04 lakh crore In the last decade, Odisha is on-course to become one of the most important hub of energy transition in the world."

Appreciating the investments in the state, Chief Minister Majhi remarked that the partnership will catalyse Odisha's industrial growth, generate employment, and make the state a top investment destination.

AS Sahney, Chairman, IndianOil, said this project in Odisha builds on IndianOil's existing 15 million tonne per annum refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Paradip and will boost downstream industries and MSMEs across the eastern part of India. (ANI)
The two-day visit of the Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to the national capital has culminated in a series of significant outcomes aimed at bolstering the state's industrial landscape. The visit was marked by strategic engagements and partnerships that are expected to accelerate economic growth and position Odisha as a formidable hub for industry, particularly in the petrochemical and technology sectors. As a major step forward, the Odisha government signed a series of high-value MoUs with leading industry players in New Delhi. The highlight was the agreement with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) for setting up a Dual-Feed Naphtha Cracker Project in Odisha. The initiative is expected to generate around 67,000 jobs and significantly enhance the state's petrochemical infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities. In addition to the MoU with IOCL, agreements were also signed with the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) and Petronet LNG. These partnerships reinforce Odisha's strategic role in India's petrochemical landscape and reflect a commitment to sustainable industrial development, import substitution, and a resilient supply chain. Overall, 13 MoUs were signed, amounting to Rs 103,090 crores, significantly enhancing the state's capabilities across sectors. The projects are expected to generate around 95,915 employment opportunities, fostering regional economic growth and boosting industrial activity. Mohan Charan Majhi, in his keynote address, emphasized Odisha's vision to emerge as a petrochemical and manufacturing hub. He stated, "Today's MoU with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is a landmark moment in Odisha's industrial journey. It reflects not just a shared vision but a strong belief in the state's potential to lead India's petrochemical revolution from the east. Paradip, with its strategic location and evolving infrastructure, is poised to become a transformative industrial hub--much like Dahej in the west... Odisha is ready, and we invite you to invest in our bright future." The chief minister's visit to the national capital featured productive one-on-one meetings with notable industry leaders from various sectors. Those companies were Kiri Industries, Himadri Specialty Chemical Ltd, and SLMG Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Chowgule Group, Inox GFL Group, and Bombay Dyeing Mfg. Co. Ltd. Additionally, he met members of the Association of Indian Manufacturers of Medical Devices (AIMED), Toy Association of India, and United States India Business Council. As Odisha embarks on an exciting journey, the Chief Minister said he looks forward to continued collaboration with industry leaders and stakeholders to realize the immense potential that the state holds. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his grief over the death of the legendary filmmaker and actor Manoj Kumar, who passed away on Friday morning, April 4. In a letter addressed to Kumar's wife, Shashi Gowami, the PM remembered meeting the legendary actor and also praised his contribution to Indian cinema and patriotism. The letter, written in Hindi, read, "I am deeply saddened by the passing of Shri Manoj Kumar Ji. My condolences are with his family and well-wishers during this difficult time. The legendary actor and filmmaker showcased the pride of India in a powerful way through his films. Many of his movies helped strengthen the feeling of patriotism among the people." "The songs from his films, based on Indian culture and values, express love and dedication towards the country, and people will always remember and sing them. I will always remember my meetings and thoughtful conversations with Shri Manoj Kumar Ji. His work will continue to inspire generations to work for the country and society. His passing is a huge loss to the film world," the letter further read. The legendary actor and filmmaker passed away at 4:03 a.m. on April 4 at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai after a prolonged illness. Born Harikrishan Goswami on July 24, 1937, in Abbottabad (now in Pakistan), Kumar became an iconic figure in Indian cinema, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. The actor was affectionately known as "Bharat Kumar" for his iconic roles in patriotic films such as Upkar, Purab Aur Paschim, and Shaheed. In addition to his acting career, Kumar made significant contributions as a director and producer. His directorial debut Upkar (1967) won the National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film.Other successful films directed by him include Purab Aur Paschim (1970) and Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974), both of which were major successes, both critically and commercially. (ANI)
Social media influencer Apoorva Makhija, who is popularly known as The Rebel Kid, has shared an Instagram post with screenshots of rape, acid attack and death threats. She has been in the news in connection with the controversy regarding India's Got Latent. After deleting her posts, she has now made a comeback and shared an Instagram post with screenshots of the comments that people left on her posts. While some gave her rape and death threats, the others threatened her of acid attack. She wrote in the caption, "and that's not even 1%"https://www.instagram.com/p/DILfD9lC5Xv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== In February, Maharashtra Cyber Cell recorded the statement of social media influencer Apoorva Makhija after the controversy regarding India's Got Latent. The show came under intense scrutiny after controversial remarks were made by Ranveer Allahbadia during an episode. Allahbadia's comment about a contestant involving their parents quickly went viral and was met with widespread criticism on social media. The podcaster later issued a public apology, acknowledging that his comments were not only inappropriate but also lacked humour. "My comment wasn't just inappropriate, it wasn't even funny. Comedy is not my forte, I am just here to say sorry," Allahbadia said in his apology. He also addressed concerns about his influence on younger audiences, promising to use his platform more responsibly in the future. "Family is the last thing that I would ever disrespect," he added. Comedian Samay Raina appeared before the Guwahati Crime Branch on April 6, Saturday in connection with the case filed against him for allegedly promoting obscenity and vulgar content through his YouTube show 'India's Got Latent. ' On February 10, Guwahati Police had registered an FIR against certain YouTubers and social Influencers, namely Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh, Apoorva Makhija, Ranveer Allahbadia, Samay Raina and others for promoting obscenity and engaging in sexually explicit and vulgar discussion in a show titled "India's Got Latent". Guwahati Crime Branch had registered a case vide Cyber PS case no 03/2025 under sections - 79/95/294/296 of BNS 2023 read with Sec 67 of IT Act, 2000, read with Section 4/7 of Cinematograph Act 1952 read with Section 4/6 of Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986. Earlier, YouTuber Ashish Chanchlani, who is also one of the alleged accused in the case, along with influencer Apoorva Makhija, podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia, comedian Samay Raina and others, also appeared before the Guwahati Crime Branch to record his statement. (ANI)
'White Lotus' star Walton Goggins has reflected on the heartbreaking death of his first wife. For Walton Goggins, returning to Thailand, came with a number of painful memories. The country, which acted as the backdrop for The White Lotus' season three, is one of many the actor travelled to following the passing of his first wife, Leanne Knight, who died by suicide in 2004 after going missing, according to E! News. "It's a very complicated story," said Walton, adding, "Ultimately it was revealed the decision that she'd made. And yeah, I thought it was really unrecoverable for me. Life on the other side of that," as per the outlet. He continued, "And I spent the next three years looking for an excuse--not to end it, but certainly putting myself in situations that were questionable, not with drugs or anything like that, just life experiences and traveling. And I really went all over the world." In addition to Thailand, Walton, who has a 13-year-old son named Augustus with wife, Nadia Conners, visited Vietnam, Cambodia, and India during that period. And upon returning to Thailand to shoot the HBO series, it was with a sense of the uncanny that the Justified alum realised many of their filming locations were places he had visited two decades earlier in his search for meaning, according to E! News. (ANI)
Taking inspiration from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's vision for the protection and empowerment of children - both offline and online - has served as the guiding force for many progressive initiatives in the state, the Assam Police through its child-friendly policing initiative Sishu Mitra, on Monday organized "Infantia - India's First National Dialogue on Children's Rights on the Internet" in Guwahati. Organized in collaboration with PIIR Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to protecting children's rights online, and supported by UNICEF India, Infantia was held in a city-based hotel, and Assam DGP delivered the keynote address in the programme. Bollywood Actor and parenting influencer Neha Dhupia also joined as a Guest Speaker in a Fireside Chat on how films, OTT, and internet culture influence children. Neha Dhupia said, "I feel the demarcation has to be set by parents and conversations like this are necessary... The creative economy is still new, and while some see its potential, others ignore the risks - especially when children's safety is at stake. Like crossing a road, we need to instil caution... Parents may not realise the dangers until we have more open discussions and highlight the flip side. It's important to protect our children, and this is a start... We have shared the hashtag #DontBeASharent - use it, be aware and take the warning seriously." Meanwhile, at the event, Assam Director General of Police Harmeet Singh said, "Under the honourable Chief Minister, our goal is to shift from an insurgency-oriented force to a citizen-centric service. Today's conversation around #DontBeASharent and children's rights is vital--especially in the digital age. Post-COVID, we don't even realise how deeply children are immersed online. This initiative may be the first in Asia to raise awareness about children's digital rights... The aim is to start conversations--between parents, children, teachers, and society--so we can truly understand how to protect them. We're always available--on social media and WhatsApp--for support. Let's come together in the digital age to protect our children. The hashtags are #DontBeASharent and #Infantia. This National-Level Conclave builds on the momentum of Assam Police's award-winning campaign, #DontBeASharent, and aims to spark critical conversations around making the digital world safer and more inclusive for children. Infantia marks a milestone in the Assam Police's evolving role as not just enforcers of the law but as empathetic partners in creating a digitally safe and nurturing environment for every child in India. (ANI)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma attended a World Health Day program in Jaipur on Monday and stated that every person will have to change his lifestyle to realize the resolution of a healthy Rajasthan Addressing the gathering on the occasion of World Health Day, CM Sharma said, "In our culture, health has a very important place... Diseases do not come on their own; we invite them. To realize the resolution of a healthy Rajasthan, every person will have to change his lifestyle." On the occasion of World Health Day, a grand state-level event was organised on Monday at the Rajasthan Ayurvedic Research Institute here. Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar were present at the event. According to a release, during the event, the Chief Minister launched several health campaigns, including the 'Niramay Rajasthan Campaign', 'Eat Right Rajasthan', 'Mission Madhuhari', 'Mission Liver Smile', and 'Chief Minister Ayushman Adarsh Gram Panchayat Yojana'. The release noted that the launch also included the mobile app for Chief Minister Ayushman Scheme, Ayush packages, an AI-based integrated monitoring system, a learning management system, 29 breastfeeding management units, and the establishment of hemodialysis wards in 50 medical institutions. As per the release, during the event, projects related to medical and health services worth Rs 26 crore were inaugurated. These included the National Emergency Life Support Skill Center at the Medical College, Jodhpur, the Center of Excellence for Medical Genetics at JK Lon Hospital, the Girls Hostel at the Women's Hospital located at Sanghaneer Gate, and the Reproductive Medicine and Surgery Department. The release noted that the Chief Minister flagged off 22 Ramrath ambulances and 10 Ambulance 108 services. He also honoured the state TB unit for its outstanding work in the TB-Free Village Panchayat campaign. According to the release, on this occasion, renowned hepatologist Dr Shiv Kumar Sreen presented on liver-related diseases. He mentioned that "Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases, and even cancer can be the result of neglecting the liver." The Chief Minister appreciated his suggestions and said, "We will consider incorporating Dr. Sreen's ideas into our primary education curriculum." The release noted that the Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar emphasised promoting health check-ups in rural areas and advised against excessive use of mobile phones and medicines. He informed that "over 26,000 health workers have been recruited, and appointments for vacant positions will be made soon." (ANI)
Authorities have deployed police to maintain peace and installed CCTV cameras along the route of the Yatra in view of the Ram Navami procession in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh, an official said on Monday evening. The Yatra is being continuously monitored to maintain law and order. Nancy Sahay, Deputy Commissioner of Hazaribagh, told ANI, "All preparations have been made. 145 CCTV cameras have been installed on the route from which this yatra will pass... We are continuously monitoring the yatra..." The deployment aims to maintain peace, given the area's history of tensions during such events. Visuals showed the Ram Navami procession being taken out in Hazaribagh amid police deployment at Jhanda Chawk and near Jama Masjid. The two-day Ram Navami celebration at Hazaribagh takes place on the Dashmi (10th day of Navratri) On March 26, a scuffle and mild stone pelting took place between two groups during Mangla Julus (procession) as part of the Ram Navami celebration at Jhanda Chowk of Jharkhand's Hazaribagh, as per officials. Nancy Sahay, Deputy Commissioner, Hazaribagh, earlier said, "One group was playing some songs during the procession, which was objected to by the second group, resulting in a scuffle and stone pelting. But it did not escalate as the forces deployed there took control of the situation. As of now, the situation is peaceful and under control". Earlier on February 26, a scuffle broke out in Hazaribagh's Ichak area over the use of a sound system. The situation escalated into stone pelting, but authorities quickly stepped in. (ANI)
An IndiGo flight from Jaipur made an emergency landing at Mumbai airport following a bomb threat, authorities said on Monday evening. In a statement, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Mumbai said, "A threat note was discovered in an aircraft en route from Jaipur (JAI) to Mumbai (BOM). As a precaution, full emergency was declared at Mumbai Airport at 2043 hrs. The flight landed safely at 20.50 hrs. Airport operations remain unaffected. CSMIA is actively coordinating with the airline and security agencies. The safety of passengers and staff remains our top priority." (ANI)
In the last 24 hours, Manipur has witnessed a significant boost in security operations, with forces conducting search and area domination exercises in vulnerable hill and valley districts. According to an official press note from Manipur Police, the security forces have made key recoveries across the state. Multiple firearms, including AK-47s, .303 rifles, and 12-bore guns, have been recovered, along with various types of ammunition and explosives. Improvised mortars, mortar bombs, and hand grenades have also been seized. Additionally, wireless sets, radio sets, and other communication devices have also been recovered. These recoveries have been made from the general area of Thangjing hill of Loilamkot village to Nalon village in Churachandpur district, Keirao Wangkhem village and its adjoining area, foothill of Ngariyan hill range from Imphal East district and from the general area of the track connecting N Boljang and zero point in Kangpokpi district, the statement said. According to the press release, the security forces have arrested two active militant cadres, one from the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), identified as Thokchom Ningthem Meitei alias Lingjen (48) and another from the United People's Party of Kangleipak (UPPK). The UPPK cadre, identified as Ningombam Ajitkumar Singh, alias Khagemba (49), was involved in extortion activities targeting the general public and private schools and colleges in Imphal. A two-wheeler and a mobile phone were recovered from his possession. In a separate incident, Manipur Police apprehended two women, Babycha and Dolaipabam Sahani, along with 25 soap cases with suspected heroin, weighing over 308 grams, in Imphal West District. A total of 111 checkpoints was also set up across the state, with security convoys ensuring safe passage for vehicles carrying essential items along key highways (NH-2 and NH-37). Authorities have urged the public to remain vigilant and report any false information or rumors, providing a dedicated helpline for verification. Recently, an annual prayer program at Kongba Maru Laiphamlen concluded peacefully, with over 600 participants and robust security arrangements by joint forces comprising Assam Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Manipur Police, the press note stated. (ANI)
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A Palestinian man walks past closed stores during a general strike in the West Bank city of Nablus, on April 7, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

A general strike took place across the West Bank on Monday against ongoing Israeli assaults on the Gaza Strip.

Shops, markets, schools, universities, banks, and public offices have been closed, and transportation lines have been stopped due to the strike called by Palestinian factions.

In the central West Bank city of Ramallah, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets to condemn the Israeli "crimes" in Gaza, waving the Palestinian flag and chanting slogans demanding an end to the Israeli assaults as they marched through the streets of the city center.

The strike aims to condemn the Israeli assaults on the Palestinian enclave, which have "killed and destroyed Gaza, with American complicity and support," and to urge the international community to fulfill its obligations, Issam Bakr, coordinator of the Palestinian National and Islamic Forces in Ramallah, told Xinhua.

Protests against Israel have also been staged outside the West Bank by those in solidarity with the Palestinians, Bakr said. According to the Palestinian official news agency WAFA, such protests were organized in Tunisia, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

According to Gaza-based health authorities, 56 people were killed and 137 others injured in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities and injuries to 1,391 and 3,434, respectively, since Israel ended the January ceasefire and resumed strikes across Gaza on March 18.

The overall death toll in Gaza has reached 50,752, with 115,475 others injured since the very beginning of the Israeli military operations in the enclave on Oct. 7, 2023, the health authorities reported.

In addition, the Israeli strikes further strained Gaza's health system. According to a statement by Gaza health authorities on Monday, 37 percent of medicines and 59 percent of medical supplies are out of stock in the strip.

It said vital departments in hospitals are running on generators, which are threatened with shutdown due to fuel and spare parts shortages, adding that over half of cancer and blood disease medications are at zero stock, putting patients' lives at risk.

Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, warned on social media, "Two million people (in Gaza) are scarred for life with trauma and shock, battling with the invisible wounds of mental health."
The incident took place around 10:32 pm on Monday, following which, firefighters from the Delhi Fire Service swiftly responded and arrived at the scene.

The DFS officials extinguished the flames and, upon examining the burnt vehicle, discovered a charred body inside the car.

The car's identity and the cause of the fire are currently under investigation by the police.

While the exact circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear, authorities are working to determine whether it was an accident, foul play, or another cause.

An investigation into the matter is underway, further details are awaited on the incident.

In another incident, a 7-year-old boy was allegedly injured in an accident involving a car in the Sainik Enclave area of New Delhi, police said on Monday evening.

Delhi police said that they received information about a boy getting injured in an accident at BHD Nagar police station.

"Police arrived, and it transpired that a boy aged around 7 years, a resident of Sainik Enclave, was admitted to the hospital and is in stable condition, " police said.

The car is seized, and legal action is being taken, as per Delhi Police. (ANI)
In a major breakthrough, the Anti-Gangster Task Force of Punjab Police has arrested two key operatives of the Lawrence Bishnoi - Rohit Godara Gang from the Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali) district of the state, said a top official on Tuesday. The apprehended gang members have been identified as Jashan Sandhu and Gursewak Singh. According to the Directorate General Police (DGP) of Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, one of the members, Jashan Sandhu, was wanted in a 2023 murder case in Ganganagar, Rajasthan and had been evading arrest by constantly changing locations across different countries like Georgia, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai. After landing in Nepal from Dubai, he entered India by road in an attempt to escape law enforcement. As per the preliminary investigations, it was revealed that Jashan played a crucial role in providing logistical support to the gang. His interrogation has led to the identification of overseas Hawala operators, travel agents, and the locations of fugitive gangsters hiding abroad, marking a significant step in dismantling these networks. The Anti-Gangster Task Force has also recovered one 0.32 caliber pistol along with seven live cartridges. On April 7, Punjab Police arrested one drug trafficker and seized two kilograms of heroin and 900 grams of ICE (Crystal Meth) from Amritsar Rural district. The apprehended accused was identified as Tamandeep Singh, a resident of Kakkar village in Amritsar. An FIR was registered under the NDPS Act at Lopoke police station. In a post on X, the Director General of Punjab police, Gaurav Yadav, wrote, "In a major blow to drug trafficking networks, Amritsar Rural Police apprehends Tamandeep Singh, a resident of village Kakkar, and recovers 2 Kg Heroin and 900 gm of ICE (Crystal Meth). An FIR under the NDPS Act is registered at PS Lopoke. Further investigation is underway to trace the forward and backward linkages and dismantle the entire network involved. @PunjabPoliceInd remains committed to dismantling drug cartels and making #Punjab drug-free." (ANI)
Former Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday condemned the hit-and-run case accident that took place in Jaipur. Taking to social media X, the former CM wrote that the incident was heart-wrenching, further stating that the criminals behind the accident should be prosecuted under serious sections. "The incident of a drunk car driver crushing more than half a dozen people in Jaipur is heart-wrenching. The criminal who committed such an act should be prosecuted under serious sections," the post read. The CM also prayed for the well-being of the families of the deceased and wished for a speedy recovery of those injured in the accident. "I pray for the peace of the souls of the two people who lost their lives in this accident and for courage to their families. I wish for the speedy recovery of those injured in this accident," the post further read. The hit-and-run accident took place in Jaipur's Nahargarh area, leaving two people dead and nine others injured. SMS Police Station Sub-Inspector Kanhaiyalal told ANI, "A hit-and-run case has come to light from the Nahargarh area. In the incident, nine people were injured and brought to the hospital. 2 people have died." Further details are awaited. Earlier on March 30, Ashok Gehlot condemned the vandalism of the statue of Veer Tejaji Maharaj in Jaipur and stated that this kind of tampering with public sentiments and faith was unacceptable. In a post on social media platform X, the former CM urged the government to identify the culprits and take strict action against them immediately. "The incident of breaking the statue of Veer Tejaji Maharaj in Pratap Nagar, Jaipur, is extremely condemnable. This kind of tampering with public sentiments and faith is unacceptable," read the post on X." "There is a demand from the government that the culprits of this case should be identified immediately, and strict action should be taken against them," the post continued. Gehlot also stressed the need for stronger measures to ensure the safety of religious places and prevent such incidents in the future. (ANI)
In a shocking case of cybercrime, fraudsters have created a fake Facebook profile impersonating Joint Commissioner Madhur Verma of the Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch. The scammers are targeting people in Verma's social circle by sending deceptive messages. According to sources, the fake account claimed that a friend of the Joint Commissioner, serving in the CRPF, had been transferred and was urgently looking to sell his furniture and electronic appliances at low prices. Messages were sent to several of Verma's acquaintances, attempting to lure them into transferring money for the items. Joint Commissioner Madhur Verma took to social media to warn the public about the scam, urging people to stay vigilant and avoid falling for such fraudulent messages. He clarified that the Facebook profile being used was fake and not operated by him. This is the third fake profile created using his name. The previous two were reported and successfully taken down. The Joint Commissioner is expected to file a formal complaint with the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit today for further investigation. Earlier, on March 15, in another case of cybercrime, Delhi Police arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly extorting money from a woman and threatening to circulate her private pictures on the internet. The accused, identified as Madhav Singh, a resident of Pratap Nagar, Amritsar, was apprehended following a cybercrime investigation. According to the police, the victim had filed a complaint at Cyber Police Station, North West District, alleging that she had befriended an individual on social media. Over time, through frequent interactions, he gained access to her private pictures and later began blackmailing her, demanding Rs 5 lakh. He allegedly threatened to spread the images online if his demands were not met. Following the complaint, a case was registered under sections 308(2) and 78 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and an investigation was launched. The accused was found to be operating multiple Instagram accounts under false identities without sharing his contact number or personal details. Police tracked his digital footprint using advanced cyber forensic techniques and eventually identified and apprehended him. During interrogation, Singh confessed to the crime, admitting that he engaged in such activities for amusement. Authorities had seized the mobile phone used in the offense. The investigation is ongoing, with efforts underway to identify any additional victims or accomplices involved in similar cyber offenses. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday interacted with Mudra Yojana beneficiaries and discussed the impact of the scheme on their lives. Welcoming 'Mudra Yojana Beneficiaries' at his residence, PM Modi said, "I thank you all for coming to my residence. It is said in our scriptures that when guests come to a house, the house becomes pure, so I welcome you all." During the interaction, the beneficiaries shared insights on how this scheme has transformed their lives. One of the beneficiaries from UP's Raebareli said, "We promise you that we will make India a developed India together. Now, we do not face problems in getting a license from the government...I run a bakery. My monthly turnover is 2.5 to 3 lakh rupees and we have a staff of 7 to 8 people." Lavkush Mehra, a beneficiary from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, shared his experience and said that he started his business in 2021 and today he is earning Rs 50 lakhs. "Earlier, I used to work for someone, was a servant, but you took our guarantee through Mudra loan and today we have become owners. I started my business in 2021 and I approached the bank, they gave me a loan limit of Rs 5 lakh. I was afraid that I am taking such a big loan for the first time and whether I will be able to repay it or not. Today, my Mudra loan has gone up from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs. 9.5 lakhs. And my first-year turnover was Rs 12 lakhs, which has now become more than Rs. 50 lakhs," Mehra said. Replying to Lavkush Mehra, PM Modi said that the Mudra scheme is not for "Modi's praises." "This scheme is to give courage to the youth of my country to stand on their own feet," the PM said. A 21-year-old beneficiary from Gujarat's Bhavnagar, who is in his final year of graduation, shared his experience and said that he runs a tech lab in Gujarat. "I am the founder of Aditya Tech Lab in which I do 3D printing, reverse engineering and rapid prototyping and also a little bit of robotics as I am a final year student of mechatronic. I took Mudra loan of Rs 2 lakh and I go to college from Monday to Friday and then on weekends, I do my work in Bhavnagar. So right now, I am earning Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 per month," he said. The Prime Minister said that Rs 33 lakh crore has been given to the people of the country without any guarantee. "I want the youth of my country to come into this field in greater numbers. Under the Mudra scheme, Rs 33 lakh crore has been given to the people of the country without any guarantee," he said. The PM said that among all these beneficiaries, some have provided employment to one, some to 2, and some to 40-50 people. "This massive task of providing employment generates the economy." "In the Mudra scheme, the highest number of women have come forward. Women have applied for the most loans, received the most loans, and are also the fastest to repay them," the PM asserted. PM Modi in a post on X, said that the Mudra Yojana has given opportunities to countless people to showcase their entrepreneurial skills. "Interacted with some of the beneficiaries of the scheme. Their journey is inspiring," he posted on X with a video interacting with beneficiaries at his residence in the national capital. Today, India marks 10 years of the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY). PMMY, the Flagship Programme of the Prime Minister, aimed at funding the Unfunded micro enterprises and small businesses. By removing the burden of collateral and simplifying access, MUDRA laid the foundation for a new era of grassroots entrepreneurship. Since its launch in April 2015, the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana has sanctioned over 52 crore loans worth Rs 32.61 lakh crore, fuelling a nationwide entrepreneurial revolution. (ANI)
BJP State President Sunil Jakhar lashed out at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government over the law and order situation in the state and raised questions over security, hours after a blast was reported outside BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia's residence in Jalandhar. In a sharp attack on the Punjab government, State BJP Chief Sunil Jakhar accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of misusing police resources, alleging that the CM has deployed an intelligence team from the Punjab Police to monitor activities at the Delhi Congress headquarters. Jakhar questioned the Punjab government's preparedness, asking, "Where was this intelligence when a bomb was thrown at BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia's residence?" "CM Bhagwant Mann has deployed an intelligence team of Punjab Police at the Delhi Congress headquarters. He said in the assembly that I have intelligence about what happened in the Delhi Congress meeting. Where was this intelligence when a bomb was thrown at Manoranjan Kalia's residence?" Jakhar said while speaking to ANI. Jakhar also aimed at the leadership of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and alleged that the Punjab government failed to address critical issues like drug abuse and corruption. "It is an irony that the Jalandhar Police Commissioner has released a statement on the incident, stating that the blast outside the BJP leader's residence was from a firecracker. Punjab's key issues---drugs and corruption, the leadership in Punjab is in ruin," Jakhar said. A blast was reported outside the residence of BJP Leader Manoranjan Kalia in Punjab's Jalandhar. Police said that they are monitoring the CCTV and investigating whether it was a grenade attack or something else. Dhanpreet Kaur, Jalandhar Police Commissioner, told reporters, "Around 1 am, we got information of a blast here, after which we reached the spot and started the investigation. The forensic team is investigating the matter...We are also monitoring the CCTV... The forensic team is investigating whether it is a grenade attack or something else..." BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia told ANI that he heard the sound of thunder. "There was a blast at around 1 am...I was sleeping, and I thought that it was the sound of thunder...Later, I was informed that a blast had taken place...after this, I sent my gunman to the police station...CCTV is being investigated; forensic experts are also present here..." Manpreet Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police in Jalandhar, confirmed the incident and told reporters, "The forensic team will inspect and give the report. The incident took place at the residence of Manoranjan Kalia." (ANI)
Questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the US imposing tariffs, Congress leader Pawan Khera on Tuesday said that the PM should make a statement to maintain people's confidence in the economy and stock market. "The biggest concern is the Prime Minister's silence. The US is openly mocking our country, our stock market, our economy and the Prime Minister is silent. Canada, China, Taiwan, the UK, and the European Union have all responded in their own way or are preparing to respond. Here, we do not know, the opposition does not know, the people of the country do not know what the strategy is... The Prime Minister should make a statement to maintain people's confidence in the economy and the stock market. Everyone should be taken into confidence," Khera told ANI. Asian stock markets witnessed a major sell-off on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs. The markets opened with heavy selling pressure, reflecting growing fears over the tariffs' impact on global trade and economic growth. Reacting to the Congress Working Committee meeting and AICC session, Khera said that this session will be historic. "This is going to be historic. Its results will also be historic. There is an atmosphere of despair in the country. The Congress is ready to take its responsibility to deal with that atmosphere of despair," the Congress leader said. Ahmedabad will host the 84th National Convention of the AICC on April 8-9, marking the event's historic return to Gujarat after a 64-year gap. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting will be held later today in the city as part of the convention. The AICC formed a drafting committee for the meeting. The committee consists of big names, such as Sachin Pilot, Bhupesh Baghel, and 13 others. Randeep Surjewala has been named the Convenor of the drafting committee. (ANI)
Ahead of the AICC national convention, Gujarat Congress President Shaktisinh Gohil on Tuesday said that the Congress has always put national interest first. He said that at the convention, they will make resolutions on the future plans and visions for the party's functioning. Speaking to ANI, Shaktisinh Gohil said, "Congress has always put national interest first. During the independence struggle, it was Congress, and in one such convention, there were demands of sovereignty. Whenever there is an AICC session, we make resolutions with new visions and plans for future goals. There will be discussions today and tomorrow..." Addressing the party's failure to form a government in the state, Gohil stated that while they have failed to form a government, they are Rahul Gandhi's 'soldiers' and will keep fighting. He said, "It is true that we have failed to form a government in Gujarat for a long time. There are many reasons for this. If you ask any Gujarati, no one is happy with the BJP. We are soldiers of Rahul Gandhi and will keep fighting." When asked if Congress would form an alliance with AAP in Gujarat, Gohil said, "When the time comes, we will tell you. Our government was about to be formed in Haryana. We wanted an alliance. We offered some seats, but the Aam Aadmi Party did not agree. We will talk to you when the time comes. Our politics does not run on predictions." Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar asserted that this CWC meeting and AICC session in Ahmedabad will be a turning point for the party. He said, "It will be a turning point for the Congress party." Ahmedabad will host the 84th National Convention of the AICC on April 8-9, marking the event's historic return to Gujarat after a 64-year gap. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting will be held later today in the city as part of the convention. Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi left their residences in Delhi for Ahmedabad to attend the meeting. The meeting, set against the scenic backdrop of the Sabarmati Riverfront, will also be attended by other top Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, and KC Venugopal. Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde said, "We do not run the government in the name of caste and religion. We are secular. This land is of Mahatma Gandhi, who taught us 'Ishwar Allah Tere Naam, and we are moving ahead with that..." Congress leader Meira Kumar said, "This is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. Congress party's session is going to be held here. Gujarat has given strength to the Congress, and now again, the people of Gujarat will give strength to the Congress." Earlier on Saturday, AICC formed a drafting committee for the meeting. The committee consists of big names, such as Sachin Pilot, Bhupesh Baghel, and 13 others. Randeep Surjewala has been named the Convenor of the drafting committee. (ANI)
The passenger, who was heading toward the green channel, drew the attention of officers during routine screening procedures when suspicious images appeared on the X-ray of his baggage.

A further check using a Door Frame Metal Detector (DFMD) triggered a strong alert, prompting a detailed examination of both the passenger and his luggage.

Customs officers uncovered assorted yellow metal, which was suspected to be gold, concealed within the baggage. The total weight of the recovered items amounted to 1203.00 grams.

The suspected gold was hidden to evade detection, and investigations are currently underway to ascertain its purity and value.

Authorities are also exploring potential violations of the Customs Act, 1962.

The Customs Department has released visuals and a video of the recovered items, emphasising the ongoing efforts to combat smuggling at the airport.

Further legal action will be taken as the investigation progresses.

Earlier, Customs officers of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMI), Mumbai, seized suspected cocaine worth around Rs 17.89 Crore and arrested a passenger.

According to the press release."On April 1, based on spot profiling, one passenger who arrived from Nairobi to Mumbai via Doha was intercepted by the Customs Officers at CSMI Airport. During the detailed examination of the baggage, white coloured powdered substance purported to be Cocaine, having a net weight of 1789 Grams, approximately valued at Rs 17,89,00,000, was recovered from the false cavity of the trolley bag carried by her. The said passenger was arrested under the Provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985," said a press release.

Mumbai Customs said that the passenger had concealed the suspected cocaine powder in a false cavity inside the trolley bag carried by her. (ANI)
Ahead of the 84th national convention of AICC, senior leaders of the Congress Party, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, arrived in Ahmedabad to attend the conference on Tuesday. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and party leaders Sushil Kumar Shinde, Pawan Khera, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Mumtaz Patel, and Yuri Alemao have already arrived in Ahmedabad to attend the session. Speaking to reporters, Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde said, "We do not run the government in the name of caste and religion. We are secular. This land is of Mahatma Gandhi, who taught us 'Ishwar Allah Tere Naam, and we are moving ahead with that..." Saying that this session will be "historic," Congress leader Pawan Khera said, "This is going to be historic. Its results will also be historic. There is an atmosphere of despair in the country. The Congress is ready to take responsibility for dealing with that atmosphere of despair." Expressing enthusiasm, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi stated that party leaders have come to Gujarat to revive Congress with new energy, momentum, and direction. "I am happy that I have come to Gujarat's Ahmedabad. We've to revive Congress with new energy, new momentum and new direction. This is the aim of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, and we are moving towards it..." Singhvi told ANI. However, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a critique on the AICC session and CWC meeting, with BJP leader CR Kesavan saying, "It is said that this Congress session is happening after 64 years, the last one happened in 1961. During this time, the Congress has degenerated into a den of corruption, peddling their dangerous, poisonous, and communal politics of polarisation... The party has always gone against the ideals of both these icons, and now they are preaching them. It is the same Congress that denied giving Bharat Ratna to Sardar Patel..." Ahmedabad will host the 84th National Convention of the AICC on April 8-9, marking the event's historic return to Gujarat after a 64-year gap. The meeting, set against the scenic backdrop of the Sabarmati Riverfront, will also be attended by other top Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, and KC Venugopal. (ANI)
Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, holds talks with Jussi Halla-aho, speaker of the Finnish parliament, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, held talks with Jussi Halla-aho, speaker of the Finnish parliament, in Beijing on Monday, calling for the joint creation of a favorable and stable legal environment for practical cooperation.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Finland, Zhao said China stands ready to work with Finland to implement the important consensus reached between their heads of state to advance the future-oriented, new-type cooperative partnership between the two countries.

China hopes that Finland will continue to uphold the one-China principle, understand and support China's legitimate rights to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and consolidate the political foundation of mutual trust, he added.

He said that China is deepening its comprehensive reforms and expanding its high-level opening-up, which will bring new opportunities for bilateral cooperation. He highlighted China's willingness to deepen exchange between political parties, as well as exchange in the fields of culture and youth, to strengthen public support for bilateral relations.

China hopes that Finland will continue to play a positive role in promoting the development of China-Finland relations and China-Europe relations, Zhao said. He added that the NPC of China is willing to maintain its traditional friendship with the Finnish parliament, and stands ready to strengthen exchange and cooperation among legislative bodies at high levels and among specialized committees, bilateral friendship groups, and NPC deputies and parliamentarians.

He said that both China and Finland possess unique characteristics in areas such as national governance, development concepts and innovation systems. Their two legislative bodies can engage in mutual learning and exchange, fulfilling their legislative and supervisory functions to create a favorable, stable legal environment for practical cooperation, and enhancing coordination on multilateral platforms such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Zhao spoke about China's whole-process people's democracy, and expressed a willingness to strengthen exchange with the Finnish parliament in developing democracy and improving the rule of law.

Halla-aho said that as a historically significant country, China has achieved remarkable progress in areas such as science and technology, adding that Finland adheres to and will continue to implement the one-China policy, and recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government representing all of China.

He said that Finland is committed to advancing practical cooperation, maintaining free trade, and addressing shared challenges based on mutual respect and trust. The Finnish parliament, he added, looks forward to enhancing its engagement with the NPC of China to play a proactive role in deepening Finland-China relations. 

Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, holds talks with Jussi Halla-aho, speaker of the Finnish parliament, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)
Samajwadi Party MP Zia ur Rehman Barq on Tuesday arrived at Sambhal police station as he was summoned by the Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team (SIT) for his alleged involvement in the violence that broke out at Sambhal's Shahi Jama Masjid during a court-ordered survey of the mosque on November 24, 2024. However, when the media tried to interact with him, Barq refused to give any reply to the questions. Earlier today, during a presser, the SP MP said that he is not well and doctors have advised him to rest, despite his promise to go to the police station to cooperate in the investigation. "Today, I am not feeling well. My doctor has advised me to rest, but despite this, I am going there so that the police administration does not feel that I am not cooperating in the investigation...," he said in the press conference. On March 26, the Uttar Pradesh SIT arrived in New Delhi to hand over the notice to the Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Zia ur Rehman Barq, for his alleged involvement in the Sambhal violence case. The SIT went to MP's hostel at Western Court and handed over the notice to Barq. Speaking to ANI, Zia ur Rehman Barq stated that he received the notice under Section 35(3) and that, as an MP, he will cooperate with the authorities in the investigation of the Sambhal violence that took place in November last year. "I have received the notice given to me under Section 35(3)... Since I am a citizen of this country and also an MP, I have assured the police of full cooperation during the investigation", Zia ur Rehman Barq said. Violence broke out in Sambhal's Shahi Jama Masjid on November 24 last year, which took the lives of four people. In November last year, Moradabad Police Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh confirmed the FIR filed against Zia ur Rehman Barq and the son of a local MLA for their alleged involvement in the Sambhal violence. "An investigation is underway in the case. FIRs have been registered. FIR regarding instigation has been registered against Sambhal MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq and the local MLA's son. 4 people have died. The injured are being treated. Strict action will be taken; if needed, NSA will also be imposed," said the Moradabad Police Commissioner. While the police had filed an FIR against Zia ur Rehman Barq, the Sambhal MP called it a 'pre-planned' incident. Samajwadi Party MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq also spoke to ANI and said, "It is so unfortunate; it is a pre-planned incident. Across the country, Muslims are being targeted, and such a bad situation has never happened after independence. The way the Places of Worship Act is being violated. One by one, pleas are being submitted, and a hearing is happening on the same day itself, and the order is also coming; the same day, DM and SP went and conducted the survey. People were stopped from offering Namaz. What was the necessity of a second survey?" (ANI)
In a significant political development, three more organizations--Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front--have officially severed ties with the Hurriyat Conference. The move is being seen as a major demonstration of growing public trust in the Constitution of India within the Kashmir Valley. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, reacting to the development on social media platform X, said, "Three more organizations, namely Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front, disassociate themselves from the Hurriyat. It is a prominent demonstration of the people's trust in the Constitution of India within the valley." "Modi Ji's vision for a united and powerful Bharat stands even more bolstered today, as so far 11 such organizations have shunned separatism, proclaiming unwavering support for it," Shah further said. Four groups affiliated with the Hurriyat Conference-- J&K Tahreeqi Isteqlal, J&K Tahreek-I-Istiqamat, J&K People's Movement and the Democratic Political Movement-- had renounced separatism last month and expressed their faith in the vision of a unified India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The move is being seen as a major success for the government's efforts to integrate the Union Territory and restore lasting peace. This latest development follows similar announcements by other separatist factions, signaling a growing shift towards reconciliation in the Valley. Shah then had termed the development a big victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of building India into a developed, peaceful and unified country. The development follows the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) decision on March 11 to ban two organisations -- the Awami Action Committee, led by prominent Kashmiri cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen, headed by Shia leader Masroor Abbas Ansari -- for five years over alleged anti-national activities. In the recently concluded Budget Session, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told Parliament that from 2019 to 2024, 14 major Hurriyat-linked organisations were banned. He asserted that the Hurriyat, once a mediator in talks with Pakistan, has now been dismantled. Shah made the remarks during a discussion on the MHA's functioning in the Rajya Sabha on March 21. Shah further criticized previous governments for their "lenient" approach toward terrorism, alleging they avoided strong actions due to fear of losing vote banks. In contrast, he emphasized that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism has been firmly implemented. (ANI)
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference MLAs, who are part of the ruling alliance in the union territory, criticised the Waqf Amendment Act on Tuesday, claiming that the rights of Muslims are being "taken away every day." "The MLAs represent more than 70 lakh people. They want there should be a discussion in the House for Muslims too...Our rights are being taken away every day, from 5th August (2019) till date. This was confined to Jammu and Kashmir until now. But now, this is being extended to Muslims across the country. To come back to power in 2029, the BJP Government brought the Waqf Bill," NC MLA Salman Sagar told ANI. Following chaos in the Assembly, the House was adjourned for half an hour while certain PDP MLAs, including Waheed Para, were marshalled out. Sagar, along with other party MLAs Tanvir Sadiq and Altaf Kaloo, had submitted an adjournment motion to discuss the Waqf Act, protesting against the Speaker's refusal to list the matter. https://x.com/salmanalisagar/status/1909189126252839083 Earlier today, chaos erupted in the Assembly as opposition parties, and certain ruling party MLAs demanded a discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, however the Assembly Speaker had denied it, citing that the House cannot discuss a bill which is under consideration in court. This is the second consecutive day that chaos has erupted over the religious board's amendments. Earlier, opposition MLAs had torn the bill in the assembly, claiming that the Act was a "direct assault on Muslims." Multiple parties, including Congress leaders and AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi, have filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the implementation and validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act. NC MLA Altaf Kaloo moved an adjournment motion and sought time to speak in the House, but the Speaker did not respond. DP MLA Waheed Para and other MLAs of the party reached the Well of the House, showing some papers. Following this, they were marshalled out. NC leaders, who had also reached the Well of the House, entered into an argument with J&K People's Conference chief Sajad Lone. PDP had submitted a fresh resolution in the House urging the Central Government to repeal the Waqf Amendment Act. Earlier, JK People's Conference Chief Sajad Lone suggested to the ruling alliance that they change the speaker they had appointed to allow discussions on the Waqf Amendment Act, claiming that NC's protests "reeks of theatre." "Speaker sir has the pleasure of NC, He is the speaker of the National Conference. He was chosen by the party, if the party feels that he is obstructing, then bring no confidence (motion) change him and bring a new speaker, otherwise it reeks of theatre. People will taking us intro confidence," Sajad Lone told reporters outside the Assembly. Earlier, PDP MLA Waheed Para also accused the NC-led government of collaborating with the BJP while openly protesting against the party's policies. "When we submitted the resolution today, we were marshalled out. They are completely helping the BJP and working on their agenda. They are making noise and wasting the Assembly's time but pedalling the agenda of the BJP. The BJP is silent, it is happy and watching the drama. The Speaker is saying that it is NC's Government, and the Speaker says that a resolution cannot be brought over this. Why not?" Para told ANI. The National Conference have launched protests against the newly passed act out on the streets too. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that three more groups decided to sever ties with the Hurriyat Conference and hailed this development as a clear reflection of the growing trust in India's Constitution under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision. In a post on X, Amit Shah said that three more organisations--Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front-- officially disassociated themselves from the Hurriyat. Shah emphasised that this development aligns with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a united and powerful Bharat. "Three more organisations, namely Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front, disassociate themselves from the Hurriyat. It is a prominent demonstration of the people's trust in the Constitution of India within the valley. Modi Ji's vision for a united and powerful Bharat stands even more bolstered today, as so far 11 such organizations have shunned separatism, proclaiming unwavering support for it," Shah posted on X. The Home Ministry decided on March 11 to ban two organisations--the Awami Action Committee, led by prominent Kashmiri cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen, headed by Shia leader Masroor Abbas Ansari--for five years over alleged anti-national activities. Earlier in March, two more organisations affiliated to the Hurriyat Conference had announced that they were severing ties with the outfit. Amit Shah has earlier told Parliament that from 2019 to 2024, 14 major Hurriyat-linked organisations were banned. He made the remarks during a discussion on the MHA's functioning in the Rajya Sabha on March 21. Shah criticised previous governments for their "lenient" approach towards terrorism, alleging they avoided strong actions due to fear of losing their vote bank. In contrast, he emphasised that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism has been firmly implemented.On Monday, Amit Shah, while addressing the BSF personnel at 'Vinay' border outpost in Kathua, assured that the government is committed to enhancing border security with advanced technologies, offering unwavering support to the BSF's mission. "The entire country knows that the BSF is our first line of defense. In every war with Pakistan, the BSF has played a crucial role alongside the army. The technical support provided to the BSF over the next 3-4 years will be used to complete border security measures along the India-Pakistan border and later on at the India-Bangladesh border as well. This will include technologies such as advanced threat detection and immediate response capabilities," Shah said.He asserted further that the support from the Indian Government for the BSF has always been a top priority. "Whatever plans are provided to us, we are always ready to implement them. Currently, 26 experiments are underway, and within the next year, we will definitely reach a decision that will provide many benefits to you," Amit Shah said. (ANI)
Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Tuesday attacked the Aam Aadmi Party after inspecting schools in the national capital and said that the previous government developed two schools in Patparganj Vidhan Sabha. "It is unfortunate that when I arrived at the school located in the constituency of 'father of educational revolution', I was told that for the last 1.5 years, the school has been requesting to renovate the ceiling, and it was not done... They just developed two schools here and there and have been rambling about a revolution in education ever since. This is their truth. We do not want to get into a blame game, but the conditions of schools that we are seeing are unfortunate... This is why they have lost this time," the Minister said. He further said that, based on the complaints of their MLAs, they are visiting the schools with shortcomings in infrastructure. "Based on the complaints of our MLAs, we are visiting those schools where there are shortcomings in infrastructure and the education system... Our government has now stopped counting the past shortcomings. Now our focus is on completing these tasks as soon as possible," Sood said. Patparganj MLA Ravindra Singh Negi and Delhi Minister Ashish Sood visited Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya Mayur Vihar Phase 2. Earlier today, several parents staged demonstrations in front of DPS, Dwarka, over the recent fee hike in the national capital's schools. Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood vowed to take action against private schools that have increased their fees. "We are being blamed for increasing Delhi school fees... Supreme Court passed an order in 2004 Modern School case that Delhi schools are bound to take permission from the Directorate of Education before increasing their fees... But they (AAP) got this order dismissed in 2024 in the Delhi High Court... Rekha Gupta will investigate the corruption in such cases where under-the-table money was taken...A committee will be formed under the leadership of CM Rekha Gupta and all schools will be audited and if any school fails any criterion, it will not be spared," the Delhi Education Minister said. (ANI)
The Saket District Court on Tuesday ordered the release of social activist Medha Patkar on one-year probation for good conduct. The court passed the order in view of Patkar's age and the fact that she had no previous conviction or offence. She had challenged her conviction and a 5-month sentence in a defamation case filed by LG VK Saxena in 2001. Social activist Medha Patkar appeared before the court via videoconferencing. An application for exemption was made on her behalf. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Vishal Singh passed the order after hearing submissions on the point of sentence to be awarded to Medha Patkar. The court said that the sentence must be commensurate with the offence. There is no ground to deny the convict the benefit of probation. The court directed Medha Patkar to be released on probation for one year for good conduct and also reduced the compensation of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 lakh. The court conveyed the order of the sentence to Medha Patkar, who was present via video conferencing. The court will upload a detailed order later in the day. Earlier, her conviction was upheld by the session court on April 2. She was convicted and sentenced to five months' imprisonment by the Magistrate court in a Defamation case filed by the incumbent LG, VK Saxena. During arguements on sentence her counsel submitted she is of 70 years age, she was granted bail by the trial court. She is a renowned social activist. On the other hand, VK Saxena's counsel, advocates Gajinder Kumar and Kiran Jai, submitted, "There should be deterrence. The idea is not to repeat the same thing. If she is a renowned social activist and therefore people follow her. The same mistake should not been repeated." Her counsel Advocate Sridevi Pannikar said that the appeal against conviction is pending before the High Court. On the challenging sentence, we will decide once we get the order. (ANI)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday shared the "good news" with the State legislature of the Supreme Court's criticism of Governor R N Ravi for withholding asset to over 10 bills passed by the State assembly. Terming the historic judgement a "victory to all states in India", CM Stalin said in the Assembly, "I would like to inform this House about good news. Our Tamil Nadu government has got one historical judgement. Governor returned various Bills, which were passed in this Assembly, without giving assent." "Tamil Nadu government initiated a case against this before Supreme Court. Supreme Court has said that the Governor withholding Bill is illegal. Supreme Court has given a historical judgement. This is a big victory not only for Tamil Nadu but for all the States in India. This judgment is a victory for all the State governments," Stalin claimed. Earlier today the Supreme Court, while pronouncing judgement on the petition filed by Tamil Nadu Government against Governor Ravi for withholding assent on bills passed by the Assembly said that the action by the Governor was "illegal and erroneous in law." Governor Ravi had reserved 10 bills passed by the assembly, and set them aside of President's assent. However SC said that the Governor "must act in aid and advice of the State Legislature." The oldest bill for which assent was withheld had been pending since 2020, even after being re enacted by the state legislature. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan observed that the Governor had sent the bills to the President after himself sitting on them for a long time. SC also noted that the bill been sent to the President soon after the SC judgement in the Punjab Governor's case. The judgement said that there is no concept of an "absolute veto" or pocket veto" in the Constitutional scheme. As per article 200, the Governor is either expected to grant assent, without it or reserve the bills for the President. (ANI)
Telangana High Court on Tuesday confirmed the death penalty of five people awarded by the NIA Special Court in the Dilsukhnagar bomb blast case of 2013. The High Court dismissed their criminal appeal petition. In the bomb blasts, 18 people lost their lives, and 131 people sustained injuries. The NIA court delivered its final judgment in December 2016. The counsel for one of the convicts said that they would approach the Supreme Court in an appeal against the High Court order. "High Court has confirmed the judgement passed by the Trial Court, confirming judgement of the trial court. I am the counsel for accused number 6. We are definitely going to appeal against the order in the Supreme Court as we believe in the justice system of our country. Definitely, we will go to appeal. Because the judgement copy has not yet been given and the judge has stated that the copies will be available today," Advocate Mohd Shujaullah Khan told ANI. The criminal appeal petition was filed in 2016. The petitioners wanted the High Court to set aside the judgment pronounced by the special court on December 13, 2016. The Dilsukhnagar bomb blast case was investigated by the NIA. The petitioners who were awarded the death penalty are Ahmed Siddibappa Zarrar alias Yasin Bhatkal, Ajaz Shaikh, Zia Ur Rahman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akthar alias Haddi, and Mohammed Tahseen Akthar alias Hassan. "On 21-02-2013 at 18:58:38 hrs and 18:58:44 hrs, two bomb blasts took place at Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad, resulting in the death of 18 persons and causing injuries to 131 persons. The first blast took place at a bus stop in Dilsukhnagar, and the second near A1 Mirchi Centre, Dilsukhnagar," the NIA said. The first accused in the case, Mohd Riyaz alias Riyaz Bhaktal, is still absconding. The five convicts were alleged Indian Mujahideen operatives. (ANI)
BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Tapir Gao on Tuesday raised serious concerns over China's proposed construction of the "Great Bend Dam" on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, warning that the dam's impact will severely affect the downstream regions of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and the broader Northeast. The BJP MP was speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the International Seminar on Ensuring Water Security, Ecological Integrity, and Disaster Resilience in the Sub-Himalayan Region being held in Guwahati. Gao highlighted that China has already initiated the construction of a 9.5-kilometer-long, 9,500-meter-high dam as part of its ongoing water diversion plan, which aims to reroute water to the Yellow River. Gao stressed that the project, if completed, could drastically reduce the water flow of the Brahmaputra River, potentially causing ecological imbalances, drying up the river, and damaging vital aquatic species. The local population could also face significant consequences due to water scarcity. "China has already made the decision to construct a 9500-height dam, which is 9 and a half kilometers high in the great bank of Yarlung Tsangpo river, in the financial year. They have started constructing the dams, and not only that, they are planning to divert the water to their Yellow River. The impact of this will be measured not only in Assam and Arunachal but the entire Northeast region. This is because if the water is diverted, then the Brahmaputra will dry up, the minimum water content in the river----the environment will have a bad impact. This includes ecological imbalances, as well as damage to the fish species as well and people will also be affected." He emphasised the urgent need to address this issue at international forums, pointing out that India and China currently lack a water-sharing treaty, which remains a major obstacle in preventing China's actions in Tibet from having far-reaching consequences for India's northeastern states. "We have an opportunity to take this issue on all aspects at the international forum. The major issue is that China and India don't have any kind of water-sharing treaty. That is the major setback and obstacle to obstructing what China is doing in Tibet; it will be devastating and have a vast impact on the entire Northeast region," said Gao. BJP MP Tapir Gao criticised China's aggressive stance regarding water management, highlighting the risks posed by its unilateral decisions. Gao emphasised that China's water projects should not be seen merely as initiatives for power or water generation, but as potential "water bombs" that could cause unpredictable devastation. Recalling the catastrophic incident in 2000, when China released a massive volume of water, resulting in the severe flooding of the Siang River, Gao pointed out the loss of human lives, animals, and land. He warned that China can make similar decisions at any time, with potentially disastrous consequences for downstream regions. "In the parliament earlier, I had said that we should not consider them only to generate water or power generation. It is a water bomb, cause you can't predict the policy of China. In the year 2000, they released a huge volume of water, and a huge devastation of the Siang River took place. There was human, animal, and land loss. China can make decisions anytime, such as that water bomb," he said. BJP MP Tapir Gao praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's diplomatic efforts in addressing the critical issues surrounding India's border disputes and water-sharing agreements with China. Gao emphasised that under PM Modi's leadership, India is actively engaging with China on both the international border issue and the vital water treaty. He expressed hope that these diplomatic efforts will yield success; otherwise, the region may face severe consequences. Tapir Gao stressed the importance of constructing a large dam on the Siang River to mitigate any potential damage. He warned, however, that failure to act could lead to devastating consequences not only for Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, but also for neighboring Bangladesh. "PM Modi has already taken the issue in a diplomatical way. India and China are engaging with each other on this international border issue and water treaty issue. We wish and hope that under PM Modi' leadership we find diplomatical success else we will find ourselves facing devastation in the issue. The government of India has taken a step to contend with the water volume release by the Chinese government in the future. We need to have a big dam on the River Siang. That can contend with any kind of devastation in the future. Public negotiations are taking place, and if the public agrees, then we can control maximum damages downstream; else it will become devastating not only for Assam, Arunachal, but also Bangladesh," he said. Meanwhile, global experts have expressed deep concern over China's proposed "Great Bend Dam" by China on Yarlung Tsangpo, as Brahmaputra is known in Tibet, during a seminar held in Guwahati on Tuesday. The seminar on "Ensuring Water Security, Ecological Integrity, and Disaster Resilience in the Sub-Himalayan Region: The Case of the Brahmaputra", hosted by North East's premier think tank, Asian Confluence, shed light on the possible devastating impact of the proposed 60,000 MW power plant dam at the Great Band in China. The seminar sought to foster a collaborative dialogue between governmental agencies, civil society organizations, environmental practitioners, and academicians on the immense challenges posed by the proposed dam in Tibet, amidst the looming threat of climate change. This initiative aligns with Asian Confluence's mission to facilitate meaningful dialogue and actionable solutions on rivers and water security in the region. The Brahmaputra River is part of a major river system in Central and South Asia, and it flows through Tibet, India, and Bangladesh, and empties into the Bay of Bengal. The river is fed by snow and glacial melt and is known for its large and variable flow. Brahmaputra is one of the largest rivers in the world and ranks fifth with respect to its average discharge. The river originates from the Kailash ranges of the Himalayas at an elevation of 5300 M. After flowing through Tibet (China), it enters India through Arunachal Pradesh and flows through Assam and Bangladesh before it joins the Bay of Bengal. The river slope is very steep when it enters India. From Tibet, the river enters India's Arunachal Pradesh, where it is known as the Siang. In Assam, it is joined by tributaries such as the Dibang and Lohit and is then called the Brahmaputra. The river continues into Bangladesh and finally flows into the Bay of Bengal. Due to this sudden flattening of the river slope, the river becomes braided in nature in the Assam valley, making the region susceptible to flooding. This project, estimated to cost USD 137 billion, has raised alarms in both India and Bangladesh. According to China, the dam will help transition away from conventional energy sources and contribute to achieving net carbon neutrality by 2060. The dam could disrupt water flow from Tibet, posing risks of flash floods or reduced water availability downstream. A 2020 report by the Lowy Institute, an Australia-based think tank, noted that controlling these rivers effectively gives China a stranglehold on India's economy. The dam also threatens the fragile Himalayan ecosystem, home to critically endangered species. Climate change, deforestation, and soil erosion compound the potential ecological risks. The region's dramatic topography presents significant engineering challenges. The site of the project lies along an earthquake-prone tectonic plate boundary, raising concerns about the safety of such a massive structure. Chinese researchers have previously warned that extensive excavation and construction in the steep and narrow gorges will increase the frequency of landslides and earthquakes. Reports suggest the colossal development will require at least 420 km of tunnels to be drilled through the Namcha Barwa Mountain, diverting the flow of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The risks to displaced communities, loss of habitat to many life forms, loss of intangible culture and lifestyle of riverine communities. (ANI)
The accused in the hit-and-run case in Rajasthan's Jaipur was arrested, the police said. Three people were killed and six others injured when a car hit pedestrians and vehicles in the Nahargarh area in the city on Monday evening. Meanwhile, several people took to the streets protesting over the incident. The Police said that the accused has been identified as Usman and that he was in an inebriated state. "The accused, Usman, has been arrested. He was inebriated. 3 people died, and six were injured in the incident. Out of the six injured, 3 have been discharged, and 3 have been admitted to the hospital; their condition is normal," Additional DCP Bajrang Singh Shekhawat told ANI. "The accused's car has been recovered. Further investigation is underway. The accused deals in medical equipment, and the car belonged to his company," he added. Meanwhile, BJP MLA Balmukund Acharya alleged that the accused had indulged in a deliberate act. "The accused, Usman Hasan, has done this deliberately. He is a Congress functionary and should be hanged," Acharya told ANI. "I have full faith in my government, CM Bhajanlal Sharma, that this (victim's) family will get compensation, and at the same time, bulldozers will be used on those who have caused this accident. The accused is a worker of Amin Kagzi (Congress MLA), and he is trying to save him. But we will not let him escape. We will ensure that he is hanged," he added. Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot called for the strictest punishment to the accused and offered his condolences to the families of the victims. "The incident of a drunk car driver crushing more than half a dozen people in Jaipur is heart-wrenching. The criminal who committed such an act should be prosecuted under serious sections. I pray for the peace of the souls of the two people who lost their lives in this accident and for courage to their families. I wish for the speedy recovery of those injured in this accident," Gehlot said. Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot also echoed the call for speedy justice in the case, "In a horrific incident late night in Jaipur, an uncontrollable car crushed several people in which two people died on the spot. I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident. May God give them the strength to bear this immense loss. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. Strict action should be taken against the culprit so that the victim families can get justice." (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that courts are not supposed to do moral policing, while setting aside High Court order imposing Rs 10 lakh costs each on musician Vishal Dadlani and political activist Tehseen Poonawalla over certain tweets they posted in 2016 mocking a Jain monk. In 2019, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the criminal case filed against them but imposed costs on them. Dadlani and Poonawala had allegedly insulted Jain saint Tarun Sagar on Twitter. Poonawala approached the apex court against the cost imposed on him by the High Court. "What kind of order is passed by the court? The court is not supposed to do moral policing. This is not a function of the court at all," said a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan during the hearing of the case today. The bench further said that High Court should not have imposed costs on Poonawala and Dadlani after holding that no offence was made out against them and upholding their fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. "We are of the view that after finding that absolutely no offence was made out when exercising jurisdiction under Section 482 of the CrPC, High Court ought not to have exercised advisory jurisdiction by telling the appellant that the contribution made by the priest was much more than what the appellant and the other accused have contributed. Function of the court is not to do moral policing", the said the top court. Setting aside the High Court's direction to pay costs, the apex court said, "Perhaps High Court was swayed by the fact that the appellant and the other accused made criticism of a priest of a particular religion." The case arose from Dadlani's tweets criticising priest Tarun Sagar's nude appearance and the Haryana government's action of calling him to the Legislative Assembly. Poonawala posted a photoshopped image of a semi-nude woman alongside the Jain saint and raised a question about societal standards. While the High Court quashed the proceedings, it had imposed the cost on the duo saying they had insulted the priest and hurt the sentiments of the followers of the Jain religion. The High Court imposed the cost so that in future they may not mock any head of a religious sect for publicity on social media. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sudhanshu Trivedi on Tuesday attacked Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his Bihar visit and said that the latter toured Bihar to solve the Congress's problems in the state. Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the Congress has been facing the most problems since his tenure. "Rahul Gandhi, since the tenure of whose leadership, Congress has been facing the most problems. He toured Bihar in the name of solving the problems of Congress, but everyone saw how much infighting there was among his workers. At the same time, the insult he has done to the people of Bihar is unpardonable. Rahul Gandhi said in his statement 'chhoti jaati'... With humility, firmness and anger, I want to ask the Congress party, who are you calling the so-called 'chhoti jaati'? Our Chief Minister Nitish Kumar comes from the same class which you called OBC and EBC," Trivedi said. Continuing his attack on Rahul Gandhi, he said that the latter said that the Constitution is thousands of years old, but the Constitution was drafted on November 26, 1949 and implemented on January 26, 1950 "Rahul Gandhi, who is a young leader of Indian politics, said in his statement that the Constitution of India was not written in 1947 only. Rahul Gandhi does not know that the Constitution of India was written and prepared on 26th November 1949; that is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has celebrated Constitution Day on 26th November. The Constitution Day was needed to make such misguided youth understand, and the Congress did not welcome the Constitution Day and indirectly opposed it. He said that the Constitution is thousands of years old...The Constitution was drafted on 26 November 1949 and implemented on January 26, 1950," he said. Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and stated that if his autobiography was written, it would be titled as 'Failure to Launch.' Further, Shergill said that by commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader had made a mockery of himself. Speaking to ANI, Shergill said "If Rahul Gandhi's autobiography is written today, its title will be 'Failure to Launch'. By commenting on the Prime Minister, he mocks himself. On one hand, the Prime Minister has been the Chief Minister thrice. He is serving as the Prime Minister of the country for the third time and is famous all over the world." On Monday, Rahul Gandhi was in Bihar, where he joined the Congress' student wing's (NSUI) 'Palayan Roko Naukri Do' rally in Begusarai and Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan. The Lok Sabha LoP said that the people from weaker sections of society were being treated as second-class citizens. "People say that the Constitution was drafted in 1947. However, I believe that this Constitution is thousands of years old, and it includes thoughts of Ambedkar ji, Pule ji, Gandhi ji, Nehru ji, Guru Nanak ji and Kabir. The Constitution contains the thoughts of those whom India respects," Rahul Gandhi said. (ANI)
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan met his Israeli counterpart, Avi Dichter, in New Delhi on Tuesday, with multiple agreements signed between the two countries in the presence of the ministers. According to the Union Minister, both sides discussed how they can work together "more effectively" to face the upcoming challenges with food security. "We discussed how we can work together more effectively so that in the coming times, we can collectively face the challenge of food security that lies ahead of us and the entire world," Chouhan told reporters here. Talking about the importance of reducing the dangers of climate change, he mentioned that many innovations happen in Israel which can be shared with India too. "How can we, by reducing the dangers of climate change, develop seeds that can increase production even in rising temperatures while mitigating the risks of climate change...many innovations happen in Israel, and they can happen in India too; we can exchange them. Very important discussions took place on several such topics. Today, we also signed an MoU. The discussion was very useful because an MoU is not just about words but about emotions," Chouhan said. Chouhan further talked about land use, and the efforts to make farming a profitable endeavour for most farmers. "Land holding is quite low but even in low land holding how do we turn farming by farmers profit-yielding - we are making continuous efforts towards it. But there is one more concern in India," the union minister said. Urging for sustainable growth in agriculture, he said that it is important to consider the future generations which will use the land. "This land is not just for us, it is also for the next generations. Due to excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, the soil health is deteriorating. We will have to ensure that the land remains a guarantee for food for the generations to come," he added. Minister Chouhan also visited the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in Pusa in the national capital with his Israeli counterpart. Posting about the visit on X, he wrote, Today, I visited the agricultural campus of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in Pusa, Delhi, with Israel's Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter. Along with this, in line with our resolve to serve nature, I also participated in a tree plantation activity with him," his post read. Chouhan added, "Seeing the techniques of protected farming developed through the joint efforts of India and Israel filled my heart with joy. During this time, delegations from both countries also visited a greenhouse that was established in 1998 with Indo-Israel expertise." (ANI)
After three more organisations dissociated from the Hurriyat, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Altaf Thakur on Tuesday said that there is no space anymore for terrorists and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir. "J&K changed after 2019. In J&K, there is no space anymore for terrorists and separatists. Now, the reflection of peace in J&K after 2019 is being seen. Those who used to chant slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad' and believed in other things can now feel that it was false propaganda that they used to do at the behest of Pakistan. The money that used to come from Pakistan for their activities, that hawala funding has also stopped after 2019. Today, in a transformed India, in a transformed J&K, there is no space for these things. Tiranga Rally takes place everywhere now," Thakur told ANI. In a significant political development, three more organizations--Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front--have officially severed ties with the Hurriyat Conference. The move is being seen as a major demonstration of growing public trust in the Constitution of India within the Kashmir Valley. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, reacting to the development on social media platform X, said, "Three more organizations, namely Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front, disassociate themselves from the Hurriyat. It is a prominent demonstration of the people's trust in the Constitution of India within the valley." "Modi Ji's vision for a united and powerful Bharat stands even more bolstered today, as so far 11 such organizations have shunned separatism, proclaiming unwavering support for it," Shah further said. Four groups affiliated with the Hurriyat Conference-- J&K Tahreeqi Isteqlal, J&K Tahreek-I-Istiqamat, J&K People's Movement and the Democratic Political Movement-- had renounced separatism last month and expressed their faith in the vision of a unified India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The move is being seen as a major success for the government's efforts to integrate the Union Territory and restore lasting peace. This latest development follows similar announcements by other separatist factions, signaling a growing shift towards reconciliation in the Valley. The move is being seen as a major success for the government's efforts to integrate the Union Territory and restore lasting peace. This latest development follows similar announcements by other separatist factions, signaling a growing shift towards reconciliation in the Valley. Shah then had termed the development a big victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of building India into a developed, peaceful and unified country. The development follows the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) decision on March 11 to ban two organisations -- the Awami Action Committee, led by prominent Kashmiri cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen, headed by Shia leader Masroor Abbas Ansari -- for five years over alleged anti-national activities. (ANI)
Karnataka Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Tuesday jibed at the Bharatiya Janata Party over their 'Jan Akrosh Yatra' against the price hikes in Karnataka and said that if they had morality, they should fight against the central government. Speaking to the media, Reddy said, "They (BJP) started the 'Jan Akrosh' rally yesterday in Mysuru because of the price rise by the state government...Yesterday, the Central Government increased the 50 of gas (cylinders) and Rs 2 each on diesel and petrol (excise). In 11 years, the Central Government collected Rs 36 Lakh Crores on petrol and diesel as cess. If they have morality, let them fight against Central Government..." Earlier in the day, Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar also jibed at the BJP leaders, telling them to protest against their own party, and held the central government responsible for "price hikes" of petrol, diesel, and gas. "Namaskar to all my BJP friends. You all are doing 'Jan Akrosh Yatra'. I congratulate all of you. But at the same time, the Government of India, your BJP Government, has hiked the price of petrol, diesel, and gas. So, your 'Jan Akrosh Yatra' should go on with the BJP; it is your party," Dy CM Shivakumar said in a video released by his office. Wishing the BJP the best, he urged them to continue their protest against their own party to "solve their problems." Earlier on Monday, the Karnataka BJP announced the 'Jan Akrosh Yatra' in Mangaluru to protest the state's price hikes and imposition of new taxes. Earlier, on April 3, MLA and BJP leader R Ashoka launched a scathing attack on the Congress-led Karnataka government for its price hikes, stating, "BJP is fighting against the government's price hike policies and will take it to a logical conclusion." Accusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of corruption too, he added, "Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is stealing through taxes, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is stealing through commissions." The BJP leader also criticized the rise in liquor prices, calling it another way to exploit the public. "The price of liquor has also been raised to extract money from alcohol lovers" (ANI)
As the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana completed 10 years of implementation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated the occasion by interacting with scheme beneficiaries today at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg in Delhi. He extended his heartfelt gratitude to all attendees, emphasizing the cultural significance of welcoming guests and the sanctity their presence brings to a home. He invited participants to share their experiences. PM Modi, interacting with a beneficiary who has turned into a pet supplies, medicines, and services entrepreneur, highlighted the importance of expressing gratitude to those who believed in one's potential during challenging times. He asked the beneficiary to invite the bank officials who had approved loans and showcase the progress made due to the loan. He also emphasized that such actions would not only acknowledge their trust but also inspire confidence in their decision to support individuals who dared to dream big. He further noted that demonstrating the outcomes of their support would undoubtedly make them feel proud of their contribution to fostering growth and success. Speaking to Gopi Krishna, an entrepreneur from Kerala, the Prime Minister highlighted the transformative impact of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, which enabled him to transition into a successful entrepreneur, focusing on renewable energy solutions for households and offices while creating job opportunities. He noted the beneficiary's journey after deciding to resign from his company in Dubai upon learning about the Mudra Loan. He noted that the solar installations under the PM Surya Ghar initiative were completed within two days. He also heard about the reactions of beneficiaries of the PM Surya Ghar initiative, noting that households in Kerala now enjoy free electricity despite challenges such as heavy rainfall and dense tree cover. Krishna remarked that electricity bills, previously around Rs. 3,000, have now reduced to Rs. 240 to 250, while his monthly earnings have reached Rs. 2.5 lakh and above. PM Modi further interacted with a female entrepreneur and the founder of House of Puchka from Raipur, Chhattisgarh, who shared her inspiring journey from cooking at home to establishing a successful cafe business. She said that research into profit margins and food cost management played a crucial role in this entrepreneurial success. She further added that there is fear in the minds of the youth, stating that many prefer settling into jobs rather than taking risks. The Prime Minister, in response, highlighted the importance of risk-taking capacity and shared that the founder of House of Puchka, at the age of 23, leveraged her ability to take risks and her time effectively to build her business. The beneficiary remarked on the discussions among friends from Raipur, the corporate world, and students, noting their curiosity and questions about entrepreneurship. She further highlighted the lack of awareness among youth regarding government schemes that provide funding without requiring collateral. She expressed gratitude that schemes like Mudra Loan and PMEGP Loan offer significant opportunities for those with potential and encouraged the youth to research these schemes and take bold steps, stating that the sky has no limits for those willing to grow and succeed. Another beneficiary, Mudassir Naqshbandi, the owner of Bake My Cake in Baramulla, Kashmir, shared his journey of transitioning from being a job seeker to a job creator, adding that he has provided stable employment to 42 individuals from remote areas of Baramulla. The Prime Minister enquired about his earnings before receiving the MUDRA loan, to which Mudassir replied that his earnings were in thousands, but his entrepreneurial journey has now elevated him to earning in lakhs and crores. The prime minister acknowledged the widespread use of UPI in Mudassir's business operations. He noted Mudassir's observation that 90 per cent of transactions are conducted through UPI, leaving only 10 per cent of cash in hand. PM Modi then heard the inspiring journey of Suresh, who transitioned from a job in Vapi to becoming a successful entrepreneur in Silvassa. Suresh said that in 2022, he realized that a job alone would not suffice and decided to start his own business. He added that with my success, some friends are now considering applying for Mudra Loans to start their own ventures. The PM emphasized the ripple effect of such success stories in motivating others to take bold steps toward entrepreneurship. A woman entrepreneur from Raebareli expressed her gratitude for the support extended to MSMEs under his leadership. She remarked on the ease of obtaining licenses and funding, which were previously challenging, and pledged to contribute to building a developed India. PM Modi acknowledged her emotional testimony and noted her success in running a bakery business with a monthly turnover of Rs. 2.5 to 3 lakh, providing employment to seven to eight individuals. Lavkush Mehra from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, started his pharmaceutical business in 2021 with an initial loan of Rs. 5 lakh. Despite initial apprehensions, he expanded his loan to Rs. 9.5 lakh and achieved a turnover of over Rs. 50 lakh, up from Rs. 12 lakh in the first year. The Prime Minister emphasized that the Mudra Yojana is not limited to any specific group but aims to empower the youth to stand on their own feet. He remarked on Lavkush's recent achievements, including purchasing a house worth Rs. 34 lakh and earning over Rs. 1.5 lakh per month, a significant leap from his previous job earning Rs. 60,000 to 70,000. The PM congratulated him and acknowledged the role of hard work in achieving success. He also urged the beneficiaries to spread the word about the MUDRA loan and its benefits to people further. He then heard the inspiring journey of a young entrepreneur from Bhavnagar, Gujarat, who founded Aditya Lab at the age of 21. The entrepreneur, a final-year Mechatronics student, successfully utilized a Rs. 2 lakh Mudra Loan under the Kishor category to start a business in 3D printing, reverse engineering, rapid prototyping, and robotics. PM Modi noted the entrepreneur's dedication, balancing college on weekdays and business operations on weekends, earning Rs. 30,000 to 35,000 monthly while working remotely with support from family. A woman entrepreneur from Manali shared her story of working in a vegetable market to running a successful business. She said that she started with a Rs. 2.5 lakh Mudra Loan in 2015-16, which she repaid within two and a half years. With subsequent loans of Rs. 5 lakh, 10 lakh, and 15 lakh, she expanded her business from a vegetable shop to a ration shop, achieving an annual income of Rs. 10 to 15 lakh. PM Modi commended their determination and the positive impact of the Mudra Yojana in empowering entrepreneurs across the country. He further heard the inspiring journey of a woman entrepreneur from Andhra Pradesh who transitioned from being a housewife to running a successful business in jute bags. She remarked that after receiving training at the Rural Self-Employment Training Institute in 2019, she secured a Rs. 2 lakh Mudra Loan from Canara Bank without any collateral. The Prime Minister noted her determination and the bank's trust in her potential. He acknowledged her dual role as a jute faculty member and entrepreneur, commending her efforts in empowering rural women through employment and skill development. He remarked on the transformative impact of the Mudra Yojana in fostering entrepreneurship and self-reliance. He highlighted the transformative impact of the Mudra Yojana on empowering citizens, particularly women, and fostering entrepreneurship across India. He emphasized how the scheme has provided financial support to individuals from marginalized and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, enabling them to start their own businesses without requiring guarantees or extensive paperwork. PM Modi remarked on the silent revolution brought about by Mudra Yojana, noting the significant shift in societal attitudes towards entrepreneurship. He underlined that the scheme has empowered women by not only offering financial assistance but also creating opportunities for them to lead and grow their businesses. He pointed out that women are among the highest beneficiaries of the scheme, leading in loan applications, approvals, and swift repayments. The Prime Minister highlighted the discipline instilled in individuals through the responsible utilization of Mudra loans. He remarked that the scheme provides an opportunity to build lives and careers while discouraging misuse of funds or unproductive efforts. The Prime Minister pointed out that Rs. 33 lakh crore has been disbursed to the citizens of India under the Mudra Yojana without the need for guarantees. He emphasized that this amount is unprecedented and surpasses any financial support extended to wealthy individuals collectively. He expressed his trust in the nation's talented youth who have utilized the funds effectively to generate employment and stimulate the economy. PM remarked that job creation through Mudra Yojana has significantly contributed to economic growth. He observed that the earnings of common citizens have increased, enabling them to improve their living standards and invest in education for their children. He acknowledged the societal benefits brought by the scheme. Reflecting on the government's commitment, the Prime Minister noted that unlike traditional approaches, his administration is actively seeking feedback after 10 years of the scheme's implementation. He stressed the importance of reviewing the scheme's progress by consulting beneficiaries and groups nationwide, identifying opportunities for improvement, and implementing necessary reforms for further success. Highlighting the remarkable confidence displayed by the government in expanding the scope of Mudra loans, which initially ranged from Rs. 50,000 to 5 lakh, to now reaching Rs. 20 lakh, PM Modi noted that this expansion reflects the trust placed in the entrepreneurial spirit and capabilities of India's citizens, which has strengthened through the successful implementation of the scheme. Emphasising the importance of encouraging others to leverage the Mudra Yojana and start their own ventures, he urged individuals to inspire and support at least five to ten others, fostering confidence and self-reliance among them. He highlighted that 52 crore loans have been disbursed under the scheme, a monumental achievement unparalleled globally. Recalling his tenure in Gujarat, he mentioned the "Garib Kalyan Mela," where motivational street plays inspired people to overcome poverty. The PM shared an anecdote about individuals surrendering their government benefits after achieving financial independence, showcasing their transformation. He narrated an inspiring story of a tribal group in Gujarat who, with a small loan, transitioned from performing traditional music to forming a professional band. This initiative not only improved their financial status but also highlighted how small efforts can lead to significant changes. He remarked that such stories of transformation inspire him and reflect the potential of collective efforts in nation-building. PM Modi reiterated his belief in the Mudra Yojana as a tool to study and address people's aspirations and circumstances. He expressed confidence in the scheme's success and urged beneficiaries to give back to society, emphasizing the satisfaction derived from contributing to the community. The Union Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary was present during the interaction. (ANI)
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that there is "unanimous confidence" in completing the section of the Jorhat-Dibrugarh National Highway by December 31 of this year. The Assam CM met with Krishnan Kumar, the Managing Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, in Delhi earlier on Monday to discuss the completion of the highway. "Pursuant to my discussion yesterday in Delhi with Dr. Krishan Kumar, Managing Director of @nhidcl, I am happy to share that there is unanimous confidence in completing the Jorhat-Dibrugarh section of the National Highway by 31st December," CM Sarma wrote in a post on X. https://x.com/himantabiswa/status/1909489251672109499 "This marks yet another promise made to the people that will be fulfilled well before the elections," his post added. Around 95 pc of the four-lane Highway project from Kaliabor to Numaligarh, which included the Kaziranga National Park (KNP), has been completed, with just certain sections of the road being left. While posting about the meeting on April 7 in a post on X, CM Sarma mentioned that the MD of NHIDCL had reviewed the implementation of various infrastructural projects, including the status of the Rs 25,000 crore Guwahati Silchar Express Way, the Numaligarh Gohpur underwater tunnel, and the expansion of the National Highway network from Baihata Chariali to Tezpur and Gohpur to Kulajan. https://x.com/himantabiswa/status/1909223650445726176 According to a statement by the CM's office, during his meeting with the Chief Minister, Dr Kumar discussed the ongoing highway projects under NHIDCL in Assam. The Chief Minister also requested the Managing Director to expedite the ongoing highway and bridge projects, including the 19.28 km long 4-lane bridge over the Brahmaputra River connecting Dhubri in Assam and Phulbari in Meghalaya. "The Chief Minister and MD, NHIDCL, discussed ongoing projects and construction of new highways and bridges to reduce travel time and boost economic activities in Assam and the Northeast Region as a whole," said an official. According to the release, later, the Chief Minister met with Rajat Kumar Mishra, Secretary, Department of Fertilisers, and discussed a range of issues regarding the new fertiliser plant to be set up in Namrup. Earlier, on February 14, 2024, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari sanctioned Rs 382.10 crore for the construction of a new 2-lane highway with paved shoulders connecting Majuli and Jorhat on the recently designated NH 715K in Assam. A flyover on NH-715, complete with its approaches and service roads, is included in the project, spanning a total length of 20.5 kilometers. (ANI)
After United States imposed reciprocal tariffs on India, Congress MP Rajeev Shukla on Tuesday said that the economy has taken a wrong turn and strengthening the economy of the nation is very essential. "The economy has taken a wrong turn. We had been saying earlier too that if this economy is not managed, it will have a huge impact on Indian trade, and employment opportunities will drastically reduce. Strengthening the economy is very essential," Shukla told ANI. Earlier todat, questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the US imposing tariffs, Congress leader Pawan Khera on Tuesday said that the PM should make a statement to maintain people's confidence in the economy and stock market. "The biggest concern is the Prime Minister's silence. The US is openly mocking our country, our stock market, our economy and the Prime Minister is silent. Canada, China, Taiwan, the UK, and the European Union have all responded in their own way or are preparing to respond. Here, we do not know, the opposition does not know, the people of the country do not know what the strategy is... The Prime Minister should make a statement to maintain people's confidence in the economy and the stock market. Everyone should be taken into confidence," Khera told ANI. Asian stock markets witnessed a major sell-off on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs. The markets opened with heavy selling pressure, reflecting growing fears over the tariffs' impact on global trade and economic growth. As Congress Working Committee meeting and 84th AICC national convention is underway in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, Shukla stated that there would be deliberations on the organization's situation and strengthening of the party. He said, "These matters will be discussed in the CWC, and there will be deliberations on the organization's situation and how to strengthen the party." The Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting and All India Congress Committee (AICC) session have convened in Ahmedabad, marking a crucial gathering for the party's leadership. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and other prominent Congress leaders are participating in the meeting. The meeting, set against the scenic backdrop of the Sabarmati Riverfront, will also be attended by other top Congress leaders, including Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. The CWC session is expected to address key political developments, strategise for upcoming elections, and discuss party strengthening initiatives. With Gujarat being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, the meeting holds symbolic significance, as the Congress seeks to rejuvenate its presence in the state and across the nation. This meeting comes at a critical time for the party, as it prepares for future electoral challenges and aims to consolidate its position in the national political landscape. (ANI)
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday searched multiple locations linked with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar across the northern states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. NIA teams conducted these extensive searches at the premises belonging to suspects and accused associated with foreign-based terrorist Brar and US-based gangster Randeep Malik in the case relating to the December 2024 grenade attacks at Warehouse Club and Human Club at Sector-29, Gurugram. NIA said it recovered several electronic and other incriminating materials during the searches conducted at eight locations in various districts of the two states this morning. As per the agency, the materials are being examined for clues to the entire conspiracy behind the bombing incident, in which arms, ammunition and explosive materials were seized from the accused involved in the attack. Soon after the grenade attack, the notorious gangster Rohit Godara had taken responsibility through a social media post. Subsequent investigations by NIA had exposed Malik and designated individual terrorist Goldy Brar, who had earlier threatened and attempted to extort money from the Club owners, to have masterminded the grenade attacks. The probe into the case registered on January 2 this year is continuing. Earlier, on March 30, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a key accused involved in illegally sending to the US a human trafficking victim who was deported back to India earlier this month, the agency said in a statement. According to the NIA statement, Gagandeep Singh, alias Goldie, of Tilak Nagar, New Delhi, was nabbed from the national capital in connection with the case RC-04/2025/NIA/DLI. In this case, the victim, hailing from the Tarn Taran district of Punjab, was sent to the US via the infamous donkey route in December 2024. As per his complaint, the victim had paid around Rs 45 Lakh to the accused agent for illegal immigration. (ANI)
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued a heatwave warning in Delhi-NCR for the next two days. The weather agency also predicted a light rainfall on April 11 in the region. "We have issued a heatwave warning in Delhi-NCR for the next two days. On 11th April, there is a probability of light rainfall," IMD Scientist Dr Naresh Kumar told ANI. The IMD also issued a red alert for the heatwave in Rajasthan. "We have issued a red alert for the heatwave in Rajasthan. The temperatures during the day and night will be extremely high. The situation will improve after 48 hours. There will be light rainfall in the Himalayas for the next 4-5 days," Kumar said. Meanwhile, the Shimla Meteorological Centre said that the temperatures across Himachal Pradesh will soar 3 to 6 degrees Celsius above normal. Considering these conditions, the IMD issued a Yellow Alert for a heat wave on Monday in a few locations in the state's lower hill areas. However, a Western Disturbance is expected to impact Himachal Pradesh starting April 9, which could bring some relief. "A Western Disturbance is likely to approach the state from April 9. There is a possibility of light rainfall at isolated places in districts like Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, and Lahaul-Spiti," said Sandeep Kumar Sharma, Senior Scientist at IMD Himachal Pradesh. The intensity and spread of rainfall activity are expected to increase on April 10 and 11, particularly in the middle hill districts. "Rainfall along with thunderstorms and lightning is likely in parts of Shimla, Kullu, Kangra, Mandi, and Sirmaur on April 10 and 11," Sharma noted. "By April 12, rainfall activity is expected to decrease, and from April 13 onwards, the weather is likely to remain clear again." On April 7, three stations- Safdarjung, Ridge, and Ayanagar- recorded heatwave conditions, with temperatures rising above 40C. According to the IMD, Heat Wave conditions are likely to continue until April 9. From April 10, temperatures may fall over Northwest India, including Delhi. (ANI)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict that the Tamil Nadu Governor withholding 10 bills and reserving them for the President's assent after they were re-enacted by the State Legislature is "illegal and erroneous in law" and liable to be set aside. In his statement, CM Vijayan emphasized that the top court's verdict upholds the federal system and the democratic rights of the legislature. "The Supreme Court's verdict on the issue of Tamil Nadu Governor's indefinite stay of bills upholds the federal system and the democratic rights of the legislature. The Supreme Court has already made it clear many times that governors should act according to the advice of the cabinet. Moreover, this verdict sets a specific time limit for passing bills. This verdict is also a warning against the tendency of governors to usurp the powers of the legislature. It is a victory for democracy," the Kerala CM said. "We are in a situation where bills passed by the legislature have been held up and made uncertain for up to 23 months. Kerala is in a legal battle against it. This verdict underlines the relevance and importance of such issues raised by Kerala," CM Pinarayi Vijayan said. Earlier, former Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and State government locked horns over reserving bills passed by the state legislature. Meanwhile, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that the Tamil Nadu Governor must act in aid and advice of the State Legislature. The top court order came on plea of Tamil Nadu government against the state Governor for withholding assent on bills passed by the Assembly. It said the Governor does not have the veto power to sit over bills sent to him by the State legislature. The Governor must assent to a bill when it is presented to him after reconsideration by the State assembly, he can only refuse assent when the bill is different, the apex court said. The top court further said that the 10 bills shall be deemed to have been cleared from the date they were presented again to the Governor after reconsideration by the legislature. "Action of the Governor to reserve the 10 bills for the President is illegal and arbitrary, and thus the action is set aside. All actions taken by the Governor thereto for the 10 bills are set aside. The 10 bills shall be deemed to be clear from the date it was re-presented to the Governor," the judgment stated. It also said that the Governor must be a friend, philosopher and guide and not driven by political considerations but the Constitutional oath. He must be a catalyst and not an inhibitor, said the bench, adding that the Governor must be conscious not to create any roadblock. (ANI)
Delhi Minister Majinder Singh Sirsa on Tuesday accused the previous AAP government in Delhi of "destroying" the Guru Tegh Bahadur memorial near Singhu Border. Speaking to ANI, Sirsa vowed to revamp the memorial and said that the place will educate tourists about the sacrifices made by Guru Tegh Bahadur. Calling the previous AAP government "useless", he said, "This memorial dedicated to Guru Tegh Bahadur was built around 15 years ago. It is unfortunate, and we feel sorrowful, that this useless government led by Arvind Kejriwal absolutely destroyed it... This shows the priorities of the AAP government and Arvind Kejriwal... "This place will be revamped so that tourists coming to Delhi know about Guru Tegh Bahadur's Memorial and his sacrifices," the Delhi Minister added. His comments came during Sirsa's visit to the memorial along with Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra. This complex has been constructed in the area of 11.87 acres and is presently being maintained by Delhi Tourism, which comes under the Government of Delhi. The Memorial complex was set up to be dedicated to the ninth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Teg Bahadur. Earlier today, Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood attacked the Aam Aadmi Party after inspecting schools in the national capital and said that the previous government developed two schools in Patparganj Vidhan Sabha. "It is unfortunate that when I arrived at the school located in the constituency of 'father of educational revolution', I was told that for the last 1.5 years, the school has been requesting to renovate the ceiling, and it was not done... They just developed two schools here and there and have been rambling about a revolution in education ever since. This is their truth. We do not want to get into a blame game, but the conditions of schools that we are seeing are unfortunate... This is why they have lost this time," the Minister said. He further said that, based on the complaints of their MLAs, they are visiting the schools with shortcomings in infrastructure. "Based on the complaints of our MLAs, we are visiting those schools where there are shortcomings in infrastructure and the education system... Our government has now stopped counting the past shortcomings. Now our focus is on completing these tasks as soon as possible," Sood said. Patparganj MLA Ravindra Singh Negi and Delhi Minister Ashish Sood visited Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya Mayur Vihar Phase 2. (ANI)
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday responded to criticism over his comments in connection with the Bengaluru sexual assault case, saying that it is not right to distort a statement and then insult him. Speaking to the media, he highlighted the implementation of the Nirbhaya project, claiming Karnataka has utilized more grants for the initiative than any other state. Parameshwara also emphasized his dedication to taking strict measures for the protection of women, expressing regret if his remarks have caused offense to the nation's mothers. "I have provided many programs for women's safety, including the Nirbhaya project in the state. We have implemented the Nirbhaya project grants more than any other states in the country. It is not right to distort a statement and insult me. I have taken many strict measures to protect women. I believe that women should be protected. I regret if the mothers of the country are hurt," the Karnataka Home Minister said. The state minister Parameshwara faced criticism for his comments in context of a molestation case that took place on April 3 in Bengaluru, that such crimes are common in big cities. Parameshwara earlier said, "Incidents like these tend to happen here and there in a big city like this. Whatever legal action needs to be taken will be done in accordance with the law. I have also instructed our commissioner to increase beat patrolling." BJP national spokesperson Shahzad Poonawalla on Monday also condemned Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara's statement. Poonawalla termed his comments as "misogynistic" and said the minister has an "obnoxious mindset". The BJP leader claimed that the remark by the Karnataka Home Minister has shaken the conscience of the nation and also trivialised the incident. "Display of the most shocking misogynistic, patriarchal, sexist and obnoxious mindset. The Home Minister of Karnataka has trivialised the incident that has shaken the conscience of the nation and particularly the people of Karnataka and Bengaluru, particularly the women. Today, we have come across such a statement from the Home Minister of Karnataka, which has made us feel embarrassed and ashamed of ourselves..", he told reporters. The BJP national spokesperson further said that Parameshwara gave the same kind of statement in 2017 when he considered the 2017 New Year mass molestation cases as "small incidents". "But for the Congress party, an attack on the respect of women is a small incident...This is not the first time he has made such a statement. When mass molestation incidents occurred during the 2017 New Year's event, at the time also, G Parmeshwar said that this was a small incident....Today, Congress has appointed such a person as home minister again. Again, he's showing the same mindset...", Poonawalla said. (ANI)
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday listed out three high-speed corridors aimed at transforming connectivity across the state. In a post on X, CM Sarma emphasized his dream to ensure that both Silchar and Dibrugarh can be reached from Guwahati within six hours. "I envision three high-speed corridors that will transform connectivity across Assam: Srirampur to Guwahati, Guwahati to Silchar and Guwahati to Dibrugarh. The Guwahati-Silchar corridor via Borapani is set to become a reality soon. We have also initiated the ground-level work for the Guwahati-Dibrugarh corridor. My dream is to ensure that both Silchar and Dibrugarh can be reached from Guwahati within 6 hours," the Assam CM said on X. Earlier today, CM Sarma Biswa Sarma said that there is "unanimous confidence" in completing the section of the Jorhat-Dibrugarh National Highway by December 31 of this year. The Assam CM met with Krishnan Kumar, the Managing Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, in Delhi earlier on Monday to discuss the completion of the highway. "Pursuant to my discussion yesterday in Delhi with Dr. Krishan Kumar, Managing Director of @nhidcl, I am happy to share that there is unanimous confidence in completing the Jorhat-Dibrugarh section of the National Highway by 31st December," CM Sarma wrote in a post on X. Around 95 pc of the four-lane Highway project from Kaliabor to Numaligarh, which included the Kaziranga National Park (KNP), has been completed, with just certain sections of the road being left. While posting about the meeting on April 7 in a post on X, CM Sarma mentioned that the MD of NHIDCL had reviewed the implementation of various infrastructural projects, including the status of the Rs 25,000 crore Guwahati Silchar Express Way, the Numaligarh Gohpur underwater tunnel, and the expansion of the National Highway network from Baihata Chariali to Tezpur and Gohpur to Kulajan. Earlier, on February 14, 2024, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari sanctioned Rs 382.10 crore for the construction of a new 2-lane highway with paved shoulders connecting Majuli and Jorhat on the recently designated NH 715K in Assam. A flyover on NH-715, complete with its approaches and service roads, is included in the project, spanning a total length of 20.5 kilometers. (ANI)
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday. He said that the BJP leaders should protest against the centre's decision to hike the LPG prices. DK Shivakumar stated that the centre has burdened the public by increasing the prices of LPG, petrol, diesel, and other goods. "The Centre has burdened the public by increasing the prices of LPG, petrol, diesel and other goods. Our friends in the BJP must protest against the Centre for the price rise rather than protesting against the State government," he said in a video released by his office. "The BJP leaders in Karnataka are protesting against price rise in the state, but they have a slap in their face as their own government in the Centre has increased LPG prices. I appeal to the BJP leaders to extend their fight against the Centre's price rise too", he added. Earlier on Monday, Karnataka BJP had announced the 'Jan Akrosh Yatra' in Mangaluru against the state's price hikes and imposition of new taxes. Earlier, on April 3, MLA and BJP leader R Ashoka launched a scathing attack on the Congress-led Karnataka government for its price hikes, stating, "BJP is fighting against the government's price hike policies and will take it to a logical conclusion." Accusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of corruption too, he added, "Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is stealing through taxes, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is stealing through commissions." The BJP leader also criticized the rise in liquor prices, calling it another way to exploit the public. "The price of liquor has also been raised to extract money from alcohol lovers." Earlier on Monday, the central government announced an LPG price increase to enable oil marketing companies to offset their under-recoveries, according to Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri. He further reiterated the government's commitment to providing affordable LPG cylinders to consumers despite a significant rise in international LPG prices. (ANI)
The Rouse Avenue court on Tuesday heard part arguments on framing of charges in Model code of conduct (MCC) violation case against Delhi law Minister Kapil Mishra. During the hearing, the court put some legal queries to the senior counsel appearing for Kapil Mishra. The court also asked about the ideology of Congress, AAP and BJP. The senior counsel sought some time to assist the court on the legal queries. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) listed the matter on May 26 for hearing. Appeal against the dismissal of his revision has already been moved by Kapil Mishra. The same is pending for hearing on May 19 before the High court. During the hearing, Senior advocate Pavan Narang along with advocate Neeraj and Himanshu Sethi appeared for Kapil Mishra. Senior advocate Narang submitted that Mishtra allegedly made a post saying that Congress and AAP are creating "mini Pakistan" in Delhi. It was submitted that accused did not target any community but two political parties. It was submitted that in January, 2020, MCC came in. The case is based on the report of the returning officer. "I (Kapil Mishra) not targeted any individual based on religion or language. I have only targeted the other two parties," he said. It was further submitted that People's vote share is very important during this time. People from certain religions are vote banks. They support certain ideologies. The Judge asked the counsel, " Where do we need to go to find their ideology?" Senior advocate submitted that the manifestos of the parties are a source. They're in public domain. The Judge said, "Agenda, ideology and manifesto are very different things." The senior advocate also submitted that If elections were not there, this (Offence) would have been under 153A IPC. At the outset, a report on behalf of DCP North West was also submitted before the court. The court took the report on record. It is stated that a notice was issued to X on March 26, 2025. The social media platform had raised certain objections which were duly addressed. Thereafter, another notice was issued to X on March 31, 2025. The reply on notice is still pending. It is also submitted that further efforts have been made. The matter has been forwarded to cyber police station for technical assistance and to obtain the required information from X. On March 20, the court had called a Status report from DCP North West with respect to procuring the information from X related to the tweet allegedly posted by accused. The court was informed that appeal against Summoning order was dismissed on 7 March by the session court. "A quashing petition has been filed before high court which is pending for hearing on May 19, 2025. No stay has been granted," Senior advocate Narang submitted. The matter is at the stage of framing of charge before the trial court The court had noted the submissions that on July, 22, 2024 a status report was called from the Investigation Officer (IO) with regard to post on social media platform X that was floated by the accused. The Rouse Avenue court on March 7 dismissed the revision filed by Mishra. He had challenged the Cognizance and Summoning order of trial court. The trial court had taken Cognizance of the charge sheet in an alleged violation of the model code of conduct in 2020. It is alleged that Kapil Mishra had made a statement in January 2020 when the model code of conduct in force. "The word 'Pakistan' is very skilfully weaved by the revisionist in his alleged statements to spew hatred, careless to communal polarisation that may ensue in the election campaign, only to garner votes," the court had said while dismissing the revision. (ANI)
Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on Tuesday defended the Waqf Amendment Act, stating that it has been brought for the benefit of poor Muslims. He alleged that those opposing the legislation were the ones who "rob" the rights of the poor. Reacting to the uproar in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly over the issue, Rajbhar said, "This has no meaning; this law is for the benefit of poor Muslims." "The strong Muslims who rob the rights of the poor are the ones opposing it," he told ANI. The Assembly witnessed chaotic scenes earlier as members from the ruling National Conference (NC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) demanded a discussion on the Waqf Amendment Act, recently passed by Parliament and signed into law by President Droupadi Murmu. The MLAs from various parties, including the NC, expressed dissatisfaction with the legislation and urged for deliberations in the House. PDP, led by Mehbooba Mufti, even moved a resolution demanding that the Centre repeal the Act. However, the resolution was not put to vote. In protest, a National Conference MLA tore the copy of the reform bill inside the House. PDP MLA Waheed Para and other party members stormed the Well of the House, displaying documents related to their resolution before being marshalled out. NC leaders also moved to the Well and had a heated exchange with Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference chief Sajad Lone. JKPC president Sajad Lone criticised the NC-led government, alleging that it was avoiding a debate on the bill. He further demanded that the party remove the Speaker, whom it had appointed, to allow a fair discussion on the Waqf reforms. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, addressing reporters in Ganderbal, reiterated his party's opposition to the bill, calling it unconstitutional. "There are parties in the Supreme Court. Hence, the Speaker did not allow a debate on it. We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will serve justice," he said. The Waqf Amendment Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 votes in favour and 95 against. It had earlier cleared the Lok Sabha after an extensive debate, where 288 members voted in favour and 232 opposed it. The Law Ministry confirmed on Saturday that the President had given her assent to both Waqf-related bills. (ANI)
A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar stated that the Madras High Court is well equipped to deal with the issues related to the search and seizure of electronic gadgets, which were raised in the Tamil Nadu government's plea.

Following this, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Tamil Nadu, chose to withdraw the plea seeking transfer of the matter to the top court.

The State, in its transfer plea, challenged the legality of the ED's search and seizure operations at the TASMAC premises, raising concerns that the ED is seizing mobile phones and electronic devices belonging to TASMAC employees and extracting data without a warrant. The plea also contested the ED's action of detaining the employees for over 60 hours during the raids.

The Solicitor General of India (SGI), Tushar Mehta who appeared for ED stated that Tamil Nadu's plea was nothing but an attempt at "forum shopping".

However, the top court today did not seem inclined to transfer the matter from the Madras High Court to itself. Following this, Tamil Nadu withdrew its plea seeking a transfer. (ANI)
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday noted that the Indian students studying abroad are ambassadors of Indian values and culture. "Despite staying thousands of miles away, these students continue to be deeply rooted in Indian values and spread them in their host countries, he observed." Om Birla made these remarks during his interaction with Indian students in Samarkand Medical University during his four-day visit to Uzbekistan leading the Indian Parliamentary Delegation (IPD) for the 150th Assembly of Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU). Birla stressed that New India is known as the "Land of Opportunities" with rapid reforms in every field. "National initiatives like Ayushman Bharat have created abundant opportunities in the healthcare sector across India," he added. He also said that with Ayushman Bharat expanding to include both government and private hospitals, there are ample opportunities for FMG doctors to gain valuable experience and contribute to the nation's healthcare system. "The rapid growth in medical research and education in India has created numerous opportunities for the students to work in academic and research institutions," the Lok Sabha Speaker noted. Birla conveyed to the students that the India cares deeply about the welfare of Indians living in every corner of the world. He mentioned that India is dedicated to assisting and supporting overseas Indian students. "Through initiatives like the 'Help' portal and the active involvement of Indian embassies abroad, the government ensures that Indian students face no obstacles in their education, safety, and career prospects. Indian doctors have a global identity, and you should continue this tradition," he added. "India has always produced exceptional doctors, and these students will enhance healthcare systems worldwide with their knowledge and skills. Their global experience will pave the way for greater success in their medical careers," Om Birla said. He urged the students to not only enhance their knowledge and skills but also embrace values such as dedication and compassion in their lives. "Their hard work will contribute to the future direction of global healthcare," he added. Mentioning that as cultural and educational representatives of India, they also serve as key figures in strengthening the friendship and cooperation between India and Uzbekistan. During his visit to Uzbekistan, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla interacted with members of Indian Diaspora on Monday. Observing that the love and affection of the Indian Diaspora in Uzbekistan towards India is inspirational, Birla noted that the efforts of the Indian community help strengthen India's global identity. Speaking about India's growing economic might, Birla highlighted that India today is the fastest-growing economy in the world, and its global reputation and innovation have created countless new opportunities. He added that the Indian Diaspora can contribute to this growth through investment and innovation. Birla also encouraged the Diaspora to take full advantage of these opportunities as part of India's drive for 'Viksit Bharat.' (ANI)
Samajwadi Party MP Zia ur Rahman Barq left from the Sambhal police station on Tuesday after appearing before the Special Investigation Team in connection with the Sambhal violence case. The SP MP spoke to ANI and said that he was given a notice under the BNSS 35(3) and stated that he has "faith" in the judicial system. "I was given a BNSS notice under 35(3). I have faith in the judicial system. I reached to cooperate in every manner... I have answered all their questions...", Zia ur Rahman Barq said. Earlier, when Barq arrived for the investigation, he said that his doctors advised him to rest, but he appeared before the SIT for investigation so that the police administration would not feel that he was not cooperating in the investigation. "Today, I am not feeling well, my doctor has advised me to rest, but despite this, I am going there so that the police administration does not feel that I am not cooperating in the investigation...", the Sambhal MP said during a press conference. On March 26, the Uttar Pradesh SIT arrived in New Delhi to hand over the notice to the Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Zia ur Rehman Barq, for his alleged involvement in the Sambhal violence case. The SIT went to MP's hostel at Western Court and handed over the notice to Barq. Speaking to ANI, Zia ur Rehman Barq stated that he received the notice under Section 35(3) and that, as an MP, he will cooperate with the authorities in the investigation of the Sambhal violence that took place in November last year."I have received the notice given to me under Section 35(3)... Since I am a citizen of this country and also an MP, I have assured the police of full cooperation during the investigation", Zia ur Rehman Barq said. (ANI)
National Conference MLA Tanvir Sadiq on Tuesday hoped that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir gets improved. Sadiq comments came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a meeting in Srinagar to review the security situation in J-K. Speaking with ANI, Sadiq said, "We hope that the situation here gets improved. If that happens, there would be no one happier than National Conference. Several ministers, MLAs and members have been killed. We hope that the situation is improved as soon as possible," Sadiq also demanded the restoration of statehood in J-K. "But more than that, the PM and HM of this country have promised us the restoration of statehood. We hope that we get the statehood as soon as possible so that we can take J&K ahead," he added. Meanwhile, Amit Shah chaired a meeting in Srinagar to review the security situation in J-K today. Earlier in the day, Amit Shah said that three more groups had decided to sever ties with the Hurriyat Conference and hailed this development as a clear reflection of the growing trust in India's Constitution under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision. In a post on X, Amit Shah said that three more organisations--Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front-- officially disassociated themselves from the Hurriyat. Shah emphasised that this development aligns with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a united and powerful Bharat. "Three more organisations, namely Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front, disassociate themselves from the Hurriyat. It is a prominent demonstration of the people's trust in the Constitution of India within the valley. Modi Ji's vision for a united and powerful Bharat stands even more bolstered today, as so far 11 such organizations have shunned separatism, proclaiming unwavering support for it," Shah posted on X. The Home Ministry decided on March 11 to ban two organisations--the Awami Action Committee, led by prominent Kashmiri cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen, headed by Shia leader Masroor Abbas Ansari--for five years over alleged anti-national activities. (ANI)
Bengaluru police have identified the person who had posted the video online in a sexual assault case and assured that the accused will be arrested soon. Sarah Fathima, DCP South East Bengaluru said, "A person had put the video on social media. Taking cognizance of the video, we have registered a case. We have identified the person who had posted the video online. We have also spoken to the victim and built confidence in them. The accused will be secured soon. The video is not very clear, and this is why we are taking time to identify him (the accused). Five teams on the ground are working on the case." A woman was reportedly sexually assaulted in the middle of the street on April 3 near Sadduguntepalya. The incident was captured on CCTV prompting widespread outrage. Police have launched an investigation and registered a case under Sections 74, 75, and 78 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. "A person had put the video on social media. Taking cognisance of the video, we have registered a case. We have identified the person who had posted the video online. We have also spoken to the victim and built confidence in them. The accused will be secured soon. The video is not very clear, and this is why we are taking time to identify him (the accused). Five teams on the ground are working on the case," DCP South East Bengaluru, Sarah Fathima, said. Earlier, the Karnataka State Women commission has written to he DCP Southeast Bengaluru to investigate the April 3 alleged molestation in Bengaluru's Bharti Layout, Suddaguntepalya. "There is a report that a young woman was walking near the road at the 1st cross of Bharti Layout, Suddaguntepalya, on April 3 at midnight when a person followed her, touched her private part, sexually harassed her and ran away," the letter read. "It is requested to investigate the said case as per rules, take appropriate action against those responsible and send the report of the action taken to the Commission at the earliest," the Women's commission said. Earlier, the National Commission for Women (NCW), acting on the directions of its Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar, took suo motu cognisance of an alleged sexual harassment incident in Bengaluru's BTM Layout.The Commission has demanded swift action, including the registration of a case, immediate arrest of the accused, and an Action Taken Report (ATR) within three days. In a post on X, NCW said, "On the directions of NCW Chairperson Smt. Vijaya Rahatkar, the Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of the disturbing incident of sexual harassment in Bengaluru's BTM Layout. NCW has sought urgent FIR under BNS, immediate arrest of the accused, and ATR within 3 days." (ANI)
The local residents of Shimla and members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner's office in Shimla on Tuesday. The protest was organized in opposition to the recent decision by the Himachal Pradesh government to double the minimum bus fare from Rs 5 to 10. Held under the banner of the CPIM, the demonstration witnessed participation from a large number of daily commuters, laborers, and local residents, all voicing concerns over the financial burden the fare hike would impose on the working class and economically weaker sections of society. Speaking to the media during the protest, Jagat Ram, the State General Secretary of CPIM Himachal Pradesh, strongly condemned the decision. "The Himachal Pradesh government has been continuously burdening the poor and working classes ever since it came to power. The doubling of the minimum bus fare is a brutal blow to the common man. It is absolutely unbearable," Ram said. He further warned the government of intensified agitation if the fare hike is not rolled back immediately. "If the state government does not withdraw this decision, CPIM will launch a much stronger and more widespread protest in the near future," Jagat Ram warned. According to protesters, the state now charges Rs 2.19 per kilometer for bus travel which is the highest in the country, whereas most states charge around Rs 1.40 or less. They allege that the fare hike has been strategically introduced to benefit private transport operators. The CPIM also raised serious objections to the state cabinet's decision to approve 1000 new bus routes that are reportedly being handed over to private entities. The party claims this move is aimed at maximizing profits for private players at the cost of public welfare. "This is all being done to promote private contractors. The government is stripping public services and transferring them into private hands -- from transport to water supply to garbage collection," Jagat Ram said. He added that the cost of living has gone up not just due to fare hikes but also because of increases in essential service charges. From April 1, water and garbage bills have been hiked by 10 per cent. The state is reportedly planning to privatize even housing societies' water supply and to start charging Rs 10 for what used to be free medical registration slips in public hospitals. The CPIM pointed out that this model of governance echoes the past, drawing a parallel to former BJP Chief Minister Shanta Kumar's downfall. "I want to remind the current government, when Shanta Kumar increased the hospital slip charges from 25 paise to Rs 1, the people ousted him. The same fate awaits this government," warned Jagat Ram. The protest also addressed the central government's policies. CPIM members condemned the recent hikes in fuel prices Rs 2 for petrol and diesel and Rs 10 for LPG gas cylinders despite international crude oil prices being at a four-year low. "Prices of petrol and diesel should have come down, not gone up. These price hikes will directly impact the poor," the CPIM leader said, demanding immediate rollbacks. The CPIM leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continue fighting anti-poor policies and urged the public to unite against increasing economic disparity and privatization of essential services. "We will continue to raise the voice of the people. If our demands are not met, this movement will only grow stronger," Jagat Ram declared. (ANI)
Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers on Tuesday staged a protest against the Karnataka government's decision to introduce a four per cent reservation for Muslims in public contracts. Speaking to ANI, Yelahanka VHP president Ratnakar Bhat termed the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government's decision to introduce four per cent reservation in public contracts as unconstitutional and demanded that no contract be given on the basis of religion. "The Karnataka government has given four per cent of reservation to minorities in public contract, which is 100 per cent unconstitutional. We from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad are demanding that no contract should be given on a religious basis with this 4 per cent reservation. The Supreme Court has stated that reservations cannot be made on the basis of religion. This is appeasement politics." Anil Kumar, a Bajrang Dal party worker, slammed the Congress government in Karnataka over its decision to introduce 4 per cent reservation in public contract, saying, "Congress is becoming like the Muslim League. Since the Karnataka government came into power, it has been completely anti-Hindu." The Karnataka state cabinet approved an amendment to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act, which aims to provide 4 per cent reservation in tenders to Minority contractors. The decision was taken on March 14 in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at the Cabinet Hall of the Vidhan Sabha. Official sources added that the amendment will be made after the KTPP act is tabled in the ongoing assembly session. However, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has clarified that the state government's decision to provide a four per cent reservation in government contracts is not exclusive to Muslims but extends to "all minority communities and backward classes." State Minister Ramalinga Reddy said that all five to six minority communities will come under this reservation. "BJP always does nonsense things. There is a reservation for SC/ST. Now, we have given reservations to minorities. There are five to six minority communities. All will come under this reservation, not just one community," Ramalinga Reddy said. (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer expressed his concerns over the injuries sustained by state Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan's son Mark Shankar, a release from Andhra Pradesh Raj Bhawan said. As per the release, the Andhra Pradesh Governor wished for the speedy recovery of Pawan Kalyan's son, who was injured in a school in Singapore and is currently undergoing treatment. At least four adults and 15 children were hospitalised after a fire broke out at a "shophouse" in Singapore's River Valley Road on Tuesday morning as per the country's state-owned CNA, which cited the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). Among those hospitalised was Mark Shankar, the younger son of Jana Sena Party president and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. The party, in an official statement, said that the fire reportedly caused injuries to Shankar's hands and legs, and the boy was immediately transferred to a local hospital where he is receiving treatment. Earlier, Union MoS Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday expressed his shock on the fire incident at a school in Singapore where the son of Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan studies. Kumar prayed for the safety and well-being of all the children and hoped that Kalyan's son is safe and well. In a social media post on X, the Union MoS wrote, "Shocked to learn about the fire accident at a school in Singapore where the son of Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Shri @PawanKalyan Garu, Mark Shankar, studies. Praying to Ammavaru for the safety and well-being of all the children & hoping Mark Shankar is safe and well." An official statement from Janasena said the Deputy chief minister is currently touring the Alluri Sitarama Raju district and will travel to Singapore after completing his tour. According to the Janasena party statement, when Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan was informed about the incident, officials and party leaders advised him to halt his tour and leave immediately for Singapore. However, Kalyan clarified that he had given his word to the tribal people of Kuridi village, near Araku, promising to visit them. He stated that he would first visit the village, interact with the locals to understand their issues, and complete the scheduled development program inaugurations before departing. (ANI)
Amidst the ongoing fight against organised crime launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) has busted a Lawrance Bishnoi-Rohit Godara gang with the arrest of the its two active operatives and recovered one .32 calibre pistol from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday. Those arrested have been identified as Jashandeep Singh alias Jashan Sandhu, a resident of village 25ML in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan and Gursewak Singh, a resident of Sri Muktsar Sahib. DGP Gaurav Yadav said that accused Jashan Sandhu was wanted in a 2023-murder case took place in Ganganagar in Rajasthan and had been evading arrest by constantly changing locations across Georgia, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia and Dubai. "Recently, on the directions of his handlers accused Jashan came back to India and landed in Nepal from Dubai before entering India by road in an attempt to escape law enforcement," the DGP said. DGP Yadav said that preliminary investigations revealed that accused Jashan played a crucial role in providing logistical support to the gang. "His interrogation has also led to the identification of overseas Hawala operators, travel agents, and the locations of fugitive gangsters hiding abroad--marking a significant step in dismantling these networks," he added. Sharing operational details, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) AGTF Promod Ban said that acting swiftly on a specific input about Jashan entered India by road after landing in Nepal, special operation teams of AGTF under the supervision of AIG Gurmeet Chauhan and led by DSP Bikramjit Singh Brar along with teams worked on inputs and successfully traced Jashan along with his associate Gursewak, leading to their arrest from Mohali. "Police teams have recovered a .32 calibre pistol along with seven cartridges from their possession," Ban said. AIG Gurmeet Chauhan said that preliminary investigations revealed that accused Gursewak came in contact with Lawrance gang members through Jashan and was operating locally on their behalf. "Their disclosures also revealed that Rohit Godara was planning to eliminate some prominent individuals in Punjab and New Delhi," he said, while adding that sensational crimes have been averted with their arrests. The AIG said that further investigation is ongoing to trace the forward and backward linkages in this case. A case FIR number 02 dated April 7, 2025 has been registered under sections 25 (6)(7) of the Arms Act at Police Station State Crime Punjab in SAS Nagar. (ANI)
Experts from different countries have expressed deep concern at the 'International Seminar on Ensuring Water Security, Ecological Integrity, and Disaster Resilience' over China's proposed "Great Bend Dam" on the Yarlung Tsangpo which is known as Brahmaputra in Tibet. Participating in a daylong seminar titled "Ensuring Water Security, Ecological Integrity, and Disaster Resilience in the Sub-Himalayan Region: The Case of the Brahmaputra" organised by North East's premier think-tank Asian Confluence in Guwahati on Tuesday, author and Tibetologist Claude Arpi said China not only wants to become a power giant by building the dam in Medong county, but it also has plans to divert the water of Yarlung Tsangpo to the Yellow River through numerous tunnels. The experts from various fields highlighted the possible devastating downstream impact of the proposed series of dams aimed at producing 60,000 MW at Namche Bawra. Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh and senior BJP leader Tapir Gao said, "It is not going to be a dam, but a 'water bomb' to be used against India and other lower riparian countries." He reminded about the June 2000 devastating floods caused by a similar 'water bomb' that had washed away more than 10 bridges on the Siang river, as the Yarlung Tsangpo is known in Arunachal Pradesh before it becomes Brahmaputra upon entering Assam. The Arunachal East MP also expressed support to the proposal for another dam to be built on the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh in order to prevent disaster downstream due to the possibility of sudden release of water from the proposed dam at the Great Bend. Bertil Linter, an expert on Asian politics and history, highlighted how the Chinese invasion into the Tibetan region in the late 1950s was specifically targeted on the numerous mega rivers which originate in the 'Roof of the World'. "China has constructed 11 mega dams only on the Mekong river, which is the lifeline of five other countries," he said. He also underlined the need for India to have a water-sharing agreement with China, the lack of which may lead to "bilateral conflicts" between the two neighbours. Chairman of Brahmaputra Board, Dr Ranbir Singh pointed out that the Brahmaputra Basin is the only water-surplus river basin in India with the rest being water-deficient. "With this dam in China, are we looking at a water-deficient Brahmaputra river basin," he wondered. Dr Singh also underlined the need for a multi-pronged strategy, including upping the ante against the project, garnering support in international circles, and through collaborations. Towards sharing of best practices from the Mekong region, the seminar featured a conversation between Dr. Ranbir Singh Chairman Brahmaputra board and Dr. Truong Hong Tien, Deputy Director General, Vietnam National Mekong Committee, which was moderated by former Secretary (East) at the MEA, Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das. Making a presentation during a technical session, IIT Guwahati's Prof Anamika Baruah highlighted how studies have predicted more "dry days" in the downstream of the Tibetan Plateau, which will rather see more "wet days" in the future as a consequence of the numerous dams being built in the region. She, however, mentioned that there have been no collaborative studies on the issue with China. Making a fervent appeal to highlight the issue at different forums, including in Parliament, Prof Baruah said, "Let's shape the narrative before it is shaped for us." Experts from Nepal and Bhutan also took part in the seminar, along with other experts spanning domains of ecology, water resource management, international relations, environmental law, engineering, policy formulation, governance, and economy. The seminar sought to foster a collaborative dialogue between governmental agencies, civil society organizations, environmental practitioners, and academicians on the immense challenges posed by the proposed dam in Tibet amidst the looming threat of climate change. Commenting on the key takeaways of the seminar, Asian Confluence director Dr Sabyasachi Dutta said that, need of the hour is to have more scientific studies initiated by India, so that the issue us not carried away by simple media narratives. "Only such an initiative will help develop solid ground for international support against China's proposed dam at the Big Bend," he said. Dr Dutta also said that this initiative aligns with Asian Confluence's mission to facilitate meaningful dialogue and actionable solutions on rivers and water security in the region. The organisation had earlier hosted the third edition of the international NADI Dialogue in Guwahati. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the Modi government is committed to the development of Jammu and Kashmir, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts are bringing prosperity through development and welfare initiatives to all the citizens of the valley. In a post on X, Amit Shah said, "Reviewed the development projects in Jammu & Kashmir today. The Modi govt is working with an unwavering resolve towards building a developed J&K. The tireless efforts of PM Shri @narendramodi Ji are ushering in a new era of prosperity for every citizen through development and welfare initiatives. J&K is accelerating on the path of growth in every sector." Earlier today, Amit Shah said that three more groups have decided to sever ties with the Hurriyat Conference and hailed this development as a clear reflection of the growing trust in India's Constitution under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision. In a post on X, Amit Shah said that three more organisations--Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front-- officially disassociated themselves from the Hurriyat. Shah emphasised that this development aligns with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a united and powerful Bharat. "Three more organisations, namely Jammu Kashmir Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Democratic League, and Kashmir Freedom Front, disassociate themselves from the Hurriyat. It is a prominent demonstration of the people's trust in the Constitution of India within the valley. Modi Ji's vision for a united and powerful Bharat stands even more bolstered today, as so far 11 such organizations have shunned separatism, proclaiming unwavering support for it," Shah posted on X. The Home Ministry decided on March 11 to ban two organisations--the Awami Action Committee, led by prominent Kashmiri cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen, headed by Shia leader Masroor Abbas Ansari--for five years over alleged anti-national activities. Earlier in March, two more organisations affiliated to the Hurriyat Conference had announced that they were severing ties with the outfit. Amit Shah has earlier told Parliament that from 2019 to 2024, 14 major Hurriyat-linked organisations were banned. He made the remarks during a discussion on the MHA's functioning in the Rajya Sabha on March 21. Shah criticised previous governments for their "lenient" approach towards terrorism, alleging they avoided strong actions due to fear of losing their vote bank. In contrast, he emphasised that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism has been firmly implemented. On Monday, Amit Shah, while addressing the BSF personnel at 'Vinay' border outpost in Kathua, assured that the government is committed to enhancing border security with advanced technologies, offering unwavering support to the BSF's mission. "The entire country knows that the BSF is our first line of defense. In every war with Pakistan, the BSF has played a crucial role alongside the army. The technical support provided to the BSF over the next 3-4 years will be used to complete border security measures along the India-Pakistan border and later on at the India-Bangladesh border as well. This will include technologies such as advanced threat detection and immediate response capabilities," Shah said. He asserted further that the support from the Indian Government for the BSF has always been a top priority. "Whatever plans are provided to us, we are always ready to implement them. Currently, 26 experiments are underway, and within the next year, we will definitely reach a decision that will provide many benefits to you," Amit Shah said. (ANI)
Samajwadi Party Women Wing on Tuesday held a protest against Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta over her reported statement on former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav. Delhi CM Gupta reportedly called Akhilesh Yadav "tonti chor (Tap thief)" in an interview with a media channel. Protesting against the Delhi CM, a Samajwadi Party worker demanded an apology or resignation from Rekha Gupta. " We are protesting against Delhi CM Rekha Gupta. She made a controversial statement against our party chief and former CM, who is also an MP (Akhilesh Yadav)...she should apologise or else resign. She is not worthy of being a CM," A Samajwadi Party worker said. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav also strongly criticised Rekha Gupta over her comments and asked "from where is she getting the confidence to speak such language?" Addressing a press conference, Yadav said, "We need to listen to this (Rekha Gupta's comments). From where she is getting the confidence to speak such language?" Meanwhile Yadav also criticised Uttar Pradesh government and alleged that the state government have prepared a hidden "underground army" which is insulting people. Speaking about the constant pushback SP MP Ramji Lal Suman has received over latter's comment on Rana Sanga, Akhilesh Yadav said, "If an incident happens with Ramji Lal Suman (SP MP) or any SP leader, the CM himself would be responsible for it. Because CM himself has given his blessings to that organisation, all the people that you can see there...we should not speak of caste, but we can see a caste connection here...CM himself is encouraging all of this. There used to be troopers during Hitler's era. Similarly, they have prepared a hidden underground army which is insulting people from time to time." Suman sparked controversy with his statement on Rana Sanga, a 16th-century Rajput king, calling him a "traitor" for allegedly bringing Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, to defeat Ibrahim Lodi. (ANI)
People took to the streets, holding banners and raising slogans while demanding immediate repeal of the act.

On April 5, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was passed by Parliament during the budget session. The President also gave her assent to the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2025.

The Waqf Act has sparked controversy as opposing parties took to Supreme Court contest the bill's provisions, which they argue could have significant implications for the management of Waqf properties.

Congress and AIMIM, AAP and others have initiated their legal battle against the bill in the Supreme Court, expressing concerns over its potential impact on the management and oversight of Waqf properties in India.

Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, on April 4, approached the Supreme Court challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, saying it was discriminatory towards the Muslim community and violates their fundamental rights.

The plea said the bill discriminates against the Muslim community by imposing restrictions that are not present in the governance of other religious endowments.

Javed was also a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

The petition filed through advocate Anas Tanwir has contended that the bill violates Article 14 (right to equality), 25 (freedom to practice religion), 26 (freedom to manage religious affairs), 29 (minority rights) and 300A (right to property) of the Constitution.

"The bill imposes arbitrary restrictions on Waqf properties and their management, thereby undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community," it added.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was passed. It seeks to focus on improving the management of waqf properties, empowering stakeholders relevant to this, improving the efficiency of the survey, registration, and case disposal process, and developing waqf properties.

While the core purpose remains to manage waqf properties, the aim is to implement modern and scientific methods for better governance. The Mussalman Wakf Act of 1923 was also repealed. (ANI)
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday said that the AICC meeting in Ahmedabad will focus on strengthening the party at the grassroots level. "The Belagavi AICC session declared this year as the year of organisation. The Ahmedabad meet will discuss strengthening the party at the block, taluk and district level," he said while speaking to reporters. "Several changes are being brought to the party organisation. The responsibility of growing the organisation is on the party workers. This AICC meet is the prelude to all of us working together. Various aspects of organisational building would be discussed under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. We had a convention of party district presidents in New Delhi last week." Asked if the victory March of the Congress party would start from Gujarat, he said, "Yes, definitely. Joining hands is the beginning, working together is progress." Replying to a query on protests by the BJP against price rise, he said, "I welcome their protest. Their protest will make them understand the public anger against the Union government's decision to increase the prices of LPG, petrol, diesel." The 84th National Convention of the AICC is being held in Ahmedabad on April 8-9, marking the event's return to Gujarat after a 64-year gap. As part of the convention, the CWC meeting was held today, attended by Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Sonia Gandhi, the Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party. The meeting was attended by other top leaders of the Congress, including the party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, and KC Venugopal. At the meeting, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, in a veiled attack on the BJP, stated that attention is being diverted from the basic issues of the country by creating "communal division." Kharge said, "Today, attention is being diverted from the basic issues of the country by doing Communal Division. On the other hand, Oligarchic Monopoly is on the path of controlling the governance by capturing the resources of the country." The Congress President further said that a "conspiracy" is being carried out in the nation regarding several national heroes, including that of bilateral ties between former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel. (ANI)
Enforcement Directorate (ED), Cochin Zonal Office, has filed a Prosecution Complaint (PC) against K Babu, former Minister for Excise, Fisheries, and Ports, Government of Kerala, under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA). The complaint was filed on March 26, 2025, before the Hon'ble Special Court (PMLA) at Ernakulam, with the Court taking cognizance of the case on March 29. "Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Cochin Zonal Office has filed a Prosecution Complaint (PC) on March 26, 2025 before the Hon'ble Special Court (PMLA) at Ernakulam ED/CBI Court CBI-II against K Babu, former Minister for Excise, Fisheries and Ports, Government of Kerala under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. Further the Hon'ble Court has taken cognizance on March 29, 2025," as per an official release. Enforcement Directorate initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by the VACB, Special Cell, Ernakulam under sections 13(1)(e) r/w 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. "K Babu, being a public servant during the check period from July 1, 2007 to May 31, 2016, by indulging in criminal misconduct had acquired assets worth of Rs 25.82 Lakh disproportionate to his known sources of income and subsequently used the same as by projecting and claiming it as untainted. K Babu had involved in process or activity connected with Proceeds of Crime (POC) and thereby, K Babu had committed the offence of money laundering under section 3 of Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 and punishable u/s 4 of Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002," the release read. During the investigation, assets worth Rs 25.82 lakh in the form of immovable property were identified as POC and provisionally attached vide Provisional Attachment Order No. 05/2024 issued under section 5 (1) of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 on June 25, 2024. (ANI)
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) concluded a day-long stakeholders' meeting with ecosystem partners, including central government departments and states, to deliberate and share ideas to further enhance service delivery by using Aadhaar. Nearly 750 senior policy makers, experts, technocrats, sectoral leaders and professionals came together for the 'Aadhaar Samvaad' in New Delhi on Tuesday, according to a release by Ministry of Electronics and IT In his inaugural address, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw underlined how AI is like a new industrial revolution. He said Aadhaar is the 'aadhaar' of many initiatives and is the core of DPIs. He asked the stakeholders to share ideas on how we to integrate AI with DPIs to drive the growth further. All this, while preserving the privacy, he added. Union Minister stated that the Central Government has a primary focus on improving ease of living further. He gave the example of Aadhaar face authentication in this context and how it is an enabler, the release stated. Addressing the stakeholders, S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said Aadhaar is allowing speed up inclusion and aiding economic growth. He said Aadhaar is a sophisticated system that preserves privacy and authenticates identity. Addressing the meeting, Saurabh Garg, Secretary of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), appreciated UIDAI for enabling the expansion of Aadhaar usage and underlined the rapid growth of Aadhaar authentications. Garg touched upon how data is for development. Neelkanth Mishra, Chairman UIDAI, spoke about Aadhaar's role in the expansion of DPIs. UIDAI and Aadhaar have achieved a lot and there is a lot to do, he added. He said face authentication is very helpful and is becoming more and more robust, the release added. CEO UIDAI Shri Bhuvnesh Kumar said Aadhaar Face authentication is becoming the hallmark of the authentication landscape. He said the Aadhaar ecosystem has grown big, and UIDAI is prepared for the future, be it technology adoption or service delivery. He also mentioned a humane side of Aadhaar and how it is uniting hundreds of missing children with their families. This is the third episode of the Aadhaar Samvaad series. At Bengaluru in November 2024, UIDAI focused around industries and technologies involved in digital identity space, the second edition, in January 2025 at Mumbai, focused on FinTech sector bringing together BFSI, fintech and and Telecom sectors. In this edition here in Delhi, the focus theme was Innovation, Inclusion and Integration, and how Aadhaar can be of more help in strengthening governance and bring more benefits to people, the release added. After the inaugural session, the meet had focused discussions covering areas and themes like -- Adoption of new technologies and processes in Aadhaar enrolment and authentication; Expanding Aadhaar usage for good governance; Strengthening Aadhaar enrolment and update ecosystem, data privacy. UIDAI also showcased demos of some new products including the Sandbox and an upcoming new mobile app that will allow people to have more control on how much information they will to share while availing services. UIDAI's technology centre showcased the new Aadhaar app that will empower Aadhaar number holders to share only the necessary data while availing services of their choice. It will give Aadhaar number holders complete control over their personal information. The app allows digital verification and exchange via a requesting application or by scanning a QR code, eliminating the need for physical photocopies while ensuring privacy. A major innovation in the app is the integration of Aadhaar Face Authentication, which is witnessing rapid adoption across sectors and has clocked over 15 crore transactions per month, the release stated. This app is an early adopters' release for a small group of users including all the registered participants of this Aadhaar Samvaad event. Based on the feedback received from users and ecosystem partners, UIDAI will soon make it accessible to all. UIDAI is hopeful that the outcome of this event will bring actionable insights which will enhance the Aadhaar usage and authentication services, and will also lay the foundation for implementation in new use cases further benefiting people, the release added. (ANI)
BJP MP Kangana Ranaut on Tuesday attacked the Congress government in Himachal, alleging that the state was in bad condition and there is a need to rid it of the grip of "bhediyas" (wolves). The actor-politician made the remarks while addressing a gathering in her parliamentary constituency Mandi. She hailed the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP leader also took a dig at the Congress government on controversy over "samosa" probe in the state, which authorities later clarified, was against "misconduct" by officials and not concerning the snack meant to be served to the Chief Minister. Kangana Ranaut, who is not unknown to controversy, sought to compare Congress government by referring to an attacking animal found in peninsular India. "There is a wave of PM Modi in the entire country and saffron... But it is painful to watch Himachal Pradesh's condition... Their agencies are probing samosas. We feel embarrassed about what is happening... You work so hard on the ground, It is our responsibility that we have to take our state on the path of progress... I would say they are Bhediya (wolves) in a way. We have to free our state from their claws," she said. Targeting the Congress-led UPA government, she said there was a period before 2014 when "news was about corruption, terror attacks and scams". She said PM Modi has ushered all-round development of the country. (ANI)
During the meeting, various agenda items relating to developing AIIMS as Institutes of Excellence in teaching learning, clinical care and research were discussed in detail. It was noted that out of 22 AIIMS approved under the scheme, 18 AIIMS are operational and these institutes are providing state of the art, affordable tertiary care health services to the people in underserved and remote areas of the country.

Union Health Minister launched the Inter AIIMS Referral portal made by AIIMS Delhi. He emphasized that all the AIIMS should come together as a community and share good practices and learn from each other.

"Highest standards of quality in processes and outcomes should be ensured through appropriate accreditation/certification and Information Technology should be effectively used for improved governance and patient convenience," Nadda said.

He also emphasized that while maintaining uniformity in principles, flexibility in operation is essential to bring out the best from each institute.

The meeting was attended by all the Presidents and Executive Directors of new AIIMS set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana besides the Institute Body members of AIIMS Delhi.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel; Member (Health), NITI Aayog, Dr V.K Paul; Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Bansuri Swaraj; Union Health Secretary, Punya Salila Srivastava, Secretary, Department of Health Research, Dr. Rajiv Bahl and Secretary, AYUSH, Dr Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha were present in the meeting.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Pratap Rao Jadhav attended the meeting virtually. (ANI)
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday attended the 'Aajni Ghadi Te Raliyamani Bhajan Sandhya' program held in Ahmedabad. "Organized by the Department of Youth Services and Cultural Activities, the event saw enthusiastic participation from over 2,500 women representing nearly 150 bhajan groups. Bhajan groups that composed outstanding devotional songs on themes suggested by the Chief Minister were felicitated during the event," as per a Gujarat Chief Minister's release. On the occasion, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel remarked that women embody strength, as they care for every member of the family. He praised the participants, adding that it was truly commendable how all the women conveyed meaningful messages on various themes through their soulful bhajans. "Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel praised the thoughtfully chosen themes for bhajan compositions, which included family life, respect for food, cleanliness, the rising use of mobile phones, and the Catch the Rain initiative. He also commended the efforts of the program organizers, including Minister of State for Cooperation Jagdish Vishwakarma," the release read. Speaking about the importance of respecting food, CM Patel said that nature provides for everyone's needs, whether big or small. He noted that it is a part of our culture to help ensure that even the smallest needs are met. Preserving this culture is not just a tradition, but a responsibility. CM Patel noted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, food grains are distributed to the needy every month across the country. However, he stressed that it is equally important to respect food and prevent its wastage. "Addressing the topics of cleanliness and mobile phone misuse, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the nationwide cleanliness campaign, which continues to inspire numerous cleanliness programs across the country even today," the release read. CM Patel emphasized the collective responsibility of citizens to keep their homes, cities, states, and the nation clean, adding that cleanliness should become a natural part of our daily lives. Speaking on the growing concern of mobile misuse, he pointed out that in many families, children are being misled and valuable time is being lost due to excessive or inappropriate mobile usage. Therefore, he urged that mobile phones should be used wisely and only when necessary. Speaking about the Catch the Rain initiative, the Chief Minister Patel emphasized the need to conserve every drop of rainwater. He noted that the government has made dedicated provisions in this year's budget to support rainwater harvesting efforts. "CM Patel also urged citizens to actively participate in impactful campaigns such as Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam, Swachh Bharat, and Medasvita Mukt Bharat (Obesity-free India). Concluding his address, he extended heartfelt congratulations to all the participating bhajan groups," the release read. On this occasion, Minister of State for Cooperation Jagdish Vishwakarma spoke about the essence of Sanatan culture, highlighting that garlands, tulsi, bhajans, and sandalwood are its fundamental pillars, deeply revered in Sanatan Dharma. He emphasized the importance of understanding and embracing these cultural values, guiding our lives with spiritual intent, and contributing meaningfully to the nation's development. The programme was attended by Mulubhai Bera, Minister for Tourism and Cultural Activities; Pratibha Jain, Mayor of Ahmedabad; Hasmukh Patel, Member of Parliament; MLAs from the city; M Thennarasan, Principal Secretary, Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities; Alok Kumar Pandey, Commissioner, Youth Services and Cultural Activities; officials from the Municipal Corporation; a large number of women from various bhajan groups; and local citizens. (ANI)
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram informed that his father P Chidambaram had an episode of presyncope due to extreme heat and dehydration in Ahmedabad and is under observation in Zydus Hospital. He stated that doctors are reviewing his parameters, which are currently normal. https://x.com/KartiPC/status/1909642520495050877 In a social media post on X, Karti Chidambaram said, "My father @PChidambaram_IN has been examined & investigated by a team of emergency physicians, cardiologists & neurologists, all current reports are within normal parameters. He is being kept overnight at Zydus Hospital Ahmedabad for observations. Thank you all for your wishes" "My father @PChidambaram_IN had an episode of presyncope due to extreme heat & dehydration in Ahmedabad & is under observation in Zydus Hospital. The doctors are reviewing his parameters which are currently normal, " he added. Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday fainted due to heat at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. Chidambaram was rushed to the hospital. Chidambaram arrived in Ahmedabad for the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) session. The 84th National Convention of the AICC is being held in Ahmedabad on April 8-9, marking its return to Gujarat after a 64-year gap. As part of the convention, the CWC meeting was held today, attended by Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Sonia Gandhi, the Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party. The meeting was attended by other top leaders of the Congress, including the party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, and KC Venugopal. At the meeting, Mallikarjun Kharge, in a veiled attack on the BJP, stated that attention is being diverted from the basic issues of the country by creating "communal division." Kharge said, "Today, attention is being diverted from the basic issues of the country by doing Communal Division. On the other hand, Oligarchic Monopoly is on the path of controlling the governance by capturing the resources of the country." The Congress President further said that a "conspiracy" is being carried out in the nation regarding several national heroes, including that of bilateral ties between former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel. (ANI)
Congress leader P Chidambaram, who fainted due to heat at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, informed that all his tests are normal and he is perfectly well now. He had suffered dehydration due to extreme heat. https://x.com/PChidambaram_IN/status/1909645221932974101 "Because of extreme heat, I suffered dehydration. All tests are normal. I am perfectly well now. Thank you, all," he said in an update on his health in a social media post on X. Earlier, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram informed that his father P Chidambaram had an episode of presyncope due to extreme heat and dehydration in Ahmedabad and is under observation in Zydus Hospital. He stated that doctors are reviewing his parameters, which are currently normal. In a social media post on X, Karti Chidambaram said, "My father @PChidambaram_IN has been examined & investigated by a team of emergency physicians, cardiologists & neurologists, all current reports are within normal parameters. He is being kept overnight at Zydus Hospital Ahmedabad for observations. Thank you all for your wishes" "My father @PChidambaram_IN had an episode of presyncope due to extreme heat & dehydration in Ahmedabad & is under observation in Zydus Hospital. The doctors are reviewing his parameters which are currently normal, " he added. Earlier on Tuesday, Chidambaram arrived in Ahmedabad for the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) session. The 84th National Convention of the AICC was held in Ahmedabad on April 8-9, marking its return to Gujarat after a 64-year gap. (ANI)
Just like the proverbial frog in a pot, who boils to death after the water is heated incrementally, so China under Chairman Xi Jinping is gradually but inexorably ramping up the pressure and heat against Taiwan. By acting in this way, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is normalizing such coercive behavior against the democratic nation. PLA activity around Taiwan has been at record-breaking levels since May 2024, as communist-controlled China ramps up the pressure. To illustrate how China is stoking the boiler, PLA aircraft sorties into Taiwan's self-declared air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 1 January till 31 March 2025 were at record levels. In fact, the total number of PLA flights was greater than for the same three-month period in both 2023 and 2024 combined. Add to these flights Beijing's use of China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels in coercive maritime law enforcement operations, and nefarious undersea communications cable cutting by rogue merchant vessels, and it is obvious that China is making a deliberate and concerted effort to alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. As well as military harassment, China is conducting psychological warfare against Taiwan, hoping to sway public opinion. Indeed, Sir Alex Younger, former chief of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, said Chinese activity is "a textbook on subversion, cyber and political harassment". Things got even more heated when China conducted Exercise Strait Thunder-2025A on 1-2 April. The provocative wargames commenced at 07:30 on 1 April, as the PLA's Eastern Theater Command deployed forces to "close in on Taiwan from multiple directions". Four key elements were rehearsed: a blockade of key areas and sea routes; sea-air combat readiness patrols; seizure of air and sea superiority; and assault on maritime and ground targets. On the following day, the PLA announced long-range, live-fire missile drills, and aircraft carrier operations in the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan. Three broad tactics were practiced that day, according to the PLA: precision strikes on key targets; joint blockade control and enforcement; and identification, verification, warning, expulsion, interception and detention activities. On the first day, 15-21 PLA Navy warships were detected around Taiwan, rising to 21-23 vessels on the second day. This included the Shandong aircraft carrier task group some 190-220 nautical miles southeast of Taiwan to "simulate strikes on ground and maritime targets in areas to the east". This made the Strait Thunder-2025A fleet the second highest number of warships operating around Taiwan on record, the largest being 27 ships identified in May 2024. The CCG was also involved. It fielded 4-6 vessels on the first day and ten the subsequent day. Vessels from the CCG's East China Sea Bureau encircled Taiwan and conducted "law enforcement patrols". Furthermore, vessels of the East China Fujian coast guard performed patrols near Taiwan's outlying islands of Wuqiu and Dongyin. As for the PLA Air Force, Taiwan detected 76 Chinese aircraft on the first day, of which 37 entered Taiwan's ADIZ. A further 59 aircraft participated the next day, including 31 ADIZ intrusions. These were a mix of fighters, helicopters and drones. Of interest, for the first time an H-6K bomber was spotted operationally carrying KD-21 air-launched ballistic missiles. The PLA Rocket Force's live-fire drills involved "precision strikes on simulated targets of key ports and energy facilities," with these achieving "desired effects". One simulated target was the Yongan liquefied natural gas terminal in Kaohsiung. As well, the 1st Rocket Artillery Brigade of the PLA's 72nd Group Army employed its PHL-16 long-range rocket launchers approximately 250 miles northwest of Taiwan. G7 foreign ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and USA issued a statement expressing "deep concern about China's provocative actions". They said, "These increasingly frequent and destabilizing activities are raising cross-Strait tensions and put at risk global security and prosperity." Taipei itself accused China of "escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait," while the USA said it opposed any unilateral changes to the status quo in the strait through force or coercion. However, China sees it very differently. Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command, said the drills were "a stern warning and forceful deterrence against Taiwan independence separatist forces, and it is a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China's sovereignty and national unity". There are multiple falsehoods here, though. The first is that Taiwan is under the control of "Taiwan independence separatist forces", a reference to the administration of President Lai Ching-te. Lai is particularly hated by the CCP, even though he has pledged to maintain the status quo. Lai is no more "separatist" than his predecessor was, yet Beijing vilifies him for refusing to kowtow to Beijing. Of course, by constantly distorting the truth, the CCP can paint a target on Lai and justify its own belligerence. Nor are China's actions "legitimate and necessary". Taiwan does not threaten Chinese sovereignty in any way. The island is not going to invade mainland China. Rather, the problem is that Taiwan refuses to acknowledge the CCP's dream of subjugating Taiwan. China is peddling its own skewed and hubristic interpretation for political ends. An opinion piece by "Jun Zhengping", not a real person but rather an entity representing the PLA's social brand, was published by the PLA Daily the same week. It repeated the same invalid points about Taiwanese separatists being provocative. For example, it asserted, "Since Lai Ching-te assumed power last May, tensions in the Taiwan Strait have been gradually escalated. The culprit behind the current tension is Lai Ching-te himself." Of course, this is a typical CCP ploy, to blame others so it feels justified in ratcheting up the tensions. The op-ed continued: "Within less than a year in office, Lai has repeatedly undermined the interests of Chinese nation and crossed the red line of peace. Last year, in his so-called inaugural speech, he claimed the fallacy that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not subordinate to each other, casting a shadow over cross-strait relations from the outset. He is a troublemaker through and through." It is obvious that the CCP cannot accept a democratic Taiwan. Plus it can only accept a Taiwan subordinate to Beijing's communist jackboot. "Jun Zhengping" threw aspersions around like patty cakes, accusing Lai of being "a true generator of danger" and "a maker of war". The article continued, "The Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests. It is an issue of principle that the Chinese government has repeatedly affirmed to the world. We have ample legal and moral grounds to sanction all those who attempt to undermine peace, and we possess the absolute strength and will to overpower any enemies seeking to split our country." Again, the fallacies presented here are laughable. Yes, China has presented its allegations to the world, but they hold no legal or moral standing. Taiwan is extremely amicable, so it is impossible to see how it is "undermining peace" when Beijing is the one threatening war. The same PLA writing warned in no uncertain terms, "If Lai Ching-te continues to cling to illusions, misjudge the situation, act recklessly and provoke repeatedly, he will inevitably face complete destruction." In fact, the accusations that "Jun Zhengping" was wildly throwing around could be reversed and aimed at Xi's China. "As the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities aggressively weave their illusion of so-called independence, every person in Taiwan must clearly see through their malicious intent to push the Taiwan Strait toward perilous conflict for the sake of their own party and self-interest." Is it not the CCP who is intent on pushing the Taiwan Strait towards perilous conflict for its own self-interest? Remembering that this article appeared in PLA publications, the vociferousness of Chinese warmongering is alarming. What other country so vividly terrorizes and menaces its neighbor? The article concluded, "The pursuit of Taiwan independence is a dead end. We will not tolerate or condone any conspiracy aiming at splitting Taiwan from China. The Chinese PLA has the guts, determination, resolve and, very importantly, the ability to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and dignity. Taiwan independence means war, let no specific one say he has not been warned!" Things could not be much clearer. The PLA and China are threatening war against Taiwan. These are not the words of a responsible global player, as China makes itself out to be, but of an insufferable bully. Beijing cannot tolerate anyone disagreeing with it, and it is angered by any who deny that Taiwan is a part of communist China. Elsewhere, but using similar language, Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the PLA exercise is a "just move to punish attempts to split the country and a firm safeguard for the peace, stability of the Taiwan Strait, and the safety and wellbeing of Taiwan compatriots". Again, it is impossible to reconcile "safety and wellbeing" with the dark clouds of war. Of interest, strident PLA propaganda - in the form of official exercise videos and social media posts released on Sina Weibo - portrayed China as a mighty Monkey King warrior from Chinese mythology, while Lai was likened to a parasite held by its PLA captor against the backdrop of a war-ravaged Taiwan. The aggressive videos showed PLA forces targeting iconic Taiwanese landmarks such as the Taipei 101 skyscraper, and troops designated to protect the Taiwanese president during a crisis. China perhaps feels the need to belittle Taiwan, for it has met embarrassment on several fronts. In March, for instance, Lai announced 17 measures to resist Chinese attempts to subjugate Taiwan. These included strengthening defense capabilities and economic security, and collaborating with friends and diplomatic allies. The exercise, and all these public comments, was thus partially designed to placate discontent over Taiwan's continued refusal to bow the knee. Another embarrassment for China was Taiwan's deportation of Chinese national Liu Zhenya, a vlogger with a Taiwanese husband. She advocated for a PLA takeover of Taiwan, until she was kicked out of the country and sent back to China. These wargames and accompanying propaganda efforts were thus designed for the Chinese populace as well as for Taiwan's people. At home, the CCP is encouraging "little pinks", a nickname given to young ethnocentric Chinese netizens who are rabidly pro-unification. At the same time, confidence in the PLA is stuttering as more high-profile commanders are arrested and purged, even those once considered Xi loyalists. Interestingly, China only officially named the exercise on 2 April. In an earlier interview with state broadcaster CCTV, Professor Zhang Li of the PLA National Defense University explained the rationale for not naming the drills. He said: "This largely shows that the relevant drill content we see today is already a new normal, which is commonplace for the PLA and the Eastern Theater ... The reason for these normalization exercises is to let the DPP authorities and the separatist forces of 'Taiwan independence' regularly feel the firm will and strong ability of the PLA to defend national sovereignty and oppose separatist forces!" Zhang's explanation was interesting, as he equated it with the normalization of such coercive activities. Nonetheless, by the following day the PLA had had a change of heart and decided to give the exercise a label. Admiral Samuel Paparo, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, in February described PLA movements around Taiwan as "not exercises, they are rehearsals" for forced reunification. It is a matter of conjecture as to when, or if, China might violently attack Taiwan. A recent article published by the US-based website 19FortyFive quoted unnamed "intel sources" who believe a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is less than six months away. That is a more extreme view, but as Dr. Malcolm Davis, Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, remarked: "It's crystal clear what China's intentions are towards Taiwan. They fully intend to ramp up military coercion of Taipei to get them to bend the knee, but if that fails, expect a blockade and a military invasion within this decade to impose unification against the will of the people of Taiwan. Pretending it won't happen is a proverbial strategy of hope and a path to disaster." (ANI)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Monday stated that a bipartisan bill aimed at limiting US President Donald Trump's tariff powers, supported by seven Republican senators, is unlikely to move forward in Congress due to Trump's veto threat, The Hill reported. According to The Hill, Thune, the Senator from South Dakota, dismissed the possibility of bringing the bill, sponsored by Republican Senator from Iowa Chuck Grassley and Democratic Senator from Washington Maria Cantwell, to a vote in the Senate. The bill would require Congress to approve new tariffs within 60 days. "I don't think that has a future. The president indicated he would veto it. I don't see how they get it on the floor in the House so I think at this point we're kind of waiting to see what's going to happen next," Thune told reporters, as quoted by The Hill. The legislation mandates that the president notify Congress within 48 hours of imposing or raising tariffs and provide an assessment of the potential impact on US businesses and consumers, as reported by The Hill. New tariffs would expire after 60 days unless approved by Congress, and lawmakers could cancel them before then by passing a joint resolution of disapproval. Along with Grassley, other sponsors of the bill include Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Susan Collins (R-Maine). However, the Trump administration has already informed senators that the president would veto the bill if it reached his desk, The Hill reported. A statement from the White House budget office circulated on Monday expressed strong opposition to the Trade Review Act of 2025, arguing that it would "severely constrain the president's ability to use authorities long recognised by Congress and upheld by the courts to respond to national emergencies and foreign threats," as quoted by The Hill. "If S. 1272 were presented to the President, he would veto the bill," the statement warned. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also expressed support for giving Trump space to carry out his strategy, noting that it had been less than a week since the plan was introduced. (ANI)
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Monday expressed confidence that India's industries will benefit from the recent tariff announcements made by US President Donald Trump amid the turmoil in global markets following its recent announcement. Speaking to reporters during the FICCI's 98th Foundation Day celebrations, Goyal acknowledged the different sentiments expressed by the different sectors upon the tariff announcement and that India sees this as an opportunity. "Every sector has a different sentiment. I am in communication with each one of them. The industries of India see opportunities in this. We are confident that India's gain is in it," he said. Goyal also highlighted the growth of India's startup ecosystem, noting that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the "Start-Up India" initiative, launched nine years ago, has resulted in the rise of over 170,000 startups, up from just 400. "PM Modi launched start-up India movement 9 years ago. From 400 startups, we are now more than 170,000-plus startups. The country is proud of it," he added. Meanwhile, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor expressed concerns over the impact of US tariffs on India's economy and emphasised the need for effective bilateral trade agreements and called the situation "quite negative". "It is a very concerning issue. You know that there is a lot of hope that the bilateral talks with the United States will bring some assurances and relief, but as of now, in the short term, the situation is quite negative," he stated. He emphasised that the global market has been severely affected, saying, "The global market is bad, not just in India but across the world. As you said, prices are also rising, and nobody understands Trump's tariffs and what they mean." Moreover, according to a research report by the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), India could see a decline of USD 5.76 billion or 6.41 per cent, in exports to the US because of the tariffs in 2025. The research highlights sectors where India may gain or lose ground, offering a nuanced picture of the challenges and opportunities emerging from the new US tariff regime. The tariffs are likely to give a mild blow to India's merchandise exports to the US. In 2024, India exported USD 89.81 billion worth of goods to the U.S, but this could decline by approximately USD 5.76 billion, a drop of 6.41 per cent, as a result of the new trade measures in 2025. (ANI)
Ukraine will send negotiators to the US this week to discuss a proposed deal offering Washington access to Ukraine's rare earth mineral deposits, Al Jazeera reported on Monday. According to Al Jazeera, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed the move in an social media post on X on Monday, stating that the team would work to advance negotiations on the deal, which US President Donald Trump has set as a condition for continued US support in Ukraine's ongoing conflict with Russia. Trump has argued that the agreement, which would grant the US preferential access to valuable resources, is essential for Ukraine's post-war security and reconstruction. However, Russia has continued to delay discussions about a ceasefire, despite US efforts to mediate, Al Jazeera reported. The Ukrainian delegation will include officials from multiple ministries, including economy, foreign affairs, justice, and finance, according to Svyrydenko. She highlighted that the talks are aimed at aligning both nations on project selection, legal frameworks, and long-term investment mechanisms, reflecting shared strategic interests. "This week, Ukraine will send a delegation to Washington to move forward with negotiations on a strategic agreement with the United States regarding critical natural resources. This dialogue reflects the strategic interests of both nations and our shared commitment to building a strong, transparent partnership. The delegation will include representatives from the Ministries of Economy, Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Finance. We aim to align on project selection, legal frameworks, and long-term investment mechanisms." the post read. According to Al Jazeera, the deal is seen as vital for Ukraine to maintain US support, particularly as Trump appears to align more closely with Russia's position on ceasefire negotiations, sidelining Ukraine and its European allies. Trump has opposed peacekeepers being stationed in Ukraine to enforce a ceasefire, instead suggesting that US firms involved in mineral extraction could act as a deterrent to Russian aggression. An earlier version of the deal collapsed after a tense meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February and in late March, Washington presented Ukraine with a revised and broader draft, which included access not only to rare earth minerals but also to gas and oil, Al Jazeera reported. While Trump views the deal as a way to recoup billions in US aid for Ukraine's war efforts, Zelenskyy firmly rejected the idea of past aid being treated as loans, emphasising Ukraine's desire to maintain future integration with the European Union, as per Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin supports the idea of a ceasefire but raised concerns about how it would be implemented. Putin has so far dismissed a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional ceasefire and conditioned a partial truce in the Black Sea on the lifting of specific Western sanctions, Al Jazeera reported. Ukraine's European allies have also urged the US to be cautious of Russia's attempts to delay progress while continuing its attacks. (ANI)
Amid the turmoil in the global markets following the tariff announcements made by the US, President Donald Trump has ruled out the possibility of a "pause" on the tariffs on countries during negotiations. During a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on Monday (local time), Trump stated, "We're not looking at that," emphasising that the US would continue to pursue fair deals with other countries. "We have many countries that are to negotiate deals with us, and they're going to be fair deals, and in certain cases, they're going to be paying substantial tariffs. They'll be fair deals," Trump said. He also highlighted the current tariff situation with China, criticising them for going against his statement and increasing tariffs and stated, "If that tariff isn't removed by tomorrow at 12 o'clock, we're putting a 50 per cent on above the tariffs that we put on. They've become a rich country because of people who were in the White House." Earlier, Beijing had put a 34 per cent retaliatory tariff hike on US. Trump reiterated that his approach was aimed at rectifying trade imbalances, pointing to the substantial debt the US faces. "I have a great relationship with President Xi. I hope it's going to stay that way. I have great respect for China, but they can't do this. We're just going to have one shot at this, and no other president is going to do this. and I'll tell you what: it's an honour to do it because we have been just destroyed. What they've done to our system, you know, we have 36 trillion dollars of debt for a reason. So we'll be talking to China. We'll be talking to a lot of different countries," the US President added. On the matter of some tariffs being permanent and others that can be negotiated, Trump said, "They can both be true. There could be permanent tariffs, and there could also be negotiations." He further stated that the US would secure fair deals with all countries, and if negotiations did not result in satisfactory terms, the US would distance itself from those nations. "We're going to get fair deals and good deals with every country -- and if we don't, we're going to have nothing to do with them," he added. The President also took aim at the European Union, criticising its trade practices and describing the EU as a unified group formed to create a competitive edge against the US. He pointed out the imbalance in trade, highlighting the US automotive industry's limited access to European markets. "The EU has been very tough over the years. It was formed to do damage to the United States in trade. It was formed with all of the countries from Europe. I guess most of them, not all of them, but most of them formed together to create a little bit of a monopoly situation to create a unified force against the United States trade...the European Union has been very bad to us. They don't take our cars like Japan. They don't take our agricultural product; they do anything practically. They're sending millions and millions of cars into the US, but we don't have a car that's been sold to the European Union or other places," Trump stated. Meanwhile, European Union President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EU had offered the US "zero-for-zero" tariffs for industrial goods. In a post on X, she said, "Europe is ready to negotiate with the US. We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods. Because we're always ready for a good deal. But we're also prepared to respond with countermeasures. And protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion." (ANI)
President Droupadi Murmu on Monday visited the Church of Santa Maria and laid wreath at the tomb of Luis Vaz de Camoes - the national poet of Portugal. As per the Rashtrapati Bhavan, she also visited the Monastery of Jeronimos - a masterpiece of 16th-century architecture in Portugal. In a post on X, Rashtrapati Bhavan said, "President Droupadi Murmu visited the Church of Santa Maria and laid wreath at the tomb of Luis Vaz de Camoes - the national poet of Portugal. She also visited the Monastery of Jeronimos - a masterpiece of 16th-century architecture in Portugal." https://x.com/rashtrapatibhvn/status/1909217827422167309 Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu on Monday was presented with the "Key of Honour" of Lisbon City at the historic Camara Municipal de Lisboa (City Hall) in Portugal. The ceremony was attended by several eminent citizens of Lisbon, including the diplomatic corps and representatives of the Indian and Indo-Portuguese community. In a post on X, she said, "In a special ceremony hosted by the Mayor of Lisbon at the historic Camara Municipal de Lisboa (City Hall), President Droupadi Murmu was presented with the "Key of Honour" of Lisbon City. The ceremony was attended by several eminent citizens of Lisbon, including the diplomatic corps and representatives of the Indian and Indo-Portuguese community. The President thanked the Mayor and the people of Lisbon for the gesture, and praised the people of Lisbon for their affectionate nature, open-mindedness, spirit of tolerance and respect for diversity." While speaking at the handing over ceremony of City Key of Honour of Lisbon at Lisbon, Murmu said, "We are working to make India a developed country, 'Viksit Bharat', by 2047, which will be a prosperous, inclusive and developed society with a human-centric approach." She added that Portugal has been an essential partner of India in promoting its ties with the European Union. "Portugal has been an important partner of India in promoting our relations with the European Union and Lusophone countries. Cultural ties between India and Portugal go back centuries, and have left a lasting mark on our everyday lives," she said. Earlier in the day, Murmu held extensive discussions with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal and discussed various aspects of India-Portugal relations. In a post on X, Rashtrapati Bhavan said, "President Droupadi Murmu held extensive discussions with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal. The two leaders discussed various aspects of India-Portugal relations, as well as global and regional issues of shared interest. Both leaders agreed that the bilateral relationship is based on mutual trust, understanding and cooperation on important issues, including at the multilateral level. They agreed to further strengthen the long-standing ties in several areas including trade and investment, IT, renewable energy and connectivity." She is visiting Portugal at the invitation of President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The visit is taking place after a gap of 27 years. The last State Visit took place in 1998 when President K R Narayanan visited Portugal. (ANI)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday agreed to resolve the issue of US military equipment left behind in Afghanistan during the US's complete withdrawal from the Islamic State back in August 2021, after a two-decade-long war, as per a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan. According to the statement, Rubio made the announcement during a telephonic conversation with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar. During the call, the two leaders discussed bilateral relations, regional security, and economic cooperation between the two nations, with Dar reiterating Pakistan's commitment to strengthening its partnership with the US, emphasising enhanced cooperation in trade, investment, and counter-terrorism. "The two leaders also discussed the situation in Afghanistan. Secretary Rubio agreed on the need to resolve the issue of US Military equipment left behind in Afghanistan," the statement read. "The two leaders discussed bilateral relations, regional security, and economic cooperation. During the call, DPM/FM Dar reiterated Pakistan's commitment to strengthening its partnership with the United States. He emphasised the importance of strengthening cooperation in areas such as trade, investment and counter-terrorism," the statement added. Secretary Rubio further echoed the sentiment for trade and investment with Pakistan, particularly in critical minerals, stating that "cooperation in economy and trade would be the hallmark of future relations between the two countries." Meanwhile, Secretary Rubio expressed his gratitude towards Pakistan for the arrest and transfer to the United States of ISIS-K operative Mohammad Sharifullah, as per a statement from the Spokesperson of the US State Department, Tammy Bruce. Bruce stated that Secretary Rubio emphasised Pakistan's importance in cooperation on law enforcement and addressing illegal immigration and also discussed the matter of the US's reciprocal tariffs on Pakistan. "Secretary Rubio thanked Pakistan for the arrest and transfer to the United States of ISIS-K operative Mohammad Sharifullah, and the Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Dar underscored the importance of continued cooperation on counterterrorism. Secretary Rubio also emphasised the importance of Pakistan's cooperation on law enforcement and addressing illegal immigration. They discussed US reciprocal tariffs on Pakistan and how to make progress toward a fair and balanced trade relationship," the statement from the US State Department read. Secretary Rubio and Pakistan's Deputy PM Dar also expressed enthusiasm for collaborating on global challenges during Pakistan's two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, which started on January 1, this year. (ANI)
Taiwan recorded a hike in Chinese military activity around its territory with over 10 aircraft, five vessels and one ship operating around its territory on Tuesday, as reported by Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND). In a post on X MND observed that 15 out of the 16 sorties crossed the median line and entered into Taiwan's northern, southwestern and eastern air defence identification zones. MND wrote on X, "16 PLA aircraft, 5 PLAN vessels and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 15 out of 16 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern, southwestern and eastern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded." https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1909410867244130650 On Monday, Taiwan recorded four sorties of PLA aircraft and eight Chinese vessels operating around its territory according to the MND. Sharing the details, it wrote on X, "4 sorties of PLA aircraft and 8 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 2 out of 4 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly." In light of the heightened Chinese military activity around Taiwan, the G7 Foreign Ministers, along with the High Representative of the European Union, expressed concern over China's recent "provocative actions," especially the large-scale military drills conducted around Taiwan. In a joint statement, G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US and High Representative of the EU highlighted the growing frequency of "destabilising activities," warning that they raise tensions across the Taiwan Strait and pose risks to global security and prosperity. The US Department of State in a statement released on Sunday said, "We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union, express deep concern about China's provocative actions, particularly the recent large-scale military drills around Taiwan." "These increasingly frequent and destabilising activities are raising cross-Strait tensions and put at risk global security and prosperity," the statement added. The G7 further reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, opposing any unilateral efforts to threaten peace. Last week, the US and the EU had restated their disapproval of any unilateral alterations to the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait following China's military's recent series of joint drills around Taiwan, according to a report by Taipei Times. (ANI)
At least four adults and 15 children were hospitalised after a fire broke out at a "shophouse" in Singapore's River Valley Road on Tuesday morning as per the country's state-owned CNA, which cited the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). Among those hospitalised was Mark Shankar, the younger son of Jana Sena Party president and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. The party, in an official statement, said that the fire reportedly caused injuries to Shankar's hands and legs, and the boy was immediately transferred to a local hospital where he is receiving treatment. The Singapore media outlet CNA said that videos of the incident posted on social media, showed children sitting on a third-storey ledge as plumes of black smoke billowed. Bystanders, including some construction workers, can be been seen climbing scaffolding in an attempt to rescue them. The Singapore Civil Defence Force said in a statement on Facebook that it was alerted to a fire at 278 River Valley Road at about 9.45 am (local time) SCDF noted that upon its arrival, "The fire was raging on the second and third floors of a 3-storey shophouse." The fire was extinguished within 30 minutes using three water jets as per the CNA report. About 80 people from the affected shophouse and nearby premises were evacuated. Shophouses are a prevalent building type in Singapore's architectural and built heritage. These buildings are generally two- to three- storeys high, built in contiguous blocks with common party walls. They are narrow, small terraced houses, with a sheltered 'five foot' pedestrian way at the front. "A total of 19 casualties (four adults and 15 children) were conveyed to the hospital", SCDF said. CNA noted that the affected building is an education centre for young children, according to signage seen in the videos. Singapore's Civil Defence Force shared that the cause of the fire is under investigation and extended thanks to members of the civil society who assisted in the rescue of the stranded persons for their quick actions and bravery. Meanwhile, the JanaSena party said in an official statement that Pawan Kalyan, who is presently on an official tour of Alluri Sitarama Raju district in Andhra Pradesh, has been advised by party leaders and officials to shorten his trip and head to Singapore to be with his son. Pawan Kalyan clarified that he had given his word to the tribal people of Kuridi village, near Araku, promising to visit them. He stated that he would first visit the village, interact with the locals to understand their issues, and complete the scheduled development program inaugurations before departing. (ANI)
Crown Prince of Dubai, Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, arrived in New Delhi on his first official visit on Tuesday. He was welcomed with a ceremonial guard of honour and received by Union Minister of State for Tourism & Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi. Upon his arrival at the Palam Airport, the Crown Prince of Dubai was received by senior Indian leaders and accorded a ceremonial guard of honour. He also witnessed a musical performance upon his arrival. In a post on X, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Randhir Jaiswal, said that the Crown Prince's visit marked a significant milestone in the India-UAE relationship. He wrote on X, "Dubai to Delhi! A significant milestone in India-UAE relations. HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai @HamdanMohammed arrived in New Delhi on his first official visit. Welcomed with a ceremonial Guard of honour & received by MoS @TheSureshGopi at the airport." https://x.com/MEAIndia/status/1909489926380433655 The Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is visiting India from April 8 to 9, 2025, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This marks his first official visit to India in his capacity as Crown Prince of Dubai. He will be accompanied by several key Ministers, senior-level government officials, and a prominent delegation of business leaders, reflecting the growing depth of India-UAE partnership and their expanding strategic scope, the MEA said in a statement. On April 8, Prime Minister Modi will host a working lunch in honour of His Highness, providing a platform for high-level discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors, stated the press release. In addition to his engagement with the Prime Minister, the Crown Prince will hold separate meetings with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Following engagements in the capital, he will visit Mumbai and participate in a business roundtable involving top Indian and Emirati business leaders. The roundtable will explore opportunities for increased trade and investment in both traditional sectors such as infrastructure and energy, as well as emerging fields like fintech, innovation, and sustainability. The interaction is aimed at further accelerating economic cooperation and shaping a forward-looking commercial partnership between the two nations. Dubai has long served as a vital hub in India's commercial and cultural exchanges with the UAE. The strong people-to-people ties are underpinned by the large Indian diaspora in the Emirates - estimated at 4.3 million - with a significant majority residing in Dubai. The visit is expected to add new momentum to the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and further enhance India's institutional and grassroot-level ties with Dubai. Formal diplomatic relations between India and the UAE were established in 1972. Since Prime Minister Modi's landmark visit in 2015, the first by an Indian PM in over three decades, bilateral engagement has grown significantly. The UAE hosts India's largest overseas community, whose contributions are deeply respected and continue to strengthen the enduring bond between the two nations. (ANI)
The banquet took place at Palacio da Ajuda in Lisbon on Monday evening, the details of which were shared by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

President Murmu highlighted that this year holds special significance the two countries are celebrating 50 years of the India-Portugal bilateral relations.

In her remarks, she emphasised that with the natural synergy and potential for cooperation in diverse fields, India-Portugal historic ties are firmly on the way to evolving into a dynamic and visionary partnership.

https://x.com/rashtrapatibhvn/status/1909468776065548560

Earlier on Monday President Murmu visited the Church of Santa Maria and laid a wreath at the tomb of Luis Vaz de Camoes, Portugal's national poet. As per the Rashtrapati Bhavan, she also visited the Monastery of Jeronimos, a masterpiece of 16th-century architecture in Portugal.

President Murmu was presented with the "Key of Honour" of Lisbon City on Monday at the historic Camara Municipal de Lisboa (City Hall) in Portugal.

Several eminent Lisbon citizens, including members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of the Indian and Indo-Portuguese communities, attended the ceremony.

While speaking at the handing-over ceremony of the City Key of Honour of Lisbon, Murmu said, "We are working to make India a developed country, 'Viksit Bharat', by 2047, which will be a prosperous, inclusive, and developed society with a human-centric approach."

She added that Portugal has been an essential partner of India in promoting its ties with the European Union.

"Portugal has been an important partner of India in promoting our relations with the European Union and Lusophone countries. Cultural ties between India and Portugal go back centuries and have left a lasting mark on our everyday lives," she said.

Earlier in the day, Murmu held extensive discussions with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa about various aspects of India-Portugal relations.

President Droupadi Murmu is visiting Portugal at the invitation of the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The visit is taking place after a gap of 27 years. The last State Visit took place in 1998 when President K R Narayanan visited Portugal. (ANI)
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has submitted a legal complaint in Paris against Dahua Technology France, Hikvision France, and Huawei France, as stated in a release from the WUC. The complaint, filed by noted French human rights attorney William Bourdon of Bourdon & Associes, alleges that the three Chinese firms are complicit in crimes against humanity committed against the Uyghur population in East Turkistan, according to the release. "This submission serves as a crucial reminder to all companies involved in the Chinese government's genocide that they hold legal accountability," expressed WUC President Turgunjan Alawdun. "We are optimistic that the French judicial system will treat this issue with the gravity it deserves," as reported by the WUC release. The legal complaint presents four severe accusations: concealment of complicity in aggravated servitude, concealment of complicity in human trafficking as part of an organized group, concealment of complicity in genocide, and concealment of complicity in crimes against humanity, as outlined in the WUC release. This legal action has been supported by the NGO Don't Fund Russian Army, which has been investigating and revealing the widespread use of Hikvision and Dahua surveillance cameras in Ukraine. The WUC report notes that research has shown these companies operate freely in Europe despite their documented involvement in human rights violations. "By collaborating with the WUC, Don't Fund Russian Army seeks to ensure accountability for corporations involved in both the Uyghur genocide and security threats in Ukraine," stated the organization's Director, Olha Matseliukh. The 45-page legal complaint employs various public sources and evidence to demonstrate how the three companies contributed to the establishment and maintenance of a mass surveillance infrastructure in East Turkistan, thereby supporting the Chinese government's discriminatory measures, the WUC report emphasized. Both Hikvision and Dahua have provided advanced surveillance technologies, such as AI-driven facial recognition systems, to the Chinese authorities. Hikvision cameras have been observed around mosques, educational institutions, public areas, and even within Uyghur residences. Leaked internal documents and independent studies have indicated that Hikvision created software specifically designed to identify Uyghur individuals, alerting law enforcement based on ethnic background, according to the WUC release. As per the WUC report, Dahua has been associated with providing facial recognition technology intended for racial profiling. (ANI)
Hundreds of Tibetans have flocked to social media to urge the Chinese government to reinstate Tibetan language education in schools, following Beijing's release of a white paper asserting that Tibetan language rights are guaranteed in the region, according to a report by Radio Free Asia (RFA). In the report from March 28 discussing human rights in Tibet, China declared that Tibetan is frequently used in government documents, public announcements, media, and educational institutions, claiming that both Mandarin and Tibetan are taught in primary and secondary schools, according to RFA. However, Tibetans argue that this statement is inaccurate and that China has deliberately sought to diminish the usage of their language, which they view as part of a broader effort to erase Tibetan cultural identity, as noted by RFA. In 2020, Mandarin became the main language of instruction in all primary and secondary schools in Tibet, labeled as "bilingual" education; however, in practice, Mandarin was predominantly used, as highlighted by RFA. In 2023, China introduced a Mandarin-only policy for students taking the annual college entrance examination, placing many ethnic minorities, including Tibetan children who had previously been able to take the test in their native language, at a disadvantage, as cited by an RFA report. Moreover, the title of the white paper, "Human Rights in Xizang in the New Era," utilized the Beijing-endorsed term "Xizang" to refer to Tibet, further indicating efforts to assimilate Tibetans into Han Chinese culture. According to RFA, access to Tibet for outsiders has been severely limited by China, making it extremely challenging to accurately depict the conditions on the ground. China's assertions regarding human rights in Tibet do not align with the actual situation, and Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, urged Beijing to allow unrestricted access for external observers and independent researchers, as quoted by RFA. "Over the last twenty years, the Chinese government has imposed increasingly tighter controls on Tibetans as part of its larger strategy to enforce the assimilation of minority groups," she stated. "This heightened level of oppression, long documented by human rights organizations and exile media, starkly contrasts with the Chinese government's claims about safeguarding human rights in Tibet," RFA reported. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar welcomed UAE's Crown Prince, Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on his first official visit to India on Tuesday. In a post on X, Jaishankar expressed warmth upon his arrival and noted he values the positive sentiment of the Crown Prince over the wide-ranging cooperation and vibrant ties between India and the UAE. The EAM wrote on X, "Delighted to welcome Crown Prince of Dubai and DPM & Minister of Defence of UAE HH @HamdanMohammed at the start of his first official visit to India. Value his positive sentiments for our wide-ranging cooperation and vibrant ties." https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1909502028402811078 The Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is visiting India from April 8 to 9, 2025, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Upon his arrival in India, he was welcomed with a ceremonial guard of honour and received by Union Minister of State for Tourism & Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi. This marks his first official visit to India in his capacity as Crown Prince of Dubai. He will be accompanied by several key Ministers, senior-level government officials, and a prominent delegation of business leaders, reflecting the growing depth of India-UAE partnership and their expanding strategic scope, the MEA said in a statement. Following engagements in the capital, he will visit Mumbai and participate in a business roundtable involving top Indian and Emirati business leaders. The roundtable will explore opportunities for increased trade and investment in both traditional sectors such as infrastructure and energy, as well as emerging fields like fintech, innovation, and sustainability. The interaction is aimed at further accelerating economic cooperation and shaping a forward-looking commercial partnership between the two nations. Dubai has long served as a vital hub in India's commercial and cultural exchanges with the UAE. The strong people-to-people ties are underpinned by the large Indian diaspora in the Emirates - estimated at 4.3 million - with a significant majority residing in Dubai. The visit is expected to add new momentum to the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and further enhance India's institutional and grassroot-level ties with Dubai. Formal diplomatic relations between India and the UAE were established in 1972. Since Prime Minister Modi's landmark visit in 2015, the first by an Indian PM in over three decades, bilateral engagement has grown significantly. The UAE hosts India's largest overseas community, whose contributions are deeply respected and continue to strengthen the enduring bond between the two nations. (ANI)
Bangladesh police have swiftly moved to take action over the violent and unlawful events that unfolded during the pro-Gaza protests in several cities on Monday. These attacks and acts of vandalism are an affront to public safety and the rule of law, the Chief Adviser's Press Wing said in a statement on Tuesday. "As of now, at least 49 individuals have been arrested in connection with these incidents. The police have acted swiftly, and two cases have been formally filed. Further investigations are underway, and additional cases are in the process of being filed against those responsible for these reprehensible acts", the statement said. "In a determined effort to bring those accountable to justice, police conducted raids last night targeting the perpetrators. Additionally, our law enforcement agencies are diligently reviewing video footage captured during the protests to identify more individuals involved. These operations will continue until all those responsible for this violence and destruction are apprehended," it added. "We urge anyone with information that may assist in the investigation to come forward. Together, we can ensure that those who seek to undermine the peace and stability of our society are held accountable", the statement said. Protests had erupted across Bangladesh, including the capital Dhaka, on Monday against Israeli brutality in Gaza. Various political, social, cultural, religious, and professional organizations protested on the streets of Dhaka. Organizers said they were holding the demonstrations as part of a global campaign to protest the brutal attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Students have boycotted classes and exams to participate in protests. Officials and professionals also observed strikes. The organizers had urged the people to boycott Israeli goods. Protesters have strongly criticized the United States for supporting Israel in its attacks on Gaza, as well as the silence of organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Arab League. (ANI)
The Balochistan National Party (BNP) conducted an urgent press conference in Quetta on Monday evening, cautioning of dire repercussions if the current government crackdown on its members and peaceful demonstrators continues, as reported by The Balochistan Post (TBP). The party's leaders announced that they would persist with their long march and sit-in until all detained Baloch women were released, according to TBP. This press conference followed the arrest of Gulzadi Baloch, a female member of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which prompted strong condemnation from BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal. Her apprehension, alongside several other BYC leaders, has already faced widespread criticism from human rights organizations, noted the TBP report. BNP Senior Vice President Sajid Tareen Advocate stated that numerous party workers sustained severe injuries after the Frontier Corps opened fire on a peaceful protest in Wadh, organized by the BNP. Tareen emphasized that the demonstrators were conducting a peaceful protest yet were met with live ammunition, as cited by TBP. Tareen also criticized federal ministers who have reached out to Sardar Akhtar Mengal for discussions, including National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, labeling them as "powerless" in light of what he described as military dominance over Balochistan. "You might as well refer to the establishment as the headmaster of this government," he added, according to the TBP report. As per TBP, BNP leaders indicated that hundreds of party supporters have been apprehended in Quetta over recent days, while many others have been forcibly disappeared. They demanded the immediate and safe release of these individuals and cautioned that any harm to Mengal or other party members in Wadh would be the responsibility of what they termed the "puppet regime." The party has scheduled a high-level meeting for Tuesday to consult with allies and supporters of the long march prior to declaring the next steps. "Our protests will persist until all the daughters of Balochistan are released," asserted BNP leaders, as highlighted in the TBP report. The press conference was attended by BNP Central Information Secretary Agha Hassan Baloch, Malik Naseer Shahwani, Moosa Baloch, Ghulam Nabi Marri, Samad Baloch, Jameela Baloch, Chairman Wahid Baloch, Guman Marri, Haji Waheed, Shakoor Baloch, and other prominent figures, according to the TBP report. (ANI)
A Russian Soyuz-2.1a rocket, named the 'Victory Rocket' in honour of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, launched on Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station (ISS), state media reported. The rocket carried the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft with three crew members- Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritsky, and NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim - the Russian Space Corporation (Roscosmos) said as cited by TASS. The launch was broadcast on Russian state television and carried out at 5.47 GMT. The spacecraft will be delivered to orbit in about nine minutes and expected to dock with the Prichal module of the Russian segment of the ISS at about 9:04 am GMT. The three-member crew is expected to remain aboard the ISS for a period of 245 days or eight months. NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim, 41, is a US Navy SEAL and a medical doctor while Ryzhikov, 50, is a pilot in the Russian Air Force and Zubritsky, 32, is on his first space mission. This is also the first flight for Kim and the third for Ryzhikov as per NASA. NASA said Kim will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare the crew for future space missions and provide benefits to people on Earth. Kim, Ryzhikov and Zubritsky will join NASA astronauts Don Pettit, Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's astronaut Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and Kirill Peskov on the space outpost. Russia's Roscosmos State Space Corporation said earlier that at least 2,500 tourists had arrived in Baikonur to watch the launch. TASS cited an interview of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov with the International Affairs journal in which he said that Russia and the United States can achieve success in the space sphere via a public-private partnership, provided there is political will. The rocket crew's insignia includes special insignias to honour 60 years since the world's first spacewalk in March 1965, and 50 years since the first joint mission between the US and Russia, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, in July 1975. (ANI)
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who heads the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), had appealed to American President Donald Trump to reconsider the retaliatory import tariffs, the Washington Post reported, citing sources. According to the US daily, Musk's attempted intervention was unsuccessful and the CEO of X and Tesla also disagreed with other high-ranking Washington officials on issues such as migrant visas and DOGE's approach to government spending, The Washington Post pointed out citing two people familiar with the matter. The newspaper recalled that on April 5, Musk criticized White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who played a key role in preparing a plan to introduce tariffs. "A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing," Musk wrote on his X page, referring to Navarro. This exchange marks the highest-profile disagreement between the President and Musk, the report said The Washington Post also said that Musk had over the weekend said that he would like to see a "free trade zone" between Europe and the United States. " "At the end of the day, I hope it's agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero-tariff situation," the newspaper quoted the entrepreneur as saying. According to Musk, he would like people to be able to move freely between European countries and the US "if they wish." "That has certainly been my advice to the president," he added. Musk's brother and fellow Tesla board member Kimbal Musk also lobbed sharp criticism at the President over the tariff policies Monday. Trump had announced a sweeping 10 per cent baseline tariff on all imports to the United States, alongside steeper duties targeting specific countries, including India. Meanwhile, Tesla sales plunged 13 per cent in the first three months of this year, the largest drop in deliveries in its history, as backlash against CEO Elon Musk and growing competition took a large bite out of demand for its EVs, as per a report in the CNN earlier this month. Amid the turmoil in the global markets following the tariff announcements, US President Donald Trump has ruled out the possibility of a "pause" on the tariffs on countries during negotiations. During a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on Monday (local time), Trump stated, "We're not looking at that," emphasising that the US would continue to pursue fair deals with other countries. "We have many countries that are to negotiate deals with us, and they're going to be fair deals, and in certain cases, they're going to be paying substantial tariffs. They'll be fair deals," Trump said. (ANI)
The NSB submitted a written report to the Legislative Yuan in preparation for NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen's meeting with the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Taipei Times reported.

Last year, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted the "Joint sword-2024A and B" military exercises around Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the NSB said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan airspace 3,070 times last year, up nearly 80 per cent from 1,703 times in 2023.

On March 17 this year, the PLA conducted two combat readiness patrols in a single day for the first time, the bureau said.

The PLA launched successive military exercises last Tuesday and Wednesday, amplifying psychological and military pressure against Taiwan, it added.

The Taipei Times report highlighted that the bureau also pointed out that China is continuing to diversify its gray zone tactics, including expanding the use of drones to conduct surveillance around Taiwan. China has also increased its use of weather balloons, the NSB said, releasing 76 so far this year as of March 19, compared with 147 throughout last year.

These balloons forced Taiwan to dispatch monitoring forces, taking up responsive resources and undermining external communication resilience.

The NSB intends to increase communication and intelligence cooperation with international partners and enhance its strategic analysis capabilities to strengthen Taiwan's defenses against China, Taipei Times reported.

Regarding cognitive warfare, intelligence agents have recorded 510,000 instances of "controversial information" spread online by China so far this year, the bureau said.

According to NSB, China has been using state-run media, privately-run accounts, cyber-army groups and PR firms to manipulate public opinion.

China uses cognitive warfare to divide Taiwanese society by commenting on controversial issues such as the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's (TSMC) plans and operations in the US, NSB added.

The NSB said it had already established an automated monitoring and analysis platform to combine information provided by industry leaders, government officials, academics and intelligence agencies. It would continue optimising data protection, monitoring domestic and international cyberattack intelligence and deepening international cooperation to counter threats from China. (ANI)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held a productive meeting with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates and noted that for India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UAE is of "immense priority." https://x.com/rajnathsingh/status/1909541633059611021 Sharing a post on X, the defence minister wrote, "Had a productive meeting with the Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy PM and Minister of Defence of UAE Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in New Delhi." The meeting focused on bolstering the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UAE. Singh emphasised the importance of this partnership. Both nations aim to collaborate in areas such as "defence cooperation, co-production and co-development projects." "For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UAE is of immense priority. In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as defence cooperation, co-production & co-development projects, innovation and technology. Both India and the UAE are committed to working towards peace and prosperity in the region," the post added. Earlier in the day, the UAE's Crown Prince met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. In a post on X, Jaishankar expressed warmth upon his arrival and noted he values the positive sentiment of the Crown Prince over the wide-ranging cooperation and vibrant ties between India and the UAE. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1909502028402811078 The EAM wrote on X, "Delighted to welcome Crown Prince of Dubai and DPM & Minister of Defence of UAE HH @HamdanMohammed at the start of his first official visit to India. Value his positive sentiments for our wide-ranging cooperation and vibrant ties." The Crown Prince of Dubai is visiting India from April 8 to 9, 2025, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Upon his arrival in India, he was welcomed with a ceremonial guard of honour and received by Union Minister of State for Tourism and Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi. This marks his first official visit to India in his capacity as Crown Prince of Dubai. (ANI)
President Droupadi Murmu was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour at the Portuguese Parliament on Monday, where she was warmly received by the President of Assembleia da Republica, Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco, as part of her ongoing state visit to Portugal. Her arrival at the Parliament was marked by a formal welcome that underscored the growing importance of India-Portugal relations. During her visit to the Portuguese legislature, President Murmu met with the Portuguese delegation and signed the official book of honour. She also held a meeting with the cabinet of the President of Assembleia da Republica, reaffirming the shared commitment between the two nations to deepen bilateral ties. The state visit, which began earlier this week, has seen several high-level engagements aimed at strengthening cooperation across a range of sectors. On April 7, President Murmu was conferred the prestigious 'City Key of Honour' by the Mayor of Lisbon in a ceremony held at the City Hall. Expressing her gratitude for the gesture, she remarked, "Lisbon is known for its open-mindedness, the warmth of its people and its culture, along with tolerance and respect for diversity." She praised Lisbon for being a global city at the forefront of technological change, innovation, digital public infrastructure, and digital transition, and noted the potential for India and Portugal to enhance cooperation in these domains. Later that evening, President Murmu attended a banquet hosted in her honour by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the historic Palacio da Ajuda. In her remarks at the banquet, the President highlighted the deep-rooted cultural connections between India and Portugal, stating, "The cultural ties between our peoples span centuries, and these ties have left an indelible mark on our collective imagination." She reflected on shared historical influences in architecture, cuisine, and language, while also emphasising that 2024 marks 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations. According to the President's Secretariat, President Murmu noted the positive trajectory of cooperation in science and technology, defence, IT, start-ups, education, and cultural exchange. She stated that India, as a knowledge-based economy, is leveraging its technological strengths for inclusive development, and sees Portugal as a valuable partner in this journey. Appreciating Portugal's role in fostering India-EU ties, she recalled key summits held under Portuguese leadership and expressed optimism about an even stronger partnership in the years ahead. (ANI)
Paank, Baloch National Movement's human rights department, firmly denounces the excessive and violent actions taken by Pakistani security forces against peaceful demonstrators in Wadh, Balochistan. https://x.com/paank_bnm/status/1909221740158366144 In a post on X by Paank, the protesters were exercising their inherent right to peaceful assembly, voicing their concerns over the unlawful detention of leaders from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a right protected by both international human rights law and the constitution of Pakistan. "The demonstrators were exercising their fundamental right to peaceful assembly, raising their voice against the unlawful detention of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders, a right enshrined in both international human rights law and Pakistan's own constitution," the post said. "The state's response, baton charges, excessive tear gas shelling, and live ammunition, resulted in at least three individuals being seriously injured. Such acts of repression against unarmed civilians are not only a blatant violation of human rights but also a reflection of the deepening culture of impunity and militarisation in Balochistan", according to the post. "The criminalisation of dissent and targeted suppression of Baloch voices must end. We call upon international human rights organisations, the United Nations, and democratic governments to take urgent notice of these violations and hold the Pakistani state accountable for its systematic abuses in Balochistan", as stated in Paank's post. Paank reiterates its commitment to the rights of peaceful protest, freedom of speech, and the immediate release of all political activists who have been arbitrarily detained. Previously, Paank condemned the enforced disappearances of two individuals from Baloch, Kamar Baloch and Abdullah, shedding light on the struggles faced by Baloch citizens in the area. Paank accused Pakistani forces of forcibly disappearing Kamar Baloch on March 7, while Abdullah, from Pidarank in Pasni, was reportedly abducted by Pakistani intelligence agencies on March 6. Paank asserted that these incidents form part of a troubling trend of human rights abuses in the region, where individuals are targeted, abducted, and subjected to severe suffering without fair legal processes. The Baloch community continues to face profound hardship, yet the international community often overlooks their situation. Attempts to tackle these violations have been minimal, leaving the Baloch populace exposed and their fundamental rights persistently infringed upon without sufficient international action or support. (ANI)
Marking the beginning of her first State Visit to Portugal, the President Droupadi Murmu delivered an address at the Lisbon City Council, expressing her delight at arriving in the Portuguese capital. "I am truly delighted to be in the beautiful city of Lisbon, nestled among seven hills and embraced by the Tagus River," she said, calling it a special moment in her journey. Extending her gratitude to the city for the warm reception, she stated, "I extend my heartfelt thanks to His Excellency the Mayor of Lisbon and to the people of the city for welcoming me as one of your own--by making me a Lisboeta--and for honouring me so graciously." Her remarks underscored the cultural warmth and hospitality extended by Lisbon's leadership and citizens. The President reflected on the historical and cultural bonds shared by India and Portugal, describing them as "deep-rooted and historic." She said, "The cultural connections between India and Portugal date back centuries and have left an indelible imprint on our everyday lives." She highlighted that the legacy of architecture, historic churches, culinary influences, shared vocabulary, and even Portuguese street names in India stand as living symbols of that shared past. On the other side, she pointed to "the widespread popularity of Indian art, culture, cuisine, Yoga, and Ayurveda" in Portugal as evidence of the enduring mutual interest. Recalling a significant milestone in the Indo-Portuguese relationship, she noted, "In 1982, the then Mayor of Lisbon made land available to enable the establishment of the Radha Krishna Temple." That temple, she said, has since become "a cornerstone of the Indian community's social and cultural life," and went on to serve as "Lisbon's largest COVID vaccination centre" and now "functions as a government centre for the regularisation of immigrants." She also acknowledged the role of the Indian diaspora in Portugal. "The Indian diaspora, or the Indo-Portuguese community, forms a vital link in our enduring cultural relationship. They are truly the foundation of our ties, making valuable contributions to Portuguese society and its economy," she said. With Indian citizens representing the fourth largest immigrant community in Portugal, mostly in Lisbon, she emphasised their significance in bilateral relations. Speaking on international cooperation, she noted, "The historic ties between India and Portugal have evolved into a multidimensional and dynamic partnership." She affirmed that "Portugal has played a key role in advancing India's engagement with the European Union and Lusophone countries." Looking ahead, the President reaffirmed India's national ambitions and global vision. "India is working to transform itself into a developed nation by 2047--into a prosperous, inclusive, and advanced society guided by a human-centric approach," she said. "We continue to believe in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - 'the world is one family'--and will keep contributing towards a prosperous future for the world." She added, "In these efforts, we see Portugal as a trusted friend and partner." She praised Lisbon as "a global city, at the forefront of technological transformation, innovation, digital public infrastructure, and digital transition," and noted its role as host to the "world's largest international technology conference, the Web Summit." She saw these as "areas where India and Portugal can deepen cooperation." Concluding her remarks, the President acknowledged the milestone year for both nations: "This year, India and Portugal are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations." Confident in the path ahead, she said, "I am confident that our historic partnership is firmly progressing toward becoming a vibrant and multifaceted collaboration." (ANI)
Defying government orders and tight security restrictions, the pro-monarchy Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) staged a protest march in the heart of Kathmandu on Monday, demanding the restoration of the monarchy and a Hindu state in Nepal. The demonstration comes in the wake of heightened tensions between royalist supporters and state authorities, with several recent protests spiraling into violence. In March, a major clash between pro-monarchists and police resulted in multiple injuries and arrests, including those of RPP Vice President Rabindra Mishra and General Secretary Dhawal Shumsher Rana. Demonstrators have been calling for the reinstatement of Nepal's former constitutional monarchy, which was abolished in 2006 following a popular uprising. Authorities had denied the RPP permission to organise their protest at Bhrikutimandap, a key location near Singhadurbar--the country's administrative hub--citing security risks and the presence of other pre-scheduled demonstrations. In a letter made public by the District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu on Sunday, officials stated, "it is not appropriate to hold a program at Bhrikutimandap at this time due to security concerns, as other protest programs (teachers' protest, Rastriya Janamorcha programs, and pre-scheduled programs) are also taking place at Bhrikutimandap." The RPP had submitted a formal request for permission on April 4, but the DAO, in consultation with the District Security Committee, advised the party to consider alternative venues such as Sifal Ground or the Balkhu area. The party has not yet officially responded to the DAO's suggestion. The decision by the local administration comes just over a week after a deadly pro-monarchy rally in the Tinkune area, where violence between demonstrators and police claimed two lives and led to a temporary curfew in parts of Kathmandu. That protest was called by controversial businessman Durga Prasain and received support from the RPP. The ensuing chaos left dozens injured on both sides, prompting renewed scrutiny over the growing royalist movement. Formed in the 1990s following the end of the ban on political parties under the monarchy, the RPP has consistently advocated for the return of the kingship and a Hindu state. Though its political influence has fluctuated over the years - securing 8 seats in the 2008 Constituent Assembly, dropping to 1 in 2017, and then rebounding with 14 seats in the 2022 elections--the party remains a significant voice among royalist supporters. Nepal, a nation of over 30 million people, is home to a Hindu majority of 81.19 per cent, according to the 2022 census. The monarchy was formally dismantled in 2006 after King Gyanendra's emergency rule sparked mass protests. The movement, known as People's Movement II, ended with the reinstatement of parliament and the ushering in of a democratic republic known as Loktantra, or People's Rule. (ANI)
Amid growing concerns over China's plans to construct the "world's largest dam" on Brahmaputra, experts from India and Bhutan have voiced serious reservations about the project, warning of environmental and geopolitical risks. Neeraj Singh Manhas, Advisor at Parley Policy Initiative, said China had been planning mega project for some time on Yarlung Tsangpo river. Yarlung Tsangpo is called Brahmaputra when it enters Assam. He said while China may justify the hydroelectric project in terms of its push towards renewable sources of energy, the project has ramifications for India--especially in the Northeast. "In case of India - Arunachal and Assam; what they have faced - in 2000, we have seen a huge dam that leaked in the Tibetan region, and led to great devastation in the North East at that point in time," he said. A similar episode occurred in 2017 when "the freshwater river, which comes from the upper riparian - it suddenly became black in colour." Researchers attributed this to unregulated mining activity on the Tibetan plateau, elevated at 4,000-5,000 metres. "It has a huge amount of natural resources which still need to be explored, and China is still continuously doing that without taking care of the needs of the Tibetan people," he said. He further noted the precedent set by the Yangtze Dam. "The Yangtze Dam, which is the largest dam in the world, has displaced the local indigenous people of Tibet. About 1.3 billion people were displaced at that point of time." From Bhutan's perspective, the concerns are no less significant, although the immediate geographic impact may be less direct. "For Bhutan in particular, I have to admit that because we are upstream of the Brahmaputra itself, although the river does go around Bhutan, making the dam on the bend would not really impact Bhutan directly. Still, the potential downstream effects cannot be ignored. All the rivers from Bhutan also join the further down," said Chhimi Dorji, Member of the Evaluation Association of Bhutan. Dorji voiced apprehensions about the structural and environmental risks associated with such a massive construction. "When it comes to the technical and environmental aspects of having something this big in the regions that have been mentioned before, it would be like storing something that's about to burst, and because of technical issues of dam failures or natural disasters such as earthquakes, it could be a risk." The cultural and spiritual implications also weigh heavily on both Indian and Tibetan communities. "We believe both in the Indian side and also the Tibetan site are considered as sacred sites, so it's also a compromise to that one," Dorji noted. Separately, Dorji also offered a personal perspective on India-Bhutan relations in the context of regional collaboration and trust. "When it comes to the bilateral relationship between India and Bhutan, as a private citizen and as a beneficiary of a scholarship from the Government of India to study in India, I can say this relationship is exemplary--one of its kind in the world," he said. "I went to school and college in India, and there is very good collaboration between the two countries." He emphasised the importance of people-to-people ties. "The people-to-people contact, as you mentioned earlier, has also improved significantly in recent years. We are visiting India more often than before, and similarly, Indian leaders and our Indian brothers and sisters are visiting Bhutan. I think it's a very good relationship--an example to the world. There could be even more collaboration in terms of the exchange of technical science and technological information." As China advances its hydropower agenda, experts caution that transparency, regional cooperation, and shared ecological responsibility must take priority over unilateral ambition. (ANI)
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday and defended the Trump administration's move of imposing tariffs on multiple countries while shrugging off concerns regarding the policy. Senator Ron Wyden questioned Greer about the administration's trade and tariff agenda, prompting a detailed response. "And our economy in purgatory...Made in the US products, of course, US products, are slamming shut around the world... I'd like to focus on one central question: What is the plan?" Wyden asked. In response, Greer highlighted the US trade deficit, which has been a persistent issue, with the country losing 5 million manufacturing jobs and 90,000 factories since 1994. The trade deficit in goods reached a record USD 1.2 trillion in 2024. "Last Wednesday, President Trump declared a national emergency in response to the large and persistent trade deficit that has built up in recent years," Greer said in his remarks. "This deficit is driven in part by non-reciprocal tariffs, trading barriers, and other economic policies pursued by our foreign trading partners. President Trump imposed tariffs to address this emergency," he said. "The situation is urgent. President Trump imposed tariffs to address this emergency, and these measures are aimed squarely at achieving reciprocity and reducing our massive harm as trade deficit...," he added. Greer then said the President's "strategy is already bearing fruit" and that nearly "50 countries have approached me to discuss the President's new policy and explore how to achieve reciprocity." Higlighting the trade deficit, the US Trade Representative stated that the" European Union can sell us all the shellfish they want, but the EU bans shellfish from 48 states. The result is a trade deficit in shellfish. With the EU, we only charge a 2.5 per cent tariff on ethanol, but Brazil charges us an 18 per cent tariff." "The result is that we have a large trade deficit in ethanol. With Brazil, our average tariff on agricultural goods is 5 per cent, but India's average tariff is 39 per cent; you understand the trend here. Our trade deficit, driven by these non-reciprocal conditions, is a manifestation of the loss of the nation's ability to make, to grow, and to build, and the President recognizes the urgency of the moment," he added. Greer affirmed that Trump declared a national emergency on April 2 to "achieve reciprocity with other countries and to drive the dangerous deficit down." Noting the positive aspects, he stated that a planned layoff in Tennessee was suspended, and another automaker is hiring in Indiana. Companies have announced USD 4 trillion in new investments in the US. "Nearly 50 countries have approached me personally to discuss the President's new policy and explore how to achieve reciprocity. And they spoke with many members of the administration. Several of these countries, such as Argentina, Vietnam, India and Israel, have suggested that they will reduce their tariffs and non-tariff barriers in line with the President's policy," he said. Describing these actions as "welcome moves", the Trade Representative stated that "our large and persistent trade deficit has been over 30 years in the making, and it will not be resolved overnight. But all of this is in the right direction..." "We must move away from an economy based solely on government spending in the financial sector and become an economy based on producing real goods and services that provide jobs for working-class and middle-class Americans." He expressed confidence in the American people's ability to adapt to changes and rise to challenges. (ANI)
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal has called the India-UAE relationship "a model of prosperity, trust and shared vision" as he addressed the Dubai-India Business Forum in Mumbai, as per an official press release by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The event, organised by Dubai Chambers, was attended by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, on his first official visit to India. https://x.com/piyushgoyal/status/1909643355706782112?s=46 Earlier in the day, Goyal shared a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating: "Delighted to meet HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. Our discussions focused on deepening economic cooperation under CEPA and exploring new avenues to further strengthen the India-UAE partnership." Welcoming Sheikh Hamdan, Goyal said, "The presence of Sheikh Hamdan symbolises the deep historical connect and generational continuity between Mumbai and Dubai." Referring to the year marking the centenary of Sheikh Saeed's visit to India, he added, "Both cities share a welcoming spirit rooted in centuries-old cultural and commercial ties." The Minister expressed appreciation for Dubai's welfare initiatives towards the Indian community. "Dubai's contributions to social welfare, including the establishment of the first hospital for Indian workers in Dubai--this is a heartwarming initiative, and we thank you on behalf of all Indians," he said. Goyal described the bilateral relationship as one of personal trust and strategic closeness. "There have been six high-level visits between India and the UAE in just two years--three by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and three by top leaders of the UAE. This reflects the intimacy and strategic importance of our partnership." He also acknowledged the UAE's role in promoting cultural and religious harmony. "India's appreciation for the UAE's support in building the iconic Swaminarayan Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi," he said, calling it "a symbol of mutual respect and shared values." Praising the UAE's role in key sectors, Goyal said, "The UAE's pivotal role in India's outreach to Africa, investments in logistics and infrastructure, and efforts to build digital and commercial connectivity" are highly valued, stated the press release. He also highlighted the role of DP World, stating, "We particularly appreciate the role of DP World in transforming India's logistics ecosystem." Speaking about the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Goyal said, "Our goal to take non-oil trade to USD 100 billion is within reach. The speed and scale at which our partnership is growing is truly inspiring." He noted recent developments in education and skill-building, pointing to joint efforts between the two countries. "We have already launched an IIT campus in Dubai and are now planning campuses of Indian Institute of Management and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. These initiatives reflect our commitment to deeper engagement in education and skill development." Goyal expressed gratitude for the UAE's continued support to the Indian diaspora. "Over 2 million Indians call the UAE home, and you have cared for them like your own family." Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Goyal said, "India is not just a workforce, we are a world force." He went on to outline India's economic trajectory: "India is the fastest-growing major economy and is poised to become the fourth-largest economy by the end of 2025 and third-largest by 2027. From a USD 4 trillion economy today, we aim to reach USD 30-35 trillion by 2047," the press release stated. Encouraging deeper sectoral cooperation, he told the audience, "This is just the tip of the iceberg. We have many mountains yet to climb, and I'm confident that the leadership and business communities of both nations will continue to inspire even greater achievements." (ANI)
Nepal's royalist party, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), has announced a proposal to develop a new political system as it prepares to launch a capital-centric protest from the third week of this month. On Tuesday, at a show of power in Kathmandu attended by hundreds, the president of the right-wing pro-monarchist party, Rajendra Lingden, proposed a new system that would also accommodate the monarchy. "The country cannot remain in the condition it is now. The country needs to move forward, but not through the way it is standing now. That's why the country demands a new agreement, and for that, a peaceful resolution through the consensus in between all the political powers needs to be agreed on," Lingden said, addressing the mass of hundreds of monarch supporters holding the national flag and placards. Further adding, the president of the royalist party said, "Let's incorporate the good aspects from the past system and some from the incumbent, making an agreement to forge a new elemental system of Nepal. In that system, there will be space from the King to the republicans of the present time, whereas the public will be the sovereign. The King will be a parental institution, a directly elected Prime Minister, a sovereign Hindu state, federal governments replaced with powerful local bodies and a strong central government." Formed in the 1990s after the lifting of the ban on the formation of political parties by the then-monarchical system, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has since served as a force always supporting kingship. It has also taken part in periodic elections and presented its demands. In 2008, right after the overthrow of monarchy rule in Nepal, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) secured 8 seats in the then Constituent Assembly out of the 575-seated strong parliament. In the 2013 election, it was able to secure 13 seats, while in 2017, it fell down to 1 seat. However, it bounced back in the 2022 election with 14 seats. Since its inception, the party has supported the Hindu state and kingship as interdependent in the tiny nation buffered between two giants--India and China. The Himalayan nation of Nepal, with a population of 30.55 million, has a Hindu population of 81.19 per cent, as per the census of 2022. The Monarch of the Himalayan nation, who follows the lineage of the Shah dynasty, was revered as an incarnation of the Hindu god Bishnu. With the abolishment of the monarchy, it was limited to a very small group, which is now re-emerging. With increasing support and sentiment for the abolished system, the party is now planning to hold a capital-centric protest starting the third week of this month, confirmed Khusbu Oli, a Central Committee member, to ANI. "After ten days all the movement will be capital centric, people from all over the country will be coming to the capital and there are different ways of protest, we will be installed in Ring Road area and there are a lot of strategic plans that we have made just to put pressure on the government. What we want after this is that the government needs to call for a new agreement; we want a fresh agreement where all the stakeholders, including the political parties and the king, should be within it," Oli told ANI as supporters surrounded her. Further adding, "In the past, all the political changes in Nepal has not been achieved from election or war, there were a lot of opportunities where political changes have come with political consensus. We believe that a fresh agreement that will have the king and all the parties within is the only solution, and all our capital-centric movement will be focused on that," Oli told ANI. The Himalayan nation in the year 2006 had abolished the centuries-old constitutional monarchy after then King Gyanendra seized power and imposed emergency, sending all the leaders under house arrest. The movement, also referred to as "People's Movement II," witnessed bloodshed, with dozens killed in the crackdown against protestors by the government. The insurgent CPN-Maoists then came into the mainstream politics of Nepal, ending a decade-long insurgency by signing a comprehensive peace accord on 21 November 2006. Before the signing of the agreement, after weeks of violent protests and increasing international pressure, Gyanendra gave up and reinstated the dissolved parliament. The dawn of new democracy is highlighted as Loktantra (People's Rule). Two years after abolishing the nearly two-and-a-half centuries old monarchy system, the Himalayan nation became a republic and a secular state on May 28, 2008. Within less than two decades into the new practice of governance, the Himalayan nation is now divided into two factions of pro- and anti-monarchy. Dissatisfaction and brain drain prevalent amongst the people have been fuelling the pro-monarch movement. "In order to reinstate the monarchy and against incumbent Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's anarchism, we people need to work on a cordial environment, with an aim not to pose any loss or damage to the nation. The political parties should also come to a consensus and give space to the monarchy as well. After the overthrow of kingship, youths don't have any other option than to fly off to Gulf countries. The educated ones and those who want to work and live in the country alongside their family don't have a favourable environment. In order to make our voices heard, we are here on the streets," Siddharaj Timilsina, a pro-monarchist, told ANI. (ANI)
President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday addressed members of the Indian diaspora in Portugal, emphasising that the community embodies the shared values of democracy, pluralism, and fraternity that link both nations. President Murmu addressed the Indian community during a reception hosted by the Ambassador of India to Portugal as part of her state visit to Portugal. In her address, President Murmu highlighted the role of the Indian community in Portugal, noting that the community, which represents many parts of India and various cultural backgrounds, reflects India's diversity. "The President said that members of the Indian community representing many parts of India and different communities not only reflect the diversity of India but also represent the shared values of democracy, pluralism and the spirit of fraternity that bind our two countries," she said, taking to social media platform X. https://x.com/rashtrapatibhvn/status/1909652745474257001 She acknowledged the strong cultural ties between the two countries, pointing out the popularity of Indian art, culture, cuisine, Yoga, and Ayurveda in Portugal and also discussed India's transformative path, focusing on the initiatives undertaken by the Indian government in the past decade, changes in the governance system, and efforts to engage the creative energy of the Indian people. "During my short but profoundly meaningful stay in Portugal, I felt the strong cultural ties between India and Portugal, which can be seen in the popularity of Indian art, culture, and cuisine, Yoga, and Ayurveda. India is on a transformative path today. The initiatives taken by the Indian government over the past 10 years, changes in the governance system, and the efforts to energise the creative energy of our people are contributing to this," she said during her address. President Murmu reaffirmed the Government of India's commitment to strengthening its relationship with the diaspora and ensuring their welfare. Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also took to X, highlighting President Murmu's address on the importance of the Indian diaspora in Portugal and their role in enhancing the long-standing ties between the two nations. "Connecting with our own in Portugal. President Droupadi Murmu addressed the Indian community and Friends of India in Lisbon today. She reiterated the importance of the diaspora & their crucial role in strengthening the India-Portugal longstanding ties," MEA said. Minister of State Nimuben Bambhaniya, Members of Parliament Dhaval Patel and Sandhya Ray, and others attended the event. Following this, President Murmu departed for Slovakia for the second leg of her state visit. During her visit to Portugal, she met President of Assembleia Da Republica Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco and also attended a meeting with his cabinet. She visited Portugal at the invitation of the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The visit is taking place after a gap of 27 years. The last State Visit took place in 1998 when President K R Narayanan visited Portugal. (ANI)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with the Crown Prince of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Defence of UAE Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at South Block, New Delhi on Tuesday, as per an official statement from the ministry of Defence. The two leaders expressed happiness on the current defence cooperation through institutional mechanisms, military exercises, exchange of training programmes etc, as per the ministry. Both the Ministers acknowledged that defence cooperation needs to be scaled up to match the progress made in other areas such as trade and business, in line with the vision and determination of the two leaders - Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They identified training exchanges as one of the key areas of defence cooperation which would enable understanding of each other's defence ecosystems and accelerate strengthening of bilateral defence ties, the statement added. The two leaders expressed satisfaction on the active Coast Guard-to-Coast Guard cooperation and committed to further deepen it by formalising the same through an MoU. They were convinced that close collaboration between the defence industries should be an integral part of the bilateral cooperation. They emphasised on increasing defence industry collaboration and discussed opportunities for enhancing partnership in defence manufacturing, it added. Both the Ministers acknowledged active participation from the two sides in each other's exhibitions & defence expos, and welcomed India-UAE Defence Partnership Forum which has the potential to result in strategic Joint Ventures and co-production projects benefiting both countries. They also agreed to focus on complementarities for the two countries in the Make-in-India and Make-in-Emirates initiatives, it added. Through a post on X after the meeting, Rajnath Singh stated that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UAE is of immense priority for India. "In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as defence cooperation, co-production and co-development projects, innovation and technology. Both India and the UAE are committed to work towards peace and prosperity in the region," he added. The Defence Cooperation MoU with the UAE was signed in 2003, and an MoU on Defence Industry Cooperation was signed in 2017. India and the UAE have strong bonds of friendship based on centuries-old cultural and economic ties, it said. (ANI)
A Lynchburg City School Board member pushed back against a parents claim that the school board didnt properly vet the organization that provided free copies of the U.S. Constitution to public school students in the city last fall.

At the April 1 meeting of the school board, April Watson, a parent of children in Lynchburg City Schools and a former Democratic city council candidate, told board members during the public comment period that the copies of the Constitution were provided by The 917 Society, a group based in Tennessee with ties to Moms for Liberty, which is identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

District 3 board member Farid Jalil defended the school boards decision to allow the pocket Constitutions from The 917 Society to be distributed to Lynchburgs eighth-grade students on Constitution Day last September. He then went on to criticize the work of the SPLC.

Jalil, who was appointed to the school board by the new Republican majority on city council in 2023, said, Almost everyone I know knows that the Southern Poverty Law Center is a hate group supporter.

It supports anti-American principles and advocates lawfare not only against conservatives but any organization that goes against its own principles and its leftist ideologies, he said in response to the SPLC putting Moms for Liberty on its list of anti-government extremist organizations.

Headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, the SPLC was founded in 1971 as a small law firm dedicated to handling anti-discrimination cases in the U.S. By the 1980s, the center became known for legal victories against white supremacist groups and its investigations into hate groups. It also was hugely successful at fundraising, eventually growing its endowment to more than $500 million.

The SPLC has long drawn criticism from the right as well as the left for its definition of a hate group. In recent years, the right has ramped up its rhetoric against the group, with conservative groups and media outlets such as the New York Post writing that the SPLC has become nothing more than a hate group itself.

The decision to allow the Constitutions donated by The 917 Society to be distributed to students stood in stark contrast to the intense vetting by the school board of a $10,000 grant won by students from the Gender and Sexuality Alliance at E.C. Glass High School to create a safe space, or quiet room.

In November 2023, the school board voted to reject the money because members objected to the organization that awarded the grant: the It Gets Better Project, a nonprofit that supports networking and support for young people in the LGBTQ+ community.

District 1 board member Christian DePaul, who earlier this year admitted to defacing a portrait of former LCS Superintendent Crystal Edwards with an image of a character from The Goonies movie, said in November 2023 that he could not support the boards receipt of the grant because of his concerns about the nonprofit.

This is a group I dont think should be associated with LCS, DePaul said at the time about the grant.

Jalil, who also voted against accepting the grant from the It Gets Better Project, raised concerns about Dan Savage, the nonprofits co-founder. An activist and sex-advice columnist, Savage started the project in 2010 to prevent suicide among LGBTQ youth. He was no longer associated with the nonprofit when E.C. Glass students won the grant.

Former District 1 board member Randall Trost, who was not reappointed to the board last year, also opposed the grant because he said schools should be a neutral place, not one that pushes an agenda or ideology.

At last weeks school board meeting, Jalil, a former substitute teacher with LCS, told fellow members about a federal bill that he and other members of the boards Legislative Advocacy & Community Relations Committee agreed to support as a way to push their preferred political agenda in schools.

The committee, which Jalil chairs, wants to get board approval to send letters to U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, D-Va., in support of HR 5349, or The Crucial Communism Teaching Act, a bill whose detractors contend would involve indoctrinating high school students rather than educating them on political ideologies and their effects on people.

As for Moms for Liberty, the SPLC describes the group as a far-right organization that engages in anti-student inclusion activities and self-identifies as part of the modern parental rights movement. The SPLC also accuses Moms for Liberty of fighting indoctrination with indoctrination.

Moms of Liberty, founded four years ago, has helped to distribute copies of the Constitution donated by The 917 Society to students across the U.S.

In her comments to the school board, Watson noted other school districts across the country have voted not to accept Constitutions from The 917 Society.

She said The 917 Society was not properly vetted by the school board. In a blog post on its website, for example, The 917 Society states our rights come from God and not the government. The group is named after Sept. 17, 1787, the day of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.

In his comments, Jalil argued the pocket Constitutions provided by The 917 Society, with the groups name on both the front and back covers, were one of the only booklets that could pass a rigorous test of what is and what is not political.

In her comments, Watson also said school board policy on the distribution of information and materials by nonprofit organizations must include a disclaimer: These materials and the activity described herein, are not sponsored or endorsed by the Lynchburg City School Board.

Watson said she did not see that disclaimer printed in the copies of the Constitutions provided by The 917 Society, while she did see the disclaimer on items donated to students by the Lynchburg Fire Department and other organizations.

Jalil pulled out a copy of the Constitution that he had with him and said his copy did have the disclaimer.

Watson also noted each Constitution had a QR code on the back cover that she assumed would provide information about why the U.S. Constitution is important and how to make the best use of the pocket copy.

Instead, when she scanned it, the QR code took Watson to the website of The 917 Society, where she found information about a political fundraiser in Tennessee with former North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican who lost in his bid for governor last year, and the groups annual gala and fundraiser at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.

At the meeting, Jalil conceded he had not scanned the QR code on the back of the Constitutions donated by The 917 Society.
TOKYO, Apr 09 (News On Japan) - A foreign social media influencer sparked outrage online after posting a video of himself hanging from a fully bloomed cherry tree and performing a pull-up, a stunt seen by many as a serious disregard for Japanese culture.

The video, which went viral over the weekend, shows the man grabbing onto the delicate branches of a cherry tree in full bloom, first doing a pull-up, then a backward flip. His muscular frame caused the tree to bend dangerously under his weight, drawing concern from viewers that it could snap.

Two other men were also seen in the video playing around and hanging from the trees limbs, further fueling criticism. Onlookers interviewed in the area expressed shock and frustration, with one saying, "Unthinkable for a Japanese person," and another commenting, "They clearly have no understanding of our culture."

The man in the video, believed to be a foreign influencer with over 600,000 followers on social media, later issued an apology, acknowledging the backlash and addressing fellow tourists. "Sakura is sacred in Japanese culture. They are extremely delicate, so please do not touch them," he wrote on his platform.

The incident is just one of many reported during the final stretch of Japans cherry blossom season, which saw parks and riverside spots packed over the weekend with crowds hoping to enjoy the last of the blooms.

In Tokyos Meguro River area, where cherry blossoms line the banks, visitors crowded the bridge for photos. However, some ignored safety and regulations, including a couple who entered a restricted area near a city office tent to pose with their dog in front of the blossoms.

At Sakurazaka, a popular cherry blossom street near JR Shibuya Station, touristsmany of them foreignerswere seen sitting in the middle of the road to take photos, despite the obvious danger. One tourist from the United States said, "I took the picture quickly because it would be dangerous if a car came."

In Kinshi Park in Sumida Ward, known for its view of both cherry trees and the Tokyo Skytree, visitors were met with a less picturesque scene: overflowing trash bins and discarded blue tarps left by hanami-goers. By morning, the area beneath the cherry trees was littered with unseparated garbage, including food scraps, plastic bottles, and even a pair of leather shoes and a stool. Some household waste was also found among the trash.

A cleanup worker voiced concern, saying, "Were seeing a lot of domestic garbagepossibly from nearby residents or businesses. At the very least, people should follow basic manners."

With heavy rains in the Kanto region already scattering the fragile blossoms, this year's cherry blossom season is drawing to a closealong with growing concerns over etiquette among tourists and visitors.

Source: FNN
KYOTO, Apr 09 (News On Japan) - Nestled in the quiet Kyoto neighborhood of Iwakura, Green Heights has served for 70 years as more than just a student dormitoryit is a nurturing home where, even at 79, dorm mother Katsuko continues to care for students with unwavering devotion.

For over 50 years, she has been a constant presence, creating a warm environment where young peopleno longer children, not yet adultscan freely grow, connect, and discover who they are.

The dorm houses 35 students with different backgrounds, personalities, and goals. Despite their differences, they find a shared sense of identity simply by living together. This diversity fosters an environment where individuality is respected. The dorm offers home-cooked meals twice a day for a monthly fee of 70,000 to 80,000 yen, and students can opt out of meals in advance for partial refunds. The setup is simple, but the community spirit is strong. Students return at meal times, help each other, and adjust to the rhythm of dorm life, which resembles a family more than a facility.

Each students life unfolds differently. Some are quiet and prefer solitary evenings, while others are more social. One student, Suzuki, is an animation major who aspires to direct live-action special effects films, an unusual ambition in his field. His journey has been one of personal struggle and growth. Initially unsure of his identity and skills, he gradually found confidence and a sense of purpose through his experiences at the dorm. His most recent film project, created in collaboration with friends, was selected as a finalist in a competition, giving him a sense of legitimacy and pride.

Katsuko plays a central role in this supportive atmosphere. Even during summer break, when the dorm meals are paused and she has time to rest, she finds herself missing the students. Her warmth and care are evident throughout the year, especially during events like Christmas, when she goes above and beyond to make the day special, preparing festive meals and inviting family members to perform music for the students. These moments further strengthen the bond between Katsuko and those under her care.

Former students also maintain strong emotional ties to Green Heights. One alumnus who graduated over 40 years ago returned to visit and noted that the atmosphere hadnt changed much. Katsuko continues to fulfill the hopes of many parents who worry about their children living away from home. She offers reassurance not only through meals and care but through genuine emotional support. The students see her as a maternal figure who provides both structure and freedoman increasingly rare balance in modern student life.

Green Heights is more than just a place to live; it is a place where students can reflect, find encouragement, and slowly define their path. Whether through casual conversations over meals or late-night discussions about personal goals, the dorm fosters meaningful exchanges that help students shape who they are. Suzukis story highlights this: what began as uncertainty transformed into creative purpose, thanks in part to the people he met and the environment he lived in.

In this shared space, nothing extraordinary happens on the surfacejust meals, laughter, conversations, and the rhythm of everyday life. But within that simplicity lies something profound: the chance to be seen, accepted, and understood. For many, Green Heights is the first place where they truly feel at home, and it remains a vital place where the next generation quietly, and confidently, begins to find itself.

Source: YOMIURI
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
Members of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement have reiterated their unwavering commitment to the principles and objectives of the non-aligned movement countries, mainly sovereignty, territorial integrity, peaceful coexistence and multilateral cooperation, as well as the principle of non-interference in other countries internal affairs.

This commitment was reiterated in the Tashkent Declaration adopted by NAM parliamentary network at its 4th conference, held on as part of the 150th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly convened in Tachkent, Uzbekistan, April 4-6.

In this declaration, members of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement, including Morocco, gathered in their 4th conference, reiterated their unwavering commitment to the principles and objectives of the movement of non-aligned countries, mainly sovereignty, territorial integrity, peaceful coexistence and multilateral cooperation, as well as the principle of non-interference in other countries internal affairs.

In this declaration, members of NAM Parliamentary Network recalled the visionary efforts of the movements founders to encourage peaceful coexistence, cooperation and sustainable development among all countries.

They also highlighted the key role of law, justice and good governance in achieving human rights and fundamental freedoms, and recognized the role of the parliaments of the movement member states in ensuring respect for the movements founding principles, as well as realizing its ideals and objectives.

They also expressed concern at the persistence of complex global problems, including geopolitical tensions, armed conflict, growing economic inequality, climate change, energy and food crises, ongoing trade wars and the threat of pandemics, all of which represent major challenges for humanity.

The parliamentarians also reiterated the importance of achieving sustainable development goals, particularly in the fields of health, education, housing, food security, poverty eradication, environmental sustainability and bridging the digital divide.

Head of the Moroccan delegation, Speaker of the House of Councillors, Mohamed Ould Errachid, pointed out during the debate that Morocco defends with firm determination the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, and upholds the principles that inspired the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Morocco adopts a comprehensive strategic vision based on the promotion of international peace and security, the consolidation of effective solidarity, fruitful cooperation, and integration, Ould Errachid emphasized, urging parliaments to play a more effective role in promoting dialogue and seeking innovative solutions to meet challenges and respond to the aspirations of peoples.

He recalled the launch by King Mohammed VI of fruitful and open strategic partnerships and pioneering and ambitious initiatives to strengthen cooperation and consolidate the values of solidarity, particularly in the Global South.

These are major strategic projects aimed at reinforcing regional security and stability and promoting sustainable development, particularly at the African and Atlantic levels, he said, noting that these projects establish a new vision of integration and multidimensional cooperation.
Algeria has closed its airspace to Mali as relations worsen between the two neighbors with Mali accusing Algeria of backing terrorist groups.

Mali together with its Sahel allies, Niger and Burkina Faso, all recalled their ambassadors after Bamako accused Algiers of protecting separatists by downing a Malian drone.

Algeria has doubled down on its provocations against Mali banning all flights heading to Mali from crossing its air space.

Algeria had taken a similar measure against Morocco whom it has been accusing of undermining its security without offering evidence.

Algeria has offered a rear base to the Polisario separatists to wage attacks on Moroccos territorial integrity. It has also been accused repetitively by Mali of backing Touareg separatists.

In a strongly-worded statement, Algeria denied responsibility in the tense relations with its Sahel neighbors, opting for escalation by recalling its envoys to Niamey and Bamako and delaying the appointment of a new ambassador to Burkina Faso.

In an ironic statement, Algeria described the authorities in the three states as putchists. The Algerian military regime forgot its putschist origins.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, faces a landmark lawsuit in Kenya over allegations that its platform played a role in inciting ethnic violence during the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia.

The Kenyan High Court has ruled that the case, which involves claims of hate speech and violent content promotion on Facebook, can proceed. This landmark decision marks a significant development in holding tech giants accountable for the content they host. The plaintiffs, two Ethiopian nationals and the Katiba Institute, argue that Facebooks algorithm amplified harmful content, contributing to violence between 2020 and 2022. One of the claimants, Abrham Meareg, lost his father, professor Meareg Amare, who was murdered after his address was shared on Facebook along with violent threats. The other claimant, Fisseha Tekle, a former Amnesty International researcher, faced online hate for his reporting on the conflict. Both plaintiffs are demanding a $2.4 billion restitution fund for victims and reforms to Facebooks algorithm to prevent the spread of hate speech.

Meta, which has faced criticism for its handling of content moderation in conflict zones, has denied the allegations, stating it has invested in safety measures and moderation. The tech giant has argued that local courts do not have the power to hear cases against it where it is not registered as a company. However, the courts decision signals a growing call for greater accountability for tech companies and the ethical responsibility of social media platforms in preventing the spread of harmful content globally. This ruling offers hope that marginalized groups can access justice no matter where they are in the world, Mandi Mudarikwa from Amnesty International said. The idea of looking at countries outside the US and Europe as mere markets where profits can be made in the absence of accountability must be challenged, she added.
Perus political party Fuerza Popular has voiced its strong support for Moroccos territorial integrity and sovereignty over its entire territory.

The supportive stand was expressed by the partys chief Keiko Fujimori during a meeting she held Monday in Rabat with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rachid Talbi El Alami.

Keiko Fujimori, a former congresswoman and daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, said her trip to Morocco is an opportunity to learn about the Moroccan parliamentary and political experience and the countrys socioeconomic development.

Talbi El Alami said he briefed Ms. Fujimori about latest developments regarding the Kingdoms territorial integrity, a subject of paramount importance to the nation, , Moroccos parliamentary experience, major development projects as well as the political, economic, and social reforms engaged to consolidate the rule of law.
Morocco has reaffirmed unwavering commitment to the UN-led political process engaged to find a lasting and peaceful resolution to the Sahara regional conflict.

Rabats firm stand was expressed by Speaker of the House of Councillors, Mohamed Ould Errachid, during the 150th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU), convened in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, April 5-9.

Certain parties have developed the habit of exploiting international fora to raise the issue of the Moroccan Sahara outside the framework of the United Nations and the UN process, which remain the only legitimate framework to address this artificial regional dispute, said Ould Errachid in response to the Algerian disruptive attempts and deceptive propaganda on the Sahara.

The IPU Assembly must remain a platform for the exchange of viewpoints and coordination of parliamentary efforts on issues of common interest serving regional and international stability and peace, added Ould Errachid, making reference to the attempts of the Algerian delegation to steer the debate to its destabilizing separatist agenda instead of focusing on IPUs initiatives seeking to enhance understanding between peoples of the world and promoting sustainable development.

On the sidelines of the Tashkent IPU Assembly, MPs from non-aligned countries adopted a joint Declaration reiterating unwavering commitment to the respect of sovereignty & territorial integrity of countries, peaceful coexistence, and non-interference in other countries internal affairs, all principles upheld by Morocco.
Thirty representatives from various Libyan political parties have expressed deep concerns over the ongoing political deadlock in the country during an introductory meeting with Hanna S. Tetteh, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Libya.

The representatives underscored the urgent need to unify state institutions, accelerate the political process, and better manage resources, as reported by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

During the meeting, participants questioned the work of the Advisory Committee and called on UNSMIL to ensure that all political actors have a voice in future political processes. They warned against the risks of further delays and advocated a comprehensive strategy to hold elections in the near future.

In response, Mrs. Tetteh reiterated the inclusive nature of the UN approach, and emphasized the importance of national consensus, urging political parties to act as positive agents of change at every level, including within their communities.

Tetteh also highlighted the critical role of political parties and community leaders in reducing the potential for violence and fostering stability. She stressed that elections would serve as a crucial milestone in securing long-term peace and democracy in Libya. She proposed continued follow-up discussions with political parties to deepen dialogue and find common ground, while seeking recommendations to ensure sustained efforts towards peace, stability, and the successful holding of elections.
The already fragile economic and financial conditions in Algeria are expected to worsen as oil, the countrys main export, drops below $60 per barrel.

Oil markets plunged following Trumps tariffs that triggered fears of a global slowdown and reduced demand for oil and gas, whose prices have also declined.

Oil and gas represent the bulk of Algerias exports and the country has elaborated the 2025 budget on the basis of a referential barrel price of $70.

Algeria has increased its budget spending in 2025 to a record $128 billion with an expected fiscal deficit of $62 billion, which is equivalent to 19.8% of GDP.

Oil prices are expected to further fall in the upcoming days following OPECs decision to ramp up supply by 411,000 next month, auguring ill for Algerias finances.

Lower oil and gas revenue risks undermining Algerias frail social peace which rests on subsidies and public spending.

The country is already imposing import restrictions that led to long queues on basic products, including milk, oil, and basic commodities.
The Trump administration has reiterated its recognition of Moroccos sovereignty over the Sahara and reaffirmed that the autonomy plan represents the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute.

This came in a State Department statement following talks in Washington between foreign minister Nasser Bourita and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The Secretary reiterated that the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and supports Moroccos serious, credible, and realistic Autonomy Proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute, the statement said.

The United States continues to believe that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution, it added.

The Secretary reaffirmed President Trumps urging for the parties to engage in discussions without delay, using Moroccos Autonomy Proposal as the only framework, to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution. The Secretary noted that the United States would facilitate progress toward this aim, it said.

Rubio affirmed the strong U.S.-Morocco partnership in advancing peace and security, under President Trump and King Mohamed VIs leadership.

Prior to the meeting, Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita held talks with Trumps National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

The talks focused on the strategic and multidimensional partnership between the two countries as well as regional issues of common interests, the Moroccan foreign ministry said.

The visit is the first by Bourita to the US since Trumps comeback.
In this weeks newsletter, we will take a quick look at some of the critical figures and data in the energy markets this week.

We will then look at some of the key market movers early this week before providing you with the latest analysis of the top news events taking place in the global energy complex over the past few days. We hope you enjoy.

US-China Tariff Wars Trigger Largest Brent Sell-off Ever



- Crude markets have experienced an unprecedented rout of investors as ICE Brent futures posted the highest ever daily traded volume on April 7, trading more than 3 million lots, more than triple the usual daily volume.

- Further complicating matters, all regional oil benchmarks remain firmly backwardated with the Brent M1-M2 spread still trading around $0.50 per barrel, despite prices plunging some $10 per barrel in three days.

- US investment firm revamped its near-term pricing forecasts and now expects Brent and WTI prices to be at $62 and $58 per barrel, respectively, by December 2025, only to lose further $7 per barrel next year.

- Amidst industry calls to tame US tariff warfare, further downward corrections could be expected in 2025 demand numbers, with the EIA already delaying its monthly report to April 10, citing the need to re-run its models to account for a more hostile economic environment.



Market Movers



- Australias largest oil producer Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) said it agreed to sell a 40% stake in its Driftwood LNG project in Louisiana to US infrastructure investor Stonepeak for $5.7 billion.

- Top EV battery maker CATL (SHE:300750) is reportedly in talks to buy a controlling stake in the power unit of Chinese carmaker Nio (NYSE:NIO), seeking to expand into charging and battery swapping services.

- Colombias state-controlled oil firm Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) is considering buying the countrys largest independent oil producer SierraCol Energy, owned by private equity firm Carlyle Group, for some $1.5 billion.

- Italys oil major ENI (BIT:ENI) disclosed that it is looking at further divestments of its upstream assets on the back of its $1.65 billion West Africa deal with global trading house Vitol.

Tuesday, April 08, 2025

Battered by the market-wide sell-off, oil prices managed to halt their decline on Tuesday with ICE Brent recovering slightly to $65 per barrel. However, the US-China trade war could degenerate further with US President Trump threatening further tariffs on China, potentially negating and overwhelming whatever positive moves have been made vis-a-vis South Korea or Japan. Therefore, the short-term outlook remains bearish with investors wary of taking any new positions.

Trump Vows to Lift China Tariffs Higher. US President Donald Trump announced that if Beijing does not withdraw its 34% import tariff on US goods, the White House will impose an additional 50% tariff on the Asian country with immediate effect from April 09, taking Chinas tariff rate to 104%.

Saudi Aramco Slashes Crude Prices. Amidst a worsening US-China trade war and continued OPEC+ unwinding, Saudi national oil company Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) has lowered its Asian formula prices for May-loading cargoes with an across-the-board cut of $2.30 per barrel.

Sanctions Help to Improve OPEC+ Compliance. Declines in Iranian and Venezuelan oil production on the heels of tightening US sanctions led to a drop in OPEC oil production in March, with the oil groups members pumping 26.63 million b/d last month, down 110,000 b/d vs February levels.

London Mulls Oil Product Tariffs. The UK government, seeking to respond to US President Trumps 10% import tariff on the country, is considering the inclusion of refined products in its retaliatory tariffs, sourcing a quarter of its diesel import requirements from the US Gulf Coast.

US Gas Weighed Down by Tariff Woes. The May contract of US benchmark Henry Hub futures dipped to $3.74 per mmBtu, the lowest close in almost eight weeks, despite forecasts of colder weather coming across the States, mostly due to concerns of recession halting gas demand growth.

Panama Canal Eyes a New LPG Pipeline. The Panama Canal Authority opened a bidding process for a new pipeline that could transport liquefied petroleum gas across the waterway, potentially speeding up deliveries of US propane to Japan and South Korea, a voyage that now takes up to 35 days.

Libya to Offer PSAs in New Bidding Round. The government of Libya is offering production sharing agreements to oil majors bidding into its first licensing round since 2008, offering higher returns to investors as the North African country seeks to boost production to 2 million b/d.

Chevron to Rebuild the Louisiana Coast. US oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) was ordered to pay $740 million to restore damages caused by Texaco, a company it bought in 2001, to Louisianas coastal wetlands after it failed to clear, revegetate and detoxify its exploration sites.

Canada Makes U-Turn on New Oil Projects. Since the departure of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, oil is back in vogue in Canada with opposition leader Pierre Poilievre vowing to accelerate the approval of 10 key energy projects, including Suncor Energys 300,000 b/d Base Plant mine.

Copper Prices Collapse, Buyers Stock Up. In a rare occasion of extreme volatility, the plunging of copper prices below $8,500 per metric tonne in Monday early trading prompted Chinese buyers to maximize purchases, pushing the metal to a $1,000/mt rally in just two hours, the largest intraday move since 2009.

Wary of US Tariffs, Mexico Wants to Frack. Importing some 6.5 BCf/d of US pipeline gas and poised to import more as legacy fields decline, Mexico has reached out to private investors to expand domestic fracking operations, a policy reversal compared to Lopez Obrador years.

Gold Prices Recover Before Stock Market. Overcoming the past days market frenzy that triggered three consecutive daily declines, gold prices rose back above $3,000 per ounce on the back of a weakening US dollar and a worsening outlook on US-China tariff wars.

Saudi Arabia Contracts US LNG Volumes. US LNG developer NextDecade signed an offtake agreement with Saudi Arabias national oil firm Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) to supply 1.2 million tonnes LNG per year from Train 4 of Rio Grande LNG, subject to a positive FID decision soon.

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
Oil prices dropped off a cliff last week after President Trump announced a barrage of tariffs on global trading partners, triggering panic in the trading world. The effect has now rippled across the energy industry, set to discourage production growthand hurt oilfield service companies.

The sector was already worrying about the steel and aluminum tariffs that President Trump introduced last month as part of his radical efforts to revive U.S. industries. The tariffs stand at a hefty 25% and apply to all steel and aluminum imports into the United States. Initially, the effect on the oil and gas industry looked somewhat muted because industry players were not overwhelmingly dependent on imported steel and aluminum. Now, coupled with the tariffs on everything else that pushed oil to the lowest in more than three years, the effect is shaping up to be more pronounced.

Pipes, valve fittings, sucker rods are going to be impacted by tariffs, which will be felt by the big three in particular where they have multi-national sourcing strategies, Ryan Hassler, vice-president of supply chain research at Rystad Energy, told Reuters recently in comments on the effect of tariffs on the oilfield sector specifically.

Related: Reuters Survey Shows OPEC Output Down 110,000 Bpd in March

The publication also reported that Morningstar had reduced its fair value estimates on the three biggest oilfield services majors, expecting them to book a revenue drop of between 2% and 3% this year. Each dollar in lost revenue, the report said, translated into an operating profit loss of between $1.25 and $1.35. A revenue drop of 2-3% is not exactly an unmanageable loss, despite the knee-jerk reaction of traders that saw shares in the big three oilfield service companies take a dive alongside crude last week. Yet it is early days, and the full impact of the tariffs on the energy industry is still to unfold.

The focus of this impact will be on drilling activity. As international benchmarks drop, exploration and production companies are going to shrink their drilling plans and hunker down to wait out the downturn, because this is exactly what it is. Oil prices tanked at the end of last week after China retaliated against the fresh 34% tariffs that Trump announced for Chinese imports into the United States with its own 34% additional tariffson everything that comes from the U.S.

The effect on prices was only natural, given the size and importance of China as an oil importer, as well as an importer of a lot of other things that the U.S. exports to the Asian powerhouse. With the trade war between the two heating up, market players are not feeling a lot of optimism, which has hit oil prices, and with them, the outlook for the oilfield service industryand it wasnt particularly bright to begin with.

In its latest quarterly energy survey, the Dallas Fed reported that the U.S. oil industry needed oil prices of between $25 per barrel and $45 per barrel to cover its operating expenses across shale and conventional oil. However, they needed prices of between $61 and $70 per barrel to be profitable. West Texas Intermediate is currently trading around $60, and it may have further to fall because OPEC+ decided to change price control tactics at the worstor best, depending on perspectivetime.

A day after President Trump announced his latest tariffs, the cartel said it would boost production by three times the amount it initially planned to in May. Instead of 135,000 barrels daily, the group will now add 411,000 bpd to total production next month, citing the continuing healthy market fundamentals and the positive market outlook.

A lot of commodity analysts would disagree with this perception as they predict a slump in global demand for oil as previously thriving economies grind to a halt amid the tariff push. Yet OPEC+ has run out of options, and it has had to deal with several countries that have consistently failed to stick to the production quota. If it couldnt get them in line the easy way, it was time for the hard way.

All this is quite bad news for the oilfield services sector, which was already having trouble before the whole tariff thing began. Following the string of megadeals in the exploration and production sector, oilfield services companies were faced with a much smaller pool of clients with much more concentrated pricing power. Not only that, but demand shrank, too, with companies combining their operations, as Energy Secretary Chris Wright, then still CEO of Liberty Energy, explained last year.

This was supposed to prompt a similar consolidation drive in oilfield services and the prompt will just get stronger with the tariff fallout and the OPEC tactic switch that played a rather instrumental part in last weeks oil price drop. Oilfield service companies are going to consolidate in order to survive. And there is always a silver lining: price routs in oil, whatever the reason, are invariably followed by rallies.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
While Kazakhstan has the largest trade turnover with the US among Central Asian states, most of its exports are exempt from tariffs, minimizing the direct impact.

Economic analysts in Central Asia and the Caucasus believe the immediate impact of US tariff policies on their exports will be limited, but they worry about unforeseen consequences from a global trade war.

Economic analysts in Central Asia and the Caucasus widely believe that the immediate impact of the US tariff policy on their respective countries exports will be limited. Even so, some worry about potential, unforeseen consequences arising out of a global trade war.

The Trump administrations announcement of global tariffs on imports comes at a time when Central Asian states are coming together in an attempt to boost regional trade. The tariff announcement calls into question recent US expressions of interest in expanding trade and investment in the region. The mixed signals sent by Washington may well cause Central Asian leaders to think twice about realigning existing trade relationships with China and Russia to make way for a larger US and European Union shares of commerce.

Kazakhstan presently has the largest trade turnover with the United States among Central Asian states, totaling $3.4 billion in 2024, of which $2.3 billion was Kazakh exports, according to the Office of US Trade Representative. Kazakhstan was also hit by a tariff of 27 percent, while all the other countries in Central Asia, and the Caucasus, were slapped with a 10 percent rate.

But according to a Kazakh Trade Ministry statement, US-bound exports comprise mostly crude oil, uranium, silver and other raw materials that are exempt from tariffs. In 2024, Kazakhstan only exported $95.2 million-worth of goods that will now be subjected to surcharges, a trifling figure within the context of the countrys overall foreign trade turnover of $141.4 billion.

Kazakhstan has nothing to worry about, prominent economist Rasul Rysmambetov commented on Telegram. Yes, if President Trump detonated a thermonuclear tariff bomb, somewhere we will be slightly hit by a shock wave, but this would be more of a psychological effect.

The same dynamic holds for Central Asias other states. Uzbekistan, for example, exported just $42.4 million of goods to the United States in 2024 out of an overall foreign trade turnover of $66 billion. Kyrgyzstan had total trade turnover of $16 billion in 2024, but just $16.7 million in exports to the US. Tajikistan had total trade turnover of $8.9 billion, with exports to the US standing at a mere $4.6 million. Turkmenistan did not publish a total trade turnover figure, but annual turnover with China alone stood at $10.6 billion; goods exported to the US amounted to $14.6 million.

In the Caucasus, Georgia had the highest level of trade turnover with the United States in 2024, $1.9 billion, with US-bound exports totaling $165.4 million. Azerbaijans overall goods trade with the US stood at $412.9 million, $157.8 million of which were US-bound exports. Armenias turnover with the US was $282.4 million, exports accounting for $121.6 million of that total.

Since diamonds make up the bulk of Armenias exports to the US (around $110 million worth), the effect of the tariffs will be mostly limited to the jewelry industry, according to Armenian economist Suran Parsyan. But at the moment, it is still too early to talk about how much this 10-percent tariff can affect diamond exporters, since many factors are in play, Parsyan said.

Russia was exempted entirely from tariffs because, according to the White House, the United States has no meaningful trade, with Moscow. But according to US statistics, Russia has the largest goods trade with the US among Eurasian states, with Russian exports to the United States accounting for 86 percent of the $3.5 billion in bilateral trade turnover in 2024.

Yuliy Yusupov, an Uzbek economist who is affiliated with CAPS Unlock, an Almaty-based regional think tank, said that since the bulk of regional trade is with China, the EU and Russia, the imposition of US tariffs is unlikely to significantly disrupt local economies in the near term. But, he cautioned in an interview with a local news outlet, there is a big risk the Trump administrations moves could spark a global economic crisis. This would inevitably cause a drop in commodity prices, which our countries mainly trade, and a general decline in investment activity in our region, he said.

Rysmambetov, the Kazakh economist, saw a possible silver lining for Kazakhstan in the US tariff announcement. Those countries against which duties are introduced will look for new markets  and it is quite possible that Kazakhstan will receive more favorable offers for the prices of equipment, metals, transport means or building materials, he said. Of course, we cannot replace the US market, but compared to other countries in the CIS, our market [Kazakhstan] is attractive in price.

By Eurasianet.org

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Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a minimum 10% tariff on all imports from 90 countries, roiling financial markets across the globe. U.S. customs agents began collecting the unilateral tariff at customs warehouses, seaports and airports on Saturday, with higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners set to start in the current week. As widely expected, China was the hardest hit by the tariffs: China now faces a hefty 64.9% tariff, including an additional 34% duty imposed by former President Trump on top of existing tariffs from previous administrations. Beijing returned fire by announcing a slew of countermeasures, including extra levies of 34% on all U.S. goods as well as export curbs on some rare earth minerals.

And, while some have suggested Trump policies could help revive coal, thats only a surface argument. The beleaguered coal industry could soon find itself in even more trouble thanks to a proposed levy on Chinese ships.

The Trump administration has drafted an executive order to levy fines of up to $1.5 million per port call on Chinese-built ships calling at U.S. ports. The levy is an attempt to revive the long-declining U.S. shipbuilding industry, with the administration accusing China of unfair practices.

Related: Reuters Survey Shows OPEC Output Down 110,000 Bpd in March

Unfortunately, the potential port fees are already having a deleterious effect on multiple sectors of the economy, limiting the availability of ships needed to move energy, mining, agriculture, construction and manufactured goods to international buyers.

Last month, Pennsylvania-based coal marketer Xcoal Energy & Resources CEO Ernie Thrasher told Reuters that vessel owners have already refused to provide offers for future U.S. coal shipments due to the proposed USTR fees. Thrasher estimates that implementing the punitive fees could cease exports of U.S. coal within 60 days, putting $130 billion worth of shipments at risk. Thrasher says the fees could add up to 35% to the cost of U.S. coal, making it uncompetitive on the global market. Chris Hamilton, CEO of the West Virginia Coal Association, told Reuters that unsold coal inventories are rapidly piling up, with coal mines preparing to lay off miners.

"The loss of direct and indirect jobs would be catastrophic," said Thrasher.

But the coal industry is not the only energy commodity likely to suffer under the ship levies.

According to the American Petroleum Institute, the proposed fees could also make it harder for the U.S. to export oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and refined fuels. According to shipping association BIMCO, very few maritime operators are able to meet the requirement by the Trump administration that at least 20% of U.S. exports are carried on U.S. built, U.S flagged vessels, something likely to hit U.S. energy exports "...specifically liquid natural gas (LNG) as no US built, US flagged LNG carriers are in operation nor on order," said BIMCO.

The levy would undermine the current administration's energy goals. As one of his first executive orders, Trump expedited the LNG export license process (achieving licensing times one-sixth as long as those seen during the Biden Administration, which revoked these reforms), reduced the permitting time for drilling on federal lands (increasing permit applications by 300%), fixed the New Source Review (which punished companies for repairing and upgrading coal power plants), and opened up millions of acres for domestic energy development. Trump warned Western Europe as early as 2017 to rely on American natural gas rather than Russian energy.

Meanwhile, U.S. farmers are likely to be caught in the crossfire of the Chinese ship fee fight.

Last month, three U.S. grain export traders told Reuters that the inability to secure ocean freight transportation was already restricting their ability to sell bulk U.S. agricultural products like corn, soybeans and wheat. According to the U.S. Census Bureau Trade data, the United States exported more than $64 billion in bulk crops, vegetable oils and bulk animal feeds in 2024. The Farm Bureau estimates that bulk agricultural exporters could see their annual transportation costs increase by $372 million to $930 million due to the proposed fees.

The ambitious USTR proposal seeks to shift domestic exports to U.S.-built ships that are also flagged. However, its currently impractical: Reuters estimates that U.S.-flagged cargo vessels currently number less than 200, with even fewer being U.S.-built. China is, by far, the biggest builder of cargo ships, with 81% of the global fleet of container vessels and 75% of bulk carriers built in Chinese shipyards. Thats a massive increase from 25 years ago when China owned a mere 5% slice of the shipbuilding market. In contrast, U.S. shipyards are currently building less than 0.01 per cent of the worlds cargo ships by tonnage, thanks to a strong preference by American shipyards for billion-dollar warships over commercial cargo vessels.



By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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The European Union should pledge to buy $350 billion worth of energy from the United States if it wants the U.S. tariffs on the EU eased, U.S. President Donald Trump has said.

We have a deficit with the European Union of $350 billion and it's going to disappear fast, Trump said, as quoted by POLITICO.

One of the ways that that can disappear easily and quickly is they're going to have to buy our energy from us ... they can buy it, we can knock off $350 billion in one week. They have to buy and commit to buy a like amount of energy, President Trump said.

Last week, President Trump announced a 20% across-the-board tariff on all imports from the EU, which will take effect on Wednesday, April 9. Separately, imports of steel, aluminum, and cars are subject to 25% tariffs.

Estimates point that $416 billion (380 billion euros) worth of EU goods would be affected by the U.S. tariffs.

The EU is scrambling to respond to the tariffs, with various reports pointing to EU leaders considering retaliatory tariffs.

However, on Monday European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Europe is ready to negotiate with the US.

We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods. Because we're always ready for a good deal. But were also prepared to respond with countermeasures. And protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion, von der Leyen added.

President Trump has dismissed the zero-for-zero tariffs offer and told reporters in the White House who asked if the EU offer was sufficient to back down on tariffs on the EU, No, it's not.

President Trump continues to insist that America running trade deficits with its major trade partners is a big deal.

A lot of people say, 'Oh, it doesn't mean anything having a surplus.' It means a lot, in my opinion. It's almost like a profit or loss statement, he said.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Iran has awarded US$17 billion of contracts to attempt to reverse a dramatic projected production decline from the worlds biggest gas reservoir. Its South Pars field spans 3,700 square kilometres and holds an estimated 14.2 trillion cubic metres (tcm) of gas reserves plus 18 billion barrels of gas condensate. In addition to generating nearly 80% of Irans gas production, it also accounts for around 40% of its total estimated 33.8 tcm of gas reserves (mainly located in the southern Fars, Bushehr, and Hormozgan regions). The other part of the huge gas reservoir is Qatars 6,000 square kilometre North Dome (or North Field), which is the foundation stone of its world-leading liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter status. Crucially in this respect, Qatar is in the midst of a programme to boost output from its side of the South Pars/North Dome reservoir through pressure-enhancement techniques. This will only worsen the production outlook for Iran, according to its Petroleum Ministry. So, can these huge new contracts reverse the forecast huge drop in South Pars critical gas output?

According to official Iranian government figures, the entire South Pars site currently produces around 700 million cubic metres (mcm/d) per day. Irans Petroleum Ministry has recently projected that the decline in production will be around 28 million cubic metres per year (mcm/y) from 2027 onwards  a fall of about 1% a year. It has added that this may increase to a loss of 42 mcm/y after 2029  a drop of 1.6% a year. However, a senior source who works closely with the Ministry exclusively told OilPrice.com last week that these are likely to be significant underestimates, depending on the variables. Indeed, according to recent assessments from Irans own National Development Fund, Irans overall gas production will fall by at least 25% within the next 10 years due to falling pressure in the fields, with South Pars seeing a 30% decline over the period. Worse still was the forecast made last year by Mansour Daftarian, president of the Iranian Petroleum Institute, that in the absence of a major upgrade in the upkeep of the South Pars gas fields, by the end of 2026 daily gas production could drop to as low as 200 mcm/d, leaving a significant gap in the supply of gas for domestic heating and industrial consumption.

Related: Reuters Survey Shows OPEC Output Down 110,000 Bpd in March

One of the key determinants on exactly how much Irans gas production will fall is how the firms awarded the big new contracts will develop each of the wells. According to the Iran source, in the period between early 2017 when Qatar lifted the longstanding moratorium on production from its own North Dome and when the U.S. unilaterally exited the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, of nuclear deal) in May 2018, Iran and Qatar had worked on ways of developing the reservoir without damaging its long-term potential, analysed in full in my latest book on the new global oil market order. Development at that time on the Iranian side wasnt spectacular but it was consistent, and it generally abided by the conditions aimed at safeguarding the fields integrity that had been agreed with Qatar, he said. However, after the U.S. reimposed all the sanctions on Iran after it withdrew from the JCPOA, the local Iranian firms that took over didnt have the skill, experience, technology, or machinery to take up where the foreign firms had left off, and they were also under pressure to drill more to monetise the gas, he told OilPrice.com. This meant they often rushed the excavations without much thought to maintaining the structural integrity of the wells, and this has significantly affected future output from several of them, he added.

Unfortunately for Iran, its choice of willing partners to help it prevent such catastrophic gas production declines has become a lot more limited in recent weeks and months. Chinas help for the country with which it had signed the Iran-China 25-Year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement, as first revealed anywhere in the world in my 3 September 2019 article on the subject and also fully detailed in my latest book has markedly diminished as a result of greater scrutiny of the relationship by the U.S. Meanwhile, Washingtons programme of exerting maximum pressure on Iran extends to all firms and individuals from any countries who are associated with Tehrans oil and gas trading, among multiple other business areas, including from China and Hong Kong. This comes on top of Chinese funding for Iran having already been reduced as a result of Beijings struggle to fully recover economically from three years of Covid and its Draconian Zero Covid policy. Russia has also seen its economy hit from sanctions as the war in Ukraine has dragged on. Some of the procedures needed to significantly turn things around at South Pars could only be done using technology and equipment and expertise available at just the top Western firms, like TotalEnergies, which was involved on [South Pars] Phase 11 before the U.S. pulled out of the JCPOA, the Iran source exclusively told OilPrice.com last week. For example, for that Phase alone, it [TotalEnergies] was going to build a huge [20,000-ton] platform, which is much larger than anything on South Pars and two massive compressors, and the site needs around 15 of those platforms and about 30 of those compressors to help maintain pressure, he said. None of the Iranian firms that have been granted the contracts could achieve anything like that, he added. Iran has never built even a 4,000-ton platform, and the [Petroleum] Ministry confirmed recently that it is still working on the support infrastructure required to build such a piece of equipment, he underlined.

That said, the four companies given the US$17 billion awards  officially at least -- are Petropars, MAPNA Group, Oil Industries Engineering and Construction, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters (Khatam). Unofficially, the [Petroleum] Ministrys direct comments on the projected fall in gas output from South Pars was a message to Russia that its companies that were handed the relevant contracts from 2019 to 2024 by Khatam should finally get on with them and make substantive progress, said the Iran source. The Russian firms will now take up to 35% of the increased output at a discount of 30-35% using the moving six-month average price, he added. Making the deal even more appealing to Russia is how these South Pars contracts will bolster its usefulness to Beijing in the increasingly unequal relationship between the two countries. Interestingly the Russian side has already set up multiple intermediary shell companies in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia that will act as buyers on behalf of the Chinese in an attempt to bypass the new US sanctions, the Iran source told OilPrice.com. The final financial structure of the deal is still fluid, but the Russians will not lose money on the deal and they will also secure unchallenged control of South Pars gas production levels and the price at which it is sold, he concluded.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

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The 2015 nuclear deal, or JCPOA, and its potential expiration add urgency to the current talks, with threats of military action from the US and warnings of a strong response from Iran if attacked.

Iran's foreign minister stated that the talks will be indirect, contradicting Trump's assertion of "direct" high-level meetings, highlighting differing narratives surrounding the negotiations.

President Trump warned Iran of "great danger" if the upcoming nuclear talks regarding its nuclear program are not successful.

US President Donald Trump said the United States will hold high-level "direct" talks with Iran at a "very big meeting" this week while warning Tehran it would be in great danger if the talks on its nuclear program dont succeed.

Iran's foreign minister confirmed that a meeting was set to take place on April 12, but the talks would be "indirect."

"Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X on April 7 shortly after Trump commented on the talks.

"It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court."

Iran has insisted on indirect negotiations, saying it would not hold direct talks as long as Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran is in effect.

Araghchi later told Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency that US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff would be at the talks, but the two would speak only through a mediator.

Trump told reporters at the White House that talks were taking place "on a very high level, almost the highest level," and emphasized that no intermediaries were involved.

He did not say who would represent the United States. Witkoff has not commented publicly on whether he would attend the talks.

"We have a very big meeting, and we'll see what can happen. I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable," Trump said in an impromptu press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"If talks with Iran aren't successful, I think Iran will be in great danger," Trump said, insisting that the Islamic republic must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu briefly weighed in, expressing support for a Libya-style deal with Iran --a reference to a 2003 agreement in which the African nation agreed to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction programs.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is for civilian purposes and has previously rejected the possibility of a Libya-style agreement.

Trump earlier this month called for "direct talks" with Tehran, saying they were "faster" and offered a better understanding than using intermediaries. Trump suggested then that a new agreement with Iran could be "different and maybe a lot stronger" than the 2015 nuclear deal.

He had previously sent a letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for negotiations and warning of military action if diplomacy failed.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian on April 5 said that Tehran was willing to engage in dialogue on an "equal footing." The following day Araghchi said in a statement that Tehran was prepared to hold indirect talks.

After abrogating the nuclear deal in 2018 during his first term as president, Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the agreement. Iran retaliated by accelerating its nuclear program and is currently enriching uranium at 60 percent purity, which is described as near weapons-grade.

The 2015 deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has a snapback mechanism that allows for the return of UN sanctions on Iran. But once the deal expires in October, world powers lose the ability to trigger the mechanism.

Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if there is no agreement on Tehran's nuclear program. Iran has warned that it will deliver a "strong" response to any aggression and has suggested that it will develop a bomb if attacked.

Washington has been sending mixed messages about whether it wants to restrict Iran's uranium enrichment or fully dismantle Tehran's nuclear program.

Iran has not commented on Trump's assertion that direct talks have already started.

Nour News, a website affiliated with Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, described Trump's remarks as "a calculated effort to shape public opinion" aimed at portraying Washington as the party taking diplomatic initiative and Tehran as the side opposed to dialogue.

By RFE/RL

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Indias largest power utility, NTPC, is looking to hire consultants for feasibility studies for small modular reactors that could potentially replace some of the utilitys old coal-fired power plants, Reuters reports, quoting a tender document.

Small modular reactors (SMR) are believed to be simpler and cheaper to build and install. Because of their smaller size, it is possible to install SMRs on sites that are not suitable for bigger reactors. They are also significantly cheaper and faster to build than conventional reactors and can be constructed incrementally to meet the growing energy demand of a site.

NTPC, which plans to boost its nuclear power generation capacity over the coming years, is now issuing the first such exploratory tender for SMRs, which are considered to be the future of nuclear power.

The top Indian electric utility wants to identify through feasibility studies and tests which old coal plants it could retire by the end of the decade and preferably replace them with power capacity from SMRs, per the tender documents reviewed by Reuters.

NTPC plans to invest over the next two decades $62 billion in building 30 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear generation capacity, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters earlier this year.

NTPC previously targeted to invest in 10 GW of nuclear capacity within two decades.

Currently, India has 8 GW of operating nuclear capacity, operated by the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

In February, the federal budget outlined plans for a significant push toward nuclear energy as part of Indias long-term energy transition strategy. The government now targets the country to have 100 GW of nuclear power generation capacity installed by 2047, positioning nuclear energy as a major pillar in Indias energy mix, the cabinet said.

NTPC is also looking for partners to help it build 15 GW of new nuclear capacity, Reuters reported last week, citing tender documents.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The development of oil projects in Alaskas North Slope and Arctic is boosting jobs growth in these areas more than the average for the state, according to the latest figures by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Job numbers jumped by 7% in the North Slope and Northwest Arctic regions last year, compared to broadly flat job numbers for the state of Alaska.

In Alaskas north, ConocoPhillips is developing the Willow oil project, which was approved by the Biden Administration in 2023. The $8-billion project is expected to see peak production of 160,000 barrels of oil per day, beginning in 2029, according to 2020 estimates but since then, this has been revised up to a maximum of 180,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Australia-based Santos, for its part, is developing the Pikka project in the North Slope, with first oil expected next year. The pipeline for the Pikka project is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Santos has said about 80% of the workforce working on the Pikka project was hired from within the state of Alaska.

Apart from direct oil and gas jobs, the project developments are leading to jobs growth in other related industries, Dan Robinson, a researcher with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, told Alaska Public Media.

The Trump Administration is looking to boost oil and gas exploration and production in Alaska. Last month, Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said that the Bureau of Land Management would pursue steps to expand opportunities for exploration and development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The U.S. Administration and the state of Alaska are also courting investors from north Asia to invest in and commit to offtake deals for the planned $44-billion Alaska LNG export project.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Somewhere in the rural quiet of Fort Ransom, North Dakota, the Keystone pipeline made a bit of a splash this morningliterally. A mechanical bang startled an on-site worker enough to shut down the flow of oil within about two minutes. The pipeline remains shut.

The crude spill, now confined to a field, hasnt yet been quantified, but emergency crews are on the scene.

The cause and volume are not yet known.

Just a few weeks ago, President Trump calledyet againfor the revival of the Keystone XL pipeline, the much-lobbied zombie project that refuses to go quietly into the night. Easy approvals, almost immediate start! he promised via Truth Social. The original XL was intended to move 800,000 barrels per day of Canadian heavy crude to U.S. refineries before the Biden administration deep-sixed it, citing little need for a pipeline that moves hydrocarbons given the countrys green aspirations.

But TC Energy, the previous developer of the project, has already torn up the laid pipe and moved on in response.

This latest rupture wont exactly grease the wheels for Keystones second coming, which a 2022 poll showed most Americans support, particularly after the United States banned Russian energy after its incursion into Ukraine. According to a 2022 poll by Maru Public Opinion for Postmedia, 71% of Americans favor very much or favor somewhat then-President Biden using an executive order to restart the XL project.

The existing Keystone pipeline, operated by South Bow, a liquid pipeline business that manages the pipeline, is about 2,687 miles long and has the capacity to move between 600,000 bpd and 700,000 bpd of crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to the United States. The XL expansion project would have more than doubled that capacity.

Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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Mexico is considering expanding domestic fracking in a bid to reduce its high dependence on natural gas imports from the United States amid tense trade and tariff relations, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, quoting private sector executives.

Over the past decade, Mexican imports of U.S. natural gas, mostly via pipelines, have jumped thanks to new pipelines built between the U.S. and Mexico.

Gas is the primary source of power generation in Mexico, accounting for 60% of all electricity output. But more than 70% of Mexicos natural gas consumption is imported from the U.S., according to Mexican government data.

The reliance on U.S. pipeline gas is set to rise further, as pipeline connections expand but Mexican production declines, Fitch Ratings said in February.

U.S. gas imports provide a reliable, cost-effective source of energy for Mexico, but exposes the country to exchange-rate volatility and supply disruptions amid increasing uncertainties over bilateral trade relations, the rating agency said, before the U.S. slapped tariffs on Mexico and Canada in March.

In view of reducing Mexicos reliance on an unpredictable U.S. president, the Mexican government is talking to the private sector to expand the very limited shale gas production, executives familiar with the discussions have told FT.

Discussions with private companies are in early stages and may not lead to any policy shifts or contracts, according to FTs sources.

The leftwing party of Mexicos President Claudia Sheinbaum has been opposing the expansion of fracking for years, but the U.S. trade policy could push it to reconsider the expansion of shale gas development.

In the late 2010s, then-President Enrique Pena Nieto sought to open shale basins, including the Burgos Basin, a shale-rich basin in northeastern Mexico, for natural gas exploration and development by private companies.

However, Pena Nietos successor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, cancelled the contracts.

Now, Sheinbaum, Lopez Obradors mentee and current president, is seeking to boost Mexicos energy independence and security of supply in view of the trade policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mexico has an estimated 545 Tcf of technically recoverable shale gas resources, the sixth largest in the world, per U.S. government data.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Brazils Petrobras has no intention of cutting diesel prices despite a request by the government to that effect, the companys chief executive told Reuters this week.

Magda Chambriard cited the current international trade situation, which she described as uncertain, saying, We should not do anything now, while the geopolitical scenario is in such anxiety and turbulence.

The executive was referring, of course, to the tariff war that President Trump is waging on U.S. trade partners as a means of fixing the countrys deficits with many of them. Some have started retaliating, most notably China, which has fueled worry about a prolonged period of instability on the global trade scene.

Chambriards comments came in response to energy minister Alexandre Silveiras suggestion that the state energy major cuts diesel prices amid depressed crude oil and the stable U.S. dollar. Interestingly, Petrobras had just cut the price of diesel at its refineries by 4.6% a day before President Trump announced his global tariff package.

The Brazilian state energy major said last year it planned to spend $111 billion in the five years between 2025 and 2029, with $77 billion of this total earmarked for oil and gas exploration and production activities. The company has been making an effort to boost oil and gas production as the country's government seeks to make the most of its hydrocarbon resources.

The new spending figure is $10 billion higher than an earlier version of the investment plan, where exploration and production spending was set at $73 billion. That earlier plan, in turn, was an upward revision on an even earlier version of the 2025-2029 budget that stood at $102 billion.

Spending for 2025 specifically, however, was revised down in October. Initially pegged at $21 billion, the companys spending plan for the year now stands at $17 billion, which Petrobras said was a more realistic figure in line with its financial capacity.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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U.S. refiner Phillips 66 told shareholders on Tuesday that Elliott Investment Managements demands for breaking up the company are misguided, based on inflated and unrealistic assumptions, and would destroy shareholder value.

Activist hedge fund Elliott Investment Management has called on Phillips 66 to spin off its midstream business and tighten up operations.

Elliott, which has an investment worth more than $2.5 billion in Phillips 66, last week made the case to the refiners shareholders that Phillips investors' patience has been punished, and a new lineup on the Board is necessary to reverse the Company's long-term underperformance and improve its poor corporate governance practices.

Elliott wants Phillips 66 to sell off or split the midstream business and focus only on refining. Elliott believes that its "Streamline 66" plan for Phillips 66 has the potential to increase Phillips' stock price to more than $200 per share. Phillips 66 shares closed at $96.59 apiece on Monday.

Elliott proposed four nominees for the board of directors at the refiner.

Ahead of the May 21 shareholders meeting, Phillips 66 said on Tuesday that Elliotts misguided proposals will disrupt Phillips 66s momentum by pushing for irreversible change that will destroy shareholder value.

Shareholders face an activist hedge fund pushing an aggressive short-term agenda  including a rushed breakup of our Company based on flawed analysis  that would introduce unnecessary risk and disruption, slow our momentum and jeopardize your invested capital and long-term returns, Phillips 66 said.

Elliott wants a quick win by breaking up the Company, based on inflated and unrealistic assumptions, the refiner added.

The board of Phillips 66 unanimously recommended that the shareholders vote FOR only Phillips 66s nominees.

Another high-profile activist push from Elliott is unfolding at UK-based supermajor BP.

The oil giants chair Helge Lund has informed the board that he would be stepping down from the role most likely during 2026, and the board of directors has initiated a succession process, BP said last week.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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South Korea has thrown in the towel without a fight after the U.S. slapped tariffs on all of the countrys trade partners. Seoul is looking at more LNG imports to get Washington to drop the new tariffs.

Per a Bloomberg report, the South Korean government is working on several packages of measures to be taken to erase the trade surplus it has with the U.S. in a bid to convince President Trump to remove the additional tariffs, with the focus on boosting imports instead of cutting exports.

We need to adjust the US trade balance, which is a surplus from our perspective, to reduce US tariffs, South Koreas trade minister, Cheong Inkyo, told media as quoted by Bloomberg ahead of a two-day trip to Washington. It is difficult to reduce exports, so we need to increase imports.

South Korea has a very export-focused economy, which has served it well until now. Last year, the country booked a trade surplus of $55.7 billion with the United States, which automatically put it in the category of abusers, as President Trump called the countries running trade surpluses with the U.S. Trump slapped a 25% tariff on South Korean importsone of the highest.

Weve already expressed our regret about this, and this time, too, we will raise the fact that the US calculated such a high tariff rate for a country that has been implementing the Korea-US FTA for 12 years, Cheong also told reporters.

The range of tariffs that President Trump announced last week is between 10% and as much as 49%, with some of the United States biggest trade partners and closest allies getting a higher rather than a lower rate as they might have hoped for based on their geopolitical closeness with Washington. India, for instance, got slapped with a tariff rate of 26%. China, which the U.S. sees as a geopolitical adversary, was hit with a 34% additional tariff rate.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Energy Secretary Chris Wright is set to spend two weeks in the Middle East beginning with Saudi Arabia in what will be his first official foreign visit since taking office, Reuters has reported, citing an unnamed source from the Department of Energy.

The tour will also include visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the report said, with the sources adding that the visit would help prepare the region for President Trumps visit that could take place next month.

The focus of Wrights visit, however, would be global energy supply, the Reuters source said. In his talks with Saudi Emirati and Qatari officials, the U.S. energy secretary will reportedly seek to ensure an abundant global supply of hydrocarbons from countries that are not under U.S. sanctions, including Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.

Another topic of the upcoming discussions would be Saudi, Emirati, and Qatari investments in the United States, with Reuters recalling President Trumps urging of the Saudis to commit $1 trillion to U.S. investment instead of the $600 billion Crown Prince Mohammed had announced as earmarked for U.S. investments early this year.

The news about Wrights visit come on the heels of a surprise announcement by President Trump that the United States and Iran were going to discuss their problems directly, although Irans foreign minister said the talks, set to take place in Oman, will remain indirect.

We're having direct talks with Iran, and they've started. It'll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we'll see what can happen, Trump said on Monday during a meeting with Israels Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting Washington.

Wright also heads to the Middle East amid a substantial oil price rout, prompted by the market panic that followed Trumps latest tariff announcement, which coincided with a decision by OPEC+ to boost production by three times what traders and analysts expected. Brent crude has slid down to some $65 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at around $61 per barrel.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
LINCOLN  When the first German soldiers arrived at prisoner-of-war camps erected across Nebraska in 1943, they were given a taste of rural American life.

Along with working on area farms and ranches to replace the labor of Nebraskans sent to fight the Nazis and Japanese in World War II, the prisoners housed in more than a dozen camps attended school and went to the movies.

In several camps, the prisoners even started their own newspapers, often in their native German, where they detailed the daily goings-on of their surroundings.

One of those newspapers, Der Wassertum, which translates to The Water Tower, chronicled life inside the POW camp built north of Indianola in Red Willow County.

While the pages of the newspaper have largely been lost to history, Der Wassertum has been preserved on microfilm held by the New York Public Library and the State Library of Pennsylvania.

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln research project was preparing to collect and digitize the microfilm, publishing the pages of Der Wassertum online as part of Chronicling America, an open-access, open-source newspaper database managed by the Library of Congress.

But funding for the program, which was provided through the National Endowment for the Humanities, was abruptly canceled last week as part of President Donald Trumps effort to slash federal spending.

Seven active research projects receiving more than $1.6 million in NEH funding received notification that their grants had been canceled by billionaire Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency last Wednesday, university officials said.

An effort to digitize the works of Nebraska author Willa Cather lost funding as part of the cuts, as did work to gather and publish Genoa Indian School student records and to put historic Nebraska newspapers online.

In all, more than 1,000 NEH grants, which account for a small part of the federal budget but are key to promoting national and state history and culture, were terminated across the country last week.

Andrew Jewell, a professor of digital projects at University Libraries who serves as co-director for the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, said UNL research funded through the NEH has a broad audience.

More than 2 million people access the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities free websites each year, Jewell said, including the Willa Cather Archive, which began publishing the Red Cloud novelists letters, notes and manuscripts in 2018.

Two years ago, UNL received a grant for $304,207 to help fund the latest phase of the archive, which seeks to publish Cathers literary manuscripts online in an annotated format.

Jewell said work this year was focused on finishing the back-end work to put the manuscripts online.

We have a year of work left, so when the grant goes away, that changes our ability to finish the work, he said. We still need to figure out a plan and do our best not to waste the time, effort and resources weve already spent.

Another program that lost its NEH funding last week was nearing the expiration date of its grant, leaving researchers baffled as to why it was targeted by DOGE.

The Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project, which started in June 2019 and was set to end on May 31, had its $449,899 grant canceled last week, according to Margaret Jacobs, director of the Center for Great Plains Studies.

Jacobs said the project is now scrambling to find alternative funding to keep paying its three employees, which includes two full-time staff members and one graduate research assistant, for the next two months as planned.

When youre in the humanities, there just arent a lot of funding sources available, Jacobs said. I dont know if people recognize how hard it is to get an NEH grant. Its not some whimsical thing.

They are extremely responsible, know they are a taxpayer-funded agency and want their money to go to legitimate academic enterprises, she added.

The Genoa Indian School project, which saw UNL partner with the Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation Museum and more than 40 Native tribes, sought to locate records generated at the boarding school between 1884 and 1934.

Jacobs said the records, many of which are held in tribal repositories, state historical societies or other archives, are highly sought after by the relatives of Native children sent to the school to be assimilated as they seek to understand and heal.

We wanted to make them easily accessible for tribal members and to repatriate them to the tribes, she said. And we wanted to educate non-Native people about the boarding schools, the intent behind them, and the experiences of the survivors and their families.

While the work is mostly completed, Jacobs said the UNL team was busy working to make the digitized records searchable on the projects website. Early work was also starting on a project to build an oral history as well as a traveling exhibit.

Jacobs said while she believed the next phase of the project would have been eligible for an NEH grant, that opportunity now appears shut off, at least in the immediate future.

I dont think what has happened here is legal, Jacobs said of the grant cancellation. Congress appropriated these funds, the executive branch shouldnt just be able to cancel them.

Laura Weakly, a metadata encoding specialist at University Libraries, said her ongoing NEH-funded project to digitize out-of-print Nebraska newspapers was among many similar projects across the country that lost funding.

Newspapers Nebraska, which is in the middle of its sixth grant cycle, has preserved more than a half-million pages since it launched in 2007, Weakly said. All of the newspapers currently available online are from before 1963.

Among those preserved are the Omaha Bee, a onetime competitor to the Omaha World and Omaha Herald, as well as the Beatrice Daily Express, a precursor to the Beatrice Daily Sun.

The project has also preserved Czech language newspapers printed in Omaha, Wahoo and Wilber  often referred to as Nebraskas Czech Capital  as well as old editions of the Daily Nebraskan, UNLs student newspaper.

To kick off its latest grant, a $304,870 award announced last September, Weakly had been preparing to submit a small batch of pages to the Library of Congress for review.

Those pages were from the South Omaha Daily Stockman, which started publishing in 1886 as one of several newspapers centered on one of the worlds largest livestock markets and meatpacking hubs.

For Weakly, preserving the newspaper with its pulse on South Omaha also took on a personal touch. She found a notice in the paper that her great-grandparents had sold cattle at the Omaha Stockyards as part of their butcher business.

It had a significant impact on South Omaha and to the cattle industry in Nebraska, Weakly said. Im kind of sad were not going to be able to continue.

The loss of funding wont pull the existing newspapers off the internet, Weakly said. Those interested in Nebraskas history with the suffrage movement can still find The Womens Tribune, the newspaper started by womens rights activist Clara Colby in Beatrice.

But it will hamper efforts to compile newspapers like Der Wassertum, which Weakly said she knows is of particular interest to one Nebraskan who remembered the camp from when that individual was young.

And it will also mean less exposure to Nebraska history for students across the state. Approximately 20,000 pages are viewed each month, with web traffic spiking each January and February, Weakly said, as Nebraska students begin working on their National History Day projects.

Its such a small expenditure, but the good that comes out of it is so important, Weakly said. Having these newspapers available freely online just seems like such a low cost for their importance.
By Taxpayers Association of Oregon

OregonWatchdog.com

An Oregon State Senator has been removed from several committees due to medical needs. The Wallement Week reported that Senator Arron Woods (DWilsonville) was removed by Senate President Rob Wagner (DLake Oswego). According to Senator Wagners office, this decision was made because Senator Woods will be away from Salem periodically for medical treatment. As a result, he has been removed from the Senate Labor and Business Committee, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, and its Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development. On the House side State Representative Hoa Nguyen (D-Portland) has been battling stage 4 cancer and has being absent from many votes.

With Senator Woods requiring medical treatment for the remainder of the session, Senate Democrats will have one less vote, bringing the composition to 17 Democratic Senators and 12 Republican Senators. The Constitution requires 18 votes in the Senate (60%) and 36 in the House (60%) to pass taxes. Over 10 taxes were introduced in the transportation package last week.

Lawmakers are in the building for less than 90 days away from their hard deadline.

Although we speculate about political realities, it is secondary to the health of our elected lawmakers.

Thoughts, prayers and hope extended to their recovery.

 Was this helpful? If so, contribute online at OregonWatchdog.com (learn about a Charitable Tax Deduction or Political Tax Credit options to promote liberty).
By State Senator Fred Girod

Today, the Oregon Senate unanimously passed SB 1189, a bill introduced by Senator Fred Girod (R-Silverton), to help build a new publicly owned sewage treatment facility in the North Santiam Basina key step in rebuilding communities still recovering from the 2020 wildfires.

The bill allows construction of the new facility to begin between April 15th, 2025 and June 6th, 2025 without a DEQ water quality permit, so long as the facility receives all necessary permits before it begins operation or discharges wastewater. All other required permits, such as for stormwater, still apply.

This project is essential for communities like Mill City and Gates that were devastated by wildfire, said Senator Girod. Their current treatment system is outdated and failing. Without modern infrastructure, they cant build new homes or grow. SB 1189 clears the way to start construction on time and protects a $50 million investment the Legislature made to get this done.

The new facility will improve water quality in the North Santiam River and protect public health in the region. It will also unlock new opportunities for housing development, economic growth, and long-term sustainability in an area still working to recover and rebuild.

SB 1189 now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.
Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. While it has its own Greenlandic government, including a prime minister and parliament, it remains a constituent country within the Danish realm.

Denmark handles foreign affairs and defense, while Greenland manages public affairs through the Self Government Act passed in 2009.

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Greenland has had home rule since 1979, and in 2009, the Self-Government Act expanded its autonomy, recognizing Greenlanders as a people with the right to self-determination under international law.

Some Greenlandic people continue to advocate for full independence. The island's political structure includes parties like Siumut (a social democratic party) and Inuit Ataqatigiit.

Kalaallisut (West Greenlandic) is the official language, while Danish and English are also widely spoken.

The Danish monarch remains the formal head of state, and the Danish government influences policies that affect Greenland, such as those related to military bases and foreign investment.
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Field finds of obsidian flakes. Credit: Rebecca Plouffe, Alyssa Hamza, and Todd Kristensen. Allan / Archaeological Survey of Alberta Occasional Paper 43 (2024) 1-7.

Volcanic glass has been discovered at more than 500 archaeological sites in western Canada. Geologically speaking, it shouldn't be there.

Now, researchers may have answered how these artifacts made of obsidian ended up so far away from their point of origin, according to a March 14 study published by the Archaeological Survey of Alberta.

"Finding obsidian at an archaeological site is a bona fide indicator" of long-distance trade among prehistoric populations, study author and archaeologist Tim Allan said.

Obsidian was likely traded as part of the "complex and dynamic relationships connecting millions of Indigenous North Americans," Allan said.

One of the sites where obsidian was foundGbQn-13is about 7,000 years old.

Using X-ray fluorescence technology, Allan traced 383 obsidian artifacts from 96 sites across Alberta to their geological source and revealed they came primarily from four sources: Bear Gulch in Idaho, Obsidian Cliff in Wyoming, and Anahim Peak and Mount Edziza in British Columbia.

Some of the obsidian artifacts, including arrowheads and spear tips, traveled nearly 750 miles from their source, according to Allan.

"A single piece of obsidian likely exchanged hands many times," he said.

According to the study, a large portion of the obsidian deposits were uncovered at bison jumpsareas where indigenous hunters lured bison off cliffs to fall to their deaths.

Allan suggests the distribution of obsidian at these sites may be related to communal bison hunting practices, but additional research is needed.

River networks likely also played a role in prehistoric trade and obsidian distribution, according to the study.

"Indigenous communities were extremely interconnected prior to European contact and colonization," Allan said.

"These trade networks spanned thousands of kilometers, we are only scratching the surface of how complex relationships between different groups were," Allan told McClatchy News.

Allan's research is part of the Alberta Obsidian Project.

2025 The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Anthrax poisoning has killed about 50 hippos in Virunga, Africa's oldest national park located in the Democratic Republic of Congo's troubled east, the head of the park told AFP on Tuesday.

It is caused by a spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus anthracis, which survives for decades in soil where animals that died of anthrax or were carriers were buried. It is transmissible to humans and potentially fatal in its inhaled form.

The hippopotamuses were found floating in a river south of Lake Edward, which separates the DRC from Uganda, park director Emmanuel de Merode said.

The local office of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) in the North Kivu province, where the hippos were found floating, recommended precautionary measures including avoiding eating bushmeat.

"Although this disease mainly affects wildlife, it poses a potential risk of transmission to humans as well as domestic animals," said the body, which manages national parks in the DRC.

Virunga was established in 1925 and is renowned for its wildlife, particularly mountain gorillas, and magnificent landscapes.

It is also located at the heart of the conflicts that have been tearing the eastern DRC apart for the past 30 years.

Hippopotamuses and other mammals have already fallen victim to anthrax several times in Virunga and other nature reserves in Africa.

 2025 AFP
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

China recently approved the construction of the world's largest hydropower dam, across the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet. When fully up and running, it will be the world's largest power plantby some distance.

Yet many are worried the dam will displace local people and cause huge environmental disruption. This is particularly the case in the downstream nations of India and Bangladesh, where that same river is known as the Brahmaputra.

The proposed dam highlights some of the geopolitical issues raised by rivers that cross international borders. Who owns the river itself, and who has the right to use its water? Do countries have obligations not to pollute shared rivers, or to keep their shipping lanes open? And when a drop of rain falls on a mountain, do farmers in a different country thousands of miles downstream have a claim to use it? Ultimately, we still don't know enough about these questions of river rights and ownership to settle disputes easily.

The Yarlung Tsangpo begins on the Tibetan Plateau, in a region sometimes referred to as the world's third pole as its glaciers contain the largest stores of ice outside of the Arctic and Antarctica. A series of huge rivers tumble down from the plateau and spread across south and south-east Asia. Well over a billion people depend on them, from Pakistan to Vietnam.

Yet the region is already under immense stress as global warming melts glaciers and changes rainfall patterns. Reduced water flow in the dry season, coupled with sudden releases of water during monsoons, could intensify both water scarcity and flooding, endangering millions in India and Bangladesh.

The construction of large dams in the Himalayas has historically disrupted river flows, displaced people, destroyed fragile ecosystems and increased risks of floods. The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Dam will likely be no exception.

The dam will sit along the tectonic boundary where the Indian and Eurasian plates converge to form the Himalayas. This makes the region particularly vulnerable to earthquakes, landslides, and sudden floods when natural dams burst.

Downstream, the Brahmaputra is one of South Asia's mightiest rivers and has been integral to human civilization for thousands of years. It's one of the world's most sediment-rich rivers, which helps form a huge and fertile delta.

Yet a dam of this scale would trap massive amounts of sediment upstream, disrupting its flow downstream. This could make farming less productive, threatening food security in one of the world's most densely populated regions.

The Sundarbans mangrove forest, a Unesco World Heritage Site that stretches across most of coastal Bangladesh and a portion of India, is particularly vulnerable. Any disruption to the balance of sediment could accelerate coastal erosion and make the already low-lying area more vulnerable to sea-level rise.

Unfortunately, despite the transboundary nature of the Brahmaputra, there is no comprehensive treaty governing it. This lack of formal agreements complicates efforts to ensure China, India and Bangladesh share the water equitably and work together to prepare for disasters.

These sorts of agreements are perfectly possible: 14 countries plus the European Union are parties to a convention on protecting the Danube, for instance. But the Brahmaputra is not alone. Many transboundary rivers in the global south face similar neglect and inadequate research.

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Researching rivers

In our recent study, colleagues and I analyzed 4,713 case studies across 286 transboundary river basins. We wanted to assess how much academic research there was on each, what themes it focused on, and how that varied depending on the type of river. We found that, while large rivers in the global north receive considerable academic attention, many equally important rivers in the global south remain overlooked.

What research there is in the global south is predominantly led by institutions from the global north. This dynamic influences research themes and locations, often sidelining the most pressing local issues. We found that research in the global north tends to focus on technical aspects of river management and governance, whereas studies in the global south primarily examine conflicts and resource competition.

In Asia, research is concentrated on large, geopolitically significant basins like the Mekong and Indus. Smaller rivers where water crises are most acute are often neglected. Something similar is happening in Africa, where studies focus on climate change and water-sharing disputes, yet a lack of infrastructure limits broader research efforts.

Small and medium-sized river basins, critical to millions of people in the global south, are among the most neglected in research. This oversight has serious real-world consequences. We still don't know enough about water scarcity, pollution, and climate change impacts in these regions, which makes it harder to develop effective governance and threatens the livelihoods of everyone who depends on these rivers.

A more inclusive approach to research will ensure the sustainable management of transboundary rivers, safeguarding these vital resources for future generations.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Modifying the properties of quasiparticles with an external drive is like turning a horse into a unicorn by stirring up the dust in its path. Credit: Image by Alan Tsidilkovski with assistance from AI generative tools

For the better part of a century, the quantum objects known as quasiparticles have been all dressed up with nowhere to go. But that may change, now that a Yale-led team of physicists has shown it is possible to exert a greater level of control over at least one type of quasiparticle.

The discovery upends decades of fundamental science and may have wide applications for quantum-related research in the years ahead.

A quasiparticle is an "emergent" quantum objecta central, core particle surrounded by other particles that, together, demonstrate properties not found in each individual component. Quasiparticles have become the central conceptual picture by which scientists try to understand interacting quantum systems, including those that may be used in computing, sensors, and other devices.

But their complex interplay with other particles in quantum systems can make them difficult to study effectively.

"Interacting quantum systems are central players in modern quantum science and technology, but they are challenging to understand," said Nir Navon, an associate professor of physics in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, member of the Yale Quantum Institute, and principal investigator for a new study in the journal Nature Physics.

"In some cases, interactions merely dress particles and give them new acquired properties, such as a modified mass, or a longer lifetimeturning them into quasiparticles," Navon said. "What we've done here is demonstrate a new and surprising level of control. By using a simple 'knob,' we can manipulate the properties of quasiparticles. It's a little bit like turning a horse into a unicorn by controllably stirring up dust around it."

The strongly driven Fermi impurity. Credit: Nature Physics (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-025-02799-8

Navon's lab at Yale creates tabletop experiments that simulate quantum phenomena. In doing so, researchers investigate basic scientific properties of the quantum world and how those properties may be influenced.

For the new study, Navon and his collaborators, including theorist Michael Knap of the Technical University of Munich, looked at ways to manipulate the properties of a specific type of quasiparticle called a Fermi polaron. Fermi polarons are quasiparticles formed by free-floating impurities that interact with subatomic particles called fermions.

Navon, Knap, and their colleagues devised a highly controlled, "clean" environment in which to observe Fermi polarons. They used laser-manipulated atoms cooled to nanokelvin temperatures (a nanokelvin is a billionth of a degree above absolute zero), and precise radio frequency control, to exert a new degree of influence over the quasiparticles.

"Being able to control a quantum system to a high degree, as has been done in this experiment, can lead to new types of quantum states that do not obey the laws of thermodynamics," Knap said. "It is now our task to research the conditions for realizing such exotic states."

The findings challenge longstanding notions about quasiparticles and open the possibility of understanding and controlling quantum systems in new ways, the researchers said.

"Some of the most interesting and bizarre quantum systems these days are those that actually don't have quasiparticles," Navon said.

"It would be fantastic to have the ability to controllably destroyor revivequasiparticles. The prospect of starting with a quantum system that does have quasiparticles, and being able to destroy them using an external field, would create a remarkable bridge between quantum systems that are well understood and those that currently elude understanding."

More information: Franklin J. Vivanco et al, The strongly driven Fermi polaron, Nature Physics (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-025-02799-8 Journal information: Nature Physics
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Conservationists have cleared invasive shrubs and planted thousands of native trees in the Colorado River Delta, part of a Mexican region bordering the United States.

In a drought-hit Mexican border region at the center of growing competition with the United States for water, conservationists are working to bring a once-dying river delta back to life.

On a stretch of the Colorado River, which on the Mexican side of the frontier is mostly a dry riverbed, native cottonwood and willow trees have been planted in place of invasive shrubs.

It is the fruit of two decades of work by environmentalists along the lower part of the river from the US-Mexican border to the upper estuary of the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez.

"If we give a little water and care to certain sections of the river, we can recover environments that had already been completely lost," said Enrique Villegas, director of the Colorado River Delta program at the Sonoran Institute, a US-Mexican civil society group.

The Colorado starts in the Rocky Mountains and winds its way through the southwestern United States, feeding cities and farmland along the way.

By the time it crosses into Mexico most of its water has already been consumed.

What is left is diverted to supply border cities like Tijuana and to irrigate agricultural land.

It means Tijuana and nearby areas are at the mercy of how much snow falls in the Rockies, said Marco Antonio Samaniego, an expert at the Autonomous University of Baja California.

Aerial view of the Colorado River Delta meeting the Gulf of California in Mexico.

"We don't live off what rains in Tijuana. We live off what snows in those mountains," he said, adding that several years of below-average precipitation had reduced reservoir levels in the United States.

Growing competition for resources sparked a recent diplomatic row when the United States refused Mexico's request for water due to shortfalls in sharing by its southern neighbor under a decades-old treaty.

"The basis of all the problems," Villegas said, is that "there is more water distributed among all the users of the Colorado River than actually exists."

Wildlife returns

Over the years, dams and diversions reduced the river to a trickle and turned a delta that once teemed with birds and other wildlife into a dying ecosystem.

So conservationists secured land as well as irrigation permits, cleared invasive shrubs and planted thousands of native trees.

On the Mexican side of the border with the United States, the Colorado River is mostly dry.

In 2014, water was allowed to surge down the Colorado River through a dam at the border for the first time in years to encourage the natural germination of native species.

"After years of this type of work, we now have a forest of poplars and willows on 260 hectares (642 acres) on a stretch of the Colorado River. Fauna has returned. Many birds have returned," Villegas said.

The rejuvenation has also brought back another nativethe beavera species that had largely disappeared from sight in the area, Villegas said.

"On the one hand, it's a biological indicator that if you give nature a habitat then it returns and begins to reproduce. But they're also knocking down trees that we planted," he said.

At Laguna Grande, a lush oasis surrounded by dusty fields that is a centerpiece of the restoration project, coots and other birds swim contentedly in wetlands while herons startled by visitors clumsily take flight.

The Colorado River Delta is an important resting ground for migratory birds.

Nearby, on land, underground hoses feed water to trees sprouting from the dusty ground.

The Colorado River Delta is an important rest point for migratory birds including the yellow-breasted chat, vermilion flycatcher and endangered yellow-billed cuckoo, according to conservationists.

The wetlands and forest of Laguna Grande contrast starkly with parched agricultural land nearby where farmers such as Cayetano Cisneros are facing increasingly tough conditions.

"Years ago, we sowed maize, we sowed cotton, we sowed everything, and we didn't suffer because of water," the 72-year-old said on his dusty ranch.

These days, "the Colorado River no longer carries water," he said. "The environment is changing a lot."

If more of the delta and other such areas are to be nursed back to health, people must change their use of water, conservationists note.

Farmer Cayetano Cisneros looks at his cows on his ranch near the Colorado River in northern Mexico.

The Laguna Grande oasis in northwestern Mexico is at the core of a restoration project in the Colorado River Delta.

"We can all improve our awareness of water consumption," Villegas said.

"This drought is just a warning."

 2025 AFP
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Solar Eclipse at partial obscuration. Credit: Amy Donner of Haikubox

A study published in Scientific Reports reveals how birds responded to the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse across North America. The study finds bird vocalizations significantly declined only where more than 99% solar obscuration occurred. The study is titled "Continental-scale behavioral response of birds to a total solar eclipse."

Researchers from Loggerhead Instruments, Inc. and the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology analyzed data from 344 community-based acoustic monitoring devices, called Haikuboxes, using a novel neural network approach.

Unlike previous studies, this research controlled for human presence, recognizing that birds might react to the observers themselves, rather than the eclipse. This is the first major study to leverage the Haikubox network for scientific research.

"Anecdotal evidence has long suggested that birds fall silent or exhibit nighttime behaviors during a total solar eclipse," said David Mann, Ph.D., lead author of the study and researcher at Loggerhead Instruments.

"Our study shows that, on average, birds do get quiet during and just after totality, but we also learned that this behavior is strongly linked to the degree of darkness experienced."

The research also revealed varied responses among different bird species, even for the same species at different locations. For example, black-capped chickadees at two sites reacted differently to the eclipse: at one site in New York State they were quiet until well after totality, while they increased their vocalizations during and immediately after peak totality at another site in Vermont.

Other species and site variations were found: for example, one or more American Robins sang throughout totality at one site in Kentucky, while Pine Siskin vocalizations stopped completely during totality at another site in Maine.

"The variability in bird responses and site differences was fascinating," said Mann.

"We really don't know why birds had such different responses to the total darkness during the eclipse. Despite examining factors like temperature, cloud cover, and wind speed, we found no significant relationship with changes in vocalization rates. This strongly suggests that the sudden total darkness and associated changes in wind and temperature were the primary drivers of the observed behavioral shifts."

It is important to note that data from Haikuboxes with detectable human presence during the eclipse period were excluded to eliminate potential reactions to human presence.

"Our first, quick look at Haikubox data just a few hours after the eclipse showed a large dip in bird vocalizations around the time of peak totality," said Mann.

"When we dove deeper into the data and removed any sites where humans may have influenced the birds' behaviors, we found a much more complicated story. People were pretty excited about the total solar eclipse, and their celebrations likely affected the birds' reactions."

This study shows the research potential of a large, community science-powered, bioacoustic monitoring network.

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"In a time when technology often pulls us away from the natural world, Haikubox does the oppositeit fosters a deeper connection to it. By combining AI technology with a love for the environment, Haikubox helps people engage with nature in a modern and educational way," notes Mann.

The Haikubox network relies on community scientists (also sometimes referred to as citizen scientists) to host acoustic monitoring devices. It provides a unique platform for studying wildlife behavior across broad geographic areas without the biases associated with human observation.

"Our findings can inform future research on the impacts of light pollution and sudden changes in light levels on bird behavior," notes Mann.

"Furthermore, it proves that when we combine the power of community science with clever technology, we can learn amazing things about wildlife without disturbing them, which may inform future continental-scale studies."

As one node in a growing passive acoustic monitoring network, Haikubox owners contribute valuable bird behavior data that can fuel future scientific research.

In addition to Mann, it is co-authored by Austin Anderson, Amy Donner and Michael Hall of Haikubox; and Stefan Kahl and Holger Klinck of the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The research team expects this to be the first of many research projects to use Haikubox acoustic data.

"Passive acoustic monitoring is a terrific tool for gathering data about animal behavior, and regular folks play an important role in widening our listening network," said Mann.

"Putting a Haikubox in your yard helps us add to the already 1 billion acoustic recordings we've gathered. Our community is enabling tomorrow's scientific discoveries."

More information: David Mann et al, Continental-scale behavioral response of birds to a total solar eclipse, Scientific Reports (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-94901-6 Journal information: Scientific Reports

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Ash from the eruption of a volcano in Yellowstone preserved more than 100 specimens of a prehistoric rhino at Nebraska's Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. Credit: John Haxby/The University of Nebraska State Museum

Rhinos that flourished across much of North America 12 million years ago gathered in huge herds, according to a new study by the University of Cincinnati.

Researchers studied the isotopes of rhino teeth found in what is now northeast Nebraska. Here, more than 100 rhinos at a single water hole died and were entombed in ash from an eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano.

Since the discovery of rhinos at Nebraska's Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park in 1971, researchers have wondered what drew so many animals together in the same place. Did they converge from far away, perhaps to seek shelter from the unfolding natural disaster of the volcanic eruption with its choking ash?

"We found they didn't move very much," lead author and UC graduate Clark Ward said. "We didn't find evidence for seasonal migration or any evidence of a response to the disaster."

The work is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Ward, who is now pursuing a doctorate at the University of Minnesota, used isotopic analysis of Miocene rhinos as part of a master's research project under the guidance of advisers and study co-authors Brooke Crowley at UC and University of Nebraska Professor Ross Secord.

"I learned a lot about the chemistry that goes into an isotopic analysis," Ward said. "I learned how to sample and how to analyze data at UC."

Researchers examined ratios of isotopes of strontium, oxygen and carbon in fossil teeth to track the movements of the long-extinct animals across landscapes. Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons.

A researcher works on fossils at Nebraskas Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. Credit: John Haxby/The University of Nebraska State Museum

Grass or leaves that rhinos and other animals eat contain similar ratios of isotopes as the soil and bedrock where plants grow that allow researchers to determine where the animals fed, sometimes with surprising precision depending on how variable the vegetation and geology are.

Scientists use this technique in wildlife conservation. For example, they can track the migrations of wide-ranging animals such as caribou or identify the habitat needs of elusive animals like jaguars.

"By studying carbon in the animal, we can reconstruct carbon in the environment to understand what kinds of vegetation lived there," Ward said.

Meanwhile, oxygen tells scientists about climate, particularly rainfall.

"We can use it to reconstruct how wet or dry the environment was," Ward said. "And strontium tells us where the animal was foraging because the ratio of isotopes is related to the soil and supporting bedrock."

Teleoceras major was a one-horned rhino with a barrel-shaped body and stubby legs like a hippo. Like hippos, they fed on grass. And like hippos, researchers think these rhinos spent a lot of time in and around water. Because of their vast size, they had few predators in the Miocene epoch, Ward said.

But their calves would have been vulnerable to hyena-like predators called bone-crushing dogs. Indeed, some of the specimens found at the Nebraska site bear evidence that scavengers removed portions of their carcasses after they died. And ancient tracks from the 100-pound dogs have been found there.

Ward grew up near Ashfall Fossil Beds and spent a lot of time thinking about the calamity that befell the animals there.

UC researchers discovered that prehistoric rhinos like these that shared a waterhole 12 million years ago lived in enormous herds. Credit: John Haxby/The University of Nebraska State Museum

Yellowstone's enormous volcano has erupted many times over the past 12 million years. Ash from the eruption easily would have traveled 700 miles across what is now Nebraska where it piled up like snow nearly a foot deep in places. But windblown ash continued to fall on Nebraska long after the initial eruption, Ward said.

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"That ash would have covered everything: the grass, leaves and water," Ward said. "The rhinos likely weren't killed immediately like the people of Pompeii. Instead, it was much slower. They were breathing in the ash. And they likely starved to death."

Rhino expert John Payne spent his career working with endangered Sumatran rhinos in Malaysia. Payne, who was not part of the study, said UC's research addresses scientific debate about the social structure of this ancient species of rhino.

"I am not surprised that the analyses very strongly suggest that Teleoceras major lived in herds, given that this animal resembles modern hippopotamus in form and hippos live in herds of several tens of animalswith several herds in one geographical area," he said.

"One can readily imagine several herds of many tens of individuals in each herd living in adjacent grasslands," he said.

Ward worked as an intern at the place he loved as a child, Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park, answering visitors' questions about the fossils and participating in fossil excavations and preparation at the site.

"I'm honored and privileged to have my name in science attached to the site," Ward said. "As someone who used to go to Ashfall as a kid, it's come full circle."

More information: Clark T. Ward et al, Enamel carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotopes reveal limited mobility in an extinct rhinoceros at Ashfall Fossil Beds, Nebraska, USA, Scientific Reports (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-94263-z Journal information: Scientific Reports
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Site characteristics. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57801-x

Ancient DNA extracted from a sediment core from a high-altitude Pyrenean lake in Spain reveals that fish may have been added to the lake by humans as early as the 7th century CE. The findings, published in Nature Communications, suggest that fish were present in Lake Redon much earlier than previously suggested by historical evidence and provide further insight into the impact of human activity on these ecosystems.

High-mountain lakes were historically fishless due to natural barriers, but historical documents began to record fish stocking in European high-mountain lakes during the 14th and 15th centuries CE. These records mostly detail fishing rights and trade for specific lakes, but whether the practice of stocking fish began earlier is unclear.

To investigate, Elena Fagin and colleagues examined a 30cm-long sediment core spanning 3,200 years from Lake Redon in the Pyrenes Mountains of Spain, which is currently host to a population of approximately 60,000 brown trout. No fish DNA was preserved in the lake sediments, but the authors identified DNA from fish parasites and fish prey, which they used as a proxy for the fish, enabling them to investigate their introduction.

They identified DNA belonging to fish parasites as early as the 7th century CE, with a more consistent signal beginning in the 9th century CE, approximately 500 years before historical records begin to document fish stocking in this area. This coincides with evidence from nearby archaeological excavations suggesting that the region was used as sheep pasture in the Late-Roman and Visigothic periods.

The authors suggest that the population of fish living in the lake remained consistent despite changes in the human population in the surrounding area, from which the authors infer that the fish were well-established but could have been impacted by climatic trends.

These findings demonstrate the potential of ancient DNA to help understand historical human activity and document previously unclear impacts of settlements on high-mountain ecosystems.

More information: Elena Fagin et al, Parasite sedimentary DNA reveals fish introduction into a European high-mountain lake by the seventh century, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57801-x Journal information: Nature Communications
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Structure 6D-XV-Sub3 altar with murals rendered from the north-west. Drawing by H. Hurst. Credit: Antiquity (2025). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2025.3

Just steps from the center of Tikal, a 2,400-year-old Maya city in the heart of modern-day Guatemala, a global team of researchers including scholars from Brown University have unearthed a buried altar that could unlock the secrets of a mysterious time of upheaval in the ancient world.

The altar, built around the late 300s A.D., is decorated with four painted panels of red, black and yellow depicting a person wearing a feathered headdress and flanked by shields or regalia. The face has almond-shaped eyes, a nose bar and a double earspool. It closely resembles other depictions of a deity dubbed the "Storm God" in central Mexico.

In a study released on Tuesday, April 8, in Antiquity, the Brown researchers, along with co-authors from across the United States and Guatemala, argue that the painted altar wasn't the work of a Maya artist. Instead, they believe it was created by a highly skilled artisan trained at Teotihuacanthe formidable ancient power whose seat was located 630 miles west, outside modern-day Mexico City.

"It's increasingly clear that this was an extraordinary period of turbulence at Tikal," said Stephen Houston, a professor of social science, anthropology, and history of art and architecture at Brown, who co-authored the paper. "What the altar confirms is that wealthy leaders from Teotihuacan came to Tikal and created replicas of ritual facilities that would have existed in their home city. It shows Teotihuacan left a heavy imprint there."

Even before discovering the altar, Houston and colleagues knew the Maya interacted with Teotihuacan for centuries before their relationship became closer.

Founded in about 850 B.C., Tikal existed for generations as a small city with little influence before ballooning into a dynasty around 100 A.D. Archaeologists have evidence that Tikal and the much more powerful Teotihuacan began interacting regularly about two centuries later. What seemed at first to be a casual trading relationship, Houston said, quickly became something more contentious.

"It's almost as if Tikal poked the beast and got too much attention from Teotihuacan," Houston said. "That's when foreigners started moving into the area."

Structure 6D-XV-Sub3 altar with murals photographed from the south-west. Photograph by E. Roman. Credit: Antiquity (2025). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2025.3

An ancient coup d'etat

Houston said that over several decades, scholars have collected mounting evidence of a less-than-friendly relationship. The research started in the 1960s, when archaeologists found a cut and mutilated stone with well-preserved text describing the conflict in broad terms.

Thanks to the stone's text, they learned that "around A.D. 378, Teotihuacan was essentially decapitating a kingdom," Houston said. "They removed the king and replaced him with a quisling, a puppet king who proved a useful local instrument to Teotihuacan."

Decades later, using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology, the Brown scholars and several colleagues discovered a scaled-down replica of the Teotihuacan citadel just outside the center of Tikal, buried under what archaeologists believed were natural hills. The discovery suggested that in the years leading up to its overthrow, Teotihuacan's presence in the Maya city probably involved an element of occupation or surveillance.

Co-author Andrew Scherer, a professor of anthropology and of archaeology and the ancient world at Brown and director of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, said the altar was built right around the time of the coup.

He said the altar's meticulously painted exterior isn't the only evidence of the capital's heavy-handed presence: Inside the altar, the archaeologists found a child buried in a seated position, a rare practice at Tikal but common at Teotihuacan. They also found an adult interred with a dart point made of green obsidian; Scherer said the material and design of the dart point are distinct to Teotihuacan.

The fact that the altar and the area around it was later buried, Scherer said, cements the research team's theory that Teotihuacan's presence left Tikal forever changed and even scarred.

"The Maya regularly buried buildings and rebuilt on top of them," Scherer said. "But here, they buried the altar and surrounding buildings and just left them, even though this would have been prime real estate centuries later. They treated it almost like a memorial or a radioactive zone. It probably speaks to the complicated feelings they had about Teotihuacan."

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Power begets power

"Complicated" is an apt way to describe Tikal's collective memory of the Teotihuacan coup, Houston said. The event may have shaken Tikal to its core, but it ultimately made the kingdom more powerful: Over the next few centuries, Tikal rose to yet greater heights, becoming a nearly unmatched dynasty before eventually declining around 900 A.D., along with the rest of the Maya world.

"There's a kind of nostalgia about that time, when Teotihuacan was at the height of its power and taking increasing interest in the Maya," Houston said. "It's something exalted for them; they looked back on it almost wistfully. Even when they were in decline, they were still thinking about local politics in context of that contact with central Mexico."

As they uncover more details about the contentious story of Teotihuacan and Tikal, Houston and Scherer said they're both struck by how familiar it sounds: An all-powerful empire spots paradise and decides to plunder its riches.

"Everyone knows what happened to the Aztec civilization after the Spanish arrived," Houston said. "Our findings show evidence that that's a tale as old as time. These powers of central Mexico reached into the Maya world because they saw it as a place of extraordinary wealth, of special feathers from tropical birds, jade and chocolate. As far as Teotihuacan was concerned, it was the land of milk and honey."

More information: Edwin Roman Ramirez et al, A Teotihuacan altar at Tikal, Guatemala: central Mexican ritual and elite interaction in the Maya Lowlands, Antiquity (2025). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2025.3 Journal information: Antiquity
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

In one of the most impoverished areas of Seoul, South Korea, residents live in precarious conditions: tiny micro-units often without bathrooms, kitchens, heating or cooling. The residents contribute the least among society to climate change yet suffer disproportionately due to historical and systemic inequalities. A new study from the University of Kansas highlights the inequalities, calling for social workers to play a critical role in advocating for and including marginalized communities in addressing climate change and injustice.

Joonmo Kang, assistant professor of social welfare at KU, spent a year living in a jjokbang-chon, the so-called "last remaining slum" in Seoul, as part of a research project on the everyday experiences of climate change-related disasters in marginalized communities. For the current study, he estimated the carbon footprint of jjokbang-chon residents, highlighting the climate injustice they face.

"The community members in jjokbang-chon are subjected to the worst of climate change while contributing the least to its causes. This pattern is not unique to jjokbang-chonit reflects a broader global injustice," Kang said.

"Higher-income countries and cities drive emissions through their lifestyles and consumption, yet it is poorer countries and marginalized communities that bear the brunt of climate disasters. This disparity, known as the carbon divide, highlights how the wealthiest 10% of the global population are responsible for nearly 50% of all emissions, while those with the smallest carbon footprints suffer the most."

Kang and co-author Chris Weatherly of the University of Georgia estimated the carbon footprint of residents through surveys and interviews, assessing their energy consumption, transportation use and household expenditures.

The findings revealed that jjokbang-chon residents emit just under 4 metric tons of carbon per yearless than one-third of the average South Korean citizen, despite South Korea having one of the highest per capita emissions globally. This stark contrast underscores the deep carbon emission inequality and broader climate injustice within the country.

The low emissions of jjokbang-chon residents are directly tied to their lifestyle shaped by poverty. The findings revealed that they rarely leave their neighborhood, not by choice but due to structural barriers, resulting in minimal transportation use. They experience severe energy deprivation, exacerbated by a built environment that lacks adequate heating and cooling. Additionally, exploitative landlord practices further restrict their access to essential resources, deepening their vulnerability to climate-related hardships.

While jjokbang-chon residents emit significantly less carbon than the national average in South Korea, their emissions still exceed those of billions in the global south. This underscores the complex challenge of reducing emissions while ensuring social equity, according to the researchers.

In the study, published in the journal Ethics and Social Welfare, Kang and Weatherly highlight the dilemmas social workers may face in advancing climate solutions that both reduce overall emissions and promote justice for marginalized communities. They emphasize the vital role of social workers as facilitators and advocates, stressing the importance of collaboration and community empowerment in creating just and equitable responses to climate change.

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For example, a government-led plan to redevelop jjokbang-chon neighborhoods has been actively resisted by private developers for years. Social workers play a crucial role in advocating for those without political power, particularly in the fight for housing rights.

While development and construction contribute to carbon emissions, jjokbang-chon residents still need strong advocacy within the broader framework of climate justice. One approach could be to push not just for redevelopment, but for carbon-neutral public housing, the researchers wrote. Social workers are essential in driving society toward a future that reduces dependence on a carbon-based economy and promotes greater equity.

The study's results highlight that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to addressing climate injustice and build on Kang's previous work, which emphasizes the importance of a community-driven approach in addressing climate vulnerability.

More information: Joonmo Kang et al, Climate Justice and Carbon Emission Inequality: Social Work's Dilemma in Marginalized Communities, Ethics and Social Welfare (2025). DOI: 10.1080/17496535.2025.2469736
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Approaches used in the published literature to estimate Yw and yield gaps at regional level. Credit: Nature Food (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01157-4

An international team of agronomists is calling for a new approach to estimate crop yield potential and gapsinformation that is critical in planning how to meet growing food demand.

University of NebraskaLincoln researchers made major contributions to the study, published in the journal Nature Food.

"We are in a race to feed the world and to try to feed the population with the available agricultural land that we have," said Patricio Grassini, Sunkist Distinguished Professor of Agronomy and one of the paper's authors.

To do so requires estimates that predict both yield potential, as determined by weather and soil properties, and yield gaps, which is the difference between yield potential and current farm yields, which indicates the room that exists to increase food production on existing cropland. Those estimates are essential in making investments in agricultural research and development, both from public and private sources.

At issue is how best to compile those estimates.

In the Nature Food paper, a team that includes scientists from Nebraska and three other institutions calls into question the statistical methods now widely used. In addition to Grassini, Husker authors of the study included Fatima Tenorio, Fernando Aramburu Merlos and Juan Rattalino Edreira, research assistant professors of agronomy.

In the United States, for example, current statistical models tend to rely too heavily on best-case scenariosthe most productive counties with the most fertile soils in a year with the most favorable weather, Grassini said. The methods also extrapolate a single yield potential across large regions with a wide diversity of climates and soils that likely would produce a similarly wide range in yield potential.

"Therefore, if you use that year as a reference, you are going to be overestimating your production potential because the best county with the best soils in the best year doesn't really represent your average climate or your most typical soil across the state," Grassini said.

But in other parts of the worldAfrica, for examplethese models might underestimate crop yield. There, farmers may have limited access to inputs compared to producers in other areas, thus attaining yields far below what the climate can support.

This statistical approach also leads to conflicting results, with production potential estimates almost doubling from one method to another. Grassini said this approachdriven mostly by geographers and statisticians, not agronomistshas been largely accepted, and more rigorous analysis is needed.

The research team's conclusions are explained in the paper, titled "Statistical approaches are inadequate for accurate estimation of yield potential and gaps at regional level."

The study compared estimates of yield potential and yield gaps of major U.S. rainfed cropscorn, soybeans and wheatderived from four statistical models against those derived from a "bottom-up" spatial scaling approach based on robust crop modeling and local weather and soil data, such as the Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas developed at Nebraska.

Process-based crop models used in this study have been rigorously validated for their capacity to estimate yield potential based on experimental data from well-managed crops grown across a wide range of environments. This bottom-up approach, which better incorporates long-term data and regional variations, is clearly superior, the team found.

"I expect some controversy," Grassini said of the team's conclusions that challenge the conventional wisdom.

The approach recommended by the team should better capture yield gaps, which "can help identify regions with largest room to increase crop production, which, in turn provides a basis to orient agricultural research and development programs."

"This is a call to set the record straight, because if we are going to use this information to inform policy and our investments, we better make sure that the information is sound and has been validated," Grassini said.

More information: Antoine Couedel et al, Statistical approaches are inadequate for accurate estimation of yield potential and gaps at regional level, Nature Food (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01157-4 Journal information: Nature Food
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The hypothesized semi-enclosed environment created by post-impact hydrothermal activity. Credit: Sato et al

About 66 million years ago, an asteroid slammed into the planet, wiping out all non-avian dinosaurs and about 70% of all marine species.

But the crater it left behind in the Gulf of Mexico was a literal hotbed for life, enriching the overlying ocean for at least 700,000 years, according to research published today in Nature Communications.

Scientists have discovered that a hydrothermal system created by the asteroid impact may have helped marine life flourish at the impact site by generating and circulating nutrients in the crater environment.

"After the asteroid impact, the Gulf of Mexico records an ecological recovery process that is quite different from that of the global ocean, as continuous hydrothermal activity has created a unique marine environment," said the study's lead author Honami Sato, an assistant professor at Japan's Kyushu University.

Sean Gulick, a research professor at The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences, is a co-author of the study. In 2016, he co-led a scientific drilling expedition to the impact site, which is called Chicxulub, that recovered core samples from the crater.

The study is the latest discovery to come from research on the 829 meters of core retrieved by the international team of researchers.

Previous research has already determined that life returned to the site of the crater within a matter of years. The new study presents evidence that a hydrothermal system created by the asteroid impact and its melt sheet buried beneath the seafloor likely played a role in its recovery and sustenance for hundreds of thousands of years.

"We are increasingly learning about the importance of impact-generated hydrothermal systems for life," Gulick said. "This paper is a step forward in showing the potential of an impact event to affect the overlying ocean for hundreds of thousands of years."

The research hinges on a chemical element called osmium. A particular ratio of osmium is associated with asteroid materials. The researchers found evidence that osmium from the asteroid buried kilometers beneath the impact crater was continuously released in the Gulf of Mexico due to submarine hydrothermal activity.

In other words, as hot water moved beneath the seafloor and up toward the surface, so did traces of the asteroid. As the hydrothermal fluid cooled over time, the asteroid traces exited the water and precipitated into sediment. The researchers analyzed the sediment, which was brought to the surface in the core samples, and used it to determine the extent of the hydrothermal system and how long the enrichment of osmium lasted.

The researchers also found that as the hydrothermal system ceased releasing osmium from the asteroid, the types of marine life living at the crater site changed. They found that when the hydrothermal system was releasing this osmium, the type of plankton found living in the environment were associated with high-nutrient environments. When the osmium returned to pre-impact levels, the plankton were associated with low-nutrient environments.

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This finding indicates that the ecosystem was no longer being sustained by the nutrients from the hydrothermal system being released into the overlying ocean. However, beneath the seafloor the hydrothermal system continued to persist for many millions of years; it just became ever more deeply buried by millions of years of sedimentation.

"This study reveals that impact cratering events, while primarily destructive, can in some cases also lead to significant hydrothermal activity," said co-author Steven Goderis, a research professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in Belgium. "In the case of Chicxulub, this process played a vital role in the rapid recovery of marine ecosystems."

With the demise of the dinosaurs, the Chicxulub impact is well known for its link to causing mass extinction. Gulick said that this research is important because it shows that this impact can be a catalyst for life, too. At the UT Center for Planetary Systems Habitability, Gulick is leading research on whether large impacts elsewhere in the solar system could help generate conditions that could sustain life on other planets or moons.

More information: Honami Sato et al, Prolonged 187Os/188Os excursion implies hydrothermal influence after the Chicxulub impact in the Gulf of Mexico, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58112-x Journal information: Nature Communications
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The radio antennas of NASAs Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex are located near the Australian capital. Its one of three Deep Space Network facilities around the world that keep the agency in contact with dozens of space missions Credit: NASA

Canberra joined the global network in 1965 and operates four radio antennas. Now, preparations have begun on its fifth as NASA works to increase the network's capacity.

NASA's Deep Space Network facility in Canberra, Australia celebrated its 60th anniversary on March 19 while also breaking ground on a new radio antenna. The pair of achievements are major milestones for the network, which communicates with spacecraft all over the solar system using giant dish antennas located at three complexes around the globe.

Canberra's newest addition, Deep Space Station 33, will be a 112-foot-wide (34-meter-wide) multifrequency beam-waveguide antenna. Buried mostly below ground, a massive concrete pedestal will house cutting-edge electronics and receivers in a climate-controlled room and provide a sturdy base for the reflector dish, which will rotate during operations on a steel platform called an alidade.

"As we look back on 60 years of incredible accomplishments at Canberra, the groundbreaking of a new antenna is a symbol for the next 60 years of scientific discovery," said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator of NASA's SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Building cutting-edge antennas is also a symbol of how the Deep Space Network embraces new technologies to enable the exploration of a growing fleet of space missions."

When it goes online in 2029, the new Canberra dish will be the last of six parabolic dishes constructed under NASA's Deep Space Network Aperture Enhancement Program, which is helping to support current and future spacecraft and the increased volume of data they provide. The network's Madrid facility welcomed a new dish in 2022, and the Goldstone, California, facility is putting the finishing touches on a new antenna.

Three eye-catching posters featuring the larger 230-foot (70-meter) antennas located at the three Deep Space Network complexes around the world. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Canberra's role

The Deep Space Network was officially founded on Dec. 24, 1963, when NASA's early ground stations, including Goldstone, were connected to the new network control center at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Called the Space Flight Operations Facility, that building remains the center through which data from the three global complexes flows.

The Madrid facility joined in 1964, and Canberra went online in 1965, going on to help support hundreds of missions, including the Apollo moon landings.

"Canberra has played a crucial part in tracking, communicating, and collecting data from some of the most momentous missions in space history," said Kevin Ferguson, director of the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex. "As the network continues to advance and grow, Canberra will continue to play a key role in supporting humanity's exploration of the cosmos."

By being spaced equidistant from one another around the globe, the complexes can provide continual coverage of spacecraft, no matter where they are in the solar system as Earth rotates.

There is an exception, however: Due to Canberra's location in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the only one that can send commands to and receive data from Voyager 2 as it heads south almost 13 billion miles (21 billion kilometers) through interstellar space. More than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away, Voyager 1 sends its data down to the Madrid and Goldstone complexes, but it, too, can only receive commands via Canberra.

Located at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve near the Australian capital city, the Canberra complex joined the Deep Space Network on March 19, 1965, with one 85-foot-wide (26-meter-wide) radio antenna. The dish, called Deep Space Station 42, was decommissioned in 2000. This photograph shows the facility in 1965. Credit: NASA

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New technologies

In addition to constructing more antennas like Canberra's Deep Space Station 33, NASA is looking to the future by also experimenting with laser, or optical, communications to enable significantly more data to flow to and from Earth. The Deep Space Network currently relies on radio frequencies to communicate, but laser operates at a higher frequency, allowing more data to be transmitted.

As part of that effort, NASA is flying the laser-based Deep Space Optical Communications experiment with the agency's Psyche mission. Since the October 2023 launch, it has demonstrated high data rates over record-breaking distances and downlinked ultra-high definition streaming video from deep space.

"These new technologies have the potential to boost the science and exploration returns of missions traveling throughout the solar system," said Amy Smith, deputy project manager for the Deep Space Network at JPL, which manages the network.

"Laser and radio communications could even be combined to build hybrid antennas, or dishes that can communicate using both radio and optical frequencies at the same time. That could be a game-changer for NASA."

Provided by NASA
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An expert keeper displays a critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insect, nicknamed "tree lobster," at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Credit: AP Photo/Petr David Josek

The Prague Zoo has joined an international effort to ensure the survival of a rare insect that had been considered extinct for more than 80 years.

The zoo is among six institutions around the world that have been able to create living conditions for the largest species of flightless insect, the Lord Howe Island stick insect, which grows up to 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) long. They are on display, a rare chance that only London and San Diego also offer.

The insect, also known as the Lord Howe Island phasmid, is native to a remote archipelago in the Tasman Sea off Australia.

The uninhabited archipelago was discovered in 1778. Rats that arrived with a ship stranded offshore in 1918 appeared to wipe out the insect's population.

Mountain climbers found signs of the insects in the 1960s on a rocky island 23 kilometers (14 miles) offshore from Lord Howe. In 2001, it was confirmed that specimens were surviving there. Two pairs were taken to Australia for breeding, a step considered necessary for the critically endangered species.

"They had to make an enormous effort to survive 100 years on such a tough place as the Balls Pyramid, and now need such sensitive care to live in captivity," Vojtech Vit, an expert keeper at the Prague Zoo, said Tuesday.

An expert keeper displays a critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insect, nicknamed "tree lobster," at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Credit: AP Photo/Petr David Josek

An expert keeper displays critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insects, nicknamed "tree lobster," at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Credit: AP Photo/Petr David Josek

An expert keeper displays a critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insect, nicknamed "tree lobster," at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Credit: AP Photo/Petr David Josek

An expert keeper displays a critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insect, nicknamed "tree lobster," at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Credit: AP Photo/Petr David Josek

An expert keeper holds a box with critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insects, nicknamed "tree lobster," at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Credit: AP Photo/Petr David Josek

The zoo had to create an air-conditioned building with disinfection equipment for keepers at the entrance to protect the insects that are susceptible to bacterial and virus infections, and get approval from Australian authorities for breeding.

The goal of the breeding program is to return the insect to its natural environment on Lord Howe Island after rats were eradicated there in 2019.

 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

It's the sound a hiker never wants to hear. The sizzling warning call of a rattlesnake should be any outdoorsman's sign to flee. Rattlesnake season, when Nevadans may see one of the state's six species during the day or at night, begins each March as the Las Vegas Valley gets warmer. The snakes are most active through October.

State wildlife officials say the venomous snakes are able to lunge out as far as two-thirds of their body length to bite at high speeds. Rattlesnakes may not even use their rattle before they bite, and young ones are capable of spreading venom, as well.

The best approach if Nevadans come into contact with a rattlesnake is to leave it alone, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife's "Living with Rattlesnakes" webpage.

Sometimes they are found in urban areas, especially near shaded yards, garages or covered patios where they can escape the heat. In the wild, rattlesnakes seek refuge from heat where they can, in burrows or slots in rocks.

While rattlesnakes may be frightening when they feel threatened, the animals are effective at eating rodents, including ones that may transmit hantavirus, plague and salmonella. The best way to prevent a bite is to give a snake space.

To keep them out of yards, state wildlife officials say so-called drift fences over 5 feet high and angled a certain way can deter them from climbing over. Keeping yards neat and preventing the buildup of bird feeders can be a solution, too.

And if Nevadans just want to know which snake they may have come across, consult the state's guide to venomous snakes on the wildlife department's website. If one ever makes it into a home, or a rattlesnake is posing a public safety threat, game wardens can be dispatched to Las Vegas neighborhoods by calling 911.

2025 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Schematic map showing the research area. The survey was conducted in the first and second legs, with a stopover in Australia en route for resupply. The black dotted line is the boundary of the management areas of the Commission for the Conservation of Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Credit: Hokkaido University

Krill is considered to be the largest animal biomass in the wild on Earth and is an important prey species for baleen whales and seabirds, making it a key species in the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Fishing for Antarctic krill began in the Indian Ocean sector in the 1970s and it has become an important target species in the Southern Ocean.

Since the 1990s, the main fishery has been in the Atlantic Ocean sector, and research and surveys of Antarctic krill have been concentrated in this sector. Large-scale surveys for Antarctic krill in the eastern Indian Ocean sector, south of the Australian continent (80150E) have not been conducted since the 1996 Australian BROKE survey (Baseline Research on Oceanography, Krill and the Environment).

In recent years, the demand for krill oil as a health food ingredient has increased, and catch limits have regularly been reached in the main krill fishing grounds in the Atlantic. This has led to a trend toward expansion of the Antarctic krill fishery, which now includes limited operations in the Indian Ocean sector.

The populations of humpback whales that feed on Antarctic krill were reduced to the verge of extinction due to commercial whaling, but since the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned whaling in 1966, the population has recovered. In 2015, the population in the Indian sector recovered to the level at which it existed before commercial whaling began.

The BROKE survey also included oceanographic observations using CTD (conductivity [salinity], temperature and bathymetry) sensors. Since then, changes in bottom water characteristics have become apparent, and detailed, wide-area oceanographic observations have been necessary to elucidate the causes and understand trends.

Against this background, a large-scale multidisciplinary ecosystem survey was conducted in the eastern Indian sector of the Southern Ocean (80150E) by the Japanese research vessel Kaiyo-maru during the 20182019 austral summer (KY1804 survey, an acronym for the fourth survey of the vessel in the Japanese fiscal year 2018).

The results of these studies were reported in 14 scientific papers and published as an online special issue of the journal Progress in Oceanography on 10 March 2025.

The KY1804 survey was conducted by researchers from more than 20 research institutes and universities in five countries, including the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT), Hokkaido University, the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR), the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (FRA), the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO, Australia), Shanghai Ocean University (China), Wageningen Marine Research (WMR, the Netherlands), the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (U.S.), and the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC, U.S.).

The research was conducted with two main objectives: (1) estimation of standing stock (biomass) of Antarctic krill in the survey area and (2) oceanographic observations in the area to detect any long-term changes.

Along with these main objectives, as with BROKE, researchers attempted to detect changes in the marine ecosystem between 1996 and 20182019 by conducting a survey covering primary producers to top predators.

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The research vessel departed Tokyo on 16 November 2018 and returned after 127 days on 22 March 2019. The vessel called at Fremantle, Melbourne, and Sydney (all in Australia) for resupply. The research area is south of 60S and between 80E and 150E. This is one of CCAMLR's management areas, Division 58.4.1.

Eighteen survey tracklines were placed in the research area, and data from the quantitative echosounder, which were necessary for estimating the biomass of Antarctic krill, were recorded along these lines. Several types of nets were also towed to collect data on zooplankton distributed in the area. A CTD equipped with water samplers collected biological and oceanographic data from the sea surface to depths of up to 3,000 m or more.

The biomass estimate of Antarctic krill from this survey was regarded as the best available estimate in this area by CCAMLR in 2021. The biomass estimates of Antarctic krill from this survey and BROKE in 1996 were comparable, although there are some caveats in the interpretation as the timing of the survey and estimation methods differed.

Compared to 1996, the southern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (SB) has shifted 50120 km southward in the eastern part of the study area (112150E), and water temperature has increased. The freshening trend of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) in the AustralianAntarctic Basin was reversed during the 2010s. This may be due to the slowdown of the melting of ice shelves around the Amundsen Sea, which is the upper reaches of the Antarctic Coastal Current, and as a result, the supply of freshwater may have been reduced.

In the eastern part of the study area, the dominant macrozooplankton were salps in 1996, but this changed to amphipods in 20182019. This change may be related to the southward shift of the southern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, although it could also be due to the difference in the timing of the surveys. In addition, researchers collected sea surface organisms using a sea surface net, which is not commonly done in surveys in the Southern Ocean. It was found that Antarctic krill were abundant near the sea surface.

Other studies included investigation of vertical and horizontal mixing of sea waters, biogeochemical studies of floating ice and seawater, studies of primary production, and abundance and prey consumption estimates for seabirds and cetaceans.

More information: A multidisciplinary ecosystem survey in the eastern Indian sector of the Southern Ocean (80150E) during 2018/19 season by the Japanese survey vessel, Kaiyo-maru, Progress in Oceanography (2025). www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/10LJ8PLCQ72
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A district council in England has passed a motion to grant its local river the rights to flow freely, to be free from pollution and to enjoy its native biodiversity. The move by Lewes District Council in East Sussex to recognize the fundamental rights of the River Ouse is the first of its kind in the U.K.

The Ouse (not to be confused with larger rivers of the same name in Yorkshire and East Anglia) flows southwards for 35 miles into the English Channel and suffers from the usual problems afflicting many rivers in the U.K.: chemical pollution, sewage dumping and so on.

As a legal academic who researches exactly these sorts of rights, I was excited to see the news from Lewes (even if the council's motions ultimately can't overrule national laws). But simply granting a river some rights isn't enough. We now need to think about who will actually defend these rights.

This may mean appointing someone to represent the rights of the river. Who these representatives are, and how they think about nature and conservation, can be as important as the granting of these rights in the first place.

Appointing representatives who care about their own personal and property interests would be a grave mistake, as would appointing anyone who prioritizes the rights of humans to a healthy environment over a more intrinsic right of nature (remember: the idea is that the River Ouse has rights in itself and shouldn't need to demonstrate its worth to humans).

As further rivers, lakes, forests and more are granted rights like the Ouse, we'll need to train up an army of people willing to represent the rights of nature.

Natural entities should have legal rights

The law professor Christopher Stone pioneered the rights of nature concept back in the 1970s. He argued that natural entities, like rivers or forests, should have legal rights and that a "guardian" or representative should be appointed to defend those rights in court when they are threatened.

Some legal systems have adopted this model. For example, in New Zealand, the Whanganui River was granted legal personhood, and two "human faces" were appointed to act and speak on its behalf. Their duties are outlined in a 2017 act, which specifies that these representatives must have the skills, knowledge and experience needed to effectively advocate for the river's rights.

But even as rights of nature are being considered in many countries, there is still little consideration of who will represent these rights effectively. For instance, back in 2008 Ecuador became the first country to grant the rights of nature in its constitution. However, the constitution states that "all persons" are representatives of the rights of nature. This is simply impractical: we can't expect every citizen to truly care about the rights of nature.

Efforts to apply the rights of nature in Ecuador have often failed. Legal challenges can become highly politicized and there is little legal infrastructure beyond general constitutional principles.

For example, in a case brought after road builders had dumped material into the Vilcabamba River, plaintiffs claimed to represent nature in court. However, they were not genuinely advocating for the river's rightstheir main concern was protecting their downstream property.

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An ecocentric perspective

Ultimately, defending the rights of nature in court will be a struggle if the nature in questionthe river, forest or lakeis not represented by someone with an ecocentric perspective. That means prioritizing the intrinsic value of nature itself, rather than focusing on how it can serve human interests.

Ecocentric advocates have proved to be the most effective defenders of the rights of nature in many court cases. For example, in lawsuits involving Ecuador's Los Cedros cloud forest and its marine ecosystems, ecocentric arguments helped secure stronger legal protections and even inspired the courts to grant further rights of nature.

One of the most common legal frameworks involves appointing "all persons," "a person," or "a resident" as representatives or protectors. For instance, Uganda's National Environment Act 2019 states that anyone has the right to bring an action before a court "for any infringement of rights of nature."

Similarly, the city of Toledo, Ohio, tried to introduce the Lake Erie bill of rights which stated that the city or any resident could act on behalf of the lake's ecosystem. (The bill was declared unconstitutional by a federal court in 2020 and did not become the law).

Having such broad representation can make these legal protections less effective. This is what Stone, the law professor, envisioned back in the 70s: representatives should be trained to view nature as having intrinsic valuethe very reason it is granted rightsand to protect it on that basis.

There are some promising examples. Guardians were appointed to protect the Magpie River in Canada, for instance, after it was granted legal personhood in 2022. Their responsibilities include participatingon behalf of the river itselfin any consultations on projects that might affect the river.

When the River Atrato in Colombia was also granted legal rights, the court required the formation of a commission (with representatives from the state and local communities) to train and oversee the work of the guardians.

Moves to give rights to nature are promising. But from Colombia to Canada to Sussex, we'll need a whole army of nature protectors to actually enforce those rights.

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Researchers at College Station, Texas, have shown that spray drones can effectively control crabgrass in turf using low-drift nozzles at low spray volumes. Credit: Ubaldo Torres, Texas A&M University.

Until now, not much was known about the influence that nozzle type and application volume have on weed control efficacy with remotely piloted aerial application systems (RPAASs). However, new research shows that RPAAS applications using low-drift nozzles at low spray volumes (1.01.5 gallons/acre) can achieve weed control levels comparable to ground sprayer applications at 10 gallons/acre in turf.

This is a key conclusion from recently published research in Weed Technology.

"With these research results, we can now provide turfgrass managers with some valuable guidelines on how to effectively manage weeds with remotely controlled, aerial drone spray technology using drift-reduction nozzles and low spray volumes," says Muthukumar Bagavathiannan, Ph.D., a Texas A&M University agronomy professor and senior corresponding author for the study. "Overall, we found that RPAAS can be effectively used for site-specific herbicide applications in turf."

Researchers conducted this study during 2022 at two sites in College Station, Texas, and Augusto Costa, Ph.D., a researcher with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa Algodao, Campina Grande), contributed as the study's first and co-corresponding author. Daniel Martin Ph.D., USDA-ARS, College Station, TX, provided aerial application technology collaboration in this research, along with other contributing researchers.

The treatments included three flat-fan nozzle-type combinationsextended range, drift guard, and air inductionand two low spray volumes, applied with a single-nozzle RPAAS. A pressurized four-nozzle boom backpack sprayer served as a check for comparison.

"Applications using the RPAAS with the drift guard and air induction nozzles at low application volumes provided similar weed control levels as from the backpack sprayer at relatively higher volume applications," says Bagavathiannan. "As a result, we determined that RPAAS can work effectively for site-specific herbicide applications in turf."

More information: Augusto G.F. Costa et al, Nozzle type and spray volume effects on site-specific herbicide application in turfgrass using a remotely piloted aerial application system, Weed Technology (2025). DOI: 10.1017/wet.2025.15
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Imagine heading into space, landing on the moon and walking in the dust. As you adjust to the weightlessness, you see something unexpected on the horizon. You're looking back at Earth, experiencing the "overview effect." How would you feel? What would you see, hear, touch, taste and smell?

We asked these questions when we launched a creative writing workshop to harness the beauty and power of storytelling, education, theater, and music to inspire a greener, healthier and fairer world for future generations.

One of us, Cecilia Manosa Nyblon, brought together a team from the University of Exeter, the Met Office and international experts including marine scientists, poets, soundscape artists, musicians, playwrights and children's authors who recognize the power of the arts to bridge the gap between science and society.

In 2021, our team launched We Are the Possible. This international award-winning program brings together artists, scientists, educators and health professionals to connect hearts and minds. Together, we develop creative content and performances that are presented to policymakers and the public at annual UN climate summits and other public events.

As Kathleen Jamie, Scotland's makar (national poet), said during the 2021 UN climate summit in Glasgow: "We can't have that massive event around nature and environment without a poetry presence there."

Since 2021, this program has engaged more than 16,000 people in the UK, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan. Our projects have reached more than 33 million people worldwide through mainstream media, social media and online platforms. By inspiring global and local audiences, we hope to mobilize communities to care for and protect our planet.

The project's creative lead, Sally Flint, weaves the words of climate scientists, health professionals, storytellers, artists, youth, educators and translators into an anthology of 12 poems or stories for the 12 days of each UN climate summit, showing what people value most and what's at stake in our changing planet.

In our anthology for Cop28 (the 2023 climate summit in Dubai), Christiana Figueres, the Costa Rican diplomat who spent years negotiating for climate action at the UN summits, shared that "while this remains vital, I have also realized that connecting with people from the heart and with love is the most powerful place to start."

Scientists have the data. We have the technological solutions. But governments and leaders are failing to act with urgency. The climate crisis is our biggest communication failure.

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Culture has the power to help people imagine and inspire action through dialogue, images, storytelling and shared experiences. But for far too long, the arts, cultural heritage and creative industries have been absent in climate policy frameworks. In 2024, ministers of culture and education gathered in Abu Dhabi to establish a framework which recognizes the transformative power and impact of culture and arts education for sustainable development.

Since Cop28, our team has been working with our partner, a not-for-profit called the Emirates Literature Foundation, to involve Indigenous poets through visual artforms. This involvement shines a light on the importance of Indigenous knowledge in our climate conversations to heal and restore our planet.

We have also collaborated with a sustainable theater company called The Theatre of Others to deliver The Earth Turns and Bright Light Burning. These immersive theater performances (inspired by We Are the Possible anthologies) and panel discussions involve both policymakers and the public. After one of the performances, Jonathan Dewsbury, director of capital operations and net zero at the UK government's Department for Education, told us: "If we don't grab the arts, the poems, the music and embed them into our top policy thinkers, our top decision-makers, we are not going to make the right choices, the right solutions."

Carpet weaving is an important part of Azerbaijan's cultural identity. At Cop29 (the 2024 UN climate summit in Azerbaijan), one group of academics and students at Khazar University in Baku wove a traditional "Chelebi" carpet. This conveyed a message of unity and environmental stewardship through symbolic patterns inspired by We Are the Possible's anthology.

Ocean-literate cultures

Around 50% of countries have no mention of climate change in their school curriculum, according to Unesco. Most teachers (95%) feel that teaching about climate change is important but less than 30% say they are ready to teach it. Meanwhile, 75% of young people around the world say they are frightened about their future.

Schools Across the Ocean, the education strand of We Are the Possible, is addressing this climate education gap. Led by our colleague, senior lecturer in education Anita Wood, this initiative has already connected more than 2,000 schoolchildren (aged 813) and more than 100 teachers in the UK, United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and other countries.

This six-week program involves providing a toolkit for teachers plus activities and online workshops that engage children in science, art, storytelling and action for the ocean. The goal is for more children to understand why we all need a healthy ocean, develop their sense of agency and inspire others in their local communities to take action too.

Wendy Wilson, headteacher St Anne's School in Alderney on the Channel Islands, found that Schools Across the Ocean meant that her students were not just learning about climate change. She said they were also "becoming active, global citizens who are climate literate, empowered and full of hope."

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Maple syrup, often called Canada's "liquid gold," has long been a target for fraudulent activities, such as the dilution or substitution with other syrups, due to its high demand.

Amid threats from the United States of increased tariffs and the imposition of a baseline tariff of 10% on all imports that aren't compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, increased maple syrup fraud is a possibility.

Food fraud, or economically motivated adulteration, is the deliberate misrepresentation of food for economic gain. This can include the substitution, dilution, addition and/or the removal of ingredients. Mislabeling of products is another form of food fraud that can happen at any point in the supply chain, from farm to fork.

Food fraud is a multi-billion-dollar industry and poses serious risks. It can harm consumer health, tarnish brand reputations and value, jeopardize the livelihood of legitimate producers and even hamper biodiversity and conservation efforts.

The threats of tariffs on Canadian goods by the U.S., which includes maple syrup and the equipment used to make it, has raised concerns on both sides of the border about price increases and supply shortages.

Canada produces more than 70% of the world's maple syrup and Quebec is the capital of this production. In 2024, the province exported around $450 million worth of maple syrup to the U.S.

Historic increases in food fraud

Historically, food fraud has increased during harsh economic times, growing financial pressures, pandemics, climate incidents, wars, supply chain disruptions or any other event that destabilizes the balance between food supply and demand. These circumstances often increase food prices, creating an incentive for fraudsters to exploit the system.

From 2020 to 2024, the world faced significant supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, regional wars and significant climate events. Unsurprisingly, food fraud cases have increased tenfold, according to recent estimations.

Threats of higher tariffs could further contribute to this problem by increasing the likelihood that fraudsters will substitute high-value foods for lower-value products.

Given what we have learned from past cases of food fraud, threats of increased tariffs causes uncertainty in the supply chain, increasing the risk of fraudulent maple syrups from entering the market.

To combat this threat, there is a need for rapid, real-time and cost-effective methods to test maple syrup for authenticity.

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Methods for testing maple syrup

Since the 1980s, various methods and tools have been developed or used to detect maple syrup adulteration. However, food fraudsters continuously adapt to evade detection, making it progressively more difficult to test for maple syrup adulteration. The more complex the testing methods, the more difficult they are to circumvent.

Traditionally, maple syrup quality testing involves measuring the dissolved sugar content in syrup through a unit of measurement known as degrees Brix. One degree Brix is equivalent to 1% sugar. However, applications may be limited if unknown or non-conventional adulterants are used.

As fraud techniques become more sophisticated, new approaches are needed to ensure the authenticity of maple syrup. Non-targeted food analytical methods, such as fluorescence spectroscopy, allow for the screening of a wide range of samples, creating a fingerprint of a sample. The fingerprints can be compared to a reference library of profiles, or multiple attributes specific to maple syrups, rather than just one.

Testing maple syrup for glowing compounds

A recent study by our research team at the University of Guelph's Corradini Lab explored how fluorescence fingerprints can be used to detect maple syrup adulteration.

Fluorescence fingerprinting works by examining how internal molecules in maple syrup glow when exposed to UV and visible light. These unique, glowing fingerprints allow for the detection of markers or features that may be indicative of maple syrup fraud.

Our study explored the adulteration of amber and dark maple syrups, with common maple syrup adulterantsnamely beet, corn and rice syrupsat values ranging from 1% to 50%.

We mapped unique and distinctive features in the fluorescence fingerprints, which were then used for differentiating pure from adulterated syrups. When exposed to UV and visible light, maple syrup features changed depending on the typebeet, corn or rice syrupsand amount of adulterant.

AI and machine learning for improved detection

Using the markers of maple syrup identity, we were able to apply AI to analyze multiple fluorescent features simultaneously. This allowed for the identification of pure maple syrups from adulterants, with accuracy ranging from 75% to 99%.

In fact, analyzing the fluorescence fingerprints of pure and adulterated syrups with the assistance of AI and machine learning techniques improved detection by up to 30%, and identified adulterants at levels less than 2%.

However, expanding the fluorescence fingerprint reference library can improve the accuracy and reliability of results. AI models often require very large and extensive databases. This will be crucial for understanding and accounting for how factors like the environment, geographic location and processing conditions may affect the maple syrup glow.

The use of AI to analyze fluorescent markers in maple syrup could allow for rapid and effective identification of suspicious fraudulent samples.

With the increased risk of food fraud due to threats of increased U.S. import tariffs on Canadian products, combining AI and maple syrup fingerprinting can detect maple syrup fraud. This will ensure that consumers receive safe, high-quality foods while protecting the identity of one of Canada's most iconic products.

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Researchers have successfully demonstrated the UK's first long-distance ultra-secure transfer of data over a quantum communications network, including the UK's first long-distance quantum-secured video call.

The team, from the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge, created the network, which uses standard fiber-optic infrastructure, but relies on a variety of quantum phenomena to enable ultra-secure data transfer.

The network uses two types of quantum key distribution (QKD) schemes: "unhackable" encryption keys hidden inside particles of light; and distributed entanglement: a phenomenon that causes quantum particles to be intrinsically linked.

The researchers demonstrated the capabilities of the network via a live, quantum-secure video conference link, the transfer of encrypted medical data, and secure remote access to a distributed data center. The data was successfully transmitted between Bristol and Cambridgea fiber distance of over 410 kilometers.

This is the first time that a long-distance network, encompassing different quantum-secure technologies such as entanglement distribution, has been successfully demonstrated. The researchers presented their results at the 2025 Optical Fiber Communications Conference (OFC) in San Francisco.

Quantum communications offer unparalleled security advantages compared to classical telecommunications solutions. These technologies are immune against future cyber-attacks, even with quantum computers, whichonce fully developedwill have the potential to break through even the strongest cryptographic methods currently in use.

In the past few years, researchers have been working to build and use quantum communication networks. China recently set up a massive network that covers 4,600 kilometers by connecting five cities using both fiberoptics and satellites. In Madrid, researchers created a smaller network with nine connection points that use different types of QKD to securely share information.

In 2019, researchers at Cambridge and Toshiba demonstrated a metro scale quantum network operating at record key rates of millions of key bits per second. And in 2020, researchers in Bristol built a network that could share entanglement between multiple users. Similar quantum network trials have been demonstrated in Singapore, Italy and the U.S.

Despite this progress, no one has built a large, long-distance network that can handle both types of QKD, entanglement distribution, and regular data transmission all at once, until now.

The experiment demonstrates the potential of quantum networks to accommodate different quantum-secure approaches simultaneously with classical communications infrastructure. It was carried out using the UK's Quantum Network (UKQN), established over the last decade by the same team, as part of the Quantum Communications Hub project.

"This is a crucial step toward building a quantum-secured future for our communities and society," said co-author Dr. Rui Wang, Lecturer for Future Optical Networks in the Smart Internet Lab's High Performance Network Research Group at the University of Bristol.

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"More importantly, it lays the foundation for a large-scale quantum internetconnecting quantum nodes and devices through entanglement and teleportation on a global scale."

"This marks the culmination of more than 10 years of work to design and build the UK Quantum Network," said co-author Adrian Wonfor from Cambridge's Department of Engineering.

"Not only does it demonstrate the use of multiple quantum communications technologies, but also the secure key management systems required to allow seamless end-to-end encryption between us."

"This is a significant step in delivering quantum security for the communications we all rely upon in our daily lives at a national scale," said co-author Professor Richard Penty, also from Cambridge and who headed the Quantum Networks work package in the Quantum Communications Hub.

"It would not have been possible without the close collaboration of the two teams at Cambridge and Bristol, the support of our industrial partners Toshiba, BT, Adtran and Cisco, and our funders at UKRI."

"This is an extraordinary achievement which highlights the UK's world-class strengths in quantum networking technology," said Gerald Buller, Director of the IQN Hub, based at Heriot-Watt University.

"This exciting demonstration is precisely the kind of work the Integrated Quantum Networks Hub will support over the coming years, developing the technologies, protocols and standards which will establish a resilient, future-proof, national quantum communications infrastructure."

The current UKQN covers two metropolitan quantum networks around Bristol and Cambridge, which are connected via a 'backbone' of four long-distance optical fiber links spanning 410 kilometers with three intermediate nodes.

The network uses single-mode fiber over the EPSRC National Dark Fiber Facility (which provides dedicated fiber for research purposes), and low-loss optical switches allowing network reconfiguration of both classical and quantum signal traffic.

The team will pursue this work further through an EPSRC project, the Integrated Quantum Networks Hub, whose vision is to establish quantum networks at all distance scales, from local networking of quantum processors to national-scale entanglement networks for quantum-safe communication, distributed computing and sensing, all the way to intercontinental networking via low-earth orbit satellites.

More information: R. Yang et al. A UK Nationwide Heterogeneous Quantum Network. Paper presented at the 2025 Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition (OFC): www.ofcconference.org/en-us/home/schedule/
HAMMONTON  Dan Borrelli first wanted to start a brewery in Philadelphia about 15 years ago.

When he got to the location to sign the lease papers in person, he learned the property was sold and the new owner had no interest in putting a brewery in that location. Borrellis dream was put on hold, and life continued.

During the next 10 years, Borrelli worked a few different jobs, including at Tonewood Brewing in Camden County. He met his wife, Kelly Andrews, and they had a daughter.

In January 2020, Borrelli and his wife opened Chimney Rustic Ales on Horton Street. After five years in a wine city making friends and memories, they outgrew their 1,800-square-foot location and found the perfect spot to grow their business.

Philadelphia, at last.

And with a new start comes new opportunities, the kind that simply werent possible in New Jersey.

Our ability to make money here is limited because we are only allowed to sell one thing, said Borrelli, 37, on a quiet, rainy Sunday at the brewery. And with the increase in costs on everything, its tough to keep up. So we have to go somewhere where we have the ability to make a little bit more money.

Chimney Rustic Ales will leave its Hammonton location in June and plans to move to 2157 E. Lehigh Ave. in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia by this fall, a 5,000-square-foot space with a 150-person capacity that will include a tap room, indoor and outdoor dining and a liquor license.

Ludlam Island Brewing to move into bigger, better location Ludlam Island is moving into bigger digs. In fact, it's a former bowling alley. And it will be able to serve food.

They unfolded the blueprints and began to describe the Philly chapter of Chimney Rustic Ales story.

I love cozy, said Andrews, 35. Somewhere where you can be comfortable and come hang out, you know?

The ability to serve food  something only a handful of breweries in the state can do because laws require a special license to allow that  was the biggest attraction for going over the bridge, they said. If New Jersey made it easier for breweries to sell food, Borrelli said, they would not be leaving Hammonton.

Hammontons population is much older than the average craft beer drinker, so wineries and restaurants rule the local food and beverage scene, Borrelli said. Having food would have been the best way to attract that older crowd.

(Philadelphia is) a more mature beer-drinking city than small towns in New Jersey, for the most part, Borrelli said. Peoples palates are different, they align more with our vision. We make traditional styles really, really well. And I think the culture is just a little different on the other side of the bridge.

Priced out

When Chimney first opened, there was a line out the door every day right up until the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down.

They said two weeks, and I remember standing here shrugging my shoulders like, I guess we get two weeks off, Borrelli recalled. And then it wasnt two weeks. It was 219 days before we had people back inside.

It continued to be packed that year. But like most businesses, 2020 was its own monster. Some places, like those with outdoor seating, thrived with a clientele that was itching to be outdoors by the summer. Other places that couldnt handle the demand or state regulations folded.

Business owners, officials still have questions about Murphy's proposed liquor license reform When Mark Ganter planned to open Little Water Distillery more than six years ago, he had a p

We made more money then than we do now, Borrelli said.

Which is why the move became necessary.

And with increasing costs, like ingredients, equipment and other factors, making money became difficult.

The barrier for entry for owning a brewery in this state does not merit time in the industry but how much money do you have, Borrelli said. Starting with pretty much nothing going into this, we started behind the 8 ball because people are dumping millions of dollars into these facilities and we didnt have that. So now we have to compete with those people in a down market, and our ability to make money here is limited by a $7 beer.

Moving out

About a year ago, Borrelli did an internet search for areas in Philadelphia that were under development.

He found something in his price range that was a blank slate. Its harder to renovate an existing building for a brewery, he added, because it must be completely gutted. And renting companies charge more for finished space, which didnt matter if the plan was to rip it all up.

I found one I liked on Lehigh (Avenue) and called the Realtor in charge and said Im interested in putting a brewery in there, Borrelli said.

The space wasnt much larger than the Hammonton location, so Borrelli was ready to accept the downsize.

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But the guy said the person who owns the property is not gonna want a brewery in there, but Ive got a guy a block away that would be open to that. And that was this space, he said, gesturing to the blueprints.

The landlord, who is about the same age as Borrelli and Andrews, offered a good rate and was putting in all this extra work for plumbing. And he owns about eight or nine apartment buildings in the area.

Were the draw (for younger renters), Borrelli said, and theyre going to pay more rent because well be there.

Neither Borrelli or Andrews wished they had to move. Both loved their time in Hammonton, the friends they made and the participation in the citys rich food and beverage scene.

Its gonna be a sad day when we start breaking this down. Its gonna hurt, Andrews said. Some of our regulars are now our best friends.

Leaving Hammontons beer scene will also be tough, including the friendships they made with the Geller family at Three 3s Brewing Company and the newly opened Snouts & Stouts Brewing.

Theyre our buds, theyre our family. Its gonna suck not seeing them around. Well still come down, Andrews said. Leaving this space is gonna be sad because we put our blood, sweat and tears into this. It took us a year to renovate this space, so its like leaving your own house.
AVALON  At a municipal meeting over the winter, John Kauterman told the same story of construction debris blown from dumpsters in transit ending up in the bays and marshes.

From Margate to Cape May, he called for tougher rules for dumpster covers while in transit to the landfill. At times, his frustration seemed obvious.

Is that all youve got for me? he told Ocean City Council in February, during his second visit to that community, when council members told him they did not respond to public comment.

It looks like Kautermans persistence may be paying off.

Cape May City Council recently approved an ordinance with stricter rules for companies moving dumpsters, and Avalon is on the brink of approving its own ordinance. Avalon Administrator Scott Wahl said his community was likely the first to discuss the idea.

Cape May got over the finish line first. Ours will cross the finish line during the Wednesday meeting, Wahl said Monday.

Thats when a public hearing on the ordinance is set to take place, followed by a final vote. Wahl expects it to pass.

The Borough Council meeting starts at 4 p.m. at the municipal building, 3100 Dune Drive. If approved, the ordinance will require cargo tarps and nets for all trucks leaving the community with construction waste, or there could be a citation or fine.

Ocean City seeks to limit overnight parking for work trucks A new ordinance up for a final vote Dec. 19 would impose new parking limits at work sites and the size of trash bins on the street in Ocean City.

Wahl said the city is not undergoing a construction boom, although demolitions and rebuilds have long been a part of life in Avalon. But weight limits on the 96th Street bridge connecting neighboring Stone Harbor to the mainland has meant detouring over the 30th Street bridge in Avalon.

Were seeing all of the Seven Mile Islands construction debris coming through Avalon, Wahl said. He said he spoke with representatives of the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority, which operates the landfill that straddles the border of Upper Township and Woodbine, and Mayor John McCorristin spoke with companies that transport the dumpsters.

We believe that we came up with a practical ordinance, Wahl said.

Kauterman is a commercial scallop fisherman who often spends his down time cleaning up the marshes near Avalon, where he lives, and beyond. Along with Kevin Dougherty of Westfield in Union County, who also spends time in Avalon, he founded the Tidelands Initiative last year.

Dougherty said Kauterman has singlehandedly removed thousands of pounds of debris from the tidelands. Together, they have documented the material dropped from dumpsters on their way out of shore communities.

Usually, the lighter stuff goes first: plastic wrapping and plastic foam building materials, insulation, coffee cups from the crews and almost everything else, Dougherty said in a phone interview Monday.

Weve seen wood. If the dumpster is overloaded, anything on top comes flying out, Dougherty said.

The beach towns of the Jersey cape see most of the areas construction and demolition work. In most communities, trucks go over a bridge and then pass an expanse of wetlands.

Ocean City Council backs off construction parking plan Opponents of a proposed amendment to Ocean Citys parking ordinance crowded City Council chambers and convinced the citys governing body to hold off on new limits to parking trailers and dumpsters at work sites.

Wahl said Avalons aim for the ordinance is twofold: to protect the environment and for safety. Material dropped from a moving vehicle can damage cars, hurt drivers or passengers, or lead to dangerous maneuvers to avoid them.

Wahl said hes seen it himself, with plastic buckets or anything else scattered in traffic lanes.

Number two is environmental stewardship. If it blows out of the dumpster, it will probably end up in the marshes, Wahl said. Thats not a good situation for anybody.

Cape May moved the fastest to introduce an ordinance, Dougherty said, with officials already familiar with the initiative as soon as Kauterman started talking. Last week, before the final vote, Cape May City Council made a small amendment to the ordinance as introduced to require the coverings be secured at the midpoint of the dumpster.

By law, nothing is supposed to be transported in a way that could allow it to fall from a vehicle. That includes snow covering the roof of a car or truck that may fly off on the highway. Dougherty said there are rules that require dumpsters be covered, but the covering is not enough to keep material in the dumpster.

It doesnt say the cover has to be effective, he said.

Other shore advocacy groups, including the Surfrider Foundation, had also sought new rules on construction debris recently. Wahl said Avalon is moving to require contractors to use an attachment to collect the blizzard of plastic sawdust created when sawing many man-made construction materials.

In Ocean City, there is an ordinance requiring dumpsters to be covered at the end of the workday.

Somers Point Planning Board approves site plan for private swim club at former Bubba Mac Shack site The Somers Point Planning Board unanimously approved a site plan Wednesday night that will bring a private swim club to the former site of the Bubba Mac Shack.

At City Council meetings in that community over the winter, several residents complained about debris blown from construction sites. There, too, plastic foam and other material ended up in the marsh or in the water.

Dumpsters were in the news in Ocean City late last year, after City Council moved to create new restrictions on placing large dumpsters on the street in an effort to provide more parking, only to back off under pressure from local contractors.

Ocean City Council member Dave Winslow said Monday that it is likely a new ordinance could come forward before the summer. Hes only one of seven votes on council, where a majority would be needed to move the process forward, but he suggested some kind of a cover requirement could be included.

After multiple builders attended a December meeting at City Hall in Ocean City, city officials said they would talk with contractors to find a compromise.

Wahl said Avalon has brought the idea to Cape May Countys mayors conference, where municipal leaders meet with county officials regularly.

I think youll see it from some other towns, Wahl said.
The Hanover landfill applying to expand has a recent history of detecting contaminants like chloroform and cobalt in the surrounding groundwater.

Residents opposing the expansion of that facility have pointed to those environmental readings as the reason that theyre fearful of the landfill expanding and extending its life for another 30 years.

Meanwhile, the landfill operator has disputed many of the readings that found excess contaminants in eight groundwater monitoring wells on the property. It blames faulty testing conditions in some cases and anomalous test results in others.

Documents obtained by The Times-Dispatch show that the Ashcake Road Landfill, near Lewistown Road and Interstate 95, has been under heightened scrutiny from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality since 2021. DEQ warned the facility last year about exceedances of groundwater contamination, while citing it for improperly reporting truckloads for illegal dumping.

The facility also faced an investigation from OSHA in 2003 after the death of an employee on the job.

The Ashcake Road Landfill is a construction and demolition debris landfill. The waste deposited at such landfills should be nonhazardous. It takes materials like brick, concrete or other masonry materials. It should not take hazardous materials such as paints, coatings, solvents, liquids or compressed gases.

Leadbetter Inc, the landfills parent company, is applying to open a 95-acre portion of the property as a completely new landfilling pit. The current pit is set to reach capacity before the end of the year, when it would start closing procedures unless granted an expansion.

The landfill has become a recurring issue for many who have lived in the area since its initial approval. That includes Brown Grove, a historically Black community founded by formerly enslaved people.

Residents say that the landfill owner promised throughout the years that the landfill would never expand its trash pit.

The landfill operator did file for an expansion in 2022. That proposal was rejected by the Board of Supervisors and was fought heavily by nearby residents.

The Planning Commission narrowly recommended the current expansion plan for approval. The Board of Supervisors will have the final word over the project at its April 23 meeting.

Whats in the reports showing excess contamination?

The landfills increased scrutiny by DEQ began in 2021 when it was placed into Phase II monitoring. Phase II monitoring is usually triggered when statistically significant levels of pollutants are detected in the propertys monitoring wells.

In its 2022 annual groundwater report, the landfill measured both cobalt and chloroform at levels that exceeded groundwater protection standards. The chloroform reading was six times higher than the regulatory threshold.

The facility showed similar levels of chloroform throughout its groundwater monitoring between 2023 and 2024. The operator has attributed that to an abandoned septic tank that used to be attached to the propertys office. That tank was abandoned in 2013 when the office connected to county wastewater.

The landfill applied to raise its groundwater protection standard for cobalt, claiming that the metal is naturally high in the area. That increase was granted. Cobalt levels measured at the next groundwater monitoring event were still found to be above that heightened threshold  the maximum allowed.

At a sampling event in November 2023, the facility found arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, cobalt, thallium and chloroform to all be above groundwater protection standards. Most of those readings were more than double the safety threshold.

Five of those eight readings were made by one monitoring well. The landfills owners argued that the water column was too low in that specific well to get accurate readings. They said that, upon attempting follow-up verification samples, the well had gone dry.

Heavy metals like arsenic and cadmium have been noted to be common in construction and demolition debris landfill runoff, per a 2015 study by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Beryllium and thallium are less common, but they can come from materials like paints and sealants.

DEQ issued a warning letter to the facility in April 2024 saying that the facility may be in violation of state water control law. The letter said that the landfill had shown suspended solids were above the maximum allowed between July and December 2023.

The landfill disputed claims in that letter. It said that some measurements were not taken because of an error at the third-party testing laboratory in North Carolina. It disputed others, saying that the samples were held longer than the recognized testing window before they were tested.

Many residents told Hanovers planning commission during the most recent meeting that these environmental contaminants were their biggest concern about the landfills expansion.

Other citations at the facility

DEQ issued letters to the Ashcake Road Landfill in 2014 and 2018. Those letters said that the landfill was not properly checking trucks for unauthorized waste.

In 2014, it wasnt meeting the threshold of inspecting 1% of total in-state loads for unauthorized waste.

In 2018, DEQ said that the landfill did not document any rejected loads. Facility staff said it had rejected some loads but did not document them. The facility was also cited that year for inspecting less than 1% of the loads for unauthorized waste.

Residents have also brought up a death that occurred at the facility in 2003.

OSHA opened an inspection and investigation of the facility that year after the death of one employee and the hospitalization of another. That resulted in about $360,000 in fines, for which the landfill ultimately paid $34,000.

A mechanic employed at the site went into a 7-foot-deep manhole area to fix a sump that had failed over the weekend. He was asphyxiated by methane and hydrogen gas. The second employee was injured attempting to get the first employee out.

OSHA issued seven serious violations and two other violations.

Hanover resident Bob Nelson, in sending this information to the countys planning department, wrote that the landfill had failed for worker safety. He said this should be grounds for denying the new landfill expansion altogether.

The safety and life and death of workers is a serious matter, he said. Transparency is critically important.

The Central Virginia Waste Management Authority has said that landfill space across the region is running out. If the Ashcake Road landfill closes, there will be only three construction and demolition debris landfills remaining with about 7 years capacity.

The Ashcake expansion has been heavily supported by contracting businesses that say their costs will increase if they have to haul their trash 16 extra miles to Goochland or 40 extra miles to Chesterfield.
Cozumel reaffirms its leader position in the cruise industry

Cozumel, Q.R.  Cozumel reaffirms its position as a leader in the cruise industry while participating in the Seatrade Cruise Global 2025 conference. Representing the island is Mayor Jose Luis Chacon Mendez.

He emphasized that Cozumel remains the number one cruise destination in Mexico and Latin America thanks to the quality of its service and the hospitality of its people.

Last year we welcomed 4.6 million cruise passengers and in the first three months of 2025 alone, weve already welcomed 1.5 million passengers enjoying our natural beauty.

This figure not only surpasses the same period in 2024, but also represents the best start to the year since 2019, the Mayor said from Miami.

The opening ceremony was led by Rick Sasso, President and CEO of MSC Cruises, with whom Mayor Jose Luis Chacon had previously met.

Cozumels importance in the growth of the industry globally was recognized while Sasso shared the arrival of its new cruise ship the MSC America, moments before the start of the event.

Chacon Mendez also met with Vicky Ray, Carnival Cruise Lines vice President of Government Relations for Latin America, with whom he discussed key issues related to the relationship with Cozumel and an upcoming investment the cruise line will make on the island.

Participating in these international forums allows us to consolidate strategic alliances, attract new opportunities and position Cozumel as a destination ready to welcome the world, said the Mayor.

Cozumels tourism boom has also been recognized by the states Governor Mara Lezama, who celebrated the islands peak year for cruise ship arrivals.

This achievement reflects the promotion of our destinations in this New Era of Tourism where growth goes hand in hand with shared prosperity, said Jose Luis Chacon, quoting the Quintana Roo Governor.
New C2 security centre operational in Lazaro Cardenas

Lazaro Cardenas, Q.R.  Governor Mara Lezama and Mayor Nivardo Mena Villanueva inaugurated the new municipal C2 centre. The new C2 security centre of Lazaro Cardenas is operating with four Intelligent Monitoring Points.

We continue to advance in building peace and security in every corner of Quintana Roo, said Governor Mara Lezama.

Accompanied by Mayor Nivardo Mena Villanueva, the Governor emphasized that this is a momentous day for Lazaro Cardenas, taking a firm step toward a safer future with the construction of this C2 and its four smart monitoring points.

Citizen security is not just a promise, its an unwavering commitment of this new way of governing. With an investment of more than 4 million pesos, this C2 represents our determination to build peace and guarantee lasting peace for the families of Quintana Roo, the Governor explained.

Lezama said the C2 will operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, enabling an immediate response to emergencies and efficiently coordinating security resources.

Its not just about technology, its also about the ability to anticipate and protect our people, she emphasized.

For the first time in history, Lazaro Cardenas, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Jose Maria Morelos, and Bacalar now have C2s.

We have invested 18.2 million pesos of the peoples money and were going for more because this year, we will begin construction of C2s in Chetumal, the proud capital of the state.

Mayor Nivardo Mena reported that in the last three years, crime rates in Lazaro Cardenas have decreased by 22 percent by 2024, demonstrating that security measures implemented in close collaboration with the state government are decisive and effective.

Authorities did not say if the new municipal C2 security centre or any of the four monitoring points include the island of Holbox.
Playa del Carmen gang members involved in murders, robbery and facade shootings

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  The group of criminal gang members arrested over the weekend are believed related to several criminal acts. Those acts, according to Raciel Lopez Salazar, include murders, robberies and facade shootings in Playa del Carmen.

State Attorney General head Raciel Lopez Salazar says the five in custody have been connected to five murders as well as robberies and attacks on businesses, he reported during a Monday press conference.

He says ccording to their investigations, the criminal gang members are believed responsible for the August 2024 murder of a man at the Las Miches bar, the February 2025 murder of a man nicknamed El Colombiano and the more recent murder of a person at La Cosecha bar in Playa del Carmen.

Lopez Salazar said the group in custody are also believed responsible for the the double homicide and rape of a foreign woman in 2023 at Harrys Ranch, as well as a shooting attack on a couple traveling in a Voyager van.

They are also accused of shooting at the facades of the Olimpo and Tropicana bars, and are under investigation for their possible involvement in an attempted robbery in December 2024.

During that attempted robbery, the group used a white van they painted to imitate a local delivery company. It is the same van police seized Friday that was repainted to replicate a laundry service.

During the Monday press conference from Cancun, Lopez Salazar explained that on Friday, the group were in pursuit of a man they had been ordered to recruit to sell drugs. The payout for a successful recruitmant, he said, is 30,000 pesos.

The victim was found dead inside the car police intercepted on the federal highway Friday.

The man they were sent to recruit was shot and killed by members of the group Friday. Six people were arrested. One of the criminal group members died later that night while in a Playa del Carmen prison cell.

The State Attorney General said his death was the result of a head injury he suffered during the three vehicle pursuit Friday morning. Police are continuing their investigation into the five they have in custody.
Raging forest fire continues to devour Tulums Sian Kaan Ecological Reserve

Tulum, Q.R.  At least 10 hectares of protected forest continues to burn in the municipality of Tulum. The massive forest fire continues to grow in size as it spreads through incredibly dry jungle. Strong winds have also helped fan flames.

Approximately 10 hectares of tropical rainforest in the Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve has already been devoured by the devastating fire. Firefighters and nearby residents of Boca Paila have been trying to put out the fire located within the Sian Kaan Ecological Reserve.

New volunteers from the area have joined in the efforts to contain the raging fire. Residents from Boca Paila, Pedro Paila, Casa Playa Azul, Casa Mayakan, among others, are working to stop the fire from spreading and forcing a human evacuation.

The devastating forest fire continues to spread out of control within the Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve, endangering homes and raising concerns among residents of the Boca Paila area.

Firefighters and volunteers have been battling the rapidly spreading flames for more than 36 hours in the ecological reserve, which is considered one of the most important of the Mexican Caribbean.

Local officials made a progress report on the fire in its second day of devouring the protected jungle area. According to Sergio Canto Contreras, Director General of Civil Protection and the Fire Department, at least 12 hectares of the natural reserved burned in the fire.

He reported that the fire has been controlled and is the result of a efforts between private volunteers, Civil Protection, firefighters and UNTRAC unions.

He said after a tour, the fire was considered out but would likely still emit smoke. Canto Contreras did not provide a possible cause for the forest fire that burned two day in the reserve.
Zofemat removes over 630 tons of sargassum from 18 kilometers of Puerto Morelos beach

Puerto Morelos, Q.R.  Federal employees of the maritime area of Puerto Morelos have intensified beach cleaning efforts. The municipalitys beaches have seen a large landfall of sargassum due to a week of strong winds. Last month alone, over 119 tons was collected.

So far this year, Zofemat (Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone) employees have removed 630 tons of seaweed from 18 kilometers of Puerto Morelos beaches. Zofemat Puerto Morelos head Gerardo Rosas Garcia says that the sandbanks are swept daily, however, during sargassum season, 40 workers are on the beaches daily to remove the washed up seaweed.

Were heading into the Easter holidays so our goal is to keep our entire coastline as free of sargassum as possible, as instructed by Mayor Blanca Merari Tziu. In particular, the busiest public beaches that have Blue Flag certification such as Ventana al Mar and Playa Sol, he said.

So far this year, 632.59 tons of sargassum has been collected and transported to the containment area located at km 1 of the Ruta de los Cenotes. According to data collected, March has been the month with the largest collection of macroalgae, with 119.2 tons.

Meanwhile, in the first week of April, from the 1st to the 6th, 75.31 tons of seaweed was collected from the 18 kilometers of municipal coastline.

Rosas Garcia noted that this natural phenomenon occurs year after year and its presence on the coast depends on the swells and winds, which in recent days have reached over 40 kms/h and gusts of up to 70 kms/h due to the southerly winds.

He emphasized that the Secretary of the Navy, in charge of the strategy to combat sargassum, has already installed 2,100 linear meters of anti-sargassum mesh to reduce its impact on beaches. Sargassum is also being collected from the sea.

For cleaning, a Roll Off tractor, containers and two sweepers are available, which cover the beaches from The Fives Hotel to the fiscal pier, a section that includes beaches such as Ventana al Mar, Ojo de Agua, Playa Sol, Pelicanos, Cayuse, Arrecife and the Secundaria Tecnica No. 7, he said.

Rosas Garcia said there is a joint effort with the Secretariat of Ecology and Environment (SEMA) of the Quintana Roo government, as well as with hotels in Puerto Morelos to maintain the destinations sandy beaches in a good light for the enjoyment of visitors and residents.
MERRILL, Iowa -- Anyone who regularly travels between Sioux City and Le Mars -- especially Hinton and Merrill residents -- will have their patience tested for one more summer.

The sixth and final phase of the U.S. Highway 75 reconstruction project begins later this month when the two southbound lanes between Hinton and Merrill will be closed and travel switched over to the northbound side in a two-lane, head-to-head traffic pattern.

Of the six phases of reconstruction of the four-lane highway stretching from the Woodbury County line to just south of Le Mars, Hinton and Merrill will have been at one end or the other of four of them.

"It seems like every two or three years it's just a pain in the butt for the summer. It's got to be done, and it'll be nice when it's done," Merrill Mayor Bruce Norgaard said.

The traffic disruption began Monday, when U.S. 75 was closed south of Merrill so railroad crews can replace the railroad crossing's surface. The Iowa Department of Transportation also will replace pavement at the crossing.

The closure is expected to be in effect 12 days. When it's finished, the highway will be reopened to head-to-head traffic between Hinton and Merrill as the highway reconstruction begins. The project includes lowering the elevation of the southbound lanes, pavement replacement, bridge removals and culvert extensions. If all goes according to plan, construction will be completed in November, with some grading, signage installation and seeding remaining for 2026.

The six-phase project has lowered the elevation of the southbound lanes from near Le Mars to the Woodbury/Plymouth county lines to be even with the northbound lanes, eliminating safety risks for motorists using median crossovers. The six-mile stretch of U.S. 75 between Hinton and Merrill is the oldest portion of four-lane, divided highway in Iowa, opening in November 1949. The four lanes from Hinton to the Woodbury County line opened a month later.

"It'll be good to have this project done," said Jessica Felix, IDOT District 3 engineer.

If it seems the project has taken longer than similar projects, it has. The project, which will cost $89.6 million overall, was not done in six consecutive years, Felix said, while the IDOT balanced construction needs statewide.

Reconstruction of U.S. 75 from Merrill to Le Mars took place in 2017 and '18. In 2019 and '20, the highway was rebuilt from Hinton to the Woodbury/Plymouth county line.

Construction on the project took a break until 2023, when the northbound lanes between Hinton and Merrill were rebuilt. After another year off, the final phase between Hinton and Merrill takes place this year.

Local residents are prepared for one final summer of traffic disruptions and the related challenges.

"The highway project is a greatly needed upgrade, but it does come with its challenges when responding to an emergency," said Cameron Pierce, Hinton fire chief. "The single lane causes significant delays as there's nowhere for cars to really move over and let us get by. When there is a vehicle wreck in the construction (zone), the traffic comes to a standstill and that causes a great risk of a secondary wreck to occur as people may not be paying attention, speeding, not leaving enough room between the car in front of them to safely slow down and stop. We have had a handful of those wrecks in the previous phases of the Highway 75 projects in the past."

Despite the challenges of traffic bunching up near the construction zone and detouring onto city streets, the completion of the previous phases has resulted in a smoother ride and other benefits, Hinton mayor Kelly Kreber said.

"The town has seen a benefit with safer crossovers at Titan Road and Starview Drive on the south side of town. The city is getting highway access to a future commercial development site on the north end of town with the project this year," Kreber said. "I think most people in Hinton will be happy when Highway 75 is completed in all directions from town."